The Dissonant Infection

Chapters

Homecoming
Panic
Plan
Defenses
Rendezvous
News
Flames
Escape
Kaya
Entry
Masquerade
Infiltration
Rebirth
Retrace
Adaptation

Homecoming

Rainbow Dash was not a happy pony.

Well, she wasn't quite a pony anymore technically, but that was hardly the point at the moment—or perhaps that was exactly the point now that the cyan pegasus thought about it. Whatever the case, she wasn't happy with the current situation she'd found herself in. She'd also never been a particularly patient pony either, and becoming a shapeshifting death machine hadn't changed that; if anything, it had made it worse somehow.

It also could've been a side effect of that sleeping consciousness in her mind, but she didn't really want to entertain the notion; besides that, its presence seemed to be getting quieter and quieter anyway over the last few days, so she felt there was no need. Instead she busied herself by throwing an occasional glare in the direction of the mare who'd been responsible for her unfavorable circumstances. Rarity, who happened to be the focus of those glares, had very much noticed Rainbow's dissatisfaction, but had opted to ignore it completely. Given the current circumstances, both she and Applejack had agreed that patience and subtlety were virtues that would serve the three of them.

In truth, Applejack was just as impatient and irritated as Rainbow Dash, but, unlike Rainbow Dash, she had enough sense to see the wisdom in Rarity's suggestion. After all, they'd all only just arrived in Equestrian territory roughly an hour or so ago and had no idea of the current situation. It had been a long and ceaseless flight through most of Griffonia and across the Celestial sea, and while the trio were never physically hampered in any way, they were all mentally exhausted by the sheer monotony.

Thankfully Applejack had finally managed to form herself a pair of wings somewhere along the way and, while she was happy to be a pony again, her being a pegasus was a strange experience for everypony involved. Though she'd gotten the hang of shifting forms, Applejack still would've preferred the ground to flight any day of the week. Aside from that, there'd been small talk here and there—attempts to break a boring and sometimes melancholy silence unbroken save for the constant howl of the wind in their ears—but it always seemed to devolve into the same conversation between the three friends, and it always ended the same way.

There was always talk of what they would all do once they reached Equestria, of who and what would be waiting for them after all these years away. There was always the same worry of what their loved ones would think of them now, assuming they were still around to judge. In the end, the discussion would always leave them feeling scared and morose, with no answers or assurances for their worries. At some point they simply stopped talking and just dealt with the grim silence and constant monotony of their long, long flight back home.

And then, just as they could finally see the beginnings of the familiar Equestrian city of Manehattan on the horizon, they encountered an airship that just happened to belong to the Equestrian Border Patrol. More specifically, the trio of viral ponies had found that it was a border patrol consisting mostly of griffons in uniform.

They'd realized this only after a pair of armed and armored griffons had flown out to meet them while they were gawking at the airship and wondering, or rather arguing, about how to proceed. The airship was only about a fourth the size of the one they'd all seen back at the labs where they'd woken up, but the familiar symbol of a crescent moon over the black splotch that represented the night sky was plain to see on the midnight blue envelope of the ship.

The griffons had apparently spotted a group of suspicious pegasi nearing the Manehattan shoreline and had gone to investigate. One would've assumed that any pony making their way into Equestria wouldn't require any kind of permit, passport, or anything else of the sort to enter, but as had been established several times for the mares, times had changed drastically. Things weren't as simple as they'd once been and now the three had a choice to make. Rainbow Dash had initially planned on slaughtering her way through the griffons and moving onto their next destination, but a few more griffons had come out to see what the commotion was about, and once the griffons had identified themselves as part of the Equestrian Border Patrol, Rarity was having none of it.

"I know it might be frustrating for you dear, and in a way I do share your sentiments," Rarity had explained to an indignant Rainbow as the three were hoofcuffed and carried to the airship, "but this is an opportunity I'd rather not waste. There's still quite a bit we don't know, and this may be our first chance to gain some insight into what we might see."

"Bah, now you sound like Twilight," Rainbow groused with a roll of her eyes, "if we need to 'gain some insight' we can just—"

"I'm well aware of what we can do, darling," Rarity interjected in a low but harsh whisper. She threw the small entourage of griffons a quick glance and saw that some were watching them warily and a couple eyed them with strange smirks and smiles that Rarity didn't like one bit. She frowned and turned back to Rainbow Dash, "...but I'd rather not cause a scene unless we have to. If we were to do anything... untoward to our captors then word might get around, and that would make things that much harder for us."

Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, but Applejack spoke first, her tone bitter, but resigned.

"Ah'm with ya, Rainbow, believe me," the cowpony said with a grim frown, "but ah think it's best we listen ta Rares fer now. If it turns out certain things need doin', we'll do 'em, but until then, let's just see where this goes."

Rainbow still wanted to argue, and was ready to, but then she stopped, taking note of the oddly strained tone of Applejack's voice. She frowned and took moment to observe the griffons that had surrounded them. Looking at a few of them, Rainbow could immediately tell something was off about them, but she could put her hoof on what. She returned her gaze to Applejack and saw that the orange mare was wearing that look. It was that same look she got when she knew somepony wasn't telling the truth. Even without the connection to her Element, Applejack could still sniff out dishonesty and deceit like nopony else.

Normally this would've set Rainbow off, and she would've acted despite the consequences, but something told her to wait—that if she waited, she'd find far more satisfaction. Reluctantly, and with an irritated snort, Rainbow acquiesced. She wasn't pleased with the outcome, but that was fine with Rarity, so long as the rash pegasus was willing to cooperate. And so it was that the three had found themselves blindfolded and thrown into a dark and dingy brig aboard the Halvmane. The blindfolds had been removed shortly after the trio had been contained, but the gaurds hadn't said a word, despite Rainbows antagonistic outbursts.

That all had been roughly five minutes ago and Rainbow was getting more impatient by the minute. The cell itself was essentially a closed dark grey metal box large enough for maybe one or two more ponies than were currently trapped in there. The door was much the same as the walls with a small slot for the guards to peer through and presumably deliver food if necessary. There hadn't been much to do while the three waited for whatever was to come other than talk, and talk they did.

"Somethin' ain't right," Applejack muttered, "Equestria ain't never had a 'border patrol' before, least as far as ah could tell—don't think we ever needed one."

"Well, a lot can change in sixteen years," Rarity replied with a weary sigh, "and war just by itself can cause quite a few changes..." she grimaced in displeasure, "...especially if you're on the losing side. Still, I do find it rather strange that we haven't at least been questioned about who we are."

"They just threw us in here, without a word! With blindfolds!" Rainbow growled, her wings twitching irritably, "just left us here while they go off and do who-knows-what! I agree with Applejack, those griffons are up to something," she snorted, "I'm pretty sure they're not who they say they are. I mean what kind of border patrol uses blindfolds and throws ponies into prisons no questions asked?"

Applejack gave Rarity a sidelong glance, her expression unreadable.

"Ah know ah agreed ta wait, but..."

"My reasons for waiting still stand, darling," Rarity finished, shaking her head, "even now more than ever. You saw Luna's cutie mark on the airship. Border patrol or not, these griffons are working for the crown—or what passes for the crown nowadays. We shouldn't get on their bad side just yet, lest we invite the wrath of the... ah... Queen and this King Sombra. We shouldn't pick a fight until we know more."

"Those are more or less my thoughts, little lady."

At the sound of the slightly accented voice, the girls snapped their gaze towards the metal door. They heard the sound of someone fumbling with keys, and a moment later there was a sudden click. The door slowly swung open to reveal two griffons on either side of one of the largest pegasi the three friends had ever seen. The stallion wore a crisp and vaguely militaristic double breasted uniform of dark blue, and while not as big as a draft pony like Big Mac, he was fairly close in size. His coat was a sandy brown color and his mane and tail were both a rusty red and short cut. The pegasus stepped into the cell wearing an amiable grin, but it didn't reach his hard green eyes—eyes that swept over the three mares with something like amusement.

Those green eyes fell upon three pegasi mares; the one to the far left had a deep red coat, a dark green windswept mane and tail, and pale orange eyes brimming with suspicion and distrust. To her right was a mulberry colored mare with a perfectly coiffed mane and tail the color of fresh snow, bright cerulean eyes, and a calm, even expression. The last mare had a forest green coat, a wild black mane and tail, and golden yellow eyes trained on his own. The glare she gave the stallion was as caustic as he'd ever seen, and the large pegasus had seen a lot of glares over the years. Satisfied with his observation, the stallion chuckled lightly.

"You know," he said after a long moment, "it would behoove the lot of you not to discuss possible motives so openly while your captors are within earshot, just a friendly word of advice."

"Pfft, like itmatters," Rainbow shot back, switching her glare for a confident smirk, "It's not like you'll be able to do anything if we—"

"Whatmy hotheaded and overly pugnacious friend means to say," Rarity cut in, giving Rainbow a disapproving scowl before smiling diplomatically at the stallion, "is that we're all just a bit upset at having been accosted and arrested without any proper context."

"Other than your unauthorized entry into Equestrian lands?" the stallion replied with a raise of his brow.

"You'll have to forgive us, darling," Rarity answered apologetically, "though we're originally natives of Equestria, we've... been away for quite some time, you see. My name is Rare Gemstone," she gestured to herself before sweeping a hoof over to Rainbow, "this rather bellicose mare is Sparkling Rainbow."

The stallion squinted at Rainbow Dash for a second, then gave Rarity a quizzical look that complemented the incredulous stare Rainbow herself gave her disguised friend.

"Sparkling Rainbow you say?" the stallion said in a slow, bemused voice, "I... don't see it."

"Yes, it doesn't seem to fit her looks or personality," Rarity replied with a light chuckle, "but I'm afraid it is what it is. Poor girl suffered terribly for the name back in school."

She shot Rainbow a pitying look, silently begging the disbelieving mare to play along. Apparently Rainbow got the message, as she huffed in indignation, but didn't say anything on the matter. Instead she returned to glaring at the uniformed stallion while Rarity introduced Applejack.

"And last but certainly not least," Rarity continued, placing a hoof around Applejack's withers, "this quiet mare is Brilliant Sunrise."

Applejack gave no response or reaction other than to give a curt nod to the stallion. Her frown deepened as the stallion gave one of the griffons behind him a significant glance. The griffon in question wrote something down on a clipboard he'd been carrying and gave a grim nod to the stallion a moment later. Applejack narrowed her eyes at the exchange, but maintained her silence.

"Charmed to meet you all, I'm sure," the stallion replied, turning back to the mares and nodding to each one of them in turn, "you may call me Shimmering Sands, the current head of our little patrol while our... boss is away," he gave Rarity an apologetic look, "forgive me for not being able to meet you under more... cordial circumstances, Miss Gemstone, but with times being as they are, it's generally easier and safer to detain first and ask questions later."

"Okay, I get that, and I get these," Rainbow chimed in, raising her cuffed hooves, "but what's the deal with the blindfolds?"

"Among patrolling Equestria's borders, we have many other responsibilities," Shimmering Sands replied smoothly, "some of those responsibilities require the handling of certain things that are not meant for civilian eyes. King's orders and all that I am afraid."

"Yeah, I'll just bet," Rainbow muttered.

"More importantly, I have some questions of my own if you don't mind," Shimmering Sands continued, turning back to the mare who seemed to be in charge, "Miss Gemstone, would you mind sharing with me the details of how and why you came to enter into Equestrian airspace with no passports, documentation, or any kind of permit?"

"Well, as I mentioned before, we've been away from Equestria for some time—years unfortunately," Rarity answered with a sorrowful sigh, "we're all sisters that were separated from our family during the war. Our parents helped us flee the country and we'd been living in Saddle Arabia up until recently. We only just now got the chance to return home, but back when we escaped, there was no border patrol, so all of this comes as a bit of shock you understand."

"I do," Shimmering Sands replied with a sympathetic smile, "and it must have been especially hard for you all when the King invaded Saddle Arabia three years ago."

Rarity blinked.

"P-Pardon?"

Shimmering Sands' smile widened slightly and he took a step closer to Rarity.

"Yes, you three must have the worst of luck, escaping one country at war, only for the land you thought a sanctuary to suffer the same fate. You have my condolences, truly," he stepped back and gave a sorrowful sigh of his own, "in truth, my own Saddle Arabian blood cries out for justice at what has become of my homeland, but I know better than to go against the King, and so here I am, though I do worry for my own family back home."

Both Applejack and Rainbow looked to Rarity, but Rarity could only return their looks with a concerned frown, the mare unsure of how to proceed. That, at the very least, explained the sheer size of the stallion.

"Well, it is a tragedy of course," Rarity finally replied, her tone now a bit more tentative than it had been before, "but through a few lucky coincidences, my sisters and I managed... to..."

Rarity trailed off and a sinking feeling rose in her gut as Shimmering Sands laughed. It was an amused, mocking sort of laugh that told the mare she'd made a mistake somewhere along the way—a feeling that became a certainty as the stallion spoke again.

"La tujad harb fi Saraj Alearabiat ya 'ahmaq!" the stallion exclaimed with a chuckle, "muhawalat jayidat, lakunani la 'ankhadie bisahula."

Rarity had no idea what to say to that, and it was clear from the looks on their faces that neither Applejack or Rainbow Dash did either. Though they didn't understand a word of what Shimmering Sands had said, they could all tell they'd been caught in the lie just by the tone of his voice.

"This has been an amusing distraction, really it has," Shimmering Sands continued after a beat. He was no longer laughing, but still smiled a cold smile, "but I am afraid I have other duties to attend to and must hurry this current business along."

Apparently this was taken a cue by the two uniformed griffons, because one of them smirked and brought a rifle strapped to his midnight blue armor to bear. The other stowed his clipboard away in a satchel and did the same as the the large stallion spoke once more.

"In all honesty I do not care where you come from or why you have entered Equestria," Shimmering Sands all but whispered, moving in and leaning uncomfortably close to Rarity. She grimaced at the stallion's leering face, but said nothing, "all that matters is that you have come bearing none of the proper documentation to enter this fine country," he stepped back straightened up before speaking in a louder voice, "and so you have two choices ladies..."

He took another few steps back until he was standing outside of the cell. The two griffons stepped in to replace him, their rifles raised and their claws on the trigger. To Rarity's disgust, one of them licked their beak in anticipation.

"...you can either earn your citizenship through back breaking labor, digging around beneath the ground like a lowly diamond dog," Shimmering Sands exclaimed, "or my two friends can put you all down in the name of protecting this great nation from malicious spies like yourselves. I don't think it is such a hard choice to make, do you?"

"Nope."

There was an odd sound and a brief flurry of movement, and a dark shadow passed over both griffon's eyes. Neither had any time to squawk in surprise before two massive black claws latched itself onto each of their gawping faces and squeezed. There was a grotesque mix of cracking and squelching and a second later the two griffons fell to the ground, their features nothing more than a pulpy mess of red, pink and grey from the neck up.

It had all happened in an instant, and the sudden burst of violence had been so outrageous and unexpected that Shimmering Sands could only stare in disbelief at the two very dead guards laid out before him. In the thick silence that followed, the stallion slowly raised his face to meet the three mares and he froze. His eyes locked onto one mare and gradually widened with horror at the twisted black limbs that had erupted from where her front hooves had once been. His mouth flapped uselessly for a few moments before he finally managed to choke something out in a hoarse whisper.

"Ealaa daw' alshams al'iilhi..."

"Ah got no clue what any o' that means," Applejack replied, pulling the ropy black claws back but keeping them out, "but ah made my choice."

Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash watched with resignation and surprise respectively as the mare shed her red coat in a mess of black tendrils and replaced it with a more familiar orange coat and stetson. Applejack looked at Rarity and snorted before glaring at the stunned and horrified stallion.

"Sorry, Rares, but it looks like certain things need doin' after all. Ah got a family ta find and ah ain't getting held up here."

Author's Note

To those who actually speak some form of Arabic, I apologize for the possibly poor translation. Google translate was all I had to work with. And yes, I'll come back to this in another chapter, so no worries there.

Panic

Shimmering Sands was a stallion that had seen and experienced quite a lot in his life.

Growing up as a half-breed in Saddle Arabia hadn't been easy on him as a colt, not in the neighborhood he lived in. When you're a couple of heads smaller than everyone else you tend to draw the wrong kind of attention from your peers—at least that was Shimmering Sands' experience. Bullies came and went, but the colt had made it out of foalhood relatively okay, if a bit more ambitious to prove himself in the eyes of others. It was when he'd moved to Equestria a few years before the war that things finally started changing for the better.

He'd suddenly gone from being the smallest horse in his neighborhood to a pony that was rather large for his size, and certainly one of the largest pegasi anypony had ever seen. That he'd been born a pegasus was something he could take pride and joy in. Though he'd been smaller than the other foals in his youth, none of them could boast of being able to fly like he could. Looking back on it, Shimmering Sands realized that his wings might've done more to instigate abuse from his peers than his smaller size, but that was all in the past now, so it didn't matter.

He'd left that life behind to make something of himself in Equestria, and he had. He'd joined the Royal Guard, and while Saddle Arabian horses didn't get cutie marks like ponies did, his mother was a full blooded pony from Equestria. He'd never gotten a cutie mark as a colt, and thus he and his parents believed it wasn't meant to be due to his Saddle Arabian blood. In actuality, his mixed blood had only delayed the inevitable and it wasn't until after he'd moved to Equestria and joined Celestia's Guard that his own mark had appeared.

It wasn't a cutie mark for bravery or combat like many of the other cutie marks proudly displayed on the flanks of other Guards. One could guess, but to most it wasn't readily obvious what his cutie mark meant just by looking. It was a simple image of a door just slightly ajar, and for many months after he'd obtained it, Shimmering Sands wondered what it could mean. He still had no idea what it meant, even when Sombra had marched on and destroyed Canterlot after the ponies had refused to give in to his demands. It wasn't until he'd personally been brought to the new King and Queen to be executed along with the rest of the surviving Guards that had survived the seige of Canterlot that he understood just what his cutie mark meant.

Whether it had been through his own wit, someone else's folly, or sheer luck, the larger than average pegasus had always managed to slip out of harrowing situations virtually unscathed. It had been that way his entire life and it took talking himself out of his own execution by swearing absolute and undying fealty to his King and Queen to realize this. For whatever reason, King Sombra had seen something in him, as none of the other Guards who'd sworn the same had been spared the King's cruelty that day. Shimmering Sands alone had been given mercy, and after many other life changing events during that time, he'd gone home with a new truth in his mind. It was a truth represented by the mark on his flank, and it was a truth that he'd lived his life by ever since...

"No matter how dire the situation, there is always a way out," the stallion muttered to himself as he fled down one of the many narrow corridors of the Halvmane as fast as his hooves could carry him, "there is always a way out, you just have to find it."

This he told himself over and over again as he fled for his life from the three monsters he'd mistaken for prisoners—for ordinary mares. By the divine Light of the Sun he knew better now. He'd narrowly avoided having his own head lopped off when the mares attacked, and by some miracle he'd managed to escape from the holding cells while the beasts had been distracted with something else. He didn't particularly care about what had caught their attention, only that it had bought him enough time to book it out of the room. That had been several minutes ago, and he had stopped to catch his breath and try to sort out what had happened, when the screams began.

Shimmering Sands knew those screams.

He'd heard those kinds of screams back during the siege of Canterlot—the horrible, blood-curdling screams of the maimed and dying, usually cut mercifully short once the enemy had finished what they'd started. Those had been the screams of the griffons and ponies under his temporary command, he knew. They were being slaughtered elsewhere on the airship by those things, and where was he? Was he heading for the bridge to give orders to his surviving crew? Was he warning those who had yet to comprehend what was going on? Was he gathering those under him to fight the threat aboard his ship?

No.

Shimmering Sands, Royal Guard, war veteran, and second-in-command of the Special Operations Unit of King Sombra's Crystal Guard, was making a beeline for the nearest emergency hatch. The stallion told himself he'd escape the ship and find help, that he would warn the contingent of Guards stationed in Manehattan of the new threat to the Crown. While he would certain do all of that and more, he knew deep down the real reason why he was abandoning his crew. Even as he raced down the last few corridors and found one of the hatches he'd been looking for, even as strained to turn the large metal wheel and push the heavy door open he knew, but tried to convince himself otherwise, just like every other time he'd escaped on his own.

He'd heard it many times before, whispered behind his back or said out loud to his face by those in higher standing than him—so many times during the war that he'd become numb to the word. He took one last look behind him just in time to spot that cyan coated, rainbow maned monstrosity round the corner and spot him, and he heard it again. With its coat dyed almost completely red with the blood of his subordinates and black ropy blade tipped tentacles flaring out from where its wings should've been, the beast in the guise of a mare cried out her own rendition of that old familiar line he'd gotten so used to over the years.

"GET BACK HERE AND DIE LIKE A STALLION YOU BUCKING COWARD!"

With those words ringing in his ears, Shimmering Sands leapt from the Halvmane, every instinct in his body telling him to put as much distance between himself and the ship as possible as fast as possible. As he emerged from the hatch and hit open air he descended into a nosedive, wings pressed tightly against his barrel and speeding towards.a large body of water far below. He wasn't sure whether or not the creature would follow, but he didn't allow himself to think about that. The only thing that mattered was his escape; everything else would work itself out, he was certain.

No matter how dire the situation, there is always a way out.

Rainbow Dash lashed out with one of her whips, only to growl in frustration as it whistled past, just shy of piercing the stallion's skull. Shimmering Sands had thrown himself out the hatch an instant before the whip hit and in moments he was gone from the corridor.

"As if it's gonna be that easy," Rainbow muttered darkly, her black whips reverting to cyan wings, "I could've flown circles around you way before all this happened."

She spread her wings and shot off towards the open hatch, fully intending to silence the cowardly stallion and move onto her next objective, but instead found herself suddenly and violently pushed back by a hail of bullets and spellfire from the opposite side of the dark corridor. Evidently some of the crew of the Halvmane had taken it upon themselves to fight back against horrifying creatures that had invaded their ship. Rainbow Dash, inwardly cursing at the timing, retreated back around the corner and away from the group of griffons and unicorns, taking a moment to regroup. The wounds closed themselves well enough, and the bullets weren't that big a deal, but the spellfire actually hurt quite a bit.

"You guys do know your boss is a cowardly son of a nag who abandoned you, right?" Rainbow shouted over the noise of the rifles and spells, "seriously, the guy just up and left!"

But they either didn't hear or didn't care, because the assault didn't let up in the slightest. Rainbow cursed and resigned herself both to waiting for an opening and to the fact that Shimmering Sands was probably going to get away at this rate.

It turned out that Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity hadn't been the only prisoners on the ship—far from it. They'd all been held in a large room full of small holding cells like theirs, each one holding all kinds of creatures. It was mostly ponies that had been captured, but there'd been a few diamond dogs and even some griffons in the mix. One thing they'd all had in common though, were the broken and defeated look in their eyes. None of the girls wanted to leave them there, but Shimmering Sands and his crew needed to be dealt with, and so Rainbow had volunteered to go after the stallion while Applejack was supposed to find a way to take control of the airship somehow. Rarity meanwhile, had opted to stay behind and try do something about the other prisoners, but apparently things weren't going to go so smoothly if Shimmering Sands' escape was anything to go by.

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow Dash ducked another spellfire blast from around the corner and turned to see Applejack coming up from behind her. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the cowpony and she nodded towards the rain of fire just ahead.

"Nice timing, AJ," Rainbow exclaimed as Applejack slowed to a stop before her, "could you gimme a hoof here? I found that Shimmering Sands guy, but he escaped out one of the hatches that leads out of the ship and these trigger happy bozos are blocking the way."

As they'd fought together, Rainbow Dash had begun to notice that, though they'd all been changed into the same thing, not all of her friends had been rebuilt to be exactly the same. Rainbow Dash herself had already been incredibly quick and agile, and that had only increased tenfold when she became a virus. Applejack on the other hoof, had grown far more sturdy and powerful than she already was. She wasn't sure about the others just yet, but Rainbow knew they most likely had their own quirks, strengths and weaknesses as viruses.

"Ah, horseapples," Applejack growled before adjusting her crimson stained stetson with a crimson stained hoof and stepping past Rainbow Dash, "alright, ah'm on it, but we need ta wrap this up, quick. With all the fights an' panic breakin' out onboard, it's only a matter o' time before somepony breaks somethin' important, an' then we'll really be in it."

"Oh buck," Rainbow muttered, before speaking a bit louder, "so what's the deal with the other prisoners? How are we gonna get them all out of here if things go bad?" she grimaced and glanced back at the stream of fire that still hadn't let up, "well, worse than they are?"

"In all honesty, ah ain't too sure, Rainbow," Applejack sighed, "ya'll saw 'em back there in those cells. A lot of 'em were in pretty bad shape. Rarity's doin' what she can, trying to figure some kinda way to get 'em out o' here but... well... ah don't know," she shook her head and continued forward into the relentless assault, her face set with grim purpose, "fer right now, ah think it's best ta focus on what we're supposed to be doin'."

Rainbow Dash stepped aside and prepared to follow after Applejack as she rounded the corner to confront their attackers. She watched as Applejack stopped just shy of the edge and cracked her neck.

"Here goes," she turned to Rainbow, "ready?"

"You know it," Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk.

Applejack nodded and her legs disappeared behind a wall of black tendrils. At the same time she removed her stetson and held it out before her, morphing it into a large somewhat flat shape that vaguely resembled what Rainbow guessed was a shield that attached itself to one of her hooves. Before the black armor around her legs and the shield had even finished forming, the orange mare was off, and much quicker than Rainbow was expecting. Surprised but no less quick to react, Rainbow Dash followed Applejack out into the storm of bullets and fire, taking cover behind the large shield.

In a matter of seconds, Applejack had charged straight through the line of fire, bullets plinking harmlessly off of her shield and spellfire bursting apart with little to no effect. Rainbow Dash stopped once she reached the open hatch, but Applejack kept going further down the corridor until Rainbow heard the terrified screams and squawks of the crew cut short by the heavy thuds and crunches of Applejack's fatal impact. Applejack finally stopped amidst the now broken and twisted bodies around her, the blaring alarm the only sound remaining in the corridor. As she changed her limbs and stetson back to their original shape, she turned to address Rainbow.

"Ah'll head to the bridge an' see what ah can do about the ship," she said, "you just make sure that varmint doesn't get away. Take 'em alive if ya can, eat 'im if ya can't."

"Lemme guess," Rainbow replied with an exasperated groan and a roll of her eyes, "Rarity's orders?"

"We need info, Rainbow," Applejack reminded the pegasus, "an' Rarity thinks that stallion knows a few things that can help us."

"Yeah, yeah," Rainbow quietly grumbled, spreading her wings and turning to the open hatch, "seriously, who died and made Rarity the boss?"

Applejack, knowing full well that Rainbow wasn't expecting an answer and not really feeling like giving her one anyway, turned and headed further into the airship. Rainbow for her part, prepared to make like Shimmering Sands and leap out of the ship. Both she and Applejack paused at the sound of a muted explosion somewhere in the ship. Neither mare had any time to wonder what the sound was before the Halvmane lurched violently, causing both mares to stumble. The sudden shift was accompanied by an ominous metallic groan that seemed to echo throughout the entire airship.

"What the hay was that?!" Rainbow cried as regained her footing, "did somepony attack the ship or something?"

"Ah don't know," Applejack replied, a grim frown crossing her face as she looked around the narrow hall, "but ah think we mighta ran outta time here."

As if to punctuate the statement, another muffled explosion rang out, quickly followed by another and one more though quieter. The entire airship shook and shuddered beneath Applejack and Rainbow's hooves and the two turned to look at each other from across the corridor. Applejack opened her mouth to make a suggestion, but was cut off by yet another explosion, this one sounding much closer.

"We need ta find Rarity an' get the hay outta here," Applejack decided, "now."

"Well yeah," Rainbow replied, turning to the open hatch with an uncertain and slightly frustrated frown, "but what about—"

"Forget about him fer now," Applejack interjected, motioning for Rainbow to follow her further down the hall, "ah think we got bigger trees ta buck right now."

"But..." Rainbow gave the open sky one last look before giving an aggravated snort and following after Applejack, "ah buck!Don't blame me if this comes back to bite us in the flank."

"Noted," Applejack replied as they both raced down the narrow halls, "now let's find the bridge, we're supposed ta meet Rarity there, so that's probably where she's headed."

With that destination in mind, the two made their way through a maze of small metal corridors, pushing past several panicked crew members going in the opposite direction. It looked as though the majority of the ponies and griffons were too preoccupied trying to abandon ship to deal with the two blood drenched mares heading thier way. Most gave them a wide berth as they fled, and Applejack and Rainbow ignored them in turn. Many of the pegasi were following Shimmering Sands' example and throwing themselves out of emergency hatches. Those that weren't lucky enough to have wings made due with parachutes, though in the pandemonium, some were outright pushed out without anything to break their fall. Those that tried to fight were cut down in passing and quickly forgotten as the two searched the listing ship for the bridge and Rarity.

