Chapters The desert sun beat down on the back of Twilight's head as she used her magic to lift up a canteen and took a sip before placing the cap back on it. She looked at the large crystal table in the middle of the desert and remembered what Celestia had told about the summits in the past.
Twilight looked up at Celestia as she smiled warmly at Twilight and then at Cadence before saying, "Since this is your first summit as royalty. I must warn you: there are things here that will shock you. Each ruler has their own way of thinking and on occasion will feel their opinion is right."
"How many Summits have there been?" Cadence asked.
"A total of five: when Equestria was considered a kingdom, when the Dragons began to invade other lands, after the great war between Equestria and the griffin kingdom, when Discord appeared in the world, and finally this summit," Celestia explained.
"But can we trust Chrysalis?" Twilight asked before she added, "She kidnapped Cadence and nearly took over Equestria. Then there was the ambush at The San Palomino Desert or the."
"It's fine," Celestia interrupted before she added, "she won't try anything while at the summit. The other rulers won't allow it and she can't afford to have two enemies at this time."
A large shadow flew past the ground before a large dragon landed a few feet away from the group. Its shadow loomed in the sand and dust it stirred up before it walked out from the cloud. It was a massive dragon with white scales and what looked like pieces of gold embedded between each scale. Its large wings folded on each of it's sided with long black spear-like spines starting from the back of its head to the tip of its tail. Its large amethyst eyes scanned each pony until it locked eyes with Celestia and grinned, exposing it yellow, jagged teeth. Its right arm rose up with hooked shape claws as it slammed down to the ground and began to walk towards the group.
Twilight cringed as her stomach churned with each step. The shockwave of its steppes was felt all the way into her bones however, Celestia didn't look scared at all. She simply stood tall as the dragon drew closer. It lowered its head to get a better look at Celestia. The dragon rose up and began to laugh.
"By my horde Celestia how you've grown since the last time I laid eyes on you," the dragon said.
"Drake, how have you been? You haven't aged a bit," Celestia said with a smile. Drake laughed again.
"Tell that to my aching bones and shedding scales," Drake joked before he looked to Luna and smiled before adding, "By the gods! Is that little Luna?"
"Hello, Drake. Have you been well?" Luna asked.
"How you've grown in the last thousand years. You're as beautiful as the night sky," Drake said. Luna blushed at his words. Celestia's eyes looked from Luna to Drake and she saw the large fussier that went from his wrist to his shoulder. Drake noticed and lifted his right arm.
"You see what these things did to me huh?" Drake said before he sighed, "I just wish Dagger was so lucky." Drake's happy demeanor was replaced by worry and sorrow.
"What happened?" Luna urged.
"My son stupidly jumped into the fray of the battle when one of the creatures game me this," Drake said as he lifted his right arm and continued, "That boy is very protective and tried to rip that creature limb from limb. However, he didn't see the three other creatures creeping up on him."
"Don't tell me," Celestia gasped.
"He's still alive," Drake said as he shook his head and explained, "However, the doctors say he'll never be able to fly or talk again. Those monsters ripped his wings to Saunders and tore at his neck. It was a miracle they didn't tear out his jugular, but his voice box is too damaged to repair."
"I'm so sorry," Luna said. Drake thanked her before he looked back at Celestia and noticed Twilight and Cadence and a smile formed on his face.
"MY, My Celestia. It seems you and that unicorn friend of yours really hit it off. What was his name, Star Swirl?" Drake joked.
Celestia's eyes went wide as her face flushed red. She quickly cleared her throat and said, "Yes, well." Celestia said as she stumbled over her words before she continued, "This is Princess Twilight and Princess Cadence. No relation to me."
Drake rose up and laughed again before saying, "I always knew how to ruffle your feathers."
"Aye, don't embarrass her too much Drake," a voice said. They all looked over at the griffin that had arrived while they were chatting. His fur was silver like iron and his right claw was missing an appendage, but the most jarring part of his appearance was the harness on his torso. It was attached to two mechanical wings and as they folded. The gears turned and spat out steam around his body. The pistons and cogs all worked to fold down his wings.
"Aeolus?" Celestia questioned before she added, "What are you doing here? Where is your brother?" Aeolus walked over to the group and sighed as he took his place next to Drake.
"Atlas has unfortunately passed," Aeolus admitted as Luna and Celestia let out a gasped. Drake let out a heavy sigh just before Aeolus continued, "These things were ruthless in their attack and a church filled with civilians. Atlas did his best to protect them, but his group was torn apart. It was hard to differentiate his body parts with the others with the amount of blood covering the ground."
"I'm so sorry Aeolus. Atlas was a brave warrior and a dear friend," Celestia said.
"We all have been plagued by these creatures my friend. We're here for you and also to come up with a way to stop their onslaught on our lands and stop this bloodshed," Drake explained.
"I understand that,' Aeolus said before he noticed Twilight and Cadence and joked, "Some new princesses? How many does Equestria have now? Six?"
Celestia chuckled and shook her head before she explained, "Four actually and yes. This is Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight." Celestia pointed to each pony.
"It seems you all are getting along," Chrysalis said as she hovered down to the table. Her two back legs were wrapped in bandages and her exoskeleton was riddled with scars and dried up green blood. A changeling was under her right arm keeping her afloat because her right wing seemed to have been ripped off. The Changeling bowed to the group before it walked back and flew away.
Celestia ushered Twilight and Cadence to the table. When they were standing next to her she began, "As we all are well aware: our homes are under attack by creatures not of this world. These creatures have already attacked the Dragon Kingdom of Dragoon, the Griffin kingdom of Hippogriff, and the Changeling kingdom of Arachnia. They're now heading to Equestria."
"We know all this, just get to the point," Chrysalis snapped before she added, "You don't need to remind us!"
"Calm yourself insect, you know as well as the rest of us a summit needs to start with the issue at hand before we come to a conclusion," Aeolus argued.
"Oh I'm sorry I'm a little on edge after being attacked by these things," Chrysalis said.
"You must be calm in the face of danger for the sake of," Drake began.
"I nearly lost my entire hive!" Chrysalis yelled.
"I lost my brother!" Aeolus roared as he slammed his fist on the table. Chrysalis stepped back at his outburst in shock.
"Atlas is. Dead?" Chrysalis silently questioned.
"Yes you ignorant Insect," Aeolus growled before he ranted, "and I'm not about to let his death be in vain because of these devilish creatures!"
Celestia tapped her right front hoof on the table to bring everyone to attention and said, "As much as I hate it: Chrysalis is right. These creatures could be attacking Equestria as we speak so we must make this quick. We need to figure out why they're attacking our nations and what they want."
"Could it be they're seeing who the biggest threat is?" Twilight asked. Everyone looked at Twilight who continued, "It sounds like they're looking for the most formidable threat to them. Since they're only attacking then leaving. It makes sense that they're seeing who they would need to take out first before they can conquer the others."
"That's preposterous," Chrysalis argued before she added, "You're suggesting these creatures can think? What proof do you have?"
"It's not out of the question," Drake said before he continued, "We have no prior knowledge about these creatures and what they are capable of."
"Princess Twilight has a point. These creatures didn't attack in random strides. It was like they had a plan," Aeolus said to continue with Drake's point.
"So what should we do with this threat? If they're testing us to see who they should attack first, how would we know who'd they come after first?" Luna asked.
"We don't, but we also don't give them time to find out who among us they'll take out first," Celestia said before she explained, "We know their next target so we can battle them, together."
"Are you kidding me? You honestly think our nations can work together?" Chrysalis argued.
"What choice do we have? It's either fight together or be destroyed," Drake said.
"Agreed," Aeolus said before he turned to Chrysalis and added, "We must put all grievances aside and fight as one or do you want to see more of you changelings killed?"
Chrysalis looked around at the beings around the table before she gave up, "Fine, what do you need us to do?"
"Prepare for war," Celestia said.
Twilight walked up to Celestia as she stood looking out towards the Everfree Forest on the balcony of Twilight's castle. It had been Half an hour since the Summit and in that time: The creature had entered Equestria and already attacked Manehattan, Appaloosa, and was now were reported to be heading towards Ponyville. Ponyville was evacuated to Canterlot and Drake's, Aeolus's, and Chrysalis's armies had arrived and were stationed in Ponyville waiting for the creatures to stood on the balcony in her golden armor and her halberd resting against the railing.
"This might be the first step in global peace among the kingdoms," Twilight said.
"Just because we work together now does not mean the kingdoms will accept global peace," Luna explained as she flew onto the balcony with her dark blue armor glittering in the dusk sunlight. Her two crescent-shaped sabers floated around her before they rested against the railing next to Celestia's Halberd.
"True, but I'm hopeful this will bring our kingdoms closer together," Celestia said with a hopeful tone.
A Royal Guard ran up the stairs and stopped at the entrance of the balcony and reported, "Princesses! We've detected the creatures ten minutes out coming from the Everfree Forest." Celestia thanked the Royal Guard before she turned to Twilight and Luna.
"We better convene with the others and prepare for the battle ahead," Luna said before her swords floated around her and she took flight. Celestia's halberd floated next to her before she followed her sister. Twilight walked back into her castle and stood in front of a manikin with light purple armor that had her cutie mark on the front of each hoof plate and the chest plate had the cutie marks of both Luna's and Celestia's mark circling Twilight's cutie mark.
Twilight's horn illuminated as her magic wrapped around the armor and lifted it up. She began to place the armor on and found it uncomfortable for the first few seconds before her body got used to the feeling of it on her body.
