Forces of Natureby DrZedChaptersLeap of faithParty CrashersYou've got wings!Busted?A... bird? in the handMysterious RescuersEverfree ExodusTight SqueezeCries in the nightA light in the darknessLeap of faithShe loved her job. What exactly was her job? To know: everything. To be anywhere, and everywhere at the same time. How does she do it? Nanites, knit into a cohesive network, communicating by subspace in tightly encrypted bursts. The billions of nano machines that make up her body stored unimaginable amounts of data in tiny crystal cores. Each of her nanites can join with others and move independently of each other giving her much flexibility, infiltration was child's play. This is Dawn, or her 'superhero' name, Platinum. She was above it all and right in the middle of it, Her collective mind calmly watched the map as segments of the base wet red, indicating they were offline... most likely flooded with water or already broken off and tumbling into the trench. "Labs 3a through 2d are offline, flooded." she communicated to her teammates, in a zen state even as her body returned fire at the mercenary team that had them pinned down at the control console for the portal device. While she was highly effective on her own she had created four drones from her nanomaterial, giving them pet names and giving them animal forms that they can morph into, along with rudimentary personality programming. Her pets were doing well: Sarge, a defense drone, had covered the space with a heavy energy shield, and was assisting her with hacking the console. Spot and Rover are mobile turrets, providing cover fire from their micro-gun (Spot) and plasma rifle (Rover). White tracers and arcs of plasma were lighting up the computer consoles on both sides of the merc team, keeping them pinned down. Fifi, a stealth tracking and surveillance unit had been monitoring the comm channels and movements of their opponents, keeping her up to date of where everything was. "Zed! The boys are almost here!" She called to him. Zed, the grey draft horse, was sitting crosslegged before the portal itself, facing a wall of glowing rippling energy, scribing multicolored runes of light in the air before him, seeming blissfully unaware of the fight. A grenade bounced across the ground, landing near him, then it blinked out of existence for a quarter second. A horrified scream emerged from from the thower's throat before the flashbang he just threw went off in his hand, taking him and his team out of the fight temporarily. Taurence, a minotaur apparently made of rough brown stone, came running up the corridor, followed by Slaytor. Taurence bowled over the remaining security team, charging through them like a linebacker. Slaytor, pulling three short handled rods from his hip holsters, flipping one over his shoulder and catching it with his tail. Each extended and unfolded metallic tines which crackled to life with electricity, dived into the stunned guards, a whirlwind of showering sparks and blunt head trauma. "Oh shit!" Slaytor yelled as the entire lab began to slowly lean to one side, "How the hell are we gonna get outta here?" Dawn whistled and her four pets came into formation around her, lifting and attaching to her armor. Zed smiled broadly, and stood up. "Through this." Taurence finished stuffing the last of the ko'd guards into a escape pod connected to the lab through another airlock. "Wait a minute, You want us to go through the portal that insane bastard planned to summon an eldritch abomination to conquer the planet with?" Dawn giggled softly as the armored faceplate and helmet ratcheted away, revealing a short silvery white muzzle, rounded ears and a long blonde head of hair, so pale as to be almost white. "His math was wrong." "Indeed." Zed smiled, "I have a good feeling about this." Taurence pushed the escape pod eject button with a wide finger then joined the rest, just as the lab shifted again, "Let's git goin then!" Zed nodded to Dawn, who activated the console, the rippling field became a rapidly descending vortex, swirling with both light and dark energies. "Ahh I hate this part!" Slaytor charges forward diving into the portal. Taurence follows shortly after. Zed beckons Dawn as loose furniture starts sliding toward the portal wall, She runs up and dives through. Zed rapidly inscribed a rune onto the floor before stepping through. The portal flickers and closes but not before a leather clad executive desk chair and a loaded tool cart come tumbling through. The base's pillars collapse, plunging the entire facility into the trench, numerous small implosions vent air as the base tumbles, finally breaking in half with a massive explosion. Party CrashersChanting voices echo in the dark, Torches light a half circle surrounding a platform, where the moon shines through a crumbling window in the ancient ruins of the Royal Pony Sisters castle, deep in the everfree forest. The air crackled with magic that night as a half circle of chanting robed creatures: ponies, diamond dogs and changelings surrounded a hard eyed red gryphon in an elegant robe, standing upon the dais where Nightmare Moon met her end, exactly two years ago. The Dais now had a pentagram of candles laid out between glowing lines of force, and he was standing just before them. The Gryphon raised his forelaws to silence the group. "My Brothers and sisters, The stars are aligned, We rapidly approach the moment of our greatest victory. Nightmare Moon has come to me in my dreams and told me of a force that none can stand against, as well as the revival of her own glory! Soon The moon will be in place and We shall see our ancient mistress once more! Even now the clouds gather around us." "Excuse me!" One of the ponies raised a hoof. A walleyed blonde grey pegasus mare pushed her hood back. "The note on the bulletin board said there would be punch and muffins. Those are neither." She hoofpoints at the table against the wall, where a bowl of sickly glowing, bubbling, green liquid sat next to a tray of... things.... that must have been baked by someone who hated the very idea of muffins. There would be flies buzzing around the 'refreshments'.... if they werent all dead from the fumes, some of them slowly dissolving in the punchbowl. The pegasus grimaced and shook her head, "This the last time I answer a Crag's list ad. C'mon Berry. Let's go." She threw off the robe and started flying out, Followed by a wobbly purple earth pony mare, "Wow, thish 'theme party' shtinks." was her slurred comment. "You cant leave! The spell is almost comple-" *CRACKBOOM!* Lightning splits the sky as the moonlight fully bathes the pentagram in it's light. The surface of the floor seems to ripple and melt away becoming a deep twisting void. The Dogs whimper, huddling up, the tallest smacking another in the head, "Rocktooth! This is why I tell you Never trust Gryphons! They are just as crazy as ponies!" He's immediately silenced as a deep roaring sound starts coming from the hole in space. All eyes except for one (Derpy's) watched the mists begin emerging from the hole, and the grypon moved quickly to capitalize, He leaned over the lip of the vortex, peering down into it. "Yes my mistress, Show me, Show them all What you're capable of!" *Whoosh CLANG!* The Griffon has a poleaxed look to him as the wrench that flew out of the hole met his beak at a rapid clip, spinning him around in a circle. He picked up the wrench in a claw... "Wha-" *Whoosh Whoosh WHACK!* The office chair flew up out of the floor hole and described a lazy tumbling arc through the air, landing squarely upon the gryphon's head. *Whoosh whoosh woosh CLANG CLATTER* The spinning tool cart flew up and out of the hole, the drawers on it opening and scattering wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, sockets and other gear in a broad spray, peppering the walls and the other attendees with high speed chunks of metal. That ended all pretense and the half circle turned into a mad dash for the exits. The groaning gryphon pushed the chair away just in time to read the words stamped into the side of the tool cart, just before it too landed on him. Yelling could now be heard from the tube, and suddenly the black and grey draconic figure pops out of the tunnel. "This is why I hate this part!" he yells as he draws a gun from his side and shoots it at the ceiling, a thin cable trailing from it to the hook, which punches through the ceiling above. His upward momentum ceases and he hangs there looking down into the hole. "A floor portal? What kind of jackass makes a floor portal?!" He sees a flash of grey and white and takes the cord by his footclaws, hanging upside down with his hands open. Soon enough Dawn shoots out of the hole with a little squeal, catching Slaytor's hands. He swings her back and forth and she leaps away to the side of the portal, landing nimbly. Zed emerges after a moment, Grabbing Slaytor's hands, and swinging free too, He lands roughly and collapses to the floor. Slaytor glances back down "no, No NONONONONO!!" He yells as as the massive brown Minotaur shoots out of the warp like a cork from a bottle, smacking into Slaytor and smashing him against the celing, which fails, collapsing as the teammates plunge towards the gaping vortex again. Taruence spreads out his arms and legs wide and catches