> Calming Notes and Tempered Claws
>  by DeltaXeno1138
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Lost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A pulsating ache right in the cranium.

That's what the girl felt as she came to. 

Placing a hand on her throbbing head, the girl brought herself up into a sitting position from the ground. It took only a few seconds for her to realize she had been laying on concrete. 

It certainly explained the sudden uncomfortable strained feeling in her back.

After grunting in annoyance at the pain, the girl scrunched up her face as her sense of smell was suddenly assaulted by strong, unpleasant scents. Garbage, filthy water, and what was undoubtedly a mixture of numerous body excrements.

She soon figured out where she was, being quite familiar with this type of area.

She was in an alley.

Straining her eyes open into a squint, she saw that it was nighttime and she was right in the middle of the alley. After standing up and dusting herself off, she noticed that the smell of the leavings was stronger and different than that of humans. In fact, she could swear it was the smell of livestock.

Maybe a police horse had gotten loose.

It then became apparent to the girl that she had misplaced certain pieces of information, including who exactly she was. Placing a hand on her now painless head, she began searching her mind for whatever memories she could find.

She found very little unfortunately. Mostly vague recollections.

She may have been part of a team, maybe more than one. There was the feeling that she had experienced very few bits of joy in her life. 

She wasn't sure about her family. She knew she no longer had a mother but didn't know why. And she wanted to say she had a father and brother, but it didn't seem entirely accurate for some reason.

She could glimpse that this correlated with some type of family drama. Perhaps this was the reason she couldn't definitely say she had a father and brother.

There was only two things that stuck out in her mind clearly.

The first was that her name was Laura. She couldn't recall any middle or last name.

The second was a number: 23.

There was some level of significance to this number. Her age? A quick look at herself told her she was at least in that range or close to it. Part of her birth date? A password? Assigned number from this team or teams?

Laura grunted in frustration, unable to discern anything else. She needed help. She was positive she knew someone well versed in mental problems. She just had to find them. After finding a way to remember their name.

Not knowing where exactly she was didn't help. She'd have to go with her instincts on this. 

Some quick looking around allowed her to see that either path in the alley lead to more buildings. She also found a rock against the wall. One side was growing moss, or from the smell a moss/fungus hybrid, no doubt resulting from the trash.

Her instincts were telling her west, though this too wasn't entirely clear. She just had the feeling that West was also of some importance. 

Using the rock she spotted, she determined which direction was west and went into a sprint. Her instincts also told her to stay in the shadows.

Most of what she ran past was small businesses, either closed or empty, telling her it must've been pretty late into the night.

She skidded to a halt at the sound of voices, ducking into another alley, hugging the wall and sliding further in, waiting for the two bystanders to pass by.

The sound of clip clopping made her think they were policemen on night patrol. Oddly enough, she couldn't discern any noises from their horses, not even breathing.

And then they slowly walked by the alley.

They weren't policemen. They were horses. Talking horses. This almost overshadowed the fact that one of them had a horn.

Once they were out of sight, Laura looked down at her shirt with knitted eyebrows, looking at the unicorn depicted on it. Looking back up, she ran to the alley entrance to look around the corner.

One of them was in fact a unicorn.

So.....she was either dreaming, or in some type of alternate horse reality. For some reason the latter seemed to be just as plausible as the former.

The fact that these horses seemed quite colorful gave her more credence to an alternate reality, as she was sure she wouldn't dream of something out of a children's cartoon.

This strengthened her resolve to find her friend...acquaintance.....whoever.

She broke into a sprint again once the two horses were far enough away.

She stopped again when she realized that if she was in fact in an alternate reality, then whoever she sought most likely wasn't here.

That was a problem.

But If there were unicorns, then perhaps there was some kind of magic to be found here. And maybe that magic that could lead her home. But she didn't have the first clue how to go about finding it.

She'd have to make friends with someone, or at least get into their good graces, something else that'd be difficult to do.

She was starting to get a headache at all this complication, placing her fingers to her forehead with a sigh of frustration. The loss of so much memory didn't help either.

Suddenly she heard something.

Upon closer examination, she realized it was music. Classical music. String instruments.

It was nice.

She couldn't help but be drawn to it.

It helped to ease her frustration.

With no idea how long she'd be here, she might as well see what this world has to offer.

Laura returned to running, now toward the source of the music, her earlier destination now defunct.

As she got closer and closer to the currently obstructed concert hall, she started to make out that there was at least one instrument more prominent than the others.

Cello.
> Meeting
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia Melody lightly panted as she bowed with her fellow musicians to the audience, smiling gratefully at their applause. 

No matter how many times she performed in public, she was always anxious about how she'd perform. This was of course a given with most musicians who didn't train their whole lives to be regarded as the absolute best.

Thankfully she delivered perfectly, as her marefriend told her she always did. Though that wasn't exactly how she worded her praise.

'Octy, seriously, you were awesome!'

Speaking of, Octavia spotted said mare in the audience. It was rather hard to miss her considering her wild, electric blue mane.

That and her overenthusiastic cheering and whistling.

"Whoo! Yeah Tavi! You rock!" Vinyl yelled, clearly agitating the ponies around her. Particularly the ones more formerly dressed.

Octavia rolled her eyes at her actions but smiled nonetheless. Vinyl's presence did a lot to help calm her nerves. Though this sort of evened out tonight, since Vinyl was the one to get her this job, thus making her somewhat responsible for the nerves.

Despite her lighthearted protests, Octavia often found herself obtaining work thanks to Vinyl's involvement. While she was perfectly capable of finding her own work, Octavia was still grateful to Vinyl.

Her one nitpick about it was that Vinyl tended to get her jobs in lesser known venues, middle class areas. Vinyl insisted that these places are where "real" ponies come, not just uptight, snooty upper crust nobles. This was how she should get her name out there.

Octavia did have to admit it was nice not having to deal with those types on a regular basis. A good amount of them weren't particularly fond of where she lived, or her choice in companionship.

That little chestnut often lead to a punch or slap almost being thrown. 

"Babe, you know I love seeing you get all feisty. But let's remember I'm the one with nothing to lose socially from defending my mare."

Thankfully Vinyl was often there to make sure her marefriend didn't make any such mistake.

The cellist suppressed a chuckle at her memories as she waved to Vinyl before going backstage with the others to pack up. Unfortunately like most cases, Octavia had to wait to meet up with Vinyl in the front.

While it wasn't the biggest venue Octavia had performed in, it was still large enough that the ponies who filled up the seats prevented Vinyl from making her way to the backstage in time before Octavia was ready.

She could teleport, but she was too lazy to practice it often enough to get used to it and avoid a head rush. As such, she only used it in emergencies. So she waited somewhat impatiently as she shuffled through the crowd of ponies slowly exiting the hall.



Octavia began to make her way around the concert hall to the front, an unavoidable route due to the where the backstage exit was placed in the very back.

Octavia passed by a few buildings and alleys, effortlessly carrying her cello case on her back. She was already prepared for the congratulatory hug that Vinyl was going to jump her with, as usual.

She stopped in her tracks when she heard some rustling coming from the alley she was currently walking by. She looked into it, not seeing anypony. Since there was nowhere for a full grown pony to hide, she assumed it was merely a rat or cat.

More rustling occurred just as she was about to continue in her way.

"Hello?" she asked as she looked into the alley again "Is anypony there?"

What if it's a street urchin? she considered. Oh the poor thing.

She heard more rustling as an unclear figure moved about behind a trash can. A light from above suddenly began to flicker before going out again, causing the figure to become visible for a brief moment.

The light startled the figure, causing them to hide as much of itself behind the trash can as possible.

Octavia paused as her eyes widened from what she had seen.

It had only been for a moment and she didn't see them in their entirety, but she didn't need to.

It......can't be.

She had heard Lyra's ramblings and seen her many drawings, but she never once thought there could be any credibility to it all.

Yet she couldn't come up with any other explanation to what she had seen.

She had just seen a human.

Laura did her best to stay hidden from the horse, still apprehensive about interacting with any of them, but it seemed she'd been found out.

She had climbed to the rooftop of a nearby building using the fire escape, allowing her to get a view of the ceiling-less hall. 

While she watched she had discovered that there were also pegasi in this world, and that the unicorns at least had some form of magic, as she had seen quite a few using it to look at their programs.

She mentally put aside this information for later and watched the performance intently, paying special attention to the gray coated cellist. She had drawn her attention the most, unsurprisingly as she was the lead cellist.

She foolishly ignored her better instincts and descended the building so as to get a better look at the passing equines. Thus how she now found herself being slowly approached by the cellist she had focused on.

"Hello?" Octavia hesitantly called out to her again "Are....are you....okay?"

She hadn't exactly interacted with a human before. She wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Are you hurt? Or lost?"

Laura peeked from behind the can only to retreat after seeing she had gotten closer and was still coming.

"It's okay......you don't have to be afraid.....I won't hurt you."

Afraid?

Cautious was a more apt description.

But it seemed she had no reason to be from how she was speaking to her.

Not feeling any sense of danger, Laura slowly crept out from behind the trash can and stood in the partial light of the moon and city.

While the amount of light only left her partially visible, Octavia was still able to get a better look at this human. At her full height, she appeared to be as tall as herself, or any ordinary pony. She was dressed in a black, fur lined jacket, a gray shirt, jeans, and a pair of boots.

Something that caught Octavia by surprise was that her shirt appeared to have some sort of depiction of a unicorn.

The human herself was quite clearly a female from her facial and bodily features. She also had long black hair and green eyes. She was actually quite pretty. Though the stoic and skeptical expression she wore was a little off-putting.

"Um...hello there" Octavia greeted the girl "Can you understand me?"

After a few seconds, Laura nodded.

"You know I won't hurt you, right?" After another nod, she continued. "I've....never seen a human before."

For some reason Laura couldn't shake the feeling that calling herself human wasn't accurate.

"My name is Octavia Melody. What's yours?"

After some hesitation, the girl responded.

"Laura"

"Laura. That's a pretty name. Fitting for a pretty girl."

