Patron Saints of Equestriaby Captain ScrappieChaptersMuscle Cars and Dubstep, Oh My!It's always the Everfree, isn't it?Can we just say this is like one of those filler missions at the beginning?Muscle Cars and Dubstep, Oh My!Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne room working through various building contracts, tax claims and various other paperwork that was on her "to-do" pile for today. She would have gotten most of this work done if she wasn't so busy with the planning of her star-students coronation when it was normally done. She thought for a moment. How long ago was that? Three, four weeks ago? Time flies when you aren't planning for something. It seems like yesterday that Twilight first enrolled in the Academy. Her little nostalgia trip was interrupted as the throne room doors were thrown open. "Princess Celestia!" The guard shouted. She brought her head from out of the papers to look at the guard. Panic was spread across his face. His pupils were mere pin-pricks as he quickly stopped to bow before the princess. "Rise, guardspony. What is happening?" "S-Sombra, your majesty! He's back!" Celestia rose from her throne. Concern and bewilderment danced across her face. "What? But Twilight said that he was destroyed!" "Confirmation came from the Crystal Guard. Worse yet is that he has an army at his disposal. We have also received word from the Empire that he is ready to strike at a moments notice." Celestia thought for a moment. She can't inform the public. If she did there would be panic. If there was panic then Sombra would capitalize on it and attack. "Send word to the generals; Evacuate the northernmost villages and cities. If anypony asks just say that there is a massive snowfall coming from the Empire and that Cloudsdale can do nothing about it until it has passed. Get the guard out there to defend our northernmost positions." "But what about-" "Do as I say, guardspony." The earth-pony quickly turned and galloped out. Equestria hasn't seen war in nearly three thousand years. The only one who could stop this from escalating was long gone. Vanished without a trace. What pained her dearly was that it was a close friend. She sighed and brought out a parchment and hastily scribbled. Dear Twilight Sparkle... Two Days Ago... Pierce Washington isn't made for this line of work. Way back when there was a time where he didn't have scour a database and find where the captive races in the Zin mother-ship were originally from. He was made for the high-life. Girls, free drinks, and all the karaoke that his vocal chords could muster. That was before The Boss ran for president, them getting abducted by aliens, Earth getting destroyed by said aliens and losing his prized Broken Shillelagh 80's Sitcom Trivia Contest trophy. He sighed. He missed that kind of life. As he was reminiscing while idly scrolling through the list of captives he came across an unusual listing. "Starswirl the Bearded? Shit, that sounds like some whacked out porn star name." he joked to himself. His curiosity was piqued as he selected the name. What he found was interesting to say the least. A horse with a horn and, as it said on the label, bearded. It jogged his memory however. Back when the Syndicate picked a fight with the Saints there was a little kerfuffle In Stilwater where the Luchadores blew up The Hughes Memorial Bridge and blamed it on the Saints. The Special Tactics Anti-Gang (or STAG for short) was sent in to clean up the gangs in Steelport. Suffice to say there came a three-way war throughout the city. The apex of which took place in the National Guard training base. "Uh, guys? We might die here. Anything you want to get off your chest?" Pierce called out to his companions after taking cover behind a STAG vehicle. "If Kinzie were here I would pour my heart out for her!" The giant Russian pin-cushion named Oleg that was currently using a Luchador as a football had said. "What!?" "It's rare that I find an intellectual equal!" "What about you, Boss?" Pierce then asked. "I COLLECT GLASS UNICORNS!" Shouted the boss after smacking one of Olegs evil-yet-dumber genetic clones with a giant... lets just call it the Penetrator and move on. Peirce sent it to his little data-pad and walked to The Bosses quarters. Along the way he got some dirty looks from the Zin guards. Although The Boss was now the de-facto ruler, some of them weren't too happy about it. As he passed them he swore he could hear one of them growling like a dog that was guarding a bone. Zinjai, Zinyak's former second in command, was sitting at his desk outside The Bosses quarters. The desk was filed with papers that The Boss volun-tells Zinjai to do on a regular basis. He doesn't seem to happy about it either. "Is she in?" "I'm afraid that she is rather busy with her... primitive vehicles." He said with slight disgust at the last bit. "Shit, you know if she heard that you'd be out the airlock in three seconds flat." He quipped. "'Sides, I've got something to show her." He sighed and pressed the button to open the door. Inside was a two storey room with almost all Zin technology stripped and replaced with a whole manner of purple things, as is the Saints way. Some of the changes included personal hot-tub and sauna in the back corner, queen sized platform bed and a area cut out from the purple rug for The Bosses cars. Next to the car area was a case full of the unicorns that she held so dear to her. In the drivers seat of the car sat world renown author of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. Before Zinyak blew earth into atoms he collected his favourite authors, play writers, musicians and whatever bright minds he could before he invaded. Rather than be afraid of the futuristic technologies that were in the Zin ships, Jane embraced them. She was most curious around The Bosses vehicles and would often pop open the hood to get a look at the engines and with The Boss being a huge fan, she obliged. "Okay Jane, start it up." She said after a couple of cranks with a monkey wrench. "Uhm, how do I do that again, exactly?" The famous author poked her head out the window. "Ugh. Foot down on the brake and turn the key." The engine tried to start but failed with a whimper. "Gah, fuck these Zin engines." "Hey Boss!" Pierce called out. She looked up. Pierce saw the leopard print on her face and the penetrating green cat-eyes peer right into the very heart of his soul. She wasn't happy. She didn't like people coming in her room. She quickly hit a switch and the unicorn collection section of the wall turned into a bar with complete with Zin bartender. "Ugh, I thought I told Zinjai to not let anyone in!" she said while grabbing a bottle of Zin-lager. "Puta imbécil! (Fucking imbecile!)" She muttered. "I thought you wanted to see this, Boss." He explained while passing the data-pad down the bar to her. She studied the picture for a second. A variety of expressions danced across her face. First being confusion, then to comprehension and finally pure unbridled joy but then confusion again. "Is this..?" Her mouth hung. "I thought you'd be happy to see this." "Believe me I am, but still. I thought Zinyak stole people then destroyed the planets they come from. It says here that, what the hell is it..." She adjusted her hipster-glasses to focus. "Equis? Anyway, it says that it's perfectly untouched." "I didn't get it either. Anyway, he's still locked up in a simulation that was on a separate grid from ours. Want to bust him out?" She slammed back the bottle and got up. "Well we need some more people actually liking us for once right?" Kinzie Kenzington was furiously typing away on a keyboard, trying her hardest to crack into the Zin Time Travel Device. Despite her best efforts it was impossible to get to any of the star dates that were crucial to stopping the destruction of Earth. No matter what changes to the code she made it would revert without a password. Any attempt to make a password guess would result in the device being rendered useless. Even the passwords are on a DNA accessible card but if the subject that it was programmed for is dead then the card would be wiped. After trying for the twelfth time she gave up. It was impossible to recreate the device without the proper parts. She asked the Zin scientists that made the device and they said that they had to mine several planets to the bone to make those parts. Even that took several years to do. She sighed. At least they were able to get most of their belongings. Even if the past selves turned the entire city of Steelport upside down trying to look for the people who stole them. "Hey Kinz'! Fire up those hacking appendages, we got someone to bust!" The Boss poked her head in through the revolving door to Kinzies "Inner Sanctum." "What? How is that possible? After crashing yours it should have opened up the rest!" "Separate grid. At least that's what Pierce said. No lo sé (I don't know)..." She got up and grabbed her laptop. "I swear this one better not be the 50's sitcom place again..." The gang was all here. The murdering psychopath that was Johnny Gat was sitting on a crate cleaning his pistol while Kinzie and her ex-rival-but-still-pissed-off-at Matt Millar were pecking away at keyboards. Shaundi was sitting and chatting with King and Asha. Keith David was nowhere in sight, the same with the robotic A.I. named CID. Silence filled the room when The Boss stepped in. "Okay, listen up people!" The Boss was standing on a crate next to the neural-seat overlooking the rest of the group. "I have no fucking clue as to what constitutes an aliens worst nightmare, right? So I need everyone ready to act at a moments notice. Matt, you help Kinzie with the whole simulation hacking thing, ¿De acuerdo? (Okay?) Gat, King and Shaundi, you guys are on standby. If shit gets real, I need you in there." "What about me, Boss?" Pierce put his hand up. She forgot about Pierce. "Uh... You, um.... I think CID has something for you to do." "I can't come in with you guys?" "Well you've done a great job in getting the other races acquainted with ours I thought you would want something other than simulation crap." He folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "This is about the Paul thing, huh?" Ah yes, Paul. The giant Saints Flow induced nightmare that plagues Pierces sleep. Several nights were ruined when they all heard Pierce screaming "OH GOD, PAUL IS COMING! SAVE ME!" "Well I don't want you to have more nightmares. So you know what? I think that this is a good thing." She said while jumping down and into the chair. He had a look of dejection on his face. "So I get to sit around with CID doing nothing?" "Fine, If it gets really hairy you can come." The restraints were starting to go into place but she stopped them to point at Pierce. "But you better not have any nightmares!" The swirl of the portal spat out The Boss onto the ground face first. "Ow..." She grunted in pain. Even though the pain wasn't real the simulation made it pretty convincing. Even the dirt that was currently occupying a bit of her mouth tasted real enough. She spat it out and pulled herself up to her feet and looked around. She was in a forest clearing with a path heading into a break towards a road. She took a breath to smell the untainted air. It was a nice break from the musty spaceship she commanded. She almost missed the simulation a bit. "Kinzie, do you read?" "Yeah, Boss. Loud and clear." "Okay, so where is this Starswirl guy at?" "He should be about an hour away." "Really? I'm guessing that I don't have my powers do I?" "Sadly no but that reminds me, your cut down version of the power armour is ready." "Ooh, does it fit under clothes like I wanted? I mean the armoured up one is cool and all but it really cha- " She was giddy again before Kinzie cut her off. "You'll see later, but for now..." keyboard clacking was heard over the comms. Directly in front of the boss there was a swirling red circle that was slowly moving upwards. An object was slowly being constructed as it raised. First was black rubber wheels, then the undercarriage, frame, metal plating and the rest. The completed object was a purple muscle car. There was a soft purple under-glow illuminating the grass around it. She couldn't see the inside of the vehicle due to the dark tint on the grass. As soon as it was done being constructed the engine started and the door popped open, beckoning for her to enter. "Oh Kinzie, I love you sometimes." "What are the other times?" "Confusion and sometimes light hatred towards you." "It's one of the better reactions." She sat on the leather seat. It was just like the one she was working on. She gave a quick press of the pedal to hear the engine roar. "Oh, I missed you so much." "Done masturbating now?" "Yeah, lets go find him..." She said dejectedly. She put it in gear and sped off. She looked around to find herself on a dirt road in the countryside. The grains of wheat were blowing in the wind as she drove by. It kind of reminded her of her presidential campaign through Nebraska. The only exception being there were things that caught her eye. Such as the giant city looking like cloud on the horizon. "Hey Kinz, do you see that weird cloud over there?" "I am getting strange readings from it. Matt will update you with what the scans find." "How come I get to do the boring work?" Came the teenage sounding Brit. "Well after CID showed me the picture of me... well you know, I would think that this would be the start of your punishment." "Oh god- CID! I swear if you show my private stuff to other people one more time-!" After arriving at some sort of rural town she stepped out of the car and headed in. From first looks it was absolutely deserted. The only thing around was another one of the aliens race. The thing was fizzling and changing from different colours. Even the gender and appearance was rapidly changing. At first it had a horn, next it had wings, wings and a horn and then nothing. "Uh, Either one of you know what is happening to it?" "I think this is one of the testing simulations. That cloud thing you saw earlier is apart of the sky-box. No way to reach it. And that thing you're looking at is just a placeholder for something." Matt explained. "The sky... What?" "It's best you don't try to explain. I've tried." Kinzie chimed. The Boss rolled her eyes and continued through town. The stands and stores in the market district were completely deserted save for two more spazzing-out programs. Glued onto the walls of some buildings were posters. "Starswirl Appreciation Day..." She read aloud. "And remember, my subjects; Everyday is Starswirl Appreciation Day!" Came a regal sounding voice out of nowhere. "What the- " A giant mob of screaming aliens came screeching out of the alleyways like a crowd of tweens at a boy-band concert. If the boss hadn't been at the side of the street she would have been trampled to death. "Okay where are those going?" "Setting up the marker... now." The end point was just around the block. She sprinted after the crowd to find a even greater mob surrounding a tree. Upon closer inspection the tree looked like a house. The door seemed like a no go as the mob is blocking the ground level. "Kinzie, do you see any way in there?" "Not that I can see. You might have a better way in through the window. She snuck around the back and began climbing. It kind of reminded her of her time in kindergarten. Before the whole... She shook her head. It was a long time ago and it didn't matter. Not now, not ever. The balcony door burst open to a cranky and old looking alien. He was grey with a wizard hat and robe on his back. The Boss was hanging just out of sight to the crowd and to the thing on the balcony. "Blast you all to damnation! Can't you see that I don't want you ponies here!?" it yelled at the crowd. "WE LOVE YOU, STARSWIRL!" A member cried out. "I WANT TO HAVE YOUR FOALS!" The Boss shuddered. She saw what one of the races had for pornography. What she saw required three days straight of booze and cough syrup. She did not want to know what this races mating rituals were. "Fools, all of them..." It walked back in and closed the door. "Maldición... (Damn...)" She pulled herself up onto the balcony. He didn't seem to be anywhere in sight but as she opened the door a blast of energy caught her off guard and sent her crashing into a bookshelf and slumped on the ground. "Gah!" She quickly pulled her pistol out of the void it was housed in and pulled the receiver back. "I don't know who or what you are but if you take another step closer I will send you into oblivion!" The bearded alien shouted with horn lit up. "Ow... How did he do that?" "I did some research and apparently the ones with the horns can perform transmutations, levitation and other such things." Matt explained. "Who said that?! Show yourself!" He sent another blast near The Bosses head. She raised the pistol at it. "Hey! You do that one more time and I swear to god I will blow your head clean off!" "Boss, what are you doing?!" Matt yelled. "Ha! Like that chunk of metal is going to do anything-" She quickly shot at a bookshelf next to him and brought it back to level. The bookshelf had a sizeable chunk of the wood missing and several books were now mere shreds of paper. "...to me" it gulped and de-powered his horn. "Okay, I think you made your point." Kinzie said "Look, what's his name?" "Starswirl." They both said unanimously. "Starswirl, you're locked away in a alien spaceship. The person who kidnapped you is dead and the person who has a gun pointed at your head is the one who did it." The boss gave a little wave. "You're in a simulation based on your worst fear. None of this is real and we're here to get you out." "How do I know this isn't a trap?" "Because have you ever seen a human before?" The Boss put away her gun and crossed her arms. He pondered a moment and finally shrugged. "Well if it can get me out of this nightmare then fine." The cheering and hollering started to sound more zealous from the inside. The downstairs door was being slammed by the outside crowd to gain entrance. "Uh, do they normally do that?" "Yes and I have to run to the next building, then to the next and the next... Sometimes they get hold of me and I wake up in bed. The cycle repeats! It's maddening!" He threw his hooves up "I never wanted to be famous and what happens when I try to make magic spells? This!" The wood was audibly cracking at this point. "I think we should move." She looked at the stairway that was slowly filling with more screams of joy. "Good idea." They both ran towards the balcony and jumped out. Despite Starswirls age he was nimble. Landing without effort while the boss had a hard landing. She was too used to the soft landings her powers gave her in her simulation. "Come on! We need to get to the end of town!" Starswirl yelled out. She picked herself up and ran away from the mob that was chasing them. "COME BACK, STARSWIRL!" "How about no, you pendejos! (assholes!)" The Boss yelled at them. The stampede stopped. They all looked at The Boss with the same dead eyes like in her own simulation. "Dios mío (oh god), not this again." The Boss muttered. "Such foul words." "We don't use that language in Equestria..." "You must be punished..." They kept on running but they now encountered resistance on every turn. The glitching aliens were actually providing more of the fanatics that kept on chasing them. They reached the center of town to find that all avenues were blocked by mobs of aliens. "Now what!?" The Boss yelled. "I'm trying to pull you guys from it but there's a program that isn't letting me." Kinzie was furiously typing away. "I don't know what it is but keep fighting!" "Oh no, Pegasi!" Starswirl cried as a winged alien came close to taking out them both. They both ducked and caused the thing crash into the ground. The Boss pulled out two pistols and began firing away into the charging mobs. They were sent flying as the bullets exploded on impact. "BACK OFF!" She hissed and kept on firing. Starswirl was holding his own. Whatever ability he was using was taking the things out left and right, taking out the flyers before they were able to dive bomb either Starswirl or The Boss. Even though there was a sizeable chunk in the numbers of charging aliens they kept on coming. "I don't think we're going to last to long here!" She called out. "I agree! Do you have a way out?" "Kinzie!" "Something is keeping me from pulling you two out. I'll keep searching, just hold on!" They kept on coming. No end in sight. She looked at the pistols she was firing. Not enough firepower. "Matt, can you bring in the 'Special' weapon?" "The Penetrator?" He asked with a little bit of dread in his voice. "No! God no! The Music Gun!" "Oh." More keyboard clacking was heard and a purple arms-crate with a fleur-de-lis on the lid appeared via red circle. The Boss quickly ran to the crate and pulled out the gun. It was pink with purple racing flames. Several of the knobs and turntables were already spinning. This was her pride and joy. She aimed the gun and held down the trigger. The sliderbars slowly slid to the top of the spectrum and the record started to spin. The initial wubs did nothing but pump her up for what was coming next. "DON'T FUCK AROUND!" The crowds were now dispersing into bits of code faster then ever before. As soon as the soundwaves hit the targets they were blown into a million pixels. She swept the weapon left and right, dispersing the mobs before they were able to even get into the square. She left the flying ones to Starswirl as they fell out of the skies one by one. For the ones that were able to evade the explosives were met with a swift launcher-stock-to-the-knards. The Boss had a wicked grin. She hadn't felt this good in years. That grin slowly turned into a smile. That smile turned into a giggle, maniacal laughter. "Take out those buildings! Create a barrier!" Cried Starswirl. Wrestling with a flyer that decided to get up close and personal. She aimed at the base of the buildings at the end of the streets. The exploding wubs had little resistance against the wood and caused them to fall over. There were a couple of the aliens that were caught in the debris as it tumbled over. "CONSIGA ALGUNO, BEBE, CONSIGA ALGUNO! (GET SOME, BABY, GET SOME!)" she spat at the now retreating crowds. As the last building fell she let go of the trigger. The sliderbars had stopped swaying with the beat and the gun now was only humming the drop. Her heartbeat was thumping along to the tempo as adrenalin was pumping throughout her body. "Huff, huff... WOO!" She threw her hands up in the air in triumph. "Holy shit, Starswirl did you see that? Oh, that was freaking awesome!" "Uh, Boss? I think you have bigger problems right now." She looked up to see a figure come crashing down to the earth. It was as black as night and was much taller than the other aliens as they mostly reached her chest in height. This one was two, maybe three feet taller than The Boss. She had hair that shimmered in the breeze that was like looking into the night sky. "Nightmare Moon..." Starswirl whispered. "Ah, Starswirl. How long has it been since you and my sister had banished me to my own moon? Three years? ” She then grinned. "We've much catching up to do." "Retrocede! (Back off!) He's mine and we're getting the hell out of here." Nightmare paid no attention to the gun pointed at her head. She turned to Starswirl "Stay here, Starswirl." Nightmare said. "I will forgive you, help you with the spells and even get those other ponies to leave you alone. Where is that thing going to take you?" she pointed at The Boss with a hoof. "I... I don't know..." He looked down at his own. "Exactly." "Oh don't listen to this crap. You want out of this hell hole, right? She isn't going to give you anything. None of this is real." The Boss retorted. "If none of this is real then how do you know if she is?" Asked Nightmare. The bomb had been dropped. "Uh... I..." "Okay then you guys we're talking about banishing her on the moon. I don't know the specifics about it but I would think it was for a good reason. Her sounding manipulating and all. Now come on, we're going to bring you back to your home planet. Keep that 'Is this real' crap to when you're out." She grabbed him by the leg and started to drag him away. She stopped when the load got rooted somehow. She looked back to see Nightmare holding onto his hind leg. "He's staying." "How 'bout no!" They started tugging back and forth. Both of them were shouting at each other over who gets to keep him. If anything this was the exact same situation if the other aliens that were chasing them had gotten their hooves on Starswirl. "Gah! This is getting ridiculous!" Starswirl shouted in-between tugs. "You're telling me." Kinzie was most likely face-palming behind her screen. "I think I might have found a way to get rid of her." Matt said as a drop down box appeared in front of The Bosses face. It did little in the ways of deterring her from getting a couple of punches in the way of Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Simulation ver. 0.1.2.33481 Zintech EnterprisesTM. ALPHA TEST BUILD DO NOT DISTRIBUTE. prisoner_PresidentofUS caused 100 points of damage to ent_bitchy_nightmare Enter command: spawn ent_troll_princess Unknown command "Wait, troll princess?" Starswirl was able to slightly break the grip over his mouth just in time to dodge a hoof-shot to the gut. Although it did hit The Boss. ent_bitchy_nighmare caused 200 points of damage to prisoner_PresidentofUS spawn ent_sunraising_princess Ah Ah Ah! You didn't say the magic word. Matt groaned. please A red circle deposited another one of the giant aliens. This one was white but had light coloured rainbow hair. She was completely contrast to the other alien that was standing. "Ah so you've let my sibling join the show, hmm?" "I've come to stop you sister." "Oh that's not cliché at all." Kinzie with her ever-positive attitude. Nightmare let go of Starswirl to get a look at her own sister. She then lit up her horn and cast down a dark bowl shield. "Tia, it's been too long. We need t- Guh!" A swift punch to the face was given to make her tumble to the ground. The boss was quick to jump on and kept pummelling. Nightmare was trying to shove her off but to no avail. "Let. Us. Out. Of. Here. You. Bald. Piece. Of. OH SHIT!" A dark ether was enveloping her, lifting her off of the now bruised Nightmare and was slowly contracting around her neck, forcing out whatever air was in her lungs. "Oh, I don't think so." She chuckled. Two wicked looking black daggers appeared out of nowhere. They were suspended just before The Bosses chest. At least She isn't throwing her around like Zinyak did on Earth. "Grk... If you even think, *gasp* of sticking me with those..." The Boss hissed. "Or what?" She smirked. The Boss pulled an old gangland sub-machine gun up to Nightmares face only for it to be tossed to the side by a dagger. "Say goodnight, Empress..." "It's President you sonofa-" A shattering of glass is heard and the white alien crashed into the dark one. A brutal back-hoof buck to the side. Nightmare recovered from it and fought back exchanging blow after blow. Nightmare gave a devastating crack to her jaw. The white one spat out a bit of blood and wiped some of it off with her hoof, staining her fur around the mouth. They both powered up their horns and started to cast bolts of energy at each other. The Boss saw all of this while trying to recover her breath after nearly being strangled to death. She saw that Nightmare was too occupied to notice Starswirl charge up his own and shoot it at Nightmare. The bolt hit Nightmare and was levitated into the air while her legs were separated as if she were tied to a cross. "This ends now!" Starswirl yelled. The white alien, The Boss and Starswirl stepped up to the immobile Nightmare. On the Bosses face there was only anger and frustration to be had while the others had only contempt. "Sister, For your crimes against the nation of Equestria, I hereby banish you to exile on the moon." "Hmph! You knew as well as I that the moon banishing spell only works once." "Oh, I can help with that!" The Boss yelled at her while pulling out a wooden bat from the void. It was painted the same colours of the American national flag with "All American" burned with craftsmanship onto the shaft. She got into a batting position and gave two quick swings to line up the shot. She then pointed the bat towards the sky. She then wined up the swing and let lose only for a golden ether to envelop the bat and come screeching to a halt. "That is unless you come back to me. We can stop this petty squabbling and rule together as a family." Nightmare looked down at the ground. "N-no!" "I'm sorry it had to come to this then..." Her head shot up to look at the white alien. "I meant yes!" All of them had a perplexed look on their faces. The voice sounded younger and less intimidating then the older body it came out from. "Shut up you idiotic foal!" Nightmare looked down at her chest. "I want to be with my sister you meanie!" "Uh, what's going on?" The Boss looked at the others with a concerned look. It was reflected off of the others as they didn't know either. "YOU AREN'T ME!" Nightmare shouted to the sky. Just then a burst of light came out of her chest. With it came a hoof, another hoof, a horn and then the rest of the body. The alien was deposited onto the ground where she scrambled to the white one. "I-I'm so sorry!" Sobbed the smaller of the winged and horned aliens. She came up and hugged the large white alien. "I never meant for any of this to happen..." "It's okay Luna. It's over..." The white one hugged back. The reunion was interrupted by the sound of cracking knuckles. "Look this little happy moment is good and all but we still have a problem." The Boss said while pointing the end of the bat at Nightmare Moon. "Ah yes..." The white one looked at Nightmare. "Nightmare Moon, have you any last statements before you are banished?" Coming out of the white one it was more of a command then a question. She looked down again, defeated. "The night will last forever." The Boss did her wind up again and was able to land the hit right in the stomach, sending her flying towards the moon itself. She was screaming and trying to get her wings to propel her in another direction but to avail. She did go to the moon though. As soon as she hit the skybox she impacted with the image of the moon, turning her into nothing but bits of code. Starswirl looked at the rain of code. "Hmph..." He turned away without saying another word. The white one looked at The Boss. "I must thank you for this. I'd never think I would see my sister again if it weren't for you." The smaller blue one nuzzled up against her sister, tears still dripping from her eyes. "Although we could not get Nightmare to come quietly, at least we've gotten the thing that matters the most to me back." "De nada (You're welcome). If Matt didn't bring you in I wouldn't think we would have survived." She replied putting her baseball bat over her shoulder. "Oh it was nothing." Matt said. "Well, I guess you two would want out now, is that correct?" The white one asked. "That would be much appreciated." Starswirl said. "Thank you, Princess." A white door popped up out of the ground. Starswirl started to walk into it before he was stopped by The Boss. "This one's for me." She looked up at the night sky. "Kinzie, he's ready to go." "Okay but I should outline how you're going feel when you're out. You're going to be dizzy, tired, sick to your stomach and thirsty. When you get out we're going to be able to get you up to speed with coffee, water and slash or a hot meal. I'm going to go with you being a herbivore, right?" "Yes, I eat plants." He said to the sky. "Also I should mention that we don't all look like cats, unlike our friend here." Matt said. "That hurts Matt. You know the eyes weren't my choice." A red circle appeared below Starswirl. It was slowly enveloping him and would soon deposit his consciousness in his own body. No doubly in some decrepit corner of the mothership. "See you on the other side." The Boss smiled. As soon as he disappeared she made her way to the door. She felt a hoof on her shoulder before she went in. "Before you go could you do me a big favour?" "If it's sex then I don't swing that way. Human or otherwise." The Boss joked. "Do humans always do that?" "No. Anyway, what can I do for you?" "Since this is just a test simulation and a lot of it is unfinished, could you transfer us all to your old one? I can take over from there." "Kinzie?" "I dunno', but we can try." "There we go." The Boss looked at her. "Thank you." The Boss turned away again. "Wait, could you tell me what your name is?" She looked back at the white alien. "You first." "My name is Princess Celestia, my Empress. What is yours?" "I hate when people call me Empress. From now on it's just President. "The Boss turned away towards the door. "As for my name... not telling you..." She said with a smirk and walked in. "Wait!" Celestia called after her but it was too late. The door was gone and there was no trace of the person anywhere. "Damn..." "PRISONER 445, SUBJECT: STARSWIRL THE BEARDED NOW EXITING PRISON SIMULATION 445...." An electronic voice blared over the intercom. The message was repeating to the point of annoyance. "Ugh, can someone turn that crap off?" Shaundi asked. "Way ahead of you." Asha said while smashing a control panel. A shower of sparks caused her to recoil in defence. The alarm ceased and a Zin engineer came into the room looking rather angry. "What in frak are you do-!?" The Boss, Shaundi and Asha all stared angrily at the engineer. "I'm so sorry Empress, I thought one of the underlings had damaged the panels again." "Well one of those things are correct." Asha said, rubbing her elbow. "Again with the Empress thing. PRESIDENT! I am President and nothing more! ¡Dios mío! (My god!)" She yelled at him while her eyes went to mere slits in anger. The engineer bowed and ran out. They all looked at the stasis chamber and rushed to Starswirl when he dropped through the bottom. Shaundi wrapped a damp but warm towel around the shivering form to wipe off the nutrient rich goop that covered him. Asha put a bucket in front of him so that he can throw up in it. "I know this isn't the best of welcomes but welcome back to the real world." The boss said while putting a fingerless-gloved hand out that contained a water bottle. Starswirl snatched it up in his hooves. "Th-thank you." He sipped the bottle slowly, trying to savour it but soon he was chugging it back quickly. The Boss was astonished. She was thirsty when she was out but after being stuck in there for three years you'd think that one bottle wouldn't be enough to quench a thirst that big. She handed him another and that was downed in ten seconds. He looked up after he finished the second bottle. "A-are you two the o-ones that helped me out?" "Nah, these two are friends though." The Boss started. "I want you to meet Shaundi Jezibel and Asha Odekar. These two helped me out with taking down Zinyak." "That was his name?" He looked down and scowled. "Three years of work wasted because of him!" He threw up his hooves. It was a stormy night when Starswirl was doing the normal routine. Experimentation, study and occasional sleep. Celestia didn't like him up late. It kind of reminded him of his own mother. "Starswirl, what did I say about staying up this late?" Celestia said in the doorway. "Not tonight your highness. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough in the magical studies!" he shouted to the ceiling. "Okay but remember to sleep tonight. I don't need you harassing the servants again." He scribbled in his notes. A destiny changing spell, that was the purpose. That way when there was ever a time where Nightmare moon were to return it could be used to change her destiny from oblivion back to peace. He looked at the case next to him. Filled with the artefacts that were used to banish her to the moon. The bearers had all gone their separate ways. Supposedly them being nowhere near the artefacts should let him test the spell. He muttered the words of power and the colours of the gems changed. Sure the sentence didn't sound like it was structured correctly but the effect seemed to have worked. A crack of lightning hit a tree and had opened up a window. "Gah, I told the masons that-" When he looked out the window a red beam of light enveloped him. "What in-!" "Ah, Starswirl... I know this isn't the best of greetings but I'm in a bit of a rush. I need help in a bit of an experiment...." He then blacked out. "... and the next thing I knew I was being chased around a town. If you ponies didn't come and save me I don't know what would have happened." He was eating a plate of rice and beans. There we're several discarded plates around the table. "Huh. Also next time just say people" King said. "So he just abducted you out of nowhere?" Gat put his hand up. "That's the gist of it." He said swallowing another bite. "Man that's bullshit. He had to drag out mine." "Would you mind me asking a question?" Starswirl put down his fork. "Sure, shoot." Kinzie asked. "How come I have not seen a lot more humans on this ship?" Silence filled the room. "Touchy question?" "A bit, yeah." Pierce said. "But you meant no harm. Reason is that our home planet got blown to shit." "Oh... I'm sorry..." He looked down. "Don't be." The Boss said. "I ripped que hijos de puta (that fuckers) head off, spine and all." Starswirl being nervous was an understatement. He was terrified. "Hehe... Surely you joke, right?" "Nope." She pulled out a taxidermied head of Zinyak. On the plaque it read: Bagged: September 2020" and his face was posed to look like he was angry. "Jesus! You kept it?!" King yelled out. "What? He was a giant prick and had it coming." "That's messed man!" "Fine! I'll get rid of it." She reluctantly threw it in a trash receptacle. The janitor that finds it is going to have nightmares for the next couple months. The message incoming light came on The Bosses communicator. The brought it up and a holographic screen appeared in front of her face. There was a Zin standing at attention with a Captains uniform on. "Madam President, we have arrived in orbit around Equis. Shall we begin bombardment?" "When did I say we were invading?" Ever since she was in charge they still haven't gotten the whole 'We're trying to make friends not enemies' thing "No, get a shuttle ready for two. Starswirl and I will be on first." "As you command." He nodded. "You ready to get going?" She asked Starswirl. "Can't keep the Princess waiting." He said, still a bit shocked from the whole experience. Twilight Sparkle was looking through her telescope. Just like every Tuesday night. Always looking at the stars, wondering if there really was life out there. She was scanning the skies, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She was always fascinated by space. She was fascinated by anything new, really. Tonight there was something new. A red object appeared out of nowhere. "What?" She focused on the object and adjusted the zoom. There seemed to be a purple Fleur-de-lis painted on the side. "What." She zoomed in some more and found that there were more appearing in mere seconds. "WHAT." This was bad, her brother prophesied that aliens would invade. He may have been a fan of Sci-Fi but he took it the next step further. We were all fools for not believing him now. "SPIKE! GET A LETTER!" Author's Note Bits: +1000 Respect: +500 Unlocked: HOMIE: The Crew: Fun Shaundi is still stuck in the simulation. We're still working on an android body that can still hate pants and smoke up. HOMIE: Starswirl the Bearded: Unicorn magic for drive-bys! Crib: Zin Mothership: All it needs is a nice coat of purple Character: Real life Boss for use in Saints Row 4! http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/details/126189321730774945 Character: Simulation Boss for use in Saints Row 4! http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/details/126189321731230613 It's always the Everfree, isn't it?The cave was dim as the pony in dark armour marched in, clinking along with every step.. His hood was covering most of his head and cast a shadow over his face. As he walked there were small black jagged extrusions sticking up where his hooves tread. He was on a mission of a diplomatic nature. Although you can use "diplomatic" in a loose nature in this situation. "Yesss..." he muttered under his breath. There were several hisses coming from the shadows. The blue eyes were looking at him, watching, ready to strike at a moments notice. Changelings were fairly territorial and would jump at the chance to protect their queen. The further he traveled the thicker the solid green substance in the hive got. Even the temperature seemed to rise as he continued inward. If it weren't for his spell he would be sweating buckets from the heat. The figure stopped walking when he saw two guards wearing heavy chitin-us armour on and were carrying spears. A more accurate description would be long wooden sticks that are sharp and in no way would be able to damage the lone figure standing before them. "Halt! Who goesss there?!" Shouts one of the guards. "Crystals... Cryst-" He stopped to clear his throat but soon started to cough up a storm, trying desperately to stop. The guard looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "Do you need a glassss of water?" "No -cough cough- Thank you for -cough- the offer. Traveling the Badlands in the midst of a dust storm without a mask was not the best choice." The guard went back to his serious face. "What isss your buisssnessss here, ssstranger?" "I need to see your queen. It is a matter of utmost importance." "Send him in..." Came a miserable sounding voice from beyond the guards. "And stop with the 'sss' thing! It's giving me a migraine!" The two guards looked at each other and nodded him in, not far behind in case of trouble. As they walked in there were two others and a taller one laying in the middle with long blue hair. She groaned. "Is there a problem?" "Nothing, just-" She looked up "Wait, who are you?" "You don't recognize an old friend?" He said pulling his hood off. His eyes we're green and had a dark haze drifting from them. A crown stood atop his head with his horn a bright red. A wicked grin crossed his face, revealing sharp canines that glinted against the lighting in the room. "Sombra!?" She exclaimed as the guards surrounded her, spears pointed at Sombra and at the ready. "You should be dead!" "Oh come now, you didn't think that little explosive fit would keep me down, would you Chrysalis?" "Little? You call being blown to bits little?" "A minor set back. Anyway, down to business. I was hoping you could help me." "With what?" "I'm going to take back my rightful throne. And then? Equis as a whole." She looked at him. Disbelief was painted on her face. "You're mad. There's no way that you can be able to do it as one pony." He chuckled again. "Oh that's where you're wrong. There are lots of ponies, gryphons, dragons and zebras that would just be delighted for there to see somepony new in charge. And you know what? I'm sure after that there would be plenty of love to go around. Almost more than the wedding itself..." Queen Chrysalis thought for a moment. Sure there would be benefits to this but would they outweigh the downsides? After all there was a significant risk of the hive being wiped out as a whole. She couldn't risk her subjects being slaughtered, and if he did succeed then would he just execute her and the hive once their usefulness was through? She shook her head. "No." "No, what?" "I won't do it." He looked down and shook his head. "Well then, I was hoping to do this without resorting to force. But, alas, you leave me with no choice." His horn lit up with a glow of red, forcing up giant versions of the dark crystals that blocked off the entrance to the chamber. Another spell charged and knocked Chrysalis away, tumbling to the ground. A loud crack of bone and a scream of pain came as she fell. "SEIZE HIM!" She yelled to the guards. They all charged at him, frenzied and out for blood at the sight of their queen bring harmed. Sombra was quick to act however, quickly raising his hind hooves and bucking one of them away. Another tried to shove his spear in through one of the cracks of his armour but only succeeded in being disarmed and getting stabbed in the shoulder with blood running down the shaft. Using the spear he did the same to the other two that were charging. "Well then..." He said pulling out a dagger with his magic and walking over towards the downed queen. "I hope there aren't any more interruptions." It shimmered with the same dark haze that came from his eyes. "Because I have a bit of a schedule to keep." He plunged the dagger right into her chest. She screamed as if her entire body was caught on fire and clenched her eyes closed as it remained in there. Sombra pulled it out as quick as it was dug. Chrysalis was still screaming however as something took root within her. The dagger was not covered in blood but the haze was gone. Chrysalis was still writhing on the ground when she forced her eyes open. A solid green colouring replaced the lighter shades, the irises had now turned a dark red and the purple haze drifted from the corner of her eyes. "Don't fight it. There's not much you can do now." Sombra grinned. Chrysalis's screams died down when she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was a smiling Sombra standing over her. "Okay keep coming, keep coming, keep coming... and stop!" Pierce was helping The Boss back one of her cars into the shuttle. She would need it when she touches down to traverse the rest of the way to the palace. "Okay that's transportation, now for gear." She said while pointing towards the armoury. The armoury also doubled as a lab. There were several Zin in white suits doing experiments with various equipment and testing the various weaponry on dummy targets. On various screens there were readouts of the effects of weapons, schematics and concepts that danced about on the holographic displays. When they walked in they were greeted by the lead scientist. "Ah! If it isn't the saviour of the Empire!" She said when The Boss entered. "Que? (Huh?)" The Boss said while raising an eyebrow. "Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have anything to do!" She laughed. "I mean let's face it! I was only making minor tweaks to the standard rifle but then you came along and said 'Hey could you make the weapons that were in my simulation?' and I was all 'Sure!' So I got to work and-" The Boss put a finger on her lips. "Show, don't tell..." she leaned over to Pierce. "She reminds me of Kinzie when she's eyeing the terminals." "I hear that." Peirce whispered back. She brought up a clear suit that ended at the upper thigh and extended to the wrists and placed it on the laboratory counter. "Here is the cut down power armour you requested. The reason why it was chafing was because they were made for Zin to use and it had a silk lining. It should fit under your clothes." She then placed several human weapons on the table as well. "I made these the best of both worlds. Our weapons can hold a lot of shots but they were prone to overheating and didn't fire as fast. Your weapons do the exact opposite. Combine them and bada-bing, you have a nice gun. The kicker?" he pulled the pistol up and fired it at one of the targets in the firing range. The shot impacted and exploded. "Behaves just as you wanted." "Yeah but is ammo going to be an issue while I'm down there?" "Nope. Look here." The ammo clips had a small solar panel on it. "Just leave them out when they're not in use. They even charge at night." Then she put out a sword. It looked like the energy sword but it wasn't glowing. "Touch it." She did and it lit up purple. "It's a sword. Just stick the pointy end in the other guy. Best thing is that it cuts like butter and if someone tries to use it against you?" The scientist grabbed it and it de-powered. The then ran the supposedly sharp end on her wrist. No blood came. "Also your 'special' request." The music gun was put on the table. "Oh my god, yes!" She grabbed it and jogged to the firing range. She held down the trigger and aimed at the dummy target that had a picture of Zinyak taped onto the face. "Raise your fist!" The targets were blown away from their stands. The only thing left was the wooden stubs that were bolted to the ground. "Aww, no explosions..." "We tried to get it to work but it wasn't possible. We did however, add two new settings on it. DnB and Trap." "I can live with that! Thanks... Um... I never caught your name." "Zinthrai." "Thanks Zinthrai, I'll bring you back something, alright?" After a quick change of clothes with the blue under suit beneath her hoodie and jeans she was ready to go. "You ready, Star?" The Boss asked when she strapped herself into the seat. "I have to be honest here. Not to happy to be flying there." He said slightly squirming in the co-pilot seat. "Air virgin?" "Let's just say that Celestia isn't the best chariot pilot." She cocked her eyebrow at the last bit. "Don't worry about it, I know how to fly one of these things." The flight deck attendant waved at her giving the go ahead to take off. She engaged the thrusters that propelled the shuttle off of the black landing pad to go out of the airlock. The engines shifted into flying position and then propelled the ship out and into the blackness of space. The Boss looked at Starswirl. He was over the pre-flight jitters and was taking in the endlessness of space. "Wonderful..." he said under his breath. "Eh." She shrugged. "Eh? This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!" "Not enough explos-" She got a look at the planet and noticed a very peculiar thing. "Why the hell... why is your sun and moon going around the planet?" "Oh, The Princesses raise and lower them during the day. Quite the sight to see!" Starswirl beamed. The Boss put on her headset. "Hey Kinzie, Matt or CID? Why the hell is it doing that?" "I see it." The A.I. CID said. "It has something to do with two of the creatures on the planet. I shall do some more research and get back to you." "While your at it can you check if Big-foot is real? Maybe even- oh wait that is real." She shook her head. She was never going to trust that Voo-Doo priest again after the second time. "Your sarcasm is unbecoming of you." CID said before signing off. "I agree with the floating metal ball." Starswirl sat back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face. "Whatever." She started their descent onto the planet. She continued to descend onto the planet. The map had a red dot on the greenest part of it. "You sure it's there? It's in the middle of a forest according to this map." The boss said double checking it. "I'm sure of it! There must be something wrong with the machi-" He was cut off by the sound of an explosion and subsequent blaring alarms. "What was that!?" He yelled in surprise. The Boss looked at the readout. "Jesus, our left engine is blown!" "Trees!" Sarswirl yelled, pointing out the objects they were going to hit. "Here you go, Angel." Fluttershy said putting down a plate of baby carrots next to the frowning bunny. He looked at the plate and stuck his tongue out at it. "Come on Angel you need to eat them. They help you grow big and strong." She said, nudging the plate closer. The response was him swiping away the carrots on the plate. "Well then. I guess that somepony isn't going to get dessert tonight, is he?" Fluttershy crossed her hooves with a grin on her face. No desert!? This is the worst thing! Nay, the worst thing possible! Fruit sundaes wasted on the bear that only comes to the cottage for food. This shall not be! As the rabbit did his inner monologue he fake-fainted, quickly bringing himself upright. He started to pick up the carrots and shove them into his mouth. His cheeks were stuffed and nearly overflowing. "Ah ah." She scolded. "Chew it." Now the winged crazy wants me to chew it! What hell have I been brought into? He chewed it slowly. His face emulated both disgust and hatred he had for the vegetables in his mouth. It so dry! Garlic dip! I need garlic dip! He was finally able to swallow after many minutes of trying and was heaving at the aftertaste. "See? It wasn't so ba-" A very loud crash tore through the Everfree and was very well heard within Fluttershy's cottage. As soon as it made touch down there was another sound of grinding metal, upturning earth and splintering of trees. She looked out the window. There were bits of debris around the object that was embedded where a large section of trees used to be. There were flames coming from a cylindrical looking device on the back of the red and black vessel. "Oh... my..." She whispered. Okay whatever that was is a lot worse then the carrots... "Grh..." Wake up. "GRH." Wake up, damnit! Shit's on fire! You need to get out! "Ahh!" The Boss's eyes flew open. Smoke, Fire and small explosions were all around her. That was her usual thought process when she wakes up. In her line of work it was usually true like right now. She tried to unbuckle the seatbelt but her arms were caught under a bar of metal. She looked to the side to see Starswirl still blacked out. She tried to push the bar off but it was to wedged in for her to release from her current position. "Sonova..." The then remembered. The suit! Hopefully the scientists were able to replicate the powers in the simulation because one of them was particularly useful in this situation. "C'mon Zinthrai, work your magic..." She focused her mind on the metal. She imagined that it would lift off of her and would be sent through the window. As she did this a great weight was lifted off of her. She opened up her eyes and saw that it was doing exactly as she willed. With a push of her hand the metal was sent flying out of the cockpit and was embedded in a tree. "Yes!" she said in triumph, unbuckling the safety straps to check on Starswirl. He was out cold but he was still breathing. She pulled out a soda can with Saints Flow embossed on the side. A sticky-note with black permanent marker read "Drink only in life or death situation. KEEP AWAY FROM PIERCE." She's going to need the energy right about now. She slammed back the can and tossed it away. "Tiger milk, don't fail me now!" The FDA can suck it. She had all of her weapons on her and Starswirl was still comatose over her shoulder. She needed to get to the cargo bay, get the car and get the hell out. Hopefully her watch didn't get damaged in the crash. She's going to need to make a few calls after this. The cargo bay door was blocked by another bunch of pipes and flaming wreckage. She was able to telekinesis it out of the way and made her way through the flames and the carbon-monoxide. Her coughs were getting more frequent and worse, but she did reach where the car was. She put Starswirl in the passenger seat and went to the door controls. She was rapidly pressing the release button for the door to lower. It started to lower but it then it stopped. "Nonono, c'mon!" She hit the button several more times, hoping it would un-catch on whatever it was stuck on. It didn't budge. She was then forced to try and pry the thing open. Realistically she should have passed out long ago. The only thing keeping her going was near lethal amounts of sugar, taurine and adrenalin. She was making little progress as she was only able to get the door to fit her head out. She was starting to get tired. Her arms weren't able to force the thing back even far enough to get bodies through. "Harry, do something!" Came an outside voice. Wait, who? She looked up to see two giant paws help her open the doors the rest of the way. The sunlight burned her eyes trying to focus on the thing that's helping her. It didn't matter much however. The door was open wide enough to drive the car out. She ran back to the car and revved it up. Her modifications were definitely going to be useful right about now. "Outta the way!" she cried as she burned out her tires to gain speed. She let loose on the gas and tore out of there. Whatever helped her was well out of the way when she gained air on the incline. The car landed with a thwump and a grind as the suspension compensated for the landing. She was quick to put on the brakes when the smoke was starting to clear. She then skidded to a stop in front of some building. She felt tired. Her body felt as if her limbs weighed a tonne. She looked up from the wheel after having her energy crash. There was a single alien and other creatures looking at the car with fear. She stepped out with Starswirl on her shoulder. "I'm looking for the Royal Palace." She was wheezing and felt a pain in her left leg. "Can you point where it is?" The alien was looking terrified. "You... Um, you..." "Can we speed this up? I'm in a bit of a rush" "... have something in your leg." The Boss looked down to see a small metal slab sticking out of her leg, blood dripping from it, staining her jeans. "Oh... How 'bout that?" She started to feel light-headed. The next thing she knew was her on the ground and darkness enveloping her. "What is it?" Rainbow Dash said, inspecting the unknown creature while hovering over the bed that it lay in. "Ah reckin it has somethin' ta do with th' strange red lights in th' sky last night." Applejack said while looking over her face. She was perplexed at the face paint that it was wearing. "And ah have no clue as to why it had 'nother pony with it." "Do you think it's gonna try and take over the world?" "Nonsense! Ah mean... Shucks, Ah don't know." She shook her head. "I do like its fashion sense. That sweater and whatever it's wearing on its legs, ohh it would look marvellous with the right accessories" Rarity said while examining the scraps of denim that were on the bench next to the bed. "It needs it's rest, so I suggest that you, Pinkie Pie, stop trying to throw a party for it." Fluttershy said while putting another antiseptic strip on the wounded leg. Pinkie was balancing on a stack of boxes to put up streamers "C'mon! It needs to be welcome!" She looked at the thing in the bed. "Does it like cupcakes? I hope it likes cupcakes 'cause seriously, who doesn't like cupcakes? I mean I knew a stallion from Manehatten and he absolutely hated them so I had to-" Pinkie was interrupted by the sound of groaning. The Boss opened her eyes to find five new alien faces. "SUPRI-" A pink alien was about scream but now had a mouthful of hoof to shut her up. "Wha-" She started as she tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by the five. "Whoa there, sugarcube. You've been out for a while." The one with the hat said. "How long?" "'Bout a day and if Fluttershy didn't come get us you might have bled out right there." The rainbow haired one explained. She removed the pillow. "Alright, which one of you is Fluttershy?" "Um... that would be me..." the timid looking one said. "Guess I owe you then." "Oh it was nothing." She said, slightly blushing. She sat up and looked around. The bearded alien was nowhere in sight. "Where's Starswirl?" "Right here." The alien said when he entered the doorway. "Quite the nasty spill you took. But if it weren't for you I guess I would have died." "Oh thank god, I thought I'd be down a shuttle for nothing." She said jokingly. Starswirl only rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I guess that we should go." "Wait, where?" The Rainbow one asked "I'm here to return him." She said while shifting to the side of the bed and pointing at the grey pony. The others looked at her with confusion. "It's a long story. Don't really want to explain." "Um, not to impose or anything but you did crash from space and had a giant chunk of metal jutting out of your leg." The white one pointed out. "Believe me, I'm fine." "Are you sure-" The Boss looked at the white coloured alien with a look of seriousness. "Okay, I know you don't know anything about me but I've been shot, stabbed, broke many a bone, bruised, burned, got caught in a boat explosion that put me in a coma for about three years, give or take, got caught in many more explosions after that, I even got hit by a plane mid-air! I think, think, loosing a bit of blood is the least of my problems." They all seemed taken aback by the history snippet they were given. "Wow." The rainbow one rubbed her hoof on the back of her head. "Guess I can't complain about breaking my wing anymore." She pushed her covers aside and stood up. Her legs were still trying to get readjusted after having a whole day of not moving them. On her thigh was bandages stained with blood and gauze. It was numbing at the least and wasn't hurting to the point of screaming, so that was a plus. She looked at her clothes. They were tattered, burned and blood stained. "What I wouldn't give for a Planet Saints right about now." She said aloud. "I can help you with that!" The white one said cheerfully. Getting The Boss in the building was a bit hard to do as there were many other aliens trying to get a look at the crash and they had to hide the car in Fluttershy's shed. The guards stationed there were already on the scene and were investigating. They had to sneak her out in a rug in the back of a wagon. At least on the rest of the way they were able to introduce themselves to The Boss. Carousel Boutique was what it said on the tin. There were many mannequins mimicking the forms of the aliens that the clothing was made for and many shelves were stocked with various articles of clothing and sewing supplies. There were many mirrors around the ground floor to the point where The Boss could see her cat eyes no matter where she looked. "You know I never caught your name." The white one said as she was taking a measurement of The Boss's left leg. "Yours first." "My name is Rarity." Her voice had a bit of flair in it when she got to the name. "Jeeze, does everyone have a whacked-out porn star name?" The Boss muttered. "What?" Rarity looked at her with a cocked brow. "What?" "So what's your name?" She went back to measuring various bits of cloth. "That's on a need-to-know basis." "So that means...?" "If the universe is ending and you need to know my name, I'll tell you." "Do you never tell ponies your name?" Ponies... That's what they're called... Still a bit weird. "If by ponies you mean people, then no. Just call me Boss. Everyone else does." When she worked it was mostly one-sided small talk as The Boss was rather silent. After a bit of stitching, measuring, ironing, dyeing and more stitching it was finally done. For some reason The Boss felt irritated on various places of her body. "Well what do you think?" Rarity asked. The Boss looked down at the clothing. It was a long dress that reached down towards her ankles. It had frilly pom-poms on the shoulder and a purple sash down the left side of her chest. "Uh..." there was an itch on her leg. Her leg started to itch. Really bad. She remembered back to her time in office. At first they were iffy about her wearing jeans to Department of Defence meetings. She was allergic to anything that wasn't full cotton or denim. Many a meeting was ruined when everyone heard very loud scratching and saw an errant twitch on her face. Only then they started letting her wear jeans. "Are you okay?" Rarity asked when she started scratching her thighs furiously. "Dios- What is this made of?" "Oh, just silk." "Oh my god, it's like I'm wearing fire ants." Her knees were now in full itch mode. "I can makes some adjustments if you-" "I would be more appreciative if you just fix the other clothes." "But those are too-" "Anything but this!" A loud crash was heard from the upstairs room. "What was that?" Asked The Boss. Silence there after. They both looked at each other. Rarity was the first to speak up. "Sweetie Belle? Are you up there?" No response. "I thought she went to sch-" The windows broke as six different aliens jumped in armed with swords, daggers, hammers and crossbows. Four of them were of the average winged and horned lot while the other two looked like a cross between a lion and a eagle. Their eyes had a dark haze coming from them, their pupils glowing red with rage. "Get the element bearer!" One of the lion-eagle-mixes yelled to the others. "We need her alive!" "What about the other thing!?" "Kill it! I don't care!" The leader yelled again. "Oh come on!" The Boss yelled as she pulled back her arm to let loose a ball of ice that engulfed the leader, confining him in solid ice. The others only took one look at the ice to realize the bigger threat in the room and charged at her. The first one tried to do a running lunge of its sword into the stomach of The Boss. She countered with kicking the flat side of the sword to knock it out of its hooves. He tried to scramble for it but was met with a brutal punch to the throat. The remaining eagle-lion mix and another rushed her as well. They both swung with war hammers but The Boss was able to duck and roll behind them. A loud crack was heard when one of the hammers got stuck in the wooden paneling of the wall. The other threw the wielder off balance and onto the ground. The Boss followed up with kicking the one over onto it's back and going to town. "WHY. DOES. EVERY. ONE. ATTACK. ME. WHEN. I. TRY. TO. SHOP!?" She yelled when she was curb-stomping the would be assassin into the tiled floor. "HELP!" Rarity cried. The Boss looked up to see she was fending off the attacker with a roll of fabric. "Lady, you are making my job horrible right now!" He said while trying to put a net around her. "Well good!" She shouted hitting him again with the roll. The Boss took one of the war hammers and used it as a miniature pull-vault to deliver a drop kick into the face of the winged pony. He was propelled out of the window and landed in a thorn bush. The other war hammer wielder came up from behind with a vertical swing. Both Rarity and The Boss were able to duck out of the way to see one of the shelves crumble on impact. He readied up for another blow but by the time he had it over his head The Boss had her shotgun pressed against her shoulder. "Adios! (See ya!)" "What-!?" With a single pull of the trigger a loud boom ringed throughout the building. The attacker was blown away and landed against the wall. It slinked down with smearing blood stains on the wall paper. She looked to the side to see the last one readying a cross-bow bolt aimed right at her. She took aim and fired at the would be attacker. He was knocked back into a row of mannequins. The Boss came up out of her crouched position. She looked at Rarity to see that she was pretty shaken up. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You killed them..." she muttered. " It was in self defense. What did he mean by element bearer?" "T-the elements of harmony. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack are bearers of them as well." She explained. "Shit, that means that there could be other groups where they are. Where are they?" "Pinkie should be at home, Fluttershy and the rest were together, headed toward Applejacks farm..." She started muttering to herself. "You okay here then?" "Just go." "You sure?" "Go!" She sprinted out of the front door. She was stopped by two guards and she told them the situation. "Wait, who and what are you?" The guard asked before she sprinted off. "I was in that thing that crashed the other day!" "What?!" "I'll explain later, just check on her!" After a few seconds her suit kicked in and she was running a lot faster than before. As she ran, posters and decorations fell off of their intended positions as dust was kicking up behind her. "Okay, if I were a pink ball of pure sugar and ADHD, where would I live?" She looked around as she ran. She slid to a stop when she found a giant gingerbread house. The sign out front said "Sugarcube Corner." "Bingo." She smirked. There was cake and unconscious bodies everywhere. Icing was covering the walls so thick that if you were to push your index finger into it you would have frosting on your knuckles and wouldn't be able to touch the wallpaper. She was careful to step around the bodies. They were writhing in pain. All of them were wearing the same armour that the others wore when they attacked the Boutique. The culprit was busy loading up another shot into her cannon. "You take one step closer and I'll-" She then took a look and realized who it was. "Oh hi there, Boss!" "How did you know-" Boss started but was cut off by the pink pony that was now staring her in the face. "Silly, it was a couple of paragraphs back!" "Wha-?" Before she was even able to get her thought out she noticed Pinkie go stiff and started to twitch violently. Her pupils dilating rapidly and limbs fidgeting. "Dios, now it's having a seizure." "Oh no! Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are in trouble! You need to get there!" "How do you even know that?!" "No time to explain, you need to go!" The Boss tried to raise a finger to ask what was wrong with her but was being shoved out by the pink pony. The suit had done her good so far, allowing her to reach the orchard far faster than any of the guards were able. From a rooftop she was able to see there was at least twenty to twenty-five other aliens attacking the three. Fluttershy was too scared to do anything yet Applejack and Rainbow were handling themselves just fine. Applejack was using a lasso to disarm the ponies that were charging their position while Rainbow was dive bombing the unsuspecting ones. "What in tarnation is with you ponies!? Leave us be!" Applejack yelled to the attackers while bucking a hoof into the beak of a mix. "Back off feather-brains!" Shouted the rainbow blur. They were getting overwhelmed and The Boss could see it. She needed to act. Now. She gave a running start and gave a mighty leap. Using the suits glide ability she flew over to the middle of the crowd and readied her foot for a gigantic stomp. One of the attackers looked up to see a size ten sneaker come down on his face. The others were sent flying, the shockwave knocking them to the side. "How 'bout that?" The Boss said while getting up off her knee. The remaining ones that weren't knocked out got up and tried to attack all at once. "Crazy bit-ghak!" A rope was now rung around his neck as he was pulled back. "Oh no ya don't!" Applejack said through her teeth. Another attacker went for a slash at the throat but he was caught from the side by another dive bomb. The Boss started to pummel away the remaining two with flails of punches and kicks. One was missing most of his teeth with a broken nose while the other wouldn't be able to walk straight for a good week or so. When the dust settled there were many unconscious bodies as they were strewn about the pathway to the orchard. The Boss was holding onto on of the attackers necks until she caught her breath and let it go. "Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked. "Yeah... I'm good..." Rainbow Dash said when she landed. "Who were these guys?" Asked The Boss kicking over a unconscious body to get a better look. "Ah have no clue." Rainbow Dash looked to the hillside to see a lone figure standing and watching. "Who's that?" She asked only to see it dart off in the direction of the forest. "It's getting away!" Applejack called after it. The Boss started to sprint after it. Her suits speed was no match for the figure who was trying to get away. As she got closer it looked more and more like the mixes that she had fought earlier. It gave a look back to see that The Boss was gaining on her. She stopped to try and take off. "Oh don't think you can get away that easily!" The Boss grabbed its tail and pulled it down. It landed with a thud and a yelp. She then kicked it over onto it's back and held her foot on its neck. It tried to claw her way free but she added pressure to the neck. The Boss looked up to see the rest of the group run up to her and the prisoner. "Get up." She said while pointing the barrel of an SMG to the back of it's head. "Slowly." Rainbow Dash got up close to it. Her eyes then widened in surprise. "Gilda?" The prisoner looked up at Rainbow, eyes shimmering with the same purple haze that the others had. "Well if it isn't Celestias errand girl. How's it like being a slave?" "What?" Gilda chuckled. "I'm guessing Celestia hasn't told you about my Lord Sombras return." "T-that's impossible! He-" Applejack started "Exploded? Quite the explanation actually..." "Yeah? Well you're going to tell it to whoever's in charge." The Boss held her head back to look at her. "How are you going to get to Canterlot then? We've taken out all means of escaping." She chuckled... "Have you now?" The Boss smirked The gang was all gathered at the shed. Applejack had Gilda hogtied as they placed her in the trunk of the car. There was a bit of resistance due to the fact that one was "Okay, you break the speakers back there I will cut your tail off." It was the last thing she said before closing the trunk on her beak. "Death to the false ruler!" was Gildas muffled cry with several thumps against the metal of the trunk. "So, where were you?" The Boss asked the grey pony, ignoring the subsequent thumps from the trunk. "Being questioned by the guards. They said that they have never heard of me! Feh!" he scoffed "The one time that I want someone to recognize me, they don't." Everyone piled into The Boss's car. The Boss at the helm, Starswirl was riding shotgun while the rest were crammed in the back. The sixth of their group was at the castle where the princess lived, as the pink one, in one long breath, explained. "Is there anyway to move your seat up?" Rainbow asked trying to adjust the position of her hooves. "Nope." She put the engine into gear, speeding off towards the forest. Applejack looked out the window. "Uh, Ah don't think that yer goin' the right way." "Nonsense!" Starswirl interjected. "I remember this place like the back of my hoof." When she pulled into the pathway of the forest and continued onward. The ones in the back looked a little uneasy being in the greenery, not really looking out of the window. She drove through the forest until the trees got to thick for the car to pass. There was no sign of any sort of castle or even a brick house. "Then again she could have moved in the time that I was away...." It took an hour by train to get there, Rarity said, but the walking path that they were driving on took about three at the speed they were going. They had to go slow on the winding mountain path. Rarity had regained her composure and was now patching up The Bosses old clothes out of repayment for saving her life. She had realized it was either them or their own life and The Boss had chosen the only solution. The only time The Boss was able to speed is when it was relatively straight but even then it had a the giant risk of the car tipping. The five other passengers were looking rather irritated being squashed in the back seats. "Rainbow, get your hooves off my tail! You are scuffing it!" Rarity said trying to shove her hooves away. "Well I wouldn't be if somepony adjusted the seat a little!" "Dios- You've been whining about it for two hours." The Boss equally had enough. "For a good reason!" "Well learn to deal with it." She paused to adjust her glasses. "'Cause you know I can send this thing flying off a cliff." "You're bluffing." Dash said with a stern look. "Am I?" She put it into high gear and pressed hard on the gas pedal. The engine roared as the fuel was injected into it and the needle on the speedometer was now bordering on the two hundred mark. The passengers were screaming at the top of their lungs as they were getting very close to a cliff edge "She's not bluffing, SHE'S NOT BLUFFING!!" "You gonna stop complaining then?" "YES! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, YES!!" she screamed. "Alright then." She slowly put on the brakes and the screaming came to a stop as the car did. There was a audible crumble from the dirt falling off of the edge of the cliff. "Madam, you are mad." Starswirl was struggling to regain his composure. "People have called me a lot worse." She put it back into gear and drove off. They had reached the capitol in due time. The rest of the element bearers had exited the car to explore the city and to stretch their legs and wings. But in reality it was so they could get away from the crazy person that brought them there. The Boss and Starswirl then continued their way to the castle, greeted along the way by confused, staring ponies. "- and there are refugees pouring into the border cities from the Gryphon Republic and most of our surrounding nations. Most reports are saying that their leaders have gone mad with power! Even siding with Sombra, himself!" The three princesses and one empress were listening attentively to the generals as they assessed the situation. To be frank it looked bad as they could be attacked on all sides at a moments notice. "Even with the battalions that had rebelled from the various countries, we're still outnumbered." One said as he was looking at the map, crossing out various forts that have cut ties with their respective nations. "Cadence how is thy army faring?" Luna asked glancing over to here while keeping her focus on the maps. "We aren't as numerous but we will provide troops as we can." Celestia wasn't looking at the maps but at her protégé. Stress and concern was plastered on her face as they were assessing the situation. Only a few weeks since the coronation and her first task is to help with a war that could threaten the fate of the entire world. "I guess it was either sooner or later..." she said under her breath. "What was that?" One of the generals pulled her head out from the maps. "Nothing, I am just thinking out loud." She looked over at Twilight again. "Could I talk to you in the other room?" "Yes, Princ- I mean yes Celestia, you can." Twilight was trying to get on terms of calling her by her proper name. The servants exited the room as they entered. They walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. They could see the various guardsmen doing drills, practicing magic, target practice and other various exercises. Celestia sighed. "I know this wasn't what you had in mind for your first duty as princess." Twilight didn't say anything. She stared at the ponies in training down below. Pretty soon, she thought, they would be giving their lives in the protection of their county and their princesses. Celestia looked down then back at her. "Twilight, I'm sorry." "Don't be. This is all my fault." "But this wasn-" Celestia started. Twilights face turned into a scowl. "I should have made sure that he was gone for good. If I had even gave the second thought that-" "Hey! You two up there!" somepony called. "I'm trying to get in but apparently I need a invitation?" "I'm sorry but-" Celestia looked down to see a creature that was completely alien to her. She might even be one for all she knew. The rest of the guardsponies were staring the strange metal carriage that she stepped out of. "Um, not to impose but who are you?" The creature looked around at the ponies staring back at her. "I'll tell you if you let me in!" she shouted. "I came to bring something back to you, plus an added bonus!" She went to the behind of the carriage and popped open a trunk that was built into it. "Let go of me!" The sound of that set the two princesses on edge. The creature dragged out a gryphon in full leather armour. "I don't know if word had reached you guys yet but there was a bit of an attack on one of your towns to the south." The gryphon flailed and tried to get herself free, only to stop with a kick to the back of the neck. "Led by this pinche cabron (fucking asshole), right here." "There was an attack? Why haven't we heard of it yet? Is everypony alright?" Twilight asked the creature. "I handled it, don't worry. Now can you let me in? The one by the anvil is giving me a weird look." The four alicorns and one human were sitting at a round table filled with various foods ranging from vegetables, fruits, some sort of alcohol and pastries. Seeing how they didn't know what The Boss ate the cooks had to wing it. "So your civilization were the ones behind the red lights in the sky?" Twilight had asked while the boss was putting a deviled egg on her plate. "I wanted it to be changed to purple but the captains were all; 'No, we have to keep them red. It strikes fear into the enemy.' And I was all, 'Screw that, they're gonna be purple with bitchin' racing stripes.'" She was greeted with stares of confusion as she rambled. Luna leaned over towards her sister and whispered "What are 'bitching racing stripes?'" "I think those are what Cadence tried to put on her chariot." Celestia whispered back. Cadence only coughed in response. "Um, I don't think that you have properly introduced yourself." Twilight said, trying to change the subject away from the less important things. "Oh, let's see..." She muttered. "Most people call me The Boss. I guess you can too. If we're going for titles then I'm President of the USA and Empress of the Zin Empire." "So wait, why didn't you send somepony else to give whatever it is back?" "'Cause I don't like being cooped up in a spaceship with little to nothing to do." She said. Twilight was about to ask her another question until The Boss spoke again. "I know what you're going to ask and yes I do have a name. It's just..." She didn't really know how to explain it. "Trust issues I guess..." The Boss shook her head. "I'm getting off topic. Les' get down to business." She motioned for someone to enter the room. "C'mon in, Star!" The grey and bearded pony stepped into the dining room. As soon as he did the two eldest princesses fainted out of shock, them now lying on the floor. Twilight was looking at them in horror, trying to comprehend why the two princesses are now lying comatose. "Uh, w-who are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm, uh, Starswirl. Starswirl the Bearded." There were now three comatose princesses and another one calling for a medic. "Wait, why are there four princesses?" He asked himself. Can we just say this is like one of those filler missions at the beginning?Pierce was tapping a pen against the table he was sitting at. Every now and again he would glance over at the comm-terminal, expecting The Boss to check in. The rest of the crew was keeping themselves busy, either writing things down on a data pad or fixing various forms of equipment. "Guys?" The rest of the crew looked up to meet Pierces gaze. "Should we go down there to get her?" Gat went back to cleaning his gun. "I know the gal. She's fine." "But she did say she would check in, right?" PIerce asked. "She's jus' taking a break." Gat said. "I mean hell, she needs a vacation from bein' all diplomatic and stuff. I mean who knows what she could be killin' down there... Maybe a dragon?" "Are they going to be okay?" Cadence asked the pony dressed in doctors garb. He lifted the hoof of Celestia and looked at his watch, monitoring her heartbeat. "Zhey should be up by ze end of ze day. Just make sure zhey are not spooked in anyway." "Thank you, Doctor Cross, you may return to your duties." "As you vish." The white pony bowed and stepped out of the room with medical case in tow. Cadence sighed and turned to face Starswirl. "Who are you exactly?" "I could ask you the same thing." He said, slightly sizing up the alicorn standing in front of him. "The last time I was here, there was only one Princess." "Wh- How long were you gone?" She was baffled at that statement. "She said it was three years." He responded, pointing at The Boss. The Boss was sitting on a chair reading a book on creature anatomy, shutting out the outside world with large over ear headphones. Her head was bobbing to the music she was listening to. The book had a skeleton of a earth pony standing next to a skeletal changeling, zeebra, gryphon and dragon going from smallest to largest in size. She turned the book and her head to the side, letting a three page spread dangle towards the floor. "Damn, that big?" She inspected the image closely until dismissing it with a simple "Meh." "Boss! I asked you how long he was away!" Cadence yelled at her. Still no response. She rolled her eyes and lit up her horn. The headphones lifted off of The Bosses head, letting loud electronic beats bellow into the room. “Dios- What?” “I asked you how long has he been gone." She then repeated. "Oh." She looked up to the ceiling in thought. "Uh, the file said three years." "Okay, then before you got foalnapped, was there anything that happened that was of, say..." She was trying to find the right words. "Importance?" "The banishment of Nightmare Moon was a week before that." Cadence blinked. "Uh... Wow. Um, Boss? Would you like a tour of the palace?" "Eh, I've seen all I need to see." She said and went back to her book. It was lifted out of her hands an placed on the shelf. "I insist." Cadence had taken The Boss through various wings. The gardens, kitchens, living quarters... The only reason she did was to get away from the knocked-out Princesses and current time-bomb-if-told-the-truth, Starswirl. "So this is the Royal Library. It hold some of our most oldest-" Cadence was explaining until The Boss stopped in her tracks and pulled Cadence into a corner next to the history section. "Okay, cut the bullshit. What did you want to talk to me about?" It was less of a question and more of a demand. Cadence sighed. "Look, Starswirl has been gone for... One thousand years." "What? The file-" "I know what the file said and it's wrong." Cadence interjected quickly. "If he was gone for a thousand years, he should be dead." The Boss explained. Cadence looked at her. "I know your race has superior technology compared to ours. I'm sure you can expand the life of a pony and I'm also sure that you keep records of ponies in some sort of ledger. Can't you find it right now?" "Oh... Shit. Didn't think of that." She looked down at her watch. She pressed a button on the left side of the face that brought up a red holo-screen. "Wow..." Cadence brought up a hoof to try and touch the projection. She only succeeded in obstructing the projection and The Bosses view. She swatted the hoof away and mumbled various curses while trying to bring it up. After swiping through the various files on the database it was brought up with his anatomy and various information. "See?" The Boss said while pointing at the key bit of information. "Three years." Cadence read through it. "Last updated... 997 years ago..." The Boss never checked those listings. "Oh shi-" "A THOUSAND YEARS!?" A voice exclaimed, ringing throughout the palace. They both looked at each other and sprinted towards the infirmary again. When they burst in they found Celestia up and trying to calm down a fuming Starswirl. "YOU!" He pointed at The Boss. "YOU SAID IT WAS THREE YEARS!" "Hey, there's a good explanation for-" The Boss started, only to be smacked with a hoof. "Okay, I kinda' deserved that." "Kind of? You think being 997 years off makes you 'kind of' deserve it!? I was locked in a hell-hole with no hope of rescue and you could not even bring you brains together to check a date!?" Starswirl's teeth were so barred that they could have cracked from the pressure. He wanted to scream. The only thing he let his anger out on was that tacky vase on the counter next to the bed. He picked up the vase and threw it at the wall with a blood-curdling scream. When it impacted with the wall it shattered into many pieces. As soon as the shards fell a silence enveloped the room After a good few moments he spoke. "I need to be alone." He walked right out without another word. The silence still remained. It was awkward to say the least as the two alicorns and one human only glanced at each other every moment or so. "I'll go check on him." The Boss decided and walked out of the room. A groan came from the lavender alicorn as she brought her head up from the pillow. "Wha- What happened?" Starswirl, after an hour of searching, came to sit in front of a headstone in the graveyard. He read through the engraving: Here lies Starswirl the Bearded. Strong Pony, Loyal Student. May He Forever Rest In Peace In the hooves of our Creator He only sighed. "At least she didn't forget about me." "Hey." Greeted a voice from behind him. He turned his head to see The Boss sit down next to him. "Look I'm sorry about-" "Don't be. This was Zinyak's fault." Looked at the grave and sighed again. There was a silence between them that let the sound of the gardens fill the void. It was much more pleasant than indoors. It had a calming effect that let them be alone with their thoughts. "So you're not mad anymore?" The Boss asked as she stood up from the grass. "No. Just tired. I've had a long trip in my own personal hell-hole. I'm glad to be back." He got up. "A lot has changed, though. At least I'm not as famous as I was." "Y'know, you never told me about that." They both started walking along the path back to the palace. "I created spells. There wasn't a problem that couldn't be fixed without a little ingenuity and this." He tapped his horn with his hoof. "I got me a lot of praise from the populace. I liked knowing that I was leaving a positive impact on the world but it got out of hand, quickly as well." He sighed. "After I solved a major flaw in a spellcasting system, I was in every newspaper around the country. Everypony could recognize me going down the street and would want me to sign their books." "I've been there." The Boss agreed "I had almost every fanboy on me since one of my friends put me in a comic book." She shook her head. "I was the Twenty-third Commandant of the Saints Fleet in Gangsters in Space, issue twelve. Now thinking about it, it's kind of ironic." She chuckled. "Out of curiosity: What was your simulation?" "I was placed in a hell-hole where everything was determined for me. No control what-so-ever. People who weren't there were laughing at the most mundane things I did and everyone had a painted-on smile on their face." "That sounds horrible. What was it?" "Fifties sit-com." The jingle of "Leave it to the Saints" played in her head. It made her shudder. As they continued walking towards the palace The Boss heard something in the air that was not one of the things she heard when she first came in. The flap of rather large wings. The Boss stopped. "D'you hear that?" "No, why..." He turned his head and let the "Y" drag as his voice slurred. His eyes widened in shock at the sight. The Boss turned around to see a swarm. The creatures that were flying were lizards with wings, all of them were in various sizes and various dark shades of colours. All of them heading toward the castle, beating their large, leathery wings. "What the fuck are those!?" She yelled while pointing at the oncoming swarm of reptiles. "We must inform the Princess!" he replied and started to gallop off. "The fuck are they!?" She repeated as they sprinted. "I kind of need an answer!" "Dragons!" Shouted a guard as they passed, barking orders at the other stationed sentries. "Dios- Who would want to live here!?" Spike the Dragon has seen a lot in his lifetime. Only a baby dragon and he has seen the fall of Nightmare Moon, the reformation of Discord, the banishment of Queen Chrysalis (or at least he would like to think he was there for most of them) and had assisted in the second destruction of Sombra. Suffice to say, he's seen a lot of shit in his life. On this particular day he was not expecting another dragon migration. Especially one in the direction of Canterlot. At least he wasn't in a maid outfit to see it. "Hey Twilight, do dragons have two migrations in a lifetime?" He asked as he looked out of the study-room window. "Only when something really bad happens in the Dragon Lands. Why?" Spike pointed to the oncoming swarm of dragons. They ranged from all different shapes and sizes but there were only a few of the really big ones. When Twilight turned to face the window her jaw could have disconnected itself from her face, grow arms and legs and then have commit Seppuku due to not knowing how to properly react to this. "Didn't they travel east last time?" Spike wasn't paying attention to her as she bolted out of the room. "Twilight?" He looked back to see a stack of papers fall where the Princess once stood. "Twilight!" He called and ran after her. Starswirl and The Boss ran down the many corridors that made the palace. Only the squeaks of The Bosses sneakers and the clop of Starswirls hooves were audible in the hallways as they ran. All of the guards patrolling were now stationed on the walls that surround the palace. The throne room is just ahead. There were more guards in this room than any other. Halberds at the ready, willing to die to protect their Princesses. "Princess Celestia! There are-" Starswirl started. "- Dragons on the way to the castle!" Twilight finished. They both looked at each other. Twilight had come in from another door on the other side of the room with Spike on her back. Twilight's eyes lit up from seeing her idol in the flesh. Although The Boss and Starswirl acted right away as they saw the miniature dragon. "Spy!" Starswirl cried and launched a bolt of energy at the purple dragon. With a cry the dragon stood stiff and fell to the ground. His body was unable to move as a feeling of numbness enveloped him. "Spike!" Twilight cried and rushed over to see if he was okay only to be shoved aside by The Boss. "Okay culero (asshole), you're going to spill as to why they are attacking and you might walk away alive." The Boss levelled a pistol in his face. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he could quite tell what would happen if she were to pull the trigger. "He's with me!" She shoved the pistol away as she dispelled the paralysis effect. "How do you know he's not been snitching this whole time?" "Because I was there when he first hatched!" Twilight exclaimed. "Enough!" Everyone turned to face Celestia. She cleared her throat before continuing. "The Boss and Starswirl were not aware of Spikes allegiance. I urge both of you to use caution before throwing accusations around." "I am sorry, Princess." He then helped up the small dragon. "I am sorry to you, as well." "No biggie." He replied. "You are forgiven." She then looked at The Boss and coughed slightly. "What?" "You are forgetting something." "Chica (Girl), I didn't get where I am today by saying sorry." One of the generals came up to the throne and kneeled. He only raised when Celestia gave the order. "Your highness, the ballistae are in position. We may fire on your command." Celestia looked at the oncoming swarm. "No." "Pardon me your majesty, but what!?" "This isn't an attack. They are too disorganized for them to mount any kind off offensive." "Then what are they doing?" "Fleeing." "What would they be..." The realization had hit the general. "No..." "No, what?" The Boss asked. "How would he be able to even get to the dragon lands, let alone set foot inside?" Twilight asked. "I have not told their leader of his fall. Back then he was allied with the dragons. Since the Crystal Empire vanished, they all assumed that he died along with it. They could have let him in with open hooves." "Who died along with what?" The Boss asked. She still got no answer. Starswirl was looking as confused as her. "But how would he be able to get the Zebras and Gryphons on his side? I know for a fact that they hate him." Twilight asked. "I don't know how-" "COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN AS TO WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?" Everyone stopped and looked at The Boss. Her scowl unnerved even the most hardened of the Generals. Even Cadence who had just come into the room felt as if she had walked into an angry Ursa Majors den. Celestia sighed. "I am speaking about King Sombra. A tyrant from a long time ago." "What!?" Starswirl exclaimed. "He should be-" "Dead. I don't know why but he is back." She looked back out of the window. "Thousands of years ago he was ruler of a Empire, the same one that Cadence now rules over. With an iron hoof he enslaved the entirety of its citizens and spread hatred and fear all through the lands." Next to the throne lay a glass case with a single crystal. Celestia's horn lit up and plucked it from it's stand within the case and gave it to The Boss to examine. "My sister and I intervened, turning him to shadow and encasing him in the ice of the north. Not before cursing the Empire to vanish into thin air. He came back the first time and my student and her friends had defeated him almost a year ago." "I'm guessing he wants something? I've dealt with those types before." The Boss stated. 'Too many times' She added on in her head. "World domination. He has already corrupted the hearts and minds of the leaders of our surrounding nations. If the Crystal Empire falls... then there is no hope of resisting him." "Wait, what's so special about the Crystal Empire?" She then remembered that Cadence was in the room. "No offence." "None taken. The Crystal Empire spreads love and joy to the creatures of the world. Without it we would all be hate filled husks of beings that can't tell their heads from their plots." "That's... a blunt way of putting it." Twilight commented. "I call it how I see it." Another Guard came into the room. "Princess Celestia, the rest of the dragons have stopped while a lone one has landed at the gates. It says it wishes to speak with you." The dragon was swiftly brought to the palace with a entourage of guards. When it got into the throne room it was obvious that it was weary from the journey. Draped in it's hood and cloak it clutched many scrolls and bottles that contained liquids of unknown origin. It had a limp in its step as there was a wrapped bandage around the ankle of it's scaly leg. It kneeled with a shaky leg as he approached the throne. "What business do you have with your..." Celestia looked out the window to see the rest of the swarm either flying around the outskirts or lying around on the grass, scratching the surface to find gems to make a mini-hoard or to eat. "Unexpected visit?" The figure removed its hood to reveal the rest of it's head and in turn, it's face. "My name is Kal'rhee. I am sorry for any inconvenience that the brood gives but I bring word from the dragon lands. It is about our Broodmother." The dragon had said. "Of Elisif? How is she?" She was already expecting the worst news. "Dead." The news stunned and shocked the ponies in the room. Celestia knew her well. They were able to make some of the first dragon/pony relations work. Although the most of the relations were to keep as far away from each other as possible, with the occasional trade deal for gems and precious metals. "How... how can that be?" "Murdered by her own daughter. I was there when it happened. She had his... purple haze in her eyes when she did it." "I know you have come for help but we are no better off as well." Celestia said and looked down at the floor. "We are besieged on all sides." "I can ask the rest of the refugees if they can provide military-" "We are still outnumbered three-to-one. The Gryphons were the first, the Zebras second and now you. It is going to take a saint..." She glanced over to one of the doorways to the planning room. There sat the human that was reading her book with her headphones over her ears. She looked back at the dragon that was standing at the foot of the throne. "We will consider your offer at a later time. We will contact you once we reach a decision." "Very well. I await your word." The guards then escorted the dragon out of the room. She recalled what The Boss had said before. The Zin Empire had conquered most of the galaxy. If they were able to do that then they would be the greatest allies that Equestria needed. But what was stopping her from saying no? After all, this isn't their war. She sighed and muttered "I'm getting too old for this nonsense." She got up and went over to The Boss. She needed to ask her. Just for the chance, even a very slim one at that, that she could provide some sort of assistance. "Boss... Oh, how would I word this..." She gave her plea a bit of thought. "We need your help. I know I haven't spoken to you about our problem but we are in desperate need of assistance. Sombra has us on all sides." She looked at the ground again, trying to phrase the rest of her plea. "If you can help us... We would be in your debt." The Boss looked up from her book and removed her headphones. "Sorry, what was that?" Celestia groaned in response and then told her plea again. When she finished The Boss was thinking it over. Earth got blown to shit after Zinyak. The only remaining population is as big as the population of Beijing and there were a couple of other races that stuck around with the armada as well. The one thought stuck with her. We need a new home planet. "I can help you..." Celestias face nearly went giddy when she heard it. "... on one condition." Celestia knew that would happen. "I told you about how we got captured, right?" Celestia nodded. "What I didn't tell you is that... our home planet got blown the fuck up." "I-I am sorry to hear that... My condolences to your brethren." "And with that comes the request... If we help you with your war, will you give us a place to crash?" That put Celestia on the spot. She couldn't say no either way, she needed the military support and these creatures lost their home planet. But she didn’t know what they were like. They could destroy the whole world if they settled. But if she said no now she'd lose support AND look like a dick. "I... guess?" She stammered. After that the preparations were made. They grabbed the rest of the Elements. Pinkie decided there was partying to be had in space and dragged the rest along. It also caused some... chaos. Since The Bosses communication equipment was destroyed in the crash she had to make a distress signal. Long story short; faux hostage situation and lots of gun/spear pointing. The shuttle landed in the bay. The Boss, the four Princesses and their entourage of guards stepped out of the ship and onto the black flooring. "Welcome to the Zin mothership!" The Boss said to the large crowd of nauseous ponies. One of the guards threw up into his helmet. "Er..." The Boss grabbed on of the ship technicians. "Get the Med-bay preped for a shit ton of people and motion sickness." He only shuddered and went off into the direction of the med-bay. After that bit of unpleasantness, the group made it towards the throne room. The room itself looked completely empty save for a few guards and terminals. The Boss stepped forward and a rumbling was heard. The floor shuddered as a staircase rose about five feet off of the ground and a single stone seat stood at the top of the stairs. The Boss stepped up and sat on the throne. A golden Fleur-de-lis rose behind her to complete the spectacle. "I want you to meet my crew." Right when she said that the door to the side room opened up with the rest of the crew stepping in. "Oh, hey boss, when did you-" Pierce started but was swiftly cut off. "That's Pierce, my communications director. Need bullshit and over complicated plans? He's your guy." "Hey!" "Oh let it go, Pierce. Half of your plans are overly complicated." Shaundi said. The Boss pointed at her "That's Shaundi. The head of my Secret Service..." Introductions went on like this for about ten minutes. Just enough time for one of the guards to break off from the group. She snuck out of the formation and out of the room, toward one of the stationed guards. "Excuse me, but can you point me in the direction of a toilet?" "You one of the visitors entourage?" The Zin looked the pony over for a second. "Follow me." They walked down the corridor and made idle conversation along the way. "I hear that you had a change in leadership." The guardspony said. "Yeah, not a lot of people are happy about it though." "How so?" "Some people liked Zinyak better than The Emp- Sorry, 'The Boss.' For some reason or another she prefers that than Empress. Anyway, a large majority say that The Boss has turned things around for the better. Abolished the laws against gay marriage, made a bunch of bad apples disappear, scientific advances and so on and so forth. The remainders don't like her because of her messing up the chain of command and y'know... the whole not alienating the lower class and a bunch of other reasons. Personally, I think she's alright. It's better than having a squid in charge." "Really?" the guardspony asked. "But there has been rumours of some of the generals trying to stage a coup. But they wouldn't be stupid enough to do it. They wouldn't have enough man-power. The Boss is a one-woman army. She tore Zinyaks head right off, spine and all." They stopped in front of a door. "Here we are." He placed his hand on the scanner. It turned green with a beep of approval and slid the doors open. "Thank you." "Just t' let you know the toilets are different from whatever you guys have. You'll figure it out though." He explained and walked back to his post. She went into complete darkness. When the lights turned on the first thing that she noticed was there were no privacy dividers on each toilet. “Oh... These better not be co-ed.” If no one was coming in then it would be all the privacy she needed. She went over and sat on one of the futuristic toilets. As soon as her flank touched the seat a energy barrier shot up around her, providing the much needed privacy. She opened a pouch on her armour and pulled out a green orb. She held it in her hooves and closed her eyes. Her eyelids opened to reveal solid blue eyes with no pupils or retinas. A green bale-fire erupted on her skin. Beige fur burning away to reveal a solid black chitin for skin. Her horn became twisted and jagged and her hooves grew holes right through to the other side of them. This was her true form. A changeling. She lit up her horn and charged the orb. An image shimmered into life of her queen. "Ah, Echo... Or should I say, 'Breeze Block.'" She chuckled. "I SWEAR TO CELESTIA I'M GONNA BUCKING DESTROY ALL OF YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS CRAP YOU PRICKS!!" Shouted a voice from behind Chrysalis. She winced at the loudness of her captives voice. She looked over to see that the real Breeze Block has chewed through her gag again. She groaned. "The insufferable-" She almost started complaining but quickly composed herself. "Have you anything to report?" "I believe I do, my queen. It seems that the ponies have made new friends..." "That's a little vague." Chrysalis took note of the metallic wall behind her minion. "Where are you exactly?" "That is the thing, my queen. The new friends are..." She struggled to find the words. "They are... Extraterrestrial in origin." "You mean to say that they are alien to this world?" "Yes and they are pledging support to the ponies as well." "What!?" "In exchange for a home, I gather." "Is there a 'but' coming?" "But there is a weak link in the chain. I've heard of there being certain groups that aren't to happy with their leader." "Good. I will let our lord Sombra know. You have done well, Echo. Continue to monitor and report back with any other information." "Yes, your majesty." She put the orb away back into her pouch and re-assumed her form. On the other end of the line the image of the changeling shimmered out of existence over the green pool. She hobbled with her broken hoof over to the pool next to her captive who is still trying to bite through the even bigger ball that has been formed in her mouth. Chrysalis let her horn glow and focused on the pool. The image of Sombra had materialized over the pool. He was sitting on a throne that was seemingly made from dark crystals. "Ah, my subject... Have you anything to report?" "My lord, my spies have unearthed very important information." "Oh?" He reclined and put his front hooves together. "Tell me, what do the pretenders have to try and re-usurp me with?" "They have new allies." "Ah yes... Have the deserters reached Canterlot? Do not worry, they will fall like the others." "That is not it, my lord. They are alien and they have come for a new home." His eyes went wide. "Surely you jest. I will not tolerate any joking within my-" "I am serious, my lord. The red lights we've seen in the sky confirms it and one of my changelings is on their vessel right now." "Is there a 'but' coming?" "There is a... less-than-loyal faction within the alien visitors." There was a audible 'hmm' coming from Sombra. "We must test their mettle and see what they are capable of. Continue monitoring and report back with any other information." The image faded and left Chrysalis alone in her hive. What is he planning? The Zin mothership was big. So big that it was able to house over nearly half a billion life forms. It was almost a roaming self-contained mega-city. Of course it would have all the things necessary to keep the population well entertained. The Boss and her guests were approaching the theatre that was one of the venues for the Zin/human cultural music festival. It was one of the ideas that Pierce came up with to help boost relations between the races because of bad blood between them. On the digital poster on the wall next to the entrance stated that the next act was "Foreign Beggars x Noisia - I AM LEGION" The guards took them up to a private balcony seat on the left side of the theatre. It gave the group a proper view of the stage. "So, whom are we going to see perform?" Asked Rarity as she took her seat next to Twilight. "Some of the most awesome people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." She would know them well as she had them perform at her inauguration into presidency. The lights dimmed and the crowd on the floor began to uproar in unison. There were strobe lights going off and flashing in multiple colours as the intro started. Three people stepped up behind a table with several turntables on it. The crowd roared as two more people stepped onto the stage. "WHAT'S UP MOTHERSHIP!?" screamed the smaller, east Indian man. The crowd roared even louder. "We got a great show for ya tonight. We even have some very special guests here!" The taller black man explained. A spotlight illuminated the balcony. "GIVE IT UP FOR THE BOSS!" The crowd was cheering for her. It wasn't her show but they were cheering none the less. She waved back at them. "Also give a huge welcome to the leaders of newest member of NATO, Equestria!" There was another round of cheering. "What is NATO?" Celestia asked. "It's a thing that the United States is apart of. It basically means we are able to give you military support if you're attacked. Without going through Congress I might add." She saw that Celestia was opening her mouth to ask. "It's basically getting permission from the rest of the states to do something." "But I thought your government got-" "Killed? Well, most of it. Some other officials got captured along with us. This is just for them to shut up if they get pissed about it." "Oh." The people on stage began to spit out their lyrics and the bass was thumping along with them. As the crowd was jumping, bobbing and waving their hands to the music. They all were having a good time. Although not all of the attendees were enjoying themselves. The group in the balcony minus The Boss were just confused. "What is this... Noise we are hearing?" Luna said while holding her hooves over her ears in protest. "It... is certainly something." Celestia said as she squirmed a little in her seat. The other ponies had similar opinions. For the exception of two however. "I kinda like it." Cadence said as her head bobbed along to the beat. "It's like poetry with a heavy beat." "I LOVE it!" Pinkie exclaimed as she was literally bouncing along with the bass. "Everypony down there looks like they're having a huge party! How popular are these guys?" Then her eyes went wide. She knew what she needed to do. "I NEED THEM AT A PARTY!!" "I could ask them if-" The Boss started. "NO TIME!" She tried to launch herself off of the balcony only to be caught by the tail in The Bosses hand. "Chill, amigo (friend). If you wanted to ask you could wait-" The Boss took a look down and saw her crowd surfing and giggling. "- until after the show..." She shot a look at the rest of the group. "Does she normally do this?" "More oft'n th'n not." Applejack explained. "Ugh, if you guys don't want to stick around, I'm not stopping you. Mingle with the rest of the crew? Fuck, I 'unno" She jumped after Pinkie and was crowd surfing to the front of the stage. "I'll, uh... Stay if that's alright with the rest of you?" Cadence asked. "Very well, Cadence." Celestia nodded. "We will be in the meeting room if you come looking." "Sweeeeet..." Cadence muttered under her voice as the rest left. She jumped off of the railing and onto the hands of the waiting crowd, cheering and throwing her hooves up in the air. "For the last time, NO!" Kinzie was furiously pounding away at her keyboard. "Why not? I could drastically improve the life of people through their values and with po-" The virtual rendition of Celestia tried to explain on the huge monitor in front of the girl. "If you did you would have to remove a subjects brain." "That's so I could analyze it and-" "It would effectively kill the person and it's not likely they would transfer consciousness into the simulation if you did that." Celestia tried to interrupt but Kinzie continued. "Not to mention it would put a strain on the simulation and in turn; the entire ship." "But-" Kinzie pointed a finger at the screen. "Do you want Professor Genki running around Canterlot again? 'Cause I can put him back in!" "Nonono, No! Not again! Especially after the cannon incident!" Celestia cried. "Good." "Why is there a giant talking image of me?" A voice asked from the back of the room. Kinzie turned around to find Twilight and the real Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. "Wow is that... An entire world... Artificially made and managed..." Twilight said with wonder in her voice. The scientific ramifications were reeling through her mind. Twilight tried to get her hooves on the keyboard. It looked just like a type-writer without the paper and the machinery. It was all digital. She tried to take it from Kinzie but all she got was a slap on the hoof and a stern look from her. "Don't touch anything. We had to make this simulation crash and that caused the ship to nearly go haywire!" she seethed. "From what I hear, you're her student." She pointed at the real Celestia. "I know you're smart but I swear we came this close to losing our entire race and I can't and won't have it fucked up by someone who doesn't know what the fuck they are doing, typing in 'This statement is false' and ruining everything!" "... You are really high strung, aren't you?" Twilight cringed a little. "Well I was never a good Press Secretary, so yeah." "Well... Could you teach me?" Kinzie wasn't expecting that. "How much time you got?" Twilight brought a giant notebook from out of her saddle-bags. "As long as it takes." Celestia chuckled to herself. 'Always ready to learn...' she thought. Keith David was doodling in his personal notebook. He was usually a busy man but today he had fallen into one of those moods. He felt like doing stuff but he was just unable. He was sketching a detailed picture of the Washington Monument. Sadly it had been lost in the destruction of Earth but he had the image burned into his memory in his time as Vice-President. "Um... H-hello..." a sheepish voice said from behind. "Hm?" Mr. David grunted as he turned around to see a shy looking pony with a pink mane. "Ah, you must be one of The Bosses guests. The name's Keith David. Actor, writer and politician." He stood up off his chair and extended his hand out for a hand/hoof shake. The pony moved back a little with a small whimper. "Oh come on, don't be shy." Keith encouraged, extending his hand further. Fluttershy was never one to talk to somepony outside of her friends. But here was a another human that seemed, albeit less, but still pretty intimidating. He looked all business-like but he seemed friendly enough. She shook his hand. "So what's your name? I never caught it when The Boss was introducing us." Flutershy said her name in a barely audible tone. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" She repeated it in a slightly higher but still inaudible volume. "Still can't hear you." "my name is fluttershy..." "Little bit more." All that came out of her was a squeak. "Not the talkative type are you?" She sheepishly nodded. Keith chuckled. "You should meet Roddy Piper. Same situation as you. You're just missing the whole being able to suplex a man through several tables." The remaining princess was sitting on the couch with Matt, the screen in front of them played ominous music as the narrator of the program spouted exposition. "Last week; on Nyte Blayde. Reeling from the loss of his wife, Nyte Blayde seeks vengeance and unleashes a barrage of hellfire against all who stand in his way." The titular character dressed in white body armour with red cape had burst through the glass front door of the dingy warehouse office. Nyte Blayde pointed a pistol at the person sitting behind the folding table, reading his magazine full of pin-up centerfolds. "Where's Mr. X?" The man only scoffed and went back to his magazine. "I don't know who your talking about." "Wrong answer." Nyte Blayde scowled. He jumped the table and knocked over the person to the ground, pummelling him senseless. "Nyte Blaydes search for Mr. X leaves a trail of destruction, where no man is safe." The narrator continued. "But the enigmatic Mr. X has tricks of his own..." The scene jumped to a woman wearing similar armour to Nyte Blayde, except the armour was revealing her skin right down the middle, displaying very nice cleavage. "You failed, Nyte Blayde. While you were following false leads, Mr. X destroyed 31 orphanages." she taunted with a slight smirk. Nyte Blayde dropped to his knees and threw his fists to the sky. Rain began to fall as lightning and thunder struck. "MR. X!" he screamed to the sky. Luna looked at the screen as the title sequence began. "If you have watched all of these before, then why are you watching it again?" Luna questioned. "Well since the major people worked on and are in the show are, well... gone, it falls to the fans to keep Nyte Blayde alive. The Boss was generous enough to give me the rights to it. I'm already working on a re-boot of sorts." He explained as he was writing notes down on his data-pad. "Pray-tell, what is a 're-boot'?" "It's like a re-imagining of a series. It can be anything from a simple re-telling to a full blown re-imagining." Luna nodded and continued to watch. She sat there for six hours. Matt left he room shortly after they started to deal with some buisness but Luna had sat there, unmoving. She only took breaks to move her moon, get more popcorn and Saints-Flow. Her eyes were bloodshot from the eye-strain and her normally perfect flowing hair all messy from the constant tugging in distress to what happened on the show. All with a giddy smile on her face. She was indifferent by the second episode, intrigued by the third and hooked by the fourth. "God dammit Cardinal, I had no choice!" Nyte Blayde exclaimed, pointing one of his four swords at the man in front of the giant cross. "And neither do we!" The windows above them shattered as men repelled in with automatic weapons at the ready. "Oh, CARDINAL!!" Nyte Blayde yelled after him and started firing his pistols at the men. "HaHA! Get those Cyprian Order peasants, Nyte Blayde!" Luna cheered on as the door to the room opened. Applejack was confused as to what she was watching. All she saw was some people shooting at a single guy and the same guy shooting back. She was never much a movie goer. “Uh, princess Luna? Princess Celestia needs us in the armory.” “I will be along soon.” She said as she took another sip of Saints-Flow. “She said it’s important.” “I said I will be along soon. I have… things that need doing.” Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “Princess, you need to come. Ah know yer invested in whatever… this is, but this is important.” She grabbed her tail with her teeth and tried to pull her out the door. “Now c’mon.” “Applejack I know you are one of the element bearers but I swear to my moon if you are to take me off of this couch I will have you tried for treason and executed.” “Ah said c’mon…” She started to pull her away. “Nyte Blayde, my love, I will return!” Luna called out to the screen. “Who the hay is Nyte Blayde?” “You sure that vest will stop this?” Rainbow Dash asked while hefting the rather heavy pump-shotgun at shoulder height, aiming at his chest. Johnny Gat only scoffed. “Please, I’m like a motherfuckin’ murderbot in this.” He then noticed the skeptical look on her face. “Don’t believe me? Pull the trigger.” “Now are you sure-” “I SAID PULL THAT TRIGGER NOW!” Rainbow Dash didn't want to but she was startled enough to accidentally do it. The recoil was enough to send her flying backwards right onto her flank. Johnny however was sent through the window, falling down three stories with a loud crash. An audible thud was heard while Rainbow got up and ran to the window. A crowd gathered around the prone Johnny as he got up without a scratch. "The fuck y'all lookin' at?" The crowd quickly cleared as it had gathered. "Are you okay!? Rainbow asked as she leaned out of the window to get a look at the human. "Never better! You're a hell of a shot for someone that has no opposable thumbs!" "Thanks! I guess...?" The Boss walked up behind Rainbow to see the damage. "Jesus, the more people you scare with that, Johnny, The more liable you are to get shot in the face." "Well it's not like it would be the first time." Gat chuckled. "Well get back up here, we got business to take care of." The Boss said with a point. She turned to see that the rest of the group had arrived. The Boss motioned towards the other door in the room. The red sign beamed the word "Armoury" as they entered. The Boss noticed Zinthrai looking like she had seen a ghost and a older looking scientist yelling at her. “Oh this is gonna be good…” She mumbled as she entered. "I said no more pet projects!" Yelled an older looking Zin at Zinthrai. "B-but, The Boss-" Zinthrai tried to explain but was swiftly cut off. "I do not care what she thinks! It's damn near blasphemous to say that Zinyak's designs were flawed." He growled. "They were perfect!" "The fuck's all this?" The Boss asked. The older Zin scientist turned to see his leader with her arms folded. "Ah, you are here. I've been trying to get it in this insubordinate's head that you never approved the-" "About that... I approved every single one. For some reason or another they never end up back here. 'Gets lost in the inbox all the time.' I think it was you who gave me that excuse." The Boss scowled. The scientist was perplexed as to her reaction. Zinyak would have let him go off on her. "Bu-but-" "Also I think that that's an offence as well? 'Tampering with any equipment or documents is treason and can be punishable by demotion back to recruit.' I also think that you are in the Penal Legion as well." "I-I can ex-" "-plain to the recruitment sergeant that you're a grunt now. Also tell him that I still got his number." The lead scientist ran out of the room in a fit of rage. Zinthrai was now locking The Boss in a near death-grip hug. "Oh thank god, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along." She said as The Boss struggled to breathe. "No... problem..." The Boss struggled. The hug was released as Zinthrai looked at the guests. "You're her guests?" They all said something to the affirmative. "Then let's get you guys geared." Twilight had a look of confusion on her face. "Geared? Geared for what?" "You guys are important to both Sombra and Celly. From what I've seen he sent two large forces just to capture you. It never hurts to have some sort of protection." The Boss said as she picked up a holster and gave one to her. "Remember, all you got to do is point the end where the bullets come out at the other guy and pull the trigger." Twilight studied the holster, looking at all of the different slots to put various firearms into, before turning to Celestia. "Celestia? This society is so very advanced, especially in the military sciences. How did you convince them to help?" Celestia looked away. "I will tell you later. For now we just follow-" "Princess Celestia! We've got a scroll!" The group turned around to see a pegasus guardspony with a scroll in her mouth. Celestia snatched it from her mouth with her magic and proceeded to read it. "How in..." she tried to comprehend "Sombra is attacking several border cities at once! How could he do it without alerting us sooner!?" she crumpled up the scroll and burned it. "Princess, we'll handle it! There ain't nothin' that can keep the Elements from keepin' peace!" Applejack appealed. "I wish I could, but there are six of you and they are too spread out for us to do anything." The Boss raised her hand. "I got this!" she said and walked out of the room. Celestia was now standing in front of a camera. "Is this necessary?" "Well do you want your people to go ape-shit over an alien species that's heavily armed and fucking scary to a peace loving populace?" Shaundi didn't wait for an answer. "Then sit there, look pretty and address your people." The red recording light came on and Shaundi gave the signal to start. Celestia cleared her throat. "Attention citizens of Equestria, do not be alarmed..." she began. Author's Note You guys have been waiting... What, like three months now? And all you get is this piece of shit. That's mostly due to me trying to balance school and free-time and not having much of the latter than the former. Don't worry though. There will be much shooting and violence in the next chapter, just be patient.
