The Catalystby MDNGHTRDHTLNChaptersOneTwoThreeOneYou know, it seems that as of late, things have rarely been working out for me. I was imprisoned by a loving-princess-turned-harsh-dictator, my friends abandoned me, and I have not had a warm meal in a few years. I was able to make it through a thought without being sarcastic. Holy shit. Okay, Twilight, getting off-track. Gotta get the fuck out of this damn prison cell. It’s boring here. Celestia and her dictatorship. I can hear loud footsteps coming down the stairs. Speak of the devil. It’s Her Royal Highness herself. She doesn’t force the guards to carry her? “No, Twilight, I find that them carrying me is not as important to me as them quelling rebellions.” She can read my thoughts. Maybe I should just think what I want to say. “That’s not a good idea. I know your mind can wander to places, Twilight. Very dark and inappropriate places.” I found my voice. Only took some very uncomfortable egging on. “Is this really the time?” “I know that you miss your friends, Twilight. But, honestly, I could care less. After all, they did abandon you.” I would have killed her right there, but my hooves wouldn’t fit through the bars in my cell. “How did you even come into power? I know it’s a little…off topic, but it’s been nagging at me.” She smiled. “Finally taking an interest in me, I see. Allow me to show you.” She made an image on the wall in my cell. I leaned back against the cold brick of the parallel wall and made myself at home. Images came to life. “It was while you were away, saving your friends from their rather pitiful lives,” she explained. “I had been planning this for a while, you see, and I saw my opportunity. With the most powerful unicorn away on vacation? Remember what I told you when you went to go get your crown?” My memory clicked. “The Elements are useless without Magic.” “Exactly. The others were gone, but Magic was quite powerful. While it would have been a close fight, I’m sure, Magic would have bested me. “I was able to lead you away from here. Without you, Equestria was powerless. I started small. Passing laws that took away small amounts of freedom, like regional curfews and full body searches. Then, I got bigger. Started making ponies wear uniforms, assigned jobs even if a pony didn’t have their cutie mark in that field. As I’m sure you could guess, some ponies weren’t happy, and organized protests. I had to take action. This was the first instance.” She pointed to the image, and it started moving. In it, there was a large group of ponies. Some were holding signs, while others were speaking to the crowd. Every now and then, there’d be a “Yeah!” or a “No!” from the crowd. Celestia and her army of one hundred or so soldiers came into focus. Some had spears, while others had bows and arrows. A brown pony with a blonde mane walked out of the crowd. “He was the leader of the protest,” Celestia informed me. “My soldiers knew what had to be done to maintain order, and they performed beautifully.” Realization dawned on me. “…and if you, Princess, would please restore our rights, we can pretend like this never happened,” the brown pony said. “Thank you for the offer…” Celestia started. In the movie, she motioned for the sword at her belt. “…but I’ll have to decline.” In one fell swoop, she unsheathed her sword and removed the head of the brown pony. That’s when the chaos began. Ponies were screaming and running. The soldiers ran into the crowd and started butchering everyone in sight. Some pegasi tried to fly away, and then I realized why she had also brought archers. Their arrows brought every last ill-fated pegasus down. It was a complete massacre, and the one I used to call my mentor was responsible for it. “No one questions my rule,” Celestia said, after the crowd had been reduced to a pile of dead weight. “I rule alone. My rule is absolute. No one questions my rule, and if they do, they die.” The maniac had cut down about a thousand ponies without hesitation, and liked doing it. Her grinning soldiers had enjoyed it, too. Some had taken grisly trophies of their kills. “You BASTARD!” I shouted at her through the cages, “You killed all of those ponies! They were innocent, and you killed them!” “They weren’t innocent,” she snapped back. “They prevented peace. And it didn’t stop there. The press called it the Harmony Square Massacre. And there were four more. All in all, about five thousand ponies were killed for peace.” “Peace? You don’t get peace through slaughter! You get peace through diplomacy!” “And when I get to the human world…I will crush any resistance, especially the one that your so-called friends set up. I will personally kill every last one of them, and I will enjoy it. I will enslave and purify the human race.” A loud explosion rocked the building. I could hear alarms and screams ring out. “What in my name is going on