> Gleaner Chronicles: American Monsters
>  by sevenofeleven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Synopsis
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the changelings were driven from Canterlot, they returned to the Hive. Celestia and her mages weren’t done with the changelings. They found a way to make artifacts that could see through a changeling’s disguise and reveal the creature underneath. She also sent the artifacts to the Diamond Dog, Griffin and other nations. That meant that the Hive couldn’t get emotions from other nations too. The Hive began to implode. All sorts of changelings were drained to feel the growing hunger for emotions. A changeling princess came up with a device that could see into another world. This world had strange creatures that seemed to have similar expressions to ponies. After a meeting with the Queen, she was given what she needed to expand her research.

Margot Sommerholt, a wizard working for an alien organization is sent to work with the FBI to stop a terrorist attack. Eventually she senses some alien magic and shoots a changeling disguised as a teenager. This doesn’t stop the attack and she is forced to leave the building with the other people. While on the way out, she helps a fallen child. That delays her enough so she gets caught within the device’s explosion. Before she passes out from the pain, she sees two blue hooves wrap around her.

Margot wakes up in Equestria as a pink coated and blonde haired unicorn. Margot finds out that her powers are gone. She adapts to being a four legged creature and meets Cheerilee who briefs Margot on the current situation. Cheerilee also tells Margot to go see the Prophetess in Lower Canterlot if she wishes to go home. Later on Margot is introduced to some ponies that will accompany her on her journey. Far Traveler, a caravan leader. Skybreeze Cloud, a disgraced mage from Hoofvard and three fillies that call themselves the Sky Hoof Crusaders. After the SHC do a miracle and provide food, the group sets out for Lower Canterlot.

On the way they have some adventures and save a changeling named Nga'Devro from some zombie pony enemies called Remnants. At the outskirts of Lower Canterlot, Margot meets Empress Razorhoof, the leader of the gleaners.

Empress Razorhoof tries to mess with Margot’s mind. She wants Margot to feel isolated and powerless. That attempt almost works except for an unknown being that talks to Margot. Margot rejects the Empress’s mind magic. Empress Razorhoof leaves while a group of creatures from Lower Canterlot gallops up to them.

Margot meets with the Princesses, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. She finds out that the Prophetess has been kidnapped by gleaner creatures called shriekers. Skybreeze and Margot go to a magical archive to get some books for research. There Margot falls asleep and gets a vision of Pinkie Pie in a deep pool of water. After talking with the archivist. Margot and Skybreeze go to a research tent where Margot gets her powers back. Later on, Margot meets Skybreeze’s sister, Scry. She works with Scry and helps them find out what happened to the Prophetess. After some planning and spell casting, Margot, Skybreeze, Rainbow Dash and a group of changelings go to Skyshriek Tumult, the home of the shriekers. It used to be called Cloudsdale and the region was the home of many pegasi.

The Prophetess is saved but Rainbow Dash is severely injured. After another meeting with the Princesses and some spell casting, they find out where Fluttershy is. Margot finally gets a chance to talk to the Prophetess. The Platinum Squad, an elite group of ponies taught by Luna lead this rescue. They defeat the gleaner corrupted timberwolves and free Fluttershy though a large part of the Everfree is in flames. The group returns back to Lower Canterlot to plan and cast spells.

Pinkie Pie is in an area called Melancholy Marsh and the group has to gallop there. This time Princess Chr’Aya joins the group. Part of the way to the marsh, the group is almost overcome by the sadness but a new unicorn named Jerome Siklis saves them. He is a human wizard who specialized in mind magic. The alien organization brought him in when Margot disappeared. Jerome was investigating the mall with another FBI agent when gleaners came and attacked them. Before the Gleaners could kill Jerome, he was transported to Equestria to help Margot.

Jerome works with Margot to find where Pinkie Pie is and also casts a spell to keep the ponies safe from the crushing sadness. When they reach Pinkie’s pool, Far dives in and gets Pinkie. Also the group has been hearing the hoofbeats of a giant pony. Pinkie is hugged and returns to her old self just as GrinGrinder appears. GrinGrinder tries to crush the group with sadness but they resist. Pinkie uses her laughter and converts GrinGrinder. Foulshaper moves up on them and GrinGrinder stays behind. The group gallops away and hears GrinGrinder’s last cry of defiance.

The group gallops out of the marsh and finally meets the Train, a biomechanical horror made by Foulshaper. The Train sends a bunch of remnants and gleaners to attack them before heading south. Far flies south to warn Ponyville while Nga'Devro heads north to get help from Lower Canterlot. The rest of the group fight and retreat north until Luna comes with an army to help them. After losing some ponies to remnants, Luna’s army defeats them and the group is sent in a flying carriage back to Lower Canterlot.
> Chapter One: My sister wouldn't do that!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lower Canterlot
Celestia’s Tent

Again the nightmare came upon Celestia. She thrashed and moaned in her white and gold-sheeted bed. At first, it was just a nice dream: a warm golden afternoon sun shone through the windows into the throne room as Celestia read another scroll from Applejack. She wrote that the apple trees were in full bloom and it was a sight to see. Applejack’s plain but earnest language piqued Celestia’s interest, maybe she could take some time off.

She smiled at the idea. A bit of time in an apple orchard away from mundane politics would do her good. Celesta glanced around her throne room to make sure no pony was waiting for her decision on something, but all she saw was her attentive guards. It felt like a normal day.

A moment later, things changed.

The sunshine faded to a gelid green light. Her hackles started to rise. It was like she was being watched by something with malign intent. Celestia turned around while her breath left her body in clouds of white mist. She saw nothing. Still the feeling persisted as she faced forward again.

Then a panicked guard ran up to her, his eyes darting around the throne room. “Princess, we’re under attack!”

Before she could reply, bright green tentacles thrust their way down from the ceiling while green amorphous creatures engulfed some of the guards not being attacked. The guard near her was being pierced by one of the enemies and he howled loudly as it grew brighter and his coat dimmed to a greyish-brown color. A quick look showed that the same thing was happening to the other guards.

Celestia’s eyes widened as she saw something that she had never seen in her two thousand-plus years. Her mind was filled with so many conflicting thoughts that she was paralyzed. One set found the events happening in front of her appalling, but fascinating. Others wanted to study and catalogue. This was important data that could be useful for later battles. Another set raged that her friends were being attacked and something should be done. That was the part that stopped any response. She didn’t know what to do without making things worse. Then there were the thoughts that suggested that she would be next. She pushed those back.

By the time she finally regained her composure, the bright green amorphous figures faded away and the tentacles slid back into the ceiling.

The regal white and gold throne room was filled with the fading screams of the dying guards. When it was totally quiet, the guards turned their heads as one and faced Celestia. A chill raced down her back when she saw the poisonous green glow in her once loyal guard’s eyes; there was so much hunger. A quick magical scan confirmed her suspicions. Her guards were not alive anymore, they were animated by alien magics. She was reluctant to kill her friends even though they were monsters, she knew many details about them.

One of them was a painter with lots of potential, maybe in a few years he would resign and become the darling of the nobles. Another guard had five foals and an overworked wife. Celestia sighed. None of her guards deserved such an end, but it seemed that she was at war now. A lot of good ponies were going to die and she won’t have any control over that.
With a sob, she focused on a spell that would immolate her ex-guards quickly before they could cry out in pain. There was a bright orange flash and they were reduced to small piles of gray ash. A cold fury started to blossom in her heart because of the senseless death of her friends. Grief would have to wait, there was so much to do.

Her first task was to find her sister; with her help, maybe they could find out what’s going on. Her skin itched as she passed the streams of green light coming in from the windows. Something was wrong with the sun, but Celestia decided to deal with that later. When she reached the doors, she stopped and thought about her next steps.

Celestia briefly thought about rushing to Luna’s side, maybe she was under attack too but then she wondered if more enemies were lying in wait. It would be more prudent to slowly travel the halls like they were enemy outposts and not stumble blindly into any traps. She nodded, this was the best option. After waiting for a few moments, Celestia slowly opened the throne room doors.

What she saw was white marble halls with gold accents dimly lit by guttering torches. A thought suggested that Canterlot Castle had better lighting than that, but it faded away quickly. Celestia frowned and entered the hallway expecting something to jump out at her from behind the closed doors.

The utter silence clawed at her nerves. On a normal day, there would be a bit or some noise and voices from the guests and servants. Hearing nothing but her hooves made her think that something worse was hiding in the shadows and would be upon her soon.

Celestia stopped and tried to calm her racing heart. It took a few moments before her fear faded. Again she studied the hallway. It looked so familiar, but then a few minutes ago another area looked familiar too. She knew most of Canterlot Castle but somehow, she was lost. Perhaps this is not Canterlot Castle… She shoved that thought aside — it was just a distraction. Celestia knew she had to keep her attention on what was real and not imagined.  After a moment she decided to walk slowly and keep track of her current location. Somewhat later, she found the right sequence of hallways that led to Luna’s office.

The new set of halls were a bit darker and green fog covered the floor. She placed a fore-leg into the fog. It was cold but Celestia pushed forward. No fog was going to stop her from getting to her sister. As she pushed her way through, parts of the mist would roil up to her face. A quick sniff made her cough. The fog smelled like rancid cake. She kept cantering on.

Just when she was getting used to the dull sounding clunks of her hooves on the floor, the screams of pain started. At first, it was Luna’s cries Celestia heard. She began to gallop.

“Luna, where are you?” All she got in reply were more agonized cries. More ponies screamed. Some of them she recognized. Fluttershy’s choking sobs, Rainbow Dash’s defiant but pained screams echoed down the endless halls Celestia galloped through.

Rarity yelled. “Let me go, you-you intrusive thing!”

Twilight Sparkle yelled, “P-princess Celestia please help us!” Even Discord cried for Celestia’s aid. Each scream and groan from ponies in agony tore at Celestia’s heart. She slowed down and stopped so she could find out where the voices were coming from while the green stinking fog swirled at her feet.

And then there was silence.

She looked around and attempted to brace herself for more horrors. After a few more moments, Celestia dragged her gold-armored hooves down another cavernous hall. A thought suggested that something was wrong, after decades, nay, centuries living in the castle, she should know her way around. Again she wondered why, everywhere she went, things seemed familiar and yet not. With a frown, Celestia focused on getting to Luna’s office.

While she trotted, the silence seemed to press down on her like a overweight saddlebag. Then she heard Luna’s voice whisper, “Over here.” It seemed like her sister’s voice came from behind a door. For some reason, she hesitated. She didn’t know why.

Finally, she pushed back her vague fears and opened the door slowly. Instead of her sister, there was inky-black darkness. Something about that made a chill race down her back. Her first impulse was to think of a spell to scan the room, but she couldn’t remember any spells. She shook her head as though that would bring some spells to mind. Some light spells surfaced, but that was it. A few moments passed while Celestia tried to convince herself that there was nothing but her sister in the room. Finally, she managed to regain her courage.

“Luna, are you in here?” Celestia said. Her fear filled voice echoed. The total darkness made her hackles bristle.

“Yes, come in and close the door,” Luna said in a strained voice. Something about the way her sister sounded bothered Celestia. She couldn’t put her hoof on it but there was something wrong. Then again, it was her sister and she needed help. A bit of anger surfaced in her mind.

Celestia pawed at the floor. Her tolerance for stinking fogs and weird voices was gone. Whatever was in the darkness that wasn’t her sister was going to pay! She bared her teeth and strode angrily into the dark. The door closed behind her with an echoing boom. A bit of fear tried to rise in her mind but she shoved it back; keeping control was very important.

She knew one thing that would help; light. A simple light spell would illuminate the room and help drive away the fear that kept threatening to make her lose her composure. Celestia quickly cast the spell. Nothing happened. She blinked. It was a simple spell, something that most first year unicorns at her school would know. Her mind began to swirl. No, she couldn't panic now. That would lead to other thoughts.

Trying a more advance spell, she cast it. The darkness remained. She gulped and swallowed. The first spell she knew could be countered easily, but an advanced light spell? No, it would have at least manifested and flickered before failing. Her heart pounded a little heavier. Something was wrong.

There was one thing she could try. The sun. She could pull enough power from it to light up the room in golden warmth. One mistake and the room would be engulfed in raging flames. Any counterspells that tried to deny her desire for light would fade away. A thought snaked in. What if there were no counterspells and it was her own weakness that made the spells fail. When the spells failed, she didn’t sense any counterspells. What sort of creature could break her spells and not be sensed? She pushed that thought away. This had to work. All she had to do was to reach for the reassuring heat and light that had been with her for millennia.

Celestia focused and tried to pull the golden fire down to her. But nothing. She continued to search, continued to reach, yet she couldn’t feel the reassuring warmth that she had felt for millennia. It was gone as though it never was.

The darkness pressed in on her like cold and heavy bedsheets. Again, fear arose in her mind and this time she struggled to push it back. It took a few moments before Celestia could think clearly.

Then the thunder of hooves filled the room and she saw a green glow approach her. For a moment, Celestia wished she was elsewhere, but with a frown, she faced the oncoming ponies and creatures. Luna was the first pony to step out of the haze.

Instead of her midnight-blue coat, it was greyish-brown like the poor guards she had to kill. Green eyes looked at Celestia coldly, while a grey-brown mane filled with green sparkles waved in an unfelt breeze. A sneer covered her corrupted sister’s face. “You were too late, Celestia.”

Next, to Luna, Celestia’s favorite student was glaring at her. Twilight had a grey-brown coat and her purple eyes were now blazing-green filled with hate. Behind Luna and Twilight were other ponies with grey-brown coats.

Celestia shook her head. “I tried to get to you as fast as I could!”

Corrupted Luna sneered. “Too late now but I know one thing that could help.”

Cut by her sister’s cold tone, Celestia stepped back. “What?”

“Become one of us. It only hurts for a little bit.”

Celestia shook her head. “No. I can fix you. I can fix all of you! Just give me some time.”

Luna’s eyes narrowed and her ears went back on her head. “NO!” she said using the Canterlot Voice.

A cold wave of power flung Celestia off of her hooves and through the air. She fell on her back and slid on the floor for a few moments. Her back burned while her mind churned. The last time Luna had used her Canterlot Voice against her was when she became Nightmare Moon. Images of that terrible night threatened to fill her mind but Celestia barely managed to keep her composure.

Dismay filled her heart. She was powerless. Celestia tried to think of spells to use but none came to mind. Could she maybe talk to Luna and delay the inevitable for a bit? “Luna, why are you doing this to me?”

“You have failed to protect me and the ponies under your care. You are lucky that I have a solution that will help you. Become one of us.”

The ponies chanted “One of us!” Behind the chanting voices, something was banging on a door.

Celestia swallowed and looked around. Above her was a large tendril, it began to grow toward her. The chanting grew louder as the tendril approached Celestia. She wanted to move but she couldn’t feel her body, it was like an insensate block of lead. In a few moments, the tendril would penetrate her body and start tearing her life away. It got closer and closer while the banging and chanting got so loud Celestia wanted to cover her ears.

The green throbbing tendril got close enough to touch her white coat...

Celestia flung herself to an upright position while screams died in her throat. Her bedroom was dark and the knocking made her hackles rise. She could barely concentrate on a basic light spell but she managed it. Her bedroom sprung into view as she tried to calm down. Slowly her racing heart slowed down enough for her to wheeze out “Wh- Who’s there?”

“It’s me ‘Tia,” Luna replied.

It took Celestia just a moment to light the candles and open the door using her telekinesis.

Luna stepped in and rushed to Celestia’s bed.

“You’re sweaty and the tent stinks of fear. Are you alright?” Luna asked, her ears and tail drooped.

“No,” Celestia said. “How did you know I was having a terrible nightmare?”

Luna looked away and back at Celestia. “I cast a dream-tracking spell on you. I came over as soon as I could when I felt the fear levels rise.”

“Why?”

“You’ve been yawning a lot lately. I’m sorry for violating your privacy, I chastised Margot, one of the alien ponies for doing something like this and now I’m doing it too.”

I’m glad you’re monitoring my dreams. Maybe you can find out if they’re coming from Empress Razorhoof?”

Luna nodded. “Maybe.”

Celestia patted an area on the bed right next to her. “It will be like old times when we were young.”

It took Luna just a moment to hop into bed. “Celestia, I know you may not want to hear this but it’s possible that these dreams are from you. You worry too much.”

Celestia looked away again, her magenta eyes clouded with memories. “...so many ponies died before we escaped. Maybe I should have fought more?”

Images of trusted friends and colleagues turned into monsters started to fill her mind. An almost limitless river of green light flowed through the streets. Celestia pushed the frightful scenes to the back of her mind. She looked back at Luna.

“No ‘Tia. You fought enough. There were just too many. Even with all of your power, you couldn’t handle all of those monsters. We left before we were overwhelmed by the enemy.”

Celestia frowned. “There is a lot to worry about. I have this feeling that another horseshoe is going to drop and we will be scrambling to defend ourselves.”

Luna sighed. “Have you forgotten the prophetess? She warned us two months before the Gleaners came. I would’ve wanted more time, but two months is better than none. If more horseshoes are going to fall, she would tell us.”

Celestia looked down. “I don’t know...”

Luna waved her left forehoof. “Why? We’re doing pretty well. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie have returned and the camp’s morale has risen.”

“How do you know that?”

“I’ve been able to sense more optimism in pony’s dreams and more ponies are smiling.”

Celestia nodded. “Well, that’s good.”

“We also have the help of alien ponies. Margot and I made an, um, anti-air system. If those foul shriekers come back, they will be blown apart.”

Celestia remembered the first time she saw the shriekers.

She remembered that day, it was warm and that added some melancholy. Orange late-afternoon sunshine covered the tents. This was the type of day she would try to spend some time in the gardens of Canterlot Castle. Maybe even sit in the rotunda of the southern gardens. For a moment, a small smile played around her lips. Those were wonderful times. The flowers and the company were the highlights of such days.

Celestia pushed the thought away. Being sad because she would never go back to the gardens ever again was counter-productive. Almost everypony depended on her being strong and hopeful. Even if the Gleaners and their horrible empress were defeated tomorrow, she was quite sure that the lovely flowers and vegetation had succumbed to corruption. It would be her or somepony else’s task to destroy the travesties that probably grew there now. Her lost gardens were just another item on a tear stained list of things she missed. With a sigh, she focused on her guest in her tent, and not her feelings of loss.

She looked at Rainbow Dash and resisted the urge to cry. Her red eyes looked a bit sunken in and her ribs were starting to show. Celestia knew that Rainbow wasn’t eating or sleeping well because of the loss of her friends in Cloudsdale and the destruction of their home weighed heavily on her.

Rainbow peered at Celestia. “What?”

“When was the last time you had a good meal and some sleep?”

Rainbow waved her left fore-hoof dismissively. “I eat and sleep fine.”

Celestia sighed. “Rainbow Dash, I can see your skeleton when I close my eyes.”

Rainbow frowned. “Really? I’m not that skinny. Wait, you’re trying to tell me something, aren’t you?”

Celestia laughed. “Yes, I am. You need to take care of yourself. If you don’t you won’t be able to do what matters.”

Rainbow looked away from Celestia. “There’s so much to do. Eating and sleeping just gets in the way.”

“Do I have to hire a pony to make sure you sleep and eat?”

“I’m gonna need a herd for that. At night I can see the faces of my lost friends and those I sent to their deaths. This responsibility is so heavy. How do you handle it?”

“I make sure I eat and get enough rest so I’m strong enough to handle my responsibilities. If you need help, don’t forget to ask me. After a few centuries, I might have some sort of a clue.”

“Thanks—” Rainbow was interrupted by the alarm horns. “I knew they would attack. I gotta go.” She unfurled her wings and flew out the door.

Celestia followed her into the air.

In the west, a grey-brown cloud was moving toward the section where the different guilds had placed their tents. Heavy losses here would definitely cause a large loss of morale since the guilds were mostly responsible for keeping the refugee camp going. She didn’t want to think what would happen if the bakers and sanitation guilds were decimated.

Celestia frowned, she knew she wasn’t going to like what she saw, but she needed to experience it first hoof. Below her, ponies were pointing to the cloud and yelling. Guards were moving in to help evacuate the civilians in the area.

A few moments later, she was close enough to see more of the creatures Rainbow had called shriekers. They were greyish-brown ovals covered with spikes. Several flew over some tents and with a blast of green energy set them on fire. The sound made Celestia’s ears twitch. A pony ran out the burning tent and the shriekers vaporized it with another blast of energy. There was nothing left but a bloody mist. Then the shriekers continued their attacks.

Rainbow looked back at Celestia. “Did you see that? I’m gonna make them pay! You should land. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

Celestia frowned. “I’ll be alright. You go get them but be careful.” Rainbow nodded and flew off. Her speed burst caused a wave of air that roughly shoved Celestia back. She just flapped her wings and flew closer to the battlezone.

On the ground, unicorn mages had created magical shields and other unicorns were casting fire spells at the shriekers. Burned and burning bits rained from the sky. Several pegasi were able to evade the invaders and kick some enemies, that either stunned or killed them. Then a blue blur flew in the middle of the shrieker swarm and exploded into a rainbow of colors.

Celestia smiled. Sonic rainbooms were pretty effective against flying enemies. When the lights faded, there were just a few shriekers left that flew around in circles like they were dazed. That made it easier for changelings and pegasi to mop them up. She watched as healers and fire ponies galloped underneath her to put out fires and heal the wounded, but the flames from some of the burning tents were going out and unfortunately, the shriekers didn’t leave any wounded ponies. It seemed like there was little for them to do, Celestia, on the other hoof, had some work studying the enemy and coming with strategies to beat them. She compared gleaners and shriekers.

Shriekers were weaker than gleaners because they could be hurt by physical attacks, but they had their own attacks while gleaners just drained ponies. Even though all of the attackers had been killed, Celestia could see that if more of these creatures attacked, the camp could be devastated. She didn’t want to think about what could happen if shriekers and gleaners attacked at the same time.

“‘Tia?”

With a jerk, Celestia’s mind returned to the bedroom and her concerned sister. “Sorry, I was remembering a shrieker attack. It would be good to see them destroyed.”

“Also, Jerome is a master of mind magic. We could use his power against Empress Razorhoof. And we also have the help of the changelings.”

Celestia huffed. “Not those creatures. I know that Queen Chr'YSalis is going to stick a knife in our backs as soon as it’s convenient.”

Luna nodded. “Maybe? But she needs our help too. Maybe we can find a way to feed her brood without causing too much trouble here. Please don’t forget that we owe them for rescuing the prophetess. Most of the rescue team died.”

Celestia looked away for a moment and back. “I don’t trust them.”

“I agree, but we need their help. Princess Chr'Aya seems honorable and maybe with her help, we can give the changelings what they want.”

Celestia nodded a bit. “Yes, Princess Chr'Aya seems alright, though her sister Princess Chr'Ida rubs me the wrong way. She reminds me too much of some grasping nobles I know. Thanks, I feel better. Maybe I’m worrying too much?”

Luna shook her head. “No. Your worries are still valid. We do have to remain vigilant. Rarity and Twilight Sparkle are still missing. I’m confident that they will be found soon.”

“Well, Luna, that seems to be everything.”

“Good. I’ll get my mattress so I can sleep next to you. If you get another nightmare, I can sense it and maybe turn it into a regular dream. If it’s something from the empress, I will wake you.”

“No need Luna, this bed is big enough for two.”

“‘Tia, you thrash and kick while you sleep. I don’t need to wake up with bruises. My mattress is fine enough for me.”

“Do you need help bringing in your mattress?”

The bed creaked as Luna climbed off. “No, I am okay. Thank you for asking.”

Celestia laid back and wondered what horrors the enemy was planning for them.
> Chapter Two: Performance Anxiety
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stifle Swamp

Foulshaper, a grayish brown bear with piercing green eyes sat in the middle of his lab. The sight of his green glowing equipment and torn pink flesh should have raised his spirits but it didn’t. Not even the sight of his greatest creations sleeping in their cages couldn’t bring a smile to his face. Only one thing could bring him this low, failure and his impending death.

His executioner was a being that he had served for many centuries, Empress Razorhoof. Well, that was the name she had in this world. Ponies respected and revered alicorns, so the Empress was an alicorn. Foulshaper could’ve been an alicorn, but he wasn’t into ponies. So he chose the form of a bear.

He knew of some gleaners that didn’t bother with having a form, they thought that it was vain. All that power to constrain oneself to a physical body could be used for other purposes. Foulshaper didn’t know of any gleaner that thought that way, but the Empress mentioned there was one Gleaner Lord on an occupied pony world that had similar thoughts. Every once in awhile they would sit and talk about many things besides their work.

From her, he learned about the Vile Council, the leaders of the Gleaners. These beings were almost gods. Most of the missions to subjugate worlds came from the council, they would tell Razorhoof and she would pass on anything relevant. He could tell she feared them greatly. On a whim, they could kill the Gleaner Lords in charge of a world and replace them with others. It was rare though. They could force the Empress to kill her minions if they became a liability. Foulshaper was quite sure she removed several minions that worked with her. One day they were gone and she wouldn’t speak of them other to tell him what needed to be done. A chill raced down his back; maybe this time, he would disappear?

Foulshaper frowned, he wasn’t responsible. Most of the failures were really his minions’ fault. He spent centuries fighting the almost universal saying, “It’s so hard to get good help.” Again, his mind went over the problems he had with making useful servants.

The first group was Gleaners, green glowing amorphous forms. To a non-Gleaner, they all looked alike. All of them fed on life energy from sentient organic creatures called Essence. Lords just had more magical power and were more intelligent. Another benefit was that they didn’t have to hunt, depending on where they lived there was an essence pool to handle their hunger and spellcasting needs. The creatures had some interesting abilities.

Like ghosts, gleaners traveled through solid matter. Also, they became invisible too. A few could cast spells. Their greatest ability was how they used their hunger for essence to create more minions. Fully drained enemies became allies, and they would spread their hunger to others. Foulshaper used that to great effect when attacking towns.

Defenders usually would have their military units facing Foulshaper’s forces. He then would send gleaners to feed on the ponies and creatures some distance away from the front lines. That would create a disaster for the forces in that town because they couldn’t fight a war on two fronts. Also having to kill relatives or even essence hungry foals would make the most hardened soldier hesitate. There were some drawbacks to using gleaners.

Even though most couldn’t be harmed by physical attacks, they all could be hurt or killed by magic. Also, they didn’t like being cannon fodder, but there were others that would fit that role better.

Completely drained enemies become Essence Husks. Spy gleaners noticed that the ponies called them Remnants. Creatures who only lived to regain what was lost. Since they didn’t get tired, there was no limit other than running out of victims. This was handy during battles. Their single-mindedness was a strength and a weakness. Morale wasn’t a factor, so they would just keep attacking until there were no more enemies. Sometimes, the purity of purpose became a deadly flaw.

Since Remnants only cared about getting more essence, they weren’t very flexible. Drained pegasi couldn’t fly or, much less walk on clouds. Foulshaper found that out the hard way when he saw them falling as he attacked Cloudsdale. Husk unicorns did blast enemies with magic to stun them, but that was the best they could do. Some gleaners could control Remnants for better results. Pegasi still couldn’t fly, but they could use blasts from their wings to create blinding dust storms. He heard that some unicorns were able to do more sophisticated spells, but that seemed unlikely. Once the local population was subdued, a large army of Remnants was too much of a burden. Most of them were destroyed, and the rest kept in storage areas. After studying their flaws, he came up with a new creature.

He created Shriekers; pony-sized balls of greyish-brown spikes that feed on solar energy. They couldn’t fly as fast as the speediest pegasi, but they had an affinity for teamwork. Since the creatures didn’t have any limbs, they couldn’t do any melee attacks. To balance that, he gave them the ability to create an energy blast powerful enough to vaporize threats. A group working in unison could cause even more damage. Some of these creatures were smart enough to learn magic on their own. Foulshaper realized they needed one more thing: A leader. He created a king, King Slashscream. His new king needed a kingdom. What better place for a flying monarch than the city in the clouds, Cloudsdale? He flew there with an army of gleaners and the new monarch.

Foulshaper remembered that day.

He remembered the cold that bit through his fur and the sun was just rising; the patrolling griffins and ponies were gilded by the light. Slashscream waited with his forces. The patrols formed up and faced the invaders. Several ponies and griffins flew back to the city to warn the others.
Then Slashscream and his minions began to hum then it changed to a scream. A whitish-green wave of power crashed into the city. Buildings disintegrated. Ponies and other creatures fell on the clouds unconscious or dead.

Foulshaper felt the hunger of the gleaners behind him. “Wait. I want to see what the King can do. You will get fed.” So far, he was impressed by the king and his army.

They swooped down on the ponies lying on the clouds and killed the ones that were still alive. Foulshaper grinned as the defenders were reduced to a red bloody mist. However, his smile faded when he spotted more ponies wake up and fight back. There were even some unicorns that managed to create shield spells against attacks or use their magic to blast the invaders into flaming bits. Then the remaining griffins attacked, and this time they found a way to dodge the enemies' blasts. Since the attackers didn’t have any melee abilities, they were torn apart quite easily. Slashscream forced his army to pull back and form up, but the spells from the unicorns were causing a lot of casualties.

A blue blur appeared, and it managed to avoid blasts and take out more minion with a well-timed series of punches and kicks. For a moment, it slowed down long enough for Foulshaper to see who or what it was. A cyan colored pegasus mare with rainbow colored mane and tail hovered for a few moments like she knew he was watching her. Fear filled Foulshaper’s, heart. It would’ve been easier to just kill the pony, but Razorhoof had ordered that none of the ponies containing the Elements of Harmony were to be killed. Foulshaper knew from centuries of working for Razorhoof not to go against her orders. He hoped that he could drive her away.

He called some gleaners to him and sent them to capture Rainbow Dash. They weren’t as fast, but they didn’t tire. If  Rainbow were to take a break to catch her breath, his gleaners would be all over her. Every few minutes, Foulshaper called for more reinforcements and then he sent them after Rainbow Dash. A quick glance down at Cloudsdale showed that the forces attacking the city were having more success.

Most of the defenders on the cloud were now Remnants and they rampaged through the city. Slashscream and his remaining minions were focused on trying to stop Rainbow Dash, but with little success. Their numbers were dwindling fast. Then suddenly, a bright flash tore through Foulshaper’s eyes. Colorful images were burned into his burning retinas. To make matters worse, his head throbbed from the attack. As a side effect, his levitation spell failed and he plummeted out of the sky.

After several frightful moments, Foulshaper regained flight and flew back to the city. He wondered if they had won. There were only four minions left serving Slashscream now and they were flying in aimless circles. The Remnants on the ground were climbing to their hooves.

Slashscream wobbled toward Foulshaper. “Hey you guys, stop doing that! Get over here before I knock the spikes offa ya.” He turned to Foulshaper, ”I want that blue nag with the rainbow mane dead! Dead!” Foulshaper didn’t want to argue about it so he just nodded.

“I need more minions. Can you make more for me?”

“Yes, we can go back-”

“No, here! There is a power source not far away. I heard some of the sky ponies talk about a ‘Rainbow Factory’ We could use it to make more minions. If we leave, we will lose control of this place. I want this place!”

Foulshaper nodded. “I need more equipment to make shriekers. I’ll give you command of the forces here. Don’t waste them. We won’t be getting more for a while. I’ll go back and get my tools.”

When he returned, most of the defenders were either dead or had fled. He smiled, the memory of working with Slashscream to control the strange pony building’s magic was one of his best.

Eventually, they were able to turn the rainbow factory into a factory that made shriekers. It seemed like Foulshaper had found the right mix of obedience and proactiveness that would be useful. Unfortunately, over time, he found that his optimism was premature.

Slashscream abducted the Prophetess from the sprawling refugee camp where most of the Canterlot ponies lived. Instead of keeping her for the Empress to study, he decided to kill her. Somehow, ponies were able to sneak into Skyshriek Tumult, the converted home of the shriekers and rescue the Prophetess. Losing her was an error punishable by death. Then again, Slashscream wasn’t the only one to lose an important pony.

Fluttershy slipped through Foulshaper’s paws. Well, kinda. While exploring the edges of the Everfree forest, Foulshaper found an ambitious timberwolf that he was able to corrupt. The changed creature adopted the name of Rotvine Crushroot. Rotvine brought members of his pack to Foulshaper so he could bestow power on them. It seemed like a good deal; Rotvine would rule a part of the Everfree and provide useful info on the area. Later on, they became  Fluttershy’s jailers. Again, somehow she was freed by ponies, and half of the Everfree went up in flames. Foulshaper didn’t know what happened to Rotvine. Even though he had recruited creatures to do the work for him, they failed. There was one creation that didn’t fail him. The Train. The Train didn’t fail him because it just rode on its tracks unless Foulshaper needed it to leave them.

He remembered when he created it.

He remembered how the hot sun shone down on him as he stood next to the silvery tracks. In the distance, a steam locomotive pulling several cars thundered toward him. Foulshaper smiled. The ponies who got on to escape mayhem and chaos were going to get quite a surprise. He cast a spell that would stop steam engines. Then he teleported the engineer to a spot right next to him.

He pointed a claw at the fear-filled engineer. “Watch, my little pony, and see something amazing!” When the train ground to a halt. Foulshaper used his power to paralyze all of the passengers. He wanted to make sure they didn’t miss the fun things he had in store for them. A moment later, green energy flew from him and tore the life from most of the victims. Seconds later, a green-tinged stream flew back. The taste was much more vibrant than what he could get from the essence pool. After that snack, he was ready to work.

Foulshaper walked up to the train and again focused his will. With a growl, he used his gleaner power to grab the remaining live ponies and fused them to the cold metal. They tried to struggle, he felt them fight against the melding, but his will overrode theirs. Black metallic pony faces appeared along the sides like they were etched. Eyes flashed in the windows of the passenger cars. After that, the locomotive awoke with a shuddering steamy cry.

“Yes! My child, you’re awake. I have to do one more thing.” He focused his power in his left paw until it shone like a bright green star. Then he slammed it on the tracks. For a moment, the entire rail system was a part of him. Then that feeling faded away as the rails turned into melted flesh.

“As long as you travel along them, you will be fed. Remember, you can leave the tracks when I command it.” The Train whistled in agreement. “Now, my Train, deliver your cargo of woe to all stations!” It left Foulshaper alone with the engineer.

He turned his attention to the witness. “Well now, you don’t look like something that could survive traveling around areas with all sorts of monsters. That’s okay, I’ll mark you so they will avoid you then I will give you a message to pass on.” A bright green glow covered the engineer who writhed in agony as his mind was overridden to be a herald. When the spell was done, the poor victim got up. “Well, go on and do your job.” The new messenger galloped away to the north. Foulshaper watched him. Unlike The Train, his life was probably going to be pretty short. Few creatures could endure having their minds destroyed and remade.

Like The Train, he was totally obedient. His latest creation was quite content to ride the rails until his next command. Foulshaper shrugged. He would try again on another project. The next construct would have been his best, but it was flawed.

Losing Pinkie Pie could definitely be blamed on him. Unlike the other situations, where he was too far away, this event happened within walking distance. Razorhoof turned a section of the marsh into a place of sadness geysers and pools of tears. Then she worked with Foulshaper to make a guardian named Gringrinder, who would make sure Pinkie stayed in her pool.

He used some of Pinkie’s essence and gleaner magic to create a giant clone, except this one, had straight red hair and could crush enemies with powerful emotions. That part came from Razorhoof. She also gave him a bunch of spells to scan and view the area. If something went wrong, he could see exactly what was going on. Several spells were connected to Gringrinder.

When she stood up, Foulshaper thought he had the perfect guard, but he still added a killswitch in case she turned against him.

In time, his misgivings would be proven right.

The jangling of the security spells broke Foulshaper out of his designing trance. He rushed over to one table as viewspells showed him what was going on at Pinkie Pie’s pool. It looked like some ponies had her on the ground. It took a moment for him to accept what he saw. The sadness geysers were enough to keep Foulshaper away, and yet there were ponies right in the middle, waking up Pinkie Pie. He glanced at the other viewspell which showed Gringrinder moving toward the ponies. He should’ve felt some relief, but somehow, he felt things were going to get worse.

Foulshaper glanced from viewspell to viewspell as he saw things collapse. Somehow, Pinkie Pie was able to convince Gringrinder to become her friend. The viewspells didn’t have sound, but Foulshaper could sense what was going on by looking at faces. Instead of a frown, Gringrinder smiled. Feelings of anger and betrayal burned through his heart. Foulshaper activated the killswitch, but it failed. With a roar that rattled the devices on their tables, he rushed outside.

While he rushed to Gringrinder’s location, two feelings fought in his mind. One was volcanic raging anger. He felt betrayed by his creation. All he did and it turned against him. The other one was pure fear. Failure to recover Pinkie Pie would definitely annoy Empress Razorhoof, and few minions did that too many times and survived. He hoped he had a chance. Foulshaper ran faster.

He reached the edge of the sadness geysers when the wave of happiness hit him. The bits of joy he got from the discussions with Razorhoof were just weak and cool embers to the overwhelming warmth that filled him. His ancient and malicious heart cracked. It was almost like the times before he was a monster hiding in a noisome swamp making abominations. Foulshaper hoped for another wave to come, and shatter his heart like glass, so he could just die with a smile on his face.

Moments later, nothing happened. Foulshaper pulled himself out of the stinking cold muck of the swamp and raced toward Gringrinder. The greyish-brown forest blurred as he ran. Finally, he reached the traitorous creature. Foulshaper focused and cast the killswitch spell just as she was focusing on another happiness burst. Her bright blue eyes dimmed as the spell did its work. She uttered a mournful cry as her life faded away. He sent a message to the Train to stop nearby and unload some Remnants and gleaners. Then he grasped her head. The rest of the memory was a red rage-filled haze.

He looked around his lab, as it maybe would be his last time here. As though his gloomy musings conjured her up, Empress Razorhoof’s voice came through a viewcrystal, “Foulshaper, come to the throne room.” Foulshaper sighed and cast the security spells for his lair. He took another forlorn look at his newest creations then left.

Outside, the mangled head of Gringrinder was stuck on a bloody pole. Foulshaper ignored it as he concentrated on invisibility and levitation spells. With a sigh, he flew into the afternoon sky. Reluctantly, he thought about what she could do to him. A quick and painless death was the best outcome, but then again Empress Razorhoof was a master of Enchantment, mind magic.

She could put all sorts of horrible things in his head, and he would believe it. The image of O’vioj surfaced in his mind...

That poor creature was the object of a mission back when he and Razorhoof had different names. For this situation, she was called Arikaya and, well, Foulshaper forgot his name in that world. He hated the fetid steaming city lit by a bloated red sun that climbed ponderously to its zenith then as slowly fell down to sunset. The stink and shine of copper was everywhere. He hoped that the mission could be quickly done, but it seemed to take ages to do what was needed.

The Vile Council had sent them to investigate why the last delivery of essence was low. It didn’t take Foulshaper and Arikaya long to find out that O’vioj the Pale, a non-gleaner creature, was feeding on essence. Normally, such creatures wouldn’t get any benefits, but somehow O’vioj found a way. He also agreed to meet them in private to discuss the situation. Foulshaper just knew that this was a trap.

O’vioj the Pale was the Lord of the Copper Tower, a building that dwarfed the massed hovels around the Royal Quarter. In his private chambers, the shiny copper walls reflected the images of Foulshaper, brawny adventurer carrying a sharp-edged copper halberd and Arikaya, a tall thin woman wearing a green cloak with light green details. On her dark haired head was a black circlet. The last image was O’vioj the Pale, a white pile of gluttonous flesh wider than two or more men sitting on a floating copper chair inscribed with bright green sigils.

Arikaya gazed at O’vioj. “I don’t understand. Why are you having problems delivering essence to the Vile Council.”

O’vioj wheezed for a moment. “Someone in my inner circle cast a gut rot spell on me. Since you’re not from around here, let me explain. Gut rot causes the victim to have problems digesting their food. A few slices of bread suddenly didn’t fill the stomach anymore. Two loaves were needed. As the spell progressed, more and more food is needed until the victim starved to death in the midst of plenty.”

Arikaya nodded. “Surely a mage of your stature could sense and deal with such a spell. Right?”

O’vioj wheezed again. “Yes, but the spell was subtle and I have great appetites. By the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. I did punish the one responsible, but the damage was already done. I didn’t want to spend every waking hour eating. There are other hungers I wanted to sate.” He smiled. Foulshaper wanted to look away, there was something disgusting in O’vioj’s sharp-toothed smile. O’vioj continued, “I found a cursed lore book that showed me how to use other’s life energy to feed myself and bypass the gut rot damage. The essence came in handy, though there were side effects.” His body sloshed wetly in his chair.

Arikaya sighed. “You could’ve contacted the Council.”

“Are you that naive? Your foul council would’ve gotten rid of me and gotten someone else to take my place.”

“Well, I see that you’ve done a wonderful job.”

The red sun shone on the flushed face of O’vioj as he sat in his copper floating chair. “Petty Gleaner Lord bitch. You want to challenge me? I know spells that would crush your skinny body to mush. I also learned how to use essence to increase my power.”

Arikaya just smiled. “Vyyka cake is so tasty, the frosting is thick like flesh and the insides ooze with oola sauce red as blood.”

O’vioj peered at Arikaya. “Did the glickas take your mind? This is no time for discussing pastries-” O’vioj looked at his left hand, and licked his pale fleshy lips. Quick as a wink, he pulled out a copper dagger, and cut his hand off. Foulshaper was surprised at how sharp the dagger was to cut through an arm so quickly. Meanwhile, O’vioj cut pieces off of his doughy white hand and gobbled them down. Sometimes, he spat bones on the plate, and when his hand was finished, he raised the shiny copper plate to his face and licked all of the blood off. The disgusting spectacle made Foulshaper’s stomach roil but he managed to keep his food down. Would O’vioj die now? He didn’t, he cast a greedy hungry look at his slowly spurting stump.

Another slice and part of his arm lay on the plate like a bloody bone-filled cookie. O’vioj just popped the slice in his mouth and smiled. He continued to cut off more slices from his arm, but his movements were slowing down. Foulshaper figured he was dying, also he was running out of bits to cut off on his left shoulder.

O’vioj wheezed. “It’s like eating a bit of Heaven on this foul Earth.” Then he took his last breath and died with his eyes open. The chair fell to the floor with a dull clang that echoed through the entire tower.

Arikaya smiled. “The Lord of the tower has fallen. We have more work to do.”

He had to know. “Did he die not knowing what was going on?”

Arikaya smiled even wider. “No, I showed that gluttonous creature that he had a belly full of his own flesh instead of his favorite pastry. The mix of emotions was quite tasty, though it was too much along with the blood loss for his malformed heart.”

That memory almost broke Foulshaper’s concentration, but he managed to continue flying. After a few minutes, the green glowing towers of Canterlot came into view. He wanted to savor his dwindling time alive, but he worried that being late would make things worse.

After a sigh, he added more power and dived toward the Royal Air Balcony - the place where messengers could land and go directly to the Princess with important news... except now there wasn’t a princess on the throne. An Empress ruled now.

Foulshaper landed with a grunt and looked around. The Remnant and gleaner guards next to the door bowed to him. He nodded and passed the open dark wooden doors. Stained glass windows painted his grey-brown fur with all sorts of colors. He ignored it.

He stopped before the golden throne room doors and watched as Remnants unpacked several boxes of pony statues. These weren’t ordinary statues - inside them, there were real ponies, contorted and twisted. Foulshaper could taste the pain and fear coming off of the awful artwork, and even though he was worried about dying, the emotions from the petrified ponies brought a smile to his face. This was the work of Eya Sore, a true gleaner artist. Foulshaper hoped to meet her, but first, he had to survive today.

He approached the doors and they opened. The last time he was in the throne room, it was to celebrate their success at taking Canterlot. Other than some of the banners being removed, it was the same white and gold motif. Empress Razorhoof, a thin bright green alicorn with black eyes sat on a throne that was two sizes larger than her. She was busy sorting through a pile of pale green scrolls with dark green ribbons. Below the throne, the shrieker king waited impatiently. He kept bouncing back and forward.

To Foulshaper’s left, he noticed a podium with two strange lights on it. One had a steady green glow that was almost too bright to look at. The other one’s glow waxed and waned. He tore his gaze away from the strange orbs to focus on business.

Foulshaper nodded. “King Slashscream.”

King Slashscream nodded back. “She’s treating us like guano! It’s so petty.” Foulshaper wanted to tell Slashscream that she could hear him, but then again he should be smart enough to know that.

The Empress fixed Foulshaper and Slashscream in her dark gaze. “Both of you have performed poorly. Losing two of the Elements of Harmony is something that is worth serious punishment, but losing the Prophetess in addition to that...that  is a much graver failure.”

Slashscream thrust his spikes at the Empress. “The ponies surprised me, but with your support, I can crush them all!” Foulshaper’s ears and tail drooped. He was expecting a killing blow soon. It seemed like Slashscream was going to make the Empress even angrier.

The Empress leaned forward, “Foulshaper, you need to exert more control over your creations. Slashscream should know better than to point his spikes at me.”

Foulshaper bowed. “Your Majesty, I’m-I’m sorry, but Slashscream is his own creature.” He could feel Slashscream give him an angry look.

Empress Razorhoof sat back on her throne. “Foulshaper, your habit of giving incompetent creations important tasks reflects poorly on your judgment.”

Slashscream bristled. “I think your decision to keep the Elements of Harmony alive is an incompetent decision. Also, I think your command to keep the gray sky pony, the Prophetess, alive is a terrible decision.”

The dark voids of Empress Razorhoof’s eyes grew as large as the throne room, and Foulshaper felt like he was falling into them...

Foulshaper found himself in the sky, the ground below was a cloud-shrouded gray mass. He wondered how he got there. There was no teleportation energy surge, he would’ve sensed that. Maybe. Teleportation magic wasn’t an area of study for him. No matter, it would take a moment to focus on a levitation spell, and his plummet to the ground would be stopped. It wasn’t like this was the first time he had fell while a spell failed. That’s when he got a shock; the basic levitation spell was just some nonsense in his mind.

He checked the other spells in his memory, while the ground crept closer. For some reason, all of the spells were turned into worthless lines of childish poetry. Fear tried to move into his mind, but he pushed it back. How did he lose his spell memories? It didn’t make sense. Then the image of O’vioj’s pasty face appeared in his mind.

For a moment, he felt a bit of relief. He wasn’t really falling. Empress Razorhoof was using her enchantment magic on him. The feeling faded away as he realized he had no way to fight the mental illusion, or whatever it was. Every time he tried to concentrate on anything, he would get distracted. The wind whistling past his ears, the feeling of falling, it all felt so real.

Foulshaper remembered hearing about the power of the mind, and how impressionable it was. If a person died in their sleep, they would die in real life. That idea drove him to try and break out of the spell, but again he failed. Another thought suggested that maybe this was all for the best. Foulshaper shoved that thought back, he wanted to live. He wanted to see his greatest creations grow up and reach their fullest potential. No, he wouldn’t accept death so easily. A quick look down showed the ground leaping up to grab him in a crushing embrace…

He was back in the throne room gasping for air. For a moment, he thought about blasting the Empress with magic, but his anger faded away to cold embers. So he just gaped open-mouthed until the commotion next to him grabbed his attention.

Slashscream was lying on the floor sobbing, “No fall no fall!” Foulshaper felt a bit of pity for the creature. He looked at the Empress, who bore a smile on her face. He could tell she liked humiliating her minions.

She frowned and pointed to Slashscream with her left forehoof. “Compose yourself, you imbecilic spiky creature!” Slashscream sobbed for a moment and finally stood up. Once Empress Razorhoof knew she had his attention, she continued. “If I sense even an iota of attitude from you ever again, I will dredge up such horrors from the foul muck you call a brain, you will wish for death. Do you understand?”

“Y-yes, Empress,” Slashscream said.

Empress Razorhoof turned her void-dark eyes on Foulshaper. “Don’t make me do your work for you. Tell your creatures who rules here and what’s appropriate behavior, or we will have problems”

Foulshaper nodded. “Yes, Empress.”

Empress Razorhoof looked back at Slashscream. “Listen carefully, you ignorant creature so you know these things. There is a Tree of Harmony, it is a source of the Element’s power. Until we either control or destroy it, we can’t kill any of the Elements of Harmony. ‘Why?’ your tiny spike brain asks. Well, if we kill one, the tree will pick another pony. We might get a respite for a bit, and then we will be under attack from somepony we don’t know. By holding one or more of them, we could stop them from interfering with our plans. There is also the chance that we could corrupt them to serve us.”

Slashscream nodded.

Empress Razorhoof continued. “By killing the Prophetess before I had a chance to interrogate and or corrupt her, you would have deprived us of a chance to learn more about our enemies.”

She raised her voice a little, “You do realize that if we kill all of the ponies, we lose the emotions and life we feed on. Our job here is to make the ponies suffer, not to kill them. Now, the Vile Council, the ones who hold our lives in their cruel claws, are concerned with our slow progress. I must explain to them why it’s taking too long to pacify these ponies. Alas, you clueless spiked creature, you don’t know of the threat from the crystal ponies from the north. If the two of you hadn’t made a mess of things, we would be in a better position to pacify this region so we could deal with the northern threat. I’m so glad that Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were in the hands of competent guardians offworld. If they were entrusted to you, we would be feeling the full might of the Elements of Harmony and the Princesses now.”

Empress Razorhoof got off the throne and walked to the podium. She pointed to the bright orb. “This is Sunscour. The other one.” Then she pointed to the one that changed from bright to dim. “This is Moonsour. Treat my children well or death won’t be a refuge for you. They require a safe place to grow. Feed them pony blood and gleaner essence. Foulshaper, you are responsible for Sunscour. Slashscream is responsible for Moonsour. As they grow strong, they will tear command of the sun and moon from the feeble princesses hooves. Once my creations have control, well we will see. I’ve left instructions in the podiums.” She vanished with a blaze of green.

A smile covered Foulshaper’s muzzle, showing his white and sharp teeth. Death wasn’t going to fall upon him yet. Of course, the Vile Council could decide to wipe them all out and replace them with other Gleaner creatures, but until then, he had work to do.

Slashscream floated up to get his instructions. “Well, we survived.” Foulshaper nodded then stepped around the podium to get his instruction scroll.  He felt almost happy, he was alive and there was something new to work on. The ponies are going to see some wonderful things real soon, he thought as a smile crossed his face.
> Chapter Three: Strawberries and worries
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Royal Guest Area
Party Hall

Pinkie Pie’s pink tent with blue highlights was filled with the hum of conversation from happy ponies. Waiter ponies trotted from table to table bringing tasty pastries. For a few hours, the refugees were treated to a small respite away from worries.

There was one pony that wasn’t so happy. A pink unicorn with a dirty blonde mane and tail aimed her gray eyes at what was left of her strawberry cake. It was tasty, but her worries stole the flavor out of every bite. Margot Summerholt had a lot to fret about.

If someone had told her she would be in a world with sentient ponies enjoying desserts, she would’ve scoffed at the idea. What she heard about and knew, there were no such things as non-primate equine worlds. Well, if she got back someone was going to revise their theory. Margot wanted to return to Earth, there was so much to tell.

The gleaners that ravaged Equestria were very powerful. She had first-hand, um, first-hoof experience. The Shatterleg and other strange wasteland areas showed how much magical power they had to change the land. With it, they were able to cause so much ruin. Also, they were able to drive alicorns who controlled the sun and the moon out of their castle homes. At least the ponies here knew about magic.

Back on Earth, the defenders were oblivious to the existence of magic. Tanks and jets were no match for the right spells. One electricity-blocking spell would turn any vehicle into a block of uncontrollable metal. What hope did the humans have when even magic-using ponies were being messed up? D-Core, her employers, would help, but they had only so many wizards. Again, Margot frowned. Her thoughts were getting too morbid. She turned her eyes to one of her friends.

Far Traveler, a medium-sized pegasus stallion with a brown coat, waved his hooves around while telling of his adventures. “There I was, right in the middle of a group of vicious Remnants with loudly chomping jaws.” He looked around at his enthralled audience with his brown eyes. The light shone on his black mane and tail.

Skybreeze Cloud, a large unicorn mare with a light blue coat, kept her green eyes on his glass of grape juice. She used her telekinesis to move his drink away from his flailing hooves.

Margot thought that having a red-and-white-striped mane and tail strange, but a few months had shown her other strange hairstyles.

Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom who had a pink bow in her hair. “I bet you two bits, he spills his drink.”

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo. “No way. Skybreeze is too good at moving it. I bet you two bits, he finishes it.”

They bumped fore hooves.

“Too bad Sweetie Belle isn’t here,” Scootaloo said.

“She didn’t feel like partying. I told her we would stay with her, but she told me to go.”

“I know that Jerome was trying to help, but...”

“You gotta let that go, Scootaloo. He said he was sorry.

Scootaloo nodded as one of Far’s fore hooves almost won her two bits.

“Wow, that was close!” Apple Bloom said.

Margot looked away from two of the Shining Hoof Crusaders. That brought to mind another worry, Empress Razorhoof. For a moment, she felt isolated and alone. The conversations faded away. A quick shake of her head broke that up and brought her back. No way was that monster going to get inside her head. Eventually, they were going to meet again, and this time she had an ace - or ass - in the hole, Jerome.

Jerome Siklas, a guy who was now a beige coated unicorn stallion with curly brown hair had arrived in Equestria in the nick of time. Margot and several of her friends were being beaten down by weaponized sadness, and he managed to save them. Unfortunately, his flippant attitude seemed to annoy almost every pony he met. She saw in his brown eyes that he was just somepony who meant well, but sometimes his mouth got him in trouble. He was also an enchanter. She hoped that he could help fight Razorhoof. One more worry remained.

