The Psychological Industrial Complex was nothing like I imagined it would be. It looked like the XXX Plague hadn’t even so much as touched it just like the Electric Fields. Every building, every block, every street was completely clean. It even looked cleaner than it had before the X.X.X. Plague outbreak.

The Psychological Industrial Complex was filled with large buildings, warehouses, and churches. The streets were completely devoid of any cars or other vehicles. There were a few large towers that seemed to overlook the entire Black Plagueland. The territory seemed almost deserted. Much like when Princess Twilight told me about her quest to find this place that was called Mount Aris.

“There,” Octavia said as she pointed towards the closest tower to us. “We should go up there and look over the city for signs of the Chimera.”

“Alright,” I replied. We walked towards the tower. “This place is surprisingly really clean.”

“Yeah,” Octavia replied. “I wonder why.”

“So what do you think these creature’s powers are?” I asked.

“My guess would be something to do with metal.” Octavia replied.

“That would be something,” I said as we arrived at the tower’s base.

“Hey, I have another question,” I said.

“Shoot,” Octavia replied.

“In your past where did you get your last name ‘Philharmonica’ from?” I asked.

“Well, like I said once before my name was originally Octavia Philharmonica, and that’s actually a fascinating story,” Octavia replied, “I had—“ Thump.

“What was that?” I asked.

“Let’s go to the top of the towers and see,” Octavia suggested.

The two of us quickly began to climb up the tower. We climbed faster than we did we had when Twilight was around. It didn’t take us long to reach the top of the tower. I saw a bunch of completely unrecognizable Xenomorph with horns that looked horrendously mutated moving crates without even touching them. “Check it out,” I said to Octavia. “Are those guys moving things with their minds?”

Octavia took a good look at the group I had pointed out. “It certainly looks that way,” she replied. “That’s going to be a major problem when we’re fighting the Chimera, but it’ll make fighting Gloriosa a lot easier.”

“What do you want to call these guys?” I asked.

“You get to name them. They’re your discovery.”

I looked at the crowd of mutant psychokinesis Xenomorphs and began to think of a name. “Let’s keep it simple and call them Wraith Mutants.”

“As in psychokinesis Wraith Mutants?” Octavia asked. I nodded. “I thought you said you were a writer. Couldn’t a writer come up with a better name?”

“I smiled. “Teleptics,” I said. Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Because they can move a bunch of heavy things at once like they’re unicorns when using levitation spells.”

“I actually like Mutant Wraiths,” Octavia said.

“Too late, they're Teleptics now.”

“Alright,” Octavia said questioningly. “So we should get back down and interrogate the...um—“

“Teleptics,” I said to finish Octavia’s sentence. “Don’t worry, it’ll catch on.”

“Right,” Octavia replied. “I’m sure at least one of them will know where the Chimera is.” Octavia and I slowly descended back down to the ground. Once we reached the bottom, we carefully checked to see if we were alone. We walked through buildings, both to find careless Teleptics to interrogate and to stay out of sight from anyone who was in the other towers. Unfortunately, we didn’t seem to find anyone. The upside was that we hadn’t been detected.

Octavia and I cautiously walked into the the building we had seen the group of Teleptics come from. “Hey, I’m going to try something alright?” Octavia had asked half said. I lost track of Octavia almost instantly. She must’ve used her enhanced stealth ability to completely vanish from my senses. The room was well lit and hardly had any places to hide.

“Tavi you there?” I asked as I looked around.

“Yeah,” I heard Octavia say in front of me. “I’m here.”

“Are you invisible?”

“No,” Octavia replied. I felt a knife in front of my throat. Octavia was behind me clutching the blade. “I’m just hard to find.” Octavia removed her knife from my throat and put it away.

“How did you do that?” I asked. “It was like you teleported or something.”

“I don’t know,” she replied. “I just wanted to see how good my stealth abilities are, and as it turns out they’re really good. Also my speed makes it that much better.”

“You couldn’t have tested it out on the enemies?” I asked.

“No,” she replied not trying to catch her breath. “They would fight back, and it takes a lot out of me too. I’m exhausted.”

“That might be useful later on, but for now just stick to your other method of stealth. I don’t want you overdoing it.”

“Yeah, alright,” Octavia said reluctantly. “It tires me out way too quickly anyway.’

Thump. Octavia and I turned to the source of the noise. It came from just outside of the building we were currently in. We turned to each other. I jerked my head towards the direction of the sound and gestured that we should investigate the cause of it. Octavia nodded and the two of us silently moved towards the door.

We waited silently behind the door and I listened for any sounds of movement. The sounds indicated that there were at least four of them. “Four,” I mouthed to Octavia.

Octavia nodded and mouthed, “On three; one, two, three,” Octavia and I burst through the door and jumped at the first Psychics we could see. Unfortunately, these corrupted Xenomorphs didn’t seem to be taken by surprise. Their unicorn-like telekinetic blast sent Octavia and me hurling back into the building we had just come from. I ran to her.

“God, they're quick,” I complained.

“This might be a problem,” Octavia said. “See if you can darken this place.”

I immediately understood what Octavia was planning. I used my lightning powers to short out all the lights above us effectively plunging us into the dark. “There’s your darkness,” I said proud of my abilities.

“I meant for you to turn off the light switches that were about ten feet to your left,” Octavia said with irritation in her voice.

“Oh,” I said a little embarrassed. “Well now I know.”

“Get ready,” Octavia said. I tensly waited for someone to enter the building. After a minute or so, twelve Teleptics rushed into the room. They used their unicorn-like telekinetic blasts to propel themselves forward quicker. I was surrounded in a matter of seconds. I could see pairs of the Teleptics’ onyx black eyes with light purple cat-like pupils around me. I had no idea how to describe what they looked like. They looked so overly mutated beyond comprehension that I don’t even know what they evolved from, but they weren’t unicorns because they didn’t have hooves. They’re skin color was a dark shade of amethyst which looked a lot like that one Plagasis I saw earlier before all of this happened. One of them thrust his arm forward and fired a blast of telekinetic equestrian energy towards me. I quickly dodged it and jumped away from the group.

I decided to switch from the defensive to the offensive. I shot out blasts of magma towards the Teleptics, but they quickly dodged. I tired using my lightning powers to strike two Teleptics that seemed stationary, but they blasted themselves out my range.

From the corner of my eye, I could see one of the Teleptics charging towards me. Four of his arms had scythes, but the darkness seemed to move around him. One moment he was about to stab me, the next moment he was gone. It was as if the shadows consumed him. I looked to the other Teleptics. There were only nine of them now. Three of the Teleptics, counting the one that was just taken, completely disappeared.

It took me a moment to understand what was happening. Octavia was assassinating them. This gave me the opportunity to fight back. I threw a ball of magma in the middle of the ground and forced it to keep itself lit, but not to grow or burn anything around it. I could now see the remaining Teleptics perfectly.

“Don’t kill them,” I heard Octavia said from somewhere above me. “Just keep them at bay.”

I wasn’t completely sure what Octavia was planning, but I knew that she usually knew what she was doing. I shot out bolts of lot try and stun the Teleptics. Two of them tried blasting the lightning away, while the rest evaded them. The lightning bolts weren’t affected by the blasts. I saw Octavia move out of the shadows and take the Teleptics furthest away from me.

I shot out more streams of lightning to try and stun the Teleptics, but they all dodged them again. Each Teleptics fired a single equestrian telekinetic blast in my direction. The combined force of the blasts sent my flying across the room. I struggled to get back to my feet. I fell back to the floor and saw the other six Teleptics were advancing towards me. I closed my eyes expecting another volley of equestrian attacks.

