A New Threat

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A rapid knocking erupted at the doors of the crystal palace. A ‘very enthused’ purple dragon answered it, staring blatantly back with a deadpan expression. There were two overwhelmingly giddy unicorns on the other side, looking as if they were about to explode from their emotions like a super-sized confetti cannon on overload.

“Spike!!!” exclaimed the lavender one, known as Starlight Glimmer, “You will not believe… well, maybe you will because, uh, you know…”

She didn’t get to finish because of the baby blue unicorn’s interruption.

“So Starlight and I were just walking along and then BOOM! I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, have been chosen to single-handedly resolve a friendship quarrel, and oh,” she suddenly remembered, “Starlight will also be coming with.”

They both pointed a hoof at their glowing cutie mark beaming profoundly.

Spike rolled his eyes before slapping a hand over his face, followed by a sigh, “Follow me, right this way,” gesturing for the two to come in.

Starlight and Trixie followed the dragon, squealing and giggling all the way down the corridor.

Being chosen as a guard pony typically indicated high power and authority. Said ponies always had to be ready for attacks by invaders, and these highly skilled warriors were not easily overpowered.

Over a millennium ago, that would have been true. Now, however, after centuries of peace and order softening them up, the title had been lessened to subpar.

Up until a few years ago, before the return of Princess Luna, most forms of excitement came from hearing of minor disagreements or petty thefts. Although they were dealt with before any guards reached the scene. However, the moon princess’s return has brought forth nothing but one world-ending event after another. Though, of course, they’d never blame her for such a thing.

Following King Sombra’s return and defeat, the crystal guard ponies who fought against their ruler were distributed throughout the land. Their expertise was used to whip the rookies back into shape, employing old training methods that had long been forgotten by the passage of time. However, their goal was not only to ‘toughen up these slackers’ but also to regain the prestigious status they once held.

All of this is what led Sharpshooter to where he was now. Positioned on the wall of the Crystal Kingdom as an area patrol guard. His real name was Crack Shot, but he wanted something that sounded more appealing than ‘Crack’ or ‘Shot’ as a nickname.

Regardless, he was assigned this position because he could make out distant objects in stunning detail. He remembered reading the lips of some pony on the opposite end of the Equestria Games stadium just to pass the time. He could even recall what they had just eaten by the food he saw lodged in their teeth, though that was a detail he gladly would prefer to forget.

The Crystal Kingdom was strategically built in the center of the northern stormy arctic landscape to weaken approaching invaders. When the blizzards were dormant, the miles of flat snow provided no cover for anyone approaching, so they would immediately be detected, to say nothing for the freezing temperatures.

Right now, though, the snow was causing considerable discomfort for Shooter’s eyes. The storm had died down, revealing miles of blinding territory as the sun reflected from its… almost flawless surface.

The pegasus quickly fixed his gaze more intently in the direction he thought a shadow flickered in the distance. For him, the dark blemish against the snow had been the equivalent to a blinding reflection of light shining directly into your eye at night. In this case, though, the lighting was inverted the other way around.

He began to wonder what it could have been.

I don’t know any creatures this far north with that shape, and it’s obviously not a pony. Judging by the distance, it’s way too big for it to be a changeling, though even if it was one, they aren’t as hostile as they used to be. Though, last I checked, they weren’t that color either. If it is a changeling, why would it need to transform into something else when I haven’t seen anything for the past 6 hours?

His eyes had never lied to him before, and right now, they told him that something or someone was not where they were supposed to be.

It’s better than waiting for more of nothing to happen, I guess I’ll go investigate.

The guard made up his mind as he left to receive permission for closer observation.

As the pegasus stallion flew towards the area of interest, he saw no signs hinting that anything had been there. However, after hovering in closer, he was genuinely impressed by what he found.

Whatever this thing is, it sure doesn’t want to be followed.

After weeks of staring at the snow, he knew what it was supposed to look like. The ground that lay before him was tampered with, hiding all previous signs of any activity —not even a single footprint was left behind.

They’re incredible. I’ve never seen tracks hidden this expertly before. If they had put any more effort into it, I’d have completely overlooked it. Not to mention the short amount of time they had to do all this.

Following the trail proved to be a daunting task for Shooter, as it was uncommon for details to hide from him, but whoever was responsible was quite the professional. Now he really wanted to meet this creature, if only to acknowledge its extraordinary talent. But first, he needed to find out why they were hiding at all.

It wasn’t until he entered the glacial fields that he heard the sound of digging up ahead. The noise was coming from around the corner of the ice wall in front of him.

Ever so slowly, he started to land, being careful not to alert the mysterious creature. He touched the ground soundlessly, but the moment he did, silence filled the air.

Wondering if it had finished its burrowing, he waited for it to move around to muffle the noises of his own actions, one of the old techniques he was taught. When nothing but the sound of water dripping from icicles responded, Shooter nervously peeked around the corner. Other than the small cavity boring into the side of one glacier, nothing suggested anything had been there at all.

The pegasus felt his heart leap as he was engulfed with pure dread the moment he spotted the outline located at the back of the hole. Only one object came to mind that could fit in the now vacant slot matching in size and shape.

King Sombra’s horn.

The once confident stallion began to shake as he stood frozen in fear.

This can’t be happening! What could anything possibly want with that accursed thing!? He was there when the Crystal Empire was being re-established.

I must warn everypony immediately! I’m not taking any chances with something this big.

He was there when the malevolent ruler’s shadowy form had threatened the safety of his own citizens. The image of the tyrant himself being defeated entered his mind in picture-perfect quality. He remembered watching in bewilderment as pieces of Sombra, horn included, shot themselves into the horizon.

Whoever’s responsible for locating a part of that repulsive tormentor is clearly out of their mind. If they’re as good at fighting as they are hiding, then they’re already too dangerous to—

The pathetic-looking guard quickly realized he was being overshadowed by a figure standing behind him.

“FORGET WHAT YOU SAW.”

These chilling words cut deeper than the frigid air around him. He slowly turned to confront his assailant, but just as he was about to see who it was, his vision blurred, and everything went dark.

“We’re just waiting for one more to arrive, then we’ll start getting ready,” Spike informed the pair as he escorted Trixie and Starlight to the castle’s main chamber.

The statement caught the attention of the two unicorns, and their excitement died down slightly.

“A third pony is being called?” Trixie questioned in annoyance before she scoffed, “Trixie doesn’t need any help, Trixie can handle this herself… with Starlight tagging along, of course.”

“I thought you’d say something like that.” Spike responded, “Unfortunately, I’m not the one you should be arguing with about this.”

What he said only seemed to confuse the unicorns, that was, until the dragon opened the door into the next room.

Their jaws dropped as they saw who else was present, though now it was more a question of who wasn’t present.

There was Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity, the Elements of Harmony bearers, all of which with glowing marks. However, it wasn’t just them who were called. Mage Meadowbrook, Mistmane, Flash Magnus, Somnambula, Rockhoof, and Star Swirl the Bearded, all of the original Pillars were present. And as if to make things even more absurd, Princess Cadence, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia were all present as well, and again, all with glowing cutie marks.

The two unicorns were both at a loss for words. Neither pony knew how to react upon seeing this many being called on a single friendship mission. Starlight immediately found herself further struck stupid upon spotting Sunburst on the other side of the room, waving her over. His flank told her he was also chosen to participate.

Managing to shake off her surprise, she walked over to her childhood friend, passing a few groups having their own conversations about what this mission might have in store.

“I wonder if this has anything to do with what happened the other day.” said Cadence to Twilight, “Apparently sometime last week, one of the guards, Crackpot… Oh, dang it. Sorry, that wasn’t his name, uh Crack… Shot… Shooter, Sharp Shooter! That’s what he called himself. Reports say he went out to investigate something he saw but failed to return. By the time he was found, the blizzard was too dangerous to do any further searching, and he was speaking gibberish, mostly end-of-the-world stuff.”

“That sounds awful,” Twilight said with great concern, “I hope he gets better.”

“So, do I,” Cadence agreed, “at first, we thought it was due to the cold, but with everypony here, I’m starting to think otherwise. I’m still waiting to hear from Shining, but if what Crackpot’s saying is… Shoot!” Cadence gave a look of annoyance, “Why did the other patients have to give him that name? If Shooter has any information about what’s happening, it may prove to be useful.”

“You know, now that you mention it,” Twilight said thoughtfully, “I heard that there’s been some strange activity down in the changeling area as well. I wonder if that’s also related.”

“Oh? What kind of activity?” Cadence inquired.

“Well, for starters, they’ve completely barricaded themselves off from the rest of the world, both physically and magically, no visitors of any kind, and no information as to why. It’s not like them to act that way.”

“I have to agree.” Cadence paused, “Even if they do get scared easily, something bad must’ve happened to them if they’re behaving like that, but what?”

Thanks to the fall of Chrysalis, Changelings were no longer the fighters they once were. Still, their ability to remain hidden from sight was as sharp as ever. It was only natural for them to transform and disappear into their surroundings, even for newborns who were just weeks if not days old. Because of that, they also knew how to spot the signs of something hiding from them. False alarms of danger in the Changeling Kingdom weren’t unheard of. But after 17 within the past day, scouting parties were sent out to investigate.

Thorax received incoming statements from every direction, which meant it wasn’t coming from one particular area. That’s why the scouts he sent were being spread evenly throughout their territory in hopes of encountering whatever was causing this distress.

Despite not knowing where to look, one fact remained consistent. In every reported situation, the individual felt like they weren’t alone. The surrounding area became so painfully nauseating that they had to leave.

The changelings on patrol duty were instructed to avoid as much conflict as possible. This would allow them to find out if the trespasser was actually friendly and simply needed a proper introduction, or if they were hostile and had to be avoided if not relocated. Worst-case scenario, they would send word for help to eliminate whatever was out there for the safety of the hive.

Stinger had been at his position for no more than an hour before getting the feeling something was close by. Until the changeling knew what he was up against, Stinger made a significant effort to keep silent, fighting back the new changeling instinct of fleeing from danger and old hostile behaviors that were starting to bubble back to life. While he’d gotten over those feelings long ago, resisting their demands of being released was proving increasingly difficult.

He noticed no visual change in sight or sound within the area. The longer he waited, the more nauseous he became from the negative emotions surrounding him.

Suddenly, he realized there was, in fact, something that struck him as odd. The vibrations he felt traveling through the ground told him that there should be a noise loud enough to be heard, but there was none whatsoever.

Focusing on these vibrations, he turned to face the direction they were coming from as they seemed to be approaching.

Now was as good a time as any to find out who it was.

“Hello?”

The vibrating ceased.

“Who’s there?”

No response.

“If you can hear me, I don’t have any intention of harming you. All the changelings and I just want to know what is going on?”

There was still no reply.

“If you’re friendly, please, feel free to introduce yourself. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”

This time there was an answer, but the response they gave was the sound of rapid footsteps quickly drawing near. This frightened the changeling as he tried to locate what was causing the noise but saw nothing. A faint twisted moan began to grow louder with the approaching footsteps.

It was settled, this creature wasn’t friendly by any means. Stinger didn’t have to know what it looked like to tell.

Stinger decided to run before it could attack him but realized he had suddenly forgotten how to move, which only made the feeling of dread within himself increase. It sounded like it should be just a few feet in front of him, but there was still nothing to be seen.

Stinger squeezed his eyes shut and went into a fetal position, bracing for whatever was coming. The last thing he expected to happen happened — silence filled the air.

As the changeling opened one eye, he saw the same empty landscape as before. The dread seemed to be gone, and no longer did he feel like he was being watched. Closing his eyes again, Stinger breathed a great sigh of relief, and when he opened them, he found himself staring at his own shadow.

Despite Thorax being somewhere in the center of the castle, he was the first one to arrive. When he heard the scream echoing through the chambers, he immediately dropped what he was doing, rushing to answer the cry for help. He saw the changeling assigned to this area up ahead. “Stinger, are you alright?” Thorax inquired worriedly, slowing down to safely land behind his comrade.

“What happened?”

There was no reaction from his fellow changeling brother as he just stood there looking into the horizon. The buzzing sound of wings came from the arrival of more changelings.

“Stinger?” Thorax pleaded, walking around to face him, “Tell me what…” The shock from realizing what he was looking at hit him so hard that he backed away, stumbling in the process.

There were black plumes of smoke oozing down from Stingers mouth, nostrils, and ears. The eyes he had were not that of a changeling, but of some otherworldly monster never seen before.

When the arriving changelings landed, Thorax finally got a response from the creature inside of his friend.

“Don’t… inter… fear,” it had said in Stinger’s corrupted voice, sounding dry and cracked as well as slick and infected. Its eyes rolled back, and its head faced the sky as the sound of rushing wind was heard escaping his throat, the light seeming to mildly bend around his mouth. The only visible evidence of anything happening was Stinger’s shadow, showing massive amounts of a smoke-like substance erupting out from within.

After whatever was inside Stinger left, he slouched and started to fall over.

Stinger!” said Carapace rushing to his side, “Stay with me, buddy.”

Stinger opened his eyes.

“Everything will be… spawn of Chrysalis’s abomination, what did it do to you?”

Thorax didn’t have to look for long because he immediately saw what was wrong.

When Chrysalis was in power, there were times when changelings who failed to follow orders were tortured as punishment. It was common to see the dying embers of life in the sad faces of those unfortunate few, but the light was there.

Stinger had been a victim himself, and after Thorax became the leader, the spark of life returned to a blaze, but that wasn’t the case anymore. What was seen in his eyes was an empty abyss, no spark, no light, no purpose, he may as well have been a breathing corpse.

“Fall back.” Thorax said with the same amount of panic that the other changelings felt, “Contact all of the changelings and tell them to immediately return to the hive! Once they do, begin building up all our defense’s, physical, magical, I don’t care! As of now, we are going into lockdown until we know it’s safe!”

He took off and said, “I’m going to go back and tell everyone what’s happened,” before he sped off to the castle.

As soon as he arrived, a thought occurred to him.

“Maybe Twilight and her friends will know what to do.” He said, his mind racing a million miles a minute, “I know I’ll send a letter, yeah, that’s what I’ll do! I’ll send one to all the princesses actually, Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, even Princess Flurry Heart for all I care!”

Thorax rushed into his chambers, flustered, and began to compose his letters requesting for immediate backup.

Dear Princess…

The moment the pen touched the paper, Thorax was grabbed from behind, a taloned hand lightly squeezing his throat, making him drop the quill. His blood instantly froze from sheer terror. His massive adrenaline rush only managed to make him quiver uncontrollably, and his breathing ceased.

All Thorax could do was think.

Help… please…

Soft chuckling could be heard from the left, tears starting to form as Thorax began taking quick, shallow breaths.

Someone… save me…

Hot breath seemed to burn cold against his ear as he closed his eyes.

I don’t want to die.

“You’re interfering.”

“Thorax!” Pharynx said, approaching his brother, “What’s happening? It looks like we’re preparing for an invasion. Mind explaining why?”

“There’s been a situation,” He stated, “one of our scouts were attacked by—”

“ATTACKED!! WHERE ARE THEY? I’LL TEAR THEM LIMB FROM LIMB!!”

“Their current whereabouts are unknown,” Thorax reassured calmly, “but we cannot allow anyone or anything to come in or out until they are. That’s why we’re building up our defenses, and due to our lack of information, we are not going to attack.”

“But—”

“Pharynx! Did you not hear about Stinger?”

“Yeah, but—”

“Well, I saw it! You should understand why we can’t just senselessly go out there and get our brothers and sisters injured—or worse—killed! We are officially going into quarantine from the rest of the world until further notice, do you understand!”

“I…,” he knew his brother was never this aggressive, so Pharynx figured whatever was happening was very severe, “Yes.”

“Good. Now, do what you can to make our defenses as impenetrable as possible on both sides.”

Starlight was about to ask Sunburst something when she heard a familiar voice floating above the group.

“I still don’t see why I had to be dragged into this,” Discord complained lazily, flowing above everyone next to the chandelier, digging a talon inside one of his ears. “I mean, at least Fluttershy is coming with, but still, The Lord of Chaos does not do friendship problems. I’m just glad that there are others who can cover for me when I’m expected to actually do something.”

As if to pass the time, he proceeded to pull out a lit candle in the shape of himself from his ear.

“Humph, earwax, no wonder everything sounded as dull as this room,” he said before extinguishing the flame. He started using it to wax his claws.

“OH, COME ON!!!” Trixie bellowed, “Please tell me I’m not going to have to tolerate another trip with that draconequus! Trixie suddenly doesn’t feel so special anymore,” she said in a huff, folding her hoofs.

“Now, now, don’t be like that sugar cube,” said Applejack, “The princesses themselves were called. Said that right there’s enough trouble to say we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”

“O-okay, but wait!” Starlight stammered, “Spike said there was one more coming. Who could that possibly BE!!?”

“Any luck?” Sunset asked hopefully as Rainbow rapidly approached, “Please tell me you found something.”

“Sorry, I still got nothing,” she huffed from the half-hour of almost non-stop running, “At first, this seemed like it was a good idea, but I’m starting to question it. I mean, everyone who lives here comes to the mall at least once a day, right? But if I was anywhere near my necklace, then I should’ve already been going super speed by now. After that, we would be able to find our necklaces within seconds.”

“This is very bad. How could this be happening!?”

Sunset Shimmer was briskly pacing nervously around one of the café tables inside the building. Two nights ago, she put her necklace on her bedside before she went to sleep, only to find it missing the next morning. After her other friends said that theirs were also nowhere to be seen, it became evident that they were stolen.

“Sunset, please tell me you told the other Twilight about our dilemma,” Twilight pleaded, looking as though she was a week behind her studies. “I’m starting to worry where they are, and the fact that Tirek broke out of prison and my research lab has been ransacked is really making me paranoid.”

“I said it once, and I’ll say it again. I left the book I used to do that back at the school. But because Rainbow “Impatient” Dash couldn’t wait for us to get in line for the autographed, first edition, limited time only ‘Daring Do and the Dark Deeds Demons Do to Monsters’ she dragged me away so fast I swear we broke the sound barrier…TWICE!! But that’s when we could actually use our magic.”

“Come on! I said I was sorry,” Rainbow said, genuinely apologetic.

Sunset sighed, “No, I’m sorry. It’s just that with our geodes missing, we’re all on edge.”

“Twilight dear,” Rarity chimed in, “I still find it hard to believe that anyone broke into your lab. While I don’t wish to speak ill of you, your cleaning habits do leave something to be desired.”

“I hate to admit it Twi, but to be honest with ya, I’ll have to side with Rarity on this one,” said Applejack reluctantly, agreeing with the fashionista. “That lab of yours looks more jumbled up than a twister runnin’ over a china shop that a stampede of cattle just went through. Not to be rude or anythin’ but it doesn’t make a lick of sense as to why anyone would ever—”

“Alright, fine!!” Twilight exploded as a blue jay landed next to Fluttershy, “Let me put it to you this way! Tirek has escaped prison. My lab, which, just so you know, I meticulously keep organized in my own way, has been burglarized! And let me tell you what I found MISSING!”

“Oh dear, girls!” said Fluttershy, failing to catch the attention of her friends who were still listening to Twilights outburst.

“The very same blueprints to the device that allowed me to locate Equestrian magic in this world.”

“Girls, please listen—”

“If you also add the fact that our necklaces are missing, do you know what that tells me?! That tells me Tirek broke out of prison, broke into my lab, built that device only to break into our homes and take our magic from us! That means he knows where we live!”

The thought of a ruthless criminal being in their rooms while they slept made them all shiver uncomfortably. Though, this momentary pause allowed a moment for Twilight to realize something.

“Actually, now that I’m saying it out loud, it wouldn’t make sense for Tirek to randomly break into my lab. Judging by his methods, it doesn’t match the thoroughness of the real culprit. Besides—”

“LISTEN TO ME!” Fluttershy said, loud enough to finally catch their attention, “We’re in danger, we have to go!”

“Uh, what makes you think that Flutters?” Rainbow asked, confused as the rest of her friends.

“A little bird told me, but that’s not import—”

“Hold it!” Twilight cut her off, “When you say, ‘little bird’ did you mean figuratively or literally?”

“It was that blue jay over there, but this doesn’t—”

“Fluttershy can talk to the animals now!?” Sunset beamed with excitement, “That means our necklaces are close! Maybe if we split up, we can find the one responsible for taking them faster.”

Fluttershy started to sound desperate as she tried to warn them about what she was told, “We have to go.”

“Your absolutely right, Fluttershy,” said Pinkie, who then proceeded to give an inspirational speech. “Let’s go and find whoever took what was rightfully ours and teach them that if they mess with the power of our friendship, they will be ANNIHILATED!! And if they resist, we can just unite our power and rainbow blast them into a crater. That usually works.”

“No, wait!”

Fluttershy had to let everyone know what she knew before it was too late. But they were already setting up groups.

“Twilight, you and Spike should stick together,” Sunset suggested, “Pinkie, you’ll be with Applejack. Rarity, I think you and I should team up, as for Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, now that we can use magic again, Fluttershy can ask the animals for help. Rainbow can cover the most ground with her speed. Alright let’s start looking,”

“Way ahead of you,” Rainbow said as she got ready to run. Before she realized what was happening, Fluttershy was tackling her to the ground. “Fluttershy, what gives!?”

“We have to run!” She said as directly as possible, still holding on to Rainbows’ legs.

“That’s what I was just about to do before you—”

“You don’t understand! Please, everyone, just listen to me. We have to get out of here before—”

What she was about to say was lost due to a nearby explosion throwing them back and opening a jagged hole in the wall.

“Oh no, we’re too late. He’s here.”

“Who?” asked Twilight, rubbing the back of her head.

Fluttershy clung tighter to Rainbow Dash for comfort, “Tirek.”

The Faceless Hero

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With the roar of an engine, a motorcycle emerged from the dust, flying through the hole.

Tirek wore a biker helmet with two horns on it, making him look like a bull and a sleeveless long-coat that seemed like a perfect place to store half an armory.

“If you’re smart, you’ll do as I say.”

Not even waiting for a response, Tirek got off the bike and reached inside his coat, pulling out a full-auto assault rifle, firing it into the ceiling. Raising his voice, he began to make his demands.

“Now that I got your attention, I want everyone here to line up against the wall. If I see anything that looks suspicious, you’ll find out how unforgiving I can be.”

Sunset looked up in distress.

“Note to self, never interrupt Fluttershy when she’s trying to tell you something.”

“Great,” whispered Rainbow, “What are we going to do?”

“Until we can come up with a decent plan,” Twilight stood and held up her hands, “I think we should do what he says.” The others shortly followed, except for Rainbow.

“Fluttershy, you can let me go now…come on, at least…oh, you’ve got to be kidding me!”

Tirek glared down at her, “What’s taking you so long?”

With a nervous chuckle, Rainbow started to explain. “Well, uh, you see, my friend here doesn’t handle stressful situations too well, and currently, she’s passed out and stiff as a board. I’m actually starting to lose feeling to my legs.”

Tirek put the rifle away and pulled out a shotgun cocking it before pointing it at her.

“Wait! I have an idea,” Rainbow practically army crawled over to the wall. When she reached her destination, she turned around and sat down, “There, hehe, at least I’m against the wall, right?”

“My patience is wearing thin.”

Panic covered her face as she turned to her two friends that were next to her.

“Help me up, help me up, help me up!”

The girls immediately grabbed her arms and pulled, dragging the still frozen Fluttershy up along with her.

The moment she was standing, a shot was fired, and dust fell from a newly formed hole no more than a foot away.

“That was my only warning shot. Next time I won’t miss.” Tirek started pacing up and down the line, speaking loudly for everyone to hear. “Word on the street says that there’s been some unusual activity going on around here. The term that was used was ‘magic.’ I want to know where I can find the source of these rumors, and if they prove to be accurate, I want to know who can use this ‘magic’ and all of their known weaknesses.”

“FOUND IT!”

Every head turned toward the speaker. It was a blond-haired grey skin girl with eyes that were facing two different directions.

“Derpy, you dunce,” Rainbow said through clenched teeth as she watched her waving around the cellphone that she just dug out of the trash can.

The girl’s smile instantly melted away when one of her eyes focused on the inside of the shotgun barrel, pointing at her.

Everybody closed their eyes while trembling, knowing full well what was coming next.

“It was nice knowing you, Ditsy,” was all Applejack could say before gunfire was heard. When they opened them, they were stunned by what they saw. A crystalline barrier had protected Ditsy from the shot.

“Smart thinking,” Sunset whispered to Rarity, “but now we need to be extra careful.”

“That’s not me.”

Sunset didn’t have time to say anything else before a posh sounding voice was heard.

“How dare you! You beefed up brutish, boneheaded, baboon-brained, barbaric buffoon!! Where were you raised in a cave!?”

A slim yet sturdy figure stepped forward wearing an exaggerated suit with a top hat, gloves, a cape with an extravagant diamond patchwork design, and a full-face mask with no eye holes. The most noticeable feature of the mask were the seven gems of different colors decorating the face.

“Pardon my tone, but I simply will not just stand by and let an innocent and lovely bystander be murdered while I can say anything about it, and here’s what I have to say.”

The stranger quickly grasped the top of his cane, pulled out a sword, and assumed it in a strong fighting stance.

“En garde.”

There was a momentary silence before Tirek burst into a fit of laughter, “You look absolutely ridiculous. How can you possibly think that you can beat me with that?”

“I personally think he looks quite charming in that outfit,” Rarity said, fascinated by the stunningly intricate design of his attire. “In fact, that rather lavish … no, that can’t possibly be what I think it is.”

“Maybe if you planned to make me die laughing, then it almost worked,” Tirek said, collecting himself and putting the shotgun away. “Unfortunately, this stunt is going to cost you.”

He immediately lifted his machine gun and pointed it towards Rarity.

In a blur, the stranger closed the distance between him and Tirek. The tip of the sword up against his throat.

“That would be unwise.” He said as the gun fell to the floor in three perfectly sliced pieces.

With a look of half surprise and half wonder and amusement, Tirek slowly backed up.

“I clearly underestimated your abilities,” he said with a smirk, raising his hands to his head. In one solid motion, Tirek swung the bat he grabbed with all his strength. However, all the stranger had to do was lift one arm. Doing so caused the bat to splinter on impact, then casually returned to his original position as if it never happened.

Now, with a look of confusion and a hint of worry, Tirek asked the question that was now on everyone’s mind, “Who are you?”

As though it had been rehearsed, he changed his stance to a slight but proper bow that only seemed fitting for a royal introduction.

“My name is Sir E, and I’ll be your waiter this afternoon.”

Straightening from his bow, it almost seemed like he was smiling under his mask.

“Today’s special, Justice, will be served once it’s ready. But for now, how about an appetizer. I would suggest the cold cut steel combo,” he lifted his sword to emphasize what he meant.

“But judging by your appearance, you look like you would be more interested in a knuckle sandwich.” He discarded the sword and raised his fists, “It comes with a punch I’ve been told that tastes like defeat, but I always find it to be victory flavored.”

At this point, it started to feel less stressful to everyone and slightly more amusing as if they were watching the final showdown on TV or in a video game happening right in front of them. There were even a few groups that actually started to place bets on who might have a better chance.

The low murmuring allowed Sunset and the others a chance to talk a little more openly without the fear of Tirek overhearing.

“Is it just me, or does it look like he’s using our magic,” she asked as the skirmish continued.

“My speed, Applejack’s strength, Rarity’s crystal shields, not to mention our geodes on his face, come on what kind of question is that!” Rainbow Dash said, struggling to free herself from Fluttershy’s grip, “I’m surprised Tirek has lasted this long against him.”

“The cape looks authentic, but I would have to take a closer look at his gloves and shoes. That hat also seems too perfect a fit to not be tailored.”

“Uh, Rarity?” asked Applejack just as an active grenade was turned into confetti in Sir E’s hand, “What are you going on about?”

“Hm? Oh! That attire Sir E is wearing. Very few people in the fashion world could tell you that that is not just any one-of-a-kind vintage masterpiece, but a legendary impossibility. It’s too unique to be anything else but too pristine to be an original.”

An incendiary bullet blew up a pillar. Sir E held it up with his strength and used the crystals to push away anyone that could have gotten hurt and stopped falling debris. Yet the girls were currently more focused on Rarity’s rather vested interest in his attire.

“So he’s wearing some really fancy clothes. What exactly does that have to do with anything?” Rainbow asked, still struggling to stand with her friend stuck on her like a leech.

“Please allow me to explain. If it’s what I think it is, that outfit is a Baroque slash renaissance-styled Victorian-era work of genius whose blueprints and cutouts were lost and destroyed centuries ago. Not only that, but any remnant found of its once magnificent yet brief period in the world are not full sets and considered priceless relics. Back then, owning one meant that you had deep pockets even among the richest of the high society. And that didn’t include the cape, which is why there were so few of them made.”

As Sunset watched the fight, Sir E’s fighting style seemed elegant and fluent, but it also had a familiar kind of motion, but she wasn’t sure why.

“But information on them is so scarce that they have practically been forgotten, even though they are still considered as the greatest design ever created. No one has ever figured out how to accurately replicate them. But it seems like what he’s wearing is the full package, and it’s tailored perfectly to his form. However, after what I said, that can’t be true, and the cost. HA! Referring to it as incalculable would be absurd! The only way to obtain it now would be to inherit what’s left of one.”

Twilight spoke up, “Uh, sorry, I still don’t see how that fits in with what’s going on.”

“He’s wearing something that shouldn’t exist, he’s fighting an armed criminal with his bare hands and winning.”

They turned to see him ‘dish out’ a helping of ‘spaghetti meatballs.’ He elbowed Tirek in the gut, grabbed his shotgun, and performed an uppercut on his skull before firing the gun in a safe direction. Sir E used the kickback to deliver the final blow, causing most males to go weak-kneed, and everyone else to cringe.

“Not to mention, he’s using our magic! This means he’s not just any normal person. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was from a different planet.”

Sunset instantly realized where she had seen those movements and knew where he was from, but before she could speak up a noise sounding like a mix between an explosion, zap, and a pop followed by a shatter drew their focus back to the fight.

“Oh boy,” Rainbow stated, only being one leg away from freedom.

“Ah don’t like the way things are goin,” Applejack expressed with worry.

Sir E had thrown up a shield, but that proved useless against the weapon, a small pistol-like device, Tirek now held.

“This isn’t good.” Sir E said, fear creeping into his once calm voice, his hand covering his exposed face. His mask now at his feet, strap burnt, and white surface blackened from the impact of the blast.

With shaky legs and a satisfied grin, Tirek chuckled as he looked over the weapon, “Why didn’t I use this earlier?”

“That weapon,” said a new deep voice that seemed to vibrate the building. The speaker, a tall, dark and aggressive looking man was large enough to make Bulk Biceps look like a puffy marshmallow.

Where Sir E, in his expensive white suit, had a kind, warm, and comforting glow, this man, wearing an old worn black trench coat, rose up every red flashing flag that screamed danger.

His emotionless face looked like it was set in cold hard steel. Still, his gaze was easily on par with Fluttershy’s stare, like how an enraged parent would be to a spoiled, disobedient, and selfish child.

He began to walk towards Tirek, prosthetic legs echoing with every step.

“It negated the magic being used, didn’t it?”

Sir E slid his foot in a circular motion to push his mask behind him. With a flick of the wrist, it flew into Rarity’s hands.

“Fix that strap this instant, woman!” He said in an unexpectedly harsh manner before Tirek shot the newcomer in the chest, much to the shock of all those present.

The smell of decay wafted through the air shortly followed by burnt flesh.

“Your intention was to kill, wasn’t it?” He said unperturbed by the injury he just inquired as he continued to walk closer.

It now felt to everyone watching as if a blazing bonfire was engulfing their soul and amplifying in temperature the longer this behemoth newcomer was active.

Tirek, now petrified, looked fearful as he started panicking, firing two more close-range shots.

“You planned to hunt down whoever was using magic one by one and murder them right!?”

With one swift motion, he grabbed the gun and delivered a substantial blow to the jaw. Tirek was immediately launched into the third floor, going through a balcony and a few walls along the way.

The slow-moving giant followed right behind his newly found punching bag. He made an impossibly sluggish leap that looked more like an act of levitation than it did a jump.

With shaky hands, Rarity began to rummage through her bag, looking for a ribbon necessary to make the repairs.

“Um, I need…”

“Seven and a half inches across, nine and three eights vertically. It doesn’t have to look pretty, it just has to hold, now start working on it!” each word Sir E spoke, became harsher than the last one.

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said, finally free from Fluttershy’s grip, “What gives you the right to talk to my friend like that.”

With his hand still covering his face, Sir E hissed and increased his volume with every word, “I am more rational when I’m focused. I am more focused when I’m calm. I am more calm when I’m composed, and I am more composed when I’m wearing that mask! Now, if you don’t like the way I’m acting, you will hurry it up!! NOW DO AS I SAY!!!!” he said, ending with an outraged near unearthly roar.

“Hand it over,” Rainbow said, speeding over to Rarity. Within seconds, the strap was haphazardly repaired. However, she was quick to remove the gemstones before tossing it back to Sir E, thankfully, she found the task simple. And conveniently enough, the gems were still attached to their respective necklaces.

“You said it didn’t have to look pretty, so this should work.”

“Terribly sorry,” said Sir E. His friendlier tone thankfully returned as he put his mask back on. “Please excuse my rashness, but I’m not myself without my mask on.”

“Uh, yeah, we noticed,” Twilight said, wanting to say more but got cut off when Sir E lifted his hand.

“I know you have a lot of questions, but would you mind waiting until after I prevent someone from being killed?”

“Ya mean yer friend, right? That sounds like a good idea.” Applejack agreed, “I reckon that whatever them bullets that Tirek used caused a lot a damage, consideren that it blasted through yer barrier the way it did.”

“I was actually referring to Tirek himself. If we don’t hurry, Riot is going to murder him slowly.”

Meanwhile, just before Riot jumped to the third floor, Tirek stirred from where he landed in unbearable pain and coughing up unknown fluids.

If I don’t think of something soon, He thought rummaging through his coat wincing from every move, this guy is going to kill me!

Thankfully, he found what he was looking for, five syringes. He remembered being told to use them only if it was crucial and in limited amounts. In the middle of deciding how much to use, Riot seemingly materialized from the dust still falling from the walls. With that, he injected all of it into himself.

The reaction was instantaneous. Every injury Tirek obtained began to heal, and his fatigue vanished as his energy rapidly increased.

