Three years after Diamond Tiara's impromptu mission in Spain, she has become a guard in luna's royal guard. She hasn't faced many dangers since joining the guard, but that is about to change. This might give her a reason to reunite with an old friend
Three years after Diamond Tiara's impromptu mission in Spain, she has become a guard in luna's royal guard. She starts to tire from having nothing to do but she might regret that after luna gives her a mission. She will have to give it her all to protect old and new friend as well as strangers and enemies. One positive is that this might give her a reason to reunite with a friend that she hasn't seen in years.
Diamond Tiara stood before the large doors that had become familiar to her. She double checked all of her equipment before she walked in. Tactical vest? Check. Knife? Check. Rifle? Check. Saddlebags? Check. Handgun and revolver? Check. Ammunition? Check. She grinned and pushed her way through the doors.
The following room was humongous. Along the walls were all kinds of weapons, armor, and training equipment. Scattered around the room were ponies training hard, most of which were bat ponies. Some of them glanced at Diamond as she passed. They had gotten too used to her to be surprised by her entrance. Some of them were still bothered by how much she stood out. Her age alone would be enough to earn her some looks in a place like this, but the way she insisted on standing on two legs didn't help.
She ignored their gazes as she walked up to the dark blue alicorn waiting for her in the middle of the room. Luna greeted her with a nod and smile “Good evening Diamond Tiara. Are you prepared for tonight's training?” she asked.
Diamond reciprocated the greeting with a slight bow “Of course. So what is it tonight?” she asked.
“It has been some time since we last had unarmed sparing.” she said. Diamond just smirked as she took off her rifle and saddlebags. She then laid them on the ground nearby before turning back to Luna.
She took a fighting stance with her fore hooves raised just below her chin and hind legs parted “I'm ready when you are.” she said.
Luna lowered into a ready stance with her wings slightly unfurled. The two stared each other down looking for a weakness in the other's defense. After a few short moments, Luna's eyes slightly glanced to the side. Diamond took that as her chance and rushed in towards her. She threw a hook aimed at the princess's jaw. Luna raised a fore hoof to block and push the filly's hoof away. Diamond used the momentum from Luna's push to swing a kick towards her.
Luna leaned back to dodge the kick and tried to counter with a punch of her own. Diamond sidestepped the punch and grabbed a hold of the alicorn's leg. She then pulled with all of her strength trying to throw Luna off balance. Luna stayed calm and went with the momentum to turn it into a roll. Once she was back on her hooves she turned around to see that Diamond had disappeared. She turned again to see Diamond jumping towards her. Luna didn't have time to dodge and took a kick to the face.
Diamond tried to follow up with an uppercut which was blocked. Luna swung a hind leg toward her with a powerful flap from her wings for more speed. Diamond performed a backwards somersault to dodge and gain some distance. Luna wiped her cheek where she was kicked with a grin “Great form. Your kick carried much force, I see you haven't been slacking on your exercise regimen.” she said.
Diamond's grin grew at the praise “Good to know that it's paying off.” she said. Their expressions then changed to ones of focus as they continued their match.
Near the wall of the room was a bat pony stallion facing a training dummy. He had a light tan coat with a red spiky mane and tail. His cutie mark was of three metal feathers. He had wingblades on and was starting to sweat from his intense training “Hey Razor Wing!” called an energetic female voice.
Razor turned to see a light gray coated bat pony with a short dark green mane and tail. Her cutie mark was of a white star with a reticle in the middle. He gave the smiling mare a nod “Hey Starshot.” he greeted.
Starshot glanced at the sparing match in the middle of the room “Ooh the princess and Diamond are sparing again.” she said. Razor narrowed his eyes in contempt at Diamond. Starshot's smile shrank at that “What's wrong?” she asked.
“Something seems real fishy about her situation, doesn't it?” he asked.
She put a hoof to her chin as she thought “Hmmm, fishy?” she wondered before shaking her head “Nope, I don't think so.” she decided.
Razor sighed “Think about it. She supposedly got sent to another world and faced horrible dangers but is there any proof of that?” he questioned.
“Princess Luna said it was true. Isn't that good enough?” she asked.
“No it's not. I can't just take sompony's word for something like that. I'm not even convinced that the human world exists.” he said.
“Why don't you see for yourself? Princess Twilight did create that portal to the human world a few months back.” she argued.
Razor glared at her “You know exactly why I can't. Only the princesses and those with their permission can enter it. They say it's because they're working on relations between our worlds but maybe it's because that world isn't real.” he said.
Starshot rolled her eyes with a giggle “Enough with the crazy conspiracy theories, where's your sense of wonder?” she asked.
Razor gave a unamused expression “I think I was born without that.” he shook his head to get back on track “Either way, I just don't think she deserves to be here.” he said.
“Be careful how loud you say that. You shouldn't be talking about your superior like that.” she warned.
Razor scoffed “That's a load of horse apples anyway. How did a filly become second-in-command of the night guard. It's a total embarrassment.” he said.
Starshot watched the sparing match with wonder in her eyes “But you have to admit that she's super impressive. Just look, she's sparing with the princess.” she said.
He shook his head “All I see is the princess taking time out of a busy training day to play with a foal.” he said.
She pouted at his negativity “And you could do better?” she questioned.
With that, a thought crossed Razor's mind “I certainly could, and I think I will.” he said before walking toward the sparing match. He got their attention by loudly clearing his throat.
Luna and Diamond stopped the match and turned to him “Is there something you needed Razor Wing?” Luna asked.
“Not from you princess.” he said respectfully before turning to Diamond “Diamond Tiara, I challenge you to a match for your position of second-in-command. Do you accept?” he questioned with confidence.
Diamond sighed and rolled her eyes “Fine, let's get this over with.” she said in an almost bored tone.
Razor growled slightly “You cocky little...” he stopped himself and got into a fighting stance. Once he saw that Diamond was also prepared, he took to the air and dove down at her. She simply sidestepped him and threw a quick jab to his throat. He crashed into a heap behind her and started gasping for air.
Diamond turned back to him “Are we done here?” she asked him.
He slowly got to his hooves while he tried to recover “O-of course not! It's gonna take more than a lucky shot to take me down!” he yelled before dashing forward and attempting a wild haymaker. Diamond ducked under the punch and countered with a high kick to his jaw. She then swept his legs out from under him to knock him on his side.
Before he could get up Diamond took her knife in her hoof and held it against his throat. He was too afraid to move with the blade so close to his throat.
“That's enough!” came a commanding male voice that echoed around the room. Diamond turned her gaze to the older bat pony stallion walking up to them. His coat was a navy blue and his wavy mane was a dull yellow. His cutie mark was of two crossed glaives “Let him go Tiara, the match is over.” he ordered.
“Yes, Captain Glaive.” she said as she holstered her knife and allowed Razor to get to his hooves.
Captain Glaive walked up to Razor “That was disgraceful. You underestimated your opponent and payed for it. I don't care if you're up against a rock, never underestimate your opponent.” he scolded.
Razor avoided eye contact “Yes sir.” he mumbled before walking off.
Captain then turned to Diamond “The same to you Tiara. That match could have lost you your rank. You have to take it more seriously. Do you understand?” he questioned.
“I knew that he didn't stand a chance, he-”
“Do you understand, Tiara?” he repeated.
Diamond sighed “Yes captain.” she said. He gave her a nod before walking off.
Luna walked up to her “Perhaps we should call it a night.” she said.
Diamond raised an eyebrow at her “Really? Isn't it just around midnight?” she asked.
Luna nodded “Yes but I'll have a mission for you and a few others tomorrow night so I'd like you to be well rested. Would you like me to teleport you home?” she asked.
Diamond frowned as a thought crossed her mind “Sure, Filthy should be asleep by now...hopefully.” she grumbled.
Luna gave a concerned expression “So you still refuse to call him your father?” she asked.
“I'll call him that when he starts acting like one.” she said with a growl. Luna knew that discussing her father any more will only sour her mood further. She just lit up her horn and cast the teleportation spell.
In a flash Diamond was in front of the mansion she called home. Her eyes widened as she saw Silver Spoon and the cutie mark crusaders waiting in front of the door. She smiled and ran up to her friends “Girls! What are you doing here at this hour?” she asked.
Apple Bloom waved a hoof at her “Howdy Diamond! We were waitin' here 'cause we wanted ta see ya.” she said.
Silver nodded with a smile “Yeah, my parents are taking me to Manehattan to visit some family tomorrow so it might be some time before we can see each other again. So I got the girls together so that we can all hang out before I leave.” she explained.
Diamond was about to invite them inside but decided against it since they might wake Filthy Rich “How about we go for a walk then.” she suggested. They all agreed and made their way away from the Rich household.
Scootaloo decided to start their conversation “So, anything interesting happen at training?” she asked.
Diamond rolled her eyes at the memory “I got another challenge from somepony who wanted my rank.” she said with a hint of annoyance.
Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow “That seems to happen a lot, I wonder why.” she said.
“Because even after three years, most of the guards still don't take me seriously. They think challenging me is an easy promotion.” she answered.
“How can they still underestimate you after all this time?” Scootaloo asked.
“Because the night guard never does anything. I spend most of my time standing in front of a doorway trying not to fall asleep. The last time I even went on a mission was when we had that timber wolf attack and that was taken care of in a few minutes. Any time anything big happens, Twilight and her friends handle it. I just wish I could prove to them that I deserve my rank” Diamond explained sadly.
She felt a fore leg wrap around her neck and pull her into a hug. She turned to see Apple Bloom “Ya ain't gotta prove nothin' ta them. We already know that yer awesome.” she said.
Silver joined in on her other side “And don't worry, I'm sure you'll earn their respect sometime.” she said.
Diamond found her smile again “Thanks girls. I really needed this.” she said.
After a few more moments of walking, Silver tilted her head as she thought of something “Any news about that portal to the human's world?” She asked.
“The princesses are still the only ponies allowed through, unless you have their permission. They haven't mentioned when we'll be able to cross over freely.” Diamond said.
Scootaloo gave her a playful nudge “I bet you're excited for it so you can see your human friends again.” she said.
A reminiscing smile found it's way on her face “It's been so long since I last saw Leon and Ashley. You can't blame me for missing them.” she said.
Sweetie Belle giggled “I would love to meet them too. They sound wonderful from the way you talk about them.” she said.
They continued talking until they reached the Rich household once again. Diamond's smiled faded at the sight of it before she turned back to her friends “I should get some rest. Apparently I have a mission tomorrow so I don't want to be tired for that.” she said.
Silver nodded but felt a bit of sadness “Alright, I guess I'll see you when I get back from Manehattan.” she said.
Diamond gave her friends a hug before she turned back to her home. She took a deep breath before walking in. Right away she was greeted by one of the maids “Good evening Miss Tiara. Do you need anything?” she asked with a soft smile.
She shook her head before glancing around the room “Is Filthy Rich still awake?” she asked.
“He is not. He's been asleep for a while now.” she answered.
Diamond let out a sigh of relief “Thank Celestia.” she then passed the maid and walked up the stairs. She quietly passed her fathers room and made it to her own.
Princess Luna stood atop the balcony on Canterlot Castle staring out at her night sky. She turned when she heard hoofsteps and was surprised to see Celestia “Sister? Is there a reason that you are up at this hour?” she asked.
Celestia nodded with a serious expression “Yes, we must discuss how we are going to remedy the situation in Manehattan.” she said.
Luna didn't seem concerned in the slightest “No need. I already have a plan.” she said.
That surprised Celestia “You do? Mind letting me in on your plan?” she asked.
“I'll send a team of ponies from my guard to investigate.” she said.
Celestia didn't seem happy about that plan “Would Diamond Tiara be included in that plan?” she asked in a way that almost sounded like an accusation.
“She has to be. She is my second-in-command. Both her and Steel Glaive are needed for any mission.” she explained.
Celestia shook her head “We don't know how dangerous this will be, you cannot send a filly. I shall inform Twilight about the situation, her and her friends will surely handle it.” she said.
Luna glared at her sister “My guards are well trained and highly skilled, especially Diamond Tiara. I shall not allow their talents waste away while Twilight and her friends handle yet another problem. Don't you think you rely on them too much?” she questioned.
Celestia gasped at the accusation “What? I don...fine. I'll allow you to go ahead with your plan, but if it doesn't go well I'm informing Twilight.” she said before walking away. Luna turned back towards the sky before letting out a sad sigh.
Diamond started to awaken when she hear some sort of clicking noise. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from her bed. She then saw Starshot in her room inspecting her rifle. She raised an eyebrow at the sight “Starshot, what are doing with my rifle?” she asked in a drowsy tone.
Starshot immediately put the gun down in a panic and blushed “S-sorry Diamond. I was sent to get you so I came through the window. I was just about to wake you up but then I saw the rifle and got curious.” she explained.
“If you're so curious then why don't you get one yourself?” she asked.
Starshot waved a hoof in the air dismissively “Oh no I couldn't. I've trained too long with a bow, I couldn't just switch like that.” she said.
Diamond rubbed the sleep from her eyes and glanced at the window to see that the sun was just going down “You said you were sent to get me? Is this about the mission Luna told me about yesterday?” she asked.
Starshot nodded her head vigorously “Yup, although I have no idea what the mission is. She said she'd brief us once we arrived.” she said.
Diamond nodded and hopped down from her bed “Alright, I'll grab my stuff and catch a train to Canterlot.” she said.
Starshot lowered and extended her bat wings “Are you sure you don't want to take a ride on my back? It'll be fun. Flying alone is boring.” she said.
Diamond giggled at her antics but shook her head “I'll just meet you there, it won't take long.” she said.
Starshot pouted in mock sadness “Alright then, I guess I'll just talk to the demons in my head on the trip.” she then giggled and flew back out of the window.
Diamond chuckled with a shake of her head “What a crazy mare.” she said. She then began gathering all of her equipment. Once she was prepared she walked downstairs and made her way to the door.
When she passed the kitchen she heard a voice she wished she hadn't “Diamond, you must be hungry. Why don't you join me for dinner?” he invited.
She turned to see Filthy Rich staring at her from the kitchen table. His tone was friendly but she knew better at this point. Their conversations always started civil but the fighting was inevitable. She tried to come up with reason not to eat with him “I was going to grab something from Sugarcube Corner.” she said while inching toward the door.
“Nonsense. There's already a plate here for you.” he said. Diamond clenched her teeth in anger but tried to hide it.
She took a moment to calm herself before answering “Alright, I guess I have time. It would have to be quick though.” she said, knowing that ignoring him would only make things worse. Filthy gave her a smile as she came up to the table.
She tried to eat quickly, hoping that she could get through the meal before he could speak. Her hopes were dashed when Filthy eyed her gear. He cleared his throat and began as casually as he could “You seem to be leaving early. Early training session?” he asked.
Diamond mentally cursed and prepared to answer as pleasantly as possible “No, Luna wanted to talk to me about a mission.” she said.
Filthy nodded in understanding and was silent for a few seconds. He then spoke in a obviously sad tone “I guess I'll just sit at home and wonder if you'll come home or not.” he said.
There it was. Diamond sighed and put a hoof to her head as if a headache was coming “Don't do this right now.” she said in annoyance.
Filthy put a hoof to his chest and gave her a hurt look as if he had no idea what she was talking about “Don't do what? What else am I supposed to do while you're out there doing, whatever dangerous thing the princess wants you to do?” he questioned.
Diamond slammed a hoof into the table “Stop trying to make me feel bad for doing my job! I get it already! You don't like what I do! You don't have to keep reminding me Filthy!” she shouted.
He glared down at his daughter “Why am I the bad guy for being worried for my daughter? Would you rather I not care about your well being?” he asked with a sharp edge in his tone.
Diamond didn't back down “I'd love that! At least I wouldn't have to hear about how worried you are over and over again!” she yelled.
Filthy growled “You wouldn't say the same if it was Leon who was worrying about you. Maybe you'd rather have him as a father.” he said.
“Stop being so dramatic!” she started walking out of the kitchen “I'm done arguing! I have work to do!” she shouted before pushing though the front door.
Filthy sighed and buried his face in his hooves. A maid walked over with concern and put a hoof on his back “A-are you going to be alright sir?” she asked. He didn't acknowledge her and preceded to sob into his hooves.
Diamond walked into the castle to see many of her fellow guardsponies. They were standing around chatting while Luna stood in front of them silently. Luna made eye contact with her and smiled. She then cleared her throat to get the the room's attention “As many of have heard, I have a mission for a few of you. We have gotten reports of a mysterious disease rising in Manehattan.” she said.
Diamond's eyes widened “What disease?” she asked while trying to hide her worry.
“We don't have much information. All we know is that those infected have a tendency to be violent. I will send a team of five to investigate. Your mission is to identify what this sickness is and how it effects ponies. Once you gather enough information, we will know best how to deal with the situation.” she explained.
Captain Glaive nodded in understanding “Who will you be sending on this mission?” he asked.
“of course you and Diamond Tiara will lead the investigation team. The other three will be Razor Wing, Starshot, and Time Step.” she said.
At the last name, Razor raised an eyebrow “Time Step? But isn't he just a rookie?” he asked.
Luna nodded “I am aware of his lack of experience, but I'm confident that he's ready for this.” she said. She turned to a brown coated bat pony with a black mane and tail with streaks of silver. His cutie mark was of a pair of tap shoes “Do you feel that you are ready, Step?” she asked.
He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded slowly “I'll t-try my best p-princess.” he said.
That was good enough for Luna so she turned her attention to the rest of the investigation team “You will depart as soon as you're ready. You'll be flying to Manehattan, so one of you will have to take Diamond up with you.” she said.
Starshot immediately wrapped a fore leg around the filly “I volunteer! Now you can't turn me down.” she said with a wide smile. Despite Diamond's sour mood, she still managed a giggle.
The investigation team quickly started getting their equipment together. They all put on their armor except for Diamond who already wore her tactical vest. They then grabbed their respective weapons. Captain Glaive strapped his glaive to his side. Razor affixed wingblades on his wings. Starshot strapped her bow to her left side and a quiver full of arrows to her right. Time Step clumsily holstered his spear to his side. He also had a handgun holstered on his other side.
Diamond checked that she had all three of her guns, her knife and some grenades. After they all got everything together, they took to the sky.
As they flew through the night sky. Razor couldn't help but glance back at the filly attached to Starshot's back in annoyance. He flew a bit faster to fly next to Captain Glaive “Captain, mind if I ask you a question?” he asked.
“What is it?” he asked with a straight face.
“Why are we bringing the child along?” he asked.
Glaive narrowed his eyes at him “She's my second-in-command. She's here to take the lead if something were to happen to me.” he said.
Razor growled “You can't really expect me to take orders from somepony so young.” he said.
“I expect you to respect your superiors, no matter who they might be. If the princess didn't think she was capable, she wouldn't be here. I don't want to hear anymore of that talk about those above you. Am I clear?” he questioned.
Razor shook his head “I can't take her rank seriously. She probably payed the last second-in-command to throw the match so she could easily get promoted. Her father is Filthy Rich, so I wouldn't doubt it.” he said.
Glaive stared dangerously at him “That is a serious accusation. Do you have any proof?” he asked.
“No, bu-”
“Then I don't want to hear it. If you don't like following orders then get promoted and you can give whatever orders you want. But as long as she is your Superior, you will follow her orders to a T. Now shut your disrespectful mouth and fly.” he said. Razor growled but decided to drop it.
Finally they touched down on the asphalt streets of Manehattan. Instantly they knew something was wrong. There were no signs of life around them and the few carriages they saw were abandoned. Time Step slightly shook at the creepy atmosphere “W-why is nopony around?” he asked.