Crack. I quickly opened my eyes in time to see Octavia jumping from above and striking one of the Teleptics down with her fists. She quickly leaped towards the next Teleptic and struck him down as well. I stared in amazement as Octavia took down the remaining Teleptics so easily. She ran in between two of them and jumped as to avoid both of their blasts. She kicked one of them to the side, and just disappeared.

It was like watching a ninja fight. One moment she was in plain sight, and the next moment she was a shadow. I took this opportunity to fire my lightning bolts towards the remaining Teleptics. They were so distracted by Octavia that they didn’t notice the lightning until it was too late.

“Damn It, Sunset!” I heard Octavia shout from somewhere in front of me. She walked out of the shadows holding her arm. I could tell that I had struck her with my lightning too.

“You alright there, Tavi?” I asked nervously.

“You fucking shot me!” she yelled. “You shot me in the arm, and now I can’t move it! So now we’re going to die because I can’t fight anymore! Are you happy?”

“I’ll fix that,” I said as I conjured another lightning bolt from my hand.

Octavia sighed heavily. “No,” she said. “Let my body recover by itself, and besides you’ll only make it worse.”

“Fair enough,” I replied as the lightning bolt dissipated. “So why didn’t you want to any of these guys?”

“Don’t you think enough of them have died already?” she asked. “These creatures are mindless wrecks. Maybe they can be cured, maybe not, but somewhere deep down they’re still humans, not demons. I can’t just kill them knowing that it can be helped.”

For the first time ever, I felt like I could actually trust Octavia. It felt as if she actually cared about something and someone around her, even the corrupted. I had thought that Octavia and Twilight were both single-mindedly trying to kill Gloriosa and nothing more, but now I knew that Octavia actually cared about the other things happening around her more than me at times. I couldn’t help but think that Moondancer was the true cause of this revelation.

“What brought this up?” I asked.

“Seeing Moondancer and her people. Seeing Jaden and Celeano and others. Seeing you and me…” she trailed off.

“I get it,” I finally replied. “We’re all still human and pony.”

“Yeah, but don’t beat yourself up. Just try to keep more alive.”

“So they’re alive?” I asked. “You didn’t kill any of those guys right now?”

“That’s right,” Octavia replied. Octavia walked into the shadows and came back dragging two of the Xenomorphs she had knocked out.

“So we’re just going to wait for them to wake up?” I asked.

“No,” Octavia replied. “I have a much easier and faster way to get information out of them.” Octavia put her left hand on the forehead of one of the Teleptics. She closed her eyes and kept them closed for a while. I could suddenly feel Octavia’s power around her. It wasn’t very strong. It felt concentrated and controlled.

Octavia opened her eyes and stood up. The Teleptic’s eyes opened after. “Wha— what the fuck’s going on here? Why can’t I move my body?” he asked.

“Because I’m commanding you not to,” Octavia replied. “I’m going to try and suppress the X.X.X. Plague control over your body.”

“No—“ the Teleptic protested as Octavia put her hand on the Teleptic’s chest. I immediately saw a change in the Teleptic’s eyes. They went from onyx black and purple to light green. He seemed to be more relaxed now. “Wha— what happened? Why can I think clearly now?”

“I temporarily suppressed the X.X.X. Plague from controlling your mind,” Octavia answered. Octavia was sweating and breathing hard. Freeing the Teleptic from the control of the X.X.X. Plague must have taken a lot of energy.

“Temporarily?” the Teleptic asked with despair in his voice. “So I’m going to stay a Xenomorph then?”

“I’m afraid so dear,” Octavia replied, “but maybe you can help us take down your Chimera before you become his slave again.”

“Will that free me?” he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

“It’s very likely that it will,” I said before Octavia could answer the question. I knew that killing the Chimera would free the Chimera’s subordinates from its control, but it wouldn’t free them from the X.X.X. Plague’s control. I thought it would be a good idea to let the Teleptics think we could permanently remove the X.X.X. Plague’s control over him. At least he would remain hopeful until the end.

Octavia looked at me for a moment then looked back at the Teleptic. She must have understood what I was doing, because she didn’t correct me. “I’m going to let you move your body again,” Octavia said. “What’s your name?”

“Capper,” he said as began to pick himself up. “My name’s Capper.”

“Do you know anything about your Chimera’s location?” Octavia asked.

“No. He knows about the other leader’s deaths, so he’s trying to keep himself well hidden. He knows you two are coming for him.”

“Oh great,” I said. “That just makes finding him that much harder to find.” I turned to Octavia. “So what are we going to do now?”

“Wait, I do remember something,” Capper said. “He has three different places he likes to travel to, I think I might—ugh,” he grabbed his head in pain.

“Oh great, it’s wearing off,” Octavia said unhappily.

“No—“ he said as he lowered his hands. “No, I can handle it.”

“What?” Octavia asked surprised. “You can handle it?”

“Yeah,” Capper said as he struggled to resist the X.X.X. Plague. He was breathing hard now. “I think I can control it.”

Octavia nodded. “Well tell me when it feels like it’s too much for you,” Octavia said.

“No problem,” he replied. “So like I was saying, our leader has three different places he likes to stay in.”

“We need to check them all out don’t we?” I asked unenthusiastically.

“No you don’t, I can check them all,” he replied. “You just need to make sure that his elite are gone first.”

I looked at Octavia. “You think he’s talking about Betas?” I asked.

“I’m almost sure he is,” Octavia responded. She turned back to Capper. “So where are the locations the Chimera goes to?”

“I’ll make you a map, but I can take you to the elite myself.” Capper suddenly grabbed his head in pain again.

“No offense, but I doubt you’ll be able to help us for much longer,” Octavia said. “I think it would be better if you give us a list of places we can find the elite and the names of those who want to help us.”

“Sure,” Capper said. He rushed off to another room. It took about five minutes or so before he came back. “There you go,” he said to me. “Find the leader and destroy him.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” I said as Octavia and I began to walk away. We went back outside and began following the map to a nearby building.

“Alright, we cannot take out the whole Wraith army alone,” Octavia said.

“Teleptics,” I corrected.

“Whatever,” Octavia said as she rolled her eyes. “We can’t just kill or knockout all of them.”

“So what are we supposed to do then?”

“I’ve been thinking about your power to drain Chimeras of their power and I was wondering if you can do it to their subordinates,” Octavia said,

“You mean to say that I drain the Teleptics of their power instead of the Chimera?”

“Yeah, and hopefully you get enough out of them so that you can blend in as one of them.”

“So that I could sneak around unnoticed?” I asked.

“Exactly,” Octavia said happily.

“But what about you?” I said. “How are you going to blend in with them?”

“I think I can blend it with a crowd as long as they aren’t trying to find me beforehand. That’s one of my stealth skills.”

“How do you know that?”

“More of the weird memories guiding me.”

We had almost arrived at the entrance of one of the areas of the Psychological Industrial Complex map, when I suddenly heard two sets of footsteps nearby heading towards us. “I hear someone,” I said. “Get down.” I hid behind a giant box and signaled for Octavia to do the same with the adjacent box. She quickly ran and took cover behind the box.

“Sunset, how many do you hear coming?” Octavia asked.

“Only two,” I said, “but these guys are tough.”

“Maybe for you.” We waited behind the boxes for a few moments. After a few short seconds had passed, I finally saw them nearby.

“Alright,” I said. “We need to do this fast, so I think our best bet is to—“ I turned to Octavia mid-sentence, but she wasn’t there anymore. Agh! I suddenly hear a shout of surprise from one of the two Teleptics. I turned in time to see Octavia knock the air out of one of the guys and I turn to head-butt the other. They were both on the ground and defeated in moments.

Octavia wiped her hands on her shirt. “Did you say something?” she asked with a little smugness in her voice.

