[R] Act I, Chapter 4: Other Worlds to Explore
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

[R] Act I, Chapter 4: Other Worlds to Explore

As Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie ventured from their dropship to General Solk’s office, a few thoughts and questions about the invasion bounced from one pony to another.

“So, Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash started with a head turn, “what happened at Sugarcube Corner? I went over to check it out, but some of those demons broke in or attacked me. Did they foalnap you or something?”

“Yup,” Pinkie Pie responded. “They only took me for some reason. Right after I saw them, they threw me into a cage and took me to the Everfree Forest. I also saw a few more two-legged things–” she pointed her front left hoof at a passing soldier “–like him!”

The soldier glanced at her for a second before shrugging back to his walk.

“Anyway,” Pinkie continued,” they entered Sugarcube Corner and beat up a few of these, demons. Wait a second...”

Pinkie Pie hopped to another soldier passing by the pony trio. “Hey mister, did you find a small, toothless alligator in one of the buildings in Ponyville?”

“Uh, yes actually!” the soldier responded with a smile shielded by glass. “I think it’s located in sector H-05.”

Pinkie zipped over to the sector and returned to her friends with a toothless alligator in her tail. “I can’t believe they saved Gummy! These soldiers are really nice!”

“I don’t like their helmets,” Rainbow Dash mumbled after exiting earshot of the walking soldier. “They make them look like angry machines.”

The pony trio reached their destination after Rainbow mumbled a few more opinions about the soldiers. They entered Solk’s office, standing as usual. The general sat in his desk and examined papers with statements like I quit, where’s the fighting, and I want a raise. A stack of official documents settled next to a cup of scalding hot coffee and waited for Solk to finish reading the employee papers.

“Did the eggheads find something interesting for us?” Rainbow asked, breaking Solk’s concentration.

“Actually, yes,” Solk replied with a relieved sigh. “The scientists found a strange reading in our world. They’re calling it an ED Anomaly, but they really have no idea what the hell it means or is.”

Twilight added more attention to Solk’s words. “Wait, your world?”

“Yes, our world. Your mission doesn’t involve your Equestria this time. Luckily for you, the readings have been listed as benign, meaning that you three can rest up before you leave. Be careful when you’re on this mission. We might be powerful and advanced, but so is the wildlife and crime in our world. If you aren’t careful, a random bandit or animal might make all of you history.”

“How is the wildlife dangerous?” asked Rainbow Dash. “Is it like the Everfree Forest’s animals?”

“Well, I don’t have that much of an idea on how dangerous animals in Equestria are, but I can give a general idea of what we have. There are beetles as bigger than children that cling to trees and wait for someone to come close. There are creatures smaller than dogs that will eat anyone they see alive by hunting in packs and tearing away all of their flesh with razor-sharp teeth. There are even predators a little bigger than you three that suck the bodily fluids and organs out of their prey. If you ever do come across any of these things, Travis will tell you how to deal with them.” Solk glanced at the unarmored and unequipped Pinkie to his front right. He held a communication chip in his open hand. “Oh yeah, you might want to wear this.”

Pinkie took the chip and examined it with magnified eyes. She handed it back to him three seconds later. “I don’t need it.”

“Why?”

“Because I can hear him well without it—duh!”

Solk questioned Pinkie with an inquisitive stare, but he dropped the stare to return to explaining more important matters. “Alright, you three go and get some rest. If you ever need it, the armorer has some new armor built specifically for ponies.”

Twlilight recalled a small detail and pulled out her other set of armor. “Speaking of armor, this is for you, Pinkie.”

Pinkie grabbed the floating armor and rolled it around for a quick overview. “Wow, this looks pretty strong! Thanks, Twily!”

“You can also thank the human in the armory as well. He’s the one who crafted it.”

After studying the build and clamps for twenty seconds, Pinkie unlocked and squirmed into the armor pieces. After putting every piece on and shoving her head into the helmet, she clamped and locked the armor into one big suit. She tested its capabilities by bending her body into various positions. After attempting to roll up into a ball, she discovered that the armor required much more flexibility.

“This won’t do,” Pinkie grunted as she returned from being a living U. " I need something that’s more for me.”

“Then let’s go to the armory.” Twilight led her friends out the door to let Solk enjoy his grueling paperwork and searing coffee.

After a few quick turns through the maze of halls, the pony trio arrived at and entered the armory. The same man who repurposed three GEST Corp. Suits smiled at the ponies and set a chest piece to the side. “Welcome back! I see you also have your friend, too.”

“Solk told us that you have some new armor for ponies,” Twilight started with a trot to the counter, “so we’re here to take some.”

“Alright. Let me see what you three have first.” After counting an earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn, the armorer walked over to a restocked section of the shelves and lifted three armor suits to the table. He took out a paintbrush and paint from the counter’s drawers and painted a colored stripe corresponding to the owner on each of the helmets. “Here’s one for each of you. Unlike the last set of suits I cobbled, these ones are more flexible and roomier while maintaining the same durability, protection, and setup as the last ones. They also have a Teslatech brand Nil Weight Box attach to their left sides to provide more storage capacity without hindering agility. Plus, they finally have visors, built in communication chips, and HUDs for health, ammunition, and transmissions.”

Twilight and Rainbow unlocked their armor and removed every piece of it. Pinkie unlocked and removed hers a little later, but she was the first to test the new armor after snatching her new suit and handing her old one. She put on and locked the new armor and planted the improved helmet onto her head. After finishing the set, she marveled at the health gauge and unnecessary ammo counter. She concluded with rolling herself into a ball. Unlike the last suit, she succeeded and rolled into a wall behind her.

“Ooh, it does feel more spacious, and comfortable,” mused Twilight as she shook a hind leg. “And my mane doesn’t feel crammed into my helmet anymore.”

“That’s because I added a small slit at the top of the helmet,” answered the armorer. “Your manes will ignore your helmets and remain how they should be.”

Before anything else could be said, an upbeat chime caught everyone’s attention and introduced a blank toned voice. “Attention all ponies, Ponyville has been recently cleared and rebuilt by our teams. Transport ships have been prepared for your departure, and all of you have been signed out from the refugee list. Thank you for staying at the ED Space Station and using GEST Corp. Services. We hope your departure is safe and reassuring.”

“Well, that’s our cue to go,” Rainbow proposed as she flew to the door. “Twilight, let’s get back home.”

“Thanks for all the armor, mister!” Pinkie left the armorer a smile and followed her friends out the door.

“We should find Spike and ride with him,” Twilight suggested after arriving at a familiar lobby for the third time. With one eye sweep, she found Spike waiting yet again near a gateway. She and her friends approached him and checked the area for a nearby dropship.

“Are we going home now?” Spike asked, eager to finally leave the cosmic complex of metal.

“Yes, we are. Remember that we have quite a few things to do once we return to Ponyville.”

“I know. I’m just glad we don’t have to stay in this weird place anymore.”

The group of four walked through the gateway and to a soldier directing ponies to various dropships. He glanced at the group and pointed a finger to a vacant dropship. They entered it, took a seat, and waited for their departure. After eight ponies boarded and sat in the aircraft, the pilot activated the engine, ascended the aircraft above the ground, and flew into the airlock chamber. Once the door behind the dropship shut and the door ahead opened, the group soared back to the planet’s surface.

•—————•

After a short and busy half of a day and a night of somewhat peaceful sleep, Twilight opened an eye at the invading sunlight and wiggled her way out of bed. After remembering yesterday, she held a hope that the demons were only a figment of her imagination. However, one sight of her GEST Corp. Brand armor washed all her hopes away.

“Good, my friends being taken actually happened,” sighed Twilight with a waking yawn. She nudged Spike’s curled body with a hoof and levitated her armor onto her body. “Get up, Spike. We’re going to be busy today.”

Spike groaned and opened his eyes to halfway. “Was it all a dream?” One look at Twilight’s armored body told him a certain nope. He rose to his feet and rubbed away his sleep. “What do we have to do, other than, you know?”

Twilight wrote down a checklist full of check boxes on a scroll. “While I go and do something for the humans, you have to take care of the library. There are also a few things I need you to do, like buy more food and quill ink. Do you have it covered, Spike?”

“Yeah, I do. Is there a specific time you have to leave?”

“Uhh, maybe, but if I remember, what I’m investigating is benign, So I think I can practice a few spells before I need to go.”

“If you’re going to practice something like what you did to that one guy, please do it outside. I really don’t want to rebuild any of the treehouse today.”

“I’ll make sure to do that,” Twilight assured as she handed the list to Spike.

Twilight walked downstairs and poured herself a bowl of oaty cereal. After she sat down at a table and shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, Spike walked down the stairs and shot a confused glance at her. “Um, Twilight, why do you need five heaps of metal? And where do I even find them?”

Twilight swallowed her oats and turned to him. “I need to know that metal can be used for. The humans told me that they dumped some metal on Equestria, so I’d like to study it and see what it can be used for. Also, there are some heaps in the Everfree Forest, Canterlot, and right here in Ponyville. Collect the heaps here first, then buy a ticket to Canterlot and collect the ones there. For the ones in the Everfree, I’d advise you to ask Princess Celestia for some protection.”

“What about these humans you keep bringing up? Don’t they have really powerful soldiers?”

Twilight chewed another spoonful to mush. “Yes, but they have more important tasks to do. The royal guards don’t do much during their shifts, so Princess Celestia might let you borrow some for a while.” She turned her head to a blank scroll and a quill sitting on the table. She levitated them both to Spike and filled her mouth with her spoon again.

“Oh, right, you have to write the letter.”

Twilight swallowed the last spoon of cereal and set her dishes in the kitchen. “Okay, ready?” Once she saw a nod, she cleared her throat and stood up from her seat. “Dear Princess Celestia, I know that you might still be worried about what just happened yesterday, but there are a few things I discovered that you might find either helpful or comforting to hear. When I encountered these monsters called demons, I noticed a few characteristics about them that may show their culture or how they are ranked. They all use different weapons, which I find interesting because most armies, especially yours, use order, symmetry, and sameness. They, along with these other creatures they fight called humans, speak our language. I don’t know how they know it, but there must be a proper explanation for this occurrence. The demons also like to wear armor that should be too heavy for them to wear, and they respond to fire as if it is their ultimate weakness. They are reckless in battle and like glorifying death to a disturbing degree. They don’t even flinch when they kill a human or hurt a pony either physically or mentally.

As with the humans, they seem to be more trustworthy and less prone to killing than the demons. They act like us and talk like us, minus a few mannerisms and scales of emotion they possess. Their leader, General Solk as he is called, thinks that my friends and I are very important because we are the Elements of Harmony. However, the demons also know this, too, which is why they imprisoned Pinkie Pie inside a cage in the Everfree Forest. Their soldiers have unnatural technology beyond what I thought was possible. They even have a floating space station very high up in the sky that all of Ponyville’s residents had to stay in for hours!

One last thing I want to share with you is a lesson I learned after fighting the demons for a while. It may not exactly be a friendship lesson, but it is a lesson I can learn from. I learned that with creatures like these, I need to use my abilities to fend them off. Negotiation or peace will not work. Also, what I consider the friendship portion of this lesson, my friends might have some other abilities that could help me combat these demons. Rainbow Dash used her flight and athletic strength to help me defeat creatures I otherwise couldn’t face alone. For example, this one demon that shot me with what I believe to be electricity had to be distracted and injured by Rainbow Dash so that I could fire a fire spell into it and prevent it from hurting us any further.

I would tell much more to you, but I think Spike’s hand is cramping up from all the writing. I hope that I helped you form a plan that could protect Equestria from any future invasions by these demons. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.”

Spike ended the letter with a final quill stroke and massaged his claw. “Thanks for ending it there.”

“No problem.” Twilight trotted to the front door and pulled it open. “Send the letter and start on the list. I’m going to practice my magic out here for a while.”

With dragon breath and the slam of a door, Twilight left the treehouse and searched for an area to practice her magic. She spotted nothing but cottages—things she wanted to avoid practicing near—and continued down the road.

Her continuation continued until she reached a bouncing cotton roadblock in the vicinity of Sugarcube Corner. “Hey, Twilight, I have something that you’ll really like!”

“What is it?” Twilight asked, interested in this something.

“It’s a new type of cupcake I just baked five minutes ago! It’ll help us a lot on our adventures!”

“Okay, let me see it.”

“Alright! Hold up for just one second!”

Pinkie zipped to Sugarcube Corner and back to Twilight with a plate full of orange and yellow frosted cupcakes. “Here they are! Do you have anything to hurt yourself?”

“No, why would I have something like that?”

“Do you mind if I make a little bruise somewhere on you?”

“Of course I would! I’m not hurting myself for anything.”

“How about if I cut a piece of your mane off?”

“No! Why do you want to hurt me so badly?”

“These cupcakes are made to heal wounds like that! I wanted to test them out on you to see if they work like how they’re supposed to.”

“I’m not testing your cupcakes by hurting myself,” Twilight declined. “Now, I need to practice my spells a bit more for our next mission.”

Twilight walked around Pinkie and continued onward to find a good testing spot; however, the same roadblock stopped her once again. “Well, if you need to practice your magic, and I need to test my cupcakes, how about you practice on yourself and eat one of my cupcakes?”

“Nice idea, but no.” Twilight walked around Pinkie, only to be stopped again.

“Do you want there to be a chance that when we ever need these that they’ll not work?”

“Well, um, not really...”

“Then how about you hurt yourself and test them? That way, you get some practice and know that these cupcakes aren’t useless!”

Twilight, knowing that she’ll be stopped again, agreed to the act of suicide. “Fine. Let’s find a spot away from other ponies to do this, though.”

“Fine by me!”

The pony duo traveled further down the streets and to a small field void of other ponies. Pinkie sat down next to a tree and held out the platter of cupcakes in front of her. Twilight stood in the field and glanced down at herself. I can’t believe I agreed to hurt myself, thought Twilight with an eye turn to the patient Pinkie. Well, here it goes.

Twilight conjured a ball of magical energy from her horn and aimed for her chest. She hesitated with a few hoof shifts around the grass and a gulp of air, but after seeing an encouraging—or forceful—stare from Pinkie, she closed her eyes and unleashed the magic upon herself.

Her body sailed from her standing location into a hill sitting next to a cottage. She smacked the ground with enough force to crack a few bones in her face and legs. Once she stopped rolling down the hill, she curled around the grass and felt the overwhelming pain seizing control of her body. The blunt yet unbearable pain from the magic added with the agonizing cracked bones, bloody scrapes, and draining open wound from said cracked bones forced her to wailing and tears.

Pinkie stood up from her tree and galloped to Twilight’s side. Although Twilight’s wounds kept themselves concealed under her armor, the leaking tears and blood provided enough evidence for Pinkie. Just watching the convulsing and sobbing suit of armor drip blood from its visor struck her with pain and a heavy load of guilt.

“Pinkie, call for help, please,” pleaded Twilight through her sobbing.

“I think it’s a really good time to use these,” Pinkie rejected after staring at her treats. “Open wide, Twily, I’ll help you.”

Pinkie unlocked and opened the helmet to reveal Twilight’s blood-stained and teary face. A deep cut on her forehead revealed a section of her cracked skull, and a few drops of blood spurting from her mouth splashed onto the grass. Pinkie opened Twilight’s mouth, causing more unwanted pain, and shoved a cupcake into her mouth. Pinkie moved twilight’s jaw up and down and forced a swallow.

Twilight felt a tingling sensation once the pastry crawled into her stomach. The cracks in her bones faded with the addition of new bone cells, and the deep or shallow cuts filled with new muscle and skin. A new purple coat grew on the new skin, reversing all the damage caused by the collision and magic.

Twilight stopped crying after the pain melted off her body. She got back up at a sluggish pace and both smiled and frowned at Pinkie. “Thanks for the help, but what I had to feel just to test your healing cupcakes isn’t worth it to help you.”

“When I asked for you to hurt yourself, I didn’t mean break your legs and skin.” Pinkie looked at her hooves and swaying mane with a sigh. “I’m so so sorry I pushed you like that. I promise that I’ll never, ever do it again.” Pinkie thought about that for a few seconds and shook her head. “You know what, that’s not enough. I Pinkie Promise that I’ll never do it again.” Pinkie performed the necessary movements—minus shoving a healing cupcake into her eye. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

“It’s my fault that happened, not yours. I overdid the magic and hurt myself. You don’t have to beat yourself up, too.” Twilight turned her head to a GEST Corp. Dropship descending somewhere in Ponyville. She levitated her helmet back onto her head and locked it back onto the suit. “Let’s get ready for our mission and forget about this, okay?”

“Okay, but let me suit up, first.” Pinkie galloped into a gap between two cottages and disappeared from sight. Twilight trotted her way through the same gap and searched the streets for the dropship. After twenty more seconds of wandering and looking, she discovered the dropship sitting beside the town hall. Rainbow Dash, shoving a metal boot onto her left foreleg, hovered down to the ramp and clamped the boot onto her armor. Pinkie arrived in her battle armor and hopped over to Rainbow.

“Just so you know, I baked some yummy treats just in case those monsters hurt you.” Pinkie presented her platter of cupcakes and stuck it into her Nil Weight Box. “They’re only for emergencies, though, not for basic eating!”

“You should also know that I’ve been practicing my fighting,” Rainbow noted. “If some big freak ever tries to hurt you, I’ve got your back.”

“Is everypony ready?” asked Twilight as she placed one hoof onto the ramp. Two nods moved her hooves further up the ramp and onto a seat. Her friends joined her, watched the ramp door rise and shut itself, and braced for ascension.

•—————•

To the trio’s surprise, the dropship refused to land in the ED Space Station. Instead, it darted towards a circular gateway hanging from the station’s side. Inside the gateway swirled a blue soup of shifting colors and appearing and disappearing aircraft.

Once the dropship slammed through the colors and away from the cosmic traffic, the three ponies checked their surroundings. Their jaws dropped, and their pupils shrunk after witnessing a sight that they never imagined before: two suns surrounding one planet similar to theirs, yet drastically different. The planet’s continents and bodies of water differed in shape and size, and the moon that orbited it was covered in varying craters. As the dropship neared the planet, more landforms and structures appeared on the continents, including a massive island coated in a wide selection of biomes.

“This is Andromeda,” the pilot informed with a gruff voice. “That island down there is New Jaminino Island. We’ll drop you off in the metropolis located near the anomaly, and you’ll have to do the walking from then on. If we drop you off in open air or on bare ground, we’ll get shot down or raided by bandits or hostile scouts. Stay sharp and don’t lose focus on what you need to do.”

The pony trio nodded and faced the ramp door. The aircraft landed on a circular helipad and lowered its ramp door. The ponies walked down to the helipad and surveyed their surroundings. Gigantic skyscrapers with domes for ceilings and singular antennas pointing out of them filled the airspace and covered acres of land. Streets beside the skyscrapers and a few smaller buildings bustled with the company and rapid traffic of self-controlled, metallic automobiles. Their sleek and reflective designs almost covered the entire road.

Crowds of humans—not soldiers—walked down the sidewalks, conversing with others or entering or exiting the various buildings. Some people who focused on their communication chips, smartphones, or tablets ignored the three ponies with manes and faces contrasting from the shiny grays, dull blacks, and slick blues that paled in comparison to them. A few more observant people stopped or slowed, angering a few others or generating some disgruntled grunts and moans, and stared at the trio as if they were divine beings or a rare breed of dog. Pinkie gazed through the rows of humans and gave smiles and waves to the staring ones, and Twilight analyzed their clothing and faces. Rainbow, her attention being directed away from the people surrounding her, grumbled and growled at the two humans on the other side of the road.

“Ya really wanna go, punk?” threatened a man wearing a pair of jeans and a gray washed out, short-sleeved shirt.

“What’d you expect after calling me a bitch?” lashed another man wearing glasses and a navy blue business suit.

“I dunno, you getting the fuck outta my face like I first said!”

The suited man clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. “My shoulder scraped you for less than a second! You can’t tell me to ditch my report just because of that!”

The first man pulled out and brandished a butterfly knife, driving a few curious people back a few feet. “If you don’t fuck off right now, I’m gonna make sure ya crawl to your shitty report!”

“I’m going there and that’s final!” The businessman pulled out a pocket knife and pointed it at the other man. “Who says that you own this sidewalk anyway?”

“Alright, c’mere, faggot!”

“Knock it off, right now!” Before the two men could gut each other, Rainbow Dash pulled them away from each other and smacked their knives onto the sidewalk. She turned to the businessman and poked a hoof into his chest. “You, go to your report!” She then turned to the other man and shoved him back a few inches. “And you, take a hike!”

After Rainbow returned to her friends, the two men glared at each other. The first man rubbed the back of his neck and checked himself. “So, is it just me, or did a strange blue horse in GEST Corp. Armor just yell at us?”

“That definitely happened,” answered the businessman after glancing at the pony trio. The rest of the people around him focused on the ponies as well.

“Y’know, I’m just gonna go home and look up what the hell just happened. You go to whatever that damn thing is.”

The two men parted ways and returned to their lives, but the crowd still stared at the pony trio. Pinkie shared more smiles and waves, Twilight studied the now intrigued people, and Rainbow sighed her relief into place.

After walking for a few more blocks and passing a crossroads, Twilight and company reached a massive gateway with a lengthy and almost vacant road stretching out of it. The rest of the area beyond the gateway was rolling hills and steep cliffs covered in grass and a few twisty and bendy trees scattered hundreds of feet from each other. A few random animals, such as eyeless creatures with scaly skin, two feet in height, hundreds of minuscule fangs, two stumpy legs, and three sets of clawed arms, prowled the fields in search of other animals or delectable foliage. In the far distance lay a sky of stone grays and watery blues that veiled the distant twin stars.

“Alright you three,” Travis, returning to guide the trio, started with a voice of glass, “This is the Alplandia Plains. Your destination is south of this gate—meaning you need to go left—and inside the Crypt of Havili. Inside that crypt is an odd signal coming from your world, and GEST Corp. Would like to know what to do about it.”

“I hope we don’t run into anything crazy,” Twilight murmured.

“Well, those two humans back there were fighting for some stupid reason,” Rainbow Dash added. “If anything worse than those two meets us, I don’t think befriending them will be an option.”

“Well,” Travis continued, “the probabilities of that happening are high. Virtually, the entire planet is hostile.”

“That’s reassuring.” Twilight gulped down her worry and turned her head to the plains. “Alright, it’s best we get going now. Come on, girls. Warn me if something sneaks up on us.”

•—————•

After half an hour of trotting through grass and avoiding any hostile fauna, the three ponies discovered an encampment composed of tattered and reused materials for its makeshift tents. Travis feared for the ponies’ lives once he glanced at the green flag showing an iron helmet and dagger.

“Stay clear of that area,” he warned. “That’s a bandit hideout, and what is Pinkie doing now?”

Pinkie Pie hopped down the hill and towards the assortment of tents. Twilight gained an extra pound of worry on her head and took a step forward. Rainbow held a foreleg in front of her and cupped her hooves around her mouth. “Pinkie, what the hay are you doing? Did you even hear Travis?”

“I did hear him,” Pinkie responded with a quick head turn and another hop. “I just wanna teach these meanies what friendship and laughter are!”

“That is not a good idea! Just come back here and–”

Her voice cut off as the tents wobbled and flipped their door flaps open. A dozen humans bearing metal plating and scraped GEST Corp. Armor and holding unorthodox guns of unique builds leaned out of the small openings. They all glared at Pinkie, scratched their heads, or narrowed their eyes.

“What’s that thing supposed to be?” asked one of the humans who had some stubble on his face. He wore a beanie torn on its right side and held a pistol with a blade attached to the barrel. The words skull ripper in orange clung onto its side.

Another human with sunglasses and two beefy arms with multiple tattoos cracked his knuckles as he handed a menacing grin to the little pony. “Heh heh, this thing’s either a big bag o’ money or a tasty eat.”

“Uh, Twilight, I might need your help for this,” Pinkie whimpered as her smile melted into a frown of panic. Twilight charged her magic, ready to blast the bandits if they approach Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash questioned the ethics of hurting a human. She was fine with killing demons due to them being unliving beasts of war, but humans bled and lived. Should I kill them if they hurt us? she thought after watching a bandit cock its gun. They’re going to hurt us, but should I kill them? Despite her thoughts, she prepared for assault whenever the bandits demanded it.

“Hey boss,” started a bandit wearing steel gauntlets and holding a laser assault rifle, “what do ya want us to do with these things? They look like a rare species or somethin’.”

“Give ‘em some black eyes and haul ‘em off to the HRM.” a bulky and scar infested bandit replied with a guttural huff. “Those guys pay big bucks for things like this.”

Twilight fired a magical blast at the beefy bandit heading for Pinkie. He grunted away the pain, regained his senses, and ran behind a tent. Two more bandits cocked their laser assault rifles and aimed for Twilight. Unlike the ignorant novice demons, these bandits aimed as well as actual soldiers trained for battle. They fired their lasers at her, singing a piece of her mane and burning a slice of her right foreleg.

Twilight rubbed her right foreleg and dodged another batch of lasers. “Wait, I thought this armor is supposed to protect me!”

“It is.” Travis answered, “Your armor protects you from physical weaponry and bullets very well, but lasers will absorb into the armor and partially go through. This causes the laser to burn you.”

Rainbow Dash decided to attack after the laser volley. She slammed into one of the aiming bandits, caving in their chest cavity as smacked their head on the ground. The bandit curled up, held his hands to his chest, and gasped for air. Pinkie cartwheeled out of the attack zone and settled next to a tent.

The beefy bandit sprinted out of cover and towards Rainbow Dash. After reaching only ten feet from her, he raised his hands into a grappling position to take hold of and tear off her wings. Unfortunately for him, she acknowledged his presence after a few heavy stomps and countered his grapple with a sudden kick to the jaw. This fragmented three of his teeth and chipped four more, as well as smacking his brain into his cranium. Twilight, now focused on the aiming bandits, fired a blast at them. One of the bandits dropped their gun and cupped their right hand with the other.

“Sonuva bitch!” The injured bandit gave a death stare to Twilight and reached for his gun. “You’ll pay for that, asshole!”

Twilight sent another blast to the bandit, aiming for his chest this time. He dodged to the right and signaled a nearby bandit with a finger point to pick his gun up. The fellow bandit ducked under another magic blast, snatched the gun, and tossed it to the first bandit. They both aimed for Twilight a second time and burned three holes into her tail and grazed her left cheek with a burn. She led her next magic blast and successfully struck the first bandit’s chest. He stumbled for a second and aimed again, surprised to find Rainbow Dash pulling on his shirt collar. She kicked down the assault rifle and threw one knockout punch into the bandit’s face, crunching his nose and facial bones to permanent ruin and stealing his consciousness. He flopped next to the other’s feet and bled a small pool where his face resided.

“Hey, stay back, man!” the bandit warned with a hipfire miss. “I’ll go easy if you do fo–”

A double kick into his ribs answered his offer and smacked him onto the ground. He choked on and coughed out blood moments later, letting Rainbow resume beating the beefy bandit to submission. The skull ripper pistol bandit aimed for her and fired three lasers. One struck her right hind leg, and the other two missed her by less than an inch each. Another three lasers pushed her away from the beefy bandit and to the side of a tent. The pistol bandit, turning to the still out of cover Twilight, swung to the ground after meeting a quartet of hooves trample his torso and head. Two more hooves smashed his face in and introduced him to the Sandman.

“Alright, playtime’s over, freaks!” The scarred bandit reached into his tent and pulled out a gatling machine gun bigger than his already muscular arms. He pulled down the trigger and unleashed a storm of laser blasts into the battlefield. Pinkie, now finished punching the beefy bandit into unconsciousness, hopped off the bandit’s back and away from the hailfire of lasers. Twilight galloped down from the hill and used a tent to escape the lasers. A bandit hiding in the same area she chose kicked her backward and aimed for her head. She ripped the gun from his hands with a levitation spell and fired it back at his face ten times. She dropped the gun on the now Swiss cheese faced corpse and galloped away from another bandit’s lasers.

Rainbow Dash flew away from the scarred bandit’s rain and bumped into a bandit holding a burst fire pistol and a machete. The bandit dodged her first punch and grabbed onto her right hind leg. He held the machete up for a quick strike and failed after having it kicked out of his hand. He backed away and fired three lasers at Rainbow, hitting her left side once. She winced and pinned him to the ground, ending his life by stomping all four hooves into his ribs.

Pinkie rolled into a tent to escape the gunfire and encountered another bandit. This bandit cocked his bayoneted laser assault rifle and slashed it at her face. He succeeded, but the armor and visor downgraded the tear in flesh to a scratch on metal. She kicked the gun back into the bandit, resulting in the bayonet stabbing through his neck and trachea. She returned back outside to discover that the scarred bandit needed to cool down his machine gun. She seized this opportunity by kicking a bandit back to Rainbow’s prepared forelegs, stomping down on another’s head after flinging herself into the air, and landing right next to the scarred bandit. He grunted and flung a miss with his gun at her. She hopped around him and to his tent, pulling her party cannon out of it and preparing it for fighting. The bandit aimed for Pinkie and started up his gun again. However, one sudden blast of confetti to his face broke his control over the gun.

“Augh, damn it!” The scarred bandit flung his gun around and into the direction of two tents. The gunfire tore them and one hiding bandit apart. Rainbow Dash, finished teaching a cocky bandit not to duel the number one pegasus, hurled a storm cloud at the scarred bandit. When the electrified puff of dark gray smacked into his face, it unleashed all its electricity into him. The muscle spasms that followed threw his machine gun into a nearby bandit, crushing them from the force and weight of it. Twilight fired one more blast at him, hitting his neck and destroying what was left of his nervous system. He plummeted to the ground, forever paralyzed and near death. This final blow reanimated the ethics of fighting into Twilight and Rainbow’s minds.

“Travis,” Twilight started with a nudge to a bandit’s body, “are you sure we had to hurt these humans? This just doesn’t feel right, at all.”

Travis prepared an explanation after a few seconds of mumbling. “Well, it’s pretty much the base of our universe. Unlike your world where everything can be solved with minimal violence, we have to fight a constant war to assure peace to our citizens. Ever since we humans started building towns, some of us wanted to steal from them or tear them down. These bandits that you eliminated are an example of what wants to kill us right on our front lawn. They lie, cheat, steal, and kill to get whatever sum of afkins they desire. If you never fought back, they would either sell you or do some other action involving money or self-pleasure.”

“I’m still uneasy on killing them,” Rainbow Dash pressed onto Travis with narrowed eyes and a frown. “Why should we kill these guys if they’re like us? They might not see kindness as the proper choice, but I don’t think they deserve to die for it. The demons are a different topic. They’re heartless monsters that care more about hurting us than our lives.”

“When you put it that way, these bandits are pretty much the same, except they bleed.”

A thought about the past smacked Twilight Sparkle’s face. “Pinkie, did you mention a nice demon when we rescued you?”

“Of course!” Pinkie hopped around and turned to random tents and patches of dirt and sky. “He told a bunch of nice things about me like how my mane is pretty and that anypony that ever has me in their life would be very lucky. The other ones started yelling at him for something they called treachery. After they took him away, I never saw him again. I wonder where he went.”

“Then even the demons are like us” Rainbow Dash hovered in a circle, grumbling and flailing hooves in random directions. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this. They’re bad, but there’s good in some of them, too. I just can’t feel good about hurting something with feelings like this anymore.”

Travis shifted his tone to a dreaded seriousness. “You’ll have to get used to fighting for your life. Almost everything from our universe will kill on sight or disregard any morals. If you’re a foal, you’re dead. If you’re innocent, you’re dead. If you’re on their side, you’re dead. You have to fight to survive, but I’m not asking you to commit bloody genocide. Just stay yourselves and focus on what we need to do, okay?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged and calmed herself a few notches. “Alright, but no more humans, please.”

“As long as you avoid these bandit camps, you won’t have to fight them.”

With the discussion and questioning of slaying humans and demons finished, the pony trio left the camp and its sprawling casualties to its lonesome and returned to trekking through the rolling hills of Alplandia Plains.

•—————•

Pinkie Pie, leading the group by a dozen feet farther than Twilight, scanned the nigh endless rolling hills and lonely trees for anything that contrasted the shades of green and bluish grays. Just to her left by about fifty degrees, a foreign assortment of arches, pillars, walls, buildings, and statues surrounded a central structure with two slightly open bronze doors. Her eyes locked onto the contrasting stone and metal and bounced with a cautious yet still impatient gait. Her two friends, questioning the distant architecture, exchanged fearful faces and followed Pinkie.

As the structures neared the ponies’ eyes, their details and ancient aura developed. Twelve towers resembling spiraling pillars with statues on their top encircled and faced the central gateway to the unknown. These statues presented creatures with spherical bodies, two scrawny legs with minuscule three-toed feet, two long antennae with bulbous ends, gaping toothless maws, holes for nostrils and ears, and two bulging elliptical obsidian eyes as dark as the void. Swirly and twisty patterns and shapes decorated the architecture, and small illustrations in the form of etchings told stories through the actions and expressions of the same spherical creatures. Every structure integrated both marble and steel for their support and decor.

Twilight Sparkle marveled at the etchings, patterns, and sculptures, eyes wide with wonderment. Wow, an entire alien civilization that existed ages ago. I wish I brought a camera to show all this to Princess Celestia.

“Hey, uh, did anypony else feel that?” Rainbow Dash eased her sudden shivering with a wing wrap.

“Feel what?” Twilight asked after inspecting a dusty illustration.

“That weird rush of cold air.” Her body shivered a little more. “It feels like a freezer or something!”

“No. It feels warm to me.”

“Come over here and feel this. Maybe you have some answer.”

Twilight walked over to Rainbow and directed her attention to the air around her. At the same time Rainbow shivered again, she felt a rush of cold, dead air surround her entire body and force her to shivers. It was as if the underworld’s legions of dead exhaled one lifeless breath.

Twilight’s ears drooped down, along with her optimism. “Oh, I feel it, now.”

Pinkie broke Twilight’s concentration on the air with half a conversation. “Why thank you! You look great, too! No, I’m from another planet. No, not Earth, Equestria. Yup, Equestria with a quest in the middle! Maybe, but I’m not sure. Pinkie Pie, and you? Uh, I don’t know if I can pronounce that. How about I call you, Hemmie? Just a few healing cupcakes, really. No, I bake lotsa goodies! I baked pies, cakes, cupcakes, muffins, tarts, donuts, strudels, cupcakes, eclairs, macarons, shortcakes, cupcakes, cookies, rolls, crepes, and more! You probably misheard me. Every single thing I listed was different!”

“What are you doing, Pinkie?” questioned Twilight with a cocked head and unequally narrowed eyes.

“I’m talking to one of the natives! They’re really nice! They even have magic like you do, Twily!” Pinkie’s voice slowed and quieted. “They’re awfully cold and transparent too.”

Twilight shuddered at that last bit of information. Cold and transparent? They must be old spirits or something.

“This is your destination,” Travis informed. “You need to enter this crypt and discover what’s causing the signal. Hopefully, we find something nonhostile or too weak to fight.”

Twilight swallowed her growing fear and peered into the cold darkness. “Girls, let’s go. Watch out for dangerous creatures, and don’t go anywhere without all of us.”

Rainbow nodded as Pinkie turned back to the patch of air. “I need to go, now. I hope I gave you some needed company. Pinkie, not Binkie, silly!”

As the pony trio shuffled through the opening between the bronze doors, small lights on the sides of their helmets brightened the area to a reasonable brightness. The ever present marble and steel usage on the ceilings, floors, and walls presented its beauty and history no matter where the ponies traversed. Nothing in the halls wriggled, scuttled, or buzzed. Not even a tiny beetle, spider, or worm resided in any of the walls or rare cracks.

After a few minutes of slow and aimless wandering, Twilight and company found a few skeletons sitting in front of a wall. Their bodies resembled humans, and the worn and cracked armor they wore bore the common GEST Corp. Logo. Pinkie trembled and whimpered, but after humming a smiling tune, she regained her confidence and ease. The other two ponies remained in their shiver shells.

“Travis, why are there human skeletons down here?” Twilight asked through her chattering.

“We had an investigation in this crypt years ago,” Travis explained. “The squadron never came back, so this must be what’s left of them.” That response, instead of calming her, shook her eyes across the lifeless room.

The ponies continued down the crypt’s halls and discovered a bony equivalent of the sculpted creature from outside. Twilight levitated the skeleton with a shimmer from her horn. The bones rattled and pulled, attempting to resist her grasp. She dropped the bones with a shriek and a choir of thuds. They floated back into place and built the skeleton of one of the unknown creatures. Two glowing purple pupils in its huge eye sockets stared at her as it slowly moved its jaw up and down. A few more rattles filled the room once the skeleton illuminated, building more human and inhuman skeletons with blue pupils instead of purple ones. Swords slid out sheaths, staffs rose from the ground, and pieces of armor encased shifting bones. Twilight readied her magic blasts, Rainbow crouched down and waited to strike, and Pinkie raised her forelegs for striking.

The same inhuman skeleton Twilight levitated opened its mouth as wide as it could get and spoke in a sinister, dead, and distant voice. “Fresh souls.”

As it floated closer and closer to the trio, Rainbow kicked it in the front of its skull, fracturing it and leaving a hoof dent. Twilight fired at an approaching human skeleton wielding a broadsword and a heater shield. It blocked the attack with its shield and walk a few more steps forward. Pinkie attempted to hoof punch the incoming skeletons, but she found herself dodging blades and elemental projectiles instead. After a few unsuccessful hits, Twilight grunted and unleashed a wave of magic around the hallway, throwing all the skeletons back onto the ground. They disassembled and mixed into random piles, but they reassembled back into their original forms and continued walking and fighting.

“How do we defeat these things?” Twilight asked steps away from screaming. She ducked under a blast of ice and dodged a dagger stab.

“Just like all other spirit-based creatures,” Travis informed, “these creatures don’t really die. The only way to stop them is to weaken their spirit by damaging their physical form. If they lose enough power, they cannot animate their own corpses.”

The twitching and slothful movement of the skeletons continued as they surrounded the trio. Desperate to protect her friends, Rainbow Dash bucked into a skeleton’s shield, knocking them to the ground. Twilight decided that area of effect attacks are the most effective and pushed down the restless dead with another wave of magic. The skeletons collapsed once more, but only some—not all—returned to fighting. The ones that stayed stagnant lost their blue pupils. The initial inhuman skeleton grabbed the weaponry from the downed skeletons and spun them around its body, threatening to stab the ponies if they dared to use melee. Pinkie smashed a skeleton’s skull into pieces, reducing it to a pile of bones. Twilight, noticing that another skeleton let its guard down, fired a magic blast at it. The skeleton exploded into fragments and ceased its movement.

“Trespassers will be stripped of their souls,” wheezed the initial skeleton. Its blue glow brightened, illuminating the dark passageway more than wanted. Noticing that it did not shield itself against ranged attacks, Twilight charged another blast, fired it, and destroyed every bone it owned. The glow faded to nothing, and the floating weapons dropped to the fragments below. The only light left was Twilight’s fading horn and the lights from the helmets.

Pinkie wiped her front left hoof over the top of her head. “Whew! That was an exhausting battle! Are there any more of these weird creatures nearby?”

“I’m not sure, Pinkie,” Rainbow glanced down the two ends of the hall. “With the size of this place and the still unsettling air, I think there’s more to come.”

And Rainbow Dash was correct. The trio encountered more of these shambling ghouls as they pressed through the dead resistance. Some minor injuries from a few hard blows or an elemental blast inflicted a few bruises and unfortunate cuts, but Pinkie’s cupcakes negated all of them without any issues.

The twists and turns of the crypt led them to a big circular room with more statues of the same creatures. A wood and steel coffin rested in the middle of the circular room. It collected dust and mold from age, and the clamps keeping it locked rusted to the point where they would never be unlocked again. The as frigid as a terrific blizzard air shrouded everything in its shiver-inducing blankets. The trio shivered and chattered to the point that they huddled for warmth.

Travis obtained a reading from above the coffin and scanned it. “Hmm, the area above that coffin seems to be where the ED anomaly is located. Get a bit closer and check what it does.

The ponies approached the coffin and checked for anything unusual. Twilight, the one who felt the presence of the anomaly, nudged her friends back with her forelegs. “Stand back, girls, I’m going to amplify, whatever this is.”

“Wait, what did you say?”

Twilight gathered magic into her horn and wrapped the area above the coffin with a veil of magic. The magic poked into the atomic holes of reality and pulled them apart. Blinding white light escaped from the new tear in reality and pulled itself outward. At the same time, the magic leaked through the tear and grabbed onto a couple entities.

“You know,” Travis murmured, “ripping reality apart is something that I highly advise you to not do. Literally anything can happen, and it’s not worth the cataclysmic risk of destroying our universe.”

“I think it’s too late to warn me,” Twilight responded with nervous laughter. “I’m already pulling something back into this world.”

The magic dragged two familiar entities out of the tear in reality and dropped them on the coffin. Both of these creatures wore a shiny black shell and flapped their light blue bug-like wings. Their legs’ absent of some flesh considering the holes in them, scrambled around the stone and wood. Their ponylike yet mostly insectoid bodies climbed back onto their supposed hooves and scanned their surrounding with their solid blue eyes. They both locked their sights on the trio in front of them.

“So, you three must’ve been the ones to ruin our scouting,” one of the monsters hissed. “But, wait, you three look similar to what the master wanted.” They turned to their cohort. “What did he say again once we found our targets?”

“He said to take them for testing,” the other answered with the same type of hiss. “They will make good templates for reconstruction.”

Twilight’s pupils shrunk to a ridiculous degree. They’re changelings! But, are they? They definitely look like them, but they said master. When did they have a master, and when did they take ponies for testing? Shouldn’t they be saying Queen Chrysalis and talking about eating love? Something about this doesn’t add up.

One of the changelings spoke again in that unsettling hiss. “You three will be useful to us. If we have one of every variant, we will become legendary!”

The same changeling morphed into a shape that caught everyone off guard. Changelings utilize a disguise from whatever they remember or can see, but this one ignored this rule. It changed into a human with a sword for an arm. Its body was as reflective and shiny as metal, but it wore no armor. The other raised even more questions when it changed into a shadowy beast of smoke that clung to the top of the ceiling.

The now human changeling’s voice changed into deep and determined male voice. “So, who wants to fight me first?”

“How did you changelings enter this world?” questioned the baffled Twilight. “How can you even master dimensional travel?”

“Changelings?” the gaseous one’s voice cracked with its demonic serpent voice.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what you two are!” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at the humanized changeling.

The human changeling shook its head and chuckled to itself. “You must’ve confused our scouting disguises for those worthless emotion leeches. We’re durnoki.”

Twilight pondered that for a moment. Well, that could explain their advanced shapeshifting ability, but why would be in Equestria, and why would they pretend to be changelings?

The humanoid durnoki prepared to strike the trio. Rainbow Dash reacted to his preparation by slamming it into a nearby wall. The smoky durnoki on the ceiling crept down, daring to choke the ponies of their air. Twilight charged and launched a fire spell at the black mass. It shrieked in unison with the burning flames coating its form. Pinkie scanned the enemies for any weaknesses and noticed that the burning smoke morphed into a brick on the floor. She inspected it with a tap from a hoof. Since she now knew that it was actually a brick, she attempted to break it apart by stomping on it with her entire body’s weight and four hooves. This failed, but she did force a muffled scream out of the brick.

The humanoid durnoki got back on its feet and altered its body. The blade hand shifted into a laser rifle, and its other hand shifted into a grappling hook. The durnoki kicked back Rainbow and shot the ceiling with its grappling hook. It swung from one side of the room to the other, firing laser blasts at Twilight and Rainbow. Rainbow zipped around the lasers and to the durnoki’s right. She conjured a storm cloud and kicked it at the durnoki. To her surprise, it missed.

“Wow, you are a terrible shot.” the durnoki mocked with an amused chortle. “Let’s see if you’re also a terrible dodger!”

Lasers aiming for Rainbow struck her legs and sides quite a few times. She winced with every new burn and flew around the next set of lasers and to the other side of the room. Pinkie jumped back into a wall once the brick morphed into a lean slicing and dicing machine with six arms wielding blades on their ends. One optical sensor stared at her and ordered four pointy legs to bring it closer to her. She rolled around the blades and behind the machine. She kicked it into the same wall, damaging some circuitry and components. The human durnoki, distracted by it injured accomplice, allowed Twilight a chance to fire a magic blast at it. The human durnoki smacked into the ceiling lost its grip, and plummeted to the ground. It coughed up a little yellow and green slush and struggled to crawl back to standing.

“So, I guess, fighting won’t work, huh?” it mused with a coughing fit through its words. “Next time, we meet, You’ll become ours.”

The machine durnoki morphed into another humanoid with metallic skin and glanced back at the ponies. “The master will not take your opposition nicely.” It pulled it cohort back to their feet. “Vazkoran, we need to leave. Create a dimensional rift gun for us.”

Vazkoran nodded as his grappling hook changed into a rectangular gun with a monitor on its top. He shot at a wall with it, ripping open a portal begging to close. The two durnoki, Vazkoran being dragged along the floor, leapt into the portal at the same time it closed.

Twilight huffed her exhaustion away. “Those, are definitely, not changelings! Why did they, even want us?”

“They probably wanted to create a new form,” Travis informed. “Durnoki are capable of morphing into anything they want. They just have to find out what they’re changing into first.” Travis paused and questioned the durnoki’s motives. “They possibly see you three as efficient forms. Plus, since they said that you three were targets, they must’ve already known about your powers.”

“But why did they approach us as changelings?” Rainbow Dash questioned with a wince.

“They might have found them and attempted to hide alongside them. Durnoki criminals are known to be very, very sneaky and deceptive. They are also incredibly good at mimicking others. In fact, they’re so good at it that they can mimic your mannerisms, speech patterns, and personality to a T.” Twilight and Rainbow gave two tiny whimpers. “Also, there’s a drop ship ready at the crypt entrance. You might want to hurry if you want to leave this place.”

“Wait, we’re leaving already?” grumbled Pinkie. “But I was just making friends with the natives!”

“Pinkie, they’re dead.” Twilight put a hoof to her head and sighed. “I can’t stress it enough that you didn’t realize that. Also, they tried to hurt us earlier, so can we just leave them here?”

“Just because they’re dead doesn’t mean they can’t be my friends.” Pinkie grumbled a bit more to herself and trotted towards the exit.

“Hey, uh, Pinkie?” Rainbow flew over to her and unlocked her helmet. “I need one of your cupcakes, like right now.”

“Same with me,” Twilight requested. “Some of those lasers burned me, too.”

Pinkie opened her Nil Weight Box and tossed a cupcake each to her friends. They both removed their helmet’s chomped down the pastries, and felt the wounds on them and in them reduce to nothing.

After Twilight shoved the last piece of hers into her mouth, she toyed with the wrapper for a few moments and crumpled it to nonreality. “What did you make these with, Pinkie?”

Pinkie regained her smile and pulled out another one to show. “They’re made with a new herb I found! There’s this special plant that’s really common in the Everfree Forest! It’s called the hearthorn creeper. It’s a vine that grows on the trees and forms red bulbs in the shape of pretty little hearts. If you eat one raw, you get sick with a bad tummy ache, but if you squeeze the juices out of them and mix in some vanilla, you get a delicious soup of goody goodness that heals anything! It’ll help us a lot while we go on all these epic quests!”

“Huh, that’s really intriguing,” Twilight mumbled through a still full mouth. She swallowed the remaining cupcake mush and put on her helmet. “I’ll go study that plant whenever I get the chance. Also, how did you get all that knowledge about it.”

“Zecora told me its name, and I found out the rest by myself.” Pinkie flipped her grin to a frown and pressed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Seriously, though, don’t ever eat them raw. Not even belly rubs will help the tummy ache.”

Travis jumbled around a few words before forming speech. “If there’s a plant in your world that literally heals anything from ingesting its concentrated juices with vanilla, why didn’t you bring this up sooner?”

“I didn’t know until after I baked them today. I went through thirty-four batches of cupcakes just to find out what made them actually heal you. And yes, thirty-three of them gave me those tummy aches.”

“You must really hate tummy aches considering how bad you make them sound.”

“Anything that makes me want to barf or have the world’s best masseuse massage my belly will never be good to me. If anything does it once, that’s it. It’s the same reason why I gave up on custard.”

The trio witnessed Travis gasp for the first time in history. “You hate custard? What the hell is wrong with you?!”

“It tastes fine, it’s just that I can’t eat it.”

“Define fine.”

Pinkie tapped her head with a hoof. “Uhh, it’s passable, but there’re so many other goodies I enjoy a lot more. It’s just that custard has an awkward taste to me, and I don’t like the feel of it. Also, it made me sick.”

“I don’t know how you can hate possibly the best dessert to ever exist. For a pony like you that probably eats and enjoys a ludicrous amount of different desserts and treats, how could you pick custard out of everything else? You could’ve chosen baklava instead!”

“But baklava is actually pretty good. It’s one of the best sweets I eat that has honey in it!”

“The honey is what ruins it. As well as the flakiness, too. Both of them give it some really weird feeling combined with that unsavory taste of honey. It’s just, eugh.”

Pinkie caught Travis’s irritation and threw it back at him. “I can’t believe you don’t like honey. Honey’s so good when you mix it in any treat!”

“Alright, you both have favorite foods that the other hates,” interrupted Twilight with lowered eyes. “Can we drop this argument and move on? Look, there’s the door, and the dropship’s right outside these ruins. You two can argue after we go home.”

“Sorry about that.” Travis turned his attention from the ponies to a monitor full of statistics. “I need to check some data I received anyway.”

Twilight watched the waiting dropship for a few seconds. She turned to the empty sky and fields and back to the aircraft. “Wait, didn’t we have to land in that city because it was too dangerous to land here?”

“The possibility of losing you, your friends, and an aircraft was likely.”

“Then why is there one here right now?”

“Because further investigation—partially from you three—told us that this area is safe to land in. Originally, we didn’t know what could be over here. You did find a couple bandit camps scattered around the area, so now we know that those specific locations are unsafe for landing or flying.”

The pony trio stepped in the dropship and sat down once again. Twilight swept her eyes through the hills once more, watching the distant animals prowl across the uneven and expansive land. Next time I come back here, I should document everything here and show it to Princess Celestia. She’ll be so proud of everything I found so far.

•—————•

Inside a throne room contrasting Zedin’s domain to near perfection, Princess Celestia and General Solk watched the royal guards progress through tests made for GEST Corp. Cadets. Some of the guards dodged rubber balls from skinny yet rowdy machines imitating gunfire, some attempted to use their magic, flight, or brute force to knock down and destroy mechanical soldiers armed with nonlethal weaponry, and others flipped and rolled laser rifles in their hooves. Solk lowered his groaning head and cringed at the soldiers’ completion and skill.

“Celestia,” he started, staring at the ground and massaging away his headache, “these soldiers are beyond inadequate. How the hell do they fail to dodge incoming grenades? They have magic or wings, and they can run from these situations in nearly an instant. Even my most nonexperienced recruits can fire a gun or take down a robot with boxing gloves faster than these poor idiots.” He raised his head back to Celestia. “You have to at least made them able to fight off something other than themselves.”

Celestia frowned. “I’m afraid to say that the abundance of guards was for illusion purposes. They are not highly trained in combat situations, especially against deities or otherworldly monsters.”

“Alright, I have a special plan for your soldiers.” A royal guard fell on their hooves as a makeshift bullet struck their side. “I have a program called the Equestrian Dimension Soldier Training Association, or the EDSTA for short. I’d need some of your soldiers to sign up to this program so that they can fend off every threat my army’s faced in the past. If any of those groups enter this world while the EDSTA’s newly trained soldiers are in your cities and towns, your nation will remain intact. If you keep soldiers like this roaming around your towns, those groups will do the exact same thing they did to Ponyville, except only faster and with many more troops.”

Celestia thought about the potential results. She turned her frown to half a smile. “Well, this program sounds rather helpful, but will I continue to have control over them?”

“That is not guaranteed. These soldiers need a strategist that has already experienced combat with these enemy forces. You have little to no knowledge of how they’ll act. If you were put in charge, you might not even know where to send them. Warfare is very serious, Celestia, and knowledge is key in that art. Yeah, I know you have over a thousand more years of leading and commanding than me, but you never dueled against an entire extraterrestrial force armed with technology far beyond what I’m seeing right now. We need to guide them.”

She lowered her head and nodded. “As it hurts me to say it, I understand completely. You can have control over these enrolled guards, but I will continue control over the entire nation. Please take good care of them.”

Another royal guard yelped after two boxing gloves smacking his face. “We will. Once we deal with this demon menace and anything else that wants this world, you can have them back. Also, I don’t want to take your control of Equestria away. That would jeopardize both our species.”

“Just, don’t take Equestria away from us, please.” Celestia shed a single tear hidden from Solk’s sight. “I never wanted my kingdom to fall like this.”

“Celestia, calm down. We’re not that heartless. I care about your people as much as you do. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be here to train your soldiers or protect you from Zedin’s army.”

“I hope that is why you are here.”

“It is.”

Act I, Chapter 5: A Storm is Brewing
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act I, Chapter 5: A Storm is Brewing

The journey back to Ponyville mirrored the calm and eye opening departure. The only difference was an aerial bandit assault composed of eight infantry units and three fighter-class aircraft. The attack allowed the past memories of morality and human nature to resurface, but the trio suppressed them and continued admiring the world's beauty.

"You know, those natives really like talking about their lives," Pinkie Pie started, catching the attention of everyone.

"What did they tell you?" Twilight Sparkle asked.

"They said that they don't like it when random strangers take their land, like these humans apparently, but they don't care about us three."

"Then why did those skeletons attack us?"

"Those were the few natives that feel insulted by us, but there were only about four of them like that. The rest of them liked watching us go through their crypt."

"That doesn't make sense. We fought dozens of skeletons, not four."

"Most of them could've been the same spirit," Travis proposed. "Stronger spirits can manipulate multiple corpses at once. It's why liches have armies in the thousands if they're allowed to absorb that many souls. Maybe those few spirits absorbed enough of them to do that."

Twilight turned her focus to Travis and raised an eyebrow. "Wait, absorb souls?"

"Yes. That could also explain why the humans down there died. Their souls were devoured by those few angry spirits."

"So, if we died down there, they would've eaten our souls?"

"Yep. I know, it's pretty disturbing."

Twilight dissolved her next question into something that had less of a chance of causing nightmares. "Do these creatures have an actual name I can call them?"

"Haabilis," the co-pilot answered with aged gruff. "They're the same species we fought about seventy years ago. Compared to the Human-Demon War and the Human-Kavarian War, their war, the Human-Haabilis War, was pretty much a blip in our history."

"You guys don't have creative names for wars," Rainbow noted. "At least give them something other than those snore fests."

"I think we have more important things to do than name a war. Second, that's the most straightforward name we could make. Do you know what the Hundred Years' War is?"

"Uh, some war that lasted a hundred years?"

"It lasted more than a hundred. Specifically, one hundred and sixteen years. Do you know who fought in it?"

"Um, I'm not a human, so no."

"Two old countries from Earth called England and France. Now, imagine having eight different wars happening at the same time with names as vague or inaccurate as that. Would you really want to memorize them all?" Rainbow shook a response back. "Exactly. Naming wars after the two species part of it make them much easier to tell apart and manage strategies for each separate war. Anyway, if you have any questions on the Haabilis, ask away."

"I'm curious why you had a war with them," Twilight suggested.

"Ever since Earth was destroyed, we needed to find a new planet to call home. A planet we called Andromeda became our Earth-Two because it was habitable and familiar enough for us. Apparently, the Haabilis owned the planet, but they were dormant at the time. When they woke up and saw out towns, they declared war and attacked us. Only two years later, they went extinct."

Twilight's pupils shrunk and pointed at the co-pilot. "You made an entire species extinct? Why, and how?"

"Killing them was easy. They only had a population of thirty million, and one laser blast to the head was enough to kill them. As with why, it's because they attacked first, rejected our terms for peace, and enslaved human civilians and POWs."

"Why didn't you just leave the planet or compromise?"

"The Haabilis didn't want compromise, and we had no choice but to stay. If we didn't, the kavarians would've made us extinct."

"Twily, it's called survival of the fittest," Pinkie added. "To keep Equestria, we had to fight. It's not that much different with these humans."

"But, you committed genocide towards another species!" Twilight blurted, ignoring Pinkie. "Couldn't you have done anything else not being extinction?"

The co-pilot shook his head. "Life is weird that way. Some species have the easy life and don't have to suffer from choices and wars like that, but some like us do. We had to do that if we wanted to live. Hell, I doubt your species would be alive if we went extinct."

"They did save Ponyville," Rainbow included. "You could thank those Hablit things for letting that happen."

Pinkie turned to Twilight again and nudged her. "The Haabilis aren't bothered by their extinction. They know that their lives had to end."

"Please explain why," Twilight pleaded. She threw every thought and idea in her mind through windows and on trampolines.

"They had to hide from an ice age that killed nearly all of them. They told me about how they had to build underground cities to escape the cold. Sadly, only a few thousand survived the ice age. It's amazing how they recovered to millions, even if it was for nothing."

"Okay, that's a brand new piece of history we didn't expect at all!" Travis giddily shouted as he added a few notes to a file. "Pinkie, next time you have time to talk, tell me everything the Haabilis shared with you."

When they were about to touch solid land, Twilight noticed the swirling mass of storm clouds around the Crystal Empire. "Hey, uh, does anypony know what that storm mass is?"

"Oh, that?" The co-pilot pointed to the mass. "That's a new disturbance we found on this planet. The readings from the science guys in the ED Space Station told us how that this storm complex is pretty serious."

"Is there any explanation it's there?" asked Rainbow Dash in worry. "I know that storm clouds are never supposed to do that. In fact, they never do that." She looked at the swirling mass again in an even stronger magnitude of fear. "It even looks like it's shooting into the sky! Storms never do that!"

The pilot was highly confused about her climbing anxiety. He took the hint that she was in fear of the odd storm activity and proceeded to aid her. "Woah there, don't get too scared now. Solk stated that that complex is your next mission. Just calm down and wait for us to drop you off near the site. If you're one of the many pegasi in this land, then you can interfere with that storm. Just do what you do best."

Rainbow Dash got ahold of herself and took a few deep breaths. Twilight Sparkle was beginning to worry about her. Rainbow Dash wasn't scared easily by odd weather, and she didn't really care about hurting others that much. Rainbow Dash usually took situations head on, no matter how deadly or insane they looked. If she's panicking from a rotating mass, then what will happen if she experiences another invasion? I'll have to schedule a checkup for her, Twilight concluded to herself. Her actions and thoughts are getting out of hoof.

The ponies continued to examine the surroundings outside. The first thing they saw was a group of crystal ponies screaming as seven odd machines rolled up to them in pursuit. One of the ponies tripped and were captured by the machines. As the screaming pony kicked and squirmed, one of the machines slammed a metal claw on its head. The pony was knocked out, allowing the machines to continue their assault.

"What are those things?" Twilight asked in curiosity. She heard Travis sigh in a disappointed manner.

"They're called R-Bots," he groaned as if he dreaded their presence. "If I remember correctly, they love to invade other planets and steal the inhabitants' brains."

"Wait, what?" Twilight responded in horror. "They steal brains? Why?"

"They use the brain cells to create more machines. Their leader believes that microchips and other processors can be easily hacked to another's bidding. In order to combat this, they use real brain cells to create machines with personalities and a working central processor. It actually works due to the feelings the machines possess for their leader. They either fear or worship him."

"Eww, brains?" Pinkie questioned in disgust. "That's just nasty!"

"At least they're not torturing them or something," Rainbow Dash expected in a comfortable mood.

The trio exited the dropship in caution, checking if any of the strange machines were still around. Twilight pointed the way to the Crystal Empire. A huge storm cloud in a circular shape shrouded the city in darkness. The complex was more of a ring, as the inside of the storm represented a starry night sky with a huge planet in the vicinity. A large beam of electricity shot out of the castle in the distance. The trio proceeded to the castle, noticing that some of the houses were boarded up and blockades were built out of metal on some streets. All three of them didn't really know if the machines or the crystal ponies did that, so they moved on. They soon discovered four machines that looked identical to the earlier ones. They moved around on only on wheel, but the wheel looked more like a sphere than a circle. A long piece of metal connected the wheel to a body shaped as if a sphere was cut in half. Two arms protruded from the sides of the machine and ended in metal claws with two pieces of metal. A singular eye stalk extended out of the flat top of the body, allowing the machine to see its surroundings.

"Hey, what are you three supposed to be?" one of them asked in a robotic and not so threatening voice. "I'm guessing all of these horses aren't crystal after all. Anyway, we need more material for our control here, so fork over your brain cells or I'll unleash my super skills on you!"

Pinkie hopped over to the robot and sat on the ground She looked up at the robot with a wide grin. The robot immediately felt guilt over doing this mission. He didn't want to hurt something so precious, but what will the master do to him if he ignores his orders? He looked away, begging for her to leave him alone. She only continued to guilt trip the robot.

"Please mister," she said in a gentle and innocent voice, "please don't hurt us. We only want to look around and have fun."

"I can't take it anymore!" the robot exclaimed as he rolled off in guilt and disloyalty. He flailed his arms as he rolled away until a slightly bigger and more intimidating robot stopped him.

"What do you think you're doing, newbie?" the newer robot ordered in a deep and threatening voice. "Dr. Scraps hates it when bots like you run off and panic. You better go back there and fight those three now!"

"Yes, sir! Don't hurt me!"

The two bots approached the ponies. Specifically, they approached Pinkie. The commander looked at her with a displeased expression, but he lacked a face to do so. "This is the thing that freaked you out, newbie?" he asked in anger and confusion.

"Yes, sir!" the bot replied in fear.

The commander backhanded Pinkie in the face, causing her to stumble to the ground. She lost a tooth and started bleeding out of a cut on her left cheek from the force of the metal. She cried quietly, questioning in her mind why such a creature would hurt her. Twilight gasped in shock, and Rainbow Dash was pissed from this machine and prepared to ram the machine. Twilight put a hoof over Rainbow's chest, signaling not to attack when in that much fury.

"Twilight," Rainbow Dash grumbled in rage and frustration, "these metal jerks just slammed one of their claws into Pinkie. They deserve to be punished." Her gritted teeth blocked some of her sounds as she finished the last part of her sentence.

Twilight shaked her head in disagreement. "No, Rainbow. Calm yourself. If you fight these these creatures in your current mood, you'll end up like her. Let me deal with them for a minute."

Twilight changed her position to face the machines. "Oh, look, the horned one's angry now," the commander bitterly said. "I guess I'm gonna have to show you why you shouldn't fight me right now." He slammed his metal claw onto pinkie's left foreleg, almost shattering her bones. She wailed in pain as the metal struck her body. More blood trickled from the wound on her leg, worsening her condition.

"Twily, please help me." she said weakly through her tears. The commander just laughed as he looked at the 'newbie' from earlier. That robot didn't seem pleased with Pinkie being beaten to death right in front of him, and he didn't even want to cause harm to this pony.

Rainbow Dash couldn't take it anymore and flew right into the commander. She slammed her front hooves into the body of the machine, pushing it into a nearby house. The commander shouted in annoyance as he repositioned himself onto the ground.

"Well, I should've expected something like that," he said in an apathetic tone towards Rainbow Dash. "Cadets, kill that pink fluff! It's not needed for our army if it's going to cry over two simple injuries."

The three other R-Bots rolled over to Pinkie's beaten body to finish her off. Twilight fired a wave of magic to drive the three back and damage their machinery. Rainbow Dash pinned down the commander and pummeled him into a mess of circuitry and metal. Twilight continued to fire magic blasts at the robots until they fell to the ground while falling apart. After all four of the machine's were disassembled, Twilight walked over to Pinkie Pie and took one of her healing treats.

"You said that these can heal nearly anything," Twilight remembered while holding up a yellow and orange blend of frosting and cake fluff, "so you better eat up. I don't think that leg should stay like that."

She handed the cupcake to Pinkie's bloodstained face gently. Pinkie bit out of the treat and slowly chewed it while coping with her pain. After a few bites, her wounds mended themselves together and stopped hurting. She felt happier after every bite, joyous of the horrible and unbearable pain that has washed away. After finishing the treat, she stood back up and hugged Twilight.

"Thank you," she thanked happily. "I didn't know that these things can be so cruel."

"I didn't know either, but we're still together and healthy," Twilight responded in a calm voice. "Let's continue this investigation with a bit more caution, okay?"

Pinkie nodded a yes. "Okay."

Rainbow Dash already hated these machines to the core. "Who goes up to a mare and violently attacks them without guilt?" she said in disgust and anger. "These things need to learn a lesson about not hitting ponies like that."

Travis remained speechless through that event. He never saw an encounter like this happen. Never before did he see a C-Bot look at a wounded pony in amusement while ordering a death sentence to it. The trio pressed on into the deeper sections of the city, hoping to find out what is causing this storm.

•—————•

The three ponies eventually reached a huge blockade with a door. Two robots on the top of the metal were peering at them in annoyance. Twilight thought of a way through the gate, but there wasn't a switch or any other device placed on the blockade. There was a keyhole though, but it was slightly different than what Equestria uses. The keyhole needed a card, not a physical key. The three ponies searched the area for a card, but they could not find one. However, Pinkie discovered a pathway that led to a small fortification.

"Maybe it's this way," Pinkie thought to herself. "I doubt that it'll be left alone though."

The trio trotted down Pinkie's supposed direction to the card, and they soon encountered five small robots. They walked around with four legs with blades at their ends, and their singular eyestalk emitted a blue glow. They were quite small, about one foot tall at least. They didn't say anything, but they made odd mechanical sounds as they crawled towards the ponies. Twilight blasted a wave of magic and destroyed all of them. The small machines fell apart and stopped moving.

"Huh," Rainbow Dash mused over the fragile bots, "I guess those ones don't pose too much of a threat."

Rainbow's sentence ended in booming thunder. The sky opened up even more, showing the cosmos in all of its beauty. The storm clouds extended further than the city, almost engulfing Mount Everhoof in its cyclone of lightning and angry clouds. Twilight gulped in worry as the planet in the sky seemed to move a little closer to the Crystal Empire.

"We should hurry," Twilight said in haste. "I don't know what that storm will do if it gets any bigger, but it definitely looks catastrophic."

Travis noticed a few details in the storm. If he could remember correctly, a storm like this appeared in the Golden Age Dimension, a dimension in which the World Wars never happened. The storm almost swallowed an entire galaxy, but it was eventually reversed. Then, it hit him immediately. "Twilight," he began in a calm but urgent tone, "that is a dimensional storm. If that thing gets any bigger, it might swallow the entire planet. From what I'm getting from its readings, it's a portal to our world. All of your dimension will collapse and become one with ours if we don't hurry." He pondered how the storm could be fueled in this location. He then noticed an antenna on top of the castle. "That might be fueling this storm. If you can get up there and destroy it, we might reverse this storm."

After that quick notification, the trio reached a small fort. Several robots patrolled the area, armed with metal claws and laser cannons. One of the C-Bots noticed the trio and ordered an attack. Three R-Bots and two of the smaller robots, called swarmers, approached Rainbow Dash first. She retaliated by using a spin kick in midair, knocking the R-Bots back. The swarmers continued to approach her and attempted to jump on Rainbow Dash. She flew up a bit higher to avoid the sharp blades begging to cut her apart. The C-Bot in the distance shouted in anger as his troops acted so clumsy. Why did Dr. Scraps even make these models if they only ruin everything? he thought bitterly to himself. The angry commander fired three laser blasts at Rainbow Dash, attempting to shoot one of her wings. He almost hit one of them, but he hit her right hind leg. She grunted in pain as the blast burned through her flesh. Surprisingly, the wound felt cauterized, but it still stung like hungry flames. She altered her aim and glared at the commander.

"You'll pay!" she yelled in rage. What happened next was pure mayhem. She slammed the C-Bot through the fortress, literally smashing him into scrap metal. Parts of the makeshift fort collapsed as robots rolled and scuttled out in fear. One of the robots, which looked as tall as the giant demon from days ago, destroyed the wall of the fortress that faced the trio. He roared a war cry as he blasted nine laser blasts at them. Pinkie dodged to the left and right while Twilight activated a barrier spell. Pinkie hopped onto the gargantuan machine and ripped out its eyestalk.

"My eye!" It bellowed in a deep and spiteful voice. "Come here so I can rip you into bloody shreds, vermin!"

The machine swung its arms, attempting to slam one of the ponies with them. He was easily dodged when Twilight backed away from the machine, and Pinkie just held on to the top of him. She then smashed the top of the robot over and over, creating broken metal and crackling circuitry as she broke the machine. It soon fell down to the ground with a dying grunt, leaking a strange liquid that was clear and cold. a pinkish and wet mass then slithered out of him. It slowly slid on the ground. Pinkie looked at it in obvious disgust, but she knew what exactly to do. She destroyed the wet mass and shook her hooves afterwards.

"Well, I think that was the brain," she said in assurance and slight disgust. "If I'm correct, that'll finish them off completely."

Twilight's face shifted to confusion and interest while she fired a wave of magic at three swarmers. "What do you mean, completely?"

Pinkie Pie looked at her with a blend of happiness and serious responsibility. "Well, we have brains too, and I've seen ponies with missing legs, ears, and eyes before. I don't think a robot would be an exception, especially if it contains a brain. It's best to squash them than their armor."

Twilight lost focus in her words as two robots floated into the scene. She fired two magical blasts, destroying them in midair. Rainbow Dash shot out of the rubble with a card in her teeth. She dropped the card to Twilight and began to speak. "This was dropped by one of the robot things that hurt Pinkie. I think it's the key we need."

Twilight picked up the card with her magic. She put it in a pocket in her body armor for when they reach the gate again. Pinkie hopped back to the two and scanned the metal rubble once more. No robots were moving, but wires definitely sparked and whipped around the scenery. The three walked back to the gate, ready to face their next challenge. Twilight looked down at Rainbow Dash's leg and saw the cooked flesh. She also noticed Rainbow's wincing every time she moved that same leg.

"Rainbow," she said in a dead serious tone, "you need one of Pinkie's treats for that injury. I'm afraid that you'll get an infection or something.

Pinkie handed one of her healing cupcakes to twilight in agreement. Twilight then handed Rainbow Dash the cupcake, signaling to eat it. Rainbow ate the cupcake and felt her body rejuvenate. Her wings lost their soreness from the constant flying, her leg felt much better, and even her feelings changed. She felt happier and more active than before. As all of the anguish drained from her body, she stopped limping and started walking normally. Travis was wondering when the robots would gain the upper hand.

The key card fit perfectly. It opened the gate and allowed anything to access the castle in the distance. Before the trio could enter, two robots with big hammers for claws entered the scene. Pinkie dodged immediately to avoid becoming a pile of flesh from a metal hammer.

"Argh!" growled the robot in frustration. "You're not going to escape me easily." The robot rolled towards her while raising his hammers. "I'd love to see your anatomy in perfect detail, you spawn of hell."

Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and fired at the last second. The robot felt shards of sharp items shred through his curcuitry and brain. He immediately pulled back and grew his rage. Twilight looked at her opponent in bafflement. When did Pinkie get those? she thought to herself in interest. She then realized a simple fact. Well, she's Pinkie. She could've got those things from anywhere.

The other hammer bot started spinning while holding out his hammers. Twilight yelped and leaped out of the way, but the robot changed his direction to her. She activated her magical barrier and blocked his path. Rainbow then slammed her front hooves into the top of the spinning hammer bot. The bot was squashed like a bug as its own machinery destroyed its brain. The other hammer bot tried to get back up onto its wheel, but Pinkie fired another blast from her now deadly party cannon. The robot was ripped into shreds from the attack and fell to the ground with a whir. The trio regrouped and galloped onward to the castle.

•—————•

After battling a few more R-Bots, C-Bots, swarmers, and one of the mega bots from earlier, the trio reached the castle. They noticed that the robots built barricades on the castle entrances.

"Great," Rainbow Dash stated in frustration, "how are we going to enter the castle now?"

Twilight studied the area and noticed a few robot drop ships in the distance. "I have an idea," she started in hope, "but you might think it's crazy."

Rainbow Dash was curious on what Twilight's plan was. "Well, what is it?"

"Those ships over there might bring us to the castle. There is a chance that I could possibly fly it over to the balcony."

Rainbow Dash didn't get the complexity of her plan. "But why don't you just use your magic to teleport us castle?"

"I need all the magic I can contain. If I teleport all three of us in the castle, I'll be drained for a while. Also, I don't know if we'll teleport into their line of fire or not, and I'm not taking that chance. The drop ship might be easy to navigate if I use my magic, but teleportation is risky."

Travis noticed how absurd the idea was too. "I don't think a pony like you can navigate that type of machinery. It was built for humanoid creatures, not ponies."

"I can just check how to fly one quickly if they have some book in the ship that involves flying aircrafts," Twilight responded. "It can't be too difficult, right?"

As Travis understood the claim, Rainbow Dash flew over to a nearby helipad area. The drop ships looked like helicopters with only one door located on the right side. They had a cannon and two gatling guns located on their front ends. The drop ships were being guarded by a few mega bots. She created a storm cloud and hurled it towards one of them. The mega bot short-circuited from the abundance of electricity, and he fell to the ground like a rock. The other two mega bots fired at Rainbow Dash in an attempt to annihilate the nuisance. Twilight and Pinkie soon entered the fray and were greeted with laser blasts. Twilight decided to use a reflective spell this time, shooting back a few of the blasts back at the mega bots. Their circuitry was damaged from the blasts, but the bots still fought back. Pinkie rolled behind one of them to remove their wheel. When she smashed the spherical wheel, the mega bot fell to the ground in anger. Pinkie then ripped apart the metal on the robot to find the brain.

The mega bot shouted at Pinkie in suspicion and rage. "Hey, what are you doin-"

The robot's voice was cut off as Pinkie ripped the brain out of the machine. A low whir emitted from the bot as it powered down. Pinkie smashed the brain on the ground and hopped onto the other bot. Twilight fired magic blasts at it while Rainbow Dash dealt hoof punch after hoof punch against the machine's metal. Pinkie ripped off one of the arms, Twilight fired a blast that shot through the brain, and Rainbow Dash smashed the metal into scrap. The mega bot had no chance against the trio.

"I think we should use this one," Twilight said as she pointed a hoof at a rather unharmed drop ship. The others were filled with laser holes from the mega bots' reflected fire. The trio entered the drop ship and examined the controls. Twilight quickly skimmed through a manual inside one of the pilot's compartments. She then activated the ship and used her magic to keep it under control.

Rainbow Dash was looking outside the ship to notice how uncoordinated Twilight's piloting was. "Twilight, are you sure that this is safer? It looks like you'll crash at any second!"

"Don't worry, Rainbow Dash, I know what I'm doing," Twilight responded with uncertainty littering her face.

Luckily, she found out how to make a helicopter stay in one area for a while. She kept a magical aura around the ship just in case it decided to fall when they get out. The trio hopped out of the ship and onto a balcony. Twilight deactivated her magical grip and let go of the helicopter. It crashed into the road below, creating a mess of fire and metal. Even though they made it to the castle, their mission was far from over.

Act I, Chapter 6: The Mechanical Menace
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act I, Chapter 6: The Mechanical Menace

As the trio traveled down the halls, they encountered countless blockaded doors. After a little bit of investigation, a question smacked Twilight in the face. Where is Princess Cadence? She is the ruler of the Crystal Empire, but she isn't in any of the blocked off rooms. Did the robots take her, or did she flee in time? Twilight wasn't sure, but she decided to believe the latter to avoid the horrible thoughts from the former. Pinkie kept looking around anxiously, waiting for another one of the robots to appear. Rainbow Dash kept herself calm and collected, but her forged hatred from Pinkie's injuries didn't disappear. She still hated these creatures with a burning passion and would love to scramble a few more of their models to make up for Pinkie's spilled blood. Twilight then remembered something else that burned in her mind.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash," Twilight began to ask in curiosity, "why were you afraid of this storm and hurting those humans earlier?"

Rainbow Dash sighed as she responded to her question. "I don't really know. I think these creatures, the violence all around us, and you two getting hurt really messed me up. I've never dealt with these types of creatures before. And I don't know how to act. I feel so angry for the, hurting us, but I don't know if I should fight back."

"I don't know how to handle these situations either," Twilight sympathized with Rainbow Dash's confusion, "but we need to fight back, no matter how terrible it feels. These creatures are not going to let us live when they fight us. They will, kill us, so we must be prepared for anything they can throw at us." Twilight smiled a little to cheer up Rainbow. "Remember what that pilot said. Just do what you do best."

Rainbow Dash felt a little better. If she needed to fight back against these monsters, then that's what she needs to do. She can't give up and let them destroy Equestria. She needs to be strong, she needs to be brave, and most of all, she needs to be the number one pegasus. She regained her confidence and prepared herself for the enemy. Nothing was going to bring her down.

Pinkie then realized that there was a new robot down the hall. This one looked like an R-Bot, but its metal claws were replaced with two gatling laser guns. The robot floated on a singular thruster that replaced its wheel, and it contained a battery pack on the back of the metal body. It patrolled the area, waiting for something to be turned into Swiss cheese. Twilight readied her magic blasts for when the robot attacks, and Rainbow Dash flew near the ceiling to catch the robot by surprise. When she was right above the robot, she slammed down into it. The machine whirred and crackled as sparks bounced out of the metal. The other two ponies caught up with her and proceeded to cautiously venture down the hall. They encountered a few swarmers that were easy to defeat and eventually reached a door.

"The antenna is at the top of this castle's tower," Travis informed. "By the looks of the castle itself, the robots might have altered some of the top with metal. Be careful up there."

Right behind the door was a hammer bot with two C-Bots. The hammer bot slammed its hammers onto the ground and hoped to hit something, but it completely missed when Pinkie circled around the bot. The two C-Bots immediately fired at Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash flew above the laser blasts while Twilight blocked them with her barrier spell. Pinkie kicked the hammer bot into one of the C-Bots while Rainbow Dash stomped on another. By the time they finished clobbering the machines, two destroyed C-Bots and a damaged hammer bot were what remained. The hammer bot attempted to spin into the two ponies right next to him, but Twilight fired a blast that destroyed the rest of his frail form.

The trio climbed up the tower in haste. At this point in time, the sky was nothing but stars, lightning, and thundering clouds. Quakes ravaged the area, almost causing the ponies to trip and fall. When they finally reached the top, they found a platform with an antenna and three robots. The antenna shot a beam of lightning into the sky, but it looked like it was firing at the planet not so far from Equestria now. The robots were tinkering with it in confusion and annoyance.

"How do you lose control of the portal?" a nearby C-Bot yelled in anger at an R-Bot.

"I don't know!" the R-Bot replied in fear. "The portal won't stop! It's engulfing too much of the planet! At this rate, it'll swallow it soon!"

A mega bot sat there baffled on how to fix it. After scratching his eyestalk in confusion, he noticed a trio of ponies. "Uh, commander, we have company."

The C-Bot turned around and was greeted with a magical blast. He was shot off the platform, falling to his robotic death onto the ground below. The R-Bot panicked and fled the scene, and the mega bot fired nine laser blasts at the trio. Rainbow Dash rammed into the front of the machine while the other two dodged the lasers. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon again and approached the mega bot. Twilight fired a magic blast at the robot, damaging it even more. Pinkie released hundreds of sharp pieces of confetti upon the machine, ripping it to almost nothing but scrap. Rainbow Dash finished it off by smashing the caved in metal onto the brain's life support systems. Twilight hustled over to the antenna, confused on what to do.

"There's no use in finding out what does what," Travis stated as he attempted to rush the situation, "just destroy it!"

All three of the ponies pushed the antenna off the platform and allowed it to fall down to the ground below. As it exploded with electricity from its impact on the surface, the storm somewhat cleared up. The trio looked confused and worried on what just happened.

"Travis," Twilight said as she panicked, "why didn't that work?"

"I don't understand," he replied in confusion. "I thought that was it." He then realized how the robots entered Equestria. "There must be another antenna on that planet up there. I can find the coordinates to the antenna, but I'll have to use your communications chips for teleportation. Pinkie, since you don't have one on you, you'll have to hold onto once of your friends.

Pinkie hastily held on to Rainbow Dash's front left leg. Travis placed the coordinates into the chips in hope that the trio will teleport to the last antenna. The three ponies disappeared in a cloud of blue and white light as they traveled to the planet.

•—————•

When the trio finally teleported to the planet, they found themselves on top of a metal building. In fact, there were metal buildings everywhere! The sky was covered by a thick brownish-red cloud layer, and the buildings spewed out black smoke from their pipes. Multiple factories emitted industrial screeches and clanks as they built specific machines. Robots of all shapes and sizes patrolled in huge conglomerations on the streets. Some of them were familiar, and others were still unknown to the ponies.

As the three ponies approached the antenna, a loud powering on sound filled the area. Soon after that, a huge machine slowly rose from the side of the building. The machine had a large dome over its top, a huge eyestalk, and four arms that held different weapons at their ends. One was a flamethrower, the second was a laser cannon, another was a chainsaw, and the last was an explosive launcher. The machine has a large stem with a spherical wheel on its bottom, and it held a cockpit inside the dome. One lone robot stood inside the cockpit with four human like claws on multiple levers, joysticks, and buttons. The machine readied all of its weaponry as it began a grand battle.

A challenger approaches: Dr. Scraps and his Destructo Bot V.4

"Attention you three scoundrels," a scratchy and robotic voice boomed from the speakers on the machine, "I am Dr. Scraps, inventor of my personal and robotic army! You three are merely speed bumps in my success." Dr. Scraps pretended to crack his knuckles as he prepared to fight. "So, let's see if you three can hold a fight with me."

The giant machine spewed a wall of fire in a nasty attempt to burn the trio. Pinkie And Twilight dodged the hungry flames in to avoid a devastating burn, and Rainbow hovered above the fire. She rammed into the glass dome in an attempt to break it open, but she was stopped by the sheer durability of the machine. Her physical attacks were futile to the hull, and she was now right in front of its most deadly weaponry. She dashed back quickly to avoid the revving chainsaw that swiped across the machine. Twilight fired a magical blast at the machine, but it didn't flinch or react. The mech fired three bombs onto the battlefield. All of the trio avoided them successfully, but the mech was about to fire more.

"How do we destroy this thing?" Twilight questioned in fear for her life. "All of our attacks do nothing to it!"

Travis studied the mech closely. "Hmm, this is quite the adversary. I need to get a better look at his metal to know his weakness."

Pinkie hopped up and down with her front right hoof up in the air. "I know it, I know it, I know it!"

"Then tell us!" Twilight exclaimed as a chainsaw sliced across the roof of the building.

"It's fire! Machines overheat from fire, especially the ones with the robotic element!"

Twilight charged a fire blast in haste and fired it into the front of the mech. The blast didn't hurt it, but it heated the circuitry up a little.

"No!" Pinkie shouted in disapproval. "Fire more than one blast!"

Twilight couldn't charge up her blast due to the machine firing a wall of laser blasts near her. Another plume of fire spread across the area, but all of the trio dodged it successfully. When her area calmed in activity, she charged her magic and fired more fire blasts into the mech. The metal and circuitry was very hot now, and some of the machinery began to fail.

"That's odd," Dr. Scraps noticed in his bafflement. "My mech shouldn't be overheating from my activity. Wait a minute..." The mechanical scientist glared at Twilight. "...that thing can shoot fire, right?" A fire blast from Twilight's horn answered his question. "Well then, she must die first!"

The machine shifted its attention to Twilight and fired four bombs in her path. Twilight quickly grabbed one of them with her magic and used it to explode the other three. Pinkie Pie latched onto one of the mech's arms and climbed on top of the dome. She was figuring out how to enter the cockpit, but she didn't see a way inside the mech. However, she did notice the seal around the glass that linked the metal to the dome. Dr. Scraps detected Pinkie on top of the dome and attempted to throw her off with his chainsaw. Pinkie jumped over the blade over and over, allowing Twilight to charge her fire blast once more. After the mech experienced another fiery impact, it finally entered overheat mode. The entire machine fell to the ground as steam spewed out of vents around its arms.

Dr. Scraps smashed his hands onto the controls in rage. "Argh! You ponies are so annoying! How do you overheat a machine that was built to resist that exact function?"

"The glass feels lose now, Twily!" Pinkie exclaimed to Twilight as she slightly lifted the dome. "Now, use your magic to lift it for me!"

Twilight nodded in agreement and formed an aura around the glass. Dr. Scraps examined the, as he calls it, 'witchcraft', that was being performed on his machine. The entire top popped open, and Pinkie greeted him with a small trot and a not so friendly grin.

"Nope, I'm not sticking around to see whatever you three want with me!" Dr. Scraps shouted in fear. "I'll see you three in another world, you vermin!"

He pushed a button on his chair that activated two thrusters. His chair flew into the cosmos while he laughed maniacally. Rainbow Dash tried to chase after him, but his chair was too fast. Pinkie stomped a hoof in frustration on the warm metal.

Dr. Scraps has been defeated!

"We almost had that guy!" Rainbow Dash yelled in anger. "Where has he gone to now?"

Travis remembered the real reason they came to this planet. "There's no time to think about where he is, you need to destroy that antenna!"

"Oh, right," Rainbow stated as she caught her own foolishness. She created and placed a storm cloud right next to the antenna. As the antenna was zapped with an overload of electricity, it exploded into a field of lightning.

"How are we going to get back to Equestria though?" Twilight asked in only an ounce of worry.

Travis smirked as he spoke. "You're going home the exact way you cam here. Pinkie, grab one of your friends. You three are heading back to Ponyville."

Pinkie leaped over to Rainbow Dash and hugged her foreleg once again. The three ponies, once again, disappeared into blue and white light. A few robots that finally reached the building roof screamed in rage and disappointment as they watched the ponies teleport.

•—————•

The trio found themselves in their simple town once again, but a few GEST Corp. soldiers were there to greet them. A few ponies in their corporation's armor were also standing there. However, the only soldier out of all of them that they remember is the general himself.

"Welcome back to your town," he said in a calm but happy manner. "I received word that you three saved this world once again."

Rainbow Dash flew to the front and gave an expression filled with righteousness and confidence. "It all wouldn't be possible if you had the number one pegasus in Equestria on your side!" Twilight smiled at seeing a little of Rainbow's personality still alive.

"I think this entire adventure deserves a party!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed in joy. "I mean, we all need to wind down somehow after a few adventures! Why not now?"

Solk looked at her with care. Something about these three warmed his heart. He had never seen innocent civilians feel so happy and alive in a time of war. Solk always had to hear cries of war and death, or he had to hear a lot of insults from unsupportive civilians. This was a unique event for him, an event he never believed would exist. He gave a soft, gentle smile as he spoke. "That sounds wonderful. Since I have no real tasks for you three, and enemy activity has died down, I think a celebration is well deserved."

Pinkie constantly hopped in joy while rambling about streamers, cake, balloons, and other party elements. Twilight trotted up to the front of the group and asked Solk a vital question. "So, have you found anymore of our friends?"

"We haven't yet," he responded in certainty, "but the scientists are currently upgrading their dubbed Element of Harmony Locator. They believe that an inter-dimensional upgrade will allow easier detection and recovery. It'll take time, but we'll notify you of the work's progress."

Rainbow Dash looked again at the suited ponies. "Hey, why are those ponies dressed in your outfits?"

"Celestia donated a portion of her soldiers to a new branch of GEST Corp.'s military. They're ED soldiers now, and I think they'll help the war by a long shot."

Twilight thought about that for a moment. ED soldiers? she thought to herself. I wonder how useful they'll be on our future missions.

•—————•

Twilight opened her treehouse door and was welcomed by cool air. Equestria at this time is usually hot enough to be somewhat a nuisance, so a house full of cooler air during that time is always a nice pleasure. She placed a few of her recovered items on a table. The communications chip was something that intrigued her when she first obtained it. Never before did she use a device that contained so many functions. She wanted to study it for further use, but she already suspected that the technology was far too advanced to learn in one day. The sun was setting outside even though it felt like four days passed, and Twilight was feeling a little sleepy.

She placed a few units on the table and a unit wallet that she was given when she purchased her armor. All of this technology was so advanced and interesting, but Twilight had little time to spare. Who knows when she'll get another call to duty. She placed a piece of scrap metal from the robots on the table as well. It looked a bit more primitive, but it was still advanced. It's not in very good shape, but it'll have to do for now, Twilight thought as she glared at the metal. She placed a bone from the crypt on the table. She knew a lot about what's inside a pony, but a human must be exciting to inspect. Lastly, she placed few leftover bits on the table.

They're not really worth too much in other worlds, so I might as well leave them, she thought again. All of these relics are pieces of what Twilight had to overcome. No matter if they held happy or sad memories, they still have value to her. She yawned as she placed the last of any bits she collected onto the table. After she checked the door and collected the communications chip, she head upstairs for her bed. She turned off any lights that were still on and tucked herself into the warm embrace of her bed.

Home sweet home, she thought to herself one last time while falling into a deep slumber. Home, sweet, home.

"Keep the past in the past, but keep the relics and memories in the present."

End of Act I: The Beginning of Disaster

Act II, Chapter 1: The Bad Lands Are Really Bad
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act II, Chapter 1: The Bad Lands Are Really Bad

Act II: Searching for Friends

Three days have passed after the Dimesional Storm Incident, which was the name that GEST Corp. decided to dub the robotic invasion. Pinkie Pie's celebration party was a complete success, but three ponies were missing. Even though countless citizens of both human and pony origin finally met together in peace, the trio of ponies who saved Equestria twice were already feeling a lingering dread. Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were not heard from ever since the demon attack on Ponyville. However, GEST Corp. announced that they discovered an Elements of Harmony member to the trio. No one knows who this member is yet, but Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie are off to find that out.

Twilight woke up this morning a tad bit more early than usual. If one of her three missing friends were discovered, then she is off to find out who. She decided to pack a few items and bring her saddlebags for this adventure. Instead of focusing on fighting, Twilight is going to discover what these creatures are and how their technology works. She donned her armor from the ED Space Station, ate a quick breakfast for the day, put on her communications chip, and waved Spike goodbye once again. She wasn't too worried of the library this time, as Spike already said that he can handle any business the treehouse receives.

When she opened the front door, she was immediately greeted by Princess Celestia. Oh no, Twilight thought in quick anxiety, what is she here for?

"Hello, Twilight," she said with a gentle smile. "I see you're off to save one of your friends, right?"

Twilight lost most of her anxiety, but not all of it. "Yeah, and I think this will be an amazing adventure this time." She remembered her old quest involving the artifacts. Her face suddenly shifted to panic. "No, I completely forgot!" She put her hoof to her head in frustration.

"What seems to be the matter?" Celestia asked in concern.

"I forgot about the artifacts in the Everfree Forest! Please forgive for that, and I'll promise not to do so ever again!"

Celestia shook her head as she noticed Twilight's urgency. "That's alright. All of us in these days are forgetting the past quickly, and that is necessary. These human soldiers are a great help, and they already recovered the artifacts. You don't need to worry about my needs anymore. Just focus on what is best for Equestria." She levitated a shiny stone towards Twilight. "I would also like you have this. It will be very useful if you ever encounter a deadly threat. Just toss the stone towards the enemy to activate its effects."

Twilight nodded and placed the stone in her saddlebags. After she bid a farewell to Celestia, she encountered her two friends. Rainbow Dash had two metal machines attached to her sides, and Pinkie was wearing spiked boots. "Uh, what are you two wearing now?" Twilight asked in curiosity.

"Nothing," Rainbow Dash started in her cockiness, "just these cool guns that those soldiers gave me. You should see how awesome they look when I fire them!"

Twilight scanned the two weapons and gave a look of confusion. "How do you even fire them?"

"They fire whenever I think about it. They're hooked up to this helmet, and the helmet is kind of hooked up to my head. The eggheads said that it's too complicated for me to understand, but I don't mind."

"I got these as a super duper upgrade to my old ones!" Pinkie shown off her new boots by jabbing at the air. "I bet those mean creatures will run if I have these on."

Twilight chuckled a little. "Yeah, hopefully. Now, does anypony know where we need to go?"

Rainbow Dash pointed southward. "Solk said we need to go to the Bad Lands. Apparently, the new mines that opened there are overrun with some monsters, and a link to one of our friends is over there too."

Twilight responded in a nod with a little fear. The Bad Lands? she thought anxiously. Well, at least the location isn't too foreign to me.

A drop ship slowly hovered down onto the ground. The back of it opened up as a pilot popped out and signaled the trio inside. "Come on, now," he said in slight haste, "the general's waiting for us to start the mission."

The three ponies walked, hovered, and hopped into the drop ship. As they settled onto their seats, the ramp closed back up and locked. The ship's engine roared as the thrusters burst end into flames. The ship rose into the air and flew southward.

•—————•

When the ship finally landed, the ponies found themselves facing a dead and rusty looking landscape. This was the Bad Lands, a land devoid of nearly all life. The few creatures that did live here were usually small or big and deadly. The trio left the ship and received a short period of static from their communications chips. Pinkie Pie finally obtained hers after the teleportation incident in the Crystal Empire.

"Hello, is everyone there?" Travis asked in nearly no worry. The trio answered with a yes. "Good, here's your mission." He cleared his throat as he began to tell the orders from Solk. "There's a recently built mineshaft in the west side of the Bad Lands. Some of the miners from both human and pony towns have started production on metals and jewels in that area, but they were chased out by some metallic monsters. We have barely any description on what they are, so this will be a surprise on both ends."

"What description do we have on these creatures?" Twilight asked.

"The only detail we got was that they were slim. So, expect slim machines in the near future."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at the 'amazing detail'. She could glance at a tree in less than a second and tell most of the details on it. If miners can't describe a machine after seeing it for minutes at most, then why are they even mining?

The ponies began their journey into the Bad Lands. None of them were too afraid, and they toughened up from the last encounters they endured. As they traveled through the red rock and stone, they conversed about random topics. Rainbow Dash talked a bit about how she's the number one pegasus out of the rest, and Pinkie pointed out their attack and defense stats. Her technical words on weaknesses and leveling up confused and disturbed Twilight. Despite these awkward talks and gloats about power, the trio moved on unscathed. They eventually came across some shifting ground. Twilight's face wore one of worry and caution.

"I don't know what that is under there, but it can't be anything nice," Twilight stated in warning.

The ground shifted again as bony hooves and heads climbed out of the ground. Four skeletons, two human and two pony, carried various weaponry as they rattled in hostility. One of the ponies was a former unicorn, and it levitated a crossbow and a quiver full of bolts. The other wore ripped armor that shown glimpses of its ribcage. The one of the human skeletons in the back wielded a broadsword and a heater shield, and the other was cloaked in a dark robe. The robed skeleton conjured black flames from his hands, signaling that he was ready to attack. The other three shifted their places for a more strategic approach.

Rainbow Dash was the first to attack. She shot into the air and fired her new guns at the skeletons. The robed skeleton covered his group in a barrier of black shadows. When the shooting subsided, so did the barrier. The unicorn skeleton fired three bolts at Twilight. Two of them missed, but one was lodged in her armor. Pinkie evaded from the left side of the battlefield to the right over and over when she approached the group. The human skeleton warrior raised his shield and ran at her. He bashed her into the side of the battlefield to avoid any confrontation with her. Rainbow Dash slammed her hind legs onto the shield, faltering the skeleton's grip on the shield. The robed skeleton hurled black fire at Rainbow and damaged her soul. She crumpled onto the ground as she grunted in pain. There were no injuries, but she definitely felt the pain. The earth pony skeleton charged towards Twilight. He raised then slammed his bony hooves onto her barrier spell. Pinkie then jumped into and crushed the unicorn skeleton. When Twilight finally escaped the other pony skeleton's might, she hurled a few magic blasts at it, damaging the shambling monster.

The robed skeleton forged a wall of black fire as he conjured more black fire to slam into his opponents. Rainbow Dash got back up and finished off the human skeleton warrior with one last slam. The skeleton fell apart and lost its blue pupils from her sheer force. The unicorn skeleton's spirit finally gave up when its head was crushed by Pinkie's spiked hoof. She then moved on to the earth pony skeleton and diverted its attention away from Twilight. The skeleton let out a cold whimper as it kicked its front hooves into the air to prepare another charge. Pinkie hopped onto it and smashed the head with her front hooves. All that was left was the more reclusive robed skeleton. Twilight fired a magic blast at it, but the blast dissipated when it hit the black fire. The trio couldn't get too up close if they want to avoid the hungry flames of the darkness.

"I have an idea!" Pinkie shouted in confidence. "Twilight, go around the skeleton and fire from there. Dashie, fire at it from the sky. I'll distract it as much as I can."

Pinkie leaped into the robed skeleton's line of sight and zipped around frantically to cause it to miss as much as possible. The skeleton fired black fire in an attempt to damage her. Twilight fired at it from behind, so the skeleton shifted sides. Rainbow Dash fired at it from above, so the skeleton looked up and charged a stronger ball of black fire. The overwhelming attacks from the trio eventually destroyed its essence. The skeleton soon crumbled into a pile of harmless cloth and bones.

Twilight wiped her forehead as she puffed in slight exhaustion. "I don't think pony skeletons normally do that."

"They don't," Travis informed as he agreed to her statement. "I believe the human skeletons were influencing them in some way to make them fight back." He pondered the abilities of his universe's undead. "Many undead creatures that possess a great deal of magic usually puppet other corpses. This is exactly what our liches do whenever they attack."

Rainbow Dash tilted her head in speculation. "So that dark magic thing was a lich?"

"I'd say a weaker or developing lich," Travis answered. "Real liches are much nastier with their magic."

"We better prepare to fight monsters like that then," Twilight warned through her determined expression. She looked over to the other two ponies. "We better keep moving. If there are more in this area, it's best we avoid them at all costs."

The trio regrouped and continued their journey towards the mines. The once hostile bones rested quietly as they sank into the ground once again.

•—————•

The three ponies arrived to a small area where three mine entrances dug into the ground. Mine carts with various metals and gems littered the area. Lone pickaxes and shovels rested on walls and tables. Little evidence of lingering life existed, but there was one shifting shadow in one of the entrances.

"We need to go down that one," ordered Twilight. "If something is down there, we can investigate and find out what it is."

"Nice!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she grinned menacingly and pretended to knock out a few monsters. "We get to smash more freaks!"

"So, they're all bad?" Pinkie Pie said as she put a hoof up to her chin. "Are there any good monsters here and there?"

Twilight gave a certain and thoughtful look. "Possibly, but I doubt it. Not a lot of these creatures want to fight against their leaders or beliefs."

The trio proceeded down the mines in caution. The fire of the torches and smelting stations illuminated the corridors to an extreme. Shadows from all sides crawled along the paths as if they were wandering without a set direction. The three ponies prepared for any encounters, but they didn't appear yet. The ponies continued down the mines to find a collapse. The entire floor opened into a hollowed area under the tunnel, and and a huge pit blocked entry to the other side. Twilight noticed a lever all the way at the other end. She used her magic to flick the lever, revealing a metal pathway for the trio.

