"Hello?" Stream poked her head through the bars of her silent jail. She was the only thing she could hear. The soldiers had long moved past her, off to do whatever they had planned on doing. "Anyone?" But she was left, alone.

In the silence, she felt something. A trembling barely on the edges of her senses. She perked an ear towards it and gravitated to a wall, pressing against it to feel and hear it.

Digging?

Dare she hope? She raised a hoof and rapped on the wall. The last time she had tried that message, she had been foalnapped. Perhaps the second time would fare better?

The wall exploded violently, sending her sliding across the floor as a great beast pushed into the cell with a mighty roar, its many teeth on display, tendrils waving wildly. She had found her worm.

She was at once elated and terrified. They were an apex predator, but... She quickly got out her container of Tatzl treats and tossed one towards the worm. It snapped it right out of the air before fixing her with the full of its attention. "Yes, that's right. I'm a friend, not here to hurt you, promise," she assured with gentle tones, climbing back to her feet. "Did those nasty dogs scare you?"

It roared in response, shaking her down to her bones with the force of it.

"Don't worry, they're gone. Gone..."

The worm leaned in closer to her, a tendril brushing over her beak and down over her neck. It was examining with no real regard for her personal space.

"Yes, gone. Nocreature here but us," she continued. She could have run into a corner, but that would just be a sad way to go, she quietly decided for herself. "Can you help me?" She pointed upward, talon extended. "Out?"

The worm nudged at her tupperware full of treats.

"Hm? Oh! Yes. You can have them all, if you get me out. Please..." She smiled without displaying a single tooth.

The worm smiled in kind, but was not shy about displaying how easily it could rend Stream apart if it wished. A curious expression, seeing a tatzl smile, but it managed before lunging at her. She couldn't help it, she screamed as she was gulped up, but the teeth did not immediately begin grinding her to paste.

It was dark and wet and she could feel movement around her. Her insides told her she was raising rapidly. Was the worm carrying her? Well, of course it was. The fact that she could worry about that answered that question. She was literally inside a Tatzl, at its mercy, and it hadn't actually chewed her up. She let out a little delirious laugh at the absurdity of it all. Freedom? Perhaps it was coming.

With a great roar, the darkness was abated and she was thrown free of the worm by the force of it, splatting wetly on the ground, intact if a little banged up. "Oof!" She scrambled back to her hooves and talons almost instantly, turning to have her eyes on the worm. "Thank you!"

The worm stared at her patiently.

"Oh, yes, of course." She reached for her treats and popped the top off the container. She set the entire container down and backed away from it. "Well deserved. Thank you."

The worm dove at her and she flinched back. It came down exactly on the plastic, devouring it and its many treats. It vanished into the ground, it trembling with its passage. It crested a moment later, spitting out the shredded remains of the container before diving and becoming lost to sight and soon even feeling, the trembling fading away.

She was free. Perhaps, she thought quietly to herself, the worms deserved far more credit.

Ponyville had faced monster attacks before. It had faced great magic-eating demon centaurs before.

It had not faced a military force bent on death and destruction. Ponies fled in all directions, calling for help. In their heart of hearts, they felt safe. Surely Twilight and the rest would come and take care of it. Certainly.

But Twilight wasn't there, nor was Starlight. Nor did the villagers flee nearly fast enough to outpace bullets and beams. They were not battered. They were not left helpless. Mayor Mare tried to keep the retreat somewhat orderly until she suddenly wasn't. Her body staggered backwards, slumping to its haunches.

With half her head missing, Mayor Mare wasn't there anymore, and what was once her body collapsed to the ground. The screams redoubled.

What few guards were posted there were woefully unprepared. Ponville simply had little need for them. Their bodies littered the street. It was all happening so quickly, it all felt unreal.

"Look upon me and despair!" came the sudden call of a fashionista. She was no magical marvel, but she had some tricks, specialized as they were. She demanded their attention with a blinding flash of light. Her words had drawn their attention, just in time to get a full blast of all the light she could put out at once. They hissed and howled in agony, rubbing their eyes, and shooting, still shooting. Rarity was rocked, her body perforated by bullets and intense beams of magic even as many missed her, flying wildly in their blind firing spree.

She rolled over backwards and didn't rise, the life having fled her almost immediately.

At least Sweetie Belle had been given a precious moment longer to get further away.

The moment rewound, Rarity flipping forwards, the bullets and streams of angry energy emerging from her as she reverse gasped her last. The weapons re-entered the guns of the enemies that had fired them as Discord appeared with a flash, a scowl on his face. "Fluttershy would never forgive that." He shook his head, approaching the unit as they gawked at him, still blinking off the blinding light. "I'm afraid you really must go."

