The Revenge of Dr. Negative

~~~~~~~Mysterious Lair, Somewhere....~~~~~~~~

I woke up aching like I'd just gone fifteen rounds with Big Macintosh Apple, on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar place. Ordinarily, this is the part where the stone-faced pony who's been assigned to torture me would start to sharpen his knives, but instead I opened up my eyes and saw a vision of heaven itself. She was as pure white as the driven snow, with a vibrant violet mane that reminded me of the ripest, freshest blueberries. She moved like beautiful music and had a voice that would've put Celestia's to shame. I hated to admit it, especially to myself, but the instant I saw her, I was in love.

The fact that she'd obviously been the one to bandage up my wounds and tuck me in with a nice soft comforter only made it worse. I swung my legs out over the rough mattress with a grunt of pain, feeling the bruised ribs and the lump on my head that would likely ache for days. Much to my immediate surprise, heaven didn't just come with a beautiful body - it came with a ready pair of aspirin and a glass of water to go with it. I downed the pills without comment, wondering if I was actually dead and she really was an angel just humoring me until I was ready to accept it.

"Good morning, Darling!" The mare who had called herself Rarity piped up, with all the good cheer of a housewife greeting her husband. Her voice was pure Manehatten Class, and my heart began to thump with the speed of a Tommy Gun going off on full auto. Who was this dame, and how in the name of buck had I ended up in her tender care? Doctor Negative was usually not nearly this courteous. "You look to be in much better health after a little sleep. Think you can get up and face the day?" She said as she was standing next to my bed, with a sly and suggestive look on her face. She surely wasn't suggesting any erotic exercise given the state of my body. She was probably suggesting breakfast.

I gave her a stiff sort of nod, having never been particularly chatty before my first six cups of coffee - but the whiff of that heavenly elixir convinced me that I could unbend a little. Just this once though, I had a reputation to maintain. "Give me a coupla pots of that stuff, and I'll be ready to take on an army of Doctor Negative's goons." I proclaimed with all the bluster and bravado of a cop fresh on the beat. I couldn't back it up, but I still felt a responsibility to at least pretend I had some kind of plan to get us out of this mess.

She laughed archly, and gently aided me in  getting my beaten up flank out of the bed and over to her little breakfast table, where two massive cups of joe were already being poured - an act for which I was more than ready to declare her a saint. She was a unicorn then, and I hadn't been hallucinating the graceful horn that adorned her forehead. "Breakfast is a trifle cool I'm afraid, dearie - but I've managed to keep the coffee hot, at least." Not just a saint then, but a damned goddess. It only took four cups of that dark and bitter brew to revitalize me in the presence of that beauty as she went about her daily tasks.

I took in the details of the room, and wondered just who this girl was that Doctor Negative was willing to go this far for her comfort. It then occurred to me, all at once, that this poor mare was likely going to be the Doctor's new chosen concubine once he got his operations fully back in business. I resolved, right then and there, to make sure that never happened. I've never been one for the heroic stand or the white knight routine... but I sure as heck wasn't gonna let a pretty mare like this end up a drooling husk. First thing was first though - I needed more information. "So, Rarity was it?" I asked, putting on my best business face. "Tell me everything you know about this place and the things that you've seen - We're gonna figure out a way to bust us outta here, or my name's not Manehatten Silver."

~~~~~~The Macintosh Club~~~~~~

Dash smacked her lips happily and gave off a truly huge grin. "Now that is Cider!" She proclaimed quite boisterously, and that got a wide array of grins from everypony sitting at the wide circular table... with maybe the exception of Rosetta, who was obviously taking this particular scenario wayyyyy too seriously. Dash was like, Sure, she sounds really weird with that Rarity like accent, but I'd been afraid she'd have been all screwed up like Pinkie had been. Besides - she was Applejack for pity's sake. Applejack was simple to understand, even back home - You didn't mess with her family or friends, and you didn't mess with her business. Same deal here.