"How does Shining Armor cope with it?" Twilight asked herself. He had mentioned the many battles he was in, but never once did she think of what was running through his mind when he fought through the battles to make it home. Was this how he felt the first time he went into a battle? Twilight thought. She walked to the balcony and quickly took flight towards the entrance of the Everfree.
Twilight landed next to Celestia as she finished talking with a Royal Guard. She turned towards Twilight and asked, "Are you ready?" Twilight was still hesitant in fighting and seeing ponies die around her, but she swallowed her fear and nodded. Celestia turned to Aeolus who was having his harness of mechanical wings replaced with another that had four long metal arms. Each one ended with a griffin claw with a different weapon in each.
"I'll leave the war speech up to you Aeolus. You and your brother have a better way with words to rally the troops then I do," Celestia said. Aeolus nodded and walked in front of the army filled with Ponies, Griffins, Dragon, and Changelings before he cleared his throat. Magic wrapped around his throat before he started to expand his voice to everyone.
"We stand here, defending our kingdoms from the menace knocking at our doorstep! We might be different races, but we stand here as one entity against the monsters trying to invade our kingdoms! So I ask you all to not see Dragons, Changelings, Griffins, or Ponies, but comrades!" Aeolus began to say before the Griffin army let out their war chant. "A'oo! A'oo! A'oo!" while the Changeling army buzzed their wings. As the war chants and buzzing died down, Aeolus continued, "These creatures represent the apocalypse should they succeed in their campaign. So we must end it here and now. Four kingdoms fighting together, four races fighting together, four nations putting an end to the enviable apocalypse! So fight! Fight to cancel the apocalypse! Fight for your brother next to you whether they are Griffin, Dragon, Changeling, or Pony! Fight for our future!"
"A'oo! A'oo! A'oo!" the Griffin army chanted. The Changelings buzzed their wings along with the chanting while the Ponies cheered and stomped their hooves. The Dragon all reared back and roared into the sky.
"Princes," a Royal Guard announced before he added, "The creatures are advancing and are two minutes out." Celestia nodded at the pony before she turned her attention to Aeolus who nodded.
"Prepare for the battle ahead! We stand here to protect our kingdoms from these foul creatures. We'll drive these creatures back to the dark pits of hell where they came from!" Aeolus yelled. The griffins chanted again, "A'oo! A'oo! A'oo!" while raising their weapons. Aeolus took the hatchet from its holder on his thigh and raised it with the Griffins. Changelings began to change form into weapons and shields as other changelings took the weapons and shields in their hooves. Pegasi took to the air with some of the Dragons while unicorn horns illuminated to picking up their weapons or prepare to fire magical beams of energy at the enemy. Earth ponies stomped with the rhythm of Griffin's chanting as they clinched their weapons in their teeth.
Cadence walked next to Twilight wearing pink armor with her cutie mark on the chest plate. Her horn glowing as her crystal bow hovered next to her. Luna and Celestia soon joined her with their weapons raised. Twilight took a deep breath and looked out into the massive army of Ponies, Dragon, Changelings, and Griffins. In the distance, she could hear tree branches breaking and saw birds fly out of the canopy. Her horn glowed as she ready for the battle ahead. Drake let out a massive roar seconds before the creatures ran out of the forest. Both armies ran at one another and within seconds the two collided.
The creatures were something out of nightmares as their pitch black skin shimmered in the dusk sunlight. They were six feet long from their basketball shaped head with mouths filled with razor sharp fangs and glowing blood red eyes to their arrow-shaped tail.
Earth Ponies were the first to collide with the creatures. The battlefield filled with claws slamming into swords, axes, and war hammers. An Earth Pony slammed his hammer down onto the head of one of the creatures popping it like a pimple. Silver blood tainted his hammer, ground, and coat. However, another creature pierced its arrow tipped tail into the back of the Earth Pony and flung him into the Everfree before attacking another Pony near it. While the Earth Ponies attacked the creatures, the Changelings used their kin that now changed into weapons to flank the creatures. They began to howl and scream in pain as the Changeling and Pony weapons tore and ripped into their flesh. One of the creatures roared as it began to convulse before tendrils ripped out of its back. The tips formed into sickles. They shot towards a few of the Changelings and sliced through their bodies like a hot knife through butter. Some of the other creatures roared and convulsed before tendrils with sickle tips ripped out of their backs as well. The Changeling's and Earth Pony's weapons clashed with the tendrils, trying to get closer to the creatures bodies.
The griffins clashed with another group of creatures. Their maces and hatches crushed and slashed into the creature's skin tainting the ground with their blood. Some of the Griffins joined the Pegasi and group of Changeling in their aerial assault. The creatures were bombarded by both ground and air forces before they began to convulse and bat-like wings ripped out of their backs. Some of the creatures took flight and attacked the air forces. Pegasi, Changelings, and creatures clashed in the air. A Changeling pierced its sword into a creature's arm. The creature roared in pain before it spun around and slammed its tail into the Changeling. The tail morphed into a sphere with spikes around it before it made contact with the Changeling.
Dragons stormed through the skies and unleashed a shower of flames onto the creatures, burning their skin as they screeched in pain. Another group of creatures that had grown wings shot into the sky but were immediately grounded by the Dragons blasting balls of fire at the airborne creatures. The creatures on the ground convulsed again, but nothing new emerged. Instead, white mist creped from their mouths before they unleashed a beam of white energy from their mouths. The beams were not only aimed at Dragons, but Pegasi, Changelings, and Griffins as well.
The Dragons and their companions weaved and serpentine trying to avoid the beams. A Pegasus was hit by a beam and her skin began to bubble and melt as her muscles erupted into flames. Within seconds nothing but a Pegasus skeleton fell to the ground. The air forces were in a state of panic as they frantically tried to avoid the beams. Those who were caught in the beams of light suffered the same fate as the Pegasus. Their skin, muscles, tendons, and tissues were melted off their bones, leaving nothing but a skeleton. However, when a Dragon was hit by the energy its scales protected its soft tissue underneath, but the beam still left a scorch mark on the scales and knocked the massive beast from the air.
When the Dragon hit the ground, it created a mini earthquake. As it began to stand, more of the creatures ran towards it and lunged on top of it and began stabbing their arrow tipped tails into the Dragon's scales like scorpions, but finding no purchase. While the Dragon tried to shack off the creatures. Many of the ground forces rushed towards the creatures firing the beams of light. However, they were met with another group of creatures protecting them. The ground forces collided in hopes of stopping the anti-air barrage. The Dragons who were still in the air unleashed fireballs onto the creatures in hope of stopping them, but it seemed more and more rushed out of the forest and took to the air to sacrifice themselves to protect their kin.
Twilight watched the battle unfold with Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Drake, Aeolus, and Chrysalis. She was amazed at how well the armies of different species were working together. However, it wasn't enough and as another Dragon fell to the ground making another mini earthquake. She turned to Celestia and said, "They're able to adapt to their enemies tactics. What are we going to do if we can't get the upper hoof?" Drake snorted at her explanation and extended his wings.
"Then we kill them before they have time to adapt!" Drake said before he roared and took to the sky.
"Now you're speaking my language!" Aeolus said before he jumped down into the middle of the battlefield.
"I believe our comrades have the right idea," Luna said before she continued, "To win, we must use all our resources." Luna extended her wings as Celestia nodded and extended her wings as well. Cadence mimicked them and for a second Twilight was hesitant, but soon extended her wings as well.
"Go on then, I'm not getting myself killed," Chrysalis snorted as she raised her snout to the air. The four princesses shook their heads before taking to the sky, weapons in their magical grip.
Drake soared through the sky surveying the battlefield. His massive size cast a giant shadow over the battle. He was at least five times larger than his dragon kin and as he circled again, a smile formed on his face. Never in a million years would I think I would see each kingdom come together like this Drake thought. He saw a group of Unicorns shooting beams of magic at a small group of creatures. Even though their magic connected and brought down a few of the creatures. It seemed more took their place. Drake folded his wings to his side and dive bombed towards them.
"Teleport before you become ash!" Drake roared. The Unicorns looked up and saw the massive dragon descend towards them. Each of their horns glowed and each one teleported as instructed. Drake's underbelly glowed orange as he descended towards the creatures. He quickly unfolded his wings and slowed his descent before gliding towards the creatures. In one massive breath, he sprayed white-hot flames onto the creatures as he glided over them. The creatures shrieked in pain as their bodies melted in the flames. Once the fire died down, there was nothing left of the creatures but ash.
Drake ascended high above the battle once more and was greeted with a group of creatures. They roared and in response, Drake roared back. The creatures seemed stunned at the volume of his roar. However, the creatures summoned their courage and flew towards Drake. Drake roared again as he soared full speed into the creatures. They collided with his body, but it seemed they did nothing to faze him.
To Drake, it felt like he flew through a swarm of bugs. Some of the creatures tried to latch onto the massive Dragon, but his scales were so smooth and closely stitched together. They found little grip to keep from falling off. Some were able to cling onto the Dragon thanks to a few of his battle scars that didn't heal properly. Three creatures hung on for dear life to the fussers in the dragon's scales. The three looked around for a way to bring the beast down.
Two of the creatures looked at each other and seemed to nod before letting go. Even though Drake seemed to be unstoppable, he shared the same weakness all Dragons have. When the creatures let go they made sure they flew towards Drakes wings. Each creature, in one fell swoop, used their hook-like claws to tear into the membrane of Drake's wings. Drake let out a roar of pain before he began to barrel roll towards the ground. His body slammed into the ground and slid several feet before coming to a stop. As his body slid, it left a trail of destruction in its wake. When Drake came to a stop, he let out a low rumble before he began to move. He moved slowly as he got to his feet. He shook his head to clear the cobwebs from his head. He extended his wings to assess the damage. Both his wings were torn apart with five distinctive rips in them.
