Pinkie Pie’s warm greeting was met with confusion, the various townsfolk staring on in silence. The heavy blanket of quiet hung over them for nearly a minute before finally a rather brave guard stepped forward. Covered in heavy armor from head to hoof, the male was immediately recognized by Pinkie Pie as Sergeant Hammer.

Standing only slightly taller than average, the stallion was athletic without bearing much in the way of muscle. His brown fur and white mane was mostly obscured but his armor, as was the horn that stuck out of the top of his helmet. Though his cutie mark was completely hidden at the moment, Pinkie Pie knew that it was four green emeralds.

“I’m going to have to ask you to come with me,” declared the sergeant.

“But the demons, they’re coming! You need to evacuate or something,” Pinkie Pie pleaded.

More like run away as fast as they physically can carrying only what they need to survive. Added the former human.

“Yeah, we need to run!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

The sergeant blinked. “What you need to do is come down to the station and answer a few questions.”

“Run everybody! Get as far as you can from Canterlot!” Pinkie Pie shouted.

“Do not do that, do not panic,” Sergeant Hammer yelled. “We will send for orders in a minute. For now, everyone stay in your homes.”

This guy is going to get a ton of people killed. Stated the sentient cleaver.

“Yeah, but what can we do?” Pinkie Pie whispered.

Knock him out, take charge and save the lives of your friends and neighbors. Replied the ex-human.

“I can't do that, he's nice,” Pinkie Pie whispered.

“That's enough whispering to yourself. You’re unnerving everyone. Now come with me,” demanded the guard.

Several other armored ponies approached a moment later, taking position on either side of their commanding officer. Though none reached for their weapons, they were clearly ready to do so at a moment’s notice.

If you won’t save your friends, then at least go with them and answer their questions quickly. Exclaimed the human.

“Okay, just hurry alright? We gotta go, and soon!” Pinkie Pie urged.

“I’m sure we’ll do that,” Sergeant Hammer declared unenthusiastically.

With only a small amount of prompting, Pinkie Pie was marched down the street, her unexpected entourage falling in around her. The guards were stern, and quiet, though Pinkie Pie could detect that the two other lower-ranking members were on the verge of panic. Their steps were quick, their eyes darted around constantly, and they flinched every time Pinkie Pie met their gaze. Unlike their commander, who kept a perfect parade pace, and never once looked away from their destination.

He seems awfully calm. Pointed out the ex-human.

“Yeah,” Pinkie Pie agreed.

Halfway down the street, just as the seldom used guard station was coming into view, the flap of wings became audible. A second later and a familiar rainbow shape appeared overhead, the mare flying backward in front of the group.

“Hey Pinkie Pie, woah, what happened to you? Lemme guess you fell into another tub of ketchup,” Rainbow Dash remarked.

“Demons, but that doesn't matter right now. Rainbow Dash you gotta get the others and get ready to evacuate the town. If we don't-” Pinkie Pie’s pleading was cut off by the sergeant.

“I will not have you causing a panic,” he barked, spinning towards Rainbow Dash. “You will ignore what the prisoner has said, and go about your day.”

“Woah that's a little harsh don't you think?” Rainbow Dash replied.

“Pinkie Pie is wanted for the murder of her boss, Mr. Cake,” Sergeant Hammer retorted.

Rainbow Dash blinked, and looked down at Pinkie Pie. “what, really?”

“He was a demon!” Pinkie Pie shouted. “You gotta believe me. Mrs. Cake saw-”

“Quiet!” snapped the guard. “And you, what did I say about going about your day?”

Rainbow Dash winced. “Uh right. Sorry bout that.”

The pegasus then flew off, pausing to give Pinkie Pie one last look before vanishing out of sight.

“Pony feathers,” Pinkie Pie cursed under her breath.

“Come along,” demanded the sergeant in a sharp tone.

Pinkie Pie grumbled to herself but reluctantly trotted into the guard station behind the armored male. Once the others had joined them, and the door was closed, the sergeant gestured to the table which lay at the center of the room.

“Sit, please,” he half offered, half ordered.

Pinkie Pie glanced warily at the other ponies in the room, noting that they seemed more nervous than she did. Hammer, however, did not, though for a moment Pinkie Pie swore she saw a hint of panic run beneath his expression.

“Can I use the washroom first?” Pinkie Pie asked.

The sergeant blinked and considered the request for a moment before gesturing towards the female guard. “Take her, but remain outside the door,” he ordered.

The guard jumped, but said nothing, merely hastily nodding and following after Pinkie Pie as she moved.

