The transportation the Blackguard was providing us was ready when Octavia and I arrived. There were two large armored vehicles outside waiting for us. They looked like two small black tanks that were missing the cannons on top. The normal virus carriers and regular Xenomorphs wouldn’t be able to break something like that.

Octavia, Applejack, Twilight, and one of the Blackguard soldiers went into one vehicle while Moondancer and I went in another with Spitfire and another Blackguard soldier. Octavia and I talked to each other through our radios. We would make comments on the conditions of Canterlot on our way to Gloriosa’s building and on what we would do after escaping, but my heart wasn’t in it.

The road to Gloriosa was full of Xenomorph hordes roaming around aimlessly. Every now and again I would see a Xeno that I recognized from before the outbreak. They weren’t people that I wasn’t close to, or even people I talked to. They were just people I noticed one day on the street and smiled to. They were gone forever. Replaced by these sci-fi demons. I clenched my hands into fists. I felt anger build up inside of me. It felt as if I was ready to burst. Suddenly I felt the alabaster aura begin to flow around me. It was if it was trying to calm me down. I inspected myself to see if the aura was visible, but I couldn’t see it.

The rest of the trip seemed to pass quickly now that I could feel the alabaster aura. It didn’t take long for us to reach our destination, I didn’t even notice when we stopped. We stopped right at the entrance of the building. There was another horde of Xenomorphs heading our way, so we had to exit the armored vehicles as fast as we could. Twilight, Octavia, Moondancer, Applejack, and I ran to the door, but it was locked.

Octavia turned back to the armored vehicles, but they sped away before she could run to them. “Celestia damn it,” Octavia with frustration in her voice. “They didn’t give us any codes or keycards to get in.”

“What do we do now?” I asked.

“You’re going to have to blow the door down,” Octavia said to me. “We’ll figure things out after that.”

I used my new telekinetic shockwave power to break the doors in half. The burst of power left me breathless. “That power’s great,” I blurted out. Using a new power sent a rush of joy throughout my body. At that moment, I knew that her power wasn’t going to be enough for me. I craved more.

The five of us rushed inside the building and barricaded the door with everything the lobby had to offer including the front desk. “I think I’m gonna call this telekinetic burst, shockwave,” I said with joy. Nobody seemed to listen or care.

“I don’t know anything about this building,” Octavia said hurriedly. “Sunset, can you sense Gloriosa?”

I closed my eyes and began to try and feel Gloriosa’s presence in the building. I almost immediately began to feel the power of another unknown Chimera. “I sense a Chimera,” I said. I concentrated hard, but my concentration was Interrupted by a sudden earthquake-like shake. Everyone fell to the floor except for Octavia.

“What the hell was that?” Applejack asked as she picked herself up from the floor.

“I’m gonna guess that someone knows we’re here,” Moondancer said.

“Great,” Twilight said sarcastically, “now we have to worry about that.”

“Can you still sense the Chimera?” Octavia asked as she grabbed Twilight’s hand and pulled her back to her feet. I closed my eyes and tried to send the Chimera’s presence,but it was gone now.

“No,” I replied. “I can’t sense Gloriosa either.”

“So I guess we’re going to have to try and find her the old fashion way,” Octavia said. I looked at her in confusion. She looked at me in disbelief. “Looking, looking is the old fashion way.” I nodded. Octavia shook her head in annoyance. “Let’s look around.”

We walked to the only door out of the lobby and cautiously walked through it. We entered a dark room with a dimly lit ceiling fan being the only source of light. I noticed a flight of stairs going down into the basement. ”We should split up,” I suggested. “That way we can cover more ground.”

“What do we do if we run into Gloriosa?” Moondancer asked skeptical of my plan.

“Just keep your distance from her and radio the rest of us,” I said casually.

“Alright let’s separate,” Octavia said. “Applejack and Moondancer should go with you, while Twilight and I explore the basement.” I wanted to be paired with Octavia again so that I could talk her into restoring my power, but thst wasn’t going to happen now. I think Octavia could sense what I was planning.

“Be careful Octavia,” Applejack said. I didn’t know what Octavia and Applejack had been through after their escape from the hospital, but at least I had an idea how much they bonded. “You too Twi,” Applejack Finally said after a long pause.

“Don’t worry Applejack,” Octavia reassured. “I promise I’ll take care of myself. Promise me you’ll be fine too.”

“Ah promise,” Applejack said. AJ leaned into Octavia and wrapped her arms around her. She leaned onto her and hugged her back. I saw Moondancer glaring at AJ from the corner of my eye, Octavia seemed to be quite the ladies mare. They let go of each other and walked to their groups. Octavia and Twilight began to walk downstairs. They waved back to us and disappeared into the darkness from below.

“Let’s go,” I said. I walked forward while Applejack and Moondancer followed close behind. The sensation I felt when I activated the alabaster aura was beginning to creep back up my spine. It felt neutral now, as natural as breathing. It still couldn’t manifest itself completely, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be able to until Octavia released it. It was still nice to know it was trying to make its way to the surface.

As we continued on, we came across another stairway that led it to the next floor. I began to climb the stairs while AJ and Moondancer stumbled around trying to follow me. “Why is everything so dark?” Applejack asked.

“Just give your eyes time to adjust,” I said. I heard something move towards the top of the stairs. I tried to hear more movement, but nothing moved anymore. “I’ll scout ahead,” I whispered. “Don’t make any noise.” I slowly walked up the stairs making as little noise as possible. I reached the top and turned the corner. Something covered in darkness pounced towards me, and before I could react, it tackled me and had me pinned to the floor.

Twilight and I made our way to the basement without any problems. It was dimly lit by the few lights above us. The area was bright enough to light a path forward, but not bright enough to allow us see everything around us.

“Why is everything here so dark?” Twilight asked. “It’s like they’re trying to emphasize that they’re evil.”

“I know right,” I responded. Something caught my attention. “Look over there.” I pointed to a desk with a computer on top of it. “Good, there’s a computer. We can use it to find data about this place, and hopefully some information on Gloriosa.”

“Moondancer told me that you would rush to a computer if you saw one,” Twilight said. “I just thought she was joking.”

“If it helps our cause,” I retorted. I looked through file after file of seemingly useless information until I finally found something that looked important. It was a file about creating Chimeras. I plugged my flash drive into the computer and downloaded the file. Upon further researching, I was able to find a map of the building filled with more basement levels than I had originally thought. I turned to the printer and printed out the maps. I picked them up and walked away from the computer.

“You got everything you need?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I found a map of the building. According to the map, the next floor down will be a storage area and below that will be an underground laboratory.”

“Is there anything below that?”

“Yeah but I have no idea what it is. The map doesn’t say anymore.”

“Is there anything important here on this level?”

“No.” I studied the map for a little while then I put it in my pocket. “Alright, I think I know where to go. Follow me.” I walked towards a set of stairs that led down into the basement’s second floor with Twilight walking just behind me.

The walk downstairs seemed to go on for hours. I decided that it was time to talk to Twilight about a serious matter that has been bothering me for a while now. “Hey Twilight,” I said not sure how to go without bringing up the delicate subject. “How have you been feeling?”

“Good I guess?” Twilight asked with suspicion in her voice. “Why do you ask?”

“You know why,” I said bluntly.

“Octavia, I don’t like whatever you’re implying,” Twilight said with annoyance in her voice. “If you have something to say then say it or drop it.”

“Relax. I just wanted to make sure you were alright.” The staircase seemed endless.

“Well I’m fine, so you can drop it.” Twilight was being unusually overly defensive.

“Alright, I believe you. I’m only asking because Sunset felt another Chimera apart from Moondancer nearby twice now and you were there both times.”

Twilight stayed silent. She walked the next couple of steps then stopped. “What, so you think I’m a Chimera too?” she said in the same defensive tone. “Are you going to feed me to Sunset now?”

“Sunset doesn’t suspect anything,” I reassured her. “The only reason I know is because I saw you get bitten the first time we went to the Infernoland.”

“You knew this whole time?” Twilight asked in shock. “How did you see that? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“I didn’t have the heart to turn you in and worry about what the survivors were going to do to you. I thought it would just be easier to put you down when you turned. So I just kept my eye on you at all times.”

“Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance? I could’ve become a Xenomorph and hurt someone.”

“Calm down Twilight,” I replied. “I could’ve killed if I needed to. Besides,” I said trying to take her mind off of my comment. “I knew even the possibility then about the possibility of you keeping your intelligence, and I needed someone to help me fight Gloriosa. That was before Sunset came along, but now I think there’s something wrong with her. If I told her you were a Chimera I wouldn’t put it past her to kill you with no questions asked. I need help in case she gets out of line.”

“Alright,” Twilight said cautiously. “Why do you think I’m a Chimera though?”

“You were infected by the unaltered X.X.X. Plague like the rest of the Chimeras were but, two of them became Xenomorphs or weird mutant types while the other two didn’t. The X.X.X. Plague has clearly made you more aggressive and Sunset always feels a Chimera near when you’re around.”

“Why doesn’t she sense me always?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know,” I lied. The only reason Sunset couldn’t sense Twilight now was because I was constantly suppressing the X.X.X. Plague inside her. It was difficult to do this without raising suspicion in Sunset because suppressing the X.X.X. Plague required skin contact. I had to be subtle or else Sunset might suspect something. The earthquake had been the perfect cover for me to suppress Twilight’s Chimera side while I was helping her up.

