03 First Encounter

The facility was drenched in red light as klaxons began to sound. Footsteps in the halls became even more frantic as a message was broadcast.

Class 5 manifestation in progress, location: Memorial Park. All available Reactionaries are to report to gates one and five. Magiteks are to ensure that the Reactionaries are appropriately equipped. Medicals and Obfuscationists are to remain on standby for emergency deployment.

Twilight had been lying in one of the facility’s on-hand beds, awake, when the alarm was raised. She hadn’t yet gotten any sleep as her mind was too busy thinking about those five girls that the other Twilight bonded with. Not only that, but the other five parts of Project Harmony also seemed to bond with them. Did that mean that they were going to be teammates? Now was not the time to ponder though so, hearing her brother’s broadcast, she immediately jumped up and rushed towards Canterlot Control.

In a lot of ways it was similar to the Fillydelphia Control Center. Excepting of course that it was dwarfed by this one. As with the rest of the base, it enjoyed very high ceilings rivaling those of the most grand of ballrooms. It also rivaled them in sheer elegance. The walls were decorated with moldings made from several types of precious metals. Each twisted into shapes that not only served aesthetically, but practically as well, for they were formed to subtly resemble powerful protective sigils. This made it utterly untraceable and impenetrable by any means, both physical and magical.

The left and right walls had several, evenly spaced, marble columns. Hanging on those spaces were paintings depicting significant events from years past. Ranging from the defeat of Discord and the end of the Chaos War, to the sacrifice Former South Officer Luna had made to keep the Nightmare at bay.

The door of the room itself seemed to emanate not only in power, but also in presence. Made from the best of the finer woods, it too was enchanted to only allow those worthy to pass through its splendour. It was tall enough for a person of average height to pass. Whilst standing on the shoulders of a professional basketball player. This meant that Twilight Sparkle could easily enter, as she was just below average height.

Opposite the wall of the door were several grand windows, whose height went from the ceiling to the floor, depicting a scene of absolute serenity. The ocean. Indeed, if you didn’t know it was a magical window you would think that the facility was floating right there on the water.

There in the center of the room, directly below the apex of the somewhat domed ceiling, from which suspended a gorgeous three tiered chandelier, that was composed of various hanging crystals, stood her brother, Canterlot Reactionary Officer Shining Armor.

Flanking him were several rows of desks which, much like the Fillydelphia Control, were occupied by people wearing purple blazers, who were clearly frenetic. The whole room was abuzz with communication and coordination.

All-in-all, another day on the job for the Canterlot Control Center, primary hub of MLP.

As Twilight approached her brother, he turned to face her. He had a grim expression.

“Well, Twiley, good news and bad news. Good news is the five girls from last night have all Awoken. Bad news, they decided to meet up at Memorial Park.”

Twilight, being the junior scientist she was, found that the situation could not possibly be so coincidental. “They’ve Awakened and a Class 5 just so happens to show up at the same place they decide to meet each other? Are the two events related?”

Backpedaling on what she had just said, her face filled with shock. “They’ve Awakened?!”

Her brother gave a nod in response. “They just found out this morning and decided to talk about it amongst themselves for now. We made sure they weren’t followed or otherwise interfered with as they discussed their new abilities. We were planning on approaching them when they were a bit more comfortable but…

“As for the events being related, I doubt it. There was already a minor distortion floating around the city since yesterday. Although whether or not them getting together influenced the fact that it’s a Class 5” - he gave a slight shake of his head - “we’re still not sure.”

A member of Mission Control spoke up. “Sir! Reactionary Agent, Stonefist is already in the area.”

“Get an ‘eyes wide open’ on him, now!” barked Shining.

Eyes Wide Open was one of the most used of the spells in MLP’s arsenal. It allowed for someone, or in this case Canterlot Control, to see whatever it was a different party could see. Of course, since this required connecting to their senses, and in turn partially to their mind, the whole process had to be consensual on both ends.

The view of the ocean disappeared and was replaced by that of five girls facing… something.

The creature that faced them could, at first glance, be confused for a lion. However with subsequent glances, one could reasonably conclude that this was not just a lion. First of all, it was at least as large as a garbage truck. Second, at around the point where its barrel would begin, fur turned to hard, cold, grey scales. Following its back, you would come to a certain protrusion that lead to what looked vaguely like the head of a large lizard. Or perhaps more accurately, a dragon. Following further down the creature’s spine would lead you to its tail where the harder scale turned into softer, more flexible scale. What made it stand out though was that it seemed to have a very entrancing pattern upon it that led to the waiting maw of a particularly angry snake.

