Chapter 9: Her
Alpha groaned as he woke up. He was so stiff and sore from last night. He struggled to get up and heard his wing hit the ground when he did. Slowly picking it up and putting it on, Alpha walked out of his cave and headed for Ponyville. Beta was still asleep, so Alpha did what he could to not complain about being so sore. He walked into Ponyville to see a crowd of ponies arguing. He saw John in the midst of the crowd, looking seemingly lost, and decided to chat with him. He slowly made his way through the crowd.
"Behind you." Alpha said once he was close enough to him.
John looked behind him and saw Alpha smiling at him. "I was wondering if I would ever see you again. How are you, Alpha?" John asked, with a smile.
"I am very tired and sore. Luna was waiting for me once I left the facility." He shook his head and sighed. "That was pure hell. But besides that, I am doing okay."
"Luna? As in Princess Luna, Princess Celestia's sister?" John said, shocked.
"Do you know anyone else named Luna who knows where the RF was?"
"Well, that surprises me. What did she want?"
"Me to be dead. She chased me, firing spells and tried to trap me in the facility as it caught aflame."
"I have to ask, how did you survive against those guards? Even I can't fight against one and not come out without a broken bone."
Alpha gritted his teeth in pain as he extended his wings, stretching. "It's a long and personal story. But I trust you won't tell anyone. Come on, let's get something to eat. I'm starving." He started to make his way to the market.
"Hey wait up! I'm lost." John said as he followed Alpha into the market. "Gosh, it's been so long since I was in a market."
"I can see that. How long has it been for you?"
"I can't really remember." John closed his eyes in an attempt to remember. "About 6-8 years or so."
"Whoahohooa, longer than me." Alpha said. He took off his money pouch and took out about 30 bits and gave it to John. "Here, take his and get what you want. Once you are done, meet me at the town square. I will tell you there how I- "Alpha was cut off mid speech as an orange filly, a Pegasus, ran toward John.
"DADDY!" screamed Scootaloo as she ran to John.
"SCOOTALOO!" John yelled as he saw his daughter. He ran toward to her and embraced her in a hug. "It's been so long since I last saw you." He had tears streaming down his face as he hugged his daughter. "How I missed you!"
"Where were you all this time, Daddy?" Scootaloo asked, eccentric with finding her father after all these years of being alone. "The last time I saw you, I was with mom. You went out to get something to eat and never came back!"
"It doesn't matter where I went. All that matters is that I am here now. I will never leave you again." John said, crying. Alpha watched from a distance, giving John his space.
"Damn I'm tired. What did I miss?" Beta said, finally waking up. Alpha didn't respond. He was watching John embrace his daughter. He stood there, frozen. "Alpha, is something wrong?" Beta asked, worried. Alpha wasn't paying attention to Beta, and Beta knew perfectly well why. Alpha had just witnessed a filly joining her father after being stuck in the Rainbow Factory for so long. Alpha turned around and walked away.
"….Celestia…." Alpha muttered, his rage rising. "She did all this, created all this pain, and for what: to make Rainbows?" He was now trembling, trying as hard he could to not let his rage out.
"What will you do? You can't just go up to Celestia and say "Hey, you stupid fuck! Stop hurting others!" You won't be able to get to her without being attacked by the Guards and Luna. Even if you and I beat them all, Celestia has the Elements of Harmony. You and I aren't ready to handle that amount of magic!" Beta explained to Alpha. "I wasn't even ready for that type of power."
Alpha shook his head, pushing away the thought of not being able to do anything and walked started walking to the forest. He got halfway there before he saw John being taken by guards. Scootaloo was right behind them, screaming.
"He hasn't done anything wrong! Let him go! Daddy, don't leave me!" Scootaloo cried.
"Your father is a murderer, a killer. He killed ponies before you were alive, and now the streets are safe because he is now off of them." The guard easily lied to Scootaloo.
Beta instantly took over and marched to the guard.
"Watch out, got another one, shall we bag 'im?" Said the private; a stallion in blue armor, nodding to the oncoming white Pegasus.
"No," said the Sargent. "We don't need anymo-" The Sargent instantly stopped talking as Beta shoved his wing to his neck, the metal gleaming in the sunlight.