At some point, Applejack had consumed one of the crew and obtained the memory of where the airship's bridge was located, but even with that knowledge, it was far from a straight shot. The Halvmanemay not have been nearly as large as the airship back at the facility, but it was still a fairly massive ship, and the maze-like layout of the various rooms and corridors didn't help navigation in the slightest. The explosions had stopped thankfully, but the shaking was getting worse by the minute.

By now it was clear to all involved that the ship was falling out of the sky. As the ship began its slow descent out of the sky, it became somewhat harder for Rainbow and Applejack to keep their footing, though the problem quickly resolved itself thanks to the same miniature tendrils that allow them to scale the sides of buildings with ease. Eventually, after being held up by a few griffons who'd decided taking the them out was more important than fleeing the ship, the two reached the double doors that led to the bridge. It slid open on its own at their approach, revealing a large semi-rounded room dominated by windows that had replaced much of the walls.

Applejack noticed with some unease, that the majority of the view outside the windows were taken up by the Celestial Sea far below. Rainbow however, noticed something else entirely. The two stood on a slightly raised platform that overlooked a long row of seats lining the windows from left to right. At the seats were a series of complex looking controls, none of which the cyan pegasus understood save for the steering wheel set up near the front of the raised platform they were standing on. The bridge had been completely abandoned by the crew, but more important than that, at least to Rainbow, were the few ponies that were left.

"Rainbow Dash, Applejack!" came the relieved, if somewhat flustered voice of Rarity, "glad you could finally make it you two."

"Rarity?" Applejack replied, a bemused frown making its way onto her face as Rarity approached and wrapped her in a quick hug, "glad we found ya, but... who're these folks?"

Rarity turned back to the figures she'd been conversing with before Rainbow and Applejack had arrived. Standing off to the side near the end of the platform were four creatures; One was an older looking griffon with a burnt orange coat and feathers, a mean scar below one of his pale yellow eyes, a chipped beak, and a hard scowl. Behind the griffon were two ponies—twins that looked to Applejack to be barely out of their foalhood years. One was a pegasus mare and the other a unicorn stallion, though it was difficult to distinguish the two given their similar features.

Both had off-white coats and brown manes and tails streaked with cream colored lines. With a wince, Applejack noticed the two ponies were horribly thin and incredibly dirty. Their faces were gaunt and their manes long, flat and filthy, but there was something in their expressions that the cowpony couldn't quite place. There was a strange sort of light in their sunken green eyes as they stole glances at Rarity and the newly arrived Applejack and Rainbow. Applejack raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, instead turning to the last creature on the platform.

The last creature surprised both Applejack and Rainbow, as it was of all things, a Zebrican mare. The zebra was older, though she didn't look as old as the griffon. Unlike Zecora, this mare was mainly black with white stripes lining her frame. She was thin, but not as thin as the twins, though she was just as dirty. Rather than the traditional mohawk that Applejack, Rainbow and Rarity had seen from Zecora, this mare had tied her white mane into a series of intricate braids that fell to one side, though some of the braids had come loose and several stray hairs stuck every which way. Of all the creatures in the room, the zebra seemed the most detached from the situation at hoof. She allowed her deep and calming blue eyes to glide from face to face, taking in the others with something like idle curiosity.

Rarity looked at each of them, watching as another shudder of the ship caused them to adjust their footing. She turned back to her two friends with an oddly strained smile.

"Well, we don't really have time for proper introductions at the moment, but of all the prisoners that horrid stallion had locked away along with us, these are the only ones that decided to actually join us in our own escape—something we should be getting to posthaste I might add."

Author's Note

I'll come back to this in a couple of chapters, but for the next two chapters we're returning to Griffonia. As a side note I'm still trying to decide how to separate the different plot threads so just bear with me here on the possibly awkward pacing guys, I'll figure something out.

Plan

In most things, Hoffnarr Feather Song was a fairly average griffon who lived a fairly mundane life.

He was an older griffon, just recently into his mid-sixties in fact. He kept in decent shape by visiting the gym near his home three times a week. Like many griffons, he was a frugal sort, though he spared no expense for certain things. Between his wife's job as an archivist and his own work as a bank teller, there was no shortage of bits, and they'd managed to find a nice apartment in a good neighborhood near the business district where Hoffnarr spent most of his day.

He'd lost his one and only son several years back in a terrible accident, and his daughter-in-law had chosen to move out of the city with his granddaughter of only a few years shortly after. That had been at a time when the city was still growing, but once Iron Wing City had become a thriving metropolis, their granddaughter, newly out of her fledgling years and now a full grown adult, had decided to come live with them in the city. It was surprise to be sure, but a welcome one, though somewhat bittersweet given that Hoffnarr's daughter-in-law refused to join her own daughter.

Still, no love was lost and both Hoffnarr and his wife were happy to have their granddaughter around. She'd been a small ray of sunshine in a life that had become somewhat dreary and monotonous for Hoffnarr over the years. It wasn't a perfect life, but neither Hoffnarr's wife, nor his granddaughter could've asked for more. Unfortunately Hoffnarr had only grown more restless as time went on. He began to feel that something was missing from his own life—a slowly widening void that needed filling, a growing itch that needed to be scratched, a thirst for the kind of adventure one couldn't obtain by being tied down by his family and job like he'd been for so many years.

He'd tried taking his wife and granddaughter on an exotic vacation to Asterios, the country of minotaurs and a place famous for its many sprawling mountains, beautiful hot springs and ancient cities dotted throughout the land. It was a fun experience and Hoffnarr's granddaughter had enjoyed herself quite a bit, but it hadn't been what the older griffon himself was looking for. He'd tried spicing things up in his love life, even going so far as to try and convince his wife to try a few new things in the nest they shared, and while that had been a bit closer, it didn't quite hit the mark.

Deep down, Hoffnarr knew what he really wanted—what he began to feel he needed, but for the longest time he tried to deny it. More and more often he found his eyes wandering to the younger hens he worked with or saw on the streets; more and more often he had to pull those eyes away as certain thoughts began to form, causing no end of guilt and shame. The more he denied it, the more miserable life seemed to become. The drinking started not long after that, and things quickly began to spiral out of control from there.

Work suffered, fights began to break out with the wife at home, a rift started to grow between Hoffnarr and his granddaughter, the barriers cracked further and further in Hoffnarr's mind. Eventually, they broke down completely, shattered by a co-worker who'd been making some not-so-subtle attempts to bed the older griffon. He didn't know why, and though he'd always tried to ignore the hen before, now he didn't particularly care why. On that day, after work had let out, he followed the mare to a certain kind of hotel in the shadier area of the entertainment district.

Broken and desperate, Hoffnarr committed the worst breach of trust one possibly could between a husband and their wife.

It was everything he'd been craving and more, and yet it had also left him feeling sick and hollow—a shell of the griffon his wife had married. To make matters worse, he'd found himself waking up in that hotel alone and without a bit to his name, his bit pouch no doubt snatched away by the very hen who'd been fawning over him just the other day. Played like a fool and too ashamed to return home, Hoffnarr made use of the hotels amenities to ready himself for the day and left for work. The hotel had already been paid for the night prior, a fact that brought little comfort to Hoffnarr as he walked into the bank that day.

Not long after he'd punched in, he'd been called to meet with his boss. He entered the office to find his disgusted and irate boss and a pitifully sobbing and intimately familiar co-worker waiting for him. Hoffnarr had taken one look at the two, and realized in an instant what had happened, and what was coming next. Accusations were made, tempers flared, threats were issued, and in the end, Hoffarr found himself out of a job. It was here that Hoffnarr felt he had reached the lowest point in his life. Robbed of his bits, he couldn't even afford to drink his problems away, and so, bitter, angry and hollow, he headed home.

Naturally, there'd been an altercation between Hoffnarr and his wife when he'd gotten home. His granddaughter tried to intervene, but could do nothing but watch as things began to turn violent. Fortunately a third party had arrived just as things were about to spiral out of control, and the griffon family was surprised to find their horrible situation interrupted by none other than a trio of ponies... or so they thought. Unfortunately, it quickly became apparent that these were no ordinary ponies, or even ponies at all, but something else entirely. Their surprise didn't last long before things took a turn for the worst...

When Fluttershy closed her eyes, she could still see the scene play out in vivid detail. She remembered the argument she and her friends had witnessed as they peered into the window, preparing to make their move. She remembered how things had escalated—the words that had been said, and the horror she felt. She remembered how that horror had turned to anger when the husband had attacked his wife, striking her across the face and leaving a deep furrow of bloody gashes where his claws had swiped. The last thing she heard before everything had gone red was the sound of the granddaughter's terrified scream, then... nothing.

There was a large hole in her memory, and in its place were the memories of Hoffnarr Feather Song. His entire life had played out in her mind, giving her the full story to what she and her friends had bore witness to through the window. She remembered it all from his perspective, and she had not liked what she saw, how she, as Hoffnarr, had felt in those last few days. When she finally came to, the main room of the apartment was a complete wreck and she sat amidst all the carnage, an old and tragic griffon blinking stupidly at his family. They watched him with no small amount of concern, his wife and granddaughter, only they weren't really his wife and granddaughter anymore, and she wasn't an old griffon.

It took Fluttershy a moment, but eventually all the memories of what she, Pinkie and Twilight had come to do came flooding back. There'd been a brief panic attack on her part, but her friends had helped her calm down soon enough. Still, even now, as she stood out on the balcony of the fifth floor of the apartment, watching the endless crowds of griffons pass by below, Fluttershy hadn't completely recovered from the experience. Hoffnarr had never actually gotten to tell his family about his infidelity, and Fluttershy herself hadn't told Twilight or Pinkie.

It just didn't feel right for some reason; none of it felt right, being in the guise of another creature, and of a different gender no less. It had been a couple of days since the incident, but she still hadn't fully gotten used to her shapeshifting abilities, and somehow she doubted she'd ever fully get used to it like the others had. Since she was outside where everyone could see her, she'd once again dawned the guise of Hoffnarr, and while she could just go back inside and revert back to her normal pegasus self, she opted to stay on the balcony and creature watch for a bit longer.

It was getting late in the day and Twilight and Pinkie would probably be back soon, though Fluttershy was still unsure of whether or not she was ready to talk to them about how she felt. She'd gone into the business district alone looking for clues to their current predicament, but had gotten sidetracked by her—or rather Hoffnarr's—memories. She'd wasted the last few hours wandering around in a daze and had eventually wound up standing outside of the very bank where Hoffnarr had worked. She didn't know how long she'd been standing there, and the only reason she'd snapped out of it and left was because the manager had come out and shouted that he'd file those charges if she didn't leave the premises.

And so she'd returned back to the apartment without finding out a single thing.

Fluttershy had no idea why her consumption of the griffon had affected her so strongly. She couldn't help but compare it to what had happened to Rainbow Dash when she consumed Svanhild, but the problem was that Hoffnarr hadn't been a virus like Svanhild, or even infected at all. Was it Fluttershy herself? Was this just a side effect unique to her? Or was it something else? Something that had to do with who or what she used to be? She didn't know the answer, and she didn't know what she was going to tell the others, but she'd have to come up with something soon.

Closing her eyes and casting out her still relatively new senses, she could feel both Twilight and Pinkie heading up the stairs and towards the door to the apartment they'd taken over. With a resigned and weary sigh, Fluttershy turned away from the city and stepped back into the apartment, shedding her disguise and dawning her normal yellow coat once she was inside. The interior had been cleaned up since the incident, and the girls, disguised as the family currently living there, somehow managed to explain away the disturbance as a simple misunderstanding. Fluttershy wasn't sure whether or not the manager of the apartments had believed them, but thankfully there had been no follow up investigation.

Fluttershy had barely made it to the front door before it was thrown open and she found herself staggering backwards, wrapped in a tight pink furry embrace.

"We're baaaack~" came the ecstatic voice of Pinkie, "did ya miss us, Fluttershy? 'Cause we definitely missed you!"

"Oof... h-hey, Pinkie," Fluttershy replied, patting the pink earth pony on the back, "I'm glad to see you, both of you," she looked over Pinkie's shoulder just in time to see Twilight enter and close the door behind her before shifting back to her lavender unicorn self. She frowned slightly as she watched Twilight, "so... how did everything go? Did you find what you were looking for yet?"

"One of the things I was looking for, yes," Twilight replied making her way toward a small white couch in one corner of the room and all but throwing herself onto it with a sigh, "it took some time, but I found the route to our next destination."

"Really?" Fluttershy asked, eyes widening with surprise as she pulled away from Pinkie, "I thought..." she paused and shook her head with a small hidden smile of relief, "...well that's good then, I suppose. Where are we heading next?"

Twilight grimaced and Fluttershy's smile faded at the sight.

"Well... before I get to that, did you find any information in the business district?" Twilight asked instead, "anything that might be able to help at all?"

Now it was Fluttershy's turn to grimace.

"No, nothing," she replied quietly after a moment. She looked away, turning her gaze to the darkening grey sky outside the window where the balcony was, "...sorry, Twilight."

There was a brief silence in which Twilight and Pinkie studied their pegasus friend. The moment passed and Twilight shook her head, an understanding smile on her face.

"It's alright, Fluttershy," Twilight finally answered, "I'm sure you did what you could."

"Yeah," Pinkie chimed in, wrapping Fluttershy in a one legged hug, "we have a lead now anyway, so it's all good, right?"

"Exactly," Twilight agreed, though her reassuring smile cracked slightly as she spoke her next words, "although... I'm not so sure you'll like what I have planned, or where we're going."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked, trying to push down the guilt at Twilight's earlier statement, "why wouldn't I..."

She trailed off as she thought about what Twilight could've meant. Unless Twilight was talking about some place they'd all gone before their transformation, there were only three other places in Griffonia that they'd all been, and going back to Squawken or the forest at the edge of the mountain didn't really seem make all that much sense given what the lavender mare was looking for.

"...You're planning on going back to that laboratory," Fluttershy deduced, her expression falling slightly as the realization hit, "that place where we all... where we were all... changed."

"Right now, that place is our only lead, Fluttershy," Twilight answered in a slightly placatory voice, "not only that, but if we're going to make any headway in stopping a possible outbreak from spreading, we would've needed to go back there at some point, and the sooner the better."

"And Pinkie?" Fluttershy asked, turning to the pink mare after a beat of silence, "what do you think?"

"Hey, I'd rather not go back if we don't have to, trust me," Pinkie answered with a sad, sympathetic smile, "but I also think Twi's right, Fluttershy. What else can we really do at this point? Where else can we really go besides Equestria? We all agreed to stay here and do something about this nasty virus problem, and there's really no better place to start doing something than that horrible facility."

Fluttershy fell to her haunches and frowned in thought. She knew Twilight had a point, both of them did. She didn't like it, but she couldn't argue that it was probably the best place to start. Still, she searched her mind for another way—any other way that could help them stop the outbreak. Maybe if they cut it off at the source—

"The source..." Fluttershy muttered, "maybe..."

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, hopping off the couch and making her way towards Fluttershy with a bemused frown, "what is it? Did you find something else out?"

"We... what if we went to this Crystal Empire?" Fluttershy suggested, "that's where Princess—er, Queen Luna and this King Sombra are both supposed to be, right? A-And this whole thing was because of Luna, right? So..."

She trailed off and let Twilight put the pieces together, which she was doing if her thoughtful frown was anything to go by.

"I... guess that's an idea," Twilight replied slowly, "we'd need to find the specific location, and prepare. The Frozen North isn't someplace we can just stroll into; even taking into account what we are now, I don't think just waltzing into that frozen wasteland is a good idea."

"Wait, but didn't you say Luna was plotting and scheming in some lab underneath Canterlot?" Pinkie asked, pressing a hoof to her chin in confusion, "so wouldn't we need to go back to Equestria?"

"Maybe," Twilight replied, a plan forming in her mind as she spoke, "but that was over sixteen years ago, Pinkie. If Luna moved to the Crystal Empire, she might've moved the lab with her, or at the very least brought the resources within the lab to another lab somewhere closer the Empire if not within the Empire itself," she shook her head, "but we don't know if she actually moved to the Crystal Empire is the thing. For all we know, she could be ruling over Equestria from Canterlot in... in Celestia's place."

Twilight winced at the thought, not at all wanting to entertain the possibility, but unable to deny it. The thought hurt, but if it were true, there was nothing she could do about it now, not at the moment anyway. Instead of dwelling on the matter she moved on.

"Alright, here's what we'll do," Twilight decided, "I still think we should pay Sky Talon Labs a visit to see what we can do and find out about the virus. Whether or not we get our answers, we'll find some way to deal with the infected in the facility if need be, then our next objective will be to head back to Equestria and meet up with the others. Once we do that, we can all search Canterlot for the lab beneath the city. If it's not there, then we'll all make preparations and head for the Crystal Empire," she looked from Pinkie to Fluttershy expectantly, "does that sound good?"

"No complaints here," Pinkie replied, clopping her hooves together in satisfaction, "I wanna do what we can to make sure that virus doesn't spread here, but the sooner we get back to Equestria, the better."

"My thoughts exactly, " Twilight replied with a nod. She turned to Fluttershy, "and Fluttershy? What about you?"

"I... I think it sounds like a good plan," Fluttershy conceded hesitantly, "but... what are we going to do about Bright Fang? He's infected too, and I don't think we can just leave him out there in that forest."

"Bright Fang?" Twilight asked, bewildered. A moment later her eyes lit up with recognition, "oh, right, the wolf," she frowned down at her hooves, humming in thought a moment before looking back up at Fluttershy with a shrug, "he does have to be dealt with somehow, but I think I'll leave that up to you, Fluttershy. If you want us to go back for him, we will, but whatever you decide, we need to make sure he can't infect anypony, or anyone else. Also keep in mind, we can't just have him strolling around populated areas. It would kind of cause a panic."

"Right, I understand," Fluttershy replied, perking up somewhat, "if you don't mind, I'd like to visit him before we head back to Equestria then. Bright Fang and I will discuss what to do then, and let you know."

"Sounds good," Twilight nodded, satisfied with how the plan was shaping up, "now if everything is sorted out, we should probably leave as soon as possible."

"Wait, Twilight," Pinkie said suddenly, her tone somewhat solemn as she looked at Twilight, "before that, how's your whole magic situation? Has it returned yet?"

"My..." Twilight's brows shot up in surprise and disbelief, "my magic! I can't believe I... I completely forgot about... I've gotten so used to not using it... had so much to do... to think about, that I..."

She wanted to laugh, to berate herself, to hide her face in embarrassment, to do a lot of things. Instead she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, gathered her wits and attempted to reach within her wellspring for the magic she hoped was still there. She felt for the familiar spark, and to her surprise, found instead something wholly unfamiliar—something black and twisted, but powerful. Tentatively, with both hope and caution in equal measure, she reached for it and pulled gently, attempting to cast some simple telekinesis.

The couch she'd been resting on only moments ago was suddenly wreathed in black and promptly crushed into a hoof sized ball of cloth, cotton and wood, causing both Fluttershy and Twilight herself to cry out in surprise. There was loud crack as the ball shot upwards like a bullet, tearing a small hole in the ceiling above the three stunned viruses. It had all happened in an instant, leaving Twilight with a mix of emotions, a large portion of which consisted of shock and disbelief. For a few seconds, the three stared up at the small hole in silence as the black aura arund Twilight's horn quietly faded out. Then Pinkie spoke, her earlier seriousness and whatever else she'd planned to say replaced with the same surprise as the others.

"Welp... I guess that answers that question..."

Author's Note

In all honesty, Hoffnarr's story wasn't supposed to go that deep, but apparently once I start writing backstory, it's kind of hard for me to stop.

Defenses

With the slightly worrying, yet no less welcome return of Twilight's magic, it was decided that the three viruses would leave as soon as possible. While Fluttershy hadn't told the others about what Hoffnarr had done, they'd all heard enough to know that it was only a matter of time before they couldn't afford to live in that apartment anymore, even with Twilight's job as an archivist. With Hoffnarr no longer working they wouldn't have been able to afford the rather expensive abode. Aside from that, there didn't seem to be anything more to be gained from staying in Iron Wing City—at least not when they had other, more pressing matters to attend to.

If Twilight was being honest, she wouldn't have minded learning more about the city and the technology that had helped build it into what it was now, but that would have to wait. Rather than gripe over it, the studious mare instead went over what little she had found out with Fluttershy and Pinkie as they headed towards the Doldao Plains to the far east. As it turned out, the Sky Talon Labs were situated out in the wide-open grasslands of Griffonia's easternmost reaches. At first, Twilight had thought it strange that they'd decide to build such a secretive place in such a visible spot. Then she realized that it made a certain sort of sense when one thought about the testing that must've gone on and the possible widespread damage it could cause.

Not only that, but from what she'd read, there was some sort of protection or deterrent around the perimeter of the labs to keep away prying eyes, and whatever protection it had, was spread far and wide. To add to that, the area was practically uninhabited otherwise—the land nearly unexplored by anygriffon. Those few that did live in the area were associated with Sky Talon Labs in some way or another. What worried Twilight the most were the mysterious measures put into place to ward off those who attempted to trespass into the vicinity. She wasn't able to find any information on that particular subject and had even seen evidence that the information was deliberately removed, with large chunks of the documents she'd read redacted.

Still, if she could visibly see the labs before they ran into whatever measures were put into place, and assuming those measures didn't involve some kind of anti-magic field, she'd be able to teleport right to their destination. Of course, given how much more powerful her magic had become, and the fact that she'd only ever used it in that state during one of her... episodes, there was a small worry that things may not work out exactly as planned.

The whole situation was rather galling, but not unexpected, and again, rather than get frustrated about something she could do nothing about, she focused on what she was able to discover. The three friends had left the city as the small griffon family to avoid suspicion, then had reverted to each one of their respective forms capable of flight once they'd reached a reasonable distance. Fluttershy neither needed nor wanted to change into anything other than her own pegasus body, Pinkie had once again shifted into a thestral version of herself, and Twilight flew steadily with carefully modified pegasus wings. She'd finally gotten them down to a normal size befitting a pony of her stature, and that had made flying a lot easier. As for how she managed it...

"I don't know all the intricate details yet," Twilight was explaining to the other two as they soared high over a small mountain range far below, "but based on what I've gathered, a good portion of our abilities as viruses have to do with biomass and the manipulation thereof."

"Biomass?" Fluttershy repeated, "I'm not really an expert or anything, but that's what makes up living organisms, right?"

"Sort of," Twilight replied, "it's any kind of organic matter, living or otherwise, that can be used as an energy source," she slowed slightly, her face wrinkled in thought, "again, I'm still hazy on the details, but as viruses, we can consume biomass as fuel to regenerate damage taken, and have almost limitless control over our own biomass, which is why we can shapeshift.

"As far as I know, the material we consume doesn't even have to be one hundred percent organic, but I'm not sure if consuming mostly inorganic material is beneficial for us," Twilight paused, thinking back to the anti-magic ring she'd consumed and grimaced at the memory, "...in fact, I think it might be harmful in the long run, though I don't have anything to base that off of right now. It's just a hunch at this point."

"So... the more we eat, the stronger we get?" Pinkie surmised, flying slow, lazy loops around the other two as she pressed a hoof to her chin in contemplation, "that's... pretty neat, I guess."

Twilight took note of the uncertain tone in Pinkie's voice but didn't say anything about it. Instead, she shook her head and replied.

"I don't know about getting stronger, Pinkie," she responded slowly, "but consuming more biomass to add to our own would certainly keep us... healthy, for lack of a better word," she hummed in thought, "or maybe... maybe 'stable' would be a better word?" she thought back to Pinkie, Applejack's and Rarity's fight with Svanhild and the condition they'd been left in, how it had taken a lot more to regenerate the damage than normal, and her eyes widened in realization, "yeah... stable would be a better word. The more damage we take, the more biomass we lose, and the harder it is for us to maintain our forms—at least that's what I believe based on what I've seen so far."

"But what about what you and that meanie Jeger were talking about before?" Pinkie asked, cutting off Twilight's forward momentum as she dropped down in front of her, "something about 'unique signatures' and 'disrupted bonds'?"

Twilight blinked in confusion, trying to remember what Pinkie was talking about. Then it hit her a moment later and she frowned, uncertain of how to answer. She had discussed something like that with the viral griffon scientist, hadn't she? He'd explained how Svanhild was able to injure her friends so badly by disrupting the viral 'bonds' that held them together.

"Well, honestly I'm not... wait a minute," she stopped and blinked again, this time frowning at Pinkie in bemusement, "you were listening to that? Weren't you fighting Svanhild with Applejack and Rarity?"

"Eh, I managed to pick it up," Pinkie replied with a shrug, "you two weren't exactly quiet, y'know?"

"Huh," Twilight replied, uncertain of what else to say, "well, that aside, there might be some overlap, but I'm not so sure the two phenomena contradict each other. Remember, there are two aspects to the virus: the physical and the magical. Biomass may have more to do with the physical aspect of things and it could be that these 'bonds' and the unique 'signatures' found in each infected creature are purely thaumic in nature," she shook her head and frowned in slight frustration, "ugh... this is why we need to find out as much as we can. I want to be sure of what I'm talking about here, and right now I'm not."

"I'm sure you'll figure it out once you have what you need, Twilight," Fluttershy chimed in as she moved to fly next to Twilight, "there's no need to fret over it right now. Just take things one step at a time."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Twilight replied, still somewhat bothered but giving Fluttershy a grateful smile nonetheless, "you're right Fluttershy, I should probably just—"

A bright flash in the distance.

That small pinpoint of light and the sudden searing heat like that of a scorching desert sun were the only warnings any of the girls received before the sky lit up around them. It was with reflexes none of them knew they'd possessed up until now that they only just managed to roll out of the way of a massive pillar of blinding white light that came screaming from the heavens above. Shocked but otherwise okay, the three tried to regain their bearings but didn't get the chance as another pillar of light slammed down from above, then another, and another, and yet more. There was no time to talk, no time to scream; the only thing the girls could do was react, and react they did.

Though they'd done well to avoid the beams so far, they most likely wouldn't be able to keep up the effort forever, nor could they afford to. With this in mind, Twilight took a risk; during one of the brief intervals in which death wasn't raining down from above, she focused on shifting her eyesight to that of a griffon's. It was a far more complex process than shifting just her wings, but with the amount of practice she'd had by now, it was well within her ability. That done, she searched her surroundings, trying to spot the source of the assault and noticed two things. She looked up just in time to see the sudden appearance of a multilayered sigil flash into existence followed by several more. They flashed brightly for an instant before firing a thick ray of light to the ground below.

It's a series of offensive spells, but I've never seen offensive magic implemented like this before. Is it a pony? It couldn't be, at least not just one. The magical burnout would be enough to kill a single unicorn in seconds...

Having confirmed what she already suspected, Twilight continued to look for the caster using her enhanced sight and a few close calls later, she spotted what she thought might be the culprit. Far in the distance, she could just barely make out the outline of what looked like a tall tower, its black and featureless cylindrical surface reflecting the sunlight. Further observation revealed two more on either side spread roughly a kilometer apart from each other, and Twilight had no doubt there were more she couldn't see lined up in a row. From so far away she couldn't tell the exact size of the towers, but Twilight could see the same type of magic sigils form just above each tower before encircling the structure and vanishing into the ground beneath it. The phenomenon happened with alarming frequency—enough to convince the mare that these towers were what was causing the attack.

That must be the 'deterrent' they put into place to keep out intruders, but this is insane! There was no warning! After what we saw in those labs I can understand the need for secrecy and even defenses, but this is ridiculous! And just how are they powering those towers? Does it work by the same principle as the golem we fought before escaping? How—

One of the beams slammed down right next to the inattentive mare, clipping one of her wings and sending her spinning in the air. Her resulting cry caught the attention of the other two, but there wasn't much either of them could do, distracted as they were by their own problems. Thankfully Twilight managed to right herself just in time to twist out of the way of another blast, but she doubted she could keep up the pace much longer. The thought of casting another barrier came to mind, but with that idea came the memory of what happened before and the fear that she'd lose her magic again, so rather than burn out her own magic and leave them all scrambling to survive, Twilight instead narrowed her eyes and took another gamble.