"Looks like I won't be flying home," Drake said before he turned his attention to the large group of creatures slowly stalking towards him. He stomped both his front claws to the ground and roared at the creatures that suddenly lunged at him. Drake swatted some of the creatures away, but some were able to climb on top of him.
Once on his back, the creature's arrow tip tails began to stab at Drake's scales like scorpions. When their effort resulted in no payoff, the tips of their tails began to spin like a drill and they pressed them against his scales. Sparks flew from Drake's back as Drake tried to shake the creatures off. However, with more creatures conversing on him, he found it hard to shake the creatures from his back and fight off those that were on his back. Beams of magical energy shot at the creatures in front of Drake as the group of Unicorns he saved earlier came to his rescue.
While the Unicorns kept the creatures in front of Drake preoccupied with their attacks. He was able to deal with the creatures on his back by performing a gator roll to crush those on his back. The Unicorns pushed the creatures away from Drake as he stood back up.
"Thank you, my friends," Drake said as he looked down at the Unicorns. A Unicorn turned to him and smiled before he turned his attention to the creatures. Drake roared into the air and prepared himself for their next attack. However, instead of charging at Drake and the Unicorns, they suddenly dog piled on top of each other. As the pile grew, it was hard to distinguish how many creatures were in the massive pile of flesh and claws. Drake smiled when the creatures seemed to finish their little pileup.
Standing in front of Drake and the Unicorns was not a large group of creatures, but one massive creature that was as big, if not a few feet taller than Drake. The creatures had meshed together into one giant one.
"Go help your kin ponies, I'll deal with this abomination," Drake whispered as he lowered his head to the Unicorns.
"Are you sure?" one of the Unicorns questioned. Drake nodded. The Unicorns took one final look at the massive creature before they ran off. The creature paid no mind to the Unicorns. Its glowing blood red eyes were fixed on Drake. Drake reared back and roared and in response, the creature did the same. The two then stood there glaring at each other for a few more seconds before an explosion echoed in the distance. The two suddenly charged towards one another and collided in a flurry of claws and teeth.
A hatchet slammed into the head of a creature. As it fell to the ground before Aeolus pulled the hatchet and in one single motion drove it down into the head of another creature that tried attacking him.
"Bring them to their knees! Leave none of them alive!" Aeolus screamed.
"A'oo! A'oo! A'oo!" the Griffin army chanted as they battled the creatures. Even the Ponies fighting along with the Griffins couldn't help but chant with them. Aeolus slammed his hatchet into the ground before reaching to one of his mechanical claws that held a javelin. He took careful aim and launched the javelin. It soared through the air and pierced into the back of a creature. The creature Wriggled as it tried to free its self before it slumped to the ground. Aeolus began to celebrate and was unaware of the creature stalking him from behind, but before the creature could pounce. A griffin dive bombed towards the creature and pierced her spear into the dome of the creature. It wriggled for a few seconds before finally falling limp.
"How many times do I need to tell you to watch your damn back old man?" Gilda yelled as she pulled her spear from the creature's head.
"Come on, can't I celebrate a kill like that?" Aeolus said before he added, "And don't call me old. I've still got a lot of fight in these old bones." Aeolus noticed a group of creatures stacking closer to him and Gilda. He chuckled before picking up his hatchet and grabbing another from one of his metal claws on his back. Gilda stabbed her spear into the ground and removed two hatchets that were strapped to her back.
"What do you say? How about a dance with your old man?" Aeolus said with a smile. Gilda rolled her eyes before she stood back to back with Aeolus who added, "Kind of reminds me how I met your mother."
"Please don't reminisce at a time like this," Gilda said. Aeolus let out a laugh before the two attacked the group of creatures surrounding them. Their hatchets sliced and pierced into the creatures bodies. Gilda cut off one of the creature's tails causing it to go into a frenzy and screech in pain. After the last creature surrounding them fell. The two griffins stood in a circle of dead creatures. They were covered in the creatures white blood.
"That's my girl," Aeolus praised. Gilda just rolled her eyes again and placed her hatchets back in their holders and took her spear before taking flight. Aeolus just shook his head before running towards the next group of creatures fight against Earth Ponies.
Luna flew towards a group of creatures and barrel rolled past them, her two crescent-shaped sabers slashed at each creature she pasted. When she landed behind the creatures, they fell to the ground with their throats slit. A creature lunged at Luna, but a crystal arrow pierced into the creature's abdomen and pinned it to a tree. Celestia slammed her halberds axe blade down onto the back of another creature. She suddenly spun around and the beak of the weapon hooked on one of the creature's heads and tore a massive hunk of flesh off. The three princesses nodded to one another before separating to help fight other groups of their allies.
Twilight's horn glowed and shot three beams of magical energy. Two of the three beams hit home as two creatures fell to the ground while the third creature dodged under the beam and charged towards Twilight. A lavender bubble wrapped around Twilight just before the Creature lunged for her. The creature hit the top of the bubble and it caved in just an inch before the creature was ricochet off the bubble. It flailed in the air before he slammed into the ground.
The creature twisted its body and got back to its feet before it lunged at the bubble again. This time it stopped in front of the bubble and slashed at it. A small slant appeared in the bubble before it closed. The creature slashed again and another slant opened up, but this time it was much smaller than the first. As the creature continued to slash at the bubble, the slant continued to get smaller and smaller until the creature couldn't create another slant in the bubble.
The creature jumped to the side of the bubble and slashed at it again. Another slant opened like the first time and just like the first time it closed. The creature looked at Twilight before it gently slashed at the bubble. A much smaller slant appeared and then closed. The creature did this several times before it couldn't create another slant in the bubble.
The creature began to slowly stack around the bubble. Its glowing blood red eyes staring at Twilight as a low growl escaped it. Twilight turned her body with the creature to keep it in her sight. Is it? Learning ? Twilight questioned. The creature quickly slashed at the bubble and a slant appeared again. However, before it could close the Creature jabbed its arrow tipped tail through the slant. The slant closed around the creature's tail but didn't sever it. The tail began to jab at Twilight while she pressed against the back of the bubble to keep from getting pierced by the tail.
When the creature's attempts failed it began spun clockwise and using its own momentum. It slammed the bubble against the tree. Twilight slammed into the side of the bubble with a grunt. The creature then spun counterclockwise and once again slammed the bubble against the tree. Twilight was once again flung into the side of the bubble, but this time the bubble popped and freed the creature's tail. The tail reared up and the creature examined its tail before it turned its attention to Twilight.
The creature slowly stacked towards Twilight with is maw open as Saliva dripped from its fangs. It lunged for Twilight, but before it could make contact. A golden arrow pierced through the air and hit the creature right shoulder. The creature flew over Twilight and slammed into the ground. It quickly got back up and looked around for the origin of the arrow.
Before the creature could act, Flash Sentry dove down and landed a kick to the side of the creature. It flew into another tree and slid down presumably knocked out. A lime green Unicorn mare rushed over to Twilight as her golden bow hovered close to her while Flash waited to see if the creature would get up again.
"Are you alright princes?" A lime green Unicorn asked as she shook Twilight. Twilight groaned and slowly opened her eyes. The world was blurry and the sounds of the battle were muffled like it was in a tunnel. As her eyes focused she saw the lime green Unicorn staring down at her. The mare sighed and said, "She's ok Flash." Flash turned to her and let out a sigh of relief.
"That's a relief. You had us worried Twilight," Flash said as he helped Twilight to her hooves. Before Twilight could thank him, the creature Flash had kicked into a tree lunged at him. Before the creature could find purchase, three black orbs flew past the three and formed into rapiers that pierced into the creature and pinned it to the tree. The creature flailed and twisted trying to free itself. It let out one final roar before a fourth rapier pierced into its mouth and the tip ripped out the back of the tree. The creature's movements slowed as it let out one final groan before falling limp.
"Maybe next time celebrate when the damn thing is dead!" a tan stallion Unicorn ranted. His horn glowed and the four rapiers changed back into orbs and flew back into his horn as the creature slid down the tree and slumped to the ground.
"I thought I knocked it out," Flash said. The tan stallion rolled his eyes before he saw a group of creatures slowly stacking towards them.
The tan stallion stepped in front of Twilight before he said, "Find the other Princesses. We can deal with these things." The lime mare stepped neck to the tan stallion and her magic pulled the string of the bow and a green arrow formed in the bow.
"No worries Twilight, We're trained for tough fights," Flash boated before he stepped up to the other side of the tan stallion and extend his wings ready to take flight. Twilight nodded before she took flight and flew towards Celestia.
Drake was slammed to the ground before he got back up and collided with the massive creature. Both beasts slashed at one another with their claws and bit into each other with their fangs. Drake roared in pain as the creature bit into his shoulder before he bit into the back of the creature's neck. The creature let out a roar and pushed Drake away before charging full force into his chest. The creature's right shoulder slammed into Drake's chest and forced him to the ground. Drake quickly got to his feet but was met with the creature's tail slamming into his face. The arrow tipped tail had morphed into a hammer. Drake slammed to the ground again, but once again stood up. He spat out a loose fang that stuck into the ground before Drake smiled and roared as his underbelly glowed orange. The creature's mouth slowly opened as white mist poured from its mouth.
