Ponyville Zero

Chapters

First things first. Find pony weaknesses. Kill Pinkie later.
It's never that easy.
Girls day out.
Pinkie, just shut up!
Just like Gentek. Only with ponies.
Pinkie Promise
Murder Mystery Night
Bonus!!!!
Mister Grumpy-Boss pants
Mommy Mercer
The bad kind of stranger
Gotta stop waking up like this...
No clouds but plenty of guards

First things first. Find pony weaknesses. Kill Pinkie later.

"I looked for the truth, found it. Didn't like it, wish the hell I could forget it. Alex Mercer.... this city suffered for his mistakes... for what he did at Penn station and whoever he was, that's a part of me, 'cause when I close my eyes, I see the memories of a thousand dead men, screaming as I take their lives. Moments I'll relive forever. What have I become? Something less than human, but also something more."

―Alex Mercer

Urgh…Mercer had spent less than three hours in this awful place, and already he was wishing he could just simply burn the place down and kill every last pony within a thousand yard radius. His frustrations were justifiable in that in the first ten minutes of his arrival, he confirmed a dozen clichés and horribly unfunny equine related puns just by walking inside the boundaries of the town. The other two hours and fifty minutes only increased his dislike, seeing as how he was forced into the company of-

“Ooh, cupcakes! I love cupcakes! Do you love cupcakes? I don’t know anypony who doesn’t love cupcakes! They’re just so yummy! How could you not like cupcakes?”

-that. Perhaps an explanation is required.

Mercer already had a plan brewing in his mind, one that would ensure his success. He just needed enough time to get things ready before he set it into motion. If this was going to work, he had to have everything in place so as to prevent another failure. He had set off towards the little town he had seen from the hill after he spent the night mulling over his thoughts, walking slowly to tie in the last few variables of his plan. Before he did anything, he needed to learn as much as possible without seeming too suspicious. He couldn’t just go around asking general knowledge questions like “What is this place?”, “Where am I?”, or “Just a quick question; how powerful would you say your military presence is here? I’m just curious.” No, he had to take this cautiously. It wouldn’t bode well for him to start hacking and slashing without securing any intelligence first.

The sun was just cresting over the mountains in the distance, light cascading over the sleepy town. As he entered between two houses, he took a moment hiding in the shadows to survey the early morning traffic. Very few ponies walked around at this time, most of them probably preferring to sleep in. It was alien to him, seeing a town with so little activity. He grew up in New York, “the city that never sleeps”, so that story is pretty self-explanatory. When he decided he was safe for the time being to crawl out of his hole unnoticed, he strode out of the alleyway and into the street.

…Right into another pony he had somehow missed before. She was a lot smaller then he was, offering next to no resistance as she fell to the ground with a squeak. He had no idea where she came from; he wasn’t even sure how he could have missed her. She must have been sneaking around like he was. For what reason, he wasn’t sure, but he supposed that since he was serious about blending in, the proper response to bowling over another person-er, pony, was to apologize and feign sincerity.

“Oh, uh…terribly sorry, miss. I didn’t mean to run into you there. I suppose I wasn’t paying attention.” He tried for a sincere smile, glad that his hood hid his face because if she could see it she probably would have run for the hills. He offered her his hoof, not really caring if she was harmed or not but still trying to act the part.

An awkward moment passed as his hoof remained outstretched, yet the mare in front of him refused to take it. In fact she seemed to be recoiling from him, attempting to hide behind her long pink hair. He pulled his hoof back and coughed uncomfortably, again trying to apologize to her.

“Are you…uh…are you okay?” She pulled her hair a little tighter over herself. “You’re not hurt, are you?” Still no response. Mercer was beginning to get annoyed. “Do you need any help or are you okay there on the ground?” He flinched after saying that, cursing himself for putting so much malice into his words. It seemed to have had the right effect on her though, as she pulled her hair aside to reveal her face. She stared at him with large, unblinking blue eyes, like she was waiting for him to say something else. “…Sorry, I um…I guess I’m just not a very good morning person.” He tried a smile again; this time tilting his head to let the rays from the sun reveal his face. As she looked at him her expression changed from one of fear to awe, like she was looking at the moon and stars for the first time. Her reaction to seeing his face surprised him, not sure what it meant but still keeping up his smile.

He offered her his hoof again, and this time she took it. He carefully pulled her up, minding his super strength so as to prevent himself from flinging her half way across the town. As she got up to her feet he was able to get a good look at her. She was yellow, with long pink hair that hung down almost to the ground. Her tail was long as well, begging the question “How long exactly did she spend in the morning brushing all that hair?” He spotted a pair of wings curled to her side, and he wondered why he had run into her on the ground if she could have just been flying.

She noticed him looking her over, blushing heavily and hiding her face once more. He rolled his eyes. ‘As if I would be checking out a damn pony,’ he thought. He put on that smile again and tried to start a conversation. “My name is Ale-uh, I mean…” He kicked himself for the slip. It had been so long since he’d had a normal conversation with someone that didn’t involve him giving out orders or threats that for a moment he reverted back to introducing himself as Alex. He hated that name; it was just too…human. He cleared his throat and tried again. “…My name is Mercer. May I ask what your name is?” He put as much charm as he could muster into his introduction, hoping to get something out of this shy pony.

She blushed a little harder, but let her hair fall from in front of her face and looked him right in the eye. She seemed to radiate confidence so suddenly that Mercer almost took a step back, surprise spreading over his face. She took a step closer to him and opened her mouth to say something, immediately losing all the confidence she had built up on the first syllable and falling back a few steps, letting out an unintelligible string of squeaks that she undoubtedly intended to be her name.

Mercer stared at her for a moment before replying. “…I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

She looked back up at him and tried again, and this time he was able to catch the sound of actual words, but was still unable to decipher what she had said. He simply waited for her to say it again, hoping she wouldn’t feel pressured as long as he was patient. She seemed to sense that very thing from him as she was finally able to squeak out what sounded like “Fluttershy”. He forced himself not to smile, assuming he had just misheard her.

“I’m sorry; did you say ‘Fluttershy’?” He asked with as little incredulity as he could muster. She nodded her head slowly. Unable to stop it, Mercer felt the smile creep onto his face, and before he knew it he was grinning ear to ear at the thought of her ridiculous name. Fluttershy seemed to mistake his smile for something else, as she too began to smile widely. She followed suit after he began chuckling, unaware that he was essentially mocking her by laughing. He brought a hoof up to his head, sitting back onto his haunches and trying to calm himself down. As he quieted down he started listening to Fluttershy as she continued to laugh for another few seconds. It was melodic, quiet yet still pleasing to hear. It reminded him of his sister Dana when she was younger, no matter how pouty she got he could always get her to laugh with a silly face.

As memories of his sister flooded his mind, the smile instantly dropped from his face. He cleared his throat and stood up again. “Well, this was…um…fun.” She looked at him expectantly, like she was waiting for him to say something else, just so she could hear him talk. “I better get going. Got a lot of stuff to do. Plans and prior engagements, or whatever.” Mercer was really rusty at this. He blamed it on his having to act as a nice guy for once. She seemed disappointed, but said nothing. He turned and began walking down the road, not sure where he was going but just wanting to get as far away from her as possible. “Maybe I’ll see you around some other time,” he called over his shoulder, not meaning it. He wasn’t sure, but he could have sworn he saw her legs wobble after he said that. He continued walking regardless, choosing to ignore the odd mare that he was now regretting running into.

‘Well that was a bust,’ he thought miserably. She had barely said one word to him, and he guessed he wasn’t going to get any better with continued prodding. It was best to just abandon the situation before he made a useless friend like “Fluttershy”. He shook the angry thoughts on the shy pony out of his head, choosing to continue with his plan instead of waste time thinking about something so idiotic. He turned his attention on the path ahead, deciding to find some other pony to get answers from.

He found himself standing in an intersection; dozens of ponies wandering about in what he assumed was some sort of marketplace. He looked about at the multitude of smiling faces, feeling himself grow sick as the world around him seemed to blur together into swirling colors. Well, now he knew why there were so few ponies in the streets before. Apparently they were all gathered here. He walked over to a nearby bench and grabbed onto the side to steady himself.

“Are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

Mercer was caught off guard by the sudden question, looking over to see two concerned faces staring back at him. They were both mares, one was mint colored with a lightly colored mane and tail, a single white streak running across both. She had a horn on her head, and the tattoo on her flank was one of a small string instrument, kind of like a harp. The other was beige with a dark blue and pink streaked mane and tail. He couldn’t quite see her tattoo from this angle, but he didn’t really care enough to find out. He realized they were still watching him intently, most likely fearing for their own safety in case he decided to lose his lunch at the moment.

Mercer swallowed back the bile that had begun to rise in his throat, trying to concentrate on something other than the mob of Technicolor ponies surrounding him.

The mint colored pony that had asked the question spoke again. “Are you gonna be alright there, stallion? Do you need any help?”

Mercer was slightly surprised by the genuine concern in her voice, but shook it off before he replied. “Yes…Yes, I’m…fine.” He sucked in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Perfectly fine.”

The looks they gave him suggested they didn’t believe him, but they didn’t say anything about it. He stood there a moment getting his bearings, cursing his new body more and more. Getting used to being a pony would be harder then he thought.

Once he had settled his stomach, he decided on asking a few questions. He figured since he already had these two ponies attention, he might as well take advantage of the situation.

“So then…what should I call you ladies?” He asked lamely. Yeah, he really needed more practice at this.

The one that spoke before, the mint colored one, gestured to herself, saying “I’m Lyra, and this is my friend Bon Bon,” she finished by placing her hoof around her friends shoulder and hugging her tightly. Bon Bon seemed to blush slightly, but didn’t let on if she disliked the contact or not. “What should we call you?”

He found himself once again forcing himself not to laugh at their names. Fluttershy was one thing, but Lyra and Bon Bon? It was almost like he was trapped inside a cartoon for little girls. “You can refer to me as Mercer.” He finally managed to say without snickering.

Bon Bon tilted her as she regarded him for a moment. “Are you new in Ponyville? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

Mercer’s brain froze. Did she just say…Ponyville? This place was actually called Ponyville!? Good lord, what’s next? Manehattan? Fillydelphia? He was beginning to feel sick again. He swallowed once more before answering. “Uh, yeah, I’m new here. Very new. I’m not exactly used to a place like…this.”

“Oh, well that’s too bad. Maybe you’d feel better if you got somepony to show you around.” Lyra said while inspecting her hoof, giving off the impression she didn’t mean herself. Bon Bon glared at her.

“Yes, perhaps that is a good idea-wait a minute…did you just say somepony?”

“I’m somepony!”

The outburst came not from the two ponies he was talking to, but from someone else behind him. Or somepony else, as the case may be. At any rate, the pony that just shouted in his ear didn’t scare him in the slightest. Alex Mercer knew no fear. He was, however, not immune to being caught off guard. He jumped forward, planting his hoof on the ground while using his momentum to spin around and face his new opponent. He spread his hooves into a low crouch and prepared himself for a fight.

A fight that never came. Instead he was met with many stares, as his little stunt had attracted more than enough unwanted attention. He relaxed his posture; standing up straight and lowering his head to let his hood better hide his face. He looked to where he thought the one who had startled him was, but he saw no one. He began looking around and immediately found himself nose to nose with the smiling face of a bright pink pony who was literally bouncing on her feet. He took a few steps back to give himself some room, not sure of what this new pony would do but still not taking any chances. She simply stood there smiling at him, like he was her best friend she hadn’t seen in months.

“Um…can I help you?” Mercer asked tentatively.

“Nope!”

She continued to smile at him. He was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “…Alright then…I’m just gonna go somewhere else-”

He stopped suddenly when she dropped her smile and began glaring at him. She walked right up to him and stared him down. He returned it with just as much intensity, refusing to let a bubblegum pink pony get the better of him. They remained like that for a few tense moments, before she finally spoke up.

“You’re a new pony in town…” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah…what of it?”

She narrowed her eyes to slits. “You know what this means…” A few more tense seconds passed before-

“THIS CALLS FOR A PARTY!” Mercer was taken aback as he found himself within a shower of confetti, long strands of streamers falling on him and hanging off his jacket and hoodie. Where the confetti had come from, he wasn’t sure, but then again he wasn’t interested enough to ask. She stared expectantly, smiling widely, probably expecting some sort of reaction from him. He shook his head, ridding himself of the offending party favors. He then turned and began walking in the opposite direction, much to the apparent dismay of the new pony.

“Hey, wait! Where are you going? Come back Mr. Cranky Pants!” She galloped after him, trying to haze her way into throwing him what she called a “Welcome to Ponyville party!” to which he simply replied “No.”

And that is where Mercer found himself now. Nearly three hours to the minute and he was reduced to grinding his teeth while the bubbly pink pony behind him that had already introduced herself as “Pinkie Pie” thirty seven times skipped merrily and ran her mouth faster than an Olympic runner. For the most part all she did was point out random buildings and tell him who lived there, but after they had made their way through the majority of the town, he was burnt out on useless information.

“That house on the corner is where my friend Sweetie Drops lives, and the one across from it is where my friend Time Turner lives, and that one waaaay over there is where my friend…” At some point, he didn’t know when, she had begun listing them off by alphabetical order. “…and my BEST friend Twilight Sparkle lives in the library over there! She has a dragon as an assistant! His name is Spike, and he’s one of my-”

Mercer shoved his hoof in her mouth to shut her up, having finally heard something interesting from the annoying mare. “Let me guess, he’s your ‘BEST friend’, right?” She nodded her head enthusiastically, unaware or just uncaring of his obvious mockery of her voice. He removed his hoof before continuing. “Now what was that about your friend Flashlight living in a library?”

Pinkie looked confused. “Flashlight? I don’t know anypony by that name." She brought a hoof up to her chin in thought. “…Nope, I can’t think of anypony named Flashlight!”

Mercer face hoofed. “But you were JUST talking about her!” He growled out through clenched teeth. “You said your best friend lived in the library over somewhere!” He gestured wildly with his hoof.

“Ooooooh, you mean ‘Twilight’!” She giggled to herself. “Twilight isn’t a flashlight silly, she’s a pony!” Mercer’s left eye twitched. “Twilight lives in the library right over there! See?” She grabbed his face and forced him to look in the direction she was referring to. What he saw was a large tree with multiple windows, a couple of balconies, and a red front door with a picture of a candle on it.

“Your friend lives in a tree,” he said bluntly, “How original.” It was then that he realized Pinkie still had a hold on his face, now attempting to make kissing shapes with his mouth using her hooves.

‘The first chance I get, I will kill this pony,’ he thought as he pried her hooves away from his face and began heading for the reading establishment.

It had been so long since Mercer had even considered entering a library, given that in recent years if he needed to learn anything important he could just consume the right person and absorb their knowledge. Of course that is to say he wasn’t completely incompetent when it came to dealing with Dewey and his infamous decimal system, but then again he had never been in a library as a pony before.

“Ugh, this is impossible!” He growled quietly, once again picking up the book he was trying to read after clumsily dropping it for the third time. “These damn hooves can’t hold shit!” He tried turning the page, only to have it fall out of his grasp yet again. “It’s like trying to pick up a penny with a hammer!”

“Here, let me help you with that!” With little difficulty, Pinkie Pie, who still hadn’t left him alone, reached down and picked up the book with one hoof, plopping down on her haunches in the same position he was in and holding it out to him. He ignored the fact she was able to hold it so easily with no opposable thumbs, instead opting to use her innate ability to his advantage.

Mercer flipped the book around in her hooves so it faced him, opening it to the page he wanted and telling her to “Hold still like a good little book stand.” She did as he told, not questioning him or complaining about him treating her like a piece of furniture. Mercer was in the corner of the library, the only place that held the most privacy. Thanks to the lack of seats he was forced to sit on the ground, hunching over to better read the tired old script within the pages. The tome he was trying to read was recommended by the librarian, a purple pony with a horn that seemed to enable her to levitate objects at will, a power that confused him until he read the first page of the book she had given him, Know your Ponies.

“So ponies with horns are called unicorns, and they can use magic.” He said magic like it left a bad a taste in his mouth. The idea that it would actually exist anywhere made the scientists in him cry out for journalistic proof and hard evidence. He read on. “Ponies with wings are known as Pegasi, and as well as possessing the gift of flight, they can also control the weather.”

Pinkie giggled at him. “You didn’t know that? Everypony knows that! I learned that as a filly!”

“Well I was never interested in that sort of thing!” Mercer snapped.

Pinkie tilted her head. “What were you interested in?”

He brought his gaze back down to the book. “Science. Turns out I was actually good at something after all.” He mumbled. He found what little memories of his past he still had coming to the fore front of his mind, the years he spent in abject poverty, that miserable little place they called a foster home. He remembered being put back in the care of his mother, much to his and his sister’s dismay. It would have just been better to be left in foster care. He shook the memories from his head, getting back to the book.

“Unicorns can use magic to do a variety of things: levitation, teleportation, location of specific objects and manipulation of various types of matter. Some spells even allow for direct augmentation of thoughts or personalities.” Mercer’s head spun. ‘Direct augmentation of thoughts or personalities?’ What, like a “reforming spell”? That didn’t sound good. He was beginning to be thankful he had already decided against rushing the town and attacking anything that moved. These unicorns seemed dangerous; he would definitely have to be careful if he wanted to succeed. The danger grew even more when he reached a section titled “Alicorns”.

“Ooh, ooh, like the Princesses!” Pinkie bounced on her flank excitedly, surprisingly still holding the book still for Mercer to keep reading.

“Alicorns were an ancient race of ponies that possessed attributes of all three pony races: Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth ponies. They were incredibly powerful, immortal, and at one time thought to be responsible for the creation of Equestria. To date Alicorns are nearly extinct, only about three remain.”

“See? I told ya!”

“Who are these ‘Princesses’?” Mercer asked her.

“Duh! The Princesses of Equestria! Celestia, Luna, and Cadence! Princess Celestia is Twilight’s favorite pony in the world! She’s always talking about her; she just goes on and on and on and on-”

“Pinkie! Back on topic. What do they do?”

Pinkie thought a moment. “Well, Princess Celestia raises the sun every morning, and Princess Luna raises the moon at night! And Princess Cadence is married to Twilight’s older brother! I’m not really sure what she does.”

Mercer steadied his breathing, forcing himself to remain calm. “I don’t care about the lore; I mean what do they actually do?”

“That is what they actually do! Princess Celestia raises the sun, Princess Luna raises the moon, and Princess Cadence-”

“Pinkie, are you insinuating these ponies can control the sun to revolve around the Earth?”

Pinkie smiled at him. “Uh-huh!”

Mercer was appalled. The very thought that a pony could control the movement of a massive celestial body to bend to their will made his blood boil. Obviously no one ever bothered to tell these morons that the sun was over 93 million miles from the Earth at its shortest distance, not to mention it’s over 330,000 times bigger. The amount of effort and energy it would take just to move the sun a few feet would be immeasurable, let alone all the way across the visible sky. Still, it made Mercer think. With that aside, these Alicorns remained a serious threat to him. Even if the legends behind them weren’t true, if they didn’t actually have a hand in creating “Ponyland”, that still placed them at high priority.

He flipped the page, scanning for anything else on Alicorns, like maybe a “Strengths/Weaknesses” section. He found nothing of the sort, only more legends and stories of Alicorn might and magic overcoming great evil.

Pinkie began bouncing again. “Like when the Princesses defeated Discord with the Elements of Harmony and turned him to stone! But then he got out, so we had to turn him back into stone! It was so much fun; I was Meany Pie for almost a whole day!”

Mercer raised his eyebrow. “’Meany Pie’?” Then he realized what she said. “Wait, ‘we’ turned him back into stone? You helped the Princesses imprison him again?”

“No silly, the Princesses weren’t strong enough! They can’t use the Elements of Harmony anymore!” Finally some good news. Perhaps there was some weakness to these Alicorns after all. “Since me and Twilight and all our friends found out we were the Elements, we used our power to turn Discord back into a statue! It was kinda sad though; he may have been trying to take over Equestria, but he made it rain chocolate!”

“Elements of what? You turned someone into stone!?” Perhaps the Alicorns weren’t the highest priority after all. “But you’re an Earth pony, how could you use magic?”

“All ponies of every race have some sort of magic within them. Unicorns are just the only ones who can control it.” Mercer turned his head to face the new comer, surprised to see the librarian standing in front of him. She smiled at him kindly. “I have to say, it makes me glad to see somepony so interested in this kind of thing.” She held out a hoof. “I don’t think we were properly introduced. I’m Twilight Sparkle.”

Mercer stared at her for a moment before slowly taking her hoof and shaking it. “Mercer. Now, Pinkie said something about you being an Element? What exactly does that mean?”

Twilight’s horn glowed, causing a book to float over from a nearby table. She levitated it in front of him and opened it to a page with medieval drawings depicting a circular dais with six different colored gems on it. “The Elements of Harmony were created long ago to protect the land from evil. Princess Celestia and her sister Princess Luna used them to imprison Discord in stone like Pinkie said, but she also used them to imprison her sister years later when Luna’s resentment of being ignored turned her into Nightmare Moon.” The page turned to a drawing of a pony shooting a beam of light from her horn at another dark colored pony. “Nightmare Moon escaped about a year ago, and once again tried to make good on her threat to bring about eternal night. By that time Princess Celestia had long since lost the Elements, and so I set out with my friends to find them.” She closed the book and floated it back over to the table it was on. “When we found them, I realized that the Elements now held a connection to my friends and I; each one of us represent a specific Element of friendship…” She continued describing the events of her little adventure, but Mercer had stopped listening. He tried to keep himself from rolling his eyes as she droned on about the magic of friendship.

So then these ponies possess incredible power. Power strong enough to turn a living being into stone. ‘Or send one to the moon.’ He grimaced at the thought. The virus inside him was strong, but not strong enough to allow him to survive in a vacuum. He’d have to find a way to keep these ponies from using their power against him.

“…because the Elements would only work as long as we still held the magic of friendship in our hearts, and thanks to the memory spell I used, they all remembered the things we’d done together and we were finally able to turn Discord back into stone.” She finished her tale, proud of herself for her story telling prowess.

Mercer pretended he had been listening. “So then if you and your friends aren’t yourselves you can’t use the Elements of Harmony?” He asked noncommittally.

“Well, sort of. We all have to be together in order to use them. Since Discord had tricked them into being the opposite of the Element they each represented, they weren’t committed to using the power against him.”

“Hmm…” He thought on that for a moment. “So…if one of you…say, refused to use their Element to unleash its power…there’s no way you could just get a stand in?”

Twilight laughed. “No, the bearers of the Elements have to be a perfect match to the one they represent. Weren’t you paying attention? I explained that already.” She looked at him like a school teacher would look at a disobedient child. Mercer pulled his hood farther over his face. She smirked at his reaction. “Besides, I already tried that when I chose Spike to be the new Rainbow Dash. It didn’t work, for obvious reasons.” She blushed slightly, but continued. “Each of my friends represents one of the six Elements: Laughter, which is represented by Pinkie Pie, Generosity, represented by Rarity, Honesty, which Applejack represents, Kindness, Fluttershy’s Element, Loyalty, which my last friend Rainbow Dash represents, and finally Magic, the rarest Element that I represent.” She gestured to herself. “As long as we’re with each other, we can never lose. Friends can do anything, as long as they work together!” She finished up with a big smile that only grew larger when Pinkie suddenly jumped up and wrapped her in a bone crushing hug.

“Aww, Twilight! You’re gonna make me cry!” She spoke in future tense, despite having tears that were already streaming down her pink cheeks. Mercer suppressed a gag. This is why he didn’t want any friends growing up; too sappy. Too weak. But it did add six more targets to his list. Now along with those three Alicorn Princesses, were the bearers of these Elements of Harmony that Twilight had so graciously given him. All he had to do was take care of one of them, and he could rid himself of the danger of them using this great power against him.

While the two ponies continued to be sappy together, Mercer was already figuring out his plan of how to catch this world off guard and minimize his chance of being defeated. Instead of simply killing one of them, he could “persuade” them instead to join him. He still needed a second in his army; why not make that second one of the heroes of this world? As well as saving him time on doing everything himself, it would also serve to demoralize the others. Having to fight an enemy they once thought was their friend might give him an advantage over them. They’ll most likely try to save their friend, hesitate from harming them just long enough for him to finish them all off. But the question was: which one should he choose? Twilight had listed off the Elements as well her friends’ names. One of them was Loyalty. That’s exactly what Mercer needed, someone loyal, someone who wouldn’t betray him just because he was mad at him for killing his wife and kidnapping his daughter.

Mercer smirked to himself. If he wanted to succeed, he would need the “voluntary” help from this so-called “Element of Loyalty”, Rainbow Dash. With her at his disposal, the rest would be unable to use the Elements against him. And as for the Alicorn Princesses, he would deal with them when the time came.

“Aww, Mr. Cranky Pants is finally smiling!” He found himself being pulled into a tight embrace by Pinkie Pie. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought she was attempting to consume him. “Does this mean you finally want to have that ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party I’ve been planning for you?” She squeezed a little tighter. “I’ve got more streamers if it’ll change your mind!”

Mercer sighed. Seriously. First chance he gets, he will kill this pony.

Author's Note

You guys suck, you know that? Here I was, perfectly content to just leave the story where it was, and then you had to come along and make me think! I hate thinking! Whenever I think, bad things happen!

Anyway, just enjoy the chapter. I don't know when I'll get the next one out.
-Poly

It's never that easy.

“Do whatever you have to…he’s not my brother anymore.”

-Dana Mercer

“This is no one’s fault but your own…you do understand that.”

“I understand that I had a brother once. A boy named Alex. A boy who used to play games with me, and go skating with me, and watch scary movies with me…I understand that Alex is dead now.” Dana narrowed her eyes as she spoke, regarding the “person” in front of her as nothing more than a monster.

Mercer looked at his sister with a soft expression. “I am no longer bound by ‘life’ or ‘death’, Dana. I’ve moved beyond that. Heller has as well. He just hasn’t realized it yet.” He glanced at the young girl hiding behind Dana, who stared back with tears in her eyes, her entire body quivering in fear at the sight of him. Mercer turned and began walking to the entrance of the bank vault, his feet crumpling one hundred dollar bills that were scattered all over the floor.

As he stepped one foot out, he stopped for a moment to take one last look at his sister and Heller’s daughter. Dana still glared at him, balling her fists in anger. Maya hid her face behind Dana’s leg. Mercer sighed inwardly. ‘They’ll understand soon enough’ he thought as he ducked his head through the hole, shutting the heavy metal door behind him and locking it.

"You will understand Dana…"

“Who’s Dana?”

Mercer was pulled from his memory of the last conversation he’d had with his sister, halting his steps and looking to the pink mare who had asked the question. He had almost forgotten she was still walking with him. “…Nothing. She’s not important anymore.” It was a lie. Regardless of what she’d done, helping Heller to find his daughter and encouraging him to kill Mercer, she was still his baby sister. The girl who he’d played with, the girl who he’d taught the ABC’s to, the girl he’d all but raised himself from the age of nine. The only person in the world he trusted. She was his only family…and he would never see her again.

He sighed sadly, but continued walking. After a moment, he heard the sounds of Pinkie Pie following after him again. “Are you sure? You look like Fluttershy did when she thought she had killed Princess Celestia’s pet phoenix. Do you wanna talk about it? I’m really good at cheering ponies up!” He could hear the concern in her voice; almost imagine the sincere smile on her face. Despite himself, he felt the tiniest bit touched at her words. This was the first time in years he had met someone who was genuinely kind towards him and cared about his well-being. He hated that.

“You know, I only needed the directions to your friend Rainbow Dash’s house. I don’t need your company, I can handle myself.” He said over his shoulder, changing the subject.

“But if I leave, then how will I make sure you’re okay?” She paused. “You remind me a lot of Cranky. He’s a donkey. He was new in Ponyville too, and he didn’t like me at first. That made me sad.”

“Gee, someone didn’t like you? That’s hard to believe.” Mercer mumbled sarcastically.

Pinkie must not have heard him, continuing on with her story. “I followed him ALL over Ponyville, trying my hardest to get him to be my friend. But it seemed like every time I did something for him, it only made him dislike me more.” He tried tuning her out, but it was easier said than done. Her voice had a way of boring its way into his skull no matter how hard he fought to ignore it. “…but then I accidentally burned his precious photo album and found out that his special friend was living here in Ponyville all along! So in the end, he became my friend anyway, and I learned a lesson about respecting your friends’ privacy.”

Mercer snorted. Obviously not a lesson that stuck. “Look Pinkie, I…appreciate what you’re doing for me,” The effort it took him to force that out was immense. “But I don’t need any help. Why don’t you go hang out with one of your other friends?” She smiled widely. “That does NOT mean I’m your friend. I’m simply saying, with as much politeness as I can muster, LEAVE ME ALONE!” He shouted in her face, hoping it would drive the point home into her overactive brain. She didn’t even flinch.

“I’m not going anywhere because you are my friend and I still haven’t gotten to throw you a Welcome to Ponyville party-”

“Fine! Alright, you win! Fuck, if it will get you off my back for two seconds, you can throw me a damn party!” He threw his hooves in the air, shouting exasperatedly. “You said you were planning it, right? How’s about you go back to your friends tree house, start decorating for the party, and surprise me later!” He was pleading with her at that point, something he’d never done in his life. “Just give me a moment of peace, for Christ’s sake.” Mercer had faced many creatures in the last few years, but none of them could even compare to Pinkie Pie. She was undoubtedly the worst living being he had ever faced.

The look on her face was like someone had just given her a puppy and a cure for cancer. She was happier then she had been since he’d met her, and that was saying something. “You mean…like a surprise party!?” She squealed loudly, making Mercer wince. “Wait, but if you know about it, then it’s not a surprise party.” Just like that suddenly she looked like someone had just taken the puppy back and declared the cure a fake.

“Surprise parties don’t necessarily mean the person can’t know. They just have to be surprised when they arrive.” He explained dully. It was like talking to a five year old.

Pinkie gasped. “You’re right! I’m gonna go start right now!” And with that she turned and ran off, headed back to the library in a tree.

‘Good riddance’ was all Mercer could think. Hopefully she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. Finally finished with that, he began walking in the direction he had been before. He was heading to Rainbow Dash’s house, having already decided the Element of Loyalty was the best first choice out of the other six. He was in a field outside of Ponyville, the grass under his hooves as green as ever. Finally he was alone.

He went over his plan again as he walked, making sure he had everything planned out correctly. He had to either convert or kill one of the six bearers of the Elements of Harmony, and then hunt down and kill the Alicorn Princesses. With them out of the way, it would be easier to begin his viral takeover. He had one chance at this, while everyone was still unaware of his intentions.

As he reached the top of a rather large hill, he came upon the sight of an odd looking cloud. It took him a few seconds to realize what it really was, and when he did he felt his jaw hit the ground. It wasn’t just a cloud, it was a cloud house. Floating just above a small body of water was a tall tower of clouds shaped into a house. It had huge classical pillars around its base and fountains of rainbow colored liquid cascading down its sides. Mercer didn’t know how it was possible to build a house like that, but after seeing a library inside a living tree, it wasn’t that much of a stretch from anything else in this place.

He approached it slowly, almost expecting furniture and other pieces of décor to rain down from inside it. Once he got right up to it, he came to the conclusion it must be under the influence of some sort of magic.

He stood underneath it, awkwardly trying to find out how to get up to ring the doorbell. He looked around for some sort of mechanism or other way to alert the occupant inside of his presence, but he saw nothing. He caught himself thinking so politely, kicking himself for getting used to this place already. He had been acting like a nice guy for long enough; it was time for something rude.

He willed his biomass to his hooves, focusing it like a spring to build up kinetic energy for one incredible leap. He bent his knees and jumped, simultaneously releasing the built up energy and shooting upwards like a rocket. As he reached the height of his jump he tried gliding, only to find that unlike every other time he’s done it, it didn’t feel right. Normally he simply lightened the biomass in his body and ejected smaller bits of mass for added propulsion, but this time he felt like he wasn’t gliding, just slowing his fall. He turned his head and was surprised to see wing like extensions coming out of his back. They were made up of black tendrils held together tightly, with three claws on the ends and thin, nearly invisible pieces of biomass stretched tightly between them. He gave them a few flaps, noting how easy it was to lift his body.

He marveled at the virus’s evolutionary prowess while angling his body towards the house and giving a few more flaps to gain some extra altitude. As he reached the front door, he slowed his descent, preparing his hooves to make contact with the porch just as he let his wings fold back into his body. Unfortunately, at about this time, he realized too late that the house wasn’t actually held together by magic. It was, in fact, held together by clouds. Which he promptly fell through.

Mercer hit the ground hard, leaving a good sized crater in the ground as he hit. It didn’t hurt him physically, but the damage to his pride was more than he would want to admit. He looked around him, searching for anyone that might have seen it. Seeing no one, he let out a relieved sigh. “Thank God no one saw that…”

“Abomination, with soul so impure; of your lack of company, I am not so sure.”

Mercer stiffened, suddenly very aware of the new presence behind him. He turned around to face whoever it was, coming upon the sight of a hooded figure wearing a long cloak with glowing yellow eyes.

“You with your thoughts so cruel and black; I know all about your plan of attack.”

His eyes widened. “How did you-”

“Be wary of me, I am not so easily shaken; regarding my ignorance, I am afraid you are mistaken.” The figure reached up and pulled back their hood, revealing a striped face and a tall Mohawk. “I sense a bloodlust that can’t be quenched; no disguise can hide your monstrous stench.” The stranger’s voice sounded feminine, her knowing glare never leaving his face.

Mercer scowled. “You seem to know a lot for a zebra. Have you been following me?”

“I see many things, you cannot hide from my gaze; it seems you know nothing of the world you seek to raze.”

“Alright, knock off all that rhyming crap, Shakespeare. If I have to listen to you come up with bad poems just to talk to me I’m gonna-”

“Hello? Is somepony down there?”

The two looked up to see a rainbow haired face looking down at them from above. She pulled her head back and jumped away from the cloud, spreading her wings out and slowly gliding down towards them in wide circles. Mercer offered the zebra one last menacing glare before wiping his scowl from his face.

The pony, who he could only assume was Rainbow Dash, landed carefully next to the two, where she then began stretching her wings and popping her neck. “Are you two arguing down here or something? You woke me up from my nap, you know.” She looked at the zebra. “Oh, hey Zecora. What are you doing here? Who’s your friend?” She gave Mercer a curious glance.

“My dear Rainbow, you are incorrect; this ‘creature’ here is-”

Mercer jumped in before she could finish. “I think what she means to say is that we don’t know each other.” He gave Zecora a threatening look. “We just happened to run into each other here by coincidence.” He said the last word very deliberately, as if to say “One more word and I’ll be wearing your teeth around my neck!” The zebra was smarter than she looked, because she seemed to get the message.

Rainbow Dash didn’t seem as smart, the confused look on her face betraying that fact. “Um…right…” She turned to Zecora. “So then, what is it that you wanted, Zecora?”

The zebra looked at Mercer again before replying. “…My presence here is for no assistance; in my wanderings, I forgot to mind the distance. Special ingredients I came to scour,” She paused in her excuse, never taking her eyes off him. “But it seems my efforts have turned up sour.” She bowed her head and turned to leave, stopping only to say one more thing. “Beware the monster with the mask of a friend; take heed, Rainbow Dash, or to Tartarus you will descend.” With that, she pulled her hood back up and went on her way.

“Well that was weird.” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “Anyway, back to business. Who are you, and why are you here?” She asked in mock suspicion.

Mercer rolled his eyes. “Well my name is Mercer, but all my friends call me Zeus.” He returned with a cliché “tough guy” bravado.

Rainbow Dash laughed. “You’re alright, Mercer. But I’m just warning you now, if you’re here to ask me out, the answer is no.” She turned her back to him, exaggeratedly flicking her mane with a hoof. He could see her smirk from the side of her face.

