"Hello, Epsilon," Carolina growled, slowly walking towards him. "It's been too long since you stabbed me in the throat. I've been meaning to have a little chat with you ever since we came back."
As Carolina neared the group, she was stopped when her armor began to glow gold. Looking around, she saw the source of what was stopping her.
"I will not have any blood shed under my watch," Celestia said slowly, releasing the bind on the vengeful ex-Freelancer. Looking to the others, she bowed her head slightly. "I realize that this comes as a rather large surprise to you, but understand that it was not my doing. When you... incapacitated her, I had to keep her body safe."
"You kept her here? Do you know how dangerous that was? She's a murderer!" Church snapped.
"Guess we're two of a kind, then, aren't we?" she asked harshly.
"She was no longer living, nor did I have the intention to bring her back," Celestia explained. "We were simply guarding her from everything else. If I were to have buried her somewhere, I feared that somepony might find out about her and bring her back to use as a soldier."
"So what, she's your personal guard now? Keeping her as a special unit to take out Discord?"
"No. She said she was going to send me back, and now it looks as if that opportunity has arrived," Carolina said, hand still hanging over her gun. "If the Director is involved in any way, I intend to find out and kill him. If he isn't, then I'm going to help deal with this Discord or whatever problem, then I'm leaving you guys behind and going after him by myself."
"You seem to be taking this situation well," Simmons said quietly.
"That's because I don't fully believe it is happening. And I don't care. What I do care about is leaving this place and resuming what I planned on doing when I came in here. Looking for a way to find the Director."
"And you're just up for letting her do that?" Church asked.
"As she has explained to me, the Director is a war criminal. What he has done to you, as well as her past colleagues is an inexcusable offense. Though I do not agree with harming him, I do agree with justice."
"So the white horse gave me the go-ahead to go back home and finish the job," Carolina said, hands clenching into fists.
"Her name is Princess Celestia," Twilight said sternly, beginning to go towards her. Carolina then shifted her sight to Twilight, making her freeze in place.
"Again, I don't really care all that much," she growled, then looked around the room and noticed that there was a certain black mare squinting at her. "What are you looking at?"
"Don't you remember me?" Tex asked in an icy tone, glaring at her.
"Texas?" Carolina asked in anger when she recognized the black pony's voice. Her finger's tightened on her pistol as she gazed around the room and studied the looks of the unfamiliar ponies. Or rather, the ponies that had a certain air of familiarity to them, but one she could not place. "Where do I know you from?"
"It is good to see you are well, Agent Carolina," Delta said indifferently after a few moment's pause.
"Delta?" Carolina asked as she instantly placed the voice, but was now slightly confused. She then glanced at the others and realized who they all were just by the way they looked at her. "How are you all back? When I was with Wash, he said that you were deleted."
"I can explain that," Church grunted, taking a step towards her. "When you killed Caboose, we had to do some stupid shit involving dark magic to bring him back. Since I can't really die, we used me as a trigger to bring him back to life. But when we did that, it brought back all the fragments."
"Except for Eta and Iota," Twilight said carefully. "They came later."
"That's impossible," Carolina growled. "The EMP wiped them out. There is no way they could possibly be back."
"They were gone, but not forgotten," Church retorted. "I survived the EMP, so I brought them back through what little memory I have of them."
"Interesting," Carolina murmured, eyes settling on the fiery orange colt. "Hello, Sigma."
"Agent Carolina," Sigma said cautiously. "It has been far too long."
"I'm not sure if it was long enough. Last I heard, you and a power-hungry Maine were stopped by these idiots before you managed to become all-powerful."
"I would not be so quick to poke fun at me. There is no guarantee your plan for taking out the Director will work either," he countered.
"I'm not sure whose side I should be taking here," Simmons whispered nervously to Grif. "The crazy and angry woman with a gun, or the completely insane artificial intelligence that nearly got us killed multiple times."
"If life has taught me anything, it's better to not argue with the psychotic woman with a weapon that can blow your brains out," Tucker murmured.
"So the girls are staying here, and we're going with Carolina. What about the other fragments? Are you going to send them back out inside each of our brains?" Church asked curiously.
"Please say no," Simmons begged in an instant.
"I am not sure if I am truly able to send Texas and the other fragments back. While they are relatively real here, they are beings of magic. I am not convinced that they would be able to last on the other side. Instead of sending them with you, they will stay here with my sister and I. We do not want them running around unsupervised," Celestia said, then looked to Church. "I am not sure, but the same might go for you, Church."
"I'm not a being of magic, though," Church grumbled.
"But you are. To a certain degree, at least. Do you remember what happened when your friends first rescued you?"
"Yeah, I was angry that they saved me, and more angry when I saw that Carolina wasn't dead," he said instantly. "Then Caboose somehow went into the unit, making their rescue very short lived, so I sent myself in after him."
