Life has changed for Big Mac, he's graduated High school, runs the Apple family farm, hunts monsters, and is soon to be married. He couldn't be happier with his day to day, but as the day to day danger grows. How will he keep his loved ones safe?
Life has changed for Big Mac, he's graduated High school, runs the Apple family farm, hunts monsters, and is soon to be married. He couldn't be happier with his day to day, but as the day to day danger grows. How will he keep his loved ones safe?
Takes place three months after What must be done and between friendship Games and Everfree.
“Breakfast is getting cold Macintosh! Hurry up with the chores!” Adagio yelled from the porch with Sonata ringing the dinner bell as loud as she could and Aria inside already enjoying the pancakes and scrambled eggs. The two sirens shared a giggle as Mac slogged his way through the thick mud and manure.
The farmer could only shake his head, seemed no matter where he went or how much his life changed (and it’s changed a lot) there was always some woman yelling at him to hurry up. Whether it be Granny Smith, Applejack, or in this case his wife to be Adagio Dazzle. Former evil siren turned to a somewhat good-hearted monster hunter.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” He drawled depositing the empty feed buckets by the feed wagon. From the looks of the amount of crushed corn left in the wagon, he needs to get more feed. There was barely any crushed corn left for the remainder of the week, not to mention oats and hay. They would need more straw too; it was late July so that shouldn’t be too hard as it was almost time for wheat harvest.
Kicking off his boots at the door Mac sat down with the three and dug right in. He had a busy schedule and he needed to keep it.
“Truck filled?”
Aria replied, “Yep, fully stocked. I’ll be on my way to the market before noon.”
Mac nodded continuing to eat as he went through his mental checklist for the day. There was a bunch of apples that needed picking in the east orchard and some fruit bats that needed to be chased out. After that, he’d have to go to town and get some more feed ordered and see how the markets are doing. Things have been pretty poor lately.
“Which one of you is investigating Maddie’s latest case?”
“I am!” Sonata said excitedly. “I’m going Cloudsdale to check out a few hot spots for magic portals. The portals there aren’t quite as active as the ones here but they tend to let loose some pretty dangerous stuff when they do decide to open, it’s probably going to be an all-day thing.”
“Just be careful, look, but don’t act until you have back up.” Mac cautioned her. Monster hunting has become much more effective than in the past. Maddie is a hard worker; he had to at least give the former evil scientist that. There were times where they had to knock her out just get her to sleep or call Moon Dancer, Maddie’s friend and therapist, for help dealing with the scientist.
“I guess I’ll be doing house work then?” Adagio said. The room falling silent as everyone tried not to look at the small bump on the siren’s stomach.
Things have really changed around the farm.
Mac coughed, breaking the silence, “Right, Applejack will be by this afternoon to help Sunset fix her motorcycle just so you know. I’ll be back by noon.”
“I’ll have dinner ready,” Adagio said kissing Mac’s cheek, a devious smirk played on her lips as she put her ring on for the other two to see. “Have a good day, Honey.”
Blushing like mad Mac gave a soft “Yelp” and left the house and climbed in his truck. The old girl sputtered to life and he drove out of the yard. In the rearview Adagio waved from the pouch, he smiled and waved his hand out the window. He could hardly believe his life right now. He was eighteen, just out of high school, working his dream job as a farmer, about to get married, and about to be a father, his life certainly has changed since he found his father’s audio tapes a couple months ago.
“Sounds like life to me.”
“Yeah, it does,” Mac smiled, only to suddenly frown as he turned to the passage seat, the fading image of his father disappearing from sight. He blinked and shivered. That has been happening a lot lately.
Turning on the radio Mac continued on his way to town.
From the porch Adagio finally stopped waving, letting her right arm drop to her side she squeezed her bicep with trembling fingers. She hoped it was just the hormones making her act this way, but every time Mac leaves the farm, even if it’s not for monster hunting she worries for his safety.
Monster hunting has become part of their daily life and even she only a few weeks ago would have thought nothing of the dangers that come with it. Now seemly with every inch her belly grows, so do her fears that Mac will follow the path of his father and not come home one day.
“You ok, Adagio,” asked Aria touching her on the shoulder. She gave her sister siren a weak smile and nod and shooed her away.
“I’m fine; I’m fine, go get to town and get some product sold. Don’t be afraid to show a little skin either. Sex sells after all,” Adagio joked as Aria rolled her eyes as she climbed into the other truck.
“Yeah, I’ll be sure to spray myself with a water hose sometime today.”
Adagio chuckled and waved as the pink siren drove off. Stepping down off the porch she rounded the corner of the house to where Sonata was packing her equipment into her new car, well new to her at least, it was really Maddie’s car, a small blue 2007 Pontiac.
Adagio smiled and helped Sonata finish loading her gear. “You got everything? Food, surveillance gear, change of clothes, guns, etc.”
Sonata rolled her eyes as she got into the driver’s seat. “Yes, mom, I packed everything. Jeez, you been so… touchy feely lately, it’s kind of creepy.”
“Well,” Adagio huffed, “If that’s what I get for caring maybe I’ll stop making tacos.”
“Don’t even joke about that! Hey Dagi, get back here! Please don’t stop making tacos!”
The pregnant siren leaned on the car’s window and pulled Sonata into a hug, kissing the blue siren on the forehead and ruffling her hair. Sonata stared at her with wide deer eyes, looking completely stunned.
“Be safe now, Sonata. Be sure to check in every hour or so.”
Sonata nodded, feeling really weirded out and really, really hoping what happened was due to hormones. Normal Adagio she could deal with because she loved normal Adagio, motherly and loving Adagio was kind of creepy, mainly because she didn’t know if was genuine affection or an elaborate prank in the making. Sometimes it was both.
After waving Sonata off Adagio returned to the kitchen, sighing she began to place the dirty dishes in the dishwasher and sink for cleaning. Grabbing the apron Applejack gave her as a baby shower gift, she began to wash the skillets and pans, cursing the eggs remains that were stuck to the pan.
An hour passed and the dishes were about wrapped up when someone came in through the front door, make that two someone’s as Adagio picked up the sound of another pair of feet.
“How are you two today,” Adagio drawled sounding bored. Behind her stood Applejack and Sunset, each carrying a big pack back and wearing shorts. It was summer, so nothing strange there, but it was a different look for the two.
“We’re fine, need any help, Sis?”
“Thank you,” Adagio said moving over to give Applejack room to work. “You don’t need to call me that, I’m just your sister in law.”
Applejack looked curiously at the siren, “You got a problem with me calling you Sis? I can stop if you want?”
Adagio shook her head, “No, not really, it’s just… weird. Didn’t exactly ever consider I would be getting married in this world or having a child. It’s almost like… like I’ve become part of this world officially now.”
“Do you want to go back to Equestria?” Sunset asked, since finally reestablishing her relationship with Celestia, who turned out to be her grandmother. Sunset has been thinking more and more about Equestria. She has gone back and visited with Celestia, but she didn’t feel the need to stay, maybe perhaps because Equestria didn’t feel like home anymore.
“Not really,” Adagio answered with much more certainty than she had expected. “Nothing to go back to really, our home is destroyed, all our family and friends are dead, and we’ve been living here for over a thousand years already, longer than we ever lived in Equestria. We even have magic here now too, so really going back is a moot point now, though it would be fun to swim in the ocean in my original form again, maybe for a vacation or something. I would love to show Mac the other side of the portal someday.”
(I guess I finally understand why Nico didn’t go home when he could have.)
“It’d be nice to see Twilight’s home too, pony Twilight, not human Twilight, this is confusing,” Applejack said scratching her head.
During the Friendship Games, the human Twilight Sparkle had shown up and apparently did a Sunset and blew up the front of the school. She and Mac had been in another town hunting monsters, while Aria and Sonata were somewhere else. The ordeal had really gotten Maddie riled as she begged them to let her go check out the site for research.
“Well it should come as no surprise,” Adagio said putting away the last of the dishes.
“I suppose,” Applejack agreed, pulling a chair out for Adagio to sit in. “Onto another brain scratching subject, thought of any baby names?”
“I don’t even know what gender it is,” Adagio deadpanned, “tell granny to give it a rest. I’m sure there will be an apple somewhere in their name.”
“Still it’s pretty exciting,” said Sunset reaching out her hand. “A second generation pony/human hybrid, I wonder what kind of magic they’ll inherit.”
Applejack’s eyes widen as Sunset’s hand was almost close enough to touch Adagio’s stomach, she opened to mouth tell her to stop, but it was too late. Sunset’s hand landed on Adagio’s belly, the siren’s posture going rigged as her eyes shrunk, turning blood red, while her hand became covered in webbing and her nails lengthened into claws.
“SUNSET RUN!”
“See ya Mac! Next time bring that pretty little wife your granny’s been talking about!”
“She might be a bit much for you Grainy; she’s a bit of firecracker.” Mac chuckled as he left the grain elevator with a truck full of feed. He sighed as he looked at the bill, he wondered if it was worth having cattle some days, but he was still making a profit just not as much as he used to. Hard to believe one month you're making seven hundred dollars for cattle, the next only two hundred. Hopefully, the hogs do better this month otherwise he might have to get rid of one them.
Rounding the corner Mac turned onto the main street heading for the plaza to check on Aria, it was getting close to noon, so he could pick her up and bring her home for lunch and she can help him unload the feed and then he can bring her back with some extra product if they need it.
Parking the truck Mac walked to the stall only to frown as he took note of a lack Aria or everyone else for that matter. All of the vendors were gone.
“Must be something new in town,” He figured dialing the pink siren’s cell.
“Mac?”
“It’s me, where are you at? Why aren’t you at the stall? Furthermore, why isn’t anyone else at their stall?”
On the other side of the line, a bunch of commotion could be heard, making Mac wonder what was going on, “Look that doesn’t matter right now, just get over here quick!” Aria said in a hushed tone and hung up.
Mac held up his phone and frowned, “That’s fine, but where is here?” Hearing some chatter down the street he figured that was a good start. Sure enough at the end of the block, a crowd had gathered and there were police lights flashing. Great what was going on now? Hopefully nothing Aria started.
“Hey, what’s going on?” He asked one of the elderly women standing on the outside of the circle.
“Oh Mac, how are you doing? I heard you got a wife now, pretty young to be getting married, but then again I was sixteen when I married. Oh but you don’t want to hear about that now, do ya. Well, it seems some old miss was spotted with a strange walking cane and it turned out to be a sword of all things. Can you believe that?”
Mac blinked, his brain processing the information, an older woman with a sword. “This woman wouldn’t happen to have white skin and hair and dressed in eastern clothes would she?”
“Oh, why yes in fact she is! Do you know her?”
Shit. Kira was on this side of the mirror! He had to get to her before things get messy. He doubted she would do anything extreme, such as kill anyone, but maim maybe. Pushing his way through the crowd he felt someone grab hold of his hand and pull him closer to the center of the circle. It was Aria and judging by the panic on her face things might be going south faster than he thought.
“Whatever happens next just roll with it,” She whispered harshly breaking through the crowd and stumbling right into the police surrounding Kira, who was looking rather calm about everything. Until Mac saw her eyes, which were glowing with a faint amount of magic, meaning she was looking at everyone’s kill spot. That was not good. He was wondering what to do to diffuse the situation, but Aria seemed to have some kind of plan… kind of…
“Hi, Auntie!” Aria said suddenly sounding… while the best way Mac could describe it was cutesy mixed in with a little Sonata. “I’m so glad we finally found you! Did you get lost?”
Kira looked perplexed, which was good because Mac was too. Where was Aria going with this? He didn’t have time to wonder because she was dragging him by the hand again.
“You all know Macintosh Apple right? Of course you do because the Apple family practically founded this town and that means you all know Mac’s father, Nico Vega, right?” The townspeople nodded along with Aria’s words, a play smirk danced on her lips, she had them hook line and sinker; time to bring it home. “Now as we all know, Nico did not have any relatives that we knew off, even after his unfortunate death following his wife, Applejane, it seemed no family came to see him off. Well my fellow townsfolk, may I present to you Kira Perfecta, Nico Vega’s… older sister… and she had just come to visit my dear… brother in law… Mac here and got lost admiring the town.”
“What about the sword?” One of the townsfolk yelled.
Aria bit her lip, “Right the sword…”
“This sword is was a gift from my late husband,” Kira interrupted, catching onto what was going on. “I mostly use it as a cane to help me move around as I like to keep it close. I’m sorry to cause all this fuss over it, but I’m afraid it is all I have right now to walk with. If you fine gentlepon… men would kindly let Mac take me home, I will exchange it for a more suitable cane later.”
The head officer scratched his cheek looking rather embarrassed. “Sorry about the fuss ma’am, if we’d known you were with the Apples we’d better conducted ourselves. Just don’t go swinging that thing around unsheathed and we’ll overlook it. We got plenty conceal and open carry in this town, I reckon a sword isn’t much different.”
Kira bowed to the officer, “You are very wise and kind, officer. Now please Mac if you would be so kind as to escort me?”
“Um sure,” Mac sighed feeling exhausted as he locked arms with Kira leading her back to the truck. His day just got very interesting. They piled into the truck, Mac in the driver’s seat, Aria in the middle, and Kira in the passenger’s seat. Putting the truck into drive Mac took off for the farm, only to have his phone go off.
Fishing the phone from his pocket, he read the caller ID; it was from Adagio, “Something wrong Honey?”
“Mac help us!” Came a scream over the phone, but it wasn’t Adagio, it was Applejack and from the sounds of it, Sunset too, who was probably the one screaming.
A, “I’ll fucking killing you!” Came over the line and Mac instantly knew what happened.
“Sunset touched Adagio’s belly didn’t she?” His wife was really and he meant really sensitive about her little bump. Having her perfect figure ruined (in her words) after a thousand years was something she was struggling to overcome, also she literary becomes some sort of she-demon too. They were gonna have to figure that out soon. In the meantime, the key to avoiding her wrath was don’t talk about it and don’t touch it.
“Uh, maybe a little…” Was Applejack’s reply.
Mac sighed, just another day in paradise. “I’m on my way home. Just try to keep her from crushing Sunset’s throat.”
Mac’s truck came tearing into the yard with gravel flying and a chorus of female screams. The man himself came barreling out of the truck at a sprint, leaving Kira and Aria behind to check to see if they were still alive. He bound up the front porch in one leap and came crashing through the front door just in time to see Applejack struggling in vain to hold Adagio back.
Calmly kneeling beside his wife to be, Mac whispered softly in her ear while rubbing her back with his right hand. Slowly Adagio’s eyes went back to the normal size and color as did her hands.
“It’s ok, they’re not here to hurt you. Sunset is a friend, remember?”
Adagio took a deep breath and held it; she nodded silently saying she understood. Mac gently picked her up and led her down the hall to their bedroom for her to rest. Whenever this happened Adagio would become exhausted once she calmed down. Laying a blanket over her Mac kissed her forehead and went back to the living room, where the others were waiting.
Mac made a sign for silence, ushering them all outside so they could talk.
“What the hell was that?” Sunset asked rubbing her throat.
“Don’t know,” Mac admitted with a sigh. “I don’t know. Aria and Sonata don’t know, Maddie doesn’t know. We have no idea why she gets like that. That’s why Adagio hasn’t left the farm; it’s too dangerous for other people to be around her. Especially since every woman would want to gush over her baby belly. We’re going to go see Nurse Nyx sometime this week and hope she might be able to come up with some answers, if not, we’re going to go to Equestria and ask Twilight or someone for help.”
“Why not just go straight to Twilight or Luna?”
“As great of an idea that maybe Sunset, I don’t want to rely on them for help, they got their own problems over there to deal with, we got ours. We maybe not know what’s going on with Adagio exactly, but we got a few theories we’re gonna test at the hospital. Isn’t that right Maddie?” Mac walked over the corner of the house and pulled the mad scientist out from around the corner. “You can stop spying on the way. Everyone here is friendly.”
“I very much doubt that,” Maddie deadpanned brushing the crumbs off her shirt. Warily she eyed Kira who was tapping the hilt of her sword with her fingers as if daring her to try something. Hands up in the air Maddie approached the group, stopping at least five feet away.
“Please continue, Mac.”
Rolling his eyes Mac turned back to the group, “I’m gonna take Adagio to the hospital after she wakes up, unless there is something pressing you’re here for Kira?”
“I’m fine; I’m actually just here to vacation,” Kira said, “Perhaps I could help Aria with her work, I’m interested in the culture of this world.”
Mac nodded, revealed that Kira’s presence was nothing serious, “Applejack, Sunset, go get whatever it was you came to get and go about your day. We’ll see you at the soccer game tonight.”
“Right, we’re just gotta grab some tools,” Applejack said pointing to the shed. “Tell Adagio no hard feelings, come on Sunny. We gotta get going if we’re going to meet up with the other before the game. Oh, don’t forget Applebloom is staying with you next week we’ll were at camp Everfree.”
“I remember,” Mac waved, “Yawl have fun.”
The Applejack and her friends have been waiting for the trip to camp Everfree for a while now. Mac really hoped they could get away from all the magic and monster business for even just a few days. How likely that was anyone’s guess, but it pays to have hope.
“If that’s everything I’m going to check on Adagio. Grab what you think you need Maddie and put it in the truck. We’ll come get you when we're ready.”
“Sure, whatever,” the mad scientist shrugged heading back to her shack.
Now alone, Mac took a deep breath and let out a loud sigh. Things just kept getting crazier it seemed, yet even that was seeming normal now too. For the most part things seem to be stable. Hopefully human Twilight wouldn’t want to dive back into her magical research anytime soon, the girl seemed nice enough, but they’ve had their fill of magic researching scientists for a while, if not forever.
Walking back into the house Mac peeked inside to see Adagio still resting. Choosing to let her be for now he went to the phone and dialed the hospital, after chatting with the secretary he was quickly patched through to Nurse Nyx.
“Hello?” The changeling answered.
“Yeah, Nyx, this is Macintosh Apple, we’re gonna need to see you earlier than expected. Something has come up and we’re gonna need you to take a look at Adagio as soon as possible. Today even if you can make it happen.”
The sound of papers turning came over the line Nyx muttering bits and pieces of information under her breath as she sorted through her files. “Ok, I think I can squeeze you in sometime around five. Will that work for you?”
“That would be perfect, thanks, Nyx.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, try not to burn the place down this time.”
“That wasn’t me,” Mac replied sourly, Nyx had already hung up. After the fire girl incident, they entered into a strange sort of business/friendship relationship with the changeling nurse. Basically, they don’t hunt her and she acts as their family doctor of sorts.
Checking the time Mac figured he had a few hours before they needed to be at the hospital. He should probably get some of his errands done before then. Adagio needed her rest anyways. Climbing back into the truck Mac went to over the barn where Aria and Kira were bringing out some more products for the stall. Together they quickly loaded the truck and were back on their way to town.
“Is this really necessary?” Adagio asked as Nyx circled around her sticking little sticky devices all over her body. She was still a little tired from her nap and she didn’t like being the center of attention (for once) in a room full of people with her belly out on display. Her hand tightened around Mac’s as Nyx continued her examine with Maddie off in the corner taking notes and looking way too eager about this whole thing in her opinion.
“Well your vitals look normal,” Nyx said ignoring her question. “As far as human technology can tell you’re just a normal healthy pregnant woman.”
“Well, that’s confronting. Can you take these damn things off now?”
“Not just yet,” Maddie said getting closer. “Now we gotta test the non-human elements. Mac if you would please let go of Adagio’s hand.”
Reluctantly Mac lets go or more accurately pried his hand from her grip, taking the feeling of confronting and safety with him. Suddenly she felt very alone. Like a hawk she watched both Maddie and Nyx, the former slowly reaching for Adagio’s belly. The siren sucked in a breath and hissed the closer the hand got, Maddie’s hand resting only an inch away from her belly. Beside her the machines they had her hooked up to started beeping rapidly.
“Heart rate is up, adrenaline is spiking,” Nyx sounded off saying a bunch of things Adagio was ignoring, her sole attention on Maddie’s hand. “Mac, please touch her hand again.”
Mac’s fingers interlocked with hers and the beeping slowed and quieted.
“Hmm, that’s what I thought,” Maddie said moving her hand away.
“Thought what?” Adagio demanded, not liking being talked around.
Maddie laughed as she flopped down in a chair, “First some questions. You are a siren correct?” Adagio nodded, not sure where they were going with this. “Ok, and sirens are a part fish, correct?” Again Adagio nodded. “Good, good, now how do sirens normally give birth?”
“We lay eggs, the male fertilizes them, and then we wait for them to hatch. Where is this going?”
“Bare with me, now when the eggs are laid what do the female sirens do?”
Adagio snorted, rolling her eyes at the question, “Obviously we stay around the nest and protect the eggs… oh… I see now. I go berserk because my nest is inside me and my magic changes me on instinct to protect my offspring.”
“Correct,” Maddie cheered, “And when Mac is nearby his presence calms you because he’s your mate and all that and thus your body doesn’t feel the need to transform because you trust him to protect you and the kid.”
Adagio let out a sigh of relief at the news, it was just a natural instinct, not something left over from Maddie’s experiments or her dark magic days. She was fine. Her child was fine. Everything was fine.
“So, I just need to hold Mac’s hand in public and no she-devil appearance. Good to know, right honey?” She teased interlocking her fingers with Mac’s. A bright blush appeared across Mac’s cheeks as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.
“Ok, you're fine, now out, out. No mushy stuff in my examine room, please. Unless you’re gonna share some of that love. You two are making me hungry,” Nyx chided the two, shooing them out.
“At least you didn’t have to sit between them,” Maddie chimed in as she followed the two love birds out. “It’s not fun being the person in the middle in regular cab truck with them. Now if you every feel like…”
“I have a boyfriend, thank you,” Nyx interrupted pushing Maddie out the door. Only for the mad scientist to force her way back in and say, “I don’t see a ring!”
“Get out!” Nyx yelled slamming the door in Maddie’s face.
“Well, she was rude and kind of cute too. I like her. Think she would let me… umm… what’s with the glares you two? Oh… oh, never mind, I get it. Sorry, sorry.” Maddie patted her shoulder where the seal to keep her in check was located, it was beginning to burn and itch, probably because of Mac and Adagio’s mood towards her. “Calm down already, I know, I know, don’t do bad things and all that. Can you two stop before my shirt catches fire?”
The burning stopped, much to her relief. Continuing through the hospital Maddie’s eyes cast glances at all the machines and patients and felt that little twitch that need to dissect. With Mac and Adagio busy with the front desk, Maddie decided it was for the best she gets out of here quick.
“I’ll be in the truck.” She told the couple quickly running out into the parking lot and practically jumping into the truck cab. Inside she held her twitching right hand, biting down on it to try to get it to stop. Images flooded her mind. Bodies cut open, organs on display, a sharp knife in her hand…
“Maddie!”
“Huh! What?” Mac and Adagio were in the truck, staring at her, understandable really. She was acting strangely. Not that she was going to let them know that… yet, “Sorry, I zoned out there. What is it you wanted?”
Adagio sighed looking disgruntled, “We were asking if you wanted to go to Rainbow’s soccer game tonight, get away from the farm for a bit and all that.”
A warm feeling appeared in Maddie’s chest, she wondered what emotion it was supposed to be, gratitude, joy, or maybe even happiness. The list was long. That much was for sure. Perhaps there was no one word to describe feelings. Whatever the case, if they were being generous with her freedom, then perhaps she could lobby for something she would actually want to do or rather someone she wanted to see.
“Thanks, but I would prefer to spend time with Moon dancer if you don’t mind, I have a lot of making up to do for her still and I would like to settle my debt of grief as fast as possible.”
“That’s a round of about way of saying you want to see your friend,” Mac chuckled as he started the truck. “I don’t see any reason why not; I’ll give you till midnight to be back at the farm. Make sure to keep a cell phone on you just in case, wouldn’t what the seal burning you alive when you still far from home.”
“Sure dad,” Maddie replied sarcastically. Really she was older than both… ok, older than Mac at least, he didn’t have to treat her like a child that didn’t know better, but what was really bugging her was the fact they were holding hands again, completely disregarding her personal space in the process!
“Can you two please not do that when I’m between you? Also if you’re gonna do it why don’t you just sit in the middle!”
Adagio laughed as she pushed Maddie’s pointed finger away, “I can’t lean against the window in the middle silly.”
Cheeks puffed out in frustration Maddie sat silently between the two lovers for the remainder of the trip.
“This looks like a good spot,” Said Adagio as she and Mac moved through the crowded bleachers that lined the side of the soccer field, carrying a bounty of snacks and drinks with them. Mac kept a firm grip on Adagio’s right hand to keep her calm in the crowd. Normally the siren didn’t much care for sporting events or another public get to gathers, but after being trapped on the farm for the past month it was nice to get out and see other people, to hear them talk, and to just share the experience of being in an excited crowd. Though she wished Mac could have taken her to concert or movie instead.
Mac nodded as he settled down beside her, “As good as any. See Applejack or the others?”
She scanned the crowd looking for her soon to be sister-in-law and her merry band of annoying friends. Spotting a wildly waving pink hand on the opposite side of the field Adagio grimaced and waved back, glad the chatter of the crowd drowned out Pinkie Pie’s words.
“Found them.”
Chuckling Mac pulled her close and waved back at the six, taking note of the purple girl with glasses mixed in with the group, “She does look just like her, that human Twilight.”
“You mean Princess Twilight looks like her. Remember the princess is originally a pony, thus when she comes here she looks like human twilight… you know what let’s just drop it and enjoy the game, this is way too confusing to be thinking about on a date. Who are we playing against anyway?”
“We,” laughed Mac giving his fiancé a playful poke, “Since when are you a Wondercolt fan?”
Cheeks puffed and burning red Adagio pushed away Mac’s finger, crossing her arms in a huff, “Since now, so who are our opponents? I wish to throw jeers and slurs at them.”
“You’ve been hanging out with Luna again haven’t you?” For some reason, Adagio and Principal Luna have become pen pals of sorts, with Adagio picking up Luna’s strange way of speaking at times, specifically when she was playing roleplaying games. Something he would get to the bottom of that later. “We’re playing the… griffons from Griffonstone valley.”
“Griffons huh, I know some good slurs for them.”
“Please don’t. I think we used up all our luck today with not letting Kira get arrested and possibly sent to an insane house.”
Adagio playfully hit Mac in the shoulder, “You’re no fun sometimes.”
An ear piercing whistle broke through the chatter, signaling the start of the game. The crowd erupted into a frenzy as the players took the field. At the head of the pack on the Wondercolt side was a rainbow blur that could only be one person, Rainbow Dash, she seemed to be soaking up the attention like a sponge as she waved and blew kisses into the stands.
“Hopefully she doesn't grow wings,” mumbled Mac as the players lined up for the first play. He had no idea how his sister and his friends have gotten away with keeping their magic secret from the rest of the world. The entire fricken school knew for Pete’s sake! Strange the kids weren’t spreading it around town like wildfire, he might have to visit the school and find out why that was, not that he wasn’t glad the kids were keeping it on the down low, it was just… strange.
“Why don’t you corn peckers go ram your beaks into a donkey’s ass!”
Mac blinked, his musing disturbed by his wife’s… taunts… “What happened?”
“Those feather lickers just foaled Rainbow and the referee let it slide! They probably bribed him, griffons always bribe for the advantage. Greedy little ass lickers, I hope you cough up hairballs!”
This… this was a different side of his wife to be.
“Calm down Adagio, it’s just a game, a high school soccer game at that, it’s not like it’s football or basketball.”
Adagio gave Mac a dead stare, “You know in the rest of the world soccer is football right?”
“I am aware, but I just don’t care. The rest of the world can go suck it and so can the metric system.”
“I bought you the wrong wrench set, I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was gonna cause such problems! All those stupid nuts and bolts look the same!”
They glared at another with mock intensity before breaking out into chuckles and continued to watch the game, eating popcorn and other treats as they cheered for Rainbow and the other players. At half time Mac noticed Adagio began to shiver and removed his coat and placed it around her, the coat’s massive size completely covering her like a blanket.
“Thanks, honey,” said Adagio planting a kiss on Mac’s cheek. Mac blushed and nodded as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, further warming her. Now it was Adagio’s turn to blush as she snuggled closer to her mate.
They continued to sit like that watching the game with mild interest until during one the plays Rainbow was tripped by the other team’s striker, Gilda.
“Oh, that looks bad,” commented Adagio as Rainbow held her leg, even from their seats they could see the traces of blood trickling down the blue girl's leg.
“Yeah,” said Mac as he watched Rainbow argue with the referee and then couch Spitfire, seems the wanted her leave the field, which was too bad as it was the last quarter and they were down by one, Rainbow being the only one to score the entire game so far. “She’s not taking well.”
On the field Rainbow argued with the referee, she pointed at the player that tripped her, number five Gilda, the referee crossed his arms and shook his head at her prompting Rainbow to stomp her foot in anger, her injured foot. The blue girl hissed as she held her leg with blood seeping between her fingers. Finally, Rainbow’s couch Spitfire ran out on the field and grabbed Rainbow by the arm and dragged her off the field. Mac had a feeling she would be benched for the remainder of the game.
“Well, there goes our star player, won’t be much of game now,” Adagio pouted resting her chin on her hand. “This is gonna be a wash, I’d rather go home then watch this, it’s really sad.”
“Probably for the best,” Mac said looking up at the sky. Black clouds were rolling in fast, looks like a storm was coming. Strange because the weather channel had no rain predicted for the entire week. “Come on, let’s get go to the truck before the rain comes and we’re stuck wading through the crowd.
Ushering Adagio though the crowded bleacher as quickly he could Mac walked arm and arm with his wife to be to the parking lot. Opening the door for her and helping her inside, not because she needed the help (yet), but because he knew she liked it when he acted gentlemanly towards her, which was all the time.
In the distance, the sound of the final buzzer going off signaled the end of the game, with a loud groan from the wonder colt’s side of the field. They lost one to three. Mac shook his head, wondering why some folks put so much energy into a high school game but decided it better to just leave it be. Games were fun and they proved the community a chance to get together and cheer on their school and let the players know they were appreciated.
As Mac climbed into the truck waiting to clear out before the crowd got to their cars, a sudden chill traveled down his spine as thunder roared overhead. The black clouds were looking worse than before as flashes of lightning danced in the sky. The storm was certainly a lost worse than he had been expecting, why hadn’t the news seen this coming? Turning the key Mac let out a curse as a soft “tink, tink” sound hit the window.
There was hail on his hood.
“Better find cover before it picks up, we might not make it home before it gets bad,” he said to Adagio who nodded in agreement, her hand snaking across the seat to his. Mac smiled and squeezed her hand in reassurance. He was about to put the truck in gear when an ear-shattering scream cried out. He looked to Adagio, who only nodded.
“Go, I’ll be here.”
“Thanks, honey,” He said quickly exiting the truck and running for the source of the scream. Hail pounded against his skin as he ran through the rushing crowd of people as they tried to get to cover. Another scream cried out and he ran towards it, it was coming from the trees at the bottom of the hill below the field. Mac ran down skidding through the mud as he did.
The girl that tripped Rainbow Dash come running out of the bushes, screaming and crying her eyes out as hail, the size of his fist come flying down at her and not normally he might add. The hail was acting like a homing missile dodging trees and following her where ever she ran. One socked her right in the knee, making her tumbled to the ground. Mac ran over and shielded her, meeting the fist-sized hail with his own fist. He hissed in pain as icy shards scratched and blistered his knuckles.
“You ok,” asked Mac, the girl, Gilda was her name he thought, gave a shaky nod, though clearly, she was not ok.
“I’m not dead,” she replied standing on shaky legs. There were cuts and bruises all over her body, specifically her legs, it looked pretty bad. Her entire knee was black and blue.
“Stay behind me, and if you could close your eyes, I would appreciate it,” said Mac as more hail came flying at them.
“What close my eyes and chant this is just a dream and hope it stops?” Gilda sneered; though it was clear to Mac she was scared.
“Whatever helps,” he replied, “Just close your eyes and I promise this will be over.”
She did as he asked, muttering a little chant as she did. Looking around for anyone else Mac was satisfied to see no one else around, giving him the chance to end this quickly and quietly. Taking a deep breath Mac called up in his magic, growing pony ears atop his head and gaining a ponytail of hair that he could have lived without. Fists glowing with red magic Mac bashed the hail to pieces and fired a ball of magic at the sky. A bright flash of red blew the clouds apart and with it the storm.
“It’s over,” he said powering down. “I’ll take you to your couch for some first aid. Do you need me to carry you? Your legs…”
“It would be appreciated,” said Gilda tightly, clearly not liking the idea of being carried, didn’t stop her from snuggling up close against his shoulder, though.
“I’m about to be married before you ask,” he said as she opened her mouth. She quickly shut it again looking disappointed.
They walked only a few feet before she said, “Got a brother?”
Mac returned to the truck after dropping Gilda off with her team, with a list full list of names and numbers he was to give to his bachelor cousins. He would be tempted to just throw it away if some of his cousins weren’t so hard pressed to meet girls. Not that they had a hard time talking to them, they were just so busy working it was hard for them to find the time for them. Maybe this would at least help them speed through things and hopefully things work out.
“So what was the problem,” asked Adagio, eyeing the note with suspicion, “Monster attack?”
“Maybe,” Mac replied pulling out on the road. “It was strange, hail was the attacking that girl that tripped Rainbow Dash, almost like it bore a grudge against her. She’s lucky to still have legs with how beaten up they were.”
“Sounds like a curse or a spell, maybe even a hex, guess we’ll have to do some investigating.”
“Yeah… hey has Sonata check in?”
“Let me see,” Adagio flipped open her phone; there was a missed call and a voicemail from Sonata. “Damn cell services around here, better check this. I’ll put it on speaker for you.”
Adagio opened her phone and played the message, “Will someone fucking help me already!” Gunfire came over the speaker followed by a monstrous roar. Mac and Adagio looked at one another for second before Mac stepped on the pedal and Adagio frantically dialed on her phone.
“Sonata? Sonata, are you there?” No answer, the line was dead. Adagio quickly flipped through her contacts and dialed Aria.
“Hello?”
“Sonata’s in trouble, we need you ASAP in Cloudsdale, bring Kira if she’s nearby!”
“Roger that,” Aria replied hanging up. Adagio closed her phone and nimble on the wrist strap. Muttering “Please be ok, please be ok” Over and over again. Mac remained silent as he sped down the highway towards Cloudsdale.
Sonata cursed as her phone battery died, just as Adagio’s call connected. She was in the woods, her shirt torn to rags as were her pants. She leaned against a tree for support trying to catch her breath. Her body was covered in scrapes and bruises, a giant hand shaped bruise on her waist. In her left hand was her gun, empty, not that it had been useful anyway. The monster hunting her was like nothing she’s ever seen before.
Heavy stomps drew closer, followed by an ear-piercing roar; she quickly ducked as a beam of fire traveled overhead cutting down trees in an instant. Scrambling into the brush Sonata looked at the beast hunting her.
The monster was a cyclops, but it wasn’t just a cyclops, it was cyclops with the skin of golem and a unicorn horn atop its head. She had no idea what it was or where it came from in Equestria only that it seemed to be impossible to kill. Her bullets bouncing off the monster’s stone skin leaving little to no damage.
“He really got me good,” hissed Sonata as she held her ribs. Their health insurance probably didn’t cover cracked ribs. As she limped into a clearing Sonata’s legs give out from under her and she toppled into the grass. Her bruised ribs hit a rock hidden in the tall grass and she screamed in pain while coughing and hacking up blood. The sound of heavy foot stomps made her curse and she looked to a nearby brush for a place to hide. Gritting her teeth she pulled her body across the ground, leaving a red trail of blood in her wake, Sonata rolled into the brush enduring the thorny branches for the leaves protective cover. A large stone foot stomped where she had just been a second ago. She held her breath not daring to breathe as the monster dumbly looked around for her. That was the monsters one saving grace; it was as smart as a bag of rocks.
“Go away, go away, please,” she begged in a soft whisper, hoping beyond hope the monster would go away and leave her be. For a moment it seemed her prayers were answered as the golem cyclops stepped away, giving her some much-needed relief. Sonata quickly realized her mistake as she let out a soft, yet too loud, sigh of relief. The bush shielding her from cover was ripped away and she was left staring into the golem cyclops burning magical eye. The golem licked its stoney lips, running it’s tongue over its small sharp teeth as it grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up towards its mouth. She struggled and screamed, but she could not break free.
Mac sat in the truck watching the scene in front of him play out while tapping his finger anxiously against the stirring wheel. From the passenger’s side Adagio looked on with worry at the array of flashing red and blue lights in front of them. The cops were at the park Sonata was investigating, a lot of cops, there must be law enforcement from three different counties here, which was not a good sign.
“Are Aria and Kira here yet,” Mac asks thinking about how to approach the situation. It was early in the morning and he was tired from the long drive to Cloudsdale and not sleeping in twenty-four hours. However even in his tired state of mind, Mac knew they couldn’t go in gun blazing like usual with all the cops here, but they had to look for Sonata and find her as soon as possible. Whatever she had been hunting sounded bad, if the roar had been anything to by. He asked Adagio if she recognized the sound. She said it sounded familiar, but she couldn’t name the species of monster, only that it sounded big.
The sound of gravel crunching announced the arrival of Aria and Kira, who stop beside them. Noticing the flashing lights. Aria rolls down her window so they could speak.
“What’s the plan boss? All this heat is gonna make it hard to get in there unnoticed.”
“I know. It will be impossible to bring the heavier weapons into the park with things like this. We’ll have to get by with handguns for now. Adagio, I know you don’t like it, but I’m gonna have to ask you to stay here.”
“Am I supposed to just sit here and wait for you then?” She retort hotly.
Mac held his hands up in defense, “It’s just too dangerous with you pregnant right now. That being said, maybe you can figure out what the cops are doing here or why there so many of them and give us a call with the details. Meanwhile, Aria, Kira and I will go around and try to pick up Sonata’s trail.”
Adagio crosses her arms clearly unhappy with being left out of the action, but ultimately agreed with Mac’s logic, “Alright be safe you two, Kira please keep them safe.”
“You have my word,” the white patroller vowed.
As Mac climbs out of the cab Adagio grabbed him by the shirt, “Bring my sisters back safe Mac and make sure you come back too.”
He rests his hand on hers and smiles, “I promise. Be careful while we’re gone.”
Adagio kissed him on the lips, “I will.”
The three set out into the woods cutting their way through the bushes and undergrowth as they walk a mile away from the police site crossing a shallow spot in the river to the other side. There they check their armament. Mac had with him a 1911 colt 45, his grandfather’s old service sidearm, Aria produced a 12 gauge shorty shotgun, and Kira had her swords.
“So… which way do we go,” Asks Aria as they all stare into the woods. Nobody certain which way to go. “I have a copy of the map Maddie made for Sonata, but she has several locations marked down, it’s gonna take forever to search them all.”
“I think we can narrow down the search by following the police. The chances are pretty high that their presence here is connected to what Sonata was investigating. I’m worried that whatever Sonata stumbled on was a lot bigger than the average monster,” said Mac walking into the brush. “Come on, the nearest campsite is this way.
The three carefully crept through the brush. Keeping a keen eye out for police and park rangers, who seem to be very nervous, like they were afraid something was gonna jump out and eat them. The tension in the air made it clear something happened and it was bad. Mac wonders what it could be, but he soon got his answer when he and the girls stumble upon the campsite under investigation or rather what’s left of it.
“This looks familiar,” Mutters Mac as they observe the ruined camp, reminding him of the campsite that he and Adagio found out in Hob’s valley, bloody, gory, and smelling of death. The family camper was ripped in two, red blood painting the walls with limbs thrown about and covered in bite marks.
Between the two halves of the camper ran a long blackened line of earth, like someone had taken a giant blow torch and ran it across the ground. Whatever had done this was defiantly not shadow ponies, but Mac found little comfort in that fact. What did this seem worse than shadow ponies. This monster was loud and reckless and didn’t appear to care if it was found or not, making it very dangerous.
The police left the scene. Mac step out of the brush approaching the scene. There was a large footprint in front of the destroyed camper, about two feet wide and three feet long, leading into the forest in the opposite direction of the police. The tracks disappear in the tall grass. A speck of purple caught Mac’s eyes. Reaching up he pulls a piece of purple fabric from a branch.
“I think we found our trail. Look at this, Aria.”
Aria took the cloth, a deep frown marring her face, “This is from Sonata’s shirt.”
A loud scream pierce through the forest, followed by gunfire.
“That has to be Sonata! Let’s go!” Aria screamed running to the brush.
They ran two miles through of thick brush, the thorny branches cutting them ruthlessly and with out mercy. The three came to a stop in a large clearing, finding the same scorch marks like at the campsite, only there were about a dozen or more black marks with a lot more footprints. What really caught their attention was the large pile of stones in the middle. Walking closer to the pile, Kira ran her fingers over a stone the surface of the giant rock looking like a disfigured face of something monstrous.
“It can’t be,” she whispers stepping away from the stones, her hand hovering over her sword hilts as her eyes dart to and fro. “Keep your wits about you, something very dangerous is nearby.”
Mac and Aria pull their weapons, standing back to back with the dragon pony.
“Mind sharing what that is,” whispers Aria as she looks around for any moment from the tree line.
“We’re dealing with…” A cry of ’Help!’ Interrupts Kira's explanation as Sonata comes barreling out of the trees in a mad dash. Heavy thunderous stomps following her.
“Sonata!” Aria exclaims running towards the blue siren, only to stop in her tracks as the thunderous stomps got louder and the source came barreling through the tree line, breaking tree trunks in half as it barrels after Sonata, barely hindered by the trees. The creature was big! Standing half as tall as the trees, with gray clay-like skin, a unicorn horn atop its head and one big eye that took up most of its face.
Aria screams, “Cyclops!” Unloading her shorty at the monster to get it off Sonata’s tail, the rounds create small poofs of dust, but no noticeable damage or even a drop of blood.
“Get out of there you two! That’s no ordinary Cyclops! That’s a stone Cyclops!” Kira yells charging at the monster. She couldn’t believe she’d be facing one of them again after so many years.
“Kira look out!” Mac yells as another Cyclops came barreling out of the forest. The second Cyclops grabbing Kira around the waist swinging her wildly about. She struggles in the monster’s grip unraveling her hair in the process and freeing one of the ornament chopsticks she used to tie her hair bun. Grabbing the metal stick between her teeth Kira stabs the chopstick in the monster's big eye, prompting it to release her. She fell and rolls across the ground, drawing her swords as she rose back to her feet.
“Be wary, they like to hunt in packs,” Kira warns, mentally kicking herself for not remembering that. Her old age must be worse than she thought.
The cyclops rose up recovering from her surprise attack, its eye glowing red and Kira knew what was coming.
“Dodge now!”
A beam of fire shot out of the cyclops eye, burning the earth and leaving a smoldering hot trail of fire in its wake. Mac and Aria split up, Aria dragging Sonata with her as Mac got the cyclops’s attention by shooting at it, his bullets leaving nothing but little chips in the Stone cyclops’s skin.
“Kira, info please,” Mac shouts as the cyclops chase after him, stone fists swinging wildly as the monster continuously fired its magic beam. “How do we stop these things?”
“You have to destroy the eye or smash it hard enough to turn it to dust, but… wait Mac don’t do that!” Kira screams as Mac ponied up and charges the cyclops, the horn on the monster’s head glows creating a dome of blue around its body, Mac entered the dome, his ears and ponytail disappearing when he did. Mac stood confused. Until the Cyclops starts to swing at him again. Forcing him to make a tactical retreat, while firing his gun over his shoulder.
“What happening? Why can’t I use my magic?”
“The horns on the cyclops’ head produce an anti-magic field! You have to have magic on par with the princesses to counter it!”
“That’s just perfect! What do we do now?”
Kira smirks as lightning dances along the edge of her blade, growing ears, a tail, and horns on top her head she let loose a blade of lightning from her sword that sliced one of the cyclopes in half.
“You leave this to me!” Kira charges in faster than anyone could follow, moving like lightning she cuts the legs off the remaining cyclops making it fall flat on its face. She then proceeds to cut off its horn and then its arms when it tried to grab her. Kneeling down, eyes like a raging storm, Kira grabs the Cyclops’s eyelid and held it shut so it couldn’t use its magic beam. The cyclops let loose a terrible roar of pain as it burned the inside of its own eye.
“I never thought I would see one you again,” she sneers tightening her grip on the monsters eye as it wallowed in pain. “You’re a not a natural monster, nor a well-known one in history. I wonder who made you then? If you weren’t so stupid I would be skewering your guts out with my sword for information, but we both know that would be a waste of time. I’ll finish this quick.”
Kira releases her grip and stabs the cyclops in the eye, the blade going down the cyclops brain into the throat before finally hilting when it pierced the heart. Kira rips the blade free with a savage tug, her hand, and weapon covered in gore.
Mac carefully approaches Kira never seeing her act so… savage… but that wasn’t what was bothering him so much as how calm she looked about the whole thing, looking as if she just opened a soda can.
“You ok Kira?” He asked keeping a good distance from her. Kira took a deep breath then exhaling, her shoulders slumping as her muscles relax. She pulls a white cloth from her kimono and cleans the blood off her blade in a rhythmic fashion that said this was a regular thing for her. Once her swords were clean. Kira sheath them and turns to the rest of the group, looking as grandmotherly as she ever did.
“Sorry if I frightened you all,” Kira said appearing embarrassed, an odd emotion given the situation thought Mac. “It’s been a long time since I have needed call upon such power, let alone against a Stone Cyclops. How I hate these creatures.”
“Understandable,” replies Mac.
With the matter of how terrifying Kira was behind them. Mac walks over to Aria who was helping Sonata. The blue siren was covered in cuts and bruises and looking like hell. Her clothes were barely rags and she had a bite mark that ran from shoulder to shoulder.
“What happened?” He asked gently, taking note of the coat on the ground next to her, it looked kind of familiar.
Shaking and with tears rolling down her face as relief flooded her body Sonata answered, “I was searching through the campgrounds last night when these… things attacked me! I ran and ran and I… I ran into a family camping. I-I-I got them killed. I tried to save them, but the monsters just torn through the camper and… and…” Sonata’s cries worsen and she began to hiccup as she talked. “They ate them. They tore the parents apart and then… they ate the kids… then they tried to eat me! I don’t know how, but I could feel the teeth sinking into my body and then… nothing! Everything just went black and I woke up with this coat on me and then more Cyclops showed up. I’m… I’m just so happy to see you guys!”
Sonata flung her arms around Aria, the pink siren looking very uncomfortable as she tried to calm her fellow siren down, though it seem to have little effect as Sonata dug her face into Aria’s shirt, staining it with her tears.
“There, there,” Aria awkwardly said, trying to reassure the crying siren. “You’re ok. You’re safe.”
Picking up the coat Mac waves Kira away from the two sirens, wanting to give them some space. They walk a few dozen feet away, laying the coat out on the ground so they could get a better look at it. The coat was indeed familiar to not just Mac, but also Kira, as it was a patroller’s jacket. Complete with the unicorn skull and wings emblem and number on the sleeve.
“0013, I assume that’s a friend of yours Kira,” asks Mac trying to read the patroller’s expression. He was expecting shock or maybe a confession that she wasn’t just here on vacation like she said, but not confusion. “Kira, what’s wrong?”
Kira looked pale as she held the jacket in her hands, staring hard at the number stitched on the jacket. They were indeed 0013.
“Yes,” she said sighing while looking exhausted. She was certainly feeling her age after that little rampage. “0013 is a friend, his name was Shadow Specter, and he was a brave and dependable pony.”
“Was… is he dead?”
Kira shook her head, “I don’t know. He has been declared MIA… a thousand years ago. We had believe he had been captured by the griffons, yet when the war was over he was nowhere to be found. Still, I cannot say for sure it is him based solely on this evidence.”
Mac looks at his own jacket, wondering if there was someone else like him running around, a child of a lost night patroller, “You think he gave his jacket to someone else before it ended up on Sonata?”
“Maybe, I can’t say for certain, but I fear our trouble with the Stone Cyclops may not be over,” Kira told Mac ushering him back towards Sonata and Aria, a grim expression marking her aged face.
“What’s the matter,” he asked keeping pace.
“I just remembered Stone Cyclops usually travel in groups of four or more.”
The sound of gunfire erupts through the forest, followed by screams. The sound was coming from the police barricade!
“Shit let’s move!” Mac yells charging head, phone in hand as he tries Adagio’s cell. The phone rang and rang, but she didn’t pick up. He cursed and sprints faster. He had to save his fiance!
The shit really the fan now, thought Adagio as she ducks into the bushes, her teeth grit in frustration as she watch the scene play out before her. Monsters, the likes of which she has never seen before on Earth or Equestria were rampaging through the police line. The officers were in complete disarray and panicking at the sight of the gray skinned Cyclops, four in total, the monsters advancing quickly upon them with no mercy. Snatching up any officer too afraid or too stupid to run and devouring them in a gory fashion.
Adagio about lost her lunch as the sight of it, but forced it back down. In her hands she held a pistol she took from a dead officer and her cellphone which was cracked and broken. Destroyed when she had gotten out of the truck to talk to the officers. In the panic that followed the cyclops arrival, an officer ran into her sending her phone flying against a nearby boulder, snapping the flip phone in half upon the impact.
“Form up!” One of the leading officers yells as the officers positioned their cars into a barricade like Adagio has seen on TV, with the officers taking up a defensive position behind their squad cars and pulling out the more heavy duty weapons, such as AR-15’s and shotguns.
The four Cyclops did not halt in their advancement, nor did the officers warn them to stop like they did with humans. The police open fire, unleashing a wall of hot lead into the air, sadly the bullets did little in terms of stopping the Cyclops as their grayish skin was revealed to be stone.
When the Cyclops eyes began to glow, Adagio knew something bad was going to happen and she was quickly proven right as the Cyclops began shooting beams of fire from their eyes, laying waste to the police defensives.
“Ma’am you gotta get out of here!” One officer yells stumbling on her hiding spot as he ran from the fireball that was his squad car. She rolls her eyes and grabs his face, planting a kiss on his cheek and taking what little magic he had. He collapse to the ground, unconscious but alive, sadly he did not have an enough magic to give her a full transformation. She had pony ears, but no wings.
Fists tight Adagio ran past the fleeing officers, who stopped running as she passed them by, some of them screaming for her stop and turn around, but she ignores them. This was her job. Gun still clutched in her right hand Adagio jumps off the hood of a squad car, leaping higher than any human could into the air and unloaded the entire clip into one of the cyclops' eye. The monster sways and staggers. Landing on the ground Adagio rolls to break her fall and ends up in the river.
The water was shallow only ankle deep, but the river was wide enough to give her plenty of water to work with. Raising her hands Adagio summons a wall of water. The cyclops hesitate. That didn’t last long as one of the cyclops reached out and touch the water, the barrier easily giving to its touch. The water did slow them down and also prevent them from firing their magic beams, but it would also stop any bullets fired at them.
“Get ready for when they come out! Aim for their eyes as they exit the water and don’t stop for anything!” She shouts at the police. One of the sergeants nods, ordering the remaining officers to set up for the attack. She was happy they were in too great a shock state to question her; hopefully, her hair hid her ears enough that they didn’t draw attention. She was already bending water to her will, having ears would not help her case once this was over.
The Stone Cyclops emerge from the water slowly, the rapid current of the wall up slowing them down. One emerge before the others and the police opened fire, blowing chunks of stone off its body as they let loose a concentrated barrage of lead. The cyclops flails and screams as it covers its face with its hands. The other three kept coming. The police divert their fire. In doing so allowed the fourth to recover and keep charging, it’s eye a mangled mess of gore.
(At least it can’t fire its magic like that) Adagio thought with some relief, but really what was one when there were still three to deal with?
Bending the water Adagio creates two tridents, one in each hand, and threw them at the approaching cyclops. One trident missing completely, while the other cut off a piece of a cyclops head. The cyclops roared and whined looking directly at her. She gulps and summons up more water as the horn atop the cyclops head began to glow, the water she had been gathering fell with a splash the ground. Her ears disappearing. She wasn’t even going she-demon despite the obvious danger.
“Anti-magic, shit,” she curses running back for the police line. Not that it was gonna help her, but they would make some good meat shields as cruel as it may sound. Her need to protect her unborn overruling the officers lives, and if she needs to use these brave souls to survive then so be it. They would do the same if pushed, it was just instinct.
“Adagio!”
She stops and turns around with a smile on her face as relief floods her system, “Mac!”
“Run!”
And the smile was gone, “I know that! What do you think I was doing?” She screams back as she resumes her mad sprint to safety. Weaving through the police lines and she heads for the truck. Guessing they would want to make a quick getaway after it was all said and done.
Mac, Aria, and Sonata ran parallel to one another, the two sirens quickly stealing bits of Mac’s magic via a kiss on the cheek, taking enough to get the full transformation, wings, ears, and ponytails in all. They took to the sky letting loose a duet ear piercing shrieks that shatters the cyclops with the ruined eye to dust. They gave each other high fives for the victory.
“Payback time you big meanies!” gleefully cries Sonata as she bends river water into two spiraling discs of water and threw them at another cyclops cutting off its arms.
“Stop fooling around and take them out before they can use their horns!” Aria yells creating a sword of boiling hot water with it, she cleaves off the armless cyclops' legs and like a tree it fell to the ground. With the big eye level to her, Aria ran her sword through the cyclops' filling its body with boiling water, the monster flounders on its belly as red water burst out from under its skin, giving a final drawn out groan before slumping to the ground.
Aria steps back and admires her handy work, “That’s two!”
“Roger that, keep the officers safe, we’ll deal with these two.” Mac nods to Kira, who nods back. Together they ran at the remaining cyclops with Mac firing his pistol to get their attention. They were instantly on him with fire dancing in their eyes as they prepare to fire their magic beams. Kira took the moment to transform and cut off their cut off their horns. The magical limbs hit the ground with a loud “Thump”.
“I’ll finish this,” Mac declares ponying up. He ran up to the cyclopes, who were clutching the top of their heads, crying out in pain over the loss of their horns. Tightening his fists Mac forms spheres of orange magic and jumps punching one cyclops in the head, reducing it to dust and gore. Jumping off the shoulder of the cyclops he just slain, Mac lands on the other and did the same, ending the battle.
Landing on the ground Mac took a calming breath and reverts to normal, as did the others, and they all stare dumbly at the line of police officers still aiming their guns at them. The four stood together wondering what was going to happen next. Mac saw Kira’s hand twitching for her swords and he moves in front of her to block the police’s view. He couldn’t have them thinking she was a threat. Ok, she was probably the most dangerous one here, but he knew if the police tried to threaten Kira, she would probably kill them.
Aria steps closer whispering, “What do we do Mac?”
He frowns and says, “I don’t know. Never really thought about what would happen if we got caught.”
That wasn’t true. He had thought about what could happen if they were caught in public like this and he didn’t like where it most likely ended. Canterlot High was bizarrely accepting of magic and the craziness that came with it. The rest of the world probably would never be ready.
“Do we run into the forest?” Sonata suggested. “Maybe we can get away and have Adagio pick us up? She did run for the truck right? She should be able to get out of here; it’s not the first time she’s had to out drive the cops.”
Yes, it was going to be wonderful explaining why his wife to be had fingerprints matching fingerprints recorded in the fricken 1920s! He had to calm down. The police weren’t reacting, but that wouldn’t last forever, maybe they should just run for the woods or maybe he should have faith in his fellow man and try to talk it out with them…
Mac made up his mind.
“We’re going for the woods. Someone got a cell phone to call Adagio with?” Aria nods patting her pants pocket. “Good, slowly back towards the woods. No sudden movements. Their already jumpy, we don’t need to give them a reason to shoot.”
“Um… Mac?”
“Yes Sonata?”
“The woods may not be an option after all.”
Mac turned around, “Why-oh fucking hell!” There were more Cyclopes at least sixteen of them!
“You all get over here!” A policeman yelled. “We’ll cover you!”
Mac grabs Aria and Sonata by the hand pulling them as he ran, the cyclops were too close to try and pony up without running the risk of getting hit and he had a feeling getting hit by one of those things was not pleasant.
Sonata cries, “What about Kira?”
“Isn’t she… Kira, what are you doing? Come on! You gotta get out of there!” Kira stood alone against the cyclops hoard, swords drawn and crackling with lightning. Mac quickly tosses Sonata and Aria to the officers and began to run back to Kira to back her up. Ponying up as he ran. However, before he could make it halfway back something strange happened. One of the cyclops stopped dead in its tracks, its body going rigged as its gray skin blackened with silver fire coming from its eye.
Kira smiles at the strange cyclops, “So, you are here.”
The black cyclops roars pivoting on it's heel, smashing its massive fist into the cyclops beside it. The others seems to be shocked by their comrade’s betrayal. The rouge cyclops attacking without mercy, crushing heads and breaking his brethren apart piece by piece till only he remained. The cyclops then did something even crazier. It crushed its own head.
“I was not ready for today,” an officer said as he walked up beside Mac. Mac looks him over, reading the officer badge, it read Red Alert.
“Neither was I,” Mac replies, sensing that the threat was finally over. “And I’m used to this kind of shit.” He and the officer exchange looks. Officer Red Alert looking conflicted. He looks at his fellow officers and then to the ones that didn’t make it.
“That could have just as well been me,” he said indicating one of the fallen officers. “If it wasn’t thanks to you guys; though I don’t know what I’m gonna tell the chief and their families.”
“Bear attack,” Mac told him. Red Alert chuckles humorlessly, nodding as he wipes away his tears. .
“Doesn’t explain the cars, but I doubt they would believe the truth. Dash cams aren’t working either, almost like they got hit with an EMP or something.”
“Magic tends to do that. We go through a lot of cell phones.”
Red Alert laughs, though his knees were shaking, “Magic huh… I liked it more when it was just for show.”
“So did I,” Mac replies, his eyes wary of the officer. “What are planning to do with us?”
An awkward silence came between them as the four wait for the officer’s response. Red Alert looks back to his fellow officers, seeming speaking through some sort of mental link as an older looking officer nods.
“I think… I’m going to go check on my men. I’d suggest you all get out of here before the ambulance arrives.”
Mac took the hint and nods his thanks. Together he and Aria carry Sonata toward the direction of their vehicles. They need to get Sonata to Nurse Nyx. She was the only one who wouldn’t ask questions about Sonata’s injuries.
“No car chase then,” Asked Adagio sitting in the driver’s seat of the truck.
“Not yet,” he said helping Sonata into Aria’s car. After making sure she was safely strapped in he told Aria to bring her to Nyx, Aria gave him an “I know” look and drove off, leaving Adagio, Kira, and him coughing on dust as she sped away. With nothing else for them to do here, Mac got in the truck taking the wheel from Adagio. Kira took the passenger side window, Adagio’s usual seat, Adagio huffs and huddles closer to him and grabs his arm.
As Mac put the truck into drive he couldn’t help but wonder how they were going to tell Maddie that her car got blown up. On that note how was he going to replace all the weapons, ammo, and equipment? That stuff wasn’t cheap.
Taking a calming breath Mac reminded himself that it was only stuff, what was important was Sonata was alive, hurt, but alive. That being said they had a real mystery on their hands this time, what with the hail attacking Gilda yesterday and the portals spitting out more powerful monsters. Things are probably going to get busy again.
From the other side of the truck, Kira sighs looking directly at him. “Are you not going to ask?”
“Ask what?” Mac shot back.
“About the Stone Cyclops and Shadow Specter, I know you want to.”
Mac looks at Adagio and then to Kira, “I was thinking about it. You seem very familiar with them. You fought them before I assume?”
Kira nods, “Yes, many times, many, many years ago. I’m afraid of what their presence could mean.”
“Why is that? They’re just monsters right?”
“They’re not just any monster Mac,” Kira said with a hint of anger in her voice, not something Mac was used to hearing from the white patroller, or Adagio as she scooched further away from Kira. “Stone Cyclops are not born, they are made, and there were only two ponies that knew how to make them and both are dead. One of them you know very well.”
“Madhoof,” Mac said knowing it could be no one else, because why not, he never met him but the bastard sure seemed hell bent on screwing with his life from beyond the grave.
“Correct.”
Mac cursed. He really didn’t want to get involved with Madhoof again, despite keeping the man’s daughter on his farm as a… consultant… though prisoner might be a more accurate description.
“I’ll talk to Maddie and see what she knows about this. What are you going to do in the meantime? Are you coming back with us to the farm or do you want to go back to Equestria? I can drop you off at the school if you want.”
“I think I’ll stick around. With young Sonata injured you are down a comrade, thus I will fill her role. I was getting bored of vacationing anyway.”
“Fine by me,” Mac mutters gratefully, happy to have the extra help, seemed they were going to need it. “So what about that rogue Cyclops since we’re on the subject? Was that your friends doing?
Kira nodded, “Yes, it was.”
“Not a very talkative fellow. He didn’t even show himself.”
“Shadow Specter has always been very reserved,” Kira remarked resting her chin on her arm. “When he is ready to show himself he will. I wouldn’t worry about it, though I wonder why he is here.”
The rest of the trip was in silence with only Adagio’s soft snores and the radios tunes to fill the air as Mac drove them back to the Canterlot.
Mac carries Adagio to their bed and laid her down, her arms clinging to his neck refusing to let go. He chuckles and pries her hands-free laying them beside her and pulls the blankets over her. Quietly Mac exits the bedroom and went to the kitchen to have a glass of milk.
As he held the cold glass in his hand he took notice of the clock, which read eleven. They had stayed awhile at the hospital to check on Sonata, who was under the tender care of Nurse Nyx, who assured them the blue siren would be up in a few days, though still sore. Nyx seem to have a knack for some sort of healing magic it seemed. Whatever the cause Mac was just happy Sonata was in the best of care and Maddie couldn’t leave the farm to bother Nyx.
Mac slips at his milk deep in thought. A pair of arms snaking around his shoulders, surprising him, “Can’t sleep?” His wife whispers huskily in his ear. With the other two gone it was only a matter of time before Adagio would want to take advantage of that fact.
“Kira is sleeping upstairs you know,” he drawls, though he didn’t mind the advances, it’s been a long stressful day. Some stress relief would be nice.
Adagio smiles coyly as she laid a trail of kisses down the side of his neck, “I seem to recall a certain private pond out in the woods. Care to take me there instead?”
“Well, I can’t say it wouldn’t be nice to see you soaked and wet again,” Mac suggests, his face burning bright red. He was not good with romantic talk, so he decided to just go straight for the kill and kiss her, locking lips in a battle that was bound to end in the bed.
Mac picks Adagio up bridal style, carrying her towards the bedroom and gently laid her down, mindful of her stomach. She smiles greedily at him as he lay down beside her when…
“Is this really the only sleepwear you have?” Kira asks standing in the doorway in long tee-shirt and sweat pants, effectively killing the mood, both man, and wife to be burned red, one with embarrassment and the other anger as they roll into a cocoon of blankets.
“Should have gone to the pond,” Adagio mutters angrily with disappointment at the lost mood. She turns over on her side in a huff, leaving Mac to deal with their house guest.
“I… uh… don’t know,” Mac admits not knowing what female sleepwear they had around the house. He knew what Adagio liked to wear, but that was out of the question, especially since her sleepwear could get a little spicy. “Check Sonata and Aria’s closets, I’m sure they won’t mind.”
“I will make do, I am sorry for the intrusion, please carry on and don’t mind me. You would not believe how many times I have done this with my own kids.” She laughs walking away, leaving Mac with an unrecognizable feeling in his gut as he laid his head down to rest. This was why he didn’t want a girlfriend till he moved out of Granny Smiths; it was for this exact reason and it still happened.
“That officer was right; I was not ready for today.”
Mac rolls in the bed he wraps his arm around Adagio, holding her close. Whatever tomorrow may bring it he could get by with her by his side.
“Don’t forget Applebloom is coming tomorrow to stay with us while Granny’s on vacation and Applejack at camp,” Adagio yawns settling back into her pillow.
Mac sighed, he might not be ready for tomorrow after all.
Applebloom sat in her chair staring at the other occupants of the table. This was the first time she’s ever eaten at the family farm with a family. Mac and Adagio sat in what she assumes would be her parent's places discussing the farm finances and what not. She sat at the opposite side of them with Kira and Aria between them. There was a strange air in the room that said something wasn’t right, making her feel uncomfortable, like this wasn’t the best time for her to be here.
“Where’s Sonata?” She asks having not seen a single blue hair of the goofy blue siren since her arrival.
“In the hospital,” Aria said between bites and her coffee. “I’m gonna take a load of product to town and go check on her at noon. I’m planning on only working the morning today.”
From his spot Mac nods as he partook in his own coffee, “That’s fine. I’m taking Maddie and Kira up to the Cloudsdale area again. Maddie’s got a couple spots she wants to check out.”
“I guess that leaves you and me to hold down the fort,” Adagio said smiling at Applebloom, though it seemed a bit forced to the preteen. “I’m sure we’ll have lots of fun.”
“Don’t trouble yourself on my account, yawl seem to be busy today. I’ll just stay out of your way. Actually, if it will help. I could do the chores while Mac’s gone,” Applebloom said excitedly. Wanting to be of help. Mac and Adagio exchange looks seeming to be speaking only through facial gestures that end with Mac sighing and Adagio smiling.
“Fine,” said Mac as he got up from the table. “But Adagio will be supervising you. We’ll try to be back before tomorrow if we’re not at least try to get Applebloom to school on time. ”
Adagio rolls her eyes, “Yes, dear.”
They kiss making Applebloom’s cheeks burn as she looks away, wondering if this how her parents acted when they were alive. When she looks back everyone else was gone except for Adagio who wore a Cheshire grin on her lips.
“So… what do you want to do with Aunt Adagio today?”
“You’re not my Aunt, you’re my sister in law.”
“Right, right, what do you want to do with big sister Adagio? We have guns, video games, cars, and three hundred acres of freedom.”
“Since when does Mac play video games?”
Adagio chuckles, “Mac? No, no he doesn’t play. I play. It helps kill time since I CAN”T DO ANYTHING NOW THAT I’M PREGNANT!” She yells out the window at Mac, who only waves as he got into the truck. Noticing Applebloom’s freaked out expression Adagio fake coughs and resumes smiling, “Sorry, mood swings. Anyways Luna gave me the consul and we play from time to time online. Anyway, what do you want to do?”
Applebloom taps her chin in thought, unable to decide. This was the first time she would be spending more than hour with her new sister in law and she really wants to do something they could both enjoy so they could bond. At least that’s what the book “How do get along with your in-laws” said.
“What do you want to do?”
The Cheshire grin returns as Adagio leans down, circling Applebloom like a shark. “Hmm… I think being a bit fashion inclined today, I should get you a new outfit. Faded yellow tee shirts and jeans may be fine for chores, but you need something a little nicer to attract boys.”
“I’m only 13.”
“Two years from hormone town, enjoy that by the way, and some advice, stay away from boys inclined to tap dancing. They tend to get a little fruity as they age.”
Applebloom could only stare wide-eyed at Adagio, “I’m gonna be learning a bunch of stuff Granny and Applejack probably don’t want me to know yet aren’t I?”
Adagio laid her hand on Applebloom’s head and shrugs, “Probably, why? Too scared to take a turn down the darker side?”
“No, but can I invite my friends?”
“Why not, you call them, I’ll get the car keys. We’re going to the city!”
Applebloom excitedly shouts, “Alright!” and ran for the phone. Quickly she dials the numbers for Sweetie and Scootaloo. She got a hold of them and told them the plan and… they couldn’t make it.
“Ready to go squirt?” Adagio asks jingling her keys. When she didn’t get a reply she look down to see Applebloom chest fallen. She had a pretty good guess about what happened. “Friends couldn’t make huh?”
Applebloom nods, “Sweetie is stuck with her parents in Manehatten and Scootaloo is set to go for a skateboard competition.”
“I see, well we’ll just have to have triple the fun. Come on, I’ll let you pick the music.”
A smile crept back to Applebloom’s face as she follows Adagio out to the car. Settling down in the passenger’s seat of the Chevy she took note of how new it was.
“When did you get this car?”
“Last night,” Adagio answers turning the key. “Maddie went and bought it after she found out her car got blown up. Good thing I know where she keeps her keys.”
“Maddie’s car blew up? How?”
“Monster attack,” Adagio answers turning into the driveway. “Just another day in life.”
“I don’t think exploding cars are suppose to be a part of normal life,” Applebloom mutters tuning the radio. She wondered what kind of music Adagio likes as she browse the stations. Eventually, she stopped on a country station. Looking at the siren with anticipation and was surprised to hear her humming along with the song.
“What? Didn’t think I would like country?”
“Well… yeah… you kind of always had a pop song kind of feel.”
“It’s nice to hear some different music, but you can’t live a thousand years where the best music at times was a minstrel with a three string. Trust me I was happy to hear anything after that.”
“Huh, I never thought of it like that, did you meet anyone famous?”
“Oh Applebloom, I didn’t just meet them,” Adagio grins she went into full details of her past, the rich, juicy details.
“So where are we going, Maddie?” Mac asks as he took the exit for Cloudsdale. He was really starting to think they should have gotten a hotel. Three-hour drives back to back was not fun or healthy for that matter. On the other hand, he had a feeling the surviving deputies wouldn’t want to see him around town again too soon. They might assign blame to him and the others for what happen to their friends or they might think something was going to happen again and want to help. Frankly, he’s seen enough dead bodies this week.
He adjusts his baseball cap trying to hide his face as much as possible, even going so far as to dawn a pair of sunglasses. On the other side of the truck seat, Kira was dressed in more earth style clothes, a tee shirt, jeans and boots, her kimono packed away for safe keeping back at the farm. Kira’s swords were currently packed away in a baseball bat case, so the police wouldn’t see them. If there was one person they were bound to remember it was Kira, sword wielding women were not a common sight after all.
Between them sat Maddie, who was dressed as always and currently peering over a map and notes. Growling every time he turns the wheel and accidently bumps her with his elbow sending her pen off in a random direction.
“Mac, I know you like trucks. I know you have a valid reason for owning a truck as you need it for your work, but would it be so much to ask for you purchase a four-door or even extended cab pickup truck? You’re not a small man to begin with, and you seem to be picking up more and more passengers every week. What are you going to do when your child is born and you need to take more than two people and the baby?”
“If you got thirty thousand dollars I’m game for a new truck, get a catalog and Adagio and I will talk about it.” He sarcastically said turning into a gas station. “I gotta fill up; you two go get some drinks and snacks for the road and a map of the area. Also, where did you say we were going again?”
Maddie groan, “We’re going south of town towards Everfree state park, about fifty miles north of where your sister and her friends are camping, which is Camp Everfree by Lake Everfree.”
“Everfree uh, quite the coincidence,” chuckles Kira as she got out of the pick-up.”
“Why’s that,” asks Mac as he opens the gas tank. Maddie sighs and rubbing her temple, while Kira laugh.
“The portals from Equestria are opening in Everfree and we are now going to our world’s mirror of that forest. I’m sure the most wonderful of creatures will be roaming the forest. Creatures that I just want to nail the table and cut into…” Maddie notice the stares coming her way. “Right um… I’m gonna go get a snickers.”
The Everfree forest, how could he have forgotten that was the cause or at least one of the causes of all this monster business? To be fair to his intelligence he had only heard that once or twice a few months ago, not surprising he forgot.
Mac suddenly realize something very important, “Applejack is in a forest that most likely has something magical in it isn’t she.”
Kira could only shrug as she left to check out the inside of the gas station. Leaving him to lean against the truck and watch the price meter go up and up. He had hoped Applejack would get a little time away from all the magic business like she wanted. Somehow he doubts that was going to happen.
“At this rate she could have just stayed home.”
The recent months before last Friday have been pretty calm as far as monster attacks have gone. Sure there had been some activity, but nothing like those cyclops, just a few timber wolves or some stray beasts with names he didn’t bother to remember. Anything that’s solution wasn't to blow it apart with a shotgun wasn’t worth remembering really and he had gotten pretty comfortable with how his life had changed.
After Friday he began to wonder about that age old question that’s was always digging at the back of his mind. If that was what he had to deal with, then was it Applejack and her friends had to deal with? Or could they even deal with it? His dad had said it in his tapes; Applejack was probably destined to fight magical threats, such as the sirens and Sunset and even the stuff with the friendship games. Mac knew his lot was to deal with grunts of the magical threats. Now he wondered what the bosses were like.
What was worse is before she left for her trip Applejack told him she’s been thinking about helping him and the sirens with the monsters. Something he was struggling to process. As her big brother he wants her nowhere near any magical stuff, but that wasn’t happening, of course. So he wants to limit what she did deal with, but was that really helping her?
There was something to be said about practice makes perfect. Applejack helping hunt monsters would defiantly polish her skills and make her more powerful and more capable of dealing with threats. Yet on the flip side of that argument was the more she hunts the higher the chance was she would get hurt or killed. Hell, Sonata was in the hospital right now and she hunts all the time!
“You just gonna stare at the pump Mac or what?”
The tank was full and probably has been from Maddie’s hands on hips posture. He quickly replaces the handle and took his receipt. Once inside he ignores Maddie’s questioning gaze, if she wasn’t gonna ask, he wasn’t gonna tell.
“What road do we need?”
“Highway 20,” she replied breaking out the map. The rest of way was ridden in silence save for Kira’s munching on her candy bar and Maddie’s directions till they arrived at their destination, Camp Crystal Lake, and he suddenly had a real bad feeling about the place.
“Of every fucking lake in the state, we had to end up here,” he cursed as they got out of the truck.
Maddie was grinning ear to ear as she jumped down beside him, “Watched Friday the 13th too many times? Don’t worry Mac nobody has been murdered with a machete or anything else since the early 1900s here. So no masked killer I’m afraid.”
“First movie didn’t have a mask killer,” Mac said, remembering the first movie. Although Maddie did have a point, this place defiantly wasn’t some deserted campground that some killer would be stalking. There were plenty of people around here. “Alright, Maddie what do we do?”
“According to my computers there have been a number of portals appearing, but nothing’s been crossing the boundaries between worlds.”
“Meaning?”
She looked right at him, her eyes deadly serious, “Meaning either something was so weak it was too afraid to cross or something was too big to fit in the portal.”
“What strange technology you have in this world,” Commented Kira looking over Maddie’s shoulder as the former mad scientist produce her laptop from her bag. “By what means to you discover these details?”
“It going to be like explaining to cavewoman, but I’ll give it a try,” Maddie said, Mac really hoping Kira didn’t take offense. “Using man-made satellites I can find portal signals since portals are nothing but massive of energy they register as spikes of electricity and when something crosses through they spike and then close. The portals in this park are strange, though. Nothing has come through yet and the number of portals is decreasing, but they’re also getting bigger and more powerful.”
Mac looks out across the vast forest and to the families camping, completely oblivious to the coming danger. He wants to keep it that way.
“What are the chances something big is coming through?”
Maddie types some keys, biting her lip as she worked, “I can’t say for sure. Those cyclopes came through multiple small portals all at once. So to clarify no, I can’t tell what’s coming through. Believe it or not, those cyclopes only had as much magic as two timber wolves each. I’ll work on making power chart for monsters later, but right now I can say with sixty percent certainty that something is going to come through that portal when it hit its peak.”
Mac frowns, “How long till that happens?”
“A few hours, I’d say by eight tonight.”
“It’s three now,” Mac grumbled looking at his watch. He hadn’t been prepared for the cyclops last time. This time he was going to be ready. “You two stay here and try and find the quickest route to the portal and then come back here. I’ll be back.”
Maddie looks up from her screen as Mac walked towards the pickup, “Where are you going?”
“The gun store.”
Applebloom set her tray down on a vacant table, her mouth watering at the sight of the giant slice of pizza and jumbo sized garlic bread sticks. Who knew shopping could make you so hungry? Beside her legs was at least half a dozen bags, all from different stores. Some were for her, the rest were for Adagio. She wondered who they were actually shopping for if not for the fact the siren dolled her up with just about every outfit that caught her eye. She appreciate the siren’s clearly vast knowledge on clothes, but like Rarity’s advice to Applejack, it was probably for not in the end.
“Then again, Sis has been bringing home more clothes lately. I wonder if Rarity is finally getting to her.”
“Probably,” Adagio said seeking up on Applebloom, smiling as the young Apple tried to get her heart to settle down. “You sister is getting to that age is all. She may not know it or even like it, but she’ll want to start appearing… more feminine. Not that she probably couldn’t get anyone she desired, take this to heart Applebloom, men have very low standards when it comes to beauty. Lower than you might believe.”
“What about the fashion magazines that Rarity and Sweetie are always reading?”
Adagio laughed, “And who reads fashion magazines? Guys? Let me just say if a guy was reading it’s not for the words on the page. Fashion magazines are for women, made by women.”
“Is any of this relevant?”
“Probably not, I just assumed you’d be looking for girly advice, since Applejack is so ill adept at it and Granny Smith is old fashioned and old in general. Though I guess I’m technically older.”
Applebloom took a bite of her pizza instead of replying. She was learning a lot from Adagio. She didn’t know if was good, but she was learning. She knew what the color of her underwear meant now and how to apply makeup better and color coordination when picking clothes.
“So… what do we do now? I think I’m pretty well covered in new clothes and no offense so are you. Does Mac know you do this? This morning sounded like things were pretty tight around the farm.”
“Oh don’t worry about us,” Adagio reassured her, “this money is set aside just for me, I’m the one who earned after all.”
“You have a job? I mean besides helping with the farm sales and monster hunting?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to take a break from it as my belly grows a bit more, but from time to time I model for Rarity and her other fashion friends, like Explicit. I change my hair style and everything. Hell, I hardly recognize myself when I look at the pictures.”
“That sounds cool! Do you think I could do that too?”
(Not legally)
In her own best interest Adagio decided she was not going to be the one to send Applebloom down the dark path of modeling. Especially if Explicit was on the list of designers. That woman was so grabby.
“When your eighteen sure, now how about one more stop before we head home.”
“Ok, where to?”
Adagio peers around searching the stores, coming to a stop on a particular store, “How about something a little more your element, like Rough Riders.”
Before Applebloom could voice her opinion Adagio was already dragging her and their cargo to the country store. A smile gracing her lips as the siren took in all the cowgirl attire. She may have to take an outfit for herself before their done. A couple of things here would defiantly trip Mac’s trigger.
“Hmm, let’s start with something basic, put on this leather skirt and vest and take couple different button shirts with you. Also take some boots too, something with a little red, probably try for something Applejack like, but you at the same time and then we’ll move towards something your own style.” Adagio moved through the store like hurricane throwing a mountain of clothes into Applebloom’s tired arms. They literary walked across the store and already had enough clothes for two families of five with Applebloom finding herself stuffed in the changing room with it all. “Pick something out and I’ll judge.”
Applebloom gulped looking over a random article of clothing, uncertain what to try on first and what went with what. There were too many rules of fashion for her to remember. Tenderly she picks up a brown skirt and vest with a blue shirt. This seemed like a good start.
“So umm… how does it look?” Applebloom asked nervously stepping out of the booth. She could feel Adagio’s eyes wonder over her like a hawk’s. She wasn’t kidding when she said she would be judging. Applebloom hadn’t felt so judged since the first time she met Diamond Tiara.
Tapping her chin Adagio circles around her little sister in law like a shark, “Well, It’s not bad, but not outstanding either, defiantly a school day outfit. Normally you wear green shirts, so switching to blue would be a noticeable change at the very least. I might have you try on more jeans instead. The skirt would defiantly work nice on a date, but day to day, it’s not you. Try one of these darker green shirts, after that, we’ll try some yellow.”
“Can I get a belt buckle too?”
Adagio froze, surprised by the request as it was the first time Applebloom expressed interest for a particular item.
“Sure, why though?” Applebloom withers under Adagio’s questioning gaze, a light blush adorning her cheeks that really made her look cute in the siren’s mind.
“Well, in all of mom’s pictures she’s wearing a belt buckle and so is Applejack and you wear one now most of the time. I just… I just wanted to be more like you gals.”
Absent-mindedly Adagio touched her gold belt buckle with music note engraved on it. The buckle had been a gift from Mac and Applejack’s had been her mothers. Buckles were sort of an important gift in the Apple family. Usually only gifted for important events, the well-designed ones at least.
“Alright, yeah, I can get you a buckle in honor of our first bonding experience as sisters in laws,” Adagio said as she walked over to the glass case containing the buckles. “Which one do you want?”
Applebloom stares with her nose practically against the glass of the case in excitement, her eyes scanning the entire section before falling on a silver buckle with a shield design in the center.
“I want that one!” She excitedly pointed, “And do you think we can get an apple engraved on the shield?”
The clerk nods and removing the buckle from the case while silently passing out a number of apple designs for Applebloom to choose from. After choosing what kind of apple she wanted the clerk took the buckle away and told them it would be an hour or so for the engraving to be done.
“Well, looks like we got plenty of time to try on the rest of your clothes and maybe some of mine,” Adagio said as she planned how many outfits they could try on in an hour. It was getting late in the day and she’d wanted to be back at the farm before it got too late.
“Why don’t we both try on clothes at the same time, it would probably save us some time,” Applebloom suggested, to which Adagio agreed.
“I suppose that would be the best way to do it, I hadn’t planned to stay this late. Aria must be close to getting home by now. You go ahead and get started, I better call her quick.”
“Ok,” Applebloom said, though she stayed in place rocking back in forth on her toes, making Adagio stop dialing Aria’s number halfway.
“Now what?”
“Can I touch your belly?”
(She must have been holding that in all day.) Thought Adagio as she put her hand on her belly. Honestly, she was surprised no one else had tried to touch it today. Course she only had a slight bump, so it was probably hard to tell she was pregnant. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t noticed any feeling of hostility towards strangers she’s had when Mac wasn’t around. She looked curiously at Applebloom wondering if she was perhaps the cause of her not going she-demon and maybe why she was so comfortable with coming here in the first place. Did Applebloom have the same calming effect as Mac did? If so why doesn’t Applejack? Either way, this wasn’t the place to test theories.
“Maybe some other time,” She replied carefully, mindful of Applebloom’s feelings. “When the baby is more developed and starts kicking. I’m sure that would be much more exciting.”
“I suppose…” Applebloom said disappointedly.
(Don’t give in! Ignore others feelings! You can do it… stupid hormones and budding motherly feelings!)
“Fine, but only for a second.”
“Yay!”
(Yeah yay, I’m sure that’s how I’m gonna start the story off-)
“Done! Thanks, Adagio,” Applebloom cheered happily as she enters the changing room. Leaving Adagio a bit stunned.
(I… didn’t freak out…?)
“Oh right, better call Aria.”
Dialing Aria’s cell Adagio waits and waits for her to pick up, but she never did, instead she got her voice mail. Taking a deep breath Adagio calmly calls the house, no answer either. Anxiety was flaring up as she wondered what could have happened to Aria, but once again she reign herself in, biting hard on her lip to keep herself calm. There was one more place Aria could be. She dialed the number for the hospital, going to Nyx’s extension number.
The changeling nurse picked up right away, “Hello?”
“Is Aria there?”
“Yes, are you coming to pick her up? She’s sleeping on my office couch, with a rifle in her hands by the way. You guys are going to get me fired one day you know.”
“Sorry and no, she can stay there. She probably wouldn’t able to sleep at home without worrying about Sonata anyway.”
Nyx sighed on the other end of the line, “Fine, I’ll get a blanket. Sonata should be able to go home the day after tomorrow or even sooner. She’ll have to stay in bed, so no monster hunting for at least half a month or so.”
“Roger that and thanks, Nyx, we’ll try harder not go get you fired.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
She hung up.
“Well… she kind of has a point,” Adagio mutters as she put away her phone. The fickle relationship with their main medical associate aside, what should she try on first? Her gaze fell on a particular top, it had the feeling of 'yes' this is it.
Humming happy Adagio took the article of clothing into the changing room, already imagining the look on Mac’s face once he saw her in it. It was going to be picture worry.
In the parking lot of the mall, Adagio finish strategically placing the last bag of clothes in the trunk of the car. Plastic bags filled every square inch of the cargo space and she stood back with a satisfied grin.
“So… where is my stuff going to go?” Applebloom asked standing next to the smiling siren with an arm full of bags.
Adagio cursed, “Shit, I forgot… how much room is in the back seat?”
“Not much.”
“Which is plenty,” Adagio laughed off as she began to reorganize her bags in the back seat. She wasn’t used to shopping with other people still. Aira and Sonata usually didn’t get much or she didn’t let them get anything back when they were evil.
Now she felt bad. Maybe she should, no, she would get them all the birthday and Christmas presents they deserved! She was going to give them so many presents they wouldn’t want any more presents for the rest of their lives!
“Um, Adagio…”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Your smile is looking… kind of evil is all, just thought I would point that out.”
Adagio turns the rear view mirror for a better look, Applebloom was correct in saying it did look like her old mischievous smirk. She missed it.
“Don’t worry, I’m not planning anything bad,” she winks at the young Apple as she put the car in drive. “Now let’s get home.”
The drive home was filled with idle chatter with long stretches of silence. Neither girl really up to keeping up a conversation with how tired they were both feeling. So when they started spotting familiar landmarks, both were filled with the excitement of finally being home after a long day.
“Finally home,” Adagio sighed, the day finally catching up to her.
Together she and Applebloom unload the car, separating the bags by owners but deciding to leave the merchandise inside the bags for now.
Adagio looks at the clock as Applebloom let out a long tired yawn, “Ten o’clock, time for bed squirt.”
Tiredly Applebloom nodded, unwilling to fight sleep any longer. With a helping hand, Adagio led the tired preteen up the stairs and placed her in Applejack’s old room.
As the siren moved to leave Applebloom said, “I hope Mac will be ok, I’m kind of worried.”
“I’m sure he’ll be back in the morning, just like he said. Now get to bed, you have school tomorrow,” Turning off the lights Adagio walks down to her room and readied herself for bed, brushing her teeth and pulling her hair into a loose ponytail. She settles down under her blankets feeling none of the usual warmth. Longingly she looked to Mac’s empty spot grabbing his pillow and holding it close to her chest.
“You better be here when I wake up.”
Maddie paced restlessly back and forth, while Kira sat calmly against a tree. Both were waiting for Mac to return for the past few hours. Night has already fallen and the camp was completely dark, save for the few lingering fires and the lamp for the bathrooms. The two of them forced to hide in the brush from the camp officials.
“Where is he? We already scoped out the site, but it’s going to be hard to find out way back in the dark!”
“Calm yourself, Maddie,” Kira chided, she’s been listening to the mad scientist’s complaints the entire time they waited and they were starting to wear on her. Personally, she was amazed she could stand to sit, let alone work, with Madhoof’s daughter, the pony reasonable for creating her.
Part of her was rather thankful, as she would not exist without Madhoof’s unnatural merging of life. However, that process did include sacrificing not only a number of young foals but also dragons and any other manner of creature the mad scientist mixed in to create her. On top of all that he erased her memories and all the others, and sent them out into the wild to breed like livestock, living on scraps they stole from a town nearby the cave he dropped them in. On another bright side, they did meet Luna thanks to that and that by far had been one of the better moments of her life. Outside of marrying into the Nippon royal family and have foals of her own of course.
She only wished Sixes and those that froze themselves in stone had the chance to experience happiness like she had. She remembers how the black rinin acted during the Battle of Maredor, two years after Nightmare Moon’s banishment. He had been a different pony back then, bitter, angry, and brutal; it was nice to see him back to normal after Luna freed him from stone. Well, he was mostly back to normal. The others may not see it, but he still had that darker edge to him sometimes, like when he was about to kill Maddie.
Maddie yelled, “Hey!” Right into Kira’s ear, making the Rinin jump and grab the girl by the scruff her neck and snarl, fangs barred.
“Sorry, sorry, didn’t mean anything by it, I just wanted to tell you Mac’s here and you looked half asleep.” Maddie cautiously said, Kira’s claws poking her against her skin.
Kira let her go, “Sorry, I was thinking of something, something from a long time ago.”
“PTSD episode?”
Kira blinked, unfamiliar with the phrase, “Excuse me?”
Before Maddie could explain properly Mac entered the brush, a belt of bullets around his shoulder and large gun on his back.
“Sorry, I’m late. Had to sign a lot of paperwork.”
“Did you buy a fricken elephant gun?” Maddie points the large weapon in disbelief. “Where did you even find something like that?”
Mac rolls his eyes, “One this is America, two I already owned the gun, I just needed more ammo for it that wasn’t a hundred years old, three… ok, there isn’t a three. Regardless, let get going.”
“Says the guy that was late.”
“Complain later. Hopefully, we won’t need it.” Mac adjusts the strap on his shoulder for the gun, wanting to be able to draw it with as little trouble as possible. He really hoped it would be useful in the event they did need it. Also, he had to talk to Adagio when he got back home; she maxed out the credit card again. Hence the new credit card in his wallet. Fifty caliber rounds were not cheap at five bucks a shot; maybe he didn’t need a hundred rounds, but he would rather be five hundred dollars poorer than dead. Make that five fifty, he forgot the tax.
Trekking through the woods at night was not fun or at least not as much fun as people who trek in the woods at night say it is. There were numerous branches that scratched your face, creepy noises, and tree roots. Lots and lots of tree roots.
Mac growls as another branch caught his cheek, hot sticky blood stuck to his fingers as he rubs the sweat from his face. He really thought after all the nights hunting monsters in the woods he would be more adept at navigating the night, but it seems he was still just bumbling through everything like usual. On the other hand Kira, despite being in a different body, seemed right at home in the forest. She was making ground much faster than either he or Maddie.
“Oh God, I’m out of shape,” the mad scientist moaned. “I hate you for taking me off my diet.”
“I didn’t take you off anything, you just sit in front of your computer, and you have three hundred acres to exercise on, use them!”
“I’m a city girl, thank you very much, and none of you know how to make a salad!”
“What’s wrong with plain vegetables?”
“You’re barbaric; your dad was a freaking horse! Yet you hardly eat any greens!”
“You dad was a horse too, remember?” Mac retorted helping her over a fallen tree.
Maddie huffed, “Shut up.”
“I sense we are bonding,” chuckles Mac as he playfully pokes Maddie’s cheek, the mad scientist smacking his chest in retaliation, making Mac laugh even harder.
“You are oddly friendly to someone who was once your enemy,” Kira stated as Mac caught up with her. Before them lay the clearing they were searching for. So far the portal has yet to open, but there was a feeling of electricity in the air and that it wouldn’t be long before something happened.
Mac shrugged at the statement, “I suppose. We have a phrase here called forgive and forget. From the stories, Sunset tells of Equestria. I would have thought you guys base your entire lives around it. You seem to get along alright.”
“On the surface yes, Equestria seems like a fantasy world, but even if we all live in harmony it doesn’t mean every pony gets along all the time. Even to this day certain issues still persist in the underbelly of our society, issues that may never be solved.” Kira soberly stared ahead, but then smiled, “Still things are much better than before. I wish Sixes could have met you sooner.”
“Why’s that,” Mac asked curiously. What would it have mattered if had met Sixes sooner?
The moonlight illuminated Kira’s face, revealing her sadden expression, “He was very different from when you first met him, it wasn’t even that long ago really. He was… much harsher of a person. He had a hard time forgiving Celestia for sealing Luna in the moon. Before he sealed himself in stone he fought in the Battle of Maredor, a bloody, brutal battle filled with monsters the likes of which no pony had ever seen before. Monsters we could not let live, nor their creators.”
“Maredor, that was Adagio, Sonata, and Aria’s home, right?”
Kira nods, “Correct, the siren race was allied with the ponies of Maredor, as they lived off its coast. I fear nothing remains of it, nothing but rubble and ash. The ponies that ruled there were not ones that we could just forgive and forget I’m afraid.”
“Hate to break up the backstory, but we’re going to have company soon,” Maddie chimed in. Holding up her laptop, which was showing red flashing warning all over its screen, so that was probably bad.
In the clearing, a swirl of energy suddenly expanded and began to grow larger and larger. A loud crash and boom followed by a menacing roar shook the trees as something pounded against the wall between worlds. The flat surface of the portal stretched, a giant fist pushing against the fabric of reality and then disappeared flying back to the other side.
“Maddie, what’s happening?”
“How should I know, this is the first time I’m actually seeing something come through in real time, but if I had to guess I would say whatever owns that fist is trying to break the wall between worlds and cross over, not that it wasn’t obvious.”
Insults aside whatever was trying to get through was indeed big. Very, very big. The hand returned, this time it got through, it grabbed the edges of the portal and pulled itself through, what came through made Mac wish it had been a cyclops. This monster was at least twice as tall, covered in armor and barbs, with blood flowing down its limbs like a faucet as it screamed in horrible agony, its head completely encased in a thick black metal helm and its arms and legs bound in shackles with dangling broken bits of chains.
“What the hell is that,” Mac demanded as the monster turn towards them.
Kira gasps recognizing the monster; it was one she knew well, “A Gore… that’s a Gore! Brace yourselves!” She yells as the beast come barreling at them, its armored head breaking through tree trunks with ease.
Scrambling backward Kira grabs Maddie and Mac by the scruff of their shirts and tossing them out of the way. Barely drawing her swords in time to ram them between the gaps in the Gore’s armor plates. It didn’t slow down. The Gore kept charging taking her along for the ride as it barrels through the forest, sharp stones and splinters pelting Kira’s body as it did so.
Screaming madly Kira transforms, planting her feet in the ground, she force the Gore to turn back to the clearing. A tree trunk catching her wing as the Gore turned, breaking it. She screams but did not let go of her swords. Charging the blades with lightning she tried to fray the Gore’s insides, again the beast didn’t take notice.
“Kira!” Mac yelled emerging from the trees. He was trying to get a shot but was too worried about her to fire his weapon. There was no time for that.
“Fire! For Luna’s sake fire!” She screams, the Gore stopping its mad dash and looked down, finally taking notice of her. Raising its barbed arm for attack. She cursed and let go of her swords. Hitting ground as the Gore striked, pushing the swords into its vile stomach. Two loud bangs echo and bits of flesh and armor off the Gore, it screams, turning towards Mac and Maddie. Kira screams, “Run!”
Maddie didn’t need to be told twice, while Mac stayed put dropping in two more shells, and firing at the Gore again. The monster screamed, barreling towards him. With his second round, Mac aims for the Gore’s knee and fired, the round hitting the Gore’s metal knee guard.
“Shit,” Mac rolls out of the way as the Gore rams his position, dislodging the fallen tree from its resting place and sending splinters everywhere. One big splinter flew behind him and he lands on top of it, the splinter piercing all the way through his side.
Mac reached for his gun, which had fallen a few feet away from him. He reached for all he was worth barely grabbing the shoulder strap and pulling the gun back to him. Breaking open the action, Mac ejects the spent rounds and quickly grabs two more rounds while ignoring the growing pain in his side. The Gore notice his struggles and turn towards him, two black narrow eye holes stare him down. Mac finished loading the gun and took aim, the bead swaying widely as he tries to aim for the narrow eye holes. He fires once; the round missing the hole and rebounding off the helms angled face. Mac grit his teeth and tries again, the second round also missings. The Gore reached for him with its giant bloody deformed hand.
“I really don’t like this!” Maddie screamed flying in from the side, ponied up and holding a fist full of magic. She punched the Gore’s wrist, screaming as the barbs wrapped around the monster's arm pierce her hand.
The Gore screamed! Recoiling from the attack as it nursed it bleeding hand.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here,” Maddie pulls Mac off the ground, throwing the big man over her shoulder with ease thanks to her pony strength. Grabbing the gun off the ground she ran for all she was worth as the Gore screams in rage. She shivers as she felt its eyes fall on her.
Mac yells, “Maddie look out!”
It was too late before she could react a large barb pierced her leg and she stumbles to the ground, the barb sticking out below her knee. Tossing Mac off her, she grabs what shells she could from his ammo belt and loads the gun. Charging the rounds with magic, she took aim. The Gore emerge from the tree line, she fires! The rounds piercing the Gore’s armor, traveling through its body and out its back, leaving a tennis ball sized hole. She grins, proud for the damage she inflicted, but her joy quickly fades as the Gore stuck its big meaty fingers into the wound, as if uncertain it was actually there.
Kira still transformed, stumbles over to the two with a line of blood running from her mouth.
“Gores are in constant pain due to the barbs on the inside of their armor, thus their tolerance to pain is unbelievably high. Any damage below fatal will feel just like another flesh wound to them. This battle will be difficult without Sixes,” Kira said helping the two up. Together they hobble for cover as the Gore played with its wound. “If Sixes were here he could melt it into a pool of lava and we would be done with it.”
“Is there any other way to kill it,” Mac asked trying to clear his vision. Everything was blurry and blood was seeping from his forehead. Kira laid him and Maddie in a den some animal had dug under a tree. He did not like the look on the patroller’s face as she started piling branches in front of the entrance.
The night patroller looks grimly at them. “Without the aid of tank or cannon, I’m afraid our chances are nearly none. You two stay here, I will do my best to lead it away, once I do you must run as fast as you can and try to get a hold of Sixes.”
“You’re going to sacrifice yourself,” Mac stated, not liking the idea or even wanting to support it. “You can’t, there has to be another way! Kira!”
She shushed him as she finish covering the entrance, “Be silent, Gore’s are not smart nor can they see or hear very well, so you will be safe if you are quiet. Don’t fret my death. I have lived for a thousand years; this is a good way to go.”
Stepping out into the clearing Kira watched the Gore pick at it wound. From the edge of the bloody hole, she spotted the hilt of one of her swords sticking out. She wanted it back. Activating her vision she looked at all the Gore’s kill spots, all well protected under its armor.
“Come on then, one last time you beast! This for the friends you killed in Maredor!” Kira screams sprinting ahead.
The Gore stopped picking its wound turning towards the charging patroller. Raising its hand to attack, the Gore attempts to swipe at Kira, who ducks under the Gore’s arm. Jabbing her fingers into the Gore’s wrist, bypassing the barbs with her vision, Kira dug her claws into the Gore’s nervous system and sent a shock of lightning into the Gore’s body. The Gore screamed as its body became numb and unable to move.
“I’ll give you something to scream about!” Kira reached into the Gore’s stomach wound, grabbing her sword by the hilt she pulled, tearing flesh and organs as she did, freeing her katana.
The Gore recovered and pulled her into a deadly hug, barbs piercing her back. With no other option, Kira dug into the stomach wound, working her way into the Gore’s body. Stomach acid burning her flesh as she dug through the monsters entrails, clawing and slashing her way to the other side. She picked up her short sword along the way and emerged from the gory mess gasping for air. She drops to the ground, covered in burns and blood.
Using her katana for support Kira slash the back of the Gore’s leg with her short sword, cutting the tendons and began to hobble away. Despite all the damage, she knew it wouldn’t be long before the Gore was back up. Gores didn’t heal, but they didn’t stop either. Looking back she found her hunch to be correct as the Gore stuffed its wounds with massive amounts of dirt. The two limp fingers that Mac had damaged with his rifle the Gore rubbed against the barbs on its arms, severing them with the barbs and packing more dirt into the wounds.
“Over here! Come on.” Taunted Kira whipping her short sword about, sending blades of lightning at the Gore to lead it toward her. Gores were stupid. She had not lied to Mac. They could probably all sneak away unnoticed if they were careful, but then the Gore would be left alone. The only thing worse than a Gore attacking you was a Gore with nothing to attack because then they attack everything. It would start with the animals and then would eventually find its way to a town or city and it would just keep wondering and killing till it was finally killed. She had the best chance of surviving long enough for Mac to get help.
The Gore followed her. Breaking through the barrier of trees, hobbling on its injured leg. Grinning madly Kira ascends up a pile of rocks, crossing her swords when she reached the top and fired an X-shaped blast of lightning at the Gore, sheering its torso and leaving a nice big wound.
“That looks rather fetching on you,” She teased as she ignored the shaking in her hands. She wasn’t doing so great, but she felt so alive at the same time. The taste of battle, how she missed it.
The sound of something clanging brought Kira out of her musing. Stuck below her was a string of the Gore’s barbs attached to the chain, with it the Gore began to pull intending to bring down her stone perch.
“You never did that before.”
Running down the barbed wire line she slash at the Gore’s arm, leaving deep cuts. Aiming for the head, her blades screaming as they sparked against the thick helm, leaving two small gashes. Stretching out her only working wing Kira tried to half guide her flight to the ground, when the Gore’s other arm, also sporting a chain and barb, came whipping around and caught her, the barbed wire tangling around her body, trapping her.
Kira righted herself against the stone slab, mouth gasping in shock. Had the Gore just used strategy?
“You are not as stupid as I believed, how intelligent are you?”
The Gore knelt down, putting the point of its large helm only a few inches away from her face. Slowly the Gore removed part of the helm, revealing its mouth a ghastly sight of broken and chipped yellow teeth.
“Smart enough to trick you, number 4242. Let’s go flush out your comrades.”
The Gore grabbed her, its grip tighter than iron chains, as it carried her back towards Mac and Maddie. Kira struggled in its grip, her teeth bared in anger and frustration. This thing knew her number. Could speak properly and apparently think, most of the time, leading her to conclude to one thing.
Somepony body soul jumped into the body of a Gore. (Great… things just got a lot harder, if not impossible. Mac, I hope you got away. This is out of your league.)
The Gore reached the clearing, breathing in deep breaths of air through its nostrils, scenting the air. Its griped tightens around Kira as it ground its teeth ground together with seething anger. Kira wondered what was making it so mad as it raised its helm to yell.
“NICO VEGA! I SMELL YOU HIDING OUT THERE! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE UPON YOU! MY BROTHER WILL BE AVENGED!”
Several minutes had passed since Kira led the Gore away. The sounds of fighting grew distant and then silent. Whether this meant they were just that far away or Kira had been killed or the Gore or both. Mac did not know. What he did know is that he had to get Maddie out of here at least and try to get help. He’d get Maddie to the truck, hopefully, have cell service and call Adagio to go get help from Equestria. Sunset’s journal should be in her shack. He wouldn’t think she would take it to camp. Once all of that was taken care of he would return to find Kira, alive hopefully.
Carrying Maddie on his back was the best course of action. The barb made walking almost impossible for her.
“Keep your hands steady,” Maddie warned him as he grabbed her thighs.
“Is this really the time? Also, no offense, but Adagio’s are better.”
“I would slap you, if not for the fact you could leave me to die and get away with it.” She huffed as they moved through the undergrowth, Mac doing his best to stay hidden while moving as fast as he could. There was no telling where the Gore might be.
Unfortunately, the two of them didn’t get very far. The Gore came trampling through the tree line, Kira tight in its grip. Mac let Maddie down, taking cover in another dugout like Kira had put them in, only with much less personal space. Maddie’s chest squishing against his back as he climbed inside. He ignored her fuming glare, peeking out between the branches; if the Gore would only turn it would be looking right at them.
The Gore raised its helm revealing a part of its face and sniffed. Mac wondered what it was doing when suddenly it yelled, “NICO VEGA! I SMELL YOU HIDING OUT THERE! I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE UPON YOU! MY BROTHER WILL BE AVENGED!”
(Shit… more of dad’s past coming back to get me.)
The Gore sniffed again, a grin appearing on its wide thick lips, “Madhoof! Are you there, sir? I smell you here. Where have you been for all these years?”
Mac grabs Maddie by the shirt, “Think very carefully before you do anything.”
“I know,” Maddie replied through gritted teeth. The burn mark on her chest began to heat up with Mac’s angry tone. Her chest feeling like someone was dropping candle wax on it.
Mac let her go, “Good. Now, what can you tell me about this thing and don’t say you don’t know. I’m sure you can take a few guesses. Your dad had to have a hand in this somehow.”
“So did yours,” she replied, Mac’s glare narrowed and the pain increased. “Right, going from dad’s notes, Kira’s brief explanation, and what I’ve seen so far. I can safely say that is probably one of dad’s experiments finished by his friends in Equestria. Given the fact, the Gore’s body doesn’t seem to need it’s organs to function. I would guess it was probably made from a variety of different powerful monsters mixed into one and then killed and turned into an undead mindless killing machine. In the case of this one, someone probably shoved their soul inside it, dad’s goal was immortally after all and someone probably through that was close enough. And it can probably only see through scent now. Hence why he thinks we’re our dads, if we get closer he’ll probably realize the truth on his own once he gets a better whiff of our scents.”
Now the question was what they do with that information, Mac wondered, racking his brain for a strategy to save Kira.
“If you walk up there and say you’re Madhoof’s daughter, do you think he would listen to you?”
Maddie taps her chin in thought, “If I could walk we could try that, but I can’t and I wouldn’t have anyway. Not with your scent probably clinging all over me. He might mistake me for you instead. Dad told me that when you make a undead servant you never want to use them as host body if you’re a soul jumper. Even if the Gore’s body is technically immortal, it’s still dead, it’s still decaying. For whatever reason, that guy in there can function right now, but I bet it’s only temporary and he’ll be back to a mindless monster sooner rather than later. So, you need to go out there and kill that thing with magic. I know this may sound weird coming from me, but brute force is our only answer here.”
“Brute force huh, somehow I’m surprised,” Mac chuckled humorlessly. “But I guess you’re right. Take this and give me cover.”
Mac handed her the elephant gun and his ammo belt.
“I’m not a very good shot.”
“Good thing he’s so big then huh. Just shoot when you can and when I’m out of the way. I’m going to get Kira away from him first.”
Mac sets Maddie up behind cover and walks out into the clearing. Completely unarmed, except for his fists, focusing his magic, he ponied up. This was going to be it.
The Gore turned towards him. “Nico Vega… no… I smell something else, yet so similar… like an offspring. Yes, I see now. You are Nico’s foal!”
“Yelp that I am. I’m Big Macintosh Apple, pleasure to meet you, Mister…”
“I am called Gene Scrambler; I was head of the Genetic labs in Rainbow Factory. I chose what traits what experiments would receive. Such as in the case of number 4242 and your father 088, both of them turned out fantastic.”
Mac kept walking closer, keeping a neutral stance. They were talking nice so far; why not try to keep it going a bit longer? “I suppose I should thank you, without you, I might not have been born. If you don’t mind me asking, what is it that has you so crossed with mah Pa?”
Scramblers posture relaxed, his grip on Kira loosening, but not enough to free her, yet. “A fair question and one I don’t mind answering as it is only fair to know why you will be killed. My gripe with 088 started at the battle of Rainbow Factory, he was the one to give away our bases location and bring the full might of Luna’s damnable night patrollers upon us. He got inside the base before we raised the shields and was able to sabotage them, but that wasn’t the only thing he did. We were a very light staffed organization, after all, there are only so many ponies that could match up to the intelligence needed to perform experiments. But we also need grunts, my brother was one of those grunts. Scrambled Eggs was his name, a simple fellow, meant for a simple job. I had him guard my experiments during the attack. 088… 088 slit his throat, killing him in cold blood and just left him to die on the cold floor! My own creation! On top of all that he destroyed the teleport room causing a malfunction and killing countless of my friends!”
“That’s a sad story. Really it is,” Mac said closing his fingers into a fist. “What makes it even sadder is the fact dad’s already dead, killed by Madhoof here in this world. A world you don’t belong in!”
Mac clears the remaining distance between him and Scramble; fist glowing with orange magic he socks the Gore in the gut. The dirt packed into the wounds exploded, flying everywhere. Scramble screams swinging both of his fists at Mac in a hammer strike. Mac set himself and caught both fists, the impact of the attack making his boots sink into the ground.
“Don’t worry; I’ll get you out of there! Maddie!”
A bullet pops off from the tree line, hitting Scramble’s wrist forcing him to let Kira go. Scramble howls staggering away backwards. Kira falls to the ground, Mac runs and catches her. Sprinting away as fast as he could and Mac drops her off next to Maddie and runs back into the fray. Jumping in the air, Mac lands a heavy blow on Scramble’s helmet!
“Agh! ARMAGH!” Scrambled screams unintelligently swinging madly around. A part of the helmet fell away, revealing Scramble’s bloodshot eyes and hideous face.
From the trees, Maddie yelled, “Mac he’s going insane again! You gotta finish him while he can’t take the pain!”
“Right!”
Mac ran and jumped, landing on the Gore’s chest and began pounding away, bones breaking and blood caking his fists as he pounds through the heavy flesh towards the Gore’s heart. Before Mac could get to it the Gore grabs him!
“SHIT!” He cursed as the Gore pulls it’s helm back, fully revealing its mouth, he struggles being pulled closer toward the rotten teeth. He tried to break free, but the monster’s grip was too tight! His head enters the monsters rancid mouth, its jaws lowering. Outside he could hear Maddie’s and Kira’s screams for him. He couldn’t believe this was how it ends, eaten alive, he closes his eyes and thinks of Adagio.
The Gore’s mouth closed completely, but there was no pain. That was strange. Was he already dead? Mac opens his eyes. He was inside the Gore’s mouth still, but everything was different, it was all silvery.
(Hey, move! This isn’t going to last forever!) A voice said from nowhere, startling Mac, he jumps and suddenly he fell through the Gore’s body to the ground. He lay there in shock, unsure about what was going on. The Gore seem confused too, it looked down and stomped it’s foot right on top of him, but much to Mac’s surprise the foot just went right through his body!
“What the hell?”
(I don’t have infinite magic here, move away!)
Mac did as the voice demanded and rolls, his body passing through the Gore’s foot like it wasn’t even there. “I’m dead. I gotta be dead. I’m like a fricking ghost!”
The voice sighs, “Oh for Luna’s sake! You are not dead! I had this exact conversation with the girl the other day. I’ll give you the short version kid. I’m night patroller 0013, Shadow Specter, I’m a ghost pony. I’m possessing you. Congrats you can phase through solid objects now. This is how this goes, you fight, and I phase you away from danger.”
Mac clench his fists. He could see the bones in his hands, and the claws at the tips of his fingers, all surrounded by a pale silver aura. “Alright, let’s go.”
He took off running the Gore swung at him its fist passing right through Mac’s body; he jumps into the monster's stomach and was solid again.
(Now dig and shred its brains!) Shadow yelled at him and he did just that. Reaching up Mac claws his way up the Gore’s ribcage ripping the dead flesh out of the way as the Gore pounding in vain to reach him from the outside. He reached the neck and tore the spine out of the way, shoving his hand into the base of the skull and grabbing hold of the Gore’s brain. He closed his hand, crushing the brain into a pile of mush. The monster stopped moving and slumps over.
Mac emerge from the top of the Gore’s head. Jumping off he lands on his feet breathing a heavy sigh as he slumps against a nearby tree and fell to the ground. Exhaustion was all he could feel. He looked towards the dead monster as Kira and Maddie hobble towards him and he smiled.
The Gore was finally dead. He could go home alive.
Adagio rolls in her bed hitting an unexpected wall of muscle, which she was very happy about. Snaking her arms out from under her blanket she wraps them around Mac’s massive form and hugs him close breathing in his scent. Kind of weird thing to do, but she found it calming after fretting over him all night. What she did mind was his smell. He apparently didn’t shower after getting home last night, meaning he had been out late, he smelt like gunpowder, sweat, sterilizer, and blood with a hint of pine, along with something that smelled dead. Like ran over and left to bake on the road dead.
(What the hell did he run into last night?)
Unable to stand the smell, Adagio not so reluctantly released her hold on Mac and rose to her knees, kneeling on the bed. It was still early, not even time for chores yet, Mac would be up soon regardless whether or not he got enough sleep to function. She could at least have some coffee and breakfast ready for him for when he wakes up. After chores, she would check his wounds and then force him back to bed for some sleep. He couldn’t keep doing this night after night without taking a break sometimes.
Carefully like a cat Adagio crawls over Mac, mindful not to hit him with her limbs. They really need to rearrange their bedroom. She was right against the wall and it was getting tiresome some to crawl over Mac every time she needed to get up, which was getting much more frequent with her pregnancy.
Clad in her loose fitting pajamas with little sea horses patterns, a gag gift from her sister in law’s friends and one she would get them back at them for despite their comfort. Tiptoeing to the kitchen she fills the coffee maker and sets it to roast. Next, she gathers up some eggs, bacon, and bread to make breakfast sandwiches.
The aroma of the cooking food rose into the air, filling the kitchen with tasty smells that were sure to reach Mac and the other house guests. Humming a little tune Adagio began to work on flipping the sizzling meat when a sudden ill feeling crept into her stomach.
“Ugh, I guess the Pregnancy book was right about the bacon smell,” She bemoaned.
Since this was her first pregnancy in either world, Adagio thought it only right to research what to expect from human birth, the smell of frying bacon being a bother was apparently a very common problem. She hadn’t had any problems with the tasty meat until today, though.
“Well, this sucks,” sighing Adagio shut off the burner and place a lid over the pan to keep the bacon warm. It was cooked enough to be edible, but it wasn’t quite crispy enough in her opinion; better than nothing she guessed.
Turning away from the stove Adagio went to wake Mac, only to bump into something or rather someone. Someone rather muscular, yet she could tell it wasn’t Mac, she looked up seeing pitch black skin and ash white marks that looked like tattoos of bones, leading up to a face with a skull painted on it.
She took a terrified step back away from the mysterious man. Her gums aching as her teethed enlarged and claws grew out of her fingertips. The man took a step back with his hands up, but she was too far gone to care or notice. She only saw red!
Adagio rears back and screamed, “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
Pouncing like an angry timber wolf Adagio rakes her claws across skull face’s chest, only instead of blood, she found herself fall through his body and stumbling out of the kitchen and into the living room. She whips around, hissing angrily as the man stood in the same spot unharmed.
“Look Miss… I mean Mrs. I mean you no harm, I am a guest on your farm.”
She growled and hissed, striking again, once more her hand claws traveling through the man’s body like he wasn’t even here.
“What are you?” Adagio growls out, analyzing her opponent. He was like a fricking ghost!
From the bedroom, a thunder of hurried stomps shook the house as Mac came barreling out of the bedroom. He traveled the short distance through the hallway, passing a sleepy Kira and Applebloom on the stairs and slid to a stop next to Adagio, hurriedly grabbing her hand. The effect was instantaneous as Adagio returned to normal.
“There’s a fucking ghost in the house! Get me some salt!” She screamed rushing for the cardboard. Trying but failing to drag Mac with her. “What the matter? Do you not see what I see?”
“Yes, hun, I do,” Mac said gently, carefully pulling Adagio back and wrapping her in his arms. “This is Shadow Specter, patroller 0013; he saved my life last night.”
Adagio stopped struggling, “Oh… in that case how do you like your eggs?”
“Any way you want to make them is fine,” Shadow replied, still using phase in case Adagio attacked him again.
“Sounds good, Mac do you want to eat before chores?”
Mac smiles and kisses her cheek, “Gladly, since you went through the trouble.” He turns and glance at the stairs. “Go back to sleep Applebloom, it’s still awhile till school. You need your rest.”
Applebloom gave tired, “Aww” before compiling. The adults waiting for several minutes to make sure she had indeed gone back to bed. Mac took one loud step up the stairs and the sound of bed springs being compressed followed, signaling Applebloom was indeed in her bed this time.
“Don’t forget,” Adagio warned getting in Mac’s face. “Once you’ve eaten and done the morning chores its back to bed for you too. You’re looking like a raccoon with those eyes.”
He yawns, “Yes, dear,” and plop down in a chair as she hands him his plate, which he snaffled down with gusto. Mac plants a quick kiss on Adagio's cheek and left to the bedroom for some work clothes and was back out and out the front door in less than two minutes.
“Remember to shower too, you stink!” Adagio called out the door. Mac wave as he walked towards the barn, saying he heard her. Satisfied Adagio turns and faced her two house guests. “I’ll make you breakfast, but don’t touch me or we’ll have a repeat of earlier and I don’t want to accidently wreck my house because of that.”
Kira and Shadow step away from her as she walked back into the kitchen. They knew who was the boss of this house.
About thirty minutes later Mac returns the house, showers and sat down at the kitchen table with the others who had just finished breakfast. Kira and Shadow did the dishes while Adagio sat back and ate her own breakfast, two eggs, toast, a bowl of raisin brand, and a tall glass of juice. Nobody was dumb enough to comment on the amount of food as it would only earn them the sirens ire.
“So,” Adagio said cleaning her face with a napkin. “How did you end up bringing Mr. Spooky face home and how did he get here? Did the Princesses send you over here on a secret mission or something?”
“I am curious of that as well Specter,” added Kira looking sharply at her old friend. “You went MIA during the second Griffon war after a mission. What happened to you? You haven’t aged very much.”
“I would say the same, but you look so different than last I saw you back home. How long has it been since I was captured, a few decades from the looks of you Kira.” Specter teased, his smile quickly fading at Kira’s surprised face. “What, something the matter Kira?”
“Shadow,” Kira said softly laying a gentle hand on the patroller’s shoulder. “It’s been a thousand years.”
Shadow recoils, his face contorting into a multiple of different emotions, from shock to anger, to frustration to disbelief. “That’s… that’s impossible! I was only captured for a few months, a year or two at best.”
Kira firmly grabbed him by the shoulders and set him down in an empty chair. “Take a deep breath, calm down and tell us what happened.”
He did as she instructed, Shadow’s breathing slowed to a steady pace as he sat firmly ahead. “After I was discovered by the griffon King and his allies, I made a break for home and fled into the forest surrounding their fortress where they were meeting. The Amazon Zebra chief and her warriors tracked me down and captured me while my magic was exhausted and was unable to go intangible. She wanted me…” Specter turned crimson. “She wanted me as a breeder. Hoping my ghost abilities would be passed down. I told her I would go if she sent a warning to the princesses. A winged zebra flew off to do that, though whether she actually delivered the warning I do not know.”
Kira interrupts, “Celestia did receive a letter warning that the Griffon would attack that day. Seems they held up their side of the deal. Please continue.”
Shadow let out a sigh of relief, “I’m glad you got the message. After my capture, I was taken to the Amazon village. I was bedded with five mares at a time for at least two or three heat cycles.”
“Wait,” Mac said interrupting this time. “You just did it, just like that?”
Specter growls, slightly annoyed by the interruption. “Yes, I gave them my word I would and though I don’t know how you mate in this world. Back home once the heat hits you, it’s pretty much impossible to resist and I was the only male they had captured that time so I was busy. Before you ask, no, I couldn’t escape. Zebras are master potion makers. They were able to make a brew that they forced me to drink that suppressed my magic. I never had enough strength to put up much of fight. Until the night the Stone Cyclops attacked. It was at the end of the last cycle, my first batch of mates was about to give birth when the village was attacked. I fought beside the warriors of the tribe, missing my daily potion as a result. I planned to leave after the attack as over, but as I chased a group of them away a strange portal appeared and the cyclops I was possessing fell in with several others. I found myself here in this strange body and met a blue haired girl that the cyclops had found and possessed her to fend them off.”
Adagio jumps out of her seat and ran in front of Specter, “You’re the one who saved Sonata?”
He nods, “I guess so. Saved is a loose term. She was freaking out about having ghost abilities and I was off balance due to being in a new body and world, so I transported her away from the cyclops to a safer location and went back to hunt them down myself. Now that I think about it, you two seem familiar. You were part of the group that was fighting by the river, correct?”
Kira nodded, “Yes, I was there too. Why didn’t you reveal yourself to us after that?”
“I thought I smelt you. I was gonna ask if was you, but then you got in that weird metal carriage and drove off. I couldn’t keep up.”
Silence filled the room as everyone a resounding, “…Oh…”
“Anyway, I saw this guy,” Specter points to Mac. “And his carriage again and followed him by jumping between bodies in the carriages following him, after he, Kira, and the other mare.”
“Woman,” Kira corrected.
“Woman,” affirmed Specter mulling the new word over before continuing. “After they got out of the carriage I waited and watched them till Mac returned. I followed you three into the woods, but got lost. I found you again after Kira fought that monster. What was that thing by the way? Looked like something Hoofenstein cooked up.”
“It was,” Kira confirmed, “That was a Gore, Hoofenstein’s last monster.”
Shadow nods in understanding, “I see. I have told my tale. Kira if you would tell me what has happened.”
Kira strokes her chin in thought, “I think taking you home will be better, Sixes and Luna can explain it all there. Mac, I know you’re tired, but could you please give me and Shadow a ride to the portal?”
Mac looks to Adagio, who sighs and waved him off, “Fine, go. But bring Sonata home when you do. Nyx is raising a fuss.”
He smiled and kissed her on the cheek, “I’ll be home soon. Come on you two, the sooner the better.”
Mac led the two patrollers to the truck, Kira taking shotgun while Shadow Specter climbs in the back of the truck bed, not wanting to sit in the middle. The drive to town didn’t take long and the three arrive at the school before any of the teachers. Parking the truck across the street the trio walk over the portal.
“I’ll be seeing you two. I hope things work out for you back home Shadow.” Mac shook the ghost patroller’s hand. Shadow nodding and saying his thanks, moving aside to let Kira say her goodbyes. “Nice having you Kira, sorry your vacation was cut short.”
“It is fine Mac, there are more important things. Before we go, I must ask, have you thought about Sixes’s offer to train you?”
Mac flinch at the statement, looking embarrassed , “Not really, why?”
“I think you should take his offer, come to Equestria with us and learn how to use magic there; it may help you understand the magic in this world better. Right now you’re an ok magic user, you can increase your strength and speed, but there is so much more than that. The monsters will only get stronger, even I couldn’t defeat that Gore alone, what hope do you have next time alone?”
“I have Sonata and Aria, Adagio and Maddie sometimes.”
“Mac,” Kira said seriously, “You and your friends are good. I do not doubt that, but you’re not trained warriors like me or Sixes. Even just a few days in Equestria might help you.”
“Why can’t Sixes or someone just come here?”
Kira sighs, giving him a frustrated look, “Magic in Equestria has rules we understand, and we know how to teach it and how to use it. Here we don’t know the rules. A good example is Shadow here, he was able to use his powers here as easily as back home, but when I first came here I had to use Princess Twilight’s magic candy to unlock my magic in this world. You already know how to active magic here, now you just need to learn how to use it. Equestria is the best place to do that.”
“I’ll… I’ll think about it. Give me the day to think, I need to pick up Sonata and talk with Adagio about this.”
Kira nods in understanding, “Of course, take your time. Just know there may come a time when there won’t be time to teach you.” She and Shadow step into the portal, leaving Mac standing out in the cool morning curious and confused.
“Yay, I can go home!”
“Not till you pay you bill and sit still!” Nyx chides Sonata as she wheels the blue siren towards the entrance. Mac was waiting at the receptionist’s desk. “I’ll take care of this Blue Cross, you can go on break.”
“Thanks, Nyx,” said Blue Cross, taking her leave.
Nyx wheels Sonata to Mac, letting the farmer take her charge. “Five hundred cash and take the pink one too. She’s been sleeping in my office.”
Mac chuckles, “You make Aria sound like Pinkie Pie.”
The changeling nurse’s face turned sour at the name, “Do not even mention that girl. She needs to go to the sanitarium, not here. She’s always eating the cotton balls and don’t get me started on her sisters!”
“I won’t then,” said Mac taking a step back after handing over the cash. “How’s Maddie doing?”
“Fine,” Nyx huffs crossing her arms. “About, as well as anybody with a barb in their leg could be doing. She was in surgery all night. Thanks for getting her here hours after the fact. You should have just taken her to the Cloudsdale hospital instead, she’s lucky she didn’t get an infection. A fact she has not stopped complaining about, also she keeps hitting on the staff, and it is not appreciated.”
“Noted,” replied Mac, counting out another stack of hundred dollar bills, “How much for the surgery and how long till I take Maddie home?”
“Take her now for all I care, sooner the better, but regulations say we have to keep her for at least a day. On that note, Mr. I have to get home to my wife, how’s the side? Still hurting?”
Mac gently slaps Nyx’s poking finger away, “Only if you touch it.”
Nyx nods with satisfaction, “Good, that means it's healing ok. Don’t do anything too stressful for a few days, such as heavy lifting, running, and some sex positions.”
“Noted,” said Mac with a blush. He wheels Sonata out to the truck, helping her into the cab and took the wheelchair back to the hospital. He walked straight to Nyx’s office to find Aria still sleeping, even though it was past ten already.
“Everybody is tired today,” he sighed, picking Aria up off the couch. She didn’t stir a bit as he carried her all the way out the truck and sat her next to Sonata, who was also fast asleep. “They’re like a couple of kids these two.”
Chuckling softly as he climbs into the driver’s seat, heading for home. He had a lot to think about, but first, he really needed to take a nap. His eyes fluttering open and close the entire way home. When he got to the farm he was nearly asleep. Leaning his head against the stirring wheel Mac sighs deeply, Aria and Sonata were still asleep.
“Hey, wake up,” he poked the sleeping sirens in the check, unleashing a waterfall of drool as a result, yet they still slumbered. Grounding his teeth in frustration, Mac got out and grabbed the two draping them over his shoulder like a pair of feed sacks and stomps up to the house. Walking into the living room he deposits the sleeping sirens on the couches and swaggers to his bedroom, exhaustion weighing heavily on his body. Fully clothed Mac nose dives on the bed with a soft ‘plush’ of the mattress.
As he laid his tired head against the pillow a soft hand crept into his rough hand. The hand squeezed hard and he gently stroke stroked his thumb across the soft hand and its grip lightened but did not let go.
Mac whispered, “It's ok, I’m right here, I’m fine, Adagio.”
The two lovebirds lay in bed for several hours, till the sound of the front door opening and closing broke them of the sleeping spell the seem to be upon them. The chatter of short fast footsteps told them Applebloom was home, meaning it was around three, and time for the second round of chores today.
“I gotta go. Sonata and Aria are sleeping in the living room. I have something I need to talk to you about after chores,” said Mac, crawling out of the bed.
The slumbering Adagio gave a mumbled, “Ok.” Letting go of Mac’s hand. He smiled and walked out of the room.
Adagio slumbered for several minutes before deciding to get out of bed. Clad in loose purple pajama pants and shirt she shuffled into the living room to find her sisters sleeping on the couches. Walking softly she knelt down next to the sleeping Sonata and brushed the blue siren’s hair back.
“Good to have you home Blueberry.” Sonata rolls and slaps her hand away, clawing for blankets that weren’t there. Grabbing the blanket hanging over the couch Adagio lay it on top of the sleeping siren. Hearing a ‘hump’ from the other couch Adagio smiles and grabs an extra blanket on the floor. “Does little Aria want a blanket too? Good news Mama Adagio as one just for you!”
“Shut up,” retorted Aria snatching the blanket from Adagio before the other siren could pull it away, wrapping herself up in a little cocoon. “I’m just a little cold. Turn the air up or something, this place is like a freezer.”
“That’s because it’s August and it’s hot. I don’t know why the school wanted to start so early this year with the heat. Also, Applebloom is in school yet Applejack and her friends are camping with the principles. This is some weird scheduling.”
Aria grumps as she made herself confrontable, “It was probably the only time they could get the camp is all and the school board just decided to change the start date, so everything is out of whack is all. Next year things will probably be more organized.”
Adagio blinks, staring blankly at her fellow siren, “How… how do you know that?”
Aria snorts, “The old ladies were talking about it the other day at the plaza. A better question, why don’t you know this? You’re the one having a kid, shouldn’t you start finding out which school you want them to go to?”
“Isn’t a bit soon to be thinking about that? The kid isn’t even out of my stomach yet,” Argued Adagio moving to the lazy boy to sit down. Was that what Mac wanted to talk about, schools? She snorted as if that could be it. Looking at the clock Adagio estimated would be another ten minutes before Mac got done with chores. She could wait. In the meantime there was supper to get started and other things to do. Mac would probably want to do some financing after chores and Applebloom would probably want help with her homework.
“Might as well wait till we’re in bed to talk,” concludes Adagio feeling like she already had a house full of kids to take care off.
Mac finished chores just before supper. He came stomping in kicking the remaining muck off his boots outside and heads straight to the shower, ditching his dirty clothes into the washer straight away. The sound of running water filled the house.
When Mac emerge from the bathroom everyone was sitting at the table, including Applebloom, who had returned home from school during chores. The young Apple eyeing her brother as his bandages peeked out from under his shirt. Mac notice and finish buttoning up his shirt. He wasn’t used to having anyone other than the sirens around most of the time now. He didn’t need to be as properly dressed with them.
He felt Applebloom’s eyes following him, wanting to ask the question but was too nervous to. A bit out of character for his little sister, she usually wasn’t afraid to speak her mind.
“Something wrong Applebloom,” asked Mac dishing some food onto his plate. “You're unusually quiet tonight, did something happen at school?”
Applebloom looked away though Mac could see her looking at his wound from the corner of her eye, “No, it was a normal day. How was your day? Yesterday I mean, how was your day yesterday? Since you weren’t home until this morning or you were, but it was…”
“I get it,” said Mac cutting her rambles short. “My day could have been better.”
“Did you get hurt?”
The table fell silent as each of the sirens looked away as the two siblings exchange stares. Mac had a rule about letting his sisters know just how dangerous their lives were.
Mac took a bite of his food. Adagio made hobo meals, carrots, onions, potatoes and meat, a recipe they learned in the dirty thirties, it wasn’t bad. He finish chewing and took a sip of water, stalling for time.
“Yes, I fell from a tree and a stick pierced my side. I’m fine, better off then Maddie.” Mac cursed realizing what he just did.
“What happened to Maddie?”
“She got a barb in her leg.”
“How did that happen?”
“She tripped on an old fence line and it went through her leg,” said Mac, the entire group of girls looking at him with disbelief, Applebloom because she probably wasn’t buying his story and the sirens for not coming up with a better lie.
“It was a big barb,” He added grumpily digging into his food. The girls looked away and resume eating in silence.
Not liking the tense atmosphere, Sonata thought to be the Pinkie Pie of the group and decided to do something about it. Something fun!
“How about a movie, it’s been a while since we were all together we should watch a movie!” She continued to smile awkwardly as the others looked back with doubtful expressions, “Or maybe something else?”
Aria smiles and said, “A movie sounds good actually. I second it.”
The two turn their sights on Adagio, if they could get her, then they would have Mac too. They broke out their patented pleading big eyed, buttery lipped faces, to which Adagio rolls her eyes.
“Fine, but it can’t be something stupid.”
“How about we let Applebloom decide,” suggested Sonata. “She is the guest of honor.”
Applebloom eeped as all eyes fell on her, “I suppose if you yawl don’t mind. What movies do you got?”
Sonata laughs as she took Applebloom by the hand and drags her upstairs, leaving the others to clean up. “Oh silly, it’s not what we have, it’s what we don’t have is the question.”
Dragging the poor girl into her bedroom Sonata reveals her extensive movie collection that line all the walls of her room. The movies were listed by genre and in alphabetical order.
“You can’t take from the XXX section obviously,” Sonata warned as she used her body to cover up the explicit content section. “But anywhere else is fine.”
Applebloom blinked; “Ok…” she browsed the movies, trying to think of something everybody would enjoy. There were so many options how could she pick the right one?
“The stickers on the side with SAA on them mean Adagio, Aria, and I all like the movie. Mac will watch anything providing Adagio is watching. Guys will tolerate a lot for girls.”
“How do you know that,” asked Applebloom as she pulls out Taxi Driver.
Sonata looked offended, puffing her cheeks and huffed, “I’ve had boyfriends too. Adagio may look like sex on a stick, but I can get honey too.”
“I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to be having with a preteen.”
“Neither do I,” said Mac from the doorway with his arms crossed. “Hurry up the other two are getting restless and there isn’t a lot of time before you got to be in bed Applebloom. What did you pick?”
Applebloom held Taxi Driver up. At least it wasn’t some romcom were Mac’s only thoughts on the movie as he led the two back downstairs, where Aria and Adagio had made drinks and popcorn with the TV ready and waiting for the DVD. They all took their seats as Sonata inserted the disk and hit play.
Adagio fell into bed with an exhausted sigh as Mac crawls in beside her. The clock on the nightstand read ten. Applebloom, Sonata, and Aria were already upstairs in bed, but there was one more thing she had to do today.
“So, what did we need to talk about? Don’t tell me it can wait till later either. I’m too curious to sleep, so spit it out,” whispers Adagio as she crawls closer to Mac. His arm crept around her shoulder, hugging her closer, meaning something was on his mind. “What is it?”
“I need to get stronger.”
Adagio’s brow frowned. Wondering what the hell Mac was talking about. He was sounding like one of Sonata’s anime or whatever characters. She was certain every show had the main character saying they needed to get stronger or something. That was beside the point, though.
“What are you talking about? You’re plenty strong! When you flex your muscles they’re like the size of my head!”
“Your exaggerating and that’s not what I mean," Mac deadpanned. "I don’t mean physically stronger. I mean magically. I need to be more… more warrior like, like Kira and Sixes. Remember when I told you this morning Shadow Specter saved my life?”
She nodded.
“Well, he saved me from being eaten. I was in the monster’s mouth. I felt its teeth touch my skin. I would have died yesterday if not for him.”
Adagio leaned in closer and kissed Mac with trembling lips. She had almost lost him and hadn’t even known it. She wondered what he’s been feeling all day. The worry and fear on his conscious on top of everything else, it must be hard on him.
“What do you want to do,” she asked holding his face in her hands. Mac moves her hands and kisses her, rolling her up into his arms so his hands were on her stomach. He sighed as he talked softly into her ear.
“Sixes offered to train me in Equestria after that thing with Maddie. Before she left Kira told me I should do it. She is right. I don’t know how to work magic like you, Aria and Sonata. I can’t make giant fancy water attacks or fly or anything Applejack and her friends can do. All I got is my fists which are basically glowing boxing gloves. I need more training; no I need actual training, especially if more powerful monsters keep coming through.”
“Is retiring from monster hunting and letting Sixes station some patrollers here not an option,” She asked already knowing the answer.
“This is our world; it’s our job to protect it. Besides since when did you worry about things like that?”
“Since it coming more apparent I might be widowed before I even get married.”
Mac didn’t have any words for her. When they started monster hunting she was probably the most enthused about it. Things certainly have changed for him and her. Still, he couldn’t just give it up, not because he didn’t want to, but out of some stupid sense of duty maybe. That if he stopped then Applejack might start doing it and he couldn’t sit by and let her do it, even it was unavoidable. To this day he still hoped his dad was wrong about Applejack being destined to fight monsters and to this day it seemed more and more likely she would, what with every evil magical being popping up every couple of months.
“Go then,” said Adagio suddenly, breaking Mac of his thoughts.
“What?”
“Go to Equestria, learn how to use magic and then come home as fast you can. I’m giving you my blessing to go, that’s what you wanted right?”
Adagio broke out of Mac’s embrace carefully turning so she didn’t roll on her stomach and looked Mac square in the eye with steely determination. That was the Adagio he remembered.
“The monster might never stop coming and your dad’s past seems intent on coming back to bite us every chance it gets, so you as my mate have to ensure my safety and that of our children. So go learn how to breathe fire from Sixes or whatever,” Adagio pulls his head into her bosom, keeping her swelling tears hidden. She really hated this hormone in balance, it made her too emotional. “And came back and never almost die again got it?”
He chuckles as he gently wiggles out of her grip and laid his head back on his pillow, keeping a tight grip on Adagio’s hand, “I promise. I’ll keep us alive to see our great, great, great grandchildren.”
“You better,” grumbled Adagio cutely as she lay back on her own pillow.
Mac smiles and a laughs, brushing his fingers through her combed hair. Tomorrow he would go the world of ponies, he never thought he would being doing that in his entire life.
Mac sat on the stairs of the school with his eyes fixed on the broken statue ahead of him. To think for years he was passing a portal to another world every time he came to school and now today he was going to cross it… eventually. The truth is he was rather nervous about the whole, crossing the boundary between worlds thing. Not only that, but he would change, literary. Once he crossed the portal he would probably become a pony. The whole ordeal was beyond strange.
(That’s been my live the past few months. This is just another day really.)
He checks his watch. He woke up early and did his chores, having a quick gas station breakfast and leaving the girls asleep at home to come here alone. A part of him didn’t want to be seen off, why? He didn’t know for sure, but if he had to guess, he would say it would feel too much like goodbye. Which was not the case, he just didn’t want to cause a fuss. He was only going away to another world for a few days.
Still, he thought, flipping out his cell phone. He’d better call Adagio before leaving. “Hello?” She asked sleepily on the other side of the line.
“Hey, honey.”
“Mac… where are you? Why are you calling? It’s like five in the morning!”
“I know, I know,” he chuckles imagining how cute she probably looked sprawled all over their bed. She was probably going to be mad at him for leaving like this. He’d deal with that when he got back. “I’m at the school. I’m just about to cross over to Equestria and I… I just wanted to hear your voice one more time before I left.”
Adagio giggled, “How romantic of you. Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”
“I would love you to come, but I need you at the farm taking care of Applebloom and the others. Also to do damage control in case Aj gets back for I do. I don’t plan to stay long, but you never know what could happen.”
“I do know what could happen,” replied Adagio clutching her chest. “Just be careful. Don’t let Sixes drag you to some strange and dangerous place.”
“I’ll do my best, see you later honey, I love you.”
“I love you too, you big softy,” she hung up.
Soft, that was a different way to describe him. Pocketing his phone Mac walks towards the portal placing his hand on the smooth surface. This was it. No turning back. He already told Sixes he was coming, if he didn’t show up he wouldn’t put it past the black Rinin to come and drag him to Equestria.
Closing his eyes he walks into the portal. A feeling of weightlessness overcame him and he felt like he was floating in midair. This feeling came to an end very quickly as he exits the portal. Wobbling on his hind legs, completely unable to balance on hooves he fell forward. Extending his arms to catch himself. A loud cracking sound made him open his eyes; he looks down, his eyes widening at the sight of his massive hooves. Scrambling backwards his back hitthe edge of the portal, which was a vanity mirror in this world.
Taking a deep calming breath Mac straightens up and stood on his feet… or hooves and tried to walk, his hooves slipping on the crystal floor. He wished he had something to grip with. A strange feeling come from his front hooves as he trots, like they were coming apart or something, he looks down, getting his second shock of the day as his hooves transform into claws that dug into the crystal floor. Something was telling him he wasn’t a normal pony.
Turning around Mac stares at his reflection in the mirror in wonder. He was a pony, yet not a pony. He had sharp fangs sticking out from under his lip, red-orange scales around the bottom of his legs, a long lizard-like tail and orange spines sticking out of his ears and more spines traveling down the length of his tail.
“What the hell am I?” He reached out and touching the surface of the mirror, his hoof going through the portal and appearing as a hand on the other side. He quickly pulls his leg back, the feeling of being in two worlds at once too weird for his brain to process. Looking around the room the mirror was located Mac figured he probably had better things to be worrying about, such as where in the world he was.
Trotting to the door, his claws keeping his steps steady and firm. Opening the door Mac found himself looking down a long crystal hallway. Looking left and then right, he decided to take a right and began trotting, and trotting, and trotting. How big was this place? He spots a door at the end of the hall and deciding to open it. The room inside was a bedroom and a female occupied one at that judging from the vanity mirror and makeup. Carefully Mac began to slowly shut the door when a pink unicorn trotted out of what he assumed to be a bathroom, as a huge cloud of steam came out of the door. The unicorn trotted happily with her horn alight as she grabbed the towel around her flank and proceeded to wash in an area that had Mac turning even redder than he already was.
“Um… excuse me?” He said trying to get the pony’s attention. The pony stopped her grooming and looked at him with wide shocked eyes as her coat turned from pink to red. She disappeared in a burst of colorful sparks and reappeared behind the bed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb…”
“Who are you? Why are you in my room? Answer quickly!” The mare said in a harsh tone, her horn glowing bright. Mac had a feeling that a friendship rainbow wasn’t going to come out of it.
“Sorry, but as I was saying I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just got here and I’m a little lost…” Mac didn’t get to finish what he was saying as huge burp worked its way up his throat, seems his stomach wasn’t agreeing to the world jumping understandable, that or that burrito he ate was fighting back. Whatever case he didn’t understand is why he was burping fire!
A stream of hot flames traveled at the cowering mare, who whipped up a glowing shield of magic that then wrapped around the fire and extinguished it. Mac grinned sheepishly as she glared at him. He was fully expecting to be hit on the head or to be tossed out the window like in Sonata’s animes, but the mare just stood there looking… fascinated?
“You’re a dragon pony! Oh, this is so exciting! Twilight is always talking about dragon ponies and I’ve seen a few, but I never really got the chance to talk to one. Mainly because they look so scary, and they don’t like it when ponies say they want to study them. Oh sorry, I guess I shouldn’t be saying that in front of you please don’t tell Sixes or Luna!” The mare teleported across the room and appeared right in front of him with big pleading eyes, he looked away while scratching his chin.
“It’s not a big deal, I’m not really a normal pony, and I’m actually from the world on the other side of Twilight’s mirror. Names Big Macintosh. Nice to meet you… uh…”
“Starlight Glimmer,” The mare introduced shaking his hoof. “So you’re the Big Mac of earth? You seem much more talkative than the Big Mac here and more… aggressive looking.” Her nose wrinkled and Starlight looked down between his legs and sniffed before standing straight up with a deep blush. “And you’re mated too. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable, it’s mating season here, so I’m a bit flustered. I actually just finished… um never mind you don’t need or probably want to know that.”
Mac grimaced, “No, I do not, if you could just point me in the way to Sixes. I’ll be on my way.”
“Oh, of course, just go outside the castle and head east to the Everfree forest, it’s the dark creepy forest just on the edge of town and follow the path and eventually you’ll come across Luna’s castle.”
“Right and how far is this castle?”
“Twenty miles give or take?”
(That’s quite a distance. I doubt I would be able to find it myself.)
“I’m sorry to ask, but could you show me the way or perhaps find a way to get a hold of Sixes? He should be expecting me.”
Starlight rubbed her chin in thought, “I could just teleport you there, and it would be the safest and fastest way. I just never tried teleporting two ponies at once… but today's a good day to try! Twilight’s going to be so excited when I tell her about this! I’m her number one student! Well, her only student, but neither less let’s get going!”
“Wait I think…” he didn’t get to finish a bright light engulfed both him and Starlight and in a flash they were in the brightly lit crystal castle to a much darker tone one, also they were on top of a table with Luna, Twilight, Kira, Fierce Fury, and Sixes surrounding it, all of them looking at them with surprise and a range of other emotions ranging from amusement, embarrassment, and irritation.
Starlight carefully stepped back as her teacher’s blushing cheeks told she had goofed up, but more importantly Fierce Fury wasn’t looking too happy, “I’ll just be going home now… bye!” Like that, she was gone. Leaving Mac stupefied on the table.
“Ah the earth Macintosh, how nice to see you,” said Luna with a wide grin as she did her best to hold back her giggles. “Let us adjourn this meeting for today. I’m sure you student is in need of counsel after such a… interesting entrance. Kira, please continue to rest and help Shadow Specter readjust, Fury you may return to your nap, sorry for waking you after returning from a long mission. Sixes I believe you have a new recruit to attend too.” The gathered ponies nodded as the Princess of the Night trotted out of the room, her giggles turning to laughter the further she got down the hall. The other ponies filed out leaving Mac and Sixes staring at one another.
“Well,” Sixes said looking at Mac, “I certainly didn’t think you’d actually become a dragon pony when you crossed over. I suppose that makes sense, though you look more like a Halfling to me.” Mac failed to respond. “What? Not what you were expecting?”
Mac nodded dumbly as Sixes climbed out of his seat, standing a head taller than Mac, the black rinin stretched his wings and flexed his claws as he circled the table. He looked more dragon like than pony to Mac, Sixes’s legs were thinner and covered with scales mixed with his coat, his tail was long and covered in orange splines, the only pony part of Sixes seemed to be his back legs, that still looked more dragonish and his wild orange mane that look exactly as it did in the human world.
“So,” Sixes said stopping his circling. “You ready to start training? I see you brought your armor, kind of beat up don’t you think?”
“Armor?” Mac looked down. Sure enough, there was an old battered breastplate attached to his chest and he didn’t even notice, probably because too many things were happening to notice. Running his claws across the battered steal Mac felt the numbers 088 carved into the plate. Sixes noticed too as he looked nostalgically at the armor.
“Night Patrol standard issue armor, Moon Phase, I remember when I used to wear this stuff. It was state of the art a thousand years ago, now it’s nothing but a museum piece. You were wearing Nico’s coat when you came through weren’t you?” Mac nodded. “I figured. I guess it makes sense it would return to its original form once you crossed the border between worlds. Why don’t you take that off and I’ll see if the smithies can fix it up for you? It’s not going to protect you anymore like that.”
Reluctantly Mac unbuckled the breastplate and it fell with a clang to the ground. Sixes was right, it was in rough shape. There was a huge crack on the inside of the plate, as well as several other cracks, almost like the whole thing was just on the verge of falling to pieces. Mac wondered if the damage was from his monster hunts. He always wore his dad’s jacket since it seemed he got hurt less when he did. He guessed he knew why now.
(You're still protecting me aren’t you dad?)
“Mac,” Sixes said motioning for Mac to follow. “Let’s get going.”
“Right,” Mac gathered up the broken pieces of his dad’s armor and followed after Sixes. As they walked many ponies stopped and saluted, giving Sixes and Mac the right away. Some giving the pair an odd look, the majority of the focus was on Mac. Many giving him a look of confusion as they went back to their duties.
“Pay them no mind. Equestria has a very limited Rinin population; most will probably think you’re from Nippon, probably sent by Kira’s kids to look after her or something. A lot of the others settled over there a thousand years ago after Luna’s banishment.” Sixes glanced around at the crossway and turned left. “Come, the smithy is this way.”
The temperature spiked and a red glow came from the room down at the end of the hall, the sounds of a metal hitting metal echoed with a rhythmic beat as the blacksmith went about their work. Sixes entered the room first Mac following behind him, the heat making the fur part of his body sweat. Walking further they turned the corner to meet the blacksmith, a slender unicorn mare with white pink tinted fur with a blue bandana wrapped around her head, defiantly not what Mac was expecting, to say the least.
“Platinum Belle, I have a special order for you,” Said Sixes, getting the mare’s attention. She smiled as she set her hammer down and placed whatever she was working on in the furnace. She trotted up to Sixes and kissed each of his cheeks.
“Why of course, Monsieur Sixes! Anything for you sir. Oh, who’ve is this?” She leaned close to Mac and quickly planted two quick pecks on his cheeks. Blushing madly Mac averted his eyes to the floor; he frowned noticing that her left foreleg had an abnormal shine to it. When she stepped back, he noticed both of her back legs also shined. From the screws and pins and the stiff movement of the limbs, it was clear they were made of metal. “He is cute this one no?” Giggled Platinum, if she noticed his staring, she didn’t show it, she just continued to smile. “I have not seen him before, is he kin of Kira’s country? Oh how rude of me! I’ve not introduced myself; I am Platinum Belle of Prance. Who are you?”
Mac looked expectantly to Sixes. How was he supposed to introduce himself to ponies? There were literary two of him in this world and he didn’t want to cause confusion. Lucky Sixes seemed to have an answer.
“This is… Macintosh…Little Macintosh,” Mac gave Sixes a blank stare.
(Really.)
Platinum giggled, “Well, he is not so little, but he is cute. Now Monsieur Sixes, what is it that you need from moi? I have many orders to fill, but for you, I make an exception.” Sixes took Nico’s armor from Mac and handed it over to Platinum, who took with her magic and looked it over. “My, my, this is in bad shape! Is this not Moon Phase: Phase 1 armor? Why would you have such a thing? This is over a thousand years old! Please tell me that you do not wish for it to be fixed?” Sixes nodded, causing Platinum to sigh, “I shall do my best Monsieur, but I make no promise. Now away, both of you, you get in way of my work.” Platinum pushed them out of the workshop via magic and slammed the door.
“Quite the attitude that Prance mare,” chuckled Sixes walking back down the hallway. When he noticed Mac wasn’t following he turned and gave the red rinin a confused look. “What?”
“Well… it’s just… her legs… I know it was probably rude to stare, but I just didn’t expect…”
“Didn’t expect to see ponies with missing limbs? I’m sure I told you Equestria isn’t the land of sunshine and rainbows you think it is if it was there wouldn’t be a need for ponies like me.” Mac nodded solemnly and trotted up beside Sixes, the black rinin looking excited as he began to talk at length about all the things he was going to teach him. “I can’t say how much I’ve been looking forward to training you Mac. You’ve already gotten so strong on your own, I’m sure Nico would be proud. He saved my life a long time ago and I want to return the favor the best I can and that means I’m going to put you through the ringer, so next time you fight a Gore you can just laugh it off. Trust me, in three months I’ll make you one of the mightiest ponies in all of Equestria!”
Mac’s ears flopped down against his head; he forgot to tell Sixes he was only staying for a few days, not three months! The night commander seemed to sense his mood as he came to a sudden stop and turned towards him. “Mac… what’s the face for?”
“I…” Mac sighed, “I’m only planning to stay for a few days, maybe a week at best, I just came to learn some things to help me understand magic better. I figured once I get the basics I can figure the rest out at home. We never know when a strong monster will appear and I don’t feel comfortable leaving everyone to fend for themselves without me.”
“I see,” said Sixes looking solemn. “That might be a problem. I’ve been planning a full regimen for you, but I can understand your feelings though about not wanted to leave your home short hoofed. Tell you what, you go eat, it’s about that time anyway and I’ll go discuss what we can do with Luna. She’ll know what kind of magic training would suit you best.” Sixes looked down a corridor, spotting Shadow Specter wondering the halls. “Shadow, take Mac to the mess hall for me!”
“Yes, sir!” The ghost pony shouted in the distance.
“Go with him, he’s adjusting to the castle, having you around might help.”
“How?”
Sixes’s brow frowned, “I don’t know, it just seems like a good idea to me. I’ll get in contact with you after dinner.” Just like that Mac was left in the capable hooves of Shadow Specter.
Pony food was… well, it was mainly vegetables, some fruits, and sweets. Lots and lots of sweets, like everypony, should be fat kind of amounts of sweets, also apparently rinin eat gems, because the lunch mare put a big red ruby on his plate. He barely managed to hobble on three legs to his seat. He had no idea how ponies carried things in their mouths, but they had his respect.
The mess hall was packed, yet Mac found himself eating alone with Shadow Specter. He didn’t know if no pony wanted to sit next to him because he was new or if Shadow was that scary looking, but it was kind of weird. Whatever the case he didn’t mind, he could think in peace.
Starting with the fact magic was awesome. Even if his stomach didn’t like the feeling of teleporting, the ability to jump from one place to another was amazing! Hopefully, he could learn something similar or maybe even the ability to fly. He didn’t have wings… but ponies knew how to make functioning prosthetic limbs; maybe they could make false wings too? There were Pegasus here; a Pegasus was bound to have lost a wing at some point in time here. Maybe he should ask somepony. His eyes traveled from his tray to pony across from him.
Across the table Shadow Specter happily ate his blue sapphires, chewing them loud and gleefully like candy. The ghost pony seemed to have no concept of table manners as he dug face first into his mashed potatoes with corn and gravy. When he lifted his muzzle out of the mountain of spuds he gave Mac a goofy skeletal grin as he licked up the potatoes.
“Sorry,” said Shadow wiping his muzzle. “I’m not usually such a messy eater, but before this, I was eating nothing but zebra food, it’s not bad, but’s it’s not Cookie’s mashed potatoes. Still one of my mates did try to make mashed potatoes for me.” A smile crept onto his tattooed lips as he chuckled. “It didn’t turn out very well. She used a rock to smash them, the potatoes were chunky and she had to use her own milk since they didn’t have cows, but I didn’t have the heart to tell her they weren’t right. I ate them all and believe you me, she made a lot.”
Mac chuckled softly imagining the scene, a similar thing happened when Adagio first tried to cook for him. She didn’t have a hand for it and she nearly burnt everything, the steak, the potatoes, and the toast. Still, he did eat it, even as she sat pouting across from him, taking little nibbles here and there and grimacing with every bit. There had been no denying that the meal wasn’t very good, but he never said a word and even asked for more. After that, Adagio went to Granny to learn how to cook and every meal been excellent.
“Did you like her?” Mac asked. Shadow had been held captive, as a stud to multiple mates, there probably wasn’t a lot of connection there. He wondered what it was like, it was every young male dream to bed a lot of women, but it was probably the opposite for Shadow.