out there…stay here. Oh, wait, never mind. You’re not going anywhere.” She laughed at her own joke. She left me to my own devices. Great. Alone again. “No, you’re not,” said a familiar voice. The source of the voice finally stepped out of the shadows. Her pink coat, with purple wingtips, kind of blended in with her multi-colored mane. Princess Cadance. “Cadance? What are you doing here?” She produced a small key. “Busting you out.” She unlocked my cell door. “Why?” I asked her. “We need your help. Celestia, as I’m sure you know, wants to enslave the human race. We are going to prevent that. Remember that portal to the human world?” “Yeah.” “Well, it was moved right around the corner. Follow me.” Damn, that walk was short. In fact, it was so short and uneventful, I will spare you the description. We had reached the thing. “You first,” Cadance said. I stepped towards the portal. “Stop right there or I will shoot!” another familiar voice commanded. I didn’t even need to see the white coat or two-tone blue mane to know who it was. Shining Armor. “Wait…Twily? Cadance? Why are you…doing this?” “For freedom, Shiny,” Cadance said. “For real peace.” “But I…thought that you sided with Celestia.” “I did at first. And then she murdered over a thousand ponies.” “I know but…why do things have to be so complicated?” “I don’t know, honey. But I love you, okay?” He smiled. “I love you, too.” A loud shot rang out. And a small pool of red formed on the white coat of my brother, matting his coat and staining it with its undeniable red. He collapsed. “Shiny!” Cadance shouted, rushing to his body. “Shiny, honey, no…” Celestia stepped out of the shadows, smoking gun in hoof and smug grin on face. “Sorry, Shining Armor, but your incompetence cost you your life.” Cadance looked up at Celestia. “You bastard! You shot him! Why did you have to do that?” She shot Cadance. “Same reason I must shoot you. Incompetence.” I levitated the both of them and jumped through the portal, tears in my eyes. I was not about to let her get away with this. I needed to find my friends. And, Luna as my witness, I was going to do it. TwoI awoke with a pounding in my head. I thought I heard Rainbow Dash calling “Twilight?” but that would be crazy, because Rainbow Dash was on Earth, and I was in prison. Oh. Oh, yeah. Fuck. “Twilight! You cool, buddy?” “Yeah, I’m fine. Just...just a little woozy, is all.” “Heh. Yeah, that’ll happen. The portal thing isn’t really the best at comfortable travel, you know.” “I’m familiar with the flaws of interdimensional travel, Dash.” “Good. I’d hate to have to explain it to you again.” She smiled, and reached down to me. I accepted her hand. She pulled me up to my feet. “Thanks, Dash.” “No prob. So, uh...it’s been a while, huh?” “Yeah.” “How was prison?” “Well, if you love cold food, itchy hay, and a bitch warden, then you’ll love it.” “That bad, huh?” “Yep.” “Sorry about not busting you out earlier. We didn’t have the resources to pull off a prison break.” “Well, you got Cadence to get me.” I then conveniently remembered my savior and her husband. “Oh, Dash, how is Cadence and Shiny? Are they okay?” “They’re fine. We have some good medics here.” “What?” “Oh, yeah. You’ve been gone a while. Welcome to the Sector.” “The Sector?” “It sounds more original than the Resistance.” She had a point. Dash continued. “So, as you may or may not know, Celestia wants to enslave people.” “Okay…” “And we, the Sector, are here to stop her!” Well. That seems noble. “Dash? How exactly do you plan on defeating her?” “Well, her magic doesn’t work.” “She still has an army of soldiers! She might even draft a ton of ponies!” “Relax, Twi. One of our insiders got us some intel on her plans. She’s weaseled Queen Chrysalis into supplying her with an army of changelings.” “How, pray tell, are changelings any better?” “Changelings are immune to physical harm when it comes to death. If they… how to say it… if they sustain injuries that would kill a normal pony or human, they just disintegrate and mold themselves back together. It takes about two weeks to complete the whole nursing process, so a gone changeling is a good changeling.” “What do human changelings look like?” “Like normal humans, except they have fangs.” “Fangs? Like, for biting?” “Yeah. But, enough chit-chat. The other girls are here.” “Really?” “Yeah. I’ll take you Fluttershy first. She’s closest.” Dash led me through a series of twists and turns. “Where are we, anyways?” I asked. “A small, abandoned apartment complex in San Francisco. It’s our main base.” “Main base?” “I’ll explain it to you later. We have more important things to worry about, Twi.” Rainbow guided me to a small wooden door. She rapped on the door. “Come in!” a voice that no one but Fluttershy could have. Do I really need to explain to you what she sounds like? Rainbow turned the small metal knob and pushed. Inside, a woman in a blood-covered apron was applying gauze to a woman with strikingly blue, spiky hair. Both turned up to look at us. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as soon as she saw me. “Twilight!” She dropped the gauze and ran over to me, wrapping me in a bear hug. Well, it was more of a cub hug, but you know what I mean. “Oh, Twilight, I was so worried about you! You were gone for so long, and I was so worried…” “You already said that, Shy.” I smiled, and returned the hug. “It’s good to see you, too.” Fluttershy turned to her patient. “Oh, Vinyl, I’m so sorry I dropped the gauze. Here, let me get that.” Vinyl smiled. “Nah, it’s cool. It feels tight enough.” She wiggled her arm, demonstrating. “See?” “Well… alright, then. If it feels loose, just come find me. Alright?” “Sure thing, doc.” She got up and walked over to me. “Hey, it’s, uh… it’s good to see you’re alive. We were pretty worried about you.” “Thanks. It’s good to be back. Vinyl, was it?” “Yeah. Vinyl Scratch.” “Ah, yeah. The DJ, right? I’ve heard some of your albums. You’re pretty good.” She blushed. “I’m not that good. Besides, my friend Tavi helped me out a lot. Speaking of which, I gotta go check in with her, because she wanted to see me when I got out. I’ll see you around, yeah?” “Sure thing. Take care of yourself.” I turned to Fluttershy. “Why’d she need gauze?” “She was shot on a small scout mission earlier. The bullet only grazed her arm, but…” She sighed. “If it hadn’t hit her where it did, she would have died from blood loss, I bet.” “Scout mission?” “Yes. We heard reports of fanged men and women attacking people on the street. Vinyl and Octavia went out to investigate. Octavia escaped unscathed, but Vinyl… well, you know the rest.” I nodded. “Hm. Alright, then. Hey, I gotta go see the other girls. I’ll talk to you later, alright?” She nodded. “I’ll see you around, Twilight.” Rainbow pulled me out of the room Fluttershy’s set-up was in. “Alright. Rarity likes to hang around here somewhere…” She turned a corner. “Aha! There you are.” I walked around said corner, and standing there was Rarity. “Oh, Twilight! It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?” she she said, placing the large rifle she was polishing on the table next to her and rushing over to me. She wrapped me in a hug, which I returned. “It’s… it really has been a long time.” “Yeah, it has.” I pulled out of the hug. “It’s good to see you.” “Likewise.” She returned to the rifle, and to her polishing. “So, how is it, being back into the human form?” “Well… it seems pretty natural. I’d have thought that I’d have gotten rusty, but, here I am. So, uh, what’s with the rifle?” “Oh, this?” She bit her lip. “How best to explain it… well, it’s a sniper rifle, first and foremost. For shooting things from really far away.” She reached behind her and pulled out a smaller pistol. “This is for more close-range encounters.” “So, you’re the group sniper?” “In a nutshell, yes, although Fluttershy has given me basic first aid tips if the need ever arises.” All of a sudden, a loud alarm started blaring. Rarity’s eyes shot open wide, and she quickly grabbed for her rifle and pistol. She turned to me and grimaced. “And the need has just arisen.” ThreeRarity slid a magazine in her pistol and, looking at the gun, to me, and the gun again, handed me the weapon. It felt heavy in my hand, and the grip cooled down my palm. “I trust you know how to use one of these?” “Point and shoot, right?” I had seen enough TV to know how to use a gun, and although the finer points of gunplay were still a mystery to me, I could most likely take care of myself. Most likely. “Essentially, yes. Stick with me for the most part, and you should be okay.” She started out the door and looked back to me. “Well? Come on.” Rarity led the way as we traveled through the abandoned warehouses the Sector had decided to make their base. The place could definitely use some major reworking, what with all the overgrown windows and collapsed ceilings. Rarity pulled a small gun from her waistband and slung her rifle over her back. She stopped at a door leading into a red brick building. “Through here is where I usually go in times like these. It’s a sniper perch. Since you don’t have a rifle, you’re better suited to move ahead and meet up with Pinkie. She’s in the warehouse marked ‘C’, and she can help you get situated. Okay?” I nodded. “Be careful, alright?” “But of course. You too, dear.” She opened the door and began moving up the adjacent staircase. “Now go!” As she continued climbing the stairs, I pushed forward through the opposite door. As I stepped out, a few shots rang out somewhere nearby and I heard inhuman shrieks of pain. Continuing on, I eventually came to a warehouse with a fading blue ‘C’ spray-painted above the entrance. When I stepped inside, I heard a few more gunshots