Blood of the CHIMERA

Chapter 8 Christmas Reunion

I am dreaming... of a white Christmas, just like the one I used to know,

Sang the radio.

Snow began gently falling outside the window.

December 24____, 6:00 a.m.

Christmas Eve.

Fluttershy was just finishing her chores of feeding her pets and listening to the radio. To her surprise, it was still dark out; the sun wouldn't be up for another hour due to it being the dead of winter.

She was an early bird, always waking up at dawn to get a start on the day, even when she went to bed late. It wasn't easy trying to get up for her anymore since being part vampire bat now meant her body insisted on staying up at night.

Tired as she was, she had to get up today. She didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling something was going to happen. Bad or good, she didn't know. Just a strange intuition she got from time to time.

After her stubborn rabbit finally ate his food, she decided to check on Twilight. Twilight was a morning person too, or at least tried to be. The truth is, with so much stress on her, Twilight often stayed up in the late hours working on something—anything. Anything that would take her mind off of whatever was bothering her. And everyone knew what was bothering her.

She knocked on the door slightly, and when she got no answer, she opened it slightly and peeked her head in.

Fluttershy jumped back when she saw no one in her roommate's bed and rushed in to search. She immediately calmed down at the sound of the muffled snores.

She turned to Twilight's desk. Not her work desk but her project desk.

There was the device, the strange steampunk-esque device with pipes and circuits and dials all over, on top of a half dome-shaped object. It also had gauges and a cellphone screen for a monitor hooked up to it.

The question was, what was the device? Every time anyone, including Spike, asked what the machine was or what it did, Twilight shrugged and gave a non-answer or no answer at all.

"The answer to my problems," she would say in a dull tone. "Don't worry about it; it has nothing to do with the cure. Focus on what needs to be done; this is just a science fair project of mine from long ago."

That gave no answer to what it did, or why she continued to work on it after so many years.

Twilight, with a bit of drool on her arm, her head just above it with a screwdriver in her hoof and a pair of safety goggles on her head, was sleeping right beside the strange device that morning.

Fluttershy tapped on Twilight's shoulder to see if she would wake up, but to no avail. She probably was up all night working on whatever that machine was. Fluttershy decided to write down a note for Twilight instead and left it by her.

"Twilight, I went out to get some last-minute shopping done for the holidays. Be back before the party... Fluttershy."

After that, she left the room, grabbed a big warm green holiday coat, and pulled on a warm face mask that hid her muzzle from the icy air before she walked out wearing snow boots.

As soon as she got around the corner, she felt something grab her. She struggled at first, but with a hard hit to the head by something that felt like metal, she was out.

9:28

Twilight finally stirred awake in her room. She saw the little note left by Fluttershy and gave it no thought.

She got up with a stretch and walked out of the room with a yawn. The main apartment, while still having lots of science and pet stuff, was lightly decorated for the holiday.

Tinsel was carefully placed over the fireplace, the radio playing Christmas music, and a tree in the corner of the room next to the couch. It wasn't the largest tree ever, but then again, it wasn't that large of a place.

The tree had a mix of decorations, not all from Twilight's, but all her friends.

She made a bowl of cereal and sat down on the couch. Eating it, she enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere of her home. Her new home. Her new life with her friends.

She looked at the tree. Decorated with the finest silk ribbons from Rarity and a few country Santa cat decorations from AJ. The Santa cat wore red and white but had a cowboy hat on riding a bull. Trophy-shaped ornaments from Dash, a few dove and blue jay ornaments from Fluttershy, red and gold Christmas balls, and an eight-pointed star on top finishing the entire look.

The star was what she was focusing on the most. While it was great to see the combination of her friends on the Christmas tree, it was the star—her star—that only brought up the memories of the past. Memories that she would never want to forget, even if they now brought her sadness on the holidays.

She was a little filly, decorating the tree with her parents. Her mom, a dark purple mare with fiery hair, was humming a tune. Not a Christmas tune, but a tune she always hummed and used to sing to her children.

