The slideshow was fun. A little weird, but they were Pinkie’s family and friends. Who's to say it wasn't just a coincidence that all of them were Military? Not everything had to be some kind of grand overarching conspiracy, thought Applejack whom personally hated those things. They were confusing, silly and often didn't make a lick of sense. Why go through all the trouble of setting everyone else up to do something when you could do it yourself? Her blood ran cold though when she saw the video of this 'Uncle Raiden'. It was clear as day, yet the girls were oblivious: the claws, the subtle lines of his jaw, that he wasn't even wearing any damn shoes! Not to mention the sheer inhuman grace and skill of his movements as he sliced that watermelon into perfect wedges, it was all so obvious by the motion, the photo barely capturing his true identity. How could her friend even be vaguely related to such a....monster.

"See what I mean?"

Then her friends clapped. Clapped. Applejack felt sick for a few moments before regaining her composure. She had to be delicate, the farm girl loved her friends dearly but couldn't just let them applaud a killer like this; it made a mockery of everything she'd been through. "Can we talk about something else Pinkie?"

"But Applejack darling, this Raiden is such a marvelous swordsman and so handsome...like someone out a fairytale," cooed Rarity, clearly love struck. Twilight on the other hand was mumbling to herself quietly, calculating how quickly he had to have been moving to get such precise blade strikes.

"More like a nightmare," Applejack mumbled, the normally relaxed girl tugging on her hat.

"What was that AJ?" asked Pinkie Pie, the girl’s wide blue eyes boring into her with curiosity as she came intimately close. It was kind of spooky how quickly and quietly the girl could move. Just appearing out of seemingly nowhere. Applejack hated to be a downer --especially soon after Pinkie’s story-- but she also couldn't lie, partially out of her nature but also because she was terrible at it. Sighing, she mentally prepared herself.

"I said 'more like a nightmare' Pinkie Pie," it seemed to go over ok though, just confused looks from the girls and no tears.

"That's a little mean AJ. I mean I know you like boys who are all big and tough bu-"

"Like him? Pinkie I wouldn't 'like’ him if you paid me a million bucks," she mentally winced at the venom in her tone, it was pure reaction that time. All she'd wanted was to move the conversation forward and now it was going to get ugly from the way the three gasped in shock.

"Now that was uncalled for Applejack, you don't know the man in the slightest, he could be the kindest, gentlest-" Rarity began only to be cut off by the stony look on the farm girl’s face.

"Cut the horseshit Rarity, he's a damn Cyborg," she had wanted to be nice and gentle, but Rarity’s patronizing tone and the 'Disneyfication' of a murdering bucket of bolts had thrown it out the window. You mess with the bull and you get the horns, after all.

"Uhh?" This was rapidly turning into a confusing day for the Princess. First knights now 'seye-borgs'?

"It's a machine shaped like a person Twilight, only they put a person’s brain in it to make them better at murder," Applejack snapped. Twilight nodded slowly, not sure whether to believe her statement and uncomfortable with how angry her friend was. Not even the Equestrian Applejack had ever been this mad!

Saving her wounded pride --and making a note to design Applejack’s next order in the frumpiest manner possible-- Rarity approached her friend, "Applejack dear, I respect that you feel strongly on the subject of the....fully disabled, but don't you think you should calm down? Pinkie is taking it rather badly." She gestured to the seemingly catatonic girl.

Pinkie was like that sometimes, it was rare but she got this way if something (somehow) managed to pierce through her nigh-impenetrable barrier of happiness. In all honesty, they'd been meaning to talk to her about it, but with all the day-to-day fuss of life and the infrequent magical occurrences, they'd never really managed to broach the subject. It had also happened a few months ago when there were rumors that Sugarcube Corner would close after a devastating robbery, she'd been 'deflated' and quiet for a few days until the money mysteriously reappeared inside the locked cafe, with not a single note missing. It had been rather puzzling, but Pinkie cheered up immediately.

"No dammit, I'm sorry Pinkie but I can't just sit there why you act like he's a normal person when he's some kind of killing machine!"

Arching an eyebrow, the now-uncomfortable Equestrian Princess spoke her mind "How do you know he is a 'killing machine' Applejack, besides the sword I mean?" This was going into territory she really wasn't comfortable with, arguments and fights weren't new to her, but this seemed more heated than anything she was used to from her friends. "I mean you said you have a...rifle was it, in your house?"