Besides, Dash could see that Applejack was quite happy to have someone as obviously uncomplicated and appreciative as Rainbow Dash was when it came to her cider. "Thank you kindly, Miss Dash." Applejack replied, still in that really weird Manehatten Socialite accent. "And thank you Daring, for being so understanding of our... situation here." she continued, clasping her hooves together on the table. "You must be aware that this is a difficult time for the Family, and if you can help rid ourselves and our city of a threat like Doctor Negative, we will do whatever we can to help you accomplish this goal."

Dash thought that sounded eminently reasonable, and waved over at the colt who was manning the tap. Dash thought it looked like Braeburn, but she wasn't at all certain. Still, he seemed cheerful enough - drawing off another tankard of the good stuff and bringing it over personally. "I'm glad we can see eye-to-eye on this one, Miss Apple." Daring Do replied quietly, and Dash wondered why she and Rosetta were so darn nervous. There really didn't seem to be any reason for it, as far as Dash could tell. Maybe it was something subtle.

Regardless, Applejack nodded solemnly. "Applebloom here will be assisting you, and we'll be providing you with everything we know about the Doctor's movements." She nodded towards her little sister, who had a lazy sort of smile on her face. "The Doctor has made one critical error in his plans - he's tried to suborn my family." The coquettishness in Applejack's tone vanished completely, to be replaced with the hard-charging stubborn sound that Dash was much more familiar with. "For that, he must die." She proclaimed - with all the casual finality of discussing what crops were going to be grown in the south fields this year.

Twilight swallowed a little, and Rosetta and simply watched on without making any obvious emotional reactions. Dash felt a little unnerved... but not quite so much as when Applebloom giggled and clapped her hooves together excitedly, as though she'd just been offered some kind of treat. Dash shook her head slowly and turned her eyes to Twilight. Sheesh, everypony in this world really -is- crazy! "Now, This is what we've found..." Applejack held up a sheaf of paperwork. "The good doctor has been making orders for more than a few shipments of mechanical and magical goods all over Equestria.  We don't know what he wants this stuff for, but we do know that there's a place in downtown Manehatten that's connected to all the orders. You should probably start-"

Applejack's words were cut off in the next moment at the sound of roaring and powerful engines outside the bar. Everypony inside the bar looked up towards the doors.... and a moment latter a loud rattling sound sent every earth pony - and Daring and Rosetta - diving down behind upturned tables and behind the bar. Within moments, Twilight was running pell-mell for the bar and Dash was right after her - only pausing to snatch up the scattered papers Applejack had been holding a moment before.

The pair of them reached the bar at the same time - Twilight vaulting it with surprising athleticism, and Dash quickly soaring in behind her. The storm of rattling sounds continued - and several large bottles of liquor were shattered by unseen projectiles slamming into them, pouring raw smelling booze into the back of the bar. Luckily, none of it fell on them.  "Twilight, we need a shield!" Dash screamed over the noise, and a moment later a solid wall of purple energy blossomed from Twilight's horn across the middle of the room - the incoming shots now ricocheting off of it as opposed to the room around them.

Dash took this moment to peek over the bar - where she saw all of the earth ponies now dug in behind the cover of the table and wielding the strange long metal bars with levers and various doodads. Dash Still had no idea what they did, but she suspected it had something do with those shots she couldn't see. "Applebloom! We need an exit, now!" Applejack screamed... in her much more usual Apple Family accent, and the little yellow filly vanished through a back door... just after the rattling noise came to a halt. "Can't be the police..." Applejack muttered, obviously unaware she could be heard. "Can't be the Carrots... Who the buck would have the gall.."

The front doors exploded in a hailstorm of splintered wood and explosive force.... which hit Twilight's barrier with no obvious damage to it. Dash looked at her friend a moment later, and saw her wincing from the force of the impact. "Drop the shield, Twi." Dash whispered softly, as the bar was clouded with dust and debris. "We might need it to get out of here." Twilight nodded and the purple barrier vanished into nothingness, Dash gently rubbing her hoof along Twilight's shoulder as they both peered over the edge of the bar.