Right after she placed one hoof on the metal platform, a robotic scream filled the corridor. Two odd creatures crawled up to the ponies in haste. They walked on four sharp legs, had heads in the shape of spearheads, and were armed with unique weapons on their arms. The one on the trio's left was on fire and carried two flame cannons. The other was silver and carried dual wielding chainsaws.

"Agh, more organics!" shouted the chainsaw wielding robot in disgust. "Kill them before they taint this land!"

"Not on my watch," Rainbow Dash fiercely warned as she gritted her teeth. The first blow was an uppercut that sent the fire robot into a wall. At the same time she punished the machine, Travis realized who the machines were.

"These robots are called the craw." Travis informed in haste. "From the research we gathered, they prefer metal over flesh, and they'll kill anything that isn't a robot or a machine. You better be careful when they organize!"

The chain craw approached Pinkie Pie in an attempt to rip apart her legs. Pinkie dodged around the blade when the craw slashed it in her original position. Pinkie then punched the craw in its small head, badly damaging its optical sensors. The fire craw got back on its legs and blasted three fireballs at Rainbow Dash. She couldn't dodge them all successfully and started to burn to death. Her mane and tail caught on fire as the fireball engulfed her being. She flew around the corridor in fear and panic while looking for water. The fire craw laughed as her body roasted from the hungry flames. Twilight smothered the fire with her magic and slammed the fire craw into the pit below. The chain craw took a desperate swing at Twilight while shouting for reinforcements. Rainbow Dash shut the craw up by kicking its head off of its slender body. The craw fell to the ground as sparks bounced out of its neck.

Rainbow Dash readied her guns as she lowered herself into a pounce maneuver. "I know there's more coming for us. We better prep up for their next assault."

Five more craw scrambled around the corridor to aid the late fire and chain craw. Two looked identical to the already broken craw, but the other three were unique. Two of them were a neon yellow and crackled with electricity. Another hovered in the air with its propeller legs as it held two laser cannons. Rainbow Dash fired upon the crowd in an effort to reduce the number of enemies in the area. A chain craw eventually broke down from the absurd amount of blasts, and a lightning craw lost one of its arms from the blasts. Twilight activated her magical wave spell and damaged almost every craw in the area. The one in the air was untouched. The two lightning craw broke and fell apart after firing bursts of lightning at the trio. None of the lightning hit, so the fire craw prepared a deadly fire wall to slow the trio's progress. If this machine was about to become scrap, then why not delay their progress to allow better fortification?

The air craw rained down on Pinkie to slow her movement. She eventually hopped out of the corridor to avoid the line of laser blasts. The air craw shifted his position to gain a better view on Pinkie. He fired again, this time actually hitting her multiple times. Most of the shots were in her mane, but one grazed her armor. She retaliated with a speedy sprint towards the other side of the corridor. The air craw was getting annoyed with a constantly moving target, so it proceeded to aim for Twilight instead. She activated a deflection spell and shot back the lasers. The air craw fell into the ditch as it broke into multiple pieces.

"Argh, I need assistance!" the fire craw shouted in desperation. "They're breaching our defenses!"

The fire craw crawled away as it created more fire walls. It didn't escape too far though, as Rainbow Dash rained down laser blasts upon the craw. It fell apart and shut down right after the barrage began. Twilight cleared the fire with her magic, and Pinkie checked the downed craw for functioning machinery. Twilight ripped small pieces of the craw models to later study. She was quite fascinated with their design and fluid movement, and she wanted to figure out what parts allowed them to move like creatures. She eventually reunited with the other two ponies and moved onward. Rainbow Dash peered ahead for any more craw. She detected dozens of craw patrolling the deep mines. The entire room was so huge, but it looked like it was recently hollowed out. No mine would ever create an area this big if there was no ore in the vicinity, and that was exactly what this area was.

Some craw noticed the three ponies looking down at them and issued an attack. Several craw climbed up the wall and jumped onto the ledge. They immediately attacked the trio with their lightning, fireballs, chainsaws, and laser blasts. Twilight activated a barrier spell, but she didn't know if it can handle so much gunfire. Craw were everywhere now, and they pelted the barrier like a hailstorm with fire and laser blasts.

Travis stared at the sight in horror. "How the hell are you three going to fight all of them off? I can't even keep count of them all!"

Rainbow Dash acquired an idea. "I know what to do. If I charge up my guns and fire into the crowd, I can mow them down very quickly."

"Well, you better do that very soon!" Twilight said as she strained under the resistance from the craw. "I can't handle all of this firepower!"

Rainbow Dash primed her guns and signaled Twilight to drop the barrier. Even though Twilight was relieved to deactivate her spell, she thought it was insane to lower their only defense. When the spell faded, Rainbow Dash ripped through the crowd. Entire lines of craw crumbled into scrap and explosions as the lasers tore through their metal. Nearly nothing was left functioning when she ended her mass genocide. The commander craw on the other side of the room slowly walked through an active portal to escape what it had witnessed. An entire battalion of craw just fell apart from one pony, and that commander did not want to face it alone.

A few surviving craw followed the commander's lead and retreated through the portal. The trio huffed and puffed from the carnage they created. "That, that was insane!" Twilight shouted while she paused to catch her breath. "That idea, could've destroyed us, but it somehow worked!"

"That's because, they reload when I, don't need to," Rainbow Dash said through her heavy breathing. "Also, that was, a lot of fun!"

"Now, I know that, I love fun and tend to, find it a lot," Pinkie responded while also recovering, "but how do you, find that so much fun?"

Rainbow Dash smirked through her breaths. "You'll know, whenever you get a gun."

•—————•

A commander craw hastily crawled up to a communications terminal. The halls that it was traversing were pure metal, and any windows that granted the beauty of the sky shown multiple ships and clouds. Some of these ships were small and fast, but a few of them were slow and gargantuan dreadnoughts. Light panels were evenly spaced on the ceiling, but only some of them were currently on.

The frightened craw spoke into the terminal in haste. "Captain, we need to strengthen our defenses! Three equine invaders are about to shred everyone in this ship to scrap metal!"

A digital and gruff voice responded back. "What equines? You mean the ones that look like our most recent prisoner?"

"Yes, those ones!" The com craw hastened his words as if they were sprinting in a race. "If we don't activate the main security soon, we'll all perish! I just watched one of them destroy my entire battalion!"

The captain's voice lowered to a calm but fearful tone. "May the Ancients bless us with valor in this encounter. If they are coming to our ship, then they must want our prisoner. I have specific plans for that girl, thing, so do not let any of them reach the cell sector. This will be a tough battle, so arm yourself and your comrades with everything you need."

"Yes, captain!" The com craw scuttled over to a nearby weapons station. Oh, what am I to do? the craw thought in panic. I don't know how our soldiers can fight off these things successfully, but I'll have to give it my all. It's better to die as a warrior than a coward in a bunker.

Act II, Chapter 2: The Craw's Timid Prize
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act II, Chapter 2: The Craw's Timid Prize

The trio examined the rest of the area. There were no more living craw. The only things in the room were rails, columns, rocks, dirt, scrap metal, a mine cart, and a portal to another realm. Pinkie was studying the swirling energy and light from the portal, Twilight was taking pieces out of the craw to study for later, and Rainbow Dash was fiddling with her armor and guns. After Twilight picked up all of the components she needed, and Pinkie finished her examination, the trio regrouped.

Pinkie fixed her mane to cover the obvious laser holes and smiled a little more. "From what I know, this leads to these creatures' world. I think we should be absopositively sure that we are ready." She glanced back at the portal and thought a little more about what was on the other side. "They could've also toughened up from us just waiting around here. If we want to save our friend, we need to do it now!"

Rainbow Dash shot up into the air for a second then came back down. Twilight agreed as she prepared a barrier spell. The trio entered the portal in determination. Whatever was on the other side would not prevail. These three have already been through so much, and they will not fall easily.

The light and shape of the room shifted as the trio entered the portal. Dirt and stone walls converted into metal and wires. All evidence of torches disappeared as light panels took their place. Rainbow Dash suddenly felt like she was thousands of feet into the air. A few craw crawled towards the trio in suspicion. After the shifting halted, the three readied everything they needed one more time.

"Are these the perpetrators, commander?" the lightning craw asked roughly.

The com craw on the other side answered, "These are definitely the vile monsters. Kill them and trace their heritage. I would like to give their families a 'visit'."

Rainbow Dash fired upon the commander as it said that last word. The com craw broke into pieces as it was immediately annihilated, leaving the lightning craw to itself. It attempted to charge an electric blast, but Pinkie rushed in and smashed the craw to pieces. Two bumps in the ground quickly rose and scanned the area. Once they locked onto the trio, they fired a continuous line of lasers. Rainbow Dash hovered behind them and attacked from behind. That one attack caused them to swiftly retreat into their holes. Twilight tried to use her magic to rip them out, but they were surprisingly strong. The turrets popped out again and fired in the other direction towards Rainbow. She dodged and attacked the two turrets again, sending them back into their holes a second time.

"I think we should just leave them there," Twilight said in conclusion. "They'll just continue to attack us forever."

The other two ponies agreed and continued to cautiously walk down the hallway. Once they reached a T-junction hallway with one left path and a straight path, four craw entered the scene. Two of them were air craw and the other two were fire craw. Rainbow Dash fired at the air craw, destroying one and slightly damaging the other. The fire craw sprayed their flames onto Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, slightly roasting them and catching them on fire as the flames danced around their bodies. Twilight used her magic once again to douse the flames and charged a magical wave. The surviving air craw fired at Twilight in hope to stop her interference with the battle. She easily dodged the straight line and activated the spell. The two fire craw temporarily shut down from the blast, and Rainbow and Pinkie wailed on them. The robots were nothing but scrap after a few hits from the two ponies.

The air craw above used its unique gust ability to push them back. The ponies slid on the floor as the powerful wind pushed them further and further away. Twilight fired a magic blast straight at the craw and destroyed it in midair. The broken pieces scattered onto the floor in random areas. The trio regrouped and studied the hallways.

"Where do we go?" Rainbow Dash questioned. "We can't explore the entire base unless you want to be eventually shot from one these punks."

Travis examined the area, but his digital maps were too fuzzy. "I can't get a good idea on where you three need to go. Check your surroundings for any ideas."

Twilight peered down the hallways. She saw a few craw at the left end hold a human in restraints. The craw walked to a nearby cell and threw the person in it. If these creatures had her friend, that was the right way to go. She looked down the straight path to be sure if it was the right way. It ended at a door that led to an exterior landing platform. She pointed her left hoof toward the left end as she finalized the choice. "That way," she said somewhat quietly. "Those guards are next to a few cells, so our friend must be that way."

The three craw detected the trio when they heard their hoofsteps and wing flapping. One of the craw was much larger than the two lightning craw beside it. This master craw wielded a laser machine gun and a electro-bomb cannon. The master craw immediately fired a barrage of laser blasts at the left side of the hallway. Rainbow Dash flew right below the ceiling and gunned down one of the smaller craw. The other lightning craw blasted a strike of electricity at her, partially paralyzing her wings. She fell to the ground with a thud as she lost feeling in her wings.

"Hah, you call that a soldier?" the lightning craw mocked. "GEST Corp. has stronger privates than your pegasus trash!"

The master draw shifted its weight as it glared down at Rainbow Dash. "Nighty night, you murderer."

The master craw raised its cannon arm at her. As the cannon charged, Twilight threw multiple magical blasts at the craw. They staggered back and lost focus. Rainbow Dash got back up and galloped away from danger. She rubbed her wings as if they still had some feeling and swore at the craw in anger. Pinkie leaped over to the lightning craw and smashed a spiked hoof onto its head. The craw fell apart as it burst into a lightning storm. Pinkie was thrown back by the knockback, tumbling onto the ground as she landed. Twilight fired a few more magical blasts at the master craw. The craw backed away a little, but it soon fired an electro-bomb that was aimed directly for Twilight. She dived to the left before the bomb exploded in that area.

Pinkie quickly leaped back to the craw and climbed on its back. She attempted to rip it apart, but the craw shoved her off after flailing its arms over its head. Pinkie climbed back on it again and ripped the head off of the master craw. The giant body plummeted into the ground and twitched with crackling electricity. Twilight looked at the various cells in the area. Only a few of them held prisoners, and none of them were familiar to her. The human from earlier was sharpening a knife in the corner. He only glared back at the pony in a desire for bloodlust. Frightened from the encounter, Twilight continued down the hall. She noticed a humanoid creature with yellow skin and eyeballs that growled at her ravenously. It's mouth was filled with fangs and a forked tongue. It's human hands were replaced with wicked claws, and its feet were three-toed talons. The creature snarled and dripped its yellow blood on the ground as it breathed heavily. Twilight backed away slowly to avoid any more contact with the creature.

Twilight eventually signaled her friends to follow her. She approached a door and read the words pasted on it. "Dreadnought Prison Sector for Vital Prisoners. Our friend might be in here if none of these other cells have them."

Rainbow Dash realized another outcome. "They might also be, dead." She shuddered at the thought of one of her friends dying by these creatures.

"Well, let's find out!" Pinkie exclaimed as she slammed the door open. A large room that could fit multiple tanks was revealed. Cells lined the walls from the right and left sides of the room. Two big doors were placed on both ends of the room, possibly allowing entry for bigger machinery. A few of the prisoners were sitting in their cells while tinkering with various materials. Some of them looked at the trio in surprise, but they quickly dropped their expression soon after. One lonely, yellow pegasus sat in a corner in one of the cells. They sobbed as they held down their head in fear. When it heard the trio trot up to the cell in suspicion, it quickly glanced at them like a frightened and curious animal.

"Are, are you three really here?" the still shivering pegasus asked through its quivering voice.

Rainbow Dash gasped in horror. Her wings unfurled quickly as she regained feeling in them. "Fluttershy! How did they get to you?"

Fluttershy was still recollecting herself as she spoke once again. "I, I was hiding in the Everfree Forest, when all of a sudden, these spider things caught me!" She cried into her hooves again a little louder this time. "I never thought I'd see you girls again. They kept on calling me a necessity to their plan, and I still don't know what they mean."

Rainbow Dash figured out what that phrase meant. "They're probably interested in the pegasus form. I don't mean in like a loving way, I mean that in a war based form. Have they been studying your wings?"

Fluttershy nodded a yes. "Also, can you please let me out?"

Twilight grinned sheepishly as she pulled open the door with her magic. Fluttershy trotted out of the cell and reunited with her three friends. She then noticed the absence of two other ponies.

:yay: has been added to your party.

"Where are Rarity and Applejack?" She asked curiously.

Rainbow Dash inched a little closer to her. "We're not too sure. I think they're like you in some other cage or whatnot."

The giant door to their left unlocked and slowly opened. The four ponies jumped in surprise as a hulking machine crawled into the prisoner room. The machine carried four different weapons and was accompanied by six craw. There were two fire craw, two chain craw, and two lightning craw. The weapons the machine held at the end of its arms were an electro scattergun, a laser machine gun, a fire cannon, and a wind blower with a chainsaw blade at its end. A giant tank was strapped to the back of the machine, and two huge panel on its chest. A big head was attached to the top of the machine. As it scanned the four ponies, it released a mechanical and booming voice.

"Well, hello you little killers," it spoke with a grim and sadistic voice. "I've heard from the grapevine about your species. More specifically," –the machine pointed at Twilight Sparkle with its laser gun arm– "you. I've heard about the different possible and already occurred events that other species are talking about. These other events are usually linked to you, and I don't enjoy that. A creature like you shouldn't exist. In fact, all of your damn species shouldn't even be alive right now!" The machine calmed himself. "Anyway, I know how probable magic is in the humans' and kavarians' universe. Your species is rather, unique compared to anything that has evolved in any universe." The machine examined the pegasus wings and the unicorn horn of the group. "However, I believe a species like you is too powerful to exist. These, what do you call them, ponies, are far too much of a focal point to competing armies. That is why I'm going to kill you four and your entire planet."

A challenger approaches: Craw Machine Mk 7, supposed leader of the Aerial Brigade

The machine ordered the craw to surround the newly created quartet. Rainbow Dash slammed her two front hooves into two chain craw, damaging them both severely. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and shredded the two lightning craw and a fire craw with it. All three of them were obliterated in the blast radius. The last working craw kept its distance and blasted fireballs at the four ponies. Twilight threw a few magic blasts at the craw and destroyed it. The two chain craw were blasted to bits by Rainbow's guns. The giant machine was rather impressed with the ponies' effectiveness in battle, but that only supported its reason to kill all of them.

The machine slowly crawled up to the quartet and positioned itself. Pinkie tried one of her leaps to latch onto the machine and destroy it, but her move failed when the machine used the wind blower to shoot her into a nearby wall. Rainbow Dash fired at the machine with her guns, but it was not even the slightest bit damaged after the laser barrage. The machine raised its laser gun and fired a storm of lasers. Fluttershy ducked under the fire while Twilight deflected the lasers back at the machine. Rainbow Dash flew over the gunfire and slammed into the machine's head. It didn't even dent the slightest bit.

Twilight was feeling a little hopeless from her and her friends' futile attacks. "Travis, is there anything we can do to stop this thing?"

"I have no clue," Travis answered in haste. "All of the documents I have on the craw do not talk about a certain weakness. The only thing I have is that the metal is somewhat weak to acidic materials.

"But we don't have anything like that!" Rainbow Dash responded with a snarl. "Is there anything else that can actually help us?"

Travis searched through his digital notes as the machine sprayed fire into the room. "No, I can't find anything else on weaknesses. You'll have to experiment with what you know."

Pinkie was now sitting in the back of the fight while staring up at the ceiling. Fluttershy found a wall that she could hide behind, and Rainbow Dash was constantly kicking and punching the machine to do something. It was still unharmed and continued to worsen the battlefield for the four ponies. Pinkie was still looking at the ceiling, but her face shifted to a curious expression. Twilight was confused on what she was doing and decided to ask her about her activity.

"Pinkie," Twilight started while dodging and blocking various projectiles, "what are you doing now?"

"I'm trying to see if I can catch that move," Pinkie responded with her eyes locked on the ceiling. She didn't even look over to Twilight.

"What move?" Twilight asked in a more confused manner. The blasts and lasers of the machine still pelted her barrier.

"The one up there! I think I can catch it!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as she did not see the move where Pinkie was talking about. "You go ahead. I'll just experiment on this thing for a while."

Pinkie Pie then jumped up to the ceiling and held onto a text box with various numbers and words. She fell back down to the ground and ripped the text box apart. At the same time she did that, the machine was readying a lightning blast. However, when it attempted to fire the cannon, only a single beep was produced. The machine fired again and again, but only constant beeps poured out of the cannon.

"Why isn't my gun working?" the machine growled in frustration. "I know that it works perfectly fine!"

"So that's what that move was!" Pinkie exclaimed in joy.

Twilight looked at Pinkie with a wide mouth of shock. "How did you do that?"

"It was simple! I just took the boss's move and destroyed it! Since it doesn't have that move in its roster anymore, it can't use it!"

Travis's mouth gaped wide as he examined the scene. "That's, amazing! I don't know what you just said, but whatever you did was spectacular!"

The machine screamed in rage as it fired a stream of dancing flames. Rainbow Dash flew over it again, but she landed near Fluttershy this time.

"Hey, we need your support out here." Rainbow Dash calmly demanded as she shook Fluttershy with her front right hoof. "Can you cheer for me again? I might be able to hurt something if you cheer while I bash that monster."

Fluttershy got up to her hooves and spoke softly. "I'll help out. I'm not going to fight that, thing though."

"It's alright. You don't need to do that anyway."

Rainbow Dash took off into the air as Fluttershy entered the battle zone. She inhaled deeply as she prepared to cheer. "Go Rainbow Dash." Her voice was still soft and small.

Rainbow was almost sliced in half as a chainsaw swung around her body. "Fluttershy, cheer louder! I can't get motivated by a whisper!" The same chainsaw swung at her again and chopped off a sliver of her tail.

"Alright, I'll do better this time," Fluttershy spoke in a calm voice. She inhaled again, preparing to cheer once more. "Go Rainbow Dash!"

Her cheer filled Rainbow with determination and power. She hovered to the back of the machine and repeatedly punched the tank. There were no dents, but then she realized something. Metal draws electricity towards it. This machine is made out of metal, and a machine can become useless if they are exposed to too much electricity. She forged a storm cloud and kicked it towards the machine's head. A huge bolt of lightning struck the metal head, damaging the machine moderately.

"Agh, what was that?" The machine turned around and swung both a chainsaw and a stream of fire at Rainbow Dash. She darted back quickly and fired a stream of lasers at the machine. The lightning worked, but lasers still don't. She needs to keep using electricity on this machine if she wants to destroy it quickly.

"You found its weakness!" Pinkie hopped up and down while waiving her forelegs in excitement. "Now, keep on using that on that big meanie!"

"Meanie?" the machine stated in an offended manner. "I'm a savior to the future universes! Your species is not supposed to exist, and I don't care what you four have to say about it!"

A gust of wind blew back all of the ponies near Fluttershy's old cell. The machine scuttled forward as a chainsaw revved. Twilight fired a magic blast and bounced the chainsaw back a bit. The quartet scrambled around the machine to avoid any collateral damage to their group. Rainbow Dash surged electricity through her storm cloud to the machine's head again. Parts of the machine twitched violently as the extra energy fried its components. Attempting to destroy Rainbow Dash, the machine fired a barrage of lasers into the air. It missed completely. Fluttershy cheered a little louder, and she urged Twilight and Pinkie to join. All three of them shouted Rainbow's name as she conjured another storm cloud. She slammed the cloud into the machine head once more, destroying all of the locomotive functions. The machine collapsed onto the ground and whirred loudly.

The machine's head swiveled over to face the four ponies. "Wh- why do you vermin re- resist death? Don't you all kn- know that your world's existence thr- threatens all other worlds?"

"Why do you keep calling us vermin?" Rainbow Dash stomped her hooves to ground furiously.

"Because, that is exactly what you four are. I on- only wanted to advert a deadly crisis. If you all continue down th- this path, everything and everyone will die. Nothing left will exist."

Rainbow Dash growled at the machine. "Stop bluffing and tell us why you really wanted to kill us!"

"That is the truth. I know th- that someone will rise. When they do, you will be warned once. After you ig- ignore that warning, your world will fall apart. Please, end Equestria be- before they end everything." The machine's voiced trailed off as it repeated that last phrase. "End Equestria, before, they end, everything..." The machine's lights and voice died out as steam collected above the machine.

Craw Machine Mk 7 has been defeated!

Fluttershy was panicking a little. "What, what did it mean that our world will die?"

"I don't know," Twilight answered in speculation, "but I don't think it's lying."

"Oh, come on!" Pinkie was looking at Twilight irritably. "It was obviously scaring us! Do you really think it cares for other worlds?"

"I'm not sure either," Travis started calmly, "but you four need to leave this ship. I'm detecting a huge array of craw closing in on your location."

Rainbow Dash readied her guns and flew near the exit. The other three ponies soon followed. Fluttershy was in the back, hoping to avoid any serious conflicts. Once the door opened, seven craw scattered into the room. Four chain craw immediately swung their chainsaws at Twilight and Fluttershy. All of them missed, but three air craw hovered over the quartet to gun down all of the ponies. Rainbow Dash fired at two of the air craw, destroying them in the process. Two chain craw sliced at Pinkie and actually hit her. One of the chainsaws cut into her left cheek and created a bloody gash. The other chain craw ripped a piece of her flesh in her left hind leg, slightly crippling her. She limped away from the two craw as she cried a little and attempted to take the pain. Her wounds felt like burning fire as the air rubbed on them. Twilight fired a magic blast straight through both of the craw, also destroying them in the process.

"Pinkie, eat one of your treats!" Twilight ordered in fear.

Pinkie quickly took a orange and yellow cupcake and ate it. Her open wounds closed up as new skin and muscle entered the injuries. She felt better too, but the other two chain craw weren't happy with her mending.

"Great, they're repairing themselves now?" one of the chain craw shouted in frustration. "Well, let's see if you can fix a severed head!"

Pinkie suddenly punched the craw's head and pushed a chainsaw into its body. The craw fell apart while the other crawled towards her. An air craw flew around Pinkie and aimed for her head. Rainbow Dash rammed into the air craw at the last second to stop a fatal move. The air craw lost its control and was smashed into bits when it hit a nearby wall. Rainbow then fired at the chain craw and destroyed it. The four ponies regrouped once more and funneled into the hallway.

What awaited them was two master craw with their electro-bomb cannons primed. Twilight activated a deflect spell and rebounded the two bombs. The craw shut down and fell apart as electricity fried their components into useless scrap. The ponies galloped down the hall and took a left. Eleven Lightning Craw's awaited them, all of them already firing blasts of electricity.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she and her friends retreated to the hall wall. "That's way too much electricity for me!"

Twilight pondered the situation thoroughly. "I can use a deflect spell again, but that'll drain my magic for a little while. Pinkie and Rainbow, you'll have to go behind the swarm and attack them from there."

"Gotcha!" Pinkie chirped as she examined the squadron of craw. Rainbow Dash fired upon the craw while she flew to the back, and Twilight distracted them while using a deflect spell. Multiple lightning bolts struck the craw and caused massive bursts of electricity. Rainbow Dash had to almost hug the ceiling to avoid the deadly electricity from below. Fluttershy stood behind the wall and only watched her friends fight the craw. Twilight deactivated her spell after all of the craw fell apart and stopped exploding.

Rainbow Dash peered over to the right hallway in the T-junction. "That's the last of them for now."

The three ponies still on the ground galloped over to the portal entrance. Before they could leave the ship, fire blasts pelted the wall right in front of them. Dozens of craw were closing in fast, and they were all of the types the quartet battled. Fire craw, chain craw, lightning craw, air craw, com craw, and master craw flooded the hallway. Rainbow Dash fired at the swarm while the four ponies traveled through the portal. The craw staggered a little, but they only accelerated as Rainbow Dash dissipated from the journey.

•—————•

The four ponies arrived back at the mine. It looked the exact same as it was before. Craw still littered the ground, and torches still delivered light to the group. Travis was becoming weary of the entire army that was heading their way, so he decided to pressure the quartet.

"You better get out of here right now," Travis warned with speed. "There's a drop ship outside right now, but that army will destroy it if they catch up to you."

The four ponies galloped again to the exit. They bucked support beams and encouraged cave-ins as they fled the mines. The recently teleported craw climbed and blasted their way through the obstacles, and they were almost right behind the four ponies. A closer chain craw swung a chainsaw at Fluttershy to rip her hind legs apart, but it missed by a few inches. The four ponies galloped faster and faster until they finally reached the exit. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash destroyed the last two support beams. The entire entrance was closed off as multiple boulders and bundles of dirt slammed into the horde. The mine grew quiet as the craw were crushed under the collapse.

A drop ship was purring in the distance. The pilot from inside the ship signaled the ponies to enter the ship. The quartet trotted over to the ship and sighed in relief. Fluttershy was still scared and confused from craw stampede. "Are those things going to take us again?" she asked in fear.

The pilot turned to her and answered in a soothing voice. "Those things aren't going to get you. You're perfectly safe here."

Fluttershy shrieked as she stared at the pilot. "Gah! What is that thing?"

Rainbow Dash glanced at her and put a hoof on her back. "That's a human. They don't hurt, and they're pretty friendly." Rainbow Dash's voiced changed to a beg. "Please don't do that around them again. They may be nice, but I don't know how they'll act if you do that to another one."

"No worries, pegasus," the pilot responded cheerfully. "We get people like that sometimes when we clean up terrorist missions."

Pinkie's ears shot up in intent. "What do you mean, terrorist missions?"

"Well, they're attacks on cities and towns that involve killing the locals. I believe all of you were involved in the Invasion of Ponyville, right?" All of them nodded in agreement. "Alright, then. The missions we go through involve more, inhuman acts. We've seen suicide bombers kill themselves to knock down an entire skyscraper. I've even personally seen civilians get bombs stabbed into their spine and forced to run into crowds of people. Those terrorists that plan those attacks are sick in the head, and that's why we deal with them."

Pinkie almost regurgitated from the thought of somepony getting some sort of device implanted into their body and exploding in front of a crowd. "Thank you, for the gracious detail." She didn't feel thankful at all. She felt disgusted and punished.

The pilot turned back to the controls sheepishly. Twilight helped comfort Pinkie a little after that scene, and Rainbow Dash was looking out into the landscape. They were going back to Ponyville, and a few other drop ships were flying with them too. Inside of those drop ships looked like the ED soldiers that GEST Corp. recently released onto the battlefield. What are those guys doing here? she thought to herself. I don't remember seeing them on the battlefield. If they're traveling with us, then what's happening?

Her questions were about to be answered as they touched down onto the familiar soil of Ponyville.

Act II, Chapter 3: Graves, Rotting Corpses, and a Crypt
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act II, Chapter 3: Graves, Rotting Corpses, and a Crypt

As the newly created quartet of the Elements of Harmony departed from the drop ship, Twilight noticed the abundance of GEST Corp. troops and Ponyville citizens near the town square. General Solk was standing at a podium while speaking to the residents and his troops. Most of the audience was ponies, but there were a few humans here and there. Some of the ponies held flashing cameras and active microphones that aimed toward him, and others chattered indistinctly among the rows and rows of disorganized humans and ponies.

"It has come to my attention that your world is in dire peril," Solk's voice boomed as he spoke to the audience. "This entire planet, not Equestria, is in deep trouble. If none of you remember the attack days ago, a group known as the demons attempted to destroy this entire town. Sadly, that is the least of what can occur from these monsters. I have recently heard from my recon troops that the kavarians are showing interest in this world."

Murmuring around the crowd began after Solk finished his small paragraph. The four ponies trotted closer to the scene, investigating and examining what is happening. One pony held up a hoof and lowered it as Solk's hand pointed at him. "Do you think that these kavarians are going to cause severe damage or not?" the stallion asked in curiosity.

"The kavarians are an experimental species. They like to examine and study other creatures that they discover. They also enjoy–" Solk hesitated a little "–experimentation with other species as well. We have eye witness accounts of humans losing most of their original DNA and physical form from their tests. We believe the same can happen to this world if we do not take precautions."

Chattering around the crowd became louder and more fearful as he added the ideas of experiments and abominations. A mare deeper in the crowd raised her hoof as well, and Solk pointed towards her. "Do you have an exact time when these creatures will invade?"

Solk shakes his head in disagreement. "No, we have no records stating their arrival, but we do know their attack patterns. The kavarians will most likely strike Canterlot first with a large and destructive force. Until that happens, security will be increased in all towns near the city. This does include Ponyville, if any of you were wondering that."

More chattering and conversation continued in the crowd as the quartet walked towards Solk in a slightly timid manner. "What's going on here?" Twilight's mouth changed to a slight yet worried smile.

Solk turned his head over to the her. "This is a small meeting that I have gathered due to our discoveries on kavarian activity. After we fought them a few times with our new ED soldiers, they seemed to have taken interest in Equestria. I'm afraid that they might attack soon, but they have not shown any early warning signs yet."

"kavarians?" Pinkie said questionably and slowly. "What are they?"

"They're humanoid creatures that support reason over superstition. They do not believe in magic, and they only use technology as the correct path of advancement. To them, unicorn magic could be telekinesis. They would believe that some sort of pony can fly though." Solk smirked a little. "I bet they would after a few attacks using them. Anyway, they're creatures that you don't want to get involved with yet. They can do, unspeakable things to all of you without remorse."

Pinkie decided to not ask what those 'unspeakable things' were to avoid what happened earlier with the pilot. Rainbow Dash stepped in and looked up at Solk. "So, what're we supposed to do next? A drop ship doesn't come here with you here for nothing."

Solk faced the crowd and notified an agent with his hand. "Anyone who wants more details on this topic needs to speak to the agent over there. This is all the information I can give at the current moment." Solk turned back to the four ponies as a crowd gathered around the agent in the back. "Your next mission involves our world again. We found another Element of Harmony member on Verzonia. This planet is called the Universal Graveyard due to how big the planet is and how many corpses are buried there."

Pinkie slightly shivered from that fact. "Another crypt? The last one we visited had evil skeletons!"

"Don't expect a difference in this one then. Liches pop up everywhere on that planet, so expect hostile activity."

Twilight was not so fond of having to encounter these liches, especially after she fought a skeleton that was almost a lich. "Will we have any help on this one? I don't think we can fight off those things alone."

Solk nodded to a squadron of human soldiers. Five GEST Corp. soldiers marched into the area. "These five will be your support," Solk stated. "They will protect the drop ship area while you enter the crypt. If anything tries to destroy your ride home, they will not even land a hit on the ship."

Twilight sighed as she did not receive what she wanted, but she wore a faking smile of appreciation anyway. "Just let me get ready for this mission then." She swiveled her head over to the other three ponies. "Can you three wait near the drop ship for a little bit, please?"

Twilight galloped towards her treehouse as her friends nodded a yes. She removed all of her recovered artifacts and placed them on the table. After she fixed her mane and grabbed a special recipe, she raced back to the other friends. They were near the drop ship, and the five soldiers were already aboard the aircraft. Fluttershy was now wearing body armor and boots. Twilight handed the recipe to Pinkie Pie as if her life depended on it.

"What's this?" Pinkie asked.

Twilight's expression changed from exhaustion to a calm manner. "That is an old magic-related recipe. It's used to enhance foods with magic refueling abilities."

Pinkie stared at the writing intently. "Well, I bet it's pretty useful! I'll use it if we have any time, alright?"

Twilight nodded in agreement as the quartet entered the ship. The ramp closed up as they rested on the ship once again. The skies and green pastures of Ponyville were soon replaced with stars, and those stars were soon replaced with different stars from a different world.

•—————•

The drop ship landed in a misty and dark graveyard. In fact, the entire surface of the planet looked like a graveyard. Leafless trees and offset tombstones littered the gentle hills. Iron fences blocked off some tombs from the others, and a few crypt entrances were visible from the ship. Only two corpses were walking around, but they were too far from the ship to see it. As the ramp lowered, the four ponies breathed in the musty smell of the planet. So this is what death smells like.

"Eww, it smells like rotten meat!" Pinkie exclaimed as she held a hoof up to her nose.

"Pinkie," Twilight started as she knew how obvious the reason was, "the entire world is full of rotting corpses. Of course it would smell like that."

"Are the creatures here nice?" Fluttershy asked in the absence of hope.

Twilight scanned the area around them. "I doubt it. This place looks and feels too dead to be friendly."

"The signal is coming from over there," Travis informed. "There's a crypt over there that you need to enter to find your friend." Travis examined the readings again. "I'm also detecting a major power surge from the location too. Be very careful over there."

The quartet started their journey with a slow walk through the graveyard. Rainbow Dash hovered in midair to avoid any danger from below, and the other three ponies examined the graves. Fluttershy was scared and uneasy with the huge abundance of death in one area, but she soldiered on. Twilight was glancing at random graves to her right and left, figuring out which one will release a threat. Pinkie was humming another song to herself while hopping along with her eyes closed. Just like Twilight, she had saddlebags around her body too.

A metal claw sprouted out of a nearby grave. Fluttershy jumped and shrieked as the metal claw dug out its own body. A damaged R-Bot crawled out of the newly made hole. It's entire right side of its body was ripped apart. Wires flung around without restraint as sparks bounced out of the circuitry. The machine's exposed gears spun violently and sporadically.

"En/&y @-er )/;e!" the R-Bot spoke in severely broken dialogue. Almost none of its words were intelligible from the screeches and garbled voice that it used. "I (/e; as&@?tan:- n$!"

Rainbow Dash fired at the R-Bot, but it absorbed the hits like they were pure energy. The R-Bot hurled a mass of wires around Rainbow Dash and constricted her. She fell to the ground as electricity fried her body and spasmed her muscles. Twilight fired a magical blast at the R-Bot, shooting it into a gravestone. Rainbow was dragged on the ground with the robot and its mass of tentacle wires.

"Twilight, kill it!" Rainbow Dash screamed as her body was thrown across the dirt and moss. She fired another magical blast, but this one hit the wire bundle instead of the body. Multiple wires were cut away as the magic severed Rainbow Dash from the killer R-Bot.

The machine garbled again in irritation. "Y:u (@ll /); f- ($at po@&!" It ripped parts of its own hull off, exposing multiple rips and tears in its metal. It rolled up to Twilight in an attempt to stab her with its body. Pinkie punched the left side of the robot and kicked it into a ditch at the last second. The robot was soon destroyed as a magical blast ruined its life support systems.

Rainbow Dash attempted to get back up, but her left wing and her right foreleg were paralyzed. Pinkie handed her a green and red cupcake, and Rainbow Dash ate the pastry carefully. Her body felt as if a thousand knots in her muscles were untied. She stretched all of her limbs while getting back on her hooves.

"Did it work?" Pinkie asked with hope. "That's my new anti-paralysis cupcake! One of those soldiers back there gave me a special ingredient that repairs very bad nerve damage!"

"Pinkie, that's amazing!" Rainbow Dash looped twice in the air to test out her fixed wings. "Thanks for the cupcake. I feel so much better now!"

Twilight peered over to a few rumbling gravestones. Bony and rotting hands pulled themselves out of the old earth. Two human corpses and a unique alien that was missing a huge chunk of its chest. One of the human corpses lacked both a jaw and an arm, and the other was missing half of its head. The three corpses glared at the quartet with glowing blue pupils in their empty sockets. The alien corpse held a laser rifle in its claw hands.

"Travis, what is that thing?" Twilight was panicking as the corpses shambled towards the four ponies.

Travis examined the alien corpse. "That looks like a kavarian soldier. From what we have gathered on them, they are resistant to the heat, but they are weak to the cold. It's best you avoid getting close to it."

The kavarian corpse raised its rifle and fired four uncoordinated shots. They all missed the quartet, but the other two corpses were about to fix that mistake. One of the corpses clawed at Pinkie in an attempt to rip her flesh apart. She retaliated with a punch into its skull. Half of the corpse's skull caved into its cranial cavity but still attacked without flinching. Pinkie kicked into its leg and broke some of the bone. The corpse grabbed her head as it fell onto the ground. Twilight destroyed the corpse's body with a magical blast.

The other corpse shuffled towards Fluttershy and grabbed her wings. Rainbow Dash approached the monster and blasted its chest into nothing but viscera and rotten meat. The entire body fell to their ground and slowly decomposed into the dry dirt. The kavarian corpse fired again, this time aiming instead of using hip fire. The corpse grazed Twilight's right ear and successfully shot her right foreleg twice. The pain was unbearable. Her leg felt like it was being consumed by hungry flames. Her ear stung, but it did not hurt too much.

Rainbow Dash rained down multiple lasers as her friend grunted from the pain. The corpse switched to a crawling stance and pounced at Rainbow Dash. its claws were now protruded, and they were about to shred her into bloody ribbons. Pinkie hastily pulled out her party cannon and placed it in front of the airborne kavarian. Shards of sharp confetti shredded the corpse into bundles of flesh. The decaying corpse tumbled onto the ground, burying itself into the dirt as it fell into an open grave.

Twilight rested to recharge her magic and turned towards Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, you have to at least help us in some way. We'll need you if we want to survive."

Fluttershy looked up from a gravestone and faced Twilight. "Do you know that I cannot fight these things? I'm not as good of a fighter as you three. I don't even want to fight them."

"You don't have to fight to help us out. You can try to cheer us." Twilight remembered Rainbow Dash's confidence and strength boost as Fluttershy cheered her performance.

"I guess I could do that. But what if I get lost or get separated from you?"

"That's when you have to fight back. Remember, you have to stand up for yourself. You can't let these creatures do what they want, or else you might–" Twilight quickly changed her words to be a little less morbid "–you might, be very hurt. I don't want you to get hurt, Fluttershy, especially in a place like this."

Fluttershy lightened a little, but she was still nervous. "I'll try to be a little assertive then. Just tell me if I go too far with my actions."

"I'll warn you if that happens." Twilight shifted her attention towards a far obelisk and repositioned her communications chip. "Travis, what is that thing over there?"

Travis examined the obelisk in the mist. "That's a sign built by the Scythori. They place down obelisks that tell other species which one owns a certain crypt. The crypt you four are entering is listed as human."

"Well, we have no time to waste," Twilight exclaimed while pointing towards the obelisk, "let's go!"

The quartet regrouped and traveled to the structure. Rainbow Dash flew in the air to search for any potential enemies, but the thick, greenish sky and the permeating mist ruined her chance of discovery. Fluttershy was now in the middle of the group instead of the back. She felt a little more confident after realizing how much of an asset she was to the mission. The fate of all of her friends depended on her now, and she definitely knew this. In fact, this is what she believed.

When the four ponies reached the obelisk, Twilight studied it carefully. The only thing she saw were random symbols of awkward shapes and confugurations. "I can't read this. It's too complicated for even me to understand."

Travis remembered the Scythori's ten thousand letter language and its high complexity. "Yeah, these creatures think that they can put their own symbols everywhere due to everyone knowing that they can scan their writing and figure it out instantly. This is supposed to say, 'All who enter this mausoleum shall face death if they disturb the humans' rest.' "

Twilight noticed how advanced the human universe was. Everything had very advanced technology, and it was impossible to escape. She had already encountered evil machines, stormed a flying, metal ship, and dueled against futuristic soldiers of darkness. She diverted her attention to the nearby crypt entrance. Pinkie felt uneasy with entering another crypt, so she hummed a song about spirits and laughter to herself. The quartet traveled down into the crypt, wondering were the source of the power can be hiding.

•—————•

After encountering a few dead ends and brittle skeletons, the four ponies reached a metal gate. The room was littered with coffins built into the wall, and torches burned with blue flames. On the other side of the gate was a dark hallway. Before they could even advance, a bundle of bones assembled into a human skeleton with horns. A brushed helmet and gilded metal armor wrapped around it, shielding most of the skeleton from any attacks. A huge double-bitted battle axe and kite shield floated into the warrior's hands. Its blue eyes quickly shifted into red flames. After a short while, all of its bones were covered in fire.

The skeleton opened its fire-spitting mouth. "Fear me, mortal souls, for I am the guardian of my lord. Any who dare trespass his domain will be smitten with my axe."

The quartet moved a little closer towards the skeleton while preparing for a big battle. The skeleton opened six coffins located in the room with only one hand movement. Six armored and red-eyed skeletons joined the commander. All of them wielded bucklers and broadswords. "Leave now, or death will plague your soul!" one of the soldiers hissed through its burning jaw.

"I don't think that's gonna happen," Rainbow Dash responded cockily. "Also, we fought creatures like you before, so why don't you guys get back into your resting places before I have to pummel the message into you all?"

The skeletal soldiers took that statement as a threat. The fallen hero pointed its battle axe at Rainbow Dash, signaling three soldiers to attack. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon again and blasted the three skeletons. They blocked the blow successfully, but they were pushed back into the mob. Twilight fired a wave of magic that tripped and damaged the soldiers. They hastily climbed back to their feet and charged once more. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings to the point that wind was rushing through their bones. The burning flames inside their armor died out, and the skeletons shivered and slightly panicked.

"I feel, so cold," chattered one of the soldiers. "How can I fight in the frigid arctic?"

"This is not the arctic, knight," boomed the fallen hero. "This is a crypt that our lord owns. Now, be a loyal noble and slay the invaders!"

The soldier raised its shield in unison with the other two. The flaming three in the back followed as they raised their bucklers too. Rainbow Dash fired her guns, but the lasers did not penetrate the metal. A skeletal soldier near Twilight swung its broadsword. Twilight grabbed it with her magic And used it to stab the soldier in the skull. The soldier fell to the ground while a flaming one took its place. Pinkie punched one of the soldiers back and then stomped on its head. That same soldier fell to ground into a pile of bones and metal.

Fluttershy was about to be cut in two by another soldier. She backed away until she hit a corner. "Back off!" she scolded in a mess of rage and fear. "You are not being nice! Stay away and stop acting so mean!"

The soldier backed away in bewilderment. "What the hell? I don't know how to act to this."

Fluttershy stomped a hoof onto the ground. "You need to learn to be nice you living pile of bones! You can't go around and cut up ponies because they are looking for a friend!"

The skeleton looked around and dropped its weapon. "I, I'm sorry? I didn't mean to ki-"

Twilight blasted the skeleton into fragments as a magical blast destroyed its skull. The armor and bones fell to the ground, and two more rushed into the area. Their bodies were overflowing in fire from their vengeful souls. Rainbow Dash flew behind them and kicked their skulls off their bodies. She quickly pummeled and destroyed the two bodies to leave them useless. The fallen hero and his two soldiers rushed towards the four ponies. Twilight grabbed one of the skeleton's sword and shield, leaving them defenseless. She sliced the same skeletons head off with the blade, and she slammed the shield into the other, destroying its skull. Both skeletons fell lifeless onto the floor.

"May your souls burn in an eternal inferno for your crimes!" the fallen hero scornfully cursed. It swung his battle axe into the quartet, but it completely missed. Twilight used her magic to steal the weapon. The fallen hero's grip was too strong to steal anything from it.

"That shall not happen, weakling." Another battle axe swing slammed Twilight into a wall. The fallen hero rammed its shield into her, attempting to crush her between the wall and the kite shield. Pinkie climbed on the skeleton's head and tossed it across the room. Rainbow Dash flew to the body to destroy it, but a battle axe swatted her like a fly in a kitchen. She was tossed to the bouncing and flaming head. The head hovered back to the body and placed itself back in place. Pinkie ripped off the kite shield and threw it to the gate, and Twilight used her magic on the battle axe once more and aimed it towards the skeleton's chest. Rainbow Dash zipped to the axe and kicked it into the skeleton, slicing the entire ribcage and chest plate in half. The flames around the bones died out as the red pupils in the sky faded into the darkness.

"Look!" Fluttershy pointed a hoof towards the opening gate. "We can leave this room now."

"It's best you move on," Travis warned. "Spirits don't die, they just lose their power temporarily. If you stay here for too long, that skeleton will come back and kill all of you."

The quartet abided to that order and entered the open gate. They encountered a few more corpses and skeletons, but they were easily dispatched and eliminated. Fluttershy scolded some of the enemies, confusing them to no end. They eventually reached a hallway with a cylindrical machine placed into the wall. It was glowing blue, and it held something inside of its cold components. Travis remembered what the machine was and gave clear advice to the four ponies.

"That's a dimensional cryogenic chamber," Traivs informed. "Many different species use them to keep creatures alive and inactive." He looked at the readings from the chamber and donned a face of haste. "This is giving the Element of Harmony signal! Press that blue button on the side now!"

Twilight quickly pressed her hoof onto the blue button. The cryo chamber hissed and released frigid air as the door slowly opened. In that chamber stood Applejack. She was attached to strange machines and life support systems by multiple wires and tubes, and they suspended her in midair. She woke up and spoke groggily, "Twilight, is that really you?"

"Applejack, you're okay!" Pinkie shouted in relief. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash unhooked the wires from her body. She was still half asleep, but she could stand perfectly fine.

:ajsmug: has been added to your party.

"Who is't dares trespass mine own resting lodging?" a dead and cold shrill demanded from the air. "anyone who is't dares dare me shalt feeleth mine own wrath."

A cloud of black dust rotated behind the ponies. Two bony arms, a rib cage with a beating heart, and a skull manifested from the cloud. A robe of darkness covered the essence as its eyes illuminated the color of ancient possession, purple. A scepter levitated towards its left hand and emitted a blue and purple light. Darkness and tendrils covered its right hand. "Thy souls, they possess a most wondrous amount of power. I shall absorb these treats into mine, and then mine own army shall becometh insuppressive. All of thee shall convert into the soldiers of the undead and serveth me fore eternity."

A challenger approaches: Badass Mage Lich of Human Crypt number seventeen

"What fancy speak is this thing saying?" Applejack responded to the lich's Shakepearean tongue.

The lich stared into Applejack's soul in rage. "Thee dare fig mine own voice? Thou art the first to kicketh the bucket!"

A blast of darkness shrouded her body. Twilight fired a spell at the black to destroy the evil magic, but it was to no avail. The lich raised its darkened hand and summoned multiple skeletons from the ground. Four dead soldiers rose from the earth and prepared to obliterate the quintet. Rainbow Dash punched one in the face, but it soon raised its greatsword and blocked her next attack. A skeleton with a mace attempted to crush Fluttershy, but she involuntarily bucked the skeleton into a wall. Its own mace crushed its bones.

She held her hooves to her mouth in shock from the action. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that to you, it just happened!"

Twilight strained from pushing a shield back as she heard Fluttershy's apology. "You don't, have to be sorry, to these things! It tried to, kill you anyway!" Her magic forced the shield into the skeleton's chest, disarming and knocking down the defeated soldier.

The last skeleton, armed with a crossbow, was smashed into pieces by Pinkie's constant punches. She then tackled the greatsword skeleton and incapacitated it. Rainbow Dash finished off the soldier by slamming a hoof into its head. The blue pupils vanished as an entire skull crushed itself. The lich was getting weary now, and he was afraid of the ponies' power. Applejack broke out of the darkness and snorted in anger.

"Nopony does that and doesn't get bucked." Her words were calm, yet they dripped with a locked hatred towards the lich. She galloped towards the Lich with pure determination. Since the lich was occupied now from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash's attacks, it couldn't prevent her attack. She bucked the lich into the wall, breaking some of its dusty and ancient bones. It floated back to its original elevation and conjured a dome of darkness. Twisted faces breathed black fire at the ponies. Pinkie dodged, ducked, dipped, dived, and dodged countless flames, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hovered over all of it, Twilight deflected it with her deflection spell, and Applejack continued to pulverize the lich.

The lich stared at the ponies in shock and awe. "How doth thee things possess so much power? Am I too weak to stand ho this madness?"

"No, you just suck at your job!" Rainbow Dash mocked while firing laser blasts into the lich. Applejack approached the Lich once more, ready to buck again into it. The lich learned its lesson this time and teleported other side of the room. The faces of darkness dissipated and revealed the room once more. The lich raised its hand again to summon more soldiers.

Actually, it was one soldier. Five skeletons fused into a giant forged out of multiple corpses. Its armor was enchanted ribs and skulls. It held a war hammer in both of its hands, and its bones teemed with the same darkness the lich possessed. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were slammed into different walls as the giant swayed its weapon in the air. Twilight fired a magical blast at the creature, but it was deflected from the enchanted armor. Applejack avoided it and headed straight for the lich. She bucked it again, destroying the scepter this time. It looked at the shattered stick in horror, realizing the terrifying loss.

"Nay, mine own soul! I shall cometh back hither lief, and I shall end all of thy liveth!"

The lich's body dissipated into a cloud of darkness, and then into nothing. The giant fell apart and lost its blue pupils and enchants. The room grew quiet with the absence of evil. The ponies reunited once again and greeted Applejack to the team.

Badass Mage Lich has been defeated!

"Good job, AJ!" Rainbow Dash looked at the fallen monster with a triumphant grin. "I didn't know you could slam monsters like that."

Applejack readjusted her hat and thanked Rainbow Dash. "I'm just doing what I think should be done. That creature caused a great deal of pain to me, and I couldn't stand it."

Twilight examined Applejack's body. "What do you mean hurt? You look fine to me."

Pinkie handed Applejack a cupcake in urgency. "Eat it! It heals the soul too!"

"Soul?" Twilight said in confusion.

Applejack ate the orange and yellow treat. She definitely felt better. The pain inside her body melted away as she ate the pastry. It wasn't long though until bones rattled once more. Travis watched them curiously.

"It's best you five leave now," Travis ordered in slight fear. "I think that defeat angered the entire crypt.

The quintet galloped out of the crypt and into the not so fresh air outside. The drop ship was just up ahead, waiting for the ponies to return safely. Applejack asked many questions about the cemetery and GEST Corp., but she soon realized that the answers were obvious. She was trapped in a crypt, and four of her friends traveled there to save her. She was still confused on where Rarity was, but her friends didn't know either. The five ponies entered the ship while one of the soldiers blasted a corpse's head apart.

"Hello, newcomer!" the pilot welcomed as Applejack rested in the ship. "What's your name?"

"It's Applejack," she answered wearily yet bravely. "And, uh, what are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a human. All of the soldiers in this ship are humans, except for your friends."

A crackle was heard as a visual and audio feed materialized from the cockpit screen. "Attention all units, Ponyville is under attack by demon hostiles!" the soldier in the screen informed as laser blasts and explosions riddled the area with mayhem. "All units capable of holding off the invasion must report immediately! Assistance is needed! I repeat, assistance is needed!"

"Well, we get to bust more demon heads open," Rainbow Dash said with an enthused grin.

Twilight expressed worry and attempted to think more optimistic thoughts. "I hope we can get there before Ponyville turns into rubble."

Act II, Chapter 4: The Second Battle of Ponyville
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act II, Chapter 4: The Second Battle of Ponyville

The drop ship was almost to Ponyville. It traveled through the dimensional portal, and it was in Equestria's atmosphere. Ponyville became visible from the fires and ships littering the area. Demons populated the entire landscape. Entire armies were marching along the plains, warships cruised to the site, and vehicles of warfare crushed foliage on their way to the battlefield. A nearby anti-air cannon blasted the drop ship, destroying its left wing and thruster. Red lights flashed and sirens blared Inside the ship.

"Mayday, mayday!" the pilot shouted as the ship spiraled out of control. "We've been hit by demon artillery! We have five of the Elements of Harmony aboard the ship!"

"Hang on, fellas!" an eager and bloodthirsty soldier yelled to his comrades. "We're gonna have a welcoming party!"

The soldiers activated their thruster packs and opened the ramp. Wind rushed into the ship as the soldiers fell out of the ship. War cries and shouting were quickly dissipated as the soldiers jumped off the ship. The five ponies were terrified. Fluttershy was hyperventilating, Pinkie was screaming in her seat, and the other three braced for impact.

"You five gotta jump!" the co-pilot warned to the quintet. "Youll die with us if you stay in here!"

"Well, I'm outta here then." Rainbow Dash unfurled her wings and glided out of the ship.

"Are you nuts?" Twilight screamed hysterically. "I can't free-fall like that!"

"Then teleport down!" Pinkie said as she urged Fluttershy to fly out of the ship. "I'll be down there safe and sound, girls!" She turned her attention towards Fluttershy. "You have to fly out if you want to survive!"

Fluttershy jumped out with her wings wide open, and Pinkie Pie entered free fall. Applejack grabbed the spare parachute and hopped out of the ship. Twilight was the only pony on the ship now. She activated her teleportation spell and disappeared into the air.

•—————•

Twilight reappeared in her treehouse. She felt a little disoriented, but she was still healthy and able to move around. She remembered that the Elements of Harmony were still in her case. She opened the case and levitated all of them out the front door. She galloped outside with the bundle of charms and examined the scene. Rainbow Dash landed on a nearby house, Applejack crashed into a pile of hay, Pinkie was already bouncing around, and Fluttershy was looking around on the street. Fire consumed some of the buildings, but they weren't as wild as the first battle's flames. Déjà vu struck Twilight like a speeding truck, but she shrugged it off and rushed to her friends with the Elements of Harmony. She placed every single one of them onto her friends. The element for Rarity was placed into her saddlebags for later.

Three demons also rushed into the scene. One of them carried a special laser rifle, and the others carried bucklers and short swords. "They're over here, sarge!" the rifle-wielding demon shouted. "I got the unicorn. You two, get the earth ponies!"

The two demons rushed over to Pinkie Pie first. She pulled out her party cannon and shredded them with killer confetti. The rifle demon pretended that didn't happen and chased Twilight Sparkle. She fired a magical blast at the demon, but an invisible barrier absorbed the blast. The demon fired three purple blasts at Twilight and hit her successfully. No laser wounds were created, but Twilight felt, weak. Her magic was drained by the blasts!

"It works!" The demon held up his weapon and giddily danced. "Now let's set it to 'kill mode'."

Twilight galloped towards the hay. The demon attempted to follow her, but he was blocked when Rainbow Dash confronted it. She fired her guns and shredded the demon to bits. After a little conversing and questioning, the quintet regrouped. Their communications chips buzzed with static as they examined the area.

"Twilight Sparkle," General Solk ordered briefly, "we have the location of the last member. They're in an approaching fortress."

Rainbow Dash's face donned complete terror. "Did you say, approaching fortress?"

"Yes, I said that. It just crushed part of the Everfree Forest under its feet, and it's heading this way."

"How are we going to fend of an entire fortress?" Twilight questioned in pure hysteria.

"We have checkpoints were anti-air cannons have been placed. We can hijack those checkpoints and aim them at the fortress. There are a total of three of these locations in Ponyville. The first one is at Sugarcube Corner."

Pinkie gasped in shock. "These meanies are taking over my home? They are not going to be smiling from this!"

Pinkie rushed over to Sugarcube Corner in anger. The other four ponies followed in pursuit to the shop. A blockade of dark stone and neotitanium cut their journey short. A new demon was sniffing around the area. Unlike the others, it was a hunchback with large fists. There was no visible mouth, and six horns protruded from its head. A forked tail whipped around at its rear end, and it walked on two powerful legs. The demon looked over to the quintet and growled inhumanly. It began to run towards them.

"What is that thing?" Applejack's face shifted to curiosity and fear. "It doesn't look friendly, but it's pretty interesting."

Twilight looked over as she prepared a magical blast. "I don't know, but I'm going to destroy it before it destroys us."

She fired the raw magic at the creature. It grunted in pain, but it kept rushing towards the five ponies. Rainbow Dash fired a barrage of lasers at the demon, damaging it moderately. It pounded its chest as it confronted Pinkie Pie. It threw punches from the left and right, but she dodged them easily. She did the same to the demon, but it shrugged them off as nothing. Twilight fired another magical blast at the demon, this time knocking the demon to her left by a few yards.

The demon twitched as it hit the ground. Its body sprouted multiple spikes, and its tail turned into a mess of needles. The horns on its head grew longer as a long, twisted mouth formed on its face. Multiple fangs and a forked tongue were revealed as its face split apart. Its fists opened into deadly claws. The demon then got back on its feet, but it wasn't hunched anymore. It was almost on all fours at this point.

"Huh, that's new." Rainbow Dash noticed the unique demon's form as she flew backwards.

The demon sprinted towards Twilight this time. It leaped into the air and held out its claws, but it soon found itself in a patch of dirt and gravel. Twilight had teleported again, but she used a short range variant of the spell this time. The demon readjusted its aim and leaped at Pinkie this time. She rolled under the demon while it was in the air and pummeled it front hooves when it landed. The demon felt nothing and swung one of its brawny arms behind its back. The demon threw Pinkie into a nearby house, causing a dent as she smashed into the wall.

Twilight realized the weakness of this demon. Pinkie's physical attacks were pretty powerful, but this creature wasn't phased from them. However, magic damaged the creature badly. Twilight charged a fire blast this time and aimed for the demon. It noticed the sudden abundance of an illuminating red and turned towards her. It gnashed its teeth ravenously and crawled toward her. She fired the blast, setting the demon ablaze with both flames and rage. It roared while charging towards Twilight. The demon leaped into the air once again, this time pinning her down.

Fire crept from the demon's body and walked along Twilight's coat. The creature's powerful claws scraped at her flesh while pinning her forlegs on the ground. Twilight couldn't move her lower body because the demon positioned its feet on top of her hind legs. The creature snarled inches from her face. The flames kept swimming along her body, cooking and burning everything they touched. Twilight closed her eyes and winced to not see what what going to happen to her.

The demon twitched and growled as laser blasts smashed into its back. Twilight felt the weight put on her legs vanish. The demon turned around and leaped at Rainbow Dash. She kept firing laser blasts into the creature. She flew backwards and watched the demon flop onto the ground lifelessly. The flames died down as the creature dissipated into a cloud. The body disappeared with the fire and left nothing behind.

Twilight got back on her hooves and examined them. Punctures in her flesh were bleeding, and the fire that was still on her caused bad burns all over her body. She used a spell to eliminate the fire and asked for a cupcake. Pinkie hopped over to her and handed the usual orange and yellow cupcake selflessly. Twilight Sparkle munched on the treat and felt her body rejuvenate. Burns dissolved into her skin, puncture wounds closed up, and the searing pain trickled out of her body. She felt healthy and alive again.

Twilight shifted her attention to the metal wall. "How are we going to get past that?" She looked to her left and right. Even more steel walls blocked the path to Sugarcube Corner. "There's no way around it!"

Rainbow Dash flew next the wall and mocked Twilight. "Uh, I have wings. I can just fly over it and find a way for all of you to pass."

The other four ponies nodded in agreement. Rainbow Dash flew over the wall and scanned the ground. Five demons were walking around and patrolling the area. Four of them were novice demons, and one of them was a shield demon, a small demon with no head and strong armor. One of the novice demons was standing next to a bundle of explosive canisters. Another was piloting the anti-air cannon and shooting at GEST Corp. aircraft. The shield demon and other two novice demons walked around aimlessly.

If I push one of those barrels to the wall, I might be able to blow it up, she planned to herself. She glared at the demon near the canisters. I don't think that punk is going to let me near them though.

She created a couple storm clouds and hurled them at the demons. Two of them were hit directly by the storm clouds.

"Argh, what was that?" Exclaimed one of the injured demons. It wielded a freezing rocket launcher and wore chain mail all over its body. "Wherever you are, don't think I'm an idiot. I've killed half a person with this baby!"

Rainbow Dash pounced onto the rocket demon and crushed its body. She fired laser blasts at two other demons wielding laser rifles. They were quickly destroyed under the barrage of lasers. The shield demon ran up with its razor-sharp nubs and sliced at her. It missed completely and was crushed from Rainbow Dash's pummeling. She then smashed her hooves into the sides of the cannon demon's head, crushing it into a pancake. All of the demons dissipated into nothing and left their weapons and armor in the area.

Rainbow Dash hovered to the canisters and rolled them next to the wall. She placed seven near the wall in a neat order. After finishing her placement, she rained lasers on the canisters. They destroyed the entire wall as they exploded, allowing the other four ponies to cross safely.

"And that's how you get it done!" Rainbow Dash said cockily while spinning in midair.

"Good work, Rainbow," Applejack praised while giving a thankful smile. She glanced at the cannon in bafflement. "Twilight, do you know how this thing works?"

Twilight also examined the cannon, but wasn't too clear on how to control it. "I don't know, but the other soldiers might." She shifted her attention to Travis. "Travis, can you send in some soldiers to Sugarcube Corner? We've taken control of the area."

"Can do," he chirped.

Four GEST Corp. soldiers rushed into the area after a few seconds. One seized the cannon while the others positioned themselves around the cannon. "You five can go now." One of the soldiers pointed to the collapsed metal.

"Alright, the next location is near the school," Travis informed. "Multiple demon soldiers are currently fending off our troops, and they're winning. We need you five to turn the tables on them.

The quintet acknowledged that information and headed towards the school. They noticed that the demons built multiple fortifications around the school. GEST Corp. soldiers were slowly advancing through the river, but their men were dropping like flies. The bridge was destroyed, and turret stations were placed strategically around the road. The only way to penetrate the makeshift base was either airborne or straight ahead.

Twilight aimed her magical blast for one of the turrets. "I need a clear shot, but that metal will get in the way."

"I can handle it!" Pinkie exclaimed while pulling out her party cannon. She placed a cluster bomb into the cannon and aimed for the turret. As the cannon fired, multiple bombs rained down on the fort. Turrets exploded, metal broke apart, demons exploded into chunks of matter, and soldiers forded the river in triumph. The five ponies advanced as well, blasting and destroying a new variant of demon. These demons were four-legged creatures that scuttled along the ground, biting at nearby soldiers' ankles. They only had four legs and a head with a toothy mouth.

"Those are called leecks," Travis informed. "They're responsible for multiple engine failures and meltdowns."

The quintet invaded the demons' fort. They stormed the inside of the school, and they met several demons hiding from the gunfire. They fired laser blasts and magic blasts, bucked, punched, kicked, and shouted at the demons. One demon sergeant ripped through the ceiling and landed on a desk. He carried a bayonet laser rifle with a motion tracker. He shot himself into the air, cackling as he fired at Rainbow Dash. She dodged the constant blasts while Pinkie snuck behind the occupied demon. She smashed her front hooves into the demon's head, destroying most of its essence. Twilight fired a fire blast at the sergeant, disintegrating his entire body.

"We got control of the cannon!" shouted a soldier from outside the school. "Those dudes didn't even stand a chance!"

"Yeah, they did," corrected another soldier. "They were mowing us down before these ponies shown up." The soldier poked its head at the school entrance and gave a thumbs up to the quintet.

"Alright, there's one more location," Travis informed. "It's all the way at the town hall. Be careful though, we almost have an entire war for that area right now."

The quintet galloped once again to their destination. They encountered a few anti-magic demons and thrasher demons, the same creature that attacked the ponies at the wall, while they pressed on into the town square. They weren't too much trouble, but they still put up a powerful fight. Once they reached the town hall, they discovered that Travis was right.

Bodies littered the road. Soldier heads rolled around the ground while losing their blood. Torsos and limbs were cut and ripped apart everywhere. The pieces were scattered in bloody bunches of viscera. Some soldiers that didn't die yet had gaping wounds and laser shots dotting their body. The demons were winning this fight by a landslide, and their proof was the trio of heavily armored demons armed with submachine guns. They fired countless shots into the crowd of soldiers as they flipped and evaded around the battlefield.

"Can I stay away from these ones?" Fluttershy asked timidly. Twilight nodded a yes, and Fluttershy proceeded to hide behind a nearby building.

Twilight analyzed the situation and created a quick plan. "Rainbow Dash, I need you to fly above the demons and shoot them from above. Pinkie, I need you to sneak behind them and disable their abilities. Applejack, you need to get up close and bash the demons. I'll divert their attention and possibly fire magic at them."

Those four ponies nodded in agreement and began their orders. Twilight fired a few blasts at the demons to gain their attention.

"What just damaged my barrel?" one of them said in a gruff and irritated voice.

"I did!" Twilight used her magic to fiddle with the demon's weapon. All three of the elite demons began firing their weapons at her. She dodged and blocked their attacks wildly. Sometimes, she would even forget that there was a wall near her. Rainbow Dash rained lasers on the elite demons, Pinkie hugged one of them so much that they were constricted, and Applejack bucked one of them into a wall. Two of the elite demons died very quickly, but Applejack's demon was still alive. Rainbow Dash shifted her aim and fired at the surviving elite demon. It fell apart as the lasers shredded its form.

"Good job, ponies!" shouted a soldier while they hijacked the anti-air cannon. The demon that was kicked out of the cannon dissipated almost instantly.

"The entire town is under GEST Corp. control now," Travis informed. "All that's left is the colossal demon approaching the town. It'll be knocked down by our aircraft and hijacked cannons easily, but you need to enter the fortress on its back."

"Wait, what?" the ponies questioned in unison.

"Why the hay is a fortress on something's back?" Applejack asked in confusion.

"I have no idea," Travis answered blankly. He was as clueless as Applejack. "All I know is Lieutenant Vyshnaam is in that fort, and he is leading this entire brigade. He's a very smart leader, so he'll expect you five to enter his fort. Most likely, he's already prepared."

The ground shook as a gargantuan demon entered the mess of smoke. In the direction of the Everfree Forest was a hulking monster with two huge, unblinking eyes. The creature roared as it approached the town. It wanted to do nothing but destroy Ponyville. It wanted to ruin and wreck everything in its path.

A soldier raised out their right arm hastily. "Fire!"

Missiles and laser blasts spiraled toward the behemoth, destroying pieces of its solid body. The creature wailed in pain and hastened its journey to the town. Even though it was almost at the town, too much artillery was being thrown at it to allow any progress. The beast eventually fell to the ground lifelessly. A chunk of the forest was crushed under the demon's massive body. On top of the demon stood a lone fortress, waiting to be infiltrated. Twilight Sparkle, determined to conquer the monsters that caused this madness, readied her quintet and ventured into the trees. They were about to meet what could be their death, but they were too determined to believe that. They were going to end the demons right here, and nothing could stop them.

Act II, Chapter 5: Confrontation With Evil
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act II, Chapter 5: Confrontation With Evil

A bright and fluffy room appeared into view. A reception desk sat in the small lobby area with a pegasus mare sitting behind it. She was wearing a white suit and glasses, and she was examining a few papers about check-ins and check-outs inside the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. The front doors burst open as five suited pegasi carried a metal crate into the lobby. Four of the pegasi wore dark and gray suits with helmets. The helmets possessed huge eye-shaped visors in the front and an extension in the back. The one pegasus in the front wore the same clothing, but he did not wear a helmet. Instead, it was wearing onyx goggles. His mane was a glorious rainbow, and its coat donned the color of silver. The receptionist glanced up to see the huge crate and a suited pony approach the desk.

"This is the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, right?" he said rhetorically. "I have a package that needs to be delivered right now."

"Please write the reason for delivery on this sheet." the receptionist handed a paper and quill. The paper was littered with legal notices and dates.

The stallion scoffed at the paper and glared right into her soul. "That's not necessary, miss. This package is not one of your usual supply deliveries or material ships. This is an important machine that needs to be assembled as soon as possible."

"You still need to fill out the form," the receptionist reminded in a blatant tone.

The stallion ignored her. "The main rooms should be dead ahead if I'm correct. Just place the box there and crack it open for me."

The four pegasi lifted the crate down the hall. The receptionist was getting a little weary. Delivery pegasi never appeared with these types of suits, and they didn't bring in boxes without signing the package sheet. Something was off, and she was starting to speculate a bit.

"Sir, I have to notify the staff that you're sending these supplies. This cannot continue without permission."

The crate was set down onto the cloud floor. "Pawn," the stallion ordered to one of the other pegasi, "shut her up and keep it unnoticeable."

The suited pony nodded and knocked the receptionist out with a punch in the face. Her body was carried away and stuffed into a nearby custodian closet. The crate opened with a few creaks. As the metal crate fell apart, a new device was revealed. It was in the shape of an oval with light bulbs dotting its rim. The machine was placed on a wall and activated by one of the suited ponies. A swirling and humming vortex soon spat out multiple suited ponies wearing the same uniforms. They all crowded the room and examined the building. The stallion from earlier confronted the crowd of pegasi bitterly.

"Clean out the whole factory. Everyone who works here is going to stay here. Nothing gets in or out without my verbal okay, okay?"

The crowd nodded in unison and fanned out around the facility. Distant shouts and screams materialized as the ponies seized control of the building. The stallion pointed to two of the suited ponies still on the ground.

"You two, find this pony. They'll be a great help to our cause." He held up a picture of a familiar pony. The soldiers nodded and left the building, escaping into the night. The stallion watched more metal pieces travel through the portal. Multiple tubes, pipes, blades, grating, metal panels, and glass collected in the room. The pegasi picked these pieces up and flew off with them to the other rooms. Some of the 'pawns' were sculpting different designs and pathways in the building. The entire Cloudsdale Weather Factory was getting a free renovation, and it was for a sadistic and demented purpose.

•—————•

As the quintet traversed through the Everfree Forest, they encountered countless demons. Multiple soldiers were already aiming at them from afar, and they had to act quickly to avoid any severe damage. Most of the soldiers were novice demons, but a few elite demons snuck up the ponies and caused a few scratches and bruises. Even though they dealt considerable damage and drawn blood, Pinkie Pie's healing treats negated all of these injuries. The group of ponies soon found themselves in a cloud a black dust, only able to see the looming fortress that crushed part of the forest. Demons marched along the walls with weapons primed. A large gate was kept shut to hold off any intruders, and huge, indestructible walls guarded the commander inside the fortress.

Rainbow Dash watched the soldiers march in unison along the walls and gulped her own fear. "Uh, I normally don't say this, but these punks kinda scare me."

"Okay, I'm not going to be available for a while," Travis informed.

Pinkie Pie's face shifted to confusion. "Why?"

"There's another demon attack occurring in Clogania, a planet inhabited by one of our allies. They have an ED squadron over there that needs more guiding than you five. Plus, you all are getting the hang of this setup, so I don't think you need me for a while."

Pinkie stared at the ground in woe. "Well, I hope to hear from you again, mister. Since we've already finished the tutorial session, we might as well move along without extra help." Her expression changed to happiness again. "You go on and help your fellow humans, Travis! We'll be okay!"

After that little conversation, Twilight Sparkle examined the fortress closely. She noticed a lever on one of the two towers on the sides of the gate. "Rainbow, if you can fly up there while we take out the guards, you can open the front gate."

"I can help with that!" Pinkie was climbing into her party cannon while wearing a stuntman's helmet. "Here I go!"

Twilight was about to stop her act, but Pinkie was already flying through the air. Two demons glanced over to her in shock before two spiked hooves smashed them. The last thing they saw was a smiling, pink pony with two hooves pointed at their faces. One of the other demons ran into a tower with a walkie-talkie.

"We have them!" the demon shouted in panic. "They're breaching the front gate now!"

Pinkie leaped onto the alerted demon and pummeled him into ground matter. After that sudden and helpful situation, Rainbow Dash flew up to the lever and flicked it down. The front gate slowly rose up with the sound of clanking and grinding metal. Three demons with riot shields and laser pistols exited the fortess and fired at the three ponies still on the ground. Applejack jumped behind a tree while Twilight activated her defection spell. Fluttershy also hid behind a tree, but she cooed into the wilderness for natural aid. As the demons fought back against their own gunfire, the bushes to their right rustled violently.

"What's that over there?" questioned a demon hastily.

His question was answered as three timberwolves pounced on him. He accidentally fired his pistol into another demon, damaging and panicking them. The timberwolves destroyed the first demon and moved on to the other two. The demons shifted their focus on the hostile wolves, allowing Applejack to buck one of them into a wall. Twilight released her spell and fired magic blasts at the demons, destroying them and converting them into clouds of black smoke. The Timberwolves hopped back into the overgrowth with uninterest toward the ponies. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash fell down to the gate and regrouped with the other three ponies.

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash was brushing off the dirt on her armor. "It sounded like you three were attacked too."

"Yeah, we were," Applejack answered with a pinch of exhaustion. She turned her attention towards Fluttershy and collected a smile of amazement. "How did you do that? I didn't know timberwolves respond like that to your call."

"Well, it's really simple." Fluttershy walked out of the cover and near the gate. "Naturally they don't like sounds like that, but I made it sound like those things made the noise. They usually attack anything that does that and leave peacefully." She remembered distant encounters of timberwolves while smiling a little more. "Also, I do have a close relationship with nature. They would never hurt me like that."

Applejack collected that information and headed for the gate. The quintet traversed through the first hall with caution. Torches lined the walls with blue flames, columns expressed the architecture of the demon army, and arched windows dotted the walls. Rainbow Dash noticed a distant demon and slammed a hoof into them. The demon was immediately destroyed from the surprise attack. The ponies eventually reached a T-junction with two closed doors. One indicated an armory while the other pointed the way towards the inner sanctum.

"Let's grab a few supplies before we move on," Twilight ordered politely. "We don't want to encounter these things unprepared, right?"

"I guess we could find some sort of armor or items in there," Applejack replied hopefully.

The ponies opened the door to find multiple weapons of various shapes and sizes. Multiple swords of different types littered the walls, maces with and without chains rested in containers, and different pieces of armor were mounted onto the wall. It was all made for humanoid creatures, so none of it was useful for them unless Twilight wanted to swing around a blade. They left the weapon room in disappointment and continued through the inner sanctum door.

Right behind the door was two curving staircases that led to a second floor. On the first floor stood a huge demon with disproportional shoulder pads and a close helmet that covered its entire face. Two glowing and completely white eyes stared at the five ponies. The demon raised its shield in the shape of two obtuse scalene triangles attached to each other. It also held a huge chained mace with a poison-dipped ball of spikes. The demon slowly approached in titanium armor.

"Leave now, little ones, or else all of you will receive your punishment." The demon's voice was low and threatening. It was as if it broke the ground with every boom of its voice.

Rainbow Dash rammed into the demon's head. She bounced back into a wall as the demon chuckled and swung his ace for a killing blow. She regained her senses and dashed to the other side of the room, avoiding the huge cluster of spikes that smashed into her original position. Twilight charged a magic blast and fired it at the demon. The blast punctured him and damaged his essence, but he still stood upright. He increased his speed as he raised his shield and charged at the group of ponies. All of them dodged to random areas on the left and right sides of the demon. He stopped and turned to face Applejack and Pinkie Pie on his left side. He swiped the floor with his mace, but the two ponies hopped over it like a jump rope.

He kicked Pinkie into the wall behind her and swept Applejack with his shield to his left side. Twilight fired another blast from behind the demon, damaging him again. Fluttershy flew around the demon to distract and confuse him. He simply ignored her as he swung his mace vertically onto Twilight. She dodged to her left and galloped behind the demon. Rainbow Dash and Applejack bucked at his legs, ruining his balance. He fell to the floor and slowly got back up. Pinkie hopped on his head the entire time, but she was flicked off the demon's head by a metal hand. She was slammed into another wall, this time feeling sore from the damage to her back.

Twilight fired another magical blast while aiming for his head. As the shot penetrated the thick helmet, the demon collapsed onto the ground lifelessly. The glowing eyes disappeared, and black smoke gathered around the body. All that was left afterwards was a huge set of armor, a shield, and a chain mace.

"Well, that was a lot of work." Applejack was panting from the dodging and attacks.

Rainbow Dash was kicking the metal armor in frustration. "How the hay did he take all my hits like they were nothing? Whatever this stuff's made out of, it's pretty powerful."

Twilight looked a little closer at the armor plating. "That looks like titanium, but that metal is too heavy to carry as armor. Even an earth pony would be crushed by this metal."

"So, I can't wear the awesome armor this guy was showing off?" Rainbow Dash's face shifted to disappointment as she lowered her head.

"I'm afraid so. Maybe the humans have armor better than this metal, but I'll need to check if they do. For now, these armor pieces we're wearing will have to do."

The five ponies regrouped and walked up the stairs. They opened the next door to find some tables with demons crouching behind them. Some of the tables were flipped onto their side, creating entire walls of cover for the demons. Multiple novice demons and an elite demon scrambled around the area desperately. The quintet also hid behind the flipped tables and avoided the laser blasts heading directly for them.

A special demon emerged from the other end of the room. It was covered in fire and wore a wicked grin. Flames dripped out of its eyes, mouth, and nostrils. A huge plume of fire covered its hands. The entire demon hovered over the ground, muttering ancient speak as the fire bent into different shapes. A fireball hurled towards Twilight first. She retreated her head behind the table while yelping in fear. Rainbow Dash carefully examined the demons' movements for an opening to strike. Pinkie Pie was zipping to different tables and flipping them over hastily. Some of the demons fired at her, but Twilight covered a barrier spell around Pinkie's area. Applejack rammed one of the tables into another one, crushing the two novice demons hiding behind the table.

The hellfire demon floated backwards and sneered menacingly. He uttered more ancient sounds while moving his hands in unique patterns. The fire from his hands flew into the other demons, creating a barrier of fire. Two novice demons screamed a war cry while holding out their bayonet laser rifles. Rainbow Dash hopped out of cover and ripped their bodies apart with her laser guns. The elite demon in the back primed and threw a grenade near Fluttershy's position. She shrieked and swiped it back at the demon with her hooves.

An explosion tore apart three tables on the ponies' left side. Three novice demons collapsed into smoke, and an elite demon rolled over to another table to his left. The hellfire demon screamed even more ancient words and summoned multiple fireballs that orbited him. Three crashed into Pinkie's table. She leaped out and rolled behind the elite demon's table. Applejack bucked her table into the hellfire demon, smashing him into the back of the room. The elite demon retreated once more, this time leaving from the door at the end of the room.

The hellfire demon burned the table in pure rage. His eyes changed to blue and black flames that engulfed his entire body. A circle of blue and black fire surrounded his body, creating a barrier against everything. Twilight fired magical blasts at him, but it was to no avail. The barrier grew violent from the energy inflicted upon it, and it spat out gouts of black and blue fire in random areas.

Pinkie realized what was happening and ducked behind a table. "It's about to explode! Everypony, duck for cover!"

The other four ponies ducked and fled into cover. The flames became more and more destructive and violent every passing millisecond. After a few seconds, the flames imploded into the demon and blasted outwards. Entire tables were scorched from the flames. The walls glistened with the dancing, enchanted fire that plagued them. All that was left were five ducking ponies covered in soot and broken pieces of wood and stone. They coughed from the smoke and debris in the air. They slowly got back to their hooves and examined the door. It did not even exist anymore.

A lone elite demon rushed out in desperation and loyalty. Rainbow Dash gunned it down while Applejack bucked it into a wall. The demon dissipated calmly compared to the madness of flames from the hellfire demon.

"Well, that was something," Applejack stated in surprise and exhaustion.

Twilight breathed deeply as she inched towards Applejack. "These creatures keep getting stronger. I don't know if we can keep up with them."

Pinkie rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Of course you can! That's why there are side quests! Did you not notice the needy humans of New Jaminino?"

"Side quests?" Rainbow Dash peered at Pinkie in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about certain jobs and journeys that can level our stats up! Twilight, you're only level eleven right now. I'm level seventeen from traveling back and finishing those quests. Why do you think I used the drop ship without you all and gained all of these amazing abilities?" She glanced at Rainbow Dash sheepishly. "Oh, right. Rainbow Dash is also level seventeen from helping me on those quests. That's why she can slay these monsters so easily. Twily, you really need to read some books on RPGs and how to play them."

Twilight couldn't even comprehend what Pinkie just said. She's known about her Pinkie Sense, her random acts, and her ecstatic personality, but nothing ever came close to what she just said. "Pinkie, are you joking with me? This might be the craziest thing you ever said to me."

"No, I'm not," Pinkie responded calmly. "That's the reason I'm not making jokes that much. You need to take RPGs seriously. If you don't–" Pinkie swiped a hoof over her neck while sticking out a tongue "–that happens to you, and nopony likes that."

"She's right," Applejack agreed boldly. "These creatures are too dangerous to mess around with. If they can cause as much damage, if not, more than Discord, then we should be very careful."

Rainbow Dash also joined the discussion. "Yeah, I agree too on that. We can't have fun anymore if there's no Equestria to live in. Plus, these punks stole and hurt all of us, so they need to pay."

The quintet agreed on the subject and traversed through the doorway. They entered another room with a lower floor. An overhang of the floor covered the outer part of the lower floor, allowing the ponies to travel to the other side safely. Demons patrolled on the lower floor in a four by three formation. All of them held bayonet laser rifles in their hands and moved around as if all of them were a singular creature. The five ponies carefully crossed the pathway with dead silence. They eventually reached the other side and slowly opened the door. They entered the room beyond the door quietly, completely avoiding a deadly confrontation.

The next room held another gate that looked identical to the front gate. A wedge of stairs gave easy access to the currently closed gate. Two blue torches sat on the sides of the gate, illuminating the room with a blue glow. Two demons stood in equal distance of each other. They wore spiked helmets with two narrow slits in front of their glowing eyes. The helmet was cut in half, allowing the perfect view of the demons' razor-sharp teeth. Shoulder pads with even more spikes sat on their shoulders, and spiked knee pads covered their knees. Two spiked boots covered their feet, and a long, flowing robe of darkness encased the demons' legs and chest. A thin layer of titanium coated the arms, legs, and chest, allowing protection from enemy projectiles. A large, electric staff with four pointed and crooked blades rested in their right hands. Their left hands wielded an acidic scattergun.

The demon on the ponies' left glared up at them. "Well well well, you five finally showed up."

The demon to their right also shifted its head upwards. "We've been expecting all of the Elements of Harmony to combine sooner or later."

"And since you five are here now-"

"Looking for your precious Rarity-"

"We can finally become immortalized."

"Not only will Equestria fall-"

"So will the humans and their wretched allies."

"Kavarians, durnoki, dark dirithians-"

"They're all against us."

"So we'll have to-"

"Shut your flocking mouths!" Rainbow Dash shouted impatiently while ramming into the demon to her right. The demon crashed into a wall and felt his essence drain. The other demon primed his scattergun and fired at Rainbow Dash. She was hit in her left foreleg by one of the acidic bullets, but she powered through the pain. Fluttershy's scared face quickly converted in rage as blood dripped from Rainbow's open wound.

"What is wrong with you creatures!" Fluttershy screamed in uncontrollable anger. "Why would you hurt her like that?"

Applejack raised a hoof and attempted to warn Fluttershy "Uh, sugar cube, I don't think you should be-"

"Who would ever want to draw blood from another pony? What is your reason in doing such a harmful act?"

The knightmare demon who fired the shot was completely confused. "We're soldiers, and you're intruders. It's our job."

"Don't you have any remorse when you hurt though? You should at least feel something!"

"Oh, we feel something alright," the other demon scoffed. "We love the idea and involvement of pain. You should have never come here if you expect a 'clean' fight."

Rainbow Dash was sick of the useless chatter and fired her guns at the demon closest to her. He rolled to his left and fired an electric bolt at Rainbow Dash. Twilight activated a deflect spell in front of Rainbow, deflecting the bolt back at the demon. Pinkie evaded around the other demon and smashed a hoof into his left arm. The demon shouted in pain and frustration as a scattergun dropped to the ground. Applejack galloped towards the same demon and bucked them into the other. Both demons fell to the ground in exhaustion, but they got back up valiantly.

One of the demons strafed around Twilight while firing electrical blasts. Twilight Sparkle fired her magical blasts, but the demon dodged all of them flawlessly. Rainbow Dash fired at the other demon, but the same outcome as Twilight's adversary occurred. Pinkie Pie and Applejack slammed into the two demons while they dodged the projectiles. Once again, two knightmare demons were on the ground. Twilight fired a stronger magical blast at both of them, critically damaging their essences.

The demons began to dissipate into clouds of smoke, but one of them slowly got back up with determination. "No, I'm not dying yet." The demon stopped dissipating and raised his staff. "I will protect Lieutenant Vyshnaam to the death!"

Twilight rolled to her left as the knightmare demon charged at her with the electric staff. He missed, but the other demon was already firing electrical bolts. Pinkie was shot back into a wall, twitching as rogue electricity attacked her nerves. Rainbow Dash flew over the demons and shouted insults at them.

"Hey, where'd you get that stick from?" she mocked in midair. "Those things don't even come close to real lightning! You're better off throwing rocks at us than those trashy hunks of metal!"

The demon that attacked Pinkie lost his focus and aimed at Rainbow Dash. Applejack bucked the demon into a wall, allowing Pinkie to rejoin the fight and finish him off. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and fired at the fallen demon. His entire body fell apart as shrapnel destroyed his armor and matter. The other demon turned around and charged once more. He was easily dispatched when Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash fired both lasers and magical blasts at him. He fell to the ground again, dissipating while cursing the ponies.

The quintet regrouped and examined the room a little more. They noticed that there was a lever cleverly placed in a small hole. The hole was located in the left side of the stairs. Twilight walked over to the lever and flicked it with her magic. The gate slowly rose to the top of the doorway, opening the inner sanctum to the five ponies. They slowly walked up the stairs in caution. Questions raced through their heads after every step. Who was this Vyshnaam, and what did he look like? Is he a gunman or a swordsman? Does he want to kill them? They didn't have any answers to these questions, but what was about to confront them held all of the answers.

After walking through the gate, it shut violently, trapping the ponies inside the room. They noticed a huge glass window stretching from the left side of the room to the right. A big throne sat there in the middle, facing out to the glass. Multiple other chairs and control panels littered the room. The torches on the walls emitted the same blue fire as they always did.

The throne swiveled to face the ponies. It revealed a slightly taller than usual demon with glazed armor. He held a long and thin sword in its left hand and a modified automatic laser rifle in the other. Its usual glowing eyes were replaced with slits of pulsing red. Two more horns protruded from his head like a crown for royalty. His teeth were jagged but perfectly in place. The demon spoke calmly, yet he held back constant rage.

"It's a pleasure to see you five," he spoke menacingly. "I expect you're here for Rarity, right? Well, here she is!"

He pressed a button on his throne. Two large panels on the ground separated, allowing a lower platform to rise and take their place. On that platform was a screaming and shouting unicorn inside a cage. She glared at the demon in anger, threatening to smack him if she ever gets out.

"This is her. Quite the prize she is. She is a little, feisty for a prisoner."

"Unhand me you ruffian!" Rarity shouted furiously.

"Ruffian? Please, I assure you that I am no criminal. I am a commander who goes by the name Vyshnaam, but I am not one of murder. I deliver punishment, not psychotic torment."

"Well, what's the difference?" Rainbow Dash flew in the air with an irritated frown.

Vyshnaam walked off his throne and slowly circled the cage. "Have you heard of the Psychopaths?" The ponies shrugged and gave him dumbfounded looks. "Well, they are a humanoid group who takes pleasure in hurting others. As you see, I am not one of them. A soldier does not kill for amusement, he kills because it is his job. If I am not a soldier, I shall be a murderer by definition. Apparently, your world is causing an uproar in our universe." Vyshnaam continued to talk while Twilight charged a fire blast spell. "Ever since the humans began to spy on your realm, the kavarians, durnoki, and other races grew greedy. They discovered that this world of ponies exists, and that is a very big deal."

"Big deal?" Applejack was confused on what Vyshnaam meant. "How is a world full of ponies a big deal to powerful monsters like you?"

"It is the fact that all of you are ponies and that we arehumanoids. Never before have we seen a sentient species evolve into equine creatures. Sure, humans and such rode on equines to combat each other and travel from one area to another easily, but the setup is so bizarre to use as sentient life. Why use cattle as an advanced species when you can improve on the basic human form? I have encountered humanoid creatures with tails, extra limbs, multiple eyes, antennae, parapsychological abilities, and altered personalities, but none of them ever used hooves and teeth to combat their enemies."

"Why are you so interested in us if you are saying so much stuff that makes us bad?" Fluttershy timidly asked.

"It's due to your magic and abilities. Pegasi were tales of olden times, not a reality. Magic only involves the sixteen elements for us, not this homogenous bundle of confusion." Vyshnaam sheathed his sword and placed out his hand in Pinkie's direction. "For example, your pink fellow here is resonating with the element of space. It is weak to time and possesses uncanny abilities. I have seen soldiers lose their special abilities to those elemental beings." Vyshnaam was questioning the ponies' behavior. "If I could ask for a moment, why have none of you dared to attack me yet?"

"You're very calm, that's why," Rainbow Dash answered. "We've never encountered anything that tried not to kill us immediately."

"As I said, I'm not a murderer. Of course I'm not going to want to spill blood. In fact, I would rather keep you five alive due to complications with souls and such in the Nightmare World. You have two options at this very moment. You either surrender, or fight."

Twilight fired her fire blast at the cage. A hole melted open, allowing Rarity to hop out of the cage easily. Vyshnaam glared at the dripping hole in interest. "Well, I guess you six want to fight then. Fight we shall."

:raritywink: has been added to your party.

A challenger approaches: Lieutenant Vyshnaam, proud commander of the Infantry and Invasion Divisions

Vyshnaam drawn his sword as Rarity raced to the back of the group and dove for cover. Vyshnaam's hands gathered darkness and slowly crept up his weapons. After a couple seconds, his blade was dripping with darkness, and his gun was infused with the black.

Twilight discovered what the darkness was and screamed in horror. "That's, that's dark magic! How is he using dark magic from our world?"

"It's simple," he answered calmly. "It is called infusion. I just harnessed the powers of your greatest fears, and I plan to use them extravagantly. Now, this is your last warning. Surrender to us, or die fighting. You choose, Twlight Sparkle."

She hesitantly forged a barrier spell around the Mane Six. Vyshnaam replied with a slash into the barrier. Surprisingly, the accursed blade cleanly ripped through the barrier. Twilight backed away while charging her magical blasts. The other five ponies spread around the area to avoid any collateral damage. She fired a magic blast, but it was completely useless. Vyshnaam absorbed the blow as darkness covered his entire body. He slashed at her again calmly, this time drawing blood to her right cheek. He moved with grace and precision, avoiding any bad positions and unlucky swipes.

Twilight rolled to the left twice and gained a huge amount of distance from him. Rainbow Dash fired a barrage of lasers at him from the air, but all of the blasts dissipated as they hit the black tendrils. Vyshnaam unsheathed his sword and raised his hand into a claw formation. Green light gathered around the hand as stones and rock began to orbit his hand. He pointed his finger at Rainbow Dash and hurled multiple stones at her. She fell to the ground with exhaustion from the attack. Applejack positioned herself to get a clear line of sight with Vyshnaam. She noticed though that he was already creating high winds around his body. Applejack galloped towards him, but it was useless when the gale forced her into a wall. Fluttershy panicked and flew around the area, avoiding projectiles and landing where she thought was a good hiding spot every now and then.

Pinkie examined Vyshnaam closely. What can hurt something with dark magic? she pondered to herself. An invisible lightbulb appeared above her head as a smile grew along her face.

"I got it!" she shouted while leaping towards Twilight Sparkle. "This creature uses dark magic! What do we have that can damage him?" Pinkie pointed her pupils to Twilight's saddlebags.

Twilight took the hint and pulled out the last Element of Harmony. "Rarity, put this on now!"

Rarity was dodging laser blasts and galloping towards Twilight. She levitated the element with her magic and placed it around her neck. Vyshnaam was now targeting the ill-fated Fluttershy in the air. Three laser blasts struck her wings and drawn blood. She fell to the ground with a yelp and thud. Rainbow Dash took her quick rage and funneled it into Vyshnaam with a punch. Apparently, it failed when he submerged her in a waterfall.

Twilight called out to the rest of her friends. "Girls, I need all of you over here!"

Applejack got back up from her fall and joined Twilight. Fluttershy meekly joined the group as well. Rainbow Dash was the last to join since she was fighting rushing water. When all of them were together, Twilight signaled them to activate the Elements of Harmony. A huge rainbow beam manifested from the Mane Six and smote Vyshnaam with purifying power. He fell down and took a knee from the weight. The darkness around his body and weapons vanished, leaving nothing but a crippled lieutenant and his two weapons.

He pulled out a small box and spoke into it. "I need assistance. I am dying from six uncooperative ponies."

As he stated his near defeat, five demons fell from the pitch black ceiling and landed on the cage. Three of them were novice demons with bayonet laser rifles, one was a healer demon, and the last was an elite demon with two automatic laser pistols. Rainbow Dash gunned down two of the novice demons immediately. The rest hopped off the cage and hid behind it. Vyshnaam also rushed over to them and hid behind the cover. Pinkie crept over to one side of the cage, checking if where the demons were hiding. They fired at her once she poked her head out of the metal wall. She pulled back instantly and waved a hoof to Twlight.

"Use your magic on them!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Twilight activated her magical wave spell and fired it in the demons' direction. The last novice demon and the elite demon were knocked down, but Vyshnaam already evaded to the gate. The healer demon wrapped two of its tentacles around the injured demons and gave them its essence. Applejack halted the move with a buck into the novice demon. All three of the demons fell from the impact. Pinkie finished them off with multiple stomps from her spiked hooves. Three demon bodies dissipated into smoke from the final blows.

"I admire your power, but do not underestimate mine," Vyshnaam warned and complimented while pulling out his sword. He leaped towards Rarity and smashed the blade in her direction. She ducked under the horizontal swipe while Twilight charged a magical blast. When the blast was fired and struck Vyshnaam, it actually damaged his essence. He backed away and used his rifle instead. Rainbow Dash blasted multiple lasers at him from midair and damaged him even more. He sheathed his sword and conjured a wall of stone. He then produced a wall of fire around the stone to halt the Mane Six even further. Twilight busted the stone open with a magical blast and extinguished the flames. She fired another blast at Vyshnaam while Pinkie snuck behind him.

As another bit of his essence was drained, Pinkie smashed her front hooves into the sides of his head, severely damaging him. Vyshnaam slammed his gun into her in an attempt to push her away. Twilight fired another blast at him while Rainbow Dash fired even more lasers. Eventually, Vyshnaam collapsed onto the floor and ceased his attacks. He slowly got up and took a knee in front of the ponies. Twilight was about to annihilate him with another blast, but he held out a hand in mercy.

"You six have fought well," Vyshnaam complimented in a broken and quivering yet calm voice. "Never before has an adversary combated me and succeeded. If you six wish for me to end this assault, then I shall in honor." He unsheathed and lifted his sword to his chest with both hands. "A group of exquisite and pure fighters like you six deserve this victory." He looked down and closed his eyes gracefully. "I have always wondered what happens to demons that lose their souls. Do they live on in another realm, or is there something greater?"

He cast flames on himself as he thrust the sword into his chest. His body broke apart into multiple pieces of black dust that burned into nothing by the fire. All that was left were his titanium armor and his two weapons. The flames on the torches died, shrouding the Mane Six in a gentle darkness. Twilight shed a tear from the event and felt guilty for killing Vyshnaam.

Lieutenant Vyshnaam has been defeated!

"In a way, he felt, normal," she spoke softly. "I expected him to be ruthless, but he was fair. He was so fair, that it hurts. I guess even demons can feel emotions like that too."

"We did the right thing Twi." Applejack patted a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Equestria needs saving, so we had to."

"But, he's a demon!" Rarity shouted irritably. "He put me in a grimy cage!"

"He had a reason though, even if it was a bad reason," Fluttershy spoke as she nibbled on one of Pinkie's cupcakes. "Compared to the others, he was very nice."

A crackle from the communications chips became audible. "Hello?" Travis asked. "Are all of you there?"

"Yes," Twilight answered quietly. "yes we are."

"Good. A drop ship has arrived to take all of you home. We're not detecting any hostiles, so come over there as soon as possible."

"But the gate's still locked!" Rainbow Dash shouted in realization.

Pinkie flipped a nearby lever, opening the gate once again. "Hey, it's open again!"

"Well, it's best we leave now," Twilight ordered politely. "It's getting late, and we need to rest up for the next day."

The Mane Six hovered, trotted, and hopped to the drop ship peacefully. They entered the ship and rested on the seats. The pilot turned his head back and glanced at the ponies.

"We're taking all of you to Ponyville," the pilot notified. "Radar's dead, and no scheduled attacks on Equestria are present. You'll all be safe."

The six ponies waited in the ship until they landed in a rebuilt town. Soldiers were placing materials back on the houses, and ponyfolk commented and conversed about the battle that happened not so long ago. The night sky glistened with the countless constellations and a big, illuminated moon. The six ponies parted ways and said their goodbyes. Twilight entered her treehouse and checked the public section of the library. It was as clean as a whistle with every book in place. She walked up the stairs and into her bed. She pulled the blanket over her exhausted body and fell into a deep slumber. Spike was already asleep and curled up in his bed. The entire night was almost peaceful, allowing everyone to sleep calmly and without worry.

"Never demonize your foes, no matter how monstrous or barbaric they seem to be."

End of Act II: Searching for Friends

Act III, Chapter 1: We're Missing Two Members...
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 1: We're Missing Two Members...

Act III: Betrayal and Corruption

It had been a week after the Second Battle of Ponyville. Life ran smoothly for Equestria during this small break, but the fun was halted after the disappearance of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. No evidence was detected, and they were the only ones taken. All of their armor, supplies, tools, and weaponry were left behind as if they vanished from existence. The other four ponies and GEST Corp. were heavily alarmed by this situation. Someone was up to this, but they had no idea who.

•—————•

As a dark corridor appeared into view, a soldier in onyx armor patrolled from one side of the hall to the other. Multiple doors with labels on them filled both walls of the corridor. Every single one of them held someone or something inside. Some of the doors were kept completely locked while others allowed a food slot or window in the doors to stay open.