"That's for the farm and dealing with varmints, not for chopping people into hamburger!" Applejack snarled, as she balled her fists.

Running a hand through her purple locks (all this stress would no doubt give her split ends) the fashionista gave a demure growl, Applejack could be so stubborn at times. "Now there is no need for that tone, as you no doubt know Applejack it's not just soldiers whom become cyborgs these days. In fact, my friend Sassy Saddles, her uncle was recently converted into one. Eighty years old and he can walk again, is that so bad?"

"You mean defying the natural order of things, becoming a damn monster?" Applejack grabbed a half-drunk cup of cider from the table, chugging it in her anger before slamming it back in its place. "Sounds like a deal with the devil if you ask me."

Whilst not exactly knowledgeable when it came to human intimacy, Twilight felt that holding her friend’s arm would instill the camaraderie she felt and hopefully calm the girl down, as long as she didn't grip too tightly of course. Thankfully her hypothesis was correct, the farm girl looking at her with eyes blazing. It hurt to see her like that. There was more to this then she was letting on, and even with the newly discovered differences between their worlds, her friends were still her friends and Applejack would never act this way unless something serious was going on.

"There is more to this, isn't it, Applejack?" her tone open and caring.

"Yeah" Applejack mumbled tugging at her hat, mildly noting that it was becoming something of a nervous tic for her lately.

Rarity placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder in a comforting manner, " Please darling, you can tell us, you are not usually this....harsh". She'd wanted to say 'Horrible' but felt it prudent to soften her choice of words.

"What about Pinkie?" the teen really didn't want to repeat her tale. She was made of stern stuff, but just couldn't bare the thought of talking about it more than once. Some wounds just went too deep.

Quickly waving a hand in front of the girl’s face to no response (save for her eyes noticeably drifting further apart)  the designer shrugged her shoulders, "Poor girl is in her read-only mode just like a few months ago, don't worry she'll pick it all up"

Taking a deep breath, the group’s 'voice of common sense' removed her hat and held it tightly, giving her hands something to do before she started drawing blood from her palms. Her preparations complete she began, " It was about three years ago just before Freshman year began. I didn't know it at the time but cyborgs had started becoming open for retail. If you had the cash you became one, there was no regulations yet you see? I'm getting ahead of myself. Anyway, it was before Freshman year and my Ma and Pa were in Denver, Colorado for the Western Stock Show for their anniversary. They loved it, or so I was told. Afterwards they both went to a bank, just to get a little bit extra out, buy souvenirs for the family and such alike. There was a robbery though. 'Cept they weren't no ordinary bank robbers, they were cyborgs.”

Twilight had a feeling she knew where this was going and didn't like it at all.

"Supposedly it went off without a hitch, no one struggled and they got the cash. Then something went wrong, one of the fellers decided he'd had enough of playing it safe and...and started killing. Anyone who got in his way, even his friends. They sent a S.W.A.T. team in and he tore the poor bastards in half , kicked the reinforced doors out and then threw the police van into the crowd. Took a chopper to take him down and he'd already killed my parents by then. In the end they wouldn't give me the whole story, some reckon the guy was hacked, I just reckon he was evil, pure and simple."

"...and then the PMC's started using cyborgs." mumbled Rarity as it finally dawned on her.

"Eyup, you wanna do some killing , buy a cyborg body" Applejack stoically grunted. "Oh sure they say they're just 'keeping the peace' but I've seen the videos on the net. They're just murdering anyone who can't afford their own gang of hired killers."

This world was far more complicated and dangerous than Twilight had first thought. Equestria was dangerous in its own way but this...this was terrible.

"He didn't want to be like this."

The girls turned to their once catatonic friend, now back in the world of the living. She seemed quite reserved for someone who had just witnessed their friend accusing a relative of theirs of 'being a killing machine'. "Uncle Raiden....he was in the Army and someone kidnapped him. Someone powerful, they hurt him, a lot. They made him into a cyborg against his will, he was a guinea pig you see. One of the first cyborgs ever. He has every right to be bitter and angry and want to hurt people, but the police wouldn't help him and neither would the army. I've seen it Applejack, he's so happy on the outside yet inside he's so very sad...like I can be sometimes. But he doesn't stop, he never lets it get him down. We went for ice-cream and people would whisper and point, but he'd just laugh it off and say it's because he's got 'nice hair'."

