The Elements of Harmony and The Seven Deadly Sins

Chapters

Chapter 1- Happy Birthday
Chapter 2- Visitor
Chapter 3- Teambuilding Exercise
Chapter 4- Wakeup Call
Chapter 5- Briefing
Chapter 6-Questions

Chapter 1- Happy Birthday

Twilight was at her desk, as usual. She was poring over a very complex teleportation spell that had, on previous attempts, had been impossible for her to accomplish. Now that she was an alicorn, she might be able to do it. As she rubbed her head, she glanced over at the clock. It was 5:50 in the morning! No wonder she was having a hard time concentrating. As Twilight groaned to herself, Spike came in rubbing his eyes. "Morning, Twilight," the little purple dragon yawned. "Why are you up this early?" "I never went to sleep, Spike." she muttered, wondering why he had to be so loud. His eyes widened. "Twilight. This is the third night in a row! You need your sleep!" The lavender alicorn rolled her eyes. "I nearly have this spell figured out. I'll sleep when I've got it down. And why are YOU up this early?" she shot accusingly. Spike blushed and mumbled something under his breath. "What was that? I didn't catch it." "I'm going to Sugarcube Corner to help Pinkie with something. I Pinkie promised." Twilight relaxed. She thought he was getting up to sneak a few gems before breakfast. "Oh, well then, you better get over there. You don't want to break a Pinkie promise." The little dragon visibly paled and started running for the door. She chuckled as she watched him bolt down the street towards the bakery, and then wondered what the pink party pony had planned this early in the morning. She shrugged and went back to studying.

Rainbow Dash was bored. As she laid on a cloud, she wondered when something interesting would happen. Oh, she didn't want another changeling attack or anything like that, she just wanted something to happen. She hopped up and started to fly towards Sugarcube Corner. She wanted to help set up Twilight's surprise birthday party. She looked down and saw Spike sprinting toward the gingerbread house. She chuckled when she realized that he was afraid of Pinkie. She was scary when you broke a Pinkie promise. A second later, that thought registered. She had make a Pinkie promise to be there by 6. All that was left was a multicolored contrail as she sped towards the bakery.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched as Pinkie counted down on the stopwatch she had produced from thin air. " Five. Four. Three. Two..." Spike and Rainbow burst through the door as the counter hit zero."Good! We're all here. Let's get started!" Pinkie giggled as she bounced toward the kitchen. "Whew....that was.....a close one." Spike gasped as he hit the floor, struggling for air. "Let's get decorating." Rarity said as she smiled at the two exhausted friends. "One....HUH....second..." Rainbow Dash said, holding up her hoof. "I need.....to catch.....my breath." Fluttershy trotted over with a concerned look on her face "Is something wrong, Rainbow? You usually don't get this tired out by flying from your house....." The cyan pegasus waved her hoof in the general direction of the concerned pony. "I was up late training for the Equestria Games. I'm fine, really." She straightened up. " 'Kay let's do this. Wait, where's Applejack? She didn't break another Pinkie promise, did she?!" She looked around wildly. "Oh, calm down, darling. Applejack is just out back, carting in all of the supplies Pinkie needs for the food for the party." Rarity said as she suppressed a giggle. Rainbow still couldn't forget the time she broke a Pinkie promise. After that, she always checked before she opened a cupboard or before she drank any of the punch Pinkie fed her. Rarity shook her head and said, "Alright everypony, let's get decorating! Several hours later, the preparations were complete. Pinkie grinned. This would be the bestest, most splenderific surprise party Twilight had ever had. She bounced down the road as she giggled to herself. Twilight would love it.

Twilight jumped up from her desk and yelled with happiness. She had finally gotten the spell figured out! It would make getting to Canterlot that much easier. Now all she needed was a mirror.....Twilight had set up the mirror and all the necessary supplies. She was sitting down concentrating on the incredibly complex spell. It would require a huge amount of magical energy, but then anypony could use it to teleport to just outside of Canterlot. It was a one way trip, but it would help immensely in emergencies needing the Elements of Harmony. She began the spell. It took several minutes. As she was right at the end of the spell, the part requiring the most concentration as it was the location to which the pony would be teleporting, Pinkie Pie burst in singing "Smile, Smile, Smile!" Twilight jumped and lost focus for a split second. As she panicked, she checked the spell for flaws. Some of her previous attempts had created sizable explosions. To her surprise, she could find no mistakes in it. Annoyed, she turned to Pinkie and snapped "What do you want?" Pinkie, unperturbed, said, "We need you at Sugarcube Corner. It's... um.. an emergency!" She looked over and saw the mirror. "OOOOOO! Bring that too!" "Why?!" "Because it's SHINY! Like that Rayquaza I caught once. And I didn't even use a Masterball!" Twilight cocked her head, confused. "Fine." she sighed, not even trying to figure out that statement. She picking up the full body mirror. "Lets go." As they walked down the street, Pinkie couldn't stop bouncing. "What is this emergency, Pinkie?" The pink equine looked over, confused. "What emergency?" "The one at Sugarcube Corner! Oh, there's not even an emergency is there?!" Twilight sighed, exasperated, as they entered the bakery. Once they were inside, the lights flipped on and everypony jumped out and yelled "SURPRISE!" Twilight yelped and dropped the mirror. Just before it hit the ground, Twilight caught it. There was a general sigh of relief. All of a sudden, it glowed green and it shattered. Everyone in the room stared at the pieces of glass that used to be a teleporting mirror. As Twilight opened her mouth to question what just happened, a vortex suddenly ripped its way into reality. The glowing black void sucked everypony screaming into it. It remained open for a few seconds after they were gone, then closed quietly, like nothing was ever there.