coming from the upstairs. Trying to make as little noise as possible, I neared the stairs and began to walk up them. As I neared the top, I saw a young woman in a pink knit cap and jean jacket firing some sort of homemade grenade launcher out of a large hole in the side of the building. She pulled a small packet of something out of the back pocket of her stonewashed black jeans and emptied it into what looked like an emptied tin can. She dumped a few other powders and a few drops of liquid inside, taped the lid back on, and placed it in the lip of her launcher. She picked up her launcher and, peering through a makeshift scope made out of a magnifying glass with a little red dot drawn on it, fired. The can shot out of the launcher and landed in a group of changelings and exploded in a flash of fire, smoke, and black ichor. “Take that, you big meanies! Or small meanies. You guys aren’t really that big.” She took another can and placed it in the launcher and then turned to me. “Hey, Twilight! Wanna do the honors?” “Pinkie Pie? How did you know I was even here?” “I heard you, silly! You’re not exactly stealthy, you know.” She held a hand up to her mouth and giggled. I decided to not question it and just go use the gun. Setting my gun on a table behind us and walking over to her, I sat down next to the gun and took it in my hand. “So, uh, what is this thing?” “It’s kinda like the party cannon, except it’s less for parties and more for blowing up changelings.” She handed me a can. “Here, put this in there.” I dropped the can into the lid and took the trigger in my hand. “Okay, now what?” “Shoot it, silly!” I pulled the trigger, and the can rocketed out of the entrance. It landed near a changeling, who was knocked back by the force of the blast. “Yeah! Take that!” Pinkie called out to the now-collapsed changeling. The fact that Pinkie managed to build a functional grenade launcher astounded me. “How did you even get this thing to work, Pinkie?” “Simple! I taped a bunch of pipes together and then put a bunch of explodey things in a can. Then, I shot it out of the pipes!” “That... I mean, how do you get the can to come out of the pipes?” She shrugged. “So you have no idea how this thing works?” “Nope!” I sighed. “I should probably just accept this and move on, shouldn’t I?” Suddenly, a large explosion shook the building. Pinkie and I fell backwards into a table. I could feel a large pain in the back of my neck, and then the whole world turned black. “Is she awake?” a rather motherly voice said. “I dunno. Hey, Twi! You alright there, sugarcube?” an unmistakable voice said. “Oh, hello, Applejack,” I said, swinging my arms in front of my face. Applejack grabbed my arm and slowly pulled me to my feet. “Steady now, Twi. You’re fine, just a bit shaken up.” “I’m very glad to see you’re alright, Twilight Sparkle,” the motherly voice said. I turned my head, and saw a blonde woman in a white overcoat. At her side was a holster occupied by a single, silver pistol. “I’m very sorry for having to knock you unconscious like I did earlier. I only meant to knock you backwards enough to give me time to enter the building. “Who’re you?” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’m Princess Celestia,” she said, “or what’s left of her, anyways.” “Left of her?” “Yes. You see, when I imprisoned you so many years ago, it was at the whim of an ancient evil called Teuflisch, or the Hellhound. My sister and I defeated him centuries ago, but he seems to have returned.” “Returned? How?” “Even I do not know for certain. I suspect it had something to do with the corruption of the Elements of Harmony. Their weakness allowed him time to escape from his prison in Tartarus.” “How did he manage to take control of your body?” “Teuflisch is a powerful shapeshifter. He disguised himself as a glass of wine. When I drank it, he was inside my body and poised to strike.” I scratched the back of my head. “So, when Teuflisch was in your body, did he have total control?” “Most of the time, I was pushed into the back of my mind and he took over. However, when he came through the portal to this world in my body, the separation of mind and soul gave me enough time to separate my consciousness and duplicate my body.” “So, what there’s none of him left in you anymore?” “Not that I’m aware of.” I bit my lip. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” “You know much of magic, Twilight.” She held out her palm and it started glowing yellow. “If I were truly evil, my aura would be red, would it not?” “You’ve got a point.” I turned to Applejack. “Where’d you find her?” “She came in during the attack. I was about to shoot her, but then she blasted a bunch of changelings to dust. Decided I’d give her a shot to explain herself.” “So what now?” “Now?” Celestia said, stepping into the sunlight provided by the hole in the wall. “Now, we take the fight to the Hellhound.”
