Author's Notes. Hello everyone. I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. I hope you all had a good break, and I hope you are still here and haven't run away because I was gone so long. I won't comment too much on the time I went missing; instead, I'll simply jump back in as if nothing happened! So... On to answering reviews.

To Vibrant Sound: Thank you for your input on the concept of the perfect villain. In all honesty, I wasn't in need of a villain for season 3, I just wanted to know what everyone thought of the concept of a villain. Just thinking about it and keeping the concept in mind will prepare you for what is to come as the end of season 2 draws near. Again, thanks for the input.

To SuperVegito33: Thanks for your response! And yes, going for below the belt is the most villainous thing imaginable. If only there were more attacks like that in video games (like Dark Souls, cue evil laughter). I could really use that kind of moveset.

To Madmanwithafork: Hey there! I haven't heard from you in a bit. And yes, that kind of villain is definitely one of the worst of their kind. That's what makes the Joker (especially in the Dark Knight Trilogy) so evil. Good point.

To Salvadorian Moose: Exactly. Just like Pictor. He was a good villain. So much potential to do evil stuff, only to have his young and innocent life snuffed out by Inquisitor Blue.

Well, I believe that is all for now. I will admit that I actually didn't just write this chapter. Indeed, this chapter has been sitting in my Doc Manager for about 88 days. However, it shall lay dormant no longer, for behold, I have released it upon the world! Enjoy!

Dimension: My Little Pony

Planet: Equestria Earth

Specific Location: Ponyville

Time: Thirteen years ago (Ten years after the death of the Paradox)

The train had left the station an hour ago, and yet only Starlight and Summer were asleep. Flaming Star, Sunset Shadow, and the Mane 6 were still wide awake, sitting in the main train car. It was large and lavishly furnished with velvet chairs and a grand chandelier. In addition to that it was filled with multi-colored streamers and balloons. Since she was blind Summer had no actual color preferences, so Pinkie Pie had decided to use all of them "just in case." Naturally this was to Rarity's chagrin, but the pale mare put up with it. The lights bathed the large and spacious car with faint golden light. There was no real sound aside from the gentle rumbling of the train over rail and tile, in addition to the soft creaking of wood and the swish of the chandelier as it swung back and forth slightly.

Finally Rainbow Dash broke the silence. "Sooooo… Guys, who do you think these thugs are?"

"Dead," grumbled Flaming Star.

Twilight glanced worriedly at him. He hadn't been a good mood since they had left the station. Then she looked back at Rainbow Dash. "I don't know. We haven't really had any issue with terrorism since the death of the Paradox! But honestly I have no idea."

"I agree," signed Rarity. "I got in contact with some of my Dimensional Traveler friends – Jetfire, Daniel, and the like – but they had nothing. The Dimensional Travelers and the Amethyst Empire haven't been necessarily interested in this dimension's wellbeing since that god-awful xenophobic craze."

"T'wasn't our fault that hubaloo happened!" snorted Applejack. "But the past is in the past I suppose. Water under the bridge. Personally I think these terrorists could be one of our old enemies. Tirek mayhap? Queen Chrysalis? Sombra?"

"It's true Sombra still isn't confirmed dead… But I have a feeling none of your old foes are the culprits," replied Sunset Shadow. "Not to sound cocky, but when the Dimensional Travelers arrived your enemies probably realized they were not on our level, and vanished."

Susnet Shadow paused for a moment, and then sighed before continuing. "… And they were promptly replaced by villains of a whole new level. Of course. There will always be enemies wishing us harm."

Flaming Star finally spoke. "Truth, Joseph. Damn them all. But fortunately our most powerful enemies are dead. Apollyon, Legion, Regal Crescent – God rest his soul – and the Paradox. They're all gone. There should be no one with their power to challenge us."

There was a lapse in the conversation for the umpteenth time, allowing for silence to consume all once more. The train jerked a little, and the lights turned off for a second before flickering back on, but nothing of consequence happened for the next couple minutes.

Fluttershy finally fell asleep, resting her head on Sunset Shadow's shoulder. He buried his face in her poofy mane, sighing in such a content way that the rest of the company could not help but turn away, blushing.

Flaming Star turned to Twilight and felt for her hoof. She took it and smiled in a reassuring manner.

"We're going to be okay, Flaming Star. Don't worry. We know what we're doing," she said softly.

Flaming Star nodded and rubbed his eyes. "You're absolutely right. I've been worrying for nothing. You know what? I think I'm going to clock in for the night. Anyone care to join me?"

Twilight nodded readily, but Rainbow Dash just shrugged.

