Diamond's Evil Journey

Leon walked along the rocky cliff with Diamond walking on two legs again with slightly better balance then before. They walked until they saw a few stone structures in the distance. There wasn't any obvious route over, just the ocean blocking their way “That area seems like somewhere we should check out. Let's keep going and see if there's a path over there.” Leon said.

They continued on to the left until they came across a split in the path. Diamond eyed both the path ahead and to the right “Where to now?” she asked.

Before Leon could answer they heard a scream from the right path.

“Help!”

Diamond's eyes widened at the sound of the voice “I think that screeching is Ashley.” she said. Leon nodded and they took off down the right path. After turning a corner they saw the same stone buildings in front of them. They were obviously very old, as the stone was falling apart and had rusty rebar sticking out.

“Leon! Diamond! Please help!” Ashley screamed again in desperation from somewhere behind the buildings.

Diamond was ready to run it but was stopped by Leon “Wait, don't run straight in. Who knows how many of them are hiding just out of sight. I'll take point, watch my back.” he said.

Diamond wanted to argue with him but glanced down at her new rifle and smiled “Right, I'll cover you from here.” she said. Leon nodded and ran off towards the camp.

Once Leon entered the camp a searchlight that he hadn't noticed moved closer to him. He suddenly tried to get out of it's path but it caught him and an alarm went off “Damn, I guess they know we're here now.” he said while taking his handgun out. It wasn't long until three guards ran in to meet him. They wore military grade body armor and a few wore helmets as well. Two of them carried hatchets while the last one wielded an electric stun rod.

One of them charged Leon and swung the hatchet but he dodged to the side and fired a bullet into his head. The last two charged at the same time but the stun rod user's head exploded due to Diamond's rifle fire. Leon then caught the last soldier's wrist when he attacked and stabbed his knife into his temple.

Leon turned to Diamond and flashed her a thumbs up before continuing on. After taking a few more steps into the camp he heard rapid bullets being fired. He looked up to see a large black man on the top of a building firing a gatling gun into the sky. The large soldier then jumped off of the building and pointed the huge weapon at Leon.

Leon quickly jumped behind a wall before bullets started flying. He hid until the spray stopped. Peeking out of cover he saw the man trying to fix the jammed weapon. He fired a few shots at him which all hit his chest. The man just stood like nothing happened and continued spraying bullets. Once the bullets stopped again Leon fired another shot that connected with the man's jaw and he stumbled back while holding his bleeding jaw.

He recovered enough to be able to fire. This time he didn't stop shooting as he started walking up to Leon's cover. Before he reached him, Diamond fired a rifle bullet through his forehead. That shot finally finished him as he fell backwards to the ground.

Leon then ran out of cover and out of Diamond's sight. She didn't like not having eyes on him so she returned to all fours and ran into the camp. She entered one of the buildings and climbed a ladder to the roof. On the roof was one soldier that had his back to her and a tall pole that held a mirror at the end of it.

Diamond ignored the mirror and took her knife in her right hoof. She then threw it into the back of the soldier's neck. The soldier stayed standing as he started choking on his own blood. Diamond rammed into his leg to knock him onto his back causing the knife to be pushed further into his throat, killing him instantly.

She then used her new vantage point to search for Leon. She spotted him messing with a door, presumably trying to get it open. On either side of the door was a large stone slab that had a glowing red spot in the middle of them. The left spot started glowing brighter as it shot out a red laser. The laser connected with a mirror similar to the one near Diamond which reflected the laser into a rocky wall outside of the camp.

Leon stared at the laser few a few seconds before figuring out what needed to be done. He ran towards the other building that held the mirror as more soldiers came out of hiding to get in his way. He fired his handgun at them while he ran as a few of them were killed by Diamond's rifle. Once he got through them he climbed the ladder that led him to the mirror.

He grabbed it to see that it could be easily rotated. He quickly rotated it until the laser was being reflected by the next mirror. The laser was now being directed over the ocean. Leon was about to run over to that mirror but stopped when he saw that Diamond was on that roof. She was busy still trying to thin the soldier's numbers with her rifle.