OneYou know, it seems that as of late, things have rarely been working out for me. I was imprisoned by a loving-princess-turned-harsh-dictator, my friends abandoned me, and I have not had a warm meal in a few years. I was able to make it through a thought without being sarcastic. Holy shit. Okay, Twilight, getting off-track. Gotta get the fuck out of this damn prison cell. It’s boring here. Celestia and her dictatorship. I can hear loud footsteps coming down the stairs. Speak of the devil. It’s Her Royal Highness herself. She doesn’t force the guards to carry her? “No, Twilight, I find that them carrying me is not as important to me as them quelling rebellions.” She can read my thoughts. Maybe I should just think what I want to say. “That’s not a good idea. I know your mind can wander to places, Twilight. Very dark and inappropriate places.” I found my voice. Only took some very uncomfortable egging on. “Is this really the time?” “I know that you miss your friends, Twilight. But, honestly, I could care less. After all, they did abandon you.” I would have killed her right there, but my hooves wouldn’t fit through the bars in my cell. “How did you even come into power? I know it’s a little…off topic, but it’s been nagging at me.” She smiled. “Finally taking an interest in me, I see. Allow me to show you.” She made an image on the wall in my cell. I leaned back against the cold brick of the parallel wall and made myself at home. Images came to life. “It was while you were away, saving your friends from their rather pitiful lives,” she explained. “I had been planning this for a while, you see, and I saw my opportunity. With the most powerful unicorn away on vacation? Remember what I told you when you went to go get your crown?” My memory clicked. “The Elements are useless without Magic.” “Exactly. The others were gone, but Magic was quite powerful. While it would have been a close fight, I’m sure, Magic would have bested me. “I was able to lead you away from here. Without you, Equestria was powerless. I started small. Passing laws that took away small amounts of freedom, like regional curfews and full body searches. Then, I got bigger. Started making ponies wear uniforms, assigned jobs even if a pony didn’t have their cutie mark in that field. As I’m sure you could guess, some ponies weren’t happy, and organized protests. I had to take action. This was the first instance.” She pointed to the image, and it started moving. In it, there was a large group of ponies. Some were holding signs, while others were speaking to the crowd. Every now and then, there’d be a “Yeah!” or a “No!” from the crowd. Celestia and her army of one hundred or so soldiers came into focus. Some had spears, while others had bows and arrows. A brown pony with a blonde mane walked out of the crowd. “He was the leader of the protest,” Celestia informed me. “My soldiers knew what had to be done to maintain order, and they performed beautifully.” Realization dawned on me. “…and if you, Princess, would please restore our rights, we can pretend like this never happened,” the brown pony said. “Thank you for the offer…” Celestia started. In the movie, she motioned for the sword at her belt. “…but I’ll have to decline.” In one fell swoop, she unsheathed her sword and removed the head of the brown pony. That’s when the chaos began. Ponies were screaming and running. The soldiers ran into the crowd and started butchering everyone in sight. Some pegasi tried to fly away, and then I realized why she had also brought archers. Their arrows brought every last ill-fated pegasus down. It was a complete massacre, and the one I used to call my mentor was responsible for it. “No one questions my rule,” Celestia said, after the crowd had been reduced to a pile of dead weight. “I rule alone. My rule is absolute. No one questions my rule, and if they do, they die.” The maniac had cut down about a thousand ponies without hesitation, and liked doing it. Her grinning soldiers had enjoyed it, too. Some had taken grisly trophies of their kills. “You BASTARD!” I shouted at her through the cages, “You killed all of those ponies! They were innocent, and you killed them!” “They weren’t innocent,” she snapped back. “They prevented peace. And it didn’t stop there. The press called it the Harmony Square Massacre. And there were four more. All in all, about five thousand ponies were killed for peace.” “Peace? You don’t get peace through slaughter! You get peace through diplomacy!” “And when I get to the human world…I will crush any resistance, especially the one that your so-called friends set up. I will personally kill every last one of them, and I will enjoy it. I will enslave and purify the human race.” A loud explosion rocked the building. I could hear alarms and screams ring out. “What in my name is going on out there…stay