Requiem of Chaos

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Chapter 1

Twilight paced back and forth as papers shuffled in her magic. Spike and her friends sat around the crystal table sifting through more reports in hopes that one of them would have a clue to where Shining Armor might be. It had been two months since the battle with the creatures and when Shining Armor went missing. Twilight suddenly stopped and vigorously read the next report. She let out a frustrated sigh and her magic suddenly flung the rest of the upwards into the air.

"Maybe we should take a break," Rarity Suggested.

"Yeah, look at this in another way after a small break," Spike agreed. He had gotten down from the crystal chair and began picking up the pieces of paper that Twilight had thrown.

"But," Twilight began before Applejack stopped her.

"I know you're worried about your brother. I know if it was my brother I'd be the same way, but you're pushing yourself into an early grave," Applejack said before she added, "When was the last time you slept?"

"I've been sleeping fine," Twilight argued.

"She sleeps two hours before she wakes up and continues going through the reports again," Spike admitted. Twilight glared at him, but he paid no mind as he placed the stack of papers on the crystal table.

"A break would do you well darling," Rarity said before she walked to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder while adding, "Only if it's just a small walk to stretch your legs. We could all use a break and once we cleared our minds. We can attack these reports again." Twilight was about to protest but stopped as she looks at all her friends. She sighed in defeat and walked out into the hallway.

The cool autumn air hit Twilight's body as she walked through the castle's hallway. She let out a sigh and walked towards the bathroom. However, she stopped when she heard a vibrating coming from the door to her left. She stopped and listened as the vibrating came again. Her magic wrapped around the doorknob and she walked into the large library. She looked around until she found the source of the vibrating.

Her magic wrapped around the vibrating book and lifted it off the shelf and placed it on the table in front of her. When she flipped to a blank page, words began to appear on the fresh page. Her eyes scanned the words before she flipped to the next page and read the new words appearing on that page. Her panic returned as she continued to read. Spike walked into the library with a tray of tea and cookies.

"Twilight? What's wrong?" Spike asked. Twilight didn't respond as she quickly ran around the library, grabbing parts she needed to create the portal once more. Spike watched her in shock for several seconds before he ran out of the library to get Twilight's friends. Once he returned with her friends. They found she had already finished building the portal machine. She placed the book above the mirror and stopped.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Twilight repeated as she began to pace back and forth trying to wrap her brain around what she should do.

"What in Celestia's name are you doing?" Rainbow asked.

"The other yous in the parallel world sent me messages," Twilight said as she continued to pace back and forth before continuing, "They said they needed my help, but if I leave. I can't keep looking for Shining Armor." Twilight panicked as she continued to pace back and forth before she stopped and started to hyperventilate and continue, "if I go: I won't be able to help look for my brother, but if I don't! They might be in serious danger. They seemed in deep peril when I read their messages."

Applejack quickly grabbed Twilight and shook her while shouting, "Get it together girl!" Twilight blinked at her before Applejack continued, "We can keep up with all the reports coming in from the Royal Guard while you're helping your friends on the other side." Applejack pointed towards the mirror that shimmered.

"Yeah, we'll keep looking for your brother," Pinkie chimed. Twilight looked at her friends and tears began to form in her eyes.

"You all are the best friends a girl could ask for," Twilight said before the group shared a hug. Twilight turned towards the shimmering mirror before she felt a tug on her tail. She turned to see Spike ready to enter with her. Twilight shook her head and explained, "Sorry Spike. It might be too dangerous for you. Plus you need to be here to get the reports from Canterlot." Spike sulked for a second before he nodded.

Twilight took a deep breath before she ran full speed at the mirror. She jumped and phased into the swirling portal, feeling her body twist and turn as she turned into her humanoid self. She popped out of the mirror under the stallion statue with a grunt. She sat up and rubbed her lower back while complaining, "There needs to be a better way to get here." She suddenly gasped and her eyes widened as she looked upon the school in front of her.

The building looked like it went through an air strike. Windows were boarded up and parts of the building had crumbled to the ground. The building looked worse for wear and she noticed small dark patches of blood on the ground. She stood up in astonishment before she heard a low growl behind her. She turned and fell back on her butt as her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. Where she should have seen the statue of the stallion was one of the creatures that invaded Equestria. Saliva dripped from its maw as it jumped down from the top of the stone slab and slowly stalked towards Twilight.

Twilight slowly crawled backward as the creature slowly stalked closer to her. The creature lowered its body, ready to pounce on Twilight. However, before it could pounce. A large boom echoed throughout the still air. Twilight felt something whoosh past her and saw the creature fall to the ground with a small hole between its blood red eyes. Its silver blood oozed from the bullet wound.

The doors of the school burst open and Applejack shot through the threshold and yelled, "Get off your ass Twilight and get in here!" she didn't need to say it again. Twilight scurried to her feet and bolted towards the open doors. She heard a sound behind her and looked back. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw three more creatures coming from the darkness. She let out a shriek before quickening her pace.

"I got you Twilight," Rainbow shouted as she ran out and aimed her AK-47 towards the creature.

"Don't Rainbow!" Applejack shouted before she added, "You might hit Twilight!" Applejack quickly took the walkie-talkie strapped to her pants and asked, "Rarity, you got a clear shot?" there was no response on the other end. However, there was another booming sound and one of the creatures tumbled over itself. Two more booms came after that and the other two creatures tumbled to the ground. Twilight reached Applejack at the door and when she turned around she saw the creatures slowly start to get up. Silver blood oozed from their bullet wounds on their arms.

"Pinkie! We need you!" Rainbow yelled back in the school.

"Okie Dokie Loki," Pinkie responded. Twilight turned back towards the doors and saw Pinkie walk out with a large Minigun. She half laughed and half snorted before she hit the switch. The Minigun barrel spun seconds before bullets tore out of the spinning barrel and into the sidewalk. Pinkie swung the Minigun in an S motion as the bullets tore through the air towards the creatures. Bullets ripped into the creature's bodies causing them to wail in pain.

Once the creatures stopped moving, the barrel stopped spinning as smoke poured from the Minigun barrel. Applejack grabbed Twilight's wrist and pulled her inside the school while yelling in the walkie-talkie, "Cover us Rarity while we lock the front door!"

"Got it," Rarity's voice came from the walkie-talkie. Once Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, and Twilight were safely inside the school, Applejack slammed the double doors before wrapping a chain around the doors handles before she locked the chains with a padlock.

"Alright Big Mac, you're all set," Applejack said. Big Mac nodded as he, Bulk, and four others began pushing three vending machines that were on their sides and stacked on top of one another in front of the doors.

"Are you alright Twilight?" Fluttershy asked as she walked over to Twilight who was hunched over catching her breath.

"Yeah," Twilight said between breaths before she stood up and asked, "Why are those things here?"

"We'd like to know ourselves," Applejack asked before she walked next to a ladder near the front and hollered, "How's it looking?" Rarity popped out of a makeshift crow's nest before she slung her sniper rifle around her shoulder and slid down the ladder.

"It looks like those were the only ones around," Rarity reported before she added, "However, that doesn't mean more will come looking for them."

"But what the hell are they?" Rainbow interjected. The group looked to Twilight for an answer.

"I'm not even sure," Twilight said before she began to explain how these creatures attacked Equestria and how Equestria fought alongside the other kingdoms to stop them.

"So two months ago these creatures attacked your world as well?" Applejack asked before she added, "So maybe after failing to destroy your world. They come to this world?"

"It seems so, but how can they travel between worlds?" Twilight said. Before anyone could say anything, something slammed against the front doors. The group jumped as another large boom came from the front doors. Applejack looked over to Rarity as she nodded and quickly climbed back up the latter.

"Whatcha ya see up there Rarity?" Applejack asked. For several seconds there was silence before Rarity responded.

"I don't see anything. It might have tried around back," Rarity said before she gasped, "There's someone out there!" as Rarity looked through the scoop. She saw an outline of a person leaning against the slab were the stallion should have been.

"Please, help me," a voice wheezed from the outside.

"Quickly move the barricade. We can't leave them outside," Applejack yelled. Big Mac nodded before he, bulk, and four others began pushing the vending machines away from the door. Once they were removed, Applejack quickly fiddled with the padlock before finally removing the padlock. Rarity looked through her scoop and her eye widened before she ran to the edge of the crow's nest.