A booming voice from the speakers became audible. "Specimen E-015 is needed for experimental procedures. Please acquire them and place the specimen in testing room X-122. Minimal damage is necessary for the test."

Two soldiers in onyx armor marched down the corridor to one of the less secured doors. The soldiers wore helmets that masked their identity. Two glowing blue eye-shaped visors covered part of the helmet. Two huge ears flopped around in a thick leather coating. A twisted tail curled and whipped behind their suits, and two hands were filled with claws and a laser rifle. Unlike the demons' variety, these soldiers were completely identical from head to toe.

They opened the door with a keycard and encountered the creature curled up in the cell. Even though the cell looked exactly like one of Ponyville's houses, it still horrified the pink fluff under the bed sheets. Pinkie sat there crying her eyes out and afraid. She didn't know what to do, but she had no choice. The soldiers grabbed her forelegs and carried her out of the room. She fought a little, so one of the soldiers injected an electric shock into her body. She felt extremely weak from the shock and couldn't even move her face.

The soldiers continued down the hall with Pinkie between them. They turned left into a bigger corridor with double doors on the sides instead of single doors. They entered the third set of doors on their left and headed towards a chair. They placed Pinkie Pie in the chair and tightened the straps around her hooves and head. Her weakness faded as she shouted and wriggled in the chair. The soldiers left the empty room and locked the set of doors, leaving Pinkie alone to herself.

"What are you things going to do to me?" she asked in panic and terror. "If this is one big prank, it isn't funny! It's scary!"

The room that she was strapped in had a set of one-way glass panes to her left. One of the soldiers that did not carry her to the testing area spoke into a mic inside the chamber with the one-way glass. "Specimen E-015 appears as a light pink equine-like creature. The hair of the creature shares the same fluffiness as cotton, and the entire body is coated with a short fur. Its eyes contain a light blue hue, and the head is relatively large when compared to the rest of the body. The eyes also seem to carry the same trait of size. The personality of the creature involves celebration themed items, happiness, and love. The creature is more scared and sad than usual, but this is expected in its current position. Other specimens state that it is an "Element of Harmony", but no evidence acquired so far supports this conclusion. It is to be tested for psychological limits, illnesses, and potential in violence-based activities in the near future. This first test will involve her cooperation with certain themes that these equine creatures would not regularly practice."

A machine slowly descended into Pinkie's head and strapped itself around her. She was hyperventilating now, and her pupils were absurdly tiny. "No, please don't do this! I don't know what this is, but please stop!"

The soldier ignored her and spoke again. "Activate the virtual reality mechanism on specimen E-015."

Pinkie's vision was warped as a loud whir became audible from the machine on her head. Instead of seeing herself strapped in a chair in an empty room, she saw herself in Ponyville again. She was in Sugarcube Corner. More specifically, she was in her own room. She rolled out of bed in pure speculation and bafflement. Was it all a dream? she thought to herself.

She walked out of her room and into the dining area to find another pony strapped onto a table. The pony was Twilight Sparkle, but part of her horn was cut off. She was screaming and panicking, but all of her sounds were mute. An axe sat next to the table with bloodstains on it. She instinctively approached the table and glared down at Twilight.

A voice spoke sadistically in Pinkie's head. Go ahead, use the axe. This pony is worthless anyway.

Pinkie was furious with the voice. She's my friend! If you want me to hurt her, it won't happen!

She is setting you back. Your friends let you get captured by those wretched demons, and they let you face punishment from a machine. She deserves to die.

No she doesn't! Twily's still my friend, and some little boo boo isn't going to change that!

You don't have a choice. Kill her now. She's worthless to your wishes.

Pinkie's hooves reached for the axe and picked it up. Even though she resisted the idea, she could not stop herself from picking up the weapon. Her eyes filled with tears as she lost control over her actions.

The voice spoke again. Didn't she reject some of your parties? Do you know how much she truly despises your songs and parties? She is not what she seems. Now, give her the correct punishment.

But she invited me to parties! Pinkie silently shouted at the voice in her head. And who are you?

You are growing insolent. Break her at once, or else you will be more than crying and broken!

Pinkie raised the blood-stained axe over her head, aiming for Twilight's left foreleg.

Do it now! Those words echoed in Pinkie's head and motivated her actions.

The axe smashed into Twilight's hoof and created a deep, gushing gash. Her screams from before became audible and deafening. Pinkie involuntarily swung again and drawn even more blood from Twilight's body. Every swing that burrowed into her forged another set of shrieks and quivers. By the time Pinkie felt like vomiting, an entire foreleg was sliced into five pieces of wet, crimson flesh. The feeling vanished as the axe raised above her head once again. She couldn't stop the movements, but a brewing urge gave her more and more possession to swinging the axe.

Pinkie creatively struck different parts of the body now. Instead of aiming for Twilight's other leg, Pinkie sliced Twilight's right eye in half. The skull cracked a little as more blood ran down Twilight's twitching face. She cried tears and blood as another strike sliced into her chest. Ribs cracked, lungs broke apart, and blood drained out of her flesh like a gentle and warm river. Pinkie couldn't hold back her tears, yet she still wanted to see the torment now. Even though the event severely racked her mind, she could not comprehend if this was by choice or if it was planned. No matter what it was, it did not stop Twilight from choking in her own blood and viscera.

One of the onyx soldiers walked into the observation room in room X-122. He observed the monitor that showed Pinkie Pie hacking at a mangled corpse of Twilight. Another soldier in a chair examined a computer with the same footage.

"The specimen is beginning to accept this," the soldier in the chair discovered. "It is not ready though. It can easily shrug off one traumatic event of this magnitude. Also, we need to use more than a virtual realm to achieve our goal."

The footage on the screen died out as the machine on Pinkie's head ascended into the dark ceiling. She darted her eyes around the room in shock and horror. She eventually vomited on herself from the horrors she had just witnessed.

"Ugh, at least it wasn't real," she quietly stated through her tears and stinging throat. "Please, anypony, let me go! Don't do this to me, please!"

"That is unfortunate." The same soldier in the chair glared at the vomit in disgust. "Clean the specimen and send it back into its cell. Further tests are needed if we want to actually gain new discoveries. All we have is the exact same reaction from other specimens."

Machines popped out of the metal ground near Pinkie and scrubbed the vomit off her coat and mane. After she was completely clean, two onyx soldiers opened the double doors and deactivated her straps. She fought vigorously against their hold, but it was to no avail. They shocked her once again and carried her out of the room. She was one step closer to hell, and the soldiers knew that perfectly well.

•—————•

:rainbowdetermined2: and :pinkiesmile: have left your party.

Twilight Sparkle and her friends were inside a recently built GEST Corp. base in Ponyville. The base was spherical on the outside, but a labyrinth of high-tech rooms lurked below that entrance. Princess Celestia was perfectly fine with the addition of the building due to its green setup and its placement. The entire base was located east of Pink Tree Plains to avoid any disruptions or suspicion.

The room that the ponies wer inside was General Solk's office. He sat in his chair behind his desk, typing documents on a computer while the four ponies stood in front of him. After finishing a digital report about the situation with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, he turned to the quartet with a serious expression.

"I have absolutely no idea how this happened, but this is gravely serious. Anyone, hell, anything could have taken those two ponies. So far, we have no data on there whereabouts." He looked over to his computer and continued speaking. "We have two scenarios that are being tested right now. Scenario A, being the least likely, is that they are right under our noses. The reason why it is so unlikely is due to the lack of any signals from them. Scenario B, being more likely but much more dangerous, is that they are in another dimension. Our tracking on the Elements of Harmony fades in those other dimensions due to their size. Yours is fairly small at the current point, only supporting one galaxy."

"Will we ever see those two again?" Applejack asked in hope.

"It depends on their condition. Anything can happen to them, and I bet anything will. Our enemies are twisted enough to use our species as test subjects for their experiments. If they can convert a human into a bloodthirsty, mindless, and twisted abomination of nature without batting an eye, then I bet they'll do the same to ponies." Solk remembered an important task for the quartet. "I've also wanted to say that we have new suits for you four."

"New suits?" Twilight was intrigued in this information. "What do they do?"

"All of them have different functions for each of you. Twilight Sparkle, yours allows greater control over your magic, allowing stronger magical blasts and barriers. Fluttershy, your suit is programmed to be comforting and attracted to other animals. If you ever find yourself in a tough situation, you can call upon any nearby creatures from the land, air, or sea. Applejack, your suit allows stronger endurance against enemy attacks and boosts your bucking power. It also holds lasso and projectile packs to it just in case you want to be ranged for a while. Rarity, yours involves your unique ability to find gems. All gems in the area will bend to your will, floating or soaring anywhere you want them to. Hopefully, these upgrades allow a greater resistance against this world's adversaries. If the enemy is advancing and tinkering, then we have to too."

"What about storage?" Twilight asked politely.

"Every suit comes with a Teslatech brand Pocket Chest. They are small compartments that can hold hundreds of times their size without the detriment of weight. Some more speculative people like to call them boxes that are bigger in the inside, but I digress. Those little devices will allow you to carry as many artifacts as you want without losing your strength."

Fluttershy inched towards the desk. "Will Ponyville be okay whenever we leave? It's already went through two attacks, and I don't think I can live there if it happens again."

"It'll be fine. Security around that city has been increased by ten-fold ever since the Craw Wars ended a few days ago.

"The Craw Wars?" Twilight questioned in interest again.

"They're a bunch of battles that we had to partake in due to the Craw wanting to turn all organic life into machines. I think they are the same robots that attacked you and Fluttershy in the Bad Lands." Solk pointed a finger to the door. "You four should get going now. Colonel Vincent has the four suits and a mission for you all upstairs."

The quartet funneled out of the door and walked up a set of stairs nearby. They walked up three floors before hearing a soldier ordering an entire battalion how to fight. The soldier turned towards the ponies and placed a little smirk on his own face.

"Welcome to the brigade, girls." Colonel Vincent kicked a large chest to the ponies. "These are your suits. Put them on, and then I'll give all of you your mission."

The quartet put their suits on with slight confusion. Rarity was confused if her suit was backwards or not, Applejack could not determine which mechanism held lassos or projectiles, Fluttershy did not know if was exactly safe to wear, and Twilight was testing the different abilities on her suit. After a couple minutes of small tests and acknowledgement on what was what, Vincent spoke to the ponies again.

"Your mission involves a deadly discovery from the enemy. We have reports that Dr. Scraps is searching for the Mirror Pool, and his army is near completion with that mission."

"What would he want with the Mirror Pool?" Twilight questioned in interest.

"World domination and economic bypass, that's what. If he gets his hands on that pool, he can create an endless army of robotic soldiers. Nothing can stop him from unleashing billions of machines upon this planet." He activated a digital map of the Everfree Forest. "Luckily, we know where he placed his robot factory. He planted it inside the reclusiveness of the Everfree Forest, allowing him to silently create an army right on this land. Your objective is to storm the factory and destroy it before it creates too much mayhem. These troops will patrol the forest and protect the Mirror Pool. Our soldiers are not immune to explosions and gunfire, so an entire army of robots will kill them all very swiftly."

"We'll teach those robots a valuable lesson then!" Applejack exclaimed confidently. "They'll never get to that pool!"

"Good. Your ride to the factory is right outside the base. Go to the third drop ship on the landing bay."

The four ponies saluted the colonel and dashed out of the base. After climbing up flights of stairs once again, they exited the dome and took a sharp left. Nine out of ten drop ships were filling with soldiers from all sides. The ponies entered the still vacant ship and waited for liftoff.

"All of you will be dropped off on the north side of Ghastly Gorge," the pilot informed with a not so menacing but still stern voice. "Word has it that the factory is located in the gorge somewhere."

"Why would they place a factory in a gorge?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Most likely for defense purposes and seclusion. Dr. Scraps hates visitors and intruders to an extreme. He'd place a factory in the core of a planet if he had the time."

"Isn't that taking security a little too far?" Twilight was baffled on why Dr. Scraps would take extreme measures to keep one facility safe. "Even I wouldn't do something like that to keep something safe."

"Well, if you ever met the guy, you'd know exactly why." The pilot circled a finger around his wobbling head. "The dude's nuts, literally and figuratively."

The pilot turned back to the controls and activated the thrusters. The drop ship ascended into the air slowly and headed southward. The four ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, where ready for whatever they were about to face.

•—————•

The drop ship landed next to Ghastly Gorge carefully. In the bottom of that valley rested a river flowing through the ground. Patches of mist floated along the bottom of the pit. A small platform was attached into the north side of the gorge. A long walkway stretched to the top of the gorge. Robots with huge, bulky arms rolled around the area, patrolling the entrance for any intruders. It was currently nighttime, so the ship and the ponies were completely invisible in the darkness.

The ramp door opened slowly and quietly to avoid suspicion. As the pilot gestured a goodbye to the ponies, a crackle in the communications chips became audible.

"Are you four there?" Travis asked through the chips.

Twilight kept her voice very low. "Yes, we are."

"From what I am picking up, that walkway leads directly to the factory. Be careful around those macho bots. They'll uppercut your heads off very easily."

The quartet kept their muffled movement as they crept towards the walkway. Torches lined the gorge's wall just enough to allow the ponies' cover to be broken. They avoided the torches and hid behind a few trees and bushes. Fluttershy was the first to speak. "How are we going to enter that place undetected?"

"We aren't," Twilight answered quietly. "We are going to avoid alerting too many robots, but we still need to fight these ones." She glared at their brawny arms that were punching and breaking rock into pieces. "Applejack, I think you are a good candidate for fighting them. I don't think they can match your power."

"I'm on it, Twi!" Applejack exclaimed in valor as she galloped towards the robots.

One of the macho bots was showing off to another. "You know bro, if I ever see those 'Elements of Harmony' punks that Dr. Scraps keeps babblin' about, I'll punch their faces off their heads!"

"Bro, how are you going to do that?" the other macho bot asked. "You'll break their skulls if you punch 'em, bro! That's awesome enough!"

The other macho bot looked at his metal muscles in delight and pride. "I know, bro! Gimme five!"

The two robots high fived each other with excessive force. They then turned to Applejack, who was about to ram right into them.

"Hey bro, I think this horse wants to fight, bro!"

"Then let's fight, bro!"

Applejack halted in her tracks to avoid their deadly fists of fury. The two macho bots rolled towards her with their right arms ready for two deadly jabs. She backed away and turned her body around to buck at the robots. The macho bots kept their distance and unwound their jabs.

"Bro, I'm not gettin' hit by those hooves anytime soon," the macho bot to Applejack's right stated. "You can go ahead and get beat if want to, bro, but I'm stayin' here."

Applejack kept her bucking position and readied her projectile launcher. "If you two don't want to come over here and fight, then I'll bring the fight to you!"

Two metal spheresvwere tossed into the air by the launcher. Applejack bucked both of them at the macho bots, creating two dents in their bodies. The macho bots split paths and readied their jabs again. Applejack waited a little before retreating. When both macho bots were to the left and right sides of her body, she dashed forward instantaneously, causing the macho bots to punch each other. They soon shrugged off the punches and rolled towards her again. Twilight intervened and fired a precision blast at the macho bots, creating a thin magic blast that passed through the robots. They fell to the ground and shut down as their life support systems and brains were destroyed.

"Come on y'all!" Applejack gestured to the ponies a 'move along' with her right foreleg. The other three ponies galloped down the metal walkway and stopped in front of the door. Applejack followed down the path with them. Twilight could not find a keycard slot or any panel for entry around the door. She used her magic to push the two doors apart, creating an entrance for the quartet. All of the ponies quickly dashed into the first room before the door closed on them.

Right in front of them in the next room was another metal door with a keypad. Two circular holes in the building were kept closed by two metal panels. Twilight walked up to the keypad and examined it carefully. "I think it wants me to put in a numerical password." She turned her head to the three ponies behind her. "What do you three think the password would be?"

"I don't know," Rarity admitted while glancing around the room. "These creatures do seem fond of their leader though. Maybe try that?"

"It's numerical, not alphanumerical," Twilight pointed out that small detail again. Her face changed to relief after noticing that fact. "At least we don't have to think about an entire phrase. That would have driven me crazy."

Travis checked the records on his computer for any helpful information. "Despite being the scientific genius he is, Dr. Scraps has a few flaws. He is terrible at creating codes, so he usually uses one code for everything. The code is 7-1-1 because his favorite numbers are seven and eleven."

Twilight keyed the code in the door, deactivating the lock. A long, slender machine popped out of the door, and it held one big, bulging eye at its end. The machine scanned Twilight Sparkle's frightened body. A blaring siren sounded as the holes in the ceiling opened and spat out four small orbs. The orbs carried a small laser at their bottom, and four glowing red circles were placed evenly around the orb.

"I don't think they're friendly," Fluttershy cooed in terror while backing away slowly.

Twilight grabbed the orbs with her magic and slammed them into the wall on her left. They broke apart into multiple pieces that tossed sparks and light in the room. She then typed the code into the keypad again. The door opened with no trouble or eyestalks, allowing the quartet to advance safely. The next room was a hallway with conveyor belts on both sides. The conveyors carried various pieces of broken metal and dropped them into two enormous funnels.

Six more orbs hovered into the area and fired lasers at the ponies. Twilight grabbed a few with her magic and slammed them into the walls. Rarity tested her new powers by slicing the orbs with her razor-sharp gemstones. All six of the orbs exploded into metal and electricity, allowing safe passage for the group. They reached the automatic door and stepped into the other room.

The entire area was teeming with activity. Conveyor belts were all over the place, sending parts and almost completed robots into different machines. Lights flashed, machines beeped, and gears turned all around the quartet. Swaying lights high up in the ceiling created dim shadows all over the place. Robots rolled and crawled from catwalk to catwalk placing crates in areas, flicking levers, pushing buttons, and keeping their only eye out for any intruders.

A nearby turret bot to the ponies' left spotted them. It was as tall as an R-Bot, but it moved around on a predetermined track and a pole instead of a wheel. Two laser machine guns were placed into the front of the machine snugly. A piece of curved bulletproof glass kept the one eyestalk behind the glass safe from any attacks. Multiple other turret bots wandered aimlessly on their tracks since they had no idea where the ponies were.

Twilight fired a magic blast at the turret bot, but the blast only dented the metal a little. Streams of lasers trapped the ponies in a confined blind spot. Rarity creatively levitated her gemstones behind the turret bot and smashed them into the eyestalk, destroying the turret bot's view. It fired wildly in all directions before Applejack, dodging and hopping over lasers, finally ended the terror by bucking the top piece off the pole.

Two more turret bots swiveled from the ponies' right. They fired downward to rain lasers at the group, and they succeeded somewhat. Even though the ponies felt the damage from the blasts, their suits were absorbing the blows and repairing their injuries. It was a slow process, but it was better than nothing.

Rarity was astounded at the healing laser wounds. "I didn't know they could do that." She glared up at the two turret bots. "I think you two need to learn about manners!"

Waves of sharp gemstones pelted the turret bots. Their glass and metal warped and cracked from the power of the projectiles. Eventually, they punctured the life support systems and brains of the bots, destroying them swiftly. Two macho bots and eight orbs approached the group desperately, hoping to annihilate four ponies that were ruining their master's plan.

"Bro, I think these punks wanna fight real hard!" The macho bot on the left pound his fists menacingly.

The other macho bot flexed his arms. "Yeah bro, let's give 'em a taste of what our ripped circuitry can do!"

Twilight fired a wave of magic at the two bots. They tumbled to the ground as Rarity and Applejack picked off the orbs in the air. Fluttershy called to nature and retrieved an eagle for the fight. As Rarity and Applejack already destroyed five orbs, the eagle swooped into and shredded the other three. The macho bots regained their balance and rolled towards the group. Twilight fired another wave at them to keep them on the ground, and Applejack pummeled one of them into scrap. Rarity shredded the other with her gemstones, leaving nothing but broken metal and sparking wires.

Twilight peered over the end of the room. She saw two mega bots guarding a huge door. On the top of the door read 'power systems and management'. "Girls, I think that's where we need to go."

The other three ponies nodded in agreement as they galloped towards the group of robots waiting for them.

•—————•

Two onyx soldiers were sitting in an observation room. Multiple camera panels littered their view. Humans struggled to leave their cells, durnoki attempted to use their shapeshifting abilities to leave only to be foiled by machinery, demons clawed the walls patiently to finally gain an upper hand, odd, yellow, and savage creatures bled yellow blood on the walls and doors, and ponies panicked and hid from everything. One of the cameras showed a pink, frizzy pony who was sobbing on her bed. She kept mumbling about her friends and where they were. She missed them so much, and she hated this place so much. She hates the soldiers, she hates their 'experiments', and she hates the occupants' uncaring and stern moods. She wanted to go home so badly. She wanted to see her friends' faces again, no matter what she had to do. She just wanted to leave this horrible place.

Her cell door rattled as a soldier walked up to it. He carried a plate of food for Pinkie Pie as ordered by the Pure One, his determined and ingenious leader. He opened the slot and placed the meal into the cell. It looked like a red velvet cake, but it was all red and no velvet. The soldier slid the inspection slot and glared at her. "Eat up, pony! That's all you'll get until further notice."

Pinkie only shook a little while staring at the wall. She had nothing to eat, and they never gave her a meal yet. If she was going to eat something, this was it. Even though her mind told her no, her starving stomach growled a yes to her. She sluggishly rolled out of her familiar bed and plopped into the floor. She dragged herself before getting up on all fours to see what she was given for a treat. She inspected the slice of red velvet cake carefully. It looks safe to eat, she thought positively. Her frown didn't express that though. Well Pinkie, remember what he said. If this is all you'll get, you'll have to take it.

She sat on the imitating floor and picked up the plate. At least those things were nice to give me a fork, she thought while looking at the familiar silverware. I don't need it though. Only somepony like Twilight- She broke down a little from remembering her friend, but kept herself together. Nevermind. They're nice enough to do this for me, so I might as well dig in.

She took moderate and patient bites into the cake. Unlike other sweets that she ate before, it tasted, salty. The cake was also tough and oddly juicy for a treat supposed to be moist and soft. She denied all horrible thoughts and continued eating. It was appetizing, but something felt, off. She didn't know if it was the atmposhere, the odd assortment of characteristics to the meal, or the fact that an armored alien, robot, or something just gave her cake. After finishing the meal, she slumped back on her bed. She couldn't get that taste out of her mouth. It was as if it clamped onto her taste buds and refused to go away. She can down entire cakes and shakes while losing the taste quite quickly, sometimes too quickly, but this was different. Never before had something have an aftertaste as strong as its regular taste. To her, it felt oddly appetizing. To her, it felt pleasant.

She smiled a little from the taste while the two soldiers examined her behavior. As a human bashed their head into a wall, they typed a report on her behavior.

One of the soldiers spoke while they typed. "Specimen E-015 is showing rather effective and efficient progress. After being given the taste of ED equine flesh, the specimen shows signs of desire for more of the product. The reason for this method was to ensure no panic ensues from anymore tests placed on the specimen. The diet for E-015 will be converted to disguised equine flesh until completion of future tests or specified otherwise. The next experiment on specimen E-015 will involve behavior to hostile humans, dark dirithians, and ponies. After those tests are completed, she will be given docile variants of the same species. If at any time in the tests the specimen E-015 kills one of the other specimens, she will be forced to devour them for further studies."

The soldier saved and sent his report to the stockpile, a collection of reports read by other scientists and the Pure One himself. The other soldier swiveled his chair to the first soldier. "Avorom, you are pretty good at writing reports."

Avorom turned to the soldier and sighed in displeasure. "Honestly, I hate this job. I just want to fight in the battlefield and collect the specimens, not hide behind a screen and watch them like a human twenty-first century movie." He thought about how he would carry out his future job. "Krazkof, do you ever think that the rebellion is right?"

Krazkof glared at Avorom in surprise. "The, rebellion? Hell no! Those guys are the extremists of extremists! Why would you even think they are right?"

"They're as civil as us, and they carry out the same duties as us. We might as well unite again than fight each other for no reason. Plus, they do have some bright ideas."

"I don't think turning males into females is a bright idea. They're nuts if they're anything."

"But they're kavarians like us. I don't get why we don't get along."

Krazkof stood up and raised his voice a little. "They don't agree with the Pure One, that's why. Do you know how a fascist government works? Anyone who defies him dies. Those radicals are still alive because they were lucky enough to escape the Vozora System in one piece." He sat back down and swiveled his chair back to the monitors. "You might as well teach a Zog how to learn calculus than talk some sense into those lunatics."

Avorom silently mocked Krazkof as he looked back at Pinkie's cell. She was sitting at the door while another red velvet cake slid from the food slot. Avorom grabbed his mic and screamed at the soldier near the cell. "What are you doing? That's not planned!"

The soldier held up a finger to nothing and responded calmly. "But, she asked for more, and she wasn't very polite with how she said it."

Avorom looked back at the pink pony that was ravenously devouring the cake. Some of the bloody juices from the cake wrapped around her face. She hastily licked all of the blood and licked up the rest of the meaty scraps. "I know that you'll get killed for whatever you did, but you have hastened our progress by a longshot.

A deafening scream echoed from the hallway outside Avorom's observation room. A certain pony was having an outburst. "I thought you said that I was getting more!"

The soldier outside Pinkie's cell backed away slowly. He changed his channel to Sergeant Dravvoraz. "Uh, sir? What do I do?"

A low, guttural voice responded sadistically. "Send it to testing room X-031. The specimen's ready."

Act III, Chapter 2: Descending into Madness
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 2: Descending into Madness

After battling multiple macho bots, turret bots, orbs, and two mega bots, the four ponies rested next to a big, metal door leading to the main power rooms. Multiple pieces of broken metal and wires littered the floor. Sparks jumped around the area harmlessly, liquids poured out of the robots gently and calmly, and smoke rose from the broken machinery in small bunches. The four ponies were healing from the recent battle. Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were bleeding from a few puncture wounds, and Rarity was rubbing her swollen right cheek and fixing her frizzy mane. She collected that injury from an unusually sneaky macho bot, and she had no time to react from the attack. Fluttershy was the only one who did not gain any wounds, but she was still crying a little from watching the eagle lose one of its wings from a barrage of lasers.

Twilight realized how strong Dr. Scraps' forces were at this point. "I, I don't think they are running low on soldiers. I'm expecting at least another army behind this door."

"Hopefully, the next set of those brutes have some manners," Rarity scornfully mumbled. "Who punches a mare in the face and laughs from it?"

Applejack related to Rarity's woes. "Yeah, I get what mean there. These hunks of metal will shoot anything they don't care about without any regret. They're not alive, but they can sure hate."

"They're like metal corpses then." Twilight matched different characteristics from the undead soldiers and the robots. "They don't feel any pain, but they can feel hate and anger. Is that what drives these creatures to their goal?"

Travis decided to answer her question. "Our world's monsters do rely on those emotions. The trending philosophy is that hate, anger, and the lack of love to the enemy creates powerful soldiers. If you had soldiers who felt bad for fighting the enemy, then they cannot be trusted to serve your forces. That's why groups like the kavarians and demons kill anyone who defies their leader or ethics. Even though the kavarian rebels hate us, they are also hated by the main kavarian force due to their unneeded harshness and torment towards their soldiers and prisoners. If turning a human inside out and draining its brain of all sanity left is not morally wrong, then I have no idea what the rebels could be doing that's crazier."

Rarity heard the last words about the kavarians too clearly. She recoiled in pure disgust and terror. "Eww, you mean they force your insides out of your body?"

"Yes."

She immediately fainted after hearing the answer. Fluttershy caught her at the last second and pushed Rarity back on her hooves again. Rarity regained her senses and turned her head towards Fluttershy. "Thank you, dear. I don't even want to think about what has been crawling on that floor."

Twilight examined the giant door after she acquired her stamina again. The only thing she could see was the same eyestalk scanner from the last door. "If I try to open this, we might have to fight those robots all over again. Does anypony have an idea?"

The other three ponies looked around the room for any possible solutions. Fluttershy nudged a broken macho bot to Twilight with her front hooves. "Maybe it will accept these robots. If it doesn't, then I have no other solution."

Twilight had a few doubts in using a deactivated and mangled robot, but she accepted the idea. "Well, let's see if it works."

She used her magic to levitate the macho bot up to the eyestalk scanner. The eyestalk popped out of place as it stared at the robot. A beam of blue light encased the various metal pieces and edges, checking for any requirements for entry. The eyeball froze in midair for a moment. It then emitted a small and pleasant beep before retreating into the door and unlocking it. As the metal door slowly opened, Twilight could see multiple robots on the other side. All of them looked like hammer bots, but their bodies were different. A glass dome surrounded the top of their bodies, and spikes protruded out of the cylindrical metal pieces. The metal shined differently from the light, yet it still looked like the same silver from the other robots.

When the doors completely opened, five slammer bots rolled up to the quartet. One of them spun around the area with their arms stretched out. Two more approached Applejack, keeping their hammer arms high in the air for two fatal blows. She bucked both of the robots in the wall to the left of the door, slightly damaging them. The last two kept their distance and waited for the other three to finish their assault. Twilight fired a wave of magic at the spinning and idle robots. They fell to the ground, disgruntled and vengeful as they regained their balance and footing. The two robots near the wall soon found themselves in a field of piercing gemstones. Rarity precisely aimed for the glass domes, breaking them apart bit by bit. One of the gems completely broke through a dome and destroyed a robot's optical sensor. The slammer bot panicked and swung his hammer arms outward, smacking the other robot right next to them.

Fluttershy kept herself in the back of the entire group and cheered for the three ponies while they fired various projectiles at the robots. Twilight destroyed two of the slammer bots in one blast by using a precision shot, Rarity finished off the eyeless robot with her gems, and Applejack pounded a spinning slammer bot from the air. The last slammer bot backed away in pure fear, randomly throwing around its hammer arms in different directions. Applejack activated her lasso machine and twirled a lasso. She swung it towards the bot and wrapped the rope around it. She pulled the robot forward and bucked into its metal body. The slammer bot crashed into a wall before it bounced back towards Applejack again. She repeated this three more times until the robot broke apart into multiple pieces.

Rarity donned a face of impatient uneasiness and quickly trotted toward the open door. "Alright, we fought some more robots. Can we move along before anything else attacks us?"

"I believe that's the best thing to do," Twilight replied while nodding in agreement. "We better find their power supply before they reach the Mirror Pool." Twilight rememebred the chaos from all of those Pinkie Pies. If these machines took control of that relic, not only could they exponentially increase in number, but they would destroy all of Equestria afterwards. Once again, the world was in dire peril, and she had to act fast before all hell breaks loose.

The quartet recollected their sense of direction and traveled through the door. On the other side was a long hallway filled with corridors. One hall led to an armory, another led to a packing station, and another led to a barracks. The ponies continued down the hall to find another door that was already open. They examined the entire room from top to bottom, and what they found was exactly what they wanted.

Just like the first room, conveyors and funnels dotted the entire room. Even more robots were patrolling the area like miniature armies, restraining the ponies in a very complicated and dangerous position. Turret bots swiveled on catwalks suspended from the ceiling, mega bots and an upgrade of the R-Bots rolled around the floor, and a special robot sat on the floor in front of the ponies. Two long arms with sharp claws lifelessly sat not the floor. The common singular eyestalk protruded from the flat top of its body, and a large, metal cone piece kept the robot on the floor.

That robot glared at the group sinisterly while it collected wind around its metal body. A tornado hoisted the robot in the air. The robot raised its claw arms and hovered towards the ponies while it spoke it a menacing and serious tone. "You four, you're all intruders. Our leader hates intruders, especially if they have four legs."

Twilight backed away and charged her magic, but she and the rest of the ponies had to dive for cover when the tornado bot slashed its claws in her direction. The tornado grew in power and threatened to suck the quartet into itself. Fluttershy was holding onto a metal pipe while flapping her wings as fast as she could. Applejack kept her distance and ducked behind a few crates to escape the gale. Rarity was throwing gemstones at the tornado bot, sometimes hitting and sometimes missing. The gems that missed the bot swirled around the tornado at extreme speeds. When Twilight finally charged her magic blast, she met multiple gems that stabbed into her suit and flesh. She collapsed on the floor with multiple puncture wounds around her body and legs, yet she was still attempting to get back up.

Fluttershy glared at Twilight's bleeding wounds and drowned in her own anger. She let go of the pipe, turned her body to face the robot, and rammed her front hooves into its body. The robot tumbled off the dissipating tornado and desperately swung its claws in the air. It crashed into the same boxes that Applejack was hiding behind, allowing her to strike the robot. Rarity shook her head towards Applejack, telling her to not approach the robot. Rarity then conjured a few more gemstones that ripped the robot apart. It soon broke down into crackling circuitry and broken metal. The ponies regrouped, but Twilight was struggling to stand up. She cast a mending spell on her open wounds, healing them as well as one of Pinkie's special cupcakes.

Travis felt worry plow into his body. "I think you should be a little more careful where you step. If that's going to happen to you from a simple confrontation, then you might want to stay clear of most of those robots."

Twilight missed Rainbow Dash's lightning speed and powerful attacks. If Rainbow Dash was here, she would have destroyed that robot right when we saw it, twilight thought woefully to herself. Oh, Rainbow, where are you right now?

"Hey girls, look over there!" Applejack pointed a hoof while expressing astonishment. The rest of the ponies saw a huge machine with pipes and wires sticking out of its body. Eight glowing rods around the base spilled blue light into the zone, and a huge maw allowed robots to place scrap metal into the hungry machine. Smoke trickled out of three smokestacks located behind the machine. Several robots paced around it with different materials in their claws to be placed into the opening. One of the mega bots that was carrying a bundle of destroyed R-Bots pointed towards the quartet.

"Boss, we got hostiles at nine o'clock!" the mega bot shouted while dropping the metal.

A C-Bot with a glass dome, dual laser blasters, and a polished finish ordered the other robots. "This is what we've been waiting for, soldiers! Now, kill those four menaces or else you'll all be scrap for the core!"

Six super R-Bots rushed in front of the super C-Bot and rolled towards the ponies. Applejack bucked one of them into another one behind them, denting a few pieces of metal. They fell to the ground while the other four surrounded Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity conjured and released a ring of gemstones that destroyed all four of the robots quite easily. Twilight fired multiple magic blasts at the mega bot and super C-Bot while Applejack pummeled the two other robots on the ground. Rarity and Fluttershy soon dove for cover to avoid the incoming array of lasers. Twilight deflected them with her deflection spell back at the two robots, shredding their circuitry to some extent. However, the super C-Bot remained unharmed when its body also deflected the lasers. After being deflected multiple times, the last lasers destroyed the mega bot's body and brain.

"All soldiers, aim for the purple one!" The super C-Bot's voice quivered with hopelessness and fright, but it still kept its orders straight. Multiple turret bots faced Twilight and fired from above. Dozens of orbs surrounded her and blasted clusters of lasers. During this hailstorm of burning light, Twilight kept a barrier spell over her ducking body. She was closing into the breaking point. If these lasers continued to strike her barrier, all of her magic would be drained. As her power weakened and weakened, the super C-Bot mentally smiled at the barrage. Nothing would stop this victory. Nothing would stop the slaughter.

Even though the commander believed that idea over and over again, Applejack crippled it by kicking metal balls into the unexpecting orbs. The gunfire lessened even more when Rarity impaled the turret bots with her gemstones. When the firing stopped and the entire floor was riddled with broken orbs, the commander thought of a last-ditch attempt to annihilate the ponies. His thinking was cut off when Fluttershy smashed a hoof into its brain from behind. The commander crashed into the ground with a whir and a powering down noise. Twilight deactivated her barrier spell and slowly walked towards the commander.

"I, I think that is all of them," she concluded with a hopeful smile. However, her smile was cut in half from the exhaustion that infested her body. "All that's left is deactivating their power source."

The other three ponies gathered near her and traveled down to the machine. Multiple buttons and levers were scattered along the metal, and almost all of them were unlabeled. One button on the next to a glowing rod read 'shutdown protocol' in bold red. Twilight approached the button and hesitantly pressed the button.

Her ears shot up in surprise when a loud, blaring siren echoed through the room. "Warning, shutdown protocol has been initiated!" a digital and booming voice warned from all sides. "The facility will detonate in about one minute! All surviving soldiers must either use the emergency lifts or the main gate at this time!"

The quartet galloped back to the start in panic. Multiple robots rushed down the halls and attempted to halt their escape, so Twilight used her magic to throw a few of them into the walls. Various macho bots and mega bots threatened to block their path as they dodged laser blasts from turret bots, orbs, and super C-Bots. The ponies nearly reached the second security door when a swarm of drones plagued the exit. They bundled together into a wall, preventing the ponies from leaving the room. Twilight levitated a few of them out of their formation, but more flew into the openings to assure the group's demise.

"Twi, we need to leave now!" Applejack shouted while sporadically glancing around the room. "We have no time for lollygagging like this!"

Applejack rammed through the wall of orbs, completely breaking their formation. The other three followed her lead and also rammed through the rebuilding wall. The quartet galloped out of the facility and onto the walkway. The bright sun greeted them when they exited the main door, but none of the ponies cared at this point. They reached the drop ship that waited for their arrival just before a violent explosion fractured the ground with an earthquake. The ground cracked and split as fire spewed out of the soil and rock gorge wall. Twilight and company hastily galloped into the departing ship.

Fluttershy was looking back at the collapsing surface. Her face was covered in fear and worry. "Will that explosion destroy any wildlife here?"

"If you're talking about the forest, I doubt it," Travis responded while examining the explosion. "That collapse will cause quite an unfortunate alteration in the landscape. If any of you ponies wished for the gorge to increase in size, that will happen."

A huge chunk of the northern side of the gorge tumbled into the opening below. More fire cooked the area and ensured the death of everything inside the facility. Twilight was puzzled on the self-destruct system inside the facility. "Why would Dr. Scraps let an entire factory explode? Isn't that contradictory to what he wants to complete?"

"He has a knack for keeping legal documents and such in check," Travis informed. "He doesn't risk anything. Well, he risks materials, but that was the whole reason why he wanted the Mirror Pool in his possession." Travis opened a digital document talking about the battle near the Mirror Pool's entrance. "Just so you four know, we successfully fought back against Dr. Scraps. The cave is still intact and closed off to prevent anything from entering."

The communications chips on the ponies buzzed and crackled. A familiar voice entered the speakers. "Hello, General Solk here. You four might want to come back to Ponyville real quick."

"Why?" all four of the ponies asked in surprise and interest.

"Some unicorn naming itself 'The Great and Powerful Trixie' is asking for Twilight Sparkle's location. The unicorn's also acting rather hostile too. She just converted two of my soldiers into infants and gave another one a shrunken head. Whatever this girl is doing is definitely beyond our understanding."

"Wait, Trixie wants me?" Twilight was irritated with her return. Whatever she wanted must be serious. Also, did Solk talk about turning soldiers into babies? What is happening over in Ponyville? Twilight had little to no idea, but she was too curious to say no to a situation like this.

"Yeah," Solk responded with a clump of worry in his throat. "My soldiers did try fighting her with our stunning weapons, but it ended very badly. One of the soldiers grew a gun where their nose should be, and three more soldiers were elctrocuted to complete paralysis. I've already notified Princess Celestia about this, visit, but I think we need you four too. Plus, we have another mission that popped up an hour ago.

"Whatever it is, I'm on it!" Twilight collected an enthused and intrigued grin. Even though her rival from months ago is in her town again, she still wanted to explore her world or other worlds even further. The ship accelerated as it set course for Ponyville.

The co-pilot turned his head to the ponies in the back. "You four might wanna hold onto somethin'. We're gonna enter hostile skies pretty soon."

•—————•

A dark and stormy room appears into view. The onyx armored ponies from earlier littered the walkways and assembly lines. Pony soldiers marched in unison as they practiced using their melee and ranged weaponry. A pegasus with a silver coat and rainbow mane watched the soldiers perform their duties from a high catwalk. He then turned to a nearby door that released a breathless soldier.

"Sir, I think you should enter the psyche chamber," the soldier suggested at the speed of sound. "We have the pony you want."

The stallion grinned a little and walked through the door. The entire floor was covered in various machines, conveyor belts, and workers being forced to stay in the facility. More soldiers on the catwalk looked down at the workers, monitoring their every move. The stallion walker passed them without bumping or nudging them, as the catwalk was at least eight feet wide. He and the soldier walked through another door and entered a room without a catwalk. The room was filled with various machinery. Some of the devices were special chairs, some were boxlike in shape, and others were various items that could be found in labs involving chemistry, psychology anatomy and physiology, and pathology.

One of the special chairs kept a light blue pegasus in place. Multiple pieces of metal in the shape of semicircles wrapped around its hooves, wings, chest, and forehead. A rainbow mane and tail wrapped around and concealed some of the machinery. The mare's magenta eyes darted around the room with pure terror. She hyperventilated as she examined everything in the room. Centrifuges, needles, scalpels, various substances in vials, microscopes, pipes, tubes, and bulky machines floated around her eyes and shoved shivers and fears down her spine.

"Who are you?" she screamed while questioning the stallion. "And where are my friends?"

The stallion turned his head to the mare and smiled sadistically. "Well, Rainbow Dash, my name is unknown, as we do not prefer to use names. We use our ranks as our names. I am a Psycho Leader, and I am quite skilled at being one." The Psycho Leader raised his front hooves in the air one at a time while examining them. "If I say so myself, your species is rather divine. The magic that courses through your blood, the colorful coat and mane on your body, and those exquisite wings that allow flight are all heavenly wonders to us. If you look into my eyes, you can see that I am one of the many soldiers that were morphed into ponies."

"What the hay are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash's face was still in a horrified frown, but it also released some curiosity and confusion.

"We are not naturally equine, Miss Dash, but we dare to be very soon. Your species is rather, efficient in the field of life forces. Your life force is attached to something that can be quickly and painlessly extracted in no time, and that is your magical essence." He pondered his sentence for a second. "Well, by painlessly, I mean the exact opposite. Nothing ever survives the loss of their soul because something cannot live without a soul."

Rainbow's words gathered a sour coating. "So what, you're going to kill me for my soul?"

The Psycho Leader shook his head in disagreement. "Oh, no no no no, Miss Dash, you are very special and lucky. We have a unique plan for you, but you require, loyalty, towards us. Since you are composed of that element, why don't you express it?"

She spat at the floor furiously. "You think I'm going to help you? Flock no! I want my friends, not an egghead that's also a complete lunatic!"

"There it is." He sniffed the air and licked his lips pleasantly. "I can taste the loyalty dripping from your soul. Why don't we, upgrade it for a second?"

The Psycho Leader gestured his soldier to activate the special chair. A metal dome buzzed to life as it descended onto Rainbow Dash's head. She struggled to escape the metal's clasp on her body, but it was futile. The machine whirred passively and clamped onto her head. Her vision faded as dizziness and fatigue plagued her body. Her eyes sluggishly closed, and her resistance weakened to a corpse's shiver. The dome flashed multiple colors of the entire rainbow as Rainbow's limp body twitched and convulsed sporadically. The Psycho Leader smiled an unhealthy grin once again after examining the results screen to his left.

"Welcome home, Miss Dash. Your subjects missed you so much."

•—————•

After combating a few of Dr. Scraps' air squadrons, the drop ship landed next to the town hall. The ramp door opened and released the four ponies onto their hometown once again. When they walked down the ramp, they noticed the crowd of both human soldiers and ponyfolk glaring at a blue unicorn with a white and light blue mane and tail. It wore a black hood and cape with a strange amulet around the front of its neck. General Solk stood in the back of the group with a primed laser rifle aiming low to the ground. The unicorn mare just finished another 'magic trick' involving turning a GEST Corp. soldier into a cube of metal. She glared at Twilight Sparkle with a smug grin.

"It's about time you show yourself!" the unicorn irritably growled. "I, the great and powerful Trixie, was getting tired of waiting! Now, we can finally duel."

Twilight cocked her head with a baffled expression. "Duel? What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about revenge for the pain and humiliation you caused to me months ago!" Trixie manifested a screen that shown some events from her last visit to Ponyville. The events shifted to represent other ponies that laughed at Trixie's magic tricks and vandalized her possessions. "I have been a laughing stock for so, so long, Twilight, and this duel will finally change that!"

"Like hell we're having a duel in this place!" General Solk shouted while pointing towards the carnage above the Everfree Forest. "You really think that something this trivial is so vital that saving Equestria is just nothing too important?"

"Maybe this will change your mind." Trixie levitated an entire GEST Corp. branded assault tank and burned its metal to a molten glop of black. "Still thinking about canceling the duel, or are you too thick to know my greatness?"

"We don't have time for this!" a nearby pegasus in GEST Corp. armor exclaimed. "We need to prepare for a defense operation, not a contest!"

General Solk pointed a finger to the air. Princess Celestia's chariot descended to the ground next to the crowd. Several ponyfolk bowed down as she left the chariot with a stern expression. "Also, we have a little plan for you. If you really think that harming our personnel is not a big deal, you might as well say the same to Celestia herself."

Celestia examined the pulsing red amulet around Trixie's neck. Celestia turned her head to General Solk with a not as angry face. "Solk, I think I have different plans than what you expect."

"What do you mean?"

"That charm around her neck is emanating with a form of dark magic. Whatever she is doing is not on her own, and she seems a little too mischievous and careless at the moment."

Solk, the quartet, and a few other soldiers glared at the amulet. One of the soldiers spoke up with a slightly masculine voice. "Hey, isn't that the same amulet from one of the library's books?"

Another soldier nodded their head in agreement. "Yeah, I remember that book from our information dump! That thing's called the Alicorn Amulet!"

"Alicorn Amulet?" Twilight, Solk and a few soldiers and ponies asked in murmuring conversation.

Trixie realized what the others were talking about. "Oh, all of you are talking about my charm, right? Well, none of you can have it! Its power is in the great and powerful Trixie's power, not yours."

"I don't have time for this. Here, take this." Solk tossed a cubic machine to Celestia. She grabbed it with her magic and levitated it in front of her face. "It's an anti-magic force field generator. Just put it near her and activate it so that we can continue with our work. I don't care what you do with her, but it better not result in another event like this."

Celestia placed the cube near Trixie and pressed the button on the top of it. A blue bubble materialized around Trixie and drained her magic. She fell to the ground in fatigue as her amulet bounced off her neck and onto the ground. "My, my charm! What did you do to it?"

Four human soldiers approached the disgruntled and infuriated Trixie and hoisted her up to her hooves. They escorted her to a nearby assault truck while gesturing ponyfolk and other soldiers to clear the way. When all five of them entered and closed the double doors on the back of the truck. The silver-coated battle truck drove to the direction of Canterlot. The crowd of ponyfolk and soldiers broke apart as they returned to their normal procedures. Other soldiers rushed to the 'volunteers' to help fix their paralysis or awkward anatomy.

Solk cleared his throat while turning to Celestia again. "It's best you go back to Canterlot now. You have full control on her punishment and the Alicorn Amulet she possessed."

She levitated the amulet with her as she entered the chariot. "I believe this action does not need too much punishment, especially if I know correctly what this charm is." The chariot and the two pegasus guards pulling it flew into the air to Canterlot. Solk walked towards the quartet and handed Twilight a tiny gadget.

"What's this?" Twilight took the device and examined its features.

"It's an Element of Harmony indicator. Whenever you are eligible to own a GEST Corp. branded helmet, you can add this to it to obtain data on your friends are."

"If that's the case, where is my helmet?" Twilight asked as politely as possible.

Solk handed a slightly mechanical visor to her. "This is all you'll need for it. We cannot provide too much due to resource shortages involving interplanetary attacks and terrorist missions. The kavarians are giving one of our bases a real beating."

"So, you don't have enough of your fancy helmets to protect our heads?" Applejack tested with speculation.

"Not at the current moment. Also, I doubt that you need them anytime soon if there are no snipers or sharpshooters here yet. You four are going on a rescue mission."

The fours ponies' faces beamed in excitement from the news. Twilight hopped to the front and looked up at Solk. "You found one of our friends?"

Solk nodded in agreement. "Yes we have, but there are a few, complications with the mission. We already sent out two squadrons in the area to find them, and their signals cut out as they entered the area. We have no idea on what happened to them, so we need you four to check it out for yourselves."

The four ponies started to gallop towards the drop ship, but Solk raised his hand to gesture a halt. "You four cannot take the ship this time. There are too many enemy forces in the air and in space. An aerial trip there is pure suicide."

"Then what are we supposed to take?" questioned Rarity irritably. "I am definitely not walking there on hoof."

Solk pointed to a nearby assault truck. "You four can use one of the trucks instead. They are heavily armored and built for all-terrain missions. You'll all be perfectly safe in that vehicle."

The quartet walked over to the back of the truck. It held a laser machine gun on the top, headlights and a metal windshield in the front, and heavy metal platings on the sides. A set of double doors in the back burst open, allowing the four ponies to climb inside. The driver sat all the way to the front of the truck, and the one passenger was right next to the double doors. The ponies quickly found the spots they desired and sat or lay down on the two rows of seats on the walls. The truck drove out of Ponyville and ventured into the northern plains of Equestria. Whatever awaited the quartet must have been very secluded if it was hiding in the middle of a giant, barren field.

Act III, Chapter 3: A Surprise in the Catacombs
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 3: A Surprise in the Catacombs

The rolling pastures were quite flat and barren. Not too many trees popped out of the ground in random areas, and animal grazing was at a very low amount. The afternoon sky partially shone down onto the ground through some cloud buildup. The assault truck rolled through the uncharted land for a about an hour before grinding to a complete halt. Applejack's hat fell off her sleeping head as the entire truck stopped for no clear reason, leaving her annoyed and curious. The other three ponies were startled from the stop, but Fluttershy was a little too startled. She fell off her seat and tumbled onto the metal floor. She quickly stood back up and darted around the room in panic.

"Who's there?" she asked hastily with a quivering voice. "Why did we stop? Is there something out there?"

The driver looked to the side of his unprotected windshield in shock. His eyes locked onto two twitching and snarling humans that slowly walked along the grass. Their eyes were completely yellow, and so was their skin. Sharp fangs filled their mouth, inhumanly sharp claws were positioned where their fingers were, and three-toed feet with one of the toe claws facing backwards supported their bodies on the ground. The creatures wore nothing on their bodies, but there were no signs of any reproductive organs or navels on them. They dragged themselves closer and closer to the truck, examining and feeling its texture when they approached close enough to do so.

The passenger beside the driver spoke his words in terror. "Those things, what are they doing here?"

Twilight Sparkle poked her intrigued head next to the two soldiers. "What things?" After scavenging for a few seconds, her eyes detected the two creatures. The odd thing about them was their eyeballs. There was no indication of a pupil or iris in them. Even though they were looking directly at the metal while they scratched and climbed it, it felt like their eyes were also staring directly at Twilight. She slowly retreated her head back to her seat as she heard the two soldiers' explanation.

The driver spoke first. "Those things are called the Ruptured. They are the same creatures that destroyed planet Earth hundreds of years ago."

"What do you mean, Earth?" Applejack asked intently. "I thought that was just a name for dirt."

The passenger turned his body to face Applejack "Well, it is, but it is also the name of our original home planet. Even though none of us in this truck have actually ever seen the planet, we do know that it exists from history classes and General Solk himself."

The driver glanced at the two Ruptured again and donned a face of worry when one of them screamed a blood-curdling screech. Both of the Ruptured sprinted around the truck and climbed onto the double doors. Dents and warps formed as they pounded and gnawed their way through the metal doors. Applejack positioned herself next to the doors in an attempt to buck the two creatures if they break open the door.

"Don't use any melee attacks on them!" the driver warned as he primed his laser rifle. "These things are highly volatile and contagious! You want to stay as far away from them as possible."

Applejack nodded and backed away from the door. She prepared her projectile launcher instead to avoid any dastardly situations. Twilight readied her magic for anything that was about to break through the misshapen doors, and Rarity levitated her gemstones in front of the door, ready to impale anything that enters the truck.

The warping and pounding stopped as dead silence cloaked the air. After a few seconds of nothing, the windshield broke apart as the two Ruptured shredded the passenger soldier apart. The soldier's armor was easily destroyed when extremely sharp claws forged out of millennia of evolution ripped into the suit. Blood and flesh painted the Ruptured and front of the truck as the two creatures gashed their teeth into the soldier. Piercing screams of pain showered over the ponies and driver that we're breaking open the double doors.

After the doors fell off their hinges from the beatings of the Ruptured and the force of the ponies, the two creatures paused their devouring and snarled at the group. One of them shrieked an animalistic shrill as they leaped towards the group. Rarity and the driver smashed lasers and gemstones into its body, ripping pieces of flesh off the creature and spilling golden blood. The Ruptured tumbled onto the metal floor with screams of irritation and slight pain. The driver gestured the ponies with one hand to make haste and escape the Ruptured.

The quartet took the hint and galloped out of the truck. As they proeeded in the direction that their truck was traveling, the two Rutpured inside the truck mutilated the driver in a bloody mess of pure gore. Twilight turned around and fired an explosive blast of magic at the truck as a safety measure to ensure the death of the two creatures. Startled, disgusted, and terrified from the encounter, the four ponies trekked swiftly towards the bundle of steeper hills in the distance.

•—————•

After about twenty minutes of walking from the two Ruptured from the incident, the quartet discovered some architecture and an opening etched into the side of one of the steep hills. The architecture looked relatively ancient and Equestrian in nature. Two life-sized unicorns carved out of marble lowered their heads in mourning and acceptance. Some of the dusty and grimy writing on the marble entrance read 'Catacombs of the Unicorn Tribe'. The writing chilled the four ponies to the bone.

"Twi, does that writing mean that this place belongs to the Unicorn Tribe from centuries ago?" Applejack asked with slightly chattering teeth.

Twilight read the writing again and nodded a yes. "This must be a mausoleum for all of the dead ponies of this tribe during their migration to Equestria." She noticed that a signal from one of her friends was buried deep in the catacombs. "Apparently, this is where we need to go."

"Uh, if you three don't mind, I'll just stay out here and wait for this mission to end." Fluttershy walked behind a marble column and shuddered in her own fear.

"In Celestia's name, Fluttershy, come over here and face your fears!" Rarity commanded with an irritated tone. "We need to save one of our friends, and your cowardice is not helping!"

Fluttershy timidly regrouped with the three ponies and glared at the empty maw of the entrance. She felt something horrible claw at her bones while she peered at every detail of the catacomb entrance. Cobwebs and even more dust collected around the ancient cemetery as they slowly ventured in the darkness. A huge gust of dead cold air whooshed through the ponies' souls as a raspy and guttural voice introduced itself to their ears. "Ah, I smelleth moo mortals yond dwell into mine own keepeth. Enter mine own tombs if 't be true thee dare, but beest eft f'r mine own punishment."

The open and bright air behind the ponies collapsed into pure darkness. All of the torches on the catacomb walls burst into spouts of gilded flame. To the ponies' horror, multiple holes as big as a pony's coffin became visible. Some of them were empty, but others held lifeless unicorn corpses. Their faces were forever twisted into uncanny smiles of frigid teeth and bone. Fluttershy nearly crumbled in her own fear, but Applejack kept her on her hooves. Rarity was recoiling from the grime all around the group, and Twilight squinted her eyes to examine the obstacles waiting for them ahead.

The hallway split into three separate paths, and every single one of them looked the exact same. Twilight constantly switched her vision to face the different paths. She could not completely tell them apart. "Now, I may be able to know where our friend is, but that doesn't mean I can walk down these hallways and know where I'm going."

"Do you expect us to split up and meet later?" Rarity proposed unconfidently.

"That'll get us killed quick," Applejack responded in disagreement. "Even though it will take quite a long time to find our friend, we have to stick together."

"I agree on that idea," Fluttershy quietly stated as she raised her front left hoof.

"Alright then," Twilight announced in agreement. "Let me just talk to Travis about where we need to go."

She recalibrated her communications chip to Travis's signal. Pure static and nothing else met her ears harshly. She tried some of the other calibrations, but her chip still emitted static. After fiddling with her chip for a few more seconds, she finally realized why this was happening.

"Girls, remember when Solk talked about lost signals at the site?" She glanced around the area, pausing at all of the skeletons that she detected. "I think we lost ours too."

Fluttershy began to hyperventilate as the news slammed into her mind. Applejack attempted to calm her down, and Rarity was peering into the dark hallways. She pointed her hoof to the left hallway in hope of that being the correct path. Twilight agreed with her choice and began her trek into the labyrinth of catacombs. Fluttershy followed from behind with her head low and riddled with fear.

Their journey into that hallway eventually led them to a T-junction. Applejack pointed to the right and pursued the darkness and flames in front of her. The group reached another set of three hallways. Twilight kept going forward and urged the others to follow her. After a few twists and turns, the quartet reached a dead end.

"We'll have to try another hall then," Twilight sighed in disappointment while turning around and entering the left hallway. After traveling through that hallway for about one minute, the quartet reached yet another dead end. They turned around and tried the last hallway that they didn't explore yet. This hallway was relatively long compared to the rest, and there were more unicorn skeletons in the holes than usual. Fluttershy was shaking the entire time, expecting one of the skeletons to pop out of their resting place and attack her.

The quartet eventually reached a wooden door that was crumbling apart. When Twilight opened it with her magic, it immediately fell apart into multiple planks of rotten wood. The room on the other side was circular and filled with so many unicorn skeletons resting in their holes in the walls. Since they have only seen these corpses countless times along their catacomb crawling, they were shocked to discover two GEST Corp. soldiers' bodies leaning back on the dirt wall behind them.

Their entire bodies were a disgusting sight to see. The metal suit around their chest area was ripped apart into multiple rips and tears. Huge incisions plagued the chest, opening up the chest cavity and flesh that lingered inside them. The hearts, lungs, esophagi, and tracheae of the bodies were absent, so blood, mucus, and stomach acids took their place. Blood gently pooled around their feet and collected into a huge mess. Another disturbing addition to the sight was a plank of wood with nonsensical words.

A Ceded Interferes Yip Tumor Soys

"What does that even say?" Rarity questioned while glaring at the mess of words and attempting to ignore the rancid bodies next to the note. "And why is it so disorganized like that?"

"I, I don't know," Twilight answered in confusion. She was also trying to avoid looking at the bloody mess. "It's most likely a message, but it doesn't make sense."

"Is nopony gonna mention the two soldiers without any organs and a huge opening in their chests?" Applejack gagged from the horrible stench and sight of the bodies. She was completely confused on how the other ponies could stand being next to two rotting bodies. Well, Fluttershy already fainted from the sight of the mutilated corpses. When she recovered from her faint a few seconds later, she pretended to still be unconscious and kept her entire body very still.

Twilight attempted to decipher the words and remember their meanings. She was already stuck on how 'ceded' can be a noun, so she made little progress in reading the words.

A gust of cold air blew in the circular chamber from the broken doorway. The raspy and dead voice revealed itself once again. "I can feeleth thy souls. They long f'r another chance in life, and I can deliv'r yond f'r thee. Spirits of the long and forgotten Unicorn Tribe, I hest all of thee to aid me in mine own time of needeth!"

Streams of grey and light blue light struck the unicorn skeletons around the four ponies. Fluttershy stopped her pretending act and got up onto her hooves for whatever was about to happen. Rarity, Applejack, and Twilight Sparkle primed their weapons and stopped paying attention to the bloody mess and note.

The voice spoke again in a louder tone. "Anon, aid me mine own soldiers of the dead!"

The skeletons rattled and slowly crawled out of their holes. Blue pupils in completely black eye sockets met the quartet. The unicorns' horns glowed a dark purple and conjured various items. Some magical swords, bows, and armor materialized next to the skeletons, and the rest strengthened the magic collecting in their horns. Twilight activated a magical barrier in response, but the unicorns used surprisingly powerful magic in their arsenal. The enchanted weaponry severely damaged the barrier and broke it apart into magic particles. Applejack bucked a few of the unicorns back, destroying most of their bones and slightly clearing a path to the exit. Rarity conjured and fired multiple gemstones towards the mob. Multiple skeletal unicorns fell and crumbled apart from the attacks.

Twilight charged her magic and fired a large beam of magic into the unicorns, creating a straight path to the doorway. "Alright girls, head straight for the door!"

The four ponies galloped through the gap between the unicorns and left the circular room. More unicorns in the walls emitted a faint blue glow while they crawled out of their tombs. At this point, the quartet was speeding through the hallways for the original entrance. They backtracked to the T-junction. A GEST Corp. soldier corpse was waiting there with a huge machine gun in its hands. All of its flesh, skin, and organs on and in its chest were completely absent, showing nothing but bloody bones and scraps of metal armor. The visor of its helmet was broken as well, revealing a twisted face with black holes with blue lights for eyes.

Twilight pointed a hoof to the left hallway of the T-junction. "We have no time to fight this thing! Just go down that hall now!"

The ponies dodged its gunfire as they galloped down the left hallway. They immediately met a circular two-story room with two staircases descending to another hallway straight ahead. Multiple unicorn skeletons already primed their magic and fired magical blasts at the group. They dodged, ducked, and hopped over the countless blasts that shook the dirt walls. They ran down the left flight of stairs while bashing into multiple skeletons with magic, gems, and brute force. They raced down the hallway to meet a dead end with empty holes all along the walls. Another heavily bleeding human corpse with no organs in its chest was nailed onto the wall. It looked down at the ponies without wearing the standard helmet. The scalp was completely removed, and its face was slashed into a permanent and crying smile. Words were written into the corpse's skull.

You are delicious!

The ponies had no time to regurgitate their gorge, as the pony skeletons shambled down the hallway with their crooked smiles and their twitching ventriloquist dummy movements. Applejack powered through the horde by ramming headfirst into the skeletons. The other three ponies also followed with the stench of rotting flesh invading their nostrils. They ran up the left flight of stairs once again while avoiding as many magical swipes and blasts that they can. They eventually met the same corpse that threatened their lives with a huge machine gun.

"Not this thing again!" shouted Applejack in irritation.

Rarity conjured a horizontal line of gemstones that sliced its head off its body. The corpse kneeled on the ground while feeling for its fallen and tumbling head. The quartet galloped passed it in hopes of losing it in the dim darkness of the catacombs. They ran down the straight hallway, this time in hopes of finally advancing. To their dismay, they encountered another T-junction with a shadowy figure standing in front of them. Its eyes glowed a purple hue as black dust swirled around its form. An outline of a human skeleton filled the leather hood, graphene chest plate, and graphene leggings. The creature held two laser uzis in its hands, both ready to fire at will.

The creature spoke in the same raspy and dying voice from the air. "Well, holla thee four ponies. Doth all of thee adore mine own skeletal army? T is a replacement f'r the want of mine own fusty crypt on earth." The lich looked at the two uzis in his hands. "I has't been waiting a long time to finally useth these two guns, and I has't the perfect targets right in front of me. Prepare to join mine own onslaught, equine daws."

A challenger approaches: Marksman Lich of the Unicorn Catacombs

Twilight raised a magical barrier in front of the marksman lich. As hundreds of lasers pelted the barrier, Rarity and Applejack slid along the walls and kept their distance from the lich. Rarity forged her gems, and Applejack readied her projectile launcher. When Twilight Sparkle's barrier was just about to collapse, they sliced and bludgeoned the lick with gems and metal balls. The lich halted his firing and aimed his guns to the two ponies. Rarity leaped over the incoming gunfire while Applejack lassoed the lich's left arm to his side. Twilight fired a magical blast and slammed it into his chest, damaging his essence greatly. Fluttershy was fending off the approaching unicorns from behind the quartet by swatting at them with her forelegs.

The lich raised his head and lifted his right hand in a truce. "I believeth yond mine own stayeth hither is not did welcome. I shall leaveth this lodging in peace, but beest did warn. I didst not commit those travesties onto those humans. Something hither in vast dismay didst."

"Then what did?" Twilight asked hastily.

Before her question could be answered, the marksman lich's form disintegrated into dust that left the dark catacombs, and the skeletons behind the ponies lost their blue pupils and dropped to the ground lifelessly. After the area finally calmed to dead silence once again, the catacombs brightened up a little.

Marksman Lich has been defeated!

Applejack turned her head to Twilight and approached her at a walking pace. "Hey, Twi, what did that thing mean about those soldiers back there?"

Twilight scratched the back of her head in bafflement. "I don't really know, but I do know that it's still around here." She remembered the horrific stench and sight of the bloodied bodies. She raised a hoof to her mouth to stop a flow of vomit. "I don't want to think about them right now, Applejack. Let's just proceed down one of these halls until something else happens."

Rarity pointed a hoof down the left hallway of the T-junction. "I think we should go down this one. It's not as, red, as the other hall."

Twilight looked over to the other hallway and discovered multiple pools of blood and viscera lining the floor. Whatever caused that mess is definitely down that hallway. "I think we should follow the blood. As much as I hate to say it, we need to see that the whole way through."

"What?" exclaimed the other three ponies in unison. Fluttershy's wings swiftly unfurled in sudden shock.

Applejack was the first to retort against her idea. "You mean go where the, blood, takes us? Are you trying to kill us?" She heaved after smelling the odor of decaying flesh once again. "There has to be some other way."

Twilight shook her head in disagreement. "That is the only way. Remember that we're looking for our friend, so a killer that is on the loose in these halls might pinpoint where she is. Hopefully, if she is injured, we can heal her at GEST Corp.'s base in Ponyville." She waved her head to the direction of the right hallway. "Now, let's go. We cannot let that killer get our friend."

"Just assure me that I'll not get any blood on my gorgeous suit." Rarity readjusted her suit just in case she walked over any blood or flesh. The ponies regrouped and hesitantly proceeded down the messy hall, cringing whenever they steered near the fresh tissue and crimson liquid. They eventually reached another T-junction with the mess traveling down the left hallway. Twilight and company continued down that hall to hear the faint screams of a GEST Corp. soldier. They then heard echoing laughter that felt demented and hollow.

Fluttershy wrapped her wings around her drooped and terrified head. "Please, let's just go down the other hall, please. I bet we'll find her down there." Fluttershy's excuse to leave the hall was not enough to change Twilight's mind, as she shook a no and kept trotting down the corridor.

The ponies reached a room identical to the double staircase room from before. A GEST Corp. soldier leaned back on a wall as they held their hand to their chest. Twlight could hear the man's sobs through his helmet. The quartet hastened their walk down the stairs to examine the soldier. Fresh blood dripped from his chest and pooled near his legs. A large opening in his armor and flesh revealed the absence of his stomach, liver, and part of his intestines. He was dying at a moderate but excruciatingly painful rate.

He reached his open hand to the ponies as he talked through his coughs. "Don't, don't go back there. It, it killed all of my friends, and, and then it, it ate them alive. Please, save yourselves." The soldier's coughs became more violent as more blood trickled down its neckhole and open wound. "God, help us, all." The soldier's breathing and coughs stopped as his head rested on his left shoulder. Applejack couldn't take the gore anymore and regurgitated on the dirt floor. Fluttershy kept her eyes covered with her wings as Rarity stayed away from the body, almost fainting in disgust and terror. Twilight could only stare at what she had just witnessed. A soldier died right in front of her, and the killer was still alive. It would only be some time before she was next.

Twilight slowly walked down the hall and urged the others to follow. "We have to find out what this killer is. I don't care how many of these soldiers die, we still have to move on."

"I think we should do what Fluttershy recommended a while ago," Applejack sated while wiping her mouth with a hoof. "I don't think I can take anymore of this."

Twilight Sparkle raised her voice through small tears and hoarseness. "We have to! What if our friend is down this hallway? We can't let them die! We need to save them!"

Applejack remembered that one crucial thought. Even though she knew that everypony was waltzing straight into death's scythe, her friend was still important. In reality, their friend was important for everything. If she dies, so does Equestria when the demons invade with even more dark magic. If another foe, even stronger than what they experienced, eventually discovers Equestria and notices how plentiful and useful it is, they might kill or enslave everything when they get the chance. The quartet knew that more monsters and sadistic people roamed outside their world, and any of these things can invade at anytime.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, the group of fearful ponies trotted down the blood-soaked path. The hallway curved to the left and right dozens of times, and the amount of torches illuminating the halls grew smaller and smaller after every twist or turn. The hallway eventually ended at a small, circular room with one spiral staircase in the center going downwards. The ponies carefully walked down the crimson-glazed steps while glaring down the maw of darkness and increasing temperature. When the ponies finally reached the bottom of the staircase, they met a wooden door that was in surprisingly good shape. Twilight carefully grabbed the bloody knob with her magic and slowly opened the creaking door.

Inside the next room was multiple torches along the walls that brightened the tombs of the dead. Nearly every hole was empty, and some were replaced with metal ovens that emitted a low, warm glow into the scene. Multiple tables and counters littered the walls and inner area, similar to the pattern of a kitchen. Bowls and plates lined the inner tables, and various machinery and cutlery dotted the room. A few knives, forks, spoons, and other utensils rested in random areas on the tables and counters. A shadow lurked in the distant fog of darkness, but it was too faint for the ponies to detect.

After a few seconds of admiration, the communications chips buzzed to life. At first, Twilight thought that the chips finally have a signal, but she was dead wrong. A low, guttural, and threatening voice boomed in the speakers. "Hello, subjects. You four must be the 'Elements of Harmony' that General Solk enslaved, am I correct?"

"Enslaved?" Applejack took offense to that word. "We're not enslaved, we're helping out our world!"

"That is only what GEST Corp. wants you to think. Anyway, your cooperation with the dreaded humans is undesirable and a nuisance to us. All four of you will be terminated at this very location."

The wooden door slammed shut and collected a metal casing, sealing the ponies in the room. Faint footsteps penetrated the still air, and the scraping of a blade on the checkered floor chilled their very souls. "That must be the specimen approaching. Have fun, but do not overload yourselves on the snacks. They are, cannibalicious."

The footsteps increased in volume as the communications chips died into static once again. In the midst of the room, a pink and fluffy mare crawled out of the inky shadows. In its mouth was a long, bloody, and sharp blade that trailed blood onto the floor. Bloodstains covered the mare's hooves and mouth. Some speckles and droplets of the fluid also hardened into its pink coat and frizzy mane. The iconic sight of three balloons, one yellow and two blue, shimmered in the dim light. The blade dropped from its mouth as a wide, demented, and unsettling smile crawled up the mare's face.

Twilight was the first to react to the reveal. She dismissed the red speckled all over Pinkie for just some sort of frosting or other ingredient. "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here? There's a killer on the loose, and they just hurt so many GEST Corp. soldiers!"

Pinkie's smile lowered a little as the word killer perplexed her. Her voice was oddly calm and not so bubbly as it used to be. "What do you mean, killer? There is no killer, just a baker preparing goodies for the others."

"Others?" questioned Rarity.

"Goodies?" cooed Fluttershy without assurance of safety.

"Baker?" Applejack asked while looking around the room.

Twilight approached her to about three quarters of her original distance to Pinkie Pie. "Pinkie, stop fooling around and come with us. We need to save Equestria."

Pinkie glared at the quartet and ignored Twilight's demand. "I think you three will be really great for the next batch. If the others and I enjoy my cooking so much, I think my friends should pitch in for it too."

"Pinkie, we would love to cook with you, but we really need to leave this horrible place," Fluttershy quietly responded.

Pinkie's smile quickly shifted to a dead tone of seriousness. "Follow me to the kitchen. I have something for all of you."

The four ponies slowly walked towards the tables and cabinets. The darkness pierced the area like knives, killing all of the light that reached to the kitchen area. Pinkie's shadowy figure walked towards the left wall, flicking a light switch as the quartet tried their best to see their surroundings.

When the light flickered on, the group almost died from shock. Human and pony corpses littered the used to be hidden tables. Blood dripped from the incisions and lack of flesh on the bodies. Entire limbs and sections of the bodies were cut apart into piles of blood-soaked meat. Pinkie walked over to the blade she dropped and picked it up with her hooves this time. She stood on her hind legs when she approached the four ponies that were petrified from her 'baking'.

Twilight's face twitched into a horrified frown. "Pinkie, how could you do this? This isn't you! Why would you do this to those innocent soldiers?"

"Soldiers, innocent, not me?" Pinkie repeated the words in bafflement to herself. "They were all ingredients, silly, not ponies. Plus, they all taste really good." She licked the blood on her lips until there was it was all in her mouth. "I would let you four have some, but you offended me and my work. Also, you four actually look quite appetizing." She pointed a hoof to Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, would you eat yourself if you had the chance?"

"Uh, no." Fluttershy dug her head into her hooves and wings from the question. Why would she ask that?

"That's too bad. I would, but I can't snack on myself if I have to cook these creations. I can't stir a bowl with one hoof now, can I?"

"Pinkie, please," Twilight was breaking into tears after putting two and two together. "just stop this and lower the knife! You're scaring us!"

"Well, it was nice knowing you, Twilight. It will be nice to know how you taste though." Pinkie's inner desire for more pony flesh twisted her idea on even her own friends. The taste never left her mouth, and she needed more of it to keep herself happy. Human flesh was close to the original taste, but it wasn't exactly pony flesh. She needed this treat so badly, and she was about to kill her own friends for another bite of those delicious ponies.

Pinkie raised her knife in a stabbing position. "Unicorns taste the most magical. All of that leftover magic that still lingers in your body adds so much texture and taste to the meal."

A challenger approaches: Psychotice Pinkie Pie, also known as The Mad Baker

Twilight hopped backwards to avoid the knife that almost ripped her throat open. In response to her dodge backwards, Pinkie pulled out two chained, metal claws. The other three ponies also backed away, unwilling to hurt their friend. Pinkie launched her claws straight at Twilight, but she missed when Twilight dodged to the right. Pinkie rolled up her claws and launched them again, but also she missed again from a dodge to the left. The lingering taste of pony flesh was torturing her psyche, and Twilight was only worsening the aching desire that weighed her mind to the depths of her broken brain.

"Stand still real quick," grunted Pinkie with a brewing infuriation, "or else I'll have to use more extreme measures."

"Extreme?" Rarity glanced around the room and looked back to Pinkie again. "You do not call this mutilation extreme?"

Pinkie Pie ignored her statement and pulled out a chainsaw from behind a counter to her right. She revved the machine to life and ran towards Twilight with the chainsaw over her head. Twilight cast a barrier spell before Pinkie could shred her with the chainsaw, causing the machine to slam on pure magic.

Applejack kept her distance while attempting to reason with Pinkie Pie. "You don't have to do this, sugar cube. There's other ways to deal with your desires than killing other ponyfolk."

Pinkie turned to Applejack and donned a threatening expression. Her mind was overflowing with infuriation. "Do you know how it feels to have this wanting feeling inside you? Do you even know why I keep doing this? No, no you don't!" Pinkie raised a hoof to her head from the withdrawal of pony flesh. "It hurts so much to not have anything to eat for this long, and none of you will cooperate!"

"It's because you have gone crazy!" snapped Rarity while backing away from the chainsaw. "Nopony eats another and enjoys it!"

"Well, then I'm an exception!" Pinkie swung her chainsaw towards Applejack, but the machine missed when Applejack ducked under the blade. She quickly rolled her body halfway towards the door to gain more distance between her and the brand new, psychotic Pinkie Pie.

Twilight charged a lower form of her magic to avoid badly hurting or killing Pinkie. After firing a few shots at her, Pinkie turned around, tossed the chainsaw into a wall, and pulled out a curved and blood-soaked axe from her tail. She tossed the blade after Twilight in hopes of decapitating her. The blade missed due to dodge to the right, but the blade was still spinning horizontally. It then turned around and headed towards Twilight's head once again. She dodged to the left of the spinning blade and fired another blast at Pinkie. Even though her blasts were created to leave the target unconscious, Pinkie Pie was as active and as sporadic as she was minutes ago.

The blade returned into Pinkie's hooves safely, not even landing a scrape on her during its return. She then hopped to Rarity's location and performed a vertical slam on her head. Luckily, Twilight halted the attack with another magic blast that blasted Pinkie to the left wall and sent the curved axe flying into the darkness to Twilight's right. Pinkie tumbled onto the floor with a slight amount of damage to her side, but something else felt hurt. There was still a glimmer of hope for her savage greed to disappear from her friends' kindness, but this quickly evaporated as the pain crawled all over her left side. Her pain shifted to rage, and this rage suddenly shifted to broken tears and melancholy.

Twilight felt terrible for committing the deed, but she still felt justified for her actions. Applejack, not able to bear the wailing anymore, galloped to Pinkie and comforted her. "It's okay, Pinkie, we're all here for you. There's no reason to hurt us or yourself for a simple illness. We can cure you."

Pinkie Pie's crying died as primal instinct overtook her body. A quick head turn and constriction of Applejack's right foreleg created a nasty gash. Pinkie had dug her teeth into Applejack's flesh, tearing away at the muscle, bone, and tendons while holding onto the chunk of meat that bled in her mouth. Applejack screamed in sharp pain and terror as she watched an entire piece of her body detach from her bone. Pinkie then kicked her to Twilight and Rarity, reducing her to the checkered ground while chewing on the bloody earth pony flesh. Fluttershy sprinted towards the other end of the room while sobbing in acute distress, and Rarity screamed while looking away from the chaos. Applejack's right foreleg burned and stung from the open air, so she glanced around the area to find something to cover it up. Twilight noticed a roll of gauze poking from one of the kitchen cabinets. She levitated it towards the bleeding and bony leg and wrapped the roll around it several times. By the time she finished patching up the leg, Pinkie Pie chewed the entire bloody morsel and gulped it down.

Pinkie licked the leftover blood that coated her lips. "Mmm, that type of pony meat is very tough, but it tastes really good! Are you sure none of you want a bite?"

"That's just wrong!" Twilight screamed through her tears. "Why would you chomp off a bit of your friends? Do you really not care for them that much?"

Pinkie's face resorted to the previous look of anger and torture that the craving created inside her head. "It's not enough though. Only all of you will be able to fix it. Even if you decide to say no again, I'll have to continue my work. Remember, you don't leave your duties unfinished."

Pinkie Pie grabbed another item out of her tail. This time, it was a similar set of metal claws with a slight upgrade. Two electrical wires were grafted into them, and multiple sparks bounced out of the claws like fireworks. She twirled them in the air while aiming for Twilight Sparkle. Twilight activated a magical barrier before the class could grab and electrocute her, possibly to death from the amount of electricity escaping out of the ends. In response to the block, Pinkie recollected her metal claws and aimed for Rarity. The claws almost latched onto her, but she dodged to the right before they could electrify her body. Pinkie's rage increased after every miss, and she was heading towards a complete assault.

"How do we defeat her?" Twilight asked Rarity while keeping her barrier active. She literally had no idea how to stop Pinkie Pie. "My magic is doing almost nothing to her, and she is throwing too many attacks! We need to find out how to stop her!"

Rarity examined a Pinkie that was pulling out a chainsaw again. "Do you have anything else on you that can help you? You must have something."

"Yeah," Applejack weakly responded while slowly limping backwards. "She has to be weak to something. Remember, nothing's impossible to defeat." The pain in her leg was still present, and it racked her mind with every additional flurry of pain.

Pinkie scanned the room and noticed one friend she excluded from her attacks. She redirected her attention to Fluttershy, who was hiding behind a counter in the back of the room. Pinkie approached her with the chainsaw and raised it above her head. Twilight noticed this attack and charged a magical blast in response. When the blast slammed into Pinkie, it threw her to the locked door. She sluggishly got back up and picked up her chainsaw again, ready to attack another time. When Twilight fired a few more blasts to keep her incapacitated, Pinkie simply dodged around them by hopping and spinning from left to right.

Twilight decided now that it was best to use a not so wimpy magic blast. She charged her lethal variant this time and aimed for Pinkie again. She knew that Pinkie would dodge this one like the rest, so she aimed to the left a little. To her surprise, Pinkie dodged into the blast slightly to her right when Twilight fired the blast. This time, Pinkie was actually hurt instead of pushed back. She sprawled on the floor for a few seconds, allowing Twilight to think about the situation.

"Alright, so I need to find something that could also damage her," Twilight spoke to herself while rummaging through her pocket chest. She took out and placed back a few scraps and other bits that she collected on her travels through the worlds. When she finally rediscovered the shiny stone that Princess Celestia gave her. Her words echoed in her mind as she examined the shiny stone.

"It will be very useful if you ever encounter a deadly threat. Just toss the stone towards the enemy to activate its effects."

Twilight levitated the shiny stone out of her pocket chest and examined it carefully. A rainbow briefly shimmered through the stone before disappearing into the silver. She then scanned the entire room to see what was happening. Pinkie was almost on her hind legs again with a syringe in one hoof and a chainsaw in the other. Applejack was huddling behind a counter with Fluttershy to avoid anything else that could hurt them both. Almost touching the left wall of the room, Rarity stood to the right of Twilight Sparkle. Twilight raised the shiny stone a little and pulled it back to wind her magic. After several milliseconds of winding, she threw the stone at Pinkie Pie in hopes of something helpful happening.

To her surprise, something indeed did happen. The stone bounced off of Pinkie harmlessly, only causing a small bruise on her left shoulder. When the stone landed on the floor, it flashed all the colors of the rainbow and hovered above the floor by itself. The rainbow light grew and engulfed Pinkie Pie's body and weaponry, showing nothing but a pulsing and spinning rainbow while it used its magic. Twilight could hear Pinkie's screams of shock, but they vanished when they were replaced with snoring sounds and a thud. When the rainbows washed away and returned to the stone peacefully, a peacefully sleeping Pinkie Pie met the quartet's eyes. Even though the chainsaw and syringe were still in her area, they were not too close to be extremely deadly.

Psychotic Pinkie Pie has been defeated!

Applejack was the first to react. She winced as she got back on her hooves and limped towards Twilight. "What did that thing do?"

"I don't know, but it looks like it fixed Pinkie," Twilight responded curiously. She was intrigued in how that small stone created all that raw power and magic, but her dreamy thinking about the power was cut short when a buzzing entered the communications chips.

"Is anyone there?" a concerned and gruff voice asked.

"Yes," replied the four ponies in slight unison.

"Alright, all four of you are alive. Our GEST Corp. soldiers found a kavarian outpost near your location. We had to take it out to regain the signal here, but it looks like we were a little too forgetful of our fellow comrades."

"What do you mean?" asked Rarity. "How can you forget your own soldiers if they are right next to you?"

"I'm talking about the dead bodies all over the catacombs. What the hell happened to all of them? I know that these marks are not from any of our enemies."

"Pinkie Pie lost her mind and started gutting humans and ponies all around this place," Applejack answered with a slight indication of pain in her words. "We have her with us, but we're locked from the outside, I think."

"We'll find your location soon. Our technicians here have studied the kavarian language and their technology. We should have the door cracked open in no time."

The quartet waited silently in the room for a few minutes due to the lack of needing to talk. They were all to busy on thinking about Pinkie and her massacre. The door beeped and fell apart as several soldiers hustled through the disfigured opening. One of the soldiers kneeled down near Pinkie's body and pulled out two fingers to her neck. "Blood circulation is normal. What should we do with her, sir?"

Another soldier without a helmet turned to the soldier. His voice was the same as the voice in the communications chips, and he wore armor with orange stripes covering his shoulder pads and knees. "These four ponies said that she was the one who killed all those men."

The soldier looked back at the sergeant. "So, should we take her prisoner?"

"No, she's an Element of Harmony, and she never did that before. Something must've gotten into her head, so send her to the Ponyville base so that we can check up on her. This might be a psychological problem."

The soldier gestured two more to help him pick up the still sleeping Pinkie Pie. All three of the soldiers lifted her body and gently escorted her out of the room. The sergeant and two other soldiers approached the quartet calmly and without any intent in attacking. The sergeant pointed his head to the broken door. "Now, come with us. We got a few drop ships that you four can take. We'll be home in no time."

One of the soldiers glared at Applejack's bleeding bunch of gauze on her leg. "Hey, sir, that leg's going to get infected. We need to give her medical assistance as soon as possible."

The sergeant turned his head to the soldier on his left. "We got a medbot on the surface. We can patch her body up in no time."

The quartet followed the sergeant and other soldiers out of the room and into the catacomb halls. They walked through the dried blood and flesh that tortured them and their senses, touched the exit of the tunnels, and returned to the cool air outside. A temporary encampment to the left of the exit held a few wounded soldiers and a rolling medbot that healed their injuries in record time. Applejack limped to the medbot and held out her mangled leg. "Can you fix this? I got bit during a fight in the room."

The medbot beeped happily and scanned the injured tissue. It cut the gauze off with a claw arm and drew red beams in the affected area with its singular red optical sensor. New muscle, tendons, and skin filled the hole in her leg. In just a few seconds, her leg felt as good as new. She gave a warm smile to the small machine and pat it on the top with her fixed leg. "Thanks, partner. You're pretty good at your job."

The medbot beeped and rolled to another wounded soldier. Applejack returned to the other three ponies that had surprised looks on their faces. "How did that machine do that?" Twilight asked in awe. "Not even my mending spells can fix injuries like that!"

Rarity entered the conversation. "Well, these humans have quite the stylish vehicles and clothing. Plus, they are very advanced compared to us. Of course they would such magnificent tools and luxurious attire. It's all so sophisticated."

"You don't have drool all over their fancy gear now," Applejack teased a little to Rarity. "I think we should be heading to the drop ships. Whatever they want with Pinkie must be very important to us."

"All right girls, to the drop ships!" Twilight exclaimed happily while she trotted to the closet ship. All of the ponies entered the same ship that carried Pinkie. The soldiers put a muzzle and straitjacket on her just in case she wakes up and starts eating ponies and humans again. The ponies sat down and rested on the seats. The ramp door closed tightly, and the engine roared to life. The ship soon ascended into the air and flew towards Ponyville. This period of low activity was exactly was the quartet needed. Too much stress and terror stabbed their minds, and they couldn't take anymore of it today. Especially Fluttershy, who was still paranoid of Pinkie waking up and attempting to snack on her body. To put it simply, they were all perfectly safe at this point. There were no worries and problematic situations as the drop ship set course for Ponyville.

Act III, Chapter 4: Saving Manehattan
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 4: Saving Manehattan

After an hour of flying through specified air zones due to aerial assaults, the quartet and their broken Pinkie Pie reached GEST Corp.'s base in Ponyville. The drop ships descended onto the landing pads and shut down to save power. The ramp doors opened to release multiple soldiers, a medbot, a sergeant, and five ponies. Pinkie was carried to the base with a bed and one soldier, and the other four ponies followed at a moderate pace. For this case, the soldier and four ponies used the elevator to safely guide Pinkie's bed below the surface of the planet. The group entered the elevator, and the soldier pressed the button that led it to the third floor. Twilight Sparkle, the most curious of the bunch of ponies, asked a question to the soldier while the elevator moved downward.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" she asked politely and calmly to keep the peace.

The soldier turned his concealed head to Twilight. "The neurologists believe that she is going through some type of trauma from the kavarians' experiments. She is going to be scanned to detect any other illnesses or defects on her body that might have caused her to acquire the taste of human and pony flesh."

"But, you're all human, right?" Applejack asked. "Aren't ponies and humans different altogether? I don't think your technology and knowledge could correctly label her."

"Half of our scientists in this base are equine. They have studied our machines and the fields involving pony and human bodies enough to grasp a very detailed idea about what happened to her. The only problem we might have is if we have no idea what caused her to break."

"I hope she gets better soon," Fluttershy almost whispered, remembering the Pinkie before her disappearance. "I don't want her to eventually find me delicious."

"I bet these humans will fix her," assured Twilight. "They know what they are doing."

The elevator slowed to a stop as the metal doors slid open. The ponies and soldier walked into a huge room with multiple surgery and analysis stations teeming with active doctors and wounded soldiers. Both ponies and humans were on the recovery beds, and some of the stations were concealed with a singular sheet of fabric on a pole. The soldier rolled Pinkie's temporary bed to one of the empty stations. The station held a doctor and an assistant, both reading papers and examining x-ray and MRI scans. when Pinkie's constrained body rolled up to them, the doctor looked up from the papers and smiled with interest. His face was covered with a graying mustache and stubble along his chin. His head hair was only located around the sides and back, creating a bald dome on the top of his head. A rectangular pair of glasses covered his eyes and rested on his ears and nose.

"Well, this looks very intriguing," the doctor mused while opening Pinkie's eyes and examining them with a light. "I didn't know you'd be bringing a psychotic one here." He switched to examining the ears with an otoscope. "What seems to be the issue?"

The soldier spoke up in a calm and clear voice. "She was originally bright, happy, and cheerful until she was taken hostage by kavarian troops. Now, she loves to eat people and ponies for their taste. The neurologists on the drop ships stated it was due to trauma, but we would like your take on it."

The doctor removed the muzzle and examined Pinkie's teeth. He then proceeded to pick out scraps of blood and flesh from her teeth. "Interesting. This might be a very exciting case, then."

He gestured his assistance to help him carry Pinkie onto the station's bed. When she was successfully placed on the bed, the assistant untied the arm section of the straitjacket and strapped her four hooves to the bed to ensure the safety of everyone in the area. The assistant looked like a younger man with a five o'clock shadow and short, brown hair. Just like the doctor, he wore a white lab coat with a tag labeling him 'assistant'. He then completely removed the straitjacket from Pinkie's body, revealing a healthy and pink coat.

The doctor examined the limbs and chest for any external injuries. Since there were none, he then took out his stethoscope and listened to Pinkie's breathing and heartbeat. Since they were normal, he moved on to the next procedure and took a out a unique device. It had a handle and build similar to a handgun, but the end was replaced with a rectangular scanner, and the rear sight was replaced with a screen. He aimed the device with one hand on top of Pinkie's forehead.

He pulled the trigger and activated the screen. The picture showed a colorful visual of the brain. Various parts of the brain were redder or bluer than others, showing the activity of the different parts of the brain. When the doctor found some areas with unusual activity and began matching with with the symptoms she has, he drew conclusions and told them to the ponies and soldier.

"This pony has an early form of PTSD. Apparently, you were right about the disturbing event with the kavarians, but we need to know what this situation was. She will be scheduled for a memory alteration procedure that will take place in about a minute."

"Wait a minute," Twilight started with realization of what that meant, "you're going to change her memories? How?"

"We have a few machines that are able to plug into the hippocampus and read all of the stored memories. We can go through her most recent ones, the ones involving her captivity, and erase them by altering the memory patterns inside the neurons. We can detect which memories are from which time, and we can catalog them for elimination. If the process ends successfully, she should wake up without knowing anything about what happened to her. It would be like she woke up from a nap and all of her horrible memories were a dream. Well, a dream she cannot remember or recall, but you get my point."

"That's, impressive," Twilight's eyes beamed with joy and excitement. "Can I disassemble one and study every part of it?"

The soldier looked to his left with a disturbed look. The doctor chuckled heartily to himself while holding a hand on the bed frame. "Not at this moment, but that's something we might be able to provide. Ask the general if you want to do something like that." He gestured his assistant to unhook the latches on the bed's wheels. The doctor pushed aside the other bed while readying Pinkie's for mobile transport. He then walked behind the bed and pushed it out of the station and into the clear section of the long room. The quartet followed, but the soldier regrouped with his squadron upstairs. The doctor looked at the ponies and speculated a little bit.

"I'm guessing you four do not want to leave your friend alone, hmm?" he questioned while pushing the bed along the long hall. Other soldiers, ponies, and doctors moved around in the background and chattered a little. Another doctor pushing an empty bed waved to Pinkie's doctor, and he waved back as well.

"Yes, we don't want anything bad to happen to her," Twilight answered while looking around the vast room. "She's too important to us."

"If that's the case, I will allow you four to watch her while we perform the memory process on her. After all–" the doctor looked down at their suits "–you four must be specifically chosen to work for Solk. Those suits are not the usual ED brand that the others wear." To emphasize his statement, he pointed at three passing unicorns with armor suits. "Those soldiers usually come in with entire limbs off their bodies. You have no idea how much they sacrifice to keep Equestria safe."

The group turned a sharp left to a smaller hall indicating location of the memory manipulation rooms. The doctor opened the second door on his right by waving a keycard in front of the door's sensor. The door dinged and automatically opened, allowing the doctor, the bed, and the ponies to enter the smaller room.

Three scientists in blue lab coats were preparing a bulky machine for activation. The machine was shaped like a chair with a big set of machinery on its back. Five metal straps were placed on it to secure the legs, arms, and head of anything sitting on the seat. A head-sized, dome-shaped piece of metal hung from the top of the chair, and it waited for a subject to strap into and read all of its memories. Multiple levers, buttons, panels, knobs, lights, screens, and monitors poke out of the mechanical box. A control station that sat on the other side of the room was connected to the machine by bundles of wires and tubes. After the machine's lights flashed green and multiple beeps emanated from the its startup, the scientists walked behind the control station and took out their note-tablets and styli to record the procedure.

The doctor rolled the bed to the chair and carefully unhooked the straps off of Pinkie's hooves and forehead. He then picked up her body and placed it on the chair. Huffing from the weight he just lifted, the doctor positioned and strapped Pinkie's forehead and hooves again. Surprisingly and thankfully, she was still asleep and calm. He lowered the dome piece to her head and strapped it around her chin. He flicked a lever next to the machine that read 'activate memory reading'. The machine emitted more beeps as the main screen behind and above Pinkie converted from static to actual footage. The screen showed the battle between her and the four ponies through her eyes. Every breath, blink, hoof movement, and attack were recorded from the pure memory. The quartet kept themselves quiet while the scientists examined the screen.

One of the scientists pushed their glasses with an index finger while studying the footage. "The memories are still fresh, but the readings are not showing any signs of potential trauma creation. Go back a few hours."

The doctor turned a knob that read 'time jump' to four hours. He pressed the 'backwards' button and examined the screen again. The image zipped from multiple mutilations and cooking techniques to peering up at two armored kavarians that escorted her out of an assault ship. She was chained with metal cuffs that kept her hooves behind her back. She walked on her hind legs as if she knew to do so for years. She was eventually shoved into the familiar cooking room inside the catacombs and locked inside with a steel door. Her cuffs deactivated themselves as the soldiers left the hall and walked up the staircase.

Another scientist shook a no with his head. "That's not it either. Go back by two days."

The doctor turned the same knob to twenty four hours and pressed the 'backwards' button twice. The footage shifted again to eventually recreate itself into a dark and empty room. Pinkie Pie was inside a testing chamber with two ponies that she recently killed, and she was chewing their lungs and hearts with a pleasure-filled smile on her face. Gooey chewing crackled in the audio as the graphic detail of running blood and two pegasi's inner organs, flesh, and bones covered the screen. Pinkie continuously chomped off bites of a lung, savoring every bite with another fire of dopamine and addiction to meat in her brain. One of the scientists, a newcomer in the field of gore, vomited on the floor in vile disgust. The other two had their mouths wide open while signaling the doctor to go back a little more. The four ponies looked away from the footage while covering their ears with their hooves.

"It's so chewy and sweet!" chirped the Pinkie Pie from the footage. "I could eat this all day!"

With absolutely no regret, the doctor turned the knob to two hours and pressed the same button again. The visuals now represented Pinkie's stylish and homey cell that was replicated to look like her room. She sat on the floor while slowly nibbling at the red velvet cake recently given to her by a kavarian soldier. Twilight slightly opened one eye to see if the screen was showing any gore. When it wasn't, she opened her eyes and shook the other three ponies while she quietly whispered, "You can look now."

The scientists picked up a heavy amount of data from the memory recall. One of the scientists who did not vomit spoke up hastily. "That's the source of the trauma, but we need to go back a little more to be sure that she doesn't remember that place. Go back some more again."

The doctor turned the knob to twenty four hours again and pressed the same button thrice. The footage shifted one last time to a half asleep Pinkie in her original bed in her room. Two figures were creeping through the window and door of her room and prepared to knock her unconscious. The vomiting scientist glared at the screen and pressed a button on the control station to bookmark the memory sequence. "That is where we need to start the memory erasing. Erase all memories from that point to the current time. Hopefully, that solves our problem."

The doctor flicked a lever that read 'erase memories' and pushed a button that read 'erase all from then until now' to start the process. The screen changed to a loading screen with fifteen percent above a partially filled bar. While the bar slowly filled all the way to one hundred percent, the quartet conversed between each other about the footage.

"Well," Rarity started while attempting to forget the third clip, "that was quite an interesting discovery. Would you say so, Twilight?"

"We did get to see some other events before we met Pinkie again," Twilight responded with lingering disgust in her words, "but that one bit was too graphic." She turned her head to the scientists and donned a deadly serious face. "Don't show that ever again."

"Hey, we hated seeing that as much as you four do." The leftmost scientist shrugged while pointing his eyes towards the other scientist that vomited all over the floor. "We'll need to clean that up pretty soon. This place is supposed to be 'exquisitely sterile', but not too sterile."

A cylindrical machine with four wheels and multiple cleaning utensils in its four arms rolled over to the vomit. It cleaned the entire area to near perfection and with dead accuracy. After it cleaned the vomit, it casually left the room. The doctor examined the screen again. The bar was at fifty-seven percent, giving a little more time for more conversation.

"Do you think Pinkie will be fine after she wakes up?" Applejack asked curiously. "Actually, will she ever wake up? That rock put her to sleep for quite a long time."

"I'm sure that she will wake up," Fluttershy chirped in a low voice. "I don't think a special artifact would keep her like that forever."

"The real question here is about her suit," Twilight stated while she returned her attention to the other three ponies. The bar was at seventy-seven percent. "Does GEST Corp. have it ready?"

"That would be a yes." A familiar general with a laser rifle and bald head walked into the room. He stood next to Pinkie's body while glaring at the machine. "Also, what exactly happened to her?"

The doctor turned his head to Solk. "We believe she is in a deep sense of trauma from the kavarians' experiments. Luckily, we were able to retrieve her safely and successfully discover what caused her trauma."

Solk briefly held out a hand to tell that he wanted an answer. "Well, spit it out. What caused it?"

"She was cannibalized, and it somehow twisted her psyche to a rather horrifying extreme. Humans have been known to be cannibals in very rare cases, but she responded to pony flesh as if she was starved for an entire month. She even collects withdrawal symptoms after just a few hours of neglect!"

Solk raised a hand to his chin and pondered the psychological response. "Seems like that response was intended. I bet at least one pony in this barracks at least tasted a drop of their own blood, but none of them were driven crazy from that. Something's not right here."

"But she always acts that way with sweets and deserts!" Rarity added to the mix. "It would be understandable if she reacted like that."

Solk pointed a finger briefly at Rarity. "Well, you have a point there, but why would she go so far to kill you four for that taste? To me, that seems like the odd bit out."

"Definitely," Twilight agreed. "She doesn't risk her friends' lives for a cause. To be a little more precise, she doesn't risk anypony's lives because she thinks all of them are her friends. I think that those kavarians changed her before the cannibalism took place."

The scientist in between the other two raised his hand and lowered it hastily. "We actually have a few instances in her memories where she was put in different experimental chambers. One of them involved, killing you, Twilight. Maybe they did something to her during the tests."

The scientist to his left shook a no. "That's not possible. Her mental patterns were mostly normal after those tests. They only changed dramatically after that cannibalistic act. The only thing that happened to her from the tests was a lingering sense of sadness, not psychopathy or sociopathy. If that was the case, she would've responded differently to the 'cake'."

