With all but one of her friends rescued from Zinyak’s maddening simulations, Pinkamena was glad that the group was nearly back together. Only Moondancer remained in Zinyak’s clutches and the madmare had a feeling that she was going to be difficult to break out. Pinkamena had a feeling that Zinyak knew that Moondancer would be capable of breaking others out of his simulations.

Octavia was saddened by the news that the Earth was gone and was soon ready to get into the fight. A part of her was feeling regretful that she never took up Asha’s offer of joining MI6 if only to relive the days of assassinating targets or bringing dangerous criminals to justice among other duties.

Octavia ended up expressing her sadness through her cello that Pinkamena pulled out of her mane. The more culturally inclined Saints as well as the other Equestrians empathized with the mare while the less cultured people, like Playa called it noise. Though he kept his thoughts to himself as he had a feeling that any complaint from him about the music would not end well for him.

While the music was enthralling, things still needed to be done and Zinyak wasn’t taking a break anytime soon. Kinzie had yet another series of stores to hack. The ex-FBI assured everyone that she only had two lists left. Present Shaundi wanted to go on a date sometime with Johnny but that would have to wait until Zinyak was dead so she had her final list ready instead. Past Shaundi wanted to get something done so she had her final list ready. Pierce had another “therapy session” for Playa set up.

Present Shaundi also wanted to settle things with her other self later. More than a few Saints were curious as to how that would work out.

In the meantime, Kinzie and Matt were working hard at locating the last of their friends. Of course, “friends” might be stretching the truth a little when it came to Asha.

Vinyl agreed to handle Kinzie’s latest list while Pinkamena handled the Shaundis’ lists and Playa would follow Pierce’s advice which involved another list of tasks. Johnny wanted to go on one last rampage before he decided to kick back and relax for a while.

The four entered the simulation and the system disruptions resumed. While in the simulation, they also ended up being attacked periodically by people from the gangs that the Saints once ended.

Vinyl began hacking the stores in the central and northern Downtown district. Upon hacking the first of the stores, Vinyl discovered that the difficulty had been bumped up a little as the five by five grid had turned into a six by six grid. The DJ grinned, eager to take on the new challenge before her.

Vinyl’s puzzle solving skills never failed her as she successfully hacked the five stores on the list. The virus injection was also foal’s play for her. While some part of her wanted to go easy on them, she wasn’t about to give Zinyak a chance against her, not after what he did to her.

Pinkie handled most of Present Shaundi’s list since they mostly involved non-combat related matters. First, she demonstrated her jumping skills once again when she helped stabilize a rift by stepping on platforms. After that, Pinkie discovered how to jump even better and glide so well that she was almost flying.

Next, she hijacked another coded vehicle from the Zin and delivered it for download by Kinzie.

Finally, she climbed the tower in the Rosen Oaks neighborhood, collecting every cluster along the way.

Pinkamena took over and wiped out a Zin patrol in The Grove which earned her the ire of another Warden. With her growing arsenal of powers, the Wardens were becoming less challenging to the madmare.

Pinkie and Pinkamena evenly split Past Shaundi’s list. Pinkie experienced the difficulty of a six by six hacking puzzle and had the opportunity to hijack another car while Pinkamena got into another brawl while a virus was being uploaded and she took out another Zin patrol in Yearwood which angered yet another Warden.

Pinkamena knew that the two Shaundis would think alike but she never expected there to be so many similarities between the two lists.

Regardless, the lists made by the high and not high Shaundis were finally complete. She and Vinyl returned to the ship to wait for Playa and Johnny.

The Ponies and Saints soon returned to the ship while they went over what they did.

Playa had to get some assistance from Johnny to carjack another encoded vehicle. Next, he climbed the last tower in the simulation, making sure to collect all of the data clusters so Pinkamena wouldn’t shame him again. He cleared out a Zin patrol in Burns Hill and he helped defend an area in Sunset Park while another virus was uploaded.

Johnny had some more violent fun while in the simulation. First, he helped with another virus injection, then cleared out more Zin troops in Burns Hill, then tore through Loren Square with a mech suit again, then he had the pleasure of personally ripping the life out of an old enemy of theirs. Maero never stood a chance.