Leon had to get her attention “Diamond! The mirror! Redirect the laser into that the glowing spot next to the door!” he shouted.

Diamond took her eyes off the soldiers and noticed the laser being reflected off of the mirror. She quickly got on two legs to rotate the mirror with her fore hooves. After a few seconds she got the laser to the glowing spot. The door then rose out of sight. Diamond assumed that they were heading though there so she climbed back down the ladder. Two soldier blocked her way but she quickly dispatched them before meeting up with Leon near the door.

They ran through the cave behind the doorway until they reached an area where a soldier pointed a crossbow at them. Leon ducked under the bolt before throwing his knife into the soldier's head. They then saw a ladder to their right which they quickly climbed.

When they emerged, they saw that they were on a high cliff overseeing the ocean. Unfortunately they had no time to admire the view since a soldier came from their left while waving a flail around. Leon tripped him causing him to fall onto his stomach in front of Diamond. She held the barrel of her handgun to his forehead before firing.

They then continued along the cliff until they saw another searchlight near them. Leon learned his lesson from last time and stopped Diamond with a hand. He then took out his rifle and shattered the searchlight with one bullet. They then continued into the area that the searchlight was watching. Ahead they saw a soldier carrying a rocket launcher and on a bridge above him was two soldier aiming crossbows at them.

They both jumped behind a rock structure as two arrows flew past them followed by an explosion that shook their cover slightly. Diamond peeked out of cover first to kill the now unarmed soldier with her handgun. Leon saw that the archers were standing next to a red barrel. After a few more bolts were fired their way, Leon shot the barrel which blew up the archers.

Diamond stepped out of cover only to see another soldier they didn't see before. Almost immediately a lit stick of dynamite was flying towards her. She had to quickly chose fight or flight. Her eyes narrowed as she chose. She caught the dynamite in her mouth and quickly tossed it back. Once it landed by the soldier's feet it exploded and took him with it.

With no more soldiers blocking their way they ran under the bridge to find a door with a red button next to it. Leon didn't see any other way to get the door open so he pressed the button. The door rose out of their way and Diamond walked through. Leon pressed the button again and slipped through before it closed.

They then found the merchant who had a shop set up “Welcome stranger, can I get you anything?” he asked.

Leon nodded “Yeah we'll take some extra ammo.” he said

The merchant started searching through his coat for the items. He found them and exchanged them with Leon for the right amount of money. Leon was about to walk off but stopped when something came to his mind. He turned back to the merchant and debated with himself whether to bring something up or not.

Finally he spoke up “Uh, Pinkie said hi.” he said.

The merchant let out a chuckle “Ah yes, Pinkie Pie. Quite the card player she is. Speaking of her, she asked me to deliver something to the little one here.” he said. He reached into his coat and pulled out something that looked like Pinkie's party cannon. It looked more like a toy since it was small enough to hold in one hand “The party cannon mini. It may seem small but the power it brings to the table is devastating. But be careful as it can only be used once.” he said.

Diamond seemed confused “I have so many questions but the most important is how did Pinkie even give you that? Does she have a way to get to this world?” she asked.

“Sorry little one but I Pinkie promised not to say anything.” he said.

Diamond sighed but she was expecting to not get an answer “Fine, just give me the cannon.” she said. The merchant smiled and handed it over. She took it and put it in her saddle bag.

Leon raised his eyebrow at the situation “Party cannon? What does that do?” he asked.

Diamond shrugged “I don't know. Pinkie uses hers to make parties but she has also used it as a weapon before I think,” she said.

Leon still seemed confused but nodded “Well the merchant made it seem powerful so I'm sure it will come in handy.” he said.

They then shrugged off the strange encounter before moving on. They arrived at a tight alley with an archer waiting for them on a higher ledge. At the end of the alley were two soldiers wielding stun rods. An arrow was shot at Diamond but she stepped aside to allow it to stick into the ground. She then fired her handgun at him causing him to fall over the railing and break his neck when he hit the ground.

