The mare who laughed

Twilight and Celestia sat partially hunched over a small alchemy lab in the castle. Twilight adjusted the straps on her breath mask and goggles before turning her attention to one of the small brass cylinders with a lead cone embedded in the end. Lifting it in her magic, she held it over a specimen tray as she gently pried the lead cone away. When the lead popped loose, a fine white-grey power poured out of the brass cylinder. Moving a large magnifying lens over the tray, she began gently probing the powder with an instrument. She scooped a small amount of the powder onto a slide and put it under a microscope.

"Hmm.", Twilight hummed thoughtfully, "It looks like cotton partially dissolved in an acid and then had another alchemical substance added to it. Take a look." She gently slid the microscope over to Celestia.

Celestia looked through the lens of the microscope as she clicked her tongue in thought. "It almost looks like a powdered version of flash paper used by stage magicians." She levitated the slide from under the microscope and help it close to her eyes. "This reminds me of a more advanced alchemical prototype an earth pony was working on two hundred years ago before he accidentally blew himself up and burnt most of his notes in the process."

"You said it looks like the alchemical substance that stage magicians use in flash paper?", Twilight mused, "They usually add a mixture of nitrocellulose to a thin sheet of paper and to give it a little more theatrical smoke, they add a small impurity of a powdered mixture of coal, saltpeter and sulfur. It usually burns rapidly in open air, but if contained in a tube or ball it explodes." She gave a small gasp as her eyes went wide in inspiration. She levitated the empty tube and began gently pulling the small copper disc loose.

"What are you doing Twilight?", Celestia asked.

"If I'm right, this copper disc contains a small amount of an ignition substance." She pulled the disc out revealing it was a small copper cup. She took a small instrument and scrapped the inside of the cup gently. She places the instrument into a test tube containing a clear liquid, swirled it around a few times and placed the test tube in a small ring over a burner. After a few minutes the clear liquid turned a cloudy red. "Hmm, it appears the ignition substance contains some impure form of mercury."

"Almost like a fulmination compound?"

A small spark of inspiration went off in Twilight's eyes. "Before his death and the destruction of his lab, Professor Beaker was working on a fulmination compound to help miners and rock farmers better split rocks." She quickly wrote out an equation and drew a diagram. "Depending on how volatile the ignition powder is, when the little copper cup containing the fulmination compound is struck, the powder ignited in a controlled explosion projecting the cone forward. The cone has to be of a sufficient density to compensate for gravity and friction with the air so it can deliver its energy to the intended target."

"And lead is dense enough to transfer its energy to the target, but soft enough so as not to grind down the spiral grooves in the tube.", Celestia mused.

"Well I leave it to you then, I'm gonna find some asparagus and orange juice, then take a nap.", Twilight said as she wheeled over to the wash station as she took her goggles and breath mask off.
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Sunset Shimmer sat in an abandoned loft in Whinnyapolis. She counted her remaining bullets as she looked over a few schematics she had drawn. She had been back in Equestria a little over a month and was down to her last ten rounds. She knew that she could make more, but that risked her staying around longer than she was comfortable with after she took out several of this laughing mares goons to collect the spent casings. She looked over the schematics for some new weapons as she opened a can of sliced peaches. As she hastily shoveled the golden slices into her mouth, she let her attention drift to a schematic of a shotgun, she rubbed some of the ink away from the trigger guard and modified it to better accommodate her hoof. True she could use her magic to manipulate the the shotgun, but she might find herself in a situation where her horn might be damaged or a restraining device place on it. After eating the last slice, she drank down the syrup and tossed the empty can in a nearby sack, then walked over to a workbench. She looked over the partially constructed shotgun. She lifted a small file in her magic and began working on the trigger assembly. She blew the last of the metal dust off the small gears and levers. She put the trigger assembly together, placed it inside the shotgun, attached the butt stock, attached the barrel, slid the bolt in place, attached the slide assembly, attached the modified trigger guard, tightened the few screws holding everything together until they were flush, added a few drops of oil to the moving parts and polished the exposed metal. Igniting the magic in her horn, she etched the words "sic vis pacem para bellum" above the trigger. She racked the slide on the empty shotgun a few times and gave an almost orgasmic shudder at the sound. She then turned her attention to the ammo station. Because the Equestrians had yet to invent plastic, she made do with copper for the shells. She added firing a firing cap to the base of each shell, poured a pre-measured amount of gunpowder in each shell, placed small cups made of wax reinforced paper inside each one, dropped eight lead buckshot inside them and crimped each shell shut tightly.