Feeling stronger and more confident than he ever had in his entire life, he stood laughing with anticipation and faced his opponent. What he saw shattered every ounce of confidence he just acquired and was quickly replaced with the feeling of absolute certainty that he was going to die.

It’s said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, Tirek can say that was true due to the number of times he has seen life leave them whenever he left a new victim behind. He also knew that everyone had something to fear, and not that he would tell you what they were. He had a few fears of his own, and the number one fear Tirek now had, was facing this creature that had no fear and no soul.

The burning image of a psychopath grinning with a look of nightmarish pleasure and excitement was shadowing the reality of an expressionless face that had the eyes of an empty, lifeless void.

Even the most powerful weapons ever built are ineffective if they are used in the wrong hands, that also applies to lashing out in panic. This was something even Tirek agreed with about his own actions, yet couldn’t stop his body from reacting as it did.

First, Tirek threw a particle grenade that was backhanded so hard by Riot he heard it break the sound barrier next to his ear. Next, he pulled out a single shot rocket launcher. After it hit Riot in the mouth, it ended up getting swallowed, much to the shock, horror, and amazement of all those present.

Riot put a hand on his stomach and hunched over. After a spontaneous act of excessive vomiting, Sir E and seven girls stood at the entrance of the medium-sized room. They watched him get up and wipe away a little puke and blood with the back of his hand from his mouth.

“Is that your best shot?” said Riot before continuing forward.

However, Applejack apparently had enough and ran into the closing gap between Riot and Tirek, “Now just hold it right there!”

“Out of my way.” Riot ordered as he lifted one arm straight up.

Sir E grabbed Twilight’s necklace and outstretched his own hand. Applejack held her arms up to block the blow but saw Rarity’s crystal barrier surround her as she was tugged away through telepathic force. Riot’s downward thrust broke straight through the shield and biffed Applejack’s elbow before being thrown back to the group.

Sir E caught her in his arms as she tightly hugged her injury.

“Ah… ah think he… he broke my arm.” Applejack grunted through clenched teeth, right arm shaking uncontrollably, a dark purple bruise started to form on a bend in her arm that was just past her elbow.

“Imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t pulled you out,” said Sir E.

Amidst the brief distraction, Tirek fumbled, pulling out a foot-long blade that extended to three feet in length, glowed green, and hummed with energy.

“Okay, hold it, pause, timeout, stop the fanfic here! Why did you have to hurt my friend like that? Forget Tirek having a lightsaber… even if that is pretty cool, I want to know why Applejack had to get hurt so bad, I demand to know an answer!”

*Uh, how did…? Oh, right, I forgot you were able to do this. Listen, Pinkie, I’m just narrating this, I didn’t actually write it myself.*

“That doesn’t answer my question. Besides, I thought this was a fandom based on a kid-friendly tv series. Also, who are these guys, and how come they’re so strong? Why does Tirek have such dangerous weapons, somebody’s going to get killed. Why couldn’t you change it so Applejack doesn’t get hurt so bad? And what about what’s going on in the other…?”

*Okay, how about I make you a deal.*

“What kiiiiinnndd of deeeaal?”

*Well, first of all, please understand that I’m just the narrator. As long as I like the story, I read whatever’s given to me. Second, even though you can break the fourth wall, I doubt even you can alter the time stream.*

“That’s why you change the story before you...”

*I was getting to that, now please let me finish. I can’t undo what I said, and I know that even you don’t have the time to go to all of the versions of this story and change it because you would have to make the readers, listeners, watchers, the audience in general, forget what they just heard or saw or whatever.*

“I see your point aaaannnnnd?”

*Well, to answer two questions at once, this is an alternate-universe fanfiction, where two dimensions crossover with one another. The guys you’re up against come from a world where this kind of behavior is tolerated and common but is strongly opposed. It will be explained in a moment, but I don’t want to spoil it any more for the audience. Although I’ll at least tell you some vital information regarding Applejack. Listen carefully, once I tell you, will you pinkie promise not to interrupt again.*

“Oki Doki Loki, but that only depends on what you have to tell me. Now, let your lips loose.”

*Tirek used five syringes to heal himself, and there are seven of you.*

“Oooh, so you’re telling me that there are more medicine thingies I can use to help heal up Applejack. Okay, that’s good enough for me, cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye, I promise to not but interrupt again. Alrighty, I’m going to leave now and let you get back to your job.”

*Phew, glad that’s settled, but now I have to build the suspense again, alright bear with me here.*

Applejack ran into the closing gap between Riot and Tirek.

“Now just hold it right there!”

“Out of my way.” Riot ordered as he lifted one arm straight up.

Sir E caught her in his arms as she tightly hugged her injury.

“Imagine what would’ve happened if I hadn’t pulled you out,” said Sir E.

Amidst the brief distraction, Tirek fumbled, pulling out a foot-long blade that extended to three feet in length, glowed green, and hummed with energy.

With one swing, it sliced through several items, either burning or melting them to get through, but somehow it came to a stop in Riot’s hand.

“He’s very unstable when he’s angry like this,” Sir E said while Riot ripped the blade from Tirek’s hand and smashed the handle back into his head. The destroyed blade shattered into pieces flying throughout the room. Tirek’s injury healed quickly, but he knew the effects were wearing off.

Sir E’s head turned toward the group.

“We need to come up with a plan and not do anything…”

Rainbow Dash activated her magic and took one step… Okay, I’m just going in, grabbing Tirek, and getting out. Two steps…, he may be larger than Bulk Biceps and strong enough to overpower Applejack. Something seemed off by her third step… but that also means that he’s… looking… at… me.

Four steps… Riot’s head was now turned toward Rainbow Dash. His gaze seemed to tear a gaping hole into her soul.

She saw him beginning to swing his arm, getting ready to attack. Dash realized that she would get seriously injured if she continued forward, so she started her attempt to retreat.

Her fifth step landed on a slick surface, and time slowed nearly to a dead stop considering that it was already reduced. As she fell, Riot’s hand swept horizontally across barely grazing the tip of her nose.

THAT WAS WAY TOO CLOSE!!

Rainbow landed on her back, her momentum still sliding her forward as she began to slip between Riots prosthetics.

He was looking straight down at her now. His other hand began its descent with a force equivalent to the meteor that destroyed the dinosaurs.

Welp, this was a dumb idea. She didn’t have to be a genius to know she couldn’t move out of the way or even daydream about being stronger than Riot. In conclusion, her recklessness was going to kill her.

Every detailed second of her life flashed before her eyes.

I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m so going to die.

She felt his fingers passing through her hair and detected the impact of his hand on the ground above her head, making a crater on the floor.

He missed!? She rolled to her stomach and reached the far wall using her propulsion to rapidly stand up.

THANK EVERY CELESTIAL BEING THAT EXISTS IN EVERY SINGLE UNIVERSE!!!!! I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT I’M STILL ALIVE!!!

She was next to Tirek now and ready to act immediately.

Okay, just grab him and run, grab him and run, GRAB HIM...

With a sudden burst, her hands latched onto his coat with as much strength as she could muster.

AND RUN!!

Riot was already looking her way by the time she took her first step and knew what was about to happen.

GREAT, I still have to go around him!

At this point, Rainbow Dash was purely relying on sheer dumb luck, the will to live, the overdose of adrenaline in her veins, along with bubblegum, shoestrings, and wishing stars to get her to safety. But that didn’t stop her from still feeling like she was moving in slow motion.

Come ON, move FASTER!!

Despite having a one to one ratio of blood and adrenaline coursing through her, Tirek’s weight slowed her down just enough for Riot to grab his face.

ABORT, ABORT!!

Rainbow let go of the overbearing weight and ran behind Sir E.

“Foolish!” Sir E finished as Rainbow clenched her chest gasped in shock, terror, and relief. She fell to the floor, breathing heavily as she placed her other hand on her head, finally able to somewhat relax after her daring maneuver. Her body trembling from her multiple near-death experiences.

Thankfully for her, it seemed Riot was only after Tirek. Now that he had him, she was in the clear… although even in intense battle, Riot still found the time to be critical with her.

“You could have been killed!”

“I… *gasp*… will not… *gasp*… doubt that… *gasp*… for as long… *gasp*… as I live!!!” Rainbow wheezed. She turned and pointed, “If it wasn’t for that…” she stopped and sniffed her arm, “Is this vomit!? Whatever it is, it saved my life.”

Riot began to repeatedly slam Tirek’s head into the wall causing it to start cracking. “You can tell us about it later,” Sunset said, watching in horror, “We still need to get him out of there.” She remembered watching Princess Celestia cast powerful magic before, but compared to Riot’s influence and demonstration, those spells were as mighty as a spotlight at high noon on a cloudless day.

“What does it feel like Tirek?! To get the short end of the stick and be on the receiving side?! To face the consequences of your own actions for a change?! To be the VICTIM FOR ONCE?!!”

“This is super duper scary. What happened to make him this angry?” asked Pinkie, afraid to hear the answer.

“Unimaginable pain and suffering,” was all Sir E could mutter out, desperately looking for an opening.

Riot paused from his onslaught and brought Tirek’s bleeding head closer.

“What’s so ironic is that if it weren’t for monsters like you, I wouldn’t have become the demon I am!”

With another glare and a hallucinative demented smile, he brought his arm back for another blow, but Sir E put his hand on Riot’s elbow.

“RIOT! That’s enough, look at him he’s finished.”

“Well... I’M NOT!” Sir E’s face was immediately met by a hard strike to the jaw, sending him to the ground as Riot’s attention returned to Tirek.

With little effort on his part, Riot slammed Tirek into the wall so hard that he was now suspended over a three-story drop. The only thing visible below being the lights of numerous police below only able to watch the scene unfold before them.

The chin strap of the mangled helmet broke. Riot alternated hands to clench Tirek’s throat, his airway completely cut off, crushing the helmet like a cheap plastic bucket.

Tirek slipped something into his mouth and bit down on it. He began to cough as air returned to his lungs.

“Now you’re in for it,” Tirek choked out, not even believing his own words. “I was told that this protective barrier could withstand the force of—”

He quickly found his words cut off due to Riot’s grip shattering the forcefield around his body with one hand.

“If I wanted to get higher than 15,926 psi, I would’ve used both hands.”

Out of desperation, Tirek started punching Riot in the face, but it had no effect. He eventually began to lose consciousness as his punches quickly became weaker with each swing.

“If you let him go, I promise in the state he’s in, his fate will be worse than death.” Sir E proposed.

As if a light switch was turned off, the tension in the air rapidly diminished and then disappeared altogether.

“This is precisely why you are here,” Riot said quietly, releasing Tirek and letting him fall. He turned away from the hole, showing no change to his facial expression, except now his eyes were colder than ice. “To make sure I don’t overstep my bounds.”

Tirek survived the fall, barely, and was quickly transported to the nearest hospital, with the intent being to put him behind bars once healed.

Pinkie Pie’ somehow’ managed to find a medication to rapidly heal Applejack’s arm. Rarity began inspecting every inch of Sir E’s outfit and was enthralled by the fact that every fiber was spun by hand. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw a tear in the sleeve but passed out when he said he had three more outfits to replace this one.

Sunset slipped away from the group. Riot’s words to Tirek still echoed in her head as she crept closer to him, so she could try to read his mind.

“If you wish to regret ever being born, you will continue with your idiocy.” He warned, not even turning to face her.

Only slightly surprised that he saw her coming, she walked in front of him. Having read the mind of the EMT treating Applejack, she knew that the injuries he obtained were worse than the ones on Tirek.

Under the wraps that were applied to his torso, his ribcage was fully exposed, skin and muscle burned away by the weapon used on him, but he wasn’t showing any signs of pain for a second.

“It doesn’t take a mind reader to notice that you’re troubled, everyone can see it.”

She reached out to put her hand on his, “If you’d like to talk about…” Riot grabbed her wrist and twisted it painfully, all while avoiding contact with her skin.

“This is your last warning, next time you will beg for death. I know about your ability, and I will not allow anyone to trespass into my memories.” He released her, “Besides, the only relevant thing bothering me is how Tirek got those weapons, but I’m certain it has something to do with Crystalline Perfumes.”

The cosmetics company? After taking a second to process his words, she shook her head then glared as menacingly as she could back at him.

“Okay look, I’ve done some terrible things myself, case in point I became so power-hungry that I attempted to enslave an entire school.”

“How fortunate.”

“The point I’m trying to make is, thanks to the power of friendship, it helped me change, and I’m sure you can too.”

Once again, she reached out to him, “but only if you just…”

Sadly, her offer was meant with Riot’s hand around her mouth, raising her up to meet his eyes.

Her eyes lit up as she saw everything. As she experienced every memory Riot had, he whispered three words that would challenge and potentially stretch the unbreakable power of friendship past its limit.

“Friendship… fix… this.”

He let her go, and Sunset fell to the floor. She drilled her palms into her skull, threw her head back, and released a bloodcurdling scream as he casually put on sunglasses and walked away.

The Adventure Begins

View Online

A mirror started to ripple as a light orange mare with streaks of red in her mane stumbled out, getting used to her new form.

“I am so sorry I’m late. I just had to deal with a crazy situation that began with an escaped convict, which led to exposing an underground organization of… Whoa, something tells me this is serious.” Sunset Shimmer exclaimed at the sizable group of ponies in the room, plus the 20 symbols that were hovering around a heavily wooded part of the Everfree Forest.

“Is that where we’re being called to? There’s so many. Do any of you know where that is or how to get there?” She said, pointing out the extensive area that the marks made on the map.

Sunburst spoke up, “Actually, I was hoping Starlight would be able to help me out with this one. I’ve been thinking through several possible solutions we could try. But unless anypony here goes into the forest on a daily basis and can navigate through it with their eyes closed, then I’m not seeing any of them working.”

“And it’s not like we can take the table with us either. Even then, we still wouldn’t…”

“Starlight, you’re a GENIUS!!!” Sunburst exclaimed, nearly grabbing his friend by the hoof, “Come with me Starlight, I need a few materials and books for references.” He said before speeding down the hall.

Starlight watched him bolt out of the room, “Uh, okay?” she said before going after him.

Upon their return, they had an excited look in their eyes. Celestia chose to be the one to ask the question they all had, “Mind telling us what you were doing?”

Sunburst and Starlight each took their turn answering, “So first, I was trying to figure out how to have the map give directions to someone who knew the area.”

“But since this is the Everfree Forest, it’s not really a well-known terrain, even for those familiar with it. There’s still a good chance for us to get lost that way.”

“And casting a spell like that on something alive would be too risky to attempt, but when Starlight said ‘take the table,’ it hit me! What I was trying to do was too complicated and difficult.”

“We’re going to use the same basic concept, but it’s still pretty self-explanatory,”

Rainbow Dash interrupted, “Whoa whoa whoa wait! Your plan is to drag this table with us on our mission? That has to be one of the top 10 most ridiculous ideas I’ve ever heard of. That thing has to weigh at least a ton, and there’s no way something that big will be able to fit through the trees.”

Starlight answered her question, starting up the alternating cycle again, “You’re right, that’s what I was going to tell Sunburst before he had this much better idea.”

“We’re going to be taking the map, but not the way you see it here.”

“The map has a connection to the Tree of Harmony, but most of us already knew that.”

“Although, if my theory is correct, then hypothetically speaking, there should be a way for us to connect other inanimate things to the same source. In this case, the tree. Twilight, do you mind?”

“Uh sure…” she said hesitantly, recalling the last time a spell was cast on the table.

Starlight and Sunburst approached the map. Starlight’s horn lit up and pulled out a small crystal disk about as big as a mid-sized lens of a magnifying glass while Sunburst walked to the opposite side of where she stood.

As he faced her, Sunburst started using his magic. A beam went from his glowing horn to the table then to the disk. When the light faded, Starlight examined it before giving a satisfying grin, confirming their success.

“Not quite what I had in mind when I made that spell,” Star Swirl said stroking his beard, “but I did catch a whiff of location magic as well, so I think I know where this is going,”

Sunburst glanced away nervously at Star Swirl’s compliment, “Yeah I uh had to make some alterations on it, you see if I were to—”

“Ugh! just get to the point already,” Said a very impatient pink earth pony who somehow managed to fit in Star Swirl’s beard, something inevitable was about to happen. A few ponies mentally braced themselves to keep up with it. “We have a mission we need to take care of and cupcakes to eat.”

Pinkie Pie then retreated back into the beard before reappearing over Starlight’s shoulder. Her eyes were focused on the disk, and as predicted, Pinkie began to speak a million words a minute.

“So, is this like some kind of teeny friendship table? That sounds smart because then you can carry it around with you wherever you go and not get lost. But wait, wouldn’t that mean the marks are smaller too? Wouldn’t that make it even harder to see where we needed to go? I think it would. *Gasp*, unless you’re looking at a bigger version on a smaller scale or maybe a smaller version of a bigger scale. That would mean we would be able to see if we’re where we need to be or not. But for that to work, we would have to be there to know that. I don’t know how to get there. Can it tell us how to get there? I hope it can because that would be nice to know which direction we needed to be going. We are going into the Everfree forest after all. There’s a lot of things that have to be avoided, like the endless twists and turns leading to sudden cliffs that appear out of nowhere with a rickety old bridge, or maybe one of many dangerous creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce at us at any given moment. It would need to show us which way we had to go to avoid all of that and get us to our destination safely guiding anypony who uses it to the delicious, mouth-watering cupcakes resting in a pile under a pillar of light. Oooh, I’m calling it a GPS!!”

Somehow managing to hear every word, a look of surprise materialized on Sunset’s face.

“Wait a minute, you guys know what a…,” she paused for a moment to think, looking at the pink mare before continuing what she was going to say, “Pinkie, what does GPS stand for here?”

“Uh, ‘Guiding Ponies Safely’ duh, what did you think it meant Sunset?” She said, making it sound like it should have been obvious.

“Well, where I came from there’s… uh, this device that does exactly what you were describing. It means something completely different, though it’d take too long for me to explain right now.” She said, unwilling to try and explain the concept of satellite tracking to ponies with a, for lack of a better word, primitive lifestyle.

“Anyway, it does exactly what you were saying. It’s a map of the world, but you only see a magnified portion showing your current location. It also shows you which route you can take to get from one place to another. Is that actually a thing here, or was that just Pinkie being herself?” Said Sunset, not too surprised at what Pinkie managed to do.

Sunburst stood there, agape.

“That was just Pinkie being herself,” he said before pushing up his glasses and muttered to himself, “I need to run some tests on her to find out how she keeps doing that.”

Looking back at the group, he spoke louder, “Well, at least you all know how this works now,” the unicorn appeared as though he got cheated out of explaining the most fantastic device ever created, but he wasn’t going to give up. “So, now that we have a hybrid map and compass for directions, shall we head out?”

“About time,” said Pinkie, bouncing her way to the door, “those cupcakes aren’t going to eat themselves you know.”

“Pinkie, I doubt there’s going to be cupcakes where we’re going.” Said Twilight lighting up her horn, levitating the saddlebags Spike was carrying and dispersing them among the group.

“You won’t know until we get there.” Pinkie answered, her singsong voice trailing back into the room.

The trees along the forest boundary towered up ahead as the large group approached them. This wasn’t their first time going into the woods, in fact, they’d long gotten used to entering it regularly. But even then, they would go in pairs just to be safe. Or for those confident enough to go alone, they would make sure that someone else knew that they were going in. That way, if they didn’t return before nightfall, a search party could be arranged for their rescue.

However, this time, they were being called on a Friendship Mission with four Alicorn Princesses, seasoned fighters from the past and present, along with the most talented scholars Equestria had to offer. Yet even in spite of these factors, the forest seemed to be more haunting than the old exaggerated rumors.

Once the group stepped into the Everfree Forest, Sunburst pulled out the GPS and followed the route it gave him. As time went on, there was a sneaky suspicion that something was wrong about the forest, but nobody could pinpoint what it might be, which only made things more unsettling.

Almost half an hour had passed when Luna came to a sudden stop.

“Wait, listen. Do you not hear that?”

Everyone stopped and listened. Discord even went as far as increasing the size of his ears.

“I’m sorry sister, but I can’t hear anything,” Celestia answered, sounding confused about why Luna was asking that question.

“That is exactly our point, when is the last time any of us heard anything other than ourselves?”

They listened again, and she was right, there wasn’t a sound. It was so deathly still that it was actually frightening, not even the noises of small woodland animals or insects were heard. It was like the entire Everfree Forest was holding its breath, making everyone feel as if they were the only ones occupying the whole forest.

“You’re right Luna, I doubt the forest has ever been this quiet for this long,” Celestia agreed, recalling that back during times of war, such silence meant danger was close. Her main concern was how it hadn’t jumped out the way she was used to. Instead, it had managed to subtly creep upon them.

She felt embarrassed about the fact that she hadn’t noticed it sooner if this were anything like the old days, the enemy would have already ambushed them by now. However, this didn’t stop the group as they marched on, determined to get their task over with so they could leave these woods. But as they ventured farther into the forest, the feeling of dread continued increasing to overwhelming proportions.

Sunburst stopped, cocking an eyebrow he began to exchange glances between the GPS and thick foliage. He gave the disk a few taps and shook it, but apparently to no avail.

“This can’t be right,” he said, examining the device closer, “It’s telling us to go that way.” He pointed his hoof directly into a wall of thick shrubbery.

There was a snap as the trees grew legs and stepped aside without warning, while the bushes inflated and popped like balloons, bursting into square bubbles that laughed when they popped.

“Shall I pave the road in brick as well?” said Discord, nonchalantly giving another snap, but nothing happened. “Odd, I wanted a trail made out of soap bars to appear, unless… but, but that’s impossible.”

“Um, guys,” Fluttershy whispered inaudibly.

“Impossible? You, Discord, are using the word impossible? I thought that word didn’t exist in your vocabulary or plane of existence.” Rainbow Dash taunted.

“Guys?” Fluttershy tried again but was ignored.

“Let me inform you,” said Discord taking the defensive approach, “that the only time my magic has ever failed me was when I went to the changeling hive and Chrysalis’s throne sapped it away. But that can’t be the case, because we all saw it blow up, except for you six artifacts.”

“Um, e… excuse me,”

This time, Sunset heard Fluttershy trying to speak. Thus she loudly cleared her throat to get the other’s attention.

“Sorry to interrupt, but the last time I ignored Fluttershy, I regretted it deeply and promised never to do it again,” she gave a shiver recalling the events that happened, “long story, and I’d rather not talk about it right now. Anyway, what are you trying to tell us.”

Fluttershy felt uncomfortable by all the eyes suddenly staring at her, “Uh… thanks, I… Um well… It’s just… I, ah, I don’t like the way this fog is surrounding us.” Everyone looked around, and sure enough, a thick wall of haze had surrounded them in every direction, and it seemed to be closing in.

Rainbow face hoofed then asked, “Do you want me to get rid of it for you?”

“Yes, please do… if you don’t mind, that is.”

Rainbow Dash hovered over to the fog with an exasperated sigh and reached out to start her work. But instead of grabbing the mist, her hoofs passed through as if it was only air. “Whoa, what the?” She landed just past the fog line, “I went through it like it… wasn’t… e… ven…” she fell to the ground unconscious, landing with a thud.

“Rainbow? Rainbow Dash!” Twilight ran towards her fallen friend but was stopped by a magical shield that materialized around the group.

“Twilight wait,” Celestia said, “something is indeed draining our magic, I may have been able to cast this barrier spell but only just.” Twilight slowly backed away from the barrier, “Believe me, I am as worried about Rainbow Dash as you are, but it won’t do any good if you just run out and put yourself in the same situation.”

Celestia looked as if she was having difficulty maintaining the spell. “I don’t know how much longer I can hold this, but right now we have to think of something before—”

“The fog’s coming through!” Trixie shrieked as the mist casually fazed itself past their only defense and into their sanctuary. At that moment, Celestia’s spell broke.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said sobbing as she curled up into a ball, “It’s all my fault!”

“No sugar cube, Sunset was righ we yall shoulda listened to ya sooner.”

“What are we going to do!” exclaimed Rarity.

Panicking, Twilight cast a teleportation spell out of habit but only managed to produce a few sparks. There was no magic, no plan, and no visible exit. “Stick together, we don’t know how far this mist goes, and running through it blindly could only get us lost or worse. If we’re lucky, maybe it will leave as fast as it appeared.” She said, putting every ounce of faith into her words, “until then, just hold your breath.”

“Brace yourselves!” said Rockhoof as everyone took one last deep breath before the tidal wave of vapor engulfed them.

Surprisingly, the air felt warm and relaxing, coaxing them to breathe. ‘Don’t worry,’ it seemed to say, ‘everything will be fine, you’ll be safe.’

The best spa treatment Twilight has ever received felt nothing like this, but she knew the consequences of taking even one breath. One by one, she heard ponies giving in to the temptation promised with the sound of their bodies hitting the ground after gasping for air.

Come on just, leave already! She desperately thought.

The silhouette of Flash Magnus went skyward in an attempt to fly above the vapor. But a sudden thud from above told her that he had hit a tree branch. Rockhoof’s large form took a dive to catch the pegasus as he came down, knocking the wind out of both of them.

Rarity’s face began to change into colors that made Twilight subconsciously make a mental note to examine and name later before she wondered if it was from her own lack of oxygen.

This can’t be happening.

Twilight saw Rarity pass out from holding her breath too long, leaving only her, Celestia, Starlight, and Cadence, who was on the ground… and pointing? Twilight looked in the direction she was indicating just as Cadence exhaled. Even though her vision was starting to blur, she saw Rainbow Dash being dragged away.

“AH, something’s got…me,” Starlight shouted as she jumped back before collapsing.

Twilight watched more of the group being taken away one by one, but she saw what was happening when she looked at Starlight.

I don’t understand.

Silver, web-like strands wove their way around her body, tying her up in some kind of net. Celestia gasped for air moments before Twilight did the same.

The feeling of drowsiness was far more potent than the relaxation the mist provided, even the impact of hitting the ground was blissful. She couldn’t move...or rather, she didn’t want to move. Instead, she just laid there feeling the heavenly enticing threads gently caress through her fur.

I thought our friendship could overcome anything. Why did it have to end like this?

The last thing she felt was her body helplessly being dragged away before everything faded to nothing.

“Of course it’s boring here now, but at least you’re not in a cage!” Tirek exclaimed when he heard Cerberus whining. Before he could utter another word, he felt an outside source of magic, making its way into Tartarus.

A portal opened up, and Princess Luna, along with two royal guards, came through escorting a young pegasus filly who Tirek knew all too well. No words were exchanged as they proceeded to put her in the cage right next to his then leaving just as quickly.

When the portal closed, Cozy Glow, the new inmate, turned to Tirek and grinned, “Hey neighbor, want to be friends?” Her face did everything except matching the words coming out of her mouth.

“After the fiasco you caused, why should I even consider beating you with a TEN FOOT POLE!!” Tirek answered outraged, “I have half a mind to obliterate you the next time I break out. The other half is wanting to leave you here to rot once I escape without your help!”

“Oh, don’t worry, that opportunity will happen sooner than you think because I have a one-way ticket out of here.”

“Oh please, do tell.” Said Tirek with a scoff turning away from her, folding his arms.

“I don’t blame you for not believing me. This plan was pretty intricate after all. But we couldn’t risk you knowing what the real plan was or else the ponies could have gotten information out of you, and that would have only made things even more tricky,” She said matter of factly, “But why tell you, when I can show you?”

That was enough to pique his interest in what she was saying.

What real plan, and who’s ‘we’?

He turned around and saw her straining in some form of concentration. Her mouth opened up, and her stomach congested as if she had swallowed something and was now bringing it back up.

Her eyes bugged out as he saw an object making its way to her mouth then stopped. Cozy Glow looked like she was choking on whatever she was trying to retrieve.

The centaur became fearful, mainly because if Cozy Glow did indeed have a way out of Tartarus, Tirek didn’t want it to be just mere inches away, stuck in the throat of a dead pegasus filly. Thankfully for both parties, with a cough, the object was hurtled across the cavern, followed by the sound of something shattering against the wall.

With a look of panic, Tirek stared in the direction it flew and saw black liquid begin to drip down from the point of impact.

“Did you just… break… your own escape plan?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, here he comes.” The still gagging filly said, giving her best smile ending with a singsong voice, though it was ruined by the amount of drool around her mouth.

When Tirek looked back at the liquid on the wall, he saw it oozing down, sideways, and up. Upon closer inspection, he noticed the dark stain wriggling and contorting like a liquid as if the shadows were swimming with life.

Cerberus growled in the direction of the flowing darkness, a notion Tirek almost shared, feeling the presence of a powerful being coming through the dark void.

A large foreboding silhouette emerged from within the liquid wall and began to approach Tirek and Cozy Glow, who was now on the verge of hysterical laughter.

Cerberus gave another more menacing snarl towards the intruder, getting ready to attack.

“SIT,” the figure commanded in a volcanic voice that seemed to emanate from all directions. Within an instant, the fierce guard dog became a whimpering coward that slinked back into a corner.

Tirek found himself backing away as well, not able to stop himself until he hit the bars of his cell.

“Um… so, ah, hehe, who might you be exactly?” He asked with a nervous chuckle and a sheepish grin as he gazed up at the towering figure.

Cozy Glow exploded in a fit of uncontrollable laughter when she heard this rolling on her back and kicking her feet in the air. “I don’t understand how you find any of this remotely funny.”

“OH… OH HO HO, tha… that’s because. AH HA HA HA HA. That’s because this plan… This plan was so… so obvious from the very beginning AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” Out of nowhere, she slammed herself against the bars with a look of hatred. This made the centaur jump away from her. “AND NOBODY SAW IT COMING!!,” she blurted out with a gurgling raspy voice, “NOBODY!!! Pff… pff HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” she fell back to the ground clutching her sides in pain pounding the ground with her hooves, “Oh you shou… you should see the look on your face AHA HA HAAAA!!! So… Much… FEAR!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”

What is happening? Tirek thought, exchanging glances from the bright, frilly, curly-cue, goody two shoe filly to the dark, ominous, foreboding, and demonic entity and back. How can these two possibly have any kind of relationship?

The sound of twisting metal could be heard as the centaur’s cage and Cozy Glow’s, were somehow turned into a mangled heap, despite all of the cells in Tartarus having magic nulling property.

The display finally stopped the malicious mare’s fit of laughter as she took flight towards the being, who tossed an orb of extremely potent magic at Tirek.

“If I were you, I’d do as he says,” Cozy Glow demanded before using an overdramatic emphasis in her words and actions. “Oh, Retribution, I honestly had no idea just how generous you truly were. Here I am, a poor, helpless, damsel in distress, and just like that, here you are. Coming to my rescue like the dashing, honorable, and noble knight you are in your bright and shining armor. Oh, such loyalty.”

Tirek had to fight the urge to gag. He couldn’t tell if she was mock-acting or being serious as he watched the filly nuzzling the creature named Retribution, before smacking a kiss on his cheek. It couldn’t have possibly looked any more displeased.

“I must be the luckiest girl in the whole wide world to have such a kind-hearted, loving, thoughtful, and caring friend like Gah!…”

Without any kind of warning, Retribution used lightning-quick reflexes to punch the pegasus so hard that she was instantly vaporized into nothing more than a dark red stain on the ground, walls, and the now outstretched limb.

The centaur gulped, realizing just how careful he had to be if he was going to escape with a monster who treated his ‘friends’ in this manner.

Now that I think about it, maybe being trapped here with Twilight and her five annoying nuisances for all eternity isn’t so bad after all, then again… he looked at the orb and smiled before swallowing it.

The power he felt coursing through his body now made him stand taller than Retribution.

“You should have waited until after conditions were made. I propose a new plan, I crush you now and leave you here, that way you won’t get in my way later.”

If Retribution was even half as powerful as he appeared to be, the amount of magic within him had to be astronomical. Tirek began to siphon what he could before anything else happened.

“WE’LL SEE ABOUT THAT.” Retribution said calmly.

Tirek ceased his attempt when he came up empty, “you have no magic?!”

“IF YOU STILL WISH TO CHALLENGE MY AUTHORITY, THEN BY ALL MEANS, YOU ATTACK FIRST.”

“Can this possibly get any easier!?” said Tirek releasing a beam of pure magic.

Ow, that was the first thing that Twilight thought as she began to stir.

Her entire body was stiff and sore, aching as if it hadn’t moved for days. Her horn similarly felt like it was about to explode, and the pounding headache it came with was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She could almost hear her eyelids creaking and cracking when they opened in even more discomfort, crusty flakes trying to keep them shut. Every movement she made trying to stand only hurt more than the previous one.

“Soooo muuuuuch paaaaaaaiin,” said a weak voice that sounded like a deflating Pinkie Pie. Just hearing her talk was more than enough to make Twilight instantly thirsty. Every word grew quieter when she spoke again.

“My throat feels like a dry washcloth… must… have… waaaaaterrrrrr!”

“I didn’t know hooves could throb like this,” Rarity said, wincing afterward, “or teeth.”

“We feel as if we were stuffed into the average-sized milk bottle,” Luna commented.

“If this is how you guys felt after I cast that brainwash spell on you, I will apologize ten… no twenty-fold.”

Everyone could hear Starlight’s entire body creak and pop more than Granny Smith on a bad day as she began to arise.

“You know,” Rainbow Dash said groggily in a raspier voice than usual, “this does feel just like that. Wait, something’s different. Oh, that’s right, when we were under that spell you didn’t order us to jump off the world’s biggest Celestia forsaken cliff, smash our head into every stinking rock on our way down, climb back up it, fight our way through Tartarus and back, and then jump off the cliff again… In one freakn’ afternoon!” She began to cough and tried to inhale past the pain in her torso. “Can any of you check to see if my wings are still attached, I can’t move my head.”

“Ah might be the closest to ya, but from this angle, ah can’t tell,” Applejack answered, groaning as she struggled to stand. “I tell you what. There’s cider, there’s too much cider, then there’s this. Seriously ah feel like ah survived a stampede a buffalo after tryn’ ta do apple buckn’ season on my own again. If y’all don’t mind, could somepony that can actually stand help me up? Mah legs ain’t listenen’ to a thing I tell em.”

“Oi, this must be what a wee stick of chewing gum feels like after a few hours in the maw of the beast,” Rockhoof stated.

“I’ll do… what I… can to… help but… I would… work much… better … if my … head would… stop poun… ding.” Mistmane said, wincing rhythmically as she walked in that direction. With every pause she made, everyone could feel her pain as if it were their own.