Drake unleashed a stream of white flames while the creature shot out a white beam of energy. The two attacks collided and created a massive explosion that pushed the two beasts backward. Drake lay on his back with a ringing in his ears. Suddenly the creature jumped on top of Drake and its hammer tail morphed back to an arrow tipped shape. Its tail lifted up and began to stab at Drakes' head. Drake maneuvered his head to keep away from the tail. When the tail slammed into the ground next to his head, Drake bit into the tail. When the creature roared and pulled back, but Drake tightened his jaw. The Creature jerked his tail trying to free it and with one final tug, the tail tore and the creature roared again as its tail flung around, spraying the tops of the trees and the ground with its white blood. Drake spat the part of the tail that was in his mouth and smiled.
The creature lowered its head and growled at Drake before it convulsed and three more sets of wings ripped from its back. Its arms and legs morphed into tendrils that wrapped around Drake. The creature then took flight with Drake trapped in its tendrils. The creature flew high in the sky over the battlefield. It continued to soar higher and higher. Drake roared and began to bite and tear at the tendrils, but when he tore one off, three more took its place. Drake looked down and saw how high he was. He knew what the creature was doing and knew with his damaged wings. He couldn't fly. He looked back up at the creature that seemed to have a Chester cat grin on its face. Drake sneered at the creature just before its tendrils let go of Drake. His claws flailed in the air as he dropped. The creature's tendrils reformed back onto its hands and feet as Drake fell.
Drake roared as he descended towards the grounds. His wings extended, but the tears in them didn't help stop his momentum. He flew past the air battle like a rocket and nearly took out a group of Griffins and Pegasi. He let out one final roared before slamming into the ground. The impact caused a massive earthquake that caused the ground battle to stagger. Celestia turned when she heard the roar and watched Drake slam into the ground.
"Drake!" Celestia yelled before flying over to where he had crashed. She landed on the edge of the massive crater before sliding down and finding Drake on his side. He let out a low rumbled as he breathed out through his nostrils. His right eye opened and stared at Celestia.
"It seems these things are craftier than we thought," Drake said in a raspy voice before he started to cough.
"We'll get you help Drake, don't worry," Celestia reassured him. Drake let out a low chuckle before he sighed.
"I'll be fine Celestia; I just need a little nap. I'll be good as new," Drake said before he closed his eyes.
"Drake, Drake!?" Celestia yelled as she placed her fore-hooves on the dragon's face to get him to wake up. Drake was unresponsive to all her efforts. Luna flew down and stood next to her sister.
"It will be alright sister. Drake knew the risks," Luna said. Celestia had her face against Drake scales as tears rolled down her face. Luna placed a wing over her sister and added, "His death will not be in vain." The earth shook as the small rocks in the crater began to rattle and levitate. Luna looked from the rock to her sister and quickly stepped back. She had moved her head from Drake's scales and was glaring up at the massive creature in the Sky.
"No, it won't," Celestia growled.
Luna had to shield her eyes with her wings as Celestia blasted out of the crater in a beam of golden magical energy. The energy shot towards the massive creature. As the stream soared through the air it took the shape of a golden dragon. Celestia was at the front of the beam, screaming at the top of her lungs with her halberd hovering by her side. Its axe blade suddenly changed to flames as she drew closer to the creature.
1500 Years ago
Celestia peered into the small crack before she turned to her parents and beamed with excitement. Her sister got a phoenix for her birthday last year, and this year she was ecstatic when they gave her this egg. She had cared for it for the last three months and today was the day the creature in the egg would break free. She thought it would be another phoenix, like her sisters. She peered into the crack again.
"Come on, you can do it. Push," Celestia said softly as to not scare the creature. The egg wiggled before it shattered. She moved the egg shells to expose the creature inside the egg. However, she found no phoenix or even any type of beast among the eggshells. That's when she noticed a large part of the egg was moving slowly. She carefully and slowly removed the eggshell and gasped as she dropped it. Curled up in a ball was a very small baby dragon. His scales were white with what looked like gold embedded in them, black spear-like spines starting from the back of its head to the tip of its tail. It opened its amethyst eyes and stared at Celestia before it yawned. The baby dragon stretched and extended its wings. The dragon suddenly hiccuped and a plume of white flames puffed from its mouth. The sudden flame scared the dragon and it bolted. It suddenly came to a sudden stop at the edge of the table. It paced back and forth trying to figure out how to get down.
"How did you get a dragon's egg?" Celestia asked her parents. Her parents looked as confused as Celestia.
"It was supposed to be a phoenix. We had found a phoenix nest in the forest and took one, but we could never have guessed it was a dragon's nest," Celestia's father said.
"Maybe it's a parasite egg," Luna said before she explained, "Some species of birds place their egg in another nest so that when it hatches, the baby kills off the other eggs." Luna's parents were perplexed by the idea, but Celestia wasn't paying any attention. She was nose to nose with the baby dragon.
At first, when she walked over to the dragon, it curled up and hissed at her. It's spear-like spines rattling. As Celestia slowly moved her hoof towards the dragon, it would slowly back away. Instead, she placed her head on the table and waited. The dragon hissed a few more times before it stopped and stared at Celestia. It soon became curious and slowly crawled towards Celestia. It was nose to nose with Celestia before its tongue flickered out and tickled her nose. Celestia lifted her head up and scrunched her nose before she sneezed. The dragon jumped and quickly curled up into a defensive ball again. After a few seconds, the dragon looked up at Celestia and slowly walked to the edge towards her. Celestia lowered her hoof and the dragon sniffed it before it suddenly scurried up her leg and into her pink mane. It popped out of her main before it went back into her mane and popped out again before submerging back into her mane.
"I know it wasn't what you wanted, but can we still keep it?" Celestia asked her parents. Her mother and father looked at each other. They were worried that a dragon in the kingdom would cause problems since dragons had been invading and swiping their gems, farm animals, and even taking ponies. Celestia saw their worries and added, "Please, I'll take care of it, feed it, do everything. Pleeeeeeeeeese?" Celestia did her best puppy dog face to get her parents to trust her. However, it wasn't a matter of trusting Celestia, but trusting the dragon when it got older.
"Alright, you can keep him," her father submitted. The dragon popped out of Celestia's mane and stared at him, before submerging back.
"So, what are you going to call him," Luna asked before she added, "Even if it is a he?" Celestia thought for a second before the dragon popped out of her mane yet again, but this time jumped from the top of her head onto the table. It slid before it came to a stop and turned to stare at her.
"Drake, I'll call him Drake," Celestia said. The dragon hiccuped again and a plume of flames shot out again. "What do you think? Drake?" This time, the dragon chirped at her before it yawned and curled up into a ball and fell asleep.
After that moment Drake and Celestia were inseparable. Wherever Celestia went, Drake was not far behind. Scuttling after her or he was safely tucked in her mane and would only pop out to look around before submerging. Unlike other baby dragons, Drake was the size of a baby alligator. Celestia was perplexed by his size since she read baby dragons usually weren't that small. However, it didn't take long for Drake to start growing, after ten years; he was as tall as Celestia. As he grew, Celestia taught him how to speak and behave around other ponies, but also how to act as a dragon as well. Even though her parents feared Drake's instincts would kick in overtime, their fears subsided as they watched their eldest daughter take care of the dragon.
There was a small incident where Drake got a hold of some gems and started hoarding them and other items. However, instead of going monstrous and attacking anyone who got near. He would simply pick up his horde and move it. When Celestia made him give back the items, Drake threw a hissy fit and stomped his claws and whined, but never hurt anypony. In the end, he gave back the items and apologized for his wrongdoing.
After the one incident, it seemed everything went back to normal. Wherever Celestia went, Drake would follow. Celestia treated Drake more like a son than a normal pet. However, Celestia would soon learn: all happiness comes to an end.
Celestia was pacing back and forth mumbling to herself. It had been two months since Drake went to the dragon lands. He had sent a letter reassuring her he had arrived safely, but after the initial letter, she hadn't heard from him. The door to her room opened as Luna walked in with a letter in her magic. Celestia snatched the letter from Luna's magic with her own and tore into the envelope. Her eyes raced down each line and with every second that past her eyes began to fill with tears. After she finisher, her magic disappeared from the letter and it gently fell to the ground as Celestia collapsed to the floor. Luna's horn glowed and her magic wrapped around the letter. She brought it to her face and began to read:
Dear Celestia,
Sorry I haven't written to you in two months. So many things have happened and I haven't found the time to write. I should start from the beginning: when I first arrived, I was amazed at how many other types of Dragons there were. Large, small, skinny, chubby, some looking like snakes while one had so many legs it reminded me of a millipede. However, they all had the same annoyed angry look on their face. None of them seemed to like one another and seemed to bicker with one another.
I know Dragons like to be secluded with their horde, but I figured they liked being with their own kind. There was this roar that shook the air and ground as the Dragon Lord descended from the heavens. By the gods, I'd never guess a Dragon could grow to such a massive size. When he arrived, all the Dragons fell silent. He wasn't like the royalty I'd read about in books. He didn't command by loyalty. He commands by fear and I could fell the fear in the air. It was like a weight had slammed into my chest.
He stared at us for what felt like an eternity before he finally spoke. He told us we were here because he needed a successor to his throne. He went on to tell us he would have his kin take the throne, but because he wasn't able to have kids (I'm not going to write down his actual words because I don't think you want the mental image of two dragons making a kid stuck in your head)he could.
He told us of a competition he'd devise to find his new heir to the throne. I thought it be some kind of obstacle course and figured I'd just lose on purpose so I could come home early. However, I was wrong, so very wrong. His competition was a battle royal. Dragons would fight in stages before the remaining two could fight for the throne. He then said there were two ways to win: your opponent gives up or is dead. Figured I'd just give up in the first round.