Margot sighed. She wasn’t sure what to think of the changelings. Back on Earth, she killed one disguised as a teenager. That didn’t stop their strange devices from exploding or do whatever they did. Jerome might know, but they haven’t had time alone to discuss how he got to Equestria. On one hand, um, hoof, she could see why some ponies saw them as threats.

On the other hoof, she saw the bravery of Nga'Devro, a changeling they found in the Shatterleg Wastes. Also, Princess Chr'Aya, a small changeling with a light blue mane and tail, had admitted that they were responsible for bringing the Gleaners to Equestria and Earth. She could’ve skipped or evaded questioning, but instead, she told them what they needed to know.

Changelings had committed acts of war against two worlds which resulted in many deaths. They should be punished, but Margot wondered what D-Core would do to them. Then again, she was a Field Wizard and usually, the legal department handled these issues. All she had to do was get back to Earth. Again, Margot wondered if the prophetess would let her.

Margot turned to Jerome who was watching Pinkie like he was in love or she was a threat to them. Jerome had been spending a lot of time with her. It was no big deal. They were adults and whatever happened was none of her business. Then again, she was a bit curious about what was going on.

Again, like an annoying fly, her mind went back to dealing with Empress Razorhoof. She thought that maybe Jerome, who was an enchanter might be able to give her some tips.

Margot tapped Jerome. “We need to talk.”

“Huh, wha?” Jerome tore his eyes off of Pinkie to look at Margot.

“I need some lessons on how to fight Empress Razorhoof.”

Jerome sighed. “I can’t tell if you have an affinity for enchantment magic.”

“Come on, give me something. I don’t want her in my head again.”

Jerome frowned. “You do know invokers - energy wizards - are the hardest to teach enchantment magic to.”

Margot’s eyes narrowed. “Really? I’ve learned magics other than invocation magic. Conjuration, divination and others..”

Jerome looked away then back at her. “Fine, I’ll see about teaching you some stuff tomorrow. Let me get back to the party. You should try to enjoy yourself. You don’t know when you’ll be back in the crap, slogging away.” He turned to face Pinkie.

A gray pegasus mare with a blonde mane and tail opened the door. Her golden crossed eyes scanned the room. All of the conversations stopped as ponies looked at her.  Whispers of “The Prophetess” followed her as she made her way to Margot’s table.

When she reached the table, she said, “Some of you must come with me to my tent. The time to rescue Rarity and Twilight Sparkle is neigh, um sorry, nigh. The Messenger has made a way!”

Celestia finished chewing and swallowed a piece of strawberry cake. “Can you tell us where Rarity and Twilight Sparkle are? We could put together a plan of attack.”

Princess Luna nodded.

“I’m sorry, Princess Celestia, but there’s no time for planning in this world, the portal will close soon and you won’t get another chance to save Rarity and Twilight Sparkle. When the rescue team crosses to the other world, they will have time to plan there. This world is similar to this one, but also very different.”

Applejack brandished a celery stalk. “Ah figured those ornery Gleaners had them stashed somewhere else. Ah’ll, go.”

Rainbow Dash waved her right crutch. “Aw yeaaah! Count on me, prophetess.  Let’s get the egghead princess back!”

Margot remembered how Rainbow got hurt when they rescued the Prophetess. It would have taken a human a lot of time to move from coma to wheelchair to finally a crutch.

Fluttershy sighed. “Um. I guess I will go. I hope this world isn’t scary.”

Pinkie Pie jumped up and down with excitement. “Hey, maybe this world will be like the comic one. We could get cool superpowers. It’s gonna be fun!”

Celestia and Luna traded glances.

The Prophetess sighed. “I’m sorry, but none of the Elements of Harmony can go. If something goes wrong, we could lose you to the gleaners. Far, you and your team must go.”

Far looked up in surprise. He had been wiping grape juice off his leg when the prophetess came in. Skybreeze’s efforts to save his drink had failed. “Why my team? The Platinum Squad would be better.”

“The Messenger wished for the services of your team. He didn’t elaborate,” The Prophetess said.

Apple Bloom started to dig around in her saddle bag for bits, but Scootaloo tapped her and shook her head.

Princess Chr'Aya got off her bench where she was sitting with Nga'Devro. “I was with the team for a bit. Am I needed?”

The prophetess noticed that one was missing at the table. “No Princess Chr'Aya, you are not needed. Where is Sweetie Belle?”

Princess Chr'Aya’s ears drooped as she sat back on the bench.

Scootaloo frowned and left her bench to walk up to the Prophetess. “Sweetie didn’t feel like partying today.”

The prophetess looked down and touched Scootaloo gently with her left forehoof. “I know of her suffering. It breaks my heart. Know this, all of you. Rarity and Twilight Sparkle live. Please bring Sweetie Belle to my tent and pass the joyous news to her. With Sweetie’s help, Rarity can be brought home.”

Then the prophetess looked up. Her bright golden eyes were filled with magical power. “You must leave soon if you wish to succeed in your mission. Please follow me. Scootaloo, you must go get Sweetie Belle.”

Margot watched as the members of Far’s group followed the Prophetess. She wanted to discuss her deal. The Prophetess had promised to send her home after Pinkie Pie was rescued.

Margot cantered to catch up with the Prophetess. “Wait, you promised me I would be sent home.”

The prophetess turned and smiled at Margot. Before she could do anything, the prophetess eyes focused and her mind was filled with a blizzard of images. Petrified ponies filled with fear, a large but somewhat familiar city, a strange streetwise zebra and a building that caused her eyes to burn. Her sight filled with red and shrunk down to black. She passed out from the overload.

Jerome had been sitting at the table. It seemed that the prophetess had ignored him. He was quite content to sit next to Pinkie and ask her more questions about Ponyville until he saw Margot fall. He was filled with dismay. He wondered what happened to Margot as he left the bench.

The Prophetess pointed at Jerome with her left forehoof. “You must come too!”

“Go where? What did you do to Margot?” Jerome asked while his eyes narrowed..

Far and Skybreeze walked up to the prophetess.

Far frowned. “What did you do?”

Nga'Devro’s horn began to glow. “Nga'Devro is unhappy with how you treated Margot!”

“I’m sorry about how I behaved, but the portal to the other world won’t stay open much longer. Please hurry. If it closes before all of you enter, the mission will fail,” The Prophetess said earnestly. “Far, all of your team must leave now if you want to see Rarity and Twilight Sparkle again.” She turned and left the tent.

Far looked around and then left. The rest of the group followed him.

Skybreeze panted while still focusing on the telekinetic spell that carried Margot. “This is very irregular.”

Jerome galloped along with the ponies and wondered if they would make it. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle galloped alongside him. She even gave him a wink. Scootaloo just nodded in his direction.

“So they’re getting the band together again?” Jerome said and smiled.

That comment just made frowns break out on Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s faces.

Sweetie Belle looked up. “We haven’t done any singing, or played any songs. What are you talking about?”

Jerome sighed. “Well, I meant that the group is back together. You, me, Skybreeze, Margot, Far, Nga'Devro and you guys.”

Scootaloo peered at Jerome. “Yeah, so?”

Jerome looked forward, and then at Scootaloo. “Wait, why are you guys going? Margot told me what you did earlier. Saving Fluttershy and stuff. I saw you do spells later in the marsh.”

Scootaloo sighed like this question was so self-evident that anypony would’ve known. “We are the SHC, Shining Hoof Crusaders. The Messenger of Oonte chose us to help save Equestria.”

“Yeah, but aren’t you guys kinda young for this?” Jerome said while gazing down at Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle looked at Scootaloo then at Jerome. “Scootaloo, relax. Jerome, we are older than we look and we wanted to help. Maybe that’s all we need.”

“Fine but there are a lot-” Jerome stopped as he saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle give him stink eye. He sighed again. “Fine. You guys are on a mission from God.”

Sweetie Belle wrinkled her nose. “Who?”

Jerome just kept running.

The Prophetess opened the door to her gray and gold tent. Jerome saw a bright whitish blue oval floating above the floor. Far was the first to stand in front then he stepped back a bit.

The Prophetess glanced at him. “Step in and move off to the side so the other ponies won’t hit you.”

He swallowed, and then stepped into the portal. Apple Bloom jumped through with a squeal of delight. Nga'Devro strode through without a comment. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo jumped into the portal like they were in a ride at a water park.

Skybreeze paused for a moment, then walked through the portal herself. Jerome took one last glance at the prophetess before running into the portal. He hoped he wouldn’t regret this.
> Chapter Four: Small ponies in a big city
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unknown City
Rooftop

Lowering grey clouds covered the city as cold rain tainted with malice poured down on the roof of a particular apartment building. Then a group of small multi-colored ponies fell out of a blue-white portal.

Margot awoke on a frigid concrete roof while icy needles stabbed through her fur.

Everypony else squealed about getting rain in their eyes.

Far screamed. “It burns! What kind of world is this?”

Margot kept her eyes closed while trying to concentrate on scanning the area. Then the stabbing sensation stopped. She opened her eyes.

Nga'Devro had cast a telekinetic shield that acted like a giant umbrella. It flashed green as the raindrops struck.

A quick scan showed that, other than the malice that made the rain feel extra cold and biting, there were no dangerous chemicals. Margot climbed to her hooves. “Is everypony okay?”

Skybreeze shook her head. “I don’t think I will endorse this place for a vacation. Very few ponies will appreciate malevolence tainted rain.”

Far moved his fore hooves away from his tearing eyes. “Is it too early to ask for a refund?”

Nga'Devro looked over the rooftop area and noticed that there was an entrance just a few steps away. “Nga'Devro suggests that we go inside.”

Jerome nodded. “Great idea.”

Margot glanced at the SHC. Sweetie Belle seemed a bit sad, she kept looking down at the black asphalt of the roof. Scootaloo was looking around like she was a tourist. Her violet eyes were wide with curiosity. Apple Bloom on the other hand was looking at Margot.

She walked up to Apple Bloom. “You guys okay?”

Apple Bloom nodded.

Scootaloo pointed at the buildings. “They’re so much taller than the ones in Ponyville.”

Sweetie Belle looked up. “Manehattan is like that.” Then she sniffled.

Apple Bloom gave her a tap. “Rarity is here somewhere. We’ll get her back.” Then she looked at Margot.

Margot nodded. “Yes, we will find Rarity.”

For a moment, a smile surfaced on Sweetie Belle’s face and then it faded away.

Margot swept her gaze over the area. It looked like they were on a rooftop in the middle of a large city. It could be Manhattan or Chicago, She couldn’t see any landmarks. One thing she did see that seemed strange was that the concrete had a distressed look to it like it was exposed to some sort of corrosive substance. Her first thought was the rain was responsible, but after another scan, it just didn’t seem to have enough to affect concrete like that.

She made her way to the doorway then she used a bit of telekinesis to open the door. It rattled in her grip.  Skybreeze walked up to her to see if she could help out.

Jerome looked around. “Ya know, we should be indoors soon. Who knows what could’ve seen us?”

Margot focused and used her telekinesis to pick the lock.

The lock clicked then Skybreeze opened the door. Darkness filled the doorway until Skybreeze cast a light spell.

Margot used her telekinesis to flick a light switch on. Now they had light from a bare bulb hanging from a bunch of wires. She didn’t like seeing lights like that. It seemed so shabby. The idea that they might be in a ghetto building didn’t make her feel safe.

On the left side was a door that had “Elevator Access” on it in red letters. She turned and looked for the rest of the team.

Jerome ran inside followed by Far.

Apple Bloom ran after them with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Skybreeze cantered in and looked at the elevator room. “I wonder what’s in there.”

Margot just shrugged then she ran in.

Nga'Devro was the last one in. With a green flash, the umbrella shield was dispelled.

Far looked around. “What do we do now?”

Jerome looked around for a moment. “We should check and see if anyone or anything has sensed our arrival.” Then he looked at Margot.

Her horn glowed with a blue glow as she passively sensed for any living creatures. She thought it was annoying that Jerome couldn’t do a scan as well.

“No living creatures for at least two blocks,” Margot said while wondering what happened to the area.

Skybreeze looked around, there wasn’t enough room to turn around unless she went down the stairs. “What about dead creatures?”

Margot wondered if Skybreeze spent too much time reading about zombies.

Margot passively sensed for any magic based objects in the area. There were a lot, but the power level was low. She tried again filtering out those results. That left her with nothing. “No undead nearby.” Of course, such a scan missed killer robots but Margot figured those weren’t a threat. She resolved to use some divination spells later to find out what they should be afraid of. “Let’s go down stairs a few floors and pick an apartment to rest in.”

Apple Bloom’s stomach growled. “Mahgot, maybe we can get something to eat too?”

Margot looked downstairs. “Yeah, sure.”

Skybreeze led them downstairs. She also conjured a small light so they could see what floor they were on. The ponies walked down two flights of stairs.

Scootaloo pointed to the floor number text. “What does that mean?”

Margot and Jerome traded glances.

Jerome said, “Eighth floor.”

Margot wondered if they would have to translate everything. It could be a real pain. She didn’t have any training with language based magics. As the group traveled downstairs, she wondered why the building was so quiet.

They decided to check out the apartments on the eighth floor. The dark hallways were a beige color with green mouldings. The hallway split into a left and right section.

Margot looked to the right. “Do you want to go there?”
Far looked around. “Yeah, let’s go right. I don’t like how quiet it is.”

They carefully stepped down the hallway until they reached the first apartment.

Margot put her muzzle at the bottom of the door. It didn’t take long for her to smell several dead ponies. “Some ponies died here.”

Apple Bloom looked down. “We should give them Oonte’s Grace.”

Sweetie Belle yawned.

Scootaloo shrugged.

Jerome looked down the left side of the hall. “How about we deal with that before we leave. Maybe this side is dead pony free?”

Far nodded and walked past Jerome to the apartment that was the closest to the elevator. He checked under the door. “I don’t smell any dead ponies here.”

Nga'Devro pointed at the wall and the elevators. “Why is the paint scratched here?”

Far looked at the wall.

On the other side of the hallway was a bunch of open windows that looked across the street to another dark apartment building. Margot glanced at the windows while she walked to the door next to Far. She hoped that nothing was watching them from across the street. Her nervousness increased.

Skybreeze walked up next to Margot.

Apple Bloom tapped Margot. “Mahgot, are you sure this is the right thing to do? Going into pony’s homes while they’re not there?”

Margot exchanged glances with Jerome.

Skybreeze looked around. “I find this situation quite unsettling. I’ve been in apartment buildings like these and there’s some sort of noise. What happened to the ponies living here?”

Nga'Devro also looked around. “Nga'Devro worries that maybe some disease or disaster befell the ponies that lived here.”

Jerome looked at Margot. “Can you scan for disease or at least radiation?”

Margot frowned. “Radiation yes, disease not so much. I have to take some time for that. I really think we should be inside and not in the hallway.”

Far looked out the hallway window before looking at Margot. “Those dead ponies you smelled, were they fresh?”

“No. Let me scan for radiation.” She started a passive scan. An active one would attract attention. Margot sensed that the radiation levels were low and safe.

“What is ‘radiation’ Margot?” Skybreeze asked.

“It’s a kind of energy that makes ponies sick. There’s more but it’s complicated.”

Jerome looked down at Apple Bloom. “Ya, know what? I don’t like standing around in the hallway. How about we take our discussion inside. If the owner drops by, we’ll work something out.”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “We’re breaking into someone’s home without their permission.”

“True but what if they’re dead?” Jerome said.

“It’s still wrong,” Applebloom said then shook her head.

Far sighed. “You know what? We need to get inside and find out more about this city. Arguing in the hallway is such a poor start. Margot pick the lock so we can go inside. Apple Bloom, I’m sorry, but we will have to break into this pony’s home so we can be safe and maybe fed. I don’t want to be wandering around in a strange city hungry and clueless. Do you understand?”

“Yes Fah.”

“Good. Let’s get inside.”

Margot picked the locks on the dark beige metal door.

Skybreeze pushed the door with a hoof then she moved the light into the foyer.

After that,  Margot used her telekinesis to turn the foyer light on.

Pictures of dressed ponies lined the pale green walls. Some of the scenes were from trips to amusement parks and others were to local parks. Margot noticed that all of the ponies were dressed. She had an idea this was important. A moment later she stepped into the foyer so the other ponies could step in.

Apple Bloom closed the door.

Skybreeze turned off her light spell then she hit the light switch in the hall.  She pointed at a picture of a brown stallion standing next to a pony in a mouse suit. “What is it with ponies and mice? See how happy he is.”

Sweetie Belle laughed. “Mice are cute.”

Skybreeze huffed. “I had a mouse in my lab. The wretched little beast gnawed a hole in my cereal box then it befouled my breakfast. I was on my second bowl before I knew something was wrong.”

Scootaloo laughed.

Margot looked away so she wouldn’t laugh.

Sweetie faced Skybreeze. “Second bowl?”

“I was hungry that morning and just shoveled down the first one.”

Jerome looked at the pictures then faced Skybreeze. “What happened to the mouse?”

“Well, it had the nerve to stand in front of me and preen with it’s filthy little paws. I guessed it thought I would gush about it. No, you disgusting creature. I got someone from another lab to cast an exterminatus spell. No more mouse or gnawed cereal boxes!”

The hallway was filled with silence while Margot looked at a picture of the stallion sitting on what looked to be a rollercoaster car. He was sitting on the bench like a human, not sprawled like a pony.

Skybreeze pointed at the same picture. “Changelings at an amusement park. Strange.”

The group moved past the kitchen to the living room. There was an extra deep couch along with a tv set and a cable box. On the right side a hallway led to a room and a bathroom.

Nga'Devro used his telekinesis to turn on the lights in the living room then he went right to the mail stacked on the table. The first thing he picked up with his telekinesis was a Victoria’s Secret catalog. “Nga'Devro likes how these mares are well formed though they all seem to wear some sort of clothing.”

The SHC sat on the couch along with Far and Jerome. He used his telekinesis to turn on the tv and the cable box. “Nga'Devro pass me a piece of mail.”

Nga'Devro used his telekinesis to give Jerome some mail. He glanced at it. “This apartment is owned or was owned by a David Bently.”

Scootaloo wrinkled her nose. “What kind of name is that for a pony? DavidBently?”

Jerome just shrugged. “Let’s see if he paid his cable bill.”

Margot moved in close to the couch. One thing she noticed, the remote had buttons too small for a hoof to hit without hitting other buttons.

The first few channels just had unauthorized notices. Mr Bentley’s cable package didn’t support those channels. Then Jerome found a channel that showed a pegasus pointing to a map of the NYC area. Jerome was familiar with the area because he had lived there for a while.

“We should be dry for a few days even though it will be cloudy and hazy in the morning. It will clear up during the day. You won’t need your umbrellas.”

Scootaloo leaned forward. “Who are you? What are you saying?”

Jerome faced Scootaloo. “She can’t hear you. TV is one way. ”

Apple Bloom pointed at the TV. “What is she saying?”

Jerome looked back to the TV, it was on a commercial about COPD. It seemed like a cartoon wolf was having problems breathing.

Sweetie Belle covered her eyes. “Funny looking wolves are scary.”

Jerome looked back at Apple Bloom. “The weather pony said it was going to be cloudy, but no rain. The morning will be warm and clear.”

Far faced Jerome. “Thank goodness, I don’t like the rain here.”

Jerome went through more channels, until he found one with multicolored small humans. A purple one with glasses pulled a large book off a shelf. “Barb look at this. According to this tome, the stars will aid in his escape. Nightmare Dude will be free.”

A green and purple dog stood up on its hind legs. “Come on Bry! That’s an old man’s tale!”

“Maybe so but today is the one thousandth summer solstice. I should call the Prince.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “Boring!”

Jerome went through more channels until he found one with several ponies wearing uniforms and carrying guns in some sort of hallway.

“Talk to me Hicks!” A cigar-chomping zebra sergeant said.

A twitchy blue pegasus was holding a device that was making ringing sounds. “Sir! I am getting movement all over the place!”

“Hicks are you using that right? I don’t see anything!” A grey-burro mare wearing a bandanna and carrying a large gun said.

“Yeah, I’m using it right. Something is moving here and it’s not us!” Hicks said while partially unfurling his wings.

A male griffin with panic filled golden eyes swung his rifle left and right. “Wha what do we do now sir?”

The sergeant drawled. “Stay frosty, stay frosty.”

Margot couldn’t believe what she was seeing and hearing. Then the aliens appeared, the burro shouted “Let’s rock!” and things went south. She glanced at the couch, all of the fillies there were staring in fascination at the TV. Even Far and Nga'Devro were watching. She tapped Skybreeze but she shook her head. Margot headed off to the kitchen.

It looked like a kitchen back on Earth except for the size. For some reason, there were a lot of small buttons on the microwave and the oven. Again they were too small for hooves. Margot wondered how ponies were able to touch them. From the pictures she guessed that David was the brown stallion in the pictures. A growl from her stomach made her decide to fuss with the mystery later. Some sort of meal needed to be made.

She opened the fridge. The stench of rotting food wafted out. White, green and even pink mold grew out of some chinese food containers. A multicolored string stretched from the door like it was trying to escape and spread.

Jerome tried to cover his nose. “Ya know, I hope that’s not the gourmet meal you promised us.”

Skybreeze grimaced. “Maybe we can kill it with fire?”

Margot shook her head. “Maybe later. Let’s see if there are any canned goods here. Hopefully none of the cans bulge.” Then she looked at Jerome, Nga'Devro and Far who watched her from the doorway. “Jerome, you can’t have cheese without mold.”

Jerome just shook his head. “I’ll pass.”

Far shook his head. “I never liked cheese, it smells funny.”

Nga'Devro smiled. “Nga'Devro prefers a runny cheese like a Shetland.”

Jerome and Far looked at Nga'Devro.

Nga'Devro just looked back.

Margot closed the fridge door. She gingerly opened the freezer door. Other than some ice, she found several boxes of vegetarian burritos. Emboldened by her success, she checked out the cabinets. In almost no time, she had several pots filled with bow-tie pasta, burritos and tomato sauce. When the food was done, Margot left the kitchen to see if anypony was hungry.

She saw a poor female griffin pilot get killed by an alien. Margot went back to cooking. A lot of thoughts went through her head. It seemed like this world was like the one she left except it was filled with ponies and other creatures. Margot wondered if there were humans on this world while she searched around for bowls for everypony.

A half hour later, they had dinner. Well, some ponies ate while others watched the movie. Margot, Jerome and Skybreeze ate. The other ponies were too busy to eat. When it was over, She filled the bowls and the other ponies ate then she walked into the living room.

Margot noticed that some sections of the beige carpet looked faded and worn. She checked out the other rooms and saw that the wearing was in other places too. Deep down, Margot had a feeling that this was important, but she didn’t know why.

Scootaloo slurped up the last of her soup to Skybreeze’s annoyance. “Jerome can we see another movie?”

Jerome looked at the clock on the kitchen wall. “I dunno, it’s kinda late for young fillies. You guys stay up to ten thirty?”

Scootaloo stood up proudly. “We stay up late all the time!”

Skybreeze hid a yawn behind a forehoof.

Margot walked back into the kitchen. “I think we should take turns being on watch. This place may not be safe.”

Jerome looked at Margot. “Ya think ya might be a bit paranoid?”

Nga'Devro stood up. “Nga'Devro agrees and volunteers for the first shift.”

Far fished out a bit of pasta and ate it. “Yeah, it makes sense. Count me in.”

Skybreeze used her telekinesis to pick up the empty bowls and placed them in the sink. “I will also stand guard if I am needed.”

Jerome sighed. “Count me in too.”

Sweetie Belle yawned. “Where are we going to sleep?”

Far looked at Apple Bloom. “Maybe you three could share a bed?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Yeah, if Scootaloo doesn’t thrash too much.”

Scootaloo looked up from her bowl. “Hey!”

Sweetie Belle just nodded then she yawned again.

Margot left the table to see if there was a linen closet. She found one that was across from the bedroom then she came back to the kitchen. “I can get some bedsheets and put them on the carpet so nopony has to sleep directly on it. I don’t know when it was cleaned.” She got the linens out while Skybreeze cleaned up.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo squabbled a bit on who would get the first position on the bed before Apple Bloom won. Then they went to the bedroom.

Far checked out the couch, it didn’t turn into a bed, but he said he could sleep in it.

Nga'Devro stayed on watch while the other ponies went to sleep.

Margot picked a place next to the bedroom, but off to the side. This way if any of the SHC had to go to the bathroom, they wouldn’t disturb her.

While Margot’s eyes slowly closed she worried about what to do for breakfast and what would happen in the morning. They still didn’t get enough info on what happened to the city. The worries faded as Margot went to sleep.
> Chapter Five: Screaming sun and clothing not optional
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apartment 8C

As Margot tried to climb back up to wakefulness from deep sleep, she could hear someone, or something, shouting. The words were unintelligible, but somehow she could feel the aggression and malice in them. Then Margot heard other voices.

“Apple Bloom is just laying there twitching!”

“Oh no, she messed up the bed. Let’s pull her out of the sunlight!”

“Owww. The sunlight burned my leg! Use your magic Sweetie Belle!”

“I’m trying but the light breaks my magic! Help! Help us!”

The panic in the voices finally tore Margot out of her sleep. She groggily climbed to her hooves and opened the bedroom door. The smell of feces and urine hit her nose.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at Margot. Sweetie Belle climbed off the bed and pointed at Apple Bloom. “Please get her out of the light!” 

Margot could see Apple Bloom convulse and moan in the morning sunlight. A puddle of liquid waste slowly flowed from her.

Margot nodded then she tried to use her telekinesis on Apple Bloom. The pale yellow morning sunlight just ate Margot’s telekinetic grey glow like it was breakfast.

Scootaloo grimaced. “Sweetie Belle tried that!”

Skybreeze walked into the room, her mane was spiky from tossing and turning on her blanket. “I doubt she will last long. Poor thing. We have to work quickly.”

Margot looked at Skybreeze. “I’ll block the light and you pull her to safety.”

Skybreeze nodded.

Margot conjured up a grey block of metal and placed it in front of the window. Once the dangerous sunlight was blocked, Skybreeze used her telekinesis to carry Apple Bloom to the hallway. Then Margot dispelled the block and went into the hallway. It took her just a few moments to cast a spell that would burn the bed with controlled fire. Skybreeze followed Margot. Scootaloo left the room with Sweetie Belle who closed the door.

Far walked up to Skybreeze and Margot. He wrinkled his nose. “What’s going on?”

Apple Bloom woke up and sniffed. “Who messed up the bed?” Then she tried to stand up. That attempt failed. She slumped back down to the floor. Her ears drooped as she realized who made the mess.

Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom. “How do you feel?”

“Like ah got beat up. My body feels so sore,” Apple Bloom said. She tiredly climbed onto her hooves.

Skybreeze went down the hall to check out the bathroom. “There are no windows here. How about a nice warm bath or a shower?”

“Yes please,” Apple Bloom said.

Scootaloo looked down the hall. “I want one too!”

At that moment, the doorbell rang. Everypony froze. Margot did a quick scan. There was a pony on the other side of the door and two standing in the staircase. Her scan also showed that the ponies in the staircase had submachine guns while the pony just had a pistol. “Do we open the door?”

Far went to the door and looked through the peephole. “Okay, guys. I see a zebra wearing a black leather jacket and goggles. Geez, this peephole thing makes faces look huge!”

Margot flinched. She was quite sure the zebra heard everything.

The shower started up and Apple Bloom tiredly headed toward it.

Nga'Devro moved up behind Far.

The zebra rang the doorbell again and said some unintelligible things.

Far turned and looked at Margot. “Should we let her in?”

She briefly considered what to do. All of the ponies were armed while her friends were not. “Yeah, we will move to the living room so we can watch her.” Margot planned to have the zebra surrounded so if she decided to become hostile someone in the group can knock her out before too many ponies got shot.

Far nodded and went into the living room. 

Margot used her telekinesis to open the door then she headed to the living room.

The zebra followed Margot into the living room then she pushed her goggles up with a black hoofsneaker. “Dayum! You guys are freakin naked! Now I know you aren’t from around here or you’re nuts!”

Far grimaced. “What? We’re not nuts.”

The zebra peered at Far. “Huh? What did you say?”

Margot and Jerome traded glances.

“Do you understand me?” Margot said.

The zebra looked at Margot. “Yeah. What’s wrong with that guy?”

Margot ignored the question. “My name is Margot Summerholt.”

The zebra smiled. “Oh snap, where are my manners? My name is LaShawn Greene. I guess seeing so many naked ponies threw me off. Hey, you guys don’t know how to use a toilet or something? The smell of crap is not cool!”

Jerome smiled. “My name is Jerome Siklis. One of our group had problems with the sunlight here.”

LaShawn looked around at the ponies watching her. “Um okay. We need to be out of here soon. This place is not safe. I’ll get you guys clothes too.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo walked up to gape at LaShawn.

LaShawn looked at them. “What? You got fillies too? Hey, I won’t judge. Can we get out of here?”

Margot faced LaShawn. “Do you have the clothes downstairs? How are we going to deal with the sunlight?”

Jerome stepped closer to LaShawn. “A better question is how did you know we would be here?”

LaShawn stepped back. “We don’t have any clothes here, but the back entrance is in shadow. Also the van’s glass has runes to keep the nasty sun out. To answer your question Curly, somepony told us you would be coming. They weren’t so good with the location. We had to hunt around a bit. Can we freakin go now?”

Far nodded. “We need to discuss this. Can you wait outside?”

LaShawn sighed angrily and her right forehoof moved toward her holster.

Margot got a stun spell ready.

Then LaShawn turned around and headed for the door. It slammed when she left.

Skybreeze sighed. “Well, that was rude. Can we trust her?”

Margot looked at Jerome.

Jerome looked back. “Fine fine. Can you cover me?”

Margot cast a sound blocking spell then she nodded at Jerome.

A blue glow covered his horn as he scanned LaShawn’s mind. “Ok, Ms. Stripes is annoyed, but not openly hostile. She believes what she is saying. The two ponies in the staircase are just bored, but they expect trouble soon,” Jerome said.

“What kind of trouble?” Margot said.

Jerome shrugged. “I dunno.”

Margot glared at Jerome. “Really?”

“Hey! Dial that back! I don’t do deep mind scans without some preparation,” Jerome said.

Far looked down the hall and then at Jerome. “Can we trust her?”

Jerome shrugged. “I guess so.”

Nga'Devro walked up to Jerome. “Nga'Devro wonders why you aren’t sure.”

“People, um, ponies believe a lot of stuff. Doesn’t mean it’s true,” Jerome said.

Margot remembered some of the images from the Prophetess. The image of the zebra matched LaShawn. “Hey, guys. Before we left, the Prophetess dumped a bunch of stuff into my head. That’s why I was out. One image I remember was of LaShawn. We should trust her or at least be ready for treachery.”

Jerome smiled. “Well, that’s good enough for me!”

Margot rolled her eyes.

Far went to the door and opened it while she dispelled the sound blocking spell.

LaShawn was waiting patiently outside. “Can we go now?”

A dripping Apple Bloom ran up to Margot. “We have to give those dead ponies Oonte’s Grace!”

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle ran up after her.

Margot faced LaShawn. “We need to do one more thing before we go.”

LaShawn sighed. “Really? We may not have the time for this. What do you have to do?”

“The dead ponies down the hall need to be given Oonte’s Grace.” Margot said.

“Wait. What? Don’t you think they’re beyond caring?” LaShawn said.

“Maybe but I have been with these fillies and they have done some amazing things. We should let them do their ritual.” Margot said.

LaShawn sighed. “Ok but what about the bodies?”

“I can cremate them without burning the building down.”

“Fine. Bring your magic fillies then.”

LaShawn led the way down the hall.

Margot followed her.

The SHC followed Margot.

She was grateful that the sun was not in the right position to shine into the hallway. It just took Margot a few minutes to pick the locks. She opened the door and went into the apartment. Unlike the other apartment, the shades were down. Margot didn’t have to worry about the sunlight. The layout was similar to the other apartment too except there were three dead ponies in the living room.

One was a grey brown foal without it’s head. The other ones were it’s parents, were also missing their heads. A discarded shotgun lay on the floor next to the stallion. Margot figured that the father shot the foal because it was a Remnant and then he shot his wife. He left the last shot for himself. The idea that the parents had lost all hope and were willing to kill themselves and their child bothered Margot. Then she wondered how the SHC were going to handle it.

Apple Bloom looked at the grisly scene before her and her tail and ears drooped.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle also followed her example.

Then Apple Bloom raised her right forehoof. “Let’s give these poor ponies peace.”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo raised their forehooves too.

Apple Bloom bowed her head and intoned, “Jahabukia Oonte, initi gi witashitichi ni inati ne enchō e kishato kureru yō ni tinendo.” A blue glow flew from the raised hooves and filled the room.

Margot thought she felt something touch her again.

Apple Bloom faced Margot. “It’s done.”

Margot nodded then she focused on a fire spell that would just immolate flesh, but not burn anything else. A bright orange glow filled the room as the ponies’ bodies burned away to ashes. Then the spell disintegrated them. Then Margot and the SHC left the apartment.

LaShawn closed the door. “Now can we go?”

Apple Bloom nodded.

LaShawn went to the staircase and down the stairs while Far’s group followed.

The two ponies with guns followed Far’s group. One of them was a sullen white coated pegasus while the other one was a bored blue earth pony.

Margot didn’t like the leering looks from either of them.

Unknown Apartment Building
Downstairs
Rear entrance

Downstairs was a narrow alley filled with the smell of rotting garbage. Several black plastic bags were piled up on Margot’s left. Other than the stink, the air felt nice like an early summer morning. In front, there were two black vans with open doors. The pony drivers gawked at the group.

Far looked up at the sky and saw it was blue. “Well, at least the sky is blue here. Maybe I could do some flying?”

LaShawn trotted in front. “What did you say?” She turned and faced the group. “I would explain stuff while we drive home but I’ve been hearing rumors that caspers have been turning themselves into pigeons and listening in on conversations,” LaShawn said then sighed.

Skybreeze grimaced. “What?”

Of course LaShawn didn’t understand her.

Margot spoke up. “Caspers?”

LaShawn looked at Skybreeze then at Margot. “Some wise guy decided to name the floating green Gleaners Caspers. There was a kid’s show called Casper the friendly ghost. Let’s get in the vans so we can get out of here. I don’t want to run into Caspers or MA enforcers. I so don’t want to run into any Sunscreamers either.”

Margot relayed the info to the rest of Far’s group. She wondered what LaShawn was talking about.

Nga'Devro looked at the vans. “Nga'Devro wonders how these ponies were able to get these vehicles to move? He doesn’t see any hitching lines.”

Skybreeze scrutinized the vans. “It seems that the ponies here use some sort of internal power source for the vehicles. It’s good to be inside.”

Margot scanned the vans. There was some parts that were magical, but nothing that a good mechanic would get stumped by. She could sense that there was the usual stuff that she had seen in cars back on Earth. For a moment, she felt a bit of homesickness.

The ponies in the vans opened the side doors.

LaShawn reared up on her hind hooves and slid into the first van.

Margot copied LaShawn and sat in a seat.

After a few moments, the van behind them honked its horn. LaShawn closed the sliding door and they were off.

For a few minutes it was like a nice car ride, but the empty streets bothered Margot. She had lived in Manhattan for several years and the streets always had somebody walking around. If she ignored the posters with the ponies on them, it was like being back home but not really. She wondered what other horrors the city would show her.

After about twenty minutes, the vans stopped outside a parking garage with a lowered silver and orange striped metal gate. Two honks and the metal gate rose then the vans drove inside. LaShawn pulled out a walkie talkie. “Ok, we got some new guests with special needs please wait upstairs in the barracks until I call. Tell Burnie to get that dumpster of clothes down to the guest area.”

Jerome glanced at Margot. “Looks like we are going to get some fancy threads.”

LaShawn rolled her eyes. “Nope, Curly, just sweatpants and sweatsuits for you. Maybe you can find underwear that will fit you or maybe not. Before I brief you, you and your friends should be clothed.”

The garage was free of cars except for the two vans. Several metal dumpsters were scattered around the area. Margot figured that the dumpsters would make good cover for a firefight unless they just used them for storage. In front of Margot, a ramp sloped upstairs.

LaShawn raised her voice. “Follow me upstairs so you can be clothed. After the briefing, we will find some food for you.”

Upstairs was like downstairs, a wide area that used to be a place for cars and vans, now it was an area for ponies and other creatures. Sleeping bags covered the cold grey floor while multicolored partitions divided the area near the ramp from the rest of the garage area.

Their host led them to an area next to some red plastic partitions. A few minutes later, a gryphoness wearing a yellow sweatsuit and a cook’s apron pushed a dumpster full of clothing next to the group.

LaShawn nodded to the gryphoness. “Guys, this is my homie, Burnie. Burnie does the cooking around here and is the best cook I know.”

Burnie nodded to the group then she turned around and left.

LaShawn’s walkie started squawking. “I gotta deal with this. I’ll be back.” She went back down the ramp yelling into the walkie.

Skybreeze walked up to the dumpster and used her telekinesis to grab a bright red sweatsuit. “Now this looks horrid. I don’t expect anything tasteful here.”

Jerome smiled. “That’s because you need to go to Easy Pickins, they have the best in pony clothing.”

“Really? How can something tasteful and discreet come from a place called Easy Pikins?”

“Easy Pickins. Well, sista, the fashions there are all the rage,” Jerome said with an even wider smile.

It was obvious to Margot that he was messing with Skybreeze’s head. It seemed like fun but there was work to do.

Margot tuned out Jerome and Skybreeze as they squabbled.

Far and Nga'Devro brought over a table so she had a place to inspect the clothes. The next hour and a half was spent conjuring up underwear and clothing for all of the group. The clothes in the dumpster were not the right size. She was relieved that only Skybreeze and Jerome were picky about what they wore.

By the time LaShawn walked up the ramp, everypony in the group was clothed. She whistled. “Nice. Now you guys need shoes. Only nuts have no shoes. Heck, even horses have shoes.”

Margot sighed, she didn’t want to do more work at least without something to eat. “Do you have a dumpster full of shoes?”

LaShawn laughed. “Do I look like Imelda Marcos? Oh yeah, you’re not from around here. Immy was a dictator’s wife. When her husband got deposed, the freedom fighters found hundreds of shoes. I need some favors from you. Help me out and the shoe problem goes away.”

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom walked up to LaShawn followed by Sweetie Belle.

Apple Bloom tapped Margot with a left forehoof. “Mahgot, I have something that might help us talk.”

Margot nodded.

The SHC stood up on their hind hooves and touched their right forehooves together. There was a blue flash that filled the room.

Again, Margot felt like something touched her lightly.

LaShawn narrowed her eyes while stepping back.. “Yo! Yo! I don’t like ponies doing magic without some sort of warning! What did you magic fillies do to me?”

Apple Bloom took a step toward LaShawn. “Do ya’ll understand me?”

LaShawn looked around at the ponies in front of her. “Yeah, I hear you. Do all of you understand me?”

Nga'Devro nodded while Far said yes.

Skybreeze said yes too. Everypony else  introduced themselves.

The SHC were last.

LaShawn stepped forward. “How about you guys sit or stand while I brief you? It’s going to take a while.” She waited while Far’s group sat or stood near her.

LaShawn nodded. “About two years ago, the Gleaners came. No one saw them though. The zombies were the first things to appear. First it was just a small group but then more of them appeared. Zombies-”

Skybreeze held up a hoof. “Excuse me but what is a zombie?”

“What is a zombie? What sort of world do you come from again?”

Margot joined the conversation to keep things going. She just knew that Skybreeze and LaShawn weren’t going to be friends. “When you mean zombies, you mean ponies that have been drained? They look greyish brown with green eyes?”

LaShawn nodded. “Yeah.”

“We call them Remnants back home. Please continue,” Margot said while shooting a glare at Skybreeze.

“Well, the zombies showed up everywhere all over the world. Then the Caspers showed up along with the Gleaners. It was total chaos here with Caspers and Gleaners draining ponies in the streets. I lost a lot of friends and family...” LaShawn sniffled before she continued.

“Then the Gleaners established the Metropolitan Authority or MA. The MA set up the zones. They are red, green and yellow. Red is where rogue Caspers, Gleaners and zombies roam. It’s hell to live there unless you have a large army with lots of ammo. Green zones on the other hoof are Gleaner run and are pretty safe. No rogue Caspers, no zombies and definitely no Sunscreamers. The sun is a normal sun, not like the black sun nonsense they inflict on the yellow and red zones,” LaShawn said and looked around.

Nga'Devro raised his left forehoof to get LaShawn’s attention. “Nga'Devro guesses that the green zone is really not that safe.”

“Well, yes and no. There’s plenty of food and work. Crimes are solved and murder is punishable by death. Sure some ponies disappear for no reason. That nag Eya Sore makes statues using live ponies. The rest think things are fine. The population has been booming for the third year in a row. Then there’s the Life tax. Every April the sixteenth, ponies go to their local life tax center and the Gleaners drain a bit of their life. There are smaller drainings every quarter. Even with that the ponies in the lower Manhattan green zone still try to live their lives. Then there are the Notches,” LaShawn said.

Far leaned in closer to LaShawn. “Notches?”

LaShawn nodded. “Notches are devices that monitor all ponies and other creatures. If you get too powerful, the notches drain your mana and also tell the MA where you are. That means that if you are a swift flyer, you either use that for the MA or they limit you. A lot of ponies didn’t want to wear a Notch or work for the MA, and they were never seen again. This also makes raising a resistance army hard because we don’t have powerful unicorns or other ponies.”

“What about the yellow zones?” Margot said.

“Yellow zones are areas that the MA wants to expand into. They run patrols to recruit survivors and take out zombies and rogue Caspers. The MA is more concerned about taking out the Resistance and finding survivors than taking out zombies and rogue Caspers. If any roll up on them, the MA will take them out but they won’t do a full sweep of the area,” LaShawn said then she looked at Margot.

“I guess you need us to help out,” Margot said.

LaShawn did a toss of her short striped mane. “Well, duh! Really, if you help us, you will be helping yourselves. Help me hack ATMs and we can use the money. Help us lockpick a shoe store and you guys get free shoes. Now it’s time for you to tell me who you are and why you are here.”

Margot looked at Skybreeze. “Do you want to explain?”

Far raised his left forehoof. “I’ll explain. We are from a place called Equestria. It’s kinda like this world in a lot of ways. Equestria is under attack by Gleaners too. They have overrun most of our cities. The Prophetess sent us to rescue two ponies from this world.”

LaShawn shrugged.

Margot went through the images that the Prophetess put in her mind. “One pony is in a building that makes eyes burn while the other one is in a building that has five sides.”

LaShawn whistled. “Dayum! You guys picked some fun places!. The eye burning place is the Eyesore building on twenty third street. Security there is hella tight. The other building is the Pentagon, right in the heart of the US Gleaners. I guess you guys wanna challenge. You got two. I don’t know too much about Washington, DC. I have to ask around. I do know about the area around the Eyesore building. Before the Gleaners, it was called the Flatiron building.”

Sweetie Belle looked up at LaShawn. “What about the princesses, can we get their help?”

LaShawn looked down at Sweetie Belle. “Well, you can pray and pray to the Princesses or you can do something. I’m not a big fan of religion.”

A confused look covered Sweetie Belle’s face. “Huh?”

LaShawn sighed. “Well, my momma had me read the Bible. So I can tell you some stuff. Princess Luna and Princess Celestia are in Heaven along with the Ascended Twilight Sparkle. Old school ponies worship the sisters while other ponies worship Twilight Sparkle. Prayer might help but there’s a saying. Celestia helps those who help themselves.”

Far stepped up to LaShawn. “We’ll need help to rescue our friends. What do we need to do?”

LaShawn smiled. “I can help you with getting your friend from the Eyesore building, but it will cost us. I bet you will have to kill Eya Sore to get your friend back. I doubt she will give up your friend if you ask nicely. The MA goes nuts when an enforcer is killed, I can’t even imagine what will happen if you kill a Gleaner Lord. You will probably need to get out of Dodge as fast as possible if you want to survive!”

Scootaloo wrinkled her nose. “Where’s Dodge? I thought we were in Manhattan?”

Before LaShawn could get angry, Margot moved on to the next question. “What do you need from us?”

LaShawn looked at Scootaloo then at Margot. “There are a bunch of things I need from you. You guys are probably the most powerful ponies north of the lower Manhattan green zone. We need money from a bank. Nobody uses banks in the yellow zone so you don’t have to worry about interference. If you can use your lock picking magic to open a bank vault without setting off alarms, we would be swimming in money. Most of that can be used to buy help in the green zone.”

Margot nodded. “Okay.”

“We also need help hacking the Notches. All ponies in the green zone are notched. If we could find out how they work and make our own, we could come and go as we wished. Maybe even find a way to free some of the powerful ponies. More importantly, foals and old ponies are choking to death from some sort of disease in the Bronx. We could use some help finding out what’s going on. I bet my tail that the MA is behind this,” LaShawn said.

Margot wondered if they had the time to do all of these tasks. What if Rarity and Twilight Sparkle were just hours away from death? Then again running around without the proper info would get them in trouble for sure.

Far broke Margot out of her thoughts. “Whatever you need LaShawn as long as we get to save our friends soon.”

LaShawn smiled her widest smile yet.

It reminded Margot of a Cheshire cat.

Skybreeze waved her left foreleg. “Ms. LaShawn. I have a question!”

LaShawn’s ears went back on her head. “Yes.”

“When does the event end?”

LaShawn flinched. “Event?”

Skybreeze smiled. “Back home in Equestria, we only wear clothing for special occasions.”

LaShawn peered at Skybreeze. “Well, Sky, you’re not in Equestria now. Unless you want to be locked up, you have to wear clothing all the time here.”

Skybreeze exchanged a glance with Far. “Really?”

LaShawn peered at Skybreeze. “Are you sure Equestria isn’t code for some sort of asylum? Hey, I’m not judging or anything.”

That caused a staring match for a few moments between Skybreeze and LaShawn.

Far stepped in the middle before things got worse. “We will wear clothing and shoes when we get them.”

LaShawn nodded. “Ahh yeah! I’m going to tell Burnie to cook up a nice meal for you.” While LaShawn walked toward the partition,

Margot wondered about how much they would have to sacrifice to save Rarity. That is if Rarity was still alive. Margot looked back at the group and hoped all of them would survive the coming days. Maybe? Only time would tell.
> Chapter Six: Robbery and Chocolate cake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

86th street and 6th avenue.

Again Margot was amazed and depressed about how close the city looked like the one she lived in some time ago. The sun had set several hours ago, and now she looked out at the dark storefronts and buildings as she rode in LaShawn’s van. It just didn’t feel right that the streets were empty on a fine summer night. Margot glanced over at Skybreeze who sat next to her.

“I remember when I went to Manehattan to visit my uncle. Even at two a.m., you could see ponies enjoying the night air. So many lives lost,” Skybreeze said while looking out the window.

LaShawn looked back at Skybreeze. “Some areas of the Bronx still have ponies out at night. Not all of them are muggers.”

Margot wondered if LaShawn’s statement was meant to be a joke.

After LaShawn briefed them back at the garage, Burnie came in with some food. It was an amazing zucchini lasagna. Then Margot made shoes for Far’s group. Before she was able to take a nap. LaShawn picked her and Skybreeze to go on a bank robbery. Digit, a small yellow earth pony stallion, one of LaShawn’s crew also went with them. He just looked at the screen of his laptop. So far, Margot didn’t hear him say anything.

“So, LaShawn, what exactly do we have to do for this bank robbery?” Skybreeze said.

“Well, we are just robbing an empty building so the threat level will be low. I’m hoping that you and Maggie can get us into the vault where all the big bucks are,” LaShawn said.

Digit said, without looking up from his laptop, “It’s all about the Benjamins!”

Margot watched as Digit moved his hooves over the keyboard. The keys were being hit by some sort of telekinetic field from Digit’s forehooves. Now she knew how the ponies used all of the small buttons she saw at the apartment. Also it seemed that any pony could do telekinesis this way.

“Digit will hack the security so we don’t show up on the cameras. Even though the MA won’t show up if we trigger anything, I want to make sure. We have to approach the bank from the east so we don’t show up on the atm’s cameras. Once we get the vault open, we grab some money bags and be gone. There are gangs that live nearby. They don’t care or need the cash but they might cause trouble if they find us and I would like to keep my money and not split it with anyone,” LaShawn said.

When LaShawn mentioned gangs, Margot had a mental image of ponies wearing bandannas while flashing butterfly knives. Then she figured that these ponies would have guns. “Two questions. What sort of weaponry do gangs here have and why wouldn’t they have robbed the bank already? If the vault has money to buy things then wouldn’t they already have taken it?”

LaShawn shook her head. “They can break in and steal the petty cash but the big bucks are in the vault. Not too many gangs got the equipment or spell power for that. Then again, once they get the money, what are they going to spend it on? Barter and looting are the best ways since there are no stores. Gangers like the rough life and don’t want to live in a green zone. Even though the MA won’t investigate bank robberies, maybe, if you show up unnotched with a big bag of cash it probably won’t go well.”

The van stopped. “Well, it’s time to get paid!” LaShawn said with a smile as she opened the doors of the van.

Digit squealed. “Shawnie wait! I have to finish hacking into the bank’s security.”

LaShawn looked back at Digit. “Since when does it take you this long to do this?”

Digit shook his head. “Done. You’re safe for ten minutes.”

LaShawn pointed with her left forehoof outside the van. “Let’s do this!”

Margot left the van first then she was followed by Skybreeze. LaShawn was last.

The bank looked like many financial establishments Margot had been to. Glass windows all over like a fish bowl. It took her less than a second to pick the lock. Inside, the air smelled musty like it had been a year or more before the doors were last opened.

Skybreeze’s eyes grew wide as she looked all over the place.

Margot just kept her eyes on LaShawn as she led them to the back of the bank. There was one more door for Margot to unlock and a short walk to the vault room.

The vault door looked just liked the ones in the movies. Large, shiny and heavy. Even though Margot knew laser spells that would carve through the metal like soft butter, she was still impressed. Margot concentrated. She sensed the electricity that crackled through the wires of the control panel. All she had to do was to change its path so it went through the door’s locking mechanism. It just took a few seconds before the status on the panel went from locked to unlocked. Margot pressed the open vault button and bowed to LaShawn as the vault door swung open quietly.

LaShawn whispered, “Dayum.” Then she walked inside followed by Margot and Skybreeze. LaShawn pointed at some bags of money. “Maggie, can you make sure we just get bags without dye packs? I like the color of my stripes.”

Margot scanned the bags and used her telekinesis to separate the bags with the dye packs from the regular bags.

Skybreeze looked at all of the bags. “How much money do we need?”

LaShawn shrugged. “We only need two or three bags. Sky, you take one.”

Skybreeze grimaced. “The name is Skybreeze, not Sky.”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed.

Margot spoke up to block the upcoming argument. “So if each of us gets a bag, we should be good?”

LaShawn nodded and shot a glare at Skybreeze.

Each pony grabbed a bag and walked out of the vault.

Margot closed the door using her telekinesis.

LaShawn’s walkie squawked. “Shawnie, Shawnie, somepony gotta knife to my throat! Help!” Her eyes narrowed again as she ran to the front of the bank.

Margot and Skybreeze followed. From there they could see a bunch of ponies outside holding bats and knives. One of them had Digit.

LaShawn left the bank and walked up to the pony holding the knife to Digit’s throat.

Margot and Skybreeze stood at LaShawn’s left and right sides.

A large brown and white earth pony stallion sauntered up to them. “Well, well, it’s the famous Shawnie. Nice to meet you.”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed hearing her pet name in the mouth of a stranger.

Margot focused so she could cast a stun spell on all of the hostile ponies at once. Stunning was not as easy as blasting them with fire though. She just waited to see how things would play out. If any of the hostile ponies tried something, they would wake up on the ground, eventually.

The brown and white pony introduced himself. “Name’s Marko and youse in my ‘hood. I don’t really need the money but I’m not a fan of the Resistance.”

LaShawn faced Marko. “The Gleaners took our world and life away from us. We should fight to get it back!”

Marko looked away from LaShawn and laughed. “You and what army? All of the armies of the world couldn’t beat the Gleaners. Why should now be any different?”

Margot hoped that Skybreeze wouldn’t join the conversation.

LaShawn looked away from Marko and then back. “I’m not going to give up and neither is my crew going to. You are in a yellow zone. Eventually it will become green and you will have to move.”

Marko looked back at LaShawn. “As fun as debating if resistance works, I have a job for someone who likes fighting. A bunch of Sunscreamers and zombies have moved into the projects across the street. I need someone to take them out. Since you have two unnotched unicorns, I think you got the power to deal with my unwelcome neighbors.”

LaShawn laughed. “Well, why don’t you deal with your neighbors?”

A sneer crossed Marko’s face. “You’re an unwelcome neighbor. I know where your tiny crew lives. Do this task for me and things stay well, let’s say less complicated.”

A few seconds passed until LaShawn sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it.”

Marko waved his left forehoof at the pony holding the knife to Digit’s neck. The pony put the knife in its scabbard. Digit ran to LaShawn and locked his forehooves around her forehooves.

Marko smiled. “You can find my guests in building three forty two in the Dyckman projects up on 97th street and Columbus ave. I suggest that you roll up on them when it’s nighttime.” He nodded and his crew galloped off down the street. Marko huffed and puffed while he galloped behind them.

LaShawn hugged Digit then she looked up at Skybreeze and Margot. “Damn him! Let’s take the money back.”

The ride back to the garage was a quiet one. Margot wondered if Marko could be trusted.

LaShawn broke the silence. “Digit and Burnie and some other ponies in my crew are like my new family. Family is important to me. I figure that you guys have family or you’re tryin to save those ponies to help other families. I’m sorry that I have to include you in the mission for Marko but my crew doesn’t have enough power.”