“That’s pretty impressive,” I said. “Considering…” I trailed off.

“Considering?” Octavia looked amused. “Considering what?”

“Nothing,” I said condescendingly.

“Alright,” Octavia said as nonchalant as ever. She began to examine one of the Teleptics.

“It’s just…” Octavia stopped and looked up in annoyance. “It’s impressive because you’re not as strong as them,” I said jokingly.

“I’m not as strong?” Octavia asked half amused.

“No, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure you have some useful talents,” I said as condescendingly as I possibly could. “I’m sure you’re strong,” I paused. “By your definition, that is. Maybe one day if you try hard enough you can be as strong as I am now.”

“Not as strong as you are at the time?” Octavia asked.

I laughed. “Oh you and your ridiculously high goals.”

Octavia laughed. “Yeah right, I could take you out if I needed to,” Octavia said. One of the Teleptics began to move, but Octavia quickly touched his forehead and forced him to go to sleep. “Alright here’s the plan: I trigger your power and you don’t kill me. Understood?”

“Gotcha,” I said. Octavia put her hand on my forehead as began to trigger my power. I closed my eyes. I almost immediately felt that familiar surge of energy I had learned to love. I placed my hands on both of the Teleptics and began to feel my own strength grow. I felt strong again. I felt like I could take on anyone who was unfortunate enough to cross my path, but the power sure get didn’t last long, sadly. After only a few seconds, Octavia forced the alabaster aura to recede. The rush was gone. The immense power I just had was suddenly silenced, but the urge for power was stronger now. It felt like the only reason to continue living was to get more power. That was my purpose now.

“Sunset,” Octavia called out. Octavia shook my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been sitting still for the past five minutes glaring at me,” Octavia answered. “It’s kind of creepy.”

“Five minutes?” I asked in surprise. It had only felt like a few moments to me, but apparently I had been staring at Octavia for much longer.

“Yeah, are you alright?” Octavia asked. “I’m still not sure what side-effects come form draining one of the subordinates instead of the Chimera, so if you feel like anything about you is off, tell me right away.”

“Yeah,” I said calmly. “You’ll be the first to know.”

Octavia nodded and walked forward. “Alright,” Octavia said as she grabbed the Psychological Industrial Complex map. “This is definitely the place that guy’s map is pointing to.”

“Then let’s explore,” I said anxious to get my hands on that Chimera. I opened the door and entered the room.

The room was full of Wraiths. They were all amassed around a stage that was a few feet above the ground. All the Wraiths were talking amongst each other, and more were gathering. I looked around and felt a little nervous towards the sea of piercing black and amethyst eyes.

“Sunset, don’t wander off,” I said.

“He isn’t here,” Sunset said coldly.

“How can you tell?” I asked.

“I don’t sense anything strong here,” Sunset replied. “Nothing strong enough to be the Chimera anyway.”

I was a little worried about Sunset’s new ability to sense power, but I decided not to make anything of it until it became an actual problem. “Glossing over your new ability that you failed to mention, can you sense if there’s a Beta nearby?” I asked. “If there’s a Beta nearby, maybe it will know where the Chimera is.”

Sunset closed her eyes and stood still for a few moments. I looked around and saw that one of the Wraiths had gotten up on the stage. All the other Wraiths instantly became silent. “Yeah, there’s definitely a Beta here,” Sunset finally said.

“It that him? The one with the three horns?” I said as I pointed towards the Xenomorph in the center of the stage.

“Yep, that’s him.” Sunset said seriously.

The lights were turned off plunging us into darkness. A spotlight from above was turned on and focused on the Beta. He stepped forward and began to look around. “Hello, my brothers and sisters,” he said loudly. He had a very powerful voice that seemed to resonate around the room, and he sounded a lot like Lord Tirek back in Equestria. “Our great leader has called to me and the other elite to tell you something very important.” He paused and looked around for effect. His black and purple eyes seemed to be scanning each Xenomorph in the room. “The leaders of the other territories have been mysteriously but successfully vanquished.” Cheers of roars erupted from the spectators. “But not by our hands!” He interjected. The cheers instantly stopped. “It was by the hands of the worthless heathens and their leader! She wishes to bring chaos to our land of order and kill our leader! She does not accept the divine gift our leader gave to us! She would only steal it for herself! Can we allow such a woman to live?”

“No!” the crowd screeched in a deep and demonic sounding unison.

The crowd roared in protest. The Beta seemed to compose himself and began to continue talking to the crowd. “But she did not act alone,” he said. “She enlisted the help of others.” He took another pause. “She enlisted the help of traitors. She used the weak to gain power over the strong.” Five people with sacks over their heads were forcibly walked to the stage; they were all tied up. “The humans I’m talking about are the ones who don’t share our vision, the ones who have refused to give themselves up to the divine.” He took off the sack from one of the five people. “Like her,” he said as he grabbed the face of the woman that was set before him and forced her to look at the crowd with her bright blue eyes.

She looked badly bruised and injured, but even with all that she was still beautiful. My first instinct was to jump on the middle of the stage and kill the Beta to rescue her, but I knew that would only get us both killed. The only thing I could hope to do was avenge her. I hated myself for thinking that, but there was nothing that could be done.

The Beta pulled the sacks off the remaining four “traitors.” I lowered my head in shame. I didn’t recognize one of the free will baring traitors, but I did recognize the other one. It was Capper. I had just given a death sentence by temporarily giving him free will. I looked away, guilt overwhelmed me.

“Tavi look,” Sunset said. I turned back to the stage. The Beta had pulled out his four other scythe hands and began swinging them back and forth like pendulums. “What do we do?”

I took a long pause as I tried to come up with a solution that would allow us to save them, but nothing came to mind. “I—I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” I replied. I took pride at my ability to keep a level head even in the worst of situations, but this felt too much like when I abandoned Moondancer to the Xenomorphs; I was unable to help. I could only watch as things unraveled in front of me, knowing that I was responsible.

Sunset looked at me then turned back towards the stage. I sighed heavily and she did the same.

“These five heathense shall now be put to death for their refusal to accept the divine into their hearts,” the Beta said to the crowd. His eyes swept through the crowd. I instantly realized he was looking for others with the sign of free will.

I turned to Sunset. “I’m going to alter the crowd’s perception of you so that they think you have black and purple eyes too,” I whispered to Sunset. They could sense that Sunset was like them, but if they saw her eyes they would kill her regardless. I was finished in about three seconds. I turned back to the crowd and continued listening.

“We shall put them to death, but not because we want to——— we shall kill them because we have to. We must protect our leader at all costs. Anypony who defies the leader shall die.” He pressed one of his scythes to the traitor I didn’t recognize and decapitated him without hesitation. The Xenomorph’s fell to the floor and his body twitched in agony. His movements began to slow down until he finally stopped altogether. The crown burst into screeching cheers again.

“What should we do?” Sunset asked me. “They’re going to see us.”

“No, my ability won’t let that happen as long as you don’t attract attention,” I reassured Sunset.

The Beta grabbed the white skinned woman. “You have seen the heathens haven’t you?” he asked.

“Fuck you,” the woman replied in defiance. He shook his head in disappointment.

“They’ve already gotten to you. I’m afraid you’re beyond hope now.” His second scythe hand went and sliced her throat just as mercilessly as he had decapitated the first victim. She fell to the floor. She struggled to get back on her feet but was too weak. She grabbed her throat as the blood poured out.

I wanted to help her badly. It took every ounce of strength I had in me not to jum on the stage and rip the Beta’s throat out right then and there, but I couldn’t. I had to look at the bigger picture for the moment and mourn the details later. Moments like this made me realize that the regular Xenomorphs weren’t the most savage beasts in the Black Plaguelands.

