//-------------------------------------------------------// What if: The Justice Ponies -by Wolf-Spider- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1. The Beginning //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1. The Beginning Somewhere in the center of the universe, there lived a world called Equestria. It was a peaceful world full of friendly ponies. But something is about to happen. Outside of Equestria, in space, a meteor shower is taking place. But luckily, that meteor shower passes Equestria……..except one. One of the meteor’s accidently bumped into one of the meteors, causing it to turn its direction to Equestria. Meanwhile on Equestria, Princess Celestia senses something. She looks at her window and spots a shooting star. But when she looks closely, she realizes that the shooting star is coming right towards her and it was a meteor. She was about to blast the meteor into pieces but…..it didn’t hit her. It landed in the Canterlot Gardens. “Guards! Prepare yourselves! There is something in the Canterlot Gardens. We’re gonna go check it out” Celestia said to the guards. “By your command, your highness” one of the guards replied. When they made it to the gardens, they find….a mysterious rock. The guards got a little closer to the rock and picked it up. “Celestia, it’s just a rock” one of the guards said. “Bring it, our scientists will examine it” Celestia replied. So...the guards put the rock in a special container just in case and brought it back to the castle. When the rock was brought to the labs, scientists examined the rock for hours. When the results came in, they were shocked. One of the scientists ran out of the lab to go get Celestia. When the scientist made it to Celestia’s throne room, she couldn’t control her excitement. “Your highness, you need to come see this!” the scientist said. Celesta went with the scientist and she started explaining everything and said “This thing is unlike we’ve ever seen before. We don’t know what it is exactly, but whatever it is, it absorbs any magic around it like a sponge. We couldn’t be able to have physical contact with it because every time we do, it absorbs some our magic. But we do know this. We took an x-ray on it and it appears to have something inside of it. This thing is like an egg”. “Did you ever figure out on how to open it?”. “We’ve tried but….we weren’t successful”. So….Celestia decided to get into contact with the rock. The scientists stepped back. Celestia used her magic to gently crack the rock. But…..later on that tiny crack grew bigger. It was swarming all over the rock. Then it started to float. There was lightning bolts popping out of nowhere. “Your highness, something's wrong! The rock is reaching critical mass. It’s gonna blow!” one of the scientists shouted. Celestia became aware of it and took cover. Before everypony knew it, the rock blew up! After the explosion, Fly-Boy flew into the scene to check on the princess. After that, Everypony looked up to see that the rock is gone but a strange blue liquid was there. It….started to forge a hand. Then a hoof, and before Celestia could react, the liquid forged into an alicorn-like entity. It showed red eyes, a razor sharp smile, and a red V on it’s chest. The entity started to lose it’s smile and was all confused at where it is right now. https://camo.derpicdn.net/a453a1a5cf61c0dca81fe972114eed1a924f530a?url=http%3A%2F%2Forig09.deviantart.net%2F74f4%2Ff%2F2017%2F092%2F3%2F7%2Fmr_virus_by_jasonfenton135-db4hhqh.jpg “Creature, please stand down” Celestia said to the mysterious entity. The creature looked at Celestia for a second, then looked at it’s right hoof to see that he made a type of weapon on it’s own. It can create it’s own weapons! So….it fired a blast at Celestia but Fly-Boy tackles Celestia to dodge the attack. The guards came in and tried to pursue the creature. But the entity just smiles and turns into a type of smoke, got to one of the guards and he sniffed the creature and started to choke. Three seconds later, the guard falls to the ground, dead and turned into a skeleton. The entity reverses back to its original form. Two more guards tried to stop the creature but got killed by a blast from the entity’s horn. The creature uses its magic once more to blast one of the scientists into dust. Three more guards came into the room and started to blast the creature with their magic. The entity takes a hit from one of the blasts of magic but just smiles and spits it back at the guards. It was chaos! But…..the creature took them all down. All of the guards were dead. Fly-Boy tried to tackle it from behind, but it can sense him from a mile away. The creature grabs Fly-Boy but the left leg and just smiles. “You have health……” The creature said. Fly-Boy looks into it’s eyes, couldn’t look away. Before he knew it, he couldn’t escape. His eyes turned green and the creature sat Fly-Boy down safely. Fly-Boy is being mind controlled! Celestia didn’t see any other chance against the creature. So...she tried to sneak off but gets caught easily. “Please don’t. …….I still need that” the creature said. “Need what?” Celestia asked. The creature put its hoof at Celestia, forging into a blaster and shooting Celestia, knocking her unconscious. So...the entity walks up to Celestia’s body and grabs her horn. It starts using its teeth to bite down on her horn. There was no bleeding going on (thank goodness). Celestia could only scream in pain as the entity eats her horn. The creature just starts chewing on the remains of Celestia’s horn and swallows it. When the creature ate Celestia’s horn, it only grew bigger. “Mmmmmmm. Delicious. Now, let’s get out of here. There will be more guards on the way” the creature said. But before the creature could leave, it walks up to Celestia’s body, grabs her by her hair and told her “By the way, I am Mr.Virus. And I….am Equestria’s end” before slamming her head to the ground and leaving. Mr.virus’s body starts to turn. Moments later…..he looks like one of the guards. He can shape shift! So…..Mr.Virus and Fly-Boy left the scene. Elemental and Luna made it to the scene and saw Celestia on the floor. They ran to her and Celestia wakes up. “Don’t...worry...I’ll be fine. But….Mr.Virus is in control of your brother, Ruby. Luna, Ruby, it’s time. Activate the “Justice Ponies Initiative” Celestia said. To Be Continued........................ Author's Note (Base Link: http://orig06.deviantart.net/7a75/f/2013/341/6/3/suddenly_alicorn_base_by_selenaede-d6x2n1m.png) //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2. The Story Of Galaxy Dust //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2. The Story Of Galaxy Dust “You can’t be serious”, Luna exclaimed upon hearing Celestia’s words. “I’m certain he doesn’t want to have anything to do with us anymore.” “We don’t know if we don’t try. Maybe he’s ready to try again” Celestia told her younger sister, however Luna could still notice the sad undertone in her exhausted voice. They both knew what was going to happen. Unfortunately it didn’t look like they had much of a choice. Before their conversation could continue, Ruby spoke up. “Excuse me,” she started humbly, “but what’s going on?” she then asked, First looking at Luna, then at Celestia in the hope for answers. Celestia tried to stand up, trying to activate her magic, but immediately collapsed, obviously in pain. Luna quickly rushed to her sister’s aid, trying to easy her pain a bit. Ruby showed worry as well, however stayed quiet. Once Celestia was resting again, Luna activated her magic instead. She created a small screen, darker than Celestia but the sight was still clear. “A very long time ago, Celestia and I had a friend we cherished very much. We grew up together, even before we became alicorns” Luna started explaining. The screen showed off a dark furred stallion, an alicorn. The stallion had a long white mane and tail with rainbow colored dots at the bottom. Then an image of Celestia, Luna and that stallion showed up, all of them still unicorns. “His name is Galaxy Dust, he was a unicorn with great potential, responsible for the remainder of the stars. He too earned his status of alicorn, showing courage and having a strong caring heart.” Luna continued. “How come I haven’t heard of him then?” Elemental interjected. The dark alicorn then looked away in sadness, sighing. Celestia spoke up again. “However… Galaxy Dust was not ready. After Equestria was faced with a thread, he collapsed. It seemed like his leadership was only a facade.” The screen showed the dread behind a scared silhouette. Luna took over again. “While we were able to fend off the thread, Galaxy Dusts’ true colors were revealed and he was punished for not living up to the expectations.” The image changed yet again, Galaxy Dust’s horn disappearing. Ruby flinched at the sight. “In shame, he banished himself from Equestria. He chooses to reside deep in the Everfree Forest now, and hasn’t left since.” Luna finished. “Ouch…..that’s pretty dark. But….what does Galaxy have to do with this?” Elemental asked Celestia. But when Elemental saw the image of Galaxy’s face, she started to blush. Knowing that Galaxy did look quite handsome. But after a few seconds, she snapped out of it and stayed focused on the topic. Luna raised an eyebrow at Elemental’s change of expression. “Are you alright?” she asked skeptically. “Huh? Oh yeah. I’m fine” Elemental said, shaking her head. “Alright”, Celestia answered, however she could still hear worry in her voice. “Once you’ve entered the Everfree Forest, you can ask another pony to help guide your way to Galaxy Dust. It’s a zebra going by the name of Zecora. I’m certain you’ll recognize her on sight”. “M-m-me?! …….okay….I’ll try. But….what about the others?” Elemental asked. Luna shook her head. “We’ll need more help than Galaxy Dust alone. The others will find more allies just like him to help our cause” the smaller alicorn explained. “But…..you think that Galaxy will help us after what he’s done in the past” Elemental asked. “I have a feeling that he might reject our offer”. But right when Elemental asked that question, the guards came through with some nurse ponies. “Guards! Celestia needs medical attention!” Elemental said to the guards as they pick up Celestia and taking her to the hospital. Elemental got her orders and she needs to follow them. She uses her magic to teleport herself outside of the castle to go find Galaxy while Luna tells the other recruits to go find the other superhero ponies. It’s time to initiate “The Justice Ponies Initiative”! But before she left, Elemental asked Luna one thing. She asked for her magic so she can contact somepony that might help her convince Galaxy. Elemental knows just the right pony…...or….PERSON for the job. Meanwhile somewhere else, Mr. Virus is sitting in the dark at the end of a mysterious cave while Fly-Boy is guarding the entrance. Mr. Virus is still hungry and needs more health to survive. While he was meditating, he senses something coming his way. He looks down to see…….a little black goo. It was the symbiote that Wolf-Spider defeated and thought was dead! Mr. Virus starts to smile and turns his right hoof into a hand with claws. He leans it towards the symbiote to let it get closer to him. He senses that it needs a host to survive and it won’t survive for much longer. He lets it approach him. ………….. When the symbiote touched him….it started to bond with him...but….differently. Mr. Virus starts to forge a smile on his face and laughs. “Soon, they will rule the day they’ve overthrown me and banishing me off my planet. ……..Soooooon”. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 Recruitment Part I. Galaxy Dust. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 Recruitment Part I. Galaxy Dust. Elemental teleports into the Everfree Forest and yet already...her eyesight disappears. Teleporting makes her eyes go blind for a short time. And instantly she hears trouble. She turns to her left and hears a huge thwomp. The more she heard it, the louder it grew. She knew something was heading her way, and…...it was big. She looks up to see…...a hydra?! It roars at the sight of Elemental. “Oh man! This is the main reason why I hate going to the Everfree Forest” Elemental said in an annoyed tone. She tries to cover herself, ready to meet her doom. She could have been eaten by the hydra…..but the hydra hears a noise. It turns around to see……...a mysterious figure. The mysterious figure makes a siren sound, it looked like a ghost. In fear, the hydra runs off, making a puppy sound. Elemental opens her eyes to see that the hydra is now gone. She wondered where did it go. When she looks behind her, she finds…….that mysterious figure. The figure removes it’s cloak to reveal……..a zebra! It’s Zecora! “Zecora?” Elemental questioned the zebra. “Is that you?”