Chapter 19: The Coming Storm

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“Rarity, please calm down.” Applejack spoke softly as she stroked the unicorn’s mussed up mane. Yet AJ knew her efforts to console her friend were fruitless. Rarity had broken like a delicate flower in a hurricane and was crying endlessly over the broken body of the Diamond Dog she’d just slain.

“No!” Rarity wailed, “I’m…I’m a monster! I’m an ugly mare.” Applejack flinched at her friend’s self inflicted slur and for the first time since earth-pony had known the unicorn, Rarity’s display carried not a hint of overwrought drama or false acting; just pure raw emotion.

Whatever makeup that remained was running rivers down her face. It stained her fur and mixed in with the patches of dried sludge and gore that still clung to her. Rarity had glazed eyes; sputtering gibberish and hiccupping. Her normally shiny, well-kept, mane was .She was frantically messing up her mane, ripped her fake eyelashes away and cast them to the floor, all the while her body shook uncontrollably.

“Rarity, ya’ll are not a monster.” Applejack couldn’t hide the fear that trembled in her voice. She hugged her friend tighter, desperately trying to offer a modicum of assurance.

“I am!” Rarity wiped her eyes, staining her forelegs.

“No yer not!” AJ started screaming.

“I am. You should hate me! What I’ve done, it’s... it’s unforgiveable. I…I don’t know what came over meee!”

“It’ll be ok. I’m here, sugarcube, and ah don’t hate ya. Ah’m just a mite confused” “Why don’t ya tell me what happened.”

“I…I was going to stick to the plan, you know,” Rarity wiped at the tears again, “just use the table to hold the beast down. While you tie them up and we interrogate them for answers. B…b…but what happened to all those unicorns,” Rarity checked her forehead to make sure her horn was still attached, “and all those pegasi. I thought of it happening to fair Fluttershy and Derpy.”

“Ah know Rarity. It’s a horrible thing that’s been done.”

While AJ tended to the ailing unicorn, Isaac had to fend off the male part of his brain that compelled him to comfort a distressed woman. He had to keep reminding himself that they weren’t human. They were just stupid little ponies that he didn’t give a damn about. He told them that it was going to be dangerous and they didn’t listen.

Rather than deal with that problem he was forcefully shaking the two restrained canines. He wanted information and they were the best source available, but when they didn’t respond he back hoofed them across the face. Alas the dogs remained unconscious and unresponsive, if not for the snoring he might’ve though they were dead too. Groaning in frustration he abandoned his efforts to roust the resting rovers and briefly considered scrounging through the wall lockers for anything of interest.

Then he remembered that on the opposite side of the bunker there was a desk that had a computer on it. The computer itself was a metal H frame that was bent at a near ninety degree angle down the center, horizontally. The bottom half had a phantom keyboard that glowed orange. The keyboard was the standard ‘QWERTY’ arrangement, but the keys, and thus the frame, were a lot bigger than what was necessary for human hands; probably to account for pony hooves. The holographic screen was also proportionally enlarged and whether this was in because of the bigger size of local equine eyes or the keyboard, Isaac couldn’t tell.

Apart from the size differences everything else was recognizable as EarthGov made, right down to the operating system. There was little doubt left as to who was responsible for this shitty situation. Isaac attacked the computer, fervently pushing the keys, searching the files for a map and any information on the facility itself. While hacking computers wasn’t his strongest suit, breaking into the database was relatively easy since the usual safeguards and protection software seemed to be lacking. Also one of the dogs had left their login account active, but then the dogs didn’t strike him as mentally competent enough to actually use a computer.

‘Maybe they thought no one would make it this far or someone’s just shit at their job.’ Isaac rambled internally.

While he worked over the keyboard he couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the distraught ponies behind him.

“I…I just wanted to get a few licks in, you know. I realize it’s unladylike to want such a thing, but I wanted to punish them for what they put our friends through.” Rarity lamented, her panicked mood beginning to relent, “Then it happened…”

“What exactly happened?” Isaac suddenly asked; his voice mostly even leveled, but hints of expectation and worry betrayed him. There had been something in Rarity’s tone that had compelled the question out of him. He didn’t bother to try and reach out to the distressed unicorn; he had hardly turned from the holo display. Unexpectedly the question had an immediate calming effect on Rarity.

