Princess Luna had dealt with a lot of problems in the past. These issues ranged from guiding a newborn country along with her sister, to toppling a tyrant, and even detaining a mad god of chaos. However, seeing what lay before her, Princess Luna was presented with a new problem. One that she had not had to deal with in the past, nor console anypony about.

Suicide.

The unmoving and dull eyes of her ex-prisoner stared back at her from the jail cell. The strange device that Ellura had constructed was clutched in his hooves, and was pointed towards his head. Blood splattered the wall behind him. Though he had been an enemy, Luna couldn’t help but cringe at the sight of a pony choosing to end their lives so abruptly.

“Do we have any clues as to how he got his hooves on a weapon?” Luna asked her thestrals, who were investigating the scene of the suicide.

“None that I can see, Princess.” Dusk, a large thestral with a scar across one of his eyes spoke up. “The other prisoners were locked up at the time, and even then they were stripped of their weapons. It’s a strong possibility that he could have concealed it somehow. He is a unicorn, after all.”

Perhaps, but Luna wasn’t so sure. “He did not seem to be particularly adept at magic, much less a spell that would conceal a weapon from us.” Even then, why wouldn’t he have used it earlier? Something didn’t sit right with the night princess.

“Well he had to get it in here somehow, I checked him myself and he most definitely did not have a weapon on him when he came in here.”

Something clicked in Princess Luna’s mind.

“The door.”

“Princess?”

Luna whirled on Dusk. “The door to the cells! When you came down here, was it locked?!”

“N-no Princess, I didn’t really think about it until—” Dusk’s eyes widened.

Luna nodded, glad her guard finally understood. “We believe we have a traitor in our midst. Someone went against my orders and killed Overlook while we slept last night.” She trotted over to the door in question. “We want the prisoners questioned, and the guards, and everypony who was in the building when the prisoners were put into lockdown. Do you understand me? We cannot afford to have treachery ahoof.”

Dusk saluted his Princess, barked orders to some of the lingering guards, and dashed out the door.

At the same time, a familiar cyan mare burst through the door. “Princess! You have to come outside, it’s—” Her eyes fell on the bloody cell, and the dead stallion who stared back at her. Rainbow covered her mouth with her hooves, her eyes going wide.

Princess Luna stepped in front of her, her face serious. “Rainbow Dash, listen carefully. Something truly terrible has befallen us today, but as of right now it is important we don’t share this news with anyone unless absolutely necessary. We do not wish to cause chaos. Understood?”

After Rainbow got ahold of herself, she fidgeted nervously in place. “Uhm, well...I think it may be a little too late to prevent that.”

Princess Luna cocked an eyebrow. “How so?”

Princess Luna could hear yelling as she followed Rainbow Dash up the stairs. She pushed open the door with her magic, then had to blink a few times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

Lots of ponies were gathered outside of the city hall, yelling and gesturing at the purple unicorn who stood at the podium.

“Now if everypony could calm down, we can resolve this quickly and easily.”

“Calm down?!” One mare from the crowd shouted. “This coming from the pony who trapped us here!” Several yells of agreement.

“Hey!” Pinkie jumped forward onto the podium, looking down at the crowd. her face was contorted into a very uncharacteristic frown. “Don’t be such a meanie pants! if Twilight hadn’t ‘trapped us in here’, we’d probably all be hurt or much worse!”

“Does ‘much worse’ entail slowly starving to death in a magical dome cut off from the rest of the world?! You not only trapped us in here with you, but made us fugitives as well!”

More yelling in agreement from the crowd.

In a sudden flash of blue light, Princess Luna appeared on the stage. “What is the meaning of this?!” She bellowed, causing the ponies to flinch. “You dare to attack the ponies who saved your coats? Have you no shame?!”

“I have a lot of things Princess Luna, but shame isn’t one of them.” Luna looked down to see an elderly stallion at the front of the crowd. “I think I know an effort to retake the throne when I see one.”

“We beg your pardon?” Luna asked in a quiet tone.

“Oh don’t play coy with me. Your ‘protection’ setup is really a way of getting ponies of your own to start your New Lunar Republic yet, don’t think we’ve all forgotten what you tried to do when you first came back. Jealousy doesn’t disappear like a candle being blown out.”

Luna blinked a few times, trying to process everything he just said. He face lowered, so a shadow fell over it.