Glaive glanced around in suspicion “They could all be inside because of the sickness. Let's continue looking around for somepony.” he said.
They walked down the streets but kept seeing more of the same. Diamond couldn't help but think about Silver Spoon. Did her parents cancel the trip because of the sickness? Or did they not know? She tried to keep that off of her mind for now and focus.
They turned a corner and saw something that shocked them. There was the body of a pegasus lying in a pool of it's own blood in front of them. Starshot and Time Step gasped in shock while the others advanced on the body to investigate.
The body two holes in it's side and their was a trail of blood that began a few feet away to end at the body. Razor studied the scene “I think it's safe to say a sickness didn't cause this.” he said.
Diamond pointed at the blood trail “They didn't die immediately. Was probably attacked and left for dead. They didn't take long to bleed out.” she said.
Glaive took a closer look at the holes in the body “I don't recognize what could have made these wounds but they're recent. The killer is most likely still nearby. Have your weapons at the ready.” he warned.
They all nodded and proceed cautiously. They turned down another street to finally find a living pony. It seemed like a earth pony mare but she had her back to them. Razor took the lead as they made their way toward her “Finally we can actually get some answers.” he said. He started shouting at her “Hey you!” he called but she refused to turn. He tried again “Hey! Can you hear me?” he asked but she still didn't move a muscle. He started getting irritated “Turn around you bitch! I know you can hear me!” he snapped.
He started trotting up to the mare. Diamond eyed the mare with suspicion. She then noticed a small puddle of blood below her head. Her eyes widened “Razor! Stop!” she warned.
He ignored her commands and stopped directly behind the mare “Turn around right now and answer my questions! Or I can bring you in and you can answer to Princess Luna! Is that what you want?” he threatened.
Diamond ran after him in a panic “Get away from her! That's an order!” she yelled.
He continued to ignore her as he gave the mare a hard shove “Respond! This is your last warning!” he yelled as he unfurled his wings. His expression changed to one of shock when the mare turned to face him. The mare had bug-like mandibles growing out of her mouth that were dripping with blood.
Before he could react, she lunged at him and dug her mandibles into his eyes. He screamed in pain as she continued to dig into his eye sockets. Diamond and the other were all frozen in shock but she shook it off quickly “Damn it!” she cursed before she took her handgun in her mouth and fired three shots into the mare's side.
The mare didn't seem too bothered by the gun shots but she dropped razor to the floor before turning to Diamond. The mare charged and Diamond shot more shots into her. Right before the mare reached her, she took a bullet between the eyes which finished her.
The remaining members of the investigation team walked up to join her. Starshot and Time Step passed her to check on Razor while Captain Glaive studied the mare's body. Time Step vomited at the sight of Razor's emptied eye sockets. Starshot closed her eyes and said a quiet goodbye to her friend.
Captain Glaive opened the mare's mouth to study the mandibles “Some kind of mutation. There is no way this is a natural disease. Somepony's behind this.” he said.
They heard screeching behind them. They turned to see two creatures flying in. they looked like pegasi but their wings looked much more fleshy than feathery. Their fore hooves also mutated into blade-like bones.
Captain Glaive took a fighting stance “More of them! I don't know what they are but they aren't ponies anymore. Take them out.” he ordered before taking to the air.
Starshot glared up at them “Gladly.” she said. She flew up and took her bow in her fore hooves. One infected flew towards her with it's blades aimed at her throat. She took an arrow in her teeth to nock it before pulling the string back. She fired the arrow into the it's chest but it only slowed it down.
It swung it's blade at her but she flew out of the way before slamming her bow into it's head to send it into the street below. Before it could recover, she fired another arrow into it's head to kill it. She then landed next to it to retrieve her arrows “That was for Razor Wing.” she said.
The Captain held his Glaive in his teeth as he faced the infected pony in the air. It charged at him but he quickly slashed it's fore legs off. He then swung upwards to take it's head clean off. Diamond walked up to the remains and looked closely at it's mutated legs. She gasped as a thought crossed her mind “This couldn't be...could it?” she wondered.
Captain Glaive walked up to her “Do you have an idea of what caused this Tiara?” he asked.
She hummed in though “This reminds me of las plagas. It's not exact, but it's similar.” she said.
Time Step recovered from his vomit and walked up to join them “Las plagas? I don't think I know what that is. Is it a disease?” he asked.
She shook her head “It's a parasite. It's what I was fighting against three years ago in the human world.” she said.
Starshot put a hoof to her chin to think “So it's a parasite? Who would infect ponies with something like that?” she wondered.
“Well before it was a cult called the Los Illuminados but it can't be them now. They're done for, I made sure of that.” Diamond said.
Before they could speculate more, Time Step's eyes widened as he saw a small horde of infected in the distance “M-m-more of them.” he said in fear.
Glaive turned and growled when he saw their numbers “We shouldn't take them head on. Let's hide and come up with a plan.” he said.
Starshot flew over to a warehouse that was nearby and checked if it was unlocked. Luckily it was so she opened it and took a look inside. After a second, she turned to the others “This looks safe! In here!” she called.
The team ran into the warehouse before they could be spotted by the horde. Time Step sat down and held his head in his hooves “I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die.” he repeated.
Diamond walked up to him and slapped him “Get a hold of yourself!” she scolded.
He calmed himself down and nodded “S-sorry ma'am.” he said.
Starshot turned to the captain “So what's the plan cap?” she asked.
He hummed in thought “We don't know how much of the population is infected, or if there are any survivors. Finding any survivors should be our first move.” he said.
Diamond shook her head “For all we know, all of Manehattan is infected. First we should call for back up. It'll be hard to take on a city with just four ponies.” she glanced at Time Step who was whimpering “Three and a half.” she corrected.
Captain Glaive nodded “Fair point.” he turned to Time Step “Step! We need you to fly back to Canterlot to inform the princess of the situation and request reinforcements.” he ordered.
Time Step nodded and was about to leave but Diamond stopped him “Wait, I think we need more than that. We need someone with experience in situations like this.” she said.
Glaive raised an eyebrow “What do you have in mind?” he questioned.
She gave a smirk “Leon Kennedy.” she said.
Starshot gasped “Isn't that the human you told me about?” she asked.
Glaive seemed skeptical “Human? The portal to the human world is still relatively new and we haven't established a friendly connection with the humans. What reason would they have to give us any assistance?” he questioned.
“Equestria might not have made a friendly connection with them but I do. Just trust me on this. Ask President Graham and he's sure to agree. And make sure to mention my name.” she said.
Starshot and Time Step both stared at Glaive, waiting for his answer. He finally nodded “Fine. Princess Luna seems to trust you and I trust her with my life. If you think the humans will go for it then it's worth a try.” he said. He then turned to time step again “You heard Tiara's order, get moving!” he commanded.
He gave a panicked salute before flying out of a window. Starshot then turned back to Glaive “So, what do we do in the meantime?” she asked.
“We need more information. We'll split up so we can cover more ground. Our top priority is the safety of any survivors. Also take out as many infected as you can on the way.” he said.
Diamond nodded “Sounds like a plan.” she said.
Glaive then walked out of the door before taking to the air. Starshot walked near the door but turned back to Diamond. She trotted up to the filly and gave her quick hug “Please don't die. I don't want to lose two friends.” she said.
Diamond embraced her back “Same to you.” she said. Starshot gave her a smile before flying out of the door. Diamond was once again reminded of her best friend “Silvy, please be alive.” she said to no one.
Filthy Rich sat opposite of Twilight Sparkle in her castle with a coffee table between them. He brought his teacup up to his lips and took a small sip “Thanks for making some time to talk so late, Princess.” he said.
She gave him a small smile “It's no bother, I always have time for friends.” her smile then faded to a concerned frown “So what was it you needed to talk about. Does it have to do with your daughter?” she asked.
Filthy laid his cup on the table and sighed sadly “We had another fight.” he said shamefully.
Twilight walked over to his side and draped a wing over him in comfort “What was it about this time?” she asked.
“Princess Luna had a mission for her tonight. I told her how worried I was about her and she didn't take it well. She even said she'd love it if I stopped caring about her.” he said.
“I'm sure she didn't mean that. She was just frustrated.” she assured.
Filthy hung his head low “I just don't know how to get her to quit all of this guardspony business. I've tried everything.” he said.
Twilight gave a sympathetic hum “Have you ever tried, being supportive of her?” she asked.
Filthy gave her a shocked look “You can't be serious. I would love to be supportive of my daughter but I can't support this.” he said.
“Maybe you're looking at this the wrong way?” she suggested.
“How else am I supposed to look at it? No parent ever plans on attending their child's funeral. But now because of all this, that has become not only a concern but a real possibility.” he said.
At those words, Twilight gained an idea “How about this? Close your eyes.” she said.
“Close my eyes? Wh-” he tried to say before Twilight interrupted.
“Humor me.” she said.
Filthy sighed and nodded before shutting his eyes “Alright, what now?” he asked.
Twilight took a deep breath to prepare herself for what she was going to say “This might be hard but I want you to imagine your daughter dying on a mission.” she said.
Filthy opened his eyes and glared at her “What is this exactly?” he questioned.
“I'm only trying to help, and I think this might. Give it a try, please.” she pleaded. Filthy thought for a moment before quietly closing his eyes again. Twilight gave a soft smile before continuing “I want you to think about every aspect. The funeral, the emotions, what you would do, but most importantly I want you to think about what you'd regret.”' she said.
After about a minute, Filthy's eyes started to water. He shook his head and opened his eyes “I can't do this.” he said as he turned to leave.
Twilight tried to stop him “Wait, are you okay?” she asked.
He tried to wipe the tears from his eyes “I'm f-fine. I just have some important work to finish. I have to go.” he said and continued out.
In Canterlot Castle's throne room, Time Step was hyperventilating while trying to explain to Luna. She silences him with a raised hoof “I cannot understand a word you say like that. Take a breath and try again.” she said.
Time Step nodded and calmed himself with a breath “We were wrong, it's not a sickness going around. The ponies of Manehattan have started to mutate. T-they're monsters.” he said.
Luna's eyes widened “Mutation? Did you learn anything about the cause?” she questioned.
Time Step shook his head “Nothing concrete. Diamond Tiara said that it seemed familiar. She said it was like...las...something? I forget what she said.” he said.
“Las Plagas” Luna guessed.
“Yeah that was it!” he said.
Luna hummed in concern “If that's true then we have a real problem on our hooves.” she said.
Time Step then remembered the other reason why he was sent “Oh yeah, Captain Glaive requested reinforcements, and Diamond Tiara had a...strange request.” he said.
Luna raised an eyebrow “Strange how?” she asked.
“She requested help from the humans. Specifically one named Leon Kennedy. She said that President Graham would be willing to help.” he said.
“Leon Kennedy. I do know the one.” she said before turning around “Alright, we're going through the portal then.” she said.
Luna looked back at Time Step as if she expected him to follow. He blinked a few times before realizing “Wait, me too?” he asked.
She gave him a nod “Indeed.” she said.
“Y-yes ma'am.” he said before following after her.
In the oval office, President Graham sat at his desk. Beside him was his daughter, Ashley. They were talking and laughing until a black woman in a pantsuit walked in “Mr President, someone's here to see you.” she said.
Graham raised an eyebrow at her “Can it wait Laila, my daughter came for a visit.” he said.
Laila shook her head “I'm afraid not sir. They say it's urgent.” she said.
“Well who is it?” he asked.
“Princess Luna of Equestria, and her guard Time Step.” she said.
Ashley smiled “From Equestria? Send them in.” she said. Laila nodded and stepped out of the way.
Luna and Time Step walked in “Greetings President Graham.” she said.
Graham shook off the shock from seeing them and cleared his throat “I'm surprised to see you. We usually schedule these meetings. Is your sister going to join us?” he asked.
Luna shook her head “No, this is not like our other visits. We have come to ask for your assistance. One of our cities have been struck by something similar to Las Plagas. A high ranking member of my royal guard has requested the assistance of Leon Kennedy.” she explained.
Ashley gasped “Las Plagas!” she turned to her father “We're gonna help, right dad?” she asked.
Laila walked up to the other side of him “Don't do it. The American people know next to nothing about Equestria. Imagine what they'd think if they heard that we're getting involved in their affairs.” she said.
Graham hummed in thought as he weighed his options. Time Step whispered something into Luna's ear that reminded her of something “You're right.” she said before addressing the president again “Perhaps it would help to mention who made the request, Diamond Tiara.” she said.
Ashley's eyes widened in joy “Diamond!” she then remembered something else Luna had said “Wait, you said it was someone in your royal guard didn't you?” she asked.
Luna nodded “She is.” she said.
Ashley giggled with a smile “Wow, that's amazing. I'm so proud of her.” she said.
Laila turned to Graham to see that he was starting to look convinced “Sir, you can't really be thinking of agreeing to this.” she said.
He sat back in his chair “I don't think I have a choice. I owe Diamond Tiara a great deal for saving the life of my daughter. I promised that I would do my best to help her with anything she needed.” he said.
Laila gave a exasperated sigh “You can't send an agent into another world we don't know much about just because you made a promise.” she said.
“What's agent Kennedy's status?” he asked.
Laila rolled her eyes but took out a tablet “He's not currently on a mission. I'd assume he's at home.” she said.
Graham nodded and turned back to Luna “I'll contact him immediately but it could take some time since we'll have to fly him out here.” he said.
Luna shook her head “We might not have all that time. I should still remember the feeling of his energy. I can teleport to him once I find him.” she said. Without waiting for Graham to agree, she lit her horn up and began scanning for Leon.
After a few seconds, she smiled “I have a lock on him, we'll be back.” she said.
Time Step gave her a questioning look “We? Does that mean that I'm co-” he was cut off by the spell teleporting the two of them.
Leon was at home in a white tank top and jeans. He started walking over to his couch but was interrupted by a flash of light in front of him. He covered his eyes to shield them and when he uncovered them, Luna and Time Step were in front of him. He shook his head as if he was hallucinating “Aren't you one of the princesses of Equestria? Princess...Luna?” he recalled.
She nodded at him “You are correct. And this is one of my guards, Time Step.” she introduced.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck “Sorry, this is the first time royalty suddenly appeared in my living room. Would you like something to drink?” he asked.
She shook her head “No time, I have a mission for you. Something similar to Las Plagas has appeared in Equestria and one of my guardsponies asked for your assistance.” she said.
Leon rubbed his chin in thought “Las Plagas? I hoped I wouldn't have to hear that name again. How could it be found in Equestria?” he asked.
A thought crossed Luna's mind that worried her “I might have an idea, but that can wait.” she said.
Leon nodded “Who was the guard that asked for me?” he questioned.
She managed a smile “It was my second-in-command, Diamond Tiara.” she said.
Leon took a step back in surprise “What, Really? A guard, and second-in-command no less.” he said.
Luna smiled “Indeed, will you come to our aid?” she asked.
He nodded “Let me get dressed.” he said before walking off into another room.
After a few minutes, Leon came out in all of his equipment. He had his handgun holstered at his side with his shotgun and rifle strapped to his back. He also had multiple grenades on his belt “Alright, I'm ready when you are.” he said.
“Gather around, I shall bring us back to President Graham. We can enter through the portal from there.” she said. Leon walked to her side and they all disappeared in a flash.
They appeared back in the oval office and Leon was immediately tackled in a hug by Ashley “Leon! It's been awhile.” she said happily.
Leon was taken off guard but returned the hug “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I was visiting my dad when Princess Luna came.” her smile shrunk “Did she mention that Diamond Tiara was asking for help?” she asked. Leon nodded and Ashley gave a concerned expression “Please watch out for her.” she said.
Leon chuckled “Remember who you're talking about. She didn't let Las Plagas stop her before, it won't now.” he said.
Graham stood up and got Leon's attention “Agent Kennedy. I don't know much about the situation but I'm trusting you to be able to handle it.” he said.
Leon gave a small bow “Of course sir, I'll do my best.” he said.
Luna cleared her throat to get Leon's attention “We should hurry.” she said.
“Right.” he said before following her and Time Step out of the room.
Once they entered through the portal, Leon glanced around at the castle he was in. Luna snapped him out of his thought “Before we do anything else, there is something I would like to confirm. Please follow me.” she said before walking down a hallway.
Leon followed quickly with Time Step confused if he was supposed to come too. The three of them descended a few flights of stairs to end up deep in the castle. They came to a large door where Luna stopped to explain “Three years ago when Diamond Tiara came back from your world, she accidentally brought something back. A sample of Las Plagas.” she said.
Leon's eyes widened “So that's what happened to the sample. I forgot that she had it.” he said.
“So I took it upon myself to secure it. It lies behind this door. At least, I hope it still does.” she said. She then pushed though the door. Beyond the door was a long hallway. Along the left wall was multiple statues of Celestia while the right had multiple statues of Luna. At the end was a pedestal that had a purple vial on it.
They walked up to it and Time Step wiped some sweat from his brow in relief “It's still here. That's good, right?” he asked.
Luna shook her head “This is not the sample. It is but a decoy to protect the real sample. I would not allow something so dangerous to be out like that.” she said.
Leon glanced around the room until something caught his eye. He pointed to a nearby statue of Celestia “It's behind that statue.” he said.
Luna stared at him in shock “How could you possibly have guessed that?” she questioned.
He walked to the space next to the statue and knelt down to feel the floor “Scratch marks. An obvious sign that the statue has been moved back and forth multiple times. I didn't see this near any of the other statues.” he said.
Luna was disappointed that he figured it out so fast. She walked up to the statue and touched it's nose, causing it to slide out of the way. Behind it was a hole in the wall with an empty pedestal. Luna gasped “No! H-how? Nopony even knew about it except for those in the castle.” she said.
Leon walked up to the pedestal and examined it. He saw that the entire surface was covered in dust “It's been gone for a while. This thick dust would have left an imprint if it was taken recently.” he said.
Time Step shrunk down in fear “So those monsters really are because of this Las Plagas thing?” he asked.
Leon ponder that “We haven't confirmed anything yet, but it is likely.” he said.
Luna turned to them “No more wasting time. Time Step! Gather a team for reinforcements.” she ordered. He gave a salute before running off. She then turned to Leon “Diamond Tiara is currently in Manehattan. I will teleport you to her and let her brief you.” she said.
Leon held up a finger “Hold on.” he reached into a pocket to pull out a small black device “Communication is important during a mission. This is an earpiece. Put it in your ear. If you need to speak to me or Diamond, just press the button on the back.” he said.
Luna levitated the device in her magic and placed it in her ear “Thank you, I'll send you to Diamond now.” she said.
Diamond Tiara stood atop an apartment building. She held her rifle in her hooves and aimed down at a mutated earth pony. She killed it with a bullet to the head but the noise got the attention of an infected pegasus. It flew at her with it's bladed fore legs swinging at her. She performed a sideways somersault to dodge before taking her revolver out and shooting into it's wing. It fell to the roof and she quickly jumped onto it's back to stab into it's head with her knife.
A flash of light appeared behind her. She quickly turned and threw her knife at it. Leon took his knife in hand and blocked the projectile, causing it to fall to the floor. She stared at him in shock as he holstered his knife “That's one hell of a greeting. Is that how you treat all of your friends?” he asked.
Diamond ran and jumped to wrap her fore legs around his neck “Leon! You came!” she exclaimed happily.
He reciprocated the hug “I heard that a guardsman needed my help. How could I turn that down.” he said. They separated and Leon smirked “So, second-in-command huh? I'm proud of you.” he said.
Her cheeks reddened a bit “T-thanks.” she shook her head to clear it “Either way, we have a mission to focus on.” she said.
Leon nodded and changed his expression to a more serious one “True. Princess Luna said that you'd brief me.” he said.