Most of the rewards were okay or useless, except being able to shrink enemies by stomping. Pinkamena was eager to try that ability out.

Several important objectives turned up after the Saints rested. Ben was working on his plan for Zinyak while Kinzie, Matt and Vinyl were working on locating the remaining Saints. Everyone else was on standby until the others were found.

It wasn’t long before the hackers made their announcements that they had found Asha and Moondancer.

The MI6 agent appeared to be trapped in what appeared to be an underground facility while the agent was acting out an imitation of a certain video game series except that the villain always wins.

Moondancer appeared to be in a simulated Canterlot but that appeared to be only a tiny part of the simulation as the bulk of it appeared to be in her house. The only thing the Saints could guess was that Moondancer’s house had been warped somehow.

More bad news was that the simulated Veteran Child had somehow escaped Shaundi’s prison simulation and was now running amok in the Steelport simulation. Shaundi wanted the little stain removed from her life once and for all. Given the experience they had in the past with the DJ, Shaundi requested for Treehugger to help her out.

For the operation for rescuing Asha, before Playa could say anything, Octavia volunteered for the operation. While there were concerns about her going in there without powers, the musical assassin assured them that she would be alright without them. Of course, Vinyl would be ready to back her up just in case.

Pinkamena was going to personally rescue Moondancer. She had a feeling that the operation might be a little challenging for her, but she had everything she needed to mount the rescue.

It took a lot of work to build the cypher for Moondancer’s prison, but the three hackers worked together to get one made.

With the plan made, Pinkamena, Octavia, Treehugger and Shaundi boarded their platforms and entered the simulation where two of them headed for the Broken Shillelagh with CID and the other two began their search for Veteran Child.

Pinkamena and Octavia had their respective cyphers ready before CID sent the two of them into the remaining two prison simulations.

Before the two began their search for Veteran Child, Shaundi briefed Treehugger on the situation. “Veteran Child is getting ready to give a DJ concert in the park. I suspect he’s still nursing his wounded pride after getting curb stomped by Vinyl. The last thing I want is him setting up shop and coming after me again. Which is why...HEY!”

That was when Shaundi’s briefing was taken over by Past Shaundi who had just shown up. “Chill, this’ll just take a sec...Which is why we need to score something to boost us up for killing that douchebag. I know you’re powerful Huggs, but we’re not leaving it all to you. There’s drug deals going down around the city. We crash in, wipe out any resistance, and party with whatever they got. Trust me, this alien shit should give us an edge.”

“Why should we listen to you, you burnout? How are drugs going to give us an edge over Veteran Child?” Present Shaundi argued.

“God you’re uptight, this is an alien-created drug. Supposed to enhance your abilities on top of giving you a really wicked buzz.”

“Right, just like you thought Loa Dust was gonna make you clairvoyant and invincible.”

“It worked for Treehugger.”

“You can’t use her as an example, she’s an alien Pony. For all we know Loa Dust probably affects her differently than us.”

While Treehugger wanted to stop the pointless fighting between the two Shaundis, Zarinette wanted to see the fight continue so she had the voodoo mare watch.

However, time was passing and Veteran Child needed to be dealt with. “Alright you two, we’re getting the drugs first then going after Veteran Child.”

“What?” Present Shaundi protested. “Why do we need…”

Present Shaundi’s sentence never finished as terror filled her being when she saw Treehugger’s blazing eyes.

Nothing more was said before the three headed to the nearest drug dealer.

Octavia entered the bar which still looked like a bar despite being inside Asha’s prison. While exploring, she found a mirror and saw that she was wearing the same outfit that she wore when the Saints assassinated Cyrus Temple.

Octavia’s eyes widened when she saw two ponies locked in a struggle. One was a hunter green Earth Pony mare with her black mane tied back and the other concealed their features in an orange jumpsuit and black gear that said Ultor.

The mare disarmed the other pony and slammed their head on a pool table. “Where is she?” she growled.