"Nah. I'm going to chill out here for a bit longer. It's only one or somethin'."

Flaming Star winked for the first time in a day. "Suit yourself, Rainbow, but I bet you it's a bit later than one."

With that he opened up his Traveler's Database to check the local time just to make sure. His throat froze up. The holographic screen before him had nothing but static. It was out.

"Guys, look at this." He motioned for the Mane 6 to gather around.

Only Rarity grasped the full gravity of the situation. "By Kytax…"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "I… Don't get it. What's the problem? Doesn't this just mean you're out of range of Rerenhaw or something?"

Shaking his head vigorously, Flaming Star replied, "No. There is no such thing as 'out of range of Rerenhaw.' That's not possible. The connection is practically infinite. No, the only way to get this… Is if someone or something is blocking said connection."

Twilight was immediately awake. "A phantom device."

Flaming Star's eyes narrowed. "And that's not the worst of it. Not only can a phantom device block a Traveler's Database connection… But also it is fully capable of blocking a Traveler's abilities."

With that he held up a hoof and willed into existence a globule of Dark Matter. Nothing happened. He tried a fireball. Nothing. Then on a hunch he tried to use his alicorn magic. His heart stopped for a second when he realized that didn't work either.

He turned to Twilight, his face pale. "Try to use your magic."

She closed her eyes and attempted to teleport herself to the other side of the car. That didn't work. She tried the simplest of spells: levitation of a fork. That failed as well. Rarity followed suit, and met with similar results. Somehow the group had entered a zone outfitted with a phantom device AND some anti-magic projector. There was yet another moment of silence, only to be broken yet again by Rainbow Dash.

"Um, guys? You may not have noticed… But the train just stopped."

For a moment it felt like time had stopped still, frozen.

"AMBUSH!" screamed Twilight. She seized the sleeping Fluttershy and dozing Sunset Shadow by the scruff of their necks to drag them to the ground. She was quickly followed by the rest of the team. An instant later the glass panes that lined the car exploded, with bullets shredding the screens, dashing them to smithereens and scattering razor-sharp shards every which-way.

Twilight gasped as she felt one of the shards cut into her right shoulder, cutting deep and drawing blood. Then they came. Ponies dressed in dark suits of steel and Kevlar and thick trousers; their faces covered in strange black helmets that covered their heads and masked their faces in sinister one-way T-visors. They were armed with Uzi guns and black AK-47s. Immediately they opened fire on the downed ponies. Flaming Star was quick though. With physics-defying speed he grabbed the table that held the cake and flipped it over. The confection of frosting and sugar exploded into globules as the assailants shot it up in an effort to hit Flaming Star. A hail of bullets struck the table, but it was thick and sturdy, and stopped the high-speed pellets of metal. Flaming Star suddenly grabbed one of the many forks scattered on the ground. He looked over the table, getting his timing perfect. Just as one of the enemies was reloading, he hurled the fork with perfect accuracy. Miraculously it struck its target: The spot between the bullet-proof vest the enemy was wearing and their helmet. It buried deep in their neck, point-first, killing them. They clutched at their throat and gurgled, dropping the two Uzis they were wielding. Immediately the group firing on them backed up and took up more protective positions, leaving the corpse of their fallen comrade in the center of the train car. But they were still firing and the table was beginning to transform from splintered wood to sawdust. Flaming Star turned to Rainbow Dash. "I'm going to need you to be REALLY fast," he said hoarsely, the smell of smoke and gunpowder clogging his throat. "I'm going to give you an opening. I need you to dash out there and grab the two dropped guns. Can you do that without dying?"

Rainbow Dash was scared, but her eyes were full of determination. "All I need is a second, buddy."

Flaming Star shook his head in disbelief as he gathered up a hoof-full of forks. Were they really reduced to fighting with utensils? He used his powerful hearing to calculate the moment when over 50% of the assailants would need to reload. He timed it perfectly.

"NOW!" he screamed, hurling the forks with incredible speed and accuracy. They sizzled down upon the enemies. Most of them stuck awkwardly in the furniture that the enemies were hiding behind, and a couple glanced off of the helmets, but one went straight through the visor of one of the enemies (who happened to be stretching their neck out a bit too far), sticking them in their left eye, killing them in an instant and causing them to drop a springfield.

Rainbow Dash was indeed fast. It took only three seconds for the enemies to reload, but she managed to jump the barricade, grab the Uzis AND the handgun of the latest fallen opponent. She dove behind the barricade just as the first bullet of the newest attack harmlessly struck the table. Breathing heavily, Rainbow Dash tossed one of the Uzis to Flaming Star. She then gave the other to Rarity, who (once being a Dimensional Traveler) had the highest proficiency in weapons besides Flaming Star and herself. Rainbow then checked the magazine of the springfield before looking over the table to return fire.