“I saw my dear little sister. Innocent Sweetie Bell, she was behind the Diamond Dog. Her horn was broken and there was blood everywhere. I couldn’t stand the thought of something so terrible happening to her and so…I lashed out.”

Isaac cursed silently.

“Rarity, you were hallucinating...” He pointedly commented as he operated the terminal.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Rarity what happened just now is not entirely your fault; this is what the Marker does.” He had expected his words to spark a round of protests from the guilty pony. Instead she reciprocated a look of hope and doubtful relief.

“It uses the ones you love against you; it subtly manipulates you into doing what it wants. I know,” he briefly choked, snapping around to look directly at the mares. Just thinking about it made his blood boil and he took his emotions out on the ponies. The blue light from his helmet exaggerated the shock on their faces to horrific levels. “…I know because it used my dead fiancée to control me.”

“Cutter, that…is just…”

“I’m not done,” he took a few threatening steps towards the mares, “just imagine what will start to happen to everybody in town unless we destroy the Marker. If we don’t eventually Sweetie Bell will fall victim to the Marker’s corruption and might kill someone, possibly starting with her friends. That is,” Isaac glanced at AJ, “if Apple bloom doesn’t do it first.” There was a moment of stern silence as the two mares rolled Isaac’s words around in their heads. Rarity had stopped crying and had a look of neutral detachment.

“Is that what you want?” Isaac drove the point home.

“No…” was Rarity’s quiet reply.

“Then get your damn act together! The only monsters here are the ones building the Marker.”

“You’re right,” she sniffed the remains of her tears away, “for Sweetie’s sake I must persevere. I must!” The unicorn arose to stand firmly on

“Good,” Isaac replied with an encouraging nod. “Why don’t you search those lockers over there and see if you can find any useful supplies.”

‘And there it is.’ The former human grumbled at his inability to resist a pretty face. Hiding his shame he returned to his work on the holo-computer.

“I’ll do that and thank you, darling.” Rarity smiled her mind at ease for the moment. Trotting over to the first wall locker she opened it with her telekinesis and started rummaging around various items contained within. Applejack sighed, she was happy that her friend was feeling better, but she was still bothered by certain things Isaac had said and done.

“Cutter, ah appreciate you helpin’ Rarity, but dontcha think ya’ll were a littl’ hard on her?”

“No, everything I just said is true.” He replied sternly only to have AJ look over his shoulder at the computer.

“What are ya doin’ there?”

“It’d take too long to explain.” He dismissed her off-handedly, rather forcefully, a move which had only served to ignite a fire of indignant fury in the apple farmer.

“Now wait just a gosh darned minute! Som’thin just ain’t right here.” AJ hooked a foreleg around one of his and yanked the stallion away from the terminal to face her.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Ya’ll are going ta listen here, Cutter. Ah know that Twi said you were a friend, but ever since ya arrived two of mah friends have disappeared, Canterlot is attacked,” AJ stomped her hoof with each count, “then there’s ya fancy suit, the monsters, the hollow-graph-tic sign, this talk of Markers, and now that…that…,” she waved a hoof at the object of her wrath.

“Computer.” Isaac jerked his leg free and turned back to his previous goal.

“Computater. I know ah haven’t been to Manehatten ta visit my aunty and uncle Orange in a few years, but ah know there is nothing like this, ‘computater,’ there. Neither any of these other techno-whatchamacall-its. Who are ya really?”

“I’m curious as well,” Rarity added while attending to another locker, “Even Canterlot doesn’t have such complex devices.”

Isaac’s hooves suddenly froze over the incorporeal keyboard as he regarded the mares again. Although they couldn’t see it, but his expression was of someone discovering a terrible revelation. He suddenly remembered Kendra on the Ishimura, who had secretly been using him to get the Red Marker for EarthGov. Then there was Diana on Titan Station who had lied about wanting to help him escape the second necromorph outbreak. Only to betray him and reveal that she really worked for a Unitologist agenda to seed Markers all over the galaxy because their sideways religion said so.

“Who are ya really?” Applejack’s question was a fairly simple one; and now, Isaac realized, the shoe was now on the other foot. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but maybe he had been wrong about the ponies. It was possible that they were not as useless and stupid as he’d first thought they were. It just didn’t feel right to lead them on like this, just as others had done to him before.

“You want the truth?” They at least deserved that much if they were going to share this nightmare with him. Both mares nodded their consent, Isaac took a deep breath.

“I’m not actually from Manehatten and my name isn’t Cutter.” Isaac quickly spat out. Rarity had tilted her head in confusion while Applejack’s scowl grew so deep the sound of grinding teeth could be heard.

“So both you and Twi…ya’ll lied to us.” A blush of rage intensified across her cheeks.

“Well, it was Twilight who made up the story,” He nearly laughed at the dawning realization on Rarity’s face; as she’d been there when Twilight first introduced him. Yet, he felt slightly ashamed at remaining silent when he didn’t owe the Princess’ any favors. He blamed Twilight just as much as Celestia about being trapped in this world and in a body that wasn’t his own.

Royalty, politicians, and diplomats; they were all the same. The golden rule should be rewritten to warn against false trust towards any governing body, on any planet, ever.

“Why?” That one came from Rarity.

“Not really our fault, though, since it had been a direct order from your Princess Celestia. I think she wanted to keep the truth of the Marker a secret while Twilight and I dealt with it. It was probably to avoid public panic, not sure why I went along with it since I’ve never trusted anyone who’s ever worked in the government. They never learn that keeping secrets like this only makes the situation worse in the end.”

“What do you mean, ‘your Princess Celestia?’ Isn’t she your Princess too?”

“No,” he shook his head, “I’m not from Equestria, not even close.” Just as Isaac was preparing himself to elaborate further he heard the unicorn scream a shrill note, followed up by the heavy thump of a body hitting the floor. Both he and AJ went to investigate and saw that one of the lockers that Rarity had opened had deposited a body onto the floor.

At first the three ponies though it was the corpse of another diamond dog until the body responded with a pain filled grunt. The dog slightly smaller than the guards, was gun-metal gray in fur color, and wore no armor. Instead he had on a red sleeveless vest that seemed two sizes too small along a topaz pendant attached to a black collar with diamond studs.

“I know you!” Rarity gasped a high pitched shriek, settling back into her usual overblown drama. “You’re that diamond dog that kidnapped me all those months ago.” His eyes, sporting yellowish-green pupils and pebble sized irises colored teal, went wide with shock as he recognized the unicorn that had addressed him.

“Oh, Miss Rarity, nice to see you.” The dog smiled. “You come to rescue ponies, yes? Of course you are, just like ponies rescue you,” his joyous expression faltered for a moment, maybe rescue diamond dogs too?”

“Rescue you?” If pure venom could be refined into a vintage of fine wine, then the tone in Rarity’s Canterlotian accent had achieved it “Why would we ever do that you vicious curr?”

The prone dog let out a few pitiful whines while shrinking away like an ice cube subjected to a raging inferno. Rarity’s breathing was bordering on hyperventilation and a desire to kill again arose as a twitch in the corner of her mouth.

“Easy thar partner.” Applejack placed a concerned hoof on her friend’s shoulder, preparing to restrain the unicorn if necessary.

“Look at him.” Isaac pointed. It was then that Rarity noticed the heavy pair of handcuffs that had chained the dog’s wrists and ankles together. The hair and skin rubbed raw and bleeding under the heavy metal.

“Are you a prisoner as well?”

“Yes,” He nodded enthusiastically, “all Diamond Dogs are prisoner. We are told to find gems, lots of gems. Wanted pretty pony,” he signaled Rarity, “to use her magic to find gems. When we let Miss Rarity and pony friends go with all those gems then...” he drifted somberly.

“Then what?” The unicorn encouraged. The dog lowered his head to the ground.

“Then evil ponies come to punish. The scary cherry came with others and she does bad things to us. Scary cherry say we failed her and kill dog friends to make example of them, she say. Leave me alive to burn up mess. Force me to hurt ponies to stay alive. Me no want to hurt ponies, only want them to find gems.” Isaac then approached, lifting the dog up, by the handcuffs, into a kneeling pose.

“Can help, I can. Show you Marker, show you pony leader.” The dog pleaded only to be violently slammed into the wall.

“Why should we believe you?”

“Scary Cherry ponynapp Pegasus friend of Miss Rarity’s. Can take you to her.”

“You know where Fluttershy is?” Rarity’s muzzle nearly touched the dogs as she glared death at him. Without a word, promising that if he was lying then retribution would be swift and painful. The dog replied with a simple, ‘yes,’ for an answer.

Before the conversation proceeded further the ponies and dog were interrupted by a sudden burst of static from hidden speakers.

“This is Director Tidemare to all project personnel. I want the key subjects terminated and the facility scrubbed. This is not a drill, Tidemare out.”

“Wellll…shit.” Isaac cursed at this new development. He remembered when he’d woken up in the Psych ward on Titan Station. The station administer, a Director Tiedman had given the exact same speech over the PA system when the station had been overrun by necromorphs. Now it was a Director Tidemare doing the exact same thing.

‘What the fuck is going on? Could Tiedman also be in Equestria as well?’ That was impossible. Tiedman was dead; Isaac had made doubly sure of that.

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Secret Cherry was storming her way down the corridors of the underground base. Any dogs or ponies that dared to get in her way would come out of the encounter with one less limb to show for it. Luckily for them Cherry’s reputation proceeded itself and no one was dumb or suicidal enough to stop her when she was on a rampage. She ignored those who threw themselves against the walls and jumped down alternate corridors. She had only one destination in mind and one pony that she desired to see.

Only minutes ago Director Tidemare had made her announcement over the PA system. To say that Cherry was upset over this turn of events was so much of an understatement that one couldn’t find it if they’d used an electron microscope. The day had gone so well, waking up after a good night’s sleep, a wonderful breakfast, while thousands of ideas on ways to brutalize these stupid ponies buzzed around her head. All of which paid off as she got to mercilessly beat down the yellow pegasus Fluttershy, kill a hoard of smelly animals, and pluck the eye of the retard known as Ditzy Doo.

In summary, it had been the best day ever.

“Tidemare!” Cherry shouted as the door to Command & Control slid open. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

The C&C was a massive room, however it was a very crowded space at the same time. It was filled with all sorts of workstations, computers, panels, switches, knobs, and other devices that allowed Director Tidemare and her staff to control every aspect of the facility from the most sophisticated of machines down to the temperature of the facility. The Director was currently crouched over a panel of controls connected to a series of thirteen monitor. Each monitor was adorned with a strip of masking tape with the name of a pony, written in black ink, beneath it.

“Why is the facility being scrubbed? Why are you destroying nearly a year’s worth of research into the Marker?” Cherry marched right up to Tidemare either ignoring the director’s warning or simply not caring.

“It’s all part of the plan to eliminate Twilight and the remaining element bearers.” The Director said curtly, not bothered to pay attention to Cherry’s disrespectful attitude.

“The Elements of Harmony are useless unless all six of them are together.” Cherry slammed a hoof on the panel. “We already have the Oracle and Rainbow Dash is unaccounted for. There is nothing we should fear from t…” Cherry got no further before she was stuck across the face with such force she fell flat on her back. She was only stunned for a moment, but that was enough time for Tidemare to use her fore-hooves to pin Cherry down. The Director slowly lowered herself so that the two of them were touching chest to chest, stomach to stomach.

“I suggest you watch your tone with me, my dear.” Tidemare said with an unnatural calmness. “I’m the one in charge of this operation and unless you want to meet the same fate as these worthless Ponyvillians then you best remember your place.” The two mares stayed down for uncounted second while Tidemare stroked a hoof down her partner’s golden mane and rosy fur. Cherry offered no resistance to her treatment.

“From the beginning this facility was envisioned as the birthplace of a new world order and the Marker will deliver this future to us. But it has another purpose,” the brown earth pony’s calm demeanor was beginning to give way to a lustful excitement, “it’s a coffin. With it I intend to bury all of Celestia’s minions for good. Understand?” Tidemare finished with a suggestive lick across the rosy mare’s muzzle.

“Y, yes Director Tidemare.”

“Now,” Tidemare separated herself from her partner, “I have a job for you.”

“Yes, what is it?”

“The Oracle is headed for the extraction point. I want you to make sure that Marker zero-zero-two make safely as well.”

“Yes, ma’am, but what about the prototype?”

“Zero-zero-one? That piece of shit is defective, leave it to be destroyed. Let Celestia believe that the threat has ended while we continue our research at the backup facility.”

“It will be done.” Cherry exhaled all of her tension with that pledge before booking it out of the room to attend to her duties.

With Cherry gone Tidemare returned to the camera display. Taking the controls she panned across the camera displays. The key subjects in rooms one through six had already been dealt with, some by the end of a spear while others had been beaten to death. The lucky mare in room five had been shown some mercy by her handlers and had been put to sleep before having her throat slit; her death was clean and painless. Room seven, Fluttershy’s cell, was empty; the buttery Pegasus already gone. The Oracle was invaluable to the next stage of their plans.

Then she cycled to the camera in room eight, Ditzy Hooves. For some reason that she couldn’t fathom her associate, Secret Cherry, had taken a special sadistic interest in the Pegasus. Cherry had asked, nay demanded, that she be given handling rights for Ditzy. The result had left the one-eyed pegasus in such a state that a zombie would be empathetic.

The one eyed Pegasus was screaming in terror as a pair of dog soldiers approached her. One soldier pulled back on Ditzy’s muzzle, exposing her neck. The other dog tightened his grip around a crudely made, and bloody, sword with the clear intent to cleave the blond pegasus’ head clean off. As the armed dog raised the sword high in the air accompanied by the frantic thrashing of his victim.

Yet, just as the fatal blow was about to be delivered, Tidemare had a sudden burst of inspiration. In one swift motion she activated the intercom to room eight.

“Stop what you are doing!” She commanded and the dogs obeyed by taking a few steps away from Ditzy.

“This is Director Tidemare speaking. Leave the gray pegasus alive and bring her to me in the C&C. I have other…plans for her.”

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Elsewhere in the underground tunnels of the Diamond Dog’s lair Twilight, Spitfire, and Pinkie all crouched, shoulder to shoulder, behind a large igneous rock. The boulder was positioned on the precipitous edge of a narrow cliff. The trio had made it this far by carefully walking along a dangerous pathway that clung to the side of a massive wall of stone. There were also a steep set of stairs nearby that were cut into the cliff and lead downwards towards a large natural cavern.

Across the vast empty space there was a catwalk suspended from the ceiling around eighty feet from the ground. The artificial bridge spanned the gap between a seemingly random tunnel and the cliff stairs just below where the ponies were currently positioned. At the other end of the catwalk was a massive bulkhead door which opened into an underground structure. The doors were slightly ajar, just enough to allow diamond dogs through. The dogs, for the most part, were accompanied by ponies on leashes and tied down with mine carts filled with either gems, scrap metal, or unidentified pieces of equipment. If they were unicorns their horns were broken and the pegasi had their wings stripped of feathers. Earth-ponies had large chains hooked up to each leg to where they could only achieve a brisk walk.

“Miss Sparkle,” Spitfire addressed the purple unicorn; who was not humored at the honorific used to address her.

“Um…yes?”

“I know I’m most recognized for being Captain of the Wonderbolts stunt team. However, I am a Capitan of the Royal Equestrian Air force first and foremost. So can I offer you a bit of military advice?”

“Sure, but there’s no need to call me Miss. Twilight will do just fine.” She gave a lopsided smile. Somehow a thought of Isaac flew through her mind.

“The situation down there is bucked up beyond belief. Cutter was right, we can’t possibly negotiate with these jerks. We need to treat this situation as not only immoral, but also as a serious threat to national security and a declaration of war against Equestria.”

“No,” Twilight firmly stood by herself, “violence will only lead to more violence. As Celestia’s personal student I have to at least try to settle this in a peaceful manner.”

“Maybe they need a party?” Pinkie offered hopefully.

“Shut it noobie!” Spitfire callously shot the earth pony’s idea down. This earned a disapproving glare from the lavender unicorn, but Spitfire was immune to such tactics.

“Twilight this is a serious breach of national security and with the Elements of Harmony neutralized our options are very limited.”

“I understand,” Twilight truly felt a sense of dread build in her heart, “if it turns out that violence is the only way…no, I have to know that I tried every way to make it right.”

Author's Notes:

The intimate scene between Tidemare and Secret Cherry was an eleventh hour addition. I promise it won't get any worse than mildly suggestive as I refuse to write clop. Don't know why I wanted to add it, but it made for an interesting dynamic for the villians. I hope you enjoy the chapter. The next update will be for my Mass Effect story.