The two guards opened the cell door as the occupant looked up. His hands were chained to the wall he was slumped against. The manacles had copious amounts of runes to stop him from using magic. His feet were in metal restraints bolted to the floor. "Midnight Flare. The Princess requires your presence." The dark purple prisoner stared at them for a few seconds, then threw his head back and laughed.

Chapter 2- Visitor

"HAHAHA HA HA HA HA ha ha ha ha ha....oh, her majesty has finally decided to come see her 'most faithful student', has she? About bucking time!" Midnight snarled. "No, traitor, you are going to see her." the guard said, voice full of disdain The prisoner's eyes widened. "But she said, and I quote, 'You are going to stay in that dungeon until hell freezes over.' Has there been a cold spell in Tartarus?" "I don't know. If there were, it was probably caused by you. Maybe she has finally decided to pass judgement on you." His blood ran cold. Last time Princess Celestia had held trial for someone, they had been thrown into the sun. But that wouldn't happen to him, would it? He watched fearfully as they undid his restraints. One pressed an assault rifle to the back of his head. "Just give me a reason," the guard leaned over and whispered. "I lost my sister to your little monster's rampage. Ooo, and am I just so happy I got this assignment. I hope my trigger finger doesn't slip." They began walking down the stairs, past the other cells. The prisoners were yelling obscenities at the guards, until they saw who they were transporting. After a glimpse of Midnight, all went silent as the prisoners scurried to the back of their cells, trying not to draw attention to themselves. He grimaced. He still was one of the most feared people in the entire Celestial Empire.

They ripped the bag off his head. Blinking at the bright light suddenly streaming into his eyes, the lavender sorcerer took in his surroundings. There wasn't much. The interrogation room was just a white box with a table and two chairs on opposite sides of a metal table that was bolted to the floor. How many times had he been on the opposite side of this table, interrogating enemies of the Empire. His thought were interrupted by the door clanging open to reveal the Princess. The two guards bowed to the tall and imposing woman and walked out. The radiant ruler sat in the chair across from him, stretching her wings to gt comfortable. "So, how has imprisonment on this godforsaken rock been treating you?" Midnight blinked. They were still on the moon? He thought she was going to meet him in her personal torture chamber. He shuddered. That wasn't a pleasant thought. "Fine, Celestia. I've been just dandy." He leaned forward. "Lets get to the point. How will I be executed? A firing squad, or the guillotine. Ohh, or maybe the SUN. That one sounds fun." The monarch stared at him for a second, then burst out laughing. "So that's what you think this is about. No, I won't be executing you anytime soon." Her face turned serious. "In truth, I need to know how you managed that massive transportation spell while up here in manacles." He stared at her, confused. "What?" I spend everyday trying to figure out how to slip past your sister's guards and get out of here. I have no time to even thing about teleporting anything besides myself that far." "Then why did a huge surge of magic, bearing your aura, occur outside of Ponyville at 0200 hours today?" The sorcerer shrugged. "I couldn't have done anything," he said rattling his manacles at her. "Maybe someone found one of my armories." Her expression grew thoughtful. "We sent operatives from your sister's squad in, but we lost contact with them in the forest." He chuckled. "Oh, you don't train your squads like you used to, do you? My people would have been in and out in five seconds" She shook her head as a smile played about her face. "That's why I'm ordering you to reassemble your team." He full on laughed this time. "I didn't know you still had a sense of humor, Princess." His face fell. "Oh buck. You're serious."

