Chilly Filly 2: Hellectric Gluebaloo

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"Hang on a second, is there somewhere she can rest?"
>You see a shudder run through Pinkie's body.
>"Don't you get it, Anon?"
"Get wh-"
>"This is it."
"What do you mean?"
>"They've even released their hold…."
"Pin-"
>"Are you happy?"
"Am I-"
>"I'm not talking to you."
>She looks at you, suddenly calm.
>No, not at you.
>Through you.
>"Hello. I know you all can hear me, even if you can't directly show me. It's been a good run, I know some of you are less than pleased with the way that some things turned out. That's okay, so am I."
>She looks at the ground, and then back up.
>"I don't know exactly the moment that the end started. Well, I guess everyponys' end starts at the beginning, but…"
>She lets out a sigh.
>"I can't tell you what happens there."
>She hoists Twilight onto her back with strength you didn't know she really possessed.
>"All I can really tell you is that some ponies don't come out alright."
>She lays the unicorn down in the bed.
>"You can look away after this if you'd prefer to pretend that won't happen. I wouldn't blame you."
>A glass of water is removed from the closet, the top wrapped in aluminum foil presumably to keep it fresh.
>"Here you are."
>Twilight isn't moving.
>Pinkie handed it to you.
>You set it down on the bedside table.
>"She'll pull through."
>She forces out her hoof, giving you a light tap on the ear.
>"Would you look at that! A cupcake. And it looks like it has your name on it, aren't you a lucky little filly!"
"Pinkie, what-"
>"Please enjoy that. This is to you by the way, Anon."
"Okay."
>"I really wish I could've spent more time around you, but things don't always work out the way you want them to."
>She smiles, her mane still a deflated mass.
>"Goodbye, Anon."
>She walks into the bakery itself, that is to say the portion with all of the equipment she uses to bake the pastries.
>The door clicks beside you.
>You can hear an oven door open.
>Something clicks in that moment, and you gingerly set the cupcake down on the table before running around the shop and trying the back door.
>Locked.
>You quickly improvise, grabbing a bread knife.
>If you can just saw through the locking mechanism…
>You move the knife back and forth with all of your might.
>You feel no give on the presumably very hard locking mechanism, but you keep at it at speeds you didn't even think you were capable of.
>You can feel progress in your motions, the metal groove you've begun to form is starting to feel like less of an indentation that helps you hold your place and more of a sharp dip.
>Your teeth are beginning to ache, your jaw beginning to seize up.
>But you can't quit now, not when somepony is in trouble.
>Somebody…
>Halfway through, as far as you can tell.
>It's been almost half an hour as far as you can estimate, but sometimes perceptions don't match reality.
>There might still be hope for her.
>You clench your teeth harder, letting out a guttural yell as shards of metal pierce your gums and tongue.
>Finally, the mechanism gives.
>You shove the door open, rushing over.
>Not that oven, not that one…
>Oh.
>The lighting might just be…
>You pull open the door and are struck immediately with a wave of something that smells sweet and gamey.
>She's probably been gone for at least a good fifteen minutes, and before that she was long past any chance of saving.
>She's scalding hot, and you barely knew her, but she was one of the few mares that showed you kindness here.
>You pull her body out of the oven quickly, burning your hooves on her.
>Her skin is blackened, her fur singed off and her mane frazzled back into it's original form, though half of it comes off when you move her.
>You hug her close.
>For a second, she's burning hot after all. You grab a pair of oven mitts and try your best there, but it doesn't feel right.
>No shit, you guess…
>Your tears falling sizzle on impact with her chest, making little aerial tracks of steam.
>You can't let anyone else in the house see her, neither one of them is in the state for such a thing.
>You guess the task falls to you…
>The burial.
>You walk past an unopened shipment of frostings and into the back area.
>Dig with your hooves.
>Don't stop even when you're cold.
>Is that enough?
>You haven't even broken ground yet.
>But dammit if you're not going to try-
>"Anon!"
>Oh fuck, you-
>Feel something pulling you away.
>"No."
>Looking back, you can see your doppelganger dragging your ass through the show with a somber expression.
>"I don't know much, but we did learn about frostbite and hypo t-thermia."
>So she knows what you were-
>"I don't know what you were doing, but there's no way in Tartarus it's worth dying for."
>You growl.
"You don't know that. You don't know anything. Where did we go on our first grade trip?"
>"What's a grade?"
"The apple orchard! The fucking apple orchard, with big tractors and lots of fucking wasps for us to gawk over! You don't fucking remember, do-"
>A hoof silences you.
>She mouths something out to you.
>You try to say 'what?', but your mouth is full of hoof.
>She produces a pencil from her ear and writes down 'they hunt by sound' on a cupcake wrapper.
