CHAPTER THREE
"Alright, we're about a mile out from the station. Take a few minutes to catch your-" Before the words had left her mouth, Onyx crumpled to the ground in a broken heap.
"I... I'm gonna puke" he mutters between wheezes and gasps, lying on the ground, chest heaving. "The doc said take it easy, pretty sure a three hour run isn't 'taking it easy'."
"Stop being dramatic" she says, scanning her surroundings.
"Dramatic?! My stitches got torn out! I ran the last 8 miles BLEEDING FROM MY CHEST" he shouts with very little breath.
"A pony in your shape should be able to make that trip no problem, you really need to get more exercise" she says, ignoring his crimson-stained torso.
"I died yesterday, cut me some freakin' slack."
"Well do you think you'll survive the rest of the trip to the station?" she asks, nodding in the direction of their destination.
"Let's just hurry up and get there" Onyx groans, rising to his hooves.
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They crouch down behind a large shrub a few dozen yards from the station up on a hill. The Las Pegasus skyline rose up in the background, extravagant hotels and casinos constructed entirely of clouds reached skywards.
He'd always wanted to visit the city, it was too bad he didn't have time to take in a show or a round of Appaloosa Hold 'Em. Maybe someday he could come back, preferably at night and see the city illuminated by the world-famous lightning storms that circled the strip.
Also, he'd heard you can get a decent hoof-job for around 15 bits.
"The rotor's inside, on Platform 6" Angel said, breaking him out of his daydream.
"So what, we just go inside and get it?" he asks.
"Don't be ridiculous" she replies.
"Well excuse me if the hundreds of times I've retrieved industrial equipment from a train station went differently."
She let out a groan as she studied the station, ponies entered and exited, chatting among themselves, those who were obviously tourists snapped pictures and pointed in awe at the skyline.
"The Guild operates in direct violation of Equestrian law, we can't just order parts when something breaks" she says.
"Wait, what?!" Why hadn't anypony informed him of that little tidbit of information?
"The use of cybernetic implants and prosthetics is a capital offense, the Canterlot lawmakers don't like it when we can do something with technology better than they can with magic" Angel says, hunkering back down behind the bush. "On the plus side, they stopped drawing and quartering captured Guild members. The unicorns ruled it 'too barbaric' for their sophisticated, high-class standards. Last I checked it's the guillotine. Of course that only works if you don't have metal in your neck or spine. Poor Revolver, it took them an hour and a half to cut his head off."
Onyx stares at her in slack-jawed horror.
"Anyway, the generator rotor inside is for a hydroelectric dam just outside Trottingham" the cream colored mare says.
"Then why do I get the feeling it's coming home with us?" he says, trying to get the image of a pony strapped into the gallows with a team sawing away at his neck out of his mind. It wasn't working.
"Because it is." She digs around the shrub before she finds a small cardboard box. "Here it is, just like he said." She opens it, revealing 2 orange jumpsuits. "They're using a moving company to bring it to the construction site, we sign for it and walk out with it before they show up."
"Huh. Sounds simple enough I guess" he says, looking over the change of clothes. "What about this though?" the pony asks, pointing to his robotic eye.
Angel Fire tosses him an eyepatch. "Great, I get to dress up like a prison inmate and a pirate, all at once. Just like Nightmare Night all over again."
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They walk into the station, to Onyx's surprise the disguises seemed to be working. Nopony seemed to be paying them any extra attention. Well, aside from the drunken pony slumped in the corner with a brandy bottle cutie mark who found it necessary to yell "Aar!" upon seeing the patch.
Angel's metal wings folded and tucked up against her, not protruding from the clothes but a small bump was noticeable. Not that it was a big issue Onyx guessed, he'd never seen any petite and dainty ponies working manual labor.
"You screw this up, I'll personally feed you to the Manticores Blackout keeps in the basement" she quietly but sternly whispers to him. He got the distinct feeling she wasn't kidding. "This is a covert operation, do NOT blow our cover."
They come to the platform, a large wooden crate is loaded into a wagon and sitting by the tracks. It was much larger than he anticipated, it was going to take both their combined efforts to haul this monstrosity all the way back to the base.
"WHO THE BUCK IS IN CHARGE HERE?!" Angel shouted at the top of her lungs. Onyx squinted in response to the assault on his ears, mother of Celestia could that pony get loud. Also, what was that about "covert" again?
A light gray pony wearing a conductor's uniform walks over. "Is... there a problem, miss?"
"Problem?! Oh you'd better believe there's a problem! These instructions CLEARLY stated this rotor was to be delivered yesterday!" she yells, whipping out a form from her front pocket and shoving it at the suited pony. "YESTERDAY!"
"I can assure you, the part arrived on schedule..."
"No, it arrived on YOUR schedule! Meanwhile, I have an entire construction site sitting idle because somepony wrote down the wrong date! Do you have any idea how much money we're losing by NOT having this component when we needed it?!"