Twilight and I continued to walk down the stairs until we finally reached the end. “Do you think I’m going to end up like the rest of Chimeras?” Twilight finally asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I think it’s too early to tell. Have you gained any powers?” Twilight shook her head. “We’ll ask Moondancer how it worked for her, and even if it starts to change you, we’ll find a way to suppress it. You don’t have to worry Twilight. Just because some of Chimeras became monsters doesn’t mean you will. It also doesn’t mean you’ll become Midnight Sparkle either.”

Twilight nodded and shivered at the mention of the name Midnight. She looked at me once more. “Do you think I was selfish for hiding the bite?”

“I figured you were scared more than anything, but you had a right to be. If anyone else had known, they would’ve killed you right on the spot.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said. “Octavia.” Twilight looked at me hesitantly. “There’s something I need to get off my chest.” She took a deep breath and continued. “This whole Xenomorph apocalypse thing it’s— it’s made me feel different.”

“Well you are infected by the X.X.X. Plague.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. I feel like I’ve grown because of this. Like this whole thing has forced me to become stronger,faster, and better.”

“Are you talking about that, shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude you’ve been having, because I’m sure that’s just the X.X.X. Plague talking.”

“No not that,” Twilight said frustrated that I didn’t understand her. “I feel more complete now. Octavia, after I left Canterlot to attend college, I hated my life, but all of this— it— it made me feel useful, like I was apart of something that mattered and after I left my friends behind I’ve never felt like that before.” She paused gathering her thoughts. “Do you think I’m a bad person because of that?”

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” I answered.

“Come on Octavia, tell me what you think,” Twilight pleaded.

“I think it’s good you’ve gained something good out of this otherwise horrible experience. I don’t think you should feel guilty about feeling complete, but try to feel bad about Canterlot in general.”

Twilight and I walked in silence for a few feet. I saw a light switch to my left. I turned it on and the lights around us burst to life. These lights were as dim as the other ones, but at least there were enough of them to light up the whole room.

This room was full of huge metal cages and human sized containers. There were thousands of them lined up against the walls. The cages were all in the center lined up against each other in rows with gaps meant for people to pass between them. I could hear growling, hissing, and movement coming from some of the cages, but other than that everything went silent.

“The stairs to the next basement are across the room aren’t they?” Twilight whispered.

“Yep,” I whispered. “We’re going to have to move around this place as silent as possible.” We walked for a few feet into the cage area and Twilight suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?” I asked notmsure of what she saw or heard.

“I hear footsteps coming towards us,” Twilight said. “Can you stealth us?”

“It only works of there’s somewhere to hide in. I can’t stealth us if we’re in plain sight or out in the open, especially if they’re already looking for us.”

“They’re looking for us because we turned on the light,” Twilight said. “What do we do then?”

I looked around, not sure what we could use to cover ourselves. I found nothing. “I guess our best bet is to keep the cages between us and the people guarding this place, and hope my stealth powers are good enough to keep them away from us.”

Twilight and I carefully snuck around the people guarding the cages. I didn’t see their faces, but it looked like they were wearing clothes similar to that of the Blackguard uniform. They walked around completely unaware of us. They were heading over to the stairs we had come from.

Twilight and I walked around taking cover whenever we could and staying still whenever one of the guards was near. We were able to make it halfway through the room with ease. I was beginning to think that Twilight and I were in the clear since most of the guards were behind us now.

Twilight began to walk in front of me. She was moving quicker than she should’ve, and she wasn’t checking her surroundings as carefully as I wanted her to. The X.X.X. Plague inside her was apparently making her arrogant too. She rushed over and hid behind a cage that had a huge ice blue Plagasis inside of it. A wave of dread spread through me when I realized it was awake and worse than that, it noticed Twilight.

The Plagasis immediately launched itself in Twilight’s direction. Twilight jumped away from the cage and out of the Plagasis’ reach, but the real damage had already been done. The sound of the Plagasis’ body colliding with the cage resonated around us.

I could hear the distant sound of running getting closer to us with every passing second. I knew that my stealth abilities wouldn’t be able to hide us out in the open, so staying still and trying to blend in with the surroundings was useless. There was only one thing we could do now.

I sprinted over to Twilight, and in what seemed like an instant, I was right in front of her helping her to her feet. We both rushed over to the other side of the room ignoring the caged animals that had been awakened by the Plagasis. We were about three quarters of the way, and the exit was now in sight. Unfortunately, my bliss was short lived. Four guards were standing near the exit Looking for us. I could hear the others almost catching up on us.

“Damn It,” Twilight swore nervously. “What’s the plan now Tavi?” I looked between both groups of guards and noticed that they weren’t armed. “They aren’t armed,” I said. “I’ll take them out and then we’ll just go down to the next floor.”

One of the guards walked in front of the others and ignited her right arm. I shook my head in frustration. Twilight and I were in a room full of Pyronocks. The same guard opened her left hand and created a stream of electricity from it. My eyes widened. Here were the Blackguard soldiers Gloriosa had taken. She must have used them as test subjects for the Giger Project I had been reading about, and it was apparent that the result of that project were these hybrid soldiers.

“What the hell’s going on?” Twilight asked with confusion. “How can they use two have Equestrian powers?”

“They’re Giger soldiers,” I replied. “Gloriosa created them. They’re going to be a problem.” The Giger soldier launched a barrage of fireballs towards us. I dodged all the fireballs with ease. I turned to see Twilight had done the same. I ran to the left with Twilight following a few feet behind. The Giger created a stream of electricity that barely avoided us and hit one of the cages. The caged animals howled in agony.

“I have an idea,” Twilight said. She grabbed my magnum from my pants, completely ignoring my personal space. Bang! She shot the lock on one of the cages. The cage housed a Xenomorph velociraptor that looked exactly like the one Sunset called the Chimera raptor. It immediately jumped out of the cage and attacked the Giger soldier that attacked it.

Twilight smiled smugly back at me and shot another one of the locks, confident she would receive the same results. The cage she opened housed a large frilled Xenomorph lion. It jumped out of the cage and dashed towards Twilight. I ran as quickly as I could and pushed Twilight out of the lion’s path. The lion continued running towards the guards now.

“I think that’s enough help for now,” Twilight said. She was breathing hard and was sweating.

“Yeah. I think that would be best,” I said. Twilight and I watched as the two Xenomorphs killed several of the Giger soldiers. The lion tore its victims to shreds, while the wold seemed to perform cleaner kills. The wolf either used its claws or its teeth to cut through the Giger’s neck. It seemed to be avoiding the lion as if it was disgusted by it.

Twilight focused on the animals while I observed the Gigers. Each guard seemed to only be able to use two of their four powers the Chimeras used. A Giger guard that could use fire shot a barrage of fireballs towards the lion. The fireballs knocked the lion back and set it on fire. It still continued on despite of it slowly burning to death. It completely ignored the pain and continued killing the Gigers.

The raptor saw the lion on fire and seemed to act differently against the Gigers, anticipating their next attacked. It moved and dodged the fireballs, shards of ice, and electrical streams with ease. Thats no ordinary dinosaur, I thought to myself. The perks of being a Chimera seemed to be great.

Two Giger guards snuck up behind me and blasted me with telekinesis. I was thrown forward into the group of fighting animals and Gigers. I quickly grabbed my daggers and picked myself off the floor. I stabbed one of the Giger guards in the chest. She fell back, twitched a bit, and then completely stopped moving.

Bang-Bang. I looked back and could see Twilight killing the two Giger guards with my magnum. I turned back in time to see the lion jump for me. I dove out of the way and saw the lion tear through another Giger guard instead. One Giger guard manipulated the drinking water inside the animal cages and wrapped the lion in it. Another Giger created electric streams and electrified the lion while inside the water shroud. It fell to the floor and finally stopped moving leaving the wolf as our only ally.

There were only three Gigers left. The lion had decimated their numbers. I ran over to one of them and punched her with my energy charged hand to the ground, while the wolf pounced on another one and tore its way into her neck. The guard I punched stumbled and fell to the floor completely knocked out. Apparently I was strong enough to knock people out cold now. I looked up and eyed the last Giger.

“You’re lucky those beasts killed so many of us,” the Giger said. I instantly recognized is voice.

“Wait a minute I know you,” I said in surprise. “You’re the same Blackguard soldier that was with Spitfire and me when we were looking around the containment area in the other facility.”

“We should’ve killed you then,” she said.

“So you’re one of them now?” I asked. “You’re just another virus-made abomination.”

“I’m so much more than just an ‘abomination’ now. I am the elite Giger beast.”

I sighed in frustration. Is she the Giger’s version of a Beta? I asked myself. If she was, then that meant the others we had just fought we’re below him. I began to wonder for a moment how strong this made her.

“What’s so special about you?” I taunted. “You’re nothing more than another run-of-the-mill monster. What’s so different about you? You can use one additional power or something?”

“Wrong,” he said. He covered his right arm in fire and his left arm in electricity. He then blasted the area around him with a telekinetic shockwave. He stood there silently as if wanting for me to cower.

I smiled at him. “I’m not scared of you just because you can use another power,” I said arrogantly. “I have a friend who can use all four of the known X.X.X. Plague abilities.”

He just smiled. “Can she channel?” The Giger Beta revealed two machine guns he had been hiding under his suit. He lofted them up in front of him and forced the elements in each of his arms to spread onto the guns. The electricity and fire seemed to create a design on the guns, but I had no idea what it meant. When the Beta Giger was finished, he raised his guns and aimed towards me.

Bang-Bang-Bang! I quickly ran out of the way in time to avoid a barrage of bullets. I looked back and saw that the areas hit by the bullets were either scorched by the fire infused bullets, or had a field of electricity sparkling around it because of the electricity infused bullets.