Much to their surprise, Daring Do and Rosetta were both slipping around the opposite end of the bar as they did so. "Stay down!" Daring whispered in a hushed and serious tone. "Use this!" She proclaimed in the same quiet voice, producing a small circular mirror with a little handle attached to it. Dash and Twilight ducked behind the bar as she slowly craned it over the edge - it wasn't very large, but Daring rotated it slowly to get a look at the scene.

A group of about twenty ponies wearing pitch-black armor of some kind were wielding stubby looking metal-rod things and some kind of mask that covered their faces completely along with red-tinted goggles. They wore heavy coats which completely obscured whatever pony race they might be too. "Stormponies." Whispered Daring Do, obviously a little disturbed. "What the heck are Neightzi Stormponies doing in the middle of Manehatten? They'd have to be with... oh buck me." She said, choking on her next words as a new pony strode through the front door.

Dash couldn't believe her eyes, but she had to. This world was so bucked up, so utterly insane, that perhaps this sight was inevitable. Her mane was streaked with black and pink, and her eyes cool and distant. She wore a much sleeker, much finer uniform than the rough and tumble guards - but it was unmistakably of the same origins. "We are looking... for a pegasus." She said in a firm voice that belonged absolutely nowhere around that particular mare. "She has a very vibrant colored mane... and is very powerful. We know she entered this building, and we would like you to turn her over to us." She continued as she slowly paced towards the center of the room - where Applejack was apparently standing with her hooves planted firmly on her table and looking pissed. Fluttershy - for it had to be her, nopony else in the world looked quite like that - smiled a little as she came nearly face to face with Applejack. "Please."

"Ya'll must be joking." Applejack growled out, though Dash couldn't see too much of her face from this angle. "You shoot up mah bar, you threaten mah family, and you think ah'm just gonna bend over an' take it like a good li'l filly? Ya'll really are insane." She spat onto the table. "Get the fuck off mah property a'fore I have ya'll turned inta' swiss cheese. Now." She commanded, slamming her hoof hard enough into the table that a large chunk of it broke off and clattered to the ground.

Much to Dash's utter and total shock, Fluttershy didn't so much as bat an eyelash. "I'm afraid I can't comply with that, Miss Applejack. The Commandant would be very displeased with me if we left before he could sample your Cider." She said in her most casual tone of voice... and Dash saw Daring and Rosetta freeze up in abject fear. It was an emotion she never would associate with the pair of them, and she had to wonder who this Commandant guy was who could scare them of all ponies.

They looked at one another for a split second, before Rosetta grabbed Twilight's hoof. "We've got to get you out of here right now, Twilight." She said, cryptically. "We've got to go right now." she said in a whisper soft voice. "Daring, grab her other hoof!" She proclaimed quietly, tugging as hard as she could. "The back room, hurry!"

Twilight only resisted a little, her eyes going wide. "What are you..?" She half asked, before Daring grabbed her other hoof and they were dragging her out towards the back door, trying to stay as low and out of sight as possible. They were just rounding the end of the bar when Dash shot a look towards the door - the same look Twilight was making as they fiddled with the back door's handle. Twilight's voice blurted out - quietly, oh so quietly...