“Maybe,” was Shadow’s reply, “I didn’t know her name. Very few zebras spoke fluent equestrian. She spoke a little, but on top of speaking a foreign language zebra’s also rhythmed when they talked. I couldn’t tell if she was saying her name or just saying a poem. I guess I felt a little something for all of them. They were all going to have my foals after all, but that’s a thousand years ago already. I wonder how many survived or if I have any descendants running around. Some ponies talked about a zebra leaving not far away from here, I was thinking of going and asking her, but…”
“But what? Don’t you want to know what happen to your kin?”
Shadow sighed, pushing his empty tray aside and resting his forelegs under his chin, which did not seem like a natural pose for a pony to Mac, did they not have knees? “Yes and no. Yes, I do want to find out, but no because what would be the point? My foals are long gone. I went from being a potential father to nothing in the span of a few minutes. Kind of the opposite of Sixes, it's kind of funny in an ironic way.”
“Wait, Sixes has children?” Mac felt like that was something someone would bring up. After the incident with Maddie Sixes spent at least a week with them, Mac would think Sixes would have mentioned his kids at least once during that time.
Shadow nodded, “Yeah, his name was Crusader, the last rinin created by Madhoof and Hoofenstein. He looked just like Sixes, except he had a white coat and blue hair; he also had antlers like a deer.”
“He was made… by Maddie’s father?”
“Yeah, we all were. All Rinin were made by Dr. Madhoof and Dr. Hoofenstein, Sixes, Kira, Fury, me, etcetera and so on. Crusader was a little different, he was made using Sixes’s blood and Celestia’s feather, and he was the only rinin to have alicorn blood running through his vein. Might be why he had the antlers. He was a good pony, I only knew him for two years before I was captured, but I know he and Sixes didn’t really connect. No matter how much Celestia tried to get them too. In my personal opinion, I think she made it worse. I heard he died after Sixes was sealed in stone from Kira, he has a statue out in the graveyard here, but if you want to know anymore you’ll have to talk to Sixes. It’s his business after all.”
Shadow returned to his meal, leaving Mac to pick at his food. Somehow Sixes mood change earlier made more sense to him now, if he was right that is, which he was pretty sure he was because Mac remembered that same look on his dad the first time he wanted to go play with his friends, then spend time with his dad.
(Great, now I feel like an ass. Not just about Sixes either.) Mac wondered how many times he made his dad’s frown like that, must be tough when your kids don’t want to hang out with you anymore. (I’m probably going to go through the same thing in a few years too.)
Picking at the ruby, Mac debated about trying it. The ruby shined in the sunlight streaming in from the bid stain glassed window depicting a pony flying towards what looked like a floating island with rainbows falling from it. The pony was dark blue with a silver mane, just like his dad... putting the ruby aside Mac leap over the table walking over to the stained window. Writing under the window was ‘Nico’s Greatest Deed’, this was his dad!
“Shadow… can you tell me about this window?”
The specter pony turned towards the window, a smile crossing his lips, “That depicts the Battle of Rainbow Factory when Nico disabled the factory’s shields and allowed the Princess’s forces to shoot down the fly factory. It when I first met Luna and your dad, sorry to tell you, but that was the last day I saw him too. I owe him huge thanks for the helping getting me out of that hellhole, though.”
It was the first time he thought of it, but this was probably the only time he may get to ask about his dad before coming to earth. Stories that his dad couldn’t share, because everyone would have thought he was insane.
“Who knew him best? I want to learn more about him.”
Shadow rubbed his chin, “Off the top of my head… I’d say, Luna, Sixes, Fury, or maybe Emerald Cutter, but she’s dead… actually better for you not to ask about Emerald, it’s a hard subject for everypony here according to Kira. She didn’t say why, but it’s probably for a good reason.”
Back the same list of sources then, he would just have to ask more about his dad when he had the chance. “Oh, there is one thing I remember about Nico,” said Shadow, he phased away and came back holding a blue gem. “He had the ability to change his fire breathe to other elements when he ate certain gems. What to give it a try? You might be able to do it too.”
Mac stared at the offered gem. Slowly he reached out and took it from Shadow, unsure what to actually do with it. Even if his body could process the hard mineral, his brain wasn’t prepared to try. Before he could come to a decision Princess Luna suddenly appeared in front of him and everypony dropped a knee.
“Macintosh,” she said in a much louder voice in probably necessary. “Sixes and I have come to a decision. Thou shall train with me first! Come let us not make waste, but haste!” Luna’s horned glowed and Mac knew what was coming. A flash and a pop later he was in a different location, his stomach doing flip flops.
“Ah… you are still unused to teleporting. My apology we could have simply walked instead.”
Holding back what felt like fire in his throat, which it probably was given earlier, Mac bit back the flaming vile with a grin as sparks shot out from between his teeth. Luna quickly caught the sparks within spheres with her magic and extinguished them; they were in a library after all.
“I’m fine, relatively speaking,” grinned Mac, Luna giving him a look of sympathy as she conjured up a cloud of magic and let it settle over him. Instantly he felt better and he let out the breath he’d been holding, fire free.
Luna smiled kindly, “Better?” He nodded his thanks and sat on his romp, he was feeling really exhausted all of sudden. “Are you feeling unwell Macintosh? Should I postpone the lesson?”
“No, no, I’m fine. Just feeling a little tired it all.”
“I see,” Luna spotted the gems in Mac’s claws. “You should eat really eat those.” Mac’s head shot up giving her a strange look as he held up the gems. She smiled softly at the human turned pony and took the gems from his grasp with her magic. “Let’s begin your first lesson to understanding Equestrian magic and Rinin Biology.”
A glowing board appeared in thin air; Luna produced a glowing stick of chalk with her magic and began to draw on the board. A notebook appeared in front of Mac, as well as a desk, the notebook copying down everything Luna said.
“Magic in Equestria comes in many types, but the main oneS I will tell you about today is personal magic and free-will magic. Personal magic is the magic a being, such as a pony, produces naturally and can control with their will, what this magic does depends on the race, skill, and will of the user. Free-will magic is inanimate objects that possess magic, either naturally or were created that way. They magical objects can be programmed to act a certain way by whoever created them, older objects tend to go rogue and obtain a certain amount of free-will. For example, an object made to work with a specific pony race, let’s say unicorns to enhance their magic, could over time develop the will to choose whoever or whatever it wants to give its power too. This is important in case you ever come across a magical object. Do you understand this Mac?”
Mac blinked, trying his best not to look like a complete idiot. “I think I got it, but why is it important that I eat gems?”
“A good question and one with a simple answer,” stated Luna drawing a picture of Mac on the board. “As I was saying just about everything has magic in Equestria, this gem is no exception, rinin are part dragon and dragons devour gems and other precious stones to absorb the magic trapped inside. Doing this allows both dragons and rinin to use abilities like their fire breath, harden their scales and much, much more that Sixes will explain later.”
“So I have to eat them…”
Luna chuckled, “I’m afraid so, think of them like rock candy.” She levitated the gems over to him and he reluctantly took them in his claw. Looking between Luna’s encouraging smile and the gems Mac gulped and tossed the shiny rocks into his mouth and bit down.
Chewing the gems Mac had fully expected his gums to be bleeding, but surprisingly enough his teeth crushed the rocks like normal hard candy, they even had a bit of a taste to them, strangely the sapphires tasted like mint and blueberries.
“That’s was actually good!”
The princess smiled, “I’ll take your word for it. Now let’s move onto your next lesson.” From noon to late into the night Luna taught Mac what she could about Mac till the human turned pony was nearly about to fall out of his seat. Deciding to end the lesson, Luna cast a weak sleep spell to give Mac the final push to the realm of dreams. Taking him in her magic she carried him off to a bed to rest.
Mac opened his eyes, he had hands again, and he was at home too. Did he just dream going to Equestria? No, no, that can’t be it. He’s done that before, but he could never imagine half of the magic mambo jumbo he heard today, so… was he dreaming? He’s heard of this, lucid dreaming or something?
“Kind of lame dream,” he noted, everything seemed… normal.
The sound of muffled sobbing came from the Adagio’s and his bedroom. Quickly he ran breaking through the door like a bull. “Adagio what’s wrong?” He yelled looking for any danger. He didn’t see anything, just Adagio sobbing on the bed… something wasn’t right here.
“Adagio…” He reached out to her, but his hand passed right through her. She was sloppily dressed in her nightgown, her face a mess of tears as she held a picture frame tight against her chest. He tried again to get her attention, but again his hand just slipped through her, like he was a ghost.
From the doorway, a pair of soft footstep shuffled across the floor, Mac turned around to see two little kids, one boy, one girl, looking like a mix of him and Adagio crawling to the bed. A tightness filled Mac’s chest as the children called out to Adagio.
“Mommy…” The girl begged, pulling at the helm of Adagio’s gown, “Where’s daddy? He was going to read us a story.”
The boy held up a book, “Yeah, story, story!”
Adagio wiped her tears, putting on a fake smile as she set the picture aside, “Daddy… daddy couldn’t make it home tonight either. I’ll read to you my little hatchlings.” She gathered the two up in her arms and read to them.
Solemnly Mac walked over to them and leaned over the bed to look at the picture Adagio had been holding. It was a picture of him.
“What’s going on? Adagio, Adagio it’s me! I’m right here!” He yelled, but she couldn’t hear him, “ADAGIO!”
“It is no use, this is not your dream,” Luna’s voice said suddenly. The scene before him shattered turning into a starlight void of doors that seemed to stretch forever. The Princess of the Night appeared beside him as pony silhouette before morphing into her human appearance. “I believe you will find this form more comforting.”
“What’s going on? What was that?” Mac demanded in a raised tone, before realizing who he was talking to. Reeling himself back he spoke again in a more respected tone, “Sorry, please explain.”
Luna smiled as she touched Mac’s shoulder, the scene around them changing that that of Luna’s room. “Fear not Mac, what you just witnessed was nothing but a dream, or rather a nightmare, Adagio’s nightmare to be precise. I had not expected that you two would share such a strong link between your magic, let alone one strong enough to cross between worlds. You should feel proud, not many have such a deep bond.”
“So that was a shared dream or something?”
“More like a dream exchange,” commented Luna, uncertain how to actually label it. “You saw the one thing Adagio fears most. She fears losing you. I assume the feeling is mutual?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?”
“It is only a question Mac, nothing more. Different people worry about different things, in different ways. Adagio fears losing you and having to carry on without you. You on the other hand…” The scene changed, morphing into a fiery landscape. Mac recognized it; it was the farm, in flames! At the front of the house another him, kneeling with Adagio in his arms and all his loved ones sprawled around him, covered in blood. “You fear being unable to protect your loved ones.”
“Is this what Adagio is seeing right now?” Mac asked with horror, Luna nodded.
“Yes, I’m afraid so, this is what I meant by dream exchange. You two have swapped out your nightmares out of fear of letting the other worry about the other. As the Princess of the Night, it is my duty to watch over the dream realm and ensure the mental safety of all my subjects. However, I am uncertain if that authority falls to beings from another world, even if it does, I am unsure how to find the cause of these nightmares.”
Mac’s fist tightened, he had a pretty good idea why Adagio was dreaming of him dying. It was probably because of his confession of almost dying to the Gore, it must have pushed her fears to the surface, just like it did his. He couldn’t defeat the Gore on his own, meaning he wouldn’t have been able to protect his loved ones.
“Don’t worry about Princess Luna, we’ll take care of it ourselves, but I could use a little help. Could you get me and Adagio into the same dream?”
Luna smiled and nodded, “A simple task.”
The world morphed for the third time and Mac was back in his bedroom with Adagio crying. Quietly he walked over to the bed, sat down, and wrapped her in his arms. She gasped in surprise as she looked up at him with tear stained cheeks. He smiled as he wiped them away with his finger and kissed her on the lips and held her hand tight
He broke the kiss and whispered, “it's ok, I’m right here.”
Mac yawned loudly as he trotted out into the castle garden. Today marked his third day in Equestria. So far the majority of his time as been spent indoors under Luna’s watchful gaze as she taught him the basics of magic and how it worked and the types of magic and all that. Last night she even continued to teach him in his dreams, using the infinite possibly of the dream world to further show him what she was talking about. He got the gist of what she was talking about, hopefully, at least he would have the notes he took to fall back on once he got home.
After two days of studying with Princess Luna who seemed to have more free time then he would have thought, deemed him ready for actual magic practice or more specifically he was going learn how to use his dragon pony magic, such as breathing fire and the like.
Mac arrived at the open field he was to train on, some targets set up at a distance. It was almost like a shooting gallery, except instead of scattered shells and the smell of gunpowder, there was the smell of smoke and ash. Mac stood at firing line alone, behind him stood Luna and Fierce Fury, who was subbing for Sixes who had to go on a mission.
“Ok Mac, you said you accidently breathed fire before, so now we’re going to teach you how to do it on purpose,” said Luna as Fury walked up to the line. “First you’ll want to dig in your claws like so, this will keep you stable, next take a deep breath and use your magic to heat up your insides, after that the heat will build up, you’ll feel a burning in your throat.” Fury’s chest began to glow and heat began to rise up from between his scales. “The longer you hold your breath, the hotter the fire will be, once you get it to where you want it. RELEASE!” A stream of fire come out of Fury’s mouth, burning up the ground and the scorching the target.
Fury stepped back looking satisfied with his work and offered Mac to step forward. Mac did so, letting his hooves morph into claws and dig into the earth. He took a few shallow breaths before sucking in a massive amount of air, his cheeks puffing out. He closed his eyes and focused on his magic, feeling it swirling around inside him, and imagined it heating up. A burning feeling instantly rose in his stomach feeling like a hot poker on his insides. His chest burned as wisps of flames exploded out from between his teeth. Whipping his head back Mac opened his mouth and let out his breath the resulting flames were not very impressive. A pitiful fireball, the size he’s seen in the Mario games flew through the air and spat against the target leaving a singe on it.
“Well, you made fire and you manage to hit the target. That’s better the most beginners,” Fury drawled looking bored. “Do it again.”
Mac went through the steps again, firing a second shot the same size as the first, but at a much faster.
“Hold the fire in your gut longer and let it release all at once. Letting it out slowly only lessens the power, do it like this!” Fury took a breath and let loose another massive stream of fire that completely destroyed the target. “Again!”
Teeth grit in anger Mac sucked in a breath, letting it boil in his guts, he released, opening his mouth wide. The fire exploded into a large stream of fire, but only made it halfway to the target.
“More magic!”
Mac did it again, reaching three-quarters of the way.
“More air!”
Mac fired again, the stream was large but still fell short. He huffed harshly, his throat burning and his coat slick with sweat from the heat.
“Again!”
He sucked air, and tried to ignite it, but broke into a coughing fit. Clouds of black smoke coming out of his throat with each cough. Fury glared with fiery eyes.
“Again.”
“Fury,” Luna said firmly. The red pony backed off and took a deep breath causing his entire body relaxing. He looked at Mac and then to Luna.
“Sorry, take a break; I’ll go get some water.”
“Thank you, Fury,” Luna nodded as she cast a cooling spell over Mac. “Sorry Fury isn’t the really the teaching type. He expects everypony to get things right away and when they don’t he is quick to lose his temper. He’s not as bad as he used to be. You are doing very well, though.”
“I feel like your coddling me,” panted Mac.
Luna smiled and thunk him on the head, “I am only looking out for your health. I understand wanting to push yourself, but if you hurt yourself then you will waste your time here. Unless you change your mind about only staying a week, I know Sixes would appreciate it.”
“What is he doing anyways? I’m kind of surprised you sent him on a mission.”
The Princess looked sour as she sat down next to him, “I did not want to send him. I know how much he was looking forward to training you, but unfortunately, it was a matter that only he could deal with.”
That peeked Mac’s curiosity, “Can you tell me?”
“It’s not like its top secret. I merely sent him to look at the ruins of The Rainbow Factory upon Topaz’s request. In our investigation of the portals between our worlds we thought it ideal to begin at the place where Nico and Madhoof disappeared. Sixes is one of the few ponies still alive from when the teleport room was destroyed, he being the cause of the room destruction.”
“The Rainbow factory, what kind of place was it? I saw that stain glass window in the dining hall about it and dad. What was so important about that place? What kind of a factory was it?”
Luna stared ahead with a faraway look in her eyes, “it was a factory of nightmares and that’s all I want to say about it.”
Judging from the tone of her voice Mac decided to maybe change subjects; also he wondered where Fury was? Did it take that long to get water? “So um… what was my dad like? I mean what was my dad like when he was a pony?”
“Nico was brash and quick to act before thinking,” Said Fury carrying a bucket of water in his mouth. He set it down between Luna and Mac walking around to sit opposite of them. “When Sixes and I chased after the blood nobles to the factory a thousand years ago, Nico was secretly trailing us. It was thanks to him that the princesses were able to find the base and it was also his actions that brought down the factory’s barrier and allowed our forces to attack. He was reckless, but he followed his gut and did what he thought was right. He was also a bit of runt.” Fury chuckled gruffly. “Drink up, breaks almost over.”
Mac nodded as he dunked his head into the bucket of water and drank it empty. Feeling refreshed he retook his place at the firing line and started over. For the rest of the day, Mac continued to shoot fire breath after fire breath with each one getting better with every shot. The burning in his throat no longer bothered him and he was able to shot multiple blasts consecutively.
“I think you can stop.”
He smiled and turned to see Sixes standing there, “You’re back.”
Sixes nodded. “Wasn’t a hard mission, just a quick flight from point A to B is all. I’ll tell more when Topaz finishes investigating. So how was fire training under Fury? I assume he yelled at you at least once.”
Looking over Sixes' shoulder Mac saw both Luna and Fury were gone. He wondered when they left. “He did, wasn’t too bad really.” Mac noticed steam rising off his coat. “Is that normal?”
“You just need to cool off and eat some gems is all. Fire breath burns up a lot of magic if you don’t manage your magic well.”
“Kind of like an engine.”
“Exactly,” Sixes confirmed signaling for Mac to follow him. He led Mac over to another training ground with large stone pillars covered in claw marks. “Alright next you’re going to learn how to harden your claws, an easy enhancement technique.”
Sixes engulfed his claws in magic and then raked it across the surface of the stone, leaving behind three deep scars. “As you can see this allows you to cut deeper into armored opponents. Strike without magic and then with magic to tell the difference.”
Mac nodded raising his claw and swiped gritting his teeth for the pain that was sure to come. Much to his relief, there wasn’t much or any pain. He opened his eyes and saw that his claws had indeed left a mark, not as deep as Sixes, but it would still have been bad for anything made of flesh. Raising his claw for a second strike he imagined his claws sharpening, a glow of orange engulfed his claw and he swung, cleaving through nearly halfway through the stone pillar.
“A little overpowered, but you seem to get the concept. Now we can move onto the next skill, scale armor.” Sixes stepped away from Mac and held up his right front leg. “Hit me with a normal claw slash.”
“Okay,” Mac raised his claw with hesitation. This didn’t seem like a smart thing to do, but Sixes probably knew what he was doing. Mustering his will Mac swung down with all his might. His claws dug into Sixes’s scales, but that was it, his claws were stopped cold! Sixes’s scales felt like steel compared to the stone pillar.
“Much like with the claws you can harden your scales or grow more scales if needed. All you need to do is focus on the scales on your body and imagine them hardening or growing. Be warned scale armor will not block every attack. It may make a fatal blow less fatal, but if something significantly stronger than you hits you and you're unfocused expect to get hurt. Now it’s my turn.”
Mac quickly raises his foreleg Sixes’s claw striking the scales below his claws. Sixes continued to push down putting more force into the attack, the tips of his claws sinking into the scales. Gritting his teeth Mac flicked his leg to deflect Sixes’s claw and swiped at Sixes who jumped back and let loose a stream of fire. Rolling Mac fired back and charged Sixes who spun whipping Mac’s leg out from under him with his tail. The black rinin swung his claws again and Mac raised his leg and blocked. Much to his surprise, it was covered completely in scales.
“Good, good, keep going!” Sixes continued his assault ramming Mac with his head and flinging him into the air and shooting fire up at him.
Flailing in midair Mac countered with his own fire, the two streams clashing and creating a huge inferno. Mac huddled his limbs close as he fell through the flames and crashed hard into the ground. He staggered out of the crater with his legs completely covered in scales. When his balanced returned he spotted Sixes’s smirking face and snorted angrily before charging at the black rinin, who spread his wings and flew into the air, letting loose a barrage of fire from the sky that had Mac running to avoid being barbecued.
“That’s not fair!”
“Battles are rarely fair Mac,” Sixes replied sternly as he gathered a massive amount of flame in his mouth till hot flaming liquid spilled from between his teeth.
Knowing what was coming next Mac puffed up his chest with as much fire as he could manage and fired before Sixes could spit lava. He watched in dismay as his fire was consumed by Sixes’s lava that fell to the earth with a ‘splash’ sending hot molten earth everywhere.
Trotting away Mac turned to see Sixes still floating in the same spot with another round of lava prepared. Sixes let the hot magma loose and Mac ran for all he was worth, a river of lava coming up behind him.
(I gotta do something else, but what?)
He thought back to what Shadow Specter had said about his dad being able to change his breath to other elements by eating gems. He ate those gems. Maybe they would still work? With little choice, Mac skidded to a stop as Sixes’s lava breath ran out, but the black rinin was already preparing another. Closing his eyes Mac imagined the gems inside his body, he felt them in his stomach, and they felt cool, like ice cubes. He sucked in a breath and willed his magic to cool the air. His chest expanded and the stinging cold of ice filled his throat as he let lose a blue stream of subzero ice into the air.
Lava and ice clashed!
Mac’s ice breath forming a huge wall of ice that fought against the lava. The ice wall began to sweat as the streams of lava spilled down the side, turning it to water and then to steam. Mac jumped back out of the way as the lava completely devoured the ice. He prepared for another attack until Sixes floated down to the ground.
“Now that was impressive. Come on, I’m hungry, let’s go eat.”
Mac’s own stomach grumbled and he suddenly felt exhausted now that the adrenaline rush was over. “Sounds good,” He sighed as he ran up to Sixes’s side. “Was all that really necessary?”
Sixes smiled, “Maybe not, but it helped you learn quickly didn’t? Look you still have your scale armor on.” He pointed to Mac’s legs, which were still completely covered in orange scales.
Mac willed the scale armor to turn off and then turned it on again and then off. “Huh, that’s neat.”
“Come on Mac, all the good food will be gone if we don’t hurry!”
“Coming!” Mac replied excitedly as he ran to catch up. He wondered how everyone back home was doing.
Aria lay on her belly, her gun pressed firmly against her shoulder and her crosshairs lined up to a small rotten apple on a plank. The apple was more than two hundred years away, but even at this distance would be an easy shot for her. Gently she pressed her finger against the trigger and squeezed.
BANG!
The gun recoiled feeling like a light punch in her shoulder. She worked the bolt as the apple exploded off in the distance.
“Nice shot.”
Aria sighed as she rolled off her stomach and jumped to her feet. Adagio stood smirking with her arms crossed, a pair of ear muffs over stuck out from her puffy orange hair. If she had those then she’d been here awhile, watching her.
“What do you want Adagio?”
“Can’t I check on my little sister?” She said cutely as she pulled Aria’s cheek. Aria fumed and gently slapped her hand away.
“Worry about Sonata, she’s the one who nearly got killed last week,” She scoffed.
Adagio frowned, “I already check on her, her and Applebloom are watching some show their both crazy about together. So now I can focus all my worries on you, because you’ve been acting gloomy, well… more gloomy than usual.”
She crossed her arms and huffed, “I’m fine Adagio. Stop being such a mother hen.”
Adagio exclaimed, “You’ve been out here shooting apples for four hours every day since Mac left!”
“I’m practicing!” Aria shot back with spite.
Adagio cocked back her arm and thunk Aria’s right shoulder. The pink siren hissed and cursed.
“What did you do that for?”
Adagio only nodded as she roughly pulled on and Aria’s shirt and pulled it off her, revealing the large blue bruise on the pink siren’s shoulder. “I knew it! You’re hurting yourself.”
“I’m just practicing!”
“No, you're trying to release whatever pent up emotions you have by shooting things and it’s clearly not working! So talk! What’s bothering you?” Adagio’s tone turned soft at the end and she handed Aria her shirt back. The pink siren huffed as she sat down on her blanket with pouting lips.
“Can’t get past you,” She said finally with a heavy sigh. “Fine, I’ll tell you since you asked so nicely. I’m stressed and angry! Ok!” Adagio rotated her hand urging her to continue. “And… I guess disappointed… Sonata got hurt because I wasn’t with her; I was at home taking a fucking shower when she was out in the woods getting chased by cyclops! I should have been with her! Now Mac’s went to Equestria and I’m the only one to left to do chores and run the stand and… and… it’s getting to be too much! I don’t know how Mac can fucking to the half a million long list of shit there is to do around here daily, but I can’t do it!”
“Oh Aria,” cooed Adagio laying the pink siren’s head in her lap. “You should have just asked for help. Applebloom would be happy to help, and Sonata would probably like to get back into the routine of things. I know you all would throw a fit, but I can still do things around here too. You don’t need to take on everything by yourself.”
Aria rolled so her face was pressed against Adagio’s thigh. The yellow siren smiled and rubbed Aria’s back as she felt her jeans dampen from Aria’s poorly hidden tears. “There, there, that’s my tough little sister.”
“Shut up,” Aria mumbled sourly.
“Come on, let’s get you the house and get some ice on that shoulder. After that, you can sit down and enjoy whatever show Sonata and Applebloom are watching.” Adagio hoisted Aria up and offered her bandana to dry her tears. Aria took it with reluctance but did so to keep her tough persuade intact.
“Who’s going to do chores?”
“I think I’ll call Miss Cherry Jubilee, she knows what to do.”
“You’re really going to ask that cougar?”
“Aria!”
“Do you see how she dresses and acts around Mac and her own farmhands? It’s amazing she doesn't have some sort of restraining order on her!” Defended Aria, Cherry was just as bad as Explicit on Main Street. She also wouldn’t be surprised to find out they were related.
“Still it’s not a very nice thing to say, technically we are older.”
“Which makes you a super cougar then.”
Adagio grit her teeth tightly together with a wide forced smile, “Get to the fucking house before I make you ass match your shoulder.” Aria took off like a bullet, only to quickly run back and pick up her gun and spent shells and then ran off, leaving Adagio shaking her head.
“Come home soon Mac, I’m not having an easy time either,” She said aloud. Her hand brushed her lips and she remembered the vivid dream she had the other night. It really felt like Mac had kissed her. “Psht, as if, I must be getting sappy.”
Adagio continued on her way back to the farmhouse, humming a soft tone as she went about her way. Entering the house she smiled as she passed by the couch where sonata was using Aria as a snuggle pillow as the pink siren held an ice pack against her shoulder.
“Who wants pizza?” Adagio asked from the kitchen as she dialed Cherry’s phone. A chorus of ‘I do’s’ responded. Chuckling she explained the situation to Jubilee and then placed an order for the pizza place in town. “Alright move over.” She said scooting onto the couch to watch TV.. Thirty minutes passed and the pizza guy showed up.
Adagio paid the delivery driver, apparently, Derpy Hooves worked for Godfather’s pizza. She wondered how she passed the driver’s test with her eye and why the pizza place hired her as a driver. Since didn’t seem to matter to her bosses, she supposed it shouldn’t matter to her either. She paid Derpy for the trip; it was expensive to have pizza delivered out here, so she made sure to leave a little extra for Derpy’s trouble.
Taking the three pizza boxes and laying them on the coffee table the household of girls dug into as pop cans were popped. It was Friday so Applebloom was allowed to stay up late.
“What show is this?” asked Adagio as she pulled two cheesy slices of pepperoni onto her plate.
“Grimm, it's super addicting!” Applebloom said excitedly as she dished up her own pizza.
“It’s awesome, it’s almost like our life! There’s monster hiding in plain sight and…” Sonata talked at length and Adagio nodded along pretending to understand the characters and story plot. They were in season five, so she wasn’t expecting to get it.
“It's fine,” was Aria’s comment.
“I might have to start from the beginning,” Adagio said as she sat back and watched the show. Time passed and the pizza disappeared and the pop can’s multiplied into a small mountain. She looked up at the clock reading midnight.
(It's that last already?)
Standing up Adagio swiped the remote from Sonata and shut off the TV. “Alright time for bed, all of you.” She said firmly. Applebloom and Sonata groaned in displeasure but a firm glare got them moving off to bed. “You too Aria or are you going to sleep on the coach?”
“I’m going, I’m going,” grumbled the pink siren.
Deciding to leave the dishes for tomorrow Adagio went into the bathroom and brushed her teeth to get the sugar from the pop off before finally settling down for bed.
(I wonder if I’ll same a dream like last before.) Closing her eyes Adagio drifted off to dreamland.
Adagio stood in front of a door in a hallway of doors. Looking left and then right she shrugged and opened the door in front of her. Inside the world was seemingly made completely of muffins. Slowly Adagio stepped back into the hallway and shut the door.
“Ok… that was strange.” Moving to the next door over. Adagio opened it and was greeted by the sight of Cherry Jubilee in a bikini flirting with some guys. She promptly shut the door. “One more…few doors away.”
The next door she picked was red with a big green apple sliced in half. She had a good feeling about it. Opening the door she found the inside to exactly like the house. Maybe she had been sleepwalking and now just woke up? It was certainly plausible.
From Mac’s office, she heard soft mumbles and scribbling. Curious she walked over and opened the door, inside was Mac hunched over his desk his brow frowned in concertation.
“Mac… your home? Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?” She demanded. She ran towards him and he turned and looked… surprised?
“Adagio? What are you doing here?”
She stopped in her tracks. “Um… I live here? Do I not?”
Mac blinked, causing Adagio to fume, “What are you looking so confused for? What did you hit your head when walking out of the portal or something?”
“No, no, it’s just…” he said looking uncertain.
“Just what?”
“This is my dream is all, I’m still in Equestria. Are you really here? I mean are YOU the real Adagio?”
(Dream walking, not sleepwalking, that’s neat. If this is a dream then does that means…)
Adagio waved her arms creating a blinding light that encompassed her body and changed her clothes from modest night wear to something a little more… explicit. She grinned as Mac’s eyes looked her up and down thoroughly.
“Yeah, you’re the real one, even in my dreams, I won’t imagine you in… well, that…” Mac coughed. She giggled as she seated herself in his lap.
“I know, now what are you looking over here?” Mac’s hands snaked around her sides as he rested his chin on her shoulder.
“Just the notes of everything I’ve learned from Luna and Sixes about magic so far. After my first night Princess Luna told me I was a lucid dreamer, so she taught me how to control my dreams so I could review everything.”
Adagio snorted with laughter, “Only you would learn how to control your dreams and use it to study. I mean come on! I was expecting at least an orgy of clones of me or something.”
“I think you and I have very different dreams.”
“Yeah, but that’s what makes our relationship so fun.” Adagio suddenly grinned and jumped off Mac’s lap. “I just realized you’re a pony now! Show me what you look like!”
“Really, you don’t want to know how you’re able to control your dreams or anything like that?”
Adagio made a fart noise with her mouth, “Tell me when were both in rocking chairs have nothing better to talk about. Now I want to see my sexy pony husband!”
Mac rolled his eyes, but none the less stood up and morphed into a silhouette of orange and shrunk down into a pony that stood just below her breasts. Adagio leered with a mischievous grin as she looked him over.
He was red, which was expected, but the fangs and claws and scaly tail… well, she found that interesting.
“You have a little more Nico in you then I was expecting,” She giggled brushing his mane, it was like silk in her hand. “Still man or pony you look sexy. I might have to pop over for a bit to give these fangs a test run.”
“Adagio…”
“I’m serious!” She said excitedly. “How about I change to? Would that make you feel better? Never mind I’m going to do it anyway.” Her body lit up with yellow and morphed into a pony. When the light faded she looked curiously at herself in a mirror she made appear. “Hmm… this is a little different.”
“Don’t you know what you look like?” Mac asked as she looked over his wife’s pony form. She was earth pony with scales here and there and fins running up her legs with a mermaid-like tail. She didn’t look bad really.
“I do,” She said hotly, “I thought I would look more like I did before, but… I turned into this for some reason. I look like a siren cross bred with a pony. I wonder if this because I’ve been feeding off you?”
“You look at me like I’m supposed to know.”
“Well, you went to study magic!” She shot back.
He rolled his eyes, “Only battle magic, maybe it’s just a fluke. If you really want to know just go into the mirror and find out.”
“Maybe I will,” She humped changing back to human. Mac followed suit and took her by the hand and lead her to the couch to sit down.
“So, all the magic, jokes, and flirting aside, how are things going at home?”
Adagio took a deep sigh as she laid against Mac’s chest, “Applebloom is fine; I’ve gotten her to school on time all week in case you’re wondering. Sonata’s recovering; I’m making sure she does her stretches so she stays limber. Aria… Aria’s having some difficulty. She seems to think it’s her flaunt Sonata got hurt and she’s worried that she can’t keep the farm up with you away. She practiced shooting till a bruise the size of her head formed.”
Mac frowned. He had noticed Aria wasn’t being herself lately but figured she was just being grumpier than usual but didn’t ask about it. “I’ll see if I can talk to her when I get back. Some days I feel like Sonata and Aria feel more like daughters than sisters in laws.”
Adagio giggled as she snuggled up against him, “Well they do make good practice, so how as Equestria been? What have you learned so far?”
“Fire breathing, making my claws sharper and making my skin into scales, stuff like that,” Mac listed off nonchalantly. “Oh, I did learn I can do what my dad did with his breath magic! I can breathe ice if I eat gems or something, I’m not really sure if I can do other things like lightning, but it’s still neat.”
“That is neat, so… I assume you’ve been asking about Nico then?”
He nodded but sighed as he laid his head on the back of the couch, “I’ve asked a ton about him and I’ve found out new things about him. Some pretty awesome things, the way everypony… everybody I mean talks about him makes him seem like such a bad ass and it’s really cool, but… I don’t know I have a hard time picturing it. Dad was dad, I looked up to him, and he was exactly the man I wanted to be when I grew up. I guess maybe I’ve still having some trouble coming to terms with who he actually was. I’m worried I won’t be able to do things he did.”
They sat in silence, their hands intertwined, after what seemed like eternity Adagio sat up and kissed Mac, straddling his waist as she smiled and held his face so he was looking right at her. “I may not have known Nico well, frankly he was just a scary asshole to me, I mean he threaten us into his employment, which you did too… that’s beside the point. Look stop worrying about trying to be your dad, just be you and you’ll be fine. I mean you suckered me into marrying you, so you got something right at least.”
Mac chuckled as he kissed her, “You make it really hard to have serious conversations.”
“I know,” She replied with a grin.
Shaking his head Mac lifted Adagio off his lap and summoned his notes, “I still have some studying to go over. You wanna stay and help me?”
“I suppose I can offer my insight on certain monsters, what are you looking at now?” Adagio pulled Mac’s book away from him. Her eyebrow cocked up at the monster on the page. The monster was depicted as tall pony covered in bones and sporting antlers, a unicorn horn, and wings and claws on its front legs. “Is this something Discord made?”
“Who’s Discord?”
“The Spirit/god of chaos, really messed up guy,” Adagio answered prowling over the page. This thing looked familiar. What was it? “Regis Ossis Deus minus, lesser bone king god, Grau or historically known as the Grey One. You cannot tell me this thing is walking around in modern Equestria. This thing sounds like it’s from the even darker dark ages!”
Mac turned the page, “Here, it says Grau was defeated during the Alicorn wars, and Professor Hoofenstien attempted to recreate it but was stopped before a working product would be complete. Why this thing got you scared?”
Adagio closed the book, “You didn’t live in ancient Equestria, my folks used to tell me stories about things like this from age of the ancients back when there were more alicorns, ponies like Princess Celestia and Luna, these things were like the Equestrian boogieman.”
“Well it’s gone, so there’s nothing to worry about. I can feel myself waking up; I’ll be home in a few days.” Mac kissed her one last time and disappeared and Adagio woke up back in her own bed. Looking at the clock she determined she could sleep in a bit longer. As she laid her head on her pillow a thought accorded to her.
(Wasn’t Derpy supposed to be at camp with Applejack and the others?) She wondered sleepily as her eyes fluttered shut. She was sure it didn’t matter.
Mac yawned as he trotted down the stairs to the dining hall. Today would mark his fourth day in Equestria, he left Tuesday, so today should be Saturday, Applejack and her friends should be home soon. Hopefully, he would be done here before they noticed his absence, but if not he was sure Applejack wouldn’t be suspicious of his absent for too long. Although from what Adagio told him last night returning home sooner than later seemed like the better choice.
As far as his training goes he has learned some magic, learned some monster bios and learned some new tricks. There shouldn’t be much more he needs to learn really, but staying for two more days shouldn’t hurt and he can go back to his life on Monday.
With a plan figured out Mac was itching for some breakfast. He also wondered what kind of breakfast would be served today. For the most part, pony breakfast was pretty similar to a human one, minus bacon and sausage, though they did have hay bacon…
“I wonder who introduced hay bacon and where they got the idea, also… where am I?” Looking around Mac found he had wondered down the wrong hall because he wasn’t in the dining hall or any hall he was in a cemetery garden.
Big pony sized marble statues depicting fallen Night Patrollers lined the walkway. He walked steadily down the rows looking from statue to statue; it was quite a way to be remembered, better than just a name and date carved on a stone. At least this way people knew what you looked like.
“I guess you can get a photo placed in tombstones nowadays back home, I wonder if that’s something Adagio would like?” He chuckled, it was probably a little too soon to be thinking about that kind of stuff… or maybe not soon enough given his parent’s lifespan and he was living just as dangerous of a life. “Maybe I should get a will written up at least for Adagio’s and Applejack’s sake.”
Speaking of Applejack he would have to talk to her about what she plans to do when he gets home. She’s expressed interest and monster hunting or at least wanting to see what it was like and he knew if he came on strong and stubborn against it, he would only end up pushing her towards it. She was stubborn like that.
“If only there was someone I could talk to about this,” He pondered aloud as he reached the end of the row. Looking left and right Mac spotted a blot of orange and blue at the corner of the cemetery. Needing directions he trotted down to the blot that took the shape of Topaz Slicer.
The orange rinin craned his neck, his eyes tired and hollow, “Oh, it’s you, Mac, I thought you were somepony else.” He turned and resumed looking at the marble grave.
Mac stepped beside Topaz looking up at the grave, it was older than the others, much older, the white marble faded and chipped from the weather. The pony depicted was a unicorn rinin standing tall and proud. He read the name carved in the stone, Emerald Cutter.
“This is my sister’s grave,” Topaz said somberly, “She died a thousand years ago trying to defeat Princess Lu… I mean Nightmare Moon. She even went so far as to eat an alicorn amulet.” He closed his eyes and grit his teeth fighting back the pain. “It wasn’t enough.”
He looked at Mac with gloomy eyes, “Sorry didn’t mean to dump that on you. Is there something you need?”
Mac pawed awkward at the ground, “No I just was on my way to breakfast and got lost is all. Sorry to bother you.”
Topaz chuckled, “It’s alright. I’ve been standing her for too long anyways. Emmy wouldn’t like me moping in front of her grave like this. Come on, I’ll show you the way to the dining hall. You better enjoy today’s meal cause from what I heard Sixes has something special planned for you today.”
“What’s that?”
He grinned, “I could tell you, but then Sixes would send me with you and I personally don’t feel like not eating for three days.”
Mac come to a stop and blinked, “What was that now?”
As previously warned Mac ate a big breakfast, perhaps a too big of a breakfast as he felt sick to his stomach as he stood wobbling before Sixes while aboard the Night Patroller’s airship, the Nightmare Dusk.
“Mac, do you know what the difference between patroller and a hunter are?” Sixes asked as he sat down in front of the red rinin. Mac shook his head no. “Patrollers will walk around and look for trouble in his assigned area, he is there to ensure the safety and protection of those within his area, but he is not required to go looking for danger. He follows his route and that’s that. A hunter will look for danger, will enter the dangers territory and kill the danger where ever it maybe. This is will be your final lesson. You will be dropped in the untamed region of the Everfree Forest; your mission is to make it back to the castle as soon as you can. Along the way, you WILL run into many dangerous monsters. Use the knowledge you have gathered over your lesson to defeat them and survive. Do you understand?”
“I do.”
Sixes nodded with satisfaction, “Glad to hear it. You have three days of rations and two canteens of waters. There are a lot of poisonous things in the forest so it’s best if you get out before you run out of safe food.
A harness was wrapped around Mac’s body. He was lifted and hoisted over the side of the ship and lowered down into a clearing to the forest floor. He unbuckled the straps and watched the harness and rope disappear.
This was it, he better get moving. Walking to one edge of the clearing Mac tried to peer over the canopy and spot the towers of the castle. He saw a small speck in the distance. How far away did they fly him? He was kind of wishing he had paid attention while they were flying.
“I’ll just head that way,” He decided, only for a pack of Timberwolves to appear all around him. “That was fast.”
The timbers wolves charged as did Mac as he plowed head first into the leader of the pack with a scale armored head. The lead timber wolf shattered to bark and bits, leaving the rest of the other wolves stunned. Swirling around Mac blasted the pile of sticks with fire, turning it to ashes.
The wolves scattered.
“That was easier than back home,” he laughed trotting into the tree line. The ground was damp and small streams of greenish water flowed beneath his claws and hooves. Ahead of him was a swamp. Carefully Mac trotted around the edge of the swamp hopping along the boulders that lined the shore. One boulder moved when he landed on it.
Jumping Mac narrowing avoided the snapping jaws of a rockadile. He landed the next boulder with turned out to be another rockadile and the next and next after that, and the one after that. Finally reaching the other side of the swamp Mac ran into the woods with the rockadiles charging through the trees like a tank as they gave chase. He unleashed a fire breath on them, but their rocky hides were unaffected by the flames.
Scrambling up a tree Mac whipped his tail, smacking a rockadile that tried to climb after him. They began to pile on top of each other to get him. From his pack, he pulled out a blue gem and quickly ate it. He felt the icy tingle travel up his throat and he let loose a blast of ice that froze the pile of rockadiles into a giant ice sculpture. Letting go of the side of the tree he landed on top of them and then fell through, shattering them all into tiny ice shards.
“This… this is not going to easy,” he concluded. He’s been in here for five minutes and already he was attacked twice! Warily he pressed on, his eyes watching everything.
Hours passed and night fell over the forest. Mac climbed into a small dugout under a large tree and covered the entrance with a barrier of logs he cut from some large branches. The tree was hollow all way the way up the trunk allowing him to lite a fire for light and warmth. Mist drifted across the dense vegetation of the forest cooling the temperature dramatically.
Pulling a ration bar out of his pack and Mac bit into it while staring into the fire. The bar was hard and grainy, probably mostly oats, some nuts, and dried berries, it tasted alright. Settling against the dirt walls of his little hideaway Mac stared out past his makeshift barricade for monsters taking only a few minutes at a time to rest his eyes.
He was too afraid to sleep.
With good reason too, hissing through his teeth as he sprinkled water over the slash marks over his left foreleg where a timber wolf had gotten him earlier today. Not in the first attack, but in the third attack, probably only an hour before finding his refuge. The timber wolf had been strange; it wondered alone and was made up of purple branches with moss covering its body and mushrooms growing out it. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, trying to remember such a creature in his studies.
“Fungi Bright Wolf,” Mac said remembering the passage. Fungi Bright wolves were timber wolves created in bright filled areas. The wood that made their bodies were soaked in poisoned waters and the mushrooms that spawned from the moss were also toxic. “Shit.”
Spilling the contents of his pack onto the dirt floor Mac looked for something that might treat his wound. His leg began to burn and bubble, purple slime appearing on the edges of the wounds. Picking up a small container filled with a white salve he quickly applied the ointment the burning stopped for now, but he knew it would be back. He needed an anti-toxin.
From outside a chorus of howls echoed in the night and Mac remembered something else about Bright Wolves, one wolf scouts and when it infects its prey it goes to fetch the rest of the pack, leaving the prey to weaken from the poison for an easier kill.
A shadow passed outside the entrance and then another, Mac counted six in total. He rose up as a chunk of bark fell into the fire. Up above the glowing purple eyes of a bright wolf stared down at him, they climbed the trunk to cut off all escape. He needed to break through.
Blasting a stream of fire out the entrance Mac made his move and ran, leaving his pack behind in his run. The wolves howled and gave chase one running up right beside him. He rammed into it and forced it into a tree, breaking it into splinters. His legs faltered and he stumbled.
There was a stick stuck in his side!
No time to treat it Mac got up and continued to run. His vision blurred and he clipped a tree trunk. Fresh blood dripped down his right side as he stumbled into a clear blue pond. The pond was shallow, barely ankle deep, but the bottom was strange. He couldn’t really tell with his vision blurred, but it felt like the pond bottom was made of some sort of carved stone. He felt his way around, making a lot of noise as he splashed around heading towards the center of the pond. He turned and facing the bright wolves that gathered on the shore.
He fired a fireball at them to try and scare them away, but his aim was off, way off. The wolves knew he was out of it. They cackled with laughter as they broke apart into thousands of growing pieces and began reforming into one giant wolf.
The giant wolf seemed to smirk as it stepped into the pond, the water turning purple with every step it took. Mac unleashed a stream of fire and back peddled trying to buy time, but he tripped on something and fell into the water. For a brief moment all he saw was red and at first, he thought it blood, but blood didn’t shine. He rose up out of the water, his vision clearing for a moment giving him a good clear view of what had tripped him.
A gem, a big red gem was embedded into the carved stone under the pond. Now probably wasn’t the time to be staring at a red rock, but it held his attention, almost forcing him to look at it. Carefully he reached out and touched it with the tip of his claw, a surge of power coursed through his body, melting away his pain and fatigue.
He turned and growled at the wolf that seemed to notice something was different as it stopped its advance. He charged up a fire breath, the heat in his chest burning so hot that red steam was rising from his chest. He let the fire loose, and it wasn't fired that came out, but something more akin to a beam of pure red energy. The blast incarnated the wolf into ashes.
Mac took his claw off the stone, his vision blurring as his legs gave out beneath him.
“What was that,” He gasps as he tried to keep his head above the water. He was so weak now. It felt like he pulled every muscle in his body.
As his eyes fluttered open and close he could hear the sound of water splashing as something trotted towards him. A set of gray striped legs appears and he looked up and saw a silhouette with a Mohawk looking down on him.
“What a surprise for me, to find you here in a place known to no stallion or mare beyond me,” Said a feminine voice. “Wait patiently for I have a remedy for your ills, you seemed to have quite the thrill.” There was a sound of cock popping and followed by chugging. The gray striped mare leaned down and mashed her lips against his transferring whatever medicine to his mouth. Mac swallowed it with burning cheeks; glad Adagio wasn’t here to see this. At least he was feeling better.
“Thanks, I thought I was a goner Miss…”
“Zecora, I am merely a shaman who makes her home in these woods. Though I have taken on a sort of guardian role of stone you see before you. I hope it is not your intention to take it for I will be forced to defend it.”
Mac shook his head, “Nope, it’s all yours. Did come in handy against that wolf, though, what is it?”
Zecora stepped side, giving Mac the full view of the gem, he noticed it was placed on top of some metal thing carved into a unicorn head with wings coming out the sides. “This is the red alicorn amulet, a dangerous and evil treasure that corrupts the hearts of ponies that use it. It was entrusted to me by the now Princess Twilight Sparkle. Though there are others, it is nice to know this one is safe from the hooves of fools and villains who would use it.”
“I suppose so. You’re not going have to erase my memory or something like that now that I seen this thing are you?”
Zecora laughed, “Fear not, I suspect you do not know where you are, nor will you ever, but it does raise the question of why you are here… Mr….”
“Macintosh.”
“Ah another Big Mac, I should have suspected given your looks. I am to guess you are not from this world originally?”
Mac blinked, “How’d you guess?”
“A feeling is all. Your magic is off, similar but different to the magic of this world. Not that is of my concern. Now you have given you name, but not your purpose.”
“I’m just here for some training by Sixes,” Mac said explaining the situation as best he could without going into pointless details. Zecora nodded looking satisfied with his story.
“It is all clear to me, that you are no threat to me. Whether merely by chance or by destiny we meet is not up for debate. All I ask you not tell Sixes or any other of this place.”
“You don’t want me to tell him not to drop ponies off around here?”
Zecora nodded, “The best-kept secrets are the ones no ponies knows exist. Tell others to stay away and you make ponies what to come and see why.”
He could agree with that logic, it made a lot of sense. A personal example would be when his dad told him and Applejack to stay away from the west orchard for the first time. The first thing he and Applejack did was go to the west orchard.
“So where are we going?” Mac asked ducking under a branch. The trail they were on looked well-traveled. The presence of the forest also seemed to change. The air seemed… tamer, if there was such a thing. Nothing has attacked them in a while either.
Zecora answered, “I’m taking out of the forest. I have treated the toxins but your body will need rest and you will not find it here. I suspect Sixes will find your training here significant.”
“I guess I was only supposed to find my way out, though this feels like cheating with you just showing me the way out.”
“Sixes did not say you have to leave in a specific way, only to get out, correct?” Mac nodded yes to her statement. “Then there should be no issue unless you want me to lead you back into the wild zone.”
“I’m good, I’m eager to go home anyway.”
“You did not ask answer why you came here,” said Zecora, “It is not my business of course, but I sense you are bothered by many things. I smell musk on you, are you perhaps trouble with your mate?”
Does everypony here know he’s doing it? Was there a sign above his head that said ‘I’m getting some and I want everyone to know’?
“You ponies are strangely open about… intercourse.”
Zecora shrugged, “When everypony can smell it, there’s no reason to hide it. So is it mate troubles that brought you here? Have you say had a lover’s spat?”
Okay, this was getting a little too personal for him. “No, that’s not why I’m running in the woods in a completely different body than usual in a parallel world. I just had a brush with a really strong monster and I thought it would be a good idea to take Sixes up on his training offer. My mate is with child and I want to be able to protect them.”
“A noble reason, but I sense that is not all. Also, I’m not psychic, I’m merely a shaman.” Zecora said with a smirk. He had been about to ask if she was psychic and her statement didn’t really help to change the fact she seemed to possess some sort of sixth sense, but he was getting off topic.
“I’m also worried about my sister, she and her friends have been involved in some dangerous magic business and I want to try to protect her from that. I’ve been hunting monster for only a few months and I’ve come close to death a couple of times and I don’t want her to live this life, but I know I can’t stop her if she really wants to do it. Even if she doesn’t it seems trouble finds her and I’m not sure how to handle it.”
Zecora nodded with a knowing smile, “I’ve heard this story before. I know of pony that could help you work through your troubles.”
“And who would that be,” he said skeptically as they cleared the forest and entered into a vast orchard. In the distant kicking a tree was a big red stallion wearing a yoke. The stallion looked towards them; surprise clear in his eyes as Zecora giggled and disappeared back into the forest.
“The best pony to talk to is you,” said Zecora’s disembodied voice as the pony Big Mac walked up to him.
They stared at each other, the same, yet different. A minute passed with neither one speaking till finally pony Mac held up his hoof with a shaky smile.
“Howdy, names Big Macintosh.”
Mac held up his own claws hoof and shook the other Mac’s leg, “Macintosh Apple.”
Mac and Mac sat on the porch of Sweet Apples Acers with two bottles of cider between them. The earth Mac couldn’t help but look in awe at how similar the farm of Equestria was compared to his own back home. The trees seemed shorter though and little more spread out, but there were so many more trees it seems. He’s like to survey how many acres this farm was.
“So…” Pony Mac played with his half-empty bottle of cider, eyeing human Mac a degree of uncertainty. He seemed to be handling the ‘meeting you from another world thing’ better than human Mac probably would have if hadn’t known about there being more than one world. “Just to limit the confusion, how about you refer to me as Macintosh and I’ll call you Mac.”
“Sounds good to me,” Mac replied with an equally awkward smile. This was proving to be awkward, very awkward. They could barely speak to each other! How as he going to ask about Applejack?
“So how are things going around here? Looks like you keep your farm as tidy as I do. No old rusty junk where I can see it was my dad’s motto. I think it’s something he picked up from my grandpa, though.” Mac chuckled as he took a sip of his cider. The stuffed tasted just like the stuff back home.
Across from him, Macintosh nodded along, sporting a grin of his own, “My dad said the same thing. Gotta keep the place clean, he was always so proud when ponies would talk about how clean the farmyard was. Been getting tough keeping the place clean lately, Applebloom is off running with her friends all the time and Applejack is off doing her friendship quests every other week it seems. Granny’s pushing me to get mated and start putting out foals, if she were here now she’d really give it to me after smelling you.”
The smell again, he was just going to scoot around that on for now on. “What are these… friendship quests? I have an Applejack and Applebloom back home too; they’re both in high school at the moment.”
“Oh, AJ gets called by some damn map in Twilight’s castle to go help some ponies or some other species with a friendship problem. I’m not sure what the purpose is exactly, seems to help promote good nature and all that. That’s just part of the time, the rest of the time she’s off saving Equestria or dealing with some ancient evil that’s awakened or just some villain that appears out of the blue. Those go in streaks, most of the time her quests are pretty mundane.”
This must have been what dad had been talking about when he said Applejacks are destined not to live a normal life. Course maybe this was normal here, couldn’t hurt to ask. “Is this normal? I mean is it normal of ponies to have such adventurous lives?” Macintosh looked at him strangely.
“Normal… I guess maybe to some. Seems normal to me now, but overall? I wouldn’t think three-quarters of ponies have even half exciting of lives as my sister and her friends. She’ll probably go down as some legend like our ancestor Applejack the first from a thousand years ago. I’ve to talk to some of them dragon ponies once and they said she was a founding member of Princess Luna’s Night Patrol.”
(I guess that’s why dad said Applejack’s don’t live normal lives.)
“I guessing your Applejack is not just a normal high school girl?” Macintosh inquired earning a nod from Mac. “I figured. It’s not just my sister or our ancestor Applejack the first, it’s all the ones in between too. I don’t think any of them lived a normal quiet life, but I guess if they did they wouldn’t have written it down to pass on.”
“So how do you deal with it, I how do you deal with your little sister going off on dangerous missions? My sister has fought against two demons, was kidnapped and experimented on by a mad woman that’s now living in a shack in my orchard. I’ve fought a lot of monsters myself too, and they only get more dangerous.” Mac hesitated, gripping his cider bottle tight in his claws. “I don’t want my sister or any of my family in that kind of danger. My world isn’t like Equestria, we didn’t have monster roaming around till recently, it’s not… normal to be fighting monsters.”
Macintosh pulled another cider from the cooler and placed it next to Mac. Popping the bottle top off with his teeth, he took a few good gulps before answering his counterparts pleads for advice. Though he probably wouldn’t like what he’s got to say.
“Well Mac, I’ll admit wasn’t very comfortable with my sister going off and doing dangerous stuff. In truth, I wish it was me. As a simple farm pony I can’t help but dream of adventure and grandeur, but somepony needs to stay here and tend the fields and the trees well everypony else is running across the country and beyond. I’ve come to accept that my role is to make sure my sister has a nice home to come home to. Do I worry about her? Of course, I do, but I don’t have the skills, the magic, or the experience to do the things she does. If destiny appeared right now and offered me to switch places with her I would, but we both know that isn’t going to happen.” He looked sternly at his counterpart, frustration clearly writing all over his face. “My advice, just go with the flow and do the best you can, it’s all you can do after all.”
Mac chuckled humorlessly as he drank back the rest of his cider, “Here I thought I was going to get an answer about how to stop fretting over it all, but I guess that wouldn’t real life.”
“Nope.”
He grinned, “Nope indeed. Thanks for the cider. I best be going.”
“Come back anytime Mac if you need to talk again, I know how difficult Applejack can be,” Macintosh hollered laughing as he watched his counterpart disappear into the distance. He waited a few minutes and smiled when Applejack came trotting down the path to the house looking confused.
“Oh good! You’re normal!” She sighed in relief. “I thought I just saw well… YOU looking like of them dragon ponies and I thought I better make sure first before kicking down Twilight’s door. Though he did look a lot like you, he isn’t a cousin is he?”
Macintosh smiled as he patted the other chair for Applejack to sit down in and passed her a cider, “Nope, just a stallion looking for advice on how to deal with a stubborn little sister.”
“Very funny,” Applejack huffed drinking her cider, still she did wonder who that was.
Applejack awoke with a low groan, her stomach feeling heavy and bloated from last night’s party. After returning from camp she and her friends decided to have a sleepover at her house since Granny and Applebloom were gone. They had stayed up late, played video games, spin the bottle, truth or dare, cards, ordered pizza and drank enough soda pop to be live wired till four in the morning.
Her room was a complete mess as a result.
Groggily she rolled off her bed, her foot whacking Pinkie in the boob as she did. She whispered a soft ‘sorry’ and tiptoed through her friends that lay haphazardly around her room.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy lay huddled together, Fluttershy using Rainbow as a plushy, while Rarity lay by herself in a very inelegant pose with two empty cider bottles clutched in her hands and her chest covered in dry cider. She was not going to be happy when she woke up.
Also, those weren’t soda cider bottles either. She’d have to try and hide that fact from Granny.
Continuing through the mess of bodies Applejack stepped over Sunset and Twilight who were blocking the door. She began to pace in place as the need to use the bathroom arose suddenly. The cider was really getting to her. Gently as she could she picked up the two by their bra straps… why they were only in their bras was a different question entirely, but not one she felt like thinking about now, so she tossed her friends on the bed and left, but not before taking one second to take a snapshot with her phone of them all.
One trip to the bathroom later Applejack was downstairs eating breakfast in her pajama shorts and big apple t-shirt. Today was Sunday and Granny wouldn’t be home until Monday, so she saw no point in getting dressed right away and the chores were already done thanks to Granny’s neighbor. Making this one of the rare days that she didn’t have to do any work right away in the morning.
Mindlessly chewing through her bowl of bran flakes, the only cereal Granny brought, Applejack picked up the newspaper to see what happened while they were gone. She assumed everything would be quiet as the magic problem seemingly followed them to camp. She hoped that gave Mac and the sirens some peace and quiet for a little bit.
Flipping the page Applejack spotted an article that made her eyes snap open and spit milk out her nose in surprise. She groaned, quickly grabbing a napkin to clean her face. Shoving the bowl aside Applejack held the paper up to read with her full attention.
The article read, ‘Investigation still ongoing on soccer player attack after last Friday’s game of Canterlot vs. Griffonstone. Griffonstone star player, Gilda Griffon, was attacked after last Friday’s game. She reports that someone or someone’s had thrown frozen ice at her when she ran for cover from the sudden storm that ended the game early. Authorities speculate that attack could because of a rival school as Gilda’s assailants only aimed for her legs, perhaps hoping to take her out before the next game or in some twisted revenge scheme. Thankfully with the help of a friendly spectator, Gilda was able to escape back to her couch for treatment; her legs badly banged up and covered in blood from witness accounts…”
Applejack put the paper down, her stomach turning as she looked away from the picture of Gilda’s legs. The black and white photo hid a lot of the damage, but it still made her queasy. The bruises were this size of her fist, she could only imagine the pain that girl was in.
(Last Friday, the day before we left for camp.)
She thought back to that night. The game had been intense and Rainbow Dash had been pushed hard to the point that she was kicked off the field for disorderly conduct. Rainbow hadn’t been happy about that she knew, but Rainbow would never do this, she was a sore loser sometimes but never vengeful when it came to a fair game. Besides she and the others had been with Rainbow during and after the game, so she couldn’t have done it.
“What’re reading AJ?” Sunset asked as she and the human Twilight Sparkle entered the kitchen. Both looking half past tired. Applejack could relate as she was feeling the same.
“Just the paper,” She answered tucking it away with the other papers of the week. The others didn’t need to know about that attack last Friday. At least not yet, come Monday everyone would know, so they might as well get a day off from the town gossip.
Sunset yawned and nodded searching through the cupboards for bowls and cereal. Knowing it was only a matter of time before the inevitable happened Applejack got up and grabbed bowls and spoons for her friends. Sunset flashed a bright white smile as she sheepishly took the bowls and spoons and set then down on the table where Twilight was already sitting. They all sat in quiet silence until they heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive and the doorbell ring.
The two other girls looked at her as she stood up to get the door. Now she was cursing her laziness as she walked into the mudroom.
“Can you wait a minute? I’m… a bit underdressed…” She told the person the other side with flushed cheeks.
“That will be fine ma’am,” the owner of the voice said, it was a man’s voice.
Quickly Applejack hurried up to her room grabbing the first pair of pants she saw and ran back while putting them on, hopping one-legged down the stairs. She finished buttoning her jeans back in front of the door, the whole ordeal only taking forty seconds give or take.
Warily Applejack opened the door, her hand gripped around the shotgun tucked behind the door. When she cracked the door open wide enough to see who was on the other side Applejack immediately let the gun slide from her grip. The man at the door was a cop!
“Um… hello officer, can I help you?”
“Detective actually,” The man said holding out a red hand with a card slipped between his fingers. The card read ‘Detective Ferocious of Canterlot Police Department’ it had his phone, fax and office address all written on it.
What really held Applejack’s attention was his face, not that she found it attractive, but because it looked so familiar. He looked like Fierce Fury, one of the Equestrians that came to help her and friends doing the Maddie incident. There was something else familiar about him too, she couldn’t place it, but it felt like this wasn’t their first meeting.
“What can I do for you today Detective?” She asked tightening her grip on the door. She shouldn’t be nervous! She and her friends were all at camp for the entire week they couldn’t have done anything!
“Relax AJ, I just need to ask you and your classmates some questions regarding last Friday. Is there anyone else in the house with you?”
(How does he know my name?) She thought worriedly.
“Um yeah… about six of them, some of them are still sleeping.”
Ferocious tapped his chin, “I see, well, would you kindly disclose those names?”
“Is someone in trouble? What’s going on?” Applejack demanded hotly, only to quickly cough and calm herself down. “What I mean is please tell me what this is about?”
“Good girl,” He smiled pulling a notepad and pen from his pockets, “And I was just getting to that. I’m the lead investigator on the Gilda case. I’m trying to find out whom or what attacked that girl Friday. Several eye witnesses report you in the crowd, so I have to ask,” Ferocious leaned down to look at her with frightening yellow eyes. “Did you or your friends see anything or hear anything before, during or after the game before you left for camp?”
Applejack shook her head, “No, nothing, I just found out about it in the paper this morning actually.” He looked at her with steely cold eyes, like a hawk watching its prey. She shivered involuntarily. He smiled and leaned away.
“I see, I’ll have to take an honest girls word on it then, now if you could kindly write down your friends’ names I’ll happily speak to them when they’re at home and… decent… as you say.” He handed her his notepad and she wrote her friends names, minus Sunset’s, because well… it was Sunset. She didn’t need an investigation on her that could lead to a lot of uncomfortable questions with few answers.
She handed Ferocious his notepad back and he pocketed it and began to walk back to his car only to stop half way and turn back around.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where your brother Macintosh was last Friday and Saturday would you?”
Applejack’s blood ran cold, what happened to Mac? “No, I haven’t spoken to him all week. Why do you ask?”
“Well the description given to us by Gilda of the man that helped her is striking to your brother and the day after the game there are reports that someone matching his description was at the scene of the slaughter in Cloudsdale, but I guess you might not have heard about that yet.”
If Applejack was looking in a mirror her skin would have been white with fright. “What slaughter?”
“Someone…” Ferocious stopped seemly fighting with himself about what to say. “SomeTHING, killed several campers and more than two dozen police officers. There are mixed reports of a man and three women helping the officers, their descriptions all over the place.”
“Then how do you conclude it was my brother?”
Ferocious smiled as he tipped his hat to her, “Just a hunch. I remember a certain friend of mine who got into similar trouble. Now you have a good day Applejack.”
Applejack ran onto the lawn as Ferocious got into his car, she ran after him screaming, “How do you know my name!” She didn’t get an answer as Ferocious drove away leaving her standing on the grass confused, worried, and filled with questions.
(How did he know my name? How did he know my nickname? How did he know Mac’s name?) Applejack thought in a panic, but there was one more question. He said he had a friend like Mac. (Did he… did he mean dad?)
“Applejack… are you alright?” Sunset asked from the front door.
Applejack shook her head, “I don’t know,” She said, her voice hoarse from yelling. Her hands were trembling; her breathing was becoming shorter and more rapid.
She suddenly ran for the house and grabbed the phone and dialed Mac’s number. Her friends watched worriedly as she frantically paced in place, biting her nails which each ring. Finally, someone picked up.
“Do you have any fucking idea what time it is?” Adagio groggily replied on the other end of the line. Instantly Applejack relaxed upon hearing her sister in law’s voice.
“Sorry Adagio, I didn’t mean to call at… ten am… but can I speak to Mac? I really need to talk to him.”
Adagio yawned loudly, chomping her teeth together as she did, “Mac’s not here right now. I sent him away on a vacation to relax. One of those farm expos or something, if you can count that as something fun to go to. He’ll be back Monday or Tuesday, in the meantime come pick up your little sister sometime today. Oh, wait, Aria was going to do that… bye.”
She hung up.
Sighing in relief Applejack hung up the phone. Mac was ok; everything was fine, for now.
Applejack fell back in her chair with a sigh, pressing her head into her hands. Everything was so crazy it was driving her crazy! Going to Camp Everfree was supposed to be a break from the crazy, but things only got even crazier!
“No, I mean yes, I mean… I don’t know. After camp, I just thought maybe Mac was in trouble and now the cop at the door.”
“There was a cop here!” Twilight squeaked looking nervous. Even Sunset was looking concerned as Applejack reluctantly threw the newspaper article at them. There was no point hiding it now. She also dug for last Saturday’s paper. Sure enough, the police slaughter at the camp was on the front page. She handed it over to the two, their expressions turning grim.
Twilight looked the most affected, “Are these… are these because of magic?” She whispered horrified. Her research subject was looking more and more dangerous by the day. The purple girl was looking a little green as she flipped through the pictures. The Cloudsdale newspaper was very graphic.
“I think I need to use the bathroom,” Twilight said running away.
That left Applejack and Sunset staring at each other. They were most involved in this magic business, what with Applejack’s dad being a pony and Sunset being a pony.
“What are we gonna do cuz?” Applejack sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time today. The medallion she got from camp flopped against her chest, reminding her of yet another magic mystery needing to be solved.
If Sunset had the answer she didn’t look it as she copied Applejack’s pose. “I wish I knew AJ. I want to learn more about the magic of this world, starting with these medals and our new powers, but it just keeps getting more and more dangerous. I don’t really feel comfortable bring the others into this. Rainbow would walk into Tartarus and not even know it, but Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy… I can’t say I see them handling the more extreme stuff. You can only take so many Maddie incidents before you start to lose it.”
“I feel like I’m at the kid's table,” Applejack admitted sourly. “Sure our threats have been dire or whatever, but all we had to do most of the time is hold hands and fire a magic rainbow or something and that’s it! Can you even imagine half of what Mac does?”
Sunset nodded, thinking of all the stuff Mac had to contend with after the Maddie incident such as where to bury Whitetail’s body… “Hey, Mac never happened to mention what Sixes and the others did with Whitetail’s body, did he?”
After the incident with Maddie Sunset had noticed there was freshly turned up dirt near her shack. She shivered to think if that was what that was. Also, there was the chimera body Nico buried… and she was really starting to think some things were better left alone.
Still wanting to be of some help, Sunset reached across the table and took Applejack’s hands in hers and looked the farm girl straight in the eye, “What do you want to do AJ?”
Applejack’s hands tightened around Sunsets. She could either turn away and pretend nothing was happening or face it head on. Originally when she left for camp she wanted a few days to sit back and evaluate the whole magic thing, even as she told Mac she wanted to learn more about monster hunting. Now it was clear to her, there was no choice; this wasn’t going to leave her or her friends alone.
“I want to learn, I want to protect my friends and family.” Of that Applejack was certain, more than anything else in the world. She wanted to keep her family safe.
“Well count us in!” Rainbow Dash shouted from the hallway with the others sheepishly hiding behind her. Sunset and Applejack sat flabbergasted and red faced.
Applejack let go of Sunset’s hands and tried to fight down her brush, “How long have you been there?”
“For a while…” Fluttershy admitted meekly.
“We didn’t mean to pry, but we all felt the call for breakfast as you know… and a shower,” Rarity said, looking much cleaner than before.
“Yeah, we got super hungry and then we ran into Twilight and then we wound up here! It’s kind of funny story, but I guess now not the time for it, but…” Pinkie chattered on, Rainbow’s hand muffling her words, which ok as she had gotten her point across.
Splitting from the group Twilight walked in front of everyone, still looking a little sick, but much more composed. “Things are looking much scarier than they first seemed, but I still want to learn more about magic, no matter what.”
(No matter what huh, defiantly can see that coming back to bite us.) Regardless her friend's speeches made Applejack’s heart flutter with joy knowing she wasn’t alone.
“Well, before we go looking for trouble, why don’t we get some food in you.” Applejack stood up and passed out more bowls and spoons for her friends and poured them all some cereal till the box was empty. Together they sat back and chattered while they ate and she looked on with a smile. As they each expressed their excitement about researching magic.
Until they remembered they had other things to do today. Rarity had to finish a dress, Fluttershy had to work at the animal shelter, Rainbow had promised to practice with others from the soccer team, and Pinkie needed to go home and do… something, it was hard to understand through her chewing.
Either way, it left only Twilight, Sunset, and Applejack to do any research today, not that they knew where to start. Neither the less Applejack’s friends helped clean up her room and the mess from the sleepover. They were all on their way save for Twilight and Sunset who stayed behind briefly.
“I think we should go talk to Maddie. I’ll take Twilight home to drop off her stuff first and we’ll meet you in a few hours at the farm.” Sunset said as she helped fit her spare helmet onto Twilight’s head.
Applejack nodded, liking the plan, “That’s fine; I come meet you after Aria drops off Applebloom. She’ll be alright for a few hours by herself.”
With those parting words Sunset and Twilight zoomed off on Sunset’s bike, Twilight screaming all the way down the street as Sunset revved the engine faster than she needed. It brought a smile to Applejack’s face, a desperately needed one at that.
With nothing else to do she walked back inside the house to shower and to hide the fact some of the alcoholic cider was missing.
About thirty minutes later the doorbell rang again just as Applejack finished her shower. Looking out the kitchen window from the bathroom hall she saw Aria’s truck. Yelling for the two to come in she went back to drying her hair.
“You're enjoying your day off it seems,” Aria said dropping Applebloom’s bags on the floor as Applejack walked out of the bathroom in a white towel. “Looks like you’re really pampering yourself there AJ, is that scented soap I smell? I’m sure Rarity or better yet Adagio would just love to know you actually have a feminine side.”
“How about I send you home with a fat lip,” Applejack growled shaking her fist at the siren, blushing redder than a red apple. She liked strawberry shampoo, so what!
Aria scoffed, “I’d like to see you try, but if you really want to have a go. I just want you to know I have my phone and once your ass is on the floor expect pictures to be taken.”
Grumbling Applejack held her towel tighter to her body and stalked past the siren towards the stairs. Only to pause once she heard the sound of a camera, she turned around with a death glare to Aria who had her phone up.
“That’s a nice one. I might just sell to Explicit for some quick cash or maybe just steal what’s in the register once she passes out. I think you’re her type.”
Applejack ran up the stairs, “Once I get some pants on your fucking dead Aria!”
“Just pants? I might get even more then!” Aria laughed as Applejack screamed in frustration. Having her fill of teasing her sister in law Aria deleted the picture from her phone.
“Why are you so mean to AJ?” Applebloom asked walking with Aria to the door.
Aria laughed and waved her off, “I’m not mean; she’s just so easy to tease, besides after living with Adagio’s crap I think I earned the right to dish some teasing out. Adagio isn’t ashamed of anything and Sonata is too dense to tease, AJ is just right. But I better go before your sister comes down and shoots a rainbow at me or something.”
“I’ll shoot you with something other than a rainbow this time!” Thundering down the stairs Applejack was half way through finishing putting her shirt on, earning another snapshot from Aria as the pink siren walked out the door. “You better delete that!”
“I’ll think about it!” Aria replied as she climbed into her truck and drove off.
Applejack growled on the porch watching Aria drive away. Eventually, she took a deep breath and calmed down. Grabbing her keys off the rack Applejack stalk towards her truck.
“I’ll be home in a little bit, hold down the fort.”
“But I just got home, where are you going?”
Applejack paused and faced her little sister, she had thought she’d be excited to be home alone. “I just need to do somethings. You behave, no calling friends over or anything like that, I won’t be gone long.”
“All right,” Applebloom drawled tiredly. She was feeling rather tired.
With Applebloom back in the house, Applejack started her truck and drove off towards the farm.
Sunset and Twilight were waiting for her outside Sunset’s shack in the south orchard. The two girls waved as Applejack approached on foot, her truck left on the secret road that leads to Sunset’s humble abode. It was imperative that the sirens did not know they were going to speak with Maddie. For if the sirens knew then Mac would know and Applejack didn’t want Mac to know. She didn’t want to add to his worries.
Walking together the three took the old path through the southeastern part of the orchard to Maddie’s shack. The path was overrun with wild grass and fallen branches. A cool wind blew through the trees giving off a creepy vibe.
“No one really comes out this way huh,” Twilight said as she huddled in her sweater. It was the tail end of the summer the weather was still warm, but in here it felt like fall as if the orchard had its own climate.
Applejack nodded as they passed a large moss covered dirt pile with small white patches here and there. The patches were bones of something long dead, another of Nico’s kills perhaps.
“Dad always told us to stay out of the west orchard, but this part he never needed to tell us to stay out of, it was creepy enough. If you think it’s bad now, wait till it gets dark.” Behind her Twilight and Sunset shivered as they passed another mound, this one had a large creature’s skull out for all to see as the rain had eroded away the dirt covering it.
Sunset hugged herself as they passed the skull, “Is that a chimera skull? Like the one, we dug up in the west orchard.”
Applejack stopped and looked the skull over; it was indeed a chimera skull, though it looked much older. It has defiantly been here awhile. “Seems to be, come on, Maddie’s isn’t much further.”
The three girls exited the southeast orchard, the scenery taking a drastic change as the trees appeared less and less creepy with a more pleasant atmosphere. The place was feeling like a normal farm again much to everyone’s relief. Ahead down the overgrown path was Maddie’s shack.
Maddie’s shack, much like Sunset’s was small, but comfortable, and featured many signs of recently being worked on. New paint, new roofing, with a satellite and generator, the last two features Sunset’s shack lacked, as her power was directly connected to the main house.
Knocking on the door they received no response. The three girls looked at another before knocking again and yelling for Maddie. “Maddie, are you home?” Applejack asked banging on the door.
There was no reply.
Turning the doorknob they were surprised to find it turned. The door was unlocked! Slowly they entered keeping an eye out for Maddie. Inside the small dim shack, the only light from the setting sun, they saw Maddie’s merger home for all it was. There was a messy bed, old food containers, and a computer desk with a dual screen desktop and papers littered everywhere.
“Oh my god, this is amazing!” Twilight gushed as she rushed to the computer. “This is a custom 2 terabit Mac operating system! This cost more than my college fund!”
“As impressive as that is, I’m a little weary touching Maddie’s stuff. You haven’t met her yet Twilight, but Maddie is scary, even scarier than Midnight Sparkle.” Sunset said trying to pull her friend of the computer. Maddie could be back at any minute!
Her words seemed to have little effect on Twilight, “I doubt that. I mean I… er… Midnight tried to destroy the world! What’s worse than that?”
Applejack gripped her tightly, making the purple girl shiver under her hard gaze, “A lot of things Twilight, a lot of things and that’s all I’m gonna say. Now, do you think you can get something off this thing?”
Sunset gasped, “Applejack?”
“Look, Maddie’s been researching Magic her entire life, she’d got to have something we can use. Now might be the only time we get unfiltered access. So Twi, can you get something off this?”
“Well, I’ll have to log in first and… she doesn’t have a password on her computer… that’s… irresponsible.” Maddie’s homepage popped up, with countless files and programs running. A map popped up automatically showing portal locations and what has appeared and where.
“I think that’s what we’re looking for; can you get the monster files and this radar thing copied or something?” Applejack asked.
Twilight bit her lip in thought, knowing she’d need something to put the data on. She could send it home to her computer, but Maddie would be able to track it and she didn’t want that. A sudden notification from her phone gave her the perfect idea! Setting her iPhone on the desk she synced the data on the computer with her phone and downloaded as much as she could sending anything that didn’t into the iCloud.
“Got it, I now have everything right here!” Twilight held up her phone and pointed it at Sunset. “Athena, identify.”
The phone took a picture of Sunset and then brought up all of her files for the group to see. It fascinated Applejack and creeped Sunset out.
“Now we’ll be able to identify monsters when we find them and get alerts when a portal opens in real time! Technology is so great!” Twilight swooned dancing around with her phone only for Applejack to pluck it from her hands and look intently at it. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just feel like I’ve seen something like this before. What was it… Dex… something…” The realization hit her like a brick. “We just made a fucking Pokedex!”
“Well… there may have been some subconscious influence…” Twilight blushed.
Sunset spoke up, “Look I don’t care what it is, I just want to get out of here, before Maddie gets back!”
“I second that,” Applejack agreed pulling Twilight towards the door as the purple girl desperately reached for Maddie’s computer. “Leave it; we got what we came for.” She said as they got outside and shut the door firmly behind them. “Do you think you can get this stuff on all our phones?”
“With sometime maybe, I’ll need to reformat the program into something our phones can handle,” Twilight replied.
Applejack looked at the little device in her hand and handed it back to its owner, “Do it. We’ll gather everyone up once you’re done. First I better get you home, it’s getting late.”
“What a beautiful day,” Fluttershy gushed walking home from her shift at the animal shelter. She had only stayed home long enough to say hello to her parents before leaving again. Still it was nice to see them after a week. She wasn’t so nice to see her brother back after supposedly moving out for the third time, but what could you do? He was family.
Regardless her fist tightened at the thought of him being back.
Getting flustered at her brother wouldn’t help though and Fluttershy took a deep long breath and relaxed. She didn’t like getting angry, she clenched her teeth when she got angry and then her gums would start to hurt and it would ruin her day.
It was already happening; she could feel her gums aching, especially around her canine teeth.
“Oh, that makes me so mad!” She huffed kicking a stone. The stone flew into an alley, followed by a high-pitched yelp! Quickly Fluttershy ran into the alley and found a stray dog shivering in a box, the stone she kicked lying beside the dog. “I’m sooo sorry Mr. Puppy! Here let me help you feel better.”
She kneeled down and reached for the little dog, he coward away from her, so she reached into her pack and retrieved a doggy treat. When she reached again he eagerly came out and swiped the treat from her hand and crawled back into his box.
Fluttershy smiled and watched the little dog eat, wondering what he was doing here. Of course seeing a stray dog was no surprise to her, but she wondered where he came from and if he was really a stray or just separated from his owners.
The box suddenly lurched and fell trapping the dog as a soccer ball flew overhead. Fluttershy watched in horror as two more balls came flying from the other end of the ally, hitting the box again. She grabbed the box and quickly grabbed the shivering puppy as three boys approached her.
“Ah look, the mutt found a bitch, how sweet,” One of the boys sneered.
All three boys wore school uniforms from what looked like Crystal Prep or maybe even Crystal College, they did seem to be the right age. The question on Fluttershy’s mind was why they were here and not the city and why were they being so mean.
“That wasn’t very nice, you leave this puppy alone!” She demanded hotly, her blood pumping hard as the three boys towered over her. They all had to be near six feet tall!
“Awe look the bumpkin knows how to speak,” The boy in the center mocked leering over her. “She doesn’t look half bad either. What do you say, bumbkin, what to take a ride on the high side?”
He reached for her and Fluttershy forcibly pulled her hand out of his grip and began to walk back towards the street, only to bump into the two other boys. Her chest began heaving as her breath picked up. She was trapped!
“Y-y-you leave me alone! I-I-‘m warning you!” She stuttered as one of the boys pulled at her tank top. Her arms tightened around the puppy in fear and her gums really began to hurt, almost unbearably.
“Come on cutie, my pops told me all sorts of stories about you bumpkin girls, don’t worry, we’ll leave you with a nice tip.” The boy laughed, and so did his friends.
As one of the boys reached for her tank top strap she grabbed him by the wrist causing him to scream out in pain as blood came spewing out. The boy continued to cry out as Fluttershy easily manipulated his body as if he were a toy doll. She hoisted him up the collar and bit him in the neck.
“What the hell?” The other two boys screamed as Fluttershy dropped their friend like a sack of potatoes, her lips marred with his blood, but what really freaked them out where the two long fangs sticking out from her mouth and her blood red eyes.
The boys began to run as yellow leather wings and long pointed ears appeared on Fluttershy. Spreading her wings she chased the boys down sinking her teeth into both of them.
When Fluttershy came back to her senses she was in a park fountain, her memory blank as she climbed out of the red water.
(What… happened? Did those boys throw me in the water? That must be it, what mean boys) She concluded groggily, not noticing the waters new tint as the puppy from earlier barked happily at her. She picked it up and carried him home. She needed to change clothes.
Rarity wiped her lips clean with her napkin as her friend Saffron Masala set a cup of tea down before her. Over the summer Saffron and her father had set up a restaurant near her shop and so in the interest of supporting another business Rarity eats at Saffron’s restaurant once a week if she can. It helps that the food is delicious and reasonably priced.
“I must thank you again for the new clothes Rarity; my customers have really enjoyed it.” Saffron gave a little spin to show off the new uniform she commissioned from Rarity. The uniform was much like her old one, a light flowing top and skirt, but now a rich purple with red accents. The cut of the dress was a little more explicit, but not enough that to be too sexy for families. Though there has been a rise in her single male patrons and some females.
“Oh think nothing of it, darling. I was happy to help and you are a perfect model. Would you consider posing for a few of my new dresses? I would even let you use them in your next restaurant poster if you’d like.”
A grumbly voice interrupted them as Saffron’s father, Coriander Cumin, motioned for his daughter to go wait other tables. “You make business more profitable Miss Rarity and you have my thanks, but your designs make me worry. They make daughter too desirable, many unworthy suitors come now because of you.”
Rarity laughed sheepishly, “Oh Mr… Cumin… I mean Coriander!”
Coriander rolled his eyes, “Enough of your dirty minded jabs, you call me Cori, as I have said before.”
Keeping her face as neutral as possible Rarity nodded, though her mind still lingered on the misfortune of Cori’s full name, Cumin was a perfectly fine name in their home country, but here… it had a different meaning. A meaning that left Cori fuming red with annoyance and embarrassment, it had also been the cause of their slow start as their restaurant name was originally “Cumin Masala’s!” the name was thankfully changed to ‘Saffron’s far east kitchen’ now.
“Cori… right, my apologies. And while I am proud of my work, your daughter would look beautiful in just about anything. But I suppose next time I could be a little more conservative in my design.” Rarity chuckled. She hated to temper her work, as it limited creatively, but she could see Cori’s fears. Her own father was much the same way.
Cori’s chest puffed up with pride as he looked at his daughter, “I thank you for your understanding and much thanks for your favorable comments of Saffron. You are right; she is beautiful, just as her mother…” Cori wiped his face with his sleeve. “I am sorry; I must go check the stew. Have a good night Miss Rarity.”
She smiled and waved as Cori left her. Picking up her bill she left a large tip, about fifty dollars, and went to the counter to pay. Saffron and Cori must be doing well now if they could afford to hire someone to run the register. They had quite the setup. Cori cooks and Saffron waits tables and gathers the crowds.
“That will be fifteen nine total ma’am,” The cashier said, Rarity hadn’t even really looked at her, but the sound of her voice made her quickly look up at the smiling face of Lyra heartstrings of all people.
“Lyra? Since when did you work here?” Rarity barely recognized the girl; she wore the spare uniform she made for Saffron well. Between the top and skirt and the red bandana wrapped around her head, the only thing Rarity could make out was Lyra’s face and the tufts of hair that stuck out from under the bandana.
The teal girl laughed, blushing rosy red, “Since today, I got off the bus after camp and I found out I got laid off at Burger Queen’s because I forgot to tell my boss I was leaving for a week. So I was wondering towards home and I saw the help wanted sign in the window. I came inside and I got the job.”
“Well that is wonderful, Saffron and her father are very nice,” Rarity said as she forked over the amount due.
“They are. Have a goodnight, I'll see you around,” Lyra called out as Rarity made her way to the door.
Humming a little tune Rarity turned on the sidewalk and made her way to her car. The street lights were on. She hadn’t realized it was so late. Sweetie was probably wondering where she was. Mom and dad were gone off on another trip for business, leaving her to look after Sweetie. She did an ok job of it… provided she wasn’t busy.
“Sweetie is old enough to take care of herself for a few hours, it’s not like we don’t have food.” Rarity reasoned aloud, but neither the less began to walk at a brisker pace, until she heard the sound of a trash can being knocked over, the sound coming from behind Saffron’s restaurant. Curious Rarity looked down the alley to see two men cornering Saffron, who had been in the middle of taking out the trash.
Quietly she drew closer, her blood boiling when she saw the two men, she knew them. They were a pair of local loan sharks. She knew because they tried to get her to take a loan with them when she first opened her shop. She refused of course.
“Time to pay up Saffron, business is doing good, so you must have our money ready right?” One of them said as he stroked Saffron’s cheek.
“Our agreement was not until later this month, we still need to pay the rent and other things, but you will get your money, we have never broken our word!” Saffron replied fiercely, but the fear in her voice was evident.
The other man chuckled, “I don’t think you know how this works. You pay us first, whenever we say so, of course….” The man licked his lips as he reached for Saffron’s skirt. “The payment doesn’t have to be cash.”
Rarity had just about enough. Raising her hand she formed a shield in front of Saffron and used it to pull the men towards her. Quickly she wrapped them in a sphere and dragged them off before Saffron could even open her eyes to see it happen.
Less than a minute later in a deserted parking lot Rarity tossed the two men to the ground, her eyes glowing with magic as she stared down at the men that assaulted her friend. In her hands rested two black diamond knives, to which she pointed and jabbed into the men’s throats. Not enough to cut them, but enough to make them feel uncomfortable.
“As of now my friend’s debts is paid, if see you harassing her or anyone else again,” She pressed the tips of her knives harder, drawing blood. “I’ll hang you up like stuck pigs.”
The two men nodded in terror and she removed the knives and began to walk away. Little be known her, her body was covered in diamonds, a prize the greedy men couldn’t pass up.
“How about we take you instead and break you up piece by piece for payment!” One of the men yelled pulling a knife and stabbing Rarity in the back or at least he tried to. His blade stopped by her diamond hard skin. She turned slashing his neck with her knife, only no blood came out, instead, the man began to choke as diamonds began to grow all over his body. He fell to his knee clutching his neck as his entire body turned to solid diamond.
Rarity glared at the other man, twirling her knife, “Such greedy men, you’re better off being dust.” She flicked the diamond man with her finger and he burst into dust and scattered with the wind. The other man screamed and ran away.
“You’re a monster!” He screamed as Rarity twirled her blade a little before throwing it, turning the other man into a diamond statue too.
“No more than you are,” She whispered in his ear. “At least you get to die in a beautiful form.”
She reduced the man to dust and walked away.
When she came too, she was at home on her couch, groggy and confused. “Oh my when did get home?” She looked down at her sparkling shirt, her face contorting into annoyance. “Sweetie must have put glitter on me my in my sleep. Oh, that girl! If it weren’t so late would give her a spanking!” Rarity fumed as she tossed her shirt into the hamper and went to her own bed.
Blue and red lights flashed in the background as Ferocious waded through the crowd of police, a cigarette in his mouth as he pushed his way through to the three bodies in the alleyway. The victims were three boys, all in bad shape, but alive, for now. The paramedics were hurriedly trying to keep the pressure on their necks. Each boy had a deep wound on their necks as if a wild animal attacked them. He’s seen cases like this before, actually, all of his cases were like this. He always got the weird ones.
He leaned down for a closer look at the wound. One of the paramedics, a female, and a good looking one, pushed him back. Scolding him for smoking over the wounded boy. He smiled playfully back, getting the finger in response.
“Nurses and cops don’t mix, you should have stayed with that principle chick,” His partner Stryker Six chuckled as he entered the scene. Stryker was a tall man with ash black skin with blue hair. “So, we got another weird one?”
“Looks like it, and cops and nurses can mix. You just have to find one that’s seen as many dead bodies as I have and they become numb to the world. Also, leave my Ex out this.”
“Doesn’t she live around here?”
“What’s your point?”
Stryker shrugged, “No point, just stating a fact. How as your visit today? Find anything out about that Gilda case?”
“Nothing much really, AJ just got back from camp, just read the headline in the paper.”
Stryker rolled his eyes, his partner could be so soft sometimes, “And she proved this how?”
“I know when AJ lies,” Ferocious grumbled defensively. He really hated being back here, back in Canterlot. His hometown. There were a lot of memories here. Some good, some bad, others were just painful. Like his Ex and his best friend who has long since passed. “Wish Nico was still around; he kept this shit under control.”
“Well he’s not; we are, so let’s get to the bottom of this quick. We got other fish to fry. Maybe we’ll be lucky and this was just some gang violence or something simple.”
One could only hope were Ferocious thoughts as he picked up a stray pink hair off the ground, it looked familiar, he’s seen this shade before. Pocketing the hair he returned to the car. Between this case, the camp slaughter in Cloudsdale and the assault on Gilda he was going to be a busy man.
Darkness surrounded her. Not only that it was cold, very cold! She shivered, holding her arms tight against her body and making the startling discovering that she had no clothes! She eeped and crouched to the ground to cover up as much as she could. The sound of cruel mocking laughter echoed from the darkness. A slithery sensation crawled up her leg. She looked down to see an inky black snake with piercing gray eyes like the void staring up at her. The snake slithered up her leg, wrapping around her thigh, it’s tongue licking her skin.
“Get off me!” She screamed grabbing the snake by the head and tossing it away into the darkness, but more snakes crawled up her body, wrapping around her limbs and pulling her into the darkness. The black inky liquid sucking her down. She cried out for help as one snake rose in front her, hissing at her with its forked tongue and began to creep closer. She screamed louder as the snake slithered for her mouth hissing gleefully. She tried to close her mouth, but inky black tendrils attached to her jaw and kept it her mouth open.
The snake rose, hissing, “You're mine!” Before slithering into her mouth.
Rainbow awoke in a cold sweat, frantically fighting against her blankets that wrapped around her like the snakes had been. She threw the blankets off with a frantic cry, her breathing heavy and shot.
“The fuck was that? A nightmare?” She said aloud as she patted herself down. She had clothes, there were no snakes, the sun was peeking out over the horizon and she was hot as hell, literary hot in the sense she was sweating like a pig and hot in the fact she was a little vain. Not like Rarity levels of vain, but she knew she looked good… and she was going off the rails.
“Rainbow! Get your ass out of bed! It’s time for school!” Her mother called from downstairs.
With a groan and roll Rainbow flopped down on the floor of her room and crawled towards the bathroom in the hallway. Her stomach was in knots and bows, a slimy icky feeling swash around in her tummy, almost as if she had really eaten a snake.
“Rainbow!”
“I’m coming Mom!” She screamed back in frustration as she pulled herself up to the toilet bowl, a wave of vile quickly rising in her throat. She puked. Huffing air as she tried to fight down the next wave of vile, but she couldn’t, she threw up again, again, and again till her stomach was empty. Sweat dripping down her forehead she leaned back against the door, feeling cold and empty.
In the doorway, her mother stood in her olive-green business suit, her grayscale hair falling like a black and gray water off her shoulders as she finished putting in her earrings. Her nose wrinkled at the stench of the vomit and her buttery lipstick covered lips were marred in a frown.
“If you think you staying home because you got sick eating sweets, grease, and whatever the fucking else all weekend you’re going to have a long day ahead of your kiddo. I told you to watch how much crap you eat when you’re with your friends, but you just seem to refuse to listen!” Rainbow’s mother’s phone beep, earning her ire as she looked at the text displayed on the screen. “Fucking publishers… look I don’t care how you do it, go in your fucking PJ’s for all I care but get to school young lady!”
Rainbow stared dead-eyed at the wall as her mother stormed away, the sound of her heels thumping against hardwood floor all the way to the door. The door slammed closed with such force it made the china display downstairs rattle as if further clarify her mother’s frustration.
Mindlessly Rainbow stood up, grabbing some medicine from the cabinet and tossed the pills down her gullet without even a sip of water. She flushed the toilet, not even noticing the black tint that marred the swirling water as she drunkenly staggered into her room to get ready for school.
Arriving at school via bus Rainbow met an equally sickly looking Pinkie Pie hanging out by the broken horse statue. The normally perky pink girl looked sour, like someone killed her puppy, fried it, and then made her eat it. Her hair was slightly deflated, her eyes were sunken and had deep black raccoon circles under them.
“Did you have a dream about a snake slithering down your throat too?” Rainbow joked trying to get some pep back into the pink girl.
Pinkie just looked up with sunken black eyes and said, “No, I had a dream that black thorny vines grew under my skin, wrapped around my muscles and then tore me apart from the inside out and then used by remains to grow in a big inky black evil looking tree that produced poisonous fruit that kills everyone I loved. I also I feel like I drank tar, threw it up, ate it again, then repeat.”
“Ok… nice to know I’m not the only one feeling shitty after the party,” Rainbow said disturbed as she backed away, but Pinkie grabbed her hand tightly. The pink girl’s eyes were wide with fear, but what she said next really had Rainbow freaked out.
“It’s not gone, it’s still inside us, it’s still inside us….” Pinkie mumbled, twitching like the girl from the exorcist, she fell back against the statue, the color returning her skin, even her hair was puffy again. She then let out a big yawn, hopped up to her feet, looking and feeling like her usual cheery self. “Hey Rainbow! How are you today? I mean you look a little sick, but that’s never stopped you!”
Rainbow blinked uncomfortably, uncertain if this was some sort of prank, which she could not handle right now. “Um yeah, I woke up feeling a little sick after a nightmare, you said you had a nightmare too… just now and that you felt sick too… right?”
Pinkie cocked her head to the side, looking perplexed, “Did I? I must have been talking in my sleep. Maud had to drop me off early today, so I thought I’d catch a nice morning nap before school.”
“So… you were sleeping… just now… and you don’t remember me talking to you?”
Pinkie smiled, “Nope! And there’s the bell! Better get to class! See ya at lunch Rainbow!”
As she watched the hyper pink girl run away Rainbow shivered and hugged herself, (What the fuck is going on?) She thought walking into the school. The twisting in her stomach worsening with every step.
At lunch, the girls gathered at their usual table. The energy was usually low for the group of teens. Twilight sat with a pile of phones, hurriedly programming her monster hunting app into her friends’ phones between bits of food. Sunset and Applejack sat beside the tech wiz seemingly lost in their own thoughts.
Rainbow’s stomach was still in knots like something was slithering around inside it, it gave her the shivers. Beside her Pinkie Pie was looking normal for Pinkie Pie and Rarity and Fluttershy seemed fine too.
(Maybe it’s just a bug and I’m delirious.) Rainbow thought, hoping all the crazy stuff was part of whatever flu bug she caught. She was still feeling crappy, but she could at least hide it from her friends, she even broke out some makeup to hide the raccoon eyes she was sporting. The makeup was, of course, something Rarity gave her as a birthday present. Why? Rainbow didn’t know as Rarity would know she wouldn’t use it, but it came in handy today at least.
“And I’m done!” Twilight announced handing back their phone, which now featured a slick new app marked by a wondercolt icon. “With this, we can receive alerts and scan any monsters we see or look up anything we need via the back hole I made in Maddie’s computer server. Now we just have to sit back and wait for…(BEEP!)… an alert… that was quick.”
They all looked at their screens as the app opened their maps and showed a red skull icon and a timer.
“Monster to appear in Hop’s valley in ten hours.” Applejack read aloud looking at each of them with a warily smile. “So, who’s free to go monster hunting tonight?”
The girls grimaced, Hop’s valley was nearly a three-hour drive away, not only that it was park forest, on top of that it was school night and on top of all that it was a Monday. Adding to all that, their last magical adventure had only ended less than forty-eight hours ago. To say the least, their excitement was minimal, except for one girl.
“Count me in! I’m ready to kick some butt!” Rainbow shouted with as much energy as she could manage. She really wasn’t feeling up to the hunt physically as her stomach was still killing her, but she also really wanted to hunt too and thus couldn’t let her friends know she wasn’t feeling good, which is why she yelled. Not only because it was expected, but it would tip her friends off that she wasn’t feeling well if she didn’t. They were very in tune like that.
“I’m glad to hear that Rainbow,” Applejack said smiling, which prompted the rest of the girls to chime in their willingness to help. Rainbow took a moment to bask in the glow of attention until her stomach began to turn.
“Um… I got to go to the bathroom!” She yelled, earning a few odd blinks as she departed. She ran as fast as she could her hands flying to her mouth as she felt the rising vile. Choking it down for the moment she passed the cafeteria bathrooms, instead going for the more deserted bathrooms on the other side of the old gym. There she ran into the nearest stall, the door banging behind her as she fell to her knees and relieved her stomach. Rainbow panted hard as she swayed, her vision blurry as she stared at the toilet bowl, stained with inky black vile. Her vision cleared and she could see the vile for herself for the first time. She recoiled at the sight of it and scooted away from it, pressing her back against the stall door as her breathing began to pick up. Her stomach twisting like a pretzel. She grabbed the edges of the bowl again, dry heaving as something rose from her stomach, she heaved and heaved, finally something slithered out of her mouth.
Rainbow gulped, a cold sweat running down her body as she leaned over the bowl to see a black baby snake, the same snake she saw in her dreams, stare innocently up at her with voidless eyes.
“What the fuck…”
The snake swam around the bowl absorbing the black vile and grew! The snake rose out of the bowl, growing to the height of the stall! It hissed and slithered wrapping around Rainbow like a boa constrictor. The rainbow-haired girl struggled as the snake squeezed tighter and tighter around her body, completely trapping her arms and legs. She whimpered as the snake flicked its tongue at her, licking her cheek with its forked tongue.
(Your mine now!) It hissed, spreading its jaws wide!
“NO!” Rainbow screamed, anger flooding her body as her raspberry eyes glared directly into the voidless eyes of the snake. The metal of the stall began to spark as lightning shot forth from her body, electrocuting the snake and freeing her arms! She grabbed the snake by the head, sending thousands of volts into its body. The snake twitched and squirmed in her grip, hissing angrily at her, she poured on the lightning and the snake exploded covering Rainbow in black ink and making her stagger backward out the stall and against the bathroom wall. She stared at the stall breathless and confused. There was no vile inside the stall, yet black vile covered her chest.
“The fuck is happening to me.”
From the other stall, Cloud Kicker emerged looking worried, “Um… are you…” She looked over Rainbow’s black stained shirt and frightened expression and at the smoking metal of the neighboring stall. “I guess this is a little rhetorical, but are you ok?”
Rainbow looked at her and then to the stall and then back to Cloud Kicker, “Um… yeah,” She said, lying through her teeth, “Just a case of indigestion, with some magic, you know how it is.” In flash of inhuman speed, Rainbow appeared in front of cloud kicker, grabbed her firmly by the wrist and forced her back into her stall, sitting her on the toilet seat. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t tell anyone about this.” She said with an overly zealous smile that reminded Cloud Kicker of the joker. The poor frightened girl nodded quickly, wanting to get away from Rainbow as soon as possible, but the rainbow haired girl had one more demand. “Oh, and I’m going to need a new shirt,” Rainbow said sweetly, which creeped Cloud Kicker the fuck out. “Would you mind giving me yours?”
Cloud Kicker blushed as Rainbow caressed her cheek, looking more devious then the rainbow girl had ever looked before. “Um… sure Rainbow… what are friends for? But I can… um… get another one from my gym locker… um, could you stop looking me like that? Um… Rainbow what are you doing?”
Rainbow leered at her as the Rainbow girl pressed her forefinger against Cloud Kicker’s forehead, “Nothing,” Rainbow said sweetly, which did not sound like Rainbow at all! “Just knocking you and erasing your memories. I mean it’s not like I don’t trust you, but… I can see the doubt in your eyes, you don’t trust me, which means you’re planning to betray me. And I don’t like traitors.”
“Rainbow no I-!” Cloud Kicker didn’t get to finish the sentence as Rainbow zapped her, her body twitched as her eye’s blanked out and drool fell from her lips as she passed out in the toilet. Rainbow removed her shirt and replaced her stained one on Cloud Kicker, laying it on her like a blanket. Luckily the black stain covered up the logo, so no one was going to figure out it was hers. Rainbow shut the stall door and left the bathroom
“Rainbow Dash!”
“Huh, what Rarity?” Rainbow said looking around surprised, she was back at the lunchroom, her lunch half way eaten, yet she didn’t remember eating… strange.
Rarity sighed, looking annoyed, “I was asking why you changed shirts after going to the bathroom?”
Rainbow looked down, surprised that she was indeed wearing a different shirt, a light purple shirt at that, she didn’t even remember owning a shirt like this. Kind of looked like Cloud Kickers’s. “The water faucet broke and sprayed water on me, so I went to my gym locker for an extra shirt, must have opened the wrong locker.”
Everyone accepted the explanation and resumed eating lunch while discussing the plan for tonight.
Aria came roaring into the farmyard with her pick up, flinging gravel as she slammed the brakes and came running out of the truck to the house. From the porch, swing Adagio watched the whole thing while sipping a cup of tea and looking through a catalog of colors for tablecloths. She watched with an assumed smile as Aria stormed into the house.
“Aren’t you going to help her get home?” Adagio asked indicating towards Maddie, who still sat in the cab of the truck with her own mischievous grin.
The pink siren’s face ignited with rage and embarrassment as she covered her chest, “Fuck that, she can crawl to the shack for all I care.” She said slamming the screen door.
From the cab, Maddie shouted, “I was just checking you for breast cancer! Honest!” Aria came storming back out the door with an arm full of apples and gave one of them a good chuck! Maddie ducked back inside the cab just in time to avoid the apple projectile but hit her leg cast against the gear stick. A grin danced on Aria’s lips as the mad scientist screamed in agony.
“Like music to my ears,” Aria chuckled walking back into the house.
After the pain faded Maddie clumsily got out of the pickup, bouncing on one foot as she fished for her crutches from the truck bed. She shot Adagio an ‘are you going to help me?’ look, to which the pregnant siren point to her belly with a wide grin.
“What about Sonata then?” Maddie asked as she finally retrieved her crutches. She would have thought she’d get some gratitude for saving Mac’s life… ok she didn’t do that, but she had been there helping him, that had to count for something?
At her question Adagio merely leaned back in her seat, pretending to look thoughtful, “I could call for her to help you… and I might have, had you not gotten yourself kicked out of the hospital by Nyx for harassing the nurses. You're fucking lucky she didn’t lay the lawsuits on us!”
Maddie sulked away from the yellow siren, feeling some small amount of shame for her actions. She did perhaps go overboard in her teasing, but it’s not her fault that about ninety percent of the nurses at Canterlot General were all cute and so easily flustered. She really thought the male nurses would have taken her teasing better than the females.
“Hey, stop zoning out and listen to me, Maddie!” Adagio snapped.
She rolled her eyes, “Yes mom, so who did Nyx file the lawsuits under?” A shiver ran up Maddie’s spine as Adagio’s smirk widened to evil proportions. “You didn’t!”
Adagio leaned back in her seat like a cat that just caught her prey, “I’m sure Moondancer will love filing all those complaints for you.”
It took a second for Maddie to process what the siren said, but when she did she was hobbling as fast she could to her shack. She needed to get to a phone, she needed to call her lawyer, hack the hospital computer, anything was better than the hell Moondancer was probably going to rain down on her!
(I’m not unfaithful, I just like to flirt, you know that right Moondancer?) She thought in her head, trying to think of what she would say to her friend. (Ugh, she’s probably going to just slap me the moment she sees me. Better just focus on getting home, paperwork takes time, maybe I can intercept…)
Maddie’s entire train of thought came to a screaming halt as she opened the door to her shack. The first thing she noticed, her chair was three degrees off from where she left it, second, there was the smell of strawberry’s, the shampoo, not the actual berry, and the smell of violets and sunflowers. All smells that were not native to her humble abode. Her fist clenched tights against the handles of her crutches as her vision turned red and magic began to pour from her like an open faucet.
“WHO THE FUCK TOUCHED MY STUFF!”
Vice Principal Luna strode quickly down the halls of her school not stopping for anything as she marched her way to the nurse’s office. The school nurse, Nurse Red heart, called her saying something urgent needed her attention. The foreboding feeling in her gut made her wish Celestia hadn’t taken the day off, but what was the office of Vice Principle for, if not for times like these? Taking the final turn Luna opened the nurse’s door and entered.
“What’s the problem?” She demanded, getting straight to business. Nurse Red Heart wordlessly gestured her over to one of the beds, where Cloud Kicker, the student that had been reported to have skipped all her afternoon classes, lay with a finger sized burn mark atop her forehead. “What happened?”
“I don’t know, she was found by one of the students in Coach Spitfire’s class. They found her unconscious and…”
“And?” Luna urged the nurse.
Red heart leaned in, “She was shirtless, but that was all, and all her other clothes were intact, and they did find this dirty shirt on top of her.” She held up the black stained shirt for Luna to see. “From what I can tell she wasn’t… you know, but I wanted to talk to you before calling the police.”
Luna pressed the bridge of her nose, (Great, just fucking great, now I really wish Celestia hadn’t taken the day off. Something magic related she could have handled, but this?)
“Better call the police, just to be safe,” Luna said taking out her phone and typing nine-one-one, but before she hit the call button, she instead switched to her contacts to a certain someone.
(I’m not trying to cover this up, I’m just… doing things quietly,) She tried to assure herself as she pressed call on the number, her phone began to dial and then a ringtone come from the hall? Luna turned towards the door, where a silhouette stood with something to its ear. A voice came through her phone, but she dropped it to her side as she opened the door. There he stood with his fiery red hair, piercing yellow eyes, and that devious smirk that’s still had its hooks on her heart. Her ex-boyfriend Ferocious.
He looked at her with surprise as he closed his phone to look her over. His smile grew and she blushed, but quickly tried to hide it by turning away, only to turn back around as she didn’t want Red Heart to see her blushing.
“You’re looking good, Lunie, didn’t expect you to call me.” Ferocious drawled with a smirk. “You certainly haven’t gotten any less pretty than last time I saw you.
“You’re looking good too, Feri, I mean Ferocious.” Luna corrected, cursing herself for using her nickname for him. He was an ex-boyfriend for reason dammit!
A cough brought both of them the present as surprise! Another person from her past arrived, Ferocious’s friend, Stryker Six. The blue haired man gestured to Ferocious, who nodded and waved him off.
“Yes, yes, I know, sorry to barge in on you Lunie…”
“Vice Principal Luna,” She corrected with her armed crossed.
“Vice Principle, right got it, but we are on official business here, I appreciate the call, but…”
“I called for an official reason too,” Luna said sharply, motioning for the two get in the nurse’s office. “But I’m doubting that two Biker Gangsters turned cops will be of much help after all. Now get in here before any students see you.”
“For the last time, we were in a biker club, not a gang,” Ferocious growled as he entered.
Nurse Red Heart could feel the tension between the three other adults and thus decided to refrain from talking as she led them to the bed ridden Cloud Kicker and stepped back to let the Vice Principle explain the situation.
Luna cleared throat looking very uncomfortable, “We found this girl shirtless in one of the girl’s bathroom’s, we want to know if she’s been… you know…”
“Violated?” Ferocious said bluntly. “Can’t say for sure without talking to her, but I assume she hasn’t woken up yet, so you want to try and keep things hush-hush before spilling the beans. Very dubious Luna, but smart in some respects.”
“I didn’t call you to smart off, now tell me what I need to know or do I need to call a real detective?”
Ferocious made a noise, “Don’t get you panties in a twist Lunie, she was differently attacked, looks like someone might have tasered her forehead, but from her skirt and the fact, I don’t smell… bodily fluids… and the lack of defensive wounds and bruising, she wasn’t violated at least. Still, someone has one hell of a shirt fetish.” Cricket noises. “Sorry, dark humor, helps you stay sane on the job.”
As Red Heart and Luna breathed a sigh of relief Ferocious continued to frown. He hadn’t lied when he said the girl was attacked, but what attacked her is what worried him. He could barely make it out, but there were traces of dark magic around her head wound. Left alone, it could lead to some serious problems down the line.
“Stryker, I’ll take Luna to talk about what we came to investigate, in her office,” He said looking directly at Luna to let her know not to argue. She said sure and he smiled in thanks, “You stay here and get a statement from Nurse Red Heart and make sure we get this girl’s name. We’ll have to talk to her after she comes too.” He turned to Stryker pointing at his forehead, Stryker nodded in understanding. “Let’s get going Lunie.”
“Will you stop calling me that!” She growled as they stepped out into the hallway. She marched as fast she could without running, while Ferocious made long strides that counted for two her of hers. This only made her angrier as she knew he was doing it just to be stupid. “You haven’t matured at all, have you.”
“And you still stay up late and play video games in your underwear.”
Luna gasped in horror, looking around to make sure nobody was around to hear that, “How do you know that?”
“The look on your face, but I may look into your window at night from time to time,” He gave her a big goofy smile, one that she knew meant he was just joking. To which she lightly punched in the arm for.
“I guess neither of us has matured then,” She said feeling exhausted, wondering how she put up with him when they were dating. Oh yeah, she had been young, stupid and full of energy. “So, why are you actually here?” Luna asked as she leads him into her office. Offering him a cup of coffee, to which he accepted.
“Thanks, Lunie,” He said pretending to look around the office while she gave him the stink eye. He hid his smile with his mug as he looked the pictures on the wall. One picture caught him by surprise and he got up for a closer look. The picture was off Luna and Celestia with Nico and Applejane and their kids, but if you looked closer you could see him standing in the corner hiding from the camera. “I remember this, this is the day Nico and AJ asked us to be godparents. I hadn’t been that embarrassed since I was asked to be Nico’s best man. I bet the kids asked a lot of questions about this picture.”
“Not really, all the kids know I’m their godmother so I didn’t feel the need to hide it anymore, it’s kind of nice looking at old pictures at work. Brings back memories.”
Ferocious nodded, “Sure does, you still have that one of when we went to Sturgis’s? That was a fun time!”
Luna fought down a blush, remembering the trip, “Yes, but obviously not here, and to get back on topic, why are you here Ferocious?”
“I’m just following up on the Gilda attack, I needed to ask you and Celestia some questions about that night, but you had already left for camp. Kind of strange both Principles would go and leave nobody in charge of the school or this there a sub-vice principle too?”
“Very funny, but no, we just leave the most senior staff member in charge when both Celestia and I are gone, which was Granny Smith in case you’re wondering. Celestia and I have a lot of fond memories of Camp Everfree. We were hoping to get away from all the magic… I mean stress and decided to spend some time at a summer camp would be a great way to get some paid vacation.”
Ferocious gave her a strange look, but it quickly disappeared as he pulled out his notepad and began jaunting things down. “I see, I’ll have to call the camp to confirm, but I don’t see any reason to doubt you. Tell me, what do you think of the incident? See anything strange that night?”
“Other than the unpredicted storm? Nothing really, Rainbow was a little upset about being kicked off the field, but she was surrounded by her friends during and after the game and others, she couldn’t have attacked that girl.”
“Rainbow, as in Rainbow Dash?”
“Correct.”
Ferocious put away his notepad, “I see, thank you, Luna, please feel free to give me a call if anything else comes up, official business or not.” Luna took the card while shaking her head, trying to keep her smile hidden. It was nice to know he could still charm her he thought walking towards the door. He took a final glance at the photo of them and the Apples, his mind going back to their younger days.
“Do you think…,” He began only to stop himself short, his fist clenched tightly at his side, he left for a reason. To keep her safe. Dealing with magic stuff was too dangerous, he couldn’t drag her into it, not after what happened to Nico and Applejane. “Never mind, nice seeing you Luna, tell Celestia I said hi.”
Luna stared as the door closed behind him, wondering what he was about to say.
Applejack pulled into the camp parking lot at Hop’s valley, Sunset and Twilight crammed next to her in the cab of the truck. Pulling up beside her was Rarity in her white Acadia with the others. They all got out and gathered around the tailgate of her truck where she revealed their arsenal to them.
“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!” Rainbow said excitedly as she pulled one of the many M1 carbines from the bed of the truck.
“Um… Applejack… could you please provide the details of why you have a truck full of firearms? Pretty Please?” Rarity asked, voicing hers and the concerns of the others.
“My great grandpa’s storage shed, he brought home a few different things when he came back from Korea. Shouldn’t have to worry about them blowing up or anything, they were still in the crates when I found them. Everybody should get three clips each, each clip has thirty caliber rounds, making sixty shots per person.” Applejack rattled off as she handed out the rifles. “So, who’s ready to hunt some monsters?”
The girls gave a weak ‘Aye’ as they flicked on their flashlights and wondered into the darkness of the forest.
Applejack stood on the crest of the hill that overlooked the crater below. She and her friends have traveled through the dark dense words of Hop’s Valley by only the light of their flashlights and phones for the past several hours. Now they stood at their destination, Holder’s Boulder, which lay at the bottom of the crater. No one knew how it got there. The giant smooth stone has been around since the discovery of the valley back in the 1800’s, by Hop and Holder, hence the name, Holder’s Boulder and Hop’s valley. It has been the subject of mystery and myth for years.
“My sister Lime Stone really wants to bring Holder’s Boulder home,” Pinkie said breaking the silence of the night. Earning a chuckle from the group as they looked nervously down to the stone. The monster tracking app showed this was the area where the portal was to appear.
“Let’s go take a closer look,” Applejack suggested carefully stepping down the small ledge and onto the crater’s slope. She helped Sunset down and then the others one by one. Together they skidded down the gravelly hillside, the only sound was the rocks crumbling beneath their shoes, no other creatures stirred, not even a cricket. Making for an eerily descent. Once they reached the bottom the group approached the giant rock, which loomed over them in the moonlight.
“So, when’s the portal supposed to open up?” Rainbow asked impatiently, checking her phone. The timer at reached zero and there was nothing else around. “This better not be a false alarm.”
Applejack felt the rainbow haired girl’s eyes on her. If this turned out to be a goose chance, she would be the one to blame. Though she would be irritated too if they come out here for nothing. It was an hour and a half drive out here, with a two-hour hike in the dark, on a Monday no less. Probably Tuesday by now. On top of that, they still had to hike and drive back in time to get to school. “Hey Twilight, not to put you on the spot, but do you have some answers for us?”
The most recent addition of their little group looked like a deer in head lights as all eyes turned to her. Nervously Twilight fiddled with her phone, trying to find the answer.
“I… can’t say for sure. I just downloaded Maggie’s program and copied it. I only got to figure out the basics of it before applying it to the phones. Sizing it down to fit on the phones might have hindered the program’s accuracy, plus you don’t get very good service in the woods.” Twilight took a breath, her cheeks rosy from a lack of air and embarrassment. “Sorry, I might have wasted all of your time.”
“If it’s anyone’s fault it’s mine,” Applejack said, ruffling her hair in frustration. She went off half-cocked, it really shouldn’t take being stranded out in the woods at the latest hours of the night to know you dun screwed up. “It was my idea to come out here. You may have all volunteered, but I was one that led the charge. But before we start assigning blame, let’s wait for a spell before we pack up for the night. If nothing happens in thirty minutes or so, we’ll call it a night and go home. Agreed?”
A varying degree of agreements was voiced. Some like Rainbow Dash were a bit irritated, Rarity was strangely neutral, Fluttershy was grateful and Pinkie was disappointed, while Twilight looked more relieved than she should be. Applejack put a note in her head to try and interact with their new friend more. She shouldn’t be so nervous around them over something so minor.
With the decision made Applejack sat down in the grass to wait, only to realize one person didn’t speak. Craning her neck, she spotted Sunset over by the base of Holder’s Boulder with her back turned to them. Wordlessly she got up and stood next to the bacon hair girl trying to see what she was looking at.
Shining her flashlight, Applejack saw what caught the fiery hair girl attention. There were symbols on the side of the boulder. Random pictures of horse heads and other strange things, like something in native tongue or something. Judging by Sunset’s curious stare, it probably wasn’t from earth.
“Seeing something familiar?” She asked the equestrian.
Sunset nodded, a sly grin playing on her lips as she ran her hand over the carved symbols, “I think so, but it’s old, like older than my grandma old.”
“Isn’t your grandma the pony version of Principle Celestia?”
“Yep,” Sunset beamed with pride, “Princess Celestia, the only thing older than her is dirt and maybe this. I can’t even read it and I learned ancient Equestrian! This is amazing! This rock is over a thousand years old in Equestria!”
“Ok… so what are the chances this is something you guys dropped on earth because you couldn’t handle it back home? This boulder looks like a giant egg, a dragon or something just as monstrous like that isn’t going to hatch from this, is it?”
Sunset opens her mouth to speak only to close it again and strike up a thinking pose. After several hums and other noises, she grinned nervously well scratching her head, “I’ll…I’ll get back to you on that.”
Applejack didn’t say anything. Choosing instead to stare at rock and wonder what problems it might cause in the future or maybe even tonight? With their luck, she wouldn’t be surprised if Cthulhu came out of it.
“How long as it been? We should probably get going if nothing’s going appear tonight.”
“It’s been about thirty minutes,” Twilight checking her phone. A puzzled looked crossed the lavender girl’s face as she shifted through her phone again. Checking her monster hunting app for something. “I’ve been thinking.” She held up her screen of them all to see, the big red dot was still pulsing over their location. Warning them to be careful. “What if we missed the monster arrival?”
“That is certainly possible,” Applejack conceded, “But where are they then? I don’t see any tracks or nothing.”
“There wouldn’t be tracks if the monster could fly, right?” Suggested Fluttershy, causing everyone to immediately look up and sigh as there were no signs of anything in the moonlight sky.
Moving her flashlight around Applejack took another look for any tracks she could have missed. Still seeing nothing she began to walk around Holder’s boulder when something cracked beneath her foot. Pointing the light down she found a bone beneath her foot. Nothing to worry about. Until she stepped on another and another and then another. Raising her light ahead of her she found the ground behind Holder’s boulder surrounded by bones like it was some kind of massive graveyard.
A chill ran up her spine, reminding Applejack of the time the ice girl attacked her and black timber wolf had helped her. Her heart began to pound as she looked over the sea of bones. Finding the familiar canine shape of the skulls.
“Um girls, you might want to come see this! And then we might want to run.”
The girls came around the boulder, with Sunset leading the pack, “What do you mean… oh no...” Sunset spread her arms out, holding the others back. “Don’t get any closer! Applejack you need to get away from those! Those are Knochen!”
A chilly wind blew through the crater nearly freezing the girls to their cores. The bones began to rattle and pull themselves together creating the misshapen shapes of the creatures they had once been Wolves. Wolves made of bone and held together by silver magic. The Knochen Wolves all turned to the girls and began to paw towards them. Their bone bodies scattering and rolling into a new shape, changing into something that resembled a wolfman.
The girls’ phones beeped and spoke, “Knochen, deadlier versions of Timber Wolves made of bone. They have a quad pedal and bipedal form.”
“Thanks, Athena, two minutes too late,” Twilight mumbled as the Knochen drew closer.
“So… do we need silver bullets or… what?” Every looked at Pinkie in disbelief. “What it’s a valid question! We’re fighting werewolves! Made of bones… so do we need a silver bone saw?”
Rarity gave a sour look, “This is how we die, isn’t it? Well, hopefully, they find my funeral designs. As long as we aren’t mangled to the point we’ll need a closed casket service.”
“Can we not do this now! We need to get to cover!” Applejack yelled pulling her gun up. She fired off a clip of magic infused rounds, the orange tinted bullets hit the Knochen scattering their bones with each shot. The Knochen looked at its dismembered limbs before simply reforming them. “Let’s go! Head for the trees!”
“I don’t think that’s an option!” Rainbow yelled, pointing behind them, the Knochen already had them surrounded. “Up the rock!”
Applejack growled, looking at the smooth surface of the rock. They could never climb it. “Fluttershy grab Twilight and carry her up! Twilight use your levitation to carry us all up! Everyone else, cover fire!”
Fluttershy sprang into action. Transforming into her pony form and hosting Twilight up by the shoulders. Her wings flapping hard to support the weight of the other girl. “Why are you so heavy! You look so small!” Fluttershy grit her teeth and flapped harder, her face turning red from the effort.
“I’m sorry! Pinkie keeps feeding me cupcakes!” Twilight grasp her geode, calling on her levitation powers. A soft purple aura covered all her friends on the ground. She struggled to lift them, barely even getting their feet off the ground. The Knochen grew closer, the bullets barely slowing down the horde.
“Twilight focus!” Sunset yelled from below, “Remember that time at the rock quarry! You can do it!”
Twilight nodded firmly, suddenly lifting them all up at once and carrying them to the top of Holder’s boulder. She and Fluttershy landed alongside them, panting for breath. “How much time will this buy us?”
Carefully Applejack stepped to the edge of the egg-shaped rock, Rainbow Dash and Sunset making a human chain to keep her from falling. Down below the Knochen clawed at the surface of the boulder, their claws failing to find purchase in the smooth surface. Some of the monsters seemed to catch on and started dogpiling on top of one another to climb higher.
“Not long by the look of things.” Applejack said as she was pulled back from the edge, racking her brain about what to do. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash could probably carry them out of the crater, but then that would leave the army of monsters to roam around unchecked. If the beasts scattered now, they might never find them all again. At least not without creating many innocent victims. “If we pick them off as they climb up we might stand a chance. How much ammo do you all have left? We can save our energy till the bullets run out or at least till we have a better plan. I have a clip and a half.”
“I have a clip,” Said Rainbow Dash.
“Same,” seconded Pinkie.
“Two,” Rarity said.
“I only have one,” said Sunset.
“I have three clips, but I dropped my gun when I picked up Twilight. Sorry AJ.” Said Fluttershy.
“I have two, the third one is in the gun. I dropped it too,” said Twilight.
AJ sighed, too tired to be mad at them for dropping their weapons. “Alright, let’s divide up the ammo and Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie and I will hold the line. Sunset, Twilight, and Fluttershy, you sit back and think of a plan.”
The three nodded as the other four spread out to cover all directions and begin to rain down hot lead on the Knochen.
“So, what can we do?” Twilight shouted over the roar of gunfire. “We can’t just run. These things will follow us or worse they won’t and they’ll hurt the campers in the woods. These woods are so vast we would be hunting them down for weeks!”
“Um I know this might be a strange question, but do Knochen hunt animals? I know people are more important, but I was wondering since they’re made of bones, does that mean they can make more of themselves when they eat living creatures? Or do they even eat?”
Sunset and Twilight looked beside themselves, “That’s… a good question. Let me look that up quick.” Said Twilight.
Rubbing her temple, Sunset let out a growl in frustration, “This just keeps getting worse. We can use our magic to fight them off, but we never fought against so many opponents before. We have no idea how long we can maintain our magic. We could fight for an hour or five minutes.”
“What if you turn into Daydream Shimmer? You would have the power wipe them all out at once, right?” Suggested Twilight between scrolling through the Knochen data file. “And yes, they can make more Knochen after killing a victim. But if only they embed the bones of the corpse with magic.”
“Great, so we really have to kill them here and now.” Sunset groaned, trying to think. Daydream might be their only hope, but she wasn’t sure if she could do it without Twilight’s magic capture thing. “We could try a rainbow blast?”
“This is going to sound strange coming from me, but we never killed anything with that Sunset,” Fluttershy said with surprising brutal honestly. “And not to sound even more off kilter, but those things shouldn’t be allowed to roam. They’re not people, nor are they animals, they’re monsters!”
Putting aside Fluttershy’s aggressive tone. She was right. There weren’t any other options, they needed to fight! They needed to… what was that? Breaking away from their little war party Sunset crawled the very tip of Holder’s Boulder, where there, in the moonlight. Something silver glimmered. Getting on her knees Sunset shined her flashlight on the strange object, a dull silver crystal, embedded in the stone. Around the gem were seven slots.
There was a tug around her neck. Reaching into her shirt Sunset pulled the geode crystal that hung from her neck. The geode glowed red and broke free from the chain that held it and flew into one of the slots. Flabbergasted Sunset touched the gem. An image of gray horns appeared in her head. Something reached into her mind and began pulling information from her brain.
Feeling dizzy Sunset staggered away from the gem and fell on her back. Her eyes glazing over as an invisible force pulled the magic from her body. As the world went mute around her, she could hear her friend screaming her name.
Applejack fired her last round at the pile of Knochen. Calling on her enhanced strength she chucked the now useless rifle down at the tower of monsters, sending them falling over themselves to the ground. More were on the way, giving her no time to rest as she now only had her fists. Shifting awkwardly on the rounded surface of Holder’s Boulder, Applejack stood in the stance her father had taught her and Mac when they were young. Nothing real fancy, but it would get the job done.
Bouncing on her toes she socks the first Knochen to charge right in the face. And then another and another! Each blowing their skulls to pieces! A smile danced on Applejack’s lips. Despite the danger, there was a certain thrill to all this.
However, the fun quickly came to an end.
Screams from both Fluttershy and Twilight caught Applejack’s attention. Whipping her head around to see what was wrong. To her horror Sunset laying on the ground unmoving.
“Tighten up!” She ordered the others, rushing to the fallen Sunset. Kneeling beside the former bully Applejack watched with dismay as Sunset’s red colored magic moved from her body to her geode, now embedded beside a large silver gem.
“What happened?” She asked Twilight and Fluttershy.
“We don’t know. She walked over here and then she fell over.” Explained Twilight.
Wanting a closer look Applejack followed the trail of magic to the silver gem and Sunset’s geode, which had reverted to its crystal form. A bright orange light comes from under her shirt and Applejack lifted her geode from between her chest. The gem shining like never before pulled away from her wanting to go towards the slots. All her strength left her at once and Applejack fell face first against the hard stone. Her gem floating into the slot beside Sunsets.
“Applejack!” Twilight and Fluttershy yelled in unison, rushing toward her.
“Don’t come near!” She warned, but it was too late. Their geodes shined and flew away from them. Landing inside the slots with the others. Gray smoke began to pour out of the silver crystal, taking the form of a smoky equine like creature with a single long horn and antlers atop its head.
The creature’s nonexistent eyes burned red as it placed its nonexistent hoof/claw on Applejack’s head. She felt it probe her head, reading her mind like Sunset had done at camp. Only it wasn’t as gentle. She screamed as the creature pulled her memories to the surface, demanding to see all she had to offer before seemingly becoming bored and releasing her. Applejack’s head fell against the hard stone as her body shivered, feeling completely violated.
The creature turned its attention to Twilight and Fluttershy, and then to Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie, who looked uncertain who be fighting. Raising its left foreleg, the creature pointed to a group of Knochen, it’s horn burning purple, ripping the boney creatures to pieces. The former Knochen flew into the smokeless void of the creature, their bones twisting and breaking to his whim. Slowly the smokeless void became solid.
Applejack let out a scream as the creature stomped on her shoulder, grinding its hoof deep into her body. The creature snorted hot fumes from its hallowed snout, its eyes shifting between colors every second.
“Return my remaining auras,” It’s said, it’s voice booming like thunder, “We, Grau, the Lesser King of Bones! Demand it!”
“What if we refuse?” Rainbow Dash shot back. Standing boldly before the towering equine creature. The brash girl backed off as Grau dug his hoof deeper into Applejack’s shoulder. Making the farm girl cry out in agony, to the point that tears were running down her freckled face.
“Then your friends, nay, your family will suffer for your foolishness Rainbow Daring Dash. And you Pinkamena Diane Pie, what of your family? Should your family die for your friend’s foolish bravado? Or you Rarity Wiess Belle? It would be a shame for your sister to suffer unneeded right? Surely as a doting older sister, you could never let that happen? Why must so many suffer over something so small?”
The three stood a gasp. Fear clear as the moon on their faces.
“How do you know all that?” Rarity demanded, her hand clutching the geode dangling around her neck, as well as the heart-shaped locket that held Sweetie Belle’s picture.
Grau chuckled, a deep thunderous chuckle that shook the very boulder they stood on, “My auras are my power, the power you so foolishly believed to be your own! The power to read minds that once belonged to your friend is now mine, and I used it to its full effect. I know everything there is to know about you, what you love and what it will take to break you. Now return my geodes as you call them, I do not take kindly to thieves. Even unwitting ones.”
Rarity’s hand shook as she held out her amulet, her fear, and concern for her little sister driving her actions.
“Don’t do it! He’s a fallen Alicorn! Princess Celestia and Luna imprisoned him here two thousand years ago!” Sunset coughed, her voice raw and broken. Grau’s whip-like tail fell on her in a heartbeat. The bony appendage breaking skin with a single strike, leaving a long bloody wound on Sunset’s belly.
“Thou should be quiet, Scion of Celestia, I will be dealing with you momentary. Bringing your mangled body to your grandmother would be a most delicious revenge or maybe I’ll awaken that darkness in you again and have you kill her instead? Wouldn’t that be a treat!”
“Get away from her!” Rainbow Dash screamed. In the blink of an eye she disappeared using her super speed to get behind Grau, a spear of lightning in her hand. Grau didn’t even turn his head as he caught Rainbow in his telekinesis. Suspending her in midair.
“You shouldn’t use powers that you don’t understand, nor belong to you,” He said bringing Rainbow in front of him. Her arm trembled as he forced her spear of lightning away from him and towards her friends. “Now, who do you love most?” He said placing the tip of his horn to her forehead. Let’s see… her.”
Rainbow Dash felt her grip on the lightning spear loosen and watched in horror as it flew from her hand and into Fluttershy’s stomach! The poor shy girl let out screams of pure agony as thousands of volts coursed through her body. Rainbow’s tears fell like rain as she dropped to the ground. She crawled in a complete daze to her friend and held her in her arms.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I’m sorry…” She sobbed as her geode flew away from her.
“This need not be so hard,” Grau said, finally stepping off Applejack and began walking towards Rarity and Pinkie. “You merely need to bow to your new king.” A blue barrier flew up in his path and several glowing pink stones came flying at him. With a mere flick of his head, Grau caught the stones in his magic and threw them back at the barrier, destroying it. He reached for the crystals with his telekinesis, ripping Rarity’s away from her. Pinkie’s did not come. “Interesting. You have powers similar to an old acquaintance of mine. Tell me are perhaps Disciple of Discord? Or perhaps you are a scion of his? That would be a rather funny joke.”
Pinkie grinned and pony up. The geode around her neck glowed and changed her clothes. She gave a come-hither gesture and jumped away. “Come get me you, big meanie!” She screamed as she jumped off the side of Holder’s Boulder. Grau flew after her and got an exploding Knochen to the face!
“You are a surprising one,” He chuckled as Pinkie hurled his minions at him, each one becoming a living bomb with a mere touch. Combustion was truly one of his favorite powers. Still, it was sad to see it wielded by an amateur. Catching one of the explosive Knochen, he threw it back down at the pink girl, trapping her beneath it and two others she had been preparing to throw.
Grau let out a hearty laugh, waiting for the smoke to clear. He was not disappointed to see the defiant pink girl still standing. Her clothes tattered and her hair flat? That’s strange. He was expecting it to be fringed or sizzled. Not flat. That was kind of weird.
Also, the air was feeling heavy.
Pinkie looked up with an angry snarl, “GET DOWN HERE!” She raised her hands and then threw them down. Grau suddenly come flying down to the ground HARD! The earth splitting open upon impact. The flying rubble sparkled with sinister pink magic, the maniac pink girl stood on the edges of the crater with a devious smile.
The rubble exploded. Creating a change of explosions so powerful it rocked the trees and created a second crater the size of a city block!
“Having a fun party?” Pinkie asked, her tone dreary and dull. Grau appeared in a flash, unharmed, and sporting a skeletal grin.
“Your king is amused.”
Pinkie’s smiled widened to insane proportions, “Good. Then you’ll love this!” She grabbed hold of him. Pink sparkles covering his entire body. “The coup de grace, a Party bomb!” Grau exploded! His body of bones scattering like shrapnel in every direction. Pinkie stood loopily on wobbly legs with an insane grin on her face, her body burned and bones piercing her shoulder, stomach, and thigh, yet she still laughed. She laughed so hard that she fell to the ground. She laughed until she heard the disembodied laughter of Grau.
The king of bones stood over her, not on four, but two legs. His body that of a man with a crown of bones atop his head. He knelt beside her. His hand reaching for the geode around her neck. She reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Isn’t this when you kiss the Princess? When she’s prone and unable to move?”
He laughed as he gently removed her hand from his, “A King needs not a princess when there is a Queen beside him. I happen to be in the market for one. Interested? You flow between the vestiges of light and dark, much as I do. All of you maidens do. I find that very interesting.”
“The darkness isn’t inside us by choice. It was put there by someone and it stays there. The roots run deep inside us. Deeper in some more than others.” Pinkie said as her hand slipped away from his. Grau took the gem that rested on her chest. Placing it with the rest of the geodes that hung from his neck.
He began to walk away. To look upon this new world when a column of pink light rose from Pinkie’s body. He looked at the top of the rock that had been his prison. A rainbow of lights shot into the sky and cumulated into one golden light. From that light came Sunset Shimmer, overflowing with power and donned in a pink dress and golden armor. She glared at him, creating a lance and shield from light.
“Celestia used axes. I myself prefer a good sword, but I found a rather interesting weapon idea in your pink friend’s mind.” He said creating two skulls atop his hands, one of a wolf and one of a dragon. A blade of steel come out of the dragon’s mouth, while a cannon came from the wolf’s. Wings of bone spread from his back as he took to the sky to meet his opponent. “Come, Scion of Celestia! Show the King of Bones your power! Show me what a little sun can do!”
Sunset thrust her lance forward and charged, a blinding aura of light following in her wake. Grau charged ahead as well, sword aimed ahead in a thrust and with a cloud of gray following in his wake. They met and the sky exploded in a blend of gold and gray.
Back on the Apple Farm Maddie said in her chair. Her broken leg levitated by a tall stack of books while she types fiercely on her keyboard. A cigarette burning between her lips as her tired eyes read across the computer screen. She found them. She found them! She found the ones that broke into her home!
A mad laugh escapes her lips as she follows the link to the computer that housed her stolen data. To her mild surprise, the IP address was of one Twilight Athena Sparkle. The new nerdy girl in Applejack’s little click. Pulling up Twilight’s files Maddie was impressed.
“If I still had my professing job I would have loved to have her in my class. Then I could bring her around like I did with Moondancer and then I would get into her…” Taking a drag of her cigarette Maddie settled herself down. She wasn’t evil anymore. Well, she was trying not to be. Old habits and all that. Also, this girl and Moondancer looked weirdly alike, safe for hair styles and color tones. “Well it’s a big world, there are bound to be a few doubles of people.”
Remote controlling Twilight’s computer. Maddie scrolled through Twilight’s most recent files. Most of them being hers. Seems the nerdy girl was fairly good at programming, Twilight managed to compress her entire monster finding system into a phone app. That was some noble peace prize stuff right there.
“Hmm, what to do in revenge? Flood her files with porn for her parents to see? No, need something more original.” Maddie looked at her photo of Moondancer and hatched a devious idea as she opened Photoshop. “This will be a fun surprise. I should keep a feed of her webcam. I’m going to want to watch this over and over.” Maddie laughed deviously as she sent her little ‘surprise’ to Twilight’s Email.
Kicking back, she glanced at the clock to see it was about five thirty in the morning. The need for sleep suddenly hitting her. Pushing away from her desk, Maddie’s chair rolled across the floor to her bed, where she rolls onto it in a single fluid motion. All without irritating her wounded leg. Pleased with herself she snuffs out the cigarette in the ashtray next to the bed. Cozying up for some sleep.
Then she felt it.
A massive surge of magic made her senses tingle and her body spring up in bed. Her machines whine and beep, reading the magic spike. Hopping onto her chair Maddie rolls over to her desk again. Watching the magic levels rise. The levels were on par with the three previous times this happened.
The first being when Sunset Shimmer turned evil, the second when the sirens were defeated, and the third when Sunset Shimmer did battle with Midnight Sparkle. The energy being record matched the third to a T. Meaning Sunset Shimmer went goddess mode.
Except where last time the amount of light magic overwhelmed the dark. This time the darkness overwhelmed the light. Maddie fell back in her chair, mouth agape.
Sunset Shimmer has been defeated.
“I need to tell Adagio and the others!” Maddie looked around for her phone and then cursed when she realized she left it in the truck. She also didn’t have a landline and none of the sirens would be up in time to check an email.
Grabbing her crutches Maddie began the long hobble to the yard.
It was seven in the morning. Vice Principal Luna sits on the front steps of the Canterlot High School, a cup of coffee in one hand with a breakfast burrito in the other. In her lap lay several papers that need her reviewing. Between her bites and sips, she scrolls through the pages. Normally she would be doing this in her office, but the morning was just so nice it would be a shame to waste it. For today was one of those rare mornings where she woke up before her sister.
On these special days, she was not her usual ‘I need coffee just to move’. Days like this were sort of a lucky day for her, so putting behind the disturbing day that was yesterday. She took a hearty sip of her hazelnut coffee and let out a sigh of content. Today was going to be a good day.
Then her godson stepped out of the mirror in the broken mascot statue, followed by the Equestrian Sixes. The last time he was in this world. Her goddaughter and her friends had been kidnapped and turned evil.
She stared at them, cup in mid sip, and they started back at her. They all stared at each other, waiting for the other to speak first.
“Hi, Luna.”
“Hi Mac,” she replied grouchily. Her good mood blown away with the breeze. “Hi, Sixes.”
“Ma’am,” The rinin saluted.
Luna rolls her eyes, taking another sip of coffee. Was it childish to be jealous of a pony princess version of yourself? Or even sane to think of such a thing? Cause she is feeling jealous. She doubts pony princess her had to deal rowdy teenagers every day and on top of that deal with a possible student assault. Oh, and an ex-lover that was one of the cops investigating you and your students.
“Something wrong Luna?” Mac asks. He and Sixes now standing right in front of her. She must really have been deep in thought.
She sighs, setting her cup down and downing the last of her burrito in three bites. “I don’t know. I just saw you walk out of a mirror with the man that shoots lava from his hands. You tell me. Is something wrong?”
“Nope, just coming home from Equestria. I took Sixes up on an offer for some magic training and I finally just got around to doing it a few days ago. He’s just here to visit Sunset Shimmer. Even got Dad’s old jacket fixed over there too.” Mac explained much to her relief. At least nothing crazy was going on. At least crazy evil. Crazy has all but been normalized after four separate magical incidents. At least her therapist license was being used now. Some kids really needed an adult that understand what was going on. Also, one that wouldn’t assume they were crazy when they started spewing on and on about magic. “That’s nice. I’ll be sure to tell Sunset Shimmer he’s here if I see her today.”
Mac snaps his fingers, “Right, school is about to start. I guess you’ll have to wait to visit Sunny, Sixes. How about you come out to the farm in the meantime with me?”
“That sounds like the most logical course. Have a good day ma’am.” Sixes saluted before walking away with Mac. Leaving Luna to sip the last of her coffee in peace.
About ten minutes later Celestia arrived and sat down beside her with her own coffee and donut in hand. “You didn’t wake me up,” Celestia said neutrally.
“You looked like you needed sleep,” retorts Luna.
“Ah huh, so what’s this rumor I heard about your old boyfriend coming by yesterday?”
“He’s investigating the soccer game attack, while he was here I had him investigate an incident.” Celestia raised a curious brow but did not interrupt. “It turned out to be nothing that needed police intervention.”
“Well, that’s good. Never the less I expect a full report later. I don’t like being left in the dark.” Celestia eyes her sister while sipping her coffee. “Anything else I need to know about?”
There was an uneasiness in Luna’s stomach as the rest of the faculty arrive. Her eyes following Granny Smith as she stepped out of her pick up. Applebloom in tow. The youngest Apple sibling was looking around anxiously, clearly looking for someone. Her face becoming a fit of worry when she didn’t find who she was looking for.
Luna sipped her coffee, “Nothing I know of, but give it time.” Drowning the rest of her coffee she made a beeline for Applebloom. Her gut churning with every step. It didn’t help that Applebloom’s friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were with her and looking equally worried.
“Good morning girls,” Luna greets with a bright smile. The three flinch at her greeting their eyes looking everywhere but at her. She scans the parking lot, easy picking out missing vehicles. “So, where are your sisters this morning? It’s not like them to be late.”
The girls fidget under her stare. After a full minute of silence Applebloom broke down, “We don’t know. Haven’t seen them since last night. They never come home! We thought they were just having a late get together so we fibbed for them thinking they’d be at school. But none of them are here! Not even Fluttershy! She never misses school!”
Just like that the churning in Luna’s gut worsens. She told the three to run off to class while she stood on the sidewalk with her phone out, her thumb hanging over the call button as she stares at Ferocious’s number.
There were rules to reporting missing persons. Unless there was a serious concern of course. The girls could just be playing hooky. Out of character for them, but not impossible. The twisting in her gut worsens even more. With all the crazy stuff that’s been going on it would be stupid to leave anything to chance.
Her finger trembles, uncertain what to do.
Mac and Sixes’s pull into the farmyard, a cloud of dust following in their wake in as they came to a stop in front of the farmhouse. The moment Mac step down from the pickup he was glomped to the ground by Sonata. On the porch, Adagio sat with the morning newspaper hiding her smirk. Off to the side stood Aria with her arms crossed.
“You can go hug him too, I’ll give you permission if you want,” Adagio teases, loving the blush on the pink siren’s face. Aria huffs and walks away, only to come running back the moment Mac manage to wrangle Sonata off him. Lucky for him Aria settled for a simple hug.
“Come here, baby, mommy missed you,” Adagio cooed beckoning Mac toward her. Only after her good morning kiss did she finally take notice of Sixes standing by the pickup. “Oh… we have a guest… great... Nice to see you Sixes.”
“Same siren.”
“Names Adagio and in case you didn’t know. I’m Mac’s mare’s to be.” Adagio pulls Mac close, proudly showing off her belly to the Night Patrol Commander. Mac looks questioningly between his wife to be and their guest. Wondering if this was an Equestrian thing or a personal thing between the two.
Sixes merely rolls his eyes at her antics. “Yes, quite the fairytale you have going on. Where’s Madhoof’s spawn? Might as well check up on her and make sure she’s behaving. She has been behaving, right?” He held up a red hot hand, the heat spiking dramatically. “I’d hate for her to step out of line.” Everyone took a few careful steps away from the lava user.
“Maddie’s been behaving. She’s even got hurt helping us battle a Gore.” Mac said in Maddie’s defense. The former mad scientist has been trying to reform. Some of her quirkier habits have stuck around, but overall, he wouldn’t consider her an evil person, maybe not a very good one either, but not evil. Mischievous was maybe the right word for her.
“Well, that’s step in the right direction at least. I think I’ll go pay her a visit. Before that could you please show me Sunset’s abode? Celestia has been fretting over her living conditions and wishes a report.”
Mac winced, thinking of the last time he’s seen Sunset’s shack. Messy was not the word to describe it, pig sty was more accurate. How could someone be so clean in public and be so messy at home?
“Maybe you should wait on that. It’s rude for guys to just walk into a girl’s room. Right Adagio?” Mac said looking to her for help. The devious smirk on her lips made him worry whether she was going to help or make things more difficult.
“Mac is right. Men should not so crassly barge into a maiden’s room. There could be all kinds of embarrassing articles of clothing thrown about. Perhaps a dairy carelessly left open? Things of that nature.”
Sixes strokes his chin in thought, “Hmm, I see your point. I will enlist the help of Kira. Her experience of dealing with children of all ages will be most effective. I’ll summon her.” He flips out a small notepad with his mark on the cover and a pen. Knowing what it was Mac silently urged Sonata to do something. He wasn’t sure what he wanted her to do, but anything was better than Sixes getting a whole squad of Equestrians to come and look at Sunset’s room. Maybe it was the older brother in him or the fact he wouldn’t like people nosing through his room either that had him set against Celestia’s and Sixes well intentioned, but misguided actions.
Sonata after a quick shove from Aria skips down the stairs and clasps her hands over Sixes' hands preventing him from writing. He looked at her with a mid-glare of annoyance. “Um… sorry… but I… ah….” She looks to her sisters and Mac for help, the three only urging her to continue. Really helpful they were. “I’ll do it! I’ll go look at Sunny’s room, I mean. Think about it. Who better to do it? I’m a girl, and I’ve been in this world for a thousand years! I know everything and anything there is to know about going through a teenage girl’s room.”
Mac and the other two sirens only slapped their forehead at Sonata’s wording, but it seems to work as Sixes put his notepad away. “Very well, here are the particulars Celestia is keen to know. Please go through the entire list.” He hands Sonata a half an inch-thick book. “Let’s go check on Madhoof’s spawn, Mac.”
“I’ll lead the way,” Mac clasps his hand on Sonata’s shoulder and leans in whispering, “Thanks doing this. I’ll pick up a pal of your favorite ice cream for this.”
“Better make that two,” Sonata sniffles as she flips through the book she had been given. It was a copy of the check list perform by Celestia’s personal maids. She wanted to break down and cry. It was so long! There were fifty pages of things to do! (Sunset Shimmer! You owe me!)
“So, Princess Celestia is worried about Sunset too?” Chuckles Mac as they walked. He couldn’t help it, Sonata’s face was too funny right now. Of course, the mirth filled smile of Adagio was exceptionally charming as she giggles at her sister’s misfortune. (She must be rubbing off on me. I don’t usually take pleasure in others misfortune.)
“If you only knew the half of it.” Sixes chafes. “Ever since we pledged to be better grandparents to Sunset. Princess Celestia has been fretting almost all the time. She constantly throws her staff in a panic as she schedules and then cancels visits to this world. She worries that Sunset might grow to resent her again if she comes on too strong and too quickly so soon.”
Mac nods along, seeing the Princess’s dilemma, “But if she never visits then Sunset might start to grow distant from her again.”
Sixes snorts, sounding amused as smoke rolls out from his nostrils, “Trust me, if Celestia had her way she’d be here every day and maybe even setting up a place to live. Some distance makes the heart grow fonder as they. Besides Celestia and I visited Sunset sometime last month. Separately of course. I think Sunset took her for a motorcycle ride to the city or something. It was real mare affair with them trying on more clothes than reasonable. Luna and I got a full slide show of the whole thing.”
“When did that happen? Why didn’t you stop and say hi?”
“We’ve intruded on your lives enough, Mac. Besides you’d probably tire of hosting us every time we cross between worlds.” Sixes chuckles.
Mac nodded, seeing the logic of the argument, his eyes widening when he registered what Sixes was saying. “Wait, how often are you guys visiting again?”
Sixes didn’t answer. Instead suddenly running ahead into the brush. Mac stood stunned before quickly following. Through bushes, two fallen logs, and low hanging branches that scraped at his arms and legs Mac following the sound of Sixes’s hurried footsteps. Until finally he caught up.
In the shade of two half rotten apple trees, Sixes knelt beside a fallen figure. Walking closer Mac was surprised to discover it was Maddie laying on the ground. Her arms and legs covered in minor cuts and bruises. Her crutches lay about twenty feet behind her. The aluminum frame dented and twisted, stuck between two above ground roots. On the grass were drag marks where she army crawled along the ground.
Mac knelt beside Sixes, Maddie sniffed behind her long brown hair, stringing a sailor’s worth of curses as she held her sprained ankle.
“Grimy little fuckers, couldn’t get here fucking three hours ago!” She grumbles in Sixes’s arms as he lay her against a nearby tree trunk. “Watch the leg too. Fucker has been hurting like a whore that got slapped by her pimp since I stumbled over that fucking tree root. Why the fuck can’t I have a nice clear path like Sunset Shimmer? Who do I have to sleep with to get that?”
“No one,” Mac answers exhaustedly. Good or evil Maddie was a handful. “Why are you out here? Your leg still needs to heal.”
“Thanks for the memo doc, but I wouldn’t be out here if crawling through the fucking brush if it wasn’t important, now would I? Also email accounts, everyone needs one, because I’m not doing this every fucking time there’s an emergency!” Maddie spat hissing through her teeth. That hitting that root really hurt! Like stuffing a toe on a coffee table, except times fives worse!
“What emergency?” Growls Sixes getting Maddie on track. The burning pain in her shoulder making her snap to a more sensible tone.
“Ouch, ouch, ouch! Stop that! I’ll tell you! Stop trying to light my shirt on fire!” Maddie snaps slapping Sixes’s burning hand away. She had almost forgotten about that stupid seal too. “Last night or rather this morning. My computer picked up a huge spike of magical energy. Two spikes of magic to be accurate. One dark, one light. I don’t know what the darkness was, but I’ve seen the light before, it was Sunset Shimmer and…” Maddie fell silent looking worriedly at Sixes.
“What it is Maddie?” Urged Mac. If Sunset was involved in something, then so was his sister. “What happened.”
“You can’t get mad at me, I’m only the messenger,” Maddie said pointedly to them. Taking a deep breath, she said, “Sunset’s light magic was overwhelmed by the dark magic…” Maddie turned Mac’s wrist to look at his watch. “About um… three… four hours ago? God, it sure takes a long time to get anywhere on crutches. How far are these damn shacks? One, two miles?”
“Maddie!” Yelled Mac, “Sunset Shimmer, where was she when this happened?”
“Holder’s boulder in Hop’s Valley,” She answered quickly, Mac grabbed her threw her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry and sprinted through the trees as fast as he could. Sixes keeping pace right beside him.
They came tearing into the yard. Mac all but throwing Maddie on the porch at Adagio’s feet and continuing towards the truck. “Aria get in the truck!” Mac yells cranking the engine. The pink siren didn’t question why and hopped in the middle as Sixes slams the passenger door closed.
“How far is this Hop’s valley?” Sixes asked, his voice thick with rage and worry for his granddaughter.
“About three hours’ drive going the speed limit,” Mac grimly replied, going anything but. “That’s not including the hike to get to Holder’s boulder.”
“What’s the problem?” Aria asked looking between the two men.
“We’ll tell you on the way, just do that ‘don’t notice me’ spell thing of yours first,” said Mac as the speedometer crept past eighty. The old Chevy roaring as he pushed her hard down the road.
Aria grumbles as she begins to channel magic, “You should have grabbed Sonata, she’s better at it than I am.” She begins to chant ‘don’t see me, don’t hear me, don’t see me, don’t hear me’ creating a haze over the pickup. Other drivers will find it hard to see them, but so will the cops, being pulled over was not an option right now.
Mac grips the wheel tight as he weaved the truck between traffic. Praying Applejack was safe. Even if deep in his gut he knew she probably wasn’t it.
The Apple’s old blue pickup pulled into the parking lot of Hop’s Valley state park. Ironically it was the same parking lot Mac and Adagio fought the shadow ponies only a few months ago. Pulling into a lot. Mac got out and walked over to the two familiar vehicles. One was Applejack’s pickup and the other was Rarity’s compact SUV. The park rangers spotted the vehicles while out on a morning walk. Mac had to come up with a story so the girl’s cars didn’t get towed. Hopefully, they would all be leaving this place before dark.
Checking the Rarity’s compact, Mac found it filled with empty candy wrappers and taco bell to go bags. Nothing unusual there. Not that Rarity kept her car this messy, it just meant all of Applejack’s friends were along for this ride.
Next, he checked Applejack’s truck. Same thing as far as the cab was concerned, empty bags and wrappers. However, the invoice on the seat caught his attention. It was an invoice for certain storage unit under their great grandfather’s name. Underneath the invoice was the key.
“Fuck, she didn’t,” Mac grumbles, walking around to the tailgate. Flipping the gate down and looking beneath the tarp, he was greeted by the sight of a big wooden crate with US Army stamped on the side, the crate empty. With the impressions of what had once been there imprinted on the straw inside. “Shit, she did.”
“What’s the matter?” Sixes asked walking up behind him.
Mac let out a long haggard sigh, “Applejack took some things she shouldn’t have, is all. I’ll deal with it as soon as we make sure she and everyone else is safe. Holder’s boulder is that way. We better get moving if we’re going to make it there before dark.”
“Are you seriously thinking of walking?” Aria questions walking up beside the two.
“No other way to do it. There are no roads for the pickups and we don’t have ATV’s.” Replies Mac looking confused as Aria glances around the area. Spotting nobody, the pink Siren suddenly jumps Mac with a full lip to lip contact kiss sucking a good amount of magic from him. Stepping away Aria stood fully transformed with transparent fin like wings protruding from her back. She gives Mac a little wink and twirl as she hovers above the ground.
