"Hrrrnngh-Yaaaugh!" Crimson's entire body spun as he brought his hammer down again on Shell.
Shell wordlessly deflected, spun his taser-staff, and slashed at Crimson's hooves.
Crimson jumped the swing, landed heavily, and slammed his weapon down against the floor.
The entire fire-lit cliff shook as Shell backtrotted from the advancing warrior of Franzington. Gradually, Crimson inched the Prime Enforcer back towards the last few cluster of parked managliders. A line of soldiers watched anxiously, training their mana rifles on the ensuing battle, waiting for a moment for Crimson to expose himself.
"Rrrrgh!" Crimson uppercutted at Shell.
Shell hopped back from the blow, landing beside his fellow guards. The stallions made to fire their rifles, but Shell held up a hoof, stopping them. Twirling his staff, he dove back into the fray, advancing on Crimson and forcing the mercenary back towards the canyon wall.
Crimson panted, sweating as he had to constantly deflect Shell's lightning-quick jabs. He let go of his hammer, choosing instead to grab it telekinetically as his four hooves braced hard against the cliff's surface. He held his ground, snarling as he kept Shell and the Prime Enforcer's weapon at bay. "I don't know how you got to my stallions, but you've done all the damage you're ever going to do!" Crimson spat.
"What would you know of doing damage, deserter?" Shell jerked his weight to the left, yanking Crimson's hammer out of the way. He made a forward jab, swift-as-lighting. His taser slashed across Crimson's face, spilling blood.
"Gaaaugh!" Crimson bellowed, stumbling back as he drank his own juices.
"Captain!" Eagle Eye shouted fervently from his own fight several feet away.
"I see you're well-acquainted with pain," Shell hissed, marching menacingly towards him while dragging his sparkling staff. "Allow me introduce you to defeat." Eye flaring, he spun and slashed the double-edged weapon at Crimson once more.
Crimson deflected again, weakly this time, as he stumbled away from Shell's violent advance.
"And the pain that comes with it!" Shell snarled with each furious swing. "And the death!" He grazed Crimson's flank, shredded his armor open, and spilled more blood from the muscular stallion's shoulder. "All the agonizing sacrifices of loyalty!" He uppercutted Crimson's chin with the middle of the staff and pressed him hard against the wall. Leaning in, her snarled, "And then you will know—as I do—that defeat is the same as victory." He spun, bucked Crimson's skull, and slashed hard at his left side with the taser.
"Gaaah-haaugh!" Crimson fell to his joints, leaning on his hammer as blood poured from his side.
Shell loomed above him, levitating the staff as he grumbled, "We are all weapons, you sanctimonious pile of cowardly meat. Those who've ever worked for the Queen were dead long before they picked up a sword."
"Crimson!" Eagle Eye squeaked, his face awash with sweat and tears. Surrounded by advancing guards, he shoved against two of them with a burst of energy. "Nnngh!" Holding his breath, the petite soldier ducked their swings and slashed in a circle with his floating sword. Blood littered the cliff's surface in a glittering spray. Several soldiers yelped and clutched their limbs as Eagle Eye jumped over them and galloped towards the scene. "Hang on!"
A heavy shadow stood directly in Eagle Eye's way.
Eagle Eye slid to a stop, gasping.
Josho's eyes were thin as he cracked his limbs. "That's as far as you go, kid."
Gritting his teeth, Eagle Eye squatted low, raised his sword and shield, and charged Josho.
Josho jerked right, unsheathed a taser from his left shoulder holster, and slashed at him.
Eagle Eye grunted, jumped, dodged the blow, and landed his hooves on Josho's flank.
"Ooof—!" Josho stumbled.
Eagle Eye bounced off, kicked against the canyon wall, and soared his lithe body towards Crimson and Shell. In midair, however, he lurched—his body caught in a telekinetic field. He flailed and struggled as Josho floated the petite mercenary towards him. As the obese enforcer prepared to lock Eagle Eye into a leghold from behind, the lavender unicorn gnashed his teeth and flung his shield blindly over his head.
The disc slammed square into Josho's face. He grunted, stumbling backwards.
The telekinetic field dissipated. Eagle Eye landed on his belly. He tried to get up—
Josho tackled him, slamming him up against the canyon wall.
Eagle Eye slashed the sword backwards, but Josho caught it with the hilt of his floating taser. He twisted Eagle Eye's magical grip of his weapons and suplexed the mercenary hard to the floor. Not wasting a second, Eagle Eye bucked the weight of the stallion off, rolled to the side, and prepared his sword and shield.
Josho evened out in time to deflect a wave of merciless jabs and slashes from the little pony.