“A chimera!” said Twilight, her tone indiscernible. Her mind was currently at war with itself as half of it urged that it should be terrified that such a beast was currently facing her supposed teammates, whilst the other half declared joy at finally being able to see a chimera live.

Shining, however, had no such problems figuring out what to feel at the moment. “Agent Stonefist, you are to protect those girls at all costs. They are priority one targets!”

A quick ‘Yes, sir’ was heard as the image of the beast began to get bigger.

The girls stood there, paralyzed, as two pairs of eyes, both slitted, both hungry, one reptilian, one mammalian, gazed down upon them. Two began to consider what happened for things to end up like this, one was a bit too terrified to think, one was also terrified, but was slightly sidetracked by the beauty of the dragon’s scales, and one was flabberghasted that her psychicness predicted this.

Their collective eyes, however, widened as the lion part opened its mouth. Whether it was going to roar or bite them, they would never know as it was immediately blindsided by the fist of a large man wearing a grey blazer. He had a standard military crew haircut, as was required by his profession. His skin was a shade darker than his blazer and he had jet black hair. He was also strong enough to knock a chimera to its side.

“Stonefist?!” Fluttershy shouted in shock.

Rainbow looked to Fluttershy with curiosity. “Your bodyguard?!” She gave an impressed whistle. “I didn’t know he was that strong.”

He looked to them, eyes filled with determination, and said, “Get out of here now!”

Or he would have if the particularly angry snake-tail did not immediately swat him away when the beast landed on its side. He flew a good ten meters which gave the monster plenty of time to right itself. It was taller than twice the height of any of them, and from its vantage point decided to choose who its first meal would be.

Pinkie casually took a step to the left as a large paw crushed the ground she had been standing on. The other girls immediately jumped back at the motion, leaving Pinkie Pie facing the beast alone. Yet try as it might, the beast simply could not get to her. For every attempt to squish she would step aside, for every swipe she would jump. It even tried to use its tail, but that only made her cartwheel out of the way. The beast was not amused.

Pinkie seemed expressionless as this went on; she was actually concentrating on trying to understand the tingly sensations that her body gave that somehow sensed where the monster would strike next. As she dodged, she decided she’d call this her Pinkie Sense.

The other girls, though, couldn’t just sit around watching their friend play such a lethal game. Applejack was the first to charge in, followed by Rainbow. Rainbow ran around to see if she could flank the thing before being reminded that it had eyes on its back in the form of an angry snake. The snake lunged and she jumped. As she was in the air, the sensation reminded her of something from last night, flight.

She landed not too far off from the beast’s hip. Taking a quick look around and finding nothing, she decided to do what they normally did in monster movies at this point. Distracting it.

She took a deep breath and shouted, “Hey ugly! Pay attention to me why don’t cha!” To her surprise it actually worked. Three menacing heads were now focused solely on her.

Since they were now looking behind them, they did not notice Applejack take a very impressive leap, which allowed her to hit the lion square on the back of its head. With the feline part dazed, the draconic part took a good, angry look at the perpetrator, whilst the reptilian decided to try its luck against Rainbow again.

On impulse, Rainbow jumped in order to avoid being swatted aside by the tail, unfortunately since Pinkie had already used this trick more times than was enough, the tail immediately curled up and wrapped itself around Rainbow. She found herself neatly constricted by the significantly larger predator.

The dragon, on the other hand, decided to pull out its ace. Rather than charge towards their assaulter as the lion would have tried, it decided instead to fry her. A fireball, around the size of a football, left its mouth and made its way towards the cowgirl. She made to dodge but found that it was unnecessary as one of the park’s picnic tables neatly intercepted the flame in midair. She looked behind her and saw Rarity, both arms extended and palms opened with breath showing signs of slight exhaustion. Both Applejack and the dragon were caught off guard by this surprise interference.

As this went on, the snake seemed to consider what to do with its prismatic prize. It then decided for the simplest of solutions and lunged forward to consume her.

Out of nowhere, a loud ‘NO!’ echoed through the park. The snake looked to its source and did not like what it found.

Standing slightly ahead of Rarity now, Fluttershy looked to the reptile, eyes filled with deadly intent. “Let her go right now, mister!”

The snake did not know what to do. A part of it, particularly the part connected to the still dazed lion, told it to ignore this insignificant little speck. Another part though told it to do as she said, lest there be dire consequences. It decided to go for the more reasonable former. The moment of hesitation, though, was enough for Stonefist to ambush the snake head.

His fists now matched his name as they looked to be made of particularly heavy granite, yet he managed to lift them as if they were still his ordinary hands. With three precise punches to the snake’s anatomy, it let go of Rainbow and released a pained hiss. Now free, Rainbow placed a significantly larger distance between her and the reptile, with Stonefist by her side.