“Flying would be much faster,” She says looking towards Sixes. Who merely rolls his eyes and transforms. The dragon pony’s transformation wasn’t much different than last time, pony ears, dragon claws, and scales, but this time he had wings. “Looks like you’ve been practicing. How often do you come here again?” Sixes grunts, not interested in answering the question. It was his personal business after all.
“So, I guess you two will be carrying me?” Mac said disappointedly. He really wished he had wings of his own. Too bad he didn’t inherit his dad’s wings.
“Try sending magic into your coat,” Sixes told him. Mac did as Sixes ordered and sent a bit of magic into his coat. For a moment nothing seems to happen, but then suddenly his coat tightens, hugging his torso as the chain mail flew out from the slits in the shoulders. The tiny rings of metal twisting and melted together creating two metal wings on his back.
“Wow, that’s cool,” Aria said staring at him.
Mac gave the wings a little test, moving them up and down and slowly flapping them. They looked too small to make him fly, but then so did the wings on Rainbow and Fluttershy. Magic, giving the middle finger to math and science.
“They should work like any prosthetic wing in Equestria. Just fuel them with magic and they should do the rest. Adding magic will allow you to fly faster, but keep in mind they will drain you dry if you get too reckless with them, also you’ll have less protection since they’re made from the chain mail in your coat.”
Mac nods, and turns towards the direction of Holder’s boulder, “Got it. Now let’s go find my sister.”
The three take flight. Flying low and fast above the tree tops. To any bird watching hikers that might happen upon them, they would only see a blur and a passing shadow.
Despite the situation, Mac was enjoying himself. He was flying! Really flying! It was like a dream come true and it was everything he expected and more! The wind in his face, the ground rushing past, the pure feeling of freedom it brought him. It was like his troubles were being blown away.
Unfortunately, the feeling was merely a passing one. Up ahead stood a giant black dome, covering the entire crater where Holder’s boulder would be located. His feelings of happiness faded away, the familiar worry back in its rightful place.
“Can either of you tell me what this is,” Mac asked Aria and Sixes as they come to a stop before the black dome. Something like this should be causing a panic from the campers and hikers. Hell, he was expecting the national guard to be showing up at any second. Yet everything was quiet.
Below a pair of hikers pass beneath them. Completely unaware of their presence. The hikers entered the dome, disappearing, only to reappear in a different place. The two looked confused, pulling out a map and walking back into the dome. Only to reappear beneath the Mac and company again. The hikers shrugged and began walking towards the campgrounds.
Aria whistles, “Now that is one hell of a barrier. Conceals, displaces, and disorients any unwitting intruder and sends them on their way. That’s alicorn level shit.”
“More like two Alicorns,” added Sixes looking intrigued by the barrier. It was defiantly a piece of work. Mac wasn’t as impressed though.
“So how do we get in?” He demanded impatiently. The churning in his gut was telling him Applejack was in there. Where else would his sister be when crazy magical shit was involved?
“Just leave it to the anti-mage over here,” Aria snorts pointing to Sixes. “You broke the barrier surrounding Maredor’s capital, this shouldn’t be too much trouble for you.”
“I’m surprised you know about me,” Sixes comments as he ignites his hands with golden fire. Creating a blob of molten gold, Sixes twists and bends the hot metal into the shape of a small key.
The key looked unassuming to the naked eye, but inscribed on the side were numerous tiny runes. Inserting the key into the black dome. The key melts away into the darkness, becoming a small golden dot on the black surface. The dot began to move creating a door shape in the dome. The darkness in the frame vanished leaving an opening for them to enter through.
“The Key of Babylon, nice. No wonder you got through our barrier,” Praised Aria, though Sixes could tell she was faking. Destroying someone’s home tended to leave some scars.
Mac could only blink, “Ok, what was that?”
Sixes shrugs at the question, “Just some forge magic. Gold is a natural magic conductor, give it the proper shape and inscribe the proper runes and you recreate almost any magical item. Unfortunately, they’re a one-time use only and can get pretty time consuming for more powerful stuff. But that’s advanced rune mechanics. If you’d stayed longer I could have taught you some. Runes are very useful.”
“Maybe next time,” said Mac as they entered the dome. The scene before them was haunting. The trees that surrounded the crater that house Holder’s boulder was barren, nothing but burnt husks of wood. The grass turned to ash, the slightest breeze blowing huge dust clouds across the barren plain.
The three flew in silence taking to the ground as they approached the ledge. Down below rest Holder’s Boulder, or what was left of it. The massive boulder was half its usual size. The broken remains carved into a temple like structure that resembled a flight of stairs. Almost like an Aztec temple. At the top rested a massive throne composed of bones and skulls of some creatures none of them could identify. A shadowy horned figure sat on the throne, a skull cup in his hand.
What really interested the three was what or rather who was bound below the shadowy antlered king. Applejack and her friends were all bound with their hands above their heads to the trunks of broken trees. None of the girls were looking in the best of shape. Their clothes were torn and their bodies bruised. The worse of which was Sunset Shimmer. Still donned in her pink celestial dress, her fiery hair falling flat against her face with a blood trail that traveled from her forehead down to her chin and dripped onto her breast.
Sixes and Mac were not happy. Both were showing their draconian side as smoke began to below from their mouths. Their eyes fire pits of rage.
“Aria go get the girls, we’ll take that bastard on the throne.” Mac snarls out, he and Sixes jetting off. Leaving her to rage by herself at their foolhardiness.
“This is not a plan! This is not how planning works!” She screams. Nether the less she ducks into the shadows to save her sister in law and former enemies. “Damn Rainbooms are always a pain in the ass!”
Grau sat upon his throne overlooking the spoils of his victory. The question now? What to do with them? In a world with little magic, it would be beneficial to have the most magical beings under his thumb. That and just appreciating having thumbs. Thumbs were awesome. What was better than thumbs? Having the Scion of Celestia under his thumb, that’s what. She would be a useful tool against the Princess of the Sun.
Before all that. He needed to understand this new world. Using the power of Telepathic Perception, he probed each of the girls’ minds for information. A good chunk of it was useless. Scratch that, it was almost all useless. Not only did they not know how magic worked in this world, they barely understood how to use it themselves. Most of their thoughts consisted of average teenage girl things and worries. That and fear of what he was going to do to them.
However, there was a silver lining. Three of the girls. Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Sunset Shimmer did provide a plethora of interesting information. Form Applejack he learned it was possible for magic to be inherited from an Equestrian parent that mates with a native in this world. Very useful in the long term in case he decides to hold of his revenge against Celestia and Luna. A few even average magic level spawns from himself would be more than enough to overwhelm Celestia and the other Princesses. Really what was twenty years to a being like him?
Next the mind of Twilight Sparkle. What a curious girl she was. Her knowledge of this world’s math and science defiantly held potential. What this world lacked in magic, it made up for in devastating weapons. Weapons he could use.
Finally, Sunset Shimmer. Her knowledge of modern Equestria was useful. Not only that she could be the perfect spy with her little notebook. The possibilities were nearly endless with what he could use her for. Spy, apprentice, breed stock? What could be better than killing Celestia with her own blood descendant?
Twirling his skull mug Grau chuckled, relishing all the different ways he could have his revenge. The Alicorn Wars may be over for Celestia and Luna, but not for him. He remained strong, while they grew soft. They would not know victory this time. Not without their mother Solaris to save them.
Solaris, even after all this time he cannot help but think fondly of her. Had things been different. Celestia and Luna would have been his foals! Grau crushed his mug, spilling the contents. He sighs as he reforms the mug and refills it with more wine. He needed to think about something else.
Looking out the corner of his eye he glances at the pink girl, Pinkie Pie, she had held the element of combustion. He liked her. She had a natural dark side to her that she kept hidden and her mind, while chaotic, was a treasure trove of creative ideas. He rather liked the sword and cannon for hands idea. They were from a show she had watched as a child.
“Maybe I should partake in the culture too before taking over. This world’s entertainment is vastly superior to Equestria’s. Really this TV sounds interesting. What do you girls think?” Silence and groans of pain replied. “Hmm… I think I need to meet new people. I’m starting to talk like you. Speaking of new people.”
Raising his left hand Grau summoned his skull sword. Blocking the incoming attack. He looked interestingly at the pool of lava that dripped down the side of the skull and pooled on the ground.
“If my acquired memory serves me right, your Sixes. Sunset Shimmer’s Biological Grandfather. Have you told her about Crusader yet? And how you abandon him and Celestia? Not really father of the year are you Night Commander Sixes?”
Sixes barred down at him with glowing red eyes, “Get out of my head!”
“Don’t like the past being drugged up? Too bad. I like to know my opponent’s personally. I especially like knowing their plans.” Grau raised his right arm, summoning his skull cannon. Blocking Mac’s armor enhanced claws. “Hello, Big Macintosh, Applejack’s worrying older brother, and very talented monster hunter. I must say I’m interested in what kind of child you and your mate will produce. I could find it and her very useful. Your sister too by the way.”
The two men growl at him. Their magic flaring as they press their attacks harder. Really, they should know who their fighting. Grau forces them away with a mighty swing of his arms! Sending the hurling into the ground!
“I am Grau, The Lesser King of Bones! I will not even entertain the notion that a mere farmer and mad scientist’s experiment can defeat me! Know thy place mortals! As your betters, soon will!” Grabbing a chunk of stone with his skull cannon, he charged the stones with combustion and fired! The chunks bombarding Mac’s position, while creating a shield to block Sixes’s lava throw.
“Begone peons!” Grau swings his sword, the swirling wind kicking up the ash covered ground. A pleased grin spread across his lips as he uses combustion on the ash. His two unworthy opponents realize his plan but are too slow to react. They can barely get off the ground before the explosion consumes them. “As it should be. A king, even a lesser, should not have to engage in such dribble. Now… what to do with you, siren?”
Grau turns around grinning wickedly at the trembling pink siren as she struggles to free Applejack. Aria takes up a battle pose, but there is no water for her to use. Her fists tighten as he floats down towards her.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t sense you? Or see a hint while I probed the minds of your friends?” Mocks Grau as he lands on Holder’s Boulder, reloading his skull cannon and pointing it at Aria. “I shall gift you a once in life time chance. As a sentiment to your kin. Be my concubine or die.”
“Well, when you put it like that… I’d say no,” Aria stabs her finger tipped claws into Grau’s chest, sporting a wicked grin of her own. “Poseidon’s blessing!” Lightning flew from her finger tips, shocking Grau and throw him off balance has his nerves were fried. “Kiss my ass! You royal prick!” Aria shouts as she flies away. “Also, you should know, people like us don’t die easy!”
Grau didn’t have the time to process what she was saying when Mac come barreling in, fist ablaze with orange magic and covered in dragon scales. His punch made the King of Bones' jaw crack as Grau’s head twisted in an angle that would have killed a normal human.
“Clever little foals, I actually didn’t see that coming. This is what they call talking without communicating. Fascinating.” Grau twists his head back on straight. The bones making a sickening crunching sound as he did. Dispelling his sword and cannon Grau clenched his fist tight, calling on his aura of strength. “But you forgot the old rule, if you hit the king, be prepared to be killed by the king!”
Mixing the aura of speed and power Grau hammered on Mac. The Farmer crossing his arms and coating them in scales to shield himself from the mighty blows. Each hit had him screaming in pain as Mac’s guard was broken almost instantly.
“Mac!” Aria comes rushing in, her fingers arcing with lightning. Grau turned, summoning his skull cannon and firing a blast of combustion at her. The siren took the hit straight on and fell to the ground in a heap with smoke rolling off her body. Hot shards of rock embedded in her flesh made her wither in pain as she dug into the wounds to fish them out.
The distraction gone Grau returns his attention to Mac, grabbing the farm boy by the throat. “Pathetic insects! Celestia’s scion at least had the status to challenge me! You are merely common dogs for the slaughter you…” Grau paused, catching a faint glimpse in Mac’s mind. Something the farm boy was trying to keep hidden. He pressed harder. Forcing Mac’s mind open. “Sixes… gold aura… forgery magic…”
A bright light shines from across the crater. Sixes stood hands and hair a light with gold magic, putting the finishing touches on his creation. A large golden spear. Taller than Sixes and adorned with an elaborate spear head. Sixes took up the spear, pulling his arm back as the spear ignited in golden flames.
Grau looks upon the rinin with disbelief, quickly turning to anger. “You dare to use the power of my Kin! Worse you make a mockery of my beloved by making that sham of a weapon!”
Sixes snarls letting the spear loose, “Spear of Solaris!” The spear flies from his hand! Fast. Faster than the eye could follow. Faster than light. The spear flies through Grau, incinerating a hole straight through his body, straight through Holder’s boulder and even further into the ground. Grau’s arm holding Mac falls to the ground, as does Mac.
All is quiet.
Grau stares blankly at Mac disbelieving of what just happened. Mac stares back boggled as to how Grau was still alive. Half of his torso was gone!
Across the crater Sixes falls to his knees, the gold gone from his body, disappearing in golden hot mist. His entire body burning, as if fire was flowing through his veins. Hacking up blood he curses at his poor aim.
“Shit, I didn’t hit the amulet.” Grau looks at him and in a blink of an eye appears before him. The King of bones already half healed. With his remaining hand, Grau grabs Sixes by the throat and holds him up to eye level. Sixes too weak to even struggle.
“You are unworthy of the power of the Alicorn of Gold, I will be taking back his soul.”
Sixes laughs, “If you’re talking about the gold Alicorn Amulet, I ate that over a thousand years ago and I still haven’t crapped it out. Good luck digging through my bowels for it!”
Grau summons his sword and points it at Sixes' stomach, “I intend to do just that.”
Mac coughs harshly as he rubs his throat, trying to soothe it after almost having it crushed. He raises to his feet, stumbling as he walks up the broken stairs of the makeshift temple. Aria flies down, ducking under his arm and propping him up.
“Aren’t we going to help Sixes? Things aren't looking good for him.” Aria grimly observed, cringing at Sixes's agonizing screams echoed through the crater. Just hearing it made her own stomach queasy.
“We will. Right after we free the girls. We’re going to need their help.”
Aria looked impressed, “Oh so you finally come up with a plan now? Is Sixes getting skewered apart of it?”
“Not exactly,” Mac answered with a grimace. Sixes was really taking one for the team. So much for plan B. Time for C. “I actually just read a book about this guy when I was over in Equestria.”
“So, you know his weakness?” Aria’s hope raising. Things were looking bleak and it hasn’t even been five minutes!
“The book didn’t say, but I figure if we get Applejack and the others up and going things will work themselves out.”
“Leaving it all up to the whims of fate, why not? Seems to be working alright up till now.” Aria sarcastically retorted as they reached the girls.
Mac took his arm off Aria’s shoulder, walking under his own weight he hobbles to the side where Applejack, Twilight, and Sunset were tied up. Pulling out his pocket knife he quickly cut the ropes around Applejack’s wrists. She falls, her limbs limp, Mac catches her and eases her to the ground.
“Mac?” She mumbles weakly.
“It’s me, everything going to be alright,” He lies as he cuts Twilight loose. “Just hold on a little longer. I’ll get us home.” Placing Twilight next to Applejack he quickly moves to Sunset. “I’m not even going to ask, you’re not ok.”
Sunset smiles as she falls against him, laying her head on Mac’s shoulder, “What gave it away? The bad hair day?”
“I’m guessing the gash on your head and blood loss,” Mac leaned Sunset against the wooden post. Brushing her hair out of the way he got a good look at the wound. Grimacing at the nasty wound. “Sorry about this.” Ripping the helm of her dress Mac tied the makeshift bandage around the wound. The pink fabric turning completely red in a matter of seconds.
“We’re in a bad spot Sunny. I need you to give the others their magic back. Can you do that?” Sunset nods, her eyes wide and her pupils dilated. She had a concussion, great. “Can you still fight?”
Again, she nods.
“Good, because we’re going to need everyone.”
Grau’s hand was wrist deep in Sixes’s guts. The dragon pony’s stomach acid doing a number on his hands. Grau pulling his stub free of Sixes’s stomach. Promptly growing a new hand Grau takes another stab at the Night Commander’s stomach. Biting back grunts of discomfort as the draconic stomach acid assaulted his flesh.
Sixes laughed historically as if finding it funny that his guts were on display. “Having fun bone head? I eat solid rocks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, your brittle old bones barely last a minute! How do you like that? Getting one up by my stomach?” Grau’s tail promptly whips Sixes in the face. Leaving a parallel lash above the last two.
“Any more of your nonsense and I will cleave you in half. How amused will you be then?”
“Why don’t you just get it over with and do it?” Sixes taunts. Behind his back, he began to flex his fingers. He could move again. That was a good sign.
“Your connections to both Princesses is too valuable from me to carelessly waste,” Grau explained. “I am confident I can manipulate Celestia into lowering her guard with Sunset, but to get past Luna’s defenses I find that you will be most effective. I hope you realize I’ve been probing you this entire time. Your knowledge is most valuable and amusing.”
“Oh, why’s that?” Sixes demanded.
“No particular reason. I just find it fascinating that a mix breed has eyes for Princess Luna. Understandable, from your own mind I can see she’s grown into an even finer mare since the last time I saw her. Really though, you might as well be an ogre when compared to her. The whole ordeal is laughable.”
Sixes closed his eyes, “Maybe it is, but that’s not for a dead pony to decide.”
“Resigned to your fate already?” Grau chuckled, only to frown when he saw Sixes’s smile. He was looking somewhere. Somewhere behind him… Grau quickly turned around and was greeted by Mac’s and Applejack’s fists! The power of the magically infused blows had him reeling as his entire body spun! His grip on Sixes loosening.
The rinin lands on his feet revealing a lava filled hand as he charges ahead with an ear-piercing battle cry! “Take him down!”
Grau regains his footing and summons his skull sword blocking the lava attack, while at the same time grabbing Mac by the wrist and tossing him away. With his tail, he grabs a charging Applejack and throws her next to Mac.
A cry of, “Up here asshole!” Called his attention upwards where Rainbow Dash and Aria floated above with bows of Lightning poised to the strike. Sixes backed off as the lightning arrows rained down. Grau crosses his arms to cover his amulet and the geodes.
“Behind you!” Came the cry of Pinkie Pie. He swings with his tail, missing as she bounces out of the way, blasts of purple and red magic hitting him in the back. He snarls, whirling towards Twilight and Sunset as they stood with smoking hands atop his throne. Drawing his skull cannon he takes aim, focusing combustion, only for it to fail!
“What?” He growls. Looking down he sees Fluttershy and Rarity picking at his geodes! The two girls look nervously at him as they held combustion and speed in their hands. He swings his skull sword in, intending to crush the two behind it and his torso, but they disappeared in a flash with the speed geode. Making him fume! “Deliver those back or your loved ones will suffer beyond measure!”
“Don’t threaten my friends!” Pinkie shouts appearing from nowhere, dropping a handful of glowing rocks in his face! The rocks exploded! Blinding him. Grau thrashes wildly about trying to keep them all at bay, but he feels another Geode be plucked away. This one strength.
The smoke clears and Rarity stood before him tossing the gem in her hand. She takes a stance, clutching the geode in her fist.
“Do you mind if I borrow this Applejack?” Rarity asks politely.
“Go ahead sugar cube! Give him hell!”
Rarity smirks, “With pleasure! No one threatens my baby sister!” The fashionista flew at him and jabbed him right in the stomach! The blow cracked his ribs and brought him to his knees. Before he could recover he lost the nature geode.
“Fluttershy this one is yours!” Rarity yelled tossing the geode to the shy girl.
Fluttershy catches it, “Um… are there any animals here that could help please?” The ground behind her explodes as the skeletal remains of a T-Rex form behind her. “Oh… well ok. Can you beat him up?” The T-Rex nods and charges Grau.
Very angry Grau grabs the T-Rex with telekinesis and brings the bone creature to heel. “I’m the King of Bones! You obey me!” Ribbing the T-Rex to pieces he gathers the bones around himself, absorbing them into his body and transforming to his equine body.
“Come two leggers! Come and meet your doom!” He snarls charging at Fluttershy, horn and antlers lowered to skewer the shy girl. She tried to run, but he held her down with Telekinesis. He would kill her. He would pick her apart and make her friends watch!
Her friends scream. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Aria, and Rarity sending down a rain of magic and lightning to try and stop him. He threw up a shield and laughed as all the attacks bounced harmlessly off as he continued his charge. Mac and Applejack jumped in front of him, using their combined strength they tried to slow him down. They were mildly successful, reducing his speed slightly, but even with their combined strength, they could not stop him completely as he slowly pushed the two along for the ride.
“Watch as your efforts fail! Watch as I skewer your friend on my horn!” Grau madly declared holding Fluttershy in place. He was almost there. Only a few more feet and he would be enjoying their cries of misery. How he could picture it now!
“Stay away from her!” Pinkie cried throwing handfuls of combustion dirt at his shield. He laughed as tears stained her cheeks. He laughed at them all!
Mac and Applejack pushed as hard as they could against the blue shield. Their muscles strained to the limit as they were only two feet away from Fluttershy. The tip of Grau’s horn merely three inches from piercing her breast. Through gritted teeth, Mac yelled, “Sixes, Sunset! Hurry the fuck up!”
It was then Grau finally noticed the pair's absence. His mind cleared and he frantically searched for the two. He spotted them, standing side by side with two spears of golden fire in their hands. Grandfather and granddaughter drew their arms back as one and took aim.
“Spears of Solaris!”
The spears of golden flame flew, twisting into one giant gold blast that shattered his shield and burrowed right into the amulet that made his heart. His equine form fell away and he fell on his human knees clutching his chest.
He looked at them with shock and fear as his entire existence began to crumble. “What have you done?” The alicorn amulet exploded!
“Look out!” Rainbow came swooping down grabbing Fluttershy, Mac, and Applejack in one fell swoop and tossed them out of the blast zone while facing it head on to shield them. They were all thrown against the trees.
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy cried out once her world stopped spinning. The rainbow speedster shook her off saying she was fine as they all gathered around. They looked at the crater where Grau had once been and the remaining geodes the lay on the ground.
“What the fuck were you all thinking! Do you know how dangerous that was? Do you know how worried all your parents will be? It’s a fucking Monday! No scratch that! It’s fucking Tuesday! Yawl, are supposed to be in school! Do you think nobody is going to notice ya gone?” Mac yells at the top of his lungs at the seven girls huddling before him. Behind him, Sixes was filling the crater of Holder’s Boulder with lava to cover up the battle. Hopefully, the Rangers will just think there was a lava vein beneath the boulder that finally blew.
The girls advert their gazes. Unable to look him in the face. Mac’s hard glare fell on his sister, who hid her face beneath her hat. “You should have known better Applejack. You should have known how stupid this was! Worse, you stole from Great Grandpa Bailey! You know he’ll notice and you know Granny will find out too and they’ll both tan your ass red!”
“…” Applejack hugged her knees tighter. Her knuckles turning white.
“What was that? Speak up if you have something to say!”
“I’m sorry…” Mutters Applejack hugging her knees even tighter. Her body beginning to shake as hot tears roll down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry.” The girls turn and glare at him, but Mac glares back with more ferocity. His irises burning orange with magic. They turn away, unable to meet his powerful gaze.
“Settle down Mac, keep the dragon in check,” Sixes chastise grabbing Mac by the back of the neck and massaging it. The tension in Mac’s shoulders lessen, but his face remained hard. “Good enough for now. Let’s get going home. I reckon you’ll tired and hungry. Besides, we need to get out of here before more people show up.”
One by one, the girl stood up forming a line behind Sixes and Mac. Aria took up the rear of their little convoy. Her enchanting song hiding them from the flock of park rangers and hikers that came to see the smoldering remains of Holder’s Boulder.
The hike back to the cars was a long and trying one. While Mac, Sixes, and Aria were tired from the battle, they still flew the distance to Holder’s Boulder on their way out. Thus, they had a bit of energy to spare. The girls weren’t fairing so well. Having to hike out the first time, battle, and now hike back at the brisk pace set by Sixes and Mac. The men were in a hurry to get going and they had little sympathy for the seven girls right now. So, when they finally reach parking lot the seven girls were quick to fall on their butts in relief. Their entire bodies aching in pain, especially their feet.
“Can we please rest here, Mac?” Rarity cries in anguish, slipping off her hiking boots to reveal her blistered feet.
Mac checks his watch. He really wants to get home but supposed he should let the girls rest a bit before letting them drive. Besides he already got what he wanted by pushing them like this. Kneeling Mac grabs Rarity foot and beings massaging it. The Fashionista’s face cringing in pain as he mercilessly knelled the bottom of her foot, eventually Rarity’s painful expression lessen and she let out a contented sigh.
“Better?” He asks. Receiving a meek blush and nod from Rarity. “We’ll rest for a bit before driving home. Hopefully, the pain will remind you of consequences of your actions before you do something stupid. The rest of you line up by the truck. It’s not much, but we have a few first aid kits with us.”
The girls did as Mac ordered. One by one he checks over their injuries. A blanket was rolled out onto the grass for those who were finished. When he was checking over Pinkie a park ranger came out to see what was going on. After faking a story of the girls getting hurt from rock climbing. The ranger went and retrieves the medic located in the park. Which led to a more time wasted and Mac and Sixes having to write a report for the incident. They used the eruption of Holder’s Boulder as the reason the girls fell. Luckily the Rangers bought the story. Though they were still confused how no one heard the eruption.
Then they were free to go since nobody sustained injuries needing to go the hospital. Mac urges the girls to the cars for a quick exit, less something else delay them. He took his truck with Applejack and Sixes, Applejack climbed into her truck with Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, and Aria drove Rarity’s SUV with the rest.
One hour and a half drive back and they were all safe at the farm again. Safe being relative as who should be standing in the yard waiting to greet them but a very irritate Vice Principle Luna. The educator/godmother glares at her seven absent students. Taking in their bruises, cuts and all in between.
“Well… I hope you had fun girls.” She said with ire.
From the porch, Adagio emerges from the front door with a sheepish grin. “Sorry, she just showed up demanding to know what happened you. I kind of spilled the beans… but I made ‘you made it back alive’ cookies! Well… Sonata made them and Tacos… so come and eat dinner or whatever you call eating at four o’clock in the afternoon.”
A collective roar of growls rumbles from the seven high schoolers stomachs. As one they sheepishly look to their Vice Principle for mercy. Sighing in dismay and exhaustion Luna waves them past.
“Fine, I’ll chew you out after you’ve eaten.” The girls eagerly run past her. Leaving her alone in the yard with Mac and Sixes. Aria having left with the girls to eat. “So, a lot has happened since this morning. I guess my uneasiness was right. So, what happened this time?”
“I think we killed a god or something,” Mac replies with a grin, much to Luna’s mirth.
“Really? That true Sixes?” She asks the Night Patroller with steely cold eyes. Eyes that reminds him of her Princess counterpart.
The Patroller shrugs, “Technically it was a fallen Alicorn, which is basically a god where I’m from. Well… maybe more of a demigod, you’d have to ask Princess Celestia and Luna, as they are Alicorns. Personally, I’m just happy to add it to my list of amazing things I’ve killed.”
Luna rubbed her temple, her face contorting into annoyance, “Oh my god, you really are Stryker’s counterpart.”
“What was that?”
“Uh? Oh nothing, just thinking out loud.” Dismissed Luna, fiercely rubbing her temples. “Look. I’ll let the girls get away with missing school today, but they have detention for the rest of the week. They may be magical pony girls, but they’re still minors. Not that I like you going off and doing this crazy magical shit either, but you’re an adult so there’s not much I can do about it.” Luna pulls Mac into a hug, making the farm boy blush awkwardly at the close contact. “Just be careful? I’m still your godmother and I’d like to think I’m at least being half as responsible as I should be.”
Mac pats her on the back. Unsure of what to actually say or do other than say, “I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble. And keep a better eye on the girls.” Luna pats his back, breaking the hug, a soft motherly smile gracing her lips as she gave Mac a quick peck on the head.
“You have Nico’s tenacity. I’ll give you that. Sixes!” The rinin stands at attention. “Please do your best to help them? Please?”
“I’ll try, but they do a good job by themselves.” The rinin said proudly.
Luna smiles, “I suppose they do, still everyone can use a little help occasionally.” With those parting words, Luna makes for her car. Before she could reach it, Mac called out to her.
“One question before you go. I know this is out of the blue, but who’s our godfather? Or do we not have one?”
Apathetically Luna pulls her cell phone from her pocket, staring at a certain number. Reluctantly she walks back over to Mac and presents it to him. “I’d rather you come to me, but your godfather was Nico’s best friend in this world. I can’t guarantee how he’ll respond but here’s his number and an address where you can usually find him if you can’t get him by phone. Again, I’d rather not have you going to him.”
“Is there a reason why?”
Luna puffs her cheeks, “We just had a falling out is all. Still, it wasn’t right of me to hide him from you, but he could have walked into your life at any time he wanted to, so we’re both to blame.” After Mac copies the number and address Luna takes her leave again, only to stop once more and shout out from her car. “He’s not a bad person Mac, but he’s rough around the edges.” Putting her car in gear Luna drives away, disappearing quickly down the old dirt road.
“Well, let’s go eat. I’m getting kind of hungry,” Mac pockets his phone, heading for the house. Inside he is greeted with the sight of his sister and her friends all laying around the living room. Some were on the couches, others were on the floor, and some were on top of each other, all sound asleep. “The hell did you put in those cookies?”
“Hey, don’t blame me for magic exhaustion!” Sonata shouts from the kitchen, a bowl of cookie batter in her hands. Was there a bake sale he didn’t know about Mac wonders. Spotting several plastic containers of cookies on the counter behind Sonata.
“They’ll be up in a few hours. They're just tired from overusing their magic and just exhausted.” Adagio said entering the living from the bedroom. She snuggles up close to Mac, tugging him along by the arm. “Come on, why don’t come and lay down with me? Sonata can bring us dinner.”
“What am I? A maid?”
Adagio giggles deviously, “Of course not my dear sister, but if you want to be one I have the costume in my closet. Scratch that. I might just make you wear it anyway.”
“Mac! Adagio’s being mean and slightly deviously evil again!” Before Mac knew it, he had two sirens clinging to his arms. And here he thought they were past that. Seems not.
“Shoo Sonata! I’m already got dibs! In more ways, then one.” Adagio taunts flashing her ring and belly.
“But that doesn’t mean I still can’t snuggle with my Big brother in law,” Sonata retorts in a cutesy tone. Mac. Mac already had enough. This was getting creepy. He takes Adagio up into his arms, carrying her bridal style to their room.
“I’ll eat later. Just be sure to clean up the kitchen when you're done making your thousand cookies or whatever.”
The door closes leaving Sonata and Sixes the only ones awake in the living room. “So, Sixes…”
“I’m spoken for,” He quickly replies, already halfway out the door. “Give Mac my bests, I’ll be going home.”
“Do you need a… oh, you can fly,” Sonata says dejectedly as Sixes takes off into the sky. Gloomily Sonata slumps on the kitchen table, across from her sat Aria chewing on a fresh chocolate chip cookie. The pink siren staring amusingly at her blue sister. “What?”
“Nothing,” Aria says picking up another cookie, “I just think you need to work on your mating call is all.”
“You’re not doing much better.”
“Shut up,” Aria hisses taking another cookie. Minutes pass and silence fills the Apple’s house. Mac and Adagio were probably fast asleep and Applejack and her friends would be out of it for a while. Sonata and Aria continue to chew their cookies in silence, the sound of their munching the only noise for a long while. “So, why are you making so many cookies?” Aria finally asks, curiosity winning over her annoyance of her blue sister’s comments.
“Local fundraiser, I got wrangled in by some of the townsfolk at the plaza to pitch in. Feels kind of weird. Being part of a community again.”
Aria nods, “Yeah, same here. Feels weird not to be fighting with each other all the time and to have a stable home again.”
“It feels nice though,” Smiles Sonata looking Longley at the seven girls. Particularly Applejack. “It’s nice to be a part of a bigger family again.”
“I suppose,” Aria reluctantly agreeing. Downing the last of the milk on the table she wipes her mouth and stands up, slamming her glass on the table. “Come on, let’s get these lazy butts home. They can sleep in their own beds. Not on our floor.”
Walking into the living room Aria slaps the closest girl on the ass, who happens to be Twilight, making the glasses wearing nerd let out a terrible, “Eek!” As she rolled off the couch and onto Pinkie, who was sleeping in front of the couch. This led to a change ration of groans as one by one the girls awaken to find out what all the noise was about.
“Keep it down,” Aria shoos, “Mac and Dagi are sleeping. All of you look alive, Sonata and I are taking you home. We don’t need your parents/guardians raising a fuss if your home late again. Because Celestia forbid they don’t call here first. Which the always do by the way.”
“What do you think you’re my mother now?” Rainbow Dash grumbles irritably as she rubs the space between her breasts. Hissing as a searing pain rose in her throat.
Aria replies, “No, but I’ll put you over my knee and spank your blue ass red if you want to be difficult.”
“Ari’s just tired and so are all you.” Sonata buts in. “You all just went through another tough magical battle and you need to rest. It will be more relaxing to sleep in your own beds and houses than here, right?”
“I would rather sleep in my silken sheets if given choice,” Rarity said aloud. Earning a sharp look from Applejack, Aria, and Sonata. “Not that your hand quilted quilts aren’t simply lovely.”
“I guess I’ll be on my way then,” Sunset said raising off the couch. Making a beeline for the door she waved goodbye to everyone. “See you all tomorrow.”
After a chorus of “Bye Sunset.” The bacon hair girl staggers down the porch stairs and down the familiar path to her shack. With Sunset getting the ball rolling the girls began to file out to the cars. Aria and Sonata driving of course. Aria drove Rarity’s SUV and Sonata drove Applejack’s truck.
“We’ll drop your truck off after we drop you all off,” Sonata told Applejack as she follows Aria down the driveway to the highway. “It’ll be an extra trip, but it’s not much of bother if there’s two of us.”
Sleepily Applejack replied, “Thanks, sorry for the trouble.”
Sonata just smiles and shrugs, “It’s what family members do for each other, right?”
Applejack smiles, “Yeah, it is. Thanks again Sonata.”
Pinkie Pie was the first to be dropped off. Her sister Lime Stone standing angrily in the front yard. “Where the fuck has you been? We have a huge order to fill today! Dad’s been waiting at the pit for over thirty minutes already!”
Pinkie’s father ran a gravel truck company. They haul much more than just gravel, but it was the easiest way to describe his business. Mining dirt and rocks from ground Pinkie’s father provides gravel and other forms of dirt for road construction companies and much more. Sometimes he had to call upon his daughters to help when things got busy. Things such as loading the trucks or just helping with the paperwork so truckers could get going quicker.
“Sorry Lime Stone,” Pinkie Pie shouts while climbing out of the SUV. Her usual pep was greatly diminished from magic exhaustion and a lack of sleep. Her hair was half droopy, half puffy to symbolize the extent of her exhaustion.
The girls wave awkwardly as Pinkie was dragged away by her sister to what was probably going to another all-nighter for the party girl.
The next one to be dropped off was Fluttershy. Her homecoming was much less eventful. As nobody was home to greet her. Her parents once again working a late shift at their work. Everybody watch as the shy girl treks up to the dark and lonely house. Giving a brief wave before disappearing inside.
“This is utterly depressing. I’m beginning to feel staying on the couch would have been a better option,” Pouts Rarity, having already listed off an inhuman about of clothing orders waiting for her at home during the length of their trip. Her pouting brought a smile to Aria’s lips.
“It’s called scheduling darling,” Aria said doing her best impression of the fashionista. “Back when Mac was still in school he would plan his hunts on the weekend. Course we didn’t have Maddie back then, so it would usually take about a week to find out a monster appeared, find out where, and then plan to go get it. We never just went off half-cocked into the woods hoping things would work out. You girls have a lot to learn if you want to be monster hunters.”
Rarity huffed, crossing her arms, “Well, I am thinking perhaps it’s not a profession for me then.”
“Good, better to quit now then get killed later for being stupid.” Aria looks in the rear view, Rarity and Rainbow Dash her only remaining passengers. “That goes for both of you.” She told them pulling into Rarity’s driveway. Exiting the SUV Aria climbs into the cab of the truck as Sonata pulls up on the street. Sonata having already dropped off Twilight at home. “How’d it go?” Aria asks as Rainbow climbs in, squishing them all together.
Sonata shrugs, “Well enough. Her brother and Dean Cadence were there to meet her. Cadence didn’t look too thrilled to see me though. Kind of understandable though. Might be best for us to stay away from her for a while, at least Adagio and I should. Cadence hasn’t met you yet, so your probably fine.”
“That hell did you do when you and Adagio went undercover at Crystal prep?”
“Nothing much, just made her confront her deepest darkest demons that she’d been suppressing for years.”
“Lovely, I’m sure she’s a real fan of us after that. Bookworm is probably going to get a talking to now.” Aria laughs imaging how awkward it would be for everyone involved. “You two might want to keep your with us on the down low. Less Twilight is discouraged from hanging out with you by association with us.”
“We don’t plan on making it a habit.” Rainbow grumbles as they pull up to her house. The rainbow hair girl gets out with a grunt and a harsh ‘thank you’ and stomps up to the door in a huff.
“What the hell is shoved up her butt?” Sonata asks aloud, getting a shrug from her two passengers.
“She’s probably just tired and mad about losing. Rainbow Dash hardly ever loses so she takes it kind of hard. She’ll spring back in a day or two.” Applejack said in her friend’s defense. She sat awkwardly between the two sirens as they pull away from Rainbows house. She’d have to explain to Granny why she was being dropped off and she couldn’t think of anything that made sense. As they drew closer to Granny’s urban farm. Applejack’s dread began to boil over, causing her stomach to clench uncomfortably. Things didn’t get better when she saw Granny rocking on the porch, her usual smiling wrinkle face turned into an upside down frown of worry, rage, and disappointment. She had missed an entire day of school. Granny was the lunch lady. She was not getting off the hook.
“Aria, Sonata,” Granny said sternly when they pulled into the driveway. Her toning turning even harsher when her eyes fell upon Applejack, who was doing her best to sink into the seat. “Applejack.”
“Hi, Granny… about today I…”
“Get in the house, now!” Granny demanded. Applejack all but running through the screen door. Granny’s stern glare fell on the two sirens. Sonata looking a little shaken, while Aria remained cool head. The elder and the pink siren had silence exchange of wills. At the end, Granny relented and leaned back into her rocking chair. “Thanks for bringing her home.”
“We’ll bring the truck back,” Aria said, but Granny shook her head.
“Keep it for a bit. Applejack won’t be using it for a while.” There was a gasp from inside the house, but nothing more after another stern glare from Granny. The sirens wave goodbye and pull away from the drive. Leaving Applejack’s fate in the hands of the angry Grandmother.
Ferocious poured over the files that littered his desk. At least that’s what he would usually be doing when he was at his desk. Tonight, preciously at nine thirty at night, he was staring at his smartphone. He wasn’t playing a game or looking not safe for work material. He was staring at the missed call from this morning at ten from Luna. He’d left his phone on his desk at that time. Commissioner Thorax made them go to another seminar about who knows what, something about physic help for police officers that had used their firearm in the line of duty. He stopped listening after the third time he was forced to see the department shrink.
He was of the same mind about all the feely, hold your hand crap as Vice Commissioner Pharynx, Commissioner Thorax’s older brother, they were a waste of time. Seems like they were in more meetings about policing, then doing actual policing. What a great use of the people’s tax dollars. Also, he didn’t know why the Detectives had to attend meetings for patrol officers. How was he expected to get cases done? Well, not staring at his phone might be a good start.
“Bro, you’ve been staring at your phone for ten minutes. Have some subtlety. At least try to make it look like you’re working.” Stryker Six said handing him a fresh cup of coffee. “What’s bugging you? Don’t like suspecting the godchild’s friends for assault? Keep this up and the chief will take us off the Gilda case.”
“Of course, I don’t like it. But hail coming from nowhere and attacking one girl specifically? That can only be the work of… you know what. And unfortunately, those girls are the only ones with you know what, that would have reason to attack Gilda.” He and Stryker were the supernatural detectives of the department. Not that there was such a thing, but that was their nickname as they usually go to the strange cases. So, they had to keep their magic and the fact magic exists on the down low. At least if they wanted to keep slipping by the physic tests.
Stryker nods, agreeing with his logic while taking a bite of his sandwich. “Can’t argue that. But we both know there are more than just those six. The three sirens are back in town, running Nico’s old Apple stand no less. Rumor is Mac got a little frisky with the orange fluffy haired one. Not a bad catch really. Minus them once being evil and trying to kill us and Nico. But they seem to be playing nice now. There’s no proof, but that Rainbow Dash girl would probably be the one with the most motive to attack Gilda. We have no proof but throw in magic… maybe she did it by accident?”
“I don’t know if that makes it worse or better,” Ferocious laments leaning back in his chair. With the Cloudsdale slaughter case, he hasn’t had time to go talk to the girls like he told AJ he would. Now there was the alleyway attack case. Things were starting to pile up.
“Hey, look alive, the Vice Commissioner is coming,” Stryker said shaking him upright. He and Pharynx may share the same feeling about meetings, but the Vice Commissioner was strict when it comes to posture and decorum. Probably from his military background. Pharynx was an army ranger till three years ago.
The dark green man stood rigidly before them as if expecting him to stand and salute him, only after several seconds pass did he relax and remember where he was. “You two, Commissioners office, now.”
Looking beside themselves the two quickly stand and follow Pharynx to his brother’s office. Which was strange now that they thought about it. Two brothers running the same department as the number one and two guys? How did that happen?
Stepping into the office they were greeted by the presence of their bright green Commissioner sitting at his desk with two individuals in front of it. One male, one female. The male was a big and stocky, grey/green skin tone, a bald head, and fiery orange sideburns. He was the Governor, Torch. The woman beside him was tall, slender, pitch black skin, and sickly green/blue hair. Attorney General of the City of Canterlot, Chrysalis. Also, Thorax’s and Pharynx’s mother.
This can’t be good.
“Is there something you need chief?” Ferocious asked uncertainly. His eyes darting between the two political figures seated before him. Stryker gave him a wary glance, his partner’s hands twitching, reaching for the firearms that weren’t there.
Thorax clears his throat, “Governor Torch and Mother… I mean Attorney General Chrysalis, would like to speak to you two.”
“Yes, yes, Thorax here speaks highly of your work when at our social gathering.” Torch said boomingly, his voice like thunder and his handshake was killer. His hand literary engulfing Ferocious’s when they shook. “Isn’t that right Chrissy?”
The Attorney General turned up her nose at the governor, who only laughed at the response. “Yes, your case records, while not spotless are closed at a much higher rate than others. In plain terms you two get results. Your personal records are… blurry at best. Both of you have countless assaults listed from when you were minors and things didn’t really get much better when you became adults. Lots of not illegal, but not legal dealings in your past. Especially your Mr. Ferocious, your parents’ records are spotty at best. None the less you are two good-natured detectives with no accounts of corruption, with lots of street connects. So please, keep that in mind with what we about to say.”
“And what is that?” Ferocious asked pointy. Wanting to cut to the chase. Pharynx hands them a folder. Inside were five mug shots of five girls and a laundry list of offenses. The five were from Firehorn, one of the sub-districts of Canterlot. A very rough sub-district.
“We are closing the Gilda case. These five girls have pleaded to the crime.” Chrysalis states, much to the surprise of the two detectives. From her sly grin and the glee in her eyes, they knew the girls didn’t so much plea guilty, as they were forced to. “Tomorrow morning the Canterlot Times will post the story. Girls caught and admit to revenge crime on Gilda Griffon. They used homemade chunks of ice, thinking they would dissolve fast enough to destroy any evidence. The freak hailstorm was just that. A freak of nature that helped cover up their crime. Their motive was their defeat to Gilda and her team a week prior.”
“Sounds like you have everything figured out. Makes me wonder why you need us.” Ferocious states staring the attorney down.
“Oh, trust me, we need you. We need you focusing all your efforts on the Cloudsdale Slaughter Case. That is to be your focus. Get to the bottom of it and if you can’t, make one. I have over a dozen families of officers and civilians hounding me for answers I don’t have. And they don’t believe the bear attack shit, so don’t even dare bring that to my desk.” Chrysalis hissed, briefly revealing her oversized canine teeth. She quickly composed herself and offered her arm to the Mayor, who took it. “Now we will take our leave. We have a press conference in the morning. We expect answers, soon.”
The two political figures leave the room and the air lightens.
“So, I’m guessing you two take after your dad?” Ferocious jokes awkwardly, receiving a sigh and glare from the brothers.
“Mom’s not perfect, but she gets results.” Pharynx said defensively. “Even they are a bit sketchy she ensures there’s justice served and criminals getting sentenced. Maybe not for crimes they did, but they still committed something.”
“Like these girls.”
“They’ve done this kind of thing before. They got a reduced sentence for pleading the crime. Gilda’s parents are satisfied that her attackers are being taken to justice and the five are serving their sentence. That’s it. You two just focus on your case.”
Ferocious snorts, the temperature rising in the room as wisps of steam rose from his hands. A quick hard nudge from Stryker brought him back to his senses. Quickly Feri cooled his boiling blood before something caught fire.
“You ok with this, Chief?”
Thorax laid his head on his hands, visibly sighing, his body slouching completely. The young Commissioner looking much older than his age. “Not really, but in terms of priority the Cloudsdale case is more pressing than a high school soccer game.”
Ferocious nods, looking crossly at the two brothers. “Alright, I get it. We’ll find your scapegoats then.”
“That’s not what we’re asking Ferocious.” But Thorax couldn’t keep the shame from his tone. The two detectives walk out of the room with no more words to say to their superiors.
“So, what are we going to do?” Stryker asked him as they sat down at their desks. “A person matching Mac’s profile was at both incidences. From the report, the officers at the scene were running interference. A non-local might look at him with suspicion.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Ferocious said firmly. Grabbing his mouse Ferocious clicked open the Cloudsdale file on his computer and pulls up a list of the officers at the scene. “Red Alert was the officer in charge at the scene. Let’s talk to him, while we’re at it, look up any fledgling gangs in the area. They might be useful.”
“Giving the boys at the bar some work to do? That’s risky. Running gangs out of town with the Bike club. Someone could get killed, again.” Stryker warned, none the less he went to work on his own computer.
“I don’t like it either, but we gotta keep things from getting worse. We never know what evil will show up next.”
Blood swirled down the drain, mixing with the shower water as Rainbow Dash staggers out of the shower stall. Her hand firmly over her chest. She leans on the sink, bile rising in her throat as she pukes into the sink. Her body shivering from the action. As the steam in the rooms clears though, she is greeted by the sight of black vile in the sink. She staggers away, falling on her ass to the floor as her breathing hitches.
Black vile pours over the sink falling to the floor. Dozens of tiny little black snakes slither towards her and she panics. Rainbow Dash crawls across the wet floor, slipping on water and blood as the wound in her chest aches. She reaches for the doorknob, pain flaring in her legs as the snakes bit into her ankles! She screams! Grabbing the snakes and attempting to rib them off her body. More snakes slither up her naked body, biting her as they climbed higher and higher. Black veins appear on her blue skin, spreading throughout her entire body. She let out one loud terrified scream and then slumps over, falling against the door to the ground.
The little snakes release their jaws. Slithering off the young girl’s body and pooling together to form one big black snake with pink eyes. The snake hisses, licking its tongue on Rainbow’s cheek. She wakes up and offers her arm to the snake. The snake’s mouth opened with a happy hiss as it wrapped its self around the girl’s arm.
Rainbow Dash stands up and walks over to the mirror overlooking the sink. The black veins on her body disappear beneath her skin, the snake around her arm lengthening and wrap its tail around her waist to cover her privates. She stares at her own reflection. She looked normal, except for two things.
The first was the small silver lightning bolt shaped gem embedded between her breasts and second were her eyes. The once pink irises were now cloudy and grey like the coming storm. Raising her hand Rainbow snaps her fingers. All the blood and vile vanishing.
Rainbow steps out of the bathroom and flops into her bed with a devious smile as the snake coils around her body.
“Come to mommy, my little Ebony. We have much to do together.”
A cold wind blew through the trees, the multicolor leaves of fall twirl from their branches to the ground as grey skies block out the sun. Apples, ripe and juicy hung on the branches. Below said branches rests a large wooden basket waiting to catch them. At the base of the soon to be picked Apple tree stood Mac, no ladder, no loader tractor, or basket lift to aid him in his harvest. Only a clenched fist.
“HRAGH!” With a mighty yell and a strong magic infused blow Mac punches the trunk of the tree. Watching the orange ripples of his magic travel through the bark like a stone thrown in the water. He steps back watching in awe as the apples fell perfectly from their branches into the baskets below, only one or two apples missing their mark.
“Now this is how you harvest apples,” He said laughing at how easy magic made the usual painstaking task of picking each individual apple. It was the last week in the harvest and he was still amazed by it. Granting he had been a wee bit skeptical when Sixes told him how the Apple family in Equestria harvest their apples. He hadn’t known how ponies pick apples, especially ones without horns or wings, but kicking the trunk of the tree wasn’t what he was expecting. Course it was much more than that. They sent a shockwave of magic up the tree’s nervous system, willing the stem of the apple to break and the fruit to fall. At least that was the gist of it.
Speaking of Sixes.
Mac looks over across the clearing to where the Night Patroller was instructing Sunset Shimmer on how to levitate an apple with her magic. Well, not so much he was instructing her as more of the two of them trying to further understand the magic of this world. Mostly it was just some Grandfather/Granddaughter bonding.
Over east of him, being much handier, was Applejack. She stood before her select tree, arms cocked back and primed with magic, she gave the trunk one solid straight punch. A volley of red/yellow apples fell only to be quickly caught by one of Rarity’s flying blue shields and gently lowered into a basket.
To the west was Twilight Sparkle, the human one, using her telekinesis to pick apples from her own tree and lowering them into a basket. Next to Twilight was Fluttershy asking/commanding a horde of squirrels to collect the apples from the tree and bring them to the basket of her choice. He didn’t know how to feel about that one. The help was nice, but he didn’t like the squirrels handing his product. Course all the apples were going to rinsed anyway, so some extra squirrel germs probably won’t matter. At least it better not.
Finally, the last of his apple picking force was Sonata, Aria, and Maddie. Sonata and Aria rather than punch the trees, use a focus sonic scream to knock the apples down. How that worked he had no idea, but it did and they were making good progress, so he didn’t care how it worked.
Maddie… she was doing some sort of parkour thing. Using the same method as him and AJ, hopping from tree to tree like Tarzan, kicking and punching trees left and right at a pace that made them all look bad.
After her leg finally recovered Maddie took up a workout routine. Currently, she wore a black tank top and baggy pants, normally anyone stupid enough to dress like that on a cold day would be shivering in their boots. Maddie, however, was hot. Not in the physical sense, she did look good, but she was literary steaming. Actual steam rolling off her shoulders from how much magic she was burning to not only enhance her strength but to keep herself warm. She said it was part of her workout. So, he just left it at that.
There were two more helpers but in a different sense. Applebloom and Adagio sat by a small table filled with lunch and drinks for them all. The youngest Apple excited by all the magic on display, her gushing about how she can’t wait to learn how to do this or that filling the cold air.
Adagio… well, Adagio wasn’t looking very happy about sitting on the sidelines playing lunch lady as she sat bundled up with several heavy blankets. Her now four-month pregnant belly hidden underneath. Under doctors… well, Nyx’s orders, who wasn’t a legal doctor, Adagio wasn't supposed to do anything strenuous, which she already knew, but Nyx also restricted magic. As heavy magic use could cause stress on the body too. So Adagio wasn’t allowed to help pick apples. Normally most people would be happy about not having to work, but the yellow siren was feeling…
“I feel so useless,” She said to Applebloom while holding up a thermos full of coffee. “Anyone want a coffee break? Or a cookie? We have like a billion left after Sonata’s bake sale thing. Please eat them before I do. Please?”
Mac chuckles, whistling loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Break time!” Everyone eagerly ran for the food table. Even Maddie who was keeping her body steaming, making a nice space heater for them all as they sat on the lawn chairs around the table.
“I never quite realized how much fun it was to use magic for such mundane things. Most of the time we only get to use them for battling evil or something. Though I guess there was the bridge at camp we helped build,” Said Rarity as she pours herself a cup of tea, Twilight levitating her a cookie.
“It is nice to be able to practice magic in a more, subdued, non-life-threatening settling.” Twilight agreed while passing out cookies to everyone with her magic. “It’s kind of fun too.”
“It is,” Sunset agreed while laughing, her hand glowing with yellow magic as she tries levitating a cookie off the table. “It’s like relearning magic all over again. Kind of irritating, yet refreshing, it like I’m back in magic school again. Except I’m the student and the teacher.”
“It’s a shame Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie couldn’t join us. I’m sure they would have loved to practice their magic too.” Fluttershy said…well normally? Normal as in she wasn’t talking quietly or meekly. None of her friends seem to notice, but it made Mac raise a brow. But he quickly shrugs it off as he doesn’t see her day to day, so she could have simply changed over time and he just didn’t notice.
“Well, I’m just glad Granny’s letting me off the hook after the harvest is done.” Applejack chimed in with a lamenting sigh. “I miss my truck. This last month been hell having to ride with Granny to school every day. Oldies radio every morning and a lecture about this and that every afternoon.”
The chatter continues for another fifteen minutes. Mac checking his watch and the rapidly disappearing daylight. It was five o’clock, it'll be dark in less than two hours. October was fun like that.
“Let’s get back to work,” Mac said raising from his chair. “Got a lot of trees to pick and it’ll be getting dark soon. Not to mention you girls have school tomorrow.” It was Thursday today. Another good two days like this they could hopefully wrap up the rest of the season before the end of the week. A collective groan escape from his would-be helpers, none the less they shovel off back to work.
“I guess we’ll get going too,” Said Adagio packing up the leftovers. “Supper will be ready when you come in. Make sure you’re not late, but if you’re going to be at least call me. So, I know whether to leave it on the stove or pack it up.”
“Alright, I will Honey,” Mac said giving Adagio a quick peck on the lips. “Next week when things settle down and harvest is over, how about I take you out for dinner?”
“Saffron's would be nice.” She replied wiggling her arms around his muscular torso. Nuzzling her cheek against his chest. She’s been feeling a lot more affectionate lately. She was a bit grabby before, but lately, she’s been feeling the need to be as close to Mac as possible. Maybe it was another part of her Siren instincts.
“Saffron's it is,” Mac said with a laugh, peeling Adagio’s arms from his waist. “I gotta get back to work. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“Right… tonight…” Gathering up the table, chairs, and food. Adagio and Applebloom leave for the warmth of the farmhouse.
For the next two hours, they worked, the sun disappearing below the horizon casting the orchard into darkness. Sunset Shimmer creates a great orb of light in her hands and Sixes creates torches to help prolong the work, buying them another hour. However, the chilling winds groaning through the trees and buzzing of phones brought everything to a halt.
“Oh, TreeHugger needs me at the Animal Shelter,” Quivered Fluttershy, her small frame shaking from the cold. “Rarity can you take me back to town?”
“Of Course, darling,” The fashionista replies, looking at her own phone. “Seems Sweetie had made a mess of my workstation… again. And I must return to fix it before morning.”
“I gotta go then too Mac,” Applejack added regretfully, “Rarity’s kind of my ride home. Granny’s wanting me back anyways too.”
“I should probably be getting back to Equestria as well, sorry I wasn’t more of help.” Stated Sixes, his hand firmly on Sunset’s shoulder, grinning down at his granddaughter. “This one has a very important appointment this weekend too. It would benefit her to be well rested.”
Sunset Shimmer’s cheeks turned scarlet as all eyes look curiously at her, “I’m going to visit Princess Celestia… I mean my grandmother for the weekend, in Equestria. I’ll be sure to tell Princess Twilight hi for you. Sorry I won’t be able to help this weekend.”
Mac waves her off, “Think nothing of it. You all have been more than enough help this past week. Between Aria, Sonata, Maddie and I we’ll have things wrapped up ourselves before Monday.”
Maddie snorts, “You make it sound like I don’t have better things to do.”
“Do you?”
“…”
“I’ll see you this weekend then. As for the rest of you, goodnight and drive home safely.” The girls and Sixes said their goodbyes and left. Leaving Mac alone with Aria, Sonata, and Maddie. “You three can go and start showering. I’ll get things cleaned up here.”
“It’ll be faster if we all help,” Sonata points out, but he waves off her concerns.
“It’ll be fine. I’m just going to put the last of the baskets in the barn. It won’t take long and besides, I need some time to think to myself.” The girls all shrug, taking their leave. Leaving him alone.
Magicking his muscles Mac carries the wooden baskets of apples two by two into the barn. His thoughts swirling. His first thought was reflecting on all the crazy things that happened last month, the multiple monster attacks, training in Equestria and that big fight with that Grau guy. And now the last four weeks have been quiet. Really quiet. He couldn’t even remember the last time a portal opened. Maybe defeating Grau had something to do with it? Could he have been the source of the portals?
(That doesn’t seem right.) Muses Mac as he continues to load the apples into the barn. (The portals are supposed to be connected to Dad and Madhoof. Grau seems more like what dad was talking about what Applejack and her friends would have to face. Maybe I should ask Maddie what the portals have been doing these past few weeks. She hasn’t reported anything but with her working out again… maybe she was fighting monsters alone?)
No, that didn’t sound like Maddie. Besides she still had the seal, she couldn’t leave the farm without permission. On that note, he hasn’t seen any Timberwolves around either.
As he stacks the baskets on the shelves Mac hears the creaking of footsteps. Turning towards the door he sees Maddie carrying a pair of baskets. Silently she sets them down, staring at him.
“These are the last of them,” She says crossing her arms. Suddenly Maddie closes the distance between them, her fist aglow with magic. Mac does the same, countering her blow with his, the collision creating a shock wave that made the barn shake. Maddie steps back with her arms open and looking pleased with herself, “Looks like I finally got back to where I was in strength when we first met. So, you got time to talk or do you need to think some more?”
The surprise attack aside, Maddie didn’t seek out conversation well… ever, “I can talk or would you rather I listen?”
“Both,” Maddie sucks in a breath, her cheeks flush as she kicks around a fallen apple. Not meeting his eyes. “I guess, I should start by saying thanks. I don’t think I ever actually properly thanked you for saving me from the Gore.”
“Well, I wasn’t just going to leave you there. You helped me out too remember?”
“Yeah, I did. But I didn’t even know I was going to help you until I did. I could have just as easily left you and Kira to die.” Maddie shook her head, a painful smile spreading across her lips. “Not that it would have mattered. Sixes would have killed me the moment he found I left you to die. So maybe that’s why I saved you.”
“Or maybe. Despite how you were before, maybe your actually be a good person?” Mac counters. Surprised to see Maddie shiver at his words.
“I doubt that,” She retorted back. “I don’t think I can ever be considered ‘good’ even if I were to become a nun. Not only that I still have the urges from time to time. The need, the want, to rip things apart and put them back together the way I please. So, in summary, I would urge you to keep your eye on me.”
“Fair enough. Is there anything else? Cause if not, I got supper waiting for me.” Mac checks watch, frowning at the time. Seems he’s eating a cold supper, again.
“No, that’s all I wanted to for now.” Maddie turns and leaves. Mac follows suit after locking up the barn. As he turns the lock on the door he couldn’t help but feel Maddie had wanted to say more than she did. “She’ll talk when she’s ready.” He concludes, snapping the final lock closed.
Adagio stood in her nighty at the door of her bedroom. Her big puffy hair tied into a loose braid that hung over her shoulder. Walking to the kitchen, her slipper covered feet making no sound on the hardwood floor, she passes the blue glow of the TV screen, Mac asleep on the lazy boy while the news continues to play across the screen.
Ducking into the kitchen Adagio grabs her late-night snack, ice cream, and anchovies, from the refrigerator. Standing in the entryway she ate her latest craving while watching the news her husband was missing. So far there was nothing interesting, the news cutting to commercials with news anchor saying they’d be right back with their top news of the day. Grabbing the blanket off the couch Adagio climbs on top of Mac and slips between the little crevice between him and armrest of the chair. It was snug little fit, but one she enjoyed as she was pressed against his warmth. Throwing the blanket on top of them she snuggles even closer.
“You know we have a bed, right?” Mac mumbles tiredly, cracking his eyes open. He reads the clock on the TV and realizing he was still in his chair. He curses softly, “Shit, did I fall asleep watching the news again?”
“Yep,” Adagio replies making a ‘pop’ noise with her lips as she snuggles closer to Mac. “You know I don’t like sleeping alone. I need my warm teddy to keep me warm.”
“Ok, that was more creepy than cute.”
“Too much Sonata?”
“More like too much Pinkie with Fluttershy.” Mac wraps his arm around her. “Either way, not enough you.”
“So, I should add an evil smirk?”
He chuckles, “That might help.” The anchor comes back on the TV. “Let’s finish watching this segment and then we’ll move to the bed.”
“I like the sound of that,” Adagio smirks nuzzling against him. “Are we going to use the bed too?”
“Maybe,” He answers coyly before giving attention to the news anchor.
“Tonight, on Channel 13 news. Our top story in the local news is the conviction of the Gilda Griffon attackers. Who last month during a soccer game attacked the Griffon Stone star player with chunks of frozen ice they had made and put in a cooler. After the game when Gilda had left the crowd they attacked her from the tree line, throwing ice at her legs and badly injuring her.” An image of Gilda’s legs appears on screen, looking just a bad as Mac remembered when he saved her. “Thanks to a passing by attendee. Gilda was able to escape before any more damage could be done. The five girls, all residents Firehorn and attendees of Firehorn Public school. Are all noted troublemakers and maybe believed to be part of local gangs. During their testimony, they said they were getting revenge for Gilda leading her team to victory in their last game, which forced the Firestone Dragons out the running for the state championships as their star kicker was injured with a broken leg in the match. The five are to attend court this week. They will be trialed as adults as they are all eighteen.”
“I have a feeling that’s not what actually happened?” Adagio said as Mac’s face contorts into a deep frown.
“Nope, those hailstones were coming from the sky. Magic was defiantly involved in Gilda’s attack. This is all a cover-up or at least a way to pin the blame on somebody for a crime with no suspects and no logical way of happening. I bet someone sent Gilda to shrink and they’ve been convincing her was imaging the hail chasing her and stuff like that.”
“I feel sorry for her. She’s probably thinking she’s gone crazy. Course that’s only par for the course with magic to normal people. By now even she must be questioning what really happened that night.”
“Yeah,” He bitterly bit out, “Unfortunately we can’t really do much to help her. Not that we could do anything that would really help.”
“We could at least assure her she isn’t going crazy,” Suggests Adagio.
Mac remained tight-lipped, unsure if that was the right course. It would draw attention to them and that’s not something they could afford. But, maybe there was something they could do now that he thought about it more. “We could have Maddie go talk to her. She does have a degree in Psychology. Maybe she could be of some help.”
“Wow, Maddie? Really?” Adagio retorts with surprise. “If we’re going to do that why don’t we send her to Nyx? She’s a licensed nurse at least.”
“Somehow I doubt Nyx would be willing to do that.” Mac counters as the news switched to their next big story.
“Now in others news. Authorities look into The Cloudsdale massacre last September. The case has been handed over to Detectives in Central CPD. Unfortunately, the leading investigators refused to speak at this time. Attorney General Chrysalis, what do you have to say about the investigation?”
The camera turns a luscious looking black woman with green hair in a suit and skirt. She smiles at the camera in a natural, yet clearly practiced way. The same way someone at good playing politics does.
“Thank you, Joy, and let me say on behalf of the families and CPD I would like to thank you for your fair coverage over this matter. It’s heartbreaking that such a thing happened in our community and I want everyone watching to know the very best detectives are on the case.”
Joy smiles faulters, clearly annoyed at her question not being answered, “Right, now what can you tell us about the investigation so far? The CPD has been very tight-lipped, but some interviews with the officers on the scene have resulted in some very varied stories. Things from bear attacks, a car malfunction resulting in a police cruiser exploding, to terrorist attacks and gang violence and even monsters. Tell me and our viewers, what is the truth?”
Chrysalis smiles, her eyes closed, probably hiding her annoyance at Joy’s prodding. “Of course, we have been facing that same issue. Everybody seems to tell a different story, so let me put those rumors to rest. Now please note this is not confirmed, but initial lab results show there are signs of strange drug/gas residue on the cars of the officers. From the contents of the residue, it seems to be a sort of psychotic drug that affects the brain. We believe this is the cause of the officers varied stories, but we are also taking into account PTSD caused by the attack. At the moment we believe this gas used is the result of gang Del Rio Toro which is believed to have terrorist ties. This gas could be a test product of sorts given to the gang. Unfortunately, we are not able to confirm this as most of the Del Rio Toro hideout have been wiped by a rival gang.”
“I see, well that’s all the time we have tonight folks. Thank you for tuning in, I’m Joy Gold Showers and this is Channel 13 news. Up next Golf.”
“Gangs, drugs and terrorists, I suppose that’s the only thing that would make sense.” Mac drawls, turning off the TV. Rising from his chair he scoops Adagio into his arms, carrying her towards their bedroom. “Come on, let’s go to bed, Hun…” The soft snores of Adagio clearly indicate she beat him to the punch. Chuckling softly Mac laid her down on the bed, pulling the sheets over her body before climbing in himself. Planting one last kiss on her cheek before settling down himself.
“Goodnight, love,” Mac whispers turning over in the bed. His mind plagued of what was to come. Hopefully, this peace could last a little longer.
--break
Fluttershy hums a soft tune as she pours food pellets into the respected animals bowls. She loved working at the shelter, but her boss’s flakiness tends to lead to some strange hours. Especially when TreeHugger had to go to one of her out of town vet trips. That weren’t actually vet trips. More than once Fluttershy found a block of ‘Organic chopped Weeds’ in a food bag.
“What TreeHugger does isn’t our business right guys?” She says cutely to the puppies. As she pours the food a soft hissing sound catches her attention. Setting the bag of food down Fluttershy follows the sound to small crack between the cages. “Um hello? Is a little snake lose back there?”
Extending her hand Fluttershy reaches into the shadows, a flash of pink and black strikes out from the shadow. Fluttershy let out a yelp, pulling her hand back with two punctures marks. Nursing her hand, she whimpers as she rushes to the first aid, applying ointment to the wound. Tears threaten to fall as she bit her lip to keep from cursing at the animal.
The bell on the front door rings. Forcing her to sniffle and deal with the pain. The shelter had no official hours, as they take in strays at any time of day. It was unusual for anyone to come in after ten though, it was nearly eleven now. None the less Fluttershy bandages her hand and goes to the counter. She puts on a pleasant smile, but it quickly shatters as she looks at the man loitering around the reception area.
Now Fluttershy wasn’t one to judge, but the man’s scruffy unkept beard, messy hair, clearly worn more than two days in row clothing and his bloodshot eyes didn’t really show off his good side. The constant scratching of his left arm wasn’t doing him any favors either.
“Um… can I help you?” She asked meekly. The man turning to her as if just now noticing her, despite her standing there for well over a minute. The man approached the counter, his eye twitching restlessly.
“Yes… yes… I need… no, I would like to adopt a dog, maybe two or three. Any age is fine.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of you, do you have a specific breed in mind?”
“Yeah, yeah, Boxer, Rottweiler, Pitbull, anything like that.” The man placed a huge and by huge, as tall as her fist, stack of bills on the counter. “No paperwork, like usual and make sure they’re mean.”
“Um… I’m sorry?” Fluttershy looks confusingly at the stack of money to the man, who was really starting to twitch.
“I said no paperwork! Just give me the dogs and I’ll be on my way! God! TreeHugger never makes this much of fuss!” The man leaves the stack on the counter and storms to the back. Fluttershy right on his tail.
“Um, sir you can’t be back here!”
“Shut up!” He sneers slapping away her hand. Storming up the cages he kicks the gate of a Boxer hound, the dog running to the back of the cage and whimpering. “Tch, too meek.” Moving the next cage, a Rottweiler, he does the same thing. This time the dog snarls, attacking the gate, trying to get to the man. “Huh, nice. I’ll take him.”
Fluttershy clenches her fists storming up to the man. “What is it you think you’re doing! These are rescues dogs! They’ve been abused enough!” The man snarls and backhands her in the side of the face! Fluttershy screams as she falls against the wall, the man grabbing her wrist and pressing his body forcibly against hers.
“Stupid bitch! You need to be put in your place! If you’d been a quiet little bitch! I wouldn’t need to do this!” The man throws her against a stack of cages, tearing her shirt off her shoulder. He looks lustfully at her as he swaggers towards her, leaning in so his face was right next to hers. His breath smelling of smoke and alcohol. “Haha, you smell just like TreeHugger before I set her straight.”
“Get off me!” Fluttershy screams wildly flailing her arms against the man’s chest. The blows have no effect as he grabs her wrists and pressed against her again, his tongue trailing along her neck, making her shiver in disgust and fear. Her right hand, the one with the snake bite trembles, a sharp shooting pain traveling up her wrist. “I said, get off me,” Fluttershy said again, this time much calmer, her voice low and husky.
“Your sounding kind of sexy,” The man says grinning as he pressed harder against Fluttershy. His smile wavers when Fluttershy’s hand, covered in black veins, pulls him down with greater strength the lanky girl could ever possibly manage so they were face to face. Giving him a clear view of her blood red eyes and enlarged canine teeth. “What the fuck!” He screams breaking away from her.
The doors of the cages open, all of them, the caged animals wonder out of the cages, their eyes glowing green as they stalk towards the man, growling and foaming at the mouth. Fluttershy, her voice deep and commanding points towards the man, “Get him.”
The man turns and flees, but the horde of dogs, cats, snakes, and other creatures chase after him. First, they bite his legs, next his arms, falling upon him like savage beasts they rip flesh from bone his screams escalating and then falling mute. The animals move away leaving only a few bones, scraps of cloth and a bloody smear on the floor.
“That’s a good boy,” Fluttershy praising, scratching the Rottweiler under the chin. The man’s femur in its mouth. “Now all of you, back to your cages.” The animal whines. Fluttershy stomps her foot and points at the cages. Shouting “Now!” The animals whimper, causing her to sigh and roll her eyes, “Fine, please.” The animals perk up and happily return to their cages. With a wave of her hand, Fluttershy locks all the doors.
Eyes still red she turns to the bloody stain on the floor. “Now, how to clean this up?” A churning in her stomach makes her fall to her knees. She dry heaves. Something rising from the pits of her stomach! She begins to choke as whatever was coming up got caught in her throat, with one last push she heaves again, black vile spilling onto the tile floor. A black egg in the center of it.
With her eyes blurry with tears and panting heavily from almost suffocating. Fluttershy watches as the black egg uncurls into a black/green snake with light green eyes. The snake swims around the vile, absorbing it and growing larger and spouting green wings.
Fluttershy blinks at the green snake and the snake blinks back. “Um… what’s your name?”
“Envy,” the snake answers. Fluttershy hears the snake’s voice, not through her powers, but actually hearing it with her ears. The snake could talk!
Envy slithers towards her, nuzzling its head on Fluttershy’s thigh, “Mother…” Envy hisses lovingly.
“Oh… ok, I guess I can be your mother,” Fluttershy says as Envy slithers up her shirt, coiling around her neck like a scarf. “Now I need to clean up this mess.”
“Leave it to me,” Envy volunteers rising her head. Her eyes flash and the blood-stained tile is bleached white.
“Good girl, Envy, um… you are a girl, right?” Envy nods nuzzling against Fluttershy’s cheek.
The sound of a van pulling up in back signaled the return of TreeHugger. Stroking Envy’s head, Fluttershy walks to the back of the shelter, figuring on asking her boss about her ‘side business’ whether Tree Hugger wanted to talk about it or not.
Midnight in front of Canterlot School stands Rainbow Dash, her hand bushing the surface of the portal. She steps back, admiring her picture in the mirror. Her usual mishmash of clothes replaced with a black jacket with a gold stripe down the sleeves and black pants with a gold stripe. Her new look as of late.
“Well Ebony? Do you think it’s time?” She asks the black snake coiled around her neck like a scarf. The snake shutters traveling deeper into her clothes to escape the cold air. Ebony’s head pokes out under Rainbow’s ear and she let out series of hisses. Rainbow nods, listening intently. “Hmm, your right. It’s too soon. Shame.” Black lightning arcs between Rainbow’s fingers. “I was hoping to tryout my new techniques. But your right, I can wait a little bit longer. Wouldn’t want to blow it and have everyone on my back.”
In a flash of black Rainbow disappears into the night.
Adagio sat across from Mac, the lights low, a lit candle on the table between them with a vase of roses against the wall of their booth. She stares at her menu, her nails painted a majestic purple, her hair styled and pulled into a loose ponytail that hung off the side of her shoulder. She was even wearing makeup, a little blush and eyeshadow, she didn’t need anything more than that. She wiggles, adjusting her black strapless dress, her purple petite coat discarded in the open space of the booth. Peeking over the section of Indonesian morsels she admires her husband, his winter beard shaved, his fiery orange hair trimmed into a crew cut, and his tailored black suit curving around every muscle. He was by far the most appetizing thing in the entire restaurant.
“You didn’t have to do this. You still have so much more work to do.” She said feeling a bit guilty about Mac taking time away from the harvest to treat her to the night out on the town. Another side of her completely relished it as it showed how important she was to him.
Mac waves off her concerns, “It’s Sunday, we got what we could get done today. Why not take you out? Besides, it’s nice to get off the farm every once in a while. I don’t think I’ve been more two miles away from the yard these past few weeks. I was feeling a little restless myself, to be honest.”
She smiles, taking his hand, “I still appreciated it. Let it never be said you don’t know how to treat a lady.” She elegantly chuckles adding to the lady bit. “And let it never be known that I don’t know how to find a gentleman. For I have found the very best in the world!” Adagio says imitating the tone and voice of an aristocratic woman. Her smile threatens to split her face as Mac’s cheeks turn a flaming red as he hides his face behind his menu.
“If you expect me to match that, then you are mistaken my dear,” He said begrudgingly in a half southern/aristocratically tone. The whole thing coming out as a first-time actor saying his lines. Further fueling Adagio’s laughter.
“That was terrible. But thank you for trying, maybe you can try out for the Christmas play this year. I think we would make a wonderful Merry and Joseph. I’m sure with some practice you can get the role.” Mac grumbles something unintelligent behind his menu, just in time for Saffron to appear to take their order.
“Hello! I have your drinks here, are you ready to order? Or do you need more time?”
Mac coughs, “Um yes… I’ll have… a… this thing…”
Saffron smiles as she leans over to look at the picture Mac’s finger was indicating, “Khorkhog, yes?” Mac nods. “Ah, good choice! A very tasty lamb for a big strong man! I sure you enjoy. Now for the lady?”
“Oh yes, I’ll have…Budaatai khuurga? Is that how you say that? The rice, meat, and veggies here.” Adagio points to the item in question, her cheeks flush as Mac smirks across the table. “Oh, wipe that grin off, you didn’t do much better.”
Mac still smirking says, “Yee nope.” Which only further vexed her. Because she knew he was teasing her.
Saffron stilling smiling, takes a step back from the couple and bows, “I will have these ready shortly. If there is anything else, please ask any of the staff for assistance and thank you for choosing Saffron’s.”
“Ugh, we just made it awkward for her.” Adagio sighs slumping in her seat. “This is probably why we don’t go on a lot of classy dates, huh.”
Mac chuckles, “I’m sure Saffron is used to it. Still, I suppose we could act a bit more mature. You could start by not touching me with your foot under the table.”
“Oh, you really want me to stop?” Adagio replies cutely with big kitten eyes.
He rests his elbows on the table, looking deep in thought as Adagio continues to run her dainty toes up his leg. “Hmm… can’t say I do.” Adagio laughs hard, snorting even, as she covers her mouth with her hand to keep from disturbing the other customers.
“Oh, sweet Celestia, I think I’ve corrupted you!”
“Maybe just a little.”
They share a laugh. The mood settling into confrontable warmth as they discuss various thing. From TV show’s Adagio’s watched to Mac’s sports. Eventually, their meals came and they continue to chatter between bites.
“So…” Adagio began scooping up a spoon of rice.
“So… what?” Mac replies spearing a piece of lamb with his fork.
“About names…”
He paused in his chewing, looking annoyed as he swallows, “Has Granny been bugging you about that again? I told her to stop…”
“No, no… ok yes, but we never talk about it. I don’t want anything concert, just whatever is on your mind. Boy or girl I don’t care, just spit it out and I’ll do the same.”
“Oh! Your finally picking names!” An excited voice said behind them. The couple looks up to the see purple curl of Rarity’s hair as she leans over the booth barrier. Biting her lip to contain the waterfall of things she wanted to say, but was being polite by not saying them.
“Um… yes…” Adagio said looking around the corner of the other booth. “Are you the only one here? Or is the whole gang spying on us?”
Rarity laughs embarrassingly, “Oh, no, just me. I like to come here… often.”
“She’s our number one customer,” Lyra dressed in a waitress outfit says as she passes by. Furtherly piling on the fashionista’s embarrassment.
“Yes, very often, but that’s beside the point! May I place a few suggestions? Please!” Rarity begs, making the couple look beside themselves.
“Um… I guess, but I’d rather…”
“Excellent!” Rarity says switching booths and planting herself right next to Adagio. The siren quickly hooks her leg around Mac’s, stopping sort of she-demoning out and attacking Rarity outright. She did leave a few claw marks on the table though.
(We’ll leave a big tip.)
“Ok, now I’ve written down a few names that mix well with both music and apples, that way you can appease Granny Smith.” Rarity produces a small notebook. Adagio leans over to see at least two pages of names filled out. “First up is Andante Apple or Apple Andante, followed by Crescendo Apple, Apple Forte, AppleKey, those are the musical ones. Next, we have Gravenstein, Spartan, Belle de Boskoop, Wolf River, HoneyGold, and…”
“Rarity!” Adagio said abruptly. “Thank you, but that’s enough. It’s my kid and I haven’t even thought of that many names!”
Rarity embarrassingly closes her notebook, “Right, sorry. I lost myself there for a moment. Sorry for interrupting your date, I should have known better. I’ll take my leave. Have a good night.”
The couple silently watches the fashionista pay her bill and leave. Adagio sighing loudly as she rests her head on her hands. “Your sister’s friends are all so exhausting! How does she keep up with them?”
“Applejack does try to rein them in, but she does get a little out of hand herself sometimes.” Mac chuckles thinking back to his past experiences with the girls. “So, any keepers in that long list of hers?”
“Well… I like Crescendo, Andante, and Key. Their last names already going to be Apple, I don’t get why Granny Smith is so dead set on every Apple being named after an Apple!”
“Granny is a bit traditional, still Honey Gold isn’t bad for a girl and Spartan would be a good boy’s name,” Mac said thoughtfully.
“Well… at least they’re not obvious Apple names.” Adagio laments. She wasn’t against naming her children after apples, she just didn’t like being all but forced too. Mac takes her hand, gently stroking her palm as he smiles.
“We still have plenty of time to choose. Don’t worry about it and don’t worry about Granny. She’ll just have to deal with it if we don’t name them after an apple.”
“What if we use a pear based name?”
“She’d probably disown us.” He laughs. Looking at his watch he looks around for Saffron. “hmm… I thought our check would be ready by now.”
“I’m sure Saffron is just busy. Now let’s not waste the candlelight.”
Rarity hums a tone as she steps out onto the sidewalk. The chilly night air hiding her blush. She could not believe she acted so vulgarly! To a couple on a date no less! Who was she Rainbow Dash? No, no that’s not fair. Rainbow Dash would have helped herself to Mac and Adagio’s food, as would Pinkie Pie. Really those two could be such slobs. The way they presented themselves! Such a waste of their true beauty! If they’d only listen to her advice all the time, then they, no all her friends could look as fabulous as she does.
“Taming Pinkies hair into a long waterfall or ponytail, trimming Rainbow’s wild barbarian mane, all the things I could do the Fluttershy! Ugh, that ugly tank top she always wears! That must go! Twilight, contacts, and a new hairstyle is defiantly needed if she’s going to catch someone better then Timber Spruce. Applejack too for that matter, something more southern lady then cowgirl. Sunset at least follows my instructions, but she’ll need an update again here soon.”
As Rarity continues to ramble she pass the back alley of Saffrons. She caught a glimpse of Lyra taking out the trash. This made her so happy, with Lyra working at the restaurant Saffron would no longer be in a position to messy her beautiful uniform with such filth. Granted Lyra wore a similar uniform. She couldn’t have that. Lyra could use a little work herself actually now that she thought about it. Starting with wearing gloves when handling filth.
“Oh, Lyra! Lyra! Over here please!”
“Rarity?” The teal girl questioned looking down the dark alley. “What’s up? Why are you back here?” Rarity came skipping up to her with a big, yet somewhat creepy smile, even so far as to grab her hands. “Is something the matter? Did I forget to give you change?”
“No, no my dear. I simply want to talk to you. Do you have a minute?”
“Um… sure, but I’m kind of the clock.”
“Oh, I’m sure Saffron won’t mind. It’s just a tiny matter. Firstly, why aren’t you wearing gloves when moving the trash? That’s a health hazard and second, you’re not wearing an apron! What would you do if your uniform got dirty? Also, your hair… well, we can get to that later.”
“What’s wrong with my hair?” Lyra rears back in offense, gingerly touching her white and teal locks with concern. “Also, I wash my hands after doing this, and FYI I do usually wear an apron, but it’s just so busy that I forgot this time. I know you’re a fashionista, but you don’t have to be the fashion police everywhere. Now I need to get back to work.” Lyra went for the door to the kitchen when Rarity suddenly grabs her by the cheeks, pressing her against the wall! The fashionista looking at her with a piercing gaze.
“I’m not the fashion police. I am the beauty police and right now you're breaking the beauty law of not being all you can be. Don’t worry though, just give me a minute and with a little magic I’ll have you be ball ready faster than Cinderella!” Rarity said raising her pointer finger with sparks of magic arcing off the tip. “Hold still now.”
Lyra tried to wrestle out of Rarity’s grip, but the fashionista had strength that she thought only Applejack had! She squirms as the blazing finger of magic drew closer and closer, wondering what it would do to her. Rarity won’t do anything weird to her right? Right…?
Thankfully Lyra didn’t have to find out as loud voice broke the silence. “Hey, broads! You girls work for Saffron?” A bulky man in a leather jacket demanded, his accent was thick, meaning he was from the city. He looked like a thug and probably was. But he did get Rarity let go of her cheeks.
“This is Saffron’s place of business, yes,” Rarity replies in a cold snippy way. “Lyra, I believe you said you need to go back to work?” Lyra nods silently looking anxiously between Rarity and the man, her gut churning, telling her to get out there. “Then best get back to it. I’ll deal with this… ugly gentlemen. Oh, and please lock the door behind you.”
“Um… are you sure?” Lyra asked meekly with concern.
“Positive.”
Lyra went back inside, the heavy bolt of the door clicking, indicating the door was indeed locked.
“Don’t get Saffron either,” Rarity said to Lyra through the door. “Or anyone else. Just leave everything to me.”
“Oh? You going to pay her debts?” The man laughs giving a leering glance over Rarity. “Gotta say, you don’t look like you got the cash, but you do have some goods on you. What’s your age honey?”
“Too young for a brute like you, now we can settle this matter one of two ways. The first is you take these and never come back here.” Rarity unfolds her hand revealing a handful of blue diamonds. “Or we do things the ugly way.”
The man looks stupidly at the diamonds, taking one in his hand. “There’s no way a kid like you can have real diamonds.” He scoffs holding them up to the light.
Rarity huffs, putting her hand into her pocket, “I don’t deal in forgeries take them to a broker, they will confirm their authenticity.”
“Or, I take you and the diamonds back to my boss,” The man said pulling a gun. “We deal in a number of things other than loans after all.”
Rarity only sighs, looking unimitated, “Fine. I guess we do this the ugly way.”
“What are… Gughgsh!” That man’s sentence was cut short as Rarity’s diamond-encrusted fingers punctured his neck! As he gags on his own blood! Rarity fishes into his pocket pulling out his cell phone and wallet. She holds up the phone, displaying the lock screen.
“Unlock it,” Rarity spread her finger opening the man’s throat wider. “Now, please. You’re getting my hand dirty.” The man quickly types in the code, Rarity giving him a cutesy heartwarming smile, one she would usually give her friends when she finishes a dress for them. “Thank you, I’ll ensure you look beautiful when you die at least.” She pulls her hand from his neck, blood red rupees forming around the man’s throat and outward. In mere seconds he was turned into a large red crystal. Tapping her finger on the now, statue’s chest, she reduces him to crystalized dust.
Taking the phone Rarity began flipping through the apps and messages as she walks towards the street. As she rounds the corner she catches Lyra peeking her head out the door with Saffron and her father in tow. All of them armed with kitchen utensils, Lyra had a rolling pin, Saffron’s father had a butcher knife, and Saffron was sporting two long kitchen knives. How sweet of them.
“Rarity! Are you here?” Saffron yells fearfully into the night.
(Best not make them worry.) Rarity steps back into the alley, just below a light with a bright smile. “Oh, I’m fine dear! The man was quite reasonable!” Rarity fibs hiding her bloody hand in her pocket. She’d have to clean or destroy this skirt now. A lady can’t have blood stains on her clothes after all.
Saffron came running up to her, pulling her into a deep hug, “Oh Rarity! I so sorry I get you involved in our shady affair! You are a good friend, I do not wish you to be hurt on my account!”
“Relax, it’s fine. In fact, your debt is paid in full. You won’t need to worry about any more men like that coming around. I promise.” Rarity told Saffron, hugging the exotic woman back with just one arm. Resisting the urge to use both hands with all her might. “Now you have customers to attend too.”
“Oh, your right! Let us discuss this another time. I’m very glad that man didn’t hurt you! You must be more careful, you are a very beautiful young lady after all.”
“Oh, I know. That’s why I know how to take care of myself. Now you go dazzle those customers!” Rarity jubilantly tells her friend. She waves, smiling happily as the three return to the restaurant. Raising the now dead thug's phone, she frowns finding it locked again. “Shit. Now, what shall I do? I can’t bring this Twilight or Sunset with explaining what’s it for… Oh… I know!”
Speed walking to her car Rarity races down the street, texting on her phone. A happy smirk plays on her lips as she reads the reply message. Coming to stop at a Canterlot Public Park she sits and waits. Not minutes later a crummy looking Honda pulls into the parking lot and a thin pale purple boy with Cyran hair and glasses steps out of the car. The boy, her age, nervously walks towards the car and knocks on the window.
“Um… you texted me Rarity?” The nerdy boy askes with sweaty palms. The window of the car rolls down and Rarity smiles at him, leaning towards the car window, the top buttons of her blouse undone.
“Yes, MicroChips,” Rarity says seductively as she sensually crawls out of the car like a cat. “I need a little favor of you.”
Micro Chips staggers back as Rarity presses herself lightly against his lanky frame. His body shaking with excitement at the luscious girl standing before him. Even has his out of control hormones rack his adolescent body, his nerdy mind makes an astute observation about the crush of Canterlot high.
“Um sure no problem Rarity, but ah… were you always this tall?” He asks doing a quick height caparison. Now he wasn’t the tallest guy around, but Rarity wasn’t Amazon either or at least she wasn’t the last time he saw her, which was Friday, two days ago. Now she was tall, maybe as tall as vice Principle Luna!
“Oh, don’t mind that,” Rarity coos cupping his face. “It’s just a little magic. Magic that I can use on you too.”
Suddenly Micro Chips found himself growing taller, more muscular, the pimples on his face disappearing as his chin became strong and refined, even his vision improved! He took off his glasses seeing the world perfectly for the first time since he was in elementary school.
“Now there’s the handsome man I know you can be,” Rarity whispers in his ear as she pressed him against his car. “I can let you play around in this body for a little while if you just do me one little favor…” Her words like honey in his ears as Micro Chips gave a fast and rapid nod, too overwhelmed to actually speak. “Good.” Rarity fishes the Deadman’s phone from her pocket. “Unlock this for me, erase the password, and keep this conversation to yourself and I’ll be generous and let you be your true handsome self whenever you want. A nice boy… no man like you deserves better after all.”
A goofy grin spread across Micro Chip’s face as Rarity ran her hands over his abs, he had abs! This was great! He looks to his Queen, no his goddess! With pure bliss and obedience, “Give me that phone. I’ll have it ready in an hour!”
Rarity drops the phone into his hand, MicroChips returning to his normal self, “Call me when you have results. Getting back into her car Rarity watches with a gleeful smile as Micro Chip’s car went peeling out of the parking lot. Pulling out her own phone she dials another number.
One hour later Micro Chips returned with the phone in hand. Rarity gives a sweet ensnaring smile as she excepts the phone from the nerd. Making the purposeful and slow motion to tuck the phone between her breasts.
“Thank you very much Micro Chips,” She coos hooking her finger under the boy’s chin. She plants one quick peck on the nerdy boy’s lips. Leaving him utterly petrified. “And remember, tell no one of this. And have fun.” Rarity creates a small ball of magic, flicking it into Mircochip’s chest, causing him to change into his handsome form.
“Ah…um… thank you!” He squeakily replies, his voice cracking, even in his manlier form. “Um… where are you going?” Micro Chips questions Rarity as she climbs back into her car. “I was thinking… um… hoping, we could… ah… hang out…?”
“Another time darling. I’m afraid I have some important work to do tonight. That little dose of magic I gave you should be enough to retain that form till morning. I’d suggest you go talk to some girls more in your current league and work up from there. Build up your confidence and all that. Or you find a girl that likes your… um… interests. Looks alone don’t build a relationship, it’s the beauty on the inside as well. Fear not though, I will have need of you again.” Rarity pulls out of the parking lot, leaving Micro-Chips in the parking lot feeling a little deflated.
“I guess this is what they mean when they say don’t fly towards the sun, you’ll get burned.” Micro Chips sighs going for his car. In the window he sees his handsome face, lamenting that even that wasn’t enough to win Rarity’s affections.
“Hey, you!”
“Me?” Micro Chips asks turning around, coming face to face with a girl in a Shadowbolts uniform. What was she doing here? He’s seen her before during the Friendship Games, she was… she was the girl that danced next to him in the gym! Suri Polomare!
Suri crosses her arms, looking a bit flush, “Yeah, you. Are you the guy?”
“The guy?”
“The guy Rarity set up for my blind date! Mirco Chips?”
“Ah… yes! Yes, I am!”
“Good, I’m glad Rarity wasn’t lying when she said you’d been bulking up. I have a thing for beefy nerdy guys. I have a better chance of finding a unicorn some days.”
“Wait, you like Nerdy guys? Why?”
“Well… Computer Nerds to be exact. You guys are great for keeping my clothing site up. You are a computer nerd, right?” Suri says pointedly looking him over. Micro nods, causing Suri to glomp onto his arm, pressing it against her breasts. “Good, I think you and I going to have a productive and mutually pleasurable relationship.”
Micro’s voice cracks, “Relationship?” Suri only nodding yes as she drags him along by the arm.
In another part of town, Rarity drove down the deserted streets, her new unlocked phone in hand. She checks the address listed on the dead man’s phone, who name had been Spindler. Ironic. Checking her imagine the rear-view mirror she changes her appearance to what she would probably look like at thirty, running her hand through her hair she changes the shape and color to something completely different than her usual style. A spikey punkish style with green and yellow mixed with her natural purple.
Stepping out of the car, a quick snap of her fingers changes her clothes to match her punk hair. Strutting up to the house she knocks on the door of the house. A lanky blue man with yellow hair answer, smelling of alcohol and cigarettes.
“I don’t remember calling a hooker,” The man said foggily. Seems he was on the verge of passing out. “But I’ll take a one anytime. Come in girl!” The door opens and Rarity enters the shabby house. “So, what’s your name baby?” He touches Rarity’s shoulder only to yelp and scurries away clutching his hand, two fingers missing! “What the hell bitch!”
“First things, it’s Vanity, not bitch,” Rarity says a white snake with blue wings slithers out from under her jacket. The snake spitting out the man’s fingers. “Secondly,” she adds stomping on the man’s bare foot with her heel. “I have questions about you and your friend's line of work, Mr. Prowler. If you don’t want to end up like Spindler, you will do as I say.”
“What the fuck did you do to Spindler!” Prowler screams, Rarity kneels down, extending one finger and stabs it into his leg.
“This,” Rarity answers turning Prowler’s leg into crystal and then shattering it into dust.
“Holy fuck! Holy Fuck Man! My leg! What the fuck did you do to my leg!” Prowler screams in terror. Rarity grabs him by the jaw, preventing him from screaming as she stabs his other leg with her nail.
“Now you’re going to be a good boy and give me all your loan shark friends’ names and your boss and you will do so in a polite and quiet way or I will turn all your limbs to dust and let Vanity here slowly eat you bite by bite. Do you understand?”
Prowler, blubbering like a newborn, nods, pointing to toward the bedroom, “My phone, it has everything you want.”
Rarity smiles, “Oh, I guess I don’t need you then. Vanity, feel free to have a snack.” Rarity walks away, leaving Prowler and Vanity lone. Vanity suddenly grows to the size of the room, her jaws unhinging as she gobbles the loan shark down in one gulp! She shrinks down to normal size, with only a small budge in her belly as Rarity reenters the room with Prowler’s phone. “Come along dear, we have much work to do. There are so many ugly hearted people to get rid of!”
Vanity nods slithering around Rarity’s ankle and melding into her flesh once again. Stepping outside Rarity steps down onto the crumbling sidewalk turns around to look at the shabby house of the loan sharks. It was an ugly place. The world was better off without it.
Hold out her palm Rarity blew a cloud of crystal dust off her hand, turning the house to crystal and with a snap! Reduces it to dust!
“Much better,” With a pleased smile, Rarity enters her car and dials Micro Chips number. In the background, she hears the sound of smacking lips and wet flesh. Seem her blind date has gone well. “Come find me at school Monday. I have another project for you.”
“Of course, anything for you, Rarity. You, you have changed my life!” Micro declared as the smacking of lips resumes.
Rarity smiles as she hangs up, “It’s what I do dear, it’s what I do.”
Canterlot subdistrict five, otherwise known as little Hispania to the locals, was a relatively quiet neighborhood. Quiet as long as you follow the rules set by the Del Rio Toro gang at the end of the block. Ignore whatever it is they are doing and nothing happens. There is no loud music, broken windows, or drive byes. House 1409 was just another house on the block.
Across the way in house 1411 resides Derpy Hooves Muffins, along with her ‘sister’ Dinky. Yeah, sister, at least that’s what the legal documents say and that’s all anyone needs to know. They’ve lived on this block for five years. They’ve watched it change as the Del Rio Toro moved in. They’ve gotten used to the uncomfortableness of having a gang living across the street. The unease of walking home from school and wondering if this would be the day the frail peace would shatter.
Well, when a knock came on her door at eleven o’clock that night. When Derpy opens the door the last thing she was expecting was a tall red and blue man discretely holding up a police badge.
“Um… can I help you?” Derpy peeks out her doorway. None neighbors were getting the same treatment. The neighbor next door to her and the neighbor next to the Del Rio house also had late night visitors.
“Yes, ma’am. I need you to comply with my orders for only a few minutes. Is there anyone else in the house with you?”
“My sister is sleeping upstairs, and but what is it you want exactly? Who are you?” Derpy demands, the officer looking anxious as he glances at his watch. Mumbling they were running out of time under his breath.
“My name is Red Alert of CPD. Look we don’t have much time. You need to get your sister and we need to go….” The roaring sound of two motorcycles thunders down the street. Red Alert cusses under his breath, storming into Derpy’s house and locking the door behind him. His service pistol in his hands. “Shit it’s too late. Go get your sister missy and get into the basement, things are about to go down.”
“What are you talking about!” The stairs creak, both turn to see Dinky standing on the stairs, rubbing her eyes.
“What’s going on?” Dinky asks sleepily.
From the front bay window, Derpy sees the two Motorcycles stop in front of the Del Rio house, the riders dismounting and begin walking up to the house. Both figures are tall, probably about six foot and irrefutably male given their huge frames, one carried a huge sword in his back and the other was holding pistols in his hands. The step up into the porch and kick down the door.
“Get down!” Red Alert grabs both Derpy and Dinky, carrying both girls into the kitchen, laying them on the floor and covering them with his body. Derpy was about to scream at him to get off when gunfire fills the air! Followed by screams.
“The fuck man! What Fuck!”
(BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
“The hell are these fuckers!
(BANG BANG BANG BANG! BANG BANG BANG BANG!))
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”
(Shink! SHINK!)
The screams and gunfire stopped. The whole ordeal only lasting a minute, but it felt like a forever. Derpy fought out of Red alerts grasp, running into the living room. Her window was shattered, gunshot holes line the stairwell wall. But what really caught her attention was the glow. Standing in the center of her living room, she saw the glow of the fire that consumed the Del Rio house. A fire so large and so hot and spreading so fast it couldn’t have been naturally made. Standing the in the yard were the two riders, watching the fire.
In the hand of the man with the sword, clutched between his fingers was the heads of all the gang members. All eight dangling by their hair between his fingers. The man threw the heads onto the porch, the fire engulfing them instantly.
Derpy watches with her single good eye wide in horror as the two men walk towards her. Their faces masked with bandanas. One of the men. The one with the sword gave her a salute, he and his partner then mount their bikes and took off into the night. Five minutes later the fire department and more police arrive.
Derpy heard her back door open and she looks out the kitchen window to see Red Alert stepping into her backyard and taking off at a jog. On the kitchen counter were a note and a stack of bills. The note reading. (I wasn’t here.)
Derpy looks at the stack of bills, money she desperately needs, there was at least three hundred dollars in cash here. Gulping, Derpy quickly throws the note in the toilet and flushes it down. Next, she stuffs the bills into her tip jar, hiding it beneath the mountains of ones and fives. Just in time to answer the police at the door.
“Hello ma’am, I’m Detective Ferocious. Would you have time to speak with us tonight?”
Applejack slumps in her chair, barely listening to Mr. Doodle’s math lecture, her mind abuzz as she frequently checks her watch, waiting for the final bell of the day. The toe of her boot taps the tile floor restlessly, she stomps on it with her other boot to keep it still. If she got caught not paying attention Mr. Doodle would make her stay after class. Thus, further hindering her in her mission. She wants… no needs to talk to her friends. On this rare Monday, she hadn’t talked to any her friends yet today. She saw Sunset and Twilight in English, but couldn’t talk to them. Till her grounding was done, Granny was forcing her to eat with her during lunch and her cellphone was in Granny’s custody until the end of the day. Pinkie Pie, who she shares science class with her was absent. Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were in different classes than her this semester.
Mr. Doodle finishes scratching out the final number of whatever math problem he was presenting to them. His long droopy face making him look as excited as they were to in this class. It was the look of a man to who had long resigned to the fact that no normal teenager wants to learn math.
“Please, make sure to do pages 234 to 237 for homework, even problems only. So, no checking in the back of the book and be sure to show your work. If you use the internet I’ll know because let’s face it, most of you are C’s at best. But if any of you insist on cheating, expect to be taking a test instead tomorrow. Class dismissed.”
The herd of students stampedes out of the classroom. Eager to get on with after school activates or simply go home and play or hang out with friends. Applejack was well on her way to go to her friends or at least the ones she could find when Mr. Doodle calls out to her. Making her silently curse in the doorway.
“Miss Apple, may I have a word with you?”
She smiles a wide fake smile, annoyed at being held up, but kept any insults trapped inside, lest she gets another grounding from Granny for smarting off to a teacher. “Yes, Mr. Doodle?”
“I’ve been going over your tests and your scores have been in decline. You were a solid B student earlier at the beginning of the year and now your falling to a low C. Have things been troubling you lately?”
(Monsters, fallen pony gods from another world, almost dying… yeah, something has been bothering me.) Applejack muses while still putting up a big smile. “Nope, everything’s fine Mr. Doodle, I’m just a bit tired from the apple harvest is all. But that’s all wrapped up now, so things should be getting back to normal from here on.”
Mr. Doodle nods tiredly well shuffling a stack of papers on his desk, “I see. A very mundane reason I guess, given you and your friends recent… incidents. I’m glad things are going… normally for you then. Now before you go I need you to see the school counselor.”
“I need to go see Vice Principle Luna?”
“Yes, she’s requested to see you. Please be sure to stop by her office before you leave. Granny Smith has been made aware of this.”
Applejack’s smile sours, it sucks having a family member on the staff, everybody working in the school probably knew she was grounded and on Granny’s short leash.
“Thank you, Mr. Doodle, I’ll do that.”
Leaving the classroom Applejack made a beeline for the school parking lot. If she was careful and hurried she could still catch at least one of the girls. Approaching the double glass doors, a smile graces her lips as she sees Sunset and Twilight climbing into Twilight’s purple Pontiac. She reaches for the door handle, the cold air burning her throat as she gets ready to yell for them to wait, only for a firm hand to pull her back into the school.
“I believe you were supposed to come and see me, Applejack,” Vice Principal Luna says giving her a firm look.
“Um yeah, I just needed to…” Twilight’s car drives off. Her friends leaving her to hang. “Um… nothing, I guess.”
“Good, follow me. We have someone waiting for us in my office.”
Applejack looks curiously at Luna, wondering who it could be. Maybe Granny? No, Granny would have said something at Lunch. Could it be Mac? No Luna would have said it was him. Also, why would Mac come see her at school? She wasn’t thinking sensibly. That being said, her gut began to churn. What if it’s Grandpa Bailey? Did he find out she stole his guns? No, that couldn’t be, he was in assisted living and if he hasn’t found out yet, he wouldn’t know now. Hell, he might have actually forgotten about that storage unit. Still, even if that may not be the case, she was getting anxious.
“Don’t worry about getting home. I’ve already talked to Granny Smith and told her I’d give you a ride home when we're finished talking.” Luna said, probably noticing her fidgeting. She was misreading it, but it was still a logical observation.
(I guess I didn’t see Granny’s truck in the parking lot. Her and Applebloom must have gone home already.)
They arrive at Luna’s office, well the office reserved for the school counselor, which was Luna, so she had two offices. They enter the small room, consisting of a desk with two chairs in front. Unlike most of the other school rooms, it was devoid of the usual generic school educational posters. The walls were a cool blue, probably to help students who were stressed out relax. There was no one else in the room. Luna took her seat behind the desk, offering her a chair.
“Sit down Applejack.”
Applejack did as she was told, sitting patiently, playing with the end of her denim skirt, a pair of long black winter socks covering her legs. Peeking up from her skirt she sees Luna’s preparing a glass of water and set it at the edge of the desk. One for her and one for herself.
“So, Applejack, how are things going?”
“I don’t know. What do the other teachers say? Since you seem to have them spying on me.”
Luna looks exhausted, sighing deeply as she takes a sip of water, “You know that isn’t true Applejack. It’s true that I may give you and Applebloom a bit more attention, but I don’t spy on you regularly. Only I think it’s necessary. Judging from your declining grades, as both your godmother and your principle, and counselor, I felt it necessary to call you here.”
“Uh ah, so my grades slipped a bit, it’s harvest time. You know that.”
“I do, you and your siblings have attended this school through many seasons as have many other ag-kids, but none of them have dropped an entire letter grade in all of their classes during harvest. Also, normally I am not legally allowed to tell you this, but since you’re a special case, all of your friends, minus Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, have also been performing rather poorly lately. Starting exactly one month ago, after a certain incident. Do you see where I’m going with this Applejack?”
She crosses her arms, not meeting the older woman’s questioning gaze. “Things didn’t go as planned is all. We still won in the end, that’s what matters.”
“True, true,” Luna nods, producing a clipboard from under her desk. “But it was different than the fall dance, the battle of the bands, the Friendship games and camp Everfree, right? Every battle was tougher than the last, at camp you actually fought a bit before holding hands and blasting the villain away with a rainbow. At the end, everyone, including me, walked away without so much as a scratch. This is just educated guess, but this last time at Holder’s boulder, you walked away with more than a few scratches, right?”
Applejack grabs her shoulder with a trembling hand. The screams of her friends echoing in her ears. Droplets appear on her skirt, she looks up at Luna, tears falling down her cheeks. She wipes them away, but they keep coming.
“We got more than a few scratches,” She chokes, trying force back her tears. “We got hurt. We didn’t win, not at first, before Mac, Sixes, and Aria got there. We were strung up like freshly hunted deer waiting to be butchered. We were out for most of it when Mac and the others started fighting, but it finally hit me. Like it probably should have when we faced Maddie.This is dangerous. We could actually be killed! There was no rainbow this time, no friendship conquers all, we straight up had to obliterate that guy, Grau. Sixes and Sunset did the final blow, but I was actually trying to kill him! And he would have killed me without a second thought either.”
Luna sat silently, watching Applejack’s haunted green eyes graze over. She had suspected this. That the girls were surpassing the event, playing it off as just another magical adventure, but deep down it was affecting them. It was showing in their grades and perhaps in their friendship. It wasn’t by design, but the magical group of girls were split up this year. None of them all had the same class together, nor did any of them share more than one or two classes with the others. Again, this wasn’t by any meddling on the school’s part, it’s just the way the girls chose to set up their classes. But that lack of unity was creating distance between them as they all slowly, but surely worked toward their lives outside of school.
“You’re a junior this year, right Applejack?” Applejack nods, Luna offers her a tissue to help clean away the tears. “And what are your plans after High school? You have one more year, but it’s good to start thinking about such things now. So, what is the magical monster slaying farm girl going to do next?”
“Ah… Ah, don’t know,” Applejack admits, her accent coming on extra thick in her emotional state. “Ah’ve always thought Ah’d farm, but Mac owns the farm. He’d have to give me a few acres to start or Ah’d have to go try and find my own place, but land is so expensive and now with all this magic stuff… Ah, don’t know anymore. Nothin’ really jumps out when you know magic exists. There’s a door to a whole other world just right outside the school and probably more beyond that! It’s… it’s overwhelming.”
“Well, it’s refreshing hear you say that because that’s how it’s been for me and Celestia and well all of us really. Can you imagine how hard it is for Mr. Gizmo to teach science when people can sprout pony ears and fire Kamehameha’s from their hands?”
“Only Pinkie and Rainbow tried that and we didn’t think it’d actually work and blow up the school equipment shed!” Applejack quickly states Luna, looking bemused as she laughs.
“And we thought it was a gas leak and the janitor smoking, thanks for clearing that up.”
The mood of the room shifts to a much more relaxed tone. Applejack and Luna exchange wholehearted smiles. Luna sets aside her clipboard. No longer talking as a Vice Principle or a school counselor but as a godmother.
“Does it feel better now? Not that one talk will fix everything, but are things a little better?” Luna asks reaching under her desk again and pulling out two Dr. Peppers, one for herself and one for Applejack. Applejack excepts the can, giving a short quick nod, “Good, hopefully, I’ll have as much success with the others. I’ll be honest with you, seeing you kids fight off evil all the time… it makes us adults feel… well, useless. So, whatever we can do to help, let us know.”
“Thanks, Luna, you’ve been a pretty chill godmother through all this craziness.”
“Chill, not the most faltering compliment for fudging your absentee reports, but I’ll take it.” Luna grins taking a sip of soda. “So how are things with Mac? Do you talk to him often?”
“Ah talked to him a bit this last harvest, but before then not very much. What with Granny taking my phone and truck.”
“I suppose, are you still getting used to the sirens as sisters in-laws? I know the wedding isn’t till after Adagio gives birth, but their marriage is official as far as the state is concerned or did they not file at the courthouse yet?”
Applejack nods, “Yeah, they filed, but Granny doesn't care about that. She doesn’t count it official till the Preacher says I do. She’s a bit set in her ways like that. I’ve spent some time with Sonata and Aria, their kind of fun to hang out with sometimes. I visit them most Saturday’s at the Apple stand. We get along for the most part I think. Still, it’s a bit weird sometimes. Knowing your brother’s ahh… plowing a pony mermaid’s fields.”
Soda sprayed from Luna's nose, the sugary soda running down her hand onto the desk as she tries to fight back a laugh. Grinning she sets the soda can down, swiping the desk down with a cloth, “Yes, I suppose that can be rather… weird.” The two share a laugh as they settle into a comfortable silence.
“So,” Applejack said after a minute passes. “Didn’t you say someone was waiting for us?”
Luna checks her watch, “Yes, I fibbed on the time, but she should be arriving soon. I was hoping you could help her out as this is a matter that falls into your current field of expertise.” There’s knock at the door. “That’s probably her, you can come in now!” Luna calls out. The door opens, Applejack turning around to come face to face with the odd-eyed stare of Derpy Hooves. The blonde-gray girl said nothing as she took the seat next to Applejack, pulling out her phone, she holds it in front of Applejack’s face. A picture displayed on the screen.
Applejack squints, the photo was of a burning house with two shadowy figures standing in front of the house. She sucks in a breath, spotting the severed heads in one of the figure’s grasps and the unmistakable outline of pony ears on their heads.
“What’s this?” She askes looking between Derpy and Luna. Derpy puts her phone away, leaving the floor open for Luna.
“Well,” The vice principle begins. “I’d hate to jump to conclusions, but they may be your next foe.” Applejack looks at her, then to Derpy, and then back to Luna. A chill running down her spine as she thought of the severed heads. Only one phrase could describe the feeling of absolute dread in her stomach.
“Oh fuck.”
“Aria! It’s cold!”
“It’s October Sonata, of course, it’s cold.” Aria drawls, playing Tetris on her phone. Scowling in disgust and annoyance at the lack of people in the square today. Not that she could blame them. That wind was raw! She was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a sweeter and a heavy jacket and her nips still felt like they were going to freeze off! Did some wendigo’s come through a portal or a yeti? It was too damn cold!
Shivering under her blanket Sonata, in only a sweater, looks at Aria with big puppy eyes. “Can we call it a day early? Or can I at least go home and get another coat or maybe go warm up at Sugar Cube Corner?”
She sighs, looking at the barren plaza and then to the bakery across the street. It did look inviting, hot cups of coffee, fresh warm pastries… “Yeah, screw this, pack it up and let’s go get ourselves a treat. We fucking deserve it after enduring this shit for three hours.”
“Yay!”
Aria shakes her head at Sonata’s childish antics, but that was Sonata, “Come on, let’s get this stuff packed up and get inside.”
The two clean up the stand in record time. Their desire for warmth and treats pushing their fringed bodies to work faster. The apples and treats are put away in the back of the pick up with the table. Eagerly they wander over to the Sugar Cube Corner. Sighing as the warmth and smells of the bakery defrost their frozen bodies. As they stood in the doorway they took a quick glance at the other patrons. Two men. One old, one young, probably in his thirties. The younger had his back to them, but the older man… he looked familiar.
“Hey, Aria! Come on let’s order!” Sonata demands, louder than necessary. Making Aria blush in embarrassment for the both of them as she made her way to the counter. With every step she took, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched and not just watched, but glared at. She peeks around her shoulder, catching the younger man doing the same. A single gold eye peeking out from under his baseball cap along with unruly strands of red hair.
“What do you want dearie?” Mrs. Cake asks her. Sonata already sitting down with her order and a cup of coffee. Aria looks over the selection with a keen eye, not really sure what she wants.
“I’ll just have a long john and coffee.” She said. Mrs. Cake quickly grabs the desired donut with a wax paper napkin and hands it across the counter.
“Two fifty, coffee is over there.”
Aria lays the money on the counter, excepting the donut with a quick smile. Pouring a cup and adding sugar and crème, she sits down across from Sonata, who was humming a little tune as she bounces in her seat.
“Do you have to act like a god damn child all the time?”
Sonata stops her bouncing, her lips quivering as she hangs her head, “There’s nothing wrong with being happy Aria. You should give it a try from time to time.”
“I am happy,” Aria growls taking a big bite of her long john. Sonata’s face still sullen. She sighs, setting down the half-eaten donut. “Sorry, this fucking cold has me in a bad mood. Why can’t they just let us sell goods inside? Why do we have to wait till it snows till we can move into the community building?”
“Because the city doesn’t want to pay for the extra cost of heating the community center if they don’t have to by law. The city ordinance was written that as long as there’s no snow or it's not twenty below vendors must sell outside in the plaza. There’s a bill being looked at by the city council to change that if that fails you’ll have to organize a petition for a public vote too bypass the council.” The older man explains, he turns around in his chair, giving the two sirens a big goofy smile. “I’m sure if you young lovely ladies were to go around asking for signatures you’d have enough in a day.”
“We could call it ‘let’s not freeze our asses off’ bill!” Sonata cheers, which made the old man laugh heartily.
“Well, it sure has a ring to it,” he laughs, slapping the table. Aria stares at the old man, feeling something familiar about him. His tawny peach skin, the shape of his face, his brawny stocky frame, and that beard, he kinds of reminds her of…
“More coffee?” Mrs. Cake interrupts holding up a fresh pot of coffee. Everyone nods, accepting the free refill.
“Why don’t you gals come sit with us? We were just talking about the latest hubbub in town.”
Accepting the invitation Aria and Sonata move tables, sitting on the old man’s side of the table. His younger companion giving off an unwelcoming vibe. He was bundled up in a heavy blue coat, a gray scarf around his neck obscures the lower half of his face, while the bill of his ball cap shadows his face. The only thing really standing out about him were his piercing gold eyes. There seem to be a lot of anger behind his gaze, but he remains silent, sipping his coffee.
“So, what’s been going on in town? We usually get the load down from our customers, but we didn’t have any today.” Said Sonata between sips and bites.
“Well,” the old man chuckles, “Then you're in for a treat. One house in little Hispania got torched last night and another house just disappeared without a trace.”
The younger man grunts, “There were traces left. A bunch of powdered diamond dust was found at the scene. Course we have no idea how that’s involved.”
“Really? Entire house disappears and there’s only dust left behind? Sounds like something out of fairy tale,” Aria snorts in disbelief, but really she was racking her brain about what equestrian creature could have done that. Nothing really came to mind, unless a there was an evil crystal pony mage about.
“I’ve heard stranger things,” the younger man speaks up. “I’ll grant you the dust house is strange, but the house fire isn’t anything special. Just some gang violence. Word around the bars is Del Rio Toro is at the breaking point. Lots of the hideouts and members have been killed in the last month. Course this just means some new gang will set up shop in their place.”
Sonata and Aria look beside themselves, “We have gangs here? But we're just a small town.” Sonata voiced with a scrunched brow. The young man chuckles, making her pout at possibly being mocked.
“Canterlot township is a sub-district of the Canterlot City, we’re a bit removed from the city proper, but we are still technically part of it. Most of the time gangs like to set up their drug productions in these more rural areas and then ship them to the city. Since they don’t like to attract attention they usually refrain from being violent and causing trouble to the public, but it’s always easy to spot a drug house.”
“How do you tell?” Aria asks with interest.
The young man scratches his chin, looking thoughtful, “Well, it’s not a given rule, but the signs are unruly lawns, no maintenance on the house, never see the residences and the smell of the house if you ever happen to find yourself inside. Why you interested in getting a fix?”
“No, no, just want to know what to avoid,” Aria replies quickly with a chuckle. Really there was no point in getting into the local gang problem they apparently had. They had much bigger things to worry about. Like the house being turned to diamond dust. Maybe they should have Sunset write Princess Twilight and see if there was some new creature in Equestria or they could go through the mirror and ask themselves. It would be nice to go see how Equestria has changed these past thousand years. Maybe they could go there on vacation.
“Hey, hey, Aria!” Sonata yells starling the pink siren from her thoughts.
“Uh, what?”
“Shouldn’t we be getting back? This was fun and all, but we should probably be getting back to the farm, right?”
Aria checks her watch, it was twelve thirty if they weren’t going to work the stand they should probably go home, eat and do some work around the yard. At least the trees should block the wind a little better. “Yeah, your right. Nice talking to ya two. Maybe we’ll run into each other again.”
“I’m sure we will,” The old man replies, “Small town after all.”
The two sirens dispose of their napkins, set the coffee cup on the counter for Mrs. Cake to retrieve and walk out of the bakery. The cold wind assaulting them instantly, stealing away the warmth in an instant. Checking traffic, they quickly dash across the street to the plaza parking lot. Once there they start the pickup and they wait a few minutes for the heater to start blowing warm air before driving off.
“Those two guys sure were nice to talk too, the old guy was funny and the that young guy… he…” Sonata trails off with a dreamily look.
“You could hardly see his face, Sonata. If you ask me he seems kind of shady. His knowledge of the workings of gangs and drugs adding to that.”
“Yeah, but he smelt good.”
Aria wrinkles her nose, it was a bit stuffy so she couldn’t smell good at the moment, “Smell? What did he smell like?”
Sonata swoons, “Like a stallion.” Aria shoots her a confused look. “You know like Mac? Just all male and…”
Aria nods along, understanding what her sister was saying, a few moments later her brain finally processed what her sister was saying, “Wait, what? A stallion? You mean he was Equestrian?”
“Maybe, kind of, he did smell a bit off. Kind of like Mac does, so maybe he’s a human/pony like Mac?” Sonata questions aloud as they pull into the yard. “Should we go back and ask him?”
“What and sound completely insane? Hey guy we just met, was one of your parents a magical pony from another world? Cause if so, we are magical sirens from the same another world and our biology finds you attractive.” Aria says sarcastically. “Was that what you planned to say?”
“Well…” Sonata says poking her fingers together. “Maybe not quite on the nose as that, but something like that.”
“Tch, whatever. I still don’t like that looks of that guy and that old guy looked familiar too.”
“Maybe he’s one of your boyfriends back from the forties?” Sonata jokes, making Aria growl. “Ok, ok, sorry. Still, now that you mention it, both of them seems familiar, but I can’t place my finger on where I saw them.”
“Hmm… we’ll have to do some digging on them then. What were their names?” Aria asks looking at Sonata, who shrugs back. Slapping her forehead, Aria curses, “Fuck, we never got their names!”
Back in town, in the back allies of Canterlot, the two men from the bakery walk down the trash-filled alley to a back door with the words VFW post 0756 emblazed on the door. They enter, coming into a dimly lit bar/restaurant. A handful of veterans and biker looking folks scattered about. As they made for the stairs, they wave to the man at the bar to follow and all three climb the stairs to the office on the second floor.
Once inside the young man pulls off his cap and scarf, tossing them onto the bed in the room. Revealing his wild red hair and red skin, he falls into the chair with an ‘oof’ grabs the bottle of whiskey on the table and takes a swing. With his free hand, he directs the other two men to sit on the chairs in front of the desk.
“Thanks for the help Bailey, sorry we disturbed your nap.” The young man says offering a glass to the old man Bailey. “Nurses ok letting you have this stuff?” he asks pouring liquor into the glass.
Bailey laughs, accepting the glass, “Huh, I’m nearly eighty now. Might as well enjoy life a little bit before I die. Maybe when my first great-great-grandchild is born I’ll just kill over. It’s about the only thing I want to live to see at this point.” He takes a swing. “Oh boy, that’s the stuff!”
“Still I can’t thank you enough for helping us out,” The young man says pouring a glass for the other man. Bailey continues to laugh, waving off his gratitude.
“Ferocious, Stryker, you boys were Nico’s best friends, to me you might as well be sons, same as him. Whatever you need, you can count on Bailey Apple to be there for you. So, what’s the hubbub about those girls? They looked normal to me, that blue one looked mightily interested in you.”
From his spot Stryker Six chuckles, much to Ferocious’s expense, “First Luna and now another one? Maybe blue is your lucky color?”
“Shut up Stryker,” Ferocious snaps.
“Sorry, I know you only got eyes for Luna. You should try asking her out again before someone else steals her.”
Ignoring his partner’s comments, Ferocious turns his attention to Bailey, his face serious. “Those girls attacked us in the past and they haven’t aged much since then. However, they didn’t stink of black magic like last time. Maybe they turned over a new leaf, but it’ll probably be best to keep them under watch. That’s going to be tough since they live out at your old farm Bailey. You sure your ok with Mac marrying a siren from another world?”
“I let my daughter knowing marry a pony man from another world. Can’t say I see any reason to object now. As for those girls being evil in the past? Well, you gotta forgive people for their mistakes. I’ve asked around town and from what I’ve heard they’ve been upstanding citizens. That blue girl was at the community bake sale selling cookies last mouth. Does that sound like a girl enthralled by black magic to you?”
“Probably not,” Ferocious laments, doubting the sirens would have the patience or the will to do such a thing without starting a fight to feed off the negative energy. “But that doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. Somewhere in this town is some magical evil thing roaming around and it already attacked once from what we know. If it’s not the sirens, all it means is there something else out there.”
“Yeah, but what could it be?” Stryker asks, all three of them looking stumped as they sat back and pour another round of whiskey.
She was blood snorting angrily. Tiny scratches adorn her checks, little trickles of blood mixing with her sweat. It was cold, but all she wore was a tattered shirt and skirt. Bite marks litter her shoulder, veins of black spreading across her body yet she did not yield to the pink and black snake hissing before her.
“Get away from me! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!” Pinkie Pie screams into the night. She was in her family’s quarry, alone, well not alone. The evil snake was with her. The snake she had puked up after being told she'd have to miss another day of school. Another day away from her friends. That would make four or maybe it was five? She didn’t know. Since she last saw her friends. It had made her angry. Once her father had left, leaving her shell-shocked in the barren dugout side of a hill, she let loose. Blowing up piles of rocks with her explosion power and crushing boulders with gravity. That had been the point she puked up the snake. The snake of Spite.
The snake hisses, slithering closer. Pinkie stumbles back throwing a handful of explosive rocks. The snake weaves through them with ease, avoiding the half-hearted attack. Pinkie was losing steam. Her magic dwindling fast. She had tried to fight off the darkness for so long by herself, relying on the connection she and her friends share to keep the darkness festering inside her and them at bay.
Now those connection were failing one by one. She could feel it. She could feel their bonds slipping away. Shattering into the darkness.
“Get away,” Pinkie says weakly using gravity to force the snake down, but the snake merely tilt’s it’s head, causing the gravity to reverse and come crashing down on her, pinning her down helplessly. The snake slithers onto her belly, raising up it unfurls it’s pink wings. It's jaws wide open, it plunges down, biting the top of her breast, nearest to her heart. Black veins spread out from the bite, racing towards her heart. “No, no, no, NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
Pinkie’s struggles cease, her eyes going completely white. The snake slithers around her neck, nuzzling her cheek. Her pupils reappear, gone were the soft happy blue eyes, replaced with cold silver. Pinkie rose to her feet, petting the snakes head lovingly.
“It’s time for the Queen to take the field.” Reaching out she senses the other three snakes, the mistress that fancy they can take her rightful role. She’d put them in their place soon enough. After all, the king had chosen her first. And no mere concubine was going to usurp her place as the rightful Queen of Bones. “What do you say little one? Should I unleash my spite now upon the foolish usurpers or let them be?” The snake rubs her cheek affectionately, hissing softly into her ears. “Yes, it will be more fun to wait. Just when they think they’ve achieved their goals, I will swoop and blow it all away! HEHEHAHAHAA!”
Adagio stood looking at her reflection in the mirror, biting her lip as she struggles to pull her bra together, the clasps were only a hairs width a pair from connecting, but her boobs felt squished more than normal. The fabric slips from her fingers, the violet bra falling to the floor, she grunts in frustration, as this was the third time she’s had to pick her bra off the floor. Deciding to just give up she balances her yellow melons in her hands looking thoughtfully at them.
“Hey, Mac?” She calls for her husband. His head poking through the bedroom door, his hair dripping wet from his after chores shower. She turns to face him, showing off her girls. “Are my boobs bigger?”
“Ahh…. maybe? I don’t know, why?”
“My bras won’t fit,” She pouts looking at the discard undergarment. It was one of her favorites too, so cute and sexy, but mostly sexy. “Come over here and check them.”
A year ago, Mac would have blush and stuttered before walking away with burning blushing cheeks, now he nonchalantly walks over to his wife, dripping wet in nothing but a towel and places his hands on his wife’s breasts.
“Yeah, they feel little bigger. They're a bigger than my hands now.” He says giving them a gentle squeeze.
“Hey, save it for after supper,” Adagio chides lightly, though made no moves to actually stop him. “I’ve so corrupted you. I bet you mom would hate me.” One of the pictures on their dresser falls over. “Ok is this house built on Indian graves? That’s like the fifth time that’s happened.”
Mac chuckles nervously, first mom’s ring rolls of the dresser and then his dad appears in the truck. Yeah, they might have ghosts, his parents most likely. Kind of creepy, in more than one way.
“Let’s get supper going, Sonata and Aria should be home soon. Harvest is done, so maybe tomorrow you three can go shopping while I do inventory and start on the book work.” Mac suggests tossing Adagio one of her Tee shirts.
“That sounds like fun, it’s been awhile since the three of us hung out. Maybe we can invite Applebloom and Applejack. Make it a sister in law affair.” Adagio says pulling the shirt through her puffy hair. “It’s a school day, so we’ll have to go local. Rarity runs a boutique shop and then there’s Explicit’s store too.”
“You are not taking Applebloom to that woman’s store,” Mac said firmly, meaning Explicit’s. She dealt in well… explicit clothing. The kind of clothing not used outside the bedroom. “Or Applejack for that matter. I doubt she’s allowed in any way.”
“Fluttershy and Rarity would testify against that…” Adagio mumbles softly, earning a look from Mac.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, we’ll drop Applebloom off before we go there.” Adagio quickly says. The front door opens and since there was no loud, “We’re home!” from Sonata, it meant they had a guest. And only one of them was decent. “I’ll get the door, you get some clothes on.” Adagio plants a kiss on Mac’s cheek, strutting her hips as she exits the bedroom.
Mac looks down in frustration at the budge under his towel. She did that on purpose. He knows she did.
In the living room, Adagio stops her sexy walk as she looks around for their rude guest. (We have a doorbell people. Use it!) She silently screams in irritation. After a quick look around she found no one, but she did hear some rattling in the kitchen. A frown mars her face as she enters the kitchen. Spotting long brown hair, and someone digging through her fridge.
“You have your own food you know, Maddie.” The former evil mad scientist, now just mad, pokes her head up from behind the door. A carrot sticking out from between her teeth. “Weren’t you a professor? Why must you eat so uncouthly? We have plates and a table you know?”
Maddie crunches down the carrot closing the fridge door with a bit more force than needed. “Drop the Rarity act, Adagio. And yes, I was a college professor with several degrees in engineering, chemistry, computer technology and biology. Thanks for reminding me, how many degrees have you gotten after living in this world for a thousand years? Oh yeah? None!”
“Oh yeah! I met King Arthur, who is real, Queen Victoria, dated Al Capone and still have one of his cars, by the way, watched both world war one and two in real life, accidentally started Hollywood and was the inspiration for several famous songs and paintings through the fifties and eighties. The nineties got a little slow.”
“How do you accidentally start Hollywood? Also, so what! I can make a nuclear bomb! In my basement!”
“You don’t have a basement!”
“I did! Until you guys forced me to live in a fucking shack in the woods! I owned an entire city block!”
“After you murdered everybody living there!”
“That was my dad! He was evil! Sorry for not realizing it until getting hit with a rainbow that made me suffer all his and mine victims pain times a thousand! Now can I please just eat this fucking carrot in peace! All you guys ever give me is meat and apples! I want some fucking fiber!” Maddie screams miffed as she bites into the carrot. Her shoulder steaming as Sixes' seal seers her flesh, no doubt it was Adagio’s doing. Probably not intentional, but Maddie refuses to scream out as they glare at each other in silence. Neither willing to concede ground.
“So… what brings you here Maddie?” Mac asks carefully as he enters the kitchen, not really wanting to involved between the two women, but he had to keep them from cat fighting. Maddie was in shape again and could hurt Adagio and Adagio would probably she-demon out and kill Maddie. Either way, it wasn’t good for anybody, especially with Adagio pregnant.
Maddie backs off, the burning her shoulder subsiding as Mac wraps his arm around Adagio’s shoulder. She hates how lovely dovey they are sometimes. It was just another thing they had that she didn’t and probably wouldn’t ever have. Not as long as she was stuck here.
“I want to leave,” She says perhaps a little too honestly. “For only a few days,” she quickly amends before the couple could speak up. “With the lack of portals lately I want to find out why things are so quiet. Things like whether Grau trapped inside Holder’s boulder was the source of the portals or if there’s another reason. Or if this is just a pause. I’ll need to go to Equestria too and talk to Sixes and any pony that was there the day your dad and my dad came through the portals. I’ve recently put together a theory that there may be more than one source of portals.”
“Ok,” Mac says carefully, “What’s your thought process here.”
Maddie grunts, she figured it wouldn’t be that easy. “Ok, listen up. This is my theory. There are three types of portals. The first is the natural portals created in the Everfree forest in Equestria from chaos magic, as of a few months ago Princess Luna and her ponies have been actively trying to close those portals, correct?” Mac and Adagio nod. “Since then the number of Timber Wolves attack have dropped. So, it’s safe to say they came from natural portals. Now the second type of portal are the portals that went haywire when our dads got teleported here. Like the shadow ponies and gore, and Shadow Specter, anything related to them seems to get pulled through from random periods in Equestria’s timeline. The number of portals is probably limited to the number of teleports that were active at the time. If I find out how many of those teleports there were and work out which monsters are related to dad or Nico, then I can determine how many, if any, are left and may still spit something out. You guys still following me?”
“We may not have degrees, but we understand magic Maddie,” Adagio retorts. Maddie growls at the siren, who cuddles up close to Mac and sticks out her tongue. “Just try it.”
Maddie takes a calming breath, “The third type of portal is like in front of the school. Man/pony made and opened at will. Grau may have been unknowing opening portals or there may be other permanent portals like at the school that no one knows about. If that is the case we can close them and maybe bring this monster business to a close. Unless someone starts opening portals like Twilight did and further weaken the walls between worlds. Then who knows what will happen. The point is, I can’t do this from my Computer.”
“Ok.”
“I thought you’d say that… wait.. what?” Maddie says looking bewilderingly at Mac and she wasn’t alone because Adagio was doing it too. So, something must be wrong.
“Yeah, what was that Mac?” Adagio asks with her own amount of disbelief.
“I said ok. Look as exciting as it’s been, I don’t want to be hunting monsters for the rest of my life. If Maddie can find a solution that fixes this crap for good, I got to let her try.” Mac looks seriously at mad scientist. “If you can put an end to this, I’ll have Sixes remove the seal.”
“I… ah…” Maddie chokes up, covering her hands with her mouth as tears roll down her cheeks. “I… I… can have my freedom?” She stutters, almost not believing what she was hearing. A chance to be free again. Could it really be in her grasp?
Mac smiles, gently grabbing her by the shoulder, “Well it’s not like I want to play prison guard for the rest of my life either. Someday we’ll either have to fully trust you and let you go or find a different arrangement. So, I hope you don’t betray my trust, Maddie.”
(I hope so too, Mac) Thought Maddie as she clenches her fist tight. Still uncertain if she could trust herself once she was free again. “I’ll do my best, now if you’ll excuse me. I should get going back to my shack. I… I have a lot of preparing to do and I don’t want to disturb your supper.” She begins to walk towards the back door, but Adagio calls for her to stop.
“You should eat with us,” The siren said, clearly not happy with her own suggestion. Refusing to even look at Maddie as she stood with her arms cross. “I mean it’s not like you’re an animal or something. Besides a former reformed villain, myself, I could, well we could offer some post rainbow blast to the face advice.” Adagio’s cheeks turn a light shade of pink as both Mac and Maddie look bewilderedly at her. Adagio Hmph’s turning away from both of them. “And take a shower too. You smell like two-month-old bed sheets, actually, bring your bed sheets here. I bet you haven’t cleaned them since we first gave them to you.”
Maddie’s mouth opens and closes, uncertain what to say, “Um…ok… sure.” She says not quite sure what else to say. Maddie exits out the back door.
“Your acting awfully mature all of a sudden.” Mac drawls hugging Adagio from behind.
“Must be my motherly instincts coming in,” Adagio replies flatly, sounding exhausted. “I suppose it’s long past due to start treating her like we’re actually trying to give her a second chance.”
“You weren’t the only one, Adagio,” Mac tries to reassure her. They’ve all been treating Maddie rather poorly, though that wasn’t hard considering what she did to all of them. Still wasn’t right though. “You were the first to extend the hand of friendship, that’s something to be proud of.”
“Oh, don’t start bothering on about that magic of friendship crap. Come on, Aria and Sonata will be home soon and supper still isn’t started and now we have another mouth to feed.” Adagio lightly snaps, breaking away from Mac to start working on supper. “So, what are we eating tonight? I was thinking a stew, providing Maddie didn’t eat all my carrots.”
“I think we got a few downstairs in storage, I’ll go check,” Mac says going down into the basement.
“Thanks, dear,” Adagio shouts after him. Focusing on peeling her potatoes. She bites her lip, thinking of what Mac had said. “Forgiving her is one thing. Being friends… well, we’ll see.” She says throwing the potato peels in the garbage. (One thing at time, one thing at a time,) was her mantra as she plops the potatoes into the pot.
Aria and Sonata sat silently staring at the extra guest at the table. Maddie was here. Eating supper with them. That was new. And odd. In their collective memory, Maddie has never eaten supper with them. Their eyes wander between the mad scientist and their sister and brother in law, where were being very quiet this evening too. Usually, Adagio would have either flirted with Mac by now or rub the fact she had Mac in their faces, passively, of course. Adagio still likes to brags she snagged the farm boy first.
“This is good stew Adagio,” Maddie said breaking the silence. Her voice stiff and awkward. She didn’t attend a lot of meals going up, or in college, or when she became an adult.
“Thank you,” Adagio modestly replies. A Cheshire grin spreading across her lips as she takes another bite. Aria and Sonata could tell she was relishing in the comment. They may be ‘good’ now, but Adagio was still an attention whore.
“Alright,” Aria gave up dropping her spoon in her bowl. “What the hell happened while we were gone? Not that I mind, but why is Maddie eating with us? She’s never done that the entire time she lived here. What changed? Did she bake you a pie or something?”
Sonata chimes in, “And if that’s the case can I have some for dessert?” Aria groans loudly at her blue sister’s antics. Why. Why was she such an airhead! Their mom didn’t drink when she was pregnant, did she?
“There is no pie,” Adagio answers coolly. “It’s just part of her reformation. She can’t reform from her evil ways if she stays alone mumbling to herself all day, right?” The other two sirens nod, that made sense. “This is also a sort of going away dinner. Maddie will be leaving the farm for a lengthy amount of time here soon. I figured it would be nice to have her eat with us at least once before then.”
That made Aria and Sonata look curiously at their sister, with Maddie joining in, with her own equally astonished and confused look.
“Really, was that the reason?” Maddie said accusingly, not really buying the yellow siren’s explanation.
“Make of it what you will, I don’t care, I just decided to be kind. It happens every once in a blue moon.” Adagio with finality. “So, Aria, Sonata, how did things in town go? You came back awfully early today.”
“It was too cold and windy for anyone to be out there.” Aria asserts. “It’s not like we lazed about when we got home. We unloaded the produce and then we did some work on the cattle barn. It’s getting a little crowded in there Mac, we might want to sell some fats soon.”
“Could use the meat too,” Mac agreed. He looked in the freezer downstairs, it was getting a little low, he could see the bottom now. “I’ll do a price check tonight and in the morning, mark out some cows to sell. We’ll sort them out tomorrow and bring them to the sale barn Thursday. Tomorrow Adagio wants to take you two and Applejack shopping tomorrow after school. So, you can look forward to that at least.”
“Bra’s don’t fit anymore?” Aria teases noticing the lack of an outline under Adagio’s tee shirt.
Adagio grumbles, biting savagely into a piece of steak, “At least I have a reason to wear one, unlike you two.”
“You want to test that sister?” Aria shoots back, getting ready to pull off her shirt.
“Why not!” Adagio pulls at her own shirt, Mac yelling for both of them to settle down. Even Sonata was getting in on the action, but once inside her shirt Adagio took a deep sniff through her nose catching a strange scent. Pulling her shirt back down she storms over to Sonata sniffing the blue siren’s neck.
“Um… Adagio?” Sonata embarrassedly said, trying to lean away from her sister. “What are you doing?”
Through the smell of shampoo, soap and the lingering smell of manure. Adagio smelt a tiny whiff of something…. something… male. Not just that, it was a familiar scent. One she knew, a scent of tobacco, gunpowder, alcohol, and heat, like strong spices, penetrates her senses.
“(Sniff, sniff) Who did you run into today? Is one of Sixes’s friends here today?” She asks looking at the two sirens.
Aria answers, “My nose is plugged so I couldn’t smell him, but Sonata thought she smelt a stallion, kind of like Mac, at the bakery. There were two guys, one old, one young, mid-thirties to forties. He was a strange duck. Had his face covered with cap and scarf, talked a lot about local gang stuff. Oh, I was going to tell you this later, but a house disappeared in town. Nothing but diamond dust remained where it stood.” The Pink siren looks over to Maddie. “Are you sure no portals opened?”
“Not in the last month,” Maddie replies evenly, “But feel free to check my computer if you don’t believe me.”
“What if I don’t?”
“That’s enough, Aria,” Mac said sternly. “Maddie’s going to be doing some investigating on the portals while she’ gone. In the meantime, we’ll check out this house turning to dust case. It’s might just be the work of a creature that was laying low till now.”
Aria huffs, crossing her arms, while Sonata looks concernedly between Adagio, Mac, and Aria. She didn’t like when they argue like this. Maddie didn’t seem to like it either as the mad scientist was looking rather uncomfortable.
Maddie pushes her empty bowl to the center of the table, “Thanks for supper, it was nice eating with people again. I better go get ready. Got a lot of things to pack tonight.” The mad scientist offers a brief smile before walking out the back door.
“Well, that was awkward,” Sonata said voicing all their thoughts. Aria nodding in agreement. While Adagio shot them a glare.
“Only because you made it awkward,” She lightly hisses picking up the empty bowls. Tossing them in the sink to soak. Aria, Sonata, and Mac get up and help clear the table. Aria took the spot next to Adagio, drying the dishes the yellow siren finish scrubbing.
“Since when do you defend Maddie? Did you like being evil again that much?”
Adagio growls, fiercely scrubbing a tough piece of grim on the bowl. “No, of course not. I didn’t like it either, but we were given a second chance. She deserves the chance to at least prove she’s changed.”
“Wow, how mature of you.”
“Shut up,” Adagio hands over another dish. “I don’t know if we’ll ever be friends, but we can be civil at least. Enough about Maddie, what about this guy you met in town? Are you sure he didn’t look familiar?”
“I told you, he hid his face, all I could see was a bit of red skin and red hair… wait… red skin, red hair… that sounds familiar.” Aria bit her thumb thinking hard. She remembers searing pain and her body burning and an angry blurry face. “Shit… I can’t remember, but I know I met someone like that… I think they might have something to do with Nico.”
“What’s this about dad?” Mac interrupts placing more dirty dishes on the counter. From the looks of them, they were the ones from Sonata’s room, from her midnight snacking. Adagio gave the blue siren a displeased look, before addressing her husband.
“Back when we… worked for your father, supplying him information about Madhoof, he had two friends that helped him. We met them a few times, the first time being when they helped Nico capture us. We didn’t see much of them after that. We only worked for Nico for a short while, so are memory is a little vague. I think one was red and the other was kind of ashy grey, like Sixes actually.” Adagio puckers her lips, poking her cheek with her finger as she chews the inside of her mouth. “If I saw a picture of them I’d probably recognize them.”
Mac wraps his arms around Adagio, making Aria gag as she put away the last of the clean dishes and left the room. Leaving the couple alone. “Well, we’ll add to the list of things we need to do. Since no one is dying from this diamond dust house thing, let’s just enjoy the peace for the next day or two and then get into the case. All see if I can dig up some pictures from the photo album of dad’s friends tomorrow.”
Adagio kisses his cheek, “Don’t forget I’ll need shopping money tomorrow.”
“Haha, of course,” Mac chuckles. “Come on, let’s get ready for bed.”
“You mean watch the news?”
“What else?”
“There are these things called television shows Mac, some of them are worth watching.” Adagio adorably pokes his chest, swaying her hips to the living room. “Come on, I’ll sit on your lap and show you.”
He blushes following after her.
Later after Adagio introduced him to her latest drama show and he took in the even news. Word of the disappearing house and the house fire in Little Hispania taking the top spot for the night. Mac crawls into bed, Adagio, cuddling up to him and grabbing his arm in her sleep. With his free arm, he checks his phone, his eyes staring the number and address Luna had given him a month ago. He never called it, never seeing a reason too. His godfather seems to want to stay out of his life. So that got Mac thinking, why?
Now with the information that his dad had helpers, a thought accrues to Mac. His dad didn’t have many friends, in fact, he vaguely remembers two guys that came around the farm from time to time. One of them was probably his godfather, so did that mean his godfather knew about magic? But Luna didn’t, at least not till recently, but the more he thought about it. The more it made sense. If his dad died because of magic, of course, his godfather, so going with the assumption knew about magic, would, of course, keep his distance.
That raised another possibility. Did his godfather have magic? Mac closes the phone, setting it back on the nightstand. He would have all day to think about this well-doing book work. If it really starts to bother him he’d just call him and try not to sound crazy.
“That’s going to be difficult,” he laughs quietly letting sleep take him. How do you ask someone about magic and not sound insane?
The morning came quickly or rather she was so excited she couldn’t sleep. She was going to be free! Free to roam! Free to enjoy life! Even if it was temporary, it still made her blood rush with excitement. So much so that she was standing on the porch bouncing on her feet waiting for Mac to give her permission to leave!
And he did!
Like a bullet, Maddie was gone down the road in her car. It’s been a long time since she’s driven anywhere other than to see Moon Dancer… Maddie’s grip tightens around the steering wheel. It’s been awhile since she’s gone to see Moon Dancer, more accurately it’s been awhile since Moon Dance asked for her to come visit. The rift between them seeming to grow by the day, maybe it’s grown too wide already?
“I’ll call her sometime. See if she wants to catch up,” Maddie said to herself, but who was the trying to convince? Moon Dancer was putting her own life together, reconnecting with her parents, and all sorts of other wonderful things. Intruding on her life just to pretend she actually had one friend was cruel to both of them.
Her enthusiasm properly curved Maddie’s mood now matches that of her surroundings as she pulls down her own block to the Canterlot library. Her old home. And her lab. Pulling around back to the loading dock, she drives up the ramp she had put in, clicking the garage door device on her key. The door remains closed. Prompting her to sigh as she climbs out of the car and manually unlocks the door and open it. Frustrated she drives inside and closes the garage door. She’d have to get that fixed.
“Home sweet home,” She hums walking into what had been her living quarters. A small kitchen, living room, and her bedroom all exactly as she had left it. Or had been forced to leave it. Snatching up the remote she jumps onto the couch turning on the TV. The power company had probably stopped supplying power a while ago, but that’s what generators were for. When dad first built the place, he installed some sort of gem powered generator, but he started buying power once he found out gems were not cheap in this world, nor were they as powerful as the ones in Equestria. It had been one of his biggest gripes about this world.
Still, even though the gems here couldn’t power an airship, they could power the library for six months at the very least. Not that she was going be staying that long. She should get to work, but well the shack Mac provided her was not spartan by any means, it wasn’t luxurious either. Even though she could stream everything on her computer she still likes to watch TV on an actual TV.
Maddie stretches out like a cat on the coach. Yawning loudly as she arcs her back, chopping her lips, “I wonder if that pizza guy will still deliver here. Shit, do I have any money here? Do I even have any food?” Rolling to her feet Maddie checks her fridge and then shuts it. Seems the fridge wasn’t on the generator’s circuits, great design dad. Moving the cupboards Maddie found rice, more rice, and instant ramen. “I guess I can’t give Mac crap about the food he gave me anymore, at least he had food.”
Taking the rice and pouring some into a bowl Maddie fills the bowl with water and sets it in the microwave, which was connected to the power grid and solemnly watches her merger meal cook. Five minutes later she takes out and sits at her small single person table, sighing heavily as she stares at the depressing meal.
“This may not be as much fun as I thought it would be living here again,” Maddie grumbles taking a few spoonsful of rice. As she slowly chews the tiny white grains her mind wonders. (Maybe I can go to the college and reconnect with some of the staff there. Moon Dancer may have known about the magic stuff, but I had plenty of other colleges and acquaintances that didn’t know. Course then I have to lie about where I’ve been, lie about what I’ve been doing, and basically live a complete lie again. Probably not a wise thing to do when on the path to redemption.)
Now she was really touched by Mac’s offer to give her full freedom, she was really, but she was worried about the other possibility. What if she can’t reform? What if Mac gets tired of trying and hands her off to Sixes? That meant either pony prison or Sixes melting her with lava. Neither was a very fun idea.
“I never got an F in anything, so I can pass this. Just think of it was one of dad’s tests or your college entrance exam, you can’t fail. Period! Even if you have to fake it a little.” That raised another question, how ‘good’ did she have to be? Really, the sirens weren’t exactly saints, but Sunset Shimmer almost was, so did she have to shoot for somewhere between there? And who decides this? Mac, Sixes, Sunset Shimmer, Princess Luna? And who was to be her jury? “Screw this, I’m going to take a quick nap. I woke up way too early for this. I’ll start dealing with food, investigating and all that when I wake up.”
Staggering to her bed Maddie threw herself on top of the mattress with little regard for the dusty sheets, it was just another thing to take care of later. As she snuggles into her memory foam pillow she hears the faintest of noise come from downstairs.
(Ok, so either rats are in my lab, or rats got into my lab and are now super rats, or there’s a looter. Either way, they're dead.) Raising with a burning rage Maddie pony’s up letting her magic flow into her muscles, the veins of her arms becoming more pronounced than before. (Wow, I really put on some muscle. Yay parkour.)
Dashing down the stairwell to the lab Maddie found the door wide open, the door handle a twisted mess of metal. So, it defiantly wasn’t rats, leaving looter or super rats. Super rats break doors, they did last time.
Creeping into the lab she saw the cages she had kept Mac and his friends and family and many other contained. Sticking to the shadows she spots shattered vials of multicolor liquids all over the ground. Mac and the others should have really sealed this place better, a lot of this stuff was dangerous.
The sound of someone cursing caught Maddie’s attention, slowly she made her way to the engineering part of the lab, where she had built devices. A shadowy figure looms over her workbench fiddling with something. The shadow wasn’t very tall, at least not taller than her, so she confidently steps out into the light, fists up.
“Hey, that’s my property.” She declares igniting her magic, spheres of green encapsulate her fists. It was Mac’s signatures move, magic boxing gloves, it wasn’t hard to learn so she took it for herself.
Her intruder hiss as they turn around, their face obscured by shadow. Try as she might Maddie couldn’t make out their face. Actually, she couldn’t make out anything, they were just a huge black blur to her. No matter though. “Since your already black, I’ll turn you blue.” She sighs at her own one-liner. She made charts for this, and it was still lame.
The shadow leaps at her, black lightning crackling between its fingers as it tries to claw her eyes out, but Maddie was quick. Ducking low she got under the intruder’s defenses letting loose a fury of magical blows, her supercharged fists connecting in the ribs, shoulder and then face! The intruder or maybe she should call it creature, let out a horrible yell as it quickly flees, generating large red wings on it’s back. It gave her one last glare, clutching its mouth with its hand before flying up the stairs.
Maddie let her transformation go, feeling a bit woozy. She holds up her first, a fang punctured between her knuckles, a sickly green venom mixing with the red blood as it drips onto the floor. She staggers towards the potions cabinet, her steps wide and unfocused as she slams into the wall. She fiddles with the lock, eventually just breaking the glass and grabbing for an antitoxin and needle. Her vision blurs and the world turning upside down. Her hands trembling as she sticks the needle in the bottle.
“God, I hope I get the right dosage,” She coughs, something dripping down her chin. Maddie slumps to the floor, her body falling sideways. One eye was completely blind now. Cringing she stabs the needle into her chest, pushing the plunger all the way down.
The antitoxin hits her like a truck. She had taken too much, way too much!
“Fuck, this is going to be a rough few hours,” She mumbles as her eyes flutter close. Her heart rate accelerating, running at ten miles a minute! She screams clutching her chest, steam rising off her body as pain floods her nervous system as the antitoxin purges, not the just the venom, but all the toxins in her blood, even the non-lethal ones.
Maddie screams again as black material seeps out of her pours with her sweat. She reaches for the ceiling, but her arms fell uselessly to the ground as her body nerves shut down, leaving her paralyzed till everything bad was purged from her body.
--break
Rainbow Dash barely makes to the school in time for the first bell to ring. One hand holding an ice pack against her cheek, well another held one to her side. Ebony hiding beneath her shirt, sporting her own injuries, the black snake softly hissing, chiding her for her rash actions.
“I know, I know, we weren’t ready to take Maddie on our own, but we got what we needed right?” The snake reluctantly nods, licking Rainbow’s shoulder wounds, the salvia numbing the pain. “Good, it was worth the risk.” Rainbow opens her locker, holding up her hand Ebony slither up her arm and into the shelf at the top of the locker. “Spit them out.”
Ebony opens her mouth, spitting up a locket that looked exactly like Twilight’s from the Friendship games and USB drive. Leaving the locket, for now, Rainbow picks up the drive with a wicked smile.
“With this, the balance of power is in my favor. Come on girl, let’s go find ourselves a nerd to exploit.” Ebony slithers back down her shirt and Rainbow mixes back into the crowd of students, blending in like a snake in the grass.
The school bell rang and the students of Canterlot High eagerly flock away from their educational prison for home. Applejack was no different as she steps out into the cold afternoon. Sadly, her way home would not be expedient as she had to take the bus. Granny was attending a school meeting that involved the lunch menu, so she had to stay behind. From the across the parking lot she saw her little sister Applebloom climb into Sweetie Belle’s mother’s van with Scootaloo, the trio off for of their Crusader club adventures or something. Dejected she walks for the bus line, only to be pulled away before she could even get near the bus.
“What the big idea!” She yells, watching the bus drive away. She turns to meet the person that stole her ride away from home and came face to face with the Cheshire smirk of her sister in law Adagio. She imminently gulps at the sight of it. “Uh… howdy…”
“Howdy yourself little sister,” Adagio says in a sugary sweet tone that made Applejack’s stomach churn. The death grip the siren had on her hand wasn’t helping as Adagio literary drags her away like a mother pulling her child along by the hand. “Oh, stop your struggling Applejack. We going to have fun!”
Adagio leads her to one of the farm trucks, with Sonata and Aria already waiting inside. Adagio stuffing her against the two sirens as she takes the driver's seat.
“See, nothing to worry about,” Adagio said happily relishing in the joy of being given the most room of the seat. “We’re just going to some shopping. As a family and all that.”
Applejack squirms in her seat. Sonata’s elbow hitting her in the boob as she tries to find even just an inch more space. Her brain listening to Adagio in the background. When the yellow siren’s words registered she stops her squirming with Aria’s hand pushing against her cheek and Sonata’s face in her lap. She turns her head to the yellow siren as they pull out onto the street, her eyes wide with repressed horror. There was only one type of shopping a group of girls did and she wasn’t the biggest fan of it, to be honest.
“Ugh… we’re doing what now?”
“Dagi’s boobs are busting her bras, so she needs to get new ones. It’s also been awhile since we’ve just hung out and we could use some new clothes ourselves, so we’re going along and since you’re our sister too, we thought. Hey! Let’s bring Applejack! You know that kind of thing.” Sonata explained rapidly, Aria mumbling a response as they drive towards main street. “Personally, there are few things I’ve always wanted to see you in. I think we could make you into a real siren!”
Applejack blushes, leaning away from Sonata’s invading face, already picturing what the siren had in store for her in Sonata’s pink eyes, “Um… yeah… no thanks. If you could just drop me off at the curb…”
“Come with us, be good and you get your truck back afterward,” Aria said suddenly, making Applejack go rigged and sit up in her seat like a dog offered a treat.
“So, we’re we going?”
Adagio smirks, “A place you can’t tell Granny or Mac we went too.”
“Where would that… oh… right. That’s just for you gals, right?” The sirens smirk, making the farm girl shrink under their giggling smiles as they park in front of Explicit’s store. The siren’s pulling her inside before any further protests could be made on the farmgirl’s behalf.