himself on the lips of the hole, knocking some of the candles aside, the lines of murky light fade as the circle is disturbed. "NO! It's all lost! Take me with you My Mistress!" The red gryphon dives for the vortex, dissappearring into it with a high pitch scream. The vortex fades, returning itself to the stone floor it was before all this began. Finally all is silent except for groaning bodies and the clatter of hooves and feet running like the fires of tartarus were after them. You've got wings!"What is it with cultists and portals?" Slaytor groans as he pushes a shatterred slab of stone from his chest, rolling off Taurence's back and standing up with a painful sounding series of pops and cracks coming from his chest and back. After a moment, he continues "Seriously, the last three times, It's been cultists or mad scientists, How about something new for a change?!" Zed groans, rolling to his side, then sitting up and taking a zen position. "Agghh... My joints are on fire." Slaytor drops to his knees next to Zed, "Me too, what is it?" Dawn crawls close to the other two, "I think we're being translated into the local frequency... Rewritten.... " "The magic here runs rampant... I felt it changing me..." He grimaces and pushes his mane out of his face, "Ahh I understand. This dimension has a differrent morphogenic field.... We need to synch up, and that may be painful. Taurence! We need a regen bath, right here, I want to be numb for this." Taurence nods and settles in next to them forming a rough square, which sinks down into the stone of the floor, till his chest is even with the floor. a soft rumbling and thick rich brown mud begins seeping through the cracks of the stones, filling the newly formed basin with hot, soothing mud. Dawn sighs and leans back against the wall of the tub, "Oh that's better, I -oh!" Already the changes are starting as Slaytor, Dawn and Zed's bodies are reformed according to the patterns of the world. Bones shift and reshape under the mud, even Taurence seems to be shrinking somewhat from his ten foot stature to around six feet tall. Slaytor growls as he feels his jaw moving and he dunks his head under the mud surface as the changes continue, the hot dense mud numbing the pain of transition.... Zed looks up, eyes glowing a bright blue-white and reaches for his forehead, feeling a bump growing and increasing in length, a spike of pain driving straight through his skull, He takes a deep breath and submerges his head. Shorlty afterward, Dawn does the same, wincing in pain. Taurence grimaces as his features shift, a lot slimmer and less bulky but still a minotaur. The duration of the healing mud effect ends, and it receeds, leaving the four of them coated in a rapidly drying shell of mud, Taurence twists back and forth and then stands, pieces of the mud shell breaking away from his brown fur. "Ahh I feel much better." Slaytor, Zed and Dawn sit up, shaking themselves bodily as they break out of their mud shells... and pause to stare at each other..... Slaytor cackles and points at Zed, "Ya look like a little kid wearin' hand me downs!' Indeed, Zed's robe now hangs from him, not seeming to fit anymore. Zed smirks, "I could say the same for you Slay" ans he begins to squirm his way out of his robes, actually comfortable with the new shape he has taken, except for the new protrusion at the base of his forehead, which hangs up on his sodden clothing. Slaytor looks down at himself, "What the buck!" He pauses,"What the buck?.... What the buck!? Zed! Why the Hay cant I curse?!.... the Hay? Oh just kill me now" Slaytor got up on his feet, all four of them. Dawn blinks huge silver eyes at Slaytor and giggles, "You've got wings!" pointing with a hoof. Slaytor stands up, shaking his armored vest off his head. "I've got wings?" She glances down "I've got hooves?" Slaytor chuckles at Dawn "You've got a horn." Dawn shakes again cracking off the rest of her mud shell. " I've got a horn?" She Squees. "Sarge! Can you make us a mirror?" A sphere pops off her back, landing on the ground, It rolls around in front of her, the bottom half unfolded four legs, a wide head and a stubby tail behind it. the upper hemisphere seems to melt into a greenish hex pattern, and the drone blinks a tiny pair of eyes at it's mistress, before the shell stretches upward,becoming flat, smooth, and mirror reflective. "You're a turtle now?" Dawn's jaw drops. "Pets! come out! The other three spheres detach, two of them now from her flanks and one from the back of her neck. the smaller of the four floats over her head into view and it unfolds slowly into a beautiful bird with a long flowing tail and silvery red and pink feathers. She perches in Dawn's hair, who smiles, "Fifi you look fabulous!" Fifi chirrups and stretches out her wings. The other two drones take places on either side of Sarge and unfold as well, their size expanding as the nanites change in density, when the transformation process is complete The two drones resemble wickedly toothed and sharp edged wolves composed of wood, one being bluish silver, the other reddish silver, both of whom are wagging their tails as they pant up at Dawn. Slaytor pushes up to the mirror turtle and takes a look, "I'm a... pony? with wings, claws and a dragons tail...." he blinks, 'At least I still have my 'do'" He turns his head back and forth as he checks out his purple and black striped mowhawk and the webbed headfrills framing it. Sarge tilts his head at Slaytor, giving a slow blink, then turning back to Dawn, Who's taking in her appearrance, the horn is distinctly metallic, as if it were chromed. there are other patches of her that are metallic, including a silver triangle on her forehead and angular patches on her legs. She turns for a side view and blinks, "What's that?" She moves a bit to see it, "I have a tattoo now? A heart shaped fractal? OOh neat! it moves!" There are little blue and green ripples of energy seeming to flow from the center to the edges. Slaytor is also looking back at his new, oversized bat wings, "wait, I have one too." He turns around in a small circle trying to get a better view of it.... "Crossed rapiers.... I can dig it." Zed finally frees his head and joins the other two, " I remember this form from somwehere..." He actually looks like a grey Mini Clydesdale with a unicorn horn. His eyes are a pale blue that seem to shimmer with light of their own accord. He stands just a bit taller than both Slaytor and Dawn. His mark is a pair of alicorn silhouettes, one black and one white, brought together in the shape of a yin yang. Taurence has been watching all this and he chuckles, "Yall look like ya belong in the 'pink' aisle at Toy's R Us!" Slaytor examines his front feet, stubby fingers ending in sharp claws, "Yeah Moo Man, At least you still got hands." He reaches back and fumbles for one of his stun batons, Dropping it, "Faust!... Zed, Why cant I swear?" He looks at Zed with a blank expression. Zed shakes his head, his purple and white mane flowing, "Evidently This universe's morphogenic field has a language filter? I don't know all the answers" "Morph-a-who-sic? Slaytor fumbles with the baton before finding a position where he can get it between two fingers, lifting it up. Zed grins, "Ok you remember, about eight jumps back, We were all human. Taury hated it because he looked like he did before his change? It's like that now, but we're ponies..." "And you're under arrest in the name of Princess Luna!" a phalanx of dark ponies in darker armor charge into the room, surrounding them Slaytor grumbles, "Ah Horseapples!" Busted?"You're under arrest! put your weapons down! Control your animals!" The guards were looking fierce but nervous as Spot and Rover moved between the Guards and their mistress, growling, long jaws of sharp metal teeth bared. Slaytor shook his head, "First, Freaks in robes, now... Goth Soldier Ponies?" Dawn smirked, "And they look a lot like you." She gave a short whistle to Spot and Rover, "Easy puppies, We don't want trouble." Panting, they return to her sides, still watching the Lunar guards. Slaytor holsters his stunsticks and grumbles. "Is this the point where you explain why we're getting busted?" "Illegal summoning ritual, Under Practitioners law 34-B" Zed blinks in confusion, "I'm sorry officer, but that wasn't us." Slaytor smirks "The only part I saw of that guy was him circling the drain. Some kinda bird... thing." " A likely story... Just come quietly and we'll get this sorted out at the Ponyville precinct." Zed gives Slaytor a long look. Slaytor rolls his eyes, "Right, no funny business." The Lunar guards move to surround the group. Dawn flicks her mane out of her eyes before settling on her belly, "Cmon pups, Sarge" the three drones approach her and compress back down to their silver ball shapes, and reattach themselves to her harness. Fifi seems almost asleep, perched atop her head. There are surprised looks and some soft mutterring between the guards as they watched this. The Seargeant of the squad approaches them, "For our safety and yours, we need to place you in cuffs." Slaytor guffaws, "For our saftey? Ow! Hey! Watch it, Those are new!" He protests as a pegasi wrapped a heavy cloth belt around his midsection, securing his wings. The one lunar unicorn in the squad floats two thick dark metal