"Use your ammo sparingly!" shouted Twilight over the sound of gunfire. "We only have what is in the guns! Celestia knows how much ammo they are carrying!"

Flaming Star nodded in grim agreement as he used a single bullet to down yet another enemy. Rarity fired a couple shots herself before ducking behind the barricade to whisper, "The table isn't going to hold any longer. We need to move."

Flaming Star blanched as he saw one of the assailants struggling with a grenade on their belt. "We're definitely out of time." He ducked behind the table and called Rainbow Dash to him. Rarity began to cover for them again as Rainbow Dash scootered over on her rump to him.

He motioned with his head to the attackers as he asked, "Did you get a count of how many there are?"

Rainbow Dash wiped a grubby hoof across her sweaty forehead. "Ummmm… 'Bout five."

Flaming Star closed his eyes, and his throat caught. "We're going to have to rush them."

"Okay." Rainbow Dash's eyes deepened in worry.

At this moment that one particular assailant primed the grenade and threw it. Out of nowhere Sunset Shadow peeked over the ruined barricade and hurled a china plate like a Frisbee. It flew straight and true… Straight into the grenade. The resulting inelastic collision ended with the grenade flying back into the hooves of the dismayed pony that had thrown it. The grenade detonated, splattering that one pony all over the place, and sending deadly shrapnel in every direction, wounding two more enemies.

Flaming Star saw this opening immediately. He nodded to Rainbow Dash and Rarity. Silently and without a second thought the trio pushed through the crumbling barricade and rushed the four surviving attackers. They saw this and began to open fire. Flaming Star and Rainbow Dash took to the sky, practically running along the sides and the roof of the car just as Rarity dived safely behind a dislodged train bench. Flaming Star was immediately upon one, turning their Blaser onto themselves. Flaming Star pulled the trigger, blowing a massive hole in the stomach of the enemy. He then used the corpse as a shield as he gunned down a second enemy with the remainder of the magazine of his Uzi. Rainbow Dash rammed her first enemy at full speed, sending them careening through a window. Unfortunately, the second enemy was ready, and they were very quick as well. Just as the rainbow-colored Pegasus trained a weapon on them they lunged forward, twisting the gun out of Rainbow's hoof and shooting her in the right haunch. Rainbow cried out in pain and fell to the ground. The mysterious assailant was about to finish her off they froze and then dropped on top of Rainbow with a bloody hole in their forehead. Rarity blew at the muzzle of her weapon before discarding it and galloping over to where Rainbow lay.

"Are… Are you okay darling?" Rarity gasped, breathless, tugging the wounded mare from beneath the dead body of the last assailant.

Before Rainbow had a chance to reply, the flickering lights went out for good. Flaming Star felt a terrific blow to the back of his head, downing him in an instant. A couple more gunshots went off, and then silence. The darkness consumed them all for what felt like an eternity… And then the skeleton of a train car was illuminated by Twilight's magic. The dampening fields were gone… But so were the corpses of the assailants, guns and all.

Rubbing the back of his head groggily, Flaming Star stumbled to all fours. He staggered to where Rainbow Dash lay, nursing her wounded leg.

"Are… Are you okay?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, biting her bottom left to keep herself from crying out in pain as Rarity used some bullet-hole-filled drapes as bandages.

Applejack rubbed her eyes to clear them from the smoke and dust that filled the air. "Are y'all good?"

Without looking up from her administrations, Rarity replied, "Indeed we are, darling. Their attack was all for naught!"

Flaming Star let himself rest for a moment, letting his body work overtime to fix the open wound on the back of his head.

"Oh dear," murmured Fluttershy. "I do hope the children are okay!"

Flaming Star's stomach froze into a ball of ice. The children. His eyes shot open and gave Twilight one single panic-filled glance. Terror reflecting deep within her eyes, Twilight raced to the adjacent train car, which was behind them and the barricade. There was a pause… Then a keening scream of despair.

Flaming Star eyes fluttered as the scream met his ears. Then he passed out. Twilight rushed in, tears streaming down her face. "They're gone! Summer and Starlight! They're gone!"

…

Not one hour ago.

Starlight opened one eye to look at Summer. The little filly was sleeping peacefully, her little stomach rising and falling as she slumbered. Starlight could not help but smile. She was a cynical being, and she trusted no one, but she knew this little pony was pure good. If there was a single good being in this multiverse, it was this little pony.