Chapter 3- Teambuilding Exercise

Midnight Flare grumbled as he walked through the heavy brush. "Your team are the only ones capable of going in the Everfree and surviving," he said in a singsong voice. "It's become too dangerous with all of the mutations you caused around. I didn't even do that! Discord did! I did one little genetic alteration on a pony. And BLAM! I'm blamed for everything wrong with the empire," he muttered. He had decided to find Wingbeat first. She was the one that was the least likely to shoot him on sight. Least likely, but still might. He sighed. They had all been very good friends, back before Discord had showed up. Their friendship had survived that. But then what happened with Buckshot had driven them all their separate ways. He had been the only one arrested for "war crimes", and had been locked on the Moon for three year, But Celestia apparently kept good track of his teammates. He really didn't know how good her info was. Wingbeat hadn't really seemed the person to isolate herself out in this forest for this long. But Discord had...... changed her somehow. The team field medic had been more violent after their encounter with the spirit of chaos. He hoped he was getting close. These woods were giving him the creeps. The sorcerer kept thinking he saw movement in the treeline, but when he focused there, it was nothing. As he pushed away a final vine, he saw a little shack sitting in the middle of the clearing. He began walking towards it, then froze when he heard a growl emanate from behind a bush. He turned slowly to see the biggest wolf he had ever layed eyes on walk out from behind thee foliage. He began backing away slowly. "Nice wolfie. You don't want to eat me, do you? I'm too tough and stringy." He silently cursed Celestia for not taking of the manacles up at the prison. The wolf barked, an earthshaking sound. Midnight heard the door open at the cottage. "Oh ANGEL," He heard Wingbeat yell. "What did you find now? You know I don't like you eating people!" As she came around the corner of the house, she saw her squad leader cowering on the ground. Her eyes widened and then narrowed. "But for him, I'll make an exception." Her voice oozed with malice. Even though she was a head shorter than him, he was more scared of her tha he was of Nightmare Moon. The wolf, apparently named Angel, began to advance. "WAIT! I'm here because the Princess forced me to come, not because I want to be here!" Maybe coming here first was a mistake. He didn't want to face her without at least four people backing him up. "You have five seconds to explain before I sic Angel on you." After he had explained the situation to the yellow doctor, she shook her head. "That still doesn't explain why you need me." "Whatever it was might have found my main armory." Her face darkened. "I'll help, but only to save the people in Ponyville from whatever monstrosity this thing may have let loose from your lab. Not to help you." She flexed her wings and flew to the upper level of her cottage. She flew back out with a satchel that had a red cross on it, and the shotgun that Buckshot had given her years before. He opened his mouth to comment, but then closed it when she glared at him. "Not. A. Word." He nodded and then proceeded out of the forest with the massive wolf trailing behind.

They started towards the last known location of Tornado Warning. They had been walking for at least three hours before Midnight worked up the courage to speak to his companion. "Wingbeat," he began. "I need to get something off my chest.." She cut him off. "I don't want to hear it. After what you did to Spike... and what he did to Buckshot..." She drew in a shuddering breath. "I should have shot you a long time ago." Midnight silently regarded his teammate. The angry woman walking next to him was a completely different person from the young, shy, straight out of training field doctor who wouldn't hurt a fly who had volunteered for his team a little over four years ago. She had beaten out much more experienced medics to be the only woman on his six person squad. He was brought out of his reverie when Wingbeat announced "We're here." Midnight looked out over the vast desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. There were no clouds for miles except for one enormous nimbus a mile in. He gazed at the black foreboding fortress that Tornado called home. He smiled faintly as he remembered his competitive teammate. He would start contests on who could kill the most enemies in a set period of time. He would almost never lose. His smile faded when he realized that Wings still had her shotgun, which meant Celestia hadn't confisticated their weapons. He was considering finding cover when the bullet whizzed past his ear. "That was a warning. You only get that much because we used to be friends. You have five seconds before I shoot to kill!" The royal blue sniper called out from behind them. "Stop! Ponyville might be in danger!" Midnight called. He turned around as the winged shooter put the sniper rifle over his back and flew down as he pulled out his pistol. "If this is because of you..." He growled as he pointed the revolver at Midnights head. "Wait. Don't shoot." Wingbeat said, looking bored. "Why the hell not?" "Someone might have found the armory. You know what that means." He holstered his pistol. "Ah shit, does this mean we have to work together?" Wings nodded soundlessly. "But he's a bucking maniac!" A smile grew on Midnight's face. "No, we're going to get the maniac next." His grin widened as the sniper paled.

Plated couldn't believe he had guard duty. Tonight of all nights. He was scheduled for it next week, but Dust had caught the flu. So here he was, guarding the red weirdo they had captured a month ago. Apparently, he was a high ranking member of Celestia's military, part of the legendary Sin squad. Ha. If he had been, he'd have escaped the minute they had caught him and killed them all. Instead, he just sat there murmuring to himself. Red Velvet sat in his cell, thinking about all of the parties he could have been going to, instead of being here in this cell. He had planned for every type of party possible. Cinco de Mayo, Arbor Day, and even National Laundry Day. He still didn't understand how that had made it to holiday status. He was contemplating that when all of a sudden, his left hand started twitching. Index, middle, thumb, pinkie. He stared at his hand. He hadn't had his body give him that signal since... He grinned. Someone was coming to rescue him. He might as well help them a teensy bit. Plated looked back for the first time in five minutes. The prisoner was hunched at the back of the cell that was bored into the side of the mountain, fiddling with something in his lap, singing softly to himself. Plated Armor and his partner leaned towards the cell as the singing got louder. "..Women to the left of me, women to the right..." "Hey, prisoner, shut the heck up." "....Ain't got no gun, ain't got no knife. Don't you start no fight...." "Didn't you hear me? I said SHUT UP!" The guard yelled. His partner's eyes widened as he saw the wires leading up to the front of the cell and realized what song the person in the cell was singing. " GET DOWN!" Gladius yelled as Red Velvet turned around, revealing the object in his lap to be a T-bar detonator. He stood up. "'Cause I'm TNT!" He yelled as he jumped and pushed the bar down.