Rainbow appraised her surroundings to see if there was something, anything, she could use against this large creature. She didn’t find anything, but she did hear something: The sound of motorcycles. She looked to the side and there were in fact three bikers rapidly approaching them. She noted that they were wearing an outfit that looked exactly like Stonefist’s.

When the three bikers reached the edge of the park, simultaneously, they leaped off their bikes. Their bikes didn’t crash as they instead disappeared in a flash of light. If one looked closely, one could see that each of the bikers now had a silver necklace on.

The lead biker was fast and lithe as she soared towards the draconic head. She had a ring on her right hand that started to both glow and grow. When the light of the ring faded, in her hand was a shining sword that looked to be made from pure amethyst. She drew her arm back and stabbed the surprised dragon right in the eye. Twisting it slightly to make sure that the damage she did stayed.

The biker on the left was significantly bulkier than his leader. This bulk did not seem to hinder him though, as he gracefully shot towards the lion head. His leather gloves shapeshifted into the wide a pair of the special wide fingered gloves. Landing in the mane of the frustrated lion, he drove his palms onto its scalp. Sparks flew as the the spot he held was singed by whatever it was that the agent had done.

The biker on the right was much smaller than the others and didn’t seem to have any intention of actually landing on the beast as her contemporaries had. Much like the one on the left, her gloves transformed. As she got to the peak of her leap, she brought her hands together and charged up a ball of destructive energy. When she got a bit closer, she released it. It hit the beast right on the nose. She landed just in front of Rainbow, who looked stunned at their stunt, and Stonefist, who merely gave a knowing nod.

With the beast now injured and confused, the four agents took advantage and attacked all at once.

The window was currently showing four different perspective of one event. Eyes wide open was currently active on the four field agents, which allowed Canterlot Control to know exactly what was going on.

“You have to admit, what they did was reckless. But it was also really effective,” said Twilight.

“I guess they really are meant for Project Harmony.” Shining looked to his sister. “But did you see what that Fluttershy girl did?”

Twilight nodded. “What kind of power was that? What could be so strong as to leave a fully formed Class 5 chimera paralyzed, even for a moment.”

“Don’t forget that Rarity managed to pry a picnic table off the ground without any help from an Augmentation Glove. The only other agent I’ve seen manage that is, well, you.”

“What about Pinkie Pie and her dodging?”

“The other two also managed to use their abilities, without prior training, like they’d had it all their lives.”

Shining sighed as they watched the screen. The four agents had gotten the upperhand now.

“Guys,” he addressed the agents over the intercom. “You’ll have to take down all three heads to finish it off. Stonefist, get the girls together and keep them safe. Red Letter, you finish off the dragon. Your sword should be enough to pierce its hide. As for the other two, Wind, Melody, go crazy.”

The four gave their affirmations to Control and went about their duty. Stonefist grabbed Rainbow and ran around to the front of the beast to grab Applejack. With the two girls in tow he returned them to the the other three. Having all five of them together would make his job significantly easier.

A small, feminine voice spoke to him. “Stone… what’s going on?”

He turned around to see his charge looking at him with curious, and dumbfounded, eyes. “Miss Fluttershy, I’m afraid I’m not the best person to explain all this. Perhaps we can get you to someone who can once we finish up here. For now, know that you are about to learn much more about the world we live in.”

The five girls looked to him with confused expressions. Unfortunately, that really was all he could say as a loud roar got their attention. They turned their heads and saw Red Letter flying towards them. Stonefist immediately put up his hands to catch his injured companion. As he caught her, he felt that something was definitely not right with her ribcage. She let out a grunt of pain as she stood up once more.

“Looks like this big guy’s smarter and faster than he looks. He feigned a lunge towards Wind Shear whilst the dragon kept shooting at Melody. Darn snake managed to flank me in the confusion,” she said as she held up a bloodied hand. Her sword had receded back into ring form thus requiring her to summon it again. She began to run back towards the commotion.

Now that the girls managed to get a good look at what the snake did to Red Letter, they’re reactions were a mixture of shock, anger, and fear. Rainbow in particular considered that she might’ve had a similar wound if Stonefist didn’t intervene earlier.

Wind Shear had opted for a more conventional weapon, specialized blades that protruded from gear attached to his forearms. Using his flight-like ability he got to the face of the lion head and gave a mighty slash. The lion roared in pain as its wound began to bleed and lowered itself. What happened next, Wind did not expect.