“Okay, roll call, is anypony missing,” Cadence spoke up, sounding just as bad as everyone else felt, “Twilight?”

“Here.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

“Can I call in sick?”

“That’s a yes, okay, Rarity?”

“Present.”

“Applejack,”

“Ten more minutes.”

“Pinkie Pie”

The pink pony wheezed and raised a shaky hoof.

“Good enough, Fluttershy? Fluttershy!” no answer came.

“She’s over here,” Somnambula announced, limping out from the bushes carrying a motionless Fluttershy on her back.

“Is she alright?” Celestia asked Meadowbrook and Mistmane, who hobbled over to examine her.

“Good news is, she’s still breathing. Unfortunately, I can’t… wait a moment,” Meadowbrook leaned in closer to Fluttershy’s mouth. “She said, ‘don’t worry about me, take care of everypony else first.’ I think she’ll be fine.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Okay, that’s Somnambula, Mistmane, and Meadowbrook. Rockhoof?”

“Obviously not me best day, but I’m still Kickn’… barely.”

“Flash Magnus?”

“If someone said my name, can you please speak up, my ears are still ringing!”

“Star Swirl?”

“Over here!” they heard Sunburst say a fair distance away in the direction Somnambula came from.

“Would one of you be so kind as to please check and see if my back is broken or not,” pleaded Star Swirl as he and the orange unicorn stallion emerged.

“Okay, that leaves Celestia, Luna, myself, and then there’s…”

“My my what is this I see? Eighteen ponies crying out in agony?”

“Zecora?” exclaimed Twilight as loud as she dared, “You have no idea just how releveled we are to see you here. You wouldn’t happen to have a potion on you that can treat aches and pains would you?”

“If you don’t mind, can you tell me what kind?”

Pinkie Pie, with all the strength she could muster, grabbed the zebra’s earrings and pulled her head down, barely wheezing out the one word that summed up their descriptions, “EEEEEEEVERYYYYYYYTHIIIIIIIIING.”

Zecora calmly pushed Pinkie back then said, “I’ll check my bag and see what is there. If I do, it won’t be much, so you will all have to share.”

“If only you knew,” Sunset said out of nowhere, “at this point, anything helps as…” realization seemed to dawn on her face, “you said eighteen ponies. Who’s missing, where’s Discord?”

“There you are, you can’t hide from me,” Zecora said, pulling a large flask out of her satchel, “here take a sip of this remedy,” Pinkie was the first to start guzzling down the fluid inside. Rarity tackled her to prevent the formula from disappearing altogether. She greedily took a mouth full or two, as Pinkie spat out the cork, only to stop herself and passed it around before it became too tempting to resist another swallow.

After Rainbow Dash had her share, she smacked her lips and said, “If I had to guess, he probably bailed on us and went home or something.”

It seemed like the drink was starting to work as Dash could already feel herself getting better. The pain was still noticeable, but at least she could move her head, and her wings didn’t feel as if they were wrenched out of their sockets and torn off her body.

“I mean, he disappears all the time. That’s like his thing, you know, nothing new there, right?”

Starlight returned the now empty bottle to Zecora. “That does make sense, but… Hold on, where’s Trixie!? TRIXIE!!”

The next few minutes were spent searching the area, but there were no signs of the blue unicorn anywhere.

“For Discord to be gone is one thing, but Trixie? Something is definitely wrong,” Starlight said, now more concerned than ever for her best friend’s location.

“Have you already forgotten the fact that a fog which seemingly appeared out of nowhere knocked us out and made us wake up with the worst imaginable headache we will ever experience,” Rarity replied, now looking similarly healthier than before. “Not to mention all of the strange things that have happened over the past few days. If you ask me, this is even worse than when Cozy Glow tried to trap us in Tartarus with Tirek. At least then, we had something to go off of, but I’m at a complete loss for what’s happening now.”

“Uh, not to bring down the mood any further, but we have another problem,” Sunburst said with great concern in his voice, “I can’t find the GPS anywhere.”

“Oh, that’s just great! How are we supposed to find our way out of here now!” Rainbow Dash cried out. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I guarantee that we are not in the same place we were when the fog jumped us,” she then pointed towards the sun, “on top of that the sun is a lot lower in the sky meaning it’s late afternoon, almost evening. If anything, I think we should call it a day and keep looking for Trixie tomorrow. At least then we can get our bearings, giving us a better chance of finding her.”

As Rainbow finished her rant, she turned to find her five closest friends looking at her with surprise.

“What?... Whoa, did I just sound like an egghead? How did I know all of that?”

“As much as it pains me to say it, I think Rainbow Dash has a point,” Twilight said hesitantly, “to be honest, the thought of leaving her alone at night in the Everfree Forest is disconcerting due to current circumstances. But let’s face it, we’re obviously all exhausted and probably won’t find anything as we are now.”

Though the others didn’t want to admit it, she was right. Despite just waking up, they felt like they hadn’t slept for a week, and some looked about ready to collapse any second.

“And just to put the icing on the cake,” Celestia spoke up, “my magic seems to be very low. I am regaining it as we speak, but it’ll be a while before I can even cast basic spells.”

“Zecora, you wouldn’t mind letting us sleep at your hut, would you. It would just be for tonight, then we’ll be out of your mane.”

“Uh…um,” a concerned look crossed Zecora’s face as her eyes darted around the rather sizeable group, “I uh, see the dilemma that you currently face, but my hut is too small for you to stay at my place.” She gave a grin that looked slightly nervous.

“You’re right, sorry I even bothered asking,” Twilight apologized, now realizing it was stupid to even consider. At the same time, the zebra offered the group a look of sympathy, “Although, could you at least guide us out of here? Like we said before, we still have no idea where we even are right now.”

The zebra quickly nodded, more than happy to provide some type of aid. “Of course I can, you see that hill, following that path will lead you to Ponyville.”

“Thank you. We’ll come back tomorrow.” Starlight said, “Oh, and if you see Trixie or Discord, can you let us know… in the morning if it’s not too much trouble for you, that is.”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll let you know. Though it’s getting darker, so you’d better go.”

“Again, thanks, talk to you later,” Twilight said, waving goodbye as the group began their march out of the forest.

“WAIT!!!”

It had only been five minutes before Zecora came running towards them, “sorry to come back in such a huff, but I believe you left behind some of your stuff.” She held an odd-looking saddlebag that somehow seemed familiar, but none of them recognized it.

Sunburst looked inside and found a book with a gem on the cover.

“Oh, my journal!” Twilight exclaimed, “I don’t know what it’s doing in this bag though, thanks.”

“Anytime, now take care,” Zecora said, taking off and waving goodbye once more. “And good luck,” She said under her breath as soon as she was far enough away to disappear unnoticed in a green flame.

unforeseen inconveniences

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The group was surprised to find themselves so close to the edge of the forest. Not even ten minutes had passed from the time Zecora returned the strange bag to them before they could see the buildings through the trees.

“So near, and yet so far away.” Said Pinkie, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, her body actually deflating like a balloon.

“Ugh, what in Celestia’s name did that fog do to us,” complained Rainbow Dash, actually walking along with the rest of the group. “Right now, I’m too tired to even flap my wings, and I’ve never been too tired to fly.”

“I think I have enough magic to teleport everypony to Twilight’s castle,” Celestia said thoughtfully, “but we’ll have to…”

“Please! I beg you, just teleport us the rest of the way,” pleaded Rainbow, hugging the princess’s foreleg. The rest of the group joined in her request, some more hesitant than others, not wanting to ask too much of the alicorn ruler.

With a sigh, Celestia obliged to their wishes. “Okay, but from there, I won’t be able to cast it again for a while.”

And with that, the group was engulfed in her magical aura. With a quick pinch, they were in the guest room of the Castle of Friendship.

“WAH!” Spike jumped out of the room from the sudden appearance of the 18 ponies, though he quickly managed to shake off the shock.

“Where have you guys… whoa. You all look exhausted, and terrible, what happened?”

Twilight was about to answer her assistant’s question but was interrupted.

“Hold that thought for a moment there’s way more import—”

“DRAGON!!!!” bellowed a furious voice as the doors to the castle were slammed open.

“GAH, Zecora!” Spike stood petrified in the hallway, watching the fuming zebra storm in his direction.

“You better say your friends are all back, or I mark my words you’ll be the FIRST I ATTACK!!”

Spike was on his back as all he could do was let the enraged mare shoved her face into his, screaming at the top of her lungs.

This sudden turn of events eradicated most of the exhaustion from all the newly returned ponies, who quickly jumped into action.

“Zecora?! What’s going on. What’s wrong?” Twilight asked just as confused as everypony else.

“It’s about time you returned to your castle, trying to contact you has been a great hassle!”

“Zecora, we just spoke to you in the Everfree Forest no more than a half-hour ago,” Rarity said, trying her best to deescalate the situation.

“Yeah, you even showed us the way out.” Pinkie spoke up, “If there was something so important to tell us, why wait until later? Unless something happened between then and now because something is always happening. But that still wouldn’t make sense because even if that were true how could you beat us back to the castle, I mean even I couldn’t pull that off.”

The pink earth pony put her hooves to her head, “Oh, my head’s starting to hurt again.”

Now it was Zecora’s turn to be confused, “You claim we spoke? That cannot be! It’s been days since I’ve stepped into the Everfree.”

Applejack was the first to put the pieces together. “Y’all thinken what ahm thinken.”

“Chrysalis,” Everypony said blatantly except for the Pillars and Sunset.

“Ugh…” Twilight could feel the fatigue returning as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves, “Sorry, but can this wait till tomorrow? We’re completely drained after our trip into the Everfree Forest, and we didn’t even get…”

“NO! I refused to be pushed away. I’ve waited for your return day after day!”

“Day after…? We just left this morning to go on our friendship quest, when have you…”

“This morning?” Spike interrupted, “Twilight, that was two weeks ago.”

“TWO WEEKS!!” Everypony exclaimed, Twilight immediately grabbed the first newspaper she saw in her magic and looked at the date, “He’s right! It’s been two whole weeks.”

“My farm! My family!”

“My animals!”

“My party plans!”

“My reputation!” said Rarity and Rainbow Dash, making all eyes turn towards them. Both mares started to throw out their reasons why they said what they did and why it was better than the other.

“I have to stay in tip-top shape to maintain my Wonderbolts position.”

“I have to stay ahead of the fashion scenes to keep my customers impressed.”

“If I’m even two seconds late, the entire squad gets penalized for it. I can’t even imagine what two weeks of going AWL will do to me. I’ll be lucky if I only get court-martialed.”

“If I don’t make sufficient sales, then I won’t have enough bits to support my sister and I…, my sister… AHH!!! Sweetie Belle!!! Don’t tell me she’s been alone all this time. I do hope she’s doing fine. No, I hope she hasn’t…”

“ENOUGH!” Twilight exploded then wilted. “It’s obvious that we all have important issues to take care of right now. But I don’t think we are in any condition to do anything until after a short nap.”

“Wait, Flurry Heart, I left her with Shining. I have to go…” Cadence yawned, cutting off the rest of what she wanted to say.

“Even when everypony returns, you still refuse to listen to my concerns.”

At that moment, a thought crossed Starlight’s mind that made her blood run cold.

“Um, Zecora, do you have a remedy for aches and pains?”

That question echoed throughout the room as the realization of what she was really implying dawned on everyone except the zebra and the dragon.

“My patience is starting to wear very thin, and now you’re complaining about…”

“Tell us something only the real Zecora would know,” Twilight said, dreading that she actually would.

With all eyes now on Zecora, she noticed the look of dread in their expression, not accusations. This made her take a deep breath to calm down, then she spoke, “I used to be feared by the Ponyville folk, but that was before you six stepped into Poison Joke.”

Despite Zecora being cleared, everyone’s fears were now confirmed.

“Oh, dear, this is bad. This is very, very bad,” said Rarity before she started to hyperventilate.

Spike and Zecora looked at them quizzically.

“Uh, don’t you mean that’s a good thing?”

“If by, ‘a good thing,’ means that all of us drank a mystery liquid given to us by a villain whose mind is bent on eliminating us at all costs? then yeah, everything is perfectly fine!” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically, “For all we know, that could have been poison *yawn*. So sleepy.”

Zecora’s gaze drifted to the bag on Twilights back as it moved back to its original position, “That bag, was it given to you by my double?” She asked.

Twilight looked at it, forgetting it was even there. “Uh, yes, why?”

“Because I have a sneaking suspicion.” The bag rose up on its own without the use of magic, “that there will soon be trouble.”

The bag turned itself upside down and spat out the book it had inside. Upon closer inspection, the two mismatched buttons now looked more like eyes, which then emphasized the rest of the facial features of the missing Draconequus.

“Discord? Why are you disguised as a saddlebag?” Fluttershy asked, somewhat relieved to see her mismatched friend again.

“Actually, I’m more bag than Discord, if that’s hard to believe.”

A leather strap shot out like a tongue and wrapped around everyone in the room, including Spike and Zecora. Next thing they knew, they were all swallowed into the impossibly large insides of the bag where the Lord of Chaos sat upon a throne. “Unfortunately, I can’t allow any of you to leave.”

“Discord!” Celestia said before yawning, “what is the meaning of this?”

“I was hoping to let you have more fun listening to Zecora’s rhyme, but alas, I’m sorry to say this is no longer playtime.”

“Guys, Discord rhymed twice,” Fluttershy said in a worried tone, “he’s not joking around.”

“Thank you, Fluttershy. Hopefully, that will be enough for all of you to take my word’s more seriously. Because what I have to tell you is very important, so listen carefully.”

Discord’s stern face fell as he saw how his fellow group members could barely keep their eyes open, let alone stand. With an annoyed snort, he snapped his paw, and everyone regained their liveliness, no longer exhausted.

“There, feel better? Perhaps now you can at least pay attention to what you need to do to free me along with the Great and Infuriating Trickster as well as a few others.”

“Waitwaitwaitwait.” Rainbow Dash flew up to confront Discord, “Just so we’re clear, are you evil again or not?”

“Haven’t you been listening, I’m not Discord, just a reconstruction created from nothing more than my magical residue with a time limit mind you.” He said, jabbing a talon at her muzzle, making it scrunch up.

Rainbow quickly slapped the appendage away before Discord continued. “The real me is practically being held against my... his will. Even though my prison is more than what even I could ask for. I would rather become lawn ornament for another millennium than spend one more second in this nightmare of a paradise.”

“Okay, so Trixie is with you.” Starlight paused for a moment putting the pieces together. “Wait, how are you trapped exactly, and by who, and how does Chrysalis fit in all this?”

“Again, time limit, though in any case, she was one of the ‘others’ I mentioned, along with Iron Will, Tirek, a Chimera, and most of the other monsters that were kept in Tartarus, Dr. Caballeron and Ahuizotl. I would include Sombra, but he’s not actually capable of leaving, really he’s more like an accessory that comes with the place rather than an actual individual.”

Discord then gave the look of one who had just had an afterthought.

“Oh, right, there’s also The Pony of Shadows, Nightmare Moon, Daybreaker, Flutter-Bat, some Sirens and Wendigos, two she-demons, the Storm King and a Harpy along with a mad pony called Cerebral Cortex. But don’t mind them, they’re more like an elite group of devoted followers then prisoners such as yours truly.”

It took a moment for Discord’s words to sink in. The group could not believe what they were hearing. Just about every notorious villain they’ve ever fought and then some were now under the command of a being with enough power to trap a Draconequus.

“Oh no, nu-uh, one evil villain is plenty for us to try and take care of,” Rainbow said for all of them, “but you’re telling us that we’re up against an entire army of them! How is that even… Hold it, if Nightmare Moon is there, does that mean…”

“That is the real Luna,” Discord reassured them, “The one behind all of this is called...” Discord gave a shiver of fear, “Retribution. Somehow, he managed to pull out the darker side of Princess Moony Butt, much like removing a weed. Wow, that didn’t roll off the tongue like I had hoped it would,” As he said that, his tongue extended out of his mouth as Luna’s cutie mark rolled out before he flicked it back to its rightful place.

Once they all returned their attention to Discord, he continued. “As for me, I lost a bet against him in a game of nonsense and logic. Now I’m stuck here as one of his minion slash pets.” He spat the last word out like it was a bad taste.

“But I don’t blame you for not recalling any of this, that memory mist is quite effective. The only reason I remember most of what’s happened is because I’m not me, just a magical reconfiguration that is starting to run low. From the time I saw on Twilight’s clock, we have less than fifteen minutes to…”

“Which clock? The one that’s ten minutes behind,” Spike said, grabbing everyone’s attention, “Yeah, I was about to readjust it to the right time, but then you guys teleported in. I never got around to it.”

“Th... Then… Then that means,” Discord looked at a ridiculously big pocket watch, “Holy smokes! We have less than five minutes left!”

Back in the castle’s guestroom, the saddlebag spat out everyone and began giving orders.

“Twilight, quick, grab the book that I was carrying and remove the paper connected to the back of the front cover.”

As she did so, Discord turned to give another order but grimaced when he heard the paper being torn.

“Twilight,” he said calmly, “I don’t blame you for not remembering, so please don’t take this personally.” Twilight was yanked off the ground and shook like a rag doll. “YOU’VE JUST DESTROYED OUR ONLY ESCAPE PLAN!!!”

A breeze started to fill the room as the bag continued to express its frustration, “We spent days, almost a week planning this out, and you had to rip it?! The plan was on the paper you needed to remove, not under it.”

The wind was getting more and more fierce as Discord continued, “I was this close to achieving my freedom, THIS CLOSE!! But someone had to ruin it, and now I may as well be trapped here for the rest of eternity!!”

A bright light started to shine, but Discord didn’t seem to notice. “After all that hard work, it’s now gone, GONE!! down the drain!” the light abruptly ended, and a lavender pony sat in the middle of a scorched crater.

“We had one shot at this Twilight! One… shot?”

“Make that two.” Everyone stared in bewilderment at the second Twilight that appeared in the room. The original Twilight was about to say something, but the newly arrived alicorn shoved her hoof into her mouth. “Don’t forget what happened last time I came from the future, it didn’t end well, because you didn’t… I didn’t listen to me.”

The future Twilight turned around and began what she came back to do.

“SPIKE! Bring as many quills and parchment as you can carry. Everypony, start taking as many notes as you can for as long as I’m here. This is my last-ditch effort to correct my previous mistake, and those notes are the only thing I have to go off of. You book now! Discord twenty-five seconds!”

The future Twilight quickly levitated six quills and began to write with all of them on a blank parchment. Once she was done, it was passed over to the original Twilight.

“I’m going to need you… me, Star Swirl, Cadence, Luna, Celestia, Starlight, Sunburst, and Sunset to cast this spell in the next fifteen seconds.”

“Wait,” Sunset interjected, not having used magic in years, “I can’t…”

“You can, I watched you do it a week ago, you’ve got this.” Next, she took the book and carefully removed the paper connected to the back cover without tearing it.

Star Swirl furrowed his brow. “This looks too complicated for…”

“Ponies who haven’t practiced it over and over for days on end like you all have, now be ready to cast it in five, four, three, two, ONE!”

Discord’s apparition created a rift in space, creating a portal in front of a row of books. The spell was cast, it felt natural, practiced, as easy as breathing as eight beams of light entered into it.

Future Twilight cast a separate spell and brought the light back through and into a pile of blank papers. The portal closed, and the magic was disrupted, leaving the saddlebag as just a bag once more. Everyone looked at what Twilight held in her aura. It was the journal that looked like the one Discord gave them.

“We went through all that trouble…?” Rainbow said with annoyance, “just so we can get the exact same book that we already had!?”

“Not quite,” Future Twilight said, opening it up and showing them the inside filled with writing from cover to cover.

“What we just did was only an experiment to retrieve an object from the other side of the mirror realm. The book will explain how that works in much greater detail. Anyway, this turned out to be a failure, and we only managed to copy what was on the other side, not transfer.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Starlight said, but Future Twilight answered before she got the chance.

“Retribution was able to pull Nightmare Moon out of Luna and Flutter-bat out of Fluttershy. You think he wouldn’t be able to recover Star Swirl’s time spell from…” She started glowing and releasing energy, indicating that her time was almost up.

“Ugh, if only I had more time. One last thing before I leave, Retribution will come. And when he does, none of us will see it coming until it’s too late. You just have to hang in there and stay strong…” with a flash, Twilight was forced back to her time.

“Am I the only one that feels like that last part wasn’t quite finished and intended for just one of us, or is that just me?” questioned Pinkie.

“I felt it too, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were true.” Twilight said after covering a yawn feeling, the draconequus’s magic leaving her almost as tired as when she went into the memory mist.

“Sweet Celestia! How many times are we going to… Zecora, I’m going to close my eyes for a few moments. When I wake up, I promise that we will all give you our undivided attention, okay? Okay.”

And with that, Twilight collapsed on the spot along with everyone else that went on the friendship quest. Celesta and Luna, unfortunately, had one last job to take care of before calling it a day.

Luna teleported Celestia and herself back to Canterlot Castle. Upon their arrival, one of their secretaries, Steady Quill, looked up from her work and looked almost stunned to see the pair there.

Ignoring her for the moment, the two sisters began to go up to the highest balcony the castle could provide and proceeded to lower the sun and raise the moon. But Steady intervened, “Oh, your highnesses, you’re back, are you ready to start the preparations for…”

“Steady Quill, please, not now,” Celestia said with a yawn, “I think Luna and I are going to be taking a few days off,”

Steady Quill sighed, “Oh good, I’m relieved to hear you say that.”

Surprised, the two sisters were expecting a lot of things, but their staff’s neutral tone wasn’t one of them.

“And I’m concerned to hear you say that. How come you’re relieved after our extended absence?” Luna inquired, despite her eyes fighting to stay open.

“You two have been doing week’s worth of work every day for the past week and a half. It’s a wonder you haven’t dropped dead of exhaustion. I mean, you’re over two months ahead of schedule with just about everything except the meeting with the Griffins next week and… Actually, now that I’m getting a better look at you, you’re both looking a bit…”

Celestia and Luna didn’t wait around to hear her finish. With one last push of energy, they ascended the stairway and reached the balcony.

“Sister,” Luna said, “I don’t know if I can stay awake much longer, I propose to discuss this matter in the dream realm. What say you?”

Celestia finished lowering the sun then turned to face Luna to answer, “I agree, but perhaps tomorrow night. I know how tiring it is to be in that place after just one day, and right now, we are in no condition to discuss any matter big or small. For now, sister, get some rest. There is a lot we need to catch up on.”

Exiting the balcony and entering her room, Celestia fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes, collapsing onto her bed.

Luna, as exhausted as she was, entered the dream realm despite her older sister’s wishes. Usually, this left the younger sister drained due to the fact she wasn’t really asleep. But this time was much different, she felt more energized than ever, feeling like she could do anything and more.

Under normal circumstances, this would have concerned her, but she was merely surprised after everything they’ve just gone through.

“This is strangely unexpected,” she stood on her hindquarters, expertly kicked the air in front of her with her forehooves a few times, and ended in a roundhouse kick. Once she was finished, Luna landed back on all fours. She stood there for a moment, wondering what the purpose of doing all of that was.

“That felt too natural for it to be a coincidence… Though, that is a matter for another time. For now, there is work to do.”

Despite her sister’s warnings and everything else telling her to stop, Luna had more important business to take care of. She intended to do it before sunrise.

Luna found Celestia’s door in no time. Upon her approach, the alicorn felt the strong pull of a nightmare escalating to the point where it would lead to devastating mental damage for the pony having it. Luna bolted to where the dream was occurring and entered.

Progress at Last

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“NO! Applejack, come back!”

No matter how hard Apple Bloom ran, her sister’s slow-paced steps put her farther and farther away. “Ah don’t want ya ta leave!”

The orange mare was becoming a speck in the distance, but it was as if she were right by her side when she spoke. “Ahm sorry, Apple Bloom,” she said, not turning towards her sister, “but ah can’t stay here anymore, it’s for the best.”

“NO! We need you, APPLEJACK!!!”

“Apple Bloom, this is only a dream,” Luna said, flying right next to her to keep up, “everything you see here isn’t real.”

Apple bloom screeched to a stop, “Princess Luna?”

The scenery abruptly changed to a void of nothingness with lights floating in the background. The frightened filly was now looking at the Princess of the Night with relief.

“Thank Celestia you’re here, ever since mah sister came back from the friendship quest a few days ago, she’s been gettin’ more and more distant from her own family. Her family!”

“Slow down, please. Let’s start from the beginning. You’re saying Applejack returned prior to this morning, how long ago was that. Please, this is very important.”

The yellow filly thought for a moment, “Uh… a day or so after yall left on your mission, why?”

“Was she alone when she returned, or was anypony else with her?”

“Everypony was with her. What are ya gettin’ at?”

“I have reason to believe that all who participated in that mission two weeks ago were replaced by someone or something.”

“Changelings!?” Apple Bloom exclaimed with surprise.

“No… Maybe, I can’t say for sure, but let me show you something.” Luna cast a spell to open the door back into the dream realm as to take her to her sisters’ dream, but the door that appeared was not the exit to Apple Bloom’s dream, but the entrance to Applejack’s. “That’s never happened before.”

“What’s never happened?”

“Later, right now, I believe someone is eager to meet you.”

“How could I let this happen?” Tears streamed down Applejack’s cheeks as she sat in front of the archway leading to Sweet Apple Acres, but instead of lush green apple trees as far as the eye could see, everything was a shriveled-up wasteland with the main house and barn looking as if it was abandoned years ago.

“I SHOULD HAVE BEEN THERE!!!” she started stomping the ground with her forehoof, “I never shoulda left em alone.” She looked back up to see a gravestone with the name Granny Smith.

She backed away only to hit another one, the name being Apple Bloom with Big Mac’s grave was next to hers’.

“No…No ahm sorry, ah…”

Looking back at the trees, she saw that they were all replaced with tombstones, each with a name belonging to a resident of Ponyville.

“Why… How could ah… This is all mah fault, ah should have done more, now everyone had ta suffer because of it.”

She set herself between her siblings’ graves, only for a tombstone with her name to raise out of the ground where she sat, and a forehoof rose out of her sister’s grave.

“No, please, ah did everything ah could! Ah was just in the wrong…” Apple Bloom continued to pull herself up from beyond the dead, as a darker hoof came from Big Mac’s.

“Ahm sorry, Ahm the one who…”

“Applejack, calm down,” Apple Bloom said, pulling her head above the ground, looking very much alive and not like a rotting corpse as Luna emerged from her brother’s grave. “This is just a dream.”

“A… a dream?”

“Yes, and there is something else that you must know as well, Apple Bloom?”

“Luna thinks that y’all might ta been replaced while you were on your quest.”

“Replaced?!” Applejack said, now sounding irritated, “what makes you so sure?”

“AJ, you’ve been actn’ strange all week. Yesterday ya said that ya had ta go away for a while. Ah was just hav’n a nightmare of ya leaving and never comin’ back no matter how fast ah ran towards ya.”

Applejack exhaled a long breath, “When ah find whoever thought they could take mah place, hurt mah family like that!” She grunted with anger in her voice, her eyes were dead set on revenge as her mane was set ablaze… literally in fact. “Ah will buck them THROUGH THE MOON!!!” with her mane back to normal, she locked eyes with Luna, “Luna, bring everypony into one dream like you did that one time.”

“Uh, Applejack,” The alicorn said, backing away slightly.

“Do it! Ah intend to get to the bottom of this once and for all!”

“Ah think you’re right, Luna, someone did replace AJ. Ah’ve seen her mad before but nowhere near anythin’ like this.”

“What are ya waitn’ for? Open the door to the dream whatever so we yall can figure out what the hay has been happen’ here!”

“Okay, but only after we get Celestia first,”

“Makes no difference to me, now open that door!”

Luna brought up Celestia’s dream and started to open it.

I usually have to pass through the dream realm. I could get used to traveling like this.

“Luna?” Celestia said on the other side, “What is the meaning of—”

“Ahm afraid Ah can’t allow that, well not yet at least,” A calm voice sounding like AJ’s spoke from behind. Everyone turned to see who it was finding another Applejack standing behind the tombstone with her name on it.

“Applejack, this is just a dream.”

“Now ya see, Princess, that’s where you’re wrong.” The other Applejack lifted her hoof and swiftly waved it once to the side. The door Luna summoned slammed shut and was obliterated.

“Would ya call a thousand years of banishment just a dream? How about every thought ya had of what you would do to your sister when ya returned?” the more she spoke, the less it sounded like AJ and more like a multitude of voices trying to imitate her.

“Can it, copycat!” AJ interrupted, “don’t you dare even think that for one, whoa—” the other Applejack twitched her head to the side, yanking the real one over the now open grave, dropping her in and closing it up.

The fake Applejack put her hoof on the headstone, pushed it forward, slamming it to the ground, and slowly walked forward. It gave up the farm slang all together with its next statement.

“How about every time you looked at Equestria when you were on the moon and thought of how you would make everypony that disregarded the miraculous night sky you sometimes spent days preparing, suffer for their crimes. And when they begged for forgiveness, you would stare at them and laugh. Is that what you would call, just… a… dream…?”

This creature may have been in Applejack’s dream, but the only way it could have known about the secrets Luna had is if it was more than just a nightmare.

“Luna, what’s happen’?” Apple Bloom said, trying to hide under the alicorn.

“I don’t know,” She replied, watching the imposter’s eyes turn black, which seeped onto her face and spread until she was fully covered, “but we need to run, now!”

Nightmare AJ cast a long shadow that went under their hoofs with a red face staring back at them, “I don’t think so.”

Tendrils of black shadows wrapped around the pony’s legs and started pulling them into the ground. “You honestly thought escaping from me would be that easy? How could you even consider something that ridiculous?”

Luna pulled against the darkness as she tried freeing herself. Distant ghastly wails and hideous cackling came from above, making Luna and Apple Bloom look up at the stary sky. However, the stars were moving at first appearing like water droplets reflecting light only to come to the conclusion they were alive.

Countless eyes stared back at them as an innumerable amount of creatures began their descent towards their trapped prey. “Oh, sisters. Let’s have some right good with these two delicious morsels.” The nightmare imposter said borrowing Applejacks southern twang once more.

With little hope in finding a way to escape, Luna looked at Apple Bloom and saw only one immediate opportunity.

“To answer thy question, it is because I am here to protect ponies from monsters like you!”

With a loud roar, she blasted the shadow surrounding the filly and wrapped her aura around the earth pony’s body. Afterward, Luna sliced a small rupture connected to the dream realm and tossed Apple Bloom through before it closed.

The yellow farm pony shot up in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs. She rapidly kicked her blankets until she fell off her mattress.

“LUNA!!! APPLEJACK!!!!”

Big Mac nearly busted the door off its hinges coming in to save her.

When he saw no real threat in the room, except for his hyperventilating sister he relaxed a little, “Calm down Apple Bloom do ya have any idea what—”

“Big Mac, Applejack in danger, so is Luna!”

The filly grabbed her saddlebag and started stuffing it full of whatever she could get her little hooves on into it, “Ah need to tell Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo! Ah, have ta—”

“Go back ta bed, it was just a nightmare.”

“Yeah, a nightmare that even Luna couldn’t—” she paused for just a moment frozen in place.

“Apple Bloom I know you’re worried about, AJ but can ya please—”

“Does that look like a nightmare to you!?” She exclaimed, pointing a hoof to a corner that was darker than what it should have been.

“Nope.”

“Your majesty! Princess! Wake up, it’s urgent,” Commander Cross Blades said, trying to wake her.

Celestia stretched her legs as she groggily awoke, rubbing the sleep from her eyes

“What’s the situation,” she asked, still not fully rested, but not as tired as last night thanks to millenniums of wake-up routines.

“It’s Luna, she’s… Uh… you better see for yourself.”

“Luna?”

Last night’s dream came rushing back. She had seen her sister enter her dream with a few others before she was cut off. She turned to the balcony and gasped, “Oh Luna, what have you gotten yourself into?”

The younger alicorn sister was encased in a globe of shadowy light, suspended as if she were in a lava lamp with inky black droplets coming and going off of her along with the edge of the barrier. However, the most unsettling part was her dull black eyes with veins rooted in her sockets and dark ooze protruding out of her mouth.

“What should we do?” asked a guard.

“Double the guard and tighten security. Make sure every last square inch of this castle is under constant surveillance at all times and report anything that looks even the least bit suspicious, and I mean anything!”

“RETRIBUTION!!” Cerebral Cortex bellowed, storming through the cavernous hallways, “Where is that harpy!?”

The pony reached the room he knew Retribution to be in and blew the colossal doors clean off. “She has gone too far this ti— by the stars, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!”

“YOU SAID IT YOURSELF SHE’S GONE TO FAR. WHEN I ASKED HER WHY SHE ACTED IN THAT MANNER SHE SAID…” Retribution landed a solid blow to her face leaving a head-shaped crater on the wall she was impaled on.

“These…ack… creatures are so easy to scare.”

“These creatures are my species and my only ticket to freedom!” Cerebral sneered.

“WERE YOUR SPECIES,” Retribution corrected, “IN CASE YOU’VE FORGOTTEN—”

“Forgotten!? I have spent countless millennias paying the price of my mistake! After I turned into… THIS!... I have been trapped in solitude until I crossed paths with you. But if that thing pulls another stunt like that, not only will the entire PLANET want to wage war against us but will want our heads displayed on their wall no matter what excuse we present!!”

“I’M AWARE OF THAT, WHICH IS WHY—”

“You’re no better treating her this way! She may have overdone it a little, but that doesn’t mean you should kill her!”

“I GAVE HER TWO CHOICES DEATH OR THE ALTERNATIVE.” Retribution struck her stomach hard enough to leave a hole followed by two alternation punches on her face. “SHE CHOSE THE ALTERNATIVE. OTHERWISE, I WOULDN’T BE USING PHYSICAL ATTACKS, YOU KNOW THEY HAVE NO EFFECT ON HER.”

“This madness! You have no right to gah—” Cerebral’s words halted as he felt his throat constrict before he lifted to Retribution’s face.

“IF YOU NEVER MET US, YOU WOULD STILL BE IN ISOLATION, AND WE WOULDN’T BE THIS CLOSE TO FREEING YOU. ON TOP OF THAT, WHERE I’M FROM, I HAVE A FEW SET RULES. SHE BROKE ONE OF THEM, THIS IS BEYOND EVEN YOU, SO STAY OUT OF THIS.”