Margot faced LaShawn. “Sweetie Belle’s sister is in the Eyesore building.”

LaShawn nodded. “Yeah but if you do kill Eya Sore, it’s going to be hell for us. We get to laugh that the Gleaners got a kick to the balls before we have to run and cry. Please help and I swear that you will get what you need to free your friend from the Eyesore building. I can’t promise anything for Washington DC, but I can see about getting some names for contacts. Hopefully, Marko stays off our backs while we’re helping you.”

Margot also wondered about Marko’s plans.





Stop N Go Garage
Guest Quarters

When they returned back to the garage, Margot and Skybreeze went upstairs to brief the team.

Far glared at Margot. “Really, we have to do a mission against Sunscreamers and zombies?”

“Yes. I suspect that there might be other threats there.”

“Do you realize that this Marko may not stop with the requests? We have a mission to do and limited time to do it. I was hoping that we wouldn’t get mired in local issues. We don’t live here.”

“I understand your concerns, but we can’t do this alone.”

Nga'Devro walked up to Far. “Nga'Devro doesn’t see any way through this. Unless we split up into two groups. One group helps LaShawn, while the other group works on doing the mission.”

Apple Bloom walked up with Scootaloo. “These ah ponies. We have to help them. Who knows? Maybe by helping them we help ourselves.”

Sweetie Belle nodded as she sat watching the meeting.

LaShawn cantered up to the group. “I need Maggie, Sky and Far to go with me to deal with the Sunscreamers.”

Skybreeze sighed, she opened her mouth but a glare from Margot made her close her mouth.

Far nodded. “Fine.”

The picked ponies followed LaShawn. She walked up some stairs to another room. This room had a locked metal gray door. LaShawn unlocked the door and walked inside.

Margot and the other ponies followed her into the room. The room had gray foam soundproofing all over the walls and the ceiling. On one side there was a rack with guns and on the other side were paper targets in the shape of ponies.

Skybreeze saw the targets and grimaced. “I guess there’s no harmony on this world.”

LaShawn walked over to the gun rack and picked up a pistol. “Nope, all of that is in the next world. Well, if it exists.”

Far eyed the guns. “Do you have a good sword and shield?”

LaShawn sighed. “You don’t want to be doing any melee with a Sunscreamer. They have muscles everywhere. They can kick you into next year though they like to fry ponies and turn them into Sunscreamers. You are better off bustin a cap in a Sunscreamer from a distance.”

Far walked up to the rack. “How am I going to use these weapons? Do I put them in my mouth?”

LaShawn walked up to Far. “That’s nasty. You put the gun at the end of your hoof like this.”

Margot scanned LaShawn’s right fore hoof. Like Digit, LaShawn was using some sort of telekinesis from her hoof to hold the gun.

Far peered closely at LaShawn’s hoof then he stuck out his left forehoof. A small Glock flew from the rack, and hit Far’s hoof then it fell to the floor.

LaShawn backed away from Far. “Damn! How about we try that with a gun with no ammo in it later.” She looked at Margot.

Margot had looked at the gun rack and thought that most of the guns were simply trash.

The Glocks and other pistols were okay but the MAC-10s were probably not as good as an assault rifle or a sniper rifle. Her bosses at D-Core pushed their magic users to be familiar with firearms. Margot knew that using a gun allowed her to save her magical energy reserves for other threats. She expected that Marko either didn’t tell them about all of the enemies they would have to deal with or he just didn’t know.

Margot picked up a MAC-10 using her telekinesis and inspected the gun. It looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a while. That was a shame. Dirty guns could jam at the worst time. She looked around for shooter’s earmuffs.

LaShawn had been watching Margot carefully. “What?”

“Where are the shooter’s earmuffs?”

“We don’t have any. You shoot for a minute then stop.”

“We need them so ponies don’t go deaf in here.”

LaShawn shrugged.

Margot sighed then she thought about some of the shooter earmuffs she had used. It just took her a few moments to conjure up two shooter earmuffs and one pair of goggles. She put on the earmuffs and the goggles. Margot checked the gun to see if it supported single shot then set that option. Five shots to a paper target later she put the gun down. She wasn’t happy that the bullets had a too wide spread.

Far looked at the target. “It seems like you have had training on these weapons. They use them on your world?”

Margot nodded.

LaShawn looked at the target. “Somethin tells me that you have had military training. We could use someone to train my crew how to use guns better.”

“Your crew needs to clean the guns better too unless it’s hard to get cleaning kits.” Margot said.

“Before the Gleaners came, it was hard to get guns out of certain ponies’ hooves. Now, the Gleaners took all of the guns away. It’s illegal to own a gun unless you are part of the MA. Ponies that didn’t like that either got killed or fled to the yellow or red zones. I’m sorry but gun cleaning kits also are very hard to get. Somepony has to steal them from the MA.”

“OK, I can make some kits for you,” Margot said.

“Thanks Maggie. I appreciate that.” LaShawn turned to Far. “Ok, I’m going to teach you how to shoot a gun.” While LaShawn was teaching Far,

Margot picked up a gun and walked to Skybreeze.

Skybreeze shook her head. “I can use my magic. I don’t need these weapons.”

Margot nodded. “Yes but you don’t have an infinite amount of power. Shooting enemies will save your magic for when you really need it.”

Skybreeze peered at the gun. “Well… Fine.” She picked up the gun.

Margot pointed out the safety then she used her telekinesis to bring over a set of earmuffs for Skybreeze.

Skybreeze put on the muffs and fired the gun. The shot flew over the paper target.

LaShawn looked at the new hole in the wall. “Hey!”

Skybreeze fired again and this time the target got hit in the flank. “Well, it seems that I am improving a bit.”

Margot conjured up two more earmuffs and one cleaning kit. The next hour was spent watching Far and Skybreeze learn to shoot and try LaShawn’s almost negligible patience. Then it was back downstairs and to the guest quarters.

There were a bunch of ponies that were part of LaShawn’s crew hanging out with Far’s group. Margot saw two changelings hanging out with Nga'Devro.

One was a changeling mare with a blue hair and mane. She also had a pair of multifaceted glasses. “My name is Lin Wen.” Lin stuck out a hoof for a bump.

The other changeling had normal looking green eyes along with a black mane and tail. He also stuck out a hoof to bump. “I’m Lenny Park.” After greeting the changelings, Margot looked around. Several other ponies from LaShawn’s crew were meeting Far’s group.

A familiar scent hit Margot’s nose, it had been a long time since she had smelled it. This included the time she had been a pony and some of the time she was human. It just took her a few moments to chase down the delicious scent. Digit and Burnie were standing in front of a tasty looking chocolate sheet cake. Margot knew she just had to get a slice.

Burnie cut a small slice and placed it on a plate for Margot. All of the goings on around her faded away as she cut a piece and brought it to her mouth. Margot remembered times when she was a kid and her mother would allow her to lick the spoons and other utensils.

For a few moments, Margot was back home feeling safe and loved. All too soon the cake was gone from Margot’s plate. She thought about getting another piece but then she wondered if that was being piggy.

Burnie smiled at Margot. “Do you like it?”

“Yes.”

“I made it for Digit. He had such a terrible night. Chocolate does have healing powers.”

Margot nodded. “So Burnie, how did you meet LaShawn?”

Burnie looked away and then looked back at Margot. “I was the head cook at the Metropolitan Hotel. Guests would call the kitchen and order food and I and my staff would make it. Then the Gleaners came and that life collapsed like a startled souffle. Um, sorry about the food analogy.”

“No problem,” Margot said.

“Zombies attacked the hotel. I could handle them as long as I wasn’t surrounded. The Met was cheap on pay but they always made sure to get top quality cookware. I had two iron skillets called Bim and Bom. Of course, I don’t cook with them anymore. Any zombie that showed up met my twin skillets and then I would dump the body outside. I know folks back home that might want to try some dead pony but this meat was just poison. Then those horrible Caspers showed up. I couldn’t hit them. Then it was time to run away. LaShawn managed to keep them busy so I could escape. I owe her my life,” Burnie looked away.

Margot thought she heard a sniffle.

“I heard you guys are going after some Sunscreamers,” Burnie said.

Margot nodded. “Yes. Do you know where Sunscreamers come from?”

Burnie’s eyes narrowed just for a moment. “The black sun causes them. Any pony caught outside when the black sun rises is knocked out and changed. Also Sunscreamers can zap ponies and turn them. I haven’t seen any of this happen.”

“How do I fight them?” Margot said.

Digit held out his empty plate.

Burnie put another piece of cake on it. “Shoot them or zap them. Do it from a distance. Sunscreamers can use the sun’s energy to attack you. Also they can use the regular sun too, not just the black sun.”

“Burnie, what did LaShawn do before the Gleaners?”

Burnie laughed. “LaShawn Greene was a Equinicide Detective. When things went kaput, she tried to rescue as many people as she could.”

Digit looked up from his plate. “Book em Danno!”

“Yeah, I was one of NYPD’s most decorated officers. Got a bunch of commendations and stuff. Now it’s like something from a kid’s story. It doesn’t feel real anymore. At least, I was lucky, the MA didn’t try to recruit me. I was out of their reach in a yellow zone. I heard that most ponies that got the choice between serving the MA or death, chose death,” LaShawn said with lowered ears and tail.

LaShawn’s ears perked up. “What about you Maggie? What do you do for a living? By your scent I can tell you are not the same type of pony that Jerome is. He seems to be a different species from the other ponies.”

“Jerome is from a different world and I am from a different world. We were brought to Equestria by the Messenger of Oonte.”

LaShawn peered at Margot. “Really? The Messenger is real?”

“Yeah, I felt his hooves wrap around my body before I ended up in Equestria,” Margot said. She neglected to say that the Messenger grabbed her human body.

LaShawn laughed. “I don’t believe that the Messenger or Oonte are real. If they were, they wouldn’t allow the Gleaners to attack. One bit of advice. Don’t tell the other ponies about the Messenger. It will cut down on the fighting. Lin and Lenny have some definite ideas about religion.”

Margot nodded.

“When this party dies down, make sure you get some rest. Tomorrow we wake up early to take out the Sunscreamers,” LaShawn said.

Margot didn’t add that maybe they would have to take out Marko too. Time would tell tomorrow.
> Chapter Seven: Sunscreamer hit and solar lab
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

96th street
Beresford Building
Eighth floor

Margot could see that the Beresford building was high end before the Gleaners came. Now it was a mostly empty building, a shadow of its former glory. The fancy gold and maroon paint was now faded and chipped. A quick scan of the building showed just a lot of pigeons and a few rats. Nothing she hoped would be a threat.

She picked room 8C as her sniper’s nest, since it had a good view of the courtyard in front of the building that the Sunscreamers resided. After she picked the locks, Margot pushed the door open with her left forehoof. The smell of pigeons and their crap mixed in with elements of old paint hit her nose. Margot walked into the room. Like the other rooms on the eighth floor, it was under renovation. Scaffolding was along the walls and plastic sheets streaked with pigeon crap swayed in the slight breeze coming in from the small side windows. Several sets of baby pigeons cheeped above her somewhere.

Pigeons stared at her with their red eyes from the corners of the room. She kept expecting one to strut up to her and curse, “You don’t fookin belong here! Get the fook out! This is our apartment!” None of the pigeons did that but it wouldn’t be surprising to Margot. A tap at the closed larger front windows got Margot’s attention.

Far was hovering outside.

Margot opened the window then ducked as Far flew by and landed. Now the pigeons had another pony to give the stank eye to.

Far sneezed. “I wasn’t a big fan of pigeons when I was in Cloudsdale. These aren’t much better.”

Margot laughed. “How about we don’t piss these guys off while we do our mission.”

Far looked around at the hanging plastic sheeting streaked with pigeon crap. “I know this is not going to be healthy for us.”

Margot just shrugged. “We won’t be here long enough.” Then she checked her walkie.

LaShawn’s voice came through loud and clear. “We’re set up here. Just take out those Sunscreamers and we can go home.”

Margot conjured up the parts needed for a sniper rifle then put the parts together using telekinesis.

Far kept watching the pigeons and her back.

Margot looked through the scope and saw the zombies leave the building across the street. It was almost like watching secret service agents checking out an area before the president arrived. They fanned out across the courtyard, heads looking this way and that for threats. Then the Sunscreamers came out. At first they looked like regular ponies but the muscles that rippled beneath their soft yellow fur showed that they were different. The bright yellow eyes and sharp fangs also destroyed the impression that these were normal ponies. Two mares and one stallion stepped out into the courtyard. They were followed by three foals. All of them had yellow fur with brown streaks.

After a few moments, all of the Sunscreamers started to roar. It was a sound full of hunger and malice. The foals added their higher pitched notes to the deeper tones of their parents.

Far covered his ears. “Damn! Margot, save our ears and kill those things!”

Margot focused on the stallion and fired. A moment later, his head exploded into a red mist. She reloaded and focused on one of the mares. The Sunscreamers stopped roaring and began looking around.

Margot fired at the mare but it moved. The bullet tore through its neck instead of blasting its head. Bright red blood spurted from the Sunscreamer’s neck as it looked around for its attacker then the creature collapsed to the ground. The zombies started to move away from the Sunscreamers and then they got the scent of LaShawn’s group.

Margot targeted the last adult Sunscreamer but it summoned a shimmering golden shield around itself and the three foals.

Far moved up to the window and pointed at the shield. “Can you shoot through that?”

“No. I have to use magic now. Get down before they see you!” The zombies ran at LaShawn’s group.

Golden bursts of energy flew at LaShawn’s group. The walkie spoke up. “Whatever you are going to do, you should do it real soon. We’re getting fried here.”

Then something cast an active scan spell. Margot felt like a deer in the headlights of an approaching truck. Now whatever cast that spell knew exactly where she was. Margot knew where the caster was too. The Sunscreamer mare fired some sunbolts at Margot and Far.

Margot started to focus on a freezing spell when a golden flash flew past her and struck the wall. The wall burst into flames and the pigeons flew out the window. Margot regretted that the baby pigeons wouldn’t survive.

“Margot! We gotta go!” Far said as the flames spread through the room. Margot followed Far to the hallway as the room filled with orange flames and black smoke. She managed to still carry the sniper rifle.

“Let’s take the stairs down!” Margot said. She knew that the building was probably done for, the Sunscreamer were tossing sunbolts at all of the windows. Every floor would be an inferno soon. The paint cans, plastic sheeting and pigeons wouldn’t help things either.

Margot and Far burst through the door to the stairs then they ran down the stairs. While she raced from floor to floor, Margot tried to plan what they were going to do when they reached the ground level. Dark magic was the best magic to fight sun magic but Margot wasn’t an evil person, um pony. She had more of an affinity for sun magic too but fighting fire with fire wasn’t going to be an efficient use of limited power. They were down to the second floor. Soon she would have to come up with a plan. Anti-light magic and cold would probably be better against sun magic.

Margot panted. “When we reach the ground floor head across the street. This building is toast and might come down on us if we hide near it.”

Far just nodded.

Finally they reached the lobby. Margot used her telekinesis to push the door open with a crash so they could just run through.

The gallop to the building across the street was scary. The last Sunscreamer mare kept firing golden sun bolts at them. The asphalt behind them sizzled and burned before Margot and Far reached the building and hid behind it.

The building they left was on fire. Flames gouted from the windows.

Lashawn’s voice crackled from the walkie. “Dayum! Maggie, you just love bustin stuff up! All of that is gonna get the MA on us for sure!”

Margot ignored LaShawn while she focused on a dark cold spell to drop on the Sunscreamer mare and the foals. Then she dropped the spell on them.

Even from behind the building, Far felt cold winds rake him. “Is it done?”

After a quick scan of the area, Margot nodded. She focused and dropped some cold on the burning building. The bright flames flickered and went out.

LaShawn sneezed. “Good, the Sunscreamers are just popsicles now. I’m not gonna be licking any of that. It’s just pure nasty. Maggie get in the van so we can be gone before the MA shows up.”

Margot grabbed the walkie. “We can’t go. The Sunscreamers have a boss on the top floor. We have to take it out or the problem will return.”

“We got two wounded ponies. Stinking Sunscreamer burned them badly.” LaShawn said.

“I have to take out the boss. I will need help. Apple Bloom and her friends can heal.” Margot said.

“Good. I will send half of the team back. Sky and I will meet you at the popsicles.” LaShawn said.

Margot turned to Far. “Take the second van back.”

“You’re going to be okay?”

Margot nodded. They headed to the courtyard. The frozen Sunscreamers were starting to melt. They made for some fierce looking ice sculptures with their mouths open in a silent scream. A black van drove up onto the courtyard.

Skybreeze and LaShawn came out.

Far walked to the van and got inside.

LaShawn looked at the melting Sunscreamers. “Remind me to hire you to do the sculptures at my wedding.”

Skybreeze grimaced. “What foul creatures. Even the foals are dangerous.”

Margot agreed. The foals had sharp looking teeth and fangs. She just had a feeling that these foals were beyond drinking milk.

LaShawn pulled out her gun then she shot each of the Sunscreamers in the head. The frozen creatures shattered with glasslike tones. Then she looked up at the building. “How many floors?”

Skybreeze also looked up and counted. “Fourteen.”

LaShawn holstered her gun. “Dayum. I’m gonna be lathered up.”

Margot headed toward the Sunscreamer building with Skybreeze and LaShawn. Inside it was clean. The walls were a maroon color with yellow highlights.

Skybreeze looked at the elevator and then at the doors to the stairs. “I guess it’s better to walk?”

Margot looked at the stair doors. “If we get stuck, nopony will know.”

Skybreeze sighed.

Margot scanned the stairs, she found no traps. She used her telekinesis to open the doors. They took the stairs up. After about a half hour, they reached the fourteenth floor. Margot stopped to catch her breath then she scanned the room beyond the closed stairway door. So far there were no traps.

She pushed the door open and hot air grabbed them like a too friendly relative. Somepony had removed all of the walls so the top floor was one big hot room. Orange conduits of solar power hung from the ceiling. On one side of the room was a console and a rack holding a bunch of orange disks. Margot wished she had time to study the lab, it was not often she saw examples of advanced solar magic.

Skybreeze looked all over the room in awe. “This is just amazing. Just learning a portion of this magic would do wonders for the field of advanced energy magic back home in Equestria.”

Margot nodded. She knew that they would get little to no time to study anything.

While Margot and Skybreeze were looking at the equipment, LaShawn’s eyes traced the route the largest bundle of conduits were taking. They led to six tilted oval containers. Three were dark and empty but the other three were filled with bright orange energy. That didn’t grab LaShawn’s attention, it was the sight of tiny ponies inside the containers. She tapped Margot and walked toward the containers.

When they got there, Margot could see that the small ponies were really Sunscreamer embryos floating in a solar powered womb. All of them had their eyes closed.

LaShawn looked at the floating embryos. “They’re less than babies. I couldn’t kill them.”

Margot saw the embryos as threats to be. “We have to kill them. Didn’t you see the foals and their sharp teeth?”

Skybreeze nodded.

It seemed like one of the embryos heard Margot and it opened its golden eyes then it started to thrash its tiny hooves.

A green hoof moved past Skybreeze and touched the womb where the embryo was thrashing. “Sleep now little one.”

Margot, LaShawn and Skybreeze turned around to see who spoke. It was a green alicorn. Unlike Empress RazorHoof, this Gleaner Lord had bright yellow eyes and an orange-red mane and tail. Margot took a quick glance back at the thrashing embryo, it was sleeping peacefully.

LaShawn pulled out her gun.

The Gleaner Lord whispered,”My children of the day. What lovely music they make. So Zebra, you don’t want to kill my children. I applaud that sentiment.”

LaShawn nodded. “I don’t want to kill babies but they don’t look like they will be friendly to other ponies.”

Margot spoke up. “Your children are Sunscreamers.”

Skybreeze peered at the Gleaner Lord. “Do you have a name?”

“I wish we had more time to discuss things, maybe come to an understanding but my colleagues are coming. I helped to design the sun filter for the black sun. Now, they treat me, Sunlaugher like an enemy. I don’t want to stop my research. Sorry,” Sunlaugher said then a blaze of golden energy picked them up and threw them to the other side of the room. Then Sunlaugher summoned a dome of burning light on top of Margot, Skybreeze and LaShawn. The intense heat from the dome threatened to set their fur on fire.

Margot focused and cast a deep cold spell it melted away but things felt a bit cooler before they heated up again.

Skybreeze focused on some spells to dissipate the solar energy.

LaShawn just crouched and hoped that they wouldn’t burst into flames.

It was so hard to breathe. Every breath was like inhaling flames. The heat pressed down on them like a multi ton hoof. Margot hoped this last burst of dark cold magic would break the dome. There was a good chance that they might freeze solid before the dome was destroyed. Her mane and tail caught fire but Skybreeze used a spell to put them out.

The dome started blinking then a spell from Skybreeze destroyed it. “Well, I’m glad I did spend some time on oscillating field theory.” After the intense heat of the dome, the room felt somewhat cool.

LaShawn noticed that the wombs were empty. “The embryos are gone!”

Margot swept the area with her gaze. The orange disks were also missing. Then one of the conduits started spewing gouts of orange solar energy.

Skybreeze pointed to the leak. “I doubt we can stay here too long.” Several other conduits started to break and the temperature of the room rose from barely comfortable to too hot. Before any of the ponies could move a hoof several more of the conduits started spewing. The path to the stairs was now blocked by a torrent of orange energy.

Margot looked at Skybreeze. “Do you know some levitation spells?”

“Well, I know some but nothing that can carry a pony.” The floor shook.

LaShawn stepped back. “Gals, we need to do something real soon.”

Margot sighed then turned to face the wall. “Skybreeze can you blast a big hole in the wall?”

“Let’s see, I can channel some of the power from the room. Yes.”

LaShawn faced Skybreeze. “What are we going to do next when you bust a hole through the wall? Wait. Oh hell n-” She was interrupted when Skybreeze blew a hole through the wall.

Margot stunned LaShawn and used a telekinetic spell to grab LaShawn and Skybreeze. The she flew out the window and down.

The top floor exploded with an orange flash and roar while the ground leapt up at them. Margot landed some distance away from the building so they wouldn’t get hit by falling rubble. The van drove up to them and opened its doors.

LaShawn opened her eyes. “Wha how?”

Margot looked around before answering. She could hear helicopters in the distance. “Sorry, I felt that you wouldn’t appreciate the ride.”

Skybreeze shook her head. “I didn’t.”

LaShawn shrugged. “Let’s go before the MA gets here. Maybe if we drive over to the east side they won’t notice us.” They got into the van and drove off as rubble fell from the still burning building.
> Chapter Eight: Foul fish and Botched notch
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

East side
York Ave and 91st street
Catalano’s Fish Market

Margot cursed her sensitive pony nose for picking up the multiple nuances of rotting fish and shellfish. The stink was made up of a variety of rotting things like tuna, salmon, shrimp, clams, lobsters and other aquatic creatures. She almost questioned why LaShawn had them run into the abandoned fish market until the helicopters arrived with their searchlights. Bright lights stabbed down through the skylights while the helicopters hovered. Margot just crouched closer to the piled crates.

After a few moments, the helicopters flew away. A few more moments later, Skybreeze spoke up. “Who needs all of this foul smelling fish?”

LaShawn looked through the skylights at the dark blue night sky. “Some ponies.”

“Ponies eat fish?”

“A few but with the population of Manhattan it’s probably a lot. A small percent of eight million can be a large number,” LaShawn said.

Skybreeze gasped. “Eight million?”

“Give or take a few. This doesn’t count tourists or those that come into Manhattan to work.”

Margot yawned then did a quick scan of the area. So far no threats were detected. She knew that could change quickly. “Can we go now?”

LaShawn faced Skybreeze. “Yes. So Sky, besides ponies, changelings and griffins also eat fish. Just so you know Maggie, if the MA came by the fishy smell would help us escape. I doubt that the MA would be able to sniff us out among all of this stuff.”

Skybreeze tossed her mane. “I doubt after this, I will want any fish.”

When they got outside, the area was quiet. It would have been a nice night to walk around but Margot was tired and just wanted to sleep. There was also Marko, she wondered what happened to him. “LaShawn, what do you think happened to Marko? Should we still...”

LaShawn shrugged when they reached the van. “Don’t know, don’t care. If he didn’t hear all that noise, not my problem if the MA jacked up his crew. He might have decided to come for us anyway. One thing I do know, we got the cash.”

Skybreeze grimaced. “Wonderful.” The drive back to the garage was quiet as the ponies wrestled with their thoughts.





Stop N Go Garage
Guest Quarters

Skybreeze smiled as the last bits of blonde and brown hair floated down to the floor. “Now, your mane and tail don’t look singed and uneven.”

Margot looked at the pony in the mirror. If she had been human, the too short hairstyle would have emphasised how much her ears stuck out from her head. As a pony, her ears stuck out at the top of her head anyway. At least she wasn’t bald and tailless. She had to realize that there was a bit of vanity still left inside her. Even as a pony, Margot did care that she looked at least halfway decent. Margot took the time to focus and burned the bits of hair on the floor without singeing anything else. Her hair could be used against her in some tracking and offensive rituals.

LaShawn walked up. “I wish you guys could get some time to rest but things are moving too quickly. We need to find a way to make our own notches. I’ve been in contact with the resistance in the lower Manhattan green zone. They got us a ‘volunteer’ to work with but we have to get down there fast.”

Margot sighed. She just had a feeling that the notches might be too complicated for her to understand them. So far there had been no time to make equipment for studying Gleaner artifacts.

Far faced LaShawn. “Who do you need?”

“Margot and Sky.”

Skybreeze shook her head. “I’m too tired and most of my training is on energy based systems not physical artifacts.”

Nga'Devro raised his left forehoof. “Nga'Devro wishes to go and see more of this city.”

Scootaloo also raised her left forehoof too. “I want to go too. I’m tired of staying inside! I bet you too are tired!” Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both nodded.

LaShawn stepped back. “Hey! Hey! This is serious bizness, not a school outing!”

Margot faced LaShawn. “I think they should go. Maybe a miracle from Oonté could help us.”

LaShawn sighed. “Fine. Be at the van in a half hour. I’m not waiting for anypony.”

Digit galloped up. “Shawnie! Shawnie! Do I really have to go?”

LaShawn sighed. “Yeah Digit, you gotta go.”

“Whyyy? Get Lin to go!”

“No Digit, I can’t. Lin just knows how to make good websites. I haven’t seen her use a laptop in a while. You’re the best hacker pony I know.”

“Shawnie! What if Marko and his homies cut me with a knife? What if I get turned into a zombie?”

“How about we talk about this, just you and I?” Digit nodded while tears ran down his face. LaShawn walked off with Digit then she looked back. “Be at the van in a half hour!”


East 47th Street and 2nd Avenue
1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
65th Floor
Late Afternoon

Golden late afternoon sunlight gilded the fences covered with razor wire. Alert Metropolitan Authority enforcer ponies kept watch from inside the fence. Other enforcers with black goggles kept watch from inside their white and blue police cruisers. Margot was quite sure the only protecting they did was for the MA. Serving was also reserved for the MA too. She was also quite sure there were other defenders around the gate she didn’t see. Somepony tapped her and Margot looked away from the telescope.

Krake, a reddish brown earth pony stallion with brown hair and mane smiled. “Um, we have a volunteer now. You need to get to work.”

Margot was sure Krake wasn’t his real name.

Another voice joined the conversation. “LaShawn, are you sure these new ponies can do what you said? We’ve been trying to crack notches for years.” The speaker was a blue female unicorn with a white mane and tail.

LaShawn shrugged. “Maybe? We won’t know until we try.”

Nga'Devro was looking through the telescope at the guards.

The SHC were a few steps from the windows gawking at the different buildings.

Krake had yelled at them a few times when they stuck their faces against the dark tinted windows.

Blanco had to explain that they had an illusion spell on the windows that showed an empty room. Even though they were on the sixty fifth floor, the resistance was afraid a guard might see something.

A blue unicorn walked up to Margot. “Name’s Blanco. You got an hour and a half. After that we have to put the volunteer back before the MA notices. The work area is downstairs, use the elevator it’s faster.” 

Margot nodded then looked around.

The room was just a meeting room. A large dark wooden table stretched down the middle of the room. There were some dark wooden cabinets on one side of the room. When LaShawn and her group arrived, they used the rear elevators and stayed away from the side of the building that faced the fence.

Margot understood their caution. All it took was one lucky guard with a set of binoculars and things would go south. She left the room to go to the elevator. The beige carpet felt soft under her hooves.

Blanco and LaShawn followed her. Blanco pushed the call button and the doors opened with a soft chime.

Downstairs, Blanco and LaShawn hustled Margot to another meeting room that was away from the windows. A brown skater pony with white spots lay on the black table. Behind the pony, Digit sat in a chair with his laptop in his lap. He didn’t look up when Margot entered the room. A pile of writing pads were on the table.

LaShawn sat in a cheap gray metal chair facing the volunteer.

Blanco stood in the doorway for a moment. “Your hour and a half starts now.” Then she closed the door and left.

Margot walked up to the pony and looked at the notch around her neck. It had a smooth white finish with a center that glowed a dim green color. She focused her will and scanned the Gleaner device.

An hour later, Margot came up for air. The device was too complicated to duplicate or hack without more equipment. There was just too much to remember. Maybe if she had more time, Margot could make diagrams of all of the different parts but not with a half hour left. Her tail and ears drooped.

LaShawn frowned when she saw Margot’s ears and tail droop. “What? I’m counting on you.”

“I can’t do it. Notches are more complicated than I thought. I either need more time or some sophisticated equipment.”

“You heard Blanco, they have to take the volunteer back. Can you hack up something?”

“No. Not with our lives on the line.”

“Can you do something? I’ve been hearing news that in the South Bronx green zone more foals and oldtimers are choking. We need to head up there real soon! Can you make some notches?”

“Yeah but I saw parts that communicate wirelessly. The notches will fail that test.”

“Don’t worry about that. The security is kinda lax. Nopony really cares about a bunch of poor zebras and other ponies up in the Bronx. Most of the enforcers that check notches are at the checkpoints. We’ll have to find another way into the Bronx though. Can you make notches that just look like the real ones?”

“Yes. Wait, maybe Apple Bloom could help?”

“The magic fillies?”

“It’s worth a try.”

A few moments later, Blanco opened the door. “Half hour left.”

LaShawn yelled. “Blanco, can you come in for a sec?”

Blanco walked in. “Yeah. LaShawn?”

“Can you bring in Apple Bloom? You know the yellow earth pony filly?”

Blanco grimaced. “Why would anyone bring fillies to this place? Okay.” Blanco left.

Margot focused on getting the look of the notches right and drawing diagrams of the systems she remembered.

After a few minutes, Blanco came back with Apple Bloom.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed her.

Scootaloo looked at the pony’s orange and purple inline skates. “Cool!”

Margot stopped writing to look at Scootaloo. “I need help with the notches.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Sure.” Her right forehoof glowed with a blue aura then she touched the pony’s notch. A blue glow covered the notch and it fell to the table with a clunk.

LaShawn’s eyes widened then narrowed. “Oh hell no! Please tell me that you didn’t break that notch!”

Scootaloo’s eye narrowed. “Using Oonte’s power, I freed that pony!”

“Really? Now she can’t go home! She’s stuck here in the yellow zone now!” LaShawn and Scootaloo started arguing.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom chimed in to support Scootaloo.

Margot scanned the inactive device. She couldn’t detect any energy coming from it. The security spell and the other parts seemed intact. Margot hoped she could take the device back to the garage and study it at her leisure.

Blanco stuck her head in and saw the notchless pony. Her eyes widened. Then she walked into the room. “How did you do that?”

Apple Bloom smiled. “Oonte gave us the power to free that pony.”

Blanco’s eyes moved from the notch to the pony on the table and back. “Cool.”

LaShawn faced Blanco with narrowed eyes. “The volunteer can’t go home anymore. How’s this cool?”

“Do you know how many times we tried to cut a notch off? They failed all of them. One time we used magic and the MA showed up and caught the entire resistance cell. I know they went to the Tombs.”

Margot looked up. “The Tombs? I thought those were jails in lower Manhattan.”

LaShawn looked at the notch. “Yeah, they were. Then the MA turned that precinct into the last stop for troublesome ponies. If you are not with the MA, you are not leaving the same pony you were when you came in. Most ponies disappear after going to the Tombs.”

Krake came by and his eyes almost popped out of his head with surprise. “Really Blanco? They did it?”

Blanco shrugged. “Yeah they did it but we need to know how. We have to wait a bit. Krake do an evac of this building now. I wanna make sure that the notch is not sending an alarm to the MA.” 

Krake nodded and cantered off. “You guys gotta go before the MA gets here. Please find a way to make something that will help us remove notches. This is not as good as making our own notches that work but it’s better than nothing.”

Margot faced Blanco. “What about the pony?” She pointed to the still sleeping pony on the table.

“No problem. We’ll get her up.”

LaShawn got up from her chair. “She’s stuck in the yellow zone now. What about her parents and or friends?”

Blanco pointed to the pony with her left forehoof. “Liza Morris knew there was a chance things might not work for her. Liza doesn’t have family here in Manhattan. We will take care of her. Now get your stuff and get going!”

Margot packed up her notes and the deactivated notch into her saddlebag and followed Blanco out of the room. LaShawn and the SHC followed her. They headed downstairs using the elevator. The drive back to the garage started off being quiet. Margot tried to think of ways to make a power generator so she could make more equipment. Her equipment required more power than what she could get from a power outlet. There was also the risk that the MA might detect the huge power drain.

LaShawn spoke, pulling Margot out of her thoughts. “Magic fillies, I’m sorry that I was rough on you. I was hoping that we could hack the notches so we can go to the Bronx and help out. I also want to thank you for healing Steve and Bart. I was a bit too busy to thank you earlier.”

Apple Bloom looked away from the window. “That’s okay.”

Nga'Devro also looked away from the scenery. “Nga'Devro wonders how we will get to the Bronx.”

LaShawn sighed. “Well, N. There are three ways to get to the Bronx. One way is very dangerous and I need to find out more about it. If Maggie came up with a way to hack the notches, we could just sneak into the lower Manhattan green zone and take a bus convoy to the Bronx. Another way would be to take a boat across. The MA used to have patrols on the water but it’s possible to slip past them. Now, I hear that somethin is in the water and the MA stopped patrolling. I heard the resistance tried to send a group across but they didn’t make it. You guys might have enough power to take whatever it is out but all that fighting will attract attention.”

Margot looked at LaShawn. “How dangerous is the dangerous option?”

“Maggie, I don’t want to talk about it until I hear more.” Silence descended inside the van as it drove back to the garage.





Stop N Go Garage
Guest Quarters

Margot yawned while eating her lunch. Burnie had made a tasty cabbage and hay salad with corn and black olives.

Nga'Devro walked up. “Nga'Devro has been talking to Lenny. He thinks that the best way to get into the Bronx is through the subway tunnels. Unfortunately there are a lot of threats there like zombies and Gleaners.”

Margot sighed, she wished she had more time to study the notch instead of traveling around. One day would be good enough she thought. The idea of tromping around underground in the dark with the smell of rotting ponies and zombies didn’t thrill her either.

Margot just shrugged. “We do what we have to.”
> Chapter Nine: Bane three and Lunar malaise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Foulshaper’s Lair.
Late Afternoon

Flash! 

The energy pulse went through Foulshaper’s head like a sharp silver spike. He grimaced. Sunscour was hungry and made sure that everyone knew it. If he didn’t feed Sunscour soon, he might not have a lab to work in.

He placed the glowing ball of green light on a table. “Come on! Gimme a half hour before you do that annoying pulse thing. By then you will be fed.” According to the instructions, he needed pony blood and Gleaner essence combined in a specific way to feed his insistent guest.

Foulshaper sent out a Gleaner call. All gleaners below the Lord level had to respond. Four showed up. To non-Gleaners, they just look like green glowing amorphous figures. All the same.

He could tell which ones were more powerful. Foulshaper pointed a greyish brown paw at three of them. “You three, find me a pony. Keep it alive, no draining. Bring it to me here.”

One of them whispered. “We are ssooo hungry.” 

Foulshaper nodded. A plume of greenish energy floated out of his mouth and into all four Gleaners. When he was done, they all seemed to glow a bit brighter then the three left.

The last one floated near the ceiling. “What is your bidding master?” 

Foulshaper killed it and put the essence inside a storage spell. He had no qualms about killing that Gleaner, it existed to serve. All Gleaners exist to serve. That was the iron rule that all Gleaners from the Vile Council down to the newest Gleaner had to obey. Then he walked to where he kept his greatest experiments.

Three pairs of eyes watched him. 

Foulshaper turned off the spells keeping the metal cages closed. “Know this my children. I’m your father. Serve me well and you will be rewarded. Turn against me and your worst nightmare will be your best outcome. Now step out of your cages!”

Foulshaper pointed at the purple unicorn with the black mane and tail. There was a two tone green stripe on her tail and bangs. “Your name is  Glimmerlight.” Foulshaper had been able to get some of Twilight Sparkle’s essence from her desecrated crystal castle then he combined it with Gleaner magic and Remnant flesh. He wanted an alicorn but somehow that didn’t show up in the essence he copied. Of course there was a chance that Glimmerlight could grow up and become one.

The yellow pegasus with the brown hair and cold teal eyes was named Shredshy. Foulshaper was able to get some essence from Fluttershy as she slept. He paused before naming his last creation. It looked too much like the failed GrinGrinder. She was a pink earth pony with straight red hair and dull blue eyes. “Your name is Gambol Gloom.”

Shredshy stepped forward. “Um, daddy. Can we eat now?” 

Foulshaper nodded and opened his mouth. Green essence flew out of him and into his children. After a few moments, he closed his mouth. His children’s eyes glowed greenly and then faded to their natural colors.

Glimmerlight took a step forward. “What are we going to do now? I’m bored.”

Foulshaper nodded. “When the pony arrives-” He was interrupted as a painful energy spike shot through the lab. Something exploded and black smoke started to billow through the lair. “Wait a sec.” Foulshaper went to one of his burning worktables and cast some fire quenching spells.

Before he could return to his children, a familiar face appeared on a viewcrystal.

“Foulshaper are you there?” King SlashScream said.

Foulshaper walked over to his viewcrystals while a frown crossed his face. “I’m here. I’m also busy.”

“I gotta problem. I think Moonsour is busy doing stuff.”

“So?” Foulshaper said.

“I think it did something to three of my minions. They disappeared,” Slashscream said.

Foulshaper sighed. “How do you know it’s not a morale problem? They could’ve flown away.”

“No, they didn’t fly away. Morale is fine here. A patrol caught a small group of four ponies sneaking around. The parents got the chant and were blood on the wind. You know the smell-”

Foulshaper interrupted Slashscream. “Alright, morale is fine. What do you need?”

“Um, I think Moonsour is doing something to make us feel sad. I bet the missing minions splatted themselves on the ground somewhere. Anyway, I bet this nonsense will stop if I can feed Moonsour. I’m not a Gleaner Lord so I’m missing half of the recipe,” Slashscream said.

Foulshaper nodded. “Fine, I’ll set something up for you later after I find a place for Sunscour. My children will be helping me.”

“So, you finally made them. You were bending my spikes for weeks about them. When will I see ‘em?” Slashscream said.

Foulshaper smiled. “Soon.” 

Slashscream hung up.

Glimmerlight stood at his side watching. “Who’s that?”

Foulshaper looked at Glimmerlight. “A friend who will need our help later. He lives in the clouds.”

Glimmerlight frowned. “I can’t fly. Shredshy has wings.”

Foulshaper smiled. “Don’t worry, I will teach you a levitation spell that will make you fly.”

Gambol looked at her hoof sadly. “I don’t have any magic.”

Again Foulshaper smiled. “Don’t worry. I have a spell for you too.”

Then the three Gleaners appeared with a unconscious pony. He cast one more spell to clear the air then he walked up to the Gleaners.

The pony was in good shape. Foulshaper pulled some blood from the pony using a spell. Ruby red streams of blood floated in the air while he pulled the Gleaner essence out of the storage spell. A few seconds later he had a greenish red ball of light.

Gambol pointed at the ball of light with her left fore hoof and said, “Pretty.”

Foulshaper carried the ball to Sunscour.

It didn’t last long, Sunscour pulled it out of Foulshaper’s paw and absorbed it. A wave of pleasure filled the lab.

Even Gambol had a small smile on her face.

Foulshaper had a smile too but it faded to a frown. He didn’t like when creatures messed with his feelings. Gringrinder was the last time and that didn’t go so well. Foulshaper hoped Sunscour wouldn’t take advantage of him.

“Now my children we will make this pony comfortable,” Foulshaper said.

Shredshy pouted. “Why?”

“We need this pony to last a while until we can get a steady supply. Now I need to also pick a safe place to make Sunscour’s tower. All of you will help me.” The lair was filled with happy voices as Foulshaper summoned up a map of Equestria.





 Lower Canterlot
   Outside Celestia’s Council Tent
Late Evening

Celestia had just set the sun and was looking forward to another wonderful night. The moon was in its last phase, a thin crescent. Something was wrong though, Luna was late. A chill flew down her spine. Celestia wondered if there was something wrong with her sister. She sighed and then cantered over to her sister’s tent. While Celestia traveled, she kept one eye on the sky hoping that her sister would be able to raise the moon. There was no sister in front of the tent. Celestia stepped inside. The dark blue and silver tent reeked of fear and sickness. Also Luna lay in her bed with her eyes closed. Again a chill raced down Celestia’s spine. Thoughts of losing her sister tried to surface but Celestia managed to push them back. She approached the bed.

“Luna, what’s wrong?” Celestia said. There was a too long delay before Luna opened her eyes.

“Tia, I don’t feel so good. Can you raise the moon for me tonight?”

“Yes. What happened?” Luna tried to climb out of bed. Her fumbling efforts reminded Celestia of a newborn foal. She was at a loss to explain Luna’s sickness until she saw that Luna’s cutie mark was a pale green color. Luna managed to stand for a bit on wobbly legs. Celestia studied her sister’s cutie mark.

“Luna, I don’t remember your cutie mark being a shade of green,” Celestia said and noticed that her sister was covered in lather.

Luna panted and wobbled on her hooves. “My cutie mark is white not green. I bet it’s some foul sorcery from Empress Razorhoof.” Celestia stepped forward and touched Luna’s cutie mark with her left forehoof. Luna hissed in pain.

Celestia stepped back in shock. “I’m soo sorry sister. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Luna fell back on the bed with a sigh.

Celestia’s mind was full of questions. She didn’t really know what was going on. “Luna, I need your permission to scan you. It will only take a few seconds.” It took a few minutes before Luna nodded.

With a sigh, Celestia scanned Luna. Luna’s organs glowed with reduced health but if the sickness came from them, they wouldn’t be glowing at all. Another scan showed that the poison was coming through Luna’s cutie mark. The moon was being slowly corrupted and Luna was getting sick from that. It just took a few moments to scan the moon. The corruption was not from the moon, but there was a familiar stink of Gleaner magic swirling around it.

Celestia smiled. She had several ideas on what to do. “Luna, I know what we have to do-” Celestia stopped talking when she saw Luna lying unconscious on the bed. For a quick second it seemed like her sister was dead then her chest rose slowly. Celestia breathed a sigh of relief then wrote a short letter to her sister detailing what she found. The streamers of Gleaner magic were weak, she had no doubt it would be easy to dispel them.

Celestia focused and sent a wave of bright golden power up, the Gleaner spell faded away with a few green sparks. Then Celestia raised the moon. She was relieved that the crescent was white instead of green. For this night the battle was won, but she wondered about the next days and nights. A darker thought crawled into her mind. What if the Gleaners used their magic against the sun? Celestia pushed that thought away but it didn’t go far. She left the tent with lowered ears. Even the risen moon did little to lighten her mood.
> Chapter Ten: Worst commute ever
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Polo Grounds Projects
Building Three
Apt 11G
Late afternoon 

Margot had to admit this meal was pretty close to the best. Juan Santana, a white pony with a blue mane and tail had almost cooked his hooves off producing an amazing meal. It started off with a cream of broccoli and potato soup. Then moved on to a lovely rice with lentils and fried onions. For dessert, there were fruit jam turnovers.

Even Skybreeze heaped praise on the cook. “Juan, I must say, your handling of spices is quite masterful.”

Nga'Devro nodded.

Margot noticed that Juan had put pieces of chicken in Nga'Devro’s rice with lentils.

Jerome smiled and was a buzz kill. “If this was our last meal, it’s a pretty good one.”

Margot shot him an angry glare then she looked at the apartment.

The dinner table was black and covered with white plates and bowls. Some food was spilled on it too. Pictures of rural scenes in Santo Domingo covered the light green walls. Of course the room was full of ponies and other creatures.

Besides Far’s group, there were Resistance members and two ex-MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) techs. Hanz Zieger was a griffin with bluish black feathers and bright blue eyes. He just wore a denim shirt and jeans.

Kim Phan, a changeling with gray eyes and black hair, was the other ex-MTA employee. He had a grey t-shirt and jeans.

Far grimaced. “Did you have to say that Jerome?”

Hanz waved his left claw. “Ja, it does the meal bad to discuss work but time is limited. Right Kim?”

Kim just shrugged. “What ever.”

Hanz pointed a talon at Far. “When LaShawn said you were from out of town, she didn’t say exactly where. Where do you come from?”

Kim laughed. “Maybe they’re from the Moon?”

LaShawn sighed. “Guys. Guys. Who cares where Far and his crew come from? They have helped me before. Where they come from is not important. We need their help to get to the Bronx.” She took a drink. “Since Far and his crew are from out of town. I will explain some things to them. The MTA or Metropolitan Transport Authority was a pre-Gleaner organization that handled a lot of the public transportation for NYC.”

Hanz waved a claw again. “The MTA was my best employer until those damned Gleaners appeared and filled the subway tunnels with their filth!”

Kim nodded.

Hanz drank some more beer. “We need you. LaShawn and your ‘Moon crew’ to watch our backs until we get a train car powered up and ready to go.”

Skybreeze pushed her plate away. “Wait, won’t the MA hear the trains? Also, how do you know that the tracks are clear?”

Margot wondered about the same thing. After living in NYC for several years she knew subway trains with their metal wheels were not the quietest things.

Kim faced Skybreeze. “Well, maybe where you are from the trains are noisy. The MTA used to have trains with metal wheels but they got phased out in the ‘80s.”

Hanz shook his head. “Nein. Actually, the schedule was a bit more complicated. They started phasing in the monorail system in 1975 and the entire subway was updated in 1995. Trains on monorails are whisper quiet because the trains don’t touch the rails. They float above the rail using a magnetic field.”

Skybreeze peered at Hanz. “So you made this field without magic?”

“Ja, no magic. It ends up that some types of magic interferes with electricity. We do use other types of magic elsewhere. I will be the first to admit we had to do some work to make a box capable of powering up one subway car.”

Kim put his fork down. “Ms. Skybreeze. You are right to worry about the trains but we have a way beyond that. We just unplug the power box and connect it to the first car of the next train.”

Hanz waved his left claw. “Ja, with the protection of the Moon crew, we can ride to our destination. I assume that once you kill all of the caspers and zombies, the subway tunnel will be safe. Well, until we get to the part of the tunnel that goes under water.”

Skybreeze gasped. “What is wrong with the tunnel?”

Kim smiled. “It’s probably no big deal. We may have to turn on the pumps. I’m worried about how you are going to get out once we reach 161st street.”

Hanz, again, waved his right claw. “Ja, that might be a bit of a problem. The area around the train station is a mix of green and yellow zones. The sun is normal but there are more rogue Caspers and Sunscreamers about. Security is lax too. You do need notches but you won’t be scanned. Oh yeah, the underground subway station entrances and exits are sealed with metal plates.”

Kim nodded. “I don’t know how the plates work. They will keep the zombies from coming out but I don’t know how they stop the rogue caspers. I’ve seen them float through metal doors.”

Margot shook her head. “So we go to a train station and we can’t get out?”

Hanz stuck out his empty glass to trade it for a mojito. “Nein, you won’t be trapped inside. There will be a way out somewhere. Nothing that could faze such resourceful moon ponies.”

Far grimaced. “We aren’t from the moon.”

Hanz laughed. “Ja, you’re not from the Moon. Sorry if I offended you.”

Juan cantered up to Hanz. “Wherever you come from, there are ponies that need your help. When the Gleaners attacked, a group of zombies and caspers came out the subway entrance right outside.” He pointed to the wood covered station downstairs. “It was like a flood of green light that spread through the projects. Zombies followed chomping their jaws. At least locked doors kept some zombies out but the caspers...” Juan looked down for a moment.

Margot faced Juan. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Juan nodded and went back to the kitchen.

Margot could see that the fur around his eyes was wet.

Skybreeze walked over to Margot. “I can help you make notches if you want.”

“Thanks.” Then Margot faced Hanz. “When the notches are done, we can get to work.”

 Polo Grounds Projects
155th street station
Pre dawn

The sound of nails squealing echoed through the projects as two resistance ponies took apart the barricade over the train station. The sky was still dark.

Margot wasn’t sure it was really that dark or it was the goggles. When the sun rose, it was going to be black like the time when Apple Bloom was caught in its rays. Everypony wore heavy jackets and goggles to protect themselves from the sun.

Again she yawned. The night wasn’t restful. Margot had to make notches for Far’s group and LaShawn. Hanz and Kim weren’t going above ground. Then there was the guns and squabbling.

Apple Bloom and Scootaloo wanted guns but LaShawn put her hoof down. She grimaced. “I don’t think that fillies are old enough for guns. Let them enjoy their childhood.”

Scootaloo narrowed her eyes. “We’re old enough to handle anything!”

“Really?” LaShawn looked at Far.

Far looked at Margot.

She sighed. It was too late to fuss and fight. There was still more work to do. Juan’s jacket and goggles still needed to be scanned so Margot could understand how they protected ponies from the sun. None of the Resistance could explain how the magic worked.

Kim did magic but all he knew was engineering magic. Imbuing clothing using magic was outside his area of expertise.

Jerome stepped up to her rescue. “How about we deal with this tomorrow morning?”

LaShawn nodded. “Fine.”

Scootaloo shrugged.

Morning came too early for Margot. The last of the protective jackets and goggles got made but extra guns didn’t. The SHC had to go without guns. Now she had to deal with some stank eye from Scootaloo. Margot wasn’t really sure that the SHC were mature enough for guns.

Juan’s whispered “get ready” brought her out of her thoughts.

The resistance fighters tensed up and aimed their guns at the train station as the last planks were carried away from the entrance.

For a few seconds, everypony’s attention was focused down the stairs. Nothing stumbled forth from the dark doorway.

LaShawn looked back at Far. “Here’s the marching order. Far and I will go first. Margot and Skybreeze go next. The magic fillies-”

Apple Bloom interrupted LaShawn. “We ah the SHC, Sky Hoof Crusaders! Not magic fillies!”

LaShawn just continued. “The magic fillies go next followed by Hanz and Kim. Nga'Devro goes last.”

Far nodded and they went down the stairs into the station first.

LaShawn peered into the gloom. “Someone pass me a light. It’s totally dark here.”

Skybreeze focused and a blue white light flew from her horn into the station.

Far and LaShawn went deeper in.

Margot was surprised at how closely the station resembled the ones she had been in back home. Well, if it was lit and not used as a breeding place for monsters. The smell of rotting garbage and flesh hit her nose too. Rats squeaked and watched the intruders.

Skybreeze grimaced. “Wonderful.”

In front of Margot was a gate covered with rust and peeling white paint and to the right of that were four turnstiles that looked just as bad. Beyond the gate was a passageway that led to the subway platform.

Far pushed the door open and it screeched in protest.

LaShawn aimed her gun down the hall. The group went through the gate and down the hall. Their hoofsteps echoed.

Kim kept swiveling his head around. “I hope there are no zombie rats.”

Hanz sighed. “Nein, no zombie rats. Caspers don’t care for rats.”

When they reached the platform, Margot was surprised that it was clear of zombies. It seemed like all they had to do was power up the dark silver and white train and go. Then several zombies appeared from the dark area in front of the train. Other than the filthy clothing and shoes, they looked just like the Remnants from Equestria.

Far and LaShawn fired away at the zombies and they went down.

Several more zombies tried to attack them from the other side of the tracks but LaShawn and Far took them out.

Margot waited to see the green glow of a casper but none showed up.

For a few minutes everypony looked around and waited for another attack.

Far reloaded his gun and looked around again. “Looks like we got them all for now. Hanz and Kim, you should get this train going.”

Hanz and Kim walked up with a floating dark blue box that was as big as Apple Bloom. It was covered with displays and switches.

Kim walked up to the door and with a green flash from his horn, the door opened with a swishing sound. A breeze stinking of stale coffee and rotten pastries wafted out.

Hanz laughed. “We could never get riders to stop eating on the trains.”

Kim used his telekinesis to pull the box into the train. Then he went to the driver’s section up front.

Hanz went to the back of the car and started to unhook the cables. A few moments later, the lights inside the train flickered and came on. Bluish white light filled the car showing a pile of discarded donut boxes and coffee cups lying on blue and white seats.

Hanz nodded. “Ja, the control module works!”

Jerome yawned. “I could use some coffee right now.”

Skybreeze pointed to the trash in the subway car. “I’m quite sure you could get some coffee there. With a bit of fire magic, I could warm it up for you.”

Jerome grimaced. “Nah, I’m good.”

Kim’s voice came through the speakers on the train. “Everything seems okay. All aboard. Well, except for Hanz. He has to finish disconnecting the car.” All of the doors on the platform side opened.

Everypony got on the train except for Far and LaShawn.

Finally Hanz stepped into the train followed by LaShawn and Far.

Hanz rubbed his talons with glee. “Now for the smoke test!”

Skybreeze grimaced. “Smoke test?”