rings over to Zed and Dawn, "hold still please." He gently settles the rings down onto Zed and Dawn's respective horns. Dawn giggles softly, "a Ring? think you're moving a little fast there? We haven't even gone out yet!" The unicorn blushes slightly, "Those are to keep you from using your magic." Taurence has to kneel in order for the guard to place a set of hoofcuffs around his wrists, behind his back, "Well Darn, I didn't get you anything." Once the guards are reassured they had the situation under control they led the four prisoners out of the crumbling ruins. A... bird? in the handDerpy is flying scared, the cockatrice's gaze couldn't quite line up with her offset eyes for the enchantment to work but it still has a wicked beak and nasty claws, and it's still hot on her tail. The lunar pegasi dive towards her, shields raised, She screams again and dives out of the way, rolling and getting tangled in some bushes. One of the pegasi catches the Cockatrice on the shield, bouncing him back and away. The cockatrice hisses and recovers, watching the two shields start to separate, unsure which to attack first. Behind the Cockatrice, a pair of rock-hewn hands reach out of the ground and grab the cockatrice by the legs and tail, dragging it mostly into the ground, leaving only it's head sticking out. The creature squawks in surprise. "Gotcha!" Taurence's head pops up out the ground, and he starts climbing out. The cockatrice hisses and glares at Taurence, it's eyes glowing red. Taurence feels some form of magic pushing at him. He grins "Aww c'mon now, that's not nice! You cain't stone an Earth Elemental, Least like that, anyway." Taurence digs in a pocket of his loose vest, emptying the contents of a small cloth bag into the pocket before bagging the creature's head. "Whew! It's ok to look now, yall." The guards peeked cautiously around their shields to see Taurence scooping the bag-headed bird creature out of the dirt. Taurence wraps an arm firmly around the Cockatrices wings, and holds it's feet together. The cockatrice struggles, tail flailing against Taurence's back, but gives up shortly, the arm around it is unyielding. "You hush now." Taurence smiles as he strokes the strange creature's neck. The brush flails about as the walleyed mare comes out of her hiding place. "How did you do that?" Taurence chuckles, "Long story...very long." He looks at her, "You have a friend?" Derpy shoots up in the air. "Yes, Berry! Is she ok?" Taurence closes his eyes a moment, "Yes and no. It's slowed, but not stopping." Derpy makes a beeline back the way she came, "Berry!!!!" Taurence nods and follows still carrying the offending Cockatrice. The Lunar pegasi glance at each other, shrug and start following. Mysterious RescuersMysterious Rescuers It's quiet in the Everfree forest, a soft breeze blows through the trees as the clouds drift by overhead, unfettered by pegasus magic. A lone cry echoes through the forest. "Yeeehaw!!!!" *Thoom* "C'mon! Ah thought flyin' horses'd be faster!" Taurence calls behind him. He lands in a crouch on a stone pillar, and leaps again, the bagged and terrified Cockatrice under one arm. The Night Guards are following along as well as they can, "How in Celestia's shining white flank is he doing that?" One pants to the other. *THOOM* - Slaytor looks bored as he scoots along, still hobbled by the leg irons, bracketed by Unicorn and earth pony Night Guards. suddenly he stops and quirks an eyebrow, "hey Number 5, 8 o' clock low, What's that?" 'Number 5' stops and looks back, "Oh, that's a Timberwolf... TIMBERWOLF!" he rears in panic. "Timber-wolf huh?" Slaytor smirks, shaking his head "Made out of wood, I bet. And I thought Bubble Dragons were the silliest things I've seen so far..." The guards gather together and face the beast with spears, and two more appear out of the mists. Slaytor sighs, "You gonna get me out of these stupid cuffs now?" - The night is fading, Celestia's sun is cresting over the mountains, beginning to push away the darkness. Zed rests before Berry Punch, Horn glowing and his hooves inscribing glowing runes in the air. "Relax, Berry. Calm your mind. Anxiety speeds the magic." He gazes into her eyes, "My friend will be here shortly." *thoom* "There he is now, as well as your friend. Sarge?" The turtle nods and the bubble flickers out seconds before Derpy bursts in through the bushes, skidding to a halt, "Berry? BERRY!" She leaps at the partially petrified pony. Dawn catches Derpy in a bubble of shimmering silver, "Easy, easy, You can't touch her yet." She takes a few steps back from the center of the clearing, pulling the encased pegasus with her. "INCOMING!" A wide stone rises from the grass just in time for Taurence to land. *THOOM!* Leaves flutter down, jarred loose from the impact and displaced air of the Minotaur's impact. The stone sinks back into the ground and he begins to gently stroke the Cockatrice's back "Easy there fella, Ah aint gonna hurt ya." The two Pegasi Guards arrive shortly after. Dawn sets Derpy on the grass next to her, giving her a reassuring smile. Pounding hooves can be heard approaching, then Slaytor and the rest of the Night Guards emerges from the brush into to the clearing, grinning, a few new scars marking his legs and neck. "I told you you shoulda taken those cuffs off sooner." Taurence tilts his head at Slaytor, "Dang Slay, What tried ta' eat you?" "Ran into some Timberwolves on the way here. Turns out spears and stun batons don't work well on magically animated wood monsters." He winks at the guards following him, "Flare grenades? Those work really well." Taurence chuckles. Turning to the newly arrived guards, he holds up the Cocatrice in his hands, somewhat calmed but thrashing it's dragon tail, the bag still over it's head. "Hey guys, wanna see my new pet?" The Guards bring up their shields. Zed rises, "Enough playing, Terry." he steps to one side, "Bring him over here." Taurence chuckles, heading over to Berry punch, a thin wall of shale coming up between himself and Berry and the rest of the ponies in the clearing. Berry sees him reach down and pull the cloth bag off the Cocatrice's head. She sqeals in fear as she sees the red glowing eyes. The fearsome draconic bird opens his mouth for a squawk, but it comes out as a hiss as Taurence gives him a squeeze, "Yall know what to do." He says softly to the creature. The Cocatrice slumps, then he glares at Berry, the glowing color of his eyes shifts to a green, and the red magic fades to green and flows off her like water. "Good boy" Taurence smiles and pets the Cockatrice again. He steps over into the bushes and sets the Draco-chicken down, "Now git on home." The Cockatrice is gone with a flap of it's wings, running away into the bushes. The wall comes down and Berry is pounce hugged by an overjoyed grey pegasus mare, "Oh Berry! I was so scared! Are you ok?" "I feel a little woozy..." Berry Punch stumbles to one side, running into and then leaning against one of Taurence's legs. Zed steps over and touches her again with his glowing horn, "Hmm.. Well, aside from the hangover, you should be fine. I sense no ill effects, but you may want to get some medical attention anyway." Taurence kneels in front of Berry with a grin, "Need a lift there darlin?" Berry smiles and plants her hooves on his shoulders, "My hero!" She kisses his cheek and then slides her legs around his neck. Taurence gently moves his arms underneath her and gently scoops her up off the ground. He steps forward and nods to Zed. Zed shares a quick look with the others in his team and turns back to the guards, "We're ready to go with you, officers." Everfree ExodusSergeant Ocher steps forward, "It's pretty clear we can't hold you if you don't want us to. For now though I request that you stay with the squad. Your actions seem to have no ill intent, so if you come peaceably, I will vouch for you." Derpy nods, "I trust them." Berry turns her head and faces the Guard, "Me too. I wouldn't be breathing if it weren't for them. That lousy gryphon who got us to go out there is responsible." Slaytor grimaces, "Too bad he went down the drain." Ocher blinks. "Down the drain?" Dawn picks up Sarge in her magic and sets him on her back. Sarge settles in and closes up, locking into place. "The gryphon they are talking about used magic to open a tear in space, also known as a wormhole. That wormhole was linked to something similar that was in the dimension we came from. The same gryphon escaped through the wormhole he summoned." "You're aliens? But you look like ponies!" Ocher looks confused. Zed nods, "One side effect of dimensional travel, foreign life forms have to synch up with the native frequency of the dimension they arrive in. It's a painful process, where the physiology changes to match the life forms already native. Basically anything that goes to another dimension transforms into something similar to a creature that already lives there. It seems Ponies are the primary higher life form in .... what do you call this place?" Ocher rubs his forehead, "You're in Equestria. And this is a lot to consider. I need to dispatch a message to the princesses as soon as possible. Let's get out of this cursed forest, and get to Ponyville." he about faces, "Night Guard! Form up! Doubletime!" The guards lead the way out of the