Twilight pulled out a red ball and walked over to the tree. "Carefully, Twilight, those are glass," her mother said softly.

"I know, Mom," she said, placing it on the tree. Her father walked in; he was a white stallion with blue hair. He only stood and watched as his family put together the tree. On a ladder fixing the candy canes was none other than her brother, who looked up and said, "Hi Dad."

"Looks like I got here just in time, huh?" he said as he set his files down.

"Oh hi, honey! We were hoping to surprise you by the time you got home," said Twilight's mother.

Just then, her brother slid down the ladder and went to open another box; he pulled out the tree topper. "Hey, sis, want to help me with Star?"

"Yeah," Twilight said excitedly. Her brother handed her the star and then lifted her up onto his back.

She was a little wobbly up there. "Oh, careful, you two," her mother scolded.

"We got it, we got it," Twilight said, putting the tree topper on the tree.

"Hurry up, Twilight, you're heavy," complained her brother.

"I am not; you're just weak," shouted Twilight back to him.

Their dad only laughed at the sight as he put his arm around their mother. Twilight then finally set the tree topper on the tree, finishing the decorations. The tree topper was the same star that sat on her tree today.

She sighed at the memory as she was brought back to the bleak present. Her family was gone now, but she did have Spike and her friends.

Something that her friend Applejack said chimed in her ear: "Yeah, I getcha. My parents passed away a few years back. While I have a large family, it's mostly just me, my little sis, and my big brother. It's never the same without the whole family, but…" Applejack walked over and flung an arm around her friend. "There's always room in your heart for more friends and family along the way. That's what my granny always told me, anyway."

Her friend was right, of course. While she missed her family, she had her friends.

Just then, Rarity walked in. "Hello, my friends. Are we ready for the best Christmas party ever?" she sang.

"Rarity, the party's not till tonight," Twilight told her.

Rarity smiled anyway. "Who is coming, anyway?" she asked.

"Well, you guys, my godmothers, and Spike. Just a little get-together before Christmas Day is all," she told her.

Rarity smiled. "I'm gonna miss my family this year. Normally I'd head back home to see my sister, but since I get wet and grow a fish tail, I think it's best I stay."

"Yeah, no doubt," Dash said, walking in, overhearing. "Me, Applejack, and Fluttershy all have the same issue. I never spent the holidays not going back to meet my family," she sighed, half sad, half happy.

"Well, we got each other," said AJ, who walked in after her; she had a bag of letters.

"Oh, uh, AJ, who are those for?" asked Twilight.

"Me, actually. I told you, my family's kinda big; these are all letters from my family members." She said as she opened the bag; Christmas cards fell out all over the counter. "This one from my sister, oh this one from my aunt and uncle. Oh, and this one," she said, grabbing a pink one that looked like a cupcake. "This one's from my cousin Pinkie."

"Oh yeah, I haven't seen Pinkie in forever," Dash asked.

"You know her?" asked Twi.

"Yeah, me and her are pranking buddies," Dash replied.

"Haha, you two used to terrorize Cloudsdale."

"That we sure did," Dash replied to AJ's comment.

"Believe it or not, she just turned 18 a few months ago, and she'll be starting school here next month. I'll let you meet her, Twi."

"Oh, that'd be nice. Someone my own age," she grinned.

"Yeah, but Twilight, let me tell ya, if anyone has energy, it's Pinkie," Dash smiled.

"Yeah, no one can keep up with her," AJ laughed.

"Well, she does sound like a fun one," Rarity chimed in.

"Fun? She's like the coolest," said Dash. "Right, Flutters?" Dash said, looking for Fluttershy.

"Oh, she went out for last-minute Christmas shopping," Twi told her.

"Well, as long as she'll be back for the party," Rarity sang.

Here’s your text with spelling, grammar, and punctuation corrections made while keeping your original wording and writing style intact:

Fluttershy slowly began to come to. She opened her eyes only to realize she could see nothing but the inside of a bag.