She continued to struggle, but I could see her slowing down. It wouldn’t be long until she was gone. She looked towards the Xenomorphs in the crowd. My heart sank the moment her eyes met my gaze. ”Thats not possible,” I thought to myself. ”She shouldn’t be able to see me”. She watched me intently, until she finally couldn’t hold on any longer. She fell back and didn’t move. I shook it off and reassured myself that it was all in my head.

The Beta grabbed Capper. “Do you know where the others like you are?” he asked. Capper shook his head in fear. “I believe you.” The Beta looked back towards the crowd. “I know you still have loyalty to our leader, so I will give you a chance to embrace the divine once again. You can live among us again. Do you want that?” Capper nodded. “Then retake the gift.”

I watched in sadness and disappointment as Capper’s eyes became black and dark purple again. “He has accepted our power back into his heart,” the Beta exclaimed. The crowd screeched again. “Now go and find the other traitors bring them to me, the other elite, or even the leader himself.”

The crowd gave one final cheer, then scattered. I walked outside with the crowd and began to follow the Beta. Sunset followed close behind. We followed him at a distance. I used my ability to allow Sunset and myself to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.

“No one’s in earshot,” Sunset finally said. I dashed forward and grabbed the Beta’s forehead with my right hand. I commanded his body to be still, so that he couldn’t fight back.

“Alright,” I said. “Where’s your leader?”

“I will never betray my kind,” he responded. I suddenly felt a jolt of rebellion towards my paralytic command. He was resisting.

“Wrong answer,” I said. I forced another command into home to make him less resistant. “Where is your leader?”

“He—is—in,” he said as he tried to resist my commands. His malformed xenomorphic face began to contort in agony. He didn’t understand that my commands affect the mind.

“Can’t we just beat the answers out of him?” Sunset asked.

“That won’t be necessary,” I responded. “I’ve almost broken him and then he’s mine.”

The Beta was breathing heavily now. “He’s in the center of our land,” he finally said. “If you go to the top of the building you’ll be able to see a cathedral with four large towers on all corner sides. He is in that building, but you’ll never get in. There are too many guards for you to handle.”

“That won’t be a problem,” I said as I commanded him to sleep.

“Should I drain him too?” Sunset asked.

“No,” I replied.

“Draining him wouldn’t make you stronger, only draining the Chimera will do that. Let’s go make that signal fire you were talking about.”

Sunset and I walked outside and she began to use her fire ability to make smoke. The small smoke clouds floated gently into the sky. “Now what?” Sunset asked.

“Now we wait,” I said.

Octavia and I waitied about ten minutes before Twilight and Moondancer finally found us.

“You find the Chimera?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, “but he has an army guarding him.”

“An army?” Moondancer asked in surprise.

“Well he has a bunch of Betas in this place,” I replied, “but they’re just as bad as an army.”

“So you’re sure you know where he is?” Twilight asked.

“Positive,” Octavia replied. “He’s been in his little stronghold ever since the other Chimeras began falling. What about you guys? Did you find Discord’s safe house?”

“Yeah,” Twilight replied. “It was on the residential part of this Black Plagueland. I found it pretty fast. No thanks to my partner.” Moondnacer rolled her eyes. “So what’s the plan now?”

Wel all looked at Octavia in unison. She looked away and began to pace. Twilight, Moondancer, and I watched her as she contemplated our next move. “I believe the best strategy would be for Twilight and Moondancer to create a distraction to lure the Betas away, while Sunset and I use my stealth abilities to sneak in and hopefully kill him.”

“You have stealth ’abilities’?” Twilight asked in confusion. “I thought you said thst stuff was all skill?”

“Well it’s a little of both,” Octavia replied. “I’ll explain it later. For now, Twilight, Moondancer, start making a distraction.”

“They’re Betas!” Twilight said loudly. “We could barely kill the last Beta we met.”

“Well I think I’ll be able to hold them off for a while,” Moondancer replied. “A few Betas don’t scare me.”

“If only Twily had a pair to go help you,” I said to Moondancer right in front of Twilight. Octavia smiled.

Twilight glared at me. “I’ll kick their asses until there’s no one left,” she said. “Me and Moondancer will make it to the Chimera before you guys.”

“In the unlikely event that that happens, remember that we can’t kill it,” Octavia said apparently not understanding that Twilight’s comment was a joke. “We still need his power for Sunset.”

“So if all of this is to get strong enough to handle Gloriosa and nothing else, then how are we going to find her?” Twilight asked.

“Discord will know soon enough,” Octavia said with malice in her voice. “We’ll deal with her when the time is right, but for now we need to focus on the task at hand. Let’s move.” Twilight and Moondancer nodded and ran off.

“I hope those two don’t kill each other.” I said.

“We can only hope,” Octavia replied. We left the meeting point and waited in a building overlooking the Chimera’s stronghold. We had been waiting for a seemingly large amount of time without any sign of Moondancer’s diversion. “You think they got caught?”

“No, I’m thinking Twilight convinced Moondancer to begin the distraction at night,” Octavia replied. “It gives us an edge, but it makes it difficult for them to fight.”

“Lethal or non-lethal?” I asked.

Octavia paused for a moment. “Lethal,” she finally said. “You saw the rally with the Beta. Most of them choose to be this way.” Octavia peered out a window. “The Betas are moving.”

“Let me see,” I said as I walked to the window. I could see a group of five Betas running out of the stronghold’s entrance. They ran in the direction Twilight and Moondancer had taken earlier. “Alright, let’s do this.”

Octavia and I rushed outside. The last rays of light were quickly fading away. The Psychological Industrial Complex was covered in darkness now, but it didn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light. Octavia dashed for the stronghold’s entrance and I followed close behind. There were two guards just outside the door. Octavia seemed to see them as well because she changed her direction and hid behind a human sized crate. I did the same.

“Damn, how many Betas can one Chimera have?” I asked. “The Infernoland Chimera only had like four.”

“The Infernoland Chimera was only a child. She didn’t directly infect many people there. Her brother was the one that did the wide spread infection.”

“So what, each generation after the Chimera is weaker?” I asked.

“I don’t really know for sure.” Octavia looked towards the guards. “I’ll take down the two guards.” She dashed forward and within moments she was gone. I looked at the guards and waitied. I began to see the shadows move behind the guards. I saw two silvery fang sharp objects emerge from the shadows and stab both of the Beta guards in the neck. Moments later, the silvery daggers disappeared and the shadows became still again.

“Nice job Tavi,” I said softly.

“Thank you,” I heard Octavia say from somewhere behind me.

“Jesus Christ, Tavi!”

“Sorry,” Octavia said half laughing. We opened the door to the stronghold and entered.

“Alright we’re in, now what?” I asked Octavia.

“Now we need to search every room in this place to find the Chimera, which means we’ll have to kill a lot more Betas,” Octavia explained our only options, but I didn’t listen. There was something in the air that made it hard for me to listen to her. I could feel my body start to tingle. The desire for the Chimera’s power was so strong, that I was beginning to sense him.

“I can find him,” I interrupted Octavia. “I can sense his power.”

I wasn’t sure how the words came out as I said them. I felt like this was a good enough reason for Octavia to permanently shut off my powers. I knew that Octavia would take my attitude as a sign of me losing my mind. “I figured that might happen,” Octavia said as nonchalant as ever.

“You knew?” I asked in surprise.

“Well,” Octavia said. “I figured that after you drained the Wraiths to blend in with them, you might be able to better sense the Chimera.”

“Psychics,” I corrected Octavia.

“Whatever,” Octavia said. “I doubt your sensitivity will last long. We need to use it while we can. You lead.”