Once inside the Siren’s quickly scatter to their favorite parts of the store, leaving her be for the moment. Applejack nervously scratches her arm as she eyes all the racy, frilly, see-through, and exotic costumes on display. The sight of which made her blush as other customers parade from the racks to the changing room. A line of scantily clad women forming outside the door. Their privacy ensured by the blackened windows of the store.
Not sure what to do, but not wanting to risk being seen exiting the store. Applejack slowly makes her way around the racks. Looking, but not touching anything. She thought her short shorts risky enough, but some of the items she was perfusing through… if Granny ever caught her wearing anything like this she’d hogtie and drag her to the church to scrub her down with holy water and a steel wool brush.
“This looks kind of cute,” Applejack mutters pulling an apple red tee shirt from the rack. It was light and soft as silk and ninety-five percent decent, safe for the large heart-shaped hole where a good chunk of her breasts would be on display. Carefully she set the shirt back.
Antsy she looks around for the sirens and spots Adagio right away. Quickly she flees for the elder siren over in the bra section of the store. Bumping into a few other customers along the way, one woman wore nothing but her underwear, which was mostly see-through, and another was wearing a nurse outfit. Blushing she apologizes. The women shrugging her off as they look through more of the merchandise. As she enters the section with Adagio a sign catches her eye.
Applejack reads the sign, “Store policy, to ensure the privacy of all patrons, please see Manager for photos. No cameras or other recording devices allowed and no picture taking in the gallery area of yourself or others. These rules apply to social media too. This is a strange store.”
“Such a sign is necessary, girl.” A sultry voice said. Applejack turns around a tall ebony woman with blue/green hair in a green lingerie staring her down with a predatory eye. “For legal reasons of course,” The woman chuckles. “Explicit is rather well known, that even individuals of my… standing, come to her. Privacy is of the utmost importance and given your virgin doe eye expression, I see it fit I should only educate you on the rules of this establishment.”
“Rules?” Applejack asks, the woman leaning down to smirk right in her face. Along ebony arm snakes around her shoulder as the woman moves beside her directing the farmgirl’s gaze around the store.
“Yes, rules,” The woman says pointing to another tall grey woman with stripes on her skin. “Besides no pictures, another rule is no speaking of the other patrons. That woman there, the one in the tribal loincloth? She’s a college professor, it would very damming if anyone were to find her in such a state, take pictures and blackmail her no? Or that woman there, I’m sure you know her.” Applejack’s pupils shrink back in horror as she saw Mayor Mare across the store. “See my point? So, don’t speak of anything you see here and everyone will do the same. Because remember if you’re a customer here too they have equally as much ammo against you too, understand?”
“Uh… right, lips are sealed.”
The ebony woman pats her cheek, making Applejack’s skin crawl, “Good, such a well-behaved girl.”
“App- I mean AJ, come here!” Adagio said appearing between Applejack and the ebony woman. She quickly grabs hold of AJ’s arm pulling her away from the woman. “I need your opinion on something.”
“Ah… right,” Applejack said stupidly as Adagio pulls her into the corner. The siren quickly throws a bra at her, telling her to pretend to chat. AJ looks anxiously at her sister in law, glancing back at the woman she had just been pulled away from, but Adagio forces her to keep looking at her as she changes bras. “Is something wrong?”
Adagio runs her fingers through Applejack’s hair, peeking through the blonde strains to see if the woman was still standing there. Breathing a sigh of relief once she confirmed she was gone.
“Sorry. We should have gone over how things run here. Also, when we’re here, call me Dagi, Aria is Ari, and Sonata, Ata. It’s not a good idea to use full names here. You should stay away from that woman too.”
“Why? I mean I’m not too eager really converse with folks here, but what’s so special about her?”
Adagio’s eyes dart around, before answering, “She’s the type to exploit people. Take it from the woman that wrote the book on the subject. I didn’t know her name before, we just called her Viper, but awhile ago I saw her on the news. She’s Chrysalis BlackQueen, lawyer, and the State Attorney General. Probably not the worst person you could meet here, but she… has an air about her I don’t like. That might just be her being a lawyer too.”
“I think I’ll just go wait in the truck now,” Applejack says, not wanting to deal with this, but Adagio forces her down on the bench. Applejack not resisting on the count of Adagio’s pregnancy and the fact she could she-demon out… which why wasn’t that happening?
“Look,” Adagio says with a deep sigh, “Sorry to make this first trip here so uncomfortable. I want you to have fun. The best thing you can do is focus on yourself. Don’t worry about the others around you. Looking around nervously just puts everyone else one edge too. So,” Adagio hands her a pile of clothes, or fabric because these could not be considered clothes legally speaking. “Just try some of these on and relax. Now go, I’ll be right here when you get back.”
“Ugh, thanks, Dagi…” Applejack said uncertainly as she walks to the changing room.
Adagio leans back against the wall, hand on her head as she sighs again. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea bring Applejack here.
“Regretting bringing her already?” Aria says through the clothes rack.
“Kind of, but no too. It’s nice to see her flustered to the point of not being able to talk. I think it will help her grow. Nice stocking by the way Ari,” Adagio says as her raspberry sister walks through the rack to sit down where Applejack was a moment ago. Don in nothing but underwear and her new stockings. “They match your hair.”
“Thanks,” Aria says looking curiously at Adagio. “So how is this supposed to make the little Apple grow? I thought we were just going to tease her till she faints.”
“Well that is still the plan, but there can a lesson in teasing. After all, any experience can lead to growth. Applejack is too comfortable where she is, a little shake won’t break her.”
“Yeah, I still don’t get it. I think you're letting those ‘growing motherly instincts’ go to your head.”
Adagio growls lightly, “Do I need to write out a fricken lesson plan! She’s in a new environment and she just needs to deal with it. Is that enough of a summary? Or do I need to get the sexy teacher outfit and a crop whip?”
Behind them, the sound of clothing hitting the floor could be heard as both sirens look too see Applejack in the outfit Adagio had given her, a short black shirt that showed her navel, a simple pair of blue panties. Her own clothes laying on the ground as she stares dumbstruck at the siren, mumbling, “Teacher… crop whip?”
“AJ what you’re thinking right now, it’s wrong, Mac and I don’t do the teacher crop look thing,” A look of relief passes over the farmgirl, making Adagio’s teasing bone itch. “We do much kinkier things like…”
“I don’t want to hear it!” Applejack runs off, running for the bubbly innocents of Sonata. Leaving the two siren sisters chuckling.
“So,” Aria says leaning in, “What do you and Mac do?”
A pink tint appears on Adagio’s face as she turns away chuckling, “Oh you know… stuff.”
“Do tell.”
The girls continue to chatter. Adagio picking up several sets of larger bras, after which she redresses and sits back to watch the other girls try on things. Sonata and Aria mainly try on racy underwear and a few outfits, while they chat about things like what they heard around town, shows they’ve been watching, basically anything besides the farm and monster hunting.
Of course, Adagio wasn’t about to let Applejack slip away. After the farm girl slipped out of her first outfit Adagio hands her more and takes her to the counter so Explicit can let them into the private shooting room. There Adagio had Applejack try one a variety of outfits, taking pictures of each, and with each one, the peach tone of Applejack’s skin turns redder and redder with every picture snapped.
“Are you satisfied?” Applejacks askes after the fifth outfit. A blue Bunny girl outfit of all things. On the floor lay a nurse, police officer, firefighter, and other things. She peels off the leotard, keeping her eyes on Adagio’s phone hanging lazily in the siren’s fingers. “You're going to delete those right?”
“I don’t know,” Adagio says pressing her finger to her cheek. “You look so cute. Come take a look.” She holds the phone up for Applejack to see, sliding through the photos. “Cute, right?”
“Cute is not the word. At least Rarity only puts me in frou-frou crap. This is… tasteless.” She says with disdain as she drops the leotard to the floor and grabs her shirt.
“But you still tried them on.” Adagio counters. “Admit it, you were curious how you would look.”
Applejack sputters unintelligently, “Ugh… no… I didn’t.” she professes as her cheeks turn an even deeper shade of red.
“Aha, and you don’t have any clothes Granny wouldn’t approve of? Say a pair of… extremely short, short shorts to catch some attention?”
Applejack crosses her arms and looks away, “Ah don’t know what your talkin’ about.”
“Oh yeah?” Adagio persists giving her sister in law few playful pokes in the stomach. The girl was tone that was for sure. “So, your closet isn’t full of clothes you just happen to ‘borrow’ from Rarity?”
“They were gifts! Rarity is always giving away things like that.” She defends hotly, much to Adagio’s delight as the siren leers closer, her Cheshire grin on full display. “What’s that look?”
“Nothing,” Adagio quips turning away. “I just find it amusing watching you struggle becoming a girl. Given your family, it’s no surprise. Nico was pretty formal and uptight, your mother well not uptight, wasn’t a loose dresser either and then you moved in with Granny who is ultra conservative in her view of how a lady should dress. Adding to the fact you were always doing chores and working. You didn’t have the finest tastes in clothes, you were Tomboy basically, and know your growing out of it.”
The shock in Applejack’s eyes told her all she needed to know.
“I’m guessing I hit the nail on the head?”
“Well,” Applejack said anxiously. “I have been appreciating Rarity’s view of fashion more recently, I guess. I mean her clothes are so soft and they look nice and I get…” Her blush deepens. “I get compliments. I did before, but lately folks especially boys have been calling me… cute and things like that.”
“Dawww, look at you. Your acting just like Aria did the first time she tried on a dress.” Adagio said ruffling Applejack’s hair. “Don’t worry. I’ll nurture you better than I did her.” She thought back to the girl Aria had been before discovering Punk Rock and sighs in dismay. Still, it was better than when they were all sporting afros and rollerblading.
Applejack looks at her confused, “What about Aria?”
“Nothing. Now I guess we should get going. We need to get over to Rarity’s and I need to call Maddie and see if she’s still coming. Can you put these clothes back? I need to round up Aria and Sonata and pay for our stuff. Don’t worry, I send all the pictures to your phone and delete them from mine. You can do what you want with them afterward.” As she made her way to the door Applejack calls out to her with a request. One that left her flabbergasted as she looks jaw smacked at the farm girl. “What was that?”
The farmgirl turns a shade of pink, looking like steam was going to come out of her ears as she spoke again, “Ah said if I picked out an outfit from here, would you hide it for me?”
The request brought a devious smile to the siren’s face, “Of course, what are corrupting sister in laws for?”
The girl’s rush out of the store and quickly place the black bags with a big pink E on the side under the truck tarp and all pile inside out of the cold. Adagio once again in the driver’s seat as the other three girl’s huddle together shivering as they wait for the truck to warm up.
“Told ya to bring an extra coat,” Adagio chides them as she snuggles into her big fluffy purple coat with a fur collar. “Alright next stop Rarity’s.” She exclaims pulling out of the curb. Explicit’s was always fun shopping. She was most eager to peek at what Applejack had bought. The blonde girl is very secretive about her purchase as she kept it hidden all throughout check out. From the continues redness of her freckled cheeks, it was something Granny nor Mac would approve of.
(I guess what they say about rotten apples is true,) Adagio grins to herself. Mac was bolder and much more fun, though she did miss the days when her teasing would fluster him speechless. She did like his pillow talk. (I wonder what effect I’ll have on little AJ? This should be interesting to watch.)
The corruption of her husband’s little sister aside. Adagio pulls onto the curb outsides Rarity’s boutique on main street. Quickly she checks her phone, finding no return calls or text from Maddie yet. Maybe the mad scientist chickened out?
(Well, maybe it was too soon to ask her out shopping right off the bat and on such short notice. Still, it’s weird she hasn’t called back yet, unless she’s in some place no service.)
Deciding that Maddie was a full grown woman and could take care of herself Adagio opens the door and darts for the curb as the others climb out the other side of the truck. A chilly wind blows through the street and they quickly enter Rarity’s store for warmth. Inside they were treated to an unexpected sight.
Fluttershy of all people was up on a fitting stand in her underwear with Rarity getting very familiar was she snakes her tape around the girl’s thigh. Perhaps the most surreal part was instead of Fluttershy freaking out or crying out or doing anything expected of Fluttershy. The yellow girl just blushed a light shade of pink, cleared her throat and continued to stand perfectly still for Rarity.
(Damn… when did she get some nerves?)
“I’m a mite busy at the moment girls, please, look around yourselves for a bit. I’ll be right with you.” Rarity said switching to measure Fluttershy’s waist. Aria and Sonata shrug going for the racks and racks of Rarity’s custom clothes. Adagio and Applejack stay at the door, looking curiously at the two. “Is there something I can help you two with? If you're looking for a custom fit I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until I’m done with Fluttershy here.”
“No, we’re fine.” Adagio replies glancing at the surrounding clothes, taking quick peeks at barely clothed Fluttershy. The shy girl was wearing a rather bold set of underwear, dark green, elaborate design. Dare she say they look like something that came from Explicit’s. She would never have thought Fluttershy would step foot in there again after the last time.
From the opposite side of the stand Applejack spoke up, “So Shy, you getting some new duds?”
“A whole new wardrobe!” Rarity said excitedly. “Fluttershy please suck in a bit, thank you. Yes, now, where was I? Oh yes! Fluttershy came to me this afternoon during school saying she wanted to reinvent herself. I’m happy to say and by no means is this meant to offend, but Fluttershy is ditching the ugly tank top and skirt to something much more eye-catching and in her own words, bolder! It’s really quite exciting. She even made the designs herself.”
Rarity paused in her measurements to hold up a stack of papers for Adagio and Applejack to see. The two took the sketches. A bit taken aback by the bold designs.
“That’s a lot of leg you have showing here Shy, you sure you're comfortable with that?” Applejack asks with concern, examining the drawing that was basically an extra-long sweater that barely went past the thighs.
“Don’t worry about it,” Fluttershy replied hotly with puffed cheeks.
“Ok, sorry.” Applejack said quickly backing up a bit. “It’s just a huge change. What brought this on?”
The expression on Fluttershy’s face was perplexing as about fifty different emotions ran across her face in an instant before returning to neutral. “Nothing major. I just thought it was time to grow up a bit. You’ve been changing too Applejack; did I question you why you suddenly want to take home everything Rarity makes you at camp?”
“Agh…ah… I concede your point.” Coming to the recuse Adagio grabs Applejack’s shoulder and leads her away to the racks.
“Come on, let’s find you something tasteful this time. I’ll buy.” Adagio says letting Applejack loose. She quickly checks her phone, disappointed to find no messages from Maddie. Ducking behind a rack in the corner she calls the mad scientist again. “Hey, it’s me. Look it’s ok if you decided to skip out, I’m not mad or anything. Ok, I’m a little annoyed your not returning my calls, but don’t mind that. We’ll try again some other time. Just make sure you keep us up to date. Wouldn’t want Sixes' seal to burn you alive, right? Heheha… yeah, just call us ok?” She hangs up the phone.
“Hey, Adagio come check this out!”
“Coming Applejack!”
The halls of Canterlot High were dark, most if not all the staff had gone home already, but yet there remains one light on in the building. The computer room. Where the faint blue of the computer screen glows softly in the darkness. Two people, one male, one female, sat in the dim room typing fiercely at their computers. They were Bright Idea and Velvet Sky. The two were playing a game. They controlled their characters, giggling beside themselves as they glance at each other exchanging in-game texts with each other. They had stayed after school to help fix some of the computers in the computer lab and they did. When they got done they just so happen to reward themselves by playing a few hours on their favorite MMORPG, League of Ponies, a game created by a certain student Techie club after a certain incident.
Bright Idea smirks as he moves his character across the screen. Having it playfully smack Velvet’s character on the butt. She sticks her tongue at him and returns the favor. Prompting them both to laugh. Their laughter came to end when a sound came from the hallway.
“What was that?” Velvet asks fearfully. Fearing one of the teachers decided to come back for some reason.
Cautiously Bright Idea gets up from his seat, turning his monitor off. He gestures for Velvet to do the same and they walk out of the way of the door. A shadow passes by, but it was too short to be a teacher.
“Who was that?” Velvet quietly asks, clinging to his shirt. He hushes her to be quiet and leads her through the dim standby lights to the adjoining room. Quietly and carefully opening the door they sneak into the teacher’s office/supply room where the spare parts are kept. Feeling around in complete darkness they find the door that leads to the hall. Opening the door, they peer out into the hall, where the dim glow of the safety lights reveal that the mysterious person was nowhere to be seen.
“I don’t know how they got in, but let’s get out of here.” Bright whispers pulling Velvet by the hand. His blood running all over this body as they quickly jog down the hall. He was embarrassed by how flustered he was getting, but he was holding the girl he fancies hand. And acting semi-heroic in this creepy situation they were in.
Rounding the corner, they head for the door Mr. Gizmo left open for them to their cars. A loud crash comes from behind them and they run faster, as fast as nerds can run, for the door. Bright Idea reaches forward, ready to push the door open only for them to end up crashing right into the door! Velvet crashing into his back.
“What’s wrong?” She cries as he tries the door again, but it wouldn’t unlatch, it was locked!
“We’re locked in! Let’s try another door!” He quickly suggests, his heart racing. Then he hears it. The rhythmic footsteps of the other late-night interloper. For a second Bright thought, they should just calm down and see who else was here. After all judging from the shadow, the intruder had to be another student. They could just talk to them and be on their way, but as the footstep drew closer, a chill ran down his spine. The very air became cooler and Velvet held herself against his body shivering. Their breaths visible in the air.
“Bright, I’m scared,” Velvet shivers.
“Don’t worry, quickly into the old gym!” Barreling through the side door Bright Pulls Velvet inside. Only for her suddenly scream as her hand slips from his. “Vel!” He screams whipping around as the door slams shut. He hurriedly opens the door running back into the hall with his fist clenched tight. He looks around for Velvet but doesn’t see her. Then he hears the showers running.
Carefully he approaches the locker rooms. The noise coming from the girl’s side. He enters, eyes darting warily as he enters the first part. So far nothing, so he proceeds to the showers. Tiptoeing he enters the showers and sees… Velvet wrapped by a giant black snake!
“Vel!” He screams running into the showers. He tries to pull the snake off Velvet, but it snaps its jaws at him, hugging the girl tighter. She lets out a haggard cough as the snake coils around her torso. The snake was coiled entirely around Velvet’s body, it’s long black body coiling around her limbs before wrapping around her torso and around her neck, the last two feet hovering hover her head, keeping him at bay. The damn thing was twenty no maybe forty feet long! “Let her go!” He grabs for the head, but the snake’s jaws snap at him, making him pulls his hand back.
“Careful, the last person to do that is dying on the floor.” A voice says behind him. Bright’s head whips around, but the person speaking was on the other side of the wall. He get’s up, walking towards the voice. “Stop, don’t come any closer or your little girlfriend will be strangled to death.”
Bright stops. Shakily he looks to Velvet who looks at him with tear-filled eyes. He gulps, turning back towards the voice. “What do you want?”
A black hand appears through the entrance, holding a USB drive. “I want you to look at whats on this for me. Do it and you and the girl walk out of here. Answer quick, my pet gets hungry.”
Trembling Bright clenches his fist and glares at the hand. “Fine, I’ll do it.”
“Excellent, come to the computer room. I’ll be waiting there.”
Not wasting anytime Bright Idea races for the computer lab. A cold shiver of dread rising in his stomach as he eyes gaze at the darkened hall. The owner of the black hand, there was no sight of them! They weren’t behind him nor did he hear any footsteps racing ahead of him, they were just gone! Skidding to a stop at the computer lab door, Bright Idea sees the computer he had been playing on earlier with the monitor on. Cautiously he enters the room, finding the USB in question already resting on the keyboard. Yet he saw no one else in the lab. Inserting the hard drive into the USB port he waits for the files to load.
(There’s so much data on this thing.)
“Ok, now what?” He asks aloud. From the shadows his torturer’s voice speaks, making him shiver. He couldn’t determine the sex of the person in the shower because of the water running, but he could hear a feminine tinge the voice now, overlaid with another deeper more sinister voice as if two people were talking at once.
“Decrypt the files, and organize them into the following folders, ingredients, formulas, maps, artifacts, and profiles. I had to rush downloading these, so everything is in such a mess. I’m sure someone with your skills can figure this out, in oh, twenty minutes?”
“Twenty minutes? No one can do that! What do you think all nerds are like hackers in the movies? We just randomly hit keys and stuff happens?” The shadowy woman growls making him freeze up. There were some mumbles as if she was talking to someone else.
“Fine, what is the minimal amount of time you’ll need?”
Bright ran the calculations in his head. If he could identify which file type needs to go where he could run a program that would automatically sort the files. It would be faster than doing it by hand at least. “An hour or less give or take.
There was more growling in the corner and some hissing, something slithers across the body of the shadow. Was it another snake? Bright wonders as he already begins setting up the program. He might as well start.
“What is the fastest you can get it done?” The voice demands.
“About thirty minutes to an hour? Depending on how fast my program can sort the files.”
“Program?”
“Yes, I created a sorting program for the teachers a while ago to help them organize the network's files. It works the same way as ANTI-Scan does by reading through the file codes. Files of the same type or category will be placed into the same folder and…”
“You don’t need to explain the damn thing for me to understand you just made yourself useless.” From the shadows out flies a snake, knocking Bright Idea upside the head and sending him crashing to the floor unconscious. Out from the darkness the snakes’ master, Rainbow Dash, emerges as she gleefully watches Bright Idea’s program organize all the information she had stolen from Maddie’s hard drives. It wasn’t just Maddie’s data either, but her father’s, Madhoof’s.
With a twirl of her finger Rainbow connects to the computer via magic and mentally sorts out the information she desired most. Thanks to Bright Idea’s program it was like the computer was part of her brain turning what would have been a thirty-minute job into seconds as five folders appear on the screen before her. Eagerly she opens the artifact and maps folders. Her grin widening as she obverses the information before her.
Ejecting the USB Rainbow playfully tosses in her hands as she walks out into the hall. Passing the locker room, the other part of Ebony slithers out and crawls up her leg, rejoining with the other half. Outside the school, she holds the USB up to the moonlight in victory.
“With this, we’re ready.”
Maddie stirs, her body stiff and sore, it hurt to even wiggle. Still, despite her pain, especially the pain in her right hand, she was warm and snug as a bug in her bed. Which made her double take because the last she remembers she was lying on the cold floor the lab, overdosing on magic narcotics. How did she end up in her bed?
“The fuck happened after I passed out?” Raising up from the bed, which hurt, like a thousand needles were poking her spine and the needles were on fire. Maddie leans against the wall, the act of sitting up too taxing on her body at the moment. Curiously atop her sheets was a jacket. A heavy tawny color jacket with a fur collar. Slowly and carefully she picks it up, lifting it closer to her face. On the sleeve was a patroller patch and the sign for infinity.
A voice comes from the kitchen, “Hey, you’re up.”
Maddie looks towards the doorway, tears welling up in her eyes, “What are you doing here?”
Moondancer smiles as she fully enters the bedroom, smiling warmly as she kneels beside Maddie’s bed. Taking the mad scientist’s hands, she inspects Maddie’s injured hand, a huge scar running down between her middle and ring finger to the wrist.
“Hmm, seems the damage was too great to heal in one go or maybe something is wrong with your nerves. Can you feel anything when I do this?” Moondancer squeezes Maddie’s hand, the mad scientist wincing as more tears roll down her cheeks. “Oh, sorry, did I squeeze too hard?”
Maddie shakes her head, sending tears flying everywhere, “No,” She sobs, now actually crying. “It’s not that. It’s… it’s you didn’t answer my question. Why are you here? How did you know I was here?”
“Oh, well I got a strange call saying you were in trouble, so I came to see if you were alright.”
Mac opens the mailbox, pulling the newspaper and several letters out. Climbing back into the idling pick up he drives with his knees down the driveway flipping through the letters.
“Bill, bill, bill, junk mail, junk mail, Taco’s Weekly, Punk Rock Monthly, Not so Secret Vicky’s, and bill.” Tossing the stack of envelopes and magazines onto the seat Mac pulls up to the house. Shutting off the truck he grabs the stack and walks into the house. Turning into the kitchen he passes out the magazines to their respected subscribers, tosses the letters on the counter for now and unfolds the paper as Adagio places a plate of eggs and toast in front of him. “Thanks, Babe.”
“Your welcome,” Adagio chimes sweetly, kissing him on the cheek. Leaning back, she ogles at him, a wide smirk dancing on her lips as she leans her head on her hand. “So, did you like the new additions to my collection?”
He chuckles, turning the page as Sonata and Aria gag, Mac takes a bite of toast. Adagio’s finger tapping the table restlessly as she waits for his reply. “It was pretty good.”
“The toast or the Lingerie?”
“Both,” He answers smugly.
“Well, maybe next time I’ll make breakfast in it.”
Mac chuckles again, imagining the scene, “I wouldn’t mind I guess.”
Adagio groans laying her face on the table, “Ugh! You’re no fun to tease anymore! I’ve corrupted you too well!”
“You were a good teacher,” Mac turns the page again. Across the table, Aria groans loudly.
“For the love of god, just go fuck again if you haven’t done it enough already! Replace that damn squeaky spring before you do though! Damn thing kept me up all night!” The pink siren complains drowning her coffee in one go. Slamming the cup on the table Aria stands up straight and marches towards the door, “I’m going to go do chores.”
Sonata’s sighs, “Aww, we didn’t even get to talk about yesterday.” She smiles at Mac. “It was super fun! I wish you hadn’t been asleep when we got home, Mac. The look on Applejack’s face was hilarious!”
“Adagio gave me the highlights in bed,” Mac says turning the page, his eyes skimming over the daily markets and projections. “Doing all the chores myself and going through the bills and taxes was more exhausting then I thought it’d be. That little coach in the office was a little too tempting after a while.” Mac chuckles remembering Adagio waking him up to come to bed last night. Taking the moment to display some of her purchases. However, before things could get hot and heavy he and Adagio made a phone call to Nurse Nyx to find out it was ok. Her response was an angry ‘yes’ followed by a list of things that could happen, but usually yes, followed by another angry shout of ‘you can google some of this shit’ and then she hung up.
“Speaking of yesterday,” Mac continues, “We need to go by and barrow Jubilee Stock trailer and bring in some of those cows this morning. After that, we’ll need to hang around town a bit.”
“What do we need to do in town?” Sonata asks picking up her empty plate. Mac turning the newspaper towards to reveal an article, “Another house disappears, residents missing.”
“That’s not the only strange one,” Mac folds the paper, showing another article. “Three owners killed by dogs, possible links to illegal cockfights.”
Adagio takes the paper, reading it for herself, “Hmm, shouldn’t these have been on the news last night?”
“We didn’t watch the news remember?” Mac reminds her, causing her to blush.
“Oh, right.”
Mac folds the paper, laying it on the table, “Well Sonata, we better go help Aria and get those cows loaded, if we want to get to town before noon.”
Sonata nods excited, “Uh ah.”
“Hey, will you guys be back for dinner?” Adagio calls after them as Mac and Sonata pull their boots on at the door. Her husband’s brow scrunching down in thought.
“Hmm… good question. Probably not, we’ll eat in town and see if we can’t hear and rumors at one of the diners or cafes. You can ride along if you want. You don’t have to stay here.”
“I know, you don’t need to worry about me,” Adagio says walking over to Mac and kissing his lips. “I’ll give you a call before noon and drive myself into town if I decide to go. I might go over to Miss Cherry Jubilee’s for a bit this morning. She’s been prodding me about hanging out for a while.”
“Careful she just might become your new best friend,” Mac jokingly warns. Miss Jubilee wasn’t a bad person to be around, but she was too much to handle sometimes.
“Yeah, yeah, she’s not that bad.” Adagio retorts pushing the two out the door. “See you guys later!”
The smell of the stockyard was stifling as Mac backs the pickup up to the gate. Checking his mirrors, he sees Aria and Sonata wave for him to back up more. Gently he taps the gas, inching the truck and trailer closer, the girls cross their arms, yelling for him to stop. The trailer lights shine on the metal cattle shoot and the girls pull the gates to either side of the trailer, chaining the gates to the trailer Sonata steps up three rails and unlatched the trailer gate.
From the other side of the trailer, Aria yells, cursing up a storm as she pounds the side of the aluminum trailer. The old Chevy’s suspension bucks as the eleven hundred to fourteen hundred steers stampede out the back of the trailer. Turning into a congested mob of black and white as they sort themselves through the gates. Sale barn employees urge them on, leading them through gates to corrals. Once the cattle were through, an employee shuts the gate behind them, allowing Aria and Sonata to undo the chains.
Mac pulls ahead giving the girls a quick salute as he pulls out of the way. Parking in the wide-open gravel lot. Mac shuts off the truck and steps into the mud in his rubber boots and makes his way to the office.
Inside the office, the stench of tobacco smoke lingers in the air, a big hefty man in a white suit and cowboy hat sat at the messy desk, puffing the last bits of his cigar. The man was the owner of the sale barn, and also the local rodeo host. His peach skin was wrinkled with age, he was probably in his seventies, but his blue eyes twinkled with excitement and ambition. The man took one look at Mac and smiled wide, showing off his yellow stained teeth.
“Well, Ah’ll be! If it isn’t Macintosh! How you have grown boy! You look just like a young Bailey! Come in, come in, sit down! You want a soda pop or are you finally old enough for whiskey? Ah myself prefer whiskey of course!” The man heartily laughs pouring himself a glass from the bottle hidden under his desk. He offers the bottle to Mac, who politely refuses.
“I’m still underage sir,” Mac informs him. The old man laughing as he replaces the bottle. “Yes, yes, I suppose. You look so much like Bailey, I kind of forget how young you actually are. I suppose some Root Beer will do you fine?”
“Three actually,” Aria says as she and Sonata enter the office. Her nose wrinkling at the smell.
“Oh ho, seems the rumors were true! You got yourself a little herd of ladies Mac!” The old man rolls his chair across the floor, pulling three cans of Root Beer from the fridge and rolling back over to the deck to hand them to the three.
“Thanks, Mr. Colonel,” Mac says popping the tap. “These are my sisters-in-laws, this is Aria, and this is Sonata. My wife Adagio is at home at the moment.”
The Colonel laughs, “Well, if these are her sisters, then I have no doubts you reeled in a catch son! But I suppose you want to be getting down to business, huh Macintosh? Let’s see… ah… I just got your sale bill here, one of the boys just brought it to me. Give me a second here, ah here it is! Let’s see, ah… eight head, price of $115.45, the weight of the cattle versus the weight of your rig, about $1215.00 a head, so $8,505 total. Here’s your check, son.”
Mac takes the check, feeling a bit down by the amount. It wasn’t anything, but the price wasn’t what it used to be. At this rate, he was barely breaking even after the price of feed.
“Thanks, Colonel.”
“Don’t sound so down Mac, the markets will pick up… some time here. Just stick it out.” The Colonel said joyfully, but his true feelings were revealed in his eyes. “Yeah, things will pick up here, anytime.” The old man shook himself, taking a quick gaze at the clock. “Hmm, almost noon, you three staying into town for dinner?”
“Yeah,” Mac replies, “We have some other things to do. Adagio might join in if Cherry Jubilee didn’t stuff her full of cherry pie this morning. Why’d you ask?”
“Ah, no real reason. I was just going to recommend you go down to Night Riders, it’s the food joint that also serves as the VFW for the town. Good food, locally used beef, half of the profit goes to the VFW, it recently became open to all the public, so I’m just trying to spread the word around. Just make sure you enter on the east side. The west wing is for Veterans exclusively. The east was for Biker’s, but with the Riding season coming to an end they need to cast a wider net.”
“I’ll give it a consideration.” Mac takes his check and the half-drunken soda towards the door, stopping short as the Colonel hollers at him one last time.
“You might see some familiar faces there too. I’m sure there are some folks there that wouldn’t mind seeing how you’d grown.”
Mac glances at the portly old man with a curious look, but Colonel was already rifling through his papers again. Walking to the truck Mac and the girls climb, sitting silently for a moment as they think about what to do.
“That guy seemed strange,” Sonata says.
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Sonata. The question is why was he so keen on getting you to go to the VFW?” Aria ponders, noticing Mac’s grip tighten around the steering wheel. “What’s wrong?”
Mac’s grip loosens at the question and he takes a breath, his shoulder’s slumping low. “Nothing. Going to the VFW wouldn’t be a bad idea. The old guys there probably hear a lot rumors around town, it wouldn’t be a bad place to pick up some intel. Most of them are probably the husbands of your usual sources. And it’s not a bad place to eat either.”
“You’ve been there before?”
“Yeah, at least I think so,” Mac said with a frown, getting nothing but static in his brain when he tries to recall the bar. “Come on, let’s find a spot for the trailer and head over there.” Unhooking the trailer next to a line of other trailers. Mac heads downtown towards the VFW post. On the way, Mac has a feeling a déjà vu as he passes some familiar landmarks. Such as Veteran’s park and Mr. Swirl’s ice cream parlor. Images of a feminine blue hand handing him an ice cream cone flash through his mind, scenes of him playing the park waving to tall shadowed figures. He sees his mother smiling, another woman laughing, and two men in the background, one was his father, the other was red skin man smoking. A loud voice screams in excitement, a four-year-old AJ runs past him, running to his father and the other man.
(Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Feri! Look at what I got!) AJ says unclasping her hands, a butterfly escaping from her fingers. His dad and the man chuckle ruffling her hair.
“Mac… Hey MAC!” Aria shouts breaking Mac free of the memory.
“Ugh… yeah, what is it?” Mac asks swiping the sweat from his brow.
“Um, we're here?” Sonata says leaning towards him with concern. “Are you sick? You’re not looking well.”
Mac brushes her hand way, pinching the peak of his nose. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just… I don’t know feeling nostalgic is all.”
“Your nostalgic about a VFW Biker bar?” Aria questions. “What kind of parties did you have that we don’t know about?”
Mac looks across the street from where they were parked. A crowd of leather wearing riders stood outside despite the cool weather, smoking in front of the east half of the building. While on the west side a line of Veterans in and out of uniform smoke.
More images flash through his mind. One of him sitting on a bar stool, his father on one side next to him with his arms around his mother. A gray tone barkeep cleans a glass, passing it to the person next to him. He looks over, seeing a much younger Luna cuddled against the red skin man from before, but he couldn’t make out his face. He looks to his father, asking for something, his dad shaking his head no. From the other side, a red hand appears, dropping a dollar in quarters in his hands and he runs of the bar stool.
“Ok, this is the second time you’ve thousand yard stared off into the distance, what’s going on Mac?” Aria demands shaking him from his… daydream, vision? He wasn’t sure what was happening. It’s like he’s remembering something he had forgotten.
(Or maybe something I was forced to forget?) Mac wonders as he steps down onto the road.
Approaching the east side of the building the three pass the bikers, all wearing the same patch, a skull with a lightning bolt striking the top of the skull and wings unfurling from behind the skull. It looked like any other biker patch, but to Mac and the girls, it seems familiar. They eye the patch, while the bikers in turn eye the unicorn skull and wings on Mac’s arm. At first, they thought there was going to be trouble until a big burly old biker drunkenly salutes them.
“I’ve seen that patch before,” The big man laughs rolling up on his feet. Swaggering over to the trio the biker pokes his fat finger on Mac’s shoulder. The younger man tensing, ready for anything. “Your Nico’s little boy aren’t you!”
Eyes from both sides, Biker and Veteran turn towards them. The girls huddle closer to Mac, back to back in case a brawl was about to break out. Noticing what they were doing the big biker waves his hand for them stop.
“Sorry, sorry didn’t mean to spook ya! You’re among friends. Sorry to hold ya up, it’s just (HICCUP!) that patch brings back memories.” The old biker looks sad as he shuffles away.
“I think we're about to get more than we bargained for Mac,” Aria whispers, but Mac doesn’t heed her words and continues to the door. Inside Mac makes for the booth in the corner, his back against the wall and his eyes on both the rear and front door. It was an old cowboy trick prevent getting shot in the back. Usually, he wasn’t worried about that, but this crowd… had him uncertain. There was a feeling of unease despite the warm welcome.
The waitress came and took their orders. All of them ordering Cheeseburgers and fries and Dr. Peppers. While they wait Mac checks his phone. There was a text from Adagio saying Cherry Jubilee invited her to dinner at her place, so she wouldn’t be coming to town. He texts, ok, back and sets his phone down. A wink and kiss emoji appears before the phone locks and he lightly chuckles, sending an ‘I love you too’.
“You ever worry you and Adagio don’t argue enough? Your both so lovely dovely all the time, it’s probably not healthy for your relationship,” Aria says bored as she digs at the table with her nail.
“We don’t like to fight in front of the kids,” Was Mac’s reply unlocking his phone to check the news. Aria and Sonata looked confused by his comment before they realize he was talking about them.
“Hey!” They both retort in mock offense.
Ignoring their pouty glares Mac flips through the local news. Nothing new about the second house disappearance, except the landowner confirmed he was renting the place to shady looking guys name Snitch and Rat, both were still missing. Some news anchors were suspecting they might be the cause of the diamond dust, but the argument was quickly shot down. Some others were speculating that the two might have been inside the house and are now dust in the wind. This for all intents and purposes was probably the truth. Not that anyone could prove it.
Setting his phone back down Mac happen to glance at the bar stools. The same from his earlier vision. “Sonata, go work you charm at the bar counter. See what you can find out.”
The blue siren looks curious at him, shrugging as she shimmies out of the booth. “Ok, am I looking for anything specific? Besides the diamond dust houses and the fire, I mean?”
“Yeah, ask anyone if they knew my dad’s friends. Or if Luna’s ever come in here.” Sonata gave a surprised look, but none the less nods and walks off.
“Call me when the foods here!”
Mac leans back rubbing his brow, his mind a swirl of mixed thoughts and emotions. He wants to sit back and try and sort everything out, but the pouty look Aria was sporting should probably be addressed.
“What’s wrong?” He asks the pink siren. A shade pink appears on Aria’s cheeks as she rests her head in her arms on the table.
“Why’d you say Sonata has charm? Does that imply I don’t?”
“What? Why would you… where is this coming from? Sonata’s bubbly, people find her easier to talk too because they think she’s a ditzy girl. Which is kind of true, but that’s beside the point.” Mac rubs his temple. It was a joke before, but Aria and Sonata did feel like his and Adagio’s children sometimes. There were clear issues that have been festering for the past thousand years. They should be addressed, he just wasn’t sure why he was one that needs to address them. “Look if you want you can go up to the bar too. You don’t need my permission. Besides some of these guys might be your type.”
“What’s that mean?” Aria snaps.
“I don’t know. You dress like a punk, I’m kind of shoe balling, but bikers might be into that. I don’t know, what do you want from me here?”
Aria grunts, standing up, “Nothing I guess.” She walks away, joining Sonata at the bar, who was chatting it up with three guys. Including the bartender.
“Those two are popular.” A voice says.
“Yeah, I guess,” Mac’s brow frowns. “Wait…” his head whips around coming face to face with Officer Red Alert of Cloudsdale PD. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be on duty and in Cloudsdale?” Red Alert shrugs and sits down across from Mac, “I would like to be, but I’m on paid leave till the media buzz dies down. The chief is looking to transfer me and others from the camp incident. They’re thinking of sending some of us to Canterlot Central. I don’t like the city so I’m looking at housing here since it’s so close and a lot cheaper. Wouldn’t think I’d see you guys again… well ever. Is that sword lady nearby too?”
“Kira went back home, if you happen to see her again I’d suggest you get away. Last time was just supposed to be her vacation. You wouldn’t want to be around when she’s actually here on a job.” The office chuckles nervously, “I see. Um… what was her job again and where is she from?” Mac’s own brow frowns, what was Kira’s job again, she was a night patroller sure, but didn’t she say she was a queen to or something? “It’s probably better you don’t know. I imagine you want to stay out of the weird stuff, right?”
“I suppose you are right,” Red Alert laughs, “Kind of late for that now though.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing, nothing, just muttering to myself. Look it’s been nice talking to you again kid, be safe on your… business.” Red Alert scoots out the booth as the waitress arrives with the food. Aria and Sonata take notice and wave goodbye to their new friends. They sit down and the three begin to eat.
“Find anything out?” Mac asks between bites of his hamburger. Colonel was right, this was good beef.
Sonata smiles cheekily, while Aria blushes. “Well…” she beings jovially bumping Aria in the shoulder. “Ari go some date requests for playing the cutesy punk girl. She even gave out her number.” Aria blushes, “Shut up, Sonata.” Only encouraging the blue girl’s smiling, to which Mac shakes his head.
“Ok, that’s great. Anything relevant.”
Aria coughs, clearing her cheeks of any redness, “Yes, from what we gathered the victims of the house fire were part of the Del Rio Toro Gang like the news said. They were a new gang on the block, but they’ve been promptly wiped out of the area after that fire. Rumor is some new gang took over and are keeping any more gangs from coming in, but nobody knows what gang it is.”
“Some believe it’s a biker gang,” Sonata chimes in. “Like the Hell’s Angels or Warlocks or something like that since guys riding Harleys were at every attack, but there hasn’t been an increase in the number of bikers in the area bearing any of those patches.” Mac glances behind the girls at the bikers, The Night Riders, besides their patches many of them wore veteran patches too. They were local guys, they probably wouldn’t take kindly to gangs in the community.
“Who’s the leader of Night Riders?” He asks the girls, Aria and Sonata look beside themselves and shrug. “Really?”
“Nobody would tell us!” Aria shouts, quickly she covers her mouth, realizing she was being too loud. Softly she says, “The guys were pretty tight-lipped. They didn’t really talk about their leader and when they did they just called him boss.”
“His office just up the stairs through,” Sonata adds, gesturing to the stairway the bathroom was located under. No one was guarding it, but it wasn’t really a way to sneak up without being seen.
“We might have to try and get up there before we go,” Mac says, “Anything on the Dust houses?”
The girls shrug, taking bites of the hamburger, “Nothing really, except that their owners were low lives. One of the guys lives in the same area as the second house. The guys that were leaving there were and sorry for the lingo but this dude was old. He said they were greaser types, slick hair and leather jackets with no patches. Probably didn’t work an honest wage. They’d be gone for most of the week in the city when they’d come back they party hard. Really hard. Cocaine off a hooker’s thigh hard.”
“Ok, that was very detailed and I’m questioning how this guy knows all that, but that doesn’t really answer my question. What reason would a monster have to destroy these houses?”
“Maybe it’s not the houses,” Sonata suggests, “Maybe it’s the people. If this monster is intelligent and I’m saying pony, I mean human, level intelligence, then it would pick out victims people wouldn’t care were gone and do it in a way that wouldn’t leave any evidence.”
“By turning a house to diamond dust?”
Aria shrugs, “Some creatures have to work with what nature gave them. For all, we know this thing craps rubies and eats livers.”
“Well, it’s a start. I’m going go to the veteran’s side. Sonata try to distract the crowd. Aria, why don’t you go see if you can get a look at the boss’s office?”
“Will do!”
“Fine.”
Mac finishes off his fries and drink, leaving a tip and heads for the cash register. Sonata goes up to the bar again, her jacket tucked under her arm and the top three buttons of her flannel shirt undone. She was wearing work clothes, she had to add a bit more sugar to her act. Aria goes and stands at the bottom of the stairs, pretending to mess with her phone. After a quick glance to see if anyone was watching she hurries up the stairs, disappearing into the shadows. At the stop by the office door, she sighs, finding another set of stairs that leads to the back alley.
“Well, that would have made things easier.” She mutters sourly. Turning the knob, she finds it locked. Taking a second look around for any unwitting eyes, she grins as she creates a spark of pink lightning on her fingertip. Jamming her nail into the door lock she gives it a good twist, the door creaking open. “Easy as pie.”
Stepping inside the office Sonata focus magic into her pupils giving her night vision. The office was… rustic? If there was a word of it. It wasn’t so much an office as home apparently. There was a bed, a bathroom, and even a shower. Approaching the bed Aria tries to get a scent, her nose clear now, she instantly recoils. She only got three things off the sheets, tobacco, Alcohol, and sex. She was not touching it!
“Ok, anything else?” Softly as to not make noise Aria tiptoes over to the closet, opening the sliding door and… “Holy shit, this guy as a lot of guns! He even has more then we do! Holy crap… is that C4! What else does he have? M16, Grizzly Big Bore, 300 Winchester magnums, glad to see we have similar tastes in sniper rifles, um let’s see what else… Uzi, AK-74, half a dozen different pistols, machete, bow and arrow, UMP, jeez, where did they get all this?”
Softly closing the door Aria walks over to the desk, scanning the top of the mountain of papers, but not daring to touch anything. Mostly it was bills and expenses for the restaurant. Aria was about to take her leave when she saw the wall of pictures and a glass case where a claymore was on display and a long coat with a patroller patch with the number 0756. In a daze Aria approaches the display, running her fingers along the well-used blade. Her eyes wander the wall of pictures, landing on one with Nico Vega and two other men and she shivers at the sight of them. Realizing just who owns this bar.
“Shit, it those guys,” Aria curses rubbing the right side of her neck, where the blade before her had once almost cleaved her neck from her body. “How’d I forget about these assholes.” A load creak and door slam brought her back to reality. Outside the sound of heavy thunderous steps climbing up the backdoor, stairs had her sweating bullets. The footsteps were halfway up the stairs, with little choice she hurries to the bathroom pulling her hair bands loose as she shuts the bathroom door as the office door opens.
“Didn’t we lock the door?” A deep voice asks as two sets of feet enter the office. Another voice says, “I thought we did. Maybe one of the waitresses came up to deposit the money in the safe. It is past noon.”
“Hey, the bathroom lights are on.” The first voice says. There was the familiar sound of ‘click, click’ indicating the loading of a bullet into a semi-automatic pistol. The duo of feet marches towards the bathroom door, bursting it open with a swift kick.
“EAAAKKK!” Aria lets out high pitch scream, her loose hair covering her face as her hands cover her neither’s, her pants dropped around her ankles as she sits on the toilet. The door slams shut, the faces of the two men a deep red as they disappear behind the door. A small smirk plays on her lips as she pulls up her pants. Looking in the mirror Aria adjusts her expression, channeling frighten girl, so Fluttershy, and meekly steps outside between the two men, who were looking anywhere but at her.
“I’m sorry, the bathroom downstairs was taken (Sob) and I really needed to go, (sob) I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to come up here. I’m sorry.” She cries with tears coming down her face. Plucking her lips, she gives her voice a little stutter to help sell the act. “I’ll… I’ll be going now!” She runs for the door, being sure to run as girly as possible. Fragility was the key. She was about home free when a voice and strong grip grabs her by the shoulder.
“Now just hold on here girly,” A voice said, belonging to the ashen gray man with blue hair. “Sorry about the scare there, but this is area is for personal only. Who let you up here? And just who are you? You seem familiar…. Have we meant? I’m Stryker Six, my friend over there is Ferocious. We kind of run this place. And it’s kind of his home, so he gets a little touchy about uninvited guests. But back on track, who let you up here?”
“Um, ah…” Shit, what does she do now? “I’m…Ari... I don’t know who let me up here. I just ran up to one of the staff since the bathroom was busy. They said I could use the one up here if the door was unlocked. Saying you’d probably be in here if it was. When I opened the door, no one here, so I just went ahead and relieved myself and then you…” Aria fibs making sure to keep her bangs over her eyes and her face away from Stryker.
“Ok, ok we get it. Again, sorry for the scare, but we’re not in the position to take chances.” Stryker’s grip loosens releasing her shoulder, as he pulls his arm back the back of his hand brushes against her cheek and his thumb knocks away her bangs for a brief moment, giving each other, a quick clear look of each other’s faces. Aria’s cheeks burn red as she looks away, staring at the floor, a shivering running throughout her body as the strong scent of stallion clings to her cheek. “Well, that’s it. You probably want to be getting back downstairs. A girl like you must have a boyfriend waiting right?”
“Well, actually,” Aria stutters. She was stuttering! Why was she stuttering these guys will kill her if they find out who she is! “I don’t have a boyfriend.” Her hands intertwine, her body posed in a cutesy fashion as a single velvet eye peaks out from her bangs as she eyes the ashen color man. “You could say I’m browsing the market.” Stryker laughs heartily, while Ferocious grunts in disgust. Stryker shooting his friend a ‘shut up’ glare as he faces Aria again, business card in hand. “Well, if you ever get tired of searching or just find yourself in trouble give me a call. I’ll be there quicker the lightning.”
“Thank you,” Aria clasps the business card in her palm and quickly exits the room before her stupid mating instincts get her trouble. She ran all the way down the stairs, nearly crashing into Sonata who was waiting at the bottom with a worried look.
“Hey, where’s the fire?”
“Never mind that, let's go, where’s Mac?”
“He’s still on the Vet’s side. What’s going on? You look nervous and are you blushing?”
Aria growls, “Never mind, I’m going to go wait in the truck. Tell Mac when he’s done or better yet go get him. We need to leave, now!” Sonata stood stunned as Aria all but ran, well not ran, more like a brisk walk, out the door and across the street to the pickup, just as Mac rounds the corner.
“Check’s paid, is Aria back yet?” He asks looking around for the raspberry color siren. Sonata points outside. “Yeah, she ran for the truck, talking like a madwoman. She seems kind of spooked for some reason.”
Mac frowns, “Well let’s go find out what’s wrong then.”
In the truck, Aria tries to fight off her shivers. Not shivers of fear, but shivers of excitement as she looks at the name on the business card she was given. “Detective Stryker Six, Central CPD… nononono! He tried to kill you! Well, Ferocious did, but Stryker tried to kill Sonata in the past! But we tried to kill them too… urgh! Stupid feelings! Go back in your box!”
“Uh… Aria? Is something wrong?” Sonata asks entering the truck, pushing Aria to the middle, so she was squished between her blue sister and Mac. Discreetly Arai slips the business card into her pocket as Mac pulls out onto the road. “Did something happen up there? What’d you find out?”
Aria opens her mouth, about to speak, only to falter in her words. “Um… nothing… nothing at all. It was just a messy gross office that the owner is using as living quarters. Dirty laundry everywhere you know? Stunk in there too. I barely got out of there when the owner came through the back door as I was leaving.”
Mac and Sonata look at each other, their expressions morphing by the second as the process her lie. Her fists tighten. Worried she was going to be called out, she acted too unusual for them to just brush it off.
“Um, ok… must have been pretty bad in there then,” Sonata slowly, her tone indicating she only half brought Aria’s story. “So, who was the owner?”
“Oh, just some old veteran guy, a pipe smoker, the office reeks of tobacco. I don’t think he saw me leave. So, we should be safe.” She looks nervous between her sister and brother in law, her smile stressed, why was she lying? Why was she going so far to cover up meeting Stryker and Ferocious? No, not Ferocious, just Stryker.
(You want him all to yourself, lest someone steals him like Adagio stole Mac.) A voice in her head told her. She wants to deny that claim, but maybe it was the truth. She was jealous of Adagio for having Mac and jealous of how easily Sonata gets attention. She was tired of being left with just her sister’s scarps!
“Aria!”
“Ugh, what?” She says quickly, shaking away her dangerous thoughts. “What Mac?”
Mac sighs at having to repeat himself, but Aria was defiantly acting strange, “I said are you sure there was nothing else up there?”
"Like?”
“Pictures of my dad or anything strange. I’m sure he has a connection to that place. Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”
The wall of pictures, the jacket with the patch, and the sword came to mind, but Aria just looks ahead at the road, saying, “Nope, I’m sure.” As they drive further and further away from the bar.
Rarity hums rhythmically folding Fluttershy’s order neatly into their packaging. Her pink hair friend would so be over to pick up the order and she wants everything to be perfect. Checking her watch Rarity had slight frown as she looks at the time. Fluttershy was taking a bit longer than expected to get there. Rarity hopes she gets here soon, she had other things to do tonight after closing shop.
The bell on the door rings, Rarity turns around and smiles at the sight a flustered Fluttershy panting at the doorway. “Sorry, I’m late. I got busy with something else.”
“Oh, no worries dear here is your order. I must say learning how to levitate thing with my magic has been a lifesaver. It’s like having a hundred hands!” Rarity laughs handing the clothes over to their new owner. Her finger touches Fluttershy’s prompting a jolt of magic to spark between them. The fashionista takes several steps back, feeling something, she hadn’t felt the other day when taking Fluttershy’s measurements. She eyes the yellow girl, who does same, setting the bag of clothes aside, the two circle each other like alley cats. Fluttershy’s light blue eyes turning blood red, her ears becoming pointed and her nails become claws. A green snake emerges from under the other girl’s shirt and flies at her!
Smirking Rarity lifts her arm, her own white and purple snake, flying out of her hand. The two snakes coiled around each other, battling as they try to sink their fangs into the other. Each one freezing in a stalemate as their fangs bite into the other's neck.
“So, you’ve awakened too,” Fluttershy hisses, now fully transformed into her bat form. The same form she gained from Maddie’s experiments. “What’s your name? Or are you still a blank slate?”
Rarity turns up her nose, “As if I would not name myself. Call me Vanity. What are you? Flutterbat?”
Fluttershy growls, angrily flashing her fangs, “Envy. But let’s cut the formalities, are you going to get in my way?”
“Depends on what you plan on doing sister.”
“Big sister, I was created before you, you’re just the runt, remember?”
Vanity twitches, grinding her teeth as she glares at Envy, crystals growing down her fingers forming razor-sharp claws. “Don’t get ahead of yourself BIG sister, I might just find myself one sibling short.”
“Give it a try!”
“With pleasure beast!”
Before the two could move the snakes broke apart and bit their respective masters in the ankle. Envy and Vanity both hiss as the snake’s black venom flows into their blood, relaxing their bodies. The girls retract their claws. Lowering their arms, they urge the snakes climb up and the snakes comply slithering up their master’s arms to coil around their necks like scarfs.
“Let’s start over, shall we?” Vanity chipperly. “I only seek to spread beauty and to eliminate ugly people from existence. Ugly souls that exploit beautiful. My current targets are members of the Canterlot Loan Firm, loan sharks in reality, I’ve made a few of them my prey already.”
“I’ve noticed, your diamond dust houses are all over the papers.”
“Well, they were such ugly brutes, but at least for a second even they were beautiful and then were simply dust in the wind. I find it poetic.” Vanity says fondly, remembering the horror etched faces of her last victims, frozen in crystal, the light shining of their bodies in one last glorious display and then reduced to nothing! It was the most elegant of executions.
Envy turns her nose in disgust, “Your letting that host body influence you too much. It’s pathetic.”
“Oh really?” Vanity replies hotly. “And just what are you doing with your new life and freedom?”
“I’m bringing justice to those who abuse innocent creatures for their amusement. A much nobler goal then you.”
Vanity scoffs, “And you call me pathetic. You know as I well as I, that you’re just copying and pasting your host's desires for your own, just like me. So, don’t get so high and mighty.” The two girls glare and growl at each other, but relax as their snakes shoot them a glare. “I guess neither one of is very original, but still this life is better then what mother would have planned for us. Lives as her slaves.”
Envy nods, “Agreed. Yet if not for mother we’d be nothing.”
“Yeah, but I’m still going to kill her when I see her.”
“Me too.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Envy gathers up the bag of clothes, reverting back to ‘Fluttershy’ “Thanks for the clothes, sister.”
“Anytime, I’m sure you’ll look fabulous as you kill your enemies.” Vanity smiles, waving as Envy disappears into the darkness. “Hmm, I wonder how many more of us are awake? Don’t matter as long as they stay out of my way. I don’t care what my siblings do. Speaking of siblings… I should go check on Sweetie Bell.” Vanity pulls out the phone she stole from the loan sharks as she climbs the stairs to the living quarters. “Let’s see… I got them, them… and them… so tonight… I’ll hit up this house. After putting Sweetie to bed of course.” Vanity replaces the phone in her pocket, resuming her act as Rarity as she enters her little sister’s room. She smiles as she kneels beside the young teen’s bed lovingly stroking her hair. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back in the morning. Goodnight, I love you, my dear little Sweetie.”
Rainbow sat on the roof of the school observing the broken statue. Grounding her teeth in annoyance as Maddie stood in front of the portal talking on her phone. The mad scientist seems intent on entering as soon as her conversation was done. Rainbow checks the time on her phone, it was getting late. Her presence would be missed soon if she didn’t get back home and she couldn’t risk Maddie spotting her on the other side of the portal. Add to the fact there was a second her on the other side that would further muddy the waters.
From around her neck Ebony hisses softly. Rainbow listens intently to the snake. Her familiar? Pet? She wasn’t sure what to call Ebony yet, but the black and red snake raised a point. She could simply walk through the portal with Maddie, but that would be suspicious. There was little chance she would be allowed to roam free. No, she needs to be unmonitored if she was going to complete her mission tonight.
“Well, girl,” Rainbow says lifting the snake from around her neck. “You’re up. Do Mama, proud.”
“Maddie this is crazy!”
“You told me that when I left, and you told me again when I was driving, and you told me a third time now. You’re a smart girl Moon Dancer, I’m sure you figured out by now I’m going.” Maddie said decisively through her phone while walking on the sidewalk by CHS. She stops at the front entrance taking note of the recent repairs before turning her attention to her real goal, the portal beneath the broken remains of the destroyed horse statue. The portal to Equestria, her dad’s homeworld.
“But your hand Maddie! Something still isn’t right!” Moon Dancer pleads on the other end.
Dejectedly Maddie removes the glove covering her right hand. A huge scar ran down the back of her middle knuckles. When she had first woken up after her attack it had only been a scar. The anti-toxin she injected had purged her body of all negative elements, but by this afternoon black veins began to appear along the scar fractures and by evening her entire hand was consumed with the veins traveling up her wrist.
“I know Moon Dancer, I’m well aware something isn’t right. It’s my hand after all.”
“Then you should know now isn’t the time to go to another world and ask about stupid portals!” Moon Dancer asserts, but her deep sigh and tired tone indicate she had finally given up hope of trying to persuade her friend.
“Look,” Maddie said sharply. “The portal issue is important Moon Dancer. But if it makes you feel better I’ll ask about my hand. An Equestrian Doctor might have a better idea of what’s going on anyway. They might even be able to tell me what creature attacked me.”
Moon Dancer sighs over the line, “I suppose you have a point. Just… just try not to get distracted. Hand first, then portals.”
“Yes mom,” Maddie replies sarcastically. Over the cellular line, Maddie hears Moon Dancer take a deep breath. Clearly, Moon Dancer was nervous about her taking this quick trip and it wasn’t just because of her hand. “Ok, now tell me what’s really bothering you Moonie.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Moon Dancer began sounding nervous. “But those guys that came here from Equestria. The ones that raided my apartment. They don’t like you. I’m worried what they’ll think of you visiting without Mac to vouch for you.”
So that’s what it is. Maddie had suspected that and if she was honest, she held the same fears. Her father’s bad blood with Sixes and the others would be a point of contention, but hopefully, they can move past that.
“Your concern is noted. I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe later. I’ll try to be back before the end of the week. What day is it, again?”
“Thursday, but it’s like ten pm, so it doesn’t matter. Are you sure you don’t want me to come with you?”
Maddie answer curtly, “Yes. I need you searching through the data files. Try and find out whatever attacked me last night stole. It might give us a clue to what it is and to curing my hand.” The chances of that were slim but worth exploring. Maddie swipes end call and pockets her phone. She should be reporting to Mac about what happened, but that would mean giving up her independence early. She handled stuff like this before meeting Mac, she could handle it now. She defiantly wasn’t telling him and the sirens because she didn’t want to add to their burdens. No, that might almost be nice.
Standing before the mirror Maddie wastes no time. Boldy stepping through the portal, not bothering to dip her toe or anything, she just walks in. Her first surprise was the colorful lights as she’s warps between worlds. She expected more a purple or blackness or something like that. But really, she should have known better. What doesn’t a rainbow of magic do in this world?
The sensation was over in an instant and was deposited on the other side of the mirror. Instantly falling on her face. Two hooves were not suitable for standing when one a quad pedal animal. And like others before her, she turns to look at her new form in the mirror.
“Am I really that plain looking?” She asks her reflection. She was a pony. A normal, no wings, no horn, pony. So, no flying or magic, that sucks right off the bat. Also, her coat was peach. Like really light peach, almost like a crème. Or whatever shade of orange Mac’s sister was supposed to be. And her mane and… err… umm tail was brown. Boring brown.
Maddie trots in a circle, taking a moment to raise her tail and inspect the new position of her nether reign. It was weird. That was the only way to describe it. Laying her tail down her human brain finally process the fact she was naked.
“Well…” She said with a blush. “At least I’m not cold.”
Trotting. That was weird too, trotting. Though she did like the ‘clip, clop’ sound her hooves made, it was neat. Neat was cute to her. Anyway, trotting out of the room she was intrigued by the inner structure she found herself in.
“Giant purple crystal halls must have coast some money to make this place.” She whistles observing the shining walls. Which were made of real crystal? “Maybe zillion is a real money number in this world, unless these crystal’s value is lower then I’m assuming. But still, this has to be what? Trillions of dollars’ worth of gems?”
Her entire body was shaking with excitement. There was so much to learn! Where’s a library? She needs a library NOW!
“Um… Are you ok?” A feminine voice said.
Maddie turns to the person, scratch that, pony addressing her. A soft pink mare with a purple mane, kind of looks like Aria. If she were imagining Aria as a pony. But that wasn’t important. The pony in question was a unicorn!
“You’re a unicorn!” Maddie exclaims excitedly. Making the pony grin nervously as she backs away.
“Yes, yes I am. I’m Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight’s student, and you are?”
Maddie smacks herself, “Oh right, sorry. You must find me very strange.”
“A little, yes.”
“Right, well… I’m Maddie Hoof, I’m from the other side of the mirror and… your looking terrified. Right, can I assume you’ve heard about me from Sixes?”
Starlight chuckles nervously, “A little, well Sixes had… colorful things to say about your dad at least. Sunset Shimmer told me a little bit during her visit last weekend. Did you know she was Princess Celestia’s Granddaughter.?” Maddie gave her shrug. “Right, that’s not as big a deal in your world. But it was quite the news here.”
“So, does that make Sunset a Princess in line for the throne or something?” Maddie inquires making some small talk as they trot. She wasn’t really interested in the politics of this world. Though she wouldn’t mind meeting Princess Celestia, she missed the quote ‘Damn Princess’ her father used to rave about during his experiments when she came to visit last time. Her being confined to the east shack playing a role in missing that fateful meeting.
“I don’t know,” Starlight answers honestly. Not sure herself. “We kind of moved away from the royal bloodline thing. Well, Celestia did. Princess Cadence will probably pass on the title of the ruler of the Crystal Empire to her daughter someday down the line.”
“Uh huh… interesting…” Maddie says dully. She should just cut to the chase. “Look Starlight. I’m not much of gossip gal, and I have a reason for being here, and Sixes' seal with roast me alive if I stay past my allotted free time, so you could kindly point me in the direction of Sixes. I have some things I need to ask him. Do you know where he is?”
Starlight taps her chin. “I don’t really keep up with what the Night Patrol does, but Luna’s castle would be a good place to start. I’ll have you there in a jiffy! Last time my aim was a little off but I’ve been practicing, so hopefully, we don’t end up on a table.” The unicorn declares as a teal magic engulfs the two of them. Neither noticing the black snake curl around their hoofs as they disappear in a shower of magical sparkles.
Maddie’s stomach was still churning when they suddenly went from the brightly purple tint of Princess Twilight’s Castle to the middle of a gloomy courtyard. The night sky bright above them as ponies in armor rush around them. Noticeably dragon ponies, in their true form surround them. She had to say her dad made some scary looking monsters. Which is something she should probably keep to herself? The rinin were not looking happy about their arrival.
“It’s just Starlight again,” One of the ponies said and the ponies began to disperse, leaving only her and Starlight in the courtyard with a tall white rinin with six legs. Maddie had a feeling she knew this one. Upon a closer look, she recognized the swords strapped to the pony’s side.
“Kira?” Maddie inquires eyeing the mare up and down. Six legs. What was the point of that dad? She wonders, waiting for Kira to reply. The elder rinin eyeing her curiously.
“Hard to tell, but Maddie I assume?” Kira questions, Maddie nodding as Kira wrinkles her nose. Did Maddie always smell so foul? The girl stuck like she hasn’t groomed in days! “How… pleasant? For you to visit us. Is there something we can aid you with?”
A smile grace Maddie muzzle. “Yeah, hopefully. I came to ask about the portals and some other stuff. Um… is Sixes here?” Her tone turning nervous.
Kira smiles, “Well lucky or unlucky depending on what you want to know. Sixes is off in the Zebra lands with Shadow Specter and is not scheduled to be back until much later tonight or possibly tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I will lend you my ear well you explain what you wish to know. I was just about to go enjoy a bath if the two of you wish to join me.”
“I best get back to Ponyville. Twilight and I were going to go over some things when she got back. It was nice meeting you Maddie, let’s try and be friends.” Starlight said as she charges her horn.
Maddie waves, “Yeah sounds good. Come and visit my side of the mirror sometime.”
“I will!” Starlight replies disappearing in a shower of sparks.
“Follow me please,” Kira said leading Maddie into the castle. From the shadows Ebony slithers out of the nearby brush, tongue tasting the air. A smile spreads across her serpentine lips as she slithers away unnoticed.
“So, you wish to know more about the portals?” Kira sighs as she leans back in her personal hot spring. After returning to Night Patrol the first thing she did was install a Nippon style hot spring in her room. The herbal waters help her aged bones among other things. “Well, we’ll help as much as we can.”
Across from the white Rinin sat Maddie neck deep in the spring water, her tongue lazily hung out the side of her mouth as the soothing waters relax her entire body. “Ahhh… this is so good…”
Kira chuckles at the sight, “I like my baths a bit more intense. Perhaps it’s too much for a beginner like you.”
“I’m finneeee…” Maddie says almost drunkenly. Her muzzle dipping into the water. “So, what can you tell me about the portals? Staring with the natural ones here in your forest. From my data, most of our Timber Wolves come from the Everfree forest in Equestria. We’ve noticed a decline in recent months, due to your efforts no doubts.”
“Well,” Kira began. “At first, we simply tried sealing the portals, but new ones would spring up almost instantly. After a few weeks of that we figured if we couldn’t keep the portals from appearing, we could change their destination. So, we called on Fluttershy to come and have her friend do that for us. A snap of a claw later and it was done.”
Maddie’s brows raise up. “A snap of a claw? You cannot tell me rerouting interdimensional portals crossing between space and time is that easy?”
“For a normal pony? Sure. It’s nearly impossible without years of training and research and that’s to reroute one. But this being isn’t a normal pony, nor is he a pony. Rerouting interdimensional portals is a simple task for him.”
“And who is him?”
Kira scratches her cheek looking a bit flush. “I’d rather not say his name, lest he comes and bother us for his amusement. He can get to be a clawful if Fluttershy isn’t around to rein him in.”
“You make him sound as if he can hear us.”
“He can,” Kira answers. “Not to be rude, but can we drop him from the conversation? It’s a bit late in the night to be dealing with the god of chaos.”
“God of chaos?”
“Spirit technically, but really the title doesn’t do him justice. Now be quiet about him, lest he decides to come and bother us.” Kira hisses, really not wanting to deal with Discord tonight.
Maddie held up her hooves in defeat. “Alright, alright, I’ll drop it. I got other questions to ask anyway.” Kira nods, urging her to continue. “So, I developed a theory that the portals my dad and Nico came through are still active and are sending things related to them at random points in time. My theory is that there are a finite number of these types of portals. What I want to know is how many teleports were there and see if we can get a number of how many, if any, are left. Because last time that Gore came through and I don’t want to deal with that again. Also, I’ll need more information about the Grau creature you guys banished to our world.”
“That was Starswirl, not us,” Kira said bitterly. The old unicorn was nothing but trouble. “We tend to kill our enemies, not seal them away for later. Still, we can provide you with some historical books on the old monster. I assume you want to read your father notes as well.”
“My father’s notes? You mean you have some?”
Kira shrugs, “We recovered notes from both Madhoof and Hoofenstien at the battle of Maredor. But we haven’t had much use for them, safe for Gadget, he was the only one they interested. They should still be in his room, though he has long since left us.” She rose out of the spring, feeling refreshed. “I’ll take you to the room. Dry off and follow me.”
Maddie follows Kira out of the pool, “Sounds good. Um… how do you dry off without hands?”
The room Kira showed her was old, damp, and covered in cobwebs. Clearly, it has not been used for awhile, perhaps even years. There were some hoof prints in the dust though, so maybe the room wasn't completely abandoned. None the less Kira retrieved the books belonging to her father and his cohorts and set them in the saddle bag Kira had provided her.
“This should be all you need, I will take you to a more suitable room,” Kira said leading her away from the dusk to the room across the hall, which was much cleaner. It was a sort of guest room, with a bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. Ponies wear clothes it seems. Interesting. “I’ll leave you to your study. I must go report your presence to Fierce Fury. I can already guess what his reaction will be, but I will pacify him the best I can. If needed I will send summon to Princess Luna.”
“Thanks, but you don’t need to go out of your way for me. It’s not like I deserve it.” Maddie mumbles placing the books on the desk with her mouth. With her claw, Kira pulls the rest from the saddle bag and place them on the desk for her. “Thanks.”
“No thanks are needed, Maddie.” The white rinin smiles, looking very grandmotherly. Probably because she was a grandmother. Maddie shutters as Kira seem to be looking into her soul with her piercing silver eyes. Kira’s smile widens as if amused by her reaction. “You’ve certainly changed Maddie. Remember that.”
“Ok… thanks.” She said lamely as Kira left the room, uncertain how to reply to such a comment. Solemnly she sat up on the chair and then quickly adjusted her positions as sitting normally wasn’t comfortable. She adjusted her position until she simply ended sitting like a dog would and wonders what the point of chairs in this world if this was how you were going to sit.
Opening the first book Maddie gaze curiously at the research notes, describing what materials were being used to create the new experiment, along with the conditions, amount of magic power used and a drawing of the resulting creature. Stuff her and dad used to do, like when she made White Tail. Though judging from the notes, Dad’s friend Hoofenstien hadn’t figured out control serum or maybe he didn’t want to use it. There were a bunch of behavior notes on the next page.
“Right, originally Dad said they weren’t trying to make battle slaves, they were trying to make a new species of pony, a better pony, better then Alicorns.” Maddie snorts, thinking back to how confusing she found her father’s words at the time. She had been eight when he started teaching her about science and magic or at least that’s when she started to understand what he was saying. “Still nothing about the Teleports. I know dad didn’t build them, he told me so, but he didn’t say Hoofenstien built them either.”
Flipping hurriedly through the book Maddie continues to find nothing but chimera experiments. Switching the next book, she didn’t bother reading it right away instead she looked for engineering blueprints. Unfortunately, it was more biological experiments, but one caught her eye, the page depicting how to create a Gore. She shutters as she reads over the process, promptly closing the book while covering her mouth.
“I thought what I did was fucked up.” She mumbles grabbing the next book, finding it more interesting, but irrelevant information. The hands of the grandfather clock tick by, her eyes drop becoming heavy with sleep. Tiredly she pushes away the books she was reading to trot around the room a bit. She wasn’t finding anything useful and it was late, she should probably get some sleep. “Urgh, was my leg always this itchy?”
Digging her hoof hard into her right front leg Maddie was unsurprised to see black veins hidden beneath her peach coat. She got so wrapped in the wonder of this world and starting her research that she forgot about asking for someone to look at her leg. Still, why was it acting up all of the sudden? Maddie wonders digging harder at her skin, the veins were moving growing up her leg towards her chest. She could feel it.
A sudden sharp shock of pain paralyzed her, there was a stinging her one of her back legs as she fell to her belly. Her breaths short and erotic, like her heart didn’t know how to pump blood anymore. She coughs hard, hacking up black spit. She remembers the sensation, the pain, it was the same when she was attacked!
She tried to cry out for help, but her voice became hoarse and her coughs became more violent, her body trembling as another round of veil rose up in her throat and something solid came with it. She hacked up the object, blinking away the tears from her watering eyes. It was an egg, a small black egg. Suddenly a black snake with red wings came into view, it hissed, licking the egg and then ate it.
The snake rose, growing in size, to gigantic proportions, its body barely fitting inside the room! It’s tail wraps around Maddie and she tries to fight it off, but she’s still unable to move! The snake coils its body, head aimed at the window as it folds its wings. Maddie’s eyes narrow in horror, it was going to fly away!
(No, no, no, no! I’m not snake food!) She screams trying to break free, but her struggles only tighten the snake's grip. The snake leaped, flying out the window with great speed, it’s red wings spread wide as it carries Maddie away in the night sky.
“You should have told me sooner,” Fury grumbles walking alongside Kira, the white rinin giving him a sideways smirk as the stroll through the graveyard away from the others. Fury was known for his temper, but he didn’t like to lose it in a non-battle setting and Kira knew he'd be mad after hearing Maddie was here, so she led him to the graveyard. It was late, so no pony should be around to bother them.
Kira shrugs, “I thought I was making the best choice at the time. Was I suppose to leave her standing the courtyard till your returned from Patrol? Last I checked we are still the same rank are we not?”
“No, we are not, remember? You signed on as a part-timer after returning.”
“I merely wanted more time to fly home and visit with my family. Is that so wrong?” Fury grumbles at her statement, making Kira smile. “Honestly Fury, your as hot-headed as ever. Sixes too. I suppose waiting in stone didn’t mature any of you. Your acting just like my son when he was a teenager.”
“We are the same age!” Fury bellows, momentarily bursting into flames.
She tisks waving her claw at him. “Yes, yes, we are all a thousand and twelve years old to what we can guess, but remember while you were sleeping for a thousand years. I was living, raising a family, and running a nation, we may be the same age, but I have much more experience. So, given that, I feel I made the right choice in letting Maddie into the castle and providing her the notes we found in Maredor.”
Fury grumbles something unintelligent. Making Kira shake her head while grinning, Fury was acting quite silly. “Can you really not look past her bloodline? She’s not her father, remember?”
“Oh yes,” Fury said sarcastically. “Based on no evidence presented to any pony we can assume she’s changed. Not a few months ago she was kidnapping, torturing, and dissecting the humans of which she is the same species, to her pleasure I might add. And may I remind you, she continued to do so well after her father’s death. Proving she wasn’t forced to do it, she enjoyed doing it!”
“Fury…”
“No! You’ve let yourself soften Kira! You letting your maternal instincts override logic! She’s not your daughter, she’s not your granddaughter, she’s not even a stranger’s child! She’s Madhoof’s daughter!” Fury spat at her, causing Kira’s eyes to narrow, her features becoming much sterner.
“Yes, perhaps I am being a bit maternal, but it’s better than the blind hatred your spitting. Think for a moment Fury. She was raised by Madhoof. We know not how he treated her growing up, but we must remember before she became the product of her father’s upbringing she was a child like any other. She had many paths to take but was only offered one. In some ways, she is like us until Luna saved us. So, I would appreciate if you give her just the smallest bit of kindness.”
If Fury was moved by her words or imitated by her stern mother face he didn’t show it. But he was calm again at least and that was the best she could hope for. He scoffs walking away. “Get to bed, your shift is over, Kira. That’s an order.”
“Of course, I was getting tired anyway,” Kira said yawning loudly, her old age was getting to her again. “Enjoy all that youthful energy while you can Fury. In about three hundred years it’ll be gone.”
He grunts, acknowledging her words and trots off deeper into the graveyard. Taking a few moments to pause and admire the statues of his fallen comrades and kin. Crossing the intersection Fury turns north to the section holding Nightingale’s grave, the mare that had been his lover back in the day, they separated when he chose to get frozen in stone and she chose not to. He never quite understood her reason, but their relationship had been… well, it had been different. She loved him more than he probably loved her and he always felt bad how halfhearted he’s been with her, which is probably why came to see her grave before going to bed most nights.
“Now let’s see, if I’m here, Nightingale’s grave should be over where Emerald Cutter’s…” Fury’s voice trails off, his body goes still at the sight before him. Nightingale’s statue was tipped over, shatters against the ground, as was the statue of Emerald Cutter, his former comrades grave ripped open and the casket laid out on the marble path, her bones scattered on the ground and hovering over the grave was a giant black snake with red wings.
The snake held a peach tone earth pony in its tail, but really had Fury’s attention was the green gem between its jaws. The Green alicorn amulet, the very same one Emerald had eaten so long ago and then died with it still in her stomach. He could hardly believe the thing was still around, but what he couldn’t believe even more is any creature intelligent enough to know of the Amulet would be so stupid to dig up a Night Patroller grave. No pony or anything else could be that stupid.
Fury’s eyes narrow, his breath shortens, his body pulses as it combusts into raging flames! He sucks in a deep breath; his chest budging and let loose a mighty angry roar! A roar so loud, so powerful, that the castle walls shook. Windows light up. Ponies yell and hooves rumble and wings flap in the night as every Patroller in the castle heeds his call. Surrounding the snake. He growls roaring again as he commands his brethren.
“Kill that thing!” He let’s lose the first blast, a torrent of flame escaping his mouth, over the deafening sound of his own roar he heard a pony cry something out, but it was quickly drowned out by other roars of fire from the others. The snake coils, dodging the blasts with quick and sharp moments as flies away slithering through the air! Fury follows it with his head, another fire blast ready in his mouth. He let’s loose and takes flight, leading the charge! “After it!”
The night sky is illumined with fire, lightning, magic, and cannon as the entire force of Night Patrol was brought to bear on the black snake. The snake with its long slithering body ducks and weaves through the attacks heading for Ponyville. They could not let it reach the town!
“Fury!” A voice calls out, but he ignores it, too focused on the creature. Again, the voice calls out, “FURY!” This time louder, breaking his focus, he looks around hearing the voice again and recognizes it. It was Kira, struggling to catch up to him. He growls looking ahead at his prey that was slipping away. Kira calls to him a fourth time and he points for some other rinin to take the lead and quickly dives towards the Kira.
“What?” He demands, eager to get at the creature. It would pay! It would pay dearly!
“It’s got her!” Kira screams at him. Making Fury wrinkle his brow. Was she talking about the earth pony? Was it alive? He assumed the snake had killed her for dinner or something. The pony didn’t look alive when he saw her. “It’s got, Maddie!” Kira shouts as the earth pony began to fail and scream.
Fury grits his teeth, great. Hostage situation. “Jazz!” He yells a green mane and red coat mare with metal wings flies up beside him. He points to the tail at the flailing Maddie. “You know what to do. Over top, with me now!”
“Roger!” She salutes as they take higher to the sky. Fury barking for the others to stop firing. The two arch upwards, flying just below the clouds, and then stop. Taking a few seconds to chart their path. They only had one shot at this before the creature was out of range.
“Ten second lead time. I’ll go for the head, you go for the tail and rescue the hostage.” Fury readies the clouds behind them changing them into thunderclouds. They press their back legs against the clouds springing their legs as they prepare to launch. “Go!”
Kicking the clouds Fury and Jazz are sent flying by the exploding thunderclouds. They rocket through the air their speed so great they pass everypony else and quickly gain on the flying serpent. Adjusting their angle of flight slightly with their wings they line up for their attack, but make sure to keep their wings tight. If they spread them too far they’ll veer off course. Fury adjusts his path trying to aim for the head, but snake suddenly picked up speed, changing his target to the middle of it’s back, right between its wings. He hits the serpent dead on, Jazz missing her target. His claws dug into the serpent’s back and he catches glimpses of Jazz veering off, trying to climb back up and do another thunder jump. She wouldn’t make it. The serpent was already over Ponyville and it began to dive down, towards Twilight’s castle.
“Where do you think you're going!” Fury shouts over the wind. Letting loose a stream of fire onto the serpents back. The red feathery wings of the snake catch fire and the snake plunges to the ground, landing hard on its belly. Right outside Twilight’s front door. Moving Quick Fury rushes to the end of the tail were Maddie was stirring, moaning as she coughs violently. “Hang on, I’ll get you lose in a minute.” He tells her cutting at the membrane holding her.”
Maddie laughs humorlessly. “I thought you didn’t like me.”
“Trust me, I don’t, but it’s my duty to save you.” He replies, frustratingly he digs at the membrane holding the human turn pony and finds his claws weren’t cutting it! “The hell kind of bullshit…”
“Behind you!”
The snake came barreling around him, trapping him around its tail. It began to move across the ground, it’s wings too damaged to fly. It slithers through the front doors of the castle, breaking them down. The snake moves with purpose, clearing heading somewhere when it takes a right. Fury knew where it was going.
“The mirror! Go to the mirror!” He shouts at the ponies just landing outside the door. They race after them, but none of them were unicorns and the snake has a head start. It burst through the door to the portal. Diving right for it. Fury and Maddie are dragged along with it. The others lead by Kira enter the room about to jump through the portal when a spherical object comes from the other side, the object explodes! Knocking them back against the wall and when the ringing in their ears finally stops they found the portal and the book powering it in pieces and on fire. Kira standing motionlessly as the magic book is reduced to ash.
Rainbow stood before the mirror portal tossing a metal sphere in her hand. The sphere was a magic grenade, something she learned how to make from Maddie’s data files, among other things. She has been at home putting on the finishing touches, because who knows when you’ll need a grenade right? When Ebony sent her a mental message about the Night Patrollers on her tail. She rushed jobbed the grenade, returned to the school, waited for her other self to return. It wasn’t part of her original plan, but getting rid of the portal could be a benefit to her. She didn’t want Sixes and friends showing up again to save the day after all.
“Now, just need to hope I made this thing right,” She mumbles uncertainly. The bomb would defiantly do something… hopefully. The portal began to shimmer and Ebony’s large head came rocketing out of the portal with Maddie tangled in her tail. Rainbow toss the bomb and waits; the portal was still shimmering and then it began to crack. She smiles as the connection between worlds was about to be destroyed. “Come here girl, give momma the amulet.” Rainbow coos, Ebony disputing the jewel from her stomach into Rainbow’s hand. She grimaces patting the snake on the snout. “Heh… thanks…ugh…”
Ebony began to hiss presenting Maddie with her tail. The mad scientist was panting hard as her lungs were crushed in Ebony’s coils, a waterfall of drool escaping from her mouth as she tries to breath.
“Loosen up a bit girl, we don’t want to kill her.” Kneeling down Rainbow examines Maddie as she breaths in a deep sigh of relief as Ebony’s tail loosens. Rainbow examines Maddie’s head feeling something wet touch her hand, she pulls out her phone and actives her light app, there was blood on her hand! Looking closer at Maddie’s head Rainbow found a large gash on the brunette’s head, opening Maddie’s pupils and flashing her light at them Rainbow recognized the signs of a concussion. “Must have hit her head some time when you went through. You should have been more careful Ebony.”
Ebony hiss and balks.
“Hmm, yes I know you were discovered, that’s why I was waiting with the magic grenade. Kind of had to jam it together, honestly was sure if was going to work.” Rainbow chuckles. “Well, that’s it for tonight. Let’s get going home girl.”
Rainbow took a few steps when Ebony hisses loudly at her. “What?” She demands turning to the snake, who points with her snout towards the crumbling portal. The mirror fell away into shards revealing the colorful spiral of magic that connects the two worlds and the flaming hand that grabbed the edge of the broken statue. Rainbow flinches back as the temperature spikes, quickly transforming into a dark version of her Crystal form she obtained from camp. The visor helmet covering her face just in time for Fierce Fury to finish coming through the portal. Like his name suggests he wasn’t a happy camper. With two flames swords and wings of fire he took one look at her and Ebony and attacked!
“Oh shit!” Was the only thing she could say as she quickly forms a lightning spear.
“I’ll fucking kill you! Ya damn snake charmer!” Fury rages pressing his fire swords against the snake’s master’s lightning spear. From the side the snake hisses and struck with it’s jaws, with his right sword he swings searing the snake across the face! It whimpers and slithers away, Maddie still coiled in it’s tail. In the area of light produce from his fire he saw the blood covering Maddie’s head. He’d deal with that when he took care of the snake’s master. He growls as he two hands his remaining fire sword, knocking her off balance. She and she was a she from what he could tell in the low light, staggers away her footing complete crap. “Tch, nothing but an amateur.”
“Oh yeah!” The snake’s master screams back, her voice cracking. Seriously how old was she? Fury creates a sphere of fire and tosses it up into the air creating a small artificial sun, finally seeing his opponent fully. She was nothing but a child, no older then Nico’s spawn. Then he looks to the snake again it’s dark eyes watching him intelligently. Maybe he was wrong about who the master was.
“What’s your name girly,” He demands as his sun flare touches the ground, extinguishing. “I’ll be roasting you and your pet in a minute here, I want to know what I should write on your grave.”
The girl flinch, his words having some affect on her physic. That was good. It would make this fight easier.
“Ebony! My name is Ebony! And don’t think you can look down on me! Come here girl!” The snake bolts, flying at the girl and melting into her flesh, red wings sprout from the girl’s back, while a tail grows from her spine. Maddie still trapped in her grasp as they take off into the sky. “Think you can take me without hurting her?” Ebony taunts using her tail to wave Maddie in front of him like a puppet.
“So, you intend to use her as a shield?” Fury asks. Ebony nods smirking as if she’s already won the battle. So, he surprises her with a smile of his own. “Good, gives me a good excuse to kill her, been wanting to do that for a while.”
“You can’t do that! Sixes and Mac wouldn’t allow that!” She screams, which really caught Fury’s attention. How did she know Sixes and Mac?
He summons another fire sword and flies so they were both hovering over the school. “Don’t worry, I’ll just say she died in the CROSSFIRE!” Crossing his blades Fury let’s loose an attack that lights up the night sky, in the form of giant burning X.
Ebony flew above the raging inferno, clutching her heart as it threatens to pop out of her chest, Maddie tucked safely behind her. She couldn’t believe it! He actually tried to kill her! This wasn’t like last time, Fury wasn’t holding back! She grits her teeth, thinking back to the battle she had with Kira back at the library plaza. Not even with Pinkie helping she couldn’t defeat the swordswoman. Just how much had they been holding back?
“Fuck… I can’t still be this weak! I’ll show you! And then I’ll show that old bitch!” She rages, a silver light shining from her chest. The veins in arms budge as her muscle mass sharply increases! “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about!”
Fury stares confused at her. What was she talking about? Nether the less it didn’t matter, the light coming from her chest was a bigger concern. Could she have a secondary power source? Maybe even another Alicorn Amulet? Maybe not, she wasn’t pushing out the kind of power one usually gets when they use an amulet. Still better finish her off quick, before she gets the idea to stab the green amulet into her body. That would be troublesome.
Summoning another sword Fury flew at his prey, who seem more confident as she flew back at him, a lightning javelin in her hand, she threw it and he parries with his sword. The two elements crack and sizzle as they mix together. He boosts the power of his fire sword, overwhelming the lightning. A hard kick strikes his cheek and he’s sent veering over a block away. Now over a residential district of some sort.
“Great, more lives to worry about.” He mutters. He took a risk attacking with Maddie in the away before, figuring if he could prove it was useless to use the girl as a shield then Ebony wouldn’t bother using her. Besides, from the way Ebony was keeping Maddie out of harms way, she was more useful alive then dead to her, which was in his favor. “Well come on girly! Show me what you got!”
She let loose a scream and let’s loose a volley of arrows at him. Smart girl, she was trying to keep her distance. Batting away the arrows with his sword Fury creates a fire javelin and toss it at her, Ebony countering with her arrows.
“Try this!” He roars sucking in a deep breath of air, his chest glowing brightly as he lets loose a powerful stream of fire! The fire rages across the sky, blue specks of lightning assault it, but are overwhelmed by the flames, he presses the attack flying towards Ebony, who was trying to flee. He catches her by the arm, flings her around to disorient her and with his other arm presses his elbow and pushes in against her arm. There was a loud sick ‘CRACK!’ as her right arm bends the wrong way.
Ebony howls in pain, “FUCK! MY ARM! YOU BROKE MY ARM!”
He smirks as the tears of pain blind her vision, “That not all I’m going to break!” His right arm covered in fire he cocks back and delivers a powerful blow to her right side! Her eyes contract as three of her ribs pop and snap, blood and spit escape from her mouth as she rockets to the ground! Quickly Fury forms a fire sword and severs her tail, freeing Maddie. Carefully he descends to the ground, watching with pity the as the girl withers and screams on the ground.
“Fuck! Fuck! It hurts! It FUCKING HURTS!” She screams, but he felt no pity for her.
Dropping Maddie by the sidewalk he slowly approaches his prey, sword in hand, he puts the flaming tip against her throat, stomping on her leg to get her to stop squirming. “Shut up! You lost the right to complain when you robbed my friends grave! Die with some dignity for Luna’s sake!”
She stops squirming, looking at him with shock and fear, “Kill… your going to kill me?”
“For your crimes, yes. Don’t think I take pleasure in killing weaklings, but I’ve spilt enough blood on the battlefield in my life, I won’t lose any sleep tonight.”
“Weak! You think I’m weak!”
“I don’t think, I know, which is why you’re on the ground and I’m about to cut off your head. Now don’t move, it’ll only get messy if you do.”
Ebony, no Rainbow, no Ebony, could only stare as the blazing blade of fire came towards their neck! They couldn’t believe it! This is how it ends? That’s not right! She’s only be alive for what? A few weeks? No this could not happen! This will not happen!
(Pathetic child o’ mine, withering on the ground after only a few broken bones. But I suppose I have some obligation to safe my spawn, just don’t expect me to play favorites when you face your sisters) A deep menacing voice said from the bowls of her mind. Immense power surges through her body, the crystal in her chest began to grow and explain, crawling up her neck in protective skin, her bones pop back into place and mend as more bones grow atop her skin creating a protective armor. The fire blade slashes her throat, but leaves no mark, the blade itself explodes into wisps of flame leaving its owner stunned.
“Well, that’s a surprise,” Fury comments, grimacing as the girl’s hand came up and stabbed him in the chest, her fingers extending and shooting out his back! He jumps back, ripping the hand out as flames burn around his wounds, regenerating his body. He touched his chest, one of the fingers had nicked his heart, he almost died! “Gotta love being part Phoenix. Still that was a little close, even for me.”
Cautiously Fury observes his opponent. She was back on her feet, her breathing was slow, her form sloppy, but still dangerous. A strange bone helm began to form around her head with antlers branching out from her skull. She stretched out her right hand, turning it into a sword made of spinal bones, while her left became a cannon made of ribs. She bore an uncanny resemblance to the monster Sixes’s reported slaying in this world not long ago. Was she an offspring of some sort?
“Should have listen more closely to the report, I guess.” He mutters forming two swords. He wasn’t liking how silent she was being. He especially didn’t like the lightning flying from the powerlines into her cannon arm. “Shit…!” Was all he could say as he was blasted!
This power! She could hardly believe it! With just a single hit Fury was a bloody mess on the street! It was amazing!
(Time is wasting Child O’ mine, grab thy creator and begone from this place. My strength will leave you soon.) Said the voice. Causing Ebony to pause.
“Stop taking like you’re my father!”
The voice chuckles, (In some sense I am, Ebony, was it not my influence that nurtured you into the form you are now? Or would you have preferred to remain a helpless egg in thy hosts womb?)
She grumbles stomping over to Maddie, lifting the severed end of her tail she presses the stub against it and cut mends back together. She was about to take flight when a burst of heat come from behind her. Fury’s body had combusted turning to ashes, she merely shrugs, about to be on her way when the voice in her head screamed.
(Turn around foolish child!) She did, just in time to see a completely healed Fury flying at her, swords in hand! She ducks back the grass beneath her feet igniting into flames as the Night Patroller gave chase. His attacks were relentless, not giving her a second to charge her cannon or swing her sword. He presses down on her sword arm, keeping her from raising it, while his other hand keeps her cannon pointed down street. Fury opens his mouth and breaths fire in her face!
“It takes more than that to kill me!” Fury angrily declares grabbing both of Ebony’s arms he drags her up into the sky, his arm becoming super-heated fire as he grabs the girl by the neck a red sphere of heat forms around them. Fury smirks as he whispers, “Super Nova.”
An explosion like no other created this night screams across the night sky, turning the night as bright as day the two titanic beings hoover in the sky. Ebony held her throat, coughing harshly, the flesh of her neck and torso blackened and cracked, her suit and armor gone and her chest lay bare. Fury hoovers several yards away, his right arm gone with flames licking at the stub looking no better then her as the remains of her bone sword were pierced in his side. He smirks at her, bursting into flames, his ashes drifting down into one of the backyards of the residence below.
(It’ll take a while for him to regenerate after using an attack like that. I suggest you take this moment to retreat, less you get spotted.) The voice said to her as lights began to flip on in the houses below. She wonders what took them so long as she flies away.
Ebony lands at the old building she’s using as a lair. After tying Maddie up with some old chains left by the previous owner she finds a rag and lays down for what was going to be a very painful process. Grabbing her chard flesh she begins to pull it away, shedding it like a snake. Howling through her gag continues to shed the damaged flesh and then the non-damaged. The process was slow and anguishing. Time seem to pass slowly until finally she had removed her old skin and now lay naked, but healed on the old dirty floor of the building. She let out a meek noise as her tender flesh was assaulted by the peddles and other junk that litter the floor. Still she could do nothing about them as her strength was sapped from her and she lay motionless on the dirty floor and slept. Her fingers uncurl and the green alicorn amulet fell from her gasp onto the floor.
The soft patter of footsteps echo in the empty building and pink hand picks up the amulet. “Oh, my dear foolish sister,” A giggly voice said. “All that work, effort and scheming just to let it all slip from your hands and right into mine.” The early rays of the morning sun shine through the broken ceiling revealing the malevolent grin of Pinkamena Diane Pie. She dangles the gem over her shoulder rousing Spite.
The pink snake rose off Pinkamena’s shoulder, her forked tongue lapping at the green gem. “Be a dear and hand on to this for me?” Pinkamena toss the gem, Spite’s jaw unhinges and swallows it whole. Next Pinkamena’s eyes fall to the chained-up Maddie. Ignoring Rainbow, she grabs the loose end of the chain and proceeds to drag Maddie out of the building. On her way out, the door she presses her hand against the wall and resumes her walk.
The building explodes behind her.
Vice Principle Luna watches with dull and strained eyes as the hot pocket in her microwave slowly turns. She sighs, slumping to against the counter to the floor, her hair falling in a mess around her face. There was still a minute to go, too little time to get back to her game and restart another match of Fortnite, but it felt so much longer. To amuse herself she wiggles her toes, admiring her long tone legs. Her PJ’s consist of a loose blue Tee and a cotton short shorts. The fabulous life of living alone at thirty. The microwave dings, but she didn’t get up. The pocket would need to cool, meaning another minute of waiting. Reaching over to the fridge she pulls a beer from the bottom shelf of the door, closes it and pops the top.
“What the fuck am I doing with my life?” She asks knocking back the beer. Her sister gave her Friday off to get away from the recent stresses at school. After work today, she had fully enjoyed coming home playing on her PlayStation and talking shit to her party members. Adagio hadn’t come on, which was nothing unusual. Unlike her the siren actually had a life it seems. Luna falls over on the floor feeling depressed. “This is going to be my entire weekend isn’t it?”
Sometimes being an educator sucks. She couldn’t go out and party like she used too, not only because she was pass the age of drinking twenty beers in a night, but if she were to get a DWI, hook up with the wrong guy, or whatever it would mean the end of her career. She didn’t sink ten years of life to become the youngest Vice Principle in Canterlot history to throw it away for a night of fun. “Still it’s so boring being all alone.” She pouts laying her chin on the floor, her cheeks puffing up in what she was sure an adorable fashion. Rolling on her back she stares up at the ceiling, her hot pocket and game forgotten in her depression. “I guess things aren’t what I thought they would be when I finally moved out of Celestia’s. Can’t call Cadence, she’s up in the city and living her husband now I guess, so I can’t go out with her. I think she might be pregnant. She looked a little… rounded at the Friendship games. Then all the magic crap with Mac and others. Ah shit I still need to get hold of some of the girls and do a psych evaluation! Shit, who’s left… fuck I can’t remember.”
Luna rolls back onto her stomach. “Maybe I should go into work tomorrow anyway. At least I won’t be bored.” The lights flicker and then short out, casting Luna in darkness. In the other room the music of her game stops. Great a power outage, she moans getting up to check the breaker. She was about to enter the basement when a glow suddenly came from the backyard.
“The hell is that?” She mumbles walking towards the back door, stopping only to retrieve the shotgun Ferocious had given her for her birthday many years ago. It hadn’t been the most romantic gift from her ex-boyfriend, but it was useful so she hadn’t been too annoyed by it. The year after when he got her a flashlight attachment and laser sight, then she was annoyed.
Checking the chamber, she slips on her sandals, exiting through the back door she creeps across the patio onto the grass, the tiny green blades brush her toes as she approaches the bonfire in her backyard. Fiddling with the attachment she shines the light and laser around the darken shadows, finding no one around.
“Did some jackass just throw fire bomb in my yard?” She questions letting her arms hang, the gun pointed at the fence, she quickly realized her mistake and adjusts the barrel towards the ground. Safety first.
The bonfire was quickly dimming, the flames lowering rapidly, too rapidly really. Luna began to see a silhouette in the flames. “Oh god! Some threw a dead body in my yard! Oh shit! Oh shit!” She began to pace and panic, the fire dying away completely, she was still pacing when she heard a moan. “They’re alive!” Setting the shotgun side Luna knelt beside the… the… not horribly burned person? Clearing away the black ash with her hand Luna saw red tone skin beneath, perfectly fine non-burned red skin, and abs. Very nice abs.
“Oh… um… watering hose!” Luna sprints across the yard fumbling around for her watering hose. Turning on the water she pulls the tangled mess over to the man laying on her yard and sprays him down. Stream rises off his body, so he was hot, in the literal way, because she couldn’t see his face. Speaking of which, after she cleaning off the soot covered man, she runs back to the hydrant and shut off. Picking up her shotgun she shines the light on his face, making sure to engage the safety, she was so surprised by who it was that she nearly dropped her gun!
“Ferocious!” She exclaims in confusion. What was her ex-boyfriend doing in her yard? Naked. After falling from the sky in a bonfire? “There is no way this isn’t magic related.” She mumbles rushing back into the house she puts her gun away and runs back out to Ferocious, hooks her arms under his shoulders and beings to drag him towards the house. “Why are you so heavy!”
After much effort Luna finally drags Ferocious into the house and lays him on the sofa. The power was back on, so that was plus. Some of her neighbors were out staring at the sky, she’ll have to ask what that was about tomorrow. She would also have to ask Ferocious what the hell is going on when he finally wakes up.
“Hmm… I don’t know if it’s the lighting, but you look different.” She says kneeling beside the sofa. She looks at her phone, it was almost four. Screw going to work, she’s taking the vacation day. Tossing a blanket on the unconscious man Luna stumbles tiredly to her room, all but throwing herself onto the bed. As she nuzzles her pillow rolling under her blankets whispering. “At least tomorrow won’t be boring.”
Morning came, well her alarm went off, prompting Luna to roll out of bed. Standard routine. She gets up walking into the small hallway, looks to the bathroom door on the left and then her living room on the right. Ferocious was still asleep on the couch. Last nights events play through her mind and in her semi refreshed state realizes she should have taken him to the hospital.
“Shit, stupid sleepy Luna!” She berates marching over to the couch, looking Ferocious over. He was uninjured and she would have sounded crazy saying he fell from the sky in a fireball, so taking him to the hospital would have only gotten her a ticket to the Lunie bin or the detox. She did have a few beers last night she notes staring at the mountain of cans on her coffee table. “Way to go smart drunk Luna. Hey Feri! Feri! Wake up! You have some explaining to do!” She yells poking his abs through the blanket. It was fun.
Ferocious grumbles in his sleep, slapping away her hand, he said something in his mumbles but she couldn’t make it out. He continues to mumble so she leans down to listen, “Nightingale… stop… still recharging…zzzz…”
“Who the fuck is Nightingale!” She jealously screams thumping him on the chest. Ferocious lets out a loud “Fine!” snatches her hand and pulls her on top of his chest and then rolls so she was against his warm body and the back of the couch. “Hey! Hey! Your squishing me! Wake up! Wake… up…” Her eyes begin to droop. He was so warm. Her eyes flutter and she snuggles against him, fast asleep. Really what could go wrong today?
Detective Ferocious and Detective Stryker Six surrounded by the staff and students of Canterlot High and the Canterlot Fire department look on the broken and burned building. The marble statue that once stood proudly was a pile of rubble, the sidewalk was cracked and melted, windows were shattered, a wall was destroyed… again, but it wasn’t just the school in shambles. The entire square block radius was in similar condition. Residents had no idea what happened, saying they were in a heavy sleep any only the intense heat woke them up. A heat so powerful that windows shattered and melted, roof shingles had curled, and grass had caught fire. Many residents were being taken to the hospital for heat stroke and burns.
There was no logical explanation for the sudden heat event. Despite what the green students protesting behind him said. Ferocious knew the cause, he had felt it last night. The sudden surge of power that awoke him from his slumber. A magic power on par with the beast he had sensed at Holder’s boulder.
“What did this?” Stryker asks him. He shakes his head, his eyes gracing in the direction of a distraught Celestia and the hushed chatter of Applejack and her friends. He could see her green eyes flash in their direction. Accusing and curious.
“I don’t know,” Ferocious answers, his eyes still on his goddaughter. His fist tightens. “But we’re going to find it and kill before they get hurt again.” He marches towards their patrol car, angrily stealing the coffee of a uniform officer and guzzling it down and throwing it on the floor of the car. Bursts of flames exploding off his skin as he starts the car.
“Bro, calm down.” Stryker tells him firmly. Ferocious shaking off his grip but takes deep breath.
“It’s like the whole worlds going to hell,” Ferocious bites out. “First the Gilda case, then the alley attack, the camp slaughter, holder’s bolder, pushing out another gang, the houses turning to dust and now this! What the serious fuck is going on? Things were never this bad when Nico was around!”
Stryker shakes his head, “But he’s not here, Feri. He’s dead. You keep up this stress, it’ll be you next. Maybe it’s time we get in contact with Mac. The little girl seems to be calling him anyway.” He points his thumb at Applejack taking excitedly into her cell phone. Feri’s hands tighten around the wheel as they drive off, Applejack in their rear view.
The steering wheel was smoking as Ferocious angrily bites into a cigarette the tobacco stick igniting on its own. He takes in a deep breath of smoke, exhales and looks his friend in the eyes.
“I am not putting those kids in danger if I can help it, I’ll die first.”
Stryker lights his own cigarette, “You can’t keep them from danger. You know that.”
“I know,” Ferocious says solemnly as they pass Luna’s house. His eyes lingering as they pass by. “But I have to try, it’s my responsibility, if I don’t then there was no point in leaving her.”
“You ok Aria?” Mac asks the coughing siren handing her medicine tablets and water. Aria let out a weak insult as she took the tablets with the water. Promptly falling back into her bed, the blankets pulled up to her nose so only above her eyes was visible. Her body trembles as if cold, despite the two heavy blankets that lay on top of her and the house set to seventy degrees. “Right, well, I’ll leave this bucket here in case you throw up again. Try to get some rest.” He told her walking out of the room. When he looks back at the pink siren he finds her rolled up into a tight blanket cocoon.
He shook his head wondering what the cause of Aria’s sudden illness was. When he had woken up for chores this morning he had found Aria in the bathroom, her PJ’s, soaked with sweat and her entire body shivering as she knelt in front of the toilet dry heaving up a storm. She had flushed whatever vile she previously hacked up so he couldn’t study it to see what was wrong with her. It could just be a stomach virus, but he didn’t remember shivering being a symptom. Her temperature was also very high. Maybe she caught an early winter bug?
Walking downstairs Mac takes his seat at the dinner table for breakfast as Sonata came in from finishing morning chorus. Adagio set a plate of eggs on the table and they all sat down to eat.
“How’s Aria doing?” Adagio asks, her tone concerned as she picks at her eggs. Across from the elder siren Sonata sat with her head hung low, feeling guilty as she sniffs.
When Mac had found Aria in the bathroom he had woken up the entire household. Adagio had been surprised to see her sister in such a state while Sonata panicked over Aria. Later when he had everyone calmed down and Aria in bed, Sonata began crying. Saying she should have heard her sister leave her room since she was just across the hall. None of them had any idea how long Aria had been in such a state in front of the toilet with only her sleeping top and pants on. She must have been there for some time given her violent shivering. The house had only been at sixty-five degrees at the time. Normally that was high enough at night, but in November it could be chilly without the proper clothes. Clothes Aria had not been wearing.
Mac had left Sonata in the care of Adagio has he rushed Aria up her room and placed her in bed. Only after he did that did he realize her clothes were soaked with sweat, so he called Adagio and Sonata up to change her while he went out to start the chores. It hadn’t been twenty minutes later when they called him back to the house, Aria now in fresh clean clothes and the two girls looking uncertainly through the medicine cabinet for something to treat their sister.
Deciding to have Sonata finish chores Mac took what medicine he thought would be effective and called Nyx to try and narrow down her symptoms so he could give her the right medicine. However, the changeling Nurse failed to answer. So, he just grabbed some stomach medicine and common cold medicine to give to the sick siren.
Which leads to now.
“Sonata and I will go into town and start investigating the dust houses. You don’t mind looking after Aria do you Adagio?”
“Normally no, but I’m concerned about what might happen if / I get sick,” Adagio said rubbing her baby bugle. Causing Mac to sigh, “Sorry honey.”
“No, no, your right. Can’t get hold of Nyx right now. Um… I guess you and I can go to town. Get you out of the house for a bit. Sonata, you don’t mind if…”
“I will gladly stay!” Sonata said excitedly. “I won’t let Ari down!”
He smiles at the sirens enthusiasm as he stands up taking his plate to the sink. It was about eight, so…. “RING RING RING RING!” His cell phone suddenly goes off. Grabbing it off the counter he checks the number, surprised to see it’s AJ. He answers.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” He says sternly. Why was she calling so early? There was a lot of chatter in the background. Was something going on? “AJ, what’s with all the noise!”
“Mac!” AJ screams over the crowd. “Mac you gotta come to town! The school… no the whole neighborhood! You gotta come see this! It’s awful!” The call ends.
“AJ, AJ! What are you, god!” He fumes, he wasn’t in the mood for this. Lucky he was going to town anyway today. “Grab you coat Hun. I guess we're going sooner rather than later.”
Fetching their coats Mac and Adagio climb into the old red farm pickup and take off. Sonata waving from the porch as they make dust down the driveway.
“What do you think going on?” Adagio asks as they turn onto the main highway to town. Mac’s grip tightens on the steering wheel, she puts her hand on his arm to try and calm him. It has a minor effect as Mac’s body relaxes.
“Knowing AJ,” Mac says humorlessly, “Nothing good.”
The rest of the trip was in silence as Mac rolls into town. He could already tell something was off as he drives down the streets to the school. There was excitement in the air. The sidewalks were filled with people and the streets were littered with parked cars. The whole town was up in a fizzy for whatever happened. He finds an open spot about two blocks away and after helping Adagio out of the pickup they walk hand and hand towards the school. The townsfolk speaking in hushed and concerned tones.
As they near the school see the flashing lights of police, firefighters, and Ambulances. White tents were pitched in lawns with Doctors and Nurses from the hospital escorting people in and out. In the chaos he spots Nyx, looking tired and frantic as she pulls in another pair of patients. It was too hard to see what was wrong with them and Nyx probably wouldn’t like to see them at the moment, so they continue on. Finally, they reach the school.
“Fuck, something blew it up again? What’d you guys do build it on Indian graves and then piss on them?” Adagio empathically signs, only to suddenly smile. “When I was a villain I never blew up the school, some villains have no style. What is this, the third time this happened?”
Mac chuckles despite himself, it was kind of funny. “Yeah, it’s the third time, but it wasn’t just the school this time. The whole block looks like it got hit.”
“Yeah, but with what? Also, isn’t it kind of warm?” Adagio said taking off her coat.
“It is,” Mac agrees also taking off his coat. “There are a lot of people here, lots of body heat to go around, maybe that’s why?” Adagio sniffs the air, and then suddenly steals a small bit of Mac’s magic, her eyes glowing green. Looking for dark magic. “See anything?”
“I see something,” Adagio states. “There was defiantly some dark magic, but there’s not a lot around. Looks like someone or something already purified it. Ok, seriously it is hot! This is not winter weather!”
Mac looks around, noticing the heat damage to the roof tiles, it had defiantly been hot not too long ago. He takes Adagio by the wrist and pulls her deeper into the crowd. Determined to find his sister. “Come, let’s go find Applejack.” He says taking out his phone. He presses the emergency tracker app, finding AJ in the crowd.
He finds her, along with Sunset and Twilight. The others strangely absent. Using his massive body, he dozers his way through the crowd towards them. When he finally reaches the trio Applejack starts speaking like Pinkie, excitedly telling him about how she found the school, something about a cop, but what really grabbed his attention was when she points towards the statue or what was left of it.
“Holy shit…” Mac stares slack-jawed at the pile of rubble that had once been the portal between Equestria. It was destroyed. Gone. He looks to Sunset, the fiery hair girl was hiding her face in her, but he could see the tears falling down her face. She had lost her only way home, back to her family. He takes her by the arm, passing her to Adagio as he glances around, a sense of panic filling him. “We going to the farm, now.” He said forcibly. Not giving Applejack and Twilight a choice as he pushed his way through the crowd. His mind reeling.
(Shit, shit, shit! The portal is gone! Did something come through it and break it? Did something else just find it? What is going on? Shit, what’s going to happen if the main portal is gone? Are we completely disconnected from Equestria or does this mean the portals are going to go haywire?) He didn’t know the answers to any of those questions. He madly dials Maddie’s cell number, but there was no answer. He sends a text, email, whatever he could do to try and get a hold of her. By the time he made it back to the truck, Mac had given up and dialed home.
“Yeah?” Sonata’s voice said over the line.
Mac spoke quickly as he climbs into the truck Adagio and Sunset Shimmer climb as AJ takes Twilight to her pickup. “I need you to check Maddie’s computer, see if any portals opened up.”
“We have an app,” Sunset said quietly holding up her phone. Mac took it and sighs in relief as it showed nothing appearing or having appeared.
“Never mind Sonata I… PING!” Mac looks down as Sunset phone, a portal just opened up. “PING!” Then another. “PING!” And another. “PING PING PING PING PING!” Red dots began appearing all over the display. A counter in the corner read twenty, the location, The old Canterlot city library, Maddie’s old lab. “Fuck, fuck FUCK! Sonata get in the in the blue pickup, no load the other pick up with guns and ammo! Meet me at the corner of Highway 28! We’ll swap trucks there, after that you go back to the farm and lock and load!”
“Mac, what’s going on?” Sonata screams in a panic over the line. He doesn’t answer as he floors the pick up to outside of town. He grits his teeth as more PINGs keep going off by the minute.
Growling Mac tries Maddie’s cell again, getting no answer, “Dammit Maddie where are you!”
Maddie had no idea where she was. Only that she was tied up tight, much like how she used to on the weekends before getting rainbow blasted. Those had been fun weekends. Her, Moon Dancer, some kids from the college. Fun times. Only she had been the one tying people up.
“Hey! Asshole’s who tied me up! My fingers are going numb, loosen these damn things or tie me to a chair or something!” She screams kicking air as she slowly spins in place. Her hands were tied above her head, her feet about two inches off the floor. It was pretty painful. Twisting her hands, she grabs the rope she’s suspended from and pulls herself, briefly, the tension in her wrist resides, but it didn’t last long as her arms begin to shake. She couldn’t hold up her own body weight! Gently before her grip slips she eases herself back down, the rope digging into her wrists again. “Yep, lot funnier when you’re the one tying people up.”
Really though she had no idea what was going on. First, that giant snake kidnaps her in Equestria and then her head gets bashed against the portal mirror. Which hurt like a son of a bitch. On top of that, her ribs might be bruised from that snake manhandling her in its tail. Also, the common problems of being suffocated and knocked out with what was most likely a concussion. The good news?
Well, she was back on earth, so that was something. She had no idea where she was through. Who kidnapped her or why. Now her capture may just be playing the silent game, but nobody had replied to her yell, nor has there been a sound, so maybe she was alone. Which means.
“A little magic in the arms, and…” Maddie pulls herself up on the rope again, bringing her teeth to bear on the rope. She begins gnawing on the rope, cringing at the taste of it, but it was better than chewing off her hands, so rope it is.
After several minutes or maybe even longer, the rope tears, using her fingernails she tries cutting the fraying braids of twine. Fingers bleeding, the blood dripping down on to her chest, she cuts halfway through the rope. Lifting her knees to her chest she braces herself, tightly wrapping her fingers around the rope under her cut she drops all one hundred five pounds of her body weight and… the rope holds.
“FUCCKKK! Mother fucking, Irish whores on a Sunday! Fuck! That FUCKING HURTS!” She screams, her wrist had already been chaffed by the rope, but her little stunt just shaved the skin off her wrists. Tears of pain flooded her vision as blood rolls down her arms. “God! What did I do to deserve this?” Maddie cries. “Actually, don’t answer that! I don’t want to know, I did lots things that would lead to this.”
Maddie laughs, finding her comment hilarious. She was talking to God now, great. Maybe she was going insane again? Or maybe she’s away been insane. What is sane? She was raised a scientist by a pony turned human and knew magic existed since she could read.
“Magic… magic is what you make it.” She looks up at the half-cut rope. Even like that, it would take a lot of strength to rip it apart. That was the brute’s way, the barbarian’s way of doing things. She was neither, she was a scientist. And right now, she was using the wrong tool, she was using a hammer when she really needs a knife!
Taking a deep breath Maddie closes her eyes, feeling her magic, she found it. Usually, she uses her magic to increase her muscle strength. A very basic way of using magic. She took the energy she usually pushed into her arms and legs and sent it all to her fingers. From there she pictures her nails, imaging cat claws, no little lightsaber blades, coming out of her nails. Her fingertips heat up and suddenly she fell!
“Whoa! Oof!” She hit the ground heard, completely unprepared for the sudden fall. She rolls onto her knees. Staring and laughing at her fingers, which were glowing like tiny green laser knives. She needs to watch more fantasy/sci-fi, she was too logical. Dad had taught her the basics of magic as a science, as something with logic. She knew how to turn someone into a fire person or into a hybrid, but she didn’t understand how to use her own magic beyond strength enhancement. There had never been a need to. She and her dad hadn’t been fighters. That’s what they kidnapped and made their mind slaves for.
Deactivating her… she’ll just call them laser nails, Maddie stands her body feeling off balance from being hung up in the air for so long. Quickly she checks her pockets and no phone. That was expected. What are her surroundings? Utter darkness and she didn’t have a flashlight.
“Right,” Maddie says opening her palm, she creates a sphere of light. “Magic. God, I really don’t use this gift very, much do I? Ok, now, where am I? Let’s see there’s a roof and there are arches. So, a building.” She sniffs the air. “An old building. With a dirt floor.”
Walking towards what looks like the exit Maddie was about halfway to the outline of the door when she stops. This was way too easy. Granted her escape hadn’t been a picnic, but there was no way someone would go through the trouble of kidnaping her, tying her up, only to have the exit be right there.
Pulling back her arm Maddie launches the sphere of light at the door. In the darkness, she sees the bones of animals covering the floor between her and the door. Creating another light, she tosses to her left, finding more bones. The right was the same and even the back of the building. Bones surround her on every side.
“Bones, bones, monsters made of bones… Knochen. Right, dad studied them for a bit when some came through a few years back. Basically, timber wolves made of bones. Ok.” Maddie sucks in a breath, bouncing in place to get her blood pumping. Her limbs glow with magic as steam rises off her body. “Ok, hammer time.”
She charges for the door. The Knochen rise becoming humanoid like figures kind of like the skeleton of a werewolf and begin clawing at her. She hits the nearest one hard, her magic infused blow blowing its rib cage to pieces. She ground pounds the one in front of her, not bothering to fight them all, she just needs to escape! She shatters two more, but three take their place and two jump her from behind, their bone claws tearing her shirt and leaving cuts on her back.
“Take this!” Cupping her fists together she hits the ground, creating a minor shockwave, clearing away every Knochen within four feet of her. She takes off sprinting again, blowing apart rib cages, but the Knochen begin to dogpile on her again. Dragging her to the ground. She thought that would be the end of it, but then she has an idea. “Use the right tool.” She had thought she needed a hammer but slicing bones would work too. Picturing her laser nails, she spins cutting through the boney creatures with ease, even her toes were sporting the deadly little glowing blades. Like a mad beast, Maddie rips and claws her way through the Knochen, cutting through the tin steel walls and stumbles out into the afternoon sun. Bloody and her clothes nothing but tatters, her sweater, tank top barely bare rags over her breasts and her jeans might as well be cut-offs, but she was outside! Barefoot, she stumbles down the gravel path, cringing as every rock pokes painfully against her feet.
Looking back, she sees the glowing eyes of the Knochen, but they don’t leave the steel pole shed she’d been held captive in. Relief floods her system. “Good, they won’t follow me. It’s hard to run without shoes.” She chuckles as she keeps on, the rocks making her cry out with every step. “I’m such a city girl,” She giggles, as she moves down the path. She’s seen Mac walk barefoot across gravel without even flinching. As she rounds the bend, she catches the sight of heavy machinery. Was she in a rock quarry?
Looking around Maddie concludes she was somewhere outside of town, but hopefully, one of the workers would bring her back to town and maybe loan her some clothes. “Boy, this is going to be hard to explain.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Yeah, it is, I’m particularly…” She pauses, who the fuck just said that. She turns her head, the last of her sentence slipping out from her lips as she sees the devilish smirk of a flat hair Pinkie Pie. “…Naked…” Suddenly gravity just increased and Maddie found herself kissing the dirt. Her eyes following Pinkie as she stalks around her, her hand outstretched. Pinkie was using gravity! Did that mean?
“Long time no see, mother. Surprised to see me?”
“Subject-003, Pinkamena Diane Pie, mixture D-26, I-87, and S-99.” Maddie mumbles. “How come you're still inside the girl? Last I check that rainbow blast got rid of all my meddling.”
“The name is Spite,” She chuckles, a pink snake uncoils from around Pinkie’s neck, it’s jaws snapping angrily at Maddie. “And the rainbow blast didn’t kill us. How would you say, it simply tucked us away? Compressing everything we were into black eggs, waiting for the day we could be free once again. I and several of my sisters have already awakened. 004 or as you called her Rainbow Storm, was the one that took you last night. But I took you from her, I wanted some quality time with you, mother.” Spite swoons with a devious look as she holds up a pocket watch looking device. “I think we’ll have lots of fun.”
Maddie stays firm as the possessed girl caresses her cheek. Gravity still pushing down on her. “So,” Maddie says with a strained voice, “The snake is the real you?”
“Always the inquisitive one, aren’t you mother?” Spite says picking Maddie up like a sack of potatoes. The mad scientist tried to escape, but the pink snake grew and coiled around her. “Don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of fun soon mother. Just as soon as Auntie Moon Dancer gets here. Then the real fun will begin!”
“You leave Moon Dancer out of this!” Maddie screams as Spite opens to the door to the shed, chuckling as she tosses Maddie to the floor.
“Now where would the fun be in that? Don’t worry. I only told my minions it be slightly rough with her, but let’s get started with our own fun. Shall we?” As the door closes Spite holds up a handful of glowing rocks. “Now, I have a few questions of my own, mother.”
Between the sounds of laughter and explosions Maddie screams could be heard, but the further and further away from the desolate shed. The quieter it becomes and soon even the most ear-shattering fear lace cry for help was nothing over the roar of mining equipment of the nearby quarry.
Moon Dancer hides beneath a desk in the library Lab, the growls of the creatures outside a haunting roar of what her fate was to be once they get to her, and they would get her to. They’ve already gotten inside, it was only a matter of time before they found the lab entrance. They had come out of nowhere. All at once Timber Wolves of different breeds appeared from portals and began besieging the Library, a tall ugly troll looking creature leading them. She called Maddie’s cell, but there was no answer and the howls getting closer, she cries as she tries to remember the numbers of Mac or anyone that could help her. Sadly, she concludes after scrolling through her contacts, she had never gotten Mac’s number. Every time she talked to the monster hunter it had been through Maddie’s phone.
The howls grew louder. This area was still protected by magic, so nobody would notice the army of magical creatures attacking her. Moon Dancer began to cry when she suddenly had a crazy idea. She climbs out from under the desk. Using the computer on the desk she types Mac’s name into google and… there was no number. He didn’t have his farm on Facebook or anything like that. Why was she not surprised? But there was a clip of his Father’s funeral, it showed Mac and the casket bears. She recognized to the two tall men standing behind the boyhood Mac, Maddie’s dad used to rant about them. Their names listed in the article.
“Ferocious Firebird and Stryker Six.” She types their names in the search bar and a number, fax and address showed up for CPD. She looks at the map on the wall. Mac was a good hour or more drive away. If the two men were part of CPD, they should be in the city. There was scratching at the door now. Moon Dancer takes her phone and dials the number.
“Detective Ferocious’s desk.” A gruff voice said. Boy did he sound angry, Moon Dancer thought.
“Um, Hi, you probably don’t know me, but I know you. I have a rather… um, large problem that your friend Nico used to take care of? If you know what I mean?”
“Where are you at?”
“Canterlot City Library. The old one.” The line goes dead. “Um hello? Please? Help me! Please!” She screams into the phone before setting it back on the receiver. Moon Dancer checks the barricade she made in front of the main lab door and looks at the cells where Maddie used to hold subjects. Taking the keys and whatever supplies were left, she walks inside and shuts the cage door and waits for what was to come.
Mac didn’t know what to expect rolling into the old city block, it looked as bad as last time, well it was worse after their battle with Maddie. There has been no effort to repair the abandoned library or the surrounding buildings. Not even the bums remained. Riding with him was Adagio, calmly loading her pistols beside him, while Sunset Shimmer sat against the window looking nervous. Driving behind them was Applejack and Twilight.
“Nervous to be back here, Sunny?” Sunset nods as they approach the library. He pulls over to the side of the street half a block away. He didn’t want to risk the vehicles getting damaged in the battle. Of course, Sunset would be nervous, they all were. This place didn’t have fun memories. On that note, this would be the first-time monsters have shown up in the city, as far as he knew. “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Adagio you stay with the vehicles.”
“What!” The Siren fumes. “I can handle myself!”
“I know you can, but… you know,” He indicates her belly. “I don’t want to take any chances.”
“You know I could get ambushed in the pickup right? Then what? I’d be all alone.” She retorts and does raise a good point. He hums as Applejack and Twilight walk up beside the truck, Applejack had one of his shotguns and Twilight was awkwardly holding Aria’s rifle.
“Twilight stay here with Adagio,” Mac said holstering his pistol on his hip. Reaching into the back of the truck he pulls his 870 Remington out of its case and straps the bandolier of shotgun shells around his chest, loading eight rounds into the extended tube mag. “Applejack, Sunny with me, make sure to cover each other.”
The two girls nod as they walk in a horizontal line down the street a couple feet apart from each other. It was basic hunting formation so they could cover each other’s line of sight and hopefully not shoot each other. They enter the plaza.
“Holy shit.” Were the first words to come from Mac’s mouth. Timberwolves of all types surround the plaza, all of them converging on the library. He saw the normal timber wolves, but he easily recognized the purple mushroom covered bodies of the Fungi Wolves. The same kind that poisoned him in Equestria. But there was more. He saw a black timber wolf, it’s body smoldering with an orange glow as it breathed fire at the library, the thick wooden doors burning as the other wolves ram the door.
“Cinder Wolves,” Sunset said holding up her phone, she flashes the screen at him, showing a profile with the creature displayed on it. “Timber Wolves made from the branches and sap of Cinder trees, the unique wood gives them the power to use fire magic. If that wasn’t obvious. The purple ones are…”
“Fungi wolves,” Mac answers. “I’ve run into them before, never on this side of the mirror though. They're poisonous so be careful.”
“Good to know,” Applejack says, her grip tightening on her gun. “You know the cure in the case we’re poisoned?”
“No,” Mac replies, “A zebra I met in the forest gave me the cure, so I’d suggest you not get hit by them. We don’t know if the ingredients can be found on this side or not, and there’s no getting help from Equestria this time.”
“I thought you didn’t want their help anyway?”
He smiles faintly, nodding, “Yeah, kind of regretting saying that now. Still, this is our world. It’s our job to protect it.” He looks at Sunset, the fiery hair girl’s hands were trembling as she grips the handle of her pistol. “There’s more than one way here, so there must be more than one way to Equestria. We’ll find you a way home Sunset, focus on right now.”
Sunset wipes her eyes, giving the Apple siblings, no her family, a bright smile. Nico adopted her as an Apple after all. “Thanks, cousin.”
Mac smiles and points his shotgun as the horde of Timber Wolves. “Think nothing of it, we’re family. Now, let’s get some varmints.” He pulls the trigger, letting loose the first shot. The closest Timber Wolf explodes into splinters. “Try to hold off using magic until you really need it! These guys are Cannon fonder!”
“Right!” The girls yell taking up positions behind abandoned cars as they fire at the charging wolf pack. Only the normal Timberwolves were coming for them at the moment. The Fungi and Cinders continuing to besiege the library.
Mac quickly counts the number of wolves, there were five Fungi and five Cinders, minus the one timber he destroyed, that was nine Timbers coming at them. Lining up his shot he pulls the trigger again, the double OT buck shot blowing the timber to pieces. From his left Applejack lets lose with her shotgun. Blowing three away in seconds. He quickly rackets his gun and takes out two coming at him and then looks towards Sunset. She was having little more trouble with her pistol; the .45 caliber rounds weren’t quite as effective. He counts her shots, hearing all seven fire from the gun. She panics as the slide locks open and she ejects the clip, frantically searching for her extra in her pocket. He rises up from behind his cover and follows the remaining Timber with his bead, his finger just about to squeeze the trigger when…
“Mac look out!” Cries Applejack. Quickly he ducks behind his cover again, the sound of something piercing the hood of the abandoned car catches his attention. Peering over the hood he sees a purple stake impeded in the hood. The Fungi wolves posed at the top of the stairs.
He growls, “Shit.” Running out from cover, Sunset still fiddling with her extra clip, he fires at the stairs, the double OT buck spreading wide missing the Fungi, but did make them back up a bit. He runs up to the Sunset, the Timber jumping on top of the car, he slides across the ground stopping beside her, the muzzle of his gun pointing up. He fires. Blowing its head off.
“You ok?”
Sunset sighs, finally reloading the pistol. “Yeah, sorry. It’s been awhile since Nico showed me how to use these things. Not that I was any better back then.”
“It’s fine, I know I said try refrain from using magic, but use it if you need to.”
Sunset pony’s up growing ears. “Much better, so how are we going to take the stairs? Those things are covering them pretty well.”
“Let me think about that. Applejack! How are you doing?” Mac yells.
“I’m fine!” Applejack replies. “Damn things got me pinned though! I can’t get to you two!”
“That’s fine! Just stay there for now!” Mac tells her as several stakes hit the side of the car they were hiding behind. Those things were as smart as they were last time. They sacrificed the Timbers so the Fungi could figure out their range. The shotguns wouldn’t reach that far, at least not with buckshot. A 30mm slug might, but even that was little iffy. They could have Twilight bring him Aria’s rifle, but there was no grantee she could make it up here without getting hit. Trying to snipe them would be difficult to. The fungi could fire a lot faster than Aria’s bolt action could. He’d really have to duck and cover if he was going to hit all five. That is if he could get a shot without getting hit.
“Can you make shields? Something like Rarity’s geode power?”
Sunset chews on her fingernail, “Hmm, I do know a few shield spells, but I never tried them on this side yet. I barely learned levitation last week.”
“Levitation…” Mac looks around, an idea forming. “How much can you lift?”
“Well, Twilight could raise those boulders, so I could probably do the same. For a little while at least.”
“Are you two coming up with a plan?” Applejack yells from her position. “Cause these things are starting to eat through my cover!”
“We got something in the works AJ, just hold on!” Mac yells back. “Sunny, can you lift this car and push it ahead? Get us closer to the stairs?”
Sunset looks at the car, a red aura of magic surrounds her hand and then around the car, she raises her hand, her brow sweating, but the car raises off the ground. She gives a shakily smile and nod. “Say when!”
“Go!”
Mac pushes the car, a rain of wood stakes assaults them the windows shattering, but he had the Fungi’ attention. “AJ! Move up!” He barks they moved about twenty yards, the car drops back to the ground, Sunset on her knees gasping for air. Red steam rising from her hands. “Are you ok?”
Sunset nods, “Yeah…(Pant) I guess… (wheeze) magic can overheat here too. My hands feel like their on fire!”
To his left, he hears the sound of gunfire. Peering around the car he sees Applejack on the other end of the street, hiding behind one of those large cement troughs that the city plants trees in. AJ sat huddled with her back against the stone wall, two of the Fungi paying close attention to her. They probably wouldn’t fall for that again.
“AJ! Give me some cover, I’ll move up this time!” Mac yells at her, his ears ringing from all the gunfire. From her position, AJ shakes her head.
“No! I can make!” She says getting up to run again.
“AJ don’t!” But she didn’t listen. She jumps out from her cover running to another abandoned car. He rises up firing his shotgun to try and distract the Fungi, but they knew his shots wouldn’t reach them. At least not in an effectual way. Some bark breaks off their bodies with some stray buckshot, but it was no better than a flesh wound to the creatures. They fire at him and he ducks down. Growling his fists glow orange. “Hang on to this,” Mac says passing the shotgun to Sunset. “I’m going to save my foolish sister.”
Sunset nods, taking the gun. “I’ll cover you.”
He nods and with his arms covered in scales Mac runs out into the open. Really hoping his scales would be hard enough to deflect the stakes. One of the purple projectiles come flying right at him and he bats it away! He cringes as the velocity of the flying stake makes his arm tremble. He could deflect them, but not easily. He runs behind cover, now on the same side of the street as AJ. Who was now hiding behind a large garbage bin? One half of it already riddled with stakes. The other side wasn’t holding up much better as the Fungi began to adjust their shot so they fired through the opening of the bin. AJ let out a yelp as a stake pierces through, exiting right next to her face!
“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea!” She screams hugging her body against the ground, half a dozen more stake shredding the thin sheet metal.
“Ya think!” Mac retorts angry, ready to grab her when he sees one of the Fungi charging down the stairs, the other four providing cover! He tries to jump out, but a barrage of poisonous stakes stops him cold. “AJ, watch out! One’s coming for ya!”
“What!” She yells her own ears probably ringing from the gunfire. The Fungi was vaulting over the half-destroyed garbage bin, jaws wide open for a massive bite. Mac curses drawing his pistol. AJ was way too close in his line of sight for his liking, but he has to take the shot or she’d be poisoned!
“Duck AJ!” He screams. He didn’t care where he hit the damn Fungi, just as long as he misses AJ! AJ let out a scream, the poisonous tree wolf about to land on top of her. His finger trembles, beginning to squeeze the trigger of his .45. In his nervousness, he pulls from the middle of his finger jerking the gun to the side. The bullet goes rocketing to the right hitting the Fungi’s back left leg, far from a vital spot. “AJ!” He screams as the Fungi falls on her, it’s toxic claws and fangs about to pierce her skin when suddenly, from out of nowhere, the Fungi shattered to pieces! It’s remains scattering all over the street, the purple sticks set ablaze.
For a moment the entire plaza went quiet as a tall man in a long coat stood protectively over his sister, a claymore in his grip and red and yellow wing protruding from his back. The man’s face was hidden by the cowl of his coat and the cap on his head, but Mac could see tuffs of red hair and the glare of his golden eyes from beneath the brim of his head. The most striking thing was the patch on the man’s coat. The same patch on his own. A Night Patrol patch, number 0756.
“You three, stay down,” The man growls, his rough and growly, like that of a beast’s. He glares at the Fungi and the Cinders that had momentary stopped their siege to look upon the newcomer. “I’ll handle this.” The man shifts his stance, holding his sword in straight out in front of his body. “Full Throttle Flame.”
Like a rocket, the man shot off appearing as nothing more for a shooting red arrow reaching the top of the stairs in seconds! The Fungi never stood a chance, with four swings of his sword, the man cleaves the Fungi wolves into twos, their remains bursting into flame. The Cinders redouble their efforts, one breaking through the library door and escaping inside while the remaining four charge the swordsmen.
“Tch, please,” the man says thrusting his gloved hand into the closest Cinder. Yanking his hand free he pulls a glowing orange orb from the Cinder, it’s magic core. The man crushes the orb in his hand, the Cinder’s body falling to ash. The three remaining Cinders whimper. “Nothing but little pups!” The man throws his sword like a spear, the claymore blasting the Cinder on the left to pieces, the blade devouring the magic orb of the monster. The man rushes grabbing the remaining two Cinders and shattering them against the corner of the entrance before grabbing his sword and entering the building after the final cinder, shouting, “You stay out here!” Before disappearing from view.
The three rises from the cover, amazed by the man’s efficient disposal of the creatures. Sunset and Applejack look shakenly to Mac for guidance. “So, do we stay here or…” Mac was already running inside. “Ok. We’re….”
“You two stay here,” Mac interrupts. “Go back to Adagio and Twilight and wait for me there!”
Sunset nods, trusting his judgment, “Ok Applejack… where are you going!”
“After my brother!” She retorts running up the stairs after Mac disappears into the library. Sunset hangs her head, fiercely rubbing her temple as she looks from the library to where they parked the vehicles.
“Fuck,” She huffs jogging towards the vehicles. “Hopefully Adagio will know what to do.”
Inside the library Mac slows, finding the remains of the last Cinder Wolf, but no sign of the mysterious man. Hearing footsteps behind him he quickly turns, pistol drawn, only to let it drop when his sister came into view.
“What the hell are you doing here? I told you to go back to the pickup!” Mac angrily whispers.
“I’m not letting go after him alone!” AJ hisses quietly back.”
“I almost blew your head off because you recklessly decided to follow me!”
“Well I… ok. I’ll concede that, but I’m still not going back. Now, where is this guy?”
“That’s what I want to know,” Mac whispers stepping through the library. The place was in ruins. Well, even more, ruined then before. Seems something else other than the Timber Wolves got in here. Going to the back he finds the secret door to Maddie’s lab ripped off its hinges. Yep, something else was defiantly here, but what? And if so why? Was Maddie here? If so, why didn’t she call them for help? “Let’s go, be…”
A high pitch scream comes from down below. Mac and AJ rush down the stairs, ponying up and igniting their fists with magic. They find the heavy steel door of the lab ripped clean up, the doorway bend and mangled by a huge outline. They enter the lab, following the screams and find Moon Dancer of all people hiding in one of the cells as an ugly looking monster pounds at the door. The sight of which made Mac freeze. It was a Gore. A small one, but still a Gore.
“Fuck,” He mumbles under his breath. “AJ go back now.”
“But Mac!”
“Go now!” He roars, pushing her back towards the stairs, the small Gore turns towards their voices, it didn’t have a helm this time, so it’s ugly jagged teeth were on full display. He gave a challenging roar, stomping its feet on the stone floor before charging at them. Mac lets his draconic side show as he changes his hands not claws. Ready to meet the undead creature head-on, when the man from before come rocketing in from behind the Gore, his claymore piecing through the Gore’s neck.
“STAY AWAY FROM THEM!” The man roars igniting his sword with fire he cleaves through the creature’s neck, severing it from its body. He then stabs the sword through the monster’s heart, the Gore’s body bursting into flames, the smell of burning rotten flesh filling the air.
The man haggardly steps down from the dead creature’s body, his cap removed, revealing his face. The buttons of his coat were undone or rather ripped off, revealing a rather large wound across his chest. It was obvious he had been fighting the Gore before he and AJ arrived and the mysterious man was looking a lot better then Mac did when he tried to do the same thing.
“Fuck these things are annoying!” The man huffs, digging through his pocket he pulls out a carton of cigarettes. With a snap of his finger, he lights the smoke and takes a long deep drag. He takes a look at them, seemingly cursing under his breath as he tries to not make eye contact with them. “Cap, cap, where’s my fucking cap.” The man mumbles looking for the discarded hat. Suddenly AJ gasps.
“You’re that police officer! You came to my house last month asking about the Gilda attack! You… you were at the school too!” AJ takes a breath, trying to calm down, but failing. “Who the fuck are you! Why are you showing up everywhere I go! Why… why do you have magic!”
Mac extends his arm, holding his sister back from approaching the man. He remembers his visions from the other day when they were going to the bar. This man was very similar to the man standing by his father. Pulling out his phone Mac opens his contacts and dials the number Luna gave him. The man’s phone begins to ring, he pulls out his phone looking from it to Mac.
“She gave you my number?” Mac nods. The man laughs. “Fucking A Luna.” He hits decline putting his phone back into his pocket. AJ looking confusing between her brother and the strange man.
“Luna… you don’t mean…”
Mac nods, “That’s right, Vice Principal Luna, our Godmother. This Applejack is our missing Godfather, Ferocious.”
Sonata paces the floor nervously, the patter of her bare blue feet her only companion as she glances out the living room window for the hundredth time. The palms of her hands were sweaty making the grips of her guns slick. She set her pistol on the coffee table rubbing her hands on her pant legs to clean off the sweat. Falling on Mac’s lazy boy she checks her phone, no messages from Mac and the others.
She was freaking out after Mac’s frantic call awhile ago and brought him a literal truck full of guns. The urgency of his tone had her looking over her shoulder, out the window, and jumping at every little noise thinking something was going to jump out and attack her! Picking up her gun again she sits with her knees pulls against her chest on the chair, the gun firmly between her palms.
“Everything’s ok, no need to panic. Everything’s fine. They just haven’t called yet… after an hour and a half.” Her stomach grumbles for food, but she didn’t think she would be able to keep it down with her nerves so frayed. If only Aria wasn’t bedridden, she would be so much calmer. “Oh shit, Aria! I forgot to check on her!”
Running up the stairs Sonata made a beeline for Aria’s room at the end of the hall, her breathing frantic as she sticks her head into her sister’s room. A sigh of relief escapes her lips as she found Aria safe and sound, still rolled up in her blankets, her purple and teal hair sticking out of the top of the blanket.
Realizing she was being ridiculous Sonata, much more quietly, went back downstairs and fell on the couch with an oaf! Maybe some TV would calm her down. Her stomach rumbles again. A snack wouldn’t hurt either she figures jumping to her feet, it was about dinnertime anyway.
Humming a soft tune, she enters the kitchen and begins ravaging the cupboards, they didn’t keep a lot of premade treats around, but there should be a bag of cookie dough. “Where is it at?” She grumbles knocking several boxes of various ingredients aside. She was about to scream thinking someone made and then ate HER cookies when the oven timer suddenly went off!
She whips around, suddenly the smell of fresh baked cookies fills the room, the temperature gauge of the oven reading 350 degrees. Sonata peers into the living room then checked in the bathroom and then looks outside. Nobody besides her and Aria was in the house and there were no new cars in the yard, and she knew she didn’t set the oven.
Back in the kitchen Sonata puts on an oven mitten and opens the oven door. The smell of fresh baked chocolate chip cookies fills the air. She inhales the aroma setting the cookies on the stove to cool. Only something was strange about the cookies. They weren’t in a normal shape, they weren’t circles, but letters and they formed words.
“Evil get out,” Sonata read aloud, laughing nervously. “Hahaha…. What a funny joke whoever did this! Using an entire batch of cookies to write a creepy message without getting the bowl, spoons or anything out or making any sound what’s so ever. Yeah, really funny! Ok, COME OUT NOW!”
She grabs her gun turning in circles, pointing at the doors and windows. “I’m warning you!”
“So am I,” A chilling voice said, the room became cold, causing a chill to run down her spine as she slowly turns her head to see the see-through image of an older looking Applejack. She knew who the woman was, her picture was an over the house. She was Applejane, Mac’s mother. “You should really get out of here.” The ghost of Applejane said fading away.
Her jaw fell open, “Holy shit… Adagio was right this place is haunted!” Sonata takes the E cookie and eats it. “Wow, these are good too! I wonder if she left a note with the recipe?” The cookie sheet suddenly flips over, the cookies spelling “GET OUT” landing at her feet as a thump comes from upstairs!
“Aria!”
Rushing upstairs Sonata skids to a stop in front of Aria’s room, the door wide open, Aria was on the floor, her loose hair falling around her a puddle of black vile stains the carpet. Her heart jumping out of her chest in panic Sonata rushes to her sister’s aid, pulling Aria’s head onto her lap.
“Aria! Aria! Aria speak to me! What happened? What…” Sonata rubs the black vile on her hand, it was slick to the touch, like oil, she tried to wipe it off on her pant leg, but it wouldn’t come off! “What is this stuff?” She stares at her stained hand, the oily black vile suddenly traveling down her arm! “Holy crap!”
Clawing at her arm Sonata falls back against the wall, trying to keep the vile from consuming her, but it only spreads, now her other hand is covered in it and so was her leg! The vile on her pants disappeared, but she could feel the oily texture call up her leg. Lifting her shirt, she saw black veins crawling up her stomach!
“Oh, gods, oh gods! What is this stuff?” Sonata rolls away from the puddle and Aria, her arms completely covered in black veins. Looking under her shirt she saw the vein on her stomach were racing up her breasts towards her heart. Her hearts rate spikes as she watches the veins travel up her skin. A sudden hiss catches her attention and Aria rises up, her movements jerky and uncoordinated, like she was possessed. A teal snake with purple wings slithers from under Aria’s hair, flashing its fangs at her. “Did you do this! Answer me you damn snake!” Sonata roars pulling up her fists. Pain suddenly erupts throughout her body, like her nerves were being fried and she fell limply to the floor. Aria and the snake stalk towards her.
“Aria… Aria don’t! You're strong! Fight it!” Sonata pleads as the snake slither’s down Aria’s arm and poses to strike. Sonata closes her eyes. “ARIA!”
In the basement of Maddie’s old lab, Mac leans against one of Maddie’s cabinets, while Applejack sat on a table with her legs dangling over the side, besides in the only two chairs not broken were Twilight and Sunset, while Adagio hung off his arm. They all sat in silence, looking at the man smoking atop the charred remains of the Gore he had slain.
The sound of a door opening and closing caught their attention as Moon Dancer arrived with a tray of cups of coffee. The former mad scientist’s helper passed out the cups to them all. Her gaze briefly lingered on Twilight, and the same for the lavender girl. They looked so similar they could be sisters. It was uncanny.
“Here,” Moon Dancer said handing Mac his cup before moving to Ferocious. It was obvious Moon Dancer was afraid of the red man, her kneed knocking as she hands Ferocious the last cup of coffee. Which Ferocious took with a rough “Thank you” taking a sip before returning to his cigarette. Moon Dancer tucks the tray under breasts and quickly moves away from Ferocious, choosing to hide behind Twilight and Sunset.
They all take a sip of coffee. Waiting for someone to speak first. To no surprise, his sister was the first to speak.
“So…” Applejack began looking at her reflection in the coffee and then Ferocious. “Your Mac and I’s godfather?” Ferocious nods. “You were also Uncle Feri too? And you hunted monsters with dad?”
A smile graced Ferocious’s lips, “I always wondered if you actually knew my full name. Luna had a habit of calling me Feri when we’re dating and hanging out with your parents. I remember this one time you tried to say Ferocious and all that come out was a garbled mess of letters. I see those speech lessons didn’t get rid of your drawl either. But yeah, I was your Uncle Feri once upon a time.”
Mac observes the red man’s expression, he seemed, happy. “Is there a reason we barely remember you or Luna?” He asks. “You didn’t magic our memories or something? Did ya?”
“I thought about it,” Ferocious answers. “After your parents died I broke up with Luna and kept monster hunting with my friend Stryker. I decided to keep my distance from both you kids and Luna. I figured it would be the best way to keep you safe from magic. Not that it did any good, magic seems to have found you just fine.”
“That doesn’t explain why we barely remember you, or Luna being around when were younger. We didn’t even know she was our godmother until recently.” Applejack spoke up before Mac could continue.
Ferocious sighs. “I’ll make this clear. I didn’t use magic to mess with your memories. Not that I could, that’s more of Stryker’s thing. But given some of the things I’ve seen during my time as a cop and Detective for CPD. The trauma of losing both your parents probably was a factor. Since Luna and I chose to keep our distance we probably just faded into your memories. You were grieving, living with your grandmother, dealing with a younger sister that didn’t understand what was happening and dealing with school and normal life. Let’s not forget the factor of time, it’s been several years since we last saw each other. Disregarding my visit, the last time I even spoke to you kids was Nico’s funeral.”
“I remember that you were one of the casket bearers. You also stayed with me at the grave sight till I was ready to go.” Mac said, the once fuzzy memory now clear as crystal, though he felt like he was forgetting something else, he swore there was someone else at the grave with them. “That was the last time we spoke, but I doubt that was the last you saw us? Right?”
Ferocious nods, “I checked up on you every once in a while. I’d go to your sporting events or concerts when I could. I kind of stopped recently since things seem to be going ok. Kind of figures the moment I took my eyes off you, magic creeps not your life, on top of that you go and get frisky with one of the sirens.”
“Nice to see you again too,” Adagio mutters, her arm tightens around Mac’s. He could feel her claws pressing against his skin. Even with her touching him she was still close to she-demoning out, it spoke volumes about how much of a threat his wife found the man before them. Not that Mac could blame her. Feri took down a Gore, a small one, but still a Gore with less effort, time, and injuries them him, Kira and Maddie combined. There was no doubt the man was powerful. “So, do I need to get your blessing?” She adds, eyeing Ferocious distrustfully. “Or are you just going to try and roast me alive like you tried to Aria? Because Mac wouldn’t like that.”
“Oh God, stop with the games… which one are you again?”
“Adagio,” His wife answers with bite, her canine teeth much more pronounced than normal. “Don’t act like you didn’t know either, we not identical, and we know you’ve been snooping around.”
“Of course, I did,” Ferocious scoffs. “I walked the entire town with Bailey to hear how you girls have been behaving. Your real popular around town it seems. I hear Sonata makes a good cookie. Gotta say I’m surprised you girls took over a new leaf. Almost as much as a surprise as you Sunny. I guess Nico was better at seeing the light in people then I am.”
Sunset Shimmer blushes, “Thanks, I do my best. I owe Nico a lot. Mac too.”
“So…” Applejack began drawing stares. “I know we have more pressing things to talk about, but I gotta ask if you and Luna are our godparents, why didn’t we end up with you? Not that I minded living with Granny, I’m just curious.”
“I am as well,” Mac said. “At a surface glance you and Luna would have been the better choice, you were younger then Granny, a couple, and Luna was a teacher at the time. It seems weird Granny would be chosen as our guardian. I mean she’s healthy, but she’s not young either. The risk of something happening to her was much greater, plus she’d be raising three kids by herself.”
“You got a point,” Ferocious chuckles humorlessly while nodding his head. “All of that was brought up in the custody battle. The lawyer… or was he a judge? Anyway, the local guy at the courthouse was in favor of me and Luna. He was a bit warily because we weren’t married, so there was a fear of what would happen if we broke up, but he was willing to look past that. The lady from the city… well, she would have been fine with Luna, the problem…” Ferocious’s expression saddens. “The problem was me. I was wild in my youth, I got into fights, I ran with Bikers, my official job was running the bar my mother left me. I wasn’t really a home run.” Feri’s fists tighten. “That… bitch from child services. She used my past to bash, Luna. Saying despite Luna being a teacher and a consular, she had poor judgment if I was her choice for a mate.”
“I’m going to guess you didn’t let that slide?” Smirks Adagio, looking relaxed for the first time since the conversation started. Feri nods at her question. Her smirk turning devilish. “So, what did you do?”
An equally devilish smirk appeared on Ferocious’s lips, making Mac and everyone scoot a few inches back. “I may have melted her car. She wasn’t in it, of course, it was an expensive car too. I just happen to be the officer responding to her call also. So, I got to see her expression up close and personal.”
The room shares a chuckle and took a sip of coffee. Mac was about to push for more relevant questions, but Twilight raised her hand first, prompting another round of chuckles as she sat in her chair like she was in class. He wondered what…
“How’d you become a cop let alone a Detective with your record? My brother been on the force for a few years since he graduated and he’s an Alumni for Crystal Prep and has a clean record.”
“The CPD isn’t what you would call a… clean… police force. My boss, Thorax, his mother is, Chrysalis Blackthorn, the State Attorney General, she’s in bed in all senses of the word with the current governor Torch and… did you really not find it strange that both the Chief of Police and Deputy Chief were brothers? Or the fact both of them were under forty?” He got nothing but blank stares. “Right, most of you can’t even vote yet, why would you care. Anyway. It was actually thanks to my and Stryker’s shady pasts that we rose through the ranks, also I went to high school with the chiefs, so we knew each other a little bit and got some strings pulled. We said we’d take all the ‘weird’ crimes, IE, crimes that were most likely monsters attacks. We don’t tell the truth, but we closed cases fast and cleanly and that’s what the higher-ups like.”
Deciding to take back the reins of the conversation, Mac spoke up, “How many monsters attacks have there been? What kind of monsters have you been finding? Where have they been appearing?”
“Whoa, slow down there one thing at a time.” Ferocious grumbles waving his hand around. Noticing his cigarette was burned down the to the filter Feri fishes into his pocket for his pack and draws another with his teeth. Snapping his fingers, he creates a flame on his thumb and lit the cancer stick. Everyone waiting patiently for him to finish. “Alright let me think… do you want to know how many monster attacks in just this year or overall?”
“Both,” Mac asks grimly, his stomach doing flips. He probably wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Alright, overall there have probably been, 273 attacks since I started at CPD, that would be four or five years now. Just this year alone there have been… maybe seventeen? That’s including the Cloudsdale Slaughter, and our pending investigating involving a possible vampiric creature and the dust houses and the recent burning block case.”
“Burning block?” Mac questions.
“It’s the official name for the school attack. Some reporter made it up, now we got to use it. No leads yet if your wondering.”
The room falls silent. Then Sunset raises her hand. Feri rolls his eyes, “This isn’t fucking school Sunny, just speak up!”
“Right, sorry, so about the portal, the one in front of the school, Nico must have told you about it right?” Feri nods. “Did he ever find another one?” She asks with hope. Feri takes a long drag.
“Nope. At least not one that we can use to cross to the other side. Not that I ever went through the old one. Hard to go through a portal that only opens every three years or so for three days.” He answers.
“They changed that,” Adagio said. “Princess Twilight Sparke found a way to keep the portal open all the time.”
Feri’s brow scrunched up, “Princess Twilight Sparkle? That’s a mouthful?”
“Just to clarify I’m Twilight Sparkle, though I, not the princess, it’s confusing. I’m her human counterpart and she’s…” Twilight pauses blushing. “My pony princess counterpart I guess.”
Ferocious looks amused, “Don’t look so embarrassed. I’ve had to deal with this magic crap for all my life. It was kind of relief when I met Nico, for once I didn’t feel like the only freak that grew ears.”
Mac and Applejack exchange confused looks, “Wait…” Applejack began, “You were born with magic?” Mac finishes. “You’re like us? You have an Equestrian parent?”
“Better, I had two, both of my parents, Lon and Swan, were from Equestria. They got here in a similar, yet different way than Nico, only a few years earlier. I was… twenty-one when I first ran into Nico. But yeah,” He said pulling his sword from his back and jabbing it into the ground, igniting it into flames. “I’ve been dealing with magic all my life. Of course, my parents didn’t tell me they were magic talking ponies from another world. At least not until Nico showed up. I just through I was mutant or something. Course back then I only knew how to go first gear, I just got the ears and could light my sword on fire. After hanging out with Nico and a few years of experience, I gained wings and so much more, I can go full throttle now.”
“Full Throttle?” They all ask in unison.
“Right, right, I’ll explain,” Feri says. “I don’t know how you guys envision your magic, but when Nico was teaching me he used an engine analogy. I think of my magic like fuel and my body like a motor, and I adjust the throttle in my mind to determine how much power I want to use. Stryker and I break up our power into three stages or gears if that’s simpler. The first stage is just pony ears, second stage or half throttle is ears and wings, and the third stage is ears, wings, tail, and a whole lot of power. Sometimes I’ll get talons on my feet and I’ll start turning into a firebird pony monster if I don’t keep control. I try to keep the magic I can’t handle channeled into my sword so I don’t go berserk. But yeah, what you saw today was my Full Throttle Flame, that’s my max.”