The moment the lion ducked, he saw the dragon with a waiting fireball in its mouth. He briefly wondered when the manifestations started to exhibit skills like these before being blasted by a point blank ball of flame. Before hitting the ground, he was caught in a pinkish aura which prevented him from suffering the brunt of the impact. Melody turned out to be the source, as she caught her comrade before it was too late. Knowing that he was at least out of danger of falling she returned her attention to the beast, in particular its tail.

She studied the way it moved and the way some of its muscles contracted in order to get a rough prediction of where it would try to strike. The only problem with this was that she couldn’t focus her attention on a counter attack and was forced to keep dodging. Thankfully, as if on cue, Red Letter got a good hit onto the snake’s body. With an opening now available, Sweet Melody placed what power she could into her gloves and fired a shot right between the snake’s eyes. She looked to her left and found that in her attempts to dodge the tail, she had gotten too close to the rest of the beast.

With one of its mighty paws, claws out, it struck her right across the chest, causing her to fly a fair distance away. Things were not looking good.

Red Letter ran up the beast’s limp tail and, aiming for the last head in good condition, with a bloodthirsty scream, struck. Her sword was now embedded well within the dragon’s cranium after a slash that also went through its other eye. She gave a sigh of relief, just before the snake decided to have one last go at her.

With the three Reactionary agents down, the chimera, or what was left of it, turned its attention to its original targets. The five girls. Stonefist raised his namesakes, ready to defend the girls at all costs. He really hoped reinforcements would get here soon.

The beast leaped, but as it did, a flash of light appeared between it and its prey. Standing there was a young girl with lavander skin in a purple blazer and black slacks. She had straight purple hair with a pink streak. She also had a determined look in her eyes as she placed her hands to her side and channeled her energy. The five girls behind immediately recognized who this was.

As she brought her last bit of power into the gloves she realized something. She had MUCH more power than she realized. She took a moment to wonder if this was in someway related to Project Harmony before channeling some of it, only some because she couldn’t even feel the end of it, into her hands. When she felt they were ready, she raised them up to face the chimera.

An explosion was heard as a large column of light shot out from her hands. The beam hit the chimera, starting from its chest until it burned all the way through to its haunches. When Twilight was finished, the monster fell to ground, limp, dead, and with a massive hole through its body. She kept her hands up as she panted with exhaustion from what she had just done.

It took a while before anyone did anything.

“TWILIGHT!” the five girls chorused.

The young agent’s eyes went wide as five girls she had never really met before swarmed her.

“When did ya get back?”

“Did the portal open again?”

“I didn’t know you could do THAT!”

“It’s so nice to see you again, Twilight.”

“That is quite an outfit, darling.”

It was too much for her. She didn’t want to have explain everything that just happened, besides, she knew that the Obfuscationists would be here soon. They could do a better job at that than she ever could. So, in her panicked state, she did what she found to be the best solution.

“I’m sorry!” she shouted just before disappearing in another flash of light.

“...Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie, with more than a little disappointment in her voice.

Stonefist cleared his throat to get their attention. “Ladies, if you’ll excuse my interruption, I believe our ride is here.”

From the street behind him four unmarked vans, two blue, two red, arrived onto the scene. Several people, wearing blazers that matched their vans, exited and went about the area. Several of the blue ones walked around with their hand held up, as if they were blind and trying to feel their way, around the battleground. Five of the red ones attended to the fallen Reactionary agents. Two more approached the group of girls.

One of them was male, he had pink skin and red hair, the other female, with yellow skin and aquamarine hair. Each had a sweet, tenderly smile about them.

“Hi there,” the male one said. “I’m Clean Bill, from the Medical division, me and my partner here, Top Form, are just gonna check on your well being, is that okay?”

The girls, still bewildered by the days events, just decided to go along with it. All of them but Rainbow, of course.

“Whoa! Hold up, no one’s giving me any medical whatevers until I find out just what is going on here!” she shouted.

Stonefist sighed. Her behaviour did not surprise him, but it did not disappoint him either. “Miss Dash, I understand you have questions, and they will be answered. The faster we finish this process, the faster we can get to that.”

“Okay, but how can I be sure I can trust you guys?”

Applejack had joined in on the suspicions. “Ah gotta agree with mah friend here. Somethin’ like that” - she pointed to the chimera carcass - “shows up out’ta nowhere and here you guys are, a whole lot more prepared for it than I would have ever expected. Sounds mighty suspicious if you ask me.”

Stonefist, as well as some of those at Canterlot Control, couldn’t help but smile, even if inwardly, at the attitude the girls were displaying. If anything it actually showed them that they were indeed agent material.

“I’d like to think Miss Fluttershy trusts me,” he said as he looked to said girl who was trying her best to hide behind her long hair. “But if that isn’t enough, you trust Twilight, right?”