"AJ don't!" Rarity screamed, but it was too late. The double doors exploded open and sent Applejack backward. Standing in the open doorway was one of the creatures. It's pitch black skin shimmered in the lights like leather. Its arrow tipped tail whipped in the air as its blood red eyes scanned the room. The wood near the door exploded as the creature jumped in shock. It looked towards where Fluttershy stood shakily as she held a smoking shotgun. The creature let out a low growl just before Fluttershy aimed her shaking shotgun at the creature; she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. On unsteady feet, she fell backward as the bullets exploded in the door frame.

The creature leaped over Applejack and landed on top of Fluttershy. Its front claws pinned her arms down as her shotgun slid away from her body. Fluttershy let out a low squeak as she squirmed to get free. Rainbow quickly grabbed her AK and aimed it at the creature.

"No Rainbow! You might hit Fluttershy!" Applejack warned before she yelled, "Rarity!"

"Kind of busy!" Rarity shouted as she fired her sniper rifle. The bullet whizzed through the air before piercing into the head of another creature that stalked close towards the open doors. She reloaded her sniper rifle and shouted, "It didn't come alone!"

"Pinkie!" Applejack yelled, but Pinkie was already standing in the door frame with the Minigun pointed out into the courtyard. The barrel spun before bullets tore through the air and into the creatures convening towards the school.

The creature on top of Fluttershy lowered its head as saliva dripped from its maw and onto Fluttershy's face. Rainbow continued to aim her AK-47 towards the creature. Her finger twitched over the trigger. She looked over at Applejack with one eye and asked, "What do we do AJ?"

Applejack stood with her hand over her holster that housed her revolver. She didn't know what to do. One the one hand: they could fire on the creature, but a stray bullet might hit Fluttershy and severely hurt her or worse. However, if they did nothing: the creature would most certainly kill Fluttershy.

"AJ!" Rainbow yelled to get her attention, but Applejack continued to stare at the creature. The creature let out another low growl before it rose up and readied itself. Fluttershy closed her eyes and waited for the creature to sink its teeth into her. Before anyone could do a thing. A red blur flew past Pinkie standing at the door. The creature was suddenly flung from atop Fluttershy and slammed into the wall to the right.

The creature wailed in pain and shock as it slid down the wall. It shook its head and looked towards where Fluttershy was. Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and saw a man standing over her. The man wore a red hoodie that was unzipped and revealed his black shirt with golden gears on it. Attached to his black pants loops were dog tags. His hands were wrapped in athletic tape as he began to crack his fingers and say, "Finally found you fuckers."

The creature let out a roar before it charged towards the man. The man's smile grew as he charged towards the creature as well. The creature swiped its right claw towards the man. He was able to dodge under the claw and swung his right fist upwards towards the creature's jaw.

When his fist slammed into the creature's lower jaw, its head snapped up. The man then maneuvered around the creature with such speed he was nothing but a blur for several seconds. The man was now behind the creature and wrapped his arms around its waist before he German suplexed the creature to the ground. The creature let out a groan of pain as the man in the red hoodie suddenly kipped up. The creature slowly tried to get to its feet, but the man quickly kicked the creature in the head. The steel toe of his brown work boot slammed into the creature's head. The creature flopped back to the ground as the man let out a satisfying sigh.

The man walked over to Fluttershy as she looked at him in shock. He was about to extend his hand to help her up but felt a tremor go through his body. He looked down to see a black arrow tipped tail protruding from his chest. He felt his body be lifted up as he came face to face with the creature he had just kicked in the face. Its maw opened as it let out a low growl before the creature's tail slammed the man into the ground.

Its tail ripped from the man's back before the creature turned towards Fluttershy. It lowered its body and lunged for her. However, the creature stopped in midair and fell to the ground. The creature got back up and turned to look at its tail. The man's work boot was slammed onto the creature's tail. He was hunched over with a Chester cat grin on his face. He looked at the creature with a crazed look in his eyes.

"Oh I'm not through with you yet," the man laughed as the hole in the middle of his chest slowly began to close.

Chapter 2

The creature lunged for the man and sunk its teeth into his right shoulder. If the man felt pain, he didn't show it. The man shoved the creature away as a hunk of flesh and meat was ripped from his shoulder. Blood poured from his open wound, but still, he didn't show any pain. The man charged at the creature and drop kicked it into another wall. It wailed in pain as the man grabbed the creature's tail and flung it up into the air before slamming it into the ground. The creature bounced and as it did. The man jumped up and brought his fist down towards the creature's head. The creature's head popped like a pimple between the force of the man's punch and the linoleum floor.

Where the creature's skull hit the linoleum floor was cracked like a spider's web. The man lifted his fist up and flexed it as bones popped and cracked. He sighed, "Great, I broke my hand again." he lifted his hand to his nose and sniffed the silver blood on his hand. He retracted it back and gagged, "Holy shit this stuff reeks!"

Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash all looked at the man in astonishment before Rarity broke them of their trance by yelling, "Could use some help out here!" she reloaded her sniper rifle before continuing to fire on the creatures that seemed to come out of the darkness like a flood. Pinkie continued to sway back and forth spraying bullets into the large mass of creatures. Suddenly and without warning: her Minigun stopped firing bullets and just let out quick clicks.

"I'm out!" Pinkie yelled as she turned towards the group inside the school. A creature charged towards her as Rarity aimed her sniper rifle. She pulled the trigger and felt her heart jump into her throat as she heard the click coming from her rifle. She quickly fumbled with the clip as she ejected the empty one and jammed the full one into her sniper rifle. She looked up and saw the creature lung for Pinkie.

"Pinkie!" Rarity shouted in panic. The Chester cats smile on the man's face grew as Pinkie turned to see the creature be intercepted by a blur of silver. The creature bounced across the pavement before clambering back to its feet. It looked in front of it to see a mechanical tiger glaring back at it with glowing yellow eyes. The gears and cogs turned as the metal bent and whined as the tiger slowly stalked towards the creature. The creature let out a roar and in response, the tiger let out its own roar. Its roar sounded like a tiger's roar blaring out of speakers as it had a metal twinge in it. The tiger and creature charged at one another and collided in a flurry of teeth and claws.

The tiger pushed away from the creature as a mechanical ring-tailed monkey jumped from the Tigers back and towards the creature. It swung the metal pole it wielded down onto the creature's skull. The creature let out a wail of pain as it staggered back. The ring-tailed cartwheeled back and spun its metal pole, ready for the next attack. Both the mechanical ring-tail and tiger looked around as a group of creatures stalked around them.

A shadow raced across the ground as a wyvern soared through the sky. It was thirteen feet long from its metal snout to its metal tail that ended in a sphere with spikes. It let out a roar that sounded like a dragon's roar being played out of speakers combined with a metal twinge. As it soared around, it tilted right and let two large objects fall from its back. One of the creatures looked up just as a spear pierced between its eyes.

The spear-like leg ripped from the creature's head as the human-sized mechanical black widow spider turned towards a group of creatures. Its spear-like legs tapped on the pavement as its fangs twitched. Before any of the creatures behind the spider could react, the other object slammed into the ground behind the spider. The creatures watched as the object unfolded itself to become a large human-sized scorpion. The scorpion snapped its pincers before its right pincer opened and a double barrel Minigun came from the pincer. Before the creatures or the mechanical spider and scorpion could move, a small group of creatures was engulfed in flames as an explosion rocked the courtyard.

From the smoke swam out a large eight-foot long mechanical bull shark. Fans on its side fins kept it aloft while its powerful tail let it swim through the air. Its maw opened and rows upon rows of sharp, serrated teeth spun around its mouth like a chainsaw. Two shark shaped missiles moved up from the bottom of its mouth before shooting towards another group of creatures.

The hammerhead missile flew through the air before it split in half and went in opposite directions before collided and exploding into separate groups of creatures. The other shark missile, a cookie cutter shark missile spun like a vortex with its mouth open. Its rows of teeth spun counterclockwise while its body spun in a clockwise rotation. It carved through each creature like butter before embedding itself in the eighth creature. The creature wailed in pain as it tried to pull the missile out, but the cookie cutter shark missile dug further into the creature before it disappeared. Seconds later the missile exploded, ripping the creature asunder.

"Beautiful aren't they?" a man sitting on the stone stairs asked. Pinkie jumped and looked at the man in shock. He wore a black trench coat covering his green t-shirt and blue jeans. Atop his shaven head was a black cowboy hat. He had walked up to the stairs and sat down after the wyvern dropped the mechanical spider and scorpion. Pinkie was so enthralled with the mechanical creatures she didn't notice him until he spoke up. the man in the cowboy hat laughed at her shock and added, "Sorry love, didn't mean to scare you."