He tossed Cerebral aside and released the harpy from the wall. Upon exiting the room, he stomped on her head, cracking it like a frail, brittle egg.

“DON’T MOVE UNTIL YOUR ABILITIES HAVE RETURNED, OR I WILL END YOU PERMANENTLY! COME CEREBRAL, THERE ARE STILL PREPARATIONS THAT NEED ATTENDING TO. I, HOWEVER, HAVE A MESS TO CLEAN UP.”

What was left of the harpy, lay motionless on the ground. Still very much alive but temporarily incapacitated from the use of her abilities.

She, or rather it, had existed since the beginning of existence, and its primary food source was the fear and panic others expressed. No amount of physical damage could kill the creature. However, it had one weakness, being scared, and there was only one being alive that could do that.

It has spent countless eons perfecting the art of terror and fright, but one day there was an individual it came across that had no fear. If anything, all she managed to do was angering him. But that was the same reason she would follow him to the end of reality till death do they part because even with all her experience, he was more terrifying than anything she could achieve.

“It has been two days, and they are still asleep,” Zecora said, looking at the lifeless lumps littering the room under the blankets Spike provided for them, some breathing softly others snoring loudly.

Frustrated, Zecora began to dig through her satchel, “this should wake them from their slumber, no matter how deep.” A vial was removed from the bag, and she pulled the cork quickly, covering her snout before putting it inches away from Rainbow Dash’s nose.

At that moment, Spike, who was outside watering the plants, smelled the worst stench that has ever entered his nostrils.

“Whew, where is that horrible smell coming from,” As he spoke, the flowers started to noticeably wilt., “It smells worse than a TimberWolf trying to use skunk spray as a toothpaste.” He quickly grabbed a towel and tied it around his mouth to dampen the smell as he started to look for the source. “Better get that cleaned before Twilight and the others wake up.”

Zecora stood dumbfounded as the pegasus only snorted and turned on her side, disregarding the putrid odor.

“I can’t believe this formula was so easy for them to dismiss.” She pulled out a cloth and poured a small amount of liquid on it, instantly soaking into the fibers, before setting the open bottle on a table, “however I would like to see them sleep through this.”

The cloth was placed directly on top of Twilight’s face. When the lavender alicorn inhaled, the tissue entered her nasal cavity making her snout twitch, followed by a sneeze launching it across the room. She rubbed her nose then, like the pegasus before her, she shifted into a more comfortable position and continued to sleep.

“How can this be? this makes no sense at all.”

During her state of absolute bewilderment, Spike, who found a gas mask, most likely stashed away by Pinkie, entered the room.

“Where is that horrible smell coming from?”

“Mostly from this vile and a little more on a cloth by that wall.”

The purple dragon tediously approached the cloth and put on a pair of gloves followed by another pair then proceeded to grab fire tongs to pick up the reached thing. He was about to leave before his eyes locked with the flames.

“No, wait! STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING!!! You don’t know the trouble you are brewing.”

“Gah! Why? What happens if I burn it?”

“Don’t get me wrong, that was a clever thought. But it wouldn’t be appreciated by those living in Canterlot.”

Spike instantly put himself between the flames and the fabric. “I’ll just… uh, bury it in the back somewhere.”

As the dragon left the room, he almost bumped into a yellow filly that had been staying at the castle with her family after their home became haunted by a nightmare come to life.

“P.U.! *cough* Spike, *gasp* where in the *cough* name of Tartarus *cough, gasp* did ya git that thing?!” her eyes instantly watering from the cloth that passed inches from her nose.

Down the hall, Big Mac opened a door wondering what his sister meant, “Nope.” His face was noticeably green as he covered his snout and closed the door.

The dragon looked at her through the mask, “Uh… Ask Zecora, she’ll know more a…”

“EW just *cough* just git rid of it already!! I *gasp* I can’t breathe. *cough, cough, cough*.”

Spike made a beeline to the outside air before the stench became permanently embedded into the walls. At the same time, Apple Bloom threw open every window she could reach, to breathe in the fresh, uncontaminated air.

“What in tarnation were ya tryn’ ta do, suffocate everypony? *cough* Better question, how can they yall still be asleep after that?”

“What amazes me is that this concoction I made was by far the best, but it was intended to wake any creature from even the deepest of rest.”

“I’ll say, that could wake up a hibernatin’ dragon… … by the way… uh how’s AJ doin’?” silence followed the highly concerned filly’s question.

Zecora sighed and drooped her ears. “I’ll at least say that her condition hasn’t gotten worse, but there’s nothing I can do to bring an end to her curse.”

“Well, ah hope the Princesses git here soon. They seemed pretty confident in the letter they sent us this mornin’.”

(Yesterday, several hours after sundown at the border of the Canterlot Castle grounds.)

Ever since Luna was attacked, all the royal guards were on high alert patrolling every available space they could occupy. However, in the midst of his patrols, Commander Cross Blades saw somepony who was not a guard heading in their direction.

“Halt! By order of Princess Celestia, turn around now or face the consequences.”

Although his face didn’t show it, he cringed on the inside mainly because the pony he was speaking to was a young pegasus filly that almost looked old enough to start school.

Her coat was so black she was virtually nothing but a silhouette, but a few things made something about her seem off. One of them being her mane, which somehow flowed in an ethereal way, looking like it was part of a nebula from space. Another was the chrome armor she wore that looked very functional and even covered her wings in what appeared to be blades. The last unusual thing were her eyes. They shone as brilliant as the moon, showing that she was unquestionably blind, making him wonder if she was just disoriented and in need of some direction.

“Sorry, but the consequence of leaving would be greater than if I don’t do as you say,” the strange pony said, not slowing her pace in any way.

“Uh, are you sure you’re not lost?” questioned the Commander.

She stopped directly in front of the group of guards that had gathered upon hearing the warning. “Is this not Canterlot Castle?” the filly asked as if she already knew the answer.

If she didn’t have their attention before she did now, “uh, yea, it is.”

Slowly she stood on her hind legs and reached behind her head, pulling out what looked like a short letter opener made of smoothly polished rock held in her hoof as she took a fighting stance.

“Then I suggest you stay out of my way,” Her voice, as small as it was, had more than enough determination behind it to motivate the entire Equestrian army tenfold.

The instincts of the seven guards present told them to defend the castle and fight the intruder. But how could they when it was a blind filly dressed in an expensive-looking costume. However, three of the guards stuck to the protocol and raised their spears, one of which lunged forward.

The young pegasus swiftly dodged the spear, missing her by mere millimeters. She cut off the spear tip with the blades on her wings and grabbed the weapon’s shaft. She kicked it with enough force to snap the pole in two with a spinning motion, breaking it against the head of the guard who attacked, sending him flying through a brick wall.

Once the other guards got over the shock of what just happened, they saw that the filly had glided almost halfway across the castle grounds at an astonishing speed.

Cross Blades stumble to find the right words to use, “I… uh… th… se… SECURITY BREACH!!! A hostile intruder is heading towards the castle! Don’t let her appearance fool you, and don’t underestimate what she’s capable of!”

Pegasi guards and bat ponies swooped down from the sky to intercept the trespasser. They also shot arrows at the assailant, only to either have the incoming fire blocked or the guards that did manage to get in front of her incapacitated with ease.

In no time, the armored filly made it to the castle, and with one leap, began to scale the wall. She used her wings to create a downforce air current, which allowed her to gallop straight up the side like it was flat ground, knife in her mouth.

When she reached an open balcony on the higher floors, a bat pony stallion dive-bombed right into her but ended up being body-slammed when they touched the ground.

Guards ponies stationed on the other side of the door in the hall looked into the room to see what all the commotion was. They found the young filly inside with one of their fellow guards in a pony-shaped crater on the floor. She took the knife out of her mouth and grabbed a second stone blade as spells began to fly towards her.

Cross Blades immediately teleported into Celestia’s room and quickly rushed to her side.

“Your Highness, we’re under attack.”

“By who, what do they look like?” She almost demanded instantly dropping what she was working on before the interruption.

“Uh, that I’m still trying to figure that out myself, but it appeared to be an armored filly from what I saw.”

Confused, Celestia instinctively walked over to a mirror and found herself casting a spell unknown to her, but in doing so, it gave her a visual on the situation at hoof.

General Snowcap Summit was an enormous pegasus whose size could only be challenged by Rockhoof, but he was an eye-level or two taller even then. Also, the fact that he came from the original Crystal Empire guard meant he was almost twice as muscular as said earth pony due to his training. And right now, all of that muscle and power was angrily interrogating the many defeated Royal Guards.

“Explain to me how all of you, Canterlot’s finest, were overpowered by a blind, filly, infant!”

“*Cough* she’s… stronger than she looks?” said one of the injured guards, cringing to the fact that he knew his excuse wasn’t going to cut it.

The general sighed, putting a hoof to his face, “First, somepony needs to be put in timeout, and once I’m done grounding them, we need a meeting to talk about our response approach and protocol.”

He turned to look towards the castle spires and found the area where the intruder currently was at. His wings opened in a flash, and he shot forward like a crossbow bolt, determined to stop the intruder where they stood.

Celesta watched the filly work her way through the castle deflecting spells and easily overpowering the guards. “I wonder what she’s— wait, are those...?” the princess focused on the weapons the black pegasus wielded.

“That’s not possible!”

“What’s the matter?” Cross Blades asked, trying to see what Celestia was talking about.

¹“Those blades, they appear to be fabricated from the former changeling throne. One of its abilities, if I recall, was that it could negate all magic spells no matter how powerful they were, so if they are what I think they are, who had the idea of weaponizing such a dangerous object, and how did she get possession of them? Unless… she works for Retribution.”

As they continued watching the mirror, General Summit crashed through the wall in front of the attacker.

The massive pegasus came to a screeching halt as sparks flew from the hoof claws strapped to his forelegs, his eyes glaring furiously at the intruder.

“Playtime is over, this ends now!”

“My reason for being here does not concern you,” she said, unperturbed by his sudden appearance.

“It does when you attack the guards I trained, invade the castle I have sworn to protect and threaten the princesses’ safety. Now I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m going to if that’s what it will take to stop this madness.”

Without a word, he pulled out a massive war hammer and stood his ground. “Besides, isn’t it past your bedtime?”

“Madness?” she said calmly, “Compared to what I’ve been through, you don’t stand a chance against me,” said the filly getting into an equally strong posture.

General Summit swung the hammer down hard, cracking the ground on impact, missing his target somewhat on purpose just to be intimidating. However, it backfired when the filly ducked under the hammer and kicked the handle from his grip.

Snowcap barely dodged the handle coming towards his face and watched the filly snap it off the head like it was a toothpick.

Effortlessly, the handle was tossed into the air and kicked straight towards Snowcap, who dodged just in time to watch it get impaled deep into the floor.

When he turned back, the general only had enough reaction time to block the onslaught of wing blades with his hoof claws. The incoming attack was powerful enough for him to have to start backing up, at least until his leg hit the embedded weapon handle, and he lost his balance.

Celestia and Cross Blades watched the two go at each other for a while longer, both worried that nothing would stop the attacker, but that raised a question for the princess.

“Where was she first seen arriving?”

“I was the one who spotted her on the southwest side of the castle grounds.”

“Southwest? And judging by the path she’s taking, it looks like… *Gasp* Luna!” The image of her defenseless sister trapped inside of the sphere of shadowy light popped into her head.

“Say no more I’ll get every guard there is down there immediately.” Cross Blades sprinted to the door and down the hall, Celestia yelling out to him.

“I’ll meet you there, but first there’s something I need to do. Stall for as long as you can!”

“Yes, your majesty!”

General Summit had lost most of his armor by now, straps cut loose by the blind filly’s swift strikes, and peeled away like an orange skin. He had also taken quite a beating, one that would bring any normal stallion to his knees, but he wasn’t one to give up easily.

He leaned against the wall panting hard with sweat dripping down his face looking at his attacker who didn’t seem to be the least bit exhausted.

“I’m not *pant* going to lie *pant*. I thought this would be easier *gasp, pant*. Can you at least *pant* tell me what your name is?”

“If it makes any difference, you can refer to me as Rogue Nebula, and for the record, you are by far the most persistent pony I have ever fought.”

“You’re one to talk,” Snowcap said, getting his breath back, “out of all the opponents I’ve faced, they’re the ones looking like this after I’m done with them. Who trained you?”

“I’m self-taught.”

“At that age? what are you like five?”

“You’re wasting my time, excuse me while I finish what I came here for.” Nebula started to walk towards the general intending to walk past him.

“Oh, ho ho no. I’m not done with you.” He said, pulling out a broadsword. “don’t think I’ll let you just walk away like that.”

He heard her sigh as she stood back on her hind legs and said something that made him nervous, “So be it, this time, I won’t be holding back as much as I have been.”

As the royal guards gathered in front of the room Luna was in, they could feel the castle structure shake from the fierce battle between Snowcap Summit and Rogue Nebula.

“Cross Blades, sir, all the guards received the message to arrive here and are on their way. They should be here shortly.”

Celestia teleported in front of Cross Blades and the gathering of guards. She now wore a full suit of armor that she had hoped would never be needed again, but it felt necessary to put it to use once more due to recent circumstances.

“Your majesty,” said the guard saluting, “Snowcap is still fighting the intruder, now identified as Rogue Nebula, and every royal guard we have will soon—”

A loud crash was heard followed by a gargantuan pegasus being thrown through the wall, into the mass of gathered ponies, and into the room Luna currently occupied.

The general erupted into a fit of sickly coughs, taking in raspy breaths as he tried to stand but failed on every attempt. He noticed Celestia making her way towards him.

“Forgive me, princess, I *cough, cough, cough* I let my guard down and *cough, cough* failed in my duty as a soldier.” He gritted his teeth, wincing in pain, and grabbed his side.

“Don’t apologize,” she said calmly, trying to comfort the beaten and broken warrior. “I’ll take things from here, for now, I think you should take it easy and tend to your injuries.” She turned her attention to her opponent.

The armored filly calmly strode past where the guards used to be and through what was once a doorway without a scratch on her. Watching this made the alicorn ruler give a hostile look with a hatred she hasn’t shown in centuries.

“So, I assume you’re the one called Rogue Nebula?”

“Yes, now if you would just step aside—”

“NO!” Celestia erupted using the Royal Canterlot Voice, and she was just getting started, “You will NOT lay a hoof on my sister! If you think you can waltz into my castle, threaten my subjects’ safety without consequence, and just walk away, YOU ARE WRONG!!” She released a gust of magic to show her power, but Nebula looked less than unimpressed.

“If that’s all you’ve got, then I’m afraid your chances of victory are just above nonexistent.” Nebula stared ahead with her empty eyes tossing a stone blade into the air, which landed at Celestia’s feet.

This confused the alicorn backing away slightly from the dreaded knife, not daring to touch it in any way. Her focus wavered for a brief moment in confusion, but she quickly regained it.

“What are you waiting for, make your move!”

“I did, now it’s your turn.”

Snowcap and Cross Blades saw the gesture and realized what she was trying to do. “Princess, be careful *cough, cough*.”

“He’s right, her deceitfulness knows no bounds.”

“I’m aware of that, now please let me concentrate,” she muttered, drawing her sword from its scabbard and reading herself for anything. But the filly just stood there unresponsive and waiting.

“What is it going to be, Princess?” Nebula began to approach at a steady pace, “It’s your choice, so choose carefully.”

Celestia reached out her magic to imprison the seemingly vulnerable filly, but the spell she cast slipped around and avoided the pegasus.

“If that’s the way you want it,” Nebula said, feeling the deflected spells, “Then it shall be done.”

With a jump and a kick, the other stone knife was hurled past Celestia before she could react, and towards Luna with terrifying power and speed.

“NOOOO!!!” Celestia instantly cast every protective spell she knew around her sister in desperate hopes that it would alter the trajectory, slow it down, or anything to stop it from reaching its target. One by one, the barriers were nullified, and it reached Princess Luna in mere moments.

With a newfound rage, The Princess of the Sun returned her fiery gaze to her sister’s attacker and was now able to use her magic since the daggers were no longer being wielded.

Celestia locked Nebula up in magical chains and shackles, tying them around her body, strapping her against a pillar and muzzled her for good measure.

“THE CRIMES YOU HAVE COMMITTED SHALL BE—” Coughing and gagging was heard from behind, silencing the almighty ruler.

She looked at Luna and saw a thick gooey puddle with a slime-covered shaky alicorn in the middle of the mess.

“Luna?”

Within an instant, she ran to her sisters’ side as every able-bodied guard surrounded the trapped filly weapons drawn and at the ready.

“Are you alright?” she asked as she quickly wrapped her hooves around her sister, not caring that she was covered in whatever mucus now plastering the floor, simply glad Luna was free. That’s when she saw the stone knife stuck on the banister of the overhanging balcony.

“Don’t swallow.” Nebula said through her facial restraint.

“SILENCE!” One of the guards delivered a cruel blow across her face with the pommel of his sword. “After all the damage you caused, why should—”

“Wait.” Celestia ordered quieting the guard, her attention then returned to Luna, “How are you feeling? Are you hurt?”

“We… I have seen better days, but I—” Luna tried to gulp, but it got stuck in her throat and came back up, causing her to vomit a few times, followed by more coughing.

“I did warn you.”

“Another word from you and I’ll—”

“Stand down, let me speak with Rogue Nebula,” Celestia said with authority, as she approached the guards moved over and allowed her passage.

Now eye level with the pitch-black pegasus, the princess eyed her carefully. “I’m going to ask a few questions, and I want the truth.”

With a single glimmer from her horn, the muzzle spell released and added a new one that made a ring appear around her captives’ neck.

“The last time I used this spell was a millennium ago and as painful as it is for me to use it, it was never intended to be cast on one so young.”

“The Collar of Sincerity, designed for the most dangerous criminals long ago. Just one lie is all it takes to strangle whoever it is being used on to death.”

Celestia was stunned by the filly’s calm demeanor and knowledge of the enchantment. And despite the apparent threat of imminent death, she continued.

“I understand. You want nothing short of direct answers.”

Once the alicorn got over her temporary state of shock, she asked the first question, “What reason did you have to attack my palace.”

“No matter how I looked at it, it was the only way to accomplish my end goal, which was freeing Luna from the curse she was under. Sneaking in would have taken too long with the unicorn guards, and reasoning with any of you was out of the question because none of you would have believed me.”

“You could have said you were here to help, so why didn’t you just say so?”

“You’re telling me that I could have walked up to any guard or servant and asked them to let me pass so I could stab their princess with my knife? My apologies I’ll make sure to do that next time.”

Upon hearing that, everypony except Celestia erupted into uncontrollable laughter. One of them, barely having enough air to speak, “We wouldn’t have let you take… another… … step.”

As quickly as it started, the laughing ended. What she said was true. If she had told them that, then like she said before, the end result would have been no different than what it currently was.

Now it was Celestia’s turn to laugh, which began as a chuckle. “Oh, now, I understand. It would be rather difficult to believe that a knife could solve our problem, that is quite the predicament.” She continued to laugh for a little longer before it slowly died down into a warm smile. “Another question, are you or do know—”

“Princess excuse my bluntness, but I will only answer direct questions. So, for both of our sakes be specific, and get to the point.”

Celestia’s smile quickly faded as she regained her serious demeanor. “Alright, do you work for the one called Retribution?”

“I work for no one, If I need more than myself to get something, then I’m the one calling the shots.”

“Do you know anything of Retribution?”

“Retribution and I are equally matched. And just so we’re clear, you and I are after the same goal even though our paths to get there may differ significantly. If you want more information on what I know, I’ll let you ask whatever you want, but keep in mind some of that information is best left alone, Warrior of Ever Dawn.”

“That information is supposed to be—”

“Secret? If you’re allowed to have secrets, then shouldn’t I keep a few as well?”

Celestia knew Nebula wasn’t lying but felt that she still wasn’t actually answering her questions.

“It makes sense now why you acted the way you did. However, it will take some time to fully gain our trust. On top of that, you still need to make up for all my injured guards. One last question, how did you know about Luna?”

“Compared to me, princess, you’re the one who’s blind. Without my eyes, I can see more than what you could ever wrap your head around. As for the guards, how about we make a deal? If you find one pony, who can truthfully claim and prove that I attacked them first or find any injury that wasn’t caused by blunt force, I will accept any punishment you can think of, death penalty included.”

“Deal.” And with that, all the binding enchantments were broken, releasing Rogue Nebula from bondage.

“Feel free to escort me wherever you deem necessary.”

“Sister, wait! There’s another pony that could use her aid.”

“And who might that be?” Celestia asked quizzically.

“Applejack, she was attacked as well, can you do that for us?”

Nebula gave Luna a sideways glance. “Bring me to her.”

The Calm Before The Storm

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Spike opened the door to let the sister rulers in.

“Luna!”

Apple Bloom smiled when the Princess of the Night walked in. “Ahm so glad to see you’re okay! So, where’s this pony you said would help?”

The next group that came in was half a dozen guards surrounding a black pegasus filly with a saddlebag and a not as beat up pegasus giant with a limp.

“Whoa, what’s with all the guards,” Spike asked in Apple Bloom’s place. “And happened to you, did you get in a fight with a group of yaks?”

The guards were still skeptical towards trusting the now unarmored filly and offered to accompany them.

“I’d… rather not talk about it.” Snowcap had insisted on coming because he was the only one who had lasted the longest against the filly and was willing to provide as much time as he could if necessary, even if it was a few seconds.

“Take me to Applejack, and let’s get this over with,” Rogue Nebula practically demanded.

“Wow straight to the point hu, mah sister is this way,” said Apple Bloom, leading them down a corridor. “Ya know, when ah was told somepony would help us, ah didn’t expect… uh.”

“A blind pegasus who seems to be younger than you? I thought you learned that appearances can be deceiving and not to judge others from the way they look.”

“Yeah, that…”

Luna tried to keep the conversation going, “Don’t take it personally, I too learned rather quickly she’s not much of a talker. Not to mention, I’ve had it up to here with her attitude.”

“How’d you two meet anyway?” Applebloom asked, realizing she’d get more out of the princess then the pint-sized pegasus.

Luna paused to find the right words without scaring the farm pony. “Perhaps I’ll tell you another time, but I assure you if anypony can aid your sister in her time of need, Rogue Nebula is the only one I’m aware of who can get it done… properly anyway.”

“Ah’ll take your word for it, AJ’s in here.”

The yellow earth pony opened the door showing a bed with a restless orange mare sweating buckets and grunting heavily, thrashing against the restraints put on her to avoid self-injury. Being in whatever never-ending nightmare, she was thrown into was beginning to take its toll on her.

“I need to get closer.” Nebula informed the guards, prompting them to open up to make a pathway while still putting themselves between her and anyone else in the room.

When she was at the foot of the bed Rogue Nebula climbed up and said what needed to be done, “Hold her still while I remove what’s causing the distress, Apple Bloom.” A stone knife was pulled out from the bag. “Wait outside with Celestia until the screaming stops.”

“Wait, what do ya mean by—” The yellow filly was cut off by Celestia putting her hoof in front of her.

“Promise us that Applejack will live.” The alicorn said sternly.

“I don’t make promises that I can’t keep,” Nebula responded as she began leisurely tracing the tip of the blade on Applejack’s stomach and chest as a few guards held her steady. “However, I give you my word that I will do everything in my power to make sure she survives.”

The knife hovered over the midsection of her left side ribcage as the pegasus placed both hooves firmly on the handle.

“Now, get out before you see something you regret.”

Before Apple Bloom could retaliate, Celestia lifted the filly off the ground and stepped out of the room, closing the door. As the door clicked shut, they heard Applejack scream.

“What is she doing to her?! Celestia, is mah sister going to be okay?” Apple Bloom asked. Celestia was about to respond when a louder scream erupted from within the room, causing the poor filly to cover her ears in a vain attempt to block out the shrieks.

“Ah don’t know how much more of this ah can take.”

Celestial agreed despite only leaving the room less than a minute ago, “Nor do I.”

After several minutes with the screaming refusing to cease, the princess decided to enter the room to make sure Nebula was staying true to her word.,

She turned to Apple Bloom, still trying to protect herself from the sounds, tears leaking from her eyes.

“Give me a moment while I—” her words were cut off by the sight of a dagger flying through the cracked open door, lodging itself into the wall. To their horror, a black sludge was stuck on the blade viciously wriggling as it started to pop and sizzle burning away in the sunlight, it was making a sound like it was dying in agony until nothing was left.

Celestia and Apple Bloom whipped their heads around and looked into the room while hearing two sets of rapid hoof steps running down the hall. Applejack was now relaxed to the point of barely taking shallow breaths, her eyes looked glassy as they gazed at the general direction of the opened door.

“A… pple… Bloom,” was all she managed to say before her whole body went limp.

Big Mac and a white earth pony in a hospital uniform skidded around the corner.

“I heard screaming is everything okay?” asked Nurse Redheart only to see the alicorn ruler and the farm filly frozen in place with appalled looks on their faces.

Assuming the worst, both the stallion and mare bolted to the doorway and looked inside their pupils shrinking from what they saw. A small army of guards surrounded the bed Applejack was in as an out of place pegasus filly slipped an object back into her bag, obviously trying to hide what it was from all the onlookers.

She hopped down from the bed and began to walk towards the exit.

“Cut her loose and make sure she bleeds out for a little while before stitching her back up. I don’t want to risk an infection to happen, nor do I want to take any chances that a part of that parasitic curse was left inside. That being said,” the filly turned her head and seemed to stare directly at Redheart, “clean the cut I made with alcohol and expose it to sunlight for the next two minutes at the least.”

Snapping out of her stunned trance, Redheart rushed over to Applejack.

“Is… is she?” Apple Bloom couldn’t bring herself to ask what she wanted because she was afraid of what the answer would be.

Redheart quickly began looking over the still unconscious mare. “Heart rate, normal. Breathing average. Body temperature stabilizing. If this keeps up, I think she’ll be fine.”

A huge sigh of relief was given by everypony in the room.

Luna put herself between the Rogue Nebula and the doorway and asked in a harsh tone, “Was it really that necessary to be so… so ruthless with handling this situation?”

“If I were any slower or more careful, I would have had to chase that thing around repeatedly stabbing until I got lucky. Is that what you wanted?”

The moment she said that, the image of her practically mutilating the orange mare popped into their minds. Luna was about to retort when a thought occurred to her.

How can one so young be this calm about a situation I find revolting to discuss at all?

At that moment, she saw a glimpse of herself in the pegasus, Luna then asked a question that was more rhetorical than genuine. “You’re hurting inside, aren’t you? What terrible iniquity did you experience to make you this heartless?”

Rogue Nebula seemed to give a hostile look at the Princess of the Night as she responded, “You will never be old enough to understand what I had to go through.” Her pure black coat hiding the majority of her expression if she was giving one at all.

Upon hearing that, every pony present in the room felt a twinge of remorse and pity towards the filly.

“Perhaps it would be wise if I were to check the others for any signs of foul play.” She said, resuming to exit the room, then added, “I heard them snoring on my way here and don’t worry, I’m not planning on cutting anyone else unless it is necessary to do so, with your permission of course.”

Nebula jumped high enough to flip-kick the stone knife free from the wall and landed opening her saddlebag, catching it as it fell.

The walk to the rest of the sleeping ponies was done in silence, when they arrived, a sharp smell stung their nose.

“Uh, sorry about the smell,” Spike said, wearing an apron, rubber gloves, and a face mask using the strongest cleaning solutions available to the public. “Zecora was trying to wake everypony up using a formula she made, and I got to say that is some potent stuff. I just barely got the smell off the floor where a handkerchief with a few drops on it landed.”

A few eyes looked towards the zebra, while Celestia wordlessly opened up the windows to their fullest and cast a spell to create a cross breeze to aerate the room.

“They’re fine,” Nebula stated after only a few seconds of observation. “Luna, I strongly suggest that you visit them in the dream realm.”

“What!? Why would you consider such a reckless act, need I remind you of that creature that we… that I barely escaped from with my life along with Applejack and Apple Bloom?”

Nebula reached into her bag and pulled out an item, quickly tossing it to Luna, who caught it with her magic and immediately recognized what it was.

“A dream catcher?” She asked in the most unamused tone she has ever used at what seemed akin to a pun inspired prank.

“Now that my work here is done, I’ll be on my way.”

“Before ya leave,” Apple Bloom spoke up, “Uh, could you maybe take care of… Uh, well, my brother and I would like ta go home, but there’s somth’n there that we don’t wanna risk runn’n into if it’s still hang’n around. We left so fast we didn’t have time ta pack or anyth’n, Big Mac just grabbed me an Granny then jumped through the window… and some of the wall.”

“Eyup,” said the red stallion rubbing his shoulder.

“But we can’t stay here much longer, we’ve gotta git back to our farm, them apples ain’t gonna buck themselves off our trees.”

“Eyup.”

Nebula closed her eyes and sighed, showing the first sign of any kind of emotion, even though it was annoyance.

“I’ll agree to take a look, but if I continue to fix every little issue that you can’t solve, you may as well step down from your thrones and hand your crowns over to me.”

“Okay, you just crossed the line.” General Summit said, not wanting to tolerate Nebula’s arrogant behavior any longer. “I’ve had enough of you! You think you can just go wherever you want, do whatever you feel like and just walk away without facing the consequences of your actions.”

“You do realize that without my help, Luna would still be imprisoned by that curse, and the condition Applejack was in, she wouldn’t have survived by sunrise tomorrow. If you want my opinion, you wouldn’t last a day in my line of work.”

“Silence both of you!” Luna said, trying to end the argument before it escalated.

Summit, however, refused to back down. “Sorry princess, but this time I’m not going to back down because this toddler thinks they can take your place after solving a few issues.” He turned his attention towards the filly. “As for you, you little brat, I doubt there’s anything you can handle that I can’t.”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Very well, challenge accepted,” Nebula delivered a swift kick to a table, causing a bottle that Zecora, Spike, and Apple Bloom recognized to fall off and shatter on the ground.

Shining Armor got out of his chariot carrying Flurry Heart and began walking up the steps to his sister’s castle. Without warning, a wall of the vilest stench he had ever smelt, hit him like a brick wall causing his face to turn green and the baby alicorn to puke on his uniform.

Not even a second after the disgusting odor washed over them, the doors to the crystal palace flew open with half an army sprinting out at light speed, slowing down the moment they got outside choking and coughing up a storm.

Shining cast a spell to put a bubble of fresh air around him as his eyes began to water, but the smell was already stuck in his nose.

“You had to provoke her, didn’t you!?” he heard Luna say between sputtering gasps. Without warning, a liquid-like bubble encompassed the entire castle. “That should stop the smell temporarily until proper measures can be taken.”

“Zecora… Never… Again.” Spike said with a hint of anger.

“I agree, this is too much even for me.”

“I don’t think we have enough cleaning supplies to wash this out, how did you even manage to make something this strong in your hut?”

“The smell is a reaction weeks after it was sealed from the air, it isn’t easy to make, and takes a lot of care.”

“What is *cough* going on?” Shining Armor asked, grateful that he could use his daughter’s vomit to mask the earlier stench.

“Why don’t you ask her,” General Summit said, pointing a hoof towards the castle entrance. Nebula slowly trotted out and approached the edge of the protective barrier before stopping. “How?”

“I thought you said you could handle anything I could,” she said, her neutral expression never leaving her face.

“I wasn’t talking about this.”

“What difference does it make? I handled it, and you didn’t.” Nebula took in a slow deep breath through her nose and exhaled as if she actually enjoyed the odor before continuing. “If anything, all this managed to do is remind me of something I had to eat one time. Might I also mention that the taste was even worse than the smell.”

Hearing her say that proved too much for over half of the ponies causing them to lose their stomach contents, Snowcap turned green.

“Why?”

Nebula walked through the thick watery barrier before responding, “I’m still alive, aren’t I? Would you be willing to go that far? I already have.”

“Fine, you win. You win!”

Nebula gave a sigh. “I’m going to Sweet Apple Acres to investigate the farmhouse. Once my analysis is complete, I will leave any remaining issue that arises for you to handle.”

She began to leave as the Apple Family followed, along with some of the royal guards to keep an eye on her until the very end.

“Ookayy? So, will somepony tell me what just happened?” Shining said, waving a hoof in front of his nose.

Luna started explaining first, “perhaps it would be best if—” coughing could be heard as an alicorn rushed out of the castle. When they got on the other side of the odor shield, they started to breathe in clean air like it was going out of style.

“How d*cough*id that horrible sm*cough*ell not wake*cough* up anypony *coug*else,” Cadence said, relieved to be in a more habitable environment.

“Glad to see you’re okay... honeybun,” Shining Armor said with a stern look on his face. After Chrysalis’s first appearance, the couple came up with code words to avoid another incident like the wedding, and he just used one of them

Cadence gave a concerned look before hugging him, making Shining tense up. “You silly stallion, I’m sorry for scaring you like that.” A tear running down her cheek as Flurry joined in on the fun. “I wasn’t planning to be away for so long, but why would you think I’m not me?”

Shining Armor relaxed with a sigh “I’m just glad Celestia sent me that letter explaining what happened, I thought I was losing my mind. Apparently, after you left for the friendship quest, you and everypony you were with were replaced.”

Cadence gasped in shock, though Shining was far from done with his explanation.

“That’s not the scary part. The scary part was you actually were you. I confirmed it on multiple occasions. Whenever I tested you, you just laughed it off. But you were also… distant. I could tell you were keeping things from me, and you spent a lot of time alone, and I mean a lot.”

“I wouldn’t keep things from you, you know I’m not like that.”

Shining handed the baby alicorn, who was eager to be with her mom, over to his wife.

“I know, but I’m just getting started. What terrifies me most of all is that the only reason I believe you right now is because of Flurry Heart. The moment you came back a couple of weeks ago, she wanted nothing to do with you. At first, I thought she was being fussy, you know how she gets.”

As if to emphasize his point, the baby alicorn gleefully clung to her mother, acting as though they really had been separated for weeks.

“After a while, though, I became suspicious. Other than keeping to yourself more than usual, nothing was out of the ordinary. Personality-wise you were the same old you, and you had the same memories and secrets only we know.” He paused and gave a chuckle. “Talking about it now makes me realize just how scary it was being around you. Anyway, enough about that, mind telling me what was going on earlier and who was that pegasus?”

Luna began explaining to him what happened, starting from when they awoke in the Everfree Forest and ending with how Rough Nebula helped Applejack, while Celestia and the guard ponies began strategizing how to eradicate the odor within the castle like it was the most dastardly villain in all of Equestria.