forest, Derpy and the four following, Taurence carrying Berry Punch. Berry giggles and nuzzles into Taurence's neck giving it a squeeze with her forelegs, "Yer Kinda cute." Taurence blushes, "Ah appreciate that ma'am, but we should get you checked out at the hospital." Berry sighs softly and snuggles in. "This is nice." Slaytor snickers, "And I thought I had a way with the ladies." Taurence shoots him a glare. Dawn giggles. - The forest ends and the group steps out onto the pristine pastoral paradise that is Ponyville proper. The rising sun shines warmly on them and the rolling fields and forests that surround the town. Dawn smiles, "It's beautiful!" She looks around as she trots along. Fifi hops off Dawn's head, takes wing and glides into the air. Taurence smirks at Slaytor, "Wanna try flying, hothead? you got plenty of room for it now." Slaytor blinks, "Huh? Oh right I have wings... I guess that means I can fly...." he stretches out his wings, "Hey Ocher? Mind if I get some flying training with one of your air force?" Sgt Ocher blinks, "I suppose... "Bolt Cutter! Wind Shear! Front and Center!" The Pegasi guards come up, "Yes Sir!" "Give Mr. Grenade here some rudimentary flight instruction." Ocher points at Slaytor with a hoof. Bolt Cutter blinks. "You're serious." Ocher nods, "Absolutely... He's all yours. Show him the ropes." he winks. Understanding dawns and Bolt Cutter grins. "Ahh... Yes sir!" Slaytor approaches the two. "Ok let's go." The three separate from the group, Bolt talking to Slaytor as he stretches his wings and shows some basic exercises. Wind Shear on slaytor's other side. Zed approaches Ocher, "Are there books on local history, government and etiquette that we can study?" Ocher nods, "I need to send a report to Canterlot, and the Library has the fastest way to do that." Dawn perks, "Library?" Ochre nods, "I don't see any problem with going there as long as we are with you. But first we need to deliver Berry to Ponyville hospital" Derpy nods, "I'll stay with her." "Good." Ocher nods then barks out, "Troops! Ponyville hospital! Move out!" The group alters direction, angling toward a large white building near the edge of town. Tight SqueezeThey didnt have much time. The whole undersea base was about to break away from it's concrete pillars and sink to the bottom of the trench it was built over. "Whatever happened to 'We'll get this done quickly and get the hell out of here?' " Slaytor growled as he ran down the dimly red lit corridor, the alarm klaxon assaulting his ears. The squadron of insectoid drones chasing him wasn't helping his mood any as he kicked the double doors open into a slightly tilted chemical laboratory. He waded into seawater already flooding in from a damaged airlock, the level of the water slowly rising at an angle. "Goddammit Zed! I have some company to lose, but I should be there in 3 minutes." He frowns a moment as he listens to an inaudible voice. "Yeah, Yeah, Obi-wan, I get it." He ducks behind a the door of a large metal lab locker just before a cloud of needles embedded themselves in the door. "Too damn close" He pants. Slaytor takes a moment to scan the shelves.. grabbing two large full glass jugs and hurling then around his makeshift shield. As they fly toward the door they are tracked by the drones needle guns, the needles causing the glass to shatter in a seties of tiny explosions as the needles pierce their way through both the glass and the flammable liquid inside. The bottles more or less explode in a cloud of white mist. Slaytor pulls a flare out and strikes it, "This is the best they have?" He throws it after the bottles and drops to the floor, Covering his head with his arms, taking a deep breath, and holding it. The shining flare tumbled throught he air, meeting the mist wall and both exploded into a rolling cloud of flame. This did 2 things: It set off off the fire alarms and emergency doors slammed shut on a drone entering, cutting it in half, leaving only three that managed to make it through. 2. The sudden expenditure of oxygen in the room also caused a vaccuum, allowing the water level to rise rapidly, gushing in from the airlock. Slaytor picked himself up and climbed up onto one of the metal benches, running for a ventilation shaft in the ceiling to the lab. He ripped the grating out of the way, ducking as he heard a burst of needles buzzing by his head... he threw the grating at the drones as a distraction then pulled himself up into the shaft above. He clambered up a few feet then stopped, taking a deep breath... waiting as he heard robotic legs splashing as the remaining drones came towards his hiding place. His draconian face grinned as he pulled a nasty looking device from his bandoleer, gave it a soft kiss, then pulled the pin and dropped it into the flooding room... 3... 2... 1... There was a bright flash along with the crackling hum of electicity...then three rapid explosions as the remaining drones overloaded, the propulsive gas for the needlers detonating. Slaytor grinned to himself, "I have to thank her for that one" then he started climbing through the duct work, following his HUD map of the base towards the high energy research lab that was the goal. Cries in the nightAs they leave the ruins of the castle, crossing the rickety bridge headed For Ponyville, they hear a scream in the distance. Dawn looks into the forest as the magic containment ring disappears into her forehead. "Fifi! Locate!" Fifi lifts off from her perch atop Dawn's head, wrapping her claws around Dawns horn. Dawn braces her legs and a deep hum builds around her, with a flash of light the Phoenix launches into the air leaving a trail of pink flames and ionized air. Dawn relaxes a moment then a bubble screen appears around her head, displaying the visual feedback of the Phoenix drone. Another, slightly different scream cuts through the air and the bird spots a Grey pegasus mare flying away from a scaly... chicken? Slaytor points at the Lunar Sergeant, "Hey Guard number 1, What the buck is that?" "That's a cockatrice! If you look in it's eyes you turn to stone!" the Sergeant gestures with a hoof and 2 pegasi with shields launch into the air toward the scream. "And that's Sergeant Ocher to you!" "Stone? that's my department!" Taurance leaps into the air and dissappears into the ground as smooth as diving into water, the hoofcuffs that used to be on his wrists laying on the ground. The lunar stallion folowing Taurence backs up like his front hooves were on hot coals, his jaw hanging agape. Dawn tilts her head, "Fifi follow the path back" The display switches to thermal as Fifi follows a heat trial back to another pony, half turned to stone. The bubble screen pops as She turns to Zed, her Aqua eyes wide and shimmerring, "She needs us." "Yes." He looks at Slaytor, "Bring them to us." Slaytor nods, "Got it." Dawn's horn shoots out a shimmering silver cloud which attacks Zed's horn ring, removing it. Zed steps up next to Dawn and his horn glows, turning translucent crystalline blue, and with a pop of collapsing air the two are gone, leaving their hoofcuffs behind. The lunar guards pause for a beat, realizing they've just lost 3/4 of their captives and a half circle of spearpoints are leveled at Slaytor. "Freeze!" Slaytor gives a grim smile, "So it's like that?" "Don't bucking move!" He sighs, "Whatever. Not like I'm getting anywhere fast with these." he clanks his foreankle cuffs together. "They went this way." He turns and starts walking slowly in the same direction. "*growl* Stop!" Slaytor shakes his head, still hobbling forward. "You wanna stick me, then stick me. I'm going to help. You can either stallion up and join me, or sit there and look pretty." The guard gestures to the others, "Keep him surrounded!" , steam rising from the furious guard's nostrils "You're gonna see dungeon time for this!" "Of course I am!" Slaytor says with a dry chuckle, He looks over his shoulder, "We'd get there faster if you'd let me outta these things..." A light in the darknessSo Dark.... and cold..... Berry punch felt the numbness creeping up her back legs. Tears roll down her cheeks, "I'm so... sorry Pinchy.... Mommy's not going to make it home tonight....." She hung her head. "I wanted to watch my little Pinchy grow up." She takes a deep breath, "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!?" Silence.... Nothing..... She cant feel her forehooves, now.... A flickering of wings... A soulful chirrup catches her ears, She looks up and spots a phoenix peering down at her from a nearby tree branch. It's been said that Phoenixes are considered a sign of good luck... Berry choked back her tears and wished with all of her heart. "I wish I could hold my baby again" *POOF* Zed and Dawn touch down directly under Fifi. Dawn sets Sarge down "Force field, please." Zed steps over to Berry and his horn lights with magic. "Can you hear me?" He takes a deep breath and touches her neck with his horn The reddish spell effect crawling up her back pauses, even retreats slightly, then continues upward, now at a slower pace The metal tortise looks around quickly and a pale white half dome of energy flickers into being around the small clearing. Berry Punch blinks tearfully, looking at Zed with panicked but hopeful eyes, "Don't leave me. I'm scared." "I won't leave you."