. Zecora looked curiously at the pony. “You should be careful when you come here, you never know what dangers could lurk near. “Yeah….I know. But I’m looking for somepony and Celestia says you know this pony” Elemental said to Zecora. “And who would this pony be, if no one else knows them but me?” the zebra asked carefully, not quite knowing the intentions of her visitor. “His name is Galaxy Dust. White mane, blue eyes, grey, and is the height as an alicorn”. Zecora instantly realizes who Elemental was talking about and asks “Why are you looking for Galaxy Dust? How do I know you are someone he can trust?” Seeing no other explanation for Zecora, the mare tells her everything she needs to know and says “Okay, the reason why I need Galaxy is because…..Equestria is in danger and Celestia needs his help along with some other ponies like him. A creature known as Mr.Virus was unleashed into our world. It…...took Celestia’s magic…..and her horn. Now she is useless. And…..it has my brother, Silver. If we can’t stop this monster from spreading, it will infect us all with every virus, every sickness, every cancer known to Equestria…..That’s why I need Galaxy. Celestia says him along with the others can save us all”. “Goodness… That certainly sounds serious. Let’s get going, the path there is quite tedious.” Zecora answered, eyebrows knitted. She turned around and started walking, inviting Elemental to do the same. Elemental stops walking and closes her eyes. Zecora questions why is she stopping. But Elemental answers her question and says “I….sense him….nearby. I can feel the vibration of him on the ground, that tree over there, even those ants…..I know where he is. And before you say anything, I’m an Avatar. I can control every element in Equestria: Water, Earth, Fire, Air, Electricity, Sand, Metal, and so on. But that teleportation blinded my eyesight and my sonar sense. I can still sense him but….that teleportation just makes everything look fuzzy. But It should return in time. I should be able to find him. Thank you, Zecora”. “If you say so… Please still be careful as you go”, Zecora said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. “Okay, I will”. A few hours later, Elemental got tired. So she decided to take a breather for a minute. But when she stopped, her eyesight finally returned. She can sense everything normally now. When is sonar sense was kicking in…..she sensed somepony right behind the tree next to her. She knew it must be Galaxy. So, she went around the tree….to see Galaxy on top of a hill. https://camo.derpicdn.net/92996e15cba7a4ffbffed084805539a999e45e6a?url=http%3A%2F%2Fpre09.deviantart.net%2F2433%2Fth%2Fpre%2Fi%2F2017%2F072%2F7%2Fa%2Fgalaxy_dust_by_magicpebbles-dawoqnw.png “Oh boy, this is gonna be a bumpy ride” Elemental said as she used her earthbending skills to create an elevator out of dirt and stone. When she made it to the top, she was exhausted because that used most of her magic to create that elevator. “Whew, talk about a rough ride. I should have ridden my pet phoenix”. Galaxy Dust’s day was rather crudely interrupted. He’d simply been out for his daily walk and decided to take a break when the earth around him started shaking. Almost expecting the small hill to crumble underneath his hooves, he spread his wings, ready to take off if necessary. However, the rumbling stopped suddenly, and he heard the voice of a mare. It definitely was not Zecora, he concluded, as the voice neither sounded like the zebra or rhyme. He turned around, seeing the mare in question sitting in front of him, seemingly tired. “Excuse me?” he asked, even though his voice showed little emotion or care. “Sorry, (heavily breathing) Give me a minute” Elemental said as she used her power to waterbend and create a portion of water, only for her to drink some of it and splash the rest on her face. She then used her firebending powers to dry herself off. “Okay, I’m good.” The stallion looked confused before folding his wings again. He inspected the mare once more, deciding that she probably had nothing to offer him and turned around, deciding to return to his home. “Wait! I’m here for a reason, Galaxy. A very important one, as a matter of fact. Celestia sent me” Elemental managed to stop Galaxy before he was able to leave. Galaxy faced Elemental, eyebrow raised. “What would I be able to do that she couldn’t?” he asked, sarcasm in his voice. “If this is about me rejoining Equestria, I’ll pass, like I did the offers so long ago”, he finished with an angry undertone. Elemental knew she was not gonna be able to convince him to help the easy way. She knew she had to prove herself. So, she managed to create a tower in front of Galaxy made of pure stone. “Look, Galaxy. I’m not here to joke around. This is serious. Something bad has happened to Celestia……..she’s dying…...and soon…..all of us will be, too. We discovered a mysterious entity known as Mr.Virus. It…..killed most of the guards. It injured Celestia and………..bit her horn off. Now it has her magic. It escaped and is hungry. It won’t stop until it feeds off of every health of everypony on the planet. Even…...the alicorns themselves. Celestia got infected when she lost her horn……..And It has my brother. So I’m asking you...to help me stop this thing. And if don’t believe me, then…...allow me to prove myself” the mare explained as she used her airbending skills to forge a bird like creature and then used her firebending skills to turn it into the mighty phoenix. “Also, I built that elevator over there out of earth and stone if you’re wondering” Galaxy Dust