“No arguments here.” The cathedral was huge. The room we were in looked like an ordinary lobby. The front desk was left unattended. As we walked closer I could see doors on either side, as well as a staircase that led to a set of double doors that led to the second floor. The room itself hardly had any lighting. One lone light dangled above the front desk and dimly lit the entire room. The walls and floors were dark shade of purple. It almost looked like they were made of crystals.

“This place looks...” I trailed off. I wasn’t sure if I could describe how ominous this place was. Like it belonged to King Sombra who tried to take over the Crystal Empire back in Equestria.

“Yeah I know,” Octavia said as she walked to the desk. “Where is he? Above or somewhere on this floor?” Octavia was playing with the computer in front of the desk as she spoke.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the location of the Chimera as Octavia continued to play with the computer. It took a few minutes, but I began to locate the Chimera’s presence both above and below me. “It’s weird, but I can feel his power above us and below us.”

“Great,” Octavia said. “We know he’s upstairs then.”

“How do you know that?”

“This computer had tons of files about the operation these guys are working on,” Octavia said as she continued reading. “One of them is a project involving the transfer of power from the Chimera to another corrupted monster. One of these files said that they keep all the corrupted monsters in the basement. So the Chimera energy you sense must be one of those things.”

“Can I drain it?” I asked.

“No, the power is centered through the Chimera. It’s almost like the demon downstairs is an extension of him.”

“So it’s almost like he’s got eight limbs,” I said with a smile on my face.

Octavia looked up from the computer and her eyes narrowed. “Get downstairs and look for another computer like this one. Once you’ve found it, Wait there for further instructions.”

“Why?” I asked.

“The door to the room the Chimera is in is locked to anypony without equestrian telekinesis. According to this computer, the only other way to open it without equestrian telekinesis is with the computers. This computer and the computer downstairs are the keys.”

I walked towards the door Octavia pointed to and opened it. Before I walked out of the room, I turned back towards Octavia.m”if the demons downstairs see me, does that mean that the Chimera will see me too?”

“I think so,” Octavia said.

“Great,” I whispered to myself. I turned back to the door and left the room.

“Good luck,” I heard Octavia say as I left. “And from what you told me, squids have ten limbs.”

Sunset exited and left me in the room alone. I continued reading through the computer files. I tried to make sure I only read the important files. I was fascinated to find a file regarding experiments done to the Wraiths and Blackguard synthetics. The files were heavily censored so I couldn’t gain any real idea of what was happening, but I was able to find a file regarding a meeting with Gloriosa that happened recently.

I began to suspect that the Chimera of the Psychological Industrial Complex knew Gloriosa before the outbreak. The fact that they were running experiments on the Wraiths only supported my suspicions. After about ten minutes, I activated the first computer command. I got up from the desk and began walking up the stairs and into door on the left. I had scanned through the computer to get a general idea of where I would need to go to find the Chimera.

I reached the door. I gently turned the knob and opened it. There was nothing there. The hallway was brightly lit with strong white lights. I knew that the majority of the Betas were outside, but I didn’t want to let my guard down in case any stragglers were still around. I cautiously walked forward.

The current room I was in was another office setting. There were a few desks around the room, but none of the, seemed to have anything useful. I suspected that none of the Betas were using any of the desks. All of the Psychological Industrial Complex Xenomorphs seemed brutish and single-minded. I wasn’t even sure how they were able to set up a computerized look like they did. I dropped the thought and continued on.

I went into the next room and observed the surroundings. Oddly enough, no one was here either. I had expected the Chimera to send some of the Betas outside to fight Moondancer and Twilight, but I didn’t expect him to send all of them. He had to know that Sunset was coming for him. He was the last Chimera thst remained, and he knew Sunset was killing Chimeras, but then why would he have all of his guards out fighting Moondancer? Maybe I’m just overestimating his intelligence, I thought to myself.

The Wraiths were all brutish and unrefined. In fact, with the exception of the ones that had free will, all the corrupted beings were pure brutes. They might have had some intellect, but for the most part they were single minded Xenomorphs. The Chimera should be no different. The reason why the Chimera had sent all his Betas to fight Moondancer must have been because he believed that the one who was killing the other Chimeras was outside fighting with her.

I looked around again to make sure my surroundings were safe. I sat down on a nearby chair and relaxed. I was unable to do anything until Sunset gained access to the computer with the lock program in the basement. “Why would anypony make a lock this way?” I asked myself. “It’s way too impractical.” I let out a frustrated sigh and turned my attention to the entrances of the room. I had nothing to do, so I would just have to guard this room until Sunset signaled me.

I wasn’t sure what I expected to find in the cathedral’s lower levels. I could safely assume that there was at least one thing running around here with the Chimera’s control. If whatever that was saw us it could inform the Chimera I was here and not with Moondancer. I needed to make sure that he didn’t realize I was down here, otherwise Octavia’s plan was ruined.

The cathedral’s lower levels weren’t very remarkable. They were mainly storage areas that housed large containers. Every single floor I Check was full of useless material. The computer was nowhere to be seen, either. The entire area was unnaturally quiet. The more rooms I searched, the stronger the feeling of dread and uneasiness in my stomach became. A sudden realization came to mind. I was almost sure I knew where the computer was now. It would surely be in the same room as the Chimera’s pet was. It would have made sense for him to keep the lock under watch with his beast. I would have to find the beast and hopefully find the computer.

I found an elevator and used it to reach the bottom floor of the basement. I could feel the Chimera’s energy nearby. The lowest level of the Chimera’s cathedral was different than the rest. It looked like I had stepped into some kind of dungeon. The walls and floor were embedded with crystals. There were suits of armor leaning against the walls and a few shelves around the place, but nothing else of interest. I proceeded onward.

I tried to hone in on the Chimera’s pet’s location, but his energy scent was all over the place. The only way I would be able to find it and the computer was by exploring the area. The only problem with exploring was that I had no idea what to expect. I was nowhere near as stealthy as Octavia, so the chances of my being discovered was significantly higher. I cleared my mind and continued on.

I examined my surroundings as I walked forward. I noticed the some suits of armor had a number imprinted on their chest plates. One suit of armor had a three imprinted on its chest plate on the other side of the room. It stood motionless on the left side of a door almost as if it was guarding it. The door was the only other way out of the room apart from the entrance. I cautiously walked to it. I was a little intimidated by the armor, especially because of the massive axe it held, but I shook off my uneasiness and continued on.

I quickly reached the door and extended my hand for the doorknob. The suit of armor suddenly burst into life and swung its axe down towards me the moment I came into contact with the door. I quickly dodged the attack and rolled to the floor. It turned its head to me. It picked up its axe and leaned forward in the air to strike at me again. I rolled again to my right and quickly got to my feet. The suit of armor raised its axe again and swung it horizontally. I was able to roll to the floor one more time, but the force of the impact caused another suit of armor to fall on top of me. I struggled to free myself in vain; the armor was too heavy for me to move in time.

I watched the armor in terror waiting for its final, unavoidable strike. I was filled with astonishment and disbelief as I saw the hostile suit of armor suddenly fell apart before finishing me. There was no one in the armor; it had attacked completely on its own. I lay under the armor in confusion trying to make sense of why I was still alive. I wasn’t sure what to do now. I picked myself up and carefully walked over the dismantled suit of armor, heading for the door. I hesitantly reached for the handle. I took a deep breath and turned it. I gently opened the door and walked inside.

The room I walked into wasn’t very big. It looked more or less like a wide hallway than an actual room. It was dimly lit, so I had a hard time seeing around. I walked in and cautiously continued walking to the other end. It took a while, but my eyesight finally began to adjust itself. I could see four suits of armor, two of which were guarding the door to the next area. The other two were far enough for me to escape, should they come to life.

