I woke up in Discord’s main safe house. This was the safe house that was near the police station. I sat up from my bed and rubbed my eyes. I looked around for a moment and saw Octavia watching me from the door.

“Good, you’re up,” she said.

“How long have I been out?” I asked.

“Just a few hours,” she replied.

“Why’d you knock me out?” I asked angrily.

“I was only trying to lock away your alabaster aura stuff,” she said. “I thought it would take more to bring you down, it’s not my fault that you’re a lightweight.” Octavia was as smug as ever.

“Where are Moondancer and Twilight?”

“Moondancer is right next door, and Twilight’s in the police station with Discord and the others. They’re trying to organize an escape plan for all of the survivors.”

“All of them?” I asked.

“Not including the Shadowbolt rogues,” Octavia said. “They’ve already burned that bridge.”

“Everyone agrees with that?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m in charge, so they do what I say.”

“What?!” I exclaimed. “When did that happen?”

“It happened about an hour ago. They liked the fact that I was the only apparent pony who helped take down the four great Chimeras in their own respective Black Plagueland.”

“They think I’m not human or pony?”

“Well they do, but they think you’re the reason why Moondancer is still alive and here with the rest of us. They don’t see anyone with the X.X.X. Plague as human or pony. Some of the religious people are calling the Chimeras pandora demons.”

I suddenly remembered the other mysterious Chimera I had felt around the time I killed Sombra. “Wait a minute,” I said. “There’s another Chimera out there.”

“Are you talking about the wolf Chimera?”

“No,” I replied. I thought back to my encounter with the wolf. I wasn’t sure if it was a Chimera, but it didn’t mutate like a normal infected animal. I never sensed any Chimera-like energy from it so it couldn’t have been in the Psychological Industrial Complex. “I think there’s another one out there. It’s probably human too.”

“Can you still sense it?” Octavia asked intently.

“No the Chimera’s energy is gone.”

“Well we don’t need another Chimera anyway. You’re perfectly capable of fighting Gloriosa as you are.” Octavia turned her back in me and took a few steps forward. “Sunset, stay here and rest for as long as you need. I’ll go get everything we’ll need to fight Gloriosa. It won’t take long.” Octavia continued walking forward until she was finally out of my sight.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Sunset’s behavior towards me. I used my command ability to force Sunset to sleep because I didn’t trust her to not try to kill me. I knew it was underhanded of me to lie to her face about what I did, but I didn’t want to risk her getting mad at me. I couldn’t afford to lose any allies, especially now when we were going to fight Gloriosa. All The answers I want are just a few hours away, I thought to myself as I smiled.

I walked out of the safe house and back into the streets. I looked around and took in everything that was here now. The city blockhad been taken back and fortified by us. The survivors that remained at the police station at the time cleared out the Xenomorphs and other infected monsters while Sunset and I were hunting Chimeras. They created great walls and gates around our territory to only allow survivors in and nothing else. Discord had told me that the free will baring Pyronocks, Cryo Spiders, and Veltromites were all in a smaller area bordered off from the rest of the outpost because the uninfected were scared of them. Some people thought of this as segregation, but I thought of it more as a quarantine. This area really looked like it was ready for anything the Black Plaguelands could throw at us.

I looked around and saw many familiar faces. There were many people I helped over the course of my time away from Sunset. I looked at many of them. The majority of them gave me lols of gratefulness and admiration. Those that didn’t were clearly too tired and devastated about Canterlot’s fall or the deaths of loved ones to acknowledge me, or anything for the matter.

I saw a grown man crying his heart out with a picture of him and what I presumed to be his wife in his hands. The picture depicted the man, and a gorgeous woman both hugging and looking at the camera. I slowed my pace as I passed, looked at him with pity. The X.X.X. Plague had ruined him.

I kept walking and I eventually crossed paths with a girl who looked tired and empty. Her expression was blank and her appearance was messy. Her blue hair was filthy and unkempt, her clothed were dirty and wet, and her face was painted with two long lines of mascara that ran down from her eyes to the bottom of her face. I wanted to talk to her and try to comfort her, but she was too destroyed to even notice me there. She walked forward as if there was nothing else around her. “She probably doesn’t care if she lives or dies anymore,” I thought to myself. I felt bad for all of them, but I knew that I couldn’t lose my focus. Still, after traveling the Black Plaguelands for so long, I had truly forgotten how many people suffered through this whole tragedy. It almost became normal to me to kill them. They became villains in my eyes and the thought that they were everything else had withered long ago. I shook off my thoughts and kept walking forward as if there was no one suffering around me.