The two other soldiers ran up to them but Leon took care of them with a single incendiary grenade. Leon and Diamond ran to the end of the alley to find the entrance to a building to their left. They entered to see dimly lit hallways. They followed the hallway that was lined with rusty and dripping pipes.

At the end of the hallway was a door that led to a storage room filled with rusty cans of food. An unarmed soldier came out from behind a food filled shelf and grabbed a hold of Leon's neck. Diamond fired a handgun bullet at the man's arm causing him to release Leon.

Leon recovered quickly and gave the soldier a hard roundhouse kick to the side. The man was knocked into the shelf and banged his head hard enough to kill him.

They walked into the next room which resembled a kitchen. They were about to pass a tall white rectangular container. Suddenly the container's door blow off and a man that was engulfed in flames ran out. He charged Leon and Diamond but they jumped out of his path. The man just fell to the floor and succumbed to the flames.

“What the hay? Do you think that was planned?” she asked.

Leon stared at the charred body “If it was then I give them points for creativity.” he said. After one more second of staring at the burning body, they moved on.

Past the kitchen was a door that led to another hallway. Diamond walked around a corner to come face to face with a large man. He wore metal plates with spikes as armor and also had the same metal covering half of his face. He walked towards her with a large hammer in his hands. He swung the hammer down at her to try and smash her like a watermelon. She rolled to the side and fired a bullet at his head but it just ricocheted off of his face armor.

He attempted another swing but she dodged and ran behind him as he followed him. Leon took the opportunity to jam his knife into the man's back. He grunted in pain but just turned around to deliver a powerful backhand to Leon's face. He was knocked onto his back and saw the man raise his hammer again. Before he could deliver the finishing blow, a bullet ripped through his throat from behind. He held his neck in an attempt to stop the blood loss but fell to the side limply.

Diamond ran to Leon's side “Are you alright?” she asked.

Leon got to his feet and wiped some blood from his mouth “Just fine, thanks for the assist.” he said. They then continued through another door to find a surveillance room. Leon's gaze drifted to some monitors and something caught his eye. He ran up to the screens and stared at one “Ashley.” he said.

“What? Where?” Diamond asked as she got on two legs to see her. The screen showed her in a room with two soldier. She was banging on the door and yelling for help. One of the soldiers grabbed her and threw her roughly to the ground. Diamond growled at their treatment of her “Those bastards.” she said.

The soldier looked up at the camera and saw that it was active. He commanded the other man and he flipped a switch that cut power to the camera. Leon shook his head in slight amusement “Amateurs.” he then turned to Diamond “She can't be far. Let's go.” he said and they left though another door.

Through the doorway was a hallway with a room to the right and one ahead. They decided to search the right room first but saw the merchant waiting for them with a shop set up “Stranger, little one! Good to see ya. I got something I'd like to show ya.” he said.

They walked up to him out of curiosity. He pulled out a tactical vest “Now this here is really something. It's tough enough to take a few strikes from a hatchet, but is also extremely light weight. It also adjusts to your body so it won't restrict movement. How about it?” he asked.

Leon inspected the vest and was impressed “Alright I'll take it.” he said.

Diamond raised an eyebrow “You wouldn't happen to have a vest for a filly, would you?” she asked.

The merchant chuckled before pulling out a smaller vest that was made for a pony's body “Of course, how could I forget about you little one.” he said.

Diamond smiled in excitement over the new gear as Leon paid for the vests. Leon helped Diamond into her vest before he got his own on. He was impressed by how the vest moved with him. By the look on Diamond's face, Leon could tell that she was thinking the same thing. They said their goodbyes to the merchant before walking off.

The next room was bare except for the automatic door. The door shot open when they got close to reveal two soldiers who Immediately threw lit dynamite at them. Their eyes widened and quickly jumped behind cover before they exploded. The door slammed closed again. It opened again for two seconds as the soldiers threw more sticks.

Diamond gritted her teeth in anger “That's cheating!” she yelled at them but the only response she got was another explosion.