sighed. “If what you say is real, you should know who I am. What do you think I can do? I’m nothing but a pegasus now. I don’t have any magic, let alone the wide array of superpowers you apparently have. Pretty sure you’d be better off without me”, he explained, ignoring the stone pillar in front of him and walking around it. “Even a mere pegasus can do great things. I know becuase of Rainbow Dash. She created the Sonic-Rainbow. Heck, I’m just a little girl with no family who has the power to command every element on the planet. I’m not doing this for Equestria….I’m doing this for my brother…..So if you can’t do this for yourself….then at least do for Celestia. She’s dying…..She believes in you. So don’t let her believing go to waste” Elemental said as she started to head back to her stone made elevator. “I know she believes in you”. The doors began to close slowly. “Why are you wasting your magic like that?” the stallion spoke up, turning his head to look at her. “There are much more efficient ways to transport over constructing an entire elevator out of stone.” Elemental stops the doors from completely closed to answer Galaxy’s question. “I would but I don’t want to. Besides that’s not important. What is important is that if you still care for the princess or not. She’s dying and you along with the others can save her and stop the chaos that’s spreading right now….so please…….don’t let the princess of the sun die because you didn’t do anything about it”. “Whether or not I still care for Celestia does not matter. Because even if that was the case, I wouldn’t make a difference.” He stomped his hoof on the ground. “That threat you described… the virus… What would I be able to do about him? Nothing. I don’t have any avatar superpower, I don’t have any magic, I’m not strong, so what is there that I can offer? Enlighten me.” Tears began to flow down Elemental’s face as she used her air-bending to use the air to slap Galaxy in the face (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFFLeJE48t0). “THAT THING IS CONTROLLING MY BROTHER! IT ATE CELESTIA’S HORN! AND YOU’RE WHINING ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE IN THE PAST! *sniff sniff* If you knew what was the right thing, even though you have no powers, you would do it right now! If you don’t stop this thing with us, it will kill us all1 Even you! …...Ah forget it! You’re right! Why am I even here?! You really don’t care for Celestia. Thanks….Thanks for being such a coward” Elemental said as she starts to cry and walks away from the hill (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXwYhSScYQo). Galaxy Dust seemed unfazed from the slap, simply looking down at her. The tears flowing from the younger pony provided a much stronger punch in the gut, however. His gaze remained on the mare as she ran away. “I am a coward” he said to himself. He spread his wings, taking off lightly, however flying fast enough to keep up with Elemental. He sighed, partially to himself, but also to get her attention. “What do you want me to do?” he asked uncertain. As soon as Elemental heard Galaxy’s question, she started to smile. She ran and hugged him but was still crying in the process. She never thought that Galaxy would be be able to help her. She tried to say something but couldn’t because she couldn’t stop crying. Galaxy froze in place. Uncomfortable would be an understatement to explain how he was feeling. He looked down at Elemental, chuckling in discomfort. The smile on her face did make him feel a tad less guilty, however. “I’m s--(ugh). I’m sorr--(ghh)” Elemental tried to say to Galaxy but couldn’t because she couldn’t stop crying. Galaxy Dust looked away, sighing. “It’s… uh... it’s okay. Could you please let me go, though? You’re ruffling my feathers, it’s a bit painful” he slowly muttered out, twitching his wings. “I’m not sure what you expect me to do… But I hope that everything will turn out alright. I’m sure it will.” Elemental chuckled a little bit, wiping off the tears and took a few steps back just like how Galaxy requested. She blushed a little bit and said “Hey…..Uh….sorry about….you know...hitting you and….yeah. Name’s Ruby by the way”. Galaxy tried to form a smile, but it was obvious he wasn’t very certain about it. “Nice to meet you, Ruby” he said, nodding. “It’s alright I suppose, you were just upset, I don’t really blame you.” She blushes and chuckles a little bit. She’s just glad that Galaxy is here to help. She puts her left hoof right next to her ear and what appears to be an earphone. “Celestia, this is Ruby. He’s in” “Good.(cough cough) Don’t worry about the others. Wolf-Spider has two of them and Jenny is recruiting another one as we speak. Report back to Canterlot with Galaxy (cough cough) I just hope we can stop this from spreading” Celestia replied. “On it, your highness. I just hope you’ll make it”. To Be Continued....... //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 Recruitment Part II. Steel Renegade and The Crimson Colt //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 Recruitment Part II. Steel Renegade and The Crimson Colt (Steel's Theme (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np2_9JcVZaA)) It was night in Phillydelphia. A few short weeks ago, the second the sun went down in the gritty city, ponies would run for home. The once-respectable city had always been considered too dangerous after dark for the average pony. Because when the shadows lengthened, the gangs came out to play. But then everything had changed when a costumed bat pony calling himself “the Steel Renegade” had stepped up and embarked on a one-pony crusade to rid the city of crime. After a long and difficult campaign he had managed to rid the city of the largest gang in the country, the Last Laugh, and the city had started to revive. However, that didn’t mean the city was completely safe at night. There were still gangs in the city, although they didn’t hold as much power or fear as they once did. One of these gangs, the Abandoned, was currently stalking their favorite stomping grounds. East 57th street was famed for its jewel shops. The gangbangers snickered as