Octavia's smile faltered when Laura gave no response to the compliment, still retaining her stoic look.

"Um, it's nice to meet you Laura" Octavia said, outstretching a hoof rather quickly, which made Laura retract a bit. 

"Oh, sorry" she apologized, though still keeping her hoof out.

Laura quickly relaxed and slowly brought up her hand. She paused due to the difference in appendage, unsure how to initiate the shake. She settled for wrapping her fingers around the hoof.

My she has a firm grip Octavia noted. 

"You don't appear to be hurt. Are you lost?" Octavia asked after their shake was done. Laura gave another nod. "I've never heard of any humans in Equestria."

Laura tilted her head in confusion at the name.

"Are you from Equestria?"

"Earth" Laura said after she shook her head.

"You're from another world." Octavia mulled over this after another positive response. Of course she is. I'm going to have to take her to somepony else. And I think I know just the princess to go to.

"I think I can help you, though we'll have to meet with somepony else. Somepony proficient with magic. And she just so happens to live in the same town I do."

So they were ponies, and their world was called Equestria. And she just might be able to find her way home with their help.

"We're going to have to take a train though. It's going to be awkward explaining you to Vinyl and the ticket ta- oh my goodness, Vinyl. I can't believe I forgot. She must be worried-"

"Well hello there good looking."

"Oh!" Octavia exclaimed as she turned around while Laura dashed back behind the trash can. Octavia was now facing an earth pony stallion who was leering at her with half lidded eyes.

"I saw you on stage tonight" the stallion slurred "They had some good wine there. Now what's a pretty mare like yourself doing out here this late at night?"

Both Octavia and Laura scrunched their faces in disgust at his behavior and his breath.

"I was just on my way home actually" Octavia enunciated "If you wouldn't mind letting me pass..." she trailed off while shifting her eyes to the side as if to look back to where Laura was.

"Hang on, hang ooooon. A mare like you sh-shouldn't be walking home by herself. Why don't I escort you?"

"That's very generous of you, but I actually need to reach the train station as I'm from out of town."

"Oh it's too late to reach the station by now. Say, howzabout I give a place to stay for the night?"

What alcohol does to ponies Octavia thought in disgust. Laura meanwhile was starting to get angry, narrowing her eyes and clenching a fist.

"It's a very kind offer, but I'm going to have to refuse. I'm sure if I hurry I can-"

"Aw come on. A mare can always use a stallion to keep them company. Especially the beautiful ones." The stallion accentuated his statement by wrapping a foreleg around Octavia. Slightly difficult to do with the cello case in the way.

"No thank you sir. I-" Octavia responded as she shoved herself away from the drunken pony.

"Now look here!" the now angered stallion exclaimed "I'm being awful generous here, offering you a place to rest...and unwind. And uptight mares like you could certainly use some loosening up."

"Wha-?!" 

"And I think I deserve some gratitude. Hey, I have an idea" the stallion leered at her again "How's about a kiss? And then we can let bygones be bygones, and head back to my place."

"I'd really rather not!"

"Oh, sorry. I made it sound like I was asking." The stallion grabbed hold of one of Octavia's forelegs and started to pull her out of the alley, causing her case to fall off her back to the ground.

"My cello! Let go of me you brute!"

"Aw come on love" the stallion said, failing to see the figure running to him "Just one ki-"

"RRAGH!" 

WHACK!

Laura sent the stallion to the ground with a swift punch to the side of his muzzle as she let out a high pitched shriek.

"Argh! What the hell?" the stallion grunted as he looked up to see a silhouetted figure who was even more obscured thanks to the hit and his inebriation.

"Octy!"

"Vinyl!" Octavia called back to her marefriend, who was making her way to the alley after having heard the struggle in her search for Octavia.

The stallion grunted in annoyance as he staggered back up and glared angrily at the figure who had hit him.

Laura took a defensive stance with her arms ready at her side.

"Who the hell do you think-?!"

The stallion was cut off and both he and Octavia's eyes went wide as they saw something shoot out of Laura's hands with a distinct sound.







SNIKT!
> Confrontation and a choo choo
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world seemed frozen as Octavia and the drunken stallion beheld Laura. But it wasn't the girl they were focused on.

It was the metallic claws sticking out of her hands, shining in the moonlight.

As for Laura, a flood of memories washed over her mind when she felt the sensation of her claws cutting through her skin when she unsheathed them. Though not everything came back.

What she did remember was her childhood, or lack thereof, and the hell it was. Xander Rice's treatment of her, the kindness from her mother and sensei, her loss of them, her escape, finding the man who's DNA she was cloned from, and some of her adventures afterward. 

She now remembered why she couldn't entirely say she had a father and brother, along with the drama from the situation. 

Unfortunately, she couldn't recall any other things, including the most recent events that landed her in this reality. 

Fortunately though, she did remember being the best in a certain skill set, like her "father." And assholes like this stallion were usually the first to learn of this.

"What the hell?!" the stallion exclaimed in confusion as he stumbled back slightly, the moonlight allowing him to see the claws and what bore them.

Laura bared her teeth and growled at the stallion.

"Leave."

She wouldn't kill him. Most like him weren't worth it, and it wouldn't be in her best interest to kill a local of a world she just entered. Plus, you could do a lot to someone without killing them. She was trained to remember such things during her time in the facility.

"No hairless ape.....cat thing is gonna boss me around!"

The stallion lowered his head and charged forward to head-butt Laura. The alcohol was clearly still impairing his ability to think rationally. Laura maintained her stance, letting the stallion get closer and closer.

As soon as he was in reach, Laura jerked a knee up, hitting the stallion in the chin hard, stopping him in his run. As he stumbled back in a daze, she pulled her right arm to the left and swung it right, slashing the stallion's cheek. Right after the slash, she sheathed her left claws and punched the stallion in the same side she had made the cut, sending him to the wall.

All three moves only took a few seconds.

The stallion groaned as he got up, only to be sent back down when he received a kick to the head. He then found himself slammed against the wall, a hand on his throat and Laura looking down at him furiously, her other hand drawn back with her claws out.

"Leave" she growled, her eyes boring into his fear filled ones.

"As a stallion."

Suddenly a SNIKT was heard and the stallion felt something tracing up his leg.

"Or a mare."

His eyes went wide as he released a small whimper.

"Stallion! Stallion!"

And with that, Laura retracted her foot claw and threw the stallion aside. He quickly scrambled to his hooves and ran out of the alley.

Laura spit at the ground in disgust after the stallion had left. And then it occurred to her that her new acquaintance was still there.

She turned around and saw Octavia standing there, her eyes wide and mouth open in shock.

Laura noticed where exactly Octavia was looking and followed her gaze. She realized she was looking at her claws and looked back up, slightly worried, quickly sheathing them.

"L-Laura..." Octavia said in confusion "What....What are-? Were those metal-?"

"Octy!"

Laura and Octavia looked to see Vinyl running toward them, unaware she had arrived in time to see Laura attack the stallion.

"Get away from her!"

Laura turned to face the incoming unicorn and steeled herself for another confrontation. Octavia rushed forward only to be held back by Laura.

"Vinyl wait!"

Laura growled, ready to deliver another blow, only to become startled when Vinyl disappeared in a flash of purple. She suddenly found herself forced forward as she heard Octavia exclaim in surprise.

She spun around to see that the unicorn was now between her and Octavia, facing her down, staring daggers through her purple glasses.

So unicorns could teleport. 

Teleport.

That word resonated in Laura's mind. It had something to do with how she came to be here, but that was all she could discern. She filed it away and focused on her new opponent.

"Don't you dare touch my marefriend....whatever you are!"

Marefriend? So then she and Octavia were a couple?

A quick look at the unicorn's appearance made her skeptical of that.

"Vinyl, stop! Laura won't hurt me! Or you! At least I hope not..."

"Of course she will! You saw what she did to- What did you say?"

"I said she won't hurt-"

"No, you said.....Laura. You know her?"

"Yes. Well, sort of. I just met her. And I know she won't hurt me because she just saved me from that disgusting drunk before he could take advantage of me."

The last statement made Vinyl look at Octavia in shock and anger. She then turned back to regard Laura and raised her head, relaxing her stance. Laura also relaxed after a moment, sensing that there would be no danger.

Vinyl used her magic to raise her glasses above her eyes. "You....saved Octavia?"

Laura gave her a nod in response.

The unicorn looked back to her marefriend, who looked at her with a smile before also nodding. She looked back to Laura for a moment with softness in her eyes.

"Thank you" she said genuinely.

"Yes, thank you Laura" Octavia said right after.

Something went off in Laura's mind and she looked to the side, seeing Octavia's thrown case. She rushed to it and righted it before starting to open it.

"My cello!" Octavia exclaimed "I had completely forgotten in all the commotion!"

Laura saw no clear damage once she got the case open but looked to Octavia, silently asking for her input. Octavia quickly joined her and began inspecting her instrument.

Thankfully there appeared to be no damage sustained, the cello only having shifted a slight bit and the bow having slipped off one of its knobs, which was easily fixed.

"It's okay" Octavia assured, mostly to herself, before turning to Laura and placing a hoof on her shoulder "Thank you for checking on it."

Octavia closed the case and placed it on her back again before turning to Vinyl, who was watching Laura a little unsurely.

"Vinyl" Octavia said as she stepped to Vinyl and placed a hoof on her "She needs our help."

"No kidding" Vinyl replied before Octavia could continue "We're gonna have to sneak her out of the city and fast. I'm sure that jackass would run right to the cops, who'll probably arrest her right after looking at her. What is she anyway?"

"She's a human, and my goodness you're right. If the police get a hold of her, she'd probably end up in some lab under observation right away. We should play it safe. We need to get to the train station back to Ponyville, quickly."

"Human? Like Lyra's always ranting about before Bon Bon shoves her hoof in her mouth? Cool."

"Mutant."

Octavia and Vinyl turned to Laura in confusion, the latter hearing her speak for the first time.

"Mutant?"

"Even cooler."

"Is that why you have those-? We'll talk about it later" Octavia said with an exasperated head gesture "Just follow us Laura. Oh but it would be problematic if you're seen with us."

