Author's Note

I wanted this to be longer, but I ran out of ideas, so... from now on, I'm dropping the 5,000 word thing and I'll try and make the episodes 4,000 to 6,000 words, depending on how much story there is to tell. That way I don't stretch something too thin or rush anything.

A New Tactic

Leather was resting in the bath, humming quietly to herself as she let the warm water soothe her. Suddenly, the door burst open and Lace ran in. "Twilight failed."

Leather sighed in annoyance at the interruption and slowly opened her eyes halfway. "Would it kill you to knock?"

"Did you hear what I said?"

"So, what? I'll give her a spanking when she gets back."

"That's the thing. She's missing."

Leather went wide-eyed and stood up. "What?!"

Venom crawled up the side of the apartment building and knocked on a window. Sunny opened it up and let the mare in before she closed the window.

"So," Sunny said with a smile as she turned to the busty mare. "She's dead?"

Venom nodded. "Yes. First, she was moving. Then, she wasn't."

"What happened?"

"Stupid pony drove off the road and crashed."

Sunny's smile faded. "Did you... see her die?"

Venom's smile faded, too. "Um... She crawled out of the car. When I went over to her, she went silent." Sunny went to sit on the bed with a long sigh. "A-Are you upset with me?!"

Sunny clasped her hands together and rested her lips on her fingers. "No. You hurt her?"

"Very much so, yes! There so much blood!"

Sunny smiled lightly. "At least she knows she can be beaten." The yellow mare then lay back on the bed. "Come on. Let's get some rest."

Venom took her suit off and pounced on top of the mare before her tongue began to lick at Sunny's mouth. The mare giggled and opened up to allow the tongue inside.

"Perhaps..." Dune said as she slowly got to his knees. "Well, come on... Take me in..." he said as Pinkamena and Bit came around the corner.

"I can't..." Twilight said as she started to pull the trigger ever so slightly.

"Twilight!" Pinks yelled. "Remember, you can't--"

BANG!

The brown stallion's body fell as the other two mares stared in shock. Twilight eyed them both before holstering her gun in her jacket.

"What?" Asked the purple mare, walking past them. "He pulled on me..."

Twilight stopped moving, eyes on the door. She could see Midnight standing outside with Pinkamena and Rainbow Dash. Images of Aqua and Tech flashed through her mind. How Tech's death affected Flora also ran through her mind. Letting out a shuddered breath, her grip tightened on her gun. Closing her eyes, she exhaled deeply and slowly before whipping around and aiming her gun. Without hesitation, she shot Tresemmé in the head.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, every inch of her body aching. She felt that she was in a bed and looked around. Her vision was still a little blurry but she could tell she was in Grove’s apartment.

"What..." she muttered as she tried to sit up.

"Whoa, there," came a familiar voice before Grove leaned in and gently pushed her back down. "Rest. You had it rough."

Twilight sighed and looked over at the wolf. "You came."

Grove smiled. "You called."

The unicorn closed her eyes. "I'm sorry. She could've still been there. And then you would've..."

"No one was there, Twilight. What happened?"

"It was crazy. First, I was robbing a bank with my invisibility spell... then the alarms went off and I ran outside where this... monster was. But she looked like a mare. With huge tits and a suit made of like... a living metal. She was so strong."

"For real?"

"Yes. She said her name was Venom. And she was sent by... by someone I knew in Ponytopolis."

"An enemy?"

"Not at first. I didn't know her. Remember that mare I shot?"

"Yeah, I think?"

"This mare loved her. And now she's pissed at me."

"So, what's the next move?" Grove asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. "

Twilight shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know if I can kill Venom. She's really strong. And if I kill Sunny, Venom will never leave me alone."

"Do all your options involve killing your opponent?"

The unicorn shook her head. "No. Before, it did, but... I think it might be time to try a new tactic."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just need you to drive me back to Leather and Lace. I need to tell them what happened."

"Of course," Grove said as she went to grab her keys.

Twilight and Grove pulled up to Leather and Lace's night club and disembarked the car. A mare with a gun greeted them at the door. "Parsnip," Twilight greeted. "I need to..." She stopped when the mare raised her gun. "What the..."