In the middle of her explanation, Luna stopped and looked around. “Come to think of it, where’s Nurse Redheart? I don’t see her out here.”

As if on cue, another figure emerged from the castle entrance wearing a full-body hazmat suit with a rebreather mask. Upon exiting the containment spell, they removed the mask, revealing it to be nurse Redheart who looked more than a bit perturbed

“Either you get my patients out of that level 5 biohazard environment or mark my words, I will personally see to it that you will never live this down, alicorn or not!”

“Uh, I just remembered.” Shining Armor reached into a pocket on his uniform and pulled out an envelope quickly, handing it to Cadence, “I came over here to personally give this to you. Now that I’ve done that, I think it’s time to—”

“Oh no you don’t,” Redheart said, stopping him in his tracks. “If you’re here, you’re helping. End of story!”

“Why Shining dear,” Cadence chimed in with a smile. “What was it we were just talking about… my little sunshine?”

He turned around with a sheepish grin on his face. “Hehe, I guess you caught me… ladybug.”

“Silver Hilt,” Celestia said, the guard quickly standing at the ready. “How soon can we get the equipment needed to begin the operation.”

The unicorn guard’s horn lit up, and an array of the strongest cleaning supplies in existence and full-body outfits equipped with oxygen tanks appeared in front of them.

“Ready and waiting your highness.”

“Just out of curiosity, where did you find that suit you’re wearing Nurse Redheart?” asked Spike.

“This was in a vase I knocked over when… Oh, no!”

Redheart’s eyes widened as her attention was now focused behind everyone making them turn their heads. A figure that just came into view was slowly making their way to the group, and it didn’t take a doctor to know that they needed immediate medical attention.

The next three days were spent washing, scrubbing, rinsing, cleaning, and emptying the castle to eradicate the odor from every last item it came into contact with, including all the books. During that time, the sleeping ponies slowly woke up one by one while Luna, somewhat reluctantly, held a meeting with all the ponies involved with the friendship quest in their dreams. Doing so allowed her to bring each individual up to speed to what was happening with their daily lives.

Rainbow was put on vacation as a reward for her stunning performance in the air show she never attended, nearly pulling off a double sonic rain-boom and was pardoned for her unknown absence with Luna’s help.

Rarity was glad her sister hadn’t burned her boutique to the ground or worse sold it. Instead, the unicorn’s business was at present overshadowing even her biggest name brand rivals. And had a new department specifically designed to create a clothing line for all different kinds of species, including breezies, griffins, dragons, changelings, minotaurs, and even diamond dogs, to name a few.

As for Twilight, a new wing in the museum of ancient history was currently under construction due to her recent discovery of an ancient civilization that outdated even the oldest pre-Equestrian cities.

Among the rest of the group, two things remained consistent. Their lives were drastically made more comfortable at the expense of distancing themselves from their closest friends and family.

Furthermore, a promised discussion with Zecora was scheduled in the dream realm in which she said, “After the rumors began escalating, I did a little investigating. And as I feared, the Alicorn Amulet has disappeared.”

An army of power-hungry villains was terrible enough, but if they had the amulet, the outcome couldn’t possibly look much more ominous then it already was.

By the time the entire castle was emptied of all its contents, the only ones left to wake up were Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

“I’m beginning to wonder if Rainbow Dash is just pretending to be asleep only to get out of helping us with cleaning.” Rarity said, distastefully glancing in said pegasus’s direction. “If she is planning to say it was another one of her ridiculous competitions to beat us at whoever was asleep the longest as an excuse, I will personally take all of her first-place ribbons and turn them into a dishcloth!”

“NO! NOT MY RIBBONS!!”

“Just as I suspected.” Said the white unicorn with a smug grin as Pinkie was handed a bag of bits, while the now awoken pegasus did her best to brush off her little act of deception.

“Okay, you caught me, geez But how did you know?”

“For starters, I can see the crumbs in your mane from your midnight snacking, and the blanket you’re under started moving far more than it should have for a sleeping pony, just to name a few. But what stood out the most was your absence in our last meeting in the dream realm.”

The fast flyer sheepishly chuckled at having left so many obvious clues. “Hehe, I guess that would be a big give away, wouldn’t it?”

“Less talking, more scrubbing.” Rarity threw a mop and bucket of water at the pegasus with her magic.

“Ugh fine,” Said the cyan pegasus as she begrudgingly got to work. “I thought you guys had been cleaning this for days, shouldn’t you almost be done by now?”

“We have,” responded everyone within earshot numbering to at least twenty-five individuals.

Applejack continued on with the statement. “We’ll all be done once it no longer smells like yer sock drawer.”

“There’s no way that—” Rainbow sniffed the air, “Huh, what do you know, it does. Wait, how do you know what my sock drawer smells like?”

Applejack was saved from answering that question by a knock on the front door. On the other side was a sky-blue creature with a pink mane they all knew as Ocellus the changeling, and from what they could see, she had been crying for some time.

“Ocellus!?” Spike exclaimed as he answered the door. “What are you doing here? We thought—” the changeling charged forward and embraced the dragon in a hug as she began to cry more.

“I… I… Please, I didn’t know… I didn’t know where else to go,” she said between sobs.

Spike returned the hug before gently pulling Ocellus off of him. “What happened, why aren’t you with the other changelings?”

“Thorax wouldn’t let me in.” Spike and the five mares behind him gasped.

“Uh, would ya mind repeatn’ that sugar cube? Ah don’t think we heard ya right. It sounded like ya said Thorax wouldn’t let ya in.”

“That’s what I said, I was spending some time at Yona’s place, but when I heard that the changelings were acting weird, I went back home. When I got there, the hive looked like it was barricaded and ready for an invading army. I tried to get in, but Thorax told me,” she changed into the changeling leader and continued with his voice, “I will not allow anything to come in or out while there’s a monster on the loose, if you don’t leave now I will be forced to get rid of you myself!”

She quickly reverted to her original form as more tears started to fall. “It’s like he didn’t even recognize me.”

“There, there,” said Fluttershy, patting the changeling’s head in comfort. “Could you… tell us how long ago this was?” she asked.

“Yesterday afternoon, why?”

Everyone except Ocellus stared at each other. “Well, at least some answers are better than none at all, right?” Pinkie stated, with everypony else nodding in agreement.

“What?” Ocellus asked, very confused about what was being said.

“Uh, follow me. I think there’s someone who would like to see you.”

Spike hovered and led the group to a nearby guest room. The dragon opened the door and said, “Hey, uh, you got a visitor.”

“Oh, who is it this time?” said a voice Ocellus would recognize anywhere.

She pushed herself into the room to make sure she wasn’t mistaken. “Thorax!?”

“Ocellus!?” Both changelings were equally stunned to see one another. “How did you escape?”

“What happened to you… escape? Wha… What are you talking about?”

Spike started to explain to both sides what was going on. “Thorax got here about three days ago, and he was telling us that he got attacked in his chambers after seeing another changeling get possessed or something. But until you showed up saying that Thorax was at the changeling hive yesterday, we couldn’t make heads or tails as to why they were acting the way they were.”

“Oh, right, you were with the yaks. Wait, I was at the hive!?” said Thorax, surprised by the news he was hearing.

“And now we know, the Thorax you saw was a fake, an imposter. True, changelings can imitate one another, but when you said he didn’t recognize you when everyone should know who you are, that tells me they weren’t a real changeling. Also, at least since we defected from Queen Chrysalis, a real changeling wouldn’t be as aggressive as what you described. They would be scared, sure, but not aggressive.”

“You were attacked! Is that why you look all beat up?” Ocellus said, pointing out the gauze and bandages Thorax was wearing.

“No, actually, this was something else. When Stinger was possessed, I went back to my room and started to write a distress letter to every princess I knew, but I was followed. The last thing I remember was being pulled into complete darkness.” He said, recalling the events.

“The next thing I knew, I was running as fast as I could in the Everfree Forest from… something? I don’t know why, but I knew I had to get away fast. It took me a while to remember I had wings, but when I opened them up, a branch snagged me on the left side, and I fell down a steep hill… _{all those rocks}.” Thorax muttered, grimacing as the memory resurfaced. “It took me two hours to hobble my way to the castle before I collapsed from exhaustion.”

Just then, a new voice entered the conversation, “There you guys are, I was wondering—” Twilight’s eyes widened she saw the two changelings. “Thorax, Ocellus! Does this mean the changelings are no longer in hiding? That’s wonderful!”

“Quite the opposite actually,” Spike corrected. “We just learned the changelings couldn’t possibly be in any more danger.” Then they explained everything again to the purple alicorn.

“Could Chrysalis be responsible?” Ocellus asked with a trembling voice.

“Possible, but unlikely.” Twilight said, still processing the new information, “Even if Chrysalis was the imposter, we all know who’s really behind her actions.”

“Retribution,” Everyone except Thorax and Ocellus said in unison.

“Who?” Both changelings asked at the same time.

“Girls, have the Pillars found any information about a creature by that name?” asked Twilight. The Pillars had traveled to the farthest reaches of Equestria in search of anything that could give them an edge on their new adversary.

“Last I heard, nothing,” Pinkie said in annoyance. “They couldn’t find any record of a baddie ancient or modern with that tile even with my help.”

“So, all we really know about him right now is his name and that Chrysalis, Discord, and a few others are absolutely terrified of him. Also, he’s keeping them against their will, more or less, which is why they asked us to help them escape.”

“Why should we help her, don’t you remember what she did?” Ocellus said, horrified by what she was hearing. “I still have nightmares about it to this day.”

Twilight gave Ocellus a solemn look and said, “If it wasn’t for her, Discord wouldn’t have been able to give us what little information we have now. Besides, Trixie is trapped with them, and we encountered her in the Everfree Forest, uh… how long ago was that?”

“Uh, five or six days ago I… I think,” Fluttershy answered.

“Right, we met her about a week ago in the Everfree Forest, and if she wanted to do anything to us, trust me, she was in the perfect position to do so, but she didn’t.”

Out of nowhere, she felt a twinge of remorse towards the former changeling queen, strong enough to say, “Did anypony else just feel like she deserves to get rescued from the place she’s imprisoned in?”

“Weird,” Rainbow said, looking similarly perplexed at even contemplating such a thing.

“I felt that too,” Fluttershy answered. “It was like I knew how much she was suffering and needed to get away from that awful place.”

“Okay, we need to bring back everypony here who was called on the friendship mission and start studying that book. We’re going to get them out as soon as we can.” Twilight said, then added, “before we do that though, can any of you show me where all my stuff disappeared to, and tell me why my castle smells like Rainbow’s sock drawer?”

“Seriously! I know I’m popular because of my awesomeness, but does all of Equestria know what my sock drawer smells like?”

Aspects of the Enemy

View Online

Sunset’s legs were moving much slower than she wanted them to. She sprinted towards Canterlot High’s mascot statue at breakneck speeds, with a book clenched tightly in her hand.

Without stopping, she dove headfirst into the portal to her homeworld and tumbled to a halt in a room with her fellow quest members.

“I FOUND SOMETHING!!” She exclaimed with an outstretched empty hoof.

She looked at her fingerless appendage and said, “Uh… I had it I just uh…” as she started desperately searching for where the book she had could have gone.

“It’s over here,” Twilight said, seeing where it flew off to, levitating it with her magic. But Rainbow snatched it out of her purple aura, looking at the title in disbelief.

Her mouth started moving with a jumble of sounds coming out until she finally said what she wanted to. “How!! Explain to me how you got a hold of ‘Daring Do and the Dark Deeds Demons Do to Monsters’!! When I heard it was discontinued, I spent the next three days locked in my room, sulking.”

Rainbow tore open the book and began to devour the words within. “And It’s autographed!” she squealed in delight

“I’ll give you three guesses who the demon is,” said Sunset.

Upon hearing Sunset say what she did Rainbow, already on page three, snapped back to reality, her eyes widening in shock.

“GAH!!” The pegasus swatted the book away in desperation.

All eyes fell on the book, sprawled on the floor.

“No way, A.K. Yearling actually had an encounter with Retribution!?” Twilight picked up the book again and began to flip through the pages.

“No, somehow A.K. Yearling wrote a story with a character who has the same name and potentially the same attributes as Retribution.”

Rainbow leaned closer to Twilight and said in a loud whisper, “Should we tell her that A.K. Yearling is Daring Do?”

Sunset laughed when she heard her pegasus friend say that, only to stop when she realized that she was being serious. “You’ve got to be kidding, right? This is some kind of inside joke?”

“That’s a story for another time,” Twilight answered.

Realization dawned on Sunset’s face, “So all of those—”

“Sunset focus. Where is Retribution talked about?”

Shaking off the shock, for now, Sunset quickly turned her attention back to the book. “It’s mentioned in the last few pages. Here…”

“Well, they say two heads are better than one, but you can’t deny that three’s a crowd,” Daring Do said once she was finished tying up Dr. Caballeron. She then made her way to a pile of rubble that was resting on top of Ahuizotl and grabbed the scroll that was just out of his reach.

“I’m not going to lie, that was some pretty fancy maneuvering you two did back there, but I guess teamwork can also be…”

“RAHH!!” Roared the creature under the pile of rocks, “You don’t understand what you’re dealing with this time Daring Do!”

“That’s right,” Caballeron stated, making a vain attempt to breach his binds. “When he finds out we failed, let’s just say that spending life in prison would be more satisfying because at least we would actually be alive!”

“He? Who’s he?” The explorer extraordinaire looked back at her defeated adversaries, but this time instead of seeing their hatred towards her, she saw something that she didn’t expect. Fear. They were scared, no they were outright terrified.

Ahuizotal gave a grim look. “He is not someone you can cross and then just walk away from unscathed. He is someone who can make anyone’s darkest nightmares come to life. He is a demon amongst demons! His name is Retribution!”

“Daring Do, for your own safety and ours, please,” Dr. Caballeron said, desperation evident on his face. “If you leave us here, you may as well be condemning us to death. Actually, death would be a more welcoming sight compared to what he has in store. Ask yourself, is that something you can live with?”

Daring Do was then told information that would horrify even the devil himself as she realized what she was truly up against.

“That’s how it ends!” Rainbow exclaimed in frustration, “That can’t be it. There’s got to be more!”

“Come on! Don’t get our hopes up like that and then have it turn out there’s about the same amount of information we already had. Which was how much again?” Twilight paused sarcastically. “Hm, oh, right. A big fat NOTHING!!!”

Sunset shot back her argument, “There is more, that was ju—”

Rainbow interrupted, “Really! What did we miss! What are we not seeing that you can!”

“Stop, yelling!” Sunset shouted, getting the pair to quiet down. “Why are you mad at me? I thought this would be helpful.”

“We’re not mad at you, dear,” Rarity reassured her as Twilight backed her up.

“We’re more irritated by the fact that there is no information about Retribution at all, zip, zero, nada, zilch!”

Visibly frustrated, her head hit the table she was sitting at with a hard thunk. “It’s like he just popped out of thin air and is already waiting for us at the finish line of a sick and twisted race that he set up.”

Twilight shifted her head, so she was now resting on her chin. “I mean, all the information we’re getting only increases the need to stop him sooner before all of Equestria comes to an end!”

“Yeah,” Pinkie chimed in. “It’s almost like something, or someone doesn’t want us to know what’s going on until the very last moment or until it’s too late to do anything to stop it!”

*Technically, you’re not breaking your promise, but you want answers, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.*

“You know come to think of it, he hasn’t actually done anything,” Fluttershy stated in realization, confused as to where the thought came from. “Well, not yet at least, but perhaps what I’m trying to say is that for all we know, maybe he’s doing all this for a good reason?”

Everyone in the room looked surprised, none more than Fluttershy, who couldn’t believe what she was saying. It was as if someone was forcefully putting words into her mouth, making her say things that…

Okay, okay, I get it. Thought Pinkie, Sheesh, just leave my friends alone already, I made a promise after all, and I intend to keep it.

“Fluttershy, What are you saying! We’re talking about a creature who’s brought together the worst of the worst and is gathering all of the most powerful artifacts in history!” Sunset practically shouted. “Like I was trying to tell all of you guys earlier, the plotline in this book was talking about discovering a map with the location of an ancient weapon that is capable of creating a continental calamity. Ahuizotal and Caballeron were tasked to retrieve it, but they failed, and it’s mentioned that the ‘demon’ that hired them is collecting more than just that!”

“And you mustn’t forget that whole ordeal Applejack, and I had to endure whilst we were in the dream realm,” Luna added, remembering Rogue Nebula informing them that the farm mare was on the verge of death. Applejack subconsciously rubbed the stitches she still had from the knife that was twisted into her to remove the curse she was put under.

“You’re right, I don’t know where that came from,” Fluttershy said, having control over her words this time. “Although, if he did want to destroy Equestria, and from what we know, he could, but that would be really bad, then why hasn’t he yet? What is he waiting for?”

Starlight decided to ask a question that had been on everypony’s mind all week but were too afraid to say anything. “Okay, has anypony else felt like they’re doing something that’s not what they would normally do but ends up being better than the way they have been doing it before? Something like, uh, casting a spell you don’t know about or doing tasks that seem pointless but turns out to be more beneficial than you thought? Or, like what we just saw with Fluttershy, saying things that make sense, but you don’t know why?”

“Ah can name three times taday that’s happened ta me,” Applejack answered.

“Well, maybe,” Pinkie said next, “My doppelganger created a few thousand new recipes while we were in the forest, but I’ve already added another three hundred more to go with it. With my eyes closed!”

“That could explain my sudden phase of making cloak after cloak,” Rarity chimed in. “It’s really starting to get annoying. The measurements are all exactly the same, but only a dragon could wear something that big and heavy, but why would they? It seems like it would only get in the way of their flying. But I can’t stop making them, and it’s the only thing on my mind lately, and it’s driving me crazy.”

“Ugh, the more we think about it, the more confusing it gets!” Twilight said as she started frantically waving her hooves in the air, feeling a migraine beginning to take shape. “WE NEED ANSWERS!! The only way that’s going to happen is after we free Discord, Trixie, and Celestia knows who else, from Retribution’s clutches and hope we don’t doom all of Equestria as we know it in the process!!!”

The sound of hooves slamming onto the table made everyone jump and look at Star Swirl, who had a very irritated look on his face.

“If you want to continue bickering, I suggest you do it elsewhere,” He said in a frighteningly calm tone. “I, however, am not going to allow myself to be distracted by unnecessary ranting! Either get back to work or leave so I can work in silence!”

Twilight quickly shied away, her previous manic energy gone., “Uh, right.”

“Sorry,” Sunset added, then looked at Twilight and whispered, “So, mind filling me in with what I missed?”

Right after Sunset awoke, she hurried back to the human world to inform her other friends about Equestria’s predicament. Like everyone else, she had been replaced, and the human Twilight was finally relieved to know why Sunset was acting more off than usual and having grades that exceeded the overdriven studyholic on steroids while making it look easy.

Ponyville was a different story. Mere days after the friendship quest began, the creatures that lived in the Everfree Forest started to evacuate, including Zecora, leaving the poor small town in near shambles from the increased amount of monster attacks.

Shining Armor had stayed to help set up a defense force, it wasn’t anything like the royal guard, which was spread pretty thin already, but at least there was some kind of protection system. If anypony knew what they were up against, it was Shining, not from confrontation but from seeing the direct results of Retribution’s aftermath.

Shining Armor sat in the nearly empty waiting room. He was waiting for the nurse to get permission from the therapist to see the guard named Sharp Shooter. Upon his wife’s request, the white stallion needed to ask him a few questions about what he saw in the frozen wastelands of the Crystal Empire outskirts.

He had been at it for the past few days, but the doctor was worried that bringing up the memories of Shooter’s traumatizing ordeal so soon would rebuke the progress they made with him thus far.

As he waited, Shining made sure that his daughter remained in his line of sight. He had brought her along for ‘reasons.’ She’d been acting strangely ever since his wife returned, though it was only now that he was beginning to notice Cadence’s strange behavior.

What is she hiding from me? He thought to himself as he started pacing. She hasn’t really been herself for some time now, it’s not like her to act secretive about something unless it’s brought up later. But it’s been days. Anything that she could have been hiding, even for a surprise should have already been—

“Prince Shining Armor!” The nurse firmly said, finally succeeding in pulling the stallion out of his deep train of thought. “The doctor is ready for you. Please follow me.”

Shining collected his daughter’s toys and said daughter before following the nurse through the door.

He would have taken Flurry Heart to daycare, but with her being a baby alicorn, she needed extra attention that the daycare center likely couldn’t provide. Thus, after giving them a brief rundown on how to keep her out of trouble with one of the hospital’s foal caregivers. He felt she was too young to be exposed to something this extreme.

Shining Armor was led down a hallway into a wing built for rehabilitating patients who were mentally afflicted. For the most part, it was quiet, spotless, with calm background music playing over the intercom. Despite the few oddly acting individuals doing things that could be seen as unusual for anypony else, it was surprisingly normal.

They reached a door with a plaque reading Dr. Wolf on it. When the nurse knocked on the door, they heard a young-sounding voice on the other side say, “Come in.”

The unicorn stallion was ushered through the door and was surprised to see not a pony but an actual wolf with white fur… standing on his hind legs.

“Ah, you must be Shining Armor. Please, have a seat,” said Dr. Wolf as he put down a folder.

“I was just reviewing your request to talk to my patient; Uh, I believe he goes by Sharp Shooter, about his… condition,” he said the last word hesitantly as if he were still against the idea.

“I do understand what you’re asking. However, I feel that it might cause more harm to his psyche than it would be worth. If we were to go through with this, what do you plan on doing with what you learn?” Dr. Wolf said, genuinely concerned for his patient’s ailment.

“Mm-hm.” Was Shining’s only response.

Dr. Wolf raised an eyebrow, “Shining Armor, were you listening to me?”

“Huh?” Shining Armor said as he snapped back to reality, “Oh, sorry I’ve recently had a lot on my mind. You said that… Uh, Shooter might get… that this could…”

“I was saying that I’m still concerned about my patient’s mentality, and what you’re requesting could damage the progress we’ve made so far… though is there something else you would like to discuss? if so, I’m all ears.”

“It’s complicated, probably not something you’d want to listen to anyways.”

Doctor Wolf gave him a blatant stare folding his front paws. “As a therapist, it’s literally in my job description to help others by listening to problems they are having. And from the looks of it, you seem to have one that is affecting your daily activities, what’s on your mind?”

The white stallion gave a defeated sigh. “It’s my wife, she’s been… acting strange, to put it bluntly.”

Dr. Wolf gave a mild look of panic. “Don’t tell me this is another Canterlot Wedding inci…”

“No, no! No,” Shining Armor quickly interrupted. “It’s different, way different. It’s her, I assure you.”

“But?” Dr. Wolf said, knowing there was more.

“But, it’s not?”

There was an awkward silence before the doctor spoke, “Maybe you need to elaborate a little bit more on what you mean.”

Shining rubbed the back of his neck as he started to explain, “Cadence recently went on a friendship quest with my sister and her friends, but the moment she came back, she hasn’t been acting like how she normally would. After our wedding, we came up with a system to avoid something like that from happening again.”

Dr. Wolf nodded in agreement. “That seems like a smart idea, but I’m guessing that if your system had worked, you wouldn’t be telling me this.” Shining giving a look that said otherwise, “Or it did work and…”

“Every time I tested her, she passed with flying colors. Even so, I should have seen it from the beginning, Flurry Heart did and still does.”

“Your daughter?”

“I can’t leave her alone with my wife for more than two seconds, even being around Cadence she gets uneasy and sticks close to me. Most importantly, she’s hiding something from me... My wife, not Flurry Heart.”

“Okay, do you have any idea what it might be?” Dr. Wolf asked, leaning back in his chair.

“That’s what’s bugging me, I can’t put my hoof on it. Whatever it is, she’s gone for long periods of time and doesn’t tell me where she was. And all she says is, ‘it’s complicated’ or ‘I’m not supposed to talk about it.’ Why? Because, ‘it’s complicated.’ She at least told me it has something to do with the friendship quest.”

“I see,” Dr. Wolf said thoughtfully. “And you’re absolutely sure it’s Cadence?”

“Not the same one that asked me to get intel from your patient. But it couldn’t possibly be anypony else.” Shining Armor heaved a sigh. “Doc, this was the last thing my wife asked me to do before she went on her friendship quest. Again, this also involved the Elements of Harmony, the Pillars of Ancient Equestria, and Princess Celestia and Luna. If my wife really turns out not to be my wife, what are the odds that they aren’t either? If Sharp Shooter is the only one who has information to confirm if this another attack on Equestria or not, wouldn’t you want to do something about it?”

It took a moment for the wolf to swallow this new information. “Hold on. You’re saying Cadence, your wife, has been acting strangely, and the friendship quest she went on involved the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria?”

“Yes, which is why talking to Shooter about what he saw in the Frozen Wastes of the Crystal Empire is very important right now. If they have also been acting strangely, then we need to find out why as soon as possible.”

Dr. Wolf rubbed the spot between his eyes, taking a deep breath then released. “Sacrificing one for the good of the many.”

“What?”

“Oh, that’s just a saying that—”

“I know it’s a saying, but what do you mean by it?”

“I mean, that I will take this new information and hope that Sharp Shooter will be the only patient that will have to deal with this issue. And I have an idea of how I can execute this with—” Dr. Wolf paused when he saw Shining’s face, “minor casualties to Shooter’s mentality. If you thought what I think you’re thinking, I suggest you set an appointment with a therapist.”

Hearing that made Shining chuckle. “The process I plan on using is hypnosis. However, this can be damaging to the mind if the procedure is mishandled. So, I will need complete and utter silence while I work.”

“Okay Shooter, now I want you to think back to the last day you were on duty.” Dr. Wolf was setting the grounds to safely access Shooter’s suppressed memories.

The pegasus guard was lying on a table with his eyes shut. “You’re on the wall looking out at the landscape. You can feel the sun—”

“Burning my eyes,” Shooter interrupted, a hint of panic in his voice.

“Yes… burning your eyes, just focus on my voice, don’t say anything unless I ask you a question. You feel the wall under your hoofs, and the breeze blowing a chill air around you. What do you see?”

“I see snow. Miles and miles of sno— what was that?”

“Did you see something? Describe it for me.”

“There was a… a smudge… in the distance, it was only there for less than a second.”

Shining Armor pulled out a notepad, ready to jot down a brief description if needed.

“What shape was the smudge?”

“I’m… not sure, it doesn’t match any creature that would be native to this area or a changeling. Actually, it might be a changeling because… no, that wouldn’t make sense, why would a changeling have to disguise itself and from what? There has been nothing for hours. I need to investigate this.”

“Okay, you have permission to investigate, what are you doing now?”

“Wow! This thing knows how to hide. I know what snow is supposed to look like, not like this. It looks very convincing. They covered their tracks well, I almost can’t follow them, and that’s saying something.”

“Okay,” Dr. Wolf said with a look of concern knowing that soon he would be in turbulent waters. “You are following the tracks, then what?”

“I hear something… scratching? No digging. I’m going to land. Remember your training. Perfect! Not a sound… there’s no sound. Where did it go?”

This was the part that Dr. Wolf was most afraid of. “Be careful, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

The white stallion and Dr. Wolf both saw the color drain from Shooter’s face. “Sombra’s horn.”

Shining dropped the quill he was holding as silence followed. Then Shooter continued.

“There’s an outline of a hole where it should be, but it’s gone.” the pegasus started to quiver with the fear he felt before. “Something took it, this is too big to ignore we need to… there’s something… behind… me.”

“I’m pulling you out. Shooter, when I snap, you will wake up and forget everything that transpired.” Dr. Wolf stated.

Shining gave a look of panic and loudly whispered, “We’re so close, why stop—”

The wolf snapped, and Shooter cried out in terror. “Sleep!” this time, Dr. Wolf clapped, but it was still no use. The wolf backed up to Shining as the pegasus flailed in a state of panic.

“This is what I was afraid of, but not to this degree!” he exclaimed, only able to watch his helpless patient struggle.

Shining and Dr. Wolf watched for a mere ten seconds as Shooter had his panic attack, then curled up in the corner of the room and started to chuckle.

“You don’t know what we’re up against.” Shooter sounded like he had become a darker version of himself as he laughed like a loon. “Oh, you thought Sombra was bad? No, nonono, you’re mistaken, he he he, this abomination is far worse, ha ha ha ha ha.”

Shining Armor picked up the quill he dropped using his magic. “Describe them.”

Shooter lifted his head, and what they saw wasn’t the same pegasus as before. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks and had abandoned all hope. When he gave his response, it wasn’t what Shinning was expecting.

“Death, pain, and suffering, he is the downfall of Equestria, our doom.”

Shining reworded the same question, “What do they look like?”

“Beware the wingless demon clocked in angelic feathers. The stench he carries is the blood of his past, his victims. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! His eyes hold endless rage and limitless agony. Bloodlust. All he knows is death and torment!”

Dr. Wolf looked at Shining Armor. “Did you get what you came for?” He said with a slight hint of irritation at the state of his patient.

“Wingless, feathers, stench, I don’t think I’ll get more out of him than that,” answered Shining, not entirely satisfied with the information he acquired.

“In that case,” They both looked at the pegasus, “I think you should leave. I have to rehabilitate Sharp Shooter… again.”

Deep in the Everfree Forest, inside The Castle of the Two Sisters, Twilight was inscribing the last rune necessary to perform the spell in the journal.

“Almost… done…” She used the utmost care to get the runic inscription exact. “There, finished.”

Despite her words, Twilight thoughtfully looked at the spell written in the entire second half of the journal. She then looked over the markings on the floor, walls, and ceilings covering every inch of the structure inside and out. “Maybe I should double-check this.”

An audible moan filled the room, “Come on, Twilight” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, “It’s been over three hours!”

“Hey, if this is inaccurately inscribed, a lot could happen.” The purple alicorn warned, “The most likely outcome, being a 14% chance higher than the rest, Equestria implodes itself into another dimension, and we’re all left to suffocate in the void of space… across time.”

“Translation, please? You lost me at ‘outcome,’ me no speak egghead.”

Twilight gave an exasperated sigh then gave the cyan pegasus a deadpan glare. “There’s a 97% chance every creature on the planet will die if this is done incorrectly. Trust me, I usually find stuff like this fun and exciting, but it’s starting to become boring.”

Twilight actually said boring. The silence that followed was deafening.

Eventually, Pinkie was the one who broke the ice. She pulled the book aside, and as she backed her friend against a wall. “Okay, who are you, and what have you done with Twilight?” The pink mare then shoved her face into Twilights, “Answer me!”

Twilight closed the journal and—

“Turned out to be Retribution in disguise, we united the power of our friendship, blasted him into another dimension where he can never return, found the real Twilight, freed Discord and the others, and we all lived happily ever after. THE END!!”

(cricket noise)

“Oh, you think I broke a Pinkie Promise. Technically I wasn’t the one who made that promise. It was the human version of me that did.”

(cricket noise)

“COME ON!! This is getting way too—”

*Can! I! Do! My! Job?!*

“Rah, fine!”

Twinky closed the… Twilight closed the journal and set it down, looking noticeably drained and more than a little tense.

“I don’t want to do this, casting this spell has a high risk of ending the world as we know it.” She turned to face everyone present. “There’s a choice to be made here. Abandon those who reached out for our help or risk the safety of the planet. It’s not an easy choice, but I have a feeling that a world controlled by Retribution is worse than no world at all. If what we are doing is enough to foil his plans for what seems to be world domination, then I’m willing to take that risk to help those who need it most.”

Twilight picked the book back up and began flipping through the pages. “I just need to make sure this is done right the first time, because if it isn’t… there won’t be a next time.”

“We’ll help you,” Dash offered, all the others nodding in agreement.

“No, I need to know that it’s done right. If I don’t, my chances of messing up my part increases by 47%. Yes, I did the math. I just need to double-check this alone.”

“If Sir E and Riot were here, this would have been done in minutes.” Sunset said, finding little cause to sugarcoat their situation. “Too bad they’re busy at the moment, they would have been very—”

“I’m sorry, who?” Starlight interrupted.

“Oh, I never told you guys! This will take a while, but so will Twilight double-checking this spell, so you better make yourselves comfortable.”

Sunset sat herself down, then said, “Honestly, I didn’t play a part in most of what I’m about to tell you, but for those of you who don’t know, in the other world I have this ability that accesses past memories by touching others. So I’m just going off of what I learned afterward.”

Riding in Style

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Sunset screamed a few times, clutching her head in agony, looking ready to claw her own eyes out. “MAKE IT STO—”

Applejack rushed over and punched her, knocking Sunset out cold.

“I am… so… sorry,” Applejack said, winded from the quick dash she made. “Doin’ that hurt me… a lot more than it hurt you. I hope you forgive me when you wake up.”

Sir E sighed as he placed his forehead in one hand and his elbow on the other, “Oh dear, I believe an apology is in order.” He retrieved a cellphone from his pocket and hit a speed dial number.

“Hi, yes, could you bring the limo up to the front? I’ll be coming out shortly, and I’ll also be transporting~ around six passengers… much appreciated. By the way, did you take the Mercedes to the shop?... Were they informed about the warped camshaft I heard on the way here?... What of the piston rings, are they instructed to replace all of those as well?... Excellent, I’ll be there, momentarily.”

Sir E hung up and waved an EMT over. “Could you send Ms. Shimmer to the finest medical facility and take her to the best psychiatric ward they can provide? I’ll be following behind.”

“Yeah, no problem?” He sounded unsure of how much of that request he should follow.

“Wonderful, right this way ladies. Oh! Silly me,” Sir E slapped his forehead. “Nearly forgot my cane.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll go grab it for you.” Rarity offered and went to retrieve the two parts of Sir E’s cane. When she put it back together, she couldn’t help being entranced by nearly every aspect from the polished white pearl epoxy resin shaft to the large black diamond in the center of the silver horse head handle.

“I want to go with Sunset,” Twilight said, her friends quickly joining in her decision.

Sir E looked at the ambulance and asked the EMT, “Is there a camera inside the vehicle?”

“Yes, there is, why do you ask?”

“How about this.” Sir E leaned on his cane as he spoke, “With your permission, I can piggyback off the camera feed and have it stream to the inside of my transport.” Swiftly whipping out his phone again, he quickly began texting. “That will allow all you girls to keep an eye on your friend in my limo without crowding the back of the ambulance. Once we get to the hospital, you can spend as much time as you need by Sunset’s side.” He quickly put his phone away and faced the group. “Does that sound like a reasonable idea?”

