The thunderstorm carried on well into the night, and much of it seemed to have extended by itself to the very mountaintop Canterlot was merged into. The rain poured and poured, pelting the land below mercilessly, as lightning of purest white streaked across the sky. Thunder roared, its cry nearly deafening, shaking the ground and mountain with its mighty voice.

Luna and Celestia sat in the throne room, and they exchanged glances with one another. They were alone here; nary a guard or some other pony was seen.

“Wasn’t this storm supposed to end five hours ago?” Luna asked, eyelids slanted a bit.

“Yes. It should not have reached Canterlot, but it has.” Celestia answered with a nod of her head. “Have the clouds gone beyond control of the pegasi?”

“I do hope that isn’t the case.” Luna sighed, eyelids slanting more. A frown adorned her muzzle and, small as it was, further shaped a look of worry on her face.

“If this continues in the next few hours, we will send the guards to help sort it out.” Celestia replied, nodding once more. The thunder roared again, once more shaking the castle in its wake momentarily.

Luna turned to glance at the ceiling, cocking a brow in the process. “Sister, do you sense something...strange?” She asked.

“I do indeed sense something strange.” Celestia replied, also turning to look at the ceiling. “But I cannot figure out what that is.” She added, eyes narrowing just a little.

“Neither can I.” Luna agreed, blinking a few times. She shifted her wings. Thunder roared yet again, and the castle shook slightly under its fearsome voice. “Something...doesn’t sit quite right.”

A masculine voice chuckled in the room. Celestia and Luna quickly returned their gazes back to ground level, darting their heads every which-way they could manage in an attempt to find the source of the laugh.

“Who’s there?!” Luna bellowed, rising up from her throne and flaring her wings wide. She continued to glance around, the source of the chuckle still eluding her and her sister. Only the thunder and somewhat-dampened sound of pouring rain answered her and Celestia. Hesitantly, the princess sat back down, closing her wings in the process.

Celestia stopped glancing around, fixing her gaze towards the doors that gave way to the hallway beyond. Those very doors were closed, and nobody else had been present. What, then, caused the unnerving laugh?

The sisters exchanged another glance. “The longer we stay here, the more I believe something is off.” Celestia said bluntly.

Luna nodded in agreement. “Let’s go to the balcony. Perhaps the storm has let up somewhat.” She replied. The two turned to the door, only to find two familiar unicorn stallions blocking the doors, a cube-shaped object concealed with a white cloth between them.

“And where do you think you two are going?” Maki asked, a ghoulish grin on his muzzle.

The sisters rose from their thrones and approached the two stallions and whatever it was they had under the cloth blanket, stopping about halfway down the carpet. “Why are you here? We gave the guards the order to arrest you on the spot.” Celestia stated, eyes narrowing as she eyed the fiends in pony form.

“The two of you have done more than endanger everypony in Equestria. And I’ll have you know neither of us takes kindly to that.” Luna added, eyes narrowing as well.

“Hah! And this is coming from two alicorns who sat on their asses all day? Bitches, please, you’ve hardly done a thing today!” Baki spat, venom in his words. A twisted grin also adorned his muzzle, showing sharp teeth befitting a vampire.

Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when Maki rose one of his hooves. “Before we get down to the nitty-gritty, we’d like to introduce you to a little friend we made some months ago.” He said.

“Who is this ‘friend’ you speak of, fiend?” Luna asked, eyes narrowing further.

The white cloth was pulled back towards the doors by the gold-pelted unicorn, revealing the thing it was concealing to be a cage of some kind. The cloth shadowed whatever was within, though. A bronze-colored magical aura grasped two bars and bent them, pulling those bars apart until they very nearly broke.

“You’ll see very soon enough.” Baki answered, his smile widening. His teeth seemed to gleam as it did.

A metallic leg ending in three front claws emerged from the dented bars, the steel shining like guards’ armor in the sunlight. Another leg, this one greyish blue in hue, came next. That second leg was very much like that of a pony’s. A feral growl came next before the thing within the cage stepped fully into the light.

Eyes entirely bronze in hue adorned a blue-grey face that had filth staining the pelt, unkempt and equally dirty long blond mane hanging past the shoulders. Small bangs curled sloppily towards the forehead, barely covering the base of a metallic horn. Wings of feathers and blades of all things spread wide from the midsection, and various parts of this pony had been altered in favor of small metal plates here and there moreso on her hind quarters than her front ones.

The hips were also made of steel plates, concealing the area a cutie mark could’ve otherwise made itself known on. The back hooves were also metallic, and green and red elongated wires made up the tail. Several smaller wires dotted the body, the ends of said wires both long and short severed to reveal copper insides.

The creature, once a mare, let off a blood-curdling cry at the sisters, eyes narrowing low as the horn crackled to life.

“Calm yourself, Yoneko. It is not them you’re after.” Baki stated, causing the cybernetic pony to back off a bit. She continued to glare at the sisters, her horn ceasing its sparks.

The sisters were slack-jawed at the sight. Luna was the first to regain her angry look. “What have you done to this pony?!” She bellowed, wings spreading wide again.

“Trained her and made a few...enhancements to her overall physical state of being.” Maki answered, smiling darkly. He trotted up to Yoneko and stroked the back of her neck with a hoof. “She’s our best work yet, if I do say so myself.”

Celestia also regained her angry look. “Is she the ‘project’ we caught wind of?” The white alicorn inquired.

“That little traitor told you?” Baki asked, cocking a brow.

“What little she knew.” The princess answered, spreading her wings wide.

“I guess you could say that.” Baki replied, eyes narrowing with his grin. If pure evil wasn’t scrawled on his face before, then it certainly was now.

Luna’s horn began glowing, though she didn’t grasp anything with her magic. After a moment or so, it stopped glowing. “The two of you are even more monstrous than I thought possible…” She hissed, her pelt starting to turn black once more. “Why did you...alter this mare?”

“We’ve dealt with those brats and traitor long enough. Yoneko is...the one who’s going to end them.” Maki replied, his face darkening. His horn began crackling in roiling fire, and his companion’s that of navy electricity. “And after that, we’ll have her end you both as well.”

“Neither of us can die.” Celestia hissed, her horn glowing in gold.

“Bah, that’s a bunch of poppycock.” Baki replied, waving a hoof dismissively at Celestia’s claim. “Yoneko, go over to Ponyville. You know how to get there, right?”

The cyborg nodded but once, a frown adorning her muzzle.

“Find the brats and the traitor, and bring us their bodies intact. Or just their heads if they give you too much grief.” Maki said. With that, the cyborg let off another blood-curdling cry as her horn once more crackled to life. Before the sisters knew it, she vanished in a flash of bronze light.

Author's Note

Oh dear, shit's about to get real.

~Dragon