they approached one of the jewelry stores, clutching crowbars. Their intention was made clear as they raised their crowbars. Suddenly, there was a loud whump as something slammed down behind them with enough force to rattle the windows. With unmistakable dread, the gangbangers turned around. Standing behind them was none other than the Spectacular Steel Renegade himself. His matte black suit, with shock-resistant metal plates, looked particularly terrifying in the half light. His glaring helmet glinted in the sunset, his nightsticks looked like two beams of light. “They say this city is a gem, y’know,” he said quietly, his voice scrambler making his words into a menacing baritone snarl, “And it’s scum like you who make everypony else call it a nightmare.” The gangbangers hesitated for a second longer, their fear of Steel conflicting with their youthful cockiness and adrenaline. The latter won. They charged as one mass, yelling and raising their crowbars. Their fevered minds full of delusions of the glory they expected if they managed to bring down the dreaded Nightstalker himself. In less than a second Steel was in the air, his left nightstick parrying a blow while his right one simultaneously smacked a unicorn in the head, bringing the thug down. He flipped over their heads and landed upright on his hind legs. Not giving the remaining Abandoned a second to react, he charged and threw both nightsticks. Both found their targets, and two more gangbangers fell unconscious. He grinned under his cowl and spun on his back hoof, sweeping the legs out from under a third thug. Before he could hit the ground, Steel managed a second rotation and kicked the unfortunate stallion in the head. Steel’s military training and intimate knowledge of anatomy (hey, those anatomy charts in doctors’ offices were good for at least that much with how often he had once needed to go) ensured that the fight was short, sweet, and very painful for the Abandoned. Before too long, all twelve ponies were knocked senseless, securely zip-tied, and strung upside down from a lamp post. Dusting his hooves off, he prepared to take flight when something hit him in the back HARD. He staggered, then scooped up his nightsticks. With a thought, they flowed and became a pair of specially reinforced tonfas and he took up a ready position. His enhanced bat pony vision enabled him to easily spot another stallion standing in an alley. He noted with some concern that he appeared to be wearing a red costume. In his experience, anypony who wore a costume tended to be more dangerous than others. He was spared any further thought when Red charged at him. He attempted his usual Trip-and-Whack technique, but Red leapt over his outstretched hoof and aimed a blow at Steel’s head with his own hoof. Steel grunted as the right hook landed, and he disengaged quickly. He and Red circled each other like wolves, not taking their eyes off each other. Steel noted that Red appeared to have a slightly lopsided guard stance, and was favoring his right hoof. He suddenly attacked with a vicious swipe at Red’s right shoulder, but he ducked aside with astonishing speed and kicked Steel in the…. “GAAH!” Steel staggered back, wheezing and blinking back tears. Note to self he thought, Reinforce the crotch pad… Ow… He now looked at Red with a new appreciation. He’s fast, he thought, Fast enough to make up for his terrible form. It’s almost as though he know what I’m gonna do before I do it. He’s not a precog, said a little voice in his head, I’m not sensing any temporal shifts when he acts. Very helpful, Brawl, he thought grumpily, Then you give me your theory! I believe that he is using sound to determine your actions, replied Brawl, look closely. He did, and realized that under his hat, Red’s ears were constantly perked up and twitched toward any sound that Steel made. Super-sensitive echolocation… That would explain it! He smiled evilly and hooked one of his tonfas on his belt, using his freed hoof to pull out a small sphere with a pin set in the top. With one deft motion he depressed the pin and hurled it at Red. But before it could get any uglier …..both of them were interrupted by a mysterious voice that said “HEY!” They turned to the voice to see that it was…...Wolf-Spider! “That’s enough!” Wolf-Spider said with seriousness in his voice. “Now I don’t know why both of you are fighting but that’s enough”. “Oh son of a-” Steel began, but then the sphere let out a deafening blast of sound. Steel gritted his teeth and reluctantly retracted his tonfas as he waited for the ringing in his ears to abate. When he could finally hear again, he glared over at Wolf-Spider. “For the record,” he growled, “The other guy started it. I don’t tolerate gangs or gangbangers in my city.” “He’s called the Crimson Colt, and he’s not a criminal, just another hero like us. Now both of you need to calm down or I’m putting both of you in time out”. “Go buck a cactus, pretty-boy,” Steel growled, ”As far as I’m concerned, you’re no hero. And neither am I.” Wolf-Spider sighed and webbed Steel’s mouth shut. “Still the arrogant mouth as usual. Anyway….I’m here for a mission for both of you. Equestria is in big danger and Celestia’s building a team to stop this threat. And she wants both of you on that team” Wolf-Spider said as he ripped the webbing off of Steel’s mouth like a band-aid. Steel grunted, unimpressed, and scraped the remains of Wolf’s webbing off of his respiration holes. “And why would I wanna ride with you? You’ve brought nothing but trouble since you started the ‘hero’ business. You brought us capes into the spotlight, when some of us rely on the shadows to do our work.” “Because Celestia’s dying and she needs your help. Steel!” “And why would she need the help of the local vigilante? Isn’t that what the Lunar Guard Marines are for? Call up the 602nd. They’d be happy to help.” “Because this is not your ordinary sickness. It’s any entity that feeds off the health of innocent ponies. It’s name is Mr.Virus. We tried to stop it but it took out all of the guards in the entire room in ten seconds. It’s also controlling one of our heroes named Fly-Boy. He’s got a sister named Elemental and she’s just recruited Galaxy Dust as we speak. We are Equestria’s last line of defense from this thing. Now are you in or are you gonna let it kill a bunch of innocent Ponies?”