I thought everyone in Canterlot having powers was terrible, but everyone turning to meta-monsters? That's worse. Twilight saw people into monsters while being perched from a building and then trapped two of them. "Not so, fast."

"What the beef, guys? You guys need a time out," Twilight exclaimed as Monica flew down.

"Shit, this isn't working Twilight, at the speed, the virus is spreading, we can't just bubble them one at a time. The city's going to tear itself apart before we make it past Crystal Prep. Besides, the meta-monsters are evolving it's only a matter of time before you monster out as well."

"Uh, the second stage probably progresses at different rates depending on the subject, so I'm lucky that I'm a late bloomer."

"Or you're not The Masked Matterhorn. As the first person with meta-powers, she was probably the monster out. I wonder which beast is her?"

"Who knows? But my real question where are the others? At times like this, you want your friends and family close by. Speaking of..." Twilight thought to herself. "I better check if my parents are okay. Maybe you should head back to Nexus. See if you help Starlight find a cure for Moondancer."

"No way, I'm going with you. I already lost track of my dad. I'm not losing you too."

"Thanks, Monica," As Twilight hitched on her flyer.

...

"No sign of monsters," Monica as they arrive at Twilight's home. "Maybe the outbreak hasn't reached here yet?"

"I hope your right," Twilight said then open the door. "Mom? Dad? Shinning? Spike? Anyone there?"

"Twilight? What's wrong dear?" Velvet was on the wall cleaning.

"Are you okay? I thought-"

"Never been able to reach that spot," Velvet exclaimed.

"You got powers too?" Monica asked her.

"Doesn't everyone?"

"That's sort of the problem."

"Oh, don't be such a worrywart. The house hasn't been this clean in months. It's actually kind of fun."

"That's great and all, but the problem is that people are turning into," Twilight tried to talk but her mom had turned into a meta-monster and attacked them. "Please, Mom. I know I forget to take the trash out sometimes, but it's no reason to eat us!"

"First my dad, Moondancer, now Ms. Velvet?" Monica asked as Twilight trapped her in a bubble. "This monster thing is seriously hitting close to home."

Velvet popped it and chased them.

"Let's hope that Starlight's having better luck finding a cure."

"I just hope we can stay in one piece until she does, look out!" Monica said as all three crashed outside of the house. "We lose her in the air."

Twilight and Monica avoided her in the air but that didn't stop her from trashing the flyer and soon both girls were surrounded by meta-monsters."

"Well, there goes the neighborhood," Twilight said seeing them then all of them left. "Was it something I said?"

"I wish," Monica looked at her pad. "Look. On, my Monster-Tracker. The monsters are all converging at one point. "

"We better find out where these guys are heading together and fast."

...

"These guys are sure in a hurry, " Monica said seeing all the monsters. "Where are they heading?"

"The Simon building!" Twilight said seeing it.

"First, Caleb-Monster goes AWOL."

"Then the entire horde of meta-monsters marches to Simon Tech? It can't be a coincidence."

"It has to be, Twi."

"Think about it, Caleb was the Stealth Matterhorn. He tried to poison the city. Now's he found some way to control these monsters."

"Yeah, I know you have issues with my dad?" Monica replied then saw him leading the others.

"Hate to say it, but your dad is totally the Meta-King," Twilight then the monsters came to them. "And I'm pretty sure she ordered his army to attack us."

"You like to play to the wire my friends," Starlight exclaimed before blasting them.

"Starlight, I'm so glad to see you. I thought you went monster by now," Twilight said.

"I synthesized a serum in the nick of time. It reserved my monster mutation but when Moondancer escaped she wrecked the remaining doses and any chance of testing it on her. Forunalrtey, there was still some left in the injector after used it on myself."

"I know the perfect subject, The Meta-King," Monica grabbed it.

"Monica, wait that's the only vial of meta0cure we have. Let's think this through!" Twilight stopped her.

"What are you doing? You said you'd help me save my dad, Twi. Now I've got the chance, you don't want me to take it?"

"Guys, enough!" Starlight grabbed the cure from Monica's hand.