I take it you want to talk? Asked the man in Pinkie’s head.

Pinkie Pie nodded slightly.

Alright, just look into the mirror or something. He offered.

Pinkie Pie stepped inside the small bathroom at the end of the hall and looked around. The window was barred, and there was only a toilet as well as a small wash station waiting for her. Though clean, it was cramped, barren, and had no amenities, save for a rather sturdy-looking mirror.

The door slammed shut, and Pinkie Pie could hear the guard on the other side take position immediately to the right. She wondered, briefly, how she knew that, before dismissing the notion and leaning in close to the reflective surface.

“Can they disguise themselves as others?” she asked.

I… don't know. Muttered the former human. Let me think about it.

Pinkie Pie bobbed her head, and waited, merely staring back into her reflection. It was then that she realized just how much blood covered her body, nearly causing her to gag. Some alien desire stopped that urge before it could reach fruition, however, and she silently took a breath.

Without the need to evacuate her stomach, she was able to focus on twisting the tap and begin cleaning her fur. The water was cold and biting but with a little scrubbing was able to remove the majority of it. Viscera which managed to stick to her hair was a bit more difficult to get rid of, though thankfully no one was rushing her.

By the time she had cleaned her forehooves, and head, she felt her mental companion stir within her head.

I think so. He exclaimed.

“You think so?” Pinkie Pie whispered.

I’m not sure. All of this knowledge was just jammed into my skull, replacing all the memories and skills I used to have. Since I never learned it naturally it's difficult to recall. He explained.

“But you remembered that other stuff easily,” Pinkie Pie pointed out.

Those instincts were hard to ignore and popped up out of nowhere. I can't even explain why or where they came from. He paused. It was like when you drop something and go to reach for it. You don't even have to think about it.

“Okay so they can hide themselves, how do we know for sure?” Pinkie Pie whispered.

They have a mark or some kind of physical abnormality that sets them apart somehow. Explained the former human. It will be somewhere on their body, but I don't know where. I think it's unique to each of them.

“So… what's the plan?” Pinkie Pie asked.

I don't know. I’m as new to this as you are. Max Answered.

“Really? Cus you don't sound like you are ready to cry, pee yourself and throw up,” Pinkie Pie pointed out.

You don't either. Max pointed out.

“I totally am,” Pinkie Pie murmured, looking down at her shaking hooves. “Every time I close my eyes I see Mr. Cake staring at me, asking me why I killed him.”

It wasn't-

“I know,” Pinkie Pie interrupted. “But that doesn't make it any easier. He was family you know.”

“Hey, hurry it up in there!” demanded the guard, pounding her hoof against the door.

“R-right!” Pinkie Pie blurted.

The pony hastily peed, washed her hooves a second time, and slipped out the door, giving the guard an apologetic smile.

“Sorry about that. It was… really hard to get out of my fur,” Pinkie Pie whispered.

“Just go sit down with the sergeant,” muttered the guardsmare.

Pinkie Pie trotted across the room and plunked down in the open chair across from the stern older stallion.

“Now I want you to explain exactly what happened,” he declared, clicking a pen and setting it against an open sheet of paper.

“Shouldn't we talk about the fact that like, a whole bunch of evil monsters are coming to kill everyone?” Pinkie Pie asked.

The sergeant sighed, clicked his pen, and set it down before leveling a glare at Pinkie Pie. “There is no evidence to indicate that this was anything more than a rogue attack from someone exposed to dangerous magic.”

“What, are you loco in the coco? The last thing Mr. Cake did was warn us that more were coming and that we were all in danger,” Pinkie Pie pressed.

“I’ve already sent my fastest flier to scout the road to Canterlot. Once they return we’ll be able to confirm this wild tale of yours,” he retorted.

Press him about the mark. Added Max.

“Speaking of danger though. No one here is sporting a strange mark by chance, are you?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I will not tolerate any more distractions,” stated the sergeant. “Half the town is ready to stampede at a moment’s notice and I need a full account of the events before I place you in your cell.”

“My cell?” Pinkie Pie whispered.

“You devoured a pony’s brain in full view of everyone,” deadpanned the guard.

Pinkie Pie gulped hard, bile rising in her throat.

“Maybe… maybe we should listen to her,” offered one of the guards.

“Yeah. I mean it couldn't hurt to check, right?” added the other.

“You two?” Hammer grunted and gestured towards the closest empty cell. “Fine then, lock up the prisoner and prepare your armor.”

“What, us?” asked the other two in near unison.

“Yes you two as well,” retorted their superior.