“The mistress will skin you alive and take you apart piece by piece, just like always,” the pony responded.

“Wrong answer.” The mare then pulled out her gun and shot him in the head that wasn’t protected by their helmet.

After the scene, Octavia approached the mare, confused by her appearance, but she recognized Asha’s voice. “It has been a long time,” she greeted. “Why are you a pony?”

“To be frank, I’m unable to figure out why either. It may have to do with my targets being ponies.”

Octavia blinked. “My apologies for my lack of information, but why are ponies part of your nightmare scenario?”

Asha sighed, “It’s not ponies that I fear, it’s my fear of failing at my job.”

It didn’t take long for Octavia to put the pieces together with that crucial bit of information. “I see, you are trapped in a scenario where you are doomed to fail until you actually succeed.”

“That about sums it up.”

“Well, since I am here to break you out, perhaps you would like a partner for your next attempt.”

The bartender pulled out a knife and leaped for the two mares before Octavia punched him in the gut, forcing the bartender to drop his knife, then she grabbed him and threw him into the nearby jukebox, smashing it.

A hidden switch was triggered and the pool table moved aside before the floor that was under the table opened up and became a set of stairs leading downward.

“Aces,” Asha commented.

The two mares silently walked down the stairs.

Pinkamena appeared in Canterlot, just like the last time she rescued one of her friends.

Unfortunately, she never learned where Moondancer’s house was.

“Hey Vinyl, do you know where Moondancer’s house is?”

“Maybe, I heard she had three classmates who considered themselves her friends. One’s a light blue unicorn mare with an indigo and light gray mane and tail with an hourglass cutie mark named Minuette. Another is a bright yellow unicorn mare with a curly aqua mane and tail with a cutie mark of three hearts named Lemon Hearts. The third is a white unicorn mare with a curly pink mane and tail with a cutie mark of three stars named Twinkleshine. There was also Lyra but I can’t give you any guarantees that she’s in this simulation.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Pinkamena filled her lungs with as much air as they could contain before screaming at the top of her lungs, “WHO WANTS TO LEARN ABOUT HUMANS?”

In an instant, Pinkamena heard a teleportation sound behind her. She turned around and saw the familiar aquamarine unicorn mare with aquamarine and light gray mane and tail with a lyre for a cutie mark. The mare had a wide smile on her face that told the madmare that she was very eager to learn about the subject she just screamed about.

“How about a deal, you lead me to Moondancer’s house and I’ll give you my notes on humans.”

Lyra nodded in agreement and raced off toward Moondancer’s house with Pinkamena not far behind.

It wasn’t long before the two were in front of the house. The still smiling Lyra extended a hoof, waiting for her payment. Pinkamena pulled a stack of papers out of her mane that contained her notes on the humans and gave them to the overly excited mare. She squealed as she hugged the stack of papers tightly before she raced off.

After the unicorn finally disappeared, Pinkamena turned to the door to her marefriend’s house. She tried to open it, but the door was locked. She tried knocking on it, but nopony would answer. This left her with the Pie answer to try. She grabbed the knob of the door and ripped the door off its hinges. A wall of white light stood in the place of where the ruined door once was.

Pinkamena looked at the door for a moment and shrugged before walking into the light.

Treehugger and the two Shaundis located one of the drug vendors that took the form of Sons of Samedi dealers and proceeded to shoot or dismember with a spectral machete the vendor and his bodyguards. Treehugger couldn’t burn the group without risking torching the product.

Once the substance was looted, the two Shaundis smoked their share of the substance through a broken light bulb. Treehugger sniffed the substance and found that it lacked the potency that should have been expected.

When neither Shaundi felt anything, Past Shaundi complained, “Dammit, they were selling some cheap knock-off.”

“Or maybe it doesn’t do anything like I said,” Present Shaundi countered.

“Hey, I’m the expert here, remember? Trust me, this wasn’t what we’re after. Besides, my source tells me that the next guy should have the right product.”

“Then why’d we hit that last one at all?”

“What’s wrong with wanting more?”