"Uh, I don't-"
"More than your miserable job is worth, I can promise you that!" she yells. For once, her anger wasn't being vented directly at Onyx. He had to admit, it was a pleasant change of pace.
"S-surely we can work this out..." the gray pony chuckles nervously. "After all, this isn't my fault..."
"What a coincidence, I've phoned everpony in this damn station, they all said the same thing! It's never anypony's fault around here! Where's the Station Master?!
"Here, here's the sheet. Just sign and we'll get this all sorted out, there's really no need to get the station master involved" he nervously states with a friendly smile, handing them a clipboard.
Angel jots down a name, Onyx couldn't read what she wrote but it obviously wasn't her actual name.
She hands the clipboard back to the stallion. "You're lucky I'm in a hurry." The gray pony gives a courteous nod before scuttling away.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" she says to Onyx.
"What?"
"Get hooked up" she tells him.
"Wait, you want me to pull this thing back BY MYSELF?!"
"I have wing mounts grafted to my spine, I can't fit in a harness. Your prosthetics should be more than capable of pulling it. And also, I gave you an order."
He mumbles to himself as he slides into the harness, he strains to move the colossal crate. The wheels creak and begin to turn as he groans and grunts, slowly moving across the floor.
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They had barely left the station, and he was hating this already. "Let's go, I'd like to make it back before nightfall" Angel says, tapping her hoof as she waits further down the road. Onyx had never hit a woman in his life, but this might not be a bad time to start.
"Hey! That's our rotor, ain't it boys?!" they hear a gruff voice behind them shout.
They look back to see a group of six tall, stout stallions standing there. The lead pony was light brown in color and had a cigar hanging out of his mouth. "The hell you doin'?!
Onyx's eyes dart to Angel, who didn't seem fazed in the least. "I think you're mistaken, this is shipment of oranges to Dodge Junction" she calmly says.
The lead foreman pony walks up, smoke puffing from his cigar. He gets close to Angel and leans in. "You think I'm that stupid lady? Now I dunno where you got them uniforms from, but me and my boys here, we don't take kindly to folks makin' off with our shipments."
She doesn't deviate from her blank expression. "Is that a threat?"
The foreman laughs, smoke rolling from his mouth. "Hell naw, just a friendly suggestion. I'm a reasonable pony after all. But my boys here, not so much. See, they're awful unpredictable. There ain't no tellin' what they'd do to a mare like you."
"I call first dibs!" one of the workers yells.
Onyx looks nervously to Angel, this situation was going south rather quickly.
She takes a step towards the foreman. "I'll tell you what. I'm giving you idiots three seconds to get out of my sight."
"Ooh! Yer a feisty one, huh? We're gonna have some real fun with you, sugarcube" he says, rubbing a hoof along her cheek.
SKYAASSH!
In an instant, her metal wing rips through her orange uniform. The blade-like edge severs the pony's leg in one swipe.
He collapses to the ground, howling in pain as the stump pours blood onto the dirt.
"Put some pressure on that and get him to a hospital if you want him to live" she casually says to the stunned ponies.
"Don't just stand there you idiots, kill 'em!" the pony yells through gritted teeth.
They hesitate for a moment before charging. Onyx comes out from the harness as two stallions, much larger than he was, come galloping at him full speed.
He pivots up on his forelegs and kicks out, a sharp crack is heard as their ribs snap like twigs. They tumble back several yards, coming to a rest in a cloud of dust where they lie still. Maybe these mechanical legs weren't so bad after all.
Angel's wings shred the clothing, the tattered strips float away in the breeze as she ascends, the sun gleaming off the metal in dazzling brilliance. The three stallions below stare in astonishment and confusion.
She dives sharply, a shrill wail emanating from the wings. It seemed they were self-powered, a blue glow burned from the central hub where the bladed "feathers" joined.
She drives a kick into them, sending them flying like a foal might throw his toys. Well at least Onyx felt everypony's unnatural fear of her was somewhat justified.
The last remaining pony tosses his hardhat aside, revealing a horn. A soft red glow emanates from it, enshrouding the winged earth pony. "Onyx! Your horn!" she yells as the field tightens around her. He was going to crush her to death.
The black pony rips off his eyepatch and drops his stance. He closes his eye, a crosshairs falling into his view from his implant. Onyx focuses, a blue electrical aura envelopes the silver spike. A blinding energy bolt splits the air in front of him, slamming into the unicorn. He's lifted off the ground and tossed back, arcing blue energy.
The red aura vanishes, she wastes no time in shooting towards him like a bullet. Her outstretched wing slices him to ribbons, a crimson fountain spewing from his gaping wounds. The unicorn was dead before he hit the ground.
She shakes the blood off her wing and rushes over to Onyx and the wagon. "C'mon, let's get going before anypony else shows up." Onyx stood there, taking a few seconds to acknowledge her command
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The rain poured down in sheets, about 20 minutes after fleeing the station the bottom fell out, drenching them in the frigid precipitation.
Onyx could barely see, his red upswept mane was plastered over his eyes and pouring water onto his face. The raindrops pelt them as they make their way down the now sloppy, muddy road, each individual drop stinging their skin. Angel Fire had formed a makeshift umbrella by folding her wings over her head, the rain pounded out an almost melodic ring against the metal.
A silent hour had passed, only the steady squeak of the wagon wheels and snare-like drone of the rain was heard. Onyx felt like he needed to say something, anything. Any more quiet and he'd go insane.
"Can I ask you something?"
She looks over at him. "I suppose."
"How many ponies have you killed?" he asks. No point in beating around the bush.
She takes a moment to answer. "Enough."
"That unicorn, did you kill him just because he's a unicorn?" he asks, the sheet of rain blows across him. He gives a small shiver.
"He tried to kill me first. Rules of engagement, you respond with equal force. I would have done the same had it been a pegasus, earth pony, or a zebra" she says with a clarity and certainty that suggested she'd reminded herself of this multiple times.
They walk a little ways further, the wagon splashing through the ruts and potholes in the road. If it got much worse they might not be able to continue.
"You... did well for your first time out" she says unexpectedly. "Most new ponies choke."
He's taken aback by her words. "Did, you just give me a compliment?"
She glares at him. "No, I'm merely stating you didn't cause us to fail our mission through your incompetence."
They come to a large two-lane bridge spanning a rushing river.
"Eh, close enough" he says. "And here I thought my natural charm and charisma were starting to work their magic."
She raises a brow. "Your what?"
"Give it some time, it'll rub off on you and grow. It's like a fungus. The sooner you just give into it, the easier it'll be."
Onyx could swear he saw the faintest, smallest possible hint of what might be described as a smile on her face.
"I saw that" he says, grinning slyly.
"Saw what?"
"You know what. You thought about smiling, don't try and lie."
"I was thinking about throwing you off this bridge" she says rather seriously.
"So you were thinking about me."
She shakes her head. "I could be back home in the warm and dry by the time you get to the next turn. Don't tempt me."
"...thanks" he says, losing his sarcastic tone.
"For what?"
"Well, for not doing that already. It sucks out here, be even worse if I was by myself.
"Don't get any ideas. I'm just making sure you don't get lost. If you end up Saddle Arabia Blackout'll have my ass" she says.
Onyx looks over to her. "Speaking of Blackout... What's that guy's deal anyway?"
She scoffs and looks out at the dark gray sky. "Blackout's like most politicians. He makes sense at first, draws you in with speeches and buzzwords but by the time you realize he's just a crazy, rambling old man it's too late. He's got his hooks in you."
The drenched mare flies over a particularly large puddle, gracefully arcing through the air. "He wasn't always like this. When he first took over the Guild, he was more concerned about the wellfare of the ponies of Equestria than anything else. But now he's got his own agenda, and over the years he's gradually scaled up what he believes to be 'acceptable collateral damage'. Do you remember that train derailment in Appaloosa three years ago?"
"Yeah, it was all over the news. They said it was a faulty rail junction."
She shook her head. "That was Blackout's doing. Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns was on a field trip, he had a small explosive placed on the tracks. 7 dead, 20 injured. After that, many felt he'd gone too far. The Guild's membership dropped by nearly half. He responded by turning over these deserters to the authorities, and had them executed."
Onyx pulled and strained to free the wagon from a deep rut. "Wait, so he had his own guys killed?"
"You don't leave the Iron Guild, not according to him anyways. That's why his membership is comprised almost exclusively by ponies he's resurrected or repaired, so he has something to hold over them. After all, you owe him your life."
"Yeah, guess that's true..." he groans. "So what about you?"
"I... I made a few mistakes growing up. Fell in with the wrong crowd, got mixed up in some stuff that a little mare like me didn't have any business being around. I got caught by the police, I was terrified, I told them everything I knew. I was 14 and scared out of my mind, what else was I gonna do? One night, a group of ponies come to my house, hold me down and cut out my voice box."
She looks down at the collar going around her neck. "They took me to a landfill and tossed me in. Broke almost every bone in my body when they bulldozed the next load over me. Woke up the next day on an operating table."
That would explain how she could yell so loud anyways, Onyx guessed. Her voice was synthetic.
At that moment, a deafening clap of thunder shakes the ground. The already torrential rains increase to a veritable monsoon, Onyx couldn't have been more wet if he jumped in a pool.
"We should hurry up, these roads will be getting worse by the minute" Angel says, her wing shielding her from a gust of wind carrying hundreds of stinging droplets. Their pace quickens as a bolt of lightning snakes across the sky.