I was amazed by the concept of being able to imbue a weapon with power. The guns would be useful in a fight against Gloriosa, I thought to myself. Naturally, I decided to get his weapons and use them to gain an advantage against Gloriosa. The Giger Beta was focused on me, so I needed a distraction so that I could take him out and take the guns.

The wolf suddenly sprung towards the Giger to attack him. He dove onto him and sank his teeth into the Giger's right armmjust above the flames around it. I dashed forward as the wolf let go of the Giger. I was able to strike the Giger in the chest twice before he unleashed a telekinetic shockwave that sent the wolf and me flying away.

“Tavi!” Twilight called as she slid my magnum towards me. I grabbed the gun and got back to my feet. I looked over to see the Giger and the wolf fighting each other. The Giger had pushed the wolf to the ground and bombarded it with telekinetic blasts.

I held up my magnum and aimed for his head. Bang! I pulled the trigger and heard the loud bang that rang around the room. He stumbled forward but quickly gained his footing. He blasted me with a telekinetic blast and sent me into a wall. The impact left me unable to get back on my feet. The Giger turned to his side and aimed his fire infused machine gun at me. I aimed my magnum at the Giger and pulled the trigger again. Click. To my horror the magnum was empty.

I closed my eyes in frustration. I couldn’t believe I was goin to die because of such a stupid mistake. This was the second time I had made a life-threatening mistake, but this time Sunset wasn’t going to show up and save me. I opened my eyes and prepared myself.

Bang! One final gunshot sent the Giger flying backwards. I turned to see Twilight with her shotgun in her hands. I lowered my head and sighed in relief. I slowly got back to my feet and staggered over to Twilight. She smiled triumphantly. I looked around and saw all the bodies of the dead Gigers on the ground. I turned around and saw the once great lion completely motionless next to a group of Giger corpses.

“Oh my God,” Twilight said exhausted but with a bit of excitement. “That was awesome. See what I mean when I say this makes me feel like I have a purpose?”

“I do,” I said still trying to catch my breath. Twilight and I were the only two left after the battle. Then I suddenly remembered that this statement wasn’t true. There was still another being who survived the fight. I looked around for the raptor, but I found no trace of him. I suddenly hear a soft grunt followed by something hard hitting the floor. I turned to Twilight only to see the raptor pouncing towards me.

I was so taken aback by the sudden attack I had no time to prepare myself. The xeno-raptor quickly pinned me to the ground. He put his paw on my hand preventing me from doing anything. It was as if it knew what made me dangerous.

The Xenomorph looked directly into my eyes as if it was studying me. His glowing rose red seemed to leave me paralyzed with awe. I stayed completely still. I wasn’t sure what I could do now. It began to run its muzzle on my face and sniff me. After a few seconds, the xeno eased its hold on my arm and began to lick my face.

I was so taken aback by the raptor’s friendly nature that I didn’t notice Twilight getting up off the floor to the side of us. She got up to her feet and smiled as she saw the creature licking me. “He likes you,” Twilight said amused.

“What’s not to like?” I joked.

“That sucker’s fast,” Twilight said as she held her sides. I didn’t even hear her coming. One moment I’m standing victorious over my kill, and the next I’m sent backwards by a freaking mutt that can blend darkness. “He’s almost as good as you.”

The raptor growled and hissed at Twilight. I scratched one of his small horns which seemed to calm him down. “I don’t think he likes being called a mutt.” The Xenomorph was so relaxed with me around it, that it decided to lie down and rest. However, I was still under the raptor when it lied down, crushing me a bit.

“Need help?”

“I might need a little,” I answered.

Twilight walked up and grabbed the dinosaur. She immediately let go and turned to me. “This dino’s definitely a Chimera,” Twilight said, “but there’s something different about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“The X.X.X. Plague is there, but it isn’t as strongly bonded with him as it is with the other that are infected.” Twilight rubbed her chin as she continued to think about the Chimera velociraptor. “It might be the fact that he’s a Chimera and an animal that makes him this way, but the X.X.X. Plague in him just feels so incomplete.”

“You can sense the X.X.X. Plague in people?” I asked annoyed. Twilight nodded. “That might’ve been useful information.”

“Well I couldn’t exactly tell you that I could sense the X.X.X. Plague without you knowing I was infected.” I reluctantly nodded.

“If it’s as unstable as you say, then there’s a good chance that I can remove the X.X.X. Plague completely from his system.”

“Is that really how it works?” Twilight asked skeptically.

“It’s worth a shot.” I touched the wolf and commanded the X.X.X. Plague to dissipate. I suddenly felt a surge of Equestrian energy flowing between me and the wolf. I could feel the X.X.X. Plague begin to recede, but I felt another odd sensation. I could feel something else being passed onto the Xenomorph. The connection ended and the raptor turned itself from me.

“Is it out?” Twilight asked a little worry in her voice.

“Yeah,” I replied, “but I think something else happened. It felt like something else passed I think.”

“Like what?”

“I’m not sure, Equestrian energy I think.”

“Like the same energy that makes the X.X.X. Plague?” Twilight asked with curiosity in her voice. “Maybe you passed on some weird supernatural juice onto it like the Chimeras do with their minions.”

“Okay first off, I don’t have any ‘weird supernatural juices,’” I tilted my head. “Other than my stealth, energy, and command ability, but I’m sure they can’t be passed. Second, I’m not infected with anything like the X.X.X. Plague creatures are, so I can’t pass on anything even if I wanted to.”

“Alright, alright it was just a thought. It’s weird though, he’s smart and stealthy like you are. You two would make a good team.” The Xenomorph wolf licked my hand. “I think you should keep him.”

“I can’t keep him. He was infected by the X.X.X. Plague. What if he still has some in him and bites somepony? It’ll be like a second outbreak. Or what if he becomes wild and tries to eat one of us?”

“Now that I think about it you’re probably right. Let’s put him down.” Twilight walked over to her shotgun to grab it, but the moment she grabbed it the beast jumped off of me and appeared in front of Twilight. The raptor’s speed was amazing. I was awestruck by this display.

“Don’t worry boy,” I said to the xeno hoping he wouldn’t kill Twilight. “We’re not going to put you down.” He seemed to understand me, because he walked past Twilight and ran back to me after I tried to reason with her.

“Why do you think he didn’t try to kill us?” Twilight asked. “He had the opportunity and the power to kill us both with the Giger Beta.”

“I’m not completely sure,” I replied. “My best guess is that the X.X.X. Plague didn’t take him over as it was supposed to and it just had time to improve him before it fell apart. It’s a stupid explanation, but I can’t come up with a better one.”

“I probably could, but I don’t really care,” Twilight said. “I just want to kill more bad guys.

“Sounds good but I still need to get something,” I said as I ran back to the Giger Beta and quickly took his guns. I checked his uniform for other weapons and found ammunition for the machine guns as well as some for my magnum and Twilight’s shotgun. He also had a X.X.X. Plague-infused magnum on him. I decided to take his gloves too so that I wouldn’t hurt myself when the powers of the guns activated.

“Let’s go,” Twilight said impatiently. Even the raptor groaned with boredom.

“Follow memand don’t touch anything.” I walked towards the elevator to the next basement for with Twilight and the wolf on either side. For some reason I felt safe around the raptor despite the fact that it was both a Virus creature and a wild animal.

I pushed the elevator button and a few moments later, the doors opened. The three of us walked inside and I pushed the button for the next floor. I wanted to go to the lab to see if Gloriosa was there, but what I really wanted to check for was information about the X.X.X. Plague, it’s source, and everything else thst seemed off in this place including me.

The elevator doors opened and I was immediately captivated by the lab’s interior. The whole lab was filled with machines embedded into the walls casting a blue glow and giant empty human-sized containers filled with water. The machines’ light and water glow covered the room with a radiant shade of blue. The room wasn’t brightly lit, but we could easily see around. The thing that really left me awestruck were the cables above us. They surged with weird but wondrous lights that seemed to ebb and flow like the waves in an ocean. I was so relaxed here despite the fact that I knew this place was evil.

“This place doesn’t look that bad,” I said, “especially considering that this place is where the X.X.X. Plague that destroyed Canterlot outside was refined and unleashed.”

“I know what you mean,” Twilight said. Twilight, the raptor, and I walked forward into the lab. The raptor suddenly ran off further into the lab, and in moments there was no sign of him. “He’ll be fine.”

Twilight and I continued to explore the lab. It didn’t take me long to find another computer to examine. Unfortunately after a quick search, I realized the computer had nothing useful. I continued to check the computers around, but found nothing in any of them.

“There’s nothing here,” I finally admitted to myself.

“Let’s keep looking, maybe there’s some kind of super weapon to kill the X.X.X. Plague or something.”

We began to walk around and observe the machines. I knew we were wasting time, but I didn’t really care. I felt like I could stay here for hours on end. The environment was so relaxing that I felt myself become a little drowsy.

We stopped in front of a wall that hasn’t been visible from the entrance of the room. There was a huge painting of a woman in silky blue robes seemingly coming down from the sky with many people below here. The people were on their knees bowing to her. It looked like she was painted like a goddess.

“That’s an odd piece of art to have in a place like this,” I said.

“Maybe it’s some kind of empowerment thing,” Twilight suggested.

“No, no, that woman is meant to be more then just empowering,” a man’s voice came from behind us. “She’s meant to represent life and all of its wonders, even though that’s not what she really is.”