“That’s a lot simpler then what we do,” Applejack sighs. Earning a curious look from Ferocious. “We have our base form I guess, some of us get ears and others get ears and wings, but we all grow ponytails. Then we have our rainbow form, we get some color added to our hair, now we have the geodes which give us magic without transforming and then we have the crystal forms that give us superheroes like costumes and stuff. The clothes seem to change too. Really we mostly use the Geode forms now.”
“That sounds like a mess. How about you Adagio? What do you do without those gems?”
Adagio smirks pecking Mac’s cheek, gaining pony ears, “I feed on Mac’s good energy or any willing (Or unwilling) donor. Mac mostly has his base form with the ears, but after training with your equestrian counterparts, he’s gained dragon abilities. Since Nico was a dragon pony, it only makes sense his children would inherit some of those traits. That might be the cause of Applejack’s strength.”
Feri cocks his head, “Our counterpart?”
“You explain it, hun.”
Mac coughs, “Right, well it’s kind of embarrassing because I’ve seen them in both pony and human form, but you look a lot like a dragon pony by the name of Fierce Fury.”
Feri chuckles, “Nico said that too.”
“I think Luna mumbled something about Sixes being Stryker’s counterpart when she gave me your number.” That brought smile right off of Ferocious’s face. “What?” Mac questions.
“Luna knows about magic too?”
“The whole school does,” Mac clarifies. “Is that a problem?”
Feri pinches his brow, a range of emotions going through his face. “I’m not going to says it’s not a problem. I’m just… I’m pissed, to be honest. I gave up everything I had with Luna to keep her safe and now she knows about magic anyway? That’s a low blow, but maybe’s it’s what I get for thinking I could keep you all save and ignorant. I tried and sacrificed but in the end, all my efforts were for nothing. All you kids got dragged into this magic shit anyway, so did Luna, then, of course, there’s my failure for not keeping a better eye on Maddie’s activities.” He shoots a glare towards Moon Dancer. “Still from what Nyxia told me you found some light inside her too.”
“You know Nyx too?”
“Why do you think she’s still alive? We’re actually pretty good friends now.” If your friends scream in terror when you pay them a visit, Feri chuckles silently. Nyx probably didn’t expect to see him again after Nico died. “But that’s enough talking about the past. Time to get down to business. Starting with the fact that these monsters were clearly here to get you, Moon Dancer. Any reason why?”
“I don’t know,” The former mad assistant insisted. “I’ve never seen an organized monster attack like this. I’m more concerned about Maddie, she went through the portal and I haven’t heard from her since. She might be trapped on the other side!”
“I’m trapped here too,” Sunset laments, tears threatening to fall. “I just started reconnecting with my grandmother too.”
“As much as I said I didn’t want Sixes and the others help, it’s a bit different now knowing were on our own. Should have known those words would come back to bite me,” Mac grumbled. Now wishing he had let Sixes station some Night Patrollers here. “That being said, the portal was built on their side of the mirror. It’s possible they’re already building another one.” He looks at Sunset. “Sixes and Celestia defiantly wouldn’t leave you stranded here.” He told her, Sunset smiles, knowing he was right.
“Speaking of Princess Sunbutt,” Adagio said much to the ire of Sunset Shimmer. The siren ignores the glare. “You still have that book, right?”
Sunset blinks.
“My book… AH! MY Dairy! That’s right I can still contact Equestria!” She frantically looks behind her, feeling for the backpack that wasn’t there. “Oh, right I left that at school. We need to go get it! I’m sure it’s buzzing up a storm by now.”
“Hold it!” Ferocious said stabbing the floor with his sword. “We’re not done here. We need a plan. Starting with this, Moon Dancer do you have any DNA of Maddie’s?”
“Um, yeah, here in the lab, but why?”
“There was blood at the scene this morning. Forensics has it now if Maddie went through the portal, there is a chance she came back through and was attacked by whatever destroyed the school. You, Mac, and I will go the station and get a comparison done. Meanwhile, the rest of you girls can go back home and get this… diary and contact your friends on the other side and see what’s up.”
Adagio suddenly let out a curse, “Shit, I should call Sonata.” She pulls out her phone and began walking for the stairs, mumbling, “No fricken signal down here.”
That reminded Ferocious, he should call Stryker and bring him up to speed. Following Adagio’s path upstairs he felt Mac’s eyes on him. He was probably worried they might try to kill each other. Not an unfounded fear, so when he reached the top of the stairs Ferocious found Adagio messing with her phone and went in the opposite direction to stand outside on the southeast side of the library. He dials Stryker’s number and quickly gives him an update.
“So, they know huh. Fate sure played you like a fool.” Stryker said over the speaker. “I guess that’s means you can get back together with Luna.”
“Maybe, let’s focus on the dangerous matters first. You have the blood sample?”
“Yeah, the forensic team left about half an hour ago. I’ll be on my up soon to make a report.”
Feri hums, “I’m already up here. I can give the report to the chief if you want to stick around and look for clues.”
“Sounds good, I’ll see if I can find any leads.” The call ends. Feri pocket his phone just in time to hear Adagio curse hers and sit on the steps and pout. Grumbling about her sister not picking up. He pulls a cigarette from his pocket and was about to light it when he notices he was upwind from her. Walking halfway down the stairs so he was downwind before lighting his smoke.
“Thanks,” She said looking pouty. Her head resting on her palms.
“No problem.”
An awkward silence falls between the two old enemies.
“It wasn’t personal,” Adagio said suddenly. “Trying to kill you guys. We were hoped up on dark magic, we struggled to survive for so long then when things finally got good we wanted to kept it that way, at any cost.” She touches the spot where her jewel used to hang. “Of course, we didn’t realize we lost ourselves along the way. We were sisters, but we didn’t act like it, not anymore. My mother would ground me for life if she knew of the things I did and said to Sonata and Aria.”
“Am I supposed to pity you?”
Adagio giggled, “I’d rather you not. I’m just… letting things vent. We’ re supposed to be allies now. We should try to get along I guess.”
“That’s funny, coming from you,” Feri said puffing out a cloud of smoke. “I see you have instincts to protect your young, you would have jumped me if you weren’t holding Mac’s arm. The fact that you’re not now, means you trust me?”
“Maybe,” Adagio answers coyly. “I’m not sure how this is supposed to work. I used to attack everyone besides Mac and my sisters, I even attacked Applejack and Sunset, but I don’t anymore. I think it started with Applebloom, she has a power all her own. I don’t know if that’s playing a factor or if my brain is filtering out friend and foe now. Because suddenly I don’t feel the change boiling up.”
“Your asking the wrong person, regardless, I’ll keep you safe, all of you, you and your sisters included. Your Apples now.”
“That has to be the corniest things I’ve ever heard,” Laughs Adagio, her smile bright. “But I appreciate it, Ferocious. When you decide to go after Luna, I’ll give you a hand. She and I are gamer buddies after all.”
Mac and the others exit the library, the time has come for them to go, to hunt. Ferocious, Mac and Maddie head towards the police station, while Adagio leads the girls back to the vehicles. At the base of the stairs, the siren turns and shouts.
“Happy hunting.”
Deep in the hills outside of Canterlot Spite sits crossed legged staring over a map of the area, Twilight’s remade medallion in her grip, the alicorn amulet inserted into the purple locket. Behind her the haggard moans of Maddie echo through the steel shed, the mad scientist’s face obscured in the shadows while a narrow beam of light shines on her bloodly and bruised body.
On the map lay six game pieces, all different colors, she adds a red making seven total with the arrival Ferocious. An unexpected development she muses watching the group separate through the eyes of her snake familiar. Her fingers palm the medallion plans forming in her brain.
“What should I send next? What do you think mother?” Maddie coughs in response, gagging as she coughs up another mouth full of blood and spits it on the floor. “Hmm, you right,” Spite gleefully says through the chipper tone of Pinkie’s voice. “I should send something fun, something… big. No several big things. Yes, I think I know what I want.”
She lays the medallion on the map. Magic oozes out of the medallion turning the map into a 3D light board. With her finger, she circles the locations where she wants her monsters to appear. With her other hand, she scrolls through Maddie’s phone, looking through her list of monsters. Smirking she presses her finger on the beasts of her choice.
Luna rolls agitatedly on the couch, the sunlight streaming in through her living room window making her hot and uncomfortable. Tossing the blankets off she rolls up to sit, her t-shirt stretched and loose on her shoulders, her left boob threatening to slip out of the well-worn fabric. Sleepily she looks around the room, her tired brain booting up. Vaguely aware something was wrong with the scene before her, but she couldn’t figure out what.
Acting on autopilot Luna shuffles to the kitchen, the coffee maker already brewing, she didn’t remember setting the auto brew though. Pouring a cup and adding her usual two cubes of sugar and hazelnut creamer, turning the black liquid a milky mud color she took a light sip, sighing as the warm liquid relaxes her body and gives her that little jolt she needs. Taking longer, deeper gulp of coffee, Luna becomes aware that her sugar and creamer were already out and she knew for certain she did not put them on the counter last night.
Also, finally, Ferocious was gone!
“Feri!” She shouts at the empty house. There was no reply or noise, so she was truly alone, but where had he gone? Running barefoot and in her sleepwear, shorts and a Tee. Luna went outside sighing when she saw her car was still in the driveway. “Good, he didn’t take my car… OH, MY GOD!”
Luna about fell to her knees, her car! Her precious 1970 Chevy! The paint was peeling! Like some jackass took a heat gun and tried to melt the entire thing! Lightly sobbing Luna hugs her long-time companion. Only after she did a damage estimate in her head and what her insurance would cover did she finally pull back and regain control of herself and… then she saw the peeling shingles of her neighbor’s roof, which she knew were new as of last summer. This prompts her to look at her own roof and gasp.
“Son of an Irish whore what the fuck happened to my roof!” Her roof was peeling too! So was her siding! “The fuck! I’m going to kill that contractor!” She knew those labor prices were too good!
“Your finally awake, Luna!” Her neighbor laughs, Mr. Gator, an old Popeye looking man with a Santa beard, and a pipe between his teeth. “I see you're enjoying the view. Can’t say I was much better this morning myself. Don’t worry, it’s not just you and me. The whole neighborhood got hit, by whatever it was last night. Lota heat came down on us at once. Maybe it was one of those solar flares or whatever.”
Turning around Luna confirms the rest of the block was indeed in the same condition as her. A pit of worry sets in her stomach as she thought of probable causes, most of them being magic. And one more factor, Ferocious. Who if she was remembering this right, crashed into her yard in a flaming fireball.
“No,” She whispers touching her chin. Last night she had been tired, confused, and dark and she maybe have been a bit tipsy too. She hadn’t really thought about it, but Ferocious and the night Patroller Fierce Fury do look a lot alike. She curses under breath. It had been Fury that fell in her yard last night! Meaning there was probably some big magical trouble going down! “Hey, Gator, did Fierce, I mean Ferocious come out of my house this morning?”
The old man grinned crookedly at her, and she was suddenly self-conscious about her state of dress and the sweat lingering on her body and her messy hair. All normal things that happen when she wakes up, but it does look like she just got done with some midnight fun.
“Yeah, I saw him come out about two hours ago,” Gator told her checking his watch. “It’s about noon know. Not exactly an early bird, are you?” He laughs. Luna’s blush persisting.
“Today was my day off,” Luna retorts lightly, puffing out her cheeks. She could do whatever she wants in her free time. Waking up around noon being one of them. “So which way did he take off to?” If Fury was walking he couldn’t have gone far in two hours.
“The towards the school I think.”
“Thank you,” Luna said, quickly running back into the house. Tossing her dirty sleep clothes on the floor she began rummaging for something to wear. She was in desperate need of getting laundry done it seems, nothing was clean! Pulling out her drawers she’s relieved to see she did have some clean clothes. Though they were from when she was dating Feri. Pulling out a simple red Tee with ACDC written on the front and a pair of cutoffs (THAT STILL FIT!) Luna finishes off her wardrobe with her boots. Grabbing a light coat on her way-out she hops in her car and drives towards the school.
When she got to the school she wasn’t as surprised as she probably should be that once again, the school was wrecked. A whole wall of the building was rubble, again, cracks from heat stress were everywhere and…
“Holy shit,” Were the only words she could say when she saw the statue. Following the law of Murphy and logic, she quickly concludes that if it was indeed Fierce Fury that had fallen into her lawn last night, then chances were, he didn’t come here alone. But this time he might not have brought friends.
Spotting Celestia Luna gets out of her car approaching her sister carefully. Celestia was looking about ready to give up and cry. She wouldn’t blame her. She felt like doing the same after dealing with all this crap. “Hey.” Was her weak greeting, feeling a bit guilty that while she’d been asleep Celestia had been dealing with all this and hadn’t even called.
“Hey,” Was all Celestia could say, her face looking drained as she slumps on the bench behind her. Only for the said bench to creak and break under Celestia’s weight. Luna cringed as she helps her sister up. “On top of everything I’m getting fat too.”
“I think the fact the legs were cracked was a factor.” Luna weakly offered, getting a small smile out of her sister. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“It’s your day off.”
“But still this is…”
“You being here wouldn’t have made a difference,” Celestia said sounding defeated. “I’m wondering if it’d be better to move the school. We gotta be on top of some cursed ground.”
“I doubt that would fix this, not as long Sunset and her friends are around.” Luna states. “But I doubt you’d be willing to transfer them.”
“I doubt any school would take any kid from this school after all this. Not willingly anyway.”
Luna sighs, it wasn’t often her sister gets moody and depressed, but when she did it wasn’t a minor thing. It takes a lot to wear Celestia down and it was hard to see her peppy and joyful sister in the dumps. But it was best to let Celestia work things out herself.
“Listen, I know this probably the last thing you want to hear, but have you seen, Fury?”
“Yeah, he was here investigating the scene with Stryker. I was surprised when I saw them.” Celestia replies. Her brow dipped into confusion. “Then he came back not long ago, but he was different somehow. He just looked at the scene and continued on.”
Luna bit her lips nervously, “I didn’t mean Ferocious, I meant Fury, as in Fierce Fury, the pony from Equestria?” Celestia’s eyes widen with realization. “Yeah, I had the same reaction this morning. Look, this is confusing enough as it, but we need to track him down. He probably has some answers.”
Celestia nods in agreement. “If that’s the case, then he’d be going to Mac’s farm.”
“Most likely, let’s get going, we’ll probably see him on the road there,” Luna said pulling Celestia towards her car. After buckling up the two sisters race off toward the country. Determined to find some answers.
Stryker was sitting at a stop light when his phone rang. The number displayed was for Bub, one of the biker informants. “What’s up Bub?”
“Hey, boss man, I gotta weird question for you.”
“Shoot.”
“When did the big boss man get gold highlights in his hair?”
Stryker’s brow frowns. “You’re talking about Ferocious right?”
“Yeah, the big boss, I just saw him walking the street not a minute ago. He looked ready to kill, but he seemed different. I tried to talk to him, but he just brushed me off. Also thinking about it now, this guy was buff, like I know you and the boss are well off, but this guy wow. I remember having muscles like that when I came out of the marines. This guy looked like he could bench press a car!”
“Is there any more relevant information?”
“Yeah, yeah, he wore something like ops gear, with these big shoulder plates. Oh, yeah! He had a number on his sleeve like the boss does, but it was different. It was… um… 1330.”
Interesting. “Where was this at?” Bub relays the information. The southern part of town, where the majority of the dust houses cases have happened. Putting on his sirens Stryker speeds across down, a bad feeling settling in his gut. Turning onto Rye street, he slows to a stop. Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
He steps out of his car, his service pistol at the ready. Slowly he walks down the middle of the street, a chill running up his spine, the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
(GET AWAY)
He paused, feeling complied to turn around. Flaring his magic, he dispels the enchantment, the entire street was covered in fog. It was a barrier spell. He and Ferocious ran into several creatures that had the ability. The sirens being one.
The sudden sound of running caught his attention. Stryker turn aiming his gun towards the mist, a shape of a person outlined in black coming towards him. He steadies his hand, not wanting to shoot a human. A flash of purple hair catches his eye as one of Applejack’s friends glomp onto him. Her arms snaking around his body. And boy girls were certainly getting mature these days, he awkwardly thought as the girl’s bust pressed against his body. Gently he pushed her away.
“Oh, please you must help me and my sister!” The girl cried, he notices the younger girl clutching the older girl’s shirt, looking terrified. “Some brute is after us!”
“It’s ok, I’m with the police,” Stryker tells them, pushing the girls behind him. He takes aim at another figure, much larger and clearly male comes through the mist. Something was glowing in his hand, it was in the shape of a cross… or rather a sword? “Feri! Is that you?” Stryker shouts, the silhouette stopping. The mystery man raised his glowing sword and made a slashing motion, cutting the through the mist, an intense heat filling the chilly air as all four of them got a clear view of the other.
The man was certainly similar to Ferocious, Stryker had to give him that. They could almost be brothers, but there were a few key differences, one the gold in man’s hair, the second being the hairstyle, third the clear difference in muscle mass, and finally the sword of flame in the man’s hand. Not a sword engulfed in fire, but an actual sword made of fire.
“Who are you!” He demands pulling a second pistol, pulling on his own magic Stryker felt the tell-tale signs of ears appearing on his head. He hears the younger girl gasp, but the older one remains silent, he dares not look back to see their reactions.
The Ferocious look alike growls, his voice rough and tight with anger when he spoke, “You’re making a mistake. Get out of the way.”
“Sorry, I don’t listen to bastards that chase after little girls. I put them down.”
The look-alike huffs, “Then you’re a blind fool. And if you’ll stand in my way, then you’ll be reduced to ash as well!”
“Not before I riddle you with holes!” Unloading a clip emptying barrage into the man Stryker was more than a bit taken aback as his bullets tore through the man’s body, but the wounds simply burst into flames and healed. “RUN!” He told the girls dropping his empty clips, the flaming man running at him. “Change loadout!” Dropping his guns Stryker focused on the weapons stashed away at the bar, imaging the Uzi in the closet in his hand. The gun materialized and he let loose a fully automatic barrage of lead into the man’s body. Once again, he healed rather quickly. “What’s going to take to bring you down!” Materializing a shotgun Stryker buckshot Fury right in the chest! The red equestrian went flying, skidding down the road before coming to a stop, unmoving. Stryker wipes the sweat from his brow keeping his distance. Then Fury’s body burst into flames! His body reduced to ash. Stryker lowers his shotgun. He turns towards the girls. “Well come on, let get you ladies out of here.”
“Behind you!” Screams Sweetie Belle, a fully healed Fury coming from behind, brandishing two flame swords. Stryker grit his teeth backstepping as the tip of the flame sword brushes his neck. Scalding his flesh. He ignores the wound materializing two big bore .50 caliber pistols, he cocks back the hammers, deep blue magic surrounding his body as black crow wings sprout from his back. The hand cannons glow blue as he pulls the triggers, a cannonball blast of magic shooting out of the barrels, knocking Fury away!
“Dammit!” Fury growls flipping through the air and landing hard on his feet. He holds up two flaming spheres. “Crossfire!” Smashing the two spheres Fury launches a blazing wall of fire at the detective. Stryker holds up his hand cannons, magic building around him.
“No more playing around,” Stryker bites out, angry and frustrated. “Full Throttle Burst!” Two sets of extra arms, six total, appear on the ashen detective, each one holding a different gun all pointing at Fury! All six triggers are pulled and a barrage of lead infused magic is unleashed!
Fury dashes to the side, gaining wings of his own. “Useful idiot! Know who your real enemies are!” He let’s loose a stream of fire, making the gunslinger dodge, but the barrage never stopped. New magazines of ammo appeared in the guns when the old ones were spent. This guy defiantly has skill, Fury thought bitterly as he eyes Rarity down below. The girl smirking as she held her sister’s hand. She knew how to get men to fight over her that’s for sure. Much like the Rarity back home.
He had to deal with her impromptu white knight, hopefully without killing him, if possible. But he wasn’t about to put some random human’s life over his own. Though he was in a bit of a tough spot. He was way overtaxing his healing. Using Supernova wasn’t an option, one because he didn’t want to kill the guy and two, he was still recovering from last night’s battle. Healing those bullet wounds hadn’t been easy either, he was kind of playing tough right now.
(Fire sword and crossfire aren’t enough, but Supernova isn’t an option either, I guess I’ll have to think of something clever.)
“RAGH!” Swooping down Fury nimbly dodges the bullets taking only minor hits as he speeds towards Stryker. Summoning a fire sword, he poses to strike aiming his blade straight ahead like a lance. He sees his opponent panic as one of his weapons runs empty, no new clip appearing to reload it. He’s exhausted most of his ammo. One gun falls to the ground, then another, and another, leaving only three, then two, and finally one.
“Shit!” Stryker growls releasing his extra arms. He flies towards Fury; his arm stretches out holding a sphere of blue. “FORGET!” He barks loudly, Fury staggers, stopping his charge. It was desperate and it would only last a few seconds without proper contact, but he could use his memory magic to stun from a distance. Taking those few precious seconds Stryker tackles Fury to the ground, blood and feathers fly as they exchange blows. He clocks the red man in the jaw, and takes a solid hit in the ribs, his body forgetting how to breathe for a moment as his ribs presses against his lung. “Fucker!” Winding back, he hits Fury in the face again, his hand catching flames as the red man breaths fire! With his other hand, Stryker grabs Fury by the neck. “FORGET!”
“I don’t think so!” Before Stryker’s magic could take effect, Fury kicks his legs off the ground, rolling on his shoulder he flips Stryker over and pins the ashen man to the ground, a hard elbow pounding against the detective’s throat. The detective lets out a stuttering gasp his head rolling to the side. Fury checks his pulse, finding it still beating.
Standing up Fury looks around, finding no sign of the Rarity or the other girl. He tries and feels for the darkness he had sensed earlier and found nothing. “Fuck.” He looks to his downed opponent, picks him up over his shoulder. “Well, nowhere else to go. Better get to Mac’s.” He takes a step, nearly falling over has his knees give out. Slowly he limps over to a tree and sets Stryker against the trunk, before settling down himself.
“After a short rest.” He sighs falling asleep.
“Here it is!” Sunset cries victoriously holding up a black book with six red slash marks on the cover, the mark of Sixes. The bacon hair girl kneels in a pile of dirty clothes beside her bed. Adagio, Applejack, and Twilight standing the middle of the disaster area that was Sunset’s shack.
Adagio looks at her phone checking the time. “Well, that only took twenty minutes. Seriously, do you ever clean in here?” The mother to be chide in disgust. There was being messy and then there was being a slob. Sunset was a slob when not in public it seems.
Getting to the real point of the issue as to why they were in Sunset’s shack in the first place looking for Sunset’s second magic book, is because the first one was nothing but a pile of ash. They had gone through the trouble of going back to the school, Sunset realizing the book was in her locker, not backpack, sneaking past the police guarding the school, reaching Sunset’s locker to find the book had been reduced to ashes. Which makes sense. In a weird magical way. Both books were bound that if one was written in, the other would receive it. So, if one book was to say be… set on fire, so would the other.
At least that was the standing theory according to Sunset and Twilight. Sunset was taking the loss of the book rather well. Once they got her to stop screaming in horror that is. So, after getting kicked out of the school by the police and having Sunset mope for about ten minutes she suddenly remembered that Sixes gave her a magic book as well.
Thus, leading to now.
“When grandpa Sixes gave me this book, Twilight and I, I mean Princess Twilight and her student Starlight made a few modifications to it. One like this.” Sunset wrote ‘view’ in giant letters on a blank page and step back. The book began to float, a gold aura shrouding the book as the pages rapidly flipped back and forth. A beam of magic shot out of the book, creating a visual image of Sixes… in his rinin form. Adagio smirks as Applejack and Twilight let out a terrified scream, backing away from the image. She couldn’t blame them. Sixes did look scary.
“What the hell is that!” Twilight screams, her voice cracking, well Applejack slowly breaths trying calming herself.
Sunset blinks vacantly, looking between Twilight and the image of Sixes. “That’s my grandpa, you met him remember?”
“But… but… but… he looks like a monster now!”
“Well, sorry for being a dragon pony.” The image of Sixes snorts. “You know we can’t choose how we look, right? So, what do you need Sunny? I’m a bit busy in the zebra lands right now.” Sixes turns his head, speaking softly. “Right, Shadow Spector says Hi.”
“What are you doing in the Zebra lands?” Sunset asks, clearly forgetting they had a mission, but again Adagio couldn’t blame her. The bacon girl was probably relieved that there was still away to contact home.
“Shadow Spector wanted to see if any of his descendants survived. Now he’s being worshiped as a god reborn and is getting a ridiculous amount of zebra tail. Honestly, I’ve been trying to figure out a way to get him out of here without the tribe trying to kill us. They really don’t want us… GET OF ME!” There was an image of a zebra mare entering the projection, Sixes fending her off with his claw. “Yeah, they think I’m a god too because I came with Shadow. I haven’t had this many mares throwing themselves at me since I went to Nippon a thousand years ago. Anyway, what do you need?”
Adagio steps forward, taking up the reins of the conversation. “We have problems. The portal is destroyed. There’s an increase in monster attacks with more powerful monsters than usual. We just took care of a pack of Cinder wolves and a small Gore and Sunset’s book to Princess Twilight was destroyed along with the portal. Making you our only lifeline to Equestria.”
Sixes growls softly, processing the information. “Hmm… that’s not good. I’m sure the others are already scrambling to rebuild the portal, but without my book, they can’t immediately go to your world. It’s not going to be a short trip home either. It’s going to be a week at the very least.”
“A week!” They all collectively scream.
“Sorry, there’s nothing I can do. I’ll leave right away, maybe I can cut down the time taking trains and airships, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up. You’ll just have to wait it out.”
Adagio sighs, “Hopefully we’ll have things wrapped by then, but please get here as soon as possible.”
“You don’t need to tell me twice. HEY SHADOW! We’re leaving!” A shout of rhyming voices could be heard. “No! I don’t want a sacrifice!” The image cuts away, the book falling to the floor. The four share a collective sigh, there went their best chance of getting help anytime soon.
“Well, that’s all we can do about that. Let’s go up to the house, Sunny, AJ if you’d bring the pickups around to the yard. I’m going to enjoy a walk. I’m a bit worried about Sonata and Aria.” Adagio looks at her phone history, she’s called over five times between Sonata’s cell and the house and hasn’t gotten any replies back. Where the phones out or something? Her cell signal was weaker than usual too, she didn’t even have a single bar, usually, she’d get at least two. “You’re with me, Princess.”
“I’m not the princess!” Twilight venomously hiss, her tolerance for the mislabeling reaching a low point. A flick on the nose from Adagio had her pouting as the siren glares at her with a ferocity that Twilight had only ever seen from her mother.
“Don’t talk to me like that, it was an honest mistake, remember your manners when talking to your elder’s young lady.” Adagio chides the lavender girl. Twilight bows her head.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smiles, feeling a sense of satisfaction from the lavender girl’s apology. In the corner Adagio hears AJ and Sunset whispers, “She’s scarier now than before.” Now that really made her smirk. She was starting to think motherhood was a going to be a breeze.
“Well come on, let’s get going.” She tells Twilight walking out of Sunset’s messy shack. Only to poke her head back in and deliver a sweltering glare at its owner. “Sunset, if this place is still a shit hole the next time I come here, I’m going to call your grandmother the moment the portal is fixed and have her come give you a proper spanking.”
Sunset smiles nervously, “Right, I’ll get right on that once things settle down.”
“Good to hear,” Was her reply. “Come on Sparky.” She said to Twilight. “Let’s go check on my sisters.”
She and Twilight made their way to the house. The feeling something was off was in the air. She didn’t know what, but there was a change in the trees. The wind blew, apples falling onto the worn path in the shape of an arrow pointing away from the house. Her and Twilight stop to look at them.
“I’m assuming this doesn’t happen often,” Twilight said sounding just a little freaked out.
“Can’t say it does,” Said Adagio touching the apples. They were lined up perfectly. Three apples making the arrowhead and three making the shaft, almost like someone had put them there by hand. “There’s a little magic in them.” She says picking up one of the apples and sniffing it. She takes a bit, a small jolt of magic sparks through her body, making her pony ears appear. Closing her eyes Adagio focus magic into her pupils and then opens them again, her eyes glowing a soft green with second sight. “Oh shit.”
Dark magic traveled along the ground like a low green mist. The green mist whirls around the apple trees trying to corrupt them. However, the trees were rich with the magic Nico had left in them. The trunks of the apple tree glowed a soft blue, pushing back against the dark magic, keeping it contained. Then she notices other colors mixed with Nico’s. Probably the magic from the apple family over the generations from toiling the land. What little magic they might have had was poured into the earth and absorbed by the trees. Interesting. Also, no wonder so many timber wolves showed up here. This entire farm was a freaking magical hot spot!
“Fuck, why didn’t I notice before.”
“Notice what?” Twilight asks.
“Nothing,” Said Adagio, she’d let the lavender girl do some research here later, right now they had to get to the farmyard! Taking off a jog she waves for Twilight to follow as they quickly cover the remaining distance to the yard. When they got there, she held out her arm to keep Twilight from running ahead. The mist was thick here, much thicker than in the trees. She had a bad feeling about this. “Stay close to me.”
“What is it? What’s going on?” Twilight asks frantically, not liking being out of the loop.
“I don’t know, but this place is thick with dark magic. Be…” A snapping twig catches their attention. Both girls turn to see a white timber wolf standing behind them. It didn’t make any noise or show any signs of attacking them. It trots up to them like a dog would and stood between them and house, it’s back to them. “Nico?”
When Maddie’s minions, Tundra and Whitetail attacked, Applejack had mentioned a black timber wolf helping her. It had turned out to be remits of Nico’s magic and had been destroyed. But she supposed it could have only been a piece of a greater whole. As Mac had claimed to see his father’s ghost from time to time. Yet the timber wolf didn’t react to her call.
“Applejane?” She said with uncertainty. The white timber wolf turns its head at them. “Well, this is unexpected. Can you talk?”
The wolf nods, it’s timber body contorting and reshaping its self into that of a Timber woman. “Hello, daughter in law or would you prefer the hussy that sleeps with my son?”
“Wow, I think I dodged a bullet with you dying. And you’re just a jumbled bunch of memories and magic, so don’t go pretending your Mac’s real mom or anything!”
Applejane’s scoffs, “Of course I know that. I was created by my husband using his memories of the real Applejane and her blood. Together I and the timber Nico were the guardians of this place. I’ll have to admit; my emotions got the better of me sometimes. But I thought when I pushed my ring off the dresser you and Mac would get married properly. Not elope.”
“We went to the courthouse,” Adagio said defensively.
“I’d prefer a church and priest.”
“We’re doing that too… after your grandchild is born. Surprise by the way.”
“Not really,” Applejane snorts. “I had a front row seat to my grandchild’s conception. That pond is pretty popular for that kind of stuff.”
“Ok, that’s just Eww.” Said Twilight looking green. “You mean you watched them… well.”
“Have sex? Yes, not that I have a choice. I see all the trees see and hear. You really like to scream don’t you daughter in law?”
Adagio coughs, her cheeks flush. “Right, well as fun as it is finally meeting you, mother, I need to find my sisters, so if you would please move? That’d be great.”
“I will not.”
“I’m sorry, what?” She snaps showing claws and fangs. “Care to repeat that? Mother?”
“I won’t let you put my grandchild in danger. Besides, it’s your fault for bring that sick girl here.”
“Sick? You mean Aria?” Applejane nods. “She just had a cold!”
“She had evil inside her. I tried to warn the blue dunce, but she wouldn’t listen. Now they're both infected with that strange magic and running around my trees. I’m trying to keep them from escaping, but they’re not making it easy. They already took the north orchard from my control. The trees can only absorb so much of this toxic magic… shit.” The timber jane said looking towards the driveway. “Why did they decide to come here now.”
“Whose they?”
“Luna and Celestia. They're coming down the driveway now, AJ and Sunset behind them.” The sound of a car horn, growls, and screaming comes over the trees. “Dammit. You two stay here. I’ll take care of this.”
“Hey wait!” Adagio screams, but the timber woman fell into a pile of sticks. “Shit. Come on, let’s go Twilight.”
“But she said stay here!”
“To hell with what ghost mama said! This is my home! And Sonata and Aria are my sisters! I’m going to fucking save them!”
Running as fast as they could down the driveway, the sounds of screams and battle echoing through the trees. Adagio and Twilight come across an intense scene. In the middle of the driveway was Luna and Celestia, the two principles scrambling around on the ground, while a monstrous Aria stood on the hood of the car.
Aria was different from the last time she turned evil, she was taller, almost as if she’d aged. Fish scales adorn her limbs with thin transparent purple fins, the usual transparent wings were sticking out her back and a long serpentine like tail swooshed from the middle of her spine, just below her wings. A strange place for a tail, Adagio notes as she pulls Twilight to the side of the driveway behind the trees. Her eyes frantically looking for Sonata.
“Is she naked?” Twilight whispers. Making Adagio facepalm. That’s what she’s noticed out of all this? On the other hand, it was a curious observation. Aria turns toward them, giving them a brief flash of her front. Her sister’s assets were differently bigger now too, also covered in scales, as was the lower reign, like some kind of armored skin. Aria continues to turn, fixing her gaze on Luna and Celestia. She steps towards Luna, her clawed toes scraping the hood of the car.
A sudden scream from further down the driveway catches everyone’s attention as Sonata comes flying down the road. She bore a similar appearance to Aria, except her fins were blue and her tail was at the base of her spine. She let out a wicked hiss as Sunset and Applejack come running down the driveway. Both of them ponied up. AJ was looking mad while Sunset was panting hard holding her arm, which was bleeding.
“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Applejane in her timber wolf form tackles Aria into the Luna’s car and then jumps on the roof before pouncing on Sonata. The blue siren screams grabbing Applejane and tossing her away. Applejack and Sunset charge in.
“Let’s get in there,” Adagio said to Twilight. “Use your magic to toss Aria around but try not to hurt her too badly. I’ll get Luna and Celestia to safety.”
“Got it!”
Dashing from their cover Adagio ran straight for the sisters, grabbing them by the arm and pulling them to their feet. They seem to be in a daze. “Come on! Run!” She screams at them while Twilight uses her levitation to toss Aria deep into the trees.
“I thought I told you to stay put!” Applejane barks angrily looking her way.
Adagio shrugs, “I didn’t feel like listening.” Applejane lets out a growl, scoffing as she looks at the two monsters and obviously chooses to go after Sonata since she was attacking Applejack.
“Did that thing sound like Applejane?” Luna asks as Adagio brings them to the edge of the trees. She didn’t really know if there was a safe place to bring them.
“Yeah, it’s a long story. If you want to be helpful try to get a hold of Mac.” She suggests before rushing over to Sunset and Applejack. Applejack taking a moment to tend to Sunset as Applejane held off Sonata. Hopefully Twilight could hold her own for a bit. “Is it bad?” She asks Sunset kneeling beside the girl.
She moves Sunset’s hand to the side, cringing when she saw the wound. Adagio had thought the bacon girl had just been slashed, but a chunk of her arm was missing! “Did she bite you?” Sunset nods weakly, coughing violently. Adagio felt a chill run up her spine when she saw what looks like oil around Sunset’s wound. She leans in, taking a whiff of it, quickly she covers her nose, gagging. The black stuff was Dark magic!
“I’m… not… feeling… so good…” Sunset said weakly before puking up a bunch of blood and black vile into her hand. Adagio quickly steps back, pulling Applejack along with her.
“What’s wrong with her?” Applejack demands trying to get closer to her friend, but Adagio jerks her back.
“Stay away from her! She’s infected.” Adagio turns towards her mutated sisters. “Just like Sonata and Aria are.”
“Someone help!” Screams Twilight.
She and Applejack look towards the glasses girl, who had ponied up and was trying to fend off Aria with some magic blasts, but the pink siren was too swift, easily bypassing the nerdy girl’s attacks.
“I need to borrow some magic!” Adagio quickly pecks AJ on the cheek, stealing a good hearty amount of magic, enough to get her wings. She zooms over to the Twilight’s aid pulling water from the air she blasts Aria with a water trident! Grabbing Twilight’s hand, she drags the nerdy girl back towards Applejack. From the forest, they could hear the howls and sonic screams of Applejane and Sonata in the distance.
“Your mom is putting up quite the fight.”
Applejack looks confused, “My Mom?”
“The white timber wolf,” She clarifies. “She’s another one of Nico’s defenses. Like the black timber wolf.” A loud whimper comes from the orchard as the trees on the north side of the road begin to wilt. “Shit. She’s getting weaker.”
“Ok, what’s going on?” Luna demands as she and Celestia approach the group. Everyone turning their eyes to Adagio for an explanation.
Good thing she was used to being in charge, Adagio thought. “To put it simply? Somehow my sister got turn evil… again. Applejack’s mother is a spirit guardian or something and Sunset’s probably not far away from turning to whatever Aria and Sonata are. Have you managed to get in contact with Mac?”
“No,” Luna says irritably holding up her phone, it was black. “Neither mine or Celestia’s cell phone is working.” At those words everyone promptly pulls out their own phone, all of them black.
“Fucking dark magic.” Mumbles Adagio. Then she notices something. “Aria’s taking too long to recover from my attack… shit! Their tag teaming her!” Her realization came too late as sharp whimper comes from the orchard. “They got her,” Adagio states neutrally. Only for the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. Turning around she sees a deep red aura rolling off of Sunset Shimmer. The girl’s breathing was labored, her hand dug into the ground with sharp black nails on her fingers, she sucks in a deep painful breath showing large canine teeth.
Sunset suddenly went still, her yellow and red mixed hair falling around her face, when she looked up the whites of her eyes were black. “Get away from me, she’s coming.” She warns them in a deep voice.
“Sunset!” Twilight screams, but Adagio roughly pulls her back. “We have to help her!”
“Shut up,” Adagio says sharply. She looks to Applejack, Twilight, and then the sisters. Trying to come up with a plan. Her fists tighten as she bites her lip. “Twilight, take Luna and Celestia to the house and try the landline. Even if it doesn’t work stay there. We’ll join you as soon as we can.”
“But I can help!” retorts Twilight, Adagio quickly turns slapping the lavender girl on the cheek.
“I don’t care what you think you can do, do what I need you to do! Understand?” Holding her cheek Twilight weakly nods, tears swelling under her eyes. Gently Celestia took Twilight by the shoulder and began pulling the stunned girl away, Luna taking point. “Come on, it’s ok,” Celestia says, giving Adagio a sharp glare as the three ran down the driveway.
Applejack stands beside her. “Was that really necessary, Adagio?”
“That’s girl too stubborn sometimes and we don’t have time to argue. She has the least experience when it comes to actually fighting. And Luna and Celestia need protection.”
“She held her own at Camp Everfree and during the Grau incident.” Applejack counters.
“Define held her own.”
“Well… ah… she… um…ok you have a point, but you didn’t have to slap her!”
Adagio braces her back against Applejack’s, the sound of hissing coming from all around them. “I’ll apologize after we get through this. Now if we’re going to make it through this we’ll have to get rough, breaking bones rough.”
“Are you sure you can do that? They're your sisters.” Applejack asks her.
She closes her eyes, preparing herself. “It’s for their own good. Besides.” She says looking towards Sunset. “It might not be too long before two against two becomes two against three.” The bushes rumble. “Here they come!”
Aria and Sonata come barreling out of the trees, both sporting slash wounds from Applejane, but both still very capable. Applejack held up her glowing fists and swung at Aria, her punch completely missing!
“They’re too fast!”
“No! You’re just slow! Use some magic in those thick legs of yours!” Adagio barks creating water daggers to shoot at Sonata. Her sisters were perhaps a little faster than usual. But they weren’t zipping around like Rainbow Dash.
Applejack grits her teeth, her anger bubbling as she swings at the speedy pink siren. “Hold still you vermin!” Aria hiss swiping back. She cringes, Aria’s claws raking across her knuckles. Tearing off a piece of her shirt Applejack quickly wraps the wound while Aria skids to a stop.
“You won’t take him from me! He’s mine!” The mutated Aria said raspily. The first intelligent thing she’s said this whole time. Not that Applejack understood what the hell she was talking about.
“Who's he?” She demands, her emerald eyes falling Aria’s piercing gaze. It didn’t take much to realize Aria had her sights set on Adagio. “Oh no, you don’t Sister! That’s my brother’s baby mama! No way you’re getting through me!”
Aria’s gaze flicks toward her, “Your too slow.” She states gunning towards Adagio.
“I’ll show you slow!” Applejack roars, something was burning in her throat. A burning sensation rises from her stomach, she bites it back for a moment only to be overwhelmed as hot orange flames shoot from her mouth! The flame catches Aria by surprise and the pink siren backpedals. Applejack holding her throat. “The hell was that?” She coughs, noticing her nails were digging deeper into her neck than normal. Holding her hands up she gasps; her hands were claws and covered in orange scales! “Cool! I got dragon powers like Mac!”
“Applejack be careful!” Adagio warns her. Noticing the black vein in her sister in laws right hand. Sonata charge forces her to abandon her chat.
An imminence power overcomes her, Applejack grins as she flexes her claws, slowly stalking towards Aria. “Oh, I’ll be careful!” The siren doesn’t back down, hissing angrily as she slowly stalks towards her. “Come on then!” Orange draconic wings spout from Applejack’s back she takes flight, so does Aria, the two tackling each other in midair. Claw on claw action takes place as the two girls tear into the each other, falling to the ground and rolling around tearing at the other like angry alley cats. Applejack letting out a chorus of snarls and growls against Aria’s hisses.
Adagio forces Sonata away, the sound of Applejack’s fight catching her attention. She glances back, growling as her sister in law sub comes to her draconic side. The apple girl going into a feral frenzy. The trail of black veins traveling down Applejack’s scaly arm wasn’t reassuring either. The girl was infected by whatever evil this was and there was no telling where her loyalties would be once she’s overtaken.
“Dammit!” She screams scratching Sonata across the chest, warm blood staining her clawed hand. Adagio’s heart was racing a mile minute, she could feel her protective instincts rising, forcing adrenaline into her system. Her body was starting to register her sisters as threats. It wouldn’t be long before she’d go berserk too and then things would really get bloody.
Crouching on the ground Sonata mews holding her hand over the wound, blood seeping between her fingers. She shoots Adagio a pained and fearful look, the elder siren upping her magical aura, snarling and snapping her fanged jaw in a show of dominance. Sonata yowls back trying to show her own dominance when a fireball of all things slams into her!
Shocked Adagio turns to see Sunset Shimmer standing again, her hair wild, her outstretched arm red, and smoking. Red and gold hair parts, revealing teal eyes against black. She snarls barreling past Aria and Applejack tackling Sonata. Sunset let outs a horrible banshee scream as she grabs Sonata by the neck!
“You leave her alone!” Adagio roars sinking her claws into Sunset’s back and tossing her into a tree. “Sonata!” Sonata’s back was bleeding, the mutated Siren meekly hissing as she hobbles away, towards the yard no less. Adagio grits her teeth, not wanting Sonata to reach Twilight and the Principles, but before she could even take one step a wall of fire blocks her path.
“Going somewhere?” The Demonized Sunset cackles. Part of her body still retained its normal yellowish color, but it was clear demon Sunset was in control now. Adagio glances down the driveway Sonata already gone from view. Growling she flexes her claws at the demon girl. “I thought so,” Demon Sunset laughs juggling a fireball in her hand. “Let’s have some fun!”
Adagio snarls in reply her eyes dilating into slits as her instincts take over now that everyone around her is a confirmed enemy.
Luna ran slightly ahead of her sister and Twilight. She was glad she stuck to that jogging route now as both Celestia and Twilight pant up a storm behind her.
“This is why I told you not to eat so much god damn cake!” Luna retorts. Yes, her sister was athletic, but cake for breakfast wasn’t the breakfast of champions. Of course, the real drag on their group was Human Twilight. The poor girl was not athletic, at all. Her face was red, her breathing was erratic and labored, she was sweating up a storm. Luna was pretty sure if Celestia wasn’t holding her hand and dragging her the lavender girl would fall to the ground! “Come on, just a little further!”
“How long is this driveway! It didn’t seem this long before!” Twilight gasps, her legs giving out. She falls to her knees, Celestia nearly falling backward from the drag force.
Celestia frantically pulls at Twilight’s limp arm, “Come on Twilight. Get up! This is no time to be on your knees!”
“I’m sorry. I’ve spent all my life in a desk and skipping gym. Just leave me here.”
Luna hooks her arm under Twilight’s, hoisting the girl up, while Celestia does the same on the other side. “As if we’d leave one of our students behind.” Luna scoffs as she and Celestia drag Twilight along. At least the girl was light.
The house was nearly in sight now. Just a little further!
A loud, “HSSS!” catches their attention. All three women turn around to see the mutated Sonata barreling towards them!
“Twilight! We could really use some magic now!” Luna says in a panic. She’ll admit it, Feri was right, she should keep a gun in her car. Not that matters now. Twilight raises her hand, a soft pinkish aura surrounding it, but it fades as her hand drops to her side.
“Sorry, too tired from running, but I guess my theory that magic and physical stamina are linked together is proven true now.”
“Great, write your thesis after we cross over to the side.”
“Actually, there is no scientific proof of the afterlife existing.” Twilight weakly comments.
Luna growls as she and Celestia sprint faster, “Yeah, I would have agreed with you ten minutes ago, before I met the ghost of my dead friend.”
“Actually, the White Timberwolf seems more like a magical anti-virus software programmed into the trees here rather than a ghost.”
“How can you babbler about nonsense, but not run? If we survive this you're taking extra gym till you graduate!” Luna screams pulling Twilight up high to keep the girl from dragging. Suddenly the world began to spin and she felt the rough coarse texture of gravel rip across her legs (Poor day to be wearing Short shorts) as they all skid across the ground. Twilight being in a skirt got the worse of it on her legs, while Celestia was holding her ankle. Luna looks back, spotting Celestia’s shoe. “A fucking pothole!”
“Luna save yourself!” Cries Celestia. She tries to stand, but the pain in her ankle causing her to fall to the ground again.
“The hell I will!” Luna roars rising up with her firsts raised. A moment of fear passes through her as the charging siren approaches, she was much closer then Luna thought she was going to be. Sonata pounced brandishing her claws. Luna flinches bracing for the pain, but… it doesn’t come. “Huh?” Lowering her arms Luna is surprised to see the white timber wolf wrestling with Sonata! “Yeah! Get her AJ!”
Applejane growls clamping down on Sonata’s arm with her jaws, her stone claws skid in the dirt, she was missing a leg, her tail was gone and part of her torso was broken open, revealing a floating white orb. Morphing into her human form Applejane straddles Sonata’s waist punching the mutated siren with stone knuckles.
“STAY! (SMACK!) DOWN! (CRACK!) YOU BLUE DUNCE! WHY DIDN’T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME! (SMACK!)” Timber Jane gave one more powerful right blow, her arm shattering to splinters, but Sonata’s head rolls to the side her eyes rolling into the back of her head, knocked out. Timber Jane falls on her ass sighing in relief. “Dammit, I wish Nico would have used a younger version of me.” She tries to get up, but one of her legs snap and she falls over. “Fuck.”
Luna walks over and sets the wooden version of her old friend upright and drags her to a nearby tree. Stepping back, she waits. “Well?”
“Well, what?” Timber Jane snaps back, spitting up sap.
“Aren’t you going to heal yourself? Are you made of sticks? So, tree, magic?” Luna says uncertainly, now realizing how stupid she was being. Applejane’s glare was a good indicator she had this all wrong.
“That’s not how this works! That’s not how any of this works! If I could heal myself by humping the nearest tree don’t you think I would have done that on the way here? God, did no one find Nico’s manual?” Luna, Celestia, and Twilight look beside themselves. “Dammit. If I had hands I would be rubbing my temple now. Look, simple terms, I need more than half the trees to rebuild myself. Right now, more than half of the trees are corrupted by dark magic so I can’t use them. Simply put I can’t rebuild myself.”
Luna held up her hands in defeat. “Ok, ok, I get. Jeez, why are you so angry? You’re not acting anything like Applejane.”
“For the last time, I was made by Nico with his memories of Applejane and he just so happen to be really mad when he made me, so that kind of factor in. I have her shape and just a hint of her mannerisms from her blood, but other than that, I’m more Nico pissed of personality wise. Not that any of this matter. I can’t do my job like this.” She glares between Luna and Celestia. “So, you two are going to do it for me.”
“I’m sorry what?” Celestia says still rubbing her ankle.
“I said you're going to go save my daughter and future grandchild from the other monsters down the road.”
“Fat chance of that, we don’t have magic and Twilight out of commission. What can we do?” Luna counters, but Timber Jane doesn’t relent, as she thrusts her broken chest at them.
“Eat my magic core. It should give you enough of a jolt to awaken whatever magic is dormant inside you. I’d suggest you hurry, Blue here is waking up.”
“But if they do that then won’t you disappear!” Twilight cries in protest.
Applejane grunts, Sonata is beginning to stir. “My kids are more important. Now hurry!” Luna reaches into the wooden shell of Applejane and pulls the white orb free. The timber woman’s body crumbles into a pile of sticks and rocks. The white orb pulsing in her hand. Luna kneels down beside Celestia pulling the orb into two smaller orbs.
“Well,” Luna smiles uncertainly. “We did say we wanted to protect our students.”
“Yeah,” Celestia replies taking her piece of the orb. “Now we finally can.” The two sisters put the orbs to their mouths swallowing them down in one gulp. A tingling feeling, like gentle electric shocks, travels down their throats as the orbs fall into their stomachs. At first, nothing happens.
“I don’t feel and there it is!” Luna cringes as a butterfly feeling erupts in her gut. A teal aura, the same color as her eyes surrounds her, the same happens to Celestia, save for the aura being pink as they both rise off the ground. The magic rises from within and then with a great burst, ears, wings, and ponytails appear on their bodies! The two sisters float in the air in bliss as the rush of magic passes through their bodies! “Yes! We have magic!” Luna cries with glee.
“Yeah!” Celestia cheers, only to cross her arms looking stumbled. “How do we use it?”
“That’s… a good question.” Luna replies as Sonata awakens. “Um… imagine a Kamehameha?”
Celestia blinks. “Are you, serious right now?”
“Well, that’s how the school tool shed blew up according to Applejack!”
“WHAT!”
Luna clasps her hands together trying to imagine a glowing ball of energy between her palms and… she’s got nothing! “Shit!” Flapping her wings, she flies up, Sonata surging after her swiping with her claws. One catches her shoe and she proceeds to kick the mutated siren in the face! “Celestia! A little help please!”
“Alright, hold on! Let’s try this,” Celestia extends her hand in the shape of a gun, a small white sphere forming on her index finger. She brings her thumb down, firing the sphere and it hits home on Sonata’s back! “Yes! Score for me!”
“How come you get to shoot energy blasts right off the bat?” Luna whines trying again. This time a black orb forms around her hand and with much glee she fires magic blast at the stunned Sonata. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!” She cheers touching the ground. Quickly she looks between Sonata and Twilight, making a fast decision. “Take Twilight to the house, I’ll try and bind Sonata with something and then go help Adagio. How’s your ankle?”
Celestia touched down, her face contorting in pain, she quickly put all her weight on the other foot, keeping the injured one aloft. “At best sprained, at worse, broken, but I can manage.” She said scooping Twilight off the ground. The girl was really weak, and her cheeks flush, Celestia places her hand over Twilight’s forehead. “She’s got a fever.”
“All the more reason to get her to the house.” Luna asserts looking determinedly down the driveway a sphere of magic in her hand. “Maybe you should stay with her.”
“You can’t be serious! You can’t do this on your own!”
Luna smiles as she pulls the sphere into a magic rope and tied up Sonata. “I won’t be alone, I’m just going to go help Adagio and Applejack. I’m sure between the three of us we can handle things.”
Celestia looks uncertain but nods flying towards the house. Luna takes a breath dragging Sonata along as she flies back towards the flight. She hopes she made the right choice. Covering ground quickly she came upon a battle royal. All four magical girls were fighting with each other!
Adagio slashes at Sunset and then at Applejack, who then slashed back before slashing at Aria who was then attacked by Sunset and then Sunset would attack Adagio again. What on earth was happening? Luna spots a black mark on Applejack’s arm, explaining why she was going insane, Sunset was half normal and half she-demon like a female jackal and hade or maybe two faces was more accurate? Adagio was red eye and snarling. Unlike the others, she would not allow herself to wrestle on the ground. Her strategy seems to be more about keeping the others away from her then trying to kill them. Still, all of them were going berserk on each other.
“Hey, Adagio! What’s going on?” Luna shouts shooting a magic blast to keep the others a bay as she flies down to meet the siren. Adagio was panting bad, she had a few cuts here and there, but overall, she seems fine, if not a little tired. The yellow siren’s pupils widen, turning from slits back to regular pupils. She lets out a deep sigh and then drops to her knees, her ears and wings disappearing as steam rolls of her skin.
“Oh, thank god, I couldn’t keep that up. You good to tag in?” Adagio says, her eyes widening as she looks at Luna’s ears and wings. “I thought you were someone else.”
“Applejane gave us her magic core and we transformed is the abridged version,” Luna said holding up a sphere of magic, so far, the other girls seem content to fight amongst themselves. “Who did you think I was?”
“I was hoping you were Mac!”
“My voice isn’t that deep,” Luna mutters sourly. “So, what should we do, Adagio?”
The siren’s hand hovers over her stomach. Behind them, Sonata was stirring pulling at her bonds. The blue siren’s struggles caught Aria’s attention and she came charging for her sister. Grabbing Adagio by the arms Luna carries her away, Aria breaking Sonata’s bonds. The two mutated Sirens rise up facing Applejack and Sunset.
“What are we going to do!” Luna cries in a panic. “They're going to kill each other!”
Adagio’s eyes water. “I know.” She says. “I know, but I don’t know what to do. Applebloom’s not here so we can’t use her magic. Applejack and Sunset are under whatever this is control. So even if we could gather the others they can’t shoot a rainbow. I don’t have any idea what this is or how to fix it!”
“What about you and me? Can we do that rainbow blast thingy?” Luna pleads holding out her hand. Adagio took it, taking a bit of Luna’s magic to transform again.
“Well, it’s worth a try.”
Luna smiles. “Of course, it is.”
Together they fly up, their magic flaring and catching the fours attention. Thrusting their interlocked hands forward they fire teal and yellow beams of magic at the four girls. Like in the past the girls get hit, not even dodging. For a moment the girls wither in pain, black mist rising off their bodies. Even if the four weren’t on the same side their magic combined creating a thick cloud of black magic that began to eat its way up Luna and Adagio’s attack.
“Just the two of us isn’t enough!” Adagio growls out trying to push against the encroaching darkness. “If we get hit by that we’ll probably be infected too!”
“I kind of figured that!” Luna retorts, feeling the strain on her body. “I don’t think I can hold it!”
“Me neither!”
“Then let us help!” Came a voice, suddenly Celestia and Twilight appear joining their magic with Luna and Adagio’s. The blackness stopped. The four rejoiced for a moment, only for the darkness to start overwhelming them again!
“What the fuck!” Rages Adagio, looking at the others. She sees Twilight panting and breathing hard, clearly, she has a fever. “Dammit, why’d you bring her back in that condition!
“She insisted!” Bites Celestia pushing harder. Black sparks began to arc from the beam blast, one striking her wounded ankle. She bit back a scream, but her magic flatters, the darkness gaining, now it nearly touched their hands!
Adagio began to feel her own magic falter, and Luna’s beside her. The darkness kept coming, now nearly touching their fingers. She glances worriedly at the three and then at her belly. For a moment the thought of abandoning the struggle and making a getaway crosses her mind and it stays.
Luna catches this, “Adagio, please, we can do this!”
The yellow siren closes her eyes, tears rolling down her cheeks, “I’m sorry.” She beings to pulls her hands away, getting ready to flee.
“Adagio, please!” Luna pleads. Their attack falters and for a moment they all only saw a black wave coming at them and then suddenly they were all somewhere else, something holding them at the helm of their shirts. Luna looks down, gasping, along with Twilight, Adagio, and Celestia.
“Stryker?”
“Sorry, we’re late.” The ashen man says dropping them to the ground. Since when did Striker have wings or six arms? Also, who is this we? Luna wonders as the temperature suddenly spikes? They all turn as Fierce Fury lands in the middle of the four girls, a giant red sphere engulfing them all.
Fury shouts “SUPERNOVA!” and then in a flash, everyone inside the sphere is reduced to ashes.
They stare in stunned silence. Adagio gets up slowly approaching the piles of ashes, falls to her knees and begins to cry. “Aria, Sonata, Applejack, Sunny!” She croaks running her fingers through the ashes as Fury begins to regenerate. The siren looks at him, utterly devastated. “Why?”
“It was all I could think of given the situation. I didn’t think it would work.” Fury said.
“Work, work! Damn, right it worked! You killed my sisters you bastard!” Adagio screams running up to the night patroller, pounding her fists against his chest. After a few hits, Fury grabs her arms and forces her to turn around. Pointing at the piles of ashes.
“Look closer,” he says as a breeze travels through the trees, blowing away some of the ash. Adagio clasps her hands over her mouth crying for joy as the naked forms of all four girls if revealed. All of them back to normal and breathing.
“Who are these two?” A sharp snappy voice demands. Mac and Moon Dancer were sitting in front of Ferocious’s desk waiting for the blood sample to finish testing. Craning his neck Mac looks behind him to see a petite blue woman, barely taller them him sitting, standing behind him. Her finger pointing at them while her eyes follow Feri back to his chair. The towering height of the red detective making her look no taller than a high schooler. Even Moon Dancer had a few inches on the small woman from what Mac could tell. Hell, Applebloom might be taller.
Feri looks frustrated as he stares down at the five-foot-four blue woman. “They have badges, I went through the proper channels so stop bugging me Ember.”
“That’s Inspector Dragonlore,” Ember says sharply, “And you haven’t reported back in the last few hours. Eyewitnesses say you walked off this morning’s scene and nobody has seen you since!”
“That’s why I have these two, their… um… leads…” Feri retorts lamely, the inspector clearly not believing him from what Mac could tell.
Ember crosses her arms, “Huh, and what leads is your godson going to provide?”
“Not him, her,” Feri says pointing to Moon Dancer. “She was on the phone with someone who was present during the attack, who is now missing. She’s delivering a DNA sample to match the blood at the scene.” The red man checks his watch, grinning widely at the inspector. “But I’m sure you don’t have time to stand there and scold me. I’m sure it’s time for you to go to the Chief’s office, right?”
Mac watches Ember’s cheek turn a deep red, her teeth grinding as the blue woman points a death glare at the red detective. Feri didn’t seem threatened as he waves jovially at the inspector like she was a child. “Have fun, I’ll be sure to knock next time.”
Ember bats away his hand, growling, “Feri you son of a bitch! If you so much as…”
“Relax, my lips are sealed. Why don’t you go have fun with your boyfriend, you’re looking rather tense inspector.” Feri laughs leaning back in his chair with his arms behind his head, he and Moon Dancer scoot their chairs away from the fuming inspector as she slams her hands on Feri’s desk. Ember let’s out a series of inaudible growls before storming away.
“Aren’t you popular,” Moon Dancer says sarcastically.
“I just caught her and chief if a… compromising position one time. Not a big deal. She’s just mad I have dirt on her. She’s in a tight spot, she’s sleeping with the chief, so she has to be careful. And she’s also the governor's daughter. You two can keep a secret right?”
“Sounds like something out of a TV drama,” Mutters Mac leaning back in his chair. A case file in his hands. Bored he takes another look around the office, the fifth time to be precise, this as his first time seeing a real police station from the inside before. Yeah, he’s been to the sheriff’s office in town, but this wasn’t anything close to that. The sheriff’s office was just a few desks and other rooms, nothing really special. Here was much bigger and much busier. He had wondered how close the cop shows on TV got to reality. The scene of the busy police station was fairly accurate, but the piles upon piles of paperwork one each desk was more then he’d been expecting. Feri’s desk wasn’t much better.
“Not quite as glamour’s as on TV, huh? Fucking gotta write down everything, even when you take a shit almost.” His godfather hissed looking at the stack of papers on his desk. Taking another stack Feri began to scribe stuff down, grumbling curses as he does. “I don’t know how much longer it’ll be, an hour maybe two. There’s a coffee machine over there near the chief’s office and if you smoke you can go out back or on the roof. If you’re hungry go to the lady up front and she’ll order you something.”
“So, we’re just going to stay here and wait?” Moon Dancer frustrating gawks. “Shouldn’t be out looking for Maddie or leads or something?”
Feri ignores herm licking his finger so he could flip his paperwork over. “Yes. We’re going to stay here because it’s you the monsters are after it seems. This is the best place to put you, for now. Once we confirm the DNA test, we’ll be heading back to Canterlot.”
“Is there a reason we have to wait here? Can’t the lab tech just call you when the results are done?” Asks Mac.
“Yeah. That was pretty bold attack the enemy launched on the library. I have a feeling once we get somewhere more remote, say the road between Canterlot and Canterlot City, things might heat up again. So, we’re staying here until we have a plan to move you safely. If you want to be helpful look through these casefiles for me. Maybe you’ll see something I haven’t yet.”
Looking at the case file in his hands Mac opens it, it was titled: alleyway incident. Flipping to the next page file Mac finds three mug shots, all boys, all from Crystal prep or maybe Crystal College. They had puncture marks on their bodies. Kind of like a vampire, though the marks were from their necks to shoulder, to their arms. It was more like a wild animal maimed them rather than tried to drain their blood. Turning the page there was a photo of a single stray pink hair. Now pink was not an unusual color. But something stuck out to Mac as he pulls out his phone. Scrolling through his phone he found a picture of AJ and her friends from when they helped pick apples. He flips through the photo’s his finger landing on a close up of Fluttershy and then Pinkie Pie. He looks between the two photos feeling troubled.
Putting the file back down he switches to his messages, frowning at the three missed calls and unread texts he had sent to Adagio. They should be home by now. Maybe her phone was dead. Scrolling through his contacts he tries AJ’s phone and same result. He tries a text thinking maybe she was in a low service area, but again after a few minutes of waiting there was no reply or message saying the text had been read. Nervously he taps his phone on his knee. Anxiousness running through his body.
Quickly he stood up and marched over to the coffee machine taking a cup for himself, before grabbing another for Moon Dancer. Who was busy reading a different file, taking the cup without looking.
“Can I get a refill too since your up?” Feri asks still peering over his paperwork. Mac takes his godfather’s empty mug, which had the moon engraved on it, and refills it. “Thanks.” Feri mumbles taking the mug without looking.
Mac sits back down. The wait was killing him, but so was the fact nobody was answering their damn phones! Scrolling this his contacts again he tries Sunset Shimmer, again no answer and no reply. “Twilight was with them and… I don’t have her number.” He grumbles softly. He tries Sonata’s phone next, the obvious happening, so he quickly tries Aria, thinking maybe someone would at least answer it, but no dice.
He begins to the dial the number for home, he waits for the tone, but he only gets the voice mail. He checks his watch again. It’s been almost an hour or more since Adagio and the girls left, they should be home and if not, Sonata should be home. He dials Adagio’s number again, but the call doesn’t go through, she must be out of service or her phone was dead. Realizing he wasn’t going to get anywhere just worrying. Mac picks up the case file again. Instantly he goes to the hair sample and Fluttershy’s picture. Now he did not have a critical eye for art or half of the things Adagio does with her makeup. But looking critically at the hair at the scene and the picture of Fluttershy and Pinkie, he would say they were the same shade. That didn’t instantly incriminate them or why explain why he was even thinking this. The two pinkettes wouldn’t hurt a fly. Fluttershy especially because she’s tried to get him to adopt a fly as a pet once. Granting she had been seven at the time.
He closes the file with a scoff. Now way Fluttershy or Pinkie for that matter was the culprit. What was the motivation? Besides what proof was there? Well, he should probably finish reading the file to figure that out. Picking the file up for the third time he starts from the beginning. Starting with the location of the attack. Bringing up a map of on his phone he was a bit surprised to find the attack took place between the animal shelter and Fluttershy’s home. Next was the park fountain where the boy's blood was mixed in the water. It was in the same area. Ok. Other things found at the scene. Blood, hair, a soccer ball, and dog hair… dog hair? Ok, the time of the attack, crossed with the time Fluttershy would be getting off work. (Ouch,) Mac thought as the threads of his little web began to tie together. Putting Fluttershy in as the attacker was too perfect. But what reason would she have to attack the boys? Did they harass her? Maybe. Even if they did she wouldn’t hurt them this bad with her magic. Unless. He thought about the dog hair. Would Fluttershy hurt someone this bad over an animal? He cringed. He wouldn’t be surprised. No, no. Fluttershy would defend the animal, but she wouldn’t go this extreme in doing it? Right?
Mac looks at the wounds again. They weren’t very clean. The attacker bit them and nearly ripped out their throats. Some were cleaner and kind resembled vampire bites like in the movies. But how does that connect to Fluttershy… no not Fluttershy. Flutterbat! But that would mean Fluttershy turned dark again, but this is from weeks ago, surely some of the girls would have noticed something?
He put the file back down for the last and final time. This wasn’t his job. Besides this is crazy. Just because Fluttershy fit the description didn’t mean she was the culprit. Right? Well, his gut wasn’t feeling as sure.
“I’m going to get some air.” He said without waiting for a reply. Following the stairs, he walks up to the roof. The filthy city air was not the most mind clearing thing ever, but it beat the office below and thinking one of his sister’s friend committed attempted murder. Still, they’ve all turned to the dark side (Unwillingly) at least once. Twice for others. Could they have rebounded? Was that possible? God, he wished Maddie wasn’t missing right now. She was the one that turned them. Then again, Moon Dancer was here. She should know something, right? “Well, might as well go ask.” He took a step towards the door but stops and pulled out his phone again. It’s been ten/twenty minutes since he last tried to call Adagio. Might as well try his luck again.
He presses call and waits. And waits. And waits. He should have guessed. He was about to about to hit cancel when. “Hello?” Came the sound of Adagio’s honeysuckle voice. Instantly his anxiety was lessened. Only for his frustrations to come boiling up.
“What the hell! I’ve been trying to get hold of you for the past hour and a half! I’ve called you a half a dozen times, Sonata, the home line, and even Aria! AJ and Sunny too! Where the hell are all of you?” Mac grumbles his hackles rising. Everyone had a damn phone! To hell, if they answer it through.
“I’m sorry, we…” There was a hiccup in her voice. Was Adagio crying? “We had some trouble at home.”
“What happened?” Mac’s tone shifting from angry to worried in less than a second.
The was a pause. A muffled sound coming over the line. There were other voices. A lot of voices. And shouting. He waits. “Sorry, we’re trying to get everyone off the driveway and to the house. Good thing we have some strong men here to help. Luna’s running to get some blankets to cover the girls.”
He frowns. “Luna’s there?”
“Celestia too,” Adagio quips quickly, the sound of footsteps on gravel coming in the background.
“Why do you need blankets? What’s going on?”
“Well, your sister, my sisters, and Sunset are all currently are all currently naked and sleeping. I figured Stryker and Fury wouldn’t want to carry them naked to the house.”
“Stryker? Wait Fury is there? As in Fierce Fury? Wait, wait… why are my sister and the others naked? On the driveway no less?”
“Long story babe, listen. Stryker is telling me to tell you to tell Feri, the Earth Feri, to go set up a conference call or something. He says he’ll deal with things on his end here. Anyway, we’ll hash this all out in a few minutes here when we get things set up. I’ll text you when we're ready. Love you.”
The call ends.
Feelings relief, yet not, Mac went back down to tell Feri and Moon Dancer of the call. Feri seems to have an idea of what he was talking about as the red detective lead them to a small conference room with a projector. Feri proceeds to plug his iPhone onto the machine and dials a number. A few minutes a later Mac’s living room appears on the screen. And what he could only describe as a blue hair version of Sixes fiddling with something on his TV.
“Can you see me? Can you hear me ok?” The Sixes look-alike asks over the speakers of the room.
“Reading you loud and clear Stryker, all things go here,” Feri said pointing them to sit down. There was a camera above the projector screen.
Stryker steps back, looking pleased. “I see you too.” He steps back, revealing Adagio, Luna, and Celestia sitting on the couch, Fury on the lazy boy, and Stryker on the other couch.”
Awkwardness ensues.
“Hi, Feri,” Luna says awkwardly. “So, I guess you know about magic too? Huh?”
“Same to you.” Feri replies. “How long have you known?”
“Past year and a half or so, you?”
“Past twenty or so.”
“WHAT! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU KEEP IT SECRET FOR THAT LONG?” Luna screams, Celestia, having to pull her back on the couch. Celestia looking bemused by her sister’s reaction. As was the rest of the room.
“So now that’s out of the way, where should we start?” Celestia says coughing, while Luna vents. Celestia had a strange air of giddiness about her as she had all the expression of a child that just got her favorite toy for Christmas. “Ok, I can’t hold it back anymore! Luna and I have magic now! Lookie!” Celestia stands ups, sprouting wings and ears, and jumps in place. “I feel amazing!”
“That’s ah… an interesting development,” Mac says slowly, unsure how to take the news. Moon Dancer was looking intrigued, while Feri… he was strangely neutral. Dangerously neutral. “How’d that happen?”
Celestia’s mood took a nose dive. “Well, how to say this? Your mother had a hand or paw or stick in it. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain.”
“There was a Timberwolf version of Applejane, like with Nico.” Adagio clarifies, Mac nodding his understanding. “So, both guardians are gone now?” Feri voices aloud. Earning him a lot of stares.
“You knew about them too?” Luna demands, leaning forward. “Then why the hell did tree Nico come to my house!” “Because you were closer, I don’t know. I didn’t program them.” Feri retorts, sounding just a little frustrated. “Your magical awakening aside, let’s get down to business, what happened?”
Stryker sighs, digging into his pocket to pull out a pack of cigarettes. Only for Adagio to slap it out of his hand. “Not in my house!” She angrily snarls. “Same here,” Mac adds glaring through the camera. Stryker holds up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright, sorry. Let’s see, I got a call from one of the boys at the bar about seeing your doppelganger here and went to investigate. I found him harassing that Rarity girl, we duked it out, I get knocked out. Next thing I know I wake up and he’s telling me we gotta to fly to Mac’s farm. Saying he senses dark magic or something. We get there and it’s a shit show. I’m not really sure how else to describe it.”
“The girls turned evil again,” Adagio clarifies again. “Apparently Aria was infected with something according to Timber Jane. Aria then infected Sonata and then they proceeded to infect Sunset and Applejack. By the end, all four of them were savage beasts. This guy.” She points to Fury. “Swoops in and then reduces himself and them to ashes.”
“WHAT!” Mac jumps, knocking over his chair, his jaw clenched tight. “What the hell did you do to my sister, Fury?”
Fierce Fury not looking intimidated in the slightest stays seated, speaking calmly. “It was a gamble, but it worked and hopefully purified them properly this time. We were too careless last time, thinking your familial rainbow blast purified everyone properly. Judging from what I saw at the farm and what I sensed from your world’s Rarity, it is safe to say the SINS were alive and well inside them.”
Mac blinks, Feri and Moon Dancer looking as confused as him. “SINS? What do you mean?”
Fury asks for a piece of paper and writes something on it and holds for them to see. “SINS, short for, Synthetic Intelligent neuron Symbionts, basically parasites. That serum Maddie gave you was created by her father, Madhoof and his partner in crime Hoofenstien. On the surface, it looks and acts like a mind control serum, but what really happens it creates a parasite inside the host's body. The parasite hatches and infects the host's body. Slowly taking control of over time. During that time, it can be programmed with a new personality. Such as the mindless slaves we fought when we came to rescue you.”
A horrible gut feeling bound inside Mac's stomach as he looks at Adagio through the screen, she seems to be having the same feelings as she clutches her stomach. “So, these SINS, the other personalities Maddie put inside us. Their still there?” Fury nods. “What do we do about them? How do we get rid of them? What about Adagio and I? Are we still infected?”
“Calm down Mac,” Said Fury. “If either of you were a danger of being hosts it would have happened by now. SINS feed on negative emotions and dark magic. If they can’t get enough nutrients they die like any other parasitic organicism.” Both Mac and Adagio breathe a sigh of relief. “However, we’re not out of woods yet. At least two of your friends are still infected. The first being the one I fought when I came through the portal, which was destroyed by her. Couldn’t tell who it was. From what I could tell the SINS are still separate from the body. The one I fought had a serpent-like familiar. There seems to be a power struggle between the two. I couldn’t tell who was in control. But…”
“But what?” Mac asks, knowing he wasn’t going to like what was about to be said. But’s are never good in these situations. “The one I fought last night, had a piece the Fallen Alicorn Grau’s amulet stuck in her chest. She also stole the Green Alicorn Amulet from Equestria. Needless to say, she has some serious power at her fingertips.”
“Ok, back up here for a second,” interrupts Ferocious. “What the hell is an alicorn amulet?”
“I would like to second that question, what’s the big deal if they have these Alicorn Amulets?” Moon Dancer chimes in, getting stares of disbelief from the two Equestrians. “I mean really what’s the big deal if they have jewelry?”
Adagio answers the question. “An Alicorn Amulet is one of the of the most sought-after items in all of Equestria, they are the crystallized remains of the most powerful beings in our world. Alicorns, ponies with the abilities of all three races. Having one basically makes you a demi-god.”
The room falls into silence. Mac especially quiet as he remembers the deathmatch he and the girls had against Grau. He didn’t look forward to doing that again. “The amulets aside for now. You said you went after Rarity, Fury. Do you know for a fact she’s infected?”
“I could sense a dark magic similar to the one had fought the night before.” Feri replies. “I couldn’t tell them apart, only that they were similar. I can only sense them when the SINS are in full control. Had this fool not gotten in the way, I could have captured her.”
“Don’t go blaming this all on me, buddy.” Stryker snaps.
While the two argue back and forth about who was more to blame, Mac sat back down, his brow frown with worry. Pinkie and Rainbow didn’t show up to help pick apples. Rarity and Fluttershy did. But then all four were missing this morning at school when the statue was found destroyed. Rarity was a confirmed infected. Applying this new knowledge to the alleyway attack Fluttershy was probably infected too. But what about Rainbow and Pinkie Pie?
“Hey Fury,” Mac says, both red men looking at him. “Sorry, the Equestrian Fury. You said the SINS could be programmed, what if they’re not? What happens then?”
The red rinin shrugs, “Can’t say for sure. How about you, four eyes. You were Maddie’s assistant, right? Do you know anything?”
“No, not about this specifically,” Moon Dancer admits. “But I can theorize if that’s okay.”
“Fine by me,” Mac tells her.
Moon Dancer coughs taking center stage. “Alright, well given the current information and my own research under Maddie. I can safely say that if the SINS are not programmed, it would make sense they would barrow personality traits from their hosts. At first of course, as they mature, I’m sure they would seek to become more independent and come on to their own. What that entails I have no idea.”
“So, say, if these things were in the early stages of development, they would cause their hosts to do things they wouldn’t normally do, right?” Mac asks. Remembering way, way back to that certain night in August. Moon Dancer nods at his hypothesis, so he continues speaking more for himself than the others. “So, say, suddenly a good nature and sportsman player like Rainbow Dash suddenly used her magic to attack another player? To hurt them?”
“I suppose, but that’s only a guess.”
“It’s not a guess, is it Mac?” Feri said suddenly, both he and Adagio realizing what Mac was aiming for. “Rainbow attacked Gilda with hail at that soccer game. She may not have consciously did it, but she is the only one that could and had a reason to do it. That was the probably ground zero for her infection and the others.”
Moon Dancer buts in, “That would make sense. Your sister and her friends share a magic bond. It helped to keep Maddie from changing you all into what she wished if one of you was still unaffected their magic would work to change the others back to normal. But that can also work in reverse too. If one of you is infected then it would spread through the bond to the others over time. And depending on emotional states and environmental factors some changed, while others did not.” “Which means,” Adagio said bringing all eyes on her. “That those not with us now are infected. So, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie are still out there at large and one of them has two alicorn amulets. Or worse they are all working together.”
“I don’t think that’s the case,” Fury says. “Between the one, I fought at the school and then confronting Rarity there seem to be no connection between them. That being said, we shouldn’t assume anything for now on. Whether separate or together those girls are a threat and they need to be dealt with. Sooner rather than later. Before the SINS permanently take over their bodies.”
“What happens then?” Luna asks speaking up for the first time in a while. Concern for her students clear on her and Celestia’s face.
“They’ll become like Kerosene, Tundra, and White Tail,” Moon Dancer answers. “They’ll never be their original selves again.” Silence fills the room as the weight of those words settles in. If the girls can’t be turned back, then, well they didn’t want to really think about that.
Feri leans back with his arms crossed, “So, what’s the plan? Pony me, can you do what you did before to fix the girls?” Mac gave a sharp glare to Feri, who wasn’t fazed as he locks eyes with his Equestrian counterpart. The two of them having a silent conversation just between themselves.
“Maybe,” Was Fierce Fury’s reply after a full minute of silence. “I’d rather not if given a better option. I didn’t know it would work the first time, it was a heat of the moment thing. Besides, I used Supernova too many times back to back. I’ll need two or three days before my body can handle blowing up again.”
“How long do we have till the SINS fully take over the girls?” Adagio asks. “Sixes said it’ll be a week at best before he can get back to Equestria to supply the new portal with his book.”
“That’s if they have the new portal built by then.” Fierce Fury adds. “A week might be too optimistic. Especially if they have to track down Starswirl. Luna knows where the hell he’s at these days.”
Adagio leans forward on the couch, looking strangely at Fierce Fury. “Starswirl is still alive?”
Fury waves her off, “Long story, as Princess Twilight about it. I want nothing to do with that old mage. But back to what my counterpart said. What is our plan of action, Mac?” Fury said looking directly at the camera. Everyone’s eyes fell on him, looking towards him for leadership. The pressure weighing on his shoulders. It was something he should be used too. Yet now even more people were looking to him. It wasn’t just the sirens or his sisters. He glances at Adagio’s face on the screen, she smiles at him. A wide encouraging smile. He found comfort and confidence in it.
“We’ll spilt into teams. Adagio will stay with Applejack and the others and keep an eye on them. Fierce Fury, Luna, Celestia, and Stryker will go out and start looking for Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Start by talking to their families and then checking out their work and hangouts for information. It would be wise for you four to pair up, preferably with Luna or Celestia going with Stryker or Fury. That way each team will have an experienced magic user. Once the blood tests are finished. Me, Feri, and Moon Dancer will go to the farm. We’ll check in then and go from there.” He took a breath. “Does that sound good?”
Fury chuckles. “Good enough plan for me, kid.”
“I think that’ll cover it, for now, we’ll keep in contact,” Feri says turning off the projector and ending the video call. Swiveling into his chair Feri looks at him, smirking with pride. “About gave me chills, son, I thought you were your dad for a second there.”
“Thanks, but it wasn’t anything that great,” Mac said as they file into the hallway.
“You could have just handed things off to me or Stryker or the Fury. God, that’s weird. I was playing it cool, but it was freaky to see the other me on the screen. Gotta ask what he lifts, pony me is jacked! Speaking of which can ponies lift? I mean how do they lift with hooves?”
“Fierce Fury is a Rinin, a dragon pony, so he had claws. I don’t know if he lifts though.” This was not a conversation Mac expected to ever have. Questionings if ponies could lift. Again, his life was weird.
Ember was standing at Ferocious’s desk, the petite woman holding a stack of papers under her arm. Feri let out a snicker, Ember fuming. Mac wondered what was so funny, when he notices the woman’s uniform was wrinkled, her make-up was smudged and her lipstick had the appearance of being recently reapplied.
“Hey, have fun with the chief?” Feri jokes, Ember remains quiet, staring straight out the window. “Ok, are those the blood results? Sorry to say we probably don’t… hey Ember, what’s fucking wrong? Hey!” The lights flicker in the station, a dull roar of chatter fills the office and then the power goes out and then silence. And then they heard screams.
The papers slip from Ember’s grasp, her lips barely moving as she mutters something. Feri and Mac peer around to see the terror-struck eyes of the blue woman as Mac and Feri run to the window overlooking the street. A sight they only saw in their nightmares playing out before them.
Monsters.
Monsters were roaming the streets, in broad daylight, people screaming and running in terror as the lumbering giant forms of five massive greenish gray beasts, standing at least four stories tall march towards the police station. They're ugly under bite jaws poking out of the massive helms they wore with two huge fangs poking up from their lips. Riding on the shoulder of the lead monster was some other smaller creature. A terrible shriek piece the air, shattering windows. Everyone covers their ears and ducks. Mac and Feri poke their heads over the edge of the broken bay window. The sight of one of the monsters redwood sized clubs flying straight at them!
“GET OUT OF THE WAY!” They scream grabbing whoever they could as the massive club crashed into the building.
Was all he heard a loud sharp noise, like those in TV and movies after an explosion went off. His vision was fog, dust fell, ceiling lights flickered, there was screaming. A lot of screaming. He tries to stand, the ground wobbling and shaking. Someone grabs him, they were shouting at him.
“Mac! Come on Mac let’s go!”
It was Feri. He was dragging him somewhere. There was so much damn noise! He wished everything would quiet down.
“FOCUS MAC!”
It came rushing back to him! Monsters in the city, the club… holy shit, the club hit the police station! Behind them, the ceiling collapses, as giant green/gray hands dig through the walls. Screams and gunfire erupt. He pulls his hand free of Feri’s grip.
“We gotta help them!” He shouts over the carnage. His godfather looked conflicted. Mac notices the two slumped bodies hanging over the Detective’s shoulder, Moon Dancer, and Inspector Ember. Feri looks at him with guilt-ridden eyes.
“We can’t save everybody, Mac.”
“We can’t just leave them to die either! We can’t just run away!” He turns to head back to the fray, Feri grabbing his shoulder and tossing him to the edge of the stairs. Before he could rebuke Feri tossed him Moon Dancer and Ember, almost sending him stumbling down the stairs. Feri stands stalwartly as he summons his claymore. “You won’t win alone.”
“I can fight! I’m not some novice! I…” His rant his cut short as Feri embraces him.
“I know, but you're more important than I am. I promised your father and your wife I’d keep you safe.” Feri transformed, his wings forming around them all. “Sorry.”
Before Mac could even attempt to struggle Feri grabbed them all and flew them out of the police station. In the fiery haze, Mac had no sense of where they were going only that he and the two women over his shoulder were suddenly on a rooftop. Several blocks away from the station. Mac watched as the giant monsters dug at the police building knowing they’d tear it down within minutes. He looks in the opposite direction, spotting the hospital. He curses his godfather’s protectiveness and activates the flight function on his coat and sets off towards the hospital as fast as he could.
--break
With Mac occupied with Ember and Moon Dancer Feri flew back to the station overlooking the street the Giants appeared in. He grimaced, his lunch rising up at the sight of the red paste of human remains left behind the giants march to the station. Everyone on the street had probably been trampled to death or worse. He saw a severed leg with indications it had been bitten off. Yeah, there was defiantly worse ways to go.
“Damn bastards!” Drawing his claymore, he let out all the magic he could muster becoming a flaming sphere he charged into one of the giant’s necks! His superheated blade cooking into the monster’s flesh! The beast let out a howl, stopping it’s tearing to try and grab him. Ripping the blade free he slashes at its fingers severing two of the meaty appendages off its right hand! The beast wails!
“I’ll give ya something to cry about your mangy piece of shit!” Flying to the right side of the giant’s head Ferocious gathers a ball of flame into his hand and chucks it under the giant’s helmet. It cried and scrambled backward, it’s brethren finally took notice of its brother’s situation. In a frantic frenzy, the giant removes its helm. He flies back gaining some takeoff speed and thrusts his sword ahead! “Dumbass! Full Throttle Flame!”
Like a lancer with rockets, he shot through the giant’s earhole blasted through its brain and out the other side. The giant staggers, it’s eyes rolling back as it falls on its knees dead, it’s brains still smoldering. He lands on his first kill, the remaining four tightening the straps on their helms. They looked angry.
“Your gonna fight or just stand there!” He taunts. “Come on! Bring it!”
One giant leans down, charging him, he lets his magic run wild and charges full throttle, intent on skewering the second one’s eye. He flashes forward, the giant ducking his head just enough for his attack miss, his blade scraping against the giant’s helm. Just like he thought he couldn’t pierce it. He slows down, flying up, quickly dodging as the third giant swings its massive club at him. It was slow, slow enough for him to dodge, but the wind pressure from the swing sent him craning off course and into the fourth Giant’s line of fire as it readies up to bat.
“Full Throttle Flame!” Rearing back he launches his sword like a spear and blows a hole in the fourth giant's kneecap, his sword piercing into the street as the giant buckles under its own weight. Creating a fireball, he tosses it into the giant's face as he zooms around to retrieve his sword. Trying to summon it would leave him open. He banks around the downed giant’s leg, when the second and third giant come crashing in, their massive legs closing his airspace. Forcing him to veer away, he dives, weaves and skids across the ground, roaring as fire dances on his fingers. Nico’s lessons at the forefront of his mind. When you give a spell a name, you give it power. He always thought it was a silly cartoonish thing to do, naming your attacks. Still, it was helpful.
Forearms aflame he crosses them, the heat building intensity as he sights in the second giant. “Full Throttle Flame: Pentecost!” A giant flaming cross as tall has him ignites, throwing his arms back the attack is let loose the roaring flames hitting the giant, a bird emerges from the cross engulfing the giant! It screams and roars as its fat boils beneath its skin, the beast claws at the burning flesh, ripping it open, the flesh melting off the bones. The other two giants stand back as their friend is reduced to melting burning corpse. They turn their attention to him, revenge on their minds as they stomp towards him.
“Shit, Full throttle flame!” He rockets away, but slower then he’d like. His limbs felt sluggish and heavy. The third giant bears down on him with an overhead strike with its club, Ferocious barely spirals out of the way, his breathing labored. Falling to his knees, the air pressure of the strike sending him rolling across the ground. Gritting his teeth, he spots his sword and rockets to it, this time even slower than before. The fourth giant tries to get him with another overhead strike, creating a fireball he throws it at the monster’s face blocking it’s view and takes back his sword.
Then his wings disappear.
Ferocious hits the ground hard, his face grinding against the red stained tar. He growls, knowing he’s used too much magic. That was the problem with using Full Throttle Flame back to back, it burns through his magic like a motorcycle revved up high does fuel. He jumps around, the giants playing whack a mole with their clubs. Right now, he only had enough magic to have pony ears. He could still go full throttle, but it’d much weaker and it’s burn magic more quickly. Half throttle would be the way to go, at least he would have wings, but flying would be harder without his tail.
“Half Throttle!” Wings, less impressive ones, but still wings pop out of his back. He takes off sword in hand and goes for the injured Giant first. He only had two left! He could do this! He can do this! “Flametongue!” Flames burst forth from his blade, he goes for the left leg, the searing blade cutting deep, but not deep enough. He couldn’t reach the bone. Flapping his wings harder, he drags his blade through the giant’s leg, cutting out a clean cut of flesh, blood spilling forth from the smoking wound. Cutting down he cleaves a chunk of meat off the leg, exposing bone, just what he wanted. Heating his blade Ferocious drives his sword under the giant’s knee and with a strong twist of his sword severs the ligaments. The beast falls, crying to its knees. He looks up at the exposed neck and smiles.
“Flame joist!” Creating an explosion with his wings he rockets up the Giant’s body his sword posed ahead, piercing the green/gray flesh, right on top of the jugular. The tip of his blade stuck in the spinal cord.
His wings disappear again. Leaving hanging by the handle of his sword.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He tries to kick-start his magic, to get anything, but his tank was empty! He couldn’t even form ears anymore! The hot breath of the final giant blows on his back. Adjusting his grip on the sword hilt he turns himself to stare into the beast’s eyes. It reached towards him with its hand, he kicked its fingers with his feet amusing the beast as it grabs his leg! “What da think ya doing huh? Goanna eat me, are ya? Well, good luck! I’m really spicy!”
The giant tugs at his legs, if not for his sword coming free his thigh bone would have been pulled out of its socket, not that it matters. Just being in the damn thing's grip felt like enough to shatter his bones! The giant brought him towards the mouth, he raises his sword, jamming it between its teeth, pushing against the massive closing jaws.
“Fuck it!” Slipping his sword between the rancid smelling teeth into the gums Ferocious got a nice shower of blood as the giant let go, screaming in pain, the noise almost rendering him death as he falls into the giant’s mouth. It’s tongue wet and slippery. His boots slip on the taste buds, his hands still on the hilt of his sword as he tries to free it. The giant tips it’s head back, chomping its teeth together. His hands are covered in saliva and his fingers slip and he falls into the throat. “This is fucking horse shit!”
He’s swallowed.
Ferocious’s eyes snap open, he must have passed out when going down the giant’s throat. Honesty he’s surprised to be alive. He’d thought the giant's digestive tract would have killed him or the lack of oxygen would have. That was probably why he passed out, but how did he… his coat!
With a disheartening sigh, Feri held the tattered remains of his dad’s patroller’s coat. The threads and chainmail melted away by the acid. Even his leather boots were barely hanging together, but what was he floating on… OH GOD!
His heart flew up into his throat as he found he was floating on a compressed batch of dead bodies! Dozens of humans in varying states of decay lay stuck together by some strange cyclized substance in a lake of blood. It was then he realized he couldn’t have landed here by chance. And he finally hears the soft weeping of a woman behind him.
The woman had teal skin, badly burned from the acid, the tattered rags of her clothes hung loosely on her body as she clutched a bundle of clothes against her breast. She was whispering soft words to the bundle. He carefully approached her, discovering the bundle in her arms was a baby. He tried to touch it, to see if it was still alive. She freaked out and scrambled backward, falling on her back, revealing herself and her missing leg. It was crudely bandaged with blood seeping through the dirty shirt that made the splint. From the rough edges of the cloth, he could tell her leg had gotten bitten off when she was swallowed.
“It yours?” He asks gently. The woman looking at him with wide terrified eyes. She was young, maybe no older than twenty. The baby barely a year old. “Ma’am, trust me I can help. I’m a police officer. I need you to stay calm, can you do that?”
The woman nods hesitantly.
“Good, now did you pull me onto… this island?” She nods, her eye glancing down at the floating pile of corpses that served as their raft, he gently kept her from looking down. “Ok, now is that child yours?” She shakes her head.
“No,” She spoke hoarsely. “It’s parents… they held her above the…blood. I grabbed her but… I… I.. can’t… I couldn’t… I…I…”
“It’s ok. Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here.” She looks at him, the smallest spark of hope in her eyes.
“How,” She asks, begging, pleading for salvation. He just hopes he can deliver.
“I’m… I’m going to change. I’ll be scary, I won’t be able to talk very well, but know I am here to save you. Just climb on my back.” He kneels down, the woman struggling with her leg and the baby, she nearly choked him with her arm as she hugs his neck. “Hold on tight, it’s going to be a rough ride. Full Throttle Flame: Overheat.”
What little magic he had left surged, feeling off his lifeforce, a year of his life shouldn’t be too bad. It’s not like he was expecting to make retirement anyway. So much for his pension. Steam blew from his body; the remains of his boots were shredded as his feet mutated into bird talons. Feather grew from his arms, changing into wings. Ferocious snapped his teeth irritated as his vision narrows, the very tip of a bird’s beak at the edge of his vision. The woman let out a horrified cry, her grip becoming tighter as he began to lift off their platform.
“What are you!” She screams as he takes aim at the stomach walls.
He raised his talons, the scythe-like appendages glinting as he swipes his foot across the fatty inner walls. Cocking his head back his chest puffs up, smoke roiling from his beak as he lets out a stream of fire!
“I’m a Firebird!” He screeches, tearing into the belly fat, digging their way to freedom!
The giant was satisfied with it’s dealing of the puny being that killed his brethren. Devouring a worthy opponent was a high honor of their race and a great insult to the defeated. Already it could imagine the strength his defeated foe would grant him once digested. Perhaps it would be enough to shake off the shacks of that little pink witch that summoned them to this world.
When they were summoned they had been six. Their leader had tried to kill the pink witch when she told them they would be following her orders. The leader didn’t like that and tried to kill her in single combat. They had been honored bound to stand back and watch their leader be brought down by the pink witch, using only her finger she made leader’s head touch the earth and then with a single jab of her hand, leader exploded!
After that horrifying display of dominance, they all begrudgingly fell into the line. After that, she used her strange amulet to turn herself into a harpy and transport them to this place. To say the least their feast has been bountiful and the task easy until the arrival of the Flaming Sword wielder. “What where the creatures called again… hayes, humans.” The giant chuckles patting his belly. “Not quite as meaty as ponies, but still good.”
Stomping his way towards the police station the giant reached up to continue tearing apart the fortress that held the Pink witch’s target. Before his fingers could touch the rough red stone, a gut-splitting pain assaulted him. He bellowed out, holding his stomach as the ripping sensation overloads his brain. Blood, fat, and acid mixed creating a cocktail of pains he’s never experienced and then came the heat. His stomach begins to burn like a fire was raging within it. He claws at this belly, his breathing accelerating as a blade-like object protrudes from his stomach. He tries to grab it, but it disappears. He brings his hands away, fear in his heart as a terrible shriek comes from beneath his skin!
The horrible realization hit him as a razor-sharp scythe-like talon ripped open his stomach from within, blood, fat, and flames exploding out of the wound as phoenix-like creature bursts from his stomach. He falls on his back, holding his stomach with his hands. The Avion creature circling in the sky, like a vulture about to feast. The bird let out a shriek and dived. He let out a gurgling scream as the bird’s talons ripped his throat and its beak pecked out his eyes. He felt the hard-pointed beak through his eye socket and then the pain stopped.
Ferocious touched down next to a fire hydrant and gently let the woman and baby down next to it. With his talon he cuts the top off, spraying turret of water into the air. Raindrops fell slowly washing the blood off the two. Once they were clean enough that they weren’t completely covered in blood and stomach acid, he used his fire to heat the fire hydrant and seal it closed again.
“Pardon me for a moment.” Much to the surprise of the woman he wrapped her and the baby in his wings, heating and drying them as best he could. Steam rose from his body and his feather began to fall, releasing him from his monstrous form. Well, mostly. His feet were still that of birds. Stepping back from the two, both completely covered in his feathers. A mother bird and her chick. The sight makes him smile, the true horror around him forgotten for the briefest of moments. But it couldn’t last.
“HELP!” A scream came from the police station, only to be quickly silenced.
“I gotta go.” He says, the woman grabbing his arm, her body trembling in fear.
“Please don’t leave us!” She cries.
Gently Ferocious loosen her grip and put her hand back to support the baby’s head. A habit Applejane had drilled into him whenever he was allowed to hold one of the kids. “It’s alright.” He cooed, hopefully, he could get her to calm down, the baby would stay calm. It was quiet, even after the rough ride. He quickly put his fingers on its pulse and breathes a sigh of relief. Somehow it survived getting out of the stomach and him going crazy and pecking the giant’s eyes out. God knows how that’s possible, but he’ll take any miracle he can get right now. “My…um… friend will be here soon and so will emergency personnel.” In the background, he could hear the ambulance sirens. Took them long enough, but it was better late than never. Later better in this case because the EMTs would have probably just been giant food anyway. “Just stay calm Miss… er… Mrs.? Um…” He just realized he didn’t know her name.
“Vapor Trail. I’m not married… yet, but…” Her hand fell on her missing leg. “I was hoping to be. I just got engaged.”
“Right, well that’s a problem I can’t fix. You and the little gal here just sit tight. Help will be here soon. But if your boyfriend does dump you… um… here. You’ll find some better caliber of men here.” He hands out a card of the VFW and walks away. Grabbing his claymore, he jumps, his talon legs sending him flying up three stories, his clawed feet grabbing the crumbling edge of the third floor. He wonders how long his body will be like this. Last time it took him three days to change back to normal. “Don’t shoot me now guys.” He mumbles entering the darkness of the station. Inside the lights flickered violently. The harsh glare messing up his vision as he feels around the destroyed office. The tough scaling of his bird feet slam against a broken desk, at least he didn’t have to deal with a stubbed toe with these things.
“Anyone alive?” He shouts into the darkness. Holding out his hand he ignites it, creating flames on his palm, illuminating the bodies of slain police officers. Blood rain across the slanted floor like a river, flowing around spent bullet casings and bodies. He bent down, inspecting the wounds on the nearest body. Nail marks mar the man’s neck, he’d been strangled to death. “That’s a shitty way to go.” He stands up, his ears tingling at the familiar click-click of a shotgun being racked! Diving a spray of buckshot goes over his head, three of the .38 ACP balls blowing the desk in front of him to pieces.
“Came back here you freak!” The enraged voice of Vice Captain Pharynx roars. Another buck shot burst blows the remains of the tables away.
“Chief!” Ferocious screams, his hand finding a discarded nine mil. He really didn’t want to shoot the vice chief, but he wasn’t going to take buckshot and live either. “Chief it’s me! It’s Ferocious!”
There was a pause. The duet of their respected heavy breathing filling the air. “Ferocious.” Pharynx, his voice relaxing. “Prove it, what’s your badge number!”
“You fucking know I don’t remember that! Wait…” He digs into the remains of his coat, pulling his badge from his breast pocket. Good thing this survived. “Ok, it’s…” Pharynx pokes his head over the pile of destroyed desks. A pistol in his hand. They stare at each other, him holding his badge like an idiot.
“Yeah, that’s you,” Pharynx caught sight of his transformed legs. “At least I think it is. What the hell happened to you? You got crow’s feet?” He joked, Ferocious figured the Vice Chief was probably just trying to keep his sanity at this point.
“Birth defect,” he replied getting up. “What’s the situation. I was expecting everyone to be rejoicing after my awesome win outside. Which I guess nobody saw.”
Pharynx looks out the hole in the wall, spying the dead giants outside. He whistled at the sight as the flashing lights of the ambulance light up the scene and the bystanders from the other streets come over to see what’s going on now that the noise is gone.
“Damn, I thought I saw shit overseas.” Pharynx looks at him. “But you don’t seem surprised. In fact, you seemed prepared. I saw a red blur leave the building, Ember, and your two guests nowhere in sight.”
“I saved who was in reach first,” Ferocious replied. “Now what’s going on? Where’s the pink harpy? The one riding on the giant’s shoulder before shit went down. She’s in the building, right?” Pharynx nodded, pointing toward the stairs.
“She came flying in during the confusion. Screaming about something I couldn’t hear over the noise. She slaughtered her way through anyone in her path. Thorax and some others chased after her. She clocked me good with her tail, I didn’t wake up till just a bit ago.”
“Her tail?” Ferocious questions. Harpies had tails sure, but they were just a bunch of feather on their ass.
Pharynx looked mirth. “Yeah, her tail! The damn thing was like a giant pink snake coming out the top of her ass! It was maybe ten feet long and hit like a whip! Look at the mark she gave me!” He tilts his chin to show him. Along laceration ran down Pharynx’s face down to his shoulder. The cut was rough like the skin had been shaven off. Meaning the tail was scaled.
“Harpies don’t have tails like… shit, it’s one of them!”
“One of whom?” Pharynx demands. Ferocious ignoring him as he makes for the stairs. He didn’t have time to waste. Given the all pink theme of the harpy in question it was a winning bet it was the SIN that infected Pinkie Pie. “Ferocious! What’s going on! What do you know!”
“I don’t have time to explain! Just know magic and monsters are real and that’s what most of my cases have been! That’s the long short of it, now I gotta go, you stay here!” Ferocious made a break for the stairs. Bounding up them in a few steps. Naturally, he heard the sound of Pharynx’s steps running up behind him. He figured the vice chief wouldn’t listen to him, but he had to try.
Ears to the floor Ferocious listens for anything, but everything was deathly quiet. Then there was a crunch and then gunfire and screaming! The labs! Running as fast he could he saw a body get through threw one of the lab windows and hit the wall. It was Chief Thorax!
“Chief!” He skids protectively in front the light green man. His prey inside the lab, holding up one of the lab techs with her tail. It was one of the pretty ones too. “Let her go!” He orders, ponying up, he only got the ears to go along with his mutated feet. He brandishes his blade and nine mil pistol. “Do it Pinkie!”
She turns towards him, dropping the lab tech, the purple-blue woman greedily sucking in air as Pinkie stomps towards him. Her claws feet breaking tiles and her tail thrashing about, wrecking the lab even further. He did have one advantage; her arms were wings right now. So, no fingers.
“Where is she!” The mutated Pinkie squawks. Her voice a jumbled mess of overlapping sounds.
“Why don’t you be a good girl and let me carve that snake or whatever is in your stomach out of you. Come on, Pinkie, you know this isn’t you.”
“No,” She replied. “No, Pinkie. Only Spite.”
“We’ll see about that,” he rushes ahead, swinging his sword around, her tail flashes like a whip and knocks its wide, throwing off his slash. He raises his pistol, but it suddenly became heavy, very heavy! “The fuck!”
The gun hit the ground like it weighed a million pounds! It cracked the floor and then fell through it, slipping from his fingers. He rose off his knee, sword thrust ahead, only for the same thing to happen.
“Foolish prey,” She spat. Ferocious was suddenly weightless and slammed into the ceiling. Sparks and plaster falling on him and then the ground became closer as his face was smashed into it. He grits his teeth, his body not moving as Pinkie, no Spite, knelt beside him. Running her finger across his coat. “Where is Moon Dancer?” “Fuck you!”
BANG!
His coat suddenly explodes! Fucking magic hacks!
“I’ll ask again, this time the explosion will be bigger! Where is Moon Dancer!” She grabs his shirt, it began to glow and sparkle. “Times wasting. I’ll start doing your fingernails next!”
“Hey, bitch!” Pharynx yells, firing his shotgun at her. Spite drops Ferocious’s shirt, using her gravity magic to knock the buckshot out of the way. Ferocious finds himself free! He pounces knocking her feet out from under her and grabs her in a headlock!
“No easy using two different magics at once is it! IS IT!” He twists their bodies so the Pharynx, Thorax and the others gathered in the hall had clear shot. “Take her out!”
They take aim, guns locked and loaded, fingers on the trigger. The muzzles flash and lead flies, but ‘Spite’ suddenly shrinks changing from a six-foot harpy to a winged snake and slithered out of his grasp! Her scales cutting his hands as he tried to grab her. He rolls taking a shot in the shoulder, arm, and leg, all on his right side.
“You’re not getting away!” He screams trying to grab her again. She slithered right out of his bloody fingers and disappears beneath the rubble. The room goes quiet as everyone tenses, listening for the pink snake.
“Behind you!” Thorax shouts, him and Pharynx training their guns. Spite lands on his back, coiling around his neck, trying to strangle him! “Fucking little bitch!” He pulls hard, prying a piece of her body away from his neck. “Somebody run up and shoot her!” He barks. Pharynx runs shoving his shotgun barrel forward for a point-blank shot when Spite suddenly grows! Her body coming massive, she hisses knocking Pharyanx’s shotgun away with her tail. He pushes the vice chief away as she begins to coil around him.
“Come any closer and he dies!” She hisses, her coiling body crushing his body tighter and tighter! The others look uncertain what to do. Their training overriding the obvious answer to shoot her and don’t worry about him!
“Shoot her! Don’t worry about hurting her! Just try not to kill her!” He shouts, remembering under the monster currently killing him there was an innocent girl inside. Somewhere.
A wall explodes, daylight streaming inside the lab as a winged figure hovers in the new hole in the wall. It was Mac! The farm boy reared back, his chest expanding rapidly! He knew what that meant!
“Everyone get down!” He shouts as Mac let’s loose a stream of fire at Spite. She hissed, various debris exploding, creating a wall of flames between the two attacks. Her coils loosen and he falls to the ground. “Don’t let her get away Mac!”
“I can’t see her!” He retorts as the tingle of magic fills the air. A green portal appears, sucking away the dust, Spite’s serpentine tail disappearing inside it before it closes.
Sighing Ferocious fell on his back, his ears disappearing, even his feet returned to normal. He was completely out of magic. Mac pulled him up the arm, the young man hosting him onto his back. “Let’s get you out of here. We don’t have time to get caught up here.”
“Your right,” Feri agreed, already the crowds were beginning together, news helicopters were on their way. It was defiantly time to go. “We’ll leave things in your hand’s chief. I’ll try to have this all cleaned up before the end of the week. Whatever this is.”
“Feri wait!” Pharynx’s words fell flat as Mac took off into the sky.
Thirty minutes later and one commandeered vehicle. Mac and Feri along with Moon Dancer still asleep in the back drove their ‘borrowed’ Buick back to the farm. Leaving the chaos of the city behind them as they drove to the brewing storm back home. The radio already a buzz about the tragic event. Witness testimonies where broadcasts. The woman Feri saved crying as she spoke of the ‘Superhero’ that saved her. The police being accused of lying as a flimsy cover story was put in place. And the final statement of the broadcaster asking.
“Is this the beginning of the End?” The question was an uneasy one for them to hear as they drove along the highway. A lot of people had died today. People killed by Pinkie, one of Applejack’s friends.
“Your phone working yet?” Mac asks as he speeds down the highway. Ferocious pulls out his cell, the screen black. Mac’s lay on the dash in the same condition. For the hell of it, they tried Moon Dancer’s, hers was also black. Fried by the massive wave of magic. So hopefully him fighting giants wasn’t going to be on Youtube.
“Nope,” He replied. He was in hot shit with his bosses. Probably even more for taking Moon Dancer out the hospital. But they couldn’t leave her there. Pinkie or rather Spite was after her, for whatever reason.
Settling down in his seat Ferocious leaned his head against the window and drifted off to sleep. Hoping things would get better from here. They had to after this shit show.
Adagio turns off the TV Mac’s image disappearing as the conference call comes to an end. She really wishes Mac was home right now. The attack on the driveway was a real blow to her sense of security. On the other hand, this was what? The third or fourth time the farm was attacked? Gotta say, if she was still living in the sea in Equestria she would have packed up her sisters and left by now. Mac wouldn’t want to leave and in turn, she wouldn’t leave without him. Besides if your expecting an attack to happen you can be more prepared for it.
On that note, things were getting hairy around here and she really wanted to nuzzle in Mac’s chest with a cup of tea and relax on the couch. That obviously wasn’t going to happen. Instead, she has to babysit while the others went out and hunt. A few weeks ago, this would have annoyed her, being left out of the action again, but once again after the driveway attack, she was ready to board the windows and doors. Not just for herself, but for her sisters and the others safety too. Others safety. The thought made her want to laugh humorlessly. Not thirty minutes ago she was about to abandon Luna, Celestia, and Twilight to the wolves. She cradles her ever-growing stomach, she wouldn’t use her child as an excuse or justification. She would have felt bad for abandoning the three, but not enough to truly regret it if it meant keeping her child safe. She found the line, that much is for sure.
“Adagio? Adagio?”
“Huh?” She looks around, Luna touching her shoulder. “Oh, sorry, I zoned out. What did you want?”
“I was asking if you’re sure you’ll be ok by yourself. The girls are unconscious upstairs, but we don’t really know if Fury’s burning them to ash really cured them.”
That was right. The magic here is pretty half-assed and made up they go along the trail. Still, she didn’t want someone to stay here and have someone go off on their own. Then again, the investigating group could go in a trio, but trios could be intimidating when confronting people and they couldn’t cover as much ground.
“I’ll be fine. We have plenty of zip ties here, I’ll just cuff them, it’ll buy me some time to get away at least.” She said to the Vice Principle. “Now you guys couple off and go interrogate some unsuspecting families. I’ll run some damage control with AJ and Twilight. I’m sure Granny and Twilight’s parents are wondering where they are.”
She waves bye to the four and goes into the kitchen, ignoring their chatter as they head out the door. Picking up the phone book Adagio flips through the pages for Twilight’s home phone number. After a quick flip through the S’s, she remembered that Twilight just moved here. Her family wouldn’t be in the phone book. No, wait she transferred schools, so they’d be in the Canterlot City phonebook. Which they don’t have.
“Well,” Adagio huffs as a dust cloud dissipates in the yard. No use asking Celestia and Luna. Time to steal a phone. Tiptoeing upstairs Adagio stopped to admire Aria and Sonata’s sleeping form both of them sleeping soundly in Sonata’s room. She knelt next to the bed, pressing the back of her palm against Aria’s forehead. She was cool as a cucumber, no fever or anything like before. She’d take that as a good sign. Next, she pulls Sonata’s blankets up, her blue sister rolling into a cocoon and mumbling about tacos. So, she was normal too. Kissing the two on the head she goes to where Sunset and Twilight were resting, which was Mac’s old room.
Both girls felt normal, no fevers, sweats or black veins on their naked bodies. That was going to a fun scene when they wake up. Well, Sunset was naked, Twilight, well her clothes were dirty from the fight so she was naked too. Maybe she should set up a camera.
Onto her main objective Adagio picks up Twilight’s cellphone, which was one of those new ones, very fancy and expensive. No doubt the nerdy girl has decked out with the most up to date security with facial recognition. So, she propped up Twilight’s head, peeled open her eyelids and the phone unlocked itself after scanning her face. Way to go Techpear.
“Contacts, contacts… Brother… no. mom and dad… hmm… Cadence? Dean Cadence? She does know about magic…” She presses the Dean’s name in the log, the phone automatically calling.
“Hey, Twilight’s what’s up?”
“Um, hi…” Adagio said cautiously. Maybe Cadence wouldn’t….
“OH GOD WHY DO YOU HAVE TWILIGHT’S PHONE!” The dean all but screams into her ear. Not that she couldn’t understand the concern.
“Hi to you too. Look I’ll keep this brief, I’m calling to tell you Twilight is fine.”
“But she can’t tell me herself?”
“Yes,” Adagio replied, hearing Cadence sigh in the background.
“Is this magic related?”
“Yes.”
Cadence groans, almost crying from the sounds of it. “URG, alright. I suppose you want me to make up a cover story for her to tell her parents and my husband, her brother?”
“That would be extremely helpful, just something simple, just say she’s at a sleepover.”
“At 3 pm?”
Adagio rubs her temple. “School was canceled because of damages.”
“More magic?”
“Yes,” Adagio replied, starting to feel a little guilty about laying this all on Cadence. “Look, I know we haven’t interacted much, but rest assured. Twilight and the others are safe and I’ll keep it that way.” Lair, a voice in the back of her head said, she quickly smacks it down. “I promise.”
“You better,” Was Cadence’s reply, ending the call.
She guiltily sets Twilight’s phone on the nightstand and exits the room. Since she’s visited everyone else she checks in on her sister in law, who was asleep in her own room, or what was once her room. It was Aria’s now. Adagio peeks in, Applejack’s freckled face peeking out just above the covers.
Walking into the room Adagio strokes Applejack’s hair, it was silky soft. She didn’t know if AJ was secretly using Rarity’s hair products or if it was affected of Fury reducing her to ash, but it was a bizarre feeling. Maybe she was giving AJ a hard time, sure she was a rough tomboy, but she was still a girl and one that’s been getting much more girly as she grows. It was cute.
“Here’s to hoping you live to be twenty, I’m sure you’ll just be a bombshell.” She chuckles walking out of the room. She took care of Twilight parental figures, she should probably call Granny Smith.
Humming down the stairs Adagio pauses to go into her room and fix up her hair into a ponytail and then braids the unruly curls into a sloppy French braid, it would make it easier to do housework and chores.
“Shit.” She cursed suddenly. There was no one around to do the chores! Guess she’ll have to do them. It wouldn’t be so bad, just throw some grain and hay to the cattle and horses and that’d be it. If she knew what portions they were being fed. “Wow, I have gotten out of the loop haven’t I?” She chuckles, wondering when the last time she did the chores. “Well, I worry about it after I call Granny… ah, shit the bills too!”
She checks the kitchen table were Mac usually laid the bills in the morning. Gods. The morning seemed like forever ago. They went to the school, then the city came back from the city, fought the girls in the driveway. Wow, today was a long ass day. And they still had to pay bills. Yay.
“This can’t be that hard.” She mumbles opening the envelopes. “All I have to do is fill out the check and sign it…” Adagio looks at the title of the check, it was hers, but it invalid because she married Mac at the courthouse and changed her name. These still had Dazzle on them and the routing number was wrong. So, she couldn’t use it. “Ok, no problem I’ll just use the farm’s checkbook, this is a farm bill anyway. Shit, only Mac’s name is on the farm. Um… I can forge his signature! Wait… how does he sign these? Is it Big Mac Apple? Big Macintosh Apple? An M with squiggles? Shit, how did we not talk about this once in the past four months!”
Taking a deep alongside the realization that her Mac had some more things to figure out in their marriage. Adagio decides she should just go back to her original plan and call Granny Smith. A nice simple job she could do.
“In hindsight, I could have just called Rarity, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash’s homes. Their parents know who I am. Still, Mac was pretty cool and dashing taking charge like that, I would have hated to ruin the moment.” She dials Granny’s home phone and waits and waits and waits. No answer. The voice mail plays in the speaker and she hangs up without leaving a message. Next, she tries Granny’s cellphone.
“Ello? Adagio? Is that you?”
“Yes, Granny it’s me. I was just calling because…”
“Ah’m afraid I’m going to have to let you go. One of my brother Crab Apple is in the Dodge Junction hospital and I’m about to enter, no cellphones ya know. I had to leave right quick, so tell AJ that’ she’s staying with her Grandpa Bailey for the rest of the week. Applebloom is already with him. Sorry, I gotta go! I know nurse! I’m turning it off now!”
“Granny wait!” The line goes dead. “Great. I guess I better call Applebloom… wait does Applebloom even had a cell phone?” She pulls out her own cell and begins scrolling through her contacts when a shiver ran up her spine, the lights flicker and spark and then the house goes dead. The screen of her phone blacks out, sparks fly from it and the battery was hot enough to make her drop it. The phone hits the tile floor and breaks apart.
Dark magic perinates the air and she ran upstairs, all the girls groaning as dark green mists spilled through the cracks in the house. Adagio quickly checks their phones, but all of them were in the same state as hers. Going into the closest rooms, Sunsets, and Twilights. She pecks both of them on the forehead, barely siphoning enough magic to gain ears. Levitating everyone out of their beds she gathers them all together like a mother fox gathers her kits in the den and crafts a barrier around them to keep the dark magic at bay. There was so much, but it was weak, so the source was far away, but for there to be this much magic, meant whatever was producing it was powerful. The whole town, no the whole county might be affected! No power, no cell phones, nothing.
“Shit. Today just gets better and better. I hope everyone will be ok.”
Celestia sat silently in the passenger’s seat of the truck they borrowed from the yard. Across from her, driving was Stryker Six. Someone she hasn’t seen or talked to since she first went to college. That had been a strange and exciting time. Luna had been dating Ferocious and she hadn’t been very open to her sister’s biker boyfriend or his friends.
“So… your police officer now… how’d that happen?”
“Took a class. Solved a lot of cases, rose through the ranks.” He replied statically. The silence drags on as they zoom down the road. Fury and Luna in Luna’s car behind them, Luna driving of course. “I see the teacher thing worked out.” He added awkwardly.
“Yeah, it was a nice gig till magic came into my life, at least that’s what I thought till today.” She held up her fist, arcs of power dancing on her knuckles. She had magic now. She could be useful, she could protect her students!
She felt Stryker’s eyes on her. She quickly glances out the corner of her eye, catching the wariness in his gaze. The magic sparks die down and she leans against the window, keeping a glancing eye on him.
“You got something to say?” She asks, already knowing what he was probably going to say.
“Magic is dangerous…”
“I know,” She said a little snippety. “I’ve seen what it can do first-hand multiple times. I’ve seen it be abused, corrupted and corrupt those who tried to use it, but I know better.”
“Huh, you say that, but next thing you know your getting shot with a rainbow or a bullet.” She glares at him, he isn’t fazed as he drives down the street towards the McCloud’s, Fluttershy’s house. For two blocks they sat in silence. “I could you teach you.” He said suddenly turning right and parking outside the McCloud’s home. He shoots her a cocky know it all grin. “I know a few magic tricks.”
“And what’s your tuition fee?” Celestia replied, a grin spreading across her lips without her consent. Was she feeling hopeful? But for what? What was she expecting?
“A few dances would be nice. Come on, let’s go intimidate the shyest couple in town.”
Celestia climbs down from the truck, a strange flutter in her chest. Did he just flirt with her? God, how long has it been she’s been hit on? The better question was the last time she went out to get hit on? Even better question, why the hell was she thinking about this now? She had to focus. The McCloud’s were a timid couple they didn’t want to scare them with the fact their daughter’s body was under the control of a genetically magic made snake. Damn, when did her life become a fantasy Syfy movie?
Stryker hits the doorbell and they wait and wait and wait. No answer. He knocks on the door. “Mr. McCloud, Mrs. Cloud, I’m Detective Stryker Six of CPD, please open up if your home!” Again, no answer. He raises his leg.
“What are you doing!” She hissed pushing his leg down.
“Kicking the door down.” He says, as if that’s obvious, which it was, but…
“Why are you kicking the door down? There’s no probable cause to do so! Besides what if they're asleep, at work or on… vacation… oh…”
“What?” Stryker asked looking pointedly at her. “What do you know?”
Celestia laughs scratching her multi-color hair in embarrassment. “Well, funny story… the McCloud’s are a vacation cruise. They sent a note to my office and wanted to me to check on their kids well their gone during school hours and maybe check up on them at home if needed.”
Stryker crosses his arms, looking half annoyed, half amused, “Well, don’t you go above and beyond. When did they leave?”
“Three days ago, Friday night maybe. They’ll be gone for the whole week. Hey, where are you going?” Celestia runs after Stryker who climbs back into the truck, she climbs into the passenger seat as he starts the engine. “I thought you were going to break in the door or something like that.”
He hums, pulling out on to the street. “I’ll bend some rules, but not when it’s pointless. We might as well go to the next house. The girl hasn’t been home in days, she, like many before her usually set up an off sight lair away from neighbors that would notice unusual things.”
“You’ve run into a creature like this before?” Celestia said with surprise.
Stryker laughs, “Yeah, their call drug dealers. Whose house is the closest to here?”
She pulls out her phone, flicking through the pins on the map app. “Rainbow Dash’s house is closest. Luna and Fury are probably heading to the Pies. Rarity’s is the furthest away. I think Rainbow’s mother should be home before you ask. But what do we do when we get there if you tell them you’re with the police…” They really didn’t think this out. Maybe it was a good thing the McCloud’s were gone. They need a better game plan. “What’s my role in this too?”
They pull up to the curb outside the Dash’s home. A tan SUV Chevrolet sat in the driveway, Rainbow’s mother Daring’s car. Celestia recognized it from the parent-teacher meetings. So, she was home.
“Follow my lead,” Stryker said suddenly getting out of the vehicle suddenly. She had to jog to catch up with his strides. His shoulders were hunched and he was giving off an intimating posture. Was she supposed to copy that? Or contrast it? Like a good cop bad cop? Why couldn’t men just talk! Well, there was no time too because they were at the door! Yay. Maybe this will go well.
Stryker knocks on the door, still putting up his intimidating cop face, she thought cops were supposed to relieve people’s fears, but then she remembered who she was with. The cop Stryker was just a show, this was probably Biker Stryker with a badge. The door opens, Daring, Rainbow’s Mother, looking put off by Stryker’s intimidating presence. So, she smiled to counter it and put Daring at ease.
“Good day, Mrs. Dash, I’m Principle Celestia, I believe we’ve met a few times before. Briefly of course. Do you have a minute to spare?” She laid on her professional public servant stick pretty thick, but it seems to calm Daring down slightly. That being said the tawny woman seemed… jumpy.
“Um… yes… of course, um… who’s your companion?”
“Detective Stryker Six, of CPD, this is a lovely home ma’am.” He said brushing past Daring. Celestia was pretty sure that wasn’t regulation. Daring seemed stunned by the ashen Detective’s basin invasion of her home, but bit her lip and left for the kitchen, asking them if tea was ok to drink. She answers yes, well elbowing Stryker in the ribs.
“What are you doing?” She hissed softly. “You're freaking her out with this daytime TV cop bullshit!” He pulls her head close, really close, like his lips brushing her ear close. It made her blush, but she couldn’t break his hold.
“Somethings not right here, try putting a little magic in your nose and take a whiff.” He releases her, smiling and thanking Daring for the tea as the two of them sit down on the opposing couches with the coffee table to between them. She takes the seat next to Stryker and accepts the cup and while she partakes in the sip of earl gray, nice tea choice. She focuses a bit of magic into her nose.
The smell of the tea became a hundred times stronger! Like she had the nose of the bloodhound, it smelt good, but the scent was so powerful that it made her lean her head away. She smiles awkwardly as Daring looked at her strangely.
“It’s a little hot,” She fibs taking another breath, ready for the stronger sense of smell of the tea. She really didn’t know what she was looking for. The house smelt the same as any house, it smelt like a mix of old and new food, dandruff, and general body order. There as a lot of perfume in the air too. Rainbow’s parents were devoiced, if she remembers right, so Daring was probably the owner of the perfume. She doubts Rainbow Dash uses it, but still, this was a lot for one woman. Celestia takes a longer deeper sniff, looking beyond the smells she’s already identified, there was something else. Something metallic?
“Principle Celestia?”
“Oh um… yes?” She said dumbly, her mind reeling from the world of smells.
“Why are you here? The Detective has been very evasive about your presence here, perhaps you would be a little more forthcoming?”
Celestia sets her teacup down, rubbing her hands together in an effort to buy time. The smells were getting to her, that metallic scent really stuck with her now, it was all she could smell, yet she couldn’t place what it was. It was something stupidity obvious.
“Yes, well, as you know there has been another incident at the school and your daughter was reported to not have been on the premises. I’m not suspecting Rainbow Dash, of course, I just wanted to check on her and make sure she’s accounted for. We’re doing this with all the students that weren’t accounted for. We just came from Fluttershy’s McCloud’s house actually.”
Daring took a sip of her cup, her hands shaking, “Ah yes, I had heard about that on the news. Rest assured my daughter… well, my daughter is fine.” Stryker suddenly grabbed Daring’s hands. Celestia was about to chew him out, but he shushed her and Mrs. Dash as he forced the woman to put her cup down. He then began rolling up her sleeves, Daring hissed as red lacerations were revealed on her arms. The metallic scent suddenly became clear to Celestia, it was the scent of blood.
She covered her mouth at the sight of Daring’s arms, they were horribly marred, like they’d been whipped. Stryker proceeded to remove Daring’s suit jacket, still motioning both of them to be quiet. Daring began to cry as the jacket was removed, revealing her red-stained white shirt, her eyes wide and frightened.
“Where is she?” Stryker said softly. Daring began to shake, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, but more fell.
“I… I… she looked like my daughter… but she was different. Like a monster wearing a suit. She was wounded and covered in black veins.”
“Where is she?” Stryker insisted.
Daring looked up her whole body trembling. “She’s in the upstairs bathroom.”
Before Celestia could stop him or even try Stryker pulled his gun, pony ears appearing on his head as he marched for the stairs. Rolling with the situation she quickly covered Daring’s mouth, muffling her horrified gasp.
“It’s ok, he won’t hurt… well, he won’t kill her. Right?” She asked pointedly.
Stryker didn’t reply. Not willing to make a promise he couldn’t be sure to keep. Not that he wants to kill Rainbow, but in a fight, nothing was certain. He carefully takes his first step up the stairs, behind mindful of how much weight to put on each step. If the girl knew they were on to her she didn’t give it away. This could be a trap. He had to be careful not to corner her if she’s wounded she’ll be desperate, and when someone is desperate they’ll always choose fight over flight if they think they’re cornered.
Halfway up the stairs, he starts to charge magic into his off hand. His magic was crap for fighting, he could really only summon guns and he used all those up in the fight with Fierce Fury, and his mind magic wasn’t very battle oriented.
The upper floor comes into view, he still had three more steps to go. He cast his gaze side to side. The upstairs wasn’t very big. To the right was Rainbow Dash’s room, the door was open revealing a messy teenage girls’ room. To the left was an extra room, maybe a storeroom or guest room. He couldn’t really make it out. The bathroom was straight ahead, the door partly closed, concealing the inside.
Climbing the final three steps he stands at the top of the stairs, gun ready as he reaches for the door and pushes it open. He darts sideways expecting an attack, but nothing happened. Only the sound of his own pacing heart and labored breathing could be heard. Ducking around the corner, body half behind the doorway, he saw her, Rainbow Dash in a sports bra and shorts on the floor. She was in bad shape.
“Who are you!” She barked, holding her side, she had three pieces of rebar sticking through her stomach, a chunk of her arm was missing, wrapped in poorly wrapped bandages, he could see parts were her skin was charred. Meaning she seared the wound with heat. Numerous cuts adorned her body, her nose was broken, her left eye swollen, lips busted and her right ring and pinky ringer were twisted in the opposite direction they should be. She was trying and failing to bandage her wounds with her left hand, a bottle of hundred proof liquor sat beside her.
“Fuck, what fight did you lose?” he laughed lowering his gun. It was a risk, but if she was this wounded then maybe he could take the risk. Only a small window in the bathroom provided any other means of escape besides the door. The window was broken, so that was probably where she entered the house. Maybe just maybe he could do this by talking. He seriously didn’t want to wound her anymore. Whether by magic, her own tenacity or the SIN forcing the body to move in its current condition, a teenage girl, no matter how tough was not meant to take this kind of damage.
“I said who the fuck are you!” She screams again, poking her finger at him, lightning dancing on the tip of her nail.
Ok, he’ll have to be careful if she can hit him from a distance. “I’m Detective Stryker Six, I just came by on a house call about the case I’m working. You remember Gilda, right?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow replied, caught off guard. “So, what? You idiots solved that case already.”
“I know it was you who actually hurt her. Care to tell me why?”
“Shut up! You don’t know that!”
“Says the girl that controls lightning. I bet you can control other things, like the moisture in the clouds to say, create hail?” The lightning wavered, was he getting to her or was this a ruse? The intensity leaves her eyes, her face softening.
“I… I didn’t mean to hurt her that bad. I was just mad.” Rainbow said with regret, which kind of threw him off. Was he actually talking to Rainbow or the SIN?
He moves out into the doorway exposing more of his body. Hopefully, she’d take it as a sign of peace. He even put his gun on the floor. “Who am I talking to right now?”
Rainbow looked puzzled. “What do you mean I’m Rainbow/Ebony.” She said two different voices coming out of her mouth at once. That was curious.
“Ebony, huh, is that what you named yourself, SIN?”
Rainbow’s eyes went blank as a black snake with red winds slithered around her neck, it’s tall wrapping around Rainbow’s neck. The girl's mouth began to move oddly. Like a puppet. “So, you know what I am. I was the SINS my mother Maddie called Rainbow Storm, I have rejected her haphazard branding of me and taken on a name that suits my liking.”
“Darkness, how original. How about you slither down the poor girl and come here. I got some connections, I could find you a better host.”
“One you’d more willing to kill, right? No doubt some death row prisoner who’d you execute the moment I went inside them. Going along the lines of if the host dies, the parasite inside dies, correct?”
Stryker blinks, that had kind of been his plan. He only thought of on the fly, but yeah that had been his plan. Little snake was cleverer then he thought it’d be. Worse of all Rainbow Dash’s personality was probably completely suppressed. There had to be a way to restrain her.
CREAK!
Ebony’s eyes shrunk, her split pupils glancing towards the stairs where Celestia stood, half frozen by the sight.
“Oh my God, Rainbow!” She sprang forward, her teacher’s instincts overriding her actions. Ebony sprang back, forcing Rainbow’s body to move despite its condition.
“Fuck!” Stryker threw himself in the way of Ebony’s sparking finger, the lightning bullet blowing through his right collarbone. He braced against the door, leaping forwards to grab Rainbow’s legs as she tried to slip out of the bathroom window.
“I’m sorry!” Celestia screamed raising a fist with magic she fired a white ball of magic from her palm, Ebony hissed as she pulls Rainbow’s body through the window, the light attack blowing a baseball sized hole in the wall. She ran for the window, but he held her back. “What are you doing, she’s getting away!”
He pulls her by the arm, holding the wound on his shoulder as they stumble down the stairs, Ebony already downstairs with a tight grip around her Daring’s neck.
“One more step and I snap her neck, Detective.”
“Rainbow, please I know was harsh, but it was because I wanted to succeed!” Daring screamed out, completely terrified.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! No one told you to talk!” Ebony was talking in that two-tone voice again, probably using Rainbow’s resentment of her mother to control her easier. Given the shape of Rainbow’s body, Ebony probably wasn’t in any better condition. A parasite was only as powerful as it’s host. In theory.
Taking a breath Stryker held up his hands and took a step forward, Ebony took a step back towards the door, her grip tightening around Daring’s neck. “Easy now.” He said. “I’m not going to do anything, just let her go and I’ll let you go right outside that door.”
“Bullshit,” Ebony sneered.
He takes another step forward, she takes a step back. “Honest, just let her go. I would like it Rainbow could still have a mother when this all over. You let her go, and I’ll let you go lick your wounds and we’ll finish this later. I found you once, I can do it again.”
“Maybe I should just take her, she might make a good shield in that case. Keep you dogs off me. Or better yet, I could keep her around as a second skin. This body is comfortable, but it’s getting a little too well used.”
Daring looked at them, took a breath and spoke. “Take me then, if you leave my daughter you can have my body.” Ebony froze as Rainbow’s eyes widened and in a hoarse but completely Rainbow tone said.
“Why? Why would you do that?”
Daring laughed, “I may be harsh, but I do love you, dear.”
Rainbow’s hand loosened, her body shook, her eyes indecisive, Ebony hissed and he struck. “Celestia now, grab her!” Stryker cleared the distance, his hand outreached magic pouring off his palm as he casts his spell. “Forget!”
Celestia with her long athletic legs sprints in from behind grabbing Daring and carrying the woman into the kitchen. Ebony/Rainbow wobbled on their feet, the spell disorienting them. He grabs Rainbow tackling her to the floor, Ebony hissed, biting at his arm. He grabs her by the base of the head, trying to pry her off Rainbow’s neck, he pulled and pulled, wondering how long the damn thing was till finally, he found the tail. Only he couldn’t pull it any further. The tip of Ebony’s tail was infused into Rainbow’s spine at the base of her neck!
“Hehehe, the girl is mine! I’m not giving her up.”
“Full throttle BURST!” Ears wings and tail appear on his body, he summons one of the big bore pistols from the office. From the weight, he could tell there was some ammo left inside it. He shoves the barrel it into the snakes grinning mouth and cocks the trigger. “Get your fucking scaly ass out of her or get wrecked, ya fucking serpent.”
“Kill me and she dies too!” Ebony spoke from Rainbow’s mouth. He had her pinned to the ground. No way a hundred-pound teenage girl was going to throw him off. Even with magic. She didn’t have magic to spare either.
“I don’t believe you.” He replied pulling the trigger.
Click.
“Fuck!” He pulls the trigger again, at the same time Rainbow’s body became a human bug zapper, his nerves going numb as he falls over, Ebony taking the chance to slip out of his hold.
“Give me back my student!” Celestia screams running from the kitchen with a butcher’s knife of all things. She pounced like a cat, bringing the meat cleaver down at the point where Rainbow and Ebony connected, white magic dancing on the black. Much to his amazement, she hit the snake and severed the tail!
Black blood poured from Ebony, the snake screaming like a banshee as it grew in size, wrapping its severed tail around a dumbfounded Rainbow Dash, the girl’s eyes were blank like her mind was on walkabout.
“Principle Celestia…” She feeble said, not bothered by the bleeding snake tail around her.
“Rainbow!” Daring screams standing in the kitchen doorway. “Rainbow!”
“Mom… it’s too early to be yelling at me. I’m so tired.” The girl’s body goes limp as Ebony flies them out of the house and into the sky. Stryker and Celestia try to go after her, but they struggle in the doorway as Stryker’s wings crash against Celestia. Neither of them noticed the principle had grown her wings. Making for an awkward moment as they got stuck in the doorway. A stupid embarrassing moment for the both of them as they fall on the grass, both returning to normal. Stryker held his shoulder, which was bleeding now, while Celestia lay breathless beside him. Her body unused to magic and her stamina shot.
“Fuck…” He cursed. His phone going off in his pocket. “Stryker here… Bailey? What? I can’t hear you, what about…bzzzzz.”
All of a sudden, his phone goes dead, as does the power in houses and cars in the neighborhood. A chill runs down his spine as a massive wave of dark magic passes over him. He slowly rises to his feet as the neighbors come out of their houses in a herd of confusion. As he and Celestia stare into the evening sun, he knew in his gut something terrible happened.
“Thank you, Marble, we’ll be in touch.” Luna waves goodbye to the quietest member of the Pie family. Their talk with the youngest Pie hadn’t been very productive, she didn’t know much of Pinkie’s whereabouts, stating her pink sister tends to wander off for a day or two before turning up again. The behavior was so normal to the family they weren’t concerned about it. Kind lax parenting, but she could get it. Nobody could keep track of Pinkie Pie on a good day.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Pie family wasn’t around to add anything. Ma and Pa Pie were gone for their wedding anniversary, Limestone was working at the Quarry, and Maud was on a date with her boyfriend. That last one seemed hard to believe, but every odd girl finds that odd guy she guessed. She certainly did in her youth.
“Where to next?” Fury asks leaning against the car with his arms crossed. God those guns were huge. He could probably pick her up with his pinkie. “Luna?”
She shakes her head; her students were in danger and she was crushing on a pony from another world. Or was she crushing because he looked like Ferocious? Her heart was confused, a lot of old feelings were bubbling up at the stupidest of times. She pulls out her phone, checking the map.
“I’ll assume Celestia and Stryker will check out the animal shelter where Fluttershy works too. We might as well go to Rarity’s, it’s not far from here.” She slides into the car, the peeling paint on her hood still sending torrents of anger through her body. The guy sitting next to her was partly responsible for the damage, but she couldn’t be mad at him. It’s not like she was the only one affected. It’s not liked the universe conspired to destroy just her car. Still, the school might be a target of cosmic bullshit, a lot of crap keeps happening to the old building.
She drives as she mumbles, gripping about magic to the steering wheel. Even though her cool car was ruined, driving relaxed her. Fury wasn’t talking much anyway.
“Sorry for pinning you to the couch this morning. I thought you were someone else.”
She jerks the wheel, her cheeks flush as she remembers being pressed against his body. God, she was acting like a fucking teenager again! “It’s fine.” Moments past, she should just leave it at that and keep focusing on the driving but… “So, who did you think I was? You said her name… Nightingale or something like that? Is she your girlfriend or wife or something?”
“She was… something like that. We parted ways many, many years ago. She’s dead, in case I wasn’t clear.”
“Yeah, I caught the gist of it.” She laughs, god this is awkward. “So, um… what was she like?”
A smile graced the usually grim Patroller’s face, “Pushy. She was pushy, but in a good way.”
Ok then, this is a nice atmosphere, she was just going to leave it alone and enjoy the ride. No need to go making thing awkward again…
“So, you and my counterpart were a mating pair once upon a time?”
Luna jerks the wheel again, hitting the brakes hard as she screeches to a stop in one of the empty downtown parking spaces. They were about a block away from Rarity’s, but right now she couldn’t even get her breathing right. Why was she being such a damn teenager all of a sudden?
“Let’s get moving.” Fury said getting out of the car. She follows locking the doors with the key throb as she runs up next to him. An elderly pair of women sitting on bench giggle as they passed. Probably thinking them a couple. Great, she’d be the gossip of the cafés for the next two days.
“This is the place,” She points to the fancy looking store with dresses in the window. Rarity’s boutique. She had no idea how the girl managed to secure the location or the funding to run her own store before even graduating from high school, but she did it. And at profit too. “It’s locked.”
Fury brushes her aside, pressing his finger against the lock. The metal began to glow, the keyhole melting into a small red puddle and dripping onto the sidewalk. The door pushed open with no resistance. Hastily they went inside, leaving the closed sign up as they walk to the back of the store.
“There’s a resident’s upstairs. Rarity and Sweetie Belle live upstairs, their parents work is very travel oriented, Rarity owns the shop and the apartment above. Sweetie usually stays with Rarity when their parents are away on business.” Luna explains as they inspect the ground floor kitchen. It was a mess. A lot of takeout boxes were scattered about. She pickups up the receipts on the table, there was a credit card next to the stack of receipts, the number on the card matched the ones on the slips. It was Rarity’s card, but Sweetie signed the receipts.
Fury sniffed the boxes of Saffrons and Chinese. “Each meal is a day apart. Enough for one person. I’d say this has been going for more than two weeks.”
“Rarity left her little sister a credit card and had her fend for herself, while she’s doing what?” Luna questions scavenging around the kitchen table. A handful of glitter stuck to her hand. “What’s with all this glitter? It’s everywhere… hey, what are you doing?” Luna shutters as Fury licked her hand.
“Diamond dust, high quality too. The same Equestrian Rarity uses in her designs. Also makes a good snack for Dragon ponies. It’s a little off though, this isn’t natural diamond dust.”
Luna pulled her hand back, grabbing a paper towel on the table to wipe it clean. “Since I’m not a magical dragon pony that eats gems, please elaborate.”
“The diamonds were magically created like say other material. The sprinkles I licked from your hand had a bit of everything in it. Imperfections from their previous form before being transmutated into a diamond. A bit of wood, metal, some odd elements I can’t really identify, but…” Fury paused staring at her. Luna took a step back as he grabbed her hand again and pulled one of her fingers into his mouth!
“Hey! Stop that this better not be… hey, that hurts! Ouch!” She jerks her hand back she nursed the nick Fury had made on her finger with his tooth, sucking on it to seal the wound as the metallic taste of her own blood touches her tongue. That was some minus attraction points. “What the fuck was that for!”
“Blood, there’s human blood in this dust.” Fury states marching towards the stairs. Luna follows suit, the headlines of the Dust Houses playing through her mind. Rarity a known infected was most likely the culprit. Honestly, it should have been obvious when they were all chatting in the living room. Now the question was where was Rarity or better yet? Where is Sweetie Belle? Also, a little late for this one, why was Rarity destroying houses?
Rounding the corner on the stairs, they reached the top, there were three rooms, a bathroom straight ahead and Rarity’s and Sweetie Belle’s room to the left and right. Each marked with their names in fancily decorated signs. Fury went straight for Rarity’s room first.
Inside was clean. No clothes on the floor, everything was organized. It was unassuming really. The room even had a beautiful glitter to it. And Luna realized it was probably human remains. Fury ran his finger across the dresser and licked the diamond dust, grimacing.
“A lot more human in this one. Probably got on her clothes when she made the kill before destroying the house. It reeks of decay in here. She used perfume to hide it.” Fury walks over to the closet and opens it. Clothes come piling out on top of him. That was a bit more expected of Rarity. He tosses the frilly racy clothes aside and climbs into the closet. After a full minute of rifling, he remerges with a locked diary and cell phone in hand.
“Wait don’t…” And he melted the lock already, tossing her the cell phone as he views the pages. She sighs trying her hand at unlocking the phone, to her surprise found it had no lock on it. Taking a closer look, she had to admit, the phone was mannish. Plain black, rough, rugged, meant to take a bruising. Not Rarity’s usual MO. That made sense because it wasn’t her phone. She scrolled through the contacts, none of them familiar, there were numbers here from the city, out of the city, one contact was labeled Boss. By accident she hit it.
“Prowler! Where the hell have you been! You better not have been fucking faking your death! You can’t run away from me boy! Roller Loan always get’s his money!”
She hit the cancel button, tossing the phone on the dresser for Fury to pick up and pocket it. Her breathing was fast, Roller Loan was an ‘alleged’ loan shark and a mob boss. Why would Rarity have one of his minions’ phones? Was this Prowler a boyfriend she secretly had before being taken by the SIN?
“What’s going on?” Luna signs falling onto Rarity’s bed, more diamond dust falling off the sheets. Great, she just sat in diamond dusted dead people.
“Serial killing apparently,” Fury said presenting her the dairy he’d been reading. “She’s been picking off the network of loan sharks in the area. She’s been doing it for a while. All the details are here, the targets profiles, their addresses, what she tortured out of them. Recently she’s just been stealing their phones and getting her ‘nerd hacker’ to unlock them and go after the next target. She’s almost up to the big boss. The last entry was yesterday before she ran into Stryker and I. I’m guessing she assumed we’d come here to look for her and fled.”
“But what about Sweetie Belle? Her sister?”
Fury presented a page titled, escape plan. Indicating Rarity would take Sweetie with her, but there was no information, it was written in gibberish, a code Rarity would only know.
“How convenient she wrote it all down for us,” Luna said taking the book from Fury. “Rarity is a good student, but this seems stupid.”
“It’s just Rarity’s nature shining through the SINS control or Vanity as it’s gone to call itself.” She looked at Fury funny as he continues, pulling out Rarity’s design journal from the top left drawer like he knew would be there. “This Rarity and the Rarity back home share a lot in common. Both are well organized and each hides their diaries in the same place. And both have the need to write down their ideas, to help them focus.” He sets the book down with a sad smile. “Maybe it was an oversight on the SINS part, or maybe Rarity was leaving us breadcrumbs. But one thing remains the same, no matter the world.”
“And what’s that?” She asked as Fury held up the journal, the last page an angry scribble with wet stains all over. The words “SAVE MY SISTER” boldly written.
“They’re tough and they love their little sister.”
They exit Rarity’s room. Briefly looking Sweetie’s, finding it a mess, clothes were thrown about randomly. There was an imprint of a suitcase on the best. On the nightstand, Sweetie’s phone was propped up and hidden behind a picture of her and Rarity. Luna picks up the phone, it was still recording. She paused it, saving the video and then hit play. It was over forty minutes long. The Belle sisters haven’t been gone long. Sweetie Belle appeared on the camera adjusting it, her face worried.
“My sister is acting weird, she deactivated my calls and text, I can’t call or get a hold of anybody. She’s been staying out late too, I’ve been eating takeout for two weeks! It was fun at first, but she won’t let me see my friends. She’s been acting crazy, she forces me into dresses and clothes with this weird look on her face. We ran into this strange guy today too. He said my sister was evil. I thought he was crazy, but Rarity has been acting even weirder since we got home-“
“Sweetie!” Rarity’s voice came over the background. Sweetie quickly hid the phone behind the picture barely a sliver of the lens could be seen, leaving the screen mostly black. “SWEETIE! Oh, there you are, start packing we’re leaving.”
“Why? What’s going on?” Sweetie replied.
“Nothing you need to concern yourself with, we’re just going a little trip, now PACK!” Sweetie passed through the camera lens, as did Rarity, her back to the camera. She was wearing a shirt with much of the back revealed. There in the sliver of the screen, the outline of a snake could be seen crawling up her spine. “Come on hurry!”
“I’m sorry, I’m going as fast as I can!” Sweetie shouts back, her voice trembling with what could only be fear. The sound of a zipper could be heard and Rarity pulls Sweetie by the hand. Very roughly, Sweetie cries out, but Rarity only shouts and drags her out the door.
“Shit that’s not good,” Fury cusses taking the phone from Luna. “She’s taking Sweetie as a backup.”
“Back up?”
“A backup host. When Rarity’s body is used up and crippled from the black magic coming off the SINS. It’ll need another host. Sweetie Belle is the next logical choice being Rarity’s sister. It’ll be easier to adjust to the body, especially if she’ been prepping Sweetie so she’ll last longer.”
Luna blinks, despite her overwhelming worry for her student one thought came to mind. “So, she’s Dante from FMA?” Now it was Fury’s turn to blink. “Right, you probably don’t have a TV. Basically, I’m saying this SINS, Vanity, is like this character Dante who souled jumped between bodies to prolong her life… and we should probably be looking for Sweetie.”
Fury only nods and they rush for the stairs a sudden chill run down their spines a green mist rolled around them. Embracing Luna, Fury creates a barrier of fire around them as the dark magic rolls by. The lights flicker and die, Luna’s phone buzzed, becoming heated before also dying.
“What as that?” She asks as the green mist dissipates. “It’s like an EMT just went off.”
“It was nothing good, I assure you. Come on, our task as not changed!” Time was of the essence as the hunt for the Belle sisters began in the blacked-out city. As Luna ran down the streets calling out Sweetie’s name, praying the young girl was safe.
Applebloom balanced on the jungle gym looking at the VFW across the street, Great Grandpa Bailey was playing cards inside with his friends. She got bored watching the old men play and come here to the playground across the street. It was deserted and it was boring playing here by herself. Also, she was certain she was being watched by the guys smoking outside. Not in a creepy way. They would rotate but there was always someone looking her way. It made it hard to play.
“I wish Scootaloo or Sweetie were available.” She signs looking at her phone. It had died for some reason, so she couldn’t call anyone. Stuffing it into her pocket she jumps down into the sand, kicking it around in boredom. Dejected she walks back to the VFW. Maybe she could play some cards or darts if Grandpa Bailey would give her money.
She was nearly to the sidewalk when she heard someone running behind her. Thinking another kid or someone finally showed she turned around. Only to be tackled!
“Applebloom!”
“Sweetie Belle? She replied pushing her friend off. Sweetie was panting hard and there were scratches on her arms and a deep imprint of a hand. “Sweetie are you ok?”
Sweetie grabs her by the shoulder, terror clear on her face. “You have to help me!” She screamed. Before Applebloom could ask what was going on, the jungle gym she had been on before was reduced to dust and Rarity looking deranged and angry stood in the center the glittering pile of the former playground equipment. She raised a diamond covered hand and points towards them.
“Run Sweetie!” Applebloom grabbed her friend by the hand and ran for all she was worth towards the bar. Rarity right on their trail looking like a diamond-clad demon from hell! Sweetie seemed to be in a sort of shock and was lagging them behind, giving Rarity time to cover the distance between them with her long athletic legs. Times like this she wished she was AJ’s height.
“Get down!” A male voice shouts. The men that had been standing outside of the bar watching them all had guns drawn and aimed. Not sure what else to do Applebloom pulled Sweetie to the ground, the men opening fire! With her head huddled low Applebloom glances up to see Rarity getting shot up by the men from the bar. Their bullets breaking off pieces of her diamond skin. The fashionista let out a banish like scream as she creates a shield to hide behind, the men did not stop firing, continuing to chip away at the shield.
“Girls over here! Crawl over here!” An older man with a pipe screams at them, waving them over. He had a shotgun in his hands. Applebloom recognized him as one of the men her Grandpa Bailey was playing cards with. “Come on!”
With little choice, they crawled across the park grass onto the street as bullets whizzed overhead. The old man kept encouraging them to keep going and keep their heads down. The man suddenly raised his gun and fired over them, the same banish scream from before overpowering the noise of the guns. He had shot Rarity. The look on his face said he hadn’t killed her. Or maybe he couldn’t.
“Come, girls, up you go. Name’s Gator by the way.” The man shouts it was the only way they could hear over the noise. “Let’s get you lassies inside.”
Two more men flanked them as Gator led them towards the outdoor patio. As they were ushered inside Applebloom spares a glance back. Through the transparent shield, Rarity held her shoulder, blood seeping out spilling between her fingers, her hair was wild and unruly and for a moment their eyes met, Rarity’s suddenly dart towards Sweetie and her friend shivers.
“In ya go,” Gator pushed shut the door behind them, a metal screen falling down over the window and doors. What kind of bar was this?
“You ok Applebloom?” She was caught off guard as Bailey knelt down in front of her, checking her over for injuries. Other then a few scrapes from crawling over the road she was fine. Once he realized that he looked Sweetie over. “Let’s get a bandage around that wrist, honey.” He said gingerly touching Sweetie’s bruised arm. A man with a red cross hat steps in wrapping Sweetie’s hand, while her Grandfather stands staring at the monitors to the camera’s outside.
Bailey lifts a walkie-talkie to his lips and speaks, “Gator, how are things out there? Over.” The monitors only showed the patio, so they couldn’t see Rarity at the moment or most of the men firing at her. Applebloom was feeling strangely emotionless about her best friend’s sister getting shot at. Course looking at Sweetie Belle sob and the marks on her arm might be the reason for that. Or maybe it something else, she’s felt this feeling before a feeling of calm reassurance like the first time she unlocked her magic.
“Bailey, since when did your grandkid have ears on her head.”
Applebloom let out a loud, “Huh?” As her new appendages wiggle involuntarily. She glances around, finding the mirror at the bar. She ponied up, without even knowing how to. Strangely instead of everyone being shocked, they looked… amused.
Bailey smiles, ruffling her hair with his big hands. “Runs in the family, from her father’s side. I’m sure Nico would have been proud to see ya come into your own. I know I am.”
A diamond spike suddenly shot through the steel shutters, screams from the men outside sent shivers down their spines as Rarity appears on screen wielding to diamond rapiers. She looks into the camera and destroys it.
“Come on, let’s go,” Bailey says pushing her and Sweetie Belle towards the stairs. Downstairs the men from the bar start pulling out weapons that were no way legal and take up positions behind the tables and the bar. “I’m sorry boys.” Her grandfather says to the men as they climb the stairs.
The horrible sound of metal squealing and gunfire erupts as Baily ushers them into the office. What they were going to do here Applebloom had no idea. They were on the second floor and there was no way out!
“In here girls,” Bailey said opening the gun safe inside the closet. There weren’t a lot of guns inside. Bailey removed a short double barrel rifle and opened the floor of the safe, revealing a small space beneath it. “Get in and keep quiet and don’t come out till the coast is clear.” He lowers them into the safe room. Sweetie Belle hugging her tight as she looks up at her grandfather’s grim face.
“Grandpa…”
“You’ll be fine, she won’t find you here.”
“But what about you!”
He didn’t reply. He shut the trapdoor and locked it. Replacing the floor of the safe before locking that too. Calmly Bailey loads his sawed-off Elephant rifle, next he taps his pockets making sure his brass knuckles were assessable, and finally straps the long knife he found in the closet to his belt. It was more of a short sword than a knife, maybe a machete. He didn’t know why Ferocious had it, but it might come in handy. He doubt’s he’ll have time to reload again.
The gunfire downstairs ceases and the old stairs begin to creak. Bailey shoulders his sawed-off, taking a moment to glance at the pictures hanging on the wall. There was one of him and Feri’s father, Feri, Stryker, and Nico, his daughter Applejane with Nico and their kids, Feri, and the kids and so on. Memories from their lives intertwine on one wall.
A shadow appears on the other side of the office door glass. He sights in the bead and waits.
“Though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil,” He mutters his finger gently squeezing the trigger.
BOOM!
The door explodes, Rarity breaking through at the same time he pulled the trigger. The purple haired girl had a look of pure surprise as the two .50 caliber rounds hit her center mass. Diamond shards fly through the air moving in slow motion as Rarity is flung back into the stairwell, smashing into the wall. Bailey drops the gun, his shoulder hurting and his hand numb. He digs into his pocket slipping a set of brass knuckles on his trembling right hand, using his left to smack his fingers into a fist.
“Damn old body work!” He growls as he fumbles for the machete. Stupid safety latch didn’t want to come off! “Dammit!” Slipping his second set of knuckles on Bailey raises his arms for some boxing as Rarity stumbles back into the office. The young girl was holding her stomach, while blood drips down from her chin.
“Not the very gentle gentleman, are you?” She says standing up straight. “I’ll have to teach you how to treat a lady.” Rarity slips into a stance and begins pacing the room. Bailey follows suit, keeping the distance between them. The youngsters nowadays learn a bunch of them martial arts. He’s watched Feri and Stryker practice from time to time. Not stuff he could really do, not at his age. He was an old dog, but he had his tricks.
“Ah doubt there’s much you can teach me, missy.” He moved a powerful right hook swinging at Rarity’s face. The girl stepped in close, elbowing him in the gut, her hands grabbing his arm and pulling over her back. He’s seen this move before, some sort of aikido shit. The throws his weight to the right, he outweighs Rarity by a good two hundred and she gets dragged for the ride. Swinging his arm spins her around her hands wet with sweat and blood. Her fingers slide off his wrist and she goes flying into Ferocious’s desk! While Bailey falls to a knee, his leg trembling with pain. He might have pulled something or his arthritis was acting up. His right hand was still numb, the pain in his shoulder wasn’t going away, and when he stands his right knee couldn’t take the weight and buckles.
“Worn out already?” Rarity snidely remarks walking out of the debris of the desk. “Poor, poor, old man. So frail, your beauty wasted away to dust like your bones will be soon.” He raises his dukes. “Keep talking girly, I’ll be laughing in my grave when your sixty years older and sitting a nursing home waiting to die. Me, I’ve never felt so alive in years!”