"One sec," Parsnip said as she pulled out her phone and dialed. She brought to her ear and waited for the call to be answered. "She's here. Okay." She then hung up and put her phone back in her pocket. "Please wait."

Twilight looked at Grove as they both just shrugged. The door suddenly opened as Leather stepped out. "Well well well. Here you are." She then noticed Grove. "Oh. You were with the mut."

"Whatever I fought the other day was strong. She almost killed me."

"Who?"

"There's a yellow unicorn named Sunny. She's got short turquoise hair, but... she isn't the problem. It's who she brought with her. This... thing. Venom. Well, she looks like a dark purple mare with huge tits, long black hair, completely white eyes, a loooooong tongue... and a metal suit made of some kind of living metal. She's very ignorant, but extremely loyal to Sunny."

"I see..." Leather muttered. "If you fought her again, do you think you'll be able to kill her?"

Twilight sighed and shrugged. "I don't know if killing is the best course of action with this one."

"Trust me, Twilight. Killing is the preferred option. Otherwise they could always return and stab you in the back."

"Maybe..." Twilight muttered, not sounding too sure.

"So, you say it's a yellow unicorn traveling with a purple mare with big tits and white eyes?"

"Yeah..."

Leather glanced over at Parsnip, who nodded and ran off. "Parsnip and her team will keep an eye out. When they're spotted..."

"I'll take care of it," Twilight finished.

Leather nodded. "You better. We can't have this Sunny and... Venom... ruin everything."

"I couldn't agree more.

"Good. Now, for the time being, rest up. I can't have you dying on me before Venom's found."

Twilight watched Leather head back inside before she looked at Grove. "Let's go wait in the car."

The timberwolf nodded. "Alright."

Twilight sat with Grove in the timberwolf's car as they waited for the phone call. "How long do you think it'll take?"

Grove shrugged. "From what I hear, Parsnip's team works fast. I wouldn't be surprised if you hear something back today."

"I hope so."

"So, are you gonna kill her?"

"I hope I don't have to. Fight her, yes. Both of them. But... I'll only kill them as a last resort."

"Do you think it'll come down to that?"

Twilight rested her head back against the headrest. "I wouldn't be surprised. Sunny's stubborn. So is Venom." Just then, Twilight's phone rang. She quickly answered it, nearly dropping it in the process. "Yes? Hi?"

"They found them," Leather said. "A yellow unicorn with a dark purple mare with huge tits was just seen at a bar nearby."

"A bar nearby?"

"I know the one," Grove said.

"Alright," Twilight said with a smile. "I'm on it."

Grove put the car in drive and sped off towards the bar.

Twilight entered the bar and, sure enough, there was Sunny and Venom seated at the counter. Venom had on a cloak and clearly had her metal suit on. The unicorn walked over to them and sat down next to Sunny. "Didn't think I'd see you again like this."

"I figured you'd like to hear from me that your end is coming," Sunny said without looking at the purple mare.

"Yes. End," Venom said with a nod.

"You know, this doesn't have to end in blood," Twilight said. "We could just... let it go."

Sunny scoffed. "Let it go? If I killed Midnight, could you let it go?"

Twilight gasped softly and looked down at the counter. She then crossed her arms and rested them on the smooth wood. "I suppose not. But Midnight wouldn't needlessly kill you, either. Tressemmé threatened my family and friends. I couldn't let that happen. And I was going through some shit."

"Big fuckin' deal," Sunny sighed as she got up. "The docks. Three hours." When she went to leave, Twilight grabbed her wrist. "Do you really wanna go here?" Twilight looked around at all the innocent civilians before she let go. "That's what I thought. Come on, Venom."

Sunny left the unicorn as Venom glared at her. As Sunny walked out normally, Venom backed out with her eyes fixated on Twilight. the purple unicorn watched them leave before she looked at the bartender. "Something strong, please?"

Twilight stood at the docks and stared out over the ocean at Ponytropolis in the distance. A sigh escaped her lips when she heard something behind her.

"Reminiscing, Twilight?"

"Just taking one last look at home," Twilight said as she turned to see Sunny, with Venom squatted beside her. "Just in case."

"Smart."

Venom began to move forward as the purple unicorn let out a sigh. "We don't have to do this," Twilight said hopefully.

"Correct, Sparkle. I do. You can just stand there and die!"