>Something large gets blown through the door, but just like before it dematerializes, leaving nothing but blood.
>The door is completely blown off of its hinges.
>"Sorry about that Pinkie, I'll pay you back."
>Twilight walks over to the two of you, sizing you up.
>"We've been having some trouble with those ones for a few weeks now, haven't we Clover?"
>You look around, confused.
>"Oh not you, get with the program. She actually likes the name, so she gets to keep it."
"I… need to show you something."
>"Hm?"
>You lead Twilight out back to the charred body.
"She climbed in the oven, I tried to saw open the door but I didn't make it in time."
>Twilight gets very quiet.
>You start to see little black dots all around you.
>Rotating your head slightly doesn't see them following your eyes, so you assume they're part of the environment.
>You open your mouth, but you can't get a syllable out before your teeth slam shut.
>Twilight's pupils are shrunk to tiny black dots.
>She looks at you.
>You feel lighter than the air.
>Your body is far away.
>Your vision is tinged in grey.
>You find your mouth is free again, and yet you can still feel Twilight's grasp on it, tight as a drum.
>You try to vocalize distress, but you don't see her responding.
>You're high up, and yet you're on the ground.
>Holding up a hoof, you can see through it. The bone, the veins and arteries carrying blood to your organs…
>Your recently repaired leg bones…
>If you get there early, will it be the right time?
>Heaven is just waiting, so put your hand into mine…
>She's finally going to do it.
>The sad thing is that it isn't even anything you've done this time.
>You tried your best to save her.
>The best you can figure is that this state is a sort of backup of the body.
>Maybe she's taking you out to put Pinkie in.
>After all, you haven't been quite kind to her since you've arrived back here.
>Not that she deserves kindness…
>You're about a hundred feet up now.
>You can see League and some other filly on the ground, waving around some sort of clear bottles.
>Huh, that other filly…
>You pass into a cloud, but you could've sworn there was something familiar about her.
>If you had any control over the rising, you would travel over to those mountains and look down from above.
>You concentrate, and find that you can't.
>Oh well.
>There's no cold despite the height that you've accumulated, but you almost wish there were.
>This feels strangely unnatural.
>You're not entirely sure why, you've been in planes before.
>Maybe it's the near-vertical ascent.
>You do see something burning on the outskirts of the Everfree.
>Hopefully it's Zecora's hut.
>She did nearly get you killed, after all.
>You watch the sky as you ascend.
>It gets less blue and more black, eventually.
>Looking into the cosmos, you can see that this world is structured much like your own.
>The moon orbits the planet, and the planet orbits the sun.
>You do wonder what Celestia's rite to power is if not the sun though…
>Does she draw energy from it?
>You suppose it hardly matters now.
>Where do you go now?
>You're still being drawn in by something as far as you can tell.
>You can actually feel the suction now…
>Well, wherever it is can't be worse than this rotten world.
>You will admit to probably missing a few things, though.
>League, the Twilight you convinced to come with you.
>Oh, there's some of your memory.
>You guess being knocked out of your body was good for something after all.
>The stars are quite a bit closer than they were on earth…
>Based on what you can tell from here, there are at least a few that would be colonization distance, at least if were in the Goldilocks Zone and the Equestrians had developed a means to reaching them…
>How beautiful, and with no retinas to ruin you can stare at them all you want.
>Something shimmers before you.
>You can vaguely see shadow that doesn't line up with the pinpoints of light beyond the your vision…
>Some kind of portal, or a gateway?
>Heh, that was a good episode.
>Suddenly, you're glad the contents of your actual organs haven't carried over.
>Otherwise, you probably would have pissed and/or shit yourself.
>It…
>You avert your eyes.
>You don't even want to think about what you just saw.
>But you're being drawn straight towards it…
>This is it.
>You're entering the Doom Dimension.
>This is the end.
>You think back on it all.
>Quite a few regrets…
>None of it matters now though.
>In evanescence you will be…
>Well, nothing.
>The little feeling you had left starts to be taken from you as It draws you.
>You relax.
>There is a part of you that wants this, after all.
>You wish it didn't have to be this horrifying, but whatever fits the bill.
>You close your eyes.
>Suddenly, snow on your hooves.
>A cold bucket of water splashes on your back, causing you to jerk up.
>"I was seconds too late to gather hers."
>You shiver.
>Your fur has begun to freeze to your back, penetrating the relative thickness of your coat effectively.
"If you could have gotten it, would you have chosen her over me?"
>She looks at you coldly.
>"No, of course not. You're my little filly, and sometimes little fillies need to be taught that their actions are of consequence."
>You're cold and wet, and it's starting to get very uncomfortable in this weather.
>Swallowing your pride, you hug Twilight's left foreleg.