Leon took a frag grenade in his hand “Two can play that game.” he said. He waited until the door opened again and chucked the grenade through before it closed. After the explosion the door stopped opening.

Diamond walked out of cover “That'll show them.” she said. Suddenly the door shot open to reveal two archers. Diamond yelped as the two arrows flew by her as she ran back behind cover. She glared back in their direction “That's it!” she yelled. When the door opened again she ran out. They fired but Diamond sidestepped one arrow and ducked under the other. She then fired a bullet from her handgun into one's head while throwing her knife into the other's heart.

Leon raised an Impressed eyebrow “Remind me never to piss you off.” he said. Diamond giggled slightly at that and they continued through the now open door.

They ended up in a fairly empty hallway with a staircase leading up. Since she didn't see any danger around, Diamond got to two hooves for more practice. She was getting much better on two hooves but the stairs still slowed her down slightly. Past the stairs was a split in the path. There was a gate to the right and another hallway to the left.

Diamond didn't want to waste time deciding so she just walked down the left hallway with Leon following after. The hallway eventually led to a lab to some kind. Leon saw a computer terminal on a desk and walked up to it. He started looking through the information on it for anything useful.

While he did that, Diamond walked up to a window to another room. It was a small room that held an operating table with a few machines around it. But the most eye catching thing was the creature on the table. It was tall with dry gray skin. It also wore no clothes but didn't have anything for the clothes to cover. It's face was held two small red eyes and no nose. Most of it's face's surface area was taken up by it's mouth which hung open to show off it's razor sharp teeth.

Even though the abomination seemed dead, it still sent a shiver down Diamond's spine. She turned to Leon who didn't seem happy about the information he was seeing “Leon, check this thing out.” she called.

Leon stepped away from the terminal and over to the window. He stared at the creature “That computer terminal had information on this creature.” he said.

Diamond seemed surprised “Really? So what is it?” she asked.

“They're called regenerators. Some creation of the Los Illuminados that has an accelerated metabolism. It says that they can quickly heal from pretty much any wound.” he said.

Diamond stared back at the creature “But they can be killed, right?” she asked.

Leon nodded “Apparently they have multiple parasites inside of their bodies. If they are all destroyed then the host will die. Sadly the parasites can only be located using thermal imaging.” he said.

Diamond raised an eyebrow at those last few words “Thermal imaging?” she asked.

Leon thought that he shouldn't have expected her to know anything about thermography “It basically allows people to see objects by heat instead of light. The parasites must be hotter than the host's body so they'd stick out easier. Either way we don't have anything with thermal technology so let's just hope we don't run into a live one.” he said.

Diamond turned away from the window and towards the door of another room. She tried to get the door open but she couldn't tell how to. Leon saw a panel next to it and started working on it “Give me a second.” he said. Shortly after, the door opened automatically.

Once inside they saw another operating table that held a gray humanoid body that had a full size parasite on it's back. They almost looked like they were stopped in time during an attack but they both looked dead. They tried to ignore the ghastly sight and searched the room.

Leon noticed the dead body of a soldier with a key card near his foot. He picked it up and saw that it had a red Los Illuminados insignia as well as the numbers 4821. He thought that it could come in handy so he put it away.

Suddenly they heard the sound of metal crashing outside of the room. Leon and Diamond glanced each other before running to the door. As soon as the door opened they saw the regenerator standing in front of them. It lumbered toward them while drooling and giving long, shaky breaths. It swung a long arm at Leon who held his arms up in a block.

The attack had a surprising amount of force and sent Leon into the wall. Diamond jumped back from the creature and fired two bullets from her revolver into it's chest and one to the head. The regenerator stumbled back from the attacks but the bullet holes were quickly mended like nothing happened.

Diamond turned to Leon who was getting off the floor “You were right! Bullets aren't doing anything to it! What now?” she asked.

Leon took his shotgun out and blasted the regenerator's leg off, causing it to fall to the floor “We have to run for it.” he said before running past the floored creature. Diamond followed fairly fast for still being on two legs. They left the lab and ran down the hallway.