"LET. HIM. GO. He has done nothing wrong." Beta said in a growl.
"First off, You do not tell me what to do." The Sargent said, pushing Beta off with his hoof. "Second, I am a guard taking off a dangerous criminal off the streets." He began to push Beta backwards with his hoof.
"Guard, If I were you, I would back off." John said, his eyes widened with fear as he watched Beta. Beta was staring at the guard, his mane, tail, and eyes blood red.
"Shut up, when I'm done with this stray, I'm going to kick your flank." The Sargent told John. He looked back at Beta. "Thirdly, the next time we meet, if you ever tell me what to do, I will personally make sure you go to the Rainbow Factory and flayed alive. Do I make myself clear?"
Beta started to snicker then laughed his flank off, falling to the ground in uncontrollable laughter.
"What is so funny, stray?" The Sargent said.
Beta got up, wiping the tears of laughter off his face, then looked at the guard. "First off, I will tell you what ever the fuck I want you to do." His smile faded away as he pushed the guard back with his hoof. "Second, that Pegasus is not a dangerous criminal, he is a fucking victim. If you want a dangerous criminal, you are talking to one." The guard's eyes widened as he realized who he was talking to. "Thirdly, I was at the Rainbow Factory. I was tortured, abused, hated." With each word, Beta stepped forward on the guard, forcing him to retreat. "The Rainbow Factory is no more. I don't give a fuck if John killed millions of ponies. He has been through hell and back. As for you," Beta continued, "Drop him and go tell your shitty princess what you saw. Tell her that I am here. Go. Now!"
With that, the guards instantly dropped John and flew off as fast as they could, heading towards the Castle. Scootaloo ran to her father and embraced her. John looked at Beta as he gave Alpha control again, His color returning to its original phase.
"When were you going to tell me about him?" John said, hugging Scoot.
"When we would meet after you ate in town square." Alpha replied, taking a deep breath as he tried to calm down.
"You do realize that you will be seen as a monster now." John said as he walked up to Alpha, Scootaloo hiding behind him.
"I know what I did, and I am ready for the consequences." Alpha said, calmed down now. He looked behind John to see Scootaloo hiding behind his hind legs. "Cute filly. You are married I presume."
"Was. After I was taken from my family, my wife died of an illness. Scootaloo here, "John said, moving to the left, letting Alpha to see Scootaloo, "has been alone ever since."
"Really? Wow, she must be strong to live in a place like this with those types of guards walking around all the time." Alpha commented.
Scootaloo looked at Alpha's flank and realized he had not gained his cutie mark yet. She gasped in amazement. "You don't have your cutie mark yet!" She said, excited.
"I don't have my what?" Alpha asked, confused.
"Your cutie mark." Scootaloo asked.
"What's a cutie mark?"
"Wait." John said as he stepped into the conversation. "You don't know what a cutie mark is?"
"No, is that bad?" Alpha asked calmly, tilting his head to one side.
"A cutie mark represents the special talent that a pony can do. For example," John turned around and showed Alpha his cutie mark. It consisted of a metal bar and a hammer. "My cutie mark represents my talent to smith metal."
"Oh…okay." Alpha said with a confused face.
"You did not understand a word I said, did you?" John asked.
"I understand perfectly well. I just don't really care about my cutie-thingy." Alpha admitted.
"What do you mean you don't care? Do you not want to know what your special talent is?" Scootaloo said, surprised. "Every pony's special talent is different. It means that you are good at whatever your mark represents."
"I could not care about what my special talent is. It isn't something I'm worried about achieving." Alpha said, not trying to insult them.
"Why is your wing made out of metal?" Scootaloo asked, changing subject.
Alpha looked up at John, his right eye glowing red. "May I show her?"
John nodded. "Go ahead."
Alpha slowly took of his metallic brace, letting the sun hit the destroyed wing for the first time. He shut his eyes in agony as he flexed the wing as he stretched out. He heard a gasp and thought it was Scootaloo until Beta spoke.
"Every pony is staring at you."
Alpha looked around to see he was surrounded by ponies. Some were covering their children's eyes; others just stared at Alpha with their jaw open. He looked to his right to a white mare on the roof, watching him. "We should leave now."
The white mare had both wings intact but… something was out of place. Her eyes were different. Her eyes were purple. Then Alpha saw it. One eye flickered to green then back to purple.