>"That's the little filly I know and love. Come on, let's get a hot bath running for you."
>She hoists you up onto her back.
"B-back at the castle?"
>Your teeth are chattering.
>"Well, no... it probably isn't safe there."
"Is it safe anywhere?"
>"No, not really..."
"Celestia wanted you to go after the two groups that are doing this."
>She chuckles.
>With a flash, you're teleported to a high mountain peak.
>"On my morning flight, I saw this. I found the same tattoos on all of the mangled corpses that I found on those stallions that were trying to kidnap you."
"Golemancy?"
>"No, it would appear they sent something nastier. I would be happy about it if there were any trace of Applebloom, she's gone. No body."
"You don't think..."
>"I do. And I've given them twice the potential mana batteries for whatever nefarious device they're building. With what they've done to us before and the incredible amount of energy that could be generated with three imperfect elements... well, it leaves a pit in my stomach."
"Well, you can take care of them, right?"
>"That's a no. Even with all six Elements of Harmony, I wouldn't barge in there. Knowing Pinkie, I'd better keep a close eye on the others. Get them all in a cabin somewhere up north, she only would've done herself in if the alternative were unspeakable..."
>You shiver in the cold, and Twilight takes notice.
>"Right... well, let's get that bath running and you can just sit down and have yourself a mug of something warm while I sort this out."
"I wanna help."
>"You're use-"
>She pauses, considering her words.
>"It's too dangerous."
"Too dangerous to even talk over?"
>"Well I-"
"Just hear me out, okay?"
>She nods.
"When you finally do launch that attack, we're going to need as much firepower as we can get."
>She laughs heartily.
>"You're not suggesting I let [i]you[/i] go up against those things, are you?"
"Keep the one with the mind of a filly out of the picture, but yes. Maybe take her up to that same cabin, I dunno. Point is, I've felt useless since I've arrived here, and honestly the safest place in Equestria is right beside you. Plus, Applejack owes me a few favors."
>"What on earth do you mean by that?"
>You grin despite yourself.
"You'll see."
>...
>It's been a few weeks.
>League showed up yesterday, along with another filly that shares your skin.
>She's been mostly silent, and League won't say much either.
>One of her hooves is badly damaged, you can see the stitches all the way around it.
>The other filly is missing a leg entirely, walking around on a prosthetic one.
>Asking her about it only prompted a cold glare.
>She shares the same markings that you do, though.
>The burn marks in her flanks.
>The thinness.
>You wish she would speak to you, now is not the time to withhold secrets.
>Twilight, [i]your[/i] Twilight has recovered for the most part.
>When the alicorn was busy, she helped you with some preparations.
>The remaining elements of harmony have been taken to an undisclosed location along with Clover.
>You went back into Applejack's barn and rooted around for a while before finding your baby, a rifled Remington 870.
>Applejack wasn't as kind to it, removing the trigger guard roughly to allow it to be fired with hooves.
>It broke your heart to see it in this condition, but after she pointed it at your face...
>How long ago was that exactly?
>Weeks? Months?
>Time lost meaning when you slipped under the veil.
>In any case, you're glad to have it back.
>There was only one round left, a standard rifled slug.
>You and Twilight took it back to the castle and unearthed your box of milled sin, using the carefully disassembled slug to painstakingly make 24 more.
>Carving in the grooves was probably the worst part, but you needed all the accuracy you could get.
>You've seen League and the other filly playing around with some bottled you suspect to be molotov cocktails, so it's safe to say they're planning for something big too.
>The contraption that makes the firing mechanism for your now equine body work is as stripped down as you can get it, and still it's unwieldy and uncomfortable.
>You could fire the weapon with your forehooves with a more simple mod, but you'd need to prop yourself up against a wall to do so.
>If you're going where you think you're going, you're luckily likely to have that luxury.
>The alicorn speaks few words to most of you.
>You can hear her working deep into the night while you snuggle up next to your chosen surrogate.
>The look of betrayal when she first saw the two of you hugging was terrifying, but instead of killing her lookalike in a fit of rage she simply slumped low to the ground and walked out without a word.
>You've only fired off one of the rounds to make sure it works, as much as you'd love to test out more you feel you're going to need every last one.
>And then, the night before the silent agreement of ending this all comes to fruition, you get a knock at your repaired chamber doors.
>Wary at first of course, you wiggle out of Twilight's embrace with some regret and cock your 870.
>You still dread sleep, Luna will only visit you once in any given night but as time has gone on she makes it more difficult to kill yourself.
>Last night, it was a belly-flop through a tiny hatch and into an air-conditioning fan.
>The night before it, you had to choke yourself to death with a banana.
>And tonight, before you burst awake covered in sweat...
