Chapter 30

Adagio of desperation

"Fucking Tartarus on a stick!" Sugarcoat screamed, firing her weapon at the zombies. "Get to cover, idiots!"

Applejack grabbed Rarity by an arm and dragged her unceremoniously into closest cover as Sugarcoat desperately threw herself behind a large pile of broken concrete slabs.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Rarity complained, still clutching Spike with her another arm against her chest. "Don't pull my arm out of the socket, will you?"

"No time for bein' gentle!" Applejack took her minigun again and stuck out of cover, pushing the electrotrigger button.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrr-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! A string of 5mm bullets cut the horde's numbers to half in three seconds. Sugarcoat and Rarity assisted with R91 and Buffalo SMG fire respectively.

Soon, no zombie stood around.

"Let's find some shelter," Applejack said. "We need to rest a bit. Spike, tell us meanwhile the details."

"I was sitting in Twilight's rucksack when she suddenly fell and I got squished and lost consciousness for some time. I think someone hit her on the head, and Sunset too. When I came around, there were smells of other people, and I did not risk coming out myself. So I sat and listened. For some time, nothing happened, then Sunset came around, then Twilight. They talked for some time, and then I heard Adagio Dazzle come out. She told them both that she was the one controlling the zombies. She also said she wanted revenge now that she managed to capture them, and she has sent out waves of zombies to capture you all and bring you to her."

"What plans does she have in store for us?" Rarity asked.

"Ooooh, they aren't good at all, Rarity. Adagio has the magic journal we were looking for, and she has planted the shards of their magic gems on it. They're fused together now; that's how Adagio can use magic. She pulled it from the journal. She plans to greatly expand her magical reserves by sucking out the magic that Twilight, Sunset, you and Applejack have. As for Sugarcoat, she plans to add her into the army."

"Out of everything you've said, Spike, I only understood the part of this Adagio Dazzle wanting to zombify me," Sugarcoat said. "What is it about journals and gems and shards?"

Applejack and Rarity filled the former Shadowbolt in about the Battle of the Bands, about the sirens who opposed them, and about the magical artifacts Spike had mentioned. Sugarcoat listened attentively, without interruptions.

"And so one of our aims was to find Sunset's magic journal so that she could communicate with her pony world?" she asked.

"The world is named Equestria, and yes."

"Tartarus in a fucking handbasket!" she exploded. "I know you can't exactly blab of this to other people, but I was there at the Friendship Games! I saw Twilight turn into a demoness and almost tear our world in half! I know of magic! You could have told me, you know!"

"I'm sorry, Sugarcoat," Rarity said. "This Twilight is from Equestria, and she was confused for this world's Twilight who is well-known in some circles for her great contributions in technological advancement. We're maintaining the ruse of her being amnesiac and being on a quest to recover her memories. The less people know of this - even those who do know of magic - the better."

"I see," the pig-tailed girl replied. "Make no mistake, I am still miffed, but your reasons are valuable. So, we're supposed to somehow bypass all the zombies, kill this Adagio Dazzle, save Twilight and Sunset and get this book back?"

"Yep," Spike said.

"While being wounded, exhausted, running on RegenStim and in Rarity's case, Med-X."

"That bad?"

"We've been on the run from the zombies for quite a while, Spike," Applejack said. "Ah understand now, at least, why so many zombies pursued us. Ah think Adagio found us, got the jump on Twilight and Sunset and is throwing more and more zombies at us so that we would get overwhelmed and taken prisoner."

"And in order to liberate them, we actually have to go to the very place she resides in and is surrounded by fuck-a-ton of zombified people," Sugarcoat said, paused for a moment, and spat out, "This sucks balls."

"There's more," Spike said morosely. "Apparently, Adagio can actively use her magic not only for mind control. As I was running, I heard some zapping sounds, and Twilight and Sunset screaming. I think she was... torturing them."

Everyone's faces turned green as they processed the ghastly mental image.

"Why that insufferable little..." Rarity began, paused to take some deep breaths, and launched into a quiet tirade:

"Fuck it! No polite word can describe this miserable excuse for a sapient being! This wench has decided to kidnap and torture my friends for her own amusement, and she wants to deprive them of their magic so as to convert even more poor people and zombify them? Well fuck that shit! I don't care what stands between her and us, this extra-uterine bitch and daughter of a whore is going to die!"

Everyone stared at the former fashionista as if she just grew a second head, an extra set of limbs and a male reproductive organ to boot.

"What?" she looked at her companions in return. "I meant what I said!"

"I applaud your passion," Sugarcoat said, "but acting out of anger will definitely get us killed. We need a plan."

"I am already thinking of it... wait... you hear that?"

All the girls listened carefully. Spike, who had better hearing, said:

"There are many foot stomps coming our way."

"We need to hide!" Applejack hissed.

"In here!" Rarity pointed at the ruins of the house that apparently had internal walls that blocked any view from outside. Everyone quickly ran inside, and the indigo-haired girl turned on her Stealth-Boy, sticking out carefully.

Everyone listened while the stomping continued as the wave of the unknown people just ran past the building. They stood still, not daring to move, convinced that even their hearts were traitorously beating too loudly. Finally, the sounds of many feet moved further and further, until silence reigned once again.

Everyone breathed out in relief. Rarity de-cloaked.

"Those were Metro Survivalists," she said. "They were running in the approximate direction of Brightlight."

"Round Risk would never let them in," Applejack said. "Ah'm pretty sure of that."

"It's not that, Applejack. There were normal humans within their ranks. Including those who are supposed to be dead at the hands of Metroists. And they all had white eyes as well. What does that tell you?"

Everyone mulled over the information.

"Oh shit," Applejack muttered. "It looks like we are running out of time. Rarity, what kind of plan did you have?"

"I'm afraid it was rather lousy," Rarity admitted. "I planned to have Spike bring us to the building Twilight and Sunset are held in, then have you and Sugarcoat draw her out while I remain cloaked and put a bullet from my sniper rifle into her forehead."

"Yeah right," Sugarcoat said, "this plan sucks."

"Another idea was sto simply approach her stealthily and snipe her through the window, but I can't do that without knowing the layout of the building. We'll need to scout the area first."

"She will definitely have patrols or sentries or something."

"Probably. But if we want to save Twilight, Sunset and everyone in Brightlight, we need to act now."

"This is going to be a clusterfuck," Sugarcoat said. "Can't we get reinforcements?"

"They might get zombified as well. Won't work. The only ones who are immune are me and Applejack."

"Then I am a risk as well."

"Still, if she does happen to convert you, I think you could be at least taken out without killing you."

"Don't bother. If she does take control of my mind, kill me."

"Ah-d rather not have it come to that," Applejack said. "Don't worry, sugarcube, we won't let her do that to you."

"You can't be sure."

"Wait a minute," the farmer addressed Spike, "ya mentioned only Adagio. Where the hay are Aria and Sonata?"

"Aria was killed by Adagio, and Sonata ran away and is missing. They don't count."

"Now why do I think that this Sonata will pop out at the worst opportune moment?" Sugarcoat muttered.

"If Sonata did run away, she might have had an argument with Adagio. Less cause to worry," Rarity said. "Now, Spike, can you show us the way to the place where this nasty siren is keeping our friends?"

"Sure. Put me on the ground and follow me."

"Oooohhhh. Oh, oh, oh. It hurts... my everyhing hurts..."

"Sunset?"

"Who the... oh, hey, Twilight. We're still hanging?"

"Yes."

"Adagio took my magic?"

"Yes, but not all of it."

"That so makes it easier after a blood arcana crucio ritual..."

"Never heard of it."

"Never will. I read about it when I was in closed section of Canterlot's library which is dedicated to dark magic when looking for info on Crystal Mirror. Celestia is unlikely to let you in there. There is truly nasty stuff in there. Anyway, since I am alive, it means Adagio will let me regenerate before doing it again. Did she say if she will do you next or if she will do me and make you watch again?"

"No."

"That bitch."

Zzzzzzzzap.

"AAAAAARGH!"

"Language, Bacon Hair," Adagio said, appearing from behind. "How are you feeling?"

"Ask me again after you get buggered by a super mutant's dick."

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzap!

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGH!"