He smirked as well, already preparing just the right strain of the virus to infect her with. “No, actually I was just here to give you-” Suddenly he got a chill up his spine, the paranoid feeling that he was being watched washing over him like a wave. He had planned to come here, meet Rainbow Dash and simply infect her like that. But after meeting Zecora, he wasn’t so sure it would be that easy. “…Uh, I just came here to…to…” He wracked his brain for an excuse. “…tell you that your friend Pinkie Pie is planning a ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party for me since I’m new in town. She didn’t want you to miss out.”

Her expression changed. “Oh, well why didn’t you just say that in the first place? I love Pinkie Pie’s parties! Where is she holding it?”

“The library in the tree.”

“Twilight’s place? Cool, I’ll head on over right now. Thanks for letting me know…Zeus.” She snorted loudly. He frowned at her.

She ran forward a few feet, jumping into the air and taking flight. Mercer watched her soar towards Ponyville for a moment before looking in the direction that Zecora had gone. He narrowed his eyes, cursing the zebra.

“Is it ever that simple?” He asked no one. When he got no response, he miserably made his way back to the party, or in other words what he was sure was his doom.

“Huh. Perhaps not.” He had gotten back to the library, hesitating at the door for a few minutes before slowly pushing it open, expecting a loud “Surprise!” to meet him. Instead he opened the door to find the entire room empty. He shut it behind him, taking a few steps inside. He looked around but couldn’t see any evidence that anyone had even been decorating for a party, let alone planning to throw one.

He shrugged, figuring the eccentric pony had just forgotten. She seemed like she’d be easily distracted by any shiny object in her path. He had just begun turning to leave when he spotted a brightly colored package with a red ribbon on the table. It looked completely out of place, and thanks to his eyesight he could see that the tag clearly said “Mercer” on it. He carefully made his way towards it, curiosity getting the better of him. He inspected it for a moment, using his thermal vision to scan the contents of the box. He was unable to see anything inside of it, which was peculiar. Carefully he leaned over, grabbing the ribbon in his teeth and pulling, the loop slowly straightening out until it popped away. He placed the tip of his hoof under the edge of the lid and quickly flicked it off.

As soon as he did that, the box seemed to explode; thick smoke billowing out of the opening like someone threw a match on a pile of kindling. Caught off guard, Mercer tried backing out of the smoke, only to find it had already filled the entire room. He heard movement, switching to thermal vision and catching multiple forms running about around him.

Just as quick as it started, it was over, the smoke dissipating into nothing, as if it had never even been there to begin with. As soon as he could see without thermal again, a thunderous “Surprise!” shouted by dozens of ponies that had come out of nowhere nearly blew out his eardrums. He looked around the room, which was suddenly decorated with balloons and streamers. There were also tables filled with all kinds of sugary treats and punch. Pinkie rushed up to him, trying to wrap him in a big hug, only finding air as he had already moved out of the way.

“You were sure surprised, Mercer! You should have seen the look on your face!” She said excitedly, still trying to get him into a hug. He ran from her, snatching a cupcake off a table and throwing it over her head. Pinkie slid to a stop, twisting around and chasing after the pastry with her tongue hanging out of her mouth. He sighed in relief once he lost sight of her in the crowd of partying ponies.

He felt a tap on his shoulder, and when he looked he saw it was Twilight. She gestured over to one of the corners of the room, where a few other ponies stood. He recognized Rainbow Dash in with them. He guessed they were the rest of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. He headed over along with the librarian, and was greeted by them once he was within earshot.

“Sorry for Pinkie Pie. She loves parties almost as much as she loves making new friends.” The purple mare spoke with an apologetic smile. “Anyway, these are my friends, the other Elements of Harmony. I figured since you were so interested in them earlier, you might want to meet them.” She pointed at a white unicorn with a stylish purple mane and tail. “This is Rarity, and that’s Applejack,” She pointed to an orange Earth pony with blonde hair and a Stetson on her head. “Rainbow Dash was just telling us how you went and invited her personally, so I guess you already met her. And our last friend is…um, Fluttershy? Where did she go?” She began looking around the room, thinking she had wandered off.

“Ah think ah found her, sugarcube.” The orange mare stated, stepping to the side to reveal the yellow Pegasus crouching behind her. When it became apparent she was caught, she hesitantly stood up straight, letting her hair fall in front of her face.

Twilight giggled. “Yep, that’s Fluttershy for you.”

Mercer forced a smile. “I know. I met her earlier when I first got here. I ran into her on the street, literally.” As he spoke, Fluttershy turned her head and looked at him with one eye.

The white unicorn, Rarity, stifled a gasp. “Oh my, darling, you weren’t hurt were you?” She turned to Fluttershy, looking her over for any bruises. She looked back to Mercer. “You really need to be more careful next time, dear. Fluttershy is delicate; you should watch where you’re going next time.”

Mercer had to fight to keep the anger out of his voice. “It’s not like I meant to do it. She came out of nowhere, like she was sneaking around or something.” He looked at Fluttershy. “You were there too. Tell them your side of the story.”

When everyone’s attention turned towards her, she squeaked, trying to hide behind Applejack again. The pony shook her head and pushed her back in front of Mercer. “Nu uh sugarcube, no more hidin’. Go on, tell us.” Her voice rang with a southern drawl.

Fluttershy gulped. “…W-well. I-I was…playing hide and seek…with Gary.”

“Gary?” Mercer raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. “He’s a hummingbird…h-he sort of has abandonment issues…s-so I was playing with him to show that even though he couldn’t find me, it didn’t mean I was gone…” She paused, her face red with embarrassment. “I was sneaking around because he can fly, and he had already found me three times really easily…I guess I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” She hung her head after she finished her explanation. “I’m sorry.”

They all looked at Mercer, gesturing for him to say something to her. “…It’s…uh…it’s okay…Fluttershy. It could have happened to anyone.” He stumbled over his apology. When she looked up, he offered her the same smile he gave her before. She calmed down when she saw it, the confidence she showed earlier returning to her face.

“Thank you…Zeus.” She blushed upon saying his nickname, smiling softly. The others held back their laughter.

Mercer glared at Rainbow Dash. “You told them already?”

The rainbow haired pony began laughing hard, falling on the ground and kicking her hooves in the air. “What? They’re my best friends! Of course I’m gonna tell them when some weird looking stallion hits on me!” She wiped a tear from her eye.

“I was not hitting on you! Why does everyone keep assuming that?”

The others continued to laugh at him. Except for Fluttershy, who instead watched the dark blue pony wearing a hood argue with her friends, a look of admiration and happiness adorning her face.

Author's Note

Just so you know, I finished this chapter like a few hours after I posted the second one, so yes, I lied when I said I didn't know when I would get the next chapter out. I wrote them one after the other and saved them on the site, I just decided to wait for the right time to click publish. I'm currently working on the fourth chapter at the time of writing this, so it's probably done by now. I'm not sure, I'll just have to take future Poly on his word.

P.S. I kind of need some random ponies to use in future chapters, background or just OC's. If you want one of your OC's to make a cameo, leave a description and name in a comment or just message me a picture or something. I can just make up random ponies myself but I'd rather make you do all the work and pretend like debuting your OC in my story is the biggest honor ever. I promise if you do give me permission to use they might not die. I give you future Poly's word. Also I hate writing for Zecora. I never realized how much I can't rhyme until she came into my life. My poor, pathetic, rhymeless life.
-Poly

Girls day out.

"Mercer is not a 'HE’; it is an 'IT.'"

-General Randall

It was a cold, especially dark night, caused by the destruction of some of the lanterns that lit the walkways in Ponyville by some unknown juveniles. Now the streets were cast in shadows until the Mayor got around to having them fixed. The town was mostly empty, the only activity going on being by the last few stragglers closing down shops and making their way back home.

One of these stragglers was a plum colored pony with a mulberry shaded mane and tail. She shut the door to her small store after working late, locking it and jiggling the handle to make sure it wasn’t loose. When she was satisfied, she turned and began heading down the street, a small smile on her face. She hummed as she walked, a nameless tune she had long since forgotten the words to, but could still remember as clearly as when her mother used to sing it to her as a filly.

She continued to hum on her way home, unaware of the pair of eyes watching her every move. The owner of said eyes was perched on a nearby rooftop, quietly making their way across the thatching, never letting the pony leave their line of sight. The figure slipped slightly when they made a small jump to another rooftop, the sound reaching the mare and alerting her. She scanned her surroundings, fear evident on her face. She began walking again, but this time a little faster, the tune all but forgotten.

The plum colored pony periodically checked behind her as she hurried along, as if expecting a shadowy beast to be following her. She turned a corner and saw that a single lantern was on at the end of the street, the spotlight it created highlighting a dark figure that stood in the middle of it. The mare gasped, backing up at the sight of it. The figure was larger than a mare, presumably making him a stallion, his body and head oddly shaped which led her to believe whoever it was was wearing some sort of cloak or hood. She quivered as the figure took a step forward, then another, slowly making his way towards her. She backed up, too scared to turn her back and attempt to flea in fear that he would give chase.

Before she knew it, the corners of two buildings came up from either side of her, the realization that she had backed herself into a corner hitting her hard. She looked back to the stranger, who had covered the majority of the distance between them in the second she took to look at the alley behind her. He was now closer than she would have preferred, and she was too scared to take the chance of rushing past him. The only thing she could do was back herself further into the alley.

She gasped when she felt her flank bump up against a brick wall. She had reached a dead end, and now the figure was standing at the entrance to the alleyway, wearing what she could only imagine was a sinister smirk on his face. He looked to either side of himself slowly; suddenly being joined by two more figures, both similar to him in shape and size. The three slowly made their way to the quivering mare, the moonlight above them revealing beaked faces and feathery bodies. The figures were actually Gryphons, their broader shoulders and bushy mane covered heads giving them the silhouettes of a heavily clothed stallion.

“Don’t be scared little pony, we only want your tail.” The one in the middle spoke, the black feathers in his mane accentuating his glowing eyes. The pony gulped audibly.

One of the other Gryphons, one with tan feathers and a dark grey body, punched him in the shoulder. “Scratch, we told you not to say that! It sounds disgusting!” He turned back to the mare. “Mind my idiotic friend. We’re not going to hurt you, we just want to cut off your tail for proof that we-”

The last one, a Gryphon with a white mane and tan body, smacked the back of his claw against the side of the second one’s head. “Render, shut up! We’re not here to tell her our life’s story!” He gave the pony a glare. “None of the rules said we had to talk to these ponies.” He said “ponies” like it left a bad taste in his mouth. “Let’s just get this over with already. I’m sick of the smell in this stupid little town. Just hold her down and cut it off so I can get the hell out of here!”

“You’re such a buzz kill Stems,” The middle one sighed, shaking his head. “But he is right. We’ve been here long enough. It’s about that time we just cut her tail off and head back to the Gryphon Kingdom.” He focused his attention on the frightened mare once more, the pony now holding her head down and sobbing. “No hard feelings, this isn’t personal. Now why don’t you make this easier on us and don’t squirm too much, eh? We don’t want any trouble from you.” The three moved closer to her, standing shoulder to shoulder to block her escape. She cried harder, her sobs growing louder until it sounded like she was laughing.

Confusion lit up their faces when they realized she actually was laughing. She picked up her head, laughing ever harder while she took a couple of steps towards her would-be attackers. “No trouble? What exactly does that entail?” She put on an innocent smile. “Should I scream for help? Or just kick and scratch until I ultimately succumb to your superior strength?” She spoke with a sarcastic air. “No, I’ve got a better idea. How about this for trouble.” She smirked evilly, suddenly speaking in a deeper, more masculine voice.

The trio of Gryphon’s watched in stunned horror as the cute pony in front of them became wrapped up in dark tendrils, her slim body expanding and growing into a much more monstrous shape. Before they knew it, they were looking up at the snarling face of a Manticore, its large eyes glowing blood red. The three didn’t even have a chance to scream before the beast descended on them, its teeth and claws ripping flesh from bone, splattering crimson on the cobblestone and the walls to either side of the alley.

The only one left alive when it was all over, the black feathered one that went by Scratch, whimpered pitifully as he dragged his body out of the alley, his legs mutilated and rendered completely useless from being chewed on. He flapped his one remaining wing weakly, as if that would somehow propel him further. From the darkness behind him came a hooded pony wearing a black leather jacket, on which not a single drop of blood lay. He walked deliberately slowly around the wounded Gryphon, enjoying the sound of his cries and chuckling at his pleas for mercy.

“Mercy? You want ‘mercy’?” He laughed, changing his voice to a higher pitch when he spoke next. “You weren’t intending to give ‘Berry Punch’ any mercy.” He laughed again, reverting back to his normal speaking voice. “Mercy for the merciless; now that’s ironic.”

Scratch began crying, thick tears rolling off his cheeks and onto the ground. “W-we…w-weren’t…g-going…to h-hurt her…” He sucked in a breath, wincing at the pain it caused him. “We j-just…wanted…her t-tail.” He sobbed pathetically. “P-please…just l-let me g-go…”

Mercer pretended to think it over. “…No. No I don’t think so.” He gave him a wide smile, flashing his teeth, his eyes glinting in the low light. “I wouldn’t want you leaving here and telling others what you’ve seen.” His front legs shifted their shape, long, sharp claws protruding from his hooves. He leaned down close, placing his mouth right next to the Gryphon’s ear. “Just so you know before I kill you…” He took a dramatic pause. “…I’m top predator around here.” He swung his claws, aiming for the Gryphon’s heart. As the life left the pitiful youth, Mercer snaked his tendrils around his body and consumed him, grabbing his head as the agony of absorbed memories overtook him.

“You know where we are right?”

“Yes sir!”

“Why are you here?”

“To join you in upholding tradition, sir!”

“And what tradition is that?”

“Upholding Gryphon pride and the honor of the entire kingdom!”

A large, heavy set Gryphon stepped forward and smacked him with a claw. “No, you idiot! That’s the military!” He shook his head and walked to the next Gryphon in line, eyeing him up and down like he was a tasty snack. “Our traditions are to cause mischief and general mayhem! Like my brother did before me, and all our brothers before him!” He walked over to where two other Gryphons stood at attention, the badges they wore on their chests proudly gleaming with the insignia of the group. “If you hatchlings really want to be in this exclusive club, you’ll have to pass the same initiation rites as every other member before you.”

“Initiation rites?”

“What do we have to do?”

The large Gryphon smirked. “Go to Equestria, find a town called ‘Ponyville’, and start screwing up everything you can find. I’m talking shattered windows, broken street lamps, graffiti, the works. Make their lives as miserable as you can, and then, as proof of your misdeeds, bring back the tail of one those sissy little ponies for a trophy!” The Gryphons behind him laughed, as if they knew something the pledges didn’t.

“A tail? Really? That sounds stupid.”

The one who spoke found himself face to face with the leader. “If you don’t want to do it, then I guess you don’t want to be in our club. If that’s the case, there’s the door.” He pointed a claw at the heavy door on the other side of the room they were in. The smaller Gryphon looked at the exit, back at the leader, and finally to the other three pledges. With a defeated sigh, he turned and headed to the door, hanging his head shamefully. The leader watched him go for a moment, bringing his attention back to the remaining three. “If any of you want to join him, go right ahead. Otherwise, go to Ponyville, and don’t come back unless you have a fucking pony tail to show me!”

As the memory faded, the newly absorbed biomass was already settling inside his body. Mercer looked down to where the Gryphon he had just killed had been lying. “So that’s why you were here? Just some stupid prank?” He shook his head shamefully. “Bad day for you to join a fraternity then, eh?” He asked, mimicking the way the Gryphon had spoken to him before.

He looked back into the alley where what remained of the other two Gryphons were scattered about. He sighed, dreading the clean-up he was in for. He didn’t mean to go so overboard, he had just gotten caught up in the thrill of cold blooded murder. Celestia knows he hadn’t been getting his fill lately. He kicked himself. ‘Celestia knows’? Fuck, he was going native. The price you pay when you go undercover.

It had been four days now since he’d first arrived mysteriously, his plan to infect this world becoming more and more complicated. First it was the discovery that he had big problems in the form of all powerful Alicorn Princesses, then it was discovering six ponies with enough power to turn him to stone. Just as he had adjusted his plan to turn one of the six into his own ally, he found out that he wasn’t as stealthy as he thought. A nosy little zebra, by the name of Zecora, knew about him. More than she needed to. That had spooked him a little. If she was aware of who Mercer really was, God only knew who else was in the loop. It hadn’t deterred his ultimate goal any, but it did make him more cautious about his approach.

As Mercer cleaned the blood out of the alley, he thought about the only pony he actually had consumed as of yet. She was a bit of a workaholic, known to work late nights and be absent for most of the day. When he had first met her at that party Pinkie Pie had thrown him on his first day, he knew she was the best target to consume for a disguise so he could better hide from curious eyes. She was easy, a few spiked drinks and he had the perfect excuse to offer her his company home, very gentlemanly. What wasn’t gentlemanly was hoisting her up on a five foot blade, consuming her body and archiving her DNA so he could take her form whenever he wanted. Especially since it was only the first date.

He finished cleaning up the last of the blood on the walls, kicking a nearby bucket and dumping its contents on the red-stained cobblestone. It was still fresh, washing away with the water easily, turning it a light pink color. Satisfied, he changed his form back into the purple pony and began heading off into the direction of her home.

“Please darling, I beg of you!”

“I-I don’t know Rarity, I’m just so busy-”

“You’re always busy, you need a break. The spa would be perfect for you!”

“Rarity, I already told you-”

“Please, Berry, you work too hard! I’m surprised you haven’t keeled over from exhaustion!”

Mercer snorted at that. If she only knew.

The conversation he was currently having with the white unicorn fashonista had started when she rushed into Berry Punch’s shop, which Mercer had only opened to give off the impression that Berry Punch was still alive, claiming she had to take her sister Sweetie Belle to Canterlot to see their father, who had apparently gotten food poisoning after his last visit to her boutique. Evidently Sweetie Belle had insisted she had gotten better at cooking.

Anyway, today was her and Fluttershy’s weekly spa session, and she knew that Fluttershy wouldn’t go alone. Since she didn’t want to waste two perfectly good spa tickets, she was now begging Berry Punch to go in her place. Unfortunately for Mercer, he was now impersonating Berry Punch. It was a vicious circle, and he was desperately trying to figure a way out of it.

“I…uh…” He couldn’t think of an excuse good enough. Or at least an excuse that wouldn’t make Rarity suspicious, that is. “…Fine.” He gave in grudgingly, seeing no other way out besides murder, which he was still contemplating religiously.

“Oh, thank you! You won’t regret it, darling, I promise! It will be fun! Now, off you go, don’t want to keep Fluttershy waiting!”

Something was telling Mercer that Rarity was playing up most of that drama. It seemed like she was expecting Berry to cave. Plus, she didn’t look relieved when he agreed, more like just knowing.

He turned a corner, seeing the spa building up ahead. Standing in front of it was a yellow Pegasus with long pink hair. He sighed, preparing himself for the horrors of a spa day.

“O-oh, hello Berry. Have you seen Rarity anywhere?” Fluttershy asked nervously when he got up to her.

“Yeah, she had an emergency to take care of, so she couldn’t make it. She asked me to come instead.” He thought of something then. “…Although, if you’re not comfortable going with me, I would definitely understand. It is pretty odd doing something with someone you barely know-”

“Oh, no, that’s alright. If Rarity asked you, then she must know you’re nice. I trust her judgment.”

“Of course you do.” Mercer mumbled.

He followed her inside, immediately being assaulted by the smell of perfume and scented oils. He gagged slightly, thinking to himself that if he still had a stomach he would have vomited its contents all over the floor. They proceeded to the counter, where an Earth pony with a cerulean coat and rose colored hair sat, watching the two with a smile on her face.

“Ah, Fluttershy! Good to see you! Are you ready for your treatment?” She noticed Mercer standing next to her. “Who is your friend? Where is Rarity?” She looked around, as if the unicorn would suddenly jump out and yell “Here I am!”

Fluttershy looked at Mercer, silently asking him to explain Rarity’s absence. “Uh, Rarity couldn’t make it because she had to take care of an emergency.”

The pony gasped. “Emergency? Is she alright?”

“Yeah, it’s nothing wrong with her. I guess her father got sick from eating bad food, so she had to take her sister to go make sure he was okay.”

She wiped her forehead. “Oh, well that’s good. I was afraid we’d lost our highest paying customer!” She noticed the confused looks on their faces. “I-I mean, I was…I just…” She smiled awkwardly. “Why don’t we just get started?”

She hopped off her seat and led them through a doorway into the back, where all the “fun” Rarity had promised was supposed to take place. There was a large tub at the back of the room, and several massage chairs lined up against one of the walls. Fluttershy walked over to one and jumped up, lying down and getting comfortable. She gestured for Mercer to join her on the seat next to her.

“…Um, Berry, I hope I’m not being rude, and if so, I’m sorry, but what do you do again?” Fluttershy asked after he had lain down on the chair.

“Oh, I…uh…” Mercer filed through the memories he had absorbed from Berry Punch. “…I sell homemade jam? Uh, I mean, yeah, it’s a family recipe.”

She smiled. “Sounds nice. I wish I had something like that. The only thing I got from my family was a cheap necklace and a raggedy doll.” She didn’t sound resentful as she spoke, just thoughtful.

Mercer’s curiosity peaked. “Rough childhood?”

She looked down. “Not from my family, if that’s what you mean.” She bit her lip. “School on the other hand…”

Mercer knew exactly how she felt. He was never that good with people, he preferred being alone. That preference never kept other kids away, unfortunately. The spa pony returned, accompanied by another who looked exactly the same except for the fact they were oppositely colored. They went into their routine, taking out lotions and oils and asking the two ponies what they wanted. Fluttershy told them to do the usual, suggesting Mercer get it as well since he’d never been to the spa. They began the massage, rubbing and beating on their backs and shoulders. Fluttershy seemed content, while Mercer was just plain uncomfortable. He had to soften his biomass in order to imitate flesh and muscle, the resulting “squishiness” making him feel vulnerable.

After the massage came the facials, which Mercer had to decline three times. They gave them pedicures as well, not as uncomfortable for him but still unnecessary. Fluttershy didn’t try to start up their conversation again, instead opting to close her eyes and simply enjoy the treatment. Mercer wasn’t in the mood to talk anyway, he just wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Of course, what he wanted and what he got were two different things. The facials and pedicures were just the beginning; next came seaweed wraps, a mane wash, and then a hoof soak. After what seemed like hours of poking and prodding, he had finally managed to survive to the last treatment on the list: a thirty minute soak in the hot tub. He watched Fluttershy test the water with a hoof, carefully walking in and sinking down until the water reached her chin. Mercer was less graceful; he all but jumped into the water, sending a wave splashing over Fluttershy and drenching her mane.

“Whoops.” He said after he realized his mistake. “My bad.”

Fluttershy pushed her hair out of her eyes, giggling quietly. “It’s okay. I don’t mind, really.”

Mercer considered testing that out, perhaps creating a shockwave underwater by pounding his hooves together to send water flying everywhere, but he decided against it. No need to answer any questions regarding how he could do something like that. He settled down in a spot near the other side of the tub, hoping Fluttershy would continue her streak of silence until it was time to leave.

“Um…Berry?” No such luck. He turned his attention to her. “D-do you know anything about…stallions?”

Mercer’s eyes widened. Oh fuck. This is exactly what he had been dreading: Girl talk. “Stallions? Uh…nope, sorry, don’t know anything!” He prayed if he played dumb she would change the subject.

“O-oh…okay…never mind then.” She bit her lip, her face scrunching up in thought. “Um…do you remember that party Pinkie Pie threw for that new pony earlier this week?” Mercer stiffened, nodding slowly. “Well…when you went home that night…he offered to take you, didn’t he?”

‘Where are you going with this Fluttershy?’ he wanted to ask. “Yeah…he did. Why do you ask?” He narrowed his eyes at her.

“I-I was just wondering…what did you two do after he walked you home?” She put emphasis on “do”, her face turning bright red.

Mercer facepalmed. Christ, what is with these ponies! Can’t a guy walk a drunk mare home so he can stab her through the chest and consume her body without everyone thinking he’s a sexual predator?

“No, nothing like that happened! He just walked me home and said goodnight! That’s all!” He growled exasperatedly.

She still had a blush on her cheeks, but now she looked relieved. “W-well that’s good. I-I was only asking because I was worried he had…taken advantage of you.” Well, in a way that was true, but she didn’t need to know that. “I guess I shouldn’t have thought he would do something like that.” She smiled, more to herself then to him. “I knew he wasn’t that kind of pony from the first time I met him…” She shut her eyes, continuing to smile.

Mercer watched her, confused beyond belief at the weird behavior she exhibited.

“Thank God that’s finally over.” Mercer said through clenched teeth, a fake smile on his face as he waved goodbye to the retreating form of the yellow Pegasus. Once she was out of sight, he allowed himself to relax. He walked behind an empty stand and reverted back to his own form, making sure his hood was pulled over far enough to hide his face before walking back out and heading down the street.

He headed to the place he had gone to every day since his first day: town hall. It was the perfect place to unleash Blacklight. It was right in the middle of Ponyville, and it always had plenty of ponies around. It was like the Penn station of this world. Spreading the virus from here would ensure maximum devastation. He smirked to himself, thinking about what the town would like with Hydras and Brawler pustules.

Before long the roof of the town hall could be seen over the rooftops. Mercer stood at the edge of the clearing surrounding the tall building, looking up at it longingly, wishing he could just hang a few ponies from the top.

As he looked he felt that paranoia he was all too familiar with sneak up his back, already knowing where it was coming from. Or should he say “who” it was coming from. Over the last few days he had come across her several times, and every time she was silently watching him from a distance. Without turning his head, he watched the corner of his vision to where the feeling was originating and saw the zebra standing by a vegetable stand, steadily watching him.

Zecora had already been the cause of him postponing infecting Rainbow Dash, although in hindsight that might have been a blessing in disguise. He knew nothing about the mare, only that she represented the Element of Loyalty. Since he had never officially accepted Pinkie Pie’s friendship, she still hounded him trying to win him over. Because of that, she had been dragging him into hanging out with her and her friends. Thanks to the unwanted attention, he now knew more about the Pegasus then he did before. Mostly that she isn’t just loyal to anyone that happens to come along and infect her with a deadly virus, but more to her friends.

When he’d learned that, he found his options were running low. He figured switching his targets was his next best move, but none of the others would work. Applejack was his first backup, being the Element of Honesty, but when he learned more of her personality, he realized she was as honest as she was stubborn. A potential Heller if he ever saw one. Pinkie sounded like a logical choice, but she was too unpredictable; he would never be able to keep tabs on her. Rarity wouldn’t work either, she would most likely just complain about the virus being too dirty. Twilight was smart, too smart to convince into betraying her friends, and he’d personally seen that magic of hers change a chipmunk into a pinecone, so that didn’t score her many points. He had briefly considered Fluttershy, but being the Element of Kindness, as well as shy, timid, and awkward to be around, he ruled her out almost immediately. He was now left to figure out a way to either trick Rainbow Dash into helping him or leave her with no other option. It was going to be harder work ahead of him then he thought.

Zecora still stared at him, causing his annoyance to grow to the point he had to hold himself back from just launching Whipfist at her to wipe that look off her face. When he first met her, she had called him monstrous. He shifted his biomass in a wave of tendrils across his body, showing her just how much of a monster he truly was. She didn’t seem surprised, her eyes narrowing as she began backing up, disappearing into the crowd that surrounded her. With her around it ran the risk of being revealed too soon. He knew what he had to do if he was to be successful, he would need to get rid of her. That was his next move.

He turned to leave, a smile on his face that would make a shark envious. Kill Zecora. Somehow it just seemed right, planning a murder of someone simply to get them out of the way. Like an objective in a video game. Too bad there are no do overs in life; he had a feeling it was going to be something he’d want to do again and again.

Author's Note

I'm not proud of this chapter. Something just doesn't work for me, but I can't tell what it is exactly. I'd rewrite it so it flows better but I'm just to lazy. Eh, I'll let future Poly take care of that. He usually gets things done.
-Poly

Pinkie, just shut up!

"The time for waiting is over."

-Elizabeth Greene

“It’s still your turn Mercer.”

“I know.”

“Then why aren’t you going?”

“Cause if I do we’ll keep playing.”

“That’s the point silly!”

“…Fine, do you have any twos?”

“Yep, here ya go!”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome! Do you have any sevens?”

“No.”

“You’re supposed to say ‘go fish’.”

“…No.”

The conversation was, obviously, based around Pinkie and Mercer playing a rousing and stimulating game of “Go Fish”. A game which Pinkie all but forced Mercer to play. She didn’t actually make him, but it was either that or racing snails, which she claimed would have been “the most fun you can ever have with snails!” He had sided with the lesser of two evils.

They sat out in the park, where Mercer had made the mistake of walking through on his way to Berry Punch’s store to “relieve” her of work. In an instant Pinkie had been right next to him, talking a mile a minute and eventually dragging him back to where her and two baby ponies were set up for a picnic. The foals were taking a nap, and Pinkie had been bored up until Mercer showed up. He was hoping for the perfect chance to sneak away, but his last two attempts had turned up with her suddenly popping out from behind a tree and asking him where he was going, so his odds weren’t looking good.

“Do you have any Jokers?”

“No-wait, Jokers? Pinkie you’re supposed to take those out of the deck!”

“But if I did that then they wouldn’t be able to play too!”

“It’s an inanimate object; it’s not going to…” He paused. “…Why am I having this conversation with you?” He placed his cards on the ground, signaling he had given up. “Well, it’s been fun Pinkie, but I should get going-”

“Wait! I was just going to get another game! How about next we play ‘Monopony’!”

He was just about to object and say he’d rather swallow hot coals when they heard another voice call out to them. He was surprised to see Rainbow Dash gliding down to them, waving a hoof as she descended. She landed right next to the blanket Pinkie had set out for the foals to play on, folding her wings and sitting down next to them. “What are you guys playing? Poker?” She asked when she saw the cards.

“I wish…” Mercer mumbled.

Rainbow looked apologetic. “So, Pinkie, what are you doing out here today? Did the Cakes give you a day off?”

“Yep! They asked me to watch the twins while they cleaned up Sugarcube Corner, so I brought them out here for a picnic!” Her usual happy personality made it impossible for her smile to leave her face.

Rainbow Dash looked confused. “Why did they need to clean up Sugarcube Corner?”

“Well I was trying to make a super yummy cake for Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s anniversary that’s coming up, and I might have used a little too much flour.” She indicated the amount by bringing both her hooves close together.

Rainbow Dash nodded her head. “Yeah, that’s just about what I figured happened.”

The two friends continued to talk, while Mercer let his mind wander to more important matters. Partly having to do with his continued planning of dealing with the rainbow haired mare sitting three feet away from him, but mostly about the nosy zebra that he still had to hunt down and kill. Rainbow Dash could wait since she didn’t actually know anything about her impending doom; but Zecora had caught wind of his decision to kill her, evident by the discovery of her hut left abandoned when he went for a visit in the Everfree forest. She was using some kind of herbal mixture that messed up his sense of smell to cover her tracks, and the more he sniffed around for her the more it screwed him up.

In the meantime he had to keep up the Berry Punch ruse since no one knew she was dead yet, and that meant acting like she was still hard at work as usual while he searched for leads on where she could have gone. So far he had found only dead ends, but he wouldn’t be deterred. That zebra couldn’t hide forever.

The sound of a baby crying interrupted his thoughts, his attention turning to one of the foals lying on the blanket. She was awake, and apparently not happy about it.

Pinkie walked over and picked the foal up, slowly rocking her in her hooves and trying to get her back to sleep. “Sshh, Pumpkin Cake, please don’t wake your brother up!” She whispered loudly, the sound only making the baby more upset. “Just go back to sleep, there there.” Her soothing voice didn’t help much. “Do you want a bottle?” Pinkie offered the now screaming foal a bottle of milk, which she refused. Pinkie began to panic, obviously not very experienced with dealing with babies. She began crying too when her next offering of a stuffed animal didn’t manage to calm the baby down either.

Mercer rolled his eyes. “She needs to be changed.” Pinkie stopped crying, looking first at him and then the baby, lifting her up so her diaper was near her nose and taking in a long whiff. She recoiled immediately.

“Blegh! You are stinky!” She laid the baby down and reached for the extra diapers, beginning the unpopular task of changing the foal. When she was done, she tossed the dirty diaper in a waste basket nearby and laid the foal back down, smiling when she closed her eyes contentedly and went back to sleep. She turned back to Mercer, surprise written on her face. “Wow, how did you know that was what was wrong with her?”

“I used to babysit a lot when I was younger.” He said simply.

Rainbow Dash looked at him curiously. “Did you run a day care or something?”

“No, I just babysat a lot. End of story.”

“Did you have a little sister?” When Mercer didn’t respond Rainbow got the message. “Oh…I see.”

“I don’t! Did you have a little sister or not?” Pinkie Pie chirped in.

Rainbow Dash waved her hooves to try to stop her friend from saying anything else. “Pinkie, I don’t think he wants to talk about it-”

“But I wanna know! Who was your sister, Mercer?”

“Pinkie he doesn’t-”

“Was her name Dana?”

Mercer stiffened, his eyes going wide. “…What did you just say?”

“Well, the other day when we were walking to go visit Rainbow Dash you said ‘Dana’ all sad like you were remembering something. Who’s Dana?”

Rainbow Dash had quit trying to stop her at that point, awkwardly watching as her oblivious friend dug herself deeper into a hole. Mercer felt himself growing angry, trying to just ignore her and utterly failing. “…Pinkie, I’m warning you now, drop it.”

She seemed confused. “Did I do something wrong? I was just asking if your sister’s name was-”

Rainbow Dash placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Pinkie, that’s enough.”

Mercer was trying his hardest to push down his memories of Dana, but was finding it hard to since he was also trying his hardest not to rip Pinkie Pie in half. “She’s no one. Now just forget it.”

“But-”

“Forget it!”

Pinkie gave him a sympathetic look, ignoring Mercer’s advice to drop it and asking “Is Dana the reason why you’re always so sad?”

He glared at the pink pony, suddenly seeing nothing but red. His efforts to contain his anger failed as he exploded in a rage. “Don’t you ever say that name to me again!” He shouted at her. “You have no right to speak of her! I don’t care how helpful you think you’re being, stay out of my business!” He quickly stood to his feet. “Quit trying to help me! I don’t need your sympathy and I sure as hell don’t need your friendship!” He stormed away, unaware of the sad look that had come over Pinkie’s face or the tears starting to form in her eyes.

He had fumed the whole way through town, so angry he didn’t even realize where his feet were taking him until he found himself coming around the corner to the street Berry Punch’s shop was. He kept heading down the road, watching the door of her shop, wishing he could just level it and pretend like Berry died in a horrible accident. He sighed, continuing on his way.

‘Calm down, Mercer. She’s not worth it,’ He told himself, taking deep, slow breaths to calm his nerves. It wasn’t working; he found himself just getting angrier. He stopped in the middle of the street and hung his head, grudgingly letting the memories of his sister flood his mind. He had always promised to protect her, but in the end, he had left. He had gotten an offer from Gentek to work for them when he was 23, and moved to New York in a heartbeat. He didn’t even think about his sister; about leaving her behind. He hadn’t even known that she had moved there to find him five years later until after the first outbreak.

He shook his head. It didn’t matter anymore. For all Dana knew, Mercer was dead, consumed by Heller. She had no way of knowing he was actually here in Equestria, being followed and tormented by the locals and the memories of her that refused to let him go. He sighed again. Perhaps it wasn’t Pinkie he was mad at; maybe he was just now realizing how much he hated himself.