“I hate myself…”

“To be fair, the last guy wasn’t worth the effort. Killing those guys for what amounted to dust bunnies seemed like a waste of effort,” Treehugger commented.

“Thank you,” Present Shaundi sighed in relief.

The Present Shaundi drove Past Shaundi and Treehugger to the next location. Treehugger took the time to practice her self control over her fire abilities to avoid setting the car on fire.

The next deal was near the digital sea. The dealers started shooting at the trio with alien rifles.

Treehugger smelled the substance on one of them so she spared that person and threw a giant fireball at the rest, turning them to ash. The last guy was eliminated by Present Shaundi.

The three looted the last guy’s body and split the substance between the three of them. They lit the substance and inhaled the fumes deeply. Past Shaundi was surprised that nothing was happening while Present Shaundi was now demanding that they go after Veteran Child.

A moment later, the drugs kicked in. The rush of power the trio felt was amazing. While Treehugger didn’t feel it as well as the other two did because she already had her powers, the Shaundis soon found that they had powers now. However, only Present Shaundi’s appearance changed.

Present Shaundi rode the feeling and complemented Past Shaundi for her good idea while Past Shaundi was glad that her other self had finally mellowed out.

It was then that the two Shaundis started getting competitive with each other and challenged the other to a race through the neighborhood. Treehugger decided to let the two get their rush out of their systems. The voodoo mare followed the two superpowered racers from the air using her spectral wings.

Treehugger suddenly remembered what her friend Fluttershy once said about two of her friends and how competitive they were. The two Shaundis suddenly reminded her of her friend’s descriptions of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, with Past Shaundi as Rainbow and Present Shaundi as Applejack.

The competing duo soon stopped atop a roof and started flinging Blasts at each other only for both to get knocked down by each other.

Treehugger landed between the two and waited for the two of them to start getting up. “Are you two done yet?” she asked.

“Yeah, but that was amazing,” Past Shaundi said.

“For once, I agree with you,” Present Shaundi said.

Thankfully, there was something productive done during their race, because Veteran Child’s concert could be seen below in a nearby parking lot. “We’re here you two, let’s get some closure on your old relationship.”

With that, the trio glided off the building and into the parking lot.

“So our target is a more evil version of my leader?” Octavia asked.

“Yes, despite my best attempts to kill her, she always seems to anticipate my every move,” Asha answered. “She knows that I’ll always try to kill her and I always get caught somehow which ends up with me being tortured to death in many creative ways. If you have any insight on how we can eliminate her, it would be greatly appreciated.”

Octavia nodded, “We are dealing with somepony who defies all logic. We need to treat this scenario as if we are narrating our own story directly to her. This means that we cannot so much as think of our plans for risk of her knowing what it is. To fight on her level, we have to see the world as she does and not let logic define our actions.”

“‘Not let logic define our actions?’ Are you mad?”

“Do you have any better ideas?”

“Well yes, as a matter of fact I--”

“Then forget it, anything you plan is doomed to fail. It is the purpose of this simulation. I need you to trust me absolutely and not question my words or actions if you want to see the real world again. Is that understood?”

“You’re asking for me to blindly put my faith in you?”

“Indeed. It is the only way.”

Asha bit her lip. The musical mare was asking a monumental task of her. She had never trusted anyone to the degree that Octavia was demanding. It was then that she realized that this request would be the hardest thing she had ever done. She scrunched her face as she mentally struggled with her own nature. It took all of her considerable willpower, but she managed to win her mental battle in the end.

“Alright, so what must we do?” Asha asked.

“Simple, we casually trot our way into her lair,” Octavia casually responded.

Asha couldn’t believe what she was suggesting, but she did agree to follow the mare blindly. If they both got killed on the way, she would hold the failure over her partner’s head for a long time.

However, much to her surprise, as she was walking alongside Octavia, the guards didn’t pay attention to them. She couldn’t help but question how this was possible. They didn’t have to use air ducts or shoot out lights or any conventional surprise tactic. Asha did her best to keep her wits about her and not question how Octavia’s plan was working.