>It was jumping into the brandished knife of your own mother.
>God you miss her, you two didn't agree on everything but she always cared for you.
"Soon..."
>You scooch across the wall to the door.
>You can feel the power in your grasp, more power than you've ever felt since you became this.
>If God himself were to come through that door, you feel you could loose a slug straight through his skull and kill him.
>"A-Anon? It's me. League."
>Well, mimics...
>You crack the door, sticking the barrel up to the crack and prompting a yelp.
"Oh, sorry..."
>"'Tis an understandable concern. Do you want to go for a midnight walk with me?"
"In this weather? I don't think this storm will ever let up. It's stacked almost ten feet high out there, Twilight murmured something about wendigos."
>League grins.
>"The severity is exactly why it's important that I show you."
>Opening the front door into the icy tunnel that connects you to the rest of Ponyville, you tentatively follow League, firearm strapped to your back.
>The snow tunnels are pitch black at this time of night, so you have to rely on sound to track League.
>Truth be told you're terrified, you can handle seen threats.
>But the unseen have a tendency of making themselves unpredictable.
>You walk for what you estimate to be about thirty minutes, truth be told the cold isn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be, you just haven't traveled anywhere for quite a while without the aid of teleportation.
>Must be a similar effect to that of an igloo, a thick layer of packed snow creates insulation and allows for warmth to become trapped...
>"Anon, we're here."
"Right."
>You can see her jostle her wooden bat out from her mane in one swooping motion.
>Wait, how can you see?
>A timber wolf growls at the end of the tunnel, its green eyes illuminating your friend and you.
>League grips the bat with clenched teeth, charging the beast.
>You frantically push yourself up against the wall, struggling to chamber a round.
>Dear lord, your friend is going to die if you don't do something.
>Funny request from someone who thought about killing god not an hour ago, but it seems to work out as you can hear the satisfying notching sound.
>You look down the barrel at the small ironsights, lining up your shot with the skull of the still very dangerous creature.
>The crack rings out, piercing the cold muffled sounds of the tunnel like a bolt of lightning through a clear summer's day into a group of Stacies at a picnic.
>Your sensitive ears are ringing and hurt like hell, and you're almost positive you missed because League is still charging.
"League! Get the fuck away!"
>She smirks back at you as she drops the bat into her injured hoof with a painful grimace.
>Just like her mastery of sliding into third, it would seem League has also mastered the act of sliding on ice and snow.
>The timberwolf's wooden fangs pierce the frigid substances right behind her as she slides past its jowls.
>You see her screaming something as she raises her bat, but the blast has deafened your ears too much to make it out immediately.
>Flatter cup?
>Saturn's Luck?
>Batter up.
>The hoof swings with supernatural speeds, impacting the creature and splintering its leg.
>With skills that you helped her develop on that forbidden diamond, she slides under bite after bite, cutting down two more legs before the creature finally collapses to the icy ground, snarling.
>League gives it a wave with her good hoof and spits out a wad of something onto its face before taking a fresh stick of gum out of her mane.
>"Three strikes..."
>Her windup is flawless.
>"And..."
>The Timberwolf looks up at you, seeming worried for the first time since it's tried to have filly for dinner.
>"You're out."
>She smashes the bat into its head, splintering the entire body into shards of wood.
>At the center, a green crystal of unknown origin.
>"You'd better hang on to that, it'll light our way home."
"I-I...  how?! I leave you for so long and then I come back and you do this shi-"
>She wraps you in a tight hug.
"I-I've missed you too kiddo... but why didn't you talk to me?"
>"The other filly needed my help the most, her circumstances left her even more broken than you..."
>She looks down at the tunnel floor.
>"But I am sorry, I should've said something."
"It's in the past now. Can you tell me who exactly taught you how to do that?"
>"I sort of... died while you were gone. Twilight brought me back from beyond the veil just in time, but something else came back with me. At first I only used it to dull the pain, but later on I figured out that the more pain I allowed into my body the more it gave back to me. So I started with forward kicks and the like, but they felt weak. And then, I remembered exactly what I was good at..."
>You reach up and ruffle her mane.
"That's for damn sure. So, did you lure that Timberwolf out here just to show me all of that?"
>She giggles.
>"No, silly. Of course not. I was just going to crack some ice, but it would appear that we were being stalked."
"Lucky we both came prepared then."
>"Oh sure, like that stick could've done anything to that thing."
>You gesture to the ceiling, where a hole has gone straight through the snow, revealing a pinprick of Moonlight outside.
"Pierced right through its ear."
>You point to a larger fragment on the ground, the stick that used to be the mockery of a canid ear.
"If I had gotten a better shot, I don't think you would've been able to grab all of the glory."
>...