"I think she's got that covered babe."

Octavia looked to Vinyl and saw that she was looking up. She followed her gaze to see Laura was climbing the fire escape of one of the buildings. When she reached the top of the railing, she popped her claws and dug them into the wall, using them to help her climb the remaining distance to the roof.

Laura disappeared for a quick second before her upper half popped up from the roof, looking down at the pair. She looked left, right, and back down, conveying that they lead the way.

"Oh. Very well then."

"We should hoof it. The train's gonna get there and leave without us if we don't."

"Indeed. Let's be off then."

The two mares broke into a quick gallop with Laura following them, running and jumping across the rooftops. During the journey, with her memories mostly restored, a thought came to Laura.

Kitty and Jubilee would probably love to be in a place like this, with so many "adorable" ponies. Her father......probably not.



The trio made it to the station right before the train arrived, but they were faced with a new dilemma.

"Crap. We can't really get her a ticket with so many ponies around" Vinyl said from their hiding spot. Laura had joined them in the shadows of the station.

"Blast, you're right. How are we supposed to get her to Ponyville now?"

Laura watched the train as the ponies began boarding it and noticed none were going to the last two cars. She pointed to said cars.

"Go" she said before beginning to retreat to the back of the station.

"Wait, you don't expect us to leave you here, do you?"

Laura shook her head. "I'll get on. Go."

"Wha-?"

"She's a mutant Octy, I'm sure she can handle it" Vinyl said before hurrying Octavia along.

The pair made it to the line of boarding ponies, giving the conductor their pre-paid tickets. Octavia chewed her lip nervously, looking back a few times to the station, unable to see Laura.

The young mutant had actually climbed up to the roof from the back, and was waiting as the ponies boarded. She kept an eye on her new friend and her marefriend as they moved through the cars, eventually finding a seat, but in the penultimate car before the two empty ones.

She shook her head while looking up, but deciding she would deal with it soon enough. The conductor closed the door and called out to the front. The train's whistle sounded, the signal for Laura to get ready.

She stepped back until she reached the end of the roof. She stood there with her legs tensed as the train started to move, waiting for it to pick up some speed.

Once the train was about to start really moving, she charged forward and began a quick run to the other side of the roof. Once she reached the end, she placed a foot on the edge and pushed with just enough force.

"I still don't see her Vinyl" Octavia said worriedly as she peered out the window again.

"Octy, you gotta relax" Vinyl attempted to soothe her "Whatever she's gonna do, I'm sure it'll work."

"Well I just wish she could've told us whatever it was she was plan-"

THUD

Octavia and Vinyl slowly looked up to where the noise had originated from. They became worried as the other ponies surely noticed.

"Darn owls" a unicorn stallion said, quelling their worry "That's the fifth time I've heard one. Must be some mice or rats on the roof attracting them."

Octavia and Vinyl meanwhile continued to look up at the ceiling.

"No. She didn't just..."

"I'm starting to like this chick more and more."

"This isn't funny Vinyl!" Octavia hissed quietly "She could fall off and seriously hurt herself. Can't you....go up there maybe? Teleport out and teleport in with her?"

"And risk that rushing wind messing up my hair?"

The look Octavia gave her screamed an indignant "Really?" as she looked at her marefriend's mane.

"Hey, this is an intentional mess. And also, you want me to risk my life like her? I thought you cared about me" she said, her last statement jokingly sad.

"I meant a quick flash out and in. Not like I wanted you to stay out there for long. 

"We can't just leave her out there."

"Well I'm not that fast babe" Vinyl said regretfully "I'd have to be up there for at least half a minute, maybe a little less. She can hang on with those spikes of hers, which I don't have. I'd probably slip off immediately."

"I suppose you're right. I just wish we could do something."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Gonna freeze her flank off though. Good thing she has that jacket."

Octavia hummed thoughtfully, settling in besides Vinyl.

A few minutes later, there was a tap on the window. The pair turned to see Laura's upside down head looking at them, her hair blowing in the wind. She was using all her claws to hang on to the train.

"Oh!" Octavia exclaimed, not expecting what she had seen, which caught the attention of the other passengers. Octavia turned to look at them with wide eyes, realizing what she had done. When she turned back, Laura was gone.

"Um...thought I saw a bat through the window" she announced nervously "Couldn't really tell with the dark."

"Might've been another of those blasted owls" the same unicorn from before said.

"Sorry if I alarmed anyone" Octavia apologized, receiving a few scattered acknowledgements.

After everypony went back to themselves, another tap came from the window. This time Octavia looked, ready to see Laura, who had been watching from the top at an angle so as not to be seen.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack" Octavia hissed at the girl behind the glass.

"Pretty sure she can't hear you babe."

Vinyl recieved a glare in return, though she was right. And while Laura was well versed in how to read lips, that was restricted to human lips. Though she could make out a small amount, and surmised the nature of Octavia's remark.

Through pointing and hand motions, Laura conveyed to them to head to the empty cars to let her in. Vinyl's nod was all she needed as confirmation to get back on the roof to head to the back, much to Octavia's annoyance.

"That was a pretty big bat. And wierd looking too."

"Oh hush" Octavia said to Vinyl's teasing.

"Well! We feel like stretching our legs" Octavia announced as she and Vinyl stood up, attempting to seem normal "So, we're going to have a quick walk to the through the back cars, where we won't disturb anypony!"

"Babe. You gotta chill" Vinyl said in a deadpan voice "Nopony's even paying attention."

"Well, here we go!"

"And you say I embarrass you."

Octavia ignored Vinyl's remark as they made their way to the empty cars. They heard Laura's footsteps as they passed through and could hear the thump of her jumping to the last car. Unfortunately they came to a problem.

"The door to the last car is locked" Octavia said, which Laura managed to hear. She poked her head out from the top of the last car to look down at the pair.

"Crap. Think she should stay in the first one?"

"Too risky" Laura said from above them "Easy fix."

Laura leaned down to check the first empty car before jumping down to the car connection. She then turned to the locked door and popped one claw.

"That looks a bit too large to pick a lock" Octavia noted, only for Laura to slide the claw up the gap of the door, cutting the lock.

"That works" Vinyl said.

"And now, not only have you stowed away and damaged train property, we're now accessories to stowing away and damaging train property."

"Pretty sure that's not a thing. Besides, nopony's gonna know."

Octavia set aside her complaints as her, Vinyl and Laura made their way into the car, closing the door behind them.

Laura took a deep breath as she lightly rubbed her hands.

"Do you want us to get you a blanket?"

"I'm fine" Laura said with a raised hand of reassurance. She then laid down in a seat and curled up.

"Should we come and get you when the train stops?"

Laura shook her head. "I'll get off."

"Alright, if you're sure" Vinyl said, starting to make her way back.

Octavia remained for a few seconds, staring at Laura, who reiterated she'd be fine. Octavia relented and left to catch up with Vinyl.



Laura managed to get some sleep in the half hour it took for the train to reach Ponyville. She awoke at the sound of the whistle, quickly remembering where she was.

She crept out of the car and climbed to the top, hanging on with her claws again. Once the train slowed down, she kept herself flat to avoid being seem, and watched for Octavia and Vinyl.

Octavia placed her case on her back after getting it from the top compartment. She and Vinyl stayed behind at the station while everypony else left, keeping an eye out for Laura, Octavia clearly more so.

Once the train started to move again and nopony was left, she leaped from the train onto the roof of the station. She dropped down from the relatively harmless height to the side of the building, the sound of which alerted her new friends to her presence.

"How did you get here?" Octavia asked, which Laura replied to by pointing up "Of course. Like the first time."

"Everypony should be in bed by now" Vinyl said "You won't have to stick to the shadows much."

"Unfortunately it's a bit too late to visit Princess Twilight. You'll have to stay at our home for the night. I hope you don't mind."

Laura shook her head and followed the mares into town.

She noticed but didn't comment on how their house was split down the middle, each getting their own side modeled in their fashion. It reminded her of a scenario in one of those cheesy sitcoms her friends would occasionally convince her to watch.

"You're free to sleep in Vinyl's old room. She sort of moved into mine since we started dating."

"Yeah. Mi casa, su casa Laura."

"Muchas gracias Vinyl. Te lo agradezco mucho.

"Second language" Laura said to their looks of surprise. 

She was given a few spare, rather loose fitting pajamas after being shown to the room.

In the musician's shared bedroom, Octavia exhaled and commented on the crazy night they'd had.

"Yeah, and you know we can make it...a little crazier" Vinyl said before beginning to place kisses on Octavia's neck.

"In your dreams, Vinyl" Octavia replied, lightly pushing her marefriend away.

"Yeah, like half the time. What's your point?"

"It's been a stressful night, a lot happened and I'm tired. I'll make it up to you another time."

"Okay, fine" Vinyl relented with no hint of resentment.

"Thank you" the couple heard through the wall, causing Octavia's cheeks to heat up and Vinyl to snicker.

Laura also released a small laugh upon hearing Vinyl's. She settled into the bed she was provided and closed her eyes. She hoped, as she drifted off to sleep, that this Princess Twilight could help her, and that her remaining memories could return to her soon.

She fell asleep content, not complaining about the friends she had made and the kindness they had shown her.

She could do without the colorful DJ posters lining the walls though.
> Processing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a treed area far from civilization, a large metal figure lay on its back in a slight indent, as if it had fallen to the ground from the air. From within, many intricate systems got to work to bring the giant back to life.

Systems rebooting

...........Sensors online...........No threats detected.

Motor functions operative.

Optic receptors undamaged.

Inorganic eyes came to life with a yellow glow from the head of the metal giant laying on the ground, said eyes being accompanied by a triangular symbol on its chest. It raised itself into a sitting position and began to scan its surroundings.

From the trees and grass, it concluded it was in a forested area. Its sensors detected there was something different about the wavelengths of the area.

It then picked up something else, causing it to look off in one direction. There were signals in the distance being sent out. Signals from more of its kind. It had to follow them, so that it may regroup with the others to determine a course of action.