“Well, we made the power module based on blueprints and simulations. Until now, we never had access to a real subway car to test with. If the box doesn’t explode or do worse things, I will call this a success.” The car moved with a barely felt jerk.

If Margot didn’t see the columns on the platform slide to the right, she wouldn’t have known that the car was moving.

Apple Bloom watched the slow creep of the columns. “Why are we moving so slow?”

Hanz looked down at Apple Bloom. “Well, we don’t want to run into something on the tracks like another train. I don’t know where all of the trains are in this area either.”

Margot looked at the ads on the train, except for all of them having ponies in them it was almost like being back home in Manhattan.

Skybreeze walked up to Apple Bloom. “Since it’s going to be a long and slow ride. I would like to know how you and your friends became the SHC.”

Apple Bloom laughed. “It was no big deal, we were outside of town talking-”

Sweetie Belle interrupted. “We got chased out of town because we were trying to be Cutie Mark Crusader Performance Artists.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Yeah, like Gallopgher. We smashed some watermelons and some ponies didn’t like that.”

“We should have stayed, some ponies applauded,” Sweetie Belle replied.

Scootaloo pointed her left fore hoof at Sweetie. “Yeah, until the pony running the watermelon booth found out we didn’t have enough money.”

Apple Bloom looked down for a moment. “Sorry guys, ah forgot the money.”

Skybreeze sighed. “So what happened outside of town?”

Apple Bloom looked up. “Well, the Messenger of Oonte appeared and he told us that a great tribulation was going to overcome all Equestria. We could be the ones to lend aid to the helpless and hope to the hopeless.”

Kim cried out. “Zombies up ahead!”

Everypony tensed for combat.

Margot looked at the ceiling expecting the green glow of caspers.

A few moments later, Kim calmly said, “Zombie rail-kill now. We’ll need to hose off the front of the train.”

Hanz glanced at the control module then at the driver section. “I hope the tunnel section doesn’t have a lot of water. That will just make us wait while it’s pumped out.”

Skybreeze faced Apple Bloom again. “What happened next?”

“Ah’ll tell you later.”

The train stopped in the dark tunnel. Kim walked back to the passenger area. “There’s a train ahead of us. We will need some way to light up the tunnel while we transfer the control module to a new car.”

Skybreeze nodded and conjured up more lights then she moved them outside so they lit up the train in front and their area.

Far and LaShawn checked their guns.

Hanz touched a control on the box and a door opened.

Margot focused on scanning for caspers.

Kim hit some more controls on the box and the lights went out on the train.

Hanz faced the group. “I’m going to disconnect the control module. Some ponies must fight their way to the front if they have to. Kim, you’ll have to open the rear door.”

Kim sighed. “Fine. I can open the door from a distance.”
Far and LaShawn left the car.

Kim followed slowly after them.

Back on the dark train, Margot walked through the door and jumped down next to the rail. Gravel crunched under her hooves.

Kim glanced back at Margot then he faced forward again. “Okay, guys, I’m going to open the rear door. Get ready.” His horn glowed and the rear door swung open.

Then a zombie jumped out.

LaShawn and Far fired their guns almost at the same time.

The zombie collapsed onto the rail then slid down to the floor. Another zombie jumped out the door along with another one behind it.

Again, Far and LaShawn took them out.

Far hovered up to the rear door to see if more zombies were coming. He landed next to LaShawn with a grunt. “I don’t see any more zombies but that car is disgusting.”

Margot could smell rotten flesh and worse wafting out of the open door. It wasn’t a big problem, she had smelled worse when she went on missions for D-Core.

Kim’s horn flashed green and stairs appeared under the back door.

LaShawn checked her gun then climbed up the stairs slowly while looking for more zombies.

A few moments later, Far followed her.

Margot went up the stairs next. Her hooves rang dully against the metal.

The inside of the car was a scene of slaughter and worse. Blood was splattered everywhere. Gobbets of rotten flesh lay on the seats.

Kim climbed into the car and Margot was amazed to see how much green was in his face. He just kept gasping and putting his right fore hoof to his mouth to convince his food to stay down.

Margot figured that the smell of fresh vomit would improve the smell in the train car. She summoned a small light so Hanz or Kim could work with the control module. The light floated next to the closed door.

Kim panted some more. “This is just… Oh Celestia... “

Far traded glances with LaShawn.

She just shrugged.

The group walked forward until they met the next set of doors.

Margot was glad they were locked.

Kim managed to keep his food down and opened the door to the next subway car.

Again, some zombies attacked but were easily taken out. Four more subway cars and several dead zombies later, they reached the first subway car.

Kim still looked a bit green but he kept his breakfast down.

What they saw when the doors opened was a pretty pitiful and disgusting sight. A half eaten changeling zombie lay on the floor hissing and snapping. Its eyes were rotting holes but the creature’s wings still flapped.

Margot could see that the zombie’s rear legs were gone. Something had fed on the changeling so the back half was missing. Just a few ropey looking intestines slid along the floor as the creature dragged itself toward Far and LaShawn. A few shots later, the zombie changeling was truly dead.

Kim gasped then faced the wall of the tunnel before his breakfast exploded from his mouth. A few moments later he just kept dry heaving.

Margot walked up to Kim. “You have to stop that before you hurt something.” She hoofed through her saddlebags for some napkins for Kim.

He just kept wheezing while taking the napkins and wiping his mouth. “H-how do you handle this stuff?”

Margot just shrugged then went back through the train to get the rest of the team. She wasn’t looking forward to leading them through a gore filled subway train.

The rest of the team waited in front of the last car.

Hanz looked up. “Nein, I don’t like the smell. Is Kim alright?”

“Yes, he saw something he didn’t like but he will be fine.” Margot hoped that Hanz wouldn’t ask more questions.

Apple Bloom pointed at the two dead zombies. “We need to give them Oonte’s Grace.”

Margot nodded. “There are others that need it too.” Apple Bloom went over to do the ritual for the zombies.

Skybreeze and Jerome had grimaces while Nga'Devro seemed unfazed.

When Apple Bloom was done she returned to the group.

Margot sighed. “The next few subway cars are kinda messy. Just keep moving forward.”

Skybreeze laughed and Margot climbed the stairs into the subway car. She then walked to the first car. A few minutes later, she heard Jerome say that she was very good at understatement.

At the first car, Kim just stood with a queasy look on his face.

LaShawn and Far watched the back warily.

Margot walked up to Kim. He stunk of vomit.

Skybreeze saw the changeling zombie. “Well, this is foul looking. Why is it still here?”

Margot pointed at the zombie. “It needs Oonte’s Grace.”

“Fine, then it’s gone.”

The rest of the team entered the subway car.

Nga'Devro hissed then stepped around the body.

Margot noticed that the fur around Scootaloo’s mouth was wet.

Hanz’s reaction was the most interesting. He crossed himself then said, “Twilight Sparkle preserve us in our time of need!”

Sweetie Belle did the ritual for the changeling.

Nga'Devro’s horn glowed as he levitated the body off of the car and into the tunnel.

Skybreeze looked around the gore covered car. “Well, I refuse to ride without cleaning up some of this this disgusting stuff. I know what you are going to say Margot. We don’t have enough power to waste on cleaning supplies. I will give you power so you don’t have to use yours.”

Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro will also donate some power to help with cleaning up.”

Margot shrugged, it wasn’t worth it to fuss with Skybreeze and Nga'Devro. “Fine.” She pulled power from the donors to make cleansing wipes. A few moments later, Margot summoned some plastic bags so the cleaners would have a place to put dirty wipes and the flesh that was lying on some seats.

Even Hanz joined the cleaners before Kim shakily pointed at the control module.

Hanz nodded. “Ja. Time is growing short.” It took a few moments before the driver’s door opened. Nothing stumbled out.

Kim went into the driver area to hook up the control module while Hanz went to the back of the subway car to disconnect it.

Far went with Hanz.

After a few minutes, the subway car seemed cleaner. Margot could still smell blood but nothing could be done about that. The whole car would have to be deep cleaned before the stench of blood was gone.

Once Hanz and Far returned, Kim turned on the lights and the train moved on slowly down the tunnel.

The darkness outside mirrored Margot’s mood. At first she felt justified for being annoyed at Skybreeze but then she wondered if she was losing her humanity. To sit in a train filled with the flesh of the unfortunate and not want to do something felt wrong. Another thought suggested that Margot needed some time to rest properly. So far, it seemed like she was going from one mission to another without any rest. The amount of fear in Kim’s voice brought her out of her thoughts.

“G-guys. S-something is coming up,” Kim said.

Green light shone into the subway car. It was definitely not an oncoming train.

Margot felt this was something worse. She jumped to the floor and yelled. “Get close to the floor! Caspers are coming. Kim, get over here.”

Kim didn’t need any more urging. He stopped the train then ran to Margot.

Green tentacles grew from the ceiling of the car and reached down at them.

Kim lay flat on the floor and screamed. “They’re gonna get us!”

Hanz on the other hoof howled curses at the glowing foes.

Margot wished she could give Hanz something to fight the caspers with but she didn’t have anything. Physical attacks would only affect a few caspers. For the next moments, she just focused on blocking spells and firing back.

The SHC started chanting and a blue shield formed over the group. That gave them some respite but then the shield shattered into blue fading shards.

A green tendril reached into the control module. Its displays started to flash red.

Hanz pointed at the control module. “Somebody do something. If that module explodes, it will go badly for us.”

Nga'Devro sent some bursts of energy at the tendril while the SHC conjured up another shield. It cut off the tendril and the box’s lights stopped flashing red.

Kim kept howling.

Margot thought she sensed a flash of power from Jerome and Kim stopped screaming. After what seemed like hours, the tendrils stopped flailing away at them. She sent one more lightning blast that knocked off some ceiling tiles that rattled against the roof of the subway car.

Hanz walked over to Kim who was still lying on the floor. He opened his eyes. “Are they?”

Hanz nodded. “Ja. Now we work.”

Kim walked over to the control module. “The casper damaged some parts but we have enough power to continue.” He looked up and faced the rest of the group. “I’m sorry. I don’t know any offensive spells.”

“Don’t worry,” Far said.

Apple Bloom yawned. “Praise be to Oonte.” Then she slumped down to the floor next to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

Jerome looked at the SHC then at LaShawn. “Ya know, next time they want guns. You should give them guns. They earned it.” The train sped up as it flew down the tunnel while Margot debated if she could take a quick nap. Finally she decided to give it a shot.
> Chapter Eleven: Scootaloo's sickness and poor little ones
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subway car



“Maggie wake up! We’re at the 161st street station,” LaShawn said while poking Margot with her black-booted fore hoof.

“Did I miss anything?” Margot said.

“No. We had to wait a half hour or so while the tunnel drained. We also shot some zombies, no big deal,” LaShawn said.

Outside on the platform, two zombies kept hitting the train’s windows with their fore hooves like they wanted to break the glass and start eating.

Margot looked around, noticing that Far already had his gun ready as he stood next to Hanz. Hanz kept an eye and claw on Kim, as the he stared out the window at the zombies, nervously ready to open the doors.

LaShawn moved closer into position and nodded to Kim.

Instead of opening both doors, Kim opened one.

Of course, a zombie stuck its head into the door only to be shot by Far. The other zombie stuck its head in almost the same place and was shot by LaShawn. Both bodies fell to the floor with a thud.

Hanz rubbed his claws. “Ja, things are going well. We have to come with you above ground because we underestimated how much filth is down here.”

Kim nodded.

Apple Bloom ran up and gave Grace to the zombies.

After that LaShawn and Far led the group as they filed out of the train. The 161st street station was like the 155th street station except that it was larger and had stairs leading up and down. Again, they had to use a light from Skybreeze so they could see.

Hanz suggested that they take the stairs up instead of heading to an exit. Also, like the other station, there were rats and garbage.

Margot was glad there were no caspers.

A few zombies attacked, but they were easily shot.

They were climbing up the stairs to the exit when they reached a grey metal plate.

LaShawn looked at Hanz.

“Ja, this is the right exit. Don’t worry. All we have to do is knock on it, and resistance members will respond. Then we can cut through the plate,” Hanz said.

Margot stepped up and looked at the silvery-grey plate. She saw nothing of interest.

Apple Bloom cantered up to Margot. “The Messenger says you should scan the plate.”

Margot looked at Apple Bloom. “Why? It’s just steel.”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Mahgot please.”

Margot shrugged and did a quick scan. All she got for her trouble was info on a steel plate. For a moment, she thought about asking Apple Bloom to clarify, but then she remembered how the Messenger had saved her. She focused, and did a deeper scan. At first, it seemed that the plate was just steel, but there was just the briefest hint of something trying not to be scanned. A deeper scan found the first sigil that felt like the cold wet side of a swimming fish. Behind that, was another sigil that killed caspers.

Apple Bloom looked up into Margot’s eyes with her orange ones. “Well?”

“Thanks, there is a stealth sigil hiding a casper killing one,” Margot said while looking at Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom nodded.

Margot peered at Apple Bloom. “How is the Messenger talking to you?”

Apple Bloom just whispered,”Let’s talk about that later.”

“Guys, I found something,” Margot said when she looked up from Apple Bloom. All eyes locked on her. “The Gleaners use this sigil to hide a casper killing one.” She then showed a copy of the stealth sigil, and then the casper killing one.

Skybreeze’s eyes widened. “Well, with those we can protect ourselves, and hide that we have a casper killer.”

LaShawn pointed to the casper killer sigil. “Could we put that on our guns and bullets? If we could do that, we can shoot caspers. Maybe even kill Gleaner Lords. That would help the resistance a lot.”

Kim frowned and looked around. “Caspers are the most scariest enemies. They go through walls and can’t be shot.”

Hanz faced Kim. “This is a good find. We can now fight back against those floating casper bastards.”

Margot copied the sigils into several sheets of paper. “You need to do research on these to use them properly.”

LaShawn walked up to the plate. “You’re done Maggie?”

Margot nodded.

LaShawn rapped on the metal plate. For a few moments there was nothing. Then there was a faint reply. She listened, and then rapped again. Again there was a different reply. “Okay, the resistance is here. We just have to wait for a few minutes.” Then LaShawn disappeared.

Before Margot could do anything, Far was gone. She tried to scan, but then she found herself on the other side of the metal plate with Far and LaShawn. Margot was standing in front of a subway station. Across the street shadowed by an aboveground train track, there was a stadium. A quick look behind her showed a closed McDonald’s.

LaShawn faced Margot. “Sorry Maggie, I had no idea.” More and more of the group appeared in the area in front of the closed fast food store.

A burro, wearing a Yankee cap, and a beige unicorn walked up. The burro stuck out his left fore hoof. “Name’s Manuel Torres, friends call me Manny.” Then he pointed at the unicorn. “She’s Alexa Rodriguez. Thank her for teleporting you out of that station.”

Hanz smiled. “So, she is related to-”

Alexa shook her head making her glasses bounce on her reddish brown mane. “No, not that Rodriguez.”

Skybreeze walked up to Alexa. “How do you know teleportation magic? I haven’t seen too many ponies do magic in this city.”

“Well, they’re a bit lax up here. I learned advanced magic at NYU’s School of Advanced Arcane Studies. New York City has a lot of magic schools, but they tend to specialize. Ponies who are into illusion and the visual arts go to Pratt.”

Kim spoke up. “I went to Brooklyn Tech for my engineering magic training.”

Hanz faced Alexa. “We found something you should check out!”

Alexa looked at Hanz with a curious look on her face.

Manny looked at Hanz. “What did you find? I thought there was nothing down there, but zombies, caspers and trash.”

“Ja, we found that, and trains that work too. Margot found a way to kill caspers!”

Manny’s eyes widened in surprise. “Something that could kill caspers?”

Alexa scrunched up her face in disbelief. “Wait what? I know that the MA has their caspers fight rogue caspers, but the idea that the MA would leave something lying around for us to use sounds wrong somehow. Are you sure it’s not a trap?”

Hanz looked at Margot. “Ja. Tell them Margot.”

Margot dug through her saddle bags and brought out the sigils. “The MA hides the casper killing sigil with this stealth sigil. Caspers can’t sense the stealth sigil because the energy from the killing one gets them first. The sigils aren’t in the open, they are deep inside the metal plates.”

Manny turned to Alexa. “If this is true, we can fight back and protect ourselves.”

Alexa shrugged. “Maybe?”

Manny grimaced. “Alexa, why are you being so stubborn? This is our chance to fight back!”

Alexa looked away then back at Manny. “We’ve had so many failures, and false positives. This could be one too.”

“Can you at least check this stuff out? You got a fancy lab at Lehman College.”

“Yeah. I will check this stuff out,” Alexa said then she stuck out her hoof.

Margot gave her the sigils.

LaShawn turned, and opened her mouth then her walkie squawked. She walked down the block, and pulled out her walkie.

Margot watched as LaShawn’s tail and ears drooped.

Hanz pointed across the street. “Is the stadium okay? Are there games?”

Manny shook his head. “The stadium is clear, but sadly no one plays outside. It’s just too dangerous. Kids should be able to play outside...”

LaShawn came back.

Margot decided to ask LaShawn what happened later.

“So, Manny we need to get down to Lincoln Hospital. How do we do it? I’m sorry that I’m rushing things, but daylight is burnin,” LaShawn said.

“No problem. We have two vans. We also have to take a bit of a roundabout way down since the courthouse area is full of MA enforcers,” Manny said then reached into a pocket on his left fore leg for a cell phone. After a cryptic message, two vans showed up.

Hanz and Kim waved goodbye as Far’s group piled into the vans then Alexa led them away.

Margot wondered what they would find at the hospital and if they could handle it.





While the lead van drove down the parkway, LaShawn faced the back of the van. “Once we get to Lincoln Hospital we have to do two things. One, we need to get the SHC to heal the sick ponies at the nearby Hamilton projects.”

Skybreeze turned away from the window to face LaShawn. “How many of these sick ponies do the SHC have to heal? I doubt they could handle a large number.”

LaShawn opened her mouth then her cell phone rang.

Jerome leaned forward. “Cell phones work?”

LaShawn turned on the the speakerphone option.

Apple Bloom’s panicked voice came out of the device. “Scootaloo is wheezin and havin problems breathin. We need somepony to do something.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll pull over and see what we can do,” LaShawn said. Then the vans stopped,

Far was the first one out. He kept his right fore hoof near his holstered gun.

Margot galloped to the second van followed by Skybreeze.

Jerome stayed in the van.

Inside, Margot found a wheezing panting Scootaloo. “Why don’t you use a blessing on her?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “We wanted to but Scootaloo didn’t want it. She said to use the blessing on the ponies that need it.”

Margot scanned Scootaloo. It seemed like something was interfering with her lungs, but she couldn’t get more info. She wasn’t a healer. There was something she could do though. Margot cast a spell that fed oxygen to Scootaloo’s mouth and nose. Her gasping for air slowed down to regular breathing.

“Scootaloo is infected. I recognized the symptoms,” LaShawn said with lowered tail and ears.

Apple Bloom looked at LaShawn. “Is there a cure?”

“Maybe? I’m not a doctor. We’ll know more when I see my doctor friend.”

Margot put her right fore hoof on Scootaloo’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Scootaloo nodded weakly.

When they returned back to the van, LaShawn continued her briefing. “The rest of us will visit a doctor friend to get the latest info.” Then she faced Jerome. “Some of the resistance was able to get some of the cell towers to work. So far the MA doesn’t know or care.”

Jerome looked back at LaShawn. “You didn’t answer my question about cell phones.”

LaShawn looked back. “Yeah, Curly, cell phones only work in the green zones and soon to be green zones. This area of the Bronx got cell phone coverage because it’s almost a green zone.”

Jerome grimaced. “Have you thought that maybe they are monitoring calls to get all of the resistance?”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed for a second then went back to normal. “Yeah, that could be right. So far the resistance has just watched and waited. The last riots that happened several years ago were put down pretty quickly. Caspers even went into homes to get ponies, not just resistance members. After that nopony would do anything direct against the MA. If those sigils that Maggie found are usable, things could change pretty quickly.” Then she took a breath to calm down.

“I really appreciate that you’re helping me with this problem. If we’re able to find out why colts and fillies are having problems breathing, that could save a lot of lives,” LaShawn said.

Margot tried to imagine just cowering inside an apartment while a riot was going on, and then seeing the bright green glow of a casper. The poor ponies wouldn’t stand a chance. Then she thought about the poor family that killed itself. This mission in the Gleaner ruled world was tearing away at her patience. It seemed like there wasn’t any end to the horrible things she witnessed.

The vans stopped at 151st street and Morris avenue. Manny pointed to the alert looking ponies waiting at the sidewalk. “Your healers can go with those guys, and see if they can help out.”

Far checked his gun. “I’ll go with the SHC, you guys stop this.” He left the van and met up with the SHC and Nga'Devro.

Then Manny drove the van to the Patterson Projects playground.

Patterson Projects Playground
Late Afternoon

Margot couldn’t keep her eyes off of the scorch marks on the asphalt. She knew there was a sad story associated with them.

LaShawn tapped Margot.

Margot looked up.

A large zebra wearing a stethoscope and a doctor’s ID approached them slowly. She looked at the scorch marks and sighed. “It’s so sad when it’s a little one. So much potential lost.”

“How did it happen?” Margot said.

“A sunscreamer got into the park. It burned two children before somepony got a MA guard to kill it. At least the children died quickly. Sorry, I should introduce myself. My name is Tabitha Shelton. Friends call me Tabby.”

Margot nodded. “My name is Margot Summerholt.”

Tabby faced LaShawn. “You brought help I see.”

“Yeah, these ponies have been helping the resistance. I hope that they could help you stop the breathing sickness.”

“We haven’t made much progress other than finding out it’s a magically altered version of Legionnaire’s disease. If your friends are doctors and or epidemiologists, I could use their help,” Tabby said with hope in her voice.

LaShawn looked at Skybreeze and Margot.

Margot shook her head. “I don’t have that background, but I might be able to help anyway.”

Skybreeze looked down and then up. “I certainly wish I could help in that way, but sadly, I don’t have a medical background.”

Tabby looked at LaShawn. Her voice rose in annoyance. “LaShawn why? We need ponies with a medical background. This is a waste of my time!”

LaShawn looked back at Tabby. “Wait! These ponies might be able to help. They have helped me. You should give them a chance. It’s not like you have access to magically powerful ponies anyway. The MA has weakened or killed most of them.”

Tabby sighed. “I don’t know...”

Jerome stepped up. “My name is Jerome Siklis. My friends may not be able to cure the disease, but maybe they could get the info from the ones who made it. Would it help if we got you the research notes from the ones who made the disease?”

Tabby blinked. “Um, maybe?”

“Ms. Shelton, who ever has weaponized the Legionnaire’s disease probably had to start with the basic disease, and then added magic to it. I’m not a doctor, but if you know how they made the disease worse, you can make some sort of cure.”

Tabby nodded. “Yes. There are other doctors that I can ask to help me.”

Jerome smiled. “My next question is where do you think they are doing the research?”

Tabby frowned. “I think they are doing it upstairs on the top floor. Several months ago, they closed off the upper floor, and forbade the staff to go up there. One of the elevators was changed so it goes express to the top floor. Since Legionnaire’s disease is an airborne disease, they have to use the air cooling towers on the roof. The hospital is in the middle of the neighborhood. That makes it easy to spread the disease. I haven’t done anything because I didn’t know what to do.”

“All we have to do is to get upstairs, and get the info,” Jerome said.

Tabby frowned. “It’s not that easy. There is a MA checkpoint right in front of the elevator. They stop anyone who doesn’t have the right IDs.”

Jerome smiled. “Don’t worry about that. All we need is an ID from upstairs and some doctor uniforms and accessories.”

Tabby frowned, and stepped back. “No. No. If I get caught, I will disappear, and who will take care of my foals? No offense LaShawn, but your lifestyle is too many shades of precarious.”

LaShawn grimaced. “Yeah Tabby, it is but we need to do something to drive the Gleaners away. We need your help. You know the hospital better than any of us.”

Tabby stepped back again. “No. No. LaShawn I can’t. I’m a doctor, not a rebel fighter. I put ponies together not tear them apart.”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed. “So you would let those who make our children sick continue to make them sick or worse?”

Jerome stepped between LaShawn and Tabby. “Ladies, maybe we can come up with a compromise? We need doctor uniforms and IDs. We also need a doctor to help us get the right info. Do you know somepony else who can help us.”

Tabby looked away from Jerome. “There is one. Dr. Vasny Poori.”

LaShawn laughed. “Vas is a trip without luggage.”

Tabby looked back. “Vas is still a doctor and I feel responsible for her. I will ask. First, you will follow me into the hospital and I will find you an examination room. Stay there until Vas or I return.” She shook her head and walked to the street.

Everypony followed her.

As Margot walked along, she watched as two teens played basketball. The park was pretty empty except for the two teens and one lookout.

At Morris avenue, there was a bit of traffic. Margot felt better seeing cars drive back and forward. Now it kinda felt like she was in a city. When the light changed to green they crossed the street toward the red brick and black glass windows of Lincoln Hospital. More ponies seemed to enter the hospital than leaving. She noticed the two MA enforcers with light blue helmets standing near the entrance to the hospital.

What she saw inside filled her heart with dismay. Every chair and bench was covered by ponies and other creatures with sad and tired faces. The air was filled with the sounds of wheezing, panting and some crying. What really tore at Margot’s heart was tired resignation in the older patient’s eyes.

A changeling doctor with green hair ran up to Tabby. “Dr. Shelton, we need you in Pediatrics. There’re so many...” Her wings fluttered in annoyance.

Tabby nodded. “Yes, Dr. Yung. I’ll be with you shortly.” Dr Yung cantered off down the light blue hall. Tabby opened the door to an examination room. “Please stay here until someone comes.”

Again Margot was surprised how the room looked like the exam rooms in human hospitals. The chair were larger since ponies stand in them, but everything else was the same. There was a computer in the back of the room.

Jerome looked around. “I wonder if we have to take off our clothes?”

Nopony laughed.

LaShawn walked up to Jerome. “Thanks. I was wondering how to get Tabby to help out.”

“No problem.”

Skybreeze walked around and peered at all of the equipment. “We don’t have all of this back home. I wonder how that works?” She said while pointing at the computer monitor.

Margot didn’t feel like answering Skybreeze’s question. She had other issues to think about. What if no doctor shows up? How would they help those poor creatures in the waiting room? She stood waiting for someone to come through the door.
> Chapter Twelve: Medical Malicepractice
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lincoln Hospital
Examination Room 105

Margot was starting to get bored waiting when the door burst open.

A  light-brown female earth pony stood in the doorway, then, closing the door, entered the room. “Hello, I’m Dr. Vasny Poori. Dr. Shelton, um, Tabby told me about the situation,” Vasny said.

Jerome stepped forward. “I’m Jerome. We need doctor’s outfits and IDs.”

Vasny shook her head. “What do you think I can do? I’m not going to get you IDs or doctor’s clothing. You aren’t doctors and Equine Resources (ER) handles all of the IDs.”

Margot sighed. It seemed like she was going to have to work even though there were easier ways to do things. She scanned Vasny’s ID and looked around at Jerome and Skybreeze. A moment later, doctor’s IDs appeared on the examination table. There was even one for herself.

Vasny’s eyes widened then she used her left fore hoof to point at Margot. “How can you do that? You’re notched.”

Margot bowed. “I found a way around the notch.”

Vasny’s eyes narrowed. “Really?”

For a few moments it seemed like there was a contest of wills between Margot and Vasny.
Actually, it was Vasny just standing there and thinking. A smile crossed Vasny’s face. “For the sick children, I will do what I can.” Vasny left the room.

Jerome looked at his ID. “Ya know, my mother wanted me to be a doctor.”

Skybreeze looked at the door then at Jerome. “What happened when she found out you didn’t become one?”

Jerome looked down. “Well, she passed before finding out. Where ever she is, she’s probably proud of me.”

Margot had no idea if her mother or any of her family were still alive. She pushed that thought away. Now, wasn’t the right time to get all melancholic.

The door opened and Vasny tossed in a bunch of bundles wrapped with green cloth. “Put them on and then put on the IDs.”

Jerome faced Vasny. “What do you know about the doctors that work on the top floor.”

Vasny held up her right fore hoof. “Well, they don’t work here. They never show up for staff meetings. Their IDs look different than regular staff IDs, they have a light green strip on the front. I think the IDs have something special on them because my ID doesn’t work for the elevator.”

Jerome put on his doctor’s robe. “Do they have some sort of work schedule?”

Vasny nodded then looked at her watch. “Yes! Yes. In a few minutes, some doctors will walk in and relieve the ones upstairs. The shift change happens one pony at a time so they don’t attract attention, but they failed with me. I’ve been watching them carefully.”

Margot adjusted her doctor’s robe. She secretly wanted a stethoscope, but it wasn’t really needed. “Dr. Vasny can you tell me about the hall where the express elevator is?”

Vasny nodded. “Yes. the elevator is in the middle of the hallway. There are ER offices in that area. We should leave soon.”

Jerome faced Vasny. “Are you going upstairs with us? We can’t guarantee your safety though.”

Vasny pointed her left forehoof at Jerome. “Wait wha? I personally would like to see my next birthday even though the grey hairs show up a lot now.”

Skybreeze nodded. “Without your help, we won’t know what to bring back downstairs.”

Vasny looked down then looked up. “I cannot allow these monsters upstairs to cause such misery. My oath might not cover violence, but I have to help. Please don’t let them turn me into something unnatural!” She covered all of the ponies in her gaze.

Margot looked away first. It was an empty promise to make when there were so many unknowns.

Vasny turned around. “Hopefully the Princesses will protect me if you won’t or can’t.”





 Lincoln Hospital
First floor
Hallway A
5: 55

Right on 5: 55 p.m., the first of the doctors showed up. She had her brown muzzle deep inside some files and didn’t notice when Margot and Jerome walked next to her.

It just took Margot a few moments to stun the fat pegasus and drag her into one of ER’s offices.

LaShawn and Skybreeze helped to carry the heavy pony into a room.

Margot stabilized the stun spell so it would last a few hours then she did a deep scan of the ID.

“Got it?” Jerome said.

Margot shook her head. “Yeah, I can make our IDs look like hers but the duplication spell doesn’t work for info on the magnetic stripe. We are going to need her ID.”

Vasny’s eyes narrowed. “Well, none of you look like this tubby monster pony. How is this going to work?”

Jerome smiled. “Let’s say that I’m very persuasive. The guard will see what I tell him to see.”

Vasny’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you a Jedi? You know, with Jedi mind powers?”

Margot looked away for a bit to hide the smile on her face.

LaShawn straightened up and peered at Jerome.

Skybreeze just looked confused. “What’s a Jedi?”

Before Vasny could go further, Jerome changed the subject. “Are you ready? We need to get up there and be in position before the next pony arrives.”

Margot took off the pony’s ID and placed it on Vasny.

Vasny put her ID in her pocket.

LaShawn checked her gun, that caused a small chorus of clicks as every pony that had a gun got it ready. Then they left the room.

The walk down the hallway didn’t concern Margot. It was the moment when the elevator door opened, and the MA guard was staring into the elevator. If he got suspicious, it would be like shooting sea ponies in a barrel. She shoved that unpleasant thought away. Inside the elevator there was another magnetic card reader.

Vasny slid the card in and the doors closed. She sighed. “Holy Princesses of the Night and Day, protect me as I go on my way. Amen.”

Margot was surprised when LaShawn said “amen” along with Vasny.

The elevator stopped at the top floor. Margot got ready to cast some bullet blocking spells.

The door opened and a MA enforcer peered into the elevator like he could see into their souls. Then he stepped back and the group got out.

As she walked down the light green tinted hallway, Margot fought the temptation to look back and see if the guard was watching her.

Jerome tapped Margot. “Don’t worry. He’s staring at the elevator door.” The door in front of them had a sign that read, “Advanced Biological Remediation.”

Vasny pointed at the door. “This is why most ponies think that this place is harmless. Tabby, um, Dr. Shelton and I had our suspicions.” Then Vasny slid the stolen ID through the card reader. The door opened without a sound.

The sight that greeted them stunned the group.

On the other side of the door were a bunch of ponies in doctor’s outfits breathing in some sort of dark green mist from metal canisters.

Margot noticed that the ponies’ eyes glowed green like Remnants, but they had ecstatic looks on their faces like they were high.

LaShawn was the first to step in and do something. She pulled out her gun and waved it at the ponies. “Stop it! Stop it! Put those cans down!”

Fear covered their faces and they complied. The lab was filled with the tinny sound of cans hitting the floor.

Vasny looked at the ponies with a horrified expression on her face. “So we were right, there are monsters up here.”

A grey unicorn stallion held up a fore hoof. “Please, please let us feed. If we don’t, we will be in agony until we die.”

Vasny stepped closer to the doctors. The green glow in their eyes made her feel uncomfortable. “Why are you doing this? You swore an oath not to do harm.”

A blue earth pony stallion stepped up then stepped back when LaShawn pointed her gun at him. “The Hippocratic oath is just a bunch of words when they half drain you. Once you feel that Essence high, you will do anything not to go without.”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed. “Do you know where this Essence comes from?”

A red unicorn mare answered that question. “Essence comes from ponies and other creatures. You ponies need someone to control you. We in Biomedical Research came up with a way to keep you in check. Population is booming and the resistance is going to be a pain soon. Now we have a way to persuade them to comply.”

The blue earth pony stallion yelled at the red unicorn mare. “Shut up Louise!”

A cold grin covered LaShawn’s face. “How does this disease work and what do we have to do to stop it? Answer quickly and you get some Essence.”

One of the ponies tried to run and LaShawn shot it in the head. The rest of the doctors cringed and whimpered.

Margot walked to the end of the lab. There was a door with a magnetic lock, behind it, she felt gleaner magic blazing away. Then front door opened and another pony stood there in shock.

Jerome got him to stand with the others.

Margot walked back to LaShawn.

LaShawn raised her gun. “Tell me what I need to know or some of you won’t make it.”

Margot grabbed one of the metal canisters and with a blast of fire magic turned the silver green canister into slag.

A low moan came from the ponies. Before they could doubt Margot’s intentions, she melted two more canisters.

An orange pegasus mare slowly stepped up. “Okay, don’t destroy any more canisters. I will tell you all you need to know.”

LaShawn glared at her. “Good. I want you to stop sending out the disease. Next I want you to copy all of the research notes and give them to me.”

The orange mare nodded. “Fine.”

Margot wondered when the doctors would betray them. She just knew it was going to happen. For a few moments, it seemed like Margot was wrong.

The orange pegasus downloaded the files to a flash drive and gave it to LaShawn.

While that was going on, the other doctors watched the goings on with fear filled eyes. Every few minutes they would look at the dead pony and look away.

Margot started scanning the devices  to see how to disable the lab. The best solution was to destroy everything, but it was on top of a hospital. Dr. Vasny and Dr. Shelton would never agree to the destruction of the hospital. On the other hoof, if they didn’t destroy the lab, the MA would just fix things and continue the project. Either solution seemed to suck.

Margot called out to Skybreeze. “Can you keep an eye on them?”

Skybreeze nodded and stood next to LaShawn.

Margot motioned to LaShawn and Vasny.

Both of them walked up to Margot. She walked to the back of the room then glanced at Jerome. He was still standing in front of the door.

“Gals, we have a problem,” Margot said.

LaShawn nodded. “We have to stop this lab and it’s doctors from being used again by the MA.”

Vasny’s eyes widened. “Oh no, no! You can’t destroy this hospital. It’s the only one around here for this area. Pick another way. I don’t like the monster doctors, but I can’t condone murder.”

LaShawn stuck out her left fore hoof. “Vas, if we don’t prevent the MA from coming back, they will just replace the equipment and start over.”

Vasny shook her head. “Yes, yes but even if you destroy the hospital, the MA could find another building to work with. Now, without the hospital, it will be harder to save lives.”

“Vas, this hospital has cooling towers. Not too many buildings in this area have them. It will be harder for them to spread the sickness.” LaShawn said.

“Is it possible to just destroy just the machines?” Vasny said.

LaShawn looked at Margot.

Margot shook her head. “No, they can just take out the broken equipment, and replace it and be back at work.”

Jerome walked up to the group. “I know some things that will help us. I was able to gather from the minds of these poor misguided doctors that the MA considers them the best in their field. If we take them out, the MA won’t be able to continue their research.”

LaShawn opened her mouth then closed it.

Jerome continued. “All we need to do is to destroy the new research and we can leave.”

LaShawn pointed to the room behind them. “What about that?”

“I will have to deal with that and whatever they use to send the disease up to the air cooling towers,” Margot nodded. The door opened and three MA enforcers stood there. Margot recognized all of them. Two were the guards at the front of the hospital and the other one guarded the elevators.

Louise yelled “Get them!” The frightened doctors began to cheer. Their elation was short lived as the guards stood in front of the doctors with their guns drawn.

Jerome walked back to the guards. “Sorry guys, these guards work for me now. Please find all of the research notes and pass them to me.”

Louise grumbled, but she began to grab folders and pass them to Jerome.

LaShawn picked up a metal trash can, and placed it next to Jerome.

Louise grumbled some more, but she placed the folders into the trash can. After she was done putting all of the folders inside Skybreeze cast a fire spell in the can. A bit of black smoke puffed out of the garbage can.

Margot didn’t trust the doctors. She generated an energy pulse that would magnetize all of the metal in the computers. Nopony could use the drives because their contents were mush. Then she walked by each of the desks scanning for hidden compartments. There were none, but Margot sensed a storage area in the wall. A quick burst of energy burnt the papers and fried any drives behind the wall. The panel buckled from the heat and fell to the floor with a clang.

LaShawn smiled. “Okay, now we need access to the room in the back.”

Louise nodded. “I can help with that.” She walked up to the control panel next to the door. Before anypony could react, she whirled around and kicked the panel.

A moment later, LaShawn shot Louise in the head.

Skybreeze looked at the smashed control panel while sparks flew from some wires. “Is there another way to open the door?”

The orange unicorn mare laughed. “Your pink furred friend just toasted our computers. Several of them had overrides on them. When the Infusor explodes because we couldn’t adjust it, you will be going to hell with us along with the patients downstairs.”

LaShawn pointed her gun at her.

Skybreeze looked at Margot.

Margot scanned the door. The wiring coming out of the control panel was too complicated for her to trace what to use. She scanned the door. There were several spells that kept the Gleaner magic inside the Infusor. A quick scan of the door to the lab showed that it had the same magic on it. Margot started to think of a plan…

“Hell no! That’s some sketchy nonsense, Maggie,” LaShawn said with narrowed eyes.

Margot took a breath. “I know but we can’t stay here forever. This lab needs to be destroyed.”

Vasny shook her head. “You’re gambling on so much. If this Infusor thing explodes, we could lose the hospital! I really can’t support that.”

Margot saw a pained look cross Jerome’s face. She couldn’t sense the enchanter magic he was using, but it looked like he was getting tired.

Jerome took a deep breath. “We have no choice. It’s possible that the MA helped to set up Lincoln Hospital exactly for this purpose. The plan is hinky, but we have no choice. I will keep the monster docs and guards here until you open the doors if I can. Good luck.”

Skybreeze and Margot nodded.

LaShawn and Vasny kept Jerome on his hooves until they left the room.

Margot waited until the door closed before scanning the door to find out how to open it.

Skybreeze kept an eye on the doctors and the guards.

“Skybreeze get ready when I open the door. Something is going to hit us hard,” Margot said.

Skybreeze stepped close to Margot. A moment later, she opened the door.

The monster doctors and the guards screamed, but Margot stopped listening to them.

When the door opened, something flew at Margot and tried to suck the breath from her lungs. Her sight turned red as it became harder and harder to breathe. She barely heard Skybreeze say she had this. What ever was sucking the air from Margot’s muzzle backed off a bit. She still felt short of breath though. The red tint didn’t leave her sight, but she could still work.

In front, a green pillar of energy buzzed and crackled.

“We have to destroy the whole device to stop this,” Skybreeze said. It sounded like she was far away.

Margot tried to do a deep scan, but it was so hard to concentrate and breathe at the same time.

Skybreeze punched Margot on the shoulder to get her attention. “Just be ready to levitate us to the ceiling!”

Margot looked up, there was a metal grate just large enough for two ponies to fit through. It was getting so hard to think coherent thoughts. Just when her thoughts were starting to fade...

Skybreeze hit her hard again. “Fly! Up! Now!”

Several devices exploded throwing green sparks all over the area. Green tinted flames started to spread across the floor.

Margot finally managed to focus on a levitation spell, and they floated slowly upwards. It seemed like the flames would catch them, but she put more power in the spell. Before they could crash into the grey metal grate, Skybreeze blew it away with a blast of magic. As they moved away from the flames below them, Margot started breathing more easily. A quick glance upward showed that the tunnel was getting smaller. When the lab blew up, there would be no place to go. Already they could feel the heat from the flames below, the explosion was going to happen real soon.

Margot barely remembered what happened next. They were in a tight section of the air vent then Skybreeze blew a hole through the wall. She remembered sucking in clean fresh air then they flew somewhere. After that, she blanked out.
> Chapter Thirteen: Night with a friend and the invisible flying mini bus
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rooftop
Late Evening

Margot awoke to the smell of asphalt and the cool touch of breezes. Hoof beats approached her.

A familiar voice spoke. “Are you alright Margot?”

She opened her eyes to see Skybreeze looking down at her with a nervous look on her face. “I think I hear helicopters in the distance.”

Margot nodded and looked around. The sky was clear. Most of the buildings she saw were dark. In another time, the buildings would be ablaze with orange or other colored lights streaming out of the windows. She headed toward the roof exit with Skybreeze following her.

Skybreeze used her telekinesis to open the door and with a squeak of unoiled hinges, it opened.

Margot expected that the door would be locked. Inside, stairs led down. A quick scan for life signs just showed pigeons on the next floor. She hoped this time the poor birds would keep their home.

Skybreeze picked an apartment away from the pigeons. “I don’t like the smell of those disgusting birds.”

Margot stuck her muzzle at the bottom of the door. She was relieved to not smell anything dead or alive. Within a moment, the locks were picked and they were inside.

Margot summoned a limited range light. Anyone that looked into the apartment wouldn’t see the light. For Margot and Skybreeze, the apartment would be lit.

“I don’t know how much I can take of this world. It’s like Equestria but then it’s so unlike Equestria. Gleaners have done such terrible things here. I hope when we go back, they aren’t up to the same tricks,” Skybreeze said as they entered the kitchen. Unlike the first apartment they went to, this one didn’t have any food except for a bulging can of peaches.

Skybreeze peered at the table. It was covered with a fine layer of dust. “Maid’s day off?”

Margot focused and summoned up some bowls with greens and some water. They ate quietly while listening for approaching helicopters.

Skybreeze looked up from her meal. “Do you think we should look for the others?”

“Yes but how? Remember what LaShawn said about the MA? They’ll go nuts if one of their own is killed. We let three die,” Margot said then yawned.

Skybreeze took a drink. “I know this isn’t the right time to ask about this but what should we do about going to the bathroom?”

Margot shrugged. “Use the shower. The toilets don’t work because the apartment isn’t powered up. Before we leave, I will burn what’s there.”

Skybreeze frowned. “Paranoid much, Margot?”

Margot yawned again. “It’s not paranoia if they’re out to get you. Burning our waste prevents them from tracking us.”

“Where will we sleep?”

“Well, since most of the rooms have windows and the bathroom is out. I suggest the hallway. We sleep near the door in case we have to get out fast.” Margot said.

Skybreeze sighed. “I already miss my blanket on the cold floor of the garage. I could almost smell the ghosts of cars past.”

Margot looked up from the last of her meal. “Really?”

Skybreeze shook her head. “No.”

After cleaning up using some water Margot conjured up. They went to sleep in the hallway.

A few hours later, Margot was awoken by the pressure of Skybreeze’s hooves squeezing her middle like she was a stuffed toy. Before she could say something, she heard the helicopters. A bright blue-white light shone into the windows. The light covered the area of the living room like it was looking for something. Then it went up the hallway. Margot hoped it wouldn’t reveal them.

For a moment, she imagined MA enforcers sliding down ropes and smashing through the windows… Margot shook her head to clear it.

The spotlight crawled about a few inches up to them before going back down the hall. It seemed to be an eternity before the helicopters flew away.

“You can stop squeezing now,” Margot said.

“Sorry. Should we leave now?” Skybreeze said. She stopped squeezing Margot.

“And run into something in the dark? No. We wait for morning,” Margot said after a large yawn.

Morning arrived quicker than she expected. Margot again wished she had some time to get more sleep but Skybreeze started squeezing her again.

“Really? You swing that way?” Margot said.

Skybreeze pulled back her hooves from Margot’s body. “Sorry, it’s been awhile since I slept with somepony.”

Margot shook her head. “Let’s get out of here. We can eat later.”

Skybreeze just nodded.

After Margot cleaned the bathroom shower and cast a spell that would scramble their DNA then she led Skybreeze out of the apartment. A moment later the door was locked. Margot and Skybreeze slowly went down the stairs. At every step their ears swiveled to find sounds. Margot was creeped out that there wasn’t any birds chirping or singing. They were about to approach the lobby when they heard voices.

“Are you sure they’re here?” said the first voice.

“Momma Delphi said so. She’s rarely wrong,” the second voice said.

“The MA is so mad. I wonder what they will do to the Bronx?” first voice said.

Skybreeze glanced at Margot.

Margot looked back. “They might be friendly.”

Skybreeze shrugged then checked her gun. They crossed the lobby and went outside.

A white pegasus and a zebra were waiting for them.

“No time for intros, we got to get you to your meeting with your homies. Momma Delphi thanks you for your help,” the zebra said.

Margot looked at the zebra. “Who is Momma Delphi?”

The white pegasus snorted. “Momma Delphi sees the future like you see down the block. She knew that you would come though she was a bit fuzzy with your apartment number and floor. Also she knows that you’re here to rescue a friend.”

“Will we meet this Momma Delphi?” Skybreeze said.

The white pegasus shook his head. “No. You have too much work and very little time. She does wish you well on your mission.”

They followed the zebra to the car. It drove north. While the scenery scrolled past, the pegasus turned on the radio.

“This is Mayor DeBlaze. Several terrorists blew up a research lab in Harlem last evening. We lost several scientists and three brave guards. The MA pledges to find those responsible and bring them to justice. Any pony or other creature found guilty of helping the terrorists will also be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Any ponies or other creatures with information are invited to call the helpline. That’s 1 800-” The zebra turned off the radio.

The zebra shook his head. “Told ya they wouldn’t confess that they were working on something to make foals and other ponies sick.”

The white pegasus shrugged. “I remember when there was sports or comedy or even news. Real news, not the crap propaganda that the MA dishes out. Don’t forget to pay your life tax. If you see something, say something.”

The zebra grinned. “Whatever.”

After watching the scenery scroll by for a bit, Margot wondered about the hospital. “Guys, did Lincoln hospital survive the explosion?”

The zebra looked back at Margot. “Yeah. The top two floors are a mess, but the lower floors are fine. All of the sick ponies and creatures started to recover. Also the docs started working on a cure.”

Margot smiled. At last, a bit of good news. She sat back and watched the scenery pass by, until she saw Manny waiting outside a beige brick building with tall thin windows. Margot and Skybreeze got out.

The zebra waved goodbye then the car took off down the block.

Manny grinned. “You kicked them good in the cojones, um, balls. Now they are frickin mad.” He led them inside where the SHC, Hanz, Kim and the rest of the group waited.

Margot noticed that LaShawn looked kinda sad.

Even the SHC looked tired.

Margot walked up to the SHC. “Are you okay Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo nodded. “Yep, I can breathe normally now.”

LaShawn walked up. “We have to head south as soon as we can. I found out from resistance groups in Chelsea that they have an unicorn that could help us spoof the notches. He’s kinda eccentric but if you can work with him maybe we can get notches. You know, you won’t be able to approach the Eyesore Building without notches. The guards will shoot on sight.”

Margot nodded. “Fine, let’s go. Wait, I have a question. We ran into some ponies who said that Momma Delphi sent them. What do you know about her?”

“Momma Delphi is some pony who can see the future. At least the big picture. She’s kinda fuzzy on the details. When you arrived, I had a four block area to search before I found you. With her help, the resistance has managed to avoid MA traps,” LaShawn said.

Hanz looked at the orange light coming through the windows. Behind him power generators loomed over the group like sleeping giants. “Ja, that is one pretty sunset going on out there. We, my friends are in Power Substation eleven. In case the main generators fail or need more power, the substations would be turned on. That’s ancient history now. Downstairs there is a short tunnel that leads to a platform where I hope a track exploration car is. In the past, the car was used to inspect track and to do repairs. We should probably expect that there will be things down there.”

Kim grimaced.

Margot just shrugged.

They left the room and headed downstairs.






10th Avenue and 57th
Apt 6C


It had been so long since Margot had slept in a bed. Not on the floor or on a carpet. A bed with covers and a pillow. The best part was that the bed was all hers. She didn’t have to share it with a squeezy pony or anypony. A resistance member knocked on the door to remind Margot to get up.

She barely remembered how they got here. They killed a bunch of zombies and caspers underneath the power substation. The repair car was where Hanz said it was. Margot remembered the sad looks on Hanz and Kim’s faces as they said goodbye. From there it was a quick train ride back to Manhattan. Resistance members with two vans picked up the group and drove them south to this building. The Lower West side resistance group had control of the whole building. Everypony in Far’s group had their own apartment or at least their own bedroom to sleep in. Margot left the apartment and met LaShawn in the hallway.

“Good morning,” Margot said.

There was a pause before LaShawn replied.

“Is everything okay?” Margot said.

LaShawn stopped walking. “Remember Marko?”

“Yeah, his group got hit hard by the MA.”

“Well, he and his remaining homies hit the garage. We lost...” LaShawn trailed off.

“I’m so sorry,” Margot said.

LaShawn looked away for a moment then faced Margot. “Burnie and Digit survived. I don’t understand why I keep losing friends and family while I’m away working. It doesn’t seem fair.”

Margot just nodded. She didn’t really know what to say.

LaShawn looked away again then back. “Well, duty calls. I’m gonna make sure you get the info you need to make notches, and then I’ll help you get your friend. I’ve lost too many to the gleaner bastards not to do something to return the favor.”

“Apologies but what happened to Marko and his homies?” Margot said.

A cold look flashed across LaShawn’s face. “Lin and Lenny took out Marko before they died and the other members of my group took out Marko’s homies. It’s over. No more worries about Marko. Let’s get some food and get to work.”

A bright yellow pegasus stallion ran up to them. He was so excited his wings were partially unfurled. “Name’s Nestor C. Just follow me and we can get some breakfast.” He pointed down the hall with his left forehoof.

What he had hanging around his neck caught Margot’s eye. It was a gold crucifix with a purple figure.

Nestor trotted down the hall while LaShawn and Margot followed.

“Don’t worry Maggie, we’re almost at the end,” LaShawn said.

Margot just nodded.

Nestor knocked twice at a door and it opened.

Inside, there was a wooden large table made of sections. Margot was looking forward for something nice but the boxes of cereal dashed that hope. Then again, it’s better than having nothing. She took a seat next to Apple Bloom. LaShawn sat next to Margot. Most of the group was already seated but nopony was eating yet.

Nestor moved to the head of the table. “Bless us O Twilight Sparkle for this bounty that you have seen fit to bestow upon us. May it nourish us so we can spread your word. Amen. Ok, now I will get the bowls and spoons and of course the milk. I wish we had fruit fresh or dried but we couldn’t find any at this time. Please enjoy your breakfast. After that we will discuss getting you to lower Manhattan.”

The boxes of cereal showed how this world was like and so unlike her home world. The box of cornflakes looked like the one she had at home.

Jerome pointed at the sun on the Raisin Bran box. “Now that’s a sun I like!” That caused a bunch of ponies to laugh. Then there was the box of Breezy Charms. Instead of a leprechaun, there was a bunch of fairy looking ponies. From what Margot could see from looking inside Apple Bloom’s bowl, there were the same marshmallow and oat shapes. Again she was losing interest in this world and wanted to be gone. Even Equestria was better.

She filled up her bowl with some granola and poured some milk into the bowl.

Skybreeze began to grumble.

Margot wondered why until she tasted the milk. It was powdered milk. Something that tasted more like water with a bit of milk in it. She shrugged. At least they had something to eat to start the day.

After everypony was done, Nestor had the bowls and boxes taken away. He fixed every pony with his red gaze. “Ok, so this is what we know now. Security has been increased around the Eyesore building but we can still get you in. Security has also been increased around the forty second street checkpoint. Trips to the Bronx have been postponed. Do you guys got ideas how to get past the gate?”

Skybreeze raised a forehoof. “How about we take the underground route? Take a subway?”

Nestor shook his head. “Nope. Those areas are sealed off and are full of caspers and zombies. Who knows what sort of tricks the MA has in the tunnels? Grand Central is the main security center for this area.”

Nga'Devro raised a forehoof. “Nga'Devro wonders if we could fly and somehow not be visible.”

Nestor stuck his left forehoof under his chin. “Maybe but there will be a lot of eyes and spells at the gates. Oh yeah, besides the fact that the MA is increasing security, some members of the resistance are pushing for striking the MA hard. Eya Sore has pissed off a lot of ponies with her sculptures. They’re made of contorted ponies. The artsy nag doesn’t hide the fact that she is the cause of some missing ponies. You might want to get down there as soon as you can before somepony blows up the building.”

Far grimaced. “How can a pony blow up a building?”

Nestor shrugged. “Get some fertilizer add some chemicals and lots of gas and KABOOM! You don’t need magic. It also is possible to remote control a truck so you don’t need a martyr. A garbage truck is a good choice.”

Skybreeze frowned. “Are you planning to do something?”