Darkening her horn with corrupted magic and making sure she had a clear image of the terrain in her mind, she sought out her friends from among the rain of death. Thankfully it didn't take long before she found Fluttershy weaving in and out of the light pillars, her eyes wide and full of constant panic and terror. Seizing the opportunity, her horn flashed and the yellow pegasus vanished with a strange electrical sounding pop. The sudden dip in her magic was immediately noticeable, but well within what she could accomplish for all three of them, much to her relief. She wasted no time in seeking out Pinkie and wasn't surprised to find the thestral flitting to-and-fro whooping and giggling like a filly at an amusement park as she deftly avoided each and every strike with seemingly no effort whatsoever.

For an instant Twilight thought back to their battle with the denizens of Squawken and wondered about the mare's behavior, but then realized this might not have even counted as a life or death situation for Pinkie. Or perhaps it was just the fact that there were no creatures to brutalize. The thought would've sent a chill down her spine if she herself weren't trying to suppress a sadistic smile at the idea. Pushing that to the back of her mind, her horn sparked to life once more and Pinkie disappeared in a black flash. Wasting no time, she pulled from her wellspring one last time and vanished just as another pillar of light hit the air where she'd been a mere second ago. She reappeared roughly a kilometer and a half away where she'd judged the opposite side of the line of towers to be. Unfortunately, she'd been in the middle of an evasive maneuver and the momentum had carried over after the teleport, causing her to hit the grassy knoll rolling for a few yards.

Aware that she and her friends may not have avoided danger, she pushed herself off the ground and back into the air with a snap of her wings and scanned the area, eyes alert for more magical lasers. She relaxed slightly when she realized the sky wasn't alive with deadly magic and relaxed fully when she spotted Fluttershy and Pinkie a dozen or so yards away, dazed but otherwise fine. Her gamble had paid off, and just as she'd predicted—or rather just as she'd hoped—the spell didn't activate past a certain point, and she'd managed to teleport them all past that point to safety. She was vaguely aware of a strange sensation in her chest, and it took a moment to realize it was the pounding of her own non-existent heart. It was a strange feeling—something she could only describe as phantom limb, but with a heartbeat. The comparison probably wasn't entirely accurate, but then again, she didn't really care all that much.

Twilight was just happy to see her friends alive and well. Confirming that gave her a chance to focus on the other oddity she'd seen during their harrowing situation. Beyond the perimeter of magic 'mortars', even further into the distance by about a two miles or so where Twilight had expected to see the facility, she instead saw the top of a large silvery dome just past a large hill. The sight had confused her at first, but now that she had a moment to breathe, she understood the strange structure for what it most likely was, though she had no idea how they'd managed to build something on such a scale. The realization made her frown, a mix of concern and relief flooding her mind.

Of course the ones in charge would've tried to do something about the mess we left behind...

"Is everypony okay?" Twilight called out, turning away from the distant structure and making her way to where the others were, "Pinkie? Fluttershy?"

"Whoooo!" came Pinkie's ecstatic voice as she flew up to meet Twilight, "I have no idea what that was all about but we gotta do it again! Please, Twilight? C'mon, one more time?"

"No, Pinkie, that wasn't like fighting off a bunch of ponies and griffons. If even one of those spells hit us, I don't think even we would've survived," Twilight chided before her frown turned thoughtful. She turned to one of the black towers standing tall just half a kilometer away, the construct completely inert now that there was no target in range, "in all honesty I'd like to figure out how their defense system works, but we have more important things to take care of and I think I've taken enough of those kinds of risks for now."

Infectious as her smile might've been, and as curious as Twilight herself was, she had no intention of indulging the grinning thestral or her own thaumatological interests. This entire venture might've proven to be risky enough as it was and she didn't want to fail before they'd even gotten their proverbial hoof in the water.

"I agree... I'd rather not go through all of that again if we don't have to..." Fluttershy chimed in, moving to hover beside Pinkie. She turned her fearful gaze back to where they'd all come from and swallowed visibly before giving Twilight a small but grateful smile, "...thanks, Twilight. I don't think we would've made it if you hadn't teleported us when you did," she glanced at Pinkie and frowned slightly, "well... I don't think I would've made it anyway."

"I'm sure both of you would've done the same for me if you could," Twilight replied, returning Fluttershy's smile with one of her own, though it dropped back into a frown as she turned back to the silver dome still quite a ways away, "but we're not out of the woods yet. Odds are we set off some kind of alarm when we triggered the defenses. Whatever force is holed up in the facility will most likely send somepony or somegriffon out to investigate."

"Um... actually," Fluttershy began, looking in the same direction with a worried frown of her own, "I'm not sure if they're ponies or griffons, but there are already a few creatures on their way here... probably less than a mile away."

"Already?" Pinkie replied with a raised eyebrow, "but we just got here! And it didn't us that long to get through the deadly lasers... at least I don't think it did..."

At Pinkie's words, Fluttershy winced slightly and looked away.

"Well... um... to be honest," she continued hesitantly, "whoever's out there has probably been heading this way since before the... before all that happened. I'm sorry I didn't say anything before, but I wasn't sure what I was feeling at first, I think maybe because of the distance. By the time I was sure there was somepony out there, we were already being attacked... sorry, girls."

"Aw, that's okay, Fluttershy," Pinkie replied, pulling the yellow pegasus into a reassuring hug, "it's not like that Flutter-Sense of yours is an exact science, just like my Pinkie Sense!" Fluttershy felt Pinkie twitch slightly, but the mare continued as if nothing happened, her bright tone unchanged, "and besides, if anypony does show up and decides they wanna be a buncha grumpy party poopers... well... I'll just have to throw 'em a party they won't forget."

Fluttershy grimaced and pulled away from Pinkie, only to see her pink friend giving her an innocent smile, just as if she truly meant to throw their potential guests one of her patented Pinkie Pie parties. To most, it probably would've been a heartwarming gesture, but Fluttershy could see the truth behind that smile, plain as day. Thinking about it, Fluttershy had gotten the impression that Pinkie and Twilight were beginning to settle into their new existence as monsters, just as she'd felt Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity had before they separated. Even Fluttershy herself had to admit that she was starting to feel less like a stranger in somepony else's skin, but that didn't mean she'd accepted what they'd all become. She wasn't sure if she ever would.

Lost in her rage as she was at the time, she hadn't heard Twilight's speech to the others back before they were all about to fight the golem, but as she spent the last few days in Iron Wing City impersonating Hoffnarr Feather Song, she began to understand what Twilight was trying to convey. Deep down she'd knew; she'd understood Twilight words without having to be told. They weren't ponies anymore, they were monsters in a new and unfamiliar and monstrous world, and they had to adapt accordingly. She knew this, but she refused to completely accept it because she remembered the words Twilight had told her directly when they'd both awakened in Squawken.

They might've been vicious killing machines capable of horrors the likes of which the pegasus could've never imagined, but as long as she remembered who she was and where she came from—as long as didn't grow complacent in the horrid acts she committed, she would still be 'Fluttershy'. Even if Twilight hadn't truly believed her own words back then, Fluttershy would take them to heart, whether she actually had one or not. With that in mind, she gave the pink batpony a disapproving glare and turned to address Twilight. She was about to ask what Twilight wanted to do about the situation when she noticed the mare in question staring out at the silvery dome with a thoughtful expression.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy began tentatively, "is... something wrong?"

"Hey... Fluttershy," Twilight's replied without turning in her direction, "how many are coming out here, and how long do you think it'll take them to show up?"

"Oh, um... I can feel... five of them," Fluttershy answered, not liking the tone in Twilight's voice, "at the pace they're going, they'll most likely be here in... a few minutes, maybe? Why?"

"Ah... well that's a bit more than I was hoping for, but I think we can still make this work," Twilight said instead before turning to Fluttershy with dark eyes and a smile not too far removed from the one Pinkie wore, "and to answer your question, I don't really want a repeat of what happened last time, so this time we're gonna sneak into the facility... and it looks like the perfect opportunity to start this mission off right just fell into our laps, girls."

Author's Note

To those who played PROTOTYPE and remember the infiltration missions, you might have an idea of what to expect here...

Rendezvous

A lot could change in the span of sixteen years, and Ponyville seemed like a testament to that fact—one of many testaments spread across the war-ravaged land of Equestria. What had once been a relatively small and arguably peaceful podunk village south of the old Equestria capital city of Canterlot had effectively become the new capital city—a city which now went by several different names depending on who you asked. Nowadays, there were two types of citizens who lived in what was now Equestria's largest agricultural city.

Those who moved to the town from Canterlot during and after the war for various reasons—mostly refugees, workers, and those desperate creatures who felt they couldn't or wouldn't survive what the old capital had become—had taken to calling it New Canterlot despite the town having none of the splendor of the old Canterlot. These days the 'new blood' outweighed the other type of citizen living in the city—that is, those who'd lived in Ponyville before the war and either never left in the first place or returned after the war from wherever they'd moved or been stationed at during the war. Though it was where they were born and raised and while it was still the little rural farming village they knew and loved at its core, not even the 'natives' could bring themselves to call the town Ponyville anymore—the town had simply changed too much.

Officially, after the fall of the old Canterlot, Equestria's seat of power had moved to the second-largest city in the kingdom and though the general populace refused to acknowledge the fact, Manehattan had become the real 'New Canterlot' and what was once Ponyville had been renamed Pone City. The natives, however, simply referred to the town as Appleville in honor of a certain foolish pony whose actions during the war had prevented things from being much worse than they could've been for the then-struggling town. With the town's growth from a small countryside village into a full-fledged city, the move from old fashioned farming to urban agriculture was a swift one; economically speaking, there were no issues these days. The few factories built to mass-produce the more common consumable goods across Equestria and beyond provided enough jobs to keep most creatures living in the city off the streets, so finding work wasn't too much of an issue either.

Overall, things had gotten much better since the war, and some of the newer citizens even considered the town a paradise compared to some of the other places they'd lived before. Still, whether one was new blood or a native, the general mood in the city was vaguely melancholic, and it had been for several years now. Though life had finally stabilized for most creatures living in Pone City, there weren't very many who were happy to live under the ever-watchful eye of Sombra and Equestria's own Traitor Princess. To those who couldn't let go of past resentments and regrets, the imposing industrial structures that occasionally belted white smoke from their filtered smokestacks and the switch from thatch and wood to brick and mortar were both constant reminders of everything they'd lost over sixteen years ago.

The quality of life in New Pone City had certainly improved from what it had been; there was no denying that the village-turned-city was even more prosperous than it had been before the war. The problem was that in most of the larger cities across Equestria including Pone City, the hooves of the Crystal Empire could be felt far too keenly for anypony to relax completely. The ones who'd lost the war could see signs of Sombra's reign clearly in the armored crystal pony soldiers that patrolled the streets. Long gone were the bulky slave helmets used in the war, the hideous things now replaced by magical brain implants that not only made one absolutely loyal to Sombra and Sombra only but increased physical strength and allowed for the limited use of dark magic to attack and restrain in non-magic wielding races like the crystal ponies.

In his borderline obsessive quest to build perfect soldiers with absolute power and loyalty, Sombra had embraced the use of both magic and technology to further his aims. These horrific super-soldiers had been created near the end of the war through means unknown to most of the world. It wasn't a stretch to say that they were the deciding factor in the Crystal Empire's victory. Now they roamed the Crystal Empire and the many cities of Equestria watching for any rioters and rebels with blank faces devoid of mercy and piercing eyes that burned liked bright green coals, and that was just the Crystal Empire. Sombra's pact with the Griffonian Empire brought its own batch of troubles to the downtrodden citizens of Equestria and some of the other countries surrounding it.

Honestly, thinking about those kinds of issues was enough to drive a creature to drink, and in Pone City, there was no better place to do just that than the Sour Apple—at least in Silver Crescent's opinion.

There were a few pubs and taverns in the city, most of them downtown, but the Sour Apple was in the northernmost part of the city. If you were to arrive in town by train it would've been one of the first establishments you'd see after leaving the train station. Furthermore, it was likely the first genuine smile and kind word you'd see and hear would've been from the mare mixing drinks behind the bar. In Silver's opinion, the hard cider was fairly subpar—not that he had discerning taste given he wasn't a fan of cider in the first place—but that's not why the thestral stallion spent almost every evening drinking at the Sour Apple. No, it wasn't the cider or any of the other beverages that drew him, but rather it was the atmosphere and the sense of safety he felt within the tavern's walls—specifically safety from suspicious or hostile stares.

Before the war with the Crystal Empire, there wasn't a single pony in Equestria who didn't revere Princess Celestia to some degree, but thestrals were different. They may have been accepted in the pony race as their own tribe just like pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns, but their much smaller population and the fact that they were largely nocturnal predators set them apart from the tribes—some ponies thought too far apart. On top of that, and unlike many of their diurnal counterparts, a thestral's true loyalty lay not with the Solar Princess, but the Princess of the Night. Being largely nocturnal, it was only natural, and naturally, many thestrals chose to side with Luna when she betrayed her sister and her country over one thousand years ago. Now history had repeated itself and just as they had so long ago, many of the thestrals had turned against Celestia in favor of who they believed was their true ruler.

Yes, many thestrals had turned traitor along with their Lunar Princess, but not all of them.

Silver Crescent was one such thestral, not that it mattered much to most of the ponies around him. He could explain that he'd never even considered turning on Equestria until he was blue in the face, but these days that wasn't enough. Ponies were bitter and angry and needed to vent their frustrations somehow and he couldn't blame a single one of them. The stallion understood where they were coming from so much it hurt, and while he'd gotten used to the unpleasant treatment, it was still unpleasant at the end of the day. That's why he came to the Sour Apple almost every chance he could get; despite the name, the pub was essentially a safe space for outcasts and those whom society had deemed degenerates at a mere glance. It was a place with an unspoken rule against any kind of discrimination from or against any creature that walked through its doors.

It was a rule enforced by one of the toughest mares Silver Crescent had ever met, and he'd met a lot of them over the years. It also helped that the mare behind the bar—the mare smiling as if all was right with the world—was the daughter of that brute. No creature who didn't want to leave the pub whimpering with a limp they didn't have when they came in would cause trouble while the barmaid was watching, and for all her kindness and her gentle nature, she was always watching. The barmaid was a pegasus who at her age would just barely pass as a mare by Silver's standards. She went by the name of Tabula Rasa—a name that always brought a wry smile to Silver's face when he thought about what it meant. Even now he couldn't help but crack a small smile as he sat at the bar, staring into the less-than-ideal beverage that was his frothy mug of hard cider.

"Bit for your thoughts?"

At the soft-spoken question, Silver raised his cold grey eyes from the untouched mug to the mare watching him with a smile equal parts gentle and curious. Tabula Rasa wasn't exactly a bewitching beauty, but she certainly had a youthful charm about her nonetheless. The mess of icy blue curls that made up her mane and her wide and strikingly scarlet eyes combined with her light pink coat and smallish stature never failed to give Silver Crescent the impression that he was talking to a foal. It was especially disconcerting because her bubbly, foalish appearance didn't at all match the calm and collected way she carried herself. She may have looked like a foal, but to anypony paying even the slightest bit of attention, it was clear that wasn't the case.

Frankly, Silver Crescent didn't trust her.

He never outwardly showed it, but something about the mare rubbed him the wrong way. He was a stallion that prided himself on seeing through to a pony's true character at a glance, and he didn't know what to make of this pony. Her peaceable and understanding words and expressions were genuine—of that, he had no doubt—but when he looked into those scarlet eyes, the thestral could see that there was something else hidden just beneath the surface, something that made him shiver slightly when they first met. In a way, Silver Crescent had to wonder—and often did whenever they talked—if she was just like all the other patrons in the Sour Apple. He'd asked her something to that effect once, if she had her own story to tell, but all he received, in turn, was a kindly smile and a smooth subject change.

And then there was that name...

"Ah, it's nothing really," Silver replied with a small chuckle and a shake of his head, "just wishing I'd ordered some brandy instead."

"You say that, but you never order anything else," Tabula replied coolly. She turned away to focus on the dark stain she was attempting to rub out of the thick wooden counter between them with a wet cloth, "it's obvious you like hard cider more than you let on. I don't know why you won't just admit it."

"...Yeah, I guess you could say I've acquired a taste for it," the stallion conceded, "I'd still prefer brandy anywhere else though, or maybe some of that lemon vodka they serve at the Hanging Mare in Hoofington."

"Well, to each their own I suppose," the mare said after a small pause and a shrug, "you probably won't find better cider anywhere else, hard or otherwise."

"Since I'm not really a connoisseur of the stuff I can't say one way or the other so I'll take your word for it," Silver Crescent answered. He raised his mug in acknowledgment before taking a sip. After a moment he set it back down and cast a quick glance around the bar, "so is Berry around tonight?"

"Mom isn't here tonight, no," Tabula answered with a small frown, her eyes still on the counter and the stubborn stain, "she doesn't usually come in on rainy nights like this. Says it makes her bones ache and that makes it harder to work or something. She stayed home and left Hard Tack in charge."

"Hard Tack, huh?"

Silver scanned the pub until he found the stallion he was looking for. It didn't take very long to spot the bulky brown earth pony in question sitting at a small table by the entrance. Silver Crescent didn't know what Hard Tack's relationship with Berry Punch was, but the stallion often acted as a stand-in whenever the mare couldn't or wouldn't come in. He didn't have a head for management, but that was fine. Tabula Rasa could fill in the role of actually running the pub just fine even as young as she was; Hard Tack was simply a deterrent for anypony who got a bit too rowdy.

His imposing physique, bald and battle-scarred face, and permafrown were all enough to make any rabble-rouser think twice. That said, the stallion acted more like a patron than a bouncer. Even now he'd made himself comfortable at his own little table with a mug in hoof. His posture was laid back and his guard looked loose, but his mean cobalt blue eyes were sharp and Silver Crescent could tell he was ready to leap into action at moment's notice. Compared to Hard Tack, Silver Crescent himself wasn't much to look at. In fact, Silver Crescent was completely average looking even by thestral standards. His coat was a uniform grey and his rather wild mane and tail were a deep blue. He'd built his body with speed in mind, but that was the norm for a thestral and really any sapient creature with wings. Still, his plain appearance didn't bother him too much and honestly he preferred it that way. It helped immensely with his particular line of work.

"By the way," came Tabula Rasa's voice, "are you waiting for anypony?"

Silver turned to see the barmaid giving him a curious stare. He frowned a raised an eyebrow at her.

"What makes you think that?" he asked somewhat warily.

"You've been glancing around the bar every now and then ever since you walked in," she answered as if it were an obvious fact, "and I'm not the only one who noticed. You're starting to attract some attention. The bad kind of attention."

She gestured behind the thestral and he turned to follow her gaze. Sure enough, he could see two stallions at one table and a zebra mare at another all giving him suspicious looks. He grimaced at the sight, sighed in resignation, and turned to face Tabula Rasa again.

"Yeah, you got me," he admitted, "well, it's not like I was trying to hide it, but... yeah. An old friend was supposed to catch the last train from the Old Capital. Told her to meet me at the Sour Apple when she got here, but she's late and I'm kinda worried."

"Ah, yeah I guess that makes sense," Tabula said with a sympathetic smile, "if she's coming from the Old Capital I don't blame you. Frankly, I'm still surprised the transit system in that Tartarus forsaken place is still running."

"You and me both," Silver muttered before taking another more liberal swig of his cider, "...but it's not the thugs and bandits that worry me; my friend can take care of herself, believe me," he shook his head and returned his somber gaze to the mug he'd put back down on the bar, "no, there are worse things out there than that. Much worse."

A brief silence followed the quiet statement, both ponies at the bar reflecting on just how true those words were. The Equestrian wilderness had become a dangerous place full of all kinds of horrors lurking just off the beaten path. Just traveling the well-worn roads between towns, one was liable to lose their life if they weren't careful. Riding the train or traveling by airship wasn't even a guarantee of safety in some regions of the country. Needless to say, traveling at night was far from advisable and traveling alone at night was considered the height of insanity.

And yet...

"That crazy mare went ahead and decided to go off on her own anyway," Silver grumbled, "if she keeps disregarding her own safety like that it's gonna come back to bite her in the flank..."

"Soooo... this friend of yours..." Tabula began leaning on the bar and eyeing Silver with a smirk the thestral didn't like one bit, "she's the oblivious type, huh?"

"It's not like that," Silver replied with an exasperated groan, "she's well aware of the danger, she just... forgets that she's a lot more vulnerable than she used to be is all. She's a strong mare don't get me wrong, but she's not nearly as strong as she thinks she is... not anymore anyway."

"Sounds like a real hoofful."

"You can't even imagine..."

"So how long have you two been together?"

Silver Crescent shot the mare a look, to which Tabula Rasa shrugged and smiled back.

"Okay so it's not like that either then," she surmised, "relax, I already figured that was the case. So what's her name? Anypony I'd know? Oh?"

At that moment the wooden double doors that made up the entrance were pushed open, catching the attention of both the thestral and barmaid as well as a few others around the pub. Standing in the entrance was a pony, their slightly ratty dark brown cloak dripping wet from the rain outside and most of their features hidden by the hood pulled tight around their face. For a few seconds, no one said a word as the pony looked around the interior. In the dim light of the pub, Silver Crescent could see a few hints of the pony's feminine visage. A slender white muzzle adorned with a wary frown, a sliver of pink mane with a white horn poking out from underneath, and the dull hue of magenta in the pony's narrowed eyes was enough to tell the stallion the newcomer was exactly the mare he'd been waiting all this time for.

It wasn't long before their eyes met and Silver could see the cloaked mare's wary frown soften into a small relieved smile. The stallion gave a relieved sigh of his own as he watched the mare deftly make her way over to where he was. Out of his periphery, Silver could see Hard Tack eyeballing the mare with a cautious grimace, but he didn't say anything or make any sudden moves, nor did the mare pay him any mind as she passed. He didn't know what Hard Tack's problem was, but Silver was thankful it was nothing more than that.

"Looks like I'll get a chance to ask her myself, huh?" Tabula Rasa whispered to the thestral across from her with that same unpleasant smirk.

Silver Crescent ignored her in favor of the other mare who'd just reached the bar. With a weary sounding sigh, she sat down on the stool next to Silver and pulled back her hood, revealing a brilliant cascade of bright pink hair that spilled somewhat wetly across one side of her face. Even with the light bags beneath her soft eyes and a mane partially wet from the rain, the mare now sitting next to Silver Crescent could be called nothing less than stunning. Unlike Tabula Rasa with her youthful charm and foalish appearance, this mare was the very definition of a mature beauty. Her snow-white coat and svelte figure were far more appealing to Silver than the filly-like mare wearing that teasing smirk.

"Sorry I'm late, Silver," the mare said, giving her best apologetic smile to the stallion, "I got caught up in an... incident on the way here. I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long?"

"Longer than I would've liked I admit," Silver replied with a concerned frown, "but nevermind that, what's this 'incident' you got caught up in? Did it have to do with the—"

"We can talk about such things a little later," the mare interjected with a pleasant smile that brooked no further discussion on the matter. Silver Crescent opened his mouth to say something else, but decided against it and shut it again. With that, the mare nodded in satisfaction and turned to the grinning barmaid, "besides, it's been quite a rough journey and I'm rather parched. What would you recommend, Miss..."

"Rasa," Tabula finished with a friendly chuckle, "Tabula Rasa or just Tabula is fine, and if you're as worn out as you look, I'd recommend a Crimson Stallion to start with."

Tabula Rasa's smile fell into a slight frown of concern as she waited for the mare to respond. The mare for her part merely stared back at the pegasus with a look Silver couldn't quite place. The two shared a confused glance before looking back to the quiet mare.

"Um... are you okay, Miss?" Tabula asked carefully, "I know I'm a bit on the shorter side, but it's rude to stare, y'know?"

The mare blinked.

"Hm? Oh! I'm so sorry!" she replied looking flustered, "I was... lost in thought. Please pay it no mind. And yes, a Crimson Stallion sounds just fine, thank you," she collected herself after a second and her soft smile returned as she addressed the other mare, "and my name is Cloudy Dawn. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tabula Rasa."

News

"So how was the trip? Didn't run into too much trouble I hope?"

Cloudy Dawn didn't respond to Silver Crescent right away; instead, she took a moment to down a good bit of the bitter drink she'd ordered while she thought about how best to answer the question. In truth, the mare had never had a Crimson Stallion and was rather curious about the taste. After one hearty swig of the stuff, she could honestly say she wasn't a fan. Then again, she wasn't much for alcohol anyway and the bitter shock of it definitely woke her up. After a second or two she set the glass back down on the counter, thanked Tabula Rasa for the drink, and turned to Silver Crescent. Keeping her grimace at the taste of her beverage completely internal, she finally spoke.

"I ran into a few hiccups here and there but it was nothing I couldn't handle," she replied easily, "the hardest part was convincing the conductor and engineers to do their job," she chuckled slightly, "that's actually a large part of why I was so late."

Something about Dawn's smile told Crescent there was a bit more to the story than she was letting on, but Silver let it go for the moment.

"Well, what's important is that you made it," he replied instead, "still, you can't really blame them for not wanting to run the train this late, even if it was still scheduled to run when you arrived at the station," he frowned, "getting anypony to do anything in the Old Capital is a chore and a half these days."

"Oh, it's not all bad," said Dawn, "there are still a few good souls here and there willing to lend a stranger a helping hoof," her smile wilted slightly, "...and not ask for all that much in return."

Silver Crescent didn't say anything in response to the statement; Both of them understood the implications and it showed on each of their faces.

"Not much love and tolerance to go around in these troubled times," Tabula Rasa casually commented from behind the bar, "it's sad, but unless the Elysian Fields bless us with some kind of miracle, that's the way things are gonna stay."

Dawn turned to see the pint-sized mare cleaning out one of the many empty glasses lined up in the back. She grimaced at Tabula Rasa's words, but the mare simply continued her work as if she hadn't said anything wrong. She hadn't really, but her words still rubbed Dawn the wrong way.

"I'm sure Equestria and its citizens will recover given some more time," Cloudy Dawn replied, "this isn't the first war this country's been through."

"But it is the first war Equestria's lost as far as I know," Tabula challenged, "and to an honest to Faust tyrant of all things." She set the glass she'd been cleaning back in its place and calmly turned to face Cloudy Dawn, "the war's been over for a while now and I hate to say it, but even if we'd won I don't think things could've gone back to the way they were—not after a war like that."

Dawn opened her mouth to reply but hesitated. A second later she sighed and looked away, unable to refute the barmaid's argument and honestly too tired to try. She knew Tabula Rasa was right; So long as Sombra was on the throne, Equestria and the creatures therein would never be free of his shadow and the future would remain bleak and hopeless. Perhaps the barmaid was right; perhaps Equestria was forever changed for the worst, but Cloudy Dawn couldn't bring herself to give up her vision of a better future. With that vision in mind she turned back to Tabula Rasa with a bit more strength in her expression.

"You may be right at that," Dawn replied after a moment, "Equestria... it might never be what it once was, but even so, I still have hope that things will get better eventually," she gave Tabula a mysterious smile, "...perhaps much sooner than any of us expect."

Tabula Rasa gave the mare an inscrutable look at the response, as though she couldn't quite comprehend the other mare's words. Something about the look unnerved Cloudy Dawn, but the strange expression passed so quickly it may as well have not even happened at all. Before Dawn could fully register what she'd seen, Tabula was giving her a soft, indulgent smile. It was the kind of patient smile a mother would give their foal who'd come dashing back into the house with bright eyes and muddy hooves. Silver caught the look and glanced over to Cloudy Dawn with a bit of worry, but if Dawn was offended, she hid it splendidly behind a gentle smile of her own.

"Well, it's nice to have hope if nothing else," Tabula said a few seconds later, "I can't really deny that the world would be a much darker place than it already is without hopeful ponies like you."

"Oh, I agree," Dawn replied, her smile widening slightly, "when you've reached the bottom and have nowhere to go but up, hope can be a valuable lifeline."

"Indeed."

With that, Tabula Rasa gave Dawn one last smile before turning to continue her work on the glasses behind her. The conversation, it seemed to Silver Crescent, was over, and from where he was sitting, it had ended somewhat awkwardly.

"So..." he began in an attempt to break the strangely tense silence between the three of them, "judging by your earlier statement about how soon we can expect things to start looking up, I assume you found something out?"

"Possibly," Dawn replied with a single nod towards the thestral, "I suppose you could say a little birdie sent me some very promising news."

"Oh?" Silver's bemused frown twisted into something resembling a smile, "and I suppose you called me out here to share that promising news?"

"Not here, no," Dawn said, shaking her head and casting a subtle glance around the bar, "this is a fine meeting spot and I've heard the cider is divine," she frowned at her still very full glass, "why I didn't simply order it is a question that will no doubt haunt me for the rest of the night..."