They gave a wary nod.

“Then you saw what she was wearing, and you can see what me and my associates are wearing. I think it stands to reason that this outfit is actually a uniform, correct?”

More nods were given.

“Which means that Miss Twilight is associated with us, and can vouch for our credibility, if a little later when we get back to base.”

Rainbow and Applejack considered and gave each other a look. Their people were everywhere meaning there really was no other way out, so the best thing to do may be to just play along.

“Fine.”

The two Medicals got to work. They didn’t find anything on Fluttershy or Rarity since they had stayed mostly away from the physical altercations. Pinkie Pie merely had a slightly pulled leg muscle. Applejack and Rainbow though had a few more bruises and sprains from actually going toe-to-toe with the monster.

When the check up had finished, the group made their way to one of the blue vans. It had been empty, excepting the driver. The interior of the van also did not in any way match the exterior. For one, it seemed to be bigger. The seats were also upholstered with suede that felt relaxing to the touch. Rarity in particular found this to be odd since she never had much taste for that type of leather. In the back was what looked like a miniature fridge, and above each seat was a tablet that was connected to the MLP mainframe. They each took a seat and got settled in. There was a lot of extra space left since the vans seemed to be designed to, somehow, handle two squads at a time.

The whole time they had been on the move, no one had bothered to say anything outloud. Stonefist had taken the stoic route and decided to close his eyes, cross his arms, and lean back. Fluttershy kept herself busy by twiddling her thumbs. Since Stonefist didn’t mind, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were fiddling with the tablets and the information there-in. Suffice it to say, they were amazed about what was in there. They actually wanted to share it with the others, but the atmosphere in the vehicle was just significantly heavier than either were comfortable with. Applejack and Rainbow on the other hand, exchanged conspiratorial whispers all throughout. They still didn’t trust these guys.

Eventually, the van made its way into the basement parking of a large skyscraper in the southern part of Canterlot. They parked in a negligible corner. Naturally, this raised alarms in the heads of Rainbow and Applejack.

“Okay, what’s going-” Rainbow was unable to finish the question as the vehicle now began to descend.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, Stonefist made to exit the vehicle and signals the girls to do the same. Once they were all out, they realized that they were in a building that looked remarkably similar to the one they were just in. What was different however was that there was a set of carved, well crafted oak doors on one wall. Above it was a printed ‘5.’ They approached the door and entered the Canterlot Complex.

As with the rest of the facility, Gate 5 was absolutely exquisite. The main hall was about as wide a standard suburban street, but lined with beautiful decorations. It was bisected by a long and thin fountain/planter that had a few breaks in it where other smaller halls merged. It extended all the way until the the center of the facility where the large circular fountain and chandelier with the floating orb lights were located.

Rarity, of course, was the one who truly appreciated the beauty and elegance that went into the design of the facilities. As she absently rambled on about the details of the decorations, Rainbow and Applejack flanked Stonefist, intent on getting answers.

“Alright, we’re in your base, and I’ll admit it looks good. But none of my questions have been answered yet.”

Stonefist, keeping his eyes facing forward, said, “Don’t worry Miss Dash, as I’ve said your questions will be answered.”

“That’s what you’ve been saying that since the insanity with that… thing!”

“Chimera,” he helpfully pointed out.

“Whatever! Point is we still have no clue what’s going on.”

Still maintaining a deadpan tone. “I understand your anxiety Miss Dash. Believe me I felt the same way when I first awoke.”

It was Applejack’s turn to say something. “Wait a second, whatd’ya mean by ‘awoke’?”

“As I’ve told Miss Dash, you’re questions will be answered the moment we walk through that door.” He pointed to a large, single, but still impeccable, door.

Their ‘interrogation’ went on all the way until they reached said door. They also couldn’t have reached it at a better time as Rainbow looked about ready to explode on the uncooperative agent. He motioned for them to enter and they did. Once they were all inside he shut the door, but did not enter.

Inside, the room followed the classical theme the entire base was using. Upon the walls were a few crystal sconces that provided the room a warm glow. Several bookcases, filled to the brim, were scattered here and there. In the center of the room were two sofas surrounding a subtly charming coffee table. On the far wall, was a bay window with a view one would expect to see from a cabin in the woods. In between the sala set and the windows was a large ornate desk with an equally ornate chair. To the left of the chair was Twilight Sparkle, who looked like she had cleaned herself up for the occasion. And finally upon the chair sat…

“Principal Celestia!” the girls shouted in utter disbelief.

In response, Celestia smiled that kind, motherly smile she had with just a hint of mischief in it. “Actually, down here it’s Central Officer Celestia.”