Midnight and his current team sat in their camoflagued area and surveyed the rebel base. "How many do you see, Tornado?" questioned the purple squad leader. The sniper grunted. "I can't tell. There are only a few outside of the caves, but there may be a thousand inside." The medic sighed. "How the heck are we supposed to get Red out of there?" As if in answer to her question, a huge cloud of smoke billowed out, accompanied by an earth shattering boom. They looked at each other as people began streaming out of the caves. "Hit 'em now, Greed." Wingbeat said. He smiled. One after another, they began to fall, eyes rolling back as a hole appeared in their skulls. They saw more come out of the caves, but they were trying to run backwards, blasting away at something. A red streak appeared out of the hole in the mountain, speeding towards the terrified soldiers. It blasted right through them on its way to wherever it was going. They looked at each other. And promptly fell apart, torsos sliding off of their legs. "Well,that takes care of that," said a voice from behind Midnight and the others. They jumped and turned around to see Red Velvet wiping the blood off of his greatsword. He smiled as his friends gaped at him. "Wings! Haven't seen you in forever!" Red exclaimed as he held her in a huge embrace. "Tor! Nice taking them all out." He said as he slapped the speechless sniper on the back. Then he realized Midnight was there. His eyes widened. Midnight shrunk in fear as the red demolitions expert, scout and ruthless killing machine walked towards him. Suddenly, he felt himself being lifted into the air by a huge hug. "You didn't tell me you were getting out of prison so soon!" Red grinned. Out of nowhere, he gasped. "WE NEED TO THROW YOU A 'JUST GOT OUT OF PRISON' PARTY!" The red party animal yelled. "Maybe later, Red." Midnight said as he shook his head to get rid of the ringing in his ears. "Right now, we need to get to Ponyville."

They walked down the familiar streets where they used to spend every off-duty day. They had lived here, and two of them still did. Red Velvet worked as a baker when he wasn't partying, and Scarcity worked as a tailor in the city. No one here knew about their military involvement, so they accepted the story that Midnight was the new librarian, though they thought the dragon odd, and everyone else had assumed other jobs. Wingbeat, being good with animals and trained in medicine, had become the new vet. Tornado became the only cop they had. Or needed. Buckshot had actually been local. His family owned an orchard here. That's why they had set their base of operations near this town. He grimaced at the memory of what had happened. He heard a roaring. Suddenly Wingbeat screamed. "BUCKSHOT! HE ATE BUCKSHOT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HIM, YOU MONSTER?!" He shook those memories off. Soon they would find out the truth. He realized they had arrived at the shop that Scarcity called home at the edge of the city. As they walked in, a bell rang. "Welcome to Tailor's Touch, the best clothing shop this side of..." The white clothesmaker trailed of as he saw who was standing in his lobby. "Hey, Scarce. How's it goin'?" Tornado said with a huge grin, holding out his hand. Scarcity shook it distrustfully. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He said through gritted teeth. "Ponyville is in danger. Celestia wanted me to reform the squad." "That certainly sounds awful, but I really think that I should stay out of it. I'm out of your little team after what happened to Buckshot. I may not always have seen eye to eye with him, but he was one of my closest friends. And after Spike..." He shuddered. Midnight sighed. "They might have found the armory." He said looking straight into Scarcity's eyes. His face hardened. "Fine. Lets go."

They trudged through the Everfree. It was miserable, to say the least. They had nearly died six times already. Luckily, everyone was armed. Midnight with an assault rifle, Wingbeat with her shotgun, Tornado had his pistol, his sniper rifle not very useful in the dense foliage, Scarcity used his dual SMGs, and of course, Red with his six foot long greatsword. Every time a mutation attacked, all of them, with the exception of Red, looked at him with disgust. Midnight walked up to the wooden door they had arrived at. "Hey, this isn't the armory! Why the heck are we stopping where Zecora used to live?" Wingbeat said angrily as she walked up next to him as he raised the knocker and banged it against the door in a specific pattern. "Hold it, Ahm a-comin', Ahm a-comin'," said a gruff voice from inside. Footsteps began coming towards the door. Wingbeat's pupils dialated. She began breathing heavily. "Buckshot?" she whispered, and then said louder, "Buckshot?!" The footsteps stopped. "Ah buck." They heard a swoosh of a cloak and the sound of something heavy being picked up off the floor. "Midnight, Ah told you, Ahm done with the military, even if ya brought Wings. Now git off of mah property." "Celestia ordered me to..." Midnight began. He heard a mechanical whirring start from behind the door. His eyes widened. He tackled Wingbeat to the ground as the door was torn apart by minigun fire. A cloaked figure walked out of the dust, holding a gun that would have put a car mounted turret to shame. He was at least as tall as Luna, towering a foot over Red Velvet, who, at six foot six, was easily the tallest member of their group. Wingbeat stared up at him, her mouth hanging open. He used to be only Midnight's height. Now he was nearly as tall as Celestia. She couldn't see anything of his body. The cloak covered everything except the enormous chaingun. She ran up and hugged him. He jumped, startled, and then dropped the minigun and hugged her back. "I thought you were dead.." Wingbeat whispered. "It's good ta see you, Wingbeat, but Ah need ya ta stay quiet about me bein' alive. Ah need ta stay here. If anyone figured out Ahm alive..." He trailed off. Wingbeat backed up to look at him."But what about your family? Apple Bloom nearly died of grief at your funeral! I need to tell her, at least!" The cloaked figure shook his head sadly. "Ah don't want them to see me like this. Especially not Apple Bloom." "See you like what?" She reached up to take the hood off, but he jumped backwards. "Ah don't want you seein' me like this, neither." The hood turned towards Midnight. "What do ya want?" "Celestia told me to form the team again. Something happened near the armory. I am really sorry that I had to disturb you." Midnight said regretfully. Just then, the rest of the team came into the clearing. Tornado looked at the towering figure and asked, "Since when is Zecora so tall?" Wingbeat turned around angrily. "Where were you idiots?!" Red walked up. "Well, I was telling Tor all about the three years he's been gone, and then I needed to piss and then he needed to piss and then I saw you guys come up here and then we hid and watched this guy make his door explode. We were too far away to hear anything, though. Why did you hug him, Wings?"She turned. "This," she said, "is Buckshot." Tornado stepped back. "How did you get so tall?" He asked suspiciously. " It's.... a long story." The hood turned towards Midnight again. "An' from the sounds of it, we don't have time to waste."