here. Oh, wait, never mind. You’re not going anywhere.” She laughed at her own joke. She left me to my own devices. Great. Alone again. “No, you’re not,” said a familiar voice. The source of the voice finally stepped out of the shadows. Her pink coat, with purple wingtips, kind of blended in with her multi-colored mane. Princess Cadance. “Cadance? What are you doing here?” She produced a small key. “Busting you out.” She unlocked my cell door. “Why?” I asked her. “We need your help. Celestia, as I’m sure you know, wants to enslave the human race. We are going to prevent that. Remember that portal to the human world?” “Yeah.” “Well, it was moved right around the corner. Follow me.” Damn, that walk was short. In fact, it was so short and uneventful, I will spare you the description. We had reached the thing. “You first,” Cadance said. I stepped towards the portal. “Stop right there or I will shoot!” another familiar voice commanded. I didn’t even need to see the white coat or two-tone blue mane to know who it was. Shining Armor. “Wait…Twily? Cadance? Why are you…doing this?” “For freedom, Shiny,” Cadance said. “For real peace.” “But I…thought that you sided with Celestia.” “I did at first. And then she murdered over a thousand ponies.” “I know but…why do things have to be so complicated?” “I don’t know, honey. But I love you, okay?” He smiled. “I love you, too.” A loud shot rang out. And a small pool of red formed on the white coat of my brother, matting his coat and staining it with its undeniable red. He collapsed. “Shiny!” Cadance shouted, rushing to his body. “Shiny, honey, no…” Celestia stepped out of the shadows, smoking gun in hoof and smug grin on face. “Sorry, Shining Armor, but your incompetence cost you your life.” Cadance looked up at Celestia. “You bastard! You shot him! Why did you have to do that?” She shot Cadance. “Same reason I must shoot you. Incompetence.” I levitated the both of them and jumped through the portal, tears in my eyes. I was not about to let her get away with this. I needed to find my friends. And, Luna as my witness, I was going to do it.
TwoI awoke with a pounding in my head. I thought I heard Rainbow Dash calling “Twilight?” but that would be crazy, because Rainbow Dash was on Earth, and I was in prison. Oh. Oh, yeah. Fuck. “Twilight! You cool, buddy?” “Yeah, I’m fine. Just...just a little woozy, is all.” “Heh. Yeah, that’ll happen. The portal thing isn’t really the best at comfortable travel, you know.” “I’m familiar with the flaws of interdimensional travel, Dash.” “Good. I’d hate to have to explain it to you again.” She smiled, and reached down to me. I accepted her hand. She pulled me up to my feet. “Thanks, Dash.” “No prob. So, uh...it’s been a while, huh?” “Yeah.” “How was prison?” “Well, if you love cold food, itchy hay, and a bitch warden, then you’ll love it.” “That bad, huh?” “Yep.” “Sorry about not busting you out earlier. We didn’t have the resources to pull off a prison break.” “Well, you got Cadence to get me.” I then conveniently remembered my savior and her husband. “Oh, Dash, how is Cadence and Shiny? Are they okay?” “They’re fine. We have some good medics here.” “What?” “Oh, yeah. You’ve been gone a while. Welcome to the Sector.” “The Sector?” “It sounds more original than the Resistance.” She had a point. Dash continued. “So, as you may or may not know, Celestia wants to enslave people.” “Okay…” “And we, the Sector, are here to stop her!” Well. That seems noble. “Dash? How exactly do you plan on defeating her?” “Well, her magic doesn’t work.” “She still has an army of soldiers! She might even draft a ton of ponies!” “Relax, Twi. One of our insiders got us some intel on her plans. She’s weaseled Queen Chrysalis into supplying her with an army of changelings.” “How, pray tell, are changelings any better?” “Changelings are immune to physical harm when it comes to death. If they… how to say it… if they sustain injuries that would kill a normal pony or human, they just disintegrate and mold themselves back together. It takes about two weeks to complete the whole nursing process, so a gone changeling is a good changeling.” “What do human changelings look like?” “Like normal humans, except they have fangs.” “Fangs? Like, for biting?” “Yeah. But, enough chit-chat. The other girls are here.” “Really?” “Yeah. I’ll take you Fluttershy first. She’s closest.” Dash led me through a series of twists and turns. “Where are we, anyways?” I asked. “A small, abandoned apartment complex in San Francisco. It’s our main base.” “Main base?” “I’ll explain it to you later. We have more important things to worry about, Twi.” Rainbow guided me to a small wooden door. She rapped on the door. “Come in!” a voice that no one but Fluttershy could have. Do I really need to explain to you what she sounds like? Rainbow turned the small metal knob and pushed. Inside, a woman in a blood-covered apron was applying gauze to a woman with strikingly blue, spiky hair. Both turned up to look at us. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as soon as she saw me. “Twilight!” She dropped the gauze and ran over to me, wrapping me in a bear hug. Well, it was more of a cub hug, but you know what I mean. “Oh, Twilight, I was so worried about you! You were gone for so long, and I was so worried…” “You already said that, Shy.” I smiled, and returned the hug. “It’s good to see you, too.” Fluttershy turned to her patient. “Oh, Vinyl, I’m so sorry I dropped the gauze. Here, let me get that.” Vinyl smiled. “Nah, it’s cool. It feels tight enough.” She wiggled her arm, demonstrating. “See?” “Well… alright, then. If it feels loose, just come find me. Alright?” “Sure thing, doc.” She got up and walked over to me. “Hey, it’s, uh… it’s good to see you’re alive. We were pretty worried about you.” “Thanks. It’s good to be back. Vinyl, was it?” “Yeah. Vinyl Scratch.” “Ah, yeah. The DJ, right? I’ve heard some of your albums. You’re pretty good.” She blushed. “I’m not that good. Besides, my friend Tavi helped me out a lot. Speaking of which, I gotta go check in with her, because she wanted to see me when I got out. I’ll see you around, yeah?” “Sure thing. Take care of yourself.” I turned to Fluttershy. “Why’d she need gauze?” “She was shot on a small scout mission earlier. The bullet only grazed her arm, but…” She sighed. “If it hadn’t hit her where it did, she would have died from blood loss, I bet.” “Scout mission?” “Yes. We heard reports of fanged men and women attacking people on the street. Vinyl and Octavia went out to investigate. Octavia escaped unscathed, but Vinyl… well, you know the rest.” I nodded. “Hm. Alright, then. Hey, I gotta go see the other girls. I’ll talk to you later, alright?” She nodded. “I’ll see you around, Twilight.” Rainbow pulled me out of the room Fluttershy’s set-up was in. “Alright. Rarity likes to hang around here somewhere…” She turned a corner. “Aha! There you are.” I walked around said corner, and standing there was Rarity. “Oh, Twilight! It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?” she she said, placing the large rifle she was polishing on the table next to her and rushing over to me. She wrapped me in a hug, which I returned. “It’s… it really has been a long time.” “Yeah, it has.” I pulled out of the hug. “It’s good to see you.” “Likewise.” She returned to the rifle, and to her polishing. “So, how is it, being back into the human form?” “Well… it seems pretty natural. I’d have thought that I’d have gotten rusty, but, here I am. So, uh, what’s with the rifle?” “Oh, this?” She bit her lip. “How best to explain it… well, it’s a sniper rifle, first and foremost. For shooting things from really far away.” She reached behind her and pulled out a smaller pistol. “This is for more close-range encounters.” “So, you’re the group sniper?” “In a nutshell, yes, although Fluttershy has given me basic first aid tips if the need ever arises.” All of a sudden, a loud alarm started blaring. Rarity’s eyes shot open wide, and she quickly grabbed for her rifle and pistol. She turned to me and grimaced. “And the need has just arisen.”
ThreeRarity slid a magazine in her pistol and, looking at the gun, to me, and the gun again, handed me the weapon. It felt heavy in my hand, and the grip cooled down my palm. “I trust you know how to use one of these?” “Point and shoot, right?” I had seen enough TV to know how to use a gun, and although the finer points of gunplay were still a mystery to me, I could most likely take care of myself. Most likely. “Essentially, yes. Stick with me for the most part, and you should be okay.” She started out the door and looked back to me. “Well? Come on.” Rarity led the way as we traveled through the abandoned warehouses the Sector had decided to make their base. The place could definitely use some major reworking, what with all the overgrown windows and collapsed ceilings. Rarity pulled a small gun from her waistband and slung her rifle over her back. She stopped at a door leading into a red brick building. “Through here is where I usually go in times like these. It’s a sniper perch. Since you don’t have a rifle, you’re better suited to move ahead and meet up with Pinkie. She’s in the warehouse marked ‘C’, and she can help you get situated. Okay?” I nodded. “Be careful, alright?” “But of course. You too, dear.” She opened the door and began moving up the adjacent staircase. “Now go!” As she continued climbing the stairs, I pushed forward through the opposite door. As I stepped out, a few shots rang out somewhere nearby and I heard inhuman shrieks of pain. Continuing on, I eventually came to a warehouse with a fading blue ‘C’ spray-painted above the entrance. When I stepped inside, I heard a few more gunshots coming