The conversation halted when a beeping noise and a filled bar indicated the end of the memory erasing process. The doctor rushed to Pinkie's body and loosened the straps around her hooves and forehead. "She will be hysterical if we keep them on her. I don't want to risk another incident involving trauma."

Solk, the doctor, the three scientists, and the four ponies watched Pinkie Pie closely. Her eyes slowly opened while her body sluggishly moved around the metal. After a couple seconds, she rubbed her eyes with her hooves and yawned. When she finally looked around the room, she felt completely confused. "What's happening?"

Fluttershy leaped over to her and hugged her tightly. "Pinkie, you're safe! We missed you so much!"

Pinkie felt even more confused. "Safe? I'm perfectly fine though! Why would you think I was not safe?"

Solk shot a stern glance at the other three ponies. Don't tell her anything about what happened to her, he thought while he gave the glance. Twilight nodded and understood what the face meant.

She kept the ideas of cannibalism buried deep in her mind as she conversed with Pinkie. To hide her ideas even more, she remembered Rainbow Dash's disappearance and used it as the topic. "That's not the issue here. What we're worried about is where Rainbow Dash is." Twilight improvised her description a little while she spoke. "She disappeared, last night, and we have no idea where she went. She might be right above us or in another world. Who knows!"

Solk nodded in agreement. "You're right. We usually have the technology and information to pinpoint her location, but her Element of Harmony signal faded quite a while ago. The last area we found her signal at was in her floating house. We have no traces of evidence to prove where she is at this point."

One of the scientists' communications chips beeped and chattered faint words. The scientist nodded and continued saying okay until another beep indicated the end of the call. "General, we have a dire situation on our hands."

Solk turned his head in urgency. "What is it?"

"GEST Corp. squadrons in Manehattan are reporting a terrorist mission on the city. A demon waterborne fleet and aerial armada just stormed the city and are destroying entire skyscrapers as we speak. We need reinforcements there stat."

Solk turned to the ponies and cocked his weapon. "That's our call. You five need to get on our assault ships. Those little drop ships will fall out of the sky as fast as a tsunami can destroy an entire coastal city."

"Assault ship?" Twilight, Rarity and Applejack questioned in unison. Fluttershy stopped hugging Pinkie and listened closely. Pinkie hopped out of the chair and reunited with the other three ponies.

Solk decided to answer that little question. "It's a flying ship that's made to handle bigger and badder threats. We use them in aerial battles due to their low cost and effective firepower. If it is true the demons have an armada in Manehattan, they might have a dreadnought class warship there too. We can't fight it with just assault ships, so we need to break into it like we did to their first dreadnought."

"How are we going to do that?" asked an intrigued Twilight. "It sounds like we will be taken into a heavily guarded location."

"Exactly," Solk continued. "The armada will be too strong to take down in midair if ground forces also destroy the city beneath us. That's why you five will weaken their infantry and land vehicles first before we send you to the ship by teleporter. We need all the help we can get to fight off the aerial forces."

"So, let me straighten what you're saying up a little," Applejack started with slight concern and fear. "We're going to travel by air, fight off demons on the ground, and then invade their giant warship? That's a lot of jumping around from place to place!"

"Yeah, the demons are really good at killing off things like assault trucks. Their ground troops for terrorist missions are very good at destroying land vehicles. If we send you five there on a truck, they'll blow it up before it hits the city limits." He looked at Pinkie's unarmored body in slight concern. "But first, we need to get Pinkie Pie her new set of armor. What she's not wearing right now won't help with the mission."

Solk grabbed his personal pocket chest and pulled out a pink suit in the shape of a pony's body. He handed the suit to Pinkie and put away his pocket chest. "That'll prevent some damage to your body during the fight. Plus, it's slightly customized to fit your personality and method of fighting. The cloaking mechanism will allow easier sneaking and elimination of targets, and the hard cleats on the bottom of the hoof straps will enhance your melee attacks. The two pocket chests on the suit's sides will also make holding and carrying dozens of healthful or painful items a lot easier."

Pinkie Pie put the suit on herself in very little time. After only about ten seconds, she tested the suit's flexibility and mobility. Her smile widened and her eyes brightened as she looked up at Solk. "Thank you, mister! I really like the style and build you used for it!"

:pinkiesmile: has rejoined your party.

Solk denied some of the compliments. "It's the least I can do. Now, you five better get ready and pack or remove some of your things. This isn't going to be an easy fight."

The five ponies left the room and walked all the way back to their homes. Solk also walked out of the room and opened a comm link to Colonel Vincent. "Vincent, I need you and your army to check up on Cloudsdale."

Vincent was slightly confused on the order. "What's the reason? Are they blowing themselves up or something?"

"They haven't provided more troops to us in days, and they promised to bring some more. I need to see if something bad happened over there while we were gone."

"Can do, general. Let me round up my troops first."

"Alright then. Solk out."

•—————•

After emptying their chest pockets and refilling them with healing treats, extra projectiles, and spell books, the quintet traveled back to the assault ship. It was a lot bigger than the drop ship, and it looked like it could house dozens of troops. It was as long as two commercial planes, and it was as wide as two American football fields. The ship had a ramp door in the back, and it was at least four times larger than the drop ships' doors. The ship had a wingspan about as long as five American football fields in width. Twelve thrusters pointed outwards from the back of the ship, and six more rested on the gargantuan wings. The five ponies were in complete awe from the size of the ship.

Multiple soldiers of both human and equine forms funneled into the ramp door. Two tanks with slick bodies and two slender barrels on swiveling heads rolled into the assault ship. One gunner and one driver were placed in each tank, ready to fire their weaponry whenever it was needed. Special human soldiers with bulky silver armor and huge machine guns walked up the ramp. Lightly armored human soldiers with jetpacks strapped to their backs also walked into the ship. They carried special rifles with laser pointer sights and homing bullets, allowing easy destruction to rapidly moving targets. When the rest of the soldiers boarded the ship, the five ponies followed them into the ship.

Despite the large amount of troops inside the ship, there was still a lot of room for the ponies to move around. The two tanks waited in the middle of the room, and the rest of the troops joined their fellow squad members in various places around the ship. Some of them guarded the halls while others sat or stood around and waited for the ship to arrive to Manehattan. The five ponies decided that they should wait near the ramp door if they want to leave as fast as possible.

After every soldier finally found their places, the ramp door rose up to its closed position. The ship activated its thrusters and ascended into the sky slowly. After about ten seconds of ascension into the sky, the ship set course for Manehattan. At this point, all the quintet had to do was wait for the action.

•—————•

After about thirty minutes of waiting, the ship finally reached Manehattan safely. Even though the ship was heavily armored and prepared to take multiple beatings, GEST Corp. was not confident enough to release the troops in midair or on an enemy aircraft. The ship descended at the city limits and opened its ramp door. All of the soldiers inside were ready for battle. Weapons cocked, tanks roared, and jetpacks activated as the ramp door slowly lowered onto the ground. When the door completely opened up, all of the soldiers rushed out of the battlefield with a united war cry. Luckily, the quintet were able to exit the ship before the sea of troops trampled them into confusion and disunion.

Despite GEST Corp.'s efforts to keep as many soldiers alive as possible, some of them still died in the first few seconds of the fight. The demons planned a special defense involving a fleet of battleships to guard the outskirts of the city, and they bombarded the land with multiple mortars that fired explosives into the air. The demons also destroyed the entire bridge leading into the city, leaving nothing but a mass of water between the mainland and Manehattan. Even though it looked as if there was no chance to enter the city, the soldiers still pressed on.

The five ponies kept themselves in the back of the firefight to avoid dying in the scramble near the middle and front. Twilight was watching the covered sky. Warships littered the air, and the dreadnought that Solk predicted was sitting near the border of Manehattan. It blasted pieces of the city to bits, damaging its grand skyscrapers harshly. The ponies eventually reached the coastline where multiple soldiers prepared their own mortars. They fired at the battleships with fast moving rockets that arched in the sky. After a few shots from the mortars, two battleships exploded and sank into the water, but more of them cruised into the open space to take their place.

When it all felt nearly hopeless to destroy the battleships, a fleet of GEST Corp. drop ships flew by and bombed them, destroying some of the ships and damaging the others. Another fleet of drop ships bombed the ships again, destroying the entire array of battleships.

A masculine voice crackled in the ponies' communications chips. "That one was on us, fellas. You know what to do from here."

The soldiers examined the carnage in the water. Bits and pieces of both the bridge and the sunken ships dotted the rough seas. One of the not as experienced foot soldiers scratched his head in complete bafflement. "How are we going to cross this mess? There's no way across!"

"There is," an ED unicorn soldier gruffly disagreed as he walked up the water. He turned his head to the crowd of soldiers behind him. "Unicorns, get in formation stat!"

Dozens of unicorn soldiers walked up to the first soldier and formed a long line. They lowered their heads and activated their magic, illuminating all of their horns as they did the unthinkable. Pieces of the original bridge levitated out of the water and into their assigned places. More and more pieces with various auras linked together with other pieces, recreating the downed bridge piece by piece. After a few more seconds of alignment, the bridge looked almost exactly the same as it was before its destruction.

The sergeant unicorn soldier strained under the weight of the bridge, but he was still able to order his fellow soldiers. "Now, activate, your, mending, spells!"

The unicorns strained even more as they added more power to the bridge. The pieces of the bridge repaired themselves, providing a route to the city without the need to swim. After a few more seconds of mending, the bridge looked as good as new. Twilight Sparkle's jaw dropped in surprise after seeing an entire array of unicorns repair an entire bridge. Pinkie Pie celebrated with the cheering troops, tossing random streamers and confetti around the battlefield. Some of the more observant soldiers noticed her celebrating and questioned themselves on what was happening. Applejack and Rarity realized how powerful their army was compared to the enemy, and Fluttershy only thought about the stability of the bridge.

After most of the soldiers stopped cheering, they marched on the bridge with their intact tanks following from the back. The quintet still kept themselves in the back of the battalion to avoid another set of mortars. Some of the soldiers in the front discovered demon forces moving onto the bridge and creating a barricade to halt the troops. The tanks in the back fired at the demons and blasted them into fireballs. Most of the demons disintegrated into nothing or jumped off the bridge In a last effort to save their essences. Without any opposition in their way, the battalion reached the other side of the bridge in one piece.

The lieutenant class soldier in the front of the battalion turned to his men and ponies at arms. "Soldiers, this is where we will split up! I need the two assault tanks in the back to enter the central area of the city and protect it! Our pegasi and aerial troops need to clear the top area of the city, and the rest of our infantry, including all of you heavy duty guys in the front, needs to fan out into three separate groups! Also, protect our unicorns! They're a little low on magic at the current moment, so don't rush them into battle!"

"Sir, yes, sir!" the entire battalion responded in unison. Every soldier fanned out of the bridge and marched onwards to their designated location. The five ponies who were at the end of the bridge at this point were confused on where to go.

The lieutenant saw the quintet and confronted them. "You five, I have special orders for you. We already have some resistance that has been placed in this city and hour ago. They might need some help fending off the demon forces and saving the civilians." He pointed to his left. "That's where you'll need to go to find the first team. When demon forces on the ground thin out enough, report to the central area of the city. We'll have a teleporter ready for all of you to use."

"We'll complete the mission, commander!" Twilight triumphantly exclaimed. "We won't let you or anypony else down!"

"That's what I like to hear. Now, get to the mission!"

The quintet galloped to the south section of the city. Their first encounter with the demons involved only a few novice demons with laser rifles and one greatsword demon that bashed his way into a nearby house. The door was nearly in shambles at this point, and the rest of the demons were waiting for the signal to rush into the building. Twilight alerted them by firing a magic blast at the greatsword demon, severely damaging his essence and throwing him onto the ground. The rest of the demons hid behind destroyed carriages and drop ships. Rarity conjured and fired a few of her gemstones towards one of the demons, destroying them nearly instantly. Pinkie Pie rolled from one pile of debris to another, and Applejack kept her head low in the piles while finding an opening in the demons' defenses. Fluttershy called for an eagle that swooped into the battlefield and clawed the greatsword demon to bits and pieces.

One of the remaining demons took out a walkie talkie and screamed into it with panic in his words. "We need reinforcements at our location now! The Elements of Harmony are here, and they're killing all of our troops!" One of the other demons next to him was crushed to bits when Pinkie stomped on his entire body. He panicked and crouch ran to another pile of debris. He primed his weapon and aimed for Pinkie, but Twilight fired a magic blast straight into his cover, destroying the entire pile and him with it.

The last two surviving demons retreated while examing the quintet's power. "Is is me, or did they get a lot more powerful than the last time we fought them?" one of the demons asked with worry.

The other demon looked at the ponies and saw an entire pile of debris explode into bits and pieces of metal and wood. "Maybe, but we need to do something fast no matter what! They'll kill off our basic troops in no time!"

The first demon rolled his nonexistnent pupils from the statement. "Then call for our special ones! They're made to handle situations like this!"

Despite their efforts to call for stronger troops, Applejack and Pinkie Pie clobbered both of them, destroying their essences entirely. The other three ponies galloped over to them to regroup. The eagle did the same after it finished pecking and clawing at whatever was left of the greatsword demon.

Applejack was extremely confident in her and her friends' skills. "These fellas are too easy. If they're planning an entire invasion, we'll win it for sure."

Pinkie shook her head in denial while watching and pointing at a demon attack on a skyscraper. Seven faraway demons with wickedly long claws and gaping maws were ripping the doors and windows apart. Some of them hugged the support beams along the building and dug their claws deep into the concrete. After only a fraction of a second of preparation, those demons exploded into fiery plumes, crumbling the skyscraper into the other buildings and itself in the process. The surviving demons evaded from the debris and cackled a maniacal laugh at the destruction.

One of them twisted their head hastily and hungrily. "Who else wants the explosions?" Another loud cackle emanated from the demon as he sniffed around with a bloodlust for death.

The five remaining suicide demons detected the quintet and opened their claws. One of them smiled sadistically. "They wants the explosions! Well, come here and we'll give you all a bunch!"

The demons sprinted towards the ponies in random directions. Twilight Sparkle fired a couple magic blasts at one of them, but they were too fast and agile to be hit while moving. One of the suicide demons leaped onto a pile of debris and onto Pinkie's body. She quickly grabbed her party cannon and blasted the demon back into the pile, somewhat damaging him in the process. Rarity kept her distance from another demon, firing constant gemstones at him as she backed further and further away. The demon eventually fell to the ground and exploded into another plume of fire. Applejack lassoed another demon in midair and flung him into a building on her left. The demon sprawled on the floor a little before getting back up and hopping on a pile of debris. Twilight destroyed him with a magic blast, also destroying the debris in the process.

The last three suicide demons were all over the place at this point. One of them surprised Fluttershy with a cackle from behind. Rarity quickly fired a few gemstones to destroy the demon before it latched onto Fluttershy. Even though he still exploded and injured her, it wasn't as bad as what it would have been if he succeeded. Fluttershy collected a few scrapes and bruises as her body bounced on the hard ground. Pinkie discovered the last two suicide demons. They trapped her between two debris piles and closed in on her. She decided that this was the time to test her cloaking ability.

The suicide demons stopped closing in as their target disappeared into thin air. They looked around for her, but she was completely gone. Suddenly, the demon that was to her right was punched into a building. The other prematurely exploded in panic and paranoia, throwing the invisible Pinkie into a debris pile near Applejack. Her invisibility deactivated as she fell to the ground. The last demon got back up and cackled once more. "My comrades may have tasted death, but I will be the harbinger of the explodes!"

He leaped into the air with his claws open and directed downward towards Fluttershy's injured body. Before he could reach her flesh, the eagle from earlier rammed into the demon and broke his chance for a kill. Twilight finished off the demon with a swift magic blast to the chest, destroying every little piece of his body in a fireball.

"Don't get too cocky, Applejack," warned Pinkie as she got back on her hooves. "Our enemies will always get stronger no matter what we do. It's only natural to discover new ways to checkmate the other."

Applejack looked at the crumbled building that cooked in the flames. "Yeah, I think I know that now. Anyway, where's this group we have to find?"

The communications chips crackled with a familiar voice. "Well, it's been some time," Travis noted as his monitors turned on.

"Travis, you're still here!" Pinkie exclaimed in excitement. "Where have you been all this time?"

Travis felt a little embarrassed from the fact that he couldn't help out the quintet for quite a while. "A robot supremacist organization was attacking our capital. Apparently, they also want dimensional travel to enter this world."

Twilight felt irritated by that fact. "How many other armies are going to invade our world? At this point, it's just ludicrous!"

"I know. A lot of other creatures are interested in talking ponies with magic powers, and I can perfectly see why. They want to win a war, so they'll go to any length to succeed. Whether it be to make a species extinct or to align with another organization, they will try anything they can to eliminate their adversaries. Sadly, your world is in the middle of all these groups, so this dimension is a great candidate for invasion and protection."

Rarity glared at the dreadnought in the sky and saw and entire section of Manehattan fall into the ocean from the ship's devastating beam. She quickly expressed fear and concern from the blast. "I think we should depart now. These monsters are breaking the entire city into pieces."

The rest of the ponies acknowledged the carnage and agreed through nods. The quintet then traversed through the constant debris and maze of buildings. After a few mini-fights with some demon squadrons and a couple more suicide demons, they reached the first group of defending soldiers. They created a small defense out of debris and a functioning tank. Three Mk 3.5 demon tanks, the same ones that attacked Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie in the Everfree Forest, were firing explosive rounds at the ducking soldiers. Five elite demons with two hellfire demons hurled both fire and lasers towards the tank in an attempt to destroy it and blow up the entire defense.

Twilight fired a magic blast at one of the hellfire demons, damaging them significantly. The demon and three of the elite demons stopped firing and glared at the five ponies. One of the elite demons pointed at them while aiming his rifle. "There they are! Kill them first!"

Pinkie tossed a wrapped present to the hellfire demon while she evaded behind a building. The demon muttered ancient speak while he picked up the present. The present opened itself to reveal a pink bomb with 'Surprise!' wrote on it. The bomb exploded and destroyed the demon in a ball of pink fire. The rest of the infantry diverted their attention to the quintet now, firing multiple blasts of fire and lasers at the dodging and ducking ponies. Applejack galloped over the soldiers' defense and hid behind the debris with them.

The soldier right next to her grew in curiosity. "What are you doing here?"

Applejack turned her head to the soldier. "I'm hiding from enemy fire, that's what. Keep your head down if you want to live through this!"

The soldier noticed that his head was poking out of the defense, so he lowered his body to conceal all of himself. Two more soldiers fired multiple blasts at the distracted elite demons, killing one of the demons in the process. Rarity strafed towards the defense while firing multiple gemstones at the demons. Two more of them dissipated into darkness when Fluttershy's eagle sliced through them relatively easily. The hellfire demon and the other two elite demons fired their fire and lasers at Twilight, but their shots were deflected when she quickly raised a deflection spell. The last two elite demons fell apart from both the lasers and a tank blast. Pinkie hopped from pile to pile to reach the hellfire demon. When the demon was about to charge a deadly stream of fire, Pinkie jumped up and punched the demon in its face. Distracted from the pony next to him, the demon swiped his claws in her direction, but he missed. Pinkie punched him again, this time between the sides of his head. The severe damage to his essence caused him to dissipate into a bundle of fire and red particles.

The three tanks swiveled their tops to Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. Pinkie dodged the blast by dodging to her left and dashing towards the first tank. Fluttershy kept her body behind the now crumbling building while the tank threw shell after shell into the concrete and metal. Twilight grabbed the tank's projectile with her magic and fired it back at the tank, destroying it entirely. The soldiers' tank fired at the tank aiming for Fluttershy while Pinkie ripped the metal off of the other. Pinkie then climbed into the driver's station of the tank and slammed her hooves onto the demon driver. When her clobbering ended, both drivers inside the tanks were destroyed, leaving nothing but multiple hunks of useless metal sitting in the middle of the street.

All five of the ponies regrouped to the soldiers' defense. Twilight was the first speak to the soldiers. "Are there any other areas full of these creatures?"

One of the soldiers nodded while pointing towards the road that held the destroyed tanks. "Demon forces are all over that area. In fact, we've all retreated from there to avoid their super weapon sitting in the center of Manehattan."

"Super weapon?" Applejack questioned.

"It's the dreadnought in the sky," another soldier further back informed. "That's where they send all of their troops from the sky, and it's wearing our squadrons down."

"How do we travel to the dreadnought?" Rarity asked to collect more information.

Another soldier got out of cover and answered her question. "We have a teleporter over there that needs to be calibrated, but the demons are not allowing that with their growing numbers."

"That's it?" Pinkie thought that there would be more to the mission, but she appreciated the simplicity. "Alright then, off we go!"

The quintet galloped towards the center of the city and encountered more demons along the way. Just like the other squadrons from earlier, they were fairly easy to defeat due to their faulty strategies and ineffective weapons. When they finally fought their way to the designated point, they discovered that the fight was a lot more dire than they expected. Dead GEST Corp. soldiers of both human and pony origin littered the streets, broken down tanks and assault trucks blockaded the streets, and demons fired multiple projectiles in every direction. Some of demons were able to break into the buildings, so they took hostages from them and threatened to kill them. Some of the time, they did, and it would usually involve a bloody decapitation or a gunshot to the pony's head. Some of the surviving human and pony soldiers hunkered down in the debris and chaos of the firefight, and most of the demons kept themselves behind cover or inside vehicles.

Fluttershy couldn't watch the terror, but she kept herself confident and brave. Her runaway earlier was rather cowardly, and she knew that perfectly well. She was the first to confront the terrors of the battlefield by using her powerful voice to empower the civilians. She pressed her front right hoof on the ground and took a deep breath. "This is madness! All of you should be fighting back, not panicking and letting these monsters keep you captive!"

One of the terrified civilians heard her words. Since they were a unicorn, they attempted to hurl a piece of the scrap metal into the demon that was constricting them. The attempt succeeded, causing the demon to lose his grip and fall to the ground in blunt pain. Some of the captive earth ponies kicked, bit, and bucked their way out of the demons' grip, but they didn't stop there. Some of the civilians took another step and assaulted the demons with either their hooves or random scrap from the ground. The weaker demons panicked and fell apart easily, but the greatsword and elite demons stood their ground valiantly. The soldiers in cover used this chance of confusion and terror to their advantage by firing multiple laser blasts at the demon troops.

The quintet joined the scramble shortly after this abrupt turn of events. Pinkie used her party cannon to rain terror upon the surviving demon troops near the theater. Twilight hurled magical blasts at the greatsword demons, destroying every piece of them with the help of multiple laser blasts and even more magical blasts. Applejack used the mass confusion to get up close and personal with some the elite demons. She bucked some of the demons into walls and debris, destroying pieces of their armor and weaponry in the process. Rarity wedged multiple gemstones into the sides of one of the demons' tanks and caused some major malfunctions in the machinery. Entire gears and springs snapped out of place inside the tanks, coating the chaos in flames and melting metal shortly afterwards.

The aerial assault in the sky soon added more soldiers into the field when four demon drop ships dropped two more tanks and dozens of marching novice soldiers with various weaponry. A GEST Corp. assault ship flew above the carnage while firing at and destroying the drop ships. The two GEST Corp. tanks from earlier arrived with multiple machine gunners that coated the streets with endless barrages of lasers. At this point, a simple battle in one location converted into an all-out war that even involved the civilians.

Twilight avoided the crossfire while she rushed over the crouching soldiers. She had to yell for the soldiers to hear her through the sounds of war. "Where's the teleporter? Shouldn't it be around here?"

The soldier next to her fired at a demon carrying a blunderbuss with four blades sticking out of the barrel. "Its right behind us! We can't really calibrate it under all of this mayhem!"

"Can I help then? I know my way around machines and how they work!"

The soldier shot a demon with a crossbow that stabbed one of his bolts through a violent pegasus. "Go nuts!" He was not too sure if Twilight could calibrate the teleporter. "You probably won't understand English writing though! I sure as hell don't understand half of the things your species writes!"

Twilight ducked her head under the crossfire while she galloped towards the teleporter. It looked like a circular panel with six small ramps extending from it. Four poles with spheres at their ends crackled with electricity, and a green circle glowed in the center of the teleporter. One control panel was placed in the front of the teleporter, containing a keypad, two buttons labeled 'start' and 'stop', and a lever labeled 'power system'. Twilight examined the setup of the entire machine, but it was too confusing to understand without a manual. She then noticed a pocket on the side of the teleporter's control panel that contained paper instructions.

Twilight examined the instructions carefully. Surprisingly, it was not as foreign as she thought. She skimmed through the instructions to find the calibration page. When she finally found it, she read the instructions out loud. "To calibrate this device, you will need to know the correct coordinates for the trip. Place the coordinates in the machine by typing the numbers of the coordinates."

She had no idea what the coordinates were for the teleporter, so she tried to ask the soldiers behind her. One of them was blasted into giblets by a rocket blast. "Hey, do any of you know the coordiantes for the teleporter?"

One of the soldiers ducked under the debris and spoke the coordinates. "They are 445, 127, and -634!"

Twilight took those numbers and bashed them into the keypad. After she pressed the starting button, the teleporter whooshed and created a blue-green field of power. Twilight screamed as loud as she could to get her friends' attention. "Girls, comes over here right now!"

Pinkie Pie retreated to Twilight after noticing the squadron of knightmare soldiers that tore through the straggling soldiers and civilians with ease. Rarity and Applejack fought off a few novice demons with uzis and semi-automatic bullet guns before they galloped towards Twilight, and Fluttershy flew as fast as she could before a greatsword demon could slice her body in equal halves. The quintet regrouped and stood next to the teleporter. Twilight was the first to enter the teleporter. After she disappeared into blue and green particles, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack in that order funneled through the blue-green energy to escape the madness. When all of them disappeared from the battlefield, more demon drop ships closed into the location. They dropped off even more tanks and novice soldiers to keep the fight alive. If this battle against Manehattan fails to end, nothing will survive the aftermath.

Act III, Chapter 5: Aerial Annihilation
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 5: Aerial Annihilation

Inside a dark hallway with dim lights and jail cells on its sides, a blue and green light flashed and sparked from one of the cells. The light grew in power, alerting some of the human inmates and two demon guards. When the light morphed into a ball of electric fury, the two demons unlocked the door with a keycard and rushed into the cell as fast as they could. The first demon, armed with a bayonet scattergun and an acidic grenade launcher, poked his bayonet at the sparks and light. In less than a second, the light exploded into lightning, killing both demons and short circuiting some of the lights and doors. The free inmates cheered as they broke open their doors and stormed down the hallway, punching and disarming a few novice demons while dodging incoming laser blasts.

After all of the electricity faded, five ponies in power suits landed on the metal floor. They looked around the damaged cell to find broken lights, electric water in sinks, and a busted cage door. Twilight, being the most curious out of all the other ponies, walked out of the cell and looked down both hallways. One led to a locked door while the other led to a brawny and furious man kicking a demon's head to pieces. Even though she had not so fond memories of humans with bare muscles and punk attitudes, she decided that that hallway was the correct path.

She turned her head to the four ponies behind her. "Girls, we're going right. The other hallway is locked, and I don't think my magic is powerful enough to break a metal door in half."

Pinkie nodded in agreement and primed her cloaking mechanism. Rarity and Applejack exited the cell and walked down the right hallway, ready to attack anything that threatened their lives. Fluttershy, already terrified of the war-torn fate of Equestria, slowly and cautiously followed the group down the pathway. This time, Applejack and Rarity were in the front, and Twilight stayed in the back while she adjusted her communications chip. Pinkie stealthily crouched down and avoided any chances of being discovered.

Travis's voice crackled from the chip. "Did you five make it to the ship?"

"Yes, we did," Twilight answered while the quintet entered a large T-junction. The brawny man was nowhere in sight, and the demon he beat to death was fading away into the air. "We might have also caused quite some damage to an area of the ship."

"That's why we don't use those teleporters that much. They destroy a lot of electrical equipment, and I know that from personal experience. One time, a recruit teleported in front of my computer and fried it to bits and pieces. Teleporting isn't fun when you're the spectator on the other side."

Pinkie giggled a little to herself from his tale, but she kept herself as quiet as possible to not alert any potential guards. She knew that her friends were waltzing in enemy territory, and one simple slip up can mean life or death. Twilight was now deciding where to go, but both hallways looked extremely similar.

"Travis, where do we go?" Twilight asked while rubbing her head with a hoof.

He responded with a short delay. "You need to go left. Your mission is to eliminate the captain of the fleet so that we can damage the demons' morale. They won't fight as well when their leader is dead."

"Are there any guards down that hall?" Pinkie asked seriously. "I want to know if my sneaking can fool them or not."

"They'll be ready for an encounter, Pinkie. The demons may be weak sometimes, but they are really smart soldiers. They don't leave anything alive that could be a threat. They'll go far enough to kill each other to keep their armies alive!"

"Well, I guess I'll have to drop my original plan." Pinkie looked down at the floor and frowned a little, but her expression quickly changed to delight when she pulled out her party cannon. "Plan two, destroy all of them with this!"

When they entered the hallway, they discovered that its end also has a steel door, but this one did not need a keycard to open. Two demons on the other side of the door heard their faint hoofsteps and felt excruciatingly paranoid from them. They kicked open the door and fired dozens of lasers from the hip, not aiming their weapons even the slightest bit. This unwise move quickly followed in a deflection spell that opened laser sized holes in the demons' bodies. After about two seconds of aimless firing, the demons killed themselves from the deflected fire. The quintet moved along cautiously to avoid any deadly combat positions.

When they entered the door, they were confronted by five demons on a catwalk. The entire room was a hangar bay that held multiple demon drop ships and disease-ridden missiles, and two large, metal doors revealed the onslaught of warships outside the dreadnought. Dogfights, bombings, and hijacks littered the airspace to an extreme. Pinkie and Rarity also noticed a few more demons that were hiding behind the drop ships and using them as cover. This battle was not going to be easy, as the sight of a decorated and promoted demon near the other side of the room haunted the ponies' chances of freedom.

The brawny demon was decorated in gilded titanium and graphene plates that bore a symbol. This symbol represented a pony's head, which was forged to look uncannily similar to Twilight Sparkle's, with a sword stabbed into the top of their head. The demon's helmet looked more like a World War II style with a red visor over his eyes, and his four horns, two short and two long, protruded out of the helmet. He carried two guns with four barrels and two triggers each, and dark pieces of cloth descended from his waist like dead snake skins. A belt with multiple grenades kept the cloth on the armor to keep it from flying off. His grin was perfectly aligned to show the sharp ends of his locked teeth, intimidating the ponies even more than what was needed. However, none of these details rivaled the crude words in blood on his chest plate that wrote, "Twilight Sparkle's Killer."

"The heroes of the helpless humans have finally arrived!" His words slithered with the slick movements of his forked tongue. "It is about time I have some sort of opposition. Humans get very bored to kill very quickly, and I think your equine blood will satisfy my lust."

"Argh, let's just get this over with, demon," Twilight growled impatiently while priming her magic. She kept a few blasts aimed at the marksman demons on the catwalk. "You're just another evil creature that only wants to cause death."

The demon's grin flopped to an irritated scowl. "I am offended by your disgusting words. I am not a senseless beast, I am a headhunter, or an assassin if you like to keep it simple and not so stylish. You five, plus that damned flyer in who knows where, are becoming too powerful. I am here to fix this imbalance of power between us and the humans." He fired at a distant drop ship to his right, killing an entire squadron of GEST Corp. soldiers in the process. "We were the ones who drove the humans off their homeworld, and we now have them running to different worlds to hide from our claws. Your species is letting them slip away, and I will not tolerate it. This is not a battle, girls. This, this is an execution for your crimes against the Demon-Human War." He raised his gun towards Fluttershy. "Oh yeah, don't expect an afterlife either. We found out that your world lacks a realm for an afterlife to begin with."

A challenger approaches: Sergeant Deadlocke, Akorazo's right hand man

The gilded demon, Sergeant Deadlocke, took another look at Twilight before he fired. He noticed the glow in her horn and the outline of a purple aura in front of the ponies. One of the demon soldiers grew impatient and was about to fire his laser rifle. "When do we fire, sir?"

"We fire when Twilight loses the magic." Deadlocke grabbed a hand grenade from his belt and glared down at it. He then pressed a blue button on it and threw it towards Twilight Sparkle. Before she could intercept the grenade, it broke apart and spewed blue gas towards her. Her magic faded from her body like a reaper was stealing her soul. She crumpled to the ground from her sudden weakness to her entire body.

Applejack rushed to Twilight's convulsing body and held her up close. Applejack turned to Deadlocke and spat at him in rage. "What the hay did you do to Twi?"

He shrugged while rearming his gun to Fluttershy. "I evened the fight a little. I never had to fight magical beings, and I sure as hell won't right now." He looked up at the demon troops on the catwalk and raised his voice. "Soldiers, fire at will!"

Pinkie fired her party cannon at the demons on the catwalk, destroying all of them with a blast of blue and purple dragon's fire. The demons behind the drop ships attempted to fire a few lasers before being pelted by sharp gemstones. Fluttershy noticed Deadlocke's aiming position and dove near a drop ship for safety. Flustered from her movement, Deadlocke walked towards the ponies with both guns spraying multiple poison bullets into the air. Pinkie galloped behind the closest drop ship and brawled the demon behind it. Rarity strafed around the area while firing multiple gemstones at Deadlocke and the demons. Deadlocke evaded to the right and left of some of the gems, but some dented his armor by only a couple molecules when they struck him. Some of the demons that were unlucky enough to feel the sharp gems pierce and rip apart their matter crumbled to the ground or into black dust.

Twilight struggled to stand on her hooves from the severe weakness, but she still attempted to do so. Multiple laser blasts and poison bullets flew around her position, but they mainly stayed a few yards aware from her. When she finally stood back up, Deadlocke noticed her displacement and fired four poison bullets, three of which entered her body. Three bullet wounds opened on her right side of her body, dripping with blood and searing pain. The poison from the bullets slowly spread throughout the body, killing and shutting it down cell by cell. Since her magic was completely drained and not capable of fighting the injuries or the poison, both continued their jobs with no opposition. Her wails in the battlefield caught the attention of multiple hiding demons.

One of them, who was a novice soldier brandishing a crossbow with steel bolts, felt sympathy for Twilight. He saw multiple ponies in the recent battles receive various, differing conditions. However, all of them ended with a displeasing death, usually with blood, open wounds, and many chunks of torn flesh. He hated every scene involving dying ponies, and he wanted it to stop.

When the demon looked around the area, he saw Pinkie Pie with a war face and two positioned hooves near his face. He remembered that pink face and those blue eyes, shivering in both joy and fear that a certain mare he met in the Everfree Fortress was about to kill him. His completely white eyes drooped to a frown as he lowered his weapon. He held out both hands in fear while preparing a phrase to save his life.

"Your name is Pinkie Pie, right?" he shouted in pure terror. "I know you! You were in that cage in the fortress!" His verbal recalls converted to pleas. "Please, don't kill me! I'm not going to hurt you or your friends!"

Pinkie lowered her hooves and dissolved her menacing growl. She glared at the demon again and speculated back to the past. She also remembered this, demon's outfit and his voice. He wore the same blue suit that resembled a Union soldier during America's Civil War, and his World War II helmet still had the huge crack and Nazi Party emblem on its side. Pinkie Pie, now donning a grin full of happiness, hugged the demon tightly. He hugged back to send back the friendship both of them created weeks ago.

Sergeant Deadlocke glanced at the hugging and shouted with rage. "Cadet, what the hell are you doing over there? Didn't probation straighten you up?"

The demon stopped hugging Pinkie as he turned to Deadlocke. "You know, I'm very sick of all of this fighting with the ponies! They're good creatures, and they deserve love, not warfare! Even the humans, despite their irrational behavior, should also get peace from us! Why are we even fighting them anyway? We should be teaming up with them to stop the Kavarian Assimilation Troop!"

Deadlocke pretended to sniff the air like a curious dog. "What's that smell, cadet? Oh, I know what it is." His face morphed to a sadistic grin. "It's called heresy, traitor. We don't need a soldier who can't even shoot a duck in the way of a patrolling tank." Deadlocke lifted up his gun and aimed for the heretic's head. He slowly walked towards the heretic's location. "Good riddance, traitor. Lord Zedin will burn your essence in the endless pits of the Varox Realm until the end of time."

Pinkie pushed the heretic out of the way and threw a wrapped present towards Deadlocke. Since he already knew this was a trap, he shot the present during its flight, destroying the bomb and box with a controlled blast. The heretic rushed behind a drop ship and turned to face three sharp gemstones aimed for his head.

"Stop!" Pinkie screamed while running and swatting the gems out of the air. "He is not a bad demon!"

"How do we know he isn't going to stab me with that horrid weapon?" Rarity protested. "He is most likely pretending to be on our side."

"Rarity," Pinkie started with a not so happy growl, "if you kill him, I will never forgive you for this. He is my friend, and I don't want anypony to kill him in cold blood."

Twilight, who was hiding behind a ramp next to the door, popped her head out in agreement to Pinkie's statement. Her words were slightly forced from the pain in her side. "I trust him too, Rarity. He isn't going to stab us in the backs like that if he is risking his own life."

"I also agree," chimed in Applejack while fending off a hostile demon with a dual-bladed broadsword. She bucked the demon's blade into him, severing the demon's torso from its legs.

As the demon faded to darkness and dust, Deadlocke side flipped from a drop ship and rained more poison bullets towards the ponies. Eager to avenge his past witnesses, the heretic fired a steel bolt into Deadlocke's neck. The sergeant was shocked that an entire bolt jabbed into his neck. He pulled it out with his right hand while turning towards the heretic. He lifted his right gun and fired four shots in the demon's body, somewhat damaging him and his Union uniform. Rarity helped the heretic by firing seven gemstones into Deadlocke's armor. At this point, Deadlocke was tired of the back and forth movement, so he aimed his other gun to Rarity and fired four more bullets. Two hit her left foreleg, and the other two only hit the metal walls near the door. She winced from the growing pain and fired even more gemstones towards Deadlocke.

The other demons fired their weapons once again. Pinkie slipped from the other ponies and finsished them off one by one. While this occurred, Deadlocke fired eight more bullets into the heretic's head, greatly damaging his essence. Applejack responded to the attack with four metal balls that slammed into Deadlocke's chest and legs. He kneeled on the floor for a second before seeing Twilight's urgent sprint at the corner of his eye. He quickly turned his head and fired once again towards her. This time, all of the bullets struck her body. Three were lodged in various tendons, bones, and flesh that ripped apart in her left foreleg, and the last bullet shredded her left eye into blood and blood vessels. Her shrieks of pain returned with a stronger intensity while she limped behind another ramp.

Pinkie Pie finished her clobbering and discovered the condition of her friends. Twilight was covered in blood and bullet wounds with one bloodied eye socket, and Rarity was struggling to stand with her weak and draining leg. She activated her cloak and snuck behind Deadlocke to deliver a fatal blow. While Applejack, Rarity, and the heretic dealt more and more damage to him, Pinkie crept right behind him and slammed her plated hooves onto the sides of Deadlocke's head. Dealing massive critical damage to the demon, Pinkie kept her hold on his head until he collapsed to the floor.

His grunts in blunt pain were soon followed by several coarse words. "I guess the captain, will have to deal with, you six now. Don't worry, he's impossible to kill."

Sergeant Deadlocke dissipated into the air. He left his suit behind, allowing the heretic to pick it up and wear it. He tweaked the suit a little to fit his build and wiped the bloody words off of the chest piece. He took off his helmet and suit to replace them with the gear sitting on the ground. After about a few seconds of strapping armor and positioning a helmet, he picked up the two guns and faced the ponies.

Sergeant Deadlocke has been defeated!

Pinkie Pie hurried towards Twilight and offered her signature yellow and orange healing cupcake. Twilight gulped the pastry down and felt her wounds close up. The bullets fell out of her refilling flesh, and her broken eyeball mended itself together again. The bleeding ceased as she felt all of the pain vanish from her body. Pinkie then hopped to Rarity and gave her another cupcake of the same color. When she bit into the cupcake, her wounds also spat out the bullets and filled themselves with new cells and muscle. The lingering poison degenerated to a benign state, allowing Rarity to move without any further harm to her body.

Fluttershy walked out of her cover and examined the heretic for a few seconds. She walked up to him and held out a hoof gently and passively. "Hello mister, what is your name?"

The demon looked at Fluttershy with a sorrowful expression. "I, don't have a name. Newer demons like me don't deserve names by order of Lord Zedin."

"Would you like a name?" asked Fluttershy. "I'm sure it could at least warm your heart a little more."

"Well," the heretic put a clawed hand up to his chin and scratched it, "I always wanted to be known as a Hannibal."

"Then Hannibal it is!" Pinkie exclaimed with a cheer. "Why don't you help us take down the captain? We need all the help we can get without Dashie on our side."

Hannibal lifted his new guns and smirked. "I'll do anything to keep my people from killing your world, so count me in."

Twilight walked up to Pinkie with frailty and dizziness. "Pinkie, do you have anything to help with my magic? I can't go on without it."

"Sure thing!" Pinkie exclaimed while taking out a blue and cyan cupcake. "This one is filled with magic, so it should give you all of your powers back!"

Twilight took the cupcake with her hoof and chewed it sluggishly. As the cupcake melted and descended from her mouth, she felt a surge of magic circle around her brain. She felt lively and active again while she tested her magic. All of her powers did come back, and it felt wonderful.

Hannibal looked at Twilight. "So, why are you five over here anyway?"

"We're looking for the captain of this ship," Twilight answered. "Travis, our guide, said he should be this way."

Hannibal pointed at the door Deadlocke used. "Well, if you want even more trouble and no captain, you should keep on going towards that door. The way to Captain Akorazo is down the other hallway in the prison sector."

"We don't have a keycard though," Applejack added, "and we can't break through it either."

"I have a keycard right here." Hannibal pulled out Deadlocke's keycard and showed it to the ponies. "Thank him for the easy access."

Travis noticed his miscalculations. "I was wrong? Well, that's unfortunate."

"I think it was more than unfortunate," Rarity grumbled while recalling the injuries inflicted upon her and the mayhem in the hangar bay.

The ponies and Hannibal walked out of the hangar bay to meet four demons in the T-junction. The two in the back held laser rifles, and the other two in the front wielded chain maces and heater shields. Twilight fired a magic blast at one of the rifle demons, destroying their head nearly instantly. Pinkie approached the mace demons and kicked both of their shields into their bodies. Both of them stumbled back while the demon in the back fired five lasers towards the ponies. One of the lasers hit Hannibal, but the rest missed entirely. Hannibal spread his poison bullets around the hallway, finishing off the three demons left.

Twilight rushed to the front of the group and scanned the hallway full of cells. No hostile demons were in the hall, so Hannibal and the quintet proceeded down the hall. Hannibal pulled out his keycard and slid it on the small opening inside the machine. When a green light flashed with a welcoming tone, the door clicked open.

He pushed the door open to discover a walkway hanging on the left side of the dreadnought. The walkway stretched all the way to another door to the group's right. Throughout the walkway, there were multiple doors, cover systems, and various ramps. Multiple demons hid in the cover or reached the walkway by the doors on the side. Some of the demon drop ships on the side discovered the ponies and turned their attention to them.

To make matters worse, a loud but short siren blasted from the dreadnought. The siren soon shifted to a low and triumphant voice. "Attention, my loyal soldiers! We have five ponies that are currently storming the dreadnought! Whenever you have the time, annihilate them!"

Hannibal and the ponies rushed down the walkway to avoid the bombarding rocket fire. Twilight fired a few magical blasts at the drop ships, but they were too durable to fall apart immediately. Applejack and Pinkie Pie galloped ahead to combat the incoming swarms of demons and leecks, small creatures with four legs and a claw mouth. Rarity helped damage the ships as well, destroying only a couple that flew a little too close to the group. Hannibal shot multiple demons in their heads, killing them nearly instantly.

This process of running and gunning continued until they met a tank on the walkway. It was just big enough to block the entire path, and it plowed through the cover like it was nothing. The tank drove the ponies backwards while firing laser blasts and explosives, threatening to ram the ponies off of the walkway. Pinkie and Applejack scaled the tank and bashed the metal on the top. Twilight fired multiple fire blasts while she, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Hannibal dodged rockets, lasers, and explosives. By the time the tank was only ten yards away from the edge of the walkway, it slowed to a dead crawl from the severe damage. Pinkie Pie and Applejack ripped the top of the tank off, revealing the driver demon manning the tank.

The driver looked up at two ponies with menacing frowns of anger and determination. His face quickly descended to a flurry of terror. "Nope, not today!"

The demon immediately vanished into black dust while a squadron composed of two healer demons and three greatsword demons rushed towards the group. Pinkie bounced to the first greatsword demon and pulled out her party cannon. One swift blast with an actual cannonball threw him back into the two healer demons, incapacitating all of them at once. The other two demons charged towards her with their massive greatswords. She dodged their swings while she repeatedly punched their chests and heads.

Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, and Hannibal helped her by firing poison bullets, magic, metal balls, and gemstones at the demons. Twilight blasted a hole in an active demon's chest. The demon stumbled backwards and fell off of the walkway to his doom. The other giant collected multiple gemstones and bullets into his body, almost dead from the multiple holes in his matter. Applejack finished him off with two metal balls that caved the demon's head into itself.

The healer demons wrapped their tentacles around each other and the greatsword demon, healing all three of them in the process. The demons returned to their standing stances and approached the ponies with a different approach. The two healer demons levitated to Pinkie and constricted her with their tentacles. As they threatened to choke her to death, the greatsword demon ran at Twilight and spun in a circle towards her direction. The ponies and Hannibal dodged backwards to avoid the spinning blade, risking Pinkie's life even more for every passing second.

Pinkie squirmed in an effort to break the demons' grasps, but she was met with firm resistance and a slick voice. "Stop moving, pink one. You will only make your own death even worse."

Twilight grabbed the greatsword demon's sword with her magic and used all her strength to push it into his body. The greatsword demon's upper body fell off his legs with a large thud, allowing easy access to Pinkie's constrictors. Rarity jabbed multiple gems through the tentacles and badly damaged the healer demons. Gasping for air, Pinkie fell to ground with a fair amount of damage to her body. The demons turned to the group of ponies and narrowed their eyes to hate-filled slits. Their tentacles steadily grew back into long, sharp tendrils, ready to kill the intruders in front of them.

One of the demons hissed a vicious curse while he pointed a tendril at Hannibal. "You, you will be damned for this act, traitor. Why would you help the enemy in a time like this?"

A fleet of GEST Corp. drop ships descended to the battle zone. One of their ramps opened up to reveal a soldier in silver armor and a black goatee. He pulled out a modified laser sniper rifle with no scope, two barrels, and a three round burst magazine. He fired at the two healer demons once, killing both instantly. The soldier then glared at Hannibal with an excessive amount of distrust. His words were on the verge of concern, but they kept themselves calm and collected. "Who is this demon, and why isn't he killing you five right now?"

The demon walked up to the silver soldier and addressed himself. "I'm Hannibal, a demon who believes that these ponies deserve life. I think that my people are causing a war that is completely unnecessary. Luckily, I survived long enough to gain enough power to revolt."

The soldier scratched his goatee for a second before handing out his hand. Hannibal approached him and shook his hand proudly. "I'm Lieutenant Jackson, but everyone calls me Lin. Welcome to the team, cadet."

Hannibal looked up at Lin in slight confusion. "You're, not going to kill or torture me, right?"

"Why would we do that?" Lin questioned. "We collect revolutionists in Zedin's army all of the time, and by how your armor looks, you must've struck gold."

"It's from Sergeant Deadlocke, sir. These ponies killed him with my help."

Lin's face drooped to shock. "Sergeant Deadlocke is dead? Well, that means this fight will be a lot easier than it was before!" He turned to Twilight and saluted in honor. "I am ever grateful for your sacrifices, girls."

The dreadnought shook and hummed after his words ended. As the humming increased in volume, so did the shaking. When the humming reached its peak, a colossal laser blast smashed into Manehattan, destroying two skyscrapers and possibly thousands of soldiers and civilians scattered in that area. The ponies could only drink in so much of how devastating that blast was. Fluttershy cried out her excess fear while the rest of the ponies watched the damage with a dire surge of urgency.

Twilight gulped all of her fear down and replaced it with determination. "Girls, we need to stop this captain before Manehattan is completely destroyed." She turned to Lin. "What are you going to do now?"

"My squadrons will take down any air resistance in this sector. Once that's done, you'll find me and my troops inside this ship." He saluted a goodbye as the drop ship ascended. "Godspeed, Twilight Sparkle!"

The rest of the drop ships scattered and chased multiple demon ships still in the air. Twilight and company looked back at the walkway in front of them to find dozens of demons preparing another assault. As the demons prepared their firing squadrons, a GEST Corp. drop ship flew up close and rained laser death upon the demons.

The ponies' communications chips crackled again into a familiar voice. "C'mon now, do we have to keep on taking these suckers out for all of you? Anyway, that one was on us. Be a bit more careful in that ship."

The drop ship flew back to the aerial carnage, leaving a bundle of disappearing demons in its wake. The ponies and Hannibal continued on the walkway until they reached the door. Hannibal placed his keycard in the slot and clicked the door open. Surprisingly, the hallway was completely clear of demons, but there was a faint growling that echoed through the halls.

The group decided to go down the left hallway. Twilight and Hannibal led the group while Fluttershy kept herself in the middle. Applejack and Pinkie Pie kept themselves in the middle as well to keep the power of the group in the front. Rarity was in the back, checking for any enemy activity. The hallway itself was eerily empty, and the constant, low growls from the distance only worsened the atmosphere. These growls grew in intensity with every step the group took down the hall.

After walking down the hall for about half a minute, Twilight and company entered a large room in the shape on an L. Multiple stasis tanks lined the walls, and several tubes and wires connected them to the walls and various machinery around the room. Some of the stasis tanks held various organisms of many shapes and sizes, but about five of them were empty. These empty tanks had pieces of their glass barriers scattered on the floor. Some of the cold and nutritious fluids from the tanks spread across the floor, creating a slick and healthy layer on top the metal floor. Shadows twisted and convulsed along the blue walls on the other side of the room. The growls and groans grew louder as footsteps and dripping liquid followed. Hannibal and the ponies kept themselves dead silent.

One of the creatures jumped out of the shadows and uttered an unearthly screech. Its body looked similar to a demon, but parts of its body were ruined to horrible degrees. Its left arm separated into five fleshy tentacles of various sizes with pulsing yellow blood vessels crawling along them. It's right leg split into two halves with one and a half claws protruding out of them. Its left eye glowed around chunks of meaty flesh that surrounded itself. Its face was contorted into a sinister grin with bleeding teeth and gums. Four tongues extended out of its face like red, squishy ribbons. Various parts of its body was warped into different shapes and sizes, including the grotesque, tentacle hand that wrapped around a laser rifle.

The creature screamed into the air, flailing its tongues while it wildly fired its gun in random directions. Twilight activated her magic, but the abomination whipped its arms into her body and swung her in the air. It slammed her body into three stasis tanks, releasing three mutated wolves with six legs and three heads in the process. The abomination released Twilight after slamming her onto the ground. She lay on the ground while she watched her blood drip from the impalements all around her body. The blunt force of the abomination cracked two of her ribs and punctured her body with broken glass shards.

Hannibal responded by firing poison bullets at the hungry mutant wolves, killing one and badly injuring the other. Rarity finished the last two with two swift swipes of gemstones towards them, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie darted around the room to flank the abomination. It swept its tentacle arm around the room and slammed Pinkie, Twilight, Applejack, and Hannibal into the back wall. All of them fell from the blunt pain, and Twilight's bleeding only worsened as some of the glass shards fractured and pushed deeper into her body. Her screams were faint from her draining consciousness.

Hannibal fired more bullets at the abomination. It only flinched a tiny bit from every impact, and every successful gunshot sped it up. Pinkie shook her head and hastily charged at the creature. When she was only two feet from it, she hopped, spun her body, and kicked the abomination with both of her legs. The creature flew backwards into a destroyed stasis tank, yellow blood oozing from the visible gashes in its chest and limbs. It got back up and puffed at her with primal rage. It lifted its gun and fired multiple lasers at her with incredible accuracy. Three of the lasers flew through her mane and carved holes all the way through it. Rarity fired multiple gemstones at the creature accurately while Fluttershy rushed to Pinkie.

Fluttershy quickly opened one of Pinkie's pocket chests and pulled out a yellow and orange cupcake. Her words were speedy and polite as she zipped back to Twilight. "Thanks for the treat. Twilight needs it now."

Hannibal occupied the abomination by strafing around it and slamming a gun into its torso and shooting its chest multiple times, giving Fluttershy time to heal Twilight. She sat down next to Twilight's head and pushed a cupcake to her face. "I feel so sleepy, Fluttershy," Twilight weakly addressed with pain in her voice. "I don't think I can eat it right now."

Fluttershy shoved the pastry in her mouth and forced her chewing. "You have to eat it now! I don't want to lose a friend from, whatever that thing was!"

Twilight Sparkle attempted to eat the cupcake that Fluttershy stuffed in her mouth. The shards of glass inside her body fell out as new muscle replaced the damaged cells. The blunt and sharp pain drained out of her body once again, and her weakness faded and morphed into strength. She got back up and kept her distance from the abomination. She kept her magic inactive to avoid upsetting the creature again and risking her life once more. Instead of fighting, she kept close to Fluttershy and entered a defensive stance.

"Eww, that creature is, growing extra pieces of itself!" squealed Rarity after looking at the abomination. Another set of arms with wicked claws sprouted out of its back, and its chest opened up to reveal sharp rib cage teeth and another set of arms. The creature descended on its arms, kicked Hannibal away, and crawled towards Applejack. She bucked its head into a wall, moderately damaging it. The head collapsed into a flappy neck hole as four luminescent eyes ripped themselves open on the abomination's back. Dozens of slender tendrils exploded out of its spine, creating multiple claws and knives to easily shred the ponies to bits.

Applejack recoiled in disgust and fear while she walked backwards from the abomination. The creature positioned its neck hole at her and slithered its four tongues, longer they were before, out of the hole. Hannibal shot its back multiple times while Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and rolled it to the creature. She fired multiple shards of sharp confetti into it, but nothing but bleeding happened. The creature raised its body and slashed its rib teeth at Pinkie with fury, causing a few minor cuts and scrapes before she could bounce back from it. Rarity sliced a few of its tendrils and tongues off with a few well placed gemstones, but these small trims only made the abomination pissed.

The creature stumbled back and screamed its flesh apart, literally. Pieces of its no longer demon body shredded apart into multiple pieces of viscera and blood and sprouted chunks of new and wet flesh. It grabbed the three bodies of the mutant wolves and devoured them through its open rib cage. The excess mass converted to more chunks of flesh that eventually created a vile amalgamation of eyeballs, limbs, tentacles, and one huge, vertical mouth in its center. A loud, guttural shrill shook the room and sent shivers down the ponies' spines.

Hannibal glanced at the exit behind the abomination. "We need to leave now! We can't fight this thing forever!"

Twilight strafed towards the door while keeping a fair distance from the creature. She dodged a few of the sharp tentacles that sliced the air around her. Pinkie Pie bounced around the creature and tossed multiple bombs at it. Every time a bomb exploded into its body, the abomination shook its body and filled the openings in its deformed bones and muscle. Rarity also strafed around the creature and sliced parts of it with her gemstones. Applejack lassoed some of its appendages to its body, restricting its movement and attacks. Fluttershy closed her crying eyes and galloped to the exit while she screamed wildly.

When the ponies left the room, only Hannibal stood in front of the creature. The abomination roared a mighty and distorted scream as pieces of Applejack's lassos fell off its body. Hannibal scanned the room and found a highly pressurized nourishment tank next to the creature's gargantuan body. He fired a few bullets at it, creating a large explosion that engulfed the room. He raced to the door as the creature flailed its limbs and shrieked in desperation for safety. Once Hannibal left the room, another explosion fractured the metal walls and ground. Viscera from the abomination flew everywhere from the explosion, signaling the creature's defeat.

Pieces of metal and machinery collapsed into the exit, severing the group of six from the room of tubes. Twilight Sparkle looked ahead to see another hallway. This one was splattered in yellow and black blood on its walls and floor. Some of the splatters looked like splashes from a wound, and others looked like a slow drip or drizzle from an orifice. Empty uniforms and weapons of various centuries and decades lay on the ground with or without some of these blood splatters. Twilight concluded that the demons that never came to fight them because they were fighting off creatures identical to what they just encountered and failed to kill them. Hannibal knew from the armor plating and style that the fallen soldiers were elite class, meaning that these creatures were powerful enough to wipe out some of the best foot soldiers in Zedin's army.

The group walked along to eventually reach a partially open door. Distant shouting gunshots were audible through the opening. Some of the shouting sounded like a demon force, and the rest sounded like garbled screams and shrieks from various monsters. Pinkie Pie hopped to the door and creaked it open a little more to see the carnage. The room was rather large, as it held two inactive assault tanks and a huge but closed door that opened to a super highway that connected every piece of the dreadnought to each other. Multiple elite demons were running up a ramp to reach a catwalk, and several humanoid monsters with yellow bodies and bits of armor and weaponry chased the demons upstairs. Two shield demons were already at a door. They slammed on it and bashed their key cards in the slot furiously, but it was to no avail. Some of the creatures crawled on the walls and ceilings to reach the shield demons. When they reached the two demons, they launched themselves into their bodies and shredded them to black bits.

Travis examined the creatures and realized what they were. "Oh god, they were carrying Ruptured on this ship? Why?"

Twilight heard Travis's words and turned to Hannibal. "Hannibal, why are these creatures on this ship?"

He turned to Twilight with worry in his face. "Lord Zedin wanted to use them as a last resort just in case this battle becomes a bust. Apparently, they escaped their containment tanks."

"Aren't those the same things that destroyed our truck?" Applejack eyed the creatures carefully. She put the pieces together and discovered that they were nearly exact copies.

"Yes, they are," answered Travis. "Now, all of you need to fight them now. The longer they live, the higher of a chance Equestria will become their new homeworld."

Hannibal and the ponies rushed out of the door and into the room. Even though the elite demons were happy to see some help, they still knew that those six had to die. Three of the regular Ruptured glanced back at the ponies and strafed around the area. Two of them darted around the room and ducked behind various crates and architecture while Twilight and Rarity pelted them with magic and gems. Applejack and Pinkie galloped behind a tank and confronted one of the Ruptured. It fired wildly at them with a laser rifle melded into its arm. Pinkie jumped into the air and pounced onto the Ruptured. She bashed its head with her hoof and kicked it into a wall. Applejack killed it with four metal balls that crushed its skull, ribs, and internal organs. Its body fell to the ground, illuminated a bright, pulsing yellow all over its body, and exploded it's yellow blood all over the tank, walls, and floor.

The other two hostile Ruptured violently shook their bodies in response to the death. After they convulsed for a mere second, they inched closer and closer to Twilight and Rarity, twitching and spasming sporadically with every step. When Twilight fired a magic blast at one of them, both of the Ruptured leaped into the air and landed in front of her. Hannibal shot one in the head multiple times to back them away from Twilight. The Ruptured bled its blood out of its head and screamed a blood-curdling cry. Twilight back away and fired a fire blast this time, setting the Ruptured alight in flames. It screamed in pain and terror while locking onto Twilight's position. When the Ruptured was only feet away from Twilight, Rarity stabbed it with multiple gemstones, and Hannibal dashed to it and kicked it to a nearby tank. It exploded with ease from the impact.

The other Ruptured howled as it jumped all the way to Applejack. It landed on top of the tank next to her and fired its shotgun towards her. It missed from its lackluster accuracy, but it frightened both Pinkie Pie and Applejack to some extent. Pinkie jumped onto the tank and pulled out her party cannon once again. She fired a flurry of shredding confetti at the Ruptured, crippling it greatly. It staggered backwards while it clawed at Pinkie. He failed to land a hit and fell onto the ground below. Applejack caught up to its location and bucked the creature into a wall, destroying every piece of its already incapacitated body. The Ruptured exploded from the impact, spewing it's yellow blood all over the area.

A few of the surviving Ruptured near the demons finally killed the last elite demon. All four of them glared at the ponies with the intent to kill. The first to fall to their elevation looked like the other Ruptured, but its arms were twisted into two long tentacles with holes and tendrils inside their palms. A long, hollow tunnel connected this hole to their aorta, supplying a large amount of contaminated blood as a weapon. It walked steadily with its arms over its head. When it thought it was close to a pony, it swung its arm at them to check. Whenever it swung its arm, the closest pony would back away far enough to add a few steps to the Ruptured's journey. Hannibal repeatedly fired at it, dealing some amount of damage to the infected tissue.

He soon ran out of bullets after another second of firing them towards the Ruptured. He looked down at his guns with swift fury. "Damn it, I'm all out!"

"Wait, what?" Twilight shouted in terror while she fired another magic blast at the Ruptured. "You're out of ammo?"

"Yeah, what else would make you think that?" Hannibal put away his guns and drawn out his claws. "Time to go melee on this freak of nature!"

Hannibal charged towards the Ruptured and bashed it into a tank with his elbow. He then grabbed its neck and slashed his open claw across its chest and face, splattering the yellow blood on him and his claw with every swipe. The Ruptured growled and swayed its arms around him, but Hannibal only sliced its arms off in response. He then converted his claw to a closed fist and punched its head three consecutive times. He then wound up his last one and punched through its skull, destroying its squishy brain in the process. The Ruptured exploded and splashed Hannibal with its blood. Luckily, he was wearing an entire suit of armor and was highly resistant against the infection, so his body kept itself the same.

The other three Ruptured hopped down to the ponies' elevation. Twilight fired a wave of magic in their direction, knocking them to the ground. Pinkie Pie snuck behind their position and threw a pink bomb towards the leftmost Ruptured. Applejack regrouped with the others and helped Rarity fight the rightmost Ruptured. The pink bomb exploded and destroyed the leftmost Ruptured's body in a cloud of pink. Rarity and Applejack mutilated their target with dozens of sharp gemstones and two metal balls. It's body exploded from the swarm of projectiles, leaving the last Ruptured by itself. It sprinted towards the ponies, its eyes, mouth, and skin growing with light with every millisecond. Hannibal rushed to it and kicked it onto the ground. He then walked up the Ruptured and performed a curb stomp over its head, destroying its skull, eyes, and brain in the process. The body exploded into nothing but yellow blood drying to a black substance. In fact, all of the blood in the area dried to a black and still state.

Hannibal and Pinkie Pie regrouped with the ponies and examined the area. Nothing else was moving or alive in the area, and only pieces of equipment and splotches of black gave clues on what happened here. Twilight Sparkle looked at the doors and turned to Hannibal. "Where do we go now?"

He pointed towards the door on the catwalk. "We're going the same way those soldiers were going. They were heading to the captain's forces for a reason, and I bet we can plow them down with what we have." He looked back at his empty guns and noticed his lack of proper weaponry. "I'll scavenge from the bodies. You five better head up there and prepare for battle. We got a long way to go before we meet the captain."

Hannibal and the ponies walked up the ramp and did what they were supposed to. Hannibal took some of the laser guns and stripped them of their ammo packs. He took two of them and hooked them and the ammo packs on his belt. He then tested the guns by firing both of them at once at one of the tanks. He was able to hold both of them and still shoot at the barrel of the tank exquisitely. He walked up to the door where the ponies were waiting and examined their gear for a little while.

Pinkie was ready for the next battle. She glared at door and crouched her body down while she waited for the door to open. She didn't look at Hannibal, but she still talked to him with a determined tone. "When do we fight these things again?"

"Once that door opens, expect anything," answered Hannibal.

•—————•

After three hours of traversing the ship and fighting countless demons, Twilight Sparkle and company finally reached the door to the main cockpit of the dreadnought. Hannibal still had a lot of ammo packs due to the abundance of advanced demon weaponry, and the ponies still had enough ammo and power to fight a little more. They received a few cuts, scrapes, and bruises from the attacks, but Pinkie Pie's healing cupcakes eliminated all off these injuries. They even received some help from a few GEST Corp. squadrons that were storming the ship.

The group knew exactly who they were facing now. Travis and Hannibal informed the ponies about Captain Akorazo, chief of the entire aerial and naval fleet of the demon forces. He was a wild mechanic who enjoyed building many machines of warfare. In fact, he was the one who originally designed the tanks, ships, boats, and other machines for the army. He even created the Eternicastle, a gargantuan, hostile automaton created to be Lord Zedin's base of operations and doomsday device. The demon that these heroes were about to face would be their greatest challenge yet. Pinkie Pie was the most afraid of this battle, knowing how hectic a boss battle can be if even one of her friends falls in the midst of the fury and mayhem.

Pinkie turned to Hannibal with a sliver of tears in her eyes. She firmly hugged him and looked up at his face. "Hannibal, be careful out there. I don't want to lose you now."

"I'll be fine, Pinkie," Hannibal assured with confidence. "We got this. No one's dying yet."

He approached the door and slid his keycard through he slot. The door slowly slid open its two halves to the sides, unwillingly begging the ponies to enter their inevitable demise. The group entered slowly and carefully. They examined the room to find multiple empty chairs, control panels, fuel tanks, gauges, bars, and a huge throne facing the glass viewing area in front of it. The throne swiveled 180 degrees to face the group. A demon with a metallic and glowing red eye, mechanical arms and legs, a chest piece with a three blue cores, and a wide grin with jagged and locked teeth stared directly down at Twilight Sparkle. His claws clicked on the metal arm rests, presenting his superiority and sadistic thoughts clearly. He was quite impressed with how successful the ponies were. He never witnessed a nondemon approach him while he sat on his throne, nor did he ever see a live creature unhurt and perfectly healthy walk right into the dreadnought.

"Well, well, well," started Captain Akorazo slowly. His voice was the same one that spoke on the intercoms. "It seems as if I underestimated your species. The humans couldn't put up a fight after I down a bridge, but you just rebuild it in no time. If I could, I would give every, ahem, pony in this room a gold star, but I don't have any." He turned to Hannibal with a disappointed and irritated frown. "You, however, are the type of soldier I hate to see. A soldier who fights back at his own people is the definition of a heretic. If Zedin was here, you would be dead in an instant, but he isn't here. So, I'll be the one who destroys you and these conceited intruders."

He hopped off his throne and stomped one foot on the ground. He levitated into the air as a circular panel swallowed his throne and raised a new machine. It was composed of three loosely connected parts. The bottom part had four saw blades, two razor boomerang launchers, four spherical wheels, and multiple spikes positioned around it. Its shape resembled the bottom quarter of a cone. The second part right above the first wielded four laser cannons, two explosive cannons, and two missle launchers. Its shape was cylindrical. The last part on top of the others contained two claw arms, a laser grid around it, and a huge glass dome on the top. The shape of this part was a slab of a cylinder and a hemisphere put together. All of these parts were held together by an electric field around the ends of the pieces.

Akorazo lifted the glass dome and positioned himself in the control station. He held on to two joysticks with buttons on their tops. Buttons and levers with different functions surrounded his body, but his sleight of hand allowed him to press and pull the majority of those with little effort and time.

Captain Akorazo said one more thing before he began his onslaught. "Ponies and humans fight with each other in the same war, but they always die in vain no matter what they do. That won't be different for you six."

A challenger approaches: Captain Akorazo, owner of the Infantry, Invasion, and Aerial Divisions

The group immediately split up to avoid the bundle of explosives and lasers heading towards their original positions. The machine slowly crawled to Twilight first, firing its boomerangs in an attempt to slice her in half. She dodged them easily and threw a few magical blasts at the bottom half. She dealt damage, but the amount that she actually caused was rather low. Pinkie didn't even dare to confront its body, and Applejack attempted to find a good angle to kick a metal ball into the glass dome. Her attempts failed from the oncoming rockets that chased her body heat. Rarity fired a multitude of her gemstones into the machine's metal quite easily, and Fluttershy kept a close eye on the situation. She flew above the chaos on the ground, but she still had to face the lasers and rockets that threatened her life.

Hannibal rolled away from some of the boomerangs and missiles and conversed with Akorazo. He kept his voice loud and clear for him to hear. "What is your motive for killing these ponies? Do you know how unstable you're making this world?"

"It's not my fault that these weaklings never tasted the dish of war!" Akorazo fired a line of lasers at Twilight, but she dodged all of the blasts. "They were bred to serve a false god, not win a war against anything that's not them! They don't even have souls from what I know!"

Pinkie Pie dismissed his statement and threw two pink bombs at the first piece. The bombs significantly damaged the outer layer of the metal, but the piece kept itself intact. Two missiles locked onto her heat signature and steered themselves towards her head. She hopped over the missiles and guided them into the second piece, destroying one of the laser cannons in the process.

Hannibal fired a few laser shots at a saw blade and glanced at Akorazo again. "I know that you have heart, Akorazo! I know that you can love like me, so why don't you accept these creatures as friends?"

"Friends are for the weak and simpleminded, heretic!" Akorazo spat bitterly. "Only fear and authority gives you power, not friendship! Do you really think that Princess Celestia's petty friendship gives extraordinary powers? She's an alicorn ruler with limited strength, not a deity who can warp entire realms!"

The ponies felt offended by his comments on Celestia. Pinkie hopped close to the dome and glared angrily at Akorazo. "Nopony bad-mouths Princess Celestia like that! You take that back!"

Akorazo punched her into a wall with one of the machine's metal claws. "And what are you going to do about that, you useless pile of degenerate genes? There is a reason creatures have two legs and two arms. Your build is nothing but a soon to be extinct species!"

"You can't reason with evil, Pinkie!" Twilight informed through gritted teeth. She was holding back three primed missiles with her magic. "He is too demented to know what you feel! Only demons like Hannibal understand us!" She smashed the missiles together to create a cloud of fire and smoke.

Applejack finally found the perfect angle and kicked a metal ball into the dome. The dome cracked under the intense amount of force from the ball, startling Akorazo a tiny bit. He launched four missiles at Applejack and fired two more razor boomerangs into the field. She guided the missiles near Pinkie Pie to let her take control of them. After steering the missiles once again to the machine, Pinkie damaged the second piece even more. One of the missile launchers and another laser cannon fell apart from the blast. At this point, Akorazo knew that he was about to face a very dire situation.

He pressed a blue button to activate a force field around the machine. A blue bubble of energy surrounded all three pieces, shielding them from any further damage. Rarity hurled more gemstones at the pieces, but the gems disintegrated upon contact with the force field. Pinkie hopped around the machine and closely examined the field. She put a hoof on the energy and felt a solid wall. Two explosives from the machine rolled into the field and threw Applejack and Rarity into separate walls, damaging them with blunt force. Twilight charged up her magic and fired a much more powerful variant of her original magic blast. The blast caused the force field to flicker uncontrollably and leak electricity into the air.

Hannibal noticed the weakness of the force field and rolled over to Twilight hastily. "He's weak to magic! Hit him with all you've got!"

Twilight nodded and fired more magical blasts, weakening the force field even more. Akorazo shifted his attention to Twilight and launched two explosives at her. She dodged to the right and galloped to the other side of the machine. She fired her magic blasts again, nearly destroying the force field. Akorazo was sick of the constant moving and launched his boomerangs towards Twilight. He missed when she grabbed the boomerangs with her magic and slammed them into the electricity. The boomerangs disintegrated as more magic blasts pelted the force field. After a few more seconds of constant damage, the force field collapsed into rogue sparks.

Applejack got back up on her hooves and rushed back into battle. "We got him now! Hit him with everything you got, girls!"

Applejack kicked another metal ball into the dome, cracking it even more than before. Pinkie baited Akorazo to fire his missiles again and guided them into the second piece. The missiles destroyed the last laser cannons and one explosive cannon. Sparks and wires danced out of the warped and cracked metal, revealing the inner circuits of the machine. Rarity positioned some of her gemstones and lodged them in the machine's boomerang launchers. She quickly devastated them with clouds of gems that shredded the first piece. Twilight added to the mix by firing multiple magic blasts at the first piece. Pinkie finally destroyed the piece with two pink bombs that bounced next to the saw blades. The entire machine descended a level from the loss of one of its major components.

The second piece, now without a piece below to move on, hovered over the ground with four thrusters. Akorazo fired a couple missiles and explosives at the ponies while he swung his machine's metal arms desperately. Pinkie guided the missiles into the second piece again, destroying it and the cannons. The machine now dropped to its last piece, moving on its metal arms from the absence of the other pieces to support it. Twilight fired a powerful blast of magic at the piece, destroying the laser grid in the process. Noticing the destruction of the grid, Pinkie Pie hopped on the machine's dome and bashed it multiple times. Every bash cracked the dome more and more, adding more anxiety to Akorazo.

After about five bashes, the dome fell apart into several shards of glass. Pinkie Pie dropped into the machine and confronted Akorazo face to face. Her words were teeming with fury. "Why are you trying to hurt my friends, you meanie?"

Akorazo punched Pinkie in her left cheek and kicked her body out of the machine. "I said it once, and I'll say it again. I don't care for your backwards, unwanted, and inexperienced species! There is no reason to preserve something that is bound to die!"

Fluttershy stared at Pinkie Pie and glared back at Akorazo. She felt an emotion that she always wanted to hold back ever since her 'assertive' incident, but she could not hold it back. That physical attack that actually spilt blood from Pinkie's cheek and mouth shocked and fueled Fluttershy's mind. Her shocked and terrified gasp morphed to a set of gritted teeth, fuming ears, and two vicious eyes. She flew up to Akorazo's machine, stared directly at him in the face, and prepared her special, painful move.

Akorazo rolled his eye and dismissed her violent stance. "What're you going to do now? You never hurt anything from what I know."

"When you hurt my friend, you meet your end!" Fluttershy scornfully shouted. She then positioned herself and bucked the entire machine into the glass panel behind it. The machine broke apart the entire panel and flew out of the ship. Akorazo screamed for his life as he saw the city below hurling towards him and his machine. After about a few more seconds of free fall, Akorazo and his machine plummeted into a street headfirst. The entire machine exploded into a violent fireball, engulfing the captain and the rest of the demons in the area. Fluttershy, the mare who he least expected to kill him, just launched Akorazo out of his own ship and destroyed him and his essence for good.

Captain Akorazo has been defeated!

Hannibal looked at Fluttershy with a frightened expression. He then turned to Twilight Sparkle with said expression. "She can really do that? I thought she would cower the entire time!"

Twilight looked back at Hannibal and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, you don't want to make her angry, especially when she cannot handle what just happened."

Fluttershy flew back to Pinkie and briskly scavenged through Pinkie's pocket chests to find a healing cupcake. She pulled out the usual yellow and orange cupcake and handed it to Pinkie's bleeding face. Pinkie took the cupcake and chewed it slowly. Her cuts and broken teeth soon mended themselves, and the flowing blood ceased and melted back into her body. She then ate the rest of the treat and hopped up to a standing stance. She hugged Fluttershy in response to the care she gave.

"You know how to really help out a friend!" Pinkie cheered happily.

Their mini celebration was soon cut short when an explosion shook the area and red sirens blared harshly around the group. The ponies' communications chips soon crackled a new and young male voice. "Sorry about that! We had little incident at the engine room, and we kind of destroyed the entire engine! This ship is going down, so escape while you can!"

The group immediately sprinted out of the ship and into the halls. The sirens still screamed painfully as multiple demons panicked and ran in various directions. Only a few of them actually stayed to kill the ponies, but the group had no time for fighting. They dodged the laser blasts and kept on moving. They felt the ship tilt a little to its left, creating a constant decline slope to the right of the group.

They kept on sprinting through the various halls and rooms until they reached an escape pod area. Twilight and company searched the pod room and found only three left. Some of the demons were bashing their way into the small spaces until Hannibal and Rarity shot them with gems and laser blasts. Some of the demons successfully escaped and activated one of the escape pods. Only two remained in the room now, and even more fleeing demons were approaching the area.

"These pods can only fit three each!" Hannibal informed while he fired at the oncoming swarm of demons. "We'll have to split up from here!"

Twilight quickly glanced at Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. "You two will go with me on my pod! Applejack and Rarity, you two need to ride with Hannibal!"

Hannibal, Applejack, and Rarity quickly climbed into their spherical escape pod. Hannibal poked his body out for about two seconds. "See you on the ground, Twilight!"

The pod activated and left as a few flustered demons entered the pod room. The remaining ponies climbed into their pod and pressed a red button on their control panel. Twilight closed the door to keep the furious and frightened demons out of the pod. The demons banged on the one circular window until the pod left the room and shot out into the open air. The entire ablaze dreadnought behind the three ponies descended into the sea and disappeared from sight. Distant explosions emanated from the dreadnought as pieces of it slammed into the water and ground below. Twilight could only look at the madness and mayhem outside, not knowing where she would eventually crash.

Act III, Chapter 6: Storming the Facility
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 6: Storming the Facility

Twilight Sparkle's escape pod was out of control. The entire pod ricocheted off of flying GEST Corp. and demon drop ships as it chose its landing location. The three ponies inside, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Fluttershy, flipped and rolled around the pod as it tumbled and bounced around the air. The madness finally ceased when it hurled towards the ground outside of Manehattan, separating them from the city and soldiers altogether. The pod threw dirt and grass everywhere while it caused a crater in the earth. Despite the rough and dangerous landing, the pod kept itself intact.

Twilight got back up from the mess of ponies on the pod floor and opened the door. She was disoriented from the landing but not injured. The other two ponies also stood back up and walked out of the pod with Twilight. They examined their surroundings and found a few scattered trees and dead GEST Corp. bodies. They saw the city of Manehattan in the distance, alight with mechanical activity and hungry flames from the entire invasion. The sky looked much less thick with demon ships than it was before, and multiple GEST Corp. troops already cleaned out most of the city.

It was nice to see the city in one piece, but it still broke Twilight a little from the horrible sight of warfare right in Equestria. Ever since she first encountered those demons in Ponyville, she wanted to run, and she wanted to run so far away. She wanted to escape the hell that met her, and she wanted to ignore it for the rest of her life. Sadly, she was forced into the bloodshed even more from both passive force from GEST Corp. and literal threats from otherworldly monsters. She wanted this war to end soon, but there was no end in sight. The demons only came back stronger than before after every battle, and they don't slow down. Sure, they lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but they replenished that loss already with fresh recruits.

After thinking about the entire city and the demon invaders for a short while, three escape pods soared through the sky. All three of them crash landed into the hills in the distance. More dirt splattered and tossed around the pods' location, signaling that the other two ponies, Applejack and Rarity, and Hannibal were possibly over there.

Fluttershy noticed a detail about the pods. If the other ponies and Hannibal took only one, then what were inside the other two? "I think that's them, but we need to hurry. They might get attacked soon from the demons over there."

"Then that's where we're headed," Twilight affirmed. "Come on girls, you know what to do!"

The trio galloped towards the hills to search for their friends. Apparently, some of the other demons on the dreadnought were fairly early with their departure, so the group had to fight off a few squadrons of novice and elite demons. They did encounter a knightmare demon, but he was easily put down when Pinkie Pie's bombs continued to explode on him one after another. When the trio nearly entered the crash site, Twilight fiddled with her communications chip to check if Travis was still there.

"Hello?" she asked calmly. "Travis, are you there?"

"Yes, I'm here," Travis answered while he stretched his body. "I was checking on some of the ED squadrons inside of Manehattan. They're still intact, but they lost a few soldiers during the invasion. Anyway, what's the situation?"

The trio was now on the last hill that blocked them from the crash site. "We're looking for our friends," Twilight answered in a more quiet voice while she glanced at the escape pods. "If you don't know, we were separated after the dreadnought crashed, and now we have to find them. Can you get a signal to where they're located?"

"I'll check to see where they are."

"Twilight, you there?" Applejack questioned through the communications chip. "Where are you three?"

Twilight was a little confused on how Applejack was talking to her. "How did you calibrate the communications chip to speak to us?"

"It was simple. Rarity and I just guessed on what frequencies led to you. We probably tried at least eleven others before reaching you."

"Well, are you in a valley with two other pods or what?" Pinkie piped with slight irritation in her voice.

"Well, we do see another pod outside if that is what you are asking," Rarity noticed. "I still don't see you three though. If you are somewhere nearby, could you come a little closer so that we can see you three?"

"Sure thing," Twilight answered happily. The trio walked down the hill and examined the three pods. One of them showed a white unicorn with a stylish purple mane while the others were clouded with darkness. Twilight noticed that the pod's door was slightly submerged in the ground, so she used her magic to levitate the entire pod out of the crater. The pod was very heavy, causing Twilight to strain from it, but at least she didn't have to lift it for too long. She set the pod down and opened the door. Two ponies, Applejack and Rarity, and one demon named Hannibal walked out unharmed.

It wasn't long though before the other two pods' doors swung open. Six novice demons rushed out of the pods. Two held anti-magic guns while the rest used kite shields and laser submachine guns. Twilight threw a wave of magic at the shielded demons, knocking all four of them to the ground. Pinkie hopped around the anti-magic demons and repeatedly punched them while Rarity and Hannibal fired at the four incapacitated demons. The battle was fairly quick and painless for the ponies, leaving nothing left of the demons but their weaponry afterwards.

The ponies received a new feed that connected to them from the communications chips. A familiar voice from General Solk emitted out of the chips. "Are all five of you together?"

"Yes," the ponies answered in slight disorder.

"Good. I just obtained a new mission for all five of you, and it involves Cloudsdale."

"Cloudsdale?" Applejack stated in confusion. "What's wrong with Cloudsdale?"

"This new group on the block apparently fortified the entire city and converted it into a deadly fortress. We recently entered the area with Colonel Vincent's forces, but they were blown out of the sky rather easily. Plus, the ones that did make it on the cloud roads died from their quite powerful defenses. We saw a few humanoid soldiers, but they also have ships and turrets all around the place. Plus, they changed the Cloudsdale Weather Factory."

"So that's why the supposed rain never came," Pinkie mused as she studied the nearly vacant sky.

"Wait a minute, your troops walked on those clouds?" Twilight realized from Solk's statement.

"They have this technology we used from Equestria's clouds themselves," Solk informed. "The boots are lined with a layer of those clouds in a special order and state, allowing the wearer to walk on clouds. I thought all five of you, excluding Fluttershy, might need these boots."

"There's no need for that." Twilight shook her head as she denied Solk's offer. "I have a spell that can do the exact same thing."

"Alright then. Now, do you five know where you're located? We're sending a drop ship to your location."

"We're in a hilly area outside of Manehattan," Applejack answered while she examined her surroundings. "We're a little bit north, and we're also in a small valley."

"We'll have a drop ship there shortly. Solk out."

The communications chip feed died out as Travis soon replaced it. "Okay, I already telegraphed your locations. Just wait until the ship comes by."

After about three minutes of waiting for the ship, the drop ship finally arrived. It slowly descended to the ground as its ramp door opened. When it finally landed, the group entered the ship and took their seats. The pilot looked back at the group and smiled through his helmet. "Get ready, because we're going to Cloudsdale!"

The ship ascended into the sky, but it didn't stop in midair. It kept ascending until it was at the exact same level as the clouds passively hovering over the planet. He took his mic from the wall and pressed it up to his helmet. "Attention all passengers, we're about to speed all the way to your destination. Please hold onto something, maybe each other, as we soar through the sky at Mach ten." He put away the mic as he held back onto the wheel. "Hang on, now, 'cause I'm about to rocket faster than anything you've seen!"

The passenger to his left looked down and massaged his helmet with irritation. "Derald, why do you do this every time a pony gets on this ship?"

"It's fun to freak them out! Plus, I love the thrill of speed!" His grin became a little cocky after that statement. "Hey, I bet I can beat Rainbow Dash with this thing, but anyway, time to start in three, two-"

He rocketed towards Cloudsdale before he reached one, catching the ponies off guard. The ship accelerated so fast that the ponies smashed back into the ramp door. Hannibal held on to the metal rod above his seat and resisted the motion. Almost all of the ponies were screaming their heads off in terror. Pinkie Pie was instead screaming with joy and thrill. She knew that this ride was perfectly safe, so why not enjoy it instead of fear it?

The ship used both aileron rolls and barrel rolls as it sped to its destination. It rammed through multiple clouds and became a near blur to some of the ponies and soldiers that saw it from the ground. It looped around various imaginary and physical obstacles as it passed through the sky. The physical obstacles, however, were actually just clouds.

It took ten minutes for the ship to reach Cloudsdale from its fast and absurd travel. The ship slowed all the way down to a crawl and moved near a few metal landing pads placed next to a road of clouds. The ship slowly descended and landed perfectly. The ponies fell from the door and fixed their disorientation from the ride. After a few seconds of recovery, the ramp door opened, and the ponies left the ship. However, Hannibal stayed inside the ship and let go of the bar above his head.

Pinkie looked back at Hannibal and cocked her head in confusion. "Aren't you coming with us? We might need you!"

Hannibal looked at Pinkie with a sad expression. "Sorry, Pinkie, but I need to stay here. This is as far as I can go for now."

"Why? We can just have Twilight activate the spell with you! It'll still work!"

Hannibal shook his head and looked back at the pilot. "I need to head back to base to join my fellow revolutionists. If I don't, I could be tagged as both a heretic from Lord Zedin and a spy from GEST Corp., so I have to stay."

The pilot nodded in agreement. "He's right. That's Solk's policy. If he doesn't regroup, he'll be cataloged as a spy and hunted down from our hitmen for interrogation. He needs to leave."

Pinkie hopped over to Hannibal and hugged him tightly. Tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she looked up at Hannibal with glossy irises. "Goodbye, friend. I hope I see you soon."

Hannibal would cry too, but his body doesn't have tears or actual eyes, just hollow, glowing spaces. "Goodbye, Pinkie. I hope we cross paths again in the near future."

Pinkie hopped back to Twilight and company after her little bid farewell. The passenger quickly looked back at the ponies and told one last thing before the ship left. "Oh yeah, another ship is supposed to come over here with supplies like medkits, medbots, and soldiers. They should be arriving in thirty minutes or so, so you can go ahead and storm the castle before they arrive."

The ship closed its ramp door and ascended a slight amount. It then flew at a moderate pace to Ponyville. Twilight walked back to the middle of the landing pad and gestured the others to come to her position. "Alright, I'm going to activate our cloud walking spells, so hold still."

Twilight lowered her horn and created a ball of blue light. The light connected itself to Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity as it absorbed the four ponies in a bubble of blue light. Fluttershy kept her distance to avoid any interference with the spell. After a few more seconds, the light dissipated from Twilight's horn and escaped through the ponies' hooves, signaling the end of the spell. Twilight made sure that it worked by walking over to the road of clouds and placing her hoof on it. She pressed down without falling through the cloud, which meant that the spell succeeded. She and the rest of her friends then walked on the road and examined the entirety of Cloudsdale.

The entire city was completely remodeled from the cloud layer up. All of the buildings were packed closer together, and every single one of them was connected with cloud roads. Metal buildings and fortifications floated next to the clouds, holding various turrets and soldiers that patrolled the area. The inner section of the city was structured like an Ancient Roman capital. Streams of water and rainbows flowed through the city and into the open sky, spreading across Equestria calmly. Plumes of steam and new clouds funneled out of various smokestacks and funnels, and huge wind turbines and wind generators were positioned all around the area.

Despite the entire city looking so much more beautiful and whimsical than it originally was, the grandest building of them all was definitely the Cloudsdale Weather Factory itself. Its size was increased by tenfold, and so many columns, arches, pipes, streams, domes, balconies, walkways, guard towers, fluid tanks, and stairways covered the entire building from top to bottom. Its mastery in architecture and pure exquisite and careful design almost made Rarity drool with envy and admiration. Fluttershy was only frightened by the new and strange Cloudsdale, but Pinkie Pie enjoyed the various roads and stairways that led to who knows where. Applejack whistled at the designs and framework while Twilight only gaped her mouth in shock and awe. Even Travis was shocked by how beautiful the place was despite it being completely taken over by humanoid soldiers.

"Well, that's a lot of walking and exploring you five got to do," Travis stated while he pinpointed where the various pathways led to. "Better get started!"

Twilight groaned from the insane setup and attempted to figure out where to go. She immediately had her eyes on the factory so far in the back, expecting it to be the 'castle' of this kingdom. "I think we should head to the factory. Something tells me that's our destination."

"Like a hunch?" Pinkie asked with slight speculation.

"Yeah, pretty much. Just whatever you girls do, don't get too close to those metal structures. Who knows what we might be facing here."

The quintet proceeded ahead with caution. This place felt so familiar, yet its entire build was completely different from before. When Twilight walked up to one of the houses, she knocked on the cloud door.

There was no answer.

She tried again and knocked a little louder this time.

There was still no answer.

"Hello?" She asked with her voice raised to a slight holler. "Is anypony home? We need to know what happened here."

The curtains in the window shuddered a little as an aqua tinted eyeball peered at the group. The curtains closed quickly as the door unlocked and opened only a tiny bit. The gilded pegasus mare with a curly dark blue and purple mane on the other side of the door didn't even poke its head out. It kept itself concealed by the door as it conversed with the ponies.

"Why the hay are all of you here?" she asked in a whisper while she glared at Twilight's horn and Applejack's absence of wings. "Nopony should be wandering about this place, especially if they're not a pegasus."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "What's going to hurt us that's so bad?"

The mare quickly shut her door and locked it as footsteps, not hoofsteps, became audible. Five humanish soldiers in black armored suits walked up to the ponies. Their suits looked like a special leather with very durable scales placed evenly on them. Two bulky shoulder pads sat on their shoulders and straps, and two knee pads guarded their legs. Special black gloves with claws at their ends covered their hands firmly. They held laser submachine guns in their right hands and toothed daggers in their left hands. Their eyes were covered by crimson-lensed googles, and their hair was slicked back into arching rainbows. Their teeth were sharp and rigid like pure carnivores, and their skin was as pale as the moon. The emblem of a screaming, maniacal human face with a sword stabbed into its bleeding head presented itself on the soldiers' chest plates.

The frontmost soldier looked down at Twilight and company and tsked at them. "Well, it looks like a few ponies don't know what a 'lock-in' is." His face grew into a sinister smile of jagged canines. "Welp, that means you five are about to find out what it's like to have your throats slit open."

Twilight primed her barrier spell and activated it in front of the group. The soldiers immediately organized into a firing squad and fired bursts of bullets at the barrier. Rarity fired some gemstones at them, but their armor was too durable to puncture from a few gems, so she aimed for their heads instead. She launched a gem into the rightmost soldier's left eye, damaging him severely. Blood ran down his face as he winced and flipped his dagger to face its blade towards Rarity.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie kept close to the other buildings to avoid the gunfire. Pinkie threw a bomb next to the two leftmost soldiers, slamming them into the cloud walls as the blast pushed them backwards. Fluttershy flew behind a building to hide from the gunfire. Twilight lowered her barrier and fired a wave of magic at the two unhurt soldiers, knocking them down and damaging their legs. The eyeless soldier sprinted up to Rarity and grabbed her by the throat. He stabbed the dagger into her cheek while his face slowly contorted to a twisted grin. Twilight noticed him from Rarity's shrieks in pain and terror and blasted a magical blast at him. His left arm felt numb and burnt from the blast as another smashed into his head. He fell to the ground with a groan in pain. His brain was fried from the blast, killing him rather quickly.

All four of the incapacitated soldiers got back up hastily. The two closest soldiers aimed for Twilight and fired dozens of lasers at her. She deflected them back and opened cauterized holes in the soldiers' bodies. Rarity grabbed a few more gemstones and impaled their heads with them, stabbing their brains and killing them in the process. Pinkie confronted one of the soldiers and bashed a hoof into their chest. The soldier responded with a slam into her face with the butt of his submachine gun, knocking her backwards. Applejack retaliated with a buck into his torso. His body slammed into the other soldier and caused a few bruises on him. Both soldiers fell to the ground and scrambled to get back up. Rarity, pushing through the pain and blood from her open cheek, fired another round of gemstones at them and stabbed their necks. They fell back to the ground as blood gushed out of their impaled arteries. One of them attempted to lift their gun to shoot the ponies, but Twilight fired magic blasts at both soldiers to finish them off. The battle ended there with five dead bodies of humanish soldiers. Pools of the crimson liquid collected on the clouds and stained them.

The ponies looked at the mess they made. Twilight quickly used a mending spell to fix Rarity's cheek, filling the hole with new cells as her magic surged around the injury. Pinkie and Applejack looked at the blood sickly, and they didn't want to touch it at all.

Rarity walked over Twilight and nodded her head thankfully. "Thank you, dear. We all know by now that battle wounds hurt a lot."

Pinkie kept staring at the blood with the same thought of disgust flowing through her head. "These ones bleed? Eugh, that's disgusting!"

"Well, we know that they're really alive then," Twilight quietly concluded. "Plus, they're completely insane too."

"They're almost like the Kavarians," Travis noticed. "Their armor is rather advanced, and their style of fighting is more sophisticated than the demons or Dr. Scraps's army. You five better be careful then."

"What are these things anyway?" Applejack asked while she examined the mangled face of a soldier. "Are they supposed to be human, or are they some other type of alien?"

"I have no clue, and neither does the rest of GEST Corp. Whatever they are, they've already built this place like its their own. Stay sharp."

The ponies continued along the road of clouds until they entered a crossroads area. Locked houses still settled next to the roads, but a metal tower was now coming into view. A lone turret that swiveled around the area searched for any potential enemies. It held two laser gatling guns and a laser sight on its top. When a lone bright red and silky orange Pegasus attempted to fly out of the city, the turret swiftly turned to it and fired its guns. The pegasus shrieked and tumbled down to the ground thousands of feet below. Fluttershy covered her eyes with her wings as blood spilt from the pegasus's injuries.

"I think that turret will be a problem," Twilight said with discomfort. "I'll see if I can destroy it from here."

Twilight activated a precision blast and shot it at the turret. The turret exploded into fractured pieces of metal and circuitry as the magic sliced through it. The ponies continued along the right path to head deeper into Cloudsdale. The buildings increased in size as they trod deeper and deeper into the urban section. Markets filled the area, large apartments sat next to the roads, and various market stands and streetlights dotted the much broader roads. Cloudsdale was looking more populated and beautiful, but this felt only like an illusion to Twilight. She thought that this buildup was to deceive, not to improve.

Another set of three Psycho Grunts spotted the ponies. They immediately took for cover and aimed their guns at the ponies. Twilight and Rarity fired a few magic blasts and gemstones while they strafed for cover. They successfully hit two of the soldiers and damaged them, but it wasn't enough. Pinkie Pie took out her party cannon and rolled it towards one of the market stands that a soldier was hiding behind. She destroyed the entire stand and sliced up the soldier as a flurry of razor-sharp confetti shredded everything in its path. The soldier stumbled back and fired a few blasts at Pinkie, but he missed. Applejack kicked a metal ball into the same soldier, knocking them out.

The other two soldiers rolled out of cover and ran towards Twilight and Rarity. Both of the ponies fired more magic and gems at the soldiers, hurting them more and more as the soldiers kept moving closer to the ponies. Pinkie finished them off with slams to head from behind. The soldiers fell down to the ground with severe concussions as reinforcements entered the area.

Four more Psycho Grunts, along with a new soldier, entered the area from in front of the ponies. This new soldier carried a laser rifle with laser sights, and it had a long sword currently sheathed. Instead of wearing a pair of googles, this soldier wore black sunglasses over his eyes, concealing them completely. His armor was darker than the Psycho Grunts, and the shoulders and knee pads were bigger. The soldier pointed a finger towards Fluttershy and shouted to the other soldiers. "Take her first! She'll be the most useful!"

The Psycho Grunts aimed towards Fluttershy and rushed to her position. She flew back to a treat stand and hid behind it for cover. Rarity fired a line of gems and positioned them so that they hit the soldiers' heads. She impaled the soldiers with the line of gems, killing two and mortally wounding the rest. The other two soldiers knew they were bleeding out and pulled out their toothed daggers. They sprinted towards their two unicorn targets while Pinkie and Applejack bashed them from behind. After a few beatings, Applejack hopped above the Paycho Grunt and slammed its head into its body, breaking his neck from the force. The soldier fell down to the ground as the other Pyscho Grunt was disintegrated by Twilight's magical blasts.

The Pyscho Trooper mused at the ponies' success, but he wasn't going to give up. In fact, he couldn't fear them even if he wanted to due to the lack of that specific emotion. He strafed to a building wall and fired his gun at the ponies. He poked holes in the stands in front of him while Rarity and Twilight fired gems and magic at him. His armor was too durable, and he was protecting his head every time a new barrage of gems approached him. He had a few of the gems stuck in his forearms, but it was not a big deal. Pinkie Pie and Applejack knew that this soldier was not one to just let them approach, so they waited in cover until he got out of cover.

But he didn't. He fired more shots in some attempt to hurt the ponies while he stood behind the building. At one point, Twilight noticed that he was talking into a device similar to a walkie talkie. After about ten seconds from that incident, lightning cooked the area. Twilight knew that there wasn't a storm above them, so what was causing the lightning?

She looked up and gasped at three pegasi that wore dark uniforms and thrusters on their sides. They cruised on small, dark clouds that spewed lightning whenever they slammed a hoof into it. She couldn't see their manes, coats, or faces from the full body suits, but she could see chestnut wings and rainbow tails on all of them.

She had to react fast to the incoming lightning, or else she would be electrified to death. Despite a pony's great resilience against the elements, they couldn't hold back a direct lightning strike to the head. She galloped out of cover and fired multiple blasts at the Pyscho Storms, injuring them but not killing or distracting them from their lightning.

Applejack and Pinkie couldn't reach them, but Fluttershy could. She only hid in cover as the Psycho Storms directly aimed for her. When one of the pegasi struck her hoof with a lightning strike, she shrieked in pain and oncoming anger. She flew into the same cloud that struck her and threw the Psycho Storm off of his ride. She then proceeded to direct the cloud to the Psycho Trooper in the back. The other pegasi threw punches and kicks as they moved closer to Fluttershy, and she retaliated against these attacks by punching them off of their platforms. The other ponies on the ground, especially Pinkie, cheered her on. She finally positioned the cloud right above the soldier and lashed lightning at him. The lightning struck him very harshly, shredding his inner neural network and destroying all of his cells that the lightning touched. After about four lightning strikes in a row, he fell to the ground with the smell of cooked flesh emanating from his corpse.

The Psycho Storms fell onto the ground and recollected themselves. Twilight fired a wave of magic to keep them down, and Applejack slammed multiple metal balls into them, knocking them out. The area was once again calm with no sight of any potential danger.

Twilight was shocked to see ponies assaulting them. "They have pegasi too?"

"Apparently," Travis answered. "Whatever these things are, they seem to adore ponykind a little too much."

"We better get going," Applejack warned. "We already caused a big ruckus here. If we dilly-dally now, we'll be knee-deep in these things in no time."

Twilight nodded in agreement and called for a regroup. The quintet traveled deeper in the urban zone of Cloudsdale, and they were starting to face much more dangerous situations. As they traveled through the city, more Psycho Grunts and Psycho Troopers attacked them from both the ground and from balconies around the city. Sometimes, a couple Psycho Storms would arrive to blow some gale or hurl a few bolts of lightning. Even though these soldiers were well trained and equipped for slaughter, the ponies still fought back valiantly. In a few instances of the battles, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, or even Fluttershy would find a dagger stabbed into their body. Luckily, mending spells and healing cupcakes were cheap, so they didn't have to deal with these injuries for long.