Alpha was staring at the mare. John looked at Alpha then followed his eyes to where he was looking. He froze when he saw her. "Alpha," he said, his voice quivering. "Chill…" Alpha, without taking his eyes off her, slowly slipped his wing into the metallic pocket, his bones adjusting to its magnetic properties.
"Those guards were fast as hell." Beta said aloud.
"I'm not surprised, they are trained to respond on any danger and report to Celestia on the spot." John replied. "I'm sure you know why."
Alpha extended both wings and prepped for takeoff. She looked at him with a grin. Alpha instantly took off to the sky, banking hard right as he turned around away from her. She trailed after him. Once high enough, Alpha slowed to a halt and turned around to face her.
"Who are you?" Alpha asked.
"Well, since you are going to die soon, you might as well know who is going to end your life. I am Zeta." Zeta said with a boastful attitude. "But, there is no need to talk now. You will die."
Zeta fired a spell at Alpha. Alpha was stunned, Pegasus can't fire spells. He dived and flew off to the mountains, hoping that the curves and valleys would shake her off. Beta was firing spell after spell at Zeta, not aiming to kill but aiming to distract, to throw her off.
Alpha dived into a valley. He banked hard right and left, flew up and down as he dodged spells and rocks. Alpha was still sore from yesterday but he forgot about the pain. He took a right, flying through a hole and was hit by a falling rock. It bounced off his wing but threw him off balance. "Whoa." He said as he regained stability.
"Another hit like that and we can die." Beta said, cursing as he deflected and fired spell after spell. "Be careful!"
"Got it." Alpha took a hard left, spinning through the air, banked hard right and flew fast and low. Hitting a dead end, he banked hard left, fully turning around and flew straight at Zeta. He leaned to his right, barely missing Zeta and flew out of the valley, leaving her confused and lost, unable to understand what just happened.
"What the hell?" Zeta said, startled.
"Dunno. Fast, agile and knows what to do in dangerous situations." Gamma said with a chuckle. "I wanna meet Beta the next time you meet him."
"In your dreams Gamma, that act is a dangerous move. What would the Kingdom think when if I let you out? What would Luna say after she figured out what we are? She could have us killed; have us hunted Alpha and Beta are." Zeta replied, her eye glowing to green. "Besides, I have had you ever since I was forced to go to that Dreadful place."
"You are aware that Alpha did destroy it, right? That is the reason Luna sent you to kill him." Gamma sighed. "It doesn't matter now. We might as go tell her our failure then… unless you have a better idea."
"We know where he sleeps. At least we know that much of him."
"Yeah, in that shitty ass cave of his."
"Well you can't blame him. He has no home, no parents, and no family to go to. His parents abandoned him when he was a foal."
"And Beta?"
"Are you kidding? His house is said to be haunted by his own anger. No pony would go there. I doubt Alpha and Beta realize it is still standing." Zeta flew out of the valley and started heading for the Castle. "She is going to angry that I haven't killed him yet."
"Don't worry about him. He is super sore and has no pony to help him, let alone care for him." Gamma said, snickering. "Wear him out and he will be another easy kill for our count."
"Yeah, I know. And yet, after what they both have done, I still feel bad for them. Oh well, let's go."
Zeta and Gamma flew off to the castle, unaware that Alpha and Beta were watching them.
"So, we aren't alone with this gift. That's how she can predict what we can do so easily. She is going to cause a lot of problems." Beta said, watching Zeta.
"I know." Alpha replied as he took off and flew to Ponyville. I just can't believe it's her."
"Who? Zeta?"
"I can't remember her original name, but I know it isn't Zeta. I have seen her before, in the Factory, before I met you." He landed to see the market closing. He ran and had just enough time to buy some apples before everything closed down. He then flew to his cave. Beta was already asleep, and Alpha was soon following him. He landed roughly and walked into the cave. He had just turned around to face the entrance when he fell to the ground, dead asleep.
A bolt of lightning shot out of Alpha's forehead as Beta made sure Zeta wasn't watching.
"Fucking bitch. Hate when ponies watch us sleep. It's fucking creepy as fucking hell." Beta said. He nestled inside Alpha's mind and drifted back to sleep.