Everyone except Applejack agreed, who opted to stay with Sunset while Sir E led the rest of the girls to his limousine.

“Here we… are,” Sir E stated when they saw a limo that couldn’t possibly belong to anyone else.

Rarity was the first to speak, “Th… that’s… that’s a… a Rolls. That’s an antique Rolls Royce Excalibur!”

“Gee Rarity, you make it sound like it’s a big deal.” Twilight said flatly, “Don’t you have a limo?”

“Um actually,” Rainbow piped up, her knowledge on the subject of cars bursting at the seams. “When old Rolls Royce cars were built, each individual part was crafted by hand, making no two cars the same. This one in particular… uh, well—”

“It’s rather misleading, is it not?” Sir E spoke over Rainbow. “It was originally manufactured in the 1930s. However, it does have a few additional modern features. But the exterior is designed specifically to look like its antique counterpart and run without the use of any computer systems. And yes, it is all handcrafted.”

Sir E walked up to the chauffeur who had opened the door for him, but he stopped before he got inside and said, “When I called for a replacement limousine, I asked for something classy, not classic.”

The driver looked like she just knocked on death’s door by mistake as she started to apologize profusely. “I am so terribly sorry sir! There must have—”

“Ah-ah-ah… Say no more, think nothing of it,” Sir E politely interrupted. “Human error is always understandable.” He turned around and gestured to the inside of the vehicle using his cane. “Now then, I believe it’s ladies first?”

As they filed into the limousine that was worth more than any house they could dream of affording, Rainbow faced Sir E before going in and asked him a question.

“You said that there was a monitor in your limo, but then I heard you tell the driver you were expecting something different. So what I’m trying to get at is, are we still able to do what you said you would or not?”

Sir E didn’t hesitate to answer, “My dear, every vehicle I have is capable of doing just that.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “How many cars do you have?”

“I have access to one of every make, model, and year as well as… around the same amount of customized vehicles I should say.”

“Hey, Rainbow!” Pinkie called out from inside, “Check it out! These seats have a massage function.” She pressed a button as her entire body began to vibrate. “Ooh~wee~ oh, that feels nice,” Pinkie melted into the spazzing out chair, filled with complete satisfaction. “It’s like I’m sitting on a washing machine,”

“Are you serious!” Rainbow climbed into the limo, bursting with excitement, and completely forgetting Sir E’s little revelation.

The first thing she noticed was not just the chairs, because it was impossible to. The seats connected to the siding linking to the floor attached to the table, in turn, complementing the ceiling that had a harmonious relationship with the windows flowing back into the chairs. It was as though it started as one solid piece before being carved out by master jewelers then accented with varnished ebony wood and trimmed with silver inlaid with gemstones.

When Rainbow could finally focus on the white seats, she asked, “Do they have more options? Does it have temperature control?”

“Of course they do, just like the cupholders.” Rarity said with the headrest gently rubbing her scalp and shoulders. “I don’t suppose you have any drinks in here, do you E?”

“Sir E, if you would.” He said as he entered the vehicle, sat down, depositing his cane under the lip of the table, and his high top hat on a hatrack in a corner. He then let his long white hair drape over his left shoulder. “And yes, as a matter of fact, I do.” He pulled out a remote and pressed a button, causing the table to open in the center.

Everyone oohed as a tray with bottles of grape, apple, cranberry juice, and crystal-cut wine glasses grooved with floral and diamond patterns with hexagonal stems rose up and fit snugly into the hole that was opened, leaving a flawless surface.

“Ah, before you get the wrong idea,” Sir E said quickly, while he started to braid his perfectly straight hair in a loose ponytail. “Don’t worry, I’ve never been fond of alcohol, I find it rather… pointless to be honest. Please, help yourselves.”

It was now the group noticed the new mask Sir E wore. It looked as though it were the eye of a cloudy vortex and was a mix of grayish light and dark blues. If you were to stare at long enough, anyone could have sworn that the wispy smoke-like columns were genuinely descending into the dark center like a rheoscopic fluid disk. Like his previous mask, it lacked eye holes as well.

When Sir E noticed them staring, he decided to get the elephant out of the room, “I understand that all of you have many questions,” he said, pouring himself some grape juice. “Feel free to ask me whatever you wish, and I will answer what I am allowed to.” He reached up and opened a slit in the mask near his mouth, allowing him to drink and closed it after he was done, leaving it seamless once more.

“Uh, where’s the monitor?” Rainbow started. “You said you had one, but I don’t see it.”

Sir E chuckled. “I never said I had a monitor, my friend. Clear the center of the table, and let me show you what I meant.”

Everyone grabbed a glass and filled theirs with one of the drinks provided. Rarity hesitated for a moment after pouring her drink, quickly glancing at the cup before stifling a laugh.

“Let me guess, these crystal glasses… are diamonds!” A few of her friends couldn’t help but chuckle at the joke she made.

“It would seem you do have an eye for detail, after all.” Sir E responded, only making them laugh a little harder, although he didn’t appear to be laughing with them.

“You know I was joking, right?” Rarity said with an awkward smile on her face.

“I wasn’t.” Hearing Sir E say those words made everyone stare more intently at the glasses they held.

Rarity, being the expert on gemstones, confirmed Sir E’s statement by placing her hand over her mouth and rapidly placing her cup back on the table but ended up spilling the contents everywhere.

“Oh my, gracious!” She began frantically looking for something to wipe up the mess, “Napkins! Napkins!! AHH!!! The leather!!!! AHHH!!!!”

“Wait, this is leather?” Fluttershy whispered as she began to feel small.

“Calm yourselves, both of you.” Sir E leaned to the side, placing one foot on his knee, resting his elbow on the armrest and his head on a fist while still holding his drink in the other hand.

“This is grape leather, so no animals were harmed in its making. As for you, Miss Rarity. If you could just stand up and let me deal with that predicament,” he said serenely. Hesitantly Rarity did as she was told before giving a minute wave with the wineglass still in his hand. A crackling was heard in the area with the stain as white light flickered, completely erasing the stains. The diamond glass was back on the table filled with the drink that spilled.

“There, you see? Good as new, nothing to worry your pretty little self over.”

Everyone stared in astonishment at the act Sir E made. “You… just used magic? Didn’t you?” Rainbow said on everyone’s behalf.

“That is correct,” Sir E admitted, “for those who haven’t figured it out by now, I may as well tell you that I am actually from the world you all know as—”

“Equestria!?” They all said in unison.

Sir E adjusted his position, so he leaned over the table. “Once again, you are correct.” He took another drink from his glass. “Another thing to mention is that my… _power … is restricted in this world, but as you just witnessed, there are a few areas I can access this… _energy … … Like in this… car.”

The liquid in his glass was rippling slightly from his trembling hand. He placed the fingertips of his left hand, where the center of his forehead would be under the mask.

After a moment of silence, Twilight spoke up, “Hey, are you okay?”

Sir E snapped out of his stupor. “What am I doing? We completely changed the subject of our conversation, haven’t we?”

“Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, when exactly are we going to start moving?” Asked Fluttershy. “It feels like we’ve been sitting here for a while.”

Sir E’s head tilted as if confused, “Whatever do you mean, my dear? We are moving. Look outside and see for yourself. You can even roll down the window and feel the wind if so wish to.”

A quick glance at the window revealed he was right. Outside the window, they were already driving, yet on the inside, felt as if they were at a perfect standstill.

“That. Is. Insane!” exclaimed Twilight looking at the liquid in her glass, “The cranberry juice in my glass isn’t even—” it was then she noticed something peculiar and started to exchange glances between her drink and outside.

“What the…?” She held the glass between her and the view through the window squinting her eyes and, to a certain extent, tilting the glass in various ways. “Uh, guys? We’re on a hill. By that, I mean a slant, but my drink is level to the floor inside this vehicle.”

“Now then,” Sir E spoke up, leaving Twilight’s question to hang. “As for the visual I promised on your friends in the ambulance.” Sir E pulled out the remote from before and pressed a button. Once he did, an image appeared in the center of the table, a picture of Applejack and Sunset in 3-D.

“Is that a hologram!?… Like… what Vignette Valencia had?” Said Twilight, using a questioning tone.

“It even looks exactly like the ones she used,” Rarity added.

“You are all on the ball.” Sir E said in congratulations. “Keep this up, and I won’t have as much trouble as I anticipated to tell you what’s going on.”

Had they heard him right? Was he admitting to be responsible for an issue prior to the one they were currently in?

When everyone gave him disbelieving stares, Sir E knew he had to choose his next words very carefully. “In my defense, I was away at the time of the accident that led to the escape of a few prototype spells.”

“You’re the one responsible for all the trouble we’ve been through!?” Rainbow said, accusingly pointing at Sir E. Upon saying that, everyone stood up and started to back as far away as they could from him.

“Correction, I am… well,” He paused for a moment stroking the chin of the mask, making sure what he said next was put in a way for them to listen to his side of the story.

“Let’s back up just a little, shall we? Had it not been for me, the gems you are currently wearing never would have been created.”

Everyone unanimously fingered their geodes upon hearing those words.

“Furthermore, they never would have fallen into your hands had that accident not occurred, not that they were ever supposed to, to begin with,” He said in a way that sounded frustrated.

“Are we now all on the same page?”

Hesitantly they all nodded, prompting him to continue. “Like I said before, I was absent during the time of that unfortunate catastrophe. But it’s been seen to that it will never happen again.”

“You were the one who broke into my lab, weren’t you?” Asked Twilight.

Up until this point, Sir E had the appearance of a king on his throne, but when he heard Twilight say what she did, his body language turned more serious.

“When did that transpire, and was anything stolen?”

“You should know, you’re—”

“Twilight!” Sir E cut her off as he stood up, his hands firmly on the table. “This is serious. There are forces in motion here that none of you are comprehensively ready to understand yet.”

The beep of an intercom sounded, interrupting their conversation as the driver spoke, “Sir, we have arrived at our destination.”

Sir E fell back into his chair and rested his head between his forefinger and thumb. “I’m afraid we’ll have to continue this later.”

He waved his finger around the table, pointing at each of the girls, “This conversation is not over. When you need me again, and you will, just call the number on this card.”

With a flick of the wrist, he pulled out two business cards and slid them across the table, and Rarity picked them up.

“I’m giving you a second one to give to the receptionist at the front desk. I shall provide and accommodate for anything needed for the treatment required to help your friend Sunset.”

The chauffeur opened the door, “Au revoir mesdames,” Sir E said in farewell with a perfect French accent, dismissing them with a wave of his hand then reverted into his posh dialect. “This is as far as I take you for the moment, I don’t wish to keep your friends waiting any longer than they need to.”

The girls shuffled out of the limousine without saying a word, thanks to the conversation’s unfortunate turn. Once they were all outside, Sir E rolled down the window and added, “Et soyez en sécurité pendant mon absence.”

“Je suis sûr que nous pouvons prendre soin de nous-mêmes, merci beaucoup,” Rarity responded with a snarky tone, earning her a surprised glance from her friends.

“Nous verrons,” The window began rolling up as the limo drove away.

Rarity looked at everyone as they continued to stare. “What? I have relatives in France, didn’t I tell you?”

“No… you didn’t.” Said Fluttershy.

“Oh, ha-ha, it uh, must have slipped my mind.” Rarity rubbed the back of her head out of embarrassment.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, I only know a little French but...” Twilight said, her mind going over the exact words used. “It sounded like he wished us luck?”

Rarity scoffed, “he was ‘hoping for our safety’ while he was away. But I told him we are quite capable of handling ourselves,” she said, turning away in a huff as she started to make her way to the hospital entrance.

Sir E sat alone in the limo in deep contemplation. Once he made up his mind, he pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial. After only half a ring, it was answered.

“What?”

“Bad news, I just learned that Twilight’s la—”

“Twilight’s lab has been burglarized, yes, I know. I’m also aware of what was stolen.”

Sir E paused before speaking again, “When did—”

“I overheard them talking about it at the mall.”

This time the distinguished gentleman made a tight fist. “You know I—”

“Hate being interrupted? So, do I.”

Breath in… hold it… Breath out. “My apologies, Riot. I assume you’ve already decided how this matter is to be settled?”

“They made their move, I’m in the middle of mine. Even though this maneuver will further expose us to our opponent, their plan is already in motion. All we can do is prepare ourselves for what comes next. There is a window of opportunity that will allow me to obtain what I’ve been after without them being able to stop me.

“I also have a plan to throw them off our trail long enough to gain the upper hand. As intricate as my strategy is, it’s nothing I can’t handle. Now tell me, is there anything else you want to say that I don’t already know about?”

“No, sir,” Sir E said with a certain disquiet in his voice. “That is all.” He heard the line cut out, ending the call without any form of goodbye.

He turned the screen off and tapped his phone at mouth level on his mask, thinking of what his next action should be.

“Now then, I believe I should exchange to a more appropriate vehicle before the girls contact me.” As much as he didn’t want them to be involved, they were already the targets of an exceptionally deeper conspiracy then they could ever realize.

Make it stop

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“…and let’s not forget, we have a very special meeting scheduled today with the national news! So remember to be on your best behavior today here at Crystalline Perfumes,” Ms. List said cheerfully into the intercom.

With her message done, she flipped the intercom switch off, and all aspects of joy she had before were thrown out the top floor window of the fifty story skyscraper her office was in.

Ms. List was the CEO of the largest perfume and beauty products company across the globe. Naturally, a perk of such a position meant she herself was quite immaculate. She was quite a vision with well-groomed cobalt blue hair, pristine forest green skin, and lime green eyes. This was matched with a well pressed, tailored pitch-black suit that looked and felt like silk, though it felt more like stiff cardboard when being worn.

Her office, by contrast, was as stark and bland as they came. If the walls got any grayer, it would start leeching the color out of anyone who entered. The lighting from the fixtures above also helped with that. Somehow they managed to emit a glowing light so pale everyone who basked in its glory looked like a corpse of themselves.

The charcoal desk didn’t even hold a paperweight to its name, all it contained on its reflective surface was the telephone and a desk nameplate. The only other décor in the room was a loudly ticking clock, a portrait painting of herself, and a lava lamp on a shelf just below.

Utterly alone, List dropped her head into her hands and started to grumble out of frustration, “I gave him one job, and they—” The phone buzzed. She answered it, and calmly said, “Yes?”

“Ms. List, your intercom is still on.” The head secretary said on the other side of the line.

“What?!” She flipped the switch again. “There, I could have sworn that I—”

“It’s still on,”

Ms. List looked at the switch, and it was back in the on position. This time, she held it down. “How about now?” she said, irritation starting to slip its way into her joyous words.

“Better, and just so you’re aware the press just walked in, should I send them up?”

“Why are you asking me?” Ms. List lifted her finger from the switch, “Send them up here immediately!”

“Do I need to also send IT to fix your intercom as well, mam?” The head secretary said in a slightly raised voice, sounding nervous.

The switch was once again on, She jammed her finger down on the switch and replied, “Yes.” The word squished itself through her clenched teeth like jelly, clearly stating her level of annoyance, “If you would. Please.” Ending with a venomous remark.

A moment later, the door to Ms. List’s office opened, and her friendly mask returned.

“Hi, sorry about the technical…”

It wasn’t the press or an IT. It was an enormous man, who looked like he had to duck under the door frame and come in sideways to fit, but somehow, he managed to avoid doing that. When he stood in the room, the black trench coat he wore made him look bigger than the door.

How did he get here without being noticed?

Ms. List gave a smug grin and released her hold on the intercom. “Security, you’re needed in my office. We have an intruder.” Talk about too easy.

“Faulty set up?” Riot said unperturbed by the fact security was on its way.

Her smile faded, He knows something. Ms. List turned off the dysfunctional intercom, knowing full well something incriminating might be said if she wasn’t careful.

“Who are you, and why are you here?”

He gave Ms. list a hard glance, one she could feel through his sunglasses. “Are your informants really that incompetent? You sent Tirek to hunt down the magic users, didn’t you?”

Riot started walking towards the portrait. “You should’ve known by now that I’m the one who stopped him.” He stopped in front of the painting and placed his hand on the glass of the lava lamp.

Ms. List immediately jumped out of her seat and yelled, “Hands off!”

“Intercom.” Riot said in an alarmingly calm tone.

Realization crashed like a tidal wave on Ms. List. It wasn’t by chance her intercom decided to act up now, this man wasn’t just randomly grabbing any object. He already knew, and if she tried to stand in his way, he would talk, and the press would overhear. If she just stood there holding the switch down, he could go anywhere and grab anything he wanted.

Between the two choices, she chose to not allow the press to eavesdrop and slammed the switch down. When she turned to look back at Riot, he had finished rotating the glass unlocking the secret compartment behind the large painting, inside were rows and rows of vials.

How? Miss List was the only one who knew the combination. “You’re not going to get away with this!” Ms. List hissed.

Riot said nothing as he took one vial and placed it into a pocket before closing the secret door, and began to leave.

List looked ready to act when she felt something brush against her finger. When she looked, there was a small metallic bead that catapulted itself onto Riot’s shoulder. She tediously lifted her finger, and the intercom switch didn’t move.

Ms. List rushed after Riot and entered the hall.

“Give that back!”

“What’s going on?” She looked at the origin of the voice and saw the press standing there.

Removing his shades, Riot turned around and said, “I have a single item that I took from her.” He then locked eyes with Ms. List. Without the extra barrier, his intimidating gaze felt like a mental blow to her psyche. It was at that moment she knew she was staring into the cold yet fiery eyes of a natural born killer, a fearless predator looking at its next meal.

His eyes gradually drifted to the various press standing nearby, cameras and microphones at the ready. A telltale hint of a smirk seemingly formed on his mouth. “If you would like, I can return it to you right here, right now.”

Ms. List raised a fist to clear her throat, which had suddenly gone dry, and found that she was mildly shaking. Regardless, she still managed a calm response, “Yes, I would very much appreciate it if you did.”

Riot reached into his coat and pulled out a handful of vials. “Care to tell me which one it was and what it does, we wouldn’t want a mix-up to happen now would we.” He picked one up and read the label, “Was it formula J33-57E Rose Dew scent enhancement?”

Miss. List felt her entire body shake as she fought to maintain her composure. He’s blackmailing me… in front of the press? She quickly fought back a vicious remark and calmly tried to shoo him away. “Just keep It’s yours. I have plenty anyway.”

“Okay, then.” He returned the bundle of vials to his pocket. “In that case, I’ll take my leave. Good day.” Putting his shades back on, Riot turned around and entered the elevator.

The reporter exchanged glances between the two figures. “Is this a bad time?”

“No! No, uh, please just wait in my office for a moment. I need to make a quick call, then I’ll be right with you.” Ms. List forcefully shoved the news crew into her office and slammed the door. She then got her phone out and hit a speed dial number.

It rang twice to her annoyance before it was answered, “Yes, my queen?” said a shrill raspy voice that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

“My office—” she quickly lowered her voice. “Was just broken into. I need you to follow them and retrieve the vial they took.”

“Not to question your security, but I doubt that they just waltzed in, grabbed it, and waltzed out. What do I need to be ready for?”

“It doesn’t matter how he got it!” She said in a harsh whisper. “He’s still in the building going down the elevator. When he leaves, follow him and do your job…” Ms. List smiled knowingly as a thought popped into her head, “I believe there was someone who wanted one last chance to prove themselves? Bring him along and show him how it’s done.”

Ms. List hung up and took a deep breath before releasing it, still slightly shaken by what she saw in him. Regardless, she kept her composure, entered her office, and greeted herself, “I am so sorry to keep you waiting, I’m glad you could make it. You probably know who I am already, but allow me to introduce myself anyway, my name is Crystal List.”

“_{No… No no…} NO, STOP!! AH!” Sunset awoke in a panic, wildly flailing for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. Her heart was racing as she scanned her surroundings. She was against the wall of a hospital room. There was a sink on the wall in front of her, a window to her left, and a door to her right. On the wall she was clinging to, was a door to the bathroom. All of her friends were there with worried looks on their faces.

“Easy there. Yer safe here, Nuttn bad’s gonna happen to ya. I promise,” Applejack said reassuringly. “And, I’m really sorry bout what ah did earlier.”

Sunset’s breathing slowed down as she lowered herself down the wall she backed herself into. “Wha— what happened? Ho— How did I get here?”

Her friends looked at each other before Twilight answered, “Why don’t we start with the last thing you remember?”

Sunset tried to think back to the last memory she had. “I… I remember the mall. We were looking for— Tirek! He came and… Sir E fought…” Her memories were coming back piece by piece. “Then Riot stepped in and… Afterward, I wanted to ask him about… and he… he.” The color drained from her face. All of the memories she saw through his eyes came flooding back to her.

She placed a hand over her mouth before making a mad dash for the bathroom. Sadly, despite hoping she would make it to the toilet in time, she only got as far as the sink before she puked and continued to retch even after there was nothing. Eventually, she slumped over, fell to the floor, went into the fetal position, and started bawling. The transition of her demeanor was flawless.

Nobody knew how to react to this strange behavior, but it wasn’t going to stop them from reaching out to help in any way they could. Fluttershy crouched down in front of Sunset and started rubbing her back in a comforting way.

“_{Go away},” Sunset choked out past her sobbing while wiping away tears and snot.

Fluttershy shook her head and stayed, “Friends help ea—”

“I SAID, GO AWAY!!!” Sunset stood up, aggressively grabbed Fluttershy, and shoved her out of the bathroom. Her friend tripped over her own feet, fell backward, and landed on the floor with a hard smack to the head.

While her other friends were stunned, Sunset slammed the door closed and locked it. More crying followed as they heard her slide down the door back to the floor.

Now angry, Rainbow tried the door, confirming that it was locked. “Sunset! Get out here and apologize to Fluttershy!”

“Leave. Me. ALONE!!” Sunset screamed behind the door between her wailing. “You don’t understand! *sniff* You could NEVER understand!”

“We’re your friends, dear.” Rarity said, “You can tell us anything. But, it would be nice if you did stop screaming and started with an apology to Fluttershy.”

“It’s okay girls, really.” Fluttershy said as Twilight helped her up, “I’m not that…” she lost her balance and grabbed the side of the hospital bed. “Not that hurt. Just… Phew, just a little dizzy, is all.”

Pinkie quickly grabbed a chair for her to sit.

“Rainbow, move over.” Applejack said as she approached the door. “Sunset, we can do this the easy way, where ya come out and talk to us, or we can do this the hard way. Now, the hard way is where I rip this door off its hinges and drag you out here so we can talk. What’ll it be?”

She and the others waited for a response, but none came. “Okay, hard way it is then.”

With a crack of the knuckles and shrug of the shoulders, she advanced on the door. “Yall better step back, I don’t wanna hurt none of ya by accident. That goes for you too, Sunset!” A whimpering mumble was heard from behind the door. “Suit yerself. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya, because I did.” Applejack grabbed the crack between the door and the frame and pulled.

Nothing happened.

“What in tarnation?” She tried pulling again but to no avail. She gave the door a hard punch, but all that did was make her hand sting. Irritated, Applejack began kicking it with no success, then resorting to a shoulder charge. Yet despite all her efforts, the metal door refused to budge.

“What the heck’s gon’ on here? How come I can’t…” she looked at her necklace and saw the blackened gem. “You don’t reckon that it’s got somthin’ ta do with them bullets Tirek used do ya?”

“Let me try,” Twilight said as she stepped towards the door. She activated her magic to unlock it from the other side. It seemed to work at first, only for the magical aura to fizzle out and die.

“Huh?” She tried again, and the same thing happened. After a few more experimental tries, she decided to stop. “Ugh, forget it! Sunset, this can’t go on forever, you’ll have to come out eventually and—”

To their surprise, Sunset unlocked the door and threw it open. Every inch of her body language showed pure rage.

“Do you know… the last thing Riot said to me!?” She said with a stomp of her foot. Everyone was too afraid to answer. “He said: ‘friendship fix this.’” She jammed her finger in Twilight’s direction, “Well, guess what! THAT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!” she said, punching the door frame.

“I thought that I could help him the same way you helped me, the way you’re trying to help me now!” She brought a hand to her face sounding like she was on the verge of crying again. “But, you know what? He was right. After I read his memories, I can’t believe just how idiotic I was!”

Despite the tears starting to form, her tone turned wrathful. “I can tell you every last stupid word that would describe what I saw down to the t! but that is nothing, NOTHING compared to how I feel!”

Sunset was heaving after her rant, tears streaming down her cheeks, all the while nobody spoke.

Rainbow broke the tension, “How you feel, or do you mean how Riot feels?” She was suddenly glad she was in the hospital because the look Sunset delivered nearly gave her a heart attack.

“Get out!” Sunset hissed, “Get out. Get out! GET OUT! GET! OUT!” Once she forced everyone out into the hallway, she slammed the door shut and crammed the chair under the doorknob. She then started pounding the door with every howling word so hard that her wrist would be bruised later. “I! DON’T! WANT! YOU!” _{to leave…}

Her rage finally starting to cool, she melted to the ground and turned into a sobbing mess._{Please don’t go… make it stop… don’t leave me... come back... make it stop…make it stop.}

As if that will ever happen. The second voice in her head added.

Out in the hallway stood six dumbfounded girls, wondering how things turned sour so quickly. A medical assistant was hastily approaching them, responding to the rise in commotion.

“What’s going on?” she said with a concerned tone.

“I think she just locked us out, by putting a chair against the door,” Twilight answered, trying to use what little magic she could to push the chair out of the way to no avail.

“Maybe you should come back later, at least until after things settle back down.” The medical assistant said before she began trying to convince Sunset to let her in.

Twilight gave up trying to move the chair. “You’re probably right. We’ll swing by later and see how she’s doing when she’s cooled down a bit.”

Feeling defeated, the six girls started to leave, footsteps echoing in the hall as they walked to the elevator, all their thoughts focused on the recent events from just moments ago.

“This don’t make a lick a sense,” Applejack said as they walked. “It ain’t like Sunset to be actn’ this way.”

“It totally makes sense,” Rainbow interrupted, waving her arms as she spoke to exaggerate her words. “Didn’t you hear what she said? She read Riot’s mind. That obviously means it’s his memories that are making her act the way she is.”

At the mention of his name, the young athlete made a disgusted face. “Riot, ugh just saying his name gives me the shivers. What is with that guy anyway? It’s like he found out somebody peed in his cereal after he ate it, and now everyone is on his hit list.”

The image of him nearly killing her still fresh in her memory and would most likely haunt her for years to come. Rainbow tried to hide the fact that her hand had begun trembling again.

“You’re just sayin’ that because ya did somethin’ stupid.” Applejack blatantly laid out.

“Okay, maybe I am, but that won’t change the fact that he still almost killed me twice in less than half a second. There’s obviously something wrong with that guy.” Rainbow pulled her arms close to her stomach as a tremble rippled through her body.

They were now in front of the elevator, Pinkie pushed the button, then pressed it again only to listen to the satisfying ding it made.

As they waited for the doors to open, Twilight added her thoughts to the conversation. “I get what you’re saying. But what I really want to know is, how is it that Riot seems to be more… uh, don’t get the wrong idea but for lack of a better word… sane? And Sunset, at the moment, is not?”

“Oh, oh-oh, pick me, pick me, me, me, me, me.” Pinkie stopped repeatedly pressing the elevator button to excitedly raise her hand.

Humoring her, Twilight gestured to Pinkie, giving her permission to speak. “I say he is a robot from the future, sent to the past on a mission to stop the human resistance leader from ever being born. Or maybe he was reprogrammed by the leader of the human resistance and sent back to protect his younger self by the other robot sent after the first one failed,” she said, looking like she was about ready to win a grand prize.

Naturally, it was normal for them all to hear outrageous claims from their hyperactive friend, and in her defense, she had a reputation for being right well over half of the time. That being said, she didn’t have a perfect streak.

“Pinkie,” Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Logically speaking, Sunset’s magic only works on living beings. Otherwise, she would be reading the mind of her toaster every time she used it. I doubt he’s a time-traveling robot.”

“Well, I think he is. I mean, have you seen his expression? It has ‘Killer Robot’ written all over it.” Pinkie proceeded to move in a mechanical way, complete with whirling engine sounds and mechanized clunking as if she had spontaneously swapped souls with a piece of industrial machinery.

She pulled her shoulders back, looked straight forward, and put her elbows at ninety degrees and spoke in an electronic monotone voice, “All humans must be destroyed.”

Continuing her little act, she moved her arm around as she made shooting motions. “Pew… Pew… Pew… laser beam BZZZZ,” Pinkie imitated a shoulder-mounted rocket’s action and made the sound of it being fired and exploding.

As Pinkie continued her imaginative human annihilation, Rarity joined the conversation, “If only we could really understand what she was going through… or rather, in this case, what Riot was going through.” She said. “But if she wasn’t willing to tell us, then what are the odds that he would?... Or maybe…”

A thought began to form in her head. As much as she didn’t like it, all the other alternatives were borderline impossible compared to what she was thinking. “I think I have an idea, but don’t get your hopes up just yet, just give me one moment.” Rarity pulled out her phone and began texting.

“Just as long as it doesn’t involve beating it out of him,” Rainbow firmly stated. “Because I swear, I am a hundred and twenty percent sure that guy can tear a tank apart with his teeth,” Rainbow said, pointing at her own teeth with both hands for emphasis.

Their discussion was quickly interrupted as the elevator doors opened, revealing two men as large as Bulk Biceps but not quite half as muscular. One had dark green skin with black hair, while the other was light blue-gray with white hair, and both were wearing a plain uniform. Their size, sudden appearance, and nearly identical intimidating image excluding skin and hair color took the girls for surprise startling them.

The green one tilted his head down and looked at the girls. He gave a surface level smile and reached out his hand. “Greetings, my name is Al, this is Sent. We are here representing the insurance provided by Sir E and are tasked to protect the patient named Sunset Shimmer from harm.”

Sent’s focus was on the group of hospital staff attempting to open the door to Sunset’s room. He pushed past Twilight and Applejack, gliding his way down the hall, moving like he was in an autonomous trance. Curiously, his footsteps were way too quiet for a man of his size.

Rainbow hesitantly shook Al’s hand, it felt strong, stiff, and cold, “Hi~, I’m—”

“Rainbow Dash. Yes, nice to meet you.” The elevator door began to close but they bumped into Al who didn’t seem to notice.

Rainbow gave him an odd look as he moved his eyes to Rarity, who was still occupied with texting someone. He offered his hand to her. “And you are?”

She took his and said, “My name’s—”

“Rarity. Yes, of course.”

Al turned to Fluttershy. She said nothing as she took his hand, “Fluttershy, yes, it is nice to meet…” Al’s smile dropped, and he pulled her closer to him, causing her to yelp. He forced her eyelid to stay open with his thumb and pointer finger and stared into her eye.

When he spoke again, it was informative and direct, like he was giving a mission report to a commanding officer, “Head trauma, mild concussion, and swelling, no internal bleeding to the brain detected…” Al let her go, and his somewhat forced smile returned. “Yes, you should be fine.” He looked at Pinkie Pie and extended his hand to her.

“Who might you be?” He said as she took his hand.

“Take me to your leader,” she said, still using her robot voice.

“Pinkie Pie, yes, it is my pleasure meeting you as well.” He said, completely oblivious to her strange behavior.

By now, Twilight was beginning to see a pattern. There was a theory that she wanted to test for the sake of her curiosity. “What’s my name?” She asked when Al turned to her, not taking his hand quite yet.

Al stood frozen in place, very subtly, his eyes shifted to look down the hall, Twilight looked in the same direction just in time to see Sent turning away and back to the doctors. She turned around, seeing Al in the same pose as before but now looking back at her. Once again the doors of the elevator bumped into him.

“I presume you’re Twilight Sparkle, yes?” he said, finishing with a toothy, minutely unsettling grin.

Twilight hesitated to take his hand. “Okay…”

“Yes, Twilight, Pleasure to meet you.” Al turned the last of the gang, “And if I am not mistaken, you must be Applejack, yes?”

“Uh… Hi.” Applejack decided to wave at him instead of shaking his hand. Al’s smile sagged as hints of a menacing look began to surface. He brought his hand closer to her, making it clear she was going to shake his hand, whether she wanted to or not.

Applejack looked at his hand, then back at Al, “Afternoon.” She took Al’s hand with a nervous smile, and his intimidating look evaporated.

“Yes, this afternoon is indeed good, Applejack, now if you’ll excuse us, we have important business to attend to.” Just like his counterpart, Al noiselessly glided down the hall.

Wordlessly everyone filed into the elevator and waited for the doors to close. As they did, they watched Sent knock on Sunset’s room door.

“Okay Sunset, I’m going to be opening the door now, okay?”

He proceeded to easily open the door, making it look like an accident regardless of the crunching sound the chair made from being destroyed.

With the Elevator doors now shut, Rainbow felt safer to speak her mind. “Ever heard of too nice?”

“Not my choice of words, but you hit the nail right on the head. Somethin’ doesn’t quite line up with them fellers, and I don’t know if I like it or not,” Applejack agreed. “Yall saw the way he threatened me ta shake his hand, right?… Who even does that?”

Rarity had gotten off her phone and put it away before saying, “Okay, so I just finished making arrangements with Sir E.”

Seeing the surprised looks from her friends, she went straight to the point. “He did say it was an accident, and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he was being apologetic for what happened. But when all is said and done, can you think of who better to ask about what Riot showed Sunset than him?”

It was a fair point, seeing as Sir E was one of, if not, the only other person who knew anything about Riot. In silence, they all unanimously agreed that talking to him was, at this moment, the best course of action.

Flamboyant Facades

View Online

There they stood, six girls with flabbergasted expressions, looking at the vehicle before them.

“You’ve got to be joking. There is no way this for real, right?” Rainbow said, deciding to be the first to speak. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever looked at something this expensive in my entire life.”

Rainbow, along with everyone, ogled at the limo in front of them, their eyes tracing over every crease, crevice, nook, cranny, curve, and smooth surface all along the length of the vintage style body.

“Please tell me that this is some kind of crazy fancy paint job. Because I doubt that anyone in their right mind would ever do something as insane as… this!”

Like the one they rode in before, this vehicle had an antique resemblance to it. However, the exterior had a marble appearance and was appropriately accented in places by precious metals and rare gemstones, obviously customized.

There was a nerve-racking aura they all felt for being as close as they were to the car, just from how grossly expensive it looked. Twilight and Rarity, both mesmerized by its over-the-top glamour, shuffled in for a closer examination of the siding and ornaments.