"Seriously, what is it with you provoking me all the time? Are you secretly a masochist or something?"

Sunset chose to glare at the siren instead of dignifying that with an answer.

"Good girl. Keep silent, or you might accidentally bite your tongue in half later. Now, I have heard you wanted to know whom I'll "do" next, right? What an interesting choice of words you two have made. Taking your magic does not require me to sleep with you."

"Whoa, what, we didn't... what the Tartarus... oh get your mind out of the gutter!" Twilight snapped.

"Seeing that your companion is constantly telling me to do something sex-related, I have to question whether you hogged all the good-looking guys and left her with nothing," Adagio smirked.

Both girls simply stared at her with a blank look.

"Suit yourself. Although I have to say that we sirens are not really that choosy. And I can certainly incorporate sex into the ritual. Since you will be handcuffed anyway, think of it as bondage experience."

Now both girls subconsciously clutched their legs together, horror and revulsion written on their faces.

"In fact, in all the years I have lived, I never had a chance to add a Princess of Equestria to my conquered list," Adagio turned to Twilight and gave her a sultry look. "Guess now I can rectify that," she smirked as her adressee's face gained an even more horrified expression. "especially considering that you have quite a hot body by human standards. Besides, I do have needs, so if you give me a good orgasm, I may go easy on you during the ritual," Adagio gave a sultry wink and made bedroom eyes at the lavender-skinned girl. Sunset's cheeks bulged, and she vomited.

"YOU'RE A MONSTER, ADAGIO DAZZLE!!!" Twilight screamed in anger and fear, as tears flowed out of her eyes as she heard what an ignoble fate the siren had for her.

"You had it coming, Princess. Besides, your bitch here also needs to be punished as you were. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to command my army," Adagio said coldly, turning her back to Twilight and leaving. The latter broke into tears, seeing no way out.

Zzzzzzzzzap!

"Oh, and that was for that "monster" remark, you bitch," the siren snarled, leaving. Twilight's face scrunched in pain as small wisps of smoke came from her, and started crying again.

She had no way, no will to fight anymore.

She was broken.

She knew what was coming to her, and saw no way out of it.

"That's the place," Spike said while showing it with his paw, "I recognize the building."

The path to it has been nothing short of an ordeal.

Knowing full well that they had no hope of withstanding more waves of attackers, especially now that Metro Survivalists were now known as another element of Adagio's army and thus hostile to them, they had to move carefully and stealthily - not an easy task, especially considering that Applejack was wearing power armour, which was not designed for stealthy actions in mind.

They knew the approximate direction where they needed to go; Spike told them that the building was not far from Sunset's old home, and his help would be needed only if they were to be close to their intended target.

This allowed Sugarcoat to suggest an idea of them getting to the place via a sewer.

Rarity wrinkled her nose in disgust, and Applejack almost gagged at the suggestion, but both were forced to recognize that the idea had merit. Trying to get around the zombies on the surface was unfeasible, as they were now scouring the surface for them.

Adagio Dazzle was really unwilling to let them get out of her grasp.

Another factor that played in favour of this decision was the apparent fact that whenever a zombie was killed, Adagio could somehow learn of it and swarm the area where it happened. Rarity once sniped a lone zombie that was standing with its back to them. There were no other enemies that could see the act or the girls themselves - they were hidden behind walls of a building, and Rarity had her Stealth-Boy on when she killed the zombie.

Yet one and a half minute later, two dozens of zombies swarmed the street. The girls left with haste via back exit and managed to avoid detection, but their mood was soured by the fact that each and every kill would attract Adagio's attention.

Reluctantly, they decided to try the sewers.

Trottingham's waste disposal system was badly wretched by nuclear detonations; many sections were collapsed, and those that were not had fecal masses or something else running freely or collected in stinking pools. Unable to bear with the smell, the girls put on gas masks again, and Spike, with his more sensitive nose, had to suffer without any possibility of respite.

The only positive in that situation was that Sugarcoat's idea actually worked. As the Shadowbolt had predicted, Adagio did not think of checking the sewage system at all, so the problem of being detected by their enemies was irrelevant at that moment. Although Rarity suspected that once they climbed out, the zombies would be able to detect them by smell.

Once they spent two hours or so going through the labyrinth of sewer pipes, they reached the approximate location of their target. Rarity took Spike, activated her Stealth-Boy and carefully peeked out of a manhole once she made sure that her Pip-Boy IFF showed no enemies.

Their first time was unsuccessful. Spike declared that they were not there yet, and they moved further through the sewer.

On the second time, however, Lady Luck smiled at them. Spike immediately saw the building he escaped from not long ago, and Rarity took a quick look-around before going down and closing the manhole after herself.

"We've found the building where Twilight and Sunset are held," she told the others quietly. While there was no one else in the vicinity, she decided against unnecessary risks. "It's in that direction, Spike confirmed it."

"Good," Applejack said. "Mah hands are itching to introduce Adagio to mah little friend," she hefted her minigun.

"Unfortunately, there are zombies posted around it, there is no way all of us can slip past them undetected. I can use my Stealth-Boy to do so, but I don't know how to get around them once I get Twilight and Sunset back here."

"You don't need to," Sugarcoat said suddenly. "I've just remembered something. There is an outpost of National Security Commissariat nearby. It is far more defensible than that police station we were in. Can you bring up the map on your Pip-Boy?"

Rarity did as asked.

"Yes, it is here," Sugarcoat pointed to the location. "Theoretically, we can retreat there and defend ourselves. The only problem we face is that I might not be able to hack the defenses there."

"I have an EMP grenade for emergency cases."

"Good. I think that while you infiltrate and rescue Twilight and Sunset, me and Applejack can organize a diversion and lead them on a wild goose chase."

"That's very risky."

"There is no other option. While the majority of the enemies are distracted, take care to lead them out and hide them in the NSC outpost. Me and Applejack will retreat into the sewers again. They will lose us, and we will rejoin you out there. I only recommend that you scout the NSC building beforehand."

"OK. I don't really like this... but if we are to save our friends, as well as all the unfortunate souls in Brightlight and Horseshoe Highway, we have to act."

"Let's move it, then. I am sick and tired of the smell of fecal masses."

Adagio Dazzle was frustrated.

The mutt that had already foiled her plans back at the Battle of the Bands by releasing Rainbooms out of their prison has found the Princess' friends. She managed to see them through the eyes of her followers before they were gunned down by that dumb farmer in a powered casket.

Dumb she may be, but she knows how to effectively use a minigun. Stupid cunt!

Now they were on alert, constantly moving, and trying to avoid detection.

If Adagio had to give them credit, they were pulling it off really well.

They realized somehow that more zombies would appear and charge at them if they were to try and entrench themselves somewhere. Adagio could clearly feel and see where her followers were killed, and could divert other groups to them, and apparently they caught onto that.

Even if someone following her was killed but unseen, she could clearly feel where it happened, and swarm the area.

Now that the blondie, the prissy fashionista and the four-eyed brainiac were well aware of whom exactly they were against, they acted a lot more carefully. Adagio found it harder and harder to detect them, and at one point, they simply went below the ground, figuratively speaking.

How do they keep pulling it off?! she raged internally. Fucking bitches! Wait until I get my hands on them; they'll regret crossing me! Maybe I should wait before performing the ritual on Princess of fucking Friendship just so they would see that?

She paused for some time, measuring internally her levels of magic.

No... most likely I will not be able to do that. I already have many followers under my active control, and Metroists are on their way to Brightlight. If I am to prevail, I cannot allow myself to get overtaxed.

I need to wait a little more. Twilight most likely has even more potent magic than Sunset. I have to be careful and not take too much of it.

She smiled.

Revenge is a dish best served cold... better to concentrate and find all those friends of theirs right now. Even if I can't find them myself, they will come to me.

Their kind will never abandon a friend in need.

Perfect trap.

"Hey, Twilight," Sunset softly called.

Twilight Sparkle paid her no heed, too engrossed in her feelings of fear, revulsion and self-loathing.

I screwed up. I screwed up so badly, sending me back to magical kindergarten would be heaven comapred to what I deserve.

I hurried here, without information, having no idea what to expect. I had to rely on others and let them lead me, when I am supposed to be a leader. I coated my hands by so much blood, fires of Tartarus will never burn it away and no pain will be sufficient for me.