It stood up, its head coming above the trees as it began to make its trek across the land.

It managed to come across two more of its kind some time later. Both were laying on the ground the same as it had been.

Fellow Sentinels found. Establishing wireless communication............Sentinels rebooting.

"I shall wait for them to finish rebooting" the Sentinel said, simply standing there as it waited for the others. 

Some minutes later, the other two Sentinels came online, fully functional and soon recognizing the first. They established their connection and began to discuss their situation.

"My databanks cannot identify where on the Earth we are, nor how we came to be here" the first Sentinel said, which the other two concluded as well.

"We should go through our memory banks to recall the events that lead to our displacement" the second Sentinel suggested.

"Agreed" the first and third said simultaneously.

The Sentinels stood and stared straight ahead as their circuitry began recovering their distorted history.

"Data recovered" the trio said before going through said data, one after the other.

"Engaged in search and retrieval mission"

"To apprehend unidentified mutant"

"As so ordered by creator, Bolivar Trask."

"Reports indicated the unidentified mutant's powers were the ability to open portals."

"Portals crossing space. An ability similar to that of the mutant identified as Blink."

"They also indicated the mutant could also open portals to other realities, worlds, or dimensions."

"The mutant was also inexperienced with her powers, opening portals without the intent to do so. Objects and humans have been placed in different areas and dimensions."

"Due to these events, the mutant was labelled a threat. We were to bring her to Bolivar Trask's mutant holding facility."

"The mutant was tracked, incapacitated, apprehended, and brought to the facility successfully."

"But we were followed by members of the dangerous mutant team known as the X-Men."

"We engaged in combat with the X-Men members known as Scott Summers, Remy LeBeau, Laura Kinney, Kurt Wagner, and Jubilation Lee. Aliases: Cyclops, Gambit, X-23, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee."

"Sentinel forces proved to be semi-adequate. Many Sentinels were severely damaged by the attacking mutants. The X-Men were successful in freeing the unconscious mutant. The mutant awoke and entered into a panicked state."

"Portals began to open at random in her panic. Machinery was taken. Human security was taken."

"We were taken."

"Thus, how we came to be here."

"Unable to determine if anyone or anything else was taken."

"Wait. I saw something taken. It was our-"

The Sentinels stopped in their recollection when their sensors picked up a new signal in the far off distance.

"A distress signal. Alpha class. Only two individuals can activate such a signal. We must follow it."

The Sentinel trio began to make their way to the source of the signal, their large metallic feet booming with each step, causing the ground to shake. 

The Sentinels continued talking as they made their way to the signal. "I have made an observation. The wavelength patterns of this place are different than the ones previously recorded."

"We have noticed this as well. We suspect the portals we were sucked into transported us into an alternate dimension."

"The likeliness of that scenario is 99.3%. We must find a way to return to our reality and ensure the recapture of the mutant, and engage the X-Men if needed."

"Agreed."

The Sentinel's walking caused small animals to scurry away in fright. Trees in their way were knocked down or pushed away, causing them to break or become uprooted.

They found the source of the signal a half hour later, the sun beginning to descend. It was coming from a much larger figure composed of metal.

"This is what I saw get pulled into one of the portals."

"This could aid us greatly in finding a way to return to our own dimension."

"Yes, but this unit is in need of repair."

"Observation: Alternate dimensions tend to have alternate versions of everything, including mutants. The acquisition of one could also help us in returning to our dimension. 

"Suggestion: We should send a reconnaissance drone to scan this new world for any such mutants while we make the necessary repairs to this unit."

"That is an excellent suggestion."

A panel on one of the Sentinel's shoulders opened up and from it exited a hovering sphere with a red eye and an antenna. It flew off into the distance on the Sentinel's orders.

Any foliage obstacles it encountered were cleared with the use of retractable, curved blades that came out of the center and spun around it horizontally.

The drone determined that it's sensors could have a farther range if scanning from a higher vantage and rose into the air. Some time later, the drone finally picked up life form readings and made its way towards them.

An hour later, the drone returned with the data it had gathered from its scans. The Sentinels had finished the repairs on the larger unit and were now waiting for all its systems to reboot.

The drone came to its sender, the tip of its antenna blinking red. The shoulder panel opened, allowing the drone to reenter its respective Sentinel so it could download the data.

The data was relayed to the other two, allowing all three to examine it.

"No human signatures detected."

"Many animal signatures detected. The readings indicate half of these beings are almost entirely similar to animals from our dimension. The other half are unnatural sentient beings. By process of elimination, they are mutants."

"The majority of the sentient beings appear to be equines, divided into three classes and a fourth ruling class that is very rare. The recovered information says they are collectively identified as ponies. The classes are known as Earth, Pegasus, Unicorn, and Alicorn."

"Among the other sentient creatures are livestock like sheep and cows, along with many creatures considered mythical in our reality. These include the dragon, the minotaur, the griffon, the sea serpent, the aforementioned unicorn and pegasus and alicorn" and so on and so on.

"The drone's observations reveal that the unicorns have abilities similar to the mutants we are familiar with. They are the best candidates for apprehension and application to our objective."

"I have recovered crucial information from my memory banks" one of the Sentinels interrupted "Our creator, Bolivar Trask, has upgraded this unit with technology meant to be applied to living beings for modification, so that they may aid us in our efforts."

"This makes the unicorns even better suited for our needs. If they resist, the resistance shall be eliminated."

"Indeed."

The Sentinels all looked straight ahead when they received a signal from the larger unit they had been repairing. Its own eyes glowed with the same yellow light as the ones emitted by the Sentinel trio.

From the larger giant's forever open mouth came three words indicating it was back to full function.

"Master Mold online."
> Audiences
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Goodbye.....Weapon X."

Laura jolted up from her sleep with a vicious growl as she popped the claws in her right hand, ready to strike. She panted rapidly as she looked around, searching for the man responsible for most of her trauma.

With no sign of him and a scan of her surroundings, she recalled what had transpired the night before, allowing her to calm down. She retracted her claws and put a hand to her forehead, exhaling in frustration.

So many years and she was still haunted by a man she knew to be long dead.

After a few minutes, she caught a whiff of something, prompting her to sniff the air. She put a hand to her stomach as it growled, urging her to seek out what she had smelled.

Food.

Laura descended the short staircase and entered the dining area to see Vinyl and Octavia already seated and eating pancakes.

"Look who's awake."

"Oh. Good morning Laura" Octavia greeted their guest after Vinyl pointed her out. "I went to tell you breakfast was ready earlier, but you were still asleep and I thought you should get all the rest you needed."

"Thank you" Laura said with a nod.

"Well don't be shy. Come, sit and have breakfast. I'm sure you need it. Help yourself to as much as you like. Um, are pancakes okay?"

Laura gave another nod as she took a seat across from Vinyl.

"You sleep okay L?"

The dog tags, one of them partially cut, landed in her hand with a small clang as the helicopter flew off.

Laura nodded after a bit of hesitation.

"Not much of a talker, are ya?"

Laura shook her head in response as she proceeded to make herself a rather large stack of pancakes on the plate she had grabbed, which she covered almost entirely in syrup. She then used her utensils to cut large chunks of the fluffy discs and stuff them into her mouth. She washed it down with the glass of milk that had been set aside for her.

The two mares looked on in surprise, though Vinyl quickly put on a smile of approval.

"Right on, L."

Fantastic, as if one glutton in this house wasn't enough Octavia thought as she rolled her eyes at Vinyl's comment.

"Man, Lyra is gonna freak when she finds out we have human- er, mutant in our house."

"Are you mad?! We can't go spouting this off to Lyra of all ponies."

"Why not?" Vinyl asked, legitimately curious.

"With the way she is? In the kidnapping and experimenting/studying department, she'd most assuredly be worse than if the government got ahold of Laura."

"A.......yeah, you're probably right."

Octavia noticed that Laura was looking at them questioningly as she continued to eat.

"Oh, our friend Lyra has a bit of an obsession with humans. She's always ranting about their existence and how she'll take any opportunity to study one. Until recently, we assumed she was...how do I put this nicely?"

"We thought she was nuttier than squirrel shit."

Octavia shot her marefriend a nasty look as Laura suppressed a small snicker through her food filled mouth.

"That's one way of putting it" Octavia said, lacing her words with venom "but essentially, yes, that was our thought process."

The three delved into silence as they ate for a short while before Octavia spoke again.

"Laura" the mutant looked up at Octavia after her name was called "Would you mind if we asked you a few questions?"

Laura shook her head as she finished chewing her current wad of pancake.

"Well, I suppose the first thing to ask is if you know how you came to be here, in our world. You did appear to be unfamiliar with it, considering our original meeting."

Laura swallowed before tilting her head down to think. She took a full minute in searching through her memory, but still came up with nothing.

She shook her head with a disappointed look.

"Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

"Whatever happened messed with my memory" she replied as she tapped the side of her head "Can't remember the last few days."

"Oh! I'm sure Princess Twilight could help with that as well. She's bound to know a memory spell or two."

"Good to know."

"My turn" Vinyl proclaimed somewhat eagerly "What's up with those claws of yours? You said you were a mutant. Are they your power?"

"Sort of. They're bone laced with adamantium."

"Adamantium?" Octavia said "I've never heard of such a metal."

"Guess you don't have it here then. It's indestructible. In most cases."

"But they come out of your hands" Vinyl noted "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Every time" Laura said casually with a nod "I'm used to it. Healing factor helps."

"Healing factor? What, you heal super fast?" Vinyl asked.

"Mmhm" Laura hummed as she chewed some more of her food before bringing a hand up and facing her knuckles towards the two mares. She popped her claws and retracted them, allowing them to see her healing factor at work.

"That's really cool."

"If a little.....unsettling. No offense."

The trio spent the rest of the meal talking further, with Laura answering further questions. Mostly they concerned her powers. She also revealed she was part of a crime fighting team, most of the time, and trained or hung out with friends in her off time. 

As to her family situation, all she said was it was complicated. 

The couple decided not to press the matter further based on the answer.