"Shiny?"

~~~~~~The Mysterious Lair~~~~~~

"Which brings me to today, dear. That's when they brought you in, quite rudely - and just like that, my breakfast tray got twice and large and started to include a large pot of coffee." Rarity gestured at the remains of the meal. "They'll come in in another few hours with luncheon and carry away the dishes and leave without another word. I have quite thoroughly explored this room too." She continued, crossing her hooves primly as she watched the rough-and-tumble earth pony scribbling with his mouth. "There are no vents, no ducts, nothing so much as a mouse hole in the entirety of this place that I can find. I can only guess how the room maintains the excellent air circulation."

The Earth pony dotted a period then spat out his pencil. "Seems like the Doc. He's always been thorough when it comes to the obvious crap." He growled out in that deep and manly stallion voice of his. His flinty eyes looked up and he smiled just a little. "And you've got no idea why he's got you here?" He pressed a little, and Rarity shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"No, not particularly. I still really don't know how he got into my shop like that." That was... a very shaky half truth. She'd never admit to the series of events that had led to the magical accident. She was pretty certain it had been her fault that the portal had opened, but she truly did not know how that madpony had come through it. "I am very worried about Sweetie Belle though. She was in the shop with me, and I worry that she might have done something rash." That had been her biggest fret, ever since the thought that Sweetie might not have stayed in hiding like she'd been told.

Luckily, the earth pony called Silver nodded his acceptance of that set of facts. "Well, that does leave us in quite a pickle. Rushing the door isn't gonna be doable until I'm all healed up - and I doubt the Doc's gonna leave us alone that long." He frowned softly. "Damnit, I wish I could figure out how he snuck up on me in my office like that. It just doesn't make any sense - my door bell didn't ring, and my other little warning devices were all quiet when I was closing up for the night." He rubbed at his forehead, obviously vexed.

Rarity nodded unhappily, then sighed. "Nothing we can do for the moment, then. Best we simply tend to your healing and figure the rest out from there." She gently hopped off her stool and trotted around the table. He blinked at her as she set her hooves into his shoulders and began to work out the kinks in the muscles there. "Now hold still. I'm hardly Aloe or Lotus, but I do know stiff muscles aren't going to help you feel better anytime soon."  she proclaimed, hiding her blushes behind his head and in her work. It certainly wasn't because he was awfully handsome and she was... well.

Admitting that certainly wouldn't be ladylike.

~~~~~~The Macintosh Club~~~~~~

Twilight stared as Dash, Daring and Rosetta dragged her quickly out of sight behind the back door, shutting it as quietly as they could.  They were in some kind of storage room, full of large wooden crates and barrels and a single heavy wooden door leading out from the other end of it. "Let me go!" Twilight whispered harshly, ripping her hooves out from the grip of Rosetta and Daring before peeking up through the door's little window slit back into the main room of the bar. A moment later, she was joined by Dash who had an incredibly concerned look on her face.

Sure enough, there he was.

His eyes were far, far colder than Twilight had ever seen, and his mane was tucked up under that severe and militaristic looking cap, but there was no mistaking that stallion for anypony but her brother. Twilight's horn lit briefly as she cast her see-it-hear-it spell... which blessedly did not do something stupidly dramatic, and instead worked just as it was designed to. It amplified the sound in her ears from whatever direction she was looking. A moment later, a hard and unmistakable voice was ringing quietly in her ears. "I admire your bravery, Donna Apple, but you are not aiding yourself by hiding her from us. We know she is here. The sooner you produce her, the sooner we can repay you for the damage done to your... place of business." He said in a hard and unfeeling tone of voice - one that was as utterly alien on him as the sophisticated voice was on Applejack.

No reply came from Applejack - at least, not an audible one. Twilight couldn't blame her, surrounded as she was by half an army of faceless ponies. But right now, Twilight's thoughts were entirely upon the white unicorn that stood in front of her. Why was he here? Why was he here with Fluttershy of all ponies? What had happened to him to make him this way? Worst of all, the thought that sent all down her spine... where was she? Where was Cadence? Was she alive? Dead? Never been born perhaps?  And...

What had happened to the Twilight from this world? "I have to know." Twilight whispered softly.... and began to push open the door...

Only to be physically and magically dragged away from it by Rosetta, who stared fiercely into Twilight's eyes. "I'm going to beg you, Twilight... don't go out there. There are no answers out there." She said, her voice soft and trembling. "Please, we need to run. As far away from here as we possibly can." she continued, the desperation obvious in her eyes... Twilight's listening spell shattering as she shook her head slowly. "I know. I know what you saw, what you thought you saw." Rosetta continued, as Daring Do and Dash stared at them both from the other end of the room. "But that stallion is not who..."