>"What I'm asking you to do has a decent chance of getting you killed."
>You rub the sleep from your eyes and yawn.
>"League and I cased the internal operations of the facility, it is very likely that neither I nor my double will have any access to our unicorn, or in my case Alicorn magic. That is alright."
>Twilight spreads out her wings, you can see a luster beneath the feathers.
>"For me, these. I've been practicing flight patterns for weeks in close quarters, so I should be able to fly close to something and launch these into it like a caustic spray."
>"Anonymous, I trust your shooting is satisfactory?"
"Yes, ma'am."
>"Good. We'll need every shot to count. Equip the bulkier gear as soon as we reach the elevator down. Can you use this relic, Twilight?"
>She says the final word with a sneer.
>"Is this what I think it is? I thought this was lost centuries ago..."
>"Well, it's right in front of you, isn't it?"
>"If it's the real shield, you don't mind if I get off a few test shots on it, do you?"
>Twilight sighs.
>"Make it quick."
>Your surrogate sets the shield down after receiving it, focusing in on it once everyone else has backed up.
>You can see her horn pulsating with magic, likely drawing in all that she can.
>The excess energy surrounding her horn is approximately the size of a large grapefruit before she lets it loose.
>It deflects harmlessly off of the shield, careening about two-hundred feet right past the Alicorn's ear before crashing into the snow.
>She doesn't even blink.
>"League, the bat?"
>"In my mane. You've seen what I can do with it, I won't let any of you down."
>"I always forget about that filthy earth pony habit..."
>She looks the cripple dead in the eyes.
>"You shouldn't be coming, but you're being allowed to because your counterpart put in a good word. You do understand that there's a greater liability with your decreased mobility, don't you?"
>The green filly's gaze betrays no emotion.
>"Yes, ma'am."
>Twilight nods.
>"Long-distance teleportation is a bit more complicated with groups. I'll teleport you all in groups of one, starting with League here."
>There's a blinding flash and the two vanish.
>You feel a hoof tap up against you.
>"Hey, thanks for looking out for me back there."
"If you're anything like me, I wouldn't want to deny you a good chance to finally get revenge on one half of what's been fucking us over."
>"Heh, isn't that the truth."
>The two of you share a moment of silence as Twilight is taken.
>"I'm sorry for being rude. I'm just... jealous that things worked out better for you."
"Was it the mill?"
>"Yeah, I didn't think it would fucking matter. One in a million the damn thing would spark, right?"
"Yeah... what happened to you after that?"
>"I was comatose, they threw me in a hospital. When I woke up, League had killed herself and I had to go to this hellish asylum. Everyone had put two and two together, so they treated me like dogshit. Everyone but Lyra, and then she got fucking shredded in the process of getting here, and I don't even think this was the correct destination. I think she absorbed most of the force, I came out without a scratch and I'm told your back legs were shattered."
>She takes out a long blade of grass and lights it with a match. You're about to call her retarded when you realize that it's burning differently.
"Can I have one?"
>She laughs.
>"It's just grass, ya tard."
"Hey, if I'm a tard then you're a tard too. Maybe more so for smoking grass."
>She giggles.
>"Yeah, maybe. If we don't make it out I guess I'll tell you that I've always wanted another copy of me to talk to, somebody who can comfort me like no other, but you already knew that."
>You smile.
"Knowing something and hearing it with your own ears are two very different things. Thank you."
>"Okay, now you're just starting to get gay. Cut that shit out."
>She says it with a chuckle though.
>Twilight pops back up.
>"Sorry, had to deal with some sort of electric rat. Which one of you is first?"
>Both of you point to the other.
>...
>"You fucking smoked Pikachu? Christ Twilight."
>Her teeth are gritted.
>"It. Was. Trying. To. Electrocute. Me."
"You're supposed to catch them, did you not get given any Pokeballs?"
>"What in the everliving fuck is a Pokeball?"
>Even the other Twilight is chuckling.
>You're glad you sperged out about Pokemon to her that one time.
>"Let's just start the hike."
>...
>You're shivering, and the wind cuts down to your bones.
>There's no blizzard like in Ponyville here in the middle of the wilderness, but there's still steady snowfall and no trail.
>You and Anon are probably the coldest, given your reduced fat reserves.
>League notices this and pipes up.
>"Twilight, why the heck didn't you just teleport us up to the top like last time?"
>Twilight's response comes out as a half-scream.
>"Because, last time we tried that I nearly got killed, and you did."
>Anon takes this to be the opportune moment to slip and fall, busting open a lip.
>Despite everything else, you can still see her fighting back tears from the pain.