"Very well, we can be off now" Octavia said as she rose from the table "Are you ready Laura?"

The girl gave a nod as she got up and left her dishes in the sink.

"You're not gonna do your morning cello practice?" Vinyl asked.

"We have some more pressing matters at hoof, Vinyl. I can skip one practice session."

"I don't mind waiting." Octavia looked at Laura in surprise.

"Laura, that's kind of you, but I think we should go to Princess Twilight as soon as possible. You need to get back to your own world after all."

"It doesn't need me. And I....kind of want to hear you play."

Laura looked away, a tad bashful as she rubbed her arm, surprising Octavia even further. She turned to see Vinyl nodding enthusiastically at her.

"Well uh....I suppose there's no harm in it."

Laura followed Octavia to the living room, where she set up her music stand, sheet music, and took out her instrument. Laura sat down on the floor in front of her, waiting for her to begin. Octavia found the situation a bit odd, but proceeded anyway. She refrained from suggesting to Laura that she sit on the couch behind her after seeing a sense of anticipation in her eyes.

After making sure her cello was tuned, Octavia proceeded to play her practice tunes. She closed her eyes, as she had played the music in front of her so many times, she basically had it memorized. The sheets were more of a precaution if she were to slip up or needed a reminder.

Laura sat in front of the musician wordlessly as she absorbed the notes of the stringed instrument. She found it impressive how good Octavia was. She made no mistakes, her movements were smooth and focused, and the look on her face said she legitimately enjoyed playing. It wasn't something to do just for money, it was a passion.

It was something to be admired.

She found herself so engrossed that she decided the music might help her. She straightened herself and placed her hands on her knees before closing her eyes, going into meditation. Something recommended to her by her surrogate father.

As Laura immersed herself into her own mind, allowing the pleasant sound waves to wash over her, she could feel her frustration begin to fade away. The frustration of both her displacement situation and her nightmares from earlier.

Unfortunately, she still couldn't recover her lost memories. But it was a minor issue, since that problem would be solved very soon. So she allowed herself to just enjoy the music.

The tone of the music was slightly cheerful and evenly paced, like something one would hear for a calm, spring setting. It actually put a small smile on her face.

Laura found herself slightly disappointed when the music ended, but was glad to have heard it nonetheless. She opened her eyes to see Octavia smile back at her in an observatory kind of way.

Octavia righted herself when Laura came out of her trance or whatever it was.

"I liked it. You play very well."

Octavia tilted her head back a bit at the compliments. They were such simple statements, yet they carried such weight to them.

"Why thank you Laura."

"I found your vibrato impressive considering you have hooves" Laura added as Octavia put away her cello. The comment caught Octavia by surprise. She turned back with a curious look.

"I've studied a lot of things, including music" Laura explained.

"Oh."

As Octavia put away her things, Laura turned and was surprised when she looked at the clock to see that about twenty minutes had passed during Octavia's practice. She hadn't even noticed.



Octavia and Vinyl had insisted that Laura do something to conceal herself as they went to Twilight's castle. 

They ran into some complications, one of which being that Vinyl wasn't skilled enough in magic to cast either a cloaking spell or disguise spell. The other was that Laura refused to wear any kind of concealing garment.

So it was with heavy reluctance, mostly from Octavia, that the trio ventured out with Laura, now in the clothes she had arrived with.

Naturally, there was gawking from the ponies going about their business. Most of the stares were of shock at seeing a being like Laura. A few zipped into hiding out of fear or caution.

Laura wasn't bothered by this in any way, so long as none attempted to attack her. Octavia meanwhile maintained a calm smile, and darting pinprick eyes that cancelled out any air of calm she attempted to put out.

"Babe, do you remember something I told you last night about being chill? And how you should do that? This is one of those times."

"I am."

"No, you're trying to be chill. Big difference."

Vinyl's point was emphasized when Octavia greeted a random mare and their child in the distance. The look of Octavia's eyes more than Laura's presence made the mare usher herself and her foal away.

"HUMAAAAAAAAAAAN!"

"Oh blast" Octavia muttered disappointedly.

"Here we go" Vinyl said.

The visual description Laura had been provided with proved accurate to the ecstatic looking unicorn making her way towards her. The speed at which she was moving made Laura think she could give Quicksilver a run for his money.

Laura had been warned that she would most likely meet Lyra. Since she apparently meant no harm and wasn't proficient in combat, Laura wasn't worried.

"I got her" Vinyl said right before Lyra leapt into the air with the intent of tackling Laura. She never made contact, as she was enveloped by Vinyl's magic before she could.

"I told you! I told you all they existed!" Lyra exclaimed, pointing to the surrounding townsponies and not paying any mind to her magical restriction "And I told you you'd rue the day I was proven right! Rue it my close minded little ponies! Rue iiiiit!"

"Lyra" Octavia said rather intensely.

"Yeah?" Lyra replied as if what was currently transpiring wasn't.

"She's not- Well, okay, technically she is a human, but she's a mutant."

"Mutant?"

"Yup" Vinyl affirmed "And a pretty awesome one."

Lyra turned back to Laura with a questioning look. Laura returned the look before raising a hand and popping her claws, making Lyra's eyes widen.

"That.....is even MORE interesting!" Octavia facehoofed while Laura retracted her claws and lowered her hand. "I have so many questions! and you have to answer them! Please?!" Laura regarded her for a moment before shaking her head, much to Lyra's disappointment. "Aw come on!"

"Can we go now?" Laura asked.

"Gladly" Octavia replied.

Vinyl released Lyra from her magic, causing the unicorn to fall to the ground with an oof. However, the anthropologically inclined mare was not so easily deterred. 

Lyra chased after the trio as they continued for the castle. She begged Laura to answer at least a few questions, while also asking some of the two mares. She was paid no mind until near the end of the short trek.

"Okay look" Vinyl said as she pulled Lyra aside "If you keep this up, you might get to study Laura's claws up close and personal. So how's about you shut up, and we'll let you stay with us while we talk to Princess Twilight. No doubt she's gonna have some questions, so you could get some answers that way. Sound good?"

"It does sound preferable to facing an annoyed mutant. We got a deal."

"Um, I beg your pardon?" Octavia said as she pulled Vinyl in close.

"Why would you make a deal like that with her?" Octavia seethed through her teeth "We want her away from Laura."

"You know she's just gonna be sneaking around spying on us. This way we can at least keep an eye on her and make sure she behaves."

"I suppose the latter is preferable" Octavia muttered as she looked away in thought "Very well. She can stay."

"You guys know I can hear you right?" Lyra asked, merely an arm's length away.

"Yes."



"Uh...Twilight?"

Twilight looked up from her book to address her dragon assistant, who was standing in the doorway to the map room with an unsure expression.

"What is it Spike?"

"Octavia, Vinyl and Lyra are here to see you...."

"Really? I don't remember setting up any kind of meeting."

"If you did, I'm sure you'd remember it. They kind of came with a guest that.....I'm sure you'll wanna see."

"Who?"

"......It's better if you just see them."

"Okay then? Send them in."

Twilight immediately understood Spike's behavior when beholding the individual that accompanied the three ponies. While not the strangest of things she'd seen, it definitely had a top place on the list.

"A human?!"

"Aha!" Lyra exclaimed, pointing an accusatory hoof. She was quickly silenced by scowls from Octavia and Vinyl before she could launch into more questions. Twilight meanwhile put her book away and rose from her chair, approaching the group. But she looks much different from the ones I know from the mirror world.

"I apologize for our sudden visit, your highness, but we're in need of some help. Or rather, Laura is."

"If you need help, then it's no trouble at all. And please, Twilight is fine. Still not too used to the whole 'your highness' thing."

"Twilight!" Everypony turned around to see Twilight's friends racing down the hall to the map room with Rainbow in the lead. "We heard about the creature going through Ponyville headed to your castle. We came right awa-" Rainbow and the others froze in their run upon seeing Laura already there.

"Oh. Sooooo do we need to get rid of her?" Rainbow asked.

"No Rainbow, we don't" Twilight stated "She's here because she needs help. Though what, I don't know yet. She was just about to explain."

"Well if help is all she needs, then we'd happily oblige" Applejack said "Come on girls, let's have a seat and find out how we can help. But we should introduce ourselves first."

Applejack came up to Laura, extended a hoof and gave her name. Laura took it and gave hers. Soon, she was introduced to all six of Twilight's friends. She was slightly unsettled by Pinkie Pie, her hyperactive behavior and ability to appear from anywhere reminding her of a certain red and black clad mercenary.

Once they were all settled into their chairs, Octavia explained Laura's situation. How she came from another world with no recollection of how, and her need of help with both.

"Well your amnesia should be no problem. I can perform a pretty simple mind spell. Getting you back to your own world however will probably be a bit more difficult."

"Well isn't she from the mirror world?" Starlight asked, her words drawing Laura's curiosity "She looks like the humans you've described to us."

"I don't believe she is" Twilight said "I never saw any humans that looked like her."

"Different world probably" Laura said "Did it have mutants?"

"Mutants?" Rainbow said.

"Uh....not to my knowledge" Twilight replied confusedly "Why do you ask?"

"Just to be sure. Not my world, or even a version of it, if there are no mutants."

"From what she's told us, there are quite a few super powered individuals like her in her world" Octavia said.

"Like her?!" everypony exclaimed simultaneously.

Laura turned to look at Vinyl, who was nudging her with a small smile on her muzzle. "Show em, show em."

Laura looked back and raised her fists in front of her. Everypony reared back when her claws popped out, a few exclamations of surprise going around.

"What in tarnation?!"

"What in the world?!"

"Awesome."

"Ooh, shiny."

"This is...amazing!" Twilight exclaimed before teleporting in front of Laura, who leaned back slightly out of surprise. "You have claws made of metal coming out of your hands?! How?!"

"Coated. They're coated in metal" Vinyl corrected "They're made of bone. Pretty cool right?"

"But they pierced the skin! How are you not bleeding?" Twilight asked as she continued to examine the claws.

"She has a special healing power."

"Healing pow-....what are you?"