I turned around and looked at the man. He had faded gray hair that flowed to his shoulders. He wore a dark blue dress shirt under a dark coat along with slacks and dress shoes. He looked at us and smiled. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to interrupt your conversation.”

I looked at Twilight and then back over to the man. “Who are you?” I finally asked while slowly reaching for my gun.

“I’m sorry. Where are my manners,” he said in a amused way that was unsettling to me. “My name is Starswirl.”

“And what are you doing here Starswirl?” I asked wondering why neither the wolf nor I were able to sense him beforehand.

“I believe I could ask you the same question,” he replied with the same amusements still in his voice.

“We’re here to kill Gloriosa,” Twilight said.

“May I ask why?” he asked.

“She destroyed the city by unleashing the X.X.X. Plague,” I answered.

“She is definitely responsible for the deaths in Canterlot. Her inaction doomed this miserable place, but she is not the one who released the X.X.X. Plague.”

“What do you mean?” I asked not sure what to think. I still wasn’t sure if I trusted this guy.

“Think about it, Gloriosa would’ve benefited if she studied the X.X.X. Plague in a larger environment, but not in an environment so hard to control or cover up. The whole Umbrella Yutani Corporation would have trouble covering up this mess. And besides, she would have been trapped in a prison surrounded by Xenomorphs with no support from the corporation. She wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“No, the one responsible for the damnation of Canterlot was someone else. It was an escaped test subject riddled with the X.X.X. Plague that spread this. It was the perfect carrier really. It showed no sign of infection and could therefore infect tons of places before anyone was the wiser.”

“You’re saying somepony else was responsible for the X.X.X. Plague?” I asked. “Who was this test subject?”

The man gave me a dark amused smile. “You really haven’t a clue do you?”

“Enlighten me,” I said coldly.

“Think about it,” he said never losing that amusement in his voice. “It’s not hard to figure out. It was the only test subject to escape one of our facilities. The only one to hide in the shadows out of the Blackguard’s reach. She was the only one the X.X.X. Plague didn’t bond with. I’m sure you can think of someone who fits that description. Right Octavia Melody?”

I was frozen. Horror gripped my entire body. I couldn’t believe what Starswirl had implied, but it made sense. The possibility of me being responsible for the state of the city was terrifying. I was filled with a sense of vertigo. I breathed harder and harder as the world titled and spun around me. I couldn’t accept that I was responsible for Canterlot’s state: I refused to believe it.

“You’re lying,” I said with self-assurance. “I couldn’t be responsible.”

“Am I?” Starswirl suddenly sounded insulted. “You think you’ve been going out and saving the world haven’t you? No, all that you’ve been doing here is cleaning up your own mess. You’re the one responsible for every single death. Every single man, woman, and child; every monster and demon; every abomination and atrocity this city has seen is your fault. Do you still feel like a hero?” He paused and waited for my answer. He continued when he saw that I was speechless. “Or have you finally realized just how much of a monster you truly are?”

I couldn’t move now. I couldn’t even breathe properly. Guilt filled my lungs with every breath. The dread felt like a heavy shroud covering my body and weighing me down. I was beginning to feel numb.

Starswirl laughed as if he had heard an hilarious joke. “Relax kid,” he said. “I was only fooling.”

“What?” I asked with a mixture of relief and confusion. The world began to slow down and steady itself around me. The feeling of vertigo was slowly leaving me.

“I had you going there for a moment didn’t I?” I glared daggers at him without saying a word. “You don’t have to answer. The sheer expression of despair on your face said it all. You don’t have to worry though; the X.X.X. Plague in you didn’t try to find itself a new host. Your body fought it off and ended up destroying it.”

“So then how did the X.X.X. Plague spread?” Twilight asked.

“It was Gloriosa, she injected a prototype of the Giger virus into her infected brother Timber Spruce and wound up spreading the X.X.X. Plague into the water supply,” Starswirl answered. “She did it.”

“What about that whole scenario with her being trapped in here like a prisoner without support,” I asked. “Was that all apart of your joke too?”

“No, it’s all true, and it would be the case if it wasn’t for the help she has.”

“What help?”

“Gloriosa isn’t working alone; she’s taking orders from someone else.”

“Who?”

“Focus on the task at hand ladies. Killing Gloriosa and evacuating the survivors is your main objective.”

“How do you know so much about everything?” Twilight asked, “and give us a real answer.”

“I am one of Discord’s friends,” Starswirl reassured us. “I’m here to take advantage of the commotion you’re making to help get rid of the problems with the bridge out of the city. Discord and the rest of the survivors are making their way there now. The bridge will be ready when they arrive thanks to the distraction you caused the moment you all arrived here.”

“I thought we were in charge of the bridge,” Twilight said.

“You were,” Starswirl replied, “but Discord wanted reassurance, and so did I. He wants me to lift the bridge back up the moment the group of survivors leave the city, but don’t worry. Discord didn’t want to leave you all without a means of escape, which is the other reason why I’m here, but for now I’m going to go and hide until it’s safe.”

“Why didn’t he tell us about you?” I asked.

“Because I told him not to. I wanted a chance to surprise you and entertain myself.” His smile widened. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I am off to greener pastures.”

Starswirl began to walk passed some of the machines. He slid his hand over one of the large human sized containers. It looked different from the other container, but somewhat familiar. It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t a container at all. It looked like it was meant to hold a human but not for a long period of time.

“What is that?” I asked.

“Look familiar? It’s a machine meant to implant or extract memories and other bits of information from a test subject. It’s one of the many inventions we created. I’m sure you’ve seen one of these from the inside before being a test subject as you were.” He smiled to me as if expecting me to understand his apparently private joke. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I must get to my safe place.” He began to walk away from us.

“How will you know when it’s safe anyway?” I called out.

“Discord isn’t the only one who can hack cameras,” Starswirl said with the same annoying amusement. “Oh, and one more thing.” He turned towards us and looked straight at me. “You’re not going to find anything useful below this floor, so I wouldn’t even bother looking.”

“What about the source of the X.X.X. Plague?” I asked. “One of the files says it’s somehwere below.”

“It’s in the last basement, but I doubt you’ll want to go there.” Starswirl’s voice became grim. “Don’t keep me waiting too long.” Starswirl walked forward until he was out of sight. The Xenomorph raptor emerged from behind us not having found anything.

“What do we do now?” Twilight asked. I eyed the machine Starswirl had leaned on. It felt so menacing now that I knew what it was for. “Octavia?” I looked back to Twilight ignoring my oddly strong dread.

“We have to go to the last basement,” I said halfheartedly.

Applejack, Moondancer, and I had been exploring the first six floors of the building without finding anything important. The floors all contained stereotypical offices filled with cubicles, there was one sign of anything else. The three of us walked up the stairs and entered the seventh floor. I expected to see another bunch of soldiers ready to fight me, but after the past surprise attack they launched and it’s failure, I figured they would know better by now.

The door to the seventh floor didn’t lead into an office filled with cubicles like the other floor had, instead it led into a hall with only one open door. Applejack, Moondancer, and I went through the hall and throguh it.

The door had a security pad on it, but was still opened thanks to a severed arm blocking the door. I gently opened the door and walked into the room. This room was completely empty with the exception of three doors on the other side.

“Where do we go now?” Moondancer asked.

I walked to the door at the end of the center hall and tried to open it. It was locked. “Well this door’s locked,” I said. “You two explore the room on the left while I look in the room on the right.”

Applejack and Moondancer looked at each other awkwardly and then back at me. They both nodded and slowly mad their way to the door on the left. I knew it was awkward for them both to be together because of their mutual attraction to Octavia, but I didn’t care. We were too close to Gloriosa for me to care about whether or not someone was comfortable.

I walked through the hall to the door on the right. I opened the door and cautiously peered inside. The room was silent and dimly lit. There was no one around, so I walked in. As I did, I was immediately telekinetically blasted to the other side of the room. I quickly got to my feet and set the room ablaze. Two figures ran around on fire trying to put themselves out. I shot two streams of lightning towards the figures. The lightning struck them and caused them to fall to the floor. They were completely motionless.

I commanded the fire to burn itself out. The embers receded and eventually stopped. The room looked like it had never seen the fire I created. There were no scorch marks or ashes anywhere. The fire I could create was almost like the fire that covered the Infernoland. It burned freely without burning the things the Chimera had commanded not to burn.

I walked over to the two figures and or iced that one of them had dropped a key. The only locked door around was the door in the middle of the previous room, so I figured I would try my luck. I walked back into the room with the three doors.mi used the key on the middle door and unlocked the middle door. I turned the doorknob and opened the door.

I turned around and walked to the door Applejack and Moondancer had gone through. I needed to get them before I could move on. As I walked over the room Applejack and Moondancer were in I began to ponder what I should do when I saw Gloriosa. She was the reason why Canterlot was such in bad shape but she didn’t deserve to die for it, and she might know a way to suppress or even stop the desire to kill Octavia and harvest her power. I wasn’t even sure of what I really wanted to do.

Octavia was my friend, but she had powers I wanted and strength that I craved. I often changed opinions about what i should do. I felt like I would never decide. I reached the door and slowly opened it. I not sure what I was going to do, but at least I still had time to thing about it. I fully opened the door and walked inside not fully ready to go on, but still forcing myself to.

The Xenomorph velociraptor, Twilight, and I had skipped looking through the rest of the basement floors and went straight down to the last basement. The ride didn’t take too long. The elevator stopped and the doors opened after a few seconds. I took a few slow steps into the room and cautiously walked forward. The room was relatively small. It’s walls and floor were made of metal. To the right of the entrance was a tunnel-like hall that curved around to the left. This floor was bright lying lit especially compared to the rest of the building.