She panicked for a moment, and the bag thrashed around until she got the bag off her head. Her arms and legs were duct-taped together tightly. Unfortunately for her, whoever her kidnapper was, she was not an ordinary little mare; she was a mutant.

Her eyes immediately turned red with a yellow glow. She bared her teeth, which were actually fangs. Though she still wore her warm mask from earlier, with a loud hiss, she let her wings spread out, breaking through her cozy jacket. She quickly pulled her arms and legs apart, ripping the duct tape in an instant.

As she did so, the sound of a gunshot went off. Her eyes widened, but when she went to touch her neck, no blood was spilled; instead, it was a tranquilizer. She began to feel a bit woozy and collapsed as she saw some hooves walking up to her.

The next time she woke, she thrashed around but found herself locked up in chains.

"Easy, easy," said a male voice. Fluttershy looked up in the direction of the sound.

It wasn't too hard to figure out who he was. It was none other than Twilight's brother, except he had a robotic green eye.

"You're not the one I was aiming for."

Fluttershy jumped with a hiss but was held back by the chains.

"But you're definitely a chimera," he said, throwing his head back away from her.

"You're Twilight's brother, how could you?" Fluttershy gritted her teeth but then almost fell over; she barely caught herself.

"Easy, easy; that tranquilizer is still in your system."

"Why am I here?" she shouted.

"I wanted my sister; you were not the plan. Guess you're her roommate then. Surprising since I am the one who accidentally turned you into this. Um, sorry," he grinned innocently.

Fluttershy deadpanned, her eyes still filled with rage.

"So how is she? Is she doing okay?"

"She'd do a lot better if her brother wasn’t turning creatures into mutants."

"Believe it or not, this isn't what I intended to do with my life."

"So what now?" she asked.

"Now I am going to send a message to my sister using your phone and tell her to come. I'll set up a little trap for her and the rest of you freaks."

"Twilight is strong; you'll never beat her."

"Oh, I know about my sister’s strength. I know all too well what you chimera can do. Night-night," he said and shot her with another dart.

5:48

The party started in twelve minutes, yet everyone was already there, everyone except one person, that is.

Dash was lying on the couch, reading an airplane magazine. She flipped the page, but as she did so, she looked up at the clock...

"Uh, hey guys, does anyone know where Fluttershy is?" she asked.

"She said she was going to do some last-minute shopping earlier today," Twilight said, fetching her cup of hot chocolate.

"Well, don't you think it's odd of her to be so late and not call?" said Rarity, who was on her phone.

"Guys, she still has some time," said Spike. "Who wants another round of candy canes?" he cheered.

Applejack had a concerned look on her face, but it was Luna who assured her.

"Now I know you're all waiting for your friend, but I'm sure she's fine on this night."

"Did anyone try to call her?" asked Celestia.

"Twice," replied Dash.

Just then, Twilight's phone rang.

"And there she is," Celestia said, sounding wise.

Twilight smiled and picked up the phone.

"Hello, Twilight."

Twilight froze when she heard the voice.

Celestia was the first to notice and asked her what was wrong.

She said nothing as he continued to speak.

"Been a long time, hasn't it? All these years."

His voice was deeper, but it still held that hint of brotherly love in it; there was no mistake about who Twilight was talking to.

She put a hoof to her mouth, still frozen in fear. "How did you get this phone?" she asked.

"I borrowed it from your roommate; of course, she's taking a nap."

"What did you do with her?" she yelled furiously, struggling not to turn into a chimera in front of her godmother.

"Nothing; she's fine. You need to come pick her up at my place. Considering it's Christmas, I'd like to see you. We haven't seen each other in so long. I don't really have any decorations up, but I'm sure we can trade a few family stories for the holidays," he said with a sigh.

"Where are you?"

"I'm gonna text you the address, and come alone, ya got that?" He then hung up, and as he did, a text was sent to Twilight's phone.

"What happened? Who was that?" asked Celestia.

Twilight thought of something quick to tell the room.