They walked up to the tree that housed the spell that went down into the fortress below the forest. Midnight went up and inspected it. "No sign of forced entry. Actually, no sign of entry at all." Scarcity raised an eyebrow. "Than what, pray tell, did Celestia detect?" "I don't know but..." He trailed off as he inspected the panel he had just opened up. His eyebrows went up as the lights on the panel went dim. "No. NO!" He screamed as he rapidly pressed buttons, trying to get down to his lab. "What is it, Midnight? What's wrong?!" Buckshot asked panickedly. Midnight turned, his eyes full of fear. "The machinery in my lab is activating."

Chapter 4- Wakeup Call

Several hours earlier

Twilight groaned and rubbed her head. What had happened? The last thing she remembered was the mirror exploding in a burst of green, and then.... darkness. She stared at her hands. Something seemed.... off. When she realized what it was, she screamed."No! Not again!" She took stock of herself in a panic. She still had her wings. That was different, but good. She felt her forehead. No horn, but she could still feel her magic. She looked down at her clothes. She was wearing what she presumed to be body armor, with a satchel on her hip and her cutie mark on her shoulder. As she calmed down and stood up, the others began to wake. The first one up was Applejack. She stood on all fours and shook her head. "Twilight, why are you screamin' this early in tha mornin'?" She looked over and her jaw dropped to the floor. "Whaaa...?" She sat and stared at Twilight for a few seconds before asking, "Twilight? What happened to you?" Twilight sighed. "The same thing that happened to you, AJ. We got turned into humans." Applejack looked down and her eyes widened. "Oh." She shakily stood like Twilight was standing, and leaned back and forth, trying to keep her balance. As she got the hang of it, Pinkie Pie sprang to her feet. "Oh, I feel funny. Kind of dizzy and woozy. And my Pinkie sense is telling me that something's different, AND that somepony is watching us and what are these?" Pinkie's hands went to her side. She pulled a metallic ball off of her belt. It had a little ring sticking out of the side."Ooooo, what's this?" She asked curiously. Pinkie pulled it, and as she did, her eyes grew to enormous proportions and her eyebrows began twitching. "DANGER!" She shrieked, and threw the ball into the shadows. Applejack and Twilight stared at her like she was crazy. As AJ opened her mouth to speak, a fireball came from where Pinkie had thrown the ball. They all leapt back, screaming, Applejack falling flat on her back, as the others jolted awake. Fluttershy sat up and looked around wildly. "Oh! Where are we?" Twilight frowned. "I don't know. We seem to be humans, but I still have my magic and wings, which isn't normal." She looked down. "We have different clothes, too. The spell I put on that mirror was supposed to prepare you with everything you needed at your destination, just like the one in the Crystal Empire. Thats why I didn't show up naked in the human world. So..." She reached into the bag at her side, and pulled out the Elements of Harmony. "Ha! I knew the spell would work this time!" "Yeah, it worked so well." Rainbow Dash grumbled as she stood up shakily. "Darling, we shouldn't blame Twilight for this. She did not mean for this to happen." Rarity said, and then looked quizzically at the former unicorn. "Did you?" Twilight sighed, and then shook her head. She handed out the Elements in case they were needed. They spent the next hour or so learning how to basically use their new bodies. Rainbow and Fluttershy still had their wings. They knew how to use those. Rarity and Twilight spent a lot of time finding out how to use magic without their horns. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were basically just human. The entire groups heights had completely changed, though. Twilight and Rarity were the shortest of the group at five seven, with Fluttershy at five eleven, Rainbow at six feet, Applejack at six three, and Pinkie the tallest at six six. "Hey, where's Spike?" Rainbow asked suddenly. They all looked around, not seeing a baby dragon or dog. Twilight began to worry. "Let's go find him, girls."