He started walking to the door of the shop again, the feeling of calm slowly washing the anger out of his mind, improving his mood considerably. As he reached the door, he placed a hoof on it and gave it a shove. It didn’t budge. He pushed a little harder, thinking it was just stuck. It still refused to move. He narrowed his eyes, bringing his hoof back and giving the stubborn door a powerful kick that knocked it off its hinges, sending it flying into the shop with an amazing amount of force. He smiled. He may have to fix it now, but at least it helped him blow off some of that anger.

He entered the shop, immediately shifting his form so that he looked like Berry Punch. He walked to the desk near the back and started pulling out random papers and placing them in folders and cubby holes, giving it that “hard at work” feel in case anyone decided to stop by. He wandered around the shop, placing things in random orders and adjusting jars of jam so it looked like she had been working all day. As he got to the back he felt a tickle climbing up his throat; a familiar feeling that he couldn’t place. He began coughing, quietly at first but it slowly got worse and worse. Pain erupted all the way up his esophagus, causing him to grab his throat as he continued to cough.

He backed up and harshly and slammed into a shelf, falling over with it and sending broken glass and homemade jelly spreading out across the floor. As he forced himself to his feet again, he tried to think of what could possibly be happening to him. The only time he’d become this crippled from something was when he’d breathed in-

“Bloodtox.” He realized with a start. Someone had filled the air inside the entire shop with a form of it he wasn’t immune to. He turned and sprinted for the doorway, knowing if he just got out of it quickly the effects would go away. He launched himself out of the poisonous shop and into the fresh air outside, rolling on the ground a few times before coming to a stop. He coughed a few more times, the pain caused by the Bloodtox already beginning to subside. He rolled over and tried picking himself up off the ground, finding his strength returning to him slowly.

“Had you not stopped to take a nap, you would have noticed the signs of my trap.” Mercer froze, recognizing that voice and way of speaking immediately. “Now that I have discovered your weakness, it is time to rid the world of your sickness.” Mercer looked up just in time to see Zecora throw a bucket of light blue powder on him. Instantly his entire body was wracked in agony, the simple touch of the powder burning like a brand. He clenched his teeth, attempting to stand but finding that his strength had left him completely. “Let your suffering end, just take a deep breath; it will all be over upon your death.”

“You bitch!” He managed to growl out. She watched him for a moment longer before striding past his prone form and heading down the road. “Where do you think you’re going? Come back here you-” Another wave of pain cut him off, his vision darkening as he watched the retreating form of the zebra round the corner at the end of the street.

Author's Note

*Gasp* What!? I don't even know anymore...

Just like Gentek. Only with ponies.

"I want it on the slab; I need to know what makes it tick."

―Dr. McMullen

Mercer found himself standing in front of a wooden door. He was confused, unable to determine why or how he’d gotten here, or even where he’d been before. His mind was fuzzy, and his thoughts were sluggish like they were floating in honey. He looked around, trying to piece together the familiarity of this location from the jumbled mess of his mind. He was standing on the porch of a small wooden cabin, tall pines surrounding the clearing it was centered in. A breeze blew past him, bringing with it the distinct smell of pine needles and tree sap. It was like a dream; a realistic, very believable dream.

After a moment he realized just what was so familiar about where he was; it was the cabin he’d rented from Flint at the end of his soul search around the world. He brought a hand up to the wood of the door frame, sliding his fingers down the smooth surface. As he stared at his fingers he couldn’t help but feel like something was off about his hand. He looked down at his body, seeing that he was wearing a red turtle neck and black pants. Not at all part of his usual attire.

It came to him finally. This was right after he’d confronted Flint about his past. And if that was correct, then he had a feeling he wouldn’t be alone once he entered this cabin.

Mercer placed his hand on the doorknob, twisting his wrist and slowly pushing open the door. The inside was decorated with few furnishings. A bed lay on one side of the small cabin, a table with drawers next to it. A dresser stood on the opposite side, just underneath a picture of a black and white photo of some large log house. A plain desk was situated across the room from the doorway, upon which sat the very thing he was now staring unblinking at.

“Autumn...” Upon hearing her name, she turned her head to look at him, mild surprise lighting up her face. He remembered this. All of this. He remembered arriving here, looking for a place to stay. He’d taken on the persona of a former drug dealer he’d killed and stolen money from. He remembered being taken in by Flint and his daughter Autumn, with whom he had actually developed feelings for. After discovering Flint was being extorted for his lumber mill, Mercer had decided to go confront the man responsible, only to discover upon consuming the man that Flint used to work for him, running his own little extortion business. When Mercer had learned that, he’d killed Flint for lying to him. Then he had headed back to his cabin and found Autumn waiting for him.

“Oh, hello Jack. It’s nice to see you here.”

This was impossible. How could he be back here? He wasn’t supposed to be. The last he remembered he was…

He couldn’t remember. His mind was still fuzzy, he couldn’t think straight. He began going through the motions, reciting his part of the last conversation he’d had with Autumn. He asked her to come with him, trying to convince her to leave her father behind and join him. As he spoke, he slowly made his way over to one of the corners of the room, where a loose floorboard was just visible apart from the surrounding ones. He flipped it over only to discover the box underneath where he’d hidden the money from the drug dealers was empty. He looked at the red head, confusion and hurt written on his face. Suddenly she pulled a gun on him, aiming it at his head and firing before he could react.

She began laughing. “You idiot. My daddy taught me better than that. I don’t care about you. I never did. I only care about myself. I don’t need anyone.” Just like before, Mercer felt the disappointment and anger he’d felt towards humanity bubble up from inside himself. He stood up, much to her horror, the hole in his face regenerating back to normal. In one step he was in front of her, and in one second he had killed and consumed her.

This was the event that had made up his mind about humanity; the last piece of proof he needed to kick start his campaign against New York Zero. But why was he being shown this memory? Was this some kind of subconscious attempt to teach him a lesson? Mercer couldn’t figure it out.

“Hello? Are you there? If you can hear me, just try to open your eyes.”

A voice rang out, one that seemed to come from everywhere, but he couldn’t see who was talking. “Berry, can you hear me?” Suddenly Mercer was no longer in the cabin; rather he was floating in a sea of black, the memory already fading fast. A form appeared in front of him, foreign yet somehow vaguely familiar. It looked like a…horse? No, it was too small. What were small horses called again? Ponies. Small horses were called-

Just like that he remembered where he’d been before this. Waking up in the forest, no arms and near death. Almost being eaten by a monstrous beast. Walking to the crest of a hill and seeing that town...

He felt himself being pulled downwards, the darkness rushing past as a bright light somewhere below quickly came up to meet him.

Mercer sat up quickly, eyes wide and fully alert. He gasped for air, not for the oxygen but simply out of habit from when he was a human. He ran a hoof through his mane, the images of the memory he’d just relived still flashing behind his eyes. He looked around the room, only then realizing he wasn’t alone. Standing next to the bed where he lay was a concerned looking Twilight Sparkle, her eyes focused on him intently.

“Thank Celestia your awake! I wasn’t sure you were gonna wake up!” She pressed a hoof to his forehead. “You’re still pretty hot. Spike, go get some more towels!” She shouted to a small purple dragon wearing a nurse’s cap behind her. He ran out of the room after giving a salute. Twilight turned her attention back on him. “What happened to you, Berry?”

“Berry?” Mercer looked down at himself, realizing he was still disguised as Berry Punch. That’s right; he never got the chance to change back before Zecora tried to kill him. “…Uh, how long was I out?” He asked, making sure to mimic Berry’s voice as he spoke.

“About twenty minutes. I found you lying on the ground next to a pile of blue powder. I didn’t know what had happened so I brought you back here to my house and called for nurse Redheart to come and take a look.” She gestured to a bucket on the bedside table. “I scooped up the powder and brought it with me. I figured you might be able to tell me what it is. It doesn’t look like anything that I’ve ever seen.”

Mercer recoiled slightly from the deadly powder, remembering all too well what it could do. “…It’s…uh…it’s a…new ingredient I’ve been trying out.”

Twilight tilted her head. “What is it called?”

Mercer hesitated. “…It’s not really…called anything at the moment. I’m still trying to figure out a name for it.” It wasn’t necessarily a lie. He had no idea what it was. Yet. “What does it matter, anyway?”

“Well, I was just curious. You were lying next to it; I thought you might have had some kind of allergic reaction.”

Mercer nodded. “That’s what I was starting to think.” He eyed the bucket warily. “Do you have any idea what could be in it?”

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin. “I’m not sure…it doesn’t seem to be any kind of toxic material. Although from its texture and consistency I would wager it’s made from some sort of plant or herb. Perhaps a chemical in the leaves that you were allergic to got mixed in. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to use it as an ingredient; someone else could have the same allergy. And if they were to eat the jam made from this,” She gestured to the powder. “Then they might not end up as lucky as you.”

He suppressed a laugh. Lucky? What’s luck got to do about pulling yourself out of a pile of Bloodtox and shaking it off like a dog before passing out in the dirt? That wasn’t luck; that was sheer force of will. “So, do you have any way of finding out what it’s made of?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “Well…yes, but I think a better question would be ‘Where did you get this stuff?’ It doesn’t look like anything you could get easily here in Ponyville.”

Mercer started to come up with an excuse, but stopped himself. If Zecora was gracious enough to give him this “special ingredient”, then who was he to deny her recognition for such a good deed?

He smiled politely. “Zecora gave it to me. She said she ‘made it special’ just for me.”

The look of shock that came over the librarians face was just what he was hoping for. “…Zecora made it for you?” She scrunched her face in thought. “…I would think she was smarter than to mix herbs that could be dangerous to ponies…” She paused. “…I-I’m sure she didn’t mean to. It was probably just a mistake.” She looked uncertain of her own words.

Mercer hid his satisfaction. It seems sowing seeds of distrust was easier when the one in question was a recluse who spent most of her time in a forest.

“…Anyway, I would like to see what she used in this powder. I might need help though. Do you know anyone that might be interested? Spike won’t help me anymore after I tried to see if I could replicate a star in my lab and caused a minor explosion that turned his scales black for a few hours. ”

“It wasn’t for a few hours, it was a few days! I took hundreds of baths before I finally washed it all out!” They turned to see that the dragon in question had returned with the wet towels, a frown on his face.

“I said I was sorry, Spike. Can’t you just let it go?” Twilight picked up one of the towels with her magic, bringing it up and placing it on Mercer’s forehead, much to his annoyance.

“I will only let it go as long as you keep your promise to never make me help you with crazy experiments like that again.”

She shook her head, sighing. “Fine. But if you won’t help me than who will?”

Mercer smirked. “I think I may know someone that will be willing to help.”

He adjusted the lens on the microscope, bringing his next slide into focus. He monitored the small bit of liquid between the thin pieces of glass with a trained eye, paying close attention to every micrometer. So far the nine slides he’d looked at hadn’t yielded many results; mostly just rehydrated plant and fungi cells, which confirmed Twilight’s hypothesis that the powder most likely consisted of herbs and other medicinal substances, exactly the kind of things a zebra living in a self-sustaining forest would be able to find with ease.

He was in Twilight’s basement, a room she normally used for this exact kind of thing. She owned a wide collection of scientific tools and equipment, a bit dated and not at all what he was used to but still capable of getting the job done. Of course he had a bit of difficulty at first learning how to use equipment that didn’t run off electricity, but once he got the hang of it that problem solved itself.

The problem that lay before him now was the task of isolating each individual cell from the ingredients used and identifying which organisms they came from. Not an easy thing to accomplish, but he wasn’t complaining. In fact, he was actually enjoying the menial work. It reminded him of his days working for Gentek on the Blacklight project. He had been the first person to create a new, more powerful strain of the Redlight virus. The very same strain he eventually unleashed on himself.

Finished with his latest slide, he carefully lifted it off the stage with his teeth and set it down next to the others. He turned around and walked over to where Twilight was stationed, peering over her shoulder to see where she had gotten with her work. She had four beakers floating above a large flask, carefully pouring the contents of each drop by drop. The purple pony was concentrating so hard she hadn’t even realized Mercer was standing right behind her. He left her be; one thing he learned long ago was that concentrating scientists, dangerous chemicals and loud noises did not mix well.

He headed back to the table he had been working on, heading for the centrifuge set up at the end of the table. It was an old model, a relic back in the world he knew, that required the use of a hand crank to keep it spinning. He had to keep coming back to it every few minutes to give the crank a few more turns, otherwise it would stop prematurely and he would have to start over. The beakers held inside it contained the next batch of samples he needed to check under the microscope, and he was hoping they held the secrets he’d spent the last few hours trying to unlock. The other slides had proved inconclusive; the majority of the cells came from harmless plants that had most likely gotten mixed in by mistake. The rest is what he was having trouble with. The powder was inlaid with some sort of strange substance that prevented any chance of getting a proper sample. Zecora obviously didn’t want him finding out what it was.

“Twilight, can you try mixing together a solution to separate the structure of the powder?” He began turning the crank with a hoof as he asked. “I think there’s some kind of chemical mixed in with it. If we can neutralize it somehow it might allow for a better test sample.”

She didn’t even turn around when she responded. “Sure, I’ll get to that in a moment.” She continued working with no pause or hesitation. She was a true scientist, never letting anything distract her if she could help it. It made him think about the members of his team researching Blacklight back in Gentek. They could work for hours and not even realize someone was sick for the day.

Mercer let go of the crank, watching the rotor inside spin the test tubes, which reminded him of the blades of the Blackwatch gunships back in NYZ. He could almost hear the engines and feel the wind blowing across his face. If he closed his eyes he could swear he was latched onto the side of one, ready to rip the door off and yank the pilot out. He stopped day dreaming when a bell on the machine went off; indicating the timer was done and the test tubes were ready to be taken out. He stopped the rotor and carefully lifted one of the four tubes out with calipers designed to be used with hooves, placing it in a rack to keep it steady. He did the same with the rest, lining them all up and making small marks on the tubes with ink to distinguish between them. Lastly he picked up a dropper in his teeth and dipped the end into the first tube, sucking up the contents that had settled on the bottom. He brought it over to an awaiting slide and let a small drop fall onto the piece of glass, covering it with the other half and putting it next to the microscope.

After he had done the same with the rest of the samples, he once again began going through the motions he was most familiar with: placing each slide under the lens and inspecting them carefully. The results were the same as the last nine; damaged cellular structures well beyond the point of recognition and useless plant and fungi cells. Mercer scowled after he finished looking at the last slide, angry that a skilled virologist couldn’t even figure out what a baby blue powder could possibly be made of.

His anger was short lived, because suddenly the pony behind him gasped loudly. He turned around to see her literally shaking with excitement, a large smile across her face. “I just had an epiphany!”

Mercer looked at her confusedly. “Really now? I would have thought you just swallowed a jumping bean.”

Twilight didn’t hear him, already running about the room like a madpony, levitating chemical filled beakers and all but throwing them to the table. Once she had everything she needed she began measuring and pouring everything into a large glass receptacle, sticking her tongue out as she concentrated. Mercer walked over and watched her curiously, wondering what she was up to.

When she was satisfied with her little mixture, a lime green liquid that bubbled mysteriously, she lifted a scoop out of the bucket that held the powder and dumped it into the glass. Immediately the liquid turned dark purple and began smoking, the bubbling from before increasing to the point that it made the glass start to shake. It fell over on its side, rolling across the table and over the edge, shattering on impact with the ground. The liquid began bubbling even more violently then before, sizzling like it was on a hot plate.

Mercer and Twilight backed up a few steps in surprise, putting more distance between them and the strange goo. It continued to boil and sizzle for a few more seconds until it finally just stopped, becoming nothing but a dark purple puddle lying on the floor.

They continued to watch it, waiting for it to do something else. When it didn’t, Twilight used her magic to pick up the quill she had been using to mark the beakers and lowered it to poke the liquid. Before she could even get near it the puddle suddenly rose up, hissing sharply and recoiling like a snake. It then slinked away to a corner of the room, squeezing itself through a crack in the wall and disappearing through it.

They stared at where it had gone for several minutes, the shock of it still leaving them speechless. Finally, Mercer turned to Twilight, a single question on his mind. “What was the point of that?”

She took a few moments to answer, her eyes still fixed on the crack it had gone through. “…I-It was…supposed to just tell us what the blue powder is.” She pulled her gaze away and focused on him. “I have no idea what all that was about, I swear! I’m just as surprised as you are!”

Mercer raised an eyebrow. “All right then, did it work? I couldn’t exactly tell what it was hissing at me, although I did take it as some sort of racial slur.”

Twilight shook her head. “Oh, right. Sorry.” She walked over to the table, minding the glass spread around on the floor. “I was doing what you suggested, mixing a solution to neutralize the chemicals present in the powder, and then I had an idea of what it could be. So I mixed together a base to see if my hypothesis was correct.” She looked back at the wall where it had disappeared. “It was supposed to just turn purple if I was right. I can’t imagine what I could have done wrong to make it do that.”

“Well, unless I’m shell shocked after meeting the blob monster, it did turn purple. What exactly was your hypothesis?”

She smiled. “Poison Joke.” Mercer stared at her blankly. “…I’m guessing by that expression you don’t know what Poison Joke is?”

“Get on with it, Sparkle.” He said flatly.

She giggled. “Ok, ok. Poison Joke is just like poison oak, only instead of causing itching and a nasty rash, it has…other effects.” She blushed as she spoke, which told him that she had experienced firsthand these so called “effects”. “I won’t go into details, but I will summarize that it’s not a pleasant experience in the slightest.”

“So this…‘Poison Joke’…is it something that can be easily obtained?”

She nodded. “Oh yeah, it’s everywhere. My friends and I got it once when we walked into a whole grove of it. It looks like normal blue flowers, but the petals have a toxic coating that causes strange effects on a pony’s body.” After she said that, she looked like something had just occurred to her. “Although…it doesn’t explain why it had such a bad effect on Berry Punch. If it was only Poison Joke, she would have just shrunk or had her tongue swell up like a polka-dotted balloon, but when I found her lying there, she looked almost dead. I’m not sure if it’s possible to have an allergy to it, but if you can I don’t think that was the case.”

Mercer remembered the pain he’d felt from the powder on his body. It was like a brand, like someone was rolling him across hot coals while simultaneously pouring liquid metal over him. He shivered at the memory. “That’s one hell of a joke then. With a killer punch line to boot.”

Twilight snorted. “You’re telling me.” Then she frowned. “I guess it’s true then. Zecora really did try to poison Berry.” Her head fell. “But why would she do that? I’ve never known Zecora to be so…violent. Even when everypony else thought she was dangerous, she was still nothing but courteous.” The mare was clearly disappointed and in need of a friendly gesture.

“Yep, it’s always a bummer when a close friend turns homicidal. What do you say we get back to work? There’s still plenty we can learn from this powder.” Mercer was definitely not the right person to expect friendliness from.

The timer on the centrifuge dinged again, bringing Mercer’s attention away from his work on the microscope. After Twilight had successfully figured out what the powder was, it made it easier to obtain better samples. They had been at work all day, researching and experimenting, disproving theories on what could have been added to the Poison Joke one after the other. As the sun went down and the night began wearing on, the librarian had finally given in to her basic need for sleep, collapsing on a pillow in the corner and passing out almost immediately. Of course Mercer didn’t need sleep; being a Prototype he didn’t exactly possess the same metabolic requirements as other living organisms.

He walked over to the centrifuge, opening it up and removing the test tubes inside. He was still looking at the samples, waiting for the right one to show up and tell him what he needed to know.

Unbeknownst to him, a small flicker of movement appeared in the corner near where Twilight lay. Several long, skinny tendrils came out of a small crack in the floor, feeling around like an ant’s antennae. Once they were satisfied it was safe, they reached upwards, wrapping around knots in the wooden walls in a tight hold. Slowly, they began to retract; pulling the near viscous body of the creature they belonged to out and on to the floor. Once it was free, it began crawling across the floor, using the tendrils like arms to drag itself around. It came to one of the legs on the table Mercer was standing at, watching him prepare slides warily. The creature stayed perfectly still, trying not to attract attention to itself. After a moment it turned around and faced the sleeping pony in the corner, flicking its tendrils slightly as if it was licking its lips.

Mercer noticed the small amount of movement out of the corner of his eye, turning his head to look. Seeing nothing but empty floor, he shrugged and returned to his work.

After he looked away, a small puddle of purplish goo began slinking away from the table. When the creature realized it had been spotted, it had pulled its body flat against the side of the table leg, hiding itself from view. Now it quickly made its way over to the purple mare, hiding behind the pillow she was lying on and checking to make sure Mercer hadn’t seen it again. He remained oblivious, his face glued to the eye piece on the microscope.

It crawled around the pillow and faced Twilight again, holding a tendril up slowly to touch her hoof. When it made contact she pulled away, rolling over onto her back. The creature hissed at her, fleeing back behind the pillow. This time when it once more emerged from its hiding place, it climbed over the edge of the pillow and pulled itself next to her head. It reached over and touched her ear, recoiling when it caused her to flick it in irritation.

Finally the creature’s curiosity had been sated; it was now done playing with its food. It reared back; small, jagged spikes coming out of its body, its tendrils splitting apart into tiny razors. It jumped into the air, aiming its body to land on her face.

Fortunately for Twilight, it never made it to its target. Just as it was about to land a large glass beaker was held in place above the pony, catching the small creature inside. It looked up and hissed, seeing the smirking face of Mercer looking down into the glass. It tried to jump back out but was blocked when he placed a wooden board over the top, sealing it within.

Still smirking, he turned the beaker upside down and placed it and the board on the table, watching the creature inside flail about in its fruitless attempt at escape.

“I knew you’d be back. You may have had Miss Sparkle fooled, but I’d recognize my own work anywhere.” It hissed menacingly, swiping its razors at him but only leaving tiny scratches on the inside of the beaker. “Now let’s see just what you are.” He lifted the beaker just a tiny bit, waiting for the creature to reach one of its tendrils through the gap. Once it did, he pushed the beaker back down, pinning its tendril to the board. He then picked up a scalpel and sliced the tip of the appendage off, allowing the creature to pull it back inside the glass.

He picked it up after it stopped squirming around, trapping it in one of the slides and placing it under the microscope. When he adjusted it to see clearly, he saw the all too familiar sight of infected Blacklight viral cells looking for more bio matter to convert into energy. He took a deep breath, pulling away from the eye piece and staring at the virus ridden creature still hissing at him.

“So it’s true then…you’re Blacklight.” He wasn’t surprised. The moment he saw the creature hiss at Twilight after it was created he knew what it had to be. It was an obvious discovery, any Gentek employee could have spotted it with ease. The unknown chemical that was preventing him from getting a good sample was also keeping the virus suppressed, and once the chemical was neutralized it began absorbing the rehydrated cells from the Poison Joke petals, converting them into biomass and creating a body for itself. Mercer knew it would be back because as far as he knew, he was the only other being in this world that emitted a Blacklight signature, and the virus is naturally drawn to other signals similar to its own. He tapped the side of the glass; startling the creature and making it jump to the top and stick there like a wad of chewing gum. It was bigger than it was when it first scuttled away hours ago, it must have consumed a few insects or spiders on its journey through the cracks in the floor.

He lifted up the beaker and shook it, making the little gum wad fall onto his hoof. Immediately it began attacking him, jabbing its razors into his leg and hissing more than ever. He chuckled quietly, mocking its feeble attempts to hurt him. “You’re so cute. If only I was interested in getting a pet, I might just think about keeping you.” He brought his hoof down, stomping the creature into the floor. “But alas, it would be too dangerous to my cause to leave you alive.” With almost no effort on his part, he consumed the small creature, absorbing the dark purple splatter beneath his hoof like a sponge. It wasn’t worth the biomass, but he couldn’t just throw it away. The Blacklight virus was extremely resilient; if he didn’t dispose of it properly it could infect another organism. And he wasn’t quite ready for that to happen just yet.

With all that done, he checked to make sure Twilight hadn’t woken up. She was still sound asleep, breathing steadily as her REM cycle continued uninterrupted. Good, no unwanted questions needed answering. For tonight anyway.

As he packed the equipment and tools up to be put away, Mercer had a few nagging thoughts still invading his mind. Where had Zecora gotten the virus from? How had she known what chemical to mix with it in order to subdue it? How could she have figured out how to deploy it so effectively? Either this zebra was a lot smarter than he thought, or…

“Or someone is helping her.” He said out loud, freezing in place with a hoof raised midway to grab a glass on the table. He stared straight ahead, not focusing on anything in particular, just running through a thousand different reasons on why that couldn’t be true. He wasn’t able to think of anything. All the signs pointed to that. She knew about him. Before he was even aware she was watching him, she knew about him. No one was that intuitive. She knew what he was, and now, less than a week later, she knew his weakness.

The powder. There was no way she could have figured out so quickly he was susceptible to Poison Joke. He hadn’t even known that! Something about the toxin in the petals caused necrosis of his cellular structure, encouraging the virus cells to attack. This wasn’t Bloodtox. This was something even more powerful. Something that could potentially kill him.

Perhaps that was it though. That’s what she was up to. She ambushed him, caught him off guard. He had been weakened, giving her the perfect opportunity to kill him, and yet here he was. That wasn’t an attempt on his life; that was a demonstration. If she had wanted to kill him, she could have easily finished it herself. She was toying with him, showing him what she was capable of.

He remembered what she had said about him not noticing the signs of her trap. She was right. When he got to the street Berry Punch’s shop was on, it was empty. He hadn’t realized it at the time, but now it was obvious. It was still morning, why would the street be empty? And the door to the shop. He hadn’t even questioned why it was jammed. It was because the powder had settled over time .When he kicked in the door, it created a draft that scattered the settled powder on the floor of the shop. She had planned it all out.

Mercer grabbed his head, attempting to shake his growing migraine away. All this Zecora business was messing with his mind. It was sort of a recurring thought, but of all the things he had experienced already, this was the sort of thing he never expected from a world of talking ponies.

He took a breath to calm himself, continuing with his task of packing up all the science equipment. ‘So the plot thickens,’ he thought to himself. Between losing his headway on Rainbow Dash and then almost getting killed by Zecora, the plot was indeed gaining some momentum.

And now he had yet another thing to deal with. Someone was helping Zecora. Someone who had access to the Blacklight virus. However impossible it sounded, there was no other explanation. Either they had somehow replicated the virus here in Equestria, or someone followed him that already had it. He kicked himself. No, it was a stupid thought. Mercer wasn’t even sure how he got there himself. There was just no way. Heller couldn’t have followed him here.

…Could he?

Author's Note

This chapter took me a while longer then the others. I kept putting it off to play video games and watch TV on Netflix. Then when I'd look at my computer I'd think "Someone should really start working on that." Afterwards I'd just be like "Oh, right."

Anywho, lots of sciency stuff in this chapter. Most of it probably isn't even right. You can only retain so much after high school. Science was my best class, and yet I can't remember the difference between a "Eukaryotic" and a "Prokaryotic" cell. Oh well. I'm writing stories for a My Little Pony fan site, it's not like I'm planning on adding a thesis and submitting this in the form of a scientific journal or anything.
-Poly

Pinkie Promise

"Just 'cause you can kill something doesn't mean you should."

-James Heller

“So you discovered what the powder was made of. But why didn’t you just let the creature go? Let it infect someone? It would have saved you a lot of time.”

“Maybe. But I’ve done my research. Turns out there’s a spell for that. ‘Virus Prevention’ I believe it was called. Doesn’t quite kill the virus but it keeps it from reproducing. It requires a lot of power and concentration, but not too much for an Alicorn or even just a magically gifted unicorn to handle. I have to make sure when It’s released there’s no one in any position to stop Blacklight before it can spread properly.”

“And what of Zecora? What did you do with her?”

“Have you seen any zebras as of late? What do you think I did? Bought her a plane ticket to Hawaii?”

“No need to be hostile.”

“It’s like you never met me.”

“Technically I never have. Though I am a big fan of your work, I’ve never actually met you face to face. Until now, that is.”

“I’m so touched.”

“You know…I’ve been watching you, Mercer. For a long time now. You first gained my attention when you defeated Mother. An auspicious achievement, one would say.”

“Eh, wasn’t that hard.”

“Hm, certainly not. Compared to what you’ve done since…it’s child play.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

“I expected as much. You are a humble man, after all.”

“I refer you to my previous statement.”

“Hahaha…I suppose the time for idle chit chat is over now, correct?”

“I’ve been waiting for you to cut the act since ‘I’m your biggest fan’.”

“Of course. This whole ordeal is growing tiresome. It’s about time we got down to business.”

“I agree.”

“What is it that you’d like to ask me?”

“You know what that is.”

“You already asked that question. I gave you my answer. I think we both should just move on.”

“You call that an answer? ‘You already know who I am; you just haven’t realized it yet’? I’m sorry, I don’t speak in riddles you arrogant fruit!”

“…Just ask your question, Alex.”

“Fine. How could you have found out so much about me? You’re a pony and I’ve only been here for a week. Unless you can read minds, there’s something else going on here.”

“I already told you, I’ve been watching you for a long time.”

“That’s impossible. Unless you…somehow followed me here…”

“There you go. Now you’re starting to get it.”

“No…there’s no way.”

“Said the shape shifting former human turned pony.”

“…What are you?”

“You already know that as well. Come on now, you’re smart enough to figure this out.”

“Would you just shut up already!? I’m having a very difficult time keeping myself from killing you as it is!”

“So sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel pressured. If it will help, why don’t you continue on with your story? I’d love to hear how you finished the job with Zecora.”

“I might as well. It’s not like you’re doing any explaining. Let’s see…where was I? Ah, right. Zecora attacked me with deadly Bloodtox, I discovered it contained Blacklight, and someone was helping her to kill me. Fortunately, now that it was general knowledge that Zecora had tried to kill Berry Punch, she was placed on the ‘Most Wanted’ list, so at least now I had some help in finding her…”

“…I understand how this must sound; we haven’t had a crime this bad in Ponyville since…well, ever. Attempted murder isn’t exactly something we are used to dealing with, so all I ask is that you bear with us until we can uncover Zecora’s whereabouts and bring her in for questioning. If you have any information that would be helpful, please alert me immediately. And if you see her, do not attempt to approach her. We aren’t yet sure if she plans to harm any other citizens, so it’s better to play it safe. Again, I am deeply sorry to have to give you this awful news. I will answer any questions you may have on the subject, so if you wish to ask me anything, just stay after and I will explain whatever I can. Thank you for your cooperation and further support in this matter. I hope you can still have a nice day after hearing all this.” The Mayor finished her speech with an air of guilt, uncomfortable with having to explain that a previously trusted and well respected member of the community was now on the run for trying to kill another pony. The crowd gathered within the Town Hall turned to leave, murmurs of “I can’t believe she would do such a thing” and “I’ve never trusted her to begin with” filling the room while the majority made their egress. The few that stayed made their way to where Mayor Mare now stood; patiently waiting for the small group of ponies around her to stop trying to talk over each other so she could answer their worried questions one at a time.

The topic up for discussion was, obviously, the news that Zecora was now a wanted criminal. It seemed no one was taking it well; emotions ran from complete disbelief to utter outrage, some even growing so angry that they volunteered to help hunt her down. Many were simply reverting back to being scared and rushing to their homes to close the shutters and hide. The entire town was nearing a total sense of panic.

And Mercer couldn’t be giddier. He was literally walking about with a skip in his step, reveling in the state of unease he’d created. Or rather, that Berry Punch created, seeing as how her graphic and well-spoken recount of the events of and leading up to Zecora attempting to kill her had succeeded in spooking everyone just as he’d planned. Now he could just about sit back and wait for word of her whereabouts to reach him. For the first time since he’d gotten here, things were going his way. Once again, Mercer could not be giddier.

He was still disguised as Berry since his debut on stage, politely accepting everyone’s well wishes and relief that she hadn’t been seriously injured. He gave out assurances that he wasn’t maimed in any way like they were candy at Halloween, yet the constant attention did nothing to dampen his high spirits. It was annoying, and the second he got a chance to make a beeline for the exit he did so with gusto, but it was worth it to know he had turned an entire town against the one pony who was actually trying to help them.

Once outside he took a deep breath, relaxing for the first time after what seemed like hours. He looked up at the sun, squinting hard as the bright light flooded his eyes. The sun was at its highest point in the sky, putting the current time at about noon. That would mean he had been trapped inside there for nearly two hours. He was looking forward to finding somewhere secluded so he could change out of this skin without being seen.

Mercer set off for the nearest alley, barely making it two steps before he heard someone shout behind him. He turned his head in the direction it came from, seeing a very angry looking blonde headed mare wearing a Stetson stomping her way through the crowd of ponies around the Town Hall. She seemed to be staring straight at him, and at first he thought he was just imagining it, but as she got closer he realized she really was staring at him. Her eyes were narrowed and she wore a nasty scowl he’d only ever seen on Heller, who apparently had a medical condition that prevented him from showing any other expression.

When she finally got close enough she all but screamed “Where is he!?” in his face. He stared back at her blankly, waiting for her to give him something else to allow for a guess as to what she was talking about. After a moment she spoke again, this time in a lower pitch then before. “Berry, ah know ya’ll jest went through a traw-matic experience an’ all, but ah need ya to tell me where that insensitive varmint went so ah can give ‘im a well-deserved flank whoopin’ that’ll rattle his teeth like a wind chime in a rainstorm!”

“…Uhhh…” Mercer continued to stare dumbly. “…Are you…looking for someone?”

Applejack sighed, visibly deflating from her anger. “Look. Ahm sorry fer shoutin’ at ya. You ain’t the one ahm angry with. But ah caint find the one ahm angry with so ah guess ah took it out on you.”

He nodded slowly. “So then…who are you looking for?”

The cowpony narrowed her eyes at him. “Mercer. An’ don’t ya’ll lie to me, ah know ya know him. He walked ya home that night on his welcomin’ party an’ ah’ve seen ‘im goin’ in ta that shop ‘o yers on more than one occasion. Can ya please jest tell me where he went so ah can find ‘im? It’s very important.”

“Can I at least ask what you would like to talk to him about?”

“Ah would like to talk ta him ‘bout bein’ an insensitive varmint! Now could ya please tell me where he is? Ah’ve been lookin’ fer him all over Ponyville, but it’s like he just up an’ vanished in ta thin air!”

‘Or something like that’ he thought to himself. He cleared his throat. “Um…yeah, I asked him to watch my shop for me while I dealt with this whole ‘Zecora’ thing. He should still be there, if you want to talk to him so bad.”

Applejack tipped her hat. “Thank ya kindly, Berry Punch. Now if’n you’ll excuse me…” With that she took off in a dead run, sprinting down the road as fast as she could.

Mercer watched her go, impressed that an Earth pony could run so fast. He waited until she had rounded the corner up ahead and ran out of sight before bolting towards the nearest building, swinging around to the opposite side so no one could see him scale the wall and pull himself onto the roof. He jumped to the next building over, charging his legs so he could launch himself over the edge. He continued doing this for every leap, timing each jump so he landed without missing a step. Mid jump over a particularly large gap he switched out of his disguise as Berry Punch, returning himself to his normal pony form, if he could even call that normal.

As he made a longer jump over a street just a few blocks down from the one Berry’s shop was on, he saw a flash of orange shoot by underneath him. Upon landing he took off in the same direction, his inhuman speed easily letting him gallop along the rooftops and overtake Applejack. Making one last, powerful jump he cleared the remaining distance between him and the roof of the store, hopping over the lip of the chimney and pulling himself down it. He erupted out of the brick, a cloud of soot and ash falling out with him as he knocked over more than a few cooling racks in the store.

Someone began pounding on the door, yelling something incoherent. Mercer got up and shook himself off, running across the room and planting himself in a comfortable position by the front desk just as the door flew open, a still very angry Applejack storming in.

“Alright Mercer! Ya’ll got to the count o’ ten to explain why you-what in the hay happened in here?”

The cloud of ash had yet to fully settle, and what did was collecting on the floor and being spread around by the water from a bucket that had been near one of the cooling racks. That along with the mess that had been made from the day before when Mercer knocked over a shelf, the place looked like hell.