"Didn't meet your expectations, huh?" Tabula Rasa asked, chuckling as if the oddly strained conversation of only moments ago had never happened, "yeah, the Crimson Stallion isn't exactly renowned for its taste. Most consider it more a bitter medicine than a decent beverage."

"And after having consumed such 'bitter medicine' myself, I would have to agree with that assessment," Dawn replied before turning back to Silver Crescent, "...but as fine as the rest of the menu likely is, a pub is no place for discussing sensitive information."

"Ah, guess you have a point there," Silver nodded in agreement, "so we're heading out then, I take it?"

"Honestly, I'd like to stay a bit longer," Dawn sighed, looking around the bar, "I rarely get a chance to visit places like these nowadays. I can't remember the last time I was able to simply sit down and have a drink with a friend."

"I thought you weren't too keen on the hard stuff?" Silver questioned, "that change since last I saw you?"

"I may not be particularly fond of alcohol but I won't say no to a drink or two if I'm in good enough company," Dawn replied with a playful smirk, "that said, I don't have much time spend on pleasantries so yes, I think it's best we moved on for now," she turned her attention to the barmaid, lighting up her horn and pulling out a small worn brown bit pouch from her tattered cloak as she did so, "it was lovely meeting you, Tabula Rasa. I do hope you can forgive for having hardly touched my drink."

"No, don't worry about it; like I said, the Crimson Stallion isn't for everypony," the diminutive mare's polite smile twisted into a sly grin at the sight of Dawn's bit pouch, "and you can keep the bits. I'll just put it all on Silver's tab. I know he's good for it."

"My, what a kind soul you are!" Dawn gasped and raised a hoof to her chest as though pleasantly surprised, "it's been quite a while since I've received such hospitality."

"Yeah, she's a real saint," Silver muttered, "a mare so sweet and adorable it makes my fangs rot right out of my skull."

He shot the mare in question a flat look but both mares ignored him as they continued to say their goodbyes.

"Well, all kindness aside, we really have to speak again when I have more time," Dawn said as she returned her bit pouch to the inside of her cloak, "but for now, I wish you a good evening, Tabula Rasa."

"Yeah, it was... interesting," the barmaid replied with a nod and a small smile of her own, "make sure to try the cider next time if you ever come back in for a drink. Way better than a Crimson Stallion."

"I don't doubt that for a moment," Dawn laughed before gesturing to Silver to follow after her, "good night."

And with that, Cloudy Dawn and Silver Crescent turned and headed out of the pub. The rain had let up for the most part, but Dawn pulled her hood up nevertheless. As they stepped out into the humid night, the mare took a sharp right turn and led Silver back towards the train station. She moved quietly and with a purpose but not so quickly as to draw any attention to herself or her thestral companion. Silver said nothing as he followed behind, fully aware of the countless ears all around them.

Though it was fairly late, there was no shortage of creatures and crystal soldiers walking and patrolling the streets. Ever since the little town had become a major city it seemed like everyone constantly had somewhere to be no matter the time of the day. You'd need to head to the outskirts of the city to get any real privacy and even then complete solitude was never a sure thing. With that in mind, Cloudy Dawn made her way past the train station and into the abandoned warehouse district that sat at the very northern edge of Pone City.

The warehouse district had once been home to many of the goods manufactured by farmers and industrial workers that had moved into the then growing city. As that city grew, however, more and more workers started migrating further south. Eventually, a new warehouse district was built downtown. The mayor at the time deemed the complete destruction of the old warehouse district too costly after the construction of the new district so it was left alone and ultimately left behind.

There were some squatters and a few gangs that had made certain parts of the old district their turf, but on the whole, it was still a relatively safe spot for clandestine meetings compared to everywhere else in the city. It had the least amount of crystal soldiers patrolling the area at any rate so it wasn't any wonder Dawn had chosen to have their private discussion there... at least, that was the plan.

"Dawn," Silver muttered.

"I know," Dawn muttered back, her eyes still locked on the path ahead, "just keep quiet and keep moving."

There'd been some changes and updates to the train station, but the station itself remained where it had always been. It hadn't expanded with the rest of the city so the tracks cut right through the old warehouse district before heading out into the Equestrian wilderness. It was as the two made it past the worn and rusty chain-link fence that separate the old district from the rest of the city that both felt another presence following them a short distance away.

Beneath her hood, Dawn closed her eyes and her horn flared to life with a soft golden glow. Silver watched in silence as the mare grimaced in concentration. A moment later Dawn smiled and her horn flared a little brighter.

"Now isn't that interesting?" She opened her eyes and caught Silver's questioning look, but only shook her head in response, her smile growing amused, "you needn't worry about our extra tail, but I still think it's best we change our meeting spot. Get ready."

Silver had just enough time to brace himself before Dawn's horn flashed and they both vanished with a muted magical pop. They reappeared an instant later on scaffolding near the top of a partially built water tower that stood at the far northeastern corner of the warehouse district about 1200 yards from the station side entrance. Like the rest of the district, the tower had been abandoned, the construction halted two-thirds of the way to completion due to the mass exodus of workers from the district.

"I should probably be used to that by now," Silver grumbled once he'd gotten his bearings. He scanned the area for a moment before his eyes fell on the scaffolding he and Dawn stood on. He frowned at the way the wooden boards creaked at the slightest bit of movement, "kinda precarious, don't you think?"

"Oh it's fine," Dawn replied dismissively, "you've got wings and I'm not so delicate a flower that I'll be hurt from a fall of this height. More importantly, we've escaped our little add-on for the time being."

"You sounded like you knew who was tailing us," Silver commented, "mind sharing?"

"Hmmm..." Dawn hummed in thought for a moment before shaking her head and giving Silver the same amused smile from earlier, "no, I think I'll leave it to your imagination," she chuckled at the thestral's unamused look, "oh relax, Silver. If it'll put your mind at ease, I'm fairly certain they meant us no harm and simply let their curiosity get the better of them."

"...If you say so, Dawn," he finally sighed after a moment, "getting back to the matter at hoof, what's the word? Does it have anything to do with Selene?"

"As a matter of fact, it does," Dawn replied. Her smile fell into something more serious as she spoke, "evidently our friends in the Empire have gotten their hooves on some information regarding her whereabouts."

"And the info is on the level?"

"It was Philomena who delivered the letter to me," Dawn replied with the barest hint of a smile returning to her face, "we can trust that it's true. Or that it came from a trusted source at the very least."

"Ah, well that's a relief," Silver sighed, "so, what? They've finally tracked her down?"

"We can only hope at this point," Dawn cast a wistful gaze out over the countless darkened rooftops spread out beneath her, "Time Turner sent the message all the way from Manehattan. I'm supposed to meet with him tomorrow afternoon to discuss the details."

"In Manehattan?" the thestral's brows rose in disbelief, "he wants you to come all the way out there? You do realize—"

"He isn't really in a position to meet me anywhere else, Silver," Dawn interjected sternly, "remember, he's more or less the only pony we have left on the inside," she frowned, "and besides, according to his sources, Commander Willows is out of the country on military business and Sergeant Sands and a large majority of the Special Ops Team are going to be too busy patrolling Equestria's borders by airship to interfere."

"So this might be the only chance we have then," Silver surmised, "well damn, I still think it's a bit too risky, but if it's the only opportunity we have I suppose there's nothing for it," he looked the taller mare in the eye, "just... be careful alright? It only takes on misstep to buck everything up."

"I'm fully aware of that, Captain," Dawn replied with a smirk, "I've been around a while and seen a thing or two."

"Not a Captain anymore, Dawn," Silver groaned, "and it should say a lot that I'm still reminding you about this kind of thing," he gave another long-suffering sigh before straightening up and joining Dawn in staring out over the dark and cloudy horizon, "so when are you heading off then?"

"I managed to get a decent amount of sleep on the train so I plan to leave as soon as we're done with this conversation," Dawn replied solemnly, "rather than snap directly over to Manehattan I think it wiser to save that kind of energy for if, or when, things go south."

"Ah, so you have been listening. Good to know," Silver joked before stretching out his wings, "well, if that's the case, I think I've taken up enough of your time. You've got places to be and I have a lead of my own to check up on."

"Oh?" Dawn raised an eyebrow, "do tell."

"No, I don't think I will," the thestral replied with a haughty grin, "not until I'm sure of what I'm dealing with."

"Killjoy," Dawn pouted.

"Don't dish if you can't deal," Silver shrugged. With a flap of his wings, he lifted himself off the scaffolding and turned back to Dawn, "stay safe out there, and don't forget to call on me if things get bad."

"I'll be sure to keep you in mind," Dawn promised, "go on, then."

Silver nodded once and took off into the cloudy night sky. Dawn watched him go for a long minute before letting out a deep sigh of her own.

"Well, here's hoping she hasn't been broken too badly..."

A sad and bitter smile crossed her face at the thought before she shook it away and vanished from Pone City in another brilliant golden flash.

Flames

Time Turner had a lot to worry about as of late.

The stallion had a quick wit and nigh unmatched prowess in general engineering. Both traits had earned him a fairly lofty position within the dismal era that was post-war Equestria, but such a position came with its own set of problems.

There was a time when he built all manner of wacky and whimsical odds and ends for the simple joy of it. There was a time when his sometimes useful and sometimes impractical inventions brought joy to others. There was a time when his passion for engineering was as limitless as his own imagination—as endless as the sky above.

That time had long since passed.

The war had stolen all that passion away from him in the blink of an eye. Had it been just that, maybe things would've been different—better even. Maybe he could've found the resolve to stay and fight with the rest of his comrades back in Ponyville all those years ago. Maybe he wouldn't be a shell of his former self, smiling his empty smile and putting on a friendly face—all the while kowtowing to the demon calling itself the 'king' of an empire.

Ah, but I suppose it's too late to worry about what could've been, eh?

The weary stallion heaved another sigh as he gazed out at the cloudless afternoon sky. It was possibly the third or fourth heavy sigh in as many minutes, but Time Turner couldn't help himself. They always slipped out whenever he dwelled on the past or his current lot in life for too long. Of course, if one were to look at his position objectively, one would think he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

After all, the stallion had more bits than he knew what to do with. He was the head of a research and development team consisting of dozens of the most brilliant scientific minds in Equestria. What's more, by working directly under King Sombra he was given a fair amount of clout and the opportunity to bring the country he loved into a new modern age.

Slowly but surely, through his tireless efforts, Equestria was beginning to retake its position as the most technologically advanced country in the world. There was still much work to be done and by no means was any of it easy, but there was also something to be said about finding satisfaction in the process itself, even if it was somewhat hollow.

Yes, Time Turner could lament his life and what could've been all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he was still able to reflect on his life from the balcony of his fancy penthouse suite at the top of a ritzy high rise hotel overlooking the entirety of eastern Manehattan and the Celestial Sea beyond. From the outside looking in, his melancholy was more than an insult to the countless others who were far less fortunate.

And yet, for all his vast fortune and ritzy hotel rooms and fancy morning suits, Time Turner couldn't help but lament and worry nonetheless.

It was only from the outside looking in that everything seemed fine; in reality, there were plenty of issues to fret over, even without taking the past into account. These days even good news carried with it the risk of increased stress, but then again, Time Turner couldn't say he hadn't brought it on himself from time to time.

Take the letter he'd received only two days ago for example.

To any officials checking the contents, the letter would've looked like a thoroughly complex report on some of the existing scientific projects in the works at the behest of His Majesty. In many ways, that's exactly what it was, but encrypted within those reports and written by a certain bespectacled subordinate was another message.

It was this message that brought Time Turner both the current relief and anxiety that he was feeling now. Relief because he could finally feel like he was doing something for the good of his country for once, and anxiety because of the risks that 'something' carried with it—anxiety because this information was something that needed to be shared with a certain somepony using a method he wasn't overly fond of.

But really that anxiety was supplemental to what already existed due to simply knowing and conspiring with that 'certain somepony' in the first place. There was pride and even a small sense of self-worth in collaborating with that pony certainly, but again it was the risks that made it that much more stressful.

He didn't have much more to lose, but what was left was something he desperately wanted to cling to. A hollow comfort though it may have been, he still had his work as chief engineer and a place in which he could put his skills to work. Working with that mare and those who would still fight back against what Equestria had become, Time Turner was walking a tightrope with potential death awaiting below should he ever fall, or at least that's what it felt like.

"Apt, considering how much of my life has become one big circus act," the stallion muttered to himself with a humorless chuckle, "performing little tricks for the ringmaster in front of a crowd that despises us both."

"Oh, I'm fairly sure you still have a fan or two out there somewhere in that crowd."

Time Turner started and whipped around to face the very mare that had been on his mind only moments ago. She stood there as calm and as casual as could be in the open doorway leading to the balcony he'd been brooding on. There was no sound, no indication at all of when or how the mare had arrived, and yet there she was.

Her attire consisting of nothing but a homely and simple brown cloak but her visage was radiant and beautiful if marred slightly by a somewhat weary expression. The mare's appearance, though startling, wasn't entirely unexpected. In fact, Time Turner had been waiting for her to arrive at some point soon given he'd been the one to arrange the meeting.

I just wasn't expecting your arrival to be so... sudden.

"I wonder if that's really true," he finally replied with another chuckle devoid of any humor, "well, it's good to see a friendly face again in any case. Thank you for agreeing to meet me here, Miss Dawn."

"The pleasure is all mine, Time Turner," the mare replied with a warm smile that turned to a small smirk at her next words, "doubly so if the information you have to give me is as good as I hope it is. Your letter didn't go into much detail, but I gathered that you had quite a bit to tell me about."

Time Turner winced.

"Well... there is some good news, yes—fantastic news in fact—but in actuality, I'm afraid I must bear some bad news to go along with the good," he sighed as he watched the hopeful smirk dip into a concerned frown, "look, I know we're both busy and you meeting me here like this is already risky enough, so I'd like to cut to the chase as it were."

I still remember a time when I could take as much time and as many risks as I wanted and damn the consequences, but alas...

"I... suppose you're not wrong," Cloudly Dawn agreed hesitantly. She closed her eyes a moment and let out a soft sigh of resignation and what Time Turner though might've been exhaustion before giving a firm nod, "...very well, give me the bad news first."

Time Turner furrowed his brow for a moment and turned his attention back to the cloudless blue sky. It looked to Cloudy Dawn like the stallion was debating the best way to approach the topic at hoof and that did nothing to quell her sudden unease. After a tense minute or so, he finally spoke, his voice quiet but steady.

"If I'm being honest, Miss Dawn, the bad news... is really quite bad," he said, his tone as grim as his words, "in fact, I tried to sugarcoat it in the letter, but I'd go so far as to say that it might outweigh the good news, and the good news is really quite good."

He fell silent again, no doubt waiting for Dawn's response, yet his eyes remained fixed on the horizon before him. There was no immediate response, but after another moment of tense silence, the stallion could hear soft clop of hooves as Cloudy Dawn approached. The mare continued to move forward until she was standing right alongside Time Turner, gazing out at the same scene with the same troubled expression.

"Go on," she began, "as you said, neither of us have much time to waste, so tell me... what has Sombra done this time, Time Turner?"

At that, Time Turner gave a deep and remorseful sigh.

"Shortly before I was... coerced into joining Sombra's research team I made you a promise," he said before shaking his head, "no, you made me promise to find out what had happened to Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements after Sombra took the Crystal Empire... and I did."

"That you did, and I can never thank you enough for the work you put in to fulfill that promise," Cloudy Dawn replied. Her tone was calm and even but Time Turner could almost physically feel the weight of her short response, "and since you've chosen to bring up such painful memories I can only assume this 'bad news' is related in some way?"

"It is," Time Turner replied simply, "Sadly, I'm not part of the R&D division headed by Doctor Base Pair so I couldn't find out all the details, but contrary to what we initially believed—contrary to what was made public, rather—it seems the Elements... those poor girls are alive."

"Alive...?" Dawn whispered, her tired magenta eyes wide and her voice suddenly hoarse with disbelief as she rounded on the stallion next to her, "Twilight Sparkle, the girls, they all survived?"

"They did... in a sense," Time Turner added, "but before you go celebrating, Miss Dawn, remember that you asked me to give you the bad news first, and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"What do you... ah," it took a second, but Cloudly Dawn's half hopeful, half bemused expression turned dark and though it was difficult to see with her white coat, she'd gone slightly pale as sudden realization set in, "the experiment..."

"Indeed," the engineer nodded grimly, "the good news I've obtained came from our mutual contact within the resistance, but this information I acquired myself from a... friend who works closely with Base Pair."

"They never returned from the Empire," Dawn mused, her composure regained for the most part but her voice still somewhat strained with emotion, "I wanted to send a search party, but..."

"But then Sombra and your 'sister' occupied the Crystal Empire and that wretched stallion declared that he'd taken care of the Elements of Harmony himself," Time Turner finished solemnly, "and that's what officially announced to the public, but you weren't having any of it. I don't blame you in the least for begging me to do what you couldn't—after all, by the time we were able to send anypony in to retrieve the girls, there were no bodies to be found."

They both fell silent for a moment as they thought back to the horrid events of sixteen years ago. It was a dark day—the first of many dark days to come over the next couple of years. It wasn't until long after the war was over that the truth of what had happened that day was revealed to either of the ponies standing there on the balcony.

"From what I understand, the experiment was deemed a catastrophic failure that resulted in the death of Twilight... of all the Elements," Dawn continued, "but you're telling me it was a success and now after all this time, they're..."

"What they are, Miss Dawn, are deadly and potentially unstoppable biological weapons," Time Turner said with another sigh, "weapons, I might add, that have managed to escape captivity."

Cloudy Dawn's demeanor shifted back to one of shock at the news.

"They escaped the lab?" she asked, "how? When?"

"Only a few days ago it seems," the stallion answered, "I don't know all the details just yet, but if the experiment really was a success then we can assume Twilight and the rest may have become a threat the likes of which we've never seen, not even during the war."

Cloudy Dawn didn't reply right away. Instead, she continued to stare out at the bustling city far below, her face twisted into an expression that was hard for Time Turner to read. Eventually, the mare spoke, her voice slow and contemplative, but filled with a conviction that wasn't there before.

"Weapons though they may be, I think it's too soon to assume anything just yet," she said before turning to the stallion beside her, "from what you've told me, you don't know whether they're in their right minds or not, correct?"

"Well, no, the information I was given didn't say one way or the other," Time Turner replied uneasily, "but neither do I want to rule out the possibility that their minds have been twisted by the virus," he frowned, "and I'm sorry to say this, but even if the Elements were in their right mind, we have another issue to worry about."

"There's more?" Dawn furrowed her brow, "this little rendezvous is turning out to be far worse for my poor old heart than I initially expected, Mister Turner."

"And I can't apologize enough for that, I assure you, Miss Dawn," Turner gave the mare a wry grin, a grin that quickly fell into another grim frown, "I'll preface what I'm about to say by giving you the good news next: Shining Armor has finally escaped captivity and reunited with Cadance and the rest of the resistance."

"Really now?" Dawn replied, her brows rising in surprise, "they finally managed to break him out? How did they do it? Did Sweetie Belle—"

"No, evidently it wasn't any of the ponies from the resistance," Turner interjected, "from the report I received, it was none other than our false Queen herself and her children that did the deed."

"Chrysalis? But why would she...?" Dawn murmured before shaking her head, "no, I think I have an idea, but I'll leave it at that for now. In any event, that really is great news and I'm happy that my niece was able to live long enough to see the return of the love of her life. And if Twilight returns..."

"Yes," Time Turner said with a small smile to match Cloudy Dawn's, "I still think it's rather a long shot, but if she's still the same mare she was before the experiment, then I'm sure she'd be delighted to know that at the very least her brother and sister-in-law are safe."

"One can only hope," Dawn replied, "these days all one can do is hope... but if I remember correctly, you had more to share?"

"I do, one more piece of both good and bad news," Turner affirmed, "following Shining Armor's return to Cadance and the others, and the reason I brought up what happened to the Elements, is because it seems Sombra is planning to revive that ghastly experiment once more... this time with Chrysalis and her children as the new test subjects."

Time Turner's words seemed to stun the mare into shocked silence once again, but the shock quickly gave way to incredulity and—once the realization set in for Cloudy Dawn—outright anger, much to the stallion's surprise.

"Just how far is he willing to go?" she ground out, "he already has both the Crystal Empire and Equestria beneath his hoof and an alliance with the Griffonian Empire. Why does he need more soldiers? Does he mean to try and take over the world?" she snorted derisively at the idea, "And what of her role as Queen? What does he intend to do about that? What excuse will he use for her absence?"

All these questions and more raged in Cloudy Dawn's mind, but the one question that rose above them all escaped her lips in an almost agonized tone.

"What does this mean... for her?" she muttered weakly, "Chrysalis is the only one who knows where she is, and now..."

"Ah yes, about that..." came Time Turner's oddly chipper voice, "looking at you now, I suppose I should've mentioned this much earlier, but apparently Chrysalis has chosen to give the resistance the location of your... well I believe we're calling her 'Selene' now, aren't we?"

"She... Chrysalis did that?" Dawn asked, her voice once again hoarse with emotion, "so then Cadance and the rest... they know where to find her?"

"Indeed they do!" Time Turner replied with an enthusiastic nod, "and it seems the False Queen has given the resistance not only her location but an entire wealth of additional information regarding Sombra and his forces... or so says the report I've been given."

Dawn opened her mouth to speak, but closed and looked away, her expression growing distant and thoughtful.

"I see... I had my suspicions but it looks like I was right," a small smile crossed her face as she raised her eyes to the sky above, "after all that... she may have had her reasons but in the end, she chose to side with Equestria over that tyrant."

"That's the way it appears at any rate," Time Turner agreed, "given the circumstances, I find myself feeling a bit torn over the grisly fate that awaits her and her 'children'."

"'The fate that awaits her'..." Dawn repeated with a thoughtful glance in Time Turner's direction, "can I take that to mean that Sombra has yet to enact his plans for Chrysalis?"

"Well if he had, I assume he'd have already made some kind of announcement to the public," the engineer replied, "but I believe our mutual friend in the resistance mentioned that testing had yet to take place in the reports."

"Do you know how much time we have left?"

"Knowing Doctor Pair, I'd say not much," Turner scratched his chin and furrowed his brow in thought, "I'm not too familiar with his methods, but I'm almost certain we can expect the procedure to begin by the end of next week at the latest."

"Then I believe it's high time I paid the Frozen North a visit."

Time Turner was about to ask what Dawn was on about when the mare turned and began making her way past him. Her words sunk in a second later and he stared at the mare in disbelief.

"W-Wait just a moment!" he cried out, "you're not really planning to—"

"Don't get me wrong, Time Turner, I hold no love for Chrysalis after everything she's done... after everything she's put our nation through..." Dawn paused in the doorway for a moment before glancing back at the bemused and panicky engineer over her shoulder, "but at the end of the day, she chose to do what was right."

"I... I understand that, but—"

"And that's not all," Dawn interjected, now fully turning back around to face the stallion with eyes full of determination, "if that were all it was, then maybe I wouldn't bother, but you know as well as I do—better than I do even—that if we let Sombra turn Chrysalis and her 'children' into what Twilight and her friends have most likely become, then there really would be no more hope for Equestria or any other nation for that matter."

That was enough to stymie the stallion for a moment. Time Turner knew what Sombra's goal had been in having that virus created and if he was starting the project back up again, it could only mean that he found a way to perfect it—or rather make it work the way he intended. At the very least it would be safer to assume that was the case.

There's no arguing Dawn's words, but all the same...

"What about Selene?" he decided to ask instead, "what about your sister?"

"I plan to meet with Cadance about the matter once I reach the Empire," Dawn replied readily, "but if they truly know where she's being held, then I'm almost certain she and Shining Armor are already making plans to rescue her on my behalf," she paused again, "that is, unless Miss Night Waltz mentioned her whereabouts in the letter?"

"Er... well, no she didn't," Time Turner admitted with a displeased but resigned frown, "in fact, she wanted me to let you know that the resistance would handle the retrieval of Selene and they wanted you to focus on doing what you could from within Equestria's borders and awayfrom the Crystal Empire."

"Ah, perfect, then it's just as I suspected and I can leave my sister's rescue to them," Dawn replied happily, "in the meantime I will do what I can to stop another horrific disaster before it begins."

"But..." Time Turner gave a long-suffering sigh, another one to add to the many he'd given today, "oh what's the use? Really, I wonder how many ponies would've looked at you differently back then if they'd known you were this obstinate."

"Oh, I'm sure many of them already knew and agreed that it only added to my charm," Dawn chuckled, "don't worry, Mister Turner, I still have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. Sombra and his soldiers won't catch me that easily."

"Fine, fine, I won't try to stop you, but..." the stallion reached into the pocket of his navy blue morning suit and pulled out a copper pocket watch and eyed it for a second, "...I'm scheduled to board a private airship back to the Crystal Empire in about half an hour.

"If you can disguise yourself a bit more effectively I'll cover for you," he put the watch away and returned his attention to the bemused mare in front of him, "so at the very least, could you please follow my lead and accompany me for the time being?"

"My, what a gentlecolt!" Dawn replied, feigning surprise before giving the well-dressed stallion a playful smirk, "such a risky move! And to think, I'd taken you for the cautious, pragmatic type."

"I'm trying to minimize the risk, believe it or not," he argued, "this should be the fastest way to the Empire without exhausting your magic or exposing your identity and having you immediately shipped to the Empire in chains."

"Well, I suppose you have a point," Dawn conceded with a pout, "very well, I shall accept your generous offer," her smile vanished as she gazed one last time out at the sky, tracking a distant airship as it hovered lazily over the Celestial Sea, "truth be told, I would much rather be searching for my sister or Twilight and her friends, but as things stand now... I feel this is the best thing I can do at the moment."

"Personally, I'd rather you stayed here in Equestria as well," Time Turner agreed, "but then again, you were right. I understand all too well the need to put a stop to... Sombra's..."

The stallion trailed off at Cloudy Dawn's expression. The mare's brow had furrowed, her eyes narrowed slightly in bemusement as she looked past him and towards the sky.

"...Miss Dawn?" he asked with a concerned frown of his own, "are you alright?"

"...It's listing."

The words were muttered and barely audible, but they hit Time Turner strangely all the same. A sudden pit formed in his stomach and with a sudden and inexplicable sense of dread, he turned his own gaze to the sky to see what Cloudy Dawn was referring to.

Though his eyes weren't nearly as sharp as Dawn's he could just make out an airship on the horizon, and just as Cloudy Dawn had said, there was something off about the ship's movement. Even from a distance, it was clear that its trajectory was wrong somehow. Before Time Turner could comprehend what he was seeing, something unexpected happened.

Both he and Dawn saw the firey flash light up the airship's stern before they heard anything. A few seconds later there was another flash and another and one more before the ship began to dip towards the sea. The distance between the airship and the balcony where the two horrified ponies stood meant that they wouldn't hear the explosions for another few moments.

But the sight alone of the flames beginning to engulf the ship's envelope would be enough to make the minds of all the citizens of Manehattan run wild with confusion, speculation, and most of all, fear of what was to come.

Author's Note

Sorry for not getting this one out sooner. More distractions led to a bit of procrastination on my part.

Escape

"So... what's the plan?"

Rainbow Dash cast an expectant gaze over each of the creatures gathered within the bridge of the Halvmane. The majority of the airship had become engulfed in flames and was now little more than a flaming wreck headed straight for the Celestial Sea. By some miracle, the bridge hadn't yet been consumed, but the acrid black smoke that had filled the halls had begun to seep into the room.

It didn't bother Rainbow, Rarity, or Applejack all that much, but the same couldn't be said for the four prisoners Rarity had freed. The grizzled-looking griffon seemed to hold up okay, as did the quiet zebrican mare save for the slight furrowing of her brow at the unpleasant stench of smoke. The two younger unicorn and pegasus siblings, however, weren't holding up so well.

The twins were both attempting to support each other as they coughed and hacked from the smoke filling their lungs. The two hadn't looked to be in the best health, to begin with, and the sight and sound of them struggling lent a renewed sense of urgency to the situation.

"Anypony? Plan?" Rainbow repeated when no one immediately replied, "we kinda need to be out of here like, yesterday."

"Well, we certainly can't return back the way we came," Rarity replied rather unhelpfully, "and all the emergency escape hatches are back down the hall."

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Rarity," Rainbow groused with a roll of her eyes, "anypony else?"

She looked to the zebra, but the striped mare merely shook her head. Frowning, Rainbow turned to Applejack and the griffon. Applejack didn't say anything, but she was clearly giving it some thought as she looked around the bridge. In contrast, the griffon...

"The windows," the griffon grunted, his voice was deep and just as hardened as his visage. He nodded his head towards the large reinforced panes covering the entire front half of the room, "I can't break 'em as I am now, but I've seen how you freaks operate. I reckon you can bust right through the windows no problem, right?"