Leap of faithShe loved her job. What exactly was her job? To know: everything. To be anywhere, and everywhere at the same time. How does she do it? Nanites, knit into a cohesive network, communicating by subspace in tightly encrypted bursts. The billions of nano machines that make up her body stored unimaginable amounts of data in tiny crystal cores. Each of her nanites can join with others and move independently of each other giving her much flexibility, infiltration was child's play. This is Dawn, or her 'superhero' name, Platinum. She was above it all and right in the middle of it, Her collective mind calmly watched the map as segments of the base wet red, indicating they were offline... most likely flooded with water or already broken off and tumbling into the trench. "Labs 3a through 2d are offline, flooded." she communicated to her teammates, in a zen state even as her body returned fire at the mercenary team that had them pinned down at the control console for the portal device. While she was highly effective on her own she had created four drones from her nanomaterial, giving them pet names and giving them animal forms that they can morph into, along with rudimentary personality programming. Her pets were doing well: Sarge, a defense drone, had covered the space with a heavy energy shield, and was assisting her with hacking the console. Spot and Rover are mobile turrets, providing cover fire from their micro-gun (Spot) and plasma rifle (Rover). White tracers and arcs of plasma were lighting up the computer consoles on both sides of the merc team, keeping them pinned down. Fifi, a stealth tracking and surveillance unit had been monitoring the comm channels and movements of their opponents, keeping her up to date of where everything was. "Zed! The boys are almost here!" She called to him. Zed, the grey draft horse, was sitting crosslegged before the portal itself, facing a wall of glowing rippling energy, scribing multicolored runes of light in the air before him, seeming blissfully unaware of the fight. A grenade bounced across the ground, landing near him, then it blinked out of existence for a quarter second. A horrified scream emerged from from the thower's throat before the flashbang he just threw went off in his hand, taking him and his team out of the fight temporarily. Taurence, a minotaur apparently made of rough brown stone, came running up the corridor, followed by Slaytor. Taurence bowled over the remaining security team, charging through them like a linebacker. Slaytor, pulling three short handled rods from his hip holsters, flipping one over his shoulder and catching it with his tail. Each extended and unfolded metallic tines which crackled to life with electricity, dived into the stunned guards, a whirlwind of showering sparks and blunt head trauma. "Oh shit!" Slaytor yelled as the entire lab began to slowly lean to one side, "How the hell are we gonna get outta here?" Dawn whistled and her four pets came into formation around her, lifting and attaching to her armor. Zed smiled broadly, and stood up. "Through this." Taurence finished stuffing the last of the ko'd guards into a escape pod connected to the lab through another airlock. "Wait a minute, You want us to go through the portal that insane bastard planned to summon an eldritch abomination to conquer the planet with?" Dawn giggled softly as the armored faceplate and helmet ratcheted away, revealing a short silvery white muzzle, rounded ears and a long blonde head of hair, so pale as to be almost white. "His math was wrong." "Indeed." Zed smiled, "I have a good feeling about this." Taurence pushed the escape pod eject button with a wide finger then joined the rest, just as the lab shifted again, "Let's git goin then!" Zed nodded to Dawn, who activated the console, the rippling field became a rapidly descending vortex, swirling with both light and dark energies. "Ahh I hate this part!" Slaytor charges forward diving into the portal. Taurence follows shortly after. Zed beckons Dawn as loose furniture starts sliding toward the portal wall, She runs up and dives through. Zed rapidly inscribed a rune onto the floor before stepping through. The portal flickers and closes but not before a leather clad executive desk chair and a loaded tool cart come tumbling through. The base's pillars collapse, plunging the entire facility into the trench, numerous small implosions vent air as the base tumbles, finally breaking in half with a massive explosion.
Party CrashersChanting voices echo in the dark, Torches light a half circle surrounding a platform, where the moon shines through a crumbling window in the ancient ruins of the Royal Pony Sisters castle, deep in the everfree forest. The air crackled with magic that night as a half circle of chanting robed creatures: ponies, diamond dogs and changelings surrounded a hard eyed red gryphon in an elegant robe, standing upon the dais where Nightmare Moon met her end, exactly two years ago. The Dais now had a pentagram of candles laid out between glowing lines of force, and he was standing just before them. The Gryphon raised his forelaws to silence the group. "My Brothers and sisters, The stars are aligned, We rapidly approach the moment of our greatest victory. Nightmare Moon has come to me in my dreams and told me of a force that none can stand against, as well as the revival of her own glory! Soon The moon will be in place and We shall see our ancient mistress once more! Even now the clouds gather around us." "Excuse me!" One of the ponies raised a hoof. A walleyed blonde grey pegasus mare pushed her hood back. "The note on the bulletin board said there would be punch and muffins. Those are neither." She hoofpoints at the table against the wall, where a bowl of sickly glowing, bubbling, green liquid sat next to a tray of... things.... that must have been baked by someone who hated the very idea of muffins. There would be flies buzzing around the 'refreshments'.... if they werent all dead from the fumes, some of them slowly dissolving in the punchbowl. The pegasus grimaced and shook her head, "This the last time I answer a Crag's list ad. C'mon Berry. Let's go." She threw off the robe and started flying out, Followed by a wobbly purple earth pony mare, "Wow, thish 'theme party' shtinks." was her slurred comment. "You cant leave! The spell is almost comple-" *CRACKBOOM!* Lightning splits the sky as the moonlight fully bathes the pentagram in it's light. The surface of the floor seems to ripple and melt away becoming a deep twisting void. The Dogs whimper, huddling up, the tallest smacking another in the head, "Rocktooth! This is why I tell you Never trust Gryphons! They are just as crazy as ponies!" He's immediately silenced as a deep roaring sound starts coming from the hole in space. All eyes except for one (Derpy's) watched the mists begin emerging from the hole, and the grypon moved quickly to capitalize, He leaned over the lip of the vortex, peering down into it. "Yes my mistress, Show me, Show them all What you're capable of!" *Whoosh CLANG!* The Griffon has a poleaxed look to him as the wrench that flew out of the hole met his beak at a rapid clip, spinning him around in a circle. He picked up the wrench in a claw... "Wha-" *Whoosh Whoosh WHACK!* The office chair flew up out of the floor hole and described a lazy tumbling arc through the air, landing squarely upon the gryphon's head. *Whoosh whoosh woosh CLANG CLATTER* The spinning tool cart flew up and out of the hole, the drawers on it opening and scattering wrenches, screwdrivers, hammers, sockets and other gear in a broad spray, peppering the walls and the other attendees with high speed chunks of metal. That ended all pretense and the half circle turned into a mad dash for the exits. The groaning gryphon pushed the chair away just in time to read the words stamped into the side of the tool cart, just before it too landed on him. Yelling could now be heard from the tube, and suddenly the black and grey draconic figure pops out of the tunnel. "This is why I hate this part!" he yells as he draws a gun from his side and shoots it at the ceiling, a thin cable trailing from it to the hook, which punches through the ceiling above. His upward momentum ceases and he hangs there looking down into the hole. "A floor portal? What kind of jackass makes a floor portal?!" He sees a flash of grey and white and takes the cord by his footclaws, hanging upside down with his hands open. Soon enough Dawn shoots out of the hole with a little squeal, catching Slaytor's hands. He swings her back and forth and she leaps away to the side of the portal, landing nimbly. Zed emerges after a moment, Grabbing Slaytor's hands, and swinging free too, He lands roughly and collapses to the floor. Slaytor glances back down "no, No NONONONONO!!" He yells as as the massive brown Minotaur shoots out of the warp like a cork from a bottle, smacking into Slaytor and smashing him against the celing, which fails, collapsing as the teammates plunge towards the gaping vortex again. Taruence spreads out his arms and legs wide and catches himself on the lips of the hole, knocking some of the candles aside, the lines of murky light fade as the circle is disturbed. "NO! It's all lost! Take me with you My Mistress!" The red gryphon dives for the vortex, dissappearring into it with a high pitch scream. The vortex fades, returning itself to the stone floor it was before all this began. Finally all is silent except for groaning bodies and the clatter of hooves and feet running like the fires of tartarus were after them.