I was about to quit, but the Dragon I was fighting wouldn't let me. He kept coming and attacking. I had no choice. He was going to kill me. I killed him with my own claws. After that, I knew I had to quit in the next fight. However, I overheard the Dragons talking about what they do if they became Dragon Lord. They would have done such horrible things to Equestria. If even one of them won this competition, Equestria would be desolated. I made my choice to stay and fight. I'd force any Dragon I fought to quit.
Celestia, these dragons were stubborn. I did my best to make some quit, but they wouldn't. I had to kill so many of my kind just to protect you and Equestria. I can still see the blood on my claws now. No matter how much I wash them I can't clean them. I finally made it to the final round of the fighting. I was broken by this point and to make matters worse. The Dragon I was fighting looked as though she was enjoying the fighting. I tried so many time to make her quit, but she refused. She wanted to win and burn Equestria to the ground so she could eat the ashes that remained of the ponies that lived there. I couldn't let her win and she wasn't giving up.
I had no choice. The sound of her neck snapping will hunt me for the rest of my life. I'm sorry Celestia, but I won't be returning to Equestria. I'm sorry.
Love,
Drake.
Luna looked from the letter to Celestia who was now sobbing into her front hooves. Luna walked over to Celestia and laid her right wing over Celestia's back. she lay down on the floor next to Celestia and reassured her, "I know you want Drake here with you, but at least you know he's safe."
Present Day:
The creature turned just as the golden beam of magical energy slammed into its side. The creature let out a wail of pain as the golden energy burned like fire on its skin. The creature slammed into the ground as the golden beam hovered in the air. It's glow dimmed and Celestia hovered in the air glaring down at the small crater the creature made on impact.
The creature limped out of the crater and looked up. Its glowing blood red eyes met Celestia's glare. The crackle of flames making up Celestia's halberds axe was the only thing that seemed to make noise even though there was a war going around them. Celestia's magic twirled her halberd before it sliced at the air between her and the creature. From her halberds, axe blade shot a crescent moon made of flames. The creature jumped to the side just before the flames slammed into the ground. It left a burnt scar in the dirt.
Celestia's glare intensified as he magic twirled her halberd more aggressively as she rapidly sliced at the air and created more crescent moon shaped flames that shot towards the creature. The creature began to scramble to keep from being hit by the flames but, when the creature put pressure on its right arm. It crumbled to the ground. Celestia slashed three times at the air and sent three crescent moon shaped flames towards the fallen creature.
Tendrils shot from the creature's body and their tips morphed into snakeheads and let out a silent hiss as they soared towards the crescent moon flames. The snakehead tendrils collided with two and stopped their advance, but the third broke through and slammed into the creature's body. The flames caused the creature to go into a frenzy and roll around on the ground to extinguish the flames. Even though the flames lasted all of 60 seconds. The creature still flailed around on the ground like the flames were still burning its body. The frenzy began to create a dirt cloud around the creature as it continued to wail and roll on the ground.
Celestia simply watched as the creature went into a frenzy. Never losing sight of the creature until the dirt cloud obstructed her view. She twirled her halberd in her magic again and pointed the spike of her weapon towards the dirt cloud. The spike began to glow gold as she glared into the dirt cloud. She was so focused on where she thought the creature was. She didn't see its tail whip out of the dirt cloud and slam into her body.
Celestia let out a cry of both shock and pain as she was sent into the ground. The creature limped out of the dirt cloud and let out a low growl. A large gash dripped white blood from the right side of its midsection. Celestia lay on the ground as the world began to spin. She tried to clear the blurriness from her eyes, but when she shook her head it just made the blurriness worse. She began to move, but let out another shriek of pain as she felt pain shoot through her body from her right broken wing. The creature began to slowly stack towards Celestia. The creature crouched down, ready to pounce, but before it could a dragon slammed into the ground behind Celestia.
The dragon walked out of dirt cloud it created with the collision and stood over Celestia in a protective stance. The dragon let out a roar as its underbelly began to glow and before the creature could react. The dragon let out a stream of green flames. The creature let out a wail of pain as it backed away. However, when the creature tried to escape. A group of dragons landed around it and vomited out green flames at the creature. The creature let out a wail of pain as it tried to find an escape from the ring of fire. However, it found no way out of the flames. Wails of pain continued for a long while inside the flames before the only sound was the crackling of flames.
When the flames ceased the creature lay motionless on the ground as steam rose from its body. The dragon standing over Celestia slowly made its way towards the lifeless creature. The dragon reached out towards the creature then stopped. Like it was waiting for the creature to come back to life and jump at it. The dragon's arm hovered in the air for several seconds before it grabbed the creature's head and lifted it up.
The creatures glowing blood red eyes were gone. In their place were pools of darkness like looking into a deep cave. The dragon let go of the creature and its head flopped back down to the ground. Celestia began to stand up. The pain from her broken wing shot through her body, but she bit her lip to keep from screaming again. She began to shakily walk towards the dragon and said, "Thank the gods you're ok Drake."
The dragon scuffed at Celestia as it turned towards Celestia. Celestia's eyes began to adjust and slowly she started to make out the Dragon's features. The dragon's scales were black with green lines between them and it was missing its right wing. Green flames erupted around the dragon and when the flames disappeared. Chrysalis stood where the dragon once was. Celestia looked at her in confusion and questioned, "Chrysalis?"
"Drake's gone, Celestia. No amount of wishing will bring him back," Chrysalis said before she continued, "I couldn't just let that thing take you out."
"Thank you Chrysalis," Celestia said.
"Don't take me saving you as an act of Friendship," Chrysalis hissed before she added, "If anyone is going to take you out. It's going to be me." Celestia shook her head and chuckled before Chrysalis ordered her changelings that had changed into dragons to help the sky and ground forces. They did what they were told and Chrysalis turned to Celestia. Only to let out another hiss as a group of creatures stacked around them.
The creatures lunged for the two but were stopped in midair by an invisible force. The force began to spin the creatures before it let them fly into the air. Chrysalis and Celestia looked at one another before a disembodied voice sighed, "Why is it when there's a welcoming party. I'm never invited?" there was a flash and Discord appeared in front of them floating on a pink cloud. He let out another sigh and continued; "I mean: how hard is it to get in touch with me?" he reached into the pink cloud and pulled out a phone. As he listened to the ring tone he twirled the cord in his griffin talons.
There was a second flash and a second Discord appeared behind Celestia and Chrysalis. The second Discord sat on the pink cloud watching TV when the cloud began to vibrate and ring. The second Discord reached into the cloud and pulled out a Fluttershy Plushy. He placed it under his arm and reached back into the cloud. After a few seconds of searching, he pulled out the phone from the cloud and said, "Hello?"
"Why hello Discord. It's Celestia. We're having a party for a new group of creatures and didn't know if you wanted to come down," Discord said in his best Celestia voice.
"Sounds lovely. I'll be there in a flash," the second Discord said before he disappeared in a flash.
"Do you honestly think this is a PARTY!" Chrysalis screamed. Discord sighed as the pink cloud disappeared and he landed on the ground. He rubbed his eyes in annoyance.
"Really Chrissie? You need to learn how to take a joke," Discord signed.
"This isn't the time for jokes!" Chrysalis yelled.
"Thank you for your help Discord," Celestia interrupted before she added, "We require your assistance in this battle. Please lend us your power." Discord looked at Celestia and sighed again.
"You're lucky you're cute," Discord said before he turned towards the raging battle.
"What is he supposed to do? How can Trickster Magic actually help turn the tide?" Chrysalis Questioned.
"Really Chrissie. Your lack of magical knowledge disappoints me," Discord said before he added, "There's more to Chaos then just simple Trickster Magic. There's also Destructive Chaos Magic." Discord lifted his lion's paw as flames engulfed it and a Chester cat grin formed on his face.
A group of seven creatures stacked towards three ponies. Two Earth Ponies stood between the creatures and the Unicorn. Her right back leg had a large gash down it and her pale horn had three small cracks in it. Every time she tried to conjure up magic. Sparks flew from the cracks and she let out a shriek of pain. The two Earth Ponies clinched their weapons in their teeth and waited for the creatures to attack. Before the creatures could lung at the ponies a flash appeared between the ponies and creatures.
In a flash, Discord appeared between the ponies and creatures. He lifted his massive buster sword and let it rest on his shoulder as he whipped his head back to let his spiky blond hair bounce. He smiled before he lunged for the creatures. He swung down his sword and sliced through one of the creatures like a warm knife through butter. Without missing a beat, Discord spun around and whipped the sword towards another creature. The creature, however, jumped back and avoided the strike. The creature that had been stacking Discord did not. It had lunged for Discord but found the sharp blade of the sword as it pierced between the creature's eyes. Discord ripped the blade from the creature's skull and spun it like it was weightless before he let it rest on his shoulder.
The remaining creatures started to slowly walk backward from Discord, but before they could take another step. Flames erupted from the ground behind causing the creatures to jump. The flames stretched around in a circle and trapped the creatures, Ponies, and Discord inside. One of the creatures looked at the wall of flames behind it before it turned back and met Discord's glare. Discord moved his sword from his shoulder and lowered it to the ground as his voice turned low and gravely as he growled, "There is no escape"
Discord lunged at the creatures and swung his sword. He quickly and with precision sliced one of the creatures. However, when he sliced the creature in half, he continued to slice at each half until the creature was reduced to perfect cube chunks. He then turned his attention to another creature and began the process all over again. One of the creatures took the risk and jumped through the wall of flames to escape Discord's flurry. As soon as it reached the other side it began to roll to put out the flames. However, the flames didn't go out. Instead, the flames seemed to slither into the creature's skin. The creature wailed as it continued to roll around on the ground as it tried to get the sensation of being burned to stop. The burning sensation seemed to stop and the creature lay on the ground breathing heavily. It rolled over on its stomach and stood up.