As I walked to the police station, I couldn’t help but feel a mix of pride and shame for what I had done. It was true that I helped cripple the rein of the Chimeras, but I only did it for myself. Before, I didn’t really care too much about anything other than the mission, but now I was different. Fighting with my friends made me different. I would still hold my mission beyond most other things, but now I had to be more careful on how I was going to complete my goals.

I walked through the police station gates and headed for the entrance. Vinyl was standing in front of the police station doors. “Come back from your adventure already babe?” she asked. “Told You you’d be fine and kill all the bad guys.”

“You do know I didn’t really kill any of the Chimeras right?” I asked. People had been treating me as if I was the only one who killed all of them.

“Yeah; that reminds me, say thanks to Sunset for me and everyone else.”

“Of course sweetheart. So,” I said as I looked outside of the police station gates. “Are these all the remaining outposts? Including any of the Shadowbolt ones?”

“No,” Vinyl responded. “We found one Shadowbolt rogue and we’re interrogating him. He told us about where they had gotten all of the guns they were using, but a little more.”

“Well don’t leave me in suspense. Where did they get them?”

“They got them in a deal with someone named Gloriosa Daisy. He said that as long as they supplied her with some of the infected, she would send them guns and any other weapons they needed.”

“Gloriosa gave them what they needed to raid the outpost near the Frostfalls for food. She must have wanted more test subjects or experiments. At least all of the outposts here are safe now.”

“Yeah, and they all brought supplies from their outposts. We can stay here for a month.”

“We won’t be here for long,” I reassured Vinyl. “Why aren’t you guys leaving now? I’m sure the road out of here is safe enough to use.”

“The bridge still isn’t open.”

“Why can’t you guys just activate it? It’s just a normal drawbridge, right?”

“Discord says that there’s some problem with the bridge’s computer.”

“I’m sure he can fix it. He’ll have enough protection especially now with the new muscle we brought with us from the Black Plaguelands.”

“Well he wants you and Sunset to do one more thing before that.”

“Another mission?” I asked. “Can’t we just get Gloriosa already?” Vinyl shrugged. We walked inside the police station. She led me into the operations room. Inside, Discord, Twilight, and a few other people waited for me.

“How’s Sunset doing?” Discord asked.

“She’s awake but resting,” I answered. “We will be ready to go to the Umbrella Yutani Corporation headquarters in a little while.

“Before you fight Gloriosa, I have one more thing for you to do.” I looked at Discord with a puzzled expression. “You need to visit another of my properties.”

I sighed heavily. “Another safe house?”

“Oh there is nothing safe about this house.” Discord said with a serious tone. “The property is a lab filled with dangerous experiments.”

“Alright, what’s so important over there that’s worth risking our lives for?”

“All of my research is there. I have very little doubt that Gloriosa is combing the land searching for it. There’s no telling what will happen if anyone were to get their hands on it.”

“Who else knows about that location?” I asked.

“No one should know about them, but our enemies are resourceful. They’ll find it if they hadn’t already.”

lOur enemies?” I thought to myself. ”There’s somepony other then Gloriosa who’s a real threat?” I didn’t ask not wanting to scare anyone around us.

“I’ll get everyone ready then,” I said. “Make sure we have all the necessary supplies. I want everything ready in an hour.”

“That’s what we were hoping that you’d stay. While you and your team are data, everyone else here will be beginning the operation to leave Canterlot.”

“The drawbridge won’t be a problem for you right?”

“I’ll have it up in no time, just make sure you finish everything you need to do quickly. We can’t risk keeping the bridge down for too long. We don’t want any of the X.X.X. Plague spreading out.”

“Speaking of which,” I said. “Have you come up with a cure?”

“I have something. It’s a X.X.X. Plague cure, but so far all it does is make the X.X.X. Plague almost impossible to spread from the one who takes it.”

“Thats good enough for now. Good luck with your operation, Discord.”

“You too,” Discord said in a grave tone. “Octavia, be aware that Gloriosa will be stronger than before. If she was able to repel you as easily as she did when you first met her, then her strength now will be unmatchable even to you and Sunset.”