"Aaaaaaugh!" Eagle shouted for good measure, thrusting and swinging his blade repeatedly while keeping his sword raised. In a fitful gasp, he glanced aside to see Crimson struggling against Shell's advances. Just then, Josho loomed into view, wielding his taser up high.
"Stand down!" Josho's bearded muzzle was too pitiable to form a scowl. "You're outnumbered!"
"And you're fat!" Eagle Eye suddenly dashed forward, headbutting.
Not expecting that, Josho sidetrotted, but it was too late. Eagle Eye's sharp little horn slashed at his left leg.
"Graaaugh!" Josho winced. Eyes flaring, he uppercutted Eagle Eye with the hilt of his taser, jerked aside, and unsheathed a manarifle. Pumping the crystalline shotgun, he aimed it at Eagle Eye's body.
Gasping, Eagle Eye curled up and hid his body behind his shield.
The gunshot echoed across the ravine, kicking up dust and ash. Eagle Eye's body was propelled towards the cliff's edge, but Josho had anticipated it. In a burst of telekinesis, he grabbed Eagle Eye and yanked him like a yo-yo back towards the cliff's surface.
"Ooof!" Eagle Eye grunted, dropping his sword and shield as he landed belly-first against the ground. Before he could get up—
"Grrgh!" Josho stood on top of him and pressed his knees into Eagle Eye's back. The mercenary yelped and writhed as Josho forced the unicorn's limbs beneath the two of them, utterly pinning the petite stallion in place. "I said... stay down!" Taking a deep breath, Josho pumped his gun and aimed it against Eagle's hapless skull as he looked up at the other fight. "Enforcer—"
"Nnngh!" Shell was currently bucking Crimson across the face.
"Augh!" Crimson spun from the blow, teetering towards the ravine's edge. He hobbled on bleeding legs, but nevertheless twirled in time to raise his floating hammer against Shell's advances.
Shell slashed and swung his sparkling blades, further knocking Crimson off balance.
Josho gritted his teeth and spat, "Enforcer! It's over! These two have lost! We still have a target on the loose!"
Crimson shouted with sudden strength and shoved Shell back. He stood, panting, levitating the hammer menacingly between them as he summoned a smirk from the depths of his aching being. "D-did you hear that?" He sneered. "Rainbow Dash isn't yours. You tried and you tried so hard... and still she g-got away..."
"Only to come straight back to me, you mean," Shell calmly retorted.
Crimson blinked, his features sagging.
Shell breathed and said, "I have something she wants more than life and prosperity." He twirled the staff and paced across from his foe. "I have her friends—such pathetic things for a monster to afford. Don't you think so?"
A pale sheen fell across Crimson's face. Far away, Eagle Eye was likewise grimacing.
"No..." Shell shook his head. "I suppose you don't think. Not at all." He stabbed one end of his staff into the earth and gestured with his hoof. "You simply fight. So do it, soldier." His one eye narrowed. "Fight..."
Crimson blinked, trembling. His lips melted into a hardened frown.
"C-Captain..." Eagle Eye whimpered, tearing.
"Enforcer!" Josho shouted. "They're prisoners of the Confederacy! They deserve to be put on trial—"
"Rgggh—" Crimson floated the hammer into the crook of his hoof and came swinging at Shell. "—Raaaaugh!"
All Shell had to do was squint. A bolt of blue light flew from his horn and absorbed itself into the muscular stallion's massive hammer. Crimson's weapon lit up like a candle. When it exploded, it took his right hoof with it.
"Haaaauckt!" Crimson bellowed, stumbling back against the cliff's edge and clutching his bleeding stub. His face and body contorted in pain. "Hrnnngh-gaaugh!"
Eagle Eye was too busy screaming to produce a name.
Josho blinked, his jaw dropped.
Shell calmly marched towards the bleeding mercenary. His nostrils flared as he came within a whisper's range. "You don't have to thank me for dismantling you." Then, with a single tap of his metal prosthetic, he pushed the anguished pony over the edge.
Crimson's blood-soaked body plunged into the depths of Sapphire Ravine.
Eagle Eye spasmed, his irises shrinking as he buried his face into the earth and sobbed uncontrollably.
Josho gazed down into the canyon, gulping hard. He looked from the mournful pony beneath him to Shell.
The Prime Enforcer was taking a deep, meditative breath, his body shadowed by the flames of Foxtaur above. After a few seconds, he gazed towards his surviving fellow officers. "There's nothing more I hate than a coward."
Josho was dead silent.