“We came to Manehattan because of reports of a sickness that turned ponies violent. We didn't know much else of the sickness. When we arrived,” she gestured to the mutated pegasus corpse “We found these monsters.” she said. Leon knelt down near the body to examine it as Diamond continued “You see it too right? The similarities to Las Plagas?” she asked.
After a few seconds, he stood and hummed in agreement “I also have some bad news from the castle. The sample's gone.” he said.
Diamond's eyes widened “Gone! What do you mean gone?” she questioned in a panic.
“Most likely stolen. I think it's safe to say that whoever is behind this is the same who stole the sample.” he said.
Diamond ground her hoof into the roof in anger “Damn it! Who could be behind this?” she wondered.
“Calm down. We need to take this one thing at a time. What are your orders?” he asked.
Diamond stared up at him in confusion “My...orders?” she asked.
“This is your mission, and you out rank me. You're the boss here.” he said.
Diamond chuckled a bit “Oh yeah, I guess seeing you again took me back to three years ago.” she cleared her throat and composed herself “We need to search for any uninfected and get them to safety. We'll take out as many infected as possible and then we can work on finding the one responsible for all of this.” she said.
Leon crossed his arms with an impressed smile. She still looked so young but sounded like an experienced agent, which she kind of was. Diamond raised an eyebrow at him “What's that look for?” she asked.
He was brought out of his thought and shook his head “Nothing, just thinking.” he then reached into his pocket and pulled out an earpiece “Before we go, take this. I gave one to Luna too, so we can keep in contact with her.” he said.
She took it from him and placed it in her ear “Always prepared, aren't you? I knew calling for you was the right choice.” she said. She then pressed the button on the earpiece “Luna? Are you there?” she asked.
After a second, a voice came through “I'm here. Is that Diamond Tiara?” she asked.
“Yes, Leon made it here safely too.” she said.
“That's good to know. Time Step is readying the reinforcements as we speak. What's the status of the rest of the investigation team?” she asked.
Diamond frowned slightly “Razor Wing is dead. The rest of us split up to cover more ground. I don't know about their conditions.” she reported.
Diamond heard a sad sigh from the earpiece “Alright then. Let me know if you learn anything about the one behind all of this.” Luna said.
Leon glanced down at the streets below “Finding survivors huh? Where do we start?” he asked.
Diamond started scanning the city from their high vantage point “We might have more luck somewhere that would normally be really busy.” she then spotted something that caught her eye “Wait, I see a few hotels over there. We should start there.” she said.
Leon nodded “Alright, but we should be prepared. Any place that was highly populated would probably be filled with infected.” he warned.
“I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Come on, every minute we wait is another life lost.” she said before walking towards the stairway.
Leon smiled slightly “Yes ma'am.” he said before following.
Diamond and Leon made it down to the streets. Leon scanned the nearby area to see no infected “Where were those hotels you saw?” he asked.
“Not far. It looked like a few blocks that way.” she said while pointing down a street. They walked down the street while keeping an eye out. After a few quiet moments, they heard a masculine scream coming from an alley “Somepony's in trouble!” Diamond said before running into the alley with Leon behind her.
They stopped when they saw three infected earth ponies feasting on a floored pony. The infected heard them approaching and turned to show off their blood stained mandibles. They screeched in unison before charging the duo. Two of them attacked Diamond at the same time while the last ran behind her towards leon.
Leon gave it a roundhouse kick to the face before it could reach him. While it was disoriented Leon stuck the barrel of his handgun into it's mouth and fired.
The other two tried to bring their mandibles down on her from two different angles. She ducked under them and took her knife in hoof to jam it into one's throat. The other attempted another bite but a revolver round to the head finished it.
With the infected dead, Leon and Diamond walked up to the dead pony. Leon sighed “Too late.” he said. Before they could say anything else, Leon was hit in the back by something that felt like fire and electricity at the same time. He was send a couple feet forward.
Diamond gasped in shock “Leon!” she was about to run up to him but a red beam of magic flew by her head. She turned to see a unicorn blocking the exit of the alley. The unicorn's horn was longer than normal and was splintering and branching out like a tree branch. The horn lit up as it prepared another spell.
Diamond ran behind a trash can for cover “That thing can still use magic?” she questioned in disbelief.
Leon got back to his feet ducked behind another trash can “Magic? That complicates things.” he said.
Diamond took her handgun in her mouth and leaned out of cover. She instantly had to get back in cover as a beam of magic almost took her head off “Damn.” she reached in her saddlebag and pulled out a flash grenade “Let's see how you like this.” she said as she pulled the pin and tossed it toward the infected pony.
It screeched as the flash blinded it. Leon quickly grabbed the lid off of the trash can and threw it like a frisbee toward the unicorn. The lid smacked hard into it's horn, breaking it in half. Diamond the leaned out of cover with her rifle and took it's head off with a single bullet. Once it fell limply to the ground, Diamond turned to Leon in concern “Are you alright?” she asked.
Leon turned to show her his back. His shirt was burnt through and the skin under it was covered in second degree burns “I'll live. Whatever spell that was, it's nothing to sneeze at.” he said.
“Give me your first aid spray, I'll take care of it. You do have some on you right?” she asked.
Leon nodded and pulled out a can of first aid spray to hand to her. She took it and he knelt down with his back to her. She sprayed an even coat over the burn causing him to wince slightly from the sting. Once she was done, she held the can back out to him.
“Thanks. Those unicorns are dangerous.” he said.
“Luckily, not a lot of unicorns live in Manehattan. Mostly earth ponies live here.” she said.
Leon raised in eyebrow in interest “I guess that's good news. Come on, let's continue to those hotels you saw.” he said. Diamond nodded in agreement and they ran toward their goal.
After a uneventful run, they arrived at the street with a few hotels nearby. Suddenly they saw an orange glow coming from one of the buildings. They turned to see fire in the windows of the hotel. Leon raised an eyebrow “What could have caused that?” he wondered.
Suddenly they heard screaming unmistakably coming from the burning building. Diamond frowned “There are ponies in there. We have to go in and help them.” she said.
“Right, we'll have to be fast through. That building is weakening as we speak. It will be coming down shortly.” he said. With that, the two ran into the building.
Once inside, their eyes started to sting and their lungs began to hurt from the smoke. Leon thought quickly about a plan “With all this smoke, we don't have time to check every floor. I'll take the second floor while you take the third floor. We won't be able to go any higher.” he said.
Diamond didn't like the idea of ignoring the higher floors but she knew Leon was right so she agreed. They spotted the staircase quickly and ran to their respective floors.
Leon got off on the second floor and scanned the flame filled hallways lined with doors. He started running around the fire while shouting “If anyone's alive here, shout out to me! I'm trying to help!” he yelled.
After a second he heard another voice come from a room up ahead “Over here! Room 213!” shouted the voice. Leon could tell that the pony was young and female from the voice. Before he reached to right room, an infected earth pony charged him with it's mandibles open wide. He caught the pony by the mandibles and threw it into some nearby flames before continuing on.
He located room 213 and entered. The room was burning like the rest of the place and in the middle of the room was a light brown filly who stared back in fear “What the hay are you?” she questioned.
Leon tried his best to look nonthreatening “I'm a human and I'm with the royal guard. What's your name?” he asked.
The filly calmed down a bit “Babs Seed's the name.” she said.
“Do you know of anyone else on this floor who's alive?” he questioned.
She shook her head “No, I came here to hide when those monsters started appearin'. When I noticed that they were here too, I hid in this room until this fire started.” she said before coughing a few times into her hoof.
Leon knew that she wouldn't last much longer in this heavy smoke. He knelt down and held his arms out “Come here, I'll take you out of here.” he said.
Babs seemed uneasy with the idea of going with the unfamiliar creature but changed her mind when she started to feel faint “F-fine but you'd better not try anything shady if ya know what's good for ya.” she said before allowing Leon to scoop her up.
He coughed and wheezed from the smoke inhalation as he ran out of the door. As he headed back towards the stairs, two infected earth ponies blocked his path and charged them. Babs Seed's eyes widened “Don't you see those things in front of us? Go back the other way!” she said.
Leon shook his head and narrowed his eyes in focus “No time.” he said. He kicked one in the temple to knock it on it's side before stomping hard on it's throat. The other came in and attempted to bite the filly in his arms. Leon spun around to protect her and shoulder checked the infected into the flames.
Babs' jaw hung in shock “No way.” she said. Leon noticed that it was getting even more difficult to breath, he knew he had to get out now.
Diamond arrived at the third floor and looked around to see nothing but a burning hallway. She was wonder how she was gonna find anyone until she heard a voice “Please help! I'm trapped! Somepony!” cried a familiar female voice.
Diamond gasped when she remembered who's voice that was. She ran to where she thought the voice came from. She came to a door that wouldn't budge when she tried to open it “W-who's out there?” the voice spoke up again.
“Jewel Platter? Is that you? It's Diamond Tiara!” she shouted through the door.
Jewel gasped from the other side “Diamond? What are you doing here sweetheart?” she asked.
“I'm here on a mission. Is Silver Spoon and your husband in there too?” she asked.
“No. Wooden Spoon and Silver went to see a show earlier. Wooden wanted some father-daughter time, so I stayed behind.” Jewel explained.
Diamond growled since it was now confirmed, her best friend was here. She shook off the thought for now “Is there something blocking the door?” she asked.
“Yes, the next floor up fell in front of the door. It's engulfed in flames so I can't escape.” she explained.
Diamond knew she would have to come up with some way to get the door open. She then gained a risky idea. She had no time to wonder if it was a good idea or not so she went with it “Quickly get as far away from the door as you can!” she shouted.
“O-okay?” she said.
Diamond pulled out a frag grenade and pulled the pin. She tossed it right in front of the door and got some distance from it. The door was blown off it's hinges and the debris behind it was cleared. An older green coated mare with a dark blue and silver mane stumbled out of the doorway. She seemed to be trying to slow her rapidly beating heart “O-oh d-dear.” she said.
Diamond got her attention “We have to go now!” she commanded. Jewel nodded and they both made their way towards the exit.
Leon and Diamond met up at the entrance. Leon still held Babs Seed and Jewel Platter was right behind Diamond. They ran across the street and started gratefully breathing in the fresh air. Babs got out of Leon's arms and raised an eyebrow at Diamond “D-diamond Tiara? What are you doing here?” she saw her vest and weapons and realized something “Don't tell me that my cuz wasn't joking about all that royal guard stuff.” she said.
It hit Diamond that she hadn't seen Babs in the three years after her visit to the human world “Yeah, that's all true.” she said.
Jewel interrupted their conversation by pulling Diamond into a hug “I'm glad to see you sweetheart. I can't thank you enough for saving me.” she said.
Diamond chuckled a bit before gently pushing the mare off of her “How about you help me out with some information in return? You said Silvy and Wooden Spoon went to see a show, do you know where they went exactly?” she asked.
The mare thought for a second “I think he was taking her the bridleway theater, it should only be a short walk east from here.” she said.
Leon rubbed his chin as he tried to remember something “Silvy, that's your nickname for your friend Silver Spoon right?” he asked.
Diamond nodded “She's here visiting family, some timing.” she said with a shake of her head. She resisted the urge to dash off to the theater “Alright, we should get you two to safety.” she said.
Then suddenly they heard rapid hoof steps coming from behind them. They turned to see two earth ponies and two pegasi, all infected. Leon threw a protective arm in front of Babs and Jewel “Stay behind us!” he commanded. The two civilians nodded and shied away from the action.
A pegasus dove down at Leon but he grabbed one of it's bladed legs to throw it to the ground. He then stepped on it's neck to stop it from moving and blasted it's head apart with his shotgun. A earth pony came from behind him and attempted to close it's mandibles around his neck. Before it could, a knife flew into it's head. It fell to the floor but was still twitching. Diamond jumped and landed on the handle of the knife to drive it deeper into it's skull.
Leon and Diamond both prepared at the remaining two infected charged them. Suddenly two arrows fell from the sky and embedded them into their skulls, killing them instantly. Leon was shocked but Diamond already knew who was responsible. Starshot landed in front of them and gave them a wide smile “Diamond! Nice to see ya. I just came after seeing that burning building.” she said.
Leon turned to Diamond “Who is this?” he asked.
“She's part of my team. Her name is Starshot. Starshot, this is Leon.” she introduced.
Starshot looked the human up and down “You never mentioned how handsome Leon was.” she said.
Diamond gave her a shove “Stop being weird!” she scolded.
Starshot gave a hearty laugh “Alright, I'm sorry. Just trying to have some fun.” she then noticed the mare and filly with them “Oh, you found some survivors! Great job!” she complemented.
Diamond then gained an idea “Starshot, would you mind bringing them somewhere safe. Me and Leon might have an idea of where more survivors might be.” she said.
She gave a salute “You can count on me ma'am. I'll bring them to Fillydelphia, they'll be safer than a crazy pony in a padded cell.” she said.
Leon reached in his pocket and pulled out another earpiece “If you're gonna be helping us out, we should be in touch. This is an earpiece. Put it in your ear and press it to be able to talk to us.” he offered.
She grabbed the device in excitement “So I can talk to Diamond whenever I want? Awesome.” she said and quickly placed it in her ear. She turned back to Leon and winked “After this, how about dinner? My treat.” she said with a sultry smile.
Diamond glared at her “Stop flirting with him!” she warned.
Starshot giggled “It's just a joke, calm down.” she said.
She then started walking over to the civilians. Diamond stopped her quickly “Wait! Are you feeling okay after...earlier?” she asked.
The mare's smile slightly faltered before recovering “Being sad and frowning doesn't help anypony. Razor would want me to continue being myself.” she said with a forced smile.
Diamond could tell that she was still hurting and was trying to hide it. She wanted to comfort her friend but she knew they didn't have that kind of time “Alright, get moving then.” she commanded.
Starshot nodded and turned to Jewel and Babs. Leon walked up to Diamond's side “So what's our next move?” he asked.
“The bridleway theater. I have to know whether Silvy's alive or not.” she said with a grim tone.
Leon nodded “Sounds like a plan. She said it was east right?” he asked. She gave a nod and started walking.
On their way to bridleway theater, they saw a group of infected cornering a pegasus stallion. He was coated red dark enough to look black with a brownish orange mane and tail that were very messy. He also seemed to be wearing glasses and a lab coat.
Leon and Diamond immediately jumped into action. There were three earth ponies, two pegasi, and a unicorn. Diamond fired a few shots from her handgun into the crowd to get their attention. The three earth ponies and one of the pegasi charged her.
She shot a earth pony with her revolver before it could reach her and quickly dodged a slash from the pegasus with a somersault. She then jumped onto the pegasi's back causing it to fly around wildly in an attempt to throw her off. She was able to hold on and slit the pony's throat. She jumped off before the corpse fell from the sky.
She then took her rifle out and fired a bullet into one of the remaining earth ponies to kill it. The last one charged her and tried to take a bite out of her. She jumped back to dodge before slamming the butt of her rifle into it's head and shooting it in the head.
The pony's head exploded but it's body refused to fall over. After a few seconds, a fleshy mass emerged from where it's head should be. It had three heads which all ended in bug-like mandibles.
Diamond growled “Just like before, they don't know when to give up.” she said. Two of the heads reached out to her trying to bite her. She ducked under the first one and sidestepped the next before firing at it with her revolver. The parasite hissed in pain but stayed alive. All three of the heads attacked at once. She slid under them and sliced through them with her knife. The heads fell to the floor as well as the pony's body.
While that was happening, Leon faced the pegasus and unicorn. He fired his handgun at the pegasus but it nimbly dodged in air. He then leaned back to dodge a beam of magic from the unicorn. The pegasus then dove down at him. Leon saw another magical beam heading towards him from the unicorn. Thinking quickly, he grabbed the pegasi's mane and held it out like a shield.
The beam struck the pegasus in the face causing it to go limp in Leon's hands. He threw the useless body to the side and took his handgun back out. He fired at the unicorn but a magical shield appeared to block the bullets. He gave an exasperated sigh “You've got to be kidding me.” he said. He took his shotgun out and charged the unicorn. He sidestepped two beams and rolled under another to end up right in front of it.
He fired at it point blank but it was still able to put it's shield up. The shield was able to block the blast but the unicorn winced as if in pain. Leon was about to follow up but a magical aura enveloped him. He was thrown to the side telekinetically but recovered quickly. He looked up to see the unicorn recovering from the blast to it's shield. He took the opportunity to throw a frag grenade at it.
The unicorn noticed it and quickly tried to shield itself but the blast shattered the shield and threw it against a nearby wall. It started slowly getting back to it's hooves but Leon quickly fired a shot from his rifle to finish it.
Diamond and Leon glanced around to make sure there were no more infected around. Once they were done, they walked up to the stallion they just saved. He greeted them with a wide smile “Impressive you two, very impressive! What are your names?” he asked in excitement.
“Diamond Tiara, second-in-command of the night guard. This is Leon Kennedy, he's a human who's assisting us.” she introduced.
The stallion gave a bow of respect “Very nice to meet the both of you. You can call me Dr. Halogen.” he said.
Leon eyed the lab coat he was wearing “You're a scientist? Do you know anything about this situation?” he questioned.
Dr. Halogen frowned and shook his head “Unfortunately I don't know a thing about it. Do you know anything?” he asked.
Leon decided not to share the information that the did have “We don't have a clue, sorry.” he said.
Diamond got Leon's attention and they turned away from the scientist “We have to get him out of here.” she said.
“What about the theater?” he asked.
Diamond seemed torn on what to focus on “We'll take him with us to the theater and tell Starshot to meet us there. From there she can take him to Fillydelpia.” she said.
Leon nodded and raised a hand to his earpiece “I'll contact her right awa-” he was interrupted when he felt something hit the back of his head and the world went dark.
Leon started slowly coming to. He felt that he was laying on some kind of wooden flooring. He attempted to move but his hands were bound behind his back and his legs were tied together. He glanced around at his surroundings to see that he was on a stage of some kind. In front of him was Dr. Halogen who had his back turned to him. He also had two infected earth ponies at his sides.
Leon turned his attention to another part of the stage where Diamond had her legs tied together by rope. She seemed to have just woken up. Leon mouthed to her to be quiet since Dr. Halogen didn't seem to notice them awaken. Diamond checked if she still had her knife but unfortunately they had been stripped of all weapons. Diamond started trying to undo the rope with her teeth. Leon attempted to break out of his own ropes but wasn't having much luck.
Suddenly Dr. Halogen took something out that looked a lot like his own communicator. Leon couldn't see who was on the other side but she spoke in a high pitched voice “What do you need? I'm busy.” she said.
“I found some impressive specimens that might be useful to us.” he said.
“Why are you telling me? I don't need to know every time you infect somepony.” she said in an annoyed tone.
“I thought you might find these two interesting. It's that young guardspony, Diamond Tiara along with a human called Leon Kennedy.” he said.
Diamond was finally able to undo her bonds and got to her hooves. She saw her and Leon's weapons sitting on a table off of the stage. As she sneaked over to grab them, the mysterious voice continued “Have you infected them yet?” she asked.
“No, I have them tied up at the moment. I was just about to bring them to the lab to do the deed. I have them at the bridleway theater.” he said. Diamond came back to Leon and started cutting through his ropes with her knife.
“Keep them there for now. I would like to see them before they become my mindless slaves. I'll head over that way after I meet with Wesker again to see if we're ready for the next phase of our plan.” she said.
Leon's eyes widened at the mention of that name. Diamond snapped him out of his shock and gestured to where their weapons were being kept. Leon nodded and they walked over to equip themselves.
Dr. Halogen gave whoever was on the other side of the communicator a grin “If I hold them here for you, can I experiment with them?” he asked with almost child-like excitement.