As soon as the creature took a breath in. flames ripped out of its body and rose up to form a tree. The tree made of fire lasted for several seconds before it withered away. The creature's body began to change to ash. The ring of fire sunk back into the ground as Discord spun his sword and a sort of victory music seemed to appear from nowhere. The three ponies looked around in confusion before there was a flash and Discord was gone.
A flash appeared high above the battle. Discord reared back his griffin claw as lightning began to spark around it. Without looking, his griffin's talon shot out a bolt of lightning into the air. A roar of thunder echoed in the air as clouds start to form as Discord smile and folded his arms in front of him. From the storm clouds rained down lightning bolts. The blots passed through discord and continued to rain down towards the battle.
The air battle was the first to encounter the lightning. The creatures roared and tried their best to avoid the raining lightning bolts. One of the lightning bolts hit a creature's shoulder and exploded. Chunks of the creature's flesh exploded into the air as its right arm severed from its body. Dragons, Griffins, Changelings, and Pegasi began to frantically avoid the raining lightning. The ground forces did the same as the chaos on the battle made Discords smile grow.
A Changeling collided with a Pegasus as it tried to keep from being hit by the lightning. The Pegasus twirled in the air before she was able to correct herself, but when she did. A bolt of lightning shot towards her. She closed her eyes and waited for the enviable. However, the lightning bolt phased straight through her like she wasn't even there and slammed into the head of a creature that was flying towards her. The creature's head popped like a pimple and its limp body fell back towards the ground. Seeing this, the Dragons, Griffins, Changelings, and Pegasi all stopped and watched as the lightning just phased through them and hit the creatures.
The ground troops did the say as the air forces as they watched the creatures scramble to avoid the lightning bolts. Before long the ground and air forces began to attack the creatures as the lightning continued to rain down on the battlefield. With Discord helping it seemed the battle was favoring the Ponies, Dragons, Changelings, and Griffins. One of the creatures jumped back from a Changeling as his battle axe slammed into the ground. It let out a shrill roar before darting back into the Everfree Forest. More of the creatures let out a shrill roar before running into the Everfree. Soon enough the remaining creatures ran back into the Everfree.
"They're retreating," a Pegasus gasped before he threw his hooves in the air and screamed with joy, "They're retreating!" the group of Ponies, Dragons, Changelings, and Griffins began cheering as more and more of the creatures retreated back into the forest and out of sight.
Discord let out a sigh and stated, "That's it? That wasn't very fun." He let out another sigh and mumbled, "Why is it I always show up at the back end of the excitement."
Once the cheering died down. The mob of Dragons, Griffins, Ponies, and Changelings began to tend to their wounded. Normal Unicorns and Changelings used their magic to patch up and tend to those who seemed to leave the battle with superficial or non-life threatening injuries. Medical ponies began tending to those who seemed worse for wear as Changelings and Griffins helped the medical staff the best they could. Celestia thanked the medical pony who mended her broken wing and started to head over to a group of Dragons looking down into the creator that housed Drake's body. One of the dragons reared back and roared as one by one the other Dragons joined in.
Celestia stopped and winced a little as the roar sounded more like a cry then a Dragon's Roar. Celestia felt a wing on her back and saw Luna standing next to her with her right wing over he back. Celestia smiled at Luna and thanked her. She was about to walk towards the group of Dragons when she noticed Cadence was frantically looking around and talking with ponies. With every conversation, it seemed her fear and concern grew.
"Cadence, what's wrong?" Luna asked as Cadence made her way towards Luna and Celestia.
"I can't find Shining Armor anywhere," Cadence sobbed as she looked around and added, "No one seems to know where he is." The tears started to form in her eyes as she looked around trying to find a small glimpse of her husband.
"What?!" Twilight yelled. She had walked up behind the sisters and heard Cadence and now she was frantically looking around for Shining Armor.
"Calm down you two. Shining Armor has to be around here somewhere. We can search together," Celestia reassured the two before the four Alicorns began their search.
The creatures ran through the forest towards a clearing in the middle of the Everfree. In the middle of the clearing was what looked like a ripple. Like someone had tossed a stone into a pond. The lead creature let out a roar before it jumped into the ripple. The creature flung from a second ripple and skidded across the floor as its claws carved into the metal floor. It shook like a wet dog before it looked around. Its glowing blood red eyes landed on a soldier that sat on a crate with a lit cigarette hanging from his lips. The soldier looked at the creature stoned face before he took the cigarette from his mouth let out a puff of white smoke with a sigh.
'The hell you waiting for: a fucking invitation? You know where to go," the soldier said. The creature growled at him before it began walking towards the back of the complex. More and more creatures came from the ripple like the first. Each one shock and walked towards the back.
A top a balcony was another soldier. He leaned against the railing and watched the creatures come from the large metal circle lying against the wall. He let out a sigh as a woman behind him asked, "Is that recon team C?"
"Yep," the soldier simply said as he turned to face the woman. He quickly stood straight up and saluted her as she walked up to him. She was a slim, curvy woman with ruby red hair that matched her lipstick and dress. Covering her dress was a white lab coat. She waved to the soldier to relax and he leaned back against the railing.
"How many came back commander?" the woman asked.
"Not sure, they just arrived, "the commander said before his watch on his right arm began to beep. He lifted his arm and looked as a hologram list appeared from his watch. The woman lifted her left arm and looked at the watch on her arm as the same hologram appeared. The man scrolled through the list and cursed, "Jesus Christ! That's how many came back?"
"I had expected some to fall, but to only have a quarter of them come back is Ludicrous," the woman said before she turned on her heels and started towards the door leading from the balcony to the hallway.
"You think he's going to blow a gasket?" the commander asked. The woman stopped at the door as it lifted up to allow her into the hallway.
"If I know the Director, he'll throw a small tantrum and then get over it," the woman said before she walked into the hallway.
"Must be nice to not fear his wrath when shit goes wrong." The commander said as he reached into his pocket and took out a cigarette and lit it while mumbling, "Must be the perk you get when you sleep with him."
"I heard that!" the woman called from the hallway just before the door closed.
The woman walked down the hall towards the Director's office. When she arrived, she was about to knock when she heard voices on the other end. She lightly knocked and the door went transparent. The man sitting at the desk looked towards her and waved her in. The door slid down into the floor letting her inside the office. The Director looked to be in his mid-forties with thinning black hair and a goatee that had started to fade into white. In front of the Director's desk was a hologram of a table and sitting at the table were three other holograms.
The woman walked next to the Director as the hologram of a man slammed his fist onto the table and yelled, "how long are you going to let us suffer!" the man looked to be in his early thirties and had matted brown hair. His hologram wore a blue lab coat and his right arm looked mechanical. He pointed his mechanical hand at the Director and continued, "You said you'd have results by the end of the month! How long do you think humanity can last? We're on the break of extinction!"
"Technically the reports state humanity has three years before we have an actual problem," a hologram of a woman said. She looked almost identical to the woman standing next to the Director. However, she had dirty blond hair and she was a bit taller than her.
"Do you even see what's happening?" the man with the mechanical arm yelled as he continued, "You can't tell me you don't see or hear the riots!? The government can't contain the riots that seem to happen on a daily basis. Our artificial food and water supply are dwindling. You can't seriously believe those reports!"
"We can't jump into the first universe the Rift Gate gives us. We need to find out if it is a habitual world for humanity to thrive. If we jump the gun we might put our species in a much worse situation," the hologram of the woman stated.
"It might go a bit faster if we just explain our situation to the universe's inhabitants. I'm sure if we come to an agreement. We could save valuable time we waste on sending the Death Hunters to their world to wipe them out," the hologram of an elderly man said. Unlike the other holograms that seem to be sitting in office chairs. He sat comfortably in a large sofa chair as he sipped at his drink.
"Do you honestly think any creature we come in contact with will allow us to stay there when they find out what we've done to our own world," the man with the mechanical arm argued before he continued, "They wouldn't let us near their world. The only way to save humanity is to take a world by force. That's why we created the Death Hunters!"
The Director sighed and rubbed his temples. He waved his hand as the hologram of the table and its three inhabitants disappeared from his office. He sat back in his chair and looked at the woman standing next to him and said, "They've been arguing like that for three fucking hours. Please tell me you have some good news, Rebecca." Rebecca didn't say anything as she tapped his desk with her left hand.
A hologram of a list appeared over the Director's desk and in front of him. The Director's eyes scanned the list before he let out another sigh and slunk back in his chair and said, "You're telling me that the Death Hunters. The weapons we created to survive and fight anything. I mean we made it so they adapt to their attackers. Couldn't handle whatever was in that world and only a quarter of our recon team came back?"
"The report doesn't lie," Rebecca said.
"Have we gotten any videos or pictures of what the Death Hunters were fighting?" The Director asked. Rebecca shook her head and the Director let out another sigh. He touched the hologram and several more images appeared in front of him. He pressed one of them and a live feed of a man looking at his computer screen appeared in front of him.
"Al-Alexander sir. How are you?" the man in the screen stuttered before Alexander waved his hand to make him stop.
"Forget the formalities, Jason. Do we have the pictures and records from the Death Hunters yet?" Alexander asked.
"Almost sir. We're decoding them now and will send them to you shortly," Jason explained. Alexander nodded and with a flick of his wrist. The image of Jason was gone.