And I have lead others into this death trap. Now everyone will either die or be converted into mindless gibbering slaves while my friends and me will have to undergo one of the darkest rituals to give Adagio her magic reserve. She certainly won't let us simply die. She'll keep us alive for as long as she needs to.

"Twilight."

The call failed to penetrate her ears.

"Twilight!"

"Uh? What?"

"Pay some damn attention to me, damn it!" Sunset hissed.

"Sorry!" Twilight replied. "What?"

"I think we need to act. We can't wait for others. We have to find them ourselves."

"But how to get down from here?"

"This pole is not really secure. There's one support beam that looks like it's held together by boogers."

"Ewww."

"I'm not kidding. If we apply enough effort, we might shake it down. Can you reach the pole with your fingers?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Try and grab the pole with your hands."

"OK."

Twilight did as instructed.

"OK. Now you need to pull yourself up when I say "one". I'll say "two" after that, try to get yourself as high as you can. When I say "three", fall down. We should fall together."

"OK."

"All right. Let's try. One..." Sunset raised herself, and so did Twilight, "...two..." they rose even higher, visibly straining, "...three!"

Clank.

Both girls dropped down and the pole clanked slightly. The weak support beam moved slightly.

"OK. We can do this. Let's try again," Sunset said. "One... two... three!"

Clank.

"One... two... three!"

Clank.

They have tried that several more times. With each of their attempts, the weakened support beam gave way more and more. Finally, after a particularly vicious heave, it gave away, and the girls fell down along with the pole. By some miracle, they did not drop it on the floor.

"Thank goodness," Sunset breathed out, massaging her arms. "Damn it, it's all prickly now from the blood rushing in..."

"I hear you," Twilight did the same. "Now what?"

"I should have some bobby pins in my hidden pocket. Let's see if they... ah-ha, right here," Sunset picked up one of her bobby pins and began picking the lock on her handcuffs. Twenty seconds later, it clicked, and Sunset got one of her hands free.

"Come on," she motioned, "got to free you as well."

Twilight came closer, and Sunset spent another fifteen seconds on freeing Twilight's right hand. Once she did that, Sunset made sure to release the handcuffs off their wrists completely.

"We've got to find the exit," she said. "Forget the magic book for now, we can't fight Adagio alone. We have to regroup and make another plan."

"Got it."

"OK, let's see, I think Spike ran in that direction..."

The girls quietly creeped down the half-destroyed stairs, making sure not to produce any noise. Apparently, Adagio was already conducting the assault on Brightlight, since they encountered no zombies on the first flights of stairs.

When they went two floors lower, they managed to find a rack of weapons, where some assault rifles and armour vests were located. Twilight and Sunset quickly picked SWAT police armour vests for themselves and two AP-79 assault rifles with some spare magazines, as well as N99 pistols and several frag grenades.

"At least we're not defenseless now," Sunset said.

"Agreed."

They went further down, avoiding any patrols and producing no noise. Unfortunately, luck decided to turn away from them in that instance: they were almost at the exit when a group of zombies entered the building when they were in the middle of the room and could hide nowhere.

Sunset did not stop to think. She opened fire immediately and dropped two of them with one string of bullets. Twilight, slightly shocked at first, quickly brought down the rest.

"Fuck, we're busted!" the fiery-haired girl shouted. "Run!"

"Where?" the Princess of Friendship asked a perfactly legitimate question.

"Anywhere but here!" came a no less legitimate answer.

They ran out of the building as other zombies charged them. They gave several short bursts of fire that wounded or killed some of their pursuers, and ran further away.

Bullets rang around them. Twilight noticed that the zombies were trying to avoid killing them and were aiming for the legs, but so far they had trouble hitting them.

Good, that works to our advantage.

"And just where do you think you're going?!" the hated voice of Adagio Dazzle rang behind them.

Without any words spoken between themselves, Twilight and Sunset turned back and unloaded their magazines into the siren.

Or...

...tried to.

A red field of energy shimmered around Adagio, destroying any bullets that could do her harm.

Not hesitating, the Equestrians threw frag grenades in he direction and turned to run away so as to not be cut by shrapnel themselves.

BOOM! BOOM!

"No."

Adagio snarled, and two bolts of energy lashed themselves around Twilight and Sunset, making them drop their weapons and fall down.

The magic dragged them to their captor, who was most definitely not amused at their attempt.

"Your stubborness is not only stupid, it's just downright frustrating!" the orange-haired siren stood above them, eyes glowing with malice. "You thought you could outrun me! Idiots! One breeze of magic, and you are back in my clutches again!"

The zombies came up to them and firmly grabbed the girls by their limbs as Adagio released the ropes of magical energy.

"It is time for your ritual, Twilight Sparkle," she said with a tone of finality, and her mindless drones dragged the captives back.

"NO!" Twilight tried to resist, but the zombies' grip was too strong on her. "NO! NOOOOOO!"

Meanwhile...

Rarity, invisible under the cover of her Stealth-Boy, successfully snuck into the building that National Security Commissariat used to occupy before the apocalypse.

She was careful not to let anyone notice her. While the optical camouflage field gave good protection against untrained eyes, she did not want to try and find out whether the zombies (and Adagio, who controlled them remotely as if they were drones) truly had untrained eyes.

This did not end her problems, however. National Security Commissariat was notorious for their paranoia, and any outpost of theirs would have good defenses, as well as (presumably) traps designed to root out undesirable guests.

And Rarity, while she did not consider herself a bad person, could still be considered as undesirable.

So she did not turn off her Stealth-Boy for fear that some hidden trap or automated defense turret would kill her. Too much depended on her.

Sugarcoat and Applejack trusted her to use the distraction they would provide in order to infiltrate and rescue Twilight and Sunset.

Twilight's and Sunset's lives depended on her surviving and scouting this place successfully.

The lives of those living in Brightlight and Horseshoe Highway were on the metaphorical table of a game with Death himself.

She was playing against Death.

And she could not lose.

She carefully stepped inside another room, sweeping it with her silenced Buffalo SMG.

Clear. However, some whirring could be heard further.

Must be a security robot. I hate it that we have to destroy them, as they would be quite useful against the zombies, but I cannot hack well, and even Sugarcoat doubts her abilities. On the other hand, however, destroying a robot may trigger an alarm or something.

A memory surfaced in her mind how Rainbow Dash used to mock stealth games. The athletic tomboy always preferred games where speed of reaction and reflexes were the primary requirement; the notion of slow, deliberate and patient infiltration was boring to her, and the idea of not killing anyone on the level was blasphemous.

I wonder if this would be as boring to her now. Twilight and Sunset are held hostage, and their lives depend on me living or dying. Then again, she would probably try to dash in to save the day and dash out. Would be more "cool" and "awesome" to her. Tsk.

With these thoughts, Rarity went further to the corridor. She carefully went down and down, until...

Pow!

She hit something in the air and stumbled backwards. Immediately, someone punched her straight into the solar plexus, pulled her forward, knocked the SMG out of her hands and put their knee on her back.

"OK, you stealthy git," she heard someone speak above her, "now you've done goofed."

"What the... hey, who on Earth are you?" Rarity exclaimed indignantly.

"Wait," another voice spoke nearby, "that voice seems familiar. Rarity, that you?"

"Uh, yes, and you are?" the indigo-haired girl replied, puzzled. Suddenly, a figure of Lyra Heartstrings materialized out of air.

"Bon Bon, release her," she said, and the weight lifted from the former fashionista. Another person appeared, and Rarity saw the beige-skinned hand of former agent of Directorate of Intelligence offer her hand. Dropping the cloak, she took it.

"Oh thank the heavens I have found you here! But why did you come to this place?"

"Big Macintosh asked us to investigate what on Earth is happening here. CWN reported some zombie madness ongoing in Trottingham, so we're here," Lyra replied. "And why are you here, Rarity?"

"Basically the same reason."

"Did you find the answer?"

"Oh we did indeed. Remember the Battle of the Bands, girls?"

"Was that when three girls hypnotized the whole school except you and Vinyl? Yeah, we do remember them. Why? Are they involved?" Bon Bon asked.