>"OH WOULD YOU LOOK AT WHAT WE FUCKING HAVE HERE, THIS FUCKING CRIPPLE THOUGHT IT A GOOD IDEA TO GO ON A GODDAMNED HIKE THROUGH THE MOUNTAINS! JUST ANOTHER DAILY STROLL FOR THE ABLEISM SMASHER, HUH?"
>You offer her your hoof, which she takes with her good leg and stands back up quickly.
>She's using her good leg to stop the bleeding, and you doubt she can succeed in much more than standing without it.
>You walk over to Twilight and whisper a bit in her ear.
>She nods and hoists the little filly up onto her back along with her saddlebags full of incendiaries and god knows what else.
>"It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. You just want this all to be over, huh?"
>"Y-yes..."
>She strokes your new friend's mane lovingly.
>"It will be soon, for better or for worse. Then we can all rest peacefully."
>"B-but what if there isn't anything beyond the curtain of death?"
>Alicorn Twilight sighs and walks down to the rest of the stopped group.
>"Little one, you are correct. Death is the final challenge, one which none may defeat. If you ever find yourself in its clutches, struggle with all of your might."
>...
>The view from up here is phenomenal.
>No time to enjoy it though, before you can even get a second look everyone is being crammed into a tiny elevator car.
>The ride down takes longer than you think it probably should, and you're beginning to suspect that someone didn't shower this morning.
>Before you can chance a guess at who, the door opens.
>It's carnage.
>There are pony corpses strewn all over the floors, their blood running in rivers underneath the grates below.
>Labcoats, janitorial garb...
>Unicorns, earth ponies, pegasi...
>All killed indiscriminately, but by what?
>You can see Twilight test out her magic in the dark, the purple glow quickly fizzling out.
>"Dammit. At least we expected that, everypony suit up, and quickly. Whatever did this might still be nearby."
>Twilight gently sets down Anon, opening up her own saddlebags.
>You hold out your right forehoof, allowing her to attach the single-hoof loader with a few knots.
>It's a bit of effort, but you manage to load in a slug to replace the one you shot last night.
>"Fun time last night?"
"League took me out to show off a bit. Have you seen her go with that bat?"
>"I haven't yet, but I'm excited too. You have such nice friends, Anonymous."
>She ruffles your mane.
"S-stop, you're embarrassing me..."
>She chuckles.
>You can see the Alicorn calling forth multiple very dangerous looking weapons from what you're guessing is the Equestrian magic system's equivalent of a Bag of Holding.
>A silvery sword with very ornate runes carved into the hilt and blade.
>A small set of armor which she actually takes over behind you and helps Anon put on.
>The metal shrinks, and the filly looks a bit frightened until she realizes it's just fitting to her small stature.
>The shield from before, which she passes off to your Twilight.
>The straps lash out, binding the heavy thing to her foreleg.
>It shrinks down to a walking size.
>Clearly concerned with the shield being a bit small, Twilight lifts it up and finds that it extends about three feet in every direction when held upright.
>"I never dreampt I would see one of the old arms, much less be asked to hold one in battle..."
>The Alicorn straps a scabbard to her side and sheaths the deadly looking sword from earlier.
>Simply looking at that blade makes you hurt imagining what it could do.
>You hold up your gun and with rear up on your hind legs, clicking off the safety.
>League shakes her messy mane, her bat falling out onto the ground and quickly being scooped up by a hoof.
>Her balance is a bit off, but so is yours.
>At least you can use the leg with the loader attached.
>Anon holds a pack of matches in her teeth, saddlebags open and rag-stopped bottles sloshing with unknown chemicals.
>"Is everypony ready?"
>You all nod in silent agreement, pressing on into the darkened and bloody complex.
>The first enemies you encounter are golems, but League makes short work of them with her impressive speed.
>Spit on their backs, and they crumble. A task that is trivial when you know what to look for.
"Is that all they've got for us?"
>"No."
>You look down the hall to see something standing on two legs.
>Everyone tenses up, getting ready for an intense encounter.
>It comes barreling down the hallway.
>You laugh when you see what it is.
>A fucking gondola with a knife duct-taped to its side.
>Twilight ruins the fun by cleaving the poor thing in two with her massive sword.
"Aww..."
>"Yeah, what a fucking killjoy."
>"I... am I the only one seeing that these things are capable of killing us? It had a knife on it!"
"Britcuck."
>You and Anon hoofbump.
>Twilight groans and you press onward.
>You don't encounter another enemy that you've seen before in this world.
>Everything else is something you know, but only from on earth.
>A fat man in a gimp suit drops from the ceiling.
>On close inspection, the bright red latex is adorned with the pattern of a suit and there's a fluffy red hat on his head.
>'Naughty.' is printed across his chest.
>You let out another lengthy laugh, but this one proves to be dangerous.
>The whip it wields cuts through the concrete walls, and you assume would do more of the same to your skin.