Speaking of Mercer, he was surveying the damage inside the store like he was seeing it for the first time. “Oh, that? That was like that when I got here. I think Berry is trying out some new redecorating ideas. Not very good, if you ask me. Maybe a bit too high brow for some people.”

Applejack ignored him, losing interest in the condition of the shop and instead choosing to stomp over to where Mercer sat and grab hold of the front of his jacket, hauling him to his feet and pulling his face dangerously close to her own. “You listen up, Mercer, and listen good. Ya’ll gone too far this time, an’ unless you make it better ahm gonna throw ya to the Timber wolves!”

“Okay, okay, hold on a second. What in the fucks sake are you talking about? Have you been hitting the cider a bit too much lately?”

“No ah have not been ‘hittin’ the cider’ lately! An’ ah would appreciate it if ya wouldn’t use that kind o’ language ‘round me!”

“Prude.” He mumbled under his breath. “Fine then. Can you tell me what you’re talking about so I can join this one sided conversation of yours?”

“You know exactly what ahm talkin’ ‘bout, don’t try to play dumb with me!”

“Just for a moment let’s pretend I have no idea what you are ‘talkin’ ‘bout’. What did I ever do to earn this kind of treatment and why are you yelling at me three inches from my face?”

The blond headed mare sighed, finally letting go of his jacket and taking a step back. “Pinkie Pie. Yesterday ya’ll had a picnic with her and the twins. She says ya’ll were havin’ a nice time until you screamed at her and said ya weren’t her friend.”

“Oh Christ…” Is that what this was all about? A stupid pink pony was upset because he refused to be her friend? Unbelievable. “So what, did she tell on me or something?”

“No, ah didn’t even know about it until the Cakes came over ta ask fer mah help because she refused ta come down from her room.”

“Then what is this all about?”

“She’s cryin’ ya inconsiderate knuckle-dragger!” Applejack reached over and smacked the back of Mercer’s head. “She’s cryin’ ‘cause all she wanted was ta be your friend and you yelled at her. You caused this, now yer gonna fix it.”

He scoffed. “Like hell I am! I don’t even like her! Why would I go out of my way just to cheer her up?”

“’Cause she’s mah friend, an’ ahm askin’ ya to.” All the anger she held dissipated, her shoulders sagging as the fight left her. “Ah know she ain’t the easiest pony ta be ‘round, an’ admittedly sometimes she is a bit difficult ta talk to. But she really is a nice pony who just wanted ta be yer friend.” She looked at him pleadingly. “Please, will ya just go talk ta her? Ya don’t have ta be her friend if’n ya don’t want to, but the least you can do is apologize an’ make her feel better.”

Mercer growled quietly. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do while he waited for word of Zecora to reach him, but spending his newfound free time coddling an annoying pony just wasn’t how he imagined spending his day. Then again, it was best not to anger anyone just yet. He might need their help later and he didn’t want to burn those bridges before he crossed them.

Sighing in defeat, he gave in to her request. “Alright. Do you have any playing cards? I have a feeling cheering her up is going to require a few dozen games of ‘Old Mare’ to accomplish.”

The smell of baked goods and sugary frosting reached Mercer’s nose as he entered Sugar Cube Corner. A bell above the door rang when he swung it open, the few customers inside turning their heads to the newcomer, regarding his strange appearance for a moment before returning to their business. He stood in front of the doorway, looking around the room for the proprietor of the establishment that Applejack had told him to talk to. The only other ponies he could see were seated away from each other and eating their sweet smelling pastries in relative silence. Except for the couple in the corner, who were giggling and whispering quietly with one another.

Seeing no one of any use, he walked up to the counter, eyeing the note that was placed on it that said “Making cupcakes, back in 20 minutes”. He stared at it for a few seconds, his half lidded gaze never leaving the second part of the note. Having just gotten here, he wasn’t sure how long ago they had put the note there, but with his luck it had been placed less than a minute before his arrival. Being in no mood to wait nineteen minutes, he figured no one would mind if he “accidentally” knocked over the flower vase on the end of the counter to get the attention of the staff.

Mercer looked around to make sure no one was currently watching him, slowly raising his hoof up and giving it a quick tap. The vase tilted to its tipping point, spinning around while rocking back and forth. Finally it reached the edge of the counter, hanging dangerously close to falling. For a few tense milliseconds it seemed as if it would, but ultimately it gently fell back and settled into its normal upright position. He frowned, glaring at the offending decorative piece. He once again raised his hoof and forcefully shoved the vase, launching it several feet from the counter and making it shatter against the wall.

The sudden noise startled the other customers, the majority of them jumping in their seats, all except for the couple in the corner, who continued to laugh softly unfazed by the sound of shattering glass. Within moments an amber colored Earth pony wearing a white apron and a striped orange hat and bowtie came out from the kitchen, his eyes wide as they scanned the place for the source of the noise. He noticed the pieces of the vase near the wall, and when he looked for the culprit his accusatory glare landed on the hooded pony standing by the counter.

“Oops.” Was all Mercer had to say for himself.

The baker simply sighed, hanging his head before approaching Mercer and asking with obvious forced politeness “May I help you, sir?”

“Yeah, have you seen a bubblegum pink pony with extremely curly hair and a tendency to annoy the living hell out of anyone within earshot?”

His glare disappeared, being replaced with a look of guilt. “You’re looking for Pinkie Pie? I don’t think now is a good time. She’s currently not in the mood to talk to anypony for the moment.”

“That’s why I’m here. Applejack told me to stop by to talk to her-”

“Applejack sent you? Wait, then that means…” He narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re the one that upset Pinkie so much.” His words held a lot of hostility. “You have a lot of nerve coming here! Pinkie Pie is a good pony and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like that so harshly-”

Mercer waved his hoof in front of the baker’s face. “Yeah, yeah, I get the picture. I’m not here to yell at her more, I just came to apologize. Now point me in the direction of her room and you can consider us copacetic.”

The pony continued to glare at Mercer as he gestured towards the stairs on his right. “Fine. She’s up in the loft. If she’ll let you in you can talk to her, but if I hear you even so much as raise your voice to her-”

“Yep, I hear ya. Whatever you say.” Mercer interrupted him before making his way up to the loft. As he passed the end table near the bottom step, he purposefully bumped into it, knocking the glass jars on it off the table and breaking them. He laughed; ignoring the glare he received and continuing to climb the stairs.

Pinkie Pie’s room was exactly how he pictured it to be. It was bright and colorful, and, surprisingly enough, clean and orderly. All manner of party supplies lay stockpiled in organized rows against the far wall, leaving plenty of room in the middle for…whatever it is Pinkie Pie does when she’s alone.

Of course that wasn’t his main focus. What was had her back turned to him, softly sniffling to herself. Her hair had somehow lost all of its curliness, lying straight down along her back. Even her tail had gone flat, like someone let the air out of a balloon. But the strangest thing about her appearance was that the color of her coat had dropped a few shades as well. Mercer shook his head. It must have been a trick of his eye. Last he checked ponies weren’t chameleons; they couldn’t change color according to their mood. Or maybe they could in this world. He wasn’t sure. It was getting harder to believe the laws of physics still applied to this place the longer he stayed.

Mercer cleared his throat. “Uh…Pinkie Pie? Mind if I…talk to you?” She gave him no reply. “…I didn’t hear a no, so I’m just going to talk anyway.” She shifted her position a little, but otherwise did nothing. “…Damn it Pinkie Pie, I’m not playing this game!” He walked around to face her, stopping only when he saw her actual face.

Tears stained both her cheeks, and her eyes held more sadness than he had ever seen in her. And that was saying something; this was the mare that once cried for ten minutes because she ran out of blue frosting. It was unnerving to see her so depressed. Unnatural even.

Pinkie offered him a small smile. “Hi Mercer. Fancy meeting you here.” Her voice was quiet, reminding him of when Fluttershy spoke. Carefully, she wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks, sitting up straight facing him fully. “What did you want to talk about?”

He didn’t reply right away; he was too shocked to speak for the moment. “…Uh…yeah…I…Applejack asked me to come…” He sat down in front of her. “I came to…say I’m sorry.” He coughed on the last word, disguising it so she wouldn’t understand him.

“…You’re what?”

Sighing, he spoke again. “I said I was sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. You were just trying to be nice so…I’m sorry.” Mercer was beginning to feel like a five year old. To say this was humiliating was an understatement. “There. I apologized. So now you can stop being-” He waved his hoof to indicate all of her. “This.”

The pink mare smiled again. “…Thank you.” Her smile faded and she let her head droop. “…And I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have brought up Dan-” She stopped when she noticed the look in Mercer’s eyes turn predatory. “I mean, I shouldn’t have talked about…your sister. I didn’t mean to make you upset. I just wanted to help you feel better…” Fresh tears threatened to fall and stain her cheeks once more. He pulled away slightly, afraid if she started crying again she would try to hug him.

“Yes, well…just don’t let it happen again.” He tried making his way to the door. “If we’re done here I guess it’s about time I left…”

“Wait.” He froze with his hoof on the handle. “Mercer…I know you said you didn’t want to be my friend…but…”

He clenched his teeth, muttering “Ah crap…”

A hoof on his shoulder made him turn his head. Pinkie was staring at him with pleading eyes. “…Will you please be my friend?”

“Pinkie-”

“Mercer.” Her eyes gained a bit of conviction, and for the first time since he’d known her, she actually seemed to be taking something seriously. “Please.”

“…Why is this so important to you?”

“Because I’m worried about you Mercer. What you said, it hurt my feelings, but I was more upset about how you felt.”

He shrugged her hoof off his shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“You told me you didn’t need my friendship. You never said you didn’t want a friend. You’re always so grumpy and mean, but I know you don’t mean to be.” She grinned at him, the color of her coat raising a few shades while she did so. “You remind me a lot of Twilight when she first got to Ponyville. She had no idea how to make friends, and she just wanted to be left alone. Maybe you just need to learn how to make friends and then you won’t feel so lonely.” Mercer watched fascinated as her coat returned to its normal color. Her hair remained straight, though it was beginning to gain some of its curliness back. “If you don’t want Applejack mad at you anymore, you just have to make me a special promise.”

He sighed. If all it took to make these simple-minded ponies happy was to make a stupid promise, then so be it. “…Fine. What’s this promise then?”

“A Pinkie Promise.”

Mercer cocked an eyebrow. “A Pinkie Promise? I shudder to ask what that is.”

“Once you make a Pinkie Promise, you can’t break it no matter what.”

“Like I’ve ever-”

She pressed her face against his, opening her eyes as wide as she could to stare him down. “No. Matter. What.” Pinkie put emphasis on each word she spoke.

The two stayed like that for a few more uncomfortable moments, Mercer finding himself unable to look the pink mare directly in the eyes. “…Pinkie Pie?”

“Yeah?”

“You can get away from me now.”

“But I haven’t gotten a taste yet.”

“A taste of what?”

As soon as he asked, he suddenly felt something warm and wet travel up the length of his neck, starting from his chest up to just under his chin. Mercer’s immediate reaction was to push the pony away, wiping her saliva off his chin and uttering a string of insults about her compulsive behavior.

“Fuck Pinkie Pie, what the hell did you do that for!?”

She began laughing, falling over onto her back while flailing her hooves around in the air. At one point in her fit of laughter she hiccupped, causing her to pause for a second before continuing to roll on the floor and giggle between hiccups.

“I-I’m sorry Mercer-hic-I couldn’t resist! Rarity was talking about how-hic-yummy you look; I just wanted to see if you really tasted as good as she-hic-said!”

“Why in the hell would Rarity say I tasted good?”

“I don’t know. The other day Fluttershy invited all of us to a picnic, but only Rarity and I were able to go because everyone else said they weren’t able to make it. Well, Rainbow Dash didn’t actually say she couldn’t make it; technically she just waved a hoof at me to go away from the cloud she was sleeping on. Applejack said she had too much work to get done on the farm, and Twilight was studying again. Anyway-”

Mercer placed his hoof on her mouth to shut her up. “Pinkie, before you say anything more, please tell me there is a point to this story.”

She nodded her head, and he pulled his hoof away to allow her to continue. “Well, we were enjoying the picnic and eating the cupcakes I brought and then Fluttershy said they were yummy and Rarity said not as yummy as a certain stallion and then Fluttershy blushed and I asked which stallion and Rarity said it was you and that you were tastier then some plain old cupcake. Which is weird because you’re not even that tasty. If you were a cupcake I would suggest less cinnamon.”

The look on Mercer’s face from hearing he had been called “yummy” by a talking horse was a mixture of appalled and disgusted. “…Pinkie I don’t think she was meaning I literally…eh, never mind.”

She giggled again, smiling sincerely at him. A weird sizzling sound began to fill the room, confusing him to its origins before realizing it was being emitted from her hair. In stunned silence he watched as her straight hair curled slowly at the edges, pulling tighter and tighter like each strand held a consciousness of its own. With one loud, final pop her mane returned to its original style, the overall color and brightness back to normal as well.

Mercer wasn’t as surprised to see the phenomenon as he thought he would be. Over the span of a week he’d seen Pinkie do stranger things, to say this was the weirdest she’d ever done after watching her eat twice her own weight in frosting would be a lie.

When Pinkie was done giggling he cleared his throat to gain back her attention. “Alright, now that you’re…you again, would you mind explaining how this ‘Pinkie Promise’ works?”

Nodding her head vigorously, she began excitedly showing him the intricate movements required to successfully perform a Pinkie Promise, as well as the mantra he needed to recite word for word. At least that’s how he expected it to go. What he got instead was a bad variation of “Cross my heart” that included a hope of flying in place of death and the insertion of a pastry into one’s eye instead of a sharp metal object. By the time she was done explaining what would happen if he were to do something stupid like break a Pinkie Promise Mercer was beginning to develop a new found fear of the pink pony. Quite clearly she was as unbalanced as she was unpredictable. He wouldn’t put it past her to try and make cupcakes out of Rainbow Dash one day.

“…And so I followed her all around town to make sure she didn’t break her Pinkie Promise to Spike about him liking Rarity-”

“That is single handedly the most interesting story I have ever heard Pinkie Pie, but if you wouldn’t mind, what is it exactly that you want me to Pinkie Promise? You know, besides promising to be your friend.”

Her expression dropped. “…I want you to promise that you won’t ever hurt me like that again.”

“That’s it? Come on Pinkie, this is ridiculous-”

“Or any of my friends. Especially Fluttershy.”

“That’s bullsh-”

“And no more cursing.”

“What!?”

“You have to Pinkie Promise, Mercer.” She pleaded, giving him puppy dog eyes that, to his chagrin, were actually working on him.

With a grunt, he agreed. He brought his hoof up to his chest and made an X motion over his chest. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” He poked his hoof at his right eye, making sure it was closed first to avoid any embarrassment. “I Pinkie Promise I will not hurt you or your friends.” She narrowed her eyes. He rolled his. “Especially Fluttershy.”

“And…?” She drew the word out slowly.

Mercer clenched his teeth. “And I promise not to curse anymore.”

“Aaaand?”

“Damn it Pinkie Pie!” She glared at him. “I mean…darn it.”

“See? Don’t you feel better now that you have a real friend?”

“I’m overjoyed.” He replied dully.

Before he could react he found himself in a bear hug, choking on the light fuzz of her mane as she once again caught him in a tight embrace.

“…Pinkie, I know you must be excited about this, but now that we’re friends can you do me a favor and stop hugging me!?” He pushed her off and scowled when the action only made her giggle again. “How’s about you make me a Pinkie Promise to never hug me again?”

“Silly, that’s not how they work!”

He sighed. “Of course not.” With that he began making his way to her window, flicking the lock up and pushing it open. Pinkie cocked her head, looking at him in confusion.

“What are you doing?”

“We’re done here, are we not? If so I’d like to leave now. I’ve got a busy schedule to keep.” He hiked a leg over the window, pulling himself onto the sill and perching there like a bird.

“Why don’t you just use the door?”

“Because that would mean meeting that baker that I crossed paths with on the way up here again.”

“You mean Mr. Cake? What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t like him.”

“So you’re going to jump out of the window?”

“Exactly.” To prove his point, he let go of the window frame and pushed off with his legs, letting gravity do its job and take him the short way down to the street below. Pinkie walked over to the window and peered over it, seeing Mercer walking away from Sugar Cube Corner unharmed and without so much as a limp.

“And they say I’m random.”

“So you made a friend. How nice.”

“Unfortunately, yes. Pinkie Pie is…odd, to say the least, but I suppose I could have found a worse friend.”

“Beggars can’t be choosers.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying, you’re not exactly in a position to complain.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, she was your first friend, was she not?”

“…”

“You care for her. Even if you won’t admit it to yourself, you care about how she’s feeling.”

“…Enough.”

“Deep down you’re glad she became your friend.”

“I said enough.”

“You didn’t go there because you were forced; you went because you felt guilty.”

“I don’t feel guilt.”

“Do you? You said when you saw her face you hesitated. If that’s not guilt-”

“It wasn’t. I was just…caught off guard.”

“You knew you caused the pain she felt. It was guilt, Mercer.”

“She was a crying pony, who wouldn’t hesitate after seeing that?”

“Maybe someone who didn’t feel guilty?”

“Don’t mock me.”

“I don’t mean to step on any toes here. Or, hooves, as it may be. I’m merely speaking my opinion on the matter.”

“Well, it’s wrong.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.”

“You’re beginning to piss me off.”

“Why would you feel guilty for hurting someone you claim to dislike?”

“I told you I don’t-”

“Unless she reminded you of someone.”

“I swear, I will kill you.”

“You’re sister, perhaps?”

“…”

“Looks like I hit a nerve.”

“…What are you getting at?”

“Well, Dana was the only person you ever showed affection for, correct? Why would Alex Mercer, the man who single handedly released the deadly Blacklight virus on New York and infiltrated a powerful high security organization with his own race of superhuman beings he created himself, show mercy to a small pony simply because she shed a few tears?”

“…”

“Pinkie means more to you than you let on. She was sad and you wanted to make her feel better. You were happy when she started smiling again. Happy that you were what made her smile.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“Am I wrong?”

“Very.”

“Alright, fair enough. You know better, I suppose.”

“That’s right.”

“Now, onto the next chapter. You did promise me a dead zebra, after all.”

“I suppose I did.”

“You had the entire town on alert and looking for Zecora. You probably just sat back and waited for her to show up, right?”

“Not entirely.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got roped into some…other business.”

“Being?”

“…I had to go on a date.”

Murder Mystery Night

Cross: "We have less than an hour. What's next?"
Alex: "The last person responsible for all of this dies tonight."
Cross: "If we can make it out here, do you think you're ready?"
Alex: "I was made for this."

-Robert Cross and Alex Mercer

"A date?”

“That what I said.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“Nope.”

“…With Fluttershy?”

“Technically with me too, she doesn’t want to go alone. But yes, with Fluttershy.”

“Why the hell would I want to go on a date?”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe to meet new people, find a meaningful relationship, fall in love, etc.”

Mercer scoffed. “Absolutely not.”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.”

The Pegasus pretended to inspect her hoof. “Okay…but I hope you’re a good runner.”

“Why would I need to be a good-” He paused. “…You know, don’t you?”

She snorted, biting her lip to keep from grinning. “Know what?”

“Don’t act stupid with me, Pinkie told you about my promise didn’t she!”

Finally breaking, the smile she had been holding back broke through, and she fell over in a fit of laughter that had her gasping for air before it was over. “Hahaha…I guess Twilight was right about you being smart, Mercer!”

They were standing in the clearing around Town Hall, where Rainbow had caught up to him to talk about this important matter. Apparently Pinkie Promises were a bigger thing around here then he thought.

He groaned. “It hasn’t been three hours, how could she have told you already?”

“It’s Pinkie Pie, ponies who are out of town already know! Anyway, yes, I know about your Pinkie Promise to not hurt any of her friends. And since Fluttershy counts as ‘one of her friends’, you have to agree. Because if you don’t, she’ll cry. And Pinkie will not be happy.”

“Fuck!” Mercer threw his head back and put pressure on his temples with his hooves as he fell on his flank in frustration.

“No cursing either.”

“Fudge!”

“There ya go.”

“Great, first I have to humiliate myself by apologizing to a pony with the emotional maturity of a five year old, now I’m being forced to go on a date with one that has barely said five words to me since I met her!” He scowled at the smirk on Rainbow’s face. “Why do you care so much about helping her get a date anyway?”

“Fluttershy is an old friend. I owe a lot to her. Plus she’s way too shy to ask you out herself and too timid to say no to me when I tell her I’m setting her up with you. Trust me; this is for both of your own goods.” She offered her hoof to him. “What do ya say, stallion? Do we have a deal?”

He glared at her for a moment, wishing for once he could have something good happen to him and not have it instantly followed up with something bad. Karma was really having a field day with him lately.

Sighing, he grabbed her hoof with his own and let her pull him to his feet. “Fine. But I’m not paying for anything. And if I find out this is all just a ploy to try to get your friend laid then I will not be happy.”

“When are you ever?”

“When you’re not around.”

She gasped dramatically. “That hurt my feelings, Mercer. I’m gonna go tell Pinkie Pie!” He shook his head and walked away, ignoring her as she once again started her laughing fit at his expense. When she was finished poking fun at him, she wiped the tears from her eyes and shouted “Don’t forget Mercer! Tonight at 8 o’ clock!” She took a quick pause, then added “And wear something decent! No hoods!”

7:55.

That was the time on the clock tower; Mercer could see it from where he was standing. His “date” was in five minutes. He sighed inwardly. Of all the things he could be doing, like looking for Zecora, or trying to figure out how to infect Rainbow Dash without alerting anyone, or even just waiting for his chance to release Blacklight on an unsuspecting town full of bright, colorful ponies, instead he was being forced to go on a date with a shy yellow Pegasus who couldn’t even look him in the eye without blushing.

“Oh well. It’s not the worst thing, I suppose.” The sound of choking brought his attention back to what he was currently doing. “Oops, sorry about that. Kinda forgot about you.” He relaxed his grip on the Gryphon’s neck he had still been holding, making him gasp as he filled his lungs with the air he had been denied for the better part of the few minutes Mercer had spaced out for.

“Y-You...b-b-bastard!”

“Sticks and stones. Now, why don’t you finish that thought you were having before you’re mortality slipped my mind.” The Gryphon spat in his face, a mixture of saliva and blood from the beating he had been receiving splattering against Mercer’s left cheek. He slowly wiped it off, making a disapproving “tut-tut” sound with his tongue. “…That wasn’t very nice.” Mercer hooked his hoof on the Gryphon’s right wing and forced it open, pushing his head down and shoving his beak into the dirt. “I’ll ask you again. Why do you Gryphon’s keep showing up here? I already told the others; I’m the only predator around here.”

He groaned. “We…know of your misdeeds, pony…” His voice was muffled by the dirt in his mouth. “…The others…myself included…were merely spies. Ever since you killed those three younglings…we have been…watching you.”

“I noticed. Your spies aren’t as stealthy as they think.”

“Do you hold no fear…of the consequences of your actions?”

“Not since I was in high school.”

“You have killed members…of an elite branch of the Gryphon Army…that is an act of war!” He managed to raise his head a few inches to say the last few words before Mercer forced it back down.

“Is that supposed to make me feel bad? Honestly, it’s not the first time I’ve ever caused a war.”

The Gryphon struggled against the grip that held him down. Mercer easily held it fast, twisting his wing as punishment for the attempt. Relaxing his grip again, he waited for his victim to stop grimacing long enough to continue.

“Why are you…so eager to go to war?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. You know the drill; sworn to secrecy and all that.”

“You are…like no pony I have ever heard of…”

Mercer grinned. “No, I imagine not. I’m one of a kind.” He gave the Gryphon’s wing another twist, this time hard enough to produce an audible crack from the joint. “Does anyone know you’re here? I would hate to go through all this trouble of…well, causing trouble without an audience.”

He offered a dry chuckle. “You think yourself…some sort of warrior…don’t you, pony? You have no idea…what awaits you.”

“Aww…is that some sort of threat?”

“No…it is…a promise.” He turned his head to look Mercer in the eye. “You will suffer…more than the rest.”

A loud snap filled the air around them, the Gryphon crying out in pain as Mercer broke his wing. “I hope your friends hiding in the tree over there are getting a good show while it lasts,” He took a moment to enjoy the shock that splayed itself across his face. “Because when the real war starts…” He lowered his voice. “…I’ll be the one making everyone suffer.”

The Gryphon spy wasn’t even able to utter squeak in reply before Mercer grabbed his head and spun it quickly, snapping the vertebrae and silencing him. His body went rigid for a second, then fell limp as the life left his now still form. Mercer backed away a step and turned his head towards the tree the other two spies were hiding in. He switched to thermal vision, instantly seeing their crouched silhouettes against the cold night air. He smirked when they jumped off their perches, spreading their wings and flying off into the distance.

Mercer watched them go, making no move to pursue them. It was his plan, after all, to let them leave. Let them deliver word of the insolent pony defying the treaty set down by Princess Celestia to the leader of the Gryphon Kingdom. Tensions were already high between ponies and Gryphons, this should be just enough to push them over the edge. This war was exactly what he needed. The perfect distraction to give him time to finish what he’d started.

Just like the Gryphon had said, Mercer had indeed been spied upon. When he killed those three fraternity pledges, he hadn’t realized they were being watched themselves as they looked for a pony to steal a tail from. The leaders of the group had been spying on them, making sure they completed their mission so they couldn’t lie about it. After Mercer killed the pledges, the others ran for their lives, heading back to the Gryphon Kingdom and informing the first guard they encountered of the three hatchlings fate. The very next night he had encountered the first in a short line of specially trained Gryphons intent on capturing and interrogating him. They failed, of course, and they each shared the same end as the one before.

Now standing alone in a field with no one else around, sans the lifeless corpse at his feet, Mercer looked back at Ponyville, seeing that the time on the clock tower now read 8:08. He was officially late for his date with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash by almost ten minutes. In any other circumstance, that would have been a good thing. But in all honesty, he was growing tired of having angry ponies on his case constantly. It just seemed like a lot had been giving him the business lately. He was not looking forward to pissing off yet another one.

Tearing his eyes away from the time, he turned his attention to the body of the Gryphon he’d just killed. He needed to dispose of him, or else run the risk of someone finding a dead body in the middle of a field outside of town. Logic dictated he consume it, convert it into that all-too-familiar energy source that essentially powers his entire being, but seeing as how he was going on a date, he decided against it so he could avoid filling up before dinner. Instead he chose a quicker solution.

Shifting his forelegs, he activated Musclemass, grabbing the Gryphon’s unbroken wing and picking him up over his shoulder. He turned and faced the Everfree forest, at least a mile away, and took a running start on his other three legs. With barely a grunt, he threw the body like a javelin, utilizing the natural aerodynamic properties of the Gryphon physique by throwing it beak first. It spiraled through the air, easily sailing over the distance of flat ground between Mercer and the forest. It remained airborne for a full ten seconds before disappearing somewhere deep within the thick foliage.

Mercer turned back to town, preparing for his long trek to the restaurant he’d agreed to meet Fluttershy at. He was a few kilometers outside of Ponyville, having gone out that far to lure his would-be stalker into the open. Of course, that was the only reason. It’s not like he did it to intentionally sabotage himself and cause him to be late or anything. That would just be downright despicable.

A rush of air and dust signaled his departure from the field, all four hooves pounding against the ground as he galloped full speed towards town. Mercer raced across the field in record time, shooting past the outer most buildings and a few startled and very confused ponies on their way home for the night. He weaved in and out of alleyways, narrowly avoiding colliding with more than a few trashcans in his haste.

Making a quick turn after stumbling over a small bale of hay, Mercer spotted the building he was looking for. It was a one story café, with a few tables and chairs out front for those who wished to dine outside. Of course, thanks to the cold night air, no one sat at them. A sign above the door read “Café Demi” in large block letters. There were only three ponies out front, two of them mares and the other a smartly dressed stallion that conversed with them quietly.

The sight of the suit reminded him of what Rainbow Dash had told him earlier. He hit the brakes, digging his hooves in the dirt to slow himself down. Once the dust he kicked up had settled, he looked down at the clothes he had on. Or rather, at the biomass he used to mimic them. Although he liked his current look better, he had technically agreed to wear something more formal. Reluctantly, he shifted his form, changing out of the hoodie and jacket and into an outfit more befitting a gentleman.

Rainbow Dash noticed Mercer first as he approached, anger evident in her eyes. He was almost fifteen minutes late after all. “There you are! We’ve been waiting forever! Exactly what does ‘eight o’ clock’ mean on your planet anyway? Huh?” Fluttershy looked to see who her friend was yelling at; blushing when she realized it was Mercer.

“Relax. Haven’t you ever heard of the term ‘fashionably late’? It’s basic protocol to show up for a first date at least ten minutes after the original appointed time. For me to actually show up earlier then the allotted time frame would be a violation of social mediums not to mention being incredibly rude.” Rainbow’s jaw dropped; her expression so priceless it brought an honest-to-God smile to his face. “I may be rusty at this, but even I know that.” A giggle behind the mare indicated Fluttershy found that statement just as amusing as he did.

“…You look…nice.” Mercer looked down at the blazer and white button up shirt he’d donned in place of his leather jacket. Something vaguely reminiscent of an old memory he couldn’t quite recall. Perhaps his chosen attire for his first date with Karen Parker? Or a school event he attended with his sister? With his genetic memory in such a frayed and broken state, he had no hope of remembering any time soon.

“Yeah…you too.” He scrutinized Fluttershy’s appearance, amazed that one dress could have that many frills. It was a beautiful dress, just not what he expected to see on a quiet pony like her. He could tell a lot of attention and time had gone into getting it all prepared, not including what was spent on her hair, which was styled up in a bun with so many complicated twists and curls he had to shake his head to keep from tracing the mesmerizing strands. Little bows shaped like flowers were scattered about on her head, maybe some last minute addition before she was ushered out the door by the unicorn fashonista he could only assume was the culprit behind this extreme makeover. “Let me guess…Rarity?”

She nodded. “She told me not to slouch…o-or drag my hooves…or get my hair wet…or move too fast…” Her smile grew a little more as she listed off each rule the unicorn had set down.

In a surprising moment of sincerity, Mercer found himself feeling sorry for the yellow Pegasus. “So…basically she didn’t want you to move…or be comfortable.” Another giggle. “What about you?” He turned to Rainbow Dash, who’s far less frilly dress looked almost disgustingly plain in comparison. “Rarity didn’t try to put you in a straight-dress?”

“Yeah, but I told her I didn’t need to since it wasn’t me you were going on a date with.” She seemed to finally recover from her momentary shock from all his technical talk, the majority of which he had made up on the spot. “That’s not to say she didn’t try though. Celestia knows she kept trying to trick me into wearing a ridiculous dress like it was my cute-ceañera again.”

“Sounds like a fun afternoon.”

“Oh yeah. Tons of fun. Now can we go inside? I skipped dinner for this so I’m starving.” She nodded to the stallion that was still standing next to them, who gestured for them to follow him inside. Mercer had forgotten he was there.

“Please come in, I’ll show you to your seat.”

Mercer stared at the food in front of him, already regretting his decision to just accept their waiter’s first recommendation without thinking. It wasn’t necessarily a taste thing; he wasn’t planning on eating it anyway. But his aesthetic pallet was now being assaulted by the sight before him. Up until now he was under the impression that the only things ponies ate were cupcakes and apple pie, or pretty much anything that was made with apples. But looking at what he’d ordered, he was proven wrong.

From what he could tell, it was some sort of salad. Or, just as possibly, they had given him the scraps by mistake. Either way, it did not look very appetizing. It had some kind of edible bark on top in place of croutons, and instead of lettuce leaves it looked like the chef had just thrown some yard clippings on a plate.

“Is there anything else you would like? Perhaps some artichoke hearts as garnish? Or a sprinkling of edemame to go with the carrot shavings?”

Mercer stifled a gag. “No thanks. This is…fine.”

“And you ladies? Is everything satisfactory for you as well?” Rainbow Dash was too busy digging in to her food to reply, but still managed a raised hoof and a shooing motion for an answer. Fluttershy said nothing, merely nodding her head politely and taking a small nibble off her plate. “Terrific! If you have any questions, or just want to talk to me, yell for Vince!” With that, the effeminate stallion took a bow, jovially skipping away to the next table waiting to make their orders.

“Are you gonna eat that, Mercer?” Rainbow asked while pointing to his plate. He shook his head, thoroughly disgusted, and pushed his food over next to hers. She took it greedily, dumping it on her plate and resuming eating.

Fluttershy looked at him questioningly. “You’re not hungry?”

He took another look at the food. “Not really…” Thanks to the Blacklight virus he didn’t require food anymore. Biomass was his only source of energy now. But even besides that, he never was a vegetable person. Just the thought of things like artichokes always made him feel sick to his stomach.

The next few minutes were filled with nothing but silence, the only exception being the obnoxious sounds Rainbow Dash was making. Fluttershy had barely even taken her eyes off her lap, and the few times she did chance a look at Mercer she would “eep!” and hide her face again. So far, this date was going exactly how he thought it would.

Sighing, he did what he usually did when he got this bored. He zoned out, ignoring his surroundings and focusing on his own thoughts. At least he would have, had the sound of breaking china not interrupted him.

Everyone in the restaurant turned their attention to where the sound came from. One lone waitress stood near the doors to the kitchen, a pile of broken plates at her hooves. She looked completely humiliated as she tried to stammer through an apology to the customer she’d bumped into. A collective sigh filled the large room, like the realization it was only a clumsy waitress was the most relieving piece of knowledge in the world. That interested Mercer.

He scanned the tables around the room, trying to listen in on all the conversations starting back up again for anything that would explain why they were all so on edge. After a moment he caught on to what he wanted to hear from a table nearby, where a mare he couldn’t see was talking about some recent developments in Equestrian security.

“…It must have been just frightful to have to deal with that, even for the Princess! They just showed up demanding answers and blaming her for violating the treaty!”

“That sounds just awful! Did they try to attack anyone?” Another mare he couldn’t see. From what he could tell already, thanks to what he already knew, he had a pretty good idea of what it is they were talking about.

“I don’t know. After that, the Princess asked all except the guards and the dignitaries to leave, so my sister wasn’t able to hear what they talked about, but I can imagine it only got worse. Those Gryphons can be scary when they get angry.”

“You’re telling me. Remember that one that came here and terrorized the town?”

“Mercer?”

“She was the worst. I’m glad they chased her away when they did.”

“Mercer.”

“If she’s anything to go by, a war with them wouldn’t end well at all.”

“Mercer!”

He was torn away from the conversation when Rainbow Dash finally got his attention by throwing a wadded up napkin at his head.

“Ah-uh-wha-huh?”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “And Twilight said you were a genius…” Mercer sunk in his seat. “Anyway, I was just telling Fluttershy how you helped egghead find out what that powder stuff that Zecora tried to kill Berry Punch with was.”

“Rainbow Dash!”

She seemed surprised at Fluttershy’s outburst. “What?”

“You shouldn’t use that word so carelessly.”

“What word? Kill?”

Fluttershy flinched. “…Yes. That word.”

Mercer shared a look with Rainbow Dash, who face hoofed. “…Alright then…the powder stuff that Zecora used to try to get rid of Berry Punch. Is that better?”

She shook her head. “Not really.”

Before Rainbow could object to her friend’s logic, Mercer interjected. “Speaking of Zecora, have there been any recent sightings of her that you know about?” They stared at him strangely. “…I’m just curious.”

Rainbow put her hoof to her chin in thought. “…Not that I’ve heard of. They had me keep my eye open for her while I was working today but I never saw her.”

“Hm. That’s unfortunate.” He thought about the conversation he’d just overheard. “Do either of you know about what’s got everyone so…nervous? Besides the whole Zecora thing, I mean.”