"This isn't about just about the Simons anymore, Monica. It's about the whole damn city. We need a plan."

"I've got one! You said it yourself, Twilight. The way those monsters attacked us... my dad can control them."

Wait, you're saying Caleb's the one in charge of the monster squad?" Starlight asked.

"It looked like Caleb was communicating with the monsters before he sicced them on us."

"If reversed my dad's mutation maybe I can talk some sense into him. Get him to rein those monsters in until we can mass-produce Starlight's cure.

"That's a big maybe. Plus there's no way of knowing if Caleb will still have a psychic link to the monsters once he's not one. Are sure this is the best plan."

"I'm afraid it's the only plan at the moment."

"It'll work. I know you don't trust my dad, but I'm asking you to trust me."

"Yeah, but you're not doing it alone. We're a team remember?" Twilight reminded them both did the special handshake.

"Hate to ruin the moment. but how did you plan on getting close enough to inject Caleb? Simon Tech is literally crawling with monsters."

"We flush away," Twilight said having an idea.

"That's right follow the leader," Monica fired two rockets at them making the monsters to chase her.

"That's great!" Twilight said before she used Matterbomb on the ground creating a flood and washing them away.

"You guys go on, I handle the rest!" Starlight said.

"Be careful," Twilight as she and Monica went to the tower.

"Oh, man, talk about monster lair," Monica saw the place.

"Let's keep Caleb's helpers outside for now shall we?" Starlight caught up and created an energy barrier around the door.

Then Caleb dropped down and ran the other way.

"Come on, Caleb, be a good boy and take your medicine." All three went after him.

"I'm sorry for what I'm about to," Monica said then her flyer fired an electric blast at him but he fired an acid shot at it which send her down.

"Hey! Freakshow!" Twilight called him out. "How about picking on someone from your own genus?

Caleb went after she and Twilight fired her electric whip making him trip. "Monica, now!"

Monica took her chance and injected the cure into him.

"Is he okay?" Monica asked.

"He's okay, just sedated, but the change should've occurred by now," Starlight said as Twilight put something in their pocket.

" And if our theory was correct, with Caleb's unconscious, the monster should've stopped attacking," Twilight as the monsters tried to get in.

"Great, two failed theories."

"Crap, they breached the glass! I don't like saying it but these meta-monsters are a menace."

"Bring it on, I can fight these creeps all night," Starlight punched one.

"Starlight, stampede!"

"Never mind!"

"Sorry. No monsters allowed!" Monica closed the door and Twilight and Starlight sealed it.

"That should buy us some time," Twilight looked a saw more of them. "Above us!"

One of the monsters threw a piece of the building on Starlight.

"Monica, we've got to lead them away from Starlight."

"They must still be commuting with one another."

"But if Caleb's out cold, then who's controlling them?"

"The one who's the smartest one, of course, Vargas!" He exclaimed.

"Vargas!"

"So Caleb wasn't the Meta-King. He's just another one of your slaves."

"This was your plan all along, wasn't it, Stargazer? To have revenge? To ruin my family, my home, my city!"

"While I'd love to yes, that's not exactly the case. Caleb destroyed Crystal Prep and my clones. Even the meta-serum was vaporized by the explosion. But as luck would have it, by going airborne, the entire city was exposed to my serum. So, no things didn't go quite as planned. But thanks to your old man, the plan was improvised. A meta army, eight million strong and programmed to obey me."

"You won't get away with this!" Monica exclaimed as Vargas grabbed her and the meta-monsters trapped Twilight.

"But I already have. Just like him, always underestimate me. And now, I turned Caleb into my slave and do the same to you."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

"Dad?"

"Caleb? You should be under my control."

"The only person Caleb Simon answers to... is me!"

"You were better off dead, my friend," Vargas dropped Monica and slowly approached Caleb.

"My death was liberating, Stargazer. As you'll soon see!"

Caleb engaged him then Vargas threw him off.

"Can't Caleb with all these monsters defending Vargas."

"I can't fight without my flyer," Monica tried to use remote activation but it didn't work.