“You think...I am trying to take power…?”

“It’s pretty obvious to everyone here. Am I right?!” The elderly stallion gestured back to the crowd, and there were several low murmurs.

The elements quickly rushed to Princess Luna’s side as streams of water streaked down her face from under her mane.

“You’re a horrible old stallion.” Twilight growled at the elderly pony, who only snorted in response.

Princess Luna suddenly broke out of her trance and slammed her hooves on the table. “Does this,” she gestured to her injury. “Look like an attempt to take power to you? Do they,” she gestured to the elements, who were looking on the tired side themselves with heavy bags under their eyes. “look like they are trying to rule over you? We are trying to help you, you dense fool! If you believe us faulty, then go hoof yourselves over to the real monsters standing just on the other side of that barrier and see how that turns out!”

The stallion threw his head back and laughed, stepping forward. “Help us? Please! if you’re trying to help us, then where is our food? I don’t exactly see any food falling from the sky!” The stallion gestured to the sky.

Just then, a whole mess of barrels fell from the sky and buried the old pony alive.

They opened as they landed, and a whole mess of apples spilled out, along with a slip of paper.

Twilight blinked, then levitated the piece of paper over to them with her magic. She noticed a note, and read it aloud.

"Appleloosa sends its regards. Hope this'll last for a while.
Best wishes,
Gilgamesh"

Twilight levitated the piece of paper to the side and cocked an eyebrow at the crowd of ponies before them expectantly, who had suddenly gone silent.

One pony holding a torch in the back spoke up, “Oh.”

They say if you spend too long in a place, you start to hate it. This described my feelings for Canterlot pretty well, as even staring at it from afar still brought up old feelings of rage I thought I’d bottled up years ago. Celestia set my prison up in her gardens, her own personal gardens mind you, like I was some kind of piece of artwork. That class of little fillies had been the first other ponies I’d seen in almost four hundred years. Was that Celestia’s schtick? Defeat an enemy after they were backstabbed by someone they trusted, then put them on display for others to point and say ‘that’s what not to do’?

Whatever, the past was the past. Thinking about it now only brought up headaches I’d rather forget, and I’d need a clear mind if I was going to take down another Ellura facility. Watchful Overlook said the next facility was in Canterlot, but if I knew Ellura, they wouldn’t put something so valuable to their operations in plain sight. Canterlot was the most likely city to be attacked in the case of strife with neighboring nations, so they had to have some sort of protection in that sort of a worst case scenario.

My eye wandered to the mountain that Canterlot was attached to, and my brow furrowed in thought. Could they have built their facility into the mountain? It would make sense. It was large and they tended to need massive facilities for their...’experiments.’

I shuddered at the word in my head before I jumped from my perch atop the trees, landing on the ground with a solid thud. I’d need to get into the city first, which meant there was a whole lot of climbing ahead of me.

“What are you doing?” I turned around, raising my launcher. Bronze Mane stood behind me, eyebrow cocked. Upon seeing my weapon however, he backed up a few steps. I lowered my launcher and huffed.

What am I doing? What are you doing? I thought I told you all not to follow me.

“I did anyways.” Bronze Mane trotted past me, gazing up at Canterlot mountain. “You heard Twilight anyways. You can’t do this on your own.”

I wasn’t intending to. I stomped past him. Don’t follow me this time.

“You’re not going up to the city, are you?”

I stopped, turning my head to cast a glance back at him. Well, I was planning on it.

“Probably not a good idea.” He levitated a pair of binoculars out of a saddlebag he had strapped to his side. “Here, take a look for yourself.”

I took the binoculars from his magical grip before raising them to my face. They zoomed in enough so I could see the Canterlot gates, ponies in Ellura outfits stood on either side of the doors. Ponies in similar outfits flitted through the sky above Canterlot as well, patrolling.
I growled and handed the binoculars back to him. What the hell is Celestia doing, letting them run Canterlot now?

Bronze Mane tucked his binoculars back into his saddlebag. “I don’t know if that’s the case exactly, but they seem to have a tight patrol on the city. The odds of you getting in without being noticed are...pretty low.”

I continued walking anyways. Then I’ll force my way through.

“By yourself?”

By myself.