“Are you saying we might not survive?” Discord nodded. “If you had seen Sunset in action, you wouldn’t say that.” Discord nodded again.

I walked out of the operation room and walked as quickly as possible to the safe house. I walked inside and began to pack a few supplies I thought I would need in a satchel. I took the obvious supplies along with a laptop. I wanted to read over some of the files I had collected over the course of the infection. I also wanted to read through the files I would see in Discord’s lab and the Umbrella Yutani Corp. headquarters. I was going to know as much as possible about the X.X.X. Plague to make sure it never causes something like this to happen again.

I couldn’t rest like Octavia had told me to do. The thought of taking down another Chimera and siphoning his power filled me with energy. The alabaster aura wasn’t pushing as hard as before, though. I felt it become more and more silent as I waited. I was feeling a little more like myself.

I waited impatiently for more news about our mission. I noticed Octavia pass by, but I wanted her to thing that I was still resting. She eventually came back to my room.

“Hey Sunset,” she said. “We’re going to head out on a little less than an hour.”

“We’re going out to fight Gloriosa already?” I asked a little disappointed that the news wasn’t Chimera related.

“No, we’re going to make one quick stop before that. Start getting ready.”

“Is it about the other Chimera?” I asked a little more eager than I meant to. She shook her head. “Alright then, I’ll see you at the front of the police station when I’m ready.” Octavia nodded then walked away. I prepared the bag I had been using throughout my adventure in the Black Plaguelands. I loaded it lightly knowing that I would use my powers more thn my guns. I finished packing and began heading out to the police station.

I left the house and was surprised to see so many people in one place. These must have been all the survivors the Black Plaguelands had to offer now. I walked forward and immediately ran into Aria.

“Hey there Ari,” I said. “Nice to see you’re still alive.”

“You too,” she replied. “Hey, do you know how we’re going to get out of town?”

“No, you have to talk Octavia about that. All I can tell you is not to get too comfortable here. You’re probably going to leave this place soon.”

Aria pulled out a double-barrel shotgun from behind her back. “You think that’s going to be a problem?” she asked with an expression of mock concern.

I chuckled. “Nice,” I said.

“Where is Octavia anyway?”

“She’s getting ready for another mission.

“What mission?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “She didn’t really say much. I don’t even know who else is going with us. I’m sure she’ll take Moondancer too.” A concern suddenly popped into my mind. “Is everyone else safe? All of our friends I mean.”

“Not everyone,” Aria said with depression in her voice. She looked down at the ground. “A lot of people are gone now, Sunset. It’s been pretty bad.”

“Is Trixie dead?”

“Yeah, the xenos got her.”

“Well at least there’s that,” I said under my breath. I really didn’t like Trixie. “Good thing it wasn’t anyone important like you or Pinkie Pie, or Applejack.”

“Hey that reminds me, Applejack was looking for you, Twilight, and Octavia.”

“Did she say why?” I asked. Aria shook her head. I sighed. “Well I guess it’s going to wait until we get back from our mission. Be safe.” I walked away from aria and towards the police station.

As I walked to the police station, I began to look back on my behavior. At first, I only wanted to kill Octavia and drain her power when I was using my alabaster aura ability, but the craving for her powers stayed with me throughout the majority of my time in the Psychological Industrial Complex. Now that the alabaster aura was suppressed however, I could finally begin to think clearly. A wave of guilt overtook me. You were willing to kill one of your friends to become stronger. “I thought to myself.” Then you wanted to infect the world for the same reason. Are you really better than Gloriosa? I shook the thought away.

On my way to the police station, I noticed people staring at me. Some of them looked at me with hope and admiration in their faces, but others looked at me with contempt. They couldn’t have known about my powers. The only people that were aware of them we the ones who told me not to tell anyone, Octavia said that the remaining survivors thought that Moondancer was still alive because of me. They must have been very uneasy with her around. It made sense that they would blame me for that.

Twilight waited for me in front of the police station gates. She had a bag of her own. “Hey Sunset,” she said. “You ready to get going?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “Do you know where Discord is? I have to talk to him.”

“He left a while ago to talk to Octavia. He wants to give her a private briefing.”

“You’re going with us aren’t you?” I asked.