from the upstairs. Trying to make as little noise as possible, I neared the stairs and began to walk up them. As I neared the top, I saw a young woman in a pink knit cap and jean jacket firing some sort of homemade grenade launcher out of a large hole in the side of the building. She pulled a small packet of something out of the back pocket of her stonewashed black jeans and emptied it into what looked like an emptied tin can. She dumped a few other powders and a few drops of liquid inside, taped the lid back on, and placed it in the lip of her launcher. She picked up her launcher and, peering through a makeshift scope made out of a magnifying glass with a little red dot drawn on it, fired. The can shot out of the launcher and landed in a group of changelings and exploded in a flash of fire, smoke, and black ichor. “Take that, you big meanies! Or small meanies. You guys aren’t really that big.” She took another can and placed it in the launcher and then turned to me. “Hey, Twilight! Wanna do the honors?” “Pinkie Pie? How did you know I was even here?” “I heard you, silly! You’re not exactly stealthy, you know.” She held a hand up to her mouth and giggled. I decided to not question it and just go use the gun. Setting my gun on a table behind us and walking over to her, I sat down next to the gun and took it in my hand. “So, uh, what is this thing?” “It’s kinda like the party cannon, except it’s less for parties and more for blowing up changelings.” She handed me a can. “Here, put this in there.” I dropped the can into the lid and took the trigger in my hand. “Okay, now what?” “Shoot it, silly!” I pulled the trigger, and the can rocketed out of the entrance. It landed near a changeling, who was knocked back by the force of the blast. “Yeah! Take that!” Pinkie called out to the now-collapsed changeling. The fact that Pinkie managed to build a functional grenade launcher astounded me. “How did you even get this thing to work, Pinkie?” “Simple! I taped a bunch of pipes together and then put a bunch of explodey things in a can. Then, I shot it out of the pipes!” “That... I mean, how do you get the can to come out of the pipes?” She shrugged. “So you have no idea how this thing works?” “Nope!” I sighed. “I should probably just accept this and move on, shouldn’t I?” Suddenly, a large explosion shook the building. Pinkie and I fell backwards into a table. I could feel a large pain in the back of my neck, and then the whole world turned black. “Is she awake?” a rather motherly voice said. “I dunno. Hey, Twi! You alright there, sugarcube?” an unmistakable voice said. “Oh, hello, Applejack,” I said, swinging my arms in front of my face. Applejack grabbed my arm and slowly pulled me to my feet. “Steady now, Twi. You’re fine, just a bit shaken up.” “I’m very glad to see you’re alright, Twilight Sparkle,” the motherly voice said. I turned my head, and saw a blonde woman in a white overcoat. At her side was a holster occupied by a single, silver pistol. “I’m very sorry for having to knock you unconscious like I did earlier. I only meant to knock you backwards enough to give me time to enter the building. “Who’re you?” I said, rubbing my eyes. “I’m Princess Celestia,” she said, “or what’s left of her, anyways.” “Left of her?” “Yes. You see, when I imprisoned you so many years ago, it was at the whim of an ancient evil called Teuflisch, or the Hellhound. My sister and I defeated him centuries ago, but he seems to have returned.” “Returned? How?” “Even I do not know for certain. I suspect it had something to do with the corruption of the Elements of Harmony. Their weakness allowed him time to escape from his prison in Tartarus.” “How did he manage to take control of your body?” “Teuflisch is a powerful shapeshifter. He disguised himself as a glass of wine. When I drank it, he was inside my body and poised to strike.” I scratched the back of my head. “So, when Teuflisch was in your body, did he have total control?” “Most of the time, I was pushed into the back of my mind and he took over. However, when he came through the portal to this world in my body, the separation of mind and soul gave me enough time to separate my consciousness and duplicate my body.” “So, what there’s none of him left in you anymore?” “Not that I’m aware of.” I bit my lip. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?” “You know much of magic, Twilight.” She held out her palm and it started glowing yellow. “If I were truly evil, my aura would be red, would it not?” “You’ve got a point.” I turned to Applejack. “Where’d you find her?” “She came in during the attack. I was about to shoot her, but then she blasted a bunch of changelings to dust. Decided I’d give her a shot to explain herself.” “So what now?” “Now?” Celestia said, stepping into the sunlight provided by the hole in the wall. “Now, we take the fight to the Hellhound.”