"Yes. Their ringleader, anyway. Others seem to be dead. She managed to basically do the same to all the people she got her hands on. We were investigating Stable Hearts Limited, because we believed there was a bioweapon involved, when things went from bad to Tartarus in a handbasket."

"What happened?"

"We split up while trying to cover the building quickly, and Adagio's goons kidnapped Twilight and Sunset. Adagio sicced wave after wave at us, and has sent Metroists - they are her slaves too - to attack Brightlight and Horseshoe Highway."

"Fuck me in the ass with a hot iron pole!" Lyra swore loudly. "I thought that someone has got their hands on a Hypnotron and decided to fool around with it..."

"Hypnotron?"

"A device designed for pacification of crowds, developed for Commissariat and riot police. It was not released into wide service, because certain settings allowed to make a person fully subsrvient, and there was also a danger of fatal brain hemorrhage, but it could still be found in NSC stocks. But this is ten times worse, damn it. So this bitch is stirring trouble again, trying to seize control of other people again? To be adored or something?"

"Yeah, something like that. Please, you have to help me stop her!" Rarity put on her best pleading expression with teary eyes.

"Of course we will help you. We have managed to reprogram the local defenses, so as long as you are with us, you will be fine. What's the plan?"

"Applejack and one girl from Crystal Prep, Sugarcoat, are supposed to make a distraction. While they fight the zombies, I must infiltrate the building, liberate Twilight and Sunset, and retreat here undetected. Then Applejack and Sugarcoat retreat into the sewers, everything dies down, and they join me."

"Shitty plan, but given the circumstances, it's the best. We will distract others as well," Bon Bon said.

Rarity's eyes widened.

"No!" she said. "Did you forget that only the Rainbooms were invulnerable to her hypnotizing? If you get caught in Adagio's spell, we're doomed!"

"Damn, I forgot about that. Wait. And Sugarcoat?"

"She... was too stubborn to leave."

"Well we aren't leaving either. We have Stealth-Boys. If you don't want us to distract them, we will sic the robots on Adagio and her goons and infiltrate the building with you."

"Thank you. This will be better."

"But I have a question," Lyra asked. "What will you do if there are other zombies near them?"

"It's a shitty plan, but..." Rarity showed them a couple of riot control gas grenades. "I have a gas mask."

"So do we. But would gas even work against them? I mean, they're zombies and all that, they're supposed to be less vulnerable..."

"Flashbangs do work against them, I have ascertained that myself, so I think red pepper gas should as well. Or at least Adagio would get disoriented for some time if she does not expect it. Now come on, Applejack and Sugarcoat should begin their distraction attack..."

Rarity went silent as she looked at her Pip-Boy. Her eyes widened.

"...right now!"

"Take that, varmints!" Applejack shouted, pressing the electrotrigger. She and Sugarcoat managed to get out of their hiding space in sewers and take position in a building which was overlooking Adagio's base undetected.

Rarity gave them a timeframe of ten minutes before starting their distraction, and the time went out a mere second ago.

Some part of the farmer's girl felt... unclean about the whole situation. She understood, of course, that the people whom she was supposed to kill were as much victims of the situation as her captive friends were. They were hypnotized by the devious siren, and who knew how they felt?

Were they experiencing pleasure from her song?

Were they promised something extremely good, so good that they would do anything she told them to do?

Or were they trapped inside their own bodies, screaming for release, hoping to be saved, only to receive hatred, scorn and death from bullets and lasers?

Or would they be so tortured that they would welcome death?

Applejack did not know that.

She could not bring herself enough to care.

Her friends, her family, were threatened! Held captive against their will, probably being forced to give away their magic! And she knew that that orange-haired witch would not stop at Trottingham - no, she would go further, she would go to Appletown, and enslave each and every member of the Apple family! Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom - all would fall victim to her!

The mere thought of that wench going anywhere near Appletown made Applejack furious beyond belief.

I will stop her! No one threatens and hurts my family!

NO! ONE!

As the barrels of her minigun rotated, and 5mm bullets raced forward as a swarm of lead bees, the blonde girl felt her fury being unleashed.

One, two, three, four, five zombies fell to her fire. The small group she targeted was utterly destroyed.

Sugarcoat's assault rifle joined the fray as the pig-tailed girl fired three-round bursts at any zombie she could reliably hit. Before Applejack turned her minigun on another group and opened fire, she managed to take out for zombies next to her.

The enemy returned fire. Bullets swarmed the air around them, whizzing past them, ricohetting from the walls or splattering against the hard surfaces. Applejack paid them no heed. There was no need to pay specific attention to the bullets that missed her - that was her modus operandi.

Her minigun spat out more bullets, and a super mutant fell, his upper body utterly ruined by the embodiment of the farmer's fury. Another one came under her fire, and succumbed to the lead storm as well.

The barrels stopped rotating, as the ammo box emptied. Undeterred, Applejack dropped it, and installed a new one.

She did not bother getting into cover. It was reckless, but she wanted them to see that she was not afraid of them.

She wanted Adagio to see that, and choke in fury, because the siren would never be able to do that.

"You know, standing out there in the open while reloading is outright suicidal, and also fucking stupid!" Sugarcoat shouted, inserting a new magazine into her assault rifle.

"Well Ah am a blonde, ya know! So Ah am allowed ta be stupid, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Applejack laughed.

"That stereotype is highly offensive and it sucks cocks!"

The farmer laughed uproariously at Sugarcoat's remark, feeling strangely exalted despite the mortal peril she was in now. Adrenaline and endorphines were flowing through her veins, enemies were falling down, and the bullets of her enemies, each of them could pierce her heart, or her throat, or splatter her brains around simply stopped to exist around her.

Applejack was lost to the primal glee of battle.

And it only intensified as she noticed several robots roll out of the NSC's building and start pounding at the zombies as well, adding their own brand of chaos.

"Atta girl, Rarity!" she cried. "Show them who is boss!"

"It doesn't surprise you that these robots rolled out although she is not a hacker?"

"Ah don't care! Everything that plays in our favour is a plus!"

"Can't argue with that..."

Rarity's heart was beating rapidly as she, Lyra and Bon Bon advanced to the building that Adagio occupied for herself.

She was about to enter the manticores' den. While many zombies ran out of the building in order to counter the surprise attack, Adagio would not leave herself undefended and prisoners unguarded, of that Rarity was sure.

Her Pip-Boy was showing the same thing, actually.

Fortunately, the building had multiple entrances, and one of them was unguarded for some time as the robots took out the zombies posted there. The trio of infiltrator used the window of opportunity to get inside.

A dozen of zombies ran past them, forcing them to flatten themselves against a semi-collapsed wall. Rarity was more worried about the possibility of the wall collapsing than about them risking being detected, but neither of the events happened, fortunately.

They followed upstairs, sweeping the area, being careful not to disturb or kill any zombies that could be there. The indigo-haired girl rather passionately warned Lyra and Bon Bon that if they killed a zombie, others would swarm the place.

But Adagio seemed to be more focused on defending the entrances, however. They passed several floors, and saw no zombies.

On one floor, they found a room with a closed door. Rarity quickly used her lockpicks to open it. Inside, they found an arsenal, as well as some things that definitely belonged to Twilight and Sunset.

They quickly picked Twilight's AP-79, .44 magnum and "Burning Flash", as well as Sunset's laser rifle and combat shotgun, and frag grenades, plus spare ammunition. Rarity wanted to get their armour as well, but Lyra told her not to.

"We can't overload ourselves, and Commissariat's building has better armour anyway. You'll get their stuff later."

"OK," Rarity replied.

They went out of the room when they heard a shriek of painful agony.

Rarity's blood froze.

Oh no! I can't be too late!

"This is bad," Bon Bon stated the obvious. "Come on! Masks on! Prepare your gas grenades!"

Rarity held the riot control weapons in her hands, determined to make Adagio pay for all the pain and suffering she caused.

I may not be acting it right now, but I am still the Black Widow!

And Adagio will learn it...

...the fatal way!

"I have had enough of your shit," Adagio Dazzle snarled, as she entered the room designed for the magic extraction ritual, Twilight and Sunset being brought by zombies. Turning to them, she ordered, "Get the Princess on this table and secure her properly! And you," she addressed the zombies that were still holding Sunset, "put her on her knees, cuff her again and hold her! I don't want her to interrupt the ritual or do anything else!"