“Something isn’t right,” Twilight said.

“What’s wrong Twily?” I asked.

“I can’t explain it. The X.X.X. Plague in me wants to follow you in there, but the human in my is telling me not to go.”

“What?” I asked with confusion in my voice.

“I’m going to stay here with the raptor while you explore.”

“Alright,” I said unsure of what to say. I didn’t know what Twilight was sensing, but I knew better than to question the intuition of a virus carrier. I briefly wondered for a moment whether Moondancer could also sense things like Twilight. Maybe it was Twilight’s ability. I followed the tunnel into another room that looked exactly like the last room. It even had another tunnel on the other side. There was also a window overlooking a large chamber suspended over a seemingly bottomless pit of darkness. I looked towards the next tunnel and continued walking forward.

I took a few steps inside the tunnel and saw a man on the floor with a knife plunged in his chest. I walked closer to examin the body and immediately saw another body nearby and then another in the exit of the tunnel. I walked the full length of the tunnel and passed over body after body trying not to step on them. I finally reached the room and found it riddled with bodies. There was a woman with stab wounds leaning against a computer. I pushed her off the computer and began reading what was written on the computer. It was like a journal.

Dr. Gloriosa Daisy has assigned my team with watch duty. I would normally protest, but thankfully we were assigned to observe code name: Acheronsis. The majority of the scientists have been trying to convince Gloriosa to allow them to study it, but my team has proven themselves and our prize is here. I am making my team write down their experiences in journals. It is more or less for me to keep track or my team’s every thought during their time here. I’ll write a log as well. One for Gloriosa and another for myself. This is the journal I’ll write for myself. I can’t help but wonder why Gloriosa has denied us access to this subject for so long. Whatever the reason may be, I am confident that it was justified.

I had the chance to see inside the storage chamber today. I saw code name: Acheronsis. He was standing in the middle of the chamber with his shirt off. I couldn’t help but feel an odd attraction to him. He was muscular and had nice short red hair. I couldn’t believe he was the man we were observing. I am looking forward to this experience.

I skipped a few of the logs and tried to read only the things that seemed relevant to the source of the X.X.X. Plague.

I had a chance to actually speak with the Acheronsis today. I felt something was wrong the moment I looked into his eyes. I never allowed my feelings to get the better of me, but something was terribly disturbing about him. He spoke in an odd harsh dialect and say very disturbing things about humanity. He has an obvious superiority complex and sociopathic views. Everything I observed is in my formal report to Gloriosa. I’m not looking forward to talking to him again. I still feel chills

I have noticed thst some of my teammates have been acting odd. The ones that have been studying the Acheronsis psychology seem to be acting stranger than anyone else. I am not surprised though; one talk with him was enough to give us nightmares for days. At least I’m not the one talking to him now, but I suspect that it will be my problem again soon enough.

The majority of my group seems to be cracking under the pressue of observing the Acheronsis. They’re suffering from insomnia and occasionally hallucinations. And to make matters worse, Gloriosa has now quarantined us on this floor and the bunker below.

Today I was forced to examine the Acheronsis again. He didn’t say much, but his gaze gave me chills it had gotten to the point that even examining his blood give me goosebumps. I can’t even sleep anymore. Last night I only got a half hour of sleep, I don’t know what’s worse anymore, the restlessness and exhaustion of my insomnia, or the terrible nightmares I have.

Longhorn, one of the physiologists that first studied the Acheronsis, has been talking to himself again. He tried hiding it the first few times, but now he just talks to himself everywhere. No one else is as bothered at the behavior of the team as I am. It’s the Acheronsis. He’s doing this somehow. I know it’s too late to save my team, but I’m at least going to save myself. That monster has ruined us in less than four weeks. I should’ve resigned the moment I was assigned this subject. I knew it was a mistake to try and study the Acheronsis the moment he looked into my eyes the first time we met. I didn’t want to admit it at the time, but I could hear his voice whispering into my head. He wanted me to release him, but I am not letting that happen. I am going to make sure he never sees the light of day.

This will be my final log. My former team has begun to become violent. Some of them are even trying to open the chamber to let him out. I have no choice but to act. I found a knife stashed away in the bunker and now that I have a weapon I have the means to do something. If you find this message, I want you to know that I love you Moondacer and that I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you. I guess I’ll never see your new home or meet your new friends or that girl you like. I miss you.

I looked at the dead girl on the flor and assumed that the message was from her. From what she said, taking a quick look at the “Acheronsis” wouldn’t be a problem as long as the look was brief. I was sure I could live without ever seeing the Acheronsis, but this was the only chance I would ever get. ”That’s probably what the dead girl said right before her team went crazy and killed her,” I thought to myself.

I walked through the next tunnel leading into the last room and the bridge to the chamber. I entered the room and looked around. There were bodies on the floor just like the other rooms and a control pad near a door to the left. I walked over to the control pad and began to use it. I activated the door and the bridge to the chamber.

Before entering the bridge to the chamber, I noticed one of the dead men had a journal next to him. I walked over to the journal and picked it up. I opened the book and began to read the author’s entries

Gloriosa has assigned us another subject to study. Great, now I get to study another bloodthirsty monster. I fucking hate this job. There is nothing interesting about this or any subject here for the matter. They’re all just animals with no patterns other tha surviving. On the other hand, the pay is ridiculously good, and a lot of the scientists are doable, both the men and women if we’re being honest. Heh. Heh. He.

I raised my eyebrow and then shook it off. I wasn’t sure what kind of guy this was, but his writing was a little too unprofessional for it to be reviewed by Gloriosa. Not to mention he reminds me Prince Blueblood.

I finally got a few of the scientists and others to play some strip poker. I was practically naked by the end, but unlike Magnus the guard, I have nothing to be ashamed of. Heh. Heh. Our team leader didn’t like the fact that we played strip poker on our second day in, but there is nothing else to do, especially because we’re here 24/7. I can’t even go to the bar and find a local lady. Well for now I am going to focus on what’s really important, and that is getting our team leader to play strip poker. I know playing with her would make all this suffering worth it. Heh. Heh. Heh.

The more I read, the more I was sure that the writer of this was definitely Blueblood and in the wrong profession.

Two scientists, a guard, and I walk into thst bridge to study the infamous Acheronsis. He referred to us as heathens. For some insult really got to me. He has a huge superiority complex. He is both fascinating and annoying. One of the scientists told me about a blood sample they had taken from him. She told us that she had never seen anything like it. It was far from human and had traces of what Gloriosa called “The X.X.X. Plague.” What the fuck was he? Aside from all of the conversation we had, there was something that really troubled me. I kept hearing his voice inside my head belittling me. It stopped when I left, but how is that type of shit possible?

These sessions are really getting to me. The voice in my head is always judging me. It’s gotten so bad that I can hear him speak to me even when I’m away from the chamber. I begged our leader to let me out so that I can walk or breathe the fresh air, but she refuses to allow us that. I don’t know why she wants us here so long. I’m starting to think she’s hiding something.

It’s getting harder to breathe in here. I feel like I’m about to burst. I try to stay asleep most of the time now to take my mind off the maddening words I hear when I’m awak, but it’s hard, especially because I still have a job to do. That smug son of a bitch is making it hard to work. He knows he’s getting to me, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction. I’m trying to act normal. I noticed people around me, people who have seen and talked to the Acheronsis as much as I have and they are starting to lose it too. For now the only thing I can do is try to sleep.

Goddamn him! He took away the last thing I had——— he took away my sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes, I am attacked by images of Canterlot in a state of destruction. Part of it’s on fire, part of it’s in ice and everything’s dead or worse. I don’t know why he’s showing me this. Is he trying to make my nightmares look true?

The nightmares are becoming more vivid. It feels like it’s really happening. I think it might be. I think that this is the reason we are not allowed outside. Gloriosa must know about everything. Of course she knows. They tell me she knows. He doesn’t like her. He will punish her. He will punish everyone here. They told me so.

I wasn’t completely sure who he was talking about whe he said, “They.” I could see that he was clearly losing his mind rapidly. I was starting to have my doubts about seeing the source.

I finally understand everything he showed me, what he wants for all of us, but more importantly, they showed me what she wants. We need him to see her in her glory. I know that the others don’t want me to let him go, but those heathens will not stop us from seeing her. I can’t wait to see her. Her beautiful form covered in that bright blue clothes she always wears.

I put the journal back on the floor next to its writer. I took a deep breath and pressed on into the bridge. I knew that the “Acheronsis” had destroyed this group, but I felt like I was stronger than they were. Something in the back of my mind told me that I was better than anything inside that suspended chamber. I walked forward confident that I would be alright.

I walked to the other side of the bridge and saw him. He had dark pale gray skin with two seven inch long horns. His head appeared to be in the shape of a goat, and his eyes were two black abysses. He had a scar just below his right eye. He wasn’t wearing a shirt so I could see his muscular body. I could also see countless scars all over his torso; he was very tall too. I felt like I was looking at a warrior.

He looked at me and I looked back. He raised his eyebrow and gave me a confused look. He didn’t look like the kind of guy who could break me down. I began to wonder if I could beat him in a fight. He may have been a warrior, but I was an assassin.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Who wants to know?” I asked back a little more snobbish than I had wanted.

“I am Gensis.”

“My name is Octavia Melody. Nice to meet you.”

“What are you?”

“What do you mean?” I asked with confusion in my voice.

“I’ve never seen a pony like you. You’re so different now.”