This time Fluttershy spoke up. “It’s probably what happened to Princess Celestia the other day…”

Rainbow looked confused. “What happened to the princess?”

“You didn’t hear? I-I’m sorry, I meant to tell you. I guess I forgot.”

She waved a hoof. “It’s alright. Just tell me.”

“W-well, apparently some dignitaries showed up at the castle demanding to talk to the princess about something. I don’t know what it was but I guess they were pretty angry about it because now everypony is talking about a war with the Gryphons.” She paused. “A-at least that’s what I heard…”

Mercer hid his smirk. A war with the Gryphons. Even though it began by chance, this whole thing with the Gryphons could not be going any better. Now that all this tension has these ponies focused on the conflict between the two lands, he was basically free to do whatever he wanted….as long as he dealt with Zecora first. And as luck would have it, he’d get his chance just a few hours later that very night.

“Mercer!”

He stopped when he heard Rainbow Dash shout his name. He figured she would have followed him; all night she hadn’t let him glance away from the table, or Fluttershy, for more than a few seconds without throwing something at his head. After the third loose cutlery bounced off his temple, he figured he’d just sit tight and be attentive. Until just a minute ago when he excused himself to go to the bathroom and instead slipped out the backdoor. Now he was standing in the alley behind the restaurant with an angry mare trying to bore holes in the back of his head with only her eyes.

“Are you really just going to leave right in the middle of your date?” Reluctantly, he turned slowly to face her. “Look, I know you didn’t exactly want to come on this date in the first place, but that doesn’t mean you can just leave Fluttershy all alone like that!”

“And you coming to follow me is any better?” She dropped her glare, her look of anger turning to one of guilt. “I thought so. Besides, you have no idea what’s going on here.”

She scowled at him. “I think I know plenty! We were all actually starting to have a good time and you got scared and tried to make a run for it!” Mercer scoffed. “Am I right or not?”

Not. Though it started off slowly, even he had to admit he had begun to have a good time. Or, at least as much of a good time as he could with a boisterous speed freak like Rainbow Dash and a timid mare like Fluttershy. Mercer’s mood had even improved enough to where he let a smile or two slip past his normally indifferent façade. He wasn’t denying all that. The truth of the matter was that his trying to leave was in no part due to the night he’d had so far. But trying to tell her that was a waste of time, and for the first time tonight that was exactly what he didn’t want to do.

“Rainbow, you have to understand when I say this: The reason why I am leaving is not because of you or Fluttershy. There’s something important I have to take care of.” He turned to leave.

“I’ll tell Pinkie Pie.” He stopped. “You agreed to go on this date. If you leave now, whether it’s because of something important or not, Fluttershy is going to think it’s because you don’t like her. And if she cries, you’ll be breaking your Pinkie Promise.”

With great force he fought the urge to strike her. He settled for taking a deep, calming breath instead. “I think Pinkie Pie will understand-”

“Rainbow Dash, why have you not headed my word? Is this monster the reason my warning has gone unheard?”

They both froze, instantly recognizing the accent in that voice. They turned, seeing a shadowy figure standing at the front of the alley. Rainbow backed away a step, fear evident on her face. “Z-Z-Zecora!”

“Do not be afraid, my friend; our broken trust, I will soon mend.” She set her gaze on Mercer. “I see you have done well tarnishing my name; but it is you that will ultimately lose this game.”

Mercer clenched his teeth. Again with the rhyming. Every time she talks, it’s like she’s reading from a bad Dr. Seuss book. “Game? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Zecora.” He feigned ignorance. “But I think there are a few people who would like to talk to you about your little psychotic break, or whatever it was that made you want to kill Berry Punch-”

“Do not speak to me in that innocent tone! You know exactly of the crimes you wish to condone!”

Rainbow walked up next to him. “Mercer, what is she talking about?”

“How should I know? She’s insane!”

Zecora approached them slowly. “Hear me now, Rainbow, for you must listen; think well on your choices, before you make your decision.” She stopped a few yards away from them. “Should you believe his words, he will lead you astray; and if he gets what he wants, it is you who will pay.”

Rainbow Dash seemed uncertain. She kept looking from Mercer to Zecora and back, clearly unsure of whom she should believe. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she had forgotten how to speak. “…I-I…” She looked at Mercer pleadingly. “…I-I don’t understand…”

He knew that look. That was the kind of look someone got when they were about to do something he wasn’t going to like. Not waiting for her to do something stupid, he fed a tendril into the ground from his hoof, pushing it through the loose dirt until it came up just behind her back leg.

“Rainbow Dash, I know this is hard, but you have to know I never meant for you to-Look out!” Just as he shouted it, he lashed out with the tendril, stabbing it into her neck just far enough to keep from killing her. He used it like a hypodermic needle, injecting the Blacklight virus into her bloodstream. Almost immediately she went stiff, falling over onto her side as she began to spasm uncontrollably. Her pupils dilated, growing to such size that it almost appeared as if her eyes were completely black. With a gasp, she let out one, final breath before becoming still.

Mercer retracted the tendril. ‘Well, that took longer than expected.’ He thought. He turned back to Zecora. ‘Time to finish what I started.’

Without having to worry about revealing what he was to Rainbow, he no longer had to hold back. “You’ve been surprisingly annoying, Miss Zecora. I don’t think I’ve had this much trouble dealing with someone like you since…” Heller. He pushed the thought out of his mind. No more distractions. “Why don’t you save me some trouble and just make this quick? For both of our sakes.”

“Making this quick is exactly my plan; for your atrocities, I will no longer stand.”

“You’re braver than you look.” He smirked. “Allow me to show you how meaningless that is.” Mercer sprung forward, swinging his hoof around and aiming for her head. It would have been a devastating blow, had it actually connected. With agility he never expected from a zebra, Zecora jumped to the side and avoided his attack with ease. When he spun around to face her again he found her holding her hoof up, a small pile of blue powder resting on it. Before he could react, she blew a puff of air on it, shooting the loose material directly into his eyes.

He shut his eyes tight, backing up sharply and slamming his back against the wall of the alley. Growling loudly, he tried to shake his head and rid himself of the stinging particles, but that only succeeded in making it worse.

“Why can’t you just die you miserable bitch!?” He managed to wipe enough of the powder out of his eyes to be able to see again, only to catch a glimpse of Zecora holding a bucket in her hooves. “Oh, if you even think about-” Before he could finish, she emptied the contents over his head, and he was once again brought to his knees by the overpowering Bloodtox.

Mercer fought to keep from falling over completely, all of his strength going into propping himself up in a low crouch. All the while this went on, Zecora slowly circled him, watching him struggle against the powder as it quickly sapped his strength. She said nothing, her eyes alone relaying all the hate and pity she held for him.

After what seemed like hours for Mercer, she finally stopped her circling, standing directly in front of him. She leaned back and began searching through her saddlebag, pulling out a strange looking knife after a moments search.

Holding it firmly in hoof, she placed the edge of it against his throat. “Know this, foul creature, before I send you to Death’s embrace; this is your own doing, for a life filled with disgrace.” With a flick, she slid the blade across his throat, cutting in deeply enough to make him flinch. Before his regenerative powers kicked in, some of the powder fell into the open wound, burning him even more and preventing him from healing it.

In a rage, Mercer managed to pull himself up and throw his body against her, knocking her to the ground and making her drop the knife. When he moved, the powder shifted on his body, a lot of it falling off and lessening the pain he was in. Zecora jumped back to her feet, making a dash for the knife. Mercer intercepted her, grabbing her hoof and flipping her over his shoulder and throwing her farther down the alley. She landed next to Rainbow Dash, groaning quietly while she tried to get back up.

Mercer stood up on his hind legs, holding his fore hooves outstretched at his sides, then bringing them in and slamming them together. The impact created a shockwave that blew the rest of the powder off, as well as scattering any dirt and debris present in the immediate area. With a relieved sigh he allowed his body to stitch the wound in his neck closed, the biomass seamlessly repairing it good as new.

Movement caught his eye, and when he turned his head he saw Zecora charging at him, a small sack filled with more powder held tightly in her jaws. This time he didn’t give her the chance to use it; instead he planted his hooves into the dirt and forced large amounts of biomass under the surface. It came up underneath Zecora mid step, massive spikes shooting out of the ground and catching her off guard. The spikes pierced clean through her body, lifting her into the air several feet. He held her there for a few moments before retracting the spikes, letting her body fall back down hard. She coughed violently, spitting blood on the ground and adding to the growing puddle already surrounding her. Unfortunately for her, this wasn’t where her suffering was going to end.

He approached her slowly and deliberately, putting on his favorite evil smirk and making a “tsk tsk” noise. “C’mon now, Zecora. With all that you know about me, you had to have known what I’m capable of. A knife? Where I come from, I’ve survived worse than that.”

She took a shaky breath. “True…it was…less humane than what he wanted…but to save these lands…I would not be daunted.”

“'He'…so you are working with someone. Who is it? How does he know so much about the virus? About me?”

“…For one so smart…you know nothing…the weight of your ignorance…must be crushing.” She gave him a bloodied smile. “I will say this, to ease your fears; the one you seek…is closer than he appears…” With one last cough, she let her head roll back, closing her eyes as the life left her. Mercer could hear her heartbeat grow weaker and weaker, until finally it just stopped. The blood in her body continued to flow out onto the ground, the dirt around her soaking it up greedily.

Zecora was dead. After an annoying amount of trouble, he had killed her. And even better, he had infected Rainbow Dash finally as well. He had finished two of his biggest goals…

And yet he felt nothing. He thought it would bring him joy. Satisfaction. But all he felt was…tired.

A shiver up his spine gave him that feeling of being watched. He let out a breath and turned to look where it came from. He was mildly surprised to see Fluttershy’s wide eyed and fearful stare watching him from the doorway to the restaurant. Her eyes shifted down to Zecora’s body, then over to Rainbow’s, and finally back to Mercer.

“Oh, this is unbelievable…” He groaned. Stepping over the dead zebra, he walked over to where she was frozen in place, grabbing the door and pulling her through it and out into the alley before closing it behind her. “Alright…I…” He let out a sigh. “…am in no mood to try to explain any of this. Just hold still…and don’t scream.” He held up his hoof.

“Wait!” She reached out and stopped him, a blush reaching her cheeks when she realized she was basically holding his hoof. “…Um…” She looked over at Rainbow Dash. “…I-is she…d-dead?”

Mercer followed her gaze. “Technically…yes.” Her face fell. “…Will she get up? Now that’s a different question entirely.”

Fluttershy looked confused. “…W-what…what do you mean?”

“Well, she’s dead in that she’s no longer alive. The virus will turn her into something else. She’ll still have the same memories…she just won’t be herself.”

“S-so…sh-she’s not…dead. B-but she won’t be herself?”

“Exactly. So you won’t have to worry any. Now, hold still so I can-”

“W-wait!”

He stopped again. “What is it?”

“Is…Zecora going to…get up too?”

Mercer shook his head. “No. She actually is dead. In fact I’ll have to deal with her in a second too so if you don’t mind-”

“No, wait!”

“God dammit Fluttershy! If you say wait one more time I am going to string you up like tinsel!” She shrunk back, pressing up against the wall tightly. Seeing her like that gave him a pang of guilt, so he took a breath to calm down. “…Why do you need me to explain any more? I’m about to kill you, what does it matter anyway?”

“W-well…you don’t have to…t-to kill me…”

He raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? So you’ll just…forget everything you’ve seen here?” He gestured to the dead body and her unconscious friend. He asked it rhetorically, but Fluttershy nodded her head regardless. Mercer placed his hoof against his temple. “Fluttershy…do you really expect me to believe that? I can’t just let you walk away.”

“B-but…what if I…promised not to tell?”

He stared blankly at her. “Yeah…that’ll work.” He said sarcastically.

She didn’t falter. “I could…Pinkie Promise…”

That made him look at her confusedly. “Seriously? You’d Pinkie Promise on something like that?” She nodded. “Why? So we can finish our date?” She blushed again. His eyes went wide. “Oh…my…God…” He continued to stare at her. “No…no, no no no…” Fluttershy was trying her hardest to avoid looking into his eyes. “You’re…in love with me.” If it was possible for her face to turn any redder, she might join Zecora on the ground. “Jesus…I knew you liked me, but…this is just…” He shook his head “What is this, Disney World? Am I supposed to be the rogue criminal that gets yanked into an adventure with the beautiful princess? This isn’t a fairy tale, Fluttershy, this is reality.” He took a look at himself, remembering he was a pony in a world where the sun revolved around the Earth. “…Ok, scratch that last part. But my argument still stands!”

She was quiet for a few seconds, until she finally looked up to meet his gaze. “…Beautiful?”

He facehooved. “That’s what you took from what I said? Are you kidding me right now?” She shrugged. “…Alright. Enough stalling. I’m sorry to have to do this but-”

“W-wait! You can’t!” Mercer scoffed. “I-I mean…you wouldn’t want to…”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because if you…kill me, then somepony would notice I was gone. And Rainbow Dash…”

“I think Rainbow Dash is going to have bigger problems on her hands-hooves-when she wakes up. You missing will be the least of her worries. Besides, I can just blame it on Zecora if I have to. It’s not like she’s gonna say otherwise.” Her dejected look told him she was out of ideas to justify not killing her. “Just accept it Fluttershy. This whole thing is amusing, but that’s no reason to draw it out any longer.”

“But…but I…” Mercer shifted to his claws power, much to her surprise, and raised them up to strike. She flinched away. “But I…can help you.” Still flinching, she waited for the end to come. When it didn’t, she looked up at him to see he was watching her intently.

“…Just how in love with me are you?”

“…I…I wouldn’t say…love…b-but, if what I’ve learned about you is anything to go by…” She stood up slowly. “…I know you’re good Mercer. You’re kind and gentle, even if you won’t admit it to anypony. Pinkie and I can see it…that’s why she trusts you so much…that’s why I trust you so much.” She took a few steps towards him. “Even if you…got rid of Zecora, if you told me it was for a good reason…I’d believe you.”

“Hmm…” This was getting stranger and stranger. She just saw him commit a murder, and yet she’s still willing to believe he’s good? He knew love was blind, but this was just insane. But maybe she was right…maybe she could help him. “…How…gullible would you say Rainbow Dash is?”

She thought about it. “I-I suppose…she has been willing to believe the…occasional fib…”

“…Do you think you could get her to believe something crazy? Like, really crazy?”

She seemed shocked. “M-me!? Uh-y-yeah…I guess…” Her shock turned to hope. “D-does this mean…you’re not going to…k-kill me?”

“We’ll see. But first things first: go back inside and pay for our dinner. When you’re done, leave out the front door and come back around here. I’ll tell you what to do from there.” She complied, taking one final look at her friend before disappearing through the door. Mercer knew he was taking a big risk trusting her not to talk, but he figured ‘What’s the worst that can happen?’ If she does try to tell someone, he can just kill her. The way he saw it, he didn’t have much to lose.

He turned back to Zecora’s body. “Now the hard part…how do I make you look like you died by accident?”

“Why the hell are you laughing?”

“I just find it cute. First Pinkie, then Fluttershy. It seems your quite the lady-stallion, Mercer.”

“Oh shut up!”

“And you killed Zecora. Finally, the part of the story I’ve been looking forward to! Quite nice detail, too. I love the way you described the blood soaking into the ground around her. It definitely spiced it up.”

“…Why do I get the feeling you tortured small animals as a child?”

“Hehehe…always quick with the wit, aren’t you Mercer?”

“Does nothing offend you?”

“Why should it? I know you don’t mean it.”

“How so?”

“It’s just like Fluttershy said in your story: you’re kind and gentle, even if you won’t admit it.”

“I just told you I killed someone. How could you possibly interpret that as kind and gentle?”

“It’s all in the fine print.”

“What are you talking about?”

“In good time, my friend.”

“I’m not your friend.”

“On with the story! What happens next?”

“Nothing. I’m not telling you anything more until you give me some answers.”

“Like what?”

“Are you the ‘he’ Zecora spoke of? Were you the one helping her?”

“Why of course not! How could you ever accuse me of such a thing?”

“It’s all in the fine print.”

“Ahahaha…I see what you did there…”

“If you weren’t helping Zecora, then who are you?”

“Ah-ah-ah, not so fast. That’s not how this works. You tell me part of the story, I answer a question.”

“You are really starting to become a pain in the ass.”

“Noted. Continue.”

“Alright. Turns out I actually could trust Fluttershy. Just like I told her, she came back around to the alley a few minutes later, and helped me clean up the murder site.”

“I thought you wanted it to be an accident.”

“She was full of holes! How could I ever make that look like an accident? It was better to just cover everything up and get rid of the body.”

“Like the others.”

“Yes, like the other-Who’s telling this story?”

“So sorry.”

“Whatever. Anyway, Fluttershy carried Rainbow Dash back to her cottage and I got to work looking for other candidates.”

“Candidates? For what?”

“…My army.”

Author's Note

If this chapter seems rushed, it is. I've been putting off working on this for so long I just wanted to get it done.

But if there's one thing good to take away from this chapter, it's that I DON'T HAVE TO WRITE FOR ZECORA ANYMORE!!!!!!! If I wanted to spend all my time coming up with crappy rhymes, I'd kill myself...Oh God, I just did one, didn't I? TT_TT

Anyway, in the spirit of Mercer going on a date, I wrote what was supposed to be a short addition to this chapter but ended up being an entirely new chapter of its own. So enjoy it, my friends:

BONUS CHAPTER!!!!!!!!

Bonus!!!!

"I don't need another Mercer running around."

-Colonel Rooks

There wasn’t much going on this time of night in Ponyville. It was the middle of the week so the majority of ponies were either heading home or getting ready for bed. Most business owners were locking up for the night, turning away the last few straggling customers and politely informing them to move on their way. Even some of the more popular restaurants that were known for staying open later to cater to couples on their date night were closing up. The only establishment that was still accepting customers was the only bar in town: Lucky’s Watering Hole.

“One apple cider, please.”

“Coming up.”

The bartender grabbed a mug from under the counter, pushing it into the switch on the tap and letting it fill up. With expert flair he levitated an apple and a knife above their heads, the aura from his magic casting a dull glow over his face in the darkly lit bar. He sliced the fruit into thin pieces, avoiding the core, and dropped them into the sweet liquid, pulling the mug away from the tap just as it was about to overflow. Placing it on the counter, the bartender slid it across the smooth surface, sending it on its way to the pony who ordered it.

Nick caught it with ease, stopping it just before it went over the edge. He raised it to his lips, taking a long swig and swallowing it with a satisfied sigh. It hit the spot perfectly, just what he needed after the rough day he’d had. But thank Celestia it meant he could relax finally, even if it was only a little. This harsh tasting beverage couldn’t have come at a better time; thanks to all Nick’s hard work, he was going to make rent this month.

It came as a huge relief to him, too. He was beginning to fear he was going to get kicked out of his place. He’d already been late on rent the last three months in a row now; he wasn’t looking forward to what his landlord would have yelled at him this time had he not had the money to pay him. Again.

He took another drink. It felt a little off for Nick to be sitting at a bar this late at night, mostly because of how he imagined it made him look. Only the more hardcore drunks tended to stay this late before a work day. He wasn’t at all a drunk; he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d drank enough to feel buzzed, let alone plastered like some of these lost souls in here tonight.

“Sweet Celestia! How many times have I told you Pierce, the bathrooms are around back! And no, you cannot ‘take a leak’ in the bushes next to the building! What are you, an animal?”

Nick turned his head to see the bartender futilely trying to explain to the pony standing in the doorway where he was allowed to relieve himself. It was obvious the stallion was drunk; even standing still he swayed back and forth unsteadily. Looking at the drunken pony Nick couldn’t help but think he looked familiar.

“Aww, c’mon Duke! Ya gotta talk slower; I don’t know what in the hay yer talkin’ about…” He slurred his words as he spoke, swaying over to the right and losing his balance for a second. It seemed talking took too much of his concentration away from keeping himself upright.

Then it hit him where Nick knew the poor drunkard. A few months ago he’d taken a job out at Sweet Apple Acres to help Big Mac finish up picking the last apples of the season. He’d only worked there for a week and he’d found the pony passed out behind a tree four times. He was an impossible lush, but harmless, so most ponies just left him alone. Pierce Hunk was his name. At least that was his official title. Now most ponies just called him Pierce Hunk the Hopeless Drunk, or when they were feeling especially vicious, Stupid Asshole. As in “Quit pissing on my azaleas, you stupid asshole!” That one was heard surprisingly frequently.

Nick shook his head and returned his attention back to his drink. When he tried to take another sip his shoulder flared up in pain, his hoof shaking in a spasm strong enough to make him spill the contents of his mug. He gritted his teeth and waited for the pain to subside. Earlier he’d hurt it when he slipped off a ladder while repainting a building at the edge of town. It was why his day was particularly rough; since he wasn’t able to move it much, his construction job later this evening took twice as long as it should of. That’s what he gets for scheduling two different contracts so close together.

“Need any help there?”

The sudden voice startled him, mostly because he was intent on soothing his aching shoulder but also because of the feminine sound of the pony that asked him. He turned his head and saw the smiling face of one of the most beautiful mares he’d ever seen staring back at him. His jaw went slack, the pain in his shoulder temporarily forgotten.

She giggled at his expression. “You ok? You look like you just saw a ghost.”

“Or an angel…” He muttered under his breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing!”

She raised an eyebrow at him, the smile never leaving her face. She nodded at his spilled drink. “What were you having?”

“What? Oh! Uh…I-I was…” He stumbled over his words. “…Um, cider.” He finally managed to finish, albeit a bit timidly.

Without hesitation she looked to the bartender and raised her hoof to get his attention. “Two apple ciders over here, please.” The stallion nodded, pulling out two more mugs and going about preparing the order.

Nick was dumbfounded. This mare, this absolutely gorgeous mare, was ordering him a drink. If it weren’t for the excruciating pain he was currently in, he would swear he was dreaming.

She noticed his discomfort. “What’s wrong with your shoulder?”

“I um…slipped…off a ladder…” He let his head drop in embarrassment. “Because I forgot you’re not supposed to stand on the very top unless someone is holding it steady for you…”

“Aw, you poor baby. Does it hurt?”

He choked a little. It almost seemed like she was…flirting with him just then. “Oh, no…I can hardly even feel it.” He tried to give her a brave face just as it flared up again, causing his smile to look more creepy then brave.

The mare reached over and began rubbing his shoulder for him. “There…does that feel better?”

His reply was to let out a series of unintelligible noises that he had intended to be some form of cognitive speech. Despite how moronic it sounded, it still made her giggle. Was this mare for real? Was this really happening? He couldn’t believe it.

The bartender chose just that moment to bring their drinks over to them, a large smirk appearing on his face when he noticed that her hoof was still rubbing his shoulder slowly. He scoffed and walked away, shaking his head like he saw that sort of thing a lot. The mare picked up her mug and brought it to her lips, tilting the bottom up and draining the whole thing in one go. She set it back down lightly and wiped her mouth of the excess cider still on her lips. When she noticed him staring, she blushed.

“Did you see something you like?”

Nick blinked slowly. “…Yeah…” She giggled at him. “I-I mean…uh…yeah…” He face hoofed.

Sensing his humiliation, she pushed the remaining mug towards him. “Here, why don’t you take a drink? It might help you relax.”

He nodded, doing as she said. After he had drunk the contents of it, she ordered two more. They toasted and downed them quickly, laughing together at how much faster she was at drinking.

The night continued in that fashion, every round that came their way was finished with ease, replaced immediately by the next one. Thanks to the heavy doses of liquid courage, Nick found it immensely easier to talk to her without sounding like an idiot. And even if he did manage to say something strange, it didn’t seem to matter to her. At one point his shoulder started acting up again, and he had to take a few breaths to help with the pain.

“You know,” She took a pause and waited for him to turn his attention back on her. “You don’t have to deal with that bad shoulder.”

He looked at her curiously. “What do you mean?”

“I mean there’s a way you could skip the part where you’re in pain.”

“There is?”

“Sure. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry about all those little things like jobs or rent. You could just tell your landlord you don’t need him anymore.”

Nick snorted. “Yeah, that’ll be the day.”

“I’m serious. You could be part of something bigger.” She spoke mysteriously.

He finished off his latest mug of cider, slamming it back down onto the counter with a loud thud. “That sounds great. If they really had something like that, I’d sign up in a heartbeat. If it meant no more dealing with that pompous jackass, I’d agree to anything.” He laughed to himself.

“Well now. That is interesting.” She narrowed her eyes a little as she studied him.

When the time for last call came around hours later, he almost couldn’t believe it. This mare he had just met tonight was actually still there. She seemed to actually be interested in him, not just as more then somepony she could trick into paying her tab.

“Well, I guess it’s time to go then.” She got up from her seat and began digging through the saddlebags he had only just now realized she was wearing. She tossed a small bag of bits on the counter and said “Thank you” to the bartender. Nick started to reach for his bag of bits before she stopped him. “Don’t worry about it there, stallion. I’ll get your tab too if you agree to walk me home.” She gave him a wink.

“…Okay…” Nick tried to get up but lost his balance, forcing him to grab onto the counter for support. Uh oh, he may have drank too much. There was only one way to know for sure. Let’s see…he couldn’t see straight, couldn’t stand on his own, and he couldn’t remember what the topics of their conversation had been about. Yep, he was most definitely drunk. “Hehe…I uh…I think you might have to walk me home.”

She smirked at him. “Even better.”

Nick let go of the counter and tried to take another step, but this time when he almost fell his new companion pushed herself up against his side to keep him from falling. He had to admit, even though this mare was drop dead beautiful, something about leaning up against her felt weird. He couldn’t figure it out. It was like something inside him was saying this wasn’t right. He shook it out of his head, blaming it on the alcohol coursing through his system.

Once they were outside, he looked to his right expecting to see Pierce urinating on the bushes outside the building, as he usually was this early in the morning. He was surprised to see that the drunk was nowhere in sight.

“Huh…that’s weird…”

“What is?”

“…nothing. Never mind.” Nick looked down to both ends of the street they were on. “So where is it that you live then Miss…” He drew a blank. “…You know, I don’t think I actually got your name.”

She smiled at him politely. “Berry. Berry Punch.”

He smiled back. “Hello Miss Berry Punch. My name is Nick Flash. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Author's Note

There ya go, Mr. Nick Clarke! A pivotal role if I say so myself. No doubt a hangover is going to be the least of his worries by the next morning. Alcohol can be a killer. Just like Alex Mercer. And skinny jeans. I weep for the sperm count of any man that wears skinny jeans. Although then again, can you really be called a man if you wear skinny jeans? I guess technically skinny jeans can look good on a guy, but he'd have to have like, REALLY girlish hips. That fad ruined the self esteem of teenage girls everywhere. "Hey, you look ugly if you don't wear these!" Thanks a lot you fashion peddling a-holes. Now these girls look even MORE out of my league! It's hard enough getting a date, without you telling girls that I'm not cool unless I'm jammed into a pair of testicle-destroying pants. I was never really one to follow trends anyway. I remember when I was in 5th grade the popular thing was sagging. The school had a big ban placed on sagging, and any child caught doing it was forced to pull them up and held there with duct tape. It was cool though, 'cause then they had duct tape. I've always loved duct tape. I've been buying a lot of it lately. Walmart has these colored ones in the paint section; like just solid colors or crazy patterns. I saw a peacock one. I'm not even lying. They're really fun to make stuff with. I made all the members of my family wallets. And not crappy ones either; I'm talking fully equipped, credit card slots and ID pockets and everything. I even made a Luigi one for myself. It's got a big "L" on it. A guy complimented me on it at Gamestop. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. I went in to look for the first Bioshock game. I used to have it, but I let my cousin borrow it and he never gave it back. It's like, whenever I borrow a game from someone, I always return it within a reasonable amount of time. But whenever I loan them out to other people, they claim I never let them borrow it. Bullshit.
Man, are you guys still reading this? I've just been droning on because of how incredibly bored I am right now. I just got cable again for the first time in almost 2 years, and I'm honestly not seeing what the big deal is. It's way better to just pay for a Hulu or Netflix account. Cheaper too. Then I can just watch TV on my Xbox, instead of paying up the ass for 300 channels I don't even watch. I already have enough expensive addictions; I don't need to add one more to the list. Speaking of addictions, I was starting to feel bad because I wasn't paying that much attention to My Little Pony other than the usual things I look at: Equestria Daily, FIMFiction, original artwork and music, etc. But I wasn't really watching the show anymore. Then when that Equestria Girls movie came out, I felt like I needed to do something big to satisfy my growing guilt, so I got my cousin to let me borrow her 4 yr. old since she loves the show almost as much as me, and I took her to the nearest movie theater that was playing it. It was like a 3 hour drive, and I'm still contemplating on whether or not it was worth it. The movie was okay, maybe a bit lacking on certain aspects, mostly that I have no freaking clue how they're going to have that tie in to the show for the 4th season, but still okay I suppose. All I know, is that I hate Flash Sentry. Or at least I think that was his name. The second he appeared playing a guitar, I wanted to kill him. Oh yeah, how original! The polite pretty boy love interest is also in a band! I really hope they wise up and kill him off later. If he even thinks about touching Twilight, he's got another thing coming!
Another thing I found weird with the movie was that ALL of the mane six wore skirts as humans. Even Rainbow Dash. And she played soccer. Who plays soccer in a skirt? That's like running a marathon in high heels. You're just asking for it. Spike being a dog was funny to me. Not because he could talk; it was because his name had such an easily transitional feel to it. He's "Spike" because he's a dragon. But then as a dog he's still Spike because that's one of those extremely generic names for dogs. That and Spot. My uncle actually named his pug Dammit. He said it was because that's what he always had to say to get his attention. I still think that's a stupid reason. If I went around naming everyone after the one word I used the most to talk to them, I'd call my boss "Yessir!" and the guy at Subway that makes me sandwiches for lunch "The Works". I hate ordering sandwiches and then having to go through everything I want on it. My usual answers are "American cheese, no tomatoes, onions, olives, pickles, and as many hot pepper slices as you can fit on it". I don't know why I like peppers on my sandwich so much. I'm not brave enough to try to eat a whole pepper, but when it comes to things like salsa or hot sauce, I'm all for it. I guess it's a taste thing. Peppers are dry as hell. And they taste like you're eating a sock. But apparently they're really good for you. I heard that one pepper has 3 times as much citrus as an orange. That blows my mind. I can never eat oranges. I love them, but whenever I eat them I get these weird sores on my tongue. It's like my individual taste buds swell up and get really sensitive. And then I make the mistake of eating a potato chip, and OHMAHGOD, I might as well have just gargled ammonia.

Well, I guess I've burned through enough topics for one night. I'm going to bed. Goodnight everypony.
-Poly

Mister Grumpy-Boss pants

"They think they are in control? They have no idea what I'm capable of."

-Alex Mercer

The sound of hoof steps echoed off the walls as two stallions quietly conversed amongst themselves, speaking in low voices so as not to be overheard. The cold air of the night flowed over what little fur actually showed through the gaps in their armor, chilling them down to the white skin underneath. They paid it no attention, years of nightly patrols around the castle gardens giving them thick-skinned immunity to the biting wind. They stopped walking when they got to a gap in the foliage that allowed them a view of the horizon, small smiles adorning their faces as they beheld the tell-tale signs of the sunrise. Only a few more hours until the change of guards, and then they could finally relax and get the sleep they so desperately needed. Stifling yawns, they continued once more, heading to the next area of their patrol route. They showed mild surprise when they noticed their superior officer approaching them, stepping to the side to give him a sharp salute as he walked by.

"Captain!" They said in practiced unison.

Shining Armor nodded curtly, acknowledging them so they could continue with their patrols. He heaved a heavy sigh once they were out of earshot. He'd had a rough night, which he blamed completely on the large stacks of paperwork that had sat on his desk for the last few months. After repeated requests he finally decided to stop procrastinating and finish it all, a task that took up all of his time over the last week and then some.

He yawned loudly, not caring if anyone in the vicinity could hear him. The only other living creature besides himself, a small Blue Jay perched on a nearby statue, gave no reaction other than to chirp and continue preening its feathers. Shining smiled softly.

"Captain Armor, sir!"

The smile dropped from his face. He turned around slowly, scowling sharply as he growled "What is it, Lieutenant?"

The guard was unfazed by his hostility. "Sir, her Highness has requested your presence in her study right away."

"Can't it wait?"

"She said it was urgent, sir."

Shining clenched his teeth. "…Did she say what it was she wished to discuss with me?"

"No sir. She only instructed me to retrieve you. I know nothing about the matter she wishes to speak to you about…sir."

He sighed. "Alright…you're dismissed." The lieutenant saluted. "At ease."

As he watched the guard leave, he thought about how mad his wife was going to be when he got back after sunset for the fifth day in a row. Cadance knew what she was getting into when she married the Captain of the Guard, so a divorce was the last thing he was worried about. That being said, it didn't mean she wasn't above long periods of silence followed by even longer periods of him sleeping on the couch. What was even worse was that tonight was supposed to be the night they performed their "marital duties" for the first time in a month. She was already fairly stressed out thanks to his lack of participation in said duties, and, as she put it, since she was the Princess of Love, she had an obligation to spread love wherever she goes. But in order for her to "give" love, she must first "make" it. And as any adolescent colt could tell you, that was a two pony job.

Speaking of princesses, he had his own obligations to fulfill. Cadance will just have to deal with the fact that she wasn't the only princess he had to answer to.

Taking one last look at the tower his and Cadance's chambers were in, Shining Armor reluctantly turned around and headed back in the direction he came from, a small sigh escaping his lips while he mumbled disappointedly.

The door to Celestia's study flew open, slamming against the wall and startling Philomena, who had been sleeping peacefully with her head under her wing.

"Alright Celestia, what the hay is it that's so important you had to interrupt what may just be the last chance I have at maritals for the next few weeks!?"

Shining's direct and fairly rude outburst didn't surprise Celestia at all. The sun goddess slowly took off her reading glasses with her magic and set them along with the book she had been enjoying down on the desk. "My, Shining, you sure have come a long way to be so bold as to speak to me in such a rude manner."

He huffed indignantly. "You're the one who told me I could address you less formally now that I'm married to your niece."

Celestia chuckled. "Yes, I did say that." She stood up from the seat she was in, walking over to a shelf on the side of the room and grabbing a scroll off of it with her magic. The door behind Shining glowed as Celestia shut it softly. Suddenly becoming serious, she handed him the scroll once she was sure no one could hear them. "The reason I called you up here is because of some worrying news I've received from your sister."

"Twily? What did she say?" He opened the scroll and began reading it over quickly.

"She speaks of a friend of hers that had recently become, as she put it, 'mentally unstable', and attempted to kill a pony in broad daylight." She paused a second so he could catch up to that part in the letter. "She was very shaken to discover one of her friends had done something so cruel, and wasn't sure if it warranted a full friendship report, so she sent me a more personal letter to ask me how she should handle the matter."

Shining Armor shook his head. "Poor Twily…but what does this have to do with me?"

Celestia sighed. "It's the friend she was speaking of." She pointed a hoof on the paper. "'Zecora'."

Shining squinted at the name. "…Yeah…I remember Twilight telling me about her. Why does that matter? So she's a killer, it's not anything that hasn't been dealt with before."

"Zecora is, in fact, no killer. She is a kind, gentle zebra, who wouldn't harm a fly unless it was in the best interest of others."

He raised an eyebrow. "And you would know this because?"

"She is an old friend of mine."

"Princess, I still don't see what this has to do with-"

"Zecora was acting under my orders when she attempted to kill that pony."

Shining took a step back. "P-P-Princess?"

"Relax, Shining Armor, I didn't tell her directly. She was following her own leads when she did it. But I believe there is more to this story then Twilight knows."

"What do you mean?"