They searched through the pristine white halls, trying door after locked door, until Applejack pushed a door, and it opened. "Over here!" She rushed in. A few seconds later, the others ran over to the open door. They looked in and saw Applejack laying in the darkened room, unmoving, with a dart sticking out of her neck. The lights came on, and they saw a person clad in all black armor standing at the end of the room next to a door. The mysterious figure cursed and ran towards Applejack's unmoving form. He ran into a purple shield that was suddenly in his way. "Don't you touch her!" Twilight snarled, pointing a magic-loaded finger at him through the shimmering barrier. "Please, I mean her no harm. Her life is in danger!" He pleaded in a deep voice across the forcefield. Twilight looked at him suspiciously. "How?" "That dart in her neck. It has been poisoned with the most deadly toxin known to man." Twilight analyzed her with a spell, and found that he was right. "Who would do this?!" "The maniac who built this lab. He was a horrible man, who was helping a tyrant to stay in power. As such, he made many enemies. He became paranoid, so he set up many traps in here. The only way to help her is through that door." He pointed. Twilight lowered the shield. Rainbow and Pinkie ran forward and picked up Applejack as they all rushed into the next room. As they entered, they saw a huge purple dragon lying on a long table. The table led into a hole big enough to fit the occupant in. They all gasped. "Spike?" Twilight turned in a rage to the man standing next to her. "Did you do this?!" He shook his head. "The monster who ran this lab also had a dragon. He was afraid of it running rampant, so he programmed special turrets to take it down if it was on a rampage. Your dragon woke up in a different room than you. He grew fearful, which the turrets took as anger because they both raise heart rates and boost adrenaline. He was hit by a different poison, which is harmless to humans, but deadly to dragons. The poison killing your friend would not affect a dragon. This machine will switch the venoms so they both will survive." He motioned towards another table, just as long and thick as the other one. Pinkie and Rainbow gingerly set their friend on the table as the black armored man typed in commands on the terminal next to the machine. Rarity looked over his shoulder. She only caught a glimpse of one command. "Exchange." He finished and the tables slid forward into the holes in the wall. The holes then closed. They heard a strange noise down the hall, and a mechanical voice said "Welcome back, Midnight." The man in armor was surrounded with a black aura. "Good luck. I can't let Midnight Flare see me." He blinked out of existence as six people came rushing around the corner into the first room.

Midnight couldn't believe this was happening. Someone had found his lab, circumvented his defenses, and learned how to use the bioexchange engine. This was impossible. He saw a flash as his team rounded the corner into the biolab. He saw five men.... No, women, in cutting edge body armor standing next to the machine. They were staring at a spot about five feet in front of them. They didn't seem to be armed, but that didn't mean anything. "On the ground! All of you!" Wingbeat barked, and then did a double take. One of the hostiles was the mirror image of her! She spun around to point her shotgun at her squad leader. "What the heck is this, some kind of twisted cloning experiment?" It was then that the others noticed that, though they were female, with slight color changes, they uncannily resembled the members of the Sins squad. All except Buckshot, who was staring at the activated engine. "What is this? I demand an explanation!" Scarcity growled while Tornado yelled, "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU MAKE A FEMALE CLONE OF ME?!" while Red mused, "I wonder if she likes parties as much as I do." "Hey!" They all turned to look at the female copy of Midnight. "I have no idea what you are talking about, but the girls and I are not clones." Tornado took a step forward. "Then what the hell are you?" She opened her mouth to answer, but Buckshot cut her off. "Midnight, if there are copies of everyone, than where is mine?" Twilight's eyes widened. "YOU'RE MIDNIGHT! Your the one who poisoned my friend and my dragon!" She lunged at him, but Buckshot caught her. Midnight questioned, "What do you mean, your friend and your..." Midnight's face whitened as he looked over at the engine. "Crap. We need to get these civilians out of this room and barricade the door. All hell is about to break loose." Twilight stopped struggling. "Why? It's only Applejack. She's not dangerous." "I'm sure your friend wouldn't hurt a fly, but she won't be here for a while. The thing that's gonna come out of there in one minute will be a different story though." They began to herd the girls out the door, but when they touched their counterparts, something strange happened. The crown on Twilight's head began to glow as it turned into a gel and ran down onto her arm and solidified into a metal gauntlet. The same thing was happening for all of the girls' necklaces, with the gel flowing to different areas. Pinkie Pie giggled as the goo flowed onto her back and elongated into two katanas. Rainbow Dash started flailing around as it went to her back and turned into a very strange looking rifle. Rarity let out a little shriek as it went to her waist and split, forming two holstered pistols. Fluttershy squeaked, and dropped to the fetal position as the goo transformed into a metal handle on her waist. Everyone stared until Buckshot shook himself out of his reverie. "Alright, everyone. Lets get a move on!" They all rushed out as a mechanical voice called out, "Ninety percent. Ninety-one percent." Midnight tapped in a code and the door slammed shut. A huge metal sheet slid down from the ceiling and covered the door. The Sins took defensive positions in the hall. "Ladies, I'm going to ask you to get behind us. We need to question you, and that will be hard if you're in a million pieces." They grumbled, but did as he said. "Why is this necessary? That's a full six inches of titanium! Nothing is getting through that!" As soon as the words left Tornado's mouth, the voice announced, "One hundred percent," and a roar shook the complex. A second passed and something on the other side of the door began pounding relentlessly on the barrier. "I don't suppose you know how to use those weapons?" Buckshot asked, looking back. They all wordlessly shook their heads, except Pinkie Pie, who was expertly swinging the katanas around. She looked up. "Wait, these are weapons? I thought they were extra-long cake knives." Scarcity facepalmed. Red ushered the girls down the hall, opened a door, walked them in, then came out and locked it. "Well, we have to stay here for a few hours." Midnight announced, "So get comfortable."