Rainbow's eyes narrowed at the insult, but Applejack spoke up before she could make any kind of retort.

"Ignore it, Rainbow," the viral mare said, already making for the nearest window, "we got bigger trees to buck an' not a whole lotta time left."

"Your plan is sound, but I cannot help but point out one glaring flaw," came the deep, serene voice of the zebrican mare, "how are we without wings meant to make our escape? Would you carry us all? Could you? Or perhaps you would have us try our luck surviving the cold, cruel waters of the Celestial Sea far below?"

Her tone was calm and melodious but her words were, much to the surprise of everyone around her, rather biting.

"A-And—" this time it was the pegasus mare that spoke, or rather attempted to speak in between painful coughs, "and... wh-what about all those other... other prisoners? Are we just g-going to leave them to die?"

"Flock 'em, they made their decision," the griffon replied dismissively, "if they want to escape they can do it on their own," then, to the zebra, "and it's not like we have many options here. I can carry the unicorn kid, but you'll have to figure out the rest yourselves."

The pegasus mare frowned and turned to look at her own wings. Thankfully the griffons that captured her and her brother hadn't had the mind to clip her wings when they threw her in the brig. She gave them an experimental flap and with that, she knew that even if she could still fly, she was too weak to carry her brother. It would be a struggle just to carry her own weight.

She turned back to the griffon, who stood next to her and raised an eyebrow expectantly. Her frown deepened with dislike for the callous griffon, but she relented, stepping away so that he could take hold of her brother. The brother, for his part, turned to his sister and opened his mouth to protest, but all that came out was another fit of painful coughs.

"I know, Scutum," the mare murmured, "I don't... I don't like it any more th-than you do... but I can't carry you... not enough s-strength."

The griffon rolled his eyes at the display and reached out for the unicorn, but stopped as Rainbow stepped in to block his way.

"I can carry the kid, big guy," she said, giving the griffon a cool look before turning to the surprised siblings with a confident smirk, "ain't no hooves safer than mine when it comes to flying, you can trust me on that."

Applejack, who'd been sizing up the glass as she waited for everypony else to get their affairs in order, barked out a laugh at that—a laugh Rainbow promptly ignored as she spoke to the twins.

"Well, how about it?" she insisted, "better than old gruff an' gritty over there, right?"

The twins hesitated, then glanced at each other. A silent conversation seemed to take place between the two and the mare finally gave a reluctant nod. Seeing that, the griffon shrugged and began walking over to where Applejack stood.

"Suit yourself," he said as he passed by the three, "less baggage for me if he gets hurt."

"There's no need to fear the waters below," Rarity called out to the zebra in what she hoped was a reassuring tone, "due to our rather... unique circumstances, we—that is, Applejack and I—can also bear those of you who have no wings."

The striped mare let her stolid gaze roam over Rarity for a moment. As Rarity waited for a response, the Halvmane lurched violently and a muffled bang and loud hiss resounded from somewhere deeper within the burning airship. After taking a second to collect herself along with everyone else, the zebra sighed and closed her eyes in acceptance.

"I suppose the boorish one is right. We have little choice or time to debate," she finally replied, "I shall set my misgivings regarding your... unique circumstances aside and leave my safety in your hooves."

"Excellent," Rarity replied with a somewhat strained smile, "we'll do our utmost to see you all to safety."

"Great, now if ya'll are done makin' arrangements, Ah think it's about time we abandoned this here sinkin' ship," Applejack called out, taking a few steps back from the largest windowpane as black tendrils wrapped and hardened around her legs, "Ah'm bustin' us out so hold on!"

What happened next happened all at once.

With one swift motion and a loud cry, Applejack whipped around and kicked out with her hind legs towards the reinforced glass. Unable to hold out against her immense power, the entire pane shattered into countless pebble-like shards. Rainbow Dash was the first to act, snapping up the unicorn stallion and shooting straight for and through the makeshift exit.

The pegasus mare, not having expected the sudden increase in barometric pressure, struggled to press forward toward the open air. The pressure proved to be too great for her weakened state and, to her horror, she stumbled and began tumbling backward toward the bridge entrance. Worse still, the heat within the room had increased dramatically. As she fell backward, she caught a glimpse of the hallway beyond the open door and saw a veritable tidal wave of fire headed straight for the bridge.

She cried out when she felt something snatch at one of her hooves and yank her away from the oncoming blaze. The world spun around her and before she could make sense of what was happening, the oppressive, burning atmosphere was gone and she was outside, coughing and sputtering as she desperately tried to suck fresh air into her lungs.

Before she had any time to take stock of her surroundings or even catch a proper breath, a deafening explosion of sound and superheated air wrecked her senses and sent her tumbling about once again. Somewhere far beyond the ringing in her ears, she could hear someone crying out, though who it was and to whom they were crying out to the battered and weary pegasus mare couldn't say.

Having reached her limit physically and mentally, her consciousness faded long before she would've been able to make out the voice.

Roughly half an hour later, Rarity and the rest of the group landed on the nearby shore of a small island—the island in question being part of a minor archipelago a few dozen miles southeast of the Manehattan Harbor. The Halvmane had already mostly fallen apart by the time its fiery remains hit the water. All that could be seen now from where they stood was a billowing cloud of black smoke reaching up into the sky far above.

The fashionista, who'd shifted into a griffon to make use of the vastly improved sight, frowned as she scanned the sea. Her currently avian eyes roamed over what was left of the ruined, smoking hull in the distance, but no matter how hard she looked, she could see no survivors other than those she'd personally rescued. She sighed after a moment and shifted again.

In a matter of seconds, she'd once again donned her pristine white coat and curly violet mane. A light punch to her shoulder made her jump slightly and she turned to find that Rainbow had approached her at some point and was now eyeing her with a dubious expression.

"Come on, Rares, don't even pretend like you give a single buck about what happened out there," she nodded toward the distant crash site, "you and I... and Applejack, I guess... we all know the deal. No use acting like we're still the same mares we used to be."

Rarity scowled in response but found she didn't have the energy to argue and gave another sigh and turned her tired gaze back to the sea instead as she replied.

"We certainly have changed quite a bit, I can't—nor will I—deny it," she said, "but I still do believe that, in some respects, we are the same mares we used to be... at least I'd like to think so."

"You think so, huh?" Rainbow replied, doubt written all over her face.

"Well, you're still the same cocky braggart you've always been, aren't you?" Rarity pointed out with a small smirk, "and Applejack's just as stubborn as ever."

Rainbow opened her mouth to retort but closed it a second later, instead, adopting a thoughtful frown.

"Okay, I guess I can kind of see where you're going," she conceded before looking Rarity in the eye, "but then how do you explain what happened to Fluttershy? It's like she's a completely different mare."

Rarity scoffed at that.

"She's not different, Rainbow Dash, she's just... stronger," she furrowed her brows in disappointment, "I thought you of all ponies would've seen as much, that at her core, she's still the same Fluttershy you've always known."

"I... w-well... maybe," Rainbow winced and looked away, "I just... I dunno... I know it's not really a problem anymore, thank Celestia, but ever since that whole thing with Svanhild, I've been wondering—"

"Hey."

Rainbow and Rarity turned to see the griffon who'd escaped with them making his way over to them. Neither of the mares could read the look on his face, but judging by how purposeful his stride was, it was clear he wanted to talk.

"Ah," Rarity began uneasily, "Mister... er—"

"Arild," came the griffon's curt reply, "Arild Black Talon."

"Mister Black Talon," Rarity finished, "I'm glad to see you've recovered. And the young pegasus mare? Is she—"

"Still out cold, same as her brother. I left the bumpkin and zebra to keep an eye on 'em."

"Ah," Rarity grimaced, "I see..."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, gave an annoyed sigh, and fully turned to face the incoming griffon.

"Alright, go on, ask," she grumbled, "I know you want to."

"Rainbow—" Rarity hissed, but before she could continue—

"Gladly," Arild replied, stopping a few feet from the two wary mares, "what in the Emperor's name are you? You sure as Tartarus aren't ponies, none of you are. Not you two, nor that country bumpkin," he cocked his head and raised a brow, "you're not changelings either. I've seen changelings. I've seen them transform and what you all do ain't nothing like what they do."

"Well... er... that's..." Rarity paused and cast Rainbow a worried glance.

"Rarity, given everything that just happened, I think it's a bit too late to start hiding things now," Rainbow replied in exasperation as she caught Rarity's look, "not only that, but I'm pretty sure just about everypony in Manehattan saw that airship go down.

"And not only that, but I'm also sure the coward that escaped on his own is telling his superiors about us as we speak," she huffed, "It's only a matter of time before we're all on a watchlist or hunted down like criminals or something, then everypony's gonna know about us. What's one more griffon?"

"I... suppose that's true," Rarity admitted. She gave Rainbow's words another moment of thought and nodded to herself, "and it's not like we don't have ways to hide from our would-be captors or hunters if need be."

"Exactly," Rainbow smirked before giving Arild a cold stare, "and if this guy or any of the others want to rat us out afterward, we have... other options."

To prove her point, Rainbow suddenly snapped out her wings and shifted them into long black-bladed whips. Arild merely glanced at the waving, undulating weapons before returning his slightly irritated but mostly impassive gaze back to Rainbow.

"Put those things away, girl, I'm not ratting anyone out," he gave a slow shake of his head and nodded towards Rarity, "no, this is for my own personal curiosity. I'm not ungrateful for what you did for me, so the least I can give you—and the only thing I'm giving you—in return is my silence. On that, you have my word, for whatever it's worth."

Rainbow Dash frowned but ultimately returned her wings back to their original shape without complaint. It looked like the viral mare was hesitant to trust his word, but Rarity was quicker to give the gruff griffon the benefit of the doubt. The two shared a look, their eyes saying all they wanted or needed to say, and Rainbow eventually shook her head before walking away from Rarity.

"Fine, whatever," she said, stepping past Arild to head deeper into the tropical underbrush where Applejack and the others were, "like I said, it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. Talk his ear off if you want, I'm gonna go check up on AJ."

Rarity watched Rainbow until she disappeared behind the trees before taking a deep breath and returning her attention to Arild.

"Well then," she finally said with enthusiasm she definitely didn't feel, "if I'm going to 'spill the beans' as it were, I suppose I should upturn the whole can and start at the beginning... though I must warn you it's quite a long story."

Arild cracked his neck, stretched out his wings, and sat down before folding his arms and eyeing Rarity with a sort of grim anticipation.

"That's fine with me," he replied simply, "it's not like I've got anywhere to be right now. As far as I'm concerned, we got all the time in the world."

Kaya

In a small clearing within the untamed tropical wilderness several dozen yards away from the shoreline of that minor archipelago, Applejack paced about restlessly. She wasn't too worried about the current situation as such, but she felt like she couldn't sit still—like she was wasting time. She hadn't said anything outwardly to either Rainbow or Rarity, but the farm pony hadn't been able to get her family and farm off her mind since they all started off for Equestria.

Sixteen years.

It had been a little more than sixteen years since she saw Big Mac or Applebloom or Granny Smith or the rest of the Apple family. Even horrifically altered as she was both physically and mentally, she still missed them all something fierce. No amount of mental tampering—be it through magic or science—was enough to rid the country-born mare of her nigh unbreakable familial bonds.

She needed to see the rest of the Apples—to see what was left of them. She'd had ample time to think about what she might find when she finally returned and was under no delusions that things would be the same as they were before. She'd missed an entire war. What's more, it was a war that Equestria had lost. What if her family had been dragged into it?

What if Ponyville had been attacked? What if Big McIntosh or—Celestia forbid—Apple Bloom had gone off to fight? Even if there hadn't been any war, there was still that sixteen-year gap in time she could never get back. She hadn't been there to see her little sister grow up. She hadn't been there to see if Big Mac ever managed to find a mare to bring back to the farm.

Granny Smith was a hardy old mare but even back then it was clear to Applejack that she hadn't had many years left in her. She might've said otherwise, and she knew Granny Smith and the others would've agreed with her, but deep down she'd known. They all had. She wouldn't have survived the harsh demands of wartime. And that was just her immediate family. There were Apples all over Equestria and she ached to see each and every one of them.

And she was so close.

Equestria was right there, just a short flight away. She could do it. She'd lost her equinity but she'd gained so much more in return. Applejack would always prefer the ground beneath her hooves when it came right down to it. After experiencing what it was like to fly, however, the former earth pony would be lying if she said she couldn't see the appeal of being a pegasus.

In the past—what felt like eons ago, now—Rainbow had talked a good deal about the freedom of being able to soar through the skies. Applejack had listened like a good friend, but she'd never paid the prismatic pegasus any heed. After all, she was an earth pony. Her life, her livelihood, her family, everything she was, was intrinsically linked to the earth. Earth ponies weren't meant to know the joys of flight under their own power.

But now she'd tasted the freedom of that open sky and she had to admit, it was rather sweet. It opened up a whole new world of opportunities she'd never even considered. She'd flown, by her own power, all the way back to Equestria from another country. Something like that could not be overlooked—granted no normal pegasus likely would've been able to make such a trip in one go as she and the others had.

The more pragmatic side of her had realized the benefits of flight and now she was torn. She wanted so badly to simply shift into something with wings and abandon that small archipelago for the mainland. She had the ability to do so and it would be so easy. But she couldn't leave Rainbow or Rarity behind to deal with the aftermath of what they'd done... or could she?

All three of them had left Twilight, Pinkie, and Fluttershy behind in Griffonia after all, but then again it was their decision to stay. What's more, Applejack knew that if she just explained her desire to rush and find her family, Rainbow and Rarity would probably understand and let her go. She'd been about to do just that once they'd landed ashore, but as she opened her mouth to ask, she was stopped by the weak touch of a hoof.

She looked down to see the pegasus mare she'd rescued from the burning airship. The rest had missed it during the escape, but Applejack had seen the weakened pegasus struggling to fight against the air pressure. In a snap decision that may have been more maternal or otherwise familial instinct than anything else, she'd gone back to quite literally pull the pegasus out of the fire.

It was Applejack that had saved the mare, and as she set the pegasus down on the sandy beach, that mare had stared back at her with unfocused, pleading eyes. Her voice was weak, her words barely audible, but when she opened her mouth, Applejack realized then and there that she couldn't just leave. She realized she hadn't been the only one to suffer hardships. She wasn't the only one with a family to protect.

There were other ponies who cherished their loved ones just as much as she did, and nowhere was that made more clear to her than in the words this young pegasus mare spoke. It was a simple question, a feeble but heartfelt inquiry as to the safety of her brother. Even before their escape, both siblings had been in bad shape, and Applejack hadn't even gotten the chance to respond before the mare passed out again, her question unanswered.

And now she was here, so close to her home yet unable to bring herself to walk away from her current predicament. It really was frustrating, but she'd already made up her mind to watch over the two siblings along with the zebrican mare. After what felt like hours, Applejack finally stopped her pacing and let out a resigned sigh. She paused a moment, then made her way over to where the zebra was examining the two unconscious siblings beneath the shade of a drooping palm tree.

"So what's the word, Doc?" Applejack asked, "they gonna be okay?"

"Emaciation... dullness of the coat... sickly pallor..." the other mare muttered, passing a hoof over the barrel of the unicorn stallion. She frowned as she pried open one eye, "eyes are red and glassy..."

The zebra sighed and stood up from where she'd been leaning over the stallion.

"The symptoms they suffer from smoke inhalation is not so serious," she explained, "if that were all then they would make a full recovery on their own in a matter of hours, but..." she shook her head slowly and returned her gaze to the blacked-out pair, "the bigger issue is exhaustion and severe malnutrition."

Applejack grimaced and followed the other mare's gaze. She'd been surprised to learn that the zebra—Kaya she'd called herself—was an actual doctor. Applejack had only known of one zebra and what that zebra did, so she assumed Kaya was cut from a similar cloth. Unfortunately, she'd been wrong, and Kaya was rather quick to point the fact out.

"I am no inyanga, ignorant mare," she'd corrected in that calm but oddly biting tone, "I am... I was a family physician by trade. I have both studied and practiced proper medicine in Manehattan for many years."

Needless to say, Applejack was both taken aback and somewhat abashed by her own presumptions. She had no idea what an inyanga was but by Kaya's tone, it seemed the mare wanted in no way to associate herself with one. The only thing she could do was apologize and not bring up the subject again. She did have questions, but Applejack ultimately decided to let it drop lest she suffered more verbal barbs.

"A steady diet of oats and alfalfa and some proper rest over the next few months should find them whole and healthy once more," Kaya continued with a concerned frown, "...but I fear our situation does not call for such luxuries at the moment."

"Well shoot," Applejack muttered, pushing up her stetson so she could scratch at her mane, "an' there ain't nothin' else we can do?"

"Not unless you can pluck the needed sustenance from thin air," Kaya replied before taking in her surroundings, "many of the plants here serve little nutritional value and some I believe may be rather unsafe to consume altogether. There is nothing for it. We must return to the mainland if the twins are to recover—preferably sooner rather than later."

"Ah hear ya," Applejack nodded, then added with a note of despondency, "Ah had plenty of what ya needed back on my family's farm, near Ponyville, but it's been a dog's age since Ah been home."

"A farm near Ponyville you say?" Kaya replied, turning to give Applejack a look of what seemed like both realization and sympathy, "ah, yes... Applejack. I suppose that makes sense."

Applejack frowned at Kaya's tone and words, feeling a sudden mix of both dread and the sensation that she was missing something. The zebrican mare's expression was one of pity, and Applejack didn't like that one bit.

"What do you mean?" she asked warily, "what makes sense?"

"You must forgive me," Kaya replied with a short shake of her head, "I have only just now realized who you and your companions are, or rather what each of you is supposed to represent."

"Ya mean... the Elements o' Harmony?" Applejack guessed, cocking her head in bemusement. She huffed and looked away with a humorless chuckle, "yeah, Ah suppose we were once upon a time, but apparently that ain't the case no more."

"It would seem so judging by what I have seen of you all now," Kaya agreed, looking the other mare up and down, "I doubt Harmony would be so accepting of such murderous inequine monstrosities."

"Land sakes, girl, you don't hold back do ya?" Applejack winced, "but Ah guess Ah can't argue with that assessment. Ain't no point in denyin' the obvious. Still, none of us really had a say in how we all turned out."

"Hm," Kaya replied as she went back to examining the twins, "I know not what became of you all during your long absence, but evidently, the news of your demise at the hooves of Sombra was greatly exaggerated."

"The news of what!?"

Both Applejack and Kaya turned to see the familiar cerulean form of Rainbow Dash emerge through the trees. She looked between the two as she approached, confusion clearly written on her face.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, her eyes finally settling on Kaya, "I came back to see how everything was holding up. The hay is all this about our demise?" she paused and glanced over to the siblings with a grimace, "oh wow, they're uh... they're not looking so hot."

"No," Kaya frowned, "these two need immediate medical attention which is, unfortunately, something I cannot provide until we have reached the mainland. If we've no business here, then I suggest we make for Equestria proper as soon as possible."

"Ah agree," Applejack nodded, "where's Rares and that griffon?"

"They're still talking back on the beach," Rainbow answered somewhat distractedly, "but what about the whole 'demise' thing?"

"Ah'm more'n a mite bit curious about that myself, but we can all gab about it on the way back," Applejack replied as she stepped past Rainbow and towards the foliage, "now let's get Rarity an' get the hay outta here. It's high time Ah find out what happened to my family an' our farm."

"But wait, hang on a minute!" Rainbow called out to Applejack's retreating form, "I wanna get back to Equestria as much as the next pony here, but I don't think we can just... drop back into Ponyville and expect everything to be all hunky-dory!"

"Maybe not, but we're gonna find out just how bad things are sooner or later," Applejack answered without breaking her stride, "might as well be sooner."

Rainbow Dash wanted to argue but realized the other mare had a point. In fact, if she was being honest with herself, she completely agreed. In the end, she simply watched Applejack disappear into the trees, though it wasn't long before a voice from somewhere behind her caught her attention.

"A surprisingly astute observation coming from you," Kaya commented from over where she was standing by the siblings.

Rainbow's eyes narrowed at the words.

"The hay is that suppose to mean?"

"You did not seem the type to worry about such things," Kaya explained casually, "but then again, until today I knew little of you and your friends beyond your names and deeds so I suppose it is not my place to judge."

"Yeah, I suppose it isn't," the pegasus spat, "seriously, what's your deal anyway? I thought Rarity was a master of passive-aggressiveness but you take it to a whole new level. Honestly, you and the jolly bird beak back there aren't all that different."

"While I would like to think myself somewhat more compassionate than that featherbrained oaf, I admit it is a terribly bad habit of mine," Kaya replied without any visible hint of remorse or apology in her tone, "call it a... character flaw if you like."

"What I call it is being a total—"

"Hey, you two comin' or what?!" Applejack called out from beyond the trees surrounding the clearing, "Ah don't wanna waste any more time hangin' round here than Ah have to, so let's get! An' make sure ya'll bring those twins along with ya!"

"Well, it seems someone is raring to go," Kaya observed dryly after a slightly awkward moment.

"Well yeah, I don't blame her," Rainbow sighed before making her way over to where the twins were. Together she and Kaya pulled a single sibling each onto their backs, "Applejack has ponies and a home she hasn't seen in sixteen years—we all do. And if that wasn't bad enough, we apparently missed out on an entire war, a war that was... probably our fault now that I think about it."

Kaya raised a questioning eyebrow but didn't say anything, much to Rainbow's surprise. Instead, the zebrican mare starting trotting in the same direction Applejack had gone. After a moment, Rainbow Dash followed.

"So yeah, basically we're all dying to know what happened to Equestria while we were, uh... gone," the pegasus finished, "maybe just flying off to Ponyville right off the bat isn't a good idea, but I totally get where she's coming from."

"Hm."

Rainbow frowned.

"That's all you have to say?" she asked, somewhat put off by the non-committal response, "what, no snappy retort? No questions about where we even were all these years? Or how we became freaky eldritch killing machines?"

"I have much to say and many questions regarding the untimely death and sudden return of Equesttria's 'saviors'," Kaya replied after a moment, "but my first and foremost concern is the lives of these young ones. How you came to be where you are now can wait."

"Fair enough," Rainbow Dash shrugged after a moment's thought, "Since we're apparently headed to Ponyville I'd like to say you're in good hooves with Nurse Red Heart, but I don't even know if she's still there."

"I know Red Heart," Kaya said with the smallest hint of a frown, "she is a good mare and a fine nurse practitioner, but she will be of no help to us now."

"Really?" Rainbow asked with a small frown of her own, "why's that? Did something happen to her?"

"She moved from her home in Ponyville to work in Manehattan during the war and has been there ever since," Kaya replied, "as far as I know, she has not been back to Ponyville since its expansion into an agricultural city."

"Since its what?!" Rainbow balked, practically stumbling over her own four hooves and nearly dropping one of the twins in her surprise, "wait, hold up, back up a minute... what do you mean agricultural city?"

"I mean just what I have said," Kaya replied as calmly as ever, "as years pass, things change, and those changes are all the more drastic in the aftermath of open conflict. The nation, its citizens, and the places they live in... all are destined to change, and the idyllic little town of your past is no exception, Rainbow Dash."

"Well sure, but... but that kind of change takes time, right?" Rainbow asked as she tried to comprehend the image of an industrialized Ponyville, "I mean, it's only been sixteen years. How much could they really build?"

The zebra paused a moment to look Rainbow in the eye, her gaze steady but her tone slightly admonishing when she next spoke.

"I think you already know the answer, girl."

Rainbow winced and a grimace crossed her face as she thought about it. In truth, she did know the answer to that question. When ponies of all tribes worked together as a community to build something, the job got done, and it got done fast. If passionate enough, or pushed hard enough, the expansion of Ponyville into a large city within the span of sixteen years was entirely plausible.

And if Ponyville changed so much that it became a freaking city, then what about the rest of Equestria? Rainbow thought, how much has the rest of the country changed while we were gone?

"Wh-What about Cloudsdale?" the slightly shaken pegasus asked, hating the slight desperation in her voice but unable to fully help it, "that's gotta be the same as it ever was right? I mean, it's Cloudsdale. Expansion doesn't exactly work the same way."

"True, cloud cities are indeed far more... flexible where construction is concerned," Kaya conceded with a small nod. She moved forward once again, pushing ahead of Rainbow as she continued, "but to be frank, I do not know much of what has become of Cloudsdale. I know the Rainbow Factory was repurposed as a manufacturing plant for pegasi armaments some time ago, but beyond that, I could not tell you."

"Alright, that... makes sense I guess," Rainbow reluctantly relented, "I think I heard something back in school about how the Factory was actually this massive fortress a long time ago so I guess it isn't really that surprising, but the other weather factories are still operational?"

"The rain still falls and the wind still blows so I would assume so."

"And there's nothing else you can tell me?"

"Do I look like a pegasus, child?" Kaya quipped, turning her head to raise an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash, "do I look in anyway like I would know the inner workings of a city built in and of the clouds above?"

Rainbow winced as she followed behind Kaya. She knew the other mare was right and that her knowing anything about the situation was probably a long shot. Cloudsdale, historically, had never had many zebrican visitors if any at all.

"Okay, fair point. I guess I'll just have to see for myself then," she sighed and decided to change topics, "in any case, how are we gonna get those two any help if Nurse Red Heart isn't in Ponyville anymore? Is there another doctor we can go to?"

"I am another doctor," Kaya replied, "and if your friend insists on going to Pone City I know of a place we can go."

"Pone City?" Rainbow scoffed, "is that what they're calling Ponyville now? Yeesh, what a dumb name."

"On that, we agree, much to my surprise," Kaya nodded, "though some have taken to calling it Appleville from what I have heard."

"Appleville?" the pegasus parroted in bemusement, "as in... Appleville? Like the Apple family?"

"I would imagine so," Kaya replied, "I do not know their reasons personally, nor do I particularly care. Moreover, if you are set on your destination, the name of the city should be the very least of you and your friend's worries."

"Why's that?" Rainbow asked, not liking the older zebra's tone.

"Sombra's influence reaches quite far, child," Kaya replied, her voice heavy with a gravitas that wasn't there a moment ago, "the streets of many Equestrian cities are crawling with his enforcers so if you plan to move about the country, you and your friends would do well to never show your faces in public, lest you draw unwanted attention to yourselves and those around you."

"Yeah, that's not gonna be a problem—"

"Perhaps where your appearance is concerned," Kaya interjected, "but I am not worried about your appearance, girl. What worries me is your disposition. Your propensity for violence."

She stopped and turned once more to look Rainbow Dash full in the face. The veneer of calmness and serenity had suddenly fallen away and in its place was an expression that set the viral pegasus on edge. There was little visible change in her overall features, but there was something dark and threatening in her deep azure eyes as she spoke her next words.

"If you and the other two wish to slaughter your way through Sombra's minions like bloodthirsty beasts then, by all means, do so to your heart's content," she hissed, "but should your actions bring harm to a single hair on the hide of these two siblings, I will see to it that you suffer a fate most horrible—your monstrous anatomy be damned. Do you understand me, child?"

Rainbow hesitated a moment, then nodded.

"Y-Yeah, I hear ya," she answered in an uncharacteristically diffident tone, "no heroics, no brutal murder of our enemies. Bloodshed and belligerence are off the table. Got it."

It wasn't quite Fluttershy's Stare, but the look Kaya gave to Rainbow Dash at that moment was incredibly reminiscent of that uncanny gaze. It was enough to send a jolt of unease through her virally enhanced body and, almost unbidden, she found herself acting in much the same way she would've had her butter-yellow friend told her off. Kaya, for her part, continued to glare at Rainbow for another moment or two before finally turning away.

"So long as you understand, I will do what I can to help you and the other two beasts you call friends to acculturate into Pone City society," she finally said, "it is the least I can do for aiding myself and the others in our escape."

"Uh... cool... thanks?"

Kaya didn't respond, instead opting to keep trudging ahead. Rainbow honestly didn't mind being ignored and just followed after the other mare in a pensive sort of silence. There was a strange tension in the air between the two now, but it wasn't all that hard to dismiss. After all, Rainbow Dash had quite a lot to think about. There was still a lot to unpack about their current predicament, and she had the rather unpleasant feeling that things were only going to get more complicated from here on out.

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, guys. FFXIV got its hooks into me and I had a hard time tearing myself away from it.

Entry

Elsewhere, far to the east of the Griffonian Empire in the middle of a large stretch of grassy plains, two griffons stood at attention on either side of a large steel vertical lift door. The door in question was one of only two doorways in or out of the positively mountainous opaque, silvery dome that dominated much of the otherwise verdant surroundings.