She came to the do or die moment as she chambered one of the shells. Leveling the shotgun at a bucket placed in front of several hastily constructed sandbags. Squeezing the trigger with her hoof, the gave a loud blast as side of the bucket disintegrated into splinters. She gave a loud whoop of celebration as she shucked the spent shell. She quickly inspected the shotgun and gave a grunt of approval as she saw no signs of damage or warping. She loaded eight shells into the shotgun and placed it in a cabinet. She then turned her attention to the other schematics, the sniper rifle would be simple enough to make, though the pistol and the assault rifle would be harder to construct.
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"That's what I'm tellin' ya boss, the boys in Manehattan said some crazy unicorn just showed up out of the blue one night and killed the lot of 'em with some kid of box that makes thunder and leaves weird holes.", the henchpony painted to look like a clown said to The Mare Who Laughs, "She calls herself 'Bacon-head' and the few she let escape said she was seekin' vengeance or punishment or wagin' a war. She ain't like the other unicorn who just beats of some of the boys or breaks their bones."

The Mare Who Laughs sat listening to her henchpony tell his tale as she steepled her hooves in thought, her mane was a slick pompadour. "Ah-heeheehee-oh-heeheehee-oo-heeheehee!", she giggled as malicious thoughts danced in her eyes, "So this unicorn mare calling herself Bacon-head shows up out of the blue and starts waging war." Her mane becomes limp as she begins laughing hoarsely, "Hahaha-heeheehee-hoohoohoo! Nopony kills my boys but me." Her mane becomes poofy, "If she wants to wage a war, then we should throw a war party. HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha!"
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Twilight lay in bed six months pregnant. She was under doctor's orders to stay in bed for the remainder of her pregnancy. She looked down at her belly as she scooped a bite of salad into her mouth. There was a soft knock at the door. "Come in!", she said around a mouthful of salad.

Applejack gently swung the door open, a bowl of apples balanced on her back. "Twi? How ya doin' sugarcube?"

Putting her for down, Twilight exclaimed, "Ugh! Look at me! I'm all fat and ugly! I look like a beached whale!" She sniffled softly. "I look like a watermelon that swallowed a beach ball."

"Don't be like that Twi. You look beautiful. Ah mean look atcha, yer practically glowin'."

"Maybe Celestia should raise me in the sky instead of the sun.", she chuckled, "I mean look at me, I'm practically big enough."

The two of the shared a soft chuckle before AJ spoke up, "Ah figured ya'd like some apple." She took the edge of the bowl in her teeth. "Fhey ain'f ash kood ash the onesh back home, buf fhey're shtill dusht ash guishy."

"OMC! Yes! Yes! Yes! How did you know I was craving apples?!", Twilight exclaimed as she levitated a few over and took a bite of one.

Placing the bowl one the nightstand, AJ chuckled, "Heh heh! Granny always said that when a mare is expetin' a colt, she wants apples. She said that momma always wanted apples when she was expectin' Big Mac." She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, "'Course she also craved apples when she was expectin' Applebloom, so make o' that what ya will."

Twilight didn't respond, she just hummed happily as she munched on the apples.

"Alright then, Ah guess Ah'll get outa yer mane now."

"Afflejacksh, wait!", Twilight said with a mouthful of apple. She swallowed and gestured to an empty chair, "Why don't you sit down and tell me how you're doing? I could use the company."

Applejack sat in the chair. "Well Ah'm...er...well Ah mean Ah'm....no..." She took in a deep breath and let it out with a sigh. "To be honest...Ah'm feelin' more shook up than a batch o' apple gelatin in an earthquake. Ah mean you went an' got hurt real bad by that bad pony an'...an'..." Tears began to trickle down her cheeks, "An' Ah'm angry an' scared an' hurt an Ah feel like punchin' somepony in the snout or runnin's out in the streets screamin' my head off like some darn fool. Ah mean look atcha, yer the one who should be screamin' yer head off like a fool, but look atcha, yer holdin' yerself together an' keepin' as cool as th' center seed o' a cucumber. An' look at me, Ah went like some damned fool an' ate my feelin's an' gave myself an ulcer. For th' past six months Ah've felt like th' whole world has been fallin' apart like a rotten barn ina windstorm."