An hour had passed, and those horrible people still hadn't let them out of the locked room. It smelled horrible, was at least a hundred feet across, and there were scratch marks three inches deep in the floor. Rarity shuddered at the thought of what could do something like that. There seemed to be another room off to the side. She walked forward curiously... "I was wondering, if Buckshot is alive, and Spike didn't eat him, what happened to Spike?" Red asked curiously. Midnight sighed. "I left him here. There is enough food to last at least fifty years down here." Red looked thoughtful. "Maybe I shouldn't have put them in his room then." Wingbeat groaned and smacked her forehead. "Crap."

Rarity scuttled back as a long, sinuous shape lazily stepped out of the darkness and towered over her.

Chapter 5- Briefing

Celestia sat tall behind her desk while one of her ministers rambled on about the latest problems the Empire was facing. First, there was the situation with the Griffonian Republic moving an army suspiciously close to the border. Next, the Zebria government was looking for reparations for a diplomatic crisis caused by her thrice-damned nephew making a crude and racist joke at the ambassador's expense. It wouldn't have been as bad had he not then drunkenly ordered the offended official to "go clean the palace, like a good Zebra." The list of disasters went on and on. Finally, the minister finished. She waved her hand. "Thank you. You are dismissed." He bowed and walked out. As the door clicked shut behind him, she collapsed onto her desk.

"UUUUUUUGGGGGGGHHHHHHH," she groaned as she got up and surveyed the city from her window. "Why? Why is everything going wrong? We haven't had this much trouble in 500 years. Why now?" She whispered to herself. She turned to look at her wine closet. No, she had given up the habit. She wouldn't go back to that. "What else can go wrong?" she thought to herself. Just then, she heard running footsteps coming down the hallway. The Solar Empress hit herself on the forehead. "Why did I have to ask?" A soldier came bursting through a door. "Your Majesty!" He panted, bowing. "I bring dire news. HE has escaped." Celestia massaged her forehead. "Who escaped? Please be straightforward. I've had a rough day." She looked at his face and saw it was as white as hers. "Midnight," he whispered. Celestia stared at him, then made a mad dash towards the wine cabinet.

Four people sat in the briefing room. One stood at the front, in front of a screen. Luna began. "Your objective this time is to bring in your former counterparts. This is not a job to be taken lightly. These people were, and still are, the best of the best, matched only by you. A full profile is in your folder. I expect you to become extremely familiar with it, but I will go over the basics."

She pulled up a picture. "Wingbeat, AKA Lust. Preferred weapon: shotgun. Arguably the least dangerous of them all. Despite this, she managed to take out an entire platoon of rebels on her own. She is remarkably adept at communicating with animals and having them do what she wants. She has a large dire wolf named Angel with her at all times. Something happened to her in their fight against Discord, though our doctors were not able to analyse her before she disappeared into the woods."

Another picture came up. "Scarcity, AKA Envy. Preferred weapons: dual sub machine guns. A master of illusion magic and disguise. He has a little sister, Sweetie Belle, whom he lives with in a clothing store in Ponyville. He has a sizable fortune, as he has sold much of his wares to the rich and famous. He has been quiet since the Buckshot incident, which makes it strange that he would throw in with Midnight now."

She brought up another picture. "Red Velvet, AKA Gluttony. Preferred weapon: greatsword. He is specially trained in demolitions, and has normal training in unarmed combat, armed combat, and everything in between. He works as a baker in Ponyville, renting a house above Sugarcube Corner. He recently was captured by a rebel faction, though I doubt he'll be there for long. He has the unique ability to "supercharge" his body while sitting still, giving him vastly increased strength and speed. He is a formidable opponent."

Click. " Tornado Warning, AKA Greed. Preferred weapon: sniper rifle. He has gone through all training our military has to offer. He is a master pilot, and can take an target down from a mile and a half away. His wings make him very agile, and he has the ability to accelerate at a rate that would kill most people, so watch out."

Click. "Buckshot, AKA Sloth. Preferred weapon: minigun. He is presumed dead by his team and the general public, but he is alive and well. He was genetically altered by Midnight to take on some of the physical traits of a dragon. As such, he has iron hard skin, superhuman strength, and a limited ability to breath fire. He has a family living in Ponyville, two sisters and a grandmother. He has been living in the Everfree Forest for the past five years, having no contact with civilization for that time. He usually is the most straightforward of the team, never beating around the bush. So he will shoot first, and probably not ask questions later."

Click. "And finally, your primary objective, Midnight, AKA Pride. He was the personal student of Celestia since he was age eight, therefore having an understanding of politics and maneuvering. He is a master strategist, able to run in circles around the most intelligent military minds. He is proficient in all combat magics, so watch your step. He has been held in my prison for the past 5 years, not making any move, before escaping 72 hours ago. The only reason we found out was because the base did not make the routine security calls. When we tried to go up, the enchantments were sabotaged. It took our sealbreakers two days to crack the spell. When we finally got in the prison, all of the guards had been knocked out and tied up, and the transmissions blocked. It is unknown how he escaped, as all tapes were erased. This shows how cunning he is, and how dangerous. He also has a genius level intellect, allowing him to invent things far past what our researchers can. He has a dragon, Spike, that he received as an egg when he started with Celestia. It is intensely loyal to him, and is usually the team's fallback, kill everything that moves plan, earning it the nickname Wrath."