The two griffons in question wore dark blue, slim-fitting hazmat suits beneath black leather military barding. Rifles were holstered at each of their sides beneath the wing for easy access but the two hadn't seen any kind of action since the incident a few days ago. Even then, they'd managed to miss out on most of what had occurred that day.

Whether that was a blessing or a curse was still up for debate given the presumed death of their boss and the wanton slaughtering of the rest of their mercenary band. Still, they'd managed to somehow survive despite the rather ludicrous circumstances of that particular incident so the two former griffon mercs were willing to consider it a blessing.

Now, through more circumstances beyond their understanding, the two hapless griffons found themselves guarding the main entrance to the blasted and battered remains of a massive scientific research facility. A massive scientific research facility that was currently under heavy quarantine in the wake of the aforementioned incident.

"Hey... Folks?" began the shorter and stockier of the two griffons.

The other griffon gave a long-suffering sigh.

"What is it, Peik?" the lankier griffon replied grudgingly.

"How did we get here?" Peik asked, ruffling his muddy brown wings and turning to his partner. His blue-grey eyes were equal parts troubled and bemused as he spoke, "we were one of the most infamous mercenary bands in Griffonia a few days ago, now we're just... I don't even know."

Folkar sighed again, this time with a hint of bitterness and melancholy in his voice.

"You know what, Peik? I don't have an answer for you, " he answered after a moment.

His pale green eyes locked on the scenic plains before him. A glance at the sky revealed a seemingly endless expanse of grey. A small sniff told him it would start raining soon. He closed his eyes and let the soft, rain-scented, breeze brush across the steel-grey feathers of his own exposed wings as he ruminated on their current situation.

"It all happened too damn fast and the higher-ups ain't talkin'."

"And that's another thing," Peik said, frowning, "who are the 'higher-ups'? We don't even know who we're answering to! Or why! Some pony in a fancy uniform just showed up with a group of creepy-looking soldiers right after that whole mess, called himself an 'official from the Crystal Empire', put this giant dome thing up out of nowhere, and started telling everyone what to do!"

"Look there ain't no point in askin' questions now. What's done is done, yeah?" Folkar replied impatiently, "best to just keep our heads down and do what we're told for now."

"I don't know, Folks," Peik's expression turned dubious, "something never sat right with me about all of this, even going into this whole operation. The boss—"

"The boss is dead, Peik! Everyone's dead!" Folkar snapped, finally turning to fully face his companion, "you think I didn't know this whole thing stank right from the get-go? Of course I knew! I ain't stupid, but what were we supposed to do? Warn the boss? Refuse to go?" he scoffed, "face it, Peik, the boss knew what he was gettin' into. He knew what he was gettin' us into, but he didn't say squat."

Peik grimaced.

"So... what are you saying?" he asked tentatively, "you saying the boss betrayed us all or something?"

"I'm sayin' he didn't give enough of a damn to tell us what was really up," Folkar grimaced in disgust, "I mean why would he? He's the boss, we just do the grunt work," his frown turned to a bitter smile, "but all that cloak-and-dagger crap? All that got him was a hole in the ground while the lowly grunts are still here, alive and kickin'."

As the last two members to join the Storm Feather mercenary guild before the events in the Sky Talon Labs, Folkar and Peik had been at the very bottom of the guild's pecking order. Their story wasn't exactly an uncommon one in griffon society.

They'd been a couple of fledglinghood orphans who'd—for one reason or another—stuck together as they scraped by on the streets of the worst district in the Griffonian capital city. For all their will to survive on their own, they'd grown up to be nothing more than down-on-their-luck hustlers who'd fallen into a deep and dangerous debt they could never hope to repay.

It was a classic tale, one that normally ended with the griffon in question either a debt slave or dead in a ditch somewhere. Thankfully, it was Asger that found Folkar and Peik first, dragging their flanks out of the literal and proverbial mud and only asking for one thing in return.

"Just do what you're told, no questions asked, and I'll make sure all your money problems disappear."

And just like that, Folkar and Peik had joined the Storm Feather mercenary guild. They'd accepted Asger's offer with visions of wealth and glory in their sunken, weary eyes, but the reality had been anything but rosy. From the traumatic horror of real warfare to the undisguised disdain and mockery of their fellow mercs, the next few months had been an exercise in unwilling servitude and abject misery.

Peik—bless his simple soul—never lost faith that things would get better once they'd made a name for themselves, but Folkar knew better. Folkar knew they'd been played and that things would never get better, but back then, just like now, they had nowhere else to go. All they could do was endure and press on. All Folkar could do was accept his lot in life.

But now Asger was dead and his guild completely wiped out.

Now the two were back where they started, alone, and with nowhere to go... but rather than despair or regret, Folkar found himself feeling a sense of relief. The more he thought about it, the more it began to feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He began to feel like their decision to back out and flee when they caught sight of those freaks tearing their guild apart was the right one. He'd felt no sympathy or sense of camaraderie, only an all-encompassing fear. The protection Asger provided them hadn't been worth being a part of that massacre, not even close.

In the end, after all the abuse they'd suffered over the last few months in Asger's 'employ', it was Folkar who had the last laugh. He couldn't speak for how Peik felt about the whole thing, but if Folkar was being honest with himself. that he'd survived while his supposed betters had all died like dogs felt better than he could've ever imagined,

"I suppose you're right," Peik replied, snapping Folkar out of his grim thoughts, "all that scheming and posturing didn't really do him any good in the end, did it?"

"No, it didn't," Folkar answered, not quite able to read his partner's expression or tone, "but now we ain't under his boot no more, so I say to Tartarus with him and the rest of his Emperor forsaken guild."

"But Folks... he didn't wear boots."

The comment earned Peik a wing slap to the back of the head.

"That wasn't the point, you nitwit," Folkar snapped, though without much malice, "and I don't know how many times I gotta tell you to stop callin' me Folks before you get it through your thick skull, but..."

He paused, then gave a weary sigh and shook his head.

"Look... things ain't gonna be like they were back then, alright? We got options now. I don't know what kinda options but I know they're out there somewhere," he straighten up and nodded as if trying to convince himself of what he was saying, "just gotta wait for the right opportunity to come knockin' and this time we look before we leap, yeah?"

Peik eyed his fledglinghood friend for a long moment before finally giving a small shrug and a helpless half-smile.

"If you say so," he finally said, "so we just do what the pony in the suit says for now then?"

"That's what I said," Folkar nodded, adjusting his rifle holster and turning his attention back to the field in front of him, "he's got the army, he calls the shots. That's just the way it's gotta be right now, but you mark my words, Peik, we'll get outta here and make somethin' of ourselves. Live on our own terms and not as the stooges of some high and mighty putz with an agenda."

"Yeah, that'd be nice," Peik muttered wistfully.

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence as they continued to stand watch over the sealed entrance to the lab. As the silence stretched on, Peik began to frown again, another worry taking over his mind as he thought back to the distant light show he and Folkar had witnessed earlier.

Not too long after the strange rain of light started, the large steel door had been remotely thrown open. Peik was still getting over the heart attack he'd almost suffered at the sudden movement when one of those creepy-looking pony soldiers with glowing green eyes and black combat barding had rushed out of the entrance.

The pony in front was quickly followed by four other identical ponies who spread out once they were out the door, two behind and on either side in a tight arrowhead formation. They'd galloped off to one side and disappeared around the bend of the massive silver dome, all of them stepping in line like a singular well-oiled machine.

Not a hoof was out of place even as they booked it across the field at a clearly unnatural pace. That had been some time ago now, but the whole thing was strange enough that it had stuck in Peik's mind. For one thing, there hadn't been any alarms raised about an intruder or anything—at least not that Peik or Folkar could hear.

But then again, the two griffons hadn't been told anything other than to guard the entrance and turn away anyone who hadn't already been in the ruined building. So it was that Peik and Folkar ignored the brief commotion. It didn't involve them and after what they'd been through, neither griffon was interested in getting involved in any way. Still, Peik couldn't help but be a bit curious about the situation.

"Hey, Folkar?"

"Yeah?"

"Those soldiers have been gone for a while now."

"Yeah... and?"

"You think something happened to them?"

"Not our business, not our problem, keep your damn head down and don't ask questions you ain't prepared to hear the answers to, Peik. There's a time and a place to investigate and this ain't it."

"Oh... yeah, I guess you're right."

"Damn right I'm right, now shut your yap and keep an eye out for—"

"Folks, check it out!" Peik exclaimed, nudging the other griffon with a wing before pointing a feather past him, "they're coming back!"

Folkar turned to see where Peik was pointing and, sure enough, he could see the black-clad soldiers making their way back around the distant bend of the dome. They strode forward at far more leisurely pace than before, but each pony still marched in perfect lockstep.

The way they moved was unsettling enough, but it was their eyes that made Folkar shiver. Each pony wore a combat helmet that matched their black reinforced leather barding. Each helmet had a visor that covered the entirety of their face save for the muzzle.

The problem was, that black visor did nothing to hide the unnatural green glow of their eyes. The irises still shone through as clearly and brightly as the sun above with none of the warmth. As the armored ponies approached, Folkar found he had to resist the urge to draw his rifle out of its holster.

Peik had barely managed to stop himself, resting one claw on the grip rather than pulling the thing out entirely. Both griffons tensed as the group came closer and for once, the stockier griffon had nothing to say for the fear in his gut. The distance between the griffons and soldiers seemed to shrink at an agonizingly slow pace, but eventually the two parties found themselves standing before one another.

For a heart-pounding moment, no one moved. No one said a word. The soldiers just stood in front of the closed-off door as if waiting for it to open. Though Folkar and Peik watched the group warily, the soldiers seemed to pay them no mind whatsoever, their own lambent green eyes locked on the steel door itself.

Then, ever so slightly and with painful slowness, one of the ponies—the one at the head of the group—turned its head to face Folkar. The ex-mercenary sucked in a short breath, his blood freezing in his veins at the attention. His frame shook and sweat began to bead on his forehead, but he held the eerie creature's gaze.

He didn't know how long they stood there facing each other like that but at some point a loud electrical buzz cut through the mounting tension. The sound nearly made both griffon guards jump out of their skin, but they quickly realized the noise had come from the door itself as it lifted once more of its own accord to admit the returning soldiers.

Both Peik and Folkar released a quiet sigh of relief as the unsettling soldiers marched silently one after the other into the dome. Once they were all inside, the steel lift door slammed shut with a loud clang, leaving Folkar and Peik alone and unharried once again.

The ensuing silence stretched on for a long moment, broken only by the far-off rumble of thunder. It was another few minutes or so before either griffon felt comfortable enough to speak and it was, of course, Peik who spoke first.

"Well... that was terrifying, eh?" he breathed before giving the other guard a worried frown, "you alright, Folkar?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good," Folkar shuddered, then gave another disgusted grimace, "flock this place... nothin' but freaks and scientists, I swear..."

Folkar was still muttering curses under his breath when Peik spoke again, a thoughtful frown on his face.

"Hey... Folkar?"

"What is now?"

The stocky brown griffon turned to his friend with his brow furrowed in bemusement.

"I don't know if I'm remembering right, but... weren't there more of those guys when they came running out earlier?"

Author's Note

I mentioned in an A/N in the first book that I'd be bringing these guys back at some point and lo and behold, here they are! And if you were wondering about the girls and the soldiers, don't. I got that covered in the next chapter...

Masquerade

Roughly half an hour or so earlier...

"I'm not so sure about this, girls," Fluttershy protested, her voice quiet but firm in her concern, "something isn't right about what I'm sensing."

Twilight, who had decided she and the others should let their would-be captors or killers come to them, was busy examining one of the mysterious magical mortars they'd all barely managed to avoid earlier. Seeing them up close, the black pillars were far larger than she expected.

The pillar was a dozen or so meters across and several dozen tall. No matter how closely Twilight looked or how carefully she observed the cylindrical monolith, she could find nothing but a smooth, featureless black surface. She'd been eyeing the ground around the pillar, wondering if the mechanisms were buried below the surface, when Fluttershy spoke.

"Hm?" Twilight replied distractedly after a moment, "what was that, Fluttershy?"

"I'm all for sneaking into the facility and avoiding danger," Fluttering elaborated, shoving down her irritation at being ignored, "but these creatures... they're ponies but they don't... well, they don't feel right."

"What do ya mean?" Pinkie asked in the gruff voice of a brawny griffon. The mare, having grown bored with waiting, had spent the last few minutes shifting into different creatures. She shifted back into her pink pony self as she turned to address Fluttershy, "are they sick?"

Fluttershy began shaking her head in denial, but then stopped and frowned in thought instead.

"Well... maybe?" she said tentatively, "I can't really explain it, but... I think something's wrong with their... mind?"

The strange assertion caught Twilight's attention and she whipped around to give her yellow friend a bemused look.

"Their mind?" she asked, making her way over to Fluttershy, "in what way? How would you even know something like that? Does your sense extend to encompass the brainwaves of another creature?"

"I don't know, Twilight," Fluttershy replied with a shake of her head, "remember, I'm still new to all of this. I still don't understand how it all works or how to properly describe what I'm feeling."

"Fair enough," Twilight conceded, "sorry, Fluttershy. I guess I'm just... itching to find out more. More about us, more about how the world's changed, more about what happened during and after the war, just... more," she sighed, "I don't think I've ever felt this lost before. It's like... like—"

"It's like this isn't even our world anymore," Pinkie added in a somber tone that surprised the other two mares. The pink pony had flopped onto her back and looked up to find her friends looking over at her with matching expressions of worry and confusion.

She waved a hoof and gave a sad little chuckle, "oh don't mind me, just thinkin' out loud," She flipped herself over and popped back up onto her hooves, "Anywho, I kiiinda don't think there's any use worrying about it now."

"No, I guess not," Fluttershy agreed, sounding somewhat disappointed.

Twilight looked from one mare to another, then turned around to see what they were both looking at. Her face lit up as she failed to hide the flood of anticipation at the sight. There, making a beeline for them from the direction of the large silver dome, was what looked like a small group of fully armored ponies.

"...Three, four... five ponies in all," she counted aloud, "looks like you were right on the money, Fluttershy. And yeah, there's definitely something wrong with them all."

"Are you sure they're ponies?" Pinkie asked, tilting her head and furrowing her brow in bemusement as she watched the group approach at an unnaturally fast clip, "they look more like robots. They move like robots. Their eyes are all glowy like robots.... are you sure they're not robots? I think they might be robots."

"They aren't robots, Pinkie," Fluttershy replied grimly as she stepped forward to join the other in meeting the soldiers head-on. She could already feel that horrible battle rage bubbling up inside her as she spoke and hated herself for it, but could no more stop it than the hooves of time, "I don't know what happened to them, but I don't like it. I don't think they're in control anymore."

"Ha!, Now isn't that a familiar situation?" Pinkie commented, her bitter laugh at odds with the eager bounce in her hooves, "I wonder if there's some bossy voice in their head telling them what to do?"

"Who knows?" Twilight answered, unconcerned as she took a measured step forward, "what I do know is that we only need three of them."

With that, Twilight's horn sparked to life, the viral mare ready to put her plan into action... a plan that failed when the murky black aura around her horn sputtered and died out entirely. She stumbled back, reeling in shock and crying out in pain as the magic pouring out of her was seemingly shoved back into her wellspring.

"Wha—"

"Twilight!"

Unable to spare even a second to clear her head or wonder what had just happened, Twilight whipped around to find both Pinkie and Fluttershy laid out flat across the ground, pinned under the weight of some kind of spell. An eerie purple and green aura bubbled around the two, binding them in place as they struggled to break in their prone state.

"Twilight!" Pinkie cried again, "what is this? It looks like magic but it feels all gross and slimy and I... I can't get out! I can't move!"

Fluttershy had already given into her fury, but not even that seemed to be doing her any good as she fought and screamed and raged against her magic restraints. Only Twilight was unaffected by the strange magic that bound her friends, but she had her own problems to worry about.

My magic! What did they—

Realizing far too late that her attention had slipped from the threat in front of them all, Twilight whipped back around to see that the soldiers had already broken off to either side to surround them. Now that they were this close, she could see that each and every one of the ponies look the exact same, not unlike the guards she'd often seen around Canterlot Castle.

The difference here was that these ponies all wore black modern military combat barding made from hardy-looking materials Twilight couldn't quite identify. What caught her attention the most were the eyes behind the dark visors of their helmets.

Looking around her, she could see their eyes, all of them blazing like green and purple flames, and it was only then that she realized what that meant.

"Dark magic," she muttered in disbelief before giving a small incredulous chuckle, "they have no horns and they're using dark magic. Really, what even is this world anymore?"

Twilight took stock of her situation and the odds that had suddenly been stacked against her. Another attempt at pulling magic from her corrupted wellspring only resulted in the flaring of the magical flames in each soldier's eyes and the same painful backlash.

Oddly enough, the result only made Twilight laugh. Whereas panic would've been her first response before all of this began, now some new twisted part of herself was clearly enjoying the adversity. Not just enjoying it, but reveling in it.

Once the initial shock of being caught off guard had passed, Twilight was able to pinpoint the reason for her own unsettling reaction. It was because, even now, surrounded as she was and trapped as her friends were, she still felt completely in control of the situation.

The feeling was just as euphoric as it had been when she let go back in Squawken. It was just as intoxicating as it had been when she'd played Asger for a fool and sliced him to literal bits. She wasn't blind to her predicament, but that didn't mean there weren't options.

After all, she and her friends were still alive and relatively unharmed and the soldiers weren't attacking. They had clearly chosen to capture rather than kill on sight. Twilight could work with that. All she had to do was wait until they made a mistake like she knew they would.

And then one of the soldiers stepped forward out of the circle and spoke.

"By order of Sergeant Grim Fetlock of the Crystal Gaurd's Special Operations Unit, any trespassers found within the perimeter of this facility are to be detained for questioning," the stallion belted out in a tone completely devoid of life, "surrender and prepare yourselves for transport and decontamination procedures."

Twilight just shook her head and sat back on her haunches with an unconcerned smile.

"And if I refuse?" she asked, biding her time with a question she already knew the answer to, "what will you do then?"

In response, each of the soldier's eyes flashed again and Twilight found herself thrown to the ground, magically bound just as her friends were. Even as she was crushed into the ground she never lost the unflappable grin on her face. If anything it widened slightly, because she was now exactly where she wanted to be.

"Any and all trespassers who refuse to comply will be given one final warning," the soldier replied mechanically. He took another few steps forward until he was standing over Twilight's now prone form, "continued refusal to comply will be met with fatal retribution."

"Fatal retribution?" Pinkie giggled even as she continued to struggle, "seriously? That's what you're going with?" she gave another little giggle-snort and raised her head enough to look at the soldier with a wide smile, "did Mister Grimey Fetlocks tell you to say that? I bet he did, didn't he?"

Twilight cast a glance back at her giggling friend, then turned to Fluttershy. Fluttershy's only response so far had been to wordlessly snarl at the enemies she so clearly wanted to rip and tear into. The sight made her close her eyes smile a warm smile.

Soon, Fluttershy, soon. Just give it another moment...

"This is your last warning, intruder," the soldier continued, "submit yourself for transport and decontamination procedures."

"I'm sure this process works just fine for your average dissident back in the Crystal Empire or Equestria or wherever you guys are usually stationed," Twilight finally replied, "and maybe it would've even worked here if we were just simple, normal, terrified little ponies, but—"

Twilight's eyes snapped open and, with an almost manic smile, she set her horn ablaze once more. This time, rather than being forced back into her wellspring, the void black aura wavered and warped, but did not disappear. She may not have known much about how her new body worked, but magic was something Twilight understood very well, and the dark variety was no exception.

Dark magic was powerful, but it was also one of the most difficult forms of magic to control. Given the glow of dark magic in each of the soldier's eyes, it was obvious that they were working together to keep Twilight and her friends detained. It was only a guess, but Twilight imagined that the strain would've been too much for one single pony otherwise.

She didn't know the particulars, but Twilight was willing to bet her own wellspring that the soldier's use of dark magic was an extremely delicate balancing act. One doesn't simply force a non-unicorn to use unicorn magic without consequences, especially if dark magic was involved.

With all of that in mind, the solution had become simple, if risky. All Twilight had to do was push back against the suppression of her magic long enough for the robot-like soldiers to lose control of their dark magic. Under normal circumstances and if the soldiers in question were dealing with normal ponies, this plan would've been laughable.

With Twilight being who and what she was, however...

"Whoo! Go, Twilight!" Pinkie cried, cheering her friend on from behind with bloodthirsty fervor.

Sensing a change in their favor, Fluttershy began fighting harder than ever to break free. Twilight ignored them both, focusing all her energy on pumping out as much of her tainted magic as possible as fast and as forcefully as possible. The pain was almost unbearable, but the promised satisfaction once she broke free was enough to spur her on regardless.

She smiled through the pain because even in her agony she could see the fruits of her labor paying off. She'd used the soldier's own suppression method like a dam, her magic acting like a flooding river with nowhere to go. She'd built up more and more and more magic within her wellspring until it was full to bursting.

Having released it all in one single wave, it was all the soldier could do to hold back the tide of magic. The strain was visible even beneath all that armor, and to Twilight's delight, she could see the other soldiers beginning to buckle under the same pressure.

The air around Twilight and the soldiers began to twist and warp. Twilight, though wanting to scream for the pain, could go on for a while yet, but the soldiers weren't fairing too well anymore. Their eyes burned brighter and brighter, their bodies twitching and shaking and shuddering with effort.

Their breaths started to come in ragged gasps as they tried to hold out until at last, with a loud electrical crack,the stalemate broke, and the pony before Twilight crumpled to the ground. As if in response, all the other soldiers staggered, stumbled, or otherwise faltered, crying out in pain and surprise all the while.

With their focus broken, the magic holding the girls down vanished and none of them wasted any more time. With a mad cackle that was equal parts agonized and triumphant, Twilight reached out to the fallen soldier. Her outstretched hooves shot forward, shifting into black tendrilsand wrapping around the stallion's torso with a wet schlorp.

The tendrils grew and multiplied impaling the soldier as she pulled him into the gaping, tooth fill maw that was now the entire front half of her body. The poor stallion came to just in time to see that giant maw snap shut around his face.

In that instant, his mind had once more become his own. The naked fear and unbelievable pain had dominated the magical chip in his brain for the briefest of moments. Radiant Ruby only had time to cough out large gouts of blood before those monstrous jaws snapped shut and he knew no more.

The moment Pinkie was free, she set to work, giving in to the Voice as it reminded her that they only needed three of the soldiers. She leapt up, spun around, and snapped out a blackened hoof, punching a hole through both the helmet and face of the pony behind her.

Holding the stallion up, she let the tendrils in her leg consume the body before dashing forward to grab another dazed and hapless soldier. With a slight shift of her legs and a twist of her barrel, Pinkie spun about and flung the pony over her shoulder, sending him screaming past the facility's perimeter defenses and into the magical mortar's crossfire.

With no wings and no way to stop his momentum, the lasers made short work of the stallion, the searing heat leaving nothing of the previously brainwashed soldier behind. The viral pink mare turned to continue her grim work but found that, as quickly as she'd finished her victims, Fluttershy had already beat her to her next target.

With a terrible roar, Fluttershy had all but launched herself off the ground and toward the nearest soldier once she was free. Her prey had been defanged and was ripe for the slaughter, a fact that her chosen target apparently seemed to pick up on far more quickly than the others had.

With a horrified scream, the stallion threw off his helmet and tried to flee, but only got a few hooffalls in before Fluttershy was on him. The enraged mare bore him down to the ground, pounding with blackened hooves that shifted into vicious claws she used to rip into flesh.

Fangs bit into his scalp and countless tendrils spilled from Fluttershy's mane to envelop the gurgling soldier's head. There was no grace or method to the massacre, just an uncontrollable need to kill and consume. And kill and consume Fluttershy did, taking everything from the stallion who hadn't even remembered who or knew where he was and what he was getting himself into.

Thanks to the soldier she'd consumed, Twilight had recovered from both her brief bout of mania and the magical backlash and subsequent drain she herself had suffered. Now she was back in control and wondering how to deal with the last remaining soldier she'd captured.

Seeing his fellow soldiers brutally massacred one after the other, he'd tried to sneak away, but hadn't gotten very far when Twilight snatched him up. Now he was pinned to the ground trapped beneath Twilight's magic just as she and the other girls had been only moments ago.

"It looks like the blowback from your failed suppression spell had an interesting side effect," Twilight frowned, tapping a hoof to her chin as she watched the whimpering soldier, "to be honest I hadn't expected you all to regain your senses."

"P-Please, oh sweet Celestia, Please don't eat me!" the soldier wailed, "Please, I... I don't know what's goin' on here, I just... I'm sorry! Whatever it was—wh-whatever I did, I didn't mean it, I... I—"

"Oh I know it wasn't your fault," Twilight interjected with a sympathetic shake of her head, "some of it is a bit hazy because of what the implants did to your mind, but I think I have a better grasp on a few things that were bugging me now."

"W-Wait, I... I know you," the stallion suddenly paused, a strange expression coming over his face as he looked Twilight up and down, "ain't you... ain't you Twilight Sparkle? Y-Yeah, you're Twilight Sparkle! You're supposed to be..."

He swallowed and looked to the other two. Pinkie stood by, uncharacteristically impassive as she waited for Twilight's judgment. Fluttershy stood to one side, her eyes blank as she stared off into the distance at something only she could see.

"You're the Elements of Harmony," he swallowed again as he turned back to a frowning Twilight, "y-you're supposed to be dead, the lot of you. Sombra, he made a big stink about it. He—"

The stallion's words devolved into screams of terror and agony as Twilight took the magic in her wellspring, clamped down, and twisted. The magic holding the stallion in place shifted in response, the pitch-black aura warping and solidifying into a mass of black tentacles that wrapped around the stallion, cutting off his screams.

As she began pushing the Voice back down—a much easier task now that the fighting was done—Pinkie's eyes widened in awe. To her, it looked like the cocoon of tentacles began to shrink in on itself, growing smaller and smaller until it vanished entirely.

"Well that was a neat trick," she commented as she made her way over to where Twilight stood, "how'd you pull that off? Where'd he go? Did you crush him out of existence or something?"

"Just a little experiment is all. We can talk about what happened and what we learned later," Twilight replied, very much wanting to change the subject. The troubled frown on her face eased only slightly as she addressed the curious mare, "how's Fluttershy?"

Pinkie gave a small frown of her own and after a tentative glance in Fluttershy's direction, the two approached the spacey pegasus.

"Fluttershy?" Twilight tried, "are you okay?"

At first, there was no response and the mare simply continued to stare blankly past the two. Both Pinkie and Twilight eyed each other nervously for a second, but thankfully they didn't have to wait too long for a change. With a blink, Fluttershy's dull gaze cleared and she focused a somber gaze on the other two girls.

"Is it weird that I can still taste the blood?"

Twilight blinked, frowned, opened her mouth to reply, then shut it when she realized she didn't know how to answer the question. She instead looked to Pinkie for an answer, but the other mare just shrugged, not sure what to make of the question either. Fluttershy just gave a weary sigh.

"I'll be fine, girls," she assured with a genuine if tired smile, "I guess this just... takes a lot out of me mentally. I think it'd be best if we moved on for now."

"You sure?" Pinkie asked worriedly, "you don't look so good, maybe we should—"

"No, Pinkie," Fluttershy cut in more firmly, "the sooner we go in and get what we need, the sooner we can help stop this madness from infecting anyone else," she grimaced, "I wouldn't wish this nightmare on my worst enemy."

The other two mares gave each other one last concerned glance and Pinkie shrugged.

"Fair enough," she exclaimed, "so how do we do this? Just..." she frowned, tongue poked to one side as she focused on shifting forms to the soldier she'd consumed armored barding and all, "there we go! How this?"

She spun about with a fashionable flourish that would've made Rarity proud. Twilight, however, just furrowed her brow as she inspected Pinkie's transformation.

"Try this," she instructed, shifting her own form and bringing focus to the glowing eyes behind her visor, "you missed the eyes."

"Oh, pfft," Pinkie scoffed, rolling her now eerily lambent eyes, "silly me, how could I forget the glow-in-the-dark eyeballs?"

"Is this okay?"

Fluttershy's guise was spot on from what Twilight and Pinkie could see. With a satisfied nod, Twilight began making for the silver dome, motioning for the other two to follow after her.

"Fluttershy is right, the sooner we get this done, the better," she began, "we can talk about it all after everything is said and done, but for now, just follow my lead and don't say a word once we get there."