The zombies did as ordered. Twilight was brought to the table and the armour she had previously stolen was taken away from her. The mind controlled drones handcuffed her hands to a small pole above her head and tied her legs, completely immobilizing her. Sunset, despite her resistance, was handcuffed again and brought down to her knees.

"Oh, and gag that bacon-haired wench as well," Adagio added as an afterthought, "I'm not in the mood for her stupid antics."

One of the zombies immediately glued Sunset's mouth with a duct tape.

"Finally," Adagio breathed out. Coming up to Twilight, she said:

"You Rainbooms are much bigger trouble than I thought. Even now, your stupid friends are messing up with me. Your blondie bass player and some four-eyed girl from Horseshoe Highway, whom I distinctly remember coming from that hoity-toity Crystal School or whatever its name was messing up near this very building. I don't know where your stupid drama queen is, but I don't think she's far, because I don't believe she ran away, much as I want that to be the case. Your stupid mutt must have told them everything. They adapted to the situation, and until recently, they practically disappeared. But instead of calling for help, they came here themselves. Probably realized that bringing someone here would only give me additional advantage."

Twilight smirked, taking pleasure from the siren's frustrations.

"What are you smirking about? Do you think that they can save you? There are three of them, one is vulnerable to my brainwashing, and they are facing dozens of my followers. In fact, I actually diverted some of the Metroists, because your friends are being annoying as hell. You really think you can prevail? Face it, Princess Pretty-Face, you have lost."

"Maybe you're right."

These words brought a shock to everyone who heard Twilight speak and was not brainwashed at that moment. Sunset's eyes widened, and she moaned through the duct tape in protest, while Adagio slightly opened her mouth from shock.

"Maybe you're right when you say that we lost," Twilight continued. "But there is a snag, Adagio Dazzle."

"Oh?" the siren raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"You haven't won yet either!"

Now Adagio almost lost her jaw.

"Your goals have not been met yet! Brightlight still resists, and you are still far from accomplishing your ultimate goal! Even if we lost, this doesn't mean that you won't meet someone who defeats you!"

"Bullshit!" the siren snarled. "You haven't known humans for as long as I have, Twilight Sparkle! These creatures can never agree on anything! When there is a threat practically having a neon sign above it saying "I AM A THREAT, KILL ME" with an arrow pointing to it getting into their faces, they will still squablle over something! You have seen what they have done to their world!"

"Yes! But I have also seen them unite when the situation demanded so! Have you heard of White Knives and how they threatened this whole area? Appletown wanted to get rid of them, but they could not do it alone, and the militia of Canterlot Wastelands News and Brotherhood of Steel stood separately! Alone, they could achieve nothing! But when they banded together, they eliminated White Knives to the last man or woman that was in Curve Blade's ranks! When they see what kind of a threat you are, people of the Wastelands will turn into a force that will stop you!" Twilight shouted.

"The factions you mentioned banded together only thanks to you," Adagio sneered.

"That doesn't mean there are no other people like me!" Twilight countered. "A single person in the wrong place, in a wrong time, can make a decision that can change the whole world around them!"

"When they realize what kind of a threat I really am, it will be too late," the siren said. "Enough of that BS. Gag her as well, I have a ritual to conduct, and some pleasure to have."

Twilight's mouth got glued by a duct tape, despite the resistance she tried to put.

"Much better. Honestly, you two are too talkative," Adagio came closer to the captive Princess and took out the same knife she ahd used previously on Sunset. Pricking Twilight's finger, she collected a small cup of blood and splashed it on the gemstones on the magic journal.

Immediately, the shards glowed with baleful red light.

"Powers of the seas!" Adagio chanted. "Powers of the seas! Grant me my wish! Grant me my wish!"

The runes on her ritual knife began glowing again. Adagio's eyes became as red as they were when she fought the Rainbooms in the Battle of the Bands.

Twilight's heartbeat quickened as fear began to overwhelm her. She was keenly aware now of what the ritual held for her, but there was another factor to be taken into account.

The amount of raw magic within a person.

Since Twilight had more magic inside her than Sunset, the invasion of the ritual knife into her body would result in a more painful reaction as her potent inner magic would try and reject the foreign object designed to suck it away.

Thus, while Sunset's sufferings were not to be discounted, the Princess of Friendship would still have a worse time.

Twilight knew it. Sunset knew it. And Adagio knew it as well.

"Give me the magic of this mare, and make it mine! What was hers, will be mine! What was hers, will be mine!" the chanting continued, and the air cracked again under the force of arcane energies being collected. The shards grew brighter than ever before, and Twilight even saw several magic bolts striking the tip of the knife.

Adagio approached the tied prisoner, smirking.

"Do you know the excellent part of the ritual? Until I say "So mote it be" and stab you, these energies will remain here for as long as I desire. So I will not grant you a quick reprieve as I did your friend. I think I could spice the ritual a little more..."

With these words, Adagio cupped Twilight's cheek. The latter jerked her head away as far as she could, desiring no tactile contact with her tormentor.

"You still resist? Pity," the siren said.

Her hand moved down almost teasingly, touching Twilight only with the tips of her fingers.

Then Adagio cupped Twilight's left breast.

And squeezed it.

The lavender-skinned girl sharply breathed out, revulsion overcoming her at this unwelcome physical contact. Unfortunately, she could not really move away, so the deprived siren freely continued to fondle Twilight's chest, switching between the left and the right side as she pleased.

Feelings of anger, humiliation, fury, shame and utter hatred were coursing through Twilight's veins right now, as her brain brought up more and more creative scenarios of revenge on her captor. She was in the middle of imagining Adagio dying from choking on a human penis when the siren spoke:

"Seriously, you should look at yourself in the mirror. Your breasts are knockers for sure. I bet that blue-haired jock you were crushing on would do everything you said if you were to flash him..."

Twilight sorely lamented that angry looks could not be utilized as a deadly weapon. Otherwise, Adagio would have burst into flames long ago.

And then she felt Adagio's hand on her lady parts.

She clamped her legs as tight as she could, but she could not stop the siren from touching her inner hips.

What followed could only be described as intense feeling of rage and humiliation as Twilight desperately wished that the siren would just go on with the ritual already. Her resistance could at best be described as token, and it seemed more to amuse Adagio than deter her.

Finally, Adagio stopped, and Twilight saw the ritual knife raised above her.

"So mote it be!" Adagio chanted, and the knife dag into Twilight's heart.

AGONY!!!

The equine-turned-human could not say when was the last time she experienced pain like this. Not only her body hurt because of the stab, but her whole insides flared as something so alien, so wrong, set itself in her body and refused to go, and it needed to be purged, but no matter how much her insides flared and the pain intensified, it was impossible to reject the foreign object...

...and then Twilight felt something leak away from her, and the agony she was feeling increased by an order of magnitude...

Susnet could only cry helplessly as she saw her friend writhe in pain as the runes on the knife glowed so brightly that it was painful to watch at it, and the gems pulsated with the brightest shade of red. Adagio's eyes also gained a bright pulsating crimson colour as she absorbed Twilight's magic.

Finally, she dug the knife out, and greedily lapped up the blood that remained on it. Sunset noticed that Twilight's blood was glowing as well, and the wounds she had also sealed themselves with a flash of light.

Twilight's blood was more charged with magic, the fiery-haired girl realized.

Meanwhile, Twilight herself had tears flowing freely for umpteenth time as the pain was receding from her body, but very slowly. She saw the siren greedily drink her blood, and almost puked, but the only thing she could puke right now was her own stomach.

She did not want to try and do that.

Adagio, however, looked as if she was in pure bliss - and she was, for Twilight's magic-charged blood prove to be an ecstasy for her. She simply stood still for some time before opening her eyes and smiling triumphantly at the equine Princess:

"You know, that idea with some playing with you worked surprisingly well. Maybe I should test getting you naked beforehand?"

Twilight desperately tried to say something through the duct tape that glued her mouth. Sighing, Adagio motioned one of the zombies to take it off, and he complied. Immediately, Twilight shouted:

"Is there no limit to your depravity?!!!"

"Ah, but why should I impose limits on myself when I am at the top of the food chain?" Adagio smiled.