Bronze Mane galloped past me, before standing in front of me. “Nemesis, think logically. These ponies aren’t meant to be taken lightly. They have the support of Princess Celestia, and they probably have hundreds, if not thousands of their troops up there, not including Princess Celestia and the B.O.W.s they might have locked away in their facility.” He jerked his head back towards the mountain. “What are you going to accomplish by going up there and getting yourself killed? And even if you survived, you just smashed through a bunch of ponies Princess Celestia trusts. That doesn’t go far in showing her that you mean well.”

I took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. I knew he was right, but denying myself the chance to do to Ellura what they had done to Ponyville was proving to be difficult. Fine Bronze, what do you suggest then?

He smirked. “We take another route.”

Bronze Mane lead me around the side of the mountain, then stopped when we arrived at the area below Canterlot. A massive waterfall fell from Canterlot’s base, feeding into a gigantic pond at the bottom of the incline.

“There’s a cave system beneath Canterlot!” He shouted over the roar of the waterfall. “There’s a lot of tunnels, but one of them leads out behind the waterfall! You can go in that way, and get into the Ellura facility from there!”

You’re a genius. I praised, my good mood renewed once more.

“I know!” He grinned. “But that alone won’t be enough, you’ll need to bust through some walls to get into the facility! I know that’s not a problem for you, but it’s going to be loud! I’m going to go topside and cause a scene. Hopefully that’ll draw some attention away from you!”

I looked down at him, speechless. I...you don’t have to do that. I can take whatever they throw at me.

“Please, it’d be a pleasure!” He grinned again. “Besides, I need to get back at them myself!” I gave him a questioning look. “Later!” He shouted, before making his way towards the railroad tracks leading up to Canterlot. “Just get in there, and bust down the wall when you hear the alarms ringing! I’ll meet you back in Ponyville when it’s all said and done!”

I nodded then waited until he was out of sight. I crouched and leaped. Sailing through the air and the waterfall, I landed in the entrance to the cavern system with a crash. I was slightly wet, but other than that I was fine.

I wiped some of the water off before looking around. Thankfully, Nemesis’ body came with built-in night vision, so I had no problems seeing in the dark. The cavern itself was huge. Stalagmites hung from the ceiling far above me, and tunnels branched off from the room in nearly every direction. I picked one sloping upwards and began to my trek.

Remember when I said the caverns were huge? That was an understatement, they were massive. I’d crisscrossed at least several other paths on my way up, and even more tunnels branched off from those paths. The entire thing was a confusing labyrinth. Luckily, I seemed to have chosen right. I stopped at the edge of a massive chasm. An unfinished and winding railroad was the only thing between me and the other side. I stopped only for a minute to briefly ponder why ponies would make such an unstable railroad before I jumped. I shot my tentacles into the ceiling and used them to swing myself over to the other side. As I landed, however, the ground made a rather uncomfortable cracking sound.

Shit… ! I jumped to safety just as the ground underneath of me gave way. The debris fell into the dark abyss below, and I didn’t hear any sound afterwards. Probably wouldn’t kill me, but I’d rather not make that entire trip again.

After another few minutes of walking, I came to a rather large room with dozens of crystals embedded into the walls. One particular side of this room, however, was bare and smooth. I ran my hand over it, prodding for weaknesses. Is this what he meant? How did he know this was here? The sound of a dull alarm blaring from the other side of the wall cut my thoughts off. I narrowed my eye. Later. Right. I waited for a few more moments then brought my fist back. With a grunt I punched through the wall, straight through to whatever awaited me on the other side.

Light filtered through the cracks in the wall, and I gave one last punch. I fell through into a metallic hallway. Red sirens blared on the walls, and I could hear someone’s voice over the loudspeaker. “Code red, this is not a drill! There is a hostile on the premises! All anti-aggression units mobilize!”

Damn. Whatever Bronze Mane did, it must’ve been pretty bad. I broke into a run and ran down the flashing red hallway, then emerged into a large central hub. Multiple paths branched off here, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to destroy all of this before I was found.

I need help. I dug into my trenchcoat to fish for a token, but something else nearby caught my eye. A glowing sphere, only about a foot and a half in diameter. An image of a mask was reflected in its translucent surface. Curiously, I reached out to touch it. I could feel the connections branching off into the ether. This item was connected to another Equestria. One I hadn’t met yet.

I weighed the options of summoning someone I didn’t know, but time was of the essence. I tried pulling the orb to me, but it resisted my pull. I frowned. I don’t know who you are, but I need your help. I pulled harder. This time, I got results.