After these constant fights, the ponies finally reached the supposed town square. The area was very large and represented a crossroads involving eight roads. The center of the town square held a statue of a pegasus with what looked like to be a similar outfit to the Psycho Storms. The armor on the uniform was bulkier than the Psycho Storms' suits, but it still resembled them. Next to the pegasus was an upright laser rifle and a flowing flag that read 'The Dawn of a New Era'. Twilight concluded that this must be these creatures' commander or leader as she examined he detail and devotion put into the statue.

"Burn them! Burn them all until they blister and blacken!" A maniacal but muffled voice screamed from afar. The ponies turned to their two o'clock and discovered two new soldiers. Their suits were a glossy crimson, and they wore gas masks for helmets. Two huge, black lenses peered deeply into the ponies' souls from the mask, and a large cylindrical piece extended from the mouth area. The back of the helmet was rather big, most likely to keep their long hair in one area and out of their view. The soldiers also carried two huge, metal guns with cones at their ends and cylindrical tanks on their sides. The guns connected from long tubes all the way to the even bigger tanks on the soldier's backs. These new soldiers reminded Twilight of the very first demon she encountered. That encounter was definitely not on her 'best discoveries' list.

"Come here little ones," one of the Psycho Flames singsonged through his mask. "We have a special gift for you."

"I bet that gift involves some sort of pain, right?" Pinkie knew exactly what the soldiers intended to do.

The Pycho Flames only smiled behind their expressionless masks. They hustled to the ground and flicked levers positioned on their flamethrowers. Twilight and Rarity backed away as the other three ponies scrambled to the left and right. Twilight activated a barrier spell while the gouts of deadly fire curved along the magic. Rarity positioned a few gems around the soldiers and stabbed them into their arms. Holes opened up in their suits, releasing flowing blood, but the soldiers barely flinched. They rammed into the barrier spell and destroyed it from the sudden addition of their raw power. Twilight staggered back and felt the flames flicker around her mane. Small patches of fire grew along the hair strands in her mane, so she dabbed them out with magic. The soldiers only shortened the distance between them and Twilight, slowly cooking her from the radiating heat of the fire.

"Don't worry, Twi! I got this!" Applejack rammed through the two soldiers headfirst. They fell down and lost their aim from the unexpected charge. Little did the ponies know, three more Psycho Flames were already on their way, and they were not so fond of cooking Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was galloping around the statue as three more Psycho Flames caught her. They firmly held on to her legs and wings, refusing to let go. Her screams in terror were cut short when one of the soldiers injected a special substance into her neck by syringe. Her flailing stopped as her eyes closed groggily. One of the soldiers then carried her on his shoulder and ran off to the direction of the factory. The other two soldiers readied their flamethrowers and joined their other two Psycho Flames on the ground.

Rarity glared at the escaping soldier and pointed a hoof with shock. "He's foalnapping Fluttershy! Stop him at once!"

But they couldn't stop him. The original two soldiers got back up, and the other two drove Pinkie away with their licking flames of blistered death. Pinkie used her party cannon to fend off the soldiers, but they saw it coming and dodged around the blast of confetti. They were now on her left and right. Even though they could kill her here, they didn't. Instead, the soldier to her left stabbed another syringe into her neck, causing her to fall to sleep. The same Psycho Flame picked her up and followed the other soldier that left the area. The other soldier, the one who was still with the other three ponies, readied his flamethrower again.

Twilight was sick off the foalnapping and fired an explosive blast at the two soldiers backing her up to a wall. They exploded into chunks of flesh and blood, throwing their limbs and pieces of their chest around the area. Rarity impaled the soldier that foalnapped Pinkie Pie in the back of the head, stabbing his brain and spinal cord. The soldier fell to the ground in a paralyzed state and dropped Pinkie. The other foalnapping soldier already escaped and left the area entirely. The last soldier ran towards Applejack with his flamethrower already spewing flames, but his standard approach and tunnel vision from his mask and the flames threw himself into his own demise. Rarity stabbed a few more gems in him while Applejack kicked three metal balls into his head. He fell to the ground as the tank on his back ruptured and destroyed his entire body. More viscera rained on the cloudy battlefield.

The three ponies quickly regrouped over to Pinkie's body. Twilight used an anti-sleep spell to wake her up, cutting her mini doze short. "What happened?" Pinkie groggily asked.

"That darn thing just took Fluttershy, and he's getting away!" Applejack exclaimed through her anger.

Pinkie immediately hopped back to her feet and signaled her friends to run with her to Fluttershy. The quartet sprinted into a few fortified areas with Psycho Grunts and Psycho Troopers, but they spent little time fighting and more time chasing the Psycho Flame. They eventually found him and pursued quicker than before.

By the time the factory stairway was only a hundred meters away, a new soldier blocked their path. Threatening to slice up the ponies if they got too close, he held out a clawed glove with hooked blades. His other hand held a modified submachine gun with spiked ammo, and his hair was frizzy and jagged unlike the slickness of the other soldiers' hair. His armor was asymmetrical from the misshapen shoulder pads and excess armor plating around one of the sleeves, adding a long sleeve to the chest plate's right arm socket. His pants were just modified and shaggy jeans with the same scale plating covering them. His boots shot out spikes from their ends, and so did his shoulder and knee pads. His goggles tinted his eyes a burning orange, and his teeth were jagged and misplaced like a shark's. A necklace charm in the shape of a severed human head with its eyes missing rested on his chest. This soldier was definitely not going to die easily.

"Ooh, it looks like I have some fresh meat!" The Psycho Wicked licked his lips with his long, slender tongue. His eyes then scanned the entire group. "Let's see, what do I want to eat today?" He glared directly at Pinkie Pie. "Aha, something that looks like candy! I love candy!"

"Whatever that guy is, don't let him get near any of you!" Travis warned.

Pinkie backed up in fear as Twilight and Applejack walked in front of her. The Psycho Wicked raised his submachine gun and fired a five round burst at Twilight. Three of the five spikes stabbed into her body, immediately causing slight bleeding and terrible pain. The Pyshco Wicked then hopped over to Applejack and slashed his claw right across her face. Three rips in her right cheek formed as she screamed from the pain. Pinkie backed way a little more and pulled out her party cannon. The Psychopath kicked Twilight and Applejack out of the way and smiled sadistically at Pinkie. She fired her cannon to stop his slaughter, but only a couple rips formed on his face. He didn't flinch, nor did he feel the pain. All he felt was a numbing resistance to his desires.

He grabbed Pinkie's right foreleg with his claw hand, digging into her flesh. She cried and screamed for help, but all she got was a chomp and a ripping in her chest area. Blood immediately ran down her body and onto the Psycho Wicked's crooked face. He loved every part of this encounter. Even if she bucked him in the face, it wouldn't be enough to make him feel any pain. All this monstrosity knew was pleasure, killing, and devouring meat. He was a pure carnivore, and in severe cases of distraught, he was a cannibal. He bit again into her body, this time on her right foreleg. Tears ran down her face, but she didn't want to cry. Crying hurt now, and every addition to her already severe pain made her want to die at that moment. She was thrown to the ground, crashing onto the cloud road and sitting there, paralyzed from the astronomical pain.

"I, I'm seeing black, girls," she weakly coughed. "I, I just want to, lay down here, for some time."

The Psycho Wicked glared back at Twilight. "You're next, walking magic drumstick!"

Twilight screamed and fired a fire blast at the Psycho Wicked. The flames danced on his face and blistered his skin, but he kept his twisted grin through the absence of pain. He didn't know what pain was like, and he won't ever know how it felt to lose an entire piece of your body from a bite. He walked closer to Twilight, firing his submachine gun again. Twilight deflected the spikes back at him, but they only bounced off his powerful armor. As his face melted and began to show his bony skull from the fire, he laughed a distorted cackle. He was about three feet from Twilight now, and he reached out his claw hand to touch that delectable face of hers.

The only thing that stopped him was a buck from his right side. Applejack came back to finish the job, exposing the right side of his waist to attacks. Rarity fired a few gemstones there and in his face, but the Psycho Wicked only laughed again. "I love it when my prey attempts to fight back! They're so weak, but they still have fire in their bellies!"

"Enough of this, you savage scoundrel!" Rarity fired a line of gems in the Psycho Wicked's eyes and mouth, blinding him and cracking his jaw. That didn't stop him though, as he could smell the blood coming from Twilight's wounds. He sliced at her, but she hopped back and fired a magic blast into his chest. He flew backwards, but he quickly regained his original stance.

The Psycho Wicked pulled out his submachine gun once again and laughed maniacally. "I can't see you, but I'll surely hit you!"

He fired his gun wildly, laughing and cackling as the spikes flew in the air. Twilight intercepted some of them and fired them back at the soldier. By the time she stabbed his face again, a skull with bleeding eyes was glaring at her. Applejack got near the Psycho Wicked again and bucked into his head. The skull fell off his body, forever contorted into a grinning face of insanity.

Twilight and the other two ponies rushed to Pinkie's bleeding, mangled body. Pinkie laughed halfheartedly while she looked up at Twilight. "I guess he, wasn't one to, be nice, right?" Her eyelids slowly shifted downwards, covering her blue irises.

"We need to get her medical attention now!" Applejack ordered. She quickly turned her head to Twilight. "Heal her right now!"

"My mending spells can only heal minor wounds, not a missing rib!" Twilight panicked from the insane damage done to Pinkie. "What do I do, what do I do?"

"Ahem, there was going to be a little visit from the humans back at the landing pad," Rarity proposed. "If they have healing supplies, we can use those to help mend her, injured body." Rarity winced at the blood and missing chunks of flesh from Pinkie's body.

"Hey, good thinking, Rarity!" Applejack praised. She turned to Twilight again. "Teleport us there before she gets any worse!

"You might as well go ahead," Travis urged while he examined the terrible condition Pinkie was in. "They should be here by now."

Twilight engulfed herself and the other three ponies in an aura of purple light. The quartet disappeared from the scene before four more Psycho Grunts could open fire at them.

One of the soldiers screamed in annoyance and bashed his weapon on the cloud floor. "We almost had them! What happened?"

"Magic," one of the more sophisticated soldiers answered. "They had a pony with a lot of magic."

"Oh, so they think they can use their world's tricks to stop us?" A twitching and convulsing soldier looked down at the ponies' original position with a twisted smile. "Well, two can play at that game!" He then laughed maniacally until another soldier slapped him in the back of the head. "Sorry, I'm just not as sane as you three right now, right?"

The soldier who slapped him glared at him while he answered the question. "Yeah. You need another shot, pronto."

•—————•

Twilight and company quickly popped into existence near the landing pad. Twilight teleported the entire group a few yards away from the pad because she thought that the ship must have already landed. She was completely correct. The drop ship was sitting on the landing pad with its ramp door open, and three GEST Corp. soldiers were outside, firing at a few Psycho Grunts that discovered the ship. They were soon dispatched after a hand grenade destroyed all three of them in a fireball.

Twilight and company ran to the soldiers' encampment as fast as they could. Applejack carried Pinkie on her back, dropping her near the soldiers so that they could help her. She already lost a major amount of her blood, and she was currently unconscious. The soldiers only gasped at how much of a bad condition she was in. They could see the outlines of two bite marks around her gaping wounds. One of the closer soldiers was more shocked than the others. "What the hell happened to her? Did some damn thing try to eat her or something?"

"I think it was someone who tried to eat her." Twilight informed. "Something that resembled a human attacked her while we tried to get back our friend, Fluttershy." Twilight shed a few more tears than she had before her statement. "Will she be okay?"

"She's pretty screwed up, but that's nothing for our medbot," a soldier explained. "As long as she's alive, she'll be fixed."

The same soldier called for the medbot. The same small robot that healed Applejack rolled out of the ramp door and scanned Pinkie with its one optical sensor. It etched and outline around the bite on the arm and refilled the area with bone, tendons, and muscle. The area was eventually fully replenished and coated with skin and a pink coat. The robot then flipped Pinkie over and outlined the bite on her chest. This injury was much worse than the other bite, but the medbot still found it easy to fix. It analyzed the bone structure and fixed the missing rib. It then filled the area with the appropriate tendons, muscles, and blood vessels needed. After this was finished, it placed a layer of skin and a pink coat to finish the job. It quickly fixed the puncture wounds in her foreleg with no problems. After all of her body was fixed, the medbot fixed her unconsciousness by placing a small amount of ammonia inhalants up to Pinkie's nose.

Shortly after the medbot finished its work, it rolled back to the ship. Pinkie slowly woke up and examined the area around her. "I'm, not dead? I thought I was a goner after that encounter!"

"Luckily, you weren't," Twilight replied with a small smile on her face. She looked back up at the soldiers with an extremely grateful expression. "Thand you so much for fixing her. I don't know how I can ever repay you."

"Don't be," a soldier stated while he batted the air with his right hand. "This happens all the time with civilians and soldiers."

Applejack was worried from that statement. Did that mean their civilians at home would be as mangled or worse than Pinkie? "You mean good things when you say that, right?"

"I wish." The soldier's answer terrified her, but she only showed a glimpse of her fear with a disturbed laugh.

"Well, you four should be going now," a tougher sergeant advised to the quartet. "If you don't get to that factory soon, these guys will set up their defenses again. They'll be ready for anything if you wait all day."

Another soldier realized Twilight's loss of magic from the mass teleportation and handed her a small metal cube. Twilight looked down at it in curiosity. "What is it?"

"That's a teleporter," he answered. "Whenever you press that button, it'll unfold into a device that will send all four of you back to our teleporter. Use it wisely, as it'll not come back with you."

Twilight took the teleporter and placed it in her pocket chest. "Thank you. I'm sure it will come in handy."

The four ponies, now without Fluttershy on their team and carrying a pocket teleporter, traveled back to the factory stairs. They encountered multiple Psycho Grunts, Psycho Storms, Psycho Flames, Psycho Troopers, and another Psycho Wicked when they traveled back to the stairs. When they faced the Psycho Wicked again, they immediately opened fire at him and destroyed him before he could land a single hit.

When they reached the stairs, they discovered how big the factory really was. From far away, it looked rather massive and grand, but it looked like an entire kingdom from up close. Whatever these ponies were about to enter would be possibly the biggest foundation they ever stormed.

They walked up to the front gate and examined the area. There was no lever or button in sight, but that didn't stop the ponies. "It's just clouds, right?" Travis presumed from the fluffiness of the entire building. "Perhaps you can ram through it."

Applejack took that thought and put it to use. She rammed into the door, but it felt like solid rock. She bounced back in blunt pain, but she was in no need of medical attention. "What the hay? I thought clouds were soft, not hard as rocks!"

Twilight scraped off some of the cloud on the door and unveiled onyx colored metal. "That's because this isn't made out of clouds."

Pinkie examined the area and check for any noticeable differences in the architecture. She only found one on the side, and it resembled a metal keypad that stuck out of the clouds. "Hey, I found something!" She pointed her hoof at the keypad.

The other three ponies examined the keypad. "We don't have any ideas on what the code could be, though," Rarity pointed out after glancing at it once. "How can you possibly know what it is supposed to be?"

Pinkie pulled out a keycard with six numbers written on it. "This dropped from that mean claw thing. It must be the code to the keypad."

Applejack typed in the numbers 3-8-2-0-2-5 into the keypad. A green light emitted from it while the front gate opened. The four ponies then walked into the newly opened entrance, descending into the unknown.

The inside of the factory was rather dark. Only a few lights hung from the top of the halls, and the entire factory resembled a darkness covered variant of the original Cloudsdale Weather Factory. The lobby area remained the same, but the entire area beyond that was morphed into a completely different setup. Hallways with pipes carrying water, rainbows, steam, and other essentials for weather formation lined the ceilings. The hallways were considerably large, about twelve feet in width and nine feet in height.

The ponies kept walking through the facility, unsure of what they were to face. There was nearly no activity in the halls. Nothing moved around the halls or created any twisted shadows. It was as if the ponies entered a place abandoned for decades. Some of the doors leading to maintenance rooms or stairwells were locked, and others led to various offices with various documents, filing cabinets, and desks.

"This is not right," Twilight believed as they examined the vacant labyrinth of halls. "There should be a lot of activity from the creatures outside, but nothing is here."

"That's mighty strange for an army that big," Applejack mumbled as she looked into more empty offices. "It's like this place is its own world."

"Maybe." Twilight had no idea what these creatures were doing here or why they were keeping this place abandoned, but she was too deep in the 'anything can happen' hole to analyze this situation. "I have already seen so many crazy events and creatures, so I wouldn't dismiss that we are in another world."

The ponies then came across a bump in the ground. It was similar to the one in the Craw dreadnought, but it was at least twice the size. When they walked a little more, it shot straight up with a strange machine below it. The machine resembled a human, but it was completely made out of metal. It moved around on one wheel, similar to the R-Bots' style of movement, and it carried a laser blaster and a metal claw for its hands. The head had a set of metal teeth with two darkened eyes and a hole where its nose should be. The body resembled a human's rib cage and spine with a metal grating and various pieces of circuitry wrapped around it.

The machine raised its lowered head and activated it's now blue eyes. "Hostile organisms detected. Activate locomotive and weaponry functions."

The machine rolled out of its chamber while it stretched its arms and moved its body around. It raised its laser blaster arm to the quartet and flashed its eyes to a red glow. "Exterminate hostile organisms."

The ponies dodged the Psycho Sentry's blast of lasers and surrounded it. Applejack bucked it in the head, severely damaging the connection to its body. Pinkie then punched its already ruined head off its body. She then stomped on the deactivated body to ensure the end of the battle. After she finished destroying the machinery, she cheered happily. "We won, and these meanies are getting weaker!"

Five more bumps in the ground shot up and released more Psycho Sentries. They spoke in unison as they activated their systems. "Hostile organisms detected. Exterminate at once." Twilight could only glare at Pinkie in frustration from what just happened.

Twilight fired a wave of magic at the machines, slightly damaging their core machinery. The robots fired lasers at her, but she deflected them back to increase the damage dealt to them. Pinkie punched a few of them down while Rarity fired more gemstones into their bodies, destroying one and incapacitating another. Applejack bucked one of the still functioning robots into another, finishing off the squadron.

"Well, now we know this place isn't too abandoned," groaned Twilight in displeasure. "Let's find Fluttershy before more of these things activate beneath us."

The quartet then traveled down the many hallways. They encountered more of these Psycho Sentries, correction, a lot more of these Psycho Sentries along their journey. Some Psycho Grunts, Psycho Flames, and Psycho Troopers also joined the fight in some locations along the way, but they were dispatched with only some difficulty. The ponies eventually reached a large room with multiple pieces of machinery and a hanging catwalk above the floor. A few doors stretched along the walls, giving access to the floor and the catwalk.

A bigger bump shot up and released a bulkier machine. Unlike its Psycho Sentry predecessor, this machine carried a rocket launcher instead. Its body and head were armored better too. Its eyes didn't switch to red, they were already red.

"Hostile organisms detected in illegal premises. Extermination mode activated."

Twilight raised a barrier spell to block the incoming rocket. The Psycho Enforcer kept firing rockets, not showing any signs of slowing down. Pinkie used this as a chance to use her cloaking ability and sneak around the robot. She snuck up behind it and bashed it to the ground, disrupting its assault. The machine got back up and slammed her into a wall. It then flashed its eyes a yellow color while a siren blared around the room.

"Warning, hostile organisms too powerful. Assistance is needed immediately."

Four Psycho Sentries rolled out from an opening door to the ponies' left. They immediately opened fire on the ponies, disrupting the group's original plans. Twilight switched her barrier to a deflection spell, destroying some of the machines with their own lasers. Rarity helped by firing multiple gemstones into the machines, destroying their circuitry in the process. The Psycho Enforcer rolled up to Twilight and swiped its claw arm towards her. Applejack bucked it backwards, ruining its body and contorting it to scrap metal. The machine whirred and shut down from the damage.

As if it was on cue, a door opened near the catwalk and released a trio of pegasi. Two of them were wearing masks that covered their faces and manes, and one bore the usual rainbow mane with a shimmering silver coat. The not so faceless pegasus glared down at Twilight and scowled at her presence. "Ah, it must be the perpetrator who is after their friends, yes?"

Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but the stallion cut her off. "I will keep this brief for you four. We need some, essentials if you will, that can help fuel our machinery and world. Would you be ever so kind as to please stay in this room? If you do not-"

His voice cut off as three Psycho Wickeds sprinted out of the entrance the ponies used. "Come over here, and we'll make you four into delectable treats!" His sentence ended with a maniacal cackle.

"What is the reason you are here?" Twilight demanded the stallion. "This is our world, not a playground for your kind to kill others for no reason!"

"As I said," the stallion started to answer with a slightly irritated tone, "we are here to collect fuel. More preferably, the ponies that can create it. Also, we like the pony body as a new vessel for our kind. If you do not know, our world is falling apart from pollution, and we need this fuel to combat it. Plus, the usage of ponies into our DNA would help fix these problems."

"Then why don't you ask?" Applejack asked. "You guys don't need to invade our land to fix your problems! Instead, we can go there and help you!"

"No no no, you misunderstood my words. To combat this pollution, we need your world and its resources. For example, we're using this facility to create a new climate for our world. However, we also need this world to fix our population woes as well. Care to give this world to us?"

"Why would we give this world to the same creatures that attacked and almost killed our friend, Pinkie?" Rarity spat back in a bundle of anger. "Ruffians like you don't deserve a world of this beauty!"

"I figured none of you would listen to me passively, so why don't I introduce you to one of your friends?" He turned his head to his right and shouted for somepony else. "Miss Dash, your presence is required!"

A black suited mare with light blue wings and a rainbow mane and tail walked onto the catwalk. She walked over to the stallion. Just like the stallion next to her, she glared down at the ponies and scowled at their presence.

Pinkie realized who this mare was and jumped up and down wildly. "Dashie, you're here! Can you pretty please knock some sense into that meanie? He's acting crazy!"

"Yeah, it would be nice if you came down here and helped us out here a bit," Applejack proposed. "As you can see, we're in a little trouble here."

"Girls, I don't know about this," Twilight cautiously stated. "This doesn't seem right."

"Mother of god," Travis announced while he examined Rainbow Dash again. "Is that her?"

Rainbow Dash looked over to the stallion. "Who are these featherbrains, and how did any of them reach this place?"

"I do not know, Miss Dash, but they are responsible for invading this factory and assaulting our soldiers," the stallion answered.

"Oh, so we have some useless troublemakers? Well then, off they go!"

Rainbow Dash flicked a lever on her right side and opened up the floor under the ponies. All four of them fell down into the newly created hole, screaming as they fell down to who knows where. As she flicked the lever again, the hole closed up into the floor it originally was. The ponies were now lost in this factory, unsure of what just happened or what will happen. The only thing they know now is that Rainbow Dash just betrayed them. Why did she do this? Who knows, but what she did what indisputably unexpected for everyone, even the stallion beside her.

Act III, Chapter 7: As If Betrayal Wasn't Enough...
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act III, Chapter 7: As If Betrayal Wasn't Enough...

Twilight Sparkle and company were once again in a bad situation. They just witnessed their friend, Rainbow Dash, scowl at them for some inexplicable reason, and now, they were tumbling toward their potential doom. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were flailing their hooves around while they screamed, and Applejack was quickly turning her head in random directions to view the walls around them. Twilight noticed the ground hurling towards them and covered the entire quartet in an aura of purple. She then used all of her might to slow down the group and eventually place them on the ground. After she and her friends got back up from their unexpected descent, Twilight looked around the new room.

Pinkie was still on the floor, screaming as if she was still falling. Applejack walked over to her and nudged a hoof at her shoulder. "We're not falling anymore, Pinkie. We're on solid ground."

"Oh, that must've slipped my mind!" Pinkie hopped back to a standing stance and recalled what happened earlier. "Oh yeah, Dashie is now with those meanies for some reason! How could she backstab us like that after all the time we spent together?"

"I think there's something wrong with her," Twilight concluded. "She didn't react to those other ponies, nor did she remember us. I think these creatures did something to her."

"Are you saying that they warped her mind?" Rarity asked with slight speculation.

"Whatever it is, you four better leave soon," Travis warned. "I'm picking up activity from above you four now."

Twilight realized the communication chips on her friends' ears. "Oh, Travis, can you see through Fluttershy's communication chip?"

"Yes, I can. I can even play the audio from her chip if you want."

Twilight nodded a yes, and that was soon followed by various voices. The first one was similar to a Psycho Trooper's gentle yet assertive tone. "Take her to the Device. She's not useful to us in terms of infantry."

Shuffling around the communications chip occurred until the gentle yet frightened voice of Fluttershy emanated from the speakers. "No, where are you taking me? Where are my friends?"

"Stop her talking before she disturbs the workers," a lower and more mechanical voice ordered. The sound of a swift punch into the chip ended the audio.

"Well, I saw something," Travis disturbingly announced to the ponies.

"Then what did you see?" eagerly asked Applejack.

"I saw two soldiers, one that looked like a sergeant class soldier and another that resembled a cybernetic being. She was in a hallway with red light coming from the other end. That's all that I could really see."

"At least we have a general idea of what happened." Twilight wasn't too happy with the soldiers punching Fluttershy, but she needed to save her energy for running and gunning, not for anger. She redirected herself to the one hallway in the room. "Girls, we need to find her before anything else happens to her. Let's go!"

The quartet galloped out of the room and into a slightly taller hallway than the original ones they traversed. They met a few more Pyscho Sentries and Psycho Grunts here and there, but these soldiers were easily dispatched due to the absence of any higher leveled soldiers. The ponies then reached a door after exploring the hallways a little more.

Three ponies stood at the doorway. Two of them were Psycho Storms without their cloud mounts, and one was strangely a white unicorn. It still had the same suit as the Psycho Storms, but a hole in its helmet allowed its horn to be visible. The unicorn glared at the ponies viciously and spoke with a soft but obviously serious masculine voice. "We figured you'd come around eventually. Don't worry, I can entertain all of you with my magic."

The unicorn's horn glowed a silvery grey and conjured two familiars. They were two glowing white wolves with completely black eyes. Even though they were completely solid, they looked like transparent spirits from another realm. The familiars immediately pounced to Twilight's location and attacked with their claws. Twilight blasted them to shards of white light with her magic, dispelling the weak minions the unicorn created.

The rest of the ponies spread around the hall, preparing for the pegasi's potential attacks. Both of them created their clouds and hopped onto them. Pinkie threw a present upwards. The present broke apart and launched a bomb next to one of the Psycho Storms, knocking them off of their cloud. Applejack then bucked the downed pegasus and tied his wings with a lasso. Rarity fired a few gems at the unicorn, but a barrier spell shattered them to pieces. The other pegasus flew over Rarity and struck her with his lightning. She panicked and strafed away from the electricity while she fired more gems into the unicorn. All of her attempts to hurt him failed.

"Have you never fought a unicorn before?" the Psycho Mage asked rhetorically. "You should know better than to use that on me."

Rarity changed her tactics and aimed for the pegasus chasing her. Pinkie activated her cloak from the side to avoid any suspicion. Applejack kicked the downed Psycho Storm in the head to ensure his descent to slumber. The pegasus still in the air was shot down when three gems slammed into his eyes from breaking the lenses apart. He lost course of his cloud and accidentally struck himself with lightning twice, paralyzing half of his body. He soon fell to the floor with blood dripping from his cracked lenses. The Psycho Mage was busy firing magic blasts and wolf familiars at Twilight until Pinkie surprise attacked him. He immediately fell to the ground from the signature head slam Pinkie performed. This head slam involved placing her hooves on the temples of his head and smashing them together with the head in between them. His body twitched for a second before he slowly died from the crushed brain matter sloshing inside his fractured skull.

Twilight couldn't help but feel bad for the ponies. She didn't know who these stallions were, nor if they were really evil in the first place. All that she knew was that they served these creatures and attempted to kill her and her friends. She expressed guilt and sorrow through her words. "Is it really necessary to hurt these ponies like this? They are ponies after all."

"I don't think they are completely ponies," Travis argued after he scanned the unicorn's DNA. "Their DNA is mostly Equestrian, but the rest is from their original species. It states that they are a form of human hybrids."

"Are you saying that ponies and humans started loving each other or something?" Applejack asked without wanting a yes.

"No, I'm not." Applejack gave a sigh of relief from his answer. "I mean that they are genetically modified to be a combination of both ponies and humans. That must be why they work with these creatures. It's because they are these creatures."

"Is Dashie the same way?" Pinkie asked in slight fear.

"I doubt it. She looked the exact same from the inside out. I don't think she would be modified like that to serve these creatures."

A distant, feminine shout from behind the ponies quickly alarmed them. "Where are you four, you useless piles of manure? I can't wait to show all of you who runs the show here!"

Even though Pinkie knew who that was and wanted to hug them extremely tightly, Twilight stopped her to avoid a serious problem. she kept her voice quiet to not alarm Rainbow Dash. "We need to leave, now."

"Hey uh, Twi, I think we can handle a rogue Rainbow," suggested Applejack. "We already outnumber her by three."

Twilight hustled to the door the three ponies guarded and opened it with haste. "We have no time to stay here and find out. We need to go."

The quartet entered through the door rather quickly, but they were still too slow. "Aha, there you are, you failures!" Rainbow Dash was right behind them, hovering in the air with two laser machine guns and two flaming thrusters propped onto her sides. Her hooves were covered in spiked plates of metal, and her body was covered in a black suit. A strange device that resembled a metal box was strapped around her back. Even though all of these additions were terrifying, all of the ponies could agree that the icon of a screaming, maniacal human face with a sword stabbed in its bleeding head replacing her cutie mark was by far the most blood-curdling out of all of the details.

A challenger approaches: Psychotic Rainbow Dash, the vicious general of the Psychopaths

Twilight shut the door and barricaded it with some nearby scrap metal from a recall pile. She bent the pieces intricately to lock the door as many times as she could. When she was finished, a giant bundle of twisted pieces of metal blocked the door. Banging, screaming and gunshots emanated from the other side of the door, warning the quartet to run as fast as possible.

The room that these ponies entered was extremely large. A large sea of molten metal gently flowed at the bottom of the room, and multiple catwalks, staircases, conveyors, funnels, walkways, assembly lines, and balconies covered the entire room. multiple soldiers patrolled along these structures while pegasi in white uniforms worked on the assembly lines or carried materials from place to place. Multiple pieces of metal were being molded, forged, and bound in this room, most likely to create more Psycho Sentries and Psycho Enforcers.

Some of the Psycho Grunts patrolling the structures detected the quartet and opened fire. Twilight quickly raised a barrier spell around the group, and Rarity fired multiple gemstones at the soldiers. Some of the impaled soldiers fell into the molten metal, burning to bones and glop as the thick metal goo penetrated their suits. The blocked off door was banging even more violently too, adding more urgency to the situation. Twilight lowered her barrier when most of the Psycho Grunts died, but there were still more soldiers further ahead. Pinkie and Applejack raced ahead to take down the other soldiers in the distance. They kicked and bucked a few Psycho Flames and Psycho Troopers into the metal below, killing them extremely easily.

Then in the corner of Twilight's eye, another soldier ripped a piece of her ear off from afar. Apparently, a Psycho Snipe was sitting patiently on a balcony high up. He wore a helmet with a red visor and the basic armor for a Psycho Trooper. His laser sniper rifle was a long, double-bayonet semi-automatic with laser sights , and it was capable of firing six shots before a reload was needed. His task in this situation was to kill the ponies as quickly as possible. He needed to be efficient, quick, and unnoticed with his shots, or else a gemstone or magic blast might hurl towards him.

Sadly, he wasn't very subtle with his chipping of Twilight's left ear. Twilight fired a precision shot at the sniper and headshot it through his mouth. The sniper flew back into a wall with his brain matter and blood splattering it and his back. The Psycho Snipe had died a painful death.

When Pinkie and Applejack threw the last Psycho Trooper off of the catwalk, the blocked door blasted to bits. Metal flew everywhere as Rainbow Dash flew through the opening and scanned her surroundings. She noticed the melting corpses of the soldiers and the splattered brains of a sniper. This little assault pissed her off even more than needed.

"Where are these flocking rejects?" Her voice boomed through the entire room with an insanely loud scream. She noticed Twilight and Rarity walking along a catwalk and screamed again. "I'm coming for you two!"

The ponies looked back to see Rainbow Dash diving straight for Twilight Sparkle. Twilight activated a magical barrier around herself, bouncing Rainbow Dash off of the barrier and into a wall. The two unicorns dashed as fast as they could to the other door. They eventually reached Pinkie and Applejack to find another Psycho Wicked in their way once again.

The Psycho Wicked took a cup of the molten metal and poured it on his face. Sure, it would be extremely painful and unpleasant, but this guy couldn't feel pain. He believed that his exposed face would frighten the ponies off of the walkway, and it almost did. Molten metal and bloody chunks dripped from his face as he cackled a maniacal laugh. He held up his claw hand and clinked the blades together. "For this special occasion, I'll take the sirloin cut!"

Pinkie immediately screamed for her life and bucked the Psycho Wicked into the metal. She continued running and screaming until she reached the door. The other three ponies followed her, leaving the Psychopath to melt in the metal sea.

Rainbow Dash regained her balance and glared at Twilight and company. "I'm definitely not done with you four! Come back so I can drain the life out of you!"

The ponies opened and entered the door. Since there was a lock on the other side, they activated it and galloped further into the oddly comforting darkness of the halls. Rainbow bashed and slammed the door as much as she could, but it wouldn't budge open. The quartet had no time to look back and possibly face death again. They were on a time limit, and this limit was the time before Fluttershy potentially dies.

They galloped through the halls and encountered some Psycho Sentries, Psycho Grunts, Psycho Troopers, and Psycho Mages along their way to Fluttershy. Twilight was getting sick of the Psychopaths' method of converting themselves to ponies. This conversion only made the battles with those ponified variants more awkward and disturbing, not hard or tense.

The ponies eventually reached another hallway the turned to the left. After that small discovery, the locked door from earlier exploded out of the wall, releasing an unrealistically enraged Rainbow Dash. The group moved faster to avoid her, but they didn't try to hide. They were already deep in a maze of hallways, so there was no need to panic and reveal their position.

A scream echoed through the halls as a blur of wildly flapping wings and a furious face of evil peered down every hall. Yes, Rainbow Dash was considered a Psychopath now, but being insane is not the same as stupidity. She knew that these were earth ponies and unicorns she was chasing, so she had to be extra careful for magic and any dead bodies along the ground. She did notice a few downed Psycho Sentries and Psycho Grunts down one hall, so she flew into that hall and searched even more closely. The only thing she wanted was to annihilate these four ponies, no matter how dastardly the cost must be. She was the Element of Loyalty after all, and she showed this through her loyalty to the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

Twilight and company soon found a door with a red glow on the other side, but it was locked. They heard another ear-piercing scream down the halls, much louder this time than originally. Rainbow Dash was close, oh so close to the quartet. Their demise was waiting right behind the wall that severed the mad mare's view.

Then, as if it happened in a flash of light, which it definitely did, Rainbow Dash shot across the hall and right behind the ponies. She hovered in the air, donning a wicked grin in success. Her voice was the shrill and shakiness of falling and breaking twigs. "Now, I have finally caught you! There is no escape, wimps, just your ends on both sides of this hall!"

Twilight, not saying a word, glanced at Rainbow's face. She definitely saw anger, rage, and furiously awful fury, but she saw even more than just the skin itself. Inside those magenta eyes, she saw sadness, hopelessness, regret, longing, and the most dire and chilling of all, death. Is the true Rainbow Dash dead? No, no she isn't. Twilight shrugged that thought with a couple tears. She couldn't hurt her friend, no matter how deep in hell she was. She could never hurt who she loved dearly.

The ponies dodged to the left and right as a barrage of lasers smashed into the walls. Rainbow kept her aim on Pinkie Pie at the current time. Something about her attack pattern begged for her to die first. Pinkie zipped and hopped around the lasers, avoiding them rather easily. Unlike Twilight's ruined idea from attacking Rainbow Dash, Pinkie knew exactly what needed to be done. She primed a pink bomb and hurled it at Rainbow.

The bomb exploded on one of her thrusters, offsetting her flying for a second. She aimed for Pinkie again, destroying the next bomb that flew up to her face with a barrage of lasers. Applejack kicked a couple metal balls at Rainbow, but she easily dodged them and switched targets. The metal device on her back opened up, revealing a rocket launcher with four chambers and four already primed rockets. She fired the rockets towards Applejack, almost hitting her. She still threw Applejack's across the hall, but that dealt very little damage to her body. Rainbow Dash wanted a gash, not a bruise.

Twilight then noticed the rockets' destruction. They dented the thick metal on the walls, so will they destroy the locked door? She tested this by baiting Rianbow Dash with a fairly weak magic blast. Rainbow turned to Twilight and scowled at her viciously. Twilight galloped to the door while Rainbow fired a few rockets at her. Twilight leaped the right at the last second, exposing the door to its inevitable doom.

The rockets destroyed the door quite easily. Twilight got back up and examined the damaged done. The door wasn't there now, allowing access to the next room. She turned her head to the other three ponies and shouted at them. "Come one, girls! Over here!"

Pinkie immediately hopped to the door, and Rarity and Applejack raced to it as fast as they could. The quartet entered the next room and noticed its heavy resemblance to the last room. It was large as well with the same flowing, molten metal below and the walkways and other structures dotting the room. This time, however, the ponies could immediately see a brawny figure in the back carry Fluttershy on his shoulder. He was walking towards the ponies, but he did not know that they were standing there.

Rainbow Dash flew out of the doorway and hovered almost to the ceiling of the large room. "Attention soldiers, we have four failures in here that have been destroying our forces! Deal with them before they deal with us!"

Some of the Psycho Grunts and Psycho Troopers from afar aimed their weaponry to Twilight and company. Before they could fire their weapons, Twilight conjured a different setup for a deflect spell. She created a panel of deflecting magic in front of the soldiers, causing them to shoot themselves constantly. Most of the soldiers died swiftly, but the more observant and faster thinking Psycho Troopers stopped after one blast. They put away their guns and unsheathed their swords, rushing to the ponies while they sliced at Twilight's magic.

Twilight had to redirect her magic when Rainbow Dash began her flurry of lasers. She repositioned her barrier spell behind the ponies, protecting them from the lasers. Pinkie hopped towards the Psycho Troopers and pulled out her party cannon. She immediately sprayed the soldiers with razor confetti in their faces, blinding them and ruining their faces. Some of them fell off the platform from the blast while others swung randomly to strike her. They missed her, but they did hit each other, only worsening their luck even more than needed. Pinkie then prodded a hoof at one of the soldiers with a sword in their side, offsetting their balance and throwing them off the platform. The other Psycho Trooper holding onto the sword fell with him, both plummeting to their blazing demise.

Rarity dealt with the remaining soldiers with her gems, stabbing and killing them very quickly. After that little battle, the defended ponies hastened themselves to reach Fluttershy.

The soldier that dropped Fluttershy was extremely intimidating to the quartet compared to the other soldiers they faced. He was at least half a human taller than the Psycho Troopers, and his muscles were bulky and slightly metallic. His right arm was completely made out of metal, and the arm ended in a metal claw with a missile launcher sticking out of it. His left arm was organic and carried a modified scattergun with four barrels. The left side of his face was replaced with a glowing red eye and straps of metal replacing its face and jaw. The usual slicked back rainbow hair protruded out of its head. He wore a bigger variant of the Psycho Trooper's suit, but it was coated in more metal than usual. Big shoulder pads and boots were well matched with the metal suit and body, shimmering with an orange shine from the molten metal.

The Psycho Borg's voice was deep and mechanical, but its tone was not sadistic or destructive, it was rather blank. "Miss Dash seems displeased with the existence of you four. That means it is time to eliminate all of you."

The Psycho Borg stepped back and aimed its missile launcher. At around that time, Rainbow Dash was sick of firing at a magical barrier, so she flew over to the front of the group. She fired wildly, severing the group into two halves. The flying missiles that slightly leaned to the ponies' new positions were not helping either. Twilight and Rarity pelted gems and magic at the mechanical soldier. Surprisingly, Twilight's magic dealt multiple critical hits on the soldier, almost killing him from his failing and breaking machinery.

To retaliate against this attack, the Psycho Borg activated a shield around his body, protecting him from most projectiles. Pinkie strafed around the soldier and threw three pink bombs after this happened. The soldier fired a few missiles at her, but they missed and hit a few other soldiers on the other side of the room. The bombs around the soldier exploded, fragmenting the shield into pieces of lone electricity. Twilight then fired a few more magic blasts and destroyed the Psycho Borg. Pieces of his metal body fell apart as power cells and life support systems in his body broke apart. He fell to the ground and ignited into a small fireball.

Rainbow Dash was still hovering in the air, firing more laser blasts at the entire group. Twilight knew that they had to fight her, but she didn't want to. Pinkie hopped closer to Rainbow Dash and pulled out her party cannon. She fired the usual razor-sharp confetti out of the cannon, but it did not slice Rainbow into bits or even slice her body at all. She was perfectly unharmed from the attack, but she acted as if it dug into her flesh. Rainbow retaliated with a strong gust of wind towards Pinkie, almost throwing her into the molten metal. Rarity fired a few gemstones at her, hitting her about fifty percent of the time. The gems definitely hurt, but Rainbow Dash was still unharmed.

"What is wrong with my gems?" Rarity was completely baffled on what just happened. "Does she have an invisible barrier around her?"

Twilight knew that there couldn't be a barrier because Rainbow Dash was rubbing her somehow hurting side with a hoof. There had to be something else at work, but she didn't know what it could be. Twilight thought about this situation, no, opportunity, for a moment. If Pinkie and Rarity's attacks are not breaking her skin, then what will my magic do?

Twilight decided to test this with a magical blast. She fired it towards the slightly off guard Rainbow Dash with her magic, definitely hurting her. However, her body was still unharmed.

Instead of weakening Rainbow Dash, this sudden surge of pain fueled her inner, primal rage. This pain was what he needed to spark her inner flame, a flame that would ignite the rage bomb.

And so it did. Rainbow Dash's animalistic scream permeated the room with a force loud enough to shake the entire facility. She then dived straight into Twilight and pinned her down. She repeatedly punched her over and over like a defenseless rag doll, definitely breaking skin and breaking teeth. Soon, Rainbow's primal rage got the best of her and dictated all of her actions. She bit into Twilight's mane and threw her around the platform. Twilight was in the air now, circling around the unspeakably violent mare while blood flew from her open wounds and mouth. Pinkie put an end to the madness after she got back up and glanced at Applejack.

"Give me a boost up!" Pinkie demanded to Applejack. Urgency shook her words, cracking them into pure seriosity and delicious determination.

Applejack obeyed the need and galloped near Rainbow Dash. Pinkie galloped over there too, but she bounced over Applejack. She gave a quick nod before Applejack hoisted Pinkie up with her hind legs. Pinkie then hopped onto Rainbow and pulled her down to the ground, stopping her madness. Twilight, who was now about to fly into the molten metal, was saved by Rarity. She used her magic to quickly catch and levitate Twilight over the platform. Sure, it heavily drained her stamina, but it was worth it to save a friend.

Rainbow Dash kicked and squirmed under Pinkie's ground pound, but it was all to no avail. She then remembered the thrusters on her back and sneered a little. She activated the thrusters again, rocketing her out of Pinkie's hold and bringing her back into the air. She fired another line of lasers, but she had to dodge multiple attacks now from the ponies' discovery. She dodged most of the gems, bombs, metal balls, and magic hurling towards her, but some of them were able to easily strike her. Every time another projectile struck her body, she felt a tad bit weaker, but her primal rage did not allow her attacks to end.

She then changed her tactics again and flew around the platform at high speeds, forming a small tornado. This tornado quickly grew to a horrifying vortex of gale after only seven seconds. All five ponies were sucked into it, including the still asleep Fluttershy. Luckily, she quickly woke up after she noticed the sudden movement around her body. When she saw the tornado around her, she rubbed her eyes to check if she was dreaming.

She wasn't.

Fluttershy panicked, flung her wings open, and flew around the area wildly. When she noticed that Rianbow Dash was the one who was creating the storm, she confronted her with a slightly irritated attitude.

"Rainbow Dash, is there a reason why you are angry with them?" Her words were quite small and frail from her slightly croaking voice, but Rainbow heard every bit of them.

Rainbow Dash stopped the tornado, flinging the ponies in random areas around the platform. She then turned to Fluttershy and scanned her before scowling at her presence. Fluttershy only gasped at what she saw what Rainbow was wearing. Rainbow Dash was not herself by a long shot.

"Hey, I guess these other failures have a pegasus with them," Rainbow Dash declared in hindsight. Her quick interest faltered to disappointment. "That only makes your little group even more pathetic."

Rainbow Dash kicked Fluttershy with a rotating hindleg, spilling blood from her now bleeding mouth. Fluttershy cried a little, but she soaked up those tears and faced Rainbow with determination. She couldn't settle this dispute peacefully, and she knew that very well. So, to combat Rainbow Dash's kick in the face, Fluttershy was going to teach her a little lesson.

Fluttershy flew into Rainbow Dash and pinned her to the ground. Fluttershy lightly swung a hoof across Rainbow's face, not hurting her body one bit. She did it again, harder this time, but she obtained the same result. She did it again, even harder this time, but nothing changed. Rainbow quickly kicked Fluttershy off of her body and targeted her laser machine guns on her, ready to fire at any second. Twilight and Rarity attacked her from behind with magic and gems, damaging but not hurting her even more. She quickly turned backwards and fired four rockets, all of them not hitting anything from Pinkie's rocket guiding and catching skills. Just like what she did to Captian Akorazo, she steered the rockets into Rainbow Dash, dealing massive amounts of damage to her body.

Rainbow Dash flung backwards to a wall and recollected herself. She attempted to fire a few more rockets at the ponies, but it didn't work. She then looked over to where her rocket launcher was. The entire machine was destroyed, leaving nothing but a mechanical pad and a bundle of circuitry and metal extending out of a hole on the pad's top. She then glared back at Pinkie Pie with no mercy on her mind.

Pinkie immediately hopped out of the line of laser blasts, and Rarity and Twilight fried more gemstones and magic at Rainbow Dash, weakening her even more. Fluttershy, who was weakly flying above the battlefield, readied herself to dive into Rainbow. As more gems and magic flew at her, Pinkie inched closer and closer to her to deliver a fatal blow. Fluttershy, however, was the one to deliver this mighty attack when she pounced onto Rainbow Dash again and slammed both of her hooves on the mad mare's body. She first pummeled the chest, then she bashed the face.

After that critical hit, Rainbow Dash blacked out. She was still completely unharmed, but her body fell into a comatose state. Fluttershy gasped and backed away from her body, almost horrified to believe what she just did. Did, did I kill her? she panicked inside her mind while tears ran down her face. The other four ponies rushed over to Rainbow and examined her carefully.

Psychotic Rainbow Dash has been defeated!

"Is she dead?" Applejack regretfully questioned.

"I don't think so," Twilight answered while she examined Rainbow Dash's chest. "She's still breathing fine."

"Then what's the matter?" Pinkie shouted in terror. She rushed to Rainbow's body and shook her furiously. "Dashie, wake up! Please, wake up now!"

"Pinkie, stop your nonsense!" Rarity was not fond of seeing a friend not responding, but she didn't like Pinkie's shaking even more. "Let her wake up on her own pace. She needs time."

"Time for what? She's not dead, she doesn't need time!"

"It takes time for somepony to wake from something like that," Twilight added to Rarity's statement. Tears also ran down her cheek, but she kept herself strong. Her voice slightly broke though. "Just let her sit there for a while."

The ponies surrounded Rainbow Dash's still body, staying quiet as they waited patiently for their friend to wake. The first sign of her escape from unconsciousness was not a quiver in her face, but a glowing crack along her head. The ponies gasped as more cracks formed along the rest of her body, connecting to each other like a wicked jigsaw puzzle on a blue coat. The eyelids opened up once again, but they glowed with pure white. More cracks moved down her body and suit as she woke up. Pieces of her body fell from the cracks, opening herself to the ponies. More light escaped from these holes, almost blinding the quintet from their existence.

As more cracks opened and more pieces fell off of Rainbow Dash, the light grew whiter than white itself. Then, as if a bomb exploded inside her body, the rest of the pieces still on her body cracked and fell apart into nothingness. In fact, all of the pieces fell apart into nothingness. White light clouded all of the ponies' views, rendering their sight useless.

The light slowly faded as a new Rainbow Dash lay on the ground before the quintet. All of her suit was gone, and she looked so peaceful, like a corpse waking up after meeting its friend, death. She slowly opened her magenta eyes and blinked them twice. A smile crept across her face, but it was not of sadism or evil, it was of happiness and relief. Tears flowed down her blue cheeks as she got up and faced Pinkie Pie' gasping face once again.

Rainbow Dash hugged her tightly, almost like a powerful bear hug, but much more pleasant. Pinkie hugged back, almost crying into Rainbow's shoulder. Both of the ponies missed each other so much. Both of them traveled from hell to back to finally meet each other and unite once again.

What was this hell?

It was the death of their innocence.

Their escape from hell was the resurrection of their innocence.

When all of the other ponies were speechless, Travis broke the silence with wonderment. "What was that? I've never seen anything that powerful before."

"I, I don't know." Twilight was crying now, but it was not tears of sadness, it was pure joy. "But, it doesn't matter right now."

"Rainbow, it's nice to have you back," Applejack greeted as she pulled off her hat to respect Rainbow Dash's return.

Rainbow Dash looked over to Applejack and smirked. "Yeah, it's nice to have all of you back too."

"What happened to you?" Fluttershy asked in concern and interest. "You were so mean. You even tried to hurt us very badly!"

"That? These punks did something to my head. They put something on my head, and then I blacked out. Next thing I know it, I'm in this crummy cage with another me. She was such a jerk to me! She kept talking about how I was a failure and that all my friends were gonna die. I tried beating her up, but she didn't feel anything. I then noticed the weird vision or something that allowed me to see what was happening outside of my body. I saw marching ponies, a giant machine, and you five after some time."

She turned her head to Fluttershy with a playful shove to her shoulder. "I'm proud of you, Fluttershy. You proved to me that you can really show these dudes who's boss."

"Thank you," Fluttershy replied quietly. "I thought I was a little too far that time."

"Well, you might want to tone it down a little, but it was still awesome how you did that."

:rainbowdetermined2: has rejoined your party.

Travis was thinking about Rainbow Dash's little story for a second until something popped in his head. He realized that she couldn't hear him, so he had to alter his question a little bit. "Twilight, can you tell Rainbow Dash about this 'giant machine'?"

Twilight nodded as she looked over to Rainbow. "Hey, what exactly was that giant machine that you were talking about again?"

"It was some sort of thing these punks were calling the Device," Rainbow answered as she hovered over the ground now. "From what I know, that's where they take all of the ponies that are not in suits."

The entire group had different thoughts about this machine. Pinkie was frightened by the thought of a giant machine, but she felt determined with all of her friends by her side. Applejack and Rarity knew that this thing was probably the reason these creatures are here, and Fluttershy merely kept as little bad thoughts from penetrating her as possible. Twilight was completely worried on what this machine might be. If she had to guess from all of the other things she faced before, it must be a huge, self-aware robot of some sort. It would be way too easy to shut off a hulking machine with the flick of a lever.

"Well, we better make that hunk of metal our target, then," Applejack suggested. "Where do we go to reach it?"

"You six might have to backtrack a little bit," Travis answered. "The creature that was hauling Fluttershy was going the opposite direction as you six, meaning that the machine is probably back there." Travis couldn't point to the door the ponies entered from, but they knew what he meant.

"Then off we go to stop these meanies!" Pinkie declared as she hopped towards the door. The other five ponies followed her as they prepared for more fights and possible mishaps.

•—————•

As the sight of a familiar and still dark room unfurled into view, the demon lord still examined a table full of various holograms. He scratched his nonexistent beard pensively while he examined the columns of information around a unicorn.

This unicorn was Twilight Sparkle.

The main gate flung open once again. "Sir-"

The demon's voice cut off as Lord Zedin swiped his hand all the way to the novice demon. A large claw of darkness wrapped around his head and pulled him towards his lord. Zedin glared at him in an infuriated mood. "I know, bastard. Your annoying shrill is not needed today. Stick to simple talking, not screaming from miles away."

The novice demon was greatly horrified by this. "Yes, sire." His voice was merely a simple croak.

"Now, tell me your news like a good messenger."

"Captain Akorazo and his fleet were destroyed, sire. Those dreaded ponies did it again."

Zedin glared back at the Twilight hologram. "She is such a mischievous purple unicorn, but she is also rather powerful. I would applaud her, but that was not everything that we can muster. If only I could pick her out of her little group."

"Would you like to start another battle?" The novice demon was still shaking, but his voice calmed to a passive and submissive state.

"No, that would be foolish. GEST Corp. and Equestria have grown too powerful for us to attack again. We need to wait until they are weakened."

"Then when will we attack again?"

"Once that wretched pony is out of our way, we will strike. We need a plan, first."

"Do you have a plan, sire?"

Zedin looked down at his right hand while he answered that question. "I do, but it is in development. I need some more research before we delve into anymore fighting." Zedin made a shooing motion with his left hand toward the novice demon. "Now, begone. I need to study."

"Yes, sire." The novice demon rushed back to the door and left the throne room quickly and silently. Lord Zedin, the demon who was about to know too much, looked back at the Twilight hologram. He then placed an old compact disc from the twenty-first century onto the table. The disc showed the very same ponies, the Mane Six, that were already causing havoc for the Psychopaths. Happy smiles and those big, mischievous eyes dotted the disc like freckles on a young boy's face.

Zedin glared at the disc again and stroked his nonexistent beard again. "This, is interesting. Apparently, these creatures are too good to be true."

•—————•

After about an hour of running and gunning around the maze of halls and huge metal rooms, the ponies found a stairwell to the first floor. Above the stairwell was a sign indicating the direction of the Device. At the top of the stairwell was a set of double doors.

"This must be where we need to go," Twilight concluded from the sign. "Get ready, girls. I don't think these creatures will like us going through that place."

The rest of the group agreed on her statement and marched up the stairs in disorder. They entered the next room on the first floor to discover what awaited them ahead.

They were greeted by a circular walkway around a giant vat of hot rainbows. A giant machine similar to a taffy machine pulled the rainbows into long strands and shoved them down a ramp. Multiple pony soldiers marched along the walkway. Some were Psycho Storms without their cloud mounts, and a couple were a new variant of the basic pony soldier. They were earth ponies with laser machine guns strapped onto their sides, and their hooves contained cleats for pummeling anything in their way.

One of the soldiers noticed the Mane Six and shouted in urgency. "Hostiles inbound, men! Fire at will!"

The six ponies scattered around the walkway and prepared their own attacks. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew into the air, baiting some of the Psycho Storms to follow them. While some of the pegasus soldiers increased their altitude to fight the two mares, two Psycho Tramples on the ground confronted Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Pinkie hopped over the two soldiers and slammed her hooves on their backs. Applejack dodged the incoming lasers and also hopped over the soldiers, this time bucking their heads to deal even more damage. The soldiers staggered forward and turned around to face the two mares again. Pinkie threw a pink bomb between them. Once the bomb exploded, one of the soldiers was shoved off of the walkway and into the pit below. The other one lost two legs and his consciousness from the blast.

The Psycho Storms swooped around Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash at considerable speeds, but Rainbow was faster. She caught some of the soldiers in quick kicks and punches, spiraling them into the hot rainbows below. Some of the smarter soldiers kept their distance and fired multiple storm clouds at the mares. Rainbow intercepted them and kicked then back at the soldiers, paralyzing and frying them from the electricity. Twilight Sparkle and Rarity pelted magic blasts and gemstones at the still airborne soldiers. The gems stabbed into their bodies, and the magic severely damaged their wings. All of the soldiers were eventually destroyed as they fell into either the pit or the hot rainbows.

When the battlefield calmed down, the ponies regrouped at the other side of the circular room. Rainbow Dash took some time to regroup due to the remaining Psycho Trample body. She pulled off the machine guns and strapped them to her body, recreating the weaponry she always wanted to use. After she finished looting the body, the ponies walked into the hallway and examined the area around them. Multiple conveyor belts were moving various objects into funnels. Upon close inspection, the ponies gasped in shock when they discovered what the objects really were.

Multiple severed pony legs and heads rolled along the conveyor belts lifelessly. The strange thing about these body parts was the absence of any blood. The limbs and heads didn't bleed, and they were almost drained of any color. Every single one of them was some shade of grey. Even the irises of the dead ponies' eyes were grey.

Then, a humanly figure walked into view. He wore an outfit that almost matched the Psycho Wicked's discordant setup, but he wore something else on his head. He wore the same helmet that the pony soldiers wore, but it was modified to fit on a human. The lenses were colored to look like two bleeding eyes, and a long assortment of real, sharpened human teeth covered its face, creating a never-ending grin from one invisible ear to the other. In its right hand, it held a syringe with a green liquid inside of it. Its dominant hand was a chainsaw. It was already revving, ready to rip apart the ponies in one bloody swipe.

"Ladies, I believe it is time for a proper dissection." The Psycho Worker's words were distorted and broken to hell. "But first, I need every single one of you to stop moving and drink my solution."

Rainbow Dash fired a flurry of bullets at the worker, but all of the laser blasts deflected back at the ponies. Twilight raised a barrier spell at the last second to absorb all of the lasers. The worker sighed in disappointment and slowly walked towards the group. His chainsaw scratched the ground as he dragged its active end on the harsh metal. Twilight fired a few magic blasts, but they didn't do anything to him. Rarity hurled a few gems into the worker, but they bounced back from the suit's durability. The worker was now only three yards from the ponies now, and he slowly lifted his chainsaw to begin the surgery.

The ponies backed away from the Psycho Worker. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash flew over the worker to avoid his approaching chainsaw. The other four ponies kept backing away, attempting to fend off the worker as he took step after step. His armor was absurdly powerful compared to the other soldiers, and he was perfectly calm throughout the fight. He did not flinch, twitch, or cackle like a madman, but people without sanity don't have to act insane. Even the most sane people can be insane.

Rainbow Dash created a storm cloud and kicked it towards the Psycho Worker. When the cloud smashed into his armor, it electrified the entire suit, slightly damaging him. This electricity caught his attention, so he turned around and examined the two pegasi with death in his eyes. He walked towards the airborne ponies with a slightly faster pace. He then stopped walking once he was only a feet away from them, not counting the altitude of the ponies. He then kicked his feet on the ground. A blue glow wrapped itself around his boots as he bent down to a jumping position.

The Psycho Worker then jumped up to the ponies and blasted blue fire out of his feet. He hovered towards Rainbow first, slashing his chainsaw close to her neck. She backed away and hurled a bundle of electric clouds towards him again. He sliced at the cloud to destroy it, but the electricity traveled through his metal chainsaw, rendering his move useless. He brandished his syringe for a second before he evaded over to Fluttershy. He then stabbed the syringe on her neck and pushed down on the pump, releasing the green liquid into her body.

Fluttershy first felt a quick stab and an uncomfortable surge from the liquid, but what followed soon after was far worse. Pain seared around the penetrated area, and it quickly spread throughout her body. The pain at first was blunt like a bruise, but it soon converted to fire and needles all around her body. She screamed in pain as the control of her own body vanished. Muscles convulsed, and wings froze as she plummeted back to the ground.

The Psycho Worker simply crushed the syringe and pulled out a new one with the same liquid. The ponies on the ground quickly surrounded Fluttershy and checked her body. Her entire body was blackening, and her eyes slowly slipped into a complete white. Pinkie quickly pulled out a spirally green and yellow cupcake and handed it to Fluttershy. Since she couldn't chew the treat, Twilight moved Fluttershy's jaw with her magic. This definitely hurt her frail body, but it was needed for her to survive. Pinkie slowly shoved the treat into Fluttershy's mouth until it was all gone. Twilight then made her swallow with her magic.

Fluttershy's body sluggishly regained its original colors, and her eyes returned to normal. The feeling all around her body returned as well, and her wings loosened. She got back up after all of the pain washed out of her body.

The Psycho Worker above was busy hacking and slashing at Rainbow Dash, but he was missing every slice. While he slashed at the pegasus, Rainbow fired more clouds at him. After one last cloud from a flurry of his slashes, the worker convulsed one more time and fell to the ground. His neck snapped once he landed headfirst onto the metal. The Psycho Worker was dead.

The Mane Six regrouped back to a party of six. Rarity was the first to respond from the creature's attacks. "What did that wretch do to Fluttershy? Is there anything we have in Equestria that can do that?"

"No, not at all," Twilight grimly answered. "Whatever it was, that almost looked like the process of decomposition."

"You're saying that she died from that thing?" Applejack questioned with a contorted frown.

"That can't be possible! My treats don't work on things that died!" Pinkie pulled out another cupcake of the same style to emphasize her point.

"It looked more like rapid necrosis than rotting of the body," Travis informed. "There have been certain chemicals that can do that to the body. Maybe that was exactly what that thing put into Fluttershy."

"Whatever it was, we can't stay here for long," Rainbow Dash gruffly stated. "We need to leave this hall before anything else attacks us."

The group of ponies agreed and moved along the halls. They encountered a few more groups of Psycho Grunts, Psycho Troopers, Psycho Storms, Psycho Tramples with rocket launchers on their backs, and a couple Psycho Workers here and there. They traversed along more conveyor belt hallways, rainbow mixing stations, walkways with pitfalls, and a few piping areas. After another thirty minutes of running and gunning, the group reached a dark door. The sign above the door read 'Main Production Room'. Whatever was on the other side must be the ponies' destination.

"All right, girls, this is where that machine is located," hoped Twilight. "We better be prepared for anything now, okay?"

"I think we can handle this hunk of metal," Rainbow Dash cockily proposed.

"I think we need to be careful, especially after Fluttershy's incident with that syringe thing."

Rainbow rolled her eyes and waited for the doors to open. Twilight entered the same code from earlier into the keypad next to the door. A green light flashed above the keypad and opened the door, allowing the ponies to enter. They walked into the large room on the other side. For some reason, there was a thick fog of black in the room, cutting the ponies' vision to about only ten yards. The area was rather stuffy and made some of the ponies cough from the air. Screams of terror echoed around the group, horrifying them a little more than needed. Eventually, the ponies reached a large machine that was much bigger than them.

The machine was the shape of a gargantuan trapezoidal prism with half of a stretched pyramid in its front. The machine was attached to a hemisphere base that rested on six small supports attached to the ground. Two giant tanks, one cylindrical and one rectangular, were placed on the machine's back. Two pipes stretched from the tops of these tanks and attached themselves to the machine's sides. Six panels on both sides of the machine carried one color each. Two panels were red; another pair, orange; another, yellow; another, green; another, blue; and the last pair, purple. These panels were arranged in two two by three patterns, and their specified colors glowed brightly in front of the ponies. A small, circular nozzle stretched out of the machine's front, depositing a stream of rainbows into a funnel on the ground.

How did the ponies see all of this? The fog around them thinned to a moderate amount once the machine entered their view.

High above the machine was a catwalk with three ponies on it. Two were Psycho Storms, and one was the same silvery stallion from earlier. The stallion opened his mouth and spoke to the ponies below. He would slow clap them right now, but his anatomy and position didn't allow it. "Well done, ladies. Apparently, you four recovered your yellow pegasus, and–" he gasped a fake gasp "–you converted Miss Dash to your side. Bravo, bravo to all of you!" He chuckled to himself and peered down at the ponies again. "Now, I must ask, what makes you six desire the destruction of our grasp on this city?"

"Like I already said," Twilight angrily spat at the stallion, "your terror is not welcome here! We'll not stand to your evil acts!"

"It's just a way of life, dear. There is no need to hold so much hatred like that." He nodded his head quickly to signal one of the Psycho Storms to press the red button next to him. "Besides, we have other plans for you six. Just because you kill my troops does not mean you are inefficient. In fact, it means quite the opposite."

"You know, something has been bugging me," Applejack recalled as she remembered the conveyor belts. "How do you have so many dead ponies here?"

"Oh, that. Maybe this will tell you!"

The Psycho Storms quickly shot up to the air and flapped a huge gale into the room. The fog cleared as multiple metal tables entered the group's view. Several ponies were strapped onto the tables, and they were kept shut by a piece of metal that wrapped around their mouths. A giant, opaque pipe with a cylindrical mechanism at its end lowered to a green and orange mare. At the end of this mechanism was a long needle similar to the syringes from the Psycho Workers. The needle stabbed into her chest and sucked all of the fluids out of her body. The pigment faded away and turned gray. The mare's eyes turned a glossy black, white, and gray mixture. A set of claws then lifted the table and positioned it over the machine. The sound of multiple chainsaws revving permeated the room as the mare fell into the machine. Shrieks and shredding flesh exploded from the machine's top. After only two seconds, the screams were muffled by the gurgling of blood and metal. Shortly after this small event, the flowing rainbows brightened a little from the death.

"You're turning ponies into rainbows?" screamed Pinkie Pie in shock.

"No no no no, not at all." The stallion was infuriated by this heavy misunderstanding. "That's the byproduct. The real solution is life force from the ponies. That is what we need. The rainbows then go through the usual process so that they are exactly like the ones created from the old Cloudsdale Weather Factory."

"What do you do with this, life force?" Rarity asked with just a hint of curiosity.

"Life force is found in everything that lives. Basically, it is the soul of a living being. Some creatures that are lower on the evolution scale or are more primitive in nature have fairly little life force. For example, wolves are not very efficient in life force. Originally, we used humans due to their well advancement." The stallion rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, that is probably why GEST Corp. is rather hostile towards us. Anyway, humans were effective, but they were still too inefficient. That is where your species comes in. We discovered that your species holds seven times more life force than a human being, making you six rather efficient."

"So, you're harvesting us like some wicked farm?" Applejack presumed from the small lecture.

"If you want to see it that way. Unfortunately, we hit a few brick walls while we attempted to switch to ponies. The first was the actual switch. We needed to become ponies and study pony architecture, history, and culture before we started all of this processing. The second was that we needed to upgrade our harvesters to also harvest the magic. The magic is where most of the life force is contained. The third is, well, supply shortages. That is why we set up a few breeding lists to increase the amount of ponies that we can use for our fuel supplies. Luckily, our technology can make these ponies age rather quickly to fulfill the demands."

The ponies felt sick from that idea, especially Rarity. She stuck her tongue out in disgust from the very thought of this breeding. "Eww, how horrid! How can you do such a thing to random ponyfolk?"

"Frankly, dear, that is how life works. Once a species advances enough, they can just choose which creatures will breed with each other."

"That's just mean!" Pinkie exclaimed angrily. "You can't just pair ponies together like that! They need to find their special somepony first!"

The stallion shook his head and resumed to his original plans. "Alright, enough stalling! This day will be your last, ladies! Prepare for the duel of a lifetime!" The stallion glared down at the massive machine in front of the ponies. He smiled a little from its whirring. "And right on queue, too!"

Steam flew out of the sides of the machine as two more opaque pipe stretched our of its sides. Their ends were covered with cylindrical pieces of metals that functioned like cannons. The nozzle in the front of the machine extended to about six times its original length. The supports on the hemispherical base broke apart as two opaque pipes shot out of the base and lifted the machine upwards, ripping apart the catwalk above it. Luckily, or unluckily, the stallion already moved away from the machine. As the machine was now standing on two huge legs, another pipe, resembling the same machine that sucked the life out of the mare, shot out of the machine's back. Two glowing eyes opened on the two sides of the machine's front, and a large, sharp grin cracked around the bottom half of its half pyramid front.

In a severely mechanical voice, the Device bellowed its command. "All equines that do not obey will be eviscerated."

A challenger approaches: The Device, a malevolent machine created of humans, by humans, and for humans

The Device spewed a stream of hot rainbows from its nozzle at the ponies. They swiftly dodged the glop before it could catch and burn them to death. The machine raised one of its metallic feet and stomped next to the rainbow puddle, shaking the ground with a shockwave. All of the ponies except Rarity and Pinkie dodged the shockwave. Those two ponies flew back from the wave and slammed onto the metal ground. The machine whirred and fired a laser beam from its left cannon arm. It missed the four ponies over there, but that didn't distract it from its real goal.

Twilight strafed around the machine and fired magical blasts at its body. The metal was so powerful, even magic couldn't penetrate its outer layers. Applejack and Rainbow Dash fired lasers and metal balls at the body to help Twilight. Again, it was no use. Pinkie and Rarity got back up and strafed around the machine with Twilight. Rarity fired her useless gems at the metal body, only making tink sounds from the rebound of her weaponry. The machine whirred again and fired another laser beam. This time, it was dangerously close to Pinkie and Applejack, but the beam didn't hit them. Rainbow Dash flew up to the machine's top to discover a large stream of hot rainbows hurling directly towards her. The stream only stopped when she hovered back to ground level.

"How do you even hurt this thing?" shouted Twilight with panic as a metal foot almost crushed her. "It's immune to my attacks!"

"And we can't fly up to it either!" Rianbow Dash added while she checked her wings.

Rarity realized where all of her friends were attacking and aimed somewhere else. She threw a few gemstones into the Device's right leg. The gems wedged into the opaque pipe, dealing only a minuscule amount of actual damage. Twilight noticed this damage and fired a few magical blasts at the machine's legs. The magic damaged the legs even more, but they were still a long way from destroying this thing. Pinkie added to the damage by hurling a bomb at its left leg. The Device finally noticed the ponies' strategy and kicked the bomb back at her, covering her in a cloud of pink and spilt blood. Rainbow Dash hovered near the legs and blasted them with multiple lasers, poking holes in the circuitry and metal. A right leg rose above her and smashed down, not killing her due to a nimble dodge. The Device blew more steam and swung a cannon arm at her. She was swatted out of the air and onto the ground like an irritating fly.

Applejack trod close to the metal feet and prepared a lasso. She had to use the lasso like a hook to catch both legs, or else it would simply touch the metal and slip away. Obviously, the legs were too big for the lasso, only allowing it to wrap around three-fourths of the legs. The Device moved one leg backwards and swung Applejack towards it. A kick then followed as Applejack felt the blunt pain of a metal plate on her face and chest. The machine roared mightily and spewed more steam out of its metal body.

"Insolent equines, your strategies are laughable." The Device's booming voice was still hollow like a metallic monster.

Pinkie got back up, wiped the blood off of her face, and galloped towards the machine's legs. Fluttershy and Rarity were dodging laser beams while Twilight strafed to various spots to obtain a good firing spot. Pinkie hopped onto the left leg and climbed up to about halfway. She bashed the metal over and over again with her hooves, cracking the plating and denting some of the metal layers. She eventually created a hole in the leg big enough to squeeze into. She climbed into the hole and bashed more metal and circuitry from the inside. The left leg's opaque pipe bulged in some areas and broke in others. Rainbow Dash dodged another stream of hot rainbows and aided Pinkie's slamming by firing more lasers into the leg. She aimed for the top of the leg to prevent any friendly fire.

By the time Pinkie opened up another hole to crawl out, the entire leg was nearly ripped off of the machine. Twilight finished the job with an explosive blast at the top of the leg, ripping the entire metal pipe off of the Device. The machine collapsed to the ground quickly, but it was saved by ten black tendrils that shot out of the newly created opening. The tendrils lowered the machine's height, but they still allowed a fair amount of movement. The machine raised its remaining leg and slammed it on the ground twice, creating two more shockwaves. Twilight created a barrier spell around herself and Rarity, Pinkie spun over the waves and landed perfectly, Rainbow and Fluttershy flew over them harmlessly, and Applejack hopped over them skillfully. The machine whirred and fired two laser beams at the same time, crowding the battlefield with deadly heat. Another splurge of hot rainbows splashed onto the ground and covered more of the area. Thankfully, the other patches of rainbow muck cooled to room temperature, but they were still as spicy as ever.

Twilight and Rainbow fired more lasers and magic at the remaining leg, and Pinkie soon followed with a few pink bombs. The leg blew apart after Rarity stabbed the leg again with dozens of gemstones. Ten more tendrils sprouted out of the new hole, but the Device was now dangerously close to the ground. The ponies could see a metal hemisphere bulge on the machine's top now, and the arms were now swinging around the field freely like oversized jump ropes. The ponies except for the two pegasi hopped over the incoming arms. The Device then repositioned them next to its sides and fired short laser beams. The ponies dodge rolled from left to right, constantly evading the soaring beams. Rainbow Dash fired more lasers at the machine's body, but she got the same result, again.

"Why does this thing have to be so tough?" Rainbow Dash flew next to the Device and punched one of its eyes with a hoof. Nothing happened.

"This thing is made out of some sort of synthetic galactium," Travis informed.

"Galactiwhat now?" Applejack asked in bafflement while more laser beams flew fairly close to her face.

"Galactium. It is a type of organic material that is virtually impossible to forge or cut. Only the mighty Galactian race has it because galactium is part of their bodies."

"So, you are stating that the strongest material that ever existed is from an unsightly creature's body?" Rarity was disgusted by this fact, but she still wondered what it might look like. Perhaps galactium is more beautiful than gems.

"When you say it that way, it seems like it."

The Device roared again as more steam spewed out of its metal body. Another splash of hot rainbows plopped onto the battlefield, halting any access to melee attacks. Twilight noticed the same metal in the machine's arms that was in its legs. "Hey, girls, I think I found something!"

"Then spit it out, Twily! I'm not in a good position right now!" A large machine that resembled the life force harvester that killed the mare was attempting to stab Pinkie's body. She kept dodging from left to right, but the harvester followed her everywhere. One time, it almost stabbed her in her left hind leg, but it hit her frizzy tail instead. That was good enough, as the harvester was able to lift her by the tail and pull her towards the machine's slaughter maw on its top. She saw the multiple rotating blades and slicing saw blades around and inside the hole. They were crimson red from the leftover blood and flesh from the other ponies who gruesomely met their horrible fates. She screamed for dear life as the harvester threatened to let go of her tail.

Rainbow Dash sprung into action and zipped towards Pinkie Pie. The Device quickly blasted a laser beam at her, singing some of her left wing. Rainbow ignored the injury and pain as she grabbed Pinkie and landed on the metal floor. She then dodged a quick laser blast that almost fried her head into grade A pegasus meat.

"Aim for the arms!" Twilight shouted as another splash of hot rainbows almost hit her right side.

Applejack strafed around the Device, and Rarity fired multiple gemstones into its arms. Applejack hopped onto the machine's right arm and slammed her hooves into the metal repeatedly, mimicking Pinkie's method of attack. Twilight fired multiple magic blasts at the right arm while Rainbow Dash pelted it with several laser blasts. The arm was now filled with several rips and small holes in its metal and circuitry, and Appleajck was about to increase that damage by tenfold. She burrowed a hole into the arm and positioned her legs carefully. When she thought the time was right, she bucked into the metal of the arm, destroying some of the arm's connection to the body. She bucked again into two other areas, almost severing the arm. When she bucked the last sliver of metal connecting the two parts of the arm, the entire arm fell to the ground with a thud. Applejack crawled out as fast as she could before ten sharp tendrils exploded out of the new opening in the Device.

The Device roared mightily and spewed clouds of steam out of its body. Twilight and Rarity were now aiming for the other arm while they dodged and strafed around the machine's hot rainbows. Rainbow Dash was having a little trouble with the abundance of tendrils attempting to stab her out of the air, and Fluttershy was starting to worry about her friends. She tested the machine's attention by flying a little closer to the still attached arm. The machine didn't see her and was completely focused on the two unicorns firing things at its metal. She then lightly punched the metal to deal some damage, but her attack was too weak. She did it again, a littler harder this time, but nothing happened still. She then added much more force to her punch the third time, finally denting the metal. She gasped and held her hooves up to her mouth from the slight damage to the machine.

Pinkie Pie was dodging various laser beams and tendril swipes as she scanned the entire machine. She noticed that dreaded life force harvester hovering over to Twilight and quickly galloped to her position. The harvester inched closer and closer to Twilight, but she didn't notice it from her attention on the hot rainbows and laser beams. Pinkie hopped on the harvester's opaque pipe and slammed her front hooves on the mechanics inside the harvester end. She eventually flattened the metal after about five slams, rendering the harvester useless. She then broke apart a section of the pipe, severing the harvester from the machine altogether. The machine drew back what was left of the harvester limb and aimed specifically for Pinkie now.

Fluttershy was repetitively punching the metal, but her attacks were too weak to deal any serious damage. Rainbow Dash, now firing at the left arm of the machine, was glaring at Fluttershy's work. Rainbow was not very pleased to see this.

"Fluttershy, you have to hit harder!" Rainbow Dash cupped her hooves around her mouth and faced Fluttershy.

"But, I don't want to kill it!" Fluttershy responded in a slight shout.

"It's a robot! Robots can't really feel anything!"

Fluttershy was hesitant to do so, but she did hit harder the next time. The dents were bigger and more detailed now, but she had a new problem now. She couldn't muster enough strength to directly fight the machine. Pinkie and Applejack ran to the arm to help the other two pegasi already there. Pinkie latched onto the part closest to the Device's body, created a small hole in the area, and placed a pink bomb in the hole. She hopped off the arm while she signaled the other three ponies to get away from the arm. The ponies did so, allowing the bomb to cleanly rip off the entire metal arm and smash it to the ground. Ten sharp tendrils shot out from the new hole as a result.

Twilight was testing other areas of the Device's body for any weakness. The tanks were strong, the main body was strong, and the eyes were strong. She fired a single magic blast at the nozzle that spewed the hot rainbow mess, and the blast actually worked. Rarity fired a few gems at the nozzle, cracking and breaking various pieces of it. Hot rainbows leaked out of the nozzle at a slow drizzle. Rainbow Dash joined the two unicorns' onslaught by firing several lasers at the nozzle. This drilled multiple holes into the metal that leaked even more rainbows. Eventually, Twilight used an explosive blast that shot into the nozzle and blew up at the end of the nozzle. The entire piece of metal burst apart and created a continuous drizzle of hot rainbows. The Device was almost powerless.

In the top of the device, the same hemisphere bump that the ponies saw from earlier rose up a little to reveal a black circular mass with two narrow eyes. Its voice was the same tone as the Device, but it was much clearer, slicker, and most of all, much more sinister. "None of you can fathom how much hatred I contain for you ingeniously insolent equines. Prepare to die, intruders."

Twilight knew that that creature must be the weak point of the Device. The entire machine was completely made out of metal but what about the organic creature inside? It didn't represent a humanoid nor a pony, so it must something much more dangerous, right? Whatever it was, Twilight was determined to destroy this metal beast.

"Girls, we need to get on top of the machine!" Twilight ordered to her friends. "Aim for that, whatever it was that just popped out of that hole!"

"On it, Twilight!" Thanks to the destruction of the nozzle, Rainbow Dash flew over the Device safely and landed on it without any further harm. She was now in front of a gaping maw filled with blood and blades. On the other side was the bump and two slender, metallic claw arms that shot out of its sides. Twenty sharp tendrils from the arm holes guarded the bump by slithering close to it. They waved their sharp ends to intimidate Rainbow, but it didn't work. She flew over the maw and gunned down the tendrils. They shook and staggered back, but they kept themselves in the air. Another key feature was that they were completely unharmed. The lasers may have startled them, but they did not damage them.

Pinkie Pie and Applejack joined Rainbow Dash as they climbed up the hunk of metal. Twilight teleported herself up there, and Fluttershy carefully landed next to her.

Rarity was the only one still on the ground. "Excuse me, but I need one of you to help me climb this thing. I'm not as, hoppy, as Pinkie."

Twilight nodded and lifted Rarity upwards with her magic. When Rarity landed on top of the Device, the tendrils sliced at Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Pinkie was punching a few away, and Fluttershy already pinned down three of them on the ground. The bump rose a little, revealing the creature again. Twilight immediately fired three blasts of magic into it, dealing astronomical damage to the entire machine. The lights in the Device's eyes flickered from the blasts, and more steam spewed out a little more violently than usual. The creature retreated back into its hole to avoid any further damage.

The top of the hemisphere bump opened two line slits that moved around two buzz saws. One of the claw arms grabbed one of them and tossed it towards Twilight. She intercepted the buzz saw and broke it in half, rendering it somewhat useless. She then tossed it into the maw and fired a few magic blasts at the claws. Rainbow Dash was punching and kicking one of the arms, but it didn't budge nor dent. Pinkie Pie threw a pink bomb at the other claw arm, but when it exploded, nothing happened.

A claw arm took the other buzz saw and swung it near Rainbow Dash. She was grazed on the right foreleg and side, but that was nothing compared what could have happened. Rainbow created and slammed a storm cloud onto the claw arm, short circuiting it from the surge of electricity. The other claw arm swung at her and missed. Pinkie hopped near the arm and grabbed the claw arm. She held onto it as if her life depended on it, and it did. However, two more buzz saws popped out of the line slits, allowzing the arm to slam Pinkie on them. When it tried to do this, Applejack held it back with all of her might. Pinkie let go of the claw and signaled Rainbow Dash to zap it. She created another storm cloud and bashed it on the claw, temporarily stopping the claw's mayhem.

Twilight and Rarity were still fighting off the deadly tendrils as the creature returned back to its scanning state. Pinkie swiftly held the bump open and crammed herself into the creature's space. She then bashed, kicked, bucked, and punched the black mass over and over again, releasing more steam and worsening the Device's condition with every passing millisecond. She eventually punched her hooves into its eyes, blinding the creature and destroying most of its fragile brain. She gave one more quick blow to the head before placing a bomb with it and crawling back out of the space. The bomb exploded, ripping the black mass into various pieces of black blood and flesh. Some of the blood splattered on the ponies' faces, both sickening them and obscuring their vision. For some inexplicable reason, the blood tasted like kiwis.

The Device whirred until the lights in its eyes died. Rainbows calmly dripped out of the broken nozzle, and the tendrils flattened and stopped squirming. It seemed as if the battle was over. The Device was completely dead, and the remaining Psychopaths that were in the room left quite some time ago. Even the silver stallion himself left the amusing yet horrific fight to deal with other matters.

The Device has been defeated!

Fluttershy released the tendrils and regrouped with the other ponies. The Mane Six examined the once again foggy room. Darkness surrounded their view, only allowing some of the room to stay visible. Then, the main door to the room slammed open harshly. Five figures in the shape of humans crouch ran or strafed around the area.

"Argh, why don't they just give up?" Rainbow Dash sprung into action and slammed into one of the slower figures. She then noticed that the creature was still standing, but it lost its head. Wait a minute, she thought to herself as she examined its body. That's not one of them.

"What the hell, man!" shouted something from behind Rainbow Dash. She looked back and saw a human skull looking up at her with an irritated face.

"Ahh! What the hay are you?" She jumped back in adrenaline-based fear. "Are you one of those dead freaks?"

"Dude, can you stop with the insults?" The head floated back to the body and reconnected itself with its skeletal body. The body was wearing a GEST Corp. brand chest plate and greaves. He carried two glossy black swords, one flaming and one electrified. His eye sockets were filled with small, red pupils, the same ones found on the burning undead from the Universal Graveyard. "We're just here to get you outta here, not fight."

"Wait, what?" Twilight cocked her head in confusion. "Who sent you here?"

"Well, GEST Corp. of course," a gruff and deep voice answered. It came from a slightly bigger skeleton with GEST Corp. visor helmet and a kavarian battle suit. He wielded a laser rifle with two barrels and a laser sight. "We're the new divisions General Solk made for us."

"We heard that you six were having trouble with these humanish things," another voice stated with a British accent. It came from a skeleton cloaked in a black robe. He wielded an experimental plasma sniper rifle with laser sights and a chainsaw bayonet. "Surprisingly, these fleshbags are big pushovers. One of the soldiers with claws for hands and some sort of spike gun died instantly from my chainsaw." The skeleton got a little cocky as he remembered the Psycho Wicked a little more. "He slapped me in the bones five times with his claws, and I didn't even feel a thing!"

"Uh, I think that's because we're dead," the first skeleton concluded.

"Oh, right. That thought slipped my mind."

Twilight tried to recall what the skeletons were here for. "Well, we don't really need an escort. We have a teleporter already." Twilight supported her statement by pulling out the cube from her pocket chest.

"Oh well," said another slightly southern skeleton in the group. He wore a generic GEST Corp. suit and helmet, but his weapon was rather unique. He wielded a sword that was also a shootable gun. The barrel was placed inside the blade, and the sword fired special fragmentation bullets. "More shootin' for us. C'mon, boys, let's go kill a few more of these livings!"

The skeletons shouted in approval as they marched out of the huge room. The same skeleton that Rainbow Dash assaulted lingered for a while longer. "Oh, yeah, I remembered something." He turned to Twilight with serious seriousness in his eyes. "I heard something about your future. It's supposed to involve 'The Overlord' or something like that. I have no idea what it means, but you better be careful. I heard that he's your killer."

Twilight gulped down her fear and widened her eyes from that statement. "Who's The Overlord?" Her words were quiet and shaky like autumn leaves.

Pinkie walked up to Twilight and placed a hoof over her shoulder. "Don't worry, Twily. I bet that's something for the far future. We still have lots of fun activities ahead of us!"

"Well, I suppose I can ignore it for now."

That was a lie.

Twilight placed down the cube and pressed the button on it. The cube blinked green and unfolded into a hexagonal teleporter with six poles that exchanged electricity between each other. Twilight and company walked onto the teleporter and awaited their departure. After only a few seconds, the ponies dissipated into green and blue light, leaving nothing behind but the deactivating teleporter and a broken machine.

•—————•

The Mane Six materialized at the GEST Corp. camp, and what awaited them was only slightly different. The sky was teeming with drop ships and a few assault ships, and the soldiers at the camp were all in one piece. The cool blanket of the nighttime stars covered the world in grace. The moon shined brightly along the inky sky, providing the light that would make the night bearable.

The soldiers greeted the ponies and opened the ramp door for them. Unconsciously, the ponies walked back into the drop ship like good old wartime tradition.

The pilot looked back at the complete set and greeted them happily. "We'll be taking you home. Plus, General Solk has something to say to all of you before you go home."

"What does he want?" asked Applejack.

"You'll know it when he asks it."

The drop ship descended from the high altitudes to about only two hundred feet from the ground. The ship calmly flew back to Ponyville with no rush or careful precision. The night was extremely calm, and so was the rest of the planet.

When the group finally reached Ponyville, they landed in the town square. Once the ramp door lowered, the six ponies were greeted with applause from humans, ponies, and skeletons. General Solk stood in the back of the crowd and signaled it to split for him. The crowd opened a small pathway from the ponies to Solk, allowing the seven to converse.

Solk greeted the ponies with a mighty salute. "Excellent job, girls. You six are truly heroes of your world."

Twilight slightly blushed from the massive crowd. "We did what we had to. Equestria needs us, and we need Equestria."

Solk kept his mighty grin as he released more news to the ponies. "Also, we have discovered that multiple forces that invaded this planet are withdrawing their forces. The demons completely retreated back to our world, and the kavarians completely switched their focus from Equestria to us. Even though we won't be guarding your world with strong forces, we will be out there fighting." He and the ponies looked up at the stars. "If you ever wonder where we are, just look up. We'll be in space, fighting off these creatures before they invade this world."

"Also, we don't have to worry about those creatures anymore," informed the smooth voice of Princess Celestia. She approached the ponies and stood next to General Solk. Several ponies bowed down to her, multiple humans saluted, and the skeletons looked around in bafflement. "The ED Space Station will notify us if anything else invades Equestria. And, with Solk's account on his world, we can expect another invasion in about a month or so."

"Does that mean we can resume our normal lives?" Twilight Sparkle wanted a yes to that answer badly.

"You'll get your old lives back," Solk answered. "We don't want you six to fight in our world unless you really want to."

"I think I'll just tend to the farm instead of fighting more of those, things." Applejack did not want to meet something like Pinkie Pie's sanity break or the Psychopaths ever again.

Rarity looked over to Applejack for a second before turning to Solk again, "Yes, and I would really appreciate it if you tell us ahead of time whenever one of those brutes decides to hurt us."

"That's fine," Solk stated with content. "Just take note that if something does come back, you six might have to go out there and fight again."

Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky again and yawned as she stretched out her legs. "Well, I'm beat. I'm going to go back to my house if that's okay with all of you."

"Go ahead. I won't stop you."

Rainbow flew up to the sky and waved goodbye to her friends. They waved back as she flew back to her cloud home. The other ponies followed her actions and traveled back home as well.

After most of the crowd returned to their homes or bases, Twilight said her goodbyes to Solk and Celestia as she walked back to her treehouse. She opened the door once again, allowing the warmth of her home to comfort her exhausted body. She stood next to a table and put away a few items from her pocket chest. She pulled out the shiny stone first and gently placed it on the table. She then pulled out a few various items collected from her travels.

The first was the random scrap metal from Dr. Scraps's forces in his base in Ghastly Gorge. She admired the tech, but it was severely broken from her friends' attacks. The next was various knives and other cutlery from the catacombs. She would have brought back a few bones, but she thought against the idea of desecrating the giant crypt. She then placed down a few demon weapons and armor. Their tools of destruction were rather perplexing to Twilight, especially the titanium used for their bulky plating. Lastly, she pulled out a Psycho Wicked's charm and the life force harvester head from the Device. Both of these pieces frightened and interested her. Even though they brought back bad memories, it is always best to keep those memories intact.

After she examined her little trinkets one last time, she took off her suit and brought it upstairs. She entered her room and placed the suit next to her bed. She climbed into the bed, pulled the covers over her body, and turned off the lights. What then raced through her head was horrifying yet pleasant.

She saw the gorey bodies of the catacombs. Pinkie was there, mutilating each and every one of them as she slurped up their bodily fluids and chomped on their flesh and organs. However, this monster of betrayal was soon replaced with the bright and bubbly mare that always loved a good party. She then saw Sergeant Deadlocke's bullets fly through the air. They ruined her body with every strike, but one demon rebel, Hannibal, stood up for her and fought back at Deadlocke. Hannibal prevailed and grew with the ponies along their way to Akorazo, but he was soon torn away by the hands of war when he was needed for GEST Corp's demon forces. Lastly, Twilight saw Rainbow Dash, a scarred mare that was twisted to the Psychopaths. Her undying loyalty to serve them died in a not so long ago battle between Twilight and company. She was soon restored back to her former self afterwards. She was brave, loyal, and most of all, pure, after her conversion back to Rainbow Dash. Psychotic Pinkie Pie, Loyal Hannibal, and Miss Dash were gone. What remained were three friends that Twilight never wanted to lose.

"It will be okay," she told herself in her descent to slumber. "You will never lose them, and they will always be there for you."

"Sometimes, the most atrocious monsters come from your greatest friends, and your greatest friends come from the most atrocious monsters."

End of Act III: Betrayal and Corruption

Act IV, Chapter 2: Celestia's Assassin
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act IV, Chapter 2: Celestia's Assassin

After the Mane Six came back from their small departure to Jersoven, they were immediately greeted by the one and only General Solk. He stood outside the town hall with a gun in hand and battle armor to boot. Soldiers marched around the area and assigned themselves to posts, and a few ponies watched them prepare the entire city for potential war. When Solk saw the six ponies again, his face was not of pleasure or happiness to see them. It was only relief.

"Twilight," he began his small discussion with a worried tone, "we are about to face possibly the most destructive force to ever land on this planet. We have exact timing on when these kavarian forces will attack. They are planning an assault on Canterlot tomorrow shortly after noontime. For now, you six have done everything you could. Now, go get some rest and speak to your families before tomorrow strikes. Meet me at the gates of Canterlot at around eleven o' clock. I'll tell you your job and what you must do then."

The ponies nodded and replied to Solk with valor. Rarity was the first to speak. "We will make sure these ruffians learn a lesson!"

"We'll teach these aliens a lesson about invading our turf!" ordered Applejack.

"They'll not be happy to see me on the battlefield tomorrow!" cockily predicted Rainbow Dash.

"I don't think we'll be giving them a party anytime soon," addressed Pinkie Pie.

"I really think they need to stop ruining our home," Fluttershy thought with words as she watched he still falling snow.

"We will protect Canterlot at all costs, Solk!" Twilight Sparkle spoke with pure determination. "For Equestria!"

"That's the patriotism I like to hear." Solk smirked as he examined the group once more. Hearing their voices always warmed his heart bit by bit. "Now, before you six go home, we need to clean your suits."

"So, you want them back for a little while?" Twilight predicted.

"Yes. Be careful when you take them off. The blood is still contagious."

"But what about our stuff?" Pinkie questioned as she peered in her pocket chests.

"They'll be fine," Solk assured. "You six will get them back tomorrow. Also, it's not like you need them at the very moment or later today."

The ponies took their suits off and folded them as nicely as they could. They then handed the suits to Solk. "Okay, you six may leave now. Go get some rest."

The ponies nodded and said okay at random intervals. They then broke apart and returned to their homes. Solk barely moved from his original location and pondered the war to himself. This won't be an easy fight, but I think these ponies can win. If they stopped another Ruptured Pandemic from happening, they can probably defeat the kavarians on their home turf. At least the kavarians did not declare total war yet.

•—————•

The next day was oozing with preparation and anxiety. Twilight Sparkle got up early and sped to the train station with very few supplies. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were also there, idling as they waited for the others. Applejack was galloping towards the group as Rarity gently paced herself along the way to the train's door. Fluttershy was right behind her with a small smile on her face, shivering a little from the still falling snow.

After the entire group arrived, they entered the train and took their seats. It was almost ten o' clock, and the train ride would be about an hour to Canterlot.

Rainbow felt a little worried. "So, uh, anypony else kind of wondering what we'll be fighting next?"

"Actually, yes," Twilight responded with a little worry as well. "The humans kept saying that the big laser and all of this snow was from the kavarians and their victory. If they can control the weather like that, what will they do down here?"

Fluttershy repelled a few thoughts about the terrifying gore she witnessed throughout this time of war. "Hopefully, they are not as, bloody." Her voice quivered on that last word.

"They will probably be just another batch of brutes like those demons," Rarity sourly predicted. "None of these creatures know any manners whatsoever."

"Maybe we're tougher than the humans and these creatures aren't as bad as we think," Rainbow Dash hoped. "We smashed those Psychopath punks, Ruptured, and the demons, what makes these guys any different? They're just some more soldiers that'll gun us down and stumble on their own feet."

"That happened with the demons only, Rainbow," Applejack clarified. "The Ruptured acted like complete animals, and the Psychopaths were actually pretty darn organized. Those robots we fought without you were also a little clumsy too." Applejack thought about what she faced again. "Huh, maybe what we're fighting isn't as dangerous as we thought."

"I know why we won every time we fought something!" Pinkie exclaimed. She acted out her next set of words with various movements and stances. "We're too fast, too strong, too durable, and too overpowered for them! While we've been gathering levels, they've been doing nothing!"

"I know these punks aren't the hardest things we've faced, but they don't just sit around all day," Rainbow believed through her words. "They're obviously lifting weights before they punch us."

"Do I have to remind everypony the close calls we had?" Fluttershy spoke up through the commotion. "I can't imagine how many times all of us were in very bad situations."

Rarity rubbed her chin with her hoof. "Well, when you think about that, it does say that we are all very lucky ladies."

"Or, we're foolish and lucky," Applejack added.

"I just hope everything turns out fine in the end," Twilight ultimately spoke through her lingering worry. "Nowadays, we can't be sure. One small battle could mean the destruction of Ponyville, or worse, Equestria itself!"

"Well, that is why we're riding to Canterlot," Rainbow pointed out. "To stop the end of Equestria, right?"

The train whistled as it's entire body slowly slugged across the tracks. Constant chugging sounds and motions were audible as the train slowly accelerated towards Canterlot.

After about twenty minutes of riding the train, Twilight plopped her head to the window beside her. The plains were completely covered in snow. Snowflakes still fell from a few clouds in the sky. Despite there being a shining sun and a blue sky, the air was frigid, and the ground was frozen. A few pegasi were up in the clouds, changing and destroying them, but it was to no avail. When one cloud was destroyed, two more were created in its place, prolonging the task even further than needed.

Even though it would have been nice to see the glistening white, Twilight did not want this. Ponies were sad, afraid, fearful of the future. Snow came down over and over again without an end in sight, almost repeating the harsh weather of windigo times. Plus, the cold was not the usual wintry breeze Twilight loved. The air actually felt freezing enough to cause severe shivers and frostbite, not pleasant or cool like usual. Was this punishment from the kavarians, or was it a simple game they were playing with Equestria to amuse themselves? Twilight couldn't tell, and neither could the other ponies.

•—————•

When the train finally stopped at the Canterlot train station, the six ponies left the train and examined their surroundings. Only just a few yards away was General Solk and a few ED soldiers by his side. There were four unicorns and two pegasi in the ED squadron. The pegasi had two pairs of laser machine guns that mimicked Rainbow Dash's pair, and the unicorns' armor was a strange glowing blue with several brightly glowing lines running along it. Several human, pony, skeleton, and durnoki soldiers rushed and patrolled through the snowy streets. A few locals conversed with each other or boarded up their homes. The rest were waiting at the train station for evacuation. Several royal guards were escorted either to the castle or to the train station by GEST Corp. personnel.

When General Solk noticed the six ponies, he smiled a little and walked over to them sternly. "I'm glad you six could come here. Apparently, the kavarians might be a little more prepared than we thought."

Rainbow Dash groaned angrily. "What are they doing now?"

"Word has it that they might have already invaded. Recent reports suggest that they invaded the mountain right next to us."

"What are they doing in the mountain?" Twilight asked as her eyes climbed up the mountainside.

Solk looked around the city and sighed at its architecture. "The kavarians know how easy it is to blow off a structure off a mountain, especially when it's literally hanging on its side."

"Huh, I guess this wasn't a good area to place a big city then," Applejack mused.

Solk sighed again as he massaged his forehead with his left hand. "Who in the hell ever thought that this location was even remotely smart? Anyway, the kavarians might be threatening to destroy this side of the mountain or cause a catastrophic landslide. With the weaponry they own, it should be very easy for them to do it."

Rarity quickly noticed a fault in the idea. "Wait, if these kavarians want to destroy Canterlot, and they have quite the powerful technology, then why don't they strike it from above?"

"The kavarians may be ruthless in battle, but they are master preservers of all planets. They could glass this entire planet if they wanted to, but they don't. That means they want to colonize and harvest it."

"So, they just want to live here?" Fluttershy proposed. "Why don't we let them then? There are human settlements in Equestria. We can have kavarian ones too."

"The kavarians don't want to do that. They want total control of the planet from the exosphere to the inner core. I believe they want to eradicate ponykind first and move on from there."

Pinkie Pie couldn't grasp the kavarians' desires. "Why do these guys hate us so much? It's not like we destroyed their homes or something!"

"The kavarians have a deep hatred for humanity. It's so deep that they will kill every species we befriend, including themselves." Solk kneeled down to the ponies' level and lowered his head in shame. "We pretty much left your species in the crossfire of our wars. I am terribly sorry for all of this."

