Pinkamena prodded her new appendage on her forehead a few times and each prod only confirmed that it was there and it was real. “What did that Warden do to me?”

“Beats me, All I know is that I can move objects with my mind now,” Playa replied as he telekinetically lifted a Zin vehicle and hurled it down a street.

“Perhaps I can answer that,” came the voice of the C.I.D. that Playa had ‘creatively’ named CID. “You come from the planet Equus, correct?” Pinkamena nodded. “I have looked through the research files that the Zin have recorded on your species. Zinyak has taken an interest in your planet’s unusual energy fields as well as its bizarre orientation with regard to the celestial bodies around it. But I am going off on a tangent. I have noticed that there are those of your species who have such horns on their foreheads. I believe they are called Unicorns.”

“That doesn’t explain why I suddenly went from Earth Pony to Unicorn after messing around in that Warden’s body,” Pinkamena said.

“That has never come up in the Zin’s research as Ponies have never interacted with the digital plane before. Tell me, have there ever been any previous experiences of Ponies in a digital realm before?”

Pinkamena thought for a moment and quickly came up with her answer. “There was this one time when Moondancer entered such a place. She was able to use some sort of knowledge manipulation spell to alter her form.”

“Then perhaps a hypothesis, what if the unusual energy given off by Ponies and possibly all denizens of planet Equus reacts with electronic knowledge in an unprecedented and undocumented way. Perhaps the alteration in your digital avatar is the result of the latest infusion of digital code in order to accommodate the new code.”

Playa stared at the mechanical ball like a deer in headlights.

“She means that I have a horn because I have telekinetic powers like you do,” Pinkamena translated. To demonstrate her new power, she lit her horn which had an indigo color aura and lifted a Zin ship above her head before she launched it into a building. The vehicle exploded and damaged part of the building’s wall. “Good thing this only applies to the simulation. I really don’t want to explain to my sisters how I suddenly grew a horn.” She looked at CID. “By the way, did you have a gender from before you lost your body?”

“It was so long ago that I have difficulty remembering, although I have a vague recollection that I was a female among my species.”

With that bit of knowledge learned, Pinkamena decided to check something. Just to be sure that the new appendage didn’t affect her other abilities, she walked up to another intact wall and slammed a hoof into it. The satisfying creation of a hole was all she needed to know that her Earth Pony strength was still with her.

CID witnessed the feat of strength and while she couldn’t make expressions with her mechanical body, a stunned reaction would be the only normal one to express in this situation. “I shall endeavor to never anger the Equus Pony.”

Kinzie later informed the group that the commotion allowed her time to open a new gateway in the southern part of Downtown Steelport.

“So, can you help us save our friends now?” Playa asked.

“I can, but first you may want to practice your new abilities by taking part in Zinyak’s favorite game show: ‘Professor Genki’s Mind Over Murder’”

“What does Genki have to do with Zinyak?” Pinkamena asked.

“Genki is fascinated by destructive individuals but he never stays attached to them for long. He is known for his short attention span. Zinyak is likely his next target of fascination. He entered into a deal with Zinyak to conduct his next show in the simulation.”

“How do you know so much about Genki?”

“He hosted a show on my world a long time ago. It was a contest to see if you could reach a certain kill quota within a time limit.”

Something told the madmare that there was more to the pink man-cat than meets the eye but that was a mystery for another time.

Arriving at the scene for the latest game show, Pinkamena was surprised to hear Zach’s and Bobby’s voices from nowhere. The two of them went over the rules of the game where she and Playa would have to use their newly acquired Telekinesis abilities to hurl objects through colored rings. Blue rings were for any kind of vehicles, green rings were for people and pink rings were for the glowing heads of Genki characters.

If there was one thing she learned while Pinkie was around Rarity, it was how to control the telekinesis. It was another matter in practice. Pinkamena lit her horn and lifted a mascot and aimed for a green ring. While the activity took some concentration, she managed the action. Playa hurled an ATV through a blue ring. Pinkamena finished the area by hurling a Genki head through the remaining ring.

The two sprinted for the second set of rings. This time Pinkamena managed to grab a person and an ATV in her aura and hurled them into the proper rings. She was quickly getting the hang of her new powers as Playa hurled a Genki head through the remaining ring.

The third and last area was cleared by Pinkamena alone as she grabbed one of each type of object and hurled them into the correct rings, ending the activity.

