Boncord: The Pre-Sequel

The bunker door opened directly into a shallow stairwell. Pipes and wiring lined the metallic walls of a single hallway below. Bon Bon, Chrysalis and Discord quietly followed a trail of blood and oil drops down the hall until it opened into a large room. Machinery and consoles lined the walls of the room and in the middle a gigantic gargoyle-like figure slumbered, taking shallow breaths. Like the guard ponies outside; much of his body had been replaced with machinery while cables and pipes ran between the machinery in the room and his body.

"Scorpan..." Discord said as he looked Scorpan over. "They must be preparing him to use that super weapon."

"No. I think he is the super weapon." Bon Bon rebutted as she observed a large cannon-like apparatus running along the length of one of Scorpan's arms.

The group surveyed the length of his body until they reached his head at the other end of the room. There stood a large ring shaped apparatus; which was attached by wires to a nearby console and off to one side the entrance to another hall.

"I've never seen enchantments like this before." Chrysalis said in awe.

"Not enchantments." An earth pony stallion called out as his silhouette emerged from the nearby hall with an eerie enthusiasm. "Science. Technology." Bon Bon and Discord trained their weapons on Dr. Hooves as his form became clear in the brighter lighting of the large room.

"As you can see I'm clearly not a war pony. So feel free to lower your weapons. I am here to help." Dr. Hooves explained calmly as he walked over to the console attached to the ring-like apparatus.

"Start talking." Bon Bon ordered as she removed the firing bridle from her head and Discord lowered his rifle. The trio lined up in front of Dr. Hooves.

"Chrysalis here, no doubt gave you two the condensed version of Equestrian history- our Equestrian history. That version lacks some important nuances." Dr. Hooves snickered as he fiddled with some controls on the console. Electricity arced through the ring-like apparatus and a gliding portal opened up. "Your world lies on the other side of this portal. You may leave now- unharmed."

Chrysalis simply hung her head and stood silently.

"But how?" Discord pondered. "With the magic drain."

"Where magic comes up short science always steps in with a solution." Dr. Hooves explained. "Wonderful, isn't it?"

"This must be how the filly is supplying all these weapons." Bon Bon said.

"Oh, goodness, no. The filly is an expert tactician and a brilliant mind but she is no inventor. It was I who found her. Until that fateful experiment she was going to let all of your world's magic simply vanish into the ether. But when it comes here we shall refine it into arcanium to run the machinery that will make our world prosper. Your Equestria will no doubt prosper under her rule- even without its magic. Look around you! You don't need magic to prosper. Everything you see here is of my creation." Dr. Hooves boasted.

"Why give her all the credit?" Bon Bon asked.

"If Starlight Glimmer knew I was the one making the weapons she would want all of them at once." Dr. Hooves paced over to Chrysalis and touched his hoof to her chin and she looked up in response. "And if there's one thing we can all agree on it's that Starlight Glimmer is a real loose cannon."

"Then why are you helping her?" Bon Bon chided.

"Come, my beloved!" Dr. Hooves called out toward the hallway. Derpy paced in meekly as servos whirred. Much of her body had also been replaced by machinery- one of her wings missing from her altercation with Chrysalis. She came to rest at a work station beside the console.

"I'm so tired." she sobbed.

"You just need another arcanium infusion, my love." Dr. Hooves walked over to a cylindrical arcanium vessel next to the portal, removed a shard of arcanium and then walked back over to Derpy. "Answering your question will require a proper history lesson." He said, turning to the trio before producing a strange tool and beginning to work on Derpy's missing wing.

The trio looked at each other and back at Dr. Hooves. "Oh, what the hey, let's hear it." Discord spoke.

"Tell me, what do you know of this conflict?" Dr. Hooves asked rhetorically as he loaded the arcanium shard into a small probe-like apparatus and then inserted it into a small slot on Derpy's back. Derpy yelped in pain as the apparatus made a hissing sound and when he removed it the arcanium shard was gone. "You know when Starlight Glimmer first came along the un-marking was strictly voluntary. One could argue that there was a lot of misinformation and propaganda promoting it. In fact I spoke my mind directly to Starlight Glimmer- I was free to disagree. And as you can see, I still am." He explained, pointing out his hourglass cutie mark.