She embraced Applejack tightly, their shared loss forming a bond of sorts.

"I know you’re angry at them because of your parents, Applejack, but you have to learn to let it go, hating cyborgs won't bring them back."

Even within her friend’s tight hug, Applejack just couldn't extinguish the hatred burning inside, though with time it might extinguish? "I'll try Pinkie, I can't promise more then that."

With sniffles all around --and a fumbling Rarity desperately cursing that she forgot her waterproof mascara today-- the girls returned to a semblance of their usual selves: Calm, content, and happy.

"Oh and by the way Applejack, don't say any of that stuff around Maud, last time someone did that she broke their arm in five places."

Honesty was the best policy, but for future reference Applejack decided to keep her opinions to herself around Maud Pie.

-------------------------

Nestled within the comfy armchair of his study, the 'Old Snake' waited.

On reflection, he would admit he enjoyed himself. After the surprising little discourse with Fluttershy, they had re-entered the party together, his bearing more relaxed. This in turn caused his daughters’ friends to relax, and after several years of being guarded and cold for the sake of the mission --as well as the trauma he'd endured-- it was still relatively new to him to simply be himself in front of others. It helped that his little statement upon meeting them and some kind of talk between the girls had rendered him a 'cool dad' in their eyes, at least if a heavily inebriated Rainbow Dash's statement was true. Kids these days, couldn't hold their liquor even if you paid them.

Now it was nearing the end of the festivities and time for the 'sleep' portion of the sleepover. For this he was thankful, even opting out of the party games and minimal dancing (he thought he was bad, then he saw Twilight Sparkle....) he was starting to tucker out, his back had begun to flare up as well irritatingly. He still hadn't managed to place the M9 back in its hiding place either, too many damn people in the house. Being a father was hard.

Of course there was still something left to do, something which had came to him in a moment of serendipity whilst watching a particularly furious game of Twister in disinterest.

A knock on his door was followed by a grimace , this was it, Operation 'Parenthood' had begun.

---------------------------------------

Redemption was a curious thing. It was supposed to make one feel clean, reborn and new. Yet all it was doing was making Sunset feel hideously guilty. The 'old' her would’ve scoffed at the surprisingly dour turn the party had taken at times, or make some snarky comments about Pinkie’s 'interesting' father. She could even feel the urge to, which she always suppressed. These were her friends...so why couldn't she stop? Perhaps it was just old habits dying hard. It could have been Maud, they'd never had a particularly great relationship prior to her reformation. Her monotonous tone and geological obsession combined with her sister’s over exuberance and hyperactive personality had made them prime targets for social fu of the highest order. It haunted her sometimes that she'd relished making the older girl openly weep during the school day.

.....and now her (step) father wanted to see her. Alone. Well not entirely alone, Twilight had also been 'summoned' vis-a-vis a quiet word in their ears as they were entering Pinkie’s bedroom. The bubbly girl had shushed them out, if 'daddy' wanted to see them then she wouldn't interfere and the others seemed to be fine with it, he was just an ordinary guy right, no magical monsters or world ending threats; so why was she so worried? Besides asking to speak to them individually...and that Twilight had been in there a veeeeery long time.

Sunset released her breath when the first true friend she'd ever had exited the dim room, shutting the door behind her in an act of modesty, "What was it like, was he angry? Annoyed?"

Grinning slightly, Twilight wiped at the dampness in her eyes, "No, not at all. He was lovely in fact. He thanked me for getting Pinkie back together with the others, saying that she'd been down after...." she trailed off pensively.

"After I broke them all up and then ruined their school life," it was blunt and harsh. It hurt. In a way she accepted it. She’d been a horrible pon-human being and was trying to make up for her past transgressions.

"Don't beat yourself up over it Sunset, you were different then, alone and lost, but you've got us now", the Princess of Friendship proved her credentials admirably with a simple hug that seemingly chased any worries away.

"I know, I just-" Sunset sighed at a sudden loss for how to explain her feelings. Things were easier as a pony, moods and subtle information conveyed in ways that the human form simply couldn't manage. The fingers were cool though, in a kind of weird 'body horror' way that is.