When the duo reached a laser grid, Asha looked at her partner to see if she had a plan for getting past the deadly lasers.

Once again to Asha’s surprise, Octavia casually trotted into and through the lasers and emerged on the other side unharmed. The agent followed soon after.

As they neared Evil(er) Pinkamena’s lair, Asha commented, “Be ready, Pinkamena could be hiding anywhere.”

That was when they heard giggling on a large video screen. “Silly Asha, you know that’s not my style.” The camera then shifted to reveal Matt Miller strapped to a table with his torso cut wide open to reveal that his organs had been removed except for his heart.

“Asha…” Matt groaned weakly.

Evil(er) Pinkamena giggled again, “Silly Matt, I always knew you had feelings for Asha, that you wanted to give your heart to her.” She then ripped Matt’s heart from his chest cavity, ending the man’s life. “So come and get it Asha, take the heart that he was so desperate to give you.” The giggling soon turned maniacal before the video ended.

“Just about what I expected,” Octavia commented.

“Come, we’re almost there,” Asha said while doing her best to get the image of Matt out of her mind.

Pinkamena walked into a sweltering desert. The moment she emerged from the doorway, the heat started bearing down on her. She was not built to endure the heat for long so she had to find where Moondancer was quickly.

Looking around, she saw a town surrounded by a pyramid in the distance. The madmare was sure that Moondancer was there somewhere, most likely inside the pyramid.

Pinkamena was not going to travel to the town on hoof if she could help it so she triggered a scene transition where she appeared in the town.

Thankfully, she spotted a pony carrying a water bottle nearby so she ran up to the pony and asked for some water. The pony gave an evil smirk and started opening the bottle and tried to spill it onto the sands.

Pinkamena saw what they were trying and rushed in to stab the pony in the barrel with her Vorpal Blade before she took the bottle. “Look where being mean got you,” she remarked. She then placed the open bottle to her lips and drank the cold contents of the bottle.

Refreshed, Pinkamena climbed the stairs to the pyramid entrance. After forcing the doors open, she walked in and was greeted with a rush of cool air.

Seeing the tomb interior, Pinkamena had a feeling that she was about to be like Daring Do so she put on a pith helmet and a green jacket and began navigating the labyrinth of the pyramid.

Pinkamena and Pinkie worked together to deal with the tomb defenses and the defenders as they solved puzzles, navigated mazes, killed the occasional gimp ponies and dodged the occasional traps as she fought her way to the center of the tomb where Moondancer was located.

For some reason, as she journeyed through the tomb, she had a strange urge to wear some form of costume and a mask, expecting some sort of being from mythology to appear whenever she pulled the hypothetical mask off.

It felt like hours though she couldn’t tell the time in the tomb, but the madmare finally reached the door that led into the heart of the pyramid. Forcing open the door, she walked inside.

Veteran Child immediately took notice of the trio as they landed in the parking lot. With his guests on the scene, it was time to get the party started. “Looks like we have some special guests trying to crash our fun! Wait, I remember you. You’re the pony that burned me alive! Let’s see how you like it!”

With that, the animal mascots attending the party were suddenly equipped with flamethrowers before they closed in on Treehugger and began hosing her down with flames while the Shaundis moved out of the way..

Treehugger deadpanned as she felt nothing from the blazing weapons. Her immunity to fire made the mascots’ attacks futile. “You’d think that you would do your homework on me after what happened. I’m usually a drug-loving burnout and even I feel disappointed in you.”

The two Shaundi’s knew what was coming next so both leapt into the air before the voodoo mare stomped her hoof and unleashed a burning shockwave that immolated all of the mascots.

“There’s still plenty of me to go around!” Veteran Child said as multiple copies of himself appeared.

Treehugger shook her head in disappointment before she used her Super Sprint and her fire magic to run in a circle before a flaming vortex took form.

The vortex pulled in the copies and incinerated them. With each clone roasted, the shield around the DJ weakened.

When the last clone was destroyed, the shield was broken.

Veteran Child created one last clone to make a desperate move. The two Shaundis appeared next to the two DJs as they grabbed the two women to use as hostages. “Who lives and who dies?”