Twilight nodded. “Octavia is pretty hell-bent on me staying, but I know she’s going to let me go. Moondancer’s coming too.” We stood in silence for a moment. “I’m going to see who will be driving us. I’ll see you soon.”

“Alright,” I replied. “I’ll see you there.” Twilight slowly walked out of my sight. I continued waiting for Octavia, and hopefully Discord to arrive. I was starting to get impatient. I closed my eyes and leaned on the gate.

Fifty minutes had passed and there was still no sign of Octavia or Discord. I was ready to go to the Black Plaguelands alone, but just before I began walking, Octavia finally arrived.

“Are you ready?” Octavia asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “So what did you and Discord talk about?”

“He just told me what I should expect. We’re heading out to the Umbrella Yutani Corp, but we’re going to make a stop first. Discord wants us to destroy a lab nearby.”

“That’ll be quick,” I said confidently.

“Hopefully,” Octavia said. “Now, it’s time to get going. Our ride should be ready by now.” Octavia and I walked outside of the outpost. We waited for a minute until a cop car pulled up next to us. Applejack was in the driver seat.

“Howdy sugarcubes,” she said. “Ready for a hankerin’ adventure?”

“No,” Octavia said. “I’m sorry, but I’m driving.”

“Beg pardon?” Applejack asked insulted. “Why not?”

“I’m the only one who knows both locations.”

“When did you learn to drive anyway?” Moondancer asked. “You never knew how when you were living with me.”

“Wait a minute,” Applejack said as she was moving out of the driver seat, “you two were living together?” A bit of shock appeared in her voice.

“Long story,” Octavia said she got into the driver seat, “I’ll tell you later. And just so you know Moondancer, I learned in the middle of all of this, when I posed as a cop.”

“Let’s get moving.” We jumped into the car and a few seconds later, Octavia drove us away. We drove silently. Octavia’s driving had always been a little wilder than a normal human driver, but I had just thought it was like that because she was a pony and there was a Xenomorph apocalypse around us.

We swerved every street constantly avoiding debris on the road by only a few inches. I looked at everyone in the car. Everyone seems a bit tense, except for Octavia. She seemed oddly relaxed. She was constantly examining the streets. Apparently she was very confident of our chances against Gloriosa.

Octavia drove for what seemed like a few seconds then suddenly stopped in a residential area I recognized being miles away from the police station. The amount of distance that Octavia covered in the short amount of time when she drove was unbelievable. She parked the car near one of the houses. I sighed. This was the same neighborhood that this world’s Octavia lived in.

“You alright there sugar?” Applejack asked. “You look like you have a lot on your mind.”

“I’m fine,” I replied. “I just hoped I wouldn’t see this place again.”

Octavia turned off the car and turned to us. “Applejack and I are going in by ourselves,” Octavia said.

“What? Why must you two?” I protested.

“You, Moondancer, and Twilight will just attract the wrong attention,” Octavia replied. “Applejack and I, on the other hand, know how to sneak around.”

“I bet,” I said under my breath, “just be careful.”

“Nice advice Shimmer,” Twilight said sarcastically. “It’s really going to be helpful.” I rolled my eyes and turned away. Octavia and Applejack got out of the car and walked to a nearby house. Octavia opened the door, and the next moment they were gone.

The living room we were standing in was painted in a metallic gray color. The room was almost completely unfurnished and had no photographs or personal belongings thst would have made it apparent that it belonged to Discord. The only things in the room were a single black sofa on the right of us and an open door that lead to what looked like another equally unfurnished room.

“So what exactly are we lookin’ for Octavia?” Applejack asked.

“A room full of computers and stuff like that,” I replied. “Follow me and don’t stray.” I wanted to be extra careful here with Applejack around. I knew that she had been extraordinary lucky up to this point ever since we left the outpost. I didn’t want to push our luck. We hadn’t seen anything or anyone on our trip here, but I was sure that this moment of peace was just the calm before the storm.

Applejack and I quickly looked around through most of the house without finding anything. The last room left to explore was the basement. It made sense that he would have his work underground just like his tunnels, his safe houses, and the rest of his properties. We should’ve looked there first, but I was nervous about leading Applejack into such a potentially dangerous place. At least in the rest of the house she could rush to the entrance or a window to get help, but the basement wasn’t as escapeable. We would have to go regardless now. I needed to finish my mission.