You've got wings!"What is it with cultists and portals?" Slaytor groans as he pushes a shatterred slab of stone from his chest, rolling off Taurence's back and standing up with a painful sounding series of pops and cracks coming from his chest and back. After a moment, he continues "Seriously, the last three times, It's been cultists or mad scientists, How about something new for a change?!" Zed groans, rolling to his side, then sitting up and taking a zen position. "Agghh... My joints are on fire." Slaytor drops to his knees next to Zed, "Me too, what is it?" Dawn crawls close to the other two, "I think we're being translated into the local frequency... Rewritten.... " "The magic here runs rampant... I felt it changing me..." He grimaces and pushes his mane out of his face, "Ahh I understand. This dimension has a differrent morphogenic field.... We need to synch up, and that may be painful. Taurence! We need a regen bath, right here, I want to be numb for this." Taurence nods and settles in next to them forming a rough square, which sinks down into the stone of the floor, till his chest is even with the floor. a soft rumbling and thick rich brown mud begins seeping through the cracks of the stones, filling the newly formed basin with hot, soothing mud. Dawn sighs and leans back against the wall of the tub, "Oh that's better, I -oh!" Already the changes are starting as Slaytor, Dawn and Zed's bodies are reformed according to the patterns of the world. Bones shift and reshape under the mud, even Taurence seems to be shrinking somewhat from his ten foot stature to around six feet tall. Slaytor growls as he feels his jaw moving and he dunks his head under the mud surface as the changes continue, the hot dense mud numbing the pain of transition.... Zed looks up, eyes glowing a bright blue-white and reaches for his forehead, feeling a bump growing and increasing in length, a spike of pain driving straight through his skull, He takes a deep breath and submerges his head. Shorlty afterward, Dawn does the same, wincing in pain. Taurence grimaces as his features shift, a lot slimmer and less bulky but still a minotaur. The duration of the healing mud effect ends, and it receeds, leaving the four of them coated in a rapidly drying shell of mud, Taurence twists back and forth and then stands, pieces of the mud shell breaking away from his brown fur. "Ahh I feel much better." Slaytor, Zed and Dawn sit up, shaking themselves bodily as they break out of their mud shells... and pause to stare at each other..... Slaytor cackles and points at Zed, "Ya look like a little kid wearin' hand me downs!' Indeed, Zed's robe now hangs from him, not seeming to fit anymore. Zed smirks, "I could say the same for you Slay" ans he begins to squirm his way out of his robes, actually comfortable with the new shape he has taken, except for the new protrusion at the base of his forehead, which hangs up on his sodden clothing. Slaytor looks down at himself, "What the buck!" He pauses,"What the buck?.... What the buck!? Zed! Why the Hay cant I curse?!.... the Hay? Oh just kill me now" Slaytor got up on his feet, all four of them. Dawn blinks huge silver eyes at Slaytor and giggles, "You've got wings!" pointing with a hoof. Slaytor stands up, shaking his armored vest off his head. "I've got wings?" She glances down "I've got hooves?" Slaytor chuckles at Dawn "You've got a horn." Dawn shakes again cracking off the rest of her mud shell. " I've got a horn?" She Squees. "Sarge! Can you make us a mirror?" A sphere pops off her back, landing on the ground, It rolls around in front of her, the bottom half unfolded four legs, a wide head and a stubby tail behind it. the upper hemisphere seems to melt into a greenish hex pattern, and the drone blinks a tiny pair of eyes at it's mistress, before the shell stretches upward,becoming flat, smooth, and mirror reflective. "You're a turtle now?" Dawn's jaw drops. "Pets! come out! The other three spheres detach, two of them now from her flanks and one from the back of her neck. the smaller of the four floats over her head into view and it unfolds slowly into a beautiful bird with a long flowing tail and silvery red and pink feathers. She perches in Dawn's hair, who smiles, "Fifi you look fabulous!" Fifi chirrups and stretches out her wings. The other two drones take places on either side of Sarge and unfold as well, their size expanding as the nanites change in density, when the transformation process is complete The two drones resemble wickedly toothed and sharp edged wolves composed of wood, one being bluish silver, the other reddish silver, both of whom are wagging their tails as they pant up at Dawn. Slaytor pushes up to the mirror turtle and takes a look, "I'm a... pony? with wings, claws and a dragons tail...." he blinks, 'At least I still have my 'do'" He turns his head back and forth as he checks out his purple and black striped mowhawk and the webbed headfrills framing it. Sarge tilts his head at Slaytor, giving a slow blink, then turning back to Dawn, Who's taking in her appearrance, the horn is distinctly metallic, as if it were chromed. there are other patches of her that are metallic, including a silver triangle on her forehead and angular patches on her legs. She turns for a side view and blinks, "What's that?" She moves a bit to see it, "I have a tattoo now? A heart shaped fractal? OOh neat! it moves!" There are little blue and green ripples of energy seeming to flow from the center to the edges. Slaytor is also looking back at his new, oversized bat wings, "wait, I have one too." He turns around in a small circle trying to get a better view of it.... "Crossed rapiers.... I can dig it." Zed finally frees his head and joins the other two, " I remember this form from somwehere..." He actually looks like a grey Mini Clydesdale with a unicorn horn. His eyes are a pale blue that seem to shimmer with light of their own accord. He stands just a bit taller than both Slaytor and Dawn. His mark is a pair of alicorn silhouettes, one black and one white, brought together in the shape of a yin yang. Taurence has been watching all this and he chuckles, "Yall look like ya belong in the 'pink' aisle at Toy's R Us!" Slaytor examines his front feet, stubby fingers ending in sharp claws, "Yeah Moo Man, At least you still got hands." He reaches back and fumbles for one of his stun batons, Dropping it, "Faust!... Zed, Why cant I swear?" He looks at Zed with a blank expression. Zed shakes his head, his purple and white mane flowing, "Evidently This universe's morphogenic field has a language filter? I don't know all the answers" "Morph-a-who-sic? Slaytor fumbles with the baton before finding a position where he can get it between two fingers, lifting it up. Zed grins, "Ok you remember, about eight jumps back, We were all human. Taury hated it because he looked like he did before his change? It's like that now, but we're ponies..." "And you're under arrest in the name of Princess Luna!" a phalanx of dark ponies in darker armor charge into the room, surrounding them Slaytor grumbles, "Ah Horseapples!"
Busted?"You're under arrest! put your weapons down! Control your animals!" The guards were looking fierce but nervous as Spot and Rover moved between the Guards and their mistress, growling, long jaws of sharp metal teeth bared. Slaytor shook his head, "First, Freaks in robes, now... Goth Soldier Ponies?" Dawn smirked, "And they look a lot like you." She gave a short whistle to Spot and Rover, "Easy puppies, We don't want trouble." Panting, they return to her sides, still watching the Lunar guards. Slaytor holsters his stunsticks and grumbles. "Is this the point where you explain why we're getting busted?" "Illegal summoning ritual, Under Practitioners law 34-B" Zed blinks in confusion, "I'm sorry officer, but that wasn't us." Slaytor smirks "The only part I saw of that guy was him circling the drain. Some kinda bird... thing." " A likely story... Just come quietly and we'll get this sorted out at the Ponyville precinct." Zed gives Slaytor a long look. Slaytor rolls his eyes, "Right, no funny business." The Lunar guards move to surround the group. Dawn flicks her mane out of her eyes before settling on her belly, "Cmon pups, Sarge" the three drones approach her and compress back down to their silver ball shapes, and reattach themselves to her harness. Fifi seems almost asleep, perched atop her head. There are surprised looks and some soft mutterring between the guards as they watched this. The Seargeant of the squad approaches them, "For our safety and yours, we need to place you in cuffs." Slaytor guffaws, "For our saftey? Ow! Hey! Watch it, Those are new!" He protests as a pegasi wrapped a heavy cloth belt around his midsection, securing his wings. The one lunar unicorn in the squad floats two thick dark metal rings over to Zed and Dawn, "hold still please." He gently settles the rings down onto Zed and Dawn's respective horns. Dawn giggles softly, "a Ring? think you're moving a little fast there? We haven't even gone out yet!" The unicorn blushes slightly, "Those are to keep you from using your magic." Taurence has to kneel in order for the guard to place a set of hoofcuffs around his wrists, behind his back, "Well Darn, I didn't get you anything." Once the guards are reassured they had the situation under control they led the four prisoners out of the crumbling ruins.