With nothing left to do, Playa and Pinkamena headed to the nearest gateway while CID transferred her consciousness to the C.I.D. on the ship that Kinzie created a direct link to.

After a period of rest and Pinkamena checking her forehead again to find that her real body didn’t have a horn, the duo was ready to take action again. Pinkamena noticed Johnny getting antsy but there was little that could be done for the time being. Kinzie didn’t have a list of tasks for her or Playa this time because she was focused on locating Matt’s simulation.

In the meantime, Keith had another set of tasks he needed to see done while CID had her own list. Once again, The two leaders chose which list they would work on. Playa chose Keith’s list and Pinkamena chose CID’s list, mainly because she wanted more practice with her digital horn.

Once inside the simulation again, Pinkamena and Playa split up to deal with their own tasks. He was to clear one of the patrols in Burns Hill, guard an area in western Loren Square while Kinzie injected a virus, Steal a Chrome Lockdown vehicle which the others have trusted to let him get it done against their better judgement, and race around Espina. Pinkamena gave Playa the Genki motivation to get a gold rating in the activity or get punched in the groin, a motivator that really works for the Saints leader.

Pinkamena’s first task was to complete another episode of Mind Over Murder which helped the madmare improve her telekinetic abilities by allowing her to lift and throw more objects with better accuracy. Some part of her wished she could use these telekinesis in the real world without growing a horn.

After clearing another episode with a gold rating, Pinkamena raced for Loren Square and prepared to defend it while CID uploaded her virus. Some distant explosions let the madmare know that Playa was nearby. She also caught a glimpse of what looked like a car with its chassis upside down while the wheels were still on the road heading toward Playa’s position. She put that thought out of her head as she focused on defending her own position.

After she smashed her way through the defenders and CID had completed her virus injection, Pinkamena called Playa to ask about what he was fighting.

“You wanna know what I’m fighting? I can’t even find the words to describe the weirdness I’m seeing. All I know is that I need to destroy them all.”

Pinkamena decided to just let the matter go and head for Arapice Island to clear out the Zin patrol on the east coast of the island. With her Vorpal Blade, the matter was completed in five seconds.

The madmare didn’t have to go far to reach the last objective on the list. All she had to do now was race through the area, a task that she let Pinkie handle.

The party pony dodged every obstacle in front of her with ease though she did accidentally run into cars and sent them flying in her rush. While she hoped there was nobody in the cars, Pinkamena reassured her that even if there were people in those cars, the simulation was still a false reality and the people were not real. Nobody was going to get hurt from her reckless actions. This made Pinkie feel better.

Once Pinkie finished the race, Pinkamena took over again and requested a status update from Playa. The Saints leader claimed that he somehow delivered the target vehicle without destroying it and he did his best with his race. Kinzie let Pinkamena know that he barely managed to score gold in his race.

The duo used the gateway in Downtown Steelport to return to the ship. For completing both lists, CID found a way to allow more time for store hacking attempts as well as the ability to steal lifeforce when holding people in a telekinetic grip. One reward was useful to the madmare the other was not, given how Pinkie seemed to breeze through the puzzles so far.

“Aha!”

Kinzie’s cheer of triumph stirred the crew from their restful state as they headed to the control room to investigate. “So what did you find?” Playa asked.

“Thanks to the additional disruptions to the system, I found my way into the Zin security systems. I know which simulations are holding our friends captive.”

“Right, so you have a way for us to get into Matt’s prison?”

“It should be easier to get into everyone’s prison now.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” CID interjected. “Since two of you are now accessing the simulation freely, I can open two gateways for each of you to rescue one of your allies.”

“If you can work with two cyphers then that’s better for everyone. Do you still plan to rescue Vinyl first, Pinkamena?” Kinzie asked.

“Yeah, we could use her skills the most right now.”

“Then I shall meet you both in the simulation once you are ready for your individual rescue attempts,” CID said as she disappeared into the cargo bay below.

Pinkamena and Playa returned to the simulation through the Downtown gateway and headed to where CID designated, which turned out to be The Broken Shillelagh. Kinzie alerted the two of them that she wouldn’t be much help to them while they were outside the Steelport simulation and they would be without their superpowers during the time.

CID opened the first gateway that would lead into Matt Miller’s nightmare. Taking in one last breath, Playa went inside before the cybernetic sphere closed the door and opened a new one that would lead into Vinyl’s nightmare. Pinkamena took one last breath before she walked through the door.