"Uh, well, uh, Fluttershy's fine. She got hit by a car, yeah, a car; she's at the hospital waiting to come to the party. That was the nurse calling me. She told her to call me since we live at the same apartment."

She said with a nervous smile as the room gasped.

"Wow, ran over on Christmas Eve? That sucks," Spike commented.

"Oh, the poor dear! I'll drive you over," said Celestia.

"No, no, that—that's fine. Fluttershy said to start the party without her. She asked I come to pick her up. Umm, AJ, can I get some help getting ready to go for a sec?" she said, heading to her door.

"Uh, of course, but why me and not Rarity?"

"Because I need your help, come on!" Twilight deadpanned and walked into her room.

AJ turned to the crowd in the small apartment with a shrug and then headed inside the room, closing the door behind her...

"Twi, what's going on?" she asked as she walked over to her.

Twilight immediately ran to her chest on the floor where she kept her hero costume. "Shh, keep it down."

"My brother, he's, uh, alive and kidnapped Fluttershy."

"What!? Uh, I mean, what!?" she said in a more hushed tone than before.

"He wants me to meet him alone at this address he texted me. I'm gonna go get Fluttershy."

"Okay, I'll tell the team, and—"

"No, no, AJ, we got my godmothers here. It's why I told you and not the others. You gotta keep the party going and convince everyone that everything is alright." She said, finishing putting on her super suit.

"And what about you? What if it's a trap?"

"I..." She froze. "I don't know," she said, grabbing a large coat and placing it over her super suit.

"Twilight, this is your family, your brother, and—"

"I know!" she yelled in a quiet tone. She was frantic, jumping from one side of the room to the other getting ready. "I don't really know what I'm gonna do, AJ, when I find him, but Fluttershy is what's important now."

"Okay, but what if you need help?"

"If I don't come back in one hour, gather the team and come after me at this address." She quickly wrote something down on a piece of paper.

AJ took it and stuffed it in her back pocket. Twilight, now dressed for the winter with her super suit underneath, walked out of the room with a fake calm smile. She waved goodbye to everyone and headed out the door as quickly as she could without raising suspicion.

Twilight ran over to the south side of town. An old, decrepit apartment building with faulty wiring was standing in the rather dark shadow of the city.

Even though it should seem creepy, a sense of Christmas warmth could still be found in most of the windows along the apartment building; all but one. The top floor, third to the right, was as quiet and lifeless as a graveyard in winter.

It was here she knew her brother would be waiting for her. "Of course, it has to be the gloomy one," she muttered with an eye roll. Using her powers made for a nice walk as she slid down it. The dead of winter allowed her powers to match the season.

She quickly got to the roof of the building, planning to go through the fire escape to the window. She walked close to it, only for a gunshot to go off.

Twilight ducked just in time.

"That was a warning, chimera!" yelled an angry voice behind her. She looked up, and to her surprise, there he was.

She remembered his face so well. What was worse was the fact that not only did she recognize him; she saw her father— their father—in his face. A bright, happy young colt with a grin on his face, ready to be a good brother and help his little sister with the star, was now replaced with a wild blue mane, sickly pale skin, gritting his teeth, and an angry expression on his face. An eye patch covered his left eye. With a gun in hoof, he was wrapped up in a black coat that did nothing against the cold, icy wind. This was not the Shining Armor she remembered.

The colt studying to be in the military, just like his father. The colt that acted brotherly to her no matter what—only two years apart in age, they were always so close when they were little. Only seven years ago.

At the sight of him, she couldn't help but glare, her eyes burning red with a yellowish glow.

"And there it is," he deadpanned, raising the gun to her again.

"What's your game, brother?" she snarled.

"Game? I wish this was a game." He then moved downward, making Twilight step into a fighting stance.

He raised a hoof to stop her, which she did, waiting for his next move. She was expecting him to slowly lay the gun on the ground and walk toward her unarmed.

"Twilight, it's me," he said softly.

Twilight stood her ground.

"I'm here to help you; you need help."