“Nope, this is, in fact, real marble,” Twilight stated, after giving the waxed and polished siding a few quick taps. “And knowing him, chances are that the gemstones are just as authentic… is that grill made of gold!?”

Rarity slowly glanced over each and every crystal, specifically staring deep into the baseball-sized diamond hood ornament resembling a Faberge egg, mesmerized by its stunning beauty.

“I’ve never seen such perfect cuts.” Her concentration broke when it occurred to her that there was an absence of a chauffeur. Leaving a car like this unattended did not seem like the most ideal decision in any region of the world.

Applejack spoke next. “Alright, I‘m done.” She walked up to the car, “I’m not gonna just stand around gawking at this glorified rock on wheels,” She grabbed the handle to open the door. “Let’s al—”

“I WITNESSED IT ALL, RIGHT BEfore _{my eyes.}”

Ear-splitting music exploded from inside the cabin when the door cracked open, causing everyone to rebound, shrink back, and cover their ears from the sudden noise. The music quickly receded down to a background level as Sir E lowered it with a remote. Once the volume was low enough, they could hear nearby car alarms going off.

“I’m so, terribly, sorry about that, I could have sworn I had the sound shield up, and I wasn't expecting you all for…well.” He frantically fished into his pockets before pulling out an extravagant timepiece and examined the face, “At least another minute.”

Now visible to the world, the girls could see he was in a new outfit, consisting of a dark blue baroque era suit, ornamented in a festive manner, thickly accented with lots of white frills and a few patches of black fabrics. The front of his suit jacket was adorned with gold buttons and had an embroidered floral design, barely noticeable in the light's reflection. Atop his head was a tricorn hat, embellished with feathers and fluffy cloud-like material.

His mask had also changed. With a little imagination, the pattern laced with golden trails on its marble-like white surface somewhat resembled the face of an owl. He had styled his hair in a 17th-century fashion with a hint of power gray-blue coloration.

“Please excuse the significant inconvenience. The fault is entirely mine,” said Sir E. He casually waved his hand, beckoning them to enter. “Come in. Come in, make yourselves comfortable.” He then turned back to the billiards game he had been playing moments before.

The girls stood up, collecting themselves, all with ringing in their ears. Rainbow, twisting a pinkie in her ear, spoke for all of them. “How in the world can anyone possibly listen, let alone think or do anything with music at tha… WHAAA!!”

To their surprise, the exterior paled in comparison when they were exposed to what was within the limousine. It looked like a white, gold, and dark blue spaceship made out of marble. Expensive metals were interwoven throughout the interior. On the opposite end of an impossibly spacious room was a bar counter with an extensive assortment of beverage options on the wall. However, what stood out the most was near where the back of the vehicle should have been. It was so out of place that everyone’s eyes were immediately drawn to that direction.

There was a doorway leading to yet another room even larger than the one they were in full of many forms of entertainment. There were arcade games of every variety, claw machines, ball toss, carnival games, even a bowling alley and roller rink.

Amidst their stuttering awe, everyone now had more questions than it would be worth asking.

“Now then,” Sir E said, leaning over the table while aiming his next shot. “Shall we get back to where we left off in our earlier conversation?” He paused to make the shot. “After all, I did inform you that our prior discussion was yet to be over, did I not?”

An extended lack of noise from the group of girls caused Sir E to look in their direction, their faces covered with an overwhelmed look. Even Spike, who had finally felt safe enough to poke his head out from Twilight’s backpack, looked uncomfortable. Rainbow Dash raised her hand, “I have a question, is there a swimming pool in there?”

“Oh, I uh, would have assumed you would be more interested in…” he waved his hand inconsistently in front of himself, gesturing between the group and the room. “Well,…” He sighed in self-disappointment, “Give me one moment if you would.”

Sir E placed his stick down and walked over to the doorway, his leather sole shoes clicking on the marble floor. He began fiddling with a display next to the doorframe, muttering to himself in concentration.

With a loud hiss and a clunk, the door closed just as quickly as it reopened. Once it did, the arcade was gone, replaced by a waterpark-themed room with waterslides, a wave pool, and many other kinds of water-related fun activities ranging from everything between kiddie pool to water skiing. Next to the main pool with all the toys and excitement was a mirror surface Olympic sized lap pool complete with a diving board.

“There you are, is that more to your liking, I hope? Changing rooms are to the right.” Looking back at the girls, Sir E saw little to no change in their expressions.

Rainbow Dash was about to tell him that she was joking about the swimming pool, but Sir E spoke first, “Oh bother. What is it that I’m overlooking?” He reached into his suit pocket and retrieved a booklet.

As Sir E flipped through the pages, Twilight tilted her head sideways and squinted her eyes, attempting to get a look at the small text on the front cover. Barely making out the words, it read ‘Tips to Communication, a Beginners Guide.’

Was this really the same person they were talking to before? Almost an hour ago, Sir E was a confident, composed, collected, cunning, and clever individual with the heart of a dandy lion. But now it seemed like he was slipping into a shaky, skittish, shy, and self-conscious person that had lost his spirit.

“Are you feeling alright? You don’t seem like yourself.” Asked Twilight with concern at the fringes of each of her words.

Sir E looked up and hurriedly put the book away, “Right, yes. Yes, I’m fine.” He sat down on the nearest barstool and snapped his fingers twice. A bottle and wineglass glided through the air towards him, and he gripped both once they were close enough to grab. With a pop, Sir E removed the cork with only his thumb and began to pour himself a drink, “What on earth would prompt you to ask such a silly question?”

“For starters, you seem like a completely different person.” As Twilight spoke, Sir E’s wine glass started overflowing, but he didn’t seem to notice. “And for all we know, you could easily be his double. I mean, we don’t even know what your face looks like.”

The moment Twilight said what she did, the bottle Sir E was holding shattered at the neck, causing everyone to jump and back away. Sir E slowly opened the hand that he used to crush the bottle.

Past the red drink stains, everyone could see the glass embedded into his gloved hand. He then said in a soft low voice, “And what’s wrong with the way I look?”

“N… Nothing. I never said anything about how you look, only that we don’t know what you look like. Sir E, please, you’re really starting to scare me right now.” Twilight wasn’t the only one. All of her friends were subtly creeping back towards the exit of the limousine. To their utter dismay, however, the door had closed, and the vehicle was already moving.

They were trapped.

Sir E turned away from them, put his head on his uninjured hand, and his injured hand on the bar counter. “You’re going to have to forgive my behavior. To tell you the truth, I’m not all that great at socializing._{It’s been so long}.”

That wasn’t entirely true, but he felt that telling them the whole truth would only make the already tense atmosphere worse. Yet he intended to at least hint towards the more accurate reason for his erratic character. It was the least he could do.

Sir E walked back to the Billiards table and waved a hand over it. The girls watched the surface gloss over with a thick, ice looking material, freezing the balls in place with a translucent substance, leaving behind a flat smooth surface.

“There’s more to it though, a reason why I'm… Uh, malpracticed, should I say? I wasn't always this way.” As he spoke, he was unbuttoning the sleeve of his injured hand. “Well, at least not since… this.”

Sir E pulled his sleeve halfway down his forearm and removed his glove, holding up his hand for everyone to see. What they saw was a hand that was crippled much more than just the cuts caused by the glass.

His hand was so much more scarred and mutilated than they could have possibly imagined. His knuckles were swollen in various places but not enough for them to show through the gloves he wore. Additionally, his once pale skin was covered entirely in burn scars having the textured look of papermachè and chewed gum. The blood drizzling from the lacerations caused by the glass made the image even more dreadful.

“To answer your unasked question: yes, this hurts, unbearably so.” He stretched his hand forward palm down, and the translucent substance on the surface of the table rose to circle, but not touch, his hand, turning nearly opaque.

A dim light shone from within the enclosed area, “But I have grown accustomed to such feelings of pain and, as you can see, have learned to control my response to it.” The light ceased, and he pulled his hand away from the material. Having finished its task, it returned to its former, flat state. Holding his hand up once more, it showed little difference to what they saw earlier, other than the most recent injury now healed.

“My entire body was affected. That’s why I dress the way I do, not because I find it amusing. But because it is the only way I feel for me to be accepted by the general populous.”

Having seen the deformed hand, the girls realized why Sir E was starting to lose his boldness. They could only imagine how uncomfortable it was for him to face others when he had such a severe problem. Having to hide it all under a flamboyant facade, he also had to play the part. All just to have the feeling of acceptance and escape from his self-perceived solitude.

Sir E grabbed the chin of his mask and slowly began to remove it, “My face suffered the worst of all the damages. Would you care to see what lies beneath?”

“No!” They all cried out in unison. Applejack continued, “I think we get the idea.”

“Of course, you didn't come here to talk about me or my past.” He set his mask back into place, “You came to me in order to discuss Riot’s.” He pulled his stained sleeve down and put his bloodied glove back on. He then placed both his hands on the table’s surface, and the substance briefly crawled up to his elbows and then back down. The suit's fabric was no longer blemished, and the girls guessed that it too had been repaired.

“I’ll at least say that our pasts mirror each other quite significantly, so I have a great understanding of what he’s been through.” He reached up and fingered where the middle of his forehead would be like he had done earlier that day. “For example, with great power comes an even greater cost. One that both he and I know all too well.”

After a moment of silence, Sir E brought his hand down and stood with the authority they knew him to have, regaining his composure. “And that, I’m afraid, is what Sunset is experiencing. Years worth of repaying such a cost in a matter of seconds. To tell you the truth, I’m impressed that she is even responsive. That alone tells me just how strong she is.” With one final wave of his hand, the ice-like material vanished, and Sir E returned to his game.

“By now, I’m sure you're wondering where I'm taking you? It’s to one of my smaller abodes. I'm assuming that you need your gems repaired, correct?” he struck the cue ball before continuing. “I could feel the damage done to them when I borrowed Twilight’s.” He got into position for the next shot, “The trip will be a lengthy one, I'm afraid, but unfortunately,” he made one last shot, ending this round. “I have neither the required tools nor resources with me at the moment to make the necessary repairs.”

After tapping the table’s edge twice, the billiard balls came out of the holes and set themselves back into the start position. “That should give you time to think through what you should ask me about what I know.” Sir E positioned himself to begin the next round. “In the meantime,” he shot for the break, starting a new game. “I suggest you should wind down a bit while you have the opportunity. I know this is a lot for people like you to swallow.”

“Tell us this much,” Rainbow Dash spoke up with determination in her words, “is Sunset safe? We ran into Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum at the elevator, but I don’t know if we can trust them.”

“Ah yes, Sent and Al. They are a piece of work if I do say so myself.” Sir E paused his game and looked at them, still hunched over the table. “As strange as you might make them out to be, I assure you that Ms. Shimmer couldn’t be in any more capable hands.” He turned back to the game and aimed for another shot.

“As they might have informed you, I sent them to protect,” he paused to take a well-aimed shot, “her from harm. What they didn’t tell you is from what.” Sir E put aside his cue stick and leaned with his back against the table, arms crossed.

He faced the group giving them his full attention, and breathed in. “This will be hard for you to accept, but I happen to know that Riot is highly suicidal. As crafty and crazy as he is, Sunset, having read his mind, now knows at least, if not more than, a million different ways to kill herself.”

Their stomachs dropped when they heard him say that. Regardless, he pointed his finger to them, indicating that there was even more. “But let's not forget about Tirek either. Someone sent him to eliminate ‘magic users,’” Sir E said in the same way Tirek used the word. “Whoever it was is bound to try again. Furthermore, the state that your friend is in right now, she needs all the protection that I can possibly provide.” Sir E picked up the cue stick and turned back to his game, “From outside forces, and herself.”

Twilight’s cell phone rang. When she looked at the caller id, it was a blocked name and number. She was about to decline the call when Sir E spoke. “I strongly advise you to answer that, my dear.” He said, leaning over the edge of the table, fiddling the stick, carefully aiming his next shot. Twilight looked at him curiously.

“If he’s calling you,” He made an expert curve shot, sinking four balls, and continued speaking. “It’s for a reason. It would be wise if you listened to what he has to say.”

Taking his advice with a grain of salt, Twilight answered by saying, “hello?” without putting much thought into it.

To her astonishment, she was answered with Riot’s dreadfully familiar voice. “Twilight Sparkle, meet me at Bayleaf’s Gourmet at seven o’clock. On. The. Dot. No sooner, no later. Is that clear?”

Twilight’s hand started trembling as adrenaline shot through her veins. “Uh… um…” before she could get out any proper response, Riot hung up.

Heart pounding, Twilight slowly pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. To her, it sounded like he was making a ransom call. “So… who was that?” asked Fluttershy, wanting to know just as much as everyone else, seeing their friends’ panicked expression.

Turning to face her friends, Twilight answered, “That was Riot. He told me to meet him at Bayleaf’s Gourmet at seven.”

“Random guess here,” Pinkie Pie said, “But something’s telling me he’s not asking you on a date.”

The greater part of Twilight would rather kiss or even marry Tirek than go on a dinner date with Riot after what he’s done. But a little voice in the back of her head said that if she didn’t, Sunset wouldn’t be the only one he would hospitalize.

Riot slipped his cellphone back into his pocket and continued walking through the hustle and bustle of the moderately crowded sidewalk. But only those that knew what to look for would have noticed his pace quicken ever so slightly. Two of them. Four hundred and ninety-three meters on my seven forty. One of them is well trained and experienced. The other seems to have been unwillingly dragged into this. Neither are equipped for combat, only observation. This will be child's play.

After walking another block, Riot’s pace had quickened much less subtly as he began to jog. He continued increasing his speed at a steady rate. Soon he was running fast enough that people started to move out of his way in fear of being run over. It wasn’t long before he was sprinting, his body leaning farther forward the faster he moved.

Eventually, he had to transfer onto the road as he started passing cars that were easily going twenty-five to thirty miles per hour, his metallic prosthetic legs ringing with every step he took. Like all of the equipment he had access to, his prosthetics could change into what best suited the current situation allowing him to run however fast he wanted. By now, he was turning everyone’s heads as they watched him breeze pass cars without breaking a sweat.

Riot was coming to a bridge, and on that bridge was something he had prepared beforehand to arrive at that very moment. A pair of Highway Patrolmen on motorcycles had taken an interest in that something, a motorbike that was going well over the speed limit.

It wasn’t your average motorcycle. The wheels had omnidirectional capabilities allowing for powered drifts, Riot’s most preferred choice of tires. The sleek, sharp-angled frame style made the word futuristic look like an understatement. The trouble that the officers were running into was that the said motorbike had no driver on it. Riot wasn’t too fond of driving vehicles, finding them loud and cumbersome, but they had their uses when the situation demanded it.

Riot reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out a full metal rope dart. His timing was perfect. Just when he was about to go under the bridge, Riot spun, his back towards the ground, facing skyward. With a mighty throw, he thrust the dart into the cement. It hit inches away from the edge of the opposite side of the bridge.

The weapon’s cable instantly went taunt with the help of his previously gathered speed, flinging him into an upward swing. Repositioning himself in mid-air to land on the seat of his motorcycle was a cinch, something that the lifetime of survival training he had gone through made possible.

Once he was on the vehicle, the weight and impact of his momentum caused the motorbike to make an instantaneous exit turn down a no-entry road. Additionally, Riot jerked his arm, dislodging the rope dart from the bridge, and it automatically retracted itself back into concealment. The now dumbstruck officers lost sight of their target but immediately called in for backup to stop all the illegal actions taking place. Luckily for them, an air traffic control helicopter was already in the sky.

Riot punched the throttle when he got off the bridge and drove through oncoming traffic on a four-lane one-way road. He skillfully weaved around the cars, trucks, and buses ahead of him. Being inches away from collision meant nothing to him. Seventy-five miles an hour? I’m making it too easy for them.

A police car turned its lights and sirens on and began its pursuit after the reckless motorcycle. Riot paid no mind to it, however. Ninety is better, but not good enough. He was more concentrated on the traffic and the noticeable shift it made at the law enforcement vehicle’s arrival. In fact, he was so focused, were it not for his shades, anyone would have assumed he was stoned if they were to get a good enough look at his face.

Riot was doing more than watching what was in front of him. He was calculating the speed, distance, and trajectory of every vehicle in great detail. Riot was also closely observing what every pedestrian in and outside of the cars he passed was doing. It was also notable for him to include the helicopter’s noise that was four and a half miles away and closing. One hundred and twenty, that’s more like it.

Coming up to yet another bridge, Riot slammed his front brake, causing the motorcycle to flip forward. Before it made one full rotation, he spun on the seat and slammed his prosthetics into the ground. Doing so caused him to launch high enough to have his front tire gently land on the guardrail, having lost most of his momentum to make an upward leap.

The patrol car continued under the bridge while Riot bunny hopped from the railing onto a moving semi-truck trailer. He hit the acceleration to make up for his lost speed, leaving behind a very startled truck driver.

Hot Rod was a highway patrol officer who was infamous for his crazy daredevil stunts. Even at a young age, he had always loved the feeling of an adrenaline rush. More so whenever he had the chance to hit the throttle of any motorcycle.

When Hot Rod caught wind of a reckless driver on his police scanner, he grinned with excitement. What’s more, the officer also happened to be close to the area that they were last seen. What surprised him, though, was to hear his commanding officer permitting him to do whatever he needed to within the law to put an end to their rampage. Hot Rod was always getting in trouble for unsafe driving and had recently been told a few times that his badge was on the line if he didn’t clean up his act.

The distant sound of a revving motorcycle engine was music to his ears. Hot Rod turned his head to look at his target, but as he did, it flew past him faster than he thought possible, only making his grin grow even wider. “Oh, yeah!” He turned on his lights and sirens, then let loose, screeching the back tire, popping a wheelie, and beginning the chase. “Woo hoo!”

“Within the law, Hot Rod!” Crack Shot said over the radio for his partner to hear before attempting to catch up to him.

It took much longer for Hot Rod to catch up to what he had nicknamed “The Bogie” than he would have liked. That alone was enough to tell the officer he wasn't going to be as easy as he originally anticipated. But these were his streets, and Hot Rod wasn’t going to let some random punk outdo him so easily.

By now, the chopper was on the scene and was giving Hot Rod an aerial overlay of the streets ahead. It wasn’t that necessary for him though, as he knew every road in the city like the back of his hand, and he knew that Riot was headed towards the park.

Riot could weave through these trees with his eyes closed and any speed, making the officer wonder if he was a suicidal maniac or a talented genius. The only reason Hot Rod was able to keep up with his insane speed and hairpin maneuvering was that he was mimicking Riot’s every move while thinking if he can do it, so can I. However, the amount of branches whipping into his face, arms, legs, and tearing up his uniform was starting to become bearable.

They were under the thick tree line for at least two minutes. The sound of the helicopter’s engine was now a fair distance away, having lost the visual on its target. He shook the chopper off of his tail like it was nothing, just who is this guy? And why is he running, is it to somewhere or from something? Hot Rod could only wonder to himself.

Up ahead, the officer was surprised to see they were already about to leave the forested area and enter the children's playground. Now he was filled with a sense of urgency. It wasn't just a matter of pride anymore. Lives were now potentially at risk if this continued. For a fleeting moment, Hot Rod thought that Riot was going to plow through the park. He did, sort of, but in the most spectacular fashion that the officer had ever seen, leaving him positively stupefied.

Seconds before reaching the playground’s boundaries, Riot stood on the seat and then hit the ejector button, which then launched him like a bullet into the air. Pulling his rope dart out again, he shot the dart back towards his bike, grappling it. The moment the rope went taut, Riot’s momentum slowed down as he transferred the energy into the motorcycle, lifting it off the ground and over his head.

Acting like a bola, Riot cleared the entire distance of the playground and parking lot without even touching the ground, going over awe-stricken pedestrians. Again his rope dart retracted itself as he reunited with his motorcycle spinning faster and faster the closer they got together. Eventually, he returned to the bike’s seat, landing upright on the street, then unperturbed, Riot continued to speed down the road.

Hot Rod wasn't as fortunate, being forced to haphazardly navigate through the playground equipment as bystanders jumped out of the way of the police vehicle. By the time Hot Rod made it through the parking lot and to the road, he had just enough time to see Riot take a right and disappear down a narrow street. The officer had a score to settle with ’The Bogie’ for making him look like an amateur, but Hot Rod had to remember that his job came first. He wasn't going to let The Bogie get away so easily.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were slowly walking down a sidewalk, all looking a little disappointed. They had planned out the entire afternoon, but a few shortcomings they hadn’t anticipated stood firmly in front of their activities.

“It’s so unfair!” Scootaloo said, kicking the same rock she had been for the last mile. It was the first thing any of them had said since their plans were canceled. “Why do all the grownups have age limits on all the fun stuff.”

“No kiddin’, ah mean really, how hard is it ta go skydivin’?” Said Apple Bloom, agreeing with her friend, “All ya gotta do is jump out of a plane with a parachute and pull the cord. Why are there these stupid lessons you have to take? And it costs how much? Ah’ll be graduating college before ah can even get that amount of money.” It was only a mere two hundred dollars each, but to her, that was a fortune she could only dream about having.

“So, what now?” Sweetie Belle said, feeling just as frustrated as her friends but holding it in. “We’ve still got a few hours left in the day to hang out. Got any ideas?”

As they thought in silence, the sound of a police siren steadily grew louder. It wasn't very often they heard one, and even less common for it to be coming this close.

As the siren drew closer, it made Sweetie Belle remember something that took place earlier that day. “Hey guys, did you hear about what happened this morning at the mall? There was some criminal that got his butt handed to him. My sister was actually there to see it.”

“Mine too, she also said that one of the fellers who did it was using her magic,” Apple Bloom said, remembering the call she received from Applejack after the fact. “And not just her magic either, he was usin’ all of their magic, Twilight, Pinkie, even Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Not sure if he used Fluttershy’s, but she said somethin’ about it being because of him havin’ their gems or somethin’.”

“I heard about it but… not from Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo said, feeling slightly more disappointed than she did earlier. As much as Rainbow Dash was like a sister to her, she couldn't help feeling at that moment a little left out for not having a sister.

By now, they could see the police lights coming their way, chasing a motorcycle driver. That gave Scootaloo an idea. “Hey, what if we helped out? When they get close enough, we jump in front of them. That’ll startle them enough to swerve into something and stop.” She held out her hand for them to do their cheer. “What do you say, CMC crime stoppers?”

That earned her a puzzled look from her friends. “Uh, not that I’m against being like my sister, and her friends saving the world or anything,” Sweet Belle said, noticing something else making her rethink her sentence, “but one, that sounds a tad bit dangerous. And two, I think that train has the same idea.”

Turning to look at what she meant, they first saw then heard the train she was talking about. It was heading to the railroad crossing just before it would disappear into a tunnel connected to the steep hill they were walking by.

Looking back at the chase, they watched both motorcycles move into the oncoming lane, which was empty due to the train's arrival. The girls could already tell that it was going to be close.

“Uh, h-how about CMC accident prevention?” Sweetie Belle said, more out of not wanting to see such a fatality happen in front of her, then knowing how to stop it. Adding to their surprise, a helicopter with the word police on both sides came barling onto the scene flying over the rooftops.

Moments before all the vehicles converged, Sweetie Belle covered her mouth, Apple Bloom covered her eyes peeking through her fingers, and Scootaloo covered her ears. Using words to describe the next few seconds was unjustifiable compared to what they saw.

They watched the officer slow down his motorcycle taking his losses while the other biker skidded before falling over. He was still moving forward incredibly fast as he landed onto the side of the motorbike and went under the railroad crossing gate. The front tire brushed the front of the train, missing a collision by the skin of their teeth. They continued forward under the other gate before the tires caught the asphalt uprighting itself in the proper traffic lane. They were backward now, but only for a moment as the biker did a j-turn and accelerated into, then up, the almost vertical hillside.

The helicopter continued to follow the motorcyclist, leaving the three girls behind. They slowly looked at each other, then unanimously said, “CMC daredevils! Whoo!”

This was the exact scenario that Riot had been looking for, a straight road going towards T intersection next to a river. If he could jump across, he would be entering a wooded area outside of town. It didn't matter to him that there wasn't a bridge. He knew how to improvise.

It was a relatively wide river, but the distance was no more expansive than the park he had cleared minutes ago. There was a guardrail at the end of the street he needed to jump, but that would also prove an easy obstacle to overcome.

This time when he hit the throttle, Riot popped a wheelie. Timing it just right, he hit the break causing the motorcycle to bounce up into the air. To the helicopter watching, he was going to make it across the river. However, before he made it over the guardrail, a semi-truck clipped the back tire, flipping the entire airborne bike upside down.

Riot smacked his head so hard against the rail that it left a dent. His prosthetics snagged onto the motorcycle as he was ripped off the seat slamming the bike to the ground. They tumbled down the slope, flipping end over end towards the river, spraying grass and dirt into the air. The bike sprung back up for a brief moment before landing in the middle of the river and sinking to the bottom.

The helicopter circled around, assessing the situation as more police personnel arrived, having been informed of Riot whereabouts by the chopper. The officers rushed towards the river on foot and began scanning the water's surface for a body, but it was too murky to see any more than a few inches. Other than the bubbles made by the crashed bike, there were no signs of Riot. Had they looked down the storm drain tunnel located under the same road, they would have seen a large silhouette entering the sewage system.

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A maintenance hole cover launched skyward, and Riot erupted from the storm drain system. As casually as the circumstance would allow, he caught the cover and jammed it back into place as though to prevent anything from following. He did it with such force that it left behind a permanent handprint on the metal. However, the most impressive thing was that it was all accomplished without so much as a sound. There was no ‘pop,’ ‘bang,’ or even the sound of twisting metal.

Riot immediately whipped out his cellphone and put it against his ear. “Hi, this is Twilight Sparkle. Sorry for missing your call. Leave a message, and I’ll get back to you.” Beep.

“Change of plans. Five minutes early. No questions. No excuses. Be there.”

After putting the cellphone back into his pocket, he began to walk out of the backstreet alley he found himself in. “That should be enough to throw them off.” Amateurs.

Overhead, on the rooftops, two beings looked down at Riot, watching him leave and having heard every word. One of them smiled and began chuckling. “Okay, wow.” He said in a low volume but unable to suppress his excitement.

“That was just… Wow! I don’t believe it!” his smile grew wider as he laughed a little harder. “I haven’t had this much fun in a very long time. Gotta hand it to him; I’m impressed.” They gave slow applause, “He’s not your average prey. This is what it means to be a hunter!”

While the one laughed, the other one swallowed his nervousness and said, “Shouldn’t we keep following him?” Thorax tensed at the sudden contact of his brother Pharynx’s hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t you get it? We know where he’ll be. So~ we don’t have to keep a constant eye on him. That will give us more than enough time to prepare.”

“But he’s already-” Thorax felt something was off about how quickly Riot vanished from their sight, but Pharynx interrupted.

“Forget about it. What’s more important is that I believe what he’s planning to do is a live drop. Those are always vulnerable in some way, especially with an advantage like ours. He’ll pass the stolen goods the queen ordered us to retrieve over to… uh.” Snapping his fingers, a habit he had recently developed during his time here, Pharynx tried to recall the name that eluded him.

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“Don’t tell me something I already know! But yes, Twilight Sparkle.” He put a hand to his chin, thinking through the next step he needed to take. “All we need to do is distract her and take her place long enough to retrieve the package and disappear.” Pharynx slapped Thorax on the back. “It’ll be an in and out job. Piece of cake, won’t even know what hit him. He may have given us a little bit of a scare earlier, but the clouds are starting to clear. Trust me, this will be an easy one.”

Pharynx looked back at Riot’s last known location and started talking as though it were to his prey. “You think you're so smart, trying to throw us off your trail like that. As clever as it might have been, it’s too bad you underestimated what you're up against.” Pharnx’s eyes drifted over to Thorax, “Ready to take Twilight’s place?”

“What? But… But I-”

“It only makes sense because you’re the one who suggested looking for life signs down the storm drain. Otherwise, we would have definitely lost his trail. So, this is your opportunity for redemption. Are you going to do it?”

That’s only because I was thinking of doing the same thing. “I… guess.”

“Or do you want me to tell the Queen that we failed because—”

“I’ll do it. I’m ready.”

“That’s the way I want to hear it. Let’s get as much intel as we can on this Twilight Sparkle.”

Pharynx walked past his brother, and Thorax looked down at the alleyway. He vanished so quickly. Using his extra scenery perception, Thorax couldn’t feel where Riot had gone to or that he had even been there. The only sign that he had was the handprint. Why didn’t he just do that earlier?

“*Ding* Attention,” A soft-sounding stern feminine voice politely said over an intercom system, interrupting the six girls that were relaxing in a hot spring-styled pool. “You will be arriving at your destination in approximately ten minutes.”

“Did anyone else think that that sounded like an airport announcer or something, or was that just me?” Twilight said, finding the similarity being a little disorienting.

“I don’t follow.” Said Rarity, “But if you’re asking whether it sounded professional or not, it sounded quite professional.”

“I agree. It was very professional.” Fluttershy added.

“Sorry. It’s just a little hard to believe that all of this is inside a limousine.”

“You can say that again.” Applejack agreed. “I’ve been ta fancy receptions with less pizzazz than this vehicle has around just one door frame.”

“You’ve been to fancy parties?” Rainbow Dash chuckled, “I’ll believe it when I see it. In your frilly frou-frou dress!”

“You wouldn’t know bout it cus it happen’d back a few months after my... parents… I was with some relatives at the time. It was years ago, and not the life fer me.”

Hearing the mild discomfort in Applejack’s voice earned Rainbow an elbow jab to the ribs. “Ow! Okay, I’m sorry for bringing it up, AJ.”

“It’s fine. I never really told yall bout it, so ya didn’t know.” But the band-aid had been pulled, and her friends could still see the lingering pain as she lowered her head far enough into the water to make bubbles.

“If you want my opinion, I’m still sticking with my robot theory.” Pinkie said, backstroking around the fairly spacious pool with water wings.

“You're still going on about that? I mean not that I don’t disagree with you, but it does seem more plausible the more we learn about these guys.” Rainbow said, pulling herself out of the water.

“I mean, at this point, what can’t this guy afford? His limo is made out of pure freaking gold for crying out loud! I can’t imagine him not having the resources to make them. But, it still seems a little unlikely by how life-like they look… erm if they were robots that is.” She grabbed a warm towel and walked towards a door. “That aside, I’m going to the locker room to dry off and change out of this swimming suit, then get back into my other clothes.”

Her other friends followed. All of them, that is, except Twilight.

“Ya comin’ Twi?” Applejack asked, snapping Twilight from her train of thought.

“What? Oh, uh, right behind you.”

Applejack waited for Twilight at the locker room door, “Still thinking bout yer dinner date?” She teased.

“It’s not a date! But, yeah, you’re right, I was. I still don’t know how he got my number or why he contacted me.” They entered the locker room as the announcer gave them a five-minute reminder.

Back in the main room of the limousine, the girls came out of the locker room. They saw Sir E next to the door leading to the outside. “*Ding* Attention, you have arrived at your destination. Please watch your step as you exit the vehicle, and we hope you enjoy our hospitality during your stay.”

“If there is anything you need, your wish is our command.” Sir E said in sync with the announcer as he opened the door. “I bid you welcome to one of my smaller abodes.” He said as the girls filed out of the vehicle. “I apologize about the grandeur and the lack thereof.”

“One of?”

“Smaller?”

“What do you mean by ‘the lack thereof’? How can this cathedral you call a house possibly have any more glamour added to it!?”

Everything around them looked as though they had entered into a fantasy world straight from the pages of a storybook. As far as the eye could see were hedge gardens and immaculate landscaping. Two fountains as glamorous as the limousine was set either side of them. Each one as big as their school’s parking lot, gushing and gurgling. The crystal clear water it sprayed made mesmerizing patterns that could only be achievable by magic, and anyone watching could quickly lose themselves in.

The main house, a wooden Victorian styled structure, loomed over them like a daunting beast. It was easily three times bigger than their school, with its many towers, domes, and spires. And to the group, it looked to be at least six stories tall.

“What do you do for a living to earn all of this?” Twilight asked, incoherent to the words escaping her mouth.

“Erm… _{best way to describe}… I dabble in a little bit of everything, but mostly I am a pony, turned man, of science and sorcery.”

“Sign me up.”

“As thrilling as that may seem to you, I doubt you could grasp the basic fundamentals of time-oriented equations necessary to qualify.” Sir E said, walking up to the fifteenth foot mahogany double doors.

Time-oriented equations?

As he reached the doors, they were soundlessly opened by two men dressed as proper eighth-century footmen wearing crisp steam pressed suits with masks, but unlike Sir E, theirs had eyeholes. The two men stood staring straight at one another, but it felt like they were also staring right at Sir E and his guests.

Sir E prompted everyone to follow him in the monstrous mansion’s doors of the wooden wonder. Doing so, everyone found themselves entering into a marble marvel. Everything was a variation of the color pearl white, which looked like a fluid resin, much like the dark blue mask Sir E wore.

In fact, the walls and floor were so much like his mask that they too looked as though they were alive, breathing and swirling in slow motion like a smokey silk fabric in the wind. It didn’t take much to make them think that if they were to reach out their hand, there would be no wall but another world shrouded in mist.

It was mesmerizing and terrifyingly hypnotic. The more the girls held their gaze, the deeper their minds were drawn into its majesty, left wondering what mysteries might be hidden just past the vaporous veil. The sound of Sir E snapping his fingers broke the trance the patterns on the wall had put the girls into.

When they looked at him, the room came into total clarity, and they could see the corners of the walls, ceiling, and doors, the two curving stairways, and the mighty crystal chandelier between them. It was lightly furnished with paintings of and by historically famous people and a few decorative tables holding antique flower vases.

Sir E stood looking at them motionless for a moment without saying a word. During the uncomfortable silence, Twilight realized she had her hand against the wall. Not recalling when she got to her current position, she lowered it to her side and promptly returned to her friends.

After a quick scan across the room, Sir E finally spoke, “I suppose the texture I chose is slightly disorienting to those who are not familiar with it. If I may, allow me a moment to fix that.”

Sir E repositioned the cane in his hand, grabbing the center. With one hand, he swung it like a golf club, nearly smacking the ground and arching it towards the ceiling. A ripple manifested in mid-air, coursing through the room and changing the interior to one that matched the wooden exterior of the building.

Rainbow folded her arms and, with a flat tone, said, “let me guess, all of this was also ‘handcrafted.’”