Nighttime had descended upon Canterlot. Ponies were approaching the castle in their finest dresses as they prepared to attend the annual Grand Galloping Gala.

Pinkamena entered the grounds dressed in a decorative dark gray dress with bright purple lining and silver highlights. Her mane was tied up in a bun with an obsidian colored band. She also wore a platinum necklace that displayed the Saints fleur de lis.

The madmare looked around the grounds for Vinyl but she was nowhere in sight.

In the distance, she could hear the voices of Pinkie’s friends singing about their aspirations for the event. The infectious Heartsong would soon come for her. She didn’t care because even if she sang a verse of her own nothing would stop her from saving Vinyl.

Pinkamena soon felt the music flow through her and instead of resisting the inevitable, she simply went with it and sang her verse.

At the Gala,
Gonna save her,
And kill those who get in my way.
I will save Vinyl from this false world,
And tear it to digital shreds.
These fake guards are nothing to me.
This will be the bloodiest night ever!

Thankfully, the ponies were too wrapped up in their own song to notice the meaning behind the madmare’s lyrics.

Pinkamena approached the guard who was taking tickets and pulled her own out of her mane. Thankfully, she never got to make use of her ticket to the Gala before she was sent to Earth. She gave the ticket to the guard and went inside.

The interior of the Gala was everything that she imagined it to be. It was dull and full of uptight ponies who stood around and chatted while dining on the miniature portions that the fancy Canterlot restaurants were famous for and savoring the overpriced wine.

Exploring the party, she saw Pinkie’s friends having the time of their lives. Fluttershy was getting acquainted with the garden animals, Rarity was locking lips with Prince Blueblood, Rainbow Dash was chatting with the Wonderbolts, Applejack’s wares were selling like the next popular trend, and Twilight was having an intellectual conversation with Celestia. However, there was no sign of Pinkie’s simulated form.

Scratch that, Pinkamena just saw the simulated version of Pinkie, or rather a version of herself given the manestyle, going around with a condescending look on her face while addressing the guests.

Pinkamena grabbed the attention of one of the guests to ask her a question. “Hey, who’s that?” She asked, pointing to her doppelganger.

“You haven’t heard? She is the one who organized this year’s Grand Galloping Gala. And I must say, she has done a spectacular job of setting it up with only the finest cuisine that bits can buy. A shame about the music though. One of the musicians is so off key that it is a wonder how she got her cutie mark to look like anything related to music. If you ask me, it is probably a fake and she’s really a blank flank with no future, ho-ho.”

Pinkamena mentally kicked herself for not checking the most obvious place where she might find Vinyl. Sure enough, the DJ was with a group of musicians playing classical music with Vinyl playing the cello poorly. In front of the musician stand was an open space that was occupied by several barrels of tomatoes and eggs. Guards were charging the guests for the food for the purpose of throwing them at Vinyl.

Looking closer, Pinkamena could see the DJ’s coat stained with tomato juice.

“I find that red is a much better color for her than white,” said the most irritating and condescending alien in the universe. “Poor Vinyl is stuck playing her least favorite genre of music to a bunch of ponies who are nothing short of perfectionists getting angry at her for not playing perfect classical music. To her marefriend this would be a dream come true. It’s always so amusing to see opposites being forced to do what they hate.”

“Keep gloating, Zinyak. It only makes your impending punishment much more satisfying,” Pinkamena said.

“I shall enjoy breaking you of that bravado. Right now, I can’t decide which is more entertaining, you figuring out how to get your friend out of this mess or your President trying to navigate a text adventure. Anyway, any disruptive actions you make here will be met with extreme consequences. Have fun.”

Pinkamena tried to approach Vinyl but was met with a barrier that prevented any means of entry. The combined magic of the musicians was maintaining the barrier along with Vinyl who wasn’t paying attention to anything around her..

“Magic has so many uses, don’t you think?” said a voice that was exactly like Pinkamena’s. The real Pinkamena turned to see her doppelganger addressing her. “That barrier is designed so that only sound and food can get in or out of there. That way, the musicians are protected from the angry ponies while the guests are still able to express their discontent to them. It’s a good way for the crown to put more bits in the coffers with the guests paying for every tomato and egg thrown. Vinyl makes for quite the bit maker in this case.”