They turned a corner to see another regenerator slowly approaching them. Leon was caught off guard and was grabbed by it. It tried to bite into his neck but he held it off. He then took out a frag grenade and pulled the pin before shoving it into the creature's mouth. He then kicked it away from it before the grenade blew it's head to smithereens. They then ran past it before it could recover.

They arrived back at the split in the path and Leon kicked open the gate. He saw a door to the left that had an icy mist flowing from under it. He also saw a card reader next to it so he thought he might as well try it. He inserted his new key card causing it to beep and unlocked. He held it open for Diamond and ran in after her.

He closed and locked the door behind them. They felt the chill as they looked around the freezer. There were multiple creatures stored in there. They were all frozen and unresponsive. Diamond stared uneasily at a few regenerators that were being hanged from the ceiling “Good thing these ones are frozen.” she said.

Leon walked into a side room and one machine caught his eye. He walked over to the key card rewriter and pulled out the freezer key card. He inserted it and activated it. The color was changed and the numbers were now 0356.

“Leon! Come here!” Diamond called.

Leon pocketed the new key card and left to where Diamond was. He entered another side room where Diamond was staring up at a cylindrical object behind a plate of glass “What's that?” she asked.

Leon stared at the object to inspect it “It looks like a rifle scope.” he said. He put his hands on the valve to open the glass door but he couldn't get the valve to budge “No good, it's frozen. I can't get it open.” he said.

A thought then crossed his mind. He left the side room and returned to the one with the card rewriter. He passed it and to another machine. After inspecting it he determined that it was a cryogenic device. He turned the machine off. The room quickly heated up and the ice started melting off of everything. He returned to Diamond who was still waiting by the glass door.

Leon was now able to turn the valve and open the door to the scope. He grabbed it and swapped it for his scope on his rifle. He took a look through it and smiled “It's an infrared scope. With this I think I could kill those regenerators.” he said.

The heard a slapping sound and they glanced outside of the room to see that one of the regenerators fell from it's claw and to the ground. It then slowly got to it's feet. Diamond backed up slightly “Would you mind testing that scope now?” she asked.

Leon got some distance from the creature as it started walking toward him. Leon looked into the scope and saw that within it's relatively cold body was two spots that were red hot. He fired into the first one causing the regenerator's body to pulse slightly before returning to normal. Leon then destroyed the last one. The regenerator's body started pulsating violently before it's top half imploded. It's legs fell to the ground and the creature didn't regenerate.

Diamond seemed impressed “Wow. At least we can kill those freaks now.” she said.

Leon nodded and put his rifle away “By the way, I have a new key card. Let's find where this leads us.” he said. They exited the freezer and down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was a door with a card reader next to it. Leon wasted no time trying his key card and it was accepted.

They entered into the room that was fairly empty except for a control panel that was in front of a large window. Through the window was a room that held a few soldiers as well as some containers of garbage. Above the soldiers was a large crane that was suppose to be used for garbage. On the right side of the room was a large rectangular hole that was probably a trash chute.

Leon assumed that the levers on the control panel controlled the crane. He rubbed his chin while inspecting the room through the window. He took the crane controls. He moved the crane over two soldiers who seemed to be talking. He lowered the crane and grabbed both of them. The tried to struggle out of it's grasp but they weren't doing a great job as Leon held them over the trash chute. He then let them go and watched as they fell down the chute.

He turned to Diamond who had a slight amused smirk “You're a dork sometimes.” she said with a giggle. Leon chuckled as well but stopped when two others soldiers busted into the room with crossbows. They aimed at Leon who picked up a discarded chair to block the arrows. He then threw the chair at the two to knock them to the ground. Diamond walked over and executed them with her revolver.

They then exited the room and into the room with the trash chute. Diamond cringed in disgust as the strong garbage smell attacked her nostrils “What have they been throwing away that smells like that? I thought the rest of this place smelled bad but this is on a whole different level.” she said.