A... bird? in the handDerpy is flying scared, the cockatrice's gaze couldn't quite line up with her offset eyes for the enchantment to work but it still has a wicked beak and nasty claws, and it's still hot on her tail. The lunar pegasi dive towards her, shields raised, She screams again and dives out of the way, rolling and getting tangled in some bushes. One of the pegasi catches the Cockatrice on the shield, bouncing him back and away. The cockatrice hisses and recovers, watching the two shields start to separate, unsure which to attack first. Behind the Cockatrice, a pair of rock-hewn hands reach out of the ground and grab the cockatrice by the legs and tail, dragging it mostly into the ground, leaving only it's head sticking out. The creature squawks in surprise. "Gotcha!" Taurence's head pops up out the ground, and he starts climbing out. The cockatrice hisses and glares at Taurence, it's eyes glowing red. Taurence feels some form of magic pushing at him. He grins "Aww c'mon now, that's not nice! You cain't stone an Earth Elemental, Least like that, anyway." Taurence digs in a pocket of his loose vest, emptying the contents of a small cloth bag into the pocket before bagging the creature's head. "Whew! It's ok to look now, yall." The guards peeked cautiously around their shields to see Taurence scooping the bag-headed bird creature out of the dirt. Taurence wraps an arm firmly around the Cockatrices wings, and holds it's feet together. The cockatrice struggles, tail flailing against Taurence's back, but gives up shortly, the arm around it is unyielding. "You hush now." Taurence smiles as he strokes the strange creature's neck. The brush flails about as the walleyed mare comes out of her hiding place. "How did you do that?" Taurence chuckles, "Long story...very long." He looks at her, "You have a friend?" Derpy shoots up in the air. "Yes, Berry! Is she ok?" Taurence closes his eyes a moment, "Yes and no. It's slowed, but not stopping." Derpy makes a beeline back the way she came, "Berry!!!!" Taurence nods and follows still carrying the offending Cockatrice. The Lunar pegasi glance at each other, shrug and start following.
Mysterious RescuersMysterious Rescuers It's quiet in the Everfree forest, a soft breeze blows through the trees as the clouds drift by overhead, unfettered by pegasus magic. A lone cry echoes through the forest. "Yeeehaw!!!!" *Thoom* "C'mon! Ah thought flyin' horses'd be faster!" Taurence calls behind him. He lands in a crouch on a stone pillar, and leaps again, the bagged and terrified Cockatrice under one arm. The Night Guards are following along as well as they can, "How in Celestia's shining white flank is he doing that?" One pants to the other. *THOOM* - Slaytor looks bored as he scoots along, still hobbled by the leg irons, bracketed by Unicorn and earth pony Night Guards. suddenly he stops and quirks an eyebrow, "hey Number 5, 8 o' clock low, What's that?" 'Number 5' stops and looks back, "Oh, that's a Timberwolf... TIMBERWOLF!" he rears in panic. "Timber-wolf huh?" Slaytor smirks, shaking his head "Made out of wood, I bet. And I thought Bubble Dragons were the silliest things I've seen so far..." The guards gather together and face the beast with spears, and two more appear out of the mists. Slaytor sighs, "You gonna get me out of these stupid cuffs now?" - The night is fading, Celestia's sun is cresting over the mountains, beginning to push away the darkness. Zed rests before Berry Punch, Horn glowing and his hooves inscribing glowing runes in the air. "Relax, Berry. Calm your mind. Anxiety speeds the magic." He gazes into her eyes, "My friend will be here shortly." *thoom* "There he is now, as well as your friend. Sarge?" The turtle nods and the bubble flickers out seconds before Derpy bursts in through the bushes, skidding to a halt, "Berry? BERRY!" She leaps at the partially petrified pony. Dawn catches Derpy in a bubble of shimmering silver, "Easy, easy, You can't touch her yet." She takes a few steps back from the center of the clearing, pulling the encased pegasus with her. "INCOMING!" A wide stone rises from the grass just in time for Taurence to land. *THOOM!* Leaves flutter down, jarred loose from the impact and displaced air of the Minotaur's impact. The stone sinks back into the ground and he begins to gently stroke the Cockatrice's back "Easy there fella, Ah aint gonna hurt ya." The two Pegasi Guards arrive shortly after. Dawn sets Derpy on the grass next to her, giving her a reassuring smile. Pounding hooves can be heard approaching, then Slaytor and the rest of the Night Guards emerges from the brush into to the clearing, grinning, a few new scars marking his legs and neck. "I told you you shoulda taken those cuffs off sooner." Taurence tilts his head at Slaytor, "Dang Slay, What tried ta' eat you?" "Ran into some Timberwolves on the way here. Turns out spears and stun batons don't work well on magically animated wood monsters." He winks at the guards following him, "Flare grenades? Those work really well." Taurence chuckles. Turning to the newly arrived guards, he holds up the Cocatrice in his hands, somewhat calmed but thrashing it's dragon tail, the bag still over it's head. "Hey guys, wanna see my new pet?" The Guards bring up their shields. Zed rises, "Enough playing, Terry." he steps to one side, "Bring him over here." Taurence chuckles, heading over to Berry punch, a thin wall of shale coming up between himself and Berry and the rest of the ponies in the clearing. Berry sees him reach down and pull the cloth bag off the Cocatrice's head. She sqeals in fear as she sees the red glowing eyes. The fearsome draconic bird opens his mouth for a squawk, but it comes out as a hiss as Taurence gives him a squeeze, "Yall know what to do." He says softly to the creature. The Cocatrice slumps, then he glares at Berry, the glowing color of his eyes shifts to a green, and the red magic fades to green and flows off her like water. "Good boy" Taurence smiles and pets the Cockatrice again. He steps over into the bushes and sets the Draco-chicken down, "Now git on home." The Cockatrice is gone with a flap of it's wings, running away into the bushes. The wall comes down and Berry is pounce hugged by an overjoyed grey pegasus mare, "Oh Berry! I was so scared! Are you ok?" "I feel a little woozy..." Berry Punch stumbles to one side, running into and then leaning against one of Taurence's legs. Zed steps over and touches her again with his glowing horn, "Hmm.. Well, aside from the hangover, you should be fine. I sense no ill effects, but you may want to get some medical attention anyway." Taurence kneels in front of Berry with a grin, "Need a lift there darlin?" Berry smiles and plants her hooves on his shoulders, "My hero!" She kisses his cheek and then slides her legs around his neck. Taurence gently moves his arms underneath her and gently scoops her up off the ground. He steps forward and nods to Zed. Zed shares a quick look with the others in his team and turns back to the guards, "We're ready to go with you, officers."