"Allow me," Twilight swift kicked the first one, then did a magic blast on two more.

"Your really good at this, Twi."

"I have been practicing karate a bit," Twilight said as Caleb tackled Vargas through a wall and knock him out.

"Dad!" Monica and Twilight ran to him. "So the serum did have an effect."

"Don't tell me this was an attempt at a cure, daughter. because I'm still stuck in the body. Was it?"

"Starlight did her best, dad."

"As always, Nexus's best is nowhere near the genius of Simon Academy."

"Like the geniuses, you hid in the secret lab?" Twilight spoke up. "Making up ways to neutralize The Masked Matterhorn and others?"

"I did nothing of the sort."

"No point denying it, Mr. Simon, because whatever you learned in that lab is probably our best of curing the virus, curing you."

"We came close to a method that could remove The Power Ponies' powers but a sample of their DNA it proved useless."

"What if we did get their DNA like say The Masked Matterhorn?"

"How? Neither she nor the others have been seen for days. There are probably meta-monsters by now."

"And besides, everything we created was destroyed when Vargas attack the Academy."

"But we still have what's left of Starlight's cure, so if we could mix denervate monster formula with the sample of Matterhorn's DNA..."

"It could result in a cure," Monica gave it thought.

"Monica, duck!" Twilight warned her as Vargas came from behind and attack them then attack Caleb but he pushed him off and chased after him.

"Get back here, Shadow."

"Monica, we need to be good!" Twilight grabbed her and both escaped the horde through a vent just as Vargas and Caleb took the battle outside then back inside as Vargas pinned him down.

"Dad!" Monica shouted and saw on the ground as Vargas grabbed a pillar.

Just as he was about to slam it on him, Twilight was surprised and kick him hard sending him out of the window.

"Is he okay?" Twilight asked while Monica held him.

"Barely, we're losing him. What are we going to do? He'll die if don't cure him. The only way he'll heal is with one of the Power Ponies' blood and none are here."

As Monica was about to show tears, Twilight knew she had no choice but to reveal her identity as The Masked Matterhorn.

"That's not true, Monica. The Matterhorn here's." Twilight said while putting on her suit. "She's been your side the whole time."

"What? How? All this time you were The Masked Matterhorn? Why didn't tell me?"

"I- I couldn't."

"You couldn't. Even when supecsted you were, you couldn't tell me the truth?"

"I'm sorry, I lied to you, I thought I was doing the right thing," Matterhorn said as she injected herself drawing blood from body and into the vial then injected into Caleb as he was turning to back to his normal self.

"Dad, you're alive!"

"He's out cold, but he should be alright," Matterhorn said then seeing Starlight slowly walking to them. "Starlight! Monica, give me hand."

"You were a fool, to come, Masked Matterhorn," Vargas said as came back up on two flying meta. "Considering your the key to it all."

The rest of the monsters got a hold on her.

"Monica, get Starlight and Caleb out here!" Matterhorn said.

"I will," Moinca grabbed her flyer and carried Starlight and Caleb out of there.

"I've got nothing to do with you, Vargas," Matterhorn said as Vargas stomps on her face.

"Don't be so naive, Matterhorn. You're the center of all this," Vargas carried. "I must confess, when you arrived on the scene months ago, I feared that Caleb had my confiscated meta-experiment to create his own army. But after witnessing you two fight, I realized you must have gotten your powers some other way. Came into direct contact with another artifact, perhaps?"

"Oh, no, I touched a magic geode at Simon Tech. It must've been part of your experiment," Matterhorn realizes it as drone was watching them. "I'm the first one."

"And only one whose blood can be used to create a cure. Which is why you must be eliminated, as well as the others."

"Filli-Second, Radiance, Mareveouls, Zapp, Saddle Rager?" She saw all of them strapped to the table.

"Yes, Matterhorn, all of them are sedated, secure, and not coming to your rescue. With this meta-human army under my command, Canterlot belongs to Vargas!"

To be continued...

Author's Note

So all this, Vargas was the mastermind of the outbreak and managed to capture our heroes, what will happen next find out in the finale of Meta-Island Arc.