I opened the basement door and cautiously stepped inside with Applejack waiting just outside. The room was pitch-black, but my eyes adjusted almost instantly. I continued walking down the stairs until I finally reached the bottom. The room was completely silent and there wasn’t anything apparently dangerous.

“Applejack, come on down,” I said. “It’s safe.” The room had a corner that was full of computers, four other corners that were full of boxes of junk, and a final corner that had a very sturdy looking cage. I saw a light switch towards the end of the stairs. I walked over to it and turned it on. The light came on and illuminated everything. I heard Applejack’s footsteps as she walked down the stairs.

“Did ya find what you needed?” she asked.

“I think so,” I replied, “but I need to make sure.” I walked over to the computers and turned them on. As soon as I could, I began searching through the files. I copied everything thst looked relevant to the X.X.X. Plague and downloaded it into my flash drive. I read field about the Giger virus Project and the X.X.X. Everfree virus Project. The head of the Giger virus Project was Gloriosa Daisy which didn’t surprise me too much, but the Everfree Project didn’t have much info on it. It only had a few works types under it: ”The concepts of the Everfrees show greater potential than the Chimeras ever had. Once the Giger Project is complete we must focus on the Everfrees.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of the file. The thought of another kind of infected wasn’t pleasant, especially if it was stronger than the Chimeras. I finished downloading the files and unplugged the flash drive.

“You have everything ou need now?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “Let’s get out of here.” Applejack and I walked up the stairs, into the living room, and back outside. I felt like Applejack wanted to talk a lot more, but I was too focused on the data. “You’re going to drive this time. I want to check some of the data I just got out of this place.”

“That’s probably for the best sugarcube,” Applejack said with a playful smile. I smiled back. I was really glad Applejack came with us on this trip. I was scared for her safety, but I loved having her around. It felt really selfish for thinking that way, especially since I’m married to Vinyl, but she could handle herself.

“Hep Applejack,” I said. “I’m glad you came with us, and I just wanted to let you know that you’re safe as long as I’m around.” I put much more passion into this statement than I wanted to. I looked away beyond embarrassed.

“What’s the matter,” Applejack teased. “Are ya suddenly having trouble talking to a girly girl like me?”

“After what you did when we left the hospital? You’re definitely not a girly girl.” Applejack and I continued teasing each other until we reached the car. It was nice to mess around with her. Meeting her was by far the best thing that happened to me during all this.

Sunset looked in our direction and I was suddenly reminded of my mission. “Sunset, get out and torch the place,” I said to Sunset as soon as I reached her.

Sunset got out of the car and walked towards the building without question. I followed behind her as she forced her right arm to erupt into flames. She threw a magma ball in the direction of the house. The fire quickly grew and engulfed the house. I silently watched as it burned to the ground. I turned my attention to Sunset who watched the fire much more intently than I had. She seemed oddly inattentive and passive.

“Are you alright?” I asked. “You look distracted.”

“I’m fine,” she replied. “I’m just thinking about a friend that used to live around here.”

“Is she okay?” I asked not sure what else to say.

Sunset shook her head and looked down. “I’m going to fucking make her pay,” she finally said.

“I know you are. Gloriosa will answer for everything she’s done to us and your world. She’ll wish she never met us.”

“Let’s get going,” Sunset said darkly. We walked back to the car in silence and sped away in moments.

I began to think about everything in the car and about what led them to be going with me to see Gloriosa. Sunset and Moondancer were some of the strongest women infected by Gloriosa and now they wanted revenge. Sunset once told me that she and her friends used to know Gloriosa from a few years ago but she wouldn’t tell me where they met her. She also told me that Gloriosa was affected by Equestrian magic which in turn transformed her into an entity name Gaia Everfree and somehow she and her friends were able to free her from Gaia’s grasp using the magic coming from geodes that she discovered in a quarry. Twilight had gone through some kind of sociological and physical change which caused her personality to become violent and dark. No longer the adorkable Twilight she used to be. And Applejack was just unlucky enough to have friends like us. Friends she cared about enough to risk her life to make sure they were alright. I wished I could have had a reason as kind as her’s.