"Me? I was just an ambitious inventor; living a comfortable, quiet life in Ponyville with my beloved." Dr. Hooves explained as he stroked Derpy's mane and then walked over to a nearby cabinet and produced a mechanical wing, clearly meant to replace the one Chrysalis had destroyed. "Starlight Glimmer approached me one day with a rather odd request." Clicks and hisses sounded as Dr. Hooves fitted the wing over Derpy's back and fiddled with the probe-like tool.

Chrysalis continued to stare downward while Discord and Bon Bon stared intently at Dr. Hooves, awaiting the rest of the story. "She wanted me to help figure out a way to use the removed cutie marks for something good. She wanted to give back with everything she had taken away." Dr. Hooves continued as he walked over to Derpy's other wing and lifted it up to examine her body beneath it. "After some toiling I discovered it, atleast for this world- the arcanium refinement process. The cutie marks became fuel for other inventions that improved the life of ponies."

"That doesn't make it right!" Bon Bon snapped.

"Of course not. I voiced my concerns to Starlight Glimmer and we agreed to disagree. It certainly wasn't worth starting a war over. But the four princesses certainly disagreed." Dr. Hooves folded Derpy's other wing back to her side and carried on examining the patchwork of mechanical parts on her. "By then Starlight Glimmer and her movement had gained popular support thanks in no small part to the marvels arcanium technology brought to their lives. When she finally ousted the hold-outs it was to cheering crowds. Not the regressive coup that you no doubt imagined."

"If you disagreed then why did you continue to help her?" Bon Bon asked with a sigh.

"I'm getting to that. This change was not without animosity on both sides. Which side fired the first shots? That I can't say." Dr. Hooves stroked Derpy's mane gently and looked her in the eyes and then turned back to the trio. "I was ready to leave Starlight Glimmer's side. That is- until the day my beloved was caught in the cross-fire. The day I held her broken body in my hooves and watched the life drain from her eyes." A tear ran down his face. Discord, Bon Bon and Chrysalis all reacted with a conspicuous pang of empathy. "And as you can no doubt see here science, technology- it can mend a broken body with ease." His voice turned from sorrow to matter of fact.

"But?" Bon Bon urged him on.

"But there is so much more to a pony's soul. To bring her back and keep her here- that requires a steady supply of arcanium." Dr. Hooves explained as he paced back to the arcanium cylinder by the portal, opened the lid and reached in. "Something I can only get enough of in Starlight Glimmer's Equestria!" He shouted as he pulled his hoof back out of the cylinder. A device was attached to the end of his hoof which he pointed at the trio as he paced back over to Derpy's side.

"Once your world's magic arrives; Starlight Glimmer will have no cause to bother you. So please accept my offer of mercy." He urged as he pointed to the portal. "Just go home and be with your loved ones."

Discord and Bon Bon looked over to Chrysalis and the three nodded. Chrysalis leveled her horn at the portal and fired a magical blast- the portal closed and disappeared as the broken piece of the machine creating it clattered to the ground.

"You ignorant fools!" Dr. Hooves shouted angrily. "We will just build another, you know!" With a popping noise a blur headed from the device on his wrist. A net made of the anti-magic alloy snagged Chrysalis and pinned her tightly to the ground. Discord and Bon Bon dashed in opposite directions and took cover behind some of the machinery in the room.

"Destroy them, my love." Dr. Hooves ordered to Derpy.

"I don't want to do this any more." Derpy sobbed in reply.

"You know I hate doing this." Dr. Hooves sighed as he used his other hoof to press a button on the device. Derpy winced in pain as she stood to attention against her will.

Servos whirred and metal clattered as Derpy trotted toward Bon Bon's hiding place with supernatural speed. Discord emerged from his cover and fired a shot at Derpy- sparks scattered in the air as the blast struck her wing, melting a small portion of it. The arcanium cannon beneath that wing turned around and fired back at Discord, forcing him back into cover all-the-while Derpy's hooves never missed a beat.

"She is superior to you in every way!" Dr. Hooves boasted as he quickly scrambled up some pipes running along the wall to a platform that overlooked the rest of the room.

Derpy jumped at Bon Bon and a metal ringing sounded as sharp metallic claws deployed around her front hooves. Bon Bon narrowly jumped out of the way as Derpy landed, the sharp claws piercing the metallic flooring with ease.

"We have to get that device!" Bon Bon shouted as she worked the control bridle for her arcanium blaster back into position.

Derpy pulled the metallic claws from the floor and began firing a salvo of shots from under both wings toward Bon Bon, who scrambled for cover behind another machine. Discord placed his paw to climb the pipes to go after Dr. Hooves but Derpy fired a shot which struck the pipe he was holding. Steam burst from the pipe and Discord recoiled in pain as it burned his paw.