The wyvern landed in the courtyard and stood up straight as its underbelly opened like a cargo bay of a plane. When the bottom ramp hit the ground, four more people walked out from inside the wyvern's body. Once the last person stepped out onto the pavement, the wyvern's underbelly closed back up before it took to the skies once more.

"Looks like the others are ready to begin," the man in the cowboy hat said as the man wearing the red hoodie walked out of the school and stood next to him. He looked over at the man in the hoodie and asked, "You healed up yet?"

"Yeah, all better now," the man in the hoodie said as he flexed his right hand. There was no popping or cracking of bones coming from his hand. The man in the cowboy hat nodded before he and the man in the red hoodie waited for what the four would do next.

Chapter 3

One of the people who had exited the wyvern was a woman with short purple hair, emerald green eyes with slanted pupils like snakes and her smile went ear to ear as a forked tongue flicked from her mouth. She walked away from the group before going into a run towards a group of creatures. Rainbow and the others walked out with Pinkie and watched the events unfold.

"What is she doing?" Fluttershy asked in shock. The two men looked at one another and smiled just as the woman glowed purple. In a flash, she was replaced with a purple triceratops. It charged towards the group of creatures and collided with them. Most of the creatures were flung to the side, three were stomped on, and one was unfortunate enough to be gored by the right horn of the dinosaur.

The triceratops put on the brakes and slide to a stop before turning around and whipping its head back and forth until the creature pierced by its horn was flung from its head. The triceratops dug its right foot into the ground before charging again. However, it glowed purple and was replaced by a purple velociraptor. It let out a screech and charged toward another group of creatures.

The other three people jetted towards other groups of creatures. One of the men wore a plain white shirt and ripped gray jeans. He looked around at the group circling him. Silver liquid seeped out of his skin from his hand. It began to take the shape of a revolver. While in his other hand seeped out the same silver liquid before it took the shape of a sawed-off shotgun and hardened like the revolver.

The man looked at each creature around him before one of the creatures lunged for his back. The man jumped up and over the creature as he pointed the sawed-off shotgun at the back of the creature's head. He pulled the dual triggers on the shotgun and the buckshot bullets ripped through the creature's skull and made it exploded in a mass of pitch black flesh and silver blood. The man landed on the ground and spun around as another creature lunged for him. He lifted his sawed-off shotgun towards the creature. The creature seemed to smile as it knew his shotgun was empty. However, the man pulled the dual triggers and two more buckshot ripped from the barrels and into the creature's skull.

The man sidestepped the limp creature as it passed by him and slid to a stop. The man let out a bored sigh before he began to spin around like a twister. With every rotation, he pulled the trigger of his shotgun and revolver at the creatures around him. No matter how many times he pulled the trigger of his guns. He never had to reload them. Almost like the silver bullets materialized in the barrels of the guns. The man stopped and let out another unsatisfied sigh as the creatures around him lay lifeless in pools of silver blood.

The two guns once again changed into silver liquid and morphed into two new weapons. His revolver morphed into a short sword, while his sawed-off shotgun morphed into a long saber. He then changed towards another group of creatures while mumbling, "What a drag.".

The second man of the four was a much younger looking man wearing a long sleeved thin sweater with red and purple stripes and tan pants. Over his sweater was a pink vest with yellow skulls on each breast pocket. He swung the large bastard sword wrapped in white bandages at a creature. The sword cut the creature in half like a hot knife through butter. He swung around and slammed the blade onto another creature before he slammed the tip of the blade into the ground before jumping off the handle and into the air while yelling, "Switch!"

The large bastard sword glowed orange and began to morph as it shrunk and change into the silhouette of a human body. The glow dimmed to reveal another young man. His attire was much more, unique than the others. He wore a white strait-jacket that bound his arms, around his body atop his strait-jacket where thick chains with small glowing orange symbols. He had tattered white hospital pants that covered the tops of his baby blue roller-skates. He had a Hannibal Lecter-like mask covering the bottom half of his face while he had a blindfold over his eyes. The young man in the air wearing the pink vest glowed yellow and began to shrink and take the shape of what looked like a large silver dinner saucer. It spun around before straps came from it and the straps latched to the chains on the back of the strait-jacket.

Eight small doors open on the base of the saucer as eight long serpent-like arms exploded out of the doors. Each serpent-like arm wriggled in the air as each had different tips that seemed to look around at the creatures around the young man wearing the strait-jacket. He leaned forward as the sound of a motor echoed from his skates before he was propelled forward towards the group of creatures in front of him. The young man in the strait-jacket spun like a twister as one of the serpent-like arms with a sickle tip carved into each creature's flesh, while another that had a buzz saw at the tip carved into each creature.

The young man came to a screeching halt as two serpent-like arms with three clawed appendages slammed into the ground and lifted the man in the air just before two creatures collided with each other. The arms lifted him high in the air before all eight arms quickly retracted back. The saucer detached from the man's back before spinning and flying above the young man in the strait-jacket. The saucer glowed yellow and changed back into the man in the pink vest. He extended his hand towards the young man in the strait-jacket and yelled again, "Switch!"

The young man in the strait-jacket glowed orange again and changed back into the bastard sword wrapped in white cloth. The sword spun like a disk and flew towards the young man in the vest. He grasped the handle of the sword before he spun like a wheel down towards one of the creatures as the sword sliced through its back, severing its spine and leaving two halves to squirm before falling limp. The young man in the vest smiled before running towards another group of creatures.

The final person of the four-man group was a man who was walking towards the group on the stairs with his hands in his pockets. He had on a pair of black Nike shoes, faded blue jeans, and a black T-shirt with a dark blue skull in the middle with a jagged cross exploding from the skulls scalp. His brown hair was covered by a black baseball cap that had what looked like earrings on the right side of its bill. His right arm had a tattoo of barbed wire that trapped eight butterflies, each a different color and his left arm had an angel holding a sword downwards in a prayer stance.

The creatures watching him seemed to give him a wide berth before they suddenly lunged towards him. The man in the red hoodie smile returned to his face as the man in the cowboy had sighed and placed his index fingers in his ears and closed his eyes. Before the creatures could find purchase, a loud, massive crackle of thunder boomed in the air as seven large lightning bolts descended from the heavens and crashed down onto the group of creatures around him creating a large flash of white light. Twilight and her friends closed their eyes and lifted their hand up as the flash appeared and suddenly disappeared.

When the flash vanished, it showed the remains of the creatures. The group lay on the ground, some curled up like dead spiders. While others lay on the ground twitching as their bodies had steam rising from their bodies before they finally fell limp. The man in the ball cap looked back towards more of the creatures that had emerged from the darkness only to stop when the lightning came from the skies. They seemed to slowly stalk backward into the darkness before the rest of the creatures retreated back into the darkness.

"Guess we showed them," the man in the red hoodie said as the group of four started over to him, the man in the cowboy hat, Twilight, and her friends. The purple velociraptor trotting next to the man with the black baseball cap glowed and changed back into the woman with short purple hair. The man in the plain white shirt let his two blades change into silver liquid before seeping back into his skin. Twilight and her friends were in a state of shock at what they had just witnessed. Their trance was broken when the man in the black baseball cap spoke up.

"So you going to let us in or what?" he asked. Applejack jumped at his question before she quickly moved her hand over her right holster that held her revolver.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you cowgirl," the man in the black cowboy hat said as the mechanical creatures convened on the group. He lifted his right hand as the watch on his wrist glowed crystal blue. The mechanical creatures changed into green ones and zeros before morphing into strands and flew into the air. The green stands of zeros and ones looped around in the air and flew into his watch. Once the last strand phased into his watch. He let his arm fall to his side before he turned to Applejack and added, "You honestly think your six shooters are going to do anything after what we did to the Death Hunters?"

"Death Hunter?" Twilight questioned.

"Can we explain everything inside?" the woman with the purple hair whined before she added, "it's going to rain soon and I don't want to be out here when it comes down."

Chapter 4

After what felt like an eternal standoff: Applejack closed the double doors and wrapped the chain around the handles before locking the padlock. She stepped back and looked over at Big Mac and said, "Alright. You're all set." Before Big Mac could move, the man in the red hoodie walked over to the stacked vending machines. He motioned Big Mac and the others to move before he spat into his hands and placed his hands on the vending machines.