Twilight gestured for Applejack to come over for a hug. As they hugged, Twilight said, "I've been barely holding together myself. More often than not I wake up screaming because I have nightmares that I'm still trapped in the burning library or those thugs forcing themselves on me while the terrorist just stood by laughing and taking pictures." The two cried on each other's shoulders. "We'll get through this, but I need all my friends to help not only me but also each other.", she whispered between sobs.
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As the sun was going down, Sunset Shimmer was touching up the paint on the pony skull on her black body armor. Using her magic, she dried the paint. After the paint was dry, she slid two steel plates into slits in the sides that she had modified to give her better protection. After she slid the armor on, she strapped the assault rifle on her back she had spent the past month building. She looked over the shotgun noting the loops and rings she had attached as lastminute modifications holding spare shells, then strapped it to her back. Attached four pistols in their holsters to her legs, it had taken her nearly a month to build them. She attached several web belts holding spare magazines for the pistols and assault rifles to her vest. She held up a mirror as she blacked out her eyes and nose, then painted a stylized skull on her face. She took a pair of scissors, trimmed her mane and tail, then tied a black bandanna over the top of her head in a skull cap. She strapped the K-bar to her body and covered her flank with a panic strip she had constructed from small chain links, small overlapping steel circles and covered with black cloth, then strapped it the base of her vest. She strapped a belt holding several pipe bombs around her waist. She looked over the notes she had written down as she had gathered intel. Several members of the terrorist cell would be gathering at a rundown house in the slums for a meeting. She intended to make sure this laughing mare knew she was after her.

After slipping out of the loft, Sunset paused taking one look at her reflection in a window under the light of the rising moon. "Oorah motherfucker!", she whispered before continuing to her target.

Sunset posted up in the shadow of an abandoned house as she watched several henchponies pull up in wagons, carriages or on foot. "At least two have shown up and safe to assume that there is at least another dozen already were inside.", she whispered to herself. She waited until the last of the henchponies had gone inside and one sat in a chair on the porch. She snuck up to the house drawing the knife from its sheath. As she crept up to the snoozing henchpony sleeping on the chair, tapped him on his shoulder to wake him and sunk the blade into the base of his skull. Dragging the body off, she wiped the blood from the knife and returned it to its sheath. She drew the shotgun off her back and slunk up to the window. She looked in counting the targets as she listened. She heard from the back room to the right of the window a mare begging and screaming. "Hostages!", she snarled. She gave her gear one last check before walking to the door. Leveling the muzzle of the shotgun at the door, she whispered a mantra, "Check your corners. Watch for blind spots. Check your lines of fire. shoot first, shoot often. Secure the hostages." She reached up a hoof and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!", a henchpony shouted from behind the door. As the door opened, the henchpony said, "Yeah, wada ya...oh fu-" His words were cut off by a blast from the shotgun as his head exploded in a shower of bone, blood and brain matter.

The house exploded in a flurry panicked of activity as Sunset shucked the spent shell and sent another spray of buckshot into a henchpony trying to dive over a couch. Shucking the spent shell, she quickly turned to her left and unzipped the chest of a henchpony that had come running out of the corner. Spinning around she caught a henchpony peeking from behind a chair. A flurry of buckshot sent stuffing flying out of it as the body of the henchpony slamming into the wall. She shucked the spent shell and put another cluster of buckshot into his head just to be sure. as she took cover, she levitated several shells into the shotgun to top it off. Slinking along the wall, she peaked around the corner into the kitchen at the end of the narrow hallway, she saw several targets peaking around the corner or from behind an overturned table. As she ducked her head back around the corner, a crossbow bolt pierced through the corner of the drywall. She pulled a pipe bomb off her belt, lit it with her magic and tossed it into the kitchen. Fire and screams of pain erupted from the kitchen as the pipe bomb sent shrapnel flying around the room like angry hornets. Through the window she saw a henchpony trying to sneak around the side of the house, she leveled the muzzle at the window and turned his head to paste.