"And do you recall what happened when you and your friends came into the unit in search of Caboose?"
"We slammed into the ground and found ourselves talking to a bunch of talking horses," Church said.
"I also punched you in the stomach," Sarge chuckled heartily, remembering the short but fond memory.
"Yeah, and Sarge punched me in... the... stomach..." he trailed off, realization setting in as he said the words. When he was rescued, he remembered he was in his AI form, but when he entered the unit after Caboose...
"Magic created a body for you when you came here," Celestia said with a nod. "Should you return back out there, I am sure you will turn back into your translucent state. But since you will still be of that world, you should be able to get somebody to use you as a host."
"And that person would be me," Carolina added.
"What? Not only are you making me possibly chase after Discord, but you're putting me in the hands of that psycho when I'm back out?"
"I am afraid that is your best bet of completing your objective. As I understand, she is more equipped to deal with having something else in her."
"Bow-chicka-bow-wow," Tucker said, then ducked and yelped when Carolina took out her pistol and fired a single bullet over his head. "Hey, watch where you shoot that thing!"
"Then you watch what you say. I have no interest in making friends. I'm only interested in taking out the Director," she growled, holstering the weapon.
"Sister..." Luna grunted, horn glowing dark-sapphire.
"I apologize, but this needs to be done," Celestia said finally, horn beginning to glow. "If you find out that Discord is not involved and you choose not to aid Carolina with the Director, you may come back right away. Should he be involved, however, I expect you to return with him alive and well."
"Good luck," Tex said, offering the guys a hopeful smile.
Before they could say anything else, the Reds, Blues and Carolina were enveloped in a gold flash, returned to the place from whence they came.
Fear his laser face Carolina, or he might kill you again.
Can't he just come back as a hologram?
Three simple words: shit got real
This might become a clusterfuck and then some if Discord still has his reality-warping capabilities out in the world beyond the Epsilon unit...
I await the next chapter...
What if when they go back to their original part of the universe, Celestia forgets to turn them back into humans and they land in Vahalla as ponies.
I half expected her to burst out laughing at the sight of them as ponies, especially Tex.
Huh... Maybe Wash will do it.
2687363 Then they would run right into the UNSC that was setting up an ambush to catch them since they are wanted criminals. Hilarity ensues.
Yes this is getting really good!
2687363>>2687482
Then this plays as the UNSC chase after a psycho hose beast with an AI in her and five pretty, pretty ponies that can fly and use magic.
[youtube=MK6TXMsvgQg]
I wonder if time is the same in both worlds or if when they return it'll be years into the future in the mlp universe
2687479 Nah I have a feeling he will just have same reaction as he did when he found that Church was the Alpha in season 6. Plus, I don't think Washington is that kind of person who likes to show any sign of humor.
I'd laugh my ass off if Celestia forgot to change them into humans when they go back.
That was brilliantly done.
2687479 I can picture Donut going to hug the first pony he sees...who just happens to be Tex.
Wait I just had a realization, what if the Directior and Discord are the same people for their respectful universes. So therefor if Carolina kills Discord she kills the Director
2687628 Oh yeah... I was thinking about the Past wash who eats inside of his helmet and trying to make small talk with Tex.
So is this your way of including everything that happened in season 10 by just sending them back?
Or will they not be returning to the epsilon unit for awhile? I can't imagine you'll write out everything leading up to The Director as it was in s10.
AND HOLD UP A SECOND, I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING.
Where the hell did Wash go? He was with Carolina and the guys. Does that mean he just left them there?
2687501 If that happened, I would laugh my ass off!
2688585 and then donut will get his ass kicked by TEX
Honestly? I wanted the elements to go to their world, would be VERY interesting to read that.
2689100 And than later on when they get situated, Sarge somehow manages to fix lopez with no hands and turns him on. Lopez than activates and see's the ponies and give a 'why me' shrug.
"Discord" and "Director" are two very similarly looking words. :D
2689881 and then caboose is eating a random cupcake
2687501 Than Wash pokes his head out of blue base for a sec and sees what's happening and immediately seals himself back inside the base.
2690505>>2689106
Aye, but I felt that Celestia would want someone to calm everyone down, nor would she want to send the Elements of Harmony into a world where they can get brained since they don't know what the hell anything does there.
Now this became like... 1 000 000 000 000 times more epic.
And it already was epic as hell!
If I find out that if you kill anybody/anypony, Carolina. I will gut the FUCK OUT OF YOU, YOU PONY KILLIN' BITCH!!! OK? See you there OK?
great chapter, as always :D I was expecting a Bow Chika Bow Wow at the end of Tucker's "it's better not to argue with the psychotic woman with a weapon that can blow your brains out" line though.
2764314 let me handle her. yautja torture methods are used on bad-bloods before execution. she will suffer horribly before being skinned alive and beheadded, spine attached to the skull.
I was under the impression that the AI more or less controlled the freelancer...