"You need to relax Alex," Rebecca said.
"I know, but humanity falls on the shoulders of this project," Alexander said before he continued, "Humanity can't last much longer."
"Maybe we should try Steven's idea," Rebecca said.
"That'll never work," Alexander said before he added, "Ron made a good point: what creatures are going to willing allow beings that nearly nuked themselves to fucking oblivion into their world?"
Before Rebecca could respond another hologram appeared in front of Alexander. He tapped on the hologram and cocked his head at the image that popped up. He examined the picture for all of three seconds before he asked, "The fuck am I looking at?"
Rebecca leaned in and looked at the picture before she said, "It looks like a Unicorn."
"A what?" Alexander questioned.
"A Unicorn. It's a mythical creature that's usually described in Greek mythology even though it can be found in Indian and Chinese mythos as well as in the Bible," Rebecca explained.
"So these horses with a horn took out nearly all our Death Hunters?" Alexander asked.
"According to the myths: Unicorns are said to use magic," Rebecca explained.
"So they were destroyed by card tricks?" Alexander asked.
"Think more like witchcraft magic. Like conjuring fireballs and lightning," Rebecca said before she added, "Think of the same magic in those games you're son likes so much." Alexander nodded and swiped to the next picture. He raised an eyebrow at the next picture in front of him.
"And now we have flying horses," Alexander sighed.
"It's a Pegasus," Rebecca said before she looked over at Alexander and noticed his quizzical look. She sighed and explained, "It's another mythical creature that usually seen in Greek mythology."
"So this world has nothing but mythological creatures?" Alexander said with a sigh and ranted, "So our top weapons got destroyed by horny and flying horses?" Rebecca rolled her eyes and swiped to the next picture.
"And it looks like we also have regular horses with," Rebecca said before she cocked her head to figure out what kind of weapon was between its teeth. She squinted and added, "What looks like a meat cleaver."
"So our greatest weapons can't kill simple horses?" Alexander ranted.
"Ponies," Rebecca corrected. Alexander looked at her quizzically before she explained, "looking at the height and stature of these equines. They're more like ponies than normal horses."
"A pony with a meat cleaver? Sounds like a really shitty horror movie," Alexander said before he sighed, "Maybe we should have sent a walking glue factory. At least it would get some results." Alexander started sifting through the pictures. Each picture showed a Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony fighting with the Death Hunters. Some pictures had all three fighting one or more of the Death Hunters.
After swiping through twenty images, Alexander sat up and stared at the image now in the hologram. He pointed to the picture and ranted, "The hell is that? I can deal with horses with horns and wings, and weapons, but now we got some bird lion hybrid?"
"Guess this world is filled with mythological creatures," Rebecca said before she added, "I've only seen Griffins depicted in books. Never would I imagine seeing one in real life."
"Griffin?" Alexander said before he added, "Is this another myth?"
"Yeah, it's one of the mythoi that stems throughout many cultures like Ancient Egypt, Persian, Roman, and Greek. Usually, it has the body, tail, back legs of a lion and the head, wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. However some have been depicted with other types of birds of prey and large cats," Rebecca explained.
"How do you know so much about these creatures?" Alexander asked.
"Ashley," Rebecca said before she continued, "She teaches Cryptozoology at Crossing Field Academy. It's amazing to learn all about these creatures and what different cultures thought of them. Image being able to get your hands on one or more of these creatures and figure out how they can be two different species!"
"Calm yourself," Alexander said before he pointed to the corner of his mouth and added, "You're drooling a little." Rebecca's' face flushed and she wiped the small line of drool from the corner of her mouth.
Alexander continued swiping through the images of ponies and now Griffins fighting the Death Hunters. After sifting through twenty more images. He stopped on the next image and uttered, "Holy Shit! They got the mack-daddy of all mythical creatures." Rebecca's mouth dropped as she looked at the image of the dragon ready to breathe fire.
"Jesus Christ! They also have dragons! No wonder a small amount of them came back. We never prep them to fight something like a dragon," Rebecca said.
"How could we? Just like the rest of these creatures in this world. We thought dragons were a myth," Alexander said. Rebecca took over and began to swipe through the images. After swiping through another round of images of ponies, griffins, and now dragons fight the Death Hunters. She stopped and stared at the newest creature shown in the images. Alexander cocked his head and asked, "What. The. Hell?"
"It looks like a combination of a horse and a fly," Rebecca said.
"Is there any myths about something like that?" Alexander said.
"I've never heard anything about a horse fly hybrid," Rebecca said as she shook her head before she added, "I'll have to show this to Ashley and see what she thinks about it." Before Rebecca could swipe to the next picture, an alarm went off. The images were replaced by a man yelling at someone off camera before he turned to both Rebecca and Alexander.
"We have a problem, sir," the man reported before he went on, "One of the Death Hunters is reverting back." Alexander and Rebecca exchanged a look before turning back to the man in the hologram.
"We'll be right down Ben," Alexander said. Ben nodded and the hologram sunk back into Alexander's desk. Alexander grabbed his cane that hung from the right corner of his desk. He used it to help himself up before he started to head towards the door. As he limped towards the door the metal gears and cogs in his left machine leg twisted and turned.
"How can one of the Death Hunters be reverting back?" Rebecca asked as she walked with Alexander towards the hanger.
"Not sure. Mary said she injected enough Death Angel serum into our soldiers to keep them in the Death Hunter state for at least ten years," Alexander explained. As they neared the automatic door they hear muffled yelling on the other side.
The door slid up to reveal a large group of soldiers around a Death Hunter convulsing as foam covered its mouth. As the two walked towards the crowd, a soldier turned towards them and quickly announced, "Director on deck!" the group quickly parted and saluted Alexander before he waved his right hand to have them relax.
"What's happening?" Rebecca asked.
"This Death Hunter came through the portal and seemed confused. I tried to help it, but when I approached it. It began convulsing and foaming at the mouth," a soldier explained.
"Get Mary," Alexander ordered another Soldier who nodded and rushed towards the Science wing. Alexander then turned to another soldier and ordered, "Get the medical staff down here at once. This soldier may need medical attention when he converts back." The Soldier quickly did as he was told and Alexander turned to the convulsing Death Hunter.
The Death Hunter let out a roar of pain as its pitch black skin began to crack. Small chunks of its skin began to float up and fizzle away like paper caught in a fire. As more and more of its skin began to float off Mary and the medical staff arrived to see a massive chunk of the Death Hunters skin break off and reveal a white leg.
"I thought you said the serum lasted ten years," Alexander asked Mary as she walked up next to him.
"It should," Mary said in astonishment before she continued, "I analyzed the human anatomy to calculate the right amount of serum to use. No matter the weight or height of the soldier. The serum should last ten years at most."
"Then how can this soldier be reverting back? We administer the serum every five years to make sure we keep ahead of them reverting back," Alexander countered.
"Alex, I don't think this is a soldier," Rebecca said as she placed her hands over her mouth and pointed towards the Death Hunter. Alexander looked towards the Death Hunter and his right eyebrow rose. The back leg of the Death Hunter had lost all its pitch black skin and revealed a white leg attached to a hoof. Alexander looked at Rebecca who nodded towards him.
The Death Hunter let out one more roar of pain before all its pitch black skin erupted into the air and fizzled away. The soldiers suddenly stepped back and stared at the white pony lying in front of them. Alexander started to limp towards the pony and crouched down. His right leg let out pops as the joint in it cracked and the gears in his left leg twirled and spun to allow him to crouch down.
Shining Armor groaned and wheezed, "Wh-where am I?" Alexander stood up and looked back at Rebecca whose mouth dropped at his question.
"It can talk?" Rebecca said astonished.
"Did Ashley say any of the mythoi talked about Unicorns speaking?" Alexander asked. Rebecca shook her head before Alexander looked towards one of the medical staff and said, "Stacy. We could use your help."
"Me?" Stacy said before she added, "I'm a doctor, not a damn Veterinarian."
"Then get one," Alexander ordered.
"Isn't victor a Vet?" Rebecca asked. Stacy folded her arms in front of her and sighed.
"We're not on speaking terms," Stacy admitted.
"Then get on speaking terms," Alexander ordered. Stacy narrowed her eyes at Alexander before she submitted and stormed away. She wasn't particularly happy she had to contact her Ex. Alexander looked back down towards Shining Armor and saw he was slowly opening his eyes. He turned towards the group of soldiers around him and ordered, "Step back, give him some space. And would someone get me some water for this horse!" one of the soldiers rushed to grab water while others moved back.
Shining Armor slowly opened his eyes and tried to focus on the bright light above him. As the blurriness started to subside, he stared at the light fixture hanging high above him before he groaned again and started to get to his hooves. He looked around at the soldiers standing around him and frantically asked, "Where am I? Who are you? What are you?"
"Whoa there," Alexander said as a soldier walked up to him with a water bottle. Alexander thanked the soldier and took the water bottle from him and handed towards Shining Armor and offered, "Here. Have some water first. We don't want you passing out on us." Shining Armor looked at the bottle of water wearily before his horn glowed and his magic wrapped around the bottle. Alexander quickly retraced his hand from the bottle.
He stared at his hand in complete shock. When the magic wrapped around the bottle he felt some of it around his hand. It felt like he had stuck his hand into a spring that had a jolt of electricity coursing through it. Shining Armor brought the bottle to his face and examined it. He hesitantly brought the water bottle to his muzzle and took a swig. After that: he was chugging the water like he hadn't drunk in several months. After several seconds the bottled water was completely empty. Alexander chuckled before he turned towards one of the soldiers and ordered, "Bring our friend some more bottled water." The soldier nodded and quickly went to grab more.