The screen went dark. Luna turned to her operatives. The four of them sat to attention. "This mission needs to be in the utmost subtlety. I want no new crises. Octavia, I expect you to keep Vinyl under control." Octavia sighed as Vinyl grinned crazily and leaned back in her chair. "Whooves, I expect you to give me with a list of supplies and gear that you need." The Doctor nodded. "And Derpy, I'm placing you in charge. Do not disappoint me." One golden eye coldly met her gaze, the other covered by an eyepatch. Luna grinned crookedly. "Now ride, my Horsemen."

Author's Note

Sorry about the long wait, but I had a bit of writer's block. Please comment on what you like or don't like about the story, so I can improve. Thanks for everyone who has read this so far. :)

Chapter 6-Questions

Rarity scrambled backwards as the behemoth approached her. The rest of the girls turned and started screaming too. They backed against the wall and huddled together, waiting to be eaten. The dragon stopped his approach and grabbed his head. "Yeesh, Midnight, what did you do this time?" It groaned in a gutteral voice as it laid it's head on the ground. Twilight looked up to see a very large, spiky, dangerous-looking green and purple dragon. "Sp..Spike?" She asked in a trembling voice. "Uh, yeah. Did the gender changing thing affect your memory?" the dragon looked at them quizzically. "Umm, I..I'm not Midnight..." As she said the words, she cringed. Would he attack them? Even with this new body armor, he could still rip them apart without a second thought. As the dragon took this in, the Sins came bursting through the door.

"Spike! Down, boy!" Midnight shouted before he could take stock of what was in the room. They actually hadn't needed to keep watch at the door. Tornado was right, the girl couldn't get through. He had told them that so that the team could figure out what to do with the intruders. As he scanned the room, he saw that, no, Spike had not eaten any of them, and yes, they all still had all of their limbs. "Oh, hey there, Midnight. So its a cloning experiment, I get it!" Spike nodded his head. Midnight's jaw nearly hit the floor. His dragon could talk! When did this happen? The scientist in him momentarily overpowered the leader. "How did this happen? When did you learn how to talk? Oh Celestia, all the tests I need to run...." The leader then punched the scientist in the face. "Doesn't matter. We need to get you to the princess. Your friend should be done rampaging by now. Wingbeat!" The medic looked at him. "We need to get their friend treated. Could you please go get the medical supplies?" She flipped him the bird and walked off down the hall. He sighed, rubbing his temple. He could really use that hard whiskey that Celestia kept in her wine cabinet.

FWOOOOOOO!

He jumped. What the hell was a kazoo doing in his lab? "Why, hello, ladies and gentlemen!" said a voice that made the captain's stomach drop into an endless abyss. The bad day he had been having before seemed like a stubbed toe compared to a knife in the gut. He turned around to behold a strange amalgamation of animal parts floating in the air, sitting on a throne, sipping out of a juice box. "DISCORD!" Everyone shouted. " I'm howlin' at the moon, and sleeping in the... Oh, no sing-along? Sad." the spirit of disharmony chuckled. "Anyway, I'm just checking up on you fellas! Seeing what you're up too, ya know?" He peered around Midnight to look at Fluttershy. "Oh, you got rid of my little spell, did you, Wingbeat? That just won't do." Terrified, she hid behind her hair "Ummm.. I'm not.." she squeaked as he snapped his fingers. A bright white light flashed around the frightened girl, and she gave a little shriek as she passed out and hit the ground. "Toodles!" Discord disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Everyone rushed to the unconscious girl.

Midnight tried to do a magical scan for what Discord had done to her, but the manacles blocked any attempt at magic. He yelled in frustration as Twilight dropped to the ground and began the spell Midnight had begun casting. She completed the scan and stood up. "I don't know enough about Discord's magic to have any idea of it's purpose, but...." she trailed off as she noticed all five of the Sins staring at her, jaws hitting the floor. "You made your clone an Ascendant?" cried Scarcity. "I thought you had just changed it's race and gender! Celestia is going to kill you!" He grew quiet as a thought entered his mind. "Did Celestia actually send you? Or was this just a checkup on your experiments, to make sure they were coming along nicely? Did you bring us just in case they were hostile?" He growled as he stalked forward, looking Midnight straight in the eyes. Midnight returned the glare. "Of course Celestia sent me. How do you think I got off the Moon? Tapping my heels together three time?" The mage shook his arms in the tailor's face. "And these," he said,gesturing towards the manacles. "You think I just left these on for fun? Celestia said the only way I remain free is if I don't take these off, at any time." His shoulders slumped. "I just wanted to make sure that my experiments didn't hurt anyone else." He gestured down the hallway and at the unconscious girl at their feet. "And it looks like I already failed in that regard."

A silence fell over the group, broken almost instantly by the sound of footsteps approaching. Wingbeat entered the room, a large red bag slung over her shoulder. "Okay, I have the suppli-goddamit Midnight! I turn my back for one second!" She stomped forward, and then, suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "Discord was here." She looked down at her doppelganger lying on the ground. "Oh. He mistook her for me, didn't he." The group nodded a silent affirmative. "BUCK!"

Author's Note

I finally beat writer's block! Yay! Please comment. It helps me be a better writer and gives me ideas. Even if you're telling me my story is everything that is wrong with the world, I like the feedback. Sorry if this was too whiny! :-)