“So, sound can get past that barrier you say?” Pinkamena asked rhetorically. With that, she knew what to do. She removed the band around her mane and let it fall toward the floor before she reached in and pulled out her Dubstep Gun. The doppelganger’s eyes widened before the weapon was aimed at her and she got blown toward the wall by loud music. Pinkamena then turned the weapon toward the musicians and blew them all to the wall.

While Pinkamena was on a musical rampage, Vinyl listened to the music that she loved so much. The dubstep music filled her with the vigor that she nearly forgot that she had. With the flow of magic interrupted, the barrier went down. She ran over to Pinkamena just in time to see the guests glare at the two with murderous hostility. Celestia and the Element Bearers were ready to spill blood.

“Pinkie, I’m about to do something that you are definitely not going to like so it would be in your best interest to tune out the world around us until I tell you it’s over.”

Pinkie knew what was going to happen and while she didn’t like it at all, she knew that it was the only way they were going to escape the prison. She did as her sister instructed and isolated her senses for a while.

With that detail out of the way, Pinkamena tossed her Dubstep Gun to Vinyl before she pulled out her Bounce Gun. “Murder time,”

Vinyl caught the weapon in her aura then placed her glasses that had been above her horn to be over her eyes. She replaced the track in the Dubstep Gun to one of her favorites. Both mares had wicked smirks on their faces. “Fun time.”

Pinkamena ran around the ballroom firing high speed rounds that bounced painfully off the guests, piercing some of them after a few hits.

Rainbow Dash tackled Pinkamena in midair and raised a hoof to pound the madmare before she pulled a small book from her mane and hit it in the speedster’s face. Rainbow was confused for a moment as she looked at the title that read “Cupcakes.” That moment of hesitation was all Pinkamena needed as she pinned the speedster on her back and pulled out her Vorpal Blade and tore through her torso before she ripped her internal organs out and threw them at other guests, distracting them long enough for the madmare to rush up to Twilight and deliver an uppercut so hard that her head and spine were ripped from her body.

Before Celestia could react to the death of her student, Pinkamena launched herself at the ruler and plunged her knife into her barrel. Using her Knightmare, she smashed it against the solar mare’s horn and broke her horn off. Pinkamena grabbed the horn and hurled it like a spear into Rarity’s mouth and out through her stomach.

Applejack charged toward the madmare with a crazed look in her eyes as she attempted to buck her hard. That buck met with the horn on Pinkamena’s Knightmare and pierced the frog of her hoof before it shattered the bones in her foreleg. While the farmer was reeling from the pain, Pinkamena leaped up and slammed her hobby horse with enough impact to shatter every bone and organ in her body. Only a splattered mess remained after that.

Fluttershy tackled Pinkamena and pinned her to a wall. Before she could follow up, Pinkamena stabbed the animal caretaker through her skull with her Vorpal Blade.

Once Pinkamena was finished with the Element Bearers and Celestia, Vinyl was nearly finished making the heads of the other guests explode with her Dubstep Gun which she kept charged with her magic.

Pinkamena’s doppelganger emerged with a crazed look on her face before the form fell apart and a Warden emerged from the pink copy. The Warden roared in challenge then activated its barrier.

“Pinkamena, are you there? Answer me!” came the voice of Kinzie.

“I hear you, I can’t deal with this Warden with its shield up.”

“Don’t worry, thanks to your rampage, you’ve weakened the simulation so I can return your superpowers.”

“Good, now all that’s left is to tell Vinyl what’s about to happen to her.”

Vinyl tilted her head in confusion. While Pinkamena was dealing with the Warden, she gave the DJ instructions on what was about to happen to her and that she had to fight her way to a specified location. She also let Vinyl know that she would be with her shortly in the real world.

Once the Warden was torn apart from the inside like previous encounters, the simulation crashed. Pinkamena’s consciousness was returned to her real body. The ship hurried to the locations of their respective friends and dropped Playa, who had finally gotten Matt Miller free from his prison, off at his platform and Pinkamena hers. Playa found a Mech Suit to tear apart Zin defenders on his way to Matt while Pinkamena only needed her strength and knife to tear through Zin and Murderbots.

It didn’t take long for the two leaders to find their missing friends and lead them back to the ship.

Now that the Saints knew that the method to saving their friends worked, it was only a matter of time until the others were rescued.

Author's Note

The next few chapters are going to be longer ones than what I usually write since they include some original rescues and loyalty missions. Some of the loyalty missions will happen during rescue missions.

Hope you enjoyed the musical accompaniment for the fight. I felt it was appropriate for the scene.