. Crimson Colt stepped up and nodded his head yes to be a part of the team. Steel thought, and thought for a good long while under his cowl. On one hoof, he would rather take a speeding garbage truck to the head than leave his city undefended for any period of time, but on the other hoof… If “Mr. Virus” was as dangerous as Wolf was suggesting, then his city was in danger anyway. There was really only one option, really. “Give me ten minutes to collect my gear,” he said, then kicked open a manhole and leapt down. To Be Continued........... //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 Recruitment Part III. Luchador //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 5 Recruitment Part III. Luchador It was a peaceful night in a secret town called Neighico City. Though, there is always crime around the corner. But the good thing was that the city is protected by a hero that calls himself the Luchador. He’s just hanging on a roof, waiting for something to happen. When he looks to his left, he spots a mugger taking somepony’s bag full of groceries. “Help! That thief just stole my bag!” The pony said. Luchador jumps off the roof and starts chasing after the thief. When he got close to the pony, he turned into a bowling ball and took the thief out with a strike. The bag goes off flying, about to fall. But before it fell, Luchador turned into a net to catch it. Next, he sucked a little bit of air, only to let it all out with a stench. His breath was so bad that the thief got knocked unconscious. When he looked behind him, he realizes that he was in a abandoned house at the other side of town. He realizes that this was all a setup. “You know, for a pony that’s supposed to be a guardian of this small town, you sir are doing a very good job at it” said the pony that the burglar robbed. They mysterious pony starts to change. When the change was over….she revealed to be…..a changeling. But that’s not all. The changeling hits the green symbol on it’s chest and it changed again. When it changed….it really revealed itself to be…..a robot. It’s Jenny 10. But Luchador doesn’t know who she is. “Being a guardian isn’t a secret, amigo” Luchador replied. “Then, what is it? Saving poor ponies?” Jenny asked. “And, you’ve brought me to the edge of the city. smart. I assume that you lead me into a trap?” Luchador asked. “Nope, just you and me”. “Annnnnd, your creator, is he that smart? I guess life does smart out young”. “Well, yeah. Pretty much”. “So, who are you?”. “Jenny 10”. “.....So, are you here to kill me. Go right ahead, I don’t have all day.” “What?! No! I’m not here to kill you. I’m here by the orders of Celestia” “........Celestia? How did you find my town?” “It was never hidden. We just erased it from our maps because we knew what would happen if everypony knew of your town. We’ve kept our distance”. “Why me?”. “Because Celestia seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in”. “Hmmmmm. What if I say no?”. “I’ll persuade you.”. “......Okay..so what do you got for me?”. “We’re facing a global catastrophe. This…...is an entity known as Mr.Virus. It has the potential power to exterminate all life in Equestria. It escaped. We’ve lost it’s trail and you seem to know how to find hidden things properly”. Jenny shows a picture of Mr.Virus to Luchador. He thinks to himself that maybe he can be a hero outside of his hometown. This entity does look like it can wipe out all life in Equestria. He can’t defend his town if this thing spreads. He knows that’s what his sensei would have wanted. He did promised to use his powers for the good of Equestria. “..........Okay….I’m in.” Luchador said. “.....Really?” Jenny asked, acting all confused and surprised at the same time. “Yes. I don’t want this monster to attack my home town. This thing needs to be stopped at all costs” “......Okay, then.” Jenny puts her left hoof to her left ear and pushes a button. She has an earpiece. She asks “He’s in. What about the others?”. The pony on the other side of the earpiece replied “Don’t worry, they’re in too. Report back to Canterlot. It’s time to assemble the team”. Jenny nods her head and says “Affirmative. Jenny 10, out”. She turns back to Luchador with a smile on her face. “Well then, shall we head to Canterlot, Por favor?” Jenny asks Luchador. To Be Continued........... //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6 Mr.Virus's Past //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 6 Mr.Virus's Past Meanwhile in Mr.Virus’s cave, Mr.Virus is meditating the the darkness. While he was meditating, he starts having flashbacks. The scene changes. There was nothing but darkness. Mr.Virus’s body changed. He looks to his left to see…..... His younger self. It’s a vision of his past! He see’s what appears to be a mysterious monster in front of his younger self. This monster had a black hood covering it’s face. It showed yellow eyes and it had a nose-ring. It was Lord Tirek! From the looks of it, Tirek must be Mr.Virus’s master. “The Klyntar grow restless” Tirek said to Mr.Virus. “Let them go themselves. I will lead them in a glorious battle” Mr.Virus replied. “Battle? And it’s the….magical might of Equestria?”. “Glorious. Not likely. If your force is as…..formidable as you claim”. “You question us?! You question HIM?! He, who gave this power to you, who gave you ancient knowledge, a new purpose, when you were……..banished! Defeated!”