Venom lunged forward with a growl. Twilight threw up a magic shield, which Venom slammed into but quickly recovered before she ran around the unicorn. Twilight kicked the floor as a bunch of magic spikes shot up. Venom turned on her suit and was knocked back. She tumbled over the wood before her tendrils dug into the wood and stopped her. She then flipped onto her hands at feet and galloped towards her prey.

Twilight dove to the side and threw a magic bolt. Venom blocked with her tendrils before the metallic appendages shot forward and wrapped around Twilight's wrists. The unicorn groaned as she was lifted off the ground. With no other option, she caused a bright burst of light with her horn, blinding Venom. The dark purple mare yelled out and closed her eyes as the tendrils were sucked back into her suit. Sunny grunted angrily as Twilight fell to her knees.

"Get her, Venom!" Sunny yelled. "You almost had her!"

"No yell at me!" Venom shouted back. "I trying!" Venom charged at Twilight again before the unicorn threw up her shield again.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Sunny said as she lit up her horn. She held up her hand before Twilight's shield shattered. Twilight gasped as Venom pounced on her.

"What the hell?" Twilight asked as she held Venom by the throat to keep the wild mare from chewing her face.

"You aren't the only one with tricks, Sparkle!" Sunny called out. "I specialize in shield-breaking spells!"

"Of course you do..."

Twilight threw Venom off before one of Venom's tendrils grabbed the unicorn's leg and threw her into a stack of boxes near the edge of the dock. Twilight let out a yell of pain as she broke a couple boxes before falling to the dock. Venom giggled and ran at her, tongue flapping beside her. She then jumped and attempted to land on Twilight, but the unicorn lifted her feet and kicked her away.

Venom rolled when she hit the wood and rested on all fours before she grunted angrily. "Let me bite you!"

"Why the hell would I do that?!" Twilight shouted back.

"It the nice thing to do!"

"For you, maybe!"

Sunny groaned. "Stop talking to her and kill her!"

"You could help!" Venom snapped back.

The yellow unicorn sighed as she walked forward. "Fine."

Twilight got to her feet and got ready before her two opponents ran at her. Venom lunged and Twilight side-stepped before getting punched in the face by Sunny. The yellow mare threw another punch at the purple mare's stomach. Twilight blocked it and kneed Sunny in the hip before she heard a hiss. Twilight grabbed Sunny's wrist and swung her at Venom. The busty purple mare dodged as sunny fell to the dock.

Venom swiped at Twilight a couple times, who backed up to avoid getting hit. Twilight threw a kick, which Venom blocked by grabbing the foot. She then pulled on it to make Twilight fall on her back. Venom raised her claws and slammed the down. Twilight rolled out of the way as the mare's claws dug into the wood. When Twilight went to attack her, a metal tendril shot out and whacked her in the chest. Twilight flew backwards and tumbled into a crate.

Venom growled and pulled her claws free as Sunny ran at the unicorn. Twilight went to fire a magic bolt at her, but Sunny slid under the attack and uppercut the purple mare in the chin. Twilight stumbled backwards, dazed, before Sunny's fist collided with her cheek. Twilight grunted and fell to her knees.

"I was hoping for more," Sunny sighed as she went for a kick.

Twilight grabbed her foot and flipped her on her back. Twilight let out a gasped as Venom leaped over Sunny and tackled Twilight to the floor again. The long tongue shot out and licked at Twilight's face while Twilight held her back by the throat. Twilight kept her eyes closed before she punched Venom in the face.

The busty purple mare fell back with a gasp. "You hit me!"

Twilight quickly got to her feet. "You're kidding, right?"

Sunny yelled out and fired a bolt at Twilight. The attack was blocked by a shield, which Sunny quickly broke with her own magic. Venom then tackled Twilight to the wooden floor before being thrown off. Sunny then pounced on top of Twilight and grabbed her by the throat.

"You're really pissing me off!" Sunny yelled.

"Same," Twilight choked out, before she caused a flash of light with her horn. Sunny groaned but kept holding on. Twilight then punched the mare in the side of the ribs, making Sunny pull back with a yell of pain. Twilight took this opportunity to push the mare off her. "We could just talk this out!"

"Time for talking is over!"