I turned my focus to the road. The deeper into Canterlot we traveled, the worse the scenery seemed to become. There were hordes of Xenomorphs everywhere, but none of them were a real threat. They clustered together and and speed walked towards us as we passed. There was an gigantic rhino on the floor with oversized Xenomorph crows eating away at it. There was another barricade blocking the road ahead of us.

“Can you move it?” I asked.

“It’s too heavy,” Sunset replied. “Is there another way through?”

“No,” I replied. “There are barricades like this all over the place. A lot of good it’s done.”

“Then the only thing left to do is continue on foot.”

“We can’t—“

“We have to,” Sunset interrupted. “We can’t let her get away,”

Sunset opened the car door and walked outside. She looked around for a little while, and then signaled for us to come out. We all looked at each other and eventually everyone looked to me. I shrugged and left the car. I heard everyone exit the car and we walked over towards the barricade.

“Applejack you don’t have to go with us,” I said. “It’s too dangerous for you and Twilight.”

“Don’t worry about us sugarcube,” Applejack said. “We’ll be fine. We’ll just stay behind you where it’s safe.”

I began to protest, but stopped myself before I started. I knew that she would have her way no matter how much I fought. “Fine,” I said, “but you’re going to stay put in the first safe place we find. I’m not letting you get near Gloriosa, even if you knew before all this.”

Applejack nodded and began to climb the barricade. The rest of us followed her shortly after. We all climbed to the top and looked forward. I jumped down off the barricade into the new zone. Sunset jumped after me while everyone else climbed down.

“What kind of zone is this?” Sunset asked.

“It’s a treble clef zone,” I replied.

“Of course it is.”

“What? You think our good luck decided too start now?” Sunset shrugged and continued forward. We followed close by. “We’re about five blocks away. Stay close and make as little noise as possible.” We traveled together for six and a half blocks without drawing any attention.

“Does this feel kind of easy to anyone else?” Twilight asked. The distant sound of howling could be heard immediately after Twilight finished speaking. We all glared at Twilight in perfect unison.

“Well...that was bad timing.”

“We have ta find cover,” Applejack said worried.

“Wait,” Sunset said. “Something’s different. The howls sound scattered. They usually come from one direction.” Sunset looked around as if trying to find something. “The pack leader’s howl’s missing.”

“You can hear and understand all that?” Twilight asked with what I was sure was envy in her voice.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I think they’re trying to find him.”

“That’s great and all, but is it safe to travel?” Moondancer asked.

“No,” I responded.

“Great,” Twilight commentated ignoring me completely. “The wolves are leaderless, so we don’t have to worry about surprise attacks.” A small mob of fully armed Blackguard soldiers rushed out of the buildings around us almost instantly after Twilight stopped speaking. They aimed their weapons at us and advanced. We all glared at Twilight again. “That was just more bad timing.”

“Just shut up,” I said not even trying to hide my irritation. We all raised our hands above our heads and calmly stayed still.

“Why the hell are you all this deep in a treble clef zone?” one of the women asked. I recognized her voice almost immediately. It was the soldier named Spitfire.

“Relax honey,” I said as calmly as I could. “We just want to see someone. I’ve been told that she wants to see us too?”

“Who are you looking for?” Spitfire asked with curiosity in her voice.

I wasn’t surehow to tell Spitfire that we wanted to kill her boss, but I didn’t have time to think of a plan, so I would just say the truth, but leave out the part of killing her. “We’re here to see Gloriosa,” I said.

Spitfire and the rest of the Blackguard tensed up as these words. “Why do you want to see her?”

“We want to kill that pompous bitch,” Twilight said bluntly. I turned around to face Twilight ready to sucker punch her for blowing our plans.

“Really?” Spitfire asked cynically. “And how are you going to do that?”

“We have two anti-virus girls with us who want to kill her,” Twilight said as she pointed to Sunset and me.

I was about to knock Twilight out, but I stopped myself from punching Twilight the moment the Blackguard soldiers lowered their weapons. “What do you mean they’re anti-virus?”

“They both have powers that kill off the X.X.X. Plague.”

“You’re all going to the building that held her in it, aren’t you?” Spitfire pointed at me. Twilight nodded. “Well I’ve got news for you ladies, she ain’t there. After her city-wide dispersal of the X.X.X. Plague, Gloriosa went around the Black Plaguelands. She eventually settled down on the Umbrella Yutani Corps’ second building. This building is only meant to hold the prisoners until they’re called to be sent into that building for the real experimentation.”