Muscle Cars and Dubstep, Oh My!Princess Celestia was sitting in her throne room working through various building contracts, tax claims and various other paperwork that was on her "to-do" pile for today. She would have gotten most of this work done if she wasn't so busy with the planning of her star-students coronation when it was normally done. She thought for a moment. How long ago was that? Three, four weeks ago? Time flies when you aren't planning for something. It seems like yesterday that Twilight first enrolled in the Academy. Her little nostalgia trip was interrupted as the throne room doors were thrown open. "Princess Celestia!" The guard shouted. She brought her head from out of the papers to look at the guard. Panic was spread across his face. His pupils were mere pin-pricks as he quickly stopped to bow before the princess. "Rise, guardspony. What is happening?" "S-Sombra, your majesty! He's back!" Celestia rose from her throne. Concern and bewilderment danced across her face. "What? But Twilight said that he was destroyed!" "Confirmation came from the Crystal Guard. Worse yet is that he has an army at his disposal. We have also received word from the Empire that he is ready to strike at a moments notice." Celestia thought for a moment. She can't inform the public. If she did there would be panic. If there was panic then Sombra would capitalize on it and attack. "Send word to the generals; Evacuate the northernmost villages and cities. If anypony asks just say that there is a massive snowfall coming from the Empire and that Cloudsdale can do nothing about it until it has passed. Get the guard out there to defend our northernmost positions." "But what about-" "Do as I say, guardspony." The earth-pony quickly turned and galloped out. Equestria hasn't seen war in nearly three thousand years. The only one who could stop this from escalating was long gone. Vanished without a trace. What pained her dearly was that it was a close friend. She sighed and brought out a parchment and hastily scribbled. Dear Twilight Sparkle... Two Days Ago... Pierce Washington isn't made for this line of work. Way back when there was a time where he didn't have scour a database and find where the captive races in the Zin mother-ship were originally from. He was made for the high-life. Girls, free drinks, and all the karaoke that his vocal chords could muster. That was before The Boss ran for president, them getting abducted by aliens, Earth getting destroyed by said aliens and losing his prized Broken Shillelagh 80's Sitcom Trivia Contest trophy. He sighed. He missed that kind of life. As he was reminiscing while idly scrolling through the list of captives he came across an unusual listing. "Starswirl the Bearded? Shit, that sounds like some whacked out porn star name." he joked to himself. His curiosity was piqued as he selected the name. What he found was interesting to say the least. A horse with a horn and, as it said on the label, bearded. It jogged his memory however. Back when the Syndicate picked a fight with the Saints there was a little kerfuffle In Stilwater where the Luchadores blew up The Hughes Memorial Bridge and blamed it on the Saints. The Special Tactics Anti-Gang (or STAG for short) was sent in to clean up the gangs in Steelport. Suffice to say there came a three-way war throughout the city. The apex of which took place in the National Guard training base. "Uh, guys? We might die here. Anything you want to get off your chest?" Pierce called out to his companions after taking cover behind a STAG vehicle. "If Kinzie were here I would pour my heart out for her!" The giant Russian pin-cushion named Oleg that was currently using a Luchador as a football had said. "What!?" "It's rare that I find an intellectual equal!" "What about you, Boss?" Pierce then asked. "I COLLECT GLASS UNICORNS!" Shouted the boss after smacking one of Olegs evil-yet-dumber genetic clones with a giant... lets just call it the Penetrator and move on. Peirce sent it to his little data-pad and walked to The Bosses quarters. Along the way he got some dirty looks from the Zin guards. Although The Boss was now the de-facto ruler, some of them weren't too happy about it. As he passed them he swore he could hear one of them growling like a dog that was guarding a bone. Zinjai, Zinyak's former second in command, was sitting at his desk outside The Bosses quarters. The desk was filed with papers that The Boss volun-tells Zinjai to do on a regular basis. He doesn't seem to happy about it either. "Is she in?" "I'm afraid that she is rather busy with her... primitive vehicles." He said with slight disgust at the last bit. "Shit, you know if she heard that you'd be out the airlock in three seconds flat." He quipped. "'Sides, I've got something to show her." He sighed and pressed the button to open the door. Inside was a two storey room with almost all Zin technology stripped and replaced with a whole manner of purple things, as is the Saints way. Some of the changes included personal hot-tub and sauna in the back corner, queen sized platform bed and a area cut out from the purple rug for The Bosses cars. Next to the car area was a case full of the unicorns that she held so dear to her. In the drivers seat of the car sat world renown author of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen. Before Zinyak blew earth into atoms he collected his favourite authors, play writers, musicians and whatever bright minds he could before he invaded. Rather than be afraid of the futuristic technologies that were in the Zin ships, Jane embraced them. She was most curious around The Bosses vehicles and would often pop open the hood to get a look at the engines and with The Boss being a huge fan, she obliged. "Okay Jane, start it up." She said after a couple of cranks with a monkey wrench. "Uhm, how do I do that again, exactly?" The famous author poked her head out the window. "Ugh. Foot down on the brake and turn the key." The engine tried to start but failed with a whimper. "Gah, fuck these Zin engines." "Hey Boss!" Pierce called out. She looked up. Pierce saw the leopard print on her face and the penetrating green cat-eyes peer right into the very heart of his soul. She wasn't happy. She didn't like people coming in her room. She quickly hit a switch and the unicorn collection section of the wall turned into a bar with complete with Zin bartender. "Ugh, I thought I told Zinjai to not let anyone in!" she said while grabbing a bottle of Zin-lager. "Puta imbécil! (Fucking imbecile!)" She muttered. "I thought you wanted to see this, Boss." He explained while passing the data-pad down the bar to her. She studied the picture for a second. A variety of expressions danced across her face. First being confusion, then to comprehension and finally pure unbridled joy but then confusion again. "Is this..?" Her mouth hung. "I thought you'd be happy to see this." "Believe me I am, but still. I thought Zinyak stole people then destroyed the planets they come from. It says here that, what the hell is it..." She adjusted her hipster-glasses to focus. "Equis? Anyway, it says that it's perfectly untouched." "I didn't get it either. Anyway, he's still locked up in a simulation that was on a separate grid from ours. Want to bust him out?" She slammed back the bottle and got up. "Well we need some more people actually liking us for once right?" Kinzie Kenzington was furiously typing away on a keyboard, trying her hardest to crack into the Zin Time Travel Device. Despite her best efforts it was impossible to get to any of the star dates that were crucial to stopping the destruction of Earth. No matter what changes to the code she made it would revert without a password. Any attempt to make a password guess would result in the device being rendered useless. Even the passwords are on a DNA accessible card but if the subject that it was programmed for is dead then the card would be wiped. After trying for the twelfth time she gave up. It was impossible to recreate the device without the proper parts. She asked the Zin scientists that made the device and they said that they had to mine several planets to the bone to make those parts. Even that took several years to do. She sighed. At least they were able to get most of their belongings. Even if the past selves turned the entire city of Steelport upside down trying to look for the people who stole them. "Hey Kinz'! Fire up those hacking appendages, we got someone to bust!" The Boss poked her head in through the revolving door to Kinzies "Inner Sanctum." "What? How is that possible? After crashing yours it should have opened up the rest!" "Separate grid. At least that's what Pierce said. No lo sé (I don't know)..." She got up and grabbed her laptop. "I swear this one better not be the 50's sitcom place again..." The gang was all here. The murdering psychopath that was Johnny Gat was sitting on a crate cleaning his pistol while Kinzie and her ex-rival-but-still-pissed-off-at Matt Millar were pecking away at keyboards. Shaundi was sitting and chatting with King and Asha. Keith David was nowhere in sight, the same with the robotic A.I. named CID. Silence filled the room when The Boss stepped in. "Okay, listen up people!" The Boss was standing on a crate next to the neural-seat overlooking the rest of the group. "I have no fucking clue as to what constitutes an aliens worst nightmare, right? So I need everyone ready to act at a moments notice. Matt, you help Kinzie with the whole simulation hacking thing, ¿De acuerdo? (Okay?) Gat, King and Shaundi, you guys are on standby. If shit gets real, I need you in there." "What about me, Boss?" Pierce put his hand up. She forgot about Pierce. "Uh... You, um.... I think CID has something for you to do." "I can't come in with you guys?" "Well you've done a great job in getting the other races acquainted with ours I thought you would want something other than simulation crap." He folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "This is about the Paul thing, huh?" Ah yes, Paul. The giant Saints Flow induced nightmare that plagues Pierces sleep. Several nights were ruined when they all heard Pierce screaming "OH GOD, PAUL IS COMING! SAVE ME!" "Well I don't want you to have more nightmares. So you know what? I think that this is a good thing." She said while jumping down and into the chair. He had a look of dejection on his face. "So I get to sit around with CID doing nothing?" "Fine, If it gets really hairy you can come." The restraints were starting to go into place but she stopped them to point at Pierce. "But you better not have any nightmares!" The swirl of the portal spat out The Boss onto the ground face first. "Ow..." She grunted in pain. Even though the pain wasn't real the simulation made it pretty convincing. Even the dirt that was currently occupying a bit of her mouth tasted real enough. She spat it out and pulled herself up to her feet and looked around. She was in a forest clearing with a path heading into a break towards a road. She took a breath to smell the untainted air. It was a nice break from the musty spaceship she commanded. She almost missed the simulation a bit. "Kinzie, do you read?" "Yeah, Boss. Loud and clear." "Okay, so where is this Starswirl guy at?" "He should be about an hour away." "Really? I'm guessing that I don't have my powers do I?" "Sadly no but that reminds me, your cut down version of the power armour is ready." "Ooh, does it fit under clothes like I wanted? I mean the armoured up one is cool and all but it really cha- " She was giddy again before Kinzie cut her off. "You'll see later, but for now..." keyboard clacking was heard over the comms. Directly in front of the boss there was a swirling red circle that was slowly moving upwards. An object was slowly being constructed as it raised. First was black rubber wheels, then the undercarriage, frame, metal plating and the rest. The completed object was a purple muscle car. There was a soft purple under-glow illuminating the grass around it. She couldn't see the inside of the vehicle due to the dark tint on the grass. As soon as it was done being constructed the engine started and the door popped open, beckoning for her to enter. "Oh Kinzie, I love you sometimes." "What are the other times?" "Confusion and sometimes light hatred towards you." "It's one of the better reactions." She sat on the leather seat. It was just like the one she was working on. She gave a quick press of the pedal to hear the engine roar. "Oh, I missed you so much." "Done masturbating now?" "Yeah, lets go find him..." She said dejectedly. She put it in gear and sped off. She looked around to find herself on a dirt road in the countryside. The grains of wheat were blowing in the wind as she drove by. It kind of reminded her of her presidential campaign through Nebraska. The only exception being there were things that caught her eye. Such as the giant city looking like cloud on the horizon. "Hey Kinz, do you see that weird cloud over there?" "I am getting strange readings from it. Matt will update you with what the scans find." "How come I get to do the boring work?" Came the teenage sounding Brit. "Well after CID showed me the picture of me... well you know, I would think that this would be the start of your punishment." "Oh god- CID! I swear if you show my private stuff to other people one more time-!" After arriving at some sort of rural town she stepped out of the car and headed in. From first looks it was absolutely deserted. The only thing around was another one of the aliens race. The thing was fizzling and changing from different colours. Even the gender and appearance was rapidly changing. At first it had a horn, next it had wings, wings and a horn and then nothing. "Uh, Either one of you know what is happening to it?" "I think this is one of the testing simulations. That cloud thing you saw earlier is apart of the sky-box. No way to reach it. And that thing you're looking at is just a placeholder for something." Matt explained. "The sky... What?" "It's best you don't try to explain. I've tried." Kinzie chimed. The Boss rolled her eyes and continued through town. The stands and stores in the market district were completely deserted save for two more spazzing-out programs. Glued onto the walls of some buildings were posters. "Starswirl Appreciation Day..." She read aloud. "And remember, my subjects; Everyday is Starswirl Appreciation Day!" Came a regal sounding voice out of nowhere. "What the- " A giant mob of screaming aliens came screeching out of the alleyways like a crowd of tweens at a boy-band concert. If the boss hadn't been at the side of the street she would have been trampled to death. "Okay where are those going?" "Setting up the marker... now." The end point was just around the block. She sprinted after the crowd to find a even greater mob surrounding a tree. Upon closer inspection the tree looked like a house. The door seemed like a no go as the mob is blocking the ground level. "Kinzie, do you see any way in there?" "Not that I can see. You might have a better way in through the window. She snuck around the back and began climbing. It kind of reminded her of her time in kindergarten. Before the whole... She shook her head. It was a long time ago and it didn't matter. Not now, not ever. The balcony door burst open to a cranky and old looking alien. He was grey with a wizard hat and robe on his back. The Boss was hanging just out of sight to the crowd and to the thing on the balcony. "Blast you all to damnation! Can't you see that I don't want you ponies here!?" it yelled at the crowd. "WE LOVE YOU, STARSWIRL!" A member cried out. "I WANT TO HAVE YOUR FOALS!" The Boss shuddered. She saw what one of the races had for pornography. What she saw required three days straight of booze and cough syrup. She did not want to know what this races mating rituals were. "Fools, all of them..." It walked back in and closed the door. "Maldición... (Damn...)" She pulled herself up onto the balcony. He didn't seem to be anywhere in sight but as she opened the door a blast of energy caught her off guard and sent her crashing into a bookshelf and slumped on the ground. "Gah!" She quickly pulled her pistol out of the void it was housed in and pulled the receiver back. "I don't know who or what you are but if you take another step closer I will send you into oblivion!" The bearded alien shouted with horn lit up. "Ow... How did he do that?" "I did some research and apparently the ones with the horns can perform transmutations, levitation and other such things." Matt explained. "Who said that?! Show yourself!" He sent another blast near The Bosses head. She raised the pistol at it. "Hey! You do that one more time and I swear to god I will blow your head clean off!" "Boss, what are you doing?!" Matt yelled. "Ha! Like that chunk of metal is going to do anything-" She quickly shot at a bookshelf next to him and brought it back to level. The bookshelf had a sizeable chunk of the wood missing and several books were now mere shreds of paper. "...to me" it gulped and de-powered his horn. "Okay, I think you made your point." Kinzie said "Look, what's his name?" "Starswirl." They both said unanimously. "Starswirl, you're locked away in a alien spaceship. The person who kidnapped you is dead and the person who has a gun pointed at your head is the one who did it." The boss gave a little wave. "You're in a simulation based on your worst fear. None of this is real and we're here to get you out." "How do I know this isn't a trap?" "Because have you ever seen a human before?" The Boss put away her gun and crossed her arms. He pondered a moment and finally shrugged. "Well if it can get me out of this nightmare then fine." The cheering and hollering started to sound more zealous from the inside. The downstairs door was being slammed by the outside crowd to gain entrance. "Uh, do they normally do that?" "Yes and I have to run to the next building, then to the next and the next... Sometimes they get hold of me and I wake up in bed. The cycle repeats! It's maddening!" He threw his hooves up "I never wanted to be famous and what happens when I try to make magic spells? This!" The wood was audibly cracking at this point. "I think we should move." She looked at the stairway that was slowly filling with more screams of joy. "Good idea." They both ran towards the balcony and jumped out. Despite Starswirls age he was nimble. Landing without effort while the boss had a hard landing. She was too used to the soft landings her powers gave her in her simulation. "Come on! We need to get to the end of town!" Starswirl yelled out. She picked herself up and ran away from the mob that was chasing them. "COME BACK, STARSWIRL!" "How about no, you pendejos! (assholes!)" The Boss yelled at them. The stampede stopped. They all looked at The Boss with the same dead eyes like in her own simulation. "Dios mío (oh god), not this again." The Boss muttered. "Such foul words." "We don't use that language in Equestria..." "You must be punished..." They kept on running but they now encountered resistance on every turn. The glitching aliens were actually providing more of the fanatics that kept on chasing them. They reached the center of town to find that all avenues were blocked by mobs of aliens. "Now what!?" The Boss yelled. "I'm trying to pull you guys from it but there's a program that isn't letting me." Kinzie was furiously typing away. "I don't know what it is but keep fighting!" "Oh no, Pegasi!" Starswirl cried as a winged alien came close to taking out them both. They both ducked and caused the thing crash into the ground. The Boss pulled out two pistols and began firing away into the charging mobs. They were sent flying as the bullets exploded on impact. "BACK OFF!" She hissed and kept on firing. Starswirl was holding his own. Whatever ability he was using was taking the things out left and right, taking out the flyers before they were able to dive bomb either Starswirl or The Boss. Even though there was a sizeable chunk in the numbers of charging aliens they kept on coming. "I don't think we're going to last to long here!" She called out. "I agree! Do you have a way out?" "Kinzie!" "Something is keeping me from pulling you two out. I'll keep searching, just hold on!" They kept on coming. No end in sight. She looked at the pistols she was firing. Not enough firepower. "Matt, can you bring in the 'Special' weapon?" "The Penetrator?" He asked with a little bit of dread in his voice. "No! God no! The Music Gun!" "Oh." More keyboard clacking was heard and a purple arms-crate with a fleur-de-lis on the lid appeared via red circle. The Boss quickly ran to the crate and pulled out the gun. It was pink with purple racing flames. Several of the knobs and turntables were already spinning. This was her pride and joy. She aimed the gun and held down the trigger. The sliderbars slowly slid to the top of the spectrum and the record started to spin. The initial wubs did nothing but pump her up for what was coming next. "DON'T FUCK AROUND!" The crowds were now dispersing into bits of code faster then ever before. As soon as the soundwaves hit the targets they were blown into a million pixels. She swept the weapon left and right, dispersing the mobs before they were able to even get into the square. She left the flying ones to Starswirl as they fell out of the skies one by one. For the ones that were able to evade the explosives were met with a swift launcher-stock-to-the-knards. The Boss had a wicked grin. She hadn't felt this good in years. That grin slowly turned into a smile. That smile turned into a giggle, maniacal laughter. "Take out those buildings! Create a barrier!" Cried Starswirl. Wrestling with a flyer that decided to get up close and personal. She aimed at the base of the buildings at the end of the streets. The exploding wubs had little resistance against the wood and caused them to fall over. There were a couple of the aliens that were caught in the debris as it tumbled over. "CONSIGA ALGUNO, BEBE, CONSIGA ALGUNO! (GET SOME, BABY, GET SOME!)" she spat at the now retreating crowds. As the last building fell she let go of the trigger. The sliderbars had stopped swaying with the beat and the gun now was only humming the drop. Her heartbeat was thumping along to the tempo as adrenalin was pumping throughout her body. "Huff, huff... WOO!" She threw her hands up in the air in triumph. "Holy shit, Starswirl did you see that? Oh, that was freaking awesome!" "Uh, Boss? I think you have bigger problems right now." She looked up to see a figure come crashing down to the earth. It was as black as night and was much taller than the other aliens as they mostly reached her chest in height. This one was two, maybe three feet taller than The Boss. She had hair that shimmered in the breeze that was like looking into the night sky. "Nightmare Moon..." Starswirl whispered. "Ah, Starswirl. How long has it been since you and my sister had banished me to my own moon? Three years? ” She then grinned. "We've much catching up to do." "Retrocede! (Back off!) He's mine and we're getting the hell out of here." Nightmare paid no attention to the gun pointed at her head. She turned to Starswirl "Stay here, Starswirl." Nightmare said. "I will forgive you, help you with the spells and even get those other ponies to leave you alone. Where is that thing going to take you?" she pointed at The Boss with a hoof. "I... I don't know..." He looked down at his own. "Exactly." "Oh don't listen to this crap. You want out of this hell hole, right? She isn't going to give you anything. None of this is real." The Boss retorted. "If none of this is real then how do you know if she is?" Asked Nightmare. The bomb had been dropped. "Uh... I..." "Okay then you guys we're talking about banishing her on the moon. I don't know the specifics about it but I would think it was for a good reason. Her sounding manipulating and all. Now come on, we're going to bring you back to your home planet. Keep that 'Is this real' crap to when you're out." She grabbed him by the leg and started to drag him away. She stopped when the load got rooted somehow. She looked back to see Nightmare holding onto his hind leg. "He's staying." "How 'bout no!" They started tugging back and forth. Both of them were shouting at each other over who gets to keep him. If anything this was the exact same situation if the other aliens that were chasing them had gotten their hooves on Starswirl. "Gah! This is getting ridiculous!" Starswirl shouted in-between tugs. "You're telling me." Kinzie was most likely face-palming behind her screen. "I think I might have found a way to get rid of her." Matt said as a drop down box appeared in front of The Bosses face. It did little in the ways of deterring her from getting a couple of punches in the way of Nightmare Moon. Nightmare Simulation ver. 0.1.2.33481 Zintech EnterprisesTM. ALPHA TEST BUILD DO NOT DISTRIBUTE. prisoner_PresidentofUS caused 100 points of damage to ent_bitchy_nightmare Enter command: spawn ent_troll_princess Unknown command "Wait, troll princess?" Starswirl was able to slightly break the grip over his mouth just in time to dodge a hoof-shot to the gut. Although it did hit The Boss. ent_bitchy_nighmare caused 200 points of damage to prisoner_PresidentofUS spawn ent_sunraising_princess Ah Ah Ah! You didn't say the magic word. Matt groaned. please A red circle deposited another one of the giant aliens. This one was white but had light coloured rainbow hair. She was completely contrast to the other alien that was standing. "Ah so you've let my sibling join the show, hmm?" "I've come to stop you sister." "Oh that's not cliché at all." Kinzie with her ever-positive attitude. Nightmare let go of Starswirl to get a look at her own sister. She then lit up her horn and cast down a dark bowl shield. "Tia, it's been too long. We need t- Guh!" A swift punch to the face was given to make her tumble to the ground. The boss was quick to jump on and kept pummelling. Nightmare was trying to shove her off but to no avail. "Let. Us. Out. Of. Here. You. Bald. Piece. Of. OH SHIT!" A dark ether was enveloping her, lifting her off of the now bruised Nightmare and was slowly contracting around her neck, forcing out whatever air was in her lungs. "Oh, I don't think so." She chuckled. Two wicked looking black daggers appeared out of nowhere. They were suspended just before The Bosses chest. At least She isn't throwing her around like Zinyak did on Earth. "Grk... If you even think, *gasp* of sticking me with those..." The Boss hissed. "Or what?" She smirked. The Boss pulled an old gangland sub-machine gun up to Nightmares face only for it to be tossed to the side by a dagger. "Say goodnight, Empress..." "It's President you sonofa-" A shattering of glass is heard and the white alien crashed into the dark one. A brutal back-hoof buck to the side. Nightmare recovered from it and fought back exchanging blow after blow. Nightmare gave a devastating crack to her jaw. The white one spat out a bit of blood and wiped some of it off with her hoof, staining her fur around the mouth. They both powered up their horns and started to cast bolts of energy at each other. The Boss saw all of this while trying to recover her breath after nearly being strangled to death. She saw that Nightmare was too occupied to notice Starswirl charge up his own and shoot it at Nightmare. The bolt hit Nightmare and was levitated into the air while her legs were separated as if she were tied to a cross. "This ends now!" Starswirl yelled. The white alien, The Boss and Starswirl stepped up to the immobile Nightmare. On the Bosses face there was only anger and frustration to be had while the others had only contempt. "Sister, For your crimes against the nation of Equestria, I hereby banish you to exile on the moon." "Hmph! You knew as well as I that the moon banishing spell only works once." "Oh, I can help with that!" The Boss yelled at her while pulling out a wooden bat from the void. It was painted the same colours of the American national flag with "All American" burned with craftsmanship onto the shaft. She got into a batting position and gave two quick swings to line up the shot. She then pointed the bat towards the sky. She then wined up the swing and let lose only for a golden ether to envelop the bat and come screeching to a halt. "That is unless you come back to me. We can stop this petty squabbling and rule together as a family." Nightmare looked down at the ground. "N-no!" "I'm sorry it had to come to this then..." Her head shot up to look at the white alien. "I meant yes!" All of them had a perplexed look on their faces. The voice sounded younger and less intimidating then the older body it came out from. "Shut up you idiotic foal!" Nightmare looked down at her chest. "I want to be with my sister you meanie!" "Uh, what's going on?" The Boss looked at the others with a concerned look. It was reflected off of the others as they didn't know either. "YOU AREN'T ME!" Nightmare shouted to the sky. Just then a burst of light came out of her chest. With it came a hoof, another hoof, a horn and then the rest of the body. The alien was deposited onto the ground where she scrambled to the white one. "I-I'm so sorry!" Sobbed the smaller of the winged and horned aliens. She came up and hugged the large white alien. "I never meant for any of this to happen..." "It's okay Luna. It's over..." The white one hugged back. The reunion was interrupted by the sound of cracking knuckles. "Look this little happy moment is good and all but we still have a problem." The Boss said while pointing the end of the bat at Nightmare Moon. "Ah yes..." The white one looked at Nightmare. "Nightmare Moon, have you any last statements before you are banished?" Coming out of the white one it was more of a command then a question. She looked down again, defeated. "The night will last forever." The Boss did her wind up again and was able to land the hit right in the stomach, sending her flying towards the moon itself. She was screaming and trying to get her wings to propel her in another direction but to avail. She did go to the moon though. As soon as she hit the skybox she impacted with the image of the moon, turning her into nothing but bits of code. Starswirl looked at the rain of code. "Hmph..." He turned away without saying another word. The white one looked at The Boss. "I must thank you for this. I'd never think I would see my sister again if it weren't for you." The smaller blue one nuzzled up against her sister, tears still dripping from her eyes. "Although we could not get Nightmare to come quietly, at least we've gotten the thing that matters the most to me back." "De nada (You're welcome). If Matt didn't bring you in I wouldn't think we would have survived." She replied putting her baseball bat over her shoulder. "Oh it was nothing." Matt said. "Well, I guess you two would want out now, is that correct?" The white one asked. "That would be much appreciated." Starswirl said. "Thank you, Princess." A white door popped up out of the ground. Starswirl started to walk into it before he was stopped by The Boss. "This one's for me." She looked up at the night sky. "Kinzie, he's ready to go." "Okay but I should outline