"Yeah!" Venom agreed. "Over!"

Twilight gasped as Venom lunged at her. Twilight went to block, but Venom landed in front of her and slashed at her. Twilight winced as the mare's claws cut her deeply on the waist. Twilight stumbled back as blood dripped from the wound. Sunny smiled and held her ribs.

"That's better," Sunny cooed. "Not so tough now, are you?"

"I wasn't trying to hurt you two," Twilight coughed as she stumbled backwards and dropped to her knees.

Sunny approached her and ran her hand over Twilight's horn. "Now how to kill you."

Twilight went to make a move, but Venom landed behind her and shot her tongue out, the appendage wrapping around the purple mare's neck. Twilight gasped and tried to pull the tongue off. Sunny pulled her foot back and kicked Twilight hard in the stomach.

"Good thing I brought help. I never could've done this alone. You're just... too good with your magic. I mean, I'm pretty good with my own spells, but... not as good as you."

"Are you gonna compliment me to death?"

"I'm only pointing out how you failed despite being as strong as you are."

"I told you... I wasn't trying."

"Sure you weren't." Sunny then slapped Twilight hard across the face. "Maybe I'll let Venom feed off you. Or perhaps I'll keep you as a sex pet?" Sunny chuckled. "I can't decide if I wanna humiliate you or kill you. What would bring me more joy? Watching you suffer a slow death? Or letting you live with your mistakes as my pet?" Sunny then sighed deeply. "Oh, who am I kidding? It'd be much safer to just kill you."

"Fuck this," Twilight groaned. She created a flash of light, making Venom stumble backwards with a yell of surprise. Twilight then created a burst of magic that sent the other two flying backwards while leaving her feeling drained. Venom tumbled into a box while Sunny hit her head on a wooden post, landed on the dock, and rolled into the water.

"Sunny!" Venom cried out as she ran to help, but skidded to a stop at the edge of the dock. "I-I can't swim!" She sobbed.

Without hesitation, Twilight took off running and dove into the water. She could barely make out the yellow mare as she sank deeper and deeper. Twilight kicked harder and faster as she reached a hand out, hoping to grab the unicorn before it was too late.

Up on the dock, Venom ran back and forth along the edge as she kept her eyes on the water. She let out worried mutters and whimpers. When nothing happened, she sat down as her lips began to tremble.

There was a sudden splash as Twilight emerged, her left arm around Sunny’s waist. Venom gasped and leaned forward, her right hand outstretched. Twilight pushed Sunny over to her and the purple mare pulled her out. Twilight then swam up to the dock and was about to reach up when Venom held out her hand. She even had a small smile on her face. Twilight accepted the hand and was pulled up onto the dock as Sunny was coughing up water.

“Why… the fuck…” Sunny coughed as Venom patted her back.

“I’m just…” Twilight sighed as she rested on her knees. “I’m getting real tired of all the killing. I don’t wanna fight you anymore.”

“Because you know you’d lose?”

“No. Because I know I could. But what would be the point? You’d be dead and my life would continue as if you never existed. On the other hand…” Twilight said as she stood up. “We could try something else?”

She reached her hand out with a smile. Sunny looked at the hand and then up at the purple unicorn. “I suppose killing you or your family wouldn’t bring Tresemmé back.” She reached up and let Twilight pull her to her feet.

“I am sorry about that,” Twilight said with a sigh. “The old me and… the new me… wouldn’t have done that. I was just… in a bad headspace after everything that happened with Surprise. I was paranoid and… I was taking no risks. And because of everything I did… if I set foot in Ponytropolis… I’ll be thrown in prison.”

“I guess that’s punishment enough,” Sunny said, before she let go of Twilight’s hand. “Come on, Venom.”

When Sunny turned to leave, Twilight stepped forward. “If you ever, you know… need anything…”

Sunny and Venom stopped as the busty purple mare turned around and then looked at the yellow unicorn. Sunny sighed and looked back at Twilight, giving her light nod. She and Venom then continued to leave as Twilight dropped to her knees and held her waist.

“Fuck,” she groaned, feeling the blood staining her shirt.

Venom stopped again and looked back. Sunny noticed and turned, too. “She save you,” Venom said.

Sunny sighed. “I know she did.”