Leon spotted another door ahead “Then let's get out of here, I can't say I'm a fan of this smell either.” he said. They left the room and went up a few stairs which Diamond was getting better at scaling on two legs. They walked past a computer room that was devoid of life.

Past another door was a hallway. They turned a corner and saw two large armored men carrying hammers. One of the men charged Leon while swinging his hammer horizontally. Leon ducked under the hammer and used his momentum to toss the man behind him.

The other soldier tried to slam his hammer down at Diamond but she rolled to the side. He tried again but diamond took he knife in her teeth and run under his legs. While she passed him she cut through his achilles tendon causing him to fall to his knees. She then took her rifle out and shot a bullet through the back of his head.

She turned her gaze to Leon who was finishing off the other man with his shotgun. They then heard a familiar voice behind them “Leon! Diamond! I'm so happy to see you!” Ashley said. They looked to see her through the bars of a door window.

Leon ran up to the door with Diamond behind him “Ashley, are you okay?” he asked.

Ashley smiled and nodded “I'm just fine.” she said.

“Hurry and get her out of there.” Diamond said. Leon nodded and tried to get the door open. It was no use and he notice a card reader next to it. He tried the key car he had but nothing happened.

He shook his head “We need to find the key card for this door.” he said.

Diamond sighed “You've got to be kidding me.” she said.

Ashley gave them a understanding smile “It's okay, I'll be fine here. Go find the key.” she said.

Diamond nodded “Okay, just hold on. We'll be right back.” she said. Leon gave one more glance to Ashley before running with Diamond through the next door.

Through the next hallway was a room that held many different machines. Waiting for them was three soldiers wielding stun rods and one behind them with a crossbow. A soldier attack Leon with a stun rod but Leon caught him by the wrist and fired his handgun pointblank into his face. He noticed that the archer had him in his sight. He easily dodged the arrow and threw his knife into his heart.

The two other soldiers came at Diamond from different angles and attacked at the same time. She flipped backwards and landed perfectly on her hind legs. She threw he knife into one of their heads then shot the other in the temple with her revolver.

They then continued down stairs while glancing around the room for anything resembling a key card. After seeing nothing useful, they left the room to search another. They entered a large laboratory with many computer terminals and machines around. Leon and Diamond searched around the desks for the key with no luck.

They walked into another part of the lab to see something lumbering toward them. It resembled a regenerator but had no eyes, much more teeth, and spikes covering every inch of it's body. It twitched constantly as it just existing was painful for it.

Even Leon took a step back in surprise of the abomination “These experiments have gone much too far.” he said.

Diamond narrowed her eyes at it “What is it? It almost looks like a regenerator.” she observed. To test something she fired a revolver round into it's head. The bullet hole mended quickly as it continued approaching them “Yeah, this one is up to you.” she said.

The creature got close to them and the spikes over it's body extended towards them. They both jumped back before the spikes could pierce them. Leon aimed at it using his rifle and saw five parasites in it's body. He fired in to three of them causing it's body to pulse and the spikes extend and retract with each one.

It was close enough to try to grab Leon. He ducked under his arms and dove over a desk to get some more distance on it. The creature turned to Diamond and tried to swing it's arms down at her. She jumped over it's swinging arm and ran away from it. Leon took that chance to shoot the last two parasites.

It's body pulsated violently as well as it's spikes before it's top imploded. Diamond noticed something attached to one of it's spikes before it fell limply to the ground. She walked over to the pair of legs and saw a key card on it. She smiled and grabbed it “Leon, this has to be the card we need.” she said.

Leon walked over and examined it “Yeah, I think so. Either way, let's get back there and try it out.” he said. They turned and ran out of the room and returned back to the door to Ashley's prison. Leon inserted the key card into the reader and the door unlocked. He opened it to see Ashley standing there with a excited smile on her face.

She almost tackled him in a hug “Thank you so much Leon.” she let go of him and crouched to hug diamond “You too Diamond. When they brought me to this island, I thought that you two might not find me.” she said.

Diamond hugged her back tightly “There's nowhere they could take you where we couldn't find you.” she said.