"It'll be ok Sunset, he's Pinkie’s father, I bet he wouldn't hurt a fly."

-----------------------------

She was going to die. She, Sunset Shimmer, interdimensional unicorn, number one mage at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns four years running, was going to die a horrible death in this warm, snug room by the hands of an unassuming old man with a tacky moustache. Whatever peace she'd gained from Twilight had evaporated once the study door had closed shut behind her. He was just sitting in his chair, menacingly. It was honestly quite peculiar and a more detached part of her mind tried to understand how someone looking so casual could radiate such a killer instinct.

"Sunset Shimmer?" It was a grunt and not a particularly pleasant one. He didn't even seem to be focusing on her, as he idly scribbled on a piece of paper with a pen.

"U-um yes?"

"How long have you been at Canterlot High School roughly?" his scribbling intensified, her death warrant she guessed.

The teens legs began to buckle despite only having stood there for less than a minute, "A-about three years...sir", she added the last part on involuntarily. This was worse than any principal, this was like meeting the princess again for the very first time.

He placed his pen down with utmost care, the noise of plastic on wood reverberating throughout the eerily quiet room. Perhaps he'd had it soundproofed? Pinkie was quite loud even on her more slow days. Her mind was drawn back though by the sobering look on his face, the burn scar magnifying the seriousness of his words.

"Did you know, at the start of those three years my wife, the mother of my children, had been gone for less than eight months ?"

She shivered, "No sir, not at all."

With a light scrape 'Mister Pie' arose from his chair, slowly he made his way around the desk, wandering over to the solitary window, it’s blinds shuttered. He delicately opened a slit, glancing outside. "It was a trying time to be honest, not helped by the fact that I myself was recovering from a serious illness. The girls didn't know but I suspect they may have found out in the way that Pinkie Pie always does, and with how astute Maud can be....but I digress."

Sunsets heart leapt into her throat when spied the lump in his waistband. It was a gun. This man was definitely going to murder her. No ifs or buts. She was going to die in a strange land without ever telling Princess Celestia how sorry she was. Part of her wanted to run, to scream, to do something, but she couldn't. She felt stuck like she was in some kind of infernal 'cutscene' from one of those silly video games Flash used to play with her.

"Yes, it was a difficult time. Maud had her studies and held things within herself. She's similar to me in that respect I suppose, we both bottle up things that hurt. Pinkie on the other hand took it very poorly, I think she could be a very good actor one day with the facade she held up. I know my daughter though, and behind that bubbly smile she was hurting a lot with no friends to confide to. Oh there were hangers on, acquaintances and such alike, but no one that truly 'connected' with her if you know what I mean."

She grunted affirmatively, eyes glued firm to the barely visible pistol grip.

"So you can imagine my delight when my youngest daughter tells me she'd made four new friends. Real friends at that, none of this 'fair weather' crap. She was happy, smiling and generally the Pinkie we all knew and loved. Then things suddenly took a swerve three months later."

"When I arrived", this all made sense now. In a way it was comforting knowing why he was going to gun her down.

"Yes," he answered continuing his appraisal of his back garden, "From what I understand you were rather a busy little bee, dismantling my daughter’s social group for laughs, installing yourself on the top of the popularity ladder and ostracising anyone even slightly out of the norm. Normally this I'd tolerate, teenage girls can be vicious, it's just the way of things, but then you started making it personal. Nasty remarks, rumours, weapons for the mind not the body"

Silence was her answer. The shame burnt deep within.

"Maud got the worst of it, Pinkie at least can pass herself off quite well as an outgoing cheerful young women even when hurting inside. My eldest daughter though stands out. In Sunset’s new world such things are an anathema, I believe you never actually directly caused her bullying, merely your ideology created the perfect situation for it. Needless to say though by the time my daughter came home with several bruises and a black eye after a group of 'upstanding young men' --as their parents attested-- attacked my daughter for the offense of 'asking to be treated as a human being' I found myself in a conundrum. The school was perfectly willing to deal with such an issue and if I remember correctly they were given appropriate suspensions, however that didn't sit well with me. My daughters are precious you see. I've lived in a dark world and they are one of the few shining elements in it. So I did what I felt necessary and taught my daughters to defend themselves. Maud took quite a shine to it. Pinkie, not so much."