“Fine, but if you let them escape you'll be punished. Now I have to go. Don't bother me for awhile.” she said.
Dr. Halogen nodded and shut the communicator off. Suddenly both of the infected ponies at his sides were shot and killed. He turned around to see Diamond and Leon unbound and armed. Leon held his handgun while Diamond had her rifle, and they both had their sights on him “Freeze! Don't do anything stupid!” Leon ordered.
Dr. Halogen gave a chuckle as if he wasn't in trouble “You two came to much faster than expected. Kudos on your escape as well.” he said.
Diamond narrowed her eyes at him “So you were the one who stole the sample of Las Plagas?” she guessed.
He put a hoof to his chest and gasped in mock shock “What an accusation. I have nothing to do with the theft of Las Plagas.” his grin then grew “But I am responsible for improving it.” he admitted.
Leon was caught of guard by that but recovered quickly “Explain yourself!” he commanded.
“My boss is the one who came to me with the sample. She asked me to build her an army. She only wanted me to make more of the same but I knew I could go further. ” he said.
“What did you do?” Diamond questioned.
“I enhanced it in every aspect! Before, it would take hours for somepony to turn. But now thanks to my genius, mere minute is all it takes! Every one of them is stronger, faster, smarter, and tougher!” he exclaimed with pride.
Leon hummed in thought “So you're not the boss. What are you getting for your part in this? Money? Power?” he asked.
Dr. Halogen laughed darkly “I have no need for any of those trifles. I crave knowledge, forbidden knowledge. The kind that most ponies are too cowardly to learn. Thanks to job I've been given, I have learned more than I have in years.” he said.
“So basically, you're batshit insane.” Leon said.
“Call it what you will. In the end, your opinion doesn't matter.” he said.
Diamond nodded “You're right, because it ends here. You're done for, and your boss will follow soon after.” she said.
Dr. Halogen glanced to the side as if something got his attention. He smiled to himself “Maybe you'd be right if you hadn't let me stall for time. He's here.” he said.
Leon and Diamond hardened their glares and fired at him. The bullets were blocked by a large fleshly wing that seemed to be covered in bone. The infected stallion that saved him retracted the wing and stood patiently at his master's side.
Leon and Diamond stared in shock at the stallion's appearance. It was much taller than the average pony but not quite as tall as Celestia. It's coat was dark gray and it's short mane and tail were brown. It had large mandibles growing out of it's mouth. But the most shocking addition was the horn. The horn was bone-like and crooked. It looked more like someone jammed a bone into his skull than a horn grew naturally.
Dr. Halogen laughed at their shocked faces “I see you're impressed. This is a testament to the power of science. Everypony doubted me but I proved them wrong. I've done with science, what only the princesses could achieve with magic. I've created my own alicorn!” he said with a crazed laugh.
Leon recovered from the shock but Diamond's expression stayed one of grim shock “Focus Diamond.” he said.
“Th-that's...that's Wooden Spoon. Silver Spoon's father. And...he's an earth pony.” she said.
“He was an earth pony, but I bestowed ultimate power upon him. I tried to get my hooves on the filly that was with him too but she escaped” he shrugged “it is of no consequence. She'll either be caught later or be killed by my beautiful pets.” he said.
Diamond tried to forget the sadness she felt for now and focused “You monster! You'll die for this!” she threatened.
Dr. Halogen unfurled his wings and took to the air “Not if my experiment has anything to say about it. I'll leave you three alone to talk this out. I might get punished for killing the two of you but maybe I can use your corpses for something educational.” he said before flying away.
Leon pointed his gun at the alicorn “Even if this was your friend's father once. We can't go easy on it.” he said.
Diamond took a deep breath and nodded “I'm fine. Don't worry about me.” she said. The alicorn flew at Leon with it's sharp wings out. Leon rolled under and turned around to fire at it. The bullets were easily stopped by a magical shield. Diamond growled “It can even use magic, damn.” she said.
She fired her rifle at it but it was once again useless against the powerful magic. Leon holstered his handgun and took his knife out “At this point we're just wasting ammo. Is there any way past a unicorn's magic?” he asked.
Diamond took her own knife in her hoof “A unicorn's horn is the most sensitive part of their body. Punching the average unicorn's horn will floor it.” she said.
Leon took in this information and started to formulate a plan “So we'll need to distract it and damage the horn?” he wondered.
Diamond nodded “That's if this experimental Alicorn works the same way.” she said.
“It's the best plan we have for now so we'll have to go for it. I'll keep it busy while you wait for an opportunity to go for the horn.” he said.
Diamond took a step back to wait “Got it.” she said. Leon then ran toward the alicorn to attack with his knife. It caught the knife in it's mandibles and tried to wrestle it out of his grip. Leon tried to knee the alicorn but it threw him away it it's magic. Leon landed on his back and saw it levitate his knife up. The knife shot toward him making him roll out of the way.
He got to his feet and grabbed his knife back before the alicorn flew at him with it's sharp wings aimed at his throat. He blocked it with his knife but the force was enough to knock him onto his back. Leon was pinned to the floor with magic and the alicorn menacingly stalked over to him.
Suddenly Diamond jumped from behind it and planned on swinging her knife into it's horn. Before the attack connected, her body was enveloped by it's magical aura and was thrown back into the floor. It turned away from Leon and faced Diamond who was getting to her hooves.
It unfurled it's wings as it readied itself for another attack. Before it could, a blue hoof connected with it's horn. It fell to the floor and started writhing in pain. Diamond smiled at the sight of Captain Glaive.
He looked down at her with an unreadable expression “Are you injured?” he asked.
She shook her head “No, but thanks for the help.” she said.
The alicorn shakily got to it's hooves and quickly flew out of the room. The captain looked towards the door it escaped through “It got away.” he said before turning to Leon who was still on his back. Captain Glaive walked over and offered him a hoof “Leon Kennedy, correct?” he questioned.
Leon took the hoof and was helped up “You've heard of me?” he asked.
“Tiara couldn't say enough good about you.” he said.
Leon rubbed the back of his neck “I guess I'm not really living up to that expectation in your eyes.” he said with a light chuckle.
Glaive didn't laugh but just gave a slight nod “Every soldier falls down. This tell me nothing about your capabilities.” he said.
Diamond walked up to them “This is my superior, Captain Glaive.” she introduced.
Glaive glanced back to the exit “What was that infected that escaped? It seemed different.” he said.
Diamond nodded “I'll explain. You might want to sit for this.” she said.
After the explanation Glaive hummed as he pondered the information “So what do we know about Dr. Halogen's boss?” he asked.
Diamond frowned “Almost nothing. All we heard was her voice, that's how we know she was a female. I didn't recognize the voice either.” she said.
Leon's expression turned grim as he remembered something “We also have much bigger problems. I think they're working with humans.” he said.
Glaive raised an eyebrow “Humans? What warranted this theory?” he asked.
“The boss mentioned meeting with Wesker. I think it's likely that she's talking about Albert Wesker. Whenever there's a bio terrorism attempt, it's a safe bet that he had a hand in it somewhere. He's wanted for various crimes but he's impossible to capture and almost impossible to kill.” he said.
Glaive nodded in understanding “So he's a skilled warrior.” he concluded.
“Yes, but it's worse than that. He's infected with something called the prototype virus. It give him super human strength, agility, and reactions. Not to mention his regenerative abilities making him capable of surviving fatal wounds. If he's involved, then we're in deep shit.” he said.
Glaive hummed and he stared at the floor in thought “The more we learn the worse this situation seems. What could they be planning?” he wondered.
Suddenly Diamond gasped as a thought crossed her mind “Wait, don't you think it's strange how little infected ponies we're running in to. Manehattan is a big city with large population but most of the streets seem empty.” she said.
Leon caught on to what she was talking about “You're right. It's almost like the rest were taken somewhere else. This is bigger than Manehattan, they're planning a much more important attack. But the question is where and when.” he said.
Glaive scowled “Canterlot. It has to be. They're planning an attack on the princesses. I have to fly back to warn Princess Luna.” he said.
He turned towards the exit but Leon stopped him by grabbing his shoulder “No need to make the trip, I can contact her though an earpiece that I gave her.” he then pulled out another earpiece “You should take one too, in case we need to get in contact.” Leon quickly instructed him on it's function.
Glaive placed the device in his ear and nodded “Alright, you two inform the princess. I'll continue sweeping the city for survivors.” he said before flying out of the door.
Diamond quickly pressed her earpiece “Luna? Can you hear me?” she asked.
“I can. Did you learn something important?” she asked.
“We did. Does the name Dr. Halogen mean anything to you?” she asked.
After a few seconds of silence, Luna spoke up again “It does. He was a famous scientist long ago. He was brilliant and always thirsted for knowledge...to a fault. In his pursuit of learning, his experiments became more and more dangerous. Many ponies were killed or mutilated because of him. We tried to arrest him but he escaped and disappeared. I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in years. Are you saying that he is behind this?” she asked.
“No, but he's involved. Somepony stole the sample and brought it to him for him to clone and improve. We don't know much about his boss sadly.” she said.
“Any more information?” Luna asked.
Diamond turned to Leon and they both nodded. Leon took over the conversion “Their plan is bigger than Manehattan. Much of this city's population seems to be missing so we're guessing that they're planning another attack elsewhere. I'd recommend upping security in Canterlot, especially the castle. You should also keep an eye on the portal to my world. I have reason to believe that they're working with humans.” he said.
“That is worrying. I shall take the appropriate precautions. Diamond, I want you and Leon to go after Dr. Halogen.” she said.
Diamond gave a worried hum “I'd love to but we have no clue about where he went. We don't have time to search all of Manehattan.” she said.
“He had a lab in Manehattan that was abandoned after he disappeared. Perhaps that would be a good place to start. Give me your location and I'll tell you how to get there.” she said.
Diamond quickly gave her their location and got the directions in return “Alright, we'll let you know if we learn anything else.” she said. She looked to Leon and they both nodded before rushing out of the theater.
Leon and Diamond continued down the streets of Manehattan, their encounters with the infected being few and far between. Leon glanced around at the empty streets ahead “How close are we to this lab?” he asked.
“We still have a good amount of distance to cover.” Diamond answered.
Leon nodded “We should try to pick up the pace. Who knows when t-” he was cut off when he heard metal banging from a nearby alley. He took his handgun out and eyed the alley “What was that?” he wondered.
Diamond started making her way towards it “Whatever it is, we should check it out.” she said. They entered the alley to see nothing but a single metal trashcan. She gestured for Leon to open it as she pointed her revolver at it in preparation.
Leon grabbed a hold of the lid before throwing it off and pointing his handgun at whatever was in there.
“Please don't hurt me!” screamed a filly's voice, filled with fear.
Diamond's eyes widened as she recognized the voice “Silvy?” she asked.
Silver blinked a few times when she saw that a infected pony hadn't found her “DT? And...Leon?” she asked. Leon grabbed the filly and pulled her out of the trashcan and let her onto the ground.
Diamond looked over her friend for injuries. Her normally braided mane was unbraided and messy and the right lens of her glasses were cracked. Thankfully there were no obvious injuries. Silver wrapped Diamond up in a tight hug “Thank Celestia you're here! W-what's going on here?” she questioned.
Diamond tried to think of a way to explain it “Somepony stole the sample of Las Plagas. That's what's infecting Manehattan. Me and Leon are trying to find out who's behind it all. Now tell me what happened to you?” she asked.
Silver's eyes once again filled with fear as she recalled the events “When me and my parents arrived, the city seemed kinda empty but we ignored that back then. He made it to the hotel fine but after my dad took me out to see a play, it started to happen. Those monsters started appearing. My dad kept me safe for a while and we hid away. Then this scientist came and tried to foalnap us. My dad distracted him long enough for me to get away but I haven't seen him since. I hope he got away too.” she said.
She then gasped “Wait, did you two see either of my parents? I don't know where my dad went but my mom should still be at the hotel.” she said.
Diamond and Leon both looked at each other sadly, trying to decide how to break the news to her. Diamond decided to start with the good news “We ran into your mom earlier. I sent a guard to take her to fillydelphia where she'll be safe.” she said.
Silver breathed a sigh of relief “Good. And what about my dad? Did you find him too?” she asked.
Leon knelt down to her “We found your dad but...it was too late for him. He was infected already. I'm sorry.” he said grimly.
Silver's eyes widened and tears started streaming down her face “N-no. There has to be something you can do for him.” she said desperately.
Diamond shook her head sadly “Once Las Plagas progresses to that stage, it's over. We can't help him, I'm so sorry Silvy.” she said.
Silver hung her head “Di...did you kill him?” she asked.
Leon stood up “No, he escaped.” he said.
“Please do something for me. Please kill him. I don't want him to continue suffering.” she said in a low tone.
Diamond seemed shocked but Leon just gave an understanding nod “Of course, we'll put him out of his misery next time we see him. But that's for later, for now our main objective is getting you to safety.” he said.
Diamond recovered from her shock “We still need to get to the lab too.” she thought for a second “I'll contact my team and see if any of them can meet us by the lab.” she said. She then pressed her earpiece “Hello, can somepony meet me and Leon at Dr. Halogen's old lab? We have a survivor with us.” she said.
After a few seconds, a voice came through “Captain Glaive here, I can be there in a bit. Can I get a ETA?” he asked.
Diamond thought for a few seconds “Fifteen minutes.” she said.
“Alright, I'll be there.” he said.
Diamond turned back to Silver “Can you walk?” she asked.
She nodded “Yes, I'm not hurt at all.” she said. With that they set off back toward Dr. Halogen's abandoned lab.
After about ten minutes of walking, Silver Spoon started to slow down “Uh, can we slow down a bit? My legs are getting tired.” she said.
Diamond looked back at her with sympathy “Sorry but the sooner we get to the lab, the sooner I can know you're safe. You can rest in a bit.” she said.
Leon let out a short chuckle “She reminds me of how you acted when we first met.” he said.
Diamond giggled “No, she's a lot more pleasant than I was.” she said.
Suddenly Silver ran ahead of them to hide from something “Behind us! They're coming!” she warned.
They turned to see two infected unicorns charging towards them while three infected pegasi flew above them.
Diamond scoffed in annoyance “I'll take the unicorns this time.” she said.
Leon nodded before turning to Silver “Stay close to me.” he ordered. She quickly complied and hid behind his leg.
Diamond ran towards the unicorns and dodged two beams of magic easily. She fired a few shots from her handgun and unsurprisingly they were blocked by magic. She got between them and stood still waiting for them to attack again. She quickly got what she wanted when they both fired their magic at her. She rolled forward to dodge them, causing the beams to hit the other unicorn. They were sent to the floor by the impact.
They slowly started to get to their hooves. Diamond took her rifle out and shot one through the head. She turned to the other one as it tried to shoot another beam. After a few seconds nothing came out. Diamond snickered as she pointed out the unicorn's broken horn “Want to run away now that you're useless without your horn?” she asked in amusement.
The unicorn charged her in an attempt to skewer the filly with what was left of it's horn. Diamond sidestepped the attack and jabbed her knife into the pony's throat to finish it. She walked over to it's corpse “Bad choice.” she said before taking her knife back.
Leon aimed up at the pegasi with his rifle as they circled him. He fired and hit one of them through the head, causing it to come crashing to the ground. The other two immediately dove down towards him with their blade-like fore legs at the ready. He ducked under one swing and fired two handgun bullets into the retreating pegasi's back. The other came from in front and tried to spear him through the chest.
He grabbed it's leg and threw it to the ground before stomping it's head in. The injured pegasus came around again for another dive at Leon. He slipped between the pony's blades and stabbed his knife into it's chest before letting it fall limply behind him.
Silver glanced around nervously “Was that all of them?” she wondered as Diamond returned to them.
Before either Leon or Diamond could answer, they hear a voice above them “Not quite.” it said.
The looked up to see Dr. Halogen hovering above them. Diamond stepped in front of Silver protectively “You again. I guess that saves us the trouble of finding you.” she said.
Dr. Halogen laughed “You were trying to find me? I assume you did it to deliver that little runaway to me to get on my good side.” he said while eyeing Silver Spoon.
Silver shied deeper behind Diamond. Leon took his handgun out “If you think I'm gonna hand a kid over to a creep like you, you're dead wrong.” he said.
Dr. Halogen smirked “Unfortunately you don't have much of a choice.” from behind a nearby building, a group of twenty infected ponies arrived “You're outnumbered. Just give me that filly and I'll make my experiments on you relatively painless.” he said.
Diamond shook her head “As tempting as that offer is, I think I'd rather just kill you along with your pets.” she said before taking her handgun out and firing at him.
The bullets stopped right before reaching their target and fell to the floor. Just then, the monster that used to be Wooden Spoon flew to his master's side. Dr. Halogen's smile widened “It seems that the situation only seems to be worsening for you.” he said.
Silver stared up at the false alicorn as tears threatened to fall “Dad? Is that you?” she asked as she took a few steps toward them.
Leon stuck a leg out to block her path “That thing is not your dad, not anymore. It's nothing but an empty husk being manipulated.” he said.
Dr. Halogen turned to the alicorn “Collect your daughter for me please.” he requested.
“Not happening!” Diamond shouted. She and Leon got in front of Silver protectively. They glanced at the army of infected behind Halogen “We have to find a way out of here. We don't stand a chance against that many plus the alicorn.” she whispered to Leon.
Before either of them had time to come up with a plan, Wooden Spoon threw them a few feet away from Silver. He then started levitating her up towards him. She started flailing in an attempt to escape to no avail. Diamond got to her hooves and tried to run towards them. She was stopped by the alicorn's magic and could do nothing but watch as Dr. Halogen took her best friend in his hooves “Let her go!” she shouted.
He ignored her and turned to Wooden Spoon “Finish them. Once I'm done with the filly, I'll come back for the remains. Try to keep them intact, I could use their bodies to attempt making a human-pony hybrid. I could try to animate it with Las Plagas.” he let out a laugh “Just imagine what I could learn from that.” he said before flying off with Silver.
Diamond growled as she watched them go “No! Damn it!” she yelled.
Leon got her attention “We have to focus up. We should create a distraction and go after them.” he said.
Diamond nodded and narrowed her eyes at the alicorn and the army behind it “If we just run away, Wooden Spoon will just catch up. Maybe we should just take him out now.” she said.
Leon shook his head “We're not winning this fight without help.” he said. Suddenly a few bullets rained down from the sky. Two caught Wooden Spoon off guard and sunk themselves into his back while the others missed.
Leon and Diamond turned around just in time to see Time Step land. Behind him landed a large group of night guards. He looked down at Diamond and saluted “I d-did it. I brought the reinforcements ma'am.” he said with a smile.
She smiled back “Great timing! Time Step, you're with me and Leon. We're gonna take out the fake alicorn in front.” she said. She then turned to the rest of the guards “The rest of you will take out the rest the infected in the area. Keep them off of the three of us so we can focus.” she commanded.
A chorus of “Yes ma'am!” rang out from the guards. It made Diamond happy that they were ready to follow her orders without question. The guards took to the sky and they quickly engaged the infected.
With the common infected being kept busy, Time Step gulped while staring down the alicorn “So d-do we have a plan for this?” he asked.
Leon's gaze came to the alicorn's horn “It's magic is too powerful to take head on. We have to take the horn out first.” he said.
Diamond nodded “It seems very aware of it's surroundings but it can be caught off guard. Me and Leon will distract it. Time Step, after some time hit it's horn as hard as you can. Try to break it.” she said.
Time Step gave a unsure nod before taking flight to give the two some room. They both took out their knives and stared down the alicorn as he did the same. Leon glanced to Diamond “What's your plan for not dying in the meantime?” he questioned.