The Orb’s light suddenly flashed blindingly and as it faded a larger, dimmer light appeared, with details becoming clearer as the light itself faded.

Within a few seconds the lights had both vanished completely leaving behind a being, human in appearance, but with a mask over its face and an almost tangible aura as malevolent as Pyramid Head’s.

Suddenly, I wasn’t deep in the innards of an Ellura facility. I was in the Everfree Forest again. The figure of Pyramid Head poised above me, his weapon trained to cut straight through me. I needed to stop him before he could hurt me or anyone else. I reacted immediately, lashing out with the butt end of my rocket launcher. I aimed to knock him off his feet.

My weapon got nothing but air. The figure dodged the attack and was now off to my side. I turned, aiming with my fist to smash him in the ground, but he dodged again and my attack hit and cracked the ground at my feet.

I snarled and rushed at him again, but he surprised me this time. He caught my attack, and I only had time to briefly think Oh shit. before he tossed me. I flew, smashed straight through a wall, and then rolled to a stop.

I punched the ground in anger, raising my head to glare at him.

“You know,” the figure tilted his head as he spoke. “It’s rather inconsiderate to summon another just to attack them.”

What? I blinked. The vision of the forest and Pyramid Head faded, replaced by a broken wall and a tall, dark, masked figure staring down at me.

My head whipped left, then right, as where I was and what I was doing came rushing back to me. Oh… I shook my head, the last of the lingering vision faded as I stood. Debris from the broken wall rolled to the floor around me and I rubbed my head. I’m really sorry about that, I thought you were someone else. You two have a similar...presence.

“There are four similar to myself, but only one as...aggressive. I’ll assume you refer to the King of Silent Hill?” He asked, offering a hand.

If you’re talking about Pyramid Head, then yes. I accepted the offer, and was back on my feet once again. And yes, I know. A friend of mine referred to you as ‘the triad of madness’. I’m afraid our acquaintance set the bar of my expectations for you when he attacked me in the Everfree.

Crossing his arms across his chest, he said, “The ‘Triad,’ as you call it, is the term only the wielders use. It started as a misnomer, as there are four of us, so we adjusted the term to suit individuals.”
Noted. Sorry about the misunderstanding. I turned away for a moment to look around at the split hallways. As for why I summoned you, long story short there are a group of ponies in this dimension who are using things they cannot understand or control. They’ve been around for almost as long as I have, and they’ve committed atrocities pulled straight from your worst nightmares. I turned to face him again. Right now, we’re underneath Canterlot. They have a facility built into the mountain where they test their ‘findings’. It’s massive, and I can’t destroy it all on my own. I’d elaborate more, but I have a comrade above drawing their attention away, and we’re on a timer.

After explaining this, he started chuckling darkly, his expression hidden behind his mask.
“This will be most interesting.”

I grinned a bit myself. I’m going to head deeper in and destroy whatever research and assets I can find, do you think you—

“I’ll just follow you until you have something specific you require,” he interrupted.

I nodded. Alright then. Stay close, I have no idea what they have down here. With that thought, I ran down the left hallway, the footfalls of my newly summoned ally close behind me.

It wasn’t long before we came upon a staircase spiraling downwards into an inky blackness. Down. Why is it always down?

Gazing down beside me, Jack stated sagely, “Because it would be distasteful to have to go up into hell.”

That earned him a chuckle. Very true. Rather than take the long way, I simply took a step and fell. Darkness enveloped me, and not long afterwards I bent my knees with the impact of my landing.

As the sound of my feet reaching the bottom faded, an eerie red glow appeared from the dark, now above, as Jack descended slowly after me.

I took a second to gaze around, trying to peer through the shroud of blackness. I didn’t have to peer for long though, as one by one lights flickered on underneath of large, liquid filled tubes.

Words failed me for a moment.Each tube was populated by some otherworldly thing. Some contained hybrids of pony and something else I couldn’t recognize. More of them contianed the creatures that had attacked me at the castle, ‘Lurkers’ I had taken to calling them. Other tubes contained things I had never seen before. A Manticore with rotting flesh and eight sets of eyes stared at me, while another contained what appeared to be a dead unicorn corpse.