Starlight slowly sat up and massaged a crick in her neck. The past few days had been tough on her. Ever since she had finished her training in handling rocket-propelled weaponry, she had doubled her schedule for training in the art of street-brawling. It was down-and-dirty, and her instructor pulled no punches. There were no rules, and that was what made the combat style so effective. Sure, her Taekwondo, her Karate, and her Judo skills were effective, but they still had form. They had to in order to be the art that they were. But what she was learning now – to use her teeth as blades and to never stray from the eyes and lower abdomen as targets – was truly dangerous.

Starlight's ears flicked as she picked up a strange noise as the train suddenly hit a particularly large bump. Then the lights flickered off and on for a second. To the average pony this may have seemed like a normal reaction of a train going over an especially rough patch, but Starlight was not an "average pony." She could have sworn she had heard the scraping of metal… Like grappling hooks. Yes. She had used grappling hooks day and night during her survival training… And that definitely sounded like grappling hooks.

The thirteen-year-old foal rose to all fours. Looking about carefully to make sure no one was present beside herself and the sleeping Summer, Starlight reached deep into her suitcase and pulled from it a M9 pistol from beneath a towel. She cocked it and slowly sat down again, her ears straining to pick out more noise. There was something going on, but she had to be sure. Then she heard more noise: Zipping of lines being unraveled; the gentle scraping as magnetic clamps were laid on the roof and the ropes were attached. Based off the varying faintness of the latter sound, she could tell that these mysterious intruders were setting up to invade this car and the adjacent car, the one where her parents and their friends were.

For a moment the filly thought of calling for help, but then she thought against it. In the event of an attack, her friends and family would be ready to handle the calamity. They were smart and quick. But they couldn't save themselves and protect her at the same time, especially with the attack coming from both sides. No, she would take the ones coming in here.

Facing disturbingly calm and grim, the thirteen-year-old bundled up the sleeping Summer in blankets and hid her under one of the beds, blocking off the openings with suitcases and loose furniture. Then Starlight set her back to the door of the train car, twirling her gun in an almost idle manner… Waiting for the attack.

It came. A flashbang smashed through the window, landing in the very center of the room. Starlight had expected that. It was basic break-and-retrieve tactics. She dove for it smoothly and tossed it out of the broken window from whence it came. Then came the armored ponies. Lines hooked securely to belts about their waists, two mysterious attackers blasted through the two windows opposite the broken one, resulting in shards of glass raining down everywhere with an explosion of sound. They came in as one, fully expecting the two ponies to be fast asleep in bed. They, in reality, were just sitting ducks.

Two bullets were fired, which was quickly followed by two puncture wounds in the neck and then two "thumps" as a pair of corpses struck the ground. Starlight continued to twirl her gun as if nothing had happened.

There was a pause, and then three more attackers came in from the two broken windows. This time, the first one in was also armed with a riot shield. The riot-shield wielding pony was followed by two others, armed with Tasers and cattle prods. Starlight fired one shot at a known weak spot of the riot shield (the visor) before dodging backwards with a grimace. They had reinforced the riot shield's glass. The two assailants hiding behind the riot shield-holding pony fired their Tasers. Starlight promptly dodged both. Then she lunged for the riot shield-holding pony. She pulled it aside and punched the enemy in the throat with such force that she collapsed their trachea. With a rattling gasp that particular attacker dropped. The two other ponies brandished their cattle prods. They circled her and jabbed at her. She ducked beneath one and sidestepped the other. One of the two enemies made the mistake overextending themselves. That was the last mistake they ever made. She grabbed the shaft and pulled the holder close, firing a bullet from her handgun into their stomach as they stumbled forward. She then whirled and allowed the dead body to take the second cattle-prod-jab that was meant for her. She dispatched the last survivor with ease with a bullet to the forehead.

There was yet another pause. Then, with an explosion of sound, six attackers armed to the teeth exploded through all six windows (three on each side of the little car). For an instant time seemed to freeze as the six attackers swung through the windows, their guns trained on the thirteen-year-old. Starlight just smiled. Perfect. More targets. She grabbed the nearest, squirming from their grasp to jab a sliver of glass deep into their throat. As they dropped to the ground she rolled out of the way of a hail of bullets. She shot the next nearest one in the leg, dropping them. As they fell she punched them in the throat. If that didn't kill them, then the next hail of bullets from their compatriots did, as each and every one haphazardly struck the fallen assailant as they fell perfectly in the way of the line of fire. Just as the corpse took the shots like the perfect meat shield, Starlight fired two perfectly aimed shots, dropping two others. There were two left. One pulled out a shotgun and primed it. Thinking quickly Starlight grabbed the bed that hid Summer and flipped it over with a single buck. It flipped and then skittering backwards to Starlight as it took the full force of the shotgun, spewing splinters and feathers everywhere. Starlight dropped the shotgun-wielding pony with another bullet. Her gun was empty now. Swearing harshly, she threw the gun at the last enemy, who ducked the attack. Starlight grabbed one of the discarded weapons and grinned when she saw it was a glock. She was VERY good with these. She peeked over and saw that the enemy was hiding… Except a single hoof was visible. Starlight promptly shot the visible appendage. The pony doubled over in pain, exposing their helmeted head for one second. She shot them in the eye, killing them in an instant.