I sighed heavily as I saw the number two on the chest plate of the suit of armor to the right of the door. The suits of armor in this room all clutched spears. I walked to the door slowly and reached for the doorknob in the same manner as before. I watched both of the crystal statues carefully. I touched the doorknob and immediately jumped back. The armor with the number two imprinted on it immediately sprang to life and jabbed the ground I would have been on. I regained my balance and quickly shot out a barrage of magma balls.

I stopped and waited intenylymfor any sign of movement. I saw something covered in flames dashing towards me. I fell on my back as the suit of armor jabbed the space I was just in. The armor fell apart immediately after its attack just as the last one had. I picked myself up off the floor again. What the hell? I asked myself as I continued to the next room.

I wasn’t scared of the armor springing to life so much as I was confused about it attacking then falling apart. Being in the Black Plaguelands and having to fight for my survival desensitized me for most of the stuff the Black Plaguelands had to offer, but these armors just confused me.

I tried to understand how it was possible that the armor sprang to life by themselves. It was a complete mystery to me. It wasn’t like the suits just fell over and happened to almost kill me; the suits had actually come to life and actively tried to kill me, and for some reason they stopped in the middle of a fight and collapsed. The first suit attacked me three times, but the second suit only attacked twice. I remembered the numbers on the chest plate and assumed thst the armor had been somehow been programmed only to attack a fixed amount of times. I didn’t know what the significance of the number of times it attacked was, but I was sure it was something worth noting.

I entered the next room just as cautiously as ever. The room had much better lighting than the previous few rooms. I could actually see the entire room in this light. There were five more doors leading out of the room: two doors on the left, two doors on the right, and a final door in the middle. Each door had a suit of armor guarding it. Each armor had a different number engraved on its chest plate. I instantly understood that each of these crystal statues could come to life and try to kill me. I sighed heavily as I began to decide what door to take.

I walked around the room and looked at each door. The suit of armor to the left had the number twelve engraved on it. The next armor had the number three engraved on it. The armor across the room from the entrance had the number five engraved in it. The next armor had the number one engraved. I looked at the final armor which had a seven on it.

I wondered where to go for a moment, but then I had an idea. It was so simple, I almost completely overlooked it. The numbers of the suits of armor started at three, then the next door continued with two, so the logical number that continued was one.

I walked to the door guarded by the suit of armor with the number one engraved on its chest. I touched the door’s handle and jumped out of the way. The suit of armor was holding a sword, and thrust in my direction. I quickly moved to the side and dodged the attack. The armor fell apart afterwards. I ignored the armor and opened the door to the next area.

I could sense the Chimera’s power in this room in more than one place. It was a strong cluster of the Chimera’s power, but it wasn’t the same thing I had felt before. It was significantly weaker than the original that led me here. The Chimera’s power was coming from three more suits of armor. I then realized what had caused the other suites of armor to attack me before; the Chimera must have used his energy infusion to force the suits of armor to attack a person a fixed number of times. I knew he could infuse creatures with his power like the other Chimeras had, but I had no idea he could infuse objects.

I looked around and saw a door with a table and a vase next to it on the other end of the room. There were three suits of armor that were lined up on the right wall leading to the door to the next room. I also saw what was engraved on the suits of armor’s chest plates. They were all marked with the infinity symbols. I took a deep breath and ran for the door in hopes that I could enter next room without getting caught by the suits of armor. I grabbed the doorknob and looked back to see if any of the suits of armor had moved. None of them seemed to care about me.

I tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn’t move. I examined the door and saw three keyholes above the doorknob. I sighed and shook my head. Now I was going to have to find three keys in addition to avoiding the suits of armor. A thought suddenly formed in my mind. There were three keys and three suits of armor. I looked at one of the suits and saw a key tied to its neck. It was barely noticeable, but I could just make it out.

“Damn It,” I said under my breath. I kicked the small table next to the door. The vase on the table broke into pieces as it hit the ground. The flowers inside lay ruined on the floor. I clenched my fists and prepared to use my fire to try and keep the suits from killing me. I couldn’t believe my luck. Every single time I thought I was done with the hardest part, something even worse waited around the corner to prove me wrong.

I opened my fists and created flames. The flames quickly covered my entire hands. I walked forward wanting nothing more than to tear apart the armor and grab the keys as my reward. The thought of fighting the Chimera only fueled my desire to destroy.

As I walked over to the vase, I noticed that the floor around it was wet. The vase was full of water. I forced the fire in my right hand to burn out. I forced the water to rise from the floor and wrap itself around my arm. I at least had another weapon to fight the suits of armor with.

I looked at the water swirling slowly and had an idea. The remaining flames on my arm burned themselves out. I put both my hands together and forced the water to go back to the ground. The water formed a puddle around me. I forced the puddle to split into three smaller pools. I guided the waters towards each suit of armor using the power I had gained from the Frostfalls’ Chimera.

Each stream of water slithered towards their targets. I had each of them climb up the suits of armor and wrap themselves around their armor’s key. I forced the water to solidify and tear the small ropes holding each key. I made the water fly towards me and quickly extracted each key.

I scrambled to open the door, when I finally heard the sound of the suits of armor reacting. I could feel them all coming to life behind me, but I couldn’t afford to throw a glance at them. I inserted the first key and turned it. I could hear the sound of the suits searching around the room for their keys. There was a sudden silence thst came afterwards. It was as if they were done searching and had all found me at once. I inserted the second key and quickly turned it.

The suits of armor were already advancing. Luckily, these suits of armor didn’t seemed to be as fast as the previous suits I had encountered, but I had a pretty good feeling that these suits were much more durable than the others. I readied the third key and placed it in the final keyhole. I turned around in time to see one of the suits of armor lunge at me. I rolled out of the way and shot a magma ball. It pushed one of the suits onto another one. Apparently my constant use of magma made the fires I had created now denser than before.

I turned my attention back to the door. I opened it and quickly entered. I wanted to scan the room for any danger, but I decided that it would be best to just lock myself away from the danger already present. I closed the door behind me and relocked it with the three locks.

I turned around to inspect my surroundings. The whole room was dark with the exception of the small space around me. I created a small flame in the palm of my hand. I used the small flame to light my way as I continued walking around. The room was full of massive machines and giant tube like container s full of some weird purple liquid.

I could feel the Chimera’s energy. It filled the room making impossible to find the exact source. I walked around and searched for the computer that could unlock the Chimera’s sanctuary doors. There were a few computers, but none of them had the program Octavia had showed me.

I tried my best to focus on finding the computer and unlocking the door to the Chimera, but the Chimera’s energy was messing with my concentration. I felt like he was close. I could feel the alabaster aura raging around inside of me trying to get to the surface. I was anxious now. In a matter of minutes the door to the final Chimera would be opened and I would be able to take his power, and after I was finished with him, I could move on to Octavia’s power.

I shook my head furiously. The alabaster aura inside of me was also messing with my mind. I knew I didn’t want to kill Octavia, but it made me want her power more than anything. The thought of gaining more power was exhilarating, but would it be enough me? Would the power I gain from killing the last Chimera and Octavia to satisfy my power-lust?

Another sinister thought came to my mind. ”I could always take some of the X.X.X. Plague with me when I escape Canterlot and spread it,”I thought to myself.“I could breed whole new generations of Chimeras. A whole new world of power I could take. I could be a goddess.” I smiled. The seduction of power was too great to fight. I wanted all the power I could handle. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything while this Chimera was still alive.

I came across another computer with a program that could activate the lights. I read the command index and typed the correct command to turn on the lights. The room lit up all at once. Unfortunately, the lights were all dim. “It’ll have to do,” I said to myself as I extinguished the flame in my hand and continued my search.