To everyone's astonishment, the man in the red hoodie pushed the three vending machines all by himself. They scrapped across the linoleum floor before stopping in front of the double doors. He let out a sigh and wiped his brow of invisible sweat.

"Really?" the woman with purple hair asked.

"What?" the man in the red hoodie questioned.

"You called them Death Hunters," Twilight asked before she added, "What are they?"

"A better question would be who are you all?" Rainbow asked.

"I'm sorry, where are my manners," the man in the cowboy hat said before he introduced himself, "I'm Chad Austin."

"Mark Veering," the man in the red hoodie said.

"Zack Sydell," the man in the plain white t-shirt said in a bored tone.

"Stacy Vermillion," the woman with the purple hair said before she added, "but most people call me Viper cause of my tattoo." in the battle, no one had noticed her large snake tattoo that started at her right ankle and wrapped up her leg into the bottom of her dress. The snake came out of her cleavage and towards her left shoulder. It wrapped around her shoulder and coiled around her arm towards her hand as the snake's maw opened. Ready to eat her hand.

"Rex Royce," the man with the black baseball cap said.

"I'm Pain," the man in the pink vest stated before he moved his sword so the tip of the blade was pointed at the ground and added, "and this is my brother Panic."

"Now that we've shared our names," Chad said before he added, "How about you share yours?"

"Applejack," Applejack said before she rattled off each of her friend's names. Once she finished she looked back at Chad and added, "Y'all called those things Death Hunters? What are those things anyway? I ain't ever seen those things before. For that matter: I've seen some strange things before, but I've never seen the things Y'all were able to do."

"What type of magic was that anyway?" Twilight asked.

"Wasn't magic," Zack scoffed.

"First: the Death Hunters are creatures from our world. They're something man-made, even though we didn't intend to create them," Chad stated.

"What do you mean you didn't intend to create them," Fluttershy asked.

"Our world was once beaming with life, but our ancestors were greedy. They lusted for power, land, wealth and above all: power," Mark explained.

"With the advance of technology, humanity created more powerful and deadly weapons to fight one another. Ultimately, they used their most powerful creation against one another," Viper continued before she added, "the weapon was a nuclear-powered bomb. They launched these weapons at each other and not only dwindled humanities population but ravaged our world's ecosystem with how much radiation filled the air."

"Indeed, once our ancestors saw what they had done. They began to work together to build protection from the radiation. After several years they built domes called ARKS which are large cities in domes that collect both radiation and solar rays. Once humanity began to rebuild itself, it seemed all the horrors of the war were behind them," Chad continued before he added with a grimace, "But they were so very wrong."

"The Death Hunters appeared twenty years ago and began attacking the ARKS and the humans within. It seems the radiation of the bombs created them. Humanity once again found themselves in dire need of protection," Rex explained before he finished, "Humanity dabbled in genetics. Moreover: they dabbled in how to tweak the genetic coding of humans to become super soldiers and here we are."

"So you all are like living weapons?" Pinkie spoke up.

"Pretty much," Viper said.

"However, we're not looked upon as weapons. Those who have been genetically enhanced by going through the Genetic Enhancement Conversion are considered Guardians. Our altered genetics allow us to perform supernatural feats, "Chad explained.

The walkie-talkie on Applejack's belt loop began to breathe out static before a deep, rough voice came from the speaker, "Applejack if you got a minute. We need to talk." Applejack grabbed it and pressed the talk button.

"Got it, will be there soon," Applejack said before she let go of the button and placed it back in its holster on her right belt loop. She turned to both her group of friends and the so-called Guardians and said, "Heavy Artillery needs me in the gym." Her friends nodded and so did the Guardians as the group headed back into the gym. As they walked into the gym Mark whistled in amazement at the size of the gym

The large gym was split into four sections. One of the sections was a makeshift bed area with cots and air mattresses. The second section was a kind of wreck area with tables set up for board games, while also having pool and foosball tables. The third area was closest to the double doors that lead into the kitchen. The area had four folding tables with dirty pots and pans that had feed those trapped in the school. Now, they were being placed in a wheeled tube to be wheeled back into the kitchen to be washed. The final section was set up as a shooting range. Large targets that were used in archery were riddled with bullet holes.

"Is it wise to waste bullets on practice?" Zack asked as he eyed the makeshift shooting range.

"We use rubber bullets for target practice," Applejack said as she walked towards an elderly man sitting on a wooden crate that had the letters RPG spray-painted on its side. The elderly man had dark red skin and his once green hair was now a silver gray. When he saw Applejack, he waved to her as though she didn't see him. She walked up to him and asked, "What's wrong Artillery?"

"Well, I've got bad news and worse news," Heavy Artillery admitted before he added, "Which you want to hear first?"

"Please, just get to the point," Applejack said. Imagining the worst and hoping it wasn't too serious.

"Well, the food rations are running low. That's the bad news," Heavy Artillery stated.

"I figured our food supply wouldn't last long, but we can send search parties out. Just have to be careful of the monsters outside," Applejack said before she asked, "What's the worse news?"

"We're running out of ammunition," Heavy Artillery said.

"Shit," Applejack cursed before she asked, "How long before we're completely dry?"

"If the attacks continue like they've been," Heavy Artillery said before he continued, "A month, maybe less if the food runs out first and we have to send out scavenger parties."

"I can help with the parties," Pinkie chimed.

"Wrong kind of party Pinkie," Rainbow said. Pinkie looked at her puzzled.

While the group was discussing their situation with Heavy Artillery, Twilight had looked around the gym. She then looked back to Applejack and asked, "Where's Sunset?"

Chapter 5

Applejack turned to Twilight and moved the front of her hat over her eyes as she began to explain, "About a week and a half ago: we were attacked by those creatures."

"The Death Hunters," Mark remarked. Applejack nodded before continuing.

"This attack was much more aggressive than usual. We thought they might get into the school and slaughter all of us. That's when Sunset and Flash were able to flank a group of Death Hunters and have them follow them. With the group preoccupied with the two, we were able to deal with the remaining and push them back. However, Sunset and Flash never came back," Applejack explained.

"Yeah, those two are dead," Zack stated as he examined a Winchester set on a table in front of a large target.

"Zack!" Viper yelled.

"What?" Zack questioned as he set the gun down and turned to Viper and continued, "I'm just stating the truth of the matter. You know as well as I do none Guardians can't survive a Death Hunter attack."

"Yeah, but you could at least try to see the positive in this situation," Viper argued. Zack simply shrugged before he went back to examining the Winchester.

"If I may change the subject," Chad said before he continued, "it seems you have a dilemma. We might be able to help you."

"Are you able to get us ammo?" Rainbow asked.

"Nah, we can get rid of your Death Hunter problem," Rex said matter-a-factly

"How?" Rarity questioned.

"We attack the Hive," Pain spoke up.

"Hive?" Pinkie asked.

"The Death Hunters are just one part of a Hive. They're scavengers that go out to find food for their queen and young," Chad explained.

"Hold on, you're saying there are more than just those things out there?" Rainbow asked.

"Yes," Chad said as he nodded and continued, "Think of these creatures as a colony of ants. Each type is unique and is necessary for the Hive to thrive."

"So how do we find the Hive?" Pinkie chimed in.

"Follow the Death Hunters," Zack stated.

"Are you Crazy?" Twilight blurted out before she continued, "Going into a Hive with Luna knows what is suicide."

"We know all too well what lives in and near the Hive," Pain said matter-a-factly.

"Pain and Panic are the only two who have even going into a Hive and returned alive," Rex explained.

"So we just need to wait for the Death Hunters to come back and follow them when they retreat," Rarity said.

"Nah, we don't need to wait. Just need a map of this city," Chad said. Fluttershy nodded and quickly left to find a map of the city. While she was gone, Zack walked up with the Winchester resting on his right shoulder.

"I've been wondering: where did you get all these weapons?" Zack asked before he continued, "I highly doubt a school like this would have guns stored in a supply closet."

"That would be my doing," Heavy Artillery admitted.

"He's a retired Army Sergeant working at the military base a few miles east of the school. Once those creatures attacked, we barricaded the doors and prayed that they wouldn't get in. At one point, we thought they would get in. However, that's when Artillery and his friends came to our rescue," Applejack explained. Heavy Artillery let out a sad sigh before Applejack continued, "He was the only one to make it inside."