“Why yes, yes it was. As you just witnessed, this was all crafted by my hand.” Sir E gave a slow, small wave of his hand, making another water-like ripple appear, trailing behind the gesture.

“Okay, the way you were using handcrafted earlier was making me think warehouses of near-slavery to achieve perfection, each with a weekly pay grade of more than what I earn in a year.”

A chuckle escaped from behind Sir E’s mask. “Even though I could afford something so outlandish, why would I go to such great lengths when I have a much simpler alternative?” He snapped his fingers again, and movement appeared from behind the girls making them all whip around.

Six maids in identical black and white uniforms stood at attention, and like the footmen, wore masks, but these had very different straps. “Each of our guests will require a personal guide during their stay here. It’s a fairly big establishment, they could easily lose themselves were they to go off and explore. You are also to provide them with any service that they ask of you, is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.” They all responded in impossibly perfect unison. Their voices were so similar that it made the girls wonder if they were all related to each other.

“Excellent. Glad that that has been settled. Now it’s off to the dining hall where I shall grace you all with a dinner and a show.”

After exchanging glances amongst themselves, Applejack was about to object to his generous offer. Just as she was going to tell him that they were only there to repair their gems, her stomach objected to her objections, grumbling in opposition.

“I guess it has been a few hours since we’ve all had somethin’.”

Those words seemed to trigger a signal to everyone else as their stomachs grumbled in agreement.

“But honestly, I thought we came here ta git our necklaces fixed. Mind tellin’ us when that’ll happen?”

“That will undoubtedly take me a few hours, but I can’t work on an empty stomach. So for now, we feast.” Sir E gave a hand gesture, signaling the maids to accompany them.

Again in, perfect unison, the maid ushered them with a light wave of their hands, “Right this way, please. The dining hall is just down this corridor.”

“Did anyone else feel the creep factor go past eleven, or is that just me?” Twilight asked, making sure to lower her voice so only her friends could hear her. Something else was bothering her, making her skin get goosebumps, but whatever it was continued to eluded her powers of observation. Something seemed off, it was subtle but there and it was more than just the synchronized maids.

“This whole place feels off.” Rainbow agreed, “But that might be because of how expensive everything looks, or something to do with magic?”

Walking down the hall, there was so much detail in the interior design and every piece of furniture there wasn’t anything not worth look at. It was so rich and thick with detail that they could almost feel themselves slipping away like what had happened earlier.

“No, it's not just that. It’s more with...” Twilight gave a quick, indirect glance at the maids looking around rather than at them. “All the staff. Every one I’ve seen is reminding me of Sent and Al for some reason.”

As one everyone looked at Pinkie who smiled knowing that they wanted her opinion, “three words: zombie alien cyborgs.”

...

“I think yer wires are crossed.”

“If you ask me, perhaps we’re being a little harsh for saying these things.” Rarity chimed in. “I’ll admit, I also have my suspicions about him and it's understandable why we all do. But, it’s not his fault that Sunset is in the hospital. He’s doing all of this to make up for Riots actions. However, I wouldn’t want any of us to be on Sir E’s bad side. Remember when he lost his temper after loosing mask?”

Their conversation was promptly interrupted by Sir E, “And here. We. Are. The banquet hall.”

Before them were double doors just as big and solid looking as the ones at the entrance. They did seem to be slightly bigger than said doors but who was keeping track? Everything Sir E had was outlandishly expensive, over the top and exuberantly decorated. At this point, it wouldn’t have come as a surprise if it were made of gold and jewels.

Sir E walked up to the doors and proceeded to open them himself. However, the group was thrown for a loop when they realized what they thought was the door frame was nothing more than another decorative wall ornament. As it turned out the entire wall were two big doors leading into an even bigger room, one that a high school football stadium could comfortably fit inside.

Immediately as they entered the room, music filled the air, spectacularly welcoming their arrival.

The room had pillars circling all the way around that held up a second-floor balcony, and in the middle, four more pillars reached up to the ceiling. A chandelier hung high above them, gleaming gold and crystal in the light shining through the mesmerizing colored glass flowery murals that blended well with the ceiling art.

Sir E reverted into the french dialect, “Ma chere Mademoiselles, it is with deepest pride and greatest pleasure that we welcome you all this afternoon.”

As he did his introduction Sir E took off his hat by pushing the handle of his cane under it and threw it to one side then tossed the cane the other way before removing his overcoat and tossed it in the same direction as his hat. There were so many servants in the room that none of the items he discarded touched the ground, the footmen simply caught them, walked away, and were replaced by a different person.

The girls were escorted to their respective seats at the table and were treated as the esteemed guests they were.

“And now we invite you all to relax, let us pull up a chair as the dining room saff proudly presents - your lunch!” Sir E clapped twice and a sea of waiters and waitresses carrying trays of food almost literally came out of the woodwork as Sir E began to sing.

Be. our. guest! Be our guest!

Put our service to the test

Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cheries

And we'll provide the rest

There was an overwhelming amount of food coming and going, being brought in just as swiftly as it was taken away. Each and every dish was presented and offered to each of the girls directly and then returned to the kitchen regardless of whether anyone had some or not.

Soup du jour

Hot hors d'oeuvres

Why, we only live to serve

Try the grey stuff

It's delicious

Don't like any? There’s more dishes!

Sir E jumped onto the table and began to dance in a swing fashion of his own unique design.

Make me sing, I will dance

Say the word Miss, now's your chance

And a dinner here is never second best

With a flawless transition he went from swing dancing to something closer to a waltz.

Go on, unfold your menu

Take a glance and then you'll

Be our guest

Oui, our guest

Be our guest!

Beef ragout

Cheese souffle

Pie and pudding "en flambe"

We'll prepare and serve with flair

A culinary cabaret!

Feel at home

Don’t be scared

Because the banquet's all prepared

No one's gloomy or complaining

While the fanfare's entertaining

I’ll tell jokes or do tricks

Nothing less than magnific

And it's all in perfect taste

That you can bet

Come on and lift your glass

You've won your own free pass

To be out guest

If you're stressed

It's fine dining we suggest

Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!

The waiters and waitresses took over the song in their own chorus as Sir E vanished into the ocean of his staff.

Be our guest! Be our guest!

Our command is your request

It’s felt like years since we've had anyone else here

And we're obsessed

With your meal, with your ease

Yes, indeed, we aim to please

While the candlelight's still glowing

Let us help you, We'll keep going.

In yet his third outfit of this day, Sir E took over the spotlight once more in a renaissance era dark red and black ceremonial styled robe. His new mask had a face etched into it, resembling a jester. Slowly moving across the table he maneuvered through the food displays as he neared the end of the song.

Course by course, one by one

'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!"

Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest

Having reached the other end of the table he began to back track the way he came with a little more speed.

Tonight you'll prop your feet up

But for now, let's eat up

Be our guest!

Please, be our guest!

Sir E spun at a humanly impossible speed. All the while fireworks erupted in a Sir E approved display.

The dinner staff took their leave and vanished the same way they arrived. The room returned to what it was when they entered aside from the table now being stockpiled with the most exotic and foreign assortment of food. Sir E hopped down from the table and took his seat before prepping his mask allowing him to start eating himself.

“I must say, you really are a man of many talents, that was quite the performance indeed.” Rarity commented, both impressed and yet not, seeing as everything he has done thus far had been… Overdone in her opinion, but she could tell he was merely trying to gain their favor.

Twilight had, during the performance, figured out what was bugging her about the staff and she needed answers to her questions. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” Sir E answered without hesitation.

“Firstly, back in the Limousine, you made it sound like you had nobody to talk to, yet here's all these... people around you that you can get to know, so why don't you?” her pause on the word people did not go unnoticed. Despite her attempt not to sound rude, that's how it came out. But she hoped to redeem herself with her follow-up question.

“Also, how is it that they're all the exact same height? I don't mean close to or around, I mean exactly. I don’t want to sound insulting, but the odds of that are… We'll I don't even know how to calculate something of that magnitude, but even with all the money you have, that's still highly implausible. Unless they're all clones or something.”

Sir E momentarily postponed his meal to give his answer. Giving a sigh, he began, “I was hoping to avoid this until later, but you deserve a straight answer,” he snapped his fingers and said, “show them.”

As one, all the staff spoke, “According to rules only under the authority of—”

“My voice is my authority, now heed my command. Take off your masks. All of you.”

Again as one the staff members hesitated to comply, but did as they were told, revealing what they truly were underneath.

Walking down the hospital halls, nurse Tender Heart was going about her routine work schedule when she rounded the corner and all but kissed Nurse Red Heart. They both crashed to the ground rubbing their now throbbing foreheads. Tender Heart quickly got up and began to apologize.

“I am so sorry, Red heart,” she extended her hand to help her coworker and friend up, “I didn’t hear you coming. If I had, I would of—“

“Just don’t,” Red Heart said, slapping away the offered hand and picking herself up off the floor. She sounded uncharacteristically grumpy. It was her day off today, wasn’t it? If so, it was understandable why she was upset. Tender Heart never enjoyed working on her days off either. But, something else seemed to be the cause of her grouchy behavior as Red Heart shot a dirty look at her.

“Move it. I have work to do, and so do you.” She practically snarled, but she hid it well under a stone-cold expression.

Replaying the events that just unfolded, nurse Tender Heart stood dumbfounded in the hallway, watching Red Heart briskly walking away. She’d have to ask what was troubling her later.

Tender Heart was about to go on her way when she saw a pen lying on the ground. That must be Red Heart’s. It was a petty issue, but what was the harm in spreading a little bit of kindness? By the looks of it, Red Heart needed some, no matter how small.

Grabbing the pen, Tender Heart called out to her coworker, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was a ways away. Perhaps she was too far to hear? Red Heart just knocked on a door and was greeted by Al…, or was it Sent? She couldn’t remember, but that wasn’t important. Al and Red Heart shook hands, and she entered the room.

Tender Heart got to the door seconds after it closed. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the same person who had just greeted Red Heart.

“Hello, yes, is there something I can do for you?” He extended his hand for her to shake.

“Hi… Al, right?” That ever placid smile always made a shiver run down her spine. Al says ‘yes’, Sent says ‘okay’. Or at least that’s what she had been told.

“Hello, yes, is there something I can do for you?”

Another shiver ran down her back from hearing the same sentence for a second time. She swallowed her nervousness, took his hand, and shook it. “Um, I just bumped into Red Heart a moment ago and—”

“Yes, Tender Heart, I see you have recently been in a collision. It was your head you hit, yes? You’re okay I presume, yes?”

Giving an unsettled chuckle, Tender Heart continued, “hehe, right. Um, listen, I just saw Red Heart go in, and I wanted to give this back to her.” Tender Heart held up the pen for clarification. “I know, it’s a little ridiculous, but she seemed—”

“Red Heart has not been in this room today.”

Tender Heart’s mind went blank, carefully replaying the words in her head to make sure she didn’t misinterpret what she heard.

“I… I’m… I’m sorry, what?”

“My apologies. Yes, I must have misspoken.” That grin again, something about it now seemed utterly wrong. “What I meant to say was, Red Heart has not been in this room today.”

His face didn’t change. There were no subtle hints of any kind to suggest that he was lying or had anything to hide. He believed what he was saying, but Tender Heart knew otherwise, or had she imagined it?

The sound of a pen hitting the ground broke her train of thought. The same pen that Red Heart had dropped. She looked at it, and the sting from her recent collision with who could only be Red Heart re-emerge. She knew that face, hair, and voice. It was her, and she had just walked into that room. So why was Al lying to her?

“Red Heart is in there. I know what I saw, and I just saw her walk into this room.”

“If I recall, today is her day off, yes? You must be mistaken. Yes, I guarantee Red Heart has not been in this room today.” Tender Heart had to fight the urge to flip her lid. She wasn’t there yet, but if this continued, she was going to be.

“No. You’re wrong. I know what I saw!” Nurse Tender Heart began to push herself past Al and into the room. He barred her from entering entirely but didn’t obstruct her view of the inside. “I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, but—”

A quick scan of the room and the only ones in there was the patient, Sunset Shimmer sulking on her bed, and her two bodyguards, Sent and Al. There was no sign of Red Heart or any other hospital worker, not even in the bathroom.

It couldn’t have been more than five minutes. There was nowhere Red Heart could be hiding even if she wanted to, or, heaven forbid, hide her body if her life had been taken.

“Wha… No. But, that’s not… how?... what!? I… I know what I…, she just…,” Tender Heart didn’t resist Al as she was gently pushed back into the hallway. Tender Heart heard a crunch underfoot as she stepped on the pen.

That pen.

That stupid pen was now both a beacon of hope that she wasn’t losing her mind and a mocking reminder that she just might be.

“It seems like you’re a little confused, yes? As I have said earlier, and as you have clearly seen, Red Heart has not been nor is currently in this room. You have your phone, yes? Perhaps you can give her a call and ease your worries?”

With little other options to cling to what was left of her dwindling sanity, Tender Heart immediately got onto her phone and called Red Heart. It rang three times before it was answered.

“Hey Tender Heart, please don’t tell me I need to come into work to—”

“Where are you!?” Tender Heart surprised herself when she sounded as ravenous and psychotic as she did.

“... Erm… Shopping? On aisle six? Something wrong?”

Tender Heart didn't remember when she dropped her phone, but she did feel her back hit against the wall and herself sliding down to the floor. Eventually, her eyes locked onto her cell phone with many more questions than answers, the root one primarily involving Red Heart’s whereabouts.

_{“Hello? Tender Heart, are you still there?... Hello?”}

Next to the phone was that accursed, broken pen. Her mind frantically trying to find an exit to this madhouse of a situation. Tender Heart knew she wasn’t going crazy. She just didn’t know how to prove it. That’s when she caught a glimpse of what she considered her saving grace.

A surveillance camera.

I know what I saw, and now I can prove it. So help my sanity.

With zealous energy, she rushed towards the surveillance room at a quicker than recommended proper hospital speed.

Meanwhile, inside Sunset’s room, she watched as the holographic projection dropped while Sent and Al continued to dismember and dispose of the body. At first, it appeared as someone who worked here, but the moment they were killed, their appearance changed into something, not of this world.

It was her first time seeing something this horrible happening in front of her, but thanks to Riot’s memories, Sunset was already numb to the concept. He had seen it an innumerable amount of times and remembered all the details of every last one. But a part of her still wanted to start vomiting nonstop. That was the part of herself that she wanted to preserve.

“That’s just pathetic. I mean, look at yourself…”

Shut up.

“You can’t fight it…”

Shut up!

“Pretty soon, you’ll be no different. You’ve already progressed significantly.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up! You’re not me!

“Is that all you can say? Or are you too stupid to realize that you’re efforts to get rid of me are fruitless.”

I’ll never be like you.

“You can’t fight me forever. You know how effective my methods are”

Watch me.

“Good, you’re starting to think more like him already… What? No counterremark? Are you giving up already?”

Shut… Up.

“Watch me.”

She had to block herself from the voice by thinking of something else.

Sent and Al… Now that she was thinking about it, something about those names suddenly seemed to go hand in hand. What if she tried… Sent and Al… SentandAl... Sentinel. That made sense now. She hadn’t thought much about it before, but everyone did seem to have a name that matched what they were good at.

Sentinel seemed like a fitting name for a pair of androids. Had they been living beings, the voice in sunsets head would have contaminated their minds as it had hers. It was crafty that way. Twisting words of truth into something abominably grotesque to her standards. But it never lied, it didn’t need to.

Sunset didn’t mind them being androids because she knew their programming wouldn’t let any harm befall upon them like it had her. More importantly, that prevented the voice from swaying their way of thinking, and that had kept her safe, even from herself. They were her bodyguards, and she was glad nobody else would have to suffer like she was.

How does Riot do it? She knew how. She just didn’t want to. She could never bring herself to stoop so low as to do something that heinous. What was most unsettling, however, was Sunset didn’t know how much longer she could hold out. Eventually, she had to find a way to rid herself of this voice even if it kills her.

“I know you want to, so very much.”

Just… Shut… up.

Dinner Disaster

View Online

Twilight walked through the doors of Bayleaf’s Gourmet precisely on schedule and scanned the room, finding Riot like a sore thumb. His roguish attire and daunting expression made him look like a disheveled mob boss waiting on his subordinate running late for a meeting. She crossed the room and nervously sat at the table. A waiter, sweating bullets, approached them and asked for their order.

“Order whatever you want. I’m buying,” Riot said, not looking away from the menu. It didn’t sound suggestive, and Twilight felt like she had little choice in the matter.

“Uhm, I’ll ta~ke, ” She picked up the menu and randomly chose the first thing she saw, “the quesadillas with a side of nachos,” Twilight responded.

“Okay, and you, sir?” The waiter asked, turning to Riot, feeling just as nervous as Twilight.

“One of everything else.” Riot said without hesitation, almost overlapping the waiters' words

A ripple effect of reaction throughout the restaurant unfolded from those within earshot of what was just said.

“Beg your pardon, but—”

“I don’t stutter.” Riot said, cutting him off so abruptly it was enough to make even the gutsiest person weak-kneed. His voice wasn’t loud or hostile. It was just the opposite, soft-spoken and calm. However, the words seemed to echo off the walls.

The waiter turned pale, “It’s just that—”

Riot pulled back his trench coat and reached inside. Everyone held their breath as they assumed he was grabbing a weapon of some kind. Instead, he slapped down a hand full of bundled hundred-dollar bills on the table. “It doesn’t have to be all at once just as it’s being made.”

It was impressive how the waiter could respond after the amount of pressure directed him. “R...right. Yes, okay… I’ll—” finally looking away from the menu, Riot turned towards the waiter, who was glad he was wearing shades, as he handed him the menu. “Leaving.”

With the tension suspended, everyone went back to their personal affairs, a handful deciding to leave after witnessing the brutality behind the recent events. By now, Twilight was doing all she could to stay seated and not make a break for the nearest outside exit, whether it be door or window. She tried not to think about what would happen if she did.

Clicking her tongue unintentionally, she started to ask her question. “So~ you wanted me to—”

Riot reached down to reach into a suitcase positioned to be overlooked by anyone who didn’t know it was there. He pulled out a folder bulging with papers and slid it across the table to Twilight, “That’s all you need. You can go now.”

“Oh… aren't you going to—”

“I. Said. Leave.”

By the time Twilight’s mind caught up with reality, she found herself making a beeline for the exit already halfway to the entrance, the folder clenched tightly in her hand. She felt like her brother Pharynx would be happy that it went so smoothly.

Twilight walked through the doors of Bayleaf’s Gourmet precisely on schedule and scanned the room, finding Riot like a sore thumb. His roguish attire and daunting expression made him look like a disheveled mob boss waiting on his subordinate running late for a meeting. On the table he sat at was a pile of bundled cash. She calculated that the amount was close to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

She crossed the room, noticing the many strange and worried glances she was receiving from others. Nervously, she sat at the table. Riot waved a waiter over to them, who looked exceedingly hesitant to comply.

“Order whatever you want. I’m buying,” Riot said. It didn’t sound suggestive, although Twilight felt like she had little choice in the matter.

“Uhm,” she thought back about what she liked the last time she came here, “I’ll ta~ke, the garlic butter Italian sausage, with a side of salad,” Twilight responded.

“Okay, would you like to have that before or after your quesadillas?” The waiter asked, turning to Riot, feeling twice as nervous as before and slightly confused.

A shiver ran down Twilight’s back, “No quesadillas for me please, I’ve never been a fan of those, I’m afraid.” Hearing that made the waiter cock an eyebrow.

“Swap it out with the one I ordered and bring hers out first. After all, I’m paying.” Riot said, making it sound like there were dire consequences if the waiter messed up. Strangely though, it wasn’t as brutal as he last remembered.

The waiter took the new information into account and excused himself, having the slightest feeling of familiarity. “I’ll… inform the kitchen. Déjà vu.”

What was that all about? Twilight thought as she watched the waiter hastily leave.

Looking around, she could still see other people still giving them unusual attention. When she looked about, she would make eye contact with someone just in time to see them turn away.

“Talk.” Riot said to Twilight, sounding as blunt as a sledgehammer.

“Excuse me?” She responded, confused and frankly annoyed that he had told her to come here, and now he was the one telling her to talk?

“Just to pass the time.”

“Okay?”

“Whatever you want, it doesn’t matter. You need to be having a conversation with me.”

Twilight was about to ask what she should talk about, but to her surprise, Riot had answered the question she never asked.

Something to talk about…

Twilight’s eyes lowered to Riot’s torso and wondered how his injuries were.

Once more, Riot responded before she said anything. He shamelessly lifted his shirt and exposed his muscular torso and flawless skin comparable to hardened leather wrapped around rocks. But no scars or other indications were suggesting that there was any kind of injuries to begin with.

“That’s nothing to be concerned about,” Riot said, pulling his shirt back down, “Something else.”

“Okay fine,” Twilight said, starting to sound agitated. She got ready to ask why he called her here, but again Riot answered before she got the chance to ask.

“Not yet. You will learn soon enough, but for now. Something. Else.” Riot said with a strong emphasis on the last two words. “If it’s really that hard to think of what to talk about, then tell me about your visit with Sir E. Why did all of you decide to decline the offer he made?”

A moment of silence fell between them as Twilight, dumbstruck, waited for him to say what her feelings were about that. She picked up the glass of water and drank about one-fourth of its contents, menacingly looking at him, never taking her eyes off him, and thinking he already knew the answer.

“If you insist on me doing it that way, then that way I shall. Yes, I do know the reason, and no, he didn’t call me as you just thought he did.”

This conversation was the strangest one Twilight had ever had with anyone. Every time she was about to say anything, Riot would respond with the answer. However, it didn’t break the flow of the conversation they ‘needed to be having,’ as Riot had said. The way it was unfolding, only she would understand why it was going where it was. Like he was attempting to hide something from potential eavesdroppers.

“You’re getting warmer. No, that is a misconception I’m constantly running into. I’m just highly observant of my surroundings. Take, for example, the waiter that’ll soon be coming back with your meal. An off-duty officer has told him to hand you a napkin with a note asking if you’re in danger. You’ll find it wrapped around the silverware you're given. They’re only half right. I’m not the one you’re in danger from.”

Twilight begged to differ. The way things were going, she agreed with the officer.

“We’ve gotten off-topic. You were going to talk about what happened after you learned the truth of Sir E’s servants.” The second time he said Sir E’s name, Twilight couldn't help but noticed he was saying it as though it were one word.

“If you let me.” The word fell out of Twilight’s mouth, surprising herself with the snarky remark.

“By all means,” Riot said, unaffected by Twilight’s tone.

“Okay, after we—”

“Learned their secret.” Riot said, making it clear to her that it was a secret for a reason.

Twilight took a breath to calm herself, venting out her rising anger towards Riot. “Yes, that.” Her mind replayed the event still fresh in her memory.

The Servants had removed their masks, and hidden underneath were metallic bones covered with synthetic muscle tissue. Sir E told them that faces were the most challenging thing for him to construct. As amazing as it was in the moment, it was also terrifying and sad. Sir E was indeed alone in a building full of artificial intelligent humanoids.

When they asked about the chauffeur they saw back at the mall, as she didn’t have a mask, Sir E summoned Proxy and told her to undress. As it turned out, her exterior was nothing more than a holographic projection used to simulate the appearance of a human down to the last skin pore and hair follicle. Underneath was a complex, almost artistic metal frame cover with wires and motors for mobility.

“Anyway, after that, Sir E offered to protect us, the decision fizzled throughout everyone, and as you said, we all declined.”

“If I had to guess, you said that you wouldn’t feel comfortable being guarded at all times. Rarity said she didn’t want to involve her sister. Applejack similarly said the same with her family and farm.” Riot effortlessly broke down each of the reasoning behind their decision. “Fluttershy had responsibilities to take care of at the animal shelter and didn’t want them in harm's way. Pinkie had pastries to make for upcoming parties, and none of her plans had bodyguards in them. And Rainbow Dash made an excuse to hide the intent of simply playing video games alone in her room for the rest of the night.”

If Twilight didn’t know any better, she would have assumed that Riot had been there himself. However, Riot continued, “Those reasons are weak on many levels, but if that’s your choice, so be it.”

The conversation was distributed for a moment by the waiter as the food arrived. He was pushing in front of him a food cart with ten dishes of food.

“Here you are, miss, one garlic butter Italian sausage, with salad on the side.” The waiter distinctly placed silverware wrapped in a napkin in front of her, then turned to Riot, “and for you sir, the quesadillas with—”

Riot snatched the dish from the waiter’s hand and basically inhaled the whole meal, then shoved the plate back into the waiter’s hand before he could finish the sentence. It wasn’t animalistic or revolting to watch. It was swift, clean, and finely executed. Anyone who had their back turned for a second wouldn’t have even noticed.

“... Nachos.”

Facing straight at Twilight, Riot snapped at her. “Start eating.” Then he turned back to the waiter. “Well?”

As the waiter delivered the other plates of food, Riot just as rapidly consumed them and then returned dishes. Once they were all finished, Riot looked at Twilight again. “Your food is still untouched. I told you to eat. Or maybe you’d rather check for the note on the napkin I told you about earlier?”

Twilight had forgotten about that little detail. Purely for the sake of her curiosity, she opened the napkin, and sure enough, there was indeed a note.

“Huh… you were—”

Raising his hand to silence her, Riot redirected his attention to the waiter, who was now a few shades paler than before. “Don’t you have other tables that require your services?”

Watching the waiter leave and looking like he was on the verge of wetting himself, Twilight was now fed up with Riots' consistently brash attitude. She stood up, sliding the chair backs making a noise loud enough to turn heads. Not that it made a difference, everyone has already been looking at them since the moment she arrived.

“You know what, I’m going to do this your way. The ‘be an aggressive bully to everyone around us’ way! I. Want. Answers!” she pounded the table hard enough to rattle the plates and glass.

“Eat.” He said, utterly unfazed by Twilights' verbal assault.

In a blind rage, Twilight snatched up a piece of the garlic bread, shoved it into her mouth, viciously chewed it, and swallowed. “There! Now tell me what I want to know! Now!”

Grabbing a napkin, Riot closed the distance between him and Twilight. “You got some sauce on your cheek.”

The... au… dacity

Twilight nearly had multiple aneurysms at that very moment, and her blood pressure was high enough to make a diamond in nanoseconds. There was no measurable unit system big enough for her to reference the level of rage that surged through her. But before she knew it, Riot had his hand clamped firmly on her jaw. “Hey! Get your—”

I’m being followed.

It was as clear as if he had said it aloud, but the words came from inside her head. No, from his… hand? Twilight was familiar with the concept, a sound vibration sent through the bone, like music or a phone call, and only you could hear whatever it was.

How? Was it something on his hand? She didn’t see anything when he grabbed her. It couldn’t have been tiny. Otherwise, it would not have been so clear. Magic, that had to be it. No, she had felt the vibration travel through her. It was a physical action that could be located like an invisible string in a magic trick.

That was the least of her worries though, the message she received mentally floored her. He was being followed. Who? She pulled her head back and slipped free from the grip. “Wait, do you—”

Immediately Riot once again grabbed her firmly. “Hold still, almost got it.”

She barely heard any of the words he spoke. The words in her head overpowered whatever it might have been.

Quiet, they’re listening. Take this napkin and follow the instructions written on it. Not here. I’ll shake them off my tail soon.

Riot let her go and placed the napkin in Twilight’s trembling hand. “See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”

Feeling the napkin, Twilight knew there were two small hard objects inside of it. By now, she had sweat perspiring on her brow. ‘I’m being followed’ those chilling words continued to echo in her head over and over and over.

It was amazing how much was revealed by the message she received. However, most of it was all wild speculation. Just this morning, her biggest concern was finding the stolen necklaces.

Now? They had been nearly killed by a mercenary hired to hunt down magic users, one of her friends was in the hospital, and now this. Twilight’s mind continued racing with many more unpleasant outcomes.

Were the ones following him the same ones that wanted her and her friends dead? How was Riot so calm after openly talking about the fact she and her friends were unprotected? Why had Riot put her into this position? She wanted answers, but this was too much.

The longer her mind wandered down the maze of possibilities, the more the rest of the world drowned in white noise.

The same three little words kept repeating in her head in tandem with her own drumming heartbeat.

‘I'm being followed.’

A frightened yelp brought Twilight back to the real world. Riot had seized the waiter by the arm, twisting and squeezing it hard enough to hear the bone creaking. Riot's other hand gripping a pitcher of water, most likely dropped by the waiter when he was grabbed.

“How many times must I tell you? Get! Lost!” Riot changed his grip into one that forced the waiter’s mouth to stay open, lifting him over a foot off the ground. “If that’s so hard to understand, then maybe this will get it through your thick skull.”

Overwhelmed with a rollercoaster of emotions, Twilight could only watch helplessly as the waiter got the pitcher of water slowly trickling into his open mouth.

Choking and sputtering sounds erupted from the flailing poor unfortunate man, unable to draw in a decent breath. Twilight’s entire body was quivering with a multitude of emotions, namely fear and panic. But then, a bystander quickly approached the situation.

“Put him down!” The man reached one hand into his pocket and first pulled out a badge, while with the other hand into his jacket and drawing a pistol.

Riot lazily shifted his head to look at the officer as he gradually increased the flow of liquid ever so slightly until the container was empty. That was when Twilight, being close enough, saw his hand minutely shaking in tremendous self-restraint.

She could tell… no she could feel that Riot was itching to do to the waiter what he did to Tirek, or worse. Far worse. The tension mixed with bloodlust in the atmosphere was as suffocating as trying to breathe peanut butter.

“Last warning, put him down. I’m not asking.”

To everyone’s surprise, a glass full of water was thrown at Riot’s head. Twilight felt absolute pity towards whoever it was, only to look down and see she was holding the smoking gun, or more accurately, the empty glass.

If Twilight wasn’t pale before, she was now. She didn’t feel the glass slip from her hand, but she heard it clatter to the floor. Her breathing became uneven, and she wanted to curl up and die on the spot.

Riot didn’t move.

The terrifying stillness that followed lasted much longer than anyone was comfortable with.

“Miss?... Hey miss!?” The officer said, taking Twilight out of another reality lag. “Get behind me.”

She began to do as she was told without hesitation, but just as swiftly, three words in the back of her mind halted her in mid compliance.

I’m being followed

Was this person the one following them? Or was it the waiter? Even then, maybe they were an accomplice? Riot never said how many were following him. Or perhaps she was overthinking? Twilight didn’t know what to think anymore. What she did know was that Riot, as painful as it was to admit, was her only safe haven in this potential minefield she found herself in. She couldn't trust anyone else.

“Miss? What’s wrong? Did this man threaten you or do something to hurt you in any way?”

“I only told her the truth.” Riot said, grabbing the waiter's arm again, snapping the bone causing him screamed before releasing him. Freed from Riot, the waiter frantically ran out of the room like his life depended on it, and nobody blamed him.

“I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll be leaving now.”

Squaring his shoulders, the officer kept his gun trained on Riot. “I don’t think so. I’m gonna call my buddies, and you’re going to stay right there and wait for them to…” His stance loosened as recognition slowly dawned on his face. “There's no freaking way. You're the one who- who… y-you died in the motorcycle accident this afternoon! I was there. I saw you!”

Riot looked like he was just told that the sky was blue, to say nothing of his unchangeable stone-cold expression. “After you recover, the waiter I allegedly attacked will not press any charges on the pretense that he won’t recall ever being assaulted. And you’ll have no case against me.”

That left the officer stunned. Did Riot just confess that he was about to attack him then walk free? There wasn't any time to think as the officer's arm was twisted so hard he flipped forward and landed on his back, the wind knocked from his lungs. Except Riot hadn’t budged from where he stood over twenty feet away.

The gun slid across the floor until it reached Riot. He stepped on the weapon with his prosthetic in a way that made it pop up into his hand without having to bend over. “Worthless piece of crap.”

Without pause, he removed the clip, unloaded the chamber, removed the bullets from the magazine, and proceeded to dismantle the gun. In less than ten seconds, the weapon was laid on the table in pieces, perfectly organized down to the line of bullets.

“Your gun barrel is warped, the hammer spring is losing its tension, and there’s lint in the kickback mechanism. That’s just the start of a very long list of reasons why it would have jammed on the second round.” He said, sounds of slight agitation in the back of his already aggressive tone. “This is why I hate guns. They’re nothing more than hunks of garbage slapped together.”

Once he was finished, Riot reached down and grabbed the suitcase. He put it on the pile of money with the lid wide open, revealing easily three times the cash than what was on the table.

“Spend that however you wish to, I’ve got no other use for it.”

He began to walk away, his prosthetic echoing from the stone floor and off the walls. “As for my food order, disperse it amongst anyone who wants it.”

When he passed the recovering officer shakily rising to his feet, Riot paused to give him one last word of advice. “I never said I would attack you, nor, as everyone witnessed, did I so much as lay a finger on you. Don’t bother fighting the issue. It is one that you can not win.”

Continuing his departure, two individuals eyed Riot as he left. One, with a vicious sneer, the other holding back tears, gritting his teeth, and keenly masking his pain by looking as terrified as the next guy in the room. The angry one thought back on the whole ordeal and released something he had overlooked,

“That sneaky, sneaky, snake.” Pharynx said under his breath. It was one thing to be tricked, but this was a whole different level than anything he’s dealt before.

Back in the alleyway, he never saw Riot dial any number when he made the call. Had he known they were there and listening only to feed them false information? To think he went as far as pretending to fake his own death just to make the facade more believable.

No, nobody, not even Pharynx, could have planned that far ahead. It must have been his backup plan in case he was being followed. If that’s the case, they fell for it hook, line, and sinker only to reel in themselves. The mere fact that they showed up at the falsely given time completely exposed their whereabouts. What is most troubling was that he knew how to detect them.

Pharynx would not fall for such a deceitful stun again. Riot had to run out of tricks and slip up sooner or later. In fact, he felt stupid for not realizing yet another minor detail. The item he was to retrieve had to be in the napkin Twilight was now hastily stuffing into her pocket. It was the only thing passed over to her in their brief meeting.

Whoever this Riot character was, he was undoubtedly a professional in this violent game of cat and mouse—a game in which Pharynx refused ever to lose.

Manipulation

by Element of Malice

A New Threat

The Faceless Hero

The Adventure Begins

unforeseen inconveniences

Progress at Last

The Calm Before The Storm

Aspects of the Enemy

Riding in Style

Make it stop

Flamboyant Facades

Esteemed Guests

Dinner Disaster