As she made her way down the hallway, Sunset heard stirring in the room to her left. Throwing up a shield around her, she readied the assault rifle and jiggled the door knob. Two crossbow bolts ripped through the door and glanced off her shield. She flipped the selector switch to full auto, stitched a line across the wall and door as she emptied the magazine. Taking a pipe bomb off her belt, she lit the fuse, kicked open the door and tossed it in. She ducked for cover as the pipe bomb exploded. She reloaded the assault rifle and put it on her back. Readying a pistol, she walked to the door where she heard the hostage. Kicking the door in, she saw a henchpony wearing a clown mask was holding a young mare in front of him, he held a knife in his hoof pressing it against her throat.

"Stay back or I'll-" A bullet through his head cut him off as he fell to the floor. The young mare screamed and scrambled into a corner trying to hide.

Sunset quickly checked the corners and behind the door before slowly approaching the young mare. "Shh, shh! Im not going to hurt you.", she said softly, "Are there any more hostages?"

"I-in the b-b-basem-ment."

"Okay, stay low and get out. I'll get the hostages."

The young mare complied as she crawled as fast as she could along the floor staying away as far away from the dead or dying bodies and pools of blood as she could.

Sunset holstered her pistol and readied the assault rifle, she flipped the selector switch to semi-auto. She walked over to the basement door and kicked it in seeing a henchpony dressed as a mime running up the staircase. She leveled the muzzle of the rifle at him.

"Shit!", he exclaimed before a bullet tore through his neck sending his body tumbling back down into the gloom below.

Sunset slowly walked down the stairs. Five figures charged out of the darkness and she quickly snapped a round into each of them. reaching the bottom of the stairs she quickly swung around checking the corners. A crossbow bolt whized out of the gloom at her and she quickly snapped off three rounds in the direction of it.

The sounds of clattering weapons hit the floor as a voice called out, "We give up!"

Sunset created a ball of light with her horn and took assessment. Ten henchponies, one mare and three fillies. "Let the hostages go!", she barked an order.

The mare ran up to her, "Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Shut up and get out!", Sunset snapped.

The mare nodded, and quickly herded the fillies out the stairs.

When Sunset was confident the hostages were out of the house, she began one by one executing the henchponies until one remained. Reaching out a hoof, she snatched up the last henchpony by his mane and drug him up the stair behind her. Shoving him into a chair, she put away the assault rifle and tied him. Dragging the chair through the house, she threw roughly against the wall and pulled out her knife. "Listen very closely. I want you to deliver a message for me."

The henchpony nodded his head, "Yeah yeah! Sure sure! Anything you say!"

"I want you to..."

The front door flew open as The Mare Who Laughs stood in the door frame. "Why don't you tell me yourself?"

"Shit shit shit!", Sunset exclaimed as she drew her pistol and fell back to the kitchen firing.

The Mare Who Laughs ducked, pirouetted and cartwheeled away from the bullets. "I must say, those thunder sticks of yours are a real blast! HAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha!", she shouted from behind the corner of the wall.

Sunset reloaded the pistol, put it back in the holster and drew the shotgun. "Why don't you show me your pretty face and I'll introduce you proper?", she called out.

"So I take it you're the one called Bacon-head?", The Mare Who Laughs called out.

"The one and only!", Sunset replied out loud, "I'm guessing by you jovial attitude that you're the leader of this terrorist group called the laughing mare?"

The Mare Who Laughs taps her chin. "I wouldn't call myself a terrorist, just an enthusiastic party pony." She steps to the entrance of the hallway and bows. "But you can call me The Mare Who Laughs." She dives back behind the wall as a cluster of buckshot tears through the air and turns a section of the front door into splinters.

Sunset shucks the spent round, pulls a pipe bomb from her belt, lights the fuse and tosses it into the front room.

The Mare Who Laughs bats the pipe bomb out of the air with a hoof and sends it flying back into the kitchen.

"Fuck!", Sunset shouts as she throws up a shield around herself and covers her eyes with a fore limb. A split second later the bomb explodes filling the kitchen with fire and shrapnel. Her ears ring and nearly deafened from the blast, she sees the back door swing open and and a massive stallion steps through sneering. Leveling the shotgun at him, she sends the sneering stallion tumbling back outside with a flurry of buckshot. The throws a lit pipe bomb through the door behind him and a split second later sounds of pained screams accompany the explosion. She switches cover to the other wall as a crossbow bolt zips by and grazes her right cheek. putting away the shotgun, draws the assault rifle and slaps a fresh magazine in it. "So that's how you want to play?", she snarls. She flips the selector switch to full auto and sends a hail of bullets through the wall at the end of the hallway.