Once they separated, Leon got Ashley's attention “Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked. Ashley gave an happy nod. They were about to leave but they saw a paper airplane fly through the prison window and gently land on the ground.

The three of them glanced at each other before Leon bent down to grab it. He unfolded it and read what it said “It's from Ada. She says that we might be able to escape using the waste disposal vent.” he said.

Ashley seemed uneasy “Waste disposal vent? Like garbage? I don't know about that.” she said.

Diamond didn't seem convinced “Why does Ada sometimes want to help us? What's she getting out of this?” she wondered.

Leon rubbed his chin in thought “I'm not sure but I have a few theories. Either way, we should check out the waste disposal vent.” he said.

In Canterlot castle after getting a few hours of rest, Twilight gathered everyone. The mane six, Filthy Rich, Silver Spoon, Spike, and the princesses all stood in the throne room. Twilight cleared her throat before speaking “Now that most of us have had some time to rest, I thought we should share any information we've gathered. Applejack, you and Rainbow took over the mirror after me and princess Luna right? Tell me what information you learned about Diamond's condition.” she said.

Rainbow floated in the air and crossed her fore legs “Well she didn't seem too injured. I don't think all that blood was hers. But apparently she wasn't even looking for a cure yet.” she said.

Filthy widened his eyes in surprise “What? What was she doing if she wasn't trying to cure herself?” he asked.

Applejack's ears flattened against her head “She said that they were too busy tryin' ta save that human named Ashley. That filly seems ta have gotten attached to those humans.” she said.

Twilight hung her head in thought “She hasn't even attempted to find a cure yet? How much time could she have left?” she wondered to herself.

Rainbow put a hoof to her chin as she recalled their talk “She got pretty heated about it actually. Said something about countless lives being lost if Ashley wasn't saved.” she said.

Luna raised her eyebrow at this “Countless lives? She is up against a group called the Los Illuminados correct? What information do we have on them?” she asked.

Twilight nodded “Leon told me what he knew about them. They are a religious cult headed by a human called Osmund Saddler. He uses the parasites to control humans to do his bidding. According to Leon he wants Ashley because she's the daughter of his country's leader. His plan is to gain control of her and send her back to her father so that she can weaken the country from the inside so he can take it over.” she said.

She gave Filthy and Silver a sad glance “Leon suspects that he wants to do something similar with Diamond.” she said.

Silver hung her head “He wants to make Diamond kill us?” she asked.

Twilight felt bad for saying something like that while a filly was present. Celestia hummed in thought “She chose to fight against terrorists rather than cure herself of a deadly parasite?” she asked.

Luna nodded “Very admirable of her.” she said.

Filthy gritted his teeth slightly “That world's affairs aren't her responsibility. What's gotten into her?” he asked.

Twilight tried to think of a way to calm him down “Hopefully she'll cure herself before she gets too involved in that world's problems. Who else contacted her?” she asked.

Fluttershy quietly raised her hoof “Um, me and Pinkie.” she said.

Twilight gave her a small smile “Did you learn anything new?” she asked.

Fluttershy hid behind her mane slightly as all eyes were on her “She d-did mention something about a way to remove her parasite.” she said.

Filthy lit up “She did? What is it?” he asked.

“I-i don't k-know. She only said that saddler offered her something a-and mentioned getting rid of the parasite.” she explained.

Twilight looked slightly uneasy “He offered her something? Like a deal? Do you you know if she accepted it?” she questioned. Fluttershy hung her head and shook her head. Twilight decided to forget about that for now “Anything else?” she asked.

Pinkie hopped in place while waving her hoof around “Diamond said that she had three goals. First is to save Ashley, the next is to find the cure, and lastly she wants to kill Saddler.” she said.

Filthy shook his head “She can't plan on staying in that world even after being cured. I can accept that she's doing what she is because she needs to cure herself but what filly would willingly put herself in more danger for no reason other than taking yet another life.” he said.

The room had a few moments of silence after that. Luna hummed in thought “This filly truly is an enigma.” she said.