Author's Note

Alternate title: Massacre-ade. :trollestia:

Infiltration

Grim Fetlock stood behind his desk, staring out the window that framed the back wall of his temporary office. The military base erected near Sky Talon Labs was barebones but functional—not to mention far larger than it had any right to be given how quickly it had been set up. The sergeant let his mismatched eyes roam over the small cluster of massive multi-storied structures that made up the whole lab.

He grimaced as his gaze settled on one building in particular. The building in question was nothing more than a crumbling ruin, the structure unmade by the fallout of the Nova Luna's destructive crash landing. The remains of the large silver golem the titanic airship had crashed into had already been collected and shipped off to Iron Wing City to either be repaired or scrapped for parts.

Fetlock didn't know which and he didn't particularly care. He wasn't concerned about the draft soldiers and eggheads searching the other buildings either for that matter—not at the moment anyway. As he watched several ponies and griffons in hazmat suits pick through the rubble of what was once Sector C of Sky Talon Labs, his mind wandered to other, more mundane things—things not entirely related to work.

Things like magic and what it could do.

Though he would never say such a thing aloud, Sergeant Fetlock was truly amazed at how far both magic and technology had come in the years following the war. From the modern airships used throughout the Crystal Empire, Griffonia, and Equestria to the large silver golems—none of it would've been possible before Sombra's rise to power.

Take the mind-bogglingly massive dome over his head for example. Curious about the thing, Fetlock had asked one of the several dozen science types that had joined him and his elite team as part of their scour and scrub operation about it. According to them, the dome was what they called a 'magi-tech' device.

Not only was the dome large enough to stretch across the entirety of Sky Talon Labs and then some, but it could be fully deployed and ready to use in just under an hour. It also came with an artificial day-night cycle built right in somehow. If that wasn't enough, the thing was also sturdy enough to tank the explosion that brought down one of the lab's three main sectors.

In short, it was a marvel of modern magical engineering. Grim Fetlock had no idea how it all worked, but he could appreciate it nonetheless. He was no unicorn, but unicorn magic had always fascinated him even as a foal. Alas, as a thestral he had no way to harness such a thing... not until he joined Sombra's army anyway. The Special Ops Sergeant let a rare grin slip as he thought about the eye he'd lost and the brass implant that had replaced it.

Another piece of that fancy 'magi-tech'...

It wasn't pretty to look at, but that didn't matter to Sergeant Fetlock—not in the slightest. No, what mattered was what the thing could do for him. The thestral had sacrificed a lot to get where he was, but it would have all been worth it just for that little gadget alone. He would have continued ruminating on his ocular implant were it not for an urgent yet respectful knock at the door.

Fetlock sighed and returned to to his desk, seating himself in the rather uncomfortable wooden chair before grunting out a curt, “Enter.”

At his invitation, a slate grey crystal pony in a dark blue hazmat suit and military barding pushed opened the door and stepped inside. The first thing the sergeant noticed were the large rifle barrels mounted on either side of the pony. The sight made him chuckle internally. The average crystal pony soldier had no magic of their own to bring to the battlefield so, like the griffons, they used rifles instead.

It was the same for earth ponies, pegasi, and thestrals like Fetlock himself. Unfortunately, firearms were still a relatively new invention. Originally invented and manufactured by griffons, most guns were tailored for griffon use—lightweight frames for use midflight yet big and sturdy enough for a griffon's strong talons.

It was only two years ago that ponies had been cleared to use and manufacture their own firearms. Not many were in circulation now and most ponies still had to fall back on the melee weapons they'd used for centuries. While they had tactile magic to wield melee weaponry and mage units for ranged combat, guns were a different beast.

Having no talons with which to wield the things and finding tactile magic useless when trying to pull the trigger, equines had to get creative. It took some time, but eventually one brilliant stallion had solved the issue using a mechanical saddle and a series of harnesses to attach and fire rifles from either side of a pony's barrel.

The invention had officially been dubbed the “barrel-mounted firearm” or BMF for short, but most just called it a gun saddle. The saddle was made in such a way that the standard single shot rifle could be detached and swapped out for various other firearms like pistols and shotguns—though most types of guns had yet to be implemented for equines at the moment.

The ponies were still behind griffonkind where weapons were concerned but they were rapidly catching up. The gun saddle was still somewhat unwieldy and not many were currently in production, but newer models were already being made. To compensate for the lack of finesse and firepower, the mounted rifles were built to hit much harder than a standard griffon made rifle.

The higher intrinsic strength of a pony compared to a griffon allowed for higher firepower, much to many a griffon soldiers annoyance. The crystal pony in front of Fetlock, as well as the other Crystal Guards and Fetlock himself, had been granted use of such a weapon for their mission. Before Fetlock obtained his “gift”, he'd used a lighter model gun saddle in combat, but he'd since set the bulky weapon aside.

After all, he didn't need it anymore and neither did his unit. They had dark magic after all, a weapon far more potent than any gun. That had been enough so far and the sergeant saw no problem leaving firearms behind. Fetlock himself had a much stronger weapon at his disposal and even now he was itching to use it.

Again though, the sergeant had to force his wandering mind to focus on the pony before him. The stallion wasn't part of Sergeant Fetlock's elite team but rather one of the many drafted Crystal Guard soldiers assigned to search the remaining sectors for any lingering threats, be they an infected creature or sensitive information.

A griffon in the same type of formfitting hazmat suit minus the barding walked in behind him. The Iron Wing emblem printed on his suit told Fetlock that the griffon was part of the other group sent on this mission. The hen in question was a researcher, one of dozens of doctors and scientists tasked with controlling any kind of potential outbreak.

News of the virus that had turned Twilight and her friends into abominations hadn't yet reached public ears. In a joint effort to keep the virus quiet, Sombra and the Griffonian Emperor chose to send a group of soldiers and scientists to take care of the situation as quickly and quietly as possible.

Having already known about the events surrounding Twilight and the rest, Sombra had the group on standby near the lab's location. The team had been ready to step in as soon as things settled down. The researchers had set up a smaller temporary lab next to the temporary military base near Sky Talon Labs and had gotten to work within an hour of arriving.

For the last couple of days the main mission had been to locate any trace of the six viral mares who'd escaped captivity, but it quickly became evident that they'd left the labs behind. With that conclusion reached, the operation had switched to clean up and quarantine.

Fetlock had no doubts that he would be called upon to continue their search for the fallen Elements of Harmony. For now though, he was stuck here listening to reports that held absolutely no interest for him. Still, as much as he wanted to be anywhere else but here, he maintained his air of cold professionalism as he eyed his two guests.

There was a brief second of silence before the crystal stallion stepped forward with a salute. “Private Ashes here to report some urgent news, Sergeant Fetlock, sir,” he stated in a quick and diffident monotone.

“At ease, private,” Fetlock replied. He continued once he saw the crystal pony relax and set his hoof back down on the floor, “what's the word? Did Shores and her crew find out what tripped the lab's defenses?”

The private hesitated for a second, as if debating whether to continue or not. He quickly chose to speak at Fetlock's narrowed gaze. “That's just it, sir,” he answered, his nervousness hidden behind the same monotone , “We've received a report that your Special Ops Unit has returned to base but there's been no word on what caused the disturbance near the lab's perimeter.“

Sergeant Fetlock's brows furrowed in bemusement and annoyance at the news. “Just how is that supposed to work, private?” he replied after a second, his voice low and dangerous, “Are you telling me my team failed to locate the target? And why isn't Sunny Shores standing on the other side of this desk in front of me?”

“From the report, it seems the Special Ops Unit did encounter something near the perimeter,” Private Ashes replied evenly, “two members failed to return to base, and Intelligence Officer Shores has taken it upon herself to detain and question the remaining three.”

“And she didn't think it prudent to consult with me on the matter?!” Fetlock nearly snarled. He paused and sucked in a quiet breath. He closed his eyes and took a second to collect his thoughts before speaking again in a calmer tone, “it's frustrating, but considering the circumstances, I can't fault the mare for her decision.”

If his team had encountered something out there strong enough to take out even one Special Ops soldier, let alone two of them, then that was certain cause for concern. The fact that the other three hadn't reported in immediately before coming back was suspicious so Fetlock couldn't blame Sunny Shores for her choice.

He didn't feel too bad about the loss in ponypower. After all, his personal unit was made up of Sombra's brainwashed soldiers. Their dark magic implants, mental conditioning, and physical enhancements made them outstanding subordinates. That said, they were easily replaceable. In truth, the Special Ops Unit was a recent addition to Sombra's military.

Sergeant Grim Fetlock and Sergeant Shimmering Sands each led their own teams under the direct order of Commander Wispy Willows who acted as squad leader for the Special Ops Unit. While Shimmering Sands led a traditional team of highly trained veterans, Fetlock's team was different.

His team was part of an ongoing experiment by Sombra. The R&D team back in the Crystal Empire had recently developed more powerful cerebrothaumic implants that synchronized with each other when active to lessen mental strain and increase magical strength during casting.

Fetlock's team had been put together as a sort of test run for the implant. It had worked wonders so far and given the favorable results, Fetlock's unit had essentially become an official recognized part of the military. Better yet, the Crystal Empire had plenty of candidates lined up to replace any soldiers lost under Sergeant Fetlock's command.

As far as the thestral sergeant and King Sombra were concerned—and as powerful as they were—the brainwashed soldiers were entirely expendable. With all of that in mind, the fact that Fetlock lost two members of his team wasn't the issue. The real issue was the fact that they hadn't reported on their discovery at all before coming back.

This either meant that the communication sigil in their helmets had malfunctioned for whatever reason or that his team had been compromised in some way. With what King Sombra and Emperor Rödrun were trying to do here—what they were trying to hide—it was only natural to assume the worst and act accordingly.

Better safe than sorry, I suppose...

Sergeant Fetlock let the matter go for now and decided to meet with Sunny Shores and what was left of his unit once he was done here. He dismissed the crystal pony private before turning his attention to the griffon researcher. He knew the griffon.

“And what can I do for you then, Miss High Claw?” he asked in a tone dripping with false sincerity.

Audun High Claw was the Head of Research and held the responsibility of not only keeping the viral infection in check, but retrieving and expanding upon the data gathered about the virus itself. She essentially held as much authority as Sergeant Fetlock himself, though she was here moreso on the behalf of the Griffonian Emperor rather than King Sombra.

Fetlock would never admit it, but he actually liked the griffon. He found the hen's somewhat haughty attitude grating, but couldn't deny that she got things done. She also wasn't afraid to get her talons dirty if the need arose. He could respect that, and did. That said, he had an image to maintain and their relationship was purely professional in any case.

Audun huffed and drew herself up to her full height at Fetlock's disingenuous tone. She'd removed the mask attached to her hazmat suit and Fetlock could clearly see the irritation on her face, though she managed to keep it out of her tone as she spoke.

“One of our researchers and a medic have gone silent,” she stated bluntly, “we can't connect to their communication sigils and haven't been able to locate them in either of the remaining sectors where they were assigned.”

“I'm assuming you've checked the ruins and your temporary lab?” Fetlock asked, sitting up straighter in his chair and giving the head researcher his full attention.

With the report from his own subordinate in mind, Fetlock was inclined to believe the two incidents might possibly be related. He grew a little more uncertain as Audun continued speaking her next words.

“Of course we did,” the griffon scoffed, “we recall the research team twice a day to check for infection and neither Dugr Pale Beak nor Prim Rose showed up for inspection yesterday. We've been unable to find them since.”

“I see...” Fetlock frowned thoughtfully at his desk for a moment before snapping his gaze back toward Audun. “You think they've been infected?”

“I couldn't say,” Audun replied with a helpless shake of her head,”it is likely, but we can't know for sure without visual confirmation.”

“And you want me to investigate I take it?”

“Looks like someone is quick on the uptake,” Audun replied with a condescending smirk, “yes, that's right. I had intended to demand you send your little band of mind slaves to take care of the matter, but I suppose we'll have to think of something else now, won't we?”

“I suppose so,” Fetlock replied, brushing aside the researcher's mocking tone. With a grunt, the thestral stood from his seat, “...very well, I'll do what I can to find them and, if need be, put them down, but in the meantime, I need to see about getting my own house in order first, so if you'll excuse me...”

Seeing Fetlock's dismissal for what it was, Audun clicked her tongue in annoyance and turned to leave. “Yes fine, if you must,” she called back, waving a dismissive claw as she reached the door, “but I want those two found and taken care of before the day is out.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Fetlock replied, giving the researcher a sarcastic salute behind her back.

The thestral gave another weary sigh and sat back down once Audun was gone. He very much wanted to be anywhere but this Luna forsaken lab now more than ever. Everything about what had happened here rubbed him the wrong way. The experiment, the virus, the bodies those monsters left behind, none of it sat right with him.

Even as somepony who betrayed his country for power, this was too much. Fetlock, Audun, and their soldiers and scientists were the only thing keeping a potentially apocalyptic outbreak at bay, and they had technically already failed at that. Those six abominations had escaped the lab and were now somewhere out there, likely wreaking havoc wherever they went.

They needed to be found and disposed of as soon as possible, yet the sergeant was stuck here on clean up duty. Fetlock could only pray that Sombra or his Queen were already taking measures to hunt them down. He knew Shimmering Sands and his unit were busy overseeing Sombra's little mining operation, but even if that weren't the case, Fetlock doubted the oversized pegasus could get the job done.

Perhaps Commander Willows could've done something, but he'd been in Asterios for the last few weeks doing who-knows-what. Fetlock was sure it was some kind of imprtant mission, but neither he nor Sands had been given the details. Unless Sombra or the Queen had something else up their sleeves that Fetlock wasn't aware of, that just left either the Crystal Guard or more griffon mercenaries, and that hadn't exactly worked out the first time.

The hundreds of dead Fetlock and his crew had to burn was a testament to that fact. The only thing he could've taken solace in was the fact that no one had encountered another creature like those girls yet. Sure, some of the bodies left behind had shown clear signs of infection—many had actually—but all of them had been in the early stages and were easily dealt with.

Now, however, it seemed things were about to change for the worst. The suspicious behavior of his team in addition to the news of the missing researcher and medic didn't point to anything good. Maybe the two incidents were unrelated, maybe not. Whatever the case, Fetlock could feel a storm brewing on the horizon.

The thestral sergeant gave the ruined building outside his window one last pensive glance, then stood back up and made his way out of the office. He let out a quiet chuckle as he headed down the hall and downstairs toward the holding cells. If nothing else, he'd finally have an excuse to put his favorite toy to use again. No matter the situation, that was always a good time.

Heading down three flights of stairs, Sergeant Fetlock finally reached the door to the basement level where the holding cells were. He once again had to marvel at just how fast a building like this had been erected. With this kind of advancement in magic and technology, it was no wonder Equestria had changed so drastically in such a short amount of time.

Pushing his idle musings aside, Fetlock nodded to the two nameless Crystal Guards standing at attention on either side of the door leading to the basement. They saluted in turn and allowed the thestral through without a word. He continued down the steep steps, squinting slightly as the flourescent lights above slammed into his sensitive retinas.

The room was fairly large and sterile looking, with white walls and a reflective white tiled floor. The place reminded Fetlock of a modern doctor's office and he would have mistaken it for such had it not been for the rows of thick steel doors lining the walls. The sergeant had only been down here once when the base was first built, but looking at it again, it seemed more like a mental asylum than anything else.

Again, he had no idea how this had all been built so fast, but the sight made him shudder internally. Still, it wasn't the eerily clinical look of the holding cells that clued him in to the fact that something was off. It was the silence. The entire room was deathly silent save for the soft buzz of the lights above.

A cursory glance didn't reveal anything out of the ordinary—at least, not regarding the room itself. No, the problem wasn't the room. It was an issue of personnel, or rather, the lack thereof.

“Officer Shores!” Fetlock called out in his most commanding tone. He made his way deeper into the room, his mind and body alert for any sign of danger. He stopped in front of the first cell and raised himself up slightly to peer through the single slot in the steel door. He tsk'd at the sight of the empty cell and moved on, muttering, “Where in Luna's name are you, mare?”

If what I think is happening is actually happening, then I don't have time to check every empty cell in this Luna forsaken room...

A strange mix of anxiety and anticipation roiled in Fetlock's gut as he activated the thaumic implant in left eye socket. The brass eye whirred and clicked as it rolled around in its socket for a few seconds before settling back into its proper position. With a blink, Sergeant Fetlock activated the first micro sigil inscribed within the magical eye.

A copy of the same circular sigil projected itself over the eye and Fetlock swept his arcane gaze over the whole room. He grimaced after a single pass, finding exactly what he expected. There wasn't a single soul in the room except for him. It was possible that Sunny Shores hadn't arrived with his remaining unit yet, but somehow the thestral doubted that.

He blinked again to deactivate the sigil and cursed as he marched back up the stairs. He threw open the door and started down the hall, but stopped as something else poked at his perception. He frowned in bemusement as he looked around, then it hit him. Whipping back around to face the door, he cursed again and raced off to communications tower. He needed to send out a message.

Even if Sunny Shores hadn't reached the holding cells yet, he should have run into her and his team on the way at some point. There might've been some other explanation, but Sergeant Fetlock chose to go with his gut, and his gut was telling him something was very wrong.

The two missing Crystal Guards next to the basement door only served to turn his suspicion to certainty. They had, in fact, been compromised.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, I meant to start working on this one a few days ago, but it took me some time to figure how I wanted to go about writing this part.

Rebirth

Elsewhere, deep beneath the barren, arid desert of the Badlands, somewhere within a labyrinthine maze of twisting tunnels, a dragon slept.

Well, that isn't quite right, the dragon would've thought had he the mental faculties to do so. Floating placidly within the warm and viscous embrace of his own personal pod, the violet drakeling—a creature well into and almost past his young adulthood by pony standards—was very much awake, but not quite aware. A haze had fallen over his mind, thick and heavy and impenetrable.

There were no thoughts to be had in his head, and there hadn't been in quite some time. There was the occasional blink of the eyes here or a twitch of the claw there, but those were involuntary, instinctual movements. Nothing in his cloudy gaze hinted at there having ever been even a spark of life. He simply floated, aimless and empty, in his own private sea of greens and yellows.

For sixteen years, that had been Spike's life. His whole existence. Forgotten by time. Forgotten by the rest of the world. Maybe even forgotten by the one he once called a sister. It would have been a heartbreaking notion if the dragon had the wherewithal to comprehend his circumstances. As it stood, however, Spike was perfectly content to simply be. Here, in his prison of ooze, he wanted for nothing. Nutrients, waste disposal, security—all was taken care of.

No need to think. No need to grieve. No need to remember.

Remember?

Remember... what?

Spike blinked.

And then the world snapped into sharp focus as his comfortable prison was suddenly and violently ripped wide open. Awareness struck the dragon like vicious lightning from the heavens. It dispersed the haze that had permeated his mind, leaving pain and confusion behind as his long-dormant senses were forcefully awakened once more. He barely noticed gravity dragging him down to the cold, uneven ground amidst a small wave of vile yellow-green slime, so preoccupied was he with his reactivating body.

Draconic eyes squeezed shut and retching putrid ooze, Spike tried to stand from where he lay on the wet and slimy stone. He only got as far as his claws and knees before his shaking limbs gave out and sent him spilling back onto the ground. On top of the pain and disorientation, Spike simply wasn't used to his body. Far from the small and pudgy baby dragon he used to be, Spike was taller now. He hadn't quite gained the rippling biceps typical of other dragons his age, but there was power in his lithe purple frame regardless.

His currently spasming muscles were lean and flexible, his claws and fangs sharp and deadly. Still, despite the strength his kind was well known for, Spike's body refused to listen to his commands. All he could do was expel the last of the wretched slime from his lungs, even as that same slime worked to purge the atrophy from his limbs. Spike wasn't sure how long he lay there, twitching and coughing on the ground, but eventually, his involuntary spasms settled into slight shivers.

Then, finally, the shaking stopped altogether. At the same time, the pain and confusion in his mind began to ebb, and rational thought began to return, albeit slowly. With a shuddering breath, the slime-drenched dragon carefully pushed himself up from the ground, getting his arms and legs under him before gradually rising to his feet with a soft groan. Finally, he blinked his emerald eyes open and took a tentative look around.

Darkness, unrelenting and all-encompassing.

No, that wasn't quite right.

Spike blinked again and squinted as his eyes slowly started to adjust to his surroundings. It was certainly dark, but he could make out a sickly green glow that illuminated the rocky walls, ceiling, and floor of a small cave. Spike frowned and swept his eyes over the cave he stood in, looking for the source of light, but found nothing other than the puddle of faintly luminescent yellow-green slime that had spilled from the large egg-like pod behind him.

What... is that?

The pod in question was a pale green and semi-translucent bubble rooted to the ground by a black, chitinous material that wrapped about the surface like thin veins. Spike took note of the large tear in the pod's fleshy, partly opaque surface. It looked like something had ripped its way out from the inside, leaving the gelantinous ooze trapped within to spill out onto the floor.

And that something... was me?

All signs pointed to that being the case, but try as he might to understand what was going on, Spike's memory was still fuzzy and indistinct. He didn't know how he'd gotten here to wherever this was or why he'd been in such a disgusting contraption, but looking at the pod seemed to fill the bewildered drake with a mix of revulsion and a strange sense of loss and longing. The competing sensations made him shuffle his wings in discomfort.

Wait... wings?!

Spike awkwardly craned his neck to get a better look at his back and, sure enough, he caught a glimpse of the two large appendages hanging loosely from his back near the shoulder joints. Stunned at the unexpected sight, Spike flexed unfamiliar muscles with instinctual ease and tightened the wings against his back, then slowly stretching them out to get a better view. The fleshy membrane of his wings were as violet as his scales and each was slick with residual slime, the viscous substance dripping from the tips to fall into the rest of the puddle on the ground.

The dragon grimaced in disgust and gave his wings a sharp flap, dislodging large flecks of ooze. The gesture did little to clear his new limbs of the slime, but fascination far outweighed Spike's annoyance. Though his memory was spotty at best, one thing Spike was certain of was that obtaining wings had been a long-time anticipation of his. But with his excitement came the obvious question of how he'd gotten them. Dragons weren't supposed to gain wings until after the molting stage.

Does that mean I molted at some point?

For the first time since he'd "woken up", Spike took a moment to look himself over and was further shocked by what he saw. Beneath the slime, his body was slim by dragon standards, but incredibly lean, with defined muscle clearly visible beneath the almost radiant sheen of his violet scales. More than that, he was tall. Much taller than he'd been before whatever had happened to him—Spike was sure of that, at least. The stunned dragon guessed most adult ponies would only stand about maybe two-thirds his height, at best.

"What in Celestia's—"

Spike winced at the voice that came out of his throat. It was dry and rough from lack of use, but also deep and slightly guttural—not quite like gravel just yet, but close. With that little discovery, there was no way around it. Spike was at a loss, confused and reeling, but he wasn't an idiot. Even addled as he was, he could at the very least put together that time had passed while he was suspended in that pod—a lot of time.

The problem was, Spike didn't know exactly how much time. A dragon's biological clock was a troublesome thing, their longevity making it hard for other races to gauge their ages at a glance. Spike, being a dragon, had something of an innate sense of his own age, even if he'd been out of it all this time. Such a sense was necessary when you had a tendency to sleep for hundreds or possibly thousands of years at a time.

By Spike's estimate, somewhere between fifteen and twenty years had passed since he was put in that pod, but his draconic senses weren't quite keen enough to tell him exactly. Living with ponies all his life had dulled instincts that would've been honed to perfection in the Dragonlands. That made the drake think of home, and a pang of sadness and nostalgia washed over him before being snuffed out by a sharp stab of pain in his mind as he thought about—

"Gngh!"

Spike slapped his claws to his temples and fell to his knees, splashing slime every which way as white-hot agony blurred his vision. Distant voices suddenly echoed in his head—murmurs of confusion and doubt, cries of alarm and outrage, screams of horror and despair, all accompanied by fleeting flashes of vague images Spike had no reference or context for.

Her voice...

He could hear it.

Out of all the indistinct voices in his head, it was hers that came in the clearest. It called out to him—to them—begging for help. Begging to be saved, only for those desperate pleas to turn to heart-wrenching, throat-tearing howls of agony cut short by a horrible squelch, and then... silence. Cruel silence. There were other voices, furious, horrified, terrified, despairing, grieving, but ultimately inconsequential in the face of that awful silence.

And then Spike was dragged away from it all. Dragged away from the voices, from the silence, from his thoughts, his mind trying and ultimately failing to comprehend what he'd heard. What he'd seen. Whatever else happened to him after that didn't matter. A colorless, foggy montage of events followed, but Spike couldn't make sense of any of it. He didn't want to. More voices followed, and there was a vague impression of radiant, pale green eyes peering into his own lifeless emerald orbs and a wicked grin full of fangs and ambition.

That, too, was inconsequential.

The last thing Spike felt as his consciousness dulled into hazy, dreamlike nothingness was a sense of relief. A sense of gratitude for the fact that he would no longer have to think, to grieve, to remember. That was how it was supposed to go. He wasn't supposed to remember... but now he did. Like some kind of parasitic tumor, the memory wormed its way into Spike's brain, latching onto his newly awakened consciousness and refusing to let go. The dragon's ragged gasps echoed around the damp cave and bile rose in his throat.

Propping himself up on his powerful arms and legs, he retched yet again, unable and unwilling to hold it in. After what felt like hours, his vomiting turned to wet coughs, then a few dry heaves, then rough pants of exhaustion. Eventually, he swallowed and let out a slow, shuddering breath, his eyes glued to the ground but his mind elsewhere. Slowly, Spike shook his head as the memory replayed over and over again in his mind. He raised a fist and—

"No..." he groaned as the fist came down, splashing into the slime and sick around him, "No... No. No. No. No. No!"

With each shaky word, his fist slammed into the ground, harder and harder until the stone cracked, then shattered beneath him. He shot to his feet with a vicious snarl, his horror and despair twisting into something dark and violent. He suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to rend something apart. Someone. To lash out at anything and everything around him. Predatory eyes bulging and gleaming fangs gnashing, Spike swept his wild gaze across the cave but found nothing. No focus for his directionless fury.

It was then that he noticed the singular entrance to the dimly lit cave. An opening just large enough to fit his draconic frame lay just ahead of him. How he hadn't noticed it before was neither here nor there. All that mattered was that he had a way out and a lot of anger and sorrow to vent. The sickly pale green light of the cave seemed to shift to a deep crimson hue as the enraged dragon stormed out of the cave with a guttural growl, leaving behind the cave and the sundered pod that had been both his prison and paradise for over sixteen years.

Yet further within those endlessly twisting tunnels, hidden at the deepest level of the maze-like labyrinth of damp caves and narrow stone pathways, another creature lay dormant, much like Spike. Like Spike, the creature stood suspended in its own pod of semi-transparent pseudo-flesh and vein-like chitin. Unlike Spike's smaller pod, however, the mucilaginous goop inside this much larger pod glowed a bright orange. The thick liquid shifted and bubbled occasionally as the tall equine mass within twitched.

The surrounding cave wasn't much larger than Spike's, similarly housing only the grotesque pod within. But where the entrance to the dragon's cave had allowed him to leave unimpeded, this cave was entirely closed off by a thick door of solid, dark grey stone. A complex series of arcane runes and sigils etched into the door's surface ensured the prisoner remained sealed inside that cave. It was an ancient sort of magic that kept the door shut, lost to all but a rare few.

At the time, the warden felt it only prudent to enact such measures for a prisoner as dangerous as the Princess of the Night. Perhaps she was right, perhaps such measures were entirely too much. Either way, the warden had long since abandoned her post, leaving behind only a single wretched drone to stand vigil over the prison, for that was all the previous warden could spare now. The rest had either died of starvation or had followed the warden when she left.

Now that single jailer was left alone, starving and pitiful, but stubbornly clinging to life. The little drone wandered the tunnels, subsisting on whatever he could find in the empty hive, knowing it wasn't enough but unable to obtain what he truly needed in these abandoned underground passages. Still, he persisted, having recently found a reason to live beyond the deaths of his forlorn kin. As he once more returned to the sealed stone door to fulfill his duty, the pathetic little drone's large opal eyes gleamed with determination.

After all these years, his Queen had finally reached out to him, and contrary to the imperious tone and callous indifference the drone had expected, her words were full of emotion. Sorrow. Regret. Pity. Guilt. A bone-deep weariness. A clear desire for forgiveness. There was anger, yes—rage even—but the drone could tell it wasn't directed at him or any of his brothers and sisters. The drone hadn't ever dared to hope that such a drastic change in his Queen would come to pass—not in his wildest dreams.

Not aloud, anyway.