"Help me? You turned my friends into chimera!"

"Trust me, if I didn't, something worse would have come to them..." he said as he kept his arms up. The look on his face was still not a trustworthy one, but a serious tone to it made Twilight want to understand more. So she let him speak.

"You're a chimera, as are all your friends. You need help; you need to turn yourselves in. Just come with me, and I'll escort you to the hospital."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Are you crazy? You want me to trust you after everything you did?"

"I don't want to hurt you, sis."

"Oh, that's rich. Who are you working for? Who is the antler and horn guy? Who did this to me?" She grew angrier and angrier. She began to shake with rage, her eyes glowing dangerously.

"Twilight, calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down!"

Shining took a step back, frightened by her.

"Tell me who is doing this, who is making the chimera, so I can stop him."

"You can't stop him, not in your condition. Leave that to me."

"Explain! Who is he?" she growled like a wild animal.

"Please, I'm only trying to help."

"You kidnapped my friend and turned my others into chimera!"

"Okay, okay; just calm down before you do something you'll regret again."

"Again?" she asked, still furious...

"You don't remember that night, do you?"

Twilight shook her head. "I remember a goat-horned pony and terrible laughter."

"Sister, that was you."

"Huh?" she said in disbelief.

"Seven years ago, it was the night of your science fair."

"You were trying to build a working model of a time machine based on Star Swirl designs and explanations. Though the machine never worked, you did get first place for being the youngest scientist to ever attempt such advanced science. The whole family was very proud of you that night. Walking home from a restaurant, we lived in the fanciest area of the city, thanks to our dad being a politician. Someone he was an associate of Mom and Dad wanted a meeting with them, and they refused because it was your big night. I remember overhearing something from them. He told her..."

"He's not one of us," said Twilight's father.

"But—" went the mother.

"You don't owe him anything."

"He only wants a meeting."

"Not tonight, not with..."

Just then, a shadowy figure walked up to them; he never stepped out of the shadow of the building, so Shining never got a good look at him. He was mostly paying attention to his sister, who was galloping around with her first-place ribbon.

"You know what? I'm going to finish this right now," said the father, and he marched off to the colt in the shadows.

The two began immediately arguing.

"Oh dear, Shiny, watch your sister, will you?" asked the mother in an annoyed tone.

"Okay, Mom," said a young Shining, who was holding his sister's science fair project that he helped put together.

"Um, Shiny, who is that?" asked the little filly.

"Beats me; I've never seen him," said her older brother.

Just then, while it was difficult to see in the dark shadows of the night, the three adults began fighting. The stranger with a hat on had something in his hand. Eventually, his hat was knocked off, revealing an antler and horn on top of his head.

"I'm only asking you for help, and this is the way you treat me," he chuckled darkly. "Typical, I suppose," he said with an evil grin.

"You give me no choice." Just then, Twilight decided she was going to be the voice of reason; she slipped over, not even realizing what the other colt had in his hand.

"No, Twilight, don't come over here!" shouted her father, making the little filly freeze in fear. Just then, a shot went off.

"Mommy!" she said and ran to her in fear of the loud noise, not realizing she was heading in its direction. Her mother screamed.

Then the bullet hit her, but was it a bullet? No.

Her dad was the first to run up to her.

"Twilight! Twilight! Oh God!" Twilight was crying. "It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay," he said as he looked over her. "Twilight, everything's gonna be okay, I promise."

"You shot her! You shot my daughter!"

Lightning crackled in the air as it began to rain. The creature stood up. "I was aiming for you," he punched her father.

None of the words registered with the little filly as she stood up. "Run, Twilight, run!" She saw her brother cry out. Crazy laughter filled the air as her father pleaded.

"Please stop this. Don't hurt them. Don't! I'll help you; just don't."

Hahahahahaha. The creature laughed, and it stood up, towering over all of them. Its eyes glowed a burning amber color. Lightning struck from the sky, giving a quick look at the creature. It had an antler on one side of the head and a goat horn on the other. It grinned and laughed again as it raised a gun sitting in an eagle claw. Twilight froze, not able to move as her mother shouted, "No! Twilight, run please, run!"