Rarity drops her hands, summoning diamond rapiers. “Let’s change that then.” Bailey tries to balance on his old knees, Rarity taunting him with her rapiers throwing a few light jabs at him that he deflects with his brass knuckles. He bites his lips as the diamond blade swings back, taking a slice out of his arm. Digging in he charges into her space throwing two quick hits, metal meeting diamond. The impacts traveling up his arm, his fingers cracking, but he keeps on throwing all his strength into his punches.
Flinging her head forward, Rarity’s diamond coated head slams into Bailey’s fist. Several of his fingers crack sickeningly as the old bones break, but Bailey doesn’t relent as he slams another hit-on Rarity, knocking her head back. She let out a howl as her brain slams against her skull. She swings the rapier in her left hand upwards, Bailey catches her arm under his arm locking her in as he slams his weight against her throwing them to the ground, continuing to hit her with his right hand. His fingers were so numb he couldn’t even feel the pain anymore. Blood spatters on diamond skin, Rarity’s head abuzz with pain, her vision distorting.
Then everything became clear.
Bailey stumbles back, a diamond dagger in his liver, his knee gave out, his right arm falling limbless in a mass of bruises and blood. Rarity stands, whipping her hair around as she readies another dagger while drawing up her rapier, the tip of the diamond blade posed at his heart.
“Now where is Sweetie? Tell me and I’ll be generous and let you live.” She laughs poking his liver wound with her sword. “For however long that is.”
He growls, standing up on one leg. Not as tall or proudly as before, but he still dwarfed the girl’s height if nothing else. He lets his left hand go slack, the brass knuckles sliding off his fingers. She looks curiously at him. Perhaps thinking it as a sign of surrender. Bailey rests his hand on the knife, the button latch flicking off easy now.
Rarity steps back, rapier posed to strike. “You can’t be serious. In your condition? Laughable.”
“Maybe,” Bailey replies with a bloody grin, the knife clumsily held in his left hand. “But I am not going to let you have the girl.”
“She’s my sister, tis my right to do to her what I will.”
“That’s not how family works, doll.” He brandishes the knife, knocking away the rapier and jumping ahead with his one leg. Rarity easily sidesteps thrusting with her rapier. Hopping sideways Bailey jabs the knife into the rapiers guard, Rarity let out a yelp as blood splatters from her fingers. The blade falls to the ground Rarity’s entire right hand covered in hot blood. He figured her armor would be weakest around her joints. He stabs cutting into the gab in her elbow. She screams charging him with a newly made diamond dagger. First, she stabbed his side, his lungs, stomach, all over, he lost count after the fifth stab. His knees give out and he falls to the floor wheezing as his lungs fill with blood.
Rarity stands over him, bladed posed high ready for the killing blow. The dagger lengthens to a rapier, the tip pointing at Bailey’s heart. She raises her arm, striking down when the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs catches her attention. Her head swivels toward the doorway another old man with a Santa white beard and a shotgun standing there.
“Get away from him you, bitch!” The old man levels the gun, Rarity not bothering to dodge, knowing the round would do nothing serious but was quickly proven wrong as she’s sent flying across the room, smashing into the window ceil, her diamond armor shattered, and her chest burned and bleeding. The man racks the shotgun, a green shell landing on the floor. Twelve-gauge grenade slug written on the brass.
Gator sights in on the wounded girl pulling the trigger without hesitation, another explosive shell slams into Rarity, the diamond girl letting out a horrible hiss as dust fills the room. Gusts of air swirl around the room clearing it away, Rarity, with large purple wings on her back hoovers outside the broken wall, her body limp. From the girl’s neck rose a snake’s head, hissing threateningly at Gator before flying the unconscious girl away. Gator goes to the hole in the wall, Rarity a blimp in the distance.
The threat gone Gator slides next Bailey, screaming for a medic as he tries to put pressure on the older man’s wounds. “Come on, you old bastard, stay with us! Will someone get me a fucking medic!” Gator roars as several more men come running up the stars. He steps back, letting the younger men tend to Bailey. Pulling one of the men standing around Gator asks about those downstairs. “How are the causalities.”
The young man, Green Cross, shook his head. “We got five dead out front, two by the door, five inside and a couple dozen injured. We got hold of the hospital their sending an ambulance, but they’ll only take the critically injured. They’re still a lot of folks from this morning there, so they're still swamped. I ah…” Green Cross looks over to Bailey as the medical professionals of the bar bandage the old soldier’s wounds. They each had the same expression but kept on with their work. “Mr. Bailey’s condition Gator… well, you see for yourself.”
Gator stood silently as Bailey weakly waves him over. He knelt down to his old friend, the first person that had greeted him when he came back from Vietnam and didn’t spit on his face. He held Bailey’s callused hands, once strong with the grip of a gorilla and burning with life was cold and weak.
“The girls… under the safe…”
“Ok, ok, I got it. I’ll let them out once we get you out of here. I’m sure… I’m sure you don’t want them to see you like this.” Bailey’s grip tightened for a fleeting moment as the medical boys lifted him up, the sound of the ambulance could be heard from the down the street. The room cleared out and Gator was left alone as he opens the closet door. He paused and threw a sheet over the spot on the floor where Bailey had laid, the blood soaking through the white fabric, so he threw another red-colored sheet over it. Ferocious wouldn’t mind. He opens the door to the safe and then uncovers the door in the floor, unlocking it and opening to reveal the two girls huddling close, Applebloom holding her palm out with a yellow orb floating in it.
Gator extends his hand, “Easily now. I’m here to help.”
Applebloom nods the orb vanishing from her palm as she takes his hand. With a grunt, he pulls both girls up one at a time. Just as they get settled of being out in the open again a herd of thunderous footsteps comes up the stairs.
“What the fucking hell is this shit!” Were the words Stryker used to describe the fubar that was the bar when he and Celestia pulled up. An ambulance just pulled away, while several police cars surround the place. Everyone looking antsy as the street’s lights came on, bringing this long ass horrible day to evening. He wished it would just end. God only knows what he’s going to find inside. “Stick close to me.” He orders Celestia as they climb out of the truck.
He had parked at the end of the block the police cars and bar attendants taking up most of the street. The police were already setting up the do not cross line as the bar members kept post by the door, a standoff between the officers and veterans and bikers brewing. And who should he see arguing with a police officer but Luna with Fiercy Fury.
“I told you already! I’m looking for my godchild and I have good reason to believe she’s here so let me in!”
“Ma’am this is a…”
“Let them in, they’re with me.” Stryker flashed his badge pushing the local Leo out of the way and holding the tape up for Luna and Fury to come in. “You blues stay here, leave this to someone qualified to do this.”
As they enter the patio Celestia moved in close whispering, “Should you be so rude to them? Things are pretty tense right now.”
“We don’t have time to be playing with fools.” He replies the guys at the front part a path for them. Once out of the earshot of the normies Stryker asks the obvious. “What the hell happened?”
“We were attacked. Bailey’s granddaughter and her friend…”
“Applebloom!” Luna suddenly grabbed the man talking the collar of his shirt. “Where is she? Was Sweetie Belle with her! Tell me!”
“They’re upstairs lady, Gator is there to looking after them.”
Luna stepped back, confused. “Gator… what’s my neighbor doing here? Never mind! They’re in the office, right? At the top of the stairs?”
“Why do you know that Luna?” Celestia asked suspiciously.
“Because that’s where Ferocious and I…um… never mind you don’t need to know. Let’s go!”
Taking off like a bolt Luna raced up the stairs. Stryker and the others following suit so they all ended up at the top of the stairs, squished together in the stairwell. Inside the office was Gator with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle.
Luna ran inside embracing to the two preteens lovingly. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle! I’m so glad you're both alright.” She leans back giving the girls some room to breathe. “You are alright, right?” Both girls nod. “Good, I’m sorry we didn’t catch on something was wrong with Rarity sooner Sweetie. It’s just… I’m sorry things aren’t going really good, right now.”
“You can say that again,” Gator said snidely sitting across the room while lighting his pipe. The old man blew out a huge cloud of smoke, visibly relaxing as he looks to Stryker. “What’s going on, Boss? Better yet where’s the big boss?”
They had spread out around the room. Fury and Stryker leaning against the wall, while Celestia helps Luna look over the girls. Stryker presses his hand into his face as he tries to sort things out. “We think four of Applejack’s friends are infected by a monster dubbed SINS. It’s a parasite that takes over the host. We just started looking into it today. Ferocious is in the city with Mac looking for leads. But we haven’t heard back them yet since the blackout.”
Stryker holds out his phone, pressing power to try and turn it back on, it stays black. “How’d you call the cops and ambulance?”
Gator snorts, “Gunfire probably attracted the cops. I think of the medic boys has a short-wave radio linked with the ambulance since their part of that outfit. Maybe they used the landline too, I didn’t have time to ask before you all showed up. We have several dead and injured in case your curious.”
“I saw,” Stryker replies remembering the horror of downstairs. There was a strange moment where something connects in his brain as he looks from a fretting Applebloom who was looking at the blood-stained sheets on the floor and the open safe room. A room only two others besides him and Feri knew about. “Who got hurt in here?”
Gator stayed silent.
“Is Grandpa going to be ok? Rarity… she didn’t hurt him too bad, did she?” Applebloom asked softly as Sweetie Belle hugged her close. The school principals looking at the old veteran for answers.
“He was taken to the hospital by the ambulance,” Gator said staring at the floor. Suddenly his phone lit up, as did everyone else’s. A missed call on the screen, it was from Nurse Nyx. He looks at Stryker who was also looking at his phone. The young man presses dial holding the speaker to his ear.
“Nyx?” Stryker says aloud, putting his phone on speaker so everyone could hear the nurse.
“You better get down here, ASAP too. Shit, I got so many calls to make.” She cursed the call ends. Suddenly Applebloom’s, Luna’s, and Celestia’s phones go off all calls from Nyx.
“Go,” Gator said. “I got things handled here.”
With those words everyone hurried out of the room, leaving him alone. Gator took one sad look around the office and the blood-stained sheets, knowing what was coming. Haggard, he walks over to Ferocious personal stash of whiskey, grabbing two shot glasses. He fills both, setting them on the nightstand, he raises one high before downing in it.
Adagio just walked downstairs, the darkness finally gone when she heard the sound of a car drive into the yard. Her heart aflutter with hope as she ran for the living room window. Much to her excitement, she saw Mac in the driver’s seat of the car. Though she didn’t recognize the car.
“Ugh, what’s going on?” Said a voice behind her.
She turned around to find Applejack slumped at the bottom of the stairs. Holding her head. “Mac’s home,” Adagio said cheerfully, walking over to help her sister in law up. “Glad you’re awake. You remember what happened?”
“Kind of. It’s all a bit blurry right now. I do remember a lot of fire, and then nothing for several seconds before things become clear again. I passed out after that.”
Adagio laughed nervously debating if she should tell Applejack Fierce Fury turned her to ash. Better not. There’s been enough trauma. “Right, well we’ll get you up to speed as soon as the others wake up. Mac should be in any minute now. What’s taking him so long?”
Running over to the window Adagio watched Mac help Ferocious to the pouch. She opens the door for the two, Mac setting Feri on the couch. She grits her teeth as she watched Feri’s poorly wrapped wounds get blood on her couch. “But him on the leather couch if he’s bleeding, it’ll be easier to clean the blood off.”
“Yes, Honey,” Mac said sounding tired as he lifts Feri again and brings him towards the lazy boy chair.
“The couch, we cuddle on that chair.” Again, Mac changes direction and lays Feri on the leather couch. She smiles happily and goes to get the first aid kit while Mac goes outside. As she’s applying burn ointment to Ferocious Mac walks back in carrying Moon Dancer princess style. “Throw her down quick or I might start to get jealous.”
Mac chuckles putting Moon Dancer on the other couch. “I would worry for the life of the woman that tries to steal me from you.”
She laughs lightly, showing off a bit of fang. “Yes, you should, I’d gouge out their eyes.”
From her spot on the stairs, Applejack made a gagging noise. “Do you two have to flirt now?”
“You should be taking notes Applejack. That is if you want to catch as fine as a man as your brother someday.” Applejack made another gagging sound, “Please don’t say that kind of crap, I get enough of that from every other girl that crushed on Mac during school.”
Adagio’s knuckles popped as her nails became claws, “Oh really? Care to write those names down?”
Before anyone could intervene, the phone rang. Adagio dropping her bandaging of Ferocious and pushing Mac into his lazy boy, telling both males to relax. Taking the receiver off the hook she smiles wide trying to sound happier than she actually felt, actually she was pretty happy right now. So she wanted to sound as happy as she felt so she said loudly and chipperly.
“Apple residence, Adagio Apple here.”
“Is Mac there?” It was Nyx? Why was she calling?
“Yes, Applejack too if your wondering, what’s this about Nyx?”
There was a sigh over the line. Nyx cursing as a bunch of background noise comes over the speaker. “There’s no easy way around this. Bailey is in the hospital… you should all come to see him. It’s… it’s serious.”
“What happened to Bailey! Nyx! Nyx!” The nurse didn’t answer, she already hung up. “Mac!”
“I know, I heard.” Mac looks around, Moon Dancer on the couch, Ferocious laying across from her with three bullet wounds and burns, Applejack looking ready to fall over where she sat and everybody else still asleep upstairs. “Someone needs to stay and watch everyone. Someone able.”
Ferocious rises up the couch, supporting himself by hopping on his good leg and holding to the back of the couch. “If you think I’m staying here when Bailey’s in the hospital your wrong kid.”
“I kind of figured that but…”
“I’ll watch everyone,” Sunset Shimmer said suddenly climbing down the stairs. Her hair was a complete mess, lacking its usual tone and style, it looked like she just got out of the shower. “I’m not the ablest, but I can move.” She snaps her fingers creating a small flame. “And I got a little magic left in me still. Worse comes to worse, we got a phone and guns.” Both Mac and Adagio stare at the drowsy pony girl, before nodding at each other. “Alright, Applejack, come with me. I’ll loan you some clothes. Hurry now. Mac, you should clean up quick too. Maybe put Ferocious in something that isn't burned or bloodstained.” Adagio ordered breezily pushing Applejack into her and Mac’s room.
A quick run upstairs Mac throws Ferocious one of his dad’s old flannel shirts before quickly showering himself. A quick two-minute shower later, he exits the bath in a towel as Adagio pulls Applejack out of their room in some of Adagio’s clothes. A simple snug tee shirt and jeans. He excuses himself past the two and quickly dresses in his room. In the mere passing of seven minutes, they were ready to go and helping Ferocious into the car. The red detective’s phone going off as Mac pulled out of the driveway.
“Yeah, Stryker?” Ferocious answers, putting his phone of speaker for them all to hear.
“Are you on your way to the hospital?”
“Yeah, we just got a call from Nyx, were on our way now. How’s Bailey?”
Silence.
“Stryker?”
“Just get here soon.” Stryker hangs up.
Ferocious looks at Mac. “Step on it, don’t worry about getting pulled over. I’ll deal with that.”
Mac floors the ‘borrowed’ car making the usual fifteen-minute trip to town under ten. The streets were unusually empty, even for the small town of Canterlot. That didn’t bother Mac as he raced towards the hospital. The parking lot was packed, they found the first spot they could find. He and Applejack helping Ferocious limp across the parking lot to the front door. When the doctors tried to take Ferocious from them the red detective growled and barked at them, demanding to know where Bailey was while flashing his badge.
The doctor pointed them towards the one place Mac hated in the hospital. ICU. The intensive care unit. As he pulls Ferocious along flashes of his mother’s brief time here before her death by Maddie’s father’s poison come to mind. Nothing good ever happened here for his family.
“Mac! Applejack!”
“Applebloom?” The two Apple siblings said surprised as the youngest of the trio glomped them. Rounding the corner was Celestia and Luna, both looking very anxious as they pull Applebloom away. The youngest Apple unknowingly hitting Ferocious’s wounds, but the red detective didn’t cry out or curse, instead he pats the girl on the head, smiling.
“Well, you certainly grew up.”
Applebloom looks up at Ferocious then to Fury noticing the obvious similarities between the two men but was still nervous as she backed away into Luna’s arms. “Who’s he?” Ferocious’s smile dropped slightly. While Luna gave a ‘what did you expect’ look.
Luna seems to take mercy as she knelt down and explained things to Applebloom. “This is your godfather Ferocious, he… while he was a friend of your father and my boyfriend once upon a time.”
Applebloom seemed to still be confused. From around the corner, Stryker loomed and with a snap of his finger clarity come to the youngest Apple’s eyes, as did Applejack and Mac as the memory magic was completely undone.
“I think I kind of remember you, it’s kind of fuzzy, but yeah! Yeah! I do!” Applebloom suddenly became very shy. “You came to my school concerts and stuff after Dad died.”
“Yeah, you got some good singing chops kiddo.” Ferocious ruffles her hair again, giving Stryker a look. Nyx emerges from the ICU, her expression grim as she surveys the crowd before her.
Clipboard tight against her chest she addresses them, “Can I assume everyone here is privy to you know what?” “More or less,” Mac replies pulling Applebloom close. “How is he?”
“Not good, please follow me, be mindful of the other patients please.” Nyx opens the wide double doors for them leading them down the deserted hallway. The changeling nurse stood aside letting them file one by one into Bailey’s room. They all stood silently as the once-hulking old man lay on the bed, pale, covered in bandages, with the rhythmic sound of the heart monitor the only indication he was alive.
Mac’s fist tightened as he looked at his great grandfather’s pale exposed chest, stab wounds everywhere, he had no idea what was keeping the old man alive. Maybe sheer stubbornness. Adagio took his hand, squeezing it tight as Nyx went to Bailey’s bedside.
“Bailey, your family is here and… some others.” She said softly while looking and Ferocious and Stryker.
Bailey’s fingers twitched, his eyes fluttered open, they were dull and bloodshot, red veins a bright contrast to his sclera. Slowly Bailey moved his head his gaze landing on him and Adagio. The old man smiled gesturing for them to come closer. “Mac… finally…(WEEZ) came by to show me your pretty young wife. Took you long enough.” He laughed lightly, going into a horrible coughing fit, each hack looking physically painful. Nyx ran to the IV’s and did something, Bailey settling down thanks to whatever she did. “Come closer here girly, let me get a better look at ya.”
Adagio knelt next to the bed, Bailey raised his hand touching Adagio’s face. “Hmm… yep defiantly a looker. Got some nice cheeks here.” He laughs playfully squeezing Adagio’s cheeks. “Yeah, you’ll make a fine Apple. How’s the little babe doing?” “They’re still growing,” Adagio said standing up and placing Bailey’s hand on her stomach. She had no aggressive reaction. Even though she wasn’t holding Mac’s hand. Maybe Bailey was a lot like more or him, or maybe her instincts were keen enough to know the dying old man was no threat. Whatever the cause Bailey seem to light up as he gently strokes her bumping belly.
“I think it’s going to be a girl,” Bailey announced boldly. “A beautiful strong-willed girl.” He pats her belly one last time, his hand falling limply to the side of the bed. “I’m glad I got to meet you two. Mac?”
Mac stood a little closer, Bailey’s voice growing weaker. “Yeah, Grandpa?”
“Remember what we talked about…(WEEZ) the other day…(WEEZ) at the bar. Applejack, Applebloom… (WEEZ)… Be mindful of Granny… (WEEZ) remember… remember to visit after you move out. She gets lonely.” Bailey’s head rolls back, catching sight of Ferocious and Stryker as everyone gathers together around the bed. “Well…(WEEZ) look at you boys… come to see me off?”
“Bailey…” Ferocious broke free from Stryker’s support hopping over to the bed on one leg. He brushes away a tear as he grips the bed rail. “Why.”
“Its what I do, she was after my grandbaby and her friend. No real man stands aside when (WEEZ) someone’s in trouble. I… (WEEZ) want…(WEEZ) you two… (WEEZ, WEEZ) take care of (WEEZ, WEEZ, WEEZ) of yourselves. Try to live a little and settle down…”
BEEEEEPPPPPPPP!
Bailey Apple, Father of Granny Smith and Crab Apple, Grandfather of Applejane, Great Grandfather of Macintosh, Applejack, and Applebloom, died at eighty years old, surrounded by his friends and family.
The Apple’s home was silent. Mac sat out on the porch alone staring out into the morning sky. Everything seemed so peaceful. Almost mockingly peaceful when compared to the hell of yesterday. In the living room sat Fury and Ferocious, watching the news report of the attack in the city. He heard the sound of baking in the kitchen, Sonata and Aria were awake and were helping Adagio prepare food for the abundant about of house guests they were now supporting. The bills from yesterday still lay on the table unpaid and getting close to due. An insignificant problem when compared to everything else going on right now. But even with the reports of the world ending, the billers still want their money.
“Mac…” His wife said softly poking her head out the screen door, the cordless phone in her hand. “Um… the hospital called, well Nyx called, she’s wondering if it’s ok to use the same… ah… the funeral company that buried your mom and dad for Bailey?”
He looks at her and she flinched but stood her ground.
“I know you don’t like this, I don’t either, but…”
“It needs to be done,” He finished holding his hand out for the phone. “Bring me the bills and my checkbook too, if you would.”
“Are you sure you want to do them out here? What if the wind picks up?” A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, but other than that it was dead still.
“I’ll deal with that too if it comes up. I just… I just want to sit here for awhile.”
Adagio nods giving him the phone as she goes back into the house. While he’s going over the details of what planning a funeral entails with Nyx. Adagio pops back on the porch giving him the bills and his checkbook as well as a pen. She plants a kiss on his cheek and whispering endearments before going back inside.
Mac spent the next two hours pouring over bills, several times he had to go into his office and find his account books, which he’d later have to put on excel, but he was determined to keep working on the porch for as long as it was practical. The house was feeling just a bit too stuffed right now for his liking. He remained hunched over his work giving the briefest of greetings to Luna and Celestia. Giving a quick good morning to the two sisters, before glancing at his watch, the time ten AM, he returned to his work.
When all the checks were written, filed, and placed in envelopes and stamped. Mac placed his account books and checkbooks in his office. Telling the gathered crowd of people in his house he was going to the mailbox. The letters in his back pocket Mac set off down the mile-long driveway on foot.
As he walked a strong gust rustled the trees, shaking the turned leaves off their branches and sending them whirling around him as he treads the packed gravel road. He glances at the trees. Trees that his great grandfather’s great-grandfather had supposedly planted or so he had been told. The age of the farm had never really crossed his mind before, but they’d probably qualify as a century farm by now or sooner. It was funny to think his family has been here for almost a hundred years.
Arriving at the mailbox Mac disposits the bills inside. About facing he heads back towards the house, but stops after only taking a few steps to look in the direction of the old west shack. With little rhyme or reason, he walks into the brush following the old road back to the old hideout. His steps quick and loud on the leaf covered ground.
There the old shack stood. He’s wondered how long it’s been since they’ve been out here. Since he and Adagio got hitched and all the sirens started living at the house they’ve barely come out here. Five months of weathering and no maintenance gave the shack a beleaguered look. It didn’t take long for things to start decaying of you didn’t take care of them.
For reasons he didn’t quite know he was drawn to the old building. He opens the door going inside the now bare building. When the sirens moved out they stripped the place bare of all the things inside, even his father's stuff. The gun safe was empty, so was the closet and the desk. All the files and other things were gone too. The bunkbed he found on a rummage sale was still here and the single bed too, both still in the addition he had made for the three sirens when they first started working with him. A card table sat in the middle of the main room, with some folding chairs and a couch. Feeling tired he flops down on the sofa looking at the bare building.
“I should move Sunset in here. It’s so much bigger than the south shack and it’s closer to the road. I should check on Sunset’s shack, see how it’s holding up. Winter’s coming, should make sure to move her here and get the heat going or make sure her heat is working or one of the two. Actually, I’ll just move her. This place might as well get some use after everything I dropped into it for Adagio and girls.” He nods, liking the idea as he sits for a spell. His eyes get heavy and he lays on the old couch falling asleep.
A creak shakes Mac awake and he rolls to the floor suddenly awake. He looks frantically around for any danger but just finds an empty shack. He takes a breath and stands, checking his watch. It was noon now. Dinnertime. Adagio was probably worried. He felt around his pants pocket for his phone and realized he left it at the house.
“Should have known better,” He mutters stomping towards the door. As much as society complains about cellphones, and he was included in that bunch too. They were a handy tool. Especially for the things he does. Back in the day farmers had to walk home if something broke out in the field, now you call or just walk up a hill for service and get a ride. Of course staying in touch was also important when you hunted literal monsters. “She’s probably stressing by now.”
Mac picks up his pace to a jog hopping onto the old path. The path was a bit faded as the grass grew back but it was still there. He remembered how long it used to take to get out here. Now it seemed like it took no time at all. Within a half an hour, he was back in the yard, Adagio pacing the porch.
“Took you long enough to drop off the mail,” She said hotly, brushing a stray hair out of her face.
“I got sidetracked. Went to ya old shack and took a nap on the couch there.”
Adagio blinks, cocking her head. “You were in the old shack? What made you go out there?”
He shrugged. Not really knowing the reason himself. Adagio clicked her tongue biting down on her lip as she folds her arms under breasts.
“Alright fine, dinner is ready. Mashed potatoes and fried chicken is waiting inside.” She turned around marching inside, but he stopped her by wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her back onto the porch. She struggled momentarily before snuggling against his chest. He lay his chin on her shoulder whispering into her ear.
“I’m sorry I made you worry, I’ll remember my phone next time.”
“Make it up to me when we send the kids home, and our other house guests.”
He chuckles. “I don’t mind, but I don’t think that’ll be for a while.”
“Well poo, I’ll just have to settle for passionate make-out sessions in bed, oh woe is me.” She pats his thigh and he lets go and follows her into the dining room. Everyone quiet and looking at their plates as they walk in. Guess they heard everything, the front door wasn’t that far from the kitchen.
He sits down, digging into his meal without a word. No one else spoke up either, yesterday’s events still playing through their minds. Magic was now exposed to the world at large or at least monsters were, but some people would arrive at the conclusion after aliens and other such nonsense. That was out of their hands. He wasn’t about to expose his family to news media to calm the public, it wouldn’t help either way. He doubts people would be reassured that a barely nineteen-year-old and his merry band of teenage girls with a few adults were their defenders. That was the grander scale tragedy, nothing they could really do about it.
There was nothing they could do about the smaller more personal tragedy of Bailey’s death either. He could do nothing.
He looked down at his knuckles, they were white as snow, the metal utensils nearly cutting his fingers from his own grip. He loosens his fingers setting the fork and spoon on the table, his food already gone without a taste or notice.
“I got some things to do outside. Thanks for the food, Hun.” He picks up his plate and glass scrapping them clean before putting them in the dishwasher. Passively he waves goodbye to the gathered people walking out the back door before a word could be said.
The door closed behind him Mac takes a breath and sighs. In the corner of his eye, he catches sight of the tool shed and heads straight for it. He stops to open the big rolling door, letting sunlight stream into the old building. Inside rests Bailey’s old tractor. A 1954 Super MTA. He smiles running his hand over the hood of the old girl. She was as old as the farm, Bailey having bought her new after coming home from Korea. He slumps on the stool beside it remembering the time he watched dad rebuild the engine and the how Bailey taught him how to care for the old tractor when he got the farm.
That story had some new context now. He wondered how hard of a time Bailey had teaching Dad about motors. Dad being an interdimensional pony from a medieval period no less. Well, he had to give Equestria some credit they did invent an engine of their own around the time Dad hopped worlds.
“I never really knew you did I, dad? All the things we could have talked about now. All the things I could have learned from you.” He leans his head against the cold metal of the tractor. “Bailey too. I didn’t visit him enough. Barely even thought about it. He would come out to the farm when I was still fixing it up. He’d stand back his arms crossed smoking his pipe and talking about old stories. I only half listening.” Tears swell in his eyes, he squeezes his eye tight, trying to fight back against the swelling regret. “I should have listened. Even when he repeated the same story for what seemed like the thousandth time. I should have stopped and listened.”
Mac bangs his fist against the tractor. Snarling. His gums ache, blood spills out from between his lips his teeth becoming draconic, scales cover his arms, his fingers become claws. The tools in the shed begin to rumble as magic fills the air.
“Fuck. FUCKFRUCKUFRUURUCKURFKCUFUCK!” He swirls around knocking the stood over. He raising his arms about to bring them down on the tractor, but he holds back not wanting to damage the memento. He stomps his feet, cracking the cement. Everything was swirling, but he had nothing to lash out on.
Then he spots Bailey old ax.
Marching over he grabs the wood cutting tool by the handle and marches out the back of the tool shed walking a fair distance until coming to an old fallen tree. On it ever several ax marks. Marks from when he was growing up. Each gash a little deeper from the last. The last one was made at fifteen years old.
He paws the ax in hands, raising it high above his head and swings down with all his might! The ax head sinks deep into the wood, right up to the handle. He rips the ax free rising it again, this time he lets out a loud belly deep roar! The ax head sinks even deeper, splinters shoot of the fallen trunk as it cracks and gives. He rips it out again. His grip tightening his magic flaring high, engulfing the ax, his muscling bulge with power. He glares at the log, slobber spilling out from gritted teeth he didn’t see the log anymore.
He saw Rarity.
Swinging down the supercharged ax splits the log clean through digging into the ground. The earth splits! A crescent orange blade of magic ripping through the ground, cutting down another tree and blowing it to pieces.
‘Clap, Clap’
Mac whirling around finding Ferocious behind him using his long sword as a crutch.
“Impressive. First time channeling magic through a melee weapon?”
“Y-Yeah.” He replied feeling embarrassed for being caught mid raging. “What are you doing out here? You should be resting.”
Ferocious adjusts his weight on his weapon, his right arm and leg hanging loose in the air. He took three bullets when fighting what was mostly likely Pinkie from his fellow police officers. One in the shoulder, bicep, and thigh. The third missing that artery that would have guaranteed his death by a narrow margin. Nyx tended to him after Bailey’s final moments. Using what little healing magic she had to ensure a speedier recovery. Speedier by human standards. The holes in his limbs would close up completely in a week. If he rested and didn’t try to use them. To that end, Nyx used some strange ability of hers to numb Ferocious’s injured limbs so he couldn’t use them. Seems they weren’t the only one evolving their skills. That might be concerning.
“I would, but it’s hard to nap when you’re screaming your head off. Understandable, really. Mind if I blow off some steam too?”
Mac steps aside, “Sure, but how will you…”
Ferocious hops on his good leg, switching his sword from under his right arm to his left hand, ponying up. “This isn’t the first time I couldn’t use half of my body.” In a flash Feri leaped forward bringing his glowing blade down on the fallen tree, slicing is clean through and then jumps to the newly fallen tree and cleaves the trunk into a pile of wooden disks. He lands on his one leg sticking his sword into the ground to balance as he pulls a pack of smokes out his coat pocket. Feri hops around so they were face to face, cigarette between his teeth Feri snaps his fingers, lighting the cancer stick.
“Do you know how mad I am right now, Mac?” Feri’s cigarette suddenly combusts, the entire stick gone in an instant. “First Applejane dies, and then Nico goes and gets himself killed. I still wonder, no rage, trying to figure out why he didn’t ask me for help that night. I was angry at him, at myself, still am sometimes. Bailey helped me through that, both Stryker and me, he was like a second father to me. If the universe made any sense, this would be the point where I help you.” He takes up his sword again, crouching on one leg, blade erupting in fire.
“Feri,” Mac takes up his ax wondering what the fireman had in mind. Well, he didn’t have to wonder, he just hopes Feri didn’t go through with it. “Your arm and leg… You can’t…”
“Use that rage, Mac!”
Feri comes at him in a spiraling flame. Mac grips his ax, charging it with magic and swings with all his might, Feri suddenly changes course red feathers fluttering in the air over his ax. He heel turns. Feri already rushing him from the right, he brings the ax up to guard, but Feri drops to the ground still spiraling like a top and swept his legs out from under him. Feri’s knee slams into his stomach while nape of the longsword is pressed against his neck.
“If I was an enemy you’d be dead Mac.” Feri hops off, jumping to his feet and leaning against his sword again. “I hope you're not planning on going after Rarity in this state. I’d hate to break my promise to Nico and your wife by letting you die.”
Mac growls standing up. He glares up at his godfather, he was nearly six feet tall, it’s not often he has to look up at anyone. Granted Ferocious probably only had an inch or two on him…
Flick!
He stumbles back, taken by surprise when Feri flicks him between the eyes! “For a grown man, you’re acting like a child.” Feri flicks him again! “Stop that!”
“Are you going to kill Rarity?” His godfather asks suddenly.
“I…”
Flick!
“Will you stop that!”
“Answer the question, Mac.” Feri pressed. “Are you going to kill her and take revenge like your dad or are you going to do what Bailey would want you to do and save her.”
“What?”
Flick! This time with magic!
Mac held his face as blood seeps between his fingers. “Fuck! Just let me think for a goddamn second!”
“Why do you need time to think? The answer should be obvious right?”
Mac opened his mouth to retort but stopped. He frowned looking around the cracked ground and shattered trees. What was he doing? The fallen tree was one thing, but he destroyed a perfectly healthy tree. Trees he cared for, trees that provide for him and his family. He destroyed it without a thought. No, the tree hadn’t been his target, but that didn’t matter he should have been more mindful about his surroundings. He had been blind to them.
“It is obvious.” He said walking over to the shattered tree. “But I still did this, with just that one thought in mind. Killing Rarity won’t bring Bailey back, I know that. I know that because it’s stupidly obvious and its obvious that if I kill her I’ll hurt not just Applejack, but Sweetie Belle, her parents and so many more. Still, I knew that, but I still wanted to kill her.” He tightens his fists around the ax handle. “It’s still there too.”
Feri hobbles over beside him. “That’s fine. Everything is still fresh, your feelings, rage, sadness, regret. Anger feeds magic, dark magic, but still magic, still power. Raw power. It’s easy to use and even easier to abuse. When your dad went to avenge your mother, he was probably the strongest he’s ever been, but also the least himself. Blinded by his rage. He went there to do a simple task, kill Madhoof. He did that. But he burned down a school, roasted dozens of experimented humans alive and almost killed those two teenagers. If the fight had gone beyond that basement… well. Who knows when it would have stopped or how many bodies would need to be piled on the altar of revenge before it was satisfied.”
“I get it, I get it. Blind rage and all that. I’ve seen enough actions cartoons to know that lesson.” Mac shakes his head and then looks to Feri who looked at him strangely. “What?”
“When the hell did you have time to watch cartoons?”
“When I was seven.”
They share a laugh. Feri pats him on the back and then turn around hopping back to the house. “I know this doesn’t really fix anything, but humor me as I try to keep you alive. That being said, take your time out here. When your ready to think and act clearly, come back inside.”
“Yeah, I will.” He replies as Feri disappears around the corner. Alone again Mac picks an apple from a nearby tree biting into deep to get to the seeds. He spits three of the little seeds out into his palm looking at the spot where the fallen tree had been. Arms still scaled and bolstering with strength he digs his claw deep into the stomp and pulls! The earth tears at the roots rip up the ground and with a loud victorious yeah, he pulls the stomp out of the earth and tosses it away. Next, he drops the seeds into the earth and steps back holding out his hands.
When he was in Equestria he read up on the different types of ponies there under Luna. His counterpart was an earth pony there, and his pony form, while draconic was also that of an earth pony. So, by that logic, he should have the same powers over the earth as an earth pony does.
His hands glow. He imagines the earth filling the hole and much to his delight the hole closes over the seeds. He presses his palms against the grass, sending his magic through the earth and into the seeds, willing them to grow. Within seconds a small spout the height of his boot springs out of the ground. He powers down, sweaty and exhausted. That would a lot out of him. Guess it was easier to destroy than create. He steps back, observing the seedling. Normally he wouldn’t plant offspring seeds so close to its parents, but after the destruction, he wanted to create something. Leaning back, he admires the little sprout, wondering how high it will grow in the comings years if he keeps feeding it magic.
“I guess you need a name,” He said to the sprout. Naming trees has always been more of Applejack’s quirk. He frankly found it silly, but she had been eight and cute and he played along. Now she was sixteen, seventeen? God, when did he lose track of his sister’s age? And she was still doing it. And though he did find it silly, he did want to give the little seedling a name. “Grandpa said all the spirits of the Apple’s that have come and gone reside in the trees they planted, so I think I’ll call you Bailey. That way you can grow and watch over the farm all over again.”
Mac holds out his hand, creating a tiny sphere of magic and feeds it to the tree. “I’ll bring your granddaughter you to see you when she’s born. I promise.”
The seedling sprouts a leaf, touching his finger in a bizarre handshake.
“It’s a deal then, don’t go wilting on me now.”
Back in the house, Mac sat in his lazy boy, completely ignoring any and all strange looks as they convened around the coffee table. He should have walked a bit further out into the orchard when he went to vent, but well, it is what it is now. Adagio came into the room plopping into the chair with him. He wiggles a bit so she’d slide in better.
On the cloth couch sat Aria, Sonata, and Sunset Shimmer, on the other side on the leather couch was Fierce Fury, and Ferocious with Moon Dancer nervously squished between them. Applejack sat on one of the kitchen chairs along with Celestia and Luna. Applebloom sat cross-legged on the floor. Twilight was still sleeping upstairs with a fever. Sweetie was up there too.
“So… what are we going to do?” Applejack asked breaking the silence. “I mean about… about my friends.” Her arms were trembling as she gripped the edge of her seat. Luna leaned over and rubbed her back, providing a small amount of comfort.
Mac grimaces, thinking hard when Moon Dancer spoke. “What are we going to do about Maddie? One of those Sins has her and the time is ticking on her seal. How long does she even have?”
“I gave her two weeks about… one two three? Maybe three days ago? Hard to say, everything things been hell in a handbasket.” He answers. He was pretty sure it was three days ago. Maybe four? “She has ten days before Sixes' seal burns her alive.”
“You’re from Equestria, can’t you do something about that seal?” Moon Dancer asked pointedly to Fierce Fury. He gave her a sharp look and she shrunk back into her seat. “Um… can I trade seats? Please…”
As her and Luna swap seats, Luna looking awkward as she looks between the two counterparts. Fierce Fury answers Moon Dancer’s question. “It’s Sixes’s seal, he has to be the one to release it. I was never good at that kind of magic. Besides our objective remains the same. Find the Sins, we find Maddie. Simple as that. We just have to do in ten days.”
“That could take too long!” Moon Dancer decries.
“Maybe not as long as you think,” Aria said joining the conversation and holds up Rarity’s diary that Luna and Fury had brought back with them. “From this, we can assume Rarity is working alone. There’s an entry here saying she ran into Fluttershy before Maddie went missing and she knew Fluttershy was a Sin as well.”
“And Rainbow Dash could barely take care of herself when Stryker and I found her at home. I’m not an expert like you all are, but I would assume if Rainbow as in such a state she couldn’t have the strength to keep Maddie subdued.” Celestia states.
“That could mean a number of things,” Ferocious spoke up rubbing his chin. “Maddie could have escaped if Rainbow was the one that kidnapped her and both were left bruised and beaten after the fight. Two one of the others stole Maddie away from Rainbow. Or three Maddie could be dead already.”
Luna gave Ferocious a light slap on the arm, “Don’t say things like that!”
“I’m inclined to agree with my counterpart, but Mac would know if Maddie was dead.” All eyes to turn him as he interns looked questioningly at Fierce Fury. “You hold Maddie’s chain, if she were dead you would have been notified.”
“Could we track Maddie through the seal?” Moon Dancer asked excitedly while Mac looked at the back of his hand. A faint rune appearing on it. “Well can we?” Moon Dancer earnestly insisted.
“Umm… I don’t know.” Mac admits. “Sixes only taught me how to give her permission to leave and set time limits. He never said anything about tracking Maddie with it. Is it possible Fury?”
The red Night Patroller stroked his chin. “Hmm… yes and no. Sixes probably could, but as I said, seals aren’t my business. Besides tampering with the seal without Sixes might cause it to burn Maddie alive. Think of it this way, there on twenty-five buttons on a panel and one turns off the seal, all twenty-four others kill her. I cannot stress enough how little Sixes cared about giving Maddie a second chance, so he made sure she wouldn’t get a third.”
They sit in silence for the following minute. Each of them contemplating what they should do. Well, they knew what they had to do. Find the infected girls. The problem was they needed to find them fast. Ten days wasn’t a lot of time to search the entire county, assuming the four were even based here. Rarity and Rainbow were both injured too, they’ll want to keep a low profile until their recovered.
“We could go check out our usual sources. The golden girls have to have seen something.” Sonata voiced, speaking of the sirens elderly women’s gossip network. The elderly had a lot of time to watch the news and hear all kinds of things young folks don’t have the time to do. “It is a dumb idea?” She asks when no one spoke.
“No, but it doesn’t cast a large enough net. We need a more active approach.” Ferocious said. “Though it would help to know if anyone saw them around town.”
“These Sins…” Adagio spoke up for the first time during the meeting. “They radiate dark magic, right?” Fierce Fury nods. “The sins themselves do, but they usually use the hosts magic as their own. Why?” “If they’re using dark magic, then my sisters and I can find them. I’m sure they’re contaminating it all over the place, but it can pinpoint their general location.” “We can’t walk the entire town and surrounding area Adagio.” Sonata points out. The yellow siren rubs her temple suppressing a growl.
“I know that Sonata, but if we stand a cliff or say the town water tower and we get supercharged with enough magic for a full transformation, we should be able to see something.”
Everyone blinks in unison looking at Adagio. “Holy shit babe,” Mac says planting a kiss on her cheek. “That just might work!”
“Just might?” She scoffs. “It’ll work for sure!”
Moon Dancer springs out of her seat. “What are we waiting for, let’s go then!”
Mac reaches out an arm, blocking her. She looks angerly at him, but he pays her no mind and instructs her to sit back down. “We’re all excited to get going Moon Dancer… AJ.” He says looking at his sister who had been halfway to the door as well. “But given what happened… recently.” Mac looking at Feri and dropping the mood of the room as they thought about the event of yesterday. “We can’t go into this half-cocked. This is a serious hunt and we need to prepare and bring everything we got to the table.”
Aria perks up, looking excited! “You mean!”
He nods standing up. “We need to bust out the big toys.”
Maddie raised her head, her captor, Pinkie Pie or Spite as she referred to herself. Raged and cursed as she stomped across the dirt floor of the barn, seething and gnawing her jaws like an animal. Through her bruised eye Maddie saw Spite sporting a few burns and cuts, so someone had gotten the better of her.
Of course, that didn’t stop her from ranting about the destruction her beasts had caused chasing after Moon Dancer. Giddily the monster girl and that’s what she was now a monster. The same kind as her just different pleasures.
Spite exposited jovially about the people crushed in the streets, laughing at the irony that many in the crowd had probably wished for something like this to happen, thinking they’d be the hero of the story. Spite practically reached ecstasy as she droned on about the death and destruction.
She’s had to endure the insane raving for the entire night, but when the day came there was a strange shift. Spite began to ranting and raving of her failure to capture Moon Dancer. The key objective in her plan to break her. It almost seemed like Spite was talking to someone. It could be Pinkie, but Pinkie wouldn’t condone these actions. Not that Pinkie probably had a lot of say what her body did anymore. So maybe Spite was unstable? That made sense. Pinkie wasn’t stable either.
“That’s it!” Spite said suddenly, standing rigged in a stiff pose. “Yes, yes, what was I thinking? Giants, pwf! What nonsense! Oh, unoriginal! No fun at all! I need something more unique. Compact, deadlier, smarter. I need…” Spite looks Maddie’s way. “I need to make my own monster! You’ll help me? Won’t you mommy? Please!”
Maddie leans back as Spite lays her head on her lap. If she wasn’t tied to this chair, she would have pushed the psycho off and ran, but that wasn’t happening. Maybe there was a way to swing this in her favor?
“I would… love to um… darling, but Mommy’s hands are tied up and I don’t have my lab or materials. It would be…”
“Say no more!” Spite said, sounding way too much like Pinkie. “I’ll go get everything you need! Wait patiently please!” With a wave of her amulet Spite stepped through a portal and disappeared. Maddie took a breath biting her lip as she began to rub her ropes against the chair.
“Please God, if you’re real, help me out?” She laughed. (What a way to find faith now?) “Well if you’re not real or if you are and don’t want to help me. I’ll just keep helping myself! Even if I have cut my hands off!” A cold wind passes beneath her chair making her look down. She forgot her feet were tied too. “Ok… please help before I cut my hands off!”
“This is a waste of time! We need to get going! You wasted all of yesterday and this morning it’s already noon!” Moon Dancer vented standing in the Apple’s kitchen. At the table sat Sonata and Aria the table piled high with guns, ammo, and other equipment.
Aria cleans her rifle bolt her hands covered in oil as she inspects the metal part for damage. “Be quiet and go whine somewhere else. This kind of shit takes time. But be my guess and go start looking around like a headless chicken.”
Applejack ran by half-naked. “I can put it on myself Adagio!”
“Just let me adjust the strap! That gear is tricky to get on alone! Sunset help me out!”
Moon Dancer sighs at the circus around her. These people were her best hope to save Maddie? (I can’t believe I want the guys that almost dropped a ball of molten metal down my throat.)
Fierce Fury walks in the house, carrying another storage chest. “More gear.” He looked around the living room and kitchen. Adagio had Applejack pinned to the couch trying to adjust the armor straps around the younger girl’s chest. “Don’t want to know.” He walks out of the house. Standing on the porch with his counterpart Ferocious.
“Want a smoke?” Ferocious holds out the pack of cancer sticks. The red rinin takes one for himself, snapping his fingers to light it. The two let out puffs of smoke into the chilly autumn air.
The heat wave caused by Fury and one of the Sins passed and the chilly autumn weather came back in full force. News reports suggested there could be some snow later in the week. Fury had been concerned about how that might affect their search, but Mac and Ferocious told him that the snow would make things easier. Like when hunting Deer.
(I forget their meat eaters over here.) Fury mused puffing at his cigarette. It didn’t taste right. There was a lot of extra favors and not particularly good ones. It defiantly wasn’t pure tobacco. As they stand and smoke neither of them speaks to the other. (What do you say to someone who is you, but not you?)
“Heard you spent the night with Luna.” Ferocious stated out of the blue. “She said she mistook you for me. She must have been really drunk to think that.”
Fury took stock of his counterparts’ appearance. They were the same height, had the same color eyes, their hair was styled the same, except he had gold mixed into his hair. The only other major difference between them was their muscle mass. He was bulkier, while Ferocious was leaner. The only other thing was the placement of their battle scars.
“We didn’t partake in any mating activities if that’s what you're wondering. Though I must admit I wouldn’t have minded. Although…” (I’m not sure I would have performed well.) He laughs looking over his altered body. He still wasn’t used to standing on two legs, it didn’t feel right. “Well, hopefully, Sixes and Princess Luna are figuring something out to fix the portal. This body has its advantages, but… well…”
“Nico adapted ok. At least I think he did. Maybe you can settle down here like he did or do you have a sweetheart back on the other side?” Ferocious asked.
He grumbled, not really wanting to talk about such things to near stranger, but maybe it was normal in this world. (Whatever normal is, I’ve certainly never known.)
“I had a marefriend once, long ago. We separated when I chose to freeze myself in stone. I always wondered why she didn’t come with. Haven’t really had anything serious after that, been too busy.”
Ferocious laughed, “I know what’s that like.”
A car pulled into the yard. Celestia and Luna returned from town with whatever Mac asked them to get. Mac himself was out in the tool shed working on something. As the sisters exit the car they walk to the trunk. Fury noticed his counterpart looking at Luna’s rear as she reached deep into the trunk. He looked too, not finding the attraction he would normally have.
(The difference of being a pony I guess.)
With a loud grunt, Luna emerged from the truck holding what looked like a war hammer! “Can someone help me! This thing is heavy!”
Beside him Ferocious grumbled hobbling on his good leg while leaning against the rail, his back now turned to the two women as he angrily smoked through the rest of his cigarette. “Would you mind going?”
“No problem.” He replied, but before he left Fury patted his counterpart on the shoulder. “We may look the same, but it’s you she’s attracted to. Maybe make time for her now.”
What little romantic advice he had said. Fury marched to the car and picked the war hammer like tool up with one hand. He does a quick rep measuring its weight. It was probably ten pounds or more. The handle was made out something that wasn’t wood or fully metal. Noticing a tag on the handle he reads it.
“Fifteen-pound, fiberglass/metal handle wood splitting maul.” Fury gives the maul a few twirls in his fingers before grabbing properly and holds it over his head. He flexed and then swung! A burst of hot air flying from the maul. A barren tree branch fell, the stump of the branch shattered instead of cut. He flips the head of the maul over to the ax and tried again. Another branch fell, perfectly cut.
“Don’t go messing with my trees now. Your lucky that one is half dead already.” Mac said joining them. He looked at the maul with affection and takes into his hands. “Thanks for making the run Luna. I would have myself, but I had… other things to do this morning.”
Luna smiled, “Anything I can do to help. Usually, those things are only eight pounds, but the hardware store guy said he accidentally ordered this one and was glad to get rid of it. Even gave us a discount just to get it out of the store.”
Celestia scoffed, “Five dollars of an eighty-dollar hammer.”
“Well, maybe you should have shown a little more boob. That’s how you used to get discounts.” Luna teased, Celestia, turned red at the statement.
“You just be quiet now, little sister. I’m not the only one who abuses their sex appeal.”
“Ok… well thanks for picking this up. Um… Fury would you join me in the tool shed? I got something that might be useful for you.”
“Sure,” He replied stepping away from the two sisters. A wide grin spreading across his lips as the two sisters continued to bicker. They really were just like his Luna and Celestia. Maybe not as mature. How could they be when the Princesses were pushing twenty-seven hundred years old, but even then, he’s sat back with Sixes plenty of times to watch the two rulers argue over this and that. (This world isn’t a bad vacation spot.)
Mac was aware but hasn’t asked about just how often Sixes and others would cross over the mirror. Kira really liked to bring her grandchildren here. Celestia came to visit Sunset Shimmer, and Luna would join her every so often. He played bodyguard a few times when the princesses would visit Sunset. It was kind of fun seeing Luna act so awkward around her grandniece. The fact Sunset was Sixes’s and Celestia’s grandchild and Sixes and Luna were an item really made things awkward, but fun to watch.
At the barn Fury followed Mac inside passing the tractor and heading into the back. Where Mac had set up a small forge for himself. A soft glowing pile of ember still burned in the forge, casting a dim orange glow. On the small workbench lay Mac’s patroller jacket, now equipped with a back holster for the farm boy’s new weapon.
Curious Fury picked up the coat. Noting Mac’s craftsmanship. “Not bad.” He said tugging at the newly forged metal rings with a leather belt looped through them. Setting the coat aside Fury sat there was another coat laying beneath it. Battered and torn. The chainmail sewed beneath showing in several spots and broken. It was Ferocious’s coat.
Mac scratched his head looking embarrassed. “I’m not much of the blacksmith, so I was wondering if you could help me fix Ferocious’ coat.”
He inspected the coat again, taking note of all the damage and previous patches. This coat had indeed seen much use. When spotting the 0756 Night Patrol patch on the sleeve Fury grinned. “So that’s what happened to them.”
“What was that?”
Fury shook his head. “Nothing. Sorry to say I’m not much of a blacksmith myself either. I leave that Platinum. Besides this coat is about as old as yours, it’s served its time. In both our worlds.” He laid the coat back on the bench, patting it affectionately. “I think I’m going to go have another smoke with my counterpart.”
Confused, but not wanting to pry. Mac gathered up his coat and maul and followed Fury back outside the barn. A cold wind blew through the yard as they walked towards the house. Ferocious was still standing on the porch smoking another cigarette. Fury broke off to join him, while Mac went inside.
Mac peeked inside the kitchen. Luna and Celestia were by the stove, Aria and Sonata still working on their equipment. In the living room sat Sunset and Applejack watching the news. His sister looking flushed as she hugged her chest. (What happened to her?) Looking back in the kitchen he saw Sonata grinning. (Adagio must have been teasing her again.)
Walking into his room he found Adagio sleeping on the bed. Her orange puffy hair laying over her like a blanket. Quietly he tips toed to the bed and pulled the blankets over her. She squirmed a little hugging the blankets close to her body, mumbling soft nothings in her sleep. He tips toed to the door and closed it softly with barely a whisper.
Mac glanced upstairs. Applebloom and Sweetie have been awfully quiet. Maybe too quiet. He climbed the stairs and listened for any sound. Maybe they were asleep? The last few hours have been very stressful for all of them but doubled for the young pre-teens. Still, he was worried, so he started checking the rooms.
First was Sonata’s room, Twilight was still asleep inside recovering from her fever. Moving to the other side of the hall Mac looked inside Aria’s room, finding no one inside. He walked to the end of the hall, looking in his old room first, again finding no one. Lastly, he looked in Applejack’s old room and found the two preteens asleep on the bed.
Mac touched his stubbed chin looking over the two. The two girls were curled up on the bed, Sweetie squeezing Applebloom like a stuffed teddy bear, her eyes red from crying recently. He had been about to close the door when he saw Applebloom’s eye open suddenly.
“She’s coming.” She said.
It took him a moment to figure what she was talking about when Sweetie suddenly began to shiver, a loud high-pitched cry coming from outside. A cry of pain, rage, and anguish. A number of shouts from downstairs and the rushing of feet told him all he needed to know.
Rarity was here. She had come to them.
“Applebloom!” He shouted grabbing the two preteens in his arms and carrying them downstairs in a flash. From his bedroom Adagio emerged holding the pistol they keep by the bed. He passed the two girls onto her and she took them with no protests and led them into the kitchen and then down into the basement.
In the living room, everyone was gathered, some armed, some not, but all of them were wary as Rarity stood out in the open in the middle of the yard. She was dressed in winter clothes, some purple poncho thing with one of those weird Russian hats. He remembered seeing something like that in her store. So, she apparently went home after the gunfight at the VFW.
“I know you have her Mac!” She shouted. “Give her to me and all will be well. No further ugliness will be needed! This is my one and only offer.”
“I can get her,” Aria said softly, her body pressed against the wall, her rifle aimed at what was most likely Rarity’s head. Aria’s finger was twitching, her eyes glowing with magic. She had stolen some from someone. Enough to see the dark magic surrounding Rarity and whatever she saw had her biting her lip and looking nervous.
Aria didn’t usually get nervous.
“What do you see?” He asked.
“Evil, lots and lots of evil. She did something. She’s much stronger than before.”
What could she have done? He couldn’t see what Aria was seeing, but he could feel the cold tingle running down his spine. “This is May Golden Showers on the scene found earlier this morning at suspected loan shark…” The TV was still on. Slowly Mac and the others looked at the screen showing the remains of some building. Several bodies lay about, all of them crystalized with a hole in their chest. “The… bodies of several employees including the owner were found. They appear to be made of crystal, but the insides are…” The reporter leaned closer to one of the bodies, gagging as she quickly turned away. “Oh my god, the hearts have been ripped out! Cut the camera!”
Outside Rarity began to giggle loudly, in an insane almost giddy fashion. She grabbed her left arm tightly as she laughed. Even from this distance, they could see her enlarged canine teeth, almost like the fangs of a snake, the white teeth stained red as well as her lips, which Mac had thought was lipstick at first.
“She didn’t…”
“She did.” Fury confirmed. “There might be no saving her now. Even if we do, her mind… well… I hope she’s as strong-willed as the Rarity back home.”
Wings sprouted from Rarity’s back, her insane laugh still bellowing through the yard as her tail sprang out from her back, and diamonds began to coat her hands. “Well, Mac! What’s it going to be!”
“Sonata, Aria, go upstairs and get ready to provide support. Applejack, Sunset, go get Twilight and bring her downstairs. The rest of you go to, Fierce Fury and I will handle this. No arguing.” He said sternly as he opened the front door. Ferocious stood on the pouch, not looking happy.
“I’m not going anywhere, kid.” The red detective said blowing out a plume of smoke.
Mac put on his armored jacket and took his maul into his hands. “Fine, guard the front door then. Is Stryker on his way back?”
Stryker was in town working investigating some leads. His presence was missed in light of the injured and inexperienced fighters on their team. He and Fury taking the top spots right now.
“Tried to call him, phones are out again. Fucking dark magic bullshit.” Ferocious cursed tossing his phone onto the bench. “It would be better for Celestia and Luna to go up and supply your two sisters-in-law with some magic. I doubt normal rounds will do anything to her now. She’ll be more cautious after what Gator did to her.”
Celestia and Luna were still in the living room. Sunset and Applejack carried Twilight through the living room. The two sisters looked at them through the bay window, probably hearing what they said. Mac pointed up from them to go help Aria and Sonata. Both principles looking too eager for his tastes.
“Let’s hope nobody gets killed.” He mumbled. Rarity, no Vanity, if he recalled from Rarity’s journal, has been awfully patient he suddenly noticed. The diamond girl was still standing in the yard, looking twitchy and progressively more insane. “What’s wrong with her?”
“Her mind is breaking down. Healing her body in the manner that she did, well it leaves some terrible aftereffects. I’m honestly surprised she knew she could gain power by doing that.” Fury explained. Mac looking back inside at the news report. “Well at least I hope she knew otherwise things are even worse then they seem.”
Mac sighed, “Yeah, that about sums this all up.” He steps of the porch, Fury by his side. “No deal Vanity.”
Vanity stopped her twitching for a moment. “Well then, I’ll have to do to you what I did to that old fool the other day!”
Mac’s grip around the maul tightened, his ears moving to the top of his head. “Try it bitch, Aria!” The crack of the gunshot boomed and Vanity’s head was sent flying backward, but there was no blood. That didn’t matter to Mac he charged across the yard, maul swung back wide, and with planted feet and an ear-splitting scream, he swung with all his might! The maul connected with something. The air pressure kicking up a cloud of dirt. No scream of pain and nobody flying. Mac didn’t wait he jumped back, just in time for a diamond dagger to fly by.
“MAC DUCK!” Aria screamed. He dropped to the ground without a second thought, a second shot rang out. He rolled to his feet, clutching his maul, his eyes frantically looked for Vanity in the smoke screen.
Fury landed next to him, the night patrollers chest ballooned and glowing. Mac inhaled, magic filled his stomach and together they released duel streams of fire at the dust cloud. The dust blew away, the flames bending and twisting around a spherical shape. The flames died, revealing the blue energy shield.
Vanity stood in the center looking smug as she extends her left arm, making a joisting lance of diamonds on her right arm she crafts a shield on her wrist and a sword in her hand. Chunks of diamond armor adorn her body, leaving little to the imagination and very few gaps in her armor. Flapping her wings Vanity lifts off the ground, making a ‘come at me’ gesture.
Fury ignites two flame swords, “My, isn’t she cocky.”
“Um…FYI Rarity said something about taking fencing lessons!” Sunset Shimmer yelled from the house.
Mac yelled, “Get back in the house!”
“Don’t get distracted, dammit!” Fury fully transformed into his winged form grabbed Mac by the collar and carried him off as an explosion rocked where they had just been standing. Mac craned his neck back to see a dozen diamond spikes sticking out of the ground. Vanity trained her lance on them, and he noticed the holes around the base of the flange. Another scattershot of spikes shot from the lance, Fury threw him up while he dived down and charged Vanity.
Sending magic into his jacket Mac switched it to flight mode. The chainmail twists and rearranges into wings. (I really love this feature.) Airborne Mac glides down to assistance Fury who was having a tough time getting close to Vanity. The white serpent keeping him at bay with her spike shooter. Fury swung his swords, the blades exploding on contact with the lance. Fury flew close, holding two flaming orbs in his hands.
“Crossfire!” Two giant flaming X’s fill the sky. Mac rears back bringing his maul down to where Vanity’s head would be. She was projecting a shield over the one on her arm to help guard against the flames. He flipped the maul from the hammer end to the ax, charging magic into the blade. Remembering Sixes' lessons.
(When you give something a name, you give it power.)
“Stone Cleaver!” Orange magic flared around the curve of the ax head, making it bigger, stronger, and deadlier! Vanity looked up and raised her lance to intercept. He knocks the lance away, the tip exploding when his attack connected. He spins bringing his maul back around with the hammer end forward. He charges as much power as he could in a second, the hammerhead connects with Vanity’s shoulder! The diamond shoulder armor shatters, the head of the hammer digging in deep. Vanity’s face contorts in pain as she’s sent spiraling down to the ground!
Dust flew up again, but that didn’t deter Mac. He charged up his maul and swung, blasting the dust away with a gust of air. Vanity lay withering on the ground, her jaw opened unnaturally wide as she screamed in pain. She threw her diamond shield and it broke apart into a dozen diamond spikes! He flopped his wings and free fell, his arms crossed over his face, his arms covered in scales. Three spikes hit their mark. One sticking through his arm, the other two only shallowly.
Growling through the pain Mac spread his wings again and lands atop Vanity, his boot landing hard on her chest. She swiped at him with diamond covered nails, but he batted her arm away with the handle of his maul and dropped to his knees, pinning her down by the shoulders. He brought the head of the maul around facing downward. She eyes widen and diamonds quickly covered her throat just as the metal hammer head fell on it. She gagged and gasped for air, her body thrashing, but she couldn’t muster the strength or leverage to throw him off.
“Stop… you’ll… kill… her!” Vanity pleaded through gasps. He pressed harder.
“But not you, get out of her now!” He barked adding more magic to his muscles. The diamonds around Vanity’s neck begin to crack!
“RARITY!”
Both Mac and Vanity look towards the house, Sweetie Belle standing on the porch. She takes off running. Ferocious hot on her tail. Vanity reached out her arm, a slithering budge running up the length. A white snake with blue wings flew from Rarity’s hand, Vanity’s true form! Mac quickly removed the head of the maul from Rarity’s throat as the diamond armor fell away. Barely avoiding crushing the poor girl’s throat.
“Sweetie Belle! RUN!” Rarity screamed hoarsely as she scrambled out from under Mac to try and save her sister. Vanity wheeled around, hissing as she looked between the two sisters before making a break for Sweetie again. The white snake’s jaws were spread wide, Sweetie holding up her arms and screaming as the snake drew closer. She fell to the ground, her eyes closed. Sweetie heard a short-strangled gasp and felt no pain. Slowly she opened her eyes to see Fury and Ferocious standing over her, each holding one end of the snake. Ferocious held the head, while Fury held the tail.
The counterparts nodded, their hands igniting in flames! Vanity wiggled and slithered, trying to escape their grasp. Soft pained hissing escaped from Ferocious grasp and then was silent. The snake’s body went limp, completely charred black, and fell away to ash.
“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity, nearly naked tackled her younger sister to the ground crying up a storm as she held the younger girl close to her. “I’m sorry, I’m so, so, so, sorry! I saw everything she did, but I couldn’t stop her, please, please forgive me!”
As the two Belle sisters cried and hugged each other, the others came out of the house. Applejack bringing a heavy blanket for Rarity. Wrapped up tight Rarity finally let Sweetie go and stood.
“Thank you so much… for…” Rarity fell face first to the ground.
Sweetie screamed! “Rarity!” And knelt down but Applejack dragged her back while Fury and Mac picked her up and carried her towards the house.
“Sonata get the first aid! Adagio call Nyx! Hurry!” Mac barked as they carried Rarity to his bedroom. They lad the girl down on the bed, her body shaking and thrashing violently!
“What’s happening to her!” Someone screamed, Mac didn’t know who, his eyes were transfixed on Rarity as she began to sweat some black substance. She throws off the blankets exposing herself to them again. Rarity writhed in pain as scars began to appear on her body.
“Dark magic backlash,” Adagio said suddenly standing beside him. She patted him on the shoulder and pulled him towards the door. The others were already gone. “Come on, she’ll be fine, but she’ll be having a tough time for a bit. We can’t do anything.”
They shut the door. Rarity’s screams coming through the wall. They all grimaced as the screams become louder and she began to cry.
Mac sat down on the couch with Adagio. Their hands intertwine as they wait.
“She is ok?”
“She’s stopped screaming at least.”
“Why does she…”
“Shush!”
Rarity woke up with a number of faces looking down at her. Her body felt like it had been lit ablaze. Everything hurt. Particularly under her breast. She touched the spot with her hand, her fingers glided over her skin. It was rough.
“Can I have a mirror?” She asked the crowd around her. She tried to get up. Tried the keyword. Her limbs wouldn’t move, it was like they were made of lead! Something else didn’t feel right. Besides the pain, her body felt foreign to her. “A mirror? Can I have one? Also, could you help me sit up?”
“Rarity,” Mac said, he looked very distraught. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” She asked craning her head to try and see, well anything really. She looked down her chest, she was still naked apparently, she didn’t feel any clothes on her beside the blanket covering her. She looked past her mountainous breasts (We’re they always this big?) and wiggled her toes out from underneath the blanket. They seemed… further away than normal.
“Alright all the males out, I’m going to do a checkup,” Nyx ordered entering the room, still in her nursing uniform. Pulling on some gloves she grumbled, “Calling right when my shift ends, just my fucking luck. Blue, Pink, help me set her up.”
Sonata and Aria grab Rarity by the shoulders and eased her up to a sitting position. Rarity took a moment to gain her bearings. Was the ground always so far away? Her legs too… they looked so long! Her vision blurs for a moment the room spinning. The two sirens right her, her gaze fixed upon Adagio who was standing in front of the vanity mirror.
“Please, I need to see myself!”
Adagio looked to Nyx, who then looked to Sonata and Aria. “Fine, hold her up. Now be ready Rarity you’ve suffered some black magic backlash. Some being relative really, just… try not to freak out.”
The two sirens hoisted her to her feet and Adagio stepped aside. Giving her a full look at her body. “That’s a trick mirror, right? I mean look at myself! I’m so tall… and these… scars.” Rarity touched the rough spot under her breast. It was a scar. A large messy looking scar that traveled up her left breast and down to her thigh. Her left shoulder had a huge bruise on it and was also scarred. Around her neck was scarred too and there were dozens of smaller circular scars everywhere else on her body. It was all shocking and overwhelming, but that wasn’t it. She was taller now. At least a head taller than Aria and Sonata, she looked… well, she looked older!
“Black magic,” Adagio begin moving back in front of the mirror. “Has a nasty habit of backlashing against the user when it’s not removed properly. Given the situation, it was less than ideal, so well… the changes you see are more than likely permanent.”
“What?” Her voiced cracked.
Nyx moved to beside Adagio as Sonata and Aria sat Rarity back down on the bed. “That’s not all.” The changeling nurse sighed. “That thing, the Sin, it really messed with your body. Really took it for a joyride. From what I remember from parasite creatures like that they usually try to make the hosts last for a few years, but this thing…well… slaves that my old Queen captured were treated better. That thing, Vanity it called itself, burned through your life force pretty good to age you up. And before you ask, life force is different from magic, though they're both a power source. Anyway, I’ll need to do some testing, like looking at your cell count and stuff, but given all the injuries she took, all the rapid healing, and then the backlash. Don’t be surprised if a few years were shaved off your life expectancy.”
Rarity hugged herself, Sonata laid the blanket over again. “Um, I’ll go find you some clothes. Maybe some of Adagio’s will work. You two look about the same size now.” Rarity looked at the mirror again, she looked about twenty-two! She’s aged nearly five years! She can’t go to school! Not like this! Forget school what about her parents? What will they think?
“Is there really no way to reverse this? The scars… well, not faltering can be covered up, but I can’t go walking around as young adult when I’m really a teenager! I’ll need a new ID or some way to prove who I am! Nobody will look at me and think I’m seventeen!”
Adagio looked hapless. “Sorry Rarity, but reversing this? That’d be tricky and way out of our league. Maybe someone in Equestria could do something, but black magic backlash, it usually sticks. But if push comes to shove, we got a guy in city hall. We can make you up some new papers. And since Celestia and Luna are in the loop they can maybe fudge your school documents a bit so you graduate. But before doing all that let's just wait and see what happens. We still got three more of those Sins to worry about. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Pinkie. We got to find them too.”
Sonata handed a pile of clothes through the door. “Mac and the others what to questions you when you're ready.”
“She’ll be out soon,” Adagio replied taking the clothes. “Come on, we still have work to do.”
“Right, um… could I have some privacy?”
“Sure.”
Adagio stepped out of the room. Leaving her alone. Quickly she pulled on the borrowed underwear, her limbs still heavy and pained as she began pulling on the sweatpants. She tried to put the bra on, but her arms wouldn’t reach behind her back. The pain in her arms too great. So, she simply abandoned it. She pulled on the Tee shirt and then the fleece sweater and looked at her image over in the mirror. She looked like a grape, every piece of clothing she’d been given what some shade of purple. Her hair blended wonderfully into the sweater.
She tossed up her hair, cringing at how unruly it was, it’s been some time since she’s worn it straight. But she didn’t have the time work it into its usual curl, so Rarity grabbed a scrunchy off the dresser and pulled her hair into a messy ponytail. She bit her lip the entire time her hands worked to fix her hair, her arms falling limp to her side, her fingers numb. She hoped this pain passed quickly.
One final look in the mirror Rarity decided she was decent. Ironic considering everyone had probably seen… well, everything. That thought finally dawned on her and she covered her face as it turned completely red in embarrassment. It quickly passed when she remembered what was now hidden beneath her comfy sweater. Gingerly she raised the hem of her shirt, grimacing at the scars on her belly.
“Well, this might be the last time I need to bother worrying about the opposite sex.” She let the shirt fall back down, covering the scars. There were so many things she’d need to deal with… suddenly Rarity felt bile rise in the throat. Quickly she ran out the door, surprising everyone as she dives into the bathroom and begins vomiting! (Good thing I tied my hair back.)
“Ugh… what did I eat?” She moans. The aftertaste was weird. Like some kind of meat, but not one she ever remembered having before. She looked down to see what had been in her stomach, but Mac had already flushed the toilet.
“It’s better if you don’t know.” He said helping her up. “You feel better now? Need anything?”
“No, no, I’m fine. Despite appearances.” She replied as Mac set her down on the couch. She may have spoken too soon as her stomach began to quiver again with everyone’s eyes fixed on her. “So… I suppose you have questions for me?”
Leaned against the wall Ferocious spoke first, “Yeah, starting with…”
“Um sorry,” Rarity interrupted looking from Feri to Fury. “But who are you? Is he your twin brother Fury?”
The red equestrian rolled his eyes, “No he’s my counterpart in this world. And Mac’s Godfather, Ferocious.”
“Oh, sorry I’m just feeling out of the loop. I’m sorry, ask your questions.”
Mac took center stage sitting right across from her with his hands folded over his knees. “Do you know anything about the others? Anything at all? Like their locations, goals? Did you talk to them? Or vise versa? We need to find them and quickly. Given how things with you turned out, the sooner we find them, the better off they’ll be in the long term.”
“I see. I’m sorry to be of no help then. I’m afraid the only one I’ve ever spoken to was Fluttershy when she commissioned her new clothes. We had a minor exchange. Stating we’d stay out of the others way. I have no clue what she’s planning. As for Pinkie and Rainbow, I don’t think I ever ran into them. At least not that I can recall. Have you tried checking the Animal shelter? That’s the only place I could think of to look for Fluttershy. The other two, I have no idea I’m afraid.”
Ferocious’s phone suddenly went off and he left to stand outside.
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help, but we didn’t really coordinate. We all basically did out own thing.”
Mac nodded, “Ok that’s fine. But maybe you can help us understand what your goal was? What was it you were trying to achieve? Why were you destroying houses?”
“Oh… that… well, I ran into two rather boorish men shaking down Saffron for money and I… I… oh god…I… and then I…”
Mac set his hands on Rarity’s shoulders, massaging her neck. “Alright, I think we got the jest of it. Why don’t you go lie down upstairs?”
“Thank you, I will.”
When Rarity was out of sight and her footsteps stopped overhead, everybody took a collective sigh. They dodged a bullet there. There were clearly some memory gaps and thankfully they were the darker ones, but who knew how long that would last.
Nyx armed crossed addressed them. “As a medical professional, I would advise we refrain from anymore questioning. We all know what’s she’s done. The most graphic of which was just flushed down the toilet, so let’s keep it that way. For her mental sanity. Now if that’s all. I’m going home.”
“Thanks, Nyx,” Mac said as she walked towards the door. “I’ll be sure to deposit some extra cash this month.”
“You better. Maybe if you pay me enough, I’ll just be your own private doctor and maybe I’ll finally get some sleep.” She didn’t slam the door, but she didn’t shut it gently.
“We’re really pushing our luck with her huh?” Adagio said as Nyx drove off and the room dispersed, leaving her and Mac alone.
“Yeah, hasn’t been easy for her, either.” Mac nodded feeling tired. “Should really be more considerate. I did drag her into this.” Adagio draped herself over his shoulders and kissed his cheek.
“If she really wanted to get out, she could transfer or report us to the police or the news or anything like that. I think she doesn’t mind helping us, she just likes to bitch about it. And with magic on the verge of being exposed maybe, she’ll publish a tell-all book about the city’s secret hero Mac!”
He chuckled kissing Adagio fully on the lips. “Yeah, maybe.”
The front door opened and Ferocious hopped in while he shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Stryker found something, come on, let’s go to town.”
Mac nodded and stood. He pulled Adagio close and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back soon.” He walked towards the door putting on his jacket and grabbing his maul.
“Be safe!” Adagio shouted as the door closed. Her stomach churned as she watched the dust cloud dissipate as Mac drove off towards danger again.
It was cold. Very cold and all Rainbow had for clothes were the rags she was wearing and the bonfire she stole from the local hobo. If her fingers weren’t already blue, they would be from frostbite. Times were indeed tough for Rainbow Daring Dash and Ebony.
“Can’t you do something?” She chastised the snake living in her body tucking her arms around her exposed belly, her body shivering violently. Her shirt destroyed when she sprouted her wings to escape from home, and her tail left little of her pants and underwear to be useful. Usually, her transformations didn’t wreck her clothes. What was the deal now? Rainbow wigged her clawed toes sticking out of her tattered shoe. Her last change seemed much more permanent.
The wind blew through her makeshift camp, rattling the half-collapsed building the hobo she scared off had been using for shelter. She should have stolen his coat but was too enticed by the fire to do so. She wrapped her tail and wings closer around her body to try and warm herself, but it didn't have much effect.
“I should’ve just fucking… I don’t know gone home or break into a random house or something!” She screamed at the sky. It was already getting dark. (Stupid winter! Stupid daylight savings time making the day shorter.) “I should at least steal some winter clothes or something.”
None of the options she laid out were ideal. She didn’t want to go home because her mother would be there and her house was likely under surveillance so she couldn’t risk it. She was too weak to defend herself in a real fight. Her quick and dirty first aid had just been that, quick and dirty. She hadn’t even had the time to disinfect her wounds. Breaking into a stranger’s house or even a home of a family she knew was risky. She couldn’t stay there long. Also if she lucked out and broke into a home with its residents away it would tip off the neighbors, and they’d call the police, and the police would bring the attention of Mac and the others. She could find a farmhouse or a heated barn, but that would be temporary too. She needed a place to rest for a few days. A few hours wouldn’t cut it.
“Maybe I should break into Rarity’s. She has tons of clothes! Plus, folks might not overthink of me being around there. Even if it gives Mac a clue later, it’s worth the risk.” Unfurling her wings Rainbow Dash took to the sky, flying low across the darkening evening. It was getting even colder too.
Flying into town Rainbow easily found Rarity’s store/apartment. It was still amazing that Rarity had a place separate from her parents. Not that her parents were around much. It made her kind of envious of the fashionista. Maybe if she had a place to escape from her mother well, that doesn’t matter now.
She landed on the roof of the building. Blatantly Rainbow swung down onto Rarity’s window ceil and with a little extra strength opened the window via breaking the lock. It’s was tough slipping through the window with her wings and tail. She lost a few feathers, but she got inside, and boy was it warm in here! Shutting the window Rainbow had goosebumps from just standing in the heated room and Rarity’s bed was before her warm, cozy, and with very soft sheets.
Stripping the last of her rags off she jumped into the bed and rolled into a cocoon with a content sigh, practically melting into the covers. “Oh god… I could die here.” Rainbow let out a stutter, the feeling of warmth and comfort lulling her to sleep in an instant.
When Rainbow woke up an hour had passed, and when she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor, she was pleasantly pleased to find her wings and tail had finally vanished. Fighting out of the blankets Rainbow rose before Rarity’s vanity mirror admiring her natural form.
“Uh… these certainly look bigger, legs look a little longer too.” She noted inspecting her body. A lot of her wounds were gone too not all of them. The minor ones had completely vanished, but the more serious ones were visibly scared over. Ebony slithered around her neck nuzzling her cheek with a light hiss. “Did you do this girl? Thanks, you helped mommy out.” She kissed the snake on the head; her stomach rumbled, painfully, enough to bring her to her knees. When was the last time she’s eaten?
“Rarity’s gotta have food, right?” Rainbow quipped while holding her gut. Her body shivered as the cold draft crept through the walls of the building. She almost forgot she was still naked. Grabbing the blanket off the floor Rainbow marched over to Rarity’s closet, which was a lot messier then she’d envisioned it. She didn’t expect clothes thrown around like someone ransacked the place like was in her room. “Well,” Rainbow muttered grabbing some underwear and pants. “At least it isn’t all frills and lace.”
Now dressed in light blue pants and a purple sweater. Seriously there was a lot of purples and light blue in Rarity’s selection. With a pair of long socks and a skirt for a little more warmth Rainbow made her way downstairs to raid Rarity’s kitchen.
First, she ate a bowl of cereal. Then another. And then another before the box ran out. Despite that, her stomach was still growling. She fished around for some more food and found some hot pockets to eat. She ate them too, and yet her hunger did not cease.
“Fuck what’s wrong with me?” Rainbow grumbled holding her stomach. Roaming around the kitchen she looked for something, anything else to eat when she came upon Rarity’s ice cream stash. “Well, better then nothing I guess.”
Sitting at the table with a spoon and a half-eaten bucket of marshmallow ice cream, a cliché choice for Rarity, her nickname in the locker rooms was marshmallow for clearly visible reasons. Rainbow lacklusterly picked at the frozen food. She liked ice cream just fine, but eating frozen food in a cold house wasn’t very appealing. She could turn up the heat and even turn on the lights and have the run of the place, but she was too worried about the attention that would draw. Rarity’s shop was in the business district where many Mac’s informants tend to hang out. She was getting away with her squatting right now because the living quarters of Rarity’s shop were in the back. As long as she didn’t go into the store or Sweetie Belle’s room, the chances of someone spotting her were slim to none.
Still, she couldn’t stay here forever. Rarity was sure to come back, and that would lead to trouble. She needed to find a more permeant place to hide out. Someplace she could indeed be safe. She hadn’t had that before, she had been under the radar living at home and squatting here and there. But she never had a permeant base to say. She had just started moving into that abandoned building before someone dropped it on her head and stole the alicorn amulet she worked so hard to get!
“The school won’t work. It’s closed right now because of the fight I had with Fury so there wouldn’t be any students or teachers, but that would only temporary. Constructions crews will be coming soon to rebuild the school again. I could go to Maddie’s lab, that would be a good place to huddle down in, but it would be on the list of places Mac would search, and the town has too many eyes.”
What if she moved outside of town? Hell, who said she had to stay in town? She had wings; she could fly as far as camp Everfree or even further! Sure, Mac would still probably hunt her, but once she was hundred, two hundred, a thousand miles away? What could he do? Mac’s rooted in Canterlot, to his farm, and had a child on the way. He wouldn’t go all lone ranger to chase after her and with the portal destroyed the Equestrians wouldn’t be a threat either. She could leave. Leave and let Pinkie and Fluttershy deal with Mac or get defeated by him.
“Yeah, I could do that…” Really, she could, but that would be running away, and she didn’t like the idea or running away. It went against everything she believed. Ebony rose her head hissing at her. “Yeah, it would be the smart thing to do, but still… I don’t like it.”
Ebony hissed again, the black snake nuzzling Rainbow cheek hissing in a pleading manner.
“I know your scared girl, I am too, but I can’t run away. The portal is gone for now, but once it’s rebuilt the patrollers will be after us.” Ebony nodded, agreeing with her theory, the black snake slithered and flew over to the fridge pulling a photo from the door and flew back to the table. With her tail Ebony pointed to Fluttershy. “Team up with Fluttershy?”
Ebony nodded.
“I guess I wouldn’t mind teaming up with Fluttershy, but not Pinkie! I’m pretty sure she was the one that stole the amulet from us!” Rainbow leaned back in her chair. “Now where to find Fluttershy? The animal shelter would be the first place to look I guess.”
Grabbing a heavy coat and stocking cap on her way-out Rainbow slipped into the back alleyway behind Rarity’s shop. She’d check out the animal shelter first. At a steady trot, she carefully made her way across town sticking to the back alleys and side streets. She didn’t want to leave a trail for Mac to follow later. Rounding the corner by the canning plant Rainbow caught sight of the animal shelter and the police line in front of it. A car door slammed down the street, and she quickly ducked back into the alley as Mac and Aria walk right past her.
“Fuck.”
Mac pulled up to the police line parking his pick up at the end of the block. He was coming to more and more crime scenes recently. Hopefully, the police don’t become too familiar with him, he still wanted to maintain a low profile which seemed to be getting harder to do by the day.
They climbed out of the pick-up, him, Aria and Ferocious. Aria helped the red detective stand as he took the makeshift cane from the back of the pick-up. Both him and Aria were dressed in generic blue clothes, looking vaguely like police themselves. To top off their disguise, Ferocious gave them some ball caps with forensics written on them.
It was a little over the top for them. They’ll be posing as forensic students accompanying Ferocious. All he and Aria had to do was keep quiet. Ferocious took the lead flashing his badge at the officers standing by the line. A crowd had gathered despite the cold. They slipped in relatively quickly and followed Ferocious’s lead into the taped off animal shelter.
The first notable thing when they entered was the stink. It smelt like god a damn barn in here! Mac looked down at his plastic-wrapped boots; animal droppings covered the entire floor. He was used to the smell of animal shit, but the air was stagnant in here. Nobody bothered to open a fricken window to keep the air moving. There was probably mold in here.
“I always imagined this is how Fluttershy lived,” Aria softly commented her hand over her face as they shuffled into the back room which smelt even worse if that possible. Both of them gagged and one of the real forensic techs approached them and gave them masks.
“One hell of a first crime scene huh, guys?” He laughed. “Gotta say I’ve seen some shit, but this is a shit cake ya know?”
“Yeah,” Mac replied adjusting his mask and lowering his hat to cover his face more. He looked for Ferocious, who was across the room talking to Stryker with the sheriff. The Tech had gone back to his work of collecting evidence, leaving him and Aria to snoop around. They quietly step toward the back of the cages, out of sight of the others and he offered his hand to Aria. She took it, and her eyes flashed green with second sight. “How’s it look?”
“As if a dark magic gas bomb went off this place is rolling with it. We should probably be wearing hazmat suits, if not just for the sink alone. Always knew the animal freak would shack up in a place like this.”
There was no question Fluttershy had been based here and for a while. Shame they never took the time seriously come and check this place out. That just corresponded with Fluttershy’s nature. Out of off all of the infected girls, she was the one with the lowest profile.
“I see a lot of dark magic over there. A very concentrated amount.” Aria pointed to the storage room. Carefully they opened the door, and the stench inside was even worse! “Ugh… it smells like blood and shit in there!”
The Tech looked up form his work as they shut the door. “You two might want to stay out of there. We found the owner inside with rats chewing on her legs. She’s been held in there for more than a week.”
“Was she dead? Fucking smells like it.” Aria coughed stepping back from the door.
The Tech sighed, looking haggard “Not yet. She’s lucky to be alive. When they took her out to the ambulance… well, she didn’t seem all there and not from years of smoking weed. The poor woman is probably scarred for life. Makes you wonder what kind of monsters are out there, I’ll tell ya. Oh, Miss, you better tie your hair up or something, don’t want your DNA found at a crime scene like this.”
Aria thrashed her head around, her hair still done up in its usual pigtails. Wordlessly she took off her cap and pulled her hair bands out, her hair falling straight past her butt. Next, she took it up and molded it around tying it again into a tight bun and put her cap back on.
“Thanks, wouldn’t want to testify in court.” She flashed the Tech a smile. The Tech laughed and waved as he picked up whatever he was looking at and left the backroom.
Mac kicked at the floor tiles. More animal shit covered the floor here than the front. There were several layers in fact. The animals must have been locked in here for a while. Now the question was, where were they? And where was Fluttershy?
“Keep up the good work,” The sheriff said as he passed.
He and Aria looked over to Stryker and Ferocious, they were the only ones left in the building. Stryker walked over and shut the door to the front. “The first round of forensics is done. I’m having the guys outside quarantine the area. You find anything useful with those eyes of yours?”
“Nothing much, just bunch of dark magic gathered where a lot of pain and suffering where the owner was found. It didn’t seem to be part of a ritual.” Aria said sounding a bit meeker than usual. Mac leaned down, finding the siren’s cheeks flush red. Aria noticed him and turned away from both him and Stryker clearing her throat. “Other than that obvious… wait what’s that!” She asked pointing to the operating room. “There’s more dark magic seeping out of there then the other room!”
“Right, about that.” Stryker produced a key from his pocket and walked towards the door. “The sheriff was called by a couple who after seeing the front called it in. When he and another deputy arrived, they went in further and found the owner, TreeHugger, tied up. They also found this. Better brace yourselves.”
Stryker opened the door. A swath of polluted air swooshed out from behind the sealed doors. Mac and Aria coughed up a storm nearly throwing up their lunch as their paper masks did little to guard against the toxic odor. Now if only they had something for their eyes.
“What the hell is that!” Mac shouted reaching for weapons he didn’t have. Under the operating light laid some manner of beast he’d never laid eyes on before. On either side of the mirror. The dead creature or maybe pile of flesh was canine in shape with snakes for tails, bark adorning spots of its tissue with several other animal parts all mixed together liked they been sent through the blender.
“I’ve never seen anything like it either. Ugly little bastard. Hate to see the mother.” Ferocious said pulling a pack of smokes from his pocket. “Warn a man next time when you’re going to show something like that, Stryker.”
Stryker swiped a cigarette from Ferocious’s pack, both of them lighting up. (So much for preserving the crime scene,) thought Mac.
“Fuck you,” Stryker cursed puffing out a cloud of smoke. “You didn’t have to try and explain this one to the normies. Called it a psycho’s art project... Hey, you finding something girl?”
Aria stood up from poking around the operating table, crossing her arms as she took several steps back from the creature. “I don’t know what you call this exactly, but it’s probably a custom chimera.”
“Chimeras are a snake, goat, and lion mixed together,” Mac stated looking the creature over again. “It’s got the snake tail, but not much else.”
“Chimeras are creatures made of three or more of different creatures. The cat, snake, goat combo is just one of the favorites. Safe to say this one was probably a failure, but I don’t think it takes much brain power to figure out what happened to the other animals.” Aria picked at the bark skin. “Looks like she mixed in Timber Wolves too.”
It only took a moment for them to process just what Fluttershy could do with such creatures and just how many she could make with an overstocked animal shelter.
Mac, Stryker and Ferocious let out a collective, “Fuck.”
Rainbow observed Mac and Aria exiting the Animal Shelter flanked by two familiar tall guys, carefully she sunk deeper into the alley and made a full sprint in the opposite direction. She didn’t know where she was going now or where she could find Fluttershy. Rainbow stopped to catch her breath, her stomach tightening in pain, she was still starving.
“Fuck. Well so much for teaming up with Fluttershy, should have known Animal Shelter would be the first place they’d look for her.” On the bright side, Fluttershy was still out there, so the shy girl had bugged out before the police and Mac arrived. Rainbow fell back against a wall and sunk to the ground. “Damn scaredy shy is better at this villain stuff them I am.”
She froze at her own words. Since when did she want to be a villain? “What am I… ouch…agh…aha…” Her head began to hurt like someone was pressing their finger into her brain. “Ebony? Are you doing that? Ugh… stop it! I said stop it! That hurts!”
Ebony coiled around her neck squeezing it tight, her tail dug into the back of Rainbow neck. Violently Ebony hissed digging deeper into Rainbow’s neck. “I’m sorry! I’m not wavering! I’m committed to our…ugh…your…no my…what am I doing? Why am I doing this?”
Her head was pounding like a drum! Everything was confusing and crossways, she couldn’t think straight! What was she supposed to be doing? What did she want to do?
“Revenge, ”A low raspy voice whispered. “You want revenge for what they did to us! They shoved us into the darkness! Left us to rot! Three sisters have already been taken down, and the others took out before they even had the chance to hatch! These injustices must be rectified! We must take down Mac and his companions and bend the people of this town to our will, and once we do, we will go after the ones that defeated us and cast us aside to die in darkness! Mother and the Equestrians!”
Rainbow’s head was swirling, her eyes dull and lifeless as her body fell limp to the ground. “Yes… revenge, power, mother… I remember now.” Ebony uncoiled her body from Rainbow’s neck and slithered back down into her sweeter for warmth. Rainbow stood up rubbing her throat.
“Damn what a fucking night. Ok, what’s the next place Fluttershy would be? Her house? No, too obvious. The zoo? No, Fluttershy would free the animals. She’d want a place with lots of… space.” Rainbow jumped to her feet. A wild grin on her face as she figured out where Fluttershy was hiding. A wide-open place with enough room for lots of animals, the Canterlot Wildlife reserve. That was where she had to be which was outside of town, five miles outside of town to be exact.
“Shit.” She looked across the street to an empty car, just sitting there. The wind blew making her shutter even with the new warm clothes, and she was still hungry. Super sprinting out to the animal reserve wasn’t possible, plus there wouldn’t be any shelter out there. A car could provide that, and there were gas stations to take food from along the way.
Rainbow gripped her hand tight. “It’s worth it.”
It was defiantly worth it, Rainbow sighed in content as she snarked down her second box of stolen Hershey bars while the car heater ran. “So worth it.” She said again laying back in the driver’s seat, her belly almost budging. She hadn’t been this full in a while. There’d but trouble later when the owner reported their car missing. She’d have to ditch it away from the reserve, but right now this was bliss. It was almost like being at the spa with Rarity. Not that she did that often or had a membership.
Alas, she could not stay here forever. She was tempted just to stay here until the car ran out of gas, but it was getting dark, and she might need a warm place to stay if she doesn’t find Fluttershy right away. So, with a heavy heart Rainbow Dash shut off the car, the hot air quickly dissipating as the cold almost instantly began to set in again. Bundling up in her coat she got out of the vehicle shivering as she faced the thirty-degree air.
“Should have stolen more than one set of clothes. Rarity wouldn’t miss them.” Rainbow grumbled stepping out into the woods. She parked in the remotest parking lot she could find around the wildlife reserve. Considering the parking lot was a piece of cut grass with a rotting wooden fence around it, it was about as remote as it could get. Still, she’d have to find a different place to hide the car later. “Ebony, can you mark this spot so we can find it later?”
From under her coat, the black snake hissed. Rainbow took that as a yes and walked deeper into the trees. Right now, she was on a game trail or well-stepped path made by hunters. Being a city girl, she honestly couldn’t tell the difference. Applejack could have. Applejack could have looked at two similar looking piles of animal poop and understand the difference between them.
(Maybe I should have listened to AJ’s ramblings when we were hiking at camp.) So, what was her plan here? Should she start yelling for Fluttershy? The wildlife reserve was well over a hundred acres in size. (I’m full now, I should be able to use super sprint, yay life hacks!)
With a smirk, Rainbow dashed full speed ahead and tripped over a tree root. Dusting herself off she tried again and got a branch to the face! Third times the charm and she winged her shoulder on a tree.
“Holy crap that hurt!” She screamed into the darkness. What little moonlight there was wasn’t enough for her see anything at super speed. “I guess I’m hoofing it.” Only now that she looked around, she lost sight of the trail. “Huh, shit… I think the car is… whoa!”
The ground suddenly gave out beneath her foot, and she fell backward down a ravine. Rainbow’s world was upside down, all around and barf-inducing as she tumbled down the dirt hill and splashed into the river below. Well, not so much a river as more a creek. The water was barely two inches deep, but it was also cold! Her clothes were soaked down to her underwear, and she was shivering up a storm. She tried to stand, but her left leg gave out from beneath her sending her back into the water.
Teeth grinding, anger flaring and frustrated beyond belief with her life at the moment. Rainbow Dash let out a loud wailing scream of frustration while simultaneously balled her eyes out as she grabbed her twisted ankle and cursed up a storm that would make sailors blush.
“Fucking shit fuck, god damn motherfucking shit fuck FUCK FUCK SHIT STUPID GOD DAMN SHIT FUCK!”
Rainbow’s breathing slowed her anger cooling, but not dissipating as she tried to focus on more important things. Such as getting out of this cold water. First, she hopped up on her right leg, her balance wobblily until she found a tree root coming out of the side of the hill to grab onto. Next, to looked up at the slope she fell from, she couldn’t see the top, how far did she fall? No way she was climbing up that.
“Fuck it, I’m flying back to the car.” Calling on her magic, she felt her wings appear on her back, and she levitated off the ground her feet out of the creek finally. She began to ascend when something rustled a nearby bush. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound and saw several sets of glowing yellow eyes. “Yeah… I’m not dealing with this tonight.” She flew up fast, the things in the bushes sprinted out and jumped! And jumped high! High enough to snag her foot in their jaws!
“Aww FUCK!” Was her response as the creatures dragged her back into the water again! Angerly she punched at the shadowed beasts, her fist hitting flesh, rock, and bark she had no idea what she was hitting! “Screw this!” Gathering lightning in her hand Rainbow caught a glimpse of the beasts in the crackling blue light. They were like timber wolves, but not, they had flesh, but they also had rocks and bark on their bodies. Also, they weren’t wolves, but mountain lions! So Timber Lions? Not important because they were chewing on her leg!
“Take this you bastards!” She plunged her electrified hand into the water, arcs of lightning hopped on the surface of the water, lighting up the stream and shocking the beasts. The smell of cooking flesh and burning wood reached her nostrils as the beasts smoked and screamed before falling over dead. “Yeah… take that…” Rainbow said weakly falling back into the stream. Her eye flutter as blood poured from her leg, the water carrying it downstream. Ebony rose from Rainbow’s coat shivering and frail as she wrapped her tail around Rainbow and pulled her to shore. A twig snapped, and the black snake whirled around hissing defensively as it guarded her host.
From the darkness a green snake emerged, it hissed and flaunted its lighter green feathered wings, and Ebony replied by flaunting her red feathered wings. More of the beasts appeared around the green snake, their bodies emitting light bright enough for Ebony to see she's surrounded. Finally, a taller figure walked from the back of the pack, their hair falling to their feet their body covered entirely by some sort of heavy cloak. Only when the figure knelt did Ebony see they were wrapped in the fur of a bear and from under the cover a yellow-skinned hand emerged.
“Another stray to take in. Come with me little one, I’ll take care of you.” Ebony leaned away from the outstretched hand hugging her body close to Rainbow’s. The figure removed their hood, more hair spilling out as the kind-hearted fanged smile of Fluttershy beamed down upon the black snake. “It’s ok, I don’t hurt the weak.”
Ebony snapped and hissed, gesturing to Rainbow. Fluttershy softly smiled standing up to tower over the little snake. Waving her hand Fluttershy summoned vines crafting a stretcher beneath Rainbow. Four of the beasts took the injured girl upon their back and began carrying her away. Fluttershy threw her bearskin robe over the freezing girl. Taking the lead as she led them into the woods.
“As I said, I don’t hurt the weak. Now come along, I’m taking you two home with me.”
Maddie crawled her way under the tin wall of the shed her arms and legs bloody from cutting her bonds, and now getting dirt in her wounds, but she didn’t care. She dug with the vigor of a field mouse clawing her way to freedom! Pulling her torso under the tin, cutting her back on the jagged metal, Maddie pushed and pulled her body out from under the wall her breasts catching as Maddie arched her back. A lot of dirt falls into her shirt, but again she didn’t care, she could see the moon! With a final grunt and pulled slipping her legs out from the hole and jumped to her feet! It hurt, and immediately fell back against the shed that she’d been captive in for the last few days in relief, but she was fucking out!
“Yeah! Wahoo! Momma’s free! And missing a lot of blood…” Maddie fell on her ass feeling woozy. She held her arms up in the moonlight cringing at her blood-caked arms with a good helping of dirt crusted over her cuts. Her legs weren’t any better. “Maybe I should just rest here for a minute… NO! Rest means death!”
She had no idea when Pinkie/Spite was going return. She had to get out of here and fast! With her legs like this, she wasn’t going to get far. Standing up and limping alongside the building Maddie spotted lights. The quarry! Yeah, she was at the quarry! She almost forgot after hours of being tortured!
“Hahaha, the things that slip your mind when you’re in pain.” This was perfect for her. Really it was. Her first attempt failed, but there was still a chance there was a vehicle, phone or just a helpful stranger down in the quarry just waiting to help her! She was modesty attractive woman that looked like a domestic abuse case, there was no way someone wasn’t going to help her on sight. At least she hoped so. “Well helpful stranger or phone, I’ll take either. Would kill for some painkillers too.”
Limping her way down the hill, Maddie used the slope on the side of the road to balance. Her progress was painfully slow. The road was winding, the gravel rough on her feet. Pinkie had taken her shoes, so she was barefoot. So, when she found a broken tree limb that was just about her height, she picked up, broke off the small adjoining branches and used it as a walking stick, which was a godsend at this point, which was kind of sad, but it did allow her to walk a little faster.
After an hour of limping she finally, finally, reached the end of the road and stood before the quarry. She was so happy she actually began to cry. There were vehicles lined up in rows, an office with the lights on, and there were people!
“Maybe there are gods in this world. Nice ones too.” Maddie took a step forward and… her stick snapped and stabbed into her leg. She screamed bloody murder as she put pressure on her fresh new wound. “WHAT THE FUCK DID I SAY THIS TIME!”
Despite that little setback, some men in orange vests came running to help her. They called for first aid, and she was placed on a stretcher, and there was even a medical professional on site. Not a doctor. But she didn’t care they had morphine and carbon peroxide, which hurt, but then the morphine kicked in.
“I will… no, I would… make the guy, girl, whatever the happiest thing in the world as long as you keep that coming…” She slurred as the drugs took effect. Her head rolled limply to the side off the stretcher. A gray-skinned girl in a hardhat stood beside her with her arms crossed. “Hello… you… want the clam cuddled?”
“Where’d you find this loopy bitch?” Limestone Pie asked leaning down for a better look at Maddie. It was painful just look at her. “Hey, lady, what happened? Bigfoot take you out back and make you his wife?”
“Ms. Pie that’s a little crude.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I bet your one of those nature freaks. Probably come here to protest again, and you fell down a mountain, and now you’ll sue us to try and get us to shut down!” Limestone barked grabbing Maddie by the shirt. One of the workers quickly caught her and pulled her away from the injured woman, but not before one of Maddie’s boobs slipped out of her shirt.
“Hey!” Maddie slurred drunkenly. “At least buy me dinner first!”
“Just settle down, she could be a hiker that got lost.” The same worker said, trying to calm down the irate Pie sister. “Besides if you hurt her anymore, she could sue you, so keep your hands to yourself. Miss? Miss? Can you hear me?”
Maddie nodded, her eyes flickered as sleep tried to take her.
The employee slapped her! “Sorry, but you need to stay awake miss. The ambulance is on its way, the police too. Is there anything you can tell us? Like how you ended up like this?”
“Should have asked her before I morphine her up. She’s probably in Lalaland now.” The first responder grunted as he picked the glass, metal, and dirt out of Maddie’s wounds. “Man, she is a tough woman to wander out of the woods like this.”
“Pink bitch…” Maddie mumbled her eyes barely staying open.
Limestone looked sharply at her. “What’d you say?”
“We better put her in the pickup and meet the ambulance. She’s not looking good. I might have given her too much morphine.” The first responder said grabbing one side of the stretcher.
Limestone cursed and grabbed the other side. “Fuck don’t die in one of our pickups! Goddamn insurance is going to be a nightmare.” She mumbled as they carried Maddie out to one of the pickups.
Maddie heard the doors close, and the truck began to move, her body rocked in the back seat of the white Chevy as the driver eased out of the bumpy quarry sight.
“Dammit, Ironsides, drive more carefully!” Limestone turned around in her seat. “I said this once already, but don’t fucking die in my pick up!”
“Relax Miss Pie, this woman survived up till now, I think she’ll make it just fine. The roads a bit bumpy going out, but we’ll hit the tar soon, Miss.”
“Hoof,” Maddie croaked, her throat dry. “Maddie Hoof.”
“That your name, Miss?” Ironsides asked as he turned onto the blacktop. “Miss? I know it’s hard, but if you could keep talking, that’d be really reassuring. Miss Pie, do you mind keeping an eye on her? I’m sure you’d like me to stay on the road. Try to be kind too.”
Limestone huffed, “Fine, but I’m not much for small talk.” She turned around in her seat again Maddie’s wounds barely visible in the cab and spoke as sweetly as she could. “So… your name is Maddie?” Maddie nodded stiffy. “Ok, good, good, I’m Limestone Pie. Um… I’m the second oldest of four. Do you have any siblings? How about your mother and father? Is there anyone we can call for you?”
Maddie began to cry. “Never knew my mom, Dad’s dead, don’t have any siblings.”
Limestone blinked away a stray tear. “Wow… that’s depressing. Do you have a boyfriend or just any friends? Is there anyone we can call?”
“Mac… Apple… we’re friends… I think we are. I hope we are. His wife too, I think she’s my friend, her name is Adagio.”
“Ok, um… let’s see…” Limestone pulled out her phone. She knew her sister was friends with one of the Apple girls. She and Mac had been in the same grade, but she hadn’t been that close to him. None the else she checked her contacts because he was kind of her type and maybe she snagged his number once before graduation. “Damn he’s already married, fuck. He works quick.”
“Adagio’s pregnant,” Maddie said wistfully.
Limestone’s eyes bugged out as she finished scrolling through her phone. “Fuck, he does work fast.” Maddie laughed, but it quickly turned into a hard cough, blood flew from her mouth hitting the back of the driver’s seat. “Hey, hey easy now.” Limestone stroked Maddie’s arm, trying to soothe her. “How much further Ironsides?”
“This is the only road out here, and we haven’t met the ambulance yet. Should maybe try calling. You don’t have that Mac guys number?” Limestone shook her head. “Can you look it up online? You have the internet on your phone.”
“I have a signal, but no network.” Limestone sat back in her seat. Maddie’s breathing was sounding hoarser. “I don’t think her talk was a good idea.”
“Maybe, but we at least have a name to call.” Ironsides slowed down and turned on his hazards. “That’s the ambulance.” He said eluding to the fast-approaching blur of flashing lights. Quickly he climbed out of the cab of the pickup, grabbing a road flare from under the seat, igniting it he walked into the middle of the road waving his arms and shouted for the emergency vehicle to stop. “We got your patient here!” He shouted as the ambulance driver rolled down his window.
“Roger that, Nyx, get the stretcher!” The driver shouted as medics poured out from the back with the gurney. One paramedic was a dark-skinned woman who looked very haggard.
“Fuck me, I was almost done with my shift too,” Nyx grumbled as Ironsides opened the back door of the pickup. The paramedic beside her looked sympathetic.
“Sorry Nyx, but you were the only other qualified personnel available. Everyone’s shifts have been screwy lately. Let’s just get this... wow she looks like shit, doesn’t she?” The medic joked with the disputation of someone who was numb to real horrors. “The hell happened to her? Did a bear get her?” He asked as they gently moved Maddie to the stretcher. Nyx gasped in horror.
“Holy shit, Maddie?”
“You know her?” The medic asked.
The driver honked the horn. “Keep it moving people! I know your not the A team, but we got a life on the line! Gently now!”
Nyx and the paramedic move Maddie to the back of the ambulance and quickly place her inside. Limestone and Ironsides wait as the ambulance made a quick and precise three-point turn and sped off into the night with lights and sirens blazing.
“Shall we head back Miss Pie?” Limestone silently nodded as she climbed back into the pickup, Ironsides making his own three-point turn back to the quarry. He drove for several minutes before breaking the silence. “Something eating you Miss Pie? You worried about that girl or the insurance.”
She punched him in the shoulder. “Shut it, I may be a bit callous, but I don’t want her to die. Especially when she wandered onto my property.”
“Your dad still owns the quarry.”
“Future property then.” Limestone bit her thumbnail. “Something she said is bothering me.”
“What’s that?”
“She said a pink bitch did that to her, she even said Pinkie bitch too. Pinkie… Pinkie is my sister’s nickname.”
Ironsides laughed. “Pinkie? Your bubbly sister who makes us all cupcakes? You think she did that?”
“She wasn’t always that way.” Limestone crossed her arm and leaned down in her seat. “She used to be downright scary. When she was twelve, she… well never mind. You right, Pinkie wouldn’t do that.” Limestone looked out the window into the blackness as the rain began to hit the window. (But Pinkamena would.)
As they sped through the night, Limestone looked out the window and yelled for Ironsides to stop the truck. The pickup slid on the slippery road coming to a full stop in between the narrow lanes. Before he could ask what happened Limestone had already climbed outside the vehicle. Ironsides got out too covering his head with his arms as Limestone stood in the rain, the white tank top beneath her open flannel shirt soaked wet.
Eyes adverted he peered into the darkness trying to see what she saw. “What is it, boss?”
“I thought I saw Pinkie.”
“Your sister?”
“Is there another Pinkie you know?”
“Well, no, but what the hell would she being doing out here?” He said pulling her back towards the pickup. “Come on, your just tried and probably stressed because of that Maddie girl and the insurance.”
“Yeah, maybe.” She replied climbing back into the passenger seat. As Ironsides straightened out, the truck Limestone pulled out her phone and seeing she had some bars she decided to call home. “Hey, Marble? Has Pinkie come home, yet?” A soft ‘no’ come over the line. “I see, yeah, yeah, I’ll call her friends in the morning. I can’t tonight.” She snapped, Marble’s soft-spoken protests barely coming through the speaker. “You know why. I’m not putting work before family. It’s fucking eleven PM! I’m not calling people at eleven at night! I know she’s been gone for two days, that’s nothing new for her! Principle Luna came by? When? Two days ago? Look I promise I’ll start making calls in the morning when I wake up. I’ll take the day off to help you look, ok? What more do you want from me? I do care, Marble! You're just too emotional!” Limestone hit end call.
“Wow, I almost heard her.” Ironsides laughed, earning a punch in the side. “Hey, don’t get mad at me because your meek sister got angry at you.”
Limestone huffed crossing her arms. “She acts like I’m fucking heartless.”
“Um…”
“Fine, I can be a cold-hearted bitch, but I do care about my sisters!” Limestone chaffed, leaning back her seat. “Fuck, I wish that was Pinkie I saw just so I could spank her ass.”
“So, what did you see again?” Ironsides asked pulling into the quarry lot.
“Nothing just a pink blur… what the hell!” Limestone sat up in her seat in horror! The quarry site was on fire! Equipment was overturned, and her men lay on the ground unmoving. She jumped out of the truck and ran to the nearest man who was still breathing. “What the hell happened here?”
The man coughed and pointed to the old machine shed at the top of the hill. “The old barn… exploded and then a pink blur came by and did this…” The man went limp in her arms Limestone kneeling stunned in the mud.
“A pink blur…” Suddenly an explosion erupted in the direction of the main road in the direction of the ambulance. “Ironsides call for more help!” She ordered climbing into the Chevy and peeling off into the night.
“Miss Pie, wait!” He yelled, but the tail lights of the pick up were already gone.
“Holy shit you’re in bad shape, even worse than last time,” Nyx said as she adjusted Maddie’s breathing mask. “They doped you on morphine too, shit, well it might be for the best given your current state. Hand me that disinfectant, Hobs.”
“Man, this woman must be tough as stones,” Hobs commented handing over the disinfectant. “I mean, look at her! She looks like she got mauled by a bear!”
“Yeah, can’t really say what’s holding her together.” Nyx dabbed a Q-tip into one of the cuts on Maddie’s left arm. The wounds around her wrists were the freshest. “She was bound, look here, rope fibers were in her wrists and…” She gulped only imagining the pain. “She must have rubbed the ropes until they broke.”
“Her feet too. Did she walk like this? Look at these cuts on her legs.” Hobs began to cut Maddie’s clothes off, they were shredded anyway and just in the way. “Man, what sicko did this to her?”
Nyx took a pair of tweezers and pulled a thin pink hair from the cut on Maddie’s shoulder. She stretched out the pink lock, it was long, longer then most males would have their hair. Also, pink wasn’t a typical male color either. Some men have naturally pink hair, but that was a narrow margin in this world. She could think of a few pink heads she knew personally. She let the one end of the hair go, it curled. She knew a pink haired girl with curly hair.
Maddie was unconscious, she couldn’t confirm her fears, but Nyx knew who did this to her. It was just her luck that she came back to work just in time for this.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Nyx patted her pants pockets looking for her phone. She stood up digging her hand frantically into her tight pants pocket. Phone in hand she pressed the power button as she chewed her lip while glancing fearfully out the window, lightning running up her spine.
“Nyx, you know you can’t use your phone in here.” Said Hobs has he reached to take it. She smacked away his hand, leaving deep scratches that bleed. “What the hell woman?”
“Be quiet! I have to make this call, or we’re all dead!” Nyx barked her transformation slipped and revealed her changeling features to her coworker.
“What… what are…”
Nyx pressed her finger against Hobs’ head. “Sorry, sleep.” Hobs fell over on the bench, knocking over some medicine bottles he had set out. From the cab, the driver, a man named Auto glanced back. “What happened?”
“Nothing, keep driving, faster if possible.” Nyx pressed her body as close to the wall as she could to keep him from seeing her fangs and ears.
“That bad huh? Alright, I’ll try to speed it up, but this rain is kind of slowing me down.”
Phone on Nyx scrolled through her contacts and pressed Mac’s name as soon as it came into view. The dial tone rang. Sweat began to gather, she could feel a presence coming toward them, and it was much, much, stronger than her.
The call went through, Mac’s voice coming over the speaker. “Hello?”
“Mac… ‘BOOOM’!”
The world was suddenly upside-down Nyx laid on the roof of the ambulance, which was now the floor. She rolled on her side, sparks fell from above the lights flashing on and off, casting her in a blur of light and dark. Nyx grabbed one of the bars on the wall and pulled herself up against up. Her clothes were wet, at first the thought it was the rain, but when she patted her stomach, she felt a piece of metal sticking out of her gut.
“Fuck this day.” She mumbled looking to see how her co-workers were doing. Hobs lay towards the front, his head covered in blood, he was probably dead. Auto hung from his seat, he wasn’t making any noise either. In the flickering lights, she saw a steady stream of red blood poured from his body. “Auto?” No response.
A soft groan caught her attention. Maddie still tied down to the stretcher lay across from her, somehow alive. “Fuck, can anything kill you?” Nyx felt around for her phone, it had flown from her hand in the explosion. Her hand splashed through the water running in from the rain, searching for her phone, she found it. The screen was black though. “Come on, work.” She pleaded rapidly pressing the power button.
The back doors of the ambulance were suddenly torn away. Standing in the red light of the tail lights was a very pissed off looking Pinkie or rather the SIN that was controlling her body. The possessed girl climbed into the wrecked vehicle grabbed hold of the stretcher and yanked it out with one mighty pull!
“There you are, mommy.” Pinkie said in a sickly-sweet voice. “You know better than to run from me, right? Why do you hurt me like this mommy? I thought you wanted to play? I brought everything we’ll need to have some fun from your lab.” Nyx saw the duffle bag Pinkie was sporting as she kneed next to the stretcher and wondered what she had inside it. “Come on now Mommy, I’ll make you better.” Pinkie’s nails turned into claws, easily she cut the straps holding Maddie down and threw the wounded woman over her shoulder. The entire time Nyx held her breath, praying Pinkie wouldn’t notice her.
(Call me a coward, but I’m not a fighter.) Nyx held her stomach wound, Pinkie’s footsteps growing more and more distant until she couldn’t hear them anymore. Even then she waited another thirty seconds before finally breathing again.
“Now what?” She asked aloud. “Just sit here and bleed out?” Looking around for something useful Nyx spotted some gauze in the upside-down drawer. She gripped the piece of metal in her gut and gave it a light tug. It was painful and probably not a good idea to take it out yet, even with bandages available. Carefully she worked her way across the ambulance and took her prize for her efforts. She tore away her uniform and bundled a bunch of bandages into a wad and packed them around the metal in her stomach and held them there. Grabbing some tape next, she pushed the pad down and taped it tight. Finally taking more bandages, she wrapped several rolls of medical tape around her stomach to hold the wad down and fell back against the wall again. It hurt like hell, but what blood was coming from her wound was stopped for now.
“Better not move, might cut up my organs,” Nyx mumbled her eyes fluttered open and closed. She was so sleepy all of a sudden. How long has it been? Would anyone notice they were late in time to save her? Would Mac try to call back? It didn’t matter if he did, her phone was trashed. “Maybe I should try for the radio?”
The radio transmitter lay on the floor, the cord still connected. It seemed so far away now. Nyx reached for it, but her body refused to move anymore. She laid her head against the wall. “So tired.”
Headlights flashed through the back of the ambulance, and a door slammed, there were footsteps. Someone knelt in the wreckage, their body blacked out by the headlights of their vehicle.
“Holy shit, don’t worry, I’ll be there in a second.” A voice said. It was a woman’s voice. A pair of strong arms grabbed and dragged Nyx out of the ruined vehicle. “Don’t worry. Help’s coming.” The woman assured her putting her in the back seat of the pick-up. The same one that had brought Maddie. “How are the others?”
“Don’t know, Hobs is dead, but I couldn’t really tell with Auto,” Nyx replied dazedly.
The woman nodded, “Ok. I’ll go check on them.” She disappeared for about a minute. When she returned, she didn’t say anything and just started driving.
“Dead?” Nyx croaked.
“Sorry,” The woman replied. Her hands gripped tight on the wheel. “What happened?”
“A pink bitch blew us up and took our patient.”
The woman looked like she was about to say something, but stopped short. “I’ll drive you to town myself. More ambulances are on the way, she… she got some guys at the Quarry too.”
Nyx laid back and sighed. “I see… I’m kind of tired, but… call Mac Apple, he… he’ll fix this.”
“What can he do? Hey? You still alive back there?” Limestone shouted shaking Nyx. There was no response. With a feral growl, Limestone sped down the road to the hospital. “Fuck, don’t die in my pick up!”
“Who was that?” Aria inquired as Mac dropped his phone back into his breast pocket. She was squished between Mac and Ferocious on their way home. After revealing the Fluttershy’s Frankenstein project, they lingered around the crime see for a while and then looked to see if there had been any sighting of strange creatures at the sheriff’s office. The time was thirty minutes to midnight, and they had found nothing, so they decided to go back to the farm when Mac got a call. “Nyx,” Mac drawled pulling over to the curb. He fished his phone back out of his pocket and tried calling the changeling nurse again. He held the phone out checking his signal before trying again. “Hmm… she’s not picking up.”
“Maybe she ass dialed you? She probably got home and fell right into bed with her clothes on. She has been working double shifts since the portal was destroyed. A lot of older folks are still suffering from that.” Aria divulged. “I’m worried about some of our golden girls. I hope they recover alright.”
He didn’t reply. Trying to call Nyx back for the third time and still no answer. Tried or not, Nyx didn’t call them for personal reasons usually. She had said his name, and then there was a loud noise, and that was it. “She wouldn’t have called for no reason.” Mac drawled dialing the number for the hospital office. He about knew it by heart now with how often they’ve been there. “Hi, this is Macintosh Apple. Yeah, sorry to bother you so late at night, but is Nurse Nyx in? She’s out on an ambulance call? No, sorry, I just didn’t know she did that too. Any details on when she’ll be back? The Pie Quarry? When did she leave?” Mac held the phone between his cheek and shoulder and checked his watch. “She should have been back by now, right?” Suddenly someone yelled in the background, and the hospital receptionist hung up.
Ferocious leaned forward in his seat. “Something wrong?”
“Maybe,” Mac dropped his phone back into his shirt pocket and gripped the shift lever. It was late, there wasn’t any more they could do today, so they might as well go home and sleep. He moved the lever to drive when his phone rang again. He pulled out his phone again, the screen displayed a somewhat familiar number. He answered. “Hello?”
“I don’t suppose you remember me?” The voice on the other end said it was a woman with a harsh tone.
“Limestone Pie?” Mac replied surprised. “Kind of the last person I expected to call at midnight.”
Limestone sounded tired. “Yeah, well you weren’t first on my list either. Listen, I know this is going to sound strange, but could you meet me at the hospital? I just delivered someone that said you could help fix… whatever is going on.”
“And what’s going on?”
“Crazy shit, look I know this is a lot to ask so late, but… I need your help, Mac, if nothing else you might want to see your friend here. She’s in tough shape, her name is Nyx.”
Before anything else could be said Mac drifted the pick-up away from the curb and pointed in the direction of the Hospital. “We’ll be right there, stand in a place we can see you, Limestone,” Mac ordered and then hung up. “Aria, call the house tell Adagio we’ll be back in the morning, somethings come up.”
“Got it.” She replied as they sped through the dark empty streets.
Limestone paced in the emergency room hall. Nyx was inside getting the metal scrap removed from her gut. She would have left by now, but after overhearing some other nurses say Nyx didn’t have anyone coming to see her, she decided to stay. At least until she was out of surgery. Limestone had sat down when Mac found her.
“Howdy,” Mac greeted sitting down across from her, a pink skinned girl punk rock girl sitting down next to him who looked very familiar.
“That’s your wife?” Limestone inquired. Mac did a double take and laughed ruffling the girl’s purple pigtailed hair.
“Naw, this is my sister in law Aria. Wife is back home taking care of our guests at the house. We were in town on some… business.”
“That’s some pretty late business.” Limestone quipped glaring skeptically at the two.
“Let’s cut the bullshit, what happened?” Aria snipped cutting to the chase.
Limestone leaned back and crossed her arms. “Some beaten and bruised woman named Maddie Hoof showed up at the quarry, I deliver her to the paramedics, I get back to the quarry my entire staff is on the ground, and something exploded in the distance. I figured it was the ambulance and went back to check on them, leaving my hired man to call for more help. I find Nyx alive and the other two dead, and the woman they were transporting gone. Nyx said you, Mac, could fix this.” She leaned forward, elbows on her knees as she whispered. “Does this have something to do with all that magic nonsense that my sister and her friends have been involved with since before we graduated?”
Mac leaned forwards, speaking just of softly, “Something like that. The genie might be coming out of the bottle soon. Things… things have been crazy.”
“You're telling me,” she snorted. “Ugh… I can’t believe this happened, no good deed goes unpunished and all that. The worst part is I think Pinkie is involved, both Maddie and Nyx said a pink bitch attacked them. Maybe it’s because she’s the first pink skinned person I think of, but my sister isn’t involved in this, right?” Limestone pressed sounding hopeful. When Mac and Aria didn’t rebuke her, she nervously chewed her lip. “She is, isn’t she?”
“It’s not just her,” Aria admitted. “We’ve gotten caught up in it ourselves. We only just now began piecing things together.”
Mac sighed. “The short of it is, some bad magic parasites got themselves into Applejack and her friends. Some were affected worse than others. We just wrangled down Rarity today… well, it’d be yesterday now, but Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are still at large. A companion of ours scuffed with Rainbow Dash no long ago, she was in tough shape. We don’t have any real leads on Fluttershy and Pinkie.”
“At least until now,” Aria added, she pulled her phone out and opened her map app. “Could you pinpoint where the ambulance was attacked?”
“Yeah, fine,” Limestone said taking the phone and tapped the general location and then where she thought the old shed would be. “It’s gone now, but there was an old machine shed where dad used to house the equipment before he upgraded and things were too big to fit inside. When I came back to the quarry it was on fire, so that might have been where Maddie was being held.”
Aria took the phone back and showed to Mac, they both nodded and Aria slipped it back into her pocket. “I’ll go tell Ferocious, she can’t have gone too far carrying Maddie.”
“I’ll wait to see Nyx, she deserves that much,” Mac said with a wave. “You two can wait for me or head back home. See if Ferocious and Stryker can get anything.” Mac looked at Limestone. “You called the cops, right?”
“I’m not stupid.” Limestone retorted. “They’re probably checking out the area now. I’m staying here, I got a lot of workers I need to care for that are coming.” She sighed with dismay. “Why would Pinkie do this?”
“Don’t know,” Mac replied leaning back in his chair. He checked his watch, it was after midnight now, even if the police were on the scene it was dark and they were probably tired from checking out the animal shelter scene. Trying to find Pinkie now would be hard. (Hopefully, one more day won’t hurt.) He hoped that was true, mentally he counted back how many days Maddie had before the seal kicked in and killed her. Time was running short for her and for the girls.
He and Limestone waited in the emergency room hall for the next hour, neither of them really talking. During that time Aria had come back and said Ferocious had made arrangements to check out the wreckage and quarry tomorrow morning, for now, the police were preserving the scene for better light, and a semi-rested crew. Their hands were tied on that end.
The Doctor Blue Cross come out of the emergency room blood still on her scrubs as she looked at the two of them. “Ah Mr. Apple, here again, I have better news this time, and you’re the young lady who brought our Nurse Nyx her, thank you, you saved her life. Miss Blackthorn is conscious and would like to see you, but only briefly, she needs her rest.”
“Right, ya coming Limestone?”
“Yeah, lead the way.”
The two followed Doctor Blue Cross to Nyx’s room, the changeling Nurse laid on her bed her stomach wrapped in bandages her breasts covered by a disposable bra. Another nurse was asking her questions, so they waited till the nurse was done and pulled a blanket over Nyx.
“I don’t know how long she’ll stay conscious if she falls asleep. Don’t worry, just leave, and we’ll take care of her.” The nurse said pointedly before walking away with Doctor Blue Cross.
Mac walked into the room and took the chair by the bed, Limestone chose to stand on the other side of the bed. “You’re in tough shape. I’d ask if you’re ok, but that seems a bit rhetorical.”
Nyx snorted with disgust. “I got off lucky compared to everyone else. Me, the friendless, familyless, loner. Hobs was married, had two teenagers, Auto, he had three kids the oldest was probably twelve, fuck what I am supposed to say to them? I’m sure their wives will come in crying wondering why I survived, their kids will stand there crying and not understanding what’s going on. Ugh, god, maybe I should have tried to save Maddie from Pinkie, at least then I could have been spared this headache.”
“So, my sister did attack you?” Limestone asked
Nyx nodded turning her head toward the Pie sister. “Yeah, I’d recognize her easily. Seen her come by giving treats to sick kids and hanging out with the older patients at the nursing home.” She looked back to Mac. “She seemed really keen to get hold of Maddie. I don’t know what she has planned for her, but she said she had things from Maddie’s lab. Whatever that means.” Nyx bit her lip tearing up. “She killed two of my co-workers, they were good men Mac, you can’t let this continue.”
He took her hand and squeezed it. “I won’t. We’re following leads right now, we’ll find her, and we’ll stop her. I promise.” Mac stood up and placed Nyx’s hand on her chest. “I’ll tell Adagio what happened. I’m sure she’ll want to visit. I know we don’t appreciate you enough Nyx, but you are our friend. We’ll do better to show it from now on.”
She settled down in her pillow, her eyes dropping low. “Friends huh. Maybe that’s why I put up with you, if that’s true let me take a sip of that love. I’m hungry.” Nyx’s eyes closed and her soft snores filling the room.
Mac and Limestone left her making their way out of the hospital. Mac leading Limestone to her pickup. “Thanks for bringing her in. I owe you one.”
“Yeah,” Limestone said wistfully as she leaned against her pickup. She looked up at the hospital and then back down to Mac’s retreating back. “She’s not from, here is she? Nyx, I mean.” Mac froze in his tracks. “She had ears atop her head, like my sister and her friends when I pulled her from the truck. I’m don’t know shit about this magic business, but I’ve seen Pinkie knock herself out when playing around with it and her ears disappeared when she clocked herself out. Nyx’s ears stayed so I hid them under her hair and wrapped a bandage around them to keep them down when I handed her off. She must have woken up enough to do something about them because nobody made a fuss about it.” She looked on at Aria waiting in the pickup. “She’s from the same place as them. The Equestria world or whatever. Can’t believe I lost a chance at you to one of the fish girls.”
Mac turned around, looking a bit surprised. “You fancied me, huh? Can’t say I noticed.”
Limestone blushed in the lamplight. “You were focused on your farm, I was focused on the quarry, I assume… relationships could come later. You’re a hard worker, I respected that and found it a little attractive. Too late for that now.”
“I got a few cousins like that, if your interested, but that’ll have to wait till this mess is over.”
“Yeah, got a little off track that here.” Limestone scratched her nose feeling silly. “So… um… I know Pinkie has done some bad things, but she’s still my sister…”
“You don’t know the half of it.” He said tightly, remembering the massacre in the city, it’ll be better not to tell Limestone that was Pinkie’s doing. “We saved Rarity, we’ll save the rest of them if we can. We can only do our best Limestone.” He turned to face her, his face filled with conviction. “We will bring this to an end, but things will never go back to the way they were.”
She sighed and walked over to him and presented her business card. “This is my cellphone, keep me in the loop. Better yet, call me when you go out to see the sight, I may be of some help. My sisters and I used to play in those woods around the quarry when we were young, maybe Pinkie will be at one of our old hangouts.”
Mac pocketed the card in his shirt pocket. “We got enough people, but… yeah, she’s your sister, I’ll try to keep you in the loop.”
“Fair enough,” She waved goodbye and returned to her pick up. Mac doing the same and the two parted ways.
Deep, deep in the woods, shivering and freezing Pinkie/Spite loomed over a prone Maddie, the former mad scientist shivering up a storm. Spite removed several different colored vials and syringes from her duffle bag. She placed a green bottle in a syringe and let a few drops out as she poised the needle at Maddie’s exposed neck.
“Don’t worry Mommy, I’ll make you better, better than better, I’ll make you just like me.” The needle pieced Maddie’s neck, and Spite pulled the trigger, injecting the strange liquid into Maddie. The mad scientist began to wither in agony as steam rose from her wounds. Her injuries healing rapidly. Spite loaded a blue vial Maddie’s screams never stopping as the second dose was hastily injected. “It’ll be painful, but I promise it’ll be quick, Mommy and then we can have some real fun.” Spite loaded the third vial. “Now let’s just add everything and see what you become. A monster’s mother should be even more monstrous right?” She laughed injecting the fourth vail and the fifth and more and more.
Mac rolled out of bed or tried to but Adagio’s arm was firmly wrapped around his body keeping rooted to the bed and his back pressed against her bosom. He tried to remove her hand, but it only made her fingers dig deeper into his flesh. “You're awake, aren’t you?” He drawled, a mischievous giggle his answer as Adagio rolled over and crawled atop his shoulder giving his peck another squeeze.
“You squeeze mine all the time, I just thought to return the favor.”
“Huh, having any fun?” He asked Adagio pouted as she slumped against his body.
“It’s not as enjoyable you make it seem.” She squeezed her own breast biting her lip as she shuttered. “Damn, these babies are sensitive as hell now.”
“You’re the one that came onto me last night,” Mac reminded her sitting up, he scooped Adagio into his arms and set her firmly on his lap. Softly he massaged her back, kneading her skin with his rough knuckles chuckling as she moaned. “I come home just before dawn and your frisky as fox and wouldn’t take no for an answer. Even though we have an assortment of guests and a lot of work to do.”
Adagio grinned over her shoulder, “It’s not like we’re unused to people hearing us.”
“We usually send Aria and Sonata out of the house.”
“What if I like having others listen in?”
He laughed, “I don’t think they had a choice. Not the way you scream.”
Adagio huffed, hugging her chest, “This is my house, I’ll scream however I like when having sex with my mate.”
“Ok, ok,” Mac said patting her on the head. “Next time when it gets warm again, I take you out to the pond where you scream as loud as you like.”
“That pond is how I ended up like this,” Adagio pointed to her belly. “Though I did rather enjoy that. Let’s do that again for the next one too.”
“It’s a date, now what time is it? I need to go the ambulance crash today with Stryker and Limestone.” Mac stood up forcing Adagio to her feet. She stood defiantly looking at him with a pouting glare. He found it hard to take her seriously when she was glaring at him naked. Not that he was wearing anything either. “Feeling jealous?”
“I want to go,” She said sharply. “I’m getting tired of being cooped up here. Also, I don’t trust that woman.”
“Limestone? You haven’t even met or seen her.”
“I’ve seen her at the market from time to time, she’s too pretty for a tomboy.”
“Well, she is that… a Tomboy I mean, but I think she’s more worried about her sister then interested in me.” Mac reasoned, but Adagio’s expression didn’t change. “Look there’s nothing between us, even if she did fancy me I have you, you’re carrying our child, and you know it’s dangerous to leave the farm when your carrying.”
“Rarity attacked us just the other day, was I not in danger then?” She countered sharply.
Mac scratched his head, feeling a little cornered. “Well, yes, but here we at least have systems and plans in place to keep you and everyone safe, and there’ll be more people around here to help protect you then if we’re off in the middle of who knows where.” Adagio shifted, but quickly reaffirmed her stance. “I know you don’t like it.”
“I don’t, I hate being constantly protected, yet…” Her hand hovered over her belly. “Yet, I would be afraid if I weren’t. I’d hate for something to happen because I was too selfish, but all these stupid hormones and crap, like last night I just really, really wanted you.” Adagio began to sniffle before breaking down into tears and hugged him tightly burying her face in his chest. “Now I’m sobbing like a bitch, and I don’t know why. Why couldn’t I just lay an egg like back home? Yeah, next time, we’re going to Equestria, and I’m laying an egg! Screw this human hormone imbalance shit!”
“We’ll talk about that next time,” Mac awkwardly said stroking Adagio’s back to calm her. “Look I need to get ready, they’ll be enough people here to keep you company. I’ll be taking Sonata with me today.”
Adagio backed away wiping her eyes. “That’s smart, she can see dark energy better than Aria and I can.” She fiddled with her fingers, her eyes glancing back and forth. “Say Mac… do you think… well… do you think Sixes will get the portal fixed? And do you think after this all this the monster hunting stuff will be over with?”
Mac took a moment to reply, mulling the questions over. “Well, I’m certain Sixes can fix the portal, it’s just a matter of time. As for the monster business… well, who knows. Why?”
“Well, it’s just…I know you might not like this idea, but when the portal is fixed, and this thing with the girls is finished. Would you consider letting Sixes station Night Patrollers here?” Adagio shook her and looked him firmly in the eyes. “No, I want you to tell him to station Night Patrollers here. This burden…” She took a breath. “It’s not just yours to carry.”
He frowned, leaned down and grabbed his pants and shirt off the floor. “I’ll think about it.” He said stepping past her.
After a quick microwaved breakfast burrito Mac got in the pick-up with Sonata climbing into the passenger seat. From the porch, Aria and Adagio waved as they pulled out of the yard. As they turned onto the road, Mac sniffed, smelling the fresh scent of manure coming off Sonata, the blue siren scrunching her nose at the smell.
“You did chores this morning?” Mac inquired. Things were so hectic that he couldn’t recall the chore schedule.
“Yeah,” Sonata said with a sigh. “It was supposed to be Aria’s turn, but since she picked you up so late last night, she said I had to do them. I tripped in the cow pen and… ugh, I washed my hands three times with soap, and they still smell.”
“Shit happens,” Mac quoted with a smile, Sonata pouted, not appreciating the jest. “How are you feeling? You up for this?”
Sonata looked at him cocking her head to the side. “What do you mean?”
“Well… it’s just you’ve had a bad run of the woods these past few times. The Grau incident was collectively bad for all of us, but you got chased down by those cyclops in Cloudsdale.” Mac glanced from the road to Sonata. “You’ve just haven’t seemed… as peppy since then.”
“It’s not the first time any of us have almost died. When Tundra attacked the farm, she got all of us, but…” Sonata’s lips quivered, and she shivered. “I guess the cyclops left an impact on me, even more then Grau did because at least I wouldn’t have died alone.”
The pick-up swerved toward the ditch Mac quickly grabbing the wheel with both hands and straightened out. He was bit taken back by Sonata’s comment, more then he expected he would be. After a few awkward seconds, he replied, “So um… you wouldn’t have mind dying if someone else with you? Dying is something we're all afraid of Sonata, but…”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” She interrupted. “I mean, well… I just don’t like being alone. I’ve always had Aria and Sonata with me for all my life. Being alone out in the woods it hit me just how afraid I was of dying alone.” Sonata massaged her arm glancing at Mac. “I’m also afraid that someday my sisters and I will split. Aria wants to find a mate, she’s been talking about going back to Equestria, you and Adagio are probably going to have more kids, and the house will soon be cramped and I… I don’t know what I would do if I had to leave.”
“We have plenty of Land Sonata, we could build you a house right next to or near the farmhouse.”
“But I would still be alone inside it.” She retorted. “I would just be the crazy aunt living next door to afraid to go out on her own.”
Mac sighed as they rolled into town. “That’s up to you Sonata. You could find a mate for yourself and start a family. I get that change is hard to except. You can imagine how hard it was for Applejack and Applebloom to except me leaving the house to live on the farm and then all the other changes, but that’s life.” He reached over and patted her on the leg. “It’ll be fine, it’s not like Adagio is going to kick you out tomorrow or ever, she might want to keep you around as a babysitter.”
Sonata smiled, “Yeah, maybe, but what about Aria? What if she leaves?”
“I’m sure she’ll still visit if she does or you can visit her. Hell, you can go with her if you want, it’s all up to you. If nothing else you’ll know where to find Adagio and me.”
“Yeah, yeah your right. Sorry for bringing all this up before a hunt.”
He waved her off. “Better to get it out now. We need to meet up with Ferocious and Stryker and go to the wreckage scene. We’re kind of running late.” Maneuvering the pick-up around the block, Mac pulled up outside the VFW, Ferocious’s bar. The place was still lined with police tape. Standing outside smoking was Ferocious and Stryker. Sonata rolled down the window, the two detectives' staring dead-eyed at them.
“I thought farmers rose early, it’s eleven o’clock.” Ferocious chided.
Mac scratched his head embarrassed. “Had a late night, wife had some needs that needed to be taken care off if you know what I mean when I got home.”
The detectives chucked. Ferocious laughing heartily, his cigarette falling from his mouth as he nearly doubled over. “What’s so funny?” Sonata asked curiously.
Ferocious had a shit eating grin on his face as he leaned against the door. “Nico said the same thing once when he was late. Kind, he said he was helping Applejane through her rut. I think that was when that would have been 1990 something… yep… little AJ was born after that.”
Mac’s ears burned like candles, he coughed and looked forward as the two detectives continued to laugh, Sonata joining them. “Yeah, yeah, very funny, can we get started here?”
“Don’t be mad when you’re the one that showed up late, scoot over girly.” Stryker Six said opening the door and pushing Sonata to the middle and then shut the door.
Mac leaned forward, “You’re not coming Ferocious?”
“Nah,” The red detective said with a dismissive wave dropping a duffle bag into the back. “I got somethings I can be doing here, walking around the woods with this leg… well, I’ll only slow you down.” Ferocious turned and limped away towards the building.
Putting the pick-up in drive Mac pulled away from the curb and drove, Ferocious disappearing in the rearview as they headed west out of town. The three of them sitting in relative silence as the radio played the hourly news. The city was still in a tizzy with predictions all over the place and the news anchors doing little to calm the public fears as they raved about conspiracies and other nonsense.
“I think I would be madder then usual if not for the fact they genuinely didn’t know anything,” Mac grumbled clicking the radio off as some guest starting raving about how this was somehow related to climate change and Godzilla like creatures.
“Everyone is looking for answers. Hopefully, we can wrap up all this evil magical girl shit before another big event happens. People probably won’t be turning as many blind eyes to magical events in the future.” Stryker looked at Sonata, the blue sirens shrinking under his dead stare. “Best your girls keep your origins quiet. Especially with the portal is gone.”
“Their working to fix it on the other side,” Mac assured. “Could be any day now.”
Stryker leaned back in his seat staring ahead at the road. “Good, we might have to migrate there if things get out of hand.”
For the second time today, Mac almost swerved off the road, this time breaking hard to a complete stop. Glaring hard at the gray detective. “What ya talkin’ Stryker?” Mac demanded, his southern accent coming on thick and heavy with his bubbling anger.
Stryker unperturbed faced him. “I mean what I said if magic gets widespread and people react badly, and your friends and family are exposed to the broader public you may not have a choice. Mobs of people tend not to be very understanding. Regardless of all that, we still have time to get things under control. Just keep that in the back of your mind though.”
“Yeah, I will,” Mac grumbled pulling back onto the road, his hands tight on the wheel. “So, that duffle bag, you got disguises in there?”
“Official uniforms you and Ditzy Blue are going to be my tagalongs. Same deal as last time, don’t speak to anyone and don’t use your real name.”
“Do I have to be called Ditzy Blue?” Sonata asked.
“No, but I think it suits you.” Stryker laughed, pulling out his phone and dialing a number. “Ms. Pie? Yes, this is Detective Stryker we called this morning, are you at our meeting point? Good. Turn up here Mac.”
Mac pulled onto a minimum maintenance road up a slope to very underused overlook. Parked at the top in the only other parking spot was a white Chevy pick-up with Limestone Pie sitting inside. He killed the engine and all three of them got out, Limestone copying the actions.
“Bit of fucking late start,” Limestone complained.
“Fucking is the reason for that, Romeo had to attend to Juliette last night,” Stryker said offhandedly, earning a deep blush from Limestone as he pulled the duffle bag out of the back and threw it at Mac. “You two go get changed.”
Mac and Sonata slinked off to a secluded bush leaving Stryker and Limestone alone. “Alright, Ms. Pie do you remember what we went over this morning?”
She nodded, “I do.”
“Good, now we just need to wait for those two, and we can get on with this.” Mac and Sonata exit the bushes, both dressed in forensic uniforms. Mac tosses the keys to Stryker to walks over to the driver’s side. “We’ll meet you there Ms. Pie.”
“So, what’s your plan?” Mac asked squishing Sonata in the middle again as the gray detective turned around and drove back down to the road, Limestone trailing them closely.
Stryker clicked his tongue as he maneuvered around the winding road. “We will arrive at the scene, talk to the LEOs, Ms. Pie will give her testimony. The rain last night washed away most the tracks that Pinkie might have left. Ms. Pie will tell the search party that she saw something dash in the opposite direction of what Nurse Nyx indicated. Feri and I talked to Nyx this morning, she’s doing fine and is in on the whole thing.”
“Why do they need to talk to Limestone?” Sonata inquired.
“Some folks aren’t sure if they can trust Nyx’s story since she was hit on the head and upside down. Even though Limestone didn’t really see anything, having show up well after the fact. We can use her to get the search party away from magic and danger. We’ll send the normies on a wild goose chase, while we head in the direction Pinkie actually went. Assuming all the pieces fit together.”
“What if your wrong and we send the search party towards Pinkie?” Mac asked.
Stryker shrugged, “Then we find her quicker with some casualties I’m afraid, and the situation gets worse.”
“Who’s making up the search party?”
“Local LEOs from other counties and some renown trackers from the area. Some of our VFW guys are mixed in with the trackers, so they’ll help lead the normies away.”
Mac chuckled leaning against the window with a sigh. “You guys sure are organized.”
“We woke up on time this morning.” Stryker retorted coming to a stop. The wreckage before them with a swarm of cops milling around. “Remember to keep silent for now.” He reminded them one last time before getting out and shouting for the officer in charge.
Stepping out of the truck Mac and Sonata filed in behind Stryker who was getting chewed out by a pot-bellied officer for being late. “Sorry, sorry, it took longer than expected to track down my witness.” He lied as Limestone walked up to them. Stryker introduced her to the officer, and the trackers gathered around. She recounted her false story, pointing to the east, meaning Pinkie had gone west. The officers and trackers grouped up and spread out across the road and entered the woods to the east. Leaving a few still milling about to watch the scene.
“Still a lot of people here,” Mac whispered.
“You two sneak into the woods, I’ll move the pick up and find you,” Stryker said turning to the vehicle, Limestone standing in his way.
“I’m going with them.” She stated sharply.
“Fine, maybe you’ll be useful, but move your pick-up, so it doesn’t call attention.” Stryker pointed to the cops still around. For all, they need to know we left.”
She nodded walking with him towards the vehicles, “We can park them at the Quarry.”
Mac and Sonata stepped off the road, the two driving past, carefully looking for anybody watching the two monster hunters slipped into the west side of the woods. Crouching low and checking to make sure no one saw them. Carefully they sneak through the brush, lining up with the back of the ambulance they searched the ground for tracks.
“Tree canopy might have protected some of the tracks if we’re lucky,” Mac whispered kneeling on the ground.
“Here,” Waved Sonata.
Still crouched he softly tiptoed over to her, they were too close to the road to be making much noise. Mac kneeled next to Sonata looking an odd print. It was buried under some leaves with some other imprints around it. He brushed aside some leaves and found a half-formed handprint. Mostly Pinkie carrying Maddie.
“She jumped,” Mac looked from the distance from here to the ambulance. “Really far.”
Sonata pecked him on the cheek stealing a bit of magic, enough to make her eyes glow. “That way.” She pointed leading the way. They walked further into the woods. Mac pulled his pocket knife and marked the west side of trees they passed. Sonata led him deeper, they were probably about half a mile from the wreck site when they found another footprint.
“How’d Pinkie leap this far? Magic can only increase your strength so much.” Sonata wondered kneeling by the footprint. There was a knee print beside it and a broken stick. The tip stained with something. He looked up seeing a sharply broken branch.
“She was jumping in the trees and got stabbed in the foot.” Mac held up the stick, grimacing. “Must have gone right through her foot.”
“Her magic trail goes this way,” Sonata pushed through the brush finding another print on the other side with many others and drag marks. “Looks like that foot really got to her.”
“I’m sure it’s healed by now, but this defiantly slowed her down.” They followed the footprints, finding pieces of clothes fiber stuck to branches and bark. “Maddie’s probably having a rough time of it too,” Mac commented picking up the piece of torn cloth.
“Hey Mac,” Sonata called. He quickly walked over to where she was standing as she pointed to dozens of animal tracks in the ground, big ones too. “Do you know what could have made these?”
He leaned down tracing the tracks with his finger, “By the size and shape, I’d say mountain Lion, but they don’t hunt in packs. These tracks are a little shallow too, these guys probably only weigh one hundred pounds give or take. Below average for a print of this size. They should be full-grown adults, that or they’re malnourished.”
“It looks like their following Pinkie’s trail.” Sonata pointed out following the tracks. They paralleled Pinkie’s following just to the side.
“Does seem that way.” Mac rubbed his beard stubble following the creatures trail further. He told Sonata to follow Pinkie’s path the two of them walking parallel with the other. Fighting through some more brush the scent of burnt wood reached his nose.
They both stopped cold in the next clearing, the remains of a fight clear as day. Several trees were blackened from explosions and several charred bodies laid on the ground. Mac walked to the center finding a body impression and random mess of human footprints. Standing in the center, Mac mimicked the position of the prints, each pointing to one of the charred bodies.
“Whatever was following Pinkie isn’t following her anymore.” He commented walking over to one of the charred corpses. Poking the charred body, Mac felt the rough texture of wood overlaid with crumbled flesh. Grabbing the skull of the creature he felt its shape, finding it to be a cat in nature. “I think these were some of Fluttershy’s new pets.”
“Pets?” Sonata inquired.
“Right, you weren’t with us. At the animal shelter, we found the remains of something. A mishmash of critters molded together with a Timber Wolf.” His phone buzzed a text from Stryker asking for a position. Mac was surprised he even had service out here, but they weren’t that far from the road either, probably only two-three miles. Not wanting to call too much attention to themselves he transformed and molded a sphere of magic in his palm and threw it up above the tree canopy. The ball of energy bursting like fireworks but with no sound. Not a minute later Stryker came barreling down and landed, his six arms and black wings making for quite the sight with Limestone cradled in two of the sets. The second oldest Pie sister jittery from her flight had a hard time letting go of the detective.
“Holy shit,” Limestone stuttered as Mac pried her from Stryker.
“Afraid of heights?” Mac joked finally pulling her off.
She frowned and pushed him away looking very flush. “No,” Limestone quickly denied. “At least not when I have the proper safety equipment. Ya couldn’t just let me tie a rope around you, had to hold me in your arms.”
“I held you with four arms,” Stryker rebuked dispelling his transformation. “I didn’t have time stand there and wait for you pick your jaw off the ground. I didn’t think you’d be so surprised.”
“I expected the wings from your warning, you didn’t say nothing about spouting four extra arms! What are you an Asura?” Limestone said hotly, still blushing. “Whatever! Forget it! Have you found my sister yet?” She said whirling to Mac.
“I don’t exactly have her hogtied as you can see, but we are on her trail. She ran into some trouble if you care to take a look over there.” He pointed to the charred corpse, Limestone looking very unimpressed at the strange dead creature before her, course it’s not like it resembled anything recognizable.
“I need another sip, Mac,” Sonata said kissing his cheek again, this time taking enough magic to grow ears. “I see some dark magic leading this way.”
Following the blue siren deeper into the woods they kept quiet, not wanting to give Pinkie a warning of their arrival. That was hard enough already with all dead leaves on the ground. Pinkie’s footprints long since disappeared from view, the dirt hard from last night’s cold, but Sonata kept on the trail like a bloodhound. She weaved around trees and lead them up small rocky slopes, a cold wind blew as the sun ticked into the afternoon.
“Let’s rest here,” Mac suggested sitting down a large rock and pulled some granola bars from his pocket. Good thing he grabbed them. “One for each of you,” He said tossing them out. As they ate Stryker pulled a map from his coat pocket and laid out for them all to see.
“We’re a lot further out than I anticipated. At this rate she is likely heading here,” He pointed to a spot on the map were a wildlife area was marked several miles away. “Unless you have any information to pass on to us Ms. Pie.
Limestone looked over the map and pointed to a spot about three miles away from the wildlife area. “There used to be an old Quarry here, back in my grandfather’s time. It wasn’t big and the materials there were poor, so it was abandoned after a few years. This small ridge here, Grandpa blasted some caves open, some of them run pretty deep. Maud used to take us camping there.”
Stryker stepped back from the group stroking his chin as he looked over the map. “You guys keep searching on the ground, I’ll fly ahead and check out these caves.”
“Take me with you, I can lead you there faster.” Limestone insisted walking up to the detective.
“Fine,” Stryker muttered. He turned to Mac and Sonata. “With luck, we’ll all end up at the same place. Nobody jumps the gun if you find her. Remember how much trouble Rarity gave us.”
Sonata crossed her arms, “Yeah, we were there.”
Transforming Stryker took Limestone in his arms and took flight. Mac gestured for Sonata to lead the way the two of them breaking into a jog as tiny snowflakes began to fall.
Night had come when Mac and Sonata finally made it to the old Quarry, a fresh layer of snow covered the ground, and they were shivering, Sonata even more so. The blue siren looking even bluer and shaking like a leaf in the wind.
“I hate the cold, I’m a summer water Siren,” She griped through chattering teeth. Mac built up flames inside his body, raising the temperature around them slightly. Sonata hungrily hugged him sighing with content as his heat flooded her icy body. “I’m so glad you got fire breath from your dad.”
“Same here,” He said patting her on the back. Crouching the two of them snuck around the short ridge that surrounded the old quarry. There wasn’t much to it. Limestone hadn’t been kidding when she said it was small. The place was barely three acres. On the north side was another ridge with holes it in, the caves Pinkie was likely hiding in. “Can you see which one she’s in?”
“Yeah, just give me a sec,” Sonata pressed her icy lips against his cheeks gaining ears. “Umm… let’s see… sorry, there’s black magic all over the place I can’t really find a single trail. “
“That’s ok,” He said checking his phone. Barely one bar of service. Silently Mac texted Stryker asking where he was. Waiting for a full minute for the message to send and waiting another full minute for the reply. “They’re over there,” Mac said leading Sonata south towards the entrance of the Quarry. They shimmed along the brush finding Limestone and Stryker perched on the ridge across from the cave entrances.
“Took you guys long enough,” Limestone said.
Sonata bristled, “We didn’t fly here. If she’s here, you could have told us.”
“We did, but the messages failed to send,” Stryker explained looking straight at the caves. “We’ve seen glimpses here and there of movement, but nobody’s come out yet. Maybe the SINs are affected by the cold too, they are snakes.”
“More likely Pinkie isn’t dressed for the cold, neither are we for that matter. It was getting colder since Fury’s fight, but now winter seemed to come early this year.” Mac said trying to build up more fire in his body, he was burning a lot of magic to keep him and Sonata warm. “Should we go in or leave and come back more prepared?”
Stryker breathed through his nose, pondering the situation, “We found the lair but whose to say she’ll stay here long. On the map, this place isn’t that far from her last hideout. There’s even a road, a no maintenance one, but still a road straight here. She doesn’t have food, water, winter clothes, and her shelter isn’t much. There’s a strong chance she’ll leave while we're gone.”
“What if one of us stays to keep watch?” Limestone suggested.
“Too risky, if Pinkie found them it wouldn’t be good,” Mac said feeling the fire inside him die out again. He didn’t relight it. “Sonata’s been leaching magic from me all day, and I’ve been burning it up to keep warm. How are you doing Stryker?”
“Transforming twice and flying zapped me too, probably sitting at about half empty myself. If we charge Sonata fully, we could maybe take Pinkie now and end this.”
Sonata shivered shaking her head, “You guys might want to save your magic. I’ll burn through it twice as fast like this.”
The sound of rocks falling caught their attention and they all quickly looked toward the entrance of the cave. Pinkie stood in the moonlight snow falling softly around her in a swirl, dark pink magic radiating off her body. She stumbled further out of the cave. Her feet a mutated mess of scales and claws, a serpentine tail swished behind her, her silted eyes scanned the area.
“She can’t see us, right?” Sonata pleaded. Pinkie’s gaze fell right on them. “She can, can’t she.”
“Screw this,” Limestone jumped from their hiding spot, catching them off guard as she slid down the screaming at Pinkie. “Pinkie! What the hell do you think you're doing! Marble is worried sick! And you’re out here doing stupid crap!”
Pinkie blinked and cocked her head in reptilian like fashion. In a single leap, she flew into the air and landed on the floor of the Quarry and stalked toward Limestone. The elder Pie sister, much to her credit didn’t back away as the much taller and crazed version of her sister approached her.
“Limestone!” Mac yelled skidding down the hill after the grey Pie sister, Stryker and Sonata at his heels as the three of them surrounded Limestone. He pushed Limestone behind him, but the feisty Pie sister merely pushed her way in front of him again. Mac caught her arm growling low, “Limestone talking won’t work.”
She pulled her hand free and faced her sister. “Pinkie, this may be the understatement of the century, but you’re not well.”
Pinkie grinned an insane ear to ear grin and laughed. “Really? Am I? Since when did you care? When did any of you care? Work, work, work, and more work! That’s all any of you care about! No time for any real fun, no time to be an actual family! Even when we aren’t working everybody is on eggshells!”
Limestone growled, “Don’t fucking act like that’s all it was! You had plenty of time to be your annoying bubbly self. We needed your help! You can’t just go play with your friend twenty-four seven! Life isn’t all fun Pinkie! I’m sorry Mom and Dad have the emotional availability of rock, Marbles too scared to do anything, Maud is gone off to college, and I personally find you only slightly less annoying than a cat sliding down a chalkboard, but…” She took a breath staring Pinkie square in the eyes. “But I do care about you. Look at your fucking self! You’re a fucking monster!”
Pinkie snorted, “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
Mac stepped forward warily, maneuvering himself between the two Pie sisters. There seemed to be a kennel of sanity still inside Pinkie, but he knew from how fast Rarity flipped her switch; it was only a matter of time. “Ok,” He said calmly. “What the hell are you two talking about?”
“Happy go luckily here kidnapped a bunch of five years old when she was nine and made them play with her.” Limestone shivered remembering the incident. “She wasn’t very friendly when they tried to run away. Right Pinkamena?”
“Don’t call me that! I’m Spite now! And everyone is my playmate! I don’t need you or our dullard of a family! I’ll just make a new family! One not bound by the restrictions of blood. Let me introduce you to my new mommy.” Spite snapped her fingers and shambling from the cave came Maddie or at least something that looked like her. Spite jumped back up to the cave hugging the strange person in a warm embrace. “She was so badly hurt, but I made her better, isn’t that right Maddie?”