Celestia didn't reply right away. She stared at the wall for a moment, as if she was trying to see all the way to Ponyville from that room. "…Zecora has been investigating a possible threat to Equestria by my request. It is my belief her actions were due to a lead she has been unable to relay to me."

"Princess…why have you not told me of this sooner?"

"I was hoping I wouldn't need to…but that was wrong of me. Now I am afraid I may have made things worse." She walked up to Shining Armor and placed her hoof on his shoulder. "That is why I need your help now. The threat I spoke of is a pony, one who is unlike any other you or even I have ever encountered. He is responsible for the attacks the Gryphon dignitaries blamed on me."

Shining Armor gave the letter back to Celestia. "Don't worry princess, I'll gather my best guards and head to Ponyville to stop him right away-"

She held up her hoof, stopping him midsentence. "No, you can't do that, Shining. I have it on good authority this pony is more dangerous than we can understand. For whatever reason, he has decided to lay low, but I fear it won't last if he knows he has been found out."

He thought a moment. "Then we need to find Zecora. Whatever information she has might be vital to stopping him. Where is she now?"

Celestia shook her head. "I'm afraid I don't know. I stopped receiving word from her some time before Twilight sent me this letter."

Shining turned to leave. "Alright. I'll send a handful of guards to Ponyville to look for her. As long as everypony thinks they're only there for that reason he won't be any wiser to our plans."

The princess smiled at him. "Thank you, Shining Armor. I should have left this matter to you in the first place. I'm sorry for having to trouble you with this at such a bad time." Her smile turned to a smirk. "If you wish, you can have a few days off to catch up on your 'maritals' with my niece."

He stopped with his hoof on the door handle. Without turning around, so as to avoid showing her the blush growing across his face, he mumbled "…Yeahsurewhatever…" before opening the door and stepping through. "Oh, wait!" He stuck his head back into the room before the door closed all the way. "What is this pony's name?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Alex Mercer."

Nick scratched his head with his hoof, more out of boredom then for relief. He'd been standing in the same spot doing nothing for the last hour, the itch in his wings for some excitement making him more than a little fidgety. He wasn't used to being still for this long. Usually he was busy with a job, or looking for another job, or worrying about finding another job. "Lazy" just wasn't ever a word he accepted in his dictionary.

He cursed himself silently. Yesterday was as eventful as any, and had it gone his way, might have ended with him getting lucky. But it didn't go his way, and now he was left with even more problems than before, so finding another job no longer held any priority for him.

"Would you quit sighing? You're getting on my nerves."

"Sorry..."

Oh, that's right. And he was standing in a house that wasn't his with a pony that had pretended to be a beautiful mare to trick him into taking him back to his place. Thankfully he removed his disguise before Nick's attempt at foreplay reached a level that would make things awkward for the both of them, and when he pulled his head out of the puddle of vomit he'd passed out in the next morning, he found that the strange pony was still there, sitting on the couch patiently waiting so he could explain the reason behind his deceit.

"Who….who the hay are you?"

"Don't you remember me? You walked me home last night."

"…Oh Celestia…I didn't think I was that drunk…"

"You were. You were barely able to stand."

"…I could have sworn you were a mare…"

"I was."

"Wh…what?"

"Do you remember what I said last night? About how you could be part of something bigger?"

"…Uuuuh…"

"Hehehe…I'm sure it will come to you. Now, why don't you go clean yourself up? We have a lot to talk about."

It hadn't been the best ending to the night, but it almost made sense. He should have known that mare wasn't legit; the entire night had been one clue after another, and yet he missed every one of them. The way she talked and acted, the sheer volume of alcohol she could put back without getting tipsy, not to mention the fact she actually talked to him in the first place. He wasn't the worst looking stallion, but even he had to admit a mare like that was well out of his league. Although, now that he thought of it, it was sort of an unfair advantage that Mercer could just alter his appearance and make his disguise more attractive. That's like fishing for trout in a bucket.

Nick may not remember much about last night, but he sure remembered a lot from this morning. At first he was confused with what Mercer was saying; all his talk of viruses and superpony abilities seemed way too farfetched to be true. It was just a little much all at once. But some of Mercer's points struck a chord with Nick. Call him selfish, but he would be lying if he said the idea of having superpowers wasn't appealing to him. Plus, if this strange pony wanted to help everypony, it couldn't hurt to volunteer his services, right?

At least that was the thought process that got Nick to convince himself all this was a good idea. By the time he realized he may have acted a bit thoughtlessly, he was already about twelve hours too late to turn back. Nick wasn't stupid; he figured out that Mercer was going to infect him with the Blacklight virus from the moment he walked up to him in the bar. He was doomed before he ever even said his first "Um".

Nick stretched his shoulder, rotating it in a circle a few times to test its flexibility. His shoulder didn't hurt anymore. Good thing something about this mess was working out for him.

"…Ugh…Z…Zecora…what did you…why…"

The attention of all three ponies in the room snapped to the unconscious rainbow headed mare lying on the bed. She was mumbling in her sleep, shivering and reaching her hooves out to pull the covers over her that she had long since kicked onto the floor. A wave of tendrils wound its way up her body as her frustration grew. Fluttershy made a move to help her friend, but Mercer stopped her, grabbing her shoulder and shaking his head. Rainbow continued to mumble incoherently, but she finally stopped groping for a blanket, settling for just curling up in a ball and shivering herself back to slightly more restful sleep.

"Is she…is she going to be alright?" Fluttershy was in tears as she asked, never tearing her eyes away from the other Pegasus.

Mercer shrugged. "Maybe. I can't be completely sure. I've had plenty of practice turning people into Evolved, but I've never done this sort of thing on a pony before now."

Nick raised an eyebrow at that. "What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying you had no idea what you were doing this morning when you infected me?"

"I'm saying I haven't exactly had much time to test out the effects of the virus on the equine biology."

"So we're your test subjects now?"

"If you wanna look at it that way, it's fine by me."

"Jackass…"

"What was that?"

"I called you a jackass."

"I know, I just wanted to see if you actually had the balls to say it again." Mercer raised his hoof and smacked Nick in the back of the head. "Now shut the fuck up, ponyboy."

"Um…Mercer…your Pinkie Promise…"

"What? Oh, right…"

Silence fell on the room, creating that all too familiar quite awkwardness that stems from lack of conversation. Nick rubbed his head, casting a glare towards Mercer, who pretended not to notice it. Fluttershy stood between them, hiding her face behind her long hair and sneaking glances at the hooded pony standing next to her. Rainbow Dash had begun to shiver again, a few tendrils snaking across her back and making her wings flex slightly. Mercer was watching her intently, his eyes scanning her body for signs of the virus working its magic. It was too early to tell at this point, he wasn't joking when he'd said he wasn't sure. Since he'd had to act quickly back in the alley, he wasn't completely sure he'd given her the right strain of the virus. Out of the fourteen he had a choice of, at least ten different strains of Blacklight were lethal to a creature with such a small stature. He was usually able to improve the chances of survival by manipulating the virus directly, but that required extended physical contact, which he didn't have time for while he was dealing with Zecora.

All he could do now was stand by, watch, and hope the virus ravaging every cell in Rainbow Dash's body didn't ultimately kill her, which he was genuinely not interested in happening. No point in going through all this pony induced mental trauma just to kill her.

To his right, Mercer heard an agitated sigh and a low grumble from Nick, who had navigated over to the window and was now staring out at the gardens surrounding Fluttershy's cottage.

"Are you not having any fun, Mr. Flash?"

"What do you think, Mercer? I've had more fun sorting pebbles at the Pie's rock farm."

"Then why don't you go with Pierce to look for more candidates? It might be a better use of both our times."

Finally agreeing with something Mercer said for the first time since they'd met, Nick ignored the polite usage of the phrase "Just get out of here and stop wasting my time" and briskly made a beeline for the exit. When he opened the door, he paused just a second to yell back "And next time, if you want to spend some alone time with Fluttershy, you can just tell me, you know" before he ran out and slammed the door behind him.

Mercer growled in annoyance. Fluttershy fainted.

Once outside, Nick took in a deep breath of fresh air, glad to finally be able to stretch his legs properly. He rolled his shoulders, expecting to hear a popping sound but getting nothing instead. His confusion was short lived when he remembered Mercer's explanation of how the virus worked. He chuckled lightly. That's right; he no longer had a skeletal structure. No bones, no popping joints.

That reminded him of a question he'd been meaning to ask. Mercer had claimed the virus also took away his internal organs. How exactly was he able to take in a deep breath anyway? He didn't have lungs anymore. He would have to keep that in mind for later. He certainly wasn't going back in there just to find out.

Nick walked to the end of the path leading away from Fluttershy's cottage, admiring the multitude of flowers carefully planted alongside it. They bordered the edge all the way to the colorful mailbox at the end, which had even more blossoming at the base of the post. He thought it was ironic that Mercer had chosen this place to hide out while they waited for Rainbow Dash to wake up. The area was bright and happy, while he himself was dark and gloomy. As well as being kind of a jackass.

Standing at the mailbox, Nick looked around for the grey, blonde headed pony that was supposed to be guarding the pathway so nopony would barge in on the questionable situation inside the house. When he saw no one waiting for him, he took in a breath and prepared to call out. What he didn't prepare for was a voice to suddenly appear from beside him and say "Looking for someone?"

"Sweet Celestia!" Nick nearly jumped out of his skin, backing away quickly and knocking over the mailbox. "Dear Luna, Pierce, you scared the Tartarus out of me!"

Pierce chuckled. "Sorry about that, didn't think you were so skittish."

"I'm not skittish…you just…caught me off guard."

"Of course."

"Where did you come from anyway? And why are you sneaking around?"

"I wasn't sneaking, and I've been here the whole time."

"Really? I didn't see you."

"I get that a lot. Just a perk of being a notorious drunk."

"I guess so…" Yes, the pony Nick was now talking to was indeed the same drunk trying to find the bathroom last night. Turns out Mercer had gotten to him before coming into the bar. "I would have thought you'd be passed out in the bushes or something…no offense."

Pierce was a light grey Earth pony, with nearly bleach blonde hair and pale yellow eyes. He was old enough to be Nick's father, yet he had no kids that Nick knew of. Nick wasn't even sure the guy had ever been married. As long as he's ever known him, he was always a lonely, pathetic drunk. "Hehehe…none taken, and I wouldn't do that to ya. Besides, I haven't had a drink since my little talk with Mercer last night. For the first time in a few days, I'm sober as a bird."

"Good for you. I'm actually proud. You've come a long way from pissing in flower pots."

Pierce beamed. "Thank you, thank you."

The two shared a laugh. "Alright, enough jokes. Mercer wants us to search for new ponies. Where do you think we should start?"

Without hesitation, Pierce said "I don't know about you, but I could go for a drink."

Nick nodded. "The bar it is."

They set off across the field to Ponyville, neither intending to do what Mercer had ordered them to do. The day was still young, so the sky was as bright and blue as it usually was over the town. The weather ponies had decided to go light on the clouds today, so the sun shone through with full force. The exact definition of a good day.

The two walked in silence for the first half of the trip, but as it turned out, silence was something Pierce was as comfortable with as Nick was. "So, Mr. Nick Flash, what is it that got you to accept Mercer's offer?" He asked innocently.

"He offered me a giant bag of candy. How could I say no?"

"Seriously."

Nick exhaled. "I don't know. When I was hung over it seemed more appealing."

The other pony shook his head. "I've been there. Sometimes it just seems better because it's a way out from what you're feeling inside."

Nick's eyebrows rose. "Whoa, that was deep! Are you a poet?"

The older pony laughed. "Maybe one time. Not anymore though."

They were nearing the outskirts of Ponyville. The sound of fillies and colts playing could be heard from somewhere nearby. "What about you? What made you want to join Mister Grumpy-Boss Pants?"

Pierce's smile faded. He was quiet for a long moment, taking his time to form what was apparently a tough explanation. It seemed his reason for joining was a lot more complicated than Nick's "I just joined because my head hurt".

Finally, the older pony spoke. "…Mercer may be a bit of a hothead, but already he's helped me more than I can say." He paused. "…I'm sure this may come at a surprise to you, but I haven't always been a careless, idiotic drunkard. Years ago, I actually turned away from the drink. I preferred to see life through clear eyes." Nick had stopped walking, his full attention now on Pierce. He could tell when a pony was about to bare his soul. "I appreciated life back then. Never wasted a day if I could help it."

"...I feel like something bad is gonna happen in this story."

There was another pause. "…Do you remember that storm we had years back? The big one that came knocking on Ponyville's front door?"

Nick nodded his head. Of course he remembered. That was the storm that got Nick his cutie mark. It came from the Everfree forest, where the weather has always been unpredictable. It was a bad one too, and it threatened to tear Ponyville to pieces. None of the other Pegusi were able to even slow it down, except for Nick. He still wasn't completely sure how he did it, getting struck by lightning kind of left him fuzzy on the details, but he was somehow able to stop it before it could get any closer to town. "Yeah, I remember it. How could I forget?"

"A lot of ponies say the same thing. That storm was one of the scariest things that have happened around here besides that Nightmare Moon appearance a few years ago. It didn't quite make it here, but it was close enough to take down more than a few houses."

Nick agreed. "There weren't that many ponies that got hurt. Most ponies just got a few bruises here and there. I remember there was only one pony that was in critical condition. Some mare named Silver Force I think-Oh…" The realization hit Nick pretty hard. "Don't tell me-"

"She was my wife."

Just like that the conversation turned awkward. Nick had no idea what to say. That storm was horrible to say the least, yet it had brought one of the happiest days of his life. He had saved Ponyville and gotten his cutie mark doing so. Yet it had never occurred to him how other ponies would remember it. For Pierce, it wasn't the day Ponyville was almost destroyed; it was the day his wife had died.

A tear fell from the stallion's pale yellow eye. "We were helping some fillies find their mothers. She heard crying inside of a house nearby, and went to help…" He swallowed a lump down before continuing. "…It was a cat. Just a stupid, confused cat. She went in to rescue a damn cat…" He was crying now, thick tears streaming down his cheeks and falling to the dirt at his hooves. "The house came down on top of her. It happened so fast; I can still remember the sound of the wood giving in to the wind…"

Nick still couldn't say anything. He was stuck standing there, opening and closing his mouth soundlessly, looking much like a fish out of water. Pierce wiped his cheeks with his hoof, only to have more tears replace what he had wiped away. "For all these years, I haven't been able to let it go. I blamed myself, though I don't really know why. I've spent the last decade drinking myself into a stupor, hoping one day I would be able to wake up and not hate myself completely…"

Finally Nick was able to find his voice again. "I-I'm…I'm so sorry Pierce…I-I…never knew…"

Pierce shook his head. "It's no one's fault, kid. I realize that now. After so long, I've finally been able to move on. Mercer may be a 'Mister Grumpy-Boss pants', and I may not completely trust his motives, but I'd follow him off a cliff at this point. I have a purpose again, something I can fight for. He's given me the one thing that's eluded me for all this time." He began walking again, the tears in his eyes already drying up. "For the first time since that day, I found closure. I loved my wife; I still do, and I always will. But now, I can let go. I can move on. And I have Mister Grumpy-Boss pants to thank for that." A small smile came to his face, and he chuckled. "Not exactly what you expected, eh?"

Nick was still reeling from the confession, as was evident on the stupid look he was giving the other pony. "Uh…y-yeah." Silence once again overcame the two. They continued to walk to the bar, but it now seemed less likely they were actually going to drink when they got there. Nick wasn't sure what to think about Mercer anymore. He was rude and abrupt. Hell, he was a downright asshole most of the time. And that was coming from somepony who had barely known him for half a day. Nick didn't think that Mercer had done it on purpose. It was most likely sheer coincidence, there was no way he could have known all that when he offered Pierce this power. But whatever this misguided adventure of his he was obsessing himself over, it might not be so bad. Mercer might just be inadvertently helping ponies as opposed to his goal of simply hurting them.

The bar finally came into view, the familiar dark colored building where this started almost seeming foreign now. They stopped on the street in front of it, just standing there staring at the sign next to the door that read "Open". Neither made a move to go in. They were both content to just stare blankly at the ponies that came in and out, regardless of the strange looks they got from a few of them.

"Excuse me, sirs. May ask you two a quick question?"

Their attention turned to the owner of the gruff voice, a heavily armored Unicorn with a serious look on his face: a member of the Royal Canterlot Guard.

"Have either of you seen a zebra by the name of Zecora in the last few days? She is wanted for questioning and any information about her whereabouts would be helpful."

Pierce feigned ignorance, shaking his head and saying "A zebra? No, ah don't recall ever runnin' into any zebra in the last few days." He pretended to think. "Could ya be more specific maybe? Was it a white zebra with black stripes, or a black zebra with white stripes?" Pierce was slurring his words together, like he did when he was drunk. Nick bit his lip to keep himself from laughing out loud. "I suppose the search will be a long one, what with all the zebra that keep comin' an' goin' around here. It's a damn disgrace is what it be I tell ya! This place just ain't what it used ta be…" He lowered his head and shook it, stumbling a bit over his own hooves and bumping into the guard. Like hitting a brick wall, Pierce smacked into his armor and slid to the ground, rolling onto his back and staring up at the Unicorn with a glazed look in his eye. "Sorry 'bout that miss. Didn't see ya there fer a second…"

The guard narrowed his eyes. "Damn drunks." He mumbled under his breath. The stallion looked at Nick. "What about you? Have you seen her?"

Nick shook his head quickly. "Nope, haven't seen a thing. What's a zebra? I don't even know. Damn my generation, with all our rock 'n roll and dubstep. We just don't learn things like we used to." He cast a quick glance down to Pierce, who gave him a smile and a wink.

The guard rolled his eyes. "Well if you have any information to offer in the future, contact us immediately. This is very important and your cooperation would be appreciated." He gave one more look to Pierce, who was still playing up the "Drunk unable to get back on his hooves" card like a pro, before brushing past Nick to continue on his search.

"Hey, wait." The Unicorn paused, turning his head to regard Nick out of the corner of his eye. "Could you, uh, tell me what this all about? Is this because of that Berry Punch thing? I didn't think that would warrant divine intervention."

The guard glared at him. "If you're implying that Celestia had anything to do with this, you're mistaken. This sort of thing doesn't happen often; we take it very seriously." With that, he marched away, most likely to interrogate the next pony that happened to be standing in his way.

It was obvious he was lying. Attempted murder may not be very common, but it's not something that needs to be handled by the princess herself. Nick helped Pierce back to his feet and to brush off the dirt from his coat.

"Thanks kid. That was pretty good. What the hell is 'dubstep' anyway?"

"Some weird music craze that started in Canterlot. Was acting drunk really necessary? It's not like he knows who we are."

"I'm known as a drunk around here, if I suddenly start acting sober, it's going to attract a bit of attention. And Mercer wouldn't want that, now would he?" Nick was surprised by that explanation. Pierce was truly an evil genius. "He's lying you know. About Zecora. He's not here to bring her to justice."

Nick nodded. "Whatever they're up to, it's not good. Do you think they know she's dead yet?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Still, this is something Mercer would want to know about. Why don't you head back to let him know what's going on. I'll stick around to find out more."

Nick gave him a salute before spreading his wings and taking off, angling himself over the buildings and heading towards Fluttershy's cottage. As he flew, he kept an eye on the streets below, noticing that there were actually quite a few Canterlot Guards walking about. He was able to count at least seven of them, all spread out around town questioning anypony they came across. They seemed very determined to find Zecora. Whatever it was they thought she could tell them was important.

As his shadow passed overhead, it caught the attention of a Pegasus guard, who narrowed his eyes at the sight of the young stallion quickly heading out of town. Without hesitation he spread his own wings and took flight, staying lower to the ground and flying well behind him to avoid being seen. Once outside of town he landed on a hill and watched the other pony fly to a small cottage just on the edge of the Everfree forest. Noting the suspicious behavior, he began walking to the cottage to see for himself what was being hidden within.

Author's Note

So...yeah, its been some time...sorry about that. I got caught up in some real life crap, blah blah blah, you know the excuse. I will now proceed to sit in front of my computer and wait patiently for the first person to reply so I can get that sense of ill-deserved accomplishment for a piss poor chapter.

And as a joke, just because I'm bored, I will follow anyone that can find a way to work the word "Nudiustertian" into a sentence properly. It will amuse me.

-Poly

Mommy Mercer

"I saw what he saw. I know what he knew. His memories are my memories."

-Alex Mercer

“Mo…mommy? I-I…is that…you?”

“No.”

“Mommy…I don’t feel good…”

“I’m not your mother. And that’s not surprising, you do have a virus inside you that is devouring every cell in your body and replicating itself in their place after all.”

“I don’t think I can go to flight school today…”

“Oh…kay…I don’t really know if you even go to school anymore but that’s…alright I guess.”

“Mommy…can I have a glass of water?”

“Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Fluttershy! She’s waking up!”

“Really!?” In a flash, the butter yellow Pegasus was at Rainbow Dash’s side, tears in her eyes and a relieved smile plastered on her face. “O-oh, Rainbow, I was so worried! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She hugged her friend tightly in a death grip that would make Pinkie Pie want to take classes.

“Wha…F-Fluttershy? Where…where am I?” Rainbow Dash tried to crane her neck to look around the room, but was barely able to move far enough to see anything but pink mane.

Mercer rolled his eyes. “Oh sure, her you recognize…” He reached over and grabbed Rainbows hoof, stretching her leg out to its full length so he could get a better view of it. Switching to infected vision, he scanned her limb to see how far the virus had progressed.

Fluttershy finally let go when she noticed Mercer holding Rainbow’s hoof. “Is she alright?”

Without looking away, he replied “She’ll live. But she’s not quite ready to start moving around just yet. The virus has only converted about eighty percent of her cellular structure to biomass. What’s left of her immune system is still fighting off the viral cells, so it might take a few more hours until she’s-”

Just then, the door to the cottage flew open, cutting him off. It slammed against the wall and made Fluttershy literally jump in the air, causing her to hit the ceiling and cling to the rafters. It was even enough to make Mercer wince, but he otherwise gave no reaction except to turn his head to look at the idiotic intruder.

“What in the hell is wrong with you, Nick? Were you born with a missing chromosome or something?” Nick was standing in the doorway, a guilty look adorning his face as he surveyed the damaged wall behind the now broken door. When he heard Mercer’s voice, he turned his attention back to the hooded pony and walked over to stand next to him by the bed.

“Mercer, I have something to report.” He gave an awkward salute, like he wasn’t sure what exactly he was supposed to do in this situation.

Mercer raised an eyebrow. “Does it justify you barging in here like a maniac and breaking Fluttershy’s door?”

“Yeah, that was…my bad.” He looked up. “Sorry about that Fluttershy. Guess I don’t really know my own strength yet.”

“I-It’s okay…it was creaky anyway…”

“Anyhow, Pierce and I were in Ponyville looking for more candidates like you ordered-”

“Really? I figured you two would just go to the bar or something.”

“Well, we were, but we never got inside. Look, that doesn’t matter. A guard approached us-”

Mercer stiffened. “A guard? What do you mean a guard approached you? What did he say?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you! He asked us about Zecora!” The room fell silent. Mercer stared off into nothing for a moment, lost in his thoughts. What exactly would they want Zecora for? What are they up to exactly?

Finally he narrowed his eyes at Nick and asked “What did you tell him?”

Nick shook his head. “Nothing. Pierce pretended to be drunk and I played dumb. I don’t think he got suspicious of us or anything.”

“You don’t think he got suspicious?”

“Well, he didn’t look it…”

“What did he want Zecora for?”

“He claimed he wanted to ask her some questions about that whole ‘attempted murder’ thing but it was obvious he was lying. They wouldn’t send so many guards here if that’s all they wanted.”

“There are more? How many of them are there?”

“I counted seven on the way over. There might be more, but I can’t be sure.”

Mercer brought his hoof up to his chin. “They must really want her then…that means they don’t know she’s dead yet.” He looked over at Rainbow Dash, who was still half awake and muttering something about Spiderpony while staring up at the ceiling. “Go back there and try to find out more about what they’re planning.”

“Pierce is already on it.”

“And that means you can’t help him?”

Nick glared. “I suppose not.” He turned to leave, but stopped. “Hey, what did you do with Zecora anyway? You told me you killed her, but what did you do with her after-”

“Sssshhhh!” Mercer shushed him, cutting him off mid question.

“What? I was just asking what happened to her body-”

“Shut the hell up!” The white Pegasus closed his mouth, looking around the room to pinpoint just what he was supposed to be shutting up for. Mercer was staring at the doorway, where he knew the sound he’d heard came from. He switched to thermal vision, lighting up the silhouette of a prone equine form hiding behind the wall next to the door. “We’ve got company.”

Wasting no time, Mercer activated Whipfist and sent it flying through the wall at the figure, easily breaking through the wood without slowing down. The pony was quick, jumping out from cover and avoiding his attack. Now out in the open, the spy turned out to be a guard, a midnight colored Pegasus wearing the familiar armor worn by those in the Royal Canterlot Elite. He looked from Mercer to Nick, then to Rainbow Dash. Glaring at all of them, he opened his wings and turned to take off, getting a running start and flapping his wings a few times to get in the air.

There was small boom and large gust of wind as Mercer took off after him, forming his own wings to keep up. He heard Nick yell something behind him but thanks to the rushing air he wasn’t quite able to hear what he said. He thought it sounded like “Wait, hold on a second!”

The ground rushed by quickly beneath him as he caught up to the fleeing Pegasus. Mercer gave a big push with his wings and shot forward, holding out his hooves to grab the other pony before he got any farther. Unfortunately his grapple never made contact as the Pegasus tucked in his wings and made a perfect barrel roll to the right, easily putting him out of harm’s way. Mercer shook off the failed attempt and continued his pursuit, determined to catch this pony before he got any closer to town.

His next attempt to take down the guard was met with a bit of success when he managed to get in front of the pony and force him into turning around. Mercer could smell the sweat coming off the ponies head after one of his claws nearly took it off, but the fact he was still unharmed made the Prototype curse silently. The game of cat and mouse that followed made Mercer realize just how soft he’d become when it came to fighting these ponies. He was used to taking out unarmed or ill-trained ponies, and so far the toughest opponents he’d gone up against in a while were those Gryphon spies that had been stalking him. But it was becoming apparent that these Canterlot Guards didn’t mess around. Mercer wasn’t going to be able to half-ass his way through this fight.

After a few more dodges and a well-placed kick that only made Mercer growl in annoyance, the Pegasus finally made the mistake Mercer had been waiting for. When Mercer tried to grab the guard again, he twisted out of it and tried to kick himself away using Mercer’s face as a springboard. But that meant leaving his belly exposed; a temporary vulnerability that might ultimately cost him his life. Before he could jump away, Mercer grabbed his back leg and pulled him back, spinning his body around and kicking him in the stomach, sending him rocketing to the field below. He slammed into the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of his lungs, making him gasp and choke pathetically as he tried to get it back. Mercer descended slowly and landed a few yards away from him, watching carefully as the Pegasus managed to get air in his body and stand to his feet again.

The guard wiped the blood off the corner of his mouth. “You’re well trained…I wouldn’t expect this much resistance from a pony who wasn’t sure of his own strength…I assume you’re the one we’re looking for.”

“That assumption is well founded. They really know how to train them over in Canterlot, don’t they?”

“Alex Mercer…you don’t realize just how much trouble you’re in.”

“Story of my life.” The sound of flapping alerted Mercer someone else was arriving on the scene. Though he didn’t turn his head to look, preferring to keep his eyes locked on the guard in front of him, he knew it was Nick.

“I see you…uh…caught up to the target…”

“You have a firm grasp of the obvious, Mr. Flash.”

“So how are we going to do this? Should I circle around and flank him while you create a distraction-”

Mercer held up a hoof. “Nick, even if you hadn’t just said all that out loud in front of the enemy, it would still be a moronic and utterly useless plan.”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Then what do you think we should do?”

“We aren’t doing anything, and you are going to stand there and not get in my way. I’m taking care of him myself.” He took a step forward and shifted to his Blade power, swinging it out to the side and holding it horizontal to the ground. With a quick hop, he launched himself right at the armored pony, swinging the blade at him once he got within range. Nimbly, the other pony jumped to the side, dodging the attack and countering with a strong kick. Mercer ducked it, backed up a step, and swung the blade again, cursing when the guard pony once again evaded it.

With a smirk on his face, the guard spat on the ground at his hooves. “We were warned not to engage in a fight with you. We were told you were too dangerous to take on in one on one combat. However, it seems our Captain’s caution was for not, for I have yet to see any real skill or power from you that would justify his concern.”

Mercer snarled. “What did you just say!?” He jumped at him again, thrusting his blade forward and aiming for the guard’s heart. When the pony sidestepped it, he brought the tip down, sticking it into the dirt and using his momentum to swing in a circle on it and kick out with his back legs. The kick connected, resulting in a loud metal clang as the armor dented inwards, pushing the guard back a few feet and throwing him off balance. Without slowing down, Mercer pulled the blade out of the ground and swiveled around for another swing, sure that this time he would hit flesh and shut the pony up for good. What he didn’t expect was his blade to suddenly deflect off something metal and bounce away, putting the other pony out of harm’s reach yet again.

The guard backed off, holding the circular saw-like blade attached to his front hoof up defensively as he gained some distance from Mercer. Once he did so, he inspected the damage to his armor from the corner of his eye, narrowing them when he saw the massive dent tarnishing his magic armor. “It seems I spoke a bit early.” To Mercer’s surprise the dent in his armor began to crinkle and pop, like someone was blowing air into a paper bag, until it disappeared completely, leaving behind no trace that it had ever been there at all. “Alex Mercer…from what I’ve heard and now what I’ve seen, I’m positive that our search for Zecora will be in vain. And since I can only assume it is your doing, I have no other choice.” He brought his other hoof up, letting an identical retractable blade shoot out of its sheathing and lock in place with a click. “In the name of the crown, her Majesty Princess Celestia, I, Storm Shade, will strike you down today and end this madness before you bring harm to anypony else!”

Mercer scoffed, bringing his own blade up in a similar, mocking fashion. “My, what wishful thinking you have.”

The two rushed each other, colliding weapons first in a chorus of ringing metal and beastly snarls. They attacked, blocked, parried and evaded, throwing every bit of their combat knowledge and close quarters prowess into the fight. It was a brutal affair, neither party afraid or reluctant to wear all the hatred and anger they felt for the other out on their sleeves.

Well, one of them anyway. This was the first real fight Mercer had been in since his fateful showdown with Heller. The others he’d had since could hardly even be called skirmishes. He’d caught Berry Punch and those adolescent Gryphons off guard, and Zecora was hardly a match, despite her heavy use of Poison Joke infused Bloodtox. Even the Gryphon spies he’d killed stood no chance against him. But the skill and ferocity of a member of the Royal Canterlot Guard was so great, even he had to admit there was a chance he could lose this battle.

And he was loving it. With every swing and stab, every block and counter, the wicked smile on Mercer’s face grew more and more. Even when Storm Shade managed to slip past his defense and score a good slice across his chest, Mercer barely registered the pain. He simply kicked the pony with his left hoof and slashed out with his right, barely cutting through his armor and leaving a shallow gash on his left side. Storm growled at the stinging pain and jumped away, waiting for his armor to fix itself before attacking again.

The battle continued in that fashion, with Mercer all but abandoning his own defense in favor of attacking the pony relentlessly. He found himself filled with energy, one that he hadn’t known before. Any cut he received from his opponent healed instantly, but even faster than normal. His regeneration was working double time, stitching his wounds shut before the other pony’s blade was even done slicing it open. He didn’t know what was coming over him, and frankly he didn’t really care. All he could think about was seeing this pony lying at his hooves, he wanted to hear the last words choked out on his dying breath.

Wow, he was kind of screwed up, wasn’t he?

A growl escaped Storm Shade’s mouth after Mercer once again ignored direct attacks to his own body and slashed a deep cut across the pony’s cheek. “You truly are some kind of monster, aren’t you?” Mercer didn’t reply; he simply chuckled and jumped forward, bashing his left shoulder against the pony and throwing him onto his back. Storm Shade recovered quickly enough to avoid Mercer’s air slice, scrambling across the grass to get as far away from the madpony before he managed to pull his blade out of the ground.

Panting heavily, Storm took a second of reprieve to figure out his next move. Alex Mercer was proving to be a stronger opponent then he first thought. He was unstoppable; a one on one fight wasn’t going to end well. It was about time he called in a tactical retreat and regroup with the rest of his comrades.

At about that same time, Mercer was realizing he was having a bit of trouble with his own performance. As in, he wasn’t able to pull his blade out of the ground. In fact, he could barely stand at the moment. Seemingly out of nowhere, that energy he’d felt before was suddenly gone, and he felt more drained then had ever felt since he was still human. That bloodlust he’d been under just a second ago was no longer clouding his mind, and now that he was clear headed again, he was berating himself for losing his senses so easily.

After his umpteenth failed to attempt to remove his blade from the ground, he shifted his limb back to its normal form so he could put all four hooves under himself. He was still weak, so he knew he wasn’t going to get his strength back until he consumed some more biomass. But he wasn’t about to tell Storm Shade that.

Summoning what little power he did still possess, he dug his hooves into the grass in a fighting stance, giving the impression he was still ready to fight. He groaned inwardly when his opponent did the same, though he refused to show his despair.

When Storm galloped straight for him, Mercer prepared for the worst he could bring. Just as they were about to collide, the guard pony jumped the remaining distance onto Mercer’s face, again using it like a spring board and launching himself into the air. He spread his wings and gave them a few flaps, turning around and flying back to Ponyville.

Mercer, furious for being treated like a trampoline and unwilling to let his enemy get away, focused as much biomass as he could spare to his front foreleg and swung it in an arc, launching several knife like projectiles at the retreating pony. Most missed, but a few of them managed to hit his right side, embedding themselves in his flesh as well as slicing his wing off completely. Storm Shade cried out in pain, plummeting to the ground with only his remaining wing to help slow his descent. He landed on his side with a loud crunch, where he made no attempt to get up afterward.

Once he was sure the fight was officially over, Mercer allowed himself to sink to his haunches, barely holding himself up with his front hooves. While he was resting, Nick, who he had forgotten was still standing off to the side, walked over to stand next to him, a worried look on his face. “You okay there, Mercer?”

“I’ll be fine…”

“You sure? You look pretty-”

“I said I’m fine!”

Nick backed off a step. “Fine. Yeesh…” He looked over to where Storm Shade still lay. “Did you kill him? Or is he still alive?”

“I can still hear his heartbeat. He’ll live yet.”

He whistled. “Hard to believe, you kicked his ass. That was pretty brutal, brony. You were growling and flashing your teeth; you were like an animal! I’ve never seen anypony fight like that!”

‘Neither have I’ thought Mercer. ‘Maybe next time I could get a heads up before my powers decide to evolve without me.’

“So uh…what should we do with him?” He heard Nick ask.

“Bring him over here. I want to ask him something.”

Nick obliged, walking over to the injured pony and poking him to see if he was still conscious. Storm let out a moan, coughing violently as he did so. Nick gulped, already feeling guilty for the pain he was about to put this pony through. Grabbing his tail in his teeth, Nick slowly dragged Storm over to where Mercer was still sitting, taking care to not to disturb him too much. Regardless, the movement caused the guard to groan pitifully.

Once he was finally right in front of Mercer, Nick carefully rolled him over so they could see each other face to face. There was a long pause where neither spoke, the two just chose to glare at each other.

After what seemed like an hour, Storm spoke. “They will look for me…my brothers…they will notice when I don’t report by noon…they will know something has happened.”

Mercer smiled weakly. “That’s true…unless…you agree to help me.”

“I will do no such thing!” He sat up halfway, the action making him grit his teeth and fall back down. “I would never help a monster like you.”

Mercer chuckled. “It was worth a try.” He turned his attention to Nick. “Mr. Flash, why don’t you do the honors?”