With a communal call of fury, they turned their attention on the chaos spirit, but his body bent and warped, dodging each projectile, letting the energy pass through him. "No no, I really must insist. It's been fun, and you can cause all the mess you want, but not here, not in my back yard."

He did not snap his fingers. Oh no, it was too big of a moment for that. He brought both hands together in a powerful clap, demanding reality sit up and pay attention. "I mean, really, here? What were you thinking?"

They cried at him with a unified purpose, but it wasn't the cry one might expect. The entire attacking force had been reduced to babes, arms flailing, their weapons clattering to the ground. "I suppose you weren't thinking much of anything anymore, oh well." He turned to see the ponies that had been hurt or killed before he got there. "Mmm... She wouldn't like this very much either..."

True, death was the ultimate chaos that came to all things... But, as Fluttershy had hinted, perhaps breaking that one little rule could be chaotic in itself. "Let's not make this a habit..." With a sharp snap, he bid Mayor Mare awaken, her head restored, even if she had a terrible migraine. "Nice try, points for civic duty..." He wandered through the town, undoing lethal blows. Ponies would need rest and recovery, but Ponyville suffered not a single loss that day in a fit of what could be argued to be literal deus ex...Discord.

He casually didn't fix the buildings and other damage. They could do that on their own.

Manehattan ponies had no spirit of chaos to see to their survival. Their police fought valiantly. The first wave was mowed down almost immediately, as the average pony police officer had no need for firearms.

The towers of the grand city of ponies burned high into the sky with the smoke raising as if they could signal for help that wasn't coming. A second wave of armed resistance arrived after several city blocks were put to the torch. The pony equivalent of the swat team, they attacked with side-mounted guns and cracks of magic where a unicorn was present. They fought, but their armor was a distinct downgrade from what the TSDI had.

The police ponies gave it their all, but their all was just not enough. They were being pushed back, what few remained of them.

One young stallion, barely more than a colt, fired a beam of purple energy from his horn in a wide spread. He did little damage, but he kept them from charging. "It's not working," He sobbed, tears stinging at his eyes. "What do we do?!"

His superior was reloading his gun as quickly as he could. "We keep fighting. Every minute we buy is another minute for innocent people to evacuate. I know you didn't sign up for this, not... this... but it's what we're here for." He ratcheted his side mounted gun, ready to fire. "We suffer so others may live."

"How about making them suffer?" came a sudden shout from above. A glance up revealed dozens on dozens of pegasi. Their city wasn't being attacked, being impossible to tunnel into. With a great cheer, they descended on the attackers.

The ones at the very front were doomed. On some level, they knew that, flying with grim expressions and raised shields, they tried to absorb as much of the punishment as possible so that others behind them could get into range. The pegasi had a long tradition of military discipline, and it was time to show it wasn't all in the past.

They crashed into the enemies, much of the first wave shot from the sky, but the second impacted with bulls and other creatures, kicking, biting and slapping. It descended into a melee, guns becoming difficult to use with the ponies climbing all over them, fighting desperately.

One threw the pony clambering on them free, tossing the pegasus against a light pole, bending both. He raised his gun to finish the job when his gun glowed a bright purple, firing wildly off course as it was yanked away and ripped away. The young police pony heaved for air, the gun rapidly soaring to his side.

Other pegasi dove at the unarmed bull, pummeling and stripping him at the same time. As soon as his head was free, it became a target.

A sharp snap announced another bull firing on one of the many pegasi on one of his fellows, sending the pony to the ground with a weak squawk, but others dropped on him immediately.

Manehatten would survive the attack, but at a terrible cost.

"Remember," grunted a minotaur as they rode through the tunnels. "What we are fighting are enemies. Even the most innocent ones are duped, their minds rotted from the inside out by human mind control devices. Better to give them a quick and clean death. Every creature you take out is one victory for us, for the country we leave behind..."

He looked over his collection of fighting creatures. "Don't be fooled. We're in America, the worst of them. Even the young and infirm can be lethal. They all have hand cannons, all of them. Do not assume you are safe with an American unless it's a dead American."

He rapped on the side of his head, tapping at his helmet. "You will keep your helmets on. They are the only thing that lets us have even a chance. We are the brave and the last chance of our people. If we fail today, the TSDI dies with us. The Council dies with us. Everything you know and love, gone. There is no second option. We must win." He slammed the wall of the transport. "We will win!"

They joined him in a rough call for victory. They who were doomed to death or imprisonment, more the former than the latter. They who were ready to die for what they believed in. Brave fools, they would do what they could.

Author's Notes:

Did you think the tale of Black Friday was over? Nah. That last bit was a rewind to give you a moment glimpse into the TSDI PoV. On the bright side, Head Stream is free, yay!

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