Laura knitted her eyebrows, shifting her eyes in Octavia's direction momentarily. "A mutant. Like Octavia said."

"You're definitely not from the mirror world. You have to tell me about your powers. Please!"

"Yeah!" Rainbow and Lyra exclaimed at the same time. Seeing no harm in it, Laura explained her powers like she had before, with Twilight fervently writing it all down with a quill and parchment she summoned. Her claws, her healing, her heightened senses, and her adamantium.

"Fascinating" Twilight muttered in awe.

"She's like one of the characters from my comics" Spike noted as he held up an issue of X-Ponies, which made Laura humph in slight amusement.

Looks like this world has one thing in common with mine.

"Can you help me now?"

"Of course. I'll start looking into dimensional travel-"

"Twilight wait" Starlight interjected "I'm not so sure we should help her. At least not yet."

"Why not?" Octavia and Vinyl asked rather indignantly.

"We don't know her."

"We know her" Octavia insisted "She saved me from a stallion who attempted to force himself on me." That certainly caught everypony's attention.

"Well...regardless" Starlight continued "We don't know her like you do. I don't think it's a good idea to just blindly trust her."

"I'm actually with Starlight on this" Rainbow stated a little hesitantly.

"She actually does make a good point" Twilight admitted "So on second thought, we need to know more about you Laura. Would you mind answering some questions?"

While Laura was starting to feel a bit impatient, she recognized the advantage in gaining some trust with those that could help her. "I don't mind."

"Good. Now I just need to cast a truth spell on you for good measure. May I?"

Laura nodded, prompting Twilight to charge her horn to perform the spell. Octavia looked on rather apprehensively until Vinyl placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. After a flash from her horn, Twilight retook her seat as Laura looked at herself curiously, not feeling any different.

"First a test question. What is your name?"

"Laura Kinney." Laura knit her eyebrows in confusion and shifted her eyes downward as if to look at her mouth. She hadn't intended to give her last name. She then realized when she had spoken, she felt as though she couldn't help but say it.

"Kinney?" Vinyl said with some amusement. "You never told us that."

"It's working" Laura said in a deadpan tone.

"What...is your quest?" Pinkie asked in a raspy tone, earning a snicker from Rainbow and a disapproving look from the others.

"To return to my own dimension." Everypony looked back in surprise.

"Oh" Twilight said.

"I know" Spike cut in "What's your story?"

Laura hesitated at that, looking to the side briefly. Octavia realized that was something she hadn't asked herself and was quite curious.

"I would prefer not to share it."

It wasn't a lie.

"Normally I wouldn't press further" Twilight said "But I'm afraid I have to know your background to have at least a modicum of trust. I'm sorry, but I must ask you to tell us."

".....I understand" Laura said "I have to warn you, it's not pretty."

"I subjugated a whole town and then nearly destroyed Equestria with time travel out of spite after I was stopped." Everyone looked at Starlight curiously. "I thought maybe knowing somepony here has a pretty bad backstory would help."

"....A little. Mine is different though."

Laura began by telling them about her "father" and some of his background, followed by how she came to be. A company's goal of recreating Weapon X, the woman who carried and gave birth to her, her intense physical and mental training, her forced mutation and adamantium bonding, being an assassin, gaining her freedom after killing her tormentor, unwillingly killing her mother.

Everypony was in shock, most of them with tears streaming down their face. She concluded with her finding Logan, and her involvement in the X-Men and X-Force, along with an explanation for what those teams were.

She even has a tragic backstory like some of the characters in my comics Spike thought to himself while he covered his mouth with a hand, tears coming from his eyes as well.

Octavia was the first to embrace Laura in a crushing hug, followed by Vinyl, then Pinkie, then everypony else. While Laura wasn't the most uncomfortable with large displays of affection like this, she couldn't deny how nice it felt.

"I'm so sorry Laura" Octavia said once everypony broke away "I never imagined-"

"It's fine" Laura assured her.

"Well, um-" Twilight said as she wiped away some stray tears "I think it's safe to say we don't have any reason to not trust Laura."

"Agreed" Starlight said with a light whimper. Everypony else gave similar agreements.

"I'm more than happy to help Laura" Twilight said.

"We all are" Rainbow stated confidently, which everypony else agreed with.

"First the memory spell" Twilight said as she got up and approached Laura "This won't hurt. If you would bow your head please."

Laura complied, bending over, allowing Twilight to place her horn on her head. Twilight charged her horn with a large purple spark and sent her magic into Laura's mind. With a flash, the spell was cast, and lost memories rushed back to the forefront of Laura's mind. She now remembered everything.

Everything.

The mission she had been called to, the mutant they were to rescue from Trask's machines, the teammates who accompanied her, the mutant waking up and opening portals uncontrollably, being sucked into one of the portals which displayed the land she was now in. But most importantly, she remembered seeing what went into the other portals that lead to Equestria.

Laura released a grunt of worry as she clutched her head because of what she had seen. "No" she said after opening her eyes.

"Laura! What's wrong?" Octavia asked worriedly as she rushed to her friend's side.

"They're here. They came through too."

"Who?" Twilight asked.

"Princess!" Everyone turned to see an earth pony mare galloping toward them with a frantic expression. She stumbled as she came to an abrupt halt, panting heavily. "You have to come quick! Some ponies have been kidnapped!

"What?!" everypony exclaimed.

"They went into the deep parts of the White Tail Woods to investigate something and didn't come back! We went looking for them and found an area destroyed. We think they were attacked."

"What were they investigating?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know. They said they saw something really big fall out of the sky when they were looking through their telescope."

"Take us there" Laura said rather intensely. Everyone turned to look at her, seeing that she now had a deep scowl. "I'm pretty sure I know what did this."

The pegasus stammered due to barely registering Laura and her appearance. "Uh, sure, yeah, of course. F-Follow me." Everyone ran after Laura as she ran behind the pegasus.

"Laura wait!" Octavia called as she and the others started catching up. "What do you mean? What did this?" Laura growled one word in response. 

"Sentinels."
> Blades in the woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


One hour earlier


"RUN!"

"Halt, mutant."

"Stop calling us that!"

Two ponies ran for their lives through White Tail Woods, both unicorns, two Sentinels in lumbering pursuit. The two companions that came with them were already captured by one of the metal giants they'd discovered. 

In desperation, they both turned their heads around as they ran to shoot off beams of magic at the Sentinels. Unfortunately, neither of them were highly skilled in attack magic, so their blasts barely scuffed them.

"Attempted attack perceived. Non-lethal retaliation in progress." The two Sentinels raised a hand each and shot beams of energy meant to knock their prey unconscious, so as not to damage them. Their blasts just reached the ends of the pony's tails, but also caused the ground to shake.

"Crap!" one of the ponies exclaimed as more shots followed. "They can't catch up to us, but those blasts are sure to knock us off our hooves! We need to get farther away!"

"Agreed!" the other pony said with a nod. They both charged their horns and soon teleported away right before another two blasts hit the ground. The Sentinels stopped in their tracks and began to scan the surrounding area.

"Teleportation detected. Scanning........Targets found half a mile away."

"Observation" the second Sentinel said. "The targets could not run too far away from us, but their teleportation will allow them to escape."

"Agreed."

"Suggestion: Deployment of the smaller, faster units provided by Master Mold for incapacitation and retrieval."

"The calculated success of your suggestion is 99.8%. We should do it." The two Sentinels stood rigid still before panels opened on their backs, and the smaller units they spoke of were launched out. They soon took off at great speed into the forest to acquire their prey.

The waiting Sentinels picked up screams and the sound of conflict in the distance, thanks to their sensors. Some of the foliage was damaged, there was failed attempts at fighting back. The calculation had been correct.

A mere five minutes after deployment, the smaller units carried the now unconscious unicorns back to their larger brethren.

"Excellent. The new units have proven successful" one of the Sentinel's said as they both deployed metal tentacles from their wrists to ensnare their captives. "Trask will be pleased to learn of this when we return to him."

"Let us return to Master Mold so that it may begin the modifications. Once we have increased in number, we shall pursue more mutants for modification." The Sentinel indicated to the two smaller units. "You two, keep watch over this perimeter. If any more mutants arrive in search of their captured, attempt to capture them as well. If attempts to capture fail, prevent them from finding our location by termination."



"Looks like a manticore and a centaur got in a fight" Rainbow said, looking over the damaged area of the woods the mare had brought them to.

Twilight was surveying the area while Laura made closer inspections. Vinyl, Octavia, Lyra, and Twilight's friends all stayed behind, looking on in surprise. Though Fluttershy also looked around to make sure no critters had been harmed, or lost their homes. Thankfully, none did.

"Laura" Octavia said as she and Vinyl approached her "You said you believed something called...Sentinels did this. "What are Sentinels?"

"Giant robots" Laura replied as she looked at a small crater, it's ring showing a telltale scorch mark of a laser blast.

"You have robots in your world?!" Twilight asked excitedly.

"Giant ones?!" Vinyl exclaimed in equal excitement.

The two mares received looks from the others. "Sorry," they said simultaneously.

"Mutant hunters," Laura continued. "And killers."

"That's horrible!" Octavia exclaimed. "Why would anyone make such horrid machines?"

"A lot of humans don't like or trust mutants. Think we're a menace. One man, Bolivar Trask, made them to hunt us down, capture us, and do whatever he wanted with us."

"Why would they take ponies?" Applejack wondered aloud.

"They're dangerous, but kind of stupid. Scanners probably registered mutants since they haven't been here before."

"And your sure this was them?" Twilight asked.

"Yes" With her memories restored, Laura had explained how she arrived in Equestria on the way. "I saw them go through a portal to here. And I can smell the metal. But...something's off."

"What do you mean?"

"I've fought them before. There would be a lot more damage, more spread out. Even the laser craters are smaller."

"Uh, guys?" Rainbow called out. "I found something. Something I think Laura will want a look at."

Everyone ran to where Rainbow was, and were surprised at what they saw, but none more so than Luara. Triple claw marks. Carved into a tree.

But Laura knew it wasn't what it appeared to be.