Suddenly, several metallic apple-sized objects flew into the room, bouncing off the walls and off the floor. The siren frowned:

"What the..?"

Suddenly, the objects burst, releasing smaller metallic balls, which in turn exploded, and clouds of something red appeared in their place, widening quickly. As it touched everyone in the room, everyone felt their eyes getting irritated, and began coughing.

Twilight squeezed her eyes shut, trying to prevent the irritating gas from getting in, but that was to no avail. She coughed as her ability to breathe got more and more constricted.

She was left without any power to struggle, and simply lay there, desperately trying to get more air but getting more of the gas instead. She did not notice how her legs became free, then her hands...

...and then someone picked her up and carried her.

"Spray the neutralizing agent!" someone shouted, but she paid no heed.

Exhausted by the mental and physical ordeal, Twilight Sparkle collapsed into the realm of unconsciousness.

Cold water sprayed onto her face.

"Urgh..." Twilight moaned. Who the heck thought spraying water on me was a good idea?

"Get up, sleepyhead!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. "We're not finished yet!"

"Wha..?"

Slap! Her head turned under the force of a palm strike, and she immediately experienced the stinging sensation.

"Come on, damn it! Can you open your eyes?"

"Uh..." Twilight tried to do so, and surprisingly, she managed to do so without a problem or tears leaking.

How in Tartarus..?

As her eyes slowly focused, she saw a mint-green face staring at her.

"Finally!" the owner of the face said, shaking Twilight slightly. "Come on, speak to me! Can you move?"

"Lyra..?"

"Your memory is still in place, good! Now come on, hurry! We are not out of the woods yet!"

"Adagio... where..?"

"Outside. We're in the building of local division of National Security Commissariat. Robots and automated turrets are holding teh zombies at bay for now, but we need to get you some weapons and armour fast, because we can't do it alone!"

"Sunset... Spike... Applejack... Rarity... Sugarcoat?"

"Alive and kicking, although Sunset's still giving me and Bon Bon evil eyes for pepper spray grenades. Can you stand and walk?"

"I can, but..." as Twilight stood up, her movements were sluggish and slowed down. "I am not really quick right now."

"Sunset suspected that you might feel like that. Here's some Buffout for you."

Twilight took the offered stimulants.

"Follow me, I need to get you armour and a weapon from the armory, and you can't get in there without a Commissar like me."

They went slightly deeper into the building, bypassing several rooms, until they got in front of a massive metal door. Lyra quickly typed the access code on the small keyboard, and the door opened.

"Come in," she said, and Twilight obeyed.

"OK, put this on," Lyra gave the equine-turned human a set of sturdy-looking armour. "It's Commissariat shock trooper armour. Better than average protection and no extra penalties on agility. Don't forget the helmet."

The lavender-skinned girl put on the armour vest and secured all the plates on her limbs and joints, noting that the armour was slightly heavier than she was used to, but covered more of her body and had thicker plates. As she secured the helmet on her head, Lyra threw her a laser rifle with some gizmos attached to it, including a holographic sight.

"This rifle has a beam splitter and advanced focus optics, it packs better punch than a standard model," the green-haired girl explained. "We also managed to liberate some of your own stuff," she gave Twilight the .44 magnum revolver she carried and the "Burning Flash" pistol.

"You found them? Thanks!"

"Thank me later, now get the ammo and some grenades! Double time!"

"How did you get here?" Twilight wondered, collecting microfusion cells, energy batteries and .44 ammo.

"Long story short, me and Bon Bon were investigating the rumours of zombies in Trottingham when we ran into Rarity. She explained everything to us, so we know about Adagio and what the bitch has done. She, I and Bon Bon rescued you while Applejack and Sugarcoat were distracting the zombies; I also activated the NSC robots to help us."

"What's the situation?" Twilight asked as they ran out of the armory; the lavender-skinned girl was already feeling Buffout kick in.

"Tartarus in a handbasket squared. The zombies have gone mad and are trying to pry open the frontal doors that I dropped down as soon as everyone was inside, and they're also trying to get into the windows, but the turrets and robots are not letting them in. However, I predict that very soon we will have to deal with Adagio herself.

"About that - she can raise a shield around her that makes her impervious to damage."

"Fan-fucking-tastic!"

They ran to the balcony overlooking the entrance, where Sunset, Bon Bon, Applejack, Rarity and Sugarcoat were crouching behind cover, firing at any zombies that tried to enter.

"Howdy, Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed. "How're ya feelin'?"

"Up and around and ready to kick a certain siren's ass so hard that she will fly to the moon and leave a Celestia-damned crater on it," Twilight turned to Sunset. "Hey, Sunset, how're you?"

"Better than in that building, that's for sure!" the fiery-haired girl replied, nailing one of the zombies. "Now come on and help us get rid of that sorry excuse of a sea creature!"

"Gladly!" Twilight caught a head of one of the super mutant zombies in the reticle of her holographic sight and pulled the trigger...

Adagio Dazzle was not a happy siren.

In fact, she was a very angry siren at that moment.

These Rainbitches somehow managed to get her hands on gas grenades and decided it would be a good idea to use them while trying to free the stupid Princess and the Tartarus-damned ketchup-and-mustard-haired cunt!

If that was not enough, she saw a couple of other girls appear by their side. She recognized them as the Canterlot High's resident best friends forever, Lyra Heartstrings and Bon Bon. Adagio remembered how they performed in the Battle of the Bands, singing in duet, and touching cheeks together at one moment.

Honestly, she could not decide back then if she wanted to cringe at their too sugary moment or shout "Just kiss already!" at them. Surprisingly, despite their closer than normal bond of friendship, they did not appear to be a couple.

At least back then. That could have changed, for all she knew. But that was not that relevant.

What was relevant that Lyra had Commissariat armour of all things on her person, and Bon Bon also seemed to possess some sort of advanced weapons not readlily available for others. And they took control of the robots in the building that Commissariat used to occupy before the apocalypse.

She did not anticipate their presence, be it admitted. When the blondie and the four-eyes attacked her followers, she fully expected she would crush them soon, by sheer number if nothing else. But when the robots rolled out, she was forced to move out the majority of her forces out of the building to defend it, and apparently, the inseparable couple (and maybe that whiny prissy fashionista as well) used the opportunity to sneak inside and introduce her to riot control pepper gas.

She did not expect that, and spent around ten or fifteen minutes while tears washed the mix of capsaicine and who knew what else out of her eyes, and coughing until her lungs got rid of it.

That was enough for them to shut down the NSC building and organize a good defense. The surviving robots retreated inside along with the girls, and she already lost fifty of her followers while trying to assault their holdout.

She snarled.

"Always a fucking spanner in the works," she said. Concentrating her magic, she mentally ordered her followers to withdraw.

"Always have to do the fucking dity work myself!" she snarled, concentrating a wave of destructive energy in an orb in front of her.

Glowing with red energy, she thrust her hands forward, and a beam of light sheared through the blocked doors, blowing a hole in it.

Hope someone of the bitches got in the way! Adagio thought viciously, preparing two more orbs. Unleashing them at the concrete walls near the doors, she smiled in malice as two explosions blowed the concrete apart, making the whole wider.

She commanded her minions to attack.

The defenders of the building were shocked and unpleasantly surprised to see a bright red beam shear through the blocked reinforced door and melt the armour on one of the sentry bots, causing it to explode as some critical part within it malfunctioned.

"Fuck!" Lyra shouted. "What was that?! What the fuck was that?!"

"Apparently, Adagio Dazzle decided to do what all book villains do at some point and decided to mop the floor with us herself," Sugarcoat said in her trademark monotone.

As she finished, two explosions took out the wall near the now destroyed door, making the gap very wide.

"OK, this is getting bad!" Lyra shouted as zombies started charging in. Firing from her squad automatic weapon that she got in Commissariat arsenal, she took out a high explosive grenade and flinged it into the charging horde. "Applejack, shoot a rocket!"

"Gladly!" the farm girl took one of the single-use rocket launchers that lay near her, and launched a rocket into the crowd of zombies. A loud BOOM, and body parts and blood flew everywhere, but that barely helped against the charging horde.