>You cringe as the thing evades your first shot.
>Your shot isn't off, but it fucking cuts it in two with its whip.
>You see the two halves blow out chunks about fifty yards down the hall.
"Anon, can we get an area of effect on this thing?"
>She nods grimly, sliding out the pack of matches, and with a bit of flourish flipping the pack in the air to catch a match on her tongue.
>Putting a hoof down on the pack that now rests on the ground, she strikes it and sets fire to one of the bottles.
>The rag burns bright, and she chooses to grab it with a bit of that hoof magic you never quite got the hang of.
>It flies high, falling down directly on fat Father Christmas's whip.
>The bottle is cut in two, but the burning rag still ignites all of the fluid within.
>The sounds of his screaming are haunting covered by that gimp mask, so you take the opportunity to silence them with a bullet to the skull.
>Everyone steps back until the fire finally dies out a few minutes later.
>Apparently there was no foresight to install a sprinkler system, but you're glad you aren't alerting whoever is running this to your presence just yet.
>"We're close, I can feel it."
"I didn't think a mare of science would go off of gut feelings."
>"Shut up. I'm talking about getting back to Sweetie's location, rescuing her is our first priority."
>A bipedal figure of short stature drops from the air vents.
>Two tufts of hair extending out at 45 degree angles.
>You only know of this face from the history books.
>A flurry of projectiles are all thrown in your direction.
>Everybody hits the ground except for the unicorn, who holds up her shield.
>The projectiles don't embed themselves into it, but bounce off onto the ground below.
>You knew it.
>Miniature stars of David.
>Ann Frank is trying to murder you with ninja weapons.
"Will that force-field that comes up every time you get hit really hard come up here?"
>"I don't know, I've never tried it in an environment that forbids unicorn magic. The spell I used to setup-"
>She parries a few stars.
>"-the field requires unicorn magic, but it might be innate."
>She picks up what you're putting down, charging.
>As her hooves beat the ground, you can see the blade in her mouth burst into flames.
>"Be Celestia's mighty hoof, creature: come back to where you came from!"
>Ann lets out a scream as her legs are relieved of their torso.
>From behind you, you hear Anon call out.
>"Stand back."
>A bottle flies high, landing on the twitching corpse and setting it ablaze.
>Twilight gestures.
>"Coordinates are more difficult without access to my automations, but this should be the hallway where we last saw her."
>League speaks up.
>"That door, certainly."
>The door opens with no issues, and closes after you.
>"Oh, m-my. Well, y-you're right in time for the show. S-sit back and grab some p-popcorn."
>A unicorn mare steps out from behind a console.
>And then, an earth pony mare.
>Both of them look exactly like you and Anon, just older.
>And more scarred, with...
>Actual cutie-marks.
>"This man right here, tell us your name."
>"O-oriental."
>"Full name, please.
>"Oriental Blitz."
>"He's been running a foal-testing initiative for the past fifteen years nearby. Well, after we kill him..."
>Oriental's head bursts into enough gibs to give Running With Scissors an orgasm.
>"We're going to begin work on rehabilitation."
>"Oriental! Oh my Celestia, what have they-"
>You can see the cold glare in that unicorn mare's eyes.
>The same cold glare you've given Twilight before.
>And you recognize that voice.
"You. You're the motherfucker that spoke out of that golem's speaker right after you crushed Peanut."
>"G-golemancy is my expertise! I'm just a hired mercenary."
>The unicorn smiles at you.
>"You can have this one if you want."
"Could you hold her down for me?"
>"It would be my pleasure."
>A magical field extends around the mare, constricting her painfully.
>You pull a shard of crystal you've been saving out of your mane and stab it into her throat.
>And again.
>You continue to stab it deep in until you no longer hear her gurgling, and her eyes are vacant.
>"Dear lord! Now that was a display, wasn't it Absinthia?"
>"I'll fucking say."
"Wait, were you the one I saw in my dream? The one who gave me the coordinates to this place?"
>"Correctamundo. The distress of a filly sends out magical resonant energy on a specific wavelength, as you can see on this chart."
>She gestures to a chart that you don't understand.
>Sure as hell doesn't use a format you know of.
>"Your weren't supposed to be here though..."
"Why's that?"
>"Those monsters out there, they were meant for [i]those two.[/i]"
>You look back, and see who she's pointing at.
>Both Twilights.
"Oh, really the unicorn is great. The alicorn-"
>"Anon, I'm gonna assume your name is Anon."
"I've been going by Anonymous to dispel confusion since we have two Anons now."
>"Right, Anonymous. I've killed hundreds of Twilight Sparkles. Alicorns, unicorns, even a few earth ponies. This isn't a rule with an exception, every last one of them was causing a filly some sort of horrible distress. She might seem fine now, but give her a few years and bam. Fucking hooks through your eyeballs."