"I found some cut down trees too. Looks like they were cut all the way through. Didn't you say your dad, or whatever had...?"

"Not him" Laura said, cutting off Rainbow's question.

"How do you know?" Vinyl asked.

"Can't smell him" she replied as she approached the tree and traced a hand over the marks. "And there's something different about these." She popped the claws from one of her hands and slashed below the triple marks. "Look."

Everyone took a closer look and saw she was right. The previous marks had a slight burn around them, as if the claws that made the marks had been very hot, or on fire.

"What could've made marks like that?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"Could it be...?" Laura began to wonder, until her ears caught something that made her head shoot up. A whirring sound in the distance. And heavy running, uncharacteristic of Sentinels.

"Get back! They're here!" Laura shouted as she  jumped ahead of them, taking a defensive stance and popping her hand claws.

"What do you mean?!" Octavia exclaimed. But she didn't get the chance to ask anything else. From within the woods emerged a robot. On four legs, it was a head taller than Princess Cadance, had a body resembling a misproportioned wild cat, with a bulky chest and a skinny midsection. It also had a tail and an oddly shaped head, a large glowing red eye in the center, and two smaller glowing eyes on either side. On its shoulders were cylinders that had a similar red glow.

Everyone stared in shock and awe, while Laura simply stared the machine down with a scowl. She gritted her teeth, prepared for a fight.

The robot scanned everyone, and then opened it's mouth, from which came a voice  that spoke through intercom. "Mutants identified, including five useful unicorns, an extremely useful alicorn, and the X-Man X-23. Unicorns and alicorn to be captured for modification. X-23 to be eliminated with extreme prejudice."

"Modification?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Eliminated?!" Octavia and Vinyl exclaimed.

"Useful unicorns?!" Rainbow said indignantly. "I can be just as useful! And AJ too!"

"Thanks, but not the time, sugar cube!"

"Engaging."

"AAAAHHHH!" Laura screamed as she charged at the Sentinel variant. It readied both of it's laser cannons and fired, forcing her to get out of the way. A crater similar to the ones found now resided where Laura had been. She continued dodging blasts, using the trees as shields.

"I gotcha!" Rainbow exclaimed as she sped towards the robot. Unfortunately, this model was made with more complex combat in mind. Its sensors detected the incoming pegasus, and it spun around to swat her with its tail.

"Gah!" Rainbow cried as the tail caught her cheek, sending her flying to the ground. Everyone cried her name in distress. She raised herself with a hoof and rubbed her cheek, where a very prominent mark was left. "Ow! That was like a metal whip!"

"Eliminating disposable pegasus."

"Hey!"

"Don't you touch her!" Twilight yelled as she simultaneously put a shield around Rainbow and shot a powerful blast at the Sentinel. Unfortunately, all the blast did was push the robot back. But it hadn't been prepared for the sudden attack, so it had been forced up to its hind legs. It now stood high enough to bite down on Celestia's horn. 

It stumbled a bit but soon steadied itself. It prepared a tranquilizing but powerfully concussive blast for Twilight, as an alicorn would be the best pony it could get. But it's brief imbalance gave Laura an opportunity.

"Rraaaah!" Laura screamed as she leapt from a tree. She dug all six of her claws into the back of the Sentinel, making it recoil. She made quick work of cutting off its cannons.

"I'm outta here!" Lyra said as she started to run away. She had been hiding behind a tree the entire time. "I just wanted to meet humans, or mutants, whatever! I did not sign up to get attacked by robots!"

"No, wait!" Laura called to her. "There's another!" But Lyra was too far gone to hear her.

"I'll get her!" Twilight exclaimed flying off to help the frightened unicorn.

The Sentinel reached behind itself to get Laura off. She made it retract one arm by cutting into it, but the other was able to grab her jacket from behind.

"I gotcha, sugar!" Applejack said as she charged forward to help. She gave the robot's legs a hard buck, compromising its stability and making it fall forward. It released its hold on Laura to catch itself. This allowed her to retract her claws, turn around, and cut off it's legs and tail.

Before it could find a way to stand itself up on its stumps, Laura spun around again and made a small leap. She buried one set of claws in its neck, and the other right in its center eye. She removed her claws and lines of electricity raced through it's body before it collapsed limp.

"Sentinel hound offline." Laura stored its designation in her mind before running off to catch up to Lyra.

"Ah!" Lyra screamed as a laser blast knocked her off her hooves. She turned herself belly up and began scooting away from the approaching machine. "Please! Don't kill me!"

"Preparing tranquilizing blast. You will not be permanently damaged. You are to be captured for modification."

"That's really not much of a better outcome!"

A strong magic blast to the back of its head made the Hound stop.

"Hey! You should be wanting to capture the most useful pony, right?! Well here I am!"

The Hound turned around to regard Twilight. "Your assertion is correct." Both began to charge up for another blast, but Twilight didn't fire hers. Instead, she disappeared. "Error. Target has teleported." The Hound suddenly found itself launched forward, tumbling a few times before landing on its stomach.

Twilight had reappeared behind it and blasted it in the back, with a much stronger charge this time. Unfortunately, all it did was make a large dent. Nothing seriously damaging. "Oh come on!"

The Hound began to pick itself up, until it heard a scream of rage from above. It made it's head do a 180 to see Laura falling towards it, claws first. It quickly turned the rest of its body and raised its arms to shield itself, and deploy something from its fists.

Laura was startled when her claws were caught by six, glowing ones, her foot claws having dug into the Hound's arms. She scowled at the machine. "Knockoff."

The Hound surged its arms outward, throwing Laura off of it. It quickly got up on its hind legs and rushed at the young mutant. It gave a hard swing of its laser claws. Laura blocked the strike, but the Hound's strength caused her to be pushed back by it.

Twilight wanted to help, but she feared Laura could be caught in one of her blasts, and trying to teleport in the middle of a claw fight could get her accidentally cut in half.

Laura continued getting pushed back by the Hound's strikes until she decided she had enough. With the next strike, she ducked, putting her right claws between the Hound's to pull it forward and use her left ones to cut into its arm. She retracted her right claws to grab its arm and forcefully pull herself up. She cut through its arm completely and used the momentum to reach its head and cut it off.

She pushed off the body to spin herself around and land facing it. But it didn't fall. Instead, it swung it's still intact arm at her. She jumped back out of the way, and saw the head was still active, it's center eye blinking in tandem with a newly appeared light on the Hound's chest.

"Twilight! The head!" Laura exclaimed as she evaded another strike by dodging forward. She leapt up and in a single motion, cut off the Hound's arm with an upward slash of both claws, and then brought them down to embed them in its chest. Better safe than sorry.

"Laura!"  Twilight yelled as she used her magic to throw the head. Laura launched herself off the Hound body and sliced through the head in midair. She and the pieces fell to the ground simultaneously, the latter finally shutting off.

"S-s-s-s-sen-tal -ound -ineeeee."

Laura turned her head to look at the second arm she severed, seeing the laser claws flicker before deactivating, which resembled actual mutant claws when they retracted.

"Cheap knockoff."

She turned back to see that everyone else had caught up. They were all staring in awe of her. Her cheeks flushed slightly, hoping they hadn't heard her smug remark. Instead, she found herself tackled in a hug.

"Laura!" Octavia exclaimed as she hugged her friend. "That was incredible! Smashing! Or slashing, I suppose."

"Lame, Octy" Vinyl said as she quickly approached the two, earning her a glare. "But seriously, that was wicked awesome, L!"

"I'll say!" Rainbow said as she joined in the praise. "I know awesome, and that was awesome."

The others soon joined in, causing Laura to blush and fight a big smile trying to adorn her face. She wasn't used to this kind of thing.

"Looks like that takes care of our robot problem," Rainbow said. "Now we just gotta find out where they're keeping those ponies they captured."

"No. We still have a problem."

"But you just tore those Sentinels to shreds!"

"Not the Sentinels we're looking for. These were new models. Haven't seen them before. We're looking for much bigger ones. Humanoid bodies."

"Bigger ones?!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Twilight, I need you to fly me over the forest from where we were. We can track them down faster that way."

"Sure thing. Everyone, get back to Ponyville. Rainbow should get her cheek looked at."

"Oh come on! I wanna fight! Get some payback!"

"Ya got whooped like a misbehaved foal by a smaller one of those things," Applejack pointed out. "Ya really wanna go up against, bigger, tougher ones?"

".......I think I got some teeth knocked out anyway, I probably should get checked out."

"That's what Ah thought. Come on y'all."

"That means you too, Spike."

"Don't have to tell me twice."

"I don't wanna hear it- Wait, really?" Twilight said, quite confused.

"I've always wanted to fight a giant robot with my own giant robot, not just little old me. I'll gladly sit this one out."

Lyra, Octavia, and Vinyl stayed behind. The former approached Laura a tad sheepishly. "Thank you...for saving me. I'm sorry for annoying you before."

"It's okay" Laura assured her as she patted her head. This caused Lyra to scrunch her muzzle while also smiling. Smiling because of the "human" contact, and scrunching because of the somewhat annoying act of being patted like a dog.

Octavia and Vinyl approached Laura after Lyra left. "We don't want to leave you, but-"

"It's too dangerous," Laura finished for her. "I wouldn't let you come anyway. I don't want you getting hurt." Laura gave Octavia a hug before pulling Vinyl in. "I'm gonna make sure they can't hurt you, or any more of your people."

"We wish you the best of luck, Laura."

"Don't need it" she replied with a smile. "I'm the best there is at what I do. After my father."

"Kick their shiny metal asses, L." Laura gave Vinyl a nod while Octavia rolled her eyes. 

After the two departed, Laura turned to Twilight and outstretched her arms. "I'm ready." Twilight gave her a questioning look before smirking and charging up her horn. Laura suddenly found herself seated on Twilight's back.

"Yes you are."

Laura held on as Twilight took off into the air towards their original destination, and then to the Sentinels.
> Search and capture
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ten minutes had passed since Laura and Twilight had begun their search for the Sentinels. The former requested that Twilight fly lower so she could get a better handle on their scent. But they still hadn't found them. "They're too big to miss. We should've seen them from a distance by now."