how you're going feel when you're out. You're going to be dizzy, tired, sick to your stomach and thirsty. When you get out we're going to be able to get you up to speed with coffee, water and slash or a hot meal. I'm going to go with you being a herbivore, right?" "Yes, I eat plants." He said to the sky. "Also I should mention that we don't all look like cats, unlike our friend here." Matt said. "That hurts Matt. You know the eyes weren't my choice." A red circle appeared below Starswirl. It was slowly enveloping him and would soon deposit his consciousness in his own body. No doubly in some decrepit corner of the mothership. "See you on the other side." The Boss smiled. As soon as he disappeared she made her way to the door. She felt a hoof on her shoulder before she went in. "Before you go could you do me a big favour?" "If it's sex then I don't swing that way. Human or otherwise." The Boss joked. "Do humans always do that?" "No. Anyway, what can I do for you?" "Since this is just a test simulation and a lot of it is unfinished, could you transfer us all to your old one? I can take over from there." "Kinzie?" "I dunno', but we can try." "There we go." The Boss looked at her. "Thank you." The Boss turned away again. "Wait, could you tell me what your name is?" She looked back at the white alien. "You first." "My name is Princess Celestia, my Empress. What is yours?" "I hate when people call me Empress. From now on it's just President. "The Boss turned away towards the door. "As for my name... not telling you..." She said with a smirk and walked in. "Wait!" Celestia called after her but it was too late. The door was gone and there was no trace of the person anywhere. "Damn..." "PRISONER 445, SUBJECT: STARSWIRL THE BEARDED NOW EXITING PRISON SIMULATION 445...." An electronic voice blared over the intercom. The message was repeating to the point of annoyance. "Ugh, can someone turn that crap off?" Shaundi asked. "Way ahead of you." Asha said while smashing a control panel. A shower of sparks caused her to recoil in defence. The alarm ceased and a Zin engineer came into the room looking rather angry. "What in frak are you do-!?" The Boss, Shaundi and Asha all stared angrily at the engineer. "I'm so sorry Empress, I thought one of the underlings had damaged the panels again." "Well one of those things are correct." Asha said, rubbing her elbow. "Again with the Empress thing. PRESIDENT! I am President and nothing more! ¡Dios mío! (My god!)" She yelled at him while her eyes went to mere slits in anger. The engineer bowed and ran out. They all looked at the stasis chamber and rushed to Starswirl when he dropped through the bottom. Shaundi wrapped a damp but warm towel around the shivering form to wipe off the nutrient rich goop that covered him. Asha put a bucket in front of him so that he can throw up in it. "I know this isn't the best of welcomes but welcome back to the real world." The boss said while putting a fingerless-gloved hand out that contained a water bottle. Starswirl snatched it up in his hooves. "Th-thank you." He sipped the bottle slowly, trying to savour it but soon he was chugging it back quickly. The Boss was astonished. She was thirsty when she was out but after being stuck in there for three years you'd think that one bottle wouldn't be enough to quench a thirst that big. She handed him another and that was downed in ten seconds. He looked up after he finished the second bottle. "A-are you two the o-ones that helped me out?" "Nah, these two are friends though." The Boss started. "I want you to meet Shaundi Jezibel and Asha Odekar. These two helped me out with taking down Zinyak." "That was his name?" He looked down and scowled. "Three years of work wasted because of him!" He threw up his hooves. It was a stormy night when Starswirl was doing the normal routine. Experimentation, study and occasional sleep. Celestia didn't like him up late. It kind of reminded him of his own mother. "Starswirl, what did I say about staying up this late?" Celestia said in the doorway. "Not tonight your highness. I'm on the verge of a breakthrough in the magical studies!" he shouted to the ceiling. "Okay but remember to sleep tonight. I don't need you harassing the servants again." He scribbled in his notes. A destiny changing spell, that was the purpose. That way when there was ever a time where Nightmare moon were to return it could be used to change her destiny from oblivion back to peace. He looked at the case next to him. Filled with the artefacts that were used to banish her to the moon. The bearers had all gone their separate ways. Supposedly them being nowhere near the artefacts should let him test the spell. He muttered the words of power and the colours of the gems changed. Sure the sentence didn't sound like it was structured correctly but the effect seemed to have worked. A crack of lightning hit a tree and had opened up a window. "Gah, I told the masons that-" When he looked out the window a red beam of light enveloped him. "What in-!" "Ah, Starswirl... I know this isn't the best of greetings but I'm in a bit of a rush. I need help in a bit of an experiment...." He then blacked out. "... and the next thing I knew I was being chased around a town. If you ponies didn't come and save me I don't know what would have happened." He was eating a plate of rice and beans. There we're several discarded plates around the table. "Huh. Also next time just say people" King said. "So he just abducted you out of nowhere?" Gat put his hand up. "That's the gist of it." He said swallowing another bite. "Man that's bullshit. He had to drag out mine." "Would you mind me asking a question?" Starswirl put down his fork. "Sure, shoot." Kinzie asked. "How come I have not seen a lot more humans on this ship?" Silence filled the room. "Touchy question?" "A bit, yeah." Pierce said. "But you meant no harm. Reason is that our home planet got blown to shit." "Oh... I'm sorry..." He looked down. "Don't be." The Boss said. "I ripped que hijos de puta (that fuckers) head off, spine and all." Starswirl being nervous was an understatement. He was terrified. "Hehe... Surely you joke, right?" "Nope." She pulled out a taxidermied head of Zinyak. On the plaque it read: Bagged: September 2020" and his face was posed to look like he was angry. "Jesus! You kept it?!" King yelled out. "What? He was a giant prick and had it coming." "That's messed man!" "Fine! I'll get rid of it." She reluctantly threw it in a trash receptacle. The janitor that finds it is going to have nightmares for the next couple months. The message incoming light came on The Bosses communicator. The brought it up and a holographic screen appeared in front of her face. There was a Zin standing at attention with a Captains uniform on. "Madam President, we have arrived in orbit around Equis. Shall we begin bombardment?" "When did I say we were invading?" Ever since she was in charge they still haven't gotten the whole 'We're trying to make friends not enemies' thing "No, get a shuttle ready for two. Starswirl and I will be on first." "As you command." He nodded. "You ready to get going?" She asked Starswirl. "Can't keep the Princess waiting." He said, still a bit shocked from the whole experience. Twilight Sparkle was looking through her telescope. Just like every Tuesday night. Always looking at the stars, wondering if there really was life out there. She was scanning the skies, looking for anything out of the ordinary. She was always fascinated by space. She was fascinated by anything new, really. Tonight there was something new. A red object appeared out of nowhere. "What?" She focused on the object and adjusted the zoom. There seemed to be a purple Fleur-de-lis painted on the side. "What." She zoomed in some more and found that there were more appearing in mere seconds. "WHAT." This was bad, her brother prophesied that aliens would invade. He may have been a fan of Sci-Fi but he took it the next step further. We were all fools for not believing him now. "SPIKE! GET A LETTER!" Author's Note Bits: +1000 Respect: +500 Unlocked: HOMIE: The Crew: Fun Shaundi is still stuck in the simulation. We're still working on an android body that can still hate pants and smoke up. HOMIE: Starswirl the Bearded: Unicorn magic for drive-bys! Crib: Zin Mothership: All it needs is a nice coat of purple Character: Real life Boss for use in Saints Row 4! http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/details/126189321730774945 Character: Simulation Boss for use in Saints Row 4! http://www.saintsrow.com/community/characters/details/126189321731230613
It's always the Everfree, isn't it?The cave was dim as the pony in dark armour marched in, clinking along with every step.. His hood was covering most of his head and cast a shadow over his face. As he walked there were small black jagged extrusions sticking up where his hooves tread. He was on a mission of a diplomatic nature. Although you can use "diplomatic" in a loose nature in this situation. "Yesss..." he muttered under his breath. There were several hisses coming from the shadows. The blue eyes were looking at him, watching, ready to strike at a moments notice. Changelings were fairly territorial and would jump at the chance to protect their queen. The further he traveled the thicker the solid green substance in the hive got. Even the temperature seemed to rise as he continued inward. If it weren't for his spell he would be sweating buckets from the heat. The figure stopped walking when he saw two guards wearing heavy chitin-us armour on and were carrying spears. A more accurate description would be long wooden sticks that are sharp and in no way would be able to damage the lone figure standing before them. "Halt! Who goesss there?!" Shouts one of the guards. "Crystals... Cryst-" He stopped to clear his throat but soon started to cough up a storm, trying desperately to stop. The guard looked at him with a confused expression on his face. "Do you need a glassss of water?" "No -cough cough- Thank you for -cough- the offer. Traveling the Badlands in the midst of a dust storm without a mask was not the best choice." The guard went back to his serious face. "What isss your buisssnessss here, ssstranger?" "I need to see your queen. It is a matter of utmost importance." "Send him in..." Came a miserable sounding voice from beyond the guards. "And stop with the 'sss' thing! It's giving me a migraine!" The two guards looked at each other and nodded him in, not far behind in case of trouble. As they walked in there were two others and a taller one laying in the middle with long blue hair. She groaned. "Is there a problem?" "Nothing, just-" She looked up "Wait, who are you?" "You don't recognize an old friend?" He said pulling his hood off. His eyes we're green and had a dark haze drifting from them. A crown stood atop his head with his horn a bright red. A wicked grin crossed his face, revealing sharp canines that glinted against the lighting in the room. "Sombra!?" She exclaimed as the guards surrounded her, spears pointed at Sombra and at the ready. "You should be dead!" "Oh come now, you didn't think that little explosive fit would keep me down, would you Chrysalis?" "Little? You call being blown to bits little?" "A minor set back. Anyway, down to business. I was hoping you could help me." "With what?" "I'm going to take back my rightful throne. And then? Equis as a whole." She looked at him. Disbelief was painted on her face. "You're mad. There's no way that you can be able to do it as one pony." He chuckled again. "Oh that's where you're wrong. There are lots of ponies, gryphons, dragons and zebras that would just be delighted for there to see somepony new in charge. And you know what? I'm sure after that there would be plenty of love to go around. Almost more than the wedding itself..." Queen Chrysalis thought for a moment. Sure there would be benefits to this but would they outweigh the downsides? After all there was a significant risk of the hive being wiped out as a whole. She couldn't risk her subjects being slaughtered, and if he did succeed then would he just execute her and the hive once their usefulness was through? She shook her head. "No." "No, what?" "I won't do it." He looked down and shook his head. "Well then, I was hoping to do this without resorting to force. But, alas, you leave me with no choice." His horn lit up with a glow of red, forcing up giant versions of the dark crystals that blocked off the entrance to the chamber. Another spell charged and knocked Chrysalis away, tumbling to the ground. A loud crack of bone and a scream of pain came as she fell. "SEIZE HIM!" She yelled to the guards. They all charged at him, frenzied and out for blood at the sight of their queen bring harmed. Sombra was quick to act however, quickly raising his hind hooves and bucking one of them away. Another tried to shove his spear in through one of the cracks of his armour but only succeeded in being disarmed and getting stabbed in the shoulder with blood running down the shaft. Using the spear he did the same to the other two that were charging. "Well then..." He said pulling out a dagger with his magic and walking over towards the downed queen. "I hope there aren't any more interruptions." It shimmered with the same dark haze that came from his eyes. "Because I have a bit of a schedule to keep." He plunged the dagger right into her chest. She screamed as if her entire body was caught on fire and clenched her eyes closed as it remained in there. Sombra pulled it out as quick as it was dug. Chrysalis was still screaming however as something took root within her. The dagger was not covered in blood but the haze was gone. Chrysalis was still writhing on the ground when she forced her eyes open. A solid green colouring replaced the lighter shades, the irises had now turned a dark red and the purple haze drifted from the corner of her eyes. "Don't fight it. There's not much you can do now." Sombra grinned. Chrysalis's screams died down when she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before the darkness enveloped her was a smiling Sombra standing over her. "Okay keep coming, keep coming, keep coming... and stop!" Pierce was helping The Boss back one of her cars into the shuttle. She would need it when she touches down to traverse the rest of the way to the palace. "Okay that's transportation, now for gear." She said while pointing towards the armoury. The armoury also doubled as a lab. There were several Zin in white suits doing experiments with various equipment and testing the various weaponry on dummy targets. On various screens there were readouts of the effects of weapons, schematics and concepts that danced about on the holographic displays. When they walked in they were greeted by the lead scientist. "Ah! If it isn't the saviour of the Empire!" She said when The Boss entered. "Que? (Huh?)" The Boss said while raising an eyebrow. "Well if it weren't for you I wouldn't have anything to do!" She laughed. "I mean let's face it! I was only making minor tweaks to the standard rifle but then you came along and said 'Hey could you make the weapons that were in my simulation?' and I was all 'Sure!' So I got to work and-" The Boss put a finger on her lips. "Show, don't tell..." she leaned over to Pierce. "She reminds me of Kinzie when she's eyeing the terminals." "I hear that." Peirce whispered back. She brought up a clear suit that ended at the upper thigh and extended to the wrists and placed it on the laboratory counter. "Here is the cut down power armour you requested. The reason why it was chafing was because they were made for Zin to use and it had a silk lining. It should fit under your clothes." She then placed several human weapons on the table as well. "I made these the best of both worlds. Our weapons can hold a lot of shots but they were prone to overheating and didn't fire as fast. Your weapons do the exact opposite. Combine them and bada-bing, you have a nice gun. The kicker?" he pulled the pistol up and fired it at one of the targets in the firing range. The shot impacted and exploded. "Behaves just as you wanted." "Yeah but is ammo going to be an issue while I'm down there?" "Nope. Look here." The ammo clips had a small solar panel on it. "Just leave them out when they're not in use. They even charge at night." Then she put out a sword. It looked like the energy sword but it wasn't glowing. "Touch it." She did and it lit up purple. "It's a sword. Just stick the pointy end in the other guy. Best thing is that it cuts like butter and if someone tries to use it against you?" The scientist grabbed it and it de-powered. The then ran the supposedly sharp end on her wrist. No blood came. "Also your 'special' request." The music gun was put on the table. "Oh my god, yes!" She grabbed it and jogged to the firing range. She held down the trigger and aimed at the dummy target that had a picture of Zinyak taped onto the face. "Raise your fist!" The targets were blown away from their stands. The only thing left was the wooden stubs that were bolted to the ground. "Aww, no explosions..." "We tried to get it to work but it wasn't possible. We did however, add two new settings on it. DnB and Trap." "I can live with that! Thanks... Um... I never caught your name." "Zinthrai." "Thanks Zinthrai, I'll bring you back something, alright?" After a quick change of clothes with the blue under suit beneath her hoodie and jeans she was ready to go. "You ready, Star?" The Boss asked when she strapped herself into the seat. "I have to be honest here. Not to happy to be flying there." He said slightly squirming in the co-pilot seat. "Air virgin?" "Let's just say that Celestia isn't the best chariot pilot." She cocked her eyebrow at the last bit. "Don't worry about it, I know how to fly one of these things." The flight deck attendant waved at her giving the go ahead to take off. She engaged the thrusters that propelled the shuttle off of the black landing pad to go out of the airlock. The engines shifted into flying position and then propelled the ship out and into the blackness of space. The Boss looked at Starswirl. He was over the pre-flight jitters and was taking in the endlessness of space. "Wonderful..." he said under his breath. "Eh." She shrugged. "Eh? This is the most amazing thing I have ever seen!" "Not enough explos-" She got a look at the planet and noticed a very peculiar thing. "Why the hell... why is your sun and moon going around the planet?" "Oh, The Princesses raise and lower them during the day. Quite the sight to see!" Starswirl beamed. The Boss put on her headset. "Hey Kinzie, Matt or CID? Why the hell is it doing that?" "I see it." The A.I. CID said. "It has something to do with two of the creatures on the planet. I shall do some more research and get back to you." "While your at it can you check if Big-foot is real? Maybe even- oh wait that is real." She shook her head. She was never going to trust that Voo-Doo priest again after the second time. "Your sarcasm is unbecoming of you." CID said before signing off. "I agree with the floating metal ball." Starswirl sat back in his chair with an annoyed look on his face. "Whatever." She started their descent onto the planet. She continued to descend onto the planet. The map had a red dot on the greenest part of it. "You sure it's there? It's in the middle of a forest according to this map." The boss said double checking it. "I'm sure of it! There must be something wrong with the machi-" He was cut off by the sound of an explosion and subsequent blaring alarms. "What was that!?" He yelled in surprise. The Boss looked at the readout. "Jesus, our left engine is blown!" "Trees!" Sarswirl yelled, pointing out the objects they were going to hit. "Here you go, Angel." Fluttershy said putting down a plate of baby carrots next to the frowning bunny. He looked at the plate and stuck his tongue out at it. "Come on Angel you need to eat them. They help you grow big and strong." She said, nudging the plate closer. The response was him swiping away the carrots on the plate. "Well then. I guess that somepony isn't going to get dessert tonight, is he?" Fluttershy crossed her hooves with a grin on her face. No desert!? This is the worst thing! Nay, the worst thing possible! Fruit sundaes wasted on the bear that only comes to the cottage for food. This shall not be! As the rabbit did his inner monologue he fake-fainted, quickly bringing himself upright. He started to pick up the carrots and shove them into his mouth. His cheeks were stuffed and nearly overflowing. "Ah ah." She scolded. "Chew it." Now the winged crazy wants me to chew it! What hell have I been brought into? He chewed it slowly. His face emulated both disgust and hatred he had for the vegetables in his mouth. It so dry! Garlic dip! I need garlic dip! He was finally able to swallow after many minutes of trying and was heaving at the aftertaste. "See? It wasn't so ba-" A very loud crash tore through the Everfree and was very well heard within Fluttershy's cottage. As soon as it made touch down there was another sound of grinding metal, upturning earth and splintering of trees. She looked out the window. There were bits of debris around the object that was embedded where a large section of trees used to be. There were flames coming from a cylindrical looking device on the back of the red and black vessel. "Oh... my..." She whispered. Okay whatever that was is a lot worse then the carrots... "Grh..." Wake up. "GRH." Wake up, damnit! Shit's on fire! You need to get out! "Ahh!" The Boss's eyes flew open. Smoke, Fire and small explosions were all around her. That was her usual thought process when she wakes up. In her line of work it was usually true like right now. She tried to unbuckle the seatbelt but her arms were caught under a bar of metal. She looked to the side to see Starswirl still blacked out. She tried to push the bar off but it was to wedged in for her to release from her current position. "Sonova..." The then remembered. The suit! Hopefully the scientists were able to replicate the powers in the simulation because one of them was particularly useful in this situation. "C'mon Zinthrai, work your magic..." She focused her mind on the metal. She imagined that it would lift off of her and would be sent through the window. As she did this a great weight was lifted off of her. She opened up her eyes and saw that it was doing exactly as she willed. With a push of her hand the metal was sent flying out of the cockpit and was embedded in a tree. "Yes!" she said in triumph, unbuckling the safety straps to check on Starswirl. He was out cold but he was still breathing. She pulled out a soda can with Saints Flow embossed on the side. A sticky-note with black permanent marker read "Drink only in life or death situation. KEEP AWAY FROM PIERCE." She's going to need the energy right about now. She slammed back the can and tossed it away. "Tiger milk, don't fail me now!" The FDA can suck it. She had all of her weapons on her and Starswirl was still comatose over her shoulder. She needed to get to the cargo bay, get the car and get the hell out. Hopefully her watch didn't get damaged in the crash. She's going to need to make a few calls after this. The cargo bay door was blocked by another bunch of pipes and flaming wreckage. She was able to telekinesis it out of the way and made her way through the flames and the carbon-monoxide. Her coughs were getting more frequent and worse, but she did reach where the car was. She put Starswirl in the passenger seat and went to the door controls. She was rapidly pressing the release button for the door to lower. It started to lower but it then it stopped. "Nonono, c'mon!" She hit the button several more times, hoping it would un-catch on whatever it was stuck on. It didn't budge. She was then forced to try and pry the thing open. Realistically she should have passed out long ago. The only thing keeping her going was near lethal amounts of sugar, taurine and adrenalin. She was making little progress as she was only able to get the door to fit her head out. She was starting to get tired. Her arms weren't able to force the thing back even far enough to get bodies through. "Harry, do something!" Came an outside voice. Wait, who? She looked up to see two giant paws help her open the doors the rest of the way. The sunlight burned her eyes trying to focus on the thing that's helping her. It didn't matter much however. The door was open wide enough to drive the car out. She ran back to the car and revved it up. Her modifications were definitely going to be useful right about now. "Outta the way!" she cried as she burned out her tires to gain speed. She let loose on the gas and tore out of there. Whatever helped her was well out of the way when she gained air on the incline. The car landed with a thwump and a grind as the suspension compensated for the landing. She was quick to put on the brakes when the smoke was starting to clear. She then skidded to a stop in front of some building. She felt tired. Her body felt as if her limbs weighed a tonne. She looked up from the wheel after having her energy crash. There was a single alien and other creatures looking at the car with fear. She stepped out with Starswirl on her shoulder. "I'm looking for the Royal Palace." She was wheezing and felt a pain in her left leg. "Can you point where it is?" The alien was looking terrified. "You... Um, you..." "Can we speed this up? I'm in a bit of a rush" "... have something in your leg." The Boss looked down to see a small metal slab sticking out of her leg, blood dripping from it, staining her jeans. "Oh... How 'bout that?" She started to feel light-headed. The next thing she knew was her on the ground and darkness enveloping her. "What is it?" Rainbow Dash said, inspecting the unknown creature while hovering over the bed that it lay in. "Ah reckin it has somethin' ta do with th' strange red lights in th' sky last night." Applejack said while looking over her face. She was perplexed at the face paint that it was wearing. "And ah have no clue as to why it had 'nother pony with it." "Do you think it's gonna try and take over the world?" "Nonsense! Ah mean... Shucks, Ah don't know." She shook her head. "I do like its fashion sense. That sweater and whatever it's wearing on its legs, ohh it would look marvellous with the right accessories" Rarity said while examining the scraps of denim that were on the bench next to the bed. "It needs it's rest, so I suggest that you, Pinkie Pie, stop trying to throw a party for it." Fluttershy said while putting another antiseptic strip on the wounded leg. Pinkie was balancing on a stack of boxes to put up streamers "C'mon! It needs to be welcome!" She looked at the thing in the bed. "Does it like cupcakes? I hope it likes cupcakes 'cause seriously, who doesn't like cupcakes? I mean I knew a stallion from Manehatten and he absolutely hated them so I had to-" Pinkie was interrupted by the sound of groaning. The Boss opened her eyes to find five new alien faces. "SUPRI-" A pink alien was about scream but now had a mouthful of hoof to shut her up. "Wha-" She started as she tried to sit up, only to be forced back down by the five. "Whoa there, sugarcube. You've been out for a while." The one with the hat said. "How long?" "'Bout a day and if Fluttershy didn't come get us you might have bled out right there." The rainbow haired one explained. She removed the pillow. "Alright, which one of you is Fluttershy?" "Um... that would be me..." the timid looking one said. "Guess I owe you then." "Oh it was nothing." She said, slightly blushing. She sat up and looked around. The bearded alien was nowhere in sight. "Where's Starswirl?" "Right here." The alien said when he entered the doorway. "Quite the nasty spill you took. But if it weren't for you I guess I would have died." "Oh thank god, I thought I'd be down a shuttle for nothing." She said jokingly. Starswirl only rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I guess that we should go." "Wait, where?" The Rainbow one asked "I'm here to return him." She said while shifting to the side of the bed and pointing at the grey pony. The others looked at her with confusion. "It's a long story. Don't really want to explain." "Um, not to impose or anything but you did crash from space and had a giant chunk of metal jutting out of your leg." The white one pointed out. "Believe me, I'm fine." "Are you sure-" The Boss looked at the white coloured alien with a look of seriousness. "Okay, I know you don't know anything about me but I've been shot, stabbed, broke many a bone, bruised, burned, got caught in a boat explosion that put me in a coma for about three years, give or take, got caught in many more explosions after that, I even got hit by a plane mid-air! I think, think, loosing a bit of blood is the least of my problems." They all seemed taken aback by the history snippet they were given. "Wow." The rainbow one rubbed her hoof on the back of her head. "Guess I can't complain about breaking my wing anymore." She pushed her covers aside and stood up. Her legs were still trying to get readjusted after having a whole day of not moving them. On her thigh was bandages stained with blood and gauze. It was numbing at the least and wasn't hurting to the point of screaming, so that was a plus. She looked at her clothes. They were tattered, burned and blood stained. "What I wouldn't give for a Planet Saints right about now." She said aloud. "I can help you with that!" The white one said cheerfully. Getting The Boss in the building was a bit hard to do as there were many other aliens trying to get a look at the crash and they had to hide the car in Fluttershy's shed. The guards stationed there were already on the scene and were investigating. They had to sneak her out in a rug in the back of a wagon. At least on the rest of the way they were able to introduce themselves to The Boss. Carousel Boutique was what it said on the tin. There were many mannequins mimicking the forms of the aliens that the clothing was made for and many shelves were stocked with various articles of clothing and sewing supplies. There were many mirrors around the ground floor to the point where The Boss could see her cat eyes no matter where she looked. "You know I never caught your name." The white one said as she was taking a measurement of The Boss's left leg. "Yours first." "My name is Rarity." Her voice had a bit of flair in it when she got to the name. "Jeeze, does everyone have a whacked-out porn star name?" The Boss muttered. "What?" Rarity looked at her with a cocked brow. "What?" "So what's your name?" She went back to measuring various bits of cloth. "That's on a need-to-know basis." "So that means...?" "If the universe is ending and you need to know my name, I'll tell you." "Do you never tell ponies your name?" Ponies... That's what they're called... Still a bit weird. "If by ponies you mean people, then no. Just call me Boss. Everyone else does." When she worked it was mostly one-sided small talk as The Boss was rather silent. After a bit of stitching, measuring, ironing, dyeing and more stitching it was finally done. For some reason The Boss felt irritated on various places of her body. "Well what do you think?" Rarity asked. The Boss looked down at the clothing. It was a long dress that reached down towards her ankles. It had frilly pom-poms on the shoulder and a purple sash down the left side of her chest. "Uh..." there was an itch on her leg. Her leg started to itch. Really bad. She remembered back to her time in office. At first they were iffy about her wearing jeans to Department of Defence meetings. She was allergic to anything that wasn't full cotton or denim. Many a meeting was ruined when everyone heard very loud scratching and saw an errant twitch on her face. Only then they started letting her wear jeans. "Are you okay?" Rarity asked when she started scratching her thighs furiously. "Dios- What is this made of?" "Oh, just silk." "Oh my god, it's like I'm wearing fire ants." Her knees were now in full itch mode. "I can makes some adjustments if you-" "I would be more appreciative if you just fix the other clothes." "But those are too-" "Anything but this!" A loud crash was heard from the upstairs room. "What was that?" Asked The Boss. Silence there after. They both looked at each other. Rarity was the first to speak up. "Sweetie Belle? Are you up there?" No response. "I thought she went to sch-" The windows broke as six different aliens jumped in armed with swords, daggers, hammers and crossbows. Four of them were of the average winged and horned lot while the other two looked like a cross between a lion and a eagle. Their eyes had a dark haze coming from them, their pupils glowing red with rage. "Get the element bearer!" One of the lion-eagle-mixes yelled to the others. "We need her alive!" "What about the other thing!?" "Kill it! I don't care!" The leader yelled again. "Oh come on!" The Boss yelled as she pulled back her arm to let loose a ball of ice that engulfed the leader, confining him in solid ice. The others only took one look at the ice to realize the bigger threat in the room and charged at her. The first one tried to do a running lunge of its sword into the stomach of The Boss. She countered with kicking the flat side of the sword to knock it out of its hooves. He tried to scramble for it but was met with a brutal punch to the throat. The remaining eagle-lion mix and another rushed her as well. They both swung with war hammers but The Boss was able to duck and roll behind them. A loud crack was heard when one of the hammers got stuck in the wooden paneling of the wall. The other threw the wielder off balance and onto the ground. The Boss followed up with kicking the one over onto it's back and going to town. "WHY. DOES. EVERY. ONE. ATTACK. ME. WHEN. I. TRY. TO. SHOP!?" She yelled when she was curb-stomping the would be assassin into the tiled floor. "HELP!" Rarity cried. The Boss looked up to see she was fending off the attacker with a roll of fabric. "Lady, you are making my job horrible right now!" He said while trying to put a net around her. "Well good!" She shouted hitting him again with the roll. The Boss took one of the war hammers and used it as a miniature pull-vault to deliver a drop kick into the face of the winged pony. He was propelled out of the window and landed in a thorn bush. The other war hammer wielder came up from behind with a vertical swing. Both Rarity and The Boss were able to duck out of the way to see one of the shelves crumble on impact. He readied up for another blow but by the time he had it over his head The Boss had her shotgun pressed against her shoulder. "Adios! (See ya!)" "What-!?" With a single pull of the trigger a loud boom ringed throughout the building. The attacker was blown away and landed against the wall. It slinked down with smearing blood stains on the wall paper. She looked to the side to see the last one readying a cross-bow bolt aimed right at her. She took aim and fired at the would be attacker. He was knocked back into a row of mannequins. The Boss came up out of her crouched position. She looked at Rarity to see that she was pretty shaken up. "Are you okay?" She asked. "You killed them..." she muttered. " It was in self defense. What did he mean by element bearer?" "T-the elements of harmony. Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Applejack are bearers of them as well." She explained. "Shit, that means that there could be other groups where they are. Where are they?" "Pinkie should be at home, Fluttershy and the rest were together, headed toward Applejacks farm..." She started muttering to herself. "You okay here then?" "Just go." "You sure?" "Go!" She sprinted out of the front door. She was stopped by two guards and she told them the situation. "Wait, who and what are you?" The guard asked before she sprinted off. "I was in that thing that crashed the other day!" "What?!" "I'll explain later, just check on her!" After a few seconds her suit kicked in and she was running a lot faster than before. As she ran, posters and decorations fell off of their intended positions as dust was kicking up behind her. "Okay, if I were a pink ball of pure sugar and ADHD, where would I live?" She looked around as she ran. She slid to a stop when she found a giant gingerbread house. The sign out front said "Sugarcube Corner." "Bingo." She smirked. There was cake and unconscious bodies everywhere. Icing was covering the walls so thick that if you were to push your index finger into it you would have frosting on your knuckles and wouldn't be able to touch the wallpaper. She was careful to step around the bodies. They were writhing in pain. All of them were wearing the same armour that the others wore when they attacked the Boutique. The culprit was busy loading up another shot into her cannon. "You take one step closer and I'll-" She then took a look and realized who it was. "Oh hi there, Boss!" "How did you know-" Boss started but was cut off by the pink pony that was now staring her in the face. "Silly, it was a couple of paragraphs back!" "Wha-?" Before she was even able to get her thought out she noticed Pinkie go stiff and started to twitch violently. Her pupils dilating rapidly and limbs fidgeting. "Dios, now it's having a seizure." "Oh no! Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are in trouble! You need to get there!" "How do you even know that?!" "No time to explain, you need to go!" The Boss tried to raise a finger to ask what was wrong with her but was being shoved out by the pink pony. The suit had done her good so far, allowing her to reach the orchard far faster than any of the guards were able. From a rooftop she was able to see there was at least twenty to twenty-five other aliens attacking the three. Fluttershy was too scared to do anything yet Applejack and Rainbow were handling themselves just fine. Applejack was using a lasso to disarm the ponies that were charging their position while Rainbow was dive bombing the unsuspecting ones. "What in tarnation is with you ponies!? Leave us be!" Applejack yelled to the attackers while bucking a hoof into the beak of a mix. "Back off feather-brains!" Shouted the rainbow blur. They were getting overwhelmed and The Boss could see it. She needed to act. Now. She gave a running start and gave a mighty leap. Using the suits glide ability she flew over to the middle of the crowd and readied her foot for a gigantic stomp. One of the attackers looked up to see a size ten sneaker come down on his face. The others were sent flying, the shockwave knocking them to the side. "How 'bout that?" The Boss said while getting up off her knee. The remaining ones that weren't knocked out got up and tried to attack all at once. "Crazy bit-ghak!" A rope was now rung around his neck as he was pulled back. "Oh no ya don't!" Applejack said through her teeth. Another attacker went for a slash at the throat but he was caught from the side by another dive bomb. The Boss started to pummel away the remaining two with flails of punches and kicks. One was missing most of his teeth with a broken nose while the other wouldn't be able to walk straight for a good week or so. When the dust settled there were many unconscious bodies as they were strewn about the pathway to the orchard. The Boss was holding onto on of the attackers necks until she caught her breath and let it go. "Is everypony okay?" Applejack asked. "Yeah... I'm good..." Rainbow Dash said when she landed. "Who were these guys?" Asked The Boss kicking over a unconscious body to get a better look. "Ah have no clue." Rainbow Dash looked to the hillside to see a lone figure standing and watching. "Who's that?" She asked only to see it dart off in the direction of the forest. "It's getting away!" Applejack called after it. The Boss started to sprint after it. Her suits speed was no match for the figure who was trying to get away. As she got closer it looked more and more like the mixes that she had fought earlier. It gave a look back to see that The Boss was gaining on her. She stopped to try and take off. "Oh don't think you can get away that easily!" The Boss grabbed its tail and pulled it down. It landed with a thud and a yelp. She then kicked it over onto it's back and held her foot on its neck. It tried to claw her way free but she added pressure to the neck. The Boss looked up to see the rest of the group run up to her and the prisoner. "Get up." She said while pointing the barrel of an SMG to the back of it's head. "Slowly." Rainbow Dash got up close to it. Her eyes then widened in surprise. "Gilda?" The prisoner looked up at Rainbow, eyes shimmering with the same purple haze that the others had. "Well if it isn't Celestias errand girl. How's it like being a slave?" "What?" Gilda chuckled. "I'm guessing Celestia hasn't told you about my Lord Sombras return." "T-that's impossible! He-" Applejack started "Exploded? Quite the explanation actually..." "Yeah? Well you're going to tell it to whoever's in charge." The Boss held her head back to look at her. "How are you going to get to Canterlot then? We've taken out all means of escaping." She chuckled... "Have you now?" The Boss smirked The gang was all gathered at the shed. Applejack had Gilda hogtied as they placed her in the trunk of the car. There was a bit of resistance due to the fact that one was "Okay, you break the speakers back there I will cut your tail off." It was the last thing she said before closing the trunk on her beak. "Death to the false ruler!" was Gildas muffled cry with several thumps against the metal of the trunk. "So, where were you?" The Boss asked the grey pony, ignoring the subsequent thumps from the trunk. "Being questioned by the guards. They said that they have never heard of me! Feh!" he scoffed "The one time that I want someone to recognize me, they don't." Everyone piled into The Boss's car. The Boss at the helm, Starswirl was riding shotgun while the rest were crammed in the back. The sixth of their group was at the castle where the princess lived, as the pink one, in one long breath, explained. "Is there anyway to move your seat up?" Rainbow asked trying to adjust the position of her hooves. "Nope." She put the engine into gear, speeding off towards the forest. Applejack looked out the window. "Uh, Ah don't think that yer goin' the right way." "Nonsense!" Starswirl interjected. "I remember this place like the back of my hoof." When she pulled into the pathway of the forest and continued onward. The ones in the back looked a little uneasy being in the greenery, not really looking out of the window. She drove through the forest until the trees got to thick for the car to pass. There was no sign of any sort of castle or even a brick house. "Then again she could have moved in the time that I was away...." It took an hour by train to get there, Rarity said, but the walking path that they were driving on took about three at the speed they were going. They had to go slow on the winding mountain path. Rarity had regained her composure and was now patching up The Bosses old clothes out of repayment for saving her life. She had realized it was either them or their own life and The Boss had chosen the only solution. The only time The Boss was able to speed is when it was relatively straight but even then it had a the giant risk of the car tipping. The five other passengers were looking rather irritated being squashed in the back seats. "Rainbow, get your hooves off my tail! You are scuffing it!" Rarity said trying to shove her hooves away. "Well I wouldn't be if somepony adjusted the seat a little!" "Dios- You've been whining about it for two hours." The Boss equally had enough. "For a good reason!" "Well learn to deal with it." She paused to adjust her glasses. "'Cause you know I can send this thing flying off a cliff." "You're bluffing." Dash said with a stern look. "Am I?" She put it into high gear and pressed hard on the gas pedal. The engine roared as the fuel was injected into it and the needle on the speedometer was now bordering on the two hundred mark. The passengers were screaming at the top of their lungs as they were getting very close to a cliff edge "She's not bluffing, SHE'S NOT BLUFFING!!" "You gonna stop complaining then?" "YES! FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, YES!!" she screamed. "Alright then." She slowly put on the brakes and the screaming came to a stop as the car did. There was a audible crumble from the dirt falling off of the edge of the cliff. "Madam, you are mad." Starswirl was struggling to regain his composure. "People have called me a lot worse." She put it back into gear and drove off. They had reached the capitol in due time. The rest of the element bearers had exited the car to explore the city and to stretch their legs and wings. But in reality it was so they could get away from the crazy person that brought them there. The Boss and Starswirl then continued their way to the castle, greeted along the way by confused, staring ponies. "- and there are refugees pouring into the border cities from the Gryphon Republic and most of our surrounding nations. Most reports are saying that their leaders have gone mad with power! Even siding with Sombra, himself!" The three princesses and one empress were listening attentively to the generals as they assessed the situation. To be frank it looked bad as they could be attacked on all sides at a moments notice. "Even with the battalions that had rebelled from the various countries, we're still outnumbered." One said as he was looking at the map, crossing out various forts that have cut ties with their respective nations. "Cadence how is thy army faring?" Luna asked glancing over to here while keeping her focus on the maps. "We aren't as numerous but we will provide troops as we can." Celestia wasn't looking at the maps but at her protégé. Stress and concern was plastered on her face as they were assessing the situation. Only a few weeks since the coronation and her first task is to help with a war that could threaten the fate of the entire world. "I guess it was either sooner or later..." she said under her breath. "What was that?" One of the generals pulled her head out from the maps. "Nothing, I am just thinking out loud." She looked over at Twilight again. "Could I talk to you in the other room?" "Yes, Princ- I mean yes Celestia, you can." Twilight was trying to get on terms of calling her by her proper name. The servants exited the room as they entered. They walked out onto a balcony that overlooked the courtyard. They could see the various guardsmen doing drills, practicing magic, target practice and other various exercises. Celestia sighed. "I know this wasn't what you had in mind for your first duty as princess." Twilight didn't say anything. She stared at the ponies in training down below. Pretty soon, she thought, they would be giving their lives in the protection of their county and their princesses. Celestia looked down then back at her. "Twilight, I'm sorry." "Don't be. This is all my fault." "But this wasn-" Celestia started. Twilights face turned into a scowl. "I should have made sure that he was gone for good. If I had even gave the second thought that-" "Hey! You two up there!" somepony called. "I'm trying to get in but apparently I need a invitation?" "I'm sorry but-" Celestia looked down to see a creature that was completely alien to her. She might even be one for all she knew. The rest of the guardsponies were staring the strange metal carriage that she stepped out of. "Um, not to impose but who are you?" The creature looked around at the ponies staring back at her. "I'll tell you if you let me in!" she shouted. "I came to bring something back to you, plus an added bonus!" She went to the behind of the carriage and popped open a trunk that was built into it. "Let go of me!" The sound of that set the two princesses on edge. The creature dragged out a gryphon in full leather armour. "I don't know if word had reached you guys yet but there was a bit of an attack on one of your towns to the south." The gryphon flailed and tried to get herself free, only to stop with a kick to the back of the neck. "Led by this pinche cabron (fucking asshole), right here." "There was an attack? Why haven't we heard of it yet? Is everypony alright?" Twilight asked the creature. "I handled it, don't worry. Now can you let me in? The one by the anvil is giving me a weird look." The four alicorns and one human were sitting at a round table filled with various foods ranging from vegetables, fruits, some sort of alcohol and pastries. Seeing how they didn't know what The Boss ate the cooks had to wing it. "So your civilization were the ones behind the red lights in the sky?" Twilight had asked while the boss was putting a deviled egg on her plate. "I wanted it to be changed to purple but the captains were all; 'No, we have to keep them red. It strikes fear into the enemy.' And I was all, 'Screw that, they're gonna be purple with bitchin' racing stripes.'" She was greeted with stares of confusion as she rambled. Luna leaned over towards her sister and whispered "What are 'bitching racing stripes?'" "I think those are what Cadence tried to put on her chariot." Celestia whispered back. Cadence only coughed in response. "Um, I don't think that you have properly introduced yourself." Twilight said, trying to change the subject away from the less important things. "Oh, let's see..." She muttered. "Most people call me The Boss. I guess you can too. If we're going for titles then I'm President of the USA and Empress of the Zin Empire." "So wait, why didn't you send somepony else to give whatever it is back?" "'Cause I don't like being cooped up in a spaceship with little to nothing to do." She said. Twilight was about to ask her another question until The Boss spoke again. "I know what you're going to ask and yes I do have a name. It's just..." She didn't really know how to explain it. "Trust issues I guess..." The Boss shook her head. "I'm getting off topic. Les' get down to business." She motioned for someone to enter the room. "C'mon in, Star!" The grey and bearded pony stepped into the dining room. As soon as he did the two eldest princesses fainted out of shock, them now lying on the floor. Twilight was looking at them in horror, trying to comprehend why the two princesses are now lying comatose. "Uh, w-who are you?" Twilight asked. "I'm, uh, Starswirl. Starswirl the Bearded." There were now three comatose princesses and another one calling for a medic. "Wait, why are there four princesses?" He asked himself.
Can we just say this is like one of those filler missions at the beginning?Pierce was tapping a pen against the table he was sitting at. Every now and again he would glance over at the comm-terminal, expecting The Boss to check in. The rest of the crew was keeping themselves busy, either writing things down on a data pad or fixing various forms of equipment. "Guys?" The rest of the crew looked up to meet Pierces gaze. "Should we go down there to get her?" Gat went back to cleaning his gun. "I know the gal. She's fine." "But she did say she would check in, right?" PIerce asked. "She's jus' taking a break." Gat said. "I mean hell, she needs a vacation from bein' all diplomatic and stuff. I mean who knows what she could be killin' down there... Maybe a dragon?" "Are they going to be okay?" Cadence asked the pony dressed in doctors garb. He lifted the hoof of Celestia and looked at his watch, monitoring her heartbeat. "Zhey should be up by ze end of ze day. Just make sure zhey are not spooked in anyway." "Thank you, Doctor Cross, you may return to your duties." "As you vish." The white pony bowed and stepped out of the room with medical case in tow. Cadence sighed and turned to face Starswirl. "Who are you exactly?" "I could ask you the same thing." He said, slightly sizing up the alicorn standing in front of him. "The last time I was here, there was only one Princess." "Wh- How long were you gone?" She was baffled at that statement. "She said it was three years." He responded, pointing at The Boss. The Boss was sitting on a chair reading a book on creature anatomy, shutting out the outside world with large over ear headphones. Her head was bobbing to the music she was listening to. The book had a skeleton of a earth pony standing next to a skeletal changeling, zeebra, gryphon and dragon going from smallest to largest in size. She turned the book and her head to the side, letting a three page spread dangle towards the floor. "Damn, that big?" She inspected the image closely until dismissing it with a simple "Meh." "Boss! I asked you how long he was away!" Cadence yelled at her. Still no response. She rolled her eyes and lit up her horn. The headphones lifted off of The Bosses head, letting loud electronic beats bellow into the room. “Dios- What?” “I asked you how long has he been gone." She then repeated. "Oh." She looked up to the ceiling in thought. "Uh, the file said three years." "Okay, then before you got foalnapped, was there anything that happened that was of, say..." She was trying to find the right words. "Importance?" "The banishment of Nightmare Moon was a week before that." Cadence blinked. "Uh... Wow. Um, Boss? Would you like a tour of the palace?" "Eh, I've seen all I need to see." She said and went back to her book. It was lifted out of her hands an placed on the shelf. "I insist." Cadence had taken The Boss through various wings. The gardens, kitchens, living quarters... The only reason she did was to get away from the knocked-out Princesses and current time-bomb-if-told-the-truth, Starswirl. "So this is the Royal Library. It hold some of our most oldest-" Cadence was explaining until The Boss stopped in her tracks and pulled Cadence into a corner next to the history section. "Okay, cut the bullshit. What did you want to talk to me about?" It was less of a question and more of a demand. Cadence sighed. "Look, Starswirl has been gone for... One thousand years." "What? The file-" "I know what the file said and it's wrong." Cadence interjected quickly. "If he was gone for a thousand years, he should be dead." The Boss explained. Cadence looked at her. "I know your race has superior technology compared to ours. I'm sure you can expand the life of a pony and I'm also sure that you keep records of ponies in some sort of ledger. Can't you find it right now?" "Oh... Shit. Didn't think of that." She looked down at her watch. She pressed a button on the left side of the face that brought up a red holo-screen. "Wow..." Cadence brought up a hoof to try and touch the projection. She only succeeded in obstructing the projection and The Bosses view. She swatted the hoof away and mumbled various curses while trying to bring it up. After swiping through the various files on the database it was brought up with his anatomy and various information. "See?" The Boss said while pointing at the key bit of information. "Three years." Cadence read through it. "Last updated... 997 years ago..." The Boss never checked those listings. "Oh shi-" "A THOUSAND YEARS!?" A voice exclaimed, ringing throughout the palace. They both looked at each other and sprinted towards the infirmary again. When they burst in they found Celestia up and trying to calm down a fuming Starswirl. "YOU!" He pointed at The Boss. "YOU SAID IT WAS THREE YEARS!" "Hey, there's a good explanation for-" The Boss started, only to be smacked with a hoof. "Okay, I kinda' deserved that." "Kind of? You think being 997 years off makes you 'kind of' deserve it!? I was locked in a hell-hole with no hope of rescue and you could not even bring you brains together to check a date!?" Starswirl's teeth were so barred that they could have cracked from the pressure. He wanted to scream. The only thing he let his anger out on was that tacky vase on the counter next to the bed. He picked up the vase and threw it at the wall with a blood-curdling scream. When it impacted with the wall it shattered into many pieces. As soon as the shards fell a silence enveloped the room After a good few moments he spoke. "I need to be alone." He walked right out without another word. The silence still remained. It was awkward to say the least as the two alicorns and one human only glanced at each other every moment or so. "I'll go check on him." The Boss decided and walked out of the room. A groan came from the lavender alicorn as she brought her head up from the pillow. "Wha- What happened?" Starswirl, after an hour of searching, came to sit in front of a headstone in the graveyard. He read through the engraving: Here lies Starswirl the Bearded. Strong Pony, Loyal Student. May He Forever Rest In Peace In the hooves of our Creator He only sighed. "At least she didn't forget about me." "Hey." Greeted a voice from behind him. He turned his head to see The Boss sit down next to him. "Look I'm sorry about-" "Don't be. This was Zinyak's fault." Looked at the grave and sighed again. There was a silence between them that let the sound of the gardens fill the void. It was much more pleasant than indoors. It had a calming effect that let them be alone with their thoughts. "So you're not mad anymore?" The Boss asked as she stood up from the grass. "No. Just tired. I've had a long trip in my own personal hell-hole. I'm glad to be back." He got up. "A lot has changed, though. At least I'm not as famous as I was." "Y'know, you never told me about that." They both started walking along the path back to the palace. "I created spells. There wasn't a problem that couldn't be fixed without a little ingenuity and this." He tapped his horn with his hoof. "I got me a lot of praise from the populace. I liked knowing that I was leaving a positive impact on the world but it got out of hand, quickly as well." He sighed. "After I solved a major flaw in a spellcasting system, I was in every newspaper around the country. Everypony could recognize me going down the street and would want me to sign their books." "I've been there." The Boss agreed "I had almost every fanboy on me since one of my friends put me in a comic book." She shook her head. "I was the Twenty-third Commandant of the Saints Fleet in Gangsters in Space, issue twelve. Now thinking about it, it's kind of ironic." She chuckled. "Out of curiosity: What was your simulation?" "I was placed in a hell-hole where everything was determined for me. No control what-so-ever. People who weren't there were laughing at the most mundane things I did and everyone had a painted-on smile on their face." "That sounds horrible. What was it?" "Fifties sit-com." The jingle of "Leave it to the Saints" played in her head. It made her shudder. As they continued walking towards the palace The Boss heard something in the air that was not one of the things she heard when she first came in. The flap of rather large wings. The Boss stopped. "D'you hear that?" "No, why..." He turned his head and let the "Y" drag as his voice slurred. His eyes widened in shock at the sight. The Boss turned around to see a swarm. The creatures that were flying were lizards with wings, all of them were in various sizes and various dark shades of colours. All of them heading toward the castle, beating their large, leathery wings. "What the fuck are those!?" She yelled while pointing at the oncoming swarm of reptiles. "We must inform the Princess!" he replied and started to gallop off. "The fuck are they!?" She repeated as they sprinted. "I kind of need an answer!" "Dragons!" Shouted a guard as they passed, barking orders at the other stationed sentries. "Dios- Who would want to live here!?" Spike the Dragon has seen a lot in his lifetime. Only a baby dragon and he has seen the fall of Nightmare Moon, the reformation of Discord, the banishment of Queen Chrysalis (or at least he would like to think he was there for most of them) and had assisted in the second destruction of Sombra. Suffice to say, he's seen a lot of shit in his life. On this particular day he was not expecting another dragon migration. Especially one in the direction of Canterlot. At least he wasn't in a maid outfit to see it. "Hey Twilight, do dragons have two migrations in a lifetime?" He asked as he looked out of the study-room window. "Only when something really bad happens in the Dragon Lands. Why?" Spike pointed to the oncoming swarm of dragons. They ranged from all different shapes and sizes but there were only a few of the really big ones. When Twilight turned to face the window her jaw could have disconnected itself from her face, grow arms and legs and then have commit Seppuku due to not knowing how to properly react to this. "Didn't they travel east last time?" Spike wasn't paying attention to her as she bolted out of the room. "Twilight?" He looked back to see a stack of papers fall where the Princess once stood. "Twilight!" He called and ran after her. Starswirl and The Boss ran down the many corridors that made the palace. Only the squeaks of The Bosses sneakers and the clop of Starswirls hooves were audible in the hallways as they ran. All of the guards patrolling were now stationed on the walls that surround the palace. The throne room is just ahead. There were more guards in this room than any other. Halberds at the ready, willing to die to protect their Princesses. "Princess Celestia! There are-" Starswirl started. "- Dragons on the way to the castle!" Twilight finished. They both looked at each other. Twilight had come in from another door on the other side of the room with Spike on her back. Twilight's eyes lit up from seeing her idol in the flesh. Although The Boss and Starswirl acted right away as they saw the miniature dragon. "Spy!" Starswirl cried and launched a bolt of energy at the purple dragon. With a cry the dragon stood stiff and fell to the ground. His body was unable to move as a feeling of numbness enveloped him. "Spike!" Twilight cried and rushed over to see if he was okay only to be shoved aside by The Boss. "Okay culero (asshole), you're going to spill as to why they are attacking and you might walk away alive." The Boss levelled a pistol in his face. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead as he could quite tell what would happen if she were to pull the trigger. "He's with me!" She shoved the pistol away as she dispelled the paralysis effect. "How do you know he's not been snitching this whole time?" "Because I was there when he first hatched!" Twilight exclaimed. "Enough!" Everyone turned to face Celestia. She cleared her throat before continuing. "The Boss and Starswirl were not aware of Spikes allegiance. I urge both of you to use caution before throwing accusations around." "I am sorry, Princess." He then helped up the small dragon. "I am sorry to you, as well." "No biggie." He replied. "You are forgiven." She then looked at The Boss and coughed slightly. "What?" "You are forgetting something." "Chica (Girl), I didn't get where I am today by saying sorry." One of the generals came up to the throne and kneeled. He only raised when Celestia gave the order. "Your highness, the ballistae are in position. We may fire on your command." Celestia looked at the oncoming swarm. "No." "Pardon me your majesty, but what!?" "This isn't an attack. They are too disorganized for them to mount any kind off offensive." "Then what are they doing?" "Fleeing." "What would they be..." The realization had hit the general. "No..." "No, what?" The Boss asked. "How would he be able to even get to the dragon lands, let alone set foot inside?" Twilight asked. "I have not told their leader of his fall. Back then he was allied with the dragons. Since the Crystal Empire vanished, they all assumed that he died along with it. They could have let him in with open hooves." "Who died along with what?" The Boss asked. She still got no answer. Starswirl was looking as confused as her. "But how would he be able to get the Zebras and Gryphons on his side? I know for a fact that they hate him." Twilight asked. "I don't know how-" "COULD SOMEONE EXPLAIN AS TO WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!?" Everyone stopped and looked at The Boss. Her scowl unnerved even the most hardened of the Generals. Even Cadence who had just come into the room felt as if she had walked into an angry Ursa Majors den. Celestia sighed. "I am speaking about King Sombra. A tyrant from a long time ago." "What!?" Starswirl exclaimed. "He should be-" "Dead. I don't know why but he is back." She looked back out of the window. "Thousands of years ago he was ruler of a Empire, the same one that Cadence now rules over. With an iron hoof he enslaved the entirety of its citizens and spread hatred and fear all through the lands." Next to the throne lay a glass case with a single crystal. Celestia's horn lit up and plucked it from it's stand within the case and gave it to The Boss to examine. "My sister and I intervened, turning him to shadow and encasing him in the ice of the north. Not before cursing the Empire to vanish into thin air. He came back the first time and my student and her friends had defeated him almost a year ago." "I'm guessing he wants something? I've dealt with those types before." The Boss stated. 'Too many times' She added on in her head. "World domination. He has already corrupted the hearts and minds of the leaders of our surrounding nations. If the Crystal Empire falls... then there is no hope of resisting him." "Wait, what's so special about the Crystal Empire?" She then remembered that Cadence was in the room. "No offence." "None taken. The Crystal Empire spreads love and joy to the creatures of the world. Without it we would all be hate filled husks of beings that can't tell their heads from their plots." "That's... a blunt way of putting it." Twilight commented. "I call it how I see it." Another Guard came into the room. "Princess Celestia, the rest of the dragons have stopped while a lone one has landed at the gates. It says it wishes to speak with you." The dragon was swiftly brought to the palace with a entourage of guards. When it got into the throne room it was obvious that it was weary from the journey. Draped in it's hood and cloak it clutched many scrolls and bottles that contained liquids of unknown origin. It had a limp in its step as there was a wrapped bandage around the ankle of it's scaly leg. It kneeled with a shaky leg as he approached the throne. "What business do you have with your..." Celestia looked out the window to see the rest of the swarm either flying around the outskirts or lying around on the grass, scratching the surface to find gems to make a mini-hoard or to eat. "Unexpected visit?" The figure removed its hood to reveal the rest of it's head and in turn, it's face. "My name is Kal'rhee. I am sorry for any inconvenience that the brood gives but I bring word from the dragon lands. It is about our Broodmother." The dragon had said. "Of Elisif? How is she?" She was already expecting the worst news. "Dead." The news stunned and shocked the ponies in the room. Celestia knew her well. They were able to make some of the first dragon/pony relations work. Although the most of the relations were to keep as far away from each other as possible, with the occasional trade deal for gems and precious metals. "How... how can that be?" "Murdered by her own daughter. I was there when it happened. She had his... purple haze in her eyes when she did it." "I know you have come for help but we are no better off as well." Celestia said and looked down at the floor. "We are besieged on all sides." "I can ask the rest of the refugees if they can provide military-" "We are still outnumbered three-to-one. The Gryphons were the first, the Zebras second and now you. It is going to take a saint..." She glanced over to one of the doorways to the planning room. There sat the human that was reading her book with her headphones over her ears. She looked back at the dragon that was standing at the foot of the throne. "We will consider your offer at a later time. We will contact you once we reach a decision." "Very well. I await your word." The guards then escorted the dragon out of the room. She recalled what The Boss had said before. The Zin Empire had conquered most of the galaxy. If they were able to do that then they would be the greatest allies that Equestria needed. But what was stopping her from saying no? After all, this isn't their war. She sighed and muttered "I'm getting too old for this nonsense." She got up and went over to The Boss. She needed to ask her. Just for the chance, even a very slim one at that, that she could provide some sort of assistance. "Boss... Oh, how would I word this..." She gave her plea a bit of thought. "We need your help. I know I haven't spoken to you about our problem but we are in desperate need of assistance. Sombra has us on all sides." She looked at the ground again, trying to phrase the rest of her plea. "If you can help us... We would be in your debt." The Boss looked up from her book and removed her headphones. "Sorry, what was that?" Celestia groaned in response and then told her plea again. When she finished The Boss was thinking it over. Earth got blown to shit after Zinyak. The only remaining population is as big as the population of Beijing and there were a couple of other races that stuck around with the armada as well. The one thought stuck with her. We need a new home planet. "I can help you..." Celestias face nearly went giddy when she heard it. "... on one condition." Celestia knew that would happen. "I told you about how we got captured, right?" Celestia nodded. "What I didn't tell you is that... our home planet got blown the fuck up." "I-I am sorry to hear that... My condolences to your brethren." "And with that comes the request... If we help you with your war, will you give us a place to crash?" That put Celestia on the spot. She couldn't say no either way, she needed the military support and these creatures lost their home planet. But she didn’t know what they were like. They could destroy the whole world if they settled. But if she said no now she'd lose support AND look like a dick. "I... guess?" She stammered. After that the preparations were made. They grabbed the rest of the Elements. Pinkie decided there was partying to be had in space and dragged the rest along. It also caused some... chaos. Since The Bosses communication equipment was destroyed in the crash she had to make a distress signal. Long story short; faux hostage situation and lots of gun/spear pointing. The shuttle landed in the bay. The Boss, the four Princesses and their entourage of guards stepped out of the ship and onto the black flooring. "Welcome to the Zin mothership!" The Boss said to the large crowd of nauseous ponies. One of the guards threw up into his helmet. "Er..." The Boss grabbed on of the ship technicians. "Get the Med-bay preped for a shit ton of people and motion sickness." He only shuddered and went off into the direction of the med-bay. After that bit of unpleasantness, the group made it towards the throne room. The room itself looked completely empty save for a few guards and terminals. The Boss stepped forward and a rumbling was heard. The floor shuddered as a staircase rose about five feet off of the ground and a single stone seat stood at the top of the stairs. The Boss stepped up and sat on the throne. A golden Fleur-de-lis rose behind her to complete the spectacle. "I want you to meet my crew." Right when she said that the door to the side room opened up with the rest of the crew stepping in. "Oh, hey boss, when did you-" Pierce started but was swiftly cut off. "That's Pierce, my communications director. Need bullshit and over complicated plans? He's your guy." "Hey!" "Oh let it go, Pierce. Half of your plans are overly complicated." Shaundi said. The Boss pointed at her "That's Shaundi. The head of my Secret Service..." Introductions went on like this for about ten minutes. Just enough time for one of the guards to break off from the group. She snuck out of the formation and out of the room, toward one of the stationed guards. "Excuse me, but can you point me in the direction of a toilet?" "You one of the visitors entourage?" The Zin looked the pony over for a second. "Follow me." They walked down the corridor and made idle conversation along the way. "I hear that you had a change in leadership." The guardspony said. "Yeah, not a lot of people are happy about it though." "How so?" "Some people liked Zinyak better than The Emp- Sorry, 'The Boss.' For some reason or another she prefers that than Empress. Anyway, a large majority say that The Boss has turned things around for the better. Abolished the laws against gay marriage, made a bunch of bad apples disappear, scientific advances and so on and so forth. The remainders don't like her because of her messing up the chain of command and y'know... the whole not alienating the lower class and a bunch of other reasons. Personally, I think she's alright. It's better than having a squid in charge." "Really?" the guardspony asked. "But there has been rumours of some of the generals trying to stage a coup. But they wouldn't be stupid enough to do it. They wouldn't have enough man-power. The Boss is a one-woman army. She tore Zinyaks head right off, spine and all." They stopped in front of a door. "Here we are." He placed his hand on the scanner. It turned green with a beep of approval and slid the doors open. "Thank you." "Just t' let you know the toilets are different from whatever you guys have. You'll figure it out though." He explained and walked back to his post. She went into complete darkness. When the lights turned on the first thing that she noticed was there were no privacy dividers on each toilet. “Oh... These better not be co-ed.” If no one was coming in then it would be all the privacy she needed. She went over and sat on one of the futuristic toilets. As soon as her flank touched the seat a energy barrier shot up around her, providing the much needed privacy. She opened a pouch on her armour and pulled out a green orb. She held it in her hooves and closed her eyes. Her eyelids opened to reveal solid blue eyes with no pupils or retinas. A green bale-fire erupted on her skin. Beige fur burning away to reveal a solid black chitin for skin. Her horn became twisted and jagged and her hooves grew holes right through to the other side of them. This was her true form. A changeling. She lit up her horn and charged the orb. An image shimmered into life of her queen. "Ah, Echo... Or should I say, 'Breeze Block.'" She chuckled. "I SWEAR TO CELESTIA I'M GONNA BUCKING DESTROY ALL OF YOU WHEN I GET OUT OF THIS CRAP YOU PRICKS!!" Shouted a voice from behind Chrysalis. She winced at the loudness of her captives voice. She looked over to see that the real Breeze Block has chewed through her gag again. She groaned. "The insufferable-" She almost started complaining but quickly composed herself. "Have you anything to report?" "I believe I do, my queen. It seems that the ponies have made new friends..." "That's a little vague." Chrysalis took note of the metallic wall behind her minion. "Where are you exactly?" "That is the thing, my queen. The new friends are..." She struggled to find the words. "They are... Extraterrestrial in origin." "You mean to say that they are alien to this world?" "Yes and they are pledging support to the ponies as well." "What!?" "In exchange for a home, I gather." "Is there a 'but' coming?" "But there is a weak link in the chain. I've heard of there being certain groups that aren't to happy with their leader." "Good. I will let our lord Sombra know. You have done well, Echo. Continue to monitor and report back with any other information." "Yes, your majesty." She put the orb away back into her pouch and re-assumed her form. On the other end of the line the image of the changeling shimmered out of existence over the green pool. She hobbled with her broken hoof over to the pool next to her captive who is still trying to bite through the even bigger ball that has been formed in her mouth. Chrysalis let her horn glow and focused on the pool. The image of Sombra had materialized over the pool. He was sitting on a throne that was seemingly made from dark crystals. "Ah, my subject... Have you anything to report?" "My lord, my spies have unearthed very important information." "Oh?" He reclined and put his front hooves together. "Tell me, what do the pretenders have to try and re-usurp me with?" "They have new allies." "Ah yes... Have the deserters reached Canterlot? Do not worry, they will fall like the others." "That is not it, my lord. They are alien and they have come for a new home." His eyes went wide. "Surely you jest. I will not tolerate any joking within my-" "I am serious, my lord. The red lights we've seen in the sky confirms it and one of my changelings is on their vessel right now." "Is there a 'but' coming?" "There is a... less-than-loyal faction within the alien visitors." There was a audible 'hmm' coming from Sombra. "We must test their mettle and see what they are capable of. Continue monitoring and report back with any other information." The image faded and left Chrysalis alone in her hive. What is he planning? The Zin mothership was big. So big that it was able to house over nearly half a billion life forms. It was almost a roaming self-contained mega-city. Of course it would have all the things necessary to keep the population well entertained. The Boss and her guests were approaching the theatre that was one of the venues for the Zin/human cultural music festival. It was one of the ideas that Pierce came up with to help boost relations between the races because of bad blood between them. On the digital poster on the wall next to the entrance stated that the next act was "Foreign Beggars x Noisia - I AM LEGION" The guards took them up to a private balcony seat on the left side of the theatre. It gave the group a proper view of the stage. "So, whom are we going to see perform?" Asked Rarity as she took her seat next to Twilight. "Some of the most awesome people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing." She would know them well as she had them perform at her inauguration into presidency. The lights dimmed and the crowd on the floor began to uproar in unison. There were strobe lights going off and flashing in multiple colours as the intro started. Three people stepped up behind a table with several turntables on it. The crowd roared as two more people stepped onto the stage. "WHAT'S UP MOTHERSHIP!?" screamed the smaller, east Indian man. The crowd roared even louder. "We got a great show for ya tonight. We even have some very special guests here!" The taller black man explained. A spotlight illuminated the balcony. "GIVE IT UP FOR THE BOSS!" The crowd was cheering for her. It wasn't her show but they were cheering none the less. She waved back at them. "Also give a huge welcome to the leaders of newest member of NATO, Equestria!" There was another round of cheering. "What is NATO?" Celestia asked. "It's a thing that the United States is apart of. It basically means we are able to give you military support if you're attacked. Without going through Congress I might add." She saw that Celestia was opening her mouth to ask. "It's basically getting permission from the rest of the states to do something." "But I thought your government got-" "Killed? Well, most of it. Some other officials got captured along with us. This is just for them to shut up if they get pissed about it." "Oh." The people on stage began to spit out their lyrics and the bass was thumping along with them. As the crowd was jumping, bobbing and waving their hands to the music. They all were having a good time. Although not all of the attendees were enjoying themselves. The group in the balcony minus The Boss were just confused. "What is this... Noise we are hearing?" Luna said while holding her hooves over her ears in protest. "It... is certainly something." Celestia said as she squirmed a little in her seat. The other ponies had similar opinions. For the exception of two however. "I kinda like it." Cadence said as her head bobbed along to the beat. "It's like poetry with a heavy beat." "I LOVE it!" Pinkie exclaimed as she was literally bouncing along with the bass. "Everypony down there looks like they're having a huge party! How popular are these guys?" Then her eyes went wide. She knew what she needed to do. "I NEED THEM AT A PARTY!!" "I could ask them if-" The Boss started. "NO TIME!" She tried to launch herself off of the balcony only to be caught by the tail in The Bosses hand. "Chill, amigo (friend). If you wanted to ask you could wait-" The Boss took a look down and saw her crowd surfing and giggling. "- until after the show..." She shot a look at the rest of the group. "Does she normally do this?" "More oft'n th'n not." Applejack explained. "Ugh, if you guys don't want to stick around, I'm not stopping you. Mingle with the rest of the crew? Fuck, I 'unno" She jumped after Pinkie and was crowd surfing to the front of the stage. "I'll, uh... Stay if that's alright with the rest of you?" Cadence asked. "Very well, Cadence." Celestia nodded. "We will be in the meeting room if you come looking." "Sweeeeet..." Cadence muttered under her voice as the rest left. She jumped off of the railing and onto the hands of the waiting crowd, cheering and throwing her hooves up in the air. "For the last time, NO!" Kinzie was furiously pounding away at her keyboard. "Why not? I could drastically improve the life of people through their values and with po-" The virtual rendition of Celestia tried to explain on the huge monitor in front of the girl. "If you did you would have to remove a subjects brain." "That's so I could analyze it and-" "It would effectively kill the person and it's not likely they would transfer consciousness into the simulation if you did that." Celestia tried to interrupt but Kinzie continued. "Not to mention it would put a strain on the simulation and in turn; the entire ship." "But-" Kinzie pointed a finger at the screen. "Do you want Professor Genki running around Canterlot again? 'Cause I can put him back in!" "Nonono, No! Not again! Especially after the cannon incident!" Celestia cried. "Good." "Why is there a giant talking image of me?" A voice asked from the back of the room. Kinzie turned around to find Twilight and the real Princess Celestia standing in the doorway. "Wow is that... An entire world... Artificially made and managed..." Twilight said with wonder in her voice. The scientific ramifications were reeling through her mind. Twilight tried to get her hooves on the keyboard. It looked just like a type-writer without the paper and the machinery. It was all digital. She tried to take it from Kinzie but all she got was a slap on the hoof and a stern look from her. "Don't touch anything. We had to make this simulation crash and that caused the ship to nearly go haywire!" she seethed. "From what I hear, you're her student." She pointed at the real Celestia. "I know you're smart but I swear we came this close to losing our entire race and I can't and won't have it fucked up by someone who doesn't know what the fuck they are doing, typing in 'This statement is false' and ruining everything!" "... You are really high strung, aren't you?" Twilight cringed a little. "Well I was never a good Press Secretary, so yeah." "Well... Could you teach me?" Kinzie wasn't expecting that. "How much time you got?" Twilight brought a giant notebook from out of her saddle-bags. "As long as it takes." Celestia chuckled to herself. 'Always ready to learn...' she thought. Keith David was doodling in his personal notebook. He was usually a busy man but today he had fallen into one of those moods. He felt like doing stuff but he was just unable. He was sketching a detailed picture of the Washington Monument. Sadly it had been lost in the destruction of Earth but he had the image burned into his memory in his time as Vice-President. "Um... H-hello..." a sheepish voice said from behind. "Hm?" Mr. David grunted as he turned around to see a shy looking pony with a pink mane. "Ah, you must be one of The Bosses guests. The name's Keith David. Actor, writer and politician." He stood up off his chair and extended his hand out for a hand/hoof shake. The pony moved back a little with a small whimper. "Oh come on, don't be shy." Keith encouraged, extending his hand further. Fluttershy was never one to talk to somepony outside of her friends. But here was a another human that seemed, albeit less, but still pretty intimidating. He looked all business-like but he seemed friendly enough. She shook his hand. "So what's your name? I never caught it when The Boss was introducing us." Flutershy said her name in a barely audible tone. "Sorry, could you repeat that?" She repeated it in a slightly higher but still inaudible volume. "Still can't hear you." "my name is fluttershy..." "Little bit more." All that came out of her was a squeak. "Not the talkative type are you?" She sheepishly nodded. Keith chuckled. "You should meet Roddy Piper. Same situation as you. You're just missing the whole being able to suplex a man through several tables." The remaining princess was sitting on the couch with Matt, the screen in front of them played ominous music as the narrator of the program spouted exposition. "Last week; on Nyte Blayde. Reeling from the loss of his wife, Nyte Blayde seeks vengeance and unleashes a barrage of hellfire against all who stand in his way." The titular character dressed in white body armour with red cape had burst through the glass front door of the dingy warehouse office. Nyte Blayde pointed a pistol at the person sitting behind the folding table, reading his magazine full of pin-up centerfolds. "Where's Mr. X?" The man only scoffed and went back to his magazine. "I don't know who your talking about." "Wrong answer." Nyte Blayde scowled. He jumped the table and knocked over the person to the ground, pummelling him senseless. "Nyte Blaydes search for Mr. X leaves a trail of destruction, where no man is safe." The narrator continued. "But the enigmatic Mr. X has tricks of his own..." The scene jumped to a woman wearing similar armour to Nyte Blayde, except the armour was revealing her skin right down the middle, displaying very nice cleavage. "You failed, Nyte Blayde. While you were following false leads, Mr. X destroyed 31 orphanages." she taunted with a slight smirk. Nyte Blayde dropped to his knees and threw his fists to the sky. Rain began to fall as lightning and thunder struck. "MR. X!" he screamed to the sky. Luna looked at the screen as the title sequence began. "If you have watched all of these before, then why are you watching it again?" Luna questioned. "Well since the major people worked on and are in the show are, well... gone, it falls to the fans to keep Nyte Blayde alive. The Boss was generous enough to give me the rights to it. I'm already working on a re-boot of sorts." He explained as he was writing notes down on his data-pad. "Pray-tell, what is a 're-boot'?" "It's like a re-imagining of a series. It can be anything from a simple re-telling to a full blown re-imagining." Luna nodded and continued to watch. She sat there for six hours. Matt left he room shortly after they started to deal with some buisness but Luna had sat there, unmoving. She only took breaks to move her moon, get more popcorn and Saints-Flow. Her eyes were bloodshot from the eye-strain and her normally perfect flowing hair all messy from the constant tugging in distress to what happened on the show. All with a giddy smile on her face. She was indifferent by the second episode, intrigued by the third and hooked by the fourth. "God dammit Cardinal, I had no choice!" Nyte Blayde exclaimed, pointing one of his four swords at the man in front of the giant cross. "And neither do we!" The windows above them shattered as men repelled in with automatic weapons at the ready. "Oh, CARDINAL!!" Nyte Blayde yelled after him and started firing his pistols at the men. "HaHA! Get those Cyprian Order peasants, Nyte Blayde!" Luna cheered on as the door to the room opened. Applejack was confused as to what she was watching. All she saw was some people shooting at a single guy and the same guy shooting back. She was never much a movie goer. “Uh, princess Luna? Princess Celestia needs us in the armory.” “I will be along soon.” She said as she took another sip of Saints-Flow. “She said it’s important.” “I said I will be along soon. I have… things that need doing.” Applejack cocked an eyebrow. “Princess, you need to come. Ah know yer invested in whatever… this is, but this is important.” She grabbed her tail with her teeth and tried to pull her out the door. “Now c’mon.” “Applejack I know you are one of the element bearers but I swear to my moon if you are to take me off of this couch I will have you tried for treason and executed.” “Ah said c’mon…” She started to pull her away. “Nyte Blayde, my love, I will return!” Luna called out to the screen. “Who the hay is Nyte Blayde?” “You sure that vest will stop this?” Rainbow Dash asked while hefting the rather heavy pump-shotgun at shoulder height, aiming at his chest. Johnny Gat only scoffed. “Please, I’m like a motherfuckin’ murderbot in this.” He then noticed the skeptical look on her face. “Don’t believe me? Pull the trigger.” “Now are you sure-” “I SAID PULL THAT TRIGGER NOW!” Rainbow Dash didn't want to but she was startled enough to accidentally do it. The recoil was enough to send her flying backwards right onto her flank. Johnny however was sent through the window, falling down three stories with a loud crash. An audible thud was heard while Rainbow got up and ran to the window. A crowd gathered around the prone Johnny as he got up without a scratch. "The fuck y'all lookin' at?" The crowd quickly cleared as it had gathered. "Are you okay!? Rainbow asked as she leaned out of the window to get a look at the human. "Never better! You're a hell of a shot for someone that has no opposable thumbs!" "Thanks! I guess...?" The Boss walked up behind Rainbow to see the damage. "Jesus, the more people you scare with that, Johnny, The more liable you are to get shot in the face." "Well it's not like it would be the first time." Gat chuckled. "Well get back up here, we got business to take care of." The Boss said with a point. She turned to see that the rest of the group had arrived. The Boss motioned towards the other door in the room. The red sign beamed the word "Armoury" as they entered. The Boss noticed Zinthrai looking like she had seen a ghost and a older looking scientist yelling at her. “Oh this is gonna be good…” She mumbled as she entered. "I said no more pet projects!" Yelled an older looking Zin at Zinthrai. "B-but, The Boss-" Zinthrai tried to explain but was swiftly cut off. "I do not care what she thinks! It's damn near blasphemous to say that Zinyak's designs were flawed." He growled. "They were perfect!" "The fuck's all this?" The Boss asked. The older Zin scientist turned to see his leader with her arms folded. "Ah, you are here. I've been trying to get it in this insubordinate's head that you never approved the-" "About that... I approved every single one. For some reason or another they never end up back here. 'Gets lost in the inbox all the time.' I think it was you who gave me that excuse." The Boss scowled. The scientist was perplexed as to her reaction. Zinyak would have let him go off on her. "Bu-but-" "Also I think that that's an offence as well? 'Tampering with any equipment or documents is treason and can be punishable by demotion back to recruit.' I also think that you are in the Penal Legion as well." "I-I can ex-" "-plain to the recruitment sergeant that you're a grunt now. Also tell him that I still got his number." The lead scientist ran out of the room in a fit of rage. Zinthrai was now locking The Boss in a near death-grip hug. "Oh thank god, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't come along." She said as The Boss struggled to breathe. "No... problem..." The Boss struggled. The hug was released as Zinthrai looked at the guests. "You're her guests?" They all said something to the affirmative. "Then let's get you guys geared." Twilight had a look of confusion on her face. "Geared? Geared for what?" "You guys are important to both Sombra and Celly. From what I've seen he sent two large forces just to capture you. It never hurts to have some sort of protection." The Boss said as she picked up a holster and gave one to her. "Remember, all you got to do is point the end where the bullets come out at the other guy and pull the trigger." Twilight studied the holster, looking at all of the different slots to put various firearms into, before turning to Celestia. "Celestia? This society is so very advanced, especially in the military sciences. How did you convince them to help?" Celestia looked away. "I will tell you later. For now we just follow-" "Princess Celestia! We've got a scroll!" The group turned around to see a pegasus guardspony with a scroll in her mouth. Celestia snatched it from her mouth with her magic and proceeded to read it. "How in..." she tried to comprehend "Sombra is attacking several border cities at once! How could he do it without alerting us sooner!?" she crumpled up the scroll and burned it. "Princess, we'll handle it! There ain't nothin' that can keep the Elements from keepin' peace!" Applejack appealed. "I wish I could, but there are six of you and they are too spread out for us to do anything." The Boss raised her hand. "I got this!" she said and walked out of the room. Celestia was now standing in front of a camera. "Is this necessary?" "Well do you want your people to go ape-shit over an alien species that's heavily armed and fucking scary to a peace loving populace?" Shaundi didn't wait for an answer. "Then sit there, look pretty and address your people." The red recording light came on and Shaundi gave the signal to start. Celestia cleared her throat. "Attention citizens of Equestria, do not be alarmed..." she began. Author's Note You guys have been waiting... What, like three months now? And all you get is this piece of shit. That's mostly due to me trying to balance school and free-time and not having much of the latter than the former. Don't worry though. There will be much shooting and violence in the next chapter, just be patient.