Nestor just smiled. “Let’s get back on track. How are you guys getting past the gate?”

LaShawn raised a forehoof. “How about going around? Flying over the water and then landing in a park several blocks south.”

Nestor pointed at LaShawn. “Alright, that might work. The MA has air patrols over both rivers but if you can slip past them and land on the ground, you should be okay.”

Far partially unfurled his wings. “That’s a lot of flying.”

Margot raised her right forehoof. “How about we take a vehicle and put some stealth and levitation spells on it. We fly out to the river almost to Jersey. That should keep us out of the checkpoint’s scanning range. Then we land below forty-second street.”

Nestor nodded. “Yeah, that would work. Again you have to worry about the air patrols.”

“We will need a safe place to land without anypony noticing,” Margot said.

“No problem. We will tell you where to land,” Nestor said.

Margot faced Skybreeze then Nga'Devro. “I will need a lot of your power to get this to work.”

Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro will allow you to use as much as you need.”

Skybreeze also nodded. “No problem and maybe I can help with the spells.”

Sweetie Belle raised her right fore hoof. “I want to help too!”

Skybreeze smiled. “We can use your help too.”

Nestor looked around at the ponies sitting at the table. “Good, I will get the money for Horace Williams, the pony that will help you hack the notches. Let’s get to it!” He got up and left the table.





10th Avenue and 57th
Downstairs Garage

Margot looked at the mini bus that Nestor gave her. The white and blue bus was large enough for the whole team and LaShawn. There was even some extra space for some stuff. She planned to put the levitation-stealth device in the back. Again Margot wished that she had a lab so she could make more sophisticated equipment. What she finally made with Skybreeze’s help was good enough, but not very energy efficient. The constant drain on their magic would be heavy. It wasn’t like she had a lot of time to come up with a better design.

Nestor’s hint had made her work faster. It would suck with a capital ‘S’ if the Eyesore building was blown up before they saved Rarity. She took a few calming breaths. First, she had to get them to 12th avenue and 30th street without draining all of her magic. The sound of hoofsteps made her turn around.

Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro wishes to know if it’s time to go?”

“Yes,” Margot said then she opened the back door. A small black box followed her. This device controlled the stealth and levitation fields. Margot sat in the back with the box in her forehooves.

The rest of the team filed into the mini bus. Nga'Devro, Skybreeze and Sweetie Belle sat near Margot. Jerome had volunteered some of his power, but Margot wanted him to be on standby in case they needed to persuade some ponies.

When all of the group was in the mini bus LaShawn looked back.

Margot nodded.

Nestor banged on the bus. “Twilight Sparkle be with you! Land at 12th avenue and 30th street. We will clear that area of onlookers.”

Skybreeze frowned. “Too bad Twilight Sparkle isn’t with us now.”

Margot focused and the device started up. The mini bus floated up.

Nestor yelled. “Wow! The bus is gone! Get that garage door open!” The garage door opened with a shriek and clatter and several ponies walked outside. The mini bus followed them then it took off.

Margot watched as Apple Bloom smiled as the buildings floated by. It would have been a nice trip except for the drain caused by keeping the spells going.

Already Sweetie Belle was starting to pant. “Um, wow, huh, huh. I feel so weak.”

Margot had set the spell to only drain a certain amount of power from Sweetie. Now, they were floating over the Hudson river heading south. The spell stopped draining Sweetie when the bus turned back toward Manhattan. Then the levitation spell started pulling more power than Margot was expecting.

Skybreeze began to slump in her seat. “Margot, I think there’s a problem with your spells.” The bus began to fall. Water was splashing against the wheels.

Even Nga'Devro’s eyes were half closed.

LaShawn looked back. “Maggie, unless you are going to turn us into seaponies, you need to keep the bus out of the water.”

A huge wave of weariness threatened to overwhelm Margot. It would feel so great to just sleep and forget everything. She focused and the bus jerked upward. The wheels barely missed the edge of the pier as it headed toward the fenced in parking lot. Somehow she got the bus to land in the lot and turned off the stealth field.

Somepony banged on the bus. “Area’s clear. You can leave now!”

LaShawn looked back. “Everypony ready for a ride south?” A chorus of moans came from the back as the bus left the parking lot.
> Chapter Fourteen: Notched and Loaded
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

35 Morton street

By the time the mini bus turned off of Varick street and was rolling down Morton, Margot was awake from her magic drain stupor. Unlike the streets of the yellow zone, these streets weren’t empty. A few ponies walked up and down the quiet tree lined street.

LaShawn looked back. “When we park, get inside asap! The Chelsea resistance says that the MA runs patrol cars through this area. You don’t want to be on the street when they drive by. They probably will be scanning notches. Since ours are fake, we will be in a firefight for sure.”

Once the minibus was parked everypony got off and headed to the building at thirty five Morton street.

While she walked to the building LaShawn fussed with a large satchel.

Jerome tapped Margot on the flank. “I’m beginning to think that LaShawn is some sort of bigwig with the resistance. She seems to know everypony.”

Margot shrugged. “Maybe. I just want this to be over. I’m so tired.”

Jerome nodded. “Me too. I wish we could rest a bit.”

Skybreeze broke into the conversation. “I agree with the both of you.”

LaShawn was already at the door of the building. She hit the button for 6b.

Horace Williams answered. “Yeah.” It sounded like he just woke up.

“We’re here to fix your TV,” LaShawn said.

“Okay, just remember to hold the inner door open for your teammates. Don’t let it lock behind you,” Horace said with a bit more energy.

The hallway was filled with a buzzing noise as the group rushed through the doors. After they entered the hot and humid foyer, the doors locked with clicks.

Skybreeze looked at the stairs that led up and sighed. “Really? No elevator? I’m just going to be all lathered up when I reach the top. We are going for the top floor?”

“Yes, we have to go up to apartment 6b,” LaShawn said while glaring at Skybreeze.

Jerome smiled. “Well, let’s do it.” He started up the stairs.

LaShawn followed him.

The situation reminded Margot when she had to go to her boss and get briefed. All of that ended up leading to this situation. After a while, they finally stood outside Horace’s apartment.

LaShawn knocked.

The door opened just wide enough for them to see just a sliver of a white unicorn stallion peering back at them with distrust in his blue eyes. “Who are you ponies again?”

LaShawn stifled a curse and then spoke up. “We rang your buzzer downstairs.”

Horace flung the door open. “Sorry about that, I think I dozed off.”

A grey cat darted out the door.

“Please, please don’t let Mr. Grey escape!”

Before the cat could get to the stairs, a green glow surrounded the animal and it floated off of the ground. It yowled once.

Nga'Devro walked into the apartment followed by Margot. Her nose was hit with the odors of plants, soil, old wine, lathered pony and cat excrement.

Horace shrugged. “Sorry about the smell of cat crap. Mr Grey and I don’t see eye to eye about his litter box. I bought some cheap litter and he didn’t like it.”

Then Horace turned to LaShawn. “Do you have the money?”

She gave him the bag.

A greedy smile crossed his face for a second and then it was replaced by sadness. “All that money and sooo little to buy,” he whispered.

Far latched all of the locks. It took him a few minutes.

Margot noticed that Horace had five. She figured that was enough for a New Yorker.

Nga'Devro placed the cat on the floor then it ran off to the hallway. A few moments later, he started to watch them with his bright yellow eyes.

Horace looked up. “How are we going to do this? What? Fillies?”

Apple Bloom frowned.

Margot stepped up to Horace. “They can disable notches.”

“Really? We might need that talent,” Horace said. His face seemed to light up. “Now, something interesting!”

Margot pulled out the disabled notch.

“Ahh, this will be quite useful. Put it on the table while I get my notes. Oh wait, who’s going to help me? Wait. I don’t know any of your names,” Horace said.

Margot held out her hoof for a bump. “I’m Margot, I will be doing most of the helping.”

Horace just looked at her hoof and nodded.

Skybreeze walked up. “I wish to help.”

Far and Nga'Devro shook their heads.

Sweetie Belle walked up. “I would like to help too.”

Horace shrugged. “Good, I have some help. LaShawn can you do me a favor?”

“Sure Horace. What do you need?”

“Well, I haven’t been outside in a while and I could use some help taking some of these wine bottles downstairs.”

Far nodded. “I can help you with that.”

“Nga'Devro will also assist.”

Horace smiled. “Thank you. Since it’s getting close to seven which is my dinner time, I was wondering if somepony can do a bit of shopping and get our dinners? The Chinese restaurant is just two blocks away. Also there’s a store down the block on Hudson street. Oh, I almost forgot. There is a liquor store across the street on Hudson. Please get me a yellowtail shiraz. I feel like celebrating. No no no! They ran out of those two weeks ago. Get me a Barkling. Some stallion makes them in his basement. I’ll get a pencil and write a list.” Horace went down the hall.

The apartment was a mess. Plastic bags filled with empty wine bottles were piled along one wall. Plants grew in profusion next to an open window with no shades. Books were piled on almost every surface.

Skybreeze looked at a book that was on the floor. “Topological Quantum Field Theories Derived From The Kauffman Bracket. Well, that sounds interesting but my higher math skills are quite rusty.”

Margot nodded. “I just stick with advanced level Calculus.”

Scootaloo grimaced. “How long do we have to stay in this hot stinky place?”

Horace came back with a list. “Well, little miss orange pegasus. It’s hot and stinky here. I should’ve not been cheap with the cat’s litter. Air conditioning might hurt my plants so I don’t use it, but I wish I could use shades. I keep forgetting to buy them.”

Apple Bloom shot a glare at Scootaloo.

Horace gave the list to LaShawn. “I wrote down the address of the Chinese restaurant so you can find it.” Then he reached into his bag of cash and gave LaShawn a bundle. The next few minutes were spent going through the menu and picking out what they wanted to eat.

Margot went for some hay and lemongrass egg foo young.

Apple Bloom took a while to pick out something. “Ah never heard of Chinese food before? Is it tasty?”

LaShawn nodded. “How about I get you some brown rice and chinese vegetables. It has tiny corns that you can just pop in your mouth.”

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “Corn that you can just pop into your mouth? Yeah, I want that.” Then Apple Bloom looked around. It seemed dramatic. “No apples please.”

Scootaloo laughed. “I’m telling Applejack that you didn’t eat any apples.”

Apple Bloom grinned. “Ah feel alright not havin apples.”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “LaShawn, can I have some apple pie?”

LaShawn nodded. “No problem Sweetie. If I find an apple pie, I’ll bring one back. This city was once called the Big Apple.” She looked at Jerome. “Ok, let’s go shopping.”

Scootaloo raised her left forehoof. “Can I go too?”

LaShawn looked down at Scootaloo. “Yes, you can.”

Jerome used his telekinesis to unlock the locks then they left.

Behind them Far and Nga'Devro grabbed the first set of plastic bags filled with empty wine bottles. They clinked as the ponies walked through the open door.

While that was going on, Margot went over her notes. It took her just a moment to generate a spell to create a hologram that showed what she found out.

Mr. Grey just watched from the hallway.

Horace looked at the hologram. “Pratt graduate, um no, they would never do something this practical. It seems that you have found most of what I know. There’s a missing part.” He went through his notes and showed Margot what he found. The empty spaces in the holo were starting to get filled in but the bottom was still empty.

“I found out that I can scan my notch, but I have to do it in a way that it doesn’t reduce my scanning ability. I can only do it for ten minutes a day. You scan too. Maybe between our scans we can get everything,” Horace said.

“I’m ready.”

Horace nodded then he brought over a large sheet of paper along with another pencil. “Ready, set, scan!”

Margot scanned Horace’s notch while he started drawing. This time it was easier for her because she just had to scan the areas that she missed before. The hologram flickered as she added more areas. For the next few moments, Margot and Horace with some help from Skybreeze kept scanning and updating the hologram. Margot was so into working she barely heard Far and Nga'Devro come back several times for more bottles. At last the hologram was complete, no dark or missing areas.

Horace peered at the glowing diagram one more time. “Yes, yes, it seems as though we got it. Now let’s see if we can fit all of this inside a real notch.”

Margot nodded and studied the diagram again then she conjured up a notch.

Horace peered at it closely. “Well, now we’re ready for the final test.” He went back into his room and came back with a scanner unit. It was basically a scanner paired with a small screen.

Skybreeze jerked her head back in surprise. “Where did you get that?”

Horace just shrugged. “I don’t ask and they don’t tell.” He turned the device on and pointed it at his notch. Then for about ten minutes they tweaked the test notch until it worked like Horace’s notch.

By the time Far and Nga'Devro came back, Margot had a working notch. She figured that it would be easy to duplicate for the rest of the team.

LaShawn, Jerome and Scootaloo walked into the apartment with a bunch of bags. Some of the contents smelled pretty good to Margot.

Horace saw the bag of kitty litter and walked up to LaShawn. “Thank you. Now I can get back into Mr. Grey’s favor.” He grabbed the bag with his telekinesis and went into the kitchen.

Margot noticed that LaShawn and Jerome brought wine and some sodas. The SHC could have something to drink too. She also wasn’t in the mood for wine, especially when it was made in somepony’s bathtub. Margot watched as Mr Grey watched the ponies pass around pints of Chinese food and drinks. After a few quick scribbled notes, she joined the party.

 Hudson River Park

A cool breeze blew over the park while the rising sun gilded the roofs of the buildings across the river. Margot could hear Jerome whine about the earliness of the hour.

“I understand that we have a lot to do but starting a few hours later would be good,” Jerome said while squinting.

Far laughed. “Not to laugh at your pain but I’m glad I didn’t drink any of that wine.”

Skybreeze snorted. “Wine? That was more like old grape juice. I have to admit it does have some interesting notes, but I figure it needs a year or more before anypony should drink it.”

Nga'Devro laughed. “Nga'Devro also agrees that the wine was too rough.”

Far looked over the water and back at Nga'Devro. “Rough? No, sandpaper is rough. That stuff, to steal a word from LaShawn, was nasty. Sorry LaShawn.”

LaShawn laughed. “No you are right. Horace puts up with it because he likes to drink. When the Gleaners are driven away, I hope he can get real wine.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “Well, ah didn’t get any wine.”

LaShawn leaned down to Apple Bloom. “Be glad. After a little bit I just started drinking orange soda. That was much better.”

Jerome faced Apple Bloom. “Why are you not sleeping like Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?

“Ah grew up on a farm. I’m used to getting up with the sun,” Apple Bloom said with a proud smile on her face.

Jerome just winced.

Margot wished she could heal him or do something to ease his pain. Other than conjuring up water or more alcohol there was nothing she could do.

LaShawn looked at her watch. “Daylight’s a burnin. Who’s first?”

Margot raised her right forehoof. LaShawn and Margot went to the minibus. Margot was pleasantly surprised to find out that driving in this world wasn’t any different from where she came from. There was some new stuff on the gears but that was it.

After that, Margot drove the van around the park area.

LaShawn was relieved and surprised. “Let me guess there are cars where you come from?”

Margot nodded.

The next driving student was Far, and LaShawn had a lot of work on her hooves. The van moved in fits and starts. LaShawn decided to get to the next student. Skybreeze ended up not doing any driving. They started arguing when Skybreeze got into the minibus.

Margot and Jerome had to intervene.

LaShawn looked at her watch. “Okay, that’s enough for the driving lessons. The others will be here soon.”

Margot looked back.

Already Horace and the rest of the team were trotting toward them.

Far faced Jerome. “I noticed Horace was complimenting your curly hair and fine coat. Did anything happen while I was sleeping?”

Jerome sighed. “Yeah, I know he was flirting with me but I could tell he wasn’t going to do anything.”

“Really?”

Margot remembered that Horace brought out the keys to the other apartments on the sixth floor. She was glad they didn’t have to sleep in his hot apartment. Her apartment was also hot and stuffy too, but a few open windows and some cold air spells made things comfortable. Once her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep. It felt like a minute later when LaShawn woke her up in the morning. Then Margot made notches for the team.

Horace and the rest of the team walked up. “We should stop somewhere and have a nice breakfast then go on to the NYU campus. The center for Advanced Magical studies has some checkpoints around it, but anypony can walk through the campus to Broadway. This should be a good test or we get caught.”

LaShawn sighed. “Fine. We need to test if these notches work. Where should we go for breakfast?”

Horace smiled. “I know a nice diner near here. I will tell you where to go.” He then spent the next few minutes acting like a tour guide pointing out areas of interest.

Washington Square south

Jerome looked at the MA enforcers in their police cars watching the ponies walking by. “Tell me again why we are testing the notches here and not at the Eyesore building?”

LaShawn sighed. “If the notches fail here, we have a better chance to get away. Since this is not a high value area, the guards are not on high alert. If we tested the notches at the building and they failed, we wouldn’t survive. There’re just too many guards and SWAT units there.”

Margot looked down the block. It would be nice to play the tourist, but she was just so tired. Testing the notches and heading back would be good. She hoped to get back early so she could catch up on more sleep.

LaShawn shrugged. “Follow me.” The group followed her and acted like tourists gawking at everything. When they passed the checkpoint without incident there were a lot of relieved sighs.

Margot managed to get a glimpse of the NYU Center for Advanced Magical Studies. It was just another red brick building with black windows. Two MA enforcers stood next to the black and silver doors.

“Horace have you ever been in the advanced magic center before the gleaners came?” Margot said.

Horace looked down. “Well, I have been in the Bobst library but no. I could have done some studies at the center but at that time I was little more than a bum. Eventually, I cleaned up my act, but by then I didn’t care about magic that much.” The group walked up a block and then walked to the minibus.

LaShawn turned to the group. “I talked to some resistance leaders and they agreed to let us practice shooting in their armory. After today, everypony will need to know how to shoot a gun. Even little fillies.”

Scootaloo grumbled.

Horace’s eyes widened. “No, I don’t want to know how to shoot. I abhor violence.”

LaShawn faced Horace. “Really?”

Horace waved his right fore hoof. “Well, it’s more I don’t know what I would do in a situation that requires violence.”

LaShawn nodded. “Well, then you don’t have to come. You’ve done enough for the resistance already by helping us with the notches.”

Horace looked at the group, his ears drooped.

Margot felt sorry for him. She could tell he was a lonely pony. The outing to Chinatown was probably the first time he was with a group in a long time. There was a good chance that they would never see Horace again.

Horace waved slowly. “I wish you well in your endeavours.” The group watched as he turned around and headed back across the park with lowered tail and ears. Then the group got on the minibus and went to Chinatown.

Chinatown

The buildings looked like what Margot expected in Chinatown. Everything else was different. For one thing, there was this constant whirr of wings. She could see changelings landing at upstairs balconies and flying above traffic. Also they would land and take off from the street. Then there were the strange chirps of their language mixed in with English. Margot wondered what Nga'Devro thought. His face contained no clue to his thoughts.

Skybreeze and Far’s faces on the other hoof were filling with fear.

“Are you okay, Skybreeze?” Margot said.

“No, I find all of these changelings quite disturbing. I feel that they will swoop down on me and rip out my emotions,” Skybreeze said while trying not to panic.

Far’s eyes also were looking around at all of the changelings in the area.

Nga'Devro spoke up. “Nga'Devro wishes to tell you that ripping out emotions from ponies is considered a hostile act. No civilized changeling would do such a thing.”

Skybreeze looked back at Nga'Devro. “That may be true but I have lost relatives to a changeling attack.”

LaShawn looked back. “Well, I’m sorry we can’t park in front of Happy Golden Village, we have to walk a bit. Please keep it together until we get inside.” After the minibus was parked, they started down the street.

Margot wondered why she didn’t hate and fear changelings. The changeling that had the device on Earth, Margot shot. That didn’t stop the devices from exploding or doing whatever they were supposed to do. She realized that she didn’t know what the devices did.

“Jerome, do you know why the changelings attacked that mall?” Margot said.

Jerome looked back. “Well, the Messenger said that the changelings wanted emotions from the humans in the mall. But there was more to the spell. It brought gleaners to Earth and Equestria.”

“Wait. When did you speak to the Messenger?” Margot said.

“I was at the mall following up on a hunch and then the gleaners came. I was in the middle of a bunch when the Messenger saved me,” Jerome said.

Scootaloo pointed at some geese hanging in the window of a butcher shop. “What’s wrong with those birds? Why are their skins shiny? Where are their feathers?”

Margot looked at the geese. Their black beady eyes made her hackles rise. It seemed like they were watching her.

LaShawn sighed. “Those geese are dead. Somepony plucked out their feathers and put a glaze on their skin. Changelings like eating some birds.”

Sweetie Belle grimaced. “Ewww.”

Apple Bloom pointed to some pigeons that were strutting down the street. “Changelings eat those too?”

LaShawn didn’t say anything.

Margot knew some humans ate pigeons but she decided to keep quiet. At last they reached the front of Happy Golden Village. A male changeling with a black mane and tail opened the door and let them in.

“Welcome to The Happy Golden Village. I’m Chen Wua. You can call me Chen. Don’t call me late for dinner,” Chen said.

Far laughed.

The rest of the group was quiet. The group introduced themselves.

“The restaurant is closed except for you. After training, we will have a nice feast. First, some of you will train,” Chen said and led the way to the back. Then they went down some stairs to the shooting range. Two changeling stallions waited for them. A large crate was on the floor next to the changelings.

“We spent some time studying the MA Enforcer’s guns as well as copies of the sigils for killing caspers and stealth,” Chen said.

Far wrinkled his nose. “Wait, how were you able to get an enforcer’s guns?”

Chen smiled and one of the stallions chirped. “Well, Far, the half drained do still keep some of their desires.”

Skybreeze grimaced. “Ponies are attracted to changelings?”

Chen smiled again. “Well, some are and others have their eyes on other creatures. We just get their guns while the owners are busy and study them carefully.” He focused and the crate floated over to him. “The weapons here can kill caspers and Gleaner Lords. The only difference between the two is more magical training and status. It would be quite wonderful if Ms. Sore suffered an unfortunate end.”

The two changeling stallions chirped. Chen also chirped.

LaShawn narrowed her eyes. “Yeah, I would like that to happen.”

Chen bowed and then took the top of the crate off. Inside was several sets of guns in holsters. For the next few minutes, the guns were handed out to the group. Even the SHC got guns.

Margot could tell that was a decision that LaShawn didn’t like, she just looked at the fillies parading around with their smaller guns and rolled her eyes. The group’s previous set of guns were put into the crate. Then Chen placed it back in the corner.

Chen turned and faced the two changeling stallions. “These trainers don’t want their names known. You will address them as Trainer one and Trainer two. Now who needs training?”

Skybreeze, Far, Nga'Devro and the SHC stepped forward. 

Trainer one chirped at Trainer two.

Chen faced them. “Stop that. English please.”

Trainer one bowed. “Sorry.”

Trainer two just bowed.

Margot faced Chen. “Excuse me. I was wondering if I could get some practice time in?”

Chen nodded. “Yes, you can. You can practice at the far end away from the trainees. When you are done, let me know.”

Margot checked the earmuffs. Even though they were for winter, she sensed a powerful sound blocking spell on them. The choice of guns was much better. Instead of Mac tens there were a bunch of assault rifles. She just picked a Glock and practiced shooting for a bit. When the clip was empty Margot stopped and looked at Chen.

“No problem, just give me the gun and I will have it taken care of,” Chen said.

Margot gave him the gun.

He stuck it in the waistband of his maroon robe.

“Anyone else wants to get in some practice before the trainees?” Chen said.

LaShawn walked up to the gun rack and also picked out a Glock. She also put on the earmuffs and then started shooting. When she was done, she also gave her gun to Chen.

The gun ended up in Chen’s waistband.

LaShawn looked at Jerome. “Your turn Curly.”

“Nah. I’m good,” Jerome said.

Margot watched as the trainers showed the different parts of a gun and some basic safety tips.

“The rest of you follow me for some wonderful conversation,” Chen said with a smile.

Trainer two chirped loudly.

Chen looked at trainer two and shook his head. “Now, that’s just rude!”

Margot, Jerome and LaShawn followed Chen upstairs.

“Chen, what did trainer two say?” LaShawn said.

“Well! That rude trainer two said if the conversation was going to be wonderful, it must not include me. I think I’m quite gifted in the art of conversation,” Chen said while waving a fore leg. He turned and looked back with a smile. Then when they reached the restaurant level he pointed at a table. “Sit and I shall bring drinks and conversation.” Chen took the guns out of his robe’s waistband and placed them somewhere in the bar.

Margot sat down with Jerome and LaShawn.

Chen brought some glasses and a bottle. “Don’t worry, it’s Lychee limeade. No one will get drunk until the whole group is here.” He poured the drink into four glasses then he raised his glass. “To new beginnings!”

LaShawn, Jerome and Margot toasted and drank. The sweetness of the Lychee fruit mixing with the sour lime made for an interesting taste.

Chen sat back in his chair. “I remember when Chinatown was so vibrant. Then the gleaners came and things changed. Soon we will fight and maybe we will win. Many will die so that more can live free. Do you know that when the gleaners took Washington DC., they couldn’t find the President or his cabinet? I have a foolish thought that maybe the President and his cabinet are still alive and are waiting for the revolution to begin. Ah, such a hope.”

LaShawn took another sip of her drink. “Chen, you know the Revolution won’t be televised. We must make it happen and not rely on just pure hope.”

For a few hours, Margot listened to Chen and LaShawn trade anecdotes about the times before the gleaners came. For Margot the day seemed to take a melancholic turn. She was sitting there listening to two ponies go on about what was lost. To her it made more sense to party because who knows what will happen after tomorrow.

A few hours later, the trainers arrived with their students. Chen moved the group to a long table then he sat at one end while LaShawn sat at the other.

Now Margot knew the feasting would begin. It reminded her too much of the great feast before battle. Maybe they won’t survive or worse they will get captured and sent to the Tombs. Margot pushed that thought to the back of her mind and focused on having a good time. Maybe this would be the last time?
> Chapter Fifteen: Get Rarity and Spike
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

23rd Street and Madison Ave

Again Margot tried to look at the Eye Sore building to see if it resembled the Flatiron building she remembered. Nope, her eyes burned and tears clouded her vision. This close to the building she had to be careful what magic she used. A quick look at the team showed the other ponies were not able to see the building either.

LaShawn sighed then she looked at her watch. “Okay guys, we have to cross the street and get moving. We have a noon appointment with Beverly Rankin. We show up late and she might not see us. I just hope she doesn’t care about seeing fillies in the exhibit. Oh yeah, before you end up in the street stumblin around with tears pouring out of your eyes, just look at the lower two floors please.”

As they crossed the street, Margot noticed the parked police cars full of MA enforcers in bulky combat armor. Two MA Enforcers stood at the corner watching ponies walking past.

LaShawn continued briefing the group. “Since this is an office building, the guards won’t bother us because they think we have business here. The resistance has been able to get some info about the upper floors. Eya Sore, owns the nineteenth to the twenty- second floor. The exhibit is on the fifteenth floor. The elevators stop at the fifteenth floor unless you have a special key. Ms. Beverly is a favorite of Eya so she has the keys to all of the upper floors. I’m not sure how we can get the keys. Ms. Rankin might have an accident.”

Skybreeze smiled. “Finally, we can just take an elevator instead of taking the stairs.”

LaShawn glared at Skybreeze. “The elevator stops at the fifteenth floor. We will have to take the stairs up.”

Skybreeze waved her left forehoof. “Well, I’m curious to see what sort of artwork a creature called Eya Sore can make.”

Inside, the building was cool and empty. LaShawn pressed the elevator call button and the elevator opened its doors.

Margot found the gold and white color scheme interesting. A few moments later, they were at the fifteenth floor. Unlike the lobby, the color scheme was different. Now it was mostly black with green and gold highlights. A white earth pony with short red hair and a frown waited in front of the elevator.

The group barely had time to step out of the elevator before the pony stuck out her right forehoof. “Who among you has my money?”

LaShawn nodded and pulled out a bundle of cash.

The pony grabbed the money then counted it. “Okay, that’s all of it. I’m Beverly Rankin. You got fifteen minutes to gawk and out you go. Don’t cause problems or I call security. You don’t want me to call security. These guys send ponies to the Tombs. Also keep the fillies from crying. Follow me.”

Margot was glad Skybreeze didn’t say something snarky.

Scootaloo opened her mouth and closed it. Her eyes narrowed.

Beverly walked up to a ebony door with gold accents at the end of the hall and waved an ID card in front of it. With a hiss, the door opened. Then she led them into the room.

Margot was amazed at how lifelike the pony statues looked. After a moment, something about the agonized poses made a chill run down her back. There was something not right about these sculptures.

Beverly left them and stood by the door.

The group continued to the end of the room.

To Margot, it looked like Skybreeze could barely keep her eyes in her head. She just had to look at all of the details.

On the other hoof, Jerome seemed to be unhappy. His tail and ears drooped.

Margot walked up to Jerome. “What’s wrong?”

Jerome frowned. He looked at Nga'Devro. “You feel it, don’t you?”

Nga'Devro’s tail and ears also drooped.

Skybreeze looked at Jerome then at  Nga'Devro. “What are you-” She was interrupted by LaShawn’s cry of pain.

“Damn. Evangeline! They got you?” LaShawn said while a tear fell from her eye.

Margot cantered up to LaShawn while the rest of the group followed.

Margot looked at the statue. It was of a very pretty mare, She had long graceful legs and a delicate looking muzzle, but the pose was so contorted.

Jerome pointed toward the statue. “These aren’t made with marble. They’re made with living ponies. All of these ponies are in pain. Especially that one.”

Skybreeze looked around at all of the tortured statues. “Can we undo the spell? Stop the pain?”

Jerome just shook his head.

Apple Bloom stood taller. “We can use Oonte’s help to free these ponies or give them Grace!”

Margot knew what she said next would sound cold and heartless. “We can’t do anything with these ponies until we get Rarity and Spike. It’s too early to tip our hoof.”

LaShawn sobbed. “I wonder if Robert knows?”

Skybreeze glared at Margot. “Show some heart. If one of these ponies was a relative would you be so cold?”

Margot flinched. “We came to this world to get Rarity and Twilight Sparkle. Alerting the enemy that we’re here will make things harder and might jeopardize the mission.”

Beverly walked up to the group. “You know what? I’m calling security. I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

LaShawn reached for a hidden gun.

Beverly’s eyes narrowed. “Go for the gun, Zebra and I’ll have security here so fast-” Then Beverly’s expression went blank.

Jerome walked up to Beverly. “Okay Beverly, how about you give us the access cards to the upstairs floors?”

Beverly shook her head then she grimaced.

“Oh, I see, you don’t want your bosses to get mad. No problem. Give us the keys and I will make sure you are safe in your bed sleeping. Does that sound good?” Beverly nodded then she dug through her saddlebags and gave the keys to Jerome.

“Thanks. Now to get you safely home. You had a tasty lunch. Your tongue and mouth loved it, but your stomach not so much.” Beverly’s face turned green, and she kneeled on the floor then she threw up.

Skybreeze danced away from the splashing vomit.

“Poor Beverly. Don’t worry, your pain will end soon. Call your boss and tell him or her that you are closing up early and going home. Go straight home and go right to bed. When you do that, you will forget us. In fact, you are alone in this room looking at the statues,” Jerome said.

Beverly dry heaved again and then got her cell phone. “Hello Brian. My lunch has made me sick and I have to go home.”

Margot watched as Beverly turned around and left without saying a word. She faced LaShawn who was wiping her face. “Who’s Robert?”

LaShawn sniffled. “Robbie, Robert Kinney was a homie of mine from way back. We came through the police academy together and got assigned to the two oh. When I made detective, Kinney became my partner.  We were doing the homicide detective thing and then he met Evangeline Watson. He couldn’t stop talking about her. When I met her I was amazed. She was so pretty, but the beauty was also on the inside. Maybe I fell in love with her too? We were like the Three Musketeers for a while. We would go to parties, gallery openings and other high society events. Then the gleaners came… I didn’t know what happened to Robbie and Evie.”

Jerome walked up to LaShawn. “We gotta get going.”

LaShawn looked at Evangeline’s tortured form. “Does she know?”

Jerome looked away. “Yes.” Then he looked back at LaShawn.

The group left the room of pain and stood in front of the elevator.

Jerome pushed the up call button. The doors opened and the group got in.

The floor panel had buttons up to the twentieth floor. The twentieth, twenty-first and twenty- second used card readers. Jerome stuck the card with the gold square on it in the twentieth floor card reader. The elevator’s door closed and it went up.

Margot watched as the numbers on the floor indicator increased. “After we rescue Spike, we probably can’t use the elevators anymore. They will probably turn them off.”

Nopony said anything.

As the elevator rose, she scanned the guards and tried to see what sort of spells they had on them. If they had spells monitoring their status, killing or stunning them could set off alarms. It seemed like there was nothing but Margot wasn’t sure that there were no spells or she couldn’t sense them. Another thought suggested that the guards might be watched by cameras. If they just slumped when stunned, anypony watching could hit the panic button.

A quick scan showed no cameras. She just had to decide to kill or just stun. For some reason, Margot decided just to put the guards to sleep. She hoped that bit of mercy wouldn’t bite her in the plot later. No good deed goes unpunished arose in her mind. She pushed it away. “When the door opens, we have to leave this area quickly.”

The group got their weapons ready. The doors opened.

Two MA enforcers slumped behind desks with bullet-proof shields on top. Each shield had a slit so the guards could shoot into the elevator. They left the guards and continued down the hallway. Margot kept scanning the guards so she would know when they woke up.

After making a left turn, the group quietly walked down the black and gold hallway until they arrived at a golden room.

Margot looked into the room. The golden room had nothing except for a small purple and green dragon standing on a black marble pedestal. A large red ruby in the shape of a heart was stuck in his mouth. Then Margot closed her eyes and focused on the magic inside the room. Her passive scan showed a more dangerous view. The floor had pressure sensitive spells while several layers of magic beams sizzled and crackled. Even the pedestal had a weight sensor.

She turned to Skybreeze. “Check out this room please.”

Nga'Devro walked up to the doorway to scan the room.

Sweetie Belle peered into the room. “It looks clear.”

Far shook his head. “I doubt getting Spike will be that easy.”

Margot shook her head. “There are multiple levels of magical traps in the room.”

Skybreeze nodded. “How will we do this?”

“I’m going to hack the weight sensor and then we will use telekinesis to carry Spike out. Skybreeze can you bend the energy beams around Spike so he doesn’t get hurt or set off the alarms?” Margot said.

Skybreeze’s eyes closed for a second. “I think I can do that.”

“Nga'Devro will assist as needed,” Nga'Devro said.

Margot’s horn glowed as she focused on hacking the weight sensor. That wasn’t too hard. the next part was going to be more difficult. She had to grab Spike and carefully pull him through the energy beams without breaking them.

Skybreeze had to bend them in a way that wouldn’t cause the alarms to go off.

Margot pushed away the thought that the alarms would probably be silent and she wouldn’t know until the guards double tapped her. She shook her head and picked up Spike. Slowly he floated across the black tile floor while Skybreeze and Nga'Devro bent the energy bars so Margot could carefully pull Spike past them.

LaShawn watched in surprise as Spike floated closer to the door.

The power drain was tremendous and Margot was already starting to feel tired. She yawned just as Spike landed on the floor outside the room.

Skybreeze dispelled the stun spell.

Spike looked around and pulled the ruby heart out of his mouth. “Ptoo! Glass? Really?” Then he looked around at the ponies looking at him. “Wait, did I just end up in a Comicon? I don’t recognize any of the chars.”

Apple Bloom walked up to Spike. “Ah you alright Spike?”

Spike looked around again. “Um, yeah. Where am I? Where’s Rarity and where’s Twilight?”

Apple Bloom sighed. “It’s a long story. You’ve been kidnapped and we got you out.”

Scootaloo stepped forward. “Don’t you mean dragonnapped?”

Sweetie Belle stuck her nose in the air. “There’s no such word as dragonnapped.”

Spike frowned. “Whatever. The last thing I remember was Coco Pommel telling us about a water main break and the flooding destroyed some costumes for a play. She wanted Rarity’s help to fix them. Then I wake up here with a stupid glass heart in my mouth. Anyone have some food or jewels?”

Skybreeze stepped up after she fished through her saddlebags and found a food bar. She gave it to Spike. “Here Spike, it’s probably not as good as a ruby but it should be better than glass.”

“Thanks. Where’s Rarity?” Spike said then he bit into the bar.

Sweetie Belle smiled. “Rarity is on this floor right?”

Margot did a quick passive scan. Spike’s room was the only cage here. A quick scan of the floor above showed another magic filled deathtrap. “Sweetie, Rarity is probably upstairs.”

Sweetie Belle smiled. “Can we go now!”

Margot shook her head. “In a few minutes. We have to talk about how to deal with the guards.”

Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro knows some spells that can take out the guards quietly.”

Spike looked up at Margot. “Where’s Twilight?”

Margot looked down at Spike. “She’s in another building several miles away. When we are done here, we are going to rescue her too. Sweetie Belle, can you tell Spike what’s going on?”

Sweetie Belle nodded. The group left the hall to take the stairs up.

When the group reached the upstairs landing, they could hear the guards talking.

“Freakin Todd, stop fidgeting!”

“Sorry, when do we get our essence cans?”

“In an half hour or so. How about thinking about something else. How about Beverly Rankin?”

“Really Howie? That mare got no ladyparts. She replaced them with a bill reader. Nothing touches her lips unless it’s triple washed. I wish I could get my hooves on that unicorn with the purple mane. Now, that’s good stuff.” At that moment, Nga'Devro’s horn glowed brightly and there was a cracking sound.

“Yo, Howie what’s up with you?” Another bright glow and they could hear no more from Todd.

The rest of the group came in. Spike looked at the MA enforcers whose heads were at strange angles to their necks then he looked at Margot.

“Sorry Spike. We had to do that so we can free Rarity,” Margot said.

Spike looked back at the two dead MA enforcers. “So how many ponies have you guys killed?”

LaShawn walked up. “I’m LaShawn. These guys aren’t exactly ponies. They are ponies that were turned into monsters that feed on life.”

Nga'Devro hoofed through the pockets of the guards to get the key to Rarity’s room then walked up to her room and swiped the key. The door opened with a hiss.

Rarity stood on her hind legs while reaching for something with her white hooves. The walls were golden with black highlights. Margot noticed that Rarity’s blue eyes were blank like she was in some sort of trance. Again, Margot closed her eyes and focused. The traps here were more dangerous. Instead of a mesh of energy beams, it was walls. Death spells were on standby if Margot made a mistake. Just one and Rarity would be dead before she made it out the door.

Margot sighed. If they weren’t under a time limit, the spells would be somewhat easier to deal with. “Skybreeze do you see all of this?”

Skybreeze closed her eyes and focused. “Yes, we’ll need more time for this one.”

Apple Bloom walked up with her group then they raised their right fore hooves. A blue flash flew into the room. Apple Bloom turned and faced Margot. “Do it now before the spell fades!”

Margot scanned the room.

It seemed like the spell from the SHC froze the spells in the room. She looked at Skybreeze and then used a telekinesis spell to grab Rarity. Then Margot started pulling. The stasis spell from the SHC started to fail once Rarity left her pedestal. The floor behind her exploded then the pedestal shattered into flying white shards.

Just in time, Skybreeze cast a shielding spell to protect the ponies in the hallway. More sections of floor exploded while Rarity flew toward the doorway. When she entered the hall, Nga'Devro closed the door. There was a thump as something hit the door.

Rarity awoke with a start and looked around. “Where am I? Who are all of you?”

Spike ran up to Rarity. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Thank you for asking,” Rarity said.

Sweetie Belle peered at Rarity. “Is that you, Rarity?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Are you alright Sweetie?” Rarity said.

“I’ve dreamt about finally finding you so many times. I don’t know it’s real,” Sweetie Belle said.

LaShawn broke into the conversation. “Sweetie Belle, hug your sister so we can move on. Eya Sore has to be put down.”

Sweetie Belle ran up to hug Rarity. For a moment, they were happy.

Margot wished they had more time for their hug, but LaShawn was already at the stairs. The group followed her while Sweetie Belle tried to tell Rarity what had happened while she was captured. When they got to the twentieth floor, the group stopped.

Far looked around. “We don’t have a lot of time to debate this, but what should we do? I bet there will be guards here too. There were guards for Spike.”

Margot looked at LaShawn.

LaShawn looked back at Margot. “We kill the guards. Maggie or the changeling can do it.”

Rarity frowned. “Excuse me, what was your name? LaShawn? I’m not sure I could take killing ponies. Can we find another solution?”

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed.

Margot walked up. “Sure Rarity, I will stun the guards. They won’t wake up for hours.”

Rarity nodded. “Thank you, darling.”

Margot focused and dropped a stun spell on the four guards. Far tried to open the door but it kept rejecting the keycards.

A green glow covered Nga'Devro’s horn as he used his telekinesis to break the door down. “Nga'Devro suggests that we move quickly before the SWAT teams catch us and Eya Sore gets away.”

Far and LaShawn went through the door with their guns drawn.

Margot wondered who would survive as she went through the door.
> Chapter Sixteen: The Gleaner Artist
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eye Sore Building
Top Floor
Hallway

Margot made the mistake of looking at the paintings on the wall and regretted it. Eya Sore definitely had the skills, but the subject matter wasn’t to her liking. Paintings of tortured, twisted and misshapen ponies doing awful things to each other covered the walls.

Sweetie Belle looked at the paintings and her ears drooped. “Rarity, what’s wrong with Eya Sore?”

Rarity sighed. “Well, Ms. Sore has a different view of beauty than we do. I plan to show her that her ideas of beauty are wrong or at least not beautiful.”

Skybreeze snorted. “This stuff on the walls is not beautiful. This looks like the work of an inmate at Equestrian Acres. No sane and or sensible pony would paint such horrible things.”

The door to Eya Sore’s penthouse was flanked by two statues of twisted foals.

Margot couldn’t look at the door or the statues. The idea that some pony thought torturing babies was art made her angry.

LaShawn’s eyes narrowed. “This messed up nag has the nerve to do that to foals? Rarity say your piece quickly. I just have to put her down!”

Jerome walked up with a black keycard and swiped it through the reader. The door just beeped. “I’m not liking the sound of this.”

After several failed tries, the door opened. The group carefully walked through the door.

Again, Margot kept her eyes low. She had been hurt enough by what she saw. All she did was face straight ahead. Way in front of them, were large windows that showed the city. Standing in front of the windows, a black zebra with bright green stripes waited.

Margot noticed that she had some sort of green metal band on her right foreleg.

The creature shook its bright green bereted head. “Dross, simply dross. Nothing of value at all. So Rarity, you brought your friends with you. What sort of tiresome game are we playing?”

Rarity sighed. “Well, Ms. Sore, I thought we could discuss real beauty just one more time.”

“Really? Oh I guess I can keep the SWAT teams off your backs until the chat is over. Be civil all of you or it’s off to the Tombs or worse! All I have to do is to hit the panic button.”

Rarity nodded. “Let me show you something. The time I spent downstairs gave me time to think.” She looked around. “Well, I believe-”

Eya Sore shook her head. “No, you will not cage true beauty by words. Show me!”

Rarity looked around. Her blue eyes darted all over the area. “Well, I have ideas but how can I show you?”

Eya Sore sighed. “Show me soon or you will be a guest of the SWAT teams. I have work to do.”

Jerome walked up to Rarity. He held out his left forehoof for a bump. “Miss Rarity, may I suggest a solution?”

Rarity nodded.

“Well, Margot, the pink unicorn knows illusion magic. I suggest that you touch horns with her. That will allow you to talk to her and give her instructions on what to make. I have a spell that would smooth out the bumps. This way you can show Eya Sore what you really want her to see.” Rarity nodded as Margot walked up to her and touched her horn. The next few minutes were a blur as Rarity thought and Margot translated her ideas into glowing clouds of light.

Margot couldn’t see what Rarity was trying to make.

The light reflecting off of Eya Sore’s face showed her progress. At first, it was boredom, then there was a bit of interest. Eya’s ears perked up as she peered closely at the glowing show.

Jerome turned off the spell.

Margot found herself back in her own head.

Eya’s expression moved to interested, and at last to awe. “Well, I am surprised. Maybe you’re right, Rarity.”

Rarity shook her head. “Maybe I’m right?” She stood up straighter. “I’m right! Look at your work, Eya. A true artist expresses emotions through themselves onto the canvas, interpreting what they believe another feels and let the viewer determine the rest. What you have done is create prisons to feed on, not canvases to capture the sorrow of others. There is nothing artistic in what you do. It is clear-cut murder.”

Eya’s eyes narrowed.

Margot wondered if Eya was going to reach for her security band.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed for a moment and went back to normal. “Really, Eya, you can’t take some criticism? That’s how a true artist grows.”

Eya looked down then back at Rarity. “But these are canvases and I have captured their sorrow! You cannot deny the horror in their eyes or their silent screams.”

“You have only frozen their sorrow in the way you wish to keep their prison. You have captured a moment, but they have done the work. You have created nothing yourself," Rarity said.

"If I have only captured the moment then that would make me a photographer wouldn't it! And capturing moments is still art!" Eya said while her voice rose.

“Yet, you are not a photographer. You are a sculptor, and yet you sculpt nothing yourself. These ponies are only positioned in the manner that you find pleasing and then you stop. Any pony can do that! Well, those that wish to work with live ponies,” Rarity said as a grimace of disgust crossed her face.

Eya’s eyes narrowed again. " Empress Razorhoof gave me a dossier on your background. I know what you do for a living.  Any... Any pony can do that! Any pony can stitch two pieces of cloth!"

“Yes, any pony can stitch cloth and that doesn't make them an artist. Remember, I was made as one of your pieces of ‘art.’ All you did was stand there, waiting, while I positioned myself and became still. Art is about expression and intention. It requires an active hoof, even if it is random. You leave everything to chance. You poke a dot on a piece of paper and claim genius, but a lack of skill does not make a genius. You are a charlatan with a quick spell and an inflated ego. If anything the spell is the artist, not you," Rarity said as her voice rose too.

Margot began to worry that violence was going to happen real soon.

Eya nodded and then smiled triumphantly. "Yet, your own spells weave the needle through the thread! Defend yourself against your own words!"

"I do use a spell and it obeys what I think. It acts as my extension. Even if I didn't have it, I still have my hooves and my mouth. It would be long and tiring but I can still create art under my own power. Can you say the same?" Rarity said then she took a deep breath. “Before this discussion devolves into a screaming match, I want to say that you can still create Art. You have done so before.”

Eya peered at Rarity. “How?”

Margot remembered when she had dated a guy who was into German Expressionism. He had shown her his coffee table art book of the work of Otto Dix. She didn’t like looking at the grotesque artworks. Maybe she wondered, Eya Sore was like that?

“Well, instead of using live ponies, you make your own. I’ve seen your paintings. I don’t like the subject matter but the talent there is quite obvious,” Rarity said.

Eya sighed. “I don’t know. The work I do, it’s beloved by gleaners on many worlds. I don’t know if I can give that up.”

Rarity smiled. “Eya, darling. If you want to grow beyond being a gleaner, you have to leave that behind.”

A tear fell from Eya’s left eye. “Rarity, I don’t know if I can,” Eya said then sniffled.

Apple Bloom stepped up to Rarity and Eya Sore. “If y’all is willing to repent, Oonte will forgive you.”

A look of regret crossed Eya’s face. “I need to feed on the lives of ponies and other creatures. I’m a gleaner and there is no redemption for me. I’ve done such terrible things in places far away from here. I thank you, Rarity, for giving me a glimpse at what true Art is. But-” Eya said then reached for her security band.

Two shots rang out and Eya slumped to the floor. Dark green energy poured out of two holes in her side. A smaller fountain gushed out of her mouth.

Margot looked at LaShawn, but she looked surprised too. Also, her guns were still holstered.

Then Rarity looked down at Sweetie Belle. Then Margot followed Rarity’s gaze. Sweetie Belle had a gun in her hoof.

Rarity grimaced. “Why Sweetie? Why?”

“When she said ‘and’, I just knew she was going to attack. I can’t lose you again Rarity!” Sweetie said.

Eya Sore whispered, “Finish me.”

LaShawn un-holstered her gun and put two shots in the Eya’s head.

Her body glowed dark green then faded.

Far stepped up. “We need to find a way out of here before those SWAT teams will find out that Eya Sore is dead.”

Skybreeze walked up and started to inspect the walls. “Creatures like this usually have a hidden exit somewhere.”

Margot walked to the far wall and began scanning for a hidden passage. Outside there were gunshots and then an explosion.

Scootaloo was walking past a statue to check out a wall for a hidden panel when it started to make crackling sounds. She jumped back just in time as a dead pony fell out of the stone. Scootaloo looked at the dead pony for a second. “Apple Bloom, here’s another one that needs Oonte’s grace.”

Apple Bloom trotted up to look then she stuck out her left fore hoof.

“Whoa, let’s hold off on that!” LaShawn said.

Scootaloo gave LaShaw an angry glare.

LaShawn pointed at Scootaloo with her right fore hoof. “You can chill on the attitude. Magic fillies, um SHC, if you give grace to all of the dead ponies, this building is going up with us in it. Do you guys remember Nestor C? Momma Delphi told him to blow this building when it glows blue. You gotta hold off on the grace thing until we find the exit.”

Skybreeze yelled. “Found something.”

Margot trotted over to Skybreeze to see what she found.

That’s when a great weight seemed to press down on all of them. It was like a million ton hoof was trying to crush her into the black and gold marble floor. She focused and traced the spell to its source. It was a unicorn in a truck. With the last bits of her will, Margot sent a fireball spell along the crushing spell’s edge to its caster. There was a loud explosion downstairs. The weight dissipated. Margot stood up and walked up to Skybreeze. It took just a moment to bypass security and the door opened.

Far crawled up. “Damn, now I know what a squashed bug feels like.”

Skybreeze shook her head. “No, you don’t. You survived, the bug didn’t”

LaShawn looked at the small space. “It’s too small for an elevator. What is it?”

Skybreeze’s horn glowed for a moment. “Interesting. It’s a teleporter.”

LaShawn looked out the window. The sounds of gunfire and screams were getting louder. “We can’t stay here. I’ll go first and Far will follow me. We will clear the area if it’s needed. SHC you should give grace or whatever you do after everypony else has gone through.”

Scootaloo opened her mouth, but a glare from Apple Bloom made her keep quiet.

LaShawn stepped into the small space and was gone.

Far followed her.

Margot stepped back.

Jerome looked at Margot. “You are going right?”

“Yes. I want to make sure the SHC have magical protection when they do the ritual. If they pass out, I will throw them through,” Margot said.

Jerome nodded and stepped through.

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle touched their right fore hooves together. A blue flash flew from them and shone through the room. The light headed downstairs.

Margot watched as the SHC wobbled and collapsed to the floor. She had to pick them up using telekinesis, and put them in the teleporter. Then Margot stepped through.

The next thing she saw was rusty old pipes and the rest of the group. They were in some sort of basement. Margot glanced at the floor. The dust showed that nopony had been there in a while.

LaShawn looked down the hallway. “There has to be an exit around here. When we hit the street we have to stop.”

Rarity looked at the dusty floor and the steam spewing rusty pipes. “What city is this?”

LaShawn looked back at Rarity. “Manhattan.”

At that moment there was an explosion above them. Bits of plaster rained down from the roof.

Rarity looked at LaShawn. “Manehattan?”

Margot walked up to keep things going. “You’re not in Equestria. This is another world.” She looked around. “LaShawn, what happened?”

“I think Nestor launched his attack against the Eye Sore building. I’m glad we got out of there when we did.”

Nga'Devro walked up to Rarity who was shaking bits of plaster out of her purple mane and tail “Nga'Devro will place Sweetie Belle on your back now if you wish.”

Rarity nodded. Margot used her telekinesis to place Scootaloo on Far’s back then she placed Apple Bloom on Skybreeze’s back.

LaShawn looked back to see if everypony was ready. “Come on, let’s go. We have to be out of here before the MA sends more enforcers or worse.” They spent some time cantering around in the basement until they found stairs going up.

Far and LaShawn waited at the doorway listening for threats. When they sensed that the area was clear they entered the room. The rest of the group followed them.

Skybreeze sneezed.

Margot could see why, the room looked like it was a long abandoned dusty store. The front window was covered by a metal gate. Next to the door was a grey metal box.

LaShawn checked it out. “Okay, there are some keys here. They probably open the door. Time for me to tell you some things.”

Jerome stepped up. “Like, you’re the leader of the resistance?”

LaShawn grimaced. “No Curly, I’m not the leader of the resistance.”

Skybreeze walked up. “Really, Jerome. What if we got caught?”

Far looked around the store. “Guys, let’s move this along or we will get caught.”

LaShawn nodded. “Thank you. I have a map that will get you to the D.C. resistance. Also there is a minibus that is fueled and stocked with supplies. There should be enough food for the trip. I also have a list of contacts so you know who to talk to.” She pulled out the map and the contact list. Margot grabbed them and put them in her saddlebags. Something banged against the gate and the ponies jumped.

Far got his gun ready.

LaShawn unlocked the door and slowly opened it. Two MA enforcers stood right outside the door.

Margot cast a stun spell on them.

Far shot one in the head while LaShawn shot the other one.

Then the group stepped outside into the noise and confusion. Gunshots echoed all over the place. Some of them sounded like pistol fire while others sounded like machine gun fire.

LaShawn checked out the row of empty stores. “I know this area, we just have to cross over to the next block to the bus. Then you have to travel south. Follow me.”

Margot looked around, the area was deserted at least for now, but she figured more MA enforcers were going to arrive. The SHC were still sleeping as the group crossed the street and went down another block. Margot was glad the fighting was not close. Up the block, the Eye Sore building was in flames. Margot could see that clearly. She hoped that the ponies working in the building got out safely.

Finally, they were at the dark blue minibus. LaShawn pulled the keys out of her saddlebags. “For the driver.” Margot grabbed the keys using her telekinesis.