Her eyes widened, "The rumours are true?"

Mister Pie stepped away from the window, scratching his chin in thought, "The rumours? Well partially, yes Maud did break a Fido-" his eyebrows furled in thought, "Yes his name was Fido. She broke Fido's arm, and his leg, and several other bones if I'm honest. Thankfully though his parents never pressed matters. It doesn't tend to look good when a six foot, two-hundred pound football player tries to attack a five foot three, one-hundred-twenty pound girl under the pretense of 'shutting that bitch’s smart mouth', they fell flat on her being a ninja though. She learnt CQC not ninjutsu."

"How do you-" it was the first thing that came to her mind, only to be cut off by the main raising his hand.

"As I was saying, you essentially ruined my daughters’ first three years of high school. Pinkie was rendered friendless and Maud an outcast for the gall of being different. Then I learnt a few months ago of Twilight Sparkle, a 'Pony Princess from another world', which I am attributing to Pinkie’s wild imagination. What wasn't imagination though was the return of her friends, her smiles, and, to be perfectly honest, a general air of well being at your school if the last meeting I had with Principal Celestia was any indication. However there was one fly in that ointment though."

"Me" she mumbled.

"Yes. You see after three years, three years of making my childrens’ lives a living hell, suddenly you are friends with them. Good friends in fact, if my daughter’s claims are correct. This I find hard to believe", he paced over to the girl slowly, glowering down at her, "Which is why we're having this little chat."

She was paralysed, utterly frozen. His hand reached out in what felt like slow motion and she slammed her eyes shut, the closest she could come to 'flight' in such a situation. He was going to strangle the life out of her, she didn't even warrant shooting. After a few brief seconds without an iron grip on her throat though the teen opened her eyes. Instead of wrapping around her windpipe his hand was on her shoulder...

"They explained it to me Sunset, foster homes, moving from family to family. No place of your own, always rejected. I can relate to that, I had the same kind of upbringing and it can mess a kid up. Take them to dark places, you feel like you have to be in control of everything or you’ve got nothing. Dog eat dog."

He was comforting her. The girl’s fear evaporated --the gun temporarily escaping her mind-- someone had obviously come up with a cover story for her former dark ways, especially since Mister Pie had casually thrown out Twilight’s Equestrian origins. It was the only explanation she could come up with whilst he was delivering a heartwarming speech, unfortunately half heard thanks to her ruminations.

"...I just want you to know Sunset, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here"

Relief exploded on her face, "T-thank you Mister Pie, this'll sound kind of silly but I thought you were going to kill me or something" she blushed at how ridiculous she sounded.

The old man chuckled lightly as he led the girl out of his study, "If you go back to your old ways I can't promise you anything."

She bolted.

-------------------------------

One AM. The girls were all asleep, many spooky stories had been told and the remaining cider drunk. Snake on the other hand had been tossing and turning for the past half hour. Wind, glorious, miserable, noisy wind. It was always the same. First it started in his chest, then in his back before moving around back and forth like a demented elevator. His fault for overeating; after the 'chat' with Sunset Shimmer, he'd been struck by the urge for another snack, two boxes of instant noodles later and he was in his current condition.

"Goddamnit" Snake grumbled, easing himself out of the grey sheets of his bed. There was no excuses for it, he'd have to drink some of that godawful medicine the Doctors loved to prescribe him to get rid of his indigestion. Lumbering over to his slippers underneath a loosely curtained window, he couldn't help but notice a rustling in his back gardens shrubbery. With an over-exaggerated sigh he cracked open Hiding Spot #21, containing another identical M9, the prior one he'd managed to secrete during the noodle break.

This time, with little caution he bustled down the stairs and out into his back garden, the cold wind whipping against his dark flannel pyjamas.

"Alright Beatrice" Snake began, lazily pointing the tranquiliser gun into the bush "You are really starting to get on my nerves now, this time you can give me the damn paint cans and you'll be paying for your own taxi."

What exited the bushes however was not Beatrice. In fact it was something he'd never expected to see again in this life. If he wasn't sure of the grass beneath his feet and the icy chill of the wind he'd suspect he was in a nightmare. Yet here he was, tall, blond, youthful, wearing that tacky looking trench coat and an insufferable smile on his face.

"Hello.....brother"