Both Shaundi’s snapped as they both broke free at the same time and pulled out their pistols.

“Fuck,” Past Shaundi began.

“That,” Present Shaundi finished.

Both Shaundis shot each other’s captors.

After that, the two Shaundis were finally getting along.

Treehugger was glad that the ordeal was over because she was not a good foalsitter and that was how she felt when she was helping the two Shaundis with their issues.

“Look who finally joined the party, my favorite playmate and a cellist who thinks she knows how to counter my logic,” greeted Evil(er) Pinkamena. “I guess being around Vinyl helps you see simple solutions to complicated problems.”

“Not really,” Octavia smirked. “It helps more to study potential threats and figure out how to counter them. I have learned that in order to defeat somepony who breaks the fourth wall, one must know about the fourth wall and how to use that to their advantage. Which is why the bullet I fired not long ago is about to hit you.”

“Say what?”

That was when a bullet sailed into the room and hit Pinkamena in the left foreleg. The evil mare grunted as pain surged through her. Evil(er) Pinkamena tightly gripped her bleeding leg before she growled, “How?”

“The key to stopping a fourth wall breaker is to attack in a way that is not known to the readers until the attack is about to hit the breaker. That way they do not have time to react.”

“Heh, well played. No wonder the real me considers you her second in command. Guess I’ll have to use them after all.”

Octavia nodded to Asha before she curled into a ball. The agent bucked the musical mare up onto the upper platform where Pinkamena was.

As the evil mare activated the generators to heal herself, Octavia intercepted the charge. Instead of healing or zapping her however, something else happened.

Power coursed through Octavia’s entire being while Vinyl hacked into the simulation and altered the nature of the generators.

Evil(er) Pinkamena’s eyes widened as the generators exploded. Octavia’s appearance changed as well. She was now wearing a white tuxedo over her barrel. Her light purple bowtie was still part of her ensemble.

Before Evil(er) Pinkamena could recover from her reaction, Octavia hit her with a Blast that didn’t appear to do anything. However, Octavia was now moving at blinding speeds while firing bullets at her from all directions. The bullets themselves were moving faster than they should have been.

Evil(er) Pinkamena didn’t have time to appreciate Octavia’s new power before she succumbed to her wounds and fell off the platform.

Asha watched the entire battle unfold. While Pinkamena thought Octavia was moving really fast, it was actually the other way around. Octavia was moving normally while Pinkamena was slowed.

“How did you do that?” Asha asked.

“Most likely a result of the superpowers that my friends have been receiving recently. At least three or four of the Saints are now utilizing these abilities in the simulation as well. Though they appear to add a unique element to my friends.”

“I see. More importantly, how did you know how to counter Pinkamena?”

“Any good agent knows when to study up on a potential threat, even if that threat may come from one’s friends or allies. Should one of my friends become a threat, I must be prepared to counter them. Though I hope that day will never come.”

“A good philosophy, ‘be prepared to fight the war you hope to never fight’. To some, it seems like paranoia, to others, an insurance policy.”

Octavia smiled, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, now let’s get out of here.”

“Care for your own contribution?” Octavia gestured to Pinkamena’s corpse.

“Yes, please.” Asha put a bullet into the dead mare’s head.

Pinkamena entered the final chamber and scanned the area for any final obstacles that stood between her and Moondancer.

The mare in question was chained to an altar in the center of the room and unconscious.

The setup screamed trap to the madmare, but whatever else was in the chamber was lurking in the shadows until she sprang the trap.

With no other choice, Pinkamena carefully walked into the chamber while keeping an eye out for traps while Pinkie watched the floor for any suspicious switches.

As she neared the altar, a gust of wind blew and nearly knocked the mare off her hooves. Looking at where the wind came from, Pinkamena quickly backed away as a giant sphinx rushed out of the shadows and landed between Pinkamena and Moondancer.

The madmare was not surprised by the appearance of the sphinx. Her fur was purple and her mane was navy blue with a pink and purple stripe. The style was the same as Twilight’s. Overall, the sphinx looked like a giant Twilight Sparkle with feline features and wings.