“You should see my friend.” I was talking about Sunset Shimmer.

“You are familiar,” he said with the same confusion.

“So you’re the source of the X.X.X. Plague? I’m underwhelmed.”

“Release me and be overwhelmed by my power.”

“Why would you want to be released? You look so comfortable in this cage.”

“I am not comfortable here,” he said clearly not picking up on my sarcasm. “I must be free to spread my maker’s will.”

“And whose you’re maker?”

“I will not say.”

“Then have fun rotting in your cage,” I said as I turned back. I didn’t want to stay too long in case I caught Gensis’s crazy.

“Wait!” he shouted. “Why can’t I hear you? I hear your outer form, but not your inner one.”

I thought about his question for a moment and came to a conclusion. “You’re telepathic aren’t you?” He looked at me in anger. Clearly he didn’t like the fact that I could understand him especially since he couldn’t understand me. “Are you aware of what’s happened to the city outside your cage?”

“Nothing that concerns me,” he said slightly calmer but still with anger in his voice. He seemed to be trying to relax himself, but clearly not very well.

“I guessed you might not care.”

“I do but only because my maker wishes it. She is very kind, even to those who don’t deserve kindness.”

Gensis was clearly delusional. “How did you cause this?”

“My maker’s followers did this with the use of my blood.”

“How did your blood do this?”

“It just did.” He said. I was beginning to doubt he even knew how he was responsible for the X.X.X. Plague. I wasn’t getting anywhere with this guy, and I was sure I overstayed the amount of time I was supposed to. I turned around and began to walk away. “She will destroy you! Release me and I promise you a swift but painful death!” I was almost at the end of the bridge. “She will bury you! One day I will find you and you will regret this choice.”

“But until that day comes, it’s best you hide behind your cage.” I walked away and closed the bridge. I grabbed my magnum and fired three bullets into the control pad in case there was someone around who wanted to free Gensis. I walked through the four rooms until I was finally back with Twilight.

“What happened?” Twilight asked. “What was in there?”

“Just some weird guy,” I said. “Nothing to worry about though.”

“Well if there’s nothing here, then maybe we should go back upstairs and meet up with the others.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. There wasn’t anything here important anyway. “Let’s go.”

The Xenomorph raptor, Twilight, and I walked into the the elevator and began out ascent back to our friends.

I had killed another group of Psychics patrolling the building. It wasn’t hard now that I had all four of the powers of the Black Plaguelands’ Chimeras. I noticed that my version of the Psychic’s Powers was stronger and more refined than theirs. Seeing this made the craving of power resurface. I even start to seriously consider stealing a vial of the X.X.X. Plague and spreading it to another city, but that went away when I saw Applejack and Moondancer. I looked at them and saw the type of people I would hurt if I decided to infect anyone. They helped remind me what was right and what was wrong at least for the moment.

Applejack, Moondacer, and I began to explore the floor, but we were unable to search far because of the seemingly endless wave of Psychics that rushed us after opening the door. It didn’t take long for me to dispatch them and after that, we finally got through the last Psychic and began walking through the door again.

When we entered the room, I was left amazed by how different this room was from the rooms in the floors below it. The room looked like a gigantic communication station complete with tables full of computers and headsets, a command center, and large tatical screens. It looked like something out of a war movie. I began to wonder if the Psychics were using this equipment through the Black Plaguelands, but I figured that’s the X.X.X. Plague’s aggressive nature wouldn’t give them the patience to be able to work any of the machines.

I went through the remainder of the room and found a passcode for the elevator in the command center’s desk. “This might be useful,” I said as I saw it. Applejack, Moondancer, and I walked to the elevator in silence. Moondancer and Applejack still seemed to act awkward around each other despite the fact that we were fighting Xenomorphs together which was how Octavia and I bonded. They didn’t seem to have their priorities in check.

Before I pushed the elevator button, I noticed that the elevator was already on its way up. I forced my hand to catch on fire, and then I pushed the elevator button. I was prepared to fight off whatever monster came out way. The elevator doors came to an abrupt stop, and the doors opened slowly. To my surprise, Twilight, Octavia, and a xeno wolf stood inside the elevator ready to fight.

“We didn’t find Gloriosa in the basement,” Twilight said.

“We haven’t found her here either,” I replied. “What floor were you two heading to?”

“Top floor,” Octavia responded.

“So what’s with the dinosaur?” I asked nervously. “It looks like the same wolf that’s been stalking me.”

“It can’t be the same one,’ Octavia said. “This Guy is well trained and everything.” Octavia scratched the wolf’s head. “So where are we heading to?”

“I got a password from one of the computers in a communications room. It’s made for the elevator.” Twilight and Octavia stepped to the side of the elevator so that I could type in the password into the keypad just above the elevator buttons. I typed in the code and stepped aside so that Moondancer and Applejack could walk in. The doors closed and the elevator began to rise.

I looked around and noticed Octavia had thick black gloves on. “What’s with the gloves?” I asked.

Octavia smiled. “You’ll see,” she said.

Elevator finally came to a halt and the doors opened. The six of us walked out of the elevator and into the new environment. This room looked like it took up most of this floor and the floor that should’ve been above it. There were giant human containers around the entrance filled with Plagasi. There were giant machines everywhere. Most of the machines were silent with the exception of one in the middle of the room which was constantly making odd sounds. There was a large computer near it.

“I’m going to take a look at that,” Octavia said as she rushed over to the computer. She stopped midway and turned back towards us. “Uh, try not to fuck anything up,” Octavia said to me in a casual voice. Octavia ran over to the computer and began pressing buttons. The rest of us walked aimlessly around the room while the Xenomorph wolf walked over to Octavia. I looked around at the machines in the center and began examining.

A few minutes had passed and no one had said a thing. I was just about ready to call it a day and look through the other floors again. There was clearly no trace of Gloriosa.

“Alright, I got something,” Octavia finally said. Twilight, Applejack, Moondancer, and I turned to Octavia and waited for her to explain, but she only muttered to herself. She looked up every now and again, but always looked back to the computer a moment later.

“Is there anything important?” I asked.

“There is a lot of information about Gloriosa and what she was doing to her subjects. There’s even some info on the experiments she did to herself.” I knew that Gloriosa had used something to make herself stronger, but I was still surprised that she was experimenting on herself. “What?!” Octavia shouted in pure horror.

“What’s wrong,” I asked.

“This file says that—“ Thump. She was thrown right through the computer by an unseen force. She landed on the ground motionless. Octavia’s raptor rushed over to her and began to try and move her. I turned around trying to look for the source of the attack, and saw Gloriosa standing above us in a balcony I hadn’t seen before. ”Wait a minute, that’s not Gloriosa, that’s Gaia Everfree! I screamed in my mind. She laughed maniacally as she watched us.

“Gaia!” I shouted. “How are you able to force blast her?” The power that Gaia used was undoubtedly the same one the Psychics had.

“You’re not the only one who’s grown in their time here.” she laughed again.

“But against me you have no chance Gaia,” I replied. “I hope you know that.”

“You don’t have a chance without that ability your horsie friend locked away in you,” she said with arrogance streaming from her voice.

“How did you—“

“It doesn’t matter,” she said. “Your time ends now.” She jumped from above the balcony and landed on the floor gracefully. She rushed towards me, but I stopped her by shooting a magma ball in her direction. She easily dodged and maneuvered away from me. I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. I had been too focused on Gaia’s appearance to remember that my friends were still near. I looked around and saw that Moondancer was the only one near me. Twilight and Applejack were nowhere to be found.

“Focus Sunset,” Moondacer shouted. I turned my attention back to Gaia. I created small embers and forced them to cover my hands. I shot out a volley of magma balls towards Gaia and as expected, she dodged them. She gave me an arrogant smile. She didn’t even seem to notice that the magma balls I had shot were still burning to her left.

I shot out a small bolt of lightning to her right and just as before, she dodged it with minimal effort. She still didn’t notice the small fires. I focused on the fire and forced it to burst towards her. She was so surprised by the attack that she left herself open for another. I used my telekinetic blast to shoot her backwards. Moondancer blasted Gaia with a bolt of electricity to try and finish her.

Gaia rose up with notable effort. She looked like she lost her arrogance and was ready to fight us seriously. From above the balcony, came out about eight electricity wielding Veltromites. Their eyes were the shade of dark electric blue I knew belonged to the corrupted controlled creatures. These Veltromites must have been with the group that separated themselves from Moondancer.

I quickly used my telekinetic power to blast four of them away. The other Veltromites shot bolts of electricity towards me. I dodged the bolts and watched Moondancer shot out a web of electricity. All of the remaining Veltromites were down in an instant and the only enemy up was Gaia. She looked at the Veltromites with disappointment.

“Alright bitch,” Gaia said in a bitter tone. “You May have caught me off-guard, but now I’m ready.” She dashed towards Moondancer and punched her hard in the chest. Gaia then used a telekinetic blast to send her flying backwards. She then turned to me. She ran forward with blinding speed and elbowed me to the floor.

I opened my eyes and saw Gaia above me with a smug smile on her face. I forced fire to surround me and burn her, but she moved the moment I started it. I forced it to move towards her, but she easily dodged it.

I allowed the fire around me to burn itself out as I got back on my feet. Sustaining the fires too much energy, so I wasn’t going to waste it. The moment my fire armor was out, Gaia dashed towards me with the same god-like speed. She punched me in the chest then in the face. ”Damn, she hits like a freight train, I thought to myself. She punched me once more and knocked me to the ground. She lowered herself so that our faces were inches apart. “Lucky for you I’ll need you alive.” She began to unbutton my leather jacket and my shirt and feel my chest. I was surprised by the sudden action. I instantly felt that something was wrong. I couldn’t move or use any of my powers. Gaia had won.