Everfree ExodusSergeant Ocher steps forward, "It's pretty clear we can't hold you if you don't want us to. For now though I request that you stay with the squad. Your actions seem to have no ill intent, so if you come peaceably, I will vouch for you." Derpy nods, "I trust them." Berry turns her head and faces the Guard, "Me too. I wouldn't be breathing if it weren't for them. That lousy gryphon who got us to go out there is responsible." Slaytor grimaces, "Too bad he went down the drain." Ocher blinks. "Down the drain?" Dawn picks up Sarge in her magic and sets him on her back. Sarge settles in and closes up, locking into place. "The gryphon they are talking about used magic to open a tear in space, also known as a wormhole. That wormhole was linked to something similar that was in the dimension we came from. The same gryphon escaped through the wormhole he summoned." "You're aliens? But you look like ponies!" Ocher looks confused. Zed nods, "One side effect of dimensional travel, foreign life forms have to synch up with the native frequency of the dimension they arrive in. It's a painful process, where the physiology changes to match the life forms already native. Basically anything that goes to another dimension transforms into something similar to a creature that already lives there. It seems Ponies are the primary higher life form in .... what do you call this place?" Ocher rubs his forehead, "You're in Equestria. And this is a lot to consider. I need to dispatch a message to the princesses as soon as possible. Let's get out of this cursed forest, and get to Ponyville." he about faces, "Night Guard! Form up! Doubletime!" The guards lead the way out of the forest, Derpy and the four following, Taurence carrying Berry Punch. Berry giggles and nuzzles into Taurence's neck giving it a squeeze with her forelegs, "Yer Kinda cute." Taurence blushes, "Ah appreciate that ma'am, but we should get you checked out at the hospital." Berry sighs softly and snuggles in. "This is nice." Slaytor snickers, "And I thought I had a way with the ladies." Taurence shoots him a glare. Dawn giggles. - The forest ends and the group steps out onto the pristine pastoral paradise that is Ponyville proper. The rising sun shines warmly on them and the rolling fields and forests that surround the town. Dawn smiles, "It's beautiful!" She looks around as she trots along. Fifi hops off Dawn's head, takes wing and glides into the air. Taurence smirks at Slaytor, "Wanna try flying, hothead? you got plenty of room for it now." Slaytor blinks, "Huh? Oh right I have wings... I guess that means I can fly...." he stretches out his wings, "Hey Ocher? Mind if I get some flying training with one of your air force?" Sgt Ocher blinks, "I suppose... "Bolt Cutter! Wind Shear! Front and Center!" The Pegasi guards come up, "Yes Sir!" "Give Mr. Grenade here some rudimentary flight instruction." Ocher points at Slaytor with a hoof. Bolt Cutter blinks. "You're serious." Ocher nods, "Absolutely... He's all yours. Show him the ropes." he winks. Understanding dawns and Bolt Cutter grins. "Ahh... Yes sir!" Slaytor approaches the two. "Ok let's go." The three separate from the group, Bolt talking to Slaytor as he stretches his wings and shows some basic exercises. Wind Shear on slaytor's other side. Zed approaches Ocher, "Are there books on local history, government and etiquette that we can study?" Ocher nods, "I need to send a report to Canterlot, and the Library has the fastest way to do that." Dawn perks, "Library?" Ochre nods, "I don't see any problem with going there as long as we are with you. But first we need to deliver Berry to Ponyville hospital" Derpy nods, "I'll stay with her." "Good." Ocher nods then barks out, "Troops! Ponyville hospital! Move out!" The group alters direction, angling toward a large white building near the edge of town.
Tight SqueezeThey didnt have much time. The whole undersea base was about to break away from it's concrete pillars and sink to the bottom of the trench it was built over. "Whatever happened to 'We'll get this done quickly and get the hell out of here?' " Slaytor growled as he ran down the dimly red lit corridor, the alarm klaxon assaulting his ears. The squadron of insectoid drones chasing him wasn't helping his mood any as he kicked the double doors open into a slightly tilted chemical laboratory. He waded into seawater already flooding in from a damaged airlock, the level of the water slowly rising at an angle. "Goddammit Zed! I have some company to lose, but I should be there in 3 minutes." He frowns a moment as he listens to an inaudible voice. "Yeah, Yeah, Obi-wan, I get it." He ducks behind a the door of a large metal lab locker just before a cloud of needles embedded themselves in the door. "Too damn close" He pants. Slaytor takes a moment to scan the shelves.. grabbing two large full glass jugs and hurling then around his makeshift shield. As they fly toward the door they are tracked by the drones needle guns, the needles causing the glass to shatter in a seties of tiny explosions as the needles pierce their way through both the glass and the flammable liquid inside. The bottles more or less explode in a cloud of white mist. Slaytor pulls a flare out and strikes it, "This is the best they have?" He throws it after the bottles and drops to the floor, Covering his head with his arms, taking a deep breath, and holding it. The shining flare tumbled throught he air, meeting the mist wall and both exploded into a rolling cloud of flame. This did 2 things: It set off off the fire alarms and emergency doors slammed shut on a drone entering, cutting it in half, leaving only three that managed to make it through. 2. The sudden expenditure of oxygen in the room also caused a vaccuum, allowing the water level to rise rapidly, gushing in from the airlock. Slaytor picked himself up and climbed up onto one of the metal benches, running for a ventilation shaft in the ceiling to the lab. He ripped the grating out of the way, ducking as he heard a burst of needles buzzing by his head... he threw the grating at the drones as a distraction then pulled himself up into the shaft above. He clambered up a few feet then stopped, taking a deep breath... waiting as he heard robotic legs splashing as the remaining drones came towards his hiding place. His draconian face grinned as he pulled a nasty looking device from his bandoleer, gave it a soft kiss, then pulled the pin and dropped it into the flooding room... 3... 2... 1... There was a bright flash along with the crackling hum of electicity...then three rapid explosions as the remaining drones overloaded, the propulsive gas for the needlers detonating. Slaytor grinned to himself, "I have to thank her for that one" then he started climbing through the duct work, following his HUD map of the base towards the high energy research lab that was the goal.
Cries in the nightAs they leave the ruins of the castle, crossing the rickety bridge headed For Ponyville, they hear a scream in the distance. Dawn looks into the forest as the magic containment ring disappears into her forehead. "Fifi! Locate!" Fifi lifts off from her perch atop Dawn's head, wrapping her claws around Dawns horn. Dawn braces her legs and a deep hum builds around her, with a flash of light the Phoenix launches into the air leaving a trail of pink flames and ionized air. Dawn relaxes a moment then a bubble screen appears around her head, displaying the visual feedback of the Phoenix drone. Another, slightly different scream cuts through the air and the bird spots a Grey pegasus mare flying away from a scaly... chicken? Slaytor points at the Lunar Sergeant, "Hey Guard number 1, What the buck is that?" "That's a cockatrice! If you look in it's eyes you turn to stone!" the Sergeant gestures with a hoof and 2 pegasi with shields launch into the air toward the scream. "And that's Sergeant Ocher to you!" "Stone? that's my department!" Taurance leaps into the air and dissappears into the ground as smooth as diving into water, the hoofcuffs that used to be on his wrists laying on the ground. The lunar stallion folowing Taurence backs up like his front hooves were on hot coals, his jaw hanging agape. Dawn tilts her head, "Fifi follow the path back" The display switches to thermal as Fifi follows a heat trial back to another pony, half turned to stone. The bubble screen pops as She turns to Zed, her Aqua eyes wide and shimmerring, "She needs us." "Yes." He looks at Slaytor, "Bring them to us." Slaytor nods, "Got it." Dawn's horn shoots out a shimmering silver cloud which attacks Zed's horn ring, removing it. Zed steps up next to Dawn and his horn glows, turning translucent crystalline blue, and with a pop of collapsing air the two are gone, leaving their hoofcuffs behind. The lunar guards pause for a beat, realizing they've just lost 3/4 of their captives and a half circle of spearpoints are leveled at Slaytor. "Freeze!" Slaytor gives a grim smile, "So it's like that?" "Don't bucking move!" He sighs, "Whatever. Not like I'm getting anywhere fast with these." he clanks his foreankle cuffs together. "They went this way." He turns and starts walking slowly in the same direction. "*growl* Stop!" Slaytor shakes his head, still hobbling forward. "You wanna stick me, then stick me. I'm going to help. You can either stallion up and join me, or sit there and look pretty." The guard gestures to the others, "Keep him surrounded!" , steam rising from the furious guard's nostrils "You're gonna see dungeon time for this!" "Of course I am!" Slaytor says with a dry chuckle, He looks over his shoulder, "We'd get there faster if you'd let me outta these things..."
A light in the darknessSo Dark.... and cold..... Berry punch felt the numbness creeping up her back legs. Tears roll down her cheeks, "I'm so... sorry Pinchy.... Mommy's not going to make it home tonight....." She hung her head. "I wanted to watch my little Pinchy grow up." She takes a deep breath, "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME!?" Silence.... Nothing..... She cant feel her forehooves, now.... A flickering of wings... A soulful chirrup catches her ears, She looks up and spots a phoenix peering down at her from a nearby tree branch. It's been said that Phoenixes are considered a sign of good luck... Berry choked back her tears and wished with all of her heart. "I wish I could hold my baby again" *POOF* Zed and Dawn touch down directly under Fifi. Dawn sets Sarge down "Force field, please." Zed steps over to Berry and his horn lights with magic. "Can you hear me?" He takes a deep breath and touches her neck with his horn The reddish spell effect crawling up her back pauses, even retreats slightly, then continues upward, now at a slower pace The metal tortise looks around quickly and a pale white half dome of energy flickers into being around the small clearing. Berry Punch blinks tearfully, looking at Zed with panicked but hopeful eyes, "Don't leave me. I'm scared." "I won't leave you."