"Armada, Atlas, Weaponry, Golden Arrow, Cannon Fodder. All of them gave their lives to protect these kids and me. All because of my ailment," Heavy Artillery sighed as Pinkie walked up to him and gently patted him on his right shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself. Without you, we wouldn't have any chance of fighting back," Pinkie reassured him.

"Ailment?" Viper questioned.

"Took a bullet to my right knee during one of my tours," Heavy Artillery said as he lightly patted his left knee.

"How can a small group of soldiers carry this much artillery?" Zack questioned.

"Our large truck, we drove through the city looking for survivors and we found this school that was being attacked by those creatures. After they finally retreated, I instructed them to drive back to the base and stock up on supplies and weapons," Heavy Artillery explained.

"We never saw a truck out there, did we?" Pain asked as he looked at his sword.

"I don't remember a truck outside," Chad said as the other Guardians agreed.

"Sunset and Flash took it," Applejack admitted before explain, "Like I said before. We were under attack at one point and Sunset and Flash flanked a group of them to get their attention. They then drove the truck away from the school as the group followed."

"Smart, "Zack praised just before Fluttershy came back with a map of the city. Heavy Artillery moved off the crate to allow her to unroll the map. Fluttershy unraveled the map onto the crate as Chad walked over to the map and raised his hand with the watch on it. A hologram menu appeared above the clock face. He pressed several images before a lined grid appeared above the map. Then two dots appeared: one red and one yellow before the grid disappeared.

"This is where we are," Chad said as he pointed to the yellow dot before he moved his hand towards the red dot and continued, "This is where the Hive is." Applejack and her friends gathered around the map to examine it.

"Isn't that the History Museum?" Pinkie asked as she cooked her head to the side.

"I think your right Pinkie," Rarity said.

"Now we know where the Hive is, we can come up with a plan of attack," Rex said as he looked up at Chad. Chad examined the map before finally coming up with a plan.

"We could take the Wyvern and drop down into the Hive, but going at the Museum in one group might be a bad idea. However, it looks like there are seven streets that all connect to the Museum," Chad said as he traced each street with his finger before he continued, "We each take a street and head towards the Hive. This way if some of us get noticed, we have the others to reach the Hive and kill the queen."

"Won't killing the queen aggravate the rest of the Hive?" Twilight asked.

"Normally yes, but the Hive have a fatal flaw," Pain said before he began to explain, "You kill the queen, you kill the whole Hive. Each section of the Hive is one entity. If the queen dies, the rest of the Hive dies as well. "

"Just need one shot between the bitch's eyes and done," Zack said as he pointed the Winchester towards a wall and pretended to pull the trigger. Chad nodded before he continued relaying his plan.

"We're coming too," Applejack said after Chad had finished and the Guardians were about to leave.

Chapter 6

"You sure that's a good idea?" Zack asked before he continued, "You won't have the walls of this school to protect you."

"You all can protect us. Right?" Fluttershy asked clutching her shotgun close to her body.

"To a point," Chad admitted before he added, "if we get swarmed, there's no guarantee you won't die."

"We're not some damsels in distress," Rainbow said as she strapped a belt around her waist before placing full clips in each of the eight holders before she added, "We can defend ourselves. We've been doing it for a while." Applejack nodded as she too placed a strap around her waist as well before she placed auto-reloaders for her revolvers in each of the holders. Rarity tested the straps of her sniper rifle before she began loading full clips into holders around her waist. After Pinkie made sure her Minigun was fully stocked with ammo. She helped Fluttershy with her buckshot and helped make sure she was fully stocked.

"Besides, we need to look for Sunset and Flash," Applejack said.

"I already told you they're dead. You don't piss off a horde of Death Hunters and live to tell the tale," Zack said.

"Well that's not entirely true," Pain spoke up before he continued, "there might be a slim chance their alive if they have the right cell structure."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mark asked before he joked, "and I thought Panic was the batshit insane one." Pain shot Mark a glare as it seemed his sword twitched at the sound of the world insane.

"Now, now gentlemen, let's act like adults here," Chad said as he stood in the middle of the two to calm the situation. Once the two seemed to back down, Chad turned to Applejack and continued, "Pain has a point though. The Queen is unable to produce children in a normal sense."

"Then how can it thrive without the ability to reproduce?" Fluttershy asked.

"The Death Hunters not only look for food when they are out but candidates to become part of the Hive. The queen wraps the potential candidate in a cocoon of white silk saliva. The saliva seeps into the person's skin and slowly turns them into part of the Hive," Chad explained.

"Or she forces the person's mouth open and vomits the silk into their body should she need a quicker transformation," Pain stated.

While all of this was going on, Twilight was staring at eight guns on the table at the makeshift shooting range. Each weapon she looked at made her grimace and whenever she went to touch one of them. She recoiled like they were on fire and the flames licked her fingers.

"Can't decide huh?" Zack asked as he walked over to her and looked at the spread of weapons in front of her before he added, "Best chose something that feels comfortable and doesn't hinder you."

"That's just it, none of these are comfortable. I've never seen anything like these," Twilight admitted as she pointed to the guns on the table.

"You're kidding me right?" Zack asked.

"Nope, Twilight here is from another world," Pinkie chimed in as she appeared seemingly from nowhere and continued, "you see she might look like a normal human, but actually she's a pony princess." Zack looked from Pinkie to Twilight with an eyebrow raised.

"It's a long story," Twilight said.

"Whatever," Zack said before he turned and yelled, "Chad! You got those gauntlets?" Chad looked at Zack and nodded before he lifted his right arm and the watch glowed again. Instead of the mechanical creatures coming out, two large ruby red gauntlets with crystals embedded in the back of the hands floated in the air. They had clear diamonds embedded in them on the back sides of the hand plates. Chad grabbed them and threw them to Zack who caught them. Zack placed the gauntlets on the table and added, "Try them on."

Twilight looked at Zack before looking at the gauntlets. She went to pick them up and struggled to even lift them. She finally was able to place the gauntlets on, but her arms hung down as she struggled to keep from falling to the floor. She looked at her hanging arms and then at Zack as she asked, "How am I supposed to use these?"

"Flex for hands into fists," Zack said. Twilight nodded and tried to flex her hands. The metal making up the gauntlets made it tough to flex, but when she did. The gauntlets shrunk to comfortably fit her arms and hands. The weight dramatically decreased to the point she felt like the gauntlets weren't even on. She lifted her arms and looked at the gauntlets before she looked at Zack in shock.

"How?" Was the only thing Twilight could muster up.

"Those are Roulette Gauntlets," Zack said before he explained, "They're made of Nanobots that contract around the wears arms and hands comfortably. The Nanobots in those crystals randomly generate elemental properties. This way you can produce and manipulate the four basic elements: Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. The Nanobots do this by collecting the atoms around you but remember. They randomly chose the elements. You won't be able to willingly choose the elements."

"That's awesome! Can we get some too," Rainbow asked.

"Sorry Rainbow, Only have the one set of Gauntlets. However," Chad said as he thought before the hologram from the clock face appeared again. He clicked a few images and the watch glowed again. On the map appeared several clips of ammunition for each of the group's guns. He motioned towards the clips and added, "Some special Ammo for you, primitive guns. However, you might want to use them sparingly. Once the ammo is gone, I can't guarantee I'll have more." The group nodded and took their respective ammunition.

"If they're coming with us, we'll have to go down each road in pairs of two," Rex stated.

"I voluntary to be paired with Fluttershy," Mark quickly said as he raised his hand. Everyone looked at him as he looked around and everyone and asked, "What?"

"Alright, let's pair off and ready ourselves for the journey ahead," Chad said before he turned to Twilight and her friends and added, "Prepare for your worst nightmares to come true."

Chapter 7

As the sun began to set and the street lamps began to click on. Pain sneakily leaned against the wall of the small café as Pinkie followed behind him. He raised his hand to stop her and slowly looked around the corner. Nothing was wandering the street for a few seconds and then he saw a lone Death Hunter stalking the street in search of food. Pain looked back as Pinkie and pointed to the window next to her. She seemed to understand and reached into her puffy hair to produce a hair clip. She finagled the clip into the lock on the window until a small click came from the window. Pinkie slowly opened the window and easily climbed into the window even though she carried the large Minigun. Pain waited till she was inside before he too quickly climbed into the café through the window and slowly and quietly shut the window.