I looked around until I finally saw a computer I hadn’t inspected. The area around the computer was almost completely black. I walked over to the computer and immediately saw the lock program l I also noticed another program designed to light up the rest of the area. I activated the lights. The area immediately lit up. These lights were far brighter than the lights I’d previously activated.

The sudden flash of bright light momentarily blinded me. I staggered around until I thumped into something hard. My eyes began to adjust to the light after a few moments. I turned around to see what I had bumped into. I immediately jumped backwards in horror at the monster I was sure was linked to the Chimera. It looked far worse than I had remembered. A disturbing concern began to form in my mind: What had the Chimera done to control him?

I had been waiting in the same room for what seemed like hours. I stayed ever so vigilant in case Sunset contacted me, but it was becoming difficult to handle the waiting. I hated the fact that I couldn’t advance without her help. Precious time was being wasted with every moment the doors to the Chimera were closed. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

I sighed. Being impatient wasn’t going to help me. I took a deep breath and tried to relax as I continued waiting.

Beep. Beep. The two-way radio I had begun to beep. I quickly answered the call. “Octavia?” I heard a very frightened Sunset say.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I found it,” she replied with worry in her voice.

“Great, are you having trouble getting the computer to unlock the door?”

“No,” she replied hesitantly. “I see the activation program right here.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“You know what, never mind I’ll take care of the lock. Wait for me alright?”

“Wait what did you—“

AHHH! I suddenly heard an ear shattering scream come from above me and most likely beyond the locked doors. It wasn’t just any scream, it was Moondancer’s. I dashed forward not even trying to come up with an actual plan. All I could think about was how I had abandoned Moondancer before. I would not allow myself to let someone like Moondancer get hurt for my inaction again.

“Octavia?” I heard Sunset call out in the radio. “Tavi!” I turned off the radio not wanting to be distracted. My hesitation could mean Moondancer and Twilight’s death. I didn’t know what to expect, but I took comfort in the fact that’s I could use stealth if things got too out of control.

I ran for about one more minute before I finally saw the doors. I recognized them from the files in the computer in the lobby. Without a second thought, I ran to the doors and burst into the room. In retrospect, I probably should’ve thought things through, because the moment I ran in I was sent flying to the right side of the room. I landed on a desk and completely smashed it into pieces.

I closed my eyes unable to move. I was mad at myself for doing something so stupid. I could see the Chimera’s shadow looming above me. I was about to pay for my stupidity with my life. I sighed in disappointment as the Chimera looked over at me.

“Come on Octavia, answer,” I said to the radio in hopes that Octavia would answer. After Octavia abruptly left and turned the radio off, I activated the lock program on the computer and began looking for a way to get back to the main floor. I couldn’t stand the thought of being helpless to save the others. I wanted to save them partially because they were my friends, but also because I wanted Octavia’a powers. The presence of the Chimera’s pet made it difficult for me to concentrate on anything other than power.

I knew I couldn’t go back the way I came, because there were still three Chimera charged suits of armor ready to fight me. That path would also take too long to get through. It would be best to try to find an alternative way to get to Octavia and her powers before going back the way I came.

I began to walk in the areas that were still dark. The light seemed to activate in these areas as soon as I started walking in them they must have been operating with a motion sensor. I continued walking until I saw what looked like an elevator nearby. I hadn’t seen it before because of the lack of light. I pushed the elevator button and watched as the doors opened for me.

I walked into the elevator quickly. I pushed the button for the top floor hoping that I would take me to the same floor as the Chimera. The doors closed in front of me. I felt the elevator gently rising up the building. I readied my weapons. I didn’t rely on my powers alone, because using them exhausted me.

The elevator came to a gentle stop at its destination. The doors slowly opened and allowed me to see my new surroundings. The room had the same dark and ominous feel the basement had, but with a setting of the world’s biggest confession room. The lights were dimly lit. A water cooler, a few rows of school desks, and a set of stairs leading to the next floor were the only things in this room.

I walked to the stairs and immediately picked up the scent of the Chimera we were after at the very top of the stairs. I could also sense that Moondancer was there. I carefully ascended to the top and tried to listen to the conversation just beyond the door.

“So you’re the one that’s been giving the other lands so much trouble?” asked a low demonic harsh voice. Almost sounding just like King Sombra but much more evil. “The holy mother is unpleased by this.”

“The hell are you talking about?” Octavia replied in a tired and disoriented tone.

“Forget it, it’s nothing a filthy mongrel like you would understand. I would gladly put you out of your misery, but for some reason the holy mother wants you alive, Sunset Shimmer.”

I was taken aback by what the Chimera had just said. A sea of questions began forming in my head. What was the Chimera talking about? Who was the holy mother? Why does she want me? I listened back to the Chimera’s conversation in hopes that he would reveal more about this holy mother he worshipped.

“Who exactly is this holy mother of yours?” Octavia asked.

“She is the one that gave you your power,” the Chimera replied. “She is the one that gave everypony her divine gift.”

I instantly understood who they were talking about. I instantly knew who had spread the X.X.X. Plague, despite the fact that I had only met her once at Camp Everfree and in the hospital. “Gloriosa,” I whispered to myself. I had more questions that needed answering, but there wasn’t any way for me to ask them. My only hope of getting my answers was if Octavia happened to ask them before the Chimera became hostile.

“Why does your holy mother want me alive at all for that matter?” Octavia asked.

“I don’t know why,” the Chimera replied, “but don’t think that she’s going to be pleasant to you. She hates you. I can feel it.”

“Aw, what’s the matter? Mommy hasn’t told you what she’s planning, has she? Maybe she’s realized how much stronger I am than you all. I’m just better in her eyes.”

I couldn’t see the Chimera, but I knew Octavia was getting on his nerves.

“The mighty Chimeras,” Octavia continued. “The best of the Black Plaguelands. Wouldn’t you be ashamed if you knew your ‘children’ were being taken down by a mongrel like me?”

“Shut your filthy mouth animal!” the Chimera yelled.

“Great,” I whispered to myself. I knew that there weren’t any questions I could get answered now, so now wouldn’t be a good time to take action and save the others.

“And you,” the Chimera continued in a disgusted tone seeming to talk to someone else. “You betrayed our mother too. Luckily for you our mother is forgiving. The lightning squids who are loyal to the holy mother are spared of her wrath. The others that follow you shall perish along your side. We’ll start with you here and now.”

I could hear the sound of the Chimera walking towards someone. I couldn’t let the Chimera kill or hurt Octavia until I had the chance to take her power. I had waited too long already; it was time to strike.

I began to prepar myself by creating a stream of fire that I forced to spiral around both my arms. I wasn’t going to use my other abilities just yet. I could feel the alabaster aura sensation begin to creep up my spine. It was trying to claw its way back to the surface, but was unable to. Octavia’s suppressive power was still in effect. I wondered if killing Octavia would stop the suppression or make it permanent. I didn’t want to risk it.

I took a deep breath and blasted the door open. The first Xenomorph I saw was the Chimera. He looked so hideous beyond comprehension at this point. He had black amethyst skin and tattoos all over his body. He had five arms and five sythe arms and had ten horns on his head. His eyes were glowing green with purple flowing eye-lashes. I had thought he was never heard from again back in Equestria, and yet here he was. King Sombra the Psychological Industrial Complex Chimera. He looked at me with a mixture of surprise and anger.

I clenched my fists and sent a barrage of magma balls at him. He quickly dispersed the barrage with a telekinetic blast. I sent another magma ball towards him. He dodged it and sent a dark telekinetic blast towards me. I jumped out of the way and quickly composed myself.

“What is your business here blazer?” Sombra asked.

I stood silent.