Silence ensued yet again. Starlight looked at her handiwork. Eleven dead by her hoof, and only a couple bruises and scratches on her own body. She threw back her head and screamed, "Come on ya bastards! Whacha scared of?!" Then came eight more attackers, and at that moment Starlight realized she had made a mistake by exposing Summer when she flipped the bed. It was easy enough to kill these hell-spawn when she had only to look out for herself. But with the innocent little Summer at stake… The enemy saw the error in her ways as well with shocking speed. In an instant one of the ponies made a grab for Summer. Starlight emptied the entire glock into their face to keep them from reaching her. But then she felts three pairs of hooves seizing her from behind her. She bit down hard on the nearest hoof, and the owner of that hoof let go with a cry as she drew blood. She yanked herself free and dealt a killing blow to skull of the enemy whose hoof she had just bitten with the grip of the glock. The two other survivors tried to hold her down, but she kicked the next nearest on the crotch. To her dismay she found they were wearing groin armor. They bore down on her, but she fought them every single step of the way. Scrabbling and screaming, she managed to shove the one on top of her off. That particular being staggered from the sheer force of her push. That was all Starlight needed. She produced the same sliver of glass she had used to kill one of their compatriots earlier. She slashed the throat of the pony that had leapt on top of her, and then stabbed the other in the hoof. As that particular enemy stumbled backwards in pain the thirteen-year-old twisted free the shotgun that had been strapped to the back of the assailant that she had just downed with the glass shard and emptied an entire cap into the chest of her target, sending them careening through one of the broken windows. She turned to fire on the four survivors… But then came a harsh voice. It was grating, full of anger… But was also brimming with wariness and fear.

"Stop! If you fire one more shot this little foal gets it!"

Starlight looked up to see the speaker holding a handgun to the skull of Summer. The little blind foal was awake, and her blank eyes were full of pain and fear. She whimpered, but didn't struggle.

Starlight screamed an expletive that would have cowed a sailor and threw the shotgun to the ground. Gritting her teeth she then spat at her enemy. "What?! Are ya so afraid that I can take you all on that you need to resort to holding innocent beings hostages?! Listen closely bastard... One day my friends will be safe, and you'll be alone. An' when that happens I'll come for you, an' I'll bucking kill you. Then I'll find yer pretty little wife and do the same to her."

The three other assailants grabbed Starlight roughly, kicking and beating her into the floor. She felt a rib break, then a leg, then a tooth came out. They grabbed her head and slammed it hard into the ground again and again, but she held to consciousness on doggedly. Then she felt a blade being stabbed into her shoulder. She screamed and spat out blood, but she continued to hold on. Then finally the butt of a shotgun came crashing into the back of her skull and she passed out, covered in bruises, cuts, and blood. But most of it was not her blood.

Author's Notes. So... Yeah... That happened. Uh... Explosions and stuff. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this little addition to my story. We are definitely one step closer to the end of this season. Speaking of seasons, I do believe that season 3 will be the last. In light of how busy I am in real life, and how little free time I actually have, I'm throwing away 90% of my ideas and focusing only on the ones that are important. Unfortunately two of the most important ones are actually in different time periods, separated by over a score of years. So yeah, that's going to be a problem. But do not worry about such things, I shall figure it out. Probably. Probably not. But I'm sure a compromise will show up along the way. In any case, I need to make sure season 2 wraps up correctly before any of that other stuff becomes actually relevant.

Again, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It probably tasted somewhat stale due to being alone and abandoned for about three months, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. What did you think? A review would certainly be appreciated! I would bribe you with something like I usually do, but I'm not quite sure if I have anything lying around here that hasn't yet succumbed to dust and decay due to the passage of time. Ummmmm... Anyone want a Doxia plushie? I think it's a Doxia plushie at least... I can't tell for all the dust. Yeah... This is a Doxia plushie. Anyone want one?