“What now?” Pinkie whispered. Pain thought for a moment before he looked around and found a door that led to the back of the café. Pain told Pinkie to wait there as he walked into the back. Once the door closed, a small orange glow came from the bottom of the doorframe. Once the glow disappeared, a pink glow then took its place before it too disappeared. The door opened and instead of Pain, Panic skated out into the café’s foray. One of the long snake arms came from the saucer on Panic’s back. The tip was a drill that spun and pointed upwards. Pinkie cocked her head before Panic rolled towards the stairs as four more snake arms with three long claws slithered out of the saucer and began helping Panic up the stairs. Pinkie just followed Panic until they reached the roof of the café.

“What now?” Pinkie whispered as they stood on the roof. Panic didn’t say a word, but a long snake-like arm came from one of the compartments of the saucer. It's long three appendages wrapped around Pinkie's body before three more snake-like arms slithered from the saucer on Panic’s back. The three arms lifted both Panic and Pinkie before they walked from the cafe rooftop to the root of the building next to it. They did this several more times as they quietly headed towards the museum. The street was now filled with Death Hunters that continued to look for food, but never once looked up to see Panic and Pinkie going from rooftop to rooftop.

They stopped on the rooftop of a grocery store. The long snake-like arms slithered back into the saucer and it quickly detached from Panic’s back and glowed pink. It transformed back into Pain. All three stood on the rooftop and started across at the large object in front of them. Across from them was a large, black knight. It sat on its knees with both its hands clamped on the handle of its sword that had been embedded in the roof. Its head hung low and it seemed there was no living being inside the suit of armor.

Pain, Panic, and Pinkie all stood there for several minutes before Pain hissed, “Switch Panic.” Panic nodded and glowed orange before he changed back into the sword that was wrapped in cloth. Pain grabbed the handle of the sword and waited. After several seconds Pain pointed his sword towards a hatch at the top of the building and ordered, “Climb down and head towards the museum. Meet up with the other, I’ll deal with this.” As if on cue: the suit of armor came to life. It began to stand up as the metal plates clanged against one another. Once it stood straight up, it ripped its large sword from the roof and readied itself.

Before anything could happen, Pinkie quickly ran towards the hatch and pulled it open before she descended down the ladder. When she reached the bottom and set foot on the aluminum floor. The middle of the ceiling exploded and collapsed into the middle of the store. Pinkie covered her eyes as the dust filled the store and she quickly moved the collar of her shirt over her mouth and nose. As the dust began to settle she saw the suit of armor standing in the middle of the cereal aisle with the right holder on its side. She then saw Pain standing in front the suit of armor. The two ran towards one another before colliding in the middle as their swords collided with one another.

The suit of armor quickly swung its right fist towards Pain, but he was able to duck underneath it and was able to hop onto the handle of his sword and kick the helmet off the suit of armor. He had expected to see someone inside, but instead when he landed back on the floor and readied his next attack. He saw nothing but purple miasma swirling where the helmet once was. The helmet had flown off and bounced on the floor with a metal clang before rolling towards Pinkie and stopping in front of her. She picked it up and moved it around in her hands before the miasma suddenly shot from the suit armor and towards the helmet in Pinkie’s hand. Pinkie quickly dropped the helmet and ran from towards the entrance of the store.

The miasma didn’t follow Pinkie; instead, it flooded into the helmet and as it did. The helmet lifted back up and floated towards the suit of armor. Once the helmet was back with the rest of the armor, it charged towards Pain. Pain sidestepped the sword swing and swung his sword towards the armor's helmet. Its right gauntlet grabbed Pain’s sword before it flung Pain towards the entrance.

As Pinkie broke the threshold of the store’s entrance, Pain crashed through the large window making up the front of the store and rolled on the ground. Pinkie quickly ran over to Pain as he slowly started to get up. His right arm was sliced open from rolling in glass and skidding across the asphalt. The sword glowed orange and changed into Panic who stood up and seemed to look forward.

“I see it too,” Pain said as he stood up straight. Pinkie looked towards where they were looking and saw another suit of armor. However, instead of black armor, the suit was made of white armor with silver miasma seeping out the cracks. She watched as the black suit of armor crashed through the glass doors and looked over towards the white suit of armor. She hoped the two would fight one another while her, Pain, and Panic could get away. However, her hopes were shattered when the black suit of armor walked over to the other suit of armor and stood next to it.

“My, my dear sister, look what we’ve caught in our web,” a boy that looked to be the age of ten said as he walked out from behind the white suit of armor. He wore a black T-shirt and black pants with a duffle bag hanging on his right hip.

“Yes dear brother, it seems two flies have wandered too far into our den,” a girl that looked to be the same age said as she walked out from behind the black suit of armor. She wore a simple white dress with a duffle bag hanging from her left hip.

“Get going Pinkie. You don’t want to get caught in the crosshairs of this fight,” Pain stated.

“But they’re only kids,” Pinkie retorted.

“Yes, to you,” Pain said before he explained, “Shadow and Silver.” He pointed to the boy in black first and then the girl in white before he continued, “ Two of the most sadistic murderers from our world and I highly doubt you want to be part of this fight. Just head to the museum, the others should be there shortly.” Pinkie nodded before she raced off towards the museum.

“Why dear sister I think he has got us mistaken for himself and his brother,” Shadow said.

“Yes dear brother, it seems he’s confusing us for their blood-soaked tyrants,” Silver said.

“Ready?” Pain asked Panic who simply nodded. Pain turned back to Shadow and Silver as a twisted smile formed on his face

Rarity quickly ran towards the wall of the building and quickly stood as her back rested against the wall. She quickly took out a pocket mirror and held it out around the corner to see what awaited her in the street. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw nothing but street lamps lighting the sidewalks and road. She quickly walked around the corner and slowly walked down the street towards the museum.

“Why aren’t there any Death Hunters around?” Rarity asked. The small purple spider on her right shoulder simply shrugged. Rarity sighed after a few minutes and stopped. She turned to the spider and asked, “Can you not use me as a taxi?” All of the spider’s eyes rolled and it crawled down her arm. Rarity shivered as she felt the hairy legs of the tarantula that slowly crawled down her arm. The Tarantula jumped from Rarity’s arm to the pavement before it glowed purple and changed back into Viper. She stretched after the glow disappeared before she let out a satisfied sigh.

“So why are there no Death Hunters prowling around?” Rarity asked again.

“I don’t know,” Viper said as she shrugged. Rarity let out a frustrated sigh as she continued to walk down the street. Each dark alleyway they passed, Rarity aimed her Sniper rifle at and waited for something to jump out at her. When nothing did, she moved on. Viper on the other hand just walked casually down the street with her arms behind her head.

“How can you be so calm, a Death Hunter or other abomination could jump out at any moment,” Rarity said.

“Not likely,” Viper said matter-a-factly before she added, “Changing into animals allows me to have a great sense of smell and so far. I haven’t smelled anything that resembles anything from the hive.” Rarity stopped and looked at her in complete shock which turned to frustration

“Really,” Rarity said a little annoyed as she lowered her gun and added, “You could have said that sooner!” Viper stopped and turned to her and simply shrugged again before continuing down the street. Rarity let out another frustrated sigh and quickly caught up to Viper. Why did I get stuck with her? Rarity thought.

Rarity suddenly bumped into Viper’s back and quickly jumped back. She looked at her quizzically, but before she could say a word. Viper lifted her right hand and placed a single finger up to quite Rarity. Rarity watched as Viper quickly sniffed the air like a predator searching for its prey. For several minutes, Viper continued to sniff the air until it seemed her short purple hair started to fizzle like a cat's tail when cornered. She let out a low growl as she hissed, “Run.”

Rarity slowly started to walk backward and when she turned around she stopped. Her eyes widened and she began to slowly walk backward towards Viper. She let out a small squeak as she walked past Viper and simply lifted her hand and pointed towards where they had just come. Viper turned to where Rarity was pointing and saw a large silver spinosaurus standing behind them. Its long arms dangled underneath it as its mouth opened and closed with each breath, exposing its large dagger-like teeth.

“Head towards the museum, meet up with the others there,” Viper ordered before she added, “I’ll deal with this.” Rarity didn’t question her order as she turned around and ran down the street towards the museum. She didn’t stop when she heard a roar followed by another and then the large footsteps that came after that.