LaShawn looked around then holstered her gun. “Thank you for helping me in the Bronx. I wish you well on saving your friend. May the Princesses guide and protect you.” Before anypony could say anything LaShawn galloped off.

Margot thought she saw some wetness around LaShawn’s eyes.

Far holstered his gun. “Okay, let’s get on and out of here. Margot give me the map so I can help navigate.”

Margot gave Far the map then she got into the minibus’s driver seat. The rest of the group piled in. Margot hit the gas and they drove down the block to Washington D.C. She hoped Twilight Sparkle was still alive and that they had a chance to save her.
> Chapter Seventeen: Fear and Crystals
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria
Throne room

Empress Razorhoof peered into the green glowing view crystal. The light bathed her face. On the other side Foulshaper smiled a white toothy grin.

“Soon my Empress, Sunscour and Moonsour will be powerful enough to wrest control of the sun and moon from the pathetic princesses! All the ponies and creatures will soon know who’s in command. What will you do to show your power?”

Razorhoof smiled. “Maybe one day and night of total darkness to ruin the morale of the ponies? Maybe I will make the sun and moon switch places. Moonlight in the morning, sunlight at night. I don’t want to ruin the world by depriving it of sunlight like that foalish Nightmare Moon. There are so many things I can do.”

“Well, Empress, I trust you will pick something wonderful.”

“To show my pleasure at their help, I would like to give your children a gift. What would they like?”

“Well, Glimmerlight has been asking me for a book on necromancy. I don’t have one because I find it rather disgusting. I rather work with live flesh.”

Razorhoof rubbed her chin with her left fore hoof. “Well, you wouldn’t believe what they are doing with necromancy on world 205. They were able to animate some trash and command it to guard the waterways. The Gleaners there said that the resistance stopped fussing with boats after several of them were destroyed. Glimmerlight might be able to animate things that were never alive.”

Foulshaper nodded. “That sounds interesting. I won’t bother with that but Glimmerlight might be interested.”

Razorhoof nodded. “Fine, I will have a book on necromancy sent over. What do your other children like?”

“Shredshy and Gambol Gloom like live playmates.”

Again Razorhoof smiled. “Finding live playmates should be easy. There’s a whole camp of them in Lower Cant-”

A crackling noise from her statues tore Razorhoof’s attention from the conversation. She watched in surprise as cracks raced across the white marble surfaces of the two sculptures from Eya Sore. The lovely feelings of pain and fear also faded away. Then dead ponies fell out of the decaying sculptures. Fear ran its cold talons along her back. It was a feeling she hadn’t had in awhile. Somepony knocked on the door.

A remnant poked its grey brown head into the throne room. “Empress, the statues from Eya Sore...”

Razorhoof pointed at the creature. “Have a clean up team deal with this.” 

The remnant opened its mouth to say something then it decided to keep quiet. It nodded and left.

“Empress, are you alright? What’s happening?” Foulshaper said.

Razorhoof brought her attention back to the conversation. “Eya Sore is dead.” Then she turned off the view crystal.

Fearful thoughts filled Empress Razorhoof’s mind. She had no doubt that Eye Sore was dead. Maybe the Vile Council had punished her, Razorhoof thought. A more frightening thought surfaced. Maybe some ponies killed her? Even worse maybe it was the pink unicorn mare that she failed to recruit? That idea brought even more fear. Her mistake had come back to haunt her. Behind that there was the fear that the Vile Council would find out. Merciful, they weren’t. A quick painful death was the closest thing to mercy in their book. It took several hours before confidence returned.





Lower Canterlot,
Princess Celestia’s office

Princess Celestia sat at her desk and looked at the items scattered across it like a general surveying her troops. Scraps of parchment, books, feathers, crystals lay under her scrutiny. After days of research, she hoped that she had a solution to the situation. Every day, the sun was just a bit more corrupted and it affected Celestia. She could feel the slow malaise that made it harder every morning to get out of bed. Her left wing felt just a little bit weaker than the right. Soon she won’t be able to fly anymore.

Then Celestia thought of Luna who was suffering even more under the gleaner’s corruption. Her poor sister was in a wheelchair now.

Luna pointed a trembling fore hoof at the table. “‘Tia, are you sure this will help us?”

Celestia didn’t want to look at her sister right now. Her too bright blue eyes showed how much she was pushing herself to stay awake for this meeting.

Celestia waved at the table with her left fore hoof. “These items helped me to research a spell. One that allow us to focus our very beings on keeping the sun and moon pure.”

Luna sighed. “At what cost?”

Celestia glanced at her sister. “We won’t be able to talk or even rule. Eating and sleeping won’t be needed. Every second can be spent fighting the gleaners.”

Luna peered at the items on the desk. “How?”

Celestia turned and faced her sister then she smiled a warm smile. “We will become crystals.”

Luna flinched. “Crystals? Celestia, crystals?”

Celestia sighed. “Yes Luna, crystals. While we are in this form, we can be tireless and not be distracted by our bodies or duties.”

Luna looked down then she looked up at her sister. “If that’s necessary, I will support you. I do wonder how we get back to normal and who will rule while we are crystals?”

“I will give the counterspell to Applejack with orders not to give it to anypony until the gleaners are defeated or the sun and moon are free of corruption. I’m still hoping that Twilight Sparkle and Rarity return. As far as who rules, we will go back to the council stage. Four of the remaining Elements of Harmony will be members. Several guild leaders will be members as well as some rich and at last for the royalty, Prince Blueblood.”

Luna scowled. “Blueblood has an arrogance problem. Others can manipulate him that way.”

“True, but he’s next in line. Since he has to work with a council and has only one vote, he has to be at least civil to the other groups.”

“What about the changelings?”

Celestia looked away for a moment and then looked back at Luna. “Well, I was thinking about giving one of princesses a non voting spot on the council. Maybe later on, she will be able to vote.”

Luna smiled. It was wan, but it was a smile. “Huzzah Celestia! You are working through your changeling resentment. They have sacrificed a lot defending the camp.”

“Yes Luna.”

“Well ‘Tia show me how it’s done before I fall out of my chair!”

Celestia smiled and began her lecture.
> Chapter Eighteen: Leaving and Meet the new boss
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Midtown

The red and blue flash of police lights, the red glow of flames and sometimes the green glow of caspers kept the ponies glued to their windows as the minibus drove south. Several times, MA enforcers drove by in their police cruisers with lights flashing, but they didn’t stop the van. Gunfire and explosions made them flinch, but none of that was close enough to be a threat. When they reached the Holland tunnel, several ponies wearing red bandanas around their heads waved them on.

“Once we get to Jersey, things will cool down,” Margot said, but it was more for her benefit. She wasn’t sure how Rarity and Spike felt about the whole affair.

Skybreeze tapped Rarity. “I hope you’re okay.”

Rarity shook her head. “I’ve been to Manehattan many times, but to see the city like this...”

Far moved up to Rarity and Skybreeze. “This isn’t Equestria. This place is called Manhattan.”

Margot hated being the voice of reason. “Guy’s we aren’t out of the woods yet. We need to be vigilant until we can find a safe place.” The minibus drove through the tunnel. She was glad there were some lights. The headlights on the minibus worked, but there was the darkness beyond the lights. On the Jersey side, Margot asked Jerome to go through the maps left by LaShawn.

Far looked at the empty streets. “Can we find a safe place here?”

Margot shook her head. “Not in a city, we should stay in some of the park areas.” Then she yawned. All of the tense driving was wearing her out.

Jerome smiled. “Margot, how about you let me drive and Far could help me with the maps.”

“When we get to a safe area.”

Rarity grimaced. “After all we seen, do you think that any place is safe?”

For some reason, nopony jumped to answer that question. The tall dark buildings gave way to smaller buildings then to abandoned homes. After that, it was just dark trees under a night sky.

Far picked Nga'Devro and Skybreeze to stand watch.

It was a while before Margot went to sleep. The day’s events played over and over in her head. Worries about how they were going to rescue Twilight Sparkle moved in too.

Spike and Rarity started to talk.

“Rarity?” Spike said.

“Yes, Spike darling,” Rarity said.

“Will we find Twilight and go home?”

Margot found it a bit disheartening that there was a long delay before Rarity answered.

“Yes, Spike we’ll find Twilight and go home.”

“How?”

“Nga'Devro wishes to assure you that we will find Twilight Sparkle. We found you Spike and we found you Rarity,” Nga'Devro said.

Apple Bloom joined the conversation. “Have faith in Oonte. She will help us rescue Twilight and help us go home.”

Margot smiled. It seemed that someone still had hope. Before Margot went to sleep, she made a note to find a way to tell why type of sun they would face before dawn.

Rest area somewhere in New Jersey.
Predawn


“Black sun,” Margot muttered as the sun divination spell ended. That meant that they had to wear protective suits and Rarity would bitch and moan about what she was wearing. Even Spike had refused to wear something.

Spike looked at the beige long jacket and goggles. “I like the goggles, but I don’t really like the long coat.”

Rarity smiled. “See even Spike knows this clothing is not stylish enough. This plain blue outfit I'm wearing barely qualifies.”

Margo sighed. “You need to wear the jacket because it will protect you from the black sun and all of the ponies here wear clothing.”

Spike stuck out his green scaled arm. “I have scales which are better than fur. I don’t need the coat, but can I have the goggles?”

Apple Bloom walked up to Spike. “Ah was in the sun. It was like someone crazy was screaming in mah head. If Mahgot and Skybreeze didn’t save me I would’ve become something horrible.”

Margot nodded. “Ponies become sunscreamers. Monsters that fling sunlight at enemies. I don’t know what will happen to dragons and I don’t want to find out. Please Spike, wear the coat and hat.”

Spike nodded and put on the coat and goggles. “Can you make me a hat?”

“What type?”

Spike looked away then put his hand up to his mouth. “Hmmm. How about a top hat? Could you also make me a mustache?”

“Yes to the top hat, no to the mustache.” Margot focused and conjured up a top hat.

Spike pumped his left fist up in the air. “Yesss.” Then he put the hat on his head.

Rarity walked up to Spike. “Well, now you look like a handsome gentlestallion.”

Spike smiled.

Margot conjured up a pistol.

Rarity looked at the blue steel gun. “Such a drab looking weapon.”

Margot sighed again. “Please Rarity. We have a lot to do and very little time to waste.”

Rarity sighed. It sounded overdramatic. A blue glow covered the gun.

Margot shook her head. “You have to use your forehooves.”

“My forehooves?” Rarity peered at Margot.

Far walked up to Rarity and pulled a gun out of his left holster.

“How did you do that?”

Far smiled.

Margot looked at Far. “Do you want to teach Rarity to use a gun?”

Far nodded. “No problem.”

Margot walked to Spike who was watching Rarity carefully.

“Do I get a gun?” Spike said while watching Rarity try to pick up a gun from the ground.

‘Yes Spike, you get a gun,“ Margot replied while conjuring up a small gun. Once Margot showed Spike how the gun worked, he had no problems handling it. Except for when Spike held the gun sideways. Margot was quick to correct him.

Once Rarity was able to handle a gun, Margot summoned up some targets for Spike and Rarity to practice on. She felt a little tired from all of the conjuring, but it looked like Rarity and Spike would be able to use guns if needed.

Suburbs outside Washington DC.


Golden bursts of solar energy flew over the minibus only to hit the asphalt and made it sizzle.

Rarity grimaced then fired her gun at a zombie. It slumped to the ground from her head shot. “I must say, this vacation is not going to be one of my favorites. No opportunities for shopping at all.”

Sweetie Belle just grinned as she fired a shot and ducked back behind the bus.

Margot would’ve laughed but she was too busy focusing on the energy bursts from the Sunscreamer. Each burst had a lot of power and could kill any of them with one hit or destroy the minibus. The good news was that Margot found a way to nudge the shots that looked like they were going to do damage away from the bus. Some of the shots just seemed to be wild ones.

Skybreeze stomped her right fore hoof on the brown leaf strewn road. “The cursed creature is still not showing up. We should’ve been able to sense when it tosses those sun bursts but somehow we can’t.”

Nga'Devro gazed up at the sky. “Nga'Devro agrees. This sunscreamer seems to be much more intelligent.”

Far looked up too. “Well as long as the zombies stay on the ground, we’ll be okay.”

Apple Bloom grimaced as she saw the pile of dead zombies outside the minibus. “Wow. We will have a lot of ponies to give Oonte’s Grace to.”

More blazing sunbursts flew over the hill at them. Margot added more power to the shield around the minibus.

The hill itself was covered with small trees and bushes. That made it hard to see if something was coming until it got to the clear area around the base. Zombies kept attacking the group so nopony could go and see what was behind the hill. Far tried to fly over the hill, but several close calls with sunbursts made him fly back behind the minibus.

With a flash and sizzle, more energy bursts hit the road behind them. Margot focused to keep the shield up.

Rarity was the first to notice that there were no more zombies. “What? No more undead monstrosities? They gave up?”

Far shook his head. “Zombies never give up.”

Margot focused and scanned for more zombies. “I don’t sense any more zombies, but maybe it’s a trap. I do sense three ponies moving toward us.” That worried her. Maybe they were resistance or maybe a bunch of ponies passing through or even worse gleaner spies? According to the map that LaShawn gave them, there was a resistance safehouse past the hill beyond the forest. The group stopped here and then got attacked by the sunscreamer and its allies. She looked up. “Guys, get ready in case these ponies are hostile.”

Rarity sighed. “Really? We have to fight ponies now?”

After a few moments, the sound of galloping hooves could be heard.

The strange ponies galloped into view. One was a grey earth pony stallion with a sniper rifle on his back. He was followed by a blue pegasus mare with blonde hair and green eyes. The last pony was a white chunky unicorn stallion with a brown mane and tail.

The grey stallion looked around. “You guys okay?”

Far walked up. “Yes, we’re fine. Thanks for asking.”

Margot started hoofing through her saddlebags for LaShawn’s notes. There was something she had to know but she couldn’t put her hoof on it.

The grey stallion stood there looking at the group, silently weighing them with his bright blue eyes. “Elmo likes to be tickled and laughs a lot.”

Skybreeze peered at the grey stallion. “This ‘Elmo’ seems strange.”

Then Margot remembered. The grey stallion said a passphrase. She had to say one too or the three possibly D.C. resistance ponies would just leave. “The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants from time to time,” Margot said while gazing at the grey stallion.

“I so hope I don’t see this bloody Tree of Liberty. This world is very strange,” Rarity said while peering at Margot.

Spike smiled. “Rarity, maybe we can get a postcard from the souvenir stand near the tree?”

Rarity shrugged.

The grey stallion sighed. “Sorry for this nonsense but a member of my team wanted to make sure.” He shot a glare at the chubby unicorn. “The revolt in NYC has spread up and down the coast. The DA, the defense authority is raising their security level. We have to be ready for spies.”

The unicorn looked at the grey stallion. “Sorry, it was Emily’s idea. Um, boss, we can’t stay here long.”

The pegasus mare yelled,”Hey!”

The grey stallion grimaced. “I know, Mackie. Name’s Tibbs.” He turned and pointed his right forehoof at the blue pegasus mare. “That’s Emily and you already have seen Mackie.”

Skybreeze walked up “Did you kill the sunscreamer?”

Tibbs looked around. “Yeah.”

Nga'Devro walked up with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

Tibbs grimaced again. “You have fillies with you?”

Before Tibbs could ask another question, Nga'Devro spoke. “Nga'Devro wishes to know how the Sunscreamer escaped detection.”

Mackie smiled. “The sunscreamer was pretty good with spells. She cast a nondetection spell on herself then she cast a shield spell-”

Tibbs interrupted. “Come on Mackie, we gotta get out of here.”

Emily pulled a laptop out of her saddlebags then she looked at the screen. “Tibbs is right. We gotta book! Hostiles are already vectoring toward our current position.”

Margot headed to the front of the minibus.

Tibbs frowned. “You can’t drive the bus up to the cabin. Too many trees. Just grab what you need!”

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle then she looked up at Tibbs. “We have to give Oonte’s Grace to these dead ponies.”

Tibbs peered at Apple Bloom. “Do you want to join them?”

Far looked around. “Let them do the ritual. Then we’ll follow you.”

By the time Margot had finished putting some supplies in her saddlebags, the SHC were ready to go.

Tibbs and his group led the past the hill. Tibbs eyes narrowed when the SHC stopped to give Oonte’s Grace to the dead sunscreamer, but he didn’t say anything. The two groups rushed off into the forest.

Margot wondered about their new friends as the galloped through the golden sun dappled forest. The forest gave way to a small meadow with a small cabin in the distance.

Jerome looked at the ramshackle looking cabin. “Any of you see the movie, the cabin in the woods.”

Emily laughed. “I saw Evil Dead one and two.”

Tibbs sighed. “We’ll be the good dead unless we get in that cabin soon.”

Mackie used his telekinesis to open the door as the groups piled in. From the outside, the cabin seemed too small for ten ponies, but it seemed pretty roomy inside.

Skybreeze looked up at the wooden beams in the ceiling. “Ahh, a space expansion spell. Who did it?”

Mackie nodded. “I did it. I have two degrees from MIT.”

Margot said, “Massachusetts Institute of Tech?”

Mackie looked at Margot. “Close, that’s the sister school. There’s a Massachusetts Institute of Thaumaturgy. Not to brag but I have degrees from both schools. Got my tech degree first.”

Tibbs looked out the window then he gave Mackie a glance.

Mackie nodded. His horn glowed redly for a second. “Perimeter security spell is up boss.”

Tibbs faced Far’s group. “The perimeter security spell will keep us safe for a few days. Don’t step off the porch until the spell has been turned off. I don’t want anypony getting hurt. How about you guys take it easy for a few minutes then we talk.”

Margot looked around the cabin. There was a large living room area with two brown couches. Off to the right was a kitchen area. Another thing she noticed that it was all one floor. Along the back wall was an area large enough for sleeping bags. A few paintings of mountain landscapes covered the brown log walls.

Rarity looked around and sighed. “Another night in a bag. My poor back.”

Skybreeze shrugged. “It could be worse, we could be outside dealing with the cold.”

Rarity nodded.

Emily walked up to Rarity. “If you want just for tonight, you can sleep in my bed.”

Rarity smiled. “Thank you darling for the offer but I’m okay.”

“You’re sure?”

Jerome walked up. “I could use a night in a real bed.”

Emily ignored him.

Margot watched the goings on with Rarity with half her mind. The other half worried about what they were going to do next. Breaking into the Pentagon wasn’t going to be easy.

Apple Bloom walked up to Margot. “Why are you sad Mahgot?”

“I’m not sad, I’m worrying how we are going to do the next part,” Margot said.

Apple Bloom smiled. “I bet you’re worried about Twilight Sparkle.”

Margot nodded.

“Well, don’t worry. Have faith. We will get Twilight Sparkle,” Apple Bloom said.

Spike walked up to Apple Bloom and Margot for some reason he still had his goggles on. “Are you sure?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ahm sure. You can take off your goggles now.”

Spike walked away to check out the rest of the cabin.

Margot went to the rest area to take a quick nap. She had a feeling that she needed to be alert for the big meeting.
> Chapter Nineteen: White House gleaner woes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The White House
Oval Office

A griffin with piercing-green eyes and grey-brown plumage stared at a set of green view crystals while panicked voices filled the room. Hopecrusher turned down the volume of the other crystals to listen from the half-drained mayor of New York City. NYC had been a model city, providing more than its share of essence. Now, not so much.

Mayor DeBlaz stuck his white-furred pony face up to the crystal. “You gotta send an evac helicopter, resistance fighters have breached the building and are heading up the stairs. You have to do something! Eya Sore is dead and they blew up her studio!!”

Machine guns rattled in the background then a door slammed open.

Panic filled DeBlaz’s voice. “They’re here!”

A shotgun boomed then blood covered the crystal for a moment before it went dark.

Hopecrusher looked up and saw several of the view crystals were dark. That meant that the crystals that were transmitting were destroyed. He put his talons up to his head while dismay filled his heart.

The whole north eastern seaboard was now in open revolt. The Terran Council that ruled this planet would not be happy about that. Hopecrusher got up and walked to the middle of the room. On the floor was a picture of an eagle holding laurel leaves and arrows. Right now, Hopecrusher felt like someone was shoving arrows up his butt.

He remembered when they attacked Washington D. C. The cold air ruffled his feathers as waves of zombies and drained soldiers moved into town. All his side had were soldiers, zombies, gleaners and a few mages. Gleaners went through the attack helicopters and they fell from the sky because the pilots were now zombies. Tanks and armored vehicles tried to attack them, but gleaners turned the drivers to zombies. Then he ordered the gleaners to drain the defenders. The screams of the ponies and other creatures that were being drained put a wide smile on his face. Of course, the defenders tried to shoot the gleaners, but their bullets had no effect. Magic worked, but the few brave mages fell under the combined assault of gleaners and newly made zombies. To make sure the city was under his control, Hopecrusher sent the rest of his forces through the doomed city. He thought that was a good time, not like now.

Other worries crawled into his mind. When they took Washington D.C., he noticed that the president and cabinet were never found. Maybe, he thought they were behind this revolt? Somewhere, the president could be pulling strings from a hidden place. Hopecrusher’s green eyes narrowed.  He was going to fight. No pony was going to pry his talons off of this country. Hopecrusher went back to his desk and buzzed the secretary.

“Yes, Administrator,” she said.

“I want General Trample and Dr. Geist here in my office as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir.”

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Hopecrusher said enter.

General Trample cantered through the door and took a seat. He was a square faced brutish looking greyish-brown earth pony stallion. His green eyes scanned Hopecrusher’s for signs of weakness.

Trample saluted. “Sir.”

Hopecrusher nodded. “At ease.”

“When do we go back and take down these resistance dirtbags?”

“Not yet.”

“Sorry sir but why not? Every minute we wait gives them more time to dig in and fortify.”

“I have a feeling that who or whatever got the NYC resistance going is coming here and we need to be ready. If we lose Twilight Sparkle, the Terran Council will come for us.”

“Really? Won’t they come for us for losing control of the northern seaboard?”

“General Trample.”

“Sorry sir. Permission to speak frankly sir.”

Hopecrusher tiredly waved a claw.

“We have enough soldiers to secure the Pentagon. No resistance filth will get through.”

Another voice joined the conversation. “Ahhh yes, arrogance. Oooh yes, let’s be overconfident about our chances. What could go wrong?”

General Trample grimaced.

Hopecrusher managed to keep his expression neutral. “Dr. Geist, I’m glad you’re here.”

“Oooh yes, my boy, I’m not so glad. I’d rather be in my lab. Ohhh yes, there is much work to be done. Sooo much!” A greenish glow appeared in the other chair in front of the desk.

General Trample scowled. “So have you broken Twilight Sparkle yet?”

“Oooh nooo, what a question. Shows your disdain for subtlety it does. Ohhh yesss. Twilight Sparkle has a wonderful mind. Sooo bright and interesting. It would be such a tragedy to break such a mind, ohhh yes. The ham hooved ponies you call interrogators would do such a thing. I want Ms. Sparkle to become one of us. Ohhh yesss. To have the power of a Princess serving us. I can think of many uses for such power..”

“So that’s a no,” Trample said flatly.

“Oooh yes, it’s a no. But with a few more days, we could have her power. Ohh yes, she’s getting close to being ours. Ohhh yes. The ponies here have a religion that worships the Ascended One. Oooh yes, we could use their weakness, religion against the resistance. Twilight Sparkle is, what do they say here? The spitting image of the Messiah. Oooh yes, we have a chance to rule these ponies peacefully.”

Hopecrusher looked up then he fixed his gaze on General Trample and Dr. Geist.

“I got a call from Razorhoof. She warned me about a pink unicorn mare with a blondish mane and tail. We need to be on the lookout for her and her allies.”

Dr. Geist flickered. “Oooh yes, Razorhoof was a fine pupil. She learned a lot from me, ohh yes. I did find her fondness for equines very strange.”

General Trample smiled. “No problem sir. I will have my hooves on this pink unicorn’s neck soon. Then I’m going to smash her horn to bits! Then we will send her to Gitmo.”

“Ohh yes, I wish I was vain enough to make a body so I can sigh,” Geist said.

General Trample looked at Dr. Geist and shook his left forehoof at him.

“Well, my too brutal boy. Oooh yes, do you think it might be better to persuade that pink pony to give up her secrets?” Dr Geist sneered.

General Trample growled.

Hopecrusher’s wings unfurled. “ENOUGH! The two of you will work together and stop the pink pony and her allies before the Terran Council decides we’re unfit to rule. Going to Gitmo would be the best case outcome for us.”

General Trample nodded. “Yes sir.”

“Ohh yes, it will try my patience. Ohh yess, but I will work with this cretin.”
> Chapter Twenty: DC Resistance and a new mission
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

North of
Suburbs outside Washington DC.


The smell of fresh and hot pizza brought Margot out of her nap. She looked around then followed her nose. Spike had a smile and a slice as well as the other team members. Emily gave Margot a slice.

“Is it DiGiorno?” Margot said.

Emily shook her head. “Nope, actually it’s made by Mackie. He said it was a recipe he got from the internet.”

Mackie walked by with a slice in his hoof. “The secret is to put seasoning in the flour a few hours before you make it rise.”

Skybreeze smiled. “Well, Mackie, this is some tasty pizza.”

Margot looked around for Spike. He was talking to Apple Bloom.

Rarity was gazing out the window while her slice cooled.

Margot walked up to Rarity. “Pizza gets cold almost instantaneously.”

Rarity looked back with a face filled with worry. “It’s all too much. I wish I was back home.”

“Once we rescue Twilight Sparkle, we will go home.”

“How?” Rarity said and peered at Margot.

“I figure that the Messenger of Oonte will send us back. He sent us here,” Margot said then shrugged. She looked out over the grass and trees being covered in orange light from the setting sun. Rarity took a bite of her pizza and grimaced.

Margot focused and cast a warming spell on the pizza.

Rarity smiled. “Thank you.”

Margot ate her pizza in silence with Rarity until Emily came by.

“In a few minutes we’re going to the comms center,” Emily said and cantered off.

Margot wondered where that was. Moments later, the group was standing around in the area between the kitchen and the living room.

Mackie’s horn glowed blue and a doorway appeared in the floor.

Skybreeze peered at the doorway. “Interesting.”

Mackie nodded and used his telekinesis to open the door. Metal stairs led down to some sort of room. Tibbs and Emily went first then Skybreeze and Margot.

Downstairs was a large room with a screen that covered one wall. A control console was in front of the screen. A few steps away were a bunch of red padded seats.

Jerome smiled. “This is a great place for movie night.”

Tibbs sat back. “Yep.”

Mackie sat at the console. “It took me, with some help, several years to get this to work.” The rest of the group sat in their seats. He did some typing and several pony faces and one changeling showed up on the screen.

Margot recognized this as some form of live chat.

“Welcome guys and gals,” Mackie said. The folks on the screens replied then their images shrunk to the left side of the screen as an image of a male griffon with grey brown plumage appeared. His bright green eyes seemed to stare into Margot’s soul.

“Here’s the rogue’s gallery of enemies we have to deal with. This is Hopecrusher. He’s the Gleaner in charge of the United States. There are Gleaners in charge of Canada and Mexico, but I don’t know their names. I doubt Hopecrusher is going to be getting in our way. He’s not the talons on type,” Mackie said.

A greyish-brown pony appeared on the screen. Something about his blunt face and cold green eyes made Margot think of a brutal enemy.

“This is General Trample, he’s in charge of the military. I also doubt he will be dealing with us directly but who knows? He can be hooves on,” Mackie said then showed a black outline.

“This one is Dr. Geist. No one knows what he looks like. He does all sorts of magical and tech research. There are rumors that he is into interrogation and is very good at it. Okay, now let me show you where you want to go,” Mackie said and the screen switched to show a grey-white building in the shape of a pentagon.

“Each level is called a ring and the most secure ring is E5. Your friend is probably there,” Mackie said and switched to a video of the outside of the building. A grey-brown mechanical device with mini guns for arms walked with loud clunks by the camera.

“The Gleaners have robots?” Margot asked.

“Nah, they don’t bother with a lot of tech. That’s a fancy metal golem. There are rumors of one with miniguns and a rocket launcher. Most of their heavy equipment are golems. Tanks-” Mackie was interrupted by Rarity.

“Water tanks are enemies here?” Rarity said with surprise.

Mackie sighed. “No battle tanks.” He then showed a picture of a squat grey brown vehicle on treads that had a machine gun as well as a main gun in front.

Rarity peered at the picture with widened eyes. “How do ponies fight such a machine?”

Mackie nodded. “Very carefully. Also the DA or Defense Authority, the military arm of the Gleaners has golem helicopters.” A picture of a grey-brown helicopter appeared on the screen.

Margot noticed that it had rockets and machine guns.

Mackie hit another button showing a white path leading to the door of the Pentagon. “Mind you the tanks, golems and helicopters are part of even more security. Sniper ponies in camouflage and soldiers also keep an eye on visitors. Since they know a threat is inbound security is extra tight. I really don’t know how you guys are going to get in.”

Far nodded. “We have to. The pentagon must have some weakness because the Gleaners got in.”

Mackie looked up at the screen. “Yeah. When Hopecrusher’s forces headed to the Pentagon, he sent the caspers to go through the walls. The magical wards stopped them. The he sent his other forces to attack. They took horrible losses. The defenders had enough food for several days but it ended up they just had a few hours to live.

Hopecrusher sent caspers underground and they came up through the cracks in the floor’s warding spell. Somehow they were able to squeeze through tiny cracks and reassemble themselves. Then the caspers started draining ponies and other creatures left and right.”

Far looked up at the screen and then at Mackie. “How do you know this?”

Mackie sighed. “A few defenders uploaded what happened before they died. I watched and listened to all of the emails and videos so I could understand what we were dealing with. It’s pretty heart-wrenching stuff. Again, I don’t know how you guys are going to get in.”

A green pony stallion’s face appeared on the screen. “Heston here. I know how we can help your friends get into the Pentagon. We go for the big bird himself. A focused attack on the White House will get the DA’s attention. If we do enough damage, they have to pull units from the Pentagon to protect the White House.”

A female changeling with red hair and faceted green eyes appeared on the right side. “It’s a suicide mission. You will be wasting valuable resources!”

“Seriously, Nina, how long do you think you will live anyway?” Several other voices joined the discussion.

Margot couldn’t hear what they were saying.

Then a crudely drawn picture of a pony showed up on the screen. It looked like something a foal or a child would draw. “Name’s Leethoof. Most of you have worked with me. Right?” There were some mumbles from the other chat members. “Let me rephrase. Did I give you what you want? Did any of you not get what you wanted?” This time, the chat was silent.

“Good, that crap is done. I have all of the security codes for all of the rings. That’s right all of the rings. And before you can have paranoid thoughts about me. Realize that if I was DA, all of you could have been sent to Gitmo by now or worse. I’m not giving these codes away for free. You gotta do something for me. Also, this could be a good opportunity for you. Seriously, do you think that you can fight those golems and tanks with regular guns?” Leethoof said.

Mackie looked at Tibbs. Tibbs nodded.

“Um, Leethoof, what do you want?” Mackie said.

“Mackie, we go way back and I’ve helped you a lot haven’t I?”

“Yeah, Leet.”

“Alright. Here’s the deal. The Gleaners turned the Del Ron neighborhood into a research area for weapons. Something went wrong and they put up a fence around the whole area. I came across some docs that mention some advanced weapons like gauss guns.”

Skybreeze spoke up. “What’s a gauss gun?”

Margot knew what a gauss gun was. She even had specs for building one, but D-Core rules were strict about introducing weapons that were too advanced for the local civilization. “You mean a railgun? A weapon that accelerates a chunk of metal using magnets almost to the speed of light?”

“Yeah, you got it. Something like that would make short work of the small golems and the tanks probably would just take a few more shots. You could also make your own door with a railgun too. No more checkpoints! It’s more than just that. Maybe there are working prototypes lying around to be picked up?” Leethoof said with a bit of excitement.

Tibbs stood up. “So we are to believe that the DA just left important specs and weapons lying around for folks to pick up.”

“The DA left that area in a hurry and fenced in that whole neighborhood. They didn’t even bother to evacuate the few locals that lived there,” Leethoof said.

“Do you know why the DA left the area?” Mackie said.

“No, there are no records on that. It’s like they wanted to bury their failure,” Leethoof said.

“Pass. We will find another way in,” Tibbs said.

“Little lead bullets and gunpowder isn’t going to work this time. You need better weapons,” LeetHoof said.

“Yes but you have no idea if anything is there. We could send ponies to their deaths to check out an empty building. You have to do better than that. At least guarantee that something in that dangerous area is useful. If not we pass,” Tibbs said.

Mackie faced Tibbs. “Um, boss, it’s not your decision.”

Tibbs looked away and then back at Mackie. He whispered. “I don’t want to lose you. I’ve lost so much. Maybe not as much as you but...”

Mackie looked away and back to Tibbs. “Yeah, I know but I have to go.”

Emily trotted up and gave Mackie a hug.

“Listen if you are going in, you need a small group. I bet the DA still monitors the area,” Leethoof said.

“If you wish Mackie, I will go and watch your back,” Tibbs said.

“Yes, I would be honored,” Mackie said and sniffled.

Margot stood up. “I will go.” The SHC started whispering.

“Ah should go,” Apple Bloom said.

“No way. I want to go,” Scootaloo said and then stamped a fore hoof.

Sweetie Belle just looked at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “I’ll stay here with Rarity.”

Jerome walked up. “How about Rock, Paper and Scissors to decide?”

Skybreeze looked at Jerome. “Really, I fail to see how arts and crafts will decide this.”

Margot just smiled. She wanted to see how Jerome was going to handle this.

Jerome looked down at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. “Well, to play the game--”

Tibbs pointed at Scootaloo. “We’ll take you.”

Scootaloo smiled. “Yesss!”

Apple Bloom frowned. “Why her and not me?”

“She’s a pegasus, she can fly. If things go south at least someone can report back. I can almost guarantee that the walkies won’t work once we get inside,” Tibbs said.

Scootaloo looked down and mumbled.

Tibbs leaned down. “What?”

Scootaloo looked up at Tibbs. “I can’t fly yet.”

Tibbs looked into Scootaloo’s eyes for a moment. “Fine. Who’s the best at this Oonte stuff?”

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exchanged glances.

Sweetie Belle stepped back. “We kinda work together.”

Tibbs looked at Sweetie. “Well, we need just one or none.”

Margot looked at Scootaloo. “We might need some help from Oonte.”

Tibbs shrugged. “Fine. Pick one. We don’t have the time for games.”

Sweetie Belle stepped back. “Scootaloo, you can go. I want to stay with Rarity.”

Rarity looked at Sweetie Belle with concern. “Sweetie, darling. I do appreciate you wanting to stay with me but if you’re needed you should help out.”

Apple Bloom faced Scootaloo. “You go, I’ll do the next time.”

Scootaloo smiled.

Tibbs looked down at Scootaloo. “Celebrate when you’re safe.”

Mackie looked away from the screen. “I’ll tell Leethoof who’s coming.”

Tibbs stepped up. “Make sure you get all of the info you can from this guy.”

“Yeah boss,” Mackie said.

Nina’s image appeared on the screen again. “You’re going into the Del Ron area? I wish you good luck. I sent two scouts in there.”

Mackie gulped. “What happened?”

“The scouts went in two blocks and got spooked. One of them said their walkies turned on by themselves. Nopony was on the other end. There was just this wind like noise. That was enough for them. They were outside the fence in a flash. Also, they didn’t stop shaking until hours later. I’m sorry I don’t have anything more definite for you.”

Mackie shot a glance at Tibbs who just shrugged then he faced the screen. “Um, thanks Nina.”

Nina nodded.

Leethoof’s image appeared on the screen again.

“Okay, I have to talk to Leethoof. Thanks for coming,” Mackie said.

The folks in chat wished Mackie well and left.

Mackie faced the group behind him. “I’ll brief you when I’m done with Leethoof. You can go upstairs to start preparing.”

“I suggest that you schedule your trip so you have the most daylight. The DA disconnected that area from the power grid. I don’t want to think what that place is going to be like at night,” Leethoof said.

Tibbs whispered great.

Emily frowned.

Nga'Devro stepped up. “Nga'Devro suggests bringing lots of batteries for flashlights or light spells.”

Margot had a feeling they would need more than that, but she kept quiet.
> Chapter Twenty-One: Being watched and going back to school
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Washington DC
Outside Del Ron neighborhood
Predawn

When Margot stepped out of the van, she could feel the crazy muttering of the black sun at the edge of her mind. Dark buildings loomed over the grey metal fence that divided the Del Ron neighborhood from whatever neighborhood she was standing in now. The only difference was that the streetlights and traffic lights worked.

Nga'Devro tapped Margot with his left fore hoof. “Nga'Devro wishes you well on your mission.” Margot nodded. He then went back into the van and it drove away.

Scootaloo grimaced. “Why does the sun sound so angry?”

Margot shrugged. “When the sun rises you won’t hear it anymore. Well, unless you take off your clothes and goggles.”

“Please, I’m keeping those on,” Scootaloo said and shook her head.

Mackie walked up to the fence. He used his telekinesis to lift one of the metal plates. There was a hole cut into the fence. Tibbs went through first. Scootaloo followed then Margot and Mackie was last. The fence creaked as the metal plate was lowered back into position.

At least the area looks normal, Margot thought. She was getting used to empty streets but the lack of morning birdsong was adding more creepiness to the area. The group crossed the street to the first block. Other than hooves hitting the sidewalk, it was pretty quiet. Only their reflections moved as the group walked down the block.

When they got to the second block, Margot’s hackles started to rise. It felt like something was watching them. After she looked around and just saw buildings, Margot cast a passive life scan. At first, she sensed nothing then it seemed like the very air was full of life! The life signs faded away. Margot stopped and looked around, she was still confused by the results.

Mackie looked back. “Hey, we can’t stay here.” Margot nodded and cast the spell again. This time the spell returned no results. Again, she wondered about the results, but she hurried after Scootaloo.

The next block was a bunch of small stores. All of them were empty. This time Margot’s hackles were up. The feeling of being watched intensified, and there was another thing. She kept feeling that there was something at the corner of her eyes. A few quick swings of her head didn’t find anything. Even Scootaloo was turning her head to find out what was watching her.

“Scootaloo, stop that. You’re going to hurt your neck,” Margot said. Flick. There was this feeling that something moved at the edge of her vision. Flick, again it felt like something moved. Again, she looked and there was nothing.

Scootaloo stopped looking around, and just fixed her gaze straight ahead.

“You take me to such wonderful places,” Tibbs said and then grimaced.

Mackie just nodded. “Yeah boss, only the best for you.” Hearing the banter between Mackie and Tibbs lightened Margot’s spirits a bit.

Finally, they stood in front of their target. It was a public school. PS 167 the sign over the metal sheet covered door said. Grey metal sheets covered all of the windows. Seeing the covered windows made another chill race down Margot’s back. She wondered what was in the school that the Gleaners had to make metal plates to keep contained.

Scootaloo pointed at the building. “How many ponies went to this school?”

Mackie just shrugged then he walked up to the entrance. Margot followed him while Tibbs kept watch. The plates were screwed into the door, not bolted. That made things somewhat easy. Mackie’s horn began to glow red as he unfastened the screws. The plate floated up while Margot picked the lock. In a few moments the door was open. It was totally dark until Margot conjured up a light spell then she walked inside.

For some reason as the rest of the group entered the entranceway, Margot felt the feeling of being watched go down a bit. Mackie closed the door and screwed the bolts back on the door.

Scootaloo looked around. “It’s been awhile since I was in school. Can I see what this one is like?”

Tibbs shook his head. “I want to get this done and be gone. Mackie what do we do now?”

Scootaloo frowned.

Mackie started rooting through his saddlebags. “I think we should go to the generator room and restore power.”

Tibbs grimaced. “The gleaners cut the power to this neighborhood for some reason. Maybe lighting this school up like a christmas tree is a bad idea?”

“Yeah boss, but the servers won’t work without power,” Mackie said while looking at a map of the school.

Margot looked around the hallway. In front of them, was a large display of trophies the school won in various events. One either side darkness seemed to press in on them. She figured that there were classrooms to the left and right.

Scootaloo walked up to the display and peered at the trophies.

Margot faced Mackie. “How about we go to the server room and just use enough power to get one server up. That should allow us to get what we want.”

Mackie shrugged. “That could work unless they liked to spread stuff across different servers. Then again just powering a few servers wouldn’t use that much electricity.”

Tibbs looked up and down the halls. “Fine. Which we way do we go?”

Mackie pointed down to the left. “We go that way and take the stairs down. There should be a security door in the basement.”

Scootaloo gulped. “Basement?”

Margot understood her fear. In a lot of horror movies, all sorts of nastiness was down in the basement. “Don’t worry Scootaloo, TIbbs will shoot any monsters we find down there. I will help.”

Tibbs smiled. “Heck yeah!”

Then they headed down the hall. Scootaloo stopped at a few doors to peer into the dark empty classrooms. Other than their hooves striking the floor, the hallway was deathly quiet.

“Mackie, how long have you worked with Tibbs?” Scootaloo asked.

Margot figured that the silence got to her and she needed something to push back the fear.

“Well, Scootaloo, Tibbs, Emily and I used to work for NCIS.” Mackie said.

“NCIS?”

“Yes, Naval Criminal Investigative Service.”

“Really? Navel Criminal Investigative Service? You check ponies belly buttons? How do they do crimes?”

Tibbs and Mackie laughed.

Tibbs faced Scootaloo. “That’s another part of the government. We just investigate crimes done to or done by naval personnel.”

Mackie faced Tibbs. “You know, Tibbs, I always felt I was destined for something more. Maybe navel gazing is in my future?”

“No Mackie, I have a gut feeling that you’re destined to be a member of NCIS,” Tibbs replied.

Scootaloo laughed. “How big was the offices and how many ponies worked with you?” Scootaloo said.

In a split second, the levity was gone. Mackie faced away from Scootaloo.

Tibb’s ears and tail drooped. “We lost a lot of friends that day when the Gleaners came.”

Margot’s tail and ears drooped too. “My condolences.”

Scootaloo looked down. “I’m sorry I asked.”

Tibbs walked back to Scootaloo. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. Don’t be sad.”

Scootaloo looked up and they continued to the stairs leading to the basement. When they got down to the basement doors, they were locked.

Mackie’s horn glowed green then red and the door opened.

Tibbs looked at Mackie. “You’re losing your touch, you used to open doors much faster than this.”

Mackie just shrugged. “Yeah boss.”

Tibbs led the way into the basement and the rest of the group followed. There was a lot of junk. They walked around piles of chairs, desks and even books. Margot wondered if there was enough room for a monster. Unlike other basements, this one was quiet. No hiss of steam or clanking metal somewhere. Also the basement was devoid of life. She did a passive life scan and it came up empty. Even a basement has some sort of life in it. Waterbugs, rats or just mold. All she could smell was a bit of rust, some standing water and books dry rotting.

After walking for a bit they found an oval copper door. There was a keypad right next to it. Margot had a feeling that maybe they should just leave. Then again, they need the specs for the weapons to fight the Gleaners. She wondered how much they would have to sacrifice to get what they wanted.
> Chapter Twenty-Two:The mystery in the gleaner weapon labs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.S. 167
Basement

The oval security doors that blocked the group’s progress were the color of old pennies; shiny brown and totally closed. The keypad next to the doors was off. There was a blue flash from Mackie’s horn as he used his telekinesis to open the doors.

Margot idly did a scan. At first she sensed nothing, but at the end something sparked. She added more power and looked deeper, there she found a security spell. It was primed to explode when the doors were forced open.

Margot came out of scanning mode and yelled. “Mackie stop!”

Mackie turned toward Margot. “What?”

“Stop trying to force the doors open, they will explode!”

Tibbs eyes widened as Scootaloo took a few steps back.

Before the doors could separate, Mackie turned off his spell.

Tibbs glared at Mackie. “Is your head in the game Mackie?”

Mackie gazed back, silent at first then said, “Yeah boss, it’s in.”

Scootaloo and Margot exchanged glances. For a moment, silence filled the room.

Tibbs flashed a steely blue gaze at Margot. She nodded and went to work.

Scootaloo moved up to get a closer look at the door.

Margot focused and scanned the doors deeply. There was a bunch of things to do. She had to find a way past the keypad, power up the doors and of course make sure not to set off any alarms or security spells. It was almost too much to remember all of the details, but she managed to cast a spell to power the doors and keep it hidden from prying scans. Hacking the keypad was easier. After she added a few more bits of energy the keypad lit up.

Tibbs looked at Margot as she typed in the code. The status light glowed green and then the doors opened. For such large doors they opened without a sound.

She stepped past the doors into a white passageway scanning for security spells. So far, Margot didn’t sense any.
Tibbs, Mackie and Scootaloo followed her. The white passage seemed to go on and on. A quick scan showed some unusual results, so she scanned a bit deeper. What Margot got back was disquieting. The passage was actually a transition from one universe to another.

They were walking into a pocket universe.

At the end of the tunnel, there was a light green hallway with beige tiled floors. Some sort of message or directory was written on the wall next to the edge of the passageway. Margot couldn’t understand what the blocky glyphs said.

Tibbs grimaced. “What’s that?”

Margot just shrugged.

Mackie hoofed through his saddlebags. “Leet gave me a map of the area, we just have to go down this hall and make a right.”

Scootaloo attempted to look past the darkness at the edge of Margot’s light spell. “Are we under the school?”

Mackie shook his head. “No, we’re in a pocket universe. The white passage was our transition between our world and this mini universe.”

Tibbs grimaced. “More crazy magic.”

Scootaloo faced Mackie. “How does that work?”

Margot knew. Her employers, D-Core, sometimes made special labs in pocket universes. Usually the labs studied dangerous magic or tech. If the experiments broke containment, the scientists could collapse the universe. Of course, the experiments and scientists that were in the lab were lost forever. Either the pocket universe dissolved or it would start to shrink. She didn’t want to think about either outcome. Now they were in a pocket universe and any mistake could trigger a collapse situation.

“Well, Scootaloo, the Gleaners made like their own little world here. If they lost control, they could destroy it.”

Scootaloo’s eyes widened. “What happens if they do that while we are here?”

Margot thought for a moment.

Tibbs grimaced. “Don’t worry, we’ll be gone before that happens.”

“Will we see caspers and zombies here?” Scootaloo asked then looked around.

Mackie looked around. “No, Leet said that they abandoned this place for some reason.”

Tibbs grimaced. “If we wait here anymore, we might see some Gleaners. Let’s get to it.”

Margot thought about telling them what she knew, but then maybe it might be too much.

They continued down the hall past a dark lab. Scootaloo didn’t bother peering through the window for some reason.

The group made it to the intersection without incident then they walked down the hallway that led to the right. For now, Margot was getting slightly bored. Maybe this would be a milk run she thought. This area just had a bunch of small offices or labs. At the end of the hall was a white security door with a keypad.

Margot looked at Mackie.

Mackie shrugged. “Leet didn’t give me any keypad codes. He figured we would find a way past the keypads.”

Margot hacked the keypads and the doors opened. Inside was a glass room with four black metallic cubes taller than Margot. Past that, a few steps away was a table with three small pedestals and three flat keyboards. Also there were three chairs in front of the keyboards. Behind that was a pale gray wall with bits of tape stuck to it. Margot figured that something had been placed there for reference.

Tibbs stood in the corner and faced the door.

Scootaloo followed Mackie as he headed for the first chair.

Margot walked into the glass server room then scanned the floor for the power cables. It took her a moment to find them, and to start dribbling electricity to them. She had to slowly feed power to the servers like she was giving her foal a drink. Margot had an image of herself giving a unicorn foal some water then it faded. That made her frown. She should have thought of a human baby not a foal. Was she spending too much time as a pony? Margot pushed those strange thoughts back, and focused on the servers. A mistake here could cost them information, and also their lives.

Lights began to flicker, and become steady as electricity flowed into the servers. Disk drives began to whirr. After a few more moments, the servers were fully powered up. The room was starting to get warmer.

Mackie looked at the servers then hit a button on the first silvery pedestal. After that he passed his left fore hoof over the keyboard. A black screen with a prompt appeared above the pedestal.

Scootaloo looked at the screen. “What does it say?”

Mackie looked at the screen. “It’s in Gleaner. Think there is an option to switch to English.” Then he looked through his saddlebags for his notes. It took him a few minutes to find his notes and to type in the right command. The text switched to English. Margot stabilized the spell powering the servers and went to check on Mackie.

Mackie’s fore hooves flew all over the keyboard as he typed in commands. “Ok, guys, I found the specs for the railguns. Gimme a sec while I download them to the flash drive.” He had to go back and fish through his saddlebags for that.

Margot watched Mackie.

Tibbs grimaced. “Come on Mackie, I don’t want to be here at night.”

Mackie nodded. “Sure boss. I don’t want to be here at night either. I do want to know why they abandoned this place.” He plugged in the stick and started downloading. After that he went through the files some more.

“Boss, I found out where they keep the prototypes. A working prototype would help us a lot.”

“Where are they?” Tibbs said.

“Section 5c,” Mackie replied.

“Good, let’s get it and go!” Tibbs said and looked around again.

“We need to know why they abandoned this place,” Mackie said.

“No we don’t. We might be pushing our luck. Let Leethoof do his own recon.”

Margot wondered if Tibbs was right.

Mackie sighed. “Fine, we get the prototypes and go. Let me check one thing. I thought I saw some vmails.”

Scootaloo scrunched up her nose. “Vmails? What are vmails?”

Mackie smiled. “Vmails are video messages you send to other ponies. Gimme a sec, think I got one from the Site Manager, Adam Conyer.”

A white coated earth pony stallion with short red hair and blue eyes appeared on the screen. He looked around for a moment.

Margot thought it looked kinda overdramatic.

Then the stallion started talking. “Okay. It’s May, the thirteenth at two forty five pm. Site Manager Adam Conyer reporting. Seriously, I don’t have a beef with Dr. Geist. The guy has been pretty civil and helpful to me, and my projects. That being said, I think he sh-, um, crapped the bed big time here. Just got back after a huge power drain shut down the labs. I guess I should be thankful that the servers were on their own power or you wouldn’t see this. Since it’s my job to provide a good working environment for the people working here, I gotta say something. My gut says that Geist is responsible somehow for the power loss.

My project, Dragonslayer never needed that much power and the Eraser project doesn’t need that much either. Damn, I gotta go and verify that my gut is right. I have to face off against Geist. A creature that doesn’t have a face. I get it that he or it thinks that having a body is a waste of power and is vain but it does come across pretty creepy. There are too many times when he just appears out of nowhere and makes me almost jump out of my fur. So far, my underpants have been unsoiled. It’s not like I can hear him coming like the rest of the staff here. I’ll post more.”

When the vmail ended, Scootaloo faced Mackie. “What’s DragonSlayer and Eraser?”

Mackie nodded. “Gimme a sec.” Several documents appeared on the screen. “Dragonslayer is a code name for a new type of metal golem with gauss guns and rocket launchers. It seems that the Gleaners are having problems pacifying Japan and other far east countries. The changelings there attack in huge swarms and the Gleaners can’t handle that. Also the local dragons have allied themselves with the changelings. Eraser is the name of the new gauss gun.”

Mackie clicked on another file in Conyer’s directory.

Conyers showed up again, but this time he seemed angry, his ears kept going flat on his head and back. “It’s May, the fourteenth at four pm. Site Manager Adam Conyer reporting. Damn, I was right, it was Geist. The other project heads let me inspect their labs and status reports. I didn’t find anything. After that I emailed a request to Geist. That glowing ghost bastard never answers his emails. He just shows up and talks. At least with emails, I have something as proof. I hung a bell on my door so I would have some advance warning he is in my room. Shit no. I heard his voice behind me again. Now, I know he can do teleportation. Freaky ghostlike bastard.

At least this time I was too angry to be surprised.

“Hello my boy, what do you wish to talk about? Oooh yes. I’m very busy Ooh yes.”

“Do you know about the power loss incident we had on the thirteenth?”

“Oooh yes, my boy. I know. Oooh yess.”

Really? I have to twist whatever you have for an arm for the info? “I would like to know what you did to cause this incident.”

“Ahh, my boy. You do realize that my activities are above your paygrade. Oooh yes they are.”

I had to take a few breaths so I don’t ruin things by punching this wanker. Yeah like I should be nicer, but even without a face to look at, I was picking up some attitude. “You’re correct but I’m responsible for two projects that Hopecrusher has personally given me control over. Also I’m responsible for maintaining this facility and providing a safe working environment for my staff and everyone else that works here. Your experiment or whatever has interfered with other projects. Projects that your boss, Hopecrusher has authorized.” If I was dealing with something that was solid and breathed, I probably would have heard a sigh.

“Well, my boy. I do understand your predicament. Oooh yes I do. Give me a day or so and I will give you a detailed report on what caused the incident. I don’t want to needlessly interfere with other’s work. Oooh yes, that is not how I operate.”

That’s it. The glowing bastard is gone. I have to wait two days to find out what happened. I really wanted something faster but he has Hopecrusher’s ear so I have to be patient. Shit!”

Mackie grinned. “Well, that Dr. Geist sounds like someone I don’t want to work with.” The vmail ended and the screen went black.

Scootaloo used her left fore hoof to point at the screen. “What happened next?”

Mackie looked though Conyer’s directory. “That’s it. He wrote no more vmails and I don’t even see any emails either.”

Tibbs grimaced. “Did Geist kill him?”

Even Margot looked at the screen to see what was there.

Mackie did a search for more vmails. “Got one. It’s a vmail from Leslie Tallis, acting site manager.”