"They must've covered more ground than we thought."

"Wait. Land in that clearing up ahead" Laura said as she pointed forward. Twilight did as asked, and Laura climbed off her, sniffing the air. "They were here. Two of them. This way. The scent is stronger" Laura said as she ran ahead, Twilight following close behind. She soon stopped and sniffed again. "There were four. They separated. Two the way we came, and two further ahead. Fly up, see if you can spot them."

Twilight flew up above the trees and scanned the area. "Nothing!" she called down before descending. Laura grit her teeth and growled under her breath. "I think this might take longer than we expected."

"Too long" Laura muttered.

"Princess Twilight!" Twilight and Laura turned around to see two armored pegasus stallions flying towards them.

"Canterlot guards?" Twilight said.

"We bring word from Princess Celestia" one of the guards said as they landed. "She requests the presence of you and your new...acquaintance."

"No time" Laura replied. "The Sentinels are still out there."

"Sirs, we can't explain fully right now, but there are large robots that pose a serious threat. Me and Laura have been tracking them."

"Yes, the Princess and the Guard have been informed of the machines. She has deployed numerous of our companies to deal with them. She insists you come with us, along with the remains of the robots you destroyed."

"Laura, as much as it pains me to say, I think we should go with them. You don't deny an audience with Princess Celestia, especially if she knows about the situation. Plus, she's sent out the Royal Guard, the ponies in charge of protecting her kingdom. I'm sure they're capable enough."

"I'm not sure. No offense" Laura said, though the two guards did look offended.

"Well if they aren't, you can tell her how to prepare them. There's a lot of them, and I'm certain they could deal with the Sentinels at a quicker rate than just the two of us. I really really really think we should go."

Laura could hear and see the nervousness in Twilight. She must regard Celestia very highly and fears upsetting her. She considered Twilight's logic and considered it reasonable enough. "Okay. We'll go." She climbed onto Twilight's back and they flew off, following the pegasi guards. They stopped at the battle sight and picked up the Sentinel hound remains.

As they flew toward Canterlot, Laura couldn't help but look back at the woods and get a sinking feeling in her stomach. 



Twilight and Laura burst through the doors to the throne room, the former carrying the Sentinal hound pieces with her magic. "Princess Celestia! You sent for us."

"I did" Celestia confirmed as she stepped down from her throne to approach the pair. "You can set those down anywhere. And you must be Laura" Celestia said as she looked at the young woman. "Spike sent word of everything after you two dealt with those robots. I welcome you to our world and thank you for your help."

"Thank you, your majesty" Laura said with a respectful bow. "But there's still a problem."

"I am aware there are more of these machines, and as the guards I sent told you, I have sent out companies to deal with them."

"They don't know these things like I do. They're tough."

"And it's not just that, Princess" Twilight said urgently. "I'm afraid the ponies they've captured are in danger of some kind of process. The ones we fought mentioned something about modifications. And they prioritized capturing unicorns and me. I think they may want them for their magic. But for what purpose, I'm not sure. Any ideas, Laura?"

Laura shook her head. "This is new for them."

"This is troubling to hear" Celestia admitted as she placed a hoof on her chin. "But regardless, I'm certain the Guard can rescue the captured ponies, and any in danger being captured, and destroy these machines soon enough. I doubt we shall have to worry about this 'modification' they spoke of.

"Since you apparantly have past experience with these machines, advice on how to deal with them would be greatly appreciated."

"I think it would be better if I joined the Guard in the field. They came from my world. I should be responsible for getting rid of them."

"Your conviction is admirable, Laura. But I'm afraid I must ask that you allow me to deal with this problem, as it is my subjects that are being threatened. Plus, you and Twilight should focus on finding a way back to your dimension." Celestia placed a hoof on Laura's shoulder. "I assure you, we should be more than well equipped to handle this. We've handled worse. Though, we would appreciate any suggestions."

Laura looked up at the princess unsurely. She hadn't focussed on her size when she and Twilight first entered, but it was more apparant to her now. As well as the look she as giving her. It was one she had seen many times on different people. Her friends, the Professor, even Logan. She looked to Twilight, who gave her a similar look and a nod.

"Okay" Laura said before looking over at the hound pieces. "Do you have blade weapons?"

"We have swords, spears, and arrows."

"Can you bring some?" Celestia summoned one of each, along with a bow, having a good idea of what Laura wanted them for. Laura took the sword before walking over and plunging it into one of the pieces. She pulled it out and then tried slashing off one of the hands on a severed arm. It only went halfway through. "Needs to be sharper."

"I'll get the blacksmiths on it right away." Laura tried out the spear and a bow and arrow. She suggested not using the arrows and using the spears for the eyes and chest. 

"Can you make shields with your magic?" Celestia nodded. "How strong?" Laura asked as she cut open a hound torso to mess with the wires. Celestia called a unicorn guard over and instructed him to make a shield. Laura got a shoulder canon working and made it fire at the shield. The guard didn't falter at all. "Standard Sentinels have stronger canons. Make sure you put the best shield makers on defense."

Twilight also advised against relying on magic blasts, considering even hers did minimal damage to hounds. Celestia thanked her and Laura and gave them permission to leave as she told a guard to relay the information to the others. Laura still wasn't fully confident and still felt the need to provide hands on help. But Twilight assured her that they had indeed dealt with difficult enemies before. She hoped the Sentinels wouldn't be a challenge.



"Let me go! Let me go, you oversized wind up toy!" a unicorn shouted while struggling to get out of a Sentinel's grip.

"Resistance is futile. You will soon be subjected to modification to aid the Sentinel cause."

"Where are you taking me?!"

"That is confidential" the Sentinel replied as it made its way through White Tail Woods. It eventually reached a large  opening in the earth that sloped downward, and descended into it.

The unicorn started to struggle even harder as the light began to fade away, raising their fear. The ground eventually leveled out, and the Sentinel continued forward. The unicorn soon saw light coming from an opening ahead of them, and could tell it wasn't sunlight. Once they went through it, the unicorn's eyes widened at what they saw.

They were in an immense underground cavern, with mechanical lights illuminating the entire place. There were at least thirty of the same type of Sentinel that had captured the unicorn, many of them were carrying other ponies, mostly unicorns, to holding pens. The unicorns had what could only be described as horn cuffs that beeped, and zapped them the second they ignited their horns.

Scattered about the cavern were three much larger Sentinels apparantly overseeing the smaller ones. There were also at least fifteen Sentinel hounds, mostly guarding the pens, aiming their canons or activating their laser claws at any pony that tried anything.

But what caused most of the unicorn's shock was what sat upon a large stone chair in the center of the cavern. A Sentinel bigger than any of the others, with a panel in the middle of its torso. Whirring sounds came from the metal goliath, and the panel opened to deposit three of the smaller Sentinels.

"Observation" one of the three larger Sentinels spoke. "Master Mold's suggestion to create smaller units than us has indeed proven less time consuming and efficient to our work."

"Agreed" a second one replied.

"Ah. New Test subjects. Good" the third one said to three of the smaller units that had a pony in each hand. "Initial attempts at modification with smaller units have proven less than successful. Hopefully these will not perish as quickly, or Master Mold can take a break from making smaller units."

"Perish?!" the newly captured ponies exclaimed.

"STATEMENT" Master Mold began to say, in a slightly deeper voice than the three standard units. "THE AMOUNT OF SMALLER UNITS I HAVE CREATED APPEAR TO BE SUFFICIENT FOR OUR NEEDS. I CAN REFRAIN FROM MAKING MORE AND START USING MY NEW AND BETTER SUITED MODIFICATION EQUIPMENT."

"Excellent. Take these new subjects to Master Mold. Then go and dispose of the perished organic material." The newly captured ponies screamed and struggled, to no avail. They were brought to Master Mold, and the panel opened, releasing metallic tentacles to pull them in, and the panel closed. The ponies in the pens could only watch in horror and listen to the screams, until they stopped after a few minutes.

"PROGRESS REPORT ON THE EQUINE MUTANTS THAT THE SMALLER UNITS WERE CHARGED WITH MODIFYING."

"The organic energy referred to as magic has been successfully harnessed and channeled into the laser canon foreleg prosthetics. It has been two hours, forty eight minutes, and thirty two seconds since the last malfunction and explosion. Integration of CPU interface technology to the craniums has been the most successful. They will make excellent servants."

"WHAT OF FLIGHT CAPABILITY?

"The rocket hooves that have replaced their organic hooves work perfectly, but their four legged equilibrium makes it difficult to achieve balance in flight. We are attempting to further alter them to be upright for easier aerial capability."

"KEEP ME UPDATED."

"Yes, Master Mold."

Two more smaller Sentinels entered, but with no ponies, and both were damaged. They approached the standard Sentinel nearest to the entrance. "You do not have any equine mutants with you. Or your third companion. And one of you is missing a hand. And the other is missing two fingers."

"We have encountered resistance from what the equine mutants call the Canterolt Royal Guard. They are using primitive bladed weapons but very effectively, and with strong magic shields. Our capture attempt was a loss."

"Unlike our progressing modifications, this is an unacceptable loss. Master Mold is occupied with modifications and cannot administer repairs. Wait in the standby line" the standard Sentinel instructed as it pointed to an empty section of cavern wall.

"There is no line."

"That means you'll be attended to first."

"We do not get paid enough for this" one of the smaller Sentinels said to his fellow partner as they walked to the space.

"We do not get paid at all."

"Exactly."

"Calling for three available smaller units and two hound units" the standard Sentinel said.

"WAIT" Master Mold said, turning his head to the standard. "ARE THERE ANY MODIFIED UNITS WORKING AT HIGH CAPACITY?"

"The highest capacity the modified units are working at is 92.6%."

"HOW MANY ARE WORKING AT THIS CAPACITY?"

"Four."

"SEND THEM WITH THE THREE SMALLER UNITS AND THE TWO HOUNDS. SEND THEM TO A SMALL POPLUATED AREA. IT IS TIME THEY BE TESTED."