“Nightmares, indeed,” Jack said, “Far from the worst I’ve seen, having been present at the birth of Albion, but undeniably among the worst any mortal would ever encounter.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself at the sight. And they’ll just keep getting worse. I don’t know what the hell they think they’re doing, I began to make my way towards the door to the back of the room. But if they think they can control any of these things, they’re dumber than I though— The entire room lit up red with the sudden sound of an alarm. The computer consoles next to some of the test tubes lit up with exclamation marks.

“Evacuation protocol initiated. Specimens released.” The tubes containing the blinded creatures I had seen in the Everfree opened first, and they were quick to flit into the darkness. The tube containing the unicorn body was next. Upon opening, the body began to twitch and spasm violently until it burst into the air with a scream. Its horn lit until the glow covered its entire body. Strangely, the glow actually seemed to be leaking from its wounds, and its eyes were hollow with the color of its magic.

Drawing his weapon, a sword with intricate patterning and a gap along the blade, Jack calmly said, “It looks like they wish to fight. Should we oblige them?”

I nodded, drawing my Rocket Launcher from its place on my back. Let’s.

A Lurker was first to act, with a scream of bloodlust it leapt forth from the shadows to my side. I raised my launcher, and it quickly latched onto it, trying to bite my weapon. They’re blind! i shouted to jack. They react to sound!

Slicing into what appeared to be his third or so, Jack shouted back, “I noticed. There also seems to be more than were here originally. They must be getting in somewhere, but the door is clear.”

As he spoke, I noticed the unicorn beginning to glow brighter as it aimed its horn at Jack. I quickly pried the Lurker off, then threw it in the path of the beam it fired.

The Lurker screamed and writhed as it fried from the attack, eventually slumping to the ground, dead. I shot a tentacle to grab the unicorn as well, but it vanished in a flash of magic and reappeared on the other side of the room. It tilted its head at us before it began to glow again. Several orbs of the same color as its magic flickered into appearance in the room, then steadily began to grow bigger.

I don’t think we want to touch those, I advised as I began to make my way back towards the cleared door. Let’s go!

“No!” Jack shouted. “They want us to go that way. I’ll use the door, you find another.”

There isn’t another!

“Then make one!” Jack shouted before making a break for the door. The sound of his metal boots drew away a portion of the Lurkers.

I growled, sparing a glance at the unicorn. It seemed to smile at me before I charged for the wall behind me with a roar then smashed through into a parallel room. The magic in the room before was still expanding, beginning to leak into the room I’d just charged into. I ran ahead and tried to distance myself as far from that thing as possible.

They were expecting us. I should’ve known better. Were they really counting on their own people telling us? I shook my head as the flickering lights of machinery turned into the sleek walls of another hallway. Ugh, does this place go on forever?! I quickly choose a direction as the path split off and broke into a run. Monitors became more frequent on the walls here, showcasing camera footage of other rooms. Some were empty, yet riddled with bloodstains. Others had something moving in them, but the darkness was so thick I couldn’t make out much beyond that.

Finally, I slowed to a stop as I came across a rounded dome-like chamber. On the other end were a massive set of steel doors. Monitors spanned the length of the room in a single line. Lights sputtered on as I entered, casting eerie shadows about the room. The monitors showcased row after row of some sort of pods, lining the length of a long tunnel that led to a door on the far side.

My eyes wandered back to the massive steel doors. I thought Overlook said this was a B.O.W. testing facility. Why would they have so many of those things in storage here?

I made my way to the doors, stopping just in front of them. I put my hands on both and pushed. They resisted at first, but with a snarl and another mighty push, the doors swung wide open with a groan. They led to the tunnel I had seen on the monitors, complete with the massive amount of pods on both sides of me and the door on the far end. I frowned.

Huh. I’m sure this can’t possibly be a trap. I said sarcastically as I cautiously stepped forward.

Nothing.

I crept forward again, a bit faster this time.

Still nothing.

I had sped up to a walking pace as I neared the opposite end of the tunnel.

Huh. Maybe I was wrong.

As soon as I thought those words, a massive metal barricade descended from the ceiling, blocking the exit. A similar one descended from the end of the tunnel I had come from, blocking the way I’d come in.

...or not. The pods began to shake and open, revealing the glowing eyes of the B.O.W.s within. I clenched my hand into a fist as they all directed their gazes at me.

Well, I suppose this was inevitable. Then they all cried at once, and surged forward with the voice of the legion.