He hadn't dared to voice his secret wish, lest he be ridiculed by his closest brother and their other siblings, or worse. This little drone was unlike most drones in that he didn't quite share his Queen's desire for power. For conquest. To this drone, a promise of open communication and understanding was far preferable to cruel vindictiveness and a knife in the back. But that was not the way of his kind, he knew... or so he'd thought. But this new development had given him hope for something better.

His Queen, and all her plans, had changed, and they'd changed in such a way that the drone couldn't help but struggle on just a little longer. He wanted the words his Queen had spoken—the new desire she'd passed unto him—to come to fruition. He needed it. Even if he didn't survive to see it, he had to try. It was the one thing left to him and the sickly, starving little drone wouldn't fail. If all went to plan, they would arrive soon and this whole nightmare would end, but if the drone died here, then all would be for naught.

"I won't die," the little drone croaked in a voice so weak it was almost non-existent, "I can't die... not yet."

Retrace

Iron Wing City.

A city of progress, a city of industry, a haven for the technologically minded. It is the pride of every griffon who lives there, and—to many—a shining beacon of griffon superiority. For the better part of three centuries, Equestria had overtaken Griffonia when it came to advances in technology, and years of civil war, bloody coups, and self-destructive avarice hadn't helped matters in the slightest.

For the longest time, Griffonia had been an empire divided and it wasn't a stretch to say that griffon society dangled on the edge of total collapse... but that all changed with the Moon Princess's betrayal of her country and Sombra's return. It wasn't the griffons themselves, but the ponies that had brought about a major change. Together, in almost no time at all, Luna and Sombra had taken control of the Crystal Empire that had mysteriously risen with the dark stallion, and—even more surprising—both had immediately declared war on Equestria.

Griffonia generally tended to keep to itself and was wont to stay out of equine affairs, but then, a few months prior to the war, Princess Luna suddenly arrived in Griffonia with a small retinue of her batpony loyalists and a few unicorns and demanded an audience with Emperor Rödrun Brave Claw IV himself. Naturally she was dismissed outright at first; her claims of the Crystal Empire's inevitable return were left unheeded and ignored, and her intent to stand with this stallion calling himself the 'king' of an 'empire' and fight against Equestria for dominance seen as laughable. It was then that she offered a gift in exchange for the Emperor's audience—the beginning move in what would later become known as the Traitor's Wager.

Intrigued, the Emperor agreed to meet with the Moon Princess and her retinue. Her 'gift'—documents containing previously undisclosed and closely guarded details of Equestrian engineering—was enough to catch the Emperor's attention, but not enough to agree to the proposed alliance between Griffonia and the Crystal Empire made by the Princess once Sombra returned. The Emperor, unconvinced of the other Empire's return, refused, stating he wouldn't meddle in pony affairs. It was then that the Traitor Princess made her 'wager'.

Griffonia could do what they pleased with the knowledge she'd given them, and Luna would even provide the services of the unicorn engineers and scientists she'd brought with her, no strings attached. If, however, Sombra and his empire returned, and he and Luna together could show that they were a dominating force against Equestria, he would agree to not only form an alliance, but help fight against the Sun Princess and her ponies. The Emperor agreed—some would've said foolishly—to the wager. Celestia and the rest of the ponies were not much loved by the Royal Family of Griffonia, and the Emperor no doubt saw this as a possible opportunity to bring the Sun Princess low.

With her task seemingly complete, the Traitor Princess returned to Equestria, leaving behind her scientists and engineers as promised. The whole affair caused the Griffonian Emperor and many of the noble families of Griffonia to stand up and take notice of events outside their lands. The Emperor was quick to put the ponies, and many of the finest minds of Griffonia to use in bringing Griffonia to new technological heights. All the while, Griffonia watched with interest as events played out, content to stay back and await the coming war. The Crystal Empire finally did appear eventually and both the Traitor Princess and King Sombra had indeed struck a quick and decisive blow against the initial advance of Equestria's forces.

The battle in the Frozen North was only a prelude to the real war to come, but that it seemed, had been enough to convince the Emperor that this alliance was worth investing in. When the Traitor Princess—now calling herself a Queen—had returned to Griffonia with news of their overwhelming victory, the accord was struck then and there, and with that, the Crystal-Griffonia Pact was formed.

The foundation had already been laid for an industrial boom in the Griffonian Empire, and the alliance had only hastened Griffonia's already impressive push towards greatness. In only a few short years, the Empire of Griffonia was launched into a new age of science and technology. With Equestria tied up in the war and fighting a desperate and ultimately futile fight against the combined forces of two Empires, technological progress proceeded unhindered, and the finest minds of Griffonia were able to not only equal Equestrian engineering, but surpass it all together.

From the stronger and faster ships of both the sky and seafaring variety and firearms to the simple creature comforts you'd now find in any griffon home, Griffonia is now more prosperous than its ever been, and nowhere is that more prevalent than Iron Wing City. Originally born from one griffon's dream of turning his small, rural hometown into a bustling city of commerce and industry, the city has grown to become one of the world's largest sources of—

A boisterous knock at the door caused one of Twilight's ears to twitch and, for the first time in roughly three hours or so, she pulled her attention away from the myriad of books she had piled up atop an already heavily cluttered desk. The desk sat near the window of a small office, which itself was on the third floor of a multistory building.

Specifically the Iron Wing City Public Archives main building.

The mare flinched violently and snapped her gaze towards the door, her amethyst eyes widening with panic and her body reacting on what had quickly become instinct over the last few days. In a flurry of unnatural motion, the unicorn had shifted into something more fitting for a resident of a heavily griffon populated metropolis.

I wonder if this is what it feels like to be a changeling?

"Who is it?" Twilight snapped in a curt and somewhat nasally feminine voice that was very much not her own, "state your name and business. I'm very busy and have no time to entertain guests at the moment."

"Aww, but I bought these super delicious cinnamon rolls from the bakery down the street that I wanted to share!" came the disappointed reply from behind the door, "are you suuure you don't have any time?"

The voice was young and bubbly, and wouldn't have sounded at all familiar to Twilight a few days ago, but she'd gotten used to it now. Even if she hadn't, the bombastic tone certainly would've given away the identity of the creature behind the voice. All the same she furrowed the brows above her half-moon spectacles and her beak turned down into a wary frown.

"...Pinkie? Is that you?"

The question was quiet and tentative, and the response was anything but. Twilight had to resist the urge to leap out of her seat as the door was thrown suddenly open. A female griffon—grey feathered, black furred, and looking just out of her fledgling years—bounced into the room with a pink paperboard box in one claw and smile as bright as the sun on her face. She opened her mouth wide as if to announce her entrance, but stopped just short, looking as though she'd forgotten something.

A second later she turned and gently shut the door behind her before whipping back around and throwing out her arms in a grand gesture. Twilight breathed a quiet sigh of relief as the black fur and grey feathers vanished beneath a tangle of black tendrils, leaving a bright pink earth pony mare beaming at her from across the room.

"Guilty as charged!" Pinkie cried happily, "heya, Twilight! How goes it?"

Satisfied that they were alone and a little annoyed at the sudden and unnecessary outburst, Twilight shed her own disguise and persona of the no-nonsense elderly griffon archivist. She hated playing the stuffy griffon, but it was something she needed to put up with for now, given her current plans. Still, she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy having all the knowledge of the Archives at her hooves. It certainly made things a lot easier when it came to getting information while staying undercover.

"Pinkie, you scared the hay out of me!" Twilight breathed, frowning at the pink pony, "keeping a low profile means you don't do things like that, remember?"

"Right right, sorry, Twi," Pinkie replied, though her sheepish smile lasted only an instant before her regular grin returned. She hopped over to where Twilight sat and flipped open the box before shoving it in the unicorn's face, "want a cinnamon roll? It's suuuper gooey and full of cinnamon-y goodness~"

Twilight leaned away from the box and frowned, but gave the offer some consideration. While it was true that she and her friends could no longer be called ponies or technically even living beings if her hypothesis was right, and while she had yet to find any more information on what exactly had befallen them, Twilight had found out a couple of facts. One of these facts being that, while they no longer had to eat in the normal sense, they could still indulge if they wanted to, and food even still tasted the same, much to the relief of the ponies-turned-viruses.

There were other things—other benefits—to consider, but Twilight set them aside for the moment and after a few more seconds of indecision, she reached out and took a roll from the box, giving Pinkie a grateful smile in the process. She took the offered treat, if for no other reason than to remind herself of what she and the rest of her friends had been—what Twilight herself was still trying desperately to hold onto despite everything.

"Thanks, Pinkie," she finally replied before taking a bite. She took a moment, humming in appreciation at the taste, "oh wow, that is good."

"Right?" Pinkie replied, setting the box down next to one of the large stacks of books on the desk and brushed her flat raspberry mane out of her face, "I asked Fluttershy if she wanted one but..." Pinkie's smile turned sad and slightly bitter, "...she said she didn't want one... that she didn't deserve one."

There was a long, uncomfortable beat of silence between the two viruses and a moment later Twilight sighed. She placed a nearby marker in the book she'd been reading and closed it before turning her attention to the window and the bustling Griffonian city below. In some ways it reminded her of places like Manehattan and Fillydelphia, but in so many others it was completely alien to her. Some of what she and the others had seen since their arrival in Iron Wing City mirrored what she'd find in the more modernized Equestrian cities, but when it came to most things in this place, it was as if Griffonia had entered an industrial revolution completely separate from their own.

All the metal and steam, the massive walking clockwork monstrosities patrolling the streets, the ever present smell of smoke, iron and gunpowder in the air, and of course, the various self-propelled vehicles that dominated the roads and skies of the city. Griffons no longer had to rely solely on their own wing power to get around, nor did they from what Twilight could see. Most traversed the roads of the city in strange 'steam cars' or used odd mechanical flying contraptions not dissimilar to the hoof powered helicopter Pinkie had used sometimes, though no hooves or claws or paws were needed to keep this machine afloat and moving—steam did that well enough, just like with most inventions Twilight and her friends had stumbled across.

And of course, there were things like the massive airship Twilight and Rainbow had seen back at Sky Talon Labs. Twilight hadn't seen any airships in the city so far, but she knew they existed, and that they had all been made in Griffonia, including the one Twilight herself had brought down just outside the facility. Though she'd found out the origins of that giant airship, where and how that silver golem had been created was still a mystery. This city was like a testament to everything they'd all missed in the last sixteen or so years, and somewhere down there in the hustle and bustle of griffons and the odd pony or two, was Fluttershy.

Twilight had been surprised at how much the mare had changed since they'd escaped the facility. She was the same Fluttershy for the most part, but there was something else there now that hadn't been before, and it wasn't just the uncontrollable rage she experienced in combat. Looking at the city and thinking back on all of their experiences thus far, Twilight was reminded of just how much had changed during their absence.

Too much has changed... far too much.

"I told her she could wait outside the city if she wanted," Twilight muttered, more to herself than Pinkie, "I told her what we might have to do, and she chose to follow after us anyway."

"It's been four days since we got here though," Pinkie replied solemnly, moving to stare out the window along with Twilight, "do you really think she would've waited that long?"

"Honestly? I'm not sure anymore," Twilight answered with a shake of her head. She glanced up at the grey afternoon sky above the city, then turned to address Pinkie directly, "where is she now?"

"She said she was gonna take one more look around the business district, then head back to the apartment," Pinkie replied, "she said she'd wait for us there, hopefully with some good news."

Twilight nodded once, and returned her gaze to the window. It had taken some time and a bit of careful maneuvering on Twilight's part, but the three mares-turned-viruses had found a suitable arrangement that allowed them to blend in while maintaining a position in which Twilight could find out everything she needed to know about the modern world—at least where the Griffonian Empire was concerned. Twilight had found out about the old griffon archivist by chance, and, with only a bit of reluctance, had taken the opportunity presented to her.

The griffon had been part of a small family that included her husband and their granddaughter, both of whom had been dealt with and replaced by Pinkie and Fluttershy respectively. While Fluttershy had already killed several griffons during their attempted escape from Squawken, she'd never consumed a living creature until now, and the experience hadn't sat well with her—not in the slightest. Both Twilight and Pinkie knew that's why she was out there now; they knew the real reason she'd offered to scout out the town and seek information on her own was so that she could ruminate on what she'd done.

"So... did you find out anything useful?" Pinkie tried, attempting to break the melancholy quiet of the room.

"I did actually," Twilight answered, giving a small nod, but not looking in Pinkie's direction, "I found a few books on microbiology, but oddly enough, not much on virology specifically. Even if I had found more in the field of virology, I don't think it would've helped much anyway, given the circumstances of how this virus was created," she frowned and glanced back at Pinkie, "I tried comparing what I found to the notes you took from the facility, but the information doesn't match up all that well, if at all."

"Wait, so if you didn't find anything out about the virus, then what did you find?" Pinkie asked with a bemused frown.

"Something that might potentially be much better," Twilight answered, fully turning to face Pinkie with a small smile of triumph—a smile that vanished into a concerned frown as she continued, "it was heavily restricted, but I managed to get the information on where Sky Talon Labs is located."

"Sky Talon Labs?" Pinkie asked, her bemused frown turning thoughtful. Recognition suddenly crossed her face and she gasped loudly a moment later, "isn't that the name of the place where we—"

"Yes, Pinkie," Twilight hissed, "it is, and I think it'd be best for us if you didn't go shouting out details best left unheard by anypo... anyone that might be listening in. Low. Profile."

"Right, sorry again," Pinkie apologized distractedly. Giving Twilight a worried look, she spoke again, albeit in a much quieter tone, "but how is finding out where we were being held better than..." she trailed off and this time a look of realization crossed her face, "....oooohhh."

"Exactly," Twilight answered, grabbing another cinnamon roll from the box and biting into it. She paused a moment to swallow the food and continued, "there's are a couple of things I figured out from my research, but nothing concrete just yet, and I'd rather not go into detail until we meet back up with Fluttershy, but as much as I don't want to, I'm willing to bet there's still a lot we can learn from that place if we go back."

Pinkie bit her lip and looked away, lost in thought. Twilight watched her as she quietly took another bite of the roll, waiting for her reaction. It was clear she was having reservations about going back to the place they'd just barely managed to escape from, and Twilight had no doubt Fluttershy would have something to say about it. If Twilight was being honest, she didn't really feel good about going back either, but she felt this was their best bet—not only in possibly stopping the potential outbreak at the source, but also in finding out just what this had all been about.

After all, Isn't this why they'd all decided to stay behind while the others had left for Equestria?

Pinkie seemed to realize this, because a few seconds later she gave a slow nod that picked up pace with her confidence.

"Yeah, I guess you're right, Twi," the pink mare conceded. Twilight could still see some hesitation in her smile, but she was still on board. The unicorn's relieved smile dipped a bit as Pinkie's own smile disappeared, "I agree, it's probably the best start we're gonna get, but I also have a reeeaallly bad feeling something not-so-good is gonna happen if we go," before Twilight could reply, Pinkie held up her hooves, "I'm still with you, though, Twilight—one hundred percent... and I'm sure Fluttershy is too, or will be once you tell her."

Twilight noted the uncertainty in Pinkie's voice at that last part and her frown deepened. She looked down at the partially eaten cinnamon roll in her hoof and gave another, longer sigh.

"I hope you're right, Pinkie," Twilight muttered morosely, "because as much as I hate it, this is the only lead we've got right now."

Pinkie looked at Twilight; she took in her lost expression and—with pangs of guilt, sorrow, and longing—wondered not for the first time since they'd reached Iron Wing City how Rainbow, Rarity and Applejack were faring. She wondered if they'd already reached Equestria and what they'd find there. She wondered about her other friends and family back home and whether or not they'd survived the last sixteen years.

So much time had passed and so many changes had befallen the world that she wondered if Equestria could even be saved.

Author's Note

I felt I started The Viruses of Harmony without a proper foundation for the events that took place 16 years prior to the story, and I aim to fix that in the third 'book' of this tale, so expect me to throw in some lore (and possibly flashback chapters, as much as I hate them) every now and then between other stuff that goes on in the story.

I also plan on branching out in this one, so no more entire arcs taking place in one... place, as it were. One last note is that I'll probably be keeping the chapters a bit shorter (generally between 2k and 3k words long) in an effort to keep updates a little more quick and consistent. All that aside though, hope you guys enjoy! :pinkiesmile:

Adaptation

Twilight had wanted to do this as quickly and cleanly as possible. Get in, report to Grim Fetlock, slip away to search the labs at the first opportunity. That had been the idea, but things hadn't quite gone to plan. In hindsight, returning to base with two missing Special Ops agents was bad, but what else could they have done? They couldn't exactly take the two extras back with them, nor could the girls just leave them alone.

Twilight supposed they could've found a way to knock them out, dragged them along and made an excuse, but that would've caused its own problems later down the line. Well, that's what Twilight told herself, but in reality, she'd just given in to her newfound bloodlust. They all had—her, Pinkie, and Fluttershy—but there was no use worrying about that now. What was done, was done. That wasn't the real issue, though.

No, the real issue here was the fact that neither Twilight nor the others had thought to radio in ahead of time. They'd all consumed the brainwashed soldiers. They knew their helmets came equipped with magical communication sigils. They knew the protocol. Twilight herself likely could've come up with a believable excuse and save them all the headache that had been their most recent situation.

Twilight just... hadn't thought of it. There'd been other things to think about. The knowledge had gotten lost amidst the roiling sea of Radiant Ruby's memories. Her mind was too focused on what to do once they all made it inside. She'd wanted to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible, and hadn't given a single thought to making preparations beforehoof. In short, it was simply a massive blunder on her part. An inexcusable oversight—or, at least, that's how she saw it.

Regardless, it was too late for regrets now. The planned hadn't worked out the way Twilight had hoped, but as her brother had told her once long ago during a particularly intense game of Ogres and Oubliettes, “no plan survives contact with the enemy”. She'd hoped to head straight to Sergeant Fetlock, but another pony found them instead. The trio had barely gotten a good look at the ruin they'd left behind before their way to the nearby military base was barred.

A burnt yellow unicorn mare in a black and grey double-breasted suit approached the veiled viruses. The combination of her purposeful stride and the two heavily armed Crystal Guards flanking her told Twilight the unicorn was going to be trouble. The mare had a short and snowy, windswept mane and a disconcerting smile that seemed permanently fixed to her face. Her bright orange eyes seemed to pierce right through Twilight, making her feel even more uncomfortable.

The unicorn had introduced herself as Sunny Shores, and she'd started asking some very pointed questions the moment she reached Twilight and the others. Caught on the backhoof by the mare's appearance and forwardness, Twilight hadn't been able to answer those questions to Sunny Shores' satisfaction. What followed was a polite but clearly non-negotiable command to follow the mare to the holding cells beneath the military base.

Given there were soldiers and researchers all over the place, Twilight opted to keep her mouth shut and follow along. Thankfully, there was no need to urge her friends to do the same. They were all on the same page and that made things a little easier. Searching the memories of her victim, Twilight recalled the role Sunny Shores played in this operation. She recalled what kind of pony the mare was, and was confident she and the other two could get out of this mess if it was just the intelligence officer and the two guards.

They just had to wait for the right moment.

The officer sent a guard patrolling nearby to inform Sergeant Fetlock of the situation before leading Twilight and the others to the cells. Twilight wasn't sure if this would lead to further trouble or not. The info she'd acquired about the thestral stallion didn't exactly paint a clear picture of how he'd react to Sunny's suspicions. From what she could tell, Fetlock didn't exactly bother to communicate with his team outside of giving direct orders, so the viral unicorn had no real read on his personality or triggers.

What she did know was that the thestral sergeant was sporting some very interesting magic based technology. Unfortunately, there was only one instance she could find in Radiant Ruby's memories where Fetlock used the arcane device. Given how much power he'd displayed then, Twilight quickly decided that it'd be best if they escaped before Sergeant Fetlock arrived.

And so it was that Twilight put her very much off-the-cuff plan into action. Sunny Shores had intended to imprison and interrogate the three suspicious operatives on what actually happened at the lab's borders. She and her two guards only got as far as shepherding them into a cell before the viruses struck. Taking a chance, Twilight dropped her disguise and rounded on the unsuspecting mare just before she had a chance to shut the cell door.

What followed next would have been a bloodbath had Twilight not remembered the old adage of discretion being the better part of valor. Capitalizing on the intelligence officer's shock and horror, Twilight consumed the mare whole, making sure not to leave a trace of her behind. Pinkie and Fluttershy, not having realized what Twilight meant to do, hesitated for a moment, surprised at their friend's sudden and violent actions.

Twilight, now giddy from the euphoria of her kill, didn't give either her friends or the startled guards a chance to recover. Even as she continued to break Sunny Shores' corpse down into more biomass, she used her virally enhance magic to keep the two Crystal Guards restrained and silent. One guard tried to bite down on the mouth trigger connected to the twin gun barrels on either side of his hazmat suit.

It was a valiant effort, and he'd almost managed the feat, but the ebony aura of Twilight's magic clamped down on his jaw along with the rest of his body, freezing the terrified stallion in place before he could exert any pressure on the trigger. Neither Twilight nor her friends had ever seen a contraption like the one the guards were wearing. During their initial escape from the labs, the only ones they'd seen using firearms were the griffons.

The ponies in the mix had used a mix of melee weapons and—in the case of unicorns—battle spells. That said, thanks to all the ponies and griffons the girls had consumed, they at least knew of the gun saddles. Even in her violence induced haze of euphoria, Twilight could recognize and appreciate just how far technology had come, even if they were tools of war. Of course, that didn't mean she'd stop to admire the complex machine.

No, she had other tasks to take care of, and so did her friends. With that in mind, she made to tell the others to consume the two guards, but found the action unnecessary. Twilight had barely opened her mouth when a horrifying amalgam of teeth and tendrils blurred past her and fell upon one of the guards. The poor stallion was unable to even scream as he was eaten alive by a monster beyond his understanding.

Fluttershy wasn't far behind Pinkie. The bestial mare leapt forward with a vicious snarl before tearing into her own victim. While Pinkie was quick to follow Twilight example, leaving no trace of the guard himself, she found she couldn't consume the gun saddle. Fluttershy, unfortunately, had no qualms about leaving behind a bloody mess. While she did consume the stallion, she too had to leave the gun saddle behind.

The bloodshed was explosive and visceral, but lasted only a dozen or seconds before it was over. Once that was done—and once Fluttershy's battle rage had subsided—Twilight wasted no time in snapping out orders like the sergeant she came to report to. Trusting Twilight not to lead them astray, Pinkie and Fluttershy obeyed without question. There was simply no time for lingering doubts and hesitation.

In a matter of moments, the two had taken up the guise of the Crystal Guards they'd consumed. Thankfully, the bulky weapons had come out of the brief but brutal assault relatively unscathed. With newfound knowledge on how to attach and operate the gun saddles, mounting the weapons was a quick process. It was around that time that Fluttershy's unique viral sense warned her of a potential enemy headed their way.

“Are you sure they're coming this way specifically?” Twilight asked, inwardly cursing as she tried to think of an exit strategy, “I saw a few different halls on the way here. Is there any chance—”

“I don't think so,” Fluttershy interjected with a shake of her head, “whoever it is, their approach feels... purposeful somehow. I can't explain it, but they're definitely coming this way.”

“Horse apples,” Twilight muttered as she took in the mess Fluttershy had left behind, “how long until they get here do you think?”

“Not long,” Fluttershy replied with a worried grimace, “a minute, maybe two at most until they reach the hallway. If you have a plan—”

“You two go guard the entrance,” Twilight cut in, speaking quickly as her mind raced. Out of time, she decided to just wing it, “I'll take care of this mess and meet up with you once I'm done here.”

“Are you sure, Twilight?” Pinkie asked uncertainly, “what if—”

“No time to argue!” Twilight snapped, hating how her composure was slipping away, “just.. go! Hurry!”

Fluttershy and Pinkie gave each other one last glance before rushing back to the stairs leading out of the room. Twilight paid them no more heed as she focused on the bloody remains before her. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Twilight distantly recalled a certain spell she knew. It was a cleansing spell she hadn't used in some time. In her panic, she struggled to remember how to cast it, but thankfully realized she might not have to.

Acting on a hunch, Twilight lit up her horn and swept a wave of raw mana, unfiltered by any spells, over the bloodstains. As she cast her magic over the mess, she focused on the same viral instincts she used to change her body. She focused on the desire to consume, to adapt, to survive. It took a long, heart-pounding moment, but just as she'd hoped, her pathogen ridden mana absorbed the blood like a sponge wherever it landed, leaving the floor spotless in seconds.

Twilight's relief and excitement in confirming a suspicion about her altered mana were both short-lived as a distant voice reached her ears. Upstairs, beyond the door to the holding cells, she heard a stallion's voice, one she recognized from stolen memories. Mere seconds after what sounded like a vague acknowledgement of the guards outside—Fluttershy and Pinkie—Twilight heard a door creak open and hoofsteps heading down the stairs soon after.

Grim Fetlock had arrived, and Twilight was completely exposed.

The room wasn't all the large, but it did consist of a row of three aisles. Before that, there was a small warden's office you had to go around to get to the rows of holding cells. This thankfully meant that anypony coming down the stairs wouldn't be immediately spotted. Twilight and the other girls had been guided to the central aisle directly behind the office. It was a blessing, but a small one.

Even now, Twilight could hear the stallion moving around the empty office to reach the rows of cells behind it. For one manic moment, Twilight considered throwing all caution to the wind and attacking the stallion. He was alone after all. They might not have a better chance at getting rid of a potential threat. The notion was an enticing one, Twilight thought, but then the reality of her situation slammed back into her.

They were deep within a hostile base of operations and any altercation here might attract the rest of the Crystal Guards stationed here. Maybe Twilight and the others could handle them, but Twilight didn't know for sure how many soldiers there were in total. She didn't want to take the risk when things had just started to go mostly well. Besides that, she didn't know what Fetlock was fully capable of, and that magical implant of his worried her. No, she decided it was best to stay covert for now.

She needed a way to escape unnoticed...

...and realized with a mix of relief, embarrassment, and frustration, that she already had one.

Twilight's body shifted, her form momentarily morphing into a pure black blob of biomass. A second later, the older and slightly taller form of Sunny Shores stood in Twilight's place. The mare cast one final glance around the aisle and, satisfied that everything was in order, lit up her horn once again. Making sure to magically mask all sound within the immediate vicinity, Twilight cast the teleportation spell she'd completely forgotten about in the heat of the moment and vanished with a muted pop.

She reappeared in the hall just outside the room and immediately swept her gaze over the area. It was only once she confirmed she was alone save for her startled friends that she let herself relax. Slightly. They weren't out of the woods yet—far from it. Twilight turned to the only other ponies in the hallway, wondering why they hadn't done more to stall the sergeant but not caring enough to voice her question.

Pinkie opened her mouth, likely to ask what happened, but Twilight didn't give her the chance. With an image of one of the many sterile halls within the large facility in her mind, Twilight's horn flared to life one last time. With another magical pop the three ponies left the military base in a flash of anti-light. A few minutes passed before a troubled Sergeant Fetlock stormed out of the room and back into the now completely empty corridor.

Once he finally took notice of his sudden solitude and the realization set in, the stallion's concerned expression turned thunderous. He wasn't sure how just yet, but Fetlock was certain he'd been had, and he wasn't going to take the matter lying down. Whatever the situation was, he'd figure it out and rectify it—no matter what he had to do.

Elsewhere, within the massive, multistructural facility that was Sky Talon Laboratories, two armed Crystal Guards and an intelligence officer abruptly popped into existence. Unfortunately, their sudden appearance in the middle of a nondescript corridor did not go unnoticed. At the sound of alarmed cries, the intelligence officer turned to find two ponies in dark blue coveralls quickly scrambling away from where she and her escorts now stood.

A quick glance showed the two ponies were unarmed and both their faces were obscured by gas masks. Looking at them, Twilight—disguised as Sunny Shores—realized that, while Pinkie and Fluttershy wore the same coveralls and gas masks, she herself only wore the standard dark blue military blazer of an officer in the Crystal Army. The problem, of course, was the requirement of protective garments while in the facility.

It was yet another blunder, but one that was more or less out of Twilight's hooves at the moment. The disguised mare told herself there wa no need to panic just yet. There was still a chance she could talk her way out of this situation. And if that didn't work, there were... other options. With that thought in mind, Twilight searched her mind for a solution... and then she realized something else.

Why did she have to talk her way out of this? Why not just take the other option?

These two ponies, likely researchers based on their lack of weapons, were the only other creatures in the corridor. If they disappeared, none would be the wiser—at least not for a good while. What's more, they present an easy opportunity not just to gain more information, but to fix Twilight's issue regarding her lack of proper attire for the circumstances.

Consume. Adapt. Survive.

When put into the proper perspective, the solution was simple. There was no need for negotiation—not in this scenario.