I looked over Sunset and Gaia. It didn’t look like Sunset was going be able to break out of Gaia’s borderline inappropriate hold. I wanted to blast Gaia with her shotgun, but I knew that that action would only get me killed.

“Twilight, we have to something,” Applejack said next to me, “I’m goin’ to help Octavia back up.”

“No,” I said. “That’s too dangerous and Octavia will kill me if she finds out I let you run into battle like that.”

“We need ta do somethin’ or else we’ll all die.” Applejack had a point, but Twilight wasn’t going to let her put herself in danger like that.

“I’ll go,” I finally said. “I don’t want Sunset and Octavia taking all the credit for taking down Gaia.”

Applejack nodded. “Be careful Twi.”

“Don’t worry AJ, I’ll be fine,” I said as she ran towards Octavia. I didn’t care about the sound I was making with every step; i only wanted to make sure Octavia was okay and to get her on her feet. Through thr corner of my eyes, I could see that I had gotten Gaia’s attention, but before Gaia could figure out what she was doing, Moondancer sent a bolt of electricity to distract her.

I made my way towards Octavia while Moondancer Gaia fought in the background. She didn’t want to look back and lose time. Twilight reached Octavia and began to move her around. “Get up Octavia, we need you,” I said.

“What?” Octavia said half dazed. “What happened?”

“Gaia launched you into the computers,” I explained.

“Is Applejack alright?” Octavia asked sounding more focused.

“She’s fine,” Twilight said. “Sunset and Moondancer are the ones that need help.” She extended her arm towards Octavia.
Ready for some payback?” Octavia looked upset, but took my hand regardless. She grabbed my hand and lifted herself up.

“Thanks Twi,” Octavia said. “Stay out of the fight. You’ve already done enough.” She ran towards Gaia with those silent steps of hers ready for her turn in the fight.

“Just wait until I get a power Tavi,” I said to myself, “then you’ll see how badass I can be.”

Gloriosa, or as everyone else now calls Gaia, knocked me out for a while, but now it was my turn to get her back. She was copping a feel on Sunset when I got to them. I pulled out my magnum and aimed it towards the back of her head. I waited for a moment then took my shot. Bang. The bullet caused Gaia to fly forward and hit the ground. Sunset suddenly began to move around. She got to her feet and ran towards me.

“Nice shot Tavi,” Sunset complimented.

“I didn’t want to kill her just yet,” I said, “but I didn’t see any other choice.”

“You honestly think someone like me can be killed with such a pathetic attack?” Gaia said as she rose up. “I will kill you both for this.”

“You took me out because of your speed, but that isn’t a problem now that Octavia is here,” Sunset said confidently. She readied herself to pounce, but Gaia jumped back to the balcony.

“You think you can stop me?” she asked smugly. “You have yet to see the X.X.X. Plague’s power.” She laughed maniacally as she looked towards us.

All of a sudden the room began to change. The light suddenly dimmed around us. Curtains that covered the glass wall’s roof receded revealing the Black Plaguelands outside. I watched the rain pouring just outside the glass walls. The room seemed to be sound proof, because I had no idea that it had began to rain. The clouds were moving around fast.

I turned my attention back towards Gaia. My eyes widened as I watched her change in front of me. A large bale of fire suddenly formed around her.nher right arm began to violently mutate and extend itself with a sickening cracking sound. Claws began to sprout from the tip of her fingers. Her skin became a deep shade of black and her eyes became dark orbs of onyx with pink pupils.

The environment continued to mimic Gaia’s changes as water cooloers suddenly burst and the water within them began to flow towards her. The rain movement caught my eye next; instead of the rain trickling downwards as it would normally, it began to run up the building. I saw the water flowing to the top of the room and amassing on the roof.

I turned back to Gaia. The fingers on her right hand were now talons. Her hair became raven black and some odd resin substance began to form on her chest. A set of dragon wings violently emerged from her back. Gaia’s skin was becoming black as the night. She created steams of electricity that flowed through her right arm.

The water that had amassed at the top of the roof suddenly burst through the glass at the top of the roof. Water and wind raged to get inside the room. Water covered Gaia and became ice around her as if it was supposed to be armor. Two sharp ended tentacles ripped themselves around her left arm. After a few seconds, the rain had stopped and the wind began to settle down. Gaia jumped down from the balcony back towards us. The clouds above her were quickly dispersing with every step she took. She stopped about twenty feet away from us. The sky became clear and beams of blood moonlight entered the room. Gaia’s full Xenomorphic-form glowed in the blood moonlight. She truly was just the X.X.X. Plague now.

Sunset sent a volley of magma balls towards Gaia, but she moved her right arm and directed the magma balls to move to her right instead. “She has all for the the Black Plaguelands Powers,” she said. “Unlock my alabaster aura so that I can kill her.”

“No,” I said. “That’s too risky. You might go crazy again.”

“Tavi!” Twilight shouted. She threw the Giger Beta’s wepaons towards me. I grabbed them, and one of the guns immediately burst into flames while the one began to spark with electricity. Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang-Bang! I began to chip away at Gaia’s ice armor with ease, but it quickly began to reconstruct itself. Sunset shot out a lightning bolt but Gaia simply jumped up to avoid it. She began to flap her wings and fly. We continued to shoot at her, but she simply flew away from our attacks.

Gaia formed ice daggers, magma balls, and streams of electricity around her and threw them in my direction. She used a telekinetic blast to propel them even faster. I jumped out of the way just in time Crack. The impact of all the powers left a hole in the floor. I was lucky enough to have jumped in time, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to dodge them forever.

Sunset continued to shoot attack after attack at Gaia, but she dodged them all easily. We were never going to be able to bring her down like this. I suddenly had an idea. “Sunset!” I called out.

“You got a plan?!” she shouted back.

“Yeah, be ready to push her.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the third gun I had taken from the Giger Beta’s corpse. It was a magnum like my own and was filled with specially imbued ammunition just like the other two guns I had taken from the Giger. I aimed just above Gaia towards the glass and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the glass and immediately pushed everything around it. Gaia was pushed to the right. Sunset took advantage of her disorientation and force blasted her to the roof. She fell to the balcony as I hoped she would.

I put my fingers in my mouth whistling loudly in hopes that my wolf would take my cue. My whistle was immediately answered by a nearby howl. The Xenomorph raptor suddenly appeared from behind Gaia and jumped on her. She wildly tried to shake him off, but he refused to let himself fall. He began to bite and tear Gaia’s wings. He was able to rip both of her wings out before jumping off of her and returning into the darkness. The raptor was clearly smarter than I had ever given him credit for. He knew that her wings were an advantage that he could take out. I was definitely going to keep him after all of this was done and Vinyl and I return to Equestria.

“Did you plan all that out?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, more or less,” I lied. I was just hoping she would help.

Sunset and I were suddenly sent flying backwards by Gaia. This telekinetic blast was stronger than the others. It seemed like no matter what edge we had on Gaia, she was always ready to counter it in some way. It seemed like there was only one possible way to ensure our victory.

“Sunset, it looks like it’s time to let you handle this,” I said. Sunset smiled towards me. I was a little uncomfortable by the smile, but I pressed on nonetheless. I put my hand on her head and allowed the lock I had placed on her to break. A flow of energy began to emanate from Sunset. The alabaster aura that I had seen before formed around her. She looked directly into my eyes and then turned towards Gaia.

“Pretender,” she said under her breath. She ran with unnatural speed towards Gaia. She launched shot after shot of magma balls towards her. Gaia’s armor was constantly damaged, but it reconstructed itself moments later. I took this moment of peace to find everyone else. I found Twilight and Applejack near the elevator and my wolf was still hiding itself among the shadows. The only one missing was Moondancer. I tried to look for her, but it was impossible to do with so many magma balls flying everywhere. I had no choice but to wait until Sunset was finished fighting.

Gaia shot continuous streams of electricity to try and slow Sunset down, but each attack seemed to be redirected to her sides. Neither of them seemed to be able to land a direct shot. Sunset ran towards Gaia. She quickly used the water on the floor to create a prison of ice around hers. Sunset touched the ice which caused it to melt away. She was free within minutes. Sunset casually walked towards Gaia with a dark smile on her face. The alabaster aura around her quivered with joy. I shuddered at the sight. In this moment I was more afraid of Sunset than I had ever been before.

Sunset continued walking towards Gaia. She sent attack after attack towards Sunset, but she either deflected it, or let it hit her head on; she was unharmed in either case. She swung her right arm towards Sunset. She jumped in time to dodge most of the attack, but one of the talons was able to scratch her bare chest.

I looked at Gaia and instantly knew that the fight was over. She tried to force push Sunset away, but easily countered it with her own blast. Gaia Everfree was finished. Gaia backed away until she hit a corner. The storm outside had started to kick back up. The wind and rain flowed back in the room. Gaia dashed away with unnatural speed. Sunset chased after her.

The storm outside raged with red lightning now. One strike came close to the building and illuminated everything inside. Sunset’s alabaster aura was completely visible for that brief moment, and in that moment I became terribly aware of how dangerous t was to let the alabaster aura loose.

Sunset quickly closed the distance between her and Gaia. She punched her in the back of the head, and she fell to the ground. She struggled to pick herself up, but Sunset grabbed her and lifted her up before she could escape her.