“Can you show us where it is?” Sunset asked.

“I can,” Spitfire said, “but the only reason we’re helping you is because we want that bitch dead more than we want you dead.” The statement was directed more to me than anyone else. “Let’s get that straight.” I nodded. “Follow me.”

“At least she’s honest about her reasons for helping us,” Applejack whispered.

“For some odd reason, thst doesn’t make me feel better,” I whispered back sarcastically.

“Ah don’t like it either, but what other choice do we have?” Applejack began walking behind Spitfire. I despised having to trust these soldiers, but Applejack was right. There weren’t any other options. We all followed Spitfire until we reached Umbrella Yutani Corp building. We walked in and entered the elevator. Spitfire pushed one of the buttons, and the elevator began to rise.

I didn’t take in any of the environment around us. I was too distracted by a creeping sense of dread climbing up my spine to focus on anything around me. I was beginning to feel uneasy I was beginning to feel uneasy I was beginning to feel on easy about our plan to fight Gloriosa. She was strong the first time we fought her, but now she surely must have found a way to become stronger.

The elevator stopped and it’s doors opened. In front of us was a long hallway. The room was plain white in color and felt like any other room. The only thing in the hallway was a door at the very end. The door looked like a slab of metal was placed there instead of an actual door. It had no handles or doorknobs, but it did have a keypad to its immediate right. Spitfire fished a keycard from her pocket and slid it through the keypad. She typed in a few numbers. I heard the sound of gears turning and when they stopped, the door opened.

I stepped inside the room and was immediately overwhelmed with fascination. There was a wall of computers monitoring what seemed like every inch of Canterlot within a ten block radius of the building. The wall opposite the computers as full of weaponry that looked like it was from the future. The wall opposite the entrance was full of what looked like Xenomorph shaped robots of all sizes. Some of the robots looked humanoid while others looked like quadrupeds. The most impressive piece o technology to me was the table in the center of the room. The table had a purplish hologram figure of the entire city as it currently was.

I walked over to the table and stared at it in wonder. “This is amazing,” I said.

“A room full of technology years ahead of its time, and you go for the least impressive thing around?” Applejack asked amused.

“What can I say? I find this kind of stuff enjoyable.”

“I stil can’t believe you escaped us,” Spitfire said shaking her head in disappointment.

“How did I escape?” I asked. “It looks like you had everything you needed to catch someone who ran away from here.”

“I don’t understand it either. We should’ve been able to catch a stupid animal like you, but you just kept disappearing and reappearing.”

“Like if she was melding into the shadows?” Sunset asked. Spitfire nodded. “That’s her one of her special talents. It was strong even back then.” Sunset was silently thinking for a moment. “So what’s the plan and situation?”

“We’re going to let you guys go in as we escape the city.”

“That’s fine,” I said. “We won’t have to worry about any of you people getting in the way.” I looked around the room and at all the people that wanted Gloriosa dead. There were about thirty five of her people in this room alone. “Why did you all turn on Gloriosa anyway?”

“We didn’t turn on her. She turned on us,” Spitfire explained. “We are all apart of the same organization.”

“Umbrella Yutani?” Sunset asked.

“No,” Spitfire said. “The Umbrella Yutani Corporation is owned by it. The organization is much bigger than just one corporation. It extends all over. Most of it isn’t even interested in this corporation.”

“So the Blackguard soldiers are this organization’s elite military force?” I asked.

“The Blackguard isn’t where the elite soldiers belong. It’s where all of the soldiers started off. They’re trained and molded to be better than any other brand of soldier the world has ever seen. Blackguard soldiers are usually untrained, but exceptionally strong soldiers. When they become skilled enough they’re tranferred to another of the organization’s sects and gain a higher position.”

“What do you mean by other sects in your organization?” I asked.

“The organization has many goals and many ways to achieve them. Each sect has its own particular way of doing things. The sect I currently belong to is in charge of basic needs of the other sects and circulating assets from the others.”

“What’s your sect called?” I asked.

“You can just call it the blackbolt sect.”

“What can you be promotied to after Blackguard?” I knew the question wasn’t really important, but I was curious.

“I, personally, am trying to become Blazerbolt elite, but that’s neither here nor there. If you’re going to ask a question, make sure it has significance.”