The remaining sentry bot also fired a rocket into the horde, taking out nearly a dozen zombies in one shot, and several more frag grenades joined the fray, as well as the flashbang grenade thrown by Rarity.

Blinded and disoriented by the flashbang, the zombies stumbled in place as a sentry bot, three Mr. Gutsies, five Protectrons, two .50 caliber automatic laser-guided sentry turrets on tripods and all the organic defenders of NSC building pounded the zombies into paste. They did not risk gas grenades for fear of losing combat ability, as Rarity, Lyra and Bon Bon could not recover Twilight's and Sunset's gas masks, and Commissariat arsenal for some "mind-shatteringly moronic" (as Lyra put it) reason did not have the spares.

Several seconds later, almost all zombies charging through the hole and the windows were dead.

"Enough!" a voice sounded, lacerated by magic, and several red orbs of energy flew inside, exploding and destroying three Protectrons and two Mr. Gutsies.

"Oh shit," Sugarcoat said, "here comes the queen bitch!"

"Applejack!" Bon Bon shouted. "Prepare another rocket!"

The blonde girl picked up another disposable rocket launcher.

Adagio Dazzle went inside, eyes glowing red, face twisted in fury, defensive shield shimmering around her as bullets and laser beams were annihilated before they could reach her - a true spawn of Tartarus. As soon as she entered, she thrust her hands to the sides, and .50 caliber turrets were melted by superheated red beams of magic.

"Hey bitch, eat this!" Applejack shouted, and shot a rocket at Adagio.

BA-BOOM!

The sentry bot also fired a missile at the siren. Another KA-BOOM followed, adding to the formed cloud of dust.

What they saw was unbelievable.

Red energy shimmered through dust, and when it slightly settled down, they saw Adagio Dazzle standing unharmed.

And looking pissed off, two orbs of explosive magical energy ready to fire.

The first orb flew at the sentry bot, blowing it to pieces in a rather big explosion.

The second one was barely dodged by Applejack and hit the wall instead, showering her and Sugarcoat with dust and debris.

"Oh come on!" the pig-tailed girl shouted. "Do we need a fucking Fat Man to kill this bitch?"

"You're going to be my bitch soon," Adagio snarled, and started singing, "Aaaaaaahhh-aaaahhh-aaaaahh, aaaaaahhh-aaaaaaaah! Aaaaaaahhh-aaaahhh-aaaaahh, aaaaaahhh-aaaaaaaah!"

Realizing what she was doing, everyone opened fire on her, but her magical shield was proving to be too strong.

"OK, new plan - RUN!" Twilight said.

"Fine by me!" said Sugarcoat; she was already feeling something creeping up into her mind, something telling her to turn back...

No! She is the enemy! the ex-Shadowbolt reminded herself, running deeper into the building. Lyra and Bon Bon followed her, and everyone who had some piece of Equestrian magic in them was the last.

Several more explosions shook the building as Adagio blew apart the last robots and ceiling turrets that were still present near the entrance.

"What now?" Lyra asked Twilight.

"I... don't know," the pony-turned-human was breathing heavily, trying to restore the flow of oxygen. "This shield is very strong, but I do not think it can withstand a continuous strain. I think that if we were to concentrate all fire, we might overwhelm her defenses."

"That's gonna be problematic," Rarity said, looking down the ACOG sight on a marksman carbine she borrowed from Commissariat arsenal. "She is running inside, and all the zombies are charging after her! Wait... she is letting some of them forward!"

"Applejack! Fire the remaining rocket as soon as soon as she comes in!"

"Will do!"

"Rarity, flashbang! Everyone cover their eyes and ears!"

"Acknowledged!" Rarity followed the order and threw another flashbang grenade. Everyone hid themselves behind flimsy cover.

A loud bang sound, and everyone except Applejack unloaded their weapons into the charging horde.

Suddenly, two red lightning arcs of energy flew out of the direction of the attack and struck Lyra and Bon Bon. Both girls screamed in agony as their nerves flared up, and fell down, smoke rising from them.

"Oh no!" Rarity gasped.

"Alright, Adagio, you asked for it!" Applejack launched another rocket, but it was intercepted by zombies that stood in front of their mistress. The explosion tore them into a mess of limbs, organs and blood, but not a shimmer of Adagio's shield followed, signifying that the rocket went to waste.

"Fuck me! This was mah last rocket!" the farmer swore, picking up her minigun again.

"I am impressed," the siren called, "you actually eliminated all the followers I had at my command! Now I will have to call for reinforcements from Metroists! Guess I am more needed at Brightlight right now, then! Ta ta!"

"Not happening, bitch!" Sunset charged forward - only to receive a zap of red lightning and then thrown into the wall by telekinesis. "Ouch!" she shouted, falling down. "That hurt..."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! You actually believed me, Mustard Mutt?" Adagio mocked the fiery-haired girl, coming into the room. "Fool! I don't need those idiots to deal with you!"

"Good, we're gettin' tired of 'em anyway!" Applejack shouted. Everyone opened fire at Adagio without any verbal command, but she made a slashing movement with her hand, and a shockwave threw them all back.

"Fuck!" Twilight shouted as she hit the wall and lost all air in her lungs for a moment.

"Submit to me, and I will let you live!" the orange-haired siren declared, all playfulness gone from her voice.

"Submit to this!" Sugarcoat shouted, throwing two high explosive grenades at her and following with assault rifle fire. Applejack and Rarity supported her, but several zaps shocked them again. Meanwhile, Sugarcoat expended all her ammunition and was swapping the magazine when Adagio sang her hypnotizing song again.

"No!" Sugarcoat shouted. "Must... resist! Must... must... resist... don't... resist... must... follow... Mistress!" she shouted, raising her assault rifle at her allies. However, Applejack saw in time what was happening, and charged at the pig-tailed girl. Before Adagio reacted, Twilight rained laser fire on her. Thisa act of defiance earned her a strong charge of red lightning bolt that sent her flying over a table, knocking it down as her leg hit it and bringing down the first aid box as her body hit the wall, and she crumpled to the floor unable to move, but this won Applejack enough time to punch Sugarcoat hard. The former Shadowbolt flew at the wall opposite to the one that Twilight got bashed against and hit her head, slumping unconscious.

Adagio roared in incandescent fury and unleashed lightning from both hands at Applejack, who roared in pain as the dark magic burned her. She tried to move in the siren's direction, and even unloaded her minigun at the siren, but Adagio intensified her onslaught, and eventually Applejack got thrown back as well.

Sunset jumped at the siren with knife in her hands, intent on taking the siren on in close quarters, but her knife could not penetrate the shield and her pistol bullets were mere pellets. However, Adagio tried to put as much direction between herself and Sunset as possible. They danced like that for several minutes until Sunset's exhaustion and wounds took their toll and the orange-haired woman managed to put enough distance between herself and the fiery-haired Equestrian to give the latter a strong telekinetic blast.

Meanwhile, Twilight noticed that strange behaviour of Adagio's.

A crazy plan formed in her head. The only problem was the pain she felt and the distance between herself and the siren.

The alicorn-turned-human noticed that the first aid box that fell down from the wall had some syringes in it. She injected herself with two doses of RegenStim and two doses of Med-X.

She saw another syringe, which she recognized as a drug named Psycho.

Psycho is a combination of combat stimulants, fast-acting short-term regenerative medicines and what is commonly called "anger hormones", designed to augment the aggressiveness of the soldier as well as increase pain tolerance and damage resistance in a combatant. For a short time after the injection, a trooper will possess better combat capability, even if they are on the verge of exhaustion. Psycho also increases focus, allowing a soldier to be more precise in firing weapons, and augments physical power for a short term.

She recited the words as the needle of a complex pneumosyringe was stuck in her vein.

While Adagio was too busy with Applejack and Sunset to notice, Twilight patiently waited as the medicines she has taken would take their effect. When everything went silent, she risked rising a little bit.

The siren was panting, strained after having spent a good amount of magical reserves in combat. She stood with her back to Twilight, having not heard the latter move and stand up.

She assumed I was done for.

Twilight whipped out "Burning Flash" and jumped over the upset table, firing at Adagio.

Big mistake! She's going to die and I will be the one who shall deliver death unto her!