The Mare Who Laughs ducks and weaves as bullets tear through the wall, a single bullet grazes her left eyebrow.

Sunset rolls an unlit pipe bomb down the hallway and into the front room. She fires a blast of magic detonating it.

The Mare Who Laughs feels a twitch in her mane and dives out the window. A second later shrapnel tears through the wall.

In the distance sirens can be heard as blinking red and blue lights lights can be seen. Sunset put the assault rifle away and draws a pistol. She charges through the backdoor and snaps a round through a shadowy figure standing at the corner of the house. She scrambles into the shadows of a shack as the police arrive at the street in front of the house. "Be seein' you next time.", she whispers as she skulks off into the night.

Back in the loft Sunset pulls out a medkit and levitates a mirror over. She inspect where the crossbow bolt grazed her cheek. pulling out some disinfectant wipes, she pipes them across the wound. "Fuck! That stings!", she exclaims as she slams a hoof on the floor. She pulls some ointment and gauze out of the medkit and patches up the wound.

"Thirty wanted criminals dead, five hostages rescued and a face to face meeting with the terrorist and all you received is a cut on your cheek. Not a bad haul.", Midnight says as he phases through the door.

Sunset snatches up a pristol from the bench and snaps four quick shots.

Midnight lets the first three bullets glance harmlessly off his shield as he catches the fourth out of the air in his magic. As he observes the bullet in his magic, he says, "Impressive reflexes. It's almost like you acted without thinking."

Sunset levitates the shotgun off the bench and racks a round into the chamber. "And who exactly are you?" She narrows her eyes.

Midnight drops the bullet from his magic. "I am prince midnight, younger brother to Prince Bulwark, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. You must be Sunset Shimmer, former student of Celestia."

She lays the shotgun back on the bench. "Are you here to take me in?"

Midnight replies, "In a manner of sorts. Now come along." Midnight, Sunset and the contents of the loft disappears in a flash of purple light.

Sunset blinks her eyes and finds herself in a throne room before a midnight blue alicorn with a flowing mane that looks like the night sky. "I guess I'm boned."

"Not as bad as thou thinkest thy are Sunset Shimmer.", Luna says, "Now sleep." Luna lights her horn as Sunset slumps to the ground.

Sunset finds herself back in Iraq as bullets whiz fractions on an inch from her head. She feels several stings on the left side on her face and ducks behind a pile of ruble. She puts her hand up to her face, feeling where a bullet has cut the top of her ear off and two more grazed her cheek. Looking down at her hand, she sees blood on it. "Wait...hands? How did I..." Several bullets striking the top of the rubble pile cuts her off. Peeking over the top of the ruble she sees three figure advancing on her position, she raises the m sixteen to her shoulder and returns fire, the three figures slump to the ground. Off to her left she sees five figures pushing a burned out hulk of a car onto the street. Opening the breach on the m two-oh-three grenade launcher, she slides a grenade into it, flips up the sight and fire the grenade at the five figures. they disappear in a cloud of dust and pink mist. Off to her side she sees movement and swings her rifle around to face it. She freezes when she sees a midnight-blue alicorn walk behind the edge of a building. The sound of whistling fills the air. "Incoming!", a fellow marine shouts. A second later the street and the tops of the buildings vanish in clods of dust and rubble as mortar shell explode. She screams as shrapnel whizzes through the air. The dream swirls into blackness.

Sunset sits up awake in a bed in a cold sweat. She runs her hooves across her face. "It was just a war dream.", she gasps. She looks around the luxurious room. "Where am I?" She walks over to the window where a small beam of sunlight coming through and snatches it open. She takes a step back as she sees the cityscape of Canterlot. "no no no no no! This is bad!", she exclaims. The door opening catches her attention and she starts to bolt for it, but freezes when she sees Celestia walk through.

"I hope you are well rested Sunset Shimmer. I have some questions for you."

Sunset can only say one word, "Fuck."