Nick was taken aback. “W-what? Me? Y-you mean…kill him?”

“No. I want you to tickle him. Of course kill him!”

“Like…right now?”

“I wouldn’t think this sort of thing needs to be spelled out.”

“Right…just uh…give me a moment, will ya?” Nick gulped, looking down at the pony with pity. He raised his hoof, hesitated, then lowered it. “Why don’t you take this one, buddy? I think you could use the energy more than I do.”

Mercer sighed. “It’s not about the energy, stupid. Like he said, they’ll be expecting him to report back later on. If he doesn’t, they’ll know something is up. And don’t call me buddy.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Consume him, take his form, and go make sure they don’t realize anything is wrong.”

“Is that all? C’mon, Mercer, give me something challenging!” Nick laughed nervously, utterly failing at giving off the bravado he was going for. He looked back down to Storm Shade, who was wearing a confused expression on his face. It was obvious he was trying to piece together what was going on based off what they were saying, though he didn’t seem to be doing well. Nick gulped again, casting one last glance at Mercer before focusing the biomass in his body to his front leg, the unfamiliar feeling sending a shiver down his spine as it turned into a serrated blade with an angled edge, similar in shape to his own cutie mark. Storm’s eyes widened at the sight, a whisper escaping his mouth that Nick just barely caught as sounding like “They’re all monsters…”

Mercer huffed impatiently. “Would you just do it already?”

Without any further stalling, Nick thrust his blade down into the prone form at his hooves, stabbing it through Storm Shade’s chest in a brutal fashion. Before the life left his body, Nick felt several tendrils extend out from his own and wrap around the pony, constricting him like a snake and absorbing him completely.

Almost immediately Nick’s head exploded in pain, stars appearing in his vision and remaining there even after he closed them tightly. Hundreds of memories began to flash across his mind, none of them ones he recognized. They flooded his thoughts, drowning out his own so much that was unable to think. All he could do was bear it and watch, until finally it all turned black and he passed out from the strain.

Mercer watched Nick seize and writhe on the ground, clutching his head in his hooves and groaning through clenched teeth. Is that what he used to look like when he did this? Was it really that pathetic looking? He shook his head. Oh well. At least no one was around back then that cared.

When Nick stopped shaking and lay still, Mercer pulled himself up to his hooves, and set about dragging the unconscious Pegasus back to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Nick. Wake up.”

“…Ugh…”

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad. Quit being a baby and wake up already!”

“…M…mommy? Mommy is that you?...”

“Oh for the love of-I am not going through this again!”

“Here, let me give it a try.”

“Mommy…my head hurts…”

“Oh, that’s okay little baby. Let me make you feel better…”

Nick found himself suddenly forced awake by a strong pain in his abdomen. He sat up harshly from his spot on the floor, placing his hooves over his stomach to prevent any further blows. “Ow! What in the name of Celestia did you do that for?”

“You wouldn’t wake up. I figured it was the best course of action.”

He looked over to the hooded pony standing off to the side. “And you’re just going to let her do this?”

Mercer glanced at the rainbow headed mare he was referring to and shrugged. “Better than what I was going to do.” He noticed the glare he got for that reply. “Oh relax; you’re awake now, aren’t you? If she hadn’t done that you would have just stayed there mumbling in your sleep. Be grateful she didn’t aim lower.” Nick gulped at that, crossing his hind legs instinctively in case Rainbow Dash decided to try anyway.

Speaking of Rainbow Dash, it had just dawned on Nick that she was awake and standing before him. “Holy Celestia! You’re awake!”

Everypony in the room facehoofed. Even Fluttershy, who had at some point while they were gone, climbed down from her perch on the ceiling.

“Wow. Nothing gets by you, does it?” Came Rainbow’s sarcastic remark.

“Absolutely amazing analysis.”

“You rock. Woohoo…”

The black maned pony hung his head in shame.

A knock sounded at the door, making Fluttershy flinch and hide behind Mercer. A cheery voice rang out on the other side. “Helloooooo! Fluttershy? You home? I got some mail for ya!”

Nick lifted his head. “I’d recognize that voice anywhere. It’s Derpy.”

“Who the hell is Derpy?” Mercer asked without taking his eyes off the door.

“She’s the mailmare.” Then thinking it over, he added. “And she’s not dangerous.”

Derpy knocked on the door again. “Fluttershy? Is everything alright in there?”

“She’s getting suspicious. Rainbow Dash, go get rid of her.”

“What? Why me? You do it!”

“Just tell her to get lost!”

“No.”

“Oh sweet Celestia. I’ll get it!” Nick huffed and walked over to the door, just as Derpy knocked again, the force of which caused the apparently still broken door to fall inward, right on top of him.

A grey wall-eyed mare wearing a saddle bag full of envelopes stood in the open doorway, hoof still raised mid knock. “…Oops.” Derpy looked in and saw three pairs of eyes watching her. “Ooh, are you having a party? Are there any muffins?” She stepped inside, only to stop when she heard a voice underneath her. Looking down, she realized she was standing on the door.

“…Derpy…could you please…get off?”

“Oopsie. Sorry Mister Door.” She stepped off and went to stand by Rainbow Dash, allowing Nick to push the heavy wooden object off himself and stand up. “Oh, hi Nick! What were you doing under there?”

“You know, just…lying around…”

Rainbow looked at the blonde confusedly. “Derpy, you know him?”

She smiled. “Of course! We used to work together!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! He got fired though. Something about him losing more mail then me.”

“Not my fault. There was a hole in my bag.”

“This is all very entertaining, but can someone explain how we got to this point in our conversation?” Mercer piped in.

Derpy gave him an odd look. “Who are you? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around before.”

“I’m new in town.”

“So you’re the new pony I heard about? How come I haven’t seen you?”

“I’m still getting acquainted with this place.”

“Well that’s no excuse. Where do you live? I would have remembered if I’d delivered to you…” Her eyes, which had been looking in different directions a second ago, suddenly focused on him, as if she were trying to memorize what Mercer looked like and commit his face to memory. “Do you even get mail where you live?”

For a mare that looked like she was simple, Derpy was surprisingly smart. Not a lot of ponies knew this about her, but she was actually more intelligent than the majority of ponies in Ponyville. Part of the myth that she was stupid came from when she was in school. She had been pulled out of class in the middle of the year, and a rumor spread that it was because she was being put into a special class that catered specifically to mentally challenged ponies. The reality was that she was being pulled out to be placed in a higher grade; the teacher had expressed concern she wasn’t being challenged enough with the material she was given.

Out of every resident in the town of Ponyville, only a handful actually knew this fact. The rest were ignorant or just unbelieving. Most only saw her eyes and wrote her off immediately. Of the ponies currently in Fluttershy’s cottage besides Derpy, only Rainbow Dash and Nick knew the truth. Rainbow Dash because she had befriended the grey Pegasus when they were younger, and Nick because he had heard it through an open window when he was regrouting a brick wall.

The first time Nick started working with her, he was afraid to ask for fear of making her angry. But as he came to know later, that was nearly impossible. When he was finally able to work up the courage to ask, she told him everything. The reason why the truth had never gone public was because the mare didn’t want to make ponies feel bad, either for making fun of her or doubting her in the first place. It was easier to just let them go on thinking she was simple. Plus, she loved her job as a mailmare.

Being as smart as she was, it wasn’t difficult for her to notice the obvious flaw in Mercer’s backstory. He had no place of residence that she knew of, no mailing address, and had never stopped in to set one up. “What’s your name?”

Mercer hesitated. It was weird, but this seemingly innocent question asked by this equally innocent mare came off as intimidating to him. He just couldn’t put a hoof on it as to why. “…Uh…Alex Mercer.”

Derpy continued to study him a second longer, until her face finally lit up and she held out her hoof to him. “Well it’s nice to officially meet you Alex Mercer. I’m Ditzy Doo, but you can call me Derpy Whooves. I don’t mind either way.” Mercer slowly took her hoof and shook it, remaining wary of any possible deceit that may lie hidden behind her façade. He didn’t trust her, no matter how cute and innocent she acted.

“Yeah…sure. Glad we finally met…”

“Hey, Derpy? Wasn’t there some reason you came by…?” Rainbow indicated the mail bag hanging on Derpy’s back.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Digging her muzzle into the bag, she brought out an envelope and passed it over to Fluttershy. “Here ya go! I hope you’re not mad at me for taking so long. It kind of slipped my mind.” She turned around and walked back to the door. “Well, I better get going. I’ve got a lot more mail to deliver. See ya later everypony!”

As soon as she was out of earshot, Mercer turned to Rainbow Dash and shouted “You call that fixed!? She literally knocked on it and broke it! I thought you said you could fix it ‘better than new’!?”

“I meant I could fix cloud home doors! Give me a clump of cumulus and I can fix any old stratus door. But I can’t do anything with a wooden door!”

“Yeah, no shit!”

“Um…Mercer-”

“I know; Pinkie Promise, blah blah blah. Whatever…” He turned to Nick. “Flash, you seem to know a medley of useless crap. Fix the door and make sure no one can get in that easily again.”

Nick was flabbergasted. “Wow…Mercer…that was…almost a compliment.” He walked over next to Mercer and placed his hoof on his shoulder. “Thank you.” After that he went over to inspect the door and see how he could fix it.

Mercer’s eye twitched. “…Freak.”

Author's Note

Funny story; I posted this chapter about three days ago and was starting to get mad no one had read it yet. Then I noticed I forgot to publish it. You can all just go ahead and ignore the message I left in your voicemail. It was just a joke anyway...

So, a couple things about this chapter. First off, it might seem rushed. That is normal. Second, Mercer loses his GOT DAMN MIND! That is also normal. It may seem a bit confusing, so allow me to explain.

I wasn't able to find a spot where i could properly explain it in the story without it sounding forced, but that was actually my idea for a new Devastator. From now on, it's called Bloodlust. It's an evolution he gained after he consumed that Manticore in the first chapter, but since he had no need for it because he was staying low profile, it never showed itself until now.

I first thought of it as a possible power during my playthrough of the first game, after I broke a controller and my coffee table on my 20th failed attempt at beating the Supreme Hunter at the end. I was wishing there was an extension to his invulnerable state evolution thing that kicks in when your life reaches critical, since I was relying on it so heavily anyway, I figured there should be something better to it. What I think Bloodlust would do is it increases the damage you deal and decreases the amount you take, eventually making it so you dish out massive amounts of damage and take next to nothing in return. But it wouldn't last long, and when it does run out, it drops your health down to critical and gives those precious few seconds of invulnerability as a chance to get away so you can consume some people or walkers to get your health back up. I find that would have made the fight with Mother and the Supreme Hunter so much freakin easier. Also, because the games have a severe lack of projectile capabilities outside of guns and launchers you need to pick up or rip off of helicopters, I added those spikes he launched at Storm Shade. Those I would imagine being more useful against foot soldiers so you don't have to charge in under crazy amounts of gunfire and kill one so you could pick up his gun and use it. I don't know what to call them yet. For now, I will use Spikey-Wikeys as place holder until I figure something out.

Thirdly, I have decided to defy all head canon concerning Derpy and made her a genius. She is now officially the exact opposite all those dickhead parentals accused her of being. Take that society!

And lastly, because I have run out of things to say, and because why should I do all the talking, I will leave you with this question:

What kind of power would you give Mercer? Obviously you can't use mine, I already called dibs. Give it a name, what it does, how it works, etc. I might even use some if I can find a place in the story later.

-Poly

The bad kind of stranger

"Blackwatch is lying. Something besides Elizabeth Greene came out of Hope."

-Dr. Raymond McMullen

“I’ve been meaning to ask. How is it that you create Evolved anyway?”

“I infect them with a specific strain of the Blacklight virus, manipulate it to attack every cell except certain neural transmitters in the brain and preserve them to ensure they retain memories, and then I wait for the virus to finish chowing down and convert their body into a living mass of viral cells before slapping them on the ass and sending them off to do my bidding.”

“Ah. That’s kind of what I thought you did.”

“Okay. That’s another part of my story. I believe I’ve earned the right to another question.”

“Ask away.”

“…”

“Well?”

“…I’m hesitant to ask, I fear I may not like the answer…but as much as it pains me to admit, it occurs to me you may just be the only one that knows around here…”

“And that would be?”

“…Who is it that gave Zecora the virus? Was it Heller? Did he somehow follow me here? Is he trying to kill me? Again?”

“…”

“You have to answer remember? That was our deal.”

“…”

“Stop smiling and answer me you sadistic bastard! Is Heller responsible for this or not!?”

“…Hehehehe…”

“…”

“…Celestia.”

“What?”

“Princess Celestia is who gave Zecora Blacklight.”

“What? That makes no sense! How in the hell did she manage to get her hands on it?”

“Don’t you mean hooves?”

“I don’t care! How did she get it?”

“You’ll need to finish your-”

“No! No more stories! No more games! This has become more then ridiculous! Tell me who you are and everything you know about what’s going on here, now!”

“…You’ve finally cracked, haven’t you Mercer?”

“…”

“…It seems my fun is coming to an end then…oh well, I knew it wouldn’t last.”

“…Who are you?”

“You already know that Mercer.”

“How is that even possible? I know but I don’t know? That makes no sense!”

“Let’s start simple then. What do you know about me so far?”

“Nothing! I know nothing! Yet you somehow know everything about me! You even basically admitted you’ve been stalking me all my life!”

“…”

“You knew about my fight with Mother, about Heller, and Dana…you knew what I did and where I came from…”

“…”

“…You could have only known all that if you had followed me here…”

“…”

“…You knew about how I felt towards Pinkie Pie…”

“I thought you said you didn’t like Pinkie Pie?”

“Of course I like Pinkie Pie! I don’t know why, but for some reason, I can’t help but feel affection for her! Like I have to protect her...even if that means apologizing when she cries or agreeing to some stupid promise…”

“Because she reminds you of someone.”

“…”

“She reminds you of someone important.”

“…Dana…”

“There we go.”

“…She’s Dana…”

“…”

“…She’s strange, talks a mile a minute, never seems to stop smiling and is obsessed with making me happy…she’s exactly like Dana was when we were little…”

“That’s why those pesky little memories kept popping up around her. That’s why you got so angry when she spoke of Dana. It wasn’t just because you didn’t want to talk about it; it was because you didn’t want to admit she reminded you of your sister.”

“How is it…that you know this stuff? You know things about me I don’t even…no…no…”

“I think he’s got it folks.”

“It can’t be…”

“By George, I think he’s got it!”

“It’s a Hive Mind…you know how I feel …you’re connected to me……because you’re Blacklight.”

“…”

“You’re even stronger than I am…the virus in you is different…I can’t even see it inside you!”

“Who am I, Mercer?”

“…”

“Who. Am. I. Mercer?”

“…”

“Say it!”

“…”

“So Mercer, is this going to be permanent?”

“More or less.”

“What do you mean ‘more or less’?”

“It depends on how you look at it.”

Rainbow Dash turned around from the mirror she had been looking at, gesturing at herself as she did to indicate the viral tendrils sticking out at intervals on her body. “Am I going to look like a tentacle monster forever?”

“Ooooh, that…no, that should wear off in another hour or two.”

She looked skeptical. “What did you think I meant?”

“I thought you were referring to your permanent state of being a…you know what, never mind. You look great.”

Rainbow sighed, poking at one of the tendrils, which coiled up like a snake. “You sure this was the only way to save me?”

“I told you already, the Changeling venom was going to kill you if I hadn’t done something. I admit, it may have been a bit extreme, but you’re alright now, aren’t you? And in the end, isn’t that what matters? Some philosophical bullcrap about friends helping each other in their time of need?”

“Couldn’t you have just sucked the venom out or something?”

“Slow down Rainbow. We’ve only been on one date. I’m not about to put my lips anywhere on you if I can help it.”

“That’s a relief…” They were silent for a moment after that. Rainbow continued to look at herself in the mirror, grimacing when yet another long, skinny tendril began growing out of her shoulder. “I know I’m not usually one to get stuck up on appearances, but even I have to admit this look is definitely not awesome!”

Mercer rolled his eyes. “I told you six times already, you won’t look like this forever! It’s a side effect; it will go away once the serum has finished its job! Now stop worrying about it, it doesn’t look that bad.”

Ever the opportunist, Nick chose that exact moment to come back from his repair job. “Hey, the doors fixed-woah! Rainbow, I, uh, don’t want to hurt your feelings or anything but you have some nasty looking pimples!”

The rainbow maned Pegasus blushed profusely and glared at Mercer. “I knew it! You are such a liar!” She turned around angrily, flicked her tail at him and stomped away into another room of the cottage, barely giving Fluttershy any time to jump out of the way before marching past her.

The sound of a door being slammed shut echoed down the hall Rainbow had disappeared in. Fluttershy wandered over to where the two stallions stood, confusion written all over her face. “W-wow…she looked angry. What did you say to her?”

Mercer shook his head. “Talk to the tactless wonder over here.” He gestured to Nick. “Do you even know how to speak without putting your own foot in your mouth?”

“Me? I wasn’t trying to hurt her feelings! She overreacted!”

“Whatever.”

There was a short pause, before Nick asked “So…what exactly was that I heard you tell her? Something about a ‘serum’?”

Mercer nodded. “I told her the reason she’s like this is because of a Changeling attack.”

Nick looked skeptical. “Changelings? And she bought it?”

“The proof doesn’t lie.”

“The proof is that she has a virus. Why not just tell her that?”

“I’m not completely sure how she will react. You and Pierce were quick to accept it, but Rainbow is a bit more unpredictable. I can’t afford to have her freaking out and blabbing to everyone what happened to her.” He brushed past the white Pegasus and peered down the hallway, making sure the rainbow mare wasn’t able to hear them. “For all she knows, she is now part of a secret mission given to us by Celestia herself to prevent a Changeling invasion currently in the works.”

“And she bought it!?”

“You’d be surprised what someone would believe given the right circumstances.”

Nick still looked at Mercer incredulously, but gave no reply right away. When he did speak again, it was on a different subject. “What happens now? What’s our next move?”

“You mean what’s your next move. I need you to take that DNA you consumed from that Canterlot Guard and disguise yourself as him so the others don’t get suspicious.”

“Right…wait, how do I do that?”

“First, tap your head three times.”

Nick did it. “Now what?”

“Now say ‘I’m a dumbass’.”

“I’m a-” He stopped. “…Why do you not like me?”

“I don’t really know. It’s something about your face. I just can’t quite put my finger on it.”

“Your finger?”

“Never mind about that. Just think of his memories and will your biomass to make yourself look like him. Think of it like Pla-Doh.”

Nick cocked his head to the side. “What’s play dough?”

“It’s like…never mind. Just do it. And be careful; if your cover is blown, don’t try to fight them. They’re a hell of a lot stronger then they seem.”

“Well that’s not surprising. With all that magic they use I wouldn’t be surprised if they could be as strong as you.”

“What are you talking about? The one I fought was a Pegasus, he couldn’t have used magic.”

Nick shook his head. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Well what did you mean?”

“I’m not completely sure…I…” He clutched his head, clenching his teeth as the feeling of Storm Shade’s memories flooded his mind. “They…they infuse magic into their armor and weapons…and even their own bodies.” Nick began grinding his teeth. “The magic makes muscles stronger...it makes bones denser…and it even protects internal organs.” Even after he was done with his painful explanation, he continued holding his head and chomping on nothing. Mercer patiently waited as Nick fought through it, more than familiar of the experience the stallion was being dragged through.

Once the pain had passed, Nick straightened up again. “It makes sense though. This whole ‘war with the Gryphons’ thing has been around for a long time. Since Gryphons are bigger and stronger than ponies, they needed to even the playing field.”

“Well that’s good to know. Maybe now the difficulty I had in the fight will have a bit more merit.” Mercer thought a moment. “You’ll have to tell me any other way they use magic to fight.”

“Right now?”

“No. It’ll have to wait until later. It’s getting close to noon; Storm Shade said he was expected to report in by then. We won’t have time to go over anything right now.”

“Um…Mercer?” The quiet voice of the butter yellow Pegasus would have gone unnoticed if she hadn’t tapped him on the back to get his attention.

Mercer turned around, mild surprise written on his face. “What? Oh, Fluttershy. I forgot you were still here.”

“H-how? It’s my house…” She blushed. “N-not that I mind you being here or anything! Really, I don’t mind at all…”

“What do you want?”

Still blushing brightly, she extended her wing to him, which held a letter clutched between her feathers. “This letter that Derpy dropped off earlier…it’s addressed to me…b-but it’s…meant for you.”

Mercer stiffened. “What?” He snatched it from her and unfolded it, reading it over quickly.

Nick peered over his shoulder. “What does it say? Wait, how did somepony know where to send a letter to you?”

Mercer didn’t take his eyes off the letter. “That’s what I’d like to know.”

Mr. Mercer, I hope you don’t mind me writing you. I took care to make sure no one found out your location, hence this being addressed to Fluttershy. I believe we have some things to discuss. Meet me at 15 Saddle St so we can talk in private. I await your arrival.

That’s all the letter had said. Nothing but a short, creepy message and a request to meet. There was no date, no time, not even so much as a fake name or handle. It was as vague as they come.

Of course Mercer had set out immediately after reading it, barely even slowing down enough to tell Nick not to forget he had his own meeting at noon and make sure Fluttershy knew not to let Rainbow Dash out of the cottage. As soon as he was out the door he sprinted for Ponyville, flying across the short distance so quickly he actually slid several yards before he made a complete stop. He shook the dust off himself and changed into Berry Punch, calmly walking through the streets of town in the direction of where the letter had told him to go.

Ponies greeted him as he walked by, large smiles adorning their faces as they waved hello. He waved back, trying his best to give a genuine smile in return but finding it hard with what was playing through his mind. Who sent that letter? How did they know where he was? If it was that easy to track him down, he obviously wasn’t doing as well at laying low as he thought.

“Well well, if it isn’t Berry Punch. You know, I see you less and less every day. You must really have your muzzle in a big project to disappear this much.”

“Don’t you know it, Ice Dancer.”

“I just hope you’re getting some sleep. I know how you can get.”

“You don’t have to worry so much about me, I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, that’s what you always say…”

Halfway through Ponyville. He only had to keep up this façade for a little longer.

As he approached the middle of town, he was annoyed to see more than a few guard ponies scattered around Main Street. Not wanting to run into any of them in case they decided to question him, he took a detour down a side street to avoid them. Almost immediately he ran nearly headlong into another one, who was conversing with a familiar looking grey Pegasus with a mail bag on her back, the latter of whom looked in his direction just in time to notice him.

“Oh, Berry Punch! I’m glad you’re here, it’ll save me time on giving you your mail!” Derpy, still possessing as much of that quirky energy she held earlier, was already digging through her mail bag in search of whatever they held for Berry. Once she found it, she handed it over happily, grinning ear to ear as if handing over mail was the best thing ever.

Mercer smiled awkwardly as he took it, not sure what he was going to do with it seeing as how he had no pockets. “Um…thanks.” Not knowing what else to do with it, he put the small stack of envelopes in his mouth and gave a wave to the mailmare. “Welf Derfy, I fink I bfetter gef home.”

“Oh no, you can’t leave yet! I haven’t introduced you to my cousin!” Derpy wrapped her hoof around his neck and dragged him next to her, squeezing hard enough in doing so to make him cough up the letters. Berry, this is my cousin Charming Masquerade! He’s a member of the Royal Canterlot Guard!” She said the last part with an air of sarcasm.

The guard looked rather young, at least younger than the few Mercer had seen so far. The armor he wore fit snuggly on him, but the helmet he had on was a few sizes too big, causing him to keep pushing it back up into place every few seconds.

He sighed after Derpy introduced him. “Derpy, I told you, this isn’t a joke. I really am a member of the Guard!”

“Uh huh, sure…” She winked at him.

Charming shook his head, turning his attention to Mercer, smiling as he did so. “Hello. Berry was it? It’s nice to meet you.” He held out his hoof, waiting for his new acquaintance to shake it.

Mercer never did. “Hehe…yeah…did they run out of helmets in the armory or something?” He said pointing at Charming’s head.

He reached up and held the head piece in place, blushing a little while looking off to the side. “I, uh…kinda lost mine…so they had to give me this one as a replacement while they order a new one.”

“You really should be more careful, Charming. Props are pretty expensive, you should know that being an actor.”

“For the last time, I’m not an actor! I’ve been in the Canterlot Guard for years; you went to my graduation!”

Derpy narrowed her eyes. “Oh no, I’m not believing that again. I’m on to you, buster! The last time I listened to you, I ended up getting my head stuck in a tree!”

He facehoofed. “That happened when we were kids! And I already apologized for it!”

While the two continued their back and forth, Mercer took the opportunity to try and sneak by them without being noticed. He sidestepped them slowly, smiling lamely while acting innocent. Just as he thought he was in the clear and home free, he heard the gray mare say something that made him stop dead and perk his ears up.

At some point while he skirted around the two, their conversation had changed to Derpy’s mail route, about which she explained how she had met a weird new pony that day that she had never delivered to before. “…and I just thought it was odd that he had been living here for so long and hadn’t bothered to set up a mailing address. I don’t think he’s homeless or anything, but it’s just odd, you know?”

Charming looked at her with a suspicious look on his face. “A new pony, huh? And how long has he been here?”

She brought her hoof up to her chin. “Hmm, maybe about a week or so.”

“A week? So he got here just before the whole ‘Zecora’ thing…do you know what his name is?”

Before she could answer, Mercer popped up next to her, cutting her off from saying his name. “H-hey, Derpy! I just remembered I need your help with something! Do you mind? It’s kind of important.” Without giving her a chance to reply, he put his hoof around her shoulder and pulled her along, yelling “Nice meeting you, Charming! I hope we can talk some other time. Maybe over tea!” behind him as he walked. He continued to drag Derpy down the street until they were out of sight of her cousin.

After Mercer let her go and she fell into a trot alongside him, Derpy asked him “So, what is it that you needed my help with?”

“I, uh, need you to help me find something.”

“What?”

“Do you know where 15 Saddle Street is?”

“15 Saddle Street? Of course, it’s on the other side of town. But why would you want to go there? It’s empty.”

Mercer stopped. “What do you mean, ‘it’s empty’?”

She shrugged. “It used to be a restaurant, but it got closed down. I don’t think it’s been used for a while.”

That was unnerving to hear. Whoever this mystery pony was, they not only got in contact with him via creepy letter, now he was finding out the place he was supposed to meet them in was an abandoned building.

“So? Why do you want to go there?” Derpy asked again. That same curious look came over her expression again, like she was putting things together in her head.

Thinking quickly, Mercer came up with the first excuse that came to mind. “I was…I was thinking of…expanding. Maybe use it as a sort of…extra storage space, or something…”

Derpy brightened up at that. “Oh! Well that’s nice to hear! I’m glad you’re business is doing so well!” She started walking again. “So you just want to go there to check it out, right?”

“Exactly.” He sighed internally. Good thing she’s so trusting.

The rest of the time was spent in silence; the only time either talked was when someone offered up a greeting and they gave theirs back. Derpy hummed as she walked, that innocent smile never leaving her face.

When they finally turned onto Saddle Street, the grey Pegasus stopped and turned to him, saying “It’s just down there; it’s the one with boards on the windows. Sorry I can’t go with you, but I need to get back to work.”

Mercer was barely paying attention to her at this point; he already had his eyes set on the building in question. “Yeah, thanks for all the help, Derpy. Bye.”

“Glad I could help! See you later, Berry!”

He continued alone down the street, every step he took making him more and more anxious. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the building, which was indeed boarded up and abandoned, just like Derpy had said.

This was it. It was time to meet this stranger.

Mercer took a deep breath, placed his hoof on the door, and gave it a push. Oddly enough, it turned out not to be locked. The hinges gave protest at being opened, offering up their loud retort that echoed throughout the dark interior. He stood at the doorway, peering inside and scanning around for any sign of his mysterious contact.

Placing his hoof in the threshold, he was just about to take a step in when a thought crossed his mind, making him withdraw it and hesitate at the door. The last time he entered an empty building alone, he ended up choking on Bloodtox and being attacked by a psycho zebra. Not wanting a repeat performance, he tested the air inside by sticking his muzzle out and taking a deep breath. He stayed like that for a moment, waiting for the stinging sensation to pick up in his throat. After a minute of breathing in stale air, he concluded there was no harmful substance waiting for him, so he let out a sigh and entered it warily.

The inside of the building was dank, almost depressing. It was completely empty, nothing but spider webs and copious amounts of dust and grime filling up every inch of the floor and walls. Everything about it gave off the impression that it was unused, except for a small, nearly invisible trail of hoofsteps in the dust leading towards the back. Mercer took notice almost immediately, glaring at the trail as if it were mocking him simply by existing. He followed it to the back, watching it carefully to see if it turned or veered off somewhere, but it just kept going straight until it finally ended at the far wall.

Mercer looked around confusedly, not sure if he was missing something or if he was just being played. A voice behind him told him it was the latter. “Alex Mercer. Right on time.”

He spun around, locking his gaze onto a shadowy figure standing in front of the doorway. The light flooding in behind him obscured Mercer’s vision of his face, so he couldn’t make out what he looked like. Remembering he was still disguised as Berry Punch, he made sure to keep his voice at her higher pitch before he spoke. “Alex…Mercer? I don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m Berry Punch. Who are you?”

“Drop the act, Alex. I know it’s you. Please, you’re among friends; you don’t need to pretend anymore.” Biting his lip, he reluctantly dropped his voice an octave, shifting his form back to himself and taking a few steps closer to the pony. “There now, isn’t that better? It must be a relief to finally be yourself without putting up some kind of an act.”

“Who the hell are you? How did you know where to find me? How do you know who I am?”

The pony smirked. “I’ve been watching you Mercer, for a long time now. I’ve known about you from the moment you got here.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I wouldn’t say that. More like just unlikely.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“You already know who I am; you just haven’t realized it yet.”

Mercer glared at him. “What in the name of Celestia is that supposed to mean?”

“You sound just like a pony, Alex. Are you going native?”

“Don’t change the subject. Tell me who you are!”

“I told you already.”

“The hell you did!”

He chuckled. “My my, Mercer. You have quite a temper. You won’t make many friends with that kind of attitude.”

“I’m not here to make friends!” Mercer spat. “Frankly, I don't even know why I’m here!”

The creepy pony was silent, watching Mercer curiously. After a pregnant pause, he dropped his head, chuckling again as began walking away from the door, towards the side of the room. Mercer reciprocated, giving him a wide birth as they circled each other until they stood with the door and windows shedding light to their side. “Why must there be a reason for you being here? Why does there always have to be a logical answer?”

Mercer scoffed. “That’s a stupid question. Everything has to have a logical answer. That’s just how things are.”

“But then how do you explain this world? You’ve seen firsthand it’s beyond normal logic or reason. How can you still say that after seeing the wonder of this place? The magic?”

“I’ve done enough research to know that even this place is still bound by the laws of physics. With the exception of Pinkie Pie, there’s a detailed explanation for the actions and behaviors of every creature in this world. Even their so called ‘magic’ can be broken down to a science.”

The other pony fell silent again, an almost sad look crossing his features for a second before disappearing. Now that he had a moment, Mercer took the time to look over this pony, to see if his appearance synced up to the memories of the few ponies he’d bothered to consume. Thanks to the light filtering in through the cracks between the boards on the windows, he could see the pony more clearly, but he still didn’t recognize him from any of the memories in his head.

The pony standing before him was basic. Literally, he looked like he was the outline you drew first before filling it in with detail. He had no mane or tail, his coat was a light tan color and his eyes were a dull brown. He also had no cutie mark. He was, for lack of a better term, a blank flank. This was strange, since normally the only ponies Mercer had seen with no cutie mark were children. Hell, even he himself had received one after being dragged here to this crazy world. Why was this pony so…plain?

Finally, the pony spoke again. “You have done quite a lot since you got here, Alex. I’m quite impressed. You’ve been quite the busy little bee.”

“I’m just good at focusing my efforts in a productive manner…for the most part.”

The other pony raised a non-existent eyebrow, making him look like he was giving Mercer the stink eye. “’For the most part’?”

“I got caught up in a few things. Stupid things. It doesn’t matter now.”

“I beg to differ. Maybe if you talked about it we might shed some light on just how important it all actually is.”

“What is this, a game to you? You want me to spill my guts, tell you my life story and cry on your shoulder?”

“Only if you want to.”

Mercer stared at him dully. “You are an annoying pony. Almost as bad as Pinkie.”

He chuckled again. “I try. Now, go on. Spin me a tale.”

“…We’re really doing this, huh?” Mercer sighed. “Fine. I woke up in the Everfree Forest, in a clearing, lying on my back with no arms.”

The other pony gasped dramatically. “No arms!? My goodness, what happened?”

“I lost a fight.”

“With whom?”

“No one.” Mercer put as much venom into his reply as he could muster, signifying he wasn’t in the mood to talk about it.

The pony held up a hoof dismissively. “Alright, I can take a hint. So, you were in a forest, unarmed, and possibly near death. Then what?”

“I got attacked by a Manticore. It almost got me too, but I managed to kill it before it could finish me off. After that I had the biomass to regenerate my limbs, and it was then I came to the realization I had been turned into a pony.”

“Then you came to Ponyville?”

“That’s correct.”

“And you made some friends?”

“Reluctantly. They wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean you had to become friends.”

“Perhaps not…” Mercer fell silent, thoughts of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy coming to the forefront of his mind.

“You’re thinking about your friends, aren’t you?” He stiffened. “I can tell. Your face says it all.” Mercer stayed silent, refusing to reply. “…You came to Ponyville. You made a few friends. Tell me what happened after that.”

Mercer hesitated a moment, unsure that he should continue. He didn’t trust this pony at all, in fact he downright creeped him out. But it was obvious this oddball wasn’t going to be answering any of his questions, so he saw no choice but to continue telling his little story.

With a deep breath, Mercer collected his thoughts, and recounted the events leading up to that moment...

“It’s a Hive Mind…you know how I feel …you’re connected to me……because you’re Blacklight.” Mercer’s mind was reeling at the realization, that bit of relief of finally figuring out something that’s been nagging at you being drowned out by the dread he was feeling from the knowledge it brought along with it. “You’re even stronger than I am…the virus in you is different…I can’t even see it inside you!” This pony; this seemingly normal, unspecial, plain pony, was a being of his own world. Just like Mercer, this pony came from a place born of misery and anger, and somehow wound up in this colorful, brightly lit and happy-go-lucky planet of cheerful, giggly ponies. And worse yet: Mercer didn’t recognize him in the slightest. His voice, his personality, his way of speaking. None of it rang any bells in Mercer’s memory. He wasn’t an Evolved, that was for sure. He certainly wasn’t Heller. He was something else.

“Who am I, Mercer?”

He didn’t want to answer. He wasn’t going to answer.

“Who. Am. I. Mercer?”

Not because he didn’t know; but because he was afraid he did.

“Say it!”

No. No, it just couldn’t be. It was a lie. A trick. There’s no possible way it could be him…

But the more he tried to make himself believe otherwise, the more he only delayed the inevitable. It was him. The missing link in the Blacklight evolution. Elizabeth Greene’s very own bastard child, the only one to ever be born of the virus and survive.

Mercer didn’t want to say it as much as he didn’t want it to be true. Yet in the end, he had no choice. Slowly, and painfully, he opened his mouth and said the one word he didn't want to say:

“…Pariah.”

Author's Note

You can all pick your jaws up off the floor now.

I was excited for this chapter. I kept pushing it back farther and farther because I didn't feel it fit right or the chapter was just too long to begin with. But yes, the pony Mercer has been talking to is Pariah.

I'm sure you picked up on the not-so-subtle hint I dropped about Mercer having trouble fighting that guard in the last chapter. I realized I made a mistake by "nerfing" his abilities, but you have to understand I never meant to downplay Mercer; if anything I was just up-playing the guard. I have a bad habit of leaving things out that I planned on putting in because I forgot about them, so I can see how you guys had so much confusion about it. Hopefully now this makes up for it a little bit.