"Thank you," Shining Armor said before he added, "But where am I? I remember fighting those creatures then I woke up here"
"Creatures?" Alexander asked.
"Yeah, these weird creatures showed up and attacked Equestria. I was fighting one of them before I felt a searing pain in my back and then nothing. After that I woke up here," Shining Armor explained before he added, "Where ever hear is Mr…?"
"Where are my manners," Alexander said before he introduced himself, "My name is Alexander Crane." He extended his right hand towards Shining Armor.
"Shining Armor," Shining Armor said as he extended his hoof. Alexander shook his hoof.
"To explain where you are might be a bit more complicated, "Alexander said before he began to explain, "I believe you've come to us from another universe. Here in our world: Horses aren't able to speak English."
"So how are you able to understand them?" Shining Armor asked.
"We just assume what they're thinking," Alexander shrugged. Shining Armor looked at him perplexed before Alexander continued, "As for where you are: this is Chrono. One of 24 domes that house the last remnants of humanity."
"Humanity?" Shining Armor asked.
"Think of humanity as hairless monkeys," Rebecca spoke up before she introduced herself, "I'm Rebecca Skye. I keep Alexander in line for time to time." Alexander chuckled at her statement.
"Yes, think of humanity as that," Alexander said before he added, "You're in Hangar 6 of Chrono. Each dome is given a set task to complete and ours is to create more advanced inventions to help humanity from becoming extinct."
"What happened that would cause humanity to become extinct?" Shining Armor asked.
"Let's just say some of our ancestors decided to miss treat our planet," Alexander said just as a small cart drove up with Stacy sitting in the passenger seat. Alexander motioned for Stacy to come meet Shining Armor.
"Stacy, this is Shining Armor. Shining Armor this is our Medic Stacy. While you were unconscious. I had her get this cart to take you to our medical wing here. I wanted her to check your vitals before we figure out a way to get you back home. We just want to make sure you don't have any unknown injuries."
"It's nice to meet you, Stacy," Shining Armor said before he added, "Thank you very much for helping me." Stacy shook Shining Armors hoof and lead him towards the cart. He hopped up on the flatbed on the back. While a couple of the soldiers were talking with Shining Armor. Alexander pulled Stacy towards him.
"Have Vincent take a blood sample and have him send it to Mary. Tell her I'll get in contact with her shortly," Alexander whispered. Stacy nodded before she returned to the cart and it drove away with Shining Armor and Mary
Alexander turned on his heels and started back towards his office as a crooked smile formed on his face. Rebecca quickly followed suit and asked, "What's going on in that mind of yours?" his smile only grew as he continued down towards his office. Once there he walked over to his desk and sat down. Once he sat down he pulled up the images from the other world and began sifting through them. Rebecca watched him for several seconds before she spoke up, "What are you thinking?"
"Come look at these images again," Alexander said as he motioned for her to stand next to him. She nodded and stood next to him as he swiped through each image. After going through several images Alexander asked, "Do you see it?"
"See what? We've seen these images before. What am I supposed to be looking for?" Rebecca asked. Alexander rolled his eyes and swiped several more images. After going through several more images He stopped and looks back at Rebecca.
"The ponies," Alexander said before he continued, "In every image, there are one or more of these ponies in these images."
"So, what's your point?" Rebecca said before she added, "They're fighting the Death Hunters. They're going to be in the images."
"But they're more of them then the dragons, griffins, and weird bug pony hybrid," Alexander said before he added, "They have to be the dominant species."
"If so, then what's your point?" Rebecca said getting a little annoyed she had to ask the question again.
"Think about it! If we can get Mary to get the right amount needed. We can inject Shining Armor with enough Death Angel serum to keep him in the Death Hunter stage. Then we make it so the rest of the Death Hunters can inject the same amount into the other ponies and Voila! We have more Death Hunters to use to conquer that world," Alexander explained.
"I don't know Alex," Rebecca said before she added, "Shining Armor seems nice enough to help us get into his world without the need for force. I'm sure his kind will welcome us with open arms."
"And what if they won't?" Alexander retorted before he continued, "Besides: with the different species living in that world. How can we be sure humanity will be safe?"
"We have 3 years to come up with a peaceful resolution," Rebecca said before she added, "3 years might not seem like a long time, but if we."
"We don't have 3 years!" Alexander interrupted as he slammed his fist onto his desk. The hologram of the image fizzled before it shifted back to normal.
"But you said," Rebecca retorted as Alexander sighed and sat back in his chair while rubbing his eyes.
"I know what I said, but it was a lie," Alexander said before he admitted, "the artificial food and water machines will kick the bucket in a year and a half. When they go: humanity is doomed."
"But the domes will still be functional. Humanity might still have a chance," Rebecca said. Alexander shook his head in response.
"The domes will fail in a year's time. 6 months later, without the domes collecting the solar energy from the sun and absorbing the radiation outside. The machines will fail," Alexander said before he admitted, "I told the board we had 3 years to keep from having an all-out war between domes for recourses. Humanities livelihood rests on this new world."
Before Rebecca could respond there was a beeping noise coming from Alexander's desk. He tapped it three times and a hologram of an elderly woman appeared and said, "You wanted to see me, Alexander?"
"Yes, Mary. Did you get the blood sample from Stacy and Vincent?" Alexander asked. Mary nodded before Alexander continued, "Good. Analyze it and determine how much Death Angel serum to inject into it."
"If it's human I already know how much to inject," Mary said.
"Yes, but this is a Horse," Alexander said.
"Pony," Rebecca corrected.
"Whatever," Alexander said before he added, "If you need more just ask Vincent and Stacy. Do whatever it takes to make sure we have enough to infect this pony with enough Death Angel serum to keep him in the Death Hunter state." Mary nodded before the hologram disappeared.
"I wish we didn't have to do this," Rebecca admitted.
"I understand your plight, but for humanity to survive. We must do unethical things," Alexander said before he added, "Look at the Death Hunters. We used unnatural DNA splicing to create monsters using soldiers. Humanity cannot become extinct. To survive, we must get our hands dirty."
"I know," Rebecca sighed.
For a long while, the two stood in silence before a knock came from the front door. The door went transparent to reveal a young skinny teenager with pale white skin, freckles and bright orange hair standing outside the door. Alexander ushered the teen in and the door slid down into the floor. He walked in and said, "You wanted me to inform you when Invasion Force F is about to embark sir."
"Thank you," Alexander said before he added, "You're dismissed." The teenager nodded and backtracked out the door. When the door closed behind him Rebecca looked back at Alexander in shock.
"Why are you sending out Invasion Force F? Mary hasn't said she could change Shining Armor into a Death Hunter yet."
"The invasion isn't for Shining Armor's world," Alexander said before he tapped his desk again. A hologram of a list appeared and he scrolled through it before he found what he was looking for and tapped the image. He ushered Rebecca over to show her the new set of images. Alexander began to swipe through images while Rebecca examined each image.
"Buildings? This world has buildings?" Rebecca said before she asked, "Even if they have buildings. Can this world sustain human life? Every other world that had buildings didn't have oxygen or protection from UV rays."
"This one does," Alexander said before he added, "It also has humanoid creatures as well." He swiped to a humanoid looking creature.
"My god it looks human, but with lavender skin," Rebecca said astonished.
"Look at the rest of them;" Alexander said as he swiped through more images and continued, "They're all different skin colors. Not like ours though. These colors seem like something you'd find in a Crayola box."
"Yeah," Rebecca said before she quickly asked, "But why are you sending an invasion force? We could negotiate with them."
"No!" Alexander said before he added, "Whatever changes these things skin tone might have negative effects on humanity. We can't run the risk of that. They need to be wiped out before we can move humanity in."
"But then why are we going to invade Shining Armor's world?" Rebecca asked. Alexander sighed and reached for his cane. He used it to get up and limp over towards the large window that made up his wall behind his desk.
"I'm not going to lie. We need two universes for humanity to thrive," Alexander stated as he stared out into the city. He looked up at the fake sky produced by the glass dome.
"Why though? Shining Armor's world seems big enough to house what little humanity still resides in this world. What purpose would we need for a second world?" Rebecca asked.
"It's a procession should humanity destroy Shining Armor's world," Alexander admitted.
"What makes you think Humanity will destroy it?" Rebecca asked.
"Think about it, Rebecca?" Alexander said before he turned towards her and explained, "Humanity doesn't learn for history. Our ancestors destroyed this world cause they thrived for power and land. With this new world, what purpose would the Death Hunters have? In time they'd be used to fight for power and land like our forefathers used nuclear weapons. We need a backup plan should our decedents need to escape our mistakes."
"Then use one of the worlds to dispose of the Death Hunters," Rebecca suggested before she added, "Once we have chosen the world we want Humanity to reside in. we place the Death Hunters in the other world so we don't use them as weapons against each other."
"Interesting," Alexander said before he moved from the window, back to his desk and sat back down. He tapped his hand on the desk and the images once again appeared in front of him. While he swiped through each image he added, "I think that's what we'll do. Thank you for your time."
"You're welcome Alexander," Rebecca said before she turned on her heels and headed for the door. As the door closed behind her the light in the back corner began to bend as it revealed a man in a lab coat. He had greasy black hair that went down to his shoulder blades. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of electric cigarettes. He placed one between his lips and the tip glowed red.
"What do you think of her plan Matthew?" Alexander said as he looked over at the man with one eye.
"It's a good plan," Matthew chuckled before he added, "If that's what we intended in the first place." A sly smile formed on Alexander's face as he swiped through the images.