“So, is my marefriend free to go or is this the part where I take your wings for a test run?” Pinkamena quipped.

“She is not going anywhere. This tomb was built for her eternal stay in life and in the afterlife. Only eternal solitude awaits her,” the sphinx replied.

“Oh goodie!” Pinkamena clopped her hooves. “I get to kill a sphinx! This’ll be a first for me.”

“You will find that I am not so easy an opponent.” The sphinx spread her wings and flew upwards, smashing through the ceiling of the tomb. The creature roared, unleashing a blast of power that tore the rest of the ceiling apart and left the chamber fully exposed to the sunlight.

“You wanna play boss fight? That’s fine with me,” Pinkamena challenged.

While the sphinx was recovering from her previous attack, Pinkamena raced for the altar and quickly destroyed the chains binding Moondancer.

The effects were immediate as the mare woke from her slumber, “Mmph...mmm...hu...huh?” Moondancer in her groggy state saw a pink blurry image that gradually came into focus. “Pinkamena?”

“Welcome to the waking world...well, sort of. Hurry and wake up and help me ground this Twilight lookalike.”

The beast was ready to attack again. She attacked Pinkamena by swiping a giant paw across the floor. The madmare jumped over the swipe and landed on the paw long enough for her to stab it with her Vorpal Blade.

The sphinx roared in pain but the madmare knew that the attack only amounted to a snake bite at best. Pinkamena’s stamina wasn’t going to last forever and she needed to do some superficial damage to the beast before she got tired.

The Twilight sphinx screeched at Pinkamena and forced the mare to place her hooves on her ears to muffle the sound a little. The sound was still painful.

Moondancer was fully awake now after that attack. Her ears were hurting from the sound. Once she regained her hearing after the ringing ceased, she asked about the situation, “Pinkamena, where are we? How did we get here?”

“We’re in a digital simulation that was designed to keep you imprisoned. This creature appears to be your jailer.”

“Wait, did you say digital?”

“Yes, think you can do something with it?”

“Let me see.” Moondancer lit her horn and the distant sun was eclipsed, engulfing the desert in darkness. The eclipse ended quickly as Moondancer undid her action. “Yeah, I think I can take this thing down.” She then had an idea, “Or maybe…”

Moondancer lit her horn again and Pinkamena grew to equal the sphinx in size. “Thanks Moonie,” Pinkamena said cheerfully.

Pinkamena began fighting the sphinx on equal terms. However, the sphinx’s wings still gave her an edge on Pinkamena. To counter this, Moondancer created a set of ballistae and aimed them at Pinkamena.

As the sphinx attempted a dive attack on the madmare, Pinkamena’s Pinkie Sense went off and she dove aside just in time for the ballistae to fire and hit the sphinx who flew into the attack. The bolts had ropes tied to them so the weapons pinned the beast to the ground. Pinkamena capitalized on that and grabbed the beast’s wings before using her Vorpal Blade to slice them off. The sphinx screeched in pain for a second before the madmare plunged the knife into her neck. “That’s enough screeching for you,” she said.

With the sphinx dead, Pinkamena was returned to normal size. She walked over to Moondancer while holding the beast’s wings to the sides of her barrel. “What do you think? Stylish?”

Moondancer chuckled before she lit her horn and the wings’ colors were changed to match Pinkamena’s coat. “Much better.”

The two shared a laugh. Soon after, Pinkamena gave Moondancer the usual warning about what was about to happen to her and to have her attack spells ready to cause havoc once she really woke up.

Forearmed with the knowledge, Moondancer mentally prepared herself to kill a bunch of Zin before she was truly reunited with her marefriend.

Author's Note

Super Octavia
Superpower element: Tempo(ral)
Blast: Slows time for those hit by the Blast area.
Telekinesis: Accelerates time for the levitated projectile when launched, similar to a railgun.
Stomp: Slows time for affected enemies.
Buff(locked): Accelerates own time and travel speed of projectile weapons.

Hopefully things didn't get too crazy with this chapter.