Maddie no longer looked like Maddie. The only feature recognizable of the mad scientist was her hair and facial features. Everything else was unrecognizable. Her skin was blue now, scaly cracks like lava rock covered her the top half of her arms, her feet were mutated the same as Pinkie’s, her ears pointed like an elf’s. Atop her head a set of antlers stuck out of her skull, a strange narrow tail with a tuff of fur swooshed behind her.
Sonata screamed in terror, “What did you do to her?”
Spite nuzzled Maddie's neck, “I made her better. Just like she made me like she tried to make all of us better.” She stepped back and pulled a locket with a green gem fused to it. “Let’s call some more friends!”
A green beam of magic shot into the sky, dozens of portals opened, and monsters rained from the sky. Cinder Wolves, Fungi Wolves, Stone Cyclops, and three thirty foot, fully armored Gores.
Spite pointed at them, “Kill them.”
Mac grabbed Limestone and tossed her at Sonata, “You two run! Now!”
“But…”
“Go! Get help!” Mac barked transforming, his arms coated with scales he grabbed two attacking Cinder Wolves and tossed them into the Fungi Wolves. Beams of fire shot from the Cyclops eyes, and he ran as Stryker took to the sky unloading on the monsters with six pistols. Mac took a glance toward the old road, Sonata and Limestone’s backs disappearing past the trees. (At least Limestone didn’t make a fuss.)
“I could use a weapon!” Mac shouted. Stryker dropped one of his pistols, Mac’s maul materializing into the detective’s empty hand and he threw it. “Thanks!” Jumping into the air Mac grabbed the maul bringing the hammer end down on the skull of one of the stone Cyclops. The monster’s stone head cracked and then shattered. Magic raged around him as he sought out his next target.
“On your right!” Stryker shouted firing upon a group of Cinder Wolves, emptying all six of his pistols into the creatures. He dropped them all summoning six sawed-off shotguns and blasting all twelve barrels into a charging Gore. The buckshot bouncing off the undead monster’s armor.
Maul ablaze with magic Mac stormed through the horde of monsters, blowing Cinder and Fungi wolves away with a single swing of his weapon. Twisting the maul in his hand, Mac brought the ax head to bare and swung into the back of the Gore’s knee. The monster fell on its new stump, Mac bringing the maul up for an overhead hack and struck with all his strength.
“Stone Cleaver!” The ax head grew empowered with magic and cleaved through the Gore’s neck in a single sling, it’ head rolling across the ground. Mac puffed up his chest spewing flames at the Gore’s body, burning it, the stench of burning rotting flesh quickly filled the air. He gagged running away from the burning corpse and swinging at an attacking Fungi. “Stryker!”
Several shots of gunfire echoed, but the gray detective didn’t reply.
Mac swiped his brow sweat soaked his body, he gripped his maul as monstered surrounded him. That had grown cautious of him. Several of the Timberwolves whimpered and backed off. Two Cyclops charged ahead, their eyes burning red with magic. He threw his maul, the ax head embedding itself into the glowing orb of one, while he ran and leaped onto the other stabbing it with his claws. His forearm disappeared into the monsters cranium blood gushed out, covering his arm and chest. Working his hand deeper into the monster's brain Mac grabbed it, and than crushed it. The lumbering beast fell backward, and he stood victorious on its chest.
“Come on!” He taunted to the other creatures. The Timber who had enough whimpered and ran, only they didn’t get far as blue fire engulfed them. Instead of burning the flames became solid ice and shattered turning the runaways into ice dust. Mac turned around facing Maddie who had her hand pointed forward, blank white eyes stared back at him.
Spite smirked and pointed at him. “Go have fun.”
Maddie charged, and he made a run for his maul. Jumping over to the other cyclops and ripping the weapon free from the corpse. Facing the hammer end forward he swung as Maddie jumped at him. The maul caught her in the ribs. Twisting his body, Mac slammed Maddie hard into the ground. A crater formed around her, but she sat up like nothing happened. The tattered remains of her shirt fell away revealing the same rocky cracked skin like on her arms. Blue fire rose from her arms, and she thrust her fist forward, a blast of blue flame flying from her fist. He jumped to the side, the fireball flying off into the distant. A loud noise like shattering glass followed. Mac stealing a brief glance to see the last remains of a tree turn to dust.
(It can never be easy,) Switching to the ax head he hacked at Maddie who created a wall of blue fire, the maul went through it the flames and was now stuck in ice. Mac quickly let go of his weapon as Maddie charging around the left side. Grabbing her wrists, he wrestled Maddie off the ground picking her up and slamming her into the ice wall. The wall shattered. Mac grabbed the maul and brought it down on her knee. This time she screamed.
“Still got some soft spots, huh!” He brought the maul overhead again and quickly decided his target as Maddie’s chest jiggled. “Sorry.” The maul fell dead center of Maddie, right where her heart was. The monstered girl let out a ragged breath as her heartbeat was sent off rhythm.
“Mommy!” Spite ragged charging towards him. Mac turned cocking his arms back but faltered as Maddie despite breathing as well as a lung cancer patient, grabbed his ankle and frost it to the ground. He quickly changed the direction of his swing and crushed Maddie’s hand, the ice disappearing before it could turn his ankle to dust. That left him open though, and Spite threw a handful of rocks which exploded in his face!
He was sent flying back into some sharp rocks. Mac gasped as he felt the blood run down his back. Another barrage of sparkling stones come at him, and he covered his face with his arms. Smoke rolled off his body as singe marks covered the non-scaled areas of his flesh. His scales suddenly disappeared, and he fell to one knee, exhaustion hitting him like a ton of bricks.
“Fuck, out of magic.” He panted looking toward Spite and Maddie. The former cradling the latter and looking very pissed in his direction. (Stryker where the hell are you?) Mac wondered in a panic as Spite picked up a big rock about the size of a softball.
“You're going to pay for hurting her.” Spite told him rearing back for the pitch and released.
“MAC!” A blue blur appeared in front of him, it was Sonata fully transformed, the sparkling rock hit her dead center and exploded. The blue siren reverting back to normal as her smoking body flew into his arms.
Mac stood stupefied holding his sister in law in his arms, the front of her shirt blown to sheds with a huge charred and bloodily wound right in her midriff. “SONATA!” He lightly slapped her cheek, trying to get her to respond. “Come on, say something! Anything, please! Sonata!”
Spite’s mocking laughter brought his gaze upward, the pink Sin sounding giddy by the pain she inflicted. Mac grabbed the end of his maul and tapped into his life force. “Shut up, you punk bitch.” He threw the ax, the weapon becoming an orange spinning blur. Spite’s laughter became screams as the maul cleaved halfway through her right arm, leaving it barely attached with some skin and tendons.
Spite fell atop Maddie whimpering and crying while holding her arm. Stryker landed behind her his coat gone, his transformation downsizing to just ears as his wings disappeared into a burst of black feathers. In his right hand was a pistol which he pressed to Spite’s head.
“Stryker,” Mac growled.
“I know,” He replied pistol whipping Spite upside the head. The pink girl fell over, and he knelt down and touched his finger to Maddie’s forehead. “Sleep.” He commanded Maddie’s eyes closed, while his ears disappeared. “Only had enough for one,” Stryker said pulling his belt off and wrapping it around Pinkie’s severed arm. Stryker wobbled over to Mac and fell to his knee looking tired and weak. “Next time take out all the Gores. My style isn’t suited for them.” Stryker grimaced taking in Sonata’s wound. “Hopefully Limestone found a vehicle or something because we’re not flying out of here anytime soon.”
“Wasn’t a very deceive victory.” He said looking between Sonata’s stomach and Pinkie’s arm. “I don’t think Limestone is going to be very forgiving for crippling her sister. No way we can get her anywhere to save it. Hell, we can’t bring her to any hospital as long as the snake is still inside her.”
As he laid his head against the rock, Mac looked up at the sky watching the snowfall. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he checked for signal and had none. He should feel relieved that Pinkie was at least captured and that they found Maddie… (The seal!)
“Shit,” Mac scrambled to get up, pulling what little remained of Maddie’s shirt aside to find the imprint of Sixes' hand glowing. Right now, he couldn’t remember how long she had, or if the seal would work in Maddie’s current state. The seal hadn’t activated when she attacked him, so maybe it was weakened. “Maddie, you have my permission to leave the farm indefinitely until said otherwise.” The seal stopped glowing and faded beneath her course cracked skin.
“You sure that was wise?” Stryker asked.
“I don’t know,” Mac admitted. “In this state, there’s no telling where she’ll end up. She might wake up and run off without our knowing and then she’d really die.” He looked her over worriedly. Maddie was the only one in the world that probably knew how to fix what’s been done to her, and there was little hope she could think clearly enough to do that. There was maybe one that could bring Maddie back to her senses. “We need to get these two back home.”
“Mac, I don’t know if you’d notice, but we're kind of stuck and…” The sound of stones falling caught their attention, both Stryker and Mac turned to find the ridge above them overrun with glowing green eyes. The eyes of Timber Wolves or their cousins, the eyes of flesh and wood creatures the likes of which bore a striking similarity to the one found at the animal shelter. “Shit.” Stryker pulled his sidearm from its holster, but they both knew the weapon would be of little use.
Mac turned to retrieve his maul, but more of the creatures were at their backs, his weapon stomped beneath the paw of one of the monsters.
The Timber Lions yowled and crept closer Mac holding his ground, showing no fear as he raised his fists at the creatures. He tried to summon up some magic, only managing to turn his fingernails into claws. The Lions continued to draw near, Mac bit his lip waiting for them to spring into action. A trio broke from the pack, the center on leaped at him and tackled him to the ground. Stryker pivoted and kicked the beast in the head, only to get tackled himself. As Mac struggled beneath the one-hundred-pound animal, he clawed into its sickly flesh ripping bloody chunks off. The beast’s paw hit him and pushed his face to the ground, giving him a view of as two others monsters pick up Maddie and Pinkie and place them on the back of two cheetah looking Timbers.
“They’re taking the girls!” Mac shoved the monster off, jabbing his fingers deep into its chest. He was about to pursue when a feminine scream shouted out. Wheeling around Mac saw a Timber Lion chewing on Sonata and pounced to save her knocking the beast off her. As he held it down Stryker pressed his pistol against the lion’s head and pulled the trigger.
“What the hell is going on?” Sonata asked in a panic holding her left arm, which had been chewed on. She doubled over throwing up and hyperventilated when she caught sight of her stomach.
“I’ll tell you later, let’s get out of here,” Mac ran over to Sonata and picked her up carrying her bridal style. “Run!” He barked to Stryker taking off for the road. “What happened to Limestone?”
“Stole some of her magic and flew her to the vehicles,” Sonata replied, her eyes drooping low. “She… she should be…here…soon.” She said falling into unconsciousness. The creatures gave a half-hearted pursuit mover of the returning to the woods. Stryker putting down the handful that chased them. As they stood in the middle of the old quarry road, a pair of headlights shined of them, and Limestone got out of the white pick-up.
“What the hell happened?” She asked as they quickly piled inside, shouting at her to get back in and drive. She saw the corpses of the Timber Lions and quickly obliged hastily turning the pick-up around. “Where’s Pinkie?”
Mac and Stryker looked at one another before answering. “She got away,” Stryker answered stonily sighing against the cloth seat. “Take us to the hospital. Speed, I’ll wave us by any highway patrol.”
As they sped down the snowy road passing the ambulance wreckage Mac’s phone buzzed. It was Adagio. “Hello?”
Over the speaker came Adagio’s enraged voice with gunfire and screaming in the background. “Get the fuck home now!” She cried as several gunshots blasted over the speaker before going dead.
Adagio stared out the living room window wrapped up tight in a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table watching the sun pick low below the tree line. Sitting across from her was Applejack and Sunset Shimmer. The three of them sitting in tense silence as the clock hand ticked by.
“You two are cozy,” Said Applejack sounding slightly jealous as Applebloom lay curled up against Adagio. The yellow siren merely grinned, sneaking a hand from under her blanket to pat the Applebloom’s mop of licorice colored hair.
“She’s just attracted my blossoming motherhood. Don’t worry your still her big sister.” Adagio said sagely, a flush of red appearing on Applejack’s cheeks as she huffed. Applebloom mumbled in her sleep hugging Adagio tighter. “No need to be jealous, Applejack.”
“I’m not.”
“Then stop staring at me.” Adagio snipped with a hint of red in her eyes. Applejack adverted her gaze, while Sunset looked nervously between the two sisters in laws.
“Now, now there’s no reason to be fighting you two,” Sunset said moving to the lazy boy between the two. “Everyone’s on edge, so there’s no reason to be at each other’s throats over silly things.”
“Don’t tell me what to do in my house, and get out of Mac’s chair,” Adagio said with authority, Sunset quickly moved back to Applejack’s side a tingling sensation traveling down the back of her spine. The former unicorn tried to meet Adagio’s gaze but promptly averted her eyes.
(What’s going on?) Sunset wondered feeling a dominating presence radiating off of Adagio, she had felt something similar before, back in her filly hood when she had first met Princess Celestia. She had not expected to handle such a sensation again from Adagio of all people.
From the stairs came a chuckle, Aria stepped into the room with fresh steam rising off her body from the shower. Ruffling a towel through her wet hair, the pink siren sat down next to Sunset and Applejack grinning all the while.
“Looks like the Alpha bitch is starting to make a comeback. Already trying to put these lightweights under your thumb, Dagi?”
Adagio exhaled, visibility slouching causing the intense aura to dissipate. “Maybe. A strong-willed sister in law and a girl that took a pass at my mate before our mating. Socially I can only tolerate one of you, I think you can figure out who, right Sunny?”
Sunset blinked pointing to herself, Adagio nodding with a devious and not so friendly grin. “Is this a siren thing?” The unicorn girl asked having a hard time understanding what was going on.
“Sirens, unlike your harem, orgy loving ponies, don’t have five or more mares to one stallion. We prefer to keep our studs all to ourselves. We’re greedy like that.” Aria explained.
A deep blush covered Sunset’s face as she ran her hands over her jeans. “Right, good to know, but most ponies don’t practice herding anymore, and I don’t plan on trying to join in with your and Mac just to be clear.”
“Thank the gods, I was having a hard enough time keeping Aria and Sonata off him.” Adagio deadpanned, looking even more relaxed.
“We haven’t made a pass at him in a while, get over yourself,” Aria snapped lightly, grinning as Adagio huffed before laughing.
“Sorry, I have a hard time keeping my instincts in check. I’ve haven’t felt this much like a biological siren in years, it’s kind of overwhelming.” Adagio gazed curiously at Sunset cocking her head in wonder as the bacon hair girl looked uncomfortable under her stare. “I wonder how you’d react in my position. Do you still go through pony heat cycles?”
Sunset laughed nervously, “Um hey, could we talk about anything else? Actually, better yet, I’m going to go check on Twilight.” She hastily excused herself running upstairs. Leaving Applejack bear the brunt of the two sirens muses. Aria scooted over to Applejack cozying up to the blonde girl.
“So still no boyfriend?”
“Same as you,” Applejack retorted, Aria flinching back as if burned. “Thought so, do we really need to be doing this routine? I’m worried about my friends.”
Adagio sighed, “Lighten up, you’ve been worrying about nothing but your friends for days now. Relaxing for just even a little bit is good. I mean I worried sick my husband might get hurt or killed for being a fool, but I’m sitting relaxed.” The cup in her hand cracked as Adagio’s grip tightened. “See? No stress at all.”
Aria snorted, “You lie about as well as she does now.” Indicating Applejack.
“Well, Mac made an honest woman out of me.” Retorted Adagio sitting up prim and proper with her nose up at her tomboyish sister.
“Yeah, he did, got his honesty deep down in you, didn’t he? Must have filled you up with a whole heap of its last night.”
“Yes, he…” Adagio stopped herself short realizing what her sister was saying. She smiled shaking her head. “You’re a cunt, Aria.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Are you getting lippy with me, young lady?”
“I don’t know am I, mom?”
“I’m your big sister, but I’ll spank you in mother’s place if I have to and wash that dirty mouth of yours with soap.”
“I’d like to see you try.”
“Ok, that’ enough,” Applejack demanded. “I can’t tell if you two are fighting or not and could you please not bring up my brother when I’m around.”
“Yeah, Adagio, way to jump on Mac’s bone’s when his little sisters are in the house.” Beamed Aria as Applejack covered her ears, looking as red as a red apple.
“Lalalala I’m not listening!” Applejack chanted.
Smiling devilishly Adagio dislodged herself from Applebloom, wrapping the young apple in a cocoon before standing to tower over her little raspberry sister, thrusting her buxom bosom with pride. “Well, I can’t help that my MATE is very desirable. Maybe if you were as blessed as me, you’d have one too, Aria.”
Aria disappointedly felted up her chest and stood up flustered, “Oh you did not go there, sister! And why would I want giant milk utters like yours!”
Adagio jiggled her assets taunting them at Aria, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me if you're not absolutely jealous of them. I mean, even Sonata is more stacked then you, and she’s younger than you.”
Fuming mad and face burning redder then a chili pepper Aria puttered out an inaudible reply when the front door opened, and Fierce Fury stood in the doorway. The pink siren whipped in his direction her eye dilated to insane proportions.
“You! Fury! What're better big boobs or little boobs!” Blurted Aria pointing at the red rinin for an answer.
Fury merely looked impassive and shrugged. “I prefer well-groomed wings.” And walked back outside.
Adagio burst out in laughter. “Oh my god, of all the guys to walk through the door you get the one that doesn’t have any clue what you're talking about!”
Both Aria fumed while Applejack tried to suppress her laughter. A loud yowl comes from outside causing all three women to freeze, and Applebloom rose up in fright. Adagio, Aria, and Applejack rushed outside where Fury was staring at the line of Timber Lions advancing out of the orchard. Adagio ran to the southern end of the porch, finding more Timber beasts coming in from the south all of them charging right for the house!
“More coming this way!” Aria shouted from the north side.
Adagio wheeled around pointing east, “Applejack grab a gun and defend the east side, shoot from my bedroom there’s a rifle behind the door!”
“Right!”
“Aria!” Adagio screamed, but her sister was already springing into action stealing a full lip kiss from Fury’s lips, ears and wings sprouted from her body, and she formed two water tridents in her hands, her eyes glowing with rage and power.
“GET AWAY FROM OUR HOME!” She screamed unleashing a sonic screech on a rushing group of timbers.
“Sunset, get out down here!” Adagio called, the former unicorn rushed down the stairs already ponied up.
“What do…” Sunset’s words were cut off as Adagio kissed her stealing enough magic to fully transform.
Breaking the kiss Adagio pointed to the south, “Go over there and kick some Timber ass.” Sunset nodded and ran off with glowing fists of magic. Storming into the house Adagio quickly dashed upstairs grabbing Applebloom on the way to the guest room where Rarity and Sweetie Belle were. Rarity was looking out the window with Sweetie Belle hugging her hip and shaking in fear. “Rarity.” Adagio addressed the girl turned woman.
“I know,” Rarity said turning around and gently pushed Sweetie Belle away. “I will fight too.” The fashionista pushed Sweetie to her and Adagio took the girl by the hand and pulled her close.
“I will keep her safe,” Adagio promised. “Both of them.”
“Thank you, and Twilight is still asleep, keep her in mind too.” Rarity said and then jumped out of the window ponying up as she fell to the ground. She created to fencing swords of diamond and cut down a pair of Timber lions that were digging into the house wall. With a primal scream, the fashionista leaped into the fray while the sounds of gunfire filled the air.
“Come on you two, let’s get Twilight.” Grabbing the downed nerd, Adagio with the help of Applebloom and Sweetie Belle carried her down the stairs. Passing through the living room, they saw the scene outside. Bodies of Timber beasts laid broke and burned on the ground, some of them dangerously close to the house. In the distance Fury fought with the giant Timber Rex trying to burn the creature to ash while other beasts piled on him.
Aria flew past, cutting down beasts left and right with her tridents. One came close to breaking through the living room window, but she dropped down on it and mashed through the porch railing. Aria looked up and saw them and screamed, “Get to the safe room!” Before returning to battle.
“Come let’s go you two,” Adagio urged leading them through the kitchen. Through the window behind the table, they saw Sunset holding her ground. The former bully wasn’t faring too well, her clothes were ripped up bad showing off sickening amounts of slashed skin. One Timber Lion jumped Sunset from the side bringing her to the ground. A blast of red magic shot through the beast splattering it everywhere as Sunset stood back up again.
Adagio pushed Applebloom ahead leading her to the basement door, “Keep going.” She urged turning on the lights and hurrying downstairs. In the cellar, she led the two preteens to a certain part of the stone wall, moving the freezer slightly to the right to reveal a brick with a small hole in it. “Applebloom grab that rod on the wall.”
The young apple did as told and grabbed the long metal pole with a ring on the end. Adagio took it and inserted it into the hole until there was a ‘click’ noise and part of the wall opened inward revealing a small room with weapons and food inside.
“What is this?” Applebloom asked as Adagio pushed them inside taking one of the shotguns off the wall and two pistols. “It’s a secret storage room for alcohol from the probation days turned bomb shelter in the cold war. There’s enough food and water in here to last you three a week.” Adagio smiled and kissed Applebloom on the forehead. “Someone will let you out when this is all over.”
“Wait, what!”
Adagio slammed the door closed, the heavy lock closed with a thud, and she slid to the floor knowing Applebloom was screaming at her right now. “I’m sorry.” She stood up and moved the freezer back before walking upstairs with the shotgun in hand. Closing the basement door behind her, but not locking it, hoping in doing so would a leave suspicion that the three girls were locked down there. Chambering a round Adagio cried on the inside as she shot out her kitchen window to blast a Timber Lion about to catch Sunset off guard.
Next, she wondered to the living room blasting through the bay window to take out another on the porch. Picking her phone off the coffee table, Adagio hunkered down behind the couch where Applejack has been sitting earlier and started dialing numbers. Mac being the first. As her phone began to dial the sound of glass cracking caught her attention. The growling muzzle of a Timber Lion stuck through the broken bay window, acidic slobber burned the leather couch. The beast eyeing her menacingly.
She hissed, sounding like an angry cat, Adagio swiped at the beast with her claws tearing bark away to reveal the rotten flesh beneath. Attacking again she jabbed her nails into the beast’s throat blood spraying onto her as its body went limp falling on top of her. Quickly she pushed the corpse off, drew a pistol and fired a round into its head for good measure. That last light of the sun faded as snow began to fall from the sky.
Adagio dropped to her knees padding the blood-soaked floor for her cellphone. “Crap, crap, crap where is it?” She rolled the body of the beast still not finding her phone underneath. Frantically she kept an eye on the window in case another monster slipped past the others before checking under the coach.
“There you are!” She exclaimed reaching under the couch for the phone, her fingertips just barely touched the mobile device, when a scream came from her bedroom. Adagio immediately pulled her arm out from under the couch and grabbed her shotgun again, and ran for her bedroom. Barging through the door, she found Applejack punching a Timber Lion in the head with her bare fist, blowing its head off. Two more climbed over the corpse of their packmate and pinned Applejack beneath the beast. Acting quick Adagio shoved the barrel of her shotgun down the throat of the nearest animal and pulled the trigger killing it. For the other, she kicked it in the head. Dazing it, before drawing one of her pistols and shooting it three times in the head.
“Are you alright?” Adagio asked pushing one the beasts off her sister in law. With a grunt she dug her fingers into the one pinning Applejack and lifted it up, allowing Applejack to wiggle free. She grabbed her sister in law by the shoulders and dragged her outside the room and quarter of the way up the stairwell. Applejack held her left arm, blood seeping through her fingers.
Applejack seethed, “Bastards got me when I was reloading. Rarity tried to lead them away, I lost sight of her and then more came charging in. We gotta find her.”
“We’ll find her, but I gotta take care of you first,” Adagio said tearing a piece of her shirt off and tying it around her sister’s arm. “There that’ll do for now.”
The sound of stone on wood caught their attention, a Timber Lion emerged from the bedroom, Adagio wrapped her left arm around Applejack’s head, shielding her ears as she aimed her pistol with her right. Firing three rounds into the wood beast. “The house is getting overrun! Where’s Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Twilight?” Applejack asked as the sound of more Timber Lions entering the house could be heard.
Adagio answered, “They’re safe.” And dragged Applejack up the stairs, abandoning her shotgun. At the top, she handed Applejack her spare pistol, and they both shot the incoming beasts. The narrow stairwell making a perfect choke point. “We gotta get to the phone, do you have yours?”
Applejack shook her head shooting another Timber Lion. “It’s in the kitchen charging. Where’s yours?”
“Under the couch,” Adagio answered frustrated. “I’m going to check the rooms, hold them off.” “Ok.”
Adagio ran for Aria’s room since it was the closest and checked the nightstand, the dresser and underneath the bed, but failed to find Aria’s phone. She growled and ran to Sonata’s but stopped and turned around without entering realizing Sonata would have her phone. Her eyes then fell on the room where they had been keeping Twilight. Sitting on the nightstand was a purple smartphone.
“Jackpot.” Adagio grabbed the phone, hit the home button, and growled again when the lock screen came up. “Fuck! Applejack do you know Twilight’s password!”
“NO!” Applejack screamed over the sound of gunfire. “I’m running low on bullets!”
Adagio patted her pants pockets, finding two more clips, running back into the hall she tossed them behind Applejack at the top the stairwell. “That’s all I got.” She looked to the window flapped her wings and knew what she had to do. “I’m going back downstairs.”
“What?”
She didn’t elaborate and smashed through the window gently gliding down to the ground and ran back into the house shooting at the massing Timber Lions at the base of the stairs. Frantically Adagio flipped the couch over.
(Should have done that the first time.) She fumed unlocking her phone and going straight to her contacts, Mac’s name under her finger. While the phone rang, Adagio circled in place keeping an eye out for Timber Lions, a trio charged from the west, she quickly put them down while spinning back to the east. Three more tried to push through her bedroom door.
Bullets rained down from the stairwell, Applejack screamed as she flew down the stairs and landed on a pile of Timber Lion corpses. The Apple girl continued to yell fighting her way back into the bedroom with her fists glowing brightly with magic.
Phone still ringing Adagio ran to the kitchen and checked on Sunset who was still holding her ground. The former bully panted hard holding out her palm and fired a blast of red magic and then fell to her knees.
“Sunny!” Adagio burst out the back door firing her pistol until it was empty and then created a boiling sword of water cleaving through an attacking Timber Lion. Hands full Adagio dropped the empty gun and grabbed Sunset by the neck of what remained of her shirt and dragged her back inside. “Hang in there Sunny.”
“I’ll be fine,” Sunset said woozily her head rolling to the side as her eyes struggled to stay open. “I can still fight.”
“Bullshit,” Adagio checked her phone, her call canceled. She cursed and dialed again. The back door exploded as several Timber lions broke through. Extending her hand Adagio summoned a torrent of water from the sink, inwardly crying as the pipes burst out of the wall. Seething with rage, she sent the Timber Lions flying out the back door focusing the water into tight stream cutting the Timbers in half.
“Hello?” The familiar, comforting drawl of her husband voice said through the phone speaker. For a moment joy lept into Adagio’s heart even has her home was torn asunder, and her friends and family fought for their lives. The sounds of fighting, growls, and gunfire faded away for a brief and peaceful moment before it came raging back.
Taking a deep breath, she screamed, “Get the fuck home now!”
“We’re on our way, we gotta stop by the hospital, Sonata’s hurt,” Mac said calmly. His cool voice smoothed her fried nerves as she hunkered down beside Sunset, who was barely holding onto consciousness. “What’s going on?”
Adagio took a deep breath. “How bad is she hurt?”
“She’ll live, but she needs a doctor. We’ll be there ASAP. I’d fly ahead, but I’m sapped of magic. We’re all battened down, Pinkie did a number on us and got away. Now, what’s going on?”
She held the phone away from her ear staring at the profile picture of Mac on the screen. He was tired and hurt already if he came home… she didn’t want to think about it. It was too late to stop him now anyway. “We’re under attack Timber beasts are everywhere, I’ve lost sight of Aria, Applejack, and Rarity, Fury is fighting a Timber Rex, and Sunset is barely hanging on beside me. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight are locked downstairs in the saferoom.
“Take Sunset and hide in the safe room, I’ll be there soon.” The call ended.
Picking Sunset off the floor Adagio dragged her fellow Equestrian to the basement. Her wings vanished leaving her with only ears as a more Timber Lions poured in through the back door. With a curse, Adagio backpedaled into the living room heading for the bedroom. “Applejack!” She screamed kicking a Timber Lion corpse out of the way. “Applejack! Where are you?”
No reply.
“Come on, Sunny.” She tried shaking Sunset awake, but the bacon hair girl remained silent. Hearing more growls coming from behind her Adagio had to think fast and fast she did. Throwing Sunset into her closet and covered the unconscious girl with a sheet. Adagio shut the door and tipped her dresser over to block the door. “Be safe.” Turning to the door Adagio saw the head of the Timber Lion breakthrough, she gave it a smack with her clawed hand, aggravating it before jumping out the hole in her bedroom wall. The beasts chased after her, ignoring sleeping beauty in the closet.
Heading north Adagio screamed for help while passing the bashed and sliced bodies of dozens of Timber Lions. “Applejack! Rarity! Aria!” She cried into the falling snow. A white blanket covered the formerly dead grass, the snow a mess of paw prints and scattered footprints with no rhyme or reason to them. At the north edge of the house, Adagio took a sharp turn west towards Fury’s position. Running into the open yard where the red Night Patroller did battle with the Timber Rex.
He wasn’t doing so well. The red rinin was tried from days of back to back fighting. His movements sluggish, his attacks halfhearted and lacking bite. The fire sword clenched in his fist could barely be considered a dagger.
“Fury!” Called Adagio, the patroller whipped his head in her direction before focusing on his battle. Dodging the snapping jaws of the Timber Rex and thrusting his dagger into its eye.
“What!” He yelled back climbing onto the back of the beast, stabbing it several times, it’s bark covered flesh catching fire. “Where are the others!”
He growled, several Timber Lions dogpiling atop to save the Timber Rex. Adagio thrust out her hand turning the freshly fallen snow into boiling water and blasting several holes through the mighty beast. Quickly she turned and shot several blasts of water at the Timber Lions behind her, the monsters nearly slipping from her mind.
Fury rose from the ground, hot steam rising off his body. “Try north.” He barked pointing his dwindling flame dagger at the Rex. “I’ll keep as many as I can here.”
“Thank you, Mac is coming, just hold out a little longer!” Adagio said dashing to the north orchard in search of the others.
“Why are there so many of you!” Rarity whined running her diamond rapier through a Timber Lion, the blade snapped, crumbling to dust in her hand. Her breathing labored, her hair matted with sweat as she limped from tree to tree while holding her side. Phantom pains from her previous battle with Mac flared like volcanic eruptions. Most notably in her ribs.
A Timber Lion attacked from high above jumping out of a tree. Rarity threw up a shield, positioning it at a turned angel. Instead of blocking the Timber Lion the buffer bisected it. The split corpse fell to the ground, at the sight of its fleshly rotten organs Rarity promptly threw up from the sight and smell. She stumbled back, relieving her stomach again, dry heaving until there was nothing left in her stomach. In her blurry vision, she saw globs of red mixed in with her vile.
“That isn’t a good sign,” She panted as more Timber Lions approached her, all of them cautious now after her slaying many of their pack. They spread out around her watching her like a wounded animal, which she was. Holding out her hand Rarity tried to make a weapon, but only bits of diamond dust blew from her hand. Her body sagged, the last of her magic dissipated into the falling snow. Screaming Rarity rose back up and charged at the pack, her legs faltered, and she fell face first to the ground.
The Timber Lions looked amongst themselves, wondering if it was a ploy to trick them. Sniffing the air, they grinned devilishly, smelling the fear and exhaustion radiation off the girl. The head of the pack jutted its head telling four of its brethren to inspect the body closer. Four lions slowly approached Rarity their jaws salivated with slobber as they each stood before a limb of the wounded girl, their prey. Their heads dropped, and they each snatched an arm and leg in their teeth and began to pull. Their victim crying out in pain, but she didn’t put up a fight, too weak from the hunt. They pulled harder.
“NO! GODS NO!” Rarity cried as her shoulders were popped out of the socket. One of the Lions stomped on her back, tearing through her shirt as it tried to get a better position to rip her limb off. A bone went ‘CRACK,’ and her body went numb. Another Lion pressed on her head, muffling her cries as her face was pushed into the cold ground. “No, please, no…”
“Get away from her!” Something smashed into the Timber Lions feasting on her, but only one let go, the one feasting on her right leg, the others too far in their frenzy to care about their comrade. “I said get off her!” Her rescuer demanded again. Her other leg and left arm were freed, but the one chewing on her right arm remained, sloppily chewing on her forearm while keeping her head pinned down. “Get off!”
The final lion was vanquished. Rarity was no longer a chew toy, though remained immobile. “Come on get up! We gotta go!” Her rescuer demanded.
“I can’t move.”
“Tch, figures.” Rarity finally pinpointed her rescuer's identity when a raspberry colored hand entered her field of vision and hoisted her up. “Come on, Fashionista.” Aria barked roughly slinging Rarity onto her shoulder. “Hang on tight.” With her fin like wings, Aria took flight, the Timber Lions jumped after them their jaws grazing the bottom of their feet before they finally got high enough.
“Thank goodness you found me.” Rarity sighed, her relief was short-lived when Aria began to careen towards the ground. Before any word of warning could be uttered the two of them crashed into the ground. Charred remains of the northern shack before them. “What happened?”
“Nothing, shut up.” Aria barked hoisting Rarity over her shoulder again and began slogging toward the burned out shed. Rarity was less than gently set against one the still standing posts that made up the corner of the shack. It was here Rarity finally got a good look at Aria’s condition, the siren not fairing much better than herself.
“Aria your,” Stammered Rarity spotting the bone spike protruding from the siren’s gut.
“I know,” Aria snapped, staggering on the blackened floor in a half-conscious trance. Several other wounds adorned her flesh, cuts, and bruises, but what was most concerned Rarity beside the spike in Aria’s stomach was creeping blue traveling up her exposed flesh. The siren held herself, shivering something fierce. “So cold.” Aria stomped over to Rarity, sat down and embraced the fashionista. “I hate the cold.”
Rarity shivered, Aria’s skin was like ice!
“Aria, Aria, you need to keep moving, fly to Cherry Jubilees, leave me if you have to. Go find someplace warm!” Rarity begged, but the siren didn’t reply and held her tighter seeking warmth that Rarity didn’t have to give.
“What did they teach in school, what was it!” Rarity racked her brain for her health class lessons. She needed to get Aria to someplace warm and heat her up. Such a place was not available, and she was in no shape to be carrying the frozen Siren anywhere. There was only one thing left she could think of to do and forced her arms to move despite the pain. “I will keep you alive, so don’t freeze on me, Aria.”
“Rarity! Rarity where are you?” Applejack yelled into the wind. Struggling to find her friend or anyone for that matter in the vast acres that made up the orchard. It was dark, snowing, and the chorus of growls from every shadow had her jumping at her own shadow. In her frantic rush to get away from the Timber Lions around the house, she had run into the orchard without keeping track of where she was going. She hadn’t even paid attention to switch orchard she had gone into. Her trail a mess of haphazard footprints and with her only source of light her dying cellphone there was little she could do to find her way back as the battery bar turned red. The cold sapping the electronic device of its power twice as fast.
A twig snapped had Applejack heel turning, fist ready to smash whatever was coming, her knuckles connected with the jaw of a Timber Lion. Much to her horror, the beast had tricked her, and she swung right into its mouth, its teeth clamped down on her hand and pulled to the ground. Three more Timber Lions rushed out from the brush and chomped down on her leg. Thrashing around Applejack kicked her boot off, relieving herself of one. With her other leg she rolled and kicked the second one off, and with the third, she stabbed her fingers into its eyes with her free hand. The trio of monster staggered back, and she quickly worked on setting her trapped hand free, tackling the beast biting down on it and repeatedly punched it until its jaws broke and released her. Not waiting around, she hopped on her uninjured leg and dashed away.
“Dang it, dang it!” She murmured harshly. Limping on one leg would get her nowhere fast and with one hand pressed uselessly against her body, she was like a wounded deer about to be caught. Her foot caught a tree root, and Applejack landed face first in the snow screaming as sharp stone dug into her stomach. Rolling on her back she felt for any blood on her belly and thankfully found none, but it still hurt. Wound, tired, and cold Applejack let out sniffle, which turned to tears as the hopelessness of her situation got to her.
“Mac… Daddy… Daddy, please help me.” She sobbed calling out for Nico. The little girl inside her crawling to the surface. The one that was weak and full of self-pity. Angrily Applejack pushed that side of her back down deep into her unconscious. “Shut up you crybaby.” She scolded. With much effort, she sat up, crawled her way up the trunk of the tree and stood on her feet again.
That took the last of her strength and her leg buckled under her weight leaving Applejack slumped against a tree as her pursuers arrived. This time there were more of them. Six in fact. With a shaking hand, Applejack retrieved her pocket knife and pointed at the Timber Lions in a defiant last defense.
“Well, come on!” She shouted hoarsely. Her braid had broken leaving her hair unbound and flying all over the place like a feral animal.
Two charged her, Applejack jabbed with her knife, sticking one in the eye while the other tried to bite her hand. She struck the blade bouncing off the bark skin. Screaming she readjusted her strike and stuck the second one in the eye forcing the two lions back, but the others took the chance and attacked her wounded side. Frantically she twisted her body to jab with her knife. The awkward strikes of having to fight past her breasts left her unbalanced and open to attacks. One of the beasts bit into her right shoulder, and she dropped her knife.
“Dammit!” Applejack screamed thrashing wildly around. It did little to stop the bites at each Timber Lion began to nip at her.
A loud shriek broke through the growls and screams, Applejack quickly pressed her hands over her ears as the Timber Lions wimped and backed away from her. From the trees emerged Adagio demon eyed and showing a lot of fangs. The yellow siren’s hand flexed with two-inch-long claws coming out of her fingertips.
“Get away from her,” Adagio stalked toward the pack of Timbers. They whimpered looking uncertain before regaining their backbones. They lined up to attack and charged the lone siren. Adagio inhaled, her chest puffing up before she let loose a massive sonic shriek upon the group. The Timber’s rattled, blood spurting out their ears, three of them falling dead right on the spot. The remaining three circled around one on the left and two on the right. The two on the right attacked., Adagio plunged both of her hands into their bellies and whipped them into a tree. Nearly severing them in half. The final Timber landed on her back, but the siren did not fall, with an angry grunt, she shook the beast off snapping its leg with her foot before violently ripping into its stomach, disemboweling it in a frenzy.
When the deed was done, Adagio went limb, returning to normal. With a look of disgust, she swiped the blood from her face. “I liked it better when they were just made of wood. You ok?” Adagio asked stepping off the corpse, grimacing once she got a look at Applejack’s condition. “Forget I asked.”
“Did you find anyone else?” Applejack asked as Adagio lifted off her the ground.
“No, but I think we’re finally starting to thin these bastards out. I only ran into ten on my way here. Good thing I heard your screams.”
Applejack grumbled indigently. “Great. Let’s just keep that to ourselves. At least from Applebloom. I want to keep the badass older sister look up a little bit longer.”
“Then I guess she hasn’t seen all the frilly things you’ve been snagging from Rarity, yet?” Adagio jested, enjoying a laugh at Applejack’s expense. The farmgirls face flush.
“Just get me to a med kit.” Applejack grumbled. As they limped through the trees, no monsters attacked them. Maybe the attack was finally over. “Should we be going back to the farmhouse yet? If there are any left, they’d probably gather there.”
Adagio stopped, frowned and then resumed walking. “We’ll have to chance it. I’m not carrying you to Cherry’s. Hopefully, Fury took care of that…” Adagio shivered, freezing in place as a bright pillar of magic shot into the sky from the direction of the farmhouse. “What the hell is that.”
Applejack nudged her on, “It doesn’t matter what it is, Applebloom is there! We gotta go!”
“Right!”
Sunset Shimmer awoke in a pile of Adagio’s clothes and unmentionables. Her head pounded, her body ached and (What the hell is that buzzing?) She sat up, feeling dizzy, most likely from blood loss. The buzzing noise was coming from outside in another room. What could make such a loud noise like that? No phone could do that.
Then it hit her! (My journal! Someone from Equestria is trying to contact me!) Sunset pushed on the door, finding it stuck with something heavy blocking it. Pressing her back against the wall of the closet she kicked against the door moving whatever was blocking it slightly. She peered through the crack covering her mouth to keep quiet. Five Timber Lions roamed around the bedroom. Much to her luck, they hadn’t noticed her.
The buzzing noise became louder. A sixth Timber Lion entered the room with it in its mouth and dropped it on the floor. The six Timber looked curiously at it. Tapping the book with their paws to try and figure it out.
(What do I do. I gotta get to it. If they destroy it, the portal can’t be reopened!) Sunset panicked. What could she do?
Tightening her fist Sunset squeezed whatever magic was left in her out, creating dancing red sparks in her hands. The beasts turned to the closet, their eyes narrowing in on her. She had to act. Bursting through the closet door Sunset snapped her fingers, red sparks flying from her hands, the flashes lit the bark of the attack beasts aflame. Sunset ducked and rolled under the second beast grabbing her book as she sprang to her feet. Her foot caught the foot of Mac and Adagio’s bed sending her flying on top of it. A Timber Lion tried to crawl up after her, and she kicked in the muzzle while frantically opening the journal. Words were appearing, but she had no time to read them. Spying a pen on the nightstand, Sunset crawled across the bed, fending off the attacking beasts with kicks. One tore off her shoe and chomped down on her foot. She screamed the Lion whipped her into the nightstand and knocked it over, the corner of the stand struck her under her breast.
Sunset seethed, and heel dropped the lion on her foot and scrambled for the pen. Hastily with her prize in hand, she raced back to the closet and slammed the door closed. The Timber Lions pounded against it, the wood creaked and snapped sending splinters flying into her hair.
Throwing open a random page Sunset wrote ‘View’ the book glowed and projected the image of Sixes to her. “Grandpa!” In the projection, Celestia and several others appeared. “Grandma.” She wiped her tears from seeing the two. “Please tell me the portal is fixed.”
“We think we got it, but we need an access point. No telling if the portal will be stable either, but we’ll worry about that. Are near something that can act as a door for us?” Celestia asked. A timber Lions claw burst through the door, the stone claw catching Sunset in the shoulder. She screamed and pressed her back against the wall as far away from the attacking beast as possible.
“We’re under attack, everyone’s fighting and separated. I’m hiding in a closet. What do I need to do to fix the connection?”
Princess Twilight’s voice came forth, “You need to magically bind the book with a mirror or something like that, something big enough for a pony…er, person to fit through. Is there anything like that nearby?”
“Yes, right in the other room with the killer Timber Lions attacking me!” Sunset screamed as another claw burst through the door.
“Sunset,” Sixes’s calm, deep voice said. “Breath, calm down and focus on what you need to do. Open the portal and survive, stay where you are, and you die.”
“But…”
“Trust me, connect the worlds, I’ll be there. Be brave my little girl.”
She nodded, “Ok. Ok. Yes, fuck yes! I’ll do it!” Sunset hugged the book tight to her chest and stood up, the door was almost gone. With a scream she tackled the door, breaking through it as the Timber Lions broke through. She rolled over top of them, their bark backs roughly shaved her skin as she flopped hard to the floor. Her eyes fell on Adagio’s full body mirror. She crawled toward it, one of the Timber Lions recovered and pounced on her back.
“Get off me!” She screamed elbowing it in the stomach and crawled for the mirror again. Stretching her arm out with the journal clutched tight in her fingers. A timber Lion ran over the top of her, cutting her lip and knocking her head against the floor. She persisted, pressing the book against the glass surface and dug down deep within herself for one last spark of magic.
Sunset’s world went dark, and the book fell with a thump to the floor.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Mac’s hand gripped the steering while of his pick up tight, the rpm meter ran almost to the red, his truck siding on the freshly fallen snow as he tore recklessly down the road. If not for his magic enhanced reflexes he would have gone into the ditch along ago driving on slippery roads like this.
He was alone, gunning for home with no sense of self-preservation. He left Sonata in the care of Stryker Six and Limestone at the hospital. He hadn’t bothered to call Ferocious or Celestia and Luna. There was no time.
Turning sharp on to his driveway he kept the pedal floored. When he saw a strange Timber creature on the road, he didn’t break and rammed the monster with his pick up. The body flew over the hood cracked his window and probably smashed up his grill, but he didn’t care. When another came into view, he swerved towards it flinging it into a tree. A group of three stood at the end of the path, and he didn’t bother slowing down for them. He smashed right through, two flew off to the side, as the third was rolled under the pickup.
Mac finally came to a stop as one of his tires blew out, and the truck skidded into the yard. From there he opened the door his maul in hand as he observed the situation. It was chaos. What looked like hundreds of Timber Lions and other assorted beasts lay dead in his yard. Fury fighting a Timber Rex by himself. Fist clenched on the handle of his maul Mac stomped toward the Patroller to help. Swinging at Timber Lion that tried to get the jump on him, with nothing but pure muscle he crushed the monsters head with hammer end.
Before he could get any closer something happened to the Timber Rex, it stopped its attacks on Fury, it’s skin turned black with white bones decorating its body. Suddenly the Timber Rex whipped around and began feasting on the Timber Lions.
He knew what that meant.
Through his broken front door with Sunset Shimmer resting in his arms emerged Sixes and several others. A pair of warm arms wrapped around him from behind as the Night Patrollers spread out and began killing the remaining Timbers, while he savored the touch of his loved one.
“Adagio.” He said relieved turning around and embracing his wife tightly. “I’m so glad you're safe.”
Adagio held him close and sobbed into his chest. “I’m sorry… I… the house…and…”
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, the sound of someone screaming bloody murder sent a chill down her spine as she frantically looked around. Everything around her was black and brown. Her bare butt rested atop something soft and fluffy with the hard ground underneath. She stretched her arms, the room wasn’t big enough to even extend her arms fully. Her fingers rubbed against hard, rough wood, a few stray splinters pricked her digits making her yelp and retract her arms.
“Am I inside a fricking tree?” She questioned while pulling the splinters from her hand. A cold draft brew underneath the animal skin blocking the entrance. Rainbow hugged the fur blanket wrapped around her body tighter, shivering from the cold and wondering what happened to her clothes. When she tried to get up her body was stiff, and a sharp pain came from her leg. Unwrapping the blanket, she found her injured foot wrapped in plant leaves with a pungent scent rising from the vegetation bandages.
“What’s going on?”
She remembered being attacked, but nothing else. (Where’s Ebony?) The black snake had been in her mind for so long it felt strange not to hear its voice whispering into her ear. Rainbow’s head flashed with heat, her body becoming weak. “I’m Rainbow Dash, no I’m Ebony? Am I both or are we separate?”
Her head hurt a lot. She tried to remember her life before encountering the snake, but it was fuzzy. The last month was a haze. Especially the previous few days. She remembered going home, where ever that was, and going to her mother.
“I attacked mom…” Rainbow muttered holding her head. “Holy shit, I attacked mom!”
For a moment her life became clear again, it was within her grasp, her true self. But the entrance opened streaming light in from outside, outlining a dark shape. Ebony rose up, spreading her red wings and hissed. Rainbow’s eyes became dull, and she extended her arm, which Ebony bit, injecting black venom into Rainbow’s veins.
“Hi girl, what’s going on? Where are we?” Rainbow asked dully as Ebony slithered up her arm to wrap cozily around her neck. Ebony hissed softly and nuzzled Rainbow’s cheek. “I missed you too. I’m glad you're alright.”
Ebony licked Rainbow’s cheek affectionally.
“You’re my only loyal friend,” Rainbow said almost memorized. “And I’m yours.”
Ebony smiled and directed Rainbow to go outside as another ear bleeding scream shook the air. Rainbow hesitated. Afraid of what could be causing it, but Ebony nicked her ear, and she slowly crawled her way outside.
Outside the tree was a camp with a giant bonfire burning with an assortment of Timber creatures and other beasts surrounding it. Rainbow Dash eeped when they turned towards her, remembering what they did to her. They did nothing this time. Slowly Rainbow limped towards the source of the screaming. It came from a large tent, one like the native used, a Teepee.
The bone-chilling scream was even louder, it was filled with feral rage and vitriol as the owner cursed up a storm, their shadow thrashed through tent canvas. Another figure held them down and raised an arm holding a hatchet.
“Don’t you dare bitch!” The screamer screamed.
The hatchet came down. One last blood-curdling scream pierced the cold air, followed by deep sobs. The sitting figure began to do something, but Rainbow was too afraid to go see what. The shadowed person finished their task and patted the prone person, whispering soft coos to them.
Feeling brave Rainbow inched closer to the flap of the tent, finding it open, inside she saw a terrible sight. Fluttershy sat next to Pinkie Pie, out cold with her cheeks stained red with tears and blood. A bloody hatchet laid on the floor of the teepee, next to a pink arm on a blanket. Rainbow peered closer as Fluttershy turned, her fur clothing splattered with blood, the shy girl smiled revealing Pinkie’s bandaged stub.
“Ah, you’re awake Rainbow. I’m glad. Do you want some clothes? Some food maybe?” The normally meek spoken girl said with the casualty of someone who hadn’t just amputated one of their friends. Fluttershy looked at the sleeping Pinkie and laughed politely. “I suppose you might not feel up for food after seeing this. I had hoped to get this done before you woke up, but Pinkie was being Pinkie, troublesome and thrashing around like a child you know.”
Rainbow gulped, completely freaked out by Fluttershy’s nonplus attitude. It scared her. Fluttershy frightened her! “What happened did…”
“No,” Fluttershy said flatly. “I didn’t half rip off Pinkie’s arm. From what my scouts tell me, Mac did. I saved her, Rainbow.”
“You have a funny way of showing it!”
“Her arm was infected and half frozen, the cut was not clean. I had no choice. Besides.” Fluttershy picked up Pinkie’s severed arm, Rainbow gagged as she inspected it with a keen eye. “I have a way to make it better.” Vines and bark spouted from the severed arm, twisting and mutating it into a mix of flesh and wood. Fluttershy laid the Timber arm at Pinkie’s stub, the vines shooting out and digging into the bandaged flesh. Green veins spread across Pinkie’s skin as the arm attached itself. Pinkie let out a pained moan, the wood prosthetic moved, the fingers digging into the ground before going limp.
“A success.” Fluttershy cheered admiring her work. “Now Rainbow why don’t you be a good girl and get dressed.”
A Timber Lion walked up and dispensed a pile of clothes made of fur at Rainbow’s feet. Rainbow looked uneasily from the coats to Fluttershy. Her stomach in knots as Fluttershy tended to Pinkie’s arm. “But these are made of fur. You hate that, right?”
“The animal was old and dying, it’s meat fed my friends, and it’s fur keeps me warm.” Fluttershy turned around smiling at her, like a parent that just heard their child ask a stupid question. “When I think about how foolish I was back then, thinking predator and prey could get along, such thoughts are unnatural. A human construct. We romanticize animals, projecting our thoughts and feelings to make their cruel and bloody world seem more friendly. But I see it clearly now. The natural order and I will write the wrong humans have made. And you're going to help me Rainbow. Ebony has already conceded to me.”
“What! What the hell are you talking about! I don’t obey anybody!” Rainbow tried to attack, to prove she was the top bitch, but when Fluttershy raised her hand and said ‘stop,’ she did. Standing frozen like a deer in headlights.
With a stern tone, Fluttershy said, “Sit.” And Rainbow did, dropping like a brick to her knees on the ground, her cloak flying off, leaving her exposed to the cold. Yet even as she shivered, she could not move or even hug herself. She was frozen.
Seductively Fluttershy strutted over to Rainbow and with a clawed finger pointed the blue girl’s head up, so their eyes met. “I’m alpha, and you’re my bitch, understand?” Rainbow nodded meekly feeling intense pressure on her spine under Fluttershy’s stare. “Good, now get dress. I have important things to get ready.”
As she walked away, Fluttershy pulled the green Alicorn Amulet from between her breasts, eyeing the jewel with a marveled gaze. She lost a good chunk of her force attacking the farm, but evolution was built on the bodies of the weak.
“Now what other material can I work with?” She mumbled straying to another tent in the camp. Inside was Maddie with a barbed vine wrapped around her neck. When Fluttershy entered the Teepee, she snapped and hissed like a wild animal. Fluttershy slapped Maddie on the noise, and the mad scientist grew meek and whimpered. “That’s right, I’m your master now.” Fluttershy cooed.
Maddie nodded presenting her throat to Fluttershy, who stroked her chin lovingly. “Your practically an animal now. That’s good. Very good. Your just what I have in mind.” As Maddie leaned into her touch Fluttershy’s smile was radiant. “Yes, your perfect just the way you are and soon everyone else will be too. Humans will be what they truly are, animals, and my pets.”
“This is a mess isn’t it.” Mac drawled standing in what remained of his house. When he got home, it had been early morning, and now it was past noon. The past few hours have been pure chaos with dealing with the aftermath of the attack.
The house he had spent many weekends and summers fixing through his high school years. The house his father had raised him in, the house his grandfather had built. He could see through it from the living room through his bedroom. Snow gathered on the floor as the sound of hammers pounded behind him. Night Patrollers were nailing plywood over the holes. A temporary fix. He’d have to at least get the outside suitable, but he could rebuild the inside over winter at least. The windows were going to cost a fortune though.
He sat in his chair a space heater roared gently in the corner as more patrollers worked on the hole in his and Adagio’s bedroom. His wife upstairs wrapped up tight in as many blankets as she could find after nearly freezing outside. Applebloom and Sweetie with her, Twilight was moved back upstairs as well. Adagio didn’t have it as terrible as Aria who they found naked with Rarity sharing her body heat while covered by a patchwork blanket made of their clothes. Both girls along with Sunset were taken through the mirror and were enjoying Twilight’s private bath and being treated for their injuries. Fury companied them needing some healing himself. That left him to entertain the guests.
“So, Adagio’s mirror is the portal now?” He said running his fingers over the armrests of his lazy boy as Princess Celestia sat on his couch with a cup of tea imported from Equestria. Sixes and Kira sat across from the princess both of them looking at the destruction with empathy.
The Princess took a sip before speaking. “For now. We can move it at a later date if you so wish, which I’m sure you will. It’s hard to tell how stable it is right now. I’m sure my sister and Twilight are nervously waiting for my return. It would be inconvenient if I were to be trapped here.”
“Yet you stay despite the risk?”
“If I were to be trapped in another world, then I would rather be the one with my granddaughter Mac. I’m sure Sunset will want to return.” Celestia padded the journal with her and Sunset Shimmers marked meshed together. The Princess stroked the cover lovingly as she wiped a stray tear from her eye. “This was going to my heartwarming gift for Sunset. I should have given her this sooner, but I… well… that’s a personal matter. None the less it provides another connection to this world in case we need it.”
Mac wasn’t sure how to reply to that, so he leaned back in his chair watching as a patroller walked out of his bedroom with a trash bag full of ashes that had once been Timber Lions. “So, what happened in there?”
“I got angry,” Celestia replied without looking up from the book.
“Understandable.” He chuckled looking away from the Princess. “So, ah… after all, this are you going to make Sunset Shimmer go home with you?”
Celestia paused mid-sip, set her teacup down and frowned. “I would have taken her home a long time ago if it weren’t a sure-fire way to make her hate me again. As her grandmother, I want nothing more than Sunset’s safety and happiness. It is taking all I am not to simply walk through that mirror and seal the portal so I can keep her at my side, but as I said, I want her to be happy. And this world makes her happy. Besides she’s an adult in Equestria, whether I like it or not, she can live her life the way she wants.” The Princess leaned forward, her hair falling over her face, but it didn’t dampen her words enough for Mac not to overhear her say, “I hope she comes home forever soon.”
Mac ran his fingers through his hair, his mind playing out the same question if it was his child. He didn’t know if he could be that open-minded about possibly never seeing them again.
“I’m going to go check on Adagio if you don’t mind Princess.”
“Not at all. I’ll begin discussing our next course of action with Sixes and Kira.”
“Right, please don’t plan anything too crazy,” Mac said half-jokingly. Really, he was quite fearful what the Equestrians might do this time. They didn’t say anything, but he could read the room, they might not take prisoners this time. Especially Sixes. With the world on the brink of discovering magic, they might just rip the bandage off and really go crazy.
As Mac turned to go up the stairs he peered into his bedroom, the entire room was scorched, whited spots marked the Timber Lions bodies and the place where Celestia had shielded Sunset from whatever magic she had used to defeat the monsters. Sixes probably wasn’t the only one he had to worry about. He didn’t truly understand the extent of a Princess’s magical power. Luna had briefly gone over it in her lessons, but Adagio liked them to the Greek gods.
Upstairs Mac stealthily moved to his old room, keeping quiet as he leaned in through the doorway. Adagio lay asleep on the bed, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle tucked in with her. Leaning against the doorframe Mac took in the sight of his wife sleeping with the two kids. For a brief moment, the two preteens were replaced with imagines of what he imagined his and Adagio’s children would look like and found comfort in the scene, like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. Mac knelt next to the bed, reaching over Applebloom to pat his wife’s stomach. She was about to hit five months if he remembered correctly. Her bump wasn’t anything anyone would notice in a baggy Tee shirt, but it was notability bigger now.
It made him happy gently stroking her stomach. Imagining the child to come. “Don’t worry. You’ll have a good home again before you come out there.” He whispered to the growing infant.
“Insurance should cover the repairs if the world doesn’t end,” Adagio said softly, placing her hand over his. She craned her neck, so they were looking at each other, their fingers interlocked as they leaned in to share a brief kiss. Adagio visibly relaxed, pecking him twice more on the lips before backing off and laid back down. “I needed that.”
“Me too,” He replied squeezing her hand tight. “I… I almost lost you.”
“Not even close,” She joked, but Mac’s expression remained grim. “Ok. Maybe it was a little close. Perhaps too close, but I’m fine Mac.”
“I want you to go to Equestria.” Mac blurted out, to both his and Adagio’s surprise. “Now just you. Sonata, Aria, Applejack, Applebloom, everyone. I want… I need you to be safe. I thought the farm was safe and it’s not. Nowhere is safe here. Not anymore. Please, go stay with Princess Twilight, at least until this is over.”
Adagio’s mouth moved, but no words come out, she was speechless and feeling a whirlwind of conflicting emotions. “I don’t know if I should be happy or offended that you want to lock me up in a castle in another world just to keep me safe. Moreover, I’m surprised you’d even suggest it. You’ve always been… Earth-centric.”
“I know, I know,” Mac replied falling back against the dresser to rub his temple. “But that’s how I honestly feel right now. I’ve always been able to leave thinking you would be safe here, but now… I don’t know. You were attacked, and there was a good chance you and everypony else would have been killed before I could have even gotten here to do anything. I can’t go hunt if it leaves you vulnerable.”
Adagio sat up, “And you expect me to sit here and worry that you might not come back?” She retorted glaring at him. “The road of worry goes to ways, Mac.”
Mac opened his mouth to speak but closed it can and smiled humorlessly. “Yeah, your right, but what do you expect me to do?”
“Let Sixes and his people take care of this.”
“I can’t ask them to do that.”
“Probably don’t have to, they have skin in the game Mac, Sunset is Princess Celestia’s and Sixes' granddaughter! They have as much right to be involved as anyone, if not more so.”
“I know, but this is our world, and it’s our problem, we should be the ones to fix it.”
Adagio sighed in frustration. “It’s not just our world or their world, both worlds are joined at the hip now, why can’t it be both our problems? Fuck just about every magical piece of bullshit, myself included, came from Equestria! I think it’s time that Equestria starts cleaning up its own fucking mess for sending every evil artifact and villain to earth like it was a landfill!”
The two teens sleeping on the bed began to stir from Adagio’s rant. The siren patted their head and cooed them back to sleep and laid back down. The two girls wrapping around her like snug bugs in a rug.
Mac stood up to leave, stopping when Adagio called out to him. “I’ll think about it. Going to Equestria I mean, but I want to talk about it with Sonata and Aria.”
“That’s fine,” Mac said exhaustedly walking back into the hall. His phoned buzzed in his pocket, he took a sharp turn to the end of the hallway slipping into Sonata’s room to answer the call.
“How are things?” Asked Ferocious over the line. “Stryker told me you had to rush home.”
“Things,” Mac said licking his lips. “Things could be a lot better.”
“Anyone dead?”
“No.”
“Then they could be worse, what happened?”
Mac sighed and told his godfather what Adagio told him. The red detective stayed silent only grunting every now and then through the report.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to help,” Ferocious said, sounding haggard. “Not that I might have been much help with my leg and arm messed up, but fuck, I was just sitting here flipping through fucking papers!” The sound of something hitting the wall come through the speaker, followed by a hard smack to what was most likely Ferocious’s desk. “Is there anything you need, Mac?” Ferocious asked sounding a little calmer.
“I could use some advice I guess,” Mac slumped against the wall sliding to the floor. He ran his fingers through his hair, his body tense, everything was just too crazy lately. “I told Adagio she and the others should go to Equestria for safety. Half of them are there now anyway.”
Ferocious laughed. “I bet she didn’t like that.”
“Not really. Adagio didn’t like it, but she wasn’t one hundred percent against it either, if she wasn’t pregnant, she’d probably be more headstrong about it. Honestly I kind of miss having her with me.” Another truth slipped out without his permission. He leaned out into the hall wondering if Adagio heard him or if she was asleep again. “Got any advice on how to calm down most likely silently seething wife?”
“Nope, never been married and even if I did have some advice, I would have written a book on it and become rich.” They both shared a much-needed laugh at the stupid joke. “Look Mac it’s probably for the best that she goes to Equestria. Make her go, she may hate you for an awhile, maybe a year, but at least she’ll be around to do it. That’s my advice. I’m going to head down to the hospital and check on things there and keep watch. If you decide to send Sonata to Equestria too, I’ll arrange to get her to you.”
“Nothings been decided, but thanks. I better go check on Sixes and the Princess before they decide to nuke something.”
Feri chuckled, “Best do that. Stay in touch.”
Mac stood and pocketed his phone feeling a little better. Making his way downstairs Mac pondered what to do next. Fluttershy had Pinkie and Maddie, and Rainbow Dash was MIA, though it was possible she might be with Fluttershy too. It was hard to figure out how the infected girls would act. They followed their host's personalities in a very hit or miss fashion.
Pinkie acted like a full-blown psycho, though from Limestone’s testimony before the fight, they might not know the pink party girl as well as they thought. At least he didn’t know for sure. He’d have to ask Limestone more about what happened to try and get a read-on Pinkie/Spite. The real tough part would be telling Limestone he half cut off Pinkie’s arm. He’d probably hold off on that.
Rainbow was missing but keeping low, from what Stryker Six said she was in pretty bad shape. Her running to Fluttershy was possible.
Now Fluttershy herself. Out of the infected girls, she had the smallest footprint. In fact, nobody ran into her, spotted her or anything. She was like a ghost. “A ghost that bred a fucking army of Timbers,” Mac muttered under his breath as he reached the bottom of the stairs. Celestia, Sixes, and Kira were still sitting on the couch but now joined by Shadow Spector.
“Ha, Mac your back, good. I think we have some good news.” Celestia chimed smiling with a fresh cup of tea. A maid, a real-life maid, dress and all, stood in his living room, refilling the Princess’s cup. “Do you want anything? Lemon Milk can fetch you something from home if you desire.”
“I’m fine, did you come up with a plan? One that doesn’t involve nuking the town?” The Equestrians stare blankly at him. “Right, you probably don’t know what that is.”
Celestia padded his chair, urging him to sit, which he did, after another sip of tea she spoke. “We maybe have a way to end this ordeal without harming the Sin’s hosts any further. Well, no harm might be too generous, but unmaimed.”
“I cut off Pinkie’s arm.” Mac inserted.
“No further maiming then. Our secret weapon is Shadow Specter. Shadow, please explain Mac our idea.”
The ghost man nodded and faced Mac, “I think I can use my possession to force the Sins to separate from the girls. Mind you they will have to be softened to increase the chances of success.”
“Define softened,” Mac inquired.
“Beaten to or near unconsciousness?” Shadow Spector shrugged. “Usually my hosts are willing volunteers. Forcingly possessing someone takes a lot of energy, and I’m going to have to do it four times from what I understand. The weaker they are, the easier it will be.”
“Time is also an issue, Mac, you know this.” Kira lamented. “If we don’t wrap this up soon those girls will be lost to us. We have a plan, we must act on it and soon.”
“We still don’t know where they are,” Mac argued.
“We’ll find them.” Sixes insisted. His tone did little to put Mac at ease.
“You can’t kill them,” Mac stated.
“We know Mac,” Celestia affirmed placing her hand on his knee. “Trust us, we know, but we are… high strung right now. You’ll have to forgive us if our tones aren’t very reassuring right now.”
Mac wearily sighed and slumped in his chair. “Sorry, this whole thing has been a ride. We think Fluttershy is in the wildlife preserve, she defiantly has Pinkie Pie with her and Maddie. Rainbow is unknown right now, but she’s probably only slightly better of then Pinkie. I can take you guys there.”
“I think you should rest, for now, Mac. Is there someone else that could take your place for the time being?” Celestia asked as Mac struggled to stay awake.
“Yeah, my Godfather, Ferocious his numbers in my phone…(YAWN) when did I get so tired.” Mac chomped his jaws unlocking his phone for Celestia. As he handed it to her his hand went lax, and he fell asleep.
Celestia picked up the phone with a guilty look. “I’m sorry Mac.” She said patting the farmer’s hair and handing the phone to Sixes. Behind them, a trio of guards emerged from the stairs with Adagio, Twilight, Applebloom, and Sweetie Belle cradled in their arms, fast asleep from the same spell she cast on Mac. Gently she levitated Mac off the couch and carried him towards the portal with the others.
“It’s time we cleaned up our own mess.” She said to the sleeping man as she and the guards entered the portal. Her last words before disappearing were, “I leave this in your hand's Sixes.”
The black rinin nodded as the group disappeared in a flash of light. With Mac’s phone in hand he fumbled his way through the device, finding Ferocious’s name in the contacts and per what Sunset Shimmer had shown him with her phone, pressed the screen instigating the call.
“Mac?” Ferocious questioned.
“No, but I am a friend. Where can we find you?”
“Who was that?” Luna asked as Ferocious ended his call. She sat on his office bed, the blanket wrapped around her body, a blush adorned her cheeks as she remembered all the times she spent with Ferocious on the worn mattress in their twenties. This last time she had actually used the bed for it’s intended function for sleep after falling face first to the ground when her magic training with Ferocious ended. “Also why did you strip me?”
“I thought it would be fun, your clothes were all sweaty too, they’re in the dryer right now.” Ferocious replied, his voice strained, and his eyes darted away from her, but not out of embarrassment. He was hiding something from her.
“Ok, so who was on the phone?”
“Nobody, wrong number.” He growled hopping onto his leg, using his arm to steady himself against his desk while he tried for his crutch.
“Let me get that.” She said fitting the blanket into a loose toga before walking across the room. At Ferocious’s leer, Luna looked down to see her makeshift dress was much thinner than she first thought. Almost see through. “Like’s its anything you haven’t seen before.” She huffed grabbing Ferocious’s crutch from the wall and setting it against the table.
“It’s nice seeing it again though,” Ferocious jested as he hobbled past her, smacking her on the ass.
Luna whipped around and grabbed Ferocious by the shoulder, feeling the tenseness in his muscles. He was upset about something, and he was trying to hide it from her.
“It’s been years, but I still know when your bullshitting me and when you're trying to protect me from bad news. Last time it was when Nico died, so what’s wrong?”
Ferocious exhaled, “The farm was attacked. Several of the people there were hurt really bad, so bad that they had to be taken to Equestria for immediate healing, through the new portal. Some guys named Sixes used Mac’s phone to call me, saying they sent Mac and the others to Equestria for safety. I’m going to meet Sixes and his team, and I’m going to help them find the infected girls.”
“In your condition? Why not have Stryker do it?”
“Stryker’s guarding the hospital, Nyx and Sonata are there. I can do this.” He said brushing her hand off and limping toward the door, Luna ran around him and blocked his path.
“Not without me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Ferocious!”
He bit his lip as they glared at each other, neither one budging an inch. “I don’t want you in danger.”
“Last I check I decide how to live my life, not you, maybe if you hadn’t walked out it would be different. Maybe if…”
“Don’t go starting on about what if’s, we both made our choices. Maybe mine was misguided and in vain in the end, but I did them because I loved you and wanted to you be safe and happy. I didn’t think it would work after Nico and Applejane died! Maybe if they hadn’t, I would have…” He clamped his lips tight, realizing what he was about to say. Luna looked curiously at him, her temper cooling as she processed his words.
“You would have what? What would you have done if Nico and Applejane hadn’t died?” Luna asked softly, stepping closer to him. Pressing her body to his as she gazed up with hopeful eyes. “What would you have done?”
Before Luna knew it Ferocious had his arm around her and pulled her close, his lips crashed against hers in a passionate and heartfelt kiss that made her weak in the knees and sent her back in time to the young woman she had been in her twenties, young, dumb, and in love.
Maybe she was still in love.
When Ferocious broke the kiss, he kept holding her running his hand through her hair. “You’re a smart woman, it should be easy for you to figure out.” He stepped back just as the dryer finished. “If you can get dressed before I get to my car then you can come.”
“Wait, what? Why did you… hey wait, are you serious right now? Ferocious!” Luna beckoned, but the red detective didn’t stop and began hopping down the stairs.
“Hurry up if you’re coming, woman!”
“You’re a bastard, Feri!” Luna screamed from the top of the stairs only to run to the dryer and quickly began dressing. “And you don’t wash delicates with other clothes!” The backdoor of the bar slammed shut, Luna growled and finished pulling her shirt over her head grabbed her coat and leapfrogged down the stairs. Sprinting to Ferocious’s red dodge challenger, her hands pressed against the glass as the engine rumbled to life. The door unlocked and she got in.
“I thought you weren’t going to wait,” Luna said as she bucked in.
Feri smiled as he pulled into the street. “A man always waits for his woman, and I won’t leave you behind this time, because I’ve been doing some thinking. If those kids can make things work, then maybe we can.”
“Your talking about Mac and Adagio?”
“Who else? Now let’s go be adults and clean up this mess. After that…”
“After that?” Luna repeated eying Ferocious.
“Well, we’ll see what a happens, but I’m looking forward to you in white.”
“White?” Luna’s brain did a quick reboot as she slumped in the leather seat and then smiled. “Took you long enough. I’m going to call Tia and tell her what’s going on. She’ll want to help too.”
“You’re not going to tell her the good news?”
“When I want to give her a heart attack I will.” Luna giggled as she scrolled through the phone. A sense of hope for the future budded inside her. This was her chance to finally do something for her godchildren and her students. This time she would stop the magical threat, to take care of the problem that shouldn’t be laid at the feet of children half her of her age. “Time to make up for all those failures.” She muttered as the call went through and she told Celestia what was going down. Her sister, of course, was happy to join in.
After the call the rest of the drive was in silence, Luna just stared out the window watching the street lamps turn on. Remembered the nights they’d cruised around with her hanging off Feri’s shoulders like a drunk love floozy. Which is what she had been at the time. In particular, she loved riding on his motorcycle more, the intimacy was defiantly a factor.
Looking back Luna realized that Ferocious would have been doing secret monster hunting with Nico back then, just like Mac was doing now. She wondered how things would be different if she had been pulled into that life back then. Would things be the same? Would she had stayed a teacher or done something else? Like, become a detective like Ferocious did? Questions with no answers.
“We’re here.” Ferocious announced pulling into the hospital parking lot. Celestia waited outside her van for them, Sixes, Kira, and someone with a terrifying face stood with her.
“Luna, Ferocious, so glad you could make it.” Celestia greeted with a nervous smile as she presented the Equestrians. “Ferocious have you been introduced to Sixes and his friends yet? Luna and I know him and Kira, but ah… they scary guy is new.”
“I’m Shadow Specter, I’m a ghost pony.”
“Like Danny Phantom?” Luna blurted out, much to Celestia’s embarrassment, and everyone else’s confusion. “What? Look it’s a show about this kid with ghost powers, you know what forget it! It’s not important right now.”
After a brief awkward pause of silence, Sixes stretched out his hand to Ferocious. “So, your Fierce Fury’s counterpart. You could pass for twins.”
“I could say the same to you, you look just like my buddy Stryker Six, safe for the hair, his hair is blue.” Ferocious chuckled. It was weird meeting alternate versions of his friends. On that thought. “You gotta tell me, are these two really Princesses in your world?” He asked pointing to Celestia and Luna.
“Yes,” Sixes said with a hint of red in his face. “The other Luna and I are… well, we can leave that for now. Let us get down to business. I believe there is a pony… err person of interest inside the healing faculty.”
“Sonata is inside,” Ferocious confirmed while spotting a Pie Construction pick up truck parked a few spaces away. “Pinkie Pie’s sister is inside too it seems if you have questions for her too.”
Sixes looked at the hospital with interest. “Pinkie’s sister huh, that will make this much easier then.”
“What got a trick to track Pinkie down?” Ferocious asked while hobbling after Sixes, who had started walking towards the hospital.
“A drop of Limestone’s blood is all we will need.” The Night Patroller said as they entered the hospital. “Then the hunt will begin.”
Mac opened his eyes to the call of his wife’s siren song, his body practically fused to the bed, he’s never felt so relaxed before. Chomping his gums, he stretched his arms, but something wasn’t right, his joints were going in awkward directions, utterly opposed to what he knew was natural. His eyes snapped open, and he rubbed the sand from his sockets to find blotches of red fur clouded his vision.
“Mac?” Adagio repeated, shaking him.
His vision cleared and he rolled on his side to see a yellow pony with a familiar puff of orange hair and a bloated belly at his bedside. Mac blinked and rubbed his eyes again to make sure what he was seeing was real. The pony grinned at him, a pair of transparent purple fin-like wings unfurled, standing up straight with excitement.
“Oh, Mac your… so handsome!”
“Adagio?” He asked rolling to his belly, his legs folded beneath him. “Why am I a pony? Wait why are you a pony? Are we in Equestria?”
Adagio nodded, “Indeed. I was just as confused, but…” She pranced in place and twirled showing of her equally puffy orange tail and her musical note mark with a gold diamond in the end. “I was always curious how I would look. A bit disappointed I didn’t keep my siren form, but this form is cute. Kind of wish I would have been turned into a unicorn though, on the other hand, I don’t think I’m really a pegasus either. I mean look at these wings! Frankly, I’m just happy I have four legs, it would suck to be sea pony on dry land. Of course, then you’d have to carry me, and I wouldn’t mind that. So how do I look?”
Mac opened his mouth to comment and then closed it as he looked Adagio up and down. “I guess you look beautiful. I’m used to you as a human.”
She smirked and nuzzled his muzzle, which caused him to have a reaction downstairs. “Well, I find you absolutely delicious. That red fur, orange scales, and those sharp little fangs, I wouldn’t mind if you nibbled on my ears with those.” Adagio moved to his ears and bit down on them, something poked against his skin and made him shiver. “I have a set too, just so you know.” She smiled showing off her set of short fangs.
“Ok, I understand why I have fangs, but why do you have them?”
“Sirens are a class of sea pony, and sea ponies eat fish.” Adagio clarified, which only raised more questions, but he decided to drop the subject and focus on the more pressing matter at hand or hoof.
“Why are we here? I was talking to Princess Celestia and Sixes when I suddenly fell asleep, and I’m here.”
Adagio frowned, “Same here. I was actually about to get out of bed and go downstairs when I suddenly felt tired again. If I’m honest, I think I sensed magic in the air when it happened.”
“What about Applebloom and Sweetie Belle?” Mac asked concerned. Awkwardly he climbed out of bed struggling to find his balance as he adjusted to walking on four legs again. “Come on, I’m sure one of the Princesses is around, they had to know what’s going on.”
Mac trotted over to the door and pushed on the latch, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s locked.”
“Right, I forgot the mention that,” Adagio admitted trotting up beside him. “I called out for someone but didn’t get a reply. Care to break the door down?”
He narrowed his eyes at the wooden barrier. “Stand back.” Puffing his chest Mac built up flames in his stomach, his chest aglow as burning flames built up. Sucking in air, he reared back and prepared to fire when the door opened with Princess Luna standing in the frame. Her eyes widened as fire spit from between his lips, his mouth opened in surprise and released the flames.
“Mother’s mane!” Luna screamed jumping out of the path of the flames. Mac’s attack blackened the stones wall in the hallway, he grinned sheepishly as the Princess stuck her head in with a miffed look. “That’s not a very cordial greeting to one’s host.”
Adagio stepped in front of Mac getting in the Princess’s face. “Well, we don’t remember being invited either.”
Luna pursed her lips, looking displeased. “I had suspected when Celestia hadn’t been forthcoming with information of your arrival. She informed me that you needed rest and a safe place. I offered my castle here as such a place. Young Sweetie Belle has been placed with your Rarity in another room and Applejack is watching Applebloom. Oh, the human Twilight Sparkle is resting in the room next to Aria. That was truly a shock seeing Twilight as a unicorn again.” She chuckled.
“Applejack is awake?” Both he and Adagio asked in unison, excited that their sister was awake.
The Princess waved her hoof, “No, no, I mean our Applejack is watching her, she was in the castle when Celestia brought you over, and there was this big misunderstanding because our Applebloom is on a trip with her friends and oh gods this is confusing.”
“You can say that again. Is the other me here too just to add fuel to the fire?” Mac joked, causing Luna to moan and Adagio to blush with a devious smirk.
“Hmm two big red stallions, I could enjoy that. Is it cheating if it’s you in from another dimension?”
Luna pressed her hoof against her skull, “Thankfully he’s not, Mac. I have a hard enough time keeping Applejack and Applejack straight. This will be a huge mess when she wakes up and the other Rarity too.”
“All that fun stuff aside, where’s Aria?” Adagio asked concerned.
“She’s resting over there.” Luna pointed down the hall. “Doctor Blue Cross suggested we don’t disturb her, but if you want to sit by her bed that would be ok, I imagine.”
“I think I’ll do that, care to take care of things here Mac?”
He nodded, and she kissed him on the cheek before trotting away to Aria’s room. When the door was closed. Mac turned serious. “Ok Princess, what’s going on? Why are we here?”
“Talking to my sister will be best, come I will take you to her. Would you like to check on your sister and Sunset Shimmer along the way? We have them in the same suite. In fact, thinking about it, that is most likely where Celestia is right now.”
“Lead the way then.”
Luna nodded, “Very well. It will be a bit of a walk. They’re in the guest room connected to my sister’s royal suite.”
“I thought this was Twilight’s castle at first, but this is yours isn’t? The lack of crystal halls should have been a dead giveaway.” Mac stated as they trotted down the corridor.
“We thought it best to rebuild the portal here, where there is more of a military presence. We didn’t want the town ponies to get nervous by posting units around Twilight’s castle. The Everfree forest is much more secluded. It also works about great for me since I moved back in officially. No longer will I have to split my time from here to Canterlot.” Luna said with a blush. She coughed and looked anywhere but at him. “But that’s a private matter. I’m sure you’re not interested in all that.”
Mac kept his silence and followed the princess through the twists and turns of the castle and up several flights of stairs. It really wasn’t his business, and he had more important things to worry about right now, but he couldn’t help but be interested in Luna’s little slip there. He knew her and Sixes were a thing, and he wondered how that would affect Sunset if any or at all. Really it wasn’t his business, but it was a nice distraction from his current mess of problems.
“Here we are.” Luna declared knocking on the door. A soft voice to come in from inside, and Luna entered, he followed her inside and shut the door. Inside the room was Celestia sitting next to a lavish bed where a pony Sunset Shimmer slumbered.
Celestia pointed to the connecting door with her hoof. “Your sisters are in there being watched over by Applejack’s counterpart and one of my nurses. Rarity and Sweetie are in the bathes I think.”
Mac looked at the door and fought the urge to go to his sisters. They were probably waiting for him, but he had to sort this out. “I’ll do that soon, but first I want to ask why you knocked us out and brought us here.”
The Sun Princess sighed, stroking Sunset Shimmers mane lovingly. “We heard Adagio’s words from downstairs. She was rather forward and correct with her arguments. Your magical troubles stem from Equestria. And not just from Sunset Shimmers actions. But from actions taken by me and my mentor Starswirl and many others. We irresponsibly used your world as a dumping ground to solve our problems because at first there wasn’t intelligent life or so it seemed to us. Either way, we shouldn’t have done what we did. I’ve checked the records, and we’ve dropped some nasty villains into your world with disregard. Sunset’s actions caused many of those monsters to awaken and wreak havoc on your world. Sixes and I decided it’s our responsibility to clean up this mess.”
“You can’t take responsibility for everything, Maddie…”
“Maddie is the daughter of Madhoof, a villain we should have searched for, but didn’t. His actions and Maddie’s actions trace back to our failure to bring him to justice.” Celestia sighed heavily, turning to face him and Luna. “It’s time we took responsibly for all the trouble we caused your world Mac. That’s why we brought you here, to keep you safe, while we clean up our mess.”
Mac chewed his lip and stared at the princess. “It’s our world.” He finally said. “It’s our responsibility to keep it safe, not yours. I appreciate your concerns, but you had no right to take us here against our will. I’m going back, and I’ll put a stop to this madness. I assume you won’t stand in my way?”
“Of course not,” Luna spoke up before Celestia could speak. “While I would prefer you let Sixes handle this, you are not our subject nor of our world. We have no right to stop you from leaving if you wish. I would only advise you to rest more before doing so. Visit your loved ones just in case your foolhardiness gets the better of you.”
“I’ll take that into consideration,” Mac replied bowing to Luna. He hesitated when facing Celestia, but bowed to her as well before going to the other room.
Inside Applejack, his Applejack lay on the bed, her mane a while mess of blonde hair that covered half the bed. Unexpectedly she was like him. Red dragon scales circled the base of her legs, her tail was long and leathery, and her open mouth snoring revealed her fangs. Sleeping next to her, tangled up in her hair was Applebloom sporting green scales. Sitting beside the bed was the other Applejack.
“Well, look who it is. I’ve seen you before.” The Equestrian Applejack greeted, hopping off her stool she extended her hoof for a shake. He obliged as it was only proper. “You certainly do look a lot like my brother, at least in some regard. Same for these too. Their just different enough to make you look twice, but truthfully, I’m kind of relieved they aren’t identical. Last time I met my twin, it was a changeling. A story for another time. We only met in passing that day you spoke with my brother, but I’m Applejack Oklahoma Apple.”
“I recall seeing you, I apologize for not properly introducing myself then… ah…”
“Just call me AJ. I know this whole mess is confusing. Trust me I know. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Applebloom… I mean your Applebloom here. Princess Luna was kind of enough to fill me in the whole deal, at least the basics. Happy to help in any way. I even went home and got some apples for yawl. Here have one.” From the basket behind her, AJ tossed him a big Red delicious, which he caught with his claw. His stomach growled with hunger, and he greedily snapped apple up in two large bites.
Mac smiled nostalgically. “Tastes like the ones back home.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now.” AJ said sitting up on her stool. “Ya want to have any philosophical dialogue with me or is that only for the boys?”
He blinked and then laughed. “Sorry, what?”
AJ’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Last time you and Mac had a chat. I met you on my way home, and he was tight-lipped about the encounter, but that’s beside the point. You may be from a different world, but I know my brother, and I know when you got something on your mind.”
He cocked a brow and looked at the bed where his sisters lay. “That obvious?”
“Yep.” She drawled with a smirk before frowning. “I heard what you said in the other room. Ya going back home to fight?”
“Yep.”
“You really think you need to go? I don’t know him well, but Sixes is good at his job. Believe me, he is. Kira is with him too. Those two can kill anything together.”
“I am aware of their skill, but it’s my home. I need to be able to defend it myself. If I can’t then I don’t deserve to have it. And to clarify their objective isn’t to kill. The ones they’re fighting are my sister’s friends infected with dark magic.”
AJ rubbed her head against her hoof. “Hmm, can’t say we ever had to deal with that. Wish I could give ya some advice on how to save your friends. Back on topic, I don’t know if it’s just macho or bravado, not sure there’s a difference, but I get it. I really do. I never shied away from my duties when it came to fighting evil. I think… I think I understand how my Mac feels now.” She looked at his sisters and smiled. “Well go if you think you have too, but say goodbye to them at least.”
Mac stared at his slumbering sisters, his expression softened as he patted Applejack and Applebloom on the head. “I want them to wake up when this nightmare is over.”
“They could wake up with their brother dead.” She countered.
“Maybe, but I’m likely to die today as I am tomorrow. I can’t live in fear of dying. That being said there is someone I need to talk to before I go.”
“Your wife?”
“You know?
AJ shrugged, “Mac did let it slip his new friend was having some worries about the married life. Don’t know how a single stallion offers advice about marriage, but whatever. Come back and talk with my brother again, in fact, come back, and we’ll all go visit the farm. We’ll treat you to a real Equestrian hoedown.”
“Sounds fun. I’ll make sure to make it back. If you’d like I’d love to show you my home too. After I rebuild it that it.”
“You better. It’s a Pinkie promise then?”
He laughed knocking his claw against her hoof. “Yeah, I Pinkie promise.”
Mac left out the other door in the room, so he didn’t disturb Sunset, he also didn’t feel like facing the Princess either. Feeling a bit miffed at Celestia violation of his free will. In the hall, he called out to a passing maid and asked to be brought to Aria’s room. As the maid guided him through the halls, they passed the medical wing. A racket came from inside causing the maid to stop and investigate as the nurse left the room in a huff.
“Celestia damn them! They are so irritating!” The nurse seethed grumbling down the hall. Mac poked his head inside and then entered when he heard a familiar voice.
“I’m fine Spitfire, go back to Canterlot.” Fierce Fury said looking away from the yellow pegasus currently posted at his bedside.
“What, so you can disappear on me again?”
“It hadn’t been my intention to disappear to another world with no way home, it just happened. You of all ponies should understand anything can happen in the line of duty. I more surprised your upset about such a minor ordeal.”
Spitfire ground her teeth together, her cheeks red with rage. “Well sorry inviting you to dinner for my birthday is such a minor ordeal! I was left sitting at the restaurant with my mother for hours, and you never showed up!”
“I’m not apologizing for something I had no control over. It’s not my fault you weren’t informed properly. Get mad the messenger, not me!” Fury barked with smoke rising from his nostrils. “Look, I’m sorry I called you birthday minor. Such events never meant much to me because I don’t have one.”
“Right, sorry,” Spitfire said dejectedly. “But it was more for you than me because we’re… you know.”
“I know, I know. I’ll make it up to you later. Looks like we got some guests right now though.” Spitfire eeped as she turned around to face Mac. Quietly with a heavily blush on her face Spitfire excused herself and left the room, leaving Mac and Fury alone. “How are you doing Mac? The healers patch you up alright?”
“I’m feeling better, still tired, but better. Was that your girlfriend or something?”
“Not really. Don’t worry about it. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be chasing after those girls with Sixes?”
Mac chuckled humorlessly. “Well that was my plan, but Princess Celestia had other plans. She had us put to sleep and brought us here. I just vented my grievous about that to her and Luna. I’m on my way to talk to Adagio and then go back to earth.”
Fury cocked a brow and then laughed falling back against his pillow. “You're just like your father. Always running towards danger. At least you aren’t a shrimp like he was.” His laughter stopped, and Fury turned stonily. “I’m sure somepony told you this already, but don’t go chasing your death. Leave this to Sixes and Kira. Those two have taken out much worse than those girls in the past. If they were allowed to kill them, this would be over in an hour. Speaking of which, you’ll be a few hours behind in the hunt. There might be nothing for you to do even if you go.”
“Killings not an option.” Mac chastised. “And even if they wrapped everything up I’ll still need to go home and start dealing with the cleanup. Hopefully magic won’t be a worldwide discovery.”
“Who can say? Your world has been shaken, but if things settle down, it might blow over. You’ll have a few die-hards that search for the truth, but most ponies or people in your case tend to block out tragedies like this. If it doesn’t fit their world view, they tend to rationalize such things away. At least that’s what my counterpart said. He’s had to deal with several cases like that on a smaller scale.” Fury said snuggling against his pillow with a sigh. “Damn magic exhaustion sucks. I’d heal much faster if I could just blow myself up. In any case, the mirror is in Platinum’s workshop, you remember where that is, right?”
“Yeah, thank you.”
“Just don’t die.” Fury grumbled before falling asleep.
Leaving the medical bay, Mac found his escort maid waiting patiently. After a quick affirmation that he was done here, she led him towards Aria’s room. After saying thank you he stood in front of the heavy wood door and raised his claw to knock, he hesitated a moment, before rapping at the door. His wife softly gave permission to enter.
“Hey,” He said softly entering to the room. Aria was much like Adagio, a pony with fin wings matching her color scheme. The only real difference was her hair wasn’t in their usual pigtails, instead sprayed all over her bed. “How she doing?” He asked settling down next to Adagio.
“Better. The doctors here have the advantage of magic. I was a little worried about our biology. I don’t even know what the hell I am right now really. The doctor just classified us as a sub-species of sea ponies, but it’s not like he did any tests. Though just from a glance I don’t think I lay eggs.”
He laughed at her pouting face. “I guess so much for taking the easy way out.”
“Yeah, so did you talk with the Princess?”
“Yep.”
“Ok… how did that go?”
“She basically kidnapped us and left Sixes to hunt down the girls.” He replied. “She’s not going to force us to stay just in case you’re wondering.”
“So, she’s not going to stop you from doing something stupid? Like going home and fighting when you should just leave this to Sixes because this is their mess?” Adagio asked pointedly. Mac was unable to meet her gaze, so he just stared at Aria. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I really love you Mac, but I would appreciate it if you’d stop trying to make me a widow in our first year of marriage. I mean if I die you have my two sisters to choose from. You know who I have? No one! Remarriage is not an option for me so stop trying to die!”
Mac blinked staring at Adagio’s puffed up cheeks, unable to tell if she was kidding or not. “Your dark humor is on full display today I see. And don’t sell yourself short either.”
Adagio pouted chewing her inner cheek, “You’re not supposed to tell your hot milf of a wife it’s ok to date other guys if you die. Also dark humor? Please! I have to find some way to deal with the trauma of marrying a fool chasing his early grave.”
“I have to do this. We have to be able to deal with our problems Adagio.” He stressed rubbing her back.
“I get that Mac, but that doesn’t mean we have to deal with every one of them by ourselves. Let Sixes deal with this one.”
“He dealt with the last one. My father before that. We need to take responsibly for our world.” He insisted. Adagio let out a long-tired sigh in response. Her eyes were solemn with barely restrained tears.
“I guess I’ll just have to smile and send you off. How about before you go you pick a name for this one.” She patted her budge, her eyes observed by her bangs. “Just in case… you know.”
He leaned over and kissed her, a little awkward to do as a pony, but he managed. “We can talk names I when I get back, and we’re sitting at home. I promise we will.”
Adagio sniffled, “I hate how soft you made me sometimes. Go, go be stupid if that’s what you want to do, but if you don’t come back, I’m going to find a time travel spell, come back to this moment and kick you in the dick so many times we won’t be having any more kids!” She seethed hissing right in his face.
“I… I’m just going to go.” Mac conceded softly, very carefully backpedaling out of the room. When he shut the door, he let out a deep sigh and hung his head. “I’m in the doghouse now, alive or dead.” He lamented taking off to the mirror.
Back inside the room Adagio was also hanging her head, a cloud of misery flouted over her. She kicked the side of the bed. Aria’s eye slowly opened in a controlled fashion that it could only mean her sister had been faking sleep for some time now. Probably long enough to hear her and Mac’s little spat.
“You got something to say?” Adagio asked her sister.
Aria with her usual flat pan stare answered, “Do you really want that to be your last conversation? He’s tired, he’s been fighting nonstop for days with little rest, little food. He’s pushed himself beyond any reasonable limit. And still left to fight again and that’s what you say to him? You could have at least given him a little something, something to keep him around longer. Maybe long enough for this whole thing to blow over.”
Adagio with her dirty mind clearly pictured what her sister was suggesting and blushed with both embarrassment and anger. “Dammit, that could have worked.”
“Would have been a better use of your mouth too,” Said Aria cheekily as Adagio raised her foreleg for a strike. “Hey, now I’m injured! You can’t hurt an injured pony!”
“How about I sew that little potty mouth of yours shut instead!”
Aria snorted with laughter, “Like you know how to fucking sew.”
Adagio’s blush deepened. “I’ve been learning.” She huffed.
“You’re such a fucking wife now. Can’t wait for the day when you take Granny Smith’s place as the head matriarch of the Apple family. It’ll be funny to see you rocking the granny dress.”
“Yeah, maybe,” Adagio said dejectedly. “That’d be nice. I just hope Mac’s still alive to see our grandkids, hell just to see our first kid. I can’t shake the feeling that something terrible something is going to happen to him this time. I want to be beside him like before, to make sure he stays alive, but I can’t put myself at risk right now.”
Aria stared up at the ceiling peering at her mopping sister out of the corner of her eye. “Then fucking do something about it. I’m sick of you whining about this sappy woe is me shit.”
“What can I do? I can’t fight without absorbing others magic, and I can’t do what Sunset… does… wait…”
Aria turned her head. Adagio beamed with inspiration as she suddenly hopped off her stool and ran for the door. “Hey, where are you going?”
“To find a gem!” She replied disappearing into the hallway. Leaving Aria confused in bed.
“A gem?” Aria rolled off her bed, grimacing as her hooves touched the ground. It still hurt to move, but she was curious what madness her sister was cooking up. (Could she be… hmm, interesting.) With a devious smirk Aria followed after Adagio, her sisters plan becoming more apparent with each step.
Mac stepped into the smithy. The room was dimly light with only the glow of the forges for light. At the other end of the room stood the new portal mirror. It was different from before, cruder and the mirror more industrial then decorative. The machines hooked to the mirror looked half rigged together some parts literary held together with duct tape. A book baring Sixes six red slash mark seal rested at the top of the mirror suspended in magic. Tinkering beside the mirror was the mare of the forge. Platinum De Belle. He had met her once the last time he was here. She had been the pony to fix his dad’s armor and give him wings.
Like before the pinkish Prench mare was busy in the scorching heat of the forge. This time Platinum was refining the mirror portal. Replacing the clearly cobbled together parts with something more professional. Mac wondered if that would affect the usability of the dimensional gate, but if it did, he couldn’t tell. He stepped into the doorway, already the heat left him weltering in his fur covered body.
“So, you finally show up, I had expected you sooner. Mon pere warned me you would come.” Platinum said setting down her tools to face him. “I suppose you want to go home, yes? Of course, you do. You're foolish, like your father or so Sixes, grumbled as he went back to your world. In many ways you two are alike, you and Sixes. Both of you are bullheaded with your sense of duty.”
“Ms. Platinum.” He drawled, but she quickly interrupted with a sharp cut of her metal leg.
“It’s Mrs. actually. I suppose last time you were here we didn’t really get a chance to talk. Given my position of being a married mare, mon pere thought I would be the best to persuade you from going back and fighting. Really, I don’t personally find much merit in the idea. If your own wife can’t persuade you, I don’t see how I can. You know?”
Mac frowned looking around for another pony hiding in the shadows to knock him out again. He wouldn’t put it past Sixes to set up an ambush like that. It was part of his training after all. The old magician’s trick making you watch one hand while the other hand does the real work.
“If you're looking for another pony, you can stop, it’s just me in here. For now. My husband will be coming by to take me to dinner soon.”
Mac blinked and looked down the hall to the window showing the coming evening sky. “It’s nearly evening.”
“Supper then. I have trouble keeping time in here. Back to business. If your planning to rush past me, first of don’t because you won’t even get halfway there. Second, even you do manage to get past me you won’t be going anywhere anyway because I’ve disabled to the portal. Well to be more specific, I’ve turned into a one-way mirror for now. Ponies can come back, but they can’t leave.”
Mac snorted fire and dug his claws into the floor, “You don’t have the right to keep me here.”
Platinum looked non-plus about the threat. “Legally not, but I’m not doing this because Princess Celestia or Luna ordered me too or even any official capacity. I’m doing this because mon pere asked me to and that’s all the reason I need.”
“You're referring to Sixes, right? What the hell does mon pere mean?”
“She’s saying ‘my father,’” A gruff voice said behind him, Mac looked down to see his entire shadow engulfed by an even more giant shadow. Slowly he turned around coming face to face with what must be the largest Rinin he’d ever seen. So big it could barely fit through the doorway, so big that hunch of his back brushed the ceiling. To make the massive rinin even stranger, he had bullhorns, long and curved forwards like spears.
“Bullie!” Platinum swooned rushing past Mac to wrap her legs around the monster’s neck and affectingly kiss his cheek. “This is mon husband, Bulwark Bulldrake. He is big no?”
Mac gulped. This was one of the few times he’s come across someone or pony that wasn’t a monster that was bigger than he was. “Yeah, he is… wait Sixes is your father?”
“No.”
“But you…”
“It’s honorific. I call him that because he saved my life when I was crushed under my house and lost my legs. The blast killed my family and Sixes took me in, kind of. He gave me a home here and thanks to that I met my husband and now live happily.” Platinum removed herself from Bulwark and faced Mac seriously. “I think you could stand to be more flexible to your wife’s wishes. I’m sure she doesn’t want you to go.”
“That’s nothing new, but I have to go. I can’t run from danger. If I can’t deal with this threat, then who can say I can handle the next?”
“Then you fight to get stronger?”
“I’m fighting to protect what’s mine. This is the third time I’ve had to explain that! When will that get through to everyone! I have to keep my family safe!”
“I get that, so will you send Sixes home then?” Platinum inquired.
Mac opened his mouth to reply but stopped short of answering. “I… I don’t know. I do need help.”
“Then do that.”
“Do what?”
Platinum sighed. “Ask Sixes for help. Properly. We all understand wanting to fight to protect your own with your own strength, but a true husband, a true friend who cares for his loved ones, will ask for help to protect the ones he loves. Regardless of pride.”
“That’s a bit rich coming from the ponies that kidnapped me from my own home.”
“Had nothing to do with that, but the point stands. Did not asking for help save your father? I’m sorry to bring up a personal tragedy, but you’re still thinking like a single stallion. Have a bit an empathy for your mate. Would you stand by if your wife went off to fight alone like you are now?”
“No, I would chase after her, even if it made her mad. Look I know I'm stubborn, maybe even stupid, but it’s my home and those girls I’ve known them since they were kids. My sister is out of commission; it’s up to me to save her friends. I have to ensure their safety. I know how Sixes can get, after they hurt Sunset, we both know how he can get.”
Platinum shivered. “You don’t need to tell me what kind of stallion Sixes is or what he does to ponies that wrong him or his friends. Countless numbers of beings did that and now hang from a meat hook somewhere in the world.”
“Wait, what?”
Platinum tilted her head in curiosity. “I thought you knew. When Sixes gets really angry, and I mean like blood boiling he brings out the chains and meat hooks and just slaughters everything. Leaving his victims hanging from a golden chain and hook and leaves them for the flies. It’s awful. Kira isn’t much better, her name used to be Killing Perfection, you don’t need to say anymore. Her confirmed kill count is the highest in Night Patrol.”
The memory of Sixes preparing to roast Maddie inside out with lava came to mind. Mac could already see Sixes using his seal to take out Maddie before the battle even starts. As for the others? He didn’t want to doubt Sixes' good nature, but he also wasn’t about to gamble the girls' lives if thing got carried away.
“You have to let me go back to earth. I need to keep them in check!” Mac insisted. “If not, I’ll tinker with this machine myself.” Platinum scoffed, “Do that and who knows where you’ll end up. You could end up in dinosaur world or the world where Celestia and Luna are evil or that weird world where everypony is the opposite gender. I’ll admit that last one was kind of fun to see, but it was weird. And yes, those are all real. We did some test runs before Sixes got back with the journal. Navigating dimensions is hard without a link between the worlds. Or in this case, messing with the machine could send you on a one-way trip to who knows where!”
“Then I guess you can’t afford to let me take that risk then?” Mac asserted making her grimace and grumble. “Well?”
Platinum ignited her horn with magic. “I could just put you to sleep too.”
Mac braced himself as Platinum turned her horn on him. He charged forward intending to tackle her, but Bulwarks massive claws slammed down in front of her. The big rinin let out a bellowing roar, black smoke rising from his nostrils as he protected Platinum with his enormous frame of pure muscle.
“Don’t you dare even thinking about hurting my wife! Far more powerful ponies have tried and are dead now!” Bulwark threated fiercely.
Stuck between a wall of muscle and magic Mac backed off, back treading towards the mirror as the dangerous couple stalked after him. His rear touched the surface of the mirror, meaning he was out of places to run.
A gentle song notes suddenly filled the air and Platinum, and Bulwark swayed to the tune their eyes becoming heavy as they settled to the floor. Mac recognized the singer and peered around the two slumbering ponies to see Adagio and Aria in the doorway.
“Haven’t even gone home yet and you already need my help. Honestly, what would you do without me?” Adagio asked coyly as she walked up to him. She swung her hair showing off a brand-new yellow gem hanging from her neck. “Like my jewelry? It comes with several useful features, but with some oldie, but goodie tricks.” The gem flashed as did Adagio’s eyes, turning a bright shade of gold. “Get up and fix the portal.”
Platinum rose from the floor, her eyes glossed over as she began to work on the mirror.
“That better not be dark magic,” Mac stated sourly at his wife.
“Think of it more like a forceful suggestion. Don’t worry there’s not a tinge of evil in that spell or this gem. To think I would find a gem this powerful on the buffet line.”
“Adagio we…”
“I know Mac,” She said cutting him off. “I’ll stay here. For a little while at least. There’s something I need to do, and I can only do it here. Just make sure you have your cell phone or some way to contact me because when I’m done here, I will be coming back home and I will be teaching those pesky little bitches a lesson for destroying my house and hurting my family before changing them back to normal.”
“What are you planning?”
She kissed him and then pushed him into the portal as the world became a rainbow color, he heard Adagio’s words as he was sucked through the space between worlds. “Something magical.” Where her words.
“So what’s next in your master plan, sis?” Aria drawled as they departed from the smithy. They wouldn't want to be around when Platinum and Bulwark woke up.
“Next we go talk to the Princesses and wake up Sci-Twi. I have some questions for her.” Adagio said with a devious smile as she toyed with the jewel around her neck. (No more whining. I’m back in the game.)
Mac stood in the charred remains of his bedroom once more. Fully donned in his father’s jacket he turned towards the front door, walking through the empty house with lingering feelings of lament. He would rebuild it and bring life back into it. The sounds of life would come back. On the porch, he looked out to the evening sky. Almost a full day has passed. It had been late morning or so when Celestia had taken them to Equestria. Yet in just those few hours something had changed.
The night sky, which was supposed to be a deep nearly black blue was stained an inky black green. With his metal wings he took flight over the farm to get a better view and what he saw horrified him. From the direction of town, a vast forest had emerged, fire covered the trees, spreading everywhere as dark magic-infested the lands.
“What the hell happened!” He shouted to the sky. Before he could take flight, a car horn drew his attention. A yellow bug came barreling down his driveway and skidded to a stop in the center of the yard. The car was in rough shape with dents all over the place. More surprising the driver was Moon Dancer. (Where the hell has she been? She just disappeared without a word after that fight with Rarity.) He floated to the ground. Moon Dancer panted deeply as she slid against her car looking like the devil had been on her tail.
“Mac,” She said with relief when he landed. “Oh thank god you’re here. I haven’t been able to contact anyone! Where is everybody!” Moon Dancer screamed. “I have an important need to know info!”
“We were in Equestria.” He replied calmly helping her up. As he did, he was shocked to see Sonata, Nyx, and Limestone in the car. Sonata and Nyx were ok, asleep, but ok. Limestone wasn’t looking good though, the entire left half of her face was caked with blood! “What happened?”
Moon Dancer did a quick turn around. “Oh, don’t worry about her, that’s not her blood. I don’t whose is it really, but your godmothers or whatever they are to you dropped them on me. Things have gotten real crazy Mac. The town is a war zone. Sixes and the others are holding them off, but it’s not looking good.”
“I better get going then. The mirror in my bedroom leads to Equestria, go there and tell everyone there what’s going on.” He ordered about to fly off, but Moon Dancer grabbed him.
“Wait!” She begged. Letting go of his arm, Moon Dancer frantically popped open her car trunk and pulled a dart gun and loaded it with several vails. “Take this, it might help.”
Mac inspected the gun. “Is this a cure?” He asked with maybe more hope then he should have. Moon Dancer shook her head, looking dismayed.
“I don’t know. I went back to Maddie’s lap and dug through her and her father’s notes. My hope is if you inject them with this substance, I’m calling DDV-7, in theory, it should lessen the effects of dark magic backlash, or it might do nothing. I combined several different purifying and healing mixtures Maddie had designed. After what happened with Rarity I knew I had to try to make a vaccine or something. This is the best I could do in such a short time. I tried to give it to the others, but things were just too chaotic.”
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do, but I don’t think they’ll be up for their shots.”
“Definitely not, but if possible hit Maddie with it first. I know she would want to be the guinea pig.”
Mac holstered the dart gun his pocket and patted Moon Dancer on the shoulder. “I do my best.”
In the distance, a pillar of lava shot into the sky, Mac knew there was no more time to waste and took flight towards the fight.
Canterlot Hospital 7:00 pm 11 hours before Mac’s return
The clocked ticked by slowly from Limestone Pie’s point of view. She was sitting in the corner of Nyx and Sonata’s hospital room reading one of the vastly outdated magazines from the lobby. The rhythmic beep of their heart monitors created a persistent background noise that she longed tuned out. With another turn of the page, she eyed the man, Stryker Six, who sat opposite of her with arms crossed.
For many things she should be thinking about, like her missing sister, her other sister lone at home, and what she’s going to tell her dad when he gets back from vacation and finds out about their injured and dead workers. Anyone of those things where a heavy enough issue on their own, some more than others. So, to keep her sanity; she focused on Stryker’s arms, his big strong arms.
(I’ve never felt so girly that I wanted to be held by a big strong man.) She turned the page of her literature, a faint blush adorning her cheeks when the article headline read ‘3 secret sex tips’. Quickly flipping the page Limestone coughed to recompose herself.
Honestly, she just didn’t want to deal with the problems right now. She should at least call Marble, but she didn’t want to drag her meek sister into this magic mess anymore then she’d been dragged into it.
Still running from her problems Limestone eyed Stryker again, noticing a little grey stubble on his chin. (How fucking old is this guy? Or better question how thirsty am I that I’m finding him attractive?)
She didn’t know if seeing Mac again, who she had a crush on when they were in high school or the fact he was already married and about to have a kid was making her rethink her work ordinated life. Either way, she just wanted to distraction from her current problems. To feel some bliss for just a little while.
Someone rapped on the door. Stryker jumped to his feet his hand reaching behind his waist as he opened the door. Much to his and her shock, an identical person stood in the doorway. Semi-identical at least. The Stryker standing in the doorway had orange hair, but other than that minor difference, their facial features and skin tone was a perfect match. Like a twin that dyed his hair to help differentiate from himself.
“Hello, there.” A grandmotherly voice said from behind Stryker’s look alike. “Sixes move! Let us in the bloody room already.” The woman in a white kimono demanded. She hardly faltered at Stryker and made a beeline for Sonata. “Oh, poor dearie, you’ve had a rough time.” While the woman rummaged through her kimono sleeve for something, Ferocious entered behind her and shut the door. The red detective limped to the nearest chair and sagged down into it. “Sorry about not calling, but you know the rule, no cell calls in the hospital. This is Commander Sixes, your counterpart. Now it’s your turn to be weirded out.”
Stryker laughed, stepping back to compare himself to Sixes. “Damn, I think you got an inch on me. I’m Stryker Six.”
“Sixes,” Sixes greeted, shaking Stryker’s hand. “With formalities out of the way can we get down to business?”
“Yeah, sure. What’s going on anyway?” Stryker asked while he sat down in the last open chair. He took a second to crane his neck at the Kimono woman, looking concerned. “No offense, but why’d you bring Grandma over there? She a white mage or something?”
Sixes blinked, while the woman ignored them.
“He’s asking if Ms. Kira is a Healer.” Ferocious clarified.
Both Sixes and Kira laughed gut-busting laughs. Kira wiped a stray tear from her eye as she faced them. “I’m sorry, but me? A healer? I’ve dabbled in the skill after my retirement, but it’s laughable to think me a healer. Right, Sixes?”
“Can’t blame them, you’re not as infamous here.” Sixes replied, noting their confused stares. “Sorry, sorry, let me properly introduce you three to Mother Queen Kira Perfecta Shiroyama, Great Mother of the Nation of Nippon and our world’s deadest grandma.”
“I don’t know, Princess Celestia might be gunning to retake that title after her little outburst at Mac’s house. Besides if I’m the world’s deadest Grandma that would make you the deadest Grandpa.”
Confused Limestone spoke up, “Wait, wait, wait, I get you’re a grandma, you look the part, but Sixes over here doesn’t look any older than these two guys. How old are you two?”
Kira and Sixes lock eyes, humming as they did some quick math. “One thousand and twelve years old, I think?” Sixes answered.
Kira scoffed, “That hardly counts! You were asleep for most of those thousand years.”
“So were you.”
“I was awake every other generation at least!”
“Ok enough! What the hell are you three doing here? Because I thought you were here to help find my sister.” Limestone growled bringing the tedious argument to an end.
“We are,” Sixes stated, turning deathly serious. His gaze turned so ice cold that it made Limestone gulp and shrink into her chair with a shiver. She preferred him laughing.
“Ok, good to know.”
“So why are you guys here?” Stryker asked getting things on track. Ferocious merely pointed to Sixes.
“This guy said he needs some of Limestone’s blood.”
“Just a little,” Sixes reiterated.
Limestone extended her hand, but then pulled it back, eyeing Sixes wearily. “How does this work? I mean, how will giving you my blood find my sister?”
“Oh, that’s simple,” Kira interjected kneeling in front of Limestone clasping the pie sister’s hand and singled out her pinkie finger. “We’re going to use the power of love. As strange as that sounds. Trust me, we used this method to track down many others in the past. Providing we had lovers or family to perform the spell on that is.”
“Ok… that doesn’t explain anything.” Limestone reiterated even more confused now. Also, she couldn’t pull her hand free. Kira’s grip strength was scary tight for how old she looked. It was like a vice! Her nerves started to rise as Kira pressed her clawed thumbnail to her pinkie finger.
“Have you ever heard of the red thread of fate?” The elderly woman babbled on, acting like she wasn’t stabbing Limestone with her very sharp talon. Limestone winced as a small droplet of blood seeped out of her finger digit and became of a steady red stream that flowed over Kira’s pale hands. “There that should be enough.”
Kira stood and much to Limestone’s quivering stomach, and amazement tugged at a red string that was now attached to her pinkie finger. The elderly woman then proceeded to tie the rope around her pinkie, ending finishing the knot with a cute little bow.
“That is disgusting.” Commented Limestone holding her free hand over her mouth.
“Some think so. Just be lucky I didn’t have to wrap it around your entire leg. That requires much more blood. Now please think of your loved ones, specifically Pinkie Pie.” Kira instructed.
Limestone at a loss did as she was told and thought of her sister. She felt a tug on her finger, which pulled harder the more she thought about Pinkie Pie. “What the hell?”
“Connection established we have our bloodhound Sixes,” Kira said pleased with her work.
“That Nippon magic of yours sure comes in handy,” Sixes grinned, though Limestone found it unsettling. It wasn’t a happy grin. And now that she realized they never made clear what they were going to do when they found Pinkie.
Clutching her hand close to her heart, she eyed the newcomers suspiciously. “You two, you’re not going to hurt my sister, are you?” It was maybe a little late to ask that question, but something troubled her about the odd pair. A shiver ran down her spine when she looked at them.
“No more then we did last time, I hope,” Kira replied sheepishly. Remembering how Pinkie dropped an apartment building on top of her. “I mean we’re not here to kill them, but they won’t get away without a few scratches.”
Sixes sighed, his body visibly relaxing, and the tension in Limestone’s spine dispersed. “Look, Ms. Pie, we can’t promise your sister will get out this unharmed, but she will come out alive if we move now. She has evil inside her. An evil that will hollow out her soul and use her body as a meat suit if we don’t find her. All those girls, Pinkie included are about to hit the point of no return. Please, help us find them. Unless you’d rather us talk to Marble.”
Limestone hissed at the mention of her meeker younger sister. “The hell you will. Let’s go. How do I use this thing?” She indicated the red thread around her finger.
“Just think of Pinkie, and it’ll pull you towards her. Have you narrowed down the area where they might be?” Kira asked Ferocious.
“The wildlife preserve, it’s a few hundred acres of hills, creeks, and trees with a lot of places to hide. Things will get harder if the snow keeps coming down.” He answered.
Sixes stood in front Limestone looking her straight in the eyes, “I hope you’re ready for a hike Miss Pie. You’re Pinkie’s only hope.”
“Ok, let’s do this.” She nodded following Sixes and Kira out of the room.
“Keep watch here, buddy, we’ll be back with good news soon hopefully,” Ferocious told Stryker before hobbling after the three.
In the hospital parking lot where Celestia, Luna, and Shadow Specter were waiting. Sixes had Limestone sit in the passenger seat of her pick up while Luna drove, with himself and Kira in the back of the four-door diesel. Following behind them in Feri’s car was Celestia, Ferocious and Shadow Specter.
The two-car convoy drove through the lightly fallen snow towards the wildlife preserve. Using a map, they tried to find a road that was the closest to the Pinkie’s position. A hard task for Limestone because she couldn’t judge how far away from her sister was. Randomly her hand would jerk and hit the side window. One time it hit hard enough to bruise Limestone’s knuckle. And another time her fist went the opposite way and nearly clocked Luna in the face. This went on for hours. Sixes and Kira marking the reactions on the map. When they arrived at the last entry to the wildlands, they found a car buried in snow.
“This is strange,” Ferocious said as they all gathered around the car. He typed the plate into his phone, the police database reporting it stolen a few days ago. Breaking the driver’s window, he found a bundle of multicolored hairs. “Rainbow Dash was here.”
“Than we're on the right track,” Nodded Sixes looking to Limestone. “I’ll take point. Kira take left, Shadow the right, Limestone will be in the center with the rest of you in the rear.”
“You can’t expect us to make it very far in this weather,” Limestone shivered hugging her body as another gust of wind chilled her to the bone. She wore a heavy jacket, but her gloves and jeans were proving inefficient.
Sixes scoffed, his body beginning to steam, causing the temperature suddenly spiked upwards. “Try to remember I’m part dragon. I’m a walking furnace. Now, which way do we go?”
Limestone held out her fist and felt a sharp tug that nearly pulled her off her feet. “That way.” She pointed. Sixes marched forward, melting the snow with his steps and creating a smooth path for her and the others to walk on.
“It’s about midnight,” Kira said after some time. They were stopped at the edge of a ravine with the sound of water flowing below. Sixes threw a glowing glop of lava down into the darkness, the molten rock sizzled as it hit the cold water below.
“About six hours since we sent Mac and the others across the looking glass then.” Sixes drawled couched at the edge of the small cliff. The drop had to about fifty feet. “I hoped we’d make better progress than this. At this rate, Mac’s going to wake up and come charging back here.”
The two-night patrollers hummed displeased with their slow progress.
“Which way now?” Sixes inquired.
“Still that way,” Limestone answered her hand pulling towards the bottom of the ravine.
They were trying to use a little magic as possible. It would only be a waste of energy to do anything too flashy, and it would catch the attention of their prey and give them to prepare or flee. Molding lava and generating heat were natural abilities for Sixes, it took the tiniest about of magic to use the skill, nothing that would appear on anyone’s radar. Getting down from this ravine in the dark would take more than that. Climbing down would be almost impossible. Lucky, they had a workaround.
Sixes threw another glop of lava down hitting the shore this time. “Shadow if you would.”
The ghost pony nodded and touched Limestone and Luna on the shoulder. He grinned briefly before the three of them disappeared into the earth. Seconds later, Limestone and Luna were at the bottom of the ravine at the edge of the creek. Patting themselves down breathlessly as the sensation of passing through solid rock overwhelmed their senses. In another flash, Celestia and Ferocious were beside them and then he and Kira. Shadow materialized out of the ground panting slightly.
“You ok?”
“I’m fine, just don’t make me do that again right away.” Shadow requested.
“Noted, you are the key to this plan. Which way now, Limestone?” Sixes asked, the Pie sister already walking into the woods ahead of them. “Hey what do you think you're doing?”
“It’s not me!” Limestone screamed, struggling to fight against the invisible force pulling her across the ground. She dug her heels into the snow-covered ground, but force tugged harder, pulling her face first into the snow and reeling her in like a fish on a hook. Making them break into a sprint to keep up with her.
“Go on without me!” Ferocious shouted as he fell behind due to his injured leg.
Sixes growled as he jumped over a fallen tree. “Luna, Celestia, stay with him!” He barked as Kira zoomed ahead with Shadow Specter just behind him. “Kira what’s happening!”
“The red thread can work both ways!” She shouted, picking up more speed as Limestone was now being pulled through the air like a kite. Her body weaving wildly through the trees. “I’ll go on ahead! You two catch up!”
As Kira’s white kimono disappeared into the snowy backdrop, Sixes and Shadow could only wade through the snow-covered ground with Kira’s footprints as their guide.
“Fuck, we’re getting split up!”
“This might be a good thing.” Shadow pointed out as they ran headlong into danger. “This might be a lot easier without the humans around. We can get wild without them raising a fuss.”
“Not yet,” Sixes said tightly. “Not until Limestone is out of harm’s way. Her safety is our responsibly.”
They continued to run when suddenly the ground went from snow covered to green like a lousy movie transition. The both of them came to a full stop wondering if they wandered into some illusion spell, but when they looked up, they saw the trees were still covered in snows, but the ground was surprisingly warm. Touching the ground with his hands, Sixes felt the pulse of earth magic in the soil.
“This is it.”
“I’d say so.” Shadow seconded poking him in the back. Sixes stood up to find that they were surrounded by an assortment of Timber Beasts, from wolves to lions to bears.
With a savage growl Sixes transformed, going full ears, wings, and tail. Lava poured from his palms, he picked up a nearby rock the size of his head and chucked it at the army of timbers before them. The stone shattered into molten buckshot that ignited the timber beasts. The monsters howled and rolled trying to put out the fire, but only succeeded in making it spread. Calmly Sixes marched through the wailing horde, the air burning around him, sparking more fires.
Climbing over the small hill Sixes and Shadow found Fluttershy’s encampment.
Just in front of them was Kira, swords drawn, with Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie across from her. Limestone ensnared in Pinkie Pie’s arms. The Pink girl giggled menacing fawning over her sister in a disturbing way. Limestone was completely panicked as Pinkie stroked her cheek with her right hand, which was made of Timber.
(Mac did say he half cut off Pinkie’s arm.) Walking down the hill, Sixes reined in his seething anger. The ones that hurt his granddaughter right before him. His gaze fixed on Fluttershy, master of the timbers that attacked the farm if the oversized Timber Bear at her side wasn't evidenced enough of that.
“So here we are again.” He stated as they flanked either side of Kira. “How many times are you girls going to be turned evil?”
“That’s rude.” Fluttershy retorted. “Calling us evil. My goals are noble, my friends agree too. Right Pinkie? Dashie?”
The two other girls went rigged nodding mindlessly. (What sort of control does she have over them? They're different from last time. Last time Rarity was calling the shots over Fluttershy, but now Fluttershy is the top evil bitch? If I weren’t so pissed, I would be laughing.)
“You attacked my granddaughter. You could be working for world peace, and I’d still come and kick your ass, SIN.” All three girls flinched as if struck. “I see you are aware of what you are. Let’s stop pretending your nothing more than parasites coiled around those girls and get down to business. Crawl out of their bodies now, and we’ll provide you with some spares for you to live in.”
“You think we’ll fall for that crap?” Fluttershy hissed her jaw unhinging to show off her vampiric fangs. “Besides what makes you think you can separate us now anyway?”
Kira interjected, “Fluttershy…”
“No! Fluttershy is gone! I’m Envy! This body is mine! This world is mine, and everything and everyone in it is my pet! Just like her!”
“Her…?” Sixes did a double take feeling a presence behind him whipped around just in time to see a feral Maddie come crashing down on him. They struggled, Madhoof’s spawn snarling and snapping her fanged mouth in his face. He wondered if any intelligence was left inside her before Kira kicked her off him. Even he had to feel a little sorry for her. Kira had steel plates on the bottom of her wooden sandals.
“Get them!” Envy screamed as hundreds of Timber Beasts emerged from around the encampment. They weren’t run of the mill Timbers either, they were all Alphas. Giant versions of their species. To make matters worse, a lot of them were producing toxic smog or fire. Some did both.
“Never seen these breeds before. What do you call that Fungi Cinders?” Shadow chuckled as they all went back to back. Envy was looking pleased as she stood back with Pinkie and Rainbow. Maddie crawling at her feet.
Envy laughed that typical menacing laugh one does when their evil. “After the attack on the farm, I did some more crossbreeding. I bred in Ironwood timbers to make their bodies as hard as steel, Cinder Wolves to make them immune to fire attacks, and Fungi to increase their lethality.”
Kira listed off all the breeds surrounding them. “Timber Kongs, Timber Mammoths, Timber Cerberus, and Timber Ursa. Quiet the zoo she’s made.” A shadow flew overhead as a dozen Timber Dragons perched themselves on top of the trees. Roaring menacingly as the land creature marched towards them. “I think the Kongs are more original, dragons are too played out. What do you think, Sixes? Um… Sixes?”
He didn’t reply. In fact, the ashen rinin was moving away from them, his hands burning bright with molten gold. “Nothing but little pests.” He growled, crafting the gold into chains and hooks.
“Shadow get back,” Kira warned, pushing ghost man away.
“Why? What’s he going to do with those?”
With a snap of his wrist Sixes snagged one of the dragons and plucked it from its perch crushing a Kong and Ursa beneath it. Next, with his other chain and hook, he snagged a mammoth and whipped in it into the Cerberus. Gold fire sprang up on the Timber creatures’ bodies. The Timber howled as the gold fire slowly burned away their wooden bodies to specks of ash.
“Fucking little amateurs.” Sixes growled flinging his chain at Envy. A wall of roots appeared before the villainized girls, but they didn’t last long as they were consumed by gold fire. A bolt of lightning shot through the smoking brush and Kira appeared blocking it with her swords. The electricity fizzling out on the engraved steel.
“I believe this is my dance partner.” Kira chirped with a smile. As Rainbow Dash flew through the smoke at her. “Come on little Rainbow, time for another time out!”
“Fuck you! I’m Ebony! You’re going down this time hag!” Ebony asserted forming as a lightning lance.
“How joyous,” Kira remarked mockingly as she spread her six wings and lashed out with her tail. Whipping Ebony in the face. The girl let out a scream, a long bloody lash ran across her face. Eyes glowing red Kira stepped towards Ebony and swung her short sword. “This time, Grandma isn’t playing around.” Following up with her long sword Pinkie caught the attack with her prosthetic arm, the blade lodging into the wooden palm. “Please fetch Limestone, Shadow,” Kira growled kicking Pinkie away and dodging an incoming lightning bolt.
“Already did.” The ghost pony replied, appearing at the edge of the clearing with the girl in question. “I’ll drop her off with the others and tell them to get her out of here. I’ll be back. Get them worn down a bit.”
“NO! She’s mine! She’s Spite’s!” Spite screamed, making her fake hand explode.
That caught Kira off guard as she jumped away from the splinters and smoke. Dancing gracefully around the wooden tendrils that came after her. One tendril hit the ground in front of her and exploded, pelting her with dirt and rock.
Sucking a breath, she shot a bolt of lighting form her mouth to clear away the fog. Spite’s fake arm had reformed with more tendrils wiggled their way out of the surface the bark. Several bolts of black lightning catch her attention, and Kira was once again hastily dodged as Ebony went on the attack.
“Plucky little kids.” Kira clicked her tongue about to fly up after Ebony but suddenly found herself flying into the side of the hill as one of the Timber Kongs snuck up on her. Growling she jumped to her feet, only for a Timber Mammoth to shoot fire from its trunk at her.
“Sixes!” She called worriedly to her comrade. He wasn’t in a better position either as Maddie joined the fray, dashing madly about on the ground while Envy fired barrages of roots and other nature attacks at him. He did have one advantage over her. The heat surrounding Sixes' body was so intense that any Timber beasts that tried to get near were reduced to piles of burning wood. Or so it seemed. “Behind you!”
The Timber Kong that tried to attack Sixes became a Cinder Kong and swung a blazing first at the Night Patroller, who countered by hooking the beast with his chain and tossing it into the woods.
Not to be distracted Kira sliced the charging Cerberus only to quickly cover her mouth as nauseous gas rose from the wound. It was a Fungi!
“Damn beast!” She screamed, pointing her finger at it. The tip of her finger crackled with white lighting and the bolt shot through the monster’s magic core highlighted by her Killer’s eye. Turning her x-ray gaze to Spite and Ebony, she followed the pulse of their glowing red heartbeats as they circled around her, firing lighting and explosions. Crossing her arms over her face and torso, Kira had no choice but to take the attacks. Shields weren’t in her skill set. More poisonous gas filled the air as more Fungi beasts surrounded her and sprayed their toxins. With no choice, she flew for the sky, but the dragons rained down streams of fire on her.
“Sixes!” She screamed while shooting up a blast of lightning at the Cinder Dragons.
He heard her cry and plunged his glowing hands into the earth. The action caused everything in the clearing to go still as the ground began to rumble. Envy’s face contorted in horror as she realized what Sixes just did.
“No! You didn’t!”
Sixes pulled his hands free and took for the sky, pools of lava poured out of the holes left behind becoming pillars of fire that shot higher than the trees. More and more volcanic explosion fired off filling the sky with smoke and flaming bits of rock. Not even the snow could stop the trees of the forest from combusting as the fire quickly began to spread.
“No, no, no, no, no!” Envy screamed hysterically. Pillars of lava were shooting up all over the wildlife land, she pulled on her cheeks, screaming as the cries of the animals living in the forest became a haunting song of tragedy as they were literary roasted alive. “How could you do this!” She demanded tearfully, her eyes widening as Sixes held a blazing golden spear in his hand.
“Spear of Solaris.”
“Sorry,” Ferocious repeated for what seemed like the fiftieth time as Luna and Celestia aided in helping him walk. Having two women hold him up by the shoulders was embarrassing, and he felt ashamed for his weakness. If he hadn’t tripped, his injured leg wouldn’t be a throbbing swollen mess right now. Correction, it would be less of a throbbing swollen mess. The matter wasn’t helped any by the height difference between him and the sisters carrying him. Celestia could hold him up only being three inches shorter than him, but Luna was struggling though, as she was another three inches shorter than Celestia.
“Think nothing of it!” Luna strained while as she used her magic to prop up her strength.
Celestia laughed as she tried to take on more of his weight. “I hadn’t foreseen doing this when we set off. We might miss all the action. I hope Sixes and the others can rescue Limestone, it burns me that we failed to help another student.”
“Former student,” Luna corrected, “but the feeling is the same.”
“Shush,” Feri snapped suddenly halting the women with his right foot. They looked at him, confused when they too noticed something was different about the forest. “Do you feel that?”
“Yeah,” Luna breathed. “I can’t see my breath anymore. And is it suddenly hot?”
“Same here,” added Celestia wiping her brow. “Do you two smell smoke?”
Snow fell from the branches above. The three of them looked down, hearing a sizzling sound. Then another, and another. All around them patches of steam rose from the snowy ground. Actually, there was a lot less snow all of sudden.
Luna let go of his arm and knelt down, touching the ground with her bare hand. “Impossible.”
“What’s wrong?”
“The ground, it’s warm, no it's hot!” Luna shrieked, pulling her hand back. “Really hot!”
Suddenly something poured out of the ground, it was glowing, bubbling, and smelt like sulfur.
“Is that…”
“What I think…”
“Fly now!” Ferocious commended summoning his wings and dragging the sisters off the ground as lava shot out of the earth. They flew high deftly avoiding raining lava rock. As they cleared the canopy, they saw pillars of Lava popping up all over the place.
Celestia and Luna summoned their wings, and they all starred at what seemed like Armageddon happening right before their eyes.
“Someone must have turned on the heat,” Chuckled Feri. The two sisters looking a gasped at him. “What? Giving a shit isn’t going to bring the forest back.”
“I guess, but what the hell is going on?” Inquired Luna.
“Sixes must have hit a lava vein or something. Whether on purpose or accident is up for debate.” Feri, Luna, and Celestia all turn their head to see Limestone clutched in the talons of a black and white Timber Dragon. “Glad I was able to find you three. Don’t worry it’s me, Shadow, I possessed this beast here when I escaped with Limestone. Left Sixes and Kira to deal with the girls and things must be going badly.”
Celestia snorted, “You can say that again.”
Shadow extended Limestone to them. “Can one of you take her? I need to get back.”
“I’ll take her,” Feri volunteered solemnly, Shadow dropped Limestone into his arm, she held on tight, wrapping her arms around his neck as she panickily looked towards the ground, which was now covered in lava.
“Thank you, I’m off.” Shadow bowed his head and flew back towards the battle. A bright golden flash filled the early morning sky, followed by a massive explosion. Smoke whirled around, obscuring their view of the fight.
“I’ll take Limestone back to town, you two…” He wet his lips, hesitating, Feri really didn’t like what he was about to say, but he had to.“Go do what you can. I’ll just get in the way half messed up as I am.”
They nodded, “We won’t do anything too reckless.” Luna promised with a smile.
“I’ll hold you to it. Your best bet will probably be long range support. I’ll be back as soon as I can or at least send Stryker your way. I don’t think we’ll have a hard time finding you guys.” He remarked, looking the flaming hell scape around them.
They split up. Luna and Celestia flying towards the danger while Ferocious flew towards town. The fire was raging out of control, and someone was going to notice it. The fire department would be mobilizing soon and given the size of the blaze multiple departments were going to be called, plus every news reporter and disaster gawker would descend here in a matter of hours. Putting a lot of lives in danger. There was no point in trying to fight the fires right now with the Sixes and the others still battling it out.
“Ms. Pie, I’m going to need your help.”
“With what?”
Ferocious stared head long ahead at the glowing lights of town. The flashing lights of the firetrucks pulling out of the station catching his eyes for a second. He didn’t need to look behind him to know it looked like the sun just fell to earth.
“Evacuating the town. I have connections, and you have connections; we need to pull on them as hard as we can to get everyone out of here. Even emergency personnel. It would be better if people weren’t exposed to magic this way, but we don’t have a choice.”
Limestone nodded as he descended toward the ground. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Good.”
(I’m sorry Mac, but you might not have a home to return to.) Were Ferocious thoughts before landing on the road in front of the fire trucks. The truck stopped just short of hitting him the driver visibly freaked out. (There’s no point in hiding it now. Hopefully, we can do some truth bending after this is over, but right now, I can’t afford to be discreet about magic.)
He set Limestone down, and she helped steady himself while he pulled his badge as the Fire Marshall and others surrounded them. “I’m Detective Ferocious of CPD, and I’m ordering an evacuation of all residents. I’ll need your assistance. Unless you want to go die over there.”
The Firefighters looked where he pointed as another column of lava shot out of the ground. They nodded and began chatting over their radios to the other departments no doubt in route.
“So, what do you need me to do?” Limestone asked, helping him to the sidewalk.
“You know a lot of construction and digging outfits?”
“Obviously.”
“Call them, get every bulldozer, excavator and anything else that can move dirt or knock down trees. We’re going to build a fire break. A really, really big fire break.”
She nodded, “On it.”
As he slides back against the random building, Limestone propped him against as she left to make her calls, Feri pulled out his own phone. “Chief, I need a favor, can you patch me through to your mother? I need to talk to Governor Torch. ASAP. Yes, I know what time it is. Trust me, they’ll want to know what’s going on. Right. Thank you.”
Envy lay flat on her back staring up at the sky, while Sixes looked down on her. Clasped, in her hand, was the green Alicorn amulet. The green gem glowed with a faint light erecting a shield around her. She had grabbed the trinket out of reflex, thinking if anything could save her it was the strange jewel that found its way to her. Her instincts have been proven right as she was still alive. Alive, but not unharmed. She recognized the attack that had killed Grau, and to be on the receiving end of it was frightening. Sixes seemingly intended to kill her just now. Even now he was crafting another weapon to throw at her. Her eyes widened as a giant golden battle ax filled his palm.
“Axe of Apollo.”
(How did this happen?) Envy wondered as Sixes looked at her with contempt. She had misread his intentions. Misread being an understatement. He appeared to be genuinely trying to kill her! And as her beleaguered mind struggled to regain body functions, she quickly figured out why. The answer was so obvious it was laughable.
No one he cared about was here. Sunset wasn’t on their side, Mac wasn’t with them, and none of the Sirens. They didn’t even have Applejack as a shield. Reasoning since Mac wasn’t present. Sixes had no reason to pretend to even care about them. What were they to him? Some girls that happen to be friends with his granddaughter? What a laughable bond.
If Sunset were with him, he would probably be more tempered with his handling of them. That’s why he left her and Mac behind. Maybe he was trying to save them. Maybe. But it was just as likely he didn’t care if he succeeded or not. He could claim to have ‘saved’ them from darkness by killing them, saying he had no choice. From the dead-eyed glare, he was giving her it was apparent he wouldn’t be losing any sleep over her death.
“Don’t you think you're a little rough? Our hosts aren’t that resilient.” She coughed up blood. Pain flooded her senses as she tried to move. Something was pressing into her back, maybe a rock or something. She tried to wiggle her toes and couldn’t even feel them. “Don’t you want to save these girls? Save poor little meek Fluttershy?”
Sixes pulled back the ax to throw it, “I could go either way honestly.”
Envy gripped the Green Alicorn Amulet so tight it cut her fingers. Rage and fear boiled up inside her and released in a wild scream. From the black haze of smoke, Maddie emerged and jumped toward Sixes, the feral scientist flying high enough to reach him. With Sixes distracted Envy lifted her arm with the Amulet and stabbed the magic jewel into her chest. Its power pulsated through her body, rejuvenating her. She stood up fully transformed into her vampiric form, with fangs and bat wings while vines curled around her body. Leaves and other fauna sprouted reminding her of Gaia Everfree, but much, much stronger.
“It’s killed or be killed then!” She declared, extending her arm. “If so, then die for your transgressions!”
New plant life exploded out of the ground; under her directions, she began to snuff out the fires as the wetted stems of young trees proved hard to ignite. That wasn’t her real goal. No, she had something much grander in mind. Though it is maybe a little cliché. She called for her Timber Alphas the ones with their magic cores still intact. The horde Iron Fungi Cinders rose, a bit charred, but still useful. Barely fifty remained of the original two hundred she had hastily created before Sixes' attack. These fifty were the strongest of her strongest. The perfect candidates she had been looking for.
With her powers amped up to the tenth degree from the amulet, she flooded the fifty Timber Alphas with fresh material. They accepted her gift and evolved. The fifty becoming three towering monsters that you’d see in a Godzilla movie.
“Rise my Timber Titans! Destroy my enemies!” She declared taking flight. The sight of her towering monsters caused a brief pause to the battle as Spite and Ebony rejoined her, both of them covered in light cuts courtesy of Kira. Standing together She and her sisters exchanged glares with Sixes and Kira who was joined by Shadow Specter. In the distance, Envy caught sigh of someone flying back towards town, and that was when she got a perfect idea.
The Timber Titans who had been lumbering towards the Equestrians suddenly turned and a head east just as Principle Luna and Celestia arrived on the scene.
“What the hell are those things?” Luna and Celestia both screamed as they came to a stop beside the Equestrians. The otherworlders showed a frightening lack of concern as they all stroked their chin at the Godzilla sized creatures in fascination.
Kira grinned, nodding excitedly, “I got it, we’ll call them Kaiju Timbers.”
“Scientifically wouldn’t they be Mega Alpha Timbers? I don’t know, does this even count? Timbers would never get this huge naturally.” Sixes questioned, unsure how to classify the new monsters before him. “Besides,” He gripped the handle of his ax pulling it back. “They’ll be extinct soon anyway. Axe of Apollo!”
He left the golden ax fly, the double-headed battle weapon exploded into a flying disk of pure energy cutting into the side of the Titan Cerberus. The colossal beast shook and shuttered as a massive chunk of its body was blasted away. Much to Sixes' surprise, the monster kept going forward, not even bothering to turn in his direction. It’s wound already closing as new vines rose from the ground to heal it.
“That’s troubling,” Kira fretted, pointing her long sword at the Titan Kong and summoned a bolt of lightning from the blackened sky. The air shook and cracked with thunder followed by the brilliant blue flash of lightning that struck the Kong in the head. Yielding the same result as Sixes' attack. The monster regenerating instantly. “Very troubling, indeed.”
“Are you seriously saying you can’t stop them?” Squeaked Celestia, her voice cracking in fear as she watched the three-monster march toward town. Interesting enough, greenery was spouting up in their wake. If only it weren’t crazy magic greenery like from Everfree camp. She shuttered, remembering the vines that groped her body.
“Not as long as Fluttershy as the Green Alicorn Amulet, probably not. They’ll just heal. Besides Kira and I can only fire off those big attacks so many times.” Sixes pondered their plan of action, keeping his gaze on Envy and the others. They weren’t attacking. Most likely because they were licking their own wounds, the Titan Timbers were just a distraction, something to take the heat of the girls.
Kira, one-upped him by speaking first, “Ms. Luna, Ms. Celestia, if you be so kind as to deal with those creatures. Or at least slow them down we’ll continue with the original plan. Once Fluttershy is defeated, those monsters should crumble. There isn’t enough magic in this world to maintain those huge bodies without the Amulet’s assistance.”
“She’s right, do what you can. We’ll get this wrapped up.” He seconded shooing the two away, but he remembered something important. “If they get to town, get Sonata and Nyx out and head to the farm. Go through the portal and get help from the Princesses.”
“Wouldn’t it be better if we just did that right away? I mean our counterparts are powerful, right? Plus, Princess Twilight too.” Challenged Luna. Wondering why not just go for help now. Really giant kaiju monsters were running around! This was way above her paygrade. “You can’t tell me you think you can take those things. What if they don’t just disappear after you defeat Envy?”
“I’m worried about what could happen to your world if any of the Princess actually uses their power here for more then ten seconds. Last time was crazy enough.”
“He’s right,” Kira asserted. “If you thought the magic Sunset brought here was bad, just wait after Princess Celestia or Luna have a prolonged fight in this world.”
“How can this get any worse!” Screamed Celestia. “What is stuff like this going to happen every day instead of every other month?”
When neither Equestrian replied, she and Luna could only gulp at the implications. “Ok then… good luck, we’ll do our best!”
The two sisters fly away. Kira strikes out with her short swords, a bolt of lightning flying down in front of Ebony who had tried to give chase. Wagging her finger, Kira broke off from the group to resume her battle with Ebony and Spite. She paid extra attention to Spite who was flying thanks to the set of wings sprouting from her timber arm.
“Come now, children play with Grandma some more.” She egged baiting them as she dived to the ash covered ground.
“Wait for your moment, Shadow.” Sixes advised flexing his claws.
Envy hissed, showing off her vampiric fangs before charging. They met, but a force field repelled Sixes' attack while Envy’s hit home breaking off his shoulder plate. She grinned pleased with her hit.
“Don’t get cocky.” Sixes warned her, making another gold chain and hook, Envy raised her forcefield again but was taken aback when the shield failed to stop the hook. She screamed as the weapon dug into her arm and snagged her bone. Her entire body going limp as her magic suddenly stopped working. She looked on in fear at the glowing runes engraved on the weapon.
“I’m called the Mage Killer for a reason,” Sixes boasted wrapping the chain around her body locking her other arm against her torso, without her magic Envy’s legs hung limply in the air.
“Maddie!”
From the ground came a snarl, Maddie, who had been missing for some time. Fired a concentrated blast of magic from her palms. Envy was thankful she still had the intelligence to such an attack. The explosion hit the chain and severed it. Luckily Sixes hadn’t put anti-magic runes on the chain. Unluckily Envy was free falling because her magic still suppressed.
“Maddie!” She screamed again. The feral scientist jumped and caught her. They’re landing was rough, but not as harsh as Maddie pulling the hook from her arm without warning! “Son of a bitch!”
Thankfully with the hook gone, the amulet quickly healed her arm, leaving behind heavily scarred skin. With her legs functioning again Envy hopped out of Maddie’s embrace and looked up to Sixes who was busy crafting another weapon.
“I think you need to evolve.” Dropping her fangs Envy plunged her teeth into Maddie’s neck, injecting her with vampiric genes. The results were instantaneous as Maddie suddenly sprouted leathery wings from her lower back. For a brief moment, Envy smiled at the irony that the one who had created them, who had mixed and played the genetics of so many was now a cocktail of who knew what and a complete slave to anyone that could impose their will on her. Karma truly exists.
With her slave properly outfitted, they both took the sky as Sixes finished his next weapon.
1 hour before Mac’s return
Moon Dancer drove recklessly towards rural Canterlot, the roads completely empty which worked out great for her. In the passenger seat rested all the hard work she’s spent the last few days of her life investing in. Hopefully, it would pay off.
“What the hell is with all this haze?” As she eased her foot off the throttle, letting the car coast through the small-town streets. A thick greenish haze covered the entire town. A hard cough assaulted her as the outside air went through her air conditioning system. “Is this smoke?” She gasped, covering her mouth. The smoke was so thick that she could no longer see the road, and she pulled off the side, fashioning a crude mask to cover her mouth.
Grabbing the leather bag out of the passenger seat, she wandered into the thick smoke following the wall of flashing flight. She arrived in the hospital parking lot which was filled to the brim with emergency vehicles of every kind from Police to Fire Department and other agencies. She stepped towards the officers to ask was going on when the ground shook. Moon Dancer swayed on her high heels and fell on her knees.
“What was that?”
“Here it comes!” Someone shouted.
(What’s coming?) Moon Dancer wondered feeling a sharp spike in heat.
The smoke surrounding the area suddenly lifted as a powerful updraft stirred up the wind. Wading through the town was a giant, nearly sixty-meter-tall, flaming mammoth. The police fired their guns while the firefighters sprayed the beast with water, creating scorching columns of steam.
It occurred to Moon Dancer sitting on her knees was not the wisest thing to be going as the tar she was kneeling on was heating up like it was summer. The parking lot surface cracked and exploded as the cold stone and hot air clashed wreaking havoc on the infrastructure.
“What the hell is going?” She muttered, standing up.
A high-pitched battle cry caught her attention, Moon Dancer looked up to see Celestia, Luna, and Stryker Six flying through the sky attacking the flaming Mammoth with all they had. Stryker suddenly broke off, and she followed his flight path to see there was another giant monster, an ape, raging through another part of town. If that didn’t seem bad enough, she spotted another one in the south part of town. The sound barrier broke as a squadron of fighter jets flew through the sky firing their payload.
“Holy sweet Mary’s tits this is fucking hell!”
With not much else to do Moon Dancer made a break for it, but not to her car, like a smart person would do, no she ran for the hospital because it was the tallest building in the area and hopefully one of the flying magic sisters would see her. So, she fought against the follow of traffic as the hospital staff carried patients outside to be evacuated. No one took the time to stop her because of all the chaos. After fighting through the first and second floor, she finally ran into an empty hallway. From there, she made it to the roof. Running out onto the helicopter pad, the chopper gone, probably transporting patients. She saw the pure disaster clearly before her.
Three giant monsters, acres of new enormous greenery that trailed from town to the wildlife preserve which was ablaze. The were rivers of lava, and in the distance, she could make out stray blasts of what could only be magic. Another squadron of jets flew over the new greenery dropping a payload of bombs. She wondered what the point was and then realized they were trying to make a fire break. Several trees fell outside of town as dozen to maybe a hundred different types of construction equipment worked to take down the trees. A blast of dynamite roared over by the more giant trees, toppling one of the hundred-foot redwoods to the earth.
“There’s going to be no covering this up.” She droned. There were too many people involved. And even though they were told to stay away, there was always some stupid news reporter around somewhere. She just knew it.
“Moon Dancer?”
Moon Dancer looked up to see Luna floating above her. The Vice Principle was looking worse for wear. She didn’t know what Luna was wearing earlier, but given the recent chill, probably wasn’t half burned of pants and tatters of a tee shirt.
“What’s happened to you?”
“There’s no time for that.” Luna snapped. “I need you to get Nyx and Sonata out of here, take them to the farm for us.” Just then Celestia swooped down carrying a girl with her face half covered in blood Moon Dancer hadn’t met before.
“Take her too.” The Principle insisted. “She’s gone all she can here.”
Moon Dancer clutched the strap of her bag but held back on telling them about her work. They had their hands full here. The infected girls were nowhere in sight. This was more pressing. “Alright, my car is the yellow bug, leave her there, I’ll get Nyx and Sonata. Where are they?”
“Room 201.”
Nodding Moon Dancer was about to run back downstairs when Luna grabbed her and carried her down to a second-floor window, kicking it in with no hesitation before depositing her there. Not bothering with formalities Moon Dancer raced down the halls, finding the room just as a team of nurses was pulling the two out of their rooms.
“I’ll take them, I got a car!” She volunteered. The nurses looked beside themselves until the fiery creature outside bellowed, and they reluctantly nodded, following her outside to her little yellow bug, where the two patients were carefully transferred.
“They’re not in bad shape, but please be careful.” The nurse insisted before running back into the hospital.
Filled to capacity Moon Dancer skidded off into the night with her three passengers. Wondering if the world was finally coming to an end.
Luna and Celestia let loose a series of magic blasts at the flaming mammoth, while the police and firefighters did their best from the street. They were thankful there was so much chaos that no one questioned the two magical girls providing air support. There would be some through grilling later, but hopefully, they didn’t end up having to immigrate to Equestria to avoid becoming lab rats.
(All of a sudden having magic doesn’t seem too great.) Luna mused shooting a beam from her hand. Really there was no telling if they were actually doing anything. She and Celestia were amateurs at this, saving the world thing.
“Enemy on the ground, incoming!”
“Oh my god! Is there no end to this!” Luna bemoaned as rank and file timber wolves invaded the town. She glared at the greenery the Titan Timber were leaving in their wake, the smaller Timbers spawning from the newly created trees.
Automatic gunfire erupted from below, she expected the army, the air force was already here thanks to Feri, but no it wasn’t the army. At least not current members.
“Mr. Gator?” She inquired confused to see her elderly neighbor with a machine gun fighting off a horde of magical wood wolves. Nothing should surprise her now.
“Ah, Miss Luna, glad to see you’re alright. The town is nearly evacuated. We need to just hold off these creatures a bit longer. The boys and I will cover in any way we can, Bailey would want us too.”
Rather than argue, she only nodded, “Don’t strain yourself.” He merely chuckled at her worries and proceeded to mow down another wave of monsters.
“Alright, boys one last ride! Let’s show these bastards what’s for!”
“Isn’t that your neighbor?” Celestia asked when they regrouped.
“Yes, yes, it is.”
“Ok, then. So, what are we going to do about that thing?”
The two sisters observed the rampaging mammoth as a jet flew by shooting it with its cannons. No real effect was observable. Not that their magic was doing any better, and they were starting to feel the strain of the prolonged fight.
“It’s so hot!” Luna bemoaned swiping her brow. The heat was making it really hard for her to think. “Heat… hmm.” There was fire all around, and it felt like summer, but there was still snow on the ground outside of town. “Come with me!”
“Where are we going?” Celestia asked as Luna lead her to the outskirts of town. The temperature dropped dramatically feeling like winter again as they landed on the soft snow. Picking up a handful of snow Celestia watched it melt in her palm while Luna was trying to do something with her hands. “Are you trying to use the force?”
Luna puffed her cheeks. “No, I’m trying to lift the snow! If we can harvest all of it and drop it on the mammoth, it might be enough to put it out!”
“Or you could cause a steam explosion and wipe out the town. This is basic science, Luna.”
“There won’t be a town left either way, so you going to help me or not?”
Celestia resigned herself because she couldn’t think of anything else to do. Closing her eyes, she imagined the snow floating off the ground and pulled on her magic. When she opened her eyes, the snow was floating in front of her.
“Follow me!” She declared taking to the sky, with Luna on her tail. Pulling more and more snow off the ground as she flew. With each pass, she compressed the snowball tighter and tighter. The wet, packed snow hardened into ice and became too heavy for her carry. “Now what?”
Luna landed on top of the building size snowball, touching it with her fingers, a quarter of it broke off and reshaped into a giant icicle. “Still know how to throw a javelin?” Her sister inquired levitating the giant ice dirk back and released it. The ice arced through the sky impaling the Cinder Mammoth. The monster let out a horrible wail as the frozen spear pinned it down, the ice was so dense that the monster’s flames couldn’t melt it instantly. When the ice did melt the water further weakened the beast as bits and pieces of its body exploded from the temperature difference. Slowly the Cinder Mammoths flames dimmed.
“Second volley!” Luna announced cheerfully firing another ice missile. The attack struck, the mammoth giving one last wail before its flames died and it fell to pieces. “Oh yeah! Put that one on the scoreboard for me!”
“Still only counts as one, and I made the damn snowball” Celestia grumbled jealously. She’ll never hear the end of this for the rest of their lives.
“Alright so do we kill one more or weaken them both?”
“I can always make another-ugh!” Celestia’s wings disappeared, and she belly flopped on the snowball next to her sister. Her entire body tensing up.
“Celestia! What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” Luna panicked cradling her sister’s head on her lap. “Talk to me.”
For her part, Celestia could only stare up at Luna’s worried gaze, her entire body locked up, she tried to move her arm, but all her muscles just spasmed out of control. “I think… I’m out of magic. I overdid it, I guess. You’re probably not far behind, you better hurry up.”
Luna nodded as she flew Celestia to the ground, her elder sister snoring softly like sleeping beauty on the ground. She was about lunch her attack but hesitated before deciding to move Celestia closer to the town where someone could find her. At the very least it was better than leaving her on the cold forest floor.
“Ok,” Luna created two more giant ice dirks, her body becoming heavy and sluggish, this would be it for her too. “Kill one or weaken them both?” She debated eyeing the Cerberus and Kong Titan Cinders. If she killed one, then Feri and Stryker could team up to take on the last one. “Alright, time to put the doggie down!”
With the last of her strength, she tossed the two ice spears at the Cerberus Feri was fighting. The moment the blocks of ice where out of her control, her body locked up, her wings disappeared, and she free fell through the branches for a rough landing and a painful kiss with the earth
“That… could have gone better.” She shivered as her exposed skin touched the cold ground. Her eyes fluttered close while she stretched out her hand toward the heat that was less than fifty yards away. (Am I going to freeze to death before anyone finds me?)
As her hand falls and her vision goes black Luna feels her body being lifted off the ground and carried toward the warmth.
“It’s ok, I’m here.” A voice assured her as the owner placed her somewhere. She felt another body next to her and hugged it for warmth. The scent telling her it was Celestia.
“Thank you.” She mumbled before falling unconscious.
“Your welcome,” Mac said, smiling at his slumbering godparents. “I’ll take it from here.”
Mac stepped through the burning hell that was his hometown rage boiling beneath his calm exterior. Half the town was gone, nothing but rubble and ash with more still burning to the west as giant one hundred foot tall roots towered over the smokey skyline. The bakery his dad used to take him to, crushed, the hardware store where he brought his tools, gone, the lumber yard where he got the materials to rebuild the house, ashes. Fists clenched he looked at the giant blazing ape thumping its chest in the ruins of downtown. Stryker flew around the monster unleashing a storm of lead on it, but it had little effect. Stryker’s skills weren’t tailored for this kind of battle.
Digging his hand into his coat pocket, Mac retrieved five softly glowing blue gems. Ponying up, he popped the jewels into his mouth like they were candy, a cold chill ran through his body his scales turning blue. Sucking in a vast amount of air, his chest expanded as his breath became visible.