As I ran down the corridors, releasing bursts of Will to slow the B.O.W.s, as I later came to know them, I noted, just how clean everything was around me.

Sterilised, even.

My run stopped, however, when one of the unicorn creatures, an Archaic, appeared before me in a flash of light. As soon as it appeared, it charged its horn and pointed at me with what would normally be an unavoidable shot in the corridor.

Thankfully, I’m not what passes for ‘normal’ by any mortal definition. I timed it until the Archaic released its beam before using my ‘Rush’ Will ability, displacing myself to immediately behind it. I swung my blade across its back, severing the spine.

It stumbled briefly, though mostly from having an outside force impact it, and flashed away again,.his time, it backtracked in the tunnel.

Before it could charge up another attack, I released a small ball of Will at it. The Archaic easily overwhelmed the blast with its own magic, but it couldn’t prepare for the arc that followed from the Sword of Aeons.

I shattered its horn and, it opened its mouth. But nothing came out as it burst in a magical conflagration which slowed the Lurkers and allowed me to get away.

Reaching the end of the corridor I was met with an open door. THis couldn’t have been more obvious if it was marked by a neon sign reading ‘Trap Here’.

However, with nowhere else to go, I entered. I set off some kind of motion sensor, and the door slammed shut behind me, leaving me in a small five metre by seven meter rectangular room with one wall almost entirely replaced by a kind of glass. A shutter behind the glass lifted, revealing a room with several ponies in white coats on the other side.

The one closest to my position started, “Subject has entered the room, we will begi— Wait. Didn’t the file say Nemesis was around twenty hooves tall? This… um… It’s only around fifteen.”

The one farthest responded, “There’s no explosive propulsion device with him either.”

“Stow it, both of you!” the one standing closest to the glass said. “If nothing else, we have before us an opportunity to test the new one before setting it after Nemesis. Now, if you would kindly dispense with the pillow-talk, we can commence with the test.”

The scientist ponies pressed buttons on a console on the other side of the glass. One of the walls to the room I was in began to move aside.

“Introducing agitation variable.”

From within the darkness of the new entrance to the room, a deep growl emanated. I narrowed my eye, and gripped my blade tighter as the room began to shake somewhat violently.

“Test subject has acknowledged the… variable. The test begins… now.”

With a thunderous roar, a massive Cragodile charged into the room. This one looked different. Other than being larger than the average one I had seen, its eyes gleamed red with no pupils. Its teeth were sharpened enough to appear perfect for flesh-ripping, and, overall, the abomination looked more like a tank than an animal.

Quickly, I used my Will to propel myself several paces back just as the monster lunged forward. Its jaws snapped into the space I had just occupied.

Before it could take another shot at me, I swung the flat of my blade at its bottom jaw. The Cragodile snapped his jaw shut and lifted its head enough for me to let a shot of Will at it.

Were it any other of its kind, it would have been dead. But this one simply slid back to the other side of the room, much to the surprise of the scientists.

“The variable uses some sort of...energy. Not one like I’ve ever seen.”

“Interesting. Can you analyze it?”

“The readings on the test subject can’t pinpoint what it is. They registered it as a physical attack.”

“Hmm…”

As they spoke among themselves, I swung my blade and sent a wave at the stoney abomination.

My mark was off, however, and instead of catching its eyes, the wave ran along its back and skinning it almost to the tail.

The abomination roared in agony at this,. writhing and stomping. The flesh along its back bulged, and from it sprung four hydra-like heads which hissed at me.

“Subject has mutated into critical form,” The leading scientist interjected as the abomination stomped one foot on the floor. I could feel the ground below me shift, and I had enough sense to move out of the way as an earthen spike stabbed through the floor in my previous location.

“Terrestrial manipulation appears to be functioning.”

I heard lead scientist behind me laugh. “Good.”

Surrounding myself in an aura, I levitated. The initial head lost sight as the extra heads restricted vertical movement.

One of the heads tried to attack, only to meet a sudden stop as I rose a little further and used my free hand to punch with my full force. The blow sent a violent tremor through the beast, resulting in a gristly crunch that came from the prehensile neck before it went limp.

The abomination seemed unabated as it turned around and smashed its tail on the ground. The room shook violently again, sending a spiderweb of cracks in the dividing glass, much to the rather suppressed concern of the scientists.

“You told me the glass was reinforced.”