A raspy and throaty voice sliced the conversation into pieces. "Oh, Solk, you don't have to express your worthless pity. I would have came here sooner if I had dimensional travel and the knowledge of this world's existence ages ago."

Solk and the ED soldiers turned around and saw a small robot with a screen that presented static and shadows. Before the soldiers could fire, Solk lowered their weapons and eyed the robot spitefully. "What are you doing here?"

The robot shifted around in midair as the screen kept its aim at Solk. "Oh, me? I'm checking your worthless group of ponies, that's all. However–" the screen tilted towards Pinkie "–she is far from worthless. Boy was she quite the specimen to experiment with. Can you imagine how much she can eat in a sitting? It's scientifically impossible to say the least!"

Pinkie tilted her head at the robot. "What are you talking about?" Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity were clenching their teeth and darting their eyes from Pinkie to the robot.

"Wait, you don't know? The cell we kept you in? The experiments involving maiming your friends and doing other supposedly insane acts? The cake we fed you that turned you into a blood hungry cannibal? How do you not know all of this?"

"Because I don't remember that," Pinkie softly spoke through her shattered voice. Tears welled up in her eyes as she sniffed and stared up at the robot. "Did you really do that to me?"

"Of course I did, and I sure as hell don't regret it one bit. The other test subjects, mainly ponies, screamed and ran away from you as you stabbed and gutted and devoured them one by one. It was definitely a sight to behold from what I originally thought would be worthless garbage!"

Pinkie completely broke into tears as Applejack and Fluttershy comforted and hugged her sobbing body. Solk couldn't take it anymore and shot his laser revolver at the robot thrice, exploding it in midair. He glared down at the crying Pinkie and her friends, unbearably hurt by the Pure One's complete disregard for trauma.

"I, I really did that?" Pinkie managed to say through her sobbing. "I tried to, to eat other ponies?"

"I'm afraid that is true, Pinkie," Twilight replied with both worry and sadness.

Rainbow Dash was completely shocked of what she heard. "Wait a second, I never knew they did that to her!"

"I've been trying to avoid letting her know that ever since we erased her memories," Solk almost whispered as he shook his head. "I guess it was completely useless to not tell her."

Rainbow Dash bashed her hooves together with a growl as if she was cracking her nonexistent knuckles. "These punks are going to pay for this! I'll wipe the floor with their faces!"

"Rainbow Dash, it's best we do not succumb to our rage," Rarity cautioned calmly. "Blind rage is never helpful."

"I don't think I can just keep it in, Rare. You don't know how much anger I'm packing in my body right now!"

"Okay, before we get off track," Solk started as he presented the ED soldiers, "you six should be on your way now. These soldiers will help you as you travel through the mountain. Just go over to the waterfall and search the cave behind it for any kavarian activity."

"Um, why can't you bring some of your soldiers down there and search it yourself?" Applejack tested with speculation.

"I already put some squadrons in that cave, but they didn't find anything yet. Plus, I need all the soldiers I can get to defend Canterlot and its three outposts. Now, go. Time is wasting away as we speak."

The Mane Six collected together with the soldiers in mere seconds. Soon afterwards, they left the preparing city with haste, hoping to not waste any time that could be valuable to the kavarians. Travis soon popped up as well, checking to see if he had a connection with all of the six ponies.

"Oh yeah, I think I should point something out," a gruff voice from one of the pegasi blurted as the group raced down the streets. His mane and tail twisted and jolted like two red and orange lightning bolts that formed waves of movement as the cold wind sailed along them."Twilight Sparkle was assigned as our commander while we fight with you six."

Twilight's eyed beamed in excitement and slight fear. "Me? I'm your commander?"

"That's what Princess Celestia and General Solk agreed on."

By the time the pegasus's sentence ended, the group arrived at the cave. Twilight's mind raced as she thought about her powers, the soldiers' powers, and several different strategies and tactics. Even though she only led six soldiers, it felt like she was leading six thousand.

The journey through the waterfall cave was surprisingly confusing. Several tunnels separated from the original entrance and twisted and turned into several other areas. Twilight had no idea where she was going the entire time, constantly guessing on where the kavarians might have went.

Sadly, the tunnels were only the least of the group's worries. The entire cave system itself lost light very swiftly, forcing the unicorns of the group to manifest small lights on the ends of their horns to simply see the floor under them. A few streams of water made the cave floor somewhat wet and grimy, and several stone stalagmites, stalactites, and columns sometimes popped out of nowhere and either startled or blocked the group.

However, the characteristic of the cave that frightened the group the most was the occasional arch or structure of grey and purple metal. These structures usually contained a few glowing lights around them that gave the group vast arrays of light. The Mane Six predicted that they were pieces of kavarian architecture. The soldiers remembered those curves and lights from the battles they fought on the kavarian mining planets.

When several structures and several bright lights entered the group's view, the soldiers primed their weapons and carefully peered around the corners. Twilight soon used her new authority and gave the troops several orders.

"You two," Twilight started as she pointed a hoof at the pegasi, "scan the higher platforms for any enemies." She moved her hoof over to the unicorns. "You four, prepare one-way barrier spells just in case we get bombarded by lasers."

The soldiers saluted to her and obeyed her commands. The rest of the ponies simply examined the architecture.

"Well, these creatures surely know what a style is," Rarity mused as she admired the twists and curves in the metal. "It is kind of odd how these wretched monsters have wonderful tastes in design. Why destroy something so beautiful?"

"Maybe because it was made by an enemy?" Rainbow Dash replied as she turned her head to an arch. "If these punks really knew how to beat us, they'd build more buildings that'd make your jaw drop."

Rarity frowned a little at Rainbow's words. "Oh, please! Of course I adore this work, but I would never give myself away for it!"

"I think you would." Rainbow's smirk grew a tiny bit from every word she said. "You'd look up at an arch, drool on the ground, and mumble to yourself, 'Pretty colors,' as they rush up and bag you."

"That will definitely never happen! Why would I even do that?"

"Because you love these pieces of metal so much."

"I was only stating how mu-mph!"

Pinkie put a hoof over Rarity's mouth and tilted an ear towards the other side of the cave. "Quiet, you're going to alert the guards!"

All of the soldiers glanced at the entrance and heard incoming footsteps. From the sounds they heard echo through the caves, they noticed that about five to eight soldiers were approaching. They soon entered their battle stances, along with the six mares with them.

Only three seconds later, seven kavarian soldiers marched out of the entrance. Six of them were basic soldiers with laser rifles, and one was a commander with two submachine guns. The soldiers stopped in their tracks and scanned the area. They were surrounded by twelve ponies with combat armor and several magic, laser, and physical weaponry.

"Well, crap," blurted one of the basic soldiers.

Lasers soared from Rainbow Dash and the pegasi, magic lashed at the commander's body, and several bucks and punches from Pinkie Pie and Applejack struck the soldier's faces and chests. The commander soon spasmed and collapsed into a contorted pretzel as the magic destroyed his vital organs, four soldiers fell on the ground as their bodies were ripped apart by the lasers, and the last two fell unconscious and soon dead after a few bucks and three missiles.

The group of ponies soon rushed through the entrance and continued along their journey. They met a few more squadrons that were blown apart in mere seconds from the overwhelming forces. The lights got brighter, the features of the original caves slowly disappeared, and the stone ground was replaced with a metal floor.

The cave itself slowly grew larger and larger until the roof was as high as Canterlot's castle's ceilings. A huge fortified wall with marching kavarian soldiers soon appeared into view. Instead of the forces being just a squadron, it looked like there were thirty soldiers instead of nine or seven.

Two snipers on the walkway of the wall noticed the group of twelve and prepared their laser sniper rifles. The fifteen basic soldiers spread around the room and took cover. The three commanders also took cover as five towering gun soldiers walked over to their posts. Five new soldiers with strange guns with cone barrels and cylindrical ammo packs also found the closest cover to them.

The first attack was by Rainbow Dash. She fired several missiles at the snipers, killing both from the explosions and the collapsing walkway. Two basic soldiers and a gun soldier also lost their heads as the massive amounts of rubble crushed and mangled their bodies and heads. Several lasers retaliated, but Twilight and the two unicorn soldiers used a combined reflection spell, killing seven basic soldiers, two more gun soldiers, and a commander. Pinkie cloaked herself and pummeled two basic soldiers to death on the right side of the area. Rarity stabbed an experimental soldier and four more basic soldiers by stabbing high speed gems through their visors, slicing the soldiers' eyes and brains into messy pieces.

One of the vengeful commanders exposed his claws and leaped at a nearby unicorn soldier. Before he could get too close, the soldier grabbed the commander's torso with his magic and ripped the trunk into two pieces, killing the commander right then and there. A gun soldier stomped towards a pegasus soldier and revved his gatling laser minigun. The pegasus revved his laser miniguns as well and blasted the gun soldier in the head with dozens of shots. Twilight fired a powerful surge of magic at another gun soldier's chest, stopping their heart and collapsing their lungs into themselves. The soldier fell down with a thud onto some nearby rubble.

Two experimental soldiers got lucky and cornered the invisible Pinkie. They knew where she was from their enhanced vision and instantly recognized her innocent yet once devilish face. One of the soldiers cackled a throaty laugh as they pulled back a handle on their gun. The cone barrel's end glowed with blue energy as three lightning arcs blasted out of it and struck Pinkie body. She fell to the ground and lost her invisibility.

"She's ours now," bellowed the other experimental soldier. "Let's take her back with us before the other ponies steal her again."

Before they could approach Pinkie's body, she convulsed and slowly rose herself back onto her hooves. Her eyes were closed shut, and her small frown twisted into a wicked grin. She then rose her head up at the soldiers and opened her wide, bloodshot eyes. She then licked her lips as she put one of her forelegs into her frizzy mane. She took out an entire chainsaw with bloodstains on it as she walked up to the soldiers. She pulled at its starter pull handle, generating a soft yet loud purr from the chainsaw's engine.

The experimental soldier responsible for causing this dropped his smile into a horrified, gaping maw. "Oh, fuck me."

Pinkie raised the chainsaw and slammed it on the soldier's left shoulder. The blade sliced through the armor first, easily shredding it into slivers of metal. The blade then touched the neck of the soldier and began its gore fest. The blade ripped through the skin, muscle, and bones noisily and messily, inducing several horror filled screams from the soldier. Blood splattered all over his suit and the other soldier, and a few drops dripped onto Pinkie's mouth. She licked up the blood and pushed down on the soldier harder, forcing the screams to get even louder. The other soldier tried to stop her with several lightning arcs, but she completely ignored them entirely and focused on her prey.

As the chainsaw ate its way through the soldier's chest, it opened up the suit and revealed a few mutilated organs, including half of a heart drowned in blood and a more than just punctured lung. The chainsaw kept eating through the body, drowning the soldier's screams with spurts of blood and viscera, and soon severed a stomach and several pieces of the soldier's intestines. When the chainsaw finally reached the right leg, Pinkie was half covered in blood, and the other traumatized soldier was about to escape from the battle.

Once the soldier's top half fell onto the ground and spilled its innards, Pinkie grabbed ahold of the other soldier and placed the chainsaw on his head. The chainsaw ripped through the helmet, skull, and brain first then proceeded with ruining the trachea and esophagus. The soldier couldn't even scream, as his throat was now incapable of making any sounds. A huge artery was also completely destroyed, spilling vast amounts of blood on Pinkie's mane and face. After the chainsaw ripped through the body, the two halves fell onto the ground. Pinkie licked up the blood on her face and hooves then shoved her face into one of the soldier's exposed livers. She ripped out several chunks of liver, muscle, and sinew, gorging on the flesh as if she was a wild Ruptured mutant devouring a human.

When Twilight finally felled an experimental soldier with an explosive magic blast, she noticed Pinkie's lust for blood. She watched as Pinkie kept pulling back at the metal suits and stripped the soldiers' bodies of their flesh. That last experimental soldier watched her acts and sprinted for the wall's gate. Thankfully, or unthankfully, the soldier avoided the lasers that flew at him. As the battlefield calmed, the soldiers and the rest of the Mane Six noticed Pinkie's ripping and tearing of her two fresh kills.

Fluttershy covered her eyes in pure terror, hating to see this Pinkie again. Applejack tried to keep her food in her stomach, and Rarity nearly fainted in pure horror. Rainbow Dash covered her eyes as well and avoided seeing any red on her body. Twilight used her magic and pulled Pinkie out of the soldier's exposed and now nearly vacant chest. She then kicked and squirmed to retreat back to her meal, but it was to no avail. Twilight's heavily trained magic from past battles was too strong for her, so she eventually gave up. After about ten more seconds, she lost consciousness and collapsed into a heap of pink fluff.

Pinkie rolled around sluggishly and moaned from her newly obtained stomach ache. She then opened her eyes and noticed what was all over her body. She stared down at the wet and partially dried up blood on her coat, mane, and tail. She quickly recoiled in disgust and stumbled backwards, but she soon bumped into the legs of what used to be an experimental soldier. She looked back and opened her eyes wide at the bloody and mangled legs. She then considered the metallic taste in her mouth as she also stared at the almost licked clean halves of the rib cage and spine of the other soldier.

Pinkie Pie's mind assumed way too much, as right when she saw the two halves of the soldier's head, she vomited her recently ingested gorge. When she finished her first wave of vomiting, she cried and shook violently from what she saw. Her vomit was a blend of a bloody red, a thick black, and several chunks of throbbing red and white. She kept vomiting until it hurt her stomach. She then crawled away from the mess of blood and gore, curled up into a small ball of pink fluff, and sobbed into her own bloodstained tail.

"Oh, sweet Celestia!" exclaimed a horrified pegasus soldier. "I never knew she was that messed up!"

"I heard rumors that she was corrupted into something like that," a unicorn soldier grimly declared, "but this, I never expected to see this. She's, so broken."

Twilight and Rainbow rushed to Pinkie urgently. Rainbow landed on the metal next to her, and Twilight sat down next to Pinkie's covered face. Pinkie kept sobbing in her own mess of dried blood and hair, wanting to just dig into a hole and never come back out.

Twilight nudged Pinkie's head with a hoof as she cooed a few smooth words to Pinkie. "Don't worry, we're here for you. You don't have to deal with this alone."

"You, you don't understand!" Pinkie blubbered through her sobbing. "I, I, I ate them! I ate them, Twilight! Why, why would I even do that?"

"I don't know why you'd do that, Pinkie, but I do perfectly understand. I've already seen you act like this before. Yes, you definitely frightened me again, but I'm not a stranger from it. We're here for you this time."

"Yeah," Rainbow started with an awkward frown and a scratch on the back of her head, "I actually never expected you to do that. I'm probably the only one of us that didn't see your freak-out."

Pinkie listened a little bit more to Twilight's words. "What, what do you mean by that?"

"All of us, except Rainbow Dash, found you in an old bundle of catacombs," Twilight calmly informed. "You acted just like what you did a couple moments ago, but at us instead of these two. If I recall correctly, you bit off a part of Applejack."

Pinkie squealed and faced her still bloodstained face at Applejack. I'm so sorry for that! I didn't mean it, I promise!"

"It wasn't your fault, Pinkie," Applejack replied with a slight growl at a nearby gun soldier body. "It was these darn monsters that caused you to do that."

Rainbow Dash slammed her hooves together as she uppercutted the air."Yeah, and I'll make sure they all pay for what they did to you!"

Pinkie's kept sobbing through the fluff of her tail as she quivered fro a couple seconds. "How, how are you all talking this so well?"

"Darling," Rarity began as she walked up to Pinkie's bloody body, "we are obviously horrified and disgusted from your, actions, but now, we are only concerned for you."

"By the way, what caused her to do this?" Twilight directed at Travis.

Travis swiftly answered that question. "Those unique kavarian soldiers were using specialized lightning weaponry. I'm not too sure on how it could cause Pinkie to do that, but I did notice a shift in Pinkie's psyche right when that happened. Her mind went from mainly happiness and slight panic from being cornered to absolute, blind rage. The only emotion she really felt then was anger. Just, pure, concentrated anger. I can still see some of that rage in the back of her mind, so that small outburst will not be the last."

"So, I could do this, again?" Pinkie squeaked through more tears.

"I believe so. However, it's best you stop crying and continue on. This sadness will be your weakness if you keep it up."

"Also, we're here for you," blurted Rainbow Dash as she curved a foreleg around Pinkie's neck. Rainbow then enclosed her in a tight hug. "We'll never leave your side, and you don't have to suffer alone."

Pinkie placed her head over Rainbow's shoulder and embraced her as well. She sniffed up her tears and smiled gently. "Thank you so much. This is exactly why you're all my bestest friends."

The red and orange maned pegasus soldier shed a tear from the kindness. "Wow, that's some easy forgiveness."

Another pegasus soldier tilted his head at Pinkie and glanced around. "What, we're to expect her to be bet-oof!" One of the unicorn soldiers stopped him from saying something stupid with a shove from a foreleg and a shake from his head.

Pinkie sniffed again as she stood back up on all fours. "I'm still very uncomfortable about that blind rage."

"I would be surprised if you weren't," Fluttershy commented as she walked up to Pinkie. "You will feel a little anxious and sad about this for a while, but over time, you'll move on and put it in the past. All that matters now is that we're all together."

Twilight got back up as well and pointed her body to the metal wall's gate. "Alright, let's continue onward."

The twelve ponies grouped back together and walked through the gate. They entered a tunnel that twisted and turned several times and was well lit compared to the earlier parts of the cave. The group encountered a few basic soldiers long the way, but they were no match for the firepower aimed right at their heads.

The kavarians finally got the upper hand once the ponies walked into another large area. This area had two walkways on the left and right walls, another gate at the end, and two cylindrical platforms with metal turrets on top of them. The turrets had tripod legs, bodies that were hollow hemispheres with two laser gatling barrels on their sides, and cylindrical energy tanks on the back of the bodies. Two kavarian gunners, hardy soldiers with big shoulder pads and three spikes protruding along the back of their heads, manned the turrets. Four gun soldiers stood beside the turrets with their miniguns up and ready for battle. Ten basic soldiers, along with two commanders, lined themselves along the cover of the area. Four snipers positioned themselves on the walkways, and one experimental soldier stood next to one of the commanders.

When the experimental soldier saw Pinkie's still bloodstained face, his legs quivered, and he let out a small whimper in pure terror. "No, not her again. I'll fight anyone but her..."

"How bad can she be?" Questioned the commander. "She's just a little earth pony."

"Yeah, that's what she looks like, until you piss her off and get a chainsaw stuck in your neck!"

The commander stared at the soldier with an incredulous look. "Really? That's very far-fetched."

"Just take a look for yourself."

Before the basic soldiers could even fire their guns, Rarity stabbed one to death by using several sharp gems flying at unreasonable speeds. As the soldier's eyes and cranial cavity filled with gems, three more fired at Rarity with several soaring lasers. Three of them accidentally hit a pegasus soldier, reducing him to a limp. Rainbow Dash fired six missiles at one of the turrets, destroying it and the gunner in an explosion of shrapnel and debris. Pinkie hopped over to two basic soldiers and clobbered both of them. Twilight fired a wave of magic at two of the ready to kill gun soldiers, knocking them down on the ground. After Pinkie killed the two soldiers, she took out three pink bombs and lobbed them at a batch of five basic soldiers and a commander. The bombs detonated right next to all of them, killing two basic soldiers from the blast and mortally wounding the rest.

Applejack galloped over to a nearby gun soldier and scanned it for any weaknesses. When she bucked the minigun out of the gun soldier's hand, two unicorn soldiers showered it with several concentrated magic blasts. The gun soldier soon tumbled onto the ground from the organ failure the magic was causing. The two pegasus soldiers hovered into the air and rained several lasers at the two downed gun soldiers and the second turret. The gun soldiers swiftly died from the holes in their heads and chests, but the turret was barely damaged. It fired its own barrage at the two pegasi, ripping one's wing in half and poking holes in the orange and red maned pegasus's right eye and right hind leg. Both pegasi fell to the ground in pain but kept their guns aimed at the turret.

Pinkie Pie was having a little duel of her own when the two of the mortally wounded basic soldiers fired several lasers at her. Travis was keeping a close eye on her emotions, wincing every time Pinkie killed a soldier. "Um, Pinkie?" Travis spoke through shaky words. "I think you might want to refrain from fighting anymore soldiers for a while."

"Now why would I do that?" Pinkie irritably argued as she attacked the remaining soldiers. She pummeled the three basic soldiers to death and blasted razor confetti into the struggling to survive commander's exposed face, ripping his skin and muscle apart as the confetti dug into his skull and jaw. Pinkie swiftly slammed both her hooves on the commander's temples, crushing his head with ease. With every passing kill, she could feel power and rage surge through her body, and it felt very good.

Travis's voice was getting more and more shaky and uncertain with every passing second. "Your rage is building up, and it's about to overwhelm you. I think it's time to stop."

"Time to stop? These meanies forced me to hurt my friends! Nopony makes me hurt my friends!" One of the snipers fired at Pinkie, striking her in her left hind leg. She winced from the pain and faced the sniper next to his buddy on the walkway. She galloped over to the walkway, hopped from beam to wall up to the walkway, and landed directly on the sniper. She smashed the sniper's skull in with one quick slam with a single hoof and faced the other sniper. He took out his laser pistol and fired at the pony, only causing a few holes in her poofy mane that easily covered themselves up. She then leaped onto the sniper and snapped his neck with a twist from two well placed hooves.

It was at that kill did she feel a massive headache wrapping around her forehead. She closed her tightly and groaned from the pain. Her groans soon shifted to screams that shifted into spouts of laughter. She opened her eyes, now bloodshot again as before, and examined the entire room. She locked her eyes on the turret and took out a curved axe from her tail. She hopped down from the walkway and bounced from left to right over to the turret. She leaped on top of it and bashed the gunner's head with her axe. The entire blade lodged into his head, making him panic and kick Pinkie off the turret.

Unexpectedly, Pinkie held a firm grip on the handle and lifted it with her enhanced strength, pulling the entire gunner out of the turret. She then placed her two hind legs on the gunner torso as she pulled out the axe. Instead of pulling it out of his head, she ripped out the head from the body with a spine still attached to the skull. Blood gushed out, bones cracked, and ligaments tore as the spine snaked out of the ripped open neck. She then kicked the split open head off the blade, ready for another kavarian to kill.

A unicorn soldier looked over to Pinkie licking from a bloody blade and frowned awkwardly. "There goes the pink one again."

While this small scenario was happening, the experimental soldier and the surviving commander were fending off a unicorn soldier that was firing several magic blasts at their cover. The experimental soldier shot several lightning arcs at him, causing a few surges of power that ruined the unicorn's HUD and regeneration systems. The commander then aided the lightning with a flurry of laser blasts. All of them struck the unicorn soldier's body, crippling him to near death. The commander then leaped over to him, ripped open the unicorn's helmet, and stabbed his claws into the soldier's neck. As the unicorn struggled to breathe with a stabbed larynx and was lifted upwards, the commander shoved his gun into the unicorn's mouth. He fired five times, destroying most of the brain.

As the commander threw the fresh corpse onto the metal floor, he heard an ungodly shriek from behind. It was, of course, the experimental soldier. "She's coming for us! Please, almighty Ancients, bless us now!"

The commander turned to the soldier with narrow eyes. "What're you talkin-"

That was when he felt a massive, sharp pain strike him in his chest. Apparently, an entire axe stabbed right into his sternum and fractured it. He then groaned from the severe pain and looked ahead to see Pinkie only about eleven yards away. She ripped out her revving chainsaw from the mangled and partially devoured corpse of a beheaded and amputated gun soldier. Part of a small intestine was sticking out of her mouth and dangling near her waist. She slurped up the intestine and walked over to the commander, holding the bloody chainsaw in her front hooves. The commander fired his gun at her, striking thrice in her chest, but she shrugged off the pain like she obtained a couple scratches. She rushed to the commander and then swiped at him, striking his waist.

The chainsaw sliced through the metal until it struck the commander's actual body. It was then that he shouted in pain and agony at the chainsaw ripped through him quite easily. More blood sprayed at Pinkie's face, giving that delectable flavor of metal she desired. The chainsaw tore through the spine and internal organs until it reached the other side of the commander's body. His upper body fell backwards onto the ground as his legs tumbled on top of him.

Pinkie climbed onto his body and took the axe out of his sternum. She then hacked at his chest until she broke it open like a chocolate covered cherry. Shen then ended the commander's life by slamming the axe right into his open mouth, severing his skull from his jaw. She then ripped out the juicy and bloody organs, devouring them as she did with her earlier kills.

At this point, the experimental soldier was already gone. He left right when Pinkie swung that axe, and the other soldiers were also planning of retreating as well. The two snipers took two more shots into the one-winged pegasus soldier. Both shots penetrated his helmet, killing him swiftly. Rainbow retaliated with a hailstorm of missiles in their direction, destroying the entire walkway and causing a massive collapse from the weakened ceiling. The two basic soldiers fired a couple more shots at Applejack and Rarity before they escaped with the experimental soldier.

Rainbow Dash turned to Pinkie's ripping and tearing with a contorted frown and unsavory taste. "Eww. It's pretty sick to see her do that, but at least she's helping a lot more now."

The red and orange maned pegasus limped towards the forming group as he kept one eye closed behind his helmet. "Well, there went Winter Strike, and I might be gone too if this regeneration doesn't hurry up."

As Pinkie's face was deep in the commander's torn open chest, she pulled out an orange and yellow cupcake from her pocket chests and tossed it to the pegasus soldier. "It'll fix your injuries," Pinkie spoke through a full mouth as she lifted her head a little.

The pegasus soldier unsnapped his visor and flicked it upwards. He then took a few bites out of the pastry, feeling his wounds fill and lose feeling with every bite. Once he ate the entire treat, he regained sight in his now perfectly fine right eye.

Rarity stared at Pinkie and walked over to Twilight. "Do you think we should just let her do this? It's just, so, horrid!"

Twilight sighed and answered as honestly as possible. "As much as I hate to see her do this, she's actually helping a lot more than before. Her new style of fighting is actually very effective, no matter how disgusting it may look." Twilight shuddered and held back her vomit as she witnessed Pinkie rip out the commander's heart and an attached artery. "I wish she would stop eating these things, though."

Fluttershy completely ignored Pinkie and the conversation. She instead focused on searching for any trapped cave bats. She found two that were stuck under a couple rocks and freed them.

Applejack kept Pinkie out of her line of sight the entire time and focused on honoring the two ponies that died in the battle. She took off her hat, placed it close to her heart, and closed her eyes. She stood there in silence as she hoped for the other soldiers to continue living.

After Pinkie chomped every piece of the commander's heart, she felt dizzy and disoriented. She soon slipped to unconsciousness and tumbled next to the corpse that was now almost a skeleton. She woke back up after ten seconds, moaning and twisting just like what she did the first time she woke up from blind rage. When she noticed the licked clean bones of the commander, she only vomited a tiny amount this time. At this point, it didn't sicken her too much to see this again. Instead, it just annoyed her.

"Ugh, I don't think I'll ever get used to this," she groaned as she stood back up with her normal, blue eyes. "It better not hurt like this next time I slip into that."

Rarity gasped as she stared at Pinkie's already accustomed behavior. "How can you be alright with doing that? Are you not disgusted from eating that, monster?"

"It's not as bad as thinking about eating ponies, and I don't think this is ever going away. I might as well get used to it than complain about eating more meat."

"You all better hurry up," Travis warned with worry. "We're getting reports of heavy seismic activity in the mountain, and the activity is right next to Canterlot too."

The ten ponies regrouped together, except for the red and orange maned pegasus. He instead walked over to the dead pegasus soldier and shed a few tears as he looked down at him. "Farewell, Winter Strike. I'll make sure you didn't die in vain."

And with that, the pegasus flew back to the group, his laser guns primed for battle.

•—————•

The entire group battled several more kavarian soldiers along the way. A few gun soldiers would suppress them for a short while in a few halls, and a commander here and there would almost take one of the ponies' lives from a surprise attack or exquisite battle skills. In another room with several basic soldiers, Pinkie killed enough of them to release her rage once again. After hell broke loose, she killed fifteen basic soldiers with either her chainsaw, axe, or her newly acquired weapon, a sharp knife long enough to stab through a thigh. Apparently, the experimental soldier and the two basic soldiers were not in that area.

It didn't take long after that big battle for the group to reach the cave systems again. As the helpful darkness and unexpected columns, stalactites, and stalagmites returned, the ponies groaned and moaned in frustration. However, the darkness did allow them to detect something other than a network of kavarian structures. What they found were several small devices on a cave wall and a huge, obnoxiously loud machine digging through the stone. Several kavarian soldiers of all of the types they fought earlier, except much more numerous, were marching along with the machine.

Afraid of having to fight possibly over a hundred soldiers, the group kept themselves hidden in the gigantic assortment of stalagmites and waited for their opportunity to strike.

As the troops marched along the cave, Twilight attempted to establish a connection with General Solk. "Solk, are you there?"

Several gunshots and explosions could be heard from the other end. "I'm here," Solk replied as a wail in pain was heard beside him. "What do you need?"

"We're inside this huge cave the kavarians are using. I think it's the source of the seismic activity Travis was talking about."

Several bouts of gunfire were audible as a gun soldier screamed a war cry in the background. "Is there a huge drilling vehicle?"

Twilight glanced at the roaring machine on her right. "I think so. Where are you?"

"Checkpoint C. The kavarians took over the first two, and they're pushing an entire array of tanks and war machines up to the gate. I'll warn the captain in Canterlot about your discovery."

Twilight ducked down a little when three soldiers, one experimental and two basic, came rushing down the cave to the end. They stopped running once they reached a kavarian soldier that was obviously taller than them. The taller soldier had two glowing purple eye-shaped visors instead of blue, and three spikes came out of the left and right sides of his head. He wore grand and flashy epaulets, and his armor was blacker than onyx. His gun was massive, as big as a gun soldier's minigun. It was a missile launcher with four primed chambers and eight laser barrels around the chambers.

The experimental soldier's words were quick and jumbled. "Major KVF, we're under attack! Several ponies have infiltrated our small mountain checkpoint, and they're tearing through our forces!"

"How so?" Major KVF's voice was deep and and hard like obsidian. "If they're ponies, they should have been killed with a snap."

"You don't understand, Major. One of them was specimen E-015, and we activated her nanochip."

"What's so bad about that? Didn't it kill the others like programmed?"

The experimental soldier nervously laughed. "Well, no, it didn't. She turned on us and ripped and tore several soldiers. She even devoured them like some sort of primal beast out for blood!"

Major KVF eyed the soldier and huffed a bit of anger at him. "You failed your only mission for the Pure One. You let our most prized possession slip out of hands, again. If we had the specimen again, we could have repurposed it for war, but you instead turned it into a unstoppable force that wants to devour everyone in its way."

"It was not my fault it happened, Major! The weapons worked perfectly! I believe someone tampered with the specimen's memories!"

The Major leaned over the soldier with two beady eyes and a lashing frown behind his helmet. "And who might be this person, hmm?"

The experimental soldier shrugged and laughed nervously. "I'm not too sure, Major. All I know is that someone might have changed her memories."

Major KVF turned from him and squinted at the drilling machine ahead. He shouted over all of the noise as he stopped in place. "This is the area! Turn left!"

The entire machine swerved to the left and slammed into the wall next to it. The machine then sped up fast enough to shred an entire hole as big as itself in only three seconds. Bright light blinded the group of ponies as the drilling machine slowed a little and rolled through the hole. Hundreds of marching soldiers sped up and ran around the machine into the light.

Twilight's face gaped, and her pupils became pinpricks. "Oh no, they're invading Canterlot right now! We have to hurry!"

The group of ten hopped out of the bundle of stalagmites and galloped towards the massive hole. Once they made it out of the mountain and back in Canterlot, they found a horrifying sight.

Several kavarians were gunning down GEST Corp. soldiers everywhere. Blood spilled onto the ground and mixed with the still present snow. A few gun soldiers killed about thirty regular soldiers, and a few basic soldiers were engaged in close quarters combat with a few more. Kavarians clawed and bashed humans, skeletons, and ponies over and over. A couple skeletons were ripped apart into small fragments from a kavarian soldier holding a tesla rocket launcher, a special weapon that fires electrified rockets that shoot lightning arcs at anything nearby it or in the explosion. A few unicorns seized a few guns from the kavarians with their magic, but other ones simply blasted them to bits. Major KVF launched several rockets into the battlefield, killing dozens of humans and ponies. Several buildings and roads were blasted apart or completely warped by the crossfire. None of the soldiers paid attention to the ten ponies and instead focused on the ones right in front of them.

Fluttershy noticed the giant cyan dome pulsating above Canterlot. The dome stopped at the mountainside and right in front of Canterlot's walls. A huge beam radiated from the dome's center, spiraling down right into the city in some specified area. Several kavarian gunships, drop ships, and assault ships hovered around the dome, waiting for the dome to come down and allow the ships' hellfire to fall. A few GEST Corp. ships were outside or inside of the dome, either fighting off kavarian ships or soldiers as they hovered along the sky.

"They're heading for that beam," pointed out Applejack as she pointed a hoof at the soldiers and the cyan beam.

"They must be after the force field's generator," presumed one of the unicorn soldiers. "If they destroy it, nothing will stop those ships from bombarding the city."

"They're not just going after the generator," Pinkie warned with worry dancing along her words. She pointed over to the swath of kavarian soldiers marching to the castle. A few were already blasting through the gates.

"Solk, you have to get over here!" Twilight screamed. "They're destroying everything!"

"I'm going there right now," Solk declared as several explosions and gunshots rang on his end. "They just destroyed checkpoint C with ten redemption walkers, and no one is staying behind to fight them."

"They're going for the castle and your generator!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "What do you want us to do?"

"Go to the castle. Save the princesses while I teach these sons of bitches a lesson."

The ten ponies galloped through the chaotic and snowy streets towards the castle. Whenever a kavarian caught sight of them, they switched their attention to them and fired sporadically. They were usually killed by one of the ponies or a random soldier that got lucky. The group kept plowing their way through the streets until they reached the castle's front gate. They entered the castle and reached the familiar T-junction hallway with stairs leading to another T-junction.

The group immediately encountered ten kavarian soldiers. Eight of them were basic soldiers, but the two closest ones were very unique. Their helmets had absolutely no visors on them and were covered in spikes from top to bottom. Several sharp shoulder, elbow, and knee pads stuck out of their armor. Their metal boots were also covered in several spikes. Their suits were somehow even blacker than Major KVF's as well. However, the most prominent feature was their staffs. They both held long staffs with three large spikes and constant flames. These royal soldiers swiftly spun their staffs and pointed them at the group in perfect unison.

"Surrender to us, or die," the royals hissed. Their voices were almost like the wind.

Rainbow Dash fired a missile at the royals, but one of them smacked the missile back at her and blasted her into a wall. The wall cracked and dented from the impact.

Twilight conjured a barrier before the royals could strike her. At the same time she activated the barrier, the royals leaped into the air and slammed their staffs down onto Twilight. They, of course, struck the barrier, but they dealt tremendous amounts of damage to it anyway. Twilight winced and struggled to keep the barrier up from the damage. When she told them to do so, the four ED soldiers raced out of the barrier to distract the royals. They succeeded, as the royals split up and left the Mane Six for the basic soldiers. The eight soldiers blasted Twilight's barrier with several lasers until she lost all of her mana and collapsed in exhaustion. What followed after was several bucks and punches for the soldiers.

Applejack bucked two of the soldiers into separate walls and began kicking several metal balls into them. Pinkie punched and kicked the other four several times. After about eleven strikes, she aimed for their joints. After a few more seconds, she broke three elbows and four knees, incapacitating all of the soldiers. She then threw several pink bombs at the soldiers, killing half of them and severely wounding the rest. The remaining three soldiers were easily dispatched by Rarity's storm of gems. Applejack finished off her soldiers with a few more metal balls and a couple bucks.

Two of the unicorn soldiers were dueling one of the royals. They had to dodge several swipes from his staff and block many more. Whenever the unicorns had the chance, they attempted to seize the staff from the royal. However, they failed every single time, as the royal's grip was rather firm and steady. The royal closed in on one of them and swung at them eleven times. The unicorn manifested small pads of magic to block every blow from the staff. The other unicorn kept firing several fire and magic blasts at the royal, only making him flinch from the magic blasts. The royal changed targets and swung at the other unicorn, allowing the first one to use his magic. Since he was an adept at using the frigid cold, he conjured and fired several ice blasts at the royal.

The royal blocked the first three with his staff until they finally broke his block and struck his body. The ice blasts snuffed the fire on the royal's Staff and did a considerable amount of damage to his body. As more ice blasts struck his body, his movements slowed down. Eventually, he was too slow to block any attacks, allowing both unicorns to kill him with their magic. He fell to the ground, lifeless, with the staff still in his hands.

The other royal eventually had to deal with two pegasi and one unicorn. The unicorn was rather physical with his magic, constantly attempting to seize the royal's staff from him. He failed every time, forcing the red and orange maned pegasus next to him to fight the royal. The pegasus fired several lasers that the royal blocked easily over and over again. As the royal slowly walked up to the pegasus and continued blocking his barrage of lasers, Rainbow Dash struck from behind with a flurry of missiles. The royal fell forward and prepared to block Rainbow's next attack, but she refused to attack. The pegasus soldier then gunned the royal down with his lasers as Rainbow Dash annoyed the royal again with another flurry of missiles. When the royal was nearly dead, Pinkie slammed into him and smacked him with his own staff. She then shoved a pink bomb on him as she stomped on his chest and ran off. Before the royal could stand up, the bomb exploded, splitting him into several pieces.

The ponies wasted no more time after that fight and continued up the stairs. When they reached one of the grand hallways, they heard a huge boom and static from behind. The static radiated around their ears for about five more seconds. Only a few more after that, one of the multicolored mosaic windows broke apart as several soldiers swung into the hall. Seven of them were basic soldiers, and one was a commander.

The soldiers opened fire, using the famous shoot first, ask questions later method. Rainbow Dash blasted three basic soldiers to bits with a few missiles, Rarity stabbed another one to death with several gemstones, Applejack bucked and lassoed another soldier and kept slamming their head until they died, and Pinkie aimed her party cannon directly at the commander. Fluttershy faced the broken window and called for help. Three snowy owls flew into the hallway and attacked the other two basic soldiers. One of the owls fell to the ground from three laser shots, but the other two were still healthy and dangerously active.

Fluttershy stared at the owl, twitched into a scowl burning with anger, and galloped towards the basic soldiers. She slammed both her front hooves on one's chest, bashing them into the commander. The commander and basic soldier fell to the ground as Pinkie blasted a metal cannonball right into them, crushing them, their armor, and their skeletons. The last soldier lost his helmet as Twilight used the small amount of magic she possessed to remove it. As the soldier's light purple face and huge, completely black eyes were revealed, the snowy owls scratched and ripped at his head. He panicked as the owls kept swooping and slicing at him, running into Rarity's field of gems and falling to the ground lifeless. The owls flew out of the broken window as Fluttershy waved them goodbye.

The group of ten kept moving along, preparing for another battle as they trekked through the castle. Pinkie gave Twilight a blue and cyan cupcake, replenishing all of the magic she lost from the royals. The group kept fighting through more groups of kavarian squadrons, and Pinkie kept collecting kills and rage under her belt until the group reached Princess Celestia's throne room. What the ponies found surprised, shocked, and angered them.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both trapped in separate cages, each one both metallic and covered in some sort of force field. A huge, lumbering machine whirred and stomped around the ground, cracking the floor with every stomp. It had two massive legs that ended in onyx trapezoidal prisms. Its body was a perfect sphere with the bottom hemisphere being an onyx metal and the top being a glass dome. Four arms stretched out of its sides, each one with its own weapon. One arm had a gatling laser gun; another, a lightning arc cannon; another, a high-powered flamethrower; and the last, a fluoroantimonic acid cannon. The machine had three antennae sticking out of its back. The entire mecha was thirty feet tall and bustling with activity inside its metal shell.

A single kavarian not wearing any battle armor sat on a glorified throne inside of the mecha. The kavarian wore a gilded cape around his body and carried a huge, glowing staff in his left hand.

As the kavarian noticed the ten ponies, his smile grew wide with fangs. His voice was the exact same as the one from the robot. "Ah, you finally joined the party! I was just debating on whether to kill or experiment on these two alicorns. What do you think?"

"What are you doing with Princess Celestia and Luna?" Twilight demanded with a menacing scream.

The Pure One rubbed his chin with his right hand. "I don't know, you ask me, I was debating on which one to do. Now, you get to tell me which."

Pinkie quivered as she raised a hoof at the Pure One. Her voice was uneven and slightly filled with rage. "You, you were the one that caused me to eat ponies?"

The Pure One leaped out of his seat at the sight of Pinkie. "Hey, specimen E-015! Are you here to rejoin my forces? We're always willing to let in former specimens!"

"No," Pinkie grunted as her hooves trembled. "I'm going to make you pay!"

The Pure One sat in his throne once again and tapped his claws together. "Too bad, now I have to kill you. You would've been such a great soldier too, much better than all of my incompetent clones. Now, death, or experimentation?"

Pinkie's body shook in her own building rage as her teeth clenched and her voice became much more serious and uncontrollable than before. "Neither! You're never going to do to them what you did to me!"

"Okay, you're just wasting my time now. I pick experimentation. It's always intrigued me to know what's so important about horns and wings."

Pinkie sat down and clamped her hooves on her head as another massive headache crashed into her brain like a freight train. She grunted in pain until she stood back up, only on her hind legs, with two bloodshot eyes. She took a long knife from her mane, the same knife she used earlier, and gripped it with one hoof.

Her entire body trembled in insurmountable rage. "I'll rip your stomach out and gorge on your lungs!"

She then rushed up to the mecha and hopped onto its dome. She stabbed right into the dome, literally cutting right through the glass and into the cockpit. The Pure One jumped from this and pulled down a layer of metal over the dome, knocking Pinkie and her blade off the mecha. The new dome had two glowing blue eyes in the shape of long, thin, and tilted semicircles.

As the cages were enveloped in two red force fields, the entire mecha whirred and released steam. "Well, it's time to kill ten ignorant ponies."

A challenger approaches: The Pure One and his Mk III Invadotron

The massive mecha stomped towards the ten ponies and raised its gatling laser gun at them. Hundreds of lasers swept past the cracking floor, nearly striking Rainbow Dash and two of the unicorn soldiers. All of the ponies scrambled around the throne room and threw various attacks at him. Pinkie took out her chainsaw and tried to slice through the legs, but the metal was far stronger than simple kavarian battle armor. Rainbow fired several missiles that did nothing to the mecha. Twilight's magic blasts also did nothing as well, and Rarity's gems simply bounced off like pellets. Applejack didn't even try her lasso, and the soldiers' lasers and magic blasts were to no avail. The mecha kept stomping around, breaking apart the ceiling and walls of the throne room with every attack.

The mecha stopped for a second and lifted its fluoroantimonic acid cannon. When it fired the cannon, the acid flew through the air like a stream of water. Everything the acid struck corroded away nearly instantly upon impact, further destabilizing the room. Eventually, the ceiling fell apart as several basic soldiers rushed in to aid the mecha and overwhelm the ponies.

Pinkie began her ripping and tearing as she sawed through the basic soldiers. After only five kills and about two cleaned out bodies later, which was only fifteen seconds, the soldiers ran away from her and hid from her as best as they could. Twilight grabbed a few of their guns and fired at the soldiers with them, killing them quickly and efficiently. The ice mage unicorn soldier conjured and fired several ice blasts at the mecha, doing nothing as he expected. The fire mage unicorn soldier fired a few fire blasts, which he swore made the metal body a little red. The mecha fired another barrage of lasers, killing two of its own soldiers and almost hitting Fluttershy. The mecha then fired a plume of fire at Twilight, missing as the flames rolled around her magical barrier.

The fire mage unicorn soldier pelted the mecha with several more fire blasts, making its metal shell a dark hue of red, the same color as venous blood. The soldier then galloped over to Twilight as he dodged the incoming lasers from the basic soldiers and now landing gun soldiers. "Twilight, I got a plan!"

"Tell it then!" Twilight shouted through the mayhem of lasers and shouts as she deflected several lasers back at the mecha.

"Use fire on the mecha! It'll heat up and possibly overheat!"

Pinkie smiled at the unicorn for a second as she chomped out the entrails of a screaming basic soldier. "Somepony knows their weaknesses! Keep it up!" She then returned to gouging out all of the basic soldiers internal organs with her hooves and teeth.

Twilight lowered her barrier and dodged out of a gun soldier's stream of lasers. She then charged a few powerful fire blasts and fired at the mecha. It was now as red as arterial blood, and it was glowing a little too. Small packets of steam escaped from its front as it fired several lightning arcs at a unicorn soldier. The unicorn was struck by every lightning arc, killing him instantly.

The fire mage unicorn fired a flurry of fire blasts at the mecha, overheating it to an extreme. The front of the mecha opened up and released a glowing blue and metallic cylinder. Massive amounts of steam escaped from it as the mecha moved much more slowly and attacked with much less firepower than before.

Huh, if that thing is glowing blue, then I guess I shoot it, Rainbow Dash thought as she stared at the cylinder.

So, from simple shoot glowy thingy logic, Rainbow Dash fired a stream of lasers and missiles at the coolant system, damaging it significantly. Twilight quickly caught on to Rainbow's logic and fired her magic at it as well. Applejack kicked her metal balls into it, and Rarity stabbed it with her gems. The red and orange maned pegasus fired his laser guns at it, and the two unicorn soldiers fired their magic at it as well. Pinkie kept chewing up a ripped open and amputated, but still alive, gun soldier's spleen. By this point, Pinkie has already devoured the insides and tissue of ten kavarian soldiers, and she was still hungry.

After the mecha was done using its coolant system, the entire cylinder retracted and hid in the now closed panels on the mecha. The metal was onyx again, and the machine was as fast as it was in the beginning of the fight.

"Fools!" the Pure One howled with several cackles. "You've only helped me find a flaw in my mecha! Now, you'll all wash up at the shores of hell!"

The mecha strafed around the throne room and kept its guns aimed at four different ponies. The lightning arc cannon was facing the fire mage unicorn soldier, the gatling laser gun followed Rainbow Dash, the flamethrower was chasing Applejack, and the fluoroantimonic acid cannon was targeting Twilight Sparkle. The mecha fired at all of them at once while more kavarian soldiers dropped in from the open sky. At the same time, the throne room was getting awfully cold, and the floor was covering in snow rapidly.

When the lasers rolled over to Rainbow Dash, she outflew them and kept herself in one piece. Applejack dodged the roaring flames with several hops and rolls to the sides. Even though she was mainly safe from the flames, she couldn't stop them from licking at her coat and mane, so parts of her body were singed or burnt a tiny bit. The fire mage unicorn soldier had to repel the lightning arcs with his magic, as they were nearly impossible to dodge. The lightning was just too attracted to his magic to hit the ground or walls. Twilight raised a magical barrier to protect herself from the acid, but it somehow ate through the magic. She quickly dodged the flow of acid as it ate through the snowy floor too easily. She strafed around the mecha for a little while and fired a few fire blasts at it, heating it up a little with every strike.

As the lightning arcs kept striking the fire mage unicorn soldier's magic, he steadily lost his ability to fight back. He eventually lost all of his mana, letting three lightning arcs to strike him in the horn, possibly the worst area for lightning to strike. His brain was fried into mush, and he fell onto the cold snow with a brain-dead expression behind his helmet.

Twilight noticed the flames dancing around Applejack and galloped to her, leaving a trail of corroded floor wherever she walked. She grabbed ahold of the flamethrower with her magic and aimed it at the front of the mecha, heating it up by ridiculous amounts. At the same time the mecha halted Twilight's grasp with more acid, an entire kavarian gunship smashed through one of the still holding walls. The gunship blasted the entire throne room with fiery rocket blasts and hundreds of lasers, adding another level of hectic to the already unnecessarily vast amount of firepower in the area.

Pinkie hopped onto one of the gunship's wings and ran to the glass in front of the cockpit. She carved a hole with her knife and slid herself into the gunship. What followed was several blood splatters and shreds of armor as the gunship lost its stability in midair. Rainbow Dash flew in front of it, forcing the mecha to punch hundreds of holes in it. Pinkie leaped out of the hole she carved with a kavarian pilot's entire body in her mouth. It hung from its neck, the area that Pinkie's teeth were sinking into. She then laid the corpse onto the ground and dug into its chest, devouring everything edible she could find in it.

Twilight, now strafing away from the acid, fired a few more fire blasts at the mecha, overheating it again. As the machine slowed to a crawl, Rainbow Dash used this window of time to her advantage. She rocketed out of the throne room and into the open and disastrous sky, shooting and blasting through kavarian drop ships and gunships as she climbed to higher altitudes. She then slammed into a cloud and dived down to the room. She built up speed, crashing through even more ships until a sonic boom, followed by a sonic rainboom, showered from her insane increase in velocity. She then slammed both of her hooves into the exposed coolant system, literally smashing it into petty pieces right before the Pure One's very eyes. He blinked his black, enormous eyes thrice before closing the panel and starting up the combat systems again.

"Hah, you may have destroyed my coolant system, but I'll still be the first of my universe, and kind, to finally kill the ponies that plagued the rest of our universe!"

Applejack dodged a barrage of lasers as she glared at the mecha and cocked her head. "What're you talking about?"

"I've heard stories of you six, crushing entire legions with your bare, hooves!" The Pure One recoiled as he said that last word. "Zedin, Sir Mimic Man, The Craw, Dr. Scraps, Hector, several liches, and even the goddamn Psychopaths told me about your exploits! I'll be a savior to them, and then, I'll have an army by my side, ready to kil–"

"Yeah, yeah, enough with the chitchat, punk!" Rainbow Dash interrupted with a sneer. "You're already about to overheat again!"

Through that entire section of early monologuing, Twilight already fired several fire blasts at the mecha, and it was about to overheat. Before the Pure One could launch any attacks, Twilight fired a much more powerful fire blast at the mecha. This blast overheated it, but there was nothing it could do. Mechanical systems in the mecha began to fail as several parts of its machinery refused to shut down for cooling. As the mechanisms were more and more damaged, the amount of damage dealt sped up, leaving the outside to look perfectly fine except for a glow of red concealing the now jumbled mess of machinery inside.

The Pure One retracted the metal covering on the dome and lifted it upwards. Pinkie heard this and quickly scrambled to the mecha, climbing it like she was blood hungry for the Pure One's flesh.

"I will see you nuisances next time!" the Pure One hollered as he pounded his staff on the metal floor of his cockpit. "May you all burn in your afterlives for this!"

Mk III Invadotron has been defeated!

Before Pinkie could give the Pure One a fatal blow to his chest, he and his staff vanished in a flash of purple light. Pinkie glanced around frantically, but she couldn't find him. Pinkie screamed in rage and stabbed the metal with her blade. "No! I almost had him! I could've ripped him apart organ by organ and repaid him for what he done to me, but no! He had to leave right there!"

Pinkie glared at the remaining kavarian soldiers on the battlefield and licked her blood-soaked lips. She then glanced up at the familiar cyan covering in the sky. "However, I think all of these little guys could probably satisfy me until then."

"Oh, hell no!" Shouted a basic soldier as he scrambled for the not even recognizable as a doorway pair of double doors. "That freak of nature has already eaten thirty-six kavarians, and I'm not going to be the thirty-seventh!"

"Oh, yes you are," Pinkie purred as she grabbed her knife and crawled toward the soldier. He sprinted for the hallway, but he was too slow to escape Pinkie's unbelievable speed. He was quickly cut open, completely stripped of all organs and tissue that was not his bones, and became, quite literally, nothing but bones and pieces of armor.

Pinkie walked back into the throne room and faced the other remaining kavarians. "Who's next?"

Every single kavarian soldier screamed and ran for their lives. Even the gun soldiers, which dwarfed her by several feet, panicked and dashed for safety. Pinkie chased and picked them all off one by one, leaving the other seven surviving ponies to the mess in the throne room.

Rainbow Dash looked over to the still steaming and whirring mecha. "Aw, come on! Isn't this thing going to–"

The mecha exploded into a collection of soaring shrapnel and metal debris as the floor cracked even more. Rainbow simply smiled as she put on some imaginary shades over her eyes, despite already wearing a helmet.

"Well, I think we won," Rarity presumed as she examined the sky. Barely any kavarian ships were inside the cyan force field.

"Not yet." Twilight walked over to the two cages and studied the red force fields. She tinkered with the force fields until she broke the first set. After she broke the blue force fields, the two princesses simply teleported out of the cages. They both gave warm smiles to Twilight.

"Thank you, Twilight Sparkle," Princess Celestia thanked as she scanned the entire throne room. It was obviously a complete mess. "I should have expected an attack like this eventually. Maybe I cannot rely entirely on these humans to protect me."

"Hey, we still helped!" Travis snapped through the comm link.

"Princess Celestia, don't you need anything else, like a few ponies to fix this place up?" Applejack proposed as she watched a piece of architecture fall into a hole in the corroded floor.

Celestia shook her head. "I believe Solk will take care of that for me." Princess Luna looked over to Celestia and gave a small facial gesture. "Oh, that reminds me, Luna thinks she had a premonition for you, Twilight."

Twilight's eyes beamed with curiosity. "What is it?"

Celestia's smile dropped to a gravely serious frown. "Something is coming, Twilight, and it is after you, your friends, all of us. Whatever it may be, Luna is certain that it is not from our world."

"Do you mean we'll be facing a new foe in the future?"

Luna egged Celestia to continue with another gesture. "I am afraid it is far worse than that. Luna has possibly saw your death, Twilight. This creature that is coming for us will be the one to kill you. I do not know how we can stop it, but it is best we do not worry just yet. It will take a long time for it to arrive."

Twilight swallowed the fear that clung to her throat. What was this new threat? Was it something from the humans' world, or did it come from somewhere else? Sadly, only time could tell. Sweet, sweet time.

General Solk crackled in the comm link. "Twilight, you and your friends can go home now. The kavarians are retreating and at very low numbers." A distant cry in pain could be heard with gushing sounds. "Also, what the hell happened to Pinkie Pie?"

"Long story short, the kavarians made her go insane, and now she hates them," Rainbow Dash answered.

"Okay, then. If you wanted to know, she killed and ate five of them right in front of me." Another cry in pain along with more gushing sounds were audible. "Six now."

"I think she needs to stop now," Twilight declared as she walked through the throne room entrance. She then waved to the two princesses with a smile on her face. "I hope to see you two whenever we're not in a war."

Celestia smiled again. "I hope so too, Twilight. I hope so too..."

The seven ponies walked through the partially damaged castle until they made it back to the city of Canterlot. The ponies walked through the cold and fluffy snow. A few snowflakes swept the tips of their muzzles as they gently floated down to the ground. The one pegasus soldier, still sad about losing Winter Strike, trekked through the snow with a solemn expression.

Fluttershy walked over to the pegasus and looked down at the hoofprints in the snow. "So, I remember that you said bye to the other pegasus, Winter Strike, right?"

The pegasus soldier nodded slowly. "Yeah. I never knew that this would be the day he died. I thought we would be together forever."

"Who was he exactly?"

The pegasus sighed and kicked a small pebble into a now pile. "He was my cousin, and my only childhood friend. We went to flight school together, lived in the same neighborhood, hanged out all the time, and even volunteered for the war together. I, I never really left him."

Fluttershy felt sympathy for the pegasus. It was hard for her to grasp the feeling of living with a single friend forever and watch them suddenly die. It was unheard of for her. "That sounds like you two were very close."

"Yeah," the pegasus replied as he sniffed and shed a tear, "we were. Best friends to the end." The pegasus viewed the landscape of gentle snow and sunny skies throughout Equestria, attempting to avoid the destroyed buildings right next to him. "He would've loved this. He always loved winter. Honestly, I hate it."

Fluttershy's interest jumped a little from that statement. "Why? Is it too cold for you?"

"Heh, yeah. Summer is my season. I guess that's the only thing we didn't have in common really. He loved winter, the snow, the clouds, the landscapes. I enjoyed the heat."

"I never got your name. What is it?"

"Solar Flare. I'm guessing yours is Fluttershy, right?"

Fluttershy was a little surprised. "How do you know?"

"I heard about you several times in my life. I think I saw you in flight school a couple times, and I heard about you when you were at the changeling invasion. I even heard about you going off and fighting the demons." Solar Flare laughed a little. "You were the one to give me the idea of joining GEST Corp. I thought that if you were so timid and shy but became a great fighter, then maybe I should become one too. Winter Strike agreed, and that's how we got here."

Fluttershy took a few more moments to process Solar's words. "I inspired you?"

"Yeah. I didn't think a mare like you would be here. I never imagined it at all. I thought you would always be the shy one hiding behind the crowd and that."

Fluttershy blushed from his statement "Well, I'm still shy. That might never change, but I'm proud to be here, helping Equestria fight back against these things. It might be scary at times, and I might get too scared to fight, but I think I'm still helping." Fluttershy paused for a second. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'll probably still fight for Equestria, but, after that, I'm not sure. I guess I'll have to find myself again without my best friend."

"Well, wherever you are in the future, you'll have my support."

"Thanks. It's nice to hear that from a celebrity like you. If we ever do meet again, I hope it is soon."

"Why do you say that?"

"You're the nicest pony I know. You also kind of make me feel a little safe, like I'm invincible to everything."

Fluttershy gave Solar a warm smile. "I hope so too."

After that conversation ended, the seven ponies reached General Solk and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie looked like her normal self instead of the horrifyingly insane mare from the throne room and the mountain. All of the blood on her body and face was gone too.

Pinkie confronted Twilight first with a rapid succession of hops. "Twilight, I think I'm getting used to this blind rage thing now!"

Twilight eyed her curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

"I didn't black out this time! I remember everything that happened, even though it is kind of unsettling."

"I guess that's good? Whatever you feel about it."

As Twilight walked up to Solk, Pinkie blurted out her own thoughts. "Also, that one soldier miscounted."

Twilight turned her head at Pinkie. "Which soldier?"

"The one that said how many kavarians I ate in that room. He said thirty-six. I actually ate sixty-seven."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "You ate sixty-seven of them?"

"Yup, sixty-seven!"

"How?"

"Don't you know me, Twilight? I have a big appetite! A hundred cookies to me feels like one!"

Solk counted up the numbers in his head and thought about the volume of sixty-seven kavarians. "I'm not even going to ask how that's even physically possible. Anyway, you six can head on home. We don't have any missions for you all yet." Solk turned to the two remaining ED soldiers, Solar Flare and the ice mage unicorn soldier. "You two, you're about to be commanded by a demon."

"Wait, what?" Solar asked as he processed what a demon was.

"Don't worry, he's on our side. He's possibly the best of the best that you can get. Trust me, you two will soar with him as your commander."

Pinkie's ears perked up. "Does this demon go by the name Hannibal?"

Solk nodded.

Pinkie jumped up in joy as she hopped around the area. "Hannibal is alive! Hannibal is alive! Hannibal is alive!"

Solk smirked a little. "He definitely is. I also plan on putting him in your group on the next mission."

Pinkie nearly exploded in happiness as she leaped onto Solk and hugged him tightly. "Thank you! I missed him so much!"

"You're welcome." Solk hugged back as best as he could from his height. "Anyway, Twilight, my troops and I will fix this place up. Whenever you and your friends are ready, you can leave by drop ship or train."

Twilight looked around the group. "Is everypony ready?"

"I don't see why not," Applejack replied.

"Yup!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Rainbow looked a little impatient. "I've been ready ever since we trashed that hunk of metal."

"I'm ready to go," Fluttershy softly agreed.

"Yes, I am ready," Rarity answered.

"Then let's go." Twilight led the way to the nearest drop ship and sat down on the ship's seats. The other five ponies did so as well, ready to go back to Ponyville. The drop ship lifted its door, activated its thrusters, then ascended into the sky. It zoomed through the cyan force field and flew back to the small town.

Rainbow was a little speculative of the force field. "Hey, I thought this shield kept things out. Was it a fake?"

"No, it was real," the co-pilot answered. "It lets everything in or out. It just disintegrates all kavarian weaponry, machinery, and DNA that passes through it. Think of it like a giant, spherical material emancipation grill, but for kavarians."

Rainbow gave the co-pilot a bewildered look. "You lost me at emanci-whatever it is."

•—————•

Inside a familiar and shadowy room, Lord Zedin was examining several pieces of footage from the recent battle at Canterlot. He was especially interested in watching the footage that contained the fight between the Mane Six and the Pure One. He looked at the footage with shock and worry in his eyes, especially when he saw Pinkie literally devour the kavarian soldiers' insides.

When the doors slammed open to the room, Zedin immediately held out a hand to his right. "Do not speak. It is bad news, is it not?

The novice demon kneeled before he told his news. "Actually, sire, it is not bad news. Major Morgivon has been successfully transformed, sire. We can start the invasion."

"Not yet," Zedin declared as he eyed the coolant system extending from the Mk III Invadotron. "Now is not a good time."

"Why? Everything is set up, sire! We can't let a sitting army go to waste!"

"Discord has not done what I told him to yet."

"You mean killing Twilight Sparkle, sire?"

Zedin shook his head. "No. I asked him a different favor as well, but I did not receive it yet." Zedin stopped the footage and floated over to a table. He activated a couple holograms, one being Twilight, and other being Pinkie Pie. "Go to your post. You are not needed anymore."

"Yes, sire!" And with that, the novice demon left the room and Zedin by themselves.

Zedin mumbled to himself as he examined the holograms. "What makes that pony and her friends so special now? I killed my future nemeses, and I lent Discord a hand. There should be no other reason that these ponies are important now."

Zedin looked a little closer at Pinkie's hologram. He then opened up several panels that presented her in them. Sometimes, she was with her friends, sometimes, she was not, but she was still the spotlight in every panel. She walked, talked, bounced, laughed, giggled, cried, hugged, hopped, and galloped in every single one of them. He pushed a few panels away and enlarged a couple others that showed Pinkie's face either smiling, laughing, or crying. In that moment, Zedin felt a feeling he never believed he would: guilt. He felt guilty for fighting these ponies. He felt guilty for leading his forces upon them just to eliminate his most hated enemy, Solk and his GEST Corp. lackeys. He felt guilty for hurting Pinkie.

He cried internally since he was incapable of making tears. He simply frowned at Pinkie's laughing face and thought about the entire war altogether. Was it worth it? Was killing these ponies and their world worth it to fight the humans, a species he only had quarrels with due to him being the one to shoot first and ask questions later?

Zedin rejected his waterfall of emotions as he swiped the screens of Pinkie's many faces away. "Damn it, Zedin, you are growing weak. You have no reason to feel sorry or even guilty to these ponies. They are aiding the humans, and the humans are your sworn enemy. Remember, Zedin, a friend of the humans is another enemy in your way."

Zedin thought about Pinkie again. Would he dare to make her frown again?

He rejected the thought half-heartedly. "That is final, Zedin. The ponies are your enemies. When you are an intelligent ruler with an entire army in your hands, you do not need friends. You, do not, need, friends..."

Act IV, Chapter 3: Welcome to Andromeda, Kiddos
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act IV, Chapter 3: Welcome to Andromeda, Kiddos

It was five days after the so called Great Invasion of Canterlot. Ever since that terrifying day, Princess Celestia ordered improvements on security and the royal guards. Originally, there were no GEST Corp. soldiers protecting the city at all times. After that invasion, several soldiers were hired to protect it at all costs. For the Mane Six residing in Ponyville, today was just like any other. To GEST Corp., today was just another battle waiting to grow into a bloodbath.

•—————•

While most ponies were resuming to their usual daily activities and trying to forget the war right on top of them, Twilight was not like most ponies. Throughout her travels, she discovered several artifacts and items that intrigued her. When she first met Dr. Scraps's robots, she wondered if she could ever build robots similar to them. So, she took the scrap metal and wires sitting around her treehouse and gathered them around the library section of her house. With the help of a few tools made by the humans, she welded, hammered, sawed, and programmed her way to victory.

To not run into any disastrous results, Twilight refrained from creating a war machine and focused on building a robot that could be used as a servant or butler. For her first test, she decided to program it to sort books in alphabetical order by the author's name.

For the robot, she used an R-Bot's wheel leg for mobility and support, a C-Bot's body for primary functions and coding, a lightning craw's modified arms and claws for easy gripping and excellent precision, and a modified craw head with one optical sensor and an R-Bot's voice box. She disabled or removed all potential weapons in the robot and left only the functions needed. The entire robot stood at about the same height as Twilight, making it rather small compared to an average adult human.

When Twilight turned on the robot, she stood back and smiled in excitement, eager to see what she created out of salvaged technology and enemy parts.

The robot lifted its head upwards and swiveled it around. "Where am I?" it asked in a slightly high-pitched and male voice not very different from Claptrap. "Actually, who am I?"

Twilight was more than surprised when the robot talked.

She was shocked.

She backed away slowly from the robot as she eyed it for any faults. "Did I mess up the programming somewhere?"

The robot turned its head to Twilight and tilted its head. "Who are you?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn and student of Princess Celestia. Your job is to sort these books in alphabetical order by the author's name."

The robot rolled to the books and picked one up. It quickly dropped it as it noticed its metallic hand. "Ahh! What's with my, my, my..."

"Hand?" Twilight suggested.

"My hand! It's all shiny and hard like metal. Wait, I am metal! What am I?" The robot was slightly panicking as its voice shook in terror.

"Calm down! You're just a robot. I created you to see if you can sort these books." The robot glanced down at the books then back to Twilight. "Well, can you?"

"Wait, if I'm supposed to be a robot, and you made me, then by common sense and prior knowledge–" the robot gasped and placed its hands on its supposed cheeks "–then you're my mother! Hi mom!"

Twilight backed away a little more and raised one foreleg a little bit. "Okay, this got weird very quickly. Anyway, can you sort the books please?"

The robot glanced at the books again and lowered itself at a reasonable level with them. It picked one up and inspected it. "By author's name, right?"

"Ye–"

Before Twilight could finish a single word, the robot sorted all twenty books in front of it in alphabetical order by the author's name. Twilight inspected the books and found every single one of them in the right place. "Wow, I'm impressed. You sort faster than I ever can in just, two seconds." Twilight walked over to the robot and faced the off switch she implemented. "Well, it's time to disassemble you."

The robot quickly learned the meaning of that word and jumped away from her. "Disassemble? No, I don't wanna die yet! Can I please live longer? I don't even know where I am!"

Twilight sighed. "Fine. I'm only doing this because you're somehow sentient."

"Yay!" The robot rolled around the floor and headed for the door. It slammed into it and fell down with a thud. "Ow."

Twilight held the door handle with her magic and pulled it open. "You open the door like this. See? Try it out."

As Twilight closed the door again, the robot got back up and placed a claw on the handle. It at first pushed, but it failed. When it pulled, the door opened, allowing it to see all of Ponyville and its residents. The robot rolled through the streets and examined the entire town. He saw mainly other ponies, but he also noticed that there were a few humans, skeletons, and demons walking around as well.

The robot rolled up to one of the ponies on the street. "Hello, uh, umm, what are you called?"

"I'm guessing you're new around here," assumed the pegasus mare. "I'm called a pegasus. Have you ever seen one before?"

"Actually, no. I was just made today by my mom Twilight Sparkle."

The mare eyed the robot for a second before realizing what he kind of meant. "Oh, she built you. For a second I was wondering how that'd work."

"Alright, it was nice talking to you," abruptly blurted the robot as it rolled off. "Have a nice day! Is it day?" The robot looked up. "I think it is."

The robot continued rolling along the street until it was suddenly confronted by Pinkie. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! I'm guessing you're not part of GEST Corp., right?"

The robot looked around and shrugged. "What's, GEST Corp.?"

"It's just a group of humans, skeletons, demons, and ponies like me! Do you want me to show you around? I bet you'll love it here!"

"Sure! I am here to see what this world is anyway."

Pinkie grabbed the robot and strolled it along the street. She pointed out several buildings and told who lived in them. She also pointed out a few ponies' names and what they like. She kept doing this for about a few minutes until they reached her home, Sugarcube Corner. "And that's Sugarcube Corner, where you can get the most delicious sweets and treats in Equestria!" Pinkie thought about the robot for a second. "Oh, where are you from? I almost forgot to ask!"

"I was built by my mom Twilight Sparkle. I think she's still in that tree thingy back there."

"Twilight built you? She built a friend? Aw, that's sweet of her!"

"I'm guessing you would call attempting to disassemble me sweet too, right?"

Pinkie shook her head. "No, not at all. Why do you ask?"

"Because she almost did that to me."

Pinkie gasped, grabbed ahold of the robot, and zoomed down the streets to the treehouse. She then banged on the door thrice and waited for a response.

Twilight opened the door and noticed the robot. "Oh, are you done looking around?"

The robot raised one hand with only one finger extended. "Actually, I was dragged over he–"

"You tried to disassemble this little robot?" Pinkie growled at Twilight. "Why would you do that? He's such a nice guy! I don't understand at all why you'd do such a thing!"

"I was trying to see how good I was at building robots," Twilight reasoned. "I expected him to just act like a machine and do what I programmed him to do, but he's sentient. He even thinks that I'm his mother."

"That's because you are!" Pinkie held up the robot to Twilight's face. "Look at him, he's so young! You know how much I love children, Twily! Why would you get rid of one?"

"At first, I thought this was nice, now I'm wondering about what's happening," the robot openly stated as he glanced between Pinkie and Twilight. "Should I go now and let you two sort this out?"

Pinkie took back the robot and hugged it tightly. "You don't have to go, um, I need a name for you." She turned her head to Twilight. "Did you give him a name?"

"No, I didn't think he needed one," Twilight answered.

Pinkie faced the robot again. "I'll call you, Servo! Do you like that?"

"It sounds nice," the robot agreed as he turned his head to Twilight. "Is that alright, mom?"

Twilight was never going to get used to being called that. "Yeah, that can be your name."

Servo escaped Pinkie's hold and rolled around in a circle for a bit. "So, I'm a robot named Servo in a world called Equestria. I'm surrounded by a bunch of ponies and random creatures from another world, and one of these ponies, named Twilight Sparkle, is my mom. I was also originally programmed to sort books for some reason, which is why I'm so good at it." Servo faced the two ponies. "Does that sound about right?"

Twilight nodded, and Pinkie smiled.

Servo thought about his purpose. "Okay, so what do I do now?"

"You can stay with me until I have to go on another mission," Twilight proposed.

"Well, I found out that today is the next mission!" Pinkie informed as her head twirled over to Twilight.

"Today? Hold up, I need to get my battle suit!"

Twilight galloped up the stairs as Pinkie took out a pocket chest from her tail. She opened it and took out her entire suit. She quickly squirmed into it and put on her helmet, which was almost covered up by her mane. She then hooked the pocket chest onto her right side, the side that didn't have a pocket chest.

Servo scanned Pinkie's metal armor and gave an invisible smile. He had no idea what was happening, but he knew it would be very interesting or fun if Pinkie was wearing that. "I'm liking where this is going."

Pinkie faced Servo and patted his head. "You stay here while I tell the rest of my bestest friends about today, okay?"

"Okay!" Servo shouted with enthusiasm.

Pinkie dashed away from the treehouse to her friends. Only about thirty seconds later, Twilight walked down the stairs with her battle suit on. If Servo did not have an organic life scanner in his head, he would have mistaken her for another robot.

Twilight walked up to Servo as she skimmed through a few spell books "Servo, since I'm not really sure about what you can do, you have a choice. You can go with us or stay here."

"If you're wearing pieces of metal like that, then I'm definitely going!" Servo replied.

"Alright. Just stay safe, okay? Celestia knows who we'll face on this mission."

Pinkie zipped back to Twilight as she pointed down to the town hall. "Hurry up, Twily! We're about to go!"

Pinkie, Twilight, and Servo rushed over to the town hall. They found the rest of the Mane Six and a drop ship there. The other four ponies were armored up and ready to go.

When Rainbow Dash noticed Servo, she hovered over to him with uncertainty. "Woah woah woah, what's this thing, and what's it doing here?"

"That thing, Dashie, is called Servo, and he's Twilight's son!" Pinkie snapped as she protected Servo like he was a foal.

"Wait a second–" Rainbow cracked a small giggle "–Twilight's a mother now?"

"It's not my fault that Servo imprinted on me!" Twilight snapped at Rainbow Dash, who was now laughing hysterically.

"My, it must be quite unusual for that to happen," Rairty commented. "Why is, Servo, with us anyway?"

"He wants to go with us on the mission. I don't exactly know why, but he does."

As Applejack walked up the ramp door of the drop ship, she decided to join the conversation too. "Well, there's no reason to not let him go. I think he's a fine feller."

The other ponies and Servo walked up the door as well and took their seats. It was a little difficult for Servo to sit, but with some help from Pinkie, he eventually took his seat.

"For being your son, Pinkie is being rather helpful to him," Fluttershy directed at Twilight.

"As she puts it, she likes children," Twilight explained. "Even if he's as big as a full grown pony."

The ramp door closed as the thrusters turned on. The entire drop ship slowly ascended into the air until it was well above Ponyville. It then suddenly sped up and soared upwards, soon leaving the atmosphere of the planet and nearing the familiar ED Space Station. It traveled through one of its dimensional portals and entered the humans' universe. Once again, the ponies, plus one, were on another quest in this universe.

The ship headed towards the planet of Andromeda. As it made atmospheric contact, several laser blasts flew in the opposite direction. The ship rolled and dived its way through the mess, preventing any damage to the ship.

"Hey, what's going on out there?" Applejack worriedly asked at the ship kept changing its position.

"We're under attack by a fleet of demon ships!" informed the co-pilot. "So far, I'm seeing dozens of them!"

A demon assault ship flew unusually close to the drop ship and slammed right into its left wing and side. Several scraping noises became audible as the drop ship lost altitude and spiraled out of control. It only took a moment for all of the ponies and Servo to start panicking. Pinkie hugged Rainbow Dash and Servo for dear life as Twilight's teeth chattered. Applejack was darting her eyes around the small, blaring red compartment, and Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs and covered her ears to drown out the siren. Rarity was also screaming. She held onto Applejack tightly as the chorus of screams became more and more chaotic.

"We're going down!" Alerted the pilot with panic in his voice. Even he was unprepared for this chaos. "Hang on tight, girls! This landing might be rough!"

The entire drop ship spiraled down towards the ground of Andromeda. From its relative location to its direction of movement, it was aiming towards a nearby, and extremely dense, forest. The drop ship scraped through the canopy as it descended into a clearing. The ship slammed through several trees as parts of it fell off and cracked apart. The ship dug into the ground, stopping at a few much stronger trees. The cockpit exploded, throwing the Mane Six, Servo, and several pieces of metal and debris all over the place. Flames cooked a couple tree trunks and the ground as the ponies and robot tumbled onto the earthy ground.

As the ponies coughed and wheezed from the dust and smoke, they got back up on their hooves and examined their surroundings. There were oddly shaped trees as far as the eye could see. Several vines, bushes, and undergrowth plagued the grassy forest floor and understory. Several strange creatures of different shapes and sizes lurked in the shadows of the forest. A bright sun, along with another smaller one, shined over the entire land, providing plenty of light to the ponies.

Servo jumped back up onto his wheel and scanned everything around him. "That, was, amazing! I've never felt more exhilarated in my entire life! Well, this is the only time I feel exhilarated in my life, but who cares! That was so much fun!"

"Hey, Rainbow, he's your type," teased Applejack.

"Hey, I'm not that blind when it comes to thrills!" Rainbow shouted as she took flight to only a few feet above the ground. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I thought that landing was scary too!"

Twilight tinkered with her helmet until she got a comm link with Travis. "Travis, are you there?"

"I'm here," Travis responded. He then set up the comm link for the other five ponies. "I was about to set up a link to you, but I guess you beat me to it."

"Um, where do we go? We're in the middle of the huge forest in your world, and there's no clear way out."

"Let me find your global location." Travis checked the GPS satellites around Andromeda for the Mane Six. He found their coordinates inside of the Savilia Forest. "You six are inside the west section of the Savilia Forest. If you go southeast, you'll hit Tevira, a local mining town. Just south from the town is your destination, New Sacramino City."

"That sounds like we will be walking for a long time," Rarity predicted from the mess of words.

"Oh, you will if you don't find a drop ship in that town. Also, be careful of the bandits. They're everywhere in that forest. It's pretty much their home."

It was Twilight's turn to summarize the situation. She began her small thinking process with walking in a circle. "So, we're inside a forest full of creatures we have no idea about. We barely have an idea where we are in it, and there is a huge amount of shrubbery in our way. On top of that, we have some humans in this forest that might want to sell us for money." She turned her head to the group of ponies, worry and anxiety nipping at her face like mites. "Does that make us sound hopeless enough?"

"If you want it to be hopeless, add the possibility of a storm occurring," added Servo. "Then it'll sound like we're all about to die horrible deaths!"

"Let me scout the area real quick." Rainbow Dash flew up in the air and examined her surroundings. There were trees, trees, more trees, and still more trees. She could barely see an area without any trees and a couple buildings on her left. She hovered back down to the ponies and pointed a hoof to her left. "We need to go that way. There's some sort of town over there."

The Mane Six plus one walked in that direction. They were immediately stopped by the wild undergrowth.

"So, nopony's getting past those weeds until we mow them," Applejack informed as she ripped a blade of the undergrowth out and inspected it.

"Leave that to me." Rarity stood in front of the group and conjured several gemstones. She then slashed the undergrowth with them like miniature knives. Several clumps of the wild plants fell apart with ease. Twilight helped Rarity by collecting those clumps and tossing them into the other wild plants. With this simple technique, a small pathway was soon made.

"Good thinking, Rare," Rainbow praised.

The group kept moving through the forest with this setup. Rarity would cut up the plants, and Twilight would dispose of them by tossing them to the side. It was a simple and efficient process. They kept doing this until they reached a gravelly and excellently cut path. Since one side of it was going where they needed to go, they followed the path down that direction.

As the ponies plus one kept walking down the path, Fluttershy heard an odd buzzing from her right. She then turned her head. "Hello? Is there a bee out there?"

Fluttershy internally dismissed that it was a bee. The buzzing was far too loud to be a creature that small and harmless. Well, harmless for those not allergic to the sting.

The buzzing got louder as the group continued along the path. At this point, the buzzing was annoying half of the group.

"What is that atrocious noise?" Rarity shouted as she looked to her right.

"Yeah, it's getting pretty obnoxious now," Rainbow added.

In less than a second, several dark figures as big as house cats darted out of the bushes and at the ponies. They were too fast to be seen, making the ponies panic from the attack. Several of the creatures swarmed Fluttershy and chomped at her legs, mane, and tail. Two of them took Applejack's hat, and two more kept striking her over and over. Rainbow Dash couldn't fly, as eight of the creatures were biting into her wings. Three of them go stuck in Pinkie's mane and tail, but three more kept biting at her face.

Twilight fired multiple magic blasts in random directions, hitting some of the creatures swarming near her. Rarity conjured a barrier of gems around her that sliced and diced every creature that aimed for her. Pinkie kicked and punched the creatures off her, and Fluttershy was trying to remove them from her tail and wings. Rainbow Dash couldn't get the creatures off her wings, so she galloped over to Twilight for help.

"Can you get thes-ah, creatures off me?" Rainbow asked through the sharp pains from the biting.

Twilight grabbed the creatures with her magic and threw them into a nearby tree. She then blasted them with a magic blast, killing them all. Applejack kicked a few of the creatures and lassoed her hat back. The two creatures that grabbed it let go and aimed for Pinkie instead. After several more kicks, punches, and magic blasts, the creatures were all dead.

Servo, completely unharmed by the creatures, rolled up to one of them and examined them carefully. It had two bug-like wings on a small body, and it had a huge mouth with locked and sharpened fangs in it. He picked it up and showed it to Twilight. "If you were wondering what just attacked you, mom, here it is."

Twilight eyed the small corpse and checked to see if it was dead. When she found out that it was, she put it in her pocket chest to study later.

Travis knew exactly what the creatures were. "They're called cavazeirs. They're pack hunters that swarm up on pray and leave nothing but the bones behind. You can pretty much call them the piranhas of the air."

"Well, that's reassuring," Twilight worriedly stated.

The Mane Six plus one kept walking down the path, attacking and killing any cavazeir swarms that hid in the bushes. The group eventually reached a clearing with a few tents and huts scattered around a campfire. A few humans with tattered and worn-out clothes walked around the area with laser rifles in their hands. They had several pads on their shoulders, elbows, or knees, and some of them had a few armor pieces on some parts of their body. They all had mud paint on their skin and leaves attached to their armor and clothes.

When one of the humans noticed the ponies, he turned around and waved his gun to the other men. "Hey, guys, we got some little horses over here!"

The rest of the patrolling bandits walked up to him and inspected the six ponies.

"Remember that offer the HRM had, boys?" a gruff sounding bandit asked. "They said that they would pay us a billion units for each little horse! Let's round 'em up and get our cash!"

"Why don't we keep one of them?" another bandit asked with a raspy voice. "I've been itchin' for a girl for some time, but I guess these things can work too."

"Sounds like a good idea!" shouted a bandit with huge muscles. "Sell five of 'em and keep one for humpin'!"

The bandits cocked their guns and aimed them at the ponies. "Drop yer weapons and gear to us, ladies," one of them ordered. "Then we'll decide who stays and who goes."

"Alright," Rainbow began as she stretched her legs in midair, "I'm all for sparing people, but this is where I draw the line."

Rainbow Dash fired three missiles into the bandit crowd, sending several bandits flying through the air and into huts or trees. Two of them died from the blast, but the rest were still able to fight. Twilight fired several magic blasts at the bandits, killing them quickly and efficiently. Rarity conjured several gems and flung them at the bandits, stabbing them wherever they showed exposed skin. Pinkie hopped over to the bandits and prepared her legs for battle. When the bandits got up close to her, they soon found themselves with no head or with a destroyed rib cage.

Several more bandits emerged from the tents and huts with more guns by their sides. They rushed up to the ponies and fired at them several times. Twilight deflected the lasers back at them, and Fluttershy gave a call into the forest for assistance. Several bushes in the undergrowth rustled as a huge teardrop shaped head with several fangs popped up out of them. It had two huge slits for eyes that had black scleras and white pupils. A long neck extended out of the back of its head and formed the top part of a question mark. Several spines stuck out of the neck and head, and three legs ending in cupped ends for feet extended out of the end of the neck.

The creature roared an ear-piercing shrill at the bandits then waddled towards them. The huge head, bigger than an average adult human's body, snatched up the bandit and chewed it noisily and messily. It spat out several chunks of bone, metal, cloth and leaves as it searched for another bandit to kill. At the same time the creature was biting an arm off a bandit, Applejack lassoed another one and pulled it close. She then bucked its head so hard that it snapped off and flew by another bandit's face.

When there were only three bandits left, a bigger and more muscular one came out with a rocket launcher and chainsaw hybrid gun. He wore a white shirt with ripped off sleeves that read 'mama's boy' with a crudely painted skull and two shotguns next to it. The big bandit chainsawed through the creature's face and down its neck. As the creature's corpse fell to the ground, he fired a rocket at Twilight. She dodged to her right as she fired an explosive magic blast at the big bandit. Rarity stabbed him in the chest with several gems, and Pinkie hit him in the face with razor confetti from her party cannon. After three missiles to the face, the faceless bandit tumbled to the ground with the chainsaw sliced into his left arm.

Twilight walked over to the big bandit's corpse and glared at it. "This is why I don't like coming here. I don't like fighting humans, but I have to anyway, then after the fight, they die in the most brutal ways possible."

"I can understand what you are saying, Twilight," Rarity agreed as she looked at the gem-filled bandits, "but it is our duty to clean up this forest whenever we can. These bandits most likely cause problems for the citizens of this world. Also, they would have done horrible, horrible things to us if we let them live."

Servo intervened in the small conversation. "Well, if you two don't like seeing these bandits with holes in them, then you can move along and keep going where we need to go. It's that simple."

Travis examined Pinkie's emotions for a second. "Hey, Pinkie, you have no rage built up. You don't have to worry about becoming some deranged psychopath that eats everyone in her path."

Servo glanced at Pinkie with surprise. "Wait, she can do that? Man, that's pretty scary to know, but now I'm curious! I wanna see her transform!"

Twilight nervously laughed as she turned her head to Servo. "Trust me, you really don't."

Pinkie hopped over to Servo. She sat down next to him and wrapped her left foreleg around him. "You want to know what it's like to see me transform? Imagine resting skeletons in clothes, everywhere. There's no meat on them because it's all in my belly. Still curious?"

Servo looked over to Pinkie and poked her stomach. "Is it all still in there?"

"Nope, that was five days ago, Servo!" Pinkie giggled to herself a little. "Only thing in there now is a bunch of pies from a contest." Pinkie put her mouth close to one of Servo's supposed ears and whispered to him. "I was one of the judges."

Servo looked over to Pinkie. His voice a little quieter than usual. "Pinkie Pie, can I tell you something?"

"Go ahead. I'm all ears!"

"Well, ever since I met you–" Servo hesitated a little "–you felt like a pony who cared about me very much."

"Of course I do! You're my very first friend that's made out of metal, and Twily made you. Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, I actually feel that you were actually more than a friend. Pinkie, are you okay with me calling you, my aunt?"

Pinkie took a couple moments to process what he said. She then held Servo close and hugged him tightly. "I'd love that, Servo."

Servo hugged back and shed a nonexistent tear.

"So," Rainbow started as she thought about what happened, "does that make Twilight Pinkie's sister now?"

"I see it that Servo just sees both of them as loving figures," Rarity added to the mix. "Twilight because she made him, and Pinkie because she treats him like he is the most important thing to her."

"That makes a lot more sense."

As Pinkie and Servo finished their embrace, the group continued down the pathway on the other side of the bandit camp. They traveled through the forest a little more, Rainbow Dash sometimes checking to see how far the group was from the forest's edge.

The group soon hit another bandit camp, except that there were only three bandits total despite the abundance of tents and huts.

One of the bandits noticed the ponies and aimed his gun at them. "Strange creatures, everybody! Round 'em up!"

Twilight fired a magic blast at the bandit, but he rolled to his right, successfully escaping her magic. Rainbow Dash aimed her laser guns at him and began her barrage, shredding the bandit to a corpse filled with holes. The other two bandits hid behind two huts and fired several lasers at them. Rarity stabbed one to death with her gems, and Applejack lassoed the other one and pulled him into the fray. Rainbow fired three missiles at him and sent bloody pieces flying through the air.

The group continued along the pathway, fighting a few bandits here and there that patrolled the path. Sometimes, a cavazeir swarm came out of nowhere and attacked one of the bandits. The ponies would kill both the swarm and the bandit afterwards.

After about ten more minutes of walking and fighting, Rainbow checked their distance again. They were almost at the forest's edge, and she could see an entire town with several mines on its sides. The group hustled a little and finally left the forest. As they examined the familiar rolling hills of Alplandia Plains, they also noticed several sounds of gunfire and shouting from the town. The ponies plus one rushed to the town and confronted whatever was causing the mayhem.

Several bandits were firing upon civilians and robbing them of their money and possessions. Several buildings had cracked open windows and a couple dancing flames. Civilians screamed and tried to find something that could protect themselves. Even though there were a few GEST Corp. soldiers fighting against the bandits, they were also losing men from the sheer firepower pitted against them.

A couple bandits noticed the ponies and redirected their attention to them. "Boys, we got ourselves those wanted fellers from the posters! Get that moolah!"

Some of the bandits turned to the ponies and fired at them. Twilight deflected the lasers back at them, killing one bandit and wounding two more. Rainbow Dash hovered in the air and rained down several lasers at the bandits. Fluttershy called to the forest again for help, calling in two of the large headed creatures from earlier, also known to the locals as zvroinks. They both began their killing upon the bandits as several more bandits turned their attention to the ponies. They already killed all of the GEST Corp. soldiers in the town by the time the zvroinks entered the battle.

Twilight and her friends kept pressing through the battlefield as more bandits caught sight of her. Applejack lassoed and bucked a few from behind, and Pinkie activated her cloaking ability and hopped right into the bandits. She took them down one by one with brute force. Twilight kept her deflection spell active to protect herself, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Servo from the barrage. Only about half a minute later, all of the attacking bandits were slain. However, the fight was far from over.

The ground around the ponies rumbled and shook. Seconds later, an entire tank with several crudely attached spikes and buzz saws on its outer shell smashed right through a building. The tank had two bullet machine guns attached to its sides and a double barrel cannon on its top. Ten more bandits rode on its sides while they shouted and squealed in valor and roughness. Two more bandits that rode on unusually huge scorpions also entered the battlefield. Both of them had crossbows with hand grenades attached to their bolts. The huge scorpions had special muzzles around their mouths and were a deep hue of green.

Several bandits on the tank hopped off and aimed their guns at the group. "Yee-haw!" One bandit shouted with ecstasy. "Ponies worth billions of bucks? This day keeps gettin' better and better!"

"You better give up now, ladies," warned another bandit with a femur filled with saw teeth in one hand and a gun in the other. "You won't be able to handle us."

"Yeah!" shouted one of the scorpion riding bandits. "The Venombacks never lose!"

"Then I guess it's time you finally feel what it's like to be dragged across the floor!" declared Rainbow Dash with determination and a slice of cockiness.

The tank geared to triple its original speed and headed straight for Twilight and company. Pinkie hopped onto the tank and bashed one of its machine guns. Erveyone except for Rainbow Dash dodged to the left or right of the tank. The machine guns swiveled over to Applejack and fired a hailstorm of bullets at her. A few bullets struck her, denting her suit a little with every hit. As the entire tank slammed into another building and collapsed it to rubble, the scorpion riders rode over to Twilight. The scorpions slashed at her with their huge claws. The bandits riding the scorpions aimed their crossbows for Rarity and Fluttershy. One bolt struck Fluttershy and detonated on her, throwing her body into the side of a building. The other one was intercepted by Twilight and stabbed right into one of the scorpions' claws. The scorpion lost its right claw and scuttled back a little.

The two zvroinks from earlier waddled over to the scorpions and slammed their big heads into them. One zvroink then snatched the bandit rider on the injured scorpion, gobbling it up and spitting out the indigestible remains. Rarity stabbed the other rider in their exposed neck with several gems. The dead rider fell off the scorpion and tumbled onto the dusty ground.

Several bandits rushed up to Applejack with their guns in hand. Applejack bucked one of them into another, knocking both of them down. Applejack then lassoed three more together and kicked several metal balls into their heads. After the three constricted bandits died, she then finished off the other two bandits with a few more metal balls.

Pinkie kept bashing her hooves into the machine guns. She eventually smashed one out of its socket, so she hopped to the other one and pounded it into a mess of metal. After both machine guns were destroyed, the tank geared to reverse and rolled out of the crumbled building. It fired several times into the battlefield, causing complete mayhem among the ponies. Pinkie hopped onto the hatch of the tank and bashed it open. She then threw the bandit driver out of the tank and onto the ground. She deactivated her cloak and pummeled the bandit in the chest several times. His sternum and ribs caved in on him, destroying his lungs. Pinkie then hopped into the tank and studied its controls.

The injured scorpion retaliated against the zvroinks and stabbed them with its venomous tail. One of zvroinks was stabbed right in its left eye. It slowed down and became frail. The scorpion then sliced its neck with its remaining claw, spilling blue blood all over the claw. The other scorpion grabbed Fluttershy and readied its tail for stabbing. Twilight fired an explosive magic blast at its tail. The entire tail blasted apart with enough force and pain to release Fluttershy from captivity. Twilight then fired several magic blasts into its head, killing the scorpion.

Pinkie eventually found out how to move and shoot the tank, so she did just that. She fired the cannon at the remaining bandits, giving them all flying lessons as they soared through the dusty sky. Rainbow Dash picked the soaring bandits off with a few missiles and laser blasts. Pinkie then geared to triple speed and rammed the last scorpion in its side. The tank shoved the scorpion along the street until it met a building. That was when the scorpion was crushed between the tank and building, spilling its yellow and orange guts all over the tank and building.

As the battlefield finally calmed, the Mane Six plus one regrouped. Pinkie hopped out of the tank and walked over to Twilight. Rainbow Dash landed back onto the dry soil, and Appejack galloped back to Twilight.

"So, with them taken care of, we need to find a drop ship." Twilight ordered. "Any idea where one might be?"

"How about right there?" Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof to a destroyed building. On the other side of it was a drop ship prepared for takeoff.

"Wait a second!" shouted a voice from afar. A man in a business suit with a red tie and gilded cufflinks ran up to the ponies. His voice was shaky and uncertain, mainly from what just happened minutes earlier. "I need to thank all of you for saving my town. I didn't know those Venombacks would be that aggressive."

"Oh, it's nothing, really," Twilight replied. "We're just trying to find our way to New Sacramino, and this was one of our stops to get there."

"But, you saved my town from destruction. Those Venombacks wanted our town destroyed permanently, but you stopped them and saved our town." The man thought to himself for a second. "You said that you were heading for New Sacramino, right?"

Applejack nodded. "That's our destination. We think that we can use that drop ship over there."

"That drop ship belongs to the town, but you all can use it," the man noted. "It's the least I can do."

"Thanks mister!" Pinkie gleefully thanked. "We need a pilot or two though."

"They're already in the ship. It was going to be our evacuation vehicle just in case things got out of hand, but we won't be needing it anytime soon."

"Thank you for your generosity," Rarity thanked as she headed for the drop ship. "I hope those ruffians stop pestering you."

The man chuckled a little as the ponies started their departure. "They never will. We've always been under attack by them ever since we founded this town. That's why GEST Corp. supplies us a couple dozen troops every now and then."

As the ponies plus one wished the man luck on his town, they walked over to the drop ship and entered it. They sat down on the seats and waited for departure.

The pilot looked back and saw the ponies waiting there. He smiled behind his helmet. "Oh, it's you and your band of friends. Where do you want to go?"

"New Sacramino, please," Twilight answered softly.

"To New Sacramino we go then. Take note that a demon invasion is happening over there, so we can't land in the city."

"That's fine." Twilight kept her small smile and looked around the small room. So that's what we're supposed to do, Twilight thought to herself. If we're fighting off an invasion on Andromeda instead of Equestria, then this must be a serious fight.

It took a little while for Servo to understand what a demon invasion was. "Wait a minute, so this carnage gets even more hectic? Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go to the city!"

As the ship slowly rose into the air, Applejack turned her head to Servo. "For a robot programmed to sort books, you like destruction quite a lot."

"It might be in my hardwired code," Servo explained as he tapped his head. "I may be programmed for that, but I'm not an idiot. I know that this head was built from a factory in the Draav Star System that's also in the Cryvozax Sector and belonged to a chain craw version 1.0 model. The information was literally hardwired into the head with a few functions involving battle strategies, ways to tear apart an enemy, and organic life scanning. That last function is how I'm not having the hots for any of you six."

"That's quite a lot of information for a head," Fluttershy mused. "Do you know where the other parts of your body come from?"

"Actually, no. They all don't have hardwired code like that. Only the head does."

"Um, can I ask why exactly you don't have, 'the hots', for us right now?" Rainbow Dash asked with deep interest.

"Oh, right. For some reason, I was coded with a personality of my own. Since I can feel love for family—shown by how I called Twilight Sparkle my mom and Pinkie Pie my aunt—it also makes sense if I can feel love for others as companions as well. To robots, all of youright now would probably be very arousing to say the least. To organisms, not so much."

Rainbow laughed unsteadily. "Heh heh, good to know. Even a robot can somehow find others attractive."

And so the drop ship sailed through the air to New Sacramino. The Mane Six plus one were about to see an entire war, a real war between humans and demons, unfold right in front of them.

•—————•

Inside of a command center in a military base, several soldiers armed to the teeth and glorified with tokens of war were sitting around several holograms. The holograms were mainly GEST Corp. bases with several defenses, power systems, and other essentials highlighted in a glowing yellow. However, these holograms were pushed aside as footage of a recent battle came into view.

The head of the entire group looked rather old, around his late fifties. Despite the wrinkles on his hardened face of war, he had exquisite muscles and was in perfect condition. His skin was coarse and dry, and his lips were cracked and bare. His hair was almost nonexistent, leaving a grand shine on his bald head. His eyes were a glossy shade of hazel, and his eyebrows were thick and black. His nose was prominent and of the Roman variety. His scowl was ever present, and his deep desires were far too obvious and detectable form simply glancing at his face. He was a general of war, and he knew war like he married it in his adolescence.

His clothes were mainly red and brown with hints of shine. The armor that covered his entire body, except for his head, was fine and nearly perfect. He had a badge over his heart with with golden stars around three red and bold capital letters in front of a deep red and brown banner. The letters were H, R, and M, all of them in that specific order. His name, Vance Nemsin, was etched under his badge. Epaulets extended from under his broad and gleaming shoulder pads, and gold lined his metal gloves. He was truly a man to be feared and noticed.

"Now, all of you must have heard of the strange creatures from the Equestrian Dimension, yes?" Vance's voice was deep, rough, and clear as it could be. His voice was even Russian in nature. "Well, it appears that these creatures continue appearing in our world. Not so long ago, the Venombacks were thwarted by six of them. This was an important attack, men. GEST Corp. had less care for the town, yet it was the gateway to seizing land from them. Now, I propose that we do something about these creatures."

"If we are to stop intervening with otherworldly affairs like this, then we must invade the dimension to halt anymore traces of leaking," a hardened major declared. "Ignoring this leak will lead to an overflow of these creatures."

"Yes, I have already thought about attacking the source, but I also have another fact to tell. We are under an unresolved conflict with GEST Corp. Despite the furiosity we used centuries ago, we are still at a stalemate with them. Our little skirmishes and paying of local bandit clans will not help us win this war anymore. That is why I believe we should declare total warfare on GEST Corp."

Murmuring reverberated around the table as the commanders spoke to each other about the proposal. A captain soon questioned the idea. "Are we attempting to cause destruction of the human race? Total war between the two of us would cause severe repercussions afterward. Andromeda might not be useful after the war ends, no matter who stands victorious."

Vance folded his hands. "Yes, I am aware of the risk this will involve, but it is for the betterment of mankind. GEST Corp. is a government willing to lie to the people and promote corruption in their own ranks. Why should we let them contaminate other worlds with the ideas of capitalism and right-wing ideas? We all agree that a government of the people, by the people, and for the people is correct, right?"

Several commanders agreed with his statement with more murmurs.

"Good. In order for the Human Revolutionist Militia to officially give mankind peace and tranquility, we must use different means to combat GEST Corp. Yes, we must use total war, but we cannot fight like we did on Earth. We must use new strategies, new methods of combat to force GEST Corp. into crumbling on itself. So, we must take and discover what makes these creatures, as pictured on the screens right now, so dangerous, so resilient, so able to fight whenever needed. Now, all in favor of declaring total war on GEST Corp., please say aye."

"Aye," declared the commanders in unison.

Vance unfolded his hands and looked around the table. "Anyone who opposes?"

No one opposed the ruling.

"It is set in stone, then. Total war will be declared on GEST Corp. by tomorrow afternoon. Everyone, return to your stations."

The commanders got up from their seats and left the meeting room. Vance Nemsin was the last to leave, shutting off the lights and power to the room.