(Ice Breath!)
It was the ability he inherited from his father. The power to change the element of his breath-magic has gone underused in his time as a monster hunter. Now though, he was glad to have it. With an ear-piercing roar, Mac let loose the ice breath, the frosty mist shooting through the air straight at the Timber Kong. The blue beam of frost made the Kong pause his attack, hot steam rose off its arm, it turned and charged him. Mac added more power to the ice attack, the Kong’s flames dimming as its arms began to freeze over. The Kong reached for him, he dug his heels and added even more power. The ice beam widened almost entirely engulfing the Kong.
His lungs empty Mac stepped back breathless, the Kong’s huge fingers frozen mere inches from his face. Just a little more and it would have had him. Unslinging his maul from his back, Mac charged the weapon with magic, spun on his heel and let it fly. The hammer/ax flew through the frozen monster at near mock speeds. The Kong shattering into pieces of frozen wood.
Reaching out his hand, Mac called his hammer back like he was Thor and continued to march through the town. Not bothering to address the agape expressions of the emergency personnel. Instead, he casually walked to the defensive line. The patrons of Feri’s bar holding the line as waves of Timber Wolves flung themselves at the barrier. Compared to everything he’s fought up till now, Timber Wolves were just run of the mill.
“Step back,” He ordered to the men fending off the Timbers. Charging his maul, he swung it, releasing a blast of compressed magic that ravaged the Timbers ranks. What few remained looked at him and back where they came from and ran away.
“Yeah, right.” Still embodied with the power of ice, he let loose a breath attack on the fleeing wolves, turning them into a dazzling collection of ice sculptures.
“Holy shit son, where were you this entire time?” Gator inquired jovially. “Could have used ya three fucking hours ago.”
“It wasn’t his fault, it’s mine.” Feri declared hobbling out of a nearby alley. Stryker flew down next to him, the grey detective cradling his right arm. His radius stuck out through his coat. The two detectives observed the damage, Feri smiling sadly as he touched Mac on the shoulder. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but this one really takes the cake. I’m sorry, son.”
Mac patted his hand, smiling with understanding. “I was on the verge of doing the same, I can’t blame you for something I would have done too. You do a lot of things to protect the ones you care about. In hindsight…” Mac flexed his muscles and showed off his magic aura. “If I hadn’t gotten that nice nap in, I don’t think I would be as charged up as I am now.”
He didn’t know if it was just from resting or the fact, he had slept in Equestria, which was rich with magic, but Mac was feeling good. Not only good but great. Like Tony the Tiger great if that cereal wasn’t just flakes covered in sugar and actually really bad for you.
“Luna and Celestia are over there asleep if someone could go get them. It’s not safe for them here.”
“I’ll take care of it!” A random man said from the crowd. From his attire, he was one of Feri’s guys.
Mac nodded to Feri and took to the sky, trusting them to handle things in town, hordes of Timberwolves were regrouping below, but he ignored them. They were a waste of energy. Judging from the explosions pelting what was once the forest, the final battle was well underway. His arrival was sure to be a game-changer, everyone was probably running on empty by now, and he was refreshed. If he was fortunate, he could wrap this mess up in a few minutes.
Several volcanic erupts exploded on the ground. (Well… I can least get the mess with the girls fixed up. The rest of this… that’s future Mac’s problem.)
Patting the holstered dart gun, he got from Moon Dancer Mac checked the magazine. The weapon was similar to the once he used to implant in cattle with possibly ten vials loaded in the chamber. From the look of things, it didn’t actually shoot the darts, which means he’d have to get in close, stab the girls, and inject them. Given the number of vials, two shots in each girl might be enough.
Flying through a cloud of smoke Mac come across an area of land that wasn’t on fire, a large circle of barren earth covering a mile radius, fighting down below was Sixes against Maddie and Fluttershy.
Sixes looked ragged, his jacket was gone, his shirt half torn off, and one his pant legs were missing at the knee. The rinin himself looked haggard dodging both Fluttershy and Maddie with little tolerance for error having only brief seconds to try and get a hit in before the other charged at him. Forcing him to stay on the defense.
“Lava buckshot!” Sixes tossed a handful of heated stones that exploded in the air like fireworks. Gold fire danced on his fingertips, but Envy charged in and launched a wave of vines at him. He abandoned his crafting and fired another handful of stones.
Unslinging his maul, Mac picked his target as he drew the dart gun. Maddie just skidded to a stop, while Envy charged in, he waited. Maddie attacked. He dived toward the ground, counting the seconds as Envy engaged Sixes and Maddie fell back. The mad scientist skidded to a halt in his line of sight. He thrust the gun forward and gave himself a boast with his wings, but Maddie turned, saw him, and then let loose a sonic shriek!
Covering his ears Mac barrel rolled away toward Sixes landing beside the Rinin. “You got here sooner then I thought you would.” Sixes said, throwing another handful of stones at the girls. “But It’s good that you’re here. Keep them busy for me!”
Sixes jumped back, beginning to forge something, Mac having little choice but to comply with the demand as the girls focused their attention on him. Holstering the dart gun, Mac took his maul with both hands and swung at the approaching Envy unleashing a blast of compressed magic. She raised a wall of vines to block while Maddie ran in close like a snarling hunting dog.
He leaned in with his shoulder, throwing his entire weight against her smaller frame and sent Maddie flying back and flung his maul at her. Maddie let out a sonic shriek, but the maul powered through the hammer end slamming into her chest. Mac recalled his mallet as Maddie wheezed on the ground, her bones popping back into place while steam rose from her body.
“HIYA,” With a shout Mac brought the maul to bear on the prone Maddie. Aiming for her knee, Mac swung with all his might, metal meeting bone. There was a sickening series of ‘crack crack crack’ as Maddie’s left kneecap was pulverized. Much to his morbid fascination, the muscles and tendons instantly started fixing themselves, fragments of her shattered knee were pushed out of the body.
“Damn you!” Envy came roaring in from the west. Mac swung and fired off a compressed air shoot, throwing off her flight path. Envy’s wings caught the wind and pulled her back, he fired compressed magic at her, and she blocked with a green magic shield. “You won’t beat us, Mac! You won’t… bghbhgh!”
Envy’s rant was cut off prematurely as Sixes come flying in, his steel-plated knuckles digging deep into her face. Mac was sure he saw a few teeth flying through the air. Like a stone on water, Envy skipped across the ground. Sixes stood with his arm outstretched as gold steam rose to from his fist.
“I’m not done!” Sixes declared spitting molten gold onto his knuckles, the gold quickly shaped into rings on each of his fingers. “Ring of power: ATK +5, Ring of Power II: ATK +10, Ring of Power III: ATK +15, Berserker Ring: ATK Double!” All of Sixes’s muscles expanded with veins popping up everywhere, his fist shining with golden power. That wasn’t it either, he poured more gold on his left hand. “Ring of Magic: Magic +5, Ring of Concentration: Focus +5, Sorcery ring: Magic casting up, Ring of Solaris: All Stats +6! Rapid multi-craft Barrage of Solaris!”
All of Sixes’s rings exploded, but that was nothing as not one, not two, but five Spears of Solaris suddenly appeared before him, each of them glowing with intense power. One by one, Sixes took the spears and chucked them at Envy. Taking little more than second each to throw them. The space that Envy had been occupying looked like it just been carpet-bombed.
Mac could only gap in awe as the air pressure from the explosion rippled like waves in water, sucking up all the oxygen along the way. Many of the fires were instantly snuffed out, and Mac found he was short of breath as the shockwave breezed past.
“Are you fucking insane! We’re not trying to kill them!” He shouted, but Sixes wasn’t listening, he was already spitting more gold onto his hands.
“All ATK combo, Rings of Power I through VI and Rings of Magic I to VI, Axes of Apollo, Twin Suns!” With no other warning, Sixes launched the two Axes into the sky, the weapons turning into blazing balls of gold energy and broke into fragments that rained down like a meteor shower.
“Will you fucking stop already!”
Sixes wasn’t fazed by his screams and merely pointed toward what would most likely be Fluttershy’s final resting place, but when Mac squinted his eyes, he seriously thought he needed glasses because Fluttershy was floating in the sky holding her arm, hurt, but still alive. She hovered there for several seconds before fleeing.
“She’s got the green alicorn Amulet. The same power that’s inside me.” Sixes pointed with his thumb to his belly. “I was hoping that combo would have overwhelmed her defenses, but we can both clearly see it didn’t. By the way…” Sixes crafted a gold arrowhead and flicked it at Maddie. Flick wasn’t the right word, the arrow headshot shot through Maddie’s regenerated knee like a bullet. “Don’t turn your back to the enemy. That was lesson five Mac.”
“Right, sorry.” He replied, pressing his knee against Maddie’s stomach, she screamed and clawed at him, but couldn’t seem to decide between attacking him or cradling her knee. Naturally, Mac took advantage of this and pulled the dart gun from his holster and stabbed the needle barrel into Maddie, right in her shoulder blade. He pulled the trigger once, removed the needle, cocked the gun, and then jabbed it in Maddie’s other shoulder and fired again. Maddie’s struggles stopped.
“What’d you do to her?” Sixes asked, standing over Maddie.
Getting off her, Mac stated, “Hopefully cured her.”
The both of them stared as Maddie’s face relaxed, steam rolled off her body, and her skin began to return to its peachier tone. It was all looking good until Maddie shot up and puked out a bunch of black vile and started sweat out a foul black oil. The two of them cringed as Maddie became a haggard puking wreck, she let out wails of ear-piercing pain as every bit of darkness was purged from her body. She began to dry heave, and it looked like it was about done, when she started to choke, Maddie pounded on her stomach and puked out a black snake!
“I got this.” Sixes declared shooting a small fireball at the snake, burning it alive.
Maddie’s troubles weren’t over though, her hair turned bone-white, and she spat up four black balls. Upon closer inspection, Mac and Sixes saw that the spheres were in fact eggs. Sixes burned them as well.
“Maddie, you ok?” Mac inquired offering a hand to the hopefully cured mad scientist.
Maddie looked at him dead-eyed, her face haggard and covered with sweat. “Do I fucking look, OK? Macintosh? I just spit up a king cobra sized snake and its litter! Why don’t you shove a long phallic object down… ”
“Ok, ok, I get it.”
“Do you really? Because I feel like I just puked up a horse…”
“Focus, Maddie!”
“Right, right, so what’s the situation? And what the hell did you inject me with?” Mac pulled one of the darts from the chamber and handed it to her. Maddie frowned as she inspected the small vial. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with this? I don’t have any analyzing equipment on me! Wait, wait, sorry I see a serial number. Compounds are…” She trailed off mumbling to herself. “Hmm, Moon Dancer make this?”
Mac nodded.
Maddie laughed softly, “What a smart little cookie she is, I’ll have to give her a kiss when I see her. I would have never thought of this combo.”
“So, what is this stuff?” Sixes inquired taking the dart from Maddie.
“It’s… a… it’s better if you don’t know. I’m not sure Moon Dancer even knew what some of the compounds are actually made of. Scratch that she doesn’t, some of it was stuff my dad somehow got from Equestria and other places.” Maddie refused to meet Sixes' gaze. The rinin handed the dart back to Mac and let the matter drop. He knew what the Madhoof and his colleges used for material, and he didn’t want to revisit that pandora’s box.
“How many of those do you have Mac?” Asked Sixes steering the conversation away from just what they were injecting into people.
Mac softly counted the darts again, “Eight total, I thought we’d have to use two for each of them. It’s Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, and Fluttershy that’s left, right? How did your plan with Shadow Specter go?”
“We haven’t had a chance to use him yet. We were trying to soften them up so he’d have a better chance of success. These darts will hopefully give us a better shot.”
“Speaking of that, thanks for shooting my fucking knee after it just regenerated you prick!” Maddie screamed. She hissed as she pressed her palms against the gushing wound, the numbness from the antidote wearing off. “Please tell me one of you knows healing magic.”
Sixes held up a glowing red claw, Maddie gulped as he knelt beside her. “Fuck… give me something to bite.” Maddie bemoaned Mac tearing off a piece of his shirt and balling it up for her. Teeth clenched tight against the fabric she nodded for Sixes to seer the wound. The smell of her flesh being grilled had the odd effect of making her hungry.
(When was the last time I ate?)
“Let’s go, Envy is probably flying towards Kira and Shadow.” Sixes helped Maddie up and cradling in her arms princess style as he took flight with Mac beside him. Flying into the smoke-filled sky in search of the others, but they only found fire and haze. The heat created a powerful updraft that had tornadoes of fire springing up everywhere. The area was so saturated with magic; it was impossible to pinpoint anyone.
“Mac take these.” Sixes moved Maddie into a shoulder carry and tossed over a blob of gold that turned into four rings. “Those will buff your stats a bit. We’re going to need every advantage.”
Mac fixed the rings to his fingers, feeling his strength rise as he took up his maul again. In the distance, he saw lightning raining down from the sky.
“That’s most likely Kira, let’s go!” Sixes sped up, and Mac matched, the two of them soaring through the air. As they flew, Mac couldn’t help but notice Maddie’s worried expression as she inspected the dart gun.
He flew closer, “What’s wrong?”
“I wonder if this will be enough,” Maddie said absentmindedly. “The others are much further along than I was. This might not… well, we won’t know until we try.”
“We’ll find out soon enough.” He replied, steeling himself for the fight ahead.
Glowing rocks rained down from the sky, Kira flung a blade of lightning at them, making them explode prematurely. She backstepped deflecting several Lightning lances with her short sword and used her long sword to deflect another barrage of explosive stones. A strong wind blew smoke in her eyes, making her swing blindly. A lightning lance pierced her shoulder, while the pebble bombs pelted her. Kira skidded to a stop; her breath short as she patted down the fires on her kimono.
“You girls actually learned something since last time. I’m almost proud.” Praised Kira, mostly it was just to buy time to catch her breath. She didn’t like to talk about them, but she did have weaknesses. Heavily armored enemies and long-ranged attacks. There were a few ranged attacks in her arsenal, but close quarters were her bread and butter. This barren blazing wasteland was another disadvantage. There was nothing to use for cover or to use to get the drop on the girls.
“Don’t think we’re going to get distracted, old crone! You’re dead!” Spite spat throwing a glowing baseball-sized stone.
Now wanting to ruin her blades edges Kira fired a shot of lightning to blow up the stone and took two lightning arrows from Ebony in the thigh. The attacks didn’t really hurt her that badly. Mostly they just burned her flesh and made her body a bit numb. Lightning was her element, so she had some resistance to it. If it hadn’t been black lightning, it probably wouldn’t have hurt her at all. Really it was the dark magic in the electricity that was doing the real damage.
Thunder rumbled up above, heavy rain fell from the sky, dosing a lot of the flames. “BIG THUNDER!” Ebony shouted, several bolts of lightning fell from the sky and converged into one giant bolt, almost like a beam, the radius of the attack was large, and the rain caused it to surge in power.
Kira rather than waste time dodging an attack she couldn’t avoid. Crossed her swords over her head and endowed her blades with magic, the runes engraved on the jade tinted steel came alive encasing her in a protective sphere. Rising her long sword to the sky, she pointed her wakizashi at Spite. Ebony’s big thunder made contact with the tip of her sword, the entire attack compressed into the tip of the blade, lightning danced down her arm through her heart and into her other arm, the runes on her wakizashi sparking with power as a beam of compressed lightning shot from the tip. Spite held out her fake hand, the lightning burning the wooden appendage and charring it.
“You dumb cunt!” Spite sneered at Ebony as the attack fizzled out, Spite’s arm regenerating. “Why don’t you actually think before doing something for once in your stupid life!”
“You shut up! How was I supposed to know she’d do that? Huh!”
Spite brushed a waterlogged strand of hair out of her face. Held out a rock in the palm of her hand and imbued it with magic, the stone glowed and fizzed, but did not explode. She then chucked it at Ebony in a fit of anger. “How am I supposed to make things explode when you soaked everything! It may be magic, but my powers are still beholden to basic fucking physics! You can’t light a wet match!”
“Just dry them out!”
“Can you get any dumber?”
Before either girl could argue further, Kira, growing tired of their banter fired a white bolt of lightning into each of them. Spite and Ebony clutched their throats as darts of electricity protruded from their throats. A black mist rose from the affected area.
“Not enough to purity you, is it?” Kira muttered while pulling the jug of sake hanging of her sash and poured the contents on her katana. The blade shimmered with a white aura. Stalking toward the two, the elder rinin stuck the glowing sword into Ebony’s chest, black mist rose from the wound and Ebony screamed as her flesh began to sizzle. Kira pulled prayer beads from her sleeve, clapped her hands, and began to pray. “Oh, Ancestors of my beloved, heal this lost child of her affliction, purify the demon that dwells within her.”
Kira clapped her hands again, complex symbols of light appeared beneath Ebony and fired pillars of white light through her body, the more black mist rolled off her body, the more Ebony’s screams increased in volume as her body burned.
“Shadow!”
“Right!” Shadow Spector who had been sitting back, emerged from the ground and entered Ebony’s body, the blue girl lurched forward with vile black pouring from her mouth. Red wings sprouted from her back and she tried to flee, but Kira cut the wings off with her short sword and poured sake over the wounds. Ebony’s screamed increased even more as black bubbles of blood boiled from the slits in her back.
“Keep working on her, I’ll start purifying this one.” Kira turned her attention to Spite who was still withering in pain from the lightning spike in her throat. Her mouth moved, and Kira was sure she was throwing vulgar insults at her, but all that came out was a hoarse scream. Taking her jug of sake, Kira pinched Spite’s nose closed and pressed the mouth to her lips. Sake spilled out between Spite’s mouth, but Kira merely pushed the bottle further into her mouth, like a mother forcing a newborn to feed. “Where I’m from this stuff is considered akin to holy water, so don’t be so wasteful!”
The same black mist began to rise off Spite’s body. Kira watched with disgust as the SIN snake squirmed beneath Pinkie’s flesh, the snake’s body budging against the girl’s dark pink skin as it tried to get away from the purifying sake. With her claw Kira cut into Spite’s flesh and dug her fingers in deep, trying to grab the snake’s head.
“Came back here, you little parasite!” The snake dived deeper into Pinkie’s body, the bulge appearing on the girl’s back. “Damn little worm!” Burying her hand up to her knuckles Kira let loose a blast of electricity. The smell of cooked flesh filled the air, Spite, the snake, burst from Pinkie’s back withering in pain and smoking. With her free hand, Kira grabbed the snake by the neck and pressed her thumb on the top of its skull and squeezed. She grinned viciously as little menace squirmed, but she wouldn’t let it get away, she began toasting the snake with her magic, it withered and screamed as its body began to break down.
“Kira!”
Shadow’s warning come too late as vine shot through her shoulder and through Pinkie. Involuntary she let her grip on Spite slip as she cut the vine between her and Spite. Stumbling backward, her fingers slipped free from Spite’s shoulder. Five wooden spikes pierced her from behind. Kira cut the vine protruding from her back and staggered away from Pinkie/Spite. The snake diving back into its host body with glee. Shadow abandoned his attempt to free Rainbow Dash and possessed her. Saving her from another wave of vines that would have pierced her heart had he not possessed her body.
Phasing, through the attack Kira/Shadow, looked up to see Envy in the sky. The leader of the possessed girls swooped down and gathered up her two companions and flew off to the east.
“Get out!” Kira demanded, forcing Shadow from her body. “I appreciate the save, but I don’t like the feeling of having you inside my body.”
“Right, sorry.”
Upset at letting their prey slip away Kira plopped down on the ground and began to disrobe, throwing off her kimono top to reveal her bound chest. The white bandages stained with her blood.
“Pour this over my wounds for me, Shadow.” Kira requested holding out her jug of sake to the ghost man. He took the jar lightly pouring the contents to her wounds while she prayed. “Oh, Ancestors of my lover, speed up my healing.”
Kira’s wounds began to steam and close as artistic symbols appeared on the ground beneath her. By the time the ritual was done, Sixes, Mac, and Maddie landed before her.
“We cured one so far then,” Kira noted looking over Maddie’s disheveled appearance. “I am ashamed to admit I let my prey getaway. I was too careless, treating them as the same inexperienced children they were last time.” She stood and pulled her Kimono top back on and motioned for them to set Maddie on the ground. “I’ll tend to her, you two go off ahead. How are you doing Shadow?”
“Tired,” The Ghost man sighed sitting on the ground. “Sorry, I couldn’t separate the blue girl from her Sin. I almost had her, but… well… I’ve wasted a lot of magic for nothing.”
Sixes patted him on the shoulder, “We have alternatives thankfully, rest up and regroup with us later.”
He and Mac took off, leaving the three behind as they chased after the fleeing girls. Mac felt a bit of dread at Envy’s flight path indicated she was going back to town. The villainess suddenly veered north, and he worried she was going for the farm, but then she straightened out again.
(Where is she going?) Mac mentally pictured county map in his mind, trying to think of where they could be going. Their path was basically to nowhere… “Shit!”
“What?”
“She going to the town evacuation area!”
Envy led Spite and Ebony through the sky’s over Canterlot, she gave the town a wide berth, not wanting to attract the attention of the defenders. Sporadic gunfire popped off at them. The town's militia and police taking potshots at them. How’s they even know they were the enemy from all the way up here?
(Guess since Mac didn’t fly down to greet them, they assume he was defeated, or we slipped away. They’ll shoot at anything and everything whether they be friend or foe out of fear.)
Behind them, she sensed the approach of Mac and Sixes, they were a few minutes behind, enough time to enact her desperate plan. She hates to admit she was desperate, but she needed some more meat shields. Envy’s eyes gazed hungrily at the gathered townsfolk, waiting to be evacuated. Out in the open, exposed and crammed together like cattle. Mingled in that crowd was her primary prey.
“My children! Come to me!” Bats made of green energy materialized around her, dozens, hundreds of them. She cackled menacingly as her hungry gaze fell on the trembling crowd, most excitedly the schoolgirls. If her experience with magic was anything to go by, it tended to favor teenage females over males, and there was a wholes town worth of teenage girls primed and ready to be her new servants. “Get them!”
The bat descended on the crowd, parents and adults alike covered the children and teens, but that wouldn’t stop her bats. They ducked through their protective embraces, sinking their fangs into the unsuspecting girls. The reaction is instantaneous. Green bursts of magic erupted from the crowd, the infected girls transforming into Vampire Brides. All of them adorned with vicious fangs, leathery wings, and pointed pony ears.
They were basic transformations. Most likely they wouldn’t be any stronger than they had been when they first started this magic roller coaster ride, but there were nearly a hundred of them. One hundred innocent bystanders that wouldn’t hesitate to do her bidding.
“To all, Thessalians! Hear your Queen! The enemy is there! Go greet them!” With a cackle, she sickled her newly minted army at Mac and Sixes. “You two.” She denoted Spite and Ebony, “Go finish off the rabble.”
She pointed to the main street where the defenders were gathered. The gem told her four magical signals were coming from there. Weak, but they could become threats if given a chance to recover. This was her moment! She could win! She had the advantage and just had to press it!
“FULL THROTTLE FLAME!”
A tornado of fire shot up from the ground spiraling towards Spite and Ebony. The two of them fired explosions and lightning at the incoming attack, quickly negating it. Ferocious with Principle Luna hanging from his shoulders free fell towards the ground. It was with great delight that Envy noticed that Feri didn’t have wings, he had to use Luna to fly, and she was looking worse for wear. Maybe even more then he did. She barely managed to land them on the rooftop of a random building. The moment they touched down Luna last her wings.
“Pathetic! Spite, Ebony don’t bother with them, let the Brides take care of them.” Envy ordered nonchalantly sending her horde of new minions towards the defenders but made sure to keep twenty around as meat shields.
Gunfire erupted from the ground as Stryker, and the other humans rallied to fight against the Vampire brides, but their shots clearly had no killing intent in them as they hardly hit the girls. Most likely trying to shoot them down without hitting any vital organs.
“Envy!”
She turned around, Mac and Sixes making their dramatic appearance. Her vampire brides flew to intercept, Ebony and Spite acting as long-range support with their lightning and explosions. However, her meat shields weren’t as effective as she hoped they’d be. At least against a certain Night Patroller. While Mac clearly was holding back, merely tossing her Brides out of his way, Sixes blasted them with fire. Her meat puppets fell like burning flies, hitting the ground hard, withering in pain. Somehow, he was leaving them alive, but she doubted they’d ever truly recover from their wounds.
Sixes broke past Ebony and Spite aiming right for her. Mac aggravatingly met her two main minions leading them away. Leaving her to deal with the cold-hearted psychopath that was Sixes.
“You call me a monster! But who just downed seven innocent girls!” Mocked Envy, but Sixes didn’t take her bait, continuing to charge her. Snapping her wrists, she lashed out with two vine whips, which Sixes grabbed and incarnated them with his hands. His hand began glowing with gold, and he crafted golden spikes on to his knuckles. His first punch broke her barrier, the second landed in her stomach, the points exploding on impact!
Envy let out a horrid scream and slashed Sixes across the face with her claws, he grabbed her arms his hand burning hot, cooking her flesh. She kicked him, but he powered through, his wound searing closed.
“Your more of monster the I’ll ever be!” She screamed desperately.
“Maybe.” He replied coldly. But before he could do anything, a handful of her Vampire brides dogpiled him from behind, slamming him towards the ground.
Envy looked between him and Mac who was dealing with Ebony, Spite, and three Vampire Brides. She smirked viciously as she raised her hand and began gathering magic on the tip of her finger.
“Hiya!”
Mac swung his maul with all he had but relented at the last second opting to soften his attack against the transformed school girl. She was purple, with purple hair, Amethyst Star he thought her name was. He had graduated with her older brother. The girl was a red-eyed fang faced monster trying to maw his face-off, but it wasn’t her fault either. Even holding back though his attack was too much for her handle and he sent her flying into a building below.
She didn’t fly back up.
Before he could even start worry, another girl was on him. This time he used his hand, gathering magic in his palm he tried to just knock her way, but much to his surprise she grabbed his wrist and held on. He then realized her clothes were glowing. Spite/Pinkie was grinning devilishly with sparks shooting out of her palms.
“YOU BITCH!” Was all he could say before the girl, Roseluck, exploded. Mac hung in the air, Roseluck charred and naked in his arms. His entire right arm covered in burns. His flight magic faltered, his right-wing taking damage from the blast. Slowly he began to sink towards the ground. Roseluck moaned in pain, but he could do nothing for her.
“Have some more, Mac!” Spite shouted crazed touching three more girls with her sinister touch. The three of them flew at him, tears falling from their red eyes, but they still came. The more explosions rocked the sky, and Spite howled with a gut-busting laugh. “What fun! What torment! The irony of it all!”
“Shut up!” A blast of cold air shot out from the dissipating cloud, Spite used her fake hand to block the attack while Ebony fired a burst of lightning, but her attack broke down, becoming nothing but ions in the air. In the thinning black cloud Mac, shirtless and pissed off carried all four girls by their wrists.
“Take care of them!” He shouted, tossing the girls toward Feri and Stryker, but it was Celestia who caught them and brought them to safety. That taken care of Mac turned to Spite and Ebony as lightning arced over his skin. He inhaled, his chest expanding as the sound of static filled the air.
“THUNDER BREATH!”
Lightning shot from Mac’s mouth, that attack was so fast Spite didn’t have time to even think to dodge it as it blew a hole clean through her left shoulder. The attack was so focused it was more akin to a laser.
Not wasting his chance Mac flung his maul at Ebony, who used her speed to dodge, but she didn’t count on him be able to call the weapon back, and a chunk of her side was cleaved out by the ax head.
“GAH!” Ebony screamed, a swarm of Vampire Brides rush to their aid, dogpiling on top of him. Mac flung the mind-controlled girls away as gently as he could. Which still resulted in many of them crashing through buildings and making craters in the streets. His mind was whirling as the girls continued to pick, and pick, and pick at him, the lackluster slashes piling on top of each other. By the time he managed to knock the Brides to the ground, Mac was a bloody mess.
“Huff… Huff…” Breathless Mac whirled around to Spite and Ebony. Finding them nowhere in sight. Blood and sweat poured down his face into his eyes. Angry, he wiped the sweat away, flying in a zigzag pattern to keep from being a sitting target.
“Where are you!”
“Right here!” Ebony shouted.
Mac turned toward the sound of her voice, catching an explosion in the back, and then shot of lighting from the front. He staggered in midair still blind, firing off a lightning beam to try and keep the girls at bay. Another explosion and a lightning bolt hit him. His left leg a bloody burned mess and his right bicep numb.
“Oh, Maaac!” Sang Envy’s voice with glee. He turned toward the sound of it, feeling a tremendous amount of magic, and it was coming right for him!
“MAC!” He heard Sixes' voice and felt a rush of wind as they plummeted to the ground. Mac’s finally cleared his vision and found Sixes on top of him with a giant golden shield strapped to his back.
In the sky, Envy, Spite, and Ebony with more than twenty vampire brides floated with their hands aglow with magic. “Let them have it!” Envy commanded, her minions letting loose a rain of magical blasts upon the two.
The attacks struck Sixes' shield, the golden barrier absorbed several dozen shots before shattering to pieces. Sixes covered Mac the best he could as the attacks feel like rain upon them.
For forty seconds, Mac could only stare into Sixes' pained face as he took the brunt of the attacks. The smoke was so dense that nothing else could be seen and when the barrage had ended, Mac still able grabbed Sixes and ran into the nearest building.
“Why did you do that! Why!” Mac screamed as he placed Sixes against the wall. The rinin was delirious his words slurred, his head rolling limply, somehow, by some miracle he was alive. “Sixes stay with me!”
“Nico… quiet down… runt… this is… this is just a scratch…”
Mac stood speechless as Sixes' eyes closed. In a panic, he pressed his ear against the rinin’s chest, still hearing a heartbeat. (How is he alive?) Mac peeled Sixes from the wall, inspecting the Equestrians back, it was a wreck with burns and bruises covering the entire thing, but he wasn’t bleeding badly. Blood was seeping through the charred bits of flesh, but there was no blood gushing wounds.
“The pain must have been too much,” Mac concluded though he wouldn’t be surprised if Sixes' ribs and organs weren’t damaged. He lightly punched Sixes' leg, his body reacted. “At least you didn’t sever your spine.”
With little choice, Mac hid Sixes in the basement of the building. Turns out they were in the bank. He stuffed the unconscious Rinin in the vault which had been blown open at one point, but it would still make a sturdy structure for Sixes to hide in.
There wasn’t much time, and Mac hid Sixes under a pile of rubber-banded stacks of cash. Envy was sure to be looking for them. He had to keep them away from Sixes, god forbid she somehow turn him against them.
His hunch was quickly proven right as he heard the hiss of the Vampire Brides in the room above. He had to be thankful for villain laziness. Always sending in the minions first.
With a roar, he burst through the floor and slammed the Vampire Bride into the wall. He took a moment to feel regret as Photo Finish slumped to the floor.
“Sorry.”
More hisses caught his attention as what looked like the cheer squad stood outside the bank. Readying his maul, he charged them, even holding back as much as he could, he still one-shot them. The girls let out horrible screams of anguish. One of them was crying, holding her stomach, every movement was one of pain. He probably broke her ribs. Another girl was cradling her arm. Two were unconscious with blood pooling around their heads, and the last one was slumped against the wall.
Drawing the dart gun, Mac shook with anger. His rage is so great his eyes began to tear up, his emotions an absolute mess that he couldn’t hold back anymore. “RAAGGGH!”
Charging his legs with magic, he leaped into the sky, his eyes dead set on Envy, who through up a force field, so he changed his target and tackled Rainbow Dash out of the air. They careened to the ground, he stabbed the dart gun into her neck and fired the first shot. They crashed into a building, Explicit’s. In a pile of skimpy clothes, he held Ebony down with his knees, tanking her flailing random strikes as he cocked the dart gun. She squirmed, trying to keep the gun away. Mac threw his weight on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. With her pinned, he stabbed the needle where ever he could, in this case, below her breast.
He pulled the trigger and stumbled away as she began to wither. Black smoke rising from her body. Ebony/Rainbow screamed clawing at her chest, tearing her shirt apart to reveal the silver specs of jewel embedded in her chest.
“Fuck!”
Mac realized that was Grau’s jewel and ran to pry it out of her chest, but the fragments flashed, and a silver wave of magic blew him away. The pieces glowed and reformed into a small hexagon shaped jewel over Rainbow’s heart. The black mist stopped, and the darts were ejected from Ebony’s body.
“You’ll have to do better, boy.” The dual voice of Rainbow and Grau stated. A grey material began to sprout from Rainbow’s body, encasing her in bone armor. She reached out her right hand, a dragon skull formed and opened its mouth to reveal a cannon! “Die!”
The building exploded, and Mac came flying through the walls. Ebony, embodied with the power of Grau chased after him, brandishing a spine sword on her other arm. Clenching his fist, Mac activated the rings Sixes gave him, his fist glowing with gold energy, he skidded to a stop and punched the offending sword, shattering it to pieces.
One of the rings cracked and broke.
Following up the attack, Mac dug in deep and socked Ebony in the ribs. The outer ribs cracked and broke, followed by her actual bones.
The second ring broke.
With his power boast halved. Mac went for the knockout. He hit Ebony with an uppercut to the jaw, her head flying back an audible ‘SNAP!’ made him cringe as she fell flat on her back. His mouth agape, he just broke Rainbow’s neck!
“Shit…” He knelt beside her, unsure of what to do. Checking her pulse, he was relieved to find her still live. The silver gem in her chest pulsed, and the sound of bones popping disturbed him as Ebony’s neck fixed itself.
“What to do…” Mac eyed the glowing gem. There was no choice but to remove it, but he didn’t dare to until Rainbow fixed her neck. Seemingly understanding his intention, Rainbow’s body stopped just short of healing completely, leaving her head at an odd angle. “Fuck you.”
Ebony/Grau laughed in her dual voice, “I’m no fool boy, but you are.”
“What?”
The wall behind him exploded, pelting his back with debris. The cackle of Spite come from the new hole in the wall, along with another explosion! Mac flew forward, cracking his skull against the brick wall of the building. He got up, his face covered in blood, his vision obscured. Someone punched him in the gut, and then another bomb sent him through the wall.
“Poor, poor, little Mac. No friends, no family, and no one to help you in your hour of need. Just like always.” Spite stepped through the smoke and pressed her heel into his chest, digging deep. “How sad, so sad and pathetic. Did you really think that you? You, plain old Mac, could save the world?”
“I was never trying to save the world,” He coughed, grabbing Spite by the ankle. “I only ever tried to save my family. Even if they hate me for it.”
“What you….AHAGHG!”
In a swift and powerful move, Mac slammed his fist into Spite’s ankle, holding nothing back. The bone jutted out with an offensive snap. The last gold ring shattered. Mac holding Spite’s severed foot in his hand.
Spite screamed like a banshee. “What the fuck! What the fuck is with you and cutting off my limbs!”
Mac sat up and tossed the foot. “Have it back.”
Spite caught her foot, befuddled as she balanced on her remaining leg. Mac got to his feet and charged her, slamming her into the wall. Staggering back, Mac limped away and stumbled out into the alleyway.
Falling to his knee’s Mac pulled out the dart gun, groaning at he looked back at Pinkie’s prone body. His thoughts were everywhere, he couldn’t focus. He tried to get up and inject the party girl, but his legs wouldn’t move. Scratch that, his arms wouldn’t move either, going limp and dropping the dart gun on the dirty street.
In his limited field of vision, Mac saw a yellow hand pick up the dart gun, a delicate finger hooked his chin and raised his view to the glowing red eyes of Envy.
“My, my, you have been nothing but trouble, but even the mightiest fall, Mac. As Herculean, as you are, even the mightiest of heroes fall.”
“Hercules was poisoned.”
“Maybe, but my point remains.” Envy said while crushing the vials of antidote. “You’re next.”
Envy took hold of his jaw and began to squeeze, he grunted, feeling his bone crack under her mighty grip. He glared death daggers at her but could do nothing to stop her.
(Why won’t my body move?!)
“MAC!” A voice screamed from the sky. Envy looked up and was pummeled into the ground by Maddie, who expertly grabbled the villainess into a headlock. Sporting a new pair of leathery white wings, Maddie hauled Envy into the air, grinding her face against the brick wall of the building.
“Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” Maddie screamed unintelligently, completely lost in her rage. “Fuck you for hurting him! The best man I’ve ever known!”
Maddie did a backflip and pile drived Envy into the street. If he could move, Mac would have cringed as Envy’s head was thrust into the earth, making it look she’d been decapitated. Leaving her there, Maddie ran over to him, only to be tackled by Ebony.
“Little cunt!” Ebony screamed slamming Maddie against the wall, her entire back exploding into a bloody mess.
“I just got that healed!” Maddie retorted clawing at Ebony’s face with her nails. Leaving four bloody scratch marks behind. Ebony covered her face and backed off, Maddie slamming her with a combo of punches to the face. A tooth skidded across the ground in front of him.
Screaming in rage Maddie socked Ebony one more time and knocked her against the wall of the other building. The blue girl slumped to the ground, steam rolling off her wounds.
“Come on!” Maddie urged, picking him up. “We gotta get out of here!”
“My body won’t move,” Mac informed her.
“Must be magic exhaustion. You overdid it, you fool.”
(I guess I was a bit reckless with my magic. I didn’t utilize it very well. I’ve never been this wasteful in a fight before.) Coming refreshed and fully charged had worked against him. He squandered his energy because he thought everyone would be on the brink of exhaustion.
From the rising steam from Ebony, and Envy pulling herself out her hole, he should have known better. Dark magic was a deep well. The girls were probably feeding off their life force, cutting months, maybe years off their life span to keep going. “You didn’t forget about me!” Spite cackled flying through the wall, all the debris glowing and sparkling with magic.
Maddie hugged him and threw herself between him and the coming explosion. The blast hit both of them hard, Maddie’s eyes were wide staring into his with shock and fear. They skipped like a rock on a pond across the ground, flying separately from each other. Mac hit a parked car crashing into the interior. With a great effort, he managed to move and spot Maddie.
“No…”
She lay across the street, her mouth wide open, her eyes staring off into nothing, her body wrapped around a lamp post. Blood everywhere. He couldn’t tell if she was alive.
“Maddie! Maddie speak to me!”
She didn’t reply.
Mac pulled himself from the car, his legs were wobbly and wouldn’t support his weight, he fell to his knees as Envy, Spite, and Ebony emerged onto the street. Both Envy and Ebony were fully healed, while timber foot sprouted from Spite’s leg. More than two dozen blood-spattered Vampire brides joined them, each of them licking their lips of fresh blood.
Envy stopped in the middle of the street; her devious villainess smirks a violation of nature on Fluttershy’s usually meek face. She brandished her fangs swaying towards him seductive manner.
“My, my, finally at the end of your rope?”
“Don’t try to save face,” he spat. “You’re nowhere as powerful as you think you are.”
“True, if not for this McGuffin of a gem, I would have been defeated a while ago, but why deal with what ifs? You know?” She replied in a stupidly cutesy way, kneeling down next to him. “I think I’ll going to suck your blood and leave your body on display for Adagio to find.”
She bared her fangs, the tips brushed his neck, yet when she went to bite down. Envy fell through his body and busted her lips on the hood of the car. “What the hell?”
“Sorry, we took so long Mac!” Shadow Specter’s voice said from inside his mind. Mac looked to at his hands to see they were transparent. “I’ll keep you moving, you just focus on staying alive.”
In the distance, a haunting long drown out whining roar thundered; the sky flashed with white lightning as a what appeared to be a Chinese dragon soared through the air. It must have been a hundred yards long, and six wings adorned it’s back as it spiraled down to the street protectively encircling him. The dragon began to shine and shrunk to human size, revealing Kira.
“Damn wasted all my time just to get here.” She cursed, drawing her swords. Kira was visibly tired; her hands shook terribly like she had arthrosis or carpal tunnel. One of her swords clattered to the ground, and she was forced to her knees.
“Kira!” He/Shadow shouted to the valuable elderly woman.
“I’m fine! I just wasted too much magic healing the girl and transforming. How stupid can this old woman be! Acting like I’m still only three hundred years old.” She griped, trying to pick up her fallen blade, but her fingers wouldn’t tighten, they were stuck. Smashing her left hand against her knee, Kira made the grip on her other sword stick to keep a hold of it. Standing back up, she glanced over to Maddie. “Foolish girl, why’d you have to be so reckless. I guess I’m no better.”
Kira stood up a stance, but it was sloppy, a far cry from her usual strength.
Envy, still sporting a bloody lip, laughed along with the others. “Gods, this just keeps getting easier! You're all on your last legs! Scratch that you don’t have a leg to stand on!”
A gunshot rang out, and Envy’s head flew back, but there was no blood spray. The crumbled bullet fell the ground, a thin glowing green shield surrounded Envy’s body. Two more shots rang out, having the same effect, but the shooter was revealed to be Principle Luna of all people. She stood at the entrance of the alley, her hands trembling and tears falling from her eyes.
Envy gasped mockingly in surprise. “Oh my, look who it is! One of two the most pathetic and worthless educators in history! I shouldn’t be surprised you’d try to kill one of your students. Nice shot, by the way, way to try and gun down an innocent teenage girl, Luna.”
“Shut up! I’m not… I’m not letting you hurt my godson anymore! You could be my favorite student, and I’d gladly put you down like the fucking animal you are!”
Envy’s smirk disappeared as she pointed a glowing finger at Luna. “The feelings mutual.”
“Luna!” Mac screamed, running to his save his godmother, but Ebony and Spite pounced, gunning for Kira. He roared and ran to intercept them, knowing he’d never make it to Luna in time. Grabbing Kira, he looked over just in time to see a gold chain take the blast intended for his godmother.
All eyes turned to see Sixes leaning against the wall with his arm outstretched.
“How the hell are you still alive?” Envy screamed frustrated to the sky. “Fuck it! Everyone kill them!”
The Vampire Bride’s barred their claws, Spite made her wood arm into cannon and Ebony summoned her skull cannon, everyone was in their sights. There was nowhere to go, nobody could save anyone, but themselves, and even that was iffy.
Mac/Shadow dragged Kira running for Sixes, who was collapsed on the ground. Luna was still by herself with a Bride gunning for her, and Maddie was still laying there. Her fate unknown. Everything had gone to hell and then some.
“YEEHAW!” An orange blur and a familiar voice cried out. Applejack, his little sister Applejack, decked out with dragon scales, pony ears, and a tail come flying to the recuse slamming into the brides going after Luna.
“Don’t leave me out sis!” Applebloom ponied up, shouted landing on top of Spite before sprinting off to carry Luna and Maddie out of the fray. But they weren’t the only ones. Diamonds rained from the sky. Rarity in a white trench coat stood atop a building with her hand outstretched.
“Today I make my amends!” She declared using her diamond to herd the vampire brides away.
A fireball came flying down the street and hit Ebony square in the chest, sending her flying. It was Sunset Shimmer, radiating with power and sporting red wings of fire and a glowing horn of energy. She held up her fist, creating another fireball.
“Thank you, grandma, Fist of Solaris!” She fired a follow-up shot at Ebony and then took off after her.
“An Apple is an Apple, no matter what world it may fall in.” Mac turned towards the next newcomer, a woman who would mostly be Applejack in ten years stood in the middle of the street with another him, but bigger. Pony Applejack, and Pony him had come to earth. Applejack thumbed her chest and smiled wide. “An all Apples are family! And family helps family! No matter what! Come on, bro, let’s deal with the small fry!”
“Yep!”
The two of them charged into the horde of vampire brides, cutting through them with ease, Pony Jack using her long legs to kick them into next week, while Pony Mac merely picked them up and threw them like they were toys.
“If you’re all here… then…”
“You got it, Hun,” The sweet seductive voice of his wife replied. Mac turned, breathless at the sight of Adagio, Aria, and Sonata walking down the street sporting a new gold-colored gem around their necks. Adagio slanted over to him and kissed him. “Leave the rest to us, this what we do, after all, all of us. We’re a family of monster hunters. Not just you.”
He didn’t know if it was her presence or words, but Mac relaxed and fell into his wife’s arms. Her body pulsed with a warmth he’s never felt before.
“Time to rest, Mac. We’ll take care of everything.” Laying Mac against a nearby car, Shadow merged from his body and stood protectively over him. “Thank you,” Adagio nodded as she and her sisters took hold of their new gems and marched down the street.
Envy, Ebony and Spite regrouped before them, the villainess girls hissing with contempt.
Adagio grinned fearlessly, thrusting her hips forward, arrogantly, “Let’s show these girls what real power is.”
“So says the washed-up has-beens!” Ebony snarled.
Adagio took hold of her gem and pressed it to her lips, a devious grin spread across her lips, making Ebony take a step back. “I think now is the time for a comeback tour. Let’s do it!”
The Dazzlings pulled their gems free and threw them to the ground. A brilliant flash of light engulfed the trio, it was so intense that it made Envy’s flesh smoke by just standing near it.
“What is this… this isn’t the magic of friendship is it?”
From the light Adagio, Aria, and Sonata emerged basking in gold magic, transformed into something that resembled Daydream Shimmer, but even more intense. The three of them were clad in white leotards with gold trim and fin-like armor, their transparent fin-like wings gold in color. Stretching out her hand, Adagio created a trident and pointed at the villainess.
“This is a power beyond mere friendship, and far is too complicated for the weak verb called love. It’s something you're all far too young to even comprehend. Not that I feel the need to explain it. Just sit back and let Holy Mother Adagio send you to the pits of hell! Come on girls, time for the comeback tour!”
Envy, Ebony, and Spite howled as Adagio, and her sisters began to sing.
Adagio, Sonata, and Aria felt the power surge through them and into their notes. Fluttershy or whatever she was calling herself and her backup singers were knocked back by the commanding tones of their music. She giggled the tingling feeling of her power, made her feel light and bubbly, just opening her hands caused sparks to dance from her fingertips.
(So, this is the power of the Princesses… no, it’s not just them.) Adagio’s eye panned towards Sunset Shimmer, who was plowing through the vampire school girls. (Everyone helped. Its power that was freely given rather than taken.)
Friends, strangers, family, every type of relation, and feelings were poured into their new gems, freely given with all their heart. It was now floating here, a washed in golden light she finally felt she escaped her past. Now she was on the other side of the rainbow, ready to take out evil.
“Aria, Sonata, second verse!” She commanded with vigor. With a wave of her trident, she created a torrent of raging water that swept Fluttershy and the other up and into the sky. Aria and Sonata changed their tunes, the clouds in the sky began to rumble and roar with thunder. Flashes of lightning-sparked across the sky and struck the evil girls.
A raged filled scream come from the sky, and Rainbow/Ebony charged at them. Sonata summoned a golden harpoon and flew up to meet her. “Time for blue on blue violence!” She yelled intercepting Ebony, the two blue girls disappeared into the fog and smoke.
Ebony and Spite came down next each one preparing an attack. Aria struck an archer’s stance, a golden bow, and arrow of energy forming in her hands. “Might as well keep the color scheme going, come over here your pink bitch!” Firing she pierced Spite’s arm, a rope of energy formed around Aria’s hand as she dragged Spite towards the burning forest. “Good luck, Dagi!”
“Don’t need it,” she replied, twirling her trident in her fingers as Envy came to a stop across from her. Whips made of thorn vines grew out of Envy’s wrists, Adagio gripped the shaft of her trident and thrust it forward. “Well come on, bitch! I’ll show you what happens when you mess with my lover!”
“Blue vs. blue and I’m going to add some black!” Sonata bobbed under Ebony’s lightning infused punch smacking the Sin in the jaw and followed up with another strike in the shoulder, using the hooked end of her harpoon she plunged the tip into Ebony shoulder and dragged her into a sharp set of water claws. Sonata grabbed what she could off Ebony’s flat stomach and twisted it up, making it a bloody mess.
“Don’t fuck with me!” Ebony swung her spine sword and fired off her skull cannon more, and more bones grew over her body the aura of darkness growing denser.
Diving Sonata summoned gallons of water from the air turning it into a boiling harpoon which she threw at Ebony. The villainess shot a bolt of black lightning, the water absorbed it and splashed into her, scolding her skin and leaving behind red boils.
Smirking and feeling giddy from her powerup Sonata twirled around her harpoon like a dancer and rocketed toward Ebony, a jet stream shooting from the tip of her spear propelling her forward. She flew past Envy and willed the trailing water vortex to wrap around the other girl like octopus tentacles.
“I’ve watched enough…” Sonata muttered the genre embarrassingly. “To tell you where this is going!”
The water tentacles pulled and tore Ebony’s clothes, the bones growing on her body, and some skin, staining the water pink as her blood spilled freely. Sonata rightly felt squeamish at the sight of it.
“Wow… sorry Rainbow, I… oh boy… I’m not into that kind of stuff.”
Ebony growled, firing her skull cannon point-blank into the water, blasting it away. She floated in the sky drenched and bleeding, but her wounds were quickly closing. Flicking her wet hair out of the way, Envy screamed, bones grew out of her body at an alarming rate covering her in a second skin of grey as antlers grew from her head.
“Expect no mercy!” Ebony/Grau spoke at the same time. The silver gem embedded in Ebony’s chest was glowing brightly, the crystals expanding and digging deeper into her body.
Pulling her harpoon back, Sonata gripped the shaft tightly letting her magic explode in a bright gold/blue aura, extending her hand she began to chant rapidly.
“Goddess of water, Amphitrite, lay your blessing upon me and grant me mastery of your domain, Endless Fathoms!”
The snow outside of town vaporized and reformed into giant spheres of water that surrounded Sonata protectively. With her hands she directed several the water spheres to attack Envy, the balls surged forward like rushing waves sweeping Ebony up like an overboard sailor, the water coming alive hitting Ebony from every direction.
Sweating from her brow Sonata used her hands to direct the water commanding it to grab hold of Ebony’s limbs and pull them tight. With great effort, Sonata slowly clenched her first, the water ropes binding Ebony following the motion and squeezed like a snake squeezed its prey for the kill. Ebony raged, her words muted by the water surrounding her, air bubbles rushed to the surface as she struggled, the crystal in her chest sparked with arcs electricity.
“Please stop, just leave her alone.” Sonata pleaded, opening the water around Ebony’s head to she could speak. “You lost! Give up!”
Ebony still charging her attack screamed in pure rage and desperation with tears streaming down her face. “I deserve to live too!”
Sonata merely nodded, “I know, but you hurt my sisters.”
She closed her hands, the water tentacles twisted and crushed Ebony’s arms and legs, releasing a fine red mist of blood. Ebony’s body went rigged, the light from the crystal faded as the dark magic changed priorities to healing its host.
“Sorry,” Sonata lamented as she directed a water limb over Ebony’s heart, the tip of the tentacle flattened and froze into a fragile but very sharp blade of ice. Several more water limbs did the same, and they gathered around the glowing gem-like a pack of hungry sharks.
Ebony thrashed wildly, but the water tentacles holding her tightened, crushing her regenerating limps again. The ice scalpels plunged into her chest, a deep red mist obscured Sonata’s view, but she could feel the shards of Grau’s gem through her magic as her water limbs grabbed each and everyone, sending the broken pieces back to her and dropping them in her palm.
Recalling most of her water Sonata left Ebony hanging by her arms, a waterfall of blood poured from Sin’s chest. No Rainbow’s chest. Small red wings sprouted from Rainbow’s back, Ebony, the real Ebony, struggled to free herself from her failing host.
“Ebony… don’t… abandon me…” Rainbow Dash begged with sunken eyes. The black snake hissed angrily and snapped her jaws before freeing herself from Rainbow’s body and flying away. Rainbow croaked and then began to cry, coughing up handfuls of blood.
“I got you!” Sonata screamed, pulling Rainbow into her embrace and quickly landed on a random rooftop. Immediately she cast every healing spell she knew, her best one was only for healing light wounds, so Sonata was using the sheer power given to her by the Princesses and the others to overcharge the spell and hopefully save Rainbow’s life.
She sobbed her hands glowing with blue/gold magic over Rainbow’s slowly closing chest wound. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what else to do! But you're going to be ok, you have to be! You’ll get a happy ending, I promise. I’m right here, so don’t leave me!”
Rainbow with dull raspberry pink eyes stared up at her, looking withered and tired. She reached out touching the end of Sonata’s transparent skirt with her finger. “So warm… I’ve been cold… for so long. I could… just… sleep… tell my mom… I’m sorry.”
Sonata wailed pressing more power into her spell, her wings disappeared, followed by her armor, her clothes changed back to normal leaving her with only two glowing gold pony ears until they to were gone, and the light faded from her hands.
“Rainbow!” She screamed, slapping the girl in desperation. “Wake up! Rainbow DASH! You're stronger than this! You’re a young youthful pain in the ass, so don’t go dying like a punk!” Rainbow didn’t respond. “Fine! If you won’t come back… I’ll make you!”
In pure desperation, Sonata positioned Rainbow’s neck and opened her mouth and locked lips, not to send air, nor magic, but life force, just enough to jump-start Rainbow’s soul. There was no theory or legend behind it, Sonata was flying by the seat of her pants, and so when she fell over top of Rainbow, she smiled when she felt the other girl's chest rise beneath her.
“That’s it, stupid girl, live because your too dumb to die.”
“Fuck you…” Rainbow wheezed.
“DIE DIE DIE DIE!” Spite chanted insanely as she propelled herself forward using her new timber feet to fire off explosions and fly like a rocket through the newly created forest. Setting that same forest ablaze with her reckless use of her power. She didn’t care, the woods could burn, as long as she killed the nuisance fleeing before her! “Come back here and fight like a woman!”
Aria far head of Spite spun in the air with her magic bow set and primed with crackling gold magic. A devious smirk played on her lips as she let the arrow fly, a golden flash blurred through the air and severed Spite’s timber arm for the third time since their chase began.
“You cowardly bitch!” Spite screamed, growing her arm once again. She stretched her wooden limp out, sending dozens of vines at Aria. The pink siren weaved and waved through the assault. The tips of the vines exploding when they failed to hit their target. Most vexing of all, Aria was still flying backward.
Leveling her bow once again, Aria took a breath and relaxed before releasing. “Nothing but a one-trick pony.” The shot went off like a rocket and once again Spite raised her fake arm to block only for the arrow to split. One hit the wooden palm, the other got Spite her right shoulder. The force of the bolt carried the pink villain backward and pinned her to a tree.
Stopping abruptly on a tree Aria created another arrow, her breathing smooth and steady, her eyes locked on her target. She thought up everything the villainized Pinkie Pie had done, what they all done. A proper hero, a decent person, knowing that it wasn’t their fault would feel a tinge of mercy or pity.
She, Aria Blaze, felt nothing like that. All she thought about was the pain and suffering inflicted on her sisters and family because these goody-good girls didn’t have the spine to keep back the darkness.
“I guess I’m a hypocrite because I couldn’t either, but I’m ok with that.” Aria zoomed in on Spite’s heart and then panned right and released!
“You bitch!” Spite screamed as her last flesh and blood limb severed from her body. “Don’t you care about this girl’s body?”
Aria drew back another arrow. “Can say I ever cared for that annoying bitch.” With precise aim and skill, Aria shot another shot in Spite’s left elbow join, and one in each knee, pinning her down completely. With one more final arrow, Aria aimed for her heart and released.
Spite screamed, Pinkie’s jaw a snarl of anguish, Spite, the snake slithered out of Pinkie’s mouth spread her wings and flew away.
Snapping her fingers, Aria forced her attack to dissipate into thin air, and flew over to Pinkie and snapped her fingers again, released her. She grabbed Pinkie around the waist and flew her down to the ground. With a grimace, Aria spotted Pinkie’s severed arm only a few feet away.
“Gods…” Reluctantly she picked the limb up and placed it against Pinkie’s stub and cast healing magic. Well, it wasn’t really healing magic, she didn’t know any, it was more of forcing the two pieces of flesh to reattach.
Blood vessels, bone, and hopefully nerves grew and reattached, a faint pink scar of new flesh appeared around the cut.
“Fuck…” Aria panted her transformation releasing. She really hoped she could have used it more.
Pinkie twitched, her body shaking as tears fell like a waterfall down her dirty bruised face. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Pinkie sniffed.
Aria leaned back watching Pinkie cry, taking particular interest in the girl’s wooden limbs, they were still moving. Which was good, because she didn’t think they’d be able to recover her original arm and feet. And given that mare Platinum used prosthetics limb regeneration hasn’t been developed in Equestria either.
As Pinkie continued to cry, muttering out humble apologies. Aria finally had enough and crawled around the girl propped Pinkie’s head on her knees and began gently running her fingers through her hair.
“But… I… I did so many bad things… the people in the city… Maddie… oh god… Maddie! Is she?”
“I don’t know,” Aria answered, continuing to comfort Pinkie the best she could. The joyous party girl would never be the same, her innocence was shattered entirely. Aria touched the bark of the timber arm; it was smooth and bleached now. “But you're going to be ok.”
“Do you hate me?”
Aria closed her eyes, continuing to stroke Pinkie’s hair, “Not at the moment.”
“Thank you… for stopping me…”
She didn’t reply. What she did… it didn’t deserve thanks. Aria looked to at the cloudy night sky, Pinkie’s soft snores the only noise besides the distant crackle of the fire. The other pink girl had been through a lot and deserved her sleep, it won’t come easy after tonight.
“Is this… am I…” Aria couldn’t say it, she couldn’t smile or take joy in her actions. “I’m sorry.” She finally said to the slumbering Pinkie. “You deserved a real hero to save you, not a heartless bitch like me.”
“You won’t stop me!”
“Like I know what you're planning!”
“That’s what you get for being on the sidelines!”
Adagio smacked Envy’s claws strike with her trident and hit her with the shaft and followed up with a jab with the pointed base to the stomach. Twirling the spear, she jabbed with the three-pronged points skewering Envy’s arm. She pulled yellow villain close, enjoying the bloody nose Envy was sporting from an earlier attack.
“As someone who was a villain before, let me just offer you some advice. When your evil plans are unclear, it’s a sign of a lack of conviction. Really what are you hoping to accomplish? Taking the world back to the stone age? Let the animal roam free and rule the earth? Sounds like something a child would come up with.”
“What do you know!” Envy spat breaking out of Adagio’s grip, ripping her arm free of the trident. Steam rushed off her body as the wound rapidly closed, but Envy’s breathing was heavily labored. Adagio meanwhile was perfectly fine.
“I know that even supped on dark magic, you can’t fight back to back fights and expect to win when level 100 goddess shows up in the third round.”
“Do ever just get tired of being an arrogant bitch?”
Adagio shrugged, “Not really. And it’s not arrogance if its true right? I’m mean fucking look at me? I expect statues in my honor after this.”
Envy growled, letting out a sonic scream. To counter Adagio sang a high-pitched note to cancel it out. With a snap, Adagio summoned a ball of crackling yellow energy and fired it at Envy’s chest hitting the green alicorn amulet. The villainess’s body convulsed her limbs going limp, and she free fell for several seconds before recovering. Only to get knocked upside the head by the flat of Adagio’s trident.
“You think that will be enough!” Envy screamed annoyed; Adagio’s response was to shoot a lightning bolt through her spline. “What… what the hell… the girl…”
Adagio cut her off by dropkicking Envy to the ground, rocketing down and stabbing the heel of her boot into the wound and grinding it in deep. “You are vastly overestimating the fucks I give! You little snake bitches hurt my mate, hurt my sisters, and my sister in law, that’s everyone I genuinely love and care about, so don’t go expecting shit about mercy or friendship from me!”
Pulling her leg back, Adagio kicked Envy in the teeth! Two glimmering fangs flew into the air, Envy’s eyes were wide with shock as Adagio thrust her other heel into her mouth and leaned down with her weight. Only by the skin of her teeth did Envy manage to stop the heel from going down her throat.
“Yom’re mmhmm crazmmh bimmtch!” Envy gargled trying to with all her might to push Adagio’s boot off, her claws clanged uselessly against the armored fins adorning them. She was unable to focus between the panic of getting her throat caved in and Adagio’s other heel digging into spline.
“You like that? Huh? You fucking like that? Why don’t I get the bullwhip and call you my bitch! Because that’s what you are! Grovel! Grovel like the stinking useless cunt you are, and I might forgive you!” Adagio slapped Envy across the face leaving deep gash marks across her face. The siren eyed the shining green gem as Envy’s face repaired itself. Reaching down Adagio dug her nails deep into Envy’s chest grabbed the stone and pulled hard, strips of flesh clinging to the amulet as it came free. “Just give up!”
“I want to live! I deserve to live!” Envy screamed.
“Then you shouldn’t have fucked with my family!” With a twist and a pull, Adagio freed the gem from Envy’s chest, only a few strained muscle fibers keeping it linked to her body. Victory was well within her hand when Ebony appeared and bit Adagio’s hand! “Fuck!”
Adagio let go of the amulet, cursing as Spite bit her exposed thigh. “Fucking stupid sexy armor!” She screamed, hobbling off Envy to tend to her wounds. Glaring as the two snakes placed the alicorn amulet back into Envy’s chest and merged into Fluttershy’s body.
“Oh… shit…”
Fluttershy’s body conversed her skin turning pitch black, the alicorn amulet sunk into her body as three sets of different colored wings sprouted from her back. Envy’s clothes disintegrated leaving her a naked and snarling mess as two extra sets of arms and two more heads with pony ears materialized on her shoulders. A tail burst from her butt, and her feet turned into hooves. The thing glared with its three sets of glowing red eyes, magic pouring off its skin menacing and vicious.
“Oh, what the hell! How do three snakes and Fluttershy’s body equal an Asura!” Adagio decried.
In a flash the naked black beast was on her, Adagio raised her arms to block the hits gunning for her face, but she quickly covered her stomach taking a barrage of blows to the face unchallenged. She spat blood and rammed with her shoulder to brake off the attack and headbutt the black monster. With some distance she summoned her trident, charged it with magic, and threw it.
“Poseidon’s Trident!”
Much like the Spear of Solaris used by Sixes, the trident became a concreted blast of gold magic with three points which scattered hitting the enemy thrice instead of once. One blast struck a face, another the chest, and the third severed an arm.
Adagio didn’t get long to celebrate. Black ink exploded out of the wounds, the arm instantly regenerating. The three mouths of the beast howled, extending its many limbs and filling its hands with fire, lightning, and darkness and fired all six attacks at once.
Creating a sphere of gold magic, Adagio clapped her hands, crushed the orb and spread her palms forward creating a shield. Blocking the attacks.
The Asura ran and jumped hoovering off the ground, and propelled its self with its wings. She could barely follow it with her eyes. Crafting another Trident, Adagio charged and threw it the three attacks missing completely. The monster made a sharp turn and came at her!
“Come and try it!” She shouted, taking to the sky and unleashing a wave of magic blasts to keep the Asura at bay. It laughed sinisterly reaching out with its arm, it’s gaze intent on her stomach.
“New… body…” the monster mouthed out slowly, its voice pained, not that Adagio cared.
Forging another Trident, she pulled back and aimed for the heart. “Sorry everyone, but don’t make me chose between my baby and Flutters because baby wins every time!” Eyes burning red and her wings changing from gold to black Adagio launched the spear, severing three arms, flying in close with fangs and claws bared the siren ripped and torn into the Asura. Pulling flesh, another Limb, and gouging eyes before hooking her fingers into the socket spinning it around and then straight into the ground.
Adagio stared down at the mangled body in the crater and floated down for a better look, but when her feet touched the ground, a wave of fatigue washed over her. Her wings disappeared, and most of her armor vanished, leaving her standing in a leotard with pony ears. Her breathing labored as she fell to her knees from the sudden drop in power.
“Shit… burned through that faster than expected.” Hobbling to the edge of the crater, Adagio was ready to start feeling guilty, but black ink was pouring out of Fluttershy’s mangled body and healing all the damage. One of the heads sneered as it sat up as the rest of its body regenerated. “Oh, fuck you!”
Knowing she was screwed Adagio did an about-face and took off running as fast as she could. The angry triple of roar of rage encouraging her to run faster.
“Shit, shit, shit!”
Adagio chanced a look behind her and saw the Asura flying through the sky after her. She looked ahead and focused on running, but deep down, she knew she couldn’t outrun it. For several long seconds she expected the tackle that would end her, but it never came. Perhaps foolishly she trotted to a stop to turn around an see what was going on.
“Stay away from my wife!” It was Mac! He was up and raring to go again, magic wafting off his body like fire. His big meaty fist clocked the center head in the jaw, bone, and teeth flying through the air. He jumped back as Kira came racing from behind and cut off all of the Asura’s arms, the elder Rinin sheathed her sword as she skidded to a stop and fell to her knees.
“Mac, Kira! Should you two be out here?” She asked, concerned. The two of them were in bad shape there was no way they healed enough to be fighting again.
Mac raised his fists as he stood protectively in front of her and Kira. “The Vampire Brides are all wrapped up, so Pony Mac gave me a magic transfusion. Make sure he gets an invite to the wedding.” He said while cracking his knuckles.
“Shadow did the same for me and Sixes, but…” Kira collapsed to the ground, Adagio grabbed her and dragged her away from the fight. “Sorry, I keep overestimating myself. I forget I’m no longer young.”
“It’s ok, you’ve done your share,” Adagio assured her as Fluttershy regenerated. She didn’t know what to call the Asura, it didn’t seem to have intelligence, it was just a rampaging monster now.
Bullets rang out as Feri came limping over the hill screaming in an unintelligent roar of a man with nothing left, but still willing to fight. Behind him came Stryker and several more regular humans with guns.
“Protect the miss!” He yelled, unloading into the Asura.
Flying through the sky in a pair of dazzling orange lights, both Applejacks came crashing down, landing into the mutated Fluttershy heels first. “You stay away from my sister in law!” Human Applejack roared using her sturdy legs to stomp the FlutterAsura into the ground, while Pony jack used a rope to try and bind the raging beast. The Asura snapped its jaws and broke free of the binds, forcing them back.
Next came Sunset Shimmer, shining like a blazing gold phoenix yelling, “Fist of Solaris!” And in a frightening display of power, she blew the Asura in half!
(Do they even know that’s Fluttershy?) Adagio wondered in a moment of clarity. The monster regenerated, and if she wasn’t dreaming, it was healing faster then they were actually hurting it. Though its new limbs were starting to look rather boney.
“En guard!” That was Rarity, brandishing two diamond rapiers. Dashing in close to the Azura Fluttershy and stabbing it several times and cleaving off an arm. The beast roared, grabbed the blades with its hands and crushed them, grabbing for Rarity, Pony Jack roped her with her lasso and pulled her away to safety.
“I got ya!”
“Thank you!”
Bullets peppered the tar colored skin of the beast, it roared and fired off multi-colored blasts of magic, spewing fire and lightning, throwing up vines to block attacks and threw exploding rocks at them. Everyone was rotating in and out of the fight, hitting the monster harder each time, every attack would have finished off any other beast, but the damn thing kept regenerating! Fluttershy’s body kept repairing itself, but with each regeneration her muscles became thinner and thinner until skin was clinging to bone.
“Don’t let up!” That was Sixes, he tossed something to Sunset Shimmer that caused her magic to flare up as she went in for her next attack. Her first blew the left head to nothing and when it regenerated the skin outlined the skull in a disgustingly creepy way.
“RAGH!” Mac went next ramming his scaled covered fist into the right head breaking its jaw and sending it to the back of its throat, boiling blood poured from the wound as the face rebuilt itself.
An excited cry of “Dagi!” Caught Adagio’s attention and she was happy to see Sonata running towards her. Her little blue sister rammed into to her with a sincere hug. Aria merely walked up with her usual smirk.
“I’m glad you two are alright, I was worried when the other two Snakes showed up.”
“Sorry about that, we let them get away,” Sonata said bowing her head.
Aria stepped up beside her watching as the assault on Fluttershy continued, Applejack delivered another powerful earth-shaking dropkick and somersaulted away, only to fall to the ground holding her foot.
“Agh! I think I broke my leg! Why is her head so hard now?”
Pony Jack grabbed Applejack and carried her out of the way as Flutter Asura crashed down where she had been and created a massive crater. She roared and sneered spewing fire from all three heads. Sunset went for another strike, but Fluttershy was able to parry it away, Sunset skipped across the ground stopping in a huddled position holding her hand, which was bleeding.
“She’s growing resistant! We gotta kill her or save her soon before she’s immune to everything!” Sixes shouted. He created a tiny amount of gold in his palm and tossed it at her and Mac, the gold becoming rings. He fell to the ground as they caught them.
“Mac,” She said, slipping the ring on.
“I know,” He replied, putting on his.
Adagio wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, the magic between them sparked and flared as the magic Celestia gave her transferred to Mac and his to her in a loop. A gold aura appeared around them, but it wasn’t enough, not yet.
“Take mine too!” Sunset yelled, shooting her own magic into them.
“Mine as well!” Added Rarity.
“Don’t forget about us!” Both Applejacks and Applebloom shouted.
Everyone with even the smallest spec of magic gave what they could, and their power began to rise. Adagio’s wings and armor reappeared as she and Mac floated into the sky, surging with power, but it still wasn’t enough.
“Dagi!”
“Mac!”
Sonata and Aria came running and thrust their hands into the air and added their magic as well. There must have been little kernel of Celestia’s magic left because Mac transformed again! Gold draconic wings sprouted from his back and his scales turned to gold.
Fully charged, they broke their kiss and hand in hand flew towards the corrupted Fluttershy. She fired six multi-colored blasts at them, and they raised their hands firing twin gold beams that ultimately overcame the six and blew off two of her arms. The arms fizzed and cracked the black skin flaking off and disappearing.
“Again!” She roared. Mac unleashed a stream of gold flames to counter the right head, she fired a blast at the right, and it disappeared. “Come on! Let’s finish this!”
“Right!”
Together she and Mac thrust their intertwined hands forward, unleashing a massive blast of gold magic that swept over Fluttershy completely, a sphere of gold-colored water formed around her the black skin flaking off to reveal Fluttershy beneath. The green Alicorn Amulet poked out of her chest and clattered to the ground. The gold water soaked into the ground causing giant pillars of light to spring up from the earth, smothering the fires across the land.
Floating to the ground wrapped in each other’s arms, she and Mac stood over Fluttershy’s pone body. The three snakes lay on the ground, their bodies slowly disintegrating to nothing. Pitifully they looked at them, their black eyes filled with fear and sadness.
“Mother…” They hissed one final time before disappearing completely.
This is what we do Chapter 38 Epilogue 1 By Foxgear
Cloudsdale Hospital, Maternal ward
“Huff…huff…huff…” Adagio lay on her back, staring up at the white ceiling, her legs spread wide with several strangers in white coats surrounding her. This was it. She was giving birth! Now if her protective instincts would stay calm.
“You’re doing great honey! Keep pushing!” Mac said encouragingly holding her hand to keep her from ripping out the doctor’s throats. Nyx was among the staff and did her best to stay in the corner unless needed. She knew what could happen if Mac’s grip slipped.
She screamed another contraction hit her. “AGHAG! GREAT FUCKING CELESTIA!”
“You’re doing great Dagi!” Sonata cheered.
The doctor, his hand deep in her privates said, “We have surprise twins nurse! Keep breathing Mrs. Apple, the first one is almost out.”
“The what! Since when were there two!”
“Since now, sometimes one will hide behind the other, and you didn’t want ultra… never mind. Keep pushing!”
She squeezed Mac’s hand harder, magic sparking between their hands as she yelled, “God damn you, Mac! God damn you and your amazing fertile balls!”
“Mr. Apple… are those scales on your hand?” The doctor asked, peeking out from her hospital skirt.
“Don’t worry about it.” Mac drawled.
Adagio felt cheated as Mac tanked her hand crushing grip with gusto. “When these two are out, don’t expect any more for a while.” She half teased, trying to ignore the pain. (How big are these kids? Gods Mac’s their father, they’re probably going to be record-setting!)
Mac much to her charging chuckled. “What’s so funny?” She demanded.
“You’re going to jump me first, I bet.” He said, brushing her hair, it did soothe her a bit, so she couldn’t help but reply.
“Your probably right.”
“Alright, first one’s out! Nurse Nyx, if you’d please.”
As Nyx took the child in a white cloth Adagio turned to her, her iris redder than blood when she said. “Nyx if anything… ANYTHING happens to my baby I sending you through the wood chipper legs first.”
They bought a woodchipper, but not for wood. It worked really good for getting rid of monster bodies in the last six months.
Nyx smiled nervously and handed the baby to another nurse. “I should stay here…”
“Nyx…” Adagio glared threateningly.
“I’ll watch the brat!” Aria said from outside the room. “You focus on getting the other one out.”
Adagio pressed against her mattress, taking a long deep breath and exhaled. “Acceptable. Don’t’ let Granny name them!” “I know, I know, this one is a boy by the way,” Aria informed the room escorting Nyx to where ever.
“Here comes the next one! I see the top of the head!”
Adagio screamed as she pushed and pushed and pushed for the next two hours. At eleven to midnight, she gave birth to her second child, a baby girl.
Once things settled down, the girl’s brother was returned, and Adagio was transferred to another room to rest. Her two babies wrapped in a pink and blue blanket respectively. The small hospital room got smaller when her sisters, Mac’s sisters, Granny Smith, Principle Celestia and Luna, Feri, Sunset Shimmer, Sixes, and the royal sisters all filed in.
Mac had his hand on her shoulder, smiling with her as they watched the two slumbering babies all tuckered out from being born. Adagio couldn’t help but smile as Mac’s eyes panned between their kids and her chest, which had gotten pretty big over her pregnancy.
REALLY big. Like two cup size up big. Adagio had been a C before and was now an E.
“No.” She said lightly slapping his forehead. “These two already have to share.”
“Right, right,” He chuckled, staring wistfully at the two children. “So… which names did you want to use?”
Adagio hummed, her eyes glancing at Granny Smith who was looking on intently. The elderly matriarch was insistent that the kids have apple names.
“Let’s see how about you name the girl, and I name the boy?”
“Sounds good.” Mac took the girl in his big hands, the child fitting in his palms, looking like an oversized pink potato. “Arizona Liberty Apple, after her Aunt Aria and Sonata.”
“Aww… did you hear that Ari? He named her after us! I mean, I don’t have Z in my name, but I’m still so happy!”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m right next to you, I heard.” Still, Aria was blushing.
Adagio rested her son against her breast, smiling fondly as she chewed her lip. “So many wonderful strong names for you my little man. There are lot of people I’d love honor, but I know they’d what you to be your own person, Andante Bailey Apple.” When Adagio looked up, she saw Granny Smith a mix of conflict and gratefulness. As she stroked Andante’s thinly haired scalp, she said, “I met you halfway. They maybe Apples, I may be an Apple, but I have my own way doing things.”
Granny wiped a rogue tear from her eye. “Aye, your right. You’re going to be great mother, Adagio.”
She and Mac smiled, “Thank you. All of you.”
It’s been a few days since the twins were born and the whole family was back home. Mac sat in his new lazy boy in his rebuilt living room watching the evening news, Adagio sat with her two enormous jugs out the two babies suckling greedily at her teats. Standing patiently behind her was Rarity with a measuring tape.
“Adagio… I would really like to get home.”
“They’re almost done.”
Rarity was helping Adagio get refitted for her wedding dress since her body has undergone some developments. Mainly in the bust area, but her hips were more fuller too.
Things have not been easy for the fashionista these past few months. To say things had been bad would be too weak to really describe the dramatic shift her life had undergone. Firstly, Rarity was still aged up, a barely eighteen-year-old looking like she was halfway through her twenties. The scars on her body while slightly faded were still there, not even the Equestrian healers with their magic could fix them.
All that was small beans compared to the real travesty in her life. Her parents had died during the battle with Envy. Now Envy wasn’t the cause of death, at least not directly, it was more bad luck that their flight home had been the same time black magic knocked out all the electronics. More then a dozen flights met a similar fate. The lava and new forest didn’t help the crash landings.
That left Rarity, no longer looking like she was supposed to in a complicated situation in regarding the custody of her underaged sister. Sweetie Belle had been endangered of being sent far away to live with some distant relatives when her Cousin ‘Rari’ stepped in to take care of her. Rari was Rarity’s new official name. It took some string-pulling on Feri’s end, but he managed to get a Rarity new identity by sneaking her into witness protection.
Rarity and Sweetie Belle were now both living upstairs in the boutique, their family home, and their parents' assets were sold off to pay for debts and funeral costs. Overall out of all the girls that were possessed she got of ok.
Andante and Arizona let go of Adagio’s teat, and she wrapped them in blankets and set them on the cushion beside her and raised her arms. “Do it quick, those two can’t go five minutes without me.” Rarity quickly went to work measuring Adagio’s bust, muttering that she may have gained another inch.
Adagio laughed, “How big are you going to make your mama’s titties? I’ll need a steel-reinforced bras soon.” She joked gently ruffling their thin hair.
“All done, I’ll be going now. The dress should be done by the end of the week.” Rarity said as she gathered her things.
As she walked to the front door, Mac said, “Do you want to hear the latest on the others?”
Rarity paused, her hand hovering over the doorknob. “No. I have my own life, I’m done with this magical girl non-sense, as I said before.” With those cold words she left and drove away.
Adagio snorted as she wrapped the kids up and put them in the crib beside the couch. As she did, she stole glances at the nightly news he was watching. “She’s living with her head in the sand.”
“She had it rough,” Mac replied, turning the volume up slight as Adagio moved the kids to the other room.
“This is Joy Golden Showers coming to you live outside of Canterlot city in the larger rural Canterlot area, behind me is the latest buzz, the Ever-Burning Forest, formerly the Rural Wildlife reserve. Nearly six months ago, a mysterious event transformed this place into a molten wasteland and then a lush forest with trees never before seen. Now these trees as you can see on your TV’s at home are extraordinary and scientists can still not understand them.”
The Wildlife zone Sixes destroyed, Fluttershy replanted, and he and Adagio purified had become for no better word, a magical forest. The trees there are all orangish color, their leaves looked like fire each one like a five-pointed flame. They weren’t hot nor did they burn and when they fell off the tree they went out once they hit the ground. It’s become quite the local tourist spot. The town, of course, charged for tours to help with the reconstruction and because the forest was dangerous.
Timbers plagued the Ever-Burning woods. Not just wolves, everything, cougars, deer, rabbits, every animal that you typically found in the forest was a Timber, but they acted like regular animals, where if you didn’t bother them, they usually left you alone. Most of the time. It was essential to stay on the paths. Currently, Aria and Sonata were acting in secret to keep the more dangerous timbers in check while also training the park rangers how to handle the Timbers.
“In other news Doctors are still baffled by the sudden outbreak of… Magical Girl syndrome…”
“The cats out of the bottle now,” Adagio said snuggling up against him.
“Yeah,” He drawled.
Magical Girl Syndrome was the classification for people, mostly young teenage girls, ponying up randomly across the Country and beyond. There were also some boys too. The strange thing it was more than just pony transformations. In eastern Europe, a whole class of schoolgirls gained what looked griffon like features, in Hawaii mermaids were popping up, in Russia Yak girls were roaming the land and in central Germany, there were reports of dragon boys and girls. “I think this is because of us…” Adagio trailed off.
“Firing that beam filled with Princess Celestia’s and others magic probably wasn’t the smartest idea.” He agreed. When the first reports happened a few months ago, they had played it off, too busy rebuilding the house and getting back ordinary life to take the rising magic seriously. But now it was public, and the world was taking notice.
Naturally peopled looked to government for answers and the government was doing it’s hardest to deny making genetically altered girls for war. Well also trying to recruit said, girls and boys. Russia was already having problems with the Yak people rising up for independence.
“At least there haven’t been any witch burnings… yet…” Adagio said, trying to lighten the mood.
“They almost burned the Vampire Brides.” Mac reminded her.
“Ah… yeah… that was messy.”
The girls Envy had transformed had it tough. Many of them were scarred from the battle, mostly the one's Sixes dealt with, and they all awakened the ability to use magic. Their transformations were all still Vampire Brides, but they could control them… now. Sixes had come over with some bat ponies to help teach them how to manage their magic. Opening a sort of school in their North orchard. It was more of a boot camp, but the same thing.
“This is so beyond me,” Mac sighed, turning off the TV. Adagio rubbed his shoulders and kissed him on the cheek.
“Well, luckily, you don’t have to deal with it.”
“I know, but it doesn’t feel fair making Sunset handle this.”
“She volunteered for it.”
“Maybe so… but still…”
Sunset Shimmer’s life has taken a dramatic change, and it had ripple effects that strained the tense relationships of her friends. What happened? Well to get the power she used in the final battle she had to do something, she had to accept her heritage, and that meant awakening her magic and other things.
Basically, in simple terms, Sunset Shimmer was now Princess Sunset Shimmer, soon to be the new Princess of the Sun. Now he and Adagio didn’t get the Equestrian paper or really keep up with the politics of the goings-on of the otherworld through Adagio’s dressing mirror, but apparently, Princess Celestia was looking to retire, while Luna was stepping down as Princess of the Equestria to become Queen of the Everfree Territory, Sixes her King. The two of them got married about three months ago.
When they heard the news, they asked what a happened with Princess Twilight, and she was apparently running a school that involved a lot of nations, and there was also something about the populace respecting her, but were uneased by the idea of her ruling. Apparently, Princess Twilight was known to… freak out? Like stock price dropping level freakouts.
So, when Celestia’s long lost Granddaughter suddenly decided to come home… well, Sunset’s coronation was really lovely, glad they were invited. That being said Sunset was still a Princess in training, the whole retirement thing wasn’t for a while, but it was in the works. However, Celestia wasn’t just going to trot off into the sunset, she had plans, plans that she’s laying the groundwork for, projects that involve earth.
“Let the royals deal with the politics, you and I have only to worry about one thing… well, we have to worry about a bunch of things, but the big thing is our wedding next week.” Adagio cooed nuzzling him excitedly. “Though truth be told I was fine just going on as we have been. But if it makes Granny Smith happy to see us married in a church, I suppose I can indulge her. I did kind go against her wishes when naming the twins.”
He ran his hand down her back massaging her muscles while saying, “Respecting the Apple’s traditions is fine, I’m a stickler for them myself, but we gotta be more flexible. Especially that whole naming thing, we have four Apple Clobbers, Five Applejohns, and several other repeats, it’s getting confusing. That all in the two generations of each other.”
“I’m so glad you so open-minded. I mean you married me and I’m basically a fish horse.”
“Well you’re the smartest, prettiest one, I’ve ever met.”
“And fucked.”
“So much for being romantic.”
“Sometimes I want roses, other times I want to be bare naked in a pond pressed against a rock.”
Mac cocked an eyebrow at his wife, “It’s only been a week, and you want to get pregnant again?”
“I… um… ah…” She lightly swatted him on the head and turned away in a huff. “Fine don’t have sex with your hot huge tittie wife, see if I care! I’ll just go sit on the couch and read a book while being sexy as all hell!”
She did just that. Adagio got off his lap and plopped herself on the couch with whatever book she and her sisters were reading and did it with her shirt still unbuttoned. Mac waited for all of five minutes before she was fast asleep, book on the floor and sprawled out over the couch like a sunbathing dog.
With a chuckle, Mac picked her up and took her to their room. Pulling off her jeans before tucking her into bed and undressing before joining her. It didn’t take minute before Adagio was pressed against him, clinging to him in her sleep. He took a few steady breaths and closed his eyes ready for….
“WAAHGGHHH! WAHHGAGH!”
Adagio joisted awake, but he patted her head as he got up. “I’ll take care of them.” He mumbled sleepily. “Milk is in the fridge if you need it…” She mumbled falling asleep.
Walking through the darkness of the house Mac found the crib with his two kids by the night light and picked up the crying baby, it was Arizona, but Andante probably wasn’t far behind if he didn’t settle his daughter down. He cooed and rocked in his big arms, letting her ear rest against his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. Her cries waned as she nestled against him, her little arms hugging his chest.
“There, there, daddy is here. He’s here, it’s alright.” He whispered, sitting down on the couch. This was their nightly routine since bringing the kids home.
“Enjoying parenthood?”
Mac bristled, his blood running cold as he stood up from his chair and looked out the bay window. Standing in the moonlight was the phantom image of his father, Nico Vega.
“You… you can’t be here. The magic in the orchard, it’s gone!” Mac said with some alarm but lowered his voice to not disturb Adagio or Andante. Maybe this was a dream?
“There is much more powerful magic at work in the earth now son, that being said, I am here.” “What are you talking about?”
“Call it my one phone call from the afterlife,” The Phantom of Nico stepped closer laying his hand on Mac’s shoulder. “You’re doing fine, you don’t need me anymore. I just wanted you to know that.” A stray tear fell from his eye as Nico began to fade away. “Mom says hi too, and so does Bailey!”
With that, he was gone.
Mac lay Arizona next to Andante and wandered back to bed in a daze. Unsure what to make of his fathers’ sudden appearance from beyond. As he lay there, the love of his life next to him and their kids sleeping soundly in the next room. He realized.
“I’m a father now…” Smiling up at the ceiling, Mac was overcome with great joy and fear all at once. “Fuck… I should start a college fund for them… they’ll probably have magic, no hundred percent they will… leave it all for tomorrow. I’ll go to the bank first.”
“Kukuku, did you miss your Auntie Sona? Did you Little Ari? Did you?” Sonata coed bouncing Arizona on her knee. “Come on Aria, he’s not going to bite you!”
“I’m more worried about him puking on me, there’s a reason Dagi is wearing thrift story Tee shirts all the time now.” “And you're wearing silk now.”
Aria blushed, “Shut up. Nothing wrong with looking nice.”
“Or womanlier in your case, did your boobs finally get bigger too?”
“Shut up, Sonata!” Aria shrieked as Andante grabbed at her nose. “Dagi! Take your son, please! I’ve had enough playing at Auntie.”
“You’re such a lightweight Aria,” Adagio teased picking up Andante. “So, you’re going over to Equestria again today?”
“Yeah.”
“You staying long?”
“A few days.”
“What’s got your attention over there? Find a stallion?”
Aria crossed her arms over her silk sweater. “Maybe. What’s it to you?”
Adagio hummed as she carried Andante in one arm and scrambled eggs with the other. “Nothing. I’m happy you're doing your own thing. About time one of you finally moved out.”
Her words cut sharp as Sonata froze in place. “Do you really want us to leave Dagi?”
The eldest siren sighed as she set her son on the floor to crawl around as she delivered eggs to the table. “It’s not that I want you to leave, but I think it would be better for you if you did. It’s time you two get your own lives. Find mates, or don’t and travel, but embrace your freedom. You don’t have to stay here with Mac and me.”
“I guess so…” Sonata said, picking haphazardly at her eggs, while Adagio took Arizona from her. “What do you think Aria?” Aria looked at her eggs and her two sisters, gulping loudly as her lips quivered. “I… I’m planning on joining Night Patrol in Equestria after the wedding…”
“WHAT!” Was Sonata’s reaction to the news. “Why?”
“I want to go home! See how things have changed, maybe find mate worth chasing after! I don’t know!”
“Dagi you can’t let her do that!”
Adagio sighed and patted her little blue sister on the head while placing her hand on Aria’s shoulder. “I’ve told you this before. I’m not mom. Sonata, Aria can make her own choices. Take some time and think about what you want to do. Now if you excuse me, my little ones need their breakfast.”
As Adagio took the twins into the other room, the two sisters were left to mellow in their own silence as they ate. Periodically Sonata would glance up from her plate at Aria, upon her third look she found Aria staring at her.
“What?”
Sonata poked at her eggs, “Are you really going to go to Equestria?”
“That’s the plan unless I decide to do something else. What of it?”
“Well… what am I supposed to do?” Sonata asked dejectedly, expecting a sharp tongue lashing from her pink sister. “Whatever you want, stay here and be a dotting Aunt, go explore this world or…” Aria tapped her fingers against the table as she looked away. “Come with me. To Equestria I mean.”
“Can I really?”
“If you want to,” Aria said, cleaning up her plate and taking it over to the sink. “You don’t have to decide until after the wedding. Speaking off, we gotta go meet Applejack and Sunset for final dress fittings.”
Sonata smiled as she stood and laid her plate beside Aria’s, “Yeah, let’s get going.”
Mac stood nervously shifting his weight from side to side, the suit he wore was fitted to fit him, but still felt stuffy as he and many others waited for the bride. Yeah, it was his wedding, and despite knowing it was just a formality and there wasn’t even a one percent chance Adagio would say no, he was still nervous. That might just because he was standing up in front of his entire family and friends.
His grooms’ man were an odd bunch because he didn’t have many friends, he had to enlist Sixes, Fierce Fury, Feri, and Pony Mac to fill the ranks. Pony Mac had grown a beard and dyed his hair, so they didn’t have to explain why there were two them. Honestly, he wasn’t sure anyone was buying it, but he wanted his other self to be here. Which lead to a tail spring of other problems because Pony Jack was also here. At she just looked like an older version of Applejack, but he was worried people were going to start thinking Grandpa Washington (Granny’s husband) had an affair or something. Great Uncle Crab Apple (Granny’s Brother) was undoubtedly suspicious.
On the bride’s side was Aria, Sonata, Applejack, and Sunset Shimmer, all dressed in orange dresses with red bows and other fine details that looked nice but he had no idea what they were.
The bride’s music began to play, and Adagio appeared and was being escorted by Gator. One of Feri’s bar buddies. The old man was also Principle Luna’s neighbor. Honestly, it was apparent how anti-social he and the sirens have been considering half of the wedding party was from another world and over the age of forty. The fact the Sirens had no living relatives required some creative thinking.
“Here you go Sonny,” Gator snickered dropping Adagio off at the altar. “Your ball and chain.”
Mac could only grin as the old man took his seat in the crowd. Leaving him to hold Adagio’s hands as the pastor read his words and gave a speech that he honestly wasn’t paying attention to. His focus was all on Adagio, her face obscured by a thin white veil, her dress fit her well, though he questioned the modesty of it. It was a simple dress with no shoulders, no back, and the skirt wasn’t overly elaborate. She did have these long white silk gloves that ran all the way up her arms, but really…
Adagio suddenly pinched his hand, gave her head a little flick, he could remove her veil now. He did so, and even though he saw her face yesterday it took his breath away as she smiled coyly at him.
“You two may recite your vows.” The Pastor declared.
He gulped, his mouth dry, this was it. Time to put his love into words in front of everyone he knows. (I’m so fucked.) “Adagio… it wasn’t obvious the first time we met that I even thought we would be standing here today. Back in the early days, your teasing and flirting put me on edge, and I found myself tongue-tied and could only march off with a blushing face, but over time you rubbed off on me, you made me thicker skinned, bolder, more confident. You compliment me, strangely, but it’s one I can no longer live without. We jumped the gun and have two beautiful children, and I’m looking forward to having more with you and only you until the day I die. Which hopefully won’t be too soon.” There was awkward chuckle from everyone in the crowd. The bleak reality of his parents’ short lives still embedded in the family.
Adagio wrinkled her nose at the dark humor but smirked as if to challenge death. “Mac when you first found me and my sisters in that alley, cold and uncertain of our futures I wasn’t certain your kindness (Bean bag to the gut) was genuine. Never the less you gave us a home, a purpose, and you accepted everything we were with the good and the bad, mostly bad at that time, but being with you made us better. I’m truly utterly grateful I fell in love with you (Got to you before my sisters did.) and look forward to sharing the rest of our lives together preferably for as long as possible, but even cut short, you are the love of my life.”
“Rings.” The pastor nodded as they slipped rings onto each other’s hands and said the famous words, “I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Apple. You may now kiss the bride.”
Mac did and smiled like a fool when they separated before Adagio could take it up a notch, she pouted with disappointment, but her smirk promised it would resume and more the first chance they got.
With a great cheer and applause, he and Adagio walked down the aisle together. Dinner was served, music was played, they had Octavia and Vinyl DJ, there was karaoke too. Sonata and Aria song and danced, Applejack played a song of her own and so did Sunset.
Throughout the night every so often, the guests would clink their glasses, and he and Adagio would stand and kiss for them. Friends and family would offer the congrats. Principle Luna was crying when she came to give her congrats, hugging them both tight and telling them not to die young like his parents did. She might have been drunk. Principle Celestia had to escort her out to settle down.
There was no father-daughter dance because Adagio’s father was dead and his parents were gone too, but the DJ did play the wedding knock out game. Couples of all ages were called to the dance floor and were eliminated by their years of marriage.
Naturally, he and Adagio were taken out right away, but there were some surprise couple in the mix. Platinum and Bulwark have been married for ten years. Gator and his wife won at sixty-five years.
The night waned, and the party settled down until it was just him, Adagio and her sisters left. Andante and Arizona were brought out of the brides waiting room and given to Adagio.
“Thanks for watching them Moon Dancer, Sci-Twi.”
“No problem, it was the least I could do.” Moon Dancer said with dark circled under eyes. “Just don’t count on me for regular babysitting.”
Looking haggard Twilight pulled out her cell phone, “I have to go apologie to my sister in law,” she said walking off while dialing a number.
Sonata made a sound catching their attention, “We can look after them for the night if you two want to go…” She trailed off awkwardly, clearly embarrassed by her own implication.
“The hell is this we business?” Aria snorted but quickly gave in. “I suppose since I’ll be gone after this I can help out.”
Adagio smiled, passing the slumbering children to her sisters and hugged them. “Thank you two, if you're ever in trouble you can always come to us.”
“Oh, Dagi!” Sonata cried while Aria comforted her.
With their kids in steady hands, Mac and Adagio went to consummate their union officially. Adagio had a rather bizarre choice for it. Standing on the shore of the pond just north of the west shack was the spot they had more than likely conceived the twins.
Adagio undressed in the moonlight, carefully laying her dress down on a blanket as she stood in her white stocking and underwear beckoning him towards the water. He slipped out of his suit and followed her, chasing after her in the water before pressing her against the same rock he took her last time.
“Told ya you’d jump me first.” He said, kissing her.
“I’m impatient.” She replied. “And a gambler if you catch my drift.”
“For finance reasons I hope you don’t pop out another set of twins right away.”
“We’ll see.” She giggled. “We’ll see.”
Two weeks after the wedding and everything was… routine and not the strange monster-fighting normal, but just normal. He and Adagio were living their lives raising their kids. It was quiet, and maybe a little boring at times, but that was ok. The most significant change was Sonata and Aria moving to Equestria. It made the house very quiet. When the kids weren’t crying at least.
Mac was sitting on the porch when Applejack pulled up into the yard. “Hey, bro…” She said awkwardly as he bounced Andante on his knee.
“What’s up.”
“Well… I graduated…”
“Good for you, planning to go to school?”
Applejack sighed as she took a seat next to him. “About that, Granny’s insisting upon it, but Cherry Jubilee made me an offer.”
“She wants to hire you?”
Applejack shook her head, “No, kind of, but not exactly. She had a falling out with her niece that she was going to give her Cherry farm too and uh… she wants to give it to me. She’s selling it of course, but you get the picture.”
“You need a loan.”
“Yes… sorry I shouldn’t have asked.”
If Mac had been a smoker, this would be the part he’d take a long drag and exhale. “What are the conditions of the contract?”
“Everything that’s cherries remains cherries, but there are some spots that could be used to grow other crops. There might be a small clause about marrying a nephew she favors. He owns the production plant she sells too.”
“Lambert Cherry, I’ve met him, he’s a bit older than me, but only a year or two, which makes him about three or four years older than you. What’s this about marriage?”
Applejack folded her hands against her pant legs. “Well, it’s not a requirement for me to get Cherry’s farm, but she at least wants us to met and see how things go. Look I’m not exactly comfortable about it myself, but you’re raising your family, and I realize now there’s no place for me here. There’s no way you can split up the farm and still support your family and I as your sister can’t be so selfish as to put that burden on you. That said…”
“You still need me to back your loan.”
“Yes… Granny… Granny isn’t happy with me. Not going to school an all.”
“Here I thought she’d be more upset about you growing cherries.”
“She’s not that closed-minded! Though if it had been pears, she’d probably wring my neck.” She laughed.”
“True, very true.” Mac chuckled. “So how much?”
“Cherry’s land is valued at one and half million dollars. Her idea is I take over the operation and give her the payments installments. Basically, her retirement fund. That’s if I can make a profit. In reality, I only need a five hundred thousand dollar down payment. But even that’s…”
“I put it against the north orchard. That was valued at more than a million by itself, each of the orchards is worth roughly that.”
“Mac…”
He patted her on the head, “We’re still family to AJ. I know you want to farm, and I know your good at it. Besides I’m partnered with Cherry anyway, I can sell my shares for cash use it to help get you a better interest rate on loan. If things get terrible, I’ll call Sixes.”
Sixes offered to make a ton, a literal ton, of gold bricks as a wedding present. Mac said he’s kept that in mind for a rainy day. Sixes reply was to cash in before he died. He was talking about Mac, Sixes’s lifespan was projected at least a few hundred years.
Applejack hugged him. “Thank you, Big Brother, I won’t let you down.”
He smiled and waved her off as she got in her pick up to most likely to talk to Cherry. “God, I hope Applebloom doesn’t show up and as for a loan too in a few years here.” He had a lot of valuable land, but not that much money when compared to the value of said land.
“Was that Applejack?” Adagio asked, poking her head out of the screen door with Arizona sucking on her teat.
“Yep.”
“Hmm she could have stopped in for a chat, but whatever, you ready to meet Feri?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Walking out to his new white four-door pickup Mac helped Adagio get the kids settled into their car seats and then got behind the wheel.
“Ah… so much room.” Adagio sighed. “I remember when all four of us would have to jam into your old regular cab. Thanks for finally giving in honey.”
“Well, it was quite the deal.”
“True, I was a little worried when you came home with a pickup that said Bulldog on it. Is this some new company?”
“Yeah, they make more barebone vehicles, fewer electronics, no touch screen, and simpler engine design.”
“You couldn’t have sprung for electric windows at least?”
“That would have put more cost on, I did get the backup camera.”
“Right, I want a car.”
“We’ll talk about that this winter.” He assured her pulling out of the driveway and onto the road. For the duration of the trip, he and Adagio discussed the little things. Such as bills, upgrading cars, finances. She brought up she might want to try getting a job when the kids were a bit older. He argued running the stand was a job, and she got a little pouty about that.
“I don’t mind, but what do you have in mind?”
Adagio crossed her arms and huffed. “I’m not sure, really. My options are kind of limited, background checks are so thorough nowadays, I’m a little worried someone might find out my documentation is all forged. And that I might not even exist in any records.”
“Saying you immigrated from a land of talking ponies sounds like a solid plan.”
“I was exiled for one and for two they’d throw me in the looney bin if I said that. Best bet would be to say I was orphaned and the orphanage burned down.”
Mac hummed as he made a turn. “Maybe. You might have to go through Feri, he has the connections.”
“Yeah, can’t say I’m excited about joining his new division. It would be exposing myself to the greater public.”
It wasn’t anything official yet, but Feri mentioned that Attorney General Chrysalis and Governor Touch were conspiring to put together a Magic Taskforce in the police to deal with the outburst of Magical girl syndrome and the rising monster population. He made an offer to both of them, but Mac turned him down. He’d still hunt monsters, but it would be around his home, he was done galloping out into the night to who knows where.
For the final ten minutes of the drive, they sat in silence, intertwining their hands on the center armrest until they reached their destination. A tall wart iron gate that read Canterlot Cemetery loomed before them. Standing at the entrance was Feri and Luna. They got up, unbuckling the kids and met the two, who were also holding hands and sporting a new pair of rings.
“So, he finally did it?” Adagio teased Luna.
“He said he didn’t want to overshadow your wedding, but yes, we’ll be getting hitched next year.” Luna smiled as she helped Feri walk into the cemetery. The red detective was still limping even after six months, the doctors whispered it might be permeant.
“Let’s get this done,” Feri said haggardly. He looked tired, understandable since the Governor was leaning on him to build a whole new police division.
As they walked, Mac asked how things were going for the fledgling magic police program. “Got any candidates yet? The news today reported another surge of new magic folk.”
Feri rubbed his eyes, pulling his hand down the length of his face. “I have a few. Most of them are the heavily scarred Vampire Brides, they’re full of bitterness and looking for a something to channel their anger into. They’re probably hoping that some guys that don’t mind rougher looking girls join up. I got the Vice-chief making some calls to see if he can throw them a bone. So, I have a bunch of Vampires and a certain pink Bomber.”
“Pinkie wants to join?” Adagio yelped with surprise.
Feri nodded, “Those wood limbs don’t really mesh well with her bakery job or catering, or really bringing a smile to anyone’s face. I checked in on her one day, and a bunch of kids ran away from her when she tried to do her usual gimmicks. Her hair’s doing this weird half flat, half puffy thing too. The top of her head is flat and her ponytail if puffy, I don’t know what the means, but she told me if she had to keep blowing up rocks in the quarry, she’d go crazy again.”
“Is it really a good idea to make her a cop?”
“The Magic division is less law enforcement and more of a monster strike team. Like SWAT. I don’t know if it will help her mentally, but if she can pass the test, I won’t turn her away.”
“Well…” Mac trailed off, trying to think of words to say. “At least Pinkie is progressing. How are the others?”
Feri and Luna look beside themselves. A pit of guilt formed in Mac’s stomach, they left the broken girls in Feri’s hands, because well, he didn’t have the means to help them. What could he do?
“Rarity is doing fine,” Feri answered. “She’s running her store, taking care of her sister, and just living life. She refuses to see the others. She said she’s done with magic. That seemed a little hallow when I caught her using hers to make dresses, but I’m sure she meant monster hunting and all that other nonsense.”
“What about Rainbow and Fluttershy?” Inquired Adagio.
Feri looked even more haggard like five years were suddenly added to his face. “Those two… well, Rainbow is being taken care of by her mother, she seems to have mentally recovered, but physically… well nothing against Sonata, but she should have had an actual surgeon take out the gem. She left some huge scars and holes in Rainbow’s lungs and heart. She managed to heal them, but the new organic material is fragile and is healing slowly. Rainbow can’t get too excited.”
“She can’t exercise?”
“She can’t watch a scary movie. The doctor thinks if her heart rate goes over one sixty it will rip the regenerated material apart, leaving her with a golf ball-sized hole in her heart. Given some time the wounds might heal enough for her to live a normal life again. She coping, though. Apparently, she’s helping her mother write her next book.”
That made both him and Adagio blink, “Rainbow’s writing a book?”
“I guess so.”
They shuffled along in silence through the graveyard for a few minutes before breaching the touchiest subject, Fluttershy.
“How is Fluttershy doing?”
Feri sighed deeply, looking like he wished they hadn’t asked. “Same as before, comatose, and looking like a sixty-year-old woman. Moon Dancer is observing her in Maddie’s old Lab.”
“I see.” Was all Mac had to say, his emotions towards Fluttershy who had been Envy were mixed at best. He was having a hard time separating the two in his mind.
“We’re here,” Luna announced awkwardly as they stood before the Apple Family plot.
Mac took Andante, and Adagio Arizona and they sat down in front of the gravestones of his parents. “Hi Mom, hi dad, I brought your grandkids to visit you. Sorry, we didn’t come sooner, we’ve been busy. This is my son Andante and my daughter Arizona. Say hi to your grandparents you two.” Mac waved his son's arms for him, he realized how silly this was, his kids couldn’t even speak, but it felt like something he had to do. He pointed to next gravestone.
“That’s your Great, Great, Grandpa Bailey, he was a kind man, he would have loved to meet you two.” Mac wiped a tear from his eye. “If he could have… I’m sure he’d have given you some caramel apple suckers when you were older.”
More tears fell, and he could not stem them. Adagio rubbed his back while leaning against him. She pointed to the next stone. “That one there is a very good friend, her name was Maddie, it’s thanks to her your daddy is here today.”
On the night of the battle when Maddie Hoof was thrown against that lamp post, she died. Nobody knew when. There hadn’t been time to check. They didn’t know if she died instantly or laid there, unable to move, waiting for help that didn’t come in time. She could have been there for hours, alone, no one around to see her off or offer her peace. That last thing she did was try and save Mac’s life, she succeeded in that. That’s why on her tombstone they carved: Friend of the Apples.
Her funeral had been a small affair, with only them, Moon Dancer, and dozen more. Sixes had attended and helped carry her casket out of the church. It was never evident if he ever forgave her, but in the end it didn’t matter. He was there, and that spoke louder than words.
“Thank you, Maddie, you were a real friend in the end,” Mac said to the stone. They all sat there for long time until the sun began to set and they finally said their final goodbyes to the ones already gone. Feri and Mac shook hands and said their farewells.
“What do you think happened to Maddie? When she died, I mean?” Adagio wondered aloud as they began the drive home. “I’m not well versed on the afterlife of this world, or Equestria but she was born to an Equestrian so does that mess things up? What will happen to me? To our kids when we die?”
“Good question, maybe you can start a religion about it.”
“Come on, I’m asking seriously!”
“I really don’t know Adagio; I’ve been seeing my father’s ghost off and on. Maybe Maddie will haunt us now too.”
“You still see your dad?”
Mac came to an abrupt stop, in the middle of the road ahead of them chewing a piece of roadkill was a Timber. It’s body pulsing with magic as it absorbed the lifeforce of its prey. Adagio put her hand on his shoulder as he put the pickup in park.
“Be careful.”
He smiled, “Aren’t I always?”
Mac got out of the truck, shut the door and slowly began approaching the Timber, the monster took notice of him, growling as it crouched into a defensive stance. Fist clenched he made his way forward, scales growing on top his knuckles as he bared his teeth. The Timber whimpered, but quickly righted itself and stepped forward. It suddenly began to sprint, Mac cocked back his arm as the beast leap to attack, his fist bulldozed through the wooden creature turning it to splinters on the road, and he calmly returned to his pickup like nothing happened.
This was just life now.
“Mac…” Adagio said after they traveled a little way. “I thought you were done monster hunting.”
Maddie screamed in pain as she was held to void less white floor of wherever the hell she was. On top of her was a flaming girl, pinning her down and choking her with burning digits. She cried as the fire girl’s own burning tears fell on top of her.
“I’m sorry!” She choked out as the fire girl screamed and gripped her throat tighter. Maddie fought back grabbing the fire girl’s wrists and pushed them back enough to speak. “I deserve this! I’m not asking for forgiveness, but for your own sake! Move on! Take everything out on me if it helps, just please find peace KEROSENE!”
Kerosene, the Flaming girl, one of her father’s experiments and a girl she enslaved. If there was no better indication, she was dead, it was her demons coming back to haunt her.
(I must be in hell, but yet this doesn’t feel hellish enough.)
After being slammed into a lamppost, her spinal cord shattering and blasting through her organs like shrapnel Maddie found herself in a white fog. She walked through the mist until she lost track of time, and suddenly, she saw a light! Salvation seemed to be at hand, only for it to be Kerosene, who rightfully attacked her. She of course was killed, burned to death, only she reappeared completely healed seconds later and was mulled by Kerosene again.
This happened more than a dozen times before Maddie realized she probably had to do something, so she began trying to talk to Kerosene, who kept trying to kill her. The fire girl was going for kill thirty now.
“Listen! This really hurts, and I know it’s probably nothing compared to my father swapping out your blood vessels for dragon’s, but I just really want you to know how sorry I am!” Arms burned black Maddie wrapped Kerosene in a hug, she didn’t know if it would achieve anything, but it felt right. Is what she thought until she died again.
“Just please stop and listen!” She screamed, only to blink when she saw a non-flaming red-haired girl crying on her knees in front of her. Maddie reached out to touch her but pulled back when she noticed her hand was now on fire. A quick pat-down told her more of her body was burning, some parts the skin was burned away with bones exposed. Half of her left cheek was gone, and she had a horn on right side of her forehead and a broken one on the left. In the reflection of the other girls’ eyes she could only describe herself as a demon.
“Thank you,” The crying girl said her body disintegrating into light fragments.
Maddie looked around, still standing in the white void and shouted to the sky. “What the hell is going on?”
There was no reply.
But the ground suddenly froze beneath her feet. She has to be really stupid not to know who was coming. The flames of her body flared and a fireball formed in her skeleton hand. “Tundra…”
Her former ice minion emerged out of the fog bringing a blizzard with her. She flared her flames pointing her flaming hand at the ice girl. “Do you need a hug too?”
Tundra’s response was to skewer her with a giant icicle, severing her in two. Like before she revived, the flames around her body burned hotter as more of her flesh was eaten by the fire. “Is that what you want? You want to fight? Well, I’ll give ya a fight!”
(Don’t give in!) A mysterious voice shouted from the ether. (Violence will only breed more violence!)
Maddie growled unintelligently snuffing out the fireball and spreading her arms wide. “Whatever you need to do to feel better… do it…”
Tundra formed an ice sword and cut off her head! On the revive the ice girl made a club and bashed her into the ground, breaking bones and taking her sweet time killing her. Tundra’s stoic face showed a marginal twinge of emotion as she brought the club down on Maddie’s head.
Maddie revived again, taking a moment to catch her breath as Tundra loomed over her in thought. The ice girl reached down and grabbed her by the throat and begone freezing her.
“You… destroy…life…” Tundra uttered so softly it was as if she didn’t speak.
“I know… I’m not a good person!” Maddie croaked out her throat, becoming solid ice.
“Don’t… want to… hear…excuses…”
“I’m not making any!” Maddie screamed rematerializing once again. She smacked Tundra’s hand away and got some distance. “I’m really am sorry, I know what I did was wrong, but look at us! We’re both here in this strange place! Like I told Kerosene, you don’t have to forgive me, I don’t deserve it, but its time to move on! You deserve to be in a better place than this!”
Maddie flared her flames, her skin rapidly burning away, she was half skeleton now. “Let me help you…”
“No…” Tundra protested weakly, as Maddie grabbed her in a hug. The heat of her body melting the icy shell around the frozen girl. A tuff of blue hair appeared, and Maddie cradled the real Tundra in her arms.
“I forgot how small you actually were…” Maddie muttered, she had forgotten, or maybe she didn’t care before, but Tundra had probably only been twelve or thirteen when she changed her. Without the ice shell to project a more imposing figure, the real Tundra was no more than a four foot nothing little girl.
“I hate you!” Tundra screamed, bashing her little fists against Maddie’s decomposing chest. Ice began to mix with the fire leaving Maddie half fire and ice.
Maddie patted Tundra’s hair and smiled. “I know, and that’s ok… I hate me too.” The sobbing mess of a girl disappeared into particles of light, leaving her sitting alone of the floors of purgatory. For only a short while.
“Do you hate me too? Whitetail?”
The deer woman stood solemnly behind her, Maddie stood and waited for whatever punishment her previous test subjected wanted to inflict on her. She had been expecting an antler through the heart or something, but Whitetail only patted her head.
“I’m not innocent either, I enjoyed my time preying on the weak, it felt good.” Whitetail stepped back as black hands grabbed her from below and began pulling her into the ground. “Goodbye, Master, I hope… we don’t see each other again.”
In a blink, Whitetail was gone, and the white fog cleared, leaving Maddie baffled as the were suddenly a lot of people around her in a courtroom setting. She couldn’t make out their faces, the blinding light shining from their heads made it impossible. Above the sound of a gavel banged.
“The judgment of Maddie Hoof will now commence! Let the weight of your conscious lead you to your eternality.” A large golden scale fell from the sky in front of her, Maddie looked around expectedly, unsure what was going on.
“They want you to touch it,” A voice said, the same voice that spoke to her earlier. Maddie turned around to see a tawny skinned woman with black hair and silver eyes wearing a tan Patroller coat with the infinity symbol on it. She didn’t recognize the woman, but she saw that coat before, several times.
“Who are you?”
“For now, think of me as your lawyer. Now go, touch the scale.”
Nowhere to go but down Maddie laid her hand on the golden scale and felt something being pulled out of her. On the right side, a ball of light formed and plopped on the gold pan and on the left side, a black ball appeared and slammed down tipping the scale to the left. The scale tipped from one side to the other, most of the time leaning towards the black until it leveled out.
The judge, who just appeared a shining beam of light to her, cried out, “Judgement is passed! She is neither pure enough to ascend nor does she deserve to fall into the abyss. This court sentences the soul of Maddie Hoof to the wheel of reincarnation. Ms. Infinity please run your client through the details.”
“Ok, just stop! What the hell is going on here?” Maddie screamed; everything was moving really fast now. The courtroom just disappeared and left her in the white fog again with her ‘Lawyer.’
Her ‘lawyer’ walked up beside her. “They just judged your soul, your entire life, the good, the bad, and the ugly and you balanced out. Roughly fifty-fifty, you need at least a sixty-five, either way, to go up or down.”
“So, I wasn’t good enough to go to heaven or bad enough to go to hell? First, I want to see the legal book on these numbers, and two, what happens to me now? How does reincarnation work? I’ve read on the subject, but how does this really work? What happens to me? I mean won’t I become a different person when I’m reborn? Do I keep my memories?”
Mysterious Lawyer clapped her hands and smiled. “If you would shut up, I was about to explain all of that. By the way, you can call me Dusk.”
“Didn’t the judge just call you Ms. Infinity?”
“Call me that and I’m reincarnating you as a goat.”
Maddie stepped back away from Dusk warily. “Ok, noted.”
“Great…” Maddie clapped her hands, smiling tensely. “Now, to answer your question, reincarnation works in several different ways. You can be reincarnated as a different person, animal and even into a different world. For you, you get to go back to the world you died in, or you can be reborn in Equestria, you can thank you, father, for that option. As for what will happen to ‘you’ your soul will be recycled into a new body. Starting at the beginning of life. Your old self will slowly merge with your new self until your both one and the same. As you grow older your past experience will fade from your memory.”
“And I have to be good?”
“You can be however you want, it’s just a second chance to save your soul from purgatory. That said, if I reincarnate you now, you’ll end up an orphan, and that’s a very mixed bag, lucky for you, you have some volunteers willing to give up eternity to help you.” Dusk stretched out her hand and poked Maddie in the chest. “Don’t skew this up for them. Otherwise I’m going to erase you from existence.”
Dusk disappeared, leaving Maddie fearful and confused. “What are you! Are you like a god or something?”
“No…, just an unfortunate traveler.” Dusk’s voice resounded from the void. Leaving Maddie wondering what was going to happen next as the white mist began to clear, leaving her standing on a white marble platform with a long white staircase stretching up into the clouds seemingly forever.
“Longs way up isn’t girl?” A voice drawled.
Maddie stiffened at the voice she hadn’t heard in years, slowly she turned around coming face to face with her father’s killer and Mac’s father, Nico Vega, his wife Applejane standing behind him.
“What are you doing here…”
Nico ruffled her hair, she slapped his hand away, but he laughed and grabbed her into a hug making her freeze. She wasn’t used to receiving hugs. “I saw everything, thanks for saving my son, but you died too young, Maddie. We need to fix that.”
“How are you going to do that?” She mumbled sighing against Nico, enjoying the warm embrace, looking back her dad hadn’t been very… open. She couldn’t remember if he even hugged her once in her entire life.
Nico padded her back, she was crying? Why was she crying? “I think you know.”
“We’re going back with you; we’re going to be your parents this time around.” Applejane said.
Maddie pushed herself free of Nico, pulling her hair as she looked at the couple with dismay and disbelieve. “You can’t be serious! My father killed her! My family destroyed your family! You can’t seriously be willing to give up fucking heaven for me! Why! Why would you do this!”
Nico smiled as he ruffled her hair again as she sniffed, tears falling freely with no regard of her attempts stop them. She couldn’t even tell if she was sad or happy!
“It’s what we want to do,” Nico told her with a big goofy smile, it reminded her of Mac’s. “Ready for another, go on the merry go round?”
Tears streaming unhindered down her face, Maddie nodded and, in a flash, they were all gone.
Somewhere on earth in a hospital, a child was born, a little girl, to two parents. When the doctors handed the child to her parents he asked, what her name was.
“Hey, come back here!” A puffy red-haired girl yelled as she chased after the boy in front of her.
“Not a chance slowpoke!” The boy, whose orange hair touched his shoulders, giving him a wild child appearance, yelled back at the girl.
“I’m gonna tell mom!”
“Quit being such a whiner!”
“Andante!” Arizona Apple (Age 15) screamed with her cheek puffed up like a pucker fish as her brother ran ahead of her. With a growl and stomp, she shouted into the trees, pony ears and fin-like wings bursting from her back as she suddenly gained speed chasing her brother into the woods that surrounded their home.
“Hey you’re using magic, that’s cheating!” Andante yelled as his sister overtook him, Arizona blew a raspberry as she flew ahead. “RAGH! I’ll show you!”
Andante kicked off the ground and transformed, his arms and legs becoming that of a dragon as large red leathery wings sprouted from his back. With a mighty swoosh and a roar, he rocketed ahead, catching up to his sister.
“Look who’s cheating now!”
“Says the one that couldn’t hack it without magic!”
The two siblings snarled at each other; black smoke poured out of Andante’s nostrils as water formed into Arizona’s hands. The two of them came barreling out of the trees into clearing with a pond in the center, water and fire clashing midair. As they squared off, a third party joined the fray with a power much more terrifying than the magic they were blatantly showing off.
“Hey! Mommy says to cut it out and come clean up!” A little freckled blonde girl with pink and blue streaks in her hair screamed while clutching a stuffed timber wolf plushie. She was Hymn Apple (Age 9).
“You’re bluffing Hymn!” Andante snarled, his youngest sister hid behind her doll, peaking out with big emerald eyes that threatened to unleash her most powerful attack.
“Don’t yell at her, Dante! If she…”
“WAAHAGGGHAH!!” It was too late, Hymn began wailing, crying like only a small child could, except her voice was magically charged, and projected a sonic wail to a more significant threat.
Their mother’s voice roared through the air, even though they were miles away from the house. “ANDANTE! ARIZONA!”
With a gulp and a hastily made truce, the eldest apple siblings scooped up their crying sister and flew her back to the house, ever second a strike against them. When they landed in front of the porch, their mother, Adagio Dazzling Apple, stood with her arms crossed and her toe-tapping impatiently.
“Fifty-three seconds… I guess you two don’t feel like having wi-fi for the next month.”
“Mom!”
“Don’t mom, me! Did you two finish chores?” The two of them puffed their cheeks, whistling, and looking away from their mother. Adagio ran her hand through her silky smooth hair, looking exhausted at her two oldest children. “You have opening ceremony today, I have a concert to prepare for, your father is busy setting up said concert. You two have thirty minutes to get chores done, get showered and cleaned up, and be standing back here in your school uniforms! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!”
“Yes, mom!”
“What was that?”
“Yes, mother!”
“Good, now get going!” Adagio pointed at the barn, and the two zoomed over to so fast it could have been teleportation. Feeling a tug on her jeans Adagio scooped up her youngest daughter in her arms.
“I tried mommy, but Dante and Ari didn’t listen to me!”
“It’s ok, Hymn, you did your best.” She consoled her still sniffling daughter. “Come on, let's go get you in your dress. You’ll be mommy’s little helper today.”
“Yay!”
After a few minutes of mixing and matching, Adagio had Hymn dressed in a little purple sundress with white polka dots, the youngest Apple squealed with delight as she ran barefoot around the living room. Adagio dressed in a long purple Tee shirt and dark blue jeans and styled her hair, her embolized vest and skirt hanging in her room as she worked the curls out of her hair. It was a lot of work to subdue her natural wild puffy fluffy hair, but she liked that silky shine she got when it was brushed straight.
“Mom, we're ready!” Arizona proclaimed hopping down the stairs in her school uniform. The eldest apple daughter picked at the helm of the skirt, which was two inches above her knees. Not really the standard for most schools, it could almost be called a miniskirt. “Who designed these things?”
“Rari, did,” Answered Adagio, proud she managed to say Rarity’s alias without having to correct it. It helped to think of ‘Rari’ as a nickname. “The school wanted to support local business, so of course they went to the best designer in town.”
“Isn’t Rari partnered with that clothing sex shop?”
“Enticing garments (Formerly Explicit Content) is not a clothing sex shop.” Refuted Adagio. “It’s just a store for mature women is all.”
“Does that include the purple bunny suit you keep in your closet?”
Adagio’s cheeked burned red with anger and embarrassment. Her daughter has been snooping in her room again! “Yes… well, what I wear is none of your business young lady and if I catch you rummaging through my closet again, expect hard punishment.”
“Oh, yeah? What are you going to do?”
(My daughter as the same pride and arrogance that I had at her age. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.)
“What am I going to do? How about I send you to your godparents for a week?”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me, I’m sure Sixes would love to run you through boot camp again.” Sixes and Princess Luna are Arizona’s godparents, while Principle Luna and Feri’s are Andante’s.”
Arizona crossed her arms, pouting, “Fine, it’s not like you have anything good in there anyway.”
“Says the girl rummaging through her mother’s closet, all threats aside, I suggest you stop before you find something you won’t like. Something that will haunt you for the rest of your life.”
“What dad’s porno mags?”
Adagio scoffed, “As if your father needs that filth when I’m around, but in all seriousness, stop for you own good.”
(It’s not my fault if you find our ‘special’ vacation pictures.) Adagio mused hoping she hid the mementos in a good enough spot to keep from traumatizing her daughter. (Maybe I should just burn them?)
Forgetting about the life scaring pictures, Adagio took a moment to appraise Rari’s uniform design. Like Crystal Prep’s uniform, it was a dress shirt, with a vest, jacket, or blazer option, and skirt. Leggings could be ankle, knee, or thigh height. Both boys and girls wore black dress shoes or black square toe cowboy boots. The jacket and skirt were midnight blue with gold accents and black dress shirts underneath. Boys wore gold ties, while the girls wore yellow ribbons.
“I’m ready,” Andante declared climbing down the stairs in his uniform.
Adagio nodded as she picked up, Hymn, “Good, where is Waltz?” Waltz was her and Mac’s youngest child, he was five. They should have named him Mac Jr. because he looked just like Mac, but with blonde hair.
“Waltz is with dad, remember?” Andante rebuked, looking at her like she was stupid. She cocked an eyebrow at his attitude. He quickly back-peddled his tone. “I’m mean Dad said yesterday he would watch Waltz, remember?”
“I do remember, it just a took a second,” Adagio said scratching her chin, she was a bit ashamed she misplaced her youngest, but after three kids she wasn’t as high strung about her kids not being in sight. Though if things got too quiet, she did worry what they were up to. “Right, well everyone to the pickup. I’ll drop you off for school orientation, your father will pick up afterward if he isn’t there by five just walk down to the park.”
“Ok,” Arizona and Andante replied.
After getting Hymn locked into her car seat Adagio started the pickup and drove to town. The twins pestering her with annoying questions all the way.
“Are Auntie Aria and Sonata going to come to the concert,” Arizona asked.
“They were invited, it’s up to them to show up.”
“Will Ignis be attending school with us?”
“I’m sure he will Andante, he’s like you two, he kind of has to go to Magic school.” That’s right, they had Magic Schools now. Five years after the battle with Envy, dubbed the Magical girl incident, Sunset Shimmer, rather Princess Sunset Shimmer, came back to earth to help humans understand magic by offering insights with Equestrian history records. To this end a school was founded, the Shimmer School of Magic, the first location was Canterlot, where Canterlot High once stood.
Canterlot High was demolished a few years after the battle, it just didn’t pay to repair the building anymore. At least the tourism from the Ever-burning forest helped found the new school. Several teachers were brought over from Equestria as a stop-gap, and Moon Dancer was made the headmaster. Human Twilight worked as a researcher and professor at the school.
Ignis was Feri and Principle Luna’s, son. He was a few months younger than the twins but still in the same age group.
“What about cousin Cherryjack?” Cherryjack, if not evident by the uninspired name, was Applejacks’ daughter's name.
Adagio tightened her grip on the wheel, “She’s like you to, a magic kid, there’s only one magic school within five hundred miles and she lives right next to us. So yes, CJ will most likely attend school with you, I can’t say for classes, but she will be in school with you.”
“What about Cousin Boomer?”
“Yes! When he’s older!” Adagio yelled. “Any more questions that have the same answer!”
Both her teens shook their heads, no. Boomer was Applebloom’s son. He was a little older than Hymn. Applebloom got pregnant relatively young, almost right after college. She married a carpenter and Applejack got her a job at the Magic School as a sub-teacher and counselor. Applejack was a cherry farmer now, and also a school alumnus. A lot of people in their close circle were. Feri was one too.
The rest of the drive was in silence, and they arrived that new Canterlot School of Magical Science. Those two things wouldn’t usually be in the same sentence, but there was a science to all this crazy magic, which made it way easier to teach to the second generation of magic users.
“Alright kids, have fun, don’t blow up the school or anything,” Adagio called from the driver seat as Andante and Arizona ran away embarrassed. Which she scoffed at. “Their mother is a singer who also has a statue at the magic school, I guess nothing can make parents cool to their kids.” She mumbled under breath as she drove for downtown. “But Aunt Ari and Sona are so cool because they bring home dragon teeth!”
“I love you, mommy,” Hymn said from her car seat. Adagio looked at her through the rear-view mirror with a cocked eyebrow. The little girl wiggled in her chair, pretending to whistle before cracking. “I also would like some chocolate.”
Adagio sighed, “You know what? I can get behind that.”
As she drove away from the school, a brown-haired girl came rushing past, most likely late, but what should have been nothing had Adagio braking as she leaned out the car window as the girl disappeared into the schoolyard. She looked… familiar.
“No way…” She mumbled before shaking her head and driving away. “It can’t be her.”
Meanwhile in Canterlot City
Special Magic Response Taskforce Commander, Lieutenant Ferocious Firebird (Age 50), sat in his officer squinting over the latest report from his field officers, dubbed the Hunters, by the public. Through his thin-framed glasses, his yellow eyes scanned the pages of the documents. Monster attacks were on the decline. Finally, the magical beasts were learning that if they go to the city parks and suburb homes, they would be hunted with prejudice. The task wouldn’t be so hard if the monster had been standard timbers, but thanks to the root of many of his problems over the years, The Magical Girl Incident, in which hundreds of Envy’s experimental Timbers escaping into the wild. Cinder Ironwood Timbers were the norm now. It wasn’t like in the old days where a shotgun blast could put the wood beasts down. Now if you didn’t have at least a basic understanding of using magic, the monsters were impossible for an average civilian to take down.
Normal was a relieve term. Most people were magically inclined nowadays. Their power varied from simple elemental control, psychosis, or animal transformation. The more advanced users could use spells and abilities and could transform into a hybrid form. Since not everyone ‘pony up’ as there was a variety of species. A new category was made.
C: People that could use specific magic, but not transform.
B: People that could transform, and could use an Elemental Magic, Standard Pony-up basically.
A: People that could use Enhanced Transformation, Pony up with hair highlights and power boast. Very rare.
S: People that could transform and have an insane amount of magic. Sometimes it led to people going berserk and turning to monster versions of themselves.
X: People who display Demi-god or God-like power, like Daydream Shimmer or Olympian Mac and Adagio. Thankfully that hasn’t happened since the battle with Envy.
C tier users were literally in the millions, almost anyone with some will power and training could use magic these days. B tier users were about every thousand of a million. A Tiers appeared every hundred in a million, and S Tiers were ten in a million. X thankfully was one in a million.
Of course, in a growing world where magic was increasingly more common, it also made a new threat, magically endowed criminals. Also known as Dark users. That was what the report he was reading detailed. There was a new gang of dark users, and like many gangs before them, they figured out a way to power up their magic.
The latest tool was called ‘Pixie Dust’ it was basically cocaine mixed with ground monster parts. Because, of course, someone was going to kill a monster one day and decide, “Hey, what will happen if snort this?”
“At least I don’t have to worry about being called insane anymore. Kind of nice being an expert in a new field.” Feri chuckled dryly. His door was closed, so he took a moment to lay his head down on his desk and groan. “Fuck… why to I have to behind a desk? This is so boring!”
Sitting up again, Feri decided to take a break from his work to dig a cigar from his desk, using his thumb to light it. As he puffed out clouds of smoke, he amused himself with the pictures in his office. The first picture was of him and his wife, Luna, on their wedding day. He was carrying her, and she was blushing trying to keep her skirt from riding too high.
The next picture was of Stryker and Celestia flashing the peace sign at the Grand Canyon. His old partner had become his brother in law, as he and Celestia had decided to get married one day and start traveling the country. They came back home every so often, but they stayed on the road a lot. Their marriage came out of left field and honestly neither he or Luna was sure why they got married, other then they were both singles at the time and getting old. Either way, they seemed happy. Though they’d have to settle down somewhere soon, their kid, Summer Sun (Age 12), was getting old enough that she’d want to start hanging around other kids.
Pictures of Macs, Applejacks, and Applebloom’s families were next, filling up the center of his desk. Each one was from last New Year’s. Mac (Age 35) and Adagio posed with their four kids, Applejack (Age 33) and her husband had their two, and not so little Applebloom (Age 29) stood with her four-year-old and husband. He remembered AJ’s husband was a cherry farmer, but AB’s was a carpenter? Maybe? He was good enough.
Finally, on the right side of his desk were to portraits of his kids, his son Ignis (Age 14), he had his wild hair, but Ignis’s hair was black as midnight, and his daughter Hestia (Age 12) was the same, but her hair had what looked like little red stars in it. Luna picked the names, Ignis was Latin for fire, and Hestia was the name of a Greek goddess that also involved flame. His wife told him she wanted their names to reflect them. Since Luna was also named after a goddess and he wielded fire magic. He didn’t really get it, but his kids had kickass names.
Wiping the lens of his glasses, which he hated, Feri pulled out his phone and squinted at the text his wife had sent him. “Kids school opening ceremony today, try to be there.”
“Right…” He sighed, checking the time. He’d better get wrapped up here soon, but that would depend on his subordinate getting here promptly! “HEY!” He yelled to his secretary outside.
“Yes, sir?”
“Tell Pie to get her ass in here already! She’s cleaned up that gang house, right?”
The door to his office slammed open, and Pinkamena Diane Pie wearing her Hunter’s Duster coat unbuckled with a pink tee and booty shorts underneath strode into the office. Her pink hair was half flat and half curly. The curly part tied up in a ponytail that reached down to her ass.
“Hiya, Bosman!”
Feri held his head in his palm as he looked over the most likely future leader of the department. “I see your rocking undercover whore again today. I know I didn’t set strong uniform guidelines, but people still have to believe you’re a cop at the end of the day.”
“I know,” Pinkamena said, plopping down in the chair across from him. “I button up when I’m official business.” She placed her wooden feet, which were shaped like cowgirl boots, on the edge of his desk, while her wooden arm morphed into vines and snuck around his office desk and raided his cigar drawer. With a snap, a small explosion lights the stolen tobacco product.
“Pinkamena.”
“Don’t tell me not to smoke when you smoke.”
“No, go buy your own fucking smokes!”
“But it’s so expensive!”
“Yeah, that’s my fucking point!”
“But Luna said you need to quit smoking! I’m just helping you out!”
“Don’t bring my wife into this, Pinkie! Now did you deal with those gangbangers on seven 7th street?”
Pinkamena took a long drag before answering. “Yep. Dropped off a pizza, walked away and the pizza blew up. I had the rookies pick off the survivors for training. Had to blow this one guy’s face-off, he was probably a B+, he had butterfly wings by the way.”
“Is he alive? Butterfly wings, I mean?”
She shrugged. “Maybe, the doctors working on him now. Hey, don’t you have to get going back to town? Isn’t it opening ceremony today?”
“Yes, it is, how do you know?”
Pinkie held up two fingers. “One, my sisters' kids go there, too, I’m subscribed to the school's app.”
“The school has an app?”
“We have an app! This why everyone thinks you’re out of touch!”
“I’m fifty! I didn’t grow up with this tech crap!”
“I know! I’ve seen you handle a touch screen; which I see you’ve failed to charge again! It’s 2029! Why does your office look like 1930’s noir detective’s!”
“Firstly, I was born in 1979,” Feri growled, “Second charging that piece of crap is your fucking job. It’s yours, not mine!”
“I gave it to you because you didn’t understand gem projection holograms! That thing is an antique nowadays! How long have you had that phone too, is that a P11? We’re on P22 now!”
Feri threw up his hands. “Fuck it! I have your report, I’ll write it later at home. I got a thing to go do for my kids. Fucking run this place however you like, it’ll be your mess someday, and when that happens, some feisty young bitch can barge in and call you old too.”
Grabbing his cane Feri limped towards the door. Pinkamena more somber followed him with her eyes filled with sadness and regret. “You should just retire now, go work that bar of yours with Luna.”
In the doorway Feri pawed the handle of his cane, “I got another fifteen years in me, don’t go throwing me out with the trash just yet. If you really want to take this place from me, then start acting like it.” Slamming the door behind him, Feri limped his way down to his car and drove home.
Pinkie sat in Feri’s desk, dismayed by the paperwork and her failed attempt to get Feri to retire early. “Seriously.” She sighed, “Invest in your own kids some more.”
The gem on her wrist beeped, and she pressed the black jewel to display an image of the current governess Chrysalis Blackthorn. “Why hello, Pinkamena, I see your in Feri’s chair today.”
“I’m just keeping it warm; he has other things to deal with.”
Chrysalis nodded, “Of course, that’s fine. I have a new assignment for you. I know you already dealt with that gang house today, but I just got a report from your counterpart in Whinny that they discovered an underground monster cockfight ring, and they need some new faces for an infiltration. I trust you don’t have any plans for the weekend?”
Pinkie shook her head, “If the state needs me, I’m happy to help.”
“Love the attuite, keep it up, and that chair really will be yours. I’ll send you your contact via the usual channels.”
“Understood,” Pinkie said at the transmission ended. She sighed as she peaked at her phone, a text from Limestone asking if she was going to make to Adagio’s charity concert. With a heavy heart, she typed, no, and went to work. She still had a lot to make up for, and even if meant skipping time with her family and friends, she wanted to make sure all of them could enjoy life together.
Even if it meant them enjoying life without her.
“Hello, everyone! I am Moon Dancer, the Dean of The Sunset Shimmer School of Magic, welcome to the next three years of your magical development. Four if you going into research and six if you want to become a Magic Doctor. And before anyone raises their hands, there is no magic college, because we are also the college. Miss Sparkle if you would take the floor and explain how things work around here.”
Human Twilight decked out in a lab coat that hid her teacher’s attire took to the glowing blackboard and began to write magic script with her finger. “Currently there are three paths a student can take in our school, your first year will be a general course to expose you all kinds different fields and your second and third year will narrow down what your Mastery will be.” Twilight paused as a student raised their hand. Searching the roaster, she was impressed by the student’s credentials. “Yes? Hmm Hestia.”
“What do you have to do to join the Magic Police Division?”
“Excellent question and a popular one at that might as well start there so I can burst some bubbles early,” Twilight said giddily as she began to scribe down a long list of credits. “To join the Magic Police Division and became a Hunter, one needs to be at least a B tier magic-user at the bare minimum. Next they need to be able to pass the police physically, pass CSI, and everything else to become a detective. It’s a lot harder than most people think and will require taking the five-year course and extra classes.”
“What if you’re Tier A?”
“The same course applies to all Tiers,” Twilight replied smirking. Hestia became disheartened. “But don’t worry, you’ve already skipped grades, so I’m sure you’ll have all the credits you need by the time you're old enough to join.” She assured Feri’s daughter while trying not play favorites, which was hard considering a third of her students were her friends’ kids.
Clapping her hands to get everyone to focus Twilight continued her lecture, “Magic Police is only one path of course. Next we have my personal favorite, Magical Research and Development, in this course you’ll study how to apply magic to scientific research such as agriculture, medical, engineering, anything really just tack magic onto the name, and there’s a research division for it. A lot of companies are trying to capitalize on the fact magic now exists in our world. Some closed-minded ones have tried to stem our progress, but well… there’s a reason certain companies no longer exist.”
“What’s the final route?” A student yelled.
“Right, right, Magic Archive and Enhancement. Given what we know now about Equestria banishing unwanted evil threats to our world since before the time of the dinosaurs, Magic archives seek to discover what myths were true and which are still just myths. We know dragons once existed in our world, and that the Holy sword used by King Arthur was real too. Hence no more dragons because of said sword. Archivers also try to find abandoned artifacts and dead monsters and study them to rediscover lost magic and make new magic, getting to the enhancement part of the name. Enhancement is basically spell crafting. Does anyone here know any spells?”
“I do! My Aunt taught it to me!” Cried Arizona waving her hand wildly in the air.
“Arizona…” Twilight said warily. “You may cast the spell for the class, your target…” She looked around for a suitable dummy before sighing and snapping her fingers, making another her appear. “Target my doppelganger. Please be careful.”
“I will!” Arizona bounded to the front of the class dancing excitedly on her toes as she held her hands in front her, “Black dog howling uselessly at your forsaken lover, turn your fangs upon yourself and rip out your own throat! Bastard Hound’s Curse!” Black colored magic formed a dog’s head on Arizona’s right hand and bit her neck, Copy Twilight copied the motion and choked herself digging her fingers into neck. Before things could get bloody Twilight snapped her clone out of existence.
“Right, that’s enough, should have known better,” Twilight mumbled. “Good job, Arizona, now I’ll demonstrate how craft a new spell, using yours as a base. Ready?”
Arizona nodded nervously as Twilight chanted, “White dog, smitten by your lover in the night sky, howl moanfully for her love, and she will hear you, Maiden’s Blessing!” She finished her chant, and everyone looked on expectedly, many having to blink before spotting the effect of the spell.
“Hey, why’s my brother down there now?” Hestia pointed where Ignis now stood.
Twilight merely smiled as Arizona became a blushing mess, “Why indeed I wonder? Care to take a guess Arizona?”
“No thank you, ma’am.” She replied hastily returning to her balcony seat. A confused Ignis followed behind her.
“Alright, let’s return to the lecture.”
Moon Dancer smiled as she hung back and watched in the corner, she’d have to leave soon, but she always enjoyed watching new students be excited for school for once. Even though some didn’t show it outright, learning magic was fun and exciting. After observing for several more minutes Moon Dancer decided she should go when the door burst open and a girl in their uniform can bargaining in.
“I’m sorry I’m late! I got lost!” The girl had long light brown hair, almost like copper that reached to her knees and was tied up in pigtails, her skin the rare peach color, with just a tinge of a tan. Her eyes were deep blue, with freckles beneath and dimples on her cheeks. For Moon Dancer her face was something that made her heart stop. She’s seen that face before, long, long ago in her childhood. “I’m Mackie Vegabrook! Nice to meet you, yawl!” She introduced energetically while giving a thumbs up.
From the front of the room, Twilight looked at Moon Dancer, her face twisted in confusion as she looked from the new arrival to the Dean. Mouthing ‘what the hell?’
Moon Dancer held up her hands and took center stage, “Ah, Miss Vegabrook, that was quite the grand entrance, but I can’t have you disturbing class. Besides I need to talk to you about your transfer before you can join classes.” She straight-up lied pulling ‘Mackie’ out into the hall and towards her office. When the door slammed closed Twilight clapped her hands and resumed her lecture.
“Alright, who wants to try making a new spell?”
In her office Moon Dancer slammed the door closed and pushed Mackie into a chair, pacing back and forth. “I’m going crazy, this can’t be happening?”
Mackie cocked her head, “What’s wrong? Moonie?”
“I…” Moon Dancer stopped cold and looked sharply at Mackie. “What did you just call me?”
“Moonie,” Mackie replied in a voice that did NOT belong to a fifteen-year-old teenager. “That was your nickname, right?”
Moon Dancer gently grabbed Mackie by shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. “Your Maddie, aren’t you? You are! Otherwise I’m crazy, but you look just like her! Yeah, the hair and freckles are new, but your face! A clone wouldn’t be this accurate! Is that what you did? Did you make a clone Maddie?”
“You're scaring me, Dean Moon Dancer.” Mackie cried, Moon Dancer didn’t give in and held her ground, and Mackie’s eyes turned from blue to green. “Oh fine! It’s me!” ‘Mackie’ said sounding like Maddie. “At least for now. This will probably be the last time I can speak like this.”
“What happened? How did you survive?”
Mackie chuckled awkwardly, “Yeah… you see… I didn’t… Look, it’s very complicated. I didn’t even get to walk up the stairs before they pushed me back down to earth. Long story short, I was reincarnated, and I’ve been living my life with my new parents, and have been very happy, I mean look at these cute dimples! I’m a fucking cutie! Hope my boobs are as big as last time. I mean genetically it shouldn’t be a problem, my reincarnated mom’s tits are enormous! That aside I’m going to live my life differently this time, I have a plan to make sure I don’t end up in purgatory again, and hopefully, avoid going to hell.”
“Plan? Are you going to continue your research and help progress the Scientific Magic field?”
Mackie made a fart noise with her lips. “Fuck that! Ok, I might, but my main objective… marry Mac’s son!”
“Your fucking with me.”
“Nope.”
“You’re not serious.”
“I am.”
“Please stop joking.”
“I’m not.”
Moon Dancer rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. “WHY!”
“Well, I can’t marry Mac like this?”
She could only sputter, “What the hell is wrong with you, Maddie?”
“Nothing! I know what I want in a mate. I mean if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t. I got somethings going against me like fucking dad naming me, ‘MAC-kie’ talk about being fucking original. But I like the challenge. I guess I might try and cure some disease or something, but I want to focus on living this time around, not spending eighty percent of my time in a lab.” Mackie’s eyes flicked from green to blue and back to green, she wobbled and fell forward, wrapping her lanky arms around Moon Dancer’s waist. “It was nice seeing you again, Moon Dancer, look out for Mackie for me? Make sure she’s better then I was.”
Moon Dancer choked up and hugged Mackie, no Maddie back, “I will. Your dating Mac’s son thing is still weird, but I won’t interfere, and I’ll make sure you don’t go dark side this time. That’s a teacher’s job, right?”
“Right,” Mackie replied and stepped away, smiling. “Goodbye.”
Mackie’s eyes turned from Green to blue, and the teenager looked confusingly around the room. “Huh? Dean Moon Dancer is my interview over?”
Moon Dancer nodded, turning away as she wiped her tears, “Yes, we’re done, you can go to class. Tell Professor Twilight everything is in order.”
“Ok, thank you, bye!”
The door opened and closed, and Moon Dancer fell to her knees, burying her head in her arms against her desk and cried.
Outside the school parents wandered through the grounds, some inspecting the dorms and the general environment their kids would be living in. For students not from the local area a boarding house was available. Victor and Grace Vegabrook just finished their tour of the grounds with Former Princess Celestia, now teacher Celestia.
“As you can see, we spared no expense. Dorms are separated by gender, and the cafeteria is top-notch.” Celestia praised as she led the couple back outside, smiling knowingly at the too. “Rest assured, your daughter will be taken care off, Mr. Vegabrook.”
“You’ve convinced me, I’m very much assured.” ‘Victor’ laughed, shaking her hand.
She smiled, “Anything to repay a favor.”
“No idea what you’re talking about, but thank you, Celestia.”
The couple left, and Celestia leaned against the brick wall as Sunset Shimmer exited the building. “That should be it for the tours…” She paused following her Grandmother’s gaze to the leaving couple who looked back and flashed a pair of smiles before continuing off. “Do we know them?”
“In a way,” Celestia said cryptically. “Come on, let get things squared away here, you have an important meeting back home tomorrow. You can’t just come running here every time you get overwhelmed.”
“I know,” Sunset sighed following her Grandmother into the school. “But I really want to see Adagio’s concert.”
“And you will if you get your work done.” Celestia sang.
5:00 pm, Canterlot Veteran’s Park, a real hustle was a going on in the usually quiet scene. Lights, speakers, and other equipment was being set up. On stage the star of the show picked at her guitar while he lifted another speaker twice his size and put it in place.
“Right there is fine, Mac.” Former Principal Luna said.
“Alright,” He set the speaker down, wiping the sweat from his brow as he looked around the concert venue. His godmother patted him on the back and pointed to the bar across the street. “Come on, I’ll get you a drink, you’ve been working hard all day.”
“Sounds good, Waltz!” He shouted, his five-year-old son come running from somewhere and climbed up his pant leg and sat in the crook of his arm. “You little monkey!” He teased the small boy tickling his tummy, filling the air with excited giggles. Waving to Adagio and pointed to the bar, she nodded resuming tuning her guitar.
Inside the Moon Hall, Formerly the VFW, Luna strode behind the bar and filled a tall glass of his family’s Cider and passed it to him, and checked her phone.
“I hope Feri got to the school on time.” She said with doubt in her tone.
“I’m sure he did,” Mac said in defense of his Godfather. “He’s not completely hopeless.”
“I know that,” Luna sighed, “It’s just… he’s getting so worn out with work, he acts he’s thirty-five. I admit I’m not young anymore, but I didn’t spend my late twenties and thirties fighting monsters! He still limps, his eyes sight is going bad, he’s a mess!”
“You want him to retire.”
Luna scrunched up her lip. “From the force at the very least. He can come here and actually run the bar for once, did you know Stryker ran the bar when he was living upstairs?”
“I am aware,” Mac nodded sipping his beer when Waltz pulled at his sleeve.
“Daddy, daddy, An’ and Ari’!” His youngest fumbled out. Mac checked his watch and was surprised to see it was five-thirty, well past when he was supposed to go pick up Andante and Arizona.
He smiled and put Waltz on his lap, “They can walk, their big kids now.”
The front door of the bar opened and in walked the two kids in question. “Dad!” Arizona screamed. “You were supposed to pick us up!”
“Or you were supposed to walk if I didn’t. I’ve been busy, darling.” Mac drawled, his daughter puffed her cheeks trying to look imitating, but only ended up looking cute. “How as school?”
“We got lectured, even though we weren’t supposed to have any today,” Andante informed sitting at the bar.
“Twilight?”
“Twilight.” His son replied. “There was this girl that showed up late today too.”
“Glad, she’s still the same.” Mac rechecked his watch and smiled. “Well you two are just in time, they should be showing up anytime now.”
“They?” The twins asked expectedly. Upstairs two thumps could be heard accompanied by two arguing voices. There was a portal upstairs to Equestria in Luna’s office, there were several portals hidden between everyone’s houses and businesses.
“Dammit Sonata! How did this happen?”
“I don’t know, don’t blame me!”
“How can’t I? It’s one thing if you get drunk and wake up hitched, it’s another when you drag me into it!”
“I didn’t do anything! You just woke up in bed with us!”
“Then explain why we’re part of a herd and I’m labeled as second wife!”
“Well… um… DISTRACTION!” There was a thump followed by short hurried steps. The upstairs office door flew open, and Sonata dressed in a white Kimono with a black tank top exposed came running down the stairs. “DAGI SAVE ME!” She cried scuttling across the bar floor only for Aria, also dressed in a wedding Kimono came flying from the top of the stairs and pinned her to the ground!
“I’m gonna ring your neck this time! I swear to the gods! You know how hard it is to back out of this? You married us to one of Kira’s grandkids! I bet she’s getting ready to host a shotgun wedding right now!”
“Technically it would be a Katana wedding.” Sonata squeaked out. “Hi Mac, kids…gaghagh! Aria! You’re choking me!”
“Clearly, a lack of oxygen isn’t what’s wrong with your brain!”
The kids waved awkwardly as one aunt tried to kill the other aunt in front of them, “Hi Aunt Aria, Aunt Sonata. How was your last adventure?”
“Complicated!” Aria growled applying more pressure to Sonata’s throat. “Had to leave your presents back in Equestria, don’t worry, I’ll go get them once I’m done with my STUPID sister here.”
“Look… on… bright…side…” Sonata wheezed as her face went from blue to purple. “You… don’t… boyfriend…” She passed out, and Mac lifted Aria off Sonata, the blue siren taking a deep breath of air greedily.
“Alright, that’s enough.” He scolded Aria. “We’ll get this figured out later. Please tell me you have something else to wear other than this thing.”
“Sonata has her tank top, and I got panties, we kind of rushed out there as fast as we could.”
Mac grumbled and let Aria drop to the floor and pulled out his wallet and handed a wad of cash to Arizona, “Go down to Rari’s and buy your Aunts some regular clothes, emphasize on the normal. Just shirts and jeans or skirts.”
“Ok, Dad, bye Aunt Aria.”
“Sweet kid,” Aria said, standing up and adjusting her disheveled Kimono, so it covered her properly. “Luna can I get a drink?” A cider was passed into her hand. “Thanks.”
Mac sat down beside her and ordered a refill, Andante took Waltz to look at the games in the back of the bar. “So, what were you two doing in Nippon?”
“We heard rumors Kira was thinking of going to sleep again, so we wanted to stop by and say goodbye, well Sixes and Princess… Queen Luna invited us, they were throwing this really wild party, and there were drinks, and next thing I know, I’m waking up with Sonata and one of Kira’s grandkids in bed. I admit… I overacted and used a long-range teleport to get the portal and come here.”
“And you think that’s enough to get away from Kira?”
Aria paused. “No, but it buys me time. Hate to do this, but once Dagi’s concert is over, I’m cutting and running.”
“Don’t run, Aria! Now we’re both married, so there’s nothing to worry about!”
“Shut up, Sonata!”
Sonata hopped to her feet and sat at the bar, on the other side of Mac away from her sister. Luna poured her a glass too. “I can’t wait to tell Dagi the news, she’s going to be so surprised!”
“You’re not telling her shit!”
“What do you want to tell me?” Adagio asked, appearing behind Mac with Hymn in her arms. “You’re going to have to with Daddy now, Hymn, Mommy’s about to go on stage.” She cooed handing the nine-year-old over. “Now what’s going on with you two?”
“Aria and joined a herd together!”
“No, I did not!”
Adagio scratched her chin, “I though herding was done away with in Equestria.”
“They were in Nippon,” Mac supplied.
“Ah… that makes sense. Well, congrats you two. Let me know when you have kids.”
Aria looked a gasped, “You’re ok with this?”
Adagio hugged both Aria and Sonata around the neck, “If my little sisters want to share a stallion, who am I to judge, try to make it work you two. I got to go do the final prep.”
“Wait, it’s not like that! Adagio! Adagio come back!” The door closed as Adagio waved over her shoulder. “Augh… I can’t tell if she was serious or not. Mac?”
He shrugged, “Don’t look at me, I’m still trying to figure that out after all this time.”
With little choice, the three siblings in-laws sipped their beers. Twenty minutes later Arizona returned with the clothes and Aria, and Sonata changed upstairs. Aria came back down in a pink shirt and jeans and Sonata a light blue shirt and skirt. They stole a pair of Luna’s shoes, so they weren’t walking around in wooden sandals. The portal was weird when it came to transferring clothes sometimes.
“Well it’s almost time,” Mac stated as he gathered up his kids and walked outside with everyone to find a spot to listen to Adagio sing. As he was looking Andante tugged at his arm. “What is it?”
“That’s the strange girl that was late today.”
“Girl?” It took a second for Mac to remember his son saying something about a girl. He followed Andante’s finger and spotted the girl in question. It looked like she was standing with her parents. She noticed them looking and smiled and waved back. She seemed friendly. Something seemed familiar about her though… her parents too, like they were recoloring of people he already met. Like how Moon Dancer and Twilight looked suspiciously alike. He was too far away to tell who they reminded him off.
“Good Evening Canterlot!” Adagio shouted from on stage. The crowd cheering. “Thank you, thank you, you all know me, I’m Adagio Apple, and today marks the fifteenth anniversary of that tragic day when our little town came headfirst into the world’s second-biggest magical disaster. The first being the tragedy that happened in Canterlot City a few days earlier, but it wasn’t until later did we know what actually happened.” She coughed. “Anyway. Today, I would like to honor those who we lost and those that never recovered from that disaster. I know in the grand scheme some songs don’t mean much, but music is its own kind of magic.
As Adagio began to sing, Mac thought of “Never Recovered’ line. It could apply to anyone involved on that day, but he knew who she was actually referring too. Fluttershy still looked like an old woman and was in a nursing home under an alias, her parents gone, leaving on her dipshit of a brother to carry on the family name. Rainbow Dash was also living in hiding, writing books for a living under the name, “R. D. Crash” Somehow, she’s one of the top fiction authors. Pinkie was arguably doing ok, he guessed. Rarity stayed faithful to her word and didn’t involve herself with the girls beside Sunset and Applejack.
Speaking of Applejack, she and her kids showed up, while Feri appeared with his and met up with Luna. He couldn’t see them, but he was sure everyone else part of their little group was here as well. Adagio’s song came to an end and the crowd cheered, as she smiled and waved. “This next one is for a special friend of mine. She’s not here today, but I hope where ever she is, she hears my feelings for her. This one’s for you, Maddie.”