Also, I'd like to add, the quotes are back. I made the excuse to one of you that the reason they disappeared was because I couldn't find anymore, but really I was just sick of looking. But that's not right. They're part of the story, and I need to stop being lazy. So I went back, doubled my efforts, and found some more that I can use. I even went back to the other chapters I left them out of and put them in, you can go check them out if your curious. I like to personalize the quote to the chapter, so that they have some similarities to the events happening. Think of them as a hint to what's going to happen later on in the chapter. If you didn't it catch it for this one, the something besides Elizabeth Greene that came out of Hope was Pariah.

That's about all I have to say. I'm hungry. I'm gonna go see if I still have some food left.

-Poly

Gotta stop waking up like this...

"My name is Alex Mercer. I'm the reason for all this. They call me a killer, a monster, a terrorist... I'm all of these things."
―Alex Mercer

Blacklight. That’s how all this started. One measly, insignificant little vial containing a highly infectious, self-sustaining virus. A virus with the capability of bringing an entire landmass to its knees within the span of a few months. A city in just a few days.

Perhaps it wasn’t as insignificant as previously stated, but sometimes one just can’t help but feel that way. How do these things happen? Looking back, it truly is astounding how a few decisions can impact one’s life so heavily. Take, for instance, a decision to use a deadly virus to infect the entire world and create a new race of human beings. One that doesn’t know war or violence. One where individuals don’t exist; where everyone is connected to the whole. A world that is connected to everything. A perfect society, so what does it matter if the means to get there is a bit extreme? If the utopian society humans have been searching for over the course of recorded history can only be obtained by forcibly robbing every last person of their free will, then why does it garner such a strong resistance from something so inevitable?

Mercer coughed violently, a spray of blood shooting from his mouth. The sudden action caused an eruption of pain throughout his body, reminding him of his current predicament. Memories of what had happened began flooding into his mind, and he felt his anger begin to rise more and more at each one that surfaced. He had had his arms ripped off, multiple times mind you, by a man who he had personally given new life to. He had begun creating a new world in a new image, and graciously allowed Manhattan to be the first step in his plan to create this world. He was a visionary, who only wanted to better the disgusting filth these mongrels so foolishly called their lives. And yet where did that leave him now? Lying on his back, armless, eyes shut tight to the sun shining down from above. Which only begged the question: Where was he anyway? It never got this bright in New York. There was always at least a thin cover of clouds hanging above the city. Where was all this sunlight coming from so suddenly?

He tried opening his eyes, wincing at the pain from the harsh light. He tried again, this time looking around him in an attempt to figure out where he had ended up. He slowly rolled his head to each side, seeing nothing but trees and foliage surrounding him. Had he ended up in the park somehow? He was definitely in a clearing, that much was for sure.

A bird flew down and landed not from where Mercer lay, pecking at the ground and hopping from one place to another. He watched it for a moment, waiting until it foolishly got close enough so he could consume it for some much needed biomass. He began inching a tendril towards the bird, gritting his teeth at the immense amount of effort it took just to produce it. The bird took no notice of the snake like object now mere feet away from it, continuing to hop from one place to another, pecking at the ground and growing ever closer to its doom.

Just as Mercer was prepared to strike, the birds own efforts to find sustenance was rewarded by a long, fat worm it then began pulling from the dirt. As soon as Mercer’s tendril lashed out to grab the unsuspecting creature, it spread its wings and took off, oblivious to the fact it had just narrowly avoided death by a fraction of a second. Mercer glared at the bird as it flew out of sight, angry that it seemed as if he was being defeated by every weak and pathetic creature that refused to do as he commanded. Speaking of weak and pathetic creatures…

“Heller…” Mercer managed to growl out. That’s right. James Heller. Just the sound of that name was enough to get his blood boiling. That ignorant, simple minded imbecile. He had no idea what he’d done, most likely still doesn’t. He defied Mercer at every turn, foiled his contaminated Whitelight plan, and convinced his own sister to betray him. All to protect his daughter. It was sentimental crap like that that caused Mercer to give up all that made him human in favor of a more higher consciousness. If Heller had only allowed him to use his daughter to mother the next generation of Evolved, he would have been closer to her then he ever would under normal circumstances.

Mercer sighed. It was just too bad. Heller would have been perfect as his second in command had he only let go of his illusion of humanity. Just as Alex Mercer had died to make room for the man who was currently lying in a grassy clearing with no arms, so had James Heller died to create the man who took said arms. Why could Heller just not see that he was no longer one of them? He was greater, as was Mercer and every other Evolved he had made to further his cause.

He coughed again, bringing about another pain induced spasm, as well as more blood. This was ridiculous. He refused to accept this as his fate. He would not come this far, only to die in the middle of Central Park. He lifted his head, ignoring the pain it caused, and attempted to stand. The attempt failed, but it made him realize something he hadn’t noticed before: his body felt different. Not different like he was used to, what with his ability to change the shape and structure of his body at will, but in a way that when he attempted to bend his knees, it felt like they were bending in a strange way. Not necessarily wrong, just strange. He pushed that thought out of his head and tried again to stand to his feet. He managed to roll over onto his stomach and maneuver his legs underneath himself, picking his upper body off the ground. Unfortunately, his balance was off for some unknown reason, and once he did manage to get upright, he found himself pitching forward. He hit the ground with a thud, groaning as the pain made him lose his breath for a moment.

‘What did Heller do to me?’ He thought angrily. He could remember the fight he’d had with Heller as clear as day, how Mercer was able to best Heller easily, but was ultimately unable to stand up against his sheer power and strength. Then came the part he wished he could forget. The pain of his right arm being sliced off, twice, before having them both simply ripped away as if he were a ragdoll. Yet as much as he could remember from all of that, he couldn’t remember Heller ever doing anything to his legs. So why was it that he was unable to do something as simple as standing up?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a branch breaking and leaves being trampled. Mercer tried once again to stand up so he could face whatever beast was heading his way, but fell back down to his face, something he was beginning to grow annoyed to. Cracking sounds filled the clearing, followed by a small tree falling and slamming to the ground. Mercer froze in his next attempt to stand, fully aware of the presence of the large creature currently staring directly at him from the edge of the clearing.

He chanced a look, immediately regretting it. The creature standing there looked nothing like anything Mercer had ever seen, and when some of the creatures he has seen include Hydras and Goliaths, seeing one new most likely isn’t good. It looked like a mixture of different animals, with the body of a lion and a tail like a scorpions. It also possessed two large bat wings on its back, with a span that appeared capable of allowing it to fly. It was a dark yellow color, with a deep red mane around its face. However the expression it was currently giving him wasn’t of anger or aggression, it was more like one of curiosity. It approached him slowly, taking each step tentatively as if prepared for Mercer to attempt something should it drop its guard. When it got directly in front of him, it began sniffing him loudly, passing its nose over every part of his body that was exposed in his position. When it had satiated its apparent curiosity for what he smelled like, it placed one of its large paws on his back and roughly shoved him to roll him onto his back. The sudden action made Mercer grit his teeth and let out a groan in pain. The beast recoiled, not expecting the sudden noise from the creature it had originally thought to be dead. It stared at him blankly, waiting to see if he would make any other noises.

Mercer glared at it, wishing his powers included shooting lasers from his eyes. “Why don’t you wipe that moronic look off your ugly face and get the fuck out of here you disgusting monster!” He growled out, putting as much venom into his voice as he could muster. The effect of the insult worked a little too well, as the “monster” seemed to be able to understand his words. Its demeanor changed from curious to angry, raising one of its paws into the air and letting its claws slip out to their full length, before bringing it down full force onto Mercer’s vulnerable form, knocking him across the clearing and leaving three deep gashes along his chest. He gasped, the pain he was already experiencing coinciding with the new injury, causing his vision to blur around the edges for a moment. Crimson flowed from the fresh wounds, spilling onto the grass and staining the blades red. The beast didn’t leave any time for Mercer to recover, quickly covering the distance it had created by knocking him away and grabbing one of his legs in its teeth, spinning around and launching him back across the clearing to the far side and right into the trunk of a tree. He hit the trunk hard enough to crack the wood, the rest of the tree groaning and swaying as its only support began giving out. The wood cracked and popped, falling in towards the clearing. Mercer hoped the creature would get hit but was disappointed when it nimbly dodged the tree, flapping its wings to gain a little height to avoid getting hit by the branches.

The beast never took its eyes off Mercer, taking slow steps towards him, as if threatening him. Mercer couldn’t move, the beast was extremely powerful, and just with that first strike it rendered him even weaker then he already had been. It seemed to realize this, relaxing visibly and taking each of its steps even more deliberately, prolonging the suffering it had inflicted on its prey. When it finally got right up to Mercer, it decided it was now done playing with its food. It placed its paw right on his chest, pressing down on his wounds before picking him up and looking him dead in the eye. It almost seemed to smile as it opened its mouth and began to bring his head towards it.

Time slowed down for Mercer, all the thoughts running through his head coalescing into one simple desperate realization: he’d come too far, done too much, just to become dinner for some nature reject straight out of a horror film. He had survived a nuclear explosion, and yet this was how he was ultimately going to die? He summoned whatever strength he still had, feeling the pressure build up inside his chest as whatever biomass he had left shifted throughout his body in preparation for his most powerful attack, unleashing his power in an explosion of tendrils that shot out from his body in every direction. The tendrils tore through the beast’s body, ripping through bone and flesh as easily as driving a nail into a board. Mercer felt a deep sense of satisfaction as he felt one of the tendrils pierce its heart, tearing it to shreds as it continued on through without even slowing down. A moment passed as his Devastator power reached its peak where everything stood perfectly still. The creature, although now dead, remained upright, supported only by the tendrils that had turned it into a very fluffy pincushion, until they began to retract back into his body. As quickly as it had started, it was over, and the victor was Mercer. And as they say, to the victor, go the spoils.

Mercer wasted no time in releasing two more tendrils out, slowly snaking them around the body of the beast so as to consume as much of it as possible. He felt the pain in his body begin to recede as the flow of biomass renewed his strength. His natural regenerating capabilities kicked in, stitching the lacerations on his chest closed as well as mending the other wounds he had received from the fight against the beast. As his arms began reforming, he pulled his head out of what remained of its mouth, instantly falling to his knees and grabbing his head, the familiar feeling of the creature’s memories becoming his own washing over his mind.

As if he had lived them himself, the memories of its life began playing in his head like a movie. Early years spent hunting and traveling with his mother, learning to survive on his own. He felt the rush of adrenaline he got from stalking his prey, and the satisfaction it gave him to finally feel that last breath leave its throat he had his jaws clamped tightly around. He saw the cave he had chased another male out of that he now called home, and claiming the female that he had fought the other male for. Then a peculiar memory appeared, he saw six small horses walking along a path, before a sharp stinging sensation in his paw made him angry and jump out at them. Mercer found it odd that they were all abnormally colorful, one even being completely pink, and that most of them had either wings or horns. He took the initiative while they were frozen with fear, jumping at them and swiping his claws at a white one with a carefully styled mane and a single horn on its head. It dodged him swiftly, turning on its front legs and kick out with its back, knocking him backwards slightly. It yelled something at him, he wasn’t completely sure what, but he took it as a challenge and roared his rebuttal back at it, the force of his roar mussing up its mane. As it ran away from him he felt another one jump on his head, so he began shaking back and forth while jumping around to rid himself of the horse. Suddenly one of the winged ones, a cyan colored one with a rainbow mane and tail, began flying in circles around him, creating a colorful tornado that only succeeded in confusing and infuriating him further. He raised his tail and smacked the horse away, before lowering his body and readying himself for the others as they began to charge. Just before they got to him, a yellow one with long pink hair and a pair of wings on its back jumped between them, stopping the charge. He remained wary as it began talking to him, not sure what the words it spoke meant but feeling himself be calmed with every one spoken regardless. The horse gestured for him to show it his paw, which he did, revealing the source of his original anger: a large thorn, which the horse then plucked out carefully, much to his relief. He then showed his appreciation to the horse by licking it gratefully.

The memory shifted, coming to the most recent ones the creature had. He was walking through the woods on his way back from a hunt, when he came upon a strange sight. In the middle of a clearing lay a dark colored horse similar to the ones he had seen many times before over the years, only this one appeared to be very hurt. He didn’t feel endangered by the horse because of its weak looking state, but still stayed wary as he approached it, the only thing keeping him from running up and digging in being the memory of the kindness that yellow one had shown him in the past. It took Mercer a moment to realize this memory was the beast’s point of view of the events that had just transpired. He focused on the image of himself lying on the ground, finally realizing why he had had so much trouble standing earlier. Somehow he had been transformed into one of those horses, and thanks to his change in balance of course he was no longer able to stand up straight.

His eyes rolled back from inside his head, the entire painful experience of absorbing all those new memories having only lasted a few seconds. As he steadied himself on his knees, he looked at his newly regenerated arms-No, not arms. Legs. His front legs to be exact. He stood up carefully, his legs wobbling a bit at first but still able to support his full weight. He craned his neck around to look at the rest of this new body, surprised at how much different he looked compared to the horses he had seen in the beast’s memories. They had all been bright and colorful, but he was a deep midnight blue in color, his tail a dark brown. He couldn’t see his mane but he could only assume it was the same color as his tail. On his flank was a strange tattoo, what looked to be a strand of DNA. He smirked, chuckling to himself at how much it fit his own abilities. He vaguely recalled the other horses having similar marks. Perhaps this was how they identified themselves in this world. This strange world of technicolored horses.

No wait, that wasn’t right. They looked too small to be horses…Ponies. Yes, that sounded right. Small horses were called ponies. He was a pony. He chuckled again at that thought. A pony. Alex Mercer was now a pony. Oh what sort of morbid joke had he become a part of. As he continued to admire his new body, a thought occurred to him. If his form had changed to that of an equine, had his powers somehow been affected as well? He looked down at his hooves, willing them to change shape to something a bit sharper. He felt relieved when his legs rippled as the structure of his biomass shifted, four massive and long claws jutting out from the ends of his forelegs, the sharp tips resting on the grass. He picked his hoof up, examining the claws as they hung limply as if on hinges, swaying slightly in the breeze. Mercer frowned. Normally his claws were just extensions of his fingers, allowing for easy enough control. Seeing them hang so uselessly had him wondering if his powers could adapt to such a radical change in shape.

To test them out, he walked over to the nearest tree and swung his claws at it, feeling new specialized muscles in his limbs constrict, holding the claws tightly in place so when they met the hard wood of the tree they easily sliced through without much difficulty. Once Mercer confirmed that not only did his claws still work, but his powers apparently did have enough capability to adapt to something this strange, he focused more biomass to his forelimbs, the appendages swelling to incredible size, forming two wrecking balls on the ends of his legs. Nice to see Hammerfist hadn’t needed any kind of adaptation. He gave each one a practice swing, hitting the ground with enough force to make six inch craters and convince every little critter within earshot to evacuate the area immediately. As several birds flew past him he took the opportunity to test out his long reach, spinning around and lashing out with Whipfist, catching more than a few of the winged vermin inside of its deadly arc. At this point he was grinning maniacally, having more fun with these powers then he’d had for a long time.

He shifted his biomass again, thick chords of muscle-like formations growing out of his legs, which didn’t look much different than normal other than a change in color. He walked over to the tree that had nearly crushed the creature from before, placing his hooves under the trunk and lifting it over his head with ease. Balancing on his back legs for a moment, he hefted the tree across the clearing, watching as it took out several of its still standing brethren before coming to a stop. Saving the best for last, his grin grew ever bigger as his right foreleg shifted into what he considered the ultimate man-killer: a single, surfboard sized blade coming out from just underneath the bend in his knee. It was big enough that it allowed him to keep his knee bent and yet still stand at full height. He swung it in wide circles, enjoying the sound of the wind whistling off the edge. He gave his imaginary opponent a few quick jabs with the blade before returning his leg to normal. He surveyed his surroundings; admiring the damage he had done to the clearing. He looked up at the sky, noting that the sun was on its downswing. Even though he could obviously take on any creature in this forest, it still didn’t make the concept of spending a night in it any more favorable.

He willed his biomass around his body, wrapping himself in thin layers in order to mimic clothing. In no time he had on a slightly modified version of his leather jacket and hoodie, his hood pulled over enough to partially conceal his eyes. With that done, he set off towards the nearest exit, using the memories he had absorbed from that beast as a guide, following its knowledge of the layout of the forest and the simple tricks it used to find its way through it. As Mercer grew farther away from the clearing he began losing the light fast, which made him notice just how thick the canopy was. If it weren’t for his thermal vision and unmatched sense of hearing he could see himself taking each step as if it were his last.

He walked for hours, thinking to himself that had he not been a Prototype he would be extremely tired by now. The forest seemed endless, and he had begun to notice that some of the trees appeared to be watching him, almost as if the whole place possessed some sort of power that gave it consciousness. ‘Perhaps it is conscious’ he thought. He wasn’t a stranger to large networks of mentally connected organisms, seeing as how that was how the infected operated back in New York Zero. A hive mind powered by pheromones. Mercer theorized that if the forest was anything like that, it would most likely be physical connections between each tree. Nerve like roots relaying impulses and messages as fast as a telephone line…one super-organism with a contained ecosystem capable of sustaining it indefinitely. His eyes twinkled at the thought. That was his plan for the world he came from in a nut shell. To infect everyone with Blacklight, harness the power of the hive mind and unite them all as one individual.

When he was reminded of his old plan, he scowled, the memory of his failure souring his mood instantly. He pouted for all of two seconds when a light caught his eye. Up ahead the trees parted just enough to let a sliver of sunlight through. Mercer continued on towards it, feeling almost reluctant to leave the forest after his revelation on its inner workings. Nearing the tree line, he began pondering what this world held in store. If those memories he received from the creature he consumed were anything to go by, the ponies it had encountered before seemed to be as intelligent as humans. The yellow one at least, seeing as how it spoke and showed compassion. And why else would Mercer be turned into one if they weren’t some form of advanced life?

As he exited the shelter of the trees, he found himself standing on top of a hill, looking down at a large plain at the base of a range of mountains. The sun was already beginning to set, shining its last rays on the plain, highlighting the thing Mercer had his sights currently set on. Nestled right in the middle of the plain was an old looking town, the buildings built with what looked like timber frames and thatched roofing. From here he couldn’t quite see the other edge of the town, giving him the impression it was home to a number of occupants, many of which he could hear but not see. In the middle of the town was a large clearing surrounding the tallest building, and it was in that clearing he was able to see several forms loitering about. All of them were standing on all fours, confirming his earlier theory that the dominant species in this world were in fact ponies. He watched them for a moment, noticing the similarities between their behavior and that of humans. They conversed amongst each other, making their way through the town in small groups, adults and children alike going about their business. He could see some of them lined up at stands, what he could only assume were shops. He could even see quite a few wearing clothes. He pulled at the jacket he wore himself; glad he wouldn’t have to give it up to avoid suspicion.

Looking down at the town, he couldn’t help but think that all of this couldn’t be coincidence. He failed at his attempt to create a better world, being killed by a man whose powers came from Mercer himself, only to wake up as a pony in a different world. And to top it all off, the world he was now in contained other ponies that acted similarly to humans. Why would he just suddenly appear here for no apparent reason? What could this possibly mean?

He smiled as he the answer dawned on him. He wasn’t here by accident. By whatever force or power at work here, he had been brought to this world for a second chance. Perhaps to change his ways, and his outlook on life. See the good in the world instead of focusing on the bad…Or maybe it was to give him another shot at finishing what he started. He had already seen the worst humanity had to offer, why would a world with humanized ponies be any different? If they acted like humans, they were obviously poisoned like them too. He was being given a second chance, and he wasn’t about to let it go to waste so he could learn some stupid lesson like being kind or the magic of friendship.

Mercer’s smile turned into a smirk, the last rays of the setting sun fading away as he focused his blue eyes on the entirety of the town. If he had anything to say about it, it would be in flames by the end of the week.

Welcome to the future sight of Ponyville Zero.

No clouds but plenty of guards

Thomas Weigand: "EVERYONE! SHUT UP. I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT! First. These people infected with the virus -- they're dead already. Keep your distance, and if they rush you, you shoot to kill."

Unknown subordinate: "CAP! WHEN'S THE CAVALRY GETTING HERE?"

Thomas Weigand: "Second. The cavalry? We're it..."

—Thomas Weigand

It was a beautiful day in Ponyville, the sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the sounds of young fillies and colts laughing and giggling could be heard all around. At least, they would, if their parents had actually allowed them to go outside and play. The fact was, not many children had actually been seen that often ever since the townwide ponyhunt for Zecora began days ago. No parent in their right mind would let their kids go out alone with a maniac on the loose. Of course, there actually was no reason to be scared since Zecora was already dead, but only a select few even knew about that, so the general public was left in the dark and allowed to be suspicious and paranoid about the whole thing.

“...and suddenly I hear a cheer and this young pony goes flying over my head with one of those new fangled ‘scooter boards’ like she’s in a hurry to get a one way ticket to the hospital, so I said ‘Back in my day, kids were taught to be careful and not draw attention to themselves’, and she said…” Nick rolled his eyes and groaned inwardly, suppressing the urge to yawn as the old pony with the ridiculously over sized bow tie in front of him continued to prattle on endlessly. He pretended to keep listening even as his gaze began to wander to other ponies walking around, doing a lazy sweep uninterestedly until he caught a glimpse of bleach blonde hair bobbing around at the end of the street. “...but that wasn't even a big deal at the time-um, hello? Are you listening, youngster?” The older pony tapped Nick on his helmet, the sound of which snapped his attention back to their conversation.

“Huh? Oh, right. Yeah, sure. Thank you for your time, your cooperation is appreciated by the guard, if you hear about anything important, let us know.” Nick recited the same, bullshit phrase his predecessor had been saying all day up until the point he’d been murdered only a few hours before.

“Oh, well, of course. I could tell you about my granddaughter, she just graduated from medical school and-”

“That’s great, Mr. Noodle, you can tell me about it later. I have to go.”

“I-It’s Waddle-”

“Whatever. Bye!” Nick set off in a fast trot down the street, heading in the direction he saw the familiar mane disappear, leaving poor Mr. Waddle standing alone with a confused look on his face.

He had been talking to the old pony for almost 20 minutes now, so to say he was relieved to be able to get away finally was an understatement. Mercer had told him to meet up with the other guards at noon, so Nick had figured he’d kill time until then by disguising himself as Storm Shade and asking ponies if they’d seen Zecora. Mr. Waddles was the first pony he’d even approached, and it didn't leave a very good impression on him.

Nick worked his way through the ponies loitering on the street, apologizing quickly every time he bumped into one of them or got in their way. When he reached the end of the street, he craned his head in every direction to see if he could catch another glimpse of the pony he was looking for. He heard him before he saw him, noting the familiar slurred speech and imagining the drunken stumbling that went along with it.

Pierce was standing by a tree, or more specifically, standing against it, while talking to an irate looking mare who seemed to have a very slight blush spread across her cheeks. As Nick got closer, he was able to catch the topic of their conversation; evidently, the old lush had gotten a bit fresh with her and she by no means found it at all humorous.

“...sho, let me get thish straight...you’re mad...about shomething...right?”

“You know darn well that I’m angry! You...you…” The mare turned scarlet as she spoke. “...you...fondled my flank!” She spoke the last part quietly, but Nick was still able to hear it thanks to his new powers.

Pierce leaned in closer to her, turning his head so his ear was nearer to her mouth. “What was that? I fondled your what?” He fell forward and landed face first in the dirt, making the mare back up a few steps to avoid being knocked over with him.

Nick chose that moment to intervene before the stallion made an even bigger fool of himself. “What’s going on here?”

The mare looked relieved to see the armor clad pony approaching her. “Oh thank Celestia! Maybe you can talk some sense into this drunk!” She spat as she kicked Pierce in the side.

“Hallelujah!” Came his muffled reply as he continued his drunken charade.

Nick reached down and hauled the older pony to his hooves, waiting for him to get his balance before dragging him away down the street. “Let’s get you somewhere so you won’t bother anypony else.”

“Are you coming on to me? Let me go, I’m not one of your prench girls!” Pierce struggled pathetically against Nick, managing only to throw himself to the ground once again. “Jack! Come back!” Nick rolled his eyes, picked him up again and threw him down a side street. “You know...you remind me...of a woman I used to know…”

“You can stop now, Pierce. It’s me.”

Confusion spread across his face. “Me? Me who?”

“It’s Nick! Now quite screwing around, I don’t have a lot of time.”

Pierce chuckled. “Don’t get your tail all twisted up, I knew it was you the moment you walked up.”

“Then why did you keep up the act?”

“Part of me wants to say to make sure nopony was listening. The other just says it’s fun to mess with ya.”

Nick ignored that. “Have you heard anything from Mercer?”

“Mercer? No, I haven’t run into him yet. Why? Did something happen?”

“Oh yeah. He got a letter today.”

“And? I get letters all the time, it’s not that big a deal.”

“No, I mean he got a letter today. Specifically for him, but it was addressed to Fluttershy. Somepony else knows what he is.”

Pierce shuffled his feet a bit as he digested the news. “Where’s Mercer now?”

“Somewhere in town. The note told him where to meet the pony who wrote it, and he hoofed it the minute he got a chance. I thought maybe he’d ran into you on the way.”

The other pony looked away. “No, I've been trailing a couple guards to listen in on their conversations. I was hiding in the Quills and Sofa all morning, so I wouldn't have noticed if he’d run by.”

“What have you heard?”

“Nothing new. Though I doubt it matters.” He looked Nick up and down. “From the looks of it, you already know about as much as I could find out on my own. When did this happen, anyway?”

Nick looked down at himself, still finding it strange to see another pony’s hooves instead of his own. “Just a little while after I got back when I left to tell Mercer about the guards. He followed me to Fluttershy’s cottage and was listening in on us.”

“So you killed him, eh?” He looked impressed.

“Well, Mercer fought him. But he made me kill him so I could impersonate him.”

Pierce stared at Nick intently. “How did it feel?”

“It hurt like a bitch. I do not recommend it.”

“That’s not what I mean.” Pierce leaned in closer. “How did it feel to get another ponies blood on your hooves?”

Nick froze up at that, unsure of how to respond. How did it feel? How was it supposed to feel? It wasn't something he was used to, that was for certain. It was new. It was...different. But was different bad?

...Now he wasn't so sure.

Before the silence he created because of his lack of a reply became awkward, the clock tower chimed, signaling the beginning of another hour. “Crap! It’s noon!” Nick turned and sprinted for the center of town, leaving Pierce behind without even saying goodbye.

As he ran, the last thing the sandy haired pony had said to him kept repeating in his head. Nick fought to focus on something else, but he suddenly found himself unable to think. His hooves pounded the dirt of their own accord, carrying him thoughtlessly to where the other guards were waiting for him, or rather, 2nd Lieutenant Storm Shade. Even as he galloped into the clearing surrounding Town Hall, his mind was still echoing that innocent yet strangely hard to answer question.

Right up until he slammed muzzle first into a foal carriage that thankfully was empty at the moment of impact. Once he apologized to the slightly addled mother and her giggling baby, he took a moment to get his bearings, searching Storm’s memories for where he was supposed to be meeting the other guards.

“...You have your orders. Zecora must be found. Whatever intelligence she possesses is vital to our mission. Ask anypony you come across, and keep on the look out for anything suspicious. We’ll meet back here by this tree at noon sharp. No excuses. If you’re not here by then, I will have to assume the worst...I hope you will give me the same courtesy.”The sound of his superiors voice was so fresh in the pony’s mind it was like he was hearing it out loud.

Nick walked around the large building in the center of Ponyville Square, keeping his eye open for the tree the voice in his head spoke of. He was rewarded with the sight of seven armored ponies standing in a circle at the base of a small tree, all of them standing with expressionless faces.

He summoned all the memories of Storm Shade’s past he could find, applying every aspect of the guard’s personality to the way he walked and even how he held himself. As he approached they all turned their heads, watching him closely. Suddenly he felt like he was in school again, walking up to the front of the class to deliver a speech. He kept up his facade, knowing if anypony knew how Storm Shade normally acted, it was the ponies he trained and fought with, and even a single thing left out could decrease his chances of walking away from this unscathed.

“I said noon sharp, Lieutenant, not whenever you decide fits into your schedule best. What in Tartarus took you so long?” The gruff voice of his commander put Nick on edge, though he blamed that on the nerves he was now borrowing from the pony who’d faced verbal beatings from the owner of said voice for years.

“Sorry, sir. I got caught up-”

“Auriga.”

“Capella.” Nick spoke before he had even registered what the pony said. The meaning of the countersign was almost lost on him, until the memory of Storm Shade learning it popped up in his head. It was standard security protocol ever since the Changeling attack on Canterlot. He only knew to say his password because Storm had spent several hours chanting it to himself so he wouldn't forget it.

His answer seemed to please the pony, if only enough to cause him to visibly relax. “Alright then. Now that the Lieutenant has finally decided to grace us with his presence, our headcount has broken even. Congratulations, none of you managed to get yourselves killed today.”

Before he could stop himself, Nick snorted loudly, bringing the attention of the group back to him. He brought his hoof up to his muzzle and pretended to wipe his nose, giving the impression he had only sneezed. The other guards bought it and returned to listening to the commander, except for one, who was now giving him an accusing glare. A glare that was barely noticeable under his helmet, which was several sizes too big for him.

Nick tried to avoid his gaze, but found it difficult with the other pony standing right across from him. The pony looked fairly young, almost a little too young for a Canterlot guard, though something inside Storm's genetic memory was telling him not to let that fool him, that this pony's young age was not to be taken as a sign of weakness. The pony, or as Storm's voice was telling him, Charming Masquerade, stayed perfectly still as he kept up his harsh gaze, the only exceptions being when pushed up his helmet from over his eyes or ruffled his wings every few moments. Nick was already feeling an uncomfortable knot forming in his throat, and he couldn't shake the paranoia somehow he'd already been found out.

The stare down continued even after it had been taken notice of by the other guards, and their commander, Armored Swirl, was finally forced to asked “Sergeant Masquerade, care to explain your sudden fascination with the Lieutenant?”

Charming Masquerade was silent for a second, doing nothing but intensifying his glare. When he did speak, it was directed entirely at Nick. “...What was it that caused you to be late, exactly?”

“What? Uh, I was questioning a pony. I was late because I couldn't get him to shut up.” A few of the other ponies chuckled at that, nodding their heads in agreement as they recalled their own similar encounters.

Unfortunately, Charming didn't find it so amusing. With a growl, he launched himself forward, tackling Nick to the ground and pinning him down by his shoulder. A metallic click sounded out right before something cold, metal, and very sharp pressed itself firmly against Nick’s throat.

“Sergeant! What in the name of Celestia do you think you’re doing!?” Armored Swirl’s outburst might as well have been a whisper, as Charming wasn't listening either way. He pushed the points of the claws on his hoof further against Nick’s neck, threatening to break the skin.

“Who are you?”

Nick fought to keep himself under control as he replied as calmly as he could manage “2nd Lieutenant Storm Shade.”

Charming narrowed his eyes to slits. “Who are you really?”

“That is who I am!”

He didn't seem convinced. He held his position, his wings flaring out in agitation. After a few moments, he whispered “How did I lose my helmet?”

“What?”

“How did I lose my helmet!?” Charming screamed.

His helmet? Even as he thought it his viral cells were already searching the memories of Storm Shade, flashing images behind Nick’s eyes until they stopped on a group of ponies resting around a table playing a game of cards, laughing heartily as they forced the blushing stallion to retell the story for the sixteenth time. “You took it off when you were flirting with some mare back in Canterlot, and you forgot it when she invited you to come join her for lunch.”

Charming let off his grip just a bit. “And what happened after that?”

“She brought you to a Cafe and introduced you to her friends...and her husband. Then she tried to hook you up with her sister-in-law who was almost twice your age so you made up an excuse and got the hay out of there.” When the young stallion lowered his weapon, Nick slowly pushed his hoof off his shoulder. “By the time you got back to retrieve your helmet, it was gone, so you bought a toy replica at the souvenir shop to try to keep it a secret from Captain Armor. But he saw right through it the moment you reported in after your shift because you forgot to take off the price tag.” At that point a small crowd had gathered to watch the quarreling guards go at it, and all of them had heard the story and were now snickering quietly to themselves.

Charming backed away, giving Nick room to stand up and brush himself off. “...Sorry about that, sir. Something seemed off about you, and I had to make sure you weren't a Changeling.”

“That’s alright Sergeant. I would have been offended if you hadn't thrown me to the ground and stuck a blade into my esophagus.” Nick rubbed his throat. “But next time, how about just asking? If you had, I would have told you I am most definitely not a Changeling.” This time he suppressed the giggle rising in his throat.

The sound of somepony clearing their throat turned both of their heads, and their commander, who had been watching the whole time along with the rest of their group, said “Are you two lovebirds about done? ‘Cause unless I’m mistaken, we were just about to begin our intel report.” Nick and Charming nodded, walking back to the lineup of guards and standing next to each other. Armored Swirl continued. “We all ready? Good. Lieutenant, we’ll start with you. Did you find anything out regarding Zecora?”

Nick shook his head. “No sir. She hasn't been seen by anypony for several days. All the ponies I've talked to have said the same thing: it’s like she just disappeared.” The others all nodded their heads slowly, having had similar findings themselves. “I’m not sure any of these ponies actually know anything about what’s going on, sir.”

One of the other guards spoke up. “Or if they do, they’re not letting on. I think this goes beyond a simple disappearance.”

“I agree. Something’s brewing, sir. I can feel it. We’re in for some deep shit if we don’t find out what’s going on here, quick.” They all grew quiet after that last remark, the implication of it sending deep shivers down their spines.

“...Well, we sure as hay weren't sent out here to find out we know absolutely nothing. Do any of you have any leads? Anything at all?”

The rest stayed silent, suddenly finding their hooves interesting. Charming was the only one to finally say something. “Well, it’s not exactly a lead, sir, but I did meet a mare earlier today that was acting fairly strange.”

“Was she bright pink with extremely curly hair?”

“Uh...no.”

“Okay then. If you do happen to come across a pony like that, disregard any strange behavior she may exhibit and get out of the area as quickly as possible. I cannot stress this enough…” Armored Swirl took a short pause, a look of fear and anguish crossing his features for a moment before he shook it off. “Alright Sergeant, who is this pony you thought to be acting ‘strange’?”

“Her name was Berry Punch, sir. She was in a hurry when I met her, and she all but dragged my cousin Derpy away while I was talking to her.” Nick sucked in a breath the moment he heard Berry Punch’s name. Charming didn't take notice. “I wouldn't have thought much of it if it hadn't been for the thing she seemed to be trying to keep Derpy from saying.”

“And what was that?”

“Just the name of some new pony in town. It was like Berry was trying to keep her from saying who he was.”

Armored shook his head. “Well, it’s probably nothing. But we have nothing else to go on, so find out where she is and question her anyway.”

Thinking quick;y, Nick stepped forward, saying “Sir, I’d like to go with the Sergeant, if you don’t mind. I’ve got a few questions for this ‘Berry Punch’ myself.”

The aging pony gave a short nod. “Very well. The rest of you, same routine. Keep your eyes peeled, we’re bound to stumble on something sooner or later.” They all saluted, but just as they turned to leave they were stopped by Armored for one last thing. “And, um…” He cleared his throat. “Y-you all might as well all steer clear of Sugarcube Corner...I've uh...already cleared it…” The guards all stared at their commander confusedly. “...Dismissed!”

Author's Note

I uh...I kinda had a booboo...sorry about that. My cousin infected me and I have been seriously out of my mind delirious for the last two days. I hope you all don't hold this against me. I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless...