//------------------------------// // Merry band of misfits // Story: The Chronicles of Flynt // by bloodwolf432 //------------------------------// “Looks like your ‘pet’ isn’t doing so well” King Brutus chuckled as he watched Flynt run from Bowser’s paw. “I must remember to have a word with the forge dog about that armor and why he hasn’t made it for the guards yet.” “It looks like the work of the last forge dog father” Princess Amethyst said quietly. “And I would not count him out yet” she continued as he turned about and charged the sweeping limb, climbing up it and charging Bowser’s face. Brutus gave a barking laugh as Bowser head butted Flynt into the wall and slammed a paw over him. “Once again dear daughter I win. You’re champion has fallen and Bowser has claimed another victim. Now, the deal was is that if he lost you would marry a suitor of my choosing.” Brutus stroked his chin pretending to be deep in thought. “Oh I know, that one noble from the south.” Amethyst grimaced as she knew the noble her father spoke of. The noble was a dumb, fat Diamond Dog who was known to be brutal to anyone, even family. Rumor had it that he had his father poisoned so that he could kill him without a fight so he could take over his place as noble. “Now come along, it will take a few days for the messenger to reach- what the?!” Brutus shouted as the very ground shook. Amethyst rushed to the edge of the spectator box and felt her eyes widen as she watched Bowser fall to the ground. Out of the wall came two large glowing orange arms followed by Flynt falling to the ground. “No father, it seems to be a new game” she said, smirking. “I don’t know what kind of drawbacks I’ll get from dealing with Hircine” Flynt muttered as he eyed the glowing arms extending from his own. “But with benefits like these, I’m willing to go along with it.” His musings were interrupted as Bowser got back to his feet and roared at Flynt, pulling back a fist and throwing it forward. Flynt managed to catch it with one paw, sliding with it and placing the second glowing paw under Bowser’s other arm and flipping him over his shoulder straight into the wall. “Lay down” Flynt smirked as he jumped back to get some distance. Bowser roared again as he got up once more, swinging his arm like a club hoping to bash the strange Diamond Dog. Flynt had other plans. He grabbed at the wrist and near the base of Bowser’s arm, using the momentum from the swing to start spinning Bowser in a circle gradually getting faster and faster till swirls formed in the oversized Diamond Dog’s eyes. “So long Bowser!” Flynt shouted, letting the oversized Diamond Dog go. High into the air did Bowser fly, higher than the walls of the arena. He let out a long mournful howl as he sailed into the sky before gravity took hold and brought him back down to Earth. The very ground shook for miles from the impact, sending Diamond Dogs everywhere to the floor from the impromptu earthquake. Bowser gave a slight stir, trying to get back up even after being smashed into the ground. He lifted a paw weakly only to be met with a glowing orange one smashing into his face. “Play dead” Flynt said coldly as blood and tooth flew into the air. Bowser gave one last twitch before falling still. “Good boy, now stay dead.” “Very good pup” Hircine said, his voice echoing through Flynt’s skull. “Now, claim one of the tooth fragments as a symbol of your victory.” The glowing orange appendages faded away in small motes of light as Flynt walked to one of the smaller tooth fragments and picked it up. The fragment was from one of Bowser’s longer canines, just a bit smaller than one of his fingers. As he picked it up, a hole appeared near the base and a leather cord leaked out each end till reaching a length were he could use it as a necklace. “Wear it and let those who would see it know of your hunt here today” Hircine said. “Now, you will not be able to use that power again until claiming my token. Go to the east, towards the race known as the Griffons and find my shrine. There, you will find my token and regain the power you witnessed. Hunt well, young pup” Hircine said, his voice fading. “I will be watching you.” “Wonderful” Flynt muttered before turning towards Brutus and Amethyst. “Alright, I won. I beat your ‘warrior’. Honor the contract and let me go!” King Brutus was silent as he stood up, walking towards the edge of the spectator box he set his large paws down the edge. He held up one paw, the archers all raising their crossbows and taking aim. “Father please, he won” Amethyst said trying to persuade her father. “Just let him go, there is no need to continue this!” Brutus’s face changed into a visage of rage as he backhanded Amethyst with his free paw and swung down with the upraised one. The twang of crossbows filled the air. Flynt threw his paws over his face in an attempt to block the deadly bolts. The crowd gasped as the sound of arrows met flesh. Flynt opened his eye to see a large shadow over him. He looked up to see it was none other than Bowser’s paw over him, shielding him from the cross bolts. “Oh you can’t die just yet boy, you still have so much chaos to cause” a mirthful voice said. “Now, listen to Uncle Hircine and go east young man!” Bowser’s paw grabbed him and lifted him up. He felt the arm draw back, a feeling of dread going through him. “Oh no, oh no no no” Flynt moaned, already guessing as to what was about to happen. “OH YEAH!” Discord laughed as Bowser hurled Flynt out the arena and through the open air. “What?!” Brutus roared, not believing his eyes. Bowser had not only just protected Flynt but had hurled him away to possible. “Kill Bowser, find that insolent dog, and bring his corpse back to me!” As the archers reloaded and fired again, none noticed Bowser’s left eye was elongated like a cat’s along with his right tooth becoming longer than the other even though it had been broken earlier. Flynt felt himself soar through the air, the wind howling past his ears and the ground sailing past beneath him. He didn’t know where he would end up, he didn’t know if he would live or not. He did know however that if there should ever come a time where he would see Discord again he would remind him why he was once known as Pyotr the Bloody. Flynt noticed that he was starting to descend, the momentum carrying him through the air losing its hold over him and fall towards a river stretching out ahead of him. “Eto budet bolʹno (This is going to hurt)” he muttered. “Is he alive?” a voice asked, sounding young and girlish. “Don’t know sweetheart, he looks pretty banged up” a second voice answered, sounding more masculine and mature. “I say we just kill it and move on” a third voice said as something sharp pressed up against Flynt’s neck. This one was feminine like the first but sounded older, brash even. “Now, now” the male chided. “Let’s not be hasty. He doesn’t look like the other Diamond Dogs, just look at his face.” “I don’t care Jack” the third voice snapped. “They’re all the same, no matter what they look like. Greedy monsters that only deserve to die.” “Your race isn’t all that better” the male, Jack, said as his voice turned cold. “It was because of your kind that Snowflake’s mother is gone yet she does not hate you for it.” “That’s because you’re not the mean old Griffon that did it” the younger female, Snowflake chirped. “I can’t hate you for something you didn’t do. If we all blamed each other for something a different race did, we’d all be fighting!” Jack chuckled gently. “You’re such a smart little filly, aren’t you? So much smarter than your old man.” “I have to be dad, you have so much empty space in your head” Snowflake giggled. “Oh, the fair maiden wounds me more so than any sword or arrow” Jack said dramatically. “You two losers are going to make me puke” the third voice spoke again, making fake retching noises. “Oh hush, now come on. Let’s get our friend here back to the caravan” Jack said. Flynt felt himself being hefted up and set upon a broad back. Judging by the scent, Jack must be a pony along with Snowflake from when he said filly and the third being a Griffon. Flynt tried to say something but only ended up passing out. Flynt opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a bar, a small place with a few wooden tables and chairs with a jukebox in the corner playing a soft and slow tune. “Welcome friend, what can I get you?” Flynt looked up to see none other than Discord in his human form standing in front of him. He looked down to see that he too was once more human and in his old outfit before being knocked into Equestria. “Discord, to what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with you again?” Flynt asked reaching under the bar and pulling out a large bottle of vodka. “Oh, I can’t just see how my little contract fighter is doing?” Discord asked, feigning hurt. “And here I thought we had something special.” “The only thing I have for you is the desire to implant my foot in between your colon and lungs” Flynt said dryly. “Careful boy, I may be trapped in stone now but that does not mean I can’t still mess with you” Discord chuckled, a flicker of something going through his eyes. “Fair enough, so what do you want?” “Well I wanted to know why you left me for another god” Discord said, pulling out his signature chocolate milk of glass. “You broke our contract Pyotr, and I don’t appreciate that.” “If I recall, my contract was that I fight for you and cause some chaos” Flynt said taking a drink from the bottle. “I have fought, and caused chaos by defeating the king of the Diamond Dogs undefeatable warrior. If I hadn’t come along, Bowser would still be around and killing any that faced him. Plus, I‘ve been contacted by the Diamond Dogs long forgotten god.” “True I suppose” Discord said thoughtfully. “Ever since the Contract was made just after my creation contact between the Lords and their respective races have become non-existent.” “Hircine mentioned that as well, what is the Contract?” Flynt asked. “In a nutshell, my old man and his buddies can no longer mess with the mortals. Luckily for me, dad found a loophole and managed to keep me here to keep causing glorious chaos.” “Wonderful” Flynt muttered tipping the bottle onto its side and watched the last of the alcohol spill out onto the counter. “It is, isn’t it?” Discord said smiling. “Now, I do believe its time for you to wake up.” “Aren’t I awake already?” Flynt frowned. “Not yet” Discord laughed, grabbing the fighter by the back of the head and slamming him into the counter. “I’ll kill you!” Flynt snarled, wrapping his hands around Discord’s throat. “Get off of me you stupid mutt!” Discord shouted in a strangely familiar female voice. Flynt blinked once. When he opened his eyes, instead of Discord he was once again a Diamond Dog and had his paws wrapped around a Griffon’s throat. “I said off!” the avian snarled, placing her hind legs into Flynt’s stomach and flipping him over. Flynt fell onto his back with an audible thump, pain flaring through him. “Vy suki (You bitch)” Flynt groaned, clutching his sides. Apparently he still hadn’t healed from his battle with Bowser. “Whoa there fella, don’t want to tear wounds open again” a voice warned. “I just replaced the bandages and I don’t want to repeat the process again so soon.” Flynt looked up to see an rust orange colored Earth Pony with a black mane and tail standing over him. The most distinguishable feature about the pony was the face paint he had on. He had grinning skeleton mouth, making it look like he was always smiling. On his flank was a pumpkin with a laughing face carved into it. “Glad to see you’re awake” the pony said. Flynt couldn’t tell if he was really smiling or not, any chance of seeing his mouth was hidden in the paint. “Where am I?” Flynt asked, slowly sitting up. “Why you’re currently in the Griffon Dominion, near the Gem Fido border to be a bit more precise. My name’s Jack O’Lantern” the rust orange pony said holding out a hoof. “Flynt” the Diamond Dog grunted, shaking the hoof. “I see you’ve met our resident hot head Griffon” Jack said, looking up at the avian. “The name’s Gilda loser, remember it” she muttered as she stomped by and out of the cart. “Yeah, she’s pretty much like the rest of the Griffons” Jack sighed. ‘Gilda? That’s just fantastic’ Flynt thought darkly. ‘Now all we need is a certain show pony constantly shouting her name and my day will officially be screwed over.’ “Oh, and you’ll also need to watch out for Butch” Jack warned. “He’s a Diamond Dog like you but a bit lacking in the looks department. Butch see’s himself as the ‘alpha male’ of our group and probably won’t take too kindly to your presence.” ‘At least he didn’t say Trixie’ Flynt sighed in relief. “Right, I’ll keep an eye out.” “Good on ya” Jack laughed. “Now come on, let’s get you introduced to everyone else.” Using Jack as a support, Flynt managed his way out of the cart and to the outside. He was temporarily blinded by the light from the sun and had to hold up a paw in an effort to lessen the pain. When his vision cleared, he was greeted with quite a surprising sight. "Welcome to our merry band of misfits" Jack said. All around were more carts with races from all over walking to and fro. Minotaur’s, Griffons, ponies of all races, even a few Changelings as well. “Yeah, kind of surprised me too when I joined the group” Jack chuckled noticing Flynt’s stare. “Before you get too worried, these Changelings don’t feed on love without permission so don’t worry about them trying to suck you dry when you‘re not looking.” Flynt watched one chat happily with a Pegasus and another get into a drinking contest with one of the Minotaur’s. A third was changing into different animals in front of a mixed group of kids, making them laugh. “I guess all Changelings aren’t so bad after all” Flynt idly said. “Yep, now come on you’ll need to meet the boss” Jack said. “If you’re going to be staying with us you’ll need to be doing something useful.” “Sounds fair enough. So what do you do?” “Well, I do scouting to make sure the group stays safe” Jack explained. “I go out and make sure that there aren’t any monsters or slavers are nearby. It’s how I found you actually.” Flynt raised an eyebrow at this. “Slavers? I know of some Diamond Dogs in Equestria who practice slavery but Griffons?” Jack barked out a harsh laugh, his eyes turning cold. “Pretty much all species practice slavery, even ponies. It’s how I met Snowflake, sweet thing. Some ponies were getting ready to ship her out when I found them. Needless to say I got her for free when I was finished with them.” Slavery, the word left a foul taste in Flynt’s mouth. He may have fought for peoples entertainment in constant life and death situations but he always held the right of accepting and denying contracts. Slavery took away any and all rights for freedom. “But let’s not talk about such things” Jack said suddenly, his demeanor changing quickly. “We need to figure out where exactly you belong in this group till you decide to leave.” Navigating through a train of carts, Flynt found himself in front of a larger cart. This one was a bit more elaborate in design being bright blue in color and had a few wooden star cut outs and the roof. “Yeah, she may be a bit egotistical and all but she’s been a good leader to us” Jack said walking up to the door. “Hang on a sec, she just loves this.” ‘Please for the love of God, or Celestia, or whoever may be listening please don’t let it be-’ “Presenting, the Great and Powerful Trixie!”