"Easier said than done!" Discord complained as he ducked behind a wooden crate for cover. He tried to manage his arcanium rifle into firing position but the pain from his burn was too great.

Bon Bon trained her sights on Derpy and fired a quick shot which struck her on some metallic plating, which erupted into a gout of sparks. Derpy resumed firing on Bon Bon's new position, sending her scrambling for different cover, behind the same crate as Discord.

"My paw!" Discord yelped in pain, showing off his wound.

Bon Bon shrugged the arcanium blaster off of her back and fiddled around, dumping out a small pile of arcanium crystals onto the ground.

"What are you doing?" Discord whispered as the sound of Derpy's advancing hoofsteps drew closer.

"Trust me." Bon Bon said as she grabbed Discord's arcanium rifle and set it up on the ground with the muzzle pointing at the arcanium crystals and plucked a hair from her mane. "When I say go." She whispered as she tied the hair between her hoof and the trigger. Discord looked at her and nodded. Metallic scraping sounded as the blades on Derpy's hooves contacted the ground as she wound up in a jump. "Not yet." Bon Bon whispered. "Now!" Bon Bon shouted as Derpy came crashing through the crate they hid behind.

As the duo jumped the hair Bon Bon had rigged up pulled the trigger on the arcanium rifle. A defeaning blast sounded and shrapnel peppered Bon Bon and Discord as a bright explosion went off, filling the room with black smoke. Bon Bon and Discord landed hard on the floor beside each other as the room fell silent.

"No!" Dr. Hooves screamed in anguish, piercing the silence as the black veil of smoke began to thin. He quickly rushed to Derpy who had landed near where Chrysalis was still pinned to the floor. A hole in one of the armor plates on Derpy's chest revealed a red pulsating sphere inside of her which now crackled with electricity. He turned around abruptly and fired another net from the device on his hoof, pinning Bon Bon and Discord down. "Hold still, love." He trembled as he produced the probe-like instrument again. "I just need to infuse more arcanium to stabilize your core and we will get you all fixed up." He explained as he rushed over to the arcanium vessel and opened the lid and fell silent staring down inside.

"What treachery is this!?" He screamed with rage as he threw the vessel onto its side. Marbles poured out all over the floor with a rattling noise. "How?"

"I'm tired." Derpy whimpered as she took shallow breaths and looked over at Dr. Hooves.

"No matter." Dr. Hooves walked over to Chrysalis and held out the probe. "Your magic will keep her stable until I can get her to the refinery."

"Stop." Derpy pleaded but Dr. Hooves activated the probe.

Chrysalis cried out in pain as energy arced between her and into the probe.

"Please. Struggling will only make it take longer and I'm told it is very painful." Dr. Hooves pleaded as he stared into Chrysalis' eyes.

"Listen to her! Do you even care what she wants?" Bon Bon lectured as she struggled against the net.

"Please." Derpy pleaded.

"But you are dying!" Dr. Hooves protested as he continued to use the probe on Chrysalis.

"Not like this." Derpy sobbed. "I'm already dead."

"Are you holding on for her or are you holding on for you?" Discord piped in. Dr. Hooves stopped the probe and dropped it on the ground and slumped down. "It's hard to let go. I know" Discord sighed as he struggled under the net to touch Bon Bon's hoof with his paw. "But sometimes if you don't- the ponies you love will suffer for it."

"I'm so sorry. What have I done?" Dr. Hooves began to sob as he walked over to Derpy and slumped down at her side. The two turned toward each other and their eyes met.

"I love you." Derpy whimpered to him.

"I love you too." He shuddered as he began to cry.

"Can I sleep now?" Derpy asked with eyes full of tears as she reached out and touched his face with her hoof.

"Yes. Let us both rest." Dr. Hooves pressed a button on the device on his hoof and the nets holding the trio loosened, releasing their captives. He then laid down and embraced Derpy. "Get out of here!" He ordered to the trio as Derpy's power core began to pulsate and crackle more violently.

The trio wasted no time and quickly ran out of the bunker after shaking free from the nets. The ground quaked and a bright explosion pierced the ground, which caved in downward, burying the machinations within. As the dust settled the trio looked up, dazed. After the confusion and ringing of their ears subsided they found themselves in familiar company.

"Yak missed all the excitement!?" Prince Rutherford called out. He wore a bright red cape which was clasped together by one of the Elements of Harmony.