Mark and Fluttershy walked down the middle of the street towards the museum. It seemed Mark wasn’t too worried about being seen while Fluttershy stuck close to him, hugging her shotgun close to her body. Fluttershy looked over at Mark and asked, “Are you sure we should be out in the open like this?”

“We’ll be fine,” Mark reassured her before he boasted, “Anything that comes near us I’ll just rip apart. Nothing can harm me.”

“How is that exactly?” Fluttershy asked as she looked over at the ripped part of his hoodies shoulder and remembered seeing one of the Death Hunters piercing into his chest.

“Nanobots,” Mark admitted.

“Nanobots?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yeah, when I was 12 I had an accident that left my heart damaged. The doctors told my parents I might not survive to my 13th birthday. However, there was a very experimental procedure that might have kept me alive. It was called the Steel Heart program. It would replace my damaged heart with one made of flexible titanium, but not only that: the heart would create and house Nanobots that would travel around my body and repair any damaged cell in my body. My parents weighed the outcomes and agreed to put me into the procedure. It was a marvelous success, but because it was still an experimental procedure. There was a downside to this,” Mark explained.

“What was the downside?” Fluttershy asked.

“The Nanobots could repair damaged cells, but would also cause damage. They destroyed my nerves system and because of this. I can’t feel pain, which might seem nice in hindsight. However, when you can’t feel when you need to take a piss, it can cause some very uncomfortable situations. Which is why they tried to fix this issue, but they couldn’t get the Nanobots to fix the damaged nerves. They injected me with more Nanobots to see if they could fix it, but that didn’t work. So instead, they updated them so they could tell my brain that I need to use the toilet,” Mark explained.

“So you can’t feel any pain?” Fluttershy asked.

“Nope,” Mark said flatly before he demonstrated. He took his ring finger on his right hand and bent it all the way back. Until the sound of broken bones came from it and the skin connecting to his palm split open and blood trickled down his hand. He then moved it back and waited. Fluttershy grimaced when she heard the bone break. Mark waited for several minutes before he wiped his bloody hand on his hoody. The blood had stopped and he showed Fluttershy that the ripped skin had healed. He flexed his hand and showed that the bone had been mended before he added, “See, I’m basically indestructible.”

“Care to test that?” a voice asked. Mark and Fluttershy stopped and turned around to see a man standing behind them. He wore a plain white T-shirt that was covered with a lightweight black coat. His hands were covered with gloves that didn’t cover his fingers. His gray pants were stained with what looked like bleach stains and his tan boots had large scars and cuts in them. On top of his short brown hair were Victorian style goggles.

“Get going Fluttershy, I’ll take care of this guy,” Mark said with a smile as he popped a few joints in his knuckles.

“But he might be able to help,” Fluttershy argued.

“Trust me; this guy isn’t here to help us. I’ll explain everything later, just get to the museum. I’ll be along shortly,” Mark said. Fluttershy slowly back away before she stopped and took a deep breath to ready herself for the fight ahead. Mark quickly shot a glared at Fluttershy and yelled, “Go to the museum! NOW!” Fluttershy jumped and quickly sprinted towards the museum. Mark watched before she was out of sight and turned his attention to the man standing before him.

“That girls gonna thank me later for saving her from a psychopath like you,” the man said as he reached for a test tube that was latched to his belt loop. The clear liquid inside the tube suddenly changed to green goop as he touched it. A Chester cat grin formed on Mark’s face.

“I’ll show you what this psychopath is capable of,” Mark retorted.

A Death Hunter fell to the ground with a dagger between its eyes. Zack walked up to the lifeless creature and ripped the dagger from the creature’s skull. Rainbow Dash walked up to Zack and asked, “Why do you get to have all the fun?”

“We’ve been over this: if you fire off your AK. You’ll attract a whole swarm of Death Hunters and I don’t think you want that many Death Hunters on top of us,” Zack explained again. He let out a frustrated sigh as he did it.

“So what am I supposed to do then?” Rainbow asked.

“Just keep a lookout and tell me when you see another Death Hunter. I’ll take care of them,” Zack said before he mumbled, “Why’d I get stuck doing all the damn work?”

“What?” Rainbow asked.

“Never mind, just keep an eye out,” Zack said.

“I’ve been wondering: how are you able to create all sorts of weapons?” Rainbow asked.

“My Liquid Metal allows me to create all sorts of weapons, but I can’t willingly create weapons from my mind. My Liquid Metal has to cover a weapon first to get the dimensions, length, weight, density and other measurements to be able to create it. Firearms are more difficult to create. The dimensions of those aren’t harder to create, but it’s getting them to work properly. Guns usually have inner workings that my Liquid Metal might not be able to create. I’ve found a way around it, but it’s still hard to operate when you have to concentrate on the weapons,” Zack explained. Rainbow nodded before she continued to follow Zack.

The two continued down the street for several more minutes before Zack stopped and raised his hand to make Rainbow do the same. Rainbow stopped and asked, “What?”

“Shut up,” Zack ordered before he closed his eyes.

“Excuse me?!” Rainbow asked, but Zack didn’t respond. He simply stood there with his eyes closed. After a while, he began using his tongue to create a clicking noise. He waited 10 seconds before making another clicking noise. After several minutes he opened his and turned to Rainbow.

“Someone’s coming,” Zack stated.

“How do you know?” Rainbow asked before she added, “all you did was make weird clicking noises.”

“Sonar,” Zack said flatly before he explained, “Remember how my Liquid Metal needed to cover a weapon to be able to create. Well, I can duplicate more than just weapons. A few years ago I was able to get a sonar system and I’ve kept it a part of my brain for several years. Those clicks activate the sonar.”

Rainbow was about to ask how that worked when she heard loud footsteps in front of them. They seemed deliberately loud like whoever was walking towards them wanted them to know they were coming. Rainbow quickly aimed her AK towards the sound of the footsteps before she asked, “A swarm of Death Hunters?”

“No,” Zack simply said before a man walked out from behind a broken down SUV. He seemed much older than Rainbow and Zack. He had a duck dynasty beard with what looked like the remnants his last meal with slick, greasy black hair. He only wore light blue jeans with gray snickers while his upper body was bare and showed off his chiseled body that had several scars.

“Friend of yours?” Rainbow asked. The bearded man let out a scoff before he moved slightly and motioned for Rainbow to run past him.

“Get to the museum,” Zack said before he added, “I’ll handle this guy.”

“Screw that,” Rainbow said before she stood her ground and added, “I’m not going to just run off and leave you. The two of us can take this guy.”

“Please reconsider Mrs.,” the bearded man said before he added, “I do not want the blood of the innocent on my hands.”

“Get to the museum Rainbow,” Zack ordered before he added, “I’ve dealt with this guy before. Don’t worry; I’ll catch up with you later.” Rainbow looked back at Zack before she nodded and ran towards the bearded man. She thought about running past him, turning around, and shooting him in the back. As she ran past the bearded man, her eyes widened as she saw small pillars of emerald diamonds slowly growing from his skin. She quickly looked forward and ran towards the museum without looking back.

“Now then,” the bearded man said before he turned towards Zack. The diamonds continued to slowly grow until it covered his left arm up to his elbow. The diamonds smoothened and then glistened as he flexed his fist and the diamonds scrapped against one another. The diamond seemed to coat his arm like a gauntlet. The bearded man looked from his diamond covered arm to Zack and added, “This time I won’t let you escape. I will get that bounty on your head.”

“Fat chance Christian,” Zack said with a laugh as Liquid Metal seeped from his skin and began to coat his right arm up to his elbow. It then hardened and created a gauntlet. He flexed his hand and listened to the metal scraping against itself.

“We’ll see who's laughing after I kill you, get the bounty from not only your head, but your comrade’s heads as well, and be called a hero,” Christian said. The two stared at one another before they suddenly ran towards each other. The two swung at one another and as Christian’s left fist coated with emeralds collided with Zack’s right fist coated in metal. It created a small shockwave.

Chad slowly creped down the wall of the building before he stopped and looked around the corner before he quickly looked back and ushered Applejack towards him. Applejack quickly ran up to him and asked, “Are we in the clear?”

“No, we’ve gotten past the Death Hunters, but now we have a new obstacle in our way,” Chad admitted before he pointed to whatever was around the corner. Applejack slowly walked past Chad and peeked around the corner. She gasped and quickly retraced back and looked at Chad who simply nodded. Applejack collected herself and once again looked around the corner.