“But your the one acting weird and stoic,” pointed out the female guard.

“I fought in the griffon incursions, worked in the violent crime division of Canterlot’s poorest district, and have two fillies. There isn't much that frightens me,” he retorted. “Now get on it.”

“R-right,” murmured the soft-spoken subordinate.

Pinkie Pie hesitantly stepped into the cell, and turned around, watching as she was locked in.

“You know,” muttered the female guard. “Now that the prisoner is locked up we don't really have to do this.”

“I know, but you specifically have been acting strange all day, now disrobe,” Sergeant Hammer declared, pointing his short sword at the closest guard.

“Strange, how? I don't feel any different,” murmured the mare.

“Private Ice Hoof served with me as a medic. I know she isn't scared of the sight of blood. Now, do I have to make that an order, or are we going to do this the hard way?” Sergeant Hammer declared.

Pinkie Pie gulped, eyes flicking back and forth from Sergeant Hammer to Private Ice Hoof standing across from him. The other guard, a thin lanky pegasus stood alone away from the group, a confused look on his face. For a moment it seemed like the sergeant was going to put his sword to use, only for Ice Hoof to erupt with laughter.

“Oh this woulda been so easy if you hadn't popped out of nowhere,” Ice Hoof declared, glaring at Pinkie Pie. “Though I guess it doesn't really matter. My buddies are already on their way and it won't be long before they're here.”

“You are under arrest,” Sergeant Hammer declared. “Either enter the cell of your own accord, or I will be forced to detain you myself.”

Ice Hoof scoffed, the mare trotting back and forth, a smirk growing ever larger on her face. “You really think you can take me? I’m a bit more than that half completed moron you saw in the town square you know.”

“I don't care if your nightmare moon herself. You will surrender or face the consequences,” Sergeant Hammer stated.

We should probably bust out of here and help him. Offered the man in Pinkie Pie’s head.

“Right, how do we do that?” Pinkie Pie whispered back.

I think I can make the cleaver super sharp for a second but it's going to cost us some of the energy we got from killing that one earlier. Replied the former human.

“Right lets-”

Pinkie Pie was cut off when Sergeant Hammer cried out in pain, a knife sticking out of the side of his back right leg. His attacker chuckled, and plucked another of the thin daggers from his wing, chucking it from one hoof to another.

“You ponies are so stupid. Honestly, this world has been an absolute disappointment so far,” exclaimed the other male guard Pinkie Pie didn't know the name of. “So quick to buy whatever excuse or lie we give.”

Sergeant Hammer grunted and raised a shield around himself.

“Irritating magic. I’ll show you just how useful it is against demonic might,” the guard reared up, forehooves raised above his head, flesh rippling with unnatural energy.

“Wait. Don't change yet we can still salvage this little covert operation of ours,” interrupted Ice Hoof.

“I’m not defeated yet,” muttered the sergeant.

A blast of force knocked Ice Hoof clear off the ground and sent her through the bathroom door.

“Die!” screamed the demonically possessed guard.

The creature’s powerful hooves slammed into the unicorn’s barrier with enough force to cause cracks to appear. Though Hammer winced, his concentration remained steadfast, and with a flash of magic, he blasted his newest foe with a surge of super-cooled water. Slamming into the wall, the demon suddenly found himself frozen from the neck down, encased in a rapidly freezing block of ice.

“What the hell,” he muttered in shock.

Pinkie Pie, focus on the blade and imagine it's sharp enough to cut straight through the metal bars of our cell. Interrupted the man, startling Pinkie Pie from her shock-induced hypnosis.

“R-right,” stuttered the pink pony.

Raising her hoof, Pinkie Pie willed the blade to appear in her grip, she then focused on it, willing it to sharpen. A moment later she brought it down against the bars with a clatter, the weapon bouncing uselessly off the steel cage.

“Too bad you locked up the only help you were going to get!” shouted a voice.

Broken timber and shattered bits of wood erupted from the hole where the bathroom door had been a moment later. In its place was a reddish brown blur, the demon’s pony disguise having been discarded in the chaos. In her place leaped an enormous hairy armed, ape-like creature with hooved feet and enormous fangs poking out from its lips.

A single titanic slam crushed Sergeant Hammer’s shield and sent him tumbling backward. He wasn't completely incapacitated by the whiplash through and blasted the demon with another lance of force. This time it did nothing but make the long black hairs sprouting from the chest of the creature ripple briefly before dissipating.

“You will not be rid of me so easily, fool!” it bellowed in a deep, rumbling tone.