“The X.X.X. Plague in you is strong,” she said. “But the power that I have will never be beaten by someone so weak.”

“Forgive me my lady,” Gaia said as she struggled under Sunset’s grip.

“Shhh, no more words,” Sunset said. “No more talking. You don’t have to speak ever again.” Crack. Sunset closed the grip on Gaia’s throat. Gaia twitched for a moment and then the magic left her body, then it stopped moving all together.

I stood in shock at how mercilessly Sunset killed Gaia. She stood silently for a moment, and then she turned to me. Her eyes were now completely black with red cat eyes. She quickly threw Gaia’s body towards me. I was so mesmerized by her eyes that I didn’t even think to react until it was too late. The impact of Gaia’s body sent me falling down the hole on the floor the battle created.

I fell down to the ground and tried to get back up, but Sunset was in front of me in a flash and grabbed me by the throat. “And now its time to take my final prize,” Sunset said.

“Sunset please stop,” I said. “Think about this for a minute.” I knew that there was a risk that Sunset would turn on me, so I wasn’t completely surprised when she did. I had prepared myself for this scenario, so I knew what to do. I opened my right palm and focused all my energy there. I would have to keep Sunset distracted until my hand was fully charged.

“I know precisely what I’m doing. When I’m done here, I’m going to take a little trip around this world with a vial omthst precious X.X.X. Plague.”

“Why would you do that?” I asked still trying to make time.

“The more the virus is released, the more Chimeras that’ll rise. I am going to kill them all and take all the powers. I’ll be a goddess,” Sunset said proudly, “and this is where it’s all going to start. Your death will make me stronger.”

“A goddess? Like— like Gaia wanted to be.” Sunset’s eyes narrowed and looked between me and her. I was surprised that she simply didn’t kill me and take my powers like she did with the rest of the Chimeras. I was starting to think that she was trying to stall for time too. “She was obsessed with power too, and now look at her.”

Sunset looked at Gaia for a long while in disgust and turned back to me. “Her body was weak,” she said. “I will not let it consume me.”

My right hand was almost halfway charged. When it became fully charged, I would be able to strike her in the head and command her to die. ”It will be a painless death,” I told myself.

“It’s already consuming you,” I said.

“It hasn’t.”

“It has,” I said strongly, “and if you don’t do something about it soon, there’s no telling how many of the people that you care about will die. No telling how much of a monster you’ll become.”

Sunset’s grip tightened. She looked at me then to Gaia and then back to me. She was breathing hard now trying to figure out what she wanted. Her grip began to loosen, the alabaster aura began to fade, and the black-red in her eyes receded. Sunset looked down in shame as she let go of my neck and broke down in tears. “T-T-Tavi—I—“

“Don’t worry about it,” I interrupted. Sunset and I stood there motionless. We looked at Gloriosa quietly. She and Gaia Everfree were gone. Our journey through the Equestrian Black Plaguelands was finally over.

”Aaaaaaaaaah!” A loud scream shattered the silence. It was Moondancer’s. Sunset and I jumped out of the hole back into the top floor. Twilight and Applejack were on the floor and my wolf was hiding under a desk near them. Sunset and I rushed over to their side. Applejack was out cold, but Twilight was still somewhat awake.

“What happened here? Where’s Moondancer?” I asked.

“Some guys took her. They’re heading for the helipad.”

“Sunset,” I said.

“You go,” she said. “I’ll make sure everyone here is alright.”

I nodded and ran forward. I climbed up a previously hidden set of stairs that were now visible without the curtains on the top of the roof. The wind and rain washed over me all at once. I looked around for the helipad. I saw it on the other enemy of the building. I ran across the roof ignoring the heavy rain and strong wind.

There was a helicopter Just about to leave when I reached the other side. There were two guards and a woman in a black suit leaving. The guards looked like they were wearing Blackguard gear, but their outfits looked bulkier and more like armor. I looked at the helicopter and noticed that it was carrying four human sized containers and in the third one was Moondancer. Upon further examination, I noticed that the Chimera of the Psychological Industrial Complex, or rather King Sombra was also there.

The two guards grabbed me as the woman in the suit walked to me. I heard her chuckle and she tilted my head forward. “That’s ever so much for getting rid of that bitch Gloriosa for me,” she said. “Sorry about the beating the Black-Elite Just gave you. It’s a shame too, I expected more from one of the ones that helped take down the Chimeras. And thank you for that too. Taking the Chimeras was easy after you and your friend incapacitated them all. They are necessary in my plans.” She smiled. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a chopper to catch.” She began to walk away. “Before this place becomes a crater,” she said under her breath.

One of the Black-Elite punched me once more in the head and walked away. The world was spinning around me. My head was throbbing like crazy. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t help Moondancer now.

I watched as the woman in the suit boarded the helicopter followed by the Black-Elite soldiers. The helicopter’s blades started spinning, and a few seconds later the helicopter was airborne. I watched helplessly as it left us behind. A sense of guilt overtook me. Moondancer had been nothing but great to me throughout the time I knew her, and I always failed to help her. I couldn’t protect her from the Xenomorphs before, and I couldn’t protect her from the Black-Elite now. I was worse than useless to her. The helicopter was gone.

“Octavia!” I heard a familiar voice call out. “Tavi, are you hurt?” It was Sunset Shimmer. She grabbed my arm and lifted me up. I leaned on her as she helped walk me back.

“They took Moon,” I said.

“I know,” Sunset replied, “but there’s nothing we can do now.” Twilight got a message from someone named Starswirl. He says that he’s going to get us out of here. We just need to wait a little.”

“Starswirl? I guess he was telling the truth after all.”

“Gaia’s gone. I’m sorry for killing her like that.”

“No, it was necessary,” I reassured Sunset. A helicopter flew nearby us. We hadn’t heard it coming with the sound of the other helicopter covering it up. It stopped above the section of the building Twilight, Applejack, and my wolf were in before coming to us. “Sunset,” I said as I remembered my bad news. “There’s something I read on the computer about what happened here.”

“What did you find?” Sunset asked.

“I found references to the Everfree project, but I also found some info about the source of the X.X.X. Plague.” The helicopter finished picking up Twilight, Applejack, and my wolf from the other side and began to head towards us. “The file said that the source of the X.X.X. Plague, ‘The Acheronsis,’ was found buried underneath Canterlot adjacent to ‘the interloper’.”

“Are all those code names?”

“Yeah, but my code name in the holding cells was the ‘Interloper’.”

Sunset looked away from me. She looked like she was in deep thought. “What does that mean?” she finally asked.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” The helicopter began to descend next to us. Sunset helped me into the helicopter and climbed in afterwards.

“Are you alright sugarcube?” Applejack asked.

“I’m fine,” I said halfheartedly.

“Are ya sure cause you look—“

“I said I’m fine,” I said irritated.

“Looks like you finally got something to write about Sunny,” Twilight said to Sunset. The sky began to clear and orange rays of light became visible as the eternal eclipse was finally over.

“Hey yeah,” Sunset finally said with optimism in her voice. “I guess I do.” Sunset looked over Canterlot thoughtfully.

“Discord and the other survivors escaped the bridge thanks to me and by extension, you I suppose,” Starswirl said from the cockpit.

“It feels good knowing we could help our friends and so many,” Sunset said.

“But we couldn’t save everyone,” I said with guilt in my voice. I could see Applejack look a little hurt by my reaction to losing Moondancer, but I didn’t care.

“Hey don’t worry Tavi. We’ll find her somehow and stop the bad guys too.” Sunset smiled at me, and in that moment, I began to believe that maybe we could still save Moondancer. “What do you guys plan to do now?”

“I’m going to go back to Equestria with Vinyl and hope that the Princesses can help us in the future.”

“Ah’m goin’ to finish school,” Applejack said awkwardly.

“School? I can’t do anything like that now,” Twilight said. “Maybe I could live with Sunset.

My raptor began to whine a bit like a human infant. He walked towards me and rested his head on my lap. “Don’t worry sweetheart you’re coming back too.” My xenosaur lifted his head and licked my face. We all laughed, even I cracked a smile. “What about you Sunset? What are you going to do?”

The sun finally began to rise. It’s light shined all around us. “I’m going to go home with Twilight, write my book, and then we’re going to take the longest nap of our lives.” I didn’t look back to the city as the helicopter flew away. We were all just happy to be done with this nightmare. And now, all that was left to do was ride out the city, and back towards to the normal world.

I looked out of the helicopter and watched my Canterlot. It used to be the one place where my whole life changed for the better, it used to be where I finally understood the meaning of friendship, but now that was nothing but a memory. I lost a few people I knew, but I was glad knowing that I was able to save all of my friends and so many others. I may have crushed the throat of the woman responsible for the main infection, but there were still others that had to answer for this unforgivable tragedy.

I knew Octavia had her own score to settle, but for the moment I wasn’t going to help her. I would fight the organization in my own way. I looked towards the clear and clean sky and I saw a bright light begin to emit from one of the Umbrella Yutani Corporation buildings. It was almost certainly whatever these people would use to cover up their tracks. I sighed and turned away from the bomb. The blast must’ve equaled the radius of an 80 megaton bomb because now Canterlot, our home, the very city where everything happened in our lives, were now nothing but a black hole in the ground.

The beautiful sunrise looked amazing. It felt good knowing we were heading towards it and away from everything else. There was a moment when I saw the light resonating behind me. It was extremely bright, but moments later the light dimmed. I didn’t want to turn back. I just kept forward, towards the better future.

I thought this song would be fitting for the end of Canterlot City.
https://youtu.be/IevSNPbzpIU