“It is, sir! Not even the test subject could break through it in the tests we ran!”

“Then what’s it doing right now?” The scientist at the console could only gawk in fear and bewilderment. “Finish it, you imbecile! We don’t want either of them getting in here!”

As the second new head also attempted a lunge. I released my hold of the Sword of Aeons with the tip directly in the path, letting the abomination impale itself. I pulled my blade out again before gravity took it in range of the initial head’s attacks.

As the final two heads seemed to wisen a bit they attempted a twin attack, sacrificing maneuverability for speed. either aware enough to notice the glass behind me.

“Wait… stop! Stop the attack!”

The scientist madly pushed buttons. “I can’t! It won’t listen to the command prompts anymore!”

As the glass shattered, I gave a hidden smirk. I severed the spines before allowing myself to drop onto the body, and drove the blade between the rock-like segments over the neck... But I was unable to end the fight as it thrashed, throwing both myself and the blade loose. I tore away a large segment of its hide before I landed on the ground, however.

As I recovered, I took note of the scientists. One lay motionless in a growing pool of his own blood, having taken the worst of the shattered glass. The other was also lying with large pieces of glass in his fore legs, but well and truly alive, if the hyperventilation was any indicator.

Finally, the lead scientist in the room was backed up between two filing cabinets, muttering, “No, no, no,” repeatedly.

Grabbing the injured one by the throat, I channeled an inordinate amount of Will into him in the form of lightening and threw him in with the beast as it calmed down. I watched as it snapped him out of the air, only to lock up as energy arced out of it before I opened its throat while it was paralysed.

Turning back, the last scientist started screaming as I calmly approached, taking off my mask and extending it toward his face.

Rip.

Tear.

Crush.

Throw.

Repeat.

The mantra repeated itself in my mind as I dealt blow after blow to the enemies around me. I had long since abandoned my trench coat. It had been cut off of me during the fight, and tendrils now sprung forth from me, whipping and piercing anything that came within range.

I saw a flicker of movement separate from the enemy mass and directed my attention to it immediately. A Lurker tried to jump me from above, but was quickly punished for its decision as it was intercepted by my tendrils and then thrown back at its fellow Lurkers. It sailed past them and hit the wall with a satisfying crunch.

I heard the next attack before I saw it, a rather large B.O.W., a minotaur that looked like it belonged in the morgue. It snorted at me and charged, horns lowered to impale. I caught the charge then threw the minotaur’s head back.

It stumbled, and I brought my fist back and connected it solidly with its face. I could feel the crunching bones under my fist and took an extra moment to watch as the minotaur crumpled to the ground. I was fairly certain I had broken its skull.

I only had time to grab my launcher, which I’d dropped in battle, and fire it an another incoming group of rotwolves before the next wave was on me.

As impossible as it seemed, the enemies appeared to be thinning out. However, my struggle was far from over. One of the capsules in the back of the room finally opened, and two rather large wings extended from their prison.

Birds now? I snarled. However, the being that emerged from the pod wasn’t an ordinary bird.

In a burst of flame, one of the largest phoenix I’ve ever seen took to the sky and made its presence known. It flew a good distance above me, but even still I could feel the heat. It radiated off the avian in waves.

It didn’t seem to target me specifically; it spewed forth a stream of fire at the walls and at some of the pods, quickly catching most of the room on fire. An Archaic blinked into existence in front of me.

I narrowed my eye, glaring at my two opponents.

The phoenix seemed to finally notice me. It banked hard and breathed a steady stream of flame at me. I jumped to the side to dodge the attack then shot a tentacle out of my hand and caught the phoenix by the talon.

It squawked in surprise and tried to pull away from me, but I yanked hard and sent it crashing into the earth. I approached it, but felt something searing hot impact my side. I flew backwards, rolling as I hit the ground. My right shoulder and abdomen had a seething burn mark that still glowed with a faint green sheen. I glared at my attacker, an Archaic, who reared on his hind hooves and shot again.

I lifted my launcher like a shield. I felt the attack impact, but the beam was pushed to the side. I raised my launcher again with the muzzle pointing towards the Archaic this time, and fired.
Rather than teleporting, this Archaic took to the air levitated itself. It charged up for another attack, so I took the opportunity to grab the still injured Phoenix with my tentacle and drag it over to me.