She gave a smirk “I thought that we'd wing that part.” she said before charging forward. Leon chuckled before following after.
The alicorn flew forward with it's sharp wings aimed at the two. Diamond performed a forward somersault over one wing while Leon slid underneath the other. Diamond whipped around to throw her knife toward his backside.
It quickly turned and slapped the knife out of the air with a wing. Leon came up to it and threw three slashes at it, all of which it was nimbly able to evade. It then turned in an attempt to deliver a buck but Leon backed away in time to avoid it.
Diamond picked her knife as the alicorn turned to her and shot a barrage of magic blasts at her. She leaped with a sideways roll to fit between two blasts while throwing her knife again. The knife was magically redirected to Leon who barely caught it by the handle. He then tossed it back to Diamond who caught it easily.
Leon then dodged a magic blast before swinging his knife towards the alicorn's neck. It caught Leon's wrist with it's mandibles and started biting into him. Leon grunted in pain as the mandibles dug into his wrist.
“Leon!” Diamond called while running to his aid. The alicorn noticed this and tossed Leon at her to knock them both to the floor. Before either of them could recover, Diamond felt all four of her legs beings levitated separately. She was raised in the air before she felt her limbs being pulled in different directions. She screamed out at the pain as she tried desperately to escape.
Leon pulled out his shotgun and fired at the alicorn. The bullets were easily blocked by a magical barrier. The alicorn prepared to give the filly's limbs one final pull but was stopped when a spear connected with it's horn. The spear cracked the base of the horn, causing the alicorn to wail in pain. Time Step gave a relieved sigh before he was knocked away with a buck from the angry alicorn. Diamond fell back onto the hooves and Leon ran in towards the distracted alicorn. He threw a kick aimed at the crack in it's horn to shatter the horn completely.
It backed away from them as it held it's fore hooves against the bleeding hole that used to house it's horn. It looked back up at it's three opponents facing him. Leon took his handgun out “Where did all that confidence go? Did it shatter along with your horn?” he taunted.
Time Step back away slightly “Sh-should you be making it mad?” he asked in fear.
Diamond glared at the alicorn “It should be more worried about pissing me off.” she said. She then charged forward with her handgun ready. She fired a few shots that were dodged by the now pegasus taking off into the air. It dove down towards diamond with it's mandibles open wide. She jumped back just in time for it to miss her and crash into the ground.
While it was down, she stomped on it's wing before she sliced off a chunk of flesh at the base of it's wing. She then grabbed hold of the wing and tore it off with a sickening rip. It shot up from the floor and stumbled away from Diamond with blood seeping from it's new wound.
It wasn't paying attention to where it was going causing it to bump into Leon. He took the chance to grab it's remaining wing and rip that one off.
Diamond smirked in satisfaction as the now earth pony wailed in agony “No more tricks for you.” she said. With his best war cry, Time Step drove his spear through the infected pony's side. It knocked him to the floor with a hoof causing him to leave the spear inside the pony.
Leon grabbed hold of the spear to rip it out. He then jammed it into the side of it's neck. It weakly wrapped it's fore hooves around the spear in a futile attempt to live. After a few seconds it fell lifelessly to the floor. Time Step walked up behind Leon while holding his aching muzzle. Leon removed the spear from the corpse and held it out to him “Here's your spear back.” he said.
Time Step gave an embarrassed thank you before taking his weapon back. Diamond lost her smile as she remembered who this pony used to be. She closed her eyes and hung her head “We did it Silvy, he's resting now.” she said in a voice that was barely audible.
She then turned to where the other guards engaged the infected horde. She was relieved to see that infected bodies decorated the area while the majority of the guards were still standing. Some of them stared her way in awe, she guessed that they had seen some of the fight. She walked up to the nearest guard and snapped him out of his awe “Any casualties?” she asked.
He cleared his throat before speaking “Only two casualties. Five wounded. The rest of us are fine besides a few minor injuries.” he reported.
Diamond nodded “Have your fastest fliers take the wounded to Fillydelphia for treatment. I want the rest of you to clean of the rest of the infected left in the city.” she turned to Time Step “You too.” she commanded.
Time Step and the other guard both saluted before joining the others. Leon walked up beside Diamond “We should get moving. No doubt, Dr. Halogen brought Silver Spoon to his lab. If we hurry we can save her before it's too late.” he said.
Diamond nodded with determination “Right, and maybe we can learn more about who's behind this.” she said before the two of them took off running in the direction of the lab.
Captain Glaive paced back and forth in front of Dr. Halogen's lab. He shook his head with a sigh “Damn, where is that kid?” he wondered. Just then he turned his attention to the sound of footfalls coming towards him. He stared at the filly and human approaching with a mix of relief and annoyance “Tiara! You're late!” he glanced around and saw no one else “And I thought you had found a survivor.” he said.
Diamond rubbed the back of her neck “We ran into some trouble on the way here. Dr. Halogen and his alicorn pet dropped by and foalnapped her. We think he would have brought her here.” she explained.
Captain Glaive put a hoof to his chin to think “And about that alicorn-”
“He's dead.” Leon cut in.
“Good.” Glaive said before tuning to the lab's door which was boarded up “So Dr. Halogen is probably in there with a citizen? We should move in then.” he said before taking his glaive in his teeth. With one swing, he severed all of the planks of wood to allow the doors to swing open.
As Glaive led them inside, they glanced around. Overhead lights kept the area illuminated. They saw a few devices around the walls and bear the doors. Leon walked up to screen with a few buttons under it to examine it “I'm no expert in equestrian technology, but this seems too advanced. At least from what I've seen of Equestria.” he said. He pressed a few buttons causing the screen to fill up with words.
Glaive walked up to the screen “It's nothing that I've ever seen. Dr. halogen must be been keeping all of his discoveries to himself.” he said.
Diamond shook her head “Or this is just human technology. We know that he's working with humans so it's not too far fetched.” she then turned her attention to the screen “Are you learning anything from that?” she asked Leon.
He shook his head “Just that Dr. Halogen is a nutcase. These are notes of his previous experiments. He's taken so many lives in the name of science. It's not just ponies either, according to this he's also done experiments on griffons and countless animals.” he said.
Diamond started to worry more and more about Silver's well being “We still have to find him. Is there a map of this place in there?” she asked.
“One sec.” he said before searching through more of the information on the device. After a few seconds he shut it down and shook his head “No map, looks like we're doing this the old fashioned way.” he said.
Glaive turned to a hallway that was filled with doors on both sides “If there's a life on the line, we can't afford to waste a single second. We'll split up and start searching rooms. If either of you find Dr. Halogen, be sure to let us know immediately.” he said. They all agreed and went their separate ways.
Leon walked in through a door that was labeled computer room. Once inside he saw a few computer terminals to his right and large capsules numbered 01-05 to his left. He ignored the capsules and ran to the computer terminals in hopes that he can learn more. After searching through the computer, he found information on Dr. Halogen's past. Unfortunately it didn't help since Princess Luna already told them about it.
Before he was about walk away from the computer, he saw an option called 'capsules'. His curiosity led him to click on it. He was given options 01-05, just like the capsules. Against his better judgment, he clicked on 01 before turning to the corresponding capsule.
It clicked and started slowly sliding open. Leon took his handgun out and aimed at it in preparation. He calmed down once it reveled itself to be empty. He turned back to the computer and decided to open the rest of them just in case. 02 and 03 were luckily also empty so he lowered his guard once he opened 04.
Right when 04 was opened an infected pegasus flew out like a bat out of hell. It came straight at Leon with it's bladed legs outstretched. He narrowly avoided being skewered by rolling out of the way. The blades sank into one of the computer terminals, completely destroying the screen. Leon raised his handgun at it and was just about to fire. Unluckily the pegasus threw the computer at him, forcing him to take time to dodge it.
The pegasus wasted no time flying in for another attack as it raised it's blade. Leon was off balance and knew that he wouldn't be able to dodge. Instead he caught the blade with his left hand to hold the infected in place. He then pressed the barrel of his handgun to it's throat before firing. The pegasus dropped dead and Leon looked down at his left palm. There was a shallow cut and a small amount of blood seeping from it.
He knew that he had worse in the past so he ignored it and walked back to the computer terminals. He was glad the the infected hadn't destroyed all of them. He got ready to open 05 but was fully on guard now. Once it opened he saw a unicorn occupying it. He was about to shoot but stopped when he noticed that the unicorn wasn't infected and was already dead.
He holstered his handgun and walked up to the body. It was wearing a lab coat so he assumed that it used to work here. He noticed an ID card clipped to his coat. He took the card and inspected it “Dr. Alkali.” he read aloud. He decided to pocket the ID card before heading out.
Diamond walked into a room labeled test subjects F. With just the name alone, she knew she was about to run into trouble. She already had her rifle in hoof as she walked through the door. She immediately saw tables lined up on both sides of the room with some kind of pony on each one. She cringed slightly as she passed them. They all seemed to have been experimented on and to have died because of it.
The ponies she passed were all horribly butchered. Some were missing body parts, some had extra, and some had body parts that belonged nowhere near a pony. She was sure to prod them with her rifle as she passed by them to make sure they were actually dead. After checking almost every one of the abominations, she stopped at the last one.
This one had two torsos. One was a stallion while the other seemed to be a mare. Both of them merged into one being around the midsection. The mare's coat was blue while the stallion's was green and they both had black manes. Their faces were frozen in shock and pain. The body was of an earth pony and neither head had a horn.
Diamond felt sorry for them but she had to prod them just in case. Her rifle's barrel touched their side and they immediately jolted off the table with a ghastly scream. Diamond was caught off guard and was hit by a flailing hoof causing her to drop her rifle.
The twins, as she named them in her mind, scrambled to their hooves. Their standing and walking was obviously difficult since they had a total of six hooves. They turned to her with the same shocked expressions they had before and gave an almost frightened scream.
Diamond decided that it would take too long to retrieve her rifle, opting for her revolver instead. She fired into their shared body as the twins charged her. They ignored the bullets and the mare got her hooves around Diamond's neck and forced her onto her back. The stallion then raised a leg in preparation for a stomp.
Diamond luckily kept her grip on her revolver and fired a bullet through the stallion's head. The stallion's head and fore legs fell limply forward but the mare still lived and continued chocking diamond. She thought quickly and threw a hard kick into the twin's gut to lessen the mare's grip. She then grabbed her fore legs and used her hind legs to flip the twins over her head. They landed on their back and Diamond flipped back onto her hind legs.
The mare had trouble getting up due to the dead stallion not helping so Diamond had time to pick her discarded rifle from the floor and finish the mare off with a single shot through her head. The twins' body finally fell lifelessly to the ground as diamond breathed a sigh of relief.
She gave the twins on last sad glance “That madpony has to be stopped.” she concluded before exiting the room.
Captain Glaive entered a room that had a scratched out label. Once the door opened a pitch black room awaited him. He glanced around the room that seemed to be empty. Luckily his eyes were used to seeing in the dark due to being a batpony. He still couldn't see everything in the room but it was better than nothing.
He had his glaive at the ready just in case. Suddenly he heard something in front of him. It sounded like slow tapping of talons on metal. He lowered into a fighting stance since he now had an idea of what he was facing. The tapping sound continued to circle around him until it stopped directly behind him.
He didn't turn so he could lure his opponent into a false sense of security. He then heard the sudden sound of wings flapping and a violent roar. He whipped his body around and swung blindly in the direction of the sounds. He struck it across the chest causing it to squawk in pain. It was now close enough for him to see. It was a griffon that seemed to have lost most of it's feathers and had razor sharp teeth. It's talons were overgrown and dangerously sharp.
The beast retreated to the safety of the darkness. Glaive didn't hear any more sounds around the room. He closed his eyes and listened in for anything that would give away the griffon's location. He then heard a faint dripping sound from his left. He threw his glaive towards it quickly. What followed was the sound of metal piercing flesh, a pained squawk and metal colliding with metal.
He stayed still for a few more moments and listened for signs of life. After a few silent seconds, he walked over to where he threw his weapon. Once he reached to wall, he saw the griffon being pinned to the wall by the glaive in it's chest like a morbid decoration. He took his glaive back causing the griffon's body to fall to the floor.
Captain Glaive assumed there was nothing more for him in the room and left it at that.
Leon walked to the end of the long hallway to see Captain Glaive standing in front of a large door. He walked up beside him “Find anything useful?” he asked.
Glaive took his eyes off the door to answer “Unfortunately no, I was just attacked by one of Dr. Halogen's experiments. You?” he asked back.
Leon shook his head “Didn't learn anything I didn't already know.” he said.
Diamond walked up to join them “I didn't run into anything useful either.” she glanced to the large important looking door in front of them “Where does this one lead?” she asked.
Glaive frowned “Not sure. It's not labeled so I thought that it may lead somewhere important, but I can't seem to get it open. There's no handle.” he said.
Diamond's gaze fell on a device that was on the wall right next to the door “That's a card reader. We probably need a key card of some kind to get through.” she pointed out.
Leon hummed in thought and pulled out the ID card he found “This might work.” he said before walking up to the card reader. He swiped the ID card through causing a light beep to ring out and the door to open.
Diamond smiled “Nice job Leon!” she complemented.
Glaive walked through first to see a humongous room that was almost completely empty. Leon glanced around in confusion “What could this room be for?” he wondered.
Diamond shook her head “This place looks big enough to fit a fully grown dragon. I hope he didn't do what I'm thinking of.” she then turned to another door leading past this room “Let's continue on, we don't have time to be standing around.” she said.
Leon grabbed the handle and was about to pull it open but stopped when he heard yelling coming from the room ahead “Buck me!” said the angry voice that sounded like Dr. Halogen. Leon, Diamond, and Glaive all glanced at each other before crowding around the door to listen in. They cracked the door open enough to be able to see. The room ahead was small and at the end was a door leading to another room that was shown with a large window.
Through the window they could see Silver Spoon strapped to an operating table with a terrified expression. Next to her was Dr. Halogen who was pacing back and forth while yelling “It's not working. Why isn't it working!” he yelled. He faced Silver with a scowl “I have injected countless ponies with Las Plagas and not one has given me the trouble that you are! Every egg I inject into you dies mere moments later! It's almost like you're im-” he suddenly stopped and his expression took a 180 as he smiled “Immune. You're immune!” he concluded happily.
Silver gulped and gave a slight hopeful smile “Are you going to let me go then? Since you can't infect me.” she said.
Dr. Halogen shook his head and opened and nearby drawer “Of course not, I'm not letting an opportunity like this escape me. I'm gonna find the reason behind your immunity. You may not survive the operation but you'll rest easy knowing that you contributed greatly to science.” he pulled out a scalpel and walked back to her.
He ran the the dull side of the scalpel down her cheek while breathing excitedly “We are gonna have a great time together. It'll be a learning experience for both of us.” he said.
Diamond couldn't listen to anymore of that so she busted through the door “Get your hooves off of her you creep!” she commanded.
Dr. Halogen smiled and dropped the scalpel “It seems that we'll have to postpone our play date.” he said.
Leon held his handgun threateningly “Hand over the girl and give yourself up! This doesn't have to get messy.” he said.
Glaive tried to walk through the door leading to Dr. Halogen's operating room but the door didn't budge. He growled and turned to deliver a strong buck to the door, unfortunately the door held strong. Dr. Halogen let out a laugh “You're wasting your time, you're not getting into this room.” he suddenly gained an idea “In fact, maybe I can start with the filly while you all can do nothing but watch.” he said.
Diamond took out her rifle and aimed it at the window “Not happening!” she shouted before firing at the window. The bullet only bounced off and ricocheted into the wall behind her.
Dr. Halogen retrieved his scalpel and returned to Silver's side “While you all are floundering, I'm just gonna start if you don't mind.” he said.
Leon, Diamond, and Glaive's minds all started racing to find a way into the room. Dr. Halogen loomed over Silver with the scalpel raised until “Halogen!” yelled a high pitched female voice. They could tell that it was the same voice as Dr. Halogen's boss and that it came from the room ahead.
Dr. Halogen turned to look at the mysterious pony who was just out of view from the window “Oh, welcome. I wasn't expecting you so soon.” he said.
“What is all this?” the pony questioned with a hint of anger in her voice.
Dr. Halogen gestured towards the strapped down Silver “This filly here has some kind of immunity to Las Plagas. I was just about to run some tests to figure out what's causing it.” he said.
“No you're not!” the pony yelled. Diamond was puzzled as to why this pony isn't letting her subordinate run his tests.
Dr. Halogen glared back at his boss “Why not?” he questioned.
Finally the boss flew into view of the mirror. Diamond and Leon's eyes widened in shock as Glaive only deepened his frown. Her coat was a light pink while her mane and tail were blue and curly. The most shocking thing about her was that she was just a filly, no bigger than Diamond.
The angry filly flew above Dr. Halogen and glared down at him “Because when I arrived at the bridleway theater, there was nopony there! I told you that you'd be punished if you let them escape!” she scolded. The filly then glanced through the window to see Diamond and the others standing there. She turned back to Dr. Halogen, now looking twice as pissed “And now you let them find you here!” she yelled.
Dr. Halogen shrunk back from the filly's verbal onslaught “Cozy Glow, calm down. I'll infect them right now.” he said.
Cozy shook her head “No, just kill them. I don't want to see their faces after how many of my slaves they killed. And as an incentive,” she flew over to Silver spoon and undid her bonds “I'll take this filly with me. You can have her back when you finish what you started.” she said. She then grabbed Silver by the neck as she tried to struggle out of her grip. Cozy started getting annoyed by Silver's constant squirming “Stop struggling or I'll have to make you!” she threatened.
Silver ignored her threat and continued her escape attempt “DT help!” she called.
Diamond growled since she had no idea of how to help her friend “Just hold on Silvy!” she called back.
“Shut up!” Cozy yelled as she threw a hard punch to Silver's temple, knocking her out cold. As the others gasped, Cozy turned back to Dr. Halogen “Kill them quickly. If you take too long, I'll just have to cut this filly open myself. I've learned enough from working with you to be able to.” she said before she flew out of view with Silver in tow.
Leon scowled at the direction she left “What the hell? How is that kid the one behind all this?” he questioned.
Glaive only glared down Dr. Halogen “Ignore that for the moment, we must focus on the problem in front of us.” he glanced to Diamond “Can you do that Tiara?” he questioned.
Diamond was offended that he even felt the need to ask but she knew arguing with him would be futile and a waste of time “Of course.” she said.
Dr. Halogen lowered his head and chuckled darkly “I suppose I could turn this punishment into something positive.” he walked through the door to enter the same room as the other “This will be quite the learning experience.” he said. He threw his glasses to the side absentmindedly as his muscles started growing “I've always been a stallion of brain over brawn, but a true scientist always has a solution to any possible problem. If that solution is brute force, so be it.” he said.
His body continued to grow as his lab coat started to tear. Leon took a few steps back “It's Las Plagas, he's transforming.” he said.
Glaive knew that a fight in a room this small might not go well “We have to fall back to the earlier room! We'll need the space!” he said. Leon and Diamond nodded before running back through the door.
The three of them waited with their weapons ready and their eyes on the door. After a few seconds, Dr. Halogen burst through the wall. He was now more than triple his original size. His midsection had split in half to reveal a long centipede like body connecting his front and back sides. His fore legs transformed into long fleshy tendrils. He had also grown large and sharp mandibles from his mouth. The legs from his centipede-like body held his torso up high.
Glaive eyed the monstrous creature “So this is the true power of Las Plagas?” he wondered.
Leon raised his handgun with a scowl “He may be an ugly bastard but these variants of Las Plagas are no joke.” he said.
Diamond narrowed her eyes in focus “We can take him easily. Come on, let's put him in the dirt.” she said.
Captain Glaive took to the air with his glaive held in his teeth. He flew straight toward Dr. Halogen to swing at his neck. A tendril intercepted the swing and wrapped itself around the weapon. The other tendril whipped the captain in the face, causing him to let go of his glaive and fly back a few feet. He steadied himself in midair and quickly dodged the glaive being thrown at him.
Leon started firing at his centipede-like midsection but it's exoskeleton was tough enough to be unaffected. The only thing the attack achieved was gaining Dr. Halogen's attention. He looked down at the human and dove down at him with his mandibles open wide. Leon performed a backwards somersault right before he was able to bite though him, causing him to miss. He then fired a few shots into the monster's torso. He flinched back in slight pain but was fine overall.
While he was distracted, Diamond jumped onto his back and took her knife out. She aimed between two of his body segments in an attempt to cut him in half. She plunged her knife down making Dr. Halogen scream out in pain. His torso turned to her and grabbed her by the neck and started choking her. Captain Glaive quickly flew in and sliced at the tendril that had a grasp on her. The attack wasn't enough to sever the appendage but it did cause it to let go of Diamond.
She landed with a roll but saw Dr. Halogen's torso coming down at her again. She pulled to pin out of a flash grenade and dropped it before retreating “Flash!” she called out to her teammates. The three of them covered their eyes as the flash went off and blinded him. While he was trying to recover from his stinging eyes, Captain Glaive whacked him in the head with the blunt end of his polearm before slashing him across the face with the blade.
Dr. Halogen finally recovered and closed his mandibles on Glaive's head in retribution. Luckily his helmet took most of the force but he grunted in pain as the doctor continued to crush his head. Leon saw this and quickly fired a rifle shot into Dr. Halogen's torso to lessen his grip on Glaive. The captain took this chance to throw a kick into the monster's throat to cause him to let go completely.
Leon glanced up at Captain Glaive who hovered above him “You alright Captain?” he asked.
He took off his damaged helmet and tossed it to the floor “I'll be just fine. Focus on the battle.” he said sternly. Leon nodded and turned back to Dr. Halogen as he was about to charge.
He was interrupted by Diamond firing her handgun at him. She then turned to her two teammates “I'll keep him distracted! You two finish what I started to his back!” she ordered.
Captain knew that he didn't need to follow her orders since he outranked her but he decided to go along with her plan anyway. Diamond faced the monster at Leon and Glaive ran to get into position. Dr. Halogen's torso came in fast in an attempt to strike her with his tendrils. Diamond rolled out of the way and fired her handgun into his torso causing minimal damage.
Leon and Glaive found the body segment that Diamond had already damaged and they each started slashing at both sides of it. This quickly got Dr. Halogen's attention as his torso turned to face them. Diamond aimed her handgun at him and bit on the trigger but all that happened was a click. She took a quick look in her saddlebags and growled “Damn it, I'm out.” she said.
She took her knife in hoof and climbed onto Dr. Halogen's back instead. He tried to shake the filly off but she held on and started stabbing him in the upper back repeatedly. After a few seconds, he wrapped one of his tendrils around her waist and pried her off of him before he threw her hard into the floor. Diamond started slowly getting to her hooves as she saw Dr. Halogen diving down at her.
Captain Glaive gave the weakened body segment one final strike to sever it. Halogen's torso fell short of Diamond and hit the ground right in front of her. He tried to lift his torso slowly with his tendrils as his breathing started to waver. Diamond got to her hooves and took her rifle out. She stuck the rifle's barrel into his mouth “Now you get to learn about the afterlife, lucky you.” she said before blasting a hole through his head. He fell lifelessly to the side to Diamond's relief.
Leon and Glaive returned to her side. Leon looked down at the doctor's body “Considering he was the one working with Las Plagas, the production should hopefully stop.” he said.
Captain Glaive frowned “I can't help but feel the worst has yet to come. What could that filly have planned?” he wondered.
Diamond hummed in thought “Cozy Glow, who is she and how did she even find out about Las Plagas?” she questioned.
Leon's expression hardened “Wesker's probably to blame for that. I don't know why he would work with someone like her but it worries me.” he said.
Diamond shook her thought away “We should tell Luna about all of this.” she said. The others nodded and she pressed her earpiece “Luna? We killed Dr. Halogen and we figured out the identity of who's behind all this.” she reported.
Luna's voice came back with slight panic “Captain Glaive, Diamond Tiara! I need your team back here!” she commanded.
Glaive joined the conversation with concern “What's the problem your highness?” he asked.
“Canterlot is under attack! I need to know if your whole team is ready to return. We already have our forces out protecting the civilians but we could use you're help.” he said.
Starshot's voice came next “I'm ready! I can't find anymore of those monsters or living ponies. I'm kind of getting lonely.” she said in a joking manner.
Time Step responded next “It's the same here p-princess. We can't find anypony else.” he said.
Leon nodded “It sounds like we're all ready to go. How long will it take for us to get there?” he questioned before they all disappeared.
Diamond, Leon, Captain Glaive, Time Step, and Starshot all appeared in front of Princess Luna. Starshot saw Diamond and smiled widely while wrapping her in a hug “Aww, I missed you Diamond!” she exclaimed.
Diamond got out of the mare's hold “Stop! Aren't we under attack right now?” she asked.
Celestia walked up from behind her sister “That is correct. Mine and my sister's forces are already out fighting, although I worry about our citizens being in the middle of such a battle.” she said.
Leon nodded “We have to evacuate them. Is there somewhere safe they can go?” he asked.
She nodded “There is a safe room located in the castle but it will not fit Canterlot's entire population.” she said.
Captain Glaive turned to Starshot “I want you and Time Step to join the fight. Spread the word that the civilians are to come to Canterlot castle.” he said.
Starshot smiled and hung a fore leg around Time Step's neck “This will be fun! Want to see who can get more of them?” she challenged.
Time Step hesitantly let himself be pulled along by the mare “I t-think I'd rather not keep score.” he said.
Glaive then turned back to the princesses “The castle is still the safest place for the civilians. We'll pack them in here like sardines if we have to. Your highnesses, can you two protect the castle with a force field that will keep those monsters out?” he requested.
Luna nodded “We can, but there is still a problem. With our ponies trapped in the crossfire, they might not be able to reach the castle with their lives.” she said.
Leon rubbed his chin in thought “We need some kind of distraction, but it's gonna need to be big.” he said.
Diamond grinned as an idea came to her “I think I have something that might work. I'll need to head down to the armory first, plus I need more ammo.” she said before running off.
“Grab a couple of boxes for me!” Leon shouted after her.
Once Diamond was out of the room, Luna turned to Captain Glaive “I don't know what she's about to do, but we should wait to hear her plans. In the meantime, please tell what you've found out about all this. You said that you know who's behind this?” she asked.
He frowned as he was reminded of what they found out “We did. Her name is Cozy Glow. Do you know of her?” he asked.
Luna raised an eye brow “I do know of a pony with that name from visiting her dreams but it couldn't be her, she's only a filly.” she said.
Leon shook his head “Then that's exactly who we're talking about. I don't know why someone so young would do this but she basically admitted to it in front of us.” he said.
Celestia averted her eyes in sadness before she collected herself “Did she say anything about her plans?” she asked.
Leon sighed “We don't know much. Only that someone from my world named Albert Wesker is involved. We don't have a clue about what Cozy Glow wants.” he said. Diamond ran back into the room while dragging a bag behind her. She then tossed a few boxes of ammo to Leon, who caught them “Thanks, what's in the bag?” he asked.
Diamond smiled and patted the bag “fifteen grenades.” she answered simply.
Captain Glaive raised an eyebrow “What exactly are you planning on doing with a bag of grenades?” he questioned.
Diamond scooted the bag slightly closer to him “I'm not doing anything with it. You are. We'll need a part of Canterlot that is empty of civilians. This bag should have enough grenades to not only take out a large chunk of the infected but also get the others attention. Once we're sure that there are no ponies in harm's way, Captain Glaive will fly up and activate it.” she explained.
Leon rubbed his chin as he pondered her plan “I assume that we'll be keeping the infected busy while the civilians clear out.” he guessed.
Diamond nodded before turning back to Glaive “So what do you think?” she asked.
“I think it's reckless, dangerous, and could cause much property damage.” he sighed “But it will have to do. We'll take this to the outskirts of the city. I'll take a team of guards with me to escort the citizens out of the area while the two of you keep the infected away.” he said.
Diamond smiled since her plan was accepted and turned to Luna “Mind giving us some help getting to the outskirts?” she asked.
The princess smiled and lit up her horn for a teleportation spell. With a flash of magic, Leon and Diamond were gone. Captain Glaive gave a salute “I'll ready a team for the extraction of the civilians.” he said before flying off.
Leon and Diamond arrived in a part of the city that had the least amount of ponies. There were some smaller stores and a few warehouses, some of which were abandoned. Even so there were ponies scattered around running for their lives as the infected hunted them down. The night sky was being obscured by the amount of pegasi in the air.
Leon glanced around at the amount of infected that rampaged around the area “We should have asked for some back up.” he said. Two infected earth ponies charged him from opposite directions but he quickly shot them with his handgun before they got to close.
A unicorn shot a beam of magic at Diamond forcing her to step out of the way. A pegasus dove down at her so she rolled out of the way and fired a revolver round into it's head. The unicorn charged up another spell but Diamond just tossed a frag grenade at it, taking it out along with the others near it. She turned back to Leon with a smirk “What? Don't like a challenge?” she mocked.
Leon chuckled “Just never been a fan of suicide.” he said. They then went back to back as a fairly large group of the infected surrounded them. Leon glanced at her behind him “Ready?” he asked.
Diamond chuckled “Just try to keep up old man.” she joked. Before the infected could get any closer, they opened fire.
Leon shot two earth ponies in the head before a unicorn charged him with it's horn aimed at his chest. He crouched low and caught the pony before lifting it and tossing behind him, towards Diamond “Heads up!” he called. Diamond stepped aside to allow the unicorn to land on it's back next to her. She slit it's throat before continuing to shoot into the crowd.
An earth pony attempted to bite her but she jumped over the mandibles and jammed her knife into it's skull. Two pegasi dove down towards her simultaneously with their blades at the ready. She shot one down with the other being brought down with a shot from Leon. Diamond glanced back behind Leon to see a unicorn heading towards him “Down!” she ordered.
He immediately crouched which allowed her to jump and roll across his back. Right before she landed behind him, she fired a revolver round into the attacking unicorn's head. Leon took his shotgun out and took the heads of three earth ponies that where huddled too close together. The headless bodies didn't fall down as their parasites burst from their necks. Leon pulled the pin of a flash grenade and tossed it straight up “Flash!” he warned.
They both covered their eyes as the flash went off, killing the parasites and momentarily blinded the others. They both took out their rifles to capitalize on the opportunity. Diamond nudged Leon's leg to get his attention “I could use a better vantage point.” she said.
Leon knew what she was asking for so he crouched down. She then climbed onto him and sat on his shoulders. From there, they both fired as fast as they could into the crowd as Leon slowly turned so they could shoot all around them. Just as the few infected left started recovering from the effects of the flash, arrows started raining down on them.
After the arrows, only two of the horde remained. One was quickly riddled with handgun bullets and the other was killed by a spear that was thrown through it's skull. Then Starshot and Time Step landed in front of them.
Starshot squealed a bit when she saw Diamond still sitting on Leon's shoulders “You two look so cute like that! Oh I wish I hadn't left my camera at home!” she gushed.
Time Step gave a nervous chuckle “Uh, should you really be talking to your superior like that?” he asked.
Starshot gave a playful pout “She's not just my superior, she's my friend. I can talk to her however I want.” she said.
Leon raised an eyebrow at her “That sounds like disrespect. Diamond, make her drop and do fifty push ups.” he joked.
Diamond chuckled and jumped down from Leon's shoulders “So what are you two doing? I thought you were helping evacuate.” she said.
Time Step nodded before explaining “We were. The captain found us and told us to find you. He said that everypony in the area has been safely escorted out. He said that he'll execute your plan shortly.” he reported.
Starshot scratched her head in confusion “He didn't mention what your plan was though. What is it?” she asked.
Diamond looked towards the sky and saw Captain Glaive flying among the infected with a bag in his mouth. Diamond turned to a nearby abandoned warehouse “We should take cover. I don't know how big the blast radius will be.” she said.
Her, Leon, and Starshot ran towards the warehouse for cover while Time Step was frozen in shock “D-did you say blast radius?” he started running to catch up “What blast radius?” he questioned. The got inside and watched from a window.
Glaive dodged all of the infected that attempted to attack him as he got into position. He opened the bag for a second to pull one of the pins. He then threw it up as hard as he could before he flew down towards the ground for cover. The combined force of all of the grenades took out a large chunk of the infected pegasi in the air. The sound and light from the explosion got the attention much of the infected in the city.
Diamond and the others walked out into the open after the explosion was finished “We should be ready. We have an entire city of infected coming here.” she said.
Captain Glaive landed with them along with a large force of night guards “We only need to keep them busy here long enough for the citizens to get to the castle. As long as there aren't any more surprises.” he said.
They immediately got a call through their earpieces as they heard Luna's voice “Captain! Diamond! My sister has received a letter from Princess Twilight Sparkle. They have come under attack by a smaller force of the infected. She has requested assistance. Who can you spare for this?” she asked.
Glaive frowned “I'm sorry princess but my team is about to take the full force of Canterlot's attack. Any team I could send would have to be small.” he said.
Diamond gasped when she heard that her home was being attacked. Everpony she knew was there including her friends and her...Filthy Rich. She quickly spoke up “I'll go with Leon. Send whoever else you can spare but me and Leon can do it.” she said.
Starshot shot a hoof up like a filly in a classroom “I'll help. Pick me!” she said.
Captain Glaive nodded “Very well. I'll send a squad of guards along with the three of you.” he said.
Luna heard the order “Once you are prepared, let me know and I shall teleport you to Ponyville.” she said.
Diamond and Captain Glaive quickly decided on who would be going with her to Ponyville. After a few seconds they decided on a group of ten guards that would be under her command. She and her team gathered away from the main force before she contacted Luna again “We're ready.” she said.
The team was then gone in a flash of magic. Captain the started seeing a large horde of infected ponies charging their location “Look alive! Defensive positions!” he commanded.
Diamond's team was brought to the outskirts of Ponyville. They immediately could see the panicked residents running from the infected. There were noticeably less than there was attacking Canterlot but that was to be expected since Ponyville was much smaller. Diamond turned to her team “Leon and Starshot will be with me. The rest of you I want keeping the heat off of the citizens. Spread the word that all citizens should make their way to Twilight's castle.” she ordered.
The guards gave a salute before flying off towards town. Starshot tilted her head “What are we doing then?” she asked.
“We need to hurry to Twilight's castle and make sure that the ponies actually have a safe place to go.” she said.
Leon nodded “Then lead the way.” he said.
Twilight stood in front of her castle and faced two infected earth ponies and a unicorn. She fired a beam of magic at the unicorn only for it to be blocked by a magical barrier. The earth ponies rushed in with their mandibles open wide. They crashed into Twilight's shield spell before the spell pushed outward, sending the ponies spiraling away.
The unicorn charged her with it's horn but she stopped it in it's tracks with her telekinesis. Before she could do anything else, an arrow shot through the side of it's skull. Twilight gasped in shock and dropped the corpse. Starshot landed next her her with a grin “Thanks for holding that one for me princess.” she said with a wink.
Leon came up behind one of the earth ponies and slit it's throat. Diamond shot a rifle round through the last infected's head. She turned to Twilight and smiled “I heard that you needed help.” she said.
Twilight stared at Diamond with a questioning expression “Did Princess Celestia send you?” she asked.
“Well, Luna did but yeah.” she said.
Twilight then turned her attention to Leon “A-and what are you doing here. I thought humans weren't allowed in Equestria.” she said.
Leon let out a small chuckle “Being friends with a royal guardspony has it's perks.” he said.
Twilight wanted to press for more information but stopped herself with a shake of her head “Do we have a plan? I had no idea anything was even happening until these monsters were right on top of us.” she said.
Diamond rubbed the back of her neck “We were kind of hoping to take care of all of this before it spread but things got a lot more complicated than we expected. The plan right now is to get all of the Ponyville citizens somewhere safe. In Canterlot we have Princess Celestia and Luna creating a magical barrier around the castle to keep the infected out. I was hoping you could could do the same.” she said.
Twilight put a hoof to her chin to think but had a concerned expression “I could but I can't just sit inside my castle holding a shield spell. My friends are still out there, I need to help them.” she said.
She attempted to walk away but Starshot stepped into her path “Sorry princess but I think that's our job.” she said.
Leon walked to her side “She's right. You can leave the rescuing to us, but the ponies will need somewhere to go where they can be safe. Without you, we can't be sure that anyone we save will stay safe.” he said.
Twilight hung her head “I...I understand. I'll do it. But if you can, please check in with my friends.” she requested.
Diamond put a comforting hoof to her back “Don't worry. They're strong, they'll survive. Just focus on the shield spell.” she said.
With a determined nod, Twilight ran back to the castle. Leon turned back to the town “Alright Diamond, you have the home field advantage. Where to first?” he asked.
Rarity tried to quiet her breathing as she hide in her closet. She winced and looked down at a wound slashed into her chest. It was steadily seeping blood and she knew she had to stop the bleeding. She turned to one of the dresses that was in the closet with her. She sighed in desperation as her horn lit up “Please forgive me.” she whispered before using her magic to rip a long strip of fabric from the dress.
She then used the fabric to create a makeshift tourniquet for her wound. She then froze when she heard the sound of crashing downstairs. She covered her mouth with her hooves in fright. She listened closely to determine whether it was one of those monster or not. She heard the sound of her bedroom door opening slowly. She peeked out of the crack in the closet doors to see an infected unicorn glancing around the room.
Rarity shut her eyes tight and and prayed that it wouldn't find her. She held her breath to lessen the chance that she'd be heard. Despite her precautions, she heard the creature's hoof steps approach the closet. The closet doors were thrown off it's hinges by the monster's magic as it stared Rarity down. She scowled and lit up her horn for a last stand.
“Get away from her!” Leon yelled as he grabbed a hold of the unicorn's tail. He pulled with all of his strength and swung it into the far wall. Before it could try getting up, Diamond threw her knife into the side of it's head.
Starshot walked in with a pout “You didn't even let me get a shot at that one.” she accused.
“Be faster next time then.” Diamond said with a smirk which earned a giggle from Starshot.
Leon walked over to Rarity and offered her a hand “Are you okay?” he asked. Rarity took the offer and was helped to her hooves. She winced in pain and almost fell. Leon grabbed a hold of her and examined her for injuries. He imagined that the tourniquet over her chest hid a large one but other than that, she had some scratches and small cuts and bruises all over her body “You're injured.” he said.
Rarity tried to stand on her own only to grunt in pain and lean on Leon again “I was w-working on a new design when those... whatever they are, attacked me. Flew straight through the window and attacked me. I only barely managed to escape them and hide out here. I obviously didn't make it out without a scratch.” she explained.
Leon nodded in understanding “Eveything's gonna be fine now. Get to the castle, you'll be safe there. Twilight has a shield spell that's gonna keep the infected out.” he said.
Starshot walked over to Rarity's other side and helped support her “She won't make it on her own. I'll get her there and meet up with you two later.” she said.
Leon stepped back and allowed all of Rarity's weight to fall on Starshot. The two then started making their way towards the door before Rarity stopped “Wait!” she turned to Diamond “My sister, Sweetie Belle! She told me that she was going to spend the day with her friends. I don't know where they are bu-” Diamond stopped her.
“I'll find them. And try not to worry, I taught them what to do in case of an emergency like this.” she said. Rarity gave a gentle smile as thanks before allowing Starshot to guide her out of the room.
Leon turned to Diamond “You might know where to find her sister? Is that where we're going next?” he asked.
She shook her head “No, we have one stop before we get there.” she said. Diamond frowned as she thought about their next stop. Part of her wanted to skip it but she knew she had to go.
A maid and butler pushed against the door of Filthy Rich's mansion in a desperate attempt to keep the infected out. As the servants struggled against the infected's onslaught on the door, the butler glanced back to Filthy Rich “Sir, please go hide. We will hold them off as long as we can.” he said.
Filthy Rich took a deep breath and pushed himself against the door as well. The maid gasped “What are you doing sir?” she asked.
He grunted under the force coming from the other side of the door “If they get in here, we're all dead. I can't die right now. Not until I see my daughter again.” he said.
They all held the door in place for as long as they could but it was eventually blasted open by magic. Filthy and his servants were send sprawling across the room. They looked up from the floor to see a unicorn step into the mansion with two pegasi hovering above it. One of the pegasi screeched as flew down at Filthy. At the last second a bullet flew into it's head, causing it's body to fall limply onto the downed Filthy.
The unicorn pointed it's horn at the maid and was about to fire when Diamond struck it's temple with the butt of her rifle. As the unicorn was reeling backwards she fired a shot between it's eyes. The other pegasus flew in to attack her but a few handgun bullets flew into it's body to bring it to the ground. Leon holstered his handgun and grabbed his shotgun as he walked up to the weakened pegasus before he blasted it.
Filthy pushed the corpse off of him and shuttered before turning to his saviors. He smiled at the sight of his daughter “Diamond, you came to help me.” he said.
Diamond glared at him and helped the butler up “I'm here to help Ponyville. You're lucky that includes you.” she said.
Filthy frowned as his ears flattened against his skull “I have a few things to say, can we talk Diamond?” he asked.
“Can it wait?” she questioned.
“Until this is all over?” he asked back.
Diamond frowned “Until the end of time. I couldn't care less about what you have to say Filthy!” she exclaimed.
Leon was shocked by her outburst but the servants only looked down sadly as if this was a regular sight. He walked up beside Diamond and put a hand on her shoulder “Diamond-”
she cut him off by turning and heading to the door “Come on Leon, we have more important places to be.” she said.
Leon sighed and glanced sadly at Filthy “Get to Twilight's castle as fast as you can. You'll be safe there.” he said before dashing out of the door to catch up to Diamond.
Applejack stood outside the farmhouse and faced an infected griffon. She glanced behind her to see Big Mac laying unconscious in a small puddle of blood. She growled and turned back to the griffon “You'll pay for layin' yer dirty talons on mah big brother!” she yelled as she stood protectively in front of her brother.
The griffon squawked violently as it flew in towards Applejack. She ducked under a slash from it's claws and got behind it. She grabbed her lasso and successfully threw it around it's neck. She pulled to throw it off balance and slam it into the ground. She smirked but lost the smirk when the griffon ripped through the rope with it's claws. She dropped her end of the lasso and growled “Darn it!” she yelled.
The griffon then started stalking towards Applejack like she was prey. Before it could pounce her, a few handgun shots ripped through it's body. It turned back in anger and set it's sight on Leon who was approaching. He charged him with both of it's front claws raised. He caught it's wrists and tried to hold it off but had underestimated it's strength. He started to sweat as he pushed himself to held the beast off.
Diamond jumped onto it's back and sunk her knife into the back of it's neck. It roared in pain and was weakened enough for Leon to overpower it and throw it onto it's back. Before it could recover, Leon shot a handgun round into it's heart.
They looked over to Applejack to see her standing over her brother sadly “Come on, ah've seen ya get through some bad injuries. This will be just like those, you'll get through it.” she said in a somber tone.
Leon walked up with his medical supplies in hand “May I?” he asked. She nodded and stepped aside and let Leon work. Diamond walked up to question her “Applejack, do you know where your sister and granny are?” she asked.
She nodded “Granny's waitin' in the farmhouse. Ah told her ta hide while me and Big Mac protected the farm. Mah sis might be at her clubhouse with her friends. That's where ah'm goin' next.” she said.
Diamond put a hoof to her chest and shook her head “Leave that to us.” she said.
Applejack raised an eyebrow “Ah know that yer mah sister's friend and all but she's still mah kin. Ah gotta make sure she's alright.” she said.
Diamond turned to the floored Big Mac who was in the middle of being bandaged up “Apple Bloom's not the only one you have to watch out for. Twilight's castle is acting as a safe house right now and I don't see him making it there on his own. You have to make sure he gets there safely, Granny Smith too. Apple Bloom will be safe with us, I swear.” she said.
Applejack glanced at Big Mac who was regaining consciousness as Leon finished “Ya make a good point Diamond.” she walked towards the farmhouse “Granny! Come on down! We gotta get ta Twilight's castle!” she shouted. She then helped her brother up causing her to hold up almost all of his weight “Come on ya big lug, let's get ya out of danger.” she said.
Diamond got Leon's attention quickly “This way, hurry!” she called before taking off through the farm.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo huddled together and watched the door in fright. They were hiding from an infected earth pony that continued to bang on the door. Sweetie Belle shut her eyes tightly “It's about to get in.” she said.
Apple Bloom tried to put on a brave face “Don't worry girls, I think it's about to give up.” she said in an attempt to convince herself.
Scootaloo frowned and separated herself from her friends “Where did we hide that thing?” she mumbled to herself.
Sweetie gasped when she realized what she was looking for “Are you really gonna use it?” she asked.
Scootaloo nodded as she nudged a few of the wooden floor planks “We don't have much of a choice right now.” she said. She then found the right plank and lifted it. Under the plank of wood was a small compartment holding only an equestrian handgun “There it is.” she said as she took the trigger in her teeth.
She ushered her friends behind her and stared down the weakening door. Apple Bloom looked uneasily at Scootaloo “Are ya sure ya can do this? Ya never shot at somepony before.” she said.
Scootaloo swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. The door was then broken down by the infected and walked towards the three. Scootaloo shut her eyes tight and bit down on the trigger. She heard a loud bang and the pony fell over limply.
The gun fell from her mouth in shock “D-did I do it?” she asked.
“No, I did.” Diamond said as she walked in with Leon.
Scootaloo looked down at the gun she dropped “B-but I thought I bit the trigger.” she said.
Diamond looked down at the handgun then stared up at Scootaloo “You left the safety on.” she said with a small chuckle.
The three fillies then wrapped Diamond up in a group hug. Apple Bloom smiled “Ah'm glad ta see ya. Ah knew ya would be comin'” she said.
Leon knelt down and picked up the handgun “How did you kids get something like this?” he questioned.
The fillies separated but stayed quiet. Diamond rubbed the back of her neck with a light blush “I want my friends to be safe, even when I'm not around. I taught them how to use it safely and told them to only use it in emergencies.” she said to defend herself.
Leon shook his head and kept the gun “You can't just go around giving weapons to children.” he said.
Diamond smirked “You did.” she said.
Leon rolled his eyes “You bought that first gun yourself, remember?” he reminded.
Diamond chuckled before turning back to her friends “Anyway, you all need to get to Twilight's castle. You'll be safe.” she said.
Sweetie Belle frowned as a thought entered her mind “Is Silver Spoon okay?” she asked.
Diamond hung her head “Sh...she was foalnapped by the enemy. I don't think she's dead but...it doesn't look good.” she said.
The fillies all lowered their heads grimly. Leon got their attention “This is no time to be feeling sorry for ourselves. We don't know for sure what Silver Spoon's condition is. There is still hope for her, but the only way to save her is to continue on.” he said.
Diamond smiled at him “Thanks.” she said before turning back to her friends “Hurry to the castle okay? If I know you're safe I can focus on saving Silvy.” she said.
Apple Bloom nodded “Alright, thanks again.” she said before walking towards the exit.
Scootaloo whispered as she passed her “You can get us another gun for the clubhouse right?” she asked.
Diamond giggled and gave her a playful shove to get her moving. Sweetie gave her one more hug “Stay safe.” she said before leaving with the others.
Once they were gone Diamond turned to Leon “Well that's a weight lifted off my mind. Let's get going.” she said.
Pinkie stood in front of sugarcube corner with three infected earth ponies walking towards her. She waved a hoof at them with a smile “Hello monster ponies! You three look pretty down in the dumps. Let's play a game, that always cheers me up.” she said. They gave a monstrous screech that didn't seem to affect Pinkie “Ooh I love that one!” she exclaimed.
One of them charged her in an attempt to bite her but she jumped out of it's reach “Duck.” she said as she landed on it's head and jumped off. She landed on the next one “Duck.” she said, jumping to the next one “Duck.” she said. She continued jumping between the three “Duck. Duck. Duck. Duck.” she stomped on one of them hard, smashing it's head into the ground “Goose!” she exclaimed.
The other two screeched in anger and charged her. One was quickly killed by an arrow through it's eye. Starshot flew in and cracked the other across the face with her bow. She then took an arrow from her quiver and stabbed it into it's head. Leon and Diamond then ran onto the scene. Diamond chuckled “I guess you beat us to this one.” she said to Starshot.
Pinkie bounced over to them “I was having fun with them. We were playing duck duck goose.” she said happily.
Diamond raised an eyebrow “You do understand what's happening right?” she asked.
Pinkie nodded her head “Of course I do. A little filly teamed up with Albert Wesker to get Las Plagas. Then she unleashed it on Manehattan to build an army and lure in some of the princesses forces while she planned an attack on Canterlot. Then she attacked Ponyville to spread out their forces even more and that brings us to now.” she said.
Leon felt a headache coming on “There are many questions about how you know any of that but most importantly, how do you know about Albert Wesker?” he questioned.
Pinkie waved a hoof in the are as if it was obvious “Everybody knows Wesker.” she then frowned as she thought of something “You're not gonna kill Wesker are you?” she asked.
Diamond nodded “That's the plan.” she said.
Pinkie shook her head “No, you can't! If you kill him here then resident evil 5 won't happen and Chris won't punch the boulder!” she said.
Starlight held up a hoof as she got an idea “Oh I know! What if Diamond punches the boulder?” she suggested.
Pinkie put a hoof to her chin in thought before she smiled “Alright, you can kill him as long as Diamond punches a boulder.” she said.
Diamond facehoofed “I have no idea what you two are talking about. Why would I punch a boulder?” she questioned.
Pinkie and Starshot glanced at each other before looking back at Diamond “Because it's hilarious.” they both answered.
Diamond sighed and tried to forget their conversation “Pinkie, just get your flank to Twilight's castle.” she said.
Pinkie smiled “Alright, I'll go grab the cakes” she said as she ran into sugarcube corner.
Diamond turned to Starshot “Come on, let's go. And if you say one more thing about boulder punching, I will make you give me fifty push ups.” she said.
Rainbow Dash scowled at the infected unicorn and pegasus in front of her. She heard a soft voice from behind her “R-rainbow, you're h-hurt. Please run.” Fluttershy called from her cottage window.
Rainbow kept her eyes on the infected “Just keep hiding Fluttershy. I got this in the bag.” she said. Some blood from a head wound rolled toward her eye but she wiped it away “You ugly mother buckers got a lucky shot on me, but that's all you'll get.” she said.
The pegasus charged her with it's blades aimed at her neck. She took to the air faster than it could keep track of and came down on it with a hard kick, knocking it to the ground. While it was on it's back she flew high into the sky before diving down towards it with her fore hooves extended. Her hooves connected with it's chest and she could feel it's ribs break. It swung a blade at her out of desperation but she just flew out of range.
She came down again landing a kick straight to it's throat to finish it. She looked back to the cottage to see that Fluttershy wasn't at the window anymore. She was glad that she didn't see that. She refocused and glared down the unicorn “Did you see what I just did to your buddy there! Get lost before I do worse to you!” she threatened.
The unicorn's only answer was sending a beam of magic her way. She narrowly dodged it and growled in anger “Have it your way.” she said in a low tone. She flew towards it while dodging a few more beams of magic. She tackled the unicorn and forced it onto it's back. She raised her fore hooves in preparation for a stomp but her body immediately stopped. She noticed the unicorn's horn glowing as she was magically lifted off of it against her will. She started struggling against the spell to no avail “Let me go so I can buck your face in!” she yelled.
Suddenly she was let go when two rifle shots ripped through the unicorns body and an arrow to the back of it's head finished it. Rainbow saw Diamond, Leon, and Starshot approaching her. She crossed her fore hooves “I was handling that.” she said.
Diamond chuckled “Alright, I'll make sure not to save you next time.” she said.
Rainbow narrowed her eyes at her for a few seconds before letting out a laugh “What's up Diamond.” she greeted while holding a hoof out.
Diamond bumped hooves with her “Just saving Ponyville, nothing special.” she said with a shrug.
Rainbow turned to Leon “And it's you...” she thought for a moment “Liam?” she guessed.
Leon gave her an unamused stare “Close, it's Leon.” he then sighed “Anyway, enough small talk. Twilight has her castle shielded. You should get over there.” he said.
Rainbow thought about refusing and insisting that she help but decided against it when she looked back at Fluttershy's cottage “Alright, I'll get flutters there in ten seconds flat.” she gave Diamond a grin “Good luck kid.” she said before she took off to get Fluttershy.
Leon turned to Diamond “What's next?” he asked.
Diamond made sure that she wasn't forgetting any important stops “We should return to town and check in on the team. Hopefully they almost have it cleared out.” she said.
Leon, Diamond, and Starshot made their way through Ponyville in search for the rest of their team. They glanced around at the infected corpses that were scattered around. They weren't running into any living infected so they took that as a good sign. After a few minutes they saw a group of guards ahead that seemed to be resting. There were only six of them and a few of them were nursing wounds.
The guards didn't notice Diamond's approach until she reached them. She cleared her throat loudly causing the resting guards to stand at attention and salute “T-tiara! I didn't see you there.” the stallion said.
She rolled her eyes “Calm down, I'm not gonna punish you for resting. Just give me your mission report.” she ordered.
The guard nodded and cleared his throat “Right. There seems to be no more infected in the area, this was a small force indeed. Just in case, we have still directed the remaining citizens to the castle.” he glanced back at the rest of his team “We are not without wounds though. We lost four guards to these monsters.” he said.
Diamond nodded as she took in the information “It wasn't perfect but it looks like this mission was a success.” she said.
Starshot smiled wide and held a hoof up to Leon “I love a good completed mission! Up high!” she exclaimed.
Leon ignored the gesture as he rubbed his chin with a frown “Something about this doesn't seem right.” he said.
Diamond frowned in thought “I know what you mean. Cozy Glow should have known that we could've easily taken a force this small. I know that her main goal at the moment is probably Canterlot but couldn't she have spared more? I don't even get why she attacked Ponyville in the first place. Maybe to take out twilight and her friends.” she said.
Leon shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head “Either way, we should contact Captain Glaive. We need to know how the evacuation is going.” he said.
Diamond nodded and pressed her earpiece “Captain? How is the evacuation?” she asked.
She expected to hear evidence of the battle that was most likely still going on but all she heard was a slightly winded Captain Glaive “It's going well. But I think something's going on.” he said.
Diamond raised an eyebrow “What do you mean? Did you take out all of the infected?” she asked.
“No, they retreated. I'm not sure why they did through. They still had overwhelming numbers on us but they all stopped attacking simultaneously and left.” he said.
“Did you see where they were going?” diamond asked.
“In the direction of Ponyville. I'll send over reinforcements once the evacuation is complete.” he said.
Leon quickly joined in the conversation “Don't. Something about all of this seems fishy. I feel like Cozy Glow has something planned in Canterlot. We'll call for help if we need it.” he said.
The line was quiet for a few moments “Diamond? Do you agree?” he asked.
“Leon's gut usually isn't wrong. Just focus on the citizen's safety for now.” she answered.
“Very well.” he said before he cut off the line.
Starshot hummed in thought before taking to the air and flying straight up. She stopped to hover and stared out in the direction of Canterlot. She saw a horde of infected making their way towards Ponyville. The pegasi were flying low to the ground and she noticed a small pink filly leading the army.
She dove back to the ground and the others looked to her “Maybe we should've been so quick to turn down help. They're here. All of them. Including the filly leading them.” she said.
Leon hardened his expression “Let's meet them half way. Maybe we can talk Cozy out of this. But if a fight does happen, it would be better to do it away from the town.” he said. He was about to start walking before he noticed that none of the guards were following him, they were just staring at him. He then remembered that they had no obligation to follow his orders.
Diamond walked up to his side “Are you sure about this?” she asked. He only gave a nod. She smiled back at him before turning to the other guards “Come on, we're going to meet with Cozy Glow. Stay behind us and don't attack until directed by me or Leon.” she said.
The guards saluted and all shouted “Yes ma'am!” with that, they took off.
They were now outside of Ponyville and were walking across a grassy field. Ahead they could see the humongous horde getting closer and closer. Diamond kept her eyes locked onto Cozy Glow as they walked. She then noticed that a infected unicorn's horn was aglow with magic. Above it was a magical red bubble with an unconscious Silver Spoon inside it. Diamond felt anger bubbling up in her at that sight but tried to keep it down.
After a few minutes, they stopped in front of Cozy and her army. Luckily they all did too. Cozy smiled in amusement at the small group “You all are either incredibly brave or overwhelmingly dim. Which is it?” she questioned.
Leon stepped up “I thought we could take a moment to talk.” he said.
Cozy tilted her head and put a hoof to her chin in thought “Intriguing...I accept.” she said. She flew close to Leon, leaving her army in place “What should we talk about? The weather perhaps?” she said with a snicker.
Leon was far from amused “How about your reasons behind all this and your plans?” he suggested.
Cozy laughed “Alright then, let's see. Why would I do this?” she asked herself sarcastically “So that everypony recognizes me for what I truly am, the rightful ruler.” she said.
Diamond narrowed her eyes at her “Ruler? So your goal is to overthrow the princesses?” she questioned.
Cozy nodded “That's part of it, but I don't want to give everything away.” she said.
Leon shook his head “If you dream of ruling one day, this is not the way to do it. The forces you're involved with aren't toys. They could easily lead to the end of the world. You can't rule if there's nothing left to rule.” he said.
Cozy immediately lost all amusement and glared at Leon “That's your problem right there Leon.” she said as she harshly poked his chest “You see me as a poor little filly, playing with things she couldn't possibly hope to understand. Trust me, I know exactly what and who I'm dealing with.” she said.
Diamond growled slightly “What about Wesker?” she questioned.
Cozy rolled her eyes “I know everything I need to know about Wesker, believe it or not. I've been to the human world and done my research.” she said.
Diamond seemed shocked at that “You've been there? How? Citizens aren't allowed through the portal.” she said.
Cozy gave a entertained scoff “Those guards are an embarrassment. I could easily sneak past them. If I was ever discovered, I just had to give them the cute kid routine and they would let me off with a warning.” she said. One of the guards behind Diamond blushed and averted his eyes.
Leon wanted to give her one last chance “I'm going to ask you only once. Give this up. If you continue, I see this going one of two ways. One, we kill you. Two, you kill us and Wesker betrays you and he kills you. If you give up here, the best you'll get is life in prison. None of your options are good but I recommend you take that one.” he said.
Cozy only grinned “I'm not as naive as you think. I know that you all don't stand a chance against my army, and I'm not worried about Wesker in the slightest.” she said. The guards all got into fighting stances as they sensed that she was done talking. She started flying back to her army “Luckily for you, I still have use of you. I won't kill you yet, but I will leave something to stall you for the moment. Do me a favor and try to live.” she said.
Diamond stepped towards her “You're not going anywhere until I get Silver Spoon back!” she shouted.
Cozy glanced back at her with an eyebrow raised “Sorry but I'll have to hold on to her for the moment. You can have her back once I figure out the root of her immunity. Although I'm not sure how much will be left.” she said before she ordered her army to turn around and walk.
Diamond took her rifle out and aimed at Cozy's back and fired. A infected pegasus dove in front of the bullet and sacrificed itself. Cozy didn't bother turn around but just waved a hoof behind her “Nice try.” she said as they all continued to retreat as if nothing had happened.
The guards all relaxed in slight relief that they wouldn't have to face that horde. Diamond kept her heated glare on the army as they left “What could she be planning?” she asked to no one in particular.
Leon scanned the horizon carefully “I'm more worried about what's supposed to stall us. She's taking them all with her.” he said.
Diamond opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a distant roar. They all snapped their gazes to the sky to see a colossal dragon flying towards them from far away. The dragon's scales were red with orange tips. Along it's back were two rows of spikes as well as a spike at the tip of it's snout.
She took a step back in shock but recovered quickly “She sent a dragon to stall us? I'll take that as a compliment.” she said.
Leon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose “I didn't expect to be facing down a dragon tonight.” he took his rifle out in preparation “Looks like it will take it a few minutes to reach us. We need a game plan.” he said.
Diamond racked her brain for some strategy for defeating a dragon “I doubt bullets would be able to pierce it's scales. Plus the fact that it can fly gives it an advantage over me and you.” she said.
A guard walked up beside her to interrupt her thought process “You'll need more time to think. Allow us to distract it for you ma'am.” he said with a brave expression.
Diamond tilted her head “Yeally? You'd voluntarily distract a dragon?” she asked. The other five guards walked up as well and they all nodded. Diamond smiled warmly before her expression turned more serious “Fine. Just remember that you aren't trying to kill it, only keep it busy. Keep your distance and retreat if it starts going south.” she instructed. She then turned to Starshot “you go with them. I'm putting you in charge of them.” she said.
Starshot smiled in excitement “I won't let you down boss!” she said with a salute. She then gestured for the guards to follow her before taking off.
Once the guards took to the air and followed, Leon and Diamond started brainstorming. Leon took note of the little he learned about dragons “Scales too hard to pierce. Will be difficult to beat from the ground. Either we'll have to get up there, or we bring it down to us. The question is which one would be easier.” he said.
“Bringing it down would be best, but we'd have to do something to damage it's wings.” she said.
Suddenly they heard a voice behind them “Anything we can do to help?” they recognized the voice to be Rainbow Dash. They turned to see her standing with Pinkie Pie and Applejack.
Diamond gave a confused smile “What are you girls doing here?” she asked.
Rainbow smirked “Twilight saw that dragon in the distance and wanted to do something to help. We told her that she had to stay to keep everypony else safe, so we came instead.” she explained.
Applejack frowned with a hint of unease “Ah ain't that confident in mah ability ta take a dragon down but ah'm sure we can figure somethin' out together.” she said.
Pinkie raised her hoof “Ooh I have something that could help, wait right here!” she said. Before anyone could say anything, Pinkie dashed off in the blink of an eye. After about five seconds, Pinkie returned while wearing a peculiar outfit. She wore a old-looking black coat with a hood over her head. She also had a purple bandanna covering the lower half of her face and a large backpack “I got something that might interest you!” she announced.
Rainbow and Applejack only watched on with confusion while Leon and Diamond seemed speechless. Leon recovered and pointed at her new clothes “Why are you dressed like the merchant?” he questioned.
“Last sunday during bridge, Merchy offered to teach me his trade. I accepted under the condition that I could teach him how to bake. Little did I know, he could already bake a killer pineapple upside down cake. Apparently it's a family recipe, so-” she was stopped by Diamond.
“Is there a point to this story, 'cause I have guards distracting a dragon right now.” she said.
Pinkie rubbed the back of her neck “Sorry.” she said before clearing her throat “Anyway, I have something for sale that might help.” she said. She reached into her coat and pulled out an Equestrian grenade launcher.
Diamond's eyes widened “Where the hay did you get that?” she asked.
Pinkie giggled “Merchy taught me to always be as vague as possible, so it's a secret.” she said.
Leon sighed “We should just count our blessings rather than questioning things that will never make sense. How much for it?” he asked.
Pinkie tapped her chin as she hummed in thought “Twenty bits.” she eventually said.
Diamond nodded and dug into her saddlebags for her bits. She counted out the correct amount and gave them to Pinkie. She accepted them and handed the weapon over “Pleasure doing business with you.” she said.
As Diamond looked the weapon over, Applejack stepped up to speak “Alright then, but do we have some kind of plan for taking this thing down?” she asked.
Diamond slowly found a smile of her face as a plan started to formulate “I think I have something that will work.” she said.
After the explanation, Rainbow nodded with a smile “Sounds awesome! Let's do it.” she said.
Applejack didn't share her enthusiasm “Ah don't know, seems risky.” she said.
Leon glanced her way “I can't think of a way of fighting a dragon that wouldn't be risky. This is our best chance, let's go for it.” he said.
Diamond nodded and pressed her earpiece to contact Starshot “We're ready. Tell them to retreat. Take a rest for a moment, I'll tell you if we need you.” she said.
In the distance they could see the bat ponies disperse from the dragon in different directions. The dragon ignored the fleeing ponies and continued it's fight towards Diamond and Leon. Diamond glanced between Leon and Rainbow “Alright, let's put this plan into action.” she said.
Leon nodded and took his knife out before tossing it to Rainbow. She caught it as Diamond climbed onto her back. She then shot into the air and towards the dragon. It was about to open it's maw as they closed in on it but was distracted by a bullet bouncing off it's face scales.
Back on the ground Leon had his rifle aimed up at the dragon as he took another shot. It turned down at Leon and opened it's mouth and revealed a giant eyeball surrounded by fleshy tendrils coming from it's throat. From behind the eyeball came a torrent of flames that came down towards Leon. He quickly dashed and rolled out of the way.
With the dragon distracted, Rainbow was able to easily fly past it's head and to it's left wing. She arrived at where the wing was attached and Diamond hopped off of her. She caught onto the wing and held on with one hoof while she had her knife in the other. Once Rainbow was sure that Diamond wouldn't fall off, she flew off to the other end of the same wing.
Diamond stuck her knife between the dragon's scales and into it's flesh. She started to saw which caused the dragon to roar in pain. Rainbow started to do the same from her end of the wing. They knew that they would only need to cut enough to make the wing unusable. The dragon shook it's body in an attempt to rid it of the intruders but they were able to hold on.
Once diamond had cut through about five inches of the wing, it stopped flapping and hung limply to the side. The sudden change caught diamond off guard causing her to lose her grip and fall. Luckily she was quickly caught by rainbow. The dragon wasn't so lucky as it fell towards the ground while desperately flapping the wing it still had control over.
Rainbow smiled in satisfaction as she watched it “Take that!” she taunted.
Diamond chuckled “Don't celebrate yet, let's join the others down there.” she said. Rainbow nodded and flew down to the ground. Diamond hopped off of her and turned to Applejack “You're turn. Get up there.” she said.
Applejack nodded and took her lasso in her teeth before running towards the side of the downed dragon. It turned to face her and lifted a claw in an attempt to bring it down on her. Before it could follow through, an explosion blew on the side of it's face. It did little to no damage to it's scales but the force was enough to jerk it's head to the side.
It turned to see Diamond pointing the grenade launcher at it. It snarled before quickly blowing flames her way. A rainbow trail swooped Diamond up and out of the fire's path. Rainbow smirked down at Diamond in her fore hooves “Now we're even for earlier.” she said.
Diamond gave an amused roll of her eyes “I was just about to dodge that and you know it.” she said. They shared a quick chuckle before Diamond climbed onto Rainbow's back “Now keep steady so I can keep this thing busy.” she said.
“Easy.” Rainbow said before flying circles around the dragon's head. It missed a swipe with it's claws before taking another grenade for it's efforts. The blew fire into the air wildly in an attempt to stop the but Rainbow was able to narrowly avoid it. Diamond took a moment to steady herself so she wouldn't fall before countering the dragon with another grenade.
The dragon threw a claw at them which was dodged but they didn't see the second one coming. The claw glanced Rainbow's side, causing her and diamond to fall. They landed in a heap and started to pick themselves up. The dragon loomed over them and took a breath in to ready it's fire breath. Luckily a flash grenade flew up near it's face from Leon “Cover your eyes!” he warned.
Everyone in the area were able to shield their eyes as the flash blinded the dragon. As it wailed from it's stinging eyes, Leon ran up to Diamond and Rainbow “Are you two alright?” he questioned quickly.
Diamond nodded with a smile. Rainbow glanced at the cut that ran up her side before shrugging “This is nothing.” she said.
They turned back to the dragon to see that it had recovered. It scowled at them but was unable to do anything as a cannon was heard going off. A mixture of cake batter and confetti covered the majority of it's face from Pinkie's party cannon. A lasso them flew from behind the dragon's head and caught the spike on the tip of it's snout. They saw Applejack on it's head, futilely pulling on the rope.
Diamond saw the struggling earth pony and immediately turned to her friends “Leon! Rainbow! Pinkie! Help her!” she ordered.
Rainbow flew up and grabbed a hold of the rope. Leon jumped onto the snout of the struggling dragon before running up to join them. Pinkie simply hopped up to them before helping. After a few seconds of them pulling with all of their strength, the dragon's maw was opened against it's will.
Diamond quickly took the grenade launcher and fired the three grenades that were left into it's giant eye. The grenade launcher clicked to show that it was empty so Diamond dropped it The eyeball was blown to bits and the dragon shook the others off with a jerk of it's body. It pointed it's head to the sky and let out a dying wail before falling limply to the ground.
Everyone was glad to be able to take a breather. Applejack took her stetson off and wiped sweat from her brow. She then chuckled as she returned the hat to it's place “Wait till ah tell big mac that ah lassoed me a dragon. He'll never believe it.” she said.
Rainbow waved a hoof in the air dismissively “Congrats, you put a rope over a dragon's nose.” she said sarcastically before pointing to herself “How about the mare who risked her life to cut into it's wing?” she boasted.
Diamond crossed her fore hooves “You act like you were the only one up there. Plus, were you the one who came up with that plan in the first place?” she challenged.
Before they could argue anymore, Starshot came out of nowhere and hugged Diamond “You did it! I knew you would!” she exclaimed while nuzzling the filly.
Diamond struggled out of her hold “I appreciate it but can you stop doing that.” she said.
Leon walked up to them “I think that's enough celebration. We still have a problem named Cozy Glow to deal with. She was off to Canterlot right?” he asked.
Diamond frowned at the reminder “You're right. I'll check in with Captain Glaive. Cozy might be close by now.” she said. She then pressed her earpiece “Captain, heads up. You have a-” she was interrupted by Glaive shouting.
“Tiara! I need you in Canterlot ASAP! The army returned!” he shouted.
Diamond gasped “Try to hold them off, we'll get there soon.” she said.
“They aren't attacking us. As soon as they arrived, the princesses' barrier disappeared and they charged the castle. I tried contacting Princess Luna but she isn't responding.” he said.
Everyone that was wearing an earpiece froze in shock. The others only stared in confusion. Pinkie tilted her head “What did he say? Was it good news?” she asked.
Diamond blinked twice before recovering “We need to get to Canterlot. Now!” she said.
Leon hummed in thought “How are we getting there?” he asked.
Diamond growled “The trains obviously aren't running and going by hoof would take too long.” she said.
Rainbow got their attention “If it's that important, I'm sure Twilight would be able to magic you there.” she offered.
Diamond nodded “That's actually a good idea. Come on everypony! We have to hurry!” she commanded before they all took off.
They all ran through Twilight's castle, passing all of the citizens that were resting after the whole ordeal. They eventually reached Twilight who was with the rest of her friends. Filthy Rich was there as well as he stepped up to speak to his daughter. Before he could, Diamond sent a glare his way that shut him up. He hung his head and took a few steps back.
Twilight smiled gently at their return “You all are back. Did you defeat that dragon?” she asked.
Diamond stood in front of her guards with a serious expression “The area should be safe now but still be cautious. More importantly, we need to be teleported to Canterlot. I got a report that Canterlot castle is unprotected and Luna is unresponsive.” she summarized.
Everyone within earshot widened their eyes in shock. Twilight recovered nodding in understanding “Please gather together. I'll send you right away.” she said.
Diamond, Leon, Starshot, and the rest of the guards appear in front of Canterlot castle's gates. Before they could enter, Captain Glaive and Time Step landed next to them “Tiara!” Glaive called as he landed.
“Captain! How are the princesses?” Diamond asked.
His frown deepened “Not sure. I sent my guards to sweep for any stragglers. Me and Step only just arrived.” he said.
Leon turned to the surprisingly quiet castle “I heard that the castle was attacked by Cozy's army. How can it be so quiet?” he wondered.
The captain only stepped forward to take leadership “We need to reach the throne room. Be on guard everypony, we don't know how many are in there.” he said before leading them into the castle. To their surprise, they didn't see any living infected. They passed by the Canterlot citizens that were shell shocked but relatively unharmed. This seemed to confuse them even more as they closed in on the throne room.
Once they entered, they saw the bodies of royal guards littering the floor. In the middle of them were the limp forms of Celestia and Luna. Glaive eyes shot open at the sight but turned to Starshot “Check Princess Celestia's vitals.” he ordered.
She and a few guards ran off to the princess while Diamond and Leon joined the captain in running to Luna.
Glaive searched her for wounds and found nothing that should have been fatal. Diamond put a hoof to her neck and silently prayed. She calmed slightly when she felt a pulse “She's alive.” she said.
She then hear Starshot's voice “Same here. She has a pretty bad head wound though.” she said.
Diamond's ears perked up when she heard Luna stirring. Eventually Luna was able to pick her head up from the floor and open her eyes. Diamond immediately wrapped her fore legs around her neck in a tight hug “I'm so glad you're alive.” she said. She then abruptly separated and cleared her throat with a blush “W-what the hay happened here Luna?” she asked.
Luna's expression softened at the sight of diamond before she winced from pain “We were attacked. From what, I am not sure. It struck while our backs were turned. It came so fast and hard that I couldn't even see it.” she explained.
Captain Glaive frowned as he took in the information “That doesn't make any sense. The castle should have been protected from all outside threats. Could something have gotten in before the barrier went up?” he wondered.
Leon shook his head “I don't think so. It's more likely that it came from inside.” he said.
Glaive raised an eyebrow at him “What do you mean?” he asked.
“The portal. The attacker had to have come from my world, and I know who it was.” he said.
Diamond caught on and nodded “You're right, it had to be Wesker. That bastard.” she growled.
“If I had to guess, that's also where Cozy Glow and her army went. I don't know why they would cross into my world, but it's the only explanation that makes sense.” he said.
Captain Glaive turned his gaze away from them “I guess that's it then. It's up to them now.” he muttered.
Diamond narrowed her eyes at him “What's that suppose to mean? We're going after them, right?” she questioned.
Glaive gave them a halfhearted glance back “Leon should go support his people, but it's out of our hooves now. We can't freely hop between worlds, even for something like this.” he said.
Diamond stomped a hoof to get his attention “Fine! I'll go then. Even if I have to do it alone.” she said.
Glaive glared dangerously at her “As you know, being a guard doesn't give you immunity from the law. If you go though that portal, you'll be considered a criminal.” he warned.
Diamond turned away from him “Then lock me up, as long as it's after I do what I need to. This is all my fault anyway, so maybe it's what I deserve.” she said.
“Your fault?” he questioned.
“Cozy couldn't have gotten the sample if I didn't bring it to Equestria. This wouldn't have happened if I didn't take on that mission in Spain three years ago. Not to mention that Cozy got this far because I failed to stop her. I can't let the humans pay for my mistakes.” she said.
Leon knelt down to her “Blaming yourself won't help anything. What you did in Spain was just you doing good in a horrible situation, and you came out better for it. And as for failing to stop Cozy, I'm right there with you. And I'll be right there with you when we finish this.” he said.
Diamond smiled up at him and he gave her head a pat. Starshot then walked up next to them with a huge smile “Did you think I'd let you do this without me? I don't think so. Maybe when we get back, we can be cellmates! That sounds exciting!” she said.
Diamond giggled “It does. Thanks.” she said.
Time Step bit his bottom lip nervously as he glanced back and forth between Diamond and Captain Glaive. After a few seconds, he sighed and walked over to Diamond “P-please allow me to join you ma'am. I won't l-let my fear stop me from doing the right thing anymore.” he said,
Starshot slung a fore leg around his neck “Yay, Time Step's in! Maybe we could all share a cell. No, we probably couldn't since you're a male. Well we'll see you when we get out. When would we get out? What crime would this be? Treason? How many years does sompony get for treason?” she wondered.
Time Step gulped “T-treason? On second thought-” he was interrupted by Starshot
“Nope, you're already in. No backing out now.” she gasped as a thought came to her “We should have a team name! Hmm... the jailbirds!” she said.
Their attention all turned to Luna as she slowly got to her hooves. Glaive saw her wobbly stance and stepped in to support her. Luna only held up a hoof to show that she was fine on her own. She then turned to Diamond's team “You will have no need for such a name. I give you all permission to cross to the human world for as long as is needed.” she said with a smile.
Before they could celebrate, Glaive spoke up “Even with the princess' permission, you still have the humans to think about. They might not be happy about your sudden appearance.” he said.
Leon just turned to his team “I'll talk to President Graham, and take full responsibility for all of you.” he said.
Starshot cupped her own cheeks “Aww, you're as sweet as you are handsome.” she gushed. She then pulled the three of them into a hug “Group hug!” she exclaimed.
After the hug, Diamond turned to the captain “Now that we're allowed to go, are you coming?” she asked.
He seemed to be slightly conflicted but eventually turned away with a downcast expression “I cannot simply abandon my subordinates, I'm sorry. I wish you luck.” he said before turning to Luna “I shall gather medical supplies for you and your sister.” he said before walking off quickly.
Leon nodded “I guess it's just up to us then. We should head out.” he said.
They were about to do just that before Luna stopped them “Hold on a moment, may I speak to Diamond Tiara privately before you leave?” she requested.
Diamond seemed surprised by the request but nodded and turned to her team “Wait for me by the portal. I'll catch up.” she said. They nodded in understanding before taking off. Diamond turned to the weakened princess approaching her “What is it?” she asked.
“I have something for you.” she said before leaning down and touching her horn to Diamond's forehead. She was surrounded by her magical aura and felt a strange energy fill her. She felt he muscles strengthen while her body felt lighter. She even started feeling more aware of her surroundings.
Once it was over, Diamond looked her body over to see if anything changed. She didn't see anything out of the ordinary and stared back at Luna with a questioning expression “What is this?” she asked.
“I shared my power with you. I'd like to support you, even if I cannot join you.” she said.
Diamond looked down at herself in shock “But why me? Why wouldn't you give this to Starshot? Or even Leon?” she asked.
Luna pulled her into a gentle hug “I believe in you. I know that you won't waste it.” she said. Diamond hugged back tightly as tears threatened to fall. She held them back and separated from the princess shortly. Luna smiled down at her “This power will only last a few days, hopefully that will suffice.” she leaned down to whisper “Please come back safely.” she said.
Diamond nodded “You can count on it. I'll make sure that you were right to put your faith in me.” she said before she took off running. Luna waited for her to disappear behind a door before she collapsed and started to pant and sweat.