. “I was their king! ……..The rightful king of my planet. ……...Betrayed”. “(growl) Your ambition is little. Full of childish need. Will beyond Equestria to the greater world. The alicorn magic…..will avail”. “You don’t have the alicorn magic, here”. That triggers Tirek and he gets furious. He stomps towards Mr.Virus, gritting his teeth. But that will take more than just one threat to completely tick off Tirek. Mr.Virus just smiles. “I don’t threaten” Mr.Virus said to Tirek. “But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, .......................your master will get what he wants”. “You will have your war, mortal. ………...But if you fail, if the alicorn magic is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no CREVICE where he can’t find you! ………..You think you know pain? You will have something that is so neat as…..PAIN!” The scene changes and another flashback starts. This time...it’s on Mr.Virus’s home planet. It took place many years ago. His people lived in peace in harmony. On his planet, when an offspring is born, the people celebrate the birth of the child. His parents were the rulers of his planet. When he was born, Mr.Virus’s parents new that he will be next in line to the throne when he grew older. But as he got older, he became selfish, arrogant, and spoiled. As he grew older, his parents became too worried that their son might lead their planet to chaos and destruction. Also, he discovered that he had a power, a power to manipulate and control the minds of others, shape shift, and multiplying. So, his parents went to the gypsy in their kingdom and asked her about their son. The gypsy said that if their son kept on following this path, he will be defeated by the universe’s mightiest heroes. Hearing the prophecy behind their backs, Mr.Virus became too obsessed on proving them wrong. So, he set his sights on the nearest village. That was when his heart and soul became corrupted by darkness and killed all of the villagers. Full of pride, he returned home but found that his parents were not home. When he turned around, he finds a bunch of guards surrounding him with spears and everything. He was taken to their court. “I find the defendant, Prince Virus, guilty! You are hereby sentenced to execution. Your plot has been brought to attention by your own parents” the judge said. “WHAT?!” young Mr.Virus said in shock. “By dawn, your sentence will be served. Now, see him out of my site”. Mr.Virus was sent to a cell. Mr.Virus gets super furious while his parents started crying. They knew of what their child would become. His parents started to walk away in shame of what they created. “IT WAS YOU, WASN’T IT?! I SWEAR, I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! YOU’RE NOT MY PARENTS, OR EVER WILL BE! I WILL BE BACK! AND WHEN I DO, I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE ON YOU! ON ALL OF YOU! I HATE YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I HATE YOU!” Mr.Virus shouted at his parents. The following day has past and the guards find that…..Mr.Virus is not in his cell! He escaped! The guards told the king and queen about their son escaping. One of the guards said that he saw Mr.Virus leaving the planet. The king and queen told the guards to let him go. They said that banishment is the proper punishment for Mr.Virus than execution. Meanwhile outside the planet, Mr.Virus left the planet in anger. He knew that his parents would banish him if escaped. But Mr.Virus swore revenge that he will return to his home planet and conquer it. Years have past and he was still wandering around the galaxy, alone. When he landed on an asteroid, he decided to take a breather. He heard something behind him. He turns around to see…...Lord Tirek! He tells Mr.Virus that he was betrayed by family as well. That catches Mr.Virus's attention when Tirek offered him revenge on his planet. So…..Tirek took Mr.Virus in. The scene changes and the flashbacks end. Mr.Virus finds himself back in his cave where he was before. He smiles and says “It’s here!”. Mr.Virus gets up and leaves his cave. A mind controlled Fly-Boy tells Mr.Virus that he has found a new type of alicorn magic in Ponyville. Mr.Virus shapeshifts into a pony, smiles and says “Good, I’m so hungry for some alicorn magic”. Both of them start flying to Ponyville. Ponyville better prepare itself for the monster that is heading their way. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7. Gathering Forces //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 7. Gathering Forces Elemental and Galaxy finally made it to the Canterlot Castle. Although Galaxy had some time accepting the fact that he was back, a part of him was kinda glad that he was back. It just took a little time getting used to. On the walk there Galaxy Dust had looked around quite a bit, surprised at how much had changed during his absence. While he had expected things to change, actually seeing it still took him aback. Even so, he was still rather careful. He’d be surprised if anypony actually recognized him, but a stallion his height and posture was still bound to catch the attention of others. His head hung lower than usual to make himself look smaller. While heading to the base, a familiar voice caught Elemental’s attention and said “Long time no see, Ruby”. Elemental turned around to see…...Jenny 10. Elemental was rather surprised when she saw Jenny. She hugged her and noticed that she had brought Luchador with her. “I see that you completed your objective. Galaxy, this is my friend Jenny 10 but just call her Jenny. She’s a robot”. Galaxy simply averted his gaze. “Nice to make your acquaintance” he said stiffly. Luchador trotted over to Galaxy. “It’s an honor to meet you, amigo,” he said as he bowed his head. “Nice to meet you too, I suppose” the taller stallion muttered. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he speaks a little bit of Spanish where he comes from” Jenny explained. Galaxy rolled his eyes. “I think we all noticed”. Then all of a sudden, another familiar voice popped up behind Galaxy and said “Aww, you started the party without me?” Jenny and Elemental turn to see….it was Wolf-Spider! Meanwhile, Steel gazed around at his temporary quarters, an eyebrow slightly raised under his cowl. It was surprisingly spartan, with only a bed, a simple dresser, and a bedside table. As a matter of fact, it reminded him of the barracks when he had been in the Corps. However, someone had clearly done their homework and provided him with a worktable, an armor stand, and a weapon cabinet. “Huh. Not bad,” he mused, setting his duffel bags on the bed, “Not bad at all. I’d have preferred a cloud bed, but those are pretty darn expensive.” Making sure the door was locked, he took off his cowl and let it hang from the umbilical that ran from the power/life support unit on his back to the faceplate. He wiped the sweat from his brow and reached back to close the valve that fed oxygen to his respirator. “Note to self,” he muttered, fanning his face with a wing, “Figure out how to cool the cowl.” Without the vocal scrambler active, The Spectacular Steel Renegade was just an average-looking thestral with a mildly gruff, but otherwise pleasant, voice. With the cowl on, he was the terror of the underworld, the bane of criminals. With it off? He was just Thunderhead: the unemployed veteran who lived in a wagon in the abandoned lot at 3806 Dill Avenue. He unzipped one of his bags and took out one of his relatively few external weapons. It was a slim, carbine with a powerful sight and a silencer screwed onto the end. It was a heavily modified version of the SKS he had used during his time in the Marines. It often came as a surprise to ponies when they learned that he not only used firearms, but he also used live ammo. However, after his disastrous attempt to take down the Last Laugh without killing anypony, he had decided to stop giving a buck and kill if necessary. It hadn’t exactly made him popular with the FPD, but most of the civvies seemed to understand that a pony had to do what a pony had to do. He gazed out the window of his room at Canterlot as he field-stripped the Stalliongradian carbine. Given his sudden departure, and his general inability to see long distances after wearing his cowl for extended periods of time due to fogging, he hadn’t actually seen the city. He’d spent plenty of time in the city during his time in the service, but never in the castle’s lodging wing. He’d only ever been stationed outside the throne room as an honorary guard to “Princess Luna” at night, and even then it had been before he’d been re-assigned to a combat unit. In reality however the throne room had always been empty during his shifts, what with Luna being in the moon at the time. By the Luna had returned, and the guards were actually NECESSARY, he’d been retired for years. Canterlot was spectacular to him, not just because of its splendor, but also because of what it was beneath its exterior. It was one of the very few virtually crime-free cities in Equestria. The only other two he knew of were Ponyville and Vanhoover. He sighed wistfully and allowed himself to fantasize about a crime-free Fillydelphia. A Fillydelphia where he was no longer needed, and he could perhaps spend the time he now spent fighting gangbangers pursuing something a little more pleasant than justice… He shook his head and re-assembled his gun. If he didn’t get his head out of the clouds and back into the game, there wouldn’t be a Fillydelphia to purge of crime. With renewed energy, he stuffed his cowl back on and headed out. As long as he was in Canterlot, the hub of all Equestria’s military power, he had a few errands to run. Wolf-Spider walked up to Jenny and Elemental with a smile on his face. “Sorry it took so long. I had to go get a few ponies. Galaxy, Elemental, Jenny, Luchador, meet Steel Renegade and The Crimson Colt” Steel, clad in a brand new suit of Lunar Guard Special Operations kit, nodded to Jenny, Luchador, and Elemental. “Nice to meet you all.” His gas mask hissed as the filters purged themselves and he held out a hoof to Galaxy. Galaxy Dust carefully accepted and shook hooves. “To repeat my earlier words: Nice to make your acquaintance,” he said in a rather monotone voice. He looked at the ponies around him, towering over most of them. He then looked away, feeling out of place between all these special ponies. Steel cocked his head, then smiled under his mask. “Brawl likes you,” he said mildly, pulling out his rifle and taking out the clip. “Says you have an air of potential about you.” Galaxy raised an eyebrow at the device the pony was holding. “What’s….” he hesitated “What’s that?” he said, pointing at the firearm. But before Steel could say anything else, one of the royal guards ran up to them, exhausted and said “Thank Celestia, I’ve found you all. There’s a problem. Princess Celestia is in a coma! She’s at the hospital, over there!” Steel looked over at the guard, his mask’s glaring scarlet eyepieces boring into him. “Does she have a guard contingent?” “No…...she’s….dying….without her magic, her life support is fading slowly!” Steel groaned. “Did you consider an arcana siphon? Or maybe a thaumic regeneration matrix?” “NO!...this is bigger than that. I’ve seen it. That...thing took her horn...and is controlling my brother, Fly-Boy,” Elemental stopped Steel. “That doesn’t mean we can’t try,” Steel growled, “Remember: I was in the military. I’ve seen unicorns lose their horns before. Now with a mage of Celestia's caliber a simple thaumic regenerator might not do too much, but it’ll buy us time. Maybe as much as a few days.” “Alright, everypony. This is where we fight. I’ve got a call that the creature is in Ponyville right now. So, here’s the plan. Steel Renegade, and Galaxy. You two will take on this thing and me and Elemental will take it in. Got it?” Wolf-Spider explained. Galaxy twitched. “No, not really. I’m not entirely sure how I’m supposed to fight a creature that stole Celestia’s magic. At least not head on like you describe it.” Steel’s eyes glittered at the prospect of getting back into the military game. “How do you want to do this? HALO insertion? Drop pods? Subterranean infiltration?” “My girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle, built a special container for us to capture this thing. It’ll be defenseless. Galaxy, you are not Celestia. You are you. This thing doesn’t know what you’re capable of. It will be the perfect surprise attack”. “I suppose. How does it work exactly?” The taller stallion asked. “Easy, You push this button and make sure you’re close to the virus and it will do the rest” Galaxy looked at the device. “If you say so” he said, taking it from the other pony. “We are Equestria’s last hope against this thing…..let’s go!” To Be Continued......