Her words were cut off as the back door Dash had been leaning on rattled loudly with the impact of several hooves, and a gentle voice came streaming through it. "I would like to ask the bright maned pegasus to come out, please." came Fluttershy's voice, remaining firm in tone even if her volume was kept softy. "I would rather we did not need to bring harm on anypony else."

Dash backed away from the door for a step, then took a deep breath and hardened her face. Oh no. No she is *not** going to do some stupid sacrificial thing for me.* Twilight thought, Her horn blazing to life and clamping Dash's muzzle firmly shut. "Get Dash out of here." Twilight said quietly as she magically dragged Rainbow Dash over to the heavy door on the other side of the room.. 'It's obvious she's the one they're after. I'll delay them long enough for you to get her to safety, and I'll follow." She continued, with Rosetta giving her a scared look... and Daring a look full of respect. "Rosetta... trust me." Twilight continued with a smile she didn't really feel inside. "I know what I'm doing."

Which was a damn lie of course, but she was the only one here who could possibly hold off Shining Armor and Fluttershy working together. After all... I know them both better than even Dash does. she thought, as she idly unlimbered the bars on the back door of the storage room. "Go." she whispered softly, and Rosetta nodded with a very angry look on her face, her lips drawn tightly over her teeth as she rushed off to the other end of the room - grabbing Dash and slipping out the back door.

Daring paused for a moment and tipped her helmet to Twilight. "We'll be back in a flash. Keep the back door open." She noted, and then grinned. "And don't go getting yourself killed. I don't wanna hafta explain that to your marefriend. She might wreck the city with her Rainbooms." She commented flippantly, before rushing out the back door herself.

Twilight took in a deep breath and turned back towards the door back into the bar. Okay. A number six shield, followed by... let’s try a number thirty-three. It brought an amused smile to her face, as she double checked that the back door was open directly behind her. She grabbed the lock on the bar-room door and slid it open audibly. At first, there was no reaction - and then the door swung open slowly.  Fluttershy slowly came through first, and Twilight forced herself not to stare too much at her. She looked left and right and sighed. "I should have guessed you would try to delay us." She said softly, as Twilight's horn lit up into a powerful violet glow - a foot thick shield completely cutting off the room from the back doorway. "Commandant Panzer." She called back into the room, and Twilight arched an eyebrow. Panzer? Really? "I require your assistance - this unicorn is... remarkably skilled. "

Twilight grit her teeth a little and held her ground. It's time to finally get some bucking answers about this bucked up world. She thought grimly, and waited as the figure slowly stomped his way into the room. For a brief moment, his eyes met hers... and that entire deep chill fled from his gaze. His eyes widened - for a moment in confusion, and then in pure disbelief. His hoof came up and pulled off his hat as he slowly walked forward towards her shield. Behind him, Fluttershy's eyes went wide, and she said softly. "Commandant Panzer... is... is that?" She whispered, as if she could not believe what she was thinking herself.

Twilight though, had only eyes for her brother of this world. He stood just on the other side of her shield, staring at her as though he could hardly believe his eyes.... and then all of the aggression vanished from him too. And in that moment, Twilight saw the stallion behind the uniform transform magically into her brother. "Twily." He said softly, laying his hoof on the iron-hard shield. His voice was thick with emotion as he spoke, and his eyes brimmed with tears. "Is that really you?" he asked, his voice tremulous and almost begging for confirmation.

Twilight bit at her lip a little and took a deep breath. "Yes, Shiny." she said softly. "It's me." She confirmed quietly, and was quite surprised to see Fluttershy swiftly turn and slam the bar-room door shut behind her, the look on her face unreadable to Twilight - even as Shining Armor whispered two words through the shield. Two words Twilight had feared ever since she'd come to this world, and found no evidence of the Elements Of Harmony... and had found plenty of evidence that Nightmare Moon still waited in her prison.

"I cannot believe it..." Shining Armor said, the tears slowly streaking down his cheeks. "You're alive."