Twilight did her best to regulate her breathing while she got to one foot. Before she could attempt to stand on her own, she saw Sunny step up to her. The yellow unicorn held out her hand. Twilight took it and was hoisted to her feet. When she stumbled forward, Sunny held her shoulders to keep her up.

“Venom said we should take you to the hospital.”

Twilight smiled weakly. “That’d be great.”

Twilight’s vision began to fade to black as she heard Sunny say, “No no no no! Fuck!”

Twilight opened her eyes halfway, her vision still blurry. When it slowly began to clear, she saw that she was in a hospital bed hooked up to an IV. She lifted her head to look around, but let it fall back to the pillow with a sigh. Lifting up the sheets, she saw her midsection bandaged up.

“Goddammit,” she groaned. She looked over to her left to see Sunny asleep in a chair with Venom curled up on the floor next to her. Venom’s ear twitched verdure the busty beast lifted up her head and smiled.

“You awake!”

Sunny shifted in her sleep before she, too, opened her eyes. “Oh. You’re awake.”

“You didn’t… have to wait for me,” Twilight said with a light smile.

“I know,” Sunny replied. “I didn’t want to. It was Venom’s idea.”

“Oh, well… thank you, Venom.”

“Welcome!” Venom exclaimed cheerfully as her tail wagged a little.

"So, are we... cool?"

"No." Sunny let out a sigh. "But it's not like I can stand up to you without Venom," she said as she shot Venom a disappointed look. Venom looked up at the yellow mare, her smile quickly dropping into a sad frown.

"Well, I'm still grateful," Twilight said as a nurse came in.

She was a black pegasus with yellow eyes and her long white hair combed to one side. "So, Stardust, was it? Your free to go."

"What?" Twilight asked. "But... what about my... you know," she said as she patted her bandaged waist.

"I would've kept you here longer but Leather and Lace want you back, so... yeah..."

"Will I be okay?"

"You should be. Just don't do anything crazy or wacky, kay? They're waiting outside. Your clothes are by your bed." The nurse then left, muttering something about how everyone should just let her do her job.

She closed the door as Twilight sat up and turned away from Sunny. She then levitated her bag up into her lap and opened it to take her clothes out.

"I have idea," Venom suddenly said as she jumped up to her feet. "We should invite her back with us."

Sunny went wide-eyed. "What? No!"

"Why not? You said when two ponies like each other a lot, they have sex."

Twilight blushed as she pulled her gown off and set it aside.

"Absolutely not." Venom's smile dropped again. Sunny let out a deep sigh and crossed her arms. "Fine."

Venom's smile returned as she looked over at Twilight, who was seated naked on the bed. The purple unicorn held up her shirt and chuckled. "No, that's okay, Venom, I..." She stopped when she looked back to see Venom's sad face had returned. Twilight looked at Sunny who was avoiding eye contact. "Um..." Sunny eyed her and shrugged. "Okay?"

Venom smiled again. "Yay! Best friends!"

Twilight slipped her shirt on and stood up to slide her pants up. Sunny looked over to see her bare ass and just stared at it before the pants covered it up. Once she was dressed, she slipped her jacket on and opened the door to see Leather and Lace standing in front of her.

"Did you kill the bitch?" Leather asked, before she saw Sunny and Venom. "This is not the outcome I expected."

"The three of us were actually... about to head over to their place," Twilight said with a smile. "Diplomatic purposes."

Leather sighed. "Alright. You can have the rest of the day. But I need you tomorrow."

"You got it, boss."

FILLYDELPHIA

Copper's car sped down the road towards their headquarters as the guard in the back examined the two halves. Suddenly, the halves poofed out of the guards hands, making him stand up quickly and hit his head on the ceiling. "Fuck!" He yelled, before the guard nearest the front banged on the window.

Copper reached behind her and slid the window open. "Yeah?"

"The staff! It's gone!"

Copper's eyes went wide. "What?!"

MANEHATTAN

Eris floated around her shop, examining the items on the shelves to see what she needed to replace. When she circled back around to the front of the shop, she came to a halt when she saw a pink bird-like female standing by the door holding the staff of Sacanas in her right hand.

"You're back," the draconequus said with wide-eyes.

The bird smirked. "Yes, Eris..." she said mockingly. "I am."