The Next Day

Imperial Palace, Agartha, United Terran Empire

Emperor Maximilian Vorenus VII

"...and for fucks sake, I don't care what fucking excuse he comes up with. He is the Governor of Britannica now. Fucking act like one. If I see him golfing again in one of his courses, I will personally remove him and drop him off in the middle of the ocean so you better tell that orange fuck to do his fucking job or your ass is on the line as well!"

Vorenus hanged up before dropping his phone on his desk. He sat down and covered his face with his hands.

"Golfing again?" asked Louisa.

"Yeah, fucking Christ this world has gone mad." The Emperor responded.

"You think he's one of those conspiring against you?"

"I hope not. I have enough enemies as it is. Imagine the humiliation of getting shot by a redneck moron who thinks I'm against his Christian values. Robert Tilton and Kenneth Copeland have already declared me an enemy of Christianity. I wish I could throw them into Hell's Gate along with the Westboro Baptist Church.

Well, my ancestors gave the Empire's citizens freedom, but there's always a downside. So how's Emperor Red Talon?"

"Doing well. He's actually become good friends with Senator Sanders. I just saw them walking around the gardens, talking."

They were silent as they heard a news report from the television near Vorenus' desk.

"Breaking News, nude photos of Representative Joe Barton has surfaced online. An anonymous Twitter user posted them and immediately has gone viral. No response has come as of yet from the Representative. Joe Barton was known as one of the loudest critics of Governor Bi-"

"Lord help me. Idiots keep throwing shit into the fire. The Insurrectionists just got new material for their propaganda." Vorenus muttered to himself.

Lieutenant Quick Strike

Hell's Gate Prison, United Terran Empire

"Well sir, it seems he's regaining conscious."

Quick Strike heard whispers. Everything in his body hurts. The last thing he remembered was seeing the dark shapes of ships in a fog after the Equestrian Thunder blew up.

"What's the analysis on the prisoner Doctor?"

Prisoner? Quick Strike thought.

"Well, he'll be feeling sore, but other than that. He should be fine."

Quick Strike opened his eyes, but was blinded by the light. He groaned as his eyes adjusted.

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

The Brown Pegasus lifted his head, and was met by the sight of two Humans.

One was dressed like a doctor and the other was dressed in a black military uniform. On the Human's right arm was an armband depicting a golden eagle, a red shield, and a skull with a pair of horns sticking out of it.

The Uniformed Human was smiling at him, quite creepily, while the other was scribbling something on a clipboard.

The room he was in looked like a normal hospital room except there were no windows.

"Am...am I dreaming? What's going on?" Quick Strike said while staring at the uniformed Human.

In return, the Human laughed.

"Eenope, everything you see and feel is real. You've been unconscious for a while."

He lifted his left arm to look at a watch.

"And just in time too, convoy's moving out in a few minutes. Wouldn't want to keep the good doctor waiting."

The Human walked to a door and opened it.

"Take the prisoner to the convoy."

Two Humans in black military gear walked in, holding guns Quick Strike had never seen before.

"Don't move." One said as they grabbed Quick Strike's arms and lifted him up.

"He just regained consciousness. I advise he stays in bed." The doctor said.

"No can do Doc. Steiner's orders." The uniformed Human said.

"Warden Heidrich, Steiner already has enough prisoners. Does one more really matter?"

The now named Warden Heidrich shook his head.

"It's not just Steiner. These orders came from his majesty as well."

The doctor sighed. "Ach fine. Whatever."

Quick Strike felt cold as they dragged him. He was only wearing a hospital gown after all.

"Can...can I at least change my clothes?" The Pegasus asked.

"We'll bring clothes to you. You can change later." The Warden said.

The Pegasus was still feeling weak so the two armed Humans dragged him while the Warden walked alongside them. All Quick Strike could see was a long empty hallway with a door at the end.

He squinted as the bright lights of the hallway blinded him.

"You're probably wondering where you are and what's going on." The Warden said. "My time is currently limited so I'll let your fellow prisoners debrief you. Just remember, follow our orders and we won't smash your head into a pulp. One of you pony shits tried to stab me with their horn last time. I think I had a little brain tissue on my boots."

The Warden went ahead of the trio and pushed the doors opened. Quick Strike winced as he was once again, blinded by light.

"Welcome to Hell's Gate. It'll be your home for a while." He heard the Warden say.

Quick Strike's eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness and he took a look at his surroundings.

In front of him were five buses though their windows except for the front. Several armored vehicles and black cars with police lights were either in front or behind the buses. Two helicopters hovered over them.

Quick Strike looked away from the convoy and saw a wall with guard towers surrounding them. More armed Humans in black gear looked down on them.

The door of the nearest bus opened up. One of the Human's let him go while the other continued to drag him. Another armed Human sat on the driver's seat while the two seats closest to the driver and the door was occupied by four armed Humans. Separating them from the rest of the bus was a black metal wall.

One of the seated Humans got up and unlocked the door for them. The Human still dragging him pushed him through the door.

Quick Strike fell to the floor hard and he heard shouting from the seats. He felt a pile of clothes thrown on to him.

"Quick Strike?"

Quick Strike felt somepony turn him over. The Pegasus was in shock as he saw a familiar old face.

"Captain Vigilant?" He asked.

"Pipe down and shut the fuck up!" Quick Strike looked to see the Warden standing at the door, pistol drawn. "If I hear any of you shitstains do anything fucking stupid, I will drag you back and let Doc Friedkin perform lobotomy on you. Understand?"

The Warden was met with silence.

"Anvil Convoy, you may proceed to Objective Castle." He said into a radio.

The door closed and they heard him smack the side of the bus as it began to roll away.

Quick Strike got up and sat down on an empty seat with assistance from Captain Vigilant.

"Wha...what happened Cap? How long was I out for? What's with these Humans?" The confused Lieutenant said.

The aged Captain sighed. "It's a long story. You're not going to believe what I'm saying."

Lieutenant Lee "Wizard" Stanford

Real Name: Data not available

Rebel Barracks

Everfree Forest, Equestria

Legionnaire

Everything was on fire.

The Enigma Forest was on fire.

The town he called his second home was on fire.

Bodies of many he grew familiar with lay everywhere.

Wizard cried as he saw his sister laid on the ground, next to his girlfriend, on a pool of their own blood.

He felt a familiar presence behind him.

It can't be. He should be dead.

"I̲̻͚͉͙̭̭͍̺̲͕͎͈̱̓ͭͫͪ̽̉ͯ͂ͫ̃̀͐͋̇̀͟'̵̴͉̭̝͕̗̖͙͚͈̂ͬ͛́̉̈͌̆͛͊̾ͮ̓̃͆́ͯ̀̚̕͡ͅṃ̸̸̡̝̩̻̘̗̘͈̅̆̏ͪͧ͌̆̌ͥͬͣ͌͒ͦ̏͂̌̌̇͝ͅ ̧̨̘̖͚̫̲ͭ̂̓̊̅̑̈́ͧ̚͢͡bͪͯ̓̍̑ͬͥ̇̈̈̏ͬͦͤ̚͘͠͏̬͕̪̘̼̘̫ͅa̵̋ͮ̐ͤ̓̂̅ͫ̔͂̆͋͐̆͏̩͙̜͇̯̠̜͙͔̠̠͉̦ĉ̶͆ͧ̿́̀͢҉̨͇̬̺̝͇̮̞͚͓̱̦̙ͅk̸̪̥̟̘͎̤̠̟̥͌̃ͩ̏̑̓ͩ̆̍͛ͫ̍͞ ̶̪̜͖̹̖̦̘̿̆ͬ̌̒̚͡͞͝kͦͣ͆ͩ͑҉̛̳̱̣̰͚͉̥̮̞͈̖̖̻̩̩̞iͦͥͫ̋̀̑̇͋̐҉̦̜͎̠͔̤̤̗͇̘̥̼͟ͅd̵̷̡͆͊ͭ̆ͩ͞͏̘̣̜͔̠d͚͎͉̙͓̘̐̿̊͑ͩͪ͋͐̓̓̊ͧ̐͋͒̔͒̓̀͜o̴̓̇̈́̀̎́҉̻̪̬͙!̸̪̹͙̳̮̲̫͈̞̩̻̩͔̙̹̯̎͋̈̾̓̌̓ͪ͌ͯ̑̐̐̈ͨͦ̚̚͞͞ͅ "

Wizard woke up, sweating and gasping.

The bunk beds were empty, but across the room, Sergeant Eli "Priest" Pohan, sat crosslegged with a device next to him and a macabre doll in a green dress sat on the wall facing him.

"You okay?" The Oceanian Sergeant and Religious Expert said.

Wizard nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I'm okay. Just a bad dream."

"You and I both know dreams sometimes have meanings. Would you like to tell me what it is?"

The Britannican Lieutenant explained to Priest about his dream as he put on a black shirt with his normal black pants and black boots.

"Sounds to me he's regaining power. Thought you guys killed him." Priest said.

"I thought so too. Looks like we need to find a more permanent solution." Wizard said.

"Yeah, invoking ancient powers is tough to combat."

"Ancient powers?" Wizard said.

"Come now Di-I mean Wiz. How else would he have survived?"

"Good point."

"Hello?"

Wizard heard a little girl's voice come out of the SB7 Spirit Box.

Priest quickly turned back to the doll.

"Hello Sofia. I'm sorry I was distracted. You remember Wizard right? Say hi."

There was a brief silence before the Spirit Box talked again.

"Hi."

"Um, hi." Wizard responded.

"Sofia, I'm still trying to help you. Help set you free. You should suffer no longer and reunite with your family. Who is with you Sofia?"

They waited a while for a response.

"Grandma...and...scary man."

" P̏̉̈ͮ͘͞҉̖̖̯̳r̿͊̓̿̅͐͆̽̉͆ͩ̎͗҉̢̠̭̞̫͇̠̤̭͖͎͔͓͕̟ͅï̡̤̗̙̘̳͍̓̎̌ͥ̅̀͐ͥ̅ͫͧ̓͒͌ͣ́ë͂̈́͑̊͛ͨ͂̋̊̚҉̴̲͍͕̘͍̝̱̰̙͞͡s̵̰͍̼̥̮̣̞̮̬̟̳̳̹̖̤͋ͪͤ̊̎̐ͪ̆̽̇̍ͪ͑̚t͙̮͎͉̠̣̮͔ͦͫ͒̄̇́͗̉̈́̆͆̾͟͠ͅ.̄͗͌͏̢̘̜̣̬͕̖̘͕̠̕̕ ͮ̓̿͒ͭ́̏̐̆̽ͣͫͨ͒͛̽͡҉̗̼͖̲̫̬͉̥̯͈̠͖͍̜̠̟̱́̀ͅS̥͚̦̞̬̥̗̖̪̭͉̻̓͂̓ͣ̔͂ͯͮ̏̚͘͟u̡ͦͪ͐ͭ͑ͤ̂̅̂̏̉̅̚͏̬̟̩͎͢f̵̸̷̢̥̥̱̺̟̣͚̺͍̳̼̳ͭ͑̑ͪ̽́̉ͧ͝ͅͅf̶̛̰̥͓̳͔͕̋̎ͭͪͨ̽̂ͫ͗̿̀́̔́̾͐̒̽̀͝e͉͕̗̥̟͈͙̭̝̞̜̤̽͛ͭ͂ͪͯ̈́ͫ̀͜r̨̼͓͙̮̣̦̬͕̠̪͔͙̻͙̟̮͒ͨͩͯ̇͑̒̈ͥ̄̊̀̕.͑̇͒̅̍͏҉̧̢͚͈̥͔͉̻͚̀ͅ"

Priest sighed. "Looks like the last ritual was not enough. Stay close to grandma okay Sofia? She will keep you safe from the scary man. Is there anything I can get for you?"

The Spirit Box talked again.

"Friends."

"D͋͗́ͪ̒͒ͫ͡͏҉̷̛͇̼̥̩͓̩͎̲͙͎̭͙i̸̶̵̠͚͇͎̤̬̺̺̟̹͍̰͉͔̦̣̼ͤ͆͌͐̏͒̒̈́ͨ̏̍̄͠a͆̂ͬ͊̐̍ͯ̔ͩ̋̀͏̶͍̱̬̻̮͇͓̱̪̘̮̠̰̮̤̳ͅͅb̵̞̘̫̺̠̫̜̮̅͒̈̍ͨͤ̾͐̔͛ͧ͆͢͡ͅͅļ̛͔̹̞̼̼̹̮̜̳̬̮ͬ̈͌̆ͣͨ̽ͣͧ̃͂ͩ̐̅͘ͅo̢̼͙̫̲̝̗̥̥̭̞̱ͪ̈ͦ́ͪ́͘͘͜.̡̮̦̗͈̯̭͙̹ͮ͛̏̒̀ͭ̃̆̎ͯ̆́̚ "

Priest got up and opened up a box. He took out a variety of stuffed animals and laid them around the macabre doll.

"I have to go now okay Sofia? Just remember that me and grandma will keep you safe. You will be free."

"Okay...goodbye."

"B̳͕̦͉͎̦̫̺̤̯̳̭̼͓̘̜͉͍͋̂ͤ̏͑̒͋͋̃̎̒̀̚̕ͅu̿̈ͬͥ̾ͯ̑͒̃̇̌̐́͜͏͚̩̯̖̩͉͔̬͎̜̥͎͉͘̕͢r̔͒̔͗ͪ̇̏̓̆̌̿̔ͪͬ͏͟͜҉̷͙̞͇͈̙͉n̷̨̛ͨ͂ͥͣ͋̑͋̅͟͏͖̩̺̠̦̝̣.̎̏͊ͬ̃ͦ̀͛ͪ̌̑̒̑͗͗́̀ͭ͛҉̵̧͇̣̬͓̥͝ "

Priest turned off the Spirit Box.

"Aight, lets get breakfast."

The two walked out the door and into the tunnel towards the mess hall.

"Still couldn't find a way to help Sofia?" Wizard asked.

"Heh, I'll find a way as long as nobody messes with the doll. What do you think happened to Major Savoy? Luckily for him, that car accident was just a warning."

Wizard remembered when Priest first found the doll. He found it stashed away in a box on the attic of an Insurrectionists Safe House they raided. He quickly grew attached to the doll, obsessed with trying to find a way to free the spirit of a little girl and an old lady within the doll.

Sofia the Doll quickly grew a reputation after a bunch of teenagers stole it from his home during his leave. On the next day, a house down the street was burned to the ground. All of the teenagers were burned to death but the doll wasn't harmed at all.

Police took the doll as evidence. One week later, two officers were killed by gang members, another committed suicide, and a detective was killed when his car was rammed by a drunk truck driver.

Eventually, Priest got Sofia back and held on to her wherever he was deployed.

"Anything harmful ever happen to you because of the doll?"

"Nah, the Bela Lugosi Mirror was worse. Remember when I stared into it and passed out?"

"Oh yeah. I think one of the tour guides got mad at you for pulling to curtain covering it." Wizard chuckled.

"I'll take the tour guide over my own parents any day. Remember when we were thirteen, we pretended to be a couple just so we could get those creepy girls away from us?"

"Heh, of course I did. We dragged it on for too long. Your parents got pissed because they thought you were gay, my parents were happy not because they thought I came out as gay, but because I finally found love."

"Don't forget, we also broke your sister because she did not expect us to be together. Almost quit being a matchmaker after that."

"Yeah, I earned that elbow when we confessed it was all just a ruse."

The two of them laughed as the continued walking.

"Did you-"

"I already swore to secrecy. You've got nothing to worry about Wiz." Priest said. "After all the shit we've had to deal with when we were kids, it's probably best we don't break someone by telling them."

"Didn't break the Emperor and the Director when they stumbled upon us during one of our adventures. Well, the then Prince Vorenus and then Agent Azarov thought they were either drunk or high. Anyways, it didn't seem like they revealed anything to the public yet."

"Was this before or after I moved in?" Priest asked.

"Shortly before."

"Ah, that explains it."

They walked into the mess hall and quickly took their breakfast which included eggs, hash browns, and fried cockatrice. Priest took a glass of orange juice while Wizard, as usual, took two cans of soda.

The duo sat on the same table as their other friends excluding Komodo.

"Ay, our two ghost talkers are here. So, had a good night's sleep?" asked Rainbow.

"Pretty shit."

"Pretty good." Wizard and Priest said at the same time.

"What happened?" Rainbow asked.

Wizard put a piece of cockatrice meat into his mouth. "Bad dream."

"Want to tell us?"

"Punch Sofia the Doll and I'll think about it." Wizard responded.

"Never mind then." Rainbow said as he wisely backed off.

It was then did Komodo sat down with a plate of Nachos.

"I just had sex and I'm about to eat NACHOS! This is the GREATEST moment of my life!" The Oceanian yelled.

"Angel?" Priest asked.

"Oh yeah. Two hours straight."

"Bullshit." said Shark.

"Let me prove it to you. I'll fuck you in the ass."

"Whoa settle down boys. This is getting weird." said Kahlo.

"How the fuck do you have Nachos anyways? I thought we were stocking up on the food we brought." Wizard said.

"These nachos are from yesterday. I just asked Chef to put it in a fridge so I could eat it later. From now on, I'm eating..." He pointed at Wizard's plate. "Whatever the fuck that is."

"Cockatrice." Wizard responded.

"Cocka-what?"

"Cockatrice. An animal that lives in the Everfree Forest. Stare it into the eye and you will literally be turned into stone."

"Shit, that's hardcore...I want one."

Wizard felt Cosmo poke his shoulder and pointed at the door to the mess hall. He turned around and saw Bishop and Jack, a young Rebel, carry the dead body of a deer.

"Kid finally got one?" He asked.

"Nah, Jackie missed and shot its horn. Don't know if I should be impressed or disappointed. Had to finish the deer off myself." Bishop answered. "By the way. Congrats to all of you on the table, you've been selected by Warlord to watch the prisoners tonight."

The group groaned.

"Aw fuck me man." Rainbow said.

Lieutenant Quick Strike

Unknown Location

Lieutenant of the Royal Equestrian Navy

"Lieutenant, wake up son."

Quick Strike groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. For hours, they were stuck in a bus and couldn't see outside. The prisoners were stuck worried what's coming next or were entertaining themselves.

For the first hour of the trip, Captain Vigilant explained to Quick Strike everything he learned during their imprisonment.

First, they're prisoners of the United Terran Empire, an Empire consisting entirely of Humans. They're also apparently in Humanity's homeland, something historians back home thought Equestria has conquered long ago.

The reason why they sank the Equestrian Thunder and any ships sent before them was because they intruded on their territories and were quickly sunk to keep the location of their homeland a secret. Why they wanted to keep it a secret, Captain Vigilant believes they've been biding their time in preparation to attack Equestria. They know if they attacked prematurely, they would be defeated by the use of magic alone. He theorizes they've been working years to advance their technology and developing methods to counter magic.

Quick Strike wouldn't believe it, but the fact that none of the Unicorns could use their magic and the Pegasi couldn't fly for some reason here proves that either the land is completely devoid of magic, or they've created something that nullifies magic. This worried them greatly.

Captain Vigilant also says the Humans have been at war with each other for hundreds of years. The majority of it involved the unification of all of the Human Empires into one, and recently, multiple rebel factions resisting Imperial rule. This gave the Pegasus some hope, at least until the Captain said the majority of these factions have been put down brutally.

He's seen many of the Human prisoners back at the prison known as Hell's Gate, were rebels themselves. What they call "Human Rights" do not apply to the Empire's most brutal prisons such as Hell's Gate and another known as Impel Down. You fight the guards, and they will drag you to the courtyard for all to see and burned to death. Sometimes, they would be handed to the doctors for them to cut into pieces. What's left of them would be thrown from the guard towers to serve as an example to those who would resist them.

The Captain witnessed a Human prisoner murder one of the guards when the prisoner pretended to collapse. Once one of the guards came up to him, he pulled out a makeshift knife and stabbed him on the throat before getting apprehended by the rest of the guards.

A Human prisoner the Captain always had a conversation with through a fence said attacking the guards is always a stupid move.

The next day, they all witnessed as the prisoner who murdered the guard was thrown into a tank of Siafu Ants. His screams as the ants ate him both from the inside and the outside sickened many of the Pony prisoners, some throwing up. For the Humans, this was just a regular day. There's always a prisoner who does something stupid and then executed brutally.

During their imprisonment, there were two prison riots in two different prisons. In Impel Down, two different riots were started in Levels Three and Four. The sheer number of prisoners overwhelmed some guards but the majority were mowed down. A few were able to escape outside to find out there was no where to go. The island prison was completely surrounded by Naval ships. Impel Down's vengeful guards wasted no time in capturing and throwing the surviving rioters into furnaces.

Another prison, Frozen Hades, which is located in a mountain range, suffered from a riot when a Rebel covert team attempted to free a certain prisoner by destroying the prison's power generators. Some prisoners were able to make it outside but found themselves in the middle of a blizzard. As for the Rebels and their target, they were trapped and barricaded themselves in a section of the prison. The Imperial military moved in and quickly put down the rioters and the Rebels.

Every pony the Imperial captured were sent to Hell's Gate. This gave Quick Strike some hope that his brother was among them.

Quick Strike turned to the Captain.

"Are we there yet?" He asked.

"Almost I believe."

The Pegasus then smelled something familiar.

"Are we near the ocean?"

"No son, I think we are on the ocean. On a ferry to be precise. We've been on the ferry for about an hour or so."

The next few minutes, they felt the ferry slow down. They heard more yelling as they felt the ferry come to a stop.

Finally, the bus' engine started again and they felt it lurch forward. He could feel the fear from the occupants.

The sound of the bus then felt like they entered an enclosed place.

"I think we're in a tunnel." Vigilant said.

The bus slowed down before it finally stopped.

In the front of the bus, the door opened and one of the prison guards escorting them stepped through.

"Alright everyone get off the bus now! Hurry, we have a schedule to keep. Lag behind and I'll shove my boot up your ass ya hear?" The guard yelled.

Vigilant helped Quick Strike up and led him out the bus with the others.

Outside, just like Vigilant said, they were indeed inside a tunnel, a massive tunnel in fact. Human soldiers stood near the wall, facing them. The majority of them wore kind of uniform with camouflage, some wore black uniforms, others wore uniforms but had masks covering their faces, and he saw a few with some kind of weird armor.

Vigilant looked up to see a railing full of soldiers looking down on them. There was one individual however that interested him. Staring down at them from the railing was a Human with horn-rimmed glasses and a lab coat, a cigarette in his mouth.

On ground level, Vigilant saw another Human, an officer most likely, walking towards them.

"Alright!" The Officer yelled. "All of you get on single file lines. On the double!"

Some of the ponies hesitated, but after seeing all of the weapons pointed at them, they complied.

"Good, you animals can listen." The Human said, grinning.

One pony took offense to that and broke away from his line to confront the officer. Unfortunately for the said pony, he received a rifle butt to the face and was pushed back to his spot by one of the soldiers.

"Name's Commander Andre Jefferson. Welcome to Rebirth Island. Here, I am your savior, your protector, your guardian, your nemesis, your worse nightmare, and your executioner. Depends if you follow my orders. Follow my orders, and you get to live and possibly see your families and loved ones. You fail, and I'll feed you to the animals and I will have it video taped and sent to your families so they can watch you get torn apart."

Some of the ponies scoffed at the last part.

"Don't believe me? Fine, try me. We have our ways."

The Commander looked around until his eyes laid on Captain Vigilant.

"Ah yes, Captain Austere Vigilant of the RES Equestrian Thunder. You used to be an ensign on the carrier Lunar Fury, became the Captain of the Cruiser Solar Strike, and finally, the Captain of the Battleship Equestrian Thunder. A loud voice of banning the usage of slaves on warships after the Canterlot Incident and turned down a promotion to Admiral. A shame really for someone of your caliber. Then again, you would've been singled out by your peers for taking a liking to Humans. Heard your father's grave was desecrated after that news. How's your family by the way? A shame your first grandson died at childbirth but at least your wife is getting better after that car accident." The Commander said.

Captain Austere Vigilant stared at the grinning Commander, mouth open in shock.

"How...how do you know all this?"

The Commander simply laughed.

"I was not lying when I said we have our ways. Each and every one of you, we know everything about you from your birth to now."

He moved on from Captain Vigilant and stopped at Quick Strike who was trying to avoid his gaze.

"You must be worried about your brother Lieutenant Quick Strike."

Quick Strike stayed silent and continued to stare at the ground.

"Heh, bus number five. Your brother is alive and well. You'll get to see him very soon." He said as the Pegasus perked up.

"Alright! All prisoners from bus number one to four. Follow me. Five to ten will be going elsewhere." The Commander shouted.

He moved up ahead of the line and motioned for half of the soldiers and the prisoners to follow him.

Quick Strike looked back to see if he could spot his brother in the other group, but they were surrounded by guards, allowing him only to see parts of the group.

They kept walking for about a good minute in the tunnel before they passed through a door guarded by at least two squads of Humans.

The guards had two menacing dogs at them who barked at them and were being held back by their owners.

Inside, they were led through a hallway, passing through many doors and windows showing more Humans in lab coats working. Others who were in the hallway stepped aside and watched the group pass them. Some Humans glared at them, some stared at them passively, and others were busy talking to each other.

"Oh goodness gracious!" He heard a voice that distracted him.

Before Quick Strike could react, a red-headed Human in a lab coat sporting wild hair and horn-rimmed glasses came up to him and grab him by the chin.

"A pegasus! Why, I've always wanted to study one of you ponies for years! Ever since I was little, I wanted to see the inside of one of you slave-driving savages. Tell me young ma-I mean, stallion, have you ever tried cocaine? I wanted to see how your body reacts under the effects of certain drugs." He said as he turned the pegasus' head to see the other side.

The Human was then grabbed and dragged away by another Human in an officer's uniform.

"Not now Doctor. You'll get a chance to see some bodies later." The officer said.

"But Nastas! They're right there! Surely Doctor Steiner will let me take at least one of them!"

The rest of their conversation was inaudible to Quick Strike as they kept walking down the hallway.

"What in Tartarus is that?" Quick Strike heard one of his fellow prisoners say up front.

As they kept walking, he saw two Humans with one of them using a neck clamp to hold back some kind of weird creature. It had no eyes, a big mouth full of razor sharp teeth, and it was on all fours, growling and attempting to jump at the ponies as they pass.

"Shut up!" The Human holding the creature said as he punched the back of the creature. In return, the creature hissed at the Human but whimpered as he raised his fist again.

"By Celestia's ass, what in Tartarus are they making here?" He heard Captain Vigilant said.

The line all of a sudden stopped. Quick Strike leaned to the right to see that the Commander stepped aside and motioned the prisoners to move ahead and into a room bathe in bright lights.

As Quick Strike passed the smirking officer, he noticed that all of the guards stayed back as well.

Inside, the giant room was completely empty, aside from the railing high up above with more Human guards looking down at them. Curiously, the floor looked like it was made of glass but there was nothing on the other side, just another floor, white just like the walls.

The Pegasus heard the door slam shut behind the group.

They all looked around confused with some looking at the guards expecting them to do something.

"I guess this is where they're going to hold us?" He said to Captain Vigilant.

"Or kill us. Then again, I don't think they'd bring us all the way here just to kill us." The elderly Captain responded.

"Hello meine freunde!"

They all looked up to see a Human in a lab coat looking down at them with a smile. Quick Strike recognized him as the Human that was looking down at them in the tunnels.

"I welcome you, all of you to Rebirth Island. I trust you had a safe trip? The guards weren't rough on you correct?"

He was met with silence.

"Ach, I thought at least one of you will be the social type. Anyways, you are here because you intruded into Imperial territory. If it weren't for the Emperor, you would all be rotting in a jail cell and taking each other's anal virginity in the shower room. He was of course, gracious enough to hand you all to me. Now do not be afraid!" He said as he shook his hand. "I and my colleagues will not harm you whatsoever, as long as you follow our orders which won't be much. But first, lets make a deal to ensure you leave this place in one piece. You see, we're very curious about your magic. We do not possess any magic aside from cheap illusions, but you ponies, you ponies can you true magic with ease. We only wish to study it. Of course, we'll be attaching some things to your body and maybe stick things into places that shouldn't belong, trust me, they are completely harmless. I tested them on myself in fact. A little ticklish but other than that, it's painless."

He gazed around the group before continuing.

"Now we will give you back your magic temporarily. Of course, I know you are all thinking of using your magic to escape, which is why I took precautions." The Human took out a remote and pressed one of the buttons.

They heard the sound of machinery and saw the floor beneath the glass move.

All of the prisoners looked in shock as they saw the other half of their group in four glass boxes, arranged in a square. From what they could see, they were very high up, high enough to kill anypony should they fall. The ground was full of woodchips and tropical plants surround the clearing the group was in.

Quick Strike looked around to spot his brother, but it was hard to see through the number of panicking ponies banging on the glass walls trying to escape.

"Disobey us, and your friends will suffer. Observe." The Human said as he pushed another button.

A small hole opened up between the four cells and emerging from it, was a dazed Human in rags.

"Say hello to this man. His name is not important, but all you need to know is he's a rapist, serial killer, and a pedophile who attempted to kidnap the Emperor's daughter. Ah the stupid things you do when you're under the influence of drugs." He pushed another button.

At first, they heard nothing until they saw some of the plants shaking. The Human looked around, panicking. All of the ponies watching what will happen next.

What came out of the shrubbery, Quick Strike could only describe them as monstrosities. Eight creatures in total charged out of the shrubbery and made a beeline towards the Human.

He screamed as they attacked him. They all felt sick as the creatures bit the Human and used their appendages to tear him apart, literally. Blood and pieces of flesh flew everywhere. His head landed near one of the cells, causing some of the ponies to go pale. One of the smaller creatures broke away from the group and pounced on the head, using its hands to rip the head in half before eating the inside.

"Say hello to Division 9's children." He heard the Human above say.

The creatures calmed down when there was nothing left. They growled and hissed at the ponies cowering in their cells before retreating back to the shrubbery.

"Yeah, the scientists at Division 9 were big fans of SCP Containment Breach and the Dead Space series. Reminder that these creatures all used to be Human, just still conscious, mutated, and constantly in pain. They'll rip your buddies down there apart and you'll be forced to watch. Obey us, and they get to live. You fail, they get ripped apart. And guess what?" He said as he lifted a remote and put his thumb on one of the buttons. "You'll join them too."

The ponies were silent as they processed the information.

"The moment your magic returns, you will stay put and do not resist. A few of you will be taken out of the room for examination and then returned. Then another group will be taken out and so on and so on. Kay? Are we all in agreement?"

They all looked each other, worried about their friends, not being able to see their families again, and worried about being food to some abominations. Finally, they nodded to each other fearfully.

Captain Vigilant, as the oldest pony among them, spoke up.

"We...we agree to your terms Doctor, as long as no harm befallens any of us and we're brought back to our families."

"Wunderbar. I'm ecstatic you've all decided to cooperate. Wouldn't want the janitors to complain about cleaning up your pieces after all don't we?" He turned to an officer that was next to him. "Order #75 is in effect. Contact Governor Nalvalny to shut down Generator 84 on my command."

"Something just ain't right."

Quick Strike turned to a brown unicorn next to him that got the ponies' attentions.

"He said they wanted to study our magic, learn from it. Yet, they found a way to completely nullify it. What in Tartarus are they making here?"

"Nothing good for Equestria it seems." Captain Vigilant said. "We just gotta pray a miracle happens."

Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria

Discord

Spirit of Chaos

Later that night

Discord hanged from the ceiling of a guest bedroom, using a toothpick to clean his teeth.

"I must say, I can see why Sunbutt's so addicted to cake." He said.

Laying on the ceiling with him were six plates of what used to hold cakes from Celestia's personal stash.

After meeting with the Human Emperor, he was secretly brought into a plane crewed by Imperial Guards, where they flew him out of the range of one of their accursed anti-magic generators so he could teleport back to Equestria.

The Princesses of course, confronted him when showed up at the Palace and demanded to know where he was when Humans attacked Ponyville. He told them he went to Tartarus to check on the prisoners when he felt one of them attempting to escape.

It wasn't a lie however. One of the prisoners, a succubus, tried to escape, so Discord beat her and dragged her back to her cell where he made adjustments to ensure escaping was impossible. They accepted his answer, but were a little peeved that he wasn't there to help.

In Discord's mind, he thought why should he help? He relishes on the chaos that happened after all. He's only glad his friends made it out okay, he didn't care about the rest after all. However, he made a note to tell the Emperor to keep his soldiers in a tight leash.

Discord froze when he felt intruders getting closer to one of the Rebel base entrances. He quickly donned a hood and a cloak.

"I sense a disturbance in the force."

The Spirit of Chaos summoned an orb and looked into it. He saw a squad of Lunar Guards approaching one of the bases' entrance.

"Oh this won't do at all."

Everfree Forest, Equestria

Lieutenant Night Fire

Lunar Guard Lieutenant

"Am I the only one seeing this?" Night Fire and his squad of Lunar Guards hid among the brush, watching a cave entrance guarded by twelve Rebels and four heavily armed Humans in black gear.

"They don't look like the typical Rebel. Foreign trained perhaps?" A squadmember said.

"Griffins and Minotaurs do allow Humans in their militaries after all." Another responded.

They continued to watch. Most of them were just talking and laughing though the Thestral Lieutenant noticed, unlike the typical Rebels, they never put their guns down and constantly look at the shrubbery, but even they were talking. He couldn't blame them, guard duty is always boring. Unless of course, they were luring any potential scouts or infiltrators into a false sense of security. If that's the case, they need to be extra careful.

"All units, this is Eruption Squad, we've located a possible location of the Rebel HQ. How copy?" Night Fire said over the coms.

"bzzzt"

"Command, this is Eruption Squad, we've located a possible location of the Rebel HQ. How copy?"

"bzzzt"

"Damn."

The Thestral was genuinely confused. Their radios were working perfectly less than a minute ago.

"So what now?" asked one of his squadmates.

He looked behind him to look at his six pony squad. Princess Luna sent in her Lunar Guard Elites, aka the Nightcrawlers, to scout the Rebel controlled area of the Everfree Forest to locate the Rebel HQ.

He never had a good feeling about the operation. The Rebels control the majority of the Everfree Forest, too big for the Nightcrawlers to cover in a few days. Second, their forces in the Everfree were devastated by the Rebel attacks, forcing the Princesses to replace them with units from other parts of Equestria like the San Palomino Desert and the Frozen North.

The Nightcrawlers were suppose to locate the HQ for the new Everfree-based forces to assault. However, many among the Nightcrawlers believe an assault will be near suicidal considering the new units are not even familiar with the terrain nor have they ever fought in a forest environment like the Everfree. They've voiced their concerns to both Princesses but they wouldn't hear none of it. Instead, they just ordered them to replace their ceremonial armor with black tactical gear.

The Lieutenant was worried, the Princesses seem to be acting out of anger at this point and aren't thinking clearly.

Night Fire weighed his options. They've lost contact with the other Nightcrawler squads and Command. They could retreat but most likely never locate this area again considering how the forest is notorious for confusing travelers, even causing entire units to get lost and wiped out by either Rebels or the wildlife, and aerial insertions is a no go. Rebels were known to take down aerial units with their massive stockpile of AA guns and anti-air missiles they stole during raids. They can, however, use an invisibility spell to infiltrate and find valuable info.

Confident, he made his decision.

"We'll use an invisibility spell to get in. Find any valuable info. If we can find their leaders and steal information from under their noses, then we can end this rebellion soon. Stay close, and watch your step."

He nodded to the only unicorn in their group who activated the spell.

The invisibility spell was an advance type, in which only few could master it. Majority of those ended up in the Nightcrawlers or the Daybreakers, Princess Celestia's Solar Guard Elites.

They stood up and cautiously walked closer to the entrance. One of the black geared Humans glanced at their position, causing them to freeze. Night Fire's heart skipped a beat, hoping the Human didn't see them.

They were relieved when he looked away and continued to talk to the others.

As they got closer, they could hear their conversations.

"Hey, you hear about the names those ponies have?"

"Pfff, yeah. Mayor Mare? What kind of name is that?"

"At least your name isn't Taco Charleton."

The four Humans laughed as the squad walked past them.

"Laugh as much as you want, he's making millions while our asses are stuck leading some amateurs."

They couldn't hear the rest of the conversation as they entered the cave. His mind wondered to the strange guns they held. Night Fire has never seen them before, even among foreign arsenal. He took note to try and steal one of them before leaving.

As they walked thorough the long tunnel, illuminated by light bulbs hanging on the ceiling, they began to hear more voices. The squad hugged the wall as a Human female also in black gear, silently walked past them.

They continued on their trek, until they stumbled into a large room, full of Humans in black gear, who all seem to be relaxing.

Night Fire looked around as they hugged the walls to sneak to the other side of the room where the tunnel continued. Two Humans were sitting on some boxes, using a large crate as a table to play a game of chess. Another was on the floor, doing some sit-ups while next to him, a group of four Humans sat around a table playing a card game.

The squad were about to enter the tunnel when they halted in their tracks as two Humans slowly walked out in the middle of a conversation. One was one of the black geared Humans but with a weird hat while the other, was a teen, looks like he was barely old enough to fight.

"Why now Bishop? I was just about to go to sleep." said the teen.

"Now now Jackie, if you want to fight, you gotta be prepared to fight even at night. Which means you better be prepared to not sleep at all, for days even." The man said.

"So you decided to bring me to hunt at night?"

"Exactly."

"But what if we run into an Ursa Major?"

"Well I hope you can run kid cause hell I ain't gonna wait for you."

As soon as they passed, they snuck into the tunnel. They encountered many doors, all of them with decorative designs from paintings, signs, and even a stuffed deer head.

"This is bad, we need to move fast. Somepony is bound to bump into one of us here." said Night Fire.

They picked up their pace as they walked down the tunnel. Ahead, they could see an open door followed by the tunnel splitting into two.

"Looks like we'll have to spl-" Night Fire didn't finish his sentence as a group of black geared Humans entered their view and started walking to their position, laughing after one of them told a joke. The tunnel was tight and the group of six Humans gave Night Fire and his squad no room to avoid them.

"Quickly, inside the room!" He whispered in desperation.

The squad quietly entered the room just in time as the group walked past their position.

"Um, LT?"

A squadmate got his attention away from the door and Night Fire turned to realize the predicament they were in.

They were in a giant room, full of giant cages with ponies, bare of clothing, stuffed inside. He could see many ponies of all ages, even foals, huddling together, afraid. Around the room, there were many Humans walking around, mostly Rebels, with eight Humans near the door. Five of them were playing some kind of card game, two were playing catch some weird ball, and another was laying down on some crates on a corner, seemingly writing on a journal.

Near the Human writing the journal, there was a radio attached to a mobile device playing music. The dark-skinned Human who was playing the card game was singing the song playing on the radio.

"12 in the morning
Pop shells for a living
And berry gon' smell blood trail every minute
Rogue wave on you n***** no fail when I hit 'em
Everytime I see a pig, I don't hesitate to kill 'em
Ain't nobody give a fuck about a rule
Either get diplomas or a tool
I'mma cool with my youngins
No bool when I'm sprayin'
This K at you fuckas
Fuck a gang affiliated with nothing but my name-"

"Jesus Christ Rainbow please shut the fuck up!" Yelled one of the Humans on the table.

They were about to walk out the door when a Rebel walked in, closing the door behind her.

The squad looked around to find an exit.

"Shit." Night Fire mumbled.

Lieutenant Lee "Wizard" Stanford

Real Name: Data Not Available

Rebel Holding Cells, Everfree Forest, Equestria

Legionnaire Lieutenant

Wizard sighed as he listened to them arguing. He thought for once, he would get some piece and quiet and write his journal around them.

"Man I'm just trying to enjoy the song. Ya'll know I love Rich Chigga." Rainbow said.

"If you're going to play, then play. Not sing trash." said Shark.

"Hey, everyone's got a song or songs they couldn't resist and sing. I know ya'll listen to rap, even you Sharky. Who's your favorite rapper anyways?"

Bear rose his hand. "I kinda liked Ghostface Killah."

"Desiigner for me." said Komodo as he caught the football thrown by Priest.

"I don't listen to rap." said Shark.

"Yeah well you ain't no fun. How bout you Cosmo?"

"Post Malone." replied Cosmo.

"And you Wiz?" Rainbow said turning his head around.

Wizard stopped writing his journal and turned his attention to Rainbow.

"Come now, we all know Biggie and Tupac are the best." He said.

"I'm talking about rappers now as in, still alive."

"Oh in that case...Kendrick Lamar."

"My boy Wiz." Rainbow said chuckling. He turned back to the game, but stopped in his tracks when he found Kahlo trying to look innocent.

Rainbow looked at how his left hand, which was holding his card, was close to Kahlo this whole time and put two and two together.

"You cheatin ass. I quit." He said as he threw his cards down and stood up. "Yo Priest!" He yelled motioning Priest to throw the football at him.

The Afrikan saw he threw the ball too high and jumped in an effort to catch it. His hands barely tipped the ball and hit the door behind him.

He went up to the ball and picked it up.

"You know Wiz, today's the anniversary." He said.

The Britannican stopped writing as he looked at him quizzically.

"What anniversary?"

"The day you walked into me showering and popped a boner." Rainbow said laughing.

Wizard got up from the crate but Rainbow rose his hands in a surrendering motion.

"Hey chill man. Everyone's gay once in a while. What you think I haven't stared at a man's dick before?"

The infuriated Britannican threw his pencil at Rainbow, but they were all confused as it seemed to bounce off an invisible entity.

"What the fuck?" Priest said.

Wizard was confused for a second before his eyes widened. He remembered the intel reports of advanced spells such as invisibility spells. He took a soda can from the table and threw its contents at Rainbow's general area.

Some landed on Rainbow but the rest seem to have stopped in mid-air. The others caught on to what was going on and pulled out their weapons.

Rainbow jumped out of the way and took out his pistol.

The rest of the Rebels were confused, but went on alert.

"Warlord, this is Wizard, we have a Parasite Situation! Put site on full lockdown!" Wizard said over the coms. "We have you surrounded, deactivate your spell and put your hands up! We have you surrounded!"

There was silence as they seemed to be pointing at nothing but some floating drops of pink soda.

"We know you're there. You have nowhere to run!"

It was at that moment when a squad of Rebels breached the room.

In a blink of an eye, one of the invisible intruders fired their guns, taking down three Rebels that just entered the room.

Everyone else fired at the location of the intruders. Wizard saw one of the intruders make a run for the table. He let out a burst from his AR-17 and saw blood spray into the wall.

Blood seemed to appear out of thin air where Wizard fired before he heard a body fall.

The invisible spell deactivated revealing the bodies of four ponies and two wounded survivors, laying in pain.

"Nightcrawlers." Wizard said.

He walked up to one of the Nightcrawlers, a Thestral, and sneered at him.

"Scum." He said as he stomped on the Thestral's face, rendering him unconscious.

Two Hours Later

Wizard and his squad alongside Jigsaw and some other Legionnaires continued to beat the two Nightcrawlers who were tied to some chairs.

About an hour ago, Warlord came by to assest the situation. He stared at the two ponies before giving them the order to extract information from them and do what they want with then after before leaving.

Thanks to Jigsaw's truth serums, they were able to extract a lot of information, starting with what units have been stationed in the Everfree, the number of squads that have been inserted to locate the HQ, and the commanders that approved of this operation. Targets for assassination.

"Stop. Please! We already told you everything!" One of the ponies, an Earth pony, said.

He only received a punch to the stomach by Wizard before he stepped back and let Bear punch him on the face.

"Heh, this is fun." Kahlo said as she punched the Thestral on the face.

Wizard yawned as he took position behind the two tied up ponies. He glanced at Jigsaw who was wearing a balaclava with a smile stitched to it with red yarn and nodded. The lead interrogator nodded in return.

"Gentleman, unfortunately, our time is coming to a close. You chose to invade our humble abode and murdered three of our little brothers and sisters. That simply cannot go unpunished, so you'll be delivering a message. But first, a question."

The two ponies looked at each other confused.

"How many does it take to deliver a message?"

They were confused before their eyes widened at realization.

"One."

Wizard pulled out his handgun and fired at the back of the head of the Earth Pony.

The Thestral stared in shock as he then began to struggle against his binds.

Wizard came up to Jigsaw and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Have fun, but don't kill him." He said as he walked to the door.

Jigsaw snickered before he brought up a crate full of chemicals and equipment near the Thestral.

"We're gonna have so much fun aren't we?" Jigsaw said as he cupped the Thestrals' chin.

Lieutenant Quick Strike

Rebirth Island Research Facility, United Terran Empire

Royal Equestrian Navy Lieutenant/Prisoner/Test Subject for Project Earth Shatterer

"Alright Lieutenant, that will be all for today."

Quick Strike glanced around as the guards removed the binds that held him to the table. A scientist near him scribble on her clipboard before looking at him with a smile.

"See, that wasn't so bad. Just a little warning though, this is about the time this facility's Euclid and Keter subjects are fed so you're gonna see some disturbing stuff on the way back."

The Pegasus kind of liked this scientist, all she's done so far is smile and even offered him a piece of candy. Looks can be deceiving though.

The Brunette with light skin motioned towards the door.

"So I'll see you tomorrow for further testing. Just please don't break any rules."

He only nodded as the guards led him out the door.

His mind wondered to the facility and the Doctor's promise. He wasn't lying, the tests were harmless, thus far. Quick Strike was still afraid of what they'll do next. As for the facility itself, he's passed many heavy doors with numbers on them. Some had windows where he could see through and some of the things he witnessed were either scary, incredible, or confusing.

In side the room of what the guards called, "Subject 999", what he could only describe it as a ball of orange slime, was jumping around the room before stopping when two guards walked in and offered it candy. The guards escorting him said 999 was meant to help keep Subject 682 contained.

He asked what that meant, but the only response he got was 682 killed members in the facility before.

In another room marked "085", he could see a scientist inside drawing on a canvas. The most astounding thing was he could see the drawing of a female Human moving and seemed to be interacting with the scientist. He couldn't see more as the guards pushed him forward.

In another labeled "343", an old man seemed to be talking and joking around with a guard in a lavish room with a fireplace.

When he asked the guards why some rooms are viewable, they told him only the "Safe" subject can be viewed. All the other subjects are unknown or highly dangerous. One told him some subjects have the potential to "Destroy the world".

Up ahead, he witnessed a group of guards throw a beaten Human down a hole in the room labeled "096". He heard the screams of the man followed by a completely different scream that sent chills through his bones.

"Heh, looks like they finally got rid of him." The guard to his right said.

"Who is he?" He asked.

"A Rebel terrorist. Bombed the Algonquin Metro which killed 23 people. About time that fucker met Subject 096. Every terrorist deserves to meet Subject 106."

"Yeah but nobody's allowed near 106." The other guard said.

"True, wish there was a way though."

They finally arrived at the door to where his fellow prisoners were held. The guards opened the door for him and pushed him inside before closing.

Quick Strike looked around to see some of the ponies looking at him.

"Quick Strike!"

He looked to his left where Captain Vigilant approached him.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

The Pegasus shrugged.

"Doc wasn't lying, though I'm still kind of afraid what other tests they'll do. So far, the only things we should worry about are the Subjects in this facility."

"Oh? Like what?"

He shook his head.

"Sir, you would not believe the kind of subjects they're holding here."

Later

Quick Strike laid on the ground, but couldn't sleep. Some of his fellow prisoners felt the same way but the majority were sound asleep. His mind kept going back and forth between his brother and the subjects in this facility. In his mind, he knew despite the number of security measures placed, there is always a way to escape.

He and all of the prisoners were disturbed by the sound of the facility's alarm.

"This site is experiencing multiple Keter and Euclid level containment breaches. Full site lockdown initiated. Tier 1 Operatives on standby. Central Command has been notified. We are now on DEFCON 1."

Quick Strike looked at his fellow prisoners.

Oh no. The Pegasus thought.

Author's Note

Ayyyy first chapter of 2018 bois.

I'll be working on the next chapter for The New Mentor before doing the next chapter for this story. Gonna go back and forth between the two stories.

Football season ended for me cuz both my college and pro teams ended up taking an L. Coaches are ass but I still love the teams so whatevs. Hopefully they'll get fired after this.

I'm gonna do a flashback chapter later on about when Vorenus, Azarov, Steiner, Anwar, Okoye, Miyagi, and Kuhn met, Maximilian Vorenus' bloody rise to power, and introducing the Royal Family. Don't know when, just somewhere.