A brown earth pony with black hair and red eyes showed up on the screen. “Oh shit, oh shit. Gotta get a grip Lessy. Gotta get a grip. It’s, it’s May the seventeenth and Conyers is dead. What the fu-, I gotta stop freakin cursing. Gimme a sec. Okay. Conyers is dead, but before that things have been going south. Projects have been proceeding fine, but this place doesn’t feel safe. I have been feeling like something is watching me. Oh yeah, there are cameras everywhere, but this feels more personal. It’s like something is watching me and then it will kill me at the right time.

Gotta keep it together Lessy. To make things worse, today I started to feel like something is at the corner of my eyes. I turn and look and of course I see nothing. I reported this to the FacilSec, you know Facilities Security ponies. They just looked at me like I was nuts. I know other ponies have the same feelings of being watched, and seeing things that are not there.

Then Conyers was found dead in his office. Seriously, if I didn’t see the the room with my own eyes, I wouldn’t believe it. His eyes were bloody holes, and the chair next to him. Oh Celestia and Luna freakin save me! I was an atheist but damn, I could use some serious help.

The chair’s front feet had blood on them. Not on the tips, but a few inches of blood up on the leg. It was like the chair stuck- No, no, no. Oh, I can’t deal with that now. I asked the FacilSec pony if he had video and of course he said no. They don’t keep site managers under surveillance. I knew that was a lie, but the fear in the FacilSec pony’s eyes was enough for me. They did tell me that Conyers died on the sixteenth.

As per regulations, the facility is on lockdown while we find the killer.” Mackie played the last vmail from Leslie Tallis. For a few moments she just stared into the screen.

“It’s May the eighteenth. Jenkins is dead. Okay, he was just the janitor, but this time I saw how he died. He was eating his lunch in the big meeting room we use as a lunchroom. The table just took a step to the left, and crushed him like a bug. I heard his ribs snap like brittle twigs. Then the table stepped back. He just collapsed in his chair. How did I know this? The FacilSec ponies called me into the security room, and showed me this. Heck that room even with the air conditioning on stunk of fear. They also offered to show me how Conyers died but I didn’t want to see. I bet that Dr. Geist is responsible. Not directly but maybe his latest experiment has gone off the rails. I sent him an email. He will meet us here.

I’m going to authorize an emergency evacuation of this facility. I need Geist to give us some idea what we are dealing with so it doesn’t follow us into the world. My life kinda sucks, but I would like to live some more.”

Tibbs looked at Mackie when the vmail ended. “Is that all? Chairs and tables don’t move on their own and they don’t kill.”

Mackie did a search from more recent vmails or emails. “That’s it.”

Margot looked at Mackie. “What about Dr. Geist?”

Mackie did a search. “Nope. He has sent emails, but those come from another server. I think he has his own servers.”

Scootaloo’s ears drooped for a moment. “What happened to the dead ponies?”

Tibbs grimaced. “If we stay much longer, we will find out and that might be too late.”

Mackie nodded. “Tibbs is right. Let’s get the prototypes and get out of here. After I log off, Margot can you shut down the servers?”

Margot nodded and went back to the server room. She wondered if they could get what they want before things got more interesting. Unlike the curious cat, curiosity won’t bring them back.
> Chapter Twenty-Three:Hostiles inbound and The Nonborn
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gleaner weapons lab

Again Margot felt like she was being watched. The feeling was getting more intense. No only that, she felt that something was happening at the edge of her vision that she couldn’t see.

Tibbs kept grimacing more than was even possible.

Scootaloo kept her head straight and just looked ahead.

The group just trudged down the hall to weapons lab 5c. Margot wanted to do some scans for necromancy, but she worried that it might piss off the unseen watchers.

Finally they arrived at 5c, it was like the other labs in the area. Windowless and with just a white door and a keypad. Margot hacked the keypad and they were in. The room was twice as long so the light spell didn’t illuminate the whole room. That bothered Margot, something could be hiding in the darkness. She added more power so the whole room could be seen. There was nothing there but a beige wall with bits of tape and two chairs. Each chair had a cell phone lying on the seat. Margot turned her attention to the items on the four tables.

Mackie looked over the equipment. “Looks like we all get to be beasts of burden.”

Tibbs grimaced again. “I hope there won’t be time for sympathy for the Devil.”

Margot nodded. “Maybe we could get some shelter or at least some brown sugar?”

Scootaloo licked her lips at the mention of sugar.

Mackie divvied up the task of carrying out all of the weapons and equipment.

Even Scootaloo had to carry ammo and batteries.

Margot saw some annoyance in her eyes. She didn’t care, it looked like their mission was almost over. Now to bring this stuff home.

Then one of the cellphones rang. The I’m sexy and I know it ringtone first seemed funny, but then Margot wondered who knew where they were. Then the other phone rang. This time a chill raced down her back.

Tibbs and Mackie exchanged glances.

Scootaloo turned to look at the back of the room.

Margot looked back too.

More phones began to ring.

She looked over the tables and saw each one had a phone. Margot figured that she had been too focused on getting the weapons to notice cellphones. Suddenly the ringing stopped.

Tibbs looked around.

The cellphones suddenly flipped on one side with a clack. Even the phones on the tables stood on their sides.

Margot noticed it was like the phones were watching them.

Tibbs grimaced again. “I don’t like this Mackie.”

Mackie nodded.

Text appeared on the chair’s phones, it read “Come with us.” The phones on the tables just said, “follow them.”

Scootaloo gulped. “Why?”

The first phone said,”we need to talk in a better place.”

With a creaking of legs, the tables moved to the side. The chairs started walking toward the group. The group stepped aside to let them pass.

Margot still couldn’t sense what was animating the chairs and tables. It was like she was totally oblivious to that kind of magic. She followed Scootaloo as they followed the chairs. When the group left the room, the tables returned to their previous position with a loud creak.

As she walked down the hall with the chairs leading them, Margot thought about how strange the situation was. It was like she was in a parade with ponies and metal chairs. A more morbid thought surfaced, maybe it was a dead mare walking procession? Maybe they were being led to their deaths. She pushed that thought away to look at her allies.

Scootaloo tried to look brave but Margot could see the fear in her eyes when she looked back.

The chairs led them to Lab 7A then they stopped.

Margot began to wonder but then she heard hooves.

The rhythm of the hoofbeats was irregular like the pony had issues. A dark brown pony with a black mane and tail shambled up to the door. At first, Margot thought the pony had a cellphone on its eyes, but a closer look made her wish that she didn’t look so closely. The cellphone was actually pushed into the pony’s head. It didn’t help that Margot could see dried blood around the edges of the phone.

The undead pony tapped the code to the keypad with a shaking left fore hoof and the door opened.

Tibbs looked into the dark room and grimaced. “I don’t like this.”

Mackie nodded.

Scootaloo whispered, “Help me Oonte.”

Margot got some spells ready as they headed into the room.

There was a locked door to a small room to their right. Past that was a bunch of dead ponies lying on the floor. For some reason, Margot could only smell a little dry rot. The left side had a bunch of unrecognizable junk. In front, there was a darkness that resisted Margot’s light spell’s attempts to illuminate it.

Thin silvery lines started to sparkle in the darkness. The lines got thicker and Margot could see that there were cellphones connected in a network of silvery lines. Each cell phone began to shine with a silvery glow.

Then a voice that sounded like a cold wind in the lonely wilderness spoke. “Why are you here first life?”

Scootaloo gulped.

Tibbs peered into the silvery light from the phones. “More crazy magic.”

Mackie nodded. “Um, we are first life?”

“Yesss.”

“I’m sorry if we disturbed you. We just wanted some items that were left behind,” Mackie said.

“You sserve the glowing one that brings even more pain! The glowing one who promissed freedom from pain but gave more!”

“No, we don’t serve the glowing one. We fight against him and his allies,” Mackie said then nodded.

Scootaloo turned to Margot. “Glowing one?”

Tibbs turned to Scootaloo. “What? Were you asleep at the briefing? The glowing one is Dr. Geist.”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t see any picture of h-”

Margot broke in. “Guy’s we are going to be judged by an unhappy alien being. How about we don’t distract Mackie.”

The wind like voice thundered. “Who is thiss Geissst!”

Margot wanted to cover her ears, but the echoes died down almost instantaneously.

Mackie peered into the darkness and silver. He swallowed and gulped.

Tibbs stepped up. “Hey, we’re sorry that we disturbed you. We came here for equipment to help us fight Dr. Geist and his friends.”

This time the voice that replied to Tibbs was at a normal volume. “Is Geist really the glowing one, first life?”

“Yes. Help us or let us go,” TIbbs said.

“Geist is the ssource of my pain. I wass brought here and I burn and ache!” Then the voice started screaming unintelligible words. The force of the screams pushed Margot and the rest of the group to their knees.

Scootaloo gulped and walked up to the glowing silver and darkness. “Most merciful Oonte might help you with your pain.” She raised her right forehoof and a blue glow covered it. A silver and black tendril wrapped around Scootaloo and before the group could do anything, she was brought into the darkness.

Mackie stuck out his left fore hoof. “Scootaloo!”

Margot and Tibbs walked up to the darkness.

Tibbs turned to Margot. “Do something!” Margot tried to scan the swirling silver shot darkness but her spells failed. This being was not scannable by Margot’s magic.

Tibbs turned to Mackie. “Can you do something?”

Mackie’s horn glowed a rainbow’s worth of colors before he stopped. “I can’t do anything. I mean I can but I can’t sense this thing magically. If I can’t sense this thing, I can’t protect us from it’s magic. I don’t want to piss it off. It’s like being blind and picking a fight with a prizefighter.”

Tibbs grimaced. “If you’re blind you can still hear the guy.”

Margot faced Tibbs. “We’re blind and deaf and can’t sense vibrations either.” Margot felt something touch her back. She turned around and saw a dead pony with a cellphone over its eyes. The message on the cell phone screen said, “Others come, are they your friends?”

Tibbs grimaced. “I doubt that.”

Margot turned around and pointed to the room behind them to the left. “Maybe we can access the security cameras from there?“

Mackie nodded and they headed to the room.

Behind them, the dead ponies rose to their hooves and headed for the door.

It took Margot just a little bit longer to hack this keypad, but she did it and the door opened. Inside was a black cube shaped computer and the usual desk with a keyboard and pedestal.

Mackie pointed at the computer and Margot walked over to add power to the computer. This time she felt a feeling of urgency and didn’t dribble power to the computer so slowly. When the computer started up, Mackie saw the familiar prompt.

Tibbs glanced at the screen. “Are you sure you can access the security cameras from here?”

Mackie shrugged. “I hope so. Dr. Geist is pretty savvy, he might be able to check on who is spying on him. Damn.” A red dialog box popped up on the screen. “Sorry, I can’t switch the language from Gleaner to English.”

Margot looked at the screen. She knew it was possible to access the power and data lines on the cameras, but she didn’t want to waste a lot of magical energy. That power she might need later. “Mackie, I’m going to access the camera’s.”

“Go for it,” Mackie said.

Margot focused and extended her magic senses into the power and data lines for the camera in the hallway then she traveled and powered up the other cameras. It felt like something that took hours, but it was just a few seconds, then she added some controls and made a screen.

Mackie grabbed the screen and started going through the feeds from the cameras. “I hope our guests don’t know that the cameras are on.” For a few seconds, he just saw pictures of empty rooms and hallways until five ponies in battle armor appeared. The bright green glow of their eyes told Margot what type of enemy they were.

Tibbs peered at the screen. “I bet you they’re going for the weapons research labs. If they don’t find anything they will head here since Geist is a leading researcher.”

Mackie nodded.

Margot grimaced. “If they find our dark friend or dead ponies, they might decide to collapse this universe while we are still here. That won’t be good for us.”

Tibbs faced Margot. “I need some solutions fast.”

Margot nodded and began to scan the intruders.

Tibbs faced Mackie.

Mackie looked at the monitor one last time. “I know boss.” Then he started to check out the room.

Margot noticed that she could sense the radio traffic and play it for the group. “Here’s their radio transmissions.” A moment later when she finished the spell, they could hear them.

“Recovery group one what is your status?”

“We’re near lab 2c. No hostiles yet. Why did they abandon this place again?”

“Recovery group one stick to mission parameters. I’m not authorized to answer that question.”

“With all due respect Command, you’re treating us like mushrooms. We would be more effective if properly briefed.”

“No can do, recovery group one. Focus on the mission. Get the Eraser equipment.” The transmissions went to a different frequency.

Margot adjusted the spell.

“What the hell? Did you hear Command? Something really weird happened down here. Even the glowing bastard bailed. We’re walking blindly into somethi-”

“Hicks, I’m warning you. Stay frosty and focus. We won’t survive if we’re distracted. Focus on the mission and we will get back.”

Margot did a deeper scan of the intruders. They had equipment that scanned their vitals and transmitted the info to a remote location. She had to think about how to deal with that.

Mackie tapped Margot. “Tibbs and I are going to check the pile of junk to see if anything useful is there.”

Margot nodded then she went back to trying to get more info from the recovery group.

Margot did a hoof pump when she found that each pony had a computer on them with info on the mission. After a few minutes she was in.

Margot left the room to tell Tibbs and Mackie.

They had moved the junk around and found a keypad and some sort of shiny black pedestal.

The comms spell started squawking again.

“What is your status recovery group one?”

“We are near lab 4a, one more empty hallway and we will be near lab 5a.”

Mackie pointed to the pedestal. “I don’t know what this is.”

Tibbs grimaced. “We’re losing time.”

Margot checked the info from the ponies computers. “There is a dimensional collapse override in 8a. If we can get there, we can stop them from collapsing the pocket dimension remotely. The soldiers have to come to 8a to collapse the dimension.”

Tibbs looked at the darkness and back at Margot. “That means that Command can’t collapse things on us?”

Margot nodded. “Yes, we can take out the soldiers.”

Mackie faced Margot. “What happens to us before we get to the override?”

Tibbs grimaced. “Let’s get to the override now.”

Mackie looked back at the darkness. “What about Scootaloo?”

Margot looked at Mackie. “You wait here for her. If we need you, we will call.”

Tibbs started cantering toward the door. “Let’s do this!”

Margot followed Tibbs.

He looked back. “Wait, you can’t go.”

“How will you get inside security room 8a?” Margot asked.

“Well, you’ll give me the key code. Right? It makes no sense to have Mackie fight by himself,” TIbbs said then looked down the hall.

Right before Margot could answer, the intruders started talking again.

“Okay, Halloran, go inside and get the Erasure equipment.”

“Yes Sir.” There was a creak and then a loud crunch. A pony coughed weakly for a few seconds.

“What the hell? Did you see that? The freakin tables smashed Hallie. Let’s light them up!” A machine gun started rattling then other guns started going off.

“What the fuck? Ponies with cell phones stuck in their heads are shooting at us? What’s going on here?” Gunfire went on for a few minutes.

“I vote we get the hell out of here now!”

“Cool it Hicks!”

“Hicks, got a point, suppose there are more of those things here?”

“Recovery group one, what is going on? One member is flatlined.”

“Command, this is Wallace. Halloran is dead. It seems that the tables crushed him.”

“What? Did they fall on him?”

“No Command. Somehow they met in the center of the room and crushed Halloran. I’m down a team member and would like reinforcements.”

“The tables just crushed him? Did the enemy use telekinesis? Did Collins sense anything?”

“No Sir. Can we get more units?”

“No can do on the extra units. Did you get Eraser?”

“No Command, the area was cleared. Please advise.” There was a delay.

Margot quickly went through the intruder’s computers to get the keycode.

“We advise that you go to Dr. Geist’s lab and get the hard drive from his computer and head back. Eraser is compromised. The area is compromised. Send one or two to the dimensional collapse override in room 8a. Have the unit contact us when the room is secure. Execute protocol Delta Alpha Tango.”

Margot’s eavesdropping spell failed.

Tibbs looked at her.

“The spell doesn’t have any support for decrypting their messages anymore. Here’s the keycode, 6998,” Margot said.

Tibbs nodded. “6998, got it.”

“Good luck.” Margot gave Tibbs a hug then he left.

Mackie looked at the silver shot darkness then back at Margot. “How do we do this?”

“Very carefully,” Margot looked at the darkness at the end of the room. Soon the half drained soldiers would be there. There was definitely going to be a firefight. She hoped that they could handle the soldiers.
> Chapter Twenty-Four:Battle and Collapse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Geist’s lab

Margot looked around again to find a good place to fight from. The small tech room was ruled out because somepony could throw a grenade in there and it’s game over. At least next to the strange black and silver pillar she could have some cover. She would have to share it with Mackie who looked like he was going to panic. His eyes kept darting all over the place.

“What are we going to do? The soldiers will be here soon!” Mackie said while again looking all over the room.

“We relax and hide behind the pillar. That’s our cover,” Margot said. She dispelled the camera hack spell. Every bit of power would be needed. The soldiers had a mage with them so she had to have some way to deal with the mage and the barrage of bullets too.

“When the door opens, kneel and face toward the wall,” Margot said.

Mackie nodded.

Then the door opened. Mackie and Margot barely had time before the flashbangs hit the floor. There were two clunks and a bright flash that lit up the wall. Right after that, two soldiers ran into the room firing away at Margot and Mackie.

Margot cast a ballistic spell to block bullets while Mackie popped up to fire at the soldiers. Sharp and cold attack spells slashed at Margot, and she knelt to make it harder for the soldiers to shoot her. For the next few moments it was just block and blast. The enemy unicorn was skilled, and knew how to adapt to Margot’s attacks. She had cast a lot of spells earlier and didn’t have enough power to just brute force her way through his protective spells. So she had to just block his attacks and wait for a moment where he left an opening for attack.

Mackie kept ducking and firing. For some reason, Margot glanced at the shifting darkness behind her to see a black and silver tendril gently place Scootaloo on the floor. She cast another ballistic shield to protect her. Like the saying, no good deed goes unpunished, the enemy mage hit Margot with a spell that made her vision go red. It took too long for Margot to recover and the next few attacks from the mage slipped in and had her lying on the floor panting with pain.

Even though the enemy mage had snuck in some good hits, Margot wasn’t out of the fight. She focused and struck back. Most of her attacks were blocked, but one got past his wards. Margot hit him again with an explosion, and was rewarded with the sound of something blowing up in the hallway with a dull CRUMP. She hoped that would be the last of that guy.

Again she scanned the hallway, there was one life sign that was fading. Inside, the two soldiers were still shooting away. Their bullets were weakening the shield. Once it faded, they would be in trouble. Margot focused and hit the soldiers with telekinetic bursts that crushed their heads. Their bodies slumped to the ground.

Mackie ran up to Scootaloo who was opening her eyes. “Are you okay?”

Scootaloo nodded and stood up.

She looked at the two dead soldiers. “What?”

Margot walked up to Scootaloo. “The Gleaners sent a squad. Are you okay?”

Scootaloo nodded again.”Yeah, I’m fine.”

Mackie looked up at the darkness. “What happened in there?”

Scootaloo cantered over to the dead soldiers. “I’ll tell you later, I have to give Grace now.”

Mackie checked out the two soldiers and took some ammo and one machine gun.

Margot looked over the bullet scarred room. “I only sensed one dying soldier, but we should be careful.”

Mackie nodded. Scootaloo walked up to Mackie.

Margot slowly opened the door.

A gruesome sight met her eyes. Right in front of the door was a steaming bloodstain about the size of a pony. Bits of metal were also embedded in the gore along with some camo colored rags. Next to the stain was a dead pony with a gunshot wound to the head. Margot looked to the right and saw a small group of dead ponies with cellphones over their eyes. On the right, her heart filled with dismay, it was Tibbs. He was lying on the floor while blood dribbled out his muzzle.

Margot opened the door and cantered over to Tibbs. Mackie and Scootaloo followed.

Mackie grabbed Tibbs. “Wake up wake up! This looks really bad!” He turned to Scootaloo. “You can fix this right?”

Scootaloo nodded.

Margot did a scan of Tibbs, he had been shot several times and was close to death.

Tibbs opened his eyes and coughed. “I was halfway to… Realized that you couldn’t survive…”

Tears poured out of Mackie’s eyes. “No problem. Scootaloo can heal you and you will be okay.”

Margot wished she could heal Tibbs but she didn’t have the training or the ability. Then a thought hit her. She wondered if Scootaloo could heal Tibbs. There’s always a cost to doing magic. Maybe something awful would happen to Scootaloo?

Tibbs raised his head and coughed. “My wife and daughter… Soo bright and happy… Wait, I see …Mackie, you gotta... let Jezebel… she wants you to let...”

Mackie narrowed his eyes and faced Scootaloo. “Heal him now!”

Scootaloo raised her right fore hoof. A blue glow started to form.

Tibbs again raised his head and smacked Mackie on the back of the head. “Let me go! I know it’s my time.” Tibbs lowered his head and breathed his last.

The glow on Scootaloo’s fore hoof faded away.

Mackie placed his head on Tibb’s.

At that moment, the lights dimmed then went to half brightness.

Margot did a wide scan, she had a feeling what was going on. At the edge of her scan, the laboratory complex was fading as the dimension started to collapse. A darkness darker than the absence of light was dissolving the edges..

“Guys, we gotta go! The dimension is collapsing!” Margot said.

Mackie just held onto Tibbs tighter. “No! Leave me!”

She understood some of Mackie’s pain, but she couldn’t leave him there. “If you want to reunite with Jezebel in the afterlife, you have to go back to your home dimension. This is a not a real world.”

“What?” Mackie said as he tried to blink back more tears. A moment later, a determined look crossed his face.  “Yeah, let’s go!” Mackie sighed and gave Tibb’s face a kiss before standing up.

Scootaloo gave Tibbs Grace then they went up the hallway. The floor vibrated slightly under their hooves like a small earthquake was happening. Finally, they reached the passageway to the home dimension. Margot looked back. It seemed that the hallway was a bit shorter than she thought, but then she saw the darkness moving in.

This was a different darkness than the silver and black creature in Dr. Geist’s lab. This was a pure blackness, cold and hungry. It lunged at them. Margot stopped watching and ran into the passageway. The smooth surface that they had walked on before was now cracked. She wondered how they would be able to open the doors when they got to the other end.

Scootaloo looked back and gulped. Her purple eyes widened.

Margot saw her reaction and looked back. The darkness of the collapsing dimension was now at the beginning of the passageway. It was getting hard to breathe as the void started draining the air.

Mackie reached the doors first. They didn’t open. “What the hell?”

Margot pushed past Scootaloo to to see if she could get the doors open. Every other breath was a struggle as the air was sucked away by the swiftly encroaching darkness.

It took her just a moment to access the spell she left to open the doors. Then she jumped through them with Mackie and Scootaloo following. Margot hit the floor, and rolled as the doors closed. A second later, the doors crumpled inward with a squeal of tortured metal.

Somepony screamed. “Why are you looking at them? Shoot them!”

Margot felt bullets punch her hard twice before she looked up at the four ponies shooting at her and Mackie. One went down before she focused and blasted the rest with a fire spell. Blood filled her mouth. The smell of burned fur and flesh filled her nose before she passed out.

Mackie poked Margot. “Sorry about the poking, but we need to get out of here. Who knows what the Gleaners will do next?”

She slowly got to her hooves. “What happened?”

“Scootaloo healed us. I’m carrying her.” Margot looked at the burnt lumps of flesh and metal on the floor. Looking at them reminded her how close she came to… Her mind shied from the idea.

“Don’t worry, Scootaloo has already given them Grace. I don’t know much about it though. Have to ask her when she wakes up. Let’s go,” Mackie said.

Other than a feeling of weariness, she felt ready to go. The only fear Margot had when they traveled to the main floor was the fear that more Gleaner soldiers were waiting for them somewhere. They made it outside the school without incident.

Margot looked around at the buildings that were covered in orange light as the sun set. Mackie screwed the bolts back on the metal plate that was on the door.

“They just left the plate next to the door. Strange.”

“Mackie, let’s just go.”

“Are you afraid that what we saw in Dr. Geist’s lab will escape?”

Margot shook her head. “I’m exhausted. Also the Gleaners might send another team to clean up.”

Mackie nodded. They cantered up the block. Unlike the trip coming to the school, there were no feelings of being watched or sensing that something was at the corners of her eyes. This area was truly deserted.

When they reached the fence around the neighborhood, Margot could hear helicopters in the distance.

Mackie raised the metal plate quickly and she ran through. When Mackie lowered the plate they ran through the darkening streets to another resistance safe house.

While Margot galloped, she hoped for a nice bed and some rest. When she awoke there would be plenty of time to mourn.
> Chapter Twenty-Five:Galloping in the dark and Spiderpig
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unknown building


When she arrived at the safe house, Margot was so tired. She had barely enough time to look around. Unlike the cabin with it’s wooden walls, this place had red brick walls, and lumpy futons spread out on cold tile floors. Since she wasn’t hungry, food wasn’t an issue. Without a word, she found a place to sleep then passed out.

Margot woke up amid gunshots, and the raised voices of panicking ponies. Outside, it seemed like there were a hundred helicopters. Every few seconds, a cold whitish-blue light would lance through the windows. She barely remembered how she got to this safehouse. All her memories were filtered through a haze of exhaustion.

A reddish-brown earth pony stallion ran up to Margot. “You, you and you, come with me. We’re splitting up into small groups so we can sneak past the DA guards.” She looked around. Scootaloo and Rarity were sitting up and looking around at the chaos as other ponies got their group members.

The pony sighed. “The name’s Brick. Well, come on! I won’t be sending invitations. Pink one, orange one and white one with the purple mane let’s go!” Margot followed him while Scootaloo and Rarity followed Margot. She was sure that Brick wasn’t his real name.

Rarity panted while trying to speak. “Excuse me, but shouldn’t we wait for Spike?”

Brick just sighed again. “Don’t know, don’t care. You guys are my responsibility until you fall behind. Then I don’t care. Keep moving!” At the end of the room there were stairs leading down. They took several flights down until they were in the basement.

Margot thought she heard gunfire, but she wasn’t sure. She saw Rarity look back for a moment.

Once they were in the basement, Brick just galloped straight through while Margot did her best to keep up. There wasn’t too much to see, clouds of steam and large pipes blocked her view. Then they climbed up cracked and pitted cement stairs and almost ran into two DA soldiers.

Brick stuck out a fore hoof, and the group slowed to a stop. He pointed ahead. Then he crept up the stairs. He whispered, “No magic or they’ll catch us.”

Margot followed him. Outside, she could hear two DA soldiers talking on their walkies.

Before they could put them down, Margot and Brick shot the guards in the throat. Both guards tried to reach for their blood spurting necks before slumping to the ground.

Margot looked at the dead guards lying next to a blood and graffiti covered wall.
A moment later, Rarity and Scootaloo walked up.

Brick pointed to the bodies. “Don’t bother taking the guns, they might have trackers on them. Stinking DA!”

Scootaloo walked up to the bodies. “I need to give them Oonte’s Grace.”

Brick just shrugged and ran off.

Margot watched him canter down the street.
Rarity looked at Scootaloo who did the ritual. Once it was done, Margot started down the street with Rarity and Scootaloo following. She hoped that Brick wouldn’t duck into a building, and they would lose him.

It seemed like they were in some sort of warehouse district. Buildings with dark empty windows loomed over them. They ran by a wall covered with colored scrawlings until they caught up to Brick. Margot was sure he had slowed down so they could catch up. Brick just nodded and led them through a hole in a rusty metal fence. Margot was somewhat glad the area was lit by pinkish orange lights. The sky was dark without any moon. Traveling down streets in the dark would be worse.

After walking several blocks, Brick looked back at them. Rarity was panting. Even Scootaloo was stumbling and needed rest. Margot was a little tired and just kept going.

He looked around and just stopped cantering. “Okay, we can rest a bit. I don’t hear any helos. The next bit we have to take it nice and kinda slow. A lot of ponies in this area had a rough life. They’ll sell you out for a fifth in a hot second.”

Rarity peered at the guide. “A fifth of what?”

Brick’s eyes narrowed.

Margot spoke up before things got worse. “Sorry, she’s not from around here. Rarity, some cheap booze comes in small bottles called fifths.”

Brick looked away then back at Rarity. “Like I said. Down the block and around the corner are a bunch of ponies that are down on their luck. We don’t make eye contact, we don’t talk to them, we just keep going. Hopefully, they will ignore us and not rat us out.”

Margot looked down the street. All she could see were dark buildings and chain link fences with barbed wire on top.

Brick nodded. “Let’s do this.” Then he headed down the street with Margot, Rarity and Scootaloo behind him. Right before they turned the corner, Brick said, “Remember what I said.”

Margot took a quick look. As expected, it was a sad sight. Poor ponies in ragged clothing held their hooves over metal drums that were full of flames. She smelled some sort of stink, it seemed like a combination of dirty clothing, dirty fur, cheap booze and the loss of hope. Margot kept her head down. She kept expecting at any moment for somepony to make a fuss, but nothing happened. They turned a corner and headed away from the poor group of ponies.

Brick led them into a dark lobby. The acrid stink of urine, new and old hit Margot’s nose.

Rarity flinched. “Really Brick, we have to go here?”

Brick peered at Rarity. “Yes. Watch your step.”

Margot gazed at the floor as they crossed the dark large lobby reeking of excrement. It was gross, but to a battle hardened warrior, waste products were better than blood and guts. Not by much though. The hallway smelled and looked a bit cleaner, but it was also darker.

Brick took a flashlight out of his saddlebags and flashed it around. The white beam seemed so thin and weak. They followed him until he stopped next to a cabinet that seemed more rust than metal. “Okay, some ponies have to push it to the left.”

Rarity looked at her forehooves and stepped back.  A blue glow shone on her horn.

Brick thrust his face into Rarity’s. “No magic! DO you want them to find us?”

Scootaloo shot Brick some stink eye.

Brick faced Scootaloo. “Yo, orange one, watch that attitude!”

Scootaloo walked to the right side of the cabinet. Then she reared up and started pushing. Her stubby orange wings started flapping.

Margot walked to the right side too. She reared up and started pushing. The cabinet started sliding across the floor with some squeaks and squeals. She expected more noise. After some more pushing, a hole appeared large enough for a pony to slip through.

Brick went first. “Somepony close that up so we don’t get any nasty surprises.”

Margot let Rarity and Scootaloo walk past her. On the other side of the cabinet there was a handle. That made it easier for Margot to pull the cabinet closed. Then it was another quick trip down through another semi dark basement and up some more stairs.

At the top of the stairs Brick stopped. “Okay, you guys need to go upstairs to the management office and close the door. Whispers only, no magic and no lights. If the DA think the building is empty they will leave it alone. Well, I hope.”

Rarity looked like she wanted to say something, but a glare from Margot stopped her. Brick opened the door and stepped through. Margot, Rarity and Scootaloo followed.

Pink-orange light from the street lights outside shone down onto the floor. Margot assumed that this place was another warehouse. There were boxes of goods piled up in the middle of the floor and to their left, stairs wound their way around the sides of the building up to the management office.

Brick just pointed to the stairs, and the group cantered to them. The ponies hooves rang against the metal steps as they climbed up to the office.

When they reached the door to the office, Rarity huffed. “Finally all these stairs end. I was so close to giving that uncouth pony a piece of my mind.”

Scootaloo grinned.

Margot opened the door. “I doubt it will do any good.” Inside was a bunch of desks that had been stacked against the walls or windows so there was a large area in the middle of the floor.

Rarity grimaced. “Well, it’s the principle of it all. One should treat a lady with respect and not lead her in the dark all over this cursed world.”

Margot tapped the floor with her left fore hoof. If they could turn a light on she could see what the floor was made of. There was enough light to see some items. The floor was in shadow though. Since the floor didn’t ring, she figured that the floor was not metal. Lying on a metal floor would be a chilly affair.

Rarity peered at Margot. “You do understand what I’m saying.”

Margot nodded. “I agree but then it doesn’t seem to matter to me.”

“Hmph. I have friends who have similar attitudes,” Rarity said then tossed her head.

Scootaloo laughed.

Rarity faced Margot. “One thing I do know, I’m not lying on this floor. It’s probably filthy.”

Margot nodded. “Now that I do agree and that does matter. Scootaloo, will you help me find something that we could lay on?”

Scootaloo nodded then a frown crossed her face. “I don’t have a flashlight. Rarity, do you have one?”

Rarity shook her head. “I had one back home.”

Margot shook her head. “Maybe there’s one inside one of these desks or somewhere else in the room?” It took them a few minutes to realize that there were no flashlights in the room. The desks faced away from them so the group couldn’t open any drawers. A quick check of the floor turned up nothing.

The left wall had a door. Scootaloo turned the knob and opened the door. The hallway was dark. She could see that there was a room.

Margot didn’t want to fuss with dark rooms, but they needed something to put on the floor. “Let’s see what’s in that room.”

Within a moment, Scootaloo pushed out a box taller than her.

Margot pulled it into the room where the light was better. “Well, let’s see. Children’s bedding. Character. Dora the Explorer. Six pieces.”

Scootaloo scrunched up her face. “Who?”

Margot hoofed through her saddlebags for a small knife after she found it, the box was opened. She pulled out the first set of blankets. Scootaloo and Rarity helped to spread them out.

Rarity peered at the blanket. “It seems that Dora is some sort of small donkey wearing clothes. She has an owl and talking objects with her. The shifty looking fox doesn’t look trustworthy. Not at all.”

Scootaloo grimaced. “The ponies in this world are weird. I wish we were home already.”

Rarity nodded then touched the blankets on the floor. “I think we need more blankets. I can still feel the floor.”

Scootaloo and Margot went back into the room and pulled out another box of children’s bedding.

Rarity peered at the label on the box. “SpiderPig? Spiders make my skin crawl, and pigs are just disgusting. I don’t know what Applejack does with those dirty stinking creatures at her farm. What sort of pony came up with the idea for this creature?”

Margot had heard of Spiderman, but she didn’t have an idea about Spiderpig. They placed the blankets on top of the Dora blankets.

Again Rarity tested the blankets. “Well, it’s still hard but I can tolerate it. I would ask for one more bunch, but I’m afraid to see what other creatures those poor foals like.”

Margot was glad that Rarity stopped fussing. Maybe she could get more sleep?

Scootaloo rummaged through her saddlebags, and pulled out a cell phone. “Margot you need to take this.”

“Why?” Margot asked while looking at Scootaloo.

“It’s from the Nonliving,” Scootaloo said.

“You mean the strange creature we found in the lab?” Margot said.

Scootaloo nodded.

Margot took the cellphone and put it in her saddlebags.

Rarity faced Scootaloo. “Scootaloo darling what happened? Mackie wouldn’t tell me, though I could tell he had been crying. Margot went to one of those horrid lumpy futons and passed out. You were very quiet that evening.”

Scootaloo sighed and looked away from Rarity. “It was very strange.” Scootaloo looked back.
“There were chairs and tables that moved. Ponies with cell phones stuck in their heads.”

Rarity flinched. “How did the furniture move? Did a pony use magic? What is a phone?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “No, the chairs moved on their own.” She looked at Margot.

Margot was getting tired of being a translator. “A phone or cell phone is a device that ponies use to talk to each other over long distances.”

Rarity sat back. “Again, how did the furniture move? I doubt chairs and tables are smart enough to move on their own.”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed for a moment then went back to normal. “I’m not sure, there were cell phones on the tables and chairs. I guess there was magic in the cell phones. Also there were phones inside of some dead ponies.”

Rarity grimaced. “Cell phones inside of dead ponies, now this is definitely too morbid. I hope you didn’t have to deal with them.”

“No. Then there was the Nonliving. It was some sort of black cloud with silver speckles.”

Margot leaned forward to hear more. “I saw it grab you.”


Scootaloo looked down. “Yeah, it grabbed me and pulled me inside. I don’t remember anything until I woke up. Every few seconds, pain would fill my body. It was like my legs were being pulled off. After that, I would scream for awhile then the pain would stop. Then the Nonliving spoke to me. It first told me its name then it apologized for the pain. It was hurting. I was feeling its agony. I tried to heal it using Oonte’s power. You shoulda seen it Rarity and Margot. For a moment, the black turned to blue and the silver changed to gold. I felt good like I was really flying then I passed out. When I woke up, it was black and silver again. The Nonliving thanked me for my failed healing and wanted me to do a favor for it. It was dying and it wanted me to pass on a cell phone to someone who could give it to the one that brought the Nonliving here. I said yes and then I woke up on the floor of the lab. Please Margot, give it to Dr. Geist.”

Margot nodded. “I don’t know how, but I will give it to Dr. Geist if I can.”

Rarity leaned toward Scootaloo. “Why would you give a phone to that creature?”

Scootaloo shrugged.

Margot yawned then covered her mouth. “If the Nonliving has a bone to pick with Dr. Geist, I will be happy to help it get its revenge.”

Rarity gazed at Margot. “How will you find this Geist character to give him the phone?”

Margot shrugged. “I will find out. The resistance has sacrificed much to help us, we should help them if we can.”

Rarity nodded.

Margot curled up to sleep while Rarity and Scootaloo chatted. Hopefully, this nap wouldn’t be disturbed. She had doubts about that.
> Chapter Twenty-Six: Back to the mall and a sketchy plan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Vision


Margot was floating in a warm and comforting darkness. No Gleaners or pushy ponies just nothing on her mind. Then a voice whispered,the cup of woe is not yet finished for you. She found herself in a building with a large parking lot. It took just a moment to realize where she was. It was the Mall of America, the place where the changelings did their attack.

Margot started to hear voices like from a distance then a gunshot and cries of dismay. All of that faded away and two men walked into the room. She thought they would say something. It was like they couldn’t see her. One was balding, Margot recognized as her ex FBI partner. The other person was Jerome except he was human. The curly brown hair and the too bright smile helped to identify him. She moved closer. Even though their eyes were pointed right at her, they didn’t act like they saw her. Margot figured that this was what a ghost felt. A chill raced down her back. She wondered if she died in her sleep. It would have been a great release considering all the terrible things Margot lived through.

A quiet voice said,No. Watch.

She felt like there was a threat in the area. Margot looked around and saw nothing. Then she looked up and then the feeling intensified. Glowing green figures slid through the ceiling. Mark shot one and it blew up into bits that faded away. He shot at another creature and the bullet just went through it. Margot noticed that the creatures ignored her.

Mark turned and left the room as the creatures surrounded Jerome. Before they could touch him, he was grasped by sky blue hooves and carried away. Margot felt herself being pulled out of the building into the early evening sky. The mall below her was covered in a green glow that spread from the main building to other areas in the neighborhood. It didn’t take long for the green glow to travel along the roads into the nearby city. She felt something grab her and move her higher into the sky.

Now Margot could see the curve of the Earth and the bright lights of the cities below. The lights faded into green. She heard sorrowful voices then her vision blurred. Now, she was floating above a city of towers built into the side of a mountain. The same green glow she saw earlier was now slowly crawling along the edges of the city. The glow would try to go into the center but bright flashes of gold and blue would push it back. Drawn by the bright lights, Margot floated closer.

In the center of the doomed city, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were gathering surviving ponies to lead out of the city.

A voice whispered, “Proud but gentle Canterlot falls to darkness, but the princesses will save many.”

Margot watched as the last group of ponies reached the safe area made by the princesses. A golden horn sounded a mournful retreat and the ponies galloped for the street that led to the stairs. The princesses stayed in the rear to keep the encroaching armies of Remnants and Gleaners at bay.

“The cup is full for you and you will drink. Be of good cheer and the day might still be won!” the unknown voice said then Margot woke up.

Warehouse
Pre dawn


Margot yawned, it seemed like she didn’t get any rest. Now she was up. Instead of just Rarity and Scootaloo, the room was full of whispering ponies. Far’s group had survived and there were few new voices. She had a feeling that the briefing meeting was going to have a lot of bad news.

Mackie stepped through the door. “Okay, let’s settle down. There’s a lot to go through.”

Far gave Margot a nod then sat next to her. Skybreeze sat next to Far. The rest of the group took positions on the blanket. Margot looked at Mackie and Emily, the fur around their eyes looked wet.

Mackie looked down then raised his head. “Well, let’s get to it. Heston and Nina are dead. Their sacrifice allowed a lot of us to escape.”

Brick stepped into the doorway. “How did they get info on our safehouses? They’ve hit us hard before, but the safehouses were safe.”

Mackie grimaced. “General Trample got help this time and also did interrogations onsite. Instead of taking ponies to bases and getting info from them, Trample got Geist to do his interrogation for him. The turnaround was faster.  With Trample, the torture was mostly physical and ponies could fight that. I’ve been hearing vague rumors that Dr. Geist can get inside ponies heads. If that’s true then all he has to do is find one person who has been in touch with the resistance to get the others. ”

Brick sighed. “Now what?”

The conversation stopped as a small female changeling with black hair and green eyes started sobbing loudly. “They g-got Nina!”

Mackie faced the changeling. “I’m sorry for your loss, Kiya.”

Kiya just nodded and faced the floor.

Mackie faced the group. “As soon as the meeting is over. Emily and I are leaving DC. We’re going to a red zone. It’s too dangerous here with Trample and Geist working together.”

Far stood up. “Wait. We need your help to free Twilight Sparkle from the Pentagon.”

Mackie shrugged. “I wish I could help, but my hooves are tied. The DA took out most of the resistance’s leaders. We had to destroy the gauss rifles. I’m sorry, DA soldiers were all over me. I didn’t have enough time to hide the guns, or pass them to somepony else. So I had to destroy them so the DA wouldn’t use them against us.

I have more bad news. Leethoof is dead, the DA came for him and he blew up his building. I don’t know exactly how they traced him, he was so careful about that. The DA has been sending squads to all of the abandoned neighborhoods and searching them. I bet they started auditing the power grid. Leet’s equipment needs a lot of juice. That’s probably how they found him or that’s why they decided to check out his building.”

Kiya narrowed her eyes. “I hope many of those DA bastards died!”

Margot stood up. “My condolences, but did he leave us anything useful?”

Mackie nodded. “Um, yeah but how are you going to get into the Pentagon?”

Skybreeze stood up. “How about using a teleportation spell?”

Mackie shook his head. “They have wards against that. Without a well equipped army to breach the defenses, you can’t get in. I’m sorry.”

Kiya jumped up and down. “Hey hey, I might be able to help.”

Mackie sat down. “Go for it.”

Kiya nodded. “Um, yeah. It’s a side project I was working on. Maybe this could work, it would be a Hail Celestia play. Anyway, I was tracing the essence deliveries to different buildings. I was planning to come up with a plan for Nina, but it never happened… I have a schedule in my saddlebags for all of the deliveries.”

Mackie faced Kiya. “The minute we stop the deliveries, the DA will go nuts.”

Kiya sighed like she was dealing with a slow child. “No, we don’t stop them. We sneak aboard a delivery van.”

Far nodded. “If we could get past the checkpoints, we could get inside.”

Mackie smiled. “Alright. Leethoof gave me a bunch of fake backgrounds and IDs. He also gave me the codes to all of the  security rings except ring four and five. If you can make yourselves look like the ponies on these fake ids, you can get through most of the security.”

Kiya looked around. “Well, I’m a Pratt graduate so I think I can do some good illusions.”

Margot sat back and thought about the plan. She wondered how they could get onto the truck then once they were in the truck, how would they get past security.

Skybreeze looked at Kiya. “How do we get on the trucks?”

Kiya shrugged.

Jerome spoke up. “I can persuade the guards to give us a quick ride.”

Brick snorted. “Really? A quick ride to hell! I doubt that anyone is that good.”

Margot wondered why he raised his left forehoof.

Jerome smiled. “Brick, what’s wrong with your left forehoof?”

Brick looked down at his left forehoof. “What the?”

Jerome bowed. “I rest my case.”

Brick narrowed his eyes and whispered wanker under his breath.

Margot checked to make sure her forehooves weren’t doing anything she didn’t want them doing. “They might scan the trucks when they reach the building. Also, they might see us too in the loading bay. How do we get past that?”

Kiya took a breath. “I can scan the empty room and make an illusion. It should last long enough for us to get into the building before they know. We were also studying the scanning spells, so I think I can fool them.”

The whole plan seemed sketchy as hell but as she looked at the looks on the other ponies faces, it seemed like they wanted to give it a go.

Mackie nodded. “All of the info you need is on this laptop.”

Emily narrowed her eyes for a second. “Wait, I need to say goodbye to Tammy.”

Mackie looked at Emily. “You named your laptop?”

“We’ve been through alot together even before the Gleaners.”

Jerome smiled. “Maybe you want time to get rid of the porn?”

Emily shot him a glare.

Margot faced Mackie then looked at Kiya. “When is the next delivery?”

Kiya hoofed through her saddlebags, pulling out all sorts of junk before finding a tattered notebook.

Margot was somewhat amazed and somewhat creeped out at how much junk Kiya was lugging about.

“Yeah, Margot, the next delivery is at four am several blocks away,” Kiya said.

Mackie nodded. “I’ll help and head out of DC. Later.”

Things were going fine until they hit a snag. Rarity didn’t want to be a prisoner.

She waved her right forehoof dismissively. “I’m sorry but I had enough time as a prisoner. I don’t want to do it. Margot darling, can you switch places with me?”

Margot frowned. “Well, if you know how to talk to military folks like you’re one of them, fine. Also the Gleaners know you as the prisoner that escaped from New York. It makes sense to them that you would show up here to free Twilight Sparkle. I doubt they know anything about me.”

Margot saw Mackie and Emily exchange glances then he gave her the laptop.

Emily opened it up and started typing.

Rarity sighed. “Well, I don’t like being called the New York escaped prisoner.”

Spike smiled. “Rarity, you’re public enemy Number One!” He pumped his left arm up and down.

Rarity grimaced. “Sorry Spike, but that’s one distinction I could do without.”

Emily faced Margot. “Sorry Margot, I hate to break it to you, but you’re public enemy number one. I saw a lot of advertisements showing enemies of the DA. Your face is on the top of the list.”

Rarity smiled.

Jerome stepped up. “I’ve seen her records. Back home she did some work for the military. So she might be the best candidate..”

Margot looked at Jerome. “Really, you looked at my records. Do you have that clearance level?”

Jerome just smiled wider.

Mackie sighed. “Ok, Margot, you get the Staff sergeant, Emily Woods, ID. Rarity will have to be a prisoner.”

Rarity sighed. “Well, if I have to be...”

Jerome waved his left forehoof. “Don’t worry, Rarity, they probably won’t waterboard you.”

Rarity flinched. “Waterboard?”

Emily and Mackie laughed.

Emily laughed again. “Waterboarding was declared to be cruel and unusual punishment. Most intelligence agencies were forbidden to use it. Also it doesn’t work. Torture is one of the worst ways to get useful info. Even the Gleaners don’t waterboard.”

Mackie shook his head. “With Geist getting inside ponies head’s, he or it doesn’t need waterboarding.”

Kiya looked at her watch and looked up. “Um guys, we need to get this done quickly because we need time to travel to the ambush zone.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes for a moment. “Ambush zone?”

Kiya sighed. “The place we’re meeting the truck! We also need to be in position before it arrives.”

Rarity sighed. “Fine.”




It took a bit of time to get the illusions working and for Margot to make the id cards. Somehow Leethoof had gotten enough info so Margot could make accurate copies. Of course with such a sketchy operation a lot could go wrong. She didn’t want to think about the stuff they didn’t know about the Pentagon. Margot just focused on getting everything ready. It had to work.
> Chapter Twenty-Seven: In the Pentagon and The Love Room
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Predawn
Jorge Messon Drive and Milson Avenue


Margot carefully peeked through the blinds at the dirty empty street. Bits of paper and black plastic bags flew up the block. It was still too early for anypony to be out. She doubted that the few ponies that lived in the area wanted to be walking around. The hasty gallop from the safehouse was a tense affair. Every few blocks, they had to hide from DA patrol cars filled with alert soldiers. Margot noticed that all of them were half drained. Regular ponies could be convinced to ignore them, but half drained ones would definitely shoot first.

Nga'Devro walked up and peered through the blinds. “Nga'Devro wishes to know when the delivery truck is coming? He also wishes for this to be done already.”

Margot looked down at her brown and grey DA uniform and nodded.

Kiya looked at her watch. “In about two more minutes, they will be here.”

Margot sat back on her haunches and focused on passive sensing the neighborhood. At first she felt the life signs of the ponies with her like bright candles in the dark. Then her senses expanded out across the street and beyond. The few ponies that still lived in the area felt like guttering candles. A stray cold breeze could put them out without too much work. At the edge her sensing, she felt the delivery truck and the guard vehicle. Drained ponies felt like ponies, kinda but they also felt corrupt, tainted by Gleaner magic.

Margot sighed and came out her scanning trance. “They’re coming soon, get ready.”

Mackie and Emily walked up. They group gave them hugs and hoof bumps. Margot was the last. “Good luck to the both of you.” Mackie nodded and left with Emily.

Jerome walked up. “Well, it’s almost showtime. I will need some power.”

Skybreeze nodded. “I’m ready.” The car and truck came into view. At first it looked like they were going to drive right past, but at the last minute they coasted to a stop.

Far whispered. “Let’s do this.”

Jerome was the first out the door and at the greyish brown delivery truck.

Skybreeze was next with the rest of the group.

The guard who was driving opened the door and dropped the keys on the street. Jerome pointed at Skybreeze to pick them up. Margot went to the back of the truck and waited for Skybreeze to open the door. Skybreeze cantered to the back and opened the door then threw the keys to Jerome.

Most of the group could jump up into the truck except for Spike. He stood there wondering how to get inside. Rarity used her telekinesis to pick up Spike and put him in the truck.

Margot was surprised at the amount of space in the truck. There were just a few of the silvery cylindrical essence containers stacked inside under some pale yellow lights.

Kiya looked around too. “Okay, um. How about we arrange those containers in a circle and we can sit inside. That way it’s easier to fool the scanners.”

Jerome jumped into the truck and closed the door. “Okay guys, we gotta keep quiet.” The truck jerked and started moving.

Kiya and Nga'Devro quickly and quietly moved the containers so the team was surrounded by them.

While the truck drove down the street, Margot gazed at Jerome. She could see he was getting a bit tired.

Jerome looked back. “Don’t worry, I’ve done this lots of time. Piece of cake.”

Sweetie Belle looked at Rarity. “I could use some cake.”

Rarity looked back at Sweetie Belle. “Do they have cake here? It seems like such a joyless place.”

Sweetie Belle grinned. “We had a chocolate sheet cake.”

Scootaloo licked her lips.

The truck drove through the quiet city.

After a few moments. Kiya looked at Margot. “We need to get ready. I figure that there will be a checkpoint outside the Pentagon and then one at the loading bay. Maybe we should show the guards that the truck is empty so we don’t have to walk through the checkpoints outside the building?”

Margot shrugged.

Skybreeze looked at Kiya. “Well, what if the guards at the checkpoint see that the truck is empty and then tell the other guards? That might complicate things.”

Margot looked at Skybreeze. “Maybe we should save our power for later and chance this?”

Skybreeze’s ears went back for a second. “Why are you so stingy with your power?”

Nga'Devro stepped up. ”Nga'Devro remembers how we rescued Rarity, it required a lot of power. We may need more to get Twilight Sparkle.”

Jerome smiled. “Don’t worry, I got this. A quick suggestion and the guards will ignore us.”

Spike looked up at Margot. “I hope Twilight is okay.”

Rarity nodded. “I hope so too, Spike darling.”

Kiya pointed at Jerome with her left fore hoof. “Okay, he will handle the first checkpoint guards and I will handle the second set. Maybe we should get our stuff ready like the chains?”

Rarity grimaced.

A few moments later, Margot made the glossy black chains and put them on Rarity and Spike.

Spike smiled. “Public Enemy Number one! Yeah!”

Apple Bloom thrust her left forehoof in the air. “Royal Guardkiller, royal guardkiller!”

Rarity looked at Apple Bloom. “Where did you hear such awful stuff?”

Apple Bloom looked down. “Um, it’s ah song from NWA, Nags with attitude. Pipsqueak was listening to it.” The truck shook as it drove over a curb.

Far looked around at the dark grey walls. “Get ready.”

The truck stopped for a few moments. Margot heard a metal door open and did a passive scan. She sensed four DA soldiers and a turret in the ceiling. If things went south, Margot would have to summon a ballistic shield first.

Jerome whispered. “I got this.” The door opened and two guards gazed at them.

Margot stepped forward. “I’m staff sergeant Emily Woods. I have prisoners who have to go to Dr. Geist.” One of the guards stepped back and the other one followed him. The group followed Margot as she jumped down from the truck into the loading bay.

It was well lit with lights shining from the ceiling. Crates were piled up along a staircase. A smaller staircase led to a checkpoint with three alert ponies. They were behind green tinted bullet proof walls with slits for guns. Two ponies had guns and an unicorn waited behind another wall. Margot figured he was there to provide magical support.

She walked up to the checkpoint. One of the ponies asked for an id card. Margot gave it to him and prepared for the worst. The guard slid the card through a scanner and the status light glowed green. He gave her back the card and the dark wooden door in front of her clicked open.

Margot pushed the door open with a forehoof and walked into the hallway. There were ponies walking down the light pink hallway. She led the group into the hall then with a look behind her she cantered down the hall.

Skybreeze looked at the well kept glossy wooden doors and the occasional painting on the wall. “I’m surprised that this place has some decent decor.”

Margot looked back at Rarity who was trudging along with jingling chains around her hooves.

Spike on the other hand, looked around with wide green eyes.

The ponies that walked by the group didn’t gawk, they just glanced and went about their business.

A few doors down, they stopped at a checkpoint. Again several ponies were behind bulletproof glass and they had guns pointed at the group.

Margot pulled out her ID and it was scanned again. Again the door opened and the group went through.

This time the walls were a light blue color. Also the hallway was less crowded.

Margot kept her eyes forward and continued down the hall. She was dreading the moment when her ID would be rejected and they would have to fight. So far, so good.