I ignored the burning for now. I waited until the Archaic fired, then brought up its ally as a shield. The phoenix shrieked as the attack hit it, and, once it stopped moving, I threw the remains to the side.

The Archaic merely tilted its head before blinking out of existence again, but I had anticipated that this time. I use my tentacle to grab my launcher near the center of the room, and pointed it at where he’d teleported to the last few times. I fired.

The Archaic appeared, just in time to be blown to kingdom come as the rocket found its mark. A horn imbedded itself in the floor near me.

My chest swelled with my breathing, my mind was burning as I surveyed the damage. B.O.W.s laid strewn about the room, multiple chunks of walls and floor were missing from the force of the explosions, and blood had been splattered everywhere.

My vision was tinted with a shade of red. I clenched my fist, I threw my head back, and I roared.

“STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARS!” I didn’t care if every Ellura member in the facility heard me. Let them know that I was coming for them.

I relaxed, almost falling to the floor as the room spun for just a moment. My tendrils, whipping in the air around me just a second ago, now hung limp as I scooped my trenchcoat off the floor and tried shrugging it back on. Claw marks tore fresh shreds into it, and the beam I’d endured put a fresh burn mark in the front of it, right over my chest.

I think I could live with a ruined trenchcoat. At least I was alive. I approached the door I’d meant to exit through when I first entered. I was thinking about lifting it when the barricade lifted itself.

“Hazardous biological breech contained. Please proceed with your scheduled routine.” I ran my hand over my head and finally forced the door open.

This room looked almost like some kind of massive lift. The ceiling was high above me and looked as if it could be opened. Sunlight streamed from around the corners of the door on the ceiling, so I know it led outside. They keep a small army of B.O.W.s underneath Canterlot, right near a lift that leads to the outside? Are they inviting a biohazard outbreak?

I heard a door on the other side of the room open, and I turned to see Jack standing in the doorway. His mask hid his emotions, but the gaping holes and entire missing segments in his robes showed he’d not been idle.

Good to see you’re alright. I thought they’d laid out a trap for you or something. I eyed the damage to his robes.

“It was intended for you,” he deadpanned.

I watched him for a while, mildly curious, because, in the brief span we’d been talking, he seemed to have changed a little.

It wasn’t long before it dawned on me that his robes seemed to be repairing themselves as we spoke.

I wish I could say it was any better on my end. They had a horde of BOWs stored in the tunnels. Why, I’m not sure, but it’s really unsettling that they were expecting us. We were told about this place by one of their own, someone we took as a hostage back in Ponyville. I’m not comfortable with how well informed they were about this attack. I gazed up towards the ceiling again. Or how close to the surface all these BOWs were being stored.

Looking back the way he came, then the way I came and then to the exit, Jack started, “I’m not entirely sure they were expecting us. Given I was caught in a trap that you were to be pushed into by sheer numbers, I don’t think this tunnel was meant… Oh.”

Yeah, that’s what worries me. That tunnel wasn’t meant for a trap.

“It is rather cunning, I’ll admit,” Jack continued, as though he hadn’t heard me, “I might use this myself, when I raze my own version of this world.”

Raze your own—? My question was interrupted by a swirling dark mass that suddenly appeared between and behind us, back towards the enemies we’d just faced. What the hell? I tightened my grip on my launcher, taking several steps back. Jack, are you doing that?

“No, I use Will magic fueled by the void. This is closer to the Void itself funneled through another medium.”

I narrowed my eye. Well I don’t want to stick around to find out. Let’s get the hell out of here.

“Sherrryyyyyyy…”

My eye widened. Wait...that sounds like...

“SHEEEERRRYYYY!”

A massive taloned limb reached out of the swirling blackness and grabbed Jack, wrenching him in with a sudden, unexpected force.

Then two tons of massive, infected flesh smashed straight into me.

Author's Notes:

Woo! Update! It's been forever!

This chapter and the next are a crossover with rikusorasephiroth's The Masked Face of Fear. Go read that if you have the chance!

I want to thank both him and my editor Doccular 42 for putting up with me for the past week or so, I've been busy and my schedule's been all mixed up. @.@

I would've finished this double dose of chapters in one big chapter update, but I like to keep my chapter lengths at least somewhat consistent so you guys know what to expect from me when you read. I don't want to overwhelm you with massive chapters, some people don't like that.

ANYWAYS! Next chapter won't be nearly as long of a wait! See you all soon!