The siren turned around, shocked. In a few moments, Twilight crossed half the distance between herself and her enemy, not stopping her fire. When Adagio raised her hands and released a bolt of lightning, the Princess of Friendship crossed three-quarters.

The lightning bolts that hit her brought pain, but Med-X partially negated the effect, and Twilight pressed on in inertion.

She pulled her left hand back and whipped out her .44 magnum revolver.

Adagio understood her plan, and the red eyes widened, but it was too late.

Twilight set the revolver against the siren's stomach and pulled the trigger.

The bolts of dark magic stopped, and Adagio Dazzle collapsed to the floor as a puppet with cut strings.

Smoke rose from Twilight's clothes and her hair was messed up from the electric-like arcs that she just experienced. The potent cocktail of regenerative medicines was still running their course, but as adrenaline started dying down, she felt exhaustion seeping in.

Suddenly, she saw zombified ghouls charging into the building.

She looked at Adagio and noticed that the siren was still alive.

In panic, she pulled the trigger on her revolver.

Bang.

The .44 magnum bullet cracked the forehead of the dark being who only recently tortured her, took a part of her magic, and...

I'd rather not think about this!

A shrill sound came from the zombies. Twilight looked at them and saw them shrieking as they were in apparent agony.

Their eyes burst, blood and eye components leaking out, and they fell down.

The equine stepped away, horrified.

They must have been tied to her magic, and without her, they died! Everyone whom she controlled has died along with her! I failed to save Horseshoe Highway! They are all dead, all those who remained behind! They are dead!!!

Tears leaked out of Twilight's eyes as she bemoaned the fate of the unfortunate souls who were trapped by the power-hungry siren whose blood was now tricking from a large hole in her forehead.

Twilight fired another bullet, just to be safe, and then unloaded the remaining ammo into Adagio's chest.

Better to make sure this bitch does not survive miraculously anyhow.

Then she turned attention to the object that she and Sunset were after from the very beginning.

The magic journal.

Twilight carefully took it away from the dead siren. The journal did not look any different, aside from the shards of sirens' gems that used to be re-fused together, but were now cracked again. She noticed with some anger that the gems also got fused into the journal's cover, which made it impossible to pry them away.

Bitch.

The alicorn-turned-human quickly looked around and ran to each of her friends, as well as Lyra and Bon Bon. Fortunately, all of them were alive and did not need any urgent medical attention - they were simply unconscious.

She did not dare approach Sugarcoat. She could not bear the thought that Adagio's death could have spelled doom for the Shadowbolt as well.

She looked around for a pen. Several minutes passed until she found one in the desk that was broken during the battle.

Her heart was beating faster than during battle with Adagio Dazzle.

She opened the journal, and saw all the messages that Sunset and Celestia had exchanged with each other, then the messages Sunset had exchanged with herself.

She briefly smiled at the memories.

Turning over to the empty page, she pushed the pen against paper and tried to write "Dear Princess Celestia".

The words did not form on the paper.

Twilight tried again, to no avail.

Strange. Maybe the pen doesn't work?

She tried the pen on the closest paper sheet. It worked.

What is happening?! The pen writes well on the paper. Why doesn't it work on the journal? Sunset could use any pen on it!

She tried a different page, then another page, then she tried to push the pen harder. The ink did not set on any page, even those that had already been filled.

Nothing worked.

Celestia banish it to the moon!

Finally, she tried the inside of a cover, and a small red lightning zapped her hand, making her drop the pen.

The magic journal fell as well as Twilight realized what has happened.

No. No. No, no, no, no, no! NO! NO! The magic that allowed for sending the messages across dimensions is gone! Adagio must have used the whole magical reserve hidden in this book to glue the gems, and I...

I...

I... I can't contact Equestria and tell them what happened! All that me and Sunset and my friends did, all that we suffered, all was for nothing, BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID FUCKING FISH-CUNT, THE SORRY MISERABLE EXCUSE OF A SAPIENT BEING, THE POWER-HUNGRY BITCH!!!

Disappointment, hatred and rage clouded Twilight's mind as she sent all the rules regarding the treatment of dead bodies out from the heights of Cloudsdale and proceeded to savagely stomp Adagio's corpse.

"Damn you!" she shouted, the dam holding all her negative emotions broken irreversibly, her legs breaking Adagio's body. "Damn you to the lowest fucking depths of fucking Tartarus! Rot in there forever, and get buggered by Cerberus, you fucking bitch! You doomed me to remain in this Celestia-forsaken world forever! I'll never be able to go back, because of you, you fucking extra-uterine inbred offspring of a horse and a whale..."

"Uh... Twilight?" a frightened male voice sounded, and Spike came up to his mother figure.

"Oh Spike," Twilight collapsed on her butt, "she spoiled the magic journal! It has no magic in it anymore! I can't contact my friends and tell them what has happened to me! And you know that Canterlot here is bombed, so we can't even get to the portal in front of CHS!"

Grabbing Spike and bringing him to her face, Twilight screamed hysterically:

"We'll never be able to return to Equestria, Spike! Don't you understand?!!! NEVER!!!"

Dropping him down, Twilight rested her hands on her knees and her head on her hands, and burst into bitter tears of sadness, rage and disappointment. Spike felt a turmoil of emotions swirl within him.

He sorely wished he could resurrect Adagio Dazzle so he could personally tear out her throat for what she did to Twilight.

Instead, he opted to simply come up to her corpse and piss on her face.

Serves her right. She deserves much more than that.

"Aaaaaargh..." someone moaned in the background. "Can someone fucking tell me what the fuck did I just miss?"

Level Up!

New Perk (Twilight Sparkle)

What Doesn't Kill Me, Makes Me Stronger! (Rank 1) You gain permanent +5% bonus to Damage Resistance against any sort of damage.

New Perk (Sunset Shimmer)

Cool Under Stress: You gain +1 Intelligence when in combat situation.

New Perk (Applejack)

Big Girl With Big Guns: You gain +15 bonus to your Heavy Weapons Skill.

New Perk (Rarity)

Mark Them, Drop Them: You gain +10% bonus to your accuracy when using automatic weapons with holographic, ACOG or telescopic sights.

Author's Note

Rrrrrrraaaaaahhhhhhh! It's 01:34 local time and I just finished this chapter!

My muse ran like a train without brakes again, and I delevered, once again, earlier than promised.

When I came up to revealing Adagio as the mastermind behind the whole "zombie apocalypse" scene, I was worried a bit, because I had no idea how you would react. Part of me was afraid you would dislike it.

But my fears were misplaced, and your support spurred me to continue my work. Chapter 29, which was meant as transition chapter, also received positive feedback, and I even got some new readers, so you all boosted me yet again!

Thank you so much for your feedback, criticism and support!

Chapter 30 is the end of the conflict with Adagio, as you can see. It was never intended to drag for too long, and I tried to cram as much action, swearing, Rule of Cool and Rule of Awesome as possible.

And sorry guys, all of you who hoped for Deus Ex Sonata - although the more correct term would be Sonata Ex Machina - that was never a part of the plan. Sonata plays... another role. Far, far further in the future. As for Aria - she is dead, and will not make any further appearances. She is my least favourite siren (sorry, Aria fans ), and honeslty, I always thought that Adagio would just finish her off one day when she had enough of Aria's power-grabbing schtick and absorb her power. (Remember Aria's "Or my lead" comment in Rainbow Rocks and how Adagio reacts to it? I suspect that was not the first time, but that's my headcanon which was used in this story.)

Deaths of all the people turned into zombies were not initially planned, but I decided to add some tragedy to it as a "no good deed goes unpunished" case.

And yes: the corruption of Sunset's magic journal was planned by me. From the very beginning, actually. And before anyone has ideas - the corruption is irreversible.

Several following chapters will deal with the aftermath of this battle, but the culmination of the Trottingham ark is done. Once I wrap up the loose ends in the form of a couple of side quests and some small events, Trottingham arc will be complete and our heroines will leave the northern sector of Canterlot Wastelands, as new adventures await them.

Once again, thank you for all the support you have given me Leave your thoughts in the comment section below, and stay tuned so as not to miss Chapter 31 when it comes out. Hopefully, the madness of my muse holds on and I will be able to produce the chapter just as quick as this one, if not, then in 15-30 days as usual.

Brony on, my friends