“Fine,” he said annoyed. “It doesn’t matter why you’re here anyway. You’re not going to leave my cathedral alive.” Sombra stepped back and out of the shadows emerged ten Teleptics. These were no doubt Sombra’s elite. “Kill her.”

As soon as the order was given, the Teleptics sprang into action. Half of them tried to blast me with telekinetic blasts, while the other five propelled themselves towards me. I was knocked back by all the attacks. I quickly got to my feet and began to run around the room. I hoped that they wouldn’t be able to hit me as much if I was a moving target.

As I ran, I looked to my side and saw Twilight, Octavia, and Moondancer tied up in the corner of the room. The Chimera stood in front of them watching me fight. I was going to need Octavia to kill Sombra, but I couldn’t free her as long as the ten Teleptics continued to attack me, and I had no idea how I was going to stop them. There were too many for me to handle. As I was beginning to plan out my victory over the Teleptics, one of them used a hard telekinetic blast to throw me across the room. The blast sent me flying through a wall and into a large fountain.

I slowly got back up on my feet. I could feel the blood dripping down my face. My clothes were completely drenched in water, but before I had a chance to exit the fountain and dry off, the Teleptics approached.

All ten of the Teleptics stood in front of me. I slowly backed away as they approached. As they got into the water, I suddenly realized that I had the upper hand and that the Teleptics were at my mercy. I replaced the firs thst covered my arms with lightning. I slammed my hands into the water and electrocuted the Teleptics. They all screamed in agony and then suddenly each of them fell back into the fountain.

I jumped out of the fountain and back into Sombra’s room. The Chimera looked impressed by my performance. “You are stronger than I gave you credit for,” he admitted. “Maybe you’re smarter too. Come with me and see the holy mother.”

“I’ll see her when I want,” I replied. “Right now, I’m here for you.” I forced my right hand to burst into flames while sustaining the lightning on my left hand. I forced some of the water from the fountain to find its way into Sombra’s room as well. My powers were ready, but I still wasn’t sure how to kill this guy without my alabaster aura. I needed Octavia to reactivate it for me, which meant she was my top priority.

I threw a magma ball towards the Chimera followed by a lightning bolt. He easily stopped the fire with a telekinetic blast, but the lightning was too fast for him to counter. I smiled as it struck him. Sombra wasn’t fast like the Teleptics were, which put me at a huge advantage.

He ran towards me sending blast after blast of telekinetic energy towards me. I easily dodged every single one while still being able to hit him with lightning bolts. For a moment, I thought I could beat the Chimera without using the alabaster aura and the celestial warrior trance.

The Chimera looked angry now. He brushed off my attacks which clearly weren’t doing too much damage. He was clenching his fists and grinding his teeth, he thrust his hands to the floor and shot a blast of energy through it. The blast easily carved a hole through the floor. The sound of the initial blast was followed by several more floors.

I wasn’t sure what the point of the Chimera’s actions had been. My first guess was that the Chimera was simply showing his frustration. It wasn’t until I felt the energy I had sensed in the basement of the building began to rise that I understood why he had made the hole. It was made so that the Plagasis could quickly travel from the basement to me.

I extinguished the flames from my hand and retrieved my beretta. I showered the Chimera in a rain of both lightning and bullets. He began backing away from me and more importantly from Octavia. I dashed towards Octavia all the while continuing my barrage of gunfire and lightning bolts.

I got in front of Octavia and quickly retrieved one of her knives from her pocket. I used the knife to slash the rop around her hands just in time for us to dodge another one of Sombra’s telekinetic blasts. Twilight and Moondancer couldn’t move out of the way, so they were sent flying through the room and into another. Neither of them moved. I figured that Moondancer must have survived because of her Chimera strength, but I didn’t think Twilight was as lucky. I closed my eyes at the sight of Twilight and turned back to Sombra. Rage was growing in my body and the alabaster aura was desperately trying to claw its way out.

“Shit,” Octavia said with worry in her voice. “Do you think they’re alright?”

“That’s not important right now,” I said.

“What?” she asked surprised.

“We can’t help them until we kill the Chimera,” I pointed out. “To do that, I’ll need my alabaster aura back.”

Octavia looked at me doubtfully, but nodded. He put her middle and index finger on my forehead. I could instantly feel the flood of power coursing through my veins.ni could feel the alabaster aura becoming visible and beginning to spread all over my body. I was definitely ready to fight.

I turned back to the Chimera in time to see his pet emerge from the hole in the floor. It was the exact same Plagasis I had seen before. His cold slightly skeletal skin was just as pale purple as I had remembered it. It still had the same chains covering its body. It did however, look taller and more feral than I had remembered. It didn’t matter to me though, because I knew I was unstoppable. As soon as I had my prey in mind there would be no stopping me from killing it.

“Where’d you get him?” I asked.

“The holy mother,” Sombra replied.

The Chimera’s love for Gloriosa was starting to annoy me. I didn’t even truly understand why I needed to siphon Sombra’s powers. I was more than strong enough to kill her as I was. It felt like it was more for pleasure. At this point I didn’t even think she was worth talking to. I didn’t care about what I was anymore. All I wanted was more power.

The Plagasis quickly sprinted for me. I threw magma balls towards him. The magma ball swerved around him instead of hitting him directly as it should have. He jumped forward and landed right in front of me. He slashed the air in front of me trying to strike me, but I was fast enough to dodge it, I was suddenly struck down by the dense air around his arm and sent flying backwards. I rose up ready to dodge the next attack. Again the Plagasis slashed the air to my side, and again I was sent flying backwards.

I rose to my feet completely confused. He never hit me or made a visible telekinetic blast, but it felt as if he had sent me flying with telekinesis. I wasn’t sure how he was able to dodge my magma ball either. I analyzed the Plagasis’s moves for a second. ”Wait a minute, he didn’t dodge it, he redirected it,” I thought to myself. "The Plagasis must have some sort of telekinetic shield around him.”

I looked to my side to Octavia fighting the Chimera. Octavia could distract him while I continued fighting the Plagasis. I aimed for the Plagasis’s face and shot another bolt of lightning. It veered off and struck him in his right shoulder. The Plagasis tumbled down to the floor and shook off the attack. I quickly ran passed it and towards the Chimera.

Octavia was dodging blast offer blast of Sombra’s telekinetic attacks. Knowing Octavia, she was probably trying to tire him out. I shot Sombra with my handgun which caused him to turn his attention to me. Octavia ran for the Chimera and slashed away at his chest. She then backed away and taunted the Chimera with a hand gesture unfamiliar to me.

Sombra sent a large telekinetic blast towards Octavia. It looked like it was about to hit Octavia until she rolled to the floor at the last moment. The blast hit the Plagasis who, at the time, dashing behind Octavia. The blast swerved away just as my attacks had done before. At that split second I formed an idea. I forced the water I had dragged with me form the fountain on the floor in between the Chimera and the Plagasis to turn itself into ice. I watched as the Chimera and the Plagasis clashed together. Their telekinetic powers sent them both flying away from each other. They landed on separate ends of the room completely unconscious.

I quickly rushed over the Chimera and placed my hand on his forehead. The siphoning process started almost instantly. I could feel the new power beginning to manifest within me. The siphoning only took a few seconds this time. As soon as I finished, I used my new power to push everything away from me.

I could suddenly feel another Chimera’s power nearby; this Chimera wasn’t as developed as the other, but it was very near. Before I could seek out the other Chimera and spread the X.X.X. Plague, I was finally going to take Octavia’s power for myself.

I turned around ready to fight Octavia when Octavia suddenly slammed her hand onto my forehead. My body refused to obey me. The longer she held on, the darker the world around me became. She finally let go and I fell to the floor unable to stay awake.

Next Chapter: Chapter 16: The Final Mission Before The Grand Finale Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 37 Minutes