In the middle of the street was not a Death Hunter, but it shared the same pitch black skin like the Death Hunters. However, it was more centipede-like. It had ten sections of its body, each with a sickle-like leg that kept the creature four feet above the ground. At the front of the creature was a long stick figure like body with long thin arms. Each arm had four fingers, each with long claws. At the top was a basketball shaped head with no eyes. Its mouth seemed to open and close with every breath as the bottom half of the jaw seemed to split in two now and again. Every now and again the sickle-like legs tapped on the ground as the head would wobble back and forth.

“Death Stalker,” Chad said as Applejack turned to him. He crept towards the corner and began to explain, “They’re like the security system for the hive, but they’re not the only issue, however,” as if on cue, a screech echoed throughout the still air. Applejack jumped at the sound and looked around for the source. Chad simply ushered her over to him and pointed to the sky. She let out another gasp as she watched the creature in the air circled around and let out another screech. The creature in the sky was a large sphere that looked to be as big as a human head. Four bat-like wings were divided into two on either side of the sphere. In the middle of its sphere body was a vertical mouth filled with needle-like teeth.

“What the hell is that?” Applejack asked.

“The second part of the Security system: Death Seeker,” Chad said before he explained, “The Death Stalker’s use their legs to send out vibrations in the ground to find anything that gets close to it, while the Seeker’s use sonar to find anyone that might get past the Stalkers. The two use each other to protect the hive and find food.”

“So how can we get past them?” Applejack asked.

“Pain said if you take out the Seekers, it will be easier to get past the Stalkers. However, we can take them both down in one fell swoop,” Chad said before he looked up towards the sky. Above Chad and Applejack were two circling birds: a mechanical owl and a mechanical falcon. Chad brought the watch to his mouth and said, “Take out the Seeker first, then the Stalker.” There was no response from the two birds, but the falcon soon flew away from the owl and towards the Death Seeker in the sky. The owl soon flew to the edge of the roof and landed before letting out a “Who” that had a metallic twang to it and sounded like an owl’s call being played through speakers.

The falcon soared through the air high above the Death Seeker. The falcon suddenly closed its wings and dive bombed towards the Seeker. It re-opened its wings, but never flapped them. Instead, it continued to soar towards the Seeker. It passed by the Seeker and after it did. The Seeker’s wings suddenly stopped and suddenly its body split in half. The two halves fell to the ground as the falcon righted itself and flew towards the Death Stalker. It passed by the Stalker around its neck and for a moment the Stalker didn’t seem to notice. Then, its head fell from its thin neck and its body began to scuttle around for several seconds before it fell limp on the ground.

The falcon then flew towards Chad and Applejack. It flapped for several seconds before it landed on the ground in front of them. Applejack was in shock and could only utter one word, “How?”

“Easy,” Chad said before the Falcon outstretched its wings to show that the tops of its metal wings were sharpened like blades. Chad pointed to the falcon’s wings and said, “Its wings are as sharp as blades and can cut through most anything. It’s an easy way to kill some of the hive without being seen.”

“Where did you get these?” Applejack asked.

“I built them myself,” Chad said before he added, “Let’s get going before the smell of their blood attracts some of the other hive.” Applejack nodded before they quickly ran down the street. The mechanical owl flew ahead of them scanning the streets. After half a mile it began to hoot and fly and a circle.

Chad quickly stopped and raised his hand to stop Applejack. He waited to see why the owl was acting up. Applejack looked at the owl in the sky before she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“It senses danger ahead, that’s why it’s circling and crying out,” Chad said before he added, “It seems it’s not part of the hive. Otherwise, it would simply attack it. Something else is around.”

Applejack waited for several seconds before she started to hear humming coming from behind a van that was on its side. After several seconds, a little girl the age of twelve skipped out from behind the van like she was playing hopscotch. She stopped on her right foot and waved her hands as she tried to keep from falling. She placed her left foot down and looked over towards Applejack and Chad. She smiled warmly and waved to them which sent a shiver down Applejack’s spine.

“Leave this one to me AJ,” Chad said.

“But she’s just a child,” Applejack argued.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Chad said before he added, “She’s part of The Reapers.”

“Reapers?” Applejack asked.

“A group of Guardians that defected from the government because they felt the hive should be the dominate species. They felt that humanity should subject themselves to the hive mind and give in to it. Many of the Guardians died because the hive saw them as threats, but those who showed their loyalty seemed to be accepted by the queen and protect it from destruction. They call themselves The Reapers,” Chad explained before he added, “I don’t want you to get in the crosshairs of this battle. Get to the museum and try to stay out of the hives sight. I’ll catch up later.”

Applejack nodded before she took the street to the left of them and quickly ran towards the museum while the little girl watched her. It seemed she was more interested in Chad then following Applejack.

“Please don’t tell lies,” the little girl said. Chad looked from where Applejack was to the little girl and a smile formed on his face.

“Are you mad Alice?” Chad said before he added, “You don’t like being called a Reaper?”

“We are not The Reapers Chad, we are the Guardians,” Alice said before she pointed to Chad and added, “You government dogs are the Reapers. It’s what the batshit insane government calls you after all.” The air ripped next to Alice like a stone was thrown in a pond before a large bear walked out of the ripple. It seemed the bear was a combination of a brown bear and porcupine as the spines on its back seemed to rattle as it stared at Chad.

The watch on Chad’s wrist glowed and green strands of ones and zeros flowed out of the clock face. It swirled around before it collected in front of Chad and glowed bright green. When the light dimmed, the mechanical tiger stood in front of Chad and roared to let its presence be known.

“I won’t allow the government to invade innocent worlds because it refuses to try and fix its own mistake,” Alice said.

Twilight and Rex made it to the museum without ever seen a Death Hunter or other creature of the hive. Twilight gawked at the size of the museum before she frantically looked around before she said, “I don’t see any creatures of the hive.”

“Yeah, it should be swarming with creatures of the hive. I wonder where the Watchers, Seekers, or Stalkers are.” Rex questioned as he looked around. Twilight slowly walked closer to the museum trying to see if she could see any signs of the hive. Rex looked around and when he saw there was no one around. He turned to where Twilight was slowly advancing towards the museum. Small sparks of lightning slowly sparked around his right hand as he thought, take out your partner before getting to the museum.

Before he could act a voice screamed, “Twilight!” behind him. The lightning quickly disappeared as he turned around to see Pinkie run up to them. When she reached them, she bent over to catch her breath while wheezing, “Pain. Panic. Fighting. Armor.”

“Whoa there Pinkie, take a breath and catch your breath,” Twilight said. After a few seconds, Pinkie finally caught her breath and began to explain.

“Pain and Panic are under attack by two kids with living suits of armor,” Pinkie blurted out.

“Wait, what!?” Rex said, but before he could ask any more questions. Rarity ran up to them and frantically began telling them about her experience.

“Oh, my gosh, Viper and I were attacked by a dinosaur. A damn dinosaur!” Rarity stated. After that Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Applejack all meet them in front of the museum with stories of how their companions were being attacked.

“Shit, so the Reapers are here,” Rex cursed before he looked towards the museum and added, “We need to get into the building and kill the queen. After that, we can deal with The Reapers.” The group nodded and with Rex leading. They ran towards the museum. However, Rex skidded to a stop as two people walked out from behind pillars standing outside the museum’s entrance.

“More!” Rainbow said before she aimed her AK at the two men. One of them men had bright orange hair and was wearing a black cloak without a hood, but with its collar up and covering the bottom half of his face. The other man wore a suit of crystal blue armor with white mist seeping from the armor itself. His face was covered in a half gas mask with dual cartridge respirators and with every exhale, white mist spilled out of the sides. He had his blue hair in dreadlocks and his eyes were as black as doll's eyes.

“Damn it,” Rex said before he turned to the group and said, “Find another way in. I’ll handle these Reapers.”

“What! And leave you here against these two?” Twilight argued.

“I’ve faced worse, besides. You’ll be helping me by keeping the hive inside rather than coming out and causing more chaos,” Rex said with a smile. Twilight stood there for several seconds before she nodded and lead her group of friends to the side of the museum. Once the group was out of sight he let out a frustrated sigh and turned to the two standing in front of him and said, “Great, I’m the one that gets the Dragoon Twins.”

“Are you ready Frost?” the man in the cloak asked the man in the crystal blue suit of armor. Frost simply nodded before the man in the cloak looked back at Rex and said, “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Yeah Pyro, it has,” Rex said as lightning began to swirl around his body.