Just then, Shining got to her just as she collapsed to the ground. "Twily! Twily!" he shouted again and again. "Mom! Twily!"

Just then, Twilight grew bigger and stronger; a horn sprouted out of her head, and her eyes glowed furiously.

Shining didn't know what to do as the creature that was once his sister punched him in the face.

She jumped over, and both the creature and Shining watched in horror as the creature tore apart their father and most likely their mother.

He tried to stop her, but the creature turned around and stuck him in the eye. As he blacked out, the last thing he remembered was the blurry image of a claw over his face.

"So you see, sister, it was you— you who killed our parents because he mutated you."

Twilight then lost it. "NOOOOOOOOO!" she shouted. "NO, NO, NO! HE DID THIS!"

Twilight didn't realize her brother had a rifle on his arm. He shot a tranquilizer dart from it, and it hit her square in the arm.

She looked up and saw he had torn off his eye patch. He had a robotic eye in its place, most likely with a targeting computer.

She collapsed as he caught her. "Easy, easy. Don't worry, sis; I'm gonna get you some help, you and all your friends."

To his surprise, Twilight did not pass out. Instead, her eyes turned back to normal, with her horn retreating back into her forehead.

"You're not the bad guy here," she said softly, giving him a hug.

It surprised him at first, but he returned the gesture. "No, but I will get the bad guys so you don't have to."

"I'm sorry, brother, but no; I can't." She pushed him away gently.

"I know it seems crazy, but I know how to control my mutant powers. And so do my friends. We're trying to create a cure for all those who were turned, but I can't do that locked up."

"Twilight, this is..."

"I know. But you're gonna have to trust me on this. Besides, it's Christmas Eve." She set her head against his shoulder. "I'm so happy to have my big brother back. What a Christmas present this is," she choked and began to cry.

He put his arm around her and gave her a brotherly hug. "Remember all those times we decorated the tree together?"

"Yep, I do."

They then separated from the hug. "Where's Fluttershy?"

"Uh, she's knocked out. I had to give her a higher dosage, so she's gonna be out till tomorrow. Your friend’s quite the strong one." He nervously smiled.

She just shrugged and texted AJ.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure my friends don't come to kill you in avenger of me."

"Yeah, that would be helpful," he smirked.

"Well, this is some Christmas Eve, isn't it?" she said with an awkward smile. He only nodded as the snow fell over the top of them.

"Come on, let's go in. I have some hot chocolate, and I think we could catch Rudolf the Snowcat on TV."

She laughed at that. "Just like in old times." She stood up and looked over the city covered in a light blanket of snow.

"He's out there."

"Somewhere," she said.

Watching her carefully through a telescope was none other than an orange cat. He had an earpiece in and was talking into it.

"Boss, we have contact with the girl. What do you want to do?"

Down below in the shadows, sitting on a motorcycle, was Mr. Ghost, dressed in his trench coat and signature hat. "I knew it," he muttered back. "I recorded the whole thing."

"How do you want to proceed, sir?" asked Capper over the radio.

"Let them go," he sighed.

"What, sir?"

"Let them go; they hold no information," he said as he took out a family photo from his pocket and eyed it carefully. "They are of no use to us."

"Sir, the boy..." asked Capper in a concerned voice.

Mr. Ghost then pulled out a lighter and turned it on, illuminating his face in the dim light of the shadows.

"I'm cutting all ties with him; he's of no use to me."

Capper said nothing. He just stood up and put away his telescope.

With the radio off, Mr. Ghost then took the flame of the lighter and burned the family photo. Watching the mother carefully, he said, "Goodbye, Sparky." He said it emotionlessly. As the last of the image burned away, he uttered the words a bit grumpily, "Merry Christmas." He then drove away on his bike, leaving the ashes of the picture on the side of the road in the cold snow.