>"Anonymous, kill her."
>"See? She knows the truth."
"That's the alicorn."
>"Same difference. Well, do we have a deal or not?"
>You look back at Anon.
>She shakes her head.
>"Hurting someone for something they aren't guilty of is wrong. I think you two should leave."
>For a split second, you can see the mask slip on the unicorn.
>You can see the rage in her eyes, pure and primal. The disdain for all mares sharing the name Twilight Sparkle.
>You know that something awful must have happened to her, and your friend just pushed her buttons to the limit."
>But then, the mask flutters back down.
>"Yeah, I'm gonna have to keep you little fillies out of the way for a few minutes. Wouldn't want you to get hurt, or god forbid get some blood on your coats."
>Before you can blink, you've been teleported into a barred cage on the other side of the room.
>You can see Applebloom and Sweetie Belle, both unconscious and tied to a large metal disk.
>Metal clashes as magic meets sword.
>kicks meet shield.
>Absinthia and the unicorn mare fight with a unique ferocity.
>Two mares so full of burning hatred that you can almost feel it boiling over and fueling every strike.
>You know Twilight is no stranger to combat, but this isn't anything like either one of them have faced before.
>They had their magic in every battle before, and now they're up against other ponies.
>Other ponies that might be better than they are.
>You check your hoof, your 870 is still attached.
>You need a way to get out with a single shot.
>Maybe...
"League, can you beat apart these bars in a single swing? Just one coming off should be enough to let us out."
>"No, but I think I could beat open the door."
>You and your double stand back as she winds up, and with a [i]thwoom[/i] and a sickening squeak the metal lock bends to its breaking point.
>With enough mobility to ensure that you won't get an undodgeable act of retaliation, you line up a shot in your ironsights with the unicorn mare's neck.
>Breath.
>Fire.
>A spurt of blood tells you that your target has been met.
>From the dying pony's horn, a field sprouts, covering Absinthia's quickly rushing body.
>The two smile at each other.
>And then, the earth pony nods gravely.
>Field still burning bright, everything you have is not enough to stop the mare's slow approach toward the two fillies on the metal plate.
>Twilight even fires off a bolt that punches a giant hole in the material beneath her, her magic seemingly back.
>The mare is unfazed as she carries her friend.
>And, as she bleeds out, hugs her tightly up against the metal plate.
>Twilight shudders. You've never seen her like this in all of the time you've been with her.
>She gallops up to the pair, blinding light erupting from her horn.
>Your ears are ringing.
>You've been thrown back fifteen feet to the opposite wall along with the rest of your party.
>Everyone but Twilight.
>She's holding steadfast, stood with a barrier holding back what resembles the sun itself.
>"No... distance... escape... find... portal... or... all... records... perish."
>Unicorn Twilight seems to get it, rushing over to a console.
>"This is it! It's a veil-gate generator, we can use this to get out of here!"
"Is there any time to get anyone else? Is this whole world going to die?"
>"No... time... all... go..."
>Twilight hurriedly works to get the gateway operational, and you look back at Twilight.
>Her horn is beginning to crack.
>She doesn't have long now.
>"Anonymous..."
>You wrap your forelegs around her, her entire body slightly cold.
>A tune starts to play in your head... https://youtu.be/Cg4CCy2kbuA
"Mother don't worry, I killed the last snake that lived in the creek bed."
"Mother don't worry, I've got some money I saved for the weekend."
"Mother remember beng so stern with that girl who was with me?"
>You're crying at this point, full on sobbing, so you miss a few verses.
"So may the sunrise bring hope where it once was forgotten."
"Sons are like birds, flying upwards over the mountain."
>You can see cracks forming in her horn, but you need to finish this.
>You work at the verses, your heart ripping out of your chest.
>Despite everything she's done to you, she cared for you.
>Protected you.
>And this final act of hers...
>Proves that this entire time, she had nothing but your best intentions in mind.
"Mother, remember the night that the dog had her pups in the pantry?"
"Blood on the floor, and fleas on their paws and you cried till the morning..."
>With the final two verses, you hug her with a vice-like grip. You know it'll be the last time you have the pleasure of feeling that soft alicorn fluff, downy and fuzzy at the same time.
"So may the sun-rise bring hope where it once was forgotten..."
"S-sons are like birds, flying always over the mountain..."
>A wing reaches down, stroking your face.
>"Anon! We need to leave, now!"
>You look into her eyes, doused with tears and the biggest smile you've ever seen on a pony present on her face.
>"T-thank you."
>And with that, you let go and run as fast as you can into the gaping gateway.
>Into the unknown.
~Fin.