Act IV, Chapter 4: The Invasion of New Sacramino
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act IV, Chapter 4: The Invasion of New Sacramino

The drop ship was getting close to the outer rim of New Sacramino City. Before it could get to the city itself, it lowered onto the grassy plains and landed. The city itself was a mess of spurts of fire, hovering ships, and mortars raining down upon its roads and glorious skyscrapers. Demons marched throughout the city in vast numbers, dueling in bigger numbers of GEST Corp. soldiers of various species. Despite the heavy losses of troops on the battlefield, the demons kept coming with more and more troops.

The Mane Six plus one walked out of the ship and examined the carnage. Instead of seeing the entire city falling apart, most of it was still in good shape. The skyscrapers that easily dwarfed Manehattan's buildings were taking several hits and strikes, yet they were still upright and sound. However, the much more scary sight of New Sacramino was the civilians that were caught in the battle before they could escape. Several were on the roaring and cooking streets, and several more were inside the buildings, praying to dear life that they would survive this attack.

Twilight directed her words away from the city. "Travis, we're at New Sacramino. What's our mission?"

"Since the demons don't have a dreadnought in the sky yet, your mission is to save civilians still in the city," Travis informed. "Inside that city is a bunch of evacuation trucks with heavy duty armor. Guide the civilians to the trucks, and you'll be golden."

Twilight smiled a little. "That's a nice change from killing bandits."

Fluttershy winced as a floor in one of the skyscrapers exploded. "Well, I think we should start saving them now."

Servo looked a little more impatient than the ponies. "Well, if we got explosions going on in skyscrapers, ships flying around the city, and an entire battle happening, then I wouldn't want to miss this! Let's go!"

Twilight and company galloped, or rolled, along the stretch of land until they reached one of the city's gates. It was already blasted open, so there was no need to hack their way through it.

The ponies soon confronted a large squadron of demons suppressing a few GEST Corp. soldiers and several civilians. Several buildings surrounded the torn and cluttered streets. The buildings were partially falling apart from the flames dancing either inside or on them. Cars and broken machines of war piled on top of each other on the streets. Both demon and GEST Corp. soldiers used these destroyed locomotives as cover while they fired several lasers into the smoky and ashy air.

One of the demons turned around at the hoofsteps and noticed the ponies. "Twilight Sparkle on our six! Attack at once!"

Twilight blasted a wave of magic at the demons, knocking them all down except for the two elite demons. Rainbow Dash gunned down the novice demons, and Pinkie and Applejack wrestled with the elite demons. Rarity kept her gems as precise as possible to hit only the elite demons and not her friends. The battle soon ended with all of the demons dissipating into nothingness.

"Thank you, ladies," a GEST Corp. soldier stated as he rushed the civilians to the front gate. "You six might want to go to the medical center. A certain demon is asking for your assistance."

Pinkie perked her ears up and hopped all over the place with unhindered ecstasy. "You mean Hannibal? Where is he? Where is he?"

"I'll mark the area on your HUD," Travis informed. Pinkie soon saw a small diamond floating in front of her face.

Before Twilight could even stop her, Pinkie zoomed from the group and out of the small crossroads. Twilight let out a groan. "Ugh, why does she run off like that? What if we need her?"

"I think we can hold up without her," Rainbow assured. "We got two powerful unicorns, an earth pony that can buck off heads, a pegasus that's one with nature, and, best of all, the number one pegasus in Equestria!"

Applejack nodded. "She right, Twi. We're already strong even when we're by ourselves. These demons won't stand a chance."

Twilight sighed. "I guess we could travel up to the medical center without Pinkie. Come on, girls, let's go."

Twilight and company, this time without Pinkie Pie, continued along the ruined streets. They fought several more demon squadrons, each one with more tactics and gear than the first one they fought. The suicide demons from Manehattan were also in the city, blowing up a few skyscrapers here and there. The group fought those demons off much more easily than before. Wow, some of these demons haven't really changed every since Manehattan, Twilight thought to herself. Maybe Pinkie's idea about us gaining levels was kind of correct.

The group eventually fought their way to the medical center, which was now a pile of rubble with an entire squadron fighting from its remains. Pinkie Pie, Hannibal, Solar Flare, the ice mage unicorn, and ten veteran GEST Corp. soldiers were fighting two separate squadrons of demon soldiers. The veterans were gunning them down too easily, Hannibal was stabbing one with a sword similar to a katana, Solar Flare was suppressing two greatsword demons, the unicorn was freezing three elite demons, and Pinkie was hurling several pink bombs at the masses of soldiers climbing up the rubble.

Pinkie glared at another bomb she threw for a second. She withdrawn it back into a pocket chest. "This won't do." Pinkie then reached into her tail and grabbed out a pink and bright red rocket launcher with a canister of pink shells in it. "This will though!"

One of the novice demons looked up at Pinkie's gun. "Oh god, what the hell is that?"

Pinkie fired several shells at the masses of demons, literally killing them all in huge plumes of pink and red flames. The demons soon realized the danger of the situation and retreated down the road the group of ponies did not travel down. They screamed for their lives as more shells rained down on them from Pinkie's rocket launcher. Rainbow Dash simply smiled at the carnage, and Servo was figuratively drooling from the sight of those explosions.

As the battlefield calmed down, Hannibal sliced another demon's head off. He then walked up to the group of ponies with Pinkie hopping along with him on his right side. "Well, I'm glad you five could make it," Hannibal said. He then looked over to Rainbow Dash then back to Pinkie. "And I'm guessing some of you saw Pinkie's new weapon, right?"

"Are you talking about the awesome gun that shoots bombs?" Rainbow squealed with delight.

"I'm most definitely talking about that. Made it myself. Apparently, my talent is not only fighting and commanding, but I can also build a pretty powerful gun."

"And it's compatible with my bombs!" Pinkie shouted as she presented the gun. "It's the best gift Hannibal has ever given me! I bet that I can even put in confetti into it!"

Servo rolled up to Hannibal. "So, you gave aunt Pinkie Pie a rocket launcher? Well, I'm in need of a few upgrades for my build. Apparently, mom decided that I wasn't able to handle weaponry."

Hannibal eyed Servo's build for a few seconds. "You have several bits of machinery that I can upgrade for you. I can reactivate your version one lightning craw arms and add two modified laser rifles onto them, give you a personal shield that generates from your version five C-Bot body, and add a missile pod to the front of it. How does all of that sound?"

"Perfect!" Servo hopped two inches into the air.

"Wait a second, Hannibal," Twilight started with a frustrated frown, "Servo is supposed to have no weapons on him. I specifically made him like that so at he doesn't blow everything up and retaliate against me. I won't let you modify him in any way, shape, or form!"

Hannibal gave Twilight a stupid look. "You made him out of parts from robots built for war. If you're really trying to keep him from fighting, then you're raising him the wrong way. He should have some weapons on him to satisfy his lust for carnage. Plus, he could be a great help to us. Having an enhanced warbot fight on our side could help clean out the city."

Twilight stared at Hannibal then looked over to Servo. His stance looked like he was pleading to her. "Mom, can I please have those weapons? I'm not a crazy psychopath that will destroy everything in sight, but I still want to fight your enemies."

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed a second time. "Fine, you can have the weapons. Be responsible with them, though. I'll have no choice but to take them away if you abuse them."

"Yay! I'm getting my own weapons!" Servo did a little dance and imitated some rave music.

Hannibal walked over to Servo and tinkered with his body. He rewired Servo's claws and reactivated his electricity. He then took two laser rifles and welded them onto Servo's wrists and connected them to the arms' wiring. He cut open a rectangular hole into the front of the body, implanted a shield core into it, and connected the core with even more wiring. Lastly, he placed the mechanisms for a missile pod into the hole and welded the pod to the body. Once he was finished, Servo got himself back on his wheel and scanned his new weaponry.

"Hmm, have any of you ever had an extra limb grow out of your body as you grow up?" Servo asked to everyone else.

All of the ponies and Hannibal shook their heads and answered with a symphony of noes and nopes.

"Well," Servo continued, despite his audience, "these new weapons feel like I just grew three new limbs. I can feel my electricity coursing through them."

"You might want to hold off on testing them out until you find some more demons," Hannibal noted to Servo. "There's nothing hostile to test them out on yet."

"Rargh! There they are!" animalisticly shouted a novice demon. "These ponies are everywhere! Let's kill them all before they multiply!"

Servo activated his weapons and aimed at the five novice demons running up to the Mane Six with several shields, swords, maces, halberds, and many pieces of medieval style armor. He fired his laser guns at two of them, killing them from the several lasers that pierced their heads. He then fired a volley of missiles at two more, shooting them into the sky as the flames burned their bodies to nothing. He then rolled up to the last one. He intercepted its mace and fired several lightning arcs at him from his right hand. The demon fell to the ground and dissipated with the mace on its squished head.

"Well, they work," Rarity bluntly stated.

"Aw, they grow up so fast!" squealed Pinkie in loving delight.

Twilight glanced over to Hannibal with seriousness lingering on her face. "You're responsible for any civilian deaths he causes."

Hannibal chuckled a little at Twilight. "He's in his element, Twilight. Plus, if your his mother and Pinkie is his aunt, then he won't ever hurt you two or your friends."

"I guess that makes sense. Still, you're responsible."

"So," Applejack started as she walked up to Hannibal, "where do we go now? Aren't we evacuating the city?"

Hannibal nodded. "We are. Our next objective is down where the demons retreated. There is a huge war zone full of carnage at the command center. We need to reach it and clear out the entire area before the demons clear out the city themselves."

The entire group of ten humans, a robot, a demon, and eight ponies continued down the road and fought several more groups. There were elite demons, greatsword demons, hellfire demons, healer demons, suicide demons, novice demons, and even thrasher demons. However, no matter what the demons threw at the group, the group won with barely any casualties. Only one veteran soldier died during the travel, and it was due to an entire collapsing building crushing them.

The group eventually made it to the vehicle depot center of New Sacramino. What they found was two trucks full of civilians pinned down by a demon battalion and ten Mk 3.5 tanks. Only about fifty GEST Corp. soldiers were holding them off with a single tank.

Hannibal and Pinkie dashed over to one of the tanks. Pinkie swiftly broke it open and pulled out the demon driver. She then hijacked the tank while Hannibal stabbed the driver thrice. Hannibal rode in the tank with Pinkie, both of them blasting at the other tanks and demon soldiers on the battlefield.

Twilight and Fluttershy galloped over to a band of elite demons and thrasher demons. Twilight fired two explosive magic blasts at them, dealing considerable damage to all of them. Three of the five thrasher demons morphed into their much more feral forms and sprinted towards Twilight. Fluttershy used her power of Mother Nature and called for help from the wildlife. Only a second later, the ground shook and cracked as a huge segmented alplandian worm ripped right through a thrasher demon. Its body was a dark blue, and its mouth had three rows of pincers. It had thousands of little legs and four colossal claws with razor teeth on them. The alplandian worm sliced at two elite demons and picked them up simultaneously. It then sliced them in half with the force from its claws. Twilight then finished off the rest with her magic blasts and waves.

Rainbow Dash, Solar Flare, and Servo flew and rolled over to a band of twenty novice demons, ten hellfire demons, five greatsword demons, two healer demons, and a single tank. Rainbow and Solar gunned down the novice demons with ease, and Servo fired multiple missiles at the greatsword demons. Both demon types were soon destroyed, so Rainbow and Solar switched their aim to the tank. Rainbow fired her missiles at it until the hull broke open from a violent explosion. This explosion killed one of the healer demons. The other one was killed by Servo's lasers. The trio then focused on the hellfire demons and threw as many lasers they could into them. In only a few more seconds, the hellfire demons were all destroyed by the lasers.

Applejack, Rarity, the unicorn, and the nine veterans fought off five suicide demons, ten knightmare demons, and dozens of novice demons. Rarity started her assault with a hailstorm of gems at the suicide demons. They exploded next to some novice demons, killing themselves and the demons next to them. The veterans and unicorn focused their fire on one knightmare demon. When their knightmare demon died, they then moved onto the next one. Applejack kept bucking and smashing the demons in the battlefield with some help from a few gems. She eventually fought her way up to a knightmare demon. It took its scattergun and fired right at her body, corroding through some of her suit and tearing her flesh. Applejack winced as she bucked the gun out of the demon's hands and pressed him on the ground. She smashed her hooves into his face until the demon lost all of his power. The demon then dissipated into nothing, allowing her to focus on the next batch of novice demons.

Pinkie's hijacked tank rammed through several demons and destroyed several small squadrons. She chose to fire at the other tanks the most. This caused eight of the ten demon tanks on the battlefield to explode and destroy their squadrons next to them. After all of the tanks were destroyed, she then rammed right into the knightmare demons and novice soldiers the veterans were fighting. She killed them all with several more blasts and rams, clearing most of the battlefield.

As Twilight blasted another explosive blast into the final squadron of novice soldiers, Hannibal's squadron and the Mane Six plus one regrouped. Pinkie and Hannibal hopped out of their tank, and the two pegasi landed back onto the ground. The alplandian worm burrowed into the ground and left the area.

The commander of the suppressed squadron saluted the group. "Thanks for the help, soldiers. You saved these civilians from certain death. Now, we need to guide these trucks back to the front gate, so continue on without us."

"We will," Hannibal declared. "You all are good men for helping these civilians. May the Ancients give you safety on your departure."

As the trucks and soldiers left the area, the group was left to themselves. Before they could move along, they had to recover and mend their wounds.

Servo rolled around the field with lingering excitement in his voice. "Man! These demons are not really putting up a fight! If they're so weak and wimpy, then how is the city getting so screwed up?"

"Most of GEST Corp.'s soldiers are basic soldiers," Hannibal explained to Servo. "They alone cannot stop Invasions on this scale, so that's why they have higher, more experienced, and much more powerful soldiers like us in the field."

"So, they can't fight off big groups of demons as well?" Applejack asked through bites into one of Pinkie's healing cupcakes.

"Yeah. The squadron of soldiers we saved was not made to fight the demon group we destroyed. If we let them fight off the demons on their own, they and the civilians would have died."

Servo quickly turned his head to Hannibal. "You know, I've been thinking about the fact that mom built me. That's why I call her mom. Now, you enhanced me, added a few parts to me. So, I was thinking that you are kind of like my dad."

"Erm, how did you reach that conclusion?" Hannibal asked with awkward words.

"Father figures usually add their own features to their offspring. Mother figures create their offspring and add their features as well. Since you added features to me, you're my dad. Does that sound like something you want to be?"

Hannibal shrugged. "I'm fine with it as long as you're happy with it."

Rainbow Dash snickered to herself. "I like to imagine this entire family thing Servo made as biological and official. It's just hilarious to see Twilight being married with Hannibal and Pinkie being Twilight's sister! Is nopony finding this ridiculous?"

"I'm finding this strange," Solar Flare answered. "But I do get what that robot means. It's more awkward to me than funny."

Rainbow's laughs died at that last sentence. "Well, that was kind of a buzzkill."

"Hey, what's that in the sky?" A veteran soldier pointed at a distant object falling from high above the surface. The object got closer and closer, presenting itself as a metal cube. When the object got too close, it slammed into a building next to the now gone squadron's small fortification. The entire building cracked and crumbled, uplifting several clouds of dust from the ground and building.

The entire group glared at the cube that partially dug into the ground and rubble. A huge plate of metal shot off the side facing the ground and onto the ground. Then, only two seconds later, whirring and mechanical footsteps became audible. The footsteps, constantly in perfect unison, grew louder and louder with every second. Partway through the footsteps several robotic and digital voice rang from the dust in perfect unison.

"Enemies have been detected in the area. Activating power to weapons."

The voices widened the eyes of everyone in the group. However, it widened the eyes of Twilight Sparkle the most. Why was she the most shocked?

Those robotic voices sounded exactly like her.

Only two more seconds later, the marching figures emerged from the dust. They were all composed of silvers and grays that coated their bodies. Their eyes had irises that glowed with a purple light that pierced through the air. They were exactly the height of Twilight and had the exact bodies. They had the exact manes, tails, and facial features as Twilight. They even had the same eyelashes as Twilight. However, the area where their cutie marks should be had TS in bold black instead.

Several shimmering sounds emanated from the robots as their horns manifested a purple aura around them. Several concentrated balls of pure magic then collected at the ends of their horns. The robots flung these balls straight at the group like magic blasts. Some of the blasts struck the veterans and killed them after three successive blasts. Several more followed, striking both Solar Flare and Pinkie Pie.

The group ran away from the magic blasts to avoid another batch of casualties. The robots kept on marching, though, and more were revealed with every stomp. The group soon discovered that there were forty-eight robots that mimicked Twilight. They were in rows of six that did not break nor divert at any point. They kept moving towards the group with only twice the usual speed.

The robots, now chasing the group, kept throwing several magic blasts at them. Rainbow Dash and Servo struck them with several lasers. Instead of falling apart like novice demons, R-bots or craw, they simply took some of the hits and kept fighting.

"Enemy fire detected," the robots exclaimed together. Their mouths didn't even move at all. "Activating shields." Their words were uncanny from their emotionless, nearly collective nature. They never truly expressed emotion, but their voices sounded exactly like Twilight with her Twilight charm. However, their words lacked one crucial detail to them.

There was no Twilight in them.

The group kept pelting attacks and running from the robots as much as possible, only felling about five and damaging six total. When the group encountered another squadron of demons, two more cubes crashed into the ground and released even more robots.

"Aha!" shouted a novice demon. "We found Twilight Sparkle! Now we can finally end her rei..."

The demon looked over to a unified squadron forty-eight robots. They were all made to represent Applejack, going as far to have metal hats stuck to their heads. They all declared in unison, "Enemies detected. Preparing for battle."

"What is happening?" that same novice demon asked as he tilted his head at the robots. The robots soon spread apart and galloped at the demons. They bucked, punched, and lassoed them with immense force, either destroying their bodies from a buck or trampling them as they beat them to death. Another group of forty-eight robots flew into the battle, each one made to mimic Rainbow Dash. They fired lasers and electricity at the demons and sometimes swooped down at them to smash their faces in.

Twilight and company escaped as fast as possible from the carnage. They could hear the unified shouts from the robots and the cries from the demons. They knew that they couldn't fight back against the robots, no matter how hard they tried. The robots were simply too powerful.

•—————•

Zedin glared at the screens in surprise. He watched as the robotic ponies crushed his forces. He saw robotic variants of all of the Mane Six. Each one of them was somewhat unified in their attack patterns, but they were spot on with their words. Zedin could only infer who the robots belonged to. He quickly assumed GEST Corp. from their mauling of demons, but that assumption quickly shattered after he saw a robotic Fluttershy crush a GEST Corp. soldier's head into bloody pulp. He then checked the build of the robots and their style.

Zedin decided to use elimination to find the culprit. The HRM never knew about the ponies, so these would not be theirs. Sir Mimic Man does not use robots in his invasions or army. The craw wanted to kill ponies, not become them. The sabrevain barely used robots in battle. The kavarians might have created the robots, but the use of magic eliminates them. The Dark Army never used robots as well since they relied on their swift breeding skills. So, who could it be?

Zedin reflected back on who invaded Equestria. There was his army, the kavarians, the Ruptured, the craw, technically GEST Corp., and Dr. Scraps's army.

"Wait a minute," Zedin started with rage boiling under his words, "I remember that metal shine and hull technique. It is awfully similar to Dr. Scraps's robots." Zedin slammed a fist through his table. "That lying bastard! He made a peace treaty with me!"

Zedin opened a chatting link to Dr. Scraps. A screen popped up that presented Dr. Scraps and his metal body. He was sitting in a throne with two mega bots standing next to him. "Well, hello, Zedin! It's been some time since we talked, yes?"

Zedin kept himself from strangling the screen. "Why are your troops attacking my forces? We had a treaty!"

Dr. Scraps looked surprised. "What forces? What're you talking about?"

"Your faux ponies in New Sacramino City! They are killing all of my soldiers!"

"Oh, those forces." Dr. Scraps cackled maniacally. "Those are my recently patented ponybots, Zedin. They're programmed to annihilate everything that is not them, me, or whoever I tell them to spare. I'm letting them kill your forces because I'm sick of your treatment, Zedin."

"What treatment?"

"I'm seen by others as the weakest of the masterminds at war with the humans! The kavarians laugh at me for being a ruler with, 'Weak, imitating creatures that turn at the lightest of a threat.' I'll not be taken as a wimp anymore after my ponybots destroy New Sacramino!"

"You have made a grave mistake, Dr. Scraps." Zedin clenched his teeth. "You have made a powerful adversary from your ignorance. I will not take you lightly for your deeds today."

"Go ahead, try me," Dr. Scraps insisted. "Once I get my hands on that Mirror Pool, you'll become my servant."

Zedin laughed a tiny bit to himself. "The Mirror Pool, you say? That will be destroyed before you can put your metal claws into it. No one shall have the power it holds."

"You'll be begging for mercy soon, Zedin. Oh, so soon..."

"Alright, Dr. Scraps. Your bastardry will not be left unpunished. Prepare for death at your front gate."

"You wish." And with that, Dr. Scraps cut the communications link, leaving Zedin by himself to think about his position in the war.

"Discord," Zedin called out to nothingness. "Give my troops their gift. There is no way in hell that I am losing to Dr. Scraps and his rushed army."

Nothingness obeyed his command—just what Zedin wanted.

•—————•

After battling through a few more demon squadrons and escaping hundreds of ponybots, Twilight and Company could finally take a break. Sadly, there were only four of the veteran soldiers left, and the unicorn soldier was killed from two Pinkie-bots with razor confetti.

"What, what were those things?" Twilight shouted through exhausted breaths.

"I have no idea," Hannibal answered with no answer. "All I know is that they're not on our side or the demons' side."

"Then, who were they, fighting for?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Maybe, somepony that, knows us very, well," Fluttershy guessed. "Those things, that were me, called to, their metal friends."

"They were also brainless hunks of metal too," Servo added. "They didn't have any mechanisms inside of them that allowed any free thinking or personality."

Pinkie looked back to the ruined streets behind them. She watched a few lone ponybots walk through the streets and scan the area for any enemies. "It looks like, they're separating now. We might, be able to, take them on, now."

Four more cubes crashed into the city. They were far away from the group, but the group could still see the cubes crash into and destroy several more buildings. Distant gunfire was constantly audible, and the fire and smoke of the city still choked the streets and air.

"So, we need to find the command center, fast," Hannibal ordered. "Let's hope these robots didn't make it there yet."

The group continued forward through the crowded yet vacant streets. They met a few more demon squadrons. One of the squadrons had a tank, but it was quickly destroyed from Rainbow Dash and Servo's missiles. There were a few stranded ponybots as well. They mainly appeared between singular encounters or up to a quintet of ponybots. However, every encounter ended with wounds, not fatalities.

The group eventually made it to another suppressed group of GEST Corp. soldiers with a truck full of civilians. Several demons, mainly novice demons and elite demons, were keeping the soldiers pinned down with lasers. A few ponybots, two Pinkie-bots, three RDash-bots, and four Rari-bots, entered the war zone and attacked both sides.

Pinkie Pie, Hannibal, Twilight, and Servo rushed over to the ponybots. The two Pinkie-bots turned their heads to the quartet. Two wide and unsettling smiles were welded onto their faces, frightening Pinkie and Twilight a little. "Enemies detected! Activating battle mode!" the Pinkie-bots exclaimed with cheer. Their voices still felt eerily hollow despite their Pinkie charm.

Twilight fired several magic blasts at the Pinkie-bots. Pinkie hopped over to them and smashed her hooves into their faces. The Pinkie-bots did the same, striking Pinkie in her face or her body with their metal hooves. Hannibal and Servo fired their lasers at the partially damaged Pinkie-bots, and Twilight had to deal with two of the Rari-bots targeting her. She activated a barrier spell around herself, Hannibal, and Servo to stop the incoming gemstones. Pinkie kept clobbering one of the Pinkie-bots until sparks flew out of it and the blue lights in its eyes shut down. The other Pinkie-bot opened a circular hole in its neck, revealing a small object similar to a party cannon. It blasted Pinkie with a cloud of razor confetti that sliced into her suit. Servo ended the second Pinkie-bot with a wave of missiles.

Twilight kept the barrier active to stop the incoming gemstones. Hannibal and Servo then changed their attention to the Rari-bots. As several lasers opened up holes in their metal, the Rari-bots conjured barriers of gems around their bodies. Pinkie took out her rocket launcher and blasted them with three pink bombs. The gem barriers shattered, and parts of their bodies fell apart. Servo then destroyed them with a few more missiles.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Solar Flare, Rarity, and Fluttershy fought against the other two Rari-bots and the two RDash-bots. Rainbow kept her distance and pelted the Rari-bots with lasers and missiles. Solar Flare added his lasers to the Rari-bots as well, destroying them and turning them into a heap of scrap. Applejack lassoed one of the preparing RDash-bots to the ground and bucked right into their head. It flung off its metal body and struck the other RDash-bot. Rarity struck its thrusters and wings with a flurry of gems. The RDash-bot tumbled to the ground as a wave of missiles from Rainbow obliterated its machinery.

When the ponybots were destroyed, all that was left was five novice demons and two elite demons. Servo and Rainbow Dash hurled missiles at the novice demons, and Pinkie felled the two elite demons with a few more pink bombs. The battlefield then calmed as the demons dissipated into nothing.

"You're clear now!" Hannibal shouted to the GEST Corp. soldiers. "Go ahead and escort those civilians!"

The soldiers saluted Hannibal. "Yes, sir!" The soldiers and the truck soon left the area and rolled to the closest gate.

Twilight scanned the area and found an area with several gouts of gunfire, a bulky and grand building, and a crossroads consisting of six separate roads. There were several demons and demon aircraft in the area. There were also several GEST Corp. soldiers and vehicles that destroyed some of the aircraft or killed a few squadrons of the ground borne demons.

Twilight and Company rushed to the command center and joined the colossal fight.

Pinkie hopped to the closest demon tank and broke open the top of it unreasonably fast. She then crushed the demon driver inside with her hooves. She took control of the tank and began blasting all of the demon ships out of the sky. Several drop ships crashed to the ground and crushed several squadrons of demons. The flames from the fallen ships burned a few more demons into nothing.

Twilight and Hannibal stuck together with the four remaining veterans. Twilight hurled several explosive blasts at the incoming greatsword demons and shield demons. Hannibal picked off a few of the novice and elite demons with a few well placed shots from his laser rifle. The veterans kept shooting at some of the hellfire and suicide demons that crept closer and closer to them.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash encountered a couple demon tanks. Applejack hopped over and dodged the shells spiraling towards her. Rainbow kept her aim on the barrels of the tanks. One of the tanks' barrels cracked apart, rendering it useless. The driver inside the tank thought that firing the shell at that point was a smart idea. The shell exploded once it struck a piece of metal, destroying the entire top half of the tank and killing the driver. Applejack kept dodging the shells from the tank until she hopped onto it and slammed open the top. Rainbow tossed a few missiles into the compartment and left the driver to taste the hungry flames. Applejack hopped off the tank before it exploded and spread more debris everywhere.

Solar Flare, Servo, Fluttershy, and Rarity sprinted over to the GEST Corp. soldiers. They hunkered down next to them and provided aid. Fluttershy used her call to nature again, summoning two alplandian worms. They both caused mayhem for the swaths of demons in the battlefield. Rarity used her gems to pick off the stronger demons in the field. She killed a few knightmare demons, elite demons, a few newly dropped anti-magic demons, and even two guardian demons that ripped through a building's wall—the same type of gigantic demon from the fortress during Second Battle of Ponyville. Servo and Solar Flare dispatched several small clumps of demons that inched toward the suppressed soldiers. Every second that passed, multiple demons were slain from the ponies. This continued on until the numbers of demons finally dwindled after five more minutes of pure carnage.

Even though the amount of hectic in the war zone decreased by astronomical amounts, this drop only allowed the introduction for a much more powerful entity. One of the unexplored roads of carnage and ruin suddenly burst with a thick, inky black darkness. Twelve more knightmare demons emerged from the darkness with the usual weapons they carried. However, two solid white eyes pierced through the darkness.

A figure of dripping black left the darkness. It forced the darkness to grow from its presence, as it left a trail of the same strange air wherever it walked. It was about as tall as Princess Celestia, but it was far from like her. The creature stood on four blacker than black legs, each one ending with a hoof. The body itself was slender and covered in robes and metal pieces of black. Even though it had an alicorn shaped body, it did not have any wings at all. It did have a long, sharpened horn with even more black dripping from its end. It's mane and tail looked exactly like the darkness, almost blending in with it like a permanent camouflage. Its exposed teeth were incredibly sharp, much sharper than what Nightmare Moon could muster. Its two wide and forever glowing white eyes stared down at Twilight first, the one mare that was across from it.

"You," the mysterious unicorn entity started with a voice of a thousand distant echoes and whispers, "you are not allowed to exist. Your ignorance has plagued us all, humans and demons alike. Once your soul is damned to our realm, you will no longer be able to hinder or retard us. Lord Zedin will give you your long, long desired and earned comeuppance."

Pinkie jumped in front of Twilight with determination leaking from her words. "If you're going to hurt her, you'll have to go through me!"

"Me too!" agreed Rainbow Dash. "Nopony hurts my friends and gets away with it!"

"Same with me!" Fluttershy declared. "I won't let you lay a hoof on her!"

The rest of Twilight's friends walked over to her and stood by her side. Despite the obvious outnumbering against the mysterious figure, Twilight's face was still uneasy and quivering. "Girls, I don't think he will be easy. I can sense the power of dark magic in him, and it's more dark magic than I have ever sensed or seen!"

"I see that you are impossible to separate from your friends," the mysterious unicorn mused. It stomped a hoof and glared up at the open yet still smoky air. "Lord Zedin, I declare my promised strength!"

Nothingness drifted towards the mysterious unicorn and released a cloud of strange, lime green magic. The cloud rushed into the unicorn's horn and pulsed through his body of darkness and black. The green rose up the surface of the unicorn like full veins. The mysterious unicorn, now with glowing green eyes and green veins all over its body, glared down back at Twilight.

The mysterious unicorn smiled a smile of undaunted, unbelievable determination. "It is time that we duel."

A challenger approaches: Major Morgivon, proud lab rat of Lord Zedin

The battlefield blackened in less than a second as the thick black covered all of the field. It then shifted and turned to reveal several floating islands, an eternal sun of orange and rust, and several rusty clouds over the horizon.

"If we are to fight, we do so in my home realm," Morgivon declared.

The Mane Six, Hannibal, Servo, and Solar Flare split up around the floating island to avoid any crowd control attacks. Morgivon summoned several spikes of darkness that rose up from the ground. They rose up one by one from in front of him to the end of the island. Once all of the spikes were revealed, they shot back down into the ground. Morgivon then conjured five hook bats that swooped into the area. They swarmed Fluttershy and struck her several times. Pinkie slapped the hooks back, killing them instantly with every hit.

Applejack galloped up to Morgivon and prepared to buck his face off. Morgivon blasted her backwards with a wave of darkness. The black clung onto her body and slowed her down. Twilight fired a few magic blasts at him, but they did nothing to his form. He simply shrugged them off and manifested several pools of purple muck onto the island. The muck grabbed at the ponies, ensnaring Rairty and Solar Flare successfully. The muck seeped into their suit and poisoned both of them. Once the muck disappeared, Morgivon fired several blackened magic blasts at Pinkie and Twilight. He struck Pinkie twice, hurting her spiritually and somewhat corrupting her soul.

Morgivon then walked back from the center of the island to its edge. He summoned four yellow magiblots that scurried around the ground. Two rose up and attacked Applejack with their orbs. She dodged them successfully. The magiblots scurried over to Pinkie and attempted their attack, but both were destroyed after she cartwheeled right into their faces. The other two magiblots were obliterated from Rarity's gems.

"There's no way we can beat him right now!" Twilight cried out with worry on her shoulders. "Our attacks are doing nothing!"

"Ahem, you do know that we have something to use against dark magic, right?" Pinkie proposed to Twilight as she dodged another darkened magic blast.

Morgivon summoned more spikes from the ground in an X shape around the island. He then fired several massive magic blasts that rained down like mortars. The group of nine dodged them all without any problems. The spikes retracted, allowing Morgivon to fire more darkened magic blasts.

That course of events gave Twilight enough time to think about the situation. An imaginary lightbulb popped above her head. "Aha! The Elements of Harmony! I think I have them with me somewhere in here." Twilight dug through her pocket chest to find the elements. She eventually took all six of them out as a wormhole thresher and four tadpole threshers popped out of the ground.

The tadpole threshers were easily dispatched from the hailstorm of lasers Rianbow Dash, Hannibal, Solar Flare, and Servo provided. The wormhole thresher sucked in Pinkie and Hannibal. It exposed its sharp spikes and stabbed them both repeatedly. When Servo blasted the wormhole thresher in its face, it stopped its act and opened itself for attack. Pinkie beat it down senselessly until the wormhole thresher fell onto the ground as a corpse.

Twilight galloped around the area and distributed the Elements of Harmony to her friends. She kept dodging the darkened magic blasts and new surges of black electricity that struck several parts of the ground. Once all of the Mane Six had their elements, they grouped together on the side of the floating island Morgivon was not currently at.

As Morgivon prepared another mortar storm of magic blasts, Twilight commanded her friends. "Now!"

Twilight and her five friends then released the power of the Elements of Harmony. They floated up into the air as their eyes became a complete white. A huge rainbow of immense power rocketed out of their friendship and rampaged onto Major Morgivon. The raw power sapped his dark magic veil from his body, significantly weakening him. After the blast of rainbows ceased, Morgivon' appearance changed a little. His entire body had several splotches of dynamic green on it. The green veins were still there, but the splotches of light curved and rolled around his being. One can call this light his spirit in its raw form.

"I apparently forgot about your crippling friendship magic," Morgivon noted through a wince. "Luckily for me, that is not enough to drain my powers."

Morgivon unleashed five rows of spikes. They all missed the group of nine. He then summoned ten wretches and released them onto the group. They hopped over to Hannibal and Rarity first. Rarity stabbed them with her gems before they could get too close, resulting in a few bloody wretch corpses. Hannibal shot the wretches after him in their heads, killing them all quickly. As more muck pools developed on the ground, Twilight fired a few magic blasts at Morgivon. They successfully damaged him and caused his green light to flicker for a second. Morgivon then fired a wave of darkened magic at the group. Everyone hopped over it successfully, even Servo.

Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare hovered into the air and rained down lasers on Morgivon. Most of the lasers struck and damaged him, but that did not stop him from firing several darkened magic blasts at them. The two pegasi curved, twisted, and rolled around the air as they avoided as many blasts as possible. He then conjured more lightning that struck the ground several more times. The lightning hit Servo twice, overcharging his lightning craw hands and releasing tons of electricity at Morgivon. He felt the pain of the lightning arcs surging in his demonic unicorn body. By this point in the battle, his green light faded a little.

Fluttershy and Servo kept dodging the incoming magic blasts and lightning. Fluttershy was struck by a couple lightning blasts. She collapsed onto the ground with a painful whimper. Servo picked her up and dragged her over to Pinkie and out of the field of vanishing muck and magic blasts. Pinkie shoved an orange and yellow cupcake in her mouth. Fluttershy chewed it slowly through the painful surges of electricity. Once she swallowed the treat down, she felt her entire body rejuvenate back to a very healthy state.

Eventually, Morgivon decided to summon two Barons of Hell. They both crashed down onto the floating island and charged at Twilight. She got out of the way and hurled two explosive magic blasts at them. They both dealt some damage, but it was not enough. Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare hovered over the Barons of Hell and filled them with laser blasts. Pinkie took out her rocket launcher and fired eight pink bombs at them. One of the bombs blasted one of the Barons' right shoulder and head into a mess of sinew, bone, and blood, killing them swiftly. One of Rainbow's missiles spiraled into the other one's cranium and broke his head open and released brain matter all over Twilight's helmet. She would have vomited, but there was no time to vomit at anything.

Rarity kept firing streams of gems at Morgivon. She kept hitting his head, dimming the green light by a tiny bit with every hit. Morgivon retaliated with five circles of rising spikes. They all missed again, as usual, but also allowed him to fire another round of mortar magic blasts. So, he did so. The blasts rained down once again, only hitting and slightly corrupting Applejack and Twilight. Morgivon then retracted the spikes and charged a new spell that struck Rarity. She screamed as her eyes converted to a glowing green. She then turned against Applejack and threw several gems in her direction. Applejack hopped out of the way and took note of the green tether connecting Rarity's horn to Morgivon's horn. She galloped up to him and bucked him in the face, hard. The tether broke, Rarity snapped out of the mind control, and Morgivon stumbled back a little.

Morgivon teleported to the other side of the island and fired more darkened magic blasts. His green light was critically dim, almost as dark as the black of his body. Despite the dim light, he kept fighting and made sure the area was filled with projectiles. He dodged some of the magic blasts and lasers heading towards him, but some of the lasers and missiles still struck him.

As a last resort attack, Morgivon summoned one last creature. A giant hole opened up in her center of the floating island to release Armogohma. The gigantic spider definitely intimidated the group of nine, but one pony did not feel as threatened. Fluttershy, seeing this summon as an opportunity, flew up to Armogohma.

"Wow, you are a huge spider," Fluttershy complimented. "But you should know that being big does not mean you can bully us like this."

Armogohma rolled its eye and fired a laser at Fluttershy. She dodged it easily, but she felt a surge of anger rise from her chest. She refused to hit Armogohma, but she did stare right into its big eye. The gargantuan spider crawled away from Fluttershy, shaking and quivering from the intimidation from Fluttershy.

Armogohma backed away too much and too fast, ramming right into Morgivon. As the two fell from the floating island, Armogohma panicked and attacked Morgivon countless times with either its pincers or lasers. Morgivon used one final spell and teleported back to the island, leaving Armogohma for dead.

Morgivon could barely stand up from his lack of power. The green light coursing through his body was nearly black, and his constant grin of determination shifted to a frown of defeat.

Major Morgivon coughed before his first word. "I, I cannot believe it. Twilight Sparkle, has bested me?"

"And we put you in your place too, freak!" Rainbow Dash sourly added to his suffering.

Morgivon looked up at Twilight, who was now standing above him. "You, I never knew how resilient you and your friends could be. Lord Zedin was right, we are no match for the humans if they keep you on their side."

"I want a few answers from you," Twilight demanded harshly. "Why is Zedin attacking Equestria? What did we do to him that makes us guilty?"

Morgivon coughed up a storm before he said anything. "You are the victor, so you deserve answers. Lord Zedin is determined to end humanity, and your affiliation with the humans forced him to attack Ponyville long ago." He coughed three more times. "If your species refused to accept the humans' help, we would have aided you instead. Alas, the humans put your species in a terrific dilemma."

"What dilemma?" Rarity asked. "The humans are helping Equestria. They are providing us safety!"

"Yes, they are." Morgivon coughed several more times. "They are providing you protection from us only. Have you not seen the colonization of your planet? They are taking your inferiority for granted for their own benefit. Yes, Lord Zedin wants to kill you, and you will most certainly see that as wrong. However, please consider that GEST Corp. is not what it seems. They care about themselves, not you or your planet. If they did, they would have left your world alone."

"Why are you putting so much blame on GEST Corp.?" Hannibal asked. "You do know that Lord Zedin is wrong too, right?"

Morgivon chuckled a little with a blend of coughs. "I do. I only think about this to keep him calm. In reality, no one is correct in this war. Lord Zedin attacked prematurely, and the humans forced your leader, Princess Celestia, to submission. I will not say that your actions here are wrong, but I will say that you must be informed on what the humans truly want." Morgivon coughed several times once more and rested his head on the ground. "I have no more to say. You may kill me now."

Twilight thought very hard about this decision. It took about thirty seconds for her to reach a conclusion. "No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I'm not going to kill you. I think it's best I spare you."

Morgivon was completely baffled. "Spare me? I have almost killed all of you for Lord Zedin. Why spare me?"

"Even if you are a big bad meanie, I think it's best to spare you when we can," Pinkie admitted. "You're not completely bad. You know that your ruler is wrong and too focused on killing humans to see himself and his actions. So, why don't you just quit?"

"Quit? What do you mean quit?"

"You could become a fighter for GEST Corp., or even better, a commander!"

Morgivon shook his head. "No, I do not desire fighting for the humans. They are as wrong as Lord Zedin."

"Then what will you do?" Servo asked with curiosity biting his words. "If you're against Zedin, but not for the humans, then where are you?"

"If you all do decide that I should be spared, then I will simply leave the fight altogether. I have no need to fight in this war anymore. However, whenever the Demon-Human War ends, I will be more than happy to help you, Twilight. Never before has anyone shown so much devotion to kindness."

"Well," Twilight started sheepishly, "I still had to fight several monsters and creatures to stay alive."

"But that is a different scenario. You killed in fight to the death fights, but I allowed you a choice, and you chose the bloodless path." Morgivon slowly got back up, his green light now only somewhat dim from recovery. "Now, I must go."

"Wait a minute!" Applejack exclaimed. "We'll be stranded here! Can you take us back to New Sacramino?"

Morgivon shook his head. "My ability to walk planes is limited to one-way access. I must use one of the portals here to take you all back. However, I can lead you to somewhere else that will be much more helpful."

"Where else?" Twilight asked.

"There is a nearby demon base that is preparing for a massive invasion on Equestria. If you board one of their ships, you can stop the invasion before it happens."

Solar Flare cocked his head. "And you're okay with this?"

Morgivon nodded. His light was almost as bright as it was before. "Yes. I will only take you there, though. I will not help you stop the ships. That is your task, not mine." Morgivon walked over to the edge of the island. "Whenever all of you are ready, we will depart."

Pinkie gave everypony her healing cupcakes. All of the ponies regained the health, stamina, and mana they lost during the fight.

Twilight walked up to Morgivon and tapped his shoulder. "We're ready to go."

Morgivon nodded back, that being his only response. He grabbed ahold of the entire floating island with his dark magic and teleported it to the base. The Mane Six, plus three, were now about to venture through the Nightmare World and its landscapes—if there were any at all.

Act IV, Chapter 5: Deep in the Knightmares
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act IV, Chapter 5: Deep in the Knightmares

The Mane Six, plus three, arrived at the supposed demon base. Twilight gathered up the Elements of Harmony from her friends as Morgivon steered the floating island to a secluded cluster of floating islands. Once the island was close enough to the cluster, he deactivated his magic.

"This is your stop," Morgivon stated to Twilight. "All of you might want to board one of the currently inactive ships in the base. If you can reach the dreadnought before the fleet reaches the invasion site, you can save Equestria from certain doom."

"How are we going to steer a demon ship?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Twilight tried to steer a ship before, and she was terrible at it!" Twilight blushed and walked backwards with a sheepish grin.

"Ahem." Hannibal stepped over to Rainbow. "I was a demon pilot for drop ships before. I can pilot that ship with ease."

Pinkie Pie popped up her head next to Morgivon. "Where will you go now? I'm not sure that you can get out of this place without getting caught by the demons."

"I'll pose as their commander until I leave this world," Morgivon answered. "Lord Zedin will not be suspicious of one of his greatest commanders." Morgivon walked back from the edge of the island. "Now, I must go. I wish you all good luck on your mission."

As Morgivon disappeared in a flash of green light, the ponies waved him goodbye. After he was gone, the group examined their surroundings.

There were several floating islands drifting above an endless abyss. Each one had a few unique plants on them. Some were flowers that ended in claws, some were tree stumps or leafless trees, some were orange blades of grass, and others were huge eyeballs dug into a large weed. Beyond the cluster of floating islands was a huge base that was constructed out of stone and neotitanium. It was built on a considerably large floating island with some of its foliage still present. The entire base had a design similar to most medieval castles, but it also incorporated several metal plates and structures for durability. Several demon ships flew around the castle in a patrolling manner. Multiple demons also marched along the base, checking for any potential threats or spies. Several helipads and landing stations hung from one side of the base and over the abyss.

On the other side of the base was a ginormous ring with a blue spiral inside of it. It was bigger than Manehattan, easily dwarfing everything around it. The ring was not tethered, tied down, or attached to an island. It simply floated in the air, constantly facing the base with its spiraling design. Inside the ring was a huge body of water, most likely an ocean, and a grand city that looked exactly like Las Pegasus. Between the ring and the base was an impossibly huge metal sphere that almost took up the space of the ring. It could easily fit through the ring, but it was still far larger than even the dreadnought the ponies stormed that sailed over Manehattan.

"I believe that thing is the dreadnought," Hannibal noted as he pointed at the metal sphere.

The ponies gulped down their clumps of worry. "How are we even supposed to destroy that thing?" Twilight asked with shaking words. "It's the biggest thing I've ever seen!"

"Ships at that size take up a lot of power, and they need excellent cooling systems to keep them from falling apart. If we damage the cooling systems in it enough, it could fall apart and explode."

Twilight listed down the objective. "Okay, find a way into base, find a ship, find an entrance to dreadnought, and destroy its cooling systems. That all sounds easier said than done."

"It is," Hannibal agreed. "This demon base has about half as many soldiers as Lord Zedin's Eternicastle. This will not be easy, especially once the demons know we're here."

With their objectives in their heads, the Twilight and company began their journey to the base. They hopped from island to island, avoiding any moves that could send them into the depths below. Hannibal stopped the group once they reached one of the eyeball plants.

"Don't move an inch," Hannibal warned as he took out his laser rifle. He aimed it at the eyeball and fired three times, splattering its gooey insides all over the place.

Rarity wiped some eye juices and chunks off her suit. "Other than being creepy and, eugh, disgusting, what is so bad about those eyes?"

"The demons use them as alarms. Whenever something comes close, they scream so loud that they can bust eardrums."

"Good to know," Fluttershy lied through her quivering tongue. "Let's just keep going before something very bad happens."

The group continued along the floating islands carefully. Hannibal made sure that any eyeball plants that were too close were destroyed immediately. The group eventually made it to the base's floating island and checked the walls for a way inside the base. There were no gates on their side, so they snuck around the wall until they found one. They eventually found a small gateway inside the base that was locked by a lever above it. Two marksman demons patrolled the top and kept the lever safe.

"I'll handle this," Rainbow Dash whispered to her friends. She flew up to the two demons and slammed both of their heads on the floor. She then smashed both of them into pieces with her hooves, killing both of them. She then flicked the lever and hovered back down to the gate. The group walked into the base with caution.

They found themselves in an area similar to a lobby. There were two floors, the second one being accessible by two curving stairs going upwards. There were three doors on the first floor and two on the top. Strangely, there were no demons in the room.

"Which way do we go?" Twilight glanced from door to door, still unsure about their destination.

Hannibal walked up to the first three doors on the first floor. From left to right, they were labeled 'West Wing', 'Main Hall', and 'East Wing'. The doors on the top were labeled 'West Wing Walls' and 'East Wing Halls' from left to right. Hannibal pointed down to the 'West Wing' door. "We go that way. These top doors lead to the defending points, and the main hall usually involves the owner of the base. The wings usually have barracks, depots, courtyards, armories, docking stations, and landing stations."

"If that's true, why don't we split up?" proposed Solar Flare. "We can get this search done quicker with two groups."

"It's better we stay together," Hannibal ordered. "These bases are straightforward, not long and confusing. Splitting up would kill us all quickly."

No more questions were asked, and the group stayed as one.

Twilight and company traveled through the west wing door. They found a long hallway that eventually turned right. There were three doors on the right side of the hallway and three windows on the left side. Blue torches lit up the vacant and nearly silent hallway. The group ignored the doors and kept walking until they reached the hallway's end. They turned left into another section of the hallway with three more doors on its right side. At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors. The group walked through the double doors and entered one of the courtyards.

The courtyard had a few random plants of various types in it, mainly the same ones on the floating islands. On the right side of the courtyard was another set of double doors. The tops of the walls around the courtyard had several fortifications for ambushes and surprise attacks. This setup already made most of the group paranoid.

"Be very careful," Hannibal warned with a whisper. "One small slip up can make us sitting ducks."

The group kept themselves extremely silent. Sadly, one of the eyeball plants in the courtyard was cleverly hidden behind a few leafless trees. The eyeball rose out of the weeds from a long bundle of nerves. Two tentacles slithered out of the weeds and waved around the eyeball. A huge, black and red fin pulsated from the top to the back of the eyeball. The eyeball stared directly at Twilight and quivered for a split second.

The eyeball suddenly opened into four pieces and revealed its four serpent tongues and eight rows of teeth. The eyeball screamed a high and piercing shrill into the air. All of the ponies covered their ears as much as they could. Hannibal cussed under his breath and fired at the eyeball seven times. The eyeball burst into pieces, but it was already too late. Hannibal could hear the shuffling of feet around the walls.

"Twilight Sparkle is here!" a gruff and irritated voice shouted from above. "Everyone, kill her before she ruins everything!"

Several novice demons hopped down from the wall as the demons on the wall locked the double doors. The novice demons had various weapons of many types. A few had laser weaponry, some had swords and shields, one had a blunderbuss, two had maces, and another had a plasma sword. The demons rushed up to the ponies and readied their weaponry.

Twilight fired a few magical blasts at the demons on the walls. Rainbow Dash mowed down the incoming sword fighters and mace throwers, Hannibal picked off the elite demons strafing on the walls, and Servo blasted the more distant marksman demons with his missiles. Pinkie clobbered the blunderbuss user before he could shoot his gun right into Pinkie's muzzle.

Just as the battlefield cooled down a little, several more novice demons, along with healer demons, shield demons, and greatsword demons, hopped down to fight the group. Twilight switched her attention to the healer demons. She blasted them with fire blasts as soon as they began healing any nearby demons. Rainbow Dash fired a volley of missiles at the greatsword demons while Solar Flare picked off the marksman demons in the back. Pinkie and Applejack kept the shield demons occupied with a few bucks, kicks, and punches. Rarity aimed her gemstones at the demons on the wall. She kept getting headshots with every soaring gem. Hannibal shot or sliced any incoming novice demons.

The next wave of demons involved even more novice demons, some elite demons, and two guardian demons. The demons hopped down onto the courtyard and began their attacks immediately. The ponies were getting a little tired from the abundance of troops, and the constant addition of yet more demons didn't help either. At this point, every dead demon equaled two more incoming.

Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare flew up from the courtyard and noticed the two levers controlling the double doors. Two novice demons held firm grips on them. Both pegasi gunned down the demons and moved the levers back to their original positions. They fired at the other demons that were approaching the levers.

Rainbow turned her head to Twilight. "Go! The door's open!"

Twilight and company, minus two pegasi, rushed through the doors. Rainbow and Solar kept fighting back the demons until a new demon slammed into the courtyard. It was about twenty feet tall and had huge arm, pectoral, and leg muscles. It had an obvious eight-pack that showed through the titanium armor on its body, legs, and arms. It had four horns coming out of its unreasonably small head. Two were in the front, and two were in the back. Its powerful hands held two weapons. One was a metal girder with several buzz saws jammed into its end. The other weapon was a laser not so mini minigun that was built for two hands. Somehow, the demon only needed one for it.

This stronghold demon roared a mighty roar and smashed its buzz saw girder next to Rainbow Dash. Both pegasi yelped in terror as the stronghold demon held up its minigun and fired dozens of lasers. The pegasi flew through the double doors before the demon could rip them apart.

By the time the pegasi reached the group again, they were already fighting a few novice demons. Only one was left, but it died once Pinkie hopped onto its head and twisted it several times with all four of her hooves.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she shook Twilight's body. "We need to get out of here!"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. "Are there even more demons coming for us?"

"It's worse than that!"

The entire wall behind the group exploded into several chunks of stone and metal. The gargantuan stronghold demon stomped through the hole and into the hallway. "There you are!" The demon's voice was a thunderous bellow. "I've been waiting to tear all of your midget heads off your bodies! Now, come here so that I can chew off your goddamn jaws!"

The demon ran at the group with his buzz saw girder in the air. Twilight and company didn't hesitate to run as fast as they could to the end of the hallway. They zipped through the double doors and entered another courtyard. Several novice demons, greatsword demons, and healer demons hopped from the walls to the courtyard.

Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare gunned down the novice demons while Twilight and Rarity picked off the healer demons with magic and gems. Hannibal, Applejack, Servo, and Pinkie fought off the greatsword demons with a wide variety of attacks. However, Pinkie's rocket launcher was by far the most devastating out of the rest of the attacks.

As more demons hopped down to fill in the void, the stronghold demon leaped right into the middle of the courtyard. He glared down at the ponies and raised his buzz saw girder. "Kneel before me, bitches!"

The entire buzz saw girder slammed right into the courtyard, almost hitting Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. The stronghold demon then fired his minigun at Twilight wildly with death blinding his eyes. A few demons were caught in his rampage and dissipated into nothingness. Rainbow Dash flicked the two levers again, opening the double doors on the left side of the courtyard. Twilight and company ran and flew faster than ever before to escape the stronghold demon.

The group entered another hallway, except this one was completely straight with a larger, much more grand set of double doors. It had two gilded, circular handles, a metal and stone design, and several etchings in the stone. The unsettling characteristic of the door was its size. It was large enough to allow the stronghold demon access into it.

However, there was no time to stand around and wait for death. Twilight used all her might to pull open one of the double doors. She successfully pulled it open halfway and dashed through it without any care. The rest of the group followed her once the wall behind them exploded from the stronghold demon.

The next room was vast compared to the other areas of the base. It stretched quite a long distance to a giant vertical split door. The door was currently open, allowing a few drop ships to fly out of it. The ceiling was more of a curve than a flat plate. The entire room itself had several demon ships in supposed rows. It was difficult to tell since most of the ships were already gone. The few that were still in the base were either drop ships or assault ships. Several novice demons, elite demons, knightmare demons, and anti-magic demons patrolled along the ships or climbed into them.

Twilight and company quickly dashed to the nearest assault ship. There were already two novice demons inside, so Pinkie snapped both of their necks and bashed their heads together. Hannibal sat in the pilot seat and engaged the power and flight settings.

Hannibal looked over to Twilight for a second. "Do you want to be the co-pilot? I could use some extra help just in case."

Twilight backed away and shook her head. "I'm not really the mare for piloting entire ships, so I'll pass."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie raised her left foreleg and hopped into the air. Hannibal gestured her forward, making her squeal in happiness and dive into the co-pilot's seat. She wrapped her hooves around the wheel and waited for liftoff.

The assault ship slowly ascended and turned to its left. The stronghold demon slammed open the gates and roared like a furious psychopath close to having an aneurysm. "Where are they? Where did the little fucks run off to?"

Before Twilight and company could deal with the demon, the ship zoomed out of the room and into the open sky of the Nightmare World. There were thousands of ships that cruised by the giant sphere. Most of them were drop ships and assault ships, but there were a few battleships and warships. The entire sphere was not too far away from the ring, but it was not moving at a very slow pace. In fact, it was moving fairly fast.

Hannibal steered the assault ship over to the giant sphere. He landed close to the top of it, but not exactly on its top for safety reasons.

The group got out of their ship and examined their surroundings. They were in some sort of trench on the outside of the sphere, and they could see the curvature of its surface. Even though they were at an angle from the abyss, the floor felt like it was not slanted. The group could see the base and the strange sun in the distance. A few demon ships were also visible. Despite the ships seeing the group land, they ignored it and kept cruising in their respective spots.

"So, that big guy back there," Pinkie started as she pointed at the base. "was that what you were warning us about, Dashie?"

Rainbow Dash nodded her head. "Yeah. I hope we never see it again."

"You might see a few more in this dreadnought," Hannibal noted. Rainbow's face snapped into a petrified frown. "Lord Zedin was training demons like that while I was in Manehattan. If he has them finished and ready to fight right now, several more await us."

"Is there any weakness they have?" Twilight asked Hannibal. "I already know that they're weak to fire, but is there anything else?"

"Their head. Their head has nearly all of their essence in it. Destroying their head will kill them very fast, but have fun hitting it. They're very small for that reason."

Rarity lifted up a few gems with her magic. "It does not matter how small their heads are. I can hit them perfectly fine."

Solar Flare swiveled his head from one trench hall to the other. "Say, Commander Hannibal, where are we going to destroy this thing?"

"We go to the top," Hannibal answered. "The top of this dreadnought has a huge hole leading into it, so we could use that as a way in."

"I'm going to assume that the hole is not guarded with just sticks and dirt," Servo thought out loud.

Twilight was getting a little impatient. "We should go now. Another minute we spend here is another part of Equestria possibly destroyed by this thing."

The Mane Six plus three continued along the trench to the hole. Even though there were no enemies in the trenches, the way to the hole stretched a far distance. Throughout the break of fighting, Solar Flare decided to talk to Fluttershy again.

"Hello, Fluttershy." Solar steered himself over to her and kept his pace the same as hers.

"Hi," Fluttershy replied. "How was it being with Hannibal?"

"He's a big stress reliever. He has this certain way he fights that usually involves quick thinking. He plans a little right before an attack, but he makes it up as the fight progresses. He'll shout orders to me and the others here and there, but he usually does the real fighting. We just provide the cover fire and the extra guns just in case he gets flanked. How have you been?"

"I've been fine. My friends and I got stranded in a scary forest for a while, and we had to fight some even scarier bandits."

Solar Flare's ears perked up. "What type of bandits?"

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chin and thought to herself for a second. "I'm not too sure. They had leaves and mud on them, though. Oh, and they rode giant scorpions."

"I'm thinking you fought the Venombacks, right?"

Fluttershy shrugged. "Maybe. Have you seen Servo yet? He is just adorable."

Solar looked up ahead and locked his eyes on Servo. "You mean the little robot?"

"Mm-hmm."

Solar leaned his head a little closer to Fluttershy and whispered close to her ear. "Personally, he kind of freaks me out."

"Why? He isn't mean like most robots."

"He has two laser guns, missiles, and lightning hands. I wouldn't want to take him on in a fight. Hay, he even moves very fast!"

"Well, Pinkie scares me whenever she, starts, um–" Fluttershy hesitated for a while before she continued speaking "–eating others, but I don't fear her because of that. She is a nice pony, and I know she would never do that to me or you. Servo is nice too. He may have those big and mean-looking guns, but he would never hurt you."

Solar Flare glanced at Pinkie and Servo before looking back at Fluttershy. "You're right. Pinkie Pie is a party pony, not a bloodthirsty psychopath that wants to devour us all."

Fluttershy looked over at Servo and thought to herself again. "Maybe you should talk to Servo for a little while and get to know him. Maybe you two will become friends."

"Yeah." Solar Flare thought about that for a few seconds. "Maybe I should." Solar walked up to Servo tried his best to talk to him. His voice was a little shaky and cluttered, but he was still intelligible. "Hey, uh, Servo. How's it going?"

"Pretty fine." Servo didn't turn his head at all and kept himself at the same speed. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering. Say, what exact build are you?"

"I'm not a build per se. I'm more of a hybrid, like a mutt. I know that my version 1.0 chain craw head was made in the Draav Star System located in the Cryvozax Sector, but not much about anything else."

"Okay, have no idea what that means," Solar Flare muttered to himself. "Any hobbies you enjoy?"

"As of right now, blowing crap up!" Servo's voice was booming at those last three words. "If you're looking for anything else, that's it. I was just built today, so I don't really have enough experience to actually have a lot of hobbies. I do have a craving for cupcakes even though I don't have taste buds, or a mouth. Maybe it's from aunt Pinkie Pie."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about something involving aunt or mom or something when Pinkie met Commander Hannibal. What is that exactly?"

"Oh, that? It's just my way of addressing others depending on what they did for me or how close they are. Twilight Sparkle is my mom because she built me, Hannibal is my dad because he added these weapons on me, and Pinkie Pie is my aunt because she loves and cares for me a lot." Servo looked over to Pinkie and back to Solar Flare. He the rolled a little closer to Solar and lowered his volume. "However, I think I might have to change the status for Pinkie in the future."

"Why? Her current relationship with you sounds fine."

Servo stared at Twilight throughout his response. "Well, even though Twilight Sparkle made me, she attempted to kill me too. She also doesn't show any real motherly love or anything similar, and I think I know why. She doesn't see me as an actual creature with feelings, just a dumb pile of scrap metal from random robots." Servo turned his head to Pinkie. "She, on the other hand, actually cares about me. She makes me feel happy, safe, and tingly whenever she talks to me or holds me. It just feels, nice."

Solar nodded at a mid pace. "That makes sense."

Servo continued, still looking at Pinkie. "Because she makes me feel like that, I can classify her as two other loving figures. I could call her my mom, which I feel comfortable with. I don't think Twilight would mind it, but I'm not too sure how Pinkie Pie would handle it."

"What about the other one?"

"Well, um, the other one will make the mom side of her void. I could consider her a, um, love interest."

Solar Flare eyed Servo with two narrow slits. "You're fully aware that you're a robot and she's a pony, right?"

Servo nodded. "Yeah, I know that, but that doesn't change how I see her. You kind of have to be a robot to understand what I mean. I know she's organic, and I know I'm incapable of reproducing, but I still have that feeling. It all has to do with her suit. To you, it possibly looks like a hunk of metal." Servo was figuratively drooling at this point. "To me, it makes her look like a sexy war machine that would giggle and snuggle you to death."

"Heh, I guess you really like her, huh?"

Servo sighed and looked over to Solar Flare. "Maybe, but I think that's just the old personality talking. If I ever get the chance, I'll rewire myself to where I have no sexual desires at all. Who even puts that in a robot's wiring?"

"But you love her like that, right? Why don't you just embrace it?"

"Easy for you to say. You're not a robot with feelings, just an organic creature that was built for love. I don't need lust in my programming."

Solar thought about his next statement to avoid saying something stupid. "You do what you want. If you don't like your programming, you can change it for all I care. I'm not going to force your decision."

"Alright." Servo raised his volume back to normal. "Thank you for helping me on making that decision. It means a lot for someone like you to do that for me."

Solar face contorted into an awkward frown as he tilted his head. "You're welcome?"

"I'm fine with whatever you want to call me!" Pinkie was right next to Servo's right side and in his face.

"Gah!" Servo stumbled forward with a hop and a crash into the ground. "Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry." Pinkie grinned sheepishly before picking Servo up, setting him upright from the ground, and dusting his metal body. "I just couldn't help it. You almost calling me your mother just warms my heart so so much!"

Servo tilted his head and gave an invisible and baffled frown. "Aren't you a little upset about the Twilight Sparkle part of it though?"

Pinkie looked over at Twilight and shook her head. "Nuh-uh. I knew from the start that she didn't really care about you. I mean, who gives a robot like you a test and decides that you're life is over? That's just cold-hearted right there!" Pinkie frowned a frown of disappointment and anger at Twilight.

Twilight narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth a little. "Pinkie, I never expected him to have a personality. Can we pretty please leave this in the past and never bring it up?"

Pinkie zipped over to Twilight and prodded her chest. "Not in a million moons! You need to learn that threatening a robot's life is wrong and immoral!"

"Uh, yeah!" Rainbow Dash for no reason chimed in with a head turn. "Pinkie's right! You need to know to never destroy a robot as awesome as Servo just because he finished a test!"

"Don't encourage Pinkie," Twilight growled at Rainbow.

Pinkie lowered her voice a little and dropped her angry face as she stared Twilight directly in her eyes. Pinkie's tone was much less threatening and contained a sliver of pleading. "So, Twilight, are you fine with me being Servo's mom from now on?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed to herself. "Sure, whatever, I don't care anymore. If that's what you want, go ahead."

Pinkie then hopped over to Servo, almost startling and knocking him off balance, again. "Servo, do you want me to be your mom from now on?" Pinkie noticed Servo's uneasiness too easily. She held a hoof to his head and lifted it up to her face. "You can be completely honest with me, Servo. Nothing you can say will hurt my feelings."

Instead of answering with a smart-ass comment about hurting her feelings, Servo nodded his head slowly. "Yeah."

Pinkie squealed with excitement and squeezed Servo with a tight and cozy bear hug. Pinkie nuzzled up against his face with her head and hummed joyously to herself. Her hug got a little tighter as she rubbed her head around Servo's head and neck. "I'll love you forever! Nopony will ever take you away from me!"

Even though Servo definitely felt aroused by this abundance of hugging and affection, he swept it aside and focused solely on Pinkie's embrace and her warm, trustworthy, and gentle smile of pure happiness and love.

In that moment, Servo wrapped his metal arms around Pinkie and hugged her tightly as well.

"Well," Applejack started, "that is something."

"So, Pinkie Pie is now considered his mother, yes?" Rarity guessed. "If that is true, then what is Twilight now?"

"She's just my creator at this point," Servo explained. Pinkie set him down on the ground and faced the rest of the ponies.

Rarity turned to Twilight. "Are you sure you are fine with this, darling?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm fine with it."

Rainbow Dash switched her view back and forth between Pinkie and Hannibal. "So, Pinkie is with Hannibal now?" Rainbow paused as she glanced at Pinkie for a second. "That actually makes sense."

Pinkie glanced at Hannibal. He was acting a little uneasy through his darting, eyeless sockets. "You're right, Dashie. That actually makes sense now!"

"If you're thinking about marrying me or something, just forget it now," Hannibal noted through his shaky and unstable words. "I mean, you can love me platonically, but that's it."

Pinkie giggled to herself and looked back at Hannibal. "You're silly! I know that you're not into relationships like that! That's why I treat you like a friend, not like you're my special somepony, erm, maybe somebody in this context."

"Hey, big giant hole up ahead!" Servo warned with a holler.

The entire group of nine stopped and checked the area. A huge hole as big as Ponyville dug down deep into the metal sphere. Several more trenches led to it and onto various elevators leading down into the hole. There were no demons in the area at all, just a few demon ships cruising by from above the hole.

Hannibal scanned the area before moving. "This is too easy. Lord Zedin would've put several soldiers here if we were spotted." He turned his head to the ponies behind him. "Stay sharp. Who knows what'll pop out and attack once we use this elevator."

"How do we know it's safe?" Twilight asked with some worry. "Will they expect us to go down there?"

"Maybe, but I think the demons are still checking the base back there. They won't know we're here until we trigger an alarm." Hannibal walked onto the elevator platform and gripped the lever beside him. "Let's get moving."

The rest of the group entered the elevator, constantly shifting their field of view to check for any nearby demons. Hannibal pushed forward the lever with a great deal of might. The elevator clicked, beeped, and rolled down the wires it rode on at a moderate pace.

The group had a grand view of the hole. The hole was divided into three sectors, each one having different setups and positions for its catwalks and platforms. The first sector had a few novice demons patrolling along some catwalks that led to several doors. The demons paid no attention to the elevator and kept patrolling. The next sector had several walkways with plethoras of landing pads connected to them. Some of the landing pads had a few assault ships or drop ships on them. One of the ships was ascending up from the hole until it passed the first sector. The last sector was a thick, ring-shaped walkway that hung on the sides of the hole. In the middle of the sector was a void with a faint, blue light from the bottom. When the group took a closer look, they noticed a distant blue ball of electrifying energy pulsing hundreds of times per second.

"Wow," Twilight mused as the blue light mesmerized her. "Is that the core?"

"I think so," Hannibal answered. "Destroying its core is impossible, though. That ball is nothing but a collection of electricity. You can't just shoot it or use magic to destroy it. You need to destroy what creates the energy, so we're destroying the cooling systems to stop this dreadnought from creating energy."

Rainbow looked up at Hannibal. "How do you know all this egghead stuff?"

"My old commander, Sergeant Deadlocke, was part of the development of this dreadnought. He talks about its structure to himself a lot so that he knows what needs improving."

The elevator struck the floor and stopped moving. The group walked out of the elevator and examined their surroundings once more. There were four large, four way opening doors around the room, only one being unlocked and with green lights. The rest of the doors were red. The group walked over to that door. It slid open by itself to reveal a hallway that ended in another four way door. The group rushed over to it and through the door into the next room.

The room was composed of two floors. The first floor was below the group and had four unlocked doors. The second floor was two walkways with two doors and four straight staircases. Only a few novice demons with various weapons and armor patrolled the room. They noticed the group and either ran up to it or stood back. Pinkie and Applejack pummeled the incoming demons with swords, lances, and maces, and Twilight, Servo, and Rarity killed the ranged demons below. Once the area was cleared, the group walked down to the first floor.

Hannibal twirled his body around as he checked the doors. "We'll get lost if we go through random doors for the cooling systems. We need a digital map of the area." Hannibal checked his comm link. "Also, we need to do it without Travis or GEST Corp. since this world blocks all links."

Pinkie walked over to a fading demon's body and checked its equipment. She picked up a small holographic square with a metal perimeter. She held it up to Hannibal. "Is this the map we need?"

"That's it." Hannibal took the square and slid it into the back slot of his helmet. "I'll be our guide through the dreadnought, starting now." Hannibal pointed to a door on his left.

The group walked through the door and into another hallway with two elite demons. Hannibal, Rainbow Dash, and Servo filled both of them with holes from their lasers. The demons disintegrated as the group continued through the door. The next room was long, had a catwalk running parallel to it, and another one that was perpendicular and above the first one. Three demons with jetpacks and motion tracking laser rifles hovered over the group and fired several lasers. Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare killed all three of them with their own barrage, and Twilight protected the group with a barrier spell.

The group rushed to the end of the catwalk and entered the next room. It was a curvy, L-shaped staircase that led to the higher catwalk in the last room. Several novice demons and four elite demons prepared for battle. Twilight fired several magic blasts into the novice demons as Rainbow and Servo released a storm of missiles at the elite demons. Pinkie pummeled two of the barely alive elite demons, and Rairty and Applejack finished off the remaining novice demons.

The group rushed up the stairs and over the shorter catwalk. The next room they entered was circular with three doors around a dozen cylindrical coolant systems that surrounded a blue pipe. Several panels and seats surrounded the cooling system, and about half of them were filled with novice demons. Around the room was several more novice demons, six elite demons, and five jetpack demons.

Rainbow shot into the air and rained down lasers on the novice demons below. Pinkie, Applejack, Hannibal, and Servo fought off the elite demons and dodged their laser fire. The elites fell down one by one until Pinkie crushed the last one with a ground pound. Rarity kept her aim on the jetpacks of the airborne demons, but the jetpacks were much more durable than she imagined.

Two of the jetpack demons aimed at Rainbow Dash and fired their weapons. The lasers bent in midair and struck her wings multiple times. When she spiraled down into the floor, the newer lasers bent towards her high speed body. Pinkie glanced at Rainbow and locked onto the airborne demons. She took out her rocket launcher and fired a few pink bombs in the shape of missiles. The bombs struck the demons and exploded, destroying parts of their bodies and their jetpacks. One of the airborne demons swung into the cooling system and smashed the coolant systems and the pipe. Right when that happened, red lights flashed around the room, and blaring sirens soon followed.

"Attention demon forces," a scratchy and grating voice like shredding metal boomed from all around the ponies, "we have infiltrators inside our dreadnought. Dispose of them at once!"

Twilight and company had no time to stop. They ran to the door on their left and down a hallway that turned a little to the right. They fought and killed a few more elite demons and novice demons until they reached another big room with several computer stations. Two greatsword demons, a healer demon, and a dozen novice demons charged at the group. Twilight and Rarity killed the two greatsword demons in a flash, Solar Flare hovered over the novice demon swarm and destroyed it with lasers, and Pinkie leaped at the healer demon and pinned it down by stomping on all four of its tentacles. Pinkie bashed her head into the healer demon's supposed face several times until it lost all of its strength.

Once the demons were all slain, Pinkie hopped over to Rainbow Dash and pulled out an orange and yellow cupcake. Rainbow took it from Pinkie's selfless hooves and munched on it until nothing was left. Her wings repaired themselves as a feeling of relief poured all over her body.

The group continued on by going through yet another hallway. More elite demons and novice demons were slain, and another big room was reached. The room was very roomy and in the shape of a T. The main portion of the room was a single, wide hall with doors on its ends. The hall was long and contained yet more computers. On its right wall was a small, short hall that led to a help desk station.

On the other side of the room was seven demons. Six of them were knightmare demons, and one was strikingly familiar to Hannibal. This one demon had a titanium chest plate, leggings, hulking shoulder pads, sleeves, and laced gauntlets that covered his muscular body. His boots were obsidian black with internal blue flames dancing inside them. His helmet had a red visor that covered his eye sockets, a red mane similar to a Roman soldier's helmet, and two small pipes that led to a container on his back. Four horns, two long and two short, protruded from his head out of his helmet. He held a semi-automatic gun with three stacked barrels, a laser sight, and anti-magic bullets in his right hand. His left hand had a dual-bladed plasma sword with electricity cackling from its blades. Pieces of black cloth hung from his belt that had several grenades lined around it. On his chest was an exquisitely crafted emblem in the shape of Twilight's head with a gun to its jaw and blowing its brains out of the head. Below the emblem read 'Kill them all' in well forged and bloodied cursive letters. The demon had a scowl on his face with sharpened and locked teeth in his mouth.

"We meet again." The demon's words slithered through his forked tongue. "We have the heretic, the target, her friends, and a hapless amalgamation of random metal pieces." The demon scanned the group's armor and accessories. "My my, Twilight Sparkle, you have upgraded from our last fight."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight snapped as magic radiated around her ready horn.

Hannibal's voice was not any nicer than Twilight's. "Sergeant Deadlocke, we meet again."

"Actually, it's Command Sergeant Major now," Deadlocke replied. "I got a promotion after my fight with you and a few more from some assasinations of clogan officials. After I kill you, I will become a lieutenant, and I'll do my damndest to be much, much more successful than Drimmin or Vyshnaam."

"Didn't you die?" Pinkie asked with some anger in her voice. "You disintegrated into nothing. How are you here?"

"Demons don't die when they disintegrate. They simply rebuild themselves back here in the Nightmare World. It's what we have been doing for decades now. Fight, kill, die, repeat. That is how our lives work."

"So, all these demons we've fought are still alive?" Applejack assumed. "Our fighting was for nothing."

"No it wasn't," Hannibal denied. "Fighting and displacing demons from the battlefield is always something good. The less demons there are roaming about in your world, the more likely it will make it through the war in one piece."

"Enough!" Deadlocked commanded. "I have had waited long enough for my revenge. Now, I will finally have it." Deadlocke shuffled his body into a fighting stance. "Prepare for death, ponies."

A challenger approaches: Command Sergeant Major Deadlocke, a very pissed off survivor of the Mane Six's onslaught

Deadlocke stood in place as the six knightmare demons made a wall in front of him. They jutted out their electric staffs towards the group and aimed their acidic scatterguns. Twilight used a deflection spell that fired back the bullets from the scatterguns right at the knightmare demons. The demons rushed through the spell and stabbed their staffs at the group. Hannibal grabbed ahold of one of the staffs and yanked it out of the demon's hand. He then jammed it into the demon's head and kicked him backward. Pinkie took out her rocket launcher and fired at three of the knightmare demons. They fell backwards as a barrage of lasers struck them. One died, and two were on the brink of death. They refused to die and got back up with their scatterguns firm in their hands.

Hannibal curb stomped the knightmare demon he pinned on the ground as the other four prepared for another attack. The demons without their staffs ran towards Twilight and fired their scatterguns right at her. She dodged them and fired three precision shots through their heads. Servo blasted both of them apart with a few missiles. The last two aimed for Pinkie. One jabbed their staff into her side, shocking her entire body and convulsing her muscles. Applejack lassoed the two knightmare demons together, hopped over Pinkie, and bucked both of them in their heads. Rarity filled their heads with sharp gemstones, ending both of their lives.

Deadlocke sheathed his blade for a split second and grabbed three grenades. They blinked blue as he tossed them through the air. They all struck Twilight and Rarity, weakening their magic to dangerously low amounts. They collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion while Deadlocke unsheathed his blade. He fired at Pinkie and Applejack with his gun, missing several times due to their agility. He walked closer and side rolled away from Hannibal and Servo's stream of lasers. He then swung his blade thrice at Fluttershy, hitting her only once before Solar Flare slammed right into his side. Part of Fluttershy's left ear was nicked, but she was still healthy and alive.

Deadlocke kicked Solar back as he aimed his gun at him. He fired five times into Solar's body before preparing his blade again. Fluttershy punched him in the face three times in rapid succession and uppercut him with a great amount of force. He stumbled back before elbowing Fluttershy's raging face. He then raced to the other side of the hallway and opened the door.

"He's, escaping?" Pinkie questioned as she tilt her head.

"He's getting help!" Hannibal warned. "Let's go now!"

The group chased Deadlocke through the demon filled halls. The novice demons and elite demons slowed them a little, but the demons were quickly slain and then ignored. Twilight and company eventually chased him into another cooling system room. A few greatsword demons and elite demons helped Deadlocke prepare for battle by being his personal meat shields. The greatsword demons died once a batch of missiles struck them down. The elite demons were defeated as more and more lasers and punches were directed at them.

Two squadrons of elite soldiers entered the room and directed their attacks on the Mane Six. By this time, the group focused less on them and more on Deadlocke. He dodged some of the lasers aiming for him, but some of the missiles and pink bombs struck and damaged him and his armor. He soon found out that magic blasts were being flung at him from a regenerated Twilight. The mayhem that kept threatening his life was nearly impossible to avoid, and it was eating his way through the elite demons protecting him.

When the last elite demon died, he was left by himself. He dodged the incoming attacks until Rarity stabbed a few gems into his eye sockets. Twilight then built up a powerful explosive blast and struck Deadlocke with it. He took heavy amounts of damage as he flew back into a wall. He coughed to himself as he noticed someone walk up to him and press a foot on his chest. He slowly looked up through his cracked visor and filled eye sockets to partially see Hannibal with his katana like blade in his left hand.

"Twilight, prepare a fire blast," Hannibal ordered. Twilight did so and waited for his command. "Deadlocke, you have no idea how much we've all been through. You may think you're a tough commander with skills, but that doesn't make you impossible to kill. Is there anything you have to say before you die?"

Deadlocked coughed twice and spat his words bitterly. "Go to hell, heretic."

Hannibal decapitated Deadlocke with a single stroke. He then stepped away and turned to Twilight. "Now."

Twilight fired a fire blast right into Deadlocke's body and head. The flames licked around his equipment until he himself disintegrated into nothing. All that was left was his items once again.

Command Sergeant Major Deadlocke has been defeated!

"He's still alive though, right?" Applejack guessed. "I thought that demons don't die when we defeat them."

"They don't," Hannibal agreed, "unless you use fire. Fire kills them permanently. He's dead now for good. He won't ever come back."

The discussion fell apart once the cooling system exploded into pieces, activating another set of sirens and red lights.

Servo noticed the staring eyes and shrugged. "What? We're supposed to destroy them, right?"

"Let's keep going," Twilight decided as she walked with Hannibal over to one of the doors. She then looked up at Hannibal. "How many cooling systems are there?"

"Three," Hannibal answered. "We got one more left before the entire sphere destabilizes."

The comm link for the entire group buzzed with activity until a familiar voice entered the link. "Hello?" Travis asked. "Are any any of you still alive?"

"We're okay," Twilight answered. "Everypony's perfectly fine."

"What happened in New Sacramino? I lost contact with all of you and couldn't find your signal until now. Did something very bad happen?"

"We got pulled into the demons' world by this evil pony demon that's now good!" Pinkie explained with as little words as she could. "Wait, didn't Hannibal say that the demons' world blocks links?"

If Hannibal had actual eyes, they would have widened. "Oh no, the dreadnought is in Equestria! We need to hurry before it destroys everything!"

"What dreadnought?" Travis asked hastily. "And where at?"

The group was now running down a hall and firing at a few novice demons. However, this did not stop Hannibal from answering Travis's questions. "There's going to be an armada coming from Las Pegasus! Warn General Solk and any other major commanders you can before it's too late!"

"I'm on it!"

The group kept running and gunning their way through the halls and rooms, killing several novice demons and elite demons throughout the journey. In some rooms, the group met some greatsword demons, guardian demons, healer demons, hellfire demons, thrasher demons, and jetpack demons. Several injuries were received from the rushing, but Pinkie's cupcakes healed them all in no time.

Twilight and company eventually made it to a large room in the shape of an awkward S. To the front of the group was a huge sliding door, and to the right was the rest of the room leading to the next cooling system room.

Before the group could go right, the sliding door opened up to reveal a stronghold demon and six elite demons ready for battle. Upon seeing the ponies, the stronghold demon slammed four demons out of his way and tumbled towards the group.

"Come over here!" the towering demon screamed as it raised its buzz saw girder. "You're the perfect freaks for me to shove this thing right up your asses!"

The group ran to the right before it could swing its buzz saw girder at them. They soon reached the four way door to the cooling system and sprinted through it. They were confronted by two hellfire demons, two healer demons, and eight elite demons.

The hellfire demons hovered backwards and let the elite demons get a clear shot at the group. Four of the elite demons died from a few missiles and pink bombs in the face or chest. Rarity aimed her gems for the hellfire demons and hit them every single time, killing one and crippling the other. Twilight killed the healer demons before they could heal any wounds, and Applejack lassoed two elite demons together that Rainbow Dash shredded with a hailstorm of lasers. Hannibal got two headshots on the hellfire demon that killed it. Solar Flare wrestled and gunned down the other two elite demons, ending the messy conflict.

It was then that the stronghold demon opened the four way door and crawled through the entrance. It then stood back up, now in the room with the group. He glared down at the ponies, buzz saw girder in hand and minigun primed for death. "You can't hide from me! You can never hide from me!"

The buzz saw girder slammed down into the ground, almost squashing Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie into a mess of gore. Twilight remembered Hannibal's advice and used a few precision shots on the head of the stronghold demon. The head was so small that she couldn't directly hit it, but she did hit one of its four horns. That was enough for the demon to face her and release a stream of lasers right at her. Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare pelted it with missiles and lasers, but it was to no avail. The demon's armor was too strong for any damage to be dealt through it. Rarity had no problem fighting. She kept her gems precise and shot them right into the demon's face. Every shot made it stumble for a split second. This was enough time for the ponies to recover from a girder slam or a field of lasers. Rarity kept doing this until she filled the head with enough gems to split it in half.

One final gem and a lucky precision shot destroyed the entire head of the stronghold demon. The demon screamed a cry of rage and hate as its body fell down and smashed into the cooling system. The cooling system cracked and fell apart, releasing once more a wave of sirens and red lights. Twilight fired one last fire blast to ensure the demon's death.

This time, the entire area shook violently, and the lights around the area dimmed and flickered a little.

"We need to get off this dreadnought, now!" Hannibal warned as he funneled the ponies and robot through the left door. They fought through a few more squadrons of novice demons and elite demons before they reached another huge room. There were four guardian demons in it, but the group didn't care anymore. They sprinted for the next door and through the halls. They killed only the demons that blocked their way and left the rest behind.

The group eventually made it back to the ring. There were several novice demons and elite demons rushing for the elevators around the area. The big, blue ball of energy that was in the hole was now nonexistent at this point.

The group took the closest elevator and gunned down any ready to fight demons that wanted the elevator. Hannibal held onto the lever and pointed a finger upwards. "Get on top of the elevator! We're hijacking a ship!"

The ponies hopped onto the elevator. Servo needed some help from Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash to properly reach the elevator's top. Hannibal pulled the lever and climbed up to the top, shooting some of the demons inside the other elevators. Once the elevator reached the second sector, the group hopped off and reached for the closest assault ship. They all rushed into it as fast as physically possible. Hannibal and Pinkie sat in their seats and took control of the flight mechanisms. The assault ship ascended into the air, making its way through the hole.

Once the ship was out of the hole, a volley of rockets hurled towards the ship. They all crashed into one of its thrusters, spiraling the assault ship out of control. It came back to the falling sphere and aimed for its metal surface.

Twilight panicked and darted her eyes around the sphere's surface. When the ship was about to crash into the sphere, she activated a teleportation spell on everyone but the ship. Everyone was covered in a purple blanket of magic and disappeared from the ship.

Everyone reappeared on the sphere's surface about a thousand yards away from the crash site. Twilight looked around the area and environment to check what was happening. Las Pegasus was in the distance, shining with light that contrasted the darkness everywhere. Twilight felt a little cold from the breezy air. Several demon ships soared above the ponies and to the shining city in the distance, smashing through a few winter clouds here and there.

Hannibal opened the comm link to Travis again. "Travis, we need a ship to pick us up from the dreadnought. Whenever you can provide one, bring it here as soon as possible."

"An entire fleet is almost at Las Pegasus," Travis informed. "We'll have a ship for all of you soon."

"Do not hide from me, infiltrators." The voice sounded like dozens of pieces of metal scraping each other harshly. Even though the voice was low, it felt piercing and omniscient. "This is where all of you die. A watery grave awaits."

"Who is that?" Rainbow demanded to the darkness. "Show yourself so that we can fight you!"

"Very well. If you wish to fight, I will fight and kill all of you. I would have argued that your desire to fight me is foolish, but, I am desiring of one after you deliberately destroyed my entire dreadnought."

In front of the ponies manifested a large mass of darkness. It was twice as large as a stronghold demon, but the entire body looked much less physical. The arms that developed on its sides were hazy and cloudy, not bulky and opaque. Two large claws opened on their ends and scraped the metal surface of the sphere. Its supposed head had four glowing white lights that represented its eyes and six horns of various lengths protruded from its head. The chest developed more and more until stretched down into a curly and wispy tail end. A pulsating, purple heart glowed from its own darkness and swirling aura. An entire rib cage of concentrated black formed around the heart, and the shoulder blades, humeri, radii, ulnae, carpals, metacarpals, and phalanges of blackness developed under the darkness of the demonic being.

Once the demonic mass pressed its claws against the metal surface, pieces of the metal cracked apart and floated around the mass. They clicked together and formed a bulky chest plate, two huge shoulder pads, jagged elbow platings, and clinking gauntlets sharper than scalpels. The metal glowed with the same purple aura around the heart. The undying essence of the being radiated through the metal like a hardy second skin on top of another. The being's eyes faded from a white to a dark purple, and the purple aura from its heart gathered at its monstrous gauntlets.

A challenger approaches: Major Xarviin, Lord Zedin's strongest wraith

Xarviin's first attack was a claw slamming into the ground. The surface broke apart to reveal several pieces of sharpened metal and rogue wiring. Pieces of the sphere clumped together and formed spikes that jutted out of the surface. Every spike tried its best to hit one of the ponies, Hannibal, or Servo, but they missed by a couple feet. Xarviin then fired clusters of purple energy at the group. He struck Twilight and Fluttershy once each with separate clusters, weakening them from the inside.

Xarviin hovered to the other side of the group and released two waves of energy. The group dodged them successfully and fired a barrage of lasers at him. His armor and body took zero damage from the lasers. Xarviin then grabbed Pinkie with his right claw. She squirmed and struggled to escape his grasp, but it was useless. He manifested a ball of purple energy over her with his left claw. Pinkie fiddled with his gauntlet until she could squeeze her body inside Xarviin's armor. She crawled her way through the smoky body until she reached the purple heart in his chest. She punched and kicked the heart several times in rapid succession.

Xarviin's body convulsed and shook from the strikes to his heart. He reached his left claw into his chest and grabbed Pinkie once again. Instead of keeping her in place, he threw her back onto the surface of the sphere. He manifested two beams of energy that originated from his claws and swept across the sphere's surface. The ponies kept dodging the beams several times through either hopping, ducking, or simple flying.

Pinkie bounced over to Twilight, the one pony that was hiding behind a spike as she charged her magic. "Twilight, I know how we can defeat this thing!"

"Tell me, then!" Twilight insisted. "What is it?"

"The heart inside of it is its weak point! If we can tear off its armor, we can hit it!"

"And how will we do that?" Twilight and Pinkie dodged the massive cluster of energy hurling towards them. "Everything we tried isn't working!"

"You didn't try everything yet! Use your magic to tear off the pieces of its armor! If I can open up its hand with my bare hooves, you can do it with magic!"

Twilight focused on Xarviin's chest plate. She used a levitation spell on one of the pieces. She ripped it off the body, exposing a small part of a black rib. Xarviin summoned more spikes out of the metal surface as he prepared a new attack. A swirling vortex of darkness grew right next to Solar Flare and Hannibal. It kept growing until it reached the height of a greatsword demon. The vortex sucked in various metal pieces and circuitry from the spikes and surface into it. Solar flew against the force of the vortex, and Hannibal held a firm grip onto a nearby spike. The vortex dissipated only seconds later.

Twilight kept pulling pieces of metal off Xarviin's chest plate until she revealed his purple heart. Rainbow Dash noticed that it was a glowing piece of Xarviin that was easy to shoot, so she did. Rainbow's lasers, along with a few from Hannibal and Servo, penetrated the heart and weakened its glow. Xarviin covered his heart with his left claw and fired rings of energy at Rainbow and Twilight. Rainbow flew through them, and Twilight hopped through them. Twilight then ripped a few metal pieces off Xarviin's left gauntlet, partially exposing the heart again.

Xarviin hovered to the other side and lifted more metal pieces out of the sphere. They collected around his armor and filled the holes in it. The metal then added a second layer to his armor. The entire sphere shook violently as waves crashed along the ocean far below.

"The dreadnought is touching the ocean now!" Hannibal warned. "We need to hurry up!"

Twilight pulled away a few more pieces of the metal on Xarviin's chest. He conjured more clusters of energy and threw them at the ponies. Pinkie and Servo used a few missiles and pink bombs to weaken the hold of the metal. They both dodged the incoming energy waves from Xarviin. He created another vortex next to Fluttershy and Rarity. Fluttershy clung onto a spike, and Rarity tried her best to gallop away from the force. Once the vortex dissipated, another hole leading to Xarviin's purple heart was almost complete. Twilight tore off two more pieces, allowing both Rainbow Dash and Solar Flare to fire dozens of lasers into the heart. Its glow dimmed even more from the attacks, and the aura around the armor was fading away.

Xarviin moved his heart from his chest to his left claw and unleashed a flurry of energy clusters. Twilight hopped around the area and tore away a few pieces of metal from Xarviin's left gauntlet. Pinkie hopped from one of the spikes to Xarviin's right arm. She then climbed around his body until she entered through the hole in his chest plate. She crawled through the rib cage and into his left arm. She then found the purple heart and wrapped herself around it. She slammed her hooves on it over and over, weakening its glow and power. She then noticed the fresh air rush back to her, as Twilight tore open the left gauntlet and fired a few magic blasts at the heart. Pinkie kept bashing it over and over, forcing Xarviin to dig into his left claw and rip Pinkie out of his body. Unfortunately, he ripped out his heart as well.

The purple aura around Xarviin's armor faded away. The heart shriveled a little and lost its undying purple glow. The heart was now charcoal black, brittle like ashes, and rough like sandpaper. Pinkie's firm grasp on it destroyed the entire heart into small pieces that burned up in the air. Pinkie fell down onto the metal surface with a thud. Twilight prepared one final blast, a fire blast, and shot it right into Xarviin's chest. The fire exploded in his chest and raced through his body. The metal armor fell apart piece by piece. His eyes faded from purple to the fiery oranges and yellows of the flames. Once all of his armor fell off, his body disintegrated with the flames. Only a second later, nothing remained.

Major Xarviin has been defeated!

As the entire surface calmed, Twilight and Company could hear distant gunfire and explosions both in the sky and at Las Pegasus. Several demon and GEST Corp. ships battled each other with massive numbers, but the winner of the fight was obvious. GEST Corp. was winning, as an entire starship, a dreadnought class ship two-thirds the size of the demon's dreadnought from Manehattan, destroyed the demon fleet. A few drop ships scattered around the surface of the sphere. Some landed, some didn't.

By the time a drop ship landed about a quarter of a mile from the group, nearly all of the sphere was submerged in the cold waters of the South Luna Ocean. The group ran as fast as possible to the drop ship. By the time they were twenty feet from it, water was gathering at their hooves, feet, and wheel. They rushed into the drop ship and took their seats. The ship then ascended into the air and flew towards Ponyville.

"So, do you two know what happened in New Sacramino?" Hannibal asked the pilot and co-pilot.

"General Solk said that the double invasion on New Sacramino City was a total disaster on our part," the pilot answered. "We were doing well until the robot ponies invaded and killed nearly everyone left in the city. The city is in ruins, and General Solk is planning on rebuilding it. However, the attack here on Las Pegasus is definitely going to be a win for us."

"We're all very grateful that you told us about the armada," the co-pilot added. "We're also even more grateful that you all destroyed the dreadnought too. If that thing hit landfall at Las Pegasus, there would've been no Equestrian Dimension afterwards."

Twilight felt a surge of pleasure. "Wow, thank you. I knew that we were saving Equestria, but I didn't expect this one ship to be so crucial to everything."

"We've saved Equestria a bunch of times before this." Rainbow Dash put her forelegs behind her head and crossed one hind leg over the other. "It's pretty much our job now."

"Wait, that entire ship was that powerful?" Servo questioned in astonishment. "I thought it was powerful enough for one city being destroyed, not an entire freaking planet!"

"Expect doomsday weaponry like that from our enemies," the pilot replied to Servo. "I bet that Equestria thinks that we're these very powerful soldiers protecting them, but we're actually weaker than they think."

"How?" Applejack cocked her head at the pilot. "Y'all fought off and beat these demons and aliens so many times! How can GEST Corp. be weak?"

"Before Equestria, General Solk was searching for another world for us to colonize to escape the World Wars. We were losing badly, and we couldn't stop the kavarians from taking one of our moonbases and two space stations. Ever since we incorporated ponies into our army, we got a fighting chance. Other species decided to join us as well and strengthen our armies. Now, it seems that the demons are beginning to find cracks in us."

"You came here to run away from those monsters?" Fluttershy assumed. "So, even you and the rest of the humans were scared of them?"

"You could say that," the co-pilot commented.

"Are we going back to Ponyville," Pinkie asked to the pilot, "or are we going on another mission?"

"You're going home," the pilot answered. "There's nothing left you all need to do for us."

Pinkie squealed happily and held Servo a little closer to her. "You hear that? You get to see your brand new home, Sugarcube Corner! You can meet the Cakes and their babies, try some of the most delicious treats I can bake, and sleep in your very own bed! Wouldn't that be nice?"

"It would be," Servo admitted, "but I don't have taste buds. Or a mouth. At all."

"We can just make you one!" She turned her head to Hannibal. "Is it possible to give a robot taste buds and a mouth?"

"Yeah, it is," Hannibal answered. "Building a robot is like building a metal person. If you have the materials and wiring for certain sensors and mechanisms, then you can make them, especially with the technology we have at our disposal."

Pinkie squirmed around in her seat. "I can't wait to get home! I have so much stuff planned for you, Servo! I could even throw a party for you if there's nothing bad happening tomorrow!"

The rest of the flight was about ten minutes. Once the ship arrived to Ponyville, it landed in the town hall area. As usual, Rainbow Dash flew to her grand home to get her deserved sleep, Rarity walked back to her boutique, Applejack hustled over to her farm, and Fluttershy casually watched the breezes and gently falling snow as she walked back to her home. Pinkie grabbed Servo and dashed to Sugarcube Corner as fast as possible.

Twilight, Hannibal, and Solar Flare were the only ones left to stay near the drop ship. Twilight looked up at Hannibal and tilted her head a little. "So, where are you going?"

"Solar Flare and I need to return to the base nearby," Hannibal answered as he pointed to the base. "We need to regroup after our mission. If Colonel Vincent thinks we earned it, we might be promoted."

"Okay, then." Twilight stretched her body a little and yawned. "I'll go home and rest. Fighting demons can make you really exhausted after all."

"Alright. See you whenever I get the chance." Hannibal and Solar Flare began their small journey to the base.

"You too." Twilight yawned again and walked back to her treehouse.

Once she reached the front door, she opened it with her magic and faced the table nearby. She sorted through her pocket chest and took out several items from her travels. She pulled out a dog tag she found in Jersoven. She felt very frightened by those Ruptured monsters. The fact that hey we're former humans and ponies terrified her.

Twilight then pulled out kavarian helmet. Ah, the kavarians. She hated them deeply for what they did to Pinkie, and she hated it even more that their leader almost took Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It was nice to see Pinkie have some revenge for their torture experiments, but she was still uneasy about the devouring of kavarian flesh like fresh baked cakes.

The next item she pulled out was a decorative necklace from a Venomback bandit. Even though a bloodthirsty human wore it, it was oddly well crafted and decorated. It had several colorful feathers and a golden pentagon medallion with the letters H, R, and M etched in it in that order. A pair of wings and five stars that encircled the letters decorated the medallion.

The second to last item was the flank piece of a Twili-bot. The entire invasion was hectic, but those robots made it ten times worse for Twilight. It creeped her out that they talked and looked like her, but it creeped her out even more that someone was out there manufacturing these things. Why make an army of robotic ponies?

The last item Twilight levitated out of her pocket chest was one of the claw flowers from the Nightmare World. She took a nearby pot filled with dirt, dug out a hole in the dirt, placed the plant in it, and refilled the hole. She then set the plant next to a window and admired it. The first set of things that raced through her mind was the tests involving how the plant worked or what it did. The second set of things deeper in her mind were the events in the Nightmare World and the battle on the dreadnought. That mission was possibly the most over-the-top journey she ever made. The demons, the encounters, the technology, all of it was nothing like she imagined it to be. However, the one thing that still haunted her was the eyeball plant. Just thinking about its rows of teeth, slippery tongues, and its piercing shrill gave her chills.

Twilight yawned a third time as she walked up the stairs and into her room. She took off her helmet and set it on the ground. She then took off her suit and folded it up as well as she could. She put the helmet on the suit and put both away next to her bed. She climbed into her bed, all warm and snug under the covers and away from the wintry gusts. She then yawned one last time and rested her head on the pillow. She closed her eyes and recalled the day one last time.

Saving Equestria is almost like a daily task for me, Twilight thought to herself. Well, another day, another battle to fight and win.

"You cannot win every conflict, but not every conflict needs to be won to complete your ultimate goal. Even a setback or a loss can help you triumph in the end."

End of Act IV: The Banes of Humanity

[R] Act I, Chapter 1: Just a Normal Day in Ponyville...
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

[R] Act I, Chapter 1: Just a Normal Day in Ponyville...

Act I: The Beginning of Disaster

“Attention, you human wretches,” a cold and desolate voice began from a bright monitor, “and your ignorant general. Your most recently dispatched space station erected quite an amount of speculation from me and my children. To say the least, we know that you are fleeing from us. Even though I should enjoy this and be gleeful that you left my universe, I know that you will return with a force only the Ancients can muster and destroy everything I have created. I know that I cannot let this happen, no matter how costly for me it may be.

So, I will give you one warning, and one only, before I unleash a wrath you will regret: leave this mini-universe you plan on inhabiting, and never come back. As plentiful in resources as the world may be, as strategic the location is for a planetary and lunar base, or as innocent and possibly loveable the natives seem, this world is not and never will be for your kind. I also know that through your reckless heaving and abandon of scrap material—one heap crashing into a dense forest populated with sensitive wildlife—you will not treat this world with absolute love and care, only as much as you need to save your own lives. Leave this world be and let its civilizations live, or else I shall seize control of your actions and smite this world with a fire no bucket of water can snuff.

You have your warning, now take it and heed it before I have to kill an entire species of innocent livings just to keep you on my leash.” The monitor blipped to black, concealing the speaker and their environment.

•—————•

:twilightsmile: has been added to your party.

In the early morning of a new week, the sun already shone down from the fiery orange and red sky with its mystical golden glow throughout the lands. Some of the town of Ponyville still snored and hushed itself, and other parts, such as Twilight Sparkle’s library, slid their limbs out of the heaps of blankets and prepared for whatever this new day fixed just for them.

Twilight Sparkle, a unicorn librarian who danced with adventure and fate every passing season, planned the entire day from her time of waking up to the last beam of sunlight. She remembered and wrote down the task given directly from Princess Celestia. This task was to investigate a few unusual artifacts hidden in the nearby Everfree Forest. Why did she have to look for odd artifacts of unknown origin? The only reason Twilight could recall was that they crashed down from a new distant star in the sky, and ever since then, more bundles of these artifacts landed in various places located in either towns and cities or the sparsely populated wilderness. Because of this Celestia wanted to know what these artifacts were and why they would suddenly crash onto the surface. Even though Twilight would be venturing into the most dangerous forest imaginable, she grew accustomed to the safety of a special path she discovered in the forest. Apparently, some of the native creatures avoided a few less concentrated areas inside the web of trees, allowing her to study and collect these artifacts without a deadly confrontation.

Once Twilight listed about half the afternoon’s events, she accidentally ripped a streak through her scroll after hopping and yelping from a loud boom right outside her treehouse. After that devastating sound struck her ears, multiple more urged her to forget her list and prepare for danger. She hurried to Spike’s bedside and shook him almost violently. “Wake up! Something really bad’s happening to us!”

The lime and amethyst scaled dragon rolled around in his circular dog bed. “Ugh, what’re you so worked up abou–”

His eyes opened up to twice their size after another boom slapped his ears. “Uh, what was that?”

“I don’t know, but get ready!” Twilight peered out her window and saw only flames, smoke, and part of a cottage. Her heart beat faster as she raced down the stairs and to the front door. Spike followed her down the stairs and almost fell out the door.

“What is happening?” questioned both Twilight and Spike as the flames grew and blackened the walls of the houses. A towering figure glaring at one of the burning cottages answered their question with a splash of fire.

The figure stood twice as tall as a regular pony and used only two legs. Its two appendages that did not touch the ground held a metal machine shaped like a crossbow with no limbs and conical end above a cylindrical tank. The charcoal black figure unleashed bursts of fire from the machine’s end, strengthening the already devastating fire. It then turned its head toward Twilight and Spike, showing two white eyes without pupils. It lacked a mouth and nose, and two sharp horns protruded from the back of its head. It wore a shoddy suit of leather and metal, two steel gloves, a pair of steel greaves, and two boots of some black metal. It stomped towards them, firing bits of flame with every step.

Twilight and Spike screamed out their panic. “Spike,” Twilight started, hyperventilating, “go get a bucket of water from the kitchen, now!”

Spike sprinted to the kitchen, filled a bucket half his size with water, and returned three-quarters of its water to Twilight. “I don’t think this will work!”

Twilight grabbed the bucket with a shimmering glow from her horn and positioned it in front of her chest. “Let’s hope it does!”

She splashed the licking flames with the water, engulfing them and snuffing them out. However, with a small audible click, the flames crawled out the machine brighter than before. The creature gave an invisible smirk to her.

“I told you!” Spike hollered with some chattering.

“Stay back you, thing!” Twilight warned with tremors in her words. “I’m not afraid to use my magic as a weapon!”

“So, you’re gonna be like that, huh?” mused the metal clad creature. “If you think I’m running away ‘cause you threatened me, think again, little horsey. You know what, after I show you who’s in charge now, you’ll be Lord Zedin’s personal plushie. How’d you like that?”

The creature approached the unicorn with a wall of fire almost singing Twilight’s mane. A glow of purple light emitted from her horn and balled up into a wad of pure magic that slammed into the creature’s supposed chest.

“Gah!” the creature cried as he held a limb to his chest. “What was that crap?”

“It’s called magic,” Twilight boomed, “and I got a lot more for you if that thing starts burning my treehouse down!”

The creature shrugged and grabbed a metal box from his belt.

“Attention nearby demon forces!” the creature exclaimed into the box. “I got a rogue equine over here that needs to be captured! Come over here and help me keep it under control!”

Twilight lost a bit of her bravery as three more charcoal beings approached her. All of them held various weapons in their, hands. One held a sword almost as long as its own body. Another swung a large chain mace around the top of its head. The last one held another metal machine, but this one was skinnier and smaller than the fire blasting instrument. All three of them primed their unique weaponry, ready to attack when told to.

“Stand down,” ordered the mace creature. “We won’t kill you as long as you remain calm and let us bag you.”

Twilight panicked. She fired another magic blast into the mace creature, but it only made it flinch. Spike tried to intimidate the creatures with a scowl, but it only lifted a few chuckles from them.

“How cute,” the sword creature mocked with a few chortles. “That little guy really thinks he can take us on.”

“There’s nothing we can do, Spike.” Twilight shed a tear and embraced him in a hug. “They’re too strong for us.”

Twilight and Spike closed their eyes, ready to meet their fate. The sword creature took out a sack as big as him and pulled it open. The mace and fire machine creatures trudged towards the two and held out a hand each. Twilight broke into complete sobs and held Spike a little closer to her. Just don’t hurt Spike, please, Twilight thought. Please, at least leave him alone.

“Civilian over here!” shouted something from not so far away. “We need support to get them to safety!”

The four creatures responded to the voice by giving twilight’s dark purple mane a fine yank. She cried out through the smoke and flung her forelegs into any creature in front of her. Spike backed away from her flinging and watched the towering smoke behind him. In response to Twilights cries of help, four red beams of light flew out the smoke and into the creatures. The beams ripped two holes each in the fire and sword creatures. More beams flew into them and the other two creatures, opening even more holes in their bodies.

“Argh,” growled the mace creature, “Why now? Why not wait until we take this little thing?”

Another stream of red beams pelted the creatures. The sword creature fell to the ground with a dying cry. Twilight and Spike watched its body dissipate into a cloud of black smoke. Soon after the body dissipated, the smoke vanished. The other creatures backed away from them to avoid the next set of beams. To their misfortune, more rained down upon the creatures as they escaped the scene.

“Thank Celestia they left!” Twilight blew out a sigh of relief and hugged Spike again. “I thought we were goners for sure!”

Five more creatures entered the mess of fire and wood, but their design differed from the first four. Instead of the color of pure black covering their bodies, these ones wore light blue and gray metal instead. Their heads were encased in smooth, metallic helmets with transparent visors in the front, and they carried machines that similar to the skinnier one held by one of the other creatures. One of them, approached the two, showing a younger face with short, black hair and a pale, coat? No, it was bare skin. Twilight gave a happy but worried look when she noticed this detail. Spike held the same fear that the other creatures enforced upon him after examining the soldiers a little more.

“I’m sorry that we have to meet in these conditions,” the coatless thing stated in a calm voice. “I’m Jacob Reverins, corporal infantry of GEST Corp. We’re here to escort you to a safe location.”

Twilight stared at them with a tilt of the head and an eyebrow raise. “What do you mean somewhere safe?” she pressed with an aggressive tone. “Do you mean, ‘take you away from your home’? My house has a scorched tree limb and you expect me to forget it! I don’t even know what you are or whatever those thing back there were! I need to stay here and fix our home.”

“Okay, I get it,” Jacob acknowledged. “You’re upset about your current situation. Don’t worry, though. We already have architects ready to rebuild your home when the fires die down. We just need you to go with us to the designated safe point.”

“But, what about our home?”

“Like I said, we have architects on that. Plus, they know how your treehouse looked like before it gained a few singes. It’ll be fine.”

“I would still like to know where we’re going.”

“Oh, right. The general ordered that all citizens in Ponyville are required to be sent to the ED Space Station. He wants to keep all of you safe while his men work on rebuilding and cleansing this city.”

Twilight’s expression shifted to confusion and curiosity. “ED Space Station?” she asked puzzled.

“Equestrian Dimension Space Station,” Jacob answered calmly. “It’s a military base orbiting this planet. It’s also how we got here so quickly.”

Twilight put her left front hoof up to her head and dragged her words out her mouth. “I have so many questions about this.”

“And we have answers. Come on, we’ll tell you everything you need to know.”

The creatures guided Twilight and Spike through the smoke and fire to a futuristic aircraft. It contained two wings on the sides, a descending ramp door located on it’s back and right next to the thrusters, two strange machines with metal barrels in the front, and a giant glass window in the front. It was fairly big. To be specific, a little bigger than Twilight’s bedroom. All six of them entered the aircraft and ascended into the sky. Twilight, hyperventilating again from the fact that they were shooting through the sky and into space, calmed after she was ensnared in the trance of her planet’s beauty and its shining star. A giant metal spacecraft resembling a thick disc with two thick, gradually thinning towers on its top and bottom awaited them up ahead. Dozens of smaller spacecrafts circled and cruised around it. A few spacecrafts crept behind the one Twilight and Spike rode, preventing as much attention to them as possible.

[R] Act I, Chapter 3: Let's Plan a Rescue Mission
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

[R] Act I, Chapter 3: Let's Plan a Rescue Mission

After Lieutenant Drimmin met his death and his army retreated from the ED Space Station, the two Elements of Harmony bearers traveled back to Solk’s office. General Solk sat in his chair again, and the two ponies stood in front of his desk, waiting for whatever he had to say. Rainbow Dash fiddled with her mane while she waited for something of interest to pass through her mind. Twilight Sparkle wondered when the other ponies would be sent back to Ponyville. Hopefully, it was soon, but not too soon. After a few more seconds of thinking and fiddling, Solk spoke up.

“So, Twilight Sparkle, the strategists and I have a little plan on how your occupancy with us will run,” he started with a passive and clear voice. “With what you have so far, we will have no way of communicating to you properly. In order to avoid any situation where we cannot converse, you two will be given communication chips. These little devices can fit snugly on your ears, and they will allow full communication and visuals on anything you encounter.” Twilight stared up at the ceiling, wondering what the communication chip is in general. Rainbow Dash wanted to hear the words that meant go kill more baddies for me so that she had a reason to let out her frustrations on the demon horde.

“Your communications advisor will be Travis Lawson. He is a skilled strategist that has helped out a lot of soldiers in the past. His devotion to this job will make him an asset to the entire operation.”

“What do you mean operation?” Rainbow Dash questioned, hoping to hear the magic words.

“This operation is a rescue mission,” Solk answered.

Rainbow’s face shifted to a glance away and a disappointed frown. Sure, she liked helping others sometimes, but at the moment, she needed a fight, not a rescue.

“You two will have to break the circle the demons created. This circle of defense was specifically made to choke out the inner portion of Equestria. If you two can enter the Everfree Forest—the circle’s weakest link—there is a good chance that you two can break it apart. This should be an easy mission if you two could kill a lieutenant. Anyway, after the demons panic from the disorder, my troops will strike. Also, from what our new Element of Harmony scanners are telling us, another Element of Harmony member is located in that forest. That is the rescuing part of the mission. Hopefully, you two come back as three whole ponies ready for action, not two or one and a half.”

Rainbow Dash’s grin grew wider as she thought about releasing her pent up anger on these demons. She hated them so much for ruining Ponyville, and now, they will pay for all the damage they caused.

“I’m in,” Rainbow Dash agreed with a nod. “If there’s somepony out there that’s one of my friends, I’ll save them anytime.”

“I’m fine with this too,” Twilight responded as she guessed who that captured pony could be.

Solk handed out two little metal devices to the two ponies. “These are the chips.Travis is going to check if they work, so put them on and listen carefully.”

The two ponies placed the chips on their ears, waiting for a response. After a few seconds of waiting, they heard a buzz. This buzz shifted to static, and static faded to reveal words.

“Hello?” a young but still mature and male voice asked. “Are you two there?”

“Yes,” Twilight responded, “you’re loud and clear.”

“Actually, he might be too loud,” joked Rainbow Dash. She covered her ears to block the nonexistent pain.

“Heh, I guess.” Travis put an awkward smile on his face. “Anyway, you two are needed in sector H-02. They have a drop ship ready for your departure. Also, since you’re members of GEST Corp. Now, you should check the armory before you leave.”

“That’s all I have for you two,” informed Solk. “Now, go. You have a world to save.”

The pony duo trotted down the hallway and to a door labeled armory on it. Twilight levitated the door open, allowing both of them entry. When they entered the armory, an unarmored man behind a counter and in front of rows of battle suits and other gear gave them a small, half fake smile.

The man’s face, wrinkled with age, presented one aqua blue jewel in its rights eye. The other eye, slashed with a scar, replaced its aqua with a gray. Some stubble collected on his chin and his cheeks’ edges, and his teeth refused to align themselves properly but not to where they rivaled Drimmin’s teeth. His left hand was a mechanical hybrid tool of a hammer and a power drill, and the gray and brown shirt he wore bore both sweat and a GEST Corp. Logo.

“Well hello, uh, whatever you two are,” he greeted in a deep, perplexed voice. “What is it that you need?”

“Do you have any armor that ponies can use?” asked Twilight.

“Not at the moment. Even if I did have some, random, ehm, ponies like you two are not allowed to have them. This armor is for GEST Corp. Soldiers only.”

“We are soldiers.”

The man narrowed his eyes at the duo. “How come?”

“General Solk sent us on a mission to break the demons’ circle around Ponyville. Also, we have these communication chips, which are probably the same ones your soldiers use.”

The man juggled the words in his head for a few seconds. “Alright. I can modify some basic armor for your build. Now, is it just you two, or is there a parade waiting outside?”

“No. I just want two for us, and one for a friend down on the surface,” Twilight ordered.

“Alright, let me see what I can do.” The man turned around and walked up to the racks of armor. He took three chest pieces, six leggings, and six pairs of boots of the rack. He then disassembled the armor with his power drill and wits, placed a few pieces in a hot forge to his right, and reassembled some of the other pieces into a different formation. After about ten seconds of heating, he pulled the now glowing yellow pieces of metal and hammered them over a table structured like an anvil. He glanced at the ponies’ bodies every now and then as he bent the pieces into the shape he desired. He then took the bent pieces and the other pieces and combined them into new pieces of armor. Once he finished reforging the armor, he placed six sets of boots shaped for ponies on the counter, three chest pieces with resized sleeves and clamps on the sleeves’ ends and on the chest pieces’ bottoms, and three pairs of leggings with clamps for the chest pieces and the boots.

Twilight examined the armor and noticed one component missing. “Um, shouldn’t we also have helmets, too?”

“If I could reforge those helmets, you would have them as well,” the man began with a rizzz from the drill, “but reforging a helmet is much more complicated than these. I have to reshape the visor—which is impossible without breaking or thinning it—move around machinery since it’s all located in the helmet, and do what I just did with this armor. If you want a helmet with no visor, HUD, or any other fancy stuff that can save your lives, I could make a few just for you.”

“Some protection is better than none,” Rainbow Dash commented. “Go ahead, make a few for us.”

The man took three helmets off the shelf and disassembled them. “Oh, you two did say that you have communication chips, right?”

Twilight nodded. “That’s what convinced you to make us some armor.”

“Mind if I take them and implement them into the helmets?”

“No, you can use them.” Twilight nudged Rainbow and levitated a communication chip to the man. Rainbow used her wing to take the chip off and set it on the counter. The man took them both, smacked them into two helmets, performed a few more modifications and tweaks, and set three helmets on the counter.

“There you go. I took the liberty of painting a colored stripe on the ones with communication chips. One’s purple, and one’s blue.”

Twilight levitated the purple striped helmet to her face and cracked a delighted smile. “That’s really nice of you!” Twilight levitated the rest of her armor and the set for her unknown friend. “Thanks for the armor!” The man caught her happiness and smiled as well, watching the content mare float the armor through the doorway.

Rainbow Dash hovered over to the remaining set and stared at the helmet for a few seconds. “Eh, you could’ve made it cooler.”

Rainbow scooped the armor into a pile in her forelegs and carefully flew out of the armory. The man shrugged, pulled out a washcloth, and scrubbed the front of a chest piece on the rack.

Rainbow flew a little faster to reach Twilight and almost dropped her own armor She caught her helmet with her right hind leg and angled her body to prevent the rest from falling. Twilight, encircled by the armor she levitated, noticed Rainbow’s struggling after turning her head and levitated Rainbow’s armor into the air.

“Need some help?” Twilight asked with hindsight.

“Heh, maybe I should’ve asked,” Rainbow responded with hindsight also accompanying her. “Can you help me put that on?”

“Sure. Just stay still so that I can fit the armor on you properly.”

Rainbow Dash obeyed Twilight and kept herself as stiff as a garden statue of stone. Twilight unlocked, opened, and placed the chest piece and leggings on Rainbow’s body. Twilight closed, locked, and clamped them together. She then slid the boots under Rainbow’s hooves and pushed the boots onto them. After clamping the boots to the armor, she unlocked, opened, and placed the helmet on Rainbow’s head. To finish the suit, she closed, locked, and clamped it onto the chest piece.

Rainbow Dash, now coated in light blue and gray armor, pushed her wings through the provided wing holes and shuffled her tail out of its hole. She shook part of her mane out the helmet and grunted. “This armor feels really weird, but I kinda like how that guy gave my wings and tail some room. My mane’s cramped, though.”

Twilight performed the same steps with the armor on her and examined her own body. “I get what you mean. It’s pretty tight around the back, and it makes my legs feel a little stiff.” She tested her legs by moving them in different directions and positions. “But, I’m surprisingly supple for such bulky armor. What did they use to make this?”

“I don’t know” —Rainbow smirked— “but now I know where those hayburgers from last Tuesday gone to.”

Twilight stared back at her and narrowed her eyes. “Very funny.” Rainbow suppressed her laughter by muffling her snickering with a hoof. Twilight took the extra suit parts and compressed them down to the size of apples. She then dropped them into a compartment in her leggings’s right side.

Twilight shifted her eyes back to the halls and recalled the past for about ten seconds. “Oh, I need to go to Spike! If I remember correctly, it’s over—” Twilight U-turned and speed walked down the hall “down this hallway.”

Rainbow followed her and glanced around the area, now noticing how vacant the halls were. If this place is chock full of soldiers, where are they? she thought after seeing only one soldier pass by with a half-hearted hand wave.

“Aha!” Twilight turned to her left and to a familiar lobby next to a scanning area. A few various ponies conversed, wandered, and slept on the floor or in a few cushioned benches. Spike, the only one standing near a scanning gateway, tapped a foot and crossed his arms. After seeing Twilight in her new set of GEST Corp. Armor, he smiled and contorted his face into a perplexed frown half a second later.

Spike walked over to her and skimmed over her armor. “Hey, Twilight. What’s with the getup?”

“It’s my battle armor.” Twilight turned a full circle and stared down at Spike with a small smile. “Like it?”

“It sure is shiny, and tight looking. Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable?”

“It does, but at least it lets me move like it’s not there. Anyway, I came here to check up on you and tell you something.”

Spike glanced over to the pegasus right behind Twilight. “You’re going on an adventure with Rainbow Dash, right?”

“Exactly.” Twilight rolled her eyes through the crowd. “Are they letting you go back to Ponyville? There’s definitely fewer ponies here than earlier.”

“Not yet. Some of them were moved somewhere else. If we do come back, is there anything you need me to do?”

“Everything is on the list on my bed. If there’s something you can’t do, skip it. Also, you might have to watch over the library for a while. You know how to sort the books, light the candles, dust the bookshelves, wate–”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it covered. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“Alright. See you after I finish this mission.” The pony duo disappeared into the halls, leaving Spike with the others once again.

“You too.” Spike winced after remembering the horrifying monsters that almost kidnapped him and Twilight. “I hope.”

•—————•

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash rode a dropship—the same aircraft they saw countless times on the ED Space Station—down to the Everfree Forest. The dropship hovered over a dense section of it and aimed for the edge facing Ponyville. The aircraft descended and lowered its ramp door. The two ponies walked down the metal ramp and back onto their home, Equestria.

The pilot of the aircraft turned to them. “Good luck! It usually takes two or three nine men squadrons to do this!”

“Real helpful!” Rainbow grumbled back, concealing the ball of fear creeping out her face.

As the dropship ascended and faded into the clouds, the duo heard the untamed growls and rustles of the forest. In front of them sloshed the darkness of the thick trees and undergrowth. Despite fearing the forest every time they confronted it, this time, they felt more confident to traverse it than ever before.

“So it still works?” buzzed Travis on the communication chips.

“I can hear you fine,” Twilight answered.

“you know, a thing I find funny about this forest is how foreign it feels to you two. This forest is more earthlike than any other area on this planet. In fact, we live in this type of weather!”

“Wait a second,” Rainbow Dash started, “you live with constant tornadoes, lightning, and other horrible weather?”

“Yep. We humans have been dealing with that for thousands of years, and we’re this advanced already.”

Rainbow rewarded Travis with a little smile. “Wow, that’s pretty awesome. I’d never expect such a cool army to come from a world like that.”

“Oh, that’s what your species is?” Twilight sent the term human to her long-term memory.

Travis remembered all the horrific human on human wars he studied. “Uh, yeah. We had a few other problems here and there, but we solved them in the end.”

Twilight watched a leaf fall from the forest and shook the distractions out her head. “Alright, we might want to enter the forest now. We don’t want to be responsible for any, accidents.” She hesitated on the last word, afraid that her mystery friend might meet their death if she lets the demons keep hold of them any longer. Worry clawed her mind away, and a barrage of questions smacked her face over and over, begging to seize her sanity.

Rainbow Dash and Travis agreed with her statement and ended their small conversation. The pony duo, now undistracted, took their first steps into the demon infested Everfree Forest.

•—————•

As the two ponies and their distant ally trekked through the forest, one peculiar trait struck their minds: no feral or nasty creatures interrupted them to strike or kill one of the ponies. Manticores in the distance avoided the two and focused on harmless critters, and cockatrices slithered to a distance they knew would not hinder the duo. To their own misfortune, some of these creatures felt their bodies rip and burn from either distant laser blasts or close quarters encounters with a lone demon and their steel weaponry.

“So, Rainbow,” Twilight started, “did you notice anything strange before that invasion on Ponyville?”

Rainbow switched from the sight of a twisted tree to Twilight. “What do you mean by strange?”

“I mean anything that is abnormal or suspicious. Were there any creatures or figures you found unusual?”

“Not that I know of.”

“How about sounds?”

“I heard a crash from one of those hunks of space junk.”

Those things were proven to be harmless by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Twilight thought to herself. There’s no way they could contribute to the demons. “Is there anything else you found odd?”

Rainbow tapped her head for anything helpful. “I got nothing.”

“How did these things just come out of nowhere, then?”

“There’s a high chance they used portals to their realm,” Travis answered. “The demons use them as easy travel from one point to another. However, they need the destination to have demons already there, so they could have entered this world by spaceship and landed where no one would see them.”

Rainbow’s head popped back up. “I remember now! There was that one star that randomly appeared in the sky the day before you moved to Ponyville!”

“Yeah.” Twilight nodded. “There was. Maybe that star had something to do with the demons.”

“And the junk that crashed from that star might be important to them, too!”

“Hold up a second,” Travis blurted, “the time you said you saw that star is awfully close to when we first discovered Equestria, and the space junk you mentioned that came from the star is probably the scrap metal we dumped. That star wasn’t the demons, it was us.”

Twilight frowned and slanted her eyebrows. “Why were you dumping metal on Equestria?”

“That was to both dispose of it and give your species a special material to use. You could’ve made the same things we have with it.”

“So, this metal you dumped were the flying hunks?” Rainbow grumbled. “Your metal wrecked the roof of my house! And Cloudsdale has to fix their steam pipes because another hunk ruined a whole bunch of them!”

Travis gave a sheepish grin. “Sorry about that. The calibrations for ejecting metal sometimes change midflight.”

“Both of you quiet for a moment,” whispered Twilight after pointing to a clearing.

Inside the clearing resided a stone and steel fortress with a moderate amount of activity. Four towers sprouted out of the fortress from its four outer wall corners, and a few demons patrolled along the top of the wall and beside the front gate. Twilight scanned the fortress for a way inside without resulting in a destroyed wall or horde of angry demons. After just a few more seconds of scanning, she detected a fatal weakness in its defenses: a demon guarding the back entrance to the fortress collapsed from exhaustion, leaving the door open for anything harmless or harmful.

“Rainbow Dash, enter the fortress through that door and check the halls for demons,” Twilight ordered with a whisper. “I’ll help you fight them.”

Rainbow nodded and flew through the door with absolute silence. Twilight conjured an invisibility spell on herself and trotted to the door. When she discovered a hulking giant lumbering through the halls, she prepared a magic blast and turned to Rainbow. “Get that sword out of that demon’s hands.”

Rainbow Dash nodded and flew behind the giant. She noticed that the sword could cut the entire demon in half by the waist if she bucked the sword into it. As she flew into position, the demon outside returned from his unconsciousness. Rainbow bucked the sword into the giant’s waist, incapacitating it with a clean slice. It tumbled with a bellow and a huge thump as it struck the stone ground.

The demon outside scrambled to his feet and gripped his longsword. Finally realizing that he granted a few intruders unopposed access, he slipped into the hall and prepared for battle. When he checked his right for hostiles, a hoof smashed into his face and propelled his body into a wall. He cracked and crumbled into smoky dust thereafter. Twilight, now without her invisibility, called Rainbow over to the front gate.

Twilight defended herself from a demon’s laser blasts and a smaller demon about her height by manifesting a barrier. The smaller demon smacked into the barrier and flopped onto his supposed face and chest. The other demon fired laser after laser at the barrier in hopes of destroying it. Rainbow Dash entered the battle and hurled a storm cloud at the shooting demon. That cloud struck him with enough deadly electricity to numb and diminish his essence. He fell lifeless and disintegrated away. The shield demon—the name of the smaller demon—waddled to the flying pegasus and hopped in the air repeatedly. With every hop, he swiped his razor sharp nubs for hands at her, but he missed every time due to his height. Twilight lowered her barrier and struck the shield demon with a fire blast. He burst into flames and panicked with high pitched screams. In one last attempt to end Twilight’s life, he sprinted at her and slashed his burning arms with wild fury. Rainbow disposed of him with a kick that sent him into a wall, letting the flames burn his body to naught.

“That staircase leads to the first roof,” informed Travis. “Be prepared to fight more baddies when you climb up there.”

“Travis, I think we got this,” Rainbow Dash gloated a little.

The pony duo climbed the stairs and dueled a few descending demons. Since the demons were novices, they collapsed to dust after a couple magic blasts and physical strikes each.

When Twilight and Rainbow reached the roof, a new demon in the shape of a pulsating plus sign with four tentacles sprouting from its ends hovered over a quartet of injured demons. The new demon wrapped two of its tentacles around them, rejuvenating them all to perfect spiritual health.

“Amazing,” mused Travis as he typed on a keyboard. “It is as if this demon is replicating its own essence and transferring it to the others. Be careful, that thing might keep the fight going on for a bit longer.”

Twilight processed that information and used it to her advantage. She activated her magic and fired a few magical blasts at the healer demon. Painful shrieks resonated from the healer demon as its glow dimmed. The other demons gathered around it and formed a makeshift wall.

“Shoot their heads!” ordered one of the demons. “That’s the weak spot! Or was it the back? I don’t know, just shoot!”

Rainbow Dash flew backward and flapped her wings at accelerating speeds. Once her wings reached beyond basic fan speeds, wind gathered and whooshed from her wings and to the demons. The wind strengthened and started shoving the demons away once her wings flapped at tornadic speeds.

A novice looked down and watched the ground move under their feet.”Whuh?”

“I think we’re sliding!” suspected another novice now a meter away from the healer demon. The demons slid farther and farther away from the healer demon until it had no cover left to exploit.

“Twilight, shoot, it!” strained Rainbow Dash as her wings achieved speeds fast enough to force the demons on their knees.

Twilight charged her magic and blasted it into the center of the healer demon’s body, shredding its matter into puffs of smoke. The novice demons widened their own eyes at the sudden death and trudged through the wind as much as possible. Rainbow Dash ceased her incredible wing flapping and landed on a demon’s chest. She punched the demon’s face five times before leaping at another and kicking it across the face. Once Rainbow ascended a few feet, Twilight conjured a wave of deadly magic and unleashed it upon the four novices, throwing all of them to their feet. Two of them returned to their feet and fired a few inaccurate laser blasts. The other two rolled out of Rainbow’s way and picked themselves back up. She pinned down one of them and smashed their face through their head. Bundles of magic soared from Twilight’s horn and into the other three demons. Two of them succumbed to the power and broke into black smoke, and Rainbow slammed so hard into the final demon that it split into four separate pieces. As the battlefield calmed, the two ponies decided that there was no reason to continue storming the fortress.

“I’m detecting another fortress not far from here,” Travis informed. “It’s just beyond those trees, and that’s also where I’m getting the Element of Harmony readings.”

“Um, what trees?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, right, you can’t see me. Keep going northeast, the direction where you see that little dirt path.”

“Well,” Rainbow Dash started through her panting, “we don’t have, any time to, mess around. Let’s get moving!”

Both of the ponies exited the fortress through the front gate and directed themself toward the dirt pathway. They reached its end a few meters later and pushed through the thick undergrowth. At the same time, Twilight remembered a question she wanted to ask. “Hey, Travis, why are the demons here?”

“It’s a little complicated, but I’ll simplify it as much as I can,” Travis answered. “The demons want to do nothing but serve their lord, Zedin. He decided to declare war on us because he saw us as obstacles in his way of destroying our universe. Many events and battles big enough to take up five history books, he saw the humans as a species that needs to be destroyed at all costs. He’s attacking here because he wants to keep us alone and undefended, and he’ll wage mass extinction of everything living in this world to do it. If your species was not as advanced as it is now, he would’ve spared you.

“So their reasons for invading stem from your species?”

“Pretty much. Don’t think you’re unlucky, though. When a group of humanlike creatures, the clogans, decided to help us and provide protection, Zedin declared war on them and leveled their capital city. They’re still alive, but he’s still attacking them relentlessly. If we didn’t come to your world, he would’ve destroyed all of Equestria behind our backs.”

Twilight’s fear silenced herself, letting her mind run from terrifying result to terrifying result. She hid from the thoughts and focused the dark greens and browns of the forest around her.

•—————•

After Twilight and Rainbow fought five separate novice demons patrolling the forest, the fortress they searched for finally revealed itself. Such as the last one, it was located in a clearing, but one glaring difference changed all of it. Only its roof remained visible. The rest of it, which was about the same amount of space as the last one, resided underground. One staircase on its north end led down into its chambers.

Four demons at the top of the staircase carried a cage out of it. The contents of the cage held open Twilight’s mouth and eyes. Sure, she expected one of her friends to be somewhere in the fortress, but she did not expect such a sudden reunion.

“Hey, Twilight and Dashie!” exclaimed the pink and frizzy pony inside the cage.The demons dropped the cage onto the stone ground and primed their weapons and wits for battle.

“Thanks,” Rainbow Dash responded with an ungrateful groan.

“Alright, you two, come out so I can stab you!” ordered a demon who waved a scimitar around himself.

“Yeah!” started another gripping a flaming mace, “Come out so we can see who or what you are!”

Rainbow Dash shot out the underbrush and slammed into a startled novice demon. After pummeling them into dust, she aimed for the scimitar wielder. He lunged after her for a quick strike but missed after meeting Twilight’s well-timed magic blast. The last two demons fell down from the close blast and scurried onto their feet. One of them, close to death, noticed that he died after his head exploded into smoke bits from a cyan kick to the forehead. The last demon alive, which was the one still gripping a flaming mace. He swung it at Rainbow Dash and almost hit her. However, his almost did not prevent two kicks from striking his chest. Begging for mercy yet still aiming for rainbow, the demon hobbled backward and swung one final time. Twilight seized control of the mace that almost smashed into Rainbow’s face and threw it into the demon’s chest. The flames consumed and tore away his body layer by layer. In the last moments of his life, he clawed at the ground for anything to prevent his inevitable demise.

Twilight Sparkle, the mare who watched the last demon burn away to nothing, noticed that the demon left nothing behind. Where do they go after they die?

“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow Dash started, shattering Twilight’s mental focus, “do you think there’s a way to break this cage open? This metal is too strong for me.”

“That must be made out of a neotitanium alloy then,” Travis informed. “The demons started using that for a lot of their ships and weaponry. Luckily, the scientists in the labs found a fatal weakness. It’s easily tampered with by heat. Just blast it with one of-”

Twilight Sparkle melted a chunk of the cage’s bars with a fire blast. “Like that?”

“Yeah, just like that.” Travis felt indifferent from her actions since he grew numb to such events after guiding batches of shoot first, ask questions later soldiers. The only thought that he did not feel numb to was that every soldier he met with that mindset died from it. He shuddered the thought away and returned to examining his own data and the ponies.

The pink pony once locked in the cage twisted its mouth into a wide smile and leapt through the hole and onto Twilight and Rainbow Dash. It pulled both ponies to the ground and constricted them in an inescapable hug.

:pinkiesmile: has been added to your party.

“It’s soooo nice to see you two again!” the manic pony squealed in a higher tone of voice than the other two.

“Pinkie, need, breath,” Twilight wheezed as she used all her might to force the fluff and cotton off her. Rainbow agreed with a small nod and fluttering wings.

Pinkie Pie eased her grip and hopped off the pony duo. “Oops, sorry. I’m just so full of happiness that I can’t help it!” And as if a switch in her mind flicked, her happy smile spun into a disgruntled frown. “What took you two so long?! I’ve been waiting all day with those unfun meanies for you to find me! Well, except for that one that told me my laugh is cute and I have a great personality, but he was removed from my room after that. Also, who is that guy talking from your weird helmets?”

“Wait, you can hear me?” Travis checked if Pinkie wore a communications chip or not. She did not even wear a single piece of armor.

“Of course I can! You’re louder than the girls!” Rainbow Dash failed to resist snickering. “Hey, uh Twily, did you destroy a giant machine while you came here to find me?”

“No,” Twilight answered, ears flopping downward. “What do you mean by that?”

“Well, while I was up here, I saw one in the distance.” The ground rumbled to the rhythm of powerful machinery and rolling treads. “And it’s coming for us now.”

A giant metal behemoth of rolling thunder exploded out the southwest undergrowth and slammed its body onto the battlefield. A long barrel stretched from its head, and two filthy and grimy treads massaged the stone ground. Two swiveling machine guns stretched outward from the sides of its head, and a one-way windshield paired with two inactive headlights in the machine’s front stared at the pony trio. The top of its groaning and bustling body busted open to release a demon wearing neat and durable clothing resembling a twenty-first century American colonel’s outfit.

“Hey, who are you two, and why are you not in the cage?” the demon pressed with an inexperienced voice. “Wait a minute.” He held out his hand against the three stunned ponies. “I sense a great power, a power that Lord Zedin desires. You three are too good of a batch to waste. Instead, I’m going to beat and sack all you three! After that, I’ll take Drimmin’s old spot!” The demon slammed the top of the machine down as the engines gnashed at the ponies once more. Its head swiveled to where the barrel faced the group of ponies.

A challenger approaches: Demon Tank Mk 3.5 of Lieutenant Drimmin’s forces

“Twilight,” Travis started with a crescendo for a voice, “you might want to get out of the way now!”

The barrel unleashed a round that exploded on the fortress’s roof. The roof caved into itself and demolished everything else in the fortress. The tank rolled away from the carnage to both avoid falling into the new hazard and achieve a clear shot at the three startled and scrambled ponies. Rainbow Dash smashed her hooves onto the metal hull, but it refused to dent or crack. Twilight fired some magic blasts, but they only dented the hull by micrometers. Pinkie, after hopping around the tank and scanning its entire form, conceived an idea in the form of a lightbulb.

Pinkie jumped from behind the tank and waved her forelegs at Twilight. “Twilight Twilight Twilight!”

“Yeah, Pinkie, what is it?” Twilight asked with a grumble as she dodged the tank’s laser rounds. “This better help me!”

“Oh, it will! I know how to beat this boss! You need to use some sort of fire move on it since it has a weakness to fire elemental attacks! Once you do that, Dashie can take it down with her smashes and slams!”

Twilight noticed that Pinkie called it a boss and noted that it is weak to fire moves. She shrugged those words away and charged a fire blast. The blast smashed into the side of the tank, causing a little smoke to trickle out.

“Hey, what are you doing out there?” screamed the driving demon, but his voice lost its volume from the tank’s noise and the thick metal.

“Now, Dashie,” Pinkie instructed after cartwheeling away from dozens of laser rounds, “you need to damage that seal at the top! Once you do that while the machine is overheating, you’ll be able to pull the driver out!”

Rainbow Dash nodded and held onto the metal top. She threw punch after punch into it, denting and ripping the metal layers apart. Twilight charged and fired a few more fire blasts while she dodged the tank’s artillery.

“Hey, stop that!” the enraged demon commanded. His voice gained some clarity from Rainbow’s punching. “This is a rental given to me from Lord Zedin himself. If you ruin this thing, I’ll never be promoted to commander class!”

The machine grew spinning blades along its treads and hull, adding another obstacle to the ponies’ pursuit for success. Twilight conjured and hurled more fire blasts, Rainbow Dash bashed the top to nearly nothing, and Pinkie hopped around the blades and cracking metal while spewing out tips and encouragement. After one minute, the tank lost so much metal and gained so many rips, leaks, and dents that it struggled to function. Treads bent into each other, the head locked into place, and the laser machine guns spiraled off like loose screws.

“Well”, the demon driver sighed to himself, “I guess I’ll never get a promotion or a second chance.”

The tank burst into colossal flames and warped and crunched as it broke apart and lost its booming roars and groans. The pony trio galloped away from the wreckage and into the trees, panting and dragging their hooves once they settled near a couple rocks and a bigger, less threatening tree.

Demon Tank Mk 3.5 has been defeated!

“Whoo! That was quite a workout!” Pinkie returned to hopping around and cheering various nonsense words after she recovered from exhaustion. Twilight and Rainbow still panted and rested for another four minutes.

About two minutes after fully recovering, the ponies heard a dropship land to the southeast of their location. They navigated themselves through the undergrowth and out the Everfree Forest. The dropship waiting for them sat on hilly terrain on the outskirts of Ponyville. Twilight could hear distant gunfire and shouting originating from the town.

“So, I heard that other GEST Corp. Soldiers are going to attack the demons down here, right?” Twilight assumed.

“Right on the money,” responded the pilot. He was a skinnier but rougher sounding soldier. “The comrades on the field are all the way on the Canterlot side of the demon circle, though. They want to open up the capital city before they move on to Ponyville. Until we clean up the surface, Ponyville is not safe enough for the residents.” Pinkie frowned a little and wondered about the condition of Sugarcube Corner and every other pony from Ponyville.

“Oh yeah,” the co-pilot started. He sounded deeper and rougher than the pilot. “Who are you? You weren’t on the mission when we dropped these two off.”

Pinkie returned to smiling and greeted the co-pilot with a wave. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie, or Pinkamena Diane Pie if you want to be fancy, but please call me Pinkie Pie.”

The co-pilot jumbled the words Pinkie and Pie for a while before facing the controls. He conversed with the pilot at a voice level low enough to give Twilight time to think. So, since she had the peace to do so, she wondered about Princess Celestia and how she felt about the invasion. A darker side of her mind focused on the idea of the demons reaching Celestia and killing her. As with the darker thoughts from before, Twilight suppressed them with more thoughts and her friends’ faces.

•—————•

Inside a familiar throne room, the great and powerful lord of the demons floated in front of a monitor. He watched through the eyes of a novice demon battling against the legions of GEST Corp. And avoiding as many lasers as possible. The eyes crashed to the ground after a set of laser blasts and a cry in pain. The lord stared at the static with a deep interest filling its black and white speckles. In all of his immortal life, he never witnessed such a short battle ending in defeat for his army. As he thought about what strategies to use next, the main gate burst open, and the same novice demon rushed over to the lord’s side.

“Sire, sire!” he wailed as he took a knee to the floor and lowered his head. “The pink earth pony is gone! The two ponies that killed our brother Drimmin stole it and brought it to their base! What are we going to do?”

“Hmm,” the lord pondered with a chin scrape. “This pony is quite the mischievous purple unicorn, isn’t she? Is the army prepared?”

“Yes, sire! Lieutenant Vyshnaam has all of his forces ready for battle. Should we send them out now?”

“No. These ponies and humans are performing far too well with their harmonic relationship, or what I believe it to be, than I estimated. Wait until another group weakens them. I shall grant permission whenever these wretches are penalized for their insolence.”

The novice demon bowed and departed from the throne room. The lone ruler spoke to himself once more.

“This unicorn, she possesses an uncanny feeling. Is she the one who will extinguish my army, or is she full of unnatural luck?” He shuffled the words around his mind and forged a conclusion. “No, she must have a wealth of luck. Some human and nonhuman soldiers dueled mine and survived. Her time to die will arrive soon.” He snatched another thought from the air and patched it into his other thoughts. “But, what if this unicorn does unite the Elements of Harmony, and what shall follow if they approach and interrogate me?” He banished the thought from his mind and recollected the rest. “They are naught but livings. They will all meet their mortal ends soon, if my army remains competent.”

Act IV, Chapter 1: We're Going Monster Hunting
View Online

War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

Act IV, Chapter 1: We're Going Monster Hunting

Act IV: The Banes of Humanity

It has been three months ever since an attack on Equestria. During this time, the populace of the entire planet resumed to their usual duties. Any humans that chose to stay in Equestria mainly kept to themselves in either the ED space station or the field base on the planet. GEST Corp. then asked permission from Princess Celestia to build two human settlements on Equestria for defensive and possibly financial purposes.

One of the settlements, which was located west of the Everfree Forest and north of Ghastly Gorge, was known as Havenblock, a city built mainly for war and defensive strategies. It contained a metal wall with an electromagnetic field around it and the city itself. Several turrets and watchtowers lined the walls and outer limits of the city to fend off any future invaders. The city itself contained a main hub area for traveling troops, landing pads for vehicles, research and control centers, a barracks for human and pony soldiers, a residential area for citizens, a mining center for collecting metals, and a power grid that collected several forms of energy. This city was truly built to last.

The other city, which was less secure and solely based on colonization, was Jersoven. It was located between the Frozen North and Cloudsdale. Unlike the fortified Havenblock, Jersoven only used a metal wall and some soldiers, turrets, and watchtowers. It had a control center, landing pads, a mining center, a research center, and a barracks, but they were all considerably smaller to Havenblock. This city contained more shops and houses to draw in more residents. Since this city was more open to ponyfolk, some of the ponies near it moved in after only a week or two of its completion. Jersoven was soon a melting pot of both pony and human cultures and ideas as the two species conversed with each other.

However, something has happened over in this city. Communications with GEST Corp. in Jersoven blacked out five days after Discord's release. No one knows what caused it yet, but six ponies were about to discover the reason for its inactivity.

•—————•

Inside of a realm of complete madness, a swirling portal of blue light ripped through the air. Four demons immediately spewed out of this portal as it closed back into nothingness. One of the demons was Lord Zedin himself, and two others were knightmare demons. The remaining demon was considered Zedin's right hand man. His name was General Deronno, commander of his own army that stood separate to Zedin's main forces. He wore shrouds of dark material around his body. The armor he wore was indistinguishable from the pure darkness emanating from his body. He wielded two weapons. The first, which was held in his left hand, was a gun. It was an automatic rifle with four barrels that had four different elemental effects each. One used fire; another, lightning; another, acid; and the last, darkness. The other weapon was a long blade with hooked teeth in one of its edges. These teeth created small spaces that allowed other blades to get stuck in his sword. Also, the same shroud of darkness that surrounded his body also encased and dripped off his blade.

Zedin examined the realm around him. The entire realm was full of oddities not present in regular dimensions. Islands floated around, sometimes upside down or on their sides. Random soccer balls and golf balls tossed around each other with their own clubs and feet as they hopped from island to island. The sky itself was full of a strange setup of swirls, rivers, and threads with mainly blue and purple hues. In some areas of the realm, gravity fell apart and did whatever it wanted. The foliage was strange too, as odd and random shrubbery and trees grew on some of the islands. Even the grass was multicolored sometimes. Plus, there were random train tracks dotting the entire realm. Sometimes, Zedin thought that the sky was tugging on him with giants hands from nowhere.

What the hell is happening here? Zedin thought in complete bafflement as he examined this dimension of concentrated madness. He never saw the law of physics commit suicide so badly.

One of the knightmare demons smacked a soccer ball that suddenly grew sharp fangs and claws. The soccer ball immediately dissipated into a column of cards.

The demons hopped across the islands and unstable floors until they reached an awkward home. Compared to the rest of the realm, it was completely normal. Surprisingly, it was vacant. This slightly irritated Zedin. This slightly irritated Zedin destroyed an entire island from one blast of his elemental power.

"I thought he was here," he grumbled with imprisoned rage behind his words. "He cannot be absent at this time. I know that for a fact."

"Sire, isn't that him above that slice of the sky?" A knightmare demon pointed his gun up to the floating swirl of dark blue above them.

"Oh, you've caught me!" The voice originated from the top of the swirl. The swirl then discarded itself into a trash can as a figure appeared behind Zedin. This figure was Discord himself in all of his chaotic glory. "I've expected someone like you to show up sooner or later."

Zedin was obviously growing impatient with Discord's antics. "Enough games, Discord. I propose a deal to you. It is best that you accept it."

"You almost sound like Celestia with your demanding tone." Discord disappeared and reappeared in front of Zedin. "But go ahead anyway. I'm curious about what you have to say."

"If you have not noticed, this world has been inflicted by my presence. I have already damaged a few cities here and there, but I need assistance."

Discord's face drooped to slight disappointment. "If you do not know, I already swore not to cause something like that."

"Damn it, you have already made amends with the six ponies?" Zedin smacked a floating island with a gargantuan claw of darkness in frustration. It flipped back to its original upside down position in seconds.

"Well, of course I did. Who wouldn't take a chance to make friends?" He said this with a smirk towards Zedin.

Zedin almost screamed at Discord, but he quickly calmed himself back to a calm state. "As I was saying, you are technically chaos, right?"

"That is what defines me. Why do you ask?"

"What if I told you that I could give this entire world back to you? I am a deity after all."

"I don't know," Discord mused. "I think it is rather nice having friends, don't you think." He swiftly manifested a hand of cards in his lion paw. He then blew the six cards, all of them containing at least one of the Mane Six, at Zedin's face. "Plus, I know for a fact that you cannot face those six. If I couldn't, you can't either!"

Zedin nodded to Deronno. Deronno showed his fanged teeth in a wide grin as he threw the head of Tirek onto the ground. His voice was as cold as the underworld itself. "Say what you want, but we are not weak like you. This is only one of the villains of this world that we killed."

Deronno then tossed a unicorn horn at Discord and a pair of changeling wings. Discord looked down at him in slight interest. "Where did these come from?"

Zedin decided that he would be the one to explain. "Well, Discord, I discovered a few secrets about this world, and I decided that they should be exploited. What you see in front of you are the trophies of Queen Chrysalis and Starlight Glimmer. Death also befell upon the remnants of King Sombra's soul, but he was incorporeal. You should see now that we are quite formidable foes."

"So, you killed the queen of the changelings and a single unicorn." Discord created a ribbon and placed it on Zedin's chest. It read 'beginner' on it. "If that is what you're supposed to be good at, then your accomplishment is laughable. I think I could have completed those kills!"

"You do not understand this. Queen Chrysalis had the potential to ruin my future plans, and so did Tirek. Starlight Glimmer would have completely ruined causality if I did not mutilate her before she began her time jumping."

Discord popped a hammock, sunglasses, and a smoothie with a parasol into existence and rested on the hammock. "You really think that simple deaths like that are enough to defeat me? Your attempts at blackmailing me are pathetic!"

Zedin struggled to keep his temper under control as he puffed through his words. "If you perceive me as futile, then maybe this will change your mind!"

Zedin conjured four gigantic claws and ripped through the terrain of the realm. Several islands and fake skies fell apart as he crushed them under his raw power. He then encased Discord in a ball of pure darkness that covered his entire body. "Having fun now, Discord?"

Zedin erased his darkness and claws as Discord fell down to the ground. For a second, it looked like he was gasping for air from his pain. Instead, he burst in laughter at Zedin's little outburst. He laughed through his words. "You, really tried to hurt me like that? That was just sad!"

Discord rolled on the floor in more spouts of laughter as Zedin slowly regained his lost rage. "May we please go back to the deal, now? At this point, I see that you are only able to be suggested to accept, not forced."

Discord got back on his feet and faced Zedin again. "Sure, sure. Alright, go on with your deal."

"Well, I can give you the entire planet back with my forces. I can easily overcome this world and its invading humans with my army."

"Oh, right." Discord remembered the news he heard about Havenblock and Jersoven. "Those things are still around? I thought that they were temporary."

"Not at all. They will linger until I eliminate their prime force, GEST Corp. I can handle them easily, but it is these wretched ponies that are creating trouble."

"You want me to turn their world upside down?" Discord gave an example by flipping a nearby island right side up.

"No, Discord. I want you to kill Twilight Sparkle."

•—————•

It was a bright day in Ponyville once again. The demons were completely inactive, GEST Corp. was back and ready, and the six heroes of Equestria were about to embark on another journey. Several skeleton and human soldiers marched across the town and to their posts. A few new durnoki soldiers, which were obtained by a peace treaty between GEST Corp. and the Oligarchy of the Durnoki Dream, disguised themselves as simple trees or rocks and waited for danger.

General Solk stood in front of the Mane Six. All of them were wearing their new suits. These ones were more durable and completely bulletproof. They also had helmets too, which replaced their communications chips and provided a visor that told them how healthy they were, how much power or ammo their weapons have, and what status effects are plaguing their bodies at any given moment. Every helmet gave the ponies a little definition in who they were by poking the ponies's manes out of the helmets' tops. Pinkie Pie's mane acted as if there was no helmet on her head and almost concealed it entirely.

Rainbow Dash's suit was generally an improvement over her original. She still had the guns on her sides, but she also had a missile launcher to boot. This launcher can be switched from free fire to heat seeking at any moment. All she had to do was think about it. The thrusters on her sides also gave her more speed and maneuverability. She even had a power pack on her back that enhanced her powers over clouds and lightning. Where did GEST Corp. acquire all of these new ideas for her armor? Travis and Twilight Sparkle provided the ideas through their observation on her suit inside of the Cloudsdale Weather Factory.

Twilight, now filled with determination and interest in this mission, politely asked General Solk a question. Travis was already linked to the ponies' comm links. "What will we be exactly doing on this mission?"

"You six will investigate Jersoven further north," Solk replied with a slight smile on his face. "Something happened over there that knocked out communications to its control center. We have too many kavarian ships gathering around the planet's orbit, so you six will need to investigate it."

Rainbow Dash held up a hoof and shook her head in surprise. "Wait a minute, these kavarians are already attacking Equestria?"

"They've been pushing further and further into this dimension for a while now. Ever since they won back most of their mining planets, they have been gathering soldiers around this solar system. We kept that information only to the princesses just in case things get out of hand. I think we can handle their dreadnoughts though."

"I don't think these things will be up there for any longer," Applejack predicted. "They might come down and attack soon if they're gathering."

Solk heard a beep in his communications chip and heard the loud, muffled words. His face soon contorted to slight panic. "Damn, I need to get up there now! You six need to use the drop ship behind me. I'll see you six later."

The ponies quickly galloped to the drop ship and took their seats. To their surprise, five GEST Corp. soldiers, three humans and two unicorns, were already inside.

Fluttershy looked up at the human with a large minigun and the words 'I eat punks for breakfast' on his chest. She was quite amazed at him, but she was still intimidated by his size and scary fashion. "Hi there, what's your name?"

"Call me Max," he said with a slight Australian drawl. "If you wanna be fancy, go with Maxwell Kent."

"Well, hi, Max. What do those words mean on your armor?"

He looked down at his chest. "Oh, that? Just a little threat to the guys we're gonna bash. Don't worry, lady, I'm not one to hurt innocents."

"Ooh, that is rather gentlemanly of you," Rarity admired.

"You'll be thinkin' twice about that when you see him in battle," another human with a modified pair of revolvers added with a southern accent. "He'll shred the place up in seconds. Trust me, he took out an entire squad of demons in five seconds."

"Wow, that's pretty awesome." Rainbow Dash looked over to Max and smiled with the same admiration. "I bet you'll be a great help."

"Hang on, boys and girls. We're about to depart shortly," the pilot announced as he turned on the thrusters. The ship soon closed its ramp door and ascended into the air. It then faced north and flew above Ponyville, ready to deploy eleven experienced soldiers whenever needed.

•—————•

As the ship slowed to a stop and landed on the grass once more, the abandoned city, Jersoven, awaited them. The city was considerably large, about twice the size of Ponyville with various buildings stretching up to the sky. The entire city wielded a large ring of metal that encased it in a protective layer. Only one ginormous gate at the wall's front, which could fit at least three tanks huddled next together, allowed any entry.

The soldiers and ponies hopped out of the ship and examined the entire area. That gate was definitely the only way inside, but it also had a small booth at its right side. The group of eleven walked up to the booth and looked inside. Only blood splatters and a handbag were left inside the booth. Twilight picked it up with her magic and rummaged through its contents. She found a keycard that fit into the same slot inside of the booth. She inserted the card into the small machine and heard a pleasant beep. The gate then sank into the ground, creating a straight path into the city.

What was revealed was several piled vehicles and downed buildings in gentle fire. The overall damage was moderate, big enough to cause disruptions in exploring Jersoven yet small enough to not destroy everything in sight. Compared to Sacramino, this was nothing.

"Alright, I think it's appropriate that we split up here," one of the armored unicorns ordered to his squadron. "My squad will search the east side of the city. Twilight, you and your friends should search the west side."

Twilight agreed and prodded her friends leftward. They traversed through some of the abandoned city, searching for trinkets and avoiding the small gouts of fire on various pieces of debris. Whenever they came across a building, they opened its front door and explored the inside of it. The first one they explored was a simple office building. The first three floors were untouched, but the other four floors were covered in black ooze and several blood splatters. A couple human hands or feet were scattered here and there, but that was really the only parts of people that they could find. Several cubicles had knocked over computers or filing cabinets and more touches of crimson.

It was when they entered the seventh floor that they lost some of their sight. All of the power on this floor was nonexistent, restraining the ponies to only natural light from the sun. More splatters of blood and black littered the floor and walls, but something else was present now. Pinkie was the first to hear a quiet, wet sound in the room. It only increased in volume as the ponies quietly stepped close and closer to its origin. Suddenly, a crack and several more shot at their ears. After that, the wet din re-emerged.

Twilight, who was in the front of her group, peered around a cubicle. Her face gaped in horror and disgust from what she saw. Only half of a mutilated man's body was left, and the intestines and bodily fluids of the person poured out of the gigantic hole revealing his innards. A strange creature with an abnormally large human head and two arms with claws that sprouted out of its neck hole gnawed and bit at the flesh and bone of the dead body. Its two eyes glowed an unnatural yellow. It already cracked a humerus and devoured most of the remaining bone and flesh in that area. It was now finishing the arm by cracking the radius and ulna and slurping up the still attached muscle and tendon around the bones.

The creature simply glared back at Twilight with a strip of flesh hanging out of its mouth. It chewed up that strip and narrowed its beady, glowing yellow eyes. It then screamed a mighty shrill, revealing its jagged and bloodstained teeth from its open mouth. The ponies could only stagger back from the painful scream as more of the same creatures scuttled and yipped across the floor and ceilings. The ponies were soon surrounded by fourteen of these, things.

Rainbow Dash immediately fired at three of the creatures. They winced and hopped backwards onto the ground, exploding in a mess of viscera and yellow blood. Twilight fired several magic blasts at the leaping creatures while Pinkie and Applejack kicked and punched them back. Rarity stabbed a few of the ones in the back with her gemstones, killing them nearly instantly from their explosions. Fluttershy dodged and avoided the creatures while they leaped and clawed at her. They caused a few cuts and scrapes from their sharp claws, but that was nothing compared to what they wanted to do.

Twilight then activated a ring of magic that blew all of the creatures into the walls and ceiling. They all exploded from the pure force, leaving the room empty once more. The ponies' eyes were wide in fear and pure terror. Even Pinkie, the one pony who was humming her own happy tunes to herself during the small detour, was now hyperventilating from the encounter.

"That was quite a wake-up call!" Rainbow Dash announced as she darted her eyes around the room.

Twilight examined the yellow and black chunks of blood as she screamed her twitching words. "What were those things?"

Travis was shaking his head in denial as he was recalling the recent attack. "Oh god, those things were ruptches."

"What the hay is a ruptch?" Applejack asked, her words also dripping in fear.

"A ruptch is the second stage of the Ruptured's life cycle. They start out as eggs that hatch into those things. Then, they grow into full-sized Ruptured with legs, a torso, everything they need to move around and kill. Ruptches never fight by themselves, so there's bound to be stronger Ruptured around here."

"Wait a second," Fluttershy mumbled as she remembered an attack from months ago, "there were two humans like that that attacked our truck."

"And there were monsters like this inside of the demons' ship too!" Pinkie added in her shaky blend of fright and happiness.

"Whatever the Ruptured is doing on Equestria, it must be very, very big," Travis gravely stated. "If we don't fix this mess soon, the entire planet will be a barren wasteland. Trust me, that's already happened to an entire galaxy."

The ponies, now frightened and motivated by these creatures, left the building and examined the area. That was when they heard screaming on their comm link.

"They killed him!" a distraught voice screamed. It sounded awfully close to the unicorn from earlier. "They killed my brother! How could they!" Fluttershy only raised a hoof to her mouth in shock from his words.

Another voice in a calm manner spoke to him. It was the same Australian voice that spoke to Fluttershy about half an hour ago. "Don't worry. We'll give these things what they rightfully deserve."

"It's just, he gone." Slight sobbing became audible. "They took him so fast. What even were they?"

"The same bastards that destroyed Earth. Now, come on. It's best that we should get going. These things won't stay here for very long."

The ponies then moved on and searched the area for any Ruptured. When they noticed that none were around them, they continued onward. They eventually reached the research center of the city. They then heard a sudden shriek emanating from the center. Only seconds later, a human Ruptured crashed through one of the building's windows and landed on the ground. It immediately turned its head to the ponies and aimed its semi-automatic laser rifle at them. The gun was oddly molded into the creature's arm and hand, keeping the gun immovable yet still usable.

The Ruptured dodge rolled to its left and fired several lasers at the ponies. Twilight blocked them with her magic, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash penetrated its body with lasers and gems. It soon collapsed onto the ground with a cry and exploded into a mess of yellow blood and gore.

The fight was far from over, as five ruptches and three more human Ruptured with the same rifles slammed open the center's door. The ruptches scrambled around the area and leaped at the ponies. They were annihilated quickly from several kicks and magic blasts. The three Ruptured strafed around the area and fired more laser blasts. Pinkie hopped over to one of them and slammed her front hooves into their face. The Ruptured screamed and staggered back, but it was still intact. It then evaded from side to side before hopping into the air and grabbing Pinkie. She kicked it hard enough to rip its grabbing arm off, severely damaging the creature itself. It patched the new hole with a new flab of skin and resumed its shooting. The arm that was holding Pinkie fell off and created a small explosion.

Travis gave a quick reminder to the ponies. "Whatever you do, do not let their blood get on your body! It's highly contagious and will convert you into a Ruptured!"

Twilight destroyed that Ruptured with a magic blast while the other two fought against Rainbow Dash and Rarity. They were dangerously close to Fluttershy and were damaging the other two ponies with their laser rifles. Rainbow could not fire any more lasers before a single rifle struck her legs and her right wing. Rarity had to dodge projectiles rather than throw them. Fluttershy continued to back away until she bumped into a building. One of the Ruptured, which had more bubbly skin than any of the other ones, held up a claw and growled like a savage beast. She cried and covered her face, frightened of what was about to inflict on her body.

Applejack kicked two metal balls into the Ruptured. They turned around and noticed a purple glow that surrounded their bodies. They were then lifted up into the air and slammed into a building. Both of them exploded into blood and viscera from the impact.

Travis spoke to them again. "Hold up a second. I'm going to activate anti-Ruptured mode for your suits. It should protect you from contact with their blood."

All of the ponies' suits whirred as metal coverings locked in place across their faces and visors. Thin coverings of plastic covered their manes, tails, wings, and horns, completely shielding them from any contaminants. Twilight did not know if the other ponies could hear her, so she tested it for a second. "Can anypony hear me? I don't know if this metal is muffling my voice or not."

Pinkie immediately replied back through the comm link. Her voice was slightly digital from traveling through the link. "We can hear you fine, Twily!"

"Loud and clear!" replied Rainbow Dash.

"Good," sighed Twilight with a small amount of relief. "We should check this building for any information on what happened here. Hopefully, it could also tell us what to do to stop these things."

The rest of the ponies agreed and followed her lead. They walked into the building and examined its metal interior. Several machines and offices littered its inside. Several dead bodies, some devoured and some not, dotted the floor with crimson and white. It sickened the ponies that some of them were ponies. One of the bodies even looked like a little filly.

Sadly, they found no information in the center. They walked out of the building and back onto the street. Apparently, several more human Ruptured discovered where they were and gathered in a fighting formation. There were four ruptches, two Ruptured with laser rifles, three without any weapons, and a rupturen, a special type of Ruptured with abnormally long arms that acted like tentacles with the fingers on each hand painfully snapped backwards. A visible hole was in each palm of the rupturen's body, and three sharp ends surrounding the hole also protruded outwards.

The ruptches died first as the ponies filled them with gems, magic blasts, and lasers. The armed Ruptured moved back and fired several lasers at the ponies. The unarmed Ruptured dodged from left to right as they got closer and closer to the ponies. The rupturen slowly walked toward the ponies with its arms high in the air but still pointed at them. Twilight fired multiple magic blasts into the Ruptured in the back, and Rainbow mowed down the ones hopping dangerously close to the group. Rarity dealt with the rupturen, stabbing its body countless times with her gems, and Pinkie hopped over to one of the unarmed Ruptured and pummeled their body. She eventually caved their skull in after the two armed Ruptured died and exploded. Rainbow killed two unarmed Ruptured, and Pinkie obviously killed hers. However, the rupturen was still alive despite the dozen of gems lodged in its flesh. Its body illuminated a little as it walked faster and shook its arms. Twilight fired a magic blast at it, but it only broke into a run and screamed mightily. It approached Applejack and swung its arms down on her. She kicked the rupturen away before it stabbed through her armor and infected her. Twilight fired at it one more time, killing it in the process. Its explosion was a tad bit more violent than the other Ruptured, but it wasn't too destructive.

The ponies realized the growing danger in the city and galloped to their next destination. They fought more Ruptured along their way, but none of the ponies suffered badly from the battles. When they eventually reached the mining center, they discovered a new type of Ruptured that almost made Rarity and Fluttershy faint in horror.

There were three earth ponies with yellow coats of slight accents of other colors. Their manes and tails acted the same way as well. Their eyes were purely yellow like all of the other Ruptured. The herbivore teeth each one of them were supposed to possess were replaced with several fangs that were sharp enough to easily rip through even the toughest of steaks. Despite all of those changes, the cutie marks that were oddly misshapen and faded definitely bashed the group's spirits. One looked like it could have been a whisk for cooking, but the other two were too distorted to tell what they used to be. These three ponies stood together in a circular hole in the ground filled with mine carts, various entrances to mine shafts, and two sets of metal stairs.

The ponies glared up at the Mane Six and growled and shouted like wild animals. They galloped up the metal stairs next to them and to the group's front. They snarled and scraped at the ground as they studied Twilight's growing magic and Rarity's hovering gems. When the magic and gems immediately headed towards them, they simply dodged left in unison. They then dodged right to avoid a barrage of lasers and then scattered around the group. One pony leaped onto Rarity and pinned her down, and another did the same to Pinkie, except this time with claws that suddenly sprouted out of its front hooves. The last pony engaged in hoof to hoof combat with Applejack.

Applejack dodged the kicks and punches that the pony threw at her, and she kicked back whenever she had the opportunity. Apparently, her adversary was not stupid, as it knew exactly how to dodge a strike properly. It was only when Rainbow Dash ruined its dodge with a line of lasers did it finally lose control of the fight. One swift buck to the pony's face cracked and fragmented its skull, killing the Ruptured creature by destruction of the brain. Applejack got blood and meat on her body, but at least she was not infected from her suit's lockdown.

Pinkie was struggling to pull the earth pony Ruptured off her body. It kept her in place as its claws dug deeper and deeper into the metal. Soon, they would break through it and pierce her body, opening several holes for infections of all kinds. As Pinkie struggled more and more and felt the pressure on her legs increase, Fluttershy shoved the Ruptured off of Pinkie and kicked it back. The Ruptured howled angrily and slashed its claws at Fluttershy, scraping some of her metal armor in the process. She then punched back with enough force to break the Ruptured's jaw. Pinkie got back up and finished it off with a swift kick in the right temple. The headless Ruptured fell to the ground and exploded its contents all over the two mares.

The last Ruptured was struggling to keep Rarity in place. She already stabbed both of its eyes and crippled its left hind leg. Rarity stabbed it again, this time in the back of the head, and shoved it off her. She got up and backed away from the recovering Ruptured. It gnashed its razor teeth and leaped towards Rarity again. It shoved its face up to her visor and scratched the glass with its teeth. Twilight fired a few magic blasts in its back, but it ignored that pain and continued scratching. It then stomped on Rarity's body and legs several times, bruising her and drawing some not currently visible blood. Twilight fired a fire blast at the Ruptured pony. This finally got its attention as its infected flesh was set ablaze. It screamed and kicked as its body cooked to a black sludge. Rarity got back up and escaped the hungry flames of the pony.

This Ruptured didn't explode. It instead melted in several parts of the body as the flesh blackened and the bones charred. The infectious blood of the pony dripped and cracked into a black, oily substance. What was left was the still burning corpse of a severely mutilated pony.

"So," Twilight started with slight disgust, "these things are weak to fire. That's good to know."

"Pretty much anything that destroys several cells in their bodies is their weakness," Travis added. "They rely on regeneration through constant cell division. No undamaged cells means no regeneration, so they die in only seconds."

Rarity was wiping off the black substance off of her suit. "Yes, fire kills them rather quickly, but it also makes them smell so foul. I can still smell its disgusting body as if it was literally on my face!"

Applejack turned her head to Rarity. "Well, Rarity, would you rather get some ick on your body or die in possibly the most horrifying way possible?"

"When you put it that way, the former sounds nice. Kind of."

"Nopony's going to question what the hay we just fought?" Rainbow Dash looked around the group for a volunteer.

"Travis, what exactly happened to those ponies?" Twilight asked with half of the answer already in her mind.

Travis prepared his answer. "Long story short, they were infected by Ruptured blood and mutated into those forms. That's why they had claws and sharp teeth. Now, you six need to get going. Every second you spend sitting in this city is another Ruptured being born."

"Well, let's get going then!" Pinkie hopped to the front of the group and pointed a hoof left. "Everypony, this way!"

Twilight and company traveled through more of the city and fought off even more Ruptured. They encountered Ruptured pegasi and unicorns. The pegasi flew and were not as sturdy, and the unicorns used simple magic blasts and barriers to aid themselves and other Ruptured in the area. It was when they were almost to the control center did the Ruptured truly become dangerous.

Oddly, the last road to the control center was nearly vacant. Nothing alive was around the ponies, but this was not an excuse for them to let their guard down. When they were only ten yards to the front door, their comm link became busy again.

"Attention, can any of you hear me?" asked the unicorn's voice over the link. He heard several yesses in response.

Another voice, presumably from the third human soldier, spoke up. His voice was deep and rough like rocks. "We're almost to the control center. We found some big ass Ruptured that just hid in a nearby building. We'll investigate it before we get to you six, alright?"

"Don't worry, mister, we can handle it!" Pinkie exclaimed through the link.

She would regret those words only seconds later.

A loud, audible crack shot into the air as the ground rumbled. The road split in half as pieces of it caved into a hole. Then, all of a sudden, an extremely large tentacle shot out of the hole and into the sky. It was two stories tall, was dotted with several bulbous sacs along its sides, and ended in a claw mouth with four flaps of eight rows of fangs. The entire tentacle was hollow and not made out of any bone. It was all muscle and skin.

One of the sacs violently exploded, expelling a young and fresh rupturen. Two more sacs exploded and expelled two unarmed human Ruptured. Finally, a fourth sac exploded to expel yet another human Ruptured. However, this one was different. Its head was larger than normal, and the head itself was awfully squishy. The claws on it were twice as long, and its chest bulged outwards a little more than usual.

Travis realized the incident as five armed human Ruptured showed themselves in one of the nearby buildings. "It's an ambush! Take cover!"

The ponies immediately sprang to their fighting positions and engaged the various Ruptured on the battlefield. Rainbow Dash flew up to the armed Ruptured and rained laser death upon them. They hid behind the metal walls and took next to no damage from the barrage. Rainbow then primed her missiles and aimed them at the building. The entire wall that those Ruptured were hiding behind collapsed and killed one of them. Several more missiles struck the Ruptured and killed them instantly.

The two unarmed Ruptured on the ground were toying with Pinkie Pie. They circled around her countless times while they swiped at her body. They didn't hit her, but they definitely did encase her. It was then that the rupturen hopped into the circle and approached her. She pulled out her party cannon in haste and shredded the rupturen into nothing but bits. The two Ruptured stopped circling her and attempted to confiscate her party cannon, but all they received was more shards of razor-sharp confetti into their bodies. They died nearly instantly from the blasts.

The last Ruptured was sprinting toward Applejack with a wide smile on its face. It stopped, dodged her buck, and stopped smiling. Its head grew and eventually blasted her with a plethora of blood. The glass on her visor also cracked from the impact too. Despite losing its head, the Ruptured aimlessly walked towards Applejack and swiped its claws at her. Twilight and Rarity pelted it with several gemstones and magic blasts, killing it and exploding the rest of its body. Applejack wiped off the excess blood from her visor to get a good view on the tentacle.

It still had about nine sacs on it, and it was becoming more and more active with every passing second. Twilight knew exactly what needed to be done.

She channeled her magic and fired a gigantic fireball at the tentacle. It soon burst into flames and flailed with horror. It retreated back into the hole it created.

Travis knew exactly what was happening, again. "Well, Equestria is now days from destruction."

The Mane Six staggered and frowned with gaping terror from his words. "What do you mean by that?" Twilight asked shakily.

"That was a mastermind tentacle. It could be a replicator tentacle from its small size, but either way, this world is nearly doomed. That means that we need to track and kill this replicator or mastermind before it is too late. Luckily, it shouldn't be far from here. Check the area for any openings into the ground."

"Why don't we use the hole it created to find it?" asked a confused Rainbow Dash.

"It will kill you if you enter that hole. That tentacle can easily travel through that hole and eat you alive if you do that. That's why we do not go down those holes."

The side of a building exploded as a giant Ruptured with two abnormally large arms and an exposed spine where its legs should be smashed right through a wall. The Ruptured groaned and exploded violently, collapsing nearly all of the building with it. Four out of the five soldiers from earlier rushed out of the building and to Twilight and company before they were encased in the rubble.

Max was huffing as he bent to the ground to catch his breath. "That thing was a nightmare to fight. It nearly killed me off when it punched me into a wall."

"The bad thing about this trip is that we're seein' Ruptured that never existed before," the southern soldier stated. He then examined the hole that the tentacle created. "And I bet we'll be facin' a big ol' one of them soon enough."

The unicorn, still distraught from losing his only brother, looked up at the control center. "We need to check this building first. If something came from that hole, it shouldn't be too far."

Since the ponies were right next to the door, they were the first to enter the control center. The first room was an abandoned lobby with a reception desk. The set of double doors led to a control room. Specifically, the room held controls for the turrets on the wall and operating systems for the front gate of Jersoven. Several dead bodies, most of them mutilated and human, rested lifeless on the ground.

Pinkie strayed a little from the group to investigate the most likely cleaned out building. She eventually found an unusually large hole in a unisex bathroom. It dug diagonally into the ground like a tunnel to somewhere. "Girls, I think I found something!"

The other nine members of the small group rushed to her location and examined the room. They saw the exact same hole that Pinkie discovered.

"Well, that's where we need to go," assumed the southern soldier. "This time, I think all of us should go together. It's best we don't lose anymore soldiers."

Twilight and company, along with the small GEST Corp. squadron, climbed down the hole and into the depths of Equestria. Whatever awaited them would definitely not be pleasant. Only time can tell.

•—————•

Hannibal was definitely a lucky demon. He not only survived heresy against his ruler, he also survived after five gruesome battles with the Kavarian Assimilation Troop. In every battle, his squadron was picked clean due to their low skills in combat. Since he was a demon, it was natural for GEST Corp. to give him demon infantry. Apparently, Hannibal was one of the only demons with excellent experience. Most of his comrades were novice demons with little to no understanding in simple defensive and offensive procedures.

Eventually, Hannibal was enrolled into an elite squadron due to his physical capabilities and intelligence in warfare. His first mission in this squad was simple. He was ordered to invade and destroy a Kavarian Conversion Space Station, or a KCSS, that was recently placed in the Equestrian Dimension planet's orbit. GEST Corp. thought that this would be a relatively easy task due to the usual setup of these KCSS's.

They thought wrong.

The kavarians thought thrice about their invasion of Equestria. This space station was dire to the plan, so they had to protect it at all costs.

Usually, KCSS's have only one flagship, five dreadnoughts, five thousand assault ships, and five hundred thousand drop ships in their disposal. This one had three flagships, twelve dreadnoughts, one hundred thousand assault ships, and three million drop ships.

To make matters worse, the KCSS orbiting the planet was highly defended. A three-layer electromagnetic shield, several colossal railguns, and a force of about twenty million deployed infantry units protected it from the inside. GEST Corp. needed a lot of ships and soldiers to complete their mission.

Luckily, GEST Corp. was able to deactivate the shield and destroy one flagship. When the kavarians were distracted from the invasions on their flagships, a few GEST Corp. dropships containing elite squadrons landed in one of the hangar bays. Hannibal and his squadron were on one of these drop ships.

These elite soldiers fought their way through the KCSS and reached one of the four power supply sectors. It was there where they truly felt the difficulty of this mission.

Hannibal and the rest of the soldiers were still finding out how to open the sliding double doors leading to the sector. There were no keypads, buttons, or levers nearby, and they couldn't go back due to a little collapse from a destroyed railgun. If they couldn't get in the sector, they would be sitting ducks waiting for death.

"Frederick, do you have any leads on where to go?" Hannibal asked to the technician of the group. Hannibal was wearing the usual GEST Corp. suit, but it was a shade of grey to indicate his veteran status.

"No, sir," answered Frederick, a GEST Corp. engineer with only two laser submachine guns for weaponry. "All other ways to the sector are locked tight. We'd have to blow up one of these doors with a tank to get through."

One of the veteran classed soldiers shouted in frustration. "Damnit, Leeroy, I knew that you shouldn't have trashed that depot!"

One of the larger set of double doors nearby the group slowly slid open. A low growl that was followed by a gruff voice introduced yet another battle to the soldiers. "Kill them, kill them all!"

The double doors released a variety of troops. One annihilator-class tank, a hulking yet slick machine with three tank barrels and four machine guns, four kavarian gun soldiers that towered at ten feet and carried power packs on their backs, two kavarian commanders with two laser submachine guns each, and dozens of basic kavarian soldiers with laser rifles stormed into the battlefield. Even more kavarian soldiers and snipers rushed to the tall structures around the group.

Hannibal immediately readied his gun and ordered his fellow troops. "It's an ambush! Everyone, to cover!"

The twenty GEST Corp. soldiers took cover behind various barricades and structures around the area. Hannibal threw a grenade at a cluster of kavarian soldiers. They were were all electrified to death from the blast, thinning the numbers out a little. Frederick fired at three soldiers that rushed up to his barricade. One of them shot his leg three times before they died from several headshots. Three veteran class soldiers shot three snipers in their heads, killing them nearly instantly. When one of the gun soldiers revved their laser machine gun and got too close to two of the GEST Corp. soldiers, he was met with two stabs into his torso from two plasma swords. The gun soldier smashed his gun onto one of the soldiers and kicked the other. Both of them died when one was crushed into a mess of organs and blood and the other's head splattered and cracked from the force of the kick.

Hannibal shot at the gun soldier and killed him and a few nearby soldiers with another grenade. One of the commanders' necks was slit open when they rushed up to a veteran soldier and attempted to slice them apart. A few GEST Corp. soldiers, including Leeroy, exploded into viscera when the tank shot three shells at them. Luckily, one of the shells blew open the locked double doors to the sector.

Hannibal noticed this and ordered his troops over the gunfire and growls of war. "Retreat into the sector! I said retreat!"

All of the surviving soldiers except one rushed through the door. That one soldier was in the middle of losing his arm from a gun soldier's pure might. He died from a boot to his skull from another gun soldier standing right over his body. The surviving soldiers ran through the rooms of the power supply sector to escape the kavarians right behind them. When compared to the demons forces' approaches and the psychopaths' brutality, these loyal kavarian soldiers outmatched them by an astronomical amount. These creatures were truly the harbingers of war.

•—————•

The Mane Six and the four GEST Corp. soldiers have already traveled through several tunnels and dead ends. Throughout their journey into who knows where, they encountered Ruptured sacs planted on walls, ceilings, and floors and more pony and human Ruptured that looked slightly different from the ones on the surface. The first dead giveaway was the humans' lack of hair or clothes and the ponies' absence of any color other than yellow on their coat and the lack of a mane or tail. The humans were also genderless due to their nonexistent reproductive organs, but they mainly resembled masculine figures. The ponies looked paler, had no evidence of any cutie marks, and looked awfully identical to one another. Even the human Ruptured looked identical!

Max, one of the soldiers in his band of four, knew quite a lot about the Ruptured. He fought against them before on their home planet, Ruptura. Ever since then, he snatched every bit of information he could find on the Ruptured. He read about their homes, habits, preferences on what to infect, and the many creatures they have infected and absorbed into their mass of contaminated monsters.

When he noticed the increase in sacs and small tendrils along the walls, he immediately mumbled his ideas to the rest of the group. "We should be getting close. Keep an eye out for any moving sacs."

The group closely examined the sacs for any movement, but nothing happened. They continued on until they encountered a sudden drop. Applejack almost fell off the ledge while she examined one of the more transparent sacs. She quickly regained her footing and backed away from the edge. Twilight peeked down the hole to find a few throbbing tendrils creeping down the hole. A faint glow of yellow crept from the bottom and faded as it climbed up the hole. That was definitely the right way to go, but how were they supposed to go down there?

Twilight proposed an idea. "This hole looks big enough for all of us to go down at once. I'll create a platform for us to go down safely. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, you two can just fly down. As for you-" she turned to the unicorn GEST Corp. soldier. "-do you know a teleportation spell?"

"Yes, but I can only use it for small objects or myself," he answered with slight disappointment. "I'm not a strong magic user."

"That's good enough. You can teleport down that hole after we travel down it. That should leave us at only seven ponies and humans on one platform." She gestured the others to back away and readied herself with a casting stance. "Is everypony ready?"

The group replied with nods, yesses, and yeps. Twilight's horn shimmered with a purple glow as a rectangular platform manifested from thin air. It was transparent and stained like glass, but that was enough for the group to travel down the hole. Twilight walked onto the platform. Shortly after that, the three humans, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack also walked onto the platform. When everyone was on the platform, she slowly lowered it down the hole. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hovered above the group, and the one unicorn soldier waited until they all descended to the bottom. When the group finally made it down the hole, he teleported himself down there with them. Everyone was still safe and sound.

For now.

The group traveled down the tunnel until they reached a huge room. It was almost as massive as a coliseum battlefield. Giant throbbing and shuddering tentacles and tendrils lined the ceiling and walls of the room. Several sacs of various sizes littered the walls and ceiling as well, stabbing fear right into the group's hearts. The entire floor was basically a ring with a depressed center. In that center was a giant pool of what the humans knew well as Ruptured blood. There was lots of it. To the Ruptured, that pool was life. Anything the Ruptured wanted could be created from just the blood itself. Anything.

However, the most noticeable feature was the gargantuan Ruptured in the pool of blood. It was at least seven stories tall, which was about half of the cavern's height. Several tentacles sprouted from its sides and back, and some of the tentacles shot straight up into the ceiling. The other tentacles swayed around the mass of flesh passively. The head of this thing had nine misshapen and misplaced eyes and a gaping mouth with hundreds of fangs. It had a large, forked tongue that dangled from its slightly open mouth. Two visible nostrils were right above its snoutlike mouth. Its body kept itself mainly solid around its chest and neck, but the entire body soon branched off into multiple towers and beams of flesh that dug into the blood. Was this thing made out of the blood? Was it bathing in it? Was the blood its life source? These questions rammed into the ponies' minds like speeding freight trains.

The monster, or what the humans knew it as a replicator, turned its head towards the ponies and seemed to talk to them. No, it did not talk, but it was still speaking to them. Whatever it was saying, it said it with a deep, demonic growl of mist and rock.

You have finally come. We were waiting for your arrival.

Fluttershy was automatically frightened from the strange voice and hid behind Max for safety. Rainbow Dash's smirk dropped to a dead frown as the voice echoed in her mind and struck her with a strange feeling of anxiety.

Many have endured us, many have not. Many have fought us, and many shall not. We are well aware that this is true and, without a doubt, prophetical statement.

Pinkie drowned out the voice with fearful humming, but it was too thick and powerful to shut out. It sounded like it was speaking to the ponies from everywhere. Twilight heard it from above, below, behind, ahead, and the sides. She even heard it in her own thoughts. That, however, was where it was the most intense.

This world is rather fruitful in flesh. We could almost call it, a second Earth. Ah, Earth. It was a bountiful harvest of organisms to feed upon. However, when it was taken from us by these ignorant humans, we simply frowned and searched for another. Have you, Twilight Sparkle, leader of the Elements of Harmony, ever felt the pain of losing a treasure?

Before she could even answer that question, the replicator interrupted her.

No, you have not. Simple losses like appliances and friends are far lower than a world. A world is precious. It is a harbinger. It is a nursery. It is rolling feeding grounds. It is even a plague.

Twilight was more stunned that the replicator knew her name and affiliation with the Elements of Harmony. It even felt like it knew everything else about her. Everything she thought about in her mind felt heavy all of a sudden. Every recalled memory soon felt unbearable to remember from the sudden fatigue, and she couldn't explain it.

Twilight, we can see why you are such a necessity to everything. You are a tool of destruction. Have you not wondered what happened to the Psychopaths? They were destroyed, extinct, by your invasion. You paved the path for the humans, and they decorated it with the blood of the Psychopaths. That is why you are ours now, Twilight Sparkle. Your power is chaotic, young, persuadable, manipulable. It is why you joined the humans. You are not their friend, Twilight. They have only ensnared you with words and guns, brutal, barbaric guns.

"Oh my god," Max verbally announced in horror. "The Hive Mind is so sophisticated now. What happened?"

He happened, Maxwell Kent. He brought us intelligence, leadership, civilization, morality. We are not savages, Maxwell. We are creatures longing for the civilization and development of our culture. He delivered this to us. Now, we will take what must be collected. Do not fight back, or you will surely be destroyed in your own, naïveté.

The replicator shifted its body backwards as the pool of blood bubbled and rippled. The first thing that rose out of the blood was a giant head ten times bigger than a human head. It had two big, bulging eyes with smaller misplaced ones around its cheeks, scalp, chin, and forehead. Pinkie swore that she could see warped faces of both human and pony origin on the creature's skin. It had a mouth of thousands of misaligned fangs that backed into its own head a little. A similar forked tongue kept itself curled up in its mouth, visible but not important yet.

Next, the head was followed with a long neck that stuck out from the back of the head. It was thick, long, and snakelike with a few eyeballs, faces, rib cages, and limbs sticking out of its body. Several sharp quills stuck out of the back of the neck with a similar build to hedgehogs or porcupines. Two slender tentacles dangled from its sides with the same eyeballs and faces found on its head and neck.

As the creature rose from the blood even more, the neck visibly curved forward to the creature's head like a living question mark. The neck became thicker and thicker until it eventually split into four ends, all of them with more leftover pieces from other ponies and humans. These four thick legs curved like the tops of canes and ended in four black plates of some hard material in a cylindrical shape. The only thing that the group could propose they were was multiple hooves similar to a pony.

This monstrous creature soon walked out of the pool of blood and onto the land in front of the group. It was at least two stories tall from its ridiculous size and endless collection of bodies. All that the group could think about was that this could not end well.

A challenger approaches: Equestrian Rupturian, a hulking mass of several minds and bodies

Max knew exactly how to fight this creature. "Run!"

The group scrambled around the battlefield and avoided the Equestrian Rupturian at all costs. Rainbow Dash fired a few laser blasts into its body from time to time, poking a few holes in it but not really injuring it severely. Every time anyone tried to hurt the replicator, the rupturian was always there to block the blows, and it didn't help that the replicator could heal itself from the massive pool of blood. Twilight fired some magic blasts at the rupturian while she galloped away from it, but it didn't flinch nor show any injuries. It continued its trample along the ring and fired several quills at the humans and ponies. Luckily, they dodged these quills easily. However, the rupturian also had another trick up its sleeve.

Applejack approached the monster and kicked a few metal balls into its face. For some reason, the balls didn't fall off its face or really dent it. Instead, they stopped and slowly sank into its flesh. Only seconds later, plates of metal bubbled up to the skin on its face and replaced it entirely. Half of its face was now coated in thick metal.

"Don't use anything like that on that thing!" Max warned as he fired at the creature with his laser minigun. Several holes developed around the creature's neck and torso. Max couldn't tell which was which though, as the creature's body looked like a head with a long and thick neck ending at four legs. The rupturian ignored the hits and fired more quills as it stomped its way to him.

Twilight suddenly remembered a Ruptured's worst nightmare. She fired a fire blast at the rupturian and dealt quite a lot of damage. One of its tentacles burnt to a black glop while the creature wailed in pain. It glared directly at her and walked towards her at a faster pace.

Pinkie kept to herself throughout the fight after she heard Max's warning. She immediately speculated after seeing that thing absorb the metal balls and use them as armor. I think that thing does that with everything, she thought to herself. Maybe it'll get hurt from a bomb.

Pinkie took out one of her pink bombs and hurled it at the rupturian. It absorbed it into its front left leg and attempted to break it down into material. However, it exploded inside of the rupturian and blew apart that same leg. This severely crippled the creature and almost killed it from the shock and loss of mass. It immediately scrambled away from the group and back into the pool of blood.

Twilight thought that this was the end of the battle. She cheered happily and fired another blast at it for assurance of death. "I think we won! We won!"

"No, we haven't yet," the southern soldier gravely mumbled as the creature sat in the pool of blood.

The blood seeped into its body and rejuvenated the entire creature. Its missing leg grew back and looked a little more muscular. The entire creature sprouted several tentacles on its sides and ripped its claws out of its hooves. Another mouth, this one being vertical, opened up in its chest. Several sharpened teeth and another forked tongue were revealed from this opening. Also, this mouth was glowing brighter than its original one.

!WARNING!: Equestrian Rupturian has been upgraded to Enraged status!

"That can't be good," said Rainbow Dash as she prepared to dodge whatever the creature might do.

"We can't fight it like this!" shouted the unicorn soldier. "We need to stop that thing from getting in that blood!"

"But how? It'll just stay near that thing forever!"

The unicorn soldier came up with a brilliant idea. "Alright, Twilight, you and your friends need to get out of here!"

The rupturian walked back onto the ring and opened its second mouth. The mouth spat out three globs of infected blood and flesh at Rarity and Fluttershy. Both ponies dodged the globs successfully.

"What about you four?" Twilight shouted with worry in her voice.

"Don't worry 'bout us!" replied the southern soldier. "We can handle this!"

Twilight teleported herself over to the hole the group entered. "Girls, come over here!"

Rainbow Dash zipped to her first, Fluttershy also flew over to her quickly due to panic, and Pinkie galloped fast enough to outrun one of the rupturian's tentacles. Rarity and Applejack were still in the ring with the rupturian. There was no way around it except for running around around the entire ring.

"We'll have to take the long way, Rarity." Applejack suggested as she turned around and began her run to the other side. Rarity started hers shortly after five quills were launched at her head. She immediately panicked and caught up to Applejack. Both of them eventually made it to the other four ponies, leaving only the four GEST Corp. soldiers with that thing. The rupturian turned to them for a second with its quills and flesh balls primed.

They are not important. Follow Twilight Sparkle and the others instead.

The rupturian ignored the soldiers and faced Twilight and company instead. Twilight already had the platform ready and was ascending herself and three of her friends. When they all made it to the top of the hole, the rupturian made it to the bottom of the hole. It then pressed its tentacles into the walls and placed its feet on one side of the hole. It slowly climbed up to the ponies, slightly frightening them from its ability to climb like that. It eventually reached the top and glared right at the ponies. Specifically, it glared at Twilight Sparkle.

Cowardice is the tool of the feeble. Ignorance is the tool of the suicidal. Apparently, Twilight, you use both.

The Equestrian Rupturian howled at the ponies with a mighty scream louder than a sold out death metal concert. Some of the sacs on the walls and ceiling of the tunnel burst apart and released multiple Ruptured onto the field. Eighteen ruptches, nine unarmed Ruptured, six pony Ruptured, three pegasi and three unicorns, and three rupturens joined the battle. All of them faced the ponies and completely surrounded them. They growled and fidgeted sporadically as they walked toward the ponies. Rainbow Dash readied her missiles and lasers, Rarity conjured dozens of gemstones, Applejack prepared herself for bucking, Pinkie cloaked herself with invisibility, Fluttershy held up her hooves in a swirl of fear and anger, and Twilight channeled her magic.

The first move was by Twilight. She created a barrier around the group that halted the Ruptured's assault. Rainbow Dash and Rarity were a little reluctant to fire from the barrier.

"Go ahead," Twilight demanded. "This is a one-way barrier."

Rainbow Dash fired into the crowd of Ruptured, killing several of them and bursting some of the intact sacs. Rarity stabbed several ruptches and human Ruptured with her gems, killing them nearly instantly from the pure force. Her gems at this point were almost like sharpened bullets from the training she had with throwing them. The three Ruptured unicorns outside of the barrier attempted to drain the magic of the barrier, but it was to no avail. Eventually, the numbers were thinned out to only about four. Pinkie was busy clobbering these remaining Ruptured with just her brute force.

When battling a crowd controlling force, one must become impervious to its tactics. Several minions are illogical to use. One brute is crucial for success.

The rest of the intact sacs burst apart, releasing another wave of Ruptured. However, instead of surrounding the ponies again, these Ruptured dived right into the rupturian's body. Every body that touched the rupturian melted into its flesh like molding clay. The rupturian eventually mutated again. This time, more quills shot out of its back, a few more tentacles sprouted out of its body, and its muscles grew in power. One addition that was the most striking was the unicorn horn that sprouted out of the Equestrian Rupturian's massive head. It roared again, this time with a surge of magic pulsing through its veins.

!WARNING!: Equestrian Rupturian has been upgraded to Elite status!

"Oh dear," Rarity whimpered in fear as the hulking amalgamation grinned through its wretched teeth.

The rupturian blasted the barrier with a beam of pure magic. Twilight fell backwards and tumbled onto the dirt ground from the sudden addition of hostile magic. She felt nearly drained from the blast. When she attempted to conjure a fire blast, all that manifested was a small flame on the tip of her horn that quickly died out. Rainbow Dash punished the rupturian with a hailstorm of lasers, but it was not very effective. Apparently, the rupturian was too badass for petty attacks like that. Rarity stabbed it with a gemstone in the eye, forgetting the warning Max told her. The eye was definitely destroyed, but the gem was soon absorbed into the rupturian. A crystal jewel then formed where its damaged eye used to be.

Rainbow Dash tried another tactic while the rupturian fired quill after quill at her. She fired a few missiles at the rupturian. Last time, it absorbed Pinkie's bomb and nearly died from it. Will it absorb this?

When the missile struck the rupturian, it exploded at the surface of the body. Some of the flesh where it struck was destroyed, but it was only about one-sixteenth of what Pinkie's bomb did. The rupturian flinched, but it still continued fighting like nothing happened. Rainbow fired more missiles, this time aiming for the head. Several missiles struck its head and exploded, but only half of them did anything. The ones that hit the rupturian's armored skin did nothing. The other missiles destroyed a fourth of its face. It was still intact though.

The rupturian stomped towards Rainbow Dash and created a golden glow around its horn. This same glow wrapped around Rainbow's body and pulled her toward the rupturian. Pinkie panicked, deactivated her cloak, and pulled out her party cannon. A giant plume of blue and purple dragon's fire smothered the rupturian and burnt several parts of its body. It was now half dead or half alive.

It quickly destroyed the flames with a wave of magic as it dropped Rainbow Dash. It backed away and swiped a few tentacles at Pinkie. She dodged backwards, successfully avoiding absorption into the rupturian. Fluttershy decided that cheering for her friends was the best option now. She started with Rainbow Dash, the one mare that had several explosives right on her back. Rainbow heard the cheer, sprung into action, and fired a dozen missiles at its scorched body. Several pieces of flesh fell off as it bellowed in irritation and pain. Twilight helped her by firing several magic blasts at the ruined sections of its body. She was still weak from the barrier incident, but she had to do something. Applejack and Rarity joined in on Fluttershy's cheer and gave Rainbow Dash several shouts of determination.

"You can do it!" exclaimed Fluttershy happily.

"You're almost done! Just fight a little more!" shouted Applejack.

"Teach that freak a lesson for ruining my precious gem!" angrily spat Rarity.

Rainbow Dash aimed for the rupturian's tentacles and blew them off its body. Pinkie threw a few more bombs that exploded on its surface, splattering more flesh from its body. As its bones finally became visible, it fired more quills and magic blasts at the ponies. Pinkie thought of a clever trick and took out a wrapped present. She tossed it at the rupturian's severely mangled head. At first, it was reluctant to absorb it. When it found out that it was safe, it absorbed it into its body.

Suddenly, the entire head exploded into bits of viscera and metal as a hidden pink bomb detonated inside of it. The rest of the body tumbled to the ground and bubbled violently. The ponies remembered a quick fact about the Ruptured at that moment.

They rupture.

They sprinted as fast as they could out of the caves. The entire body of the rupturian exploded extremely violently, causing a destructive cave-in. All the ponies knew at this point was that they defeated the monster and escaped its horrific lair.

Elite Equestrian Rupturian has been defeated!

•—————•

"It's almost dead!" shouted Max through the gunfire and screaming. "Just a little more should do it!"

The four soldiers were in a bloodbath of Ruptured. They have already killed several Ruptured lackeys from the sacs, and they have already destroyed most of the replicator. The last thing left to do is blow it up sky high.

The replicator spasmed one last time after its brain splattered into pieces. Its entire body bubbled and bloated a little from the sudden lack of life.

The southern soldier was deeply worried of what was about to happen. He turned to the unicorn soldier in hopes of something that can save their lives. "Uh, buddy, I think you might wanna test out teleportin' all of us outta here."

"I think so too!" Max shouted as he gunned down two rupturens. "That thing's about to blow!"

"Do you know anywhere that you can teleport us?"

"Canterlot!" the unicorn soldier yelled through the noise. "Hopefully, we're going to Canterlot!"

The unicorn's thoughts were frantic and panicky. Please work! Please work for just once!

An orange glow surrounded the four soldiers as the entire cavern rumbled and cracked apart. Right when they flashed into nothingness, the replicator exploded, destroying everything around it.

•—————•

The Mane Six finally left the underground network of caves and emerged to the surface once more. They heard a loud explosion come from the direction of the mining center. They decided to check it to see what happened.

All that was as left there was a ginormous crater full of black and yellow residue. Whatever was there must have been huge.

"So, that was where that thing was the entire time," Twilight mused. "Those caves made it feel like we walked forever."

"Wait a minute, we could've crushed that thing from here?" Rainbow Dash was obviously agitated by the useless walking and possible sacrifice of four soldiers. "Why didn't we just enter from here?"

"Dashie, we didn't know what was down there!" Pinkie responded to Rainbow's anger. "Second, it was a mine. I bet something called a control center would be a lot more appealing than just a simple mine."

"Hey, uh, there's something glowing in the sky," Applejack warned as she peered up into the mix of creamy blue and fluffy white.

She was right. Something was glowing. After about five seconds of staring at the glowing light, it suddenly shot downwards into the planet. The entire beam it created was immensely huge and powerful. Despite it looking like it was about to crash into the ground, it instead spread across the sky like a blanket of glowing blue. The entire sun and beyond was cut off from the ponies' view as the sky shifted in seconds. Clouds dissipated and expanded, and frigid winds drifted across the landscape. When the layer of blue finally disappeared, the sky shifted from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy. The air was now as cold as winter, and the wind was now rather gusty. Only about half a minute later, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. They slowly but surely blanketed the entire world with a glistening white.

Pinkie bounced up to a few floating flakes and eyed them carefully. It definitely looked like snow alright. She then hopped around in excitement and joy while she eyed the other flakes. "It's snowing! It's snowing!"

Rainbow Dash went slack-jawed as she darted her eyes from cloud to cloud. "It's, snowing." Her voice was quivery and uncertain as surprise and fear latched onto her face. "It's, snowing?"

"I don't understand," Twilight quietly spoke to herself in confusion. "It's not supposed to be winter until a month from now. How can there already be snow?"

"Is someone playing games with us, or did we cause the windigoes to come back somehow? I can't tell anymore."

A small buzz in the ponies' ears slowly increased in volume. It then clicked into a familiar voice. It was unusually somber and grave with its tone. "Attention all members of GEST Corp., General Solk here to give you terrible news. Operation Solar Strike has failed. Kavarian forces on the KCSS orbiting Equestria wiped out nearly all of our veteran squadrons that were deployed onto the field and caused significant damage to our fleet. As we speak, the space station is repairing itself for another assault the kavarians believe we will attempt. However, we have bigger matters to attend to. The KCSS was able to successfully alter the planet's climate and behavior to what has been seen on Andromeda and Earth. Further reports of the change in weather and flora and fauna behavior will be published after various tests are performed. For now, we need to worry about a grand invasion that the kavarians are planning. We have reports from spies that they are attacking tomorrow shortly after noontime. Preparations will be made to defend against this invasion. For now, return back to headquarters so that we may begin our mission briefing."

As Solk's voice ended in another click, Travis talked to the ponies once again. "It's best you six go back to Ponyville. Solk will be meeting all of you soon."

"We, lost?" Fluttershy asked in a wave of sadness.

"We didn't lose," Rarity replied to comfort Fluttershy, "the humans did. What we did here today possibly saved all of Equestria from, whatever those savages were."

"Well, we need to get going," Twilight softly ordered. "It's getting a little chilly now."

The ponies walked back to the front gate of Jersoven. It was odd to see the entire place in a blanket of snow. The ground before them was slightly covered, but a few more hours would have made them completely covered. The drop ship was waiting at the front gate as always. Twilight and company took their seats and waited until they got back to Ponyville. Today was a victory for the ponies, yet it was a major loss for all of Equestria.