“I thought you said not to change,” whined his companion.

“You stay like that. I’ll take care of this one,” replied the demon who had once been Ice Hoof.

Focus Pinkie! Demanded the former human.

Pinkie Pie tried to do as she was told, and cut through the bars, but the weapon simply bounced off a second time. While she struggled to free herself, the frozen demon was attempting to do the same at the same time as his companion was trying to kill Sergeant Hammer. The experienced stallion was no easy prey however and rolled out a range of a slam that would have crushed him flat.

Leaping up onto his hooves, the unicorn stumbled briefly before pulling the knife from his flank, and tossing it aside. The temporary distraction cost him, however, as the demon he was fighting backhanded the other male hard, sending him to the floor once more. His magic sputtered, his movements were slow, and it seemed as though the sergeant was about to meet his end.

Let me handle this. Declared the former human.

Pushing to the forefront of their shared mind, the human reasserted control with little resistance. His eyes glowed, his body grew stronger and with his hair returning to its former mohawk, the transformation was complete. The moment he had complete domination of their body he sliced down, cutting through the bars with two swift chops.

He stepped through the open cell and looked to find that the sergeant was being held aloft by his bestial foe. All remnants of the former pony were gone, replaced by blood red skin, a layer of dark black fur, and hundreds of pounds of muscle. Its back was hunched, its posture warped by its huge arms, and frame that was barely contained by the small guard house.

“Silly silly pony,” it rumbled, dangling the sergeant by his wounded back leg. “You should have run while you could. Now that will never happen.”

Hammer blasted his foe with a spray of super heated sparks but the spell barely even slowed the demon. Who with a twist, followed by a rip, removed the unicorn’s legs before dropping him to the ground and the limb into its open maw. With a wet crunch, it chewed, laughing as the unicorn twitched in pain before it.

The ex-human currently in control of Pinkie Pie’s body hit the demon right as it was about to grab the fallen unicorn. Cleaver met arm, and with a cry, the limb came loose, spilling boiling demonic blood across the room. Now reeling back in shock and surprise, the enormous ape spun around just in time to see a pinkish red blur raising its foreleg high.

The next chop removed a hunk of the beast’s chest, flesh splitting and blood gushing from the huge open wound. A second strike hew away more of the muscled meat though the third was blocked by a hastily grabbed table. The cleaver sunk deep into the wood but wasn't able to be recalled before the ape threw the hunk of furniture aside. The human stumbled back, glancing over to where his weapon had clattered to the ground some distance away.

“Not so intimidating now, are you?” bellowed the ape-like demon, remaining arm raised above his head.

On impulse, the human reached out for the weapon, and barely even noticed as it melted into nothing. Only to reform in his open hoof a second later, raised and ready to intercept the coming blow. Though he was able to block in time, and nearly sever the demon’s hand, there was considerable weight behind the strike.

Bludgeoned by the beast’s damaged limb, he stumbled back into a stand, twisting his dislocated foreleg back into place. With a final pop, he fixed the damage, right as his foe was attempting to do the same thing. The demon, however, could not heal as the former human did, and simply tore away what slivers of meat held his hand to his arm.

“I don't know what you are or how you did that, but you will pay,” growled the demonic ape.

“The only one who will pay the price is you, monster,” spat the human.

“Not today!” cried the human’s foe.

As he lurched forward, intent on removing the demon’s head from his neck, the creature was stepping back. Only it wasn't simply retreating but was instead readying itself for a powerful kick, one which sent Pinkie Pie’s body flying. Crashing straight through the wall and out into the street, they bounced head over heels, each impact accompanied by the snap of some limb.

When they finally came to rest there wasn't a single part of their body that wasn't damaged in some way. Bones poked out from their skin, limbs were twisted in directions that they were never intended to go and their head had turned completely around. The pain was intense but with grim determination the former human set about fixing their shattered form, and quickly.

Snaps pops, and cracks were constant for the next few seconds as the power stored within them was used to remedy their broken form. Once it was done, and they were able to walk again, he charged back into the guard house, cleaver raised above his head. The building was empty, with there being no trace of the demons, or the sergeant for that matter either. The only clue as to their location was the broken door that hung from a single hinge.

“Damn,” he cursed. “They got away.”

What now? Asked Pinkie Pie.

“We evacuate,” replied the human, withdrawing the cleaver into their body. “And we save as many as we can.”

The man closed his eyes, and Pinkie pie opened them a moment later, a look of grim determination crossing her face.

“Right,” she muttered to herself. “Where do we start?”

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