“Alright. What did Gloriosa do to anger the organization?”

“She released the X.X.X. Plague, destroyed Canterlot, and kidnapped several Blackguard soldiers.”

“”What does she want with Blackguard soldiers?”

“I have no idea, but I doubt they’ll be the same people we knew before. If they’re still alive that is.” Spitfire paused for a moment and though I couldn’t see her face, I knew she was full of rage. “The road to the second Umbrella Yutani building is a lot more dangerous than this one. We”ll have a transport ready to take you to it. It’s the safest vehicle we have.”

“Good,” Sunset said. “AJ, Twilight, and Moondancer can go downstairs and get ready to go while Octavia and I have a conversation upstairs.” Spitfire shrugged and and turned to the map. Applejack, Twilight, and Moondancer each looked like they were about to protest, but they all stopped after seeing the seriousness in Sunset’s eyes.

Sunset and I walked away from the group and back into the elevator. Sunset pushed the button to the top floor. The elevator doors closed and we began to rise. “So,” Sunset said trying to start a conversation, “are you going to want to ask AJ to join you and Vinyl when we leave Canterlot?”

“Beg pardon?” I asked sounding a little more defensive than I wanted to. “Why would you say that?”

“I’m not blind Tavi. I know you like her too.”

“I never said anything. How could you come up with that?”

“It’s easy to tell from the way you two look at each other. You’re very stealthy when it comes to fighting my friend, but you’re transparent in the art of love.”

I looked at Sunset and shook my head. “Applejack was right. You’re definitely a writer,” I said casually. “A writer can see romance where it doesn’t exist.”

“Whatever you say,” Sunset replied. For some reason her response bothered me. “And besides, I’m not a writer anymore.”

“Oh? Why not?”

“I couldn’t come up with anything to write about. I wanted to go out to new exciting places to find stuff to write about, but I don’t think I can do it anymore.”

“I’m sure you’ll write something great one of these days. Besides, you’re not exactly low on adventure.” I was glad we changed the subject. I didn’t really feel comfortable talking about Applejack to anyone. The elevator stopped and the doors opened. We were on the roof. “Why are we here?”

“I want to see the city again,” Sunset said and she walked to the edge of the building. “This place used to be amazing, you know?” Sunset said somberly. “I always felt good coming back here every time I visit. The scenery was breathtaking: the mountains, the forest, Camp Everfree, Canterlot High, and the city. God, I loved this place. No one can outgrow a place like this. This city was my home away from Equestria.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said thoughtfully. “Though I’ve been apart of cities back in Equestria, I never been part of a city the way you have.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for that,” Sunset said, never turning away from Canterlot.

“Don’t be. I can’t grieve for something I never felt I had.”

Sunset grabbed the railing on the edge of the building. She stayed silent for a few seconds then tightened her grip on the railing. “She’s going to die today, Octavia. You can get what you want from her while she’s still alive, but after that I will end her.” Sunset spoke with pure hatred in her words. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to kill Gloriosa. She didn’t just destroy Sunset’s new home from Equestria; she turned it into a nightmarish world.

“Are you scared?” I asked. “Gloriosa is adaptive. She’ll undoubtedly have stronger abilities at her disposal. From the way Sombra spoke of her, she probable had more than just common XXX Plague carries around her now.”

“She can have an army behind her, but it won’t make a difference, Octavia. There is only one outcome to this fight that I’ll let happen.” She paused for a moment taking in her words. “That’s the one that ends with her dead at my feet.”

“You’re pretty confident,” I commented. “Do you truly believe you can handle Gloriosa as easily as you claim?”

“We’ve both been through the a Black Plaguelands. We’ve both been responsible for the deaths of each Chimera. I’ve become an unstoppable machine. None of the Chimeras could hurt me, so why do you think she’ll have a chance?” Sunset spoke with dark glee in her voice. She walked back to the elevator. “Are you coming?”

I walked over to the edge of the building and looked at the city and as I looked over the fires and monsters all around us, I knew that it was beyond hope. All that could be done now was to make sure something like this never happened again. I turned back to the elevator and walked forward knowing that this was going to be the last mission I would ever go in the Black Plaguelands. One way or another, it would be the last I ever saw this place.

Next Chapter: Chapter 17: The Grand Finale And The Return Of Gaia Everfree Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 9 Minutes