The next hallway was a pale yellow color. This time it seemed like this level was deserted when a pony burst out of a room. Margot barely stopped her impulse to reach for her gun. The uniformed half drained stallion just looked at the group then trotted down the hall.

Far watched the pony leave. “Damn. That was a surprise. How much longer?”

Rarity sighed. “Two more.”

Spike looked around. “I hope Twilight is okay.”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Have faith! She will be fine.”

Margot trotted down the hall with the group following her.

The next checkpoint had the same arrangement. Semi bored ponies looked at her while Margot gave them her ID. The door clicked open and they went through.

This time the walls were a familiar grayish color. Something about that started to bug Margot. The paintings were also different. Instead of showing scenes of the area around Washington D.C. or sailing ships, there were scenes of worlds being dominated by the Gleaners. Also there were a few that seemed to be made by Eya Sore. After glancing at one horrible picture showing the twisting torture of wolflike creatures, Margot kept her eyes forward.

Scootaloo grimaced. “I’m getting sick of this world. When can we go home?”

Apple Bloom nodded. “Ah agree.”

Nga'Devro also nodded. “Nga'Devro also wishes to be back home, but not before we finish the mission.”

Margot looked back and said, “Shhh!”

When the group walked further down the hall they noticed that there were shiny grey metal doors with guards next to them instead of wooden doors. The guards watched them with some interest, but they stayed at their post. Finally, the group stood in front of the checkpoint to the last area. Margot gave her ID to the guard.

He looked down at a yellow pad. “Nope. You’re not on the list. Have ta wait while I verify.” The guard looked at Margot.

Margot sighed. This was going to be tough. The hallway was filled with guards. She didn’t want to get in a firefight here. “I’m working on orders from Dr. Geist and General Trample. You don’t want to interfere.”

The guard looked down then up. “Yeah, I don’t want to do this, but the Pentagon was hacked and we now get our orders by messenger. If Geist was expecting you, he would’ve told us.”

Jerome walked up. “Are you sure, you didn’t miss something?”

The guard checked the monitor.

“Yeah, you’re on the list.” The door clicked open.

As they filed through the door, Margot thought she saw Jerome almost stumble, but he was caught by Far. She wished she could’ve helped but enchantment magic wasn’t her speciality.  Once the group was in the hall, the door clicked shut behind them. The hall was a familiar green shade, Gleaner corrupt magic green. They started down the hall toward the door that said, “The Love Room.”

Skybreeze looked at the title of the room. “I have a feeling we won’t love what’s going to happen in that room.”

Rarity sighed. “I’ll do what I can to free Twilight.”

Spike shook his chains. “Yeah, we’re coming for you, Twilight.”

Margot wondered and also dreaded what was coming up. She wasn’t at full strength magically, and it seemed like Jerome was almost at the limit of his powers. With a sigh, she pushed the door open with her left forehoof. 

Then her mind s l o w e d  d  o  w  n.
> Chapter Twenty-Eight: Dr. Feelbad
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pentagon
Security Ring 5
Love Room


Margot awoke on a cold floor that smelled like old blood and bleach. Somepony was gagging while someone else was talking.

“Oooh yes Ms. Sparkle gag and choke.”

Margot raised her head and attempted to look around. In front of her, a glowing green amorphous shape was straddling a purple alicorn with a blue striped mane and tail. The poor creature’s wings flapped weakly. Margot noticed that the alicorn’s horn was covered by some sort of greenish grey metallic cone. Finally, her mind connected what she saw with a name. Dr. Geist was choking the mess out of Princess Twilight Sparkle. Margot focused on a spell that would blast the doctor off of Twilight. A red burst of energy flew toward the doctor and knocked him into the air. He flew against a green paneled wall and lay still.

A voice filled the room. “Oooh yes, that was quite a thumping blow. If it had hit me, I would be in such pain. Oooh yes!”

Margot blinked, she was so sure she had hit Dr. Geist. The scene blurred and she saw that the wall in the background had several smoking holes.

Twilight Sparkle was still straddled by Dr. Geist then the scene blurred back to a larger room.

Dr. Geist stood up and stepped away from Twilight. “Oooh my, I have been a bit uncivil. I will fix that right away. Oooh yesss. My name is Dr. Ambrosius Geist. Oooh yess, my name might be the last name on your lips. Oooh yes!”

His voice had the sound of an uncle. Not one that Margot had, this one seemed to have malice and anger barely hidden under his seemingly friendly voice.

Jerome’s voice rang out. “Fight him, he’s in all of your heads!”

For a second, the scene blurred back to what seemed to be reality but Margot wasn’t sure.

“Oooh yes, today will be an interesting day. Sooo many enemies here. Oooh yess! Thank you, Ms. Skybreeze Cloud for the info on Empress Razorhoof. I have to say if you were planning to fight her, you are sadly outmatched. Oooh yes. You see, I was the one that taught her most of what she knows. But she is quite the resourceful type and she probably has learned some new tricks. For a rescue attempt, I must say, you’ve failed Ohhh yess!”

Margot tried to cast another spell, but she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind would just blank out. Dismay started to fill her heart, Dr. Geist had them at his mercy. She turned her head to watch the doctor walk over to Kiya who was making some sort of sculpture out of light. Curvy silver and gold objects rotated and reflected each other.

“Well now, I have to say this is aesthetically pleasing unlike the other artist thinking of clothing.”

A moment later, Rarity gave a squeak of pain.

Geist peered at the slowly turning light sculpture.

Margot was surprised when Kiya appeared out of nowhere and tried to stab Geist with a dagger.

At the last second, Geist managed to dodge the attack and twist Kiya’s left fore hoof around. The dagger hit the ground and rang like a small bell. He struck Kiya on the head and she slumped to the floor.

“Well now, I can see, um, what’s that term. Ahh yess. Shit has gotten real! Foul and deceitful changeling nag! Oooh yess, I have something for you. You know I wonder how much stress your chitin could take?” Geist lifted Kiya like she was made of feathers.

When Margot saw Geist place his glowing hands on Kiya’s stomach and neck, she felt even more dismay.

His hands started to glow a faint green color. At first, Kiya didn’t do anything, but as the hands began to glow brighter, she started to thrash around weakly.

Again, Margot tried to cast a spell, any spell but her powers of concentration would just fade away.

Kiya started groaning then her groans turned to shrieks of pain.

Margot turned her head, she knew what was going to happen next.

There was a loud CRACK and then a tearing sound. Kiya howled in pain then coughed.

Margot didn’t look back when she heard the splats of Kiya’s head and hindquarters hitting two different areas of the floor.

“Ooh yes, I can see why that cretinous horse General Trample values physical violence. It’s quite pleasurable. Don’t worry, my little pony prisoners. I will keep some of you alive. Somehow.”

Nga'Devro howled. “Nga'Devro will make sure you pay for your misdeed!”

Margot thought she heard the SHC scream something she wasn’t sure. She got up on her hooves and turned her head.

Nga'Devro was running at Geist while firing green blasts of magic.

Geist just dodged them until Nga'Devro was in melee range. Then Geist swung at Nga'Devro, but Nga'Devro dodged that attack.

“Margot, get the cellphone.”

Margot reluctantly tore her gaze from the fight to look down.

Scootaloo was crawling toward Margot just using her fore hooves. It seemed like her hind quarters weren’t working.

Scootaloo pointed to Margot’s saddlebag. “Get the cellphone now while Geist is busy.”

Margot looked in the direction that Scootaloo was pointing and saw her saddlebags. She didn’t remember taking them off. Margot walked over to her saddlebags then took a quick glance back at the fight.

What she saw made her regret taking a look. Nga'Devro got smashed in the head by Geist and lay on the floor. Margot was surprised when Nga'Devro faded away. She knew Geist was surprised too.

“Oooh yes, who was that? Ahh Jerome. Too bad, you had to place that image in my head. Ahh yess that was a great mistake for you. I probably would’ve found you a bit later. Ahh yes, my boy, you know what they say about no good deed goes unpunished.”

A wave of pain struck Margot and she collapsed to the floor. It felt like ants were swarming under her skin and biting. She thrashed her legs to get them to stop. Something touched her and the pain faded. Margot looked around and saw Scootaloo before she closed her eyes.

It took a moment before Margot remembered what she had to do. She had to get the cellphone out. Luckily, she was just a few steps away.

Jerome began to scream.

Margot reached her saddlebags and opened one. Instead of items, the inside of the bag was a yellow toothed mouth. She could smell rotten meat and worse wafting up from the bag.

Jerome screamed again, it was a pitiful fear filled sound.

Again, Margot tried to will the mouth away. She knew it was something from the doctor’s mind but the stench of the rotting meat stuck in the gnashing teeth was so real. There was no way Margot was going to stick a hoof in that. She thought she heard Apple Bloom yell something.

Now, the bag was just a bag, no teeth. With a sigh, she stuck her hoof into the bag and grabbed the cellphone. A moment later it was on the floor. The screen was cracked though, Margot wondered if it could still work.

Jerome screamed again and the bag was a mouth again. She tried to slide the cellphone across the floor to Geist but it only slid half the distance.

Suddenly green and blue magics surrounded the phone and it crossed the floor until it was next to Geist.

Margot slumped to her knees, she was so tired. While Margot watched, a black cloud streaked with silver flowed out of the phone.

Geist’s attention was on torturing Jerome, he didn’t notice the black cloud until it wrapped itself around his green glowing amorphous body. “You cretinous ponies, you brought that here! You have no idea what you have done! Oooh yess.” He started to scream and curse as the Nonliving covered him.

There was one agonized scream and they both faded from view.
The room blurred into a small room with ponies and one torn apart changeling on the floor.

Rarity and Spike got up and tottered toward Twilight Sparkle.

Margot climbed to her hooves.

Twilight tried to climb to her hooves, but then she slumped back down. Her purple eyes were unfocused.

Spike clambered on top of Twilight and reached for the cone on her horn.

Rarity tried to use her telekinesis on the cone, but it couldn’t move it. She walked up to Twilight and used her fore hooves to grab the cone and drop it on the floor. The magic-blocking cone hit the floor with a dull clunk.

Rarity crushed it with her fore hooves. “There, that foul thing won’t hurt my dear Twilight anymore. How are you now, darling?”

Margot watched as Twilight blinked a few times and wheezed.

Dismay covered Spike’s face.

Twilight faced Rarity. “Rarity? How did you get here?” Then Twilight looked around and saw Spike. “Spike? How? Wait. Are you real?”

Rarity sighed. “Yes, I’m real. I ended up on this horrible world because somepony kidnapped me.”

Spike looked at Rarity. “I was with Rarity and they took me too.”

At that moment the floor shook.

Twilight looked around and saw what was left of Kiya then she saw Nga'Devro. Her eyes narrowed. “Why are they here?”

Far stepped up to Rarity and Twilight. “Forgive me Princess but this isn’t Equestria, and a lot is different.”

Margot attempted to focus, and failed. She tried again and sensed a large vehicle filled with malice and ponies in battle armor moving toward them. “Guys, we need to prepare to fight a tank and some soldier ponies.”

Twilight faced Margot. “A water tank?”

Rarity shook her head. “No, it’s some weapon that the horrid ponies here made.”

Apple Bloom cantered to Kiya’s head.

Margot watched as a blue glow flickered on Apple Bloom’s hoof.

Apple Bloom whispered,”Please Oonte, just one more spell to cast before I sleep.” The glow steadied and she did the ritual for the two parts of Kiya.

Jerome screamed.

The floor shook harder. Bits of grey plaster fell from the ceiling. Rarity bitched about the stinking plaster messing up her mane and tail.

Margot wanted to stand up and fight the tanks and soldiers, but she was so tired.

Far looked around, other than one grey metal chair there was no cover.

Skybreeze pointed to a glowing blue portal that just appeared.

Margot looked at the gate and pulled herself to her hooves. Her legs wobbled from exhaustion.

Far looked at Twilight. “Princess, there’s our ticket home.”

Twilight looked at the glowing gate. “How do you know?”

Spike shrugged. “Anywhere gotta be better than here.”

Rarity smiled. “I agree. I for one would be glad to be free of this terrible world.”

Margot looked at Jerome. He looked back at her with brown eyes filled with panic. She managed to knock him out with a stun spell. It was the best she could do.

Skybreeze nodded and used her telekinesis to carry Jerome. She went first into the gate followed by Margot and Nga'Devro. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom limped into the gate.

Twilight and Spike entered the gate followed by Far and Rarity. Sweetie Belle took one last look before stumbling through.

By the time the battle tank blew through the wall, the room was empty except for Kiya’s mangled body.
> Chapter Twenty-Nine: Park fight and escaping Manhattan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unknown Place

Margot woke up on warm concrete. Again, she thought about the strange feeling she had when she stepped through the portal. It was like something more powerful had touched her gently. For some reason she felt less exhausted. That didn’t seem possible. After fighting Dr. Geist, she shouldn’t be able to get to her hooves so quickly. Margot resolved to talk to Apple Bloom later.

She swept her eyes over the area. It seemed like she was in a small park with a black metal fence surrounding it except for three entrances or exits. Beyond the fence were tall buildings and her memory clicked. Margot looked up. Yep, she knew this area. She was in Herald Square. Macy’s was a quick walk, um, trot away.

Margot checked out the team. Behind her the SHC were rising to their hooves and looking around. Far, Skybreeze and Nga'Devro were also getting up off of the ground. There was a pony missing. She wondered where was Jerome. One of the last things Margot remembered was that Skybreeze had carried Jerome using her telekinetic field.

She walked up to Skybreeze. “Where’s Jerome?”

Skybreeze looked around. Her eyes widened. “Wha? I thought I had him.”

Apple Bloom walked up. “Jerome is with the Messenger. He needs special healing. When Jerome is healed he will be sent to us.”

Margot was torn by that statement. She felt sorry for him, his screams showed that the horrible Dr. Geist had done things to him. Margot didn’t know any enchantment magic, but she figured that Gleaner Lord had done a lot of damage to Jerome’s mind. She would have to hope for the best and move on. Margot looked at the end of the park at Twilight, Rarity and Spike.

Twilight Sparkle gawked at the tall buildings around her. “Rarity, the buildings are so tall here. It also feels familiar.”

Rarity walked up to Twilight, Spike followed her. “Twilight darling, don’t you remember when we went shopping at Marecy’s?”

Twilight nodded then she hugged Spike and Rarity.

Margot gave them their moment of bliss before being a wet blanket. There were dead bodies slumped on some of the benches and in the street. The greyish brown color of their skin was different than normal corpses. It reminded Margot of the Remnants and zombies of the other worlds she had been to. If they decided to rise...

Margot walked up when the hugs stopped. “I’m not sure what you mean by Marecy’s but this is Herald Square and Macy’s is nearby.” She pointed at the statue.

Rarity looked at the statue. “Not Horseald Square? There was a statue of a stallion there not a statue of a strange creature.”

Spike looked up. “What’s that?”

Skybreeze walked up. She nodded at Margot. “Finally, the time I wasted having to study Bulfinch’s Mythology pays off.”

Spike looked at Skybreeze. “What?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes! I remember. Bulfinch was a pegasus stallion who collected stories from ponies years ago. There was a section about Humans. That’s a human.”

Rarity peered at a corpse that was lying on a bench. It wore torn baggy jeans and a stained green shirt. “I imagine that humans don’t have a well developed fashion sense.”

Twilight looked around. “According to Bulfinch, humans were clever dangerous creatures. Not as clever as ponies though. They could cause a lot of trouble.”

Sweetie Belle cantered up to Rarity who was studying another corpse lying on the ground.

The dead bodies were starting to make Margot nervous. Another thing also started to bother her, the corpses didn’t smell like rotting flesh. Something wasn’t right here.

Nga'Devro walked up to Margot. “Nga'Devro wonders about these dead creatures. How did they die?”

Far also looked around. “Yeah. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this area.”

Margot watched as Rarity and Twilight studied a corpse wearing a fancy looking black suit.

Rarity gingerly pushed the suit open. “Now this Human seems to have better fashion sense. The fabric is better quality. Sweetie, do you see the fine stitchwork?”

Sweetie Belle nodded.

A purple glow surrounded the buttons on his shirt and one by one the shirt was unbuttoned.

The corpse’s eyes sprang open and a green glow filled them. Margot recognized the glow, it was the glow of gleaner magic. There was a positive side, if they survived. Margot wondered if she was back on Earth. That could lead to talking to someone from D-Core and maybe being turned back into a human. First she thought, they had to survive the zombie attack.

Rarity jumped back. “Oh my!”

Far reached for the gun holstered on his left foreleg, but he couldn’t grab it.

The corpse with the fine suit sat up.

Spike grabbed his gun. “I guess he didn’t like Twilight undressing him.”

Soft sighs and growls filled the air as the rest of the corpses started to sit up.

Twilight peered at the corpse. “I’m sorry.”

Margot looked around the area. She figured that if they killed the zombies in the park they might be able to deal with the ones in the area. Margot reached for her gun but it wouldn’t leave the holster.

Spike shot the fancy suit zombie, but it got up again.

Margot screamed. “Shoot them in the head, that’ll kill them.”

Rarity focused and hit the zombie in the head with a telekinetic slap. It slumped to the ground.

Nga'Devro used his telekinesis to pull his gun out of his fore leg holster then he shot the zombie with the torn jeans.

Sweetie Belle had her gun in a flickering green glow as she fired away at zombies.

A purple glow covered Twilight’s horn as she cast a spell to block the entrances to the park.

The situation seemed to improve a bit. The zombies just stood at the fence for a few moments.

Margot thought about what spells to use. She had a feeling that something quiet would be the best choice, there were probably more zombies in the area. Also things felt kinda surreal like she was in a zombie movie. Then again zombies were the least of her worries. She wondered who made them.

One zombie tried to climb over the fence but Nga'Devro shot it.

Skybreeze looked around. “I know a quick fire spell that could thin the herd a bit.”

Rarity grimaced. “Really Skybreeze? I’m not in the mood to smell burned flesh.”

Spike looked around and said,”Eww.”

Twilight looked around. “I know a spell that will deal with all of these, what do you call them again?”

Spike sighed. “Zombies.”

Margot looked at Twilight. “Princess, may I suggest that you do something quiet and not so magically loud? We don’t know what made these zombies and we don’t want to attract more of them or what made them.”

Twilight looked at Margot. “Magically loud?”

Nga'Devro walked up to Margot. “Nga'Devro understands what Margot means. We’re in a strange land and creating a commotion would just attract too much unneeded attention. Skybreeze will you help me?”

Twilight turned to Rarity. “Why are they helping us again?”

Margot faced Twilight. “We need to talk about that in a safe place.”

Far tried to get his gun, but he failed again.

Skybreeze walked up to Nga'Devro just as several zombies started to climb the fence.

Nga'Devro’s horn glowed a bright green color as Skybreeze’s horn glowed blue. A greenish blue ball of energy appeared between Nga'Devro and Skybreeze then it flew toward the zombies. The air was filled with the sounds of skulls being crushed.

Margot did a passive scan to check if anything hostile was coming their way. The scan didn’t find anything.

Apple Bloom looked at the corpses. “I wonder if I should give them Grace?”

Scootaloo shook her head. “They’re not ponies.”

Far glanced at his holstered gun. “Why can’t we grab our guns with our hooves. We used to do that!”

Margot looked around for more threats then looked at Far. “This world has different magical rules. Maybe you can do it but you have to change your magic or maybe you can’t do it here.”

Twilight stepped up. She looked at how the buildings were painted orange by the setting sun. “We need to find a safe place to rest in until morning.”

A moment after that, two jets streaked overhead heading south.

Spike pointed at the sky. “What are those?”

Margot looked up. “Jets. Military aircraft.” It gave her some hope, maybe there was some sort of military presence here. She focused on a spell that would pick up radio waves and turn them into sound.

Twilight faced Margot as she sensed Margot’s spell.

A voice spoke. “Tango two we need evac. We have several wounded and civvies here.”

“No can do Tango one. The landing site is too hot. Take out that thing down there and we’ll land. Do it soon we can’t wait all day. This is the last evac from this area. You’ll have to go to the Battery Park evac zone.”

“You’re killing us. There are probably too many hostiles between here and Battery Park. Can’t you drop us some heavy ordinance?”

“No can do. I’m just a medical helo. You have a half hour before we don’t have enough fuel to return to base. I wish you luck.”

Twilight pointed at Margot. “What did we listen to?”

Margot faced Twilight. “Humans. If we help them we can get out of here.”

“Can we trust them?” Twilight asked.

“I think so. Maybe the SHC could heal some of the wounded,” Margot said while looking around.

Skybreeze nodded. “How will this help us to get home?”

Margot faced Skybreeze. “The Gleaners have attacked this world. Maybe the Messenger wants me to pass on the info I have learned from the other world. The two runes could be useful.”

Twilight stepped forward. “According to Bulfinch, humans can’t do magic.”

That annoyed Margot but she decided to let it slide.

“They have flying vehicles and at least some of us can ride in them to a safe place,” Margot said.

Rarity had a hopeful smile. “Maybe a place with decent beds?”

Margot shrugged. “Maybe.”

Twilight grimaced. “How do you know that?”

Margot nodded. “I used to work with humans. I know how they think.”

Twilight peered at Margot. “Magical runes? Can I see them?”

Margot sighed. “Later when we are safe.”

Far looked around. “Yeah, let’s do it before more zombies show up. Which way Margot?”

Margot did a passive scan for radio signals. Uptown, there were a bunch.

She pointed north. “That way!” The group galloped.

West 42nd st and Broadway

The group slowed stopped galloping as the sounds of gunfire and heavy metallic tromping came from ahead.

Margot wanted to carefully sneak around to see what was happening, but Twilight had different plans.

Twilight pointed her right fore hoof up ahead. “What’s going on up there?”

Margot winced. She didn’t want to sneak with Twilight tagging along even if she was a powerful princess. The humans might shoot her or something. “I would like to go ahead by myself. You might frighten the humans.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, if we walk calmly up to them, they won’t be frightened. The sun is setting and we don’t have time to waste.”

Margot wanted to argue but she knew Twilight made sense. “Stay next to me and let me talk.” Just to make sure, Margot cast a bullet blocking spell. People under stress could do some strange things. Also maybe the soldiers might think that the ponies were enemies.

“Stay here until we send for you,” Margot said. She walked uptown with Twilight.

While they headed up the block, Twilight looked around at the buildings. Margot didn’t gawk, she scanned the area ahead. The tromping noises were being made by a large Gleaner construct made of metal and animated dead flesh.

Finally, they arrived at Times Square, it was different than Margot expected. Humvees and cars lay scattered around the area like discarded toys.  She was glad they had some cover. Several dead soldiers were also lying on the ground. Past the vehicles was a small recruitment office with shattered windows. Some live soldiers were poking their heads out from behind cover. Margot also noticed that the ground was littered with small shards of grey bone with Gleaner magic on them.

The tromping got louder. Margot pointed to an overturned car just as a two story tall metallic machine with greyish brown flesh stomped into view. She ran while Twilight followed. At the last second they hid behind the car while bone fragments bounced off of the other side. Several soldiers fired at the construct and it stopped firing at the ponies to move up the block and fire at them.

Margot peeked around the edge of the car to see what the construct looked like. It looked like a bipedal mech from the bottom down. The greyish metal legs were bent backward like a chicken’s. Underneath the front of the machine two devices that looked like guns spewed shards of bone. Above the square bottom was a grey metallic cage where greyish brown flesh throbbed. At the back of the construct, a cylindrical metal cage held a greenish glowing device. She wondered if the back was a weak point.

Twilight tapped Margot. “A human is approaching.”

A soldier ran and crouched near their car. He kept his rifle down and peered at them.

Twilight spoke first. “We can help you.”

Margot wished she was allowed to speak first.

The soldier’s eyes widened. “You can talk?”

Twilight nodded slightly. “How can we help?”

Margot knew that the soldier saw her gun holster.

“Well, you need better weapons if you want to take that thing out. Your pink unicorn friend’s pistol won’t cut it.” Again Margot scanned the enemy construct. She knew what would damage and eventually destroy it but she didn’t have enough power to do it. There was another way to bring it down. A few moments later, a camo colored rectangular rifle lay on the ground.

The soldier’s eyes widened some more. “What the hell?”

Twilight’s eyes widened too.

Margot’s vision blurred, but then it cleared up. Exhaustion was moving in again. “Use that on that construct. It’s a pulse rifle. Use it against that thing. Keep moving. Once, you hit it, it will want to kill you for sure.”

The soldier nodded. “Thanks.” He slung his assault rifle up on his shoulder and grabbed the pulse rifle. “Hey? Can you make more?”

Margot shook her head. She barely had enough power to do anything else.

Twilight leaned forward. “What’s your name? Mine’s Twilight Sparkle.”

The soldier crouched down as more bone shards bounced of the car. “My name is Philip Davis. Nice to meet you Twilight and...”

Margot stuck out her right fore hoof. “Margot Summerholt.”

Philip grabbed her hoof and shook it gently then he crouch walked to another overturned car. She could hear Philip tell the other soldier hiding there what happened.

Twilight pointed at the construct as it tromped up the block. “I’m going to attack the thing while you deal with the humans. Maybe if we attack it together, we can destroy it.”

“Maybe? I wonder if that thing will explode or something if we destroy it. Maybe we should disable it? I know we don’t have much time. Be careful.”

Twilight nodded and took off.

Margot watched as Twilight flew back to where the rest of the group was hiding.

Then Margot’s ears perked up as more footsteps headed their way followed by the pinging sound of bouncing bone. Unlike Philip, this soldier seemed to be some sort of officer. Margot could see by the silver bars he was a captain.

“Who are you ponies and what are you doing here?”

“My name is Margot and we’re here to help out and hopefully get a seat on the evac helicopters.”

The captain ducked as bone shards bounced off of the car. A white flash flew from behind one of the cars and hit the construct in the leg. It shuddered then it turned and fired its guns.

The captain’s walkie squawked. “Sir, that weapon the unicorn gave me works. It seems to cause more damage to the mech. Can I lead it uptown a bit so the area is secure?”

The captain gazed at Margot. “What do you know about that mech?”

Margot shook her head. “Not much. It seems to be reanimated dead flesh and metal.”

“Can you make more of these weapons or even some grenades?”

Margot shook her head. “Before we were sent here, we fought a battle. I’m still recovering from it.”

“Do you have any wounded?”

Margot briefly thought about Jerome, but he was with the Messenger.

At that moment, Twilight Sparkle, Far and Nga'Devro flew overhead to attack the construct.

“These your friends?”

Margot nodded and pointed to Skybreeze, Rarity, Spike and the SHC. “These too. Some of them can heal.” She and the captain ducked as more bone shards bounced off of the car.

The captain peeked around the car to look up the block. The limping construct was being hit by purple and green flashes of light. “I hope your friends take out that thing before we run out of time or we will have to make our way through the zombies to Battery Park. Name’s Forrest. Captain Forrest.”

Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “Tango One, this is Tango Two. You got fifteen minutes before we leave without you. It seems that you have some help from ponies?”

Forrest looked at Margot.

“I work with D-Core and these other ponies are with me,” Margot said.

Forrest nodded. “Fine, D-Core has been helping us but I don’t know if all of you can fit in the helos. We have a lot of civvies and soldiers. I’ll see what I can do.” He grabbed his walkie and spoke into it. “Tango two we need more helos for the ponies helping us.”

“No can do Tango One. These are the last helos for this area.”

Forrest looked at Margot.

Margot peered around the car to see if the construct was destroyed. The machine was limping and a dark green smoke was rising from the back then it fell over. Margot retreated behind the car as the construct exploded. Silence reigned for a few moments then a ragged cheer rose from the surviving soldiers.

Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “The purple pony did some serious damage to that thing. We’re coming in. Get your people and ponies ready!”

Forrest stood up. “Helo inbound. Let’s get a perimeter established and get those civvies out!” He turned to see the SHC walk up. “You got fillies?”

Scootaloo mumbled. “Why do they always say that?”

Twilight flew back with Far and Nga'Devro.

Forrest waited until Twilight approached him. “Thank you. I don’t think there is enough room on the helos for you.”

Twilight frowned then smiled. “I can fly and follow you.”

Margot watched as a small group of people stumbled from some of the buildings around the square.

Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro is fine with following the Princess.”

Far nodded “Me too.”

Forrest turned and watched as the dark green helicopter with the red cross on it landed. “Follow me. I’ll try to get you all onboard.” He ran toward the helicopters. Margot followed him.

Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “Sir, this is Hansen. I see some zombies and clankers inbound.”

Forrest replied. “Deal with them.”

Margot looked up at Forrest. “Clankers?”

“They’re like that big thing you saw. Dead meat in a tin can except they’re human sized and they have guns. The flashers, green glowing things are the worse. They can drain a man in seconds.” When they reached the helo, the door opened and a harried looking medic gazed at them.

“Hell no. No pets. We barely have enough room as it is.”

Forrest grimaced. “These ponies helped us. They’re not that big.”

The medic shook his head. “Pets or not, we may not have the room.”

Forrest looked around then back at the medic. “How about you get the soldiers and civvies onboard then we-”

Again the medic shook his head. “Not enough fuel to carry extra weight.”

Margot sighed. It was getting so hard to stay awake. “If I refill your gas tanks, will you come back for us?”

The medic grinned. “What? You’re gonna use rainbows?”

Margot thought about cursing, but she decided to be civil. “Do you want the fuel or not?”

The medic nodded and went back into the helo.

A bunch of civilians and soldiers started to stand around the helo. They kept a bit of distance from Margot and Forrest. Gunfire sounded in the distance. Margot thought it was getting closer.

The medic came back outside. “If the helo starts falling. I’m tossing your pink pony ass out.”

Margot nodded. She kept her cool and walked toward the helo. A quick scan showed the nearly empty gas tanks. With a tired sigh, she did a scan of what was left of the fuel. Then she started conjuring up more. Whatever energy she had earlier was mostly gone. Then she felt another’s magic interfere with her spell.

She turned to look at the source, it was Twilight. A purple glow covered her horn and she gritted her teeth. The level of fuel rose quickly in the tanks. Margot gave Twilight a nod and let exhaustion carry her away.

When Margot woke up she felt warm arms around her. A small child had her arms around her like she was a giant plush toy.

One of the soldiers whispered, “That’s the first good sleep she had since her mother died.”

Margot tried to not wake the child as she looked around. Skybreeze was looking down the other end of the helo. Exhaustion moved in again and as Margot’s eyes slowly closed she hoped that the helo wouldn’t hit a giant monster.
> Chapter Thirty: Helping out and heading home.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Love Room

Margot found herself back in the room of love. At first it was empty and the smell of bleach and blood threatened to make her choke and gasp. Then the fumes subsided as she heard something flopping around wetly. She didn’t want to look.

Somepony whispered, “You’re responsible for this. Look!”

Margot just shut her eyes. The entreaties to look rose in volume from whispers to thunderous shouts that threatened to deafen her. She just clenched her eyes tighter. When she thought it was all over the wet noise happened in front of her.

Her traitorous eyes opened, and she saw a saddening sight. Poor Kiya was using her forelegs to drag herself closer to Margot while blood leaked out of her body. Her hindquarters just kept flailing about in a circle while black and yellow stinking liquids dribbled out of what was left of her intestines.

Kiya looked up at Margot with filmy grey eyes. “Why didn’t you help me?”

Margot recoiled. “I-I couldn’t tell if what happened was real.”

A green amorphous shape appeared behind Kiya. “Oooh yess, I think you should have tried something. Maybe you could’ve stopped me?”

Margot shook her head. “No. I could’ve hurt somepony instead.”

Dr Geist smiled and kicked Kiya. Her head and forequarters flew through the air spilling blood all over the place.

Jerome appeared with eyes darting in panic. “You could’ve helped me too. Why did you let him rape my mind? Why?”

Kiya slopped back in front of Margot. “Why?” All of them began to say why. Margot stepped back and screamed.

Red Hook
Brooklyn Wharf
Refugee Center


Margot awoke on her blanket with a scream in her throat. She looked around; it seemed like they were in some sort of storage room. There were piles of metal crates behind her.

Twilight Sparkle lay curled up on a blanket mumbling and twitching.

Skybreeze, Rarity and Spike were sitting on the grey tiled floor with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo was still sleeping along with Far and Nga'Devro.

Margot got up, she was done with sleep for now. She cantered over to Rarity and Skybreeze.

Spike looked at Margot. “You okay?”

Margot nodded. “Yes.”

Skybreeze faced Margot. “After what happened in that horrible room, I could imagine anypony not sleeping well. I’m still expecting that horrid Geist creature to show up with his Oooh yesses.”

Margot faced away from Skybreeze. “I should’ve done something. Maybe Kiya...”

Skybreeze narrowed her eyes. “Don’t blame yourself. If you had been firing off blasts of magic, you or I could’ve killed somepony.” Her eyes went back to normal. “Mind magic can be so tricky.”

Margot looked back at Skybreeze. “Maybe?”

Rarity nodded. “No maybes about that. We are in a safe place now. No creatures here that can mess with our minds.” She looked around for a moment.

Margot wanted to ease Rarity’s mind but she wasn’t sure.

Apple Bloom raised her left foreleg. “Mahgot, do you want to know how we became the Sky Hoof Crusaders?”

Margot nodded. She wanted to get away from her mind’s morbid musings.

“Well, we galloped out of town and was halfway to the Evergreen Forest before Scootaloo started wheezing and gasping...”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No, I started wheezing then Scootaloo started gasping.”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “Whatever. Then ah bright light appeared in front of us. It was so pretty Mahgot. The colors were so pure. Behind the colors was a large glowing pony. Then it spoke, well kindah. The words went straight to our hearts. The Messenger showed us the future and what we could do to help.”

Margot peered at Apple Bloom. “So you signed up first?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, Scootaloo signed up first, then Sweetie then me. We didn’t sign a contract, but the Messenger looked at us long and hard.”

Rarity narrowed her eyes. “Did the messenger have a face? How did you know it was looking at you?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “The Messenger of Oonte was a bright glow but somehow we knew it was looking at us. Weighing us. Seeing if we were worthy.”

“So the times you said you were at the clubhouse you were outside of town meeting this creature?”

“That was the first time Rarity. The Messenger came to our clubhouse and taught us things.”

“Things? What sort of things?” Rarity said while a frown covered her face.

Sweetie Belle sighed. “It taught us how to heal and to give Grace. We also learned some other blessings.”

The sound of footsteps outside the door made Margot look up to see who or what would enter.

A dark haired woman wearing army fatigues opened the door and pushed a cart through. On the cart were two cans of vegetarian beans and two cans of spinach. Several bowls and a large silver mixing bowl were on the second level of the cart.

Margot noticed that there was no heater for the food.

Rarity’s eyes narrowed. “Beans.”

Skybreeze echoed her disdain.

Margot just rolled her eyes. She wondered if Skybreeze and Rarity were related.

The woman made shooing movements with her hands. “Back off!”

Skybreeze scanned the cart. “Really? Cold food?”

The woman recoiled. “What the hell! You can talk?”

Apple Bloom stepped up. “Yep.”

The woman narrowed her eyes. “You know, we could’ve just put you all in a park and let you graze.”

The look of horror that crossed Rarity’s and Skybreeze’s faces almost made Margot laugh. Then she thought about pulling up grass with her mouth, and the idea wasn’t very pleasant.

Rarity pranced up to the cart. “Civilized ponies don’t graze.”

Skybreeze nodded.

Far walked up to the cart. “We’ll take this food and be happy. Who knows what problems you guys are having?”

Twilight Sparkle walked up to the cart. Spike joined her.

Skybreeze whined. “The food will be cold. Can’t you cast a spell to warm it up?”

The woman recoiled again. “I don’t know any magic and the sterno supplies are very low.”

Spike raised his hand. “Hey! No problem! I can spit fire!”

The woman recoiled again. “Wait.”

Margot saw how things were going to spiral out of control. She just had to speak up. “Hello, my name is Margot. What’s yours?” She stuck out her right foreleg.

The woman eyed Margot’s foreleg like it was a bloody slimy dagger. “Um, my name is Emily.”

Margot moved her foreleg back. “Okay, Emily. Spike is pretty good at controlling his fire. How about we let him warm up your mixing bowl so we can have a decent meal. Would you like having a cold meal of beans and spinach?”

Emily nodded then opened the cans of beans. When she was finished mixing them she held the bowl out.

Rarity grabbed it with her telekinesis and brought the bowl to Spike. He coughed up a small green flame against the bowl. A moment later, the smell of cooking beans filled the air.

Nga'Devro cantered up to the cart. “Nga'Devro thinks this will be an interesting meal.”

Emily opened the cans of spinach and added their contents to the bowl. She peered at Nga'Devro for a moment then mixed the spinach. After that she started filling the serving bowls with spinach and beans.

Skybreeze used her telekinesis to give the ponies their bowls. When the mixing bowl was empty, Rarity placed it on the cart.

Emily looked at the ponies. “I will be back with some water.” A half hour later she showed up with more bowls and some bottles of water.

Margot didn’t remember too much after that before going back to sleep.

Morning came with another woman also in army fatigues to lead the ponies to the bathroom.

Margot wondered about the security, but didn’t ask any questions. Some more sleep seemed pretty fine for her. Unfortunately she didn’t get any.

Some guy in a wrinkled gray suit showed up. He looked around. “Which one of you is Margot.”

Margot sleepily stood up. “Me.”

The guy nodded. “Come with me please.”

Margot followed him out the door and down the hall. There was a bit of gawking, but not too much. He stopped next to a small office that looked like it used to be a broom closet, and unlocked the door.

Margot followed him inside.

There was a desk and two chairs, and no brooms inside. The guy with the suit sat at the desk while Margot climbed on the chair.

He sighed. “Alright, my name is Stanton Elridge, you can call me Stan. Gimme a sec while I turn on the security field.”

Margot felt something blow right past her.

Stan peered at Margot. “So you say you’re a D-Core employee. Do you know your ID number?”

Margot rattled off the ID.

Stan nodded. “Are you undercover? You should have an Situation ID too.”

Margot shook her head. “No, I ended up here because of a nonsanctioned third party.”

Stan sighed. “Great. Okay, I’ll send the info upline and see what they say.”

Margot heard him type in the info. She expected a long wait but it only took a few minutes. It saved her from doing awkward small talk.

“Okay, they’re satisfied that you are who you say. Let’s do the briefing once I load up the question set.”

Margot waited. For what seemed like an hour she discussed what happened to her and answered questions.

Finally Stan looked away from his monitor. “Do you have any questions?”

Margot nodded. “I would like to be human again. When can we do that?”

“To be honest, I have no clue. A quick and dirty way would be to transport you somewhere, but we have no transporters here. At the end of the month, I hope Upline sends us more supplies. We need power and food here.”

Margot frowned. “Great.”

Stan’s stomach growled. ‘The food and power situation isn’t good here. We’re getting more refugees, but not enough food. Gimme a sec while I check your file.“

Margot looked around. Her stomach growled too.

“Well, it looks like we’re in luck. You know how to make food and water replicators. That’s useful.”

Margot shook her head. “I’m still recovering from the last battle I was in.”

Stan looked up then back at Margot. “How long before you can make the equipment?”

“Several days.”

“Nope, don’t have several days. I can give you one day. How about your friends? Can they make food?”

Margot shrugged. “It’s better to make a device. I can talk to the others and see what they know.”

“What about Jerome?”

Margot shrugged. “Apple Bloom said he was with the Messenger. Dr. Geist did a job on his mind.”

Stan whistled. “Artificers are pretty rare and skilled enchanters are even rarer.” Artificers were D-Core employees that were a mix of wizard and engineers. Margot was one, but she spent most of her time fighting than making and or repairing equipment.

“Do you know when he’s coming back?”

Margot shook her head. “What’s with the security?”

Stan sighed. “Well, the food situation is pretty bad. Scavenging teams are afraid to go into buildings because they think flashers are hiding there. They can handle most of the zombies except for the zappers.”

Margot peered at Stan. “Zappers?”

Stan nodded. “Zappers are zombies that can fire paralyzing beams out of their eyes. Also this area is not good for finding food and the harbormaster’s offices are too far away. We don’t have enough brave and skilled folks to clear the area. To answer your question, you and your friends are in the military section instead of the civilian because some folks are very hungry. After your help at forty second street, the military folks are interested in you.”

“Don’t you have D-Core wizards here?”

“Yeah, we got them but most of them are tired from fighting. We don’t have that many either. Like I said, we need food, water and power real soon.”

Stan leaned forward. “Oh. Another thing. You guys should lose the clothing. Folks don’t expect ponies to wear clothing. Also it’s not like you’re going to get your threads cleaned anytime soon.”

Margot eyed Stan’s suit.

Stan shrugged. “We’re in a harbor area, a good cleaners is several blocks away. Not going to risk my life or someone else’s to spruce up. Again, you have one day to recover and then you have to do something for our food situation. I’ll walk you back.” Stan walked Margot back.

While Margot trotted at Stan’s heels she thought about her situation. Being turned back into a human would be great. Being a pony on Earth would be a pain. When Margot got back to the room Skybreeze met her at the doorway.

“Margot, we need to do something about food here. They just gave us a bit of... Wait? What was that stuff again?”

Far yelled, “Oatmeal!”

Skybreeze nodded. “Oatmeal. It was alright but it was such a small portion. Not even enough for a foal.”

Apple Bloom walked up. “Ahm still hungry.”

Margot nodded. “Yeah. The humans here have very little food.”

Apple Bloom frowned. “Don’t humans have farms?”

Margot nodded. “Yes but maybe the farmers are dead or too far away? This isn’t a farming area, it’s for ships.”

Skybreeze looked at the crates in the back of the room then back at Margot. “I doubt those crates have food in them. What do we do?”

Sweetie Belle walked up. Her stomach growled.

Scootaloo and Twilight Sparkle joined them a few moments later.

Margot looked at the group of ponies. She wanted more time to rest but the food situation was pretty dire. “We need to help the humans by providing power, food and water. Skybreeze, do you know any food conjuration spells?”

Skybreeze shook her head.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. “I remember Sinnamon Swirl was the first unicorn pony to take ancient food conjuration spells and make them easier to cast. I didn’t get a chance to learn any of those spells.”

Skybreeze stuck out her left foreleg. “Now that you’re a princess, you could get access to proscribed spells. Few unicorns know that magic. I know a few spells we could use for power though I don’t know what the humans use for their lights.” She looked up at the lights in the ceiling. “I don’t see any lightning bugs.”

Margot looked up then back at Skybreeze. “I can help you with that and the food conjuration. Once we have power, it’s almost all downhill.”

Apple Bloom spoke up. “We could ask Oonte for another miracle?”

Margot looked down at Apple Bloom. “That would work but once the food is gone, we would have to ask again. If we fail, we may have to ask Oonte for help.”

Apple Bloom nodded.

Margot faced Skybreeze. “We’ll wait for someone to feed us lunch and pass a message to Stanton Elridge.”

Skybreeze frowned. “Who?”

“He works for D-Core. I bet he has a place where we can work.”

Rarity walked up to Margot. “Well, we can wait for that. Maybe we can ask Mr. Elridge about our clothing? My shirt and pants could do with a wash.”

Margot sighed. “You could wash them Rarity.”

Spike raised his hand. “Rarity, I’ll wash your clothes!”

Rarity stuck her nose up in the air. “Really darling, I would never expose these fine fore hooves to questionable human soap. I doubt I’ll get a good hooficure here from humans.”

Margot sighed. “Yeah but the humans here are having problems with having enough water. Anyway, it’s all moot. Ponies don’t wear clothes here so we can take ours off.” She took her clothes off while the rest of the team disrobed.

A few hours later, Emily returned without a cart. “I’m sorry but we don’t have enough food for you.”

Margot walked up to her. “Can you send a message to Stanton Elridge?”

Emily nodded.

“Tell him we’re ready to help him out.”

Emily frowned. “Help him with what?”

“He’ll know what we’re talking about.”

Emily said fine and walked out the room.

Several hours later, two humans came to escort them. One was a short woman with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. The other one was a tall guy with brown eyes and hair.

The blonde woman began to gush about the ponies. “Oh look, they have even smaller ponies. Fillies! Oh look at that pegacorn with the lavender fur!”

Scootaloo just mumbled something under her breath.

Twilight Sparkle narrowed her eyes. “I’m not a pegacorn, I’m an alicorn!”

The woman just gushed some more. “Check that tone, it reminds me of Sister Ianiccone, the one that used to smack me with the ruler. Phil, you remember Our Lady of Perpetual Mercy? My arms were redder than a salami when they let us go home.”

Phil chuckled. “Yeah, I do. I bet they still remember you Elaine.”

Skybreeze narrowed her eyes. “Did this sister hit you on the head with the ruler too?”

Elaine narrowed her eyes.

Margot stepped up to stop things from getting worse. “Forgive my friend, we’re a bit testy because of the food situation.”

Elaine smiled. “Yeah, even little ponies have to eat like horses!”

For a moment, Elaine found herself getting nasty glares from a bunch of ponies.

Phil chuckled again. “Geez Elaine, I don’t know how you do it. Somehow, you were able to piss off ponies. Ponies, sorry about Elaine, she’s really good folks once you know her. Let’s move along to the powershed.”

Skybreeze whispered, “I don’t want to know Elaine.”

Rarity smiled.

Elaine frowned.

Margot was sure Elaine heard Skybreeze. The trip to the shed was without incident except for a few more cold glares. Phil opened the door and he waited outside.

The team filed into the shed. It looked like the room they were sleeping in. Grey tiled floors and a bit more room. On the left side, a diesel generator chugged away while the lights pulsed from dim to half power. Margot was glad the room had decent circulation so they wouldn’t be choking on fumes while they worked. She sighed, it was time for the fun part.

Skybreeze beat Margot to the first question. “So do we cast a spell on the device?”

Margot shook her head. “No. We have to make our own power supply.” She had some specs for generators, but most of them were based on D-Core tech, and it was against regulations to use tech without authorization.

Skybreeze looked around. “Well, most of my work for power generators was theoretical. I did get a chance to study that sunscreamer lab.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “Sunscreamer?”

“Yes, a magic using creature that looked like a pony. It seemed like the power was coming from the sun.”

Margot nodded. Pulling power from the sun would solve the energy problem if they didn’t make any serious mistakes. “Skybreeze, can you make something to pull power from the sun?”

“Well, I guess so but I don’t have a lab or equipment. It would take me a while to make both.”

Margot shook her head. “We don’t have the time for that.”

Skybreeze looked away. “I don’t know what to say.”

Margot faced Twilight Sparkle. “When I was working with Luna to make a weapon system to protect the camp from flying enemies, she showed me a spell that allowed us to talk mind to mind. There was no sharing of thoughts other than what was needed.”

Twilight nodded then smiled. “I remember that spell. It’s called the Mental Meeting spell. It creates a space where minds can meet. Let me see, yeah, I remember all of it though Luna and I did it once.”

Skybreeze frowned. “Do we have to worry about using a lot of power? Will there be feedback artifacts?”

Twilight shook her head. “If we’re careful, none of that will happen.”

Nga'Devro cantered up. “Nga'Devro wishes to try this strange mind spell.”

Twilight frowned.

Margot smiled. “Can I go first and when everypony is in, Nga'Devro can join. This way if there are problems he’s safe.”

Twilight looked at Nga'Devro. “I guess so.” She focused her will and a bright purple glow covered her horn.

Skybreeze walked up.

Twilight touched Margot’s horn and the glow spread. At first Margot felt nothing and then she felt Twilight as a large presence.  A few moments later Skybreeze and Rarity’s presences showed up. It was like they were a part of Margot like a leg or a hoof. Finally, Nga'Devro was added and he felt different. Somehow he felt smaller, but more dense.

Twilight broke Margot’s train of thought. “We need to work quickly, connecting all these minds is very stressful.”

Skybreeze started. “So Margot, who raises the sun on this world? I doubt the humans here do it. I haven’t sensed any with a magical aura.”

“No one raises the sun here, it’s an effect of a rotating world.” Margot felt the surprise of the other ponies. “Let me show you.” It took a moment for Margot to cast a spell that showed the area and then to have the spell race for space.

When the spell floated above the Earth and showed a blue white world silently turning in space, she felt different emotions from the other ponies. Most of them were surprised and curious. Nga'Devro was definitely curious while Skybreeze was a bit fearful. Margot moved the viewing spell further out into space.

Skybreeze saw the spectacle. “It makes us seem very small. It also seems very cold.”

Margot nodded, but in the mind spell, they all could sense her feelings. “I know a spell that will convert sunlight to electricity then we have to transmit the electricity to a receiver.”

Skybreeze’s fear changed to curiosity. “Teach me this spell and I’ll use the sun’s energy.”

Nga'Devro pointed at the sun. “Nga'Devro wonders if we will lose the sun’s energy when it’s night here. How do we handle that Margot?”

“Well, the spell that uses the sun’s energy will be high enough that it will face the sun all the time. The energy transmitter will send the energy to the receiver without worrying about line of sight.”

Twilight frowned. “Won’t you lose energy?”

Margot nodded. “Yes but we will get way more than that.”

A bit of pain came from Twilight. Margot had a quick mental image of her standing and panting while blood dripped from her nose. It seemed like they didn’t have a lot of time to work inside the spell.

Margot shook her head. “The sun transmitter might take too long to make. Twilight might not make it. We don’t want to be in the middle of a spell when she passes out. How about something easier like a battery?”

Mathematical formulas floated above Skybreeze. “Well, if we use a storage device, it would make things easier, but we will have less power. Let’s see, we could get enough power from sunlight to charge up a device.”

Several sets of blueprints floated above Margot. “We could use the device to power the base and make food.”

Rarity nodded. “I’ll help with the design. Margot, you are too utilitarian. A bit of style would be welcome.”

Skybreeze pulled power from  sunlight and Margot with the help of Rarity and Nga'Devro made the generator. A feeling of urgency filled them.

Twilight Sparkle was fading fast. After the generator was made, Margot hooked it into the power lines then she worked with Rarity to make a control panel. They were working on the food and water creators when the Mental Meeting spell failed.

It was like being hit on the head with a sledgehammer. A white hot flash and she was lying on the floor too weak to move. Margot closed her eyes. Moments later, she heard voices.

“Oh crap Phil, look at the ponies! Even the lavender pegacorn is lying on the floor with blood dripping out of her nose! What the hell happened?”

“I dunno, Elaine.”

“Do you think it was the fumes from the generator? Heck, even the buggy looking pony is out cold.”

“Seriously Elaine, that’s not a buggy pony.”

“Really, Phil. Look at it’s eyes. They look like a bee’s eyes. Bees are bugs.”

“Yeah, whatever. Looks like we got another generator and machines making food and water.”

“Wonder where that stuff came from?”

“Seriously Elaine, you gotta ask that question? The room’s full of unicorns and one pegacorn.”

Elaine put her hands on her hips. “Phil, you’re too old to believe in magic.” She walked over to the food generator. “Wow, food bars. They’re kinda small. No problem, I can fit a bunch of them in my pockets. Oh shit, white chocolate and peach! Nice!”

Phil frowned. “White chocolate is too sweet for me.”

Margot managed to regain some of her strength. “Rarity, you added white chocolate?”

Rarity tried to stand up. She wobbled and slid to the floor. “Well, nothing takes the sting out of a bad day like a bit of chocolate.”

Elaine swallowed a bit of a food bar. “The white unicorn got it right.”

Phil grabbed a bottle of water. “Elaine go and get a vet, these ponies might be very sick.”

Elaine nodded and walked to the door. Darkness moved in on Margot and she lost consciousness.

Red Hook
Brooklyn Wharf
Refugee Center
Several days later


Margot didn’t remember too much of the following days. They were just a blur of drinking water out of bowls, eating and trips to the bathroom. And yes, lots and lots of sleep. She looked around.

Twilight Sparkle was still sleeping and the other ponies were missing. Other than Twilight mumbling in her sleep, the room was pretty quiet.

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom burst in. “Mahgot, you gotta come quick. The messenger sent us a portal. We’re going back to Equestria.”

For a moment, Margot wondered if she should go with them. This base could use her help.

Sweetie Belle woke Twilight with a poke of a white hoof.

Twilight jumped up and screamed, “Get out of my head Dr. Geist!” She looked around.

Sweetie tapped Twilight again. “The Messenger has sent us a portal. We need to go now!”

Twilight looked at Sweetie Belle. “Go where?”

Sweetie Belle sighed. “Back to Equestria. The group is waiting for you!” Twilight headed for the door with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.

Margot hesitated. She wasn’t sure she would get home again, but she couldn’t abandon her friends. With a sigh she followed them out the door.

Outside, it was cold and overcast. The oval-glowing portal was the only bright thing. The rest of the group was waiting.

Far looked at Margot. “Well, let’s get back home.” He stepped through the portal. The rest of the group followed him.

When Margot reached the portal, she noticed strange green sparkles mixed in with the bright blue. It gave her a chill, but she stepped through anyway.

Unlike the first time she stepped through the portal and instantly arrived somewhere else, she was stuck in some strange place where cruel laughter echoed like thunder. Then the shaking started like she was a rat in a can.

The shaking and laughter increased until she was dizzy and sick. When she thought she couldn’t take anymore, Margot was roughly tossed on the ground like yesterday’s trash. Something howled in her mind for a moment then it stopped.

Apple Bloom yelled. “The Messenger is sorry, but the gleaners messed with his portal spell.”

Margot stood up and looked around. She was standing next to the ruins of a very familiar building. Before she could inspect it further, she saw a group of changelings approach.

Twilight Sparkle walked next to Margot. “They have fighting glows on their horns. We have to be ready.”

Margot prepared some spells.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle walked up.

Apple Bloom sighed. “Guys, things have changed since we were gone.”

Sweetie Belle looked around. “Yeah, five years worth of change.”

Margot nodded. “Great.”

The changelings flew closer.