"We have everyone but an Element of Magic!" Princess Skystar boasted.

"Element of Courage!" Prince Rutherford exclaimed as he bowed down.

A grey griffin swooped down and landed beside the two. "Gabby the Griffin. Element of Inspiration!" she introduced herself as she showed off an amulet around her neck.

"Spike the dragon! Element of Determination." Spike proclaimed proudly as he landed with a flutter of his wings beside the others.

"I guess this is where we switch trains." Chrysalis said as she struggled to her hooves and joined the other new elements.

"Well it's not like we're going anywhere any time soon." Bon Bon sighed as she got up and examined the newly assembled team.

"There might still be a way to get home." Discord said. "We have to get to the arcanium refinery"

"Starlight Glimmer is no match for our team!" Princess Skystar squealed excitedly.

The excitement was soon wiped out as the ground began to rumble beneath the group once more. The group backed up and stared as a section of the ground collapsed into a shallow fissure and Scorpan burst out from it. "The light fades from my vision!" He called out as he began stomping toward the group. "I am losing control of these infernal machines! You must use the Elements of Harmony to destroy me." He raised his cannon arm and fired a shot at the group. They all scattered as it struck the ground with a mighty explosion.

"But we're missing one!" Princess Skystar pleaded as she soared in circles around his head. Scorpan casually swatted at her, sending her crashing into the ground nearby.

Spike strafed by as he unleashed a gout of flame, singeing Scorpan's flesh and hair but Scorpan showed no sign of discomfort. "It's no use!" He complained.

Chrysalis leveled her horn and fired a beam of light at Scorpan, who shrugged it off and then raised his arm to return fire at her. Gabby quickly dived in and pushed his arm off to the side, directing the shot harmlessly to the side. The explosion of the shot beside Chrysalis was still powerful enough to concuss her and knock her down. Scorpan motioned to step on her.

"Yak smash!" Prince Rutherford called out as he charged in and intercepted Scorpan's leg, sending him over onto his back. Scorpan quickly raised back to his feet.

Bon Bon and Discord watched helplessly from the side lines. The fliers buzzed in circles around Scorpan, taking shots at him to no avail while Prince Rutherford assaulted with physical force but they were completely outmatched by their foe.

"There must be something we can do." Discord complained.

"Wait. I've figured it out." Bon Bon said excitedly. "Skystar! Throw me the Element of Magic!" She ordered.

Princess Skystar reached into her bag and motioned to toss the element of magic over to Bon Bon but another mighty swat from Scorpan's arm sent it flying off course. Gabby quickly dived past and snatched it with her own claw as Scorpan unleashed a salvo of cannon blasts in her direction; forcing her to dive for cover behind a pile of rubble. Scorpan aimed his cannon toward the pile of rubble and energy arced as he prepared to fire. Chrysalis quickly flew into the path of a blast and a sphere of light encased her as the cannon blast broke around it like a wave on a rock.

"Here!" Gabby called out as she gave the element one last toss, reaching its mark in Bon Bon's hoof.

"Take my hoof!" Bon Bon held out her hoof to Discord. "Just trust me!"

"I do trust you!" Discord proclaimed as he grabbed her hoof. The Element of Magic began to glow and energy crackled between the couple. "Of course." He said, affirming Bon Bon's revelation.

"Now!" Bon Bon shouted to the group.

The group focused on Scorpan as their elements began to glow as well- each firing a blinding beam of light toward him. The scene fell silent from the deafening blast as they met in a massive explosion of light. It took a moment for eyes to adjust but when they did they saw Scorpan laying on the ground taking shallow breaths. The Element of Magic reverted to its unclaimed, tarnished form.

"Here!" Bon Bon called out as she tossed the element back towards Princess Skystar. "This belongs to your world."

Discord snapped his fingers and his eyes lit up with delight as he and Bon Bon reappeared in front of Scorpan's head as Scorpan held his head up toward them.

"These title drops are getting a little tiresome but I guess friendship really is magic." Discord pondered.

"Everything is becoming clear now." Scorpan panted. "It's too late for me." Scorpan reached up with one of his arms and dropped a pendant on the ground in front of them. "Give this to my brother. Tell him that Starlight Glimmer killed me. The light is fading again but at least now I am free of these machines." His eyes closed and his breathing slowed. "Tell him also that I love him and forgive him for his deeds." Only the sound of dust settling remained after he drew his final breath.