"Well... maybe there's one thing." Shell calmly picked up his taser staff, disarmed it, and sheathed it into his uniform. "And if we have any hope of ensnaring her, then we need to return before it's too late." He trotted towards the parked managliders—but paused. Shuffling about, he turned towards Josho, calmly blinking. "Well, what are you waiting for? Toss him over as well."
Josho did a double-take. He glanced from Shell to the stallion in his grasp and then back. "Wh-what?"
"Is there too much liquor between your ears, soldier?" Shell droned. "I gave you an order."
"Prime Enforcer..." Josho's voice was low, almost a dull base tone. "He was only following his superior's commands. He deserves to be put on trial just as much as the unicorn who helped us." He gulped, his breath taking on a piercing, sober edge. "Just as much as the one you just slew!"
"I do not weep for the fools who murder themselves with their own mistakes." Shell pointed. "I am only telling you this once more—send him to the abyss."
Josho blinked at that. After a deep breath, he spat in into the dirt and soil beneath him and grunted, "No."
Eagle Eye twitched, his tear-stained face looking up with a quivering mouth.
Shell merely stared, his body evening out to face Josho directly. "Would you mind repeating that?"
"I said shove it up your Queen-hole!" Josho growled, standing up and clutching Eagle Eye's limp form closely. "There's something seriously wrong with you, ya friggin' psycho!"
"I am the sword of our ruler—"
"Yeah, and I'm her sparkling corkscrew! I get it!" Josho leaned forward and growled, "But I've made a life slaying heartless Xonans! Not my own flesh and blood!"
"He is a traitor—"
"Why? Cuz he betrayed decency?! Cry me a cruddy river!" Josho frowned. "You're breaking every rule of war in the book. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd go over a Prime Enforcer's head, but—buddy—you're asking for it!"
Shell blinked calmly at him. He took a deep breath. "Very well. If you're so desperate to protect the filth..." He turned away and marched towards the managliders. "Then protect him—"
"Good! Cuz I've got a good mind to take that smug face of yours and rub it all over your—"
Shell's horn strobed.
At first, it felt like a cyclonic burst of wind. Josho and Eagle Eye gasped as they both found themselve flipping skyward. Their weapons followed them—along with a whole chunk of Ledomaritan earth. Several guards jumped back, flinching as the Prime Enforcer's telekinesis swept up several boulders and two abandoned managliders with the blind toss.
Josho gasped, almost vomiting as he and Eagle Eye spiraled towards the raging rapids below. Eagle Eye's howling scream disappeared in a burst of thunder, brought upon by Josho's shimmering horn as the two of them were engulfed in the cascading spray of rocks. Then the ravine below exploded from the chunk of clifface impacting with the river, and all was the murmur of burning forest once again.
Trembling, the soldiers watched as Shell marched calmly past them. He didn't gaze at any of their faces; he kept his one eye forward as he silently mounted a managlider, throttled it to life, and soared towards the smoldering sky. With a hoof, he gestured towards the others to follow. They did so—reluctantly at first—but soon the air screamed with the rumbling engines as the surviving officers began their return trip to the Steel Wing, leaving the bloody site behind.
...and another one. o.0
*commence reading*
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Shell is too OP... o.o
I love these chapter blitzes. They make me wonder how many chapters IC has saved up.
Well as much as I hate to say it, I think I called it. Crimson is toast. And while no character is officially dead unless it is witnessed first-hoof, I pretty sure that there is no chance for that character to come back. With out blue deus ex machina off on a suicide mission, the only chance of survival is for Crimson to be caught by Roake (who will almost assuredly come back to save the day at some point) or to hit the ground and somehow walk it off.
On the plus side, Josho has joined the good guys, at least for now. Rainbow Dash's party of missfit dark horses now consists of: A blind zebra with an uncanny compression of lore, history, and logic; and hornless unicorn that also 'eljunbyro' and has a mental link to an alicorn; a petite and now heartbroken feminine stallion with exceptional combat skill and keen senses; and a fat and drunk ex-soldier bearing vast military experience and very adept teleporting capabilities.
Maybe a curtain psychotic robo-mare will join Rainbow's band of underdogs, assuming that Dash still exists after the next couple chapters
Keep going IC, You can do it.
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I just hope Eljunbyro won't end at chapter 200 like in Austraeoh. =/
...
then again, if it does, then I hope a sequel comes soon. :3
I've maintained for a long time that Shell has a very twisted sense. He is as he is named, hollow. His integrity drilled out of him, leaving simply the husk. He is as he wishes Dash to be: a weapon, a tool.
Yeah, Shell seems a bit OP here.
But I think he's just going out with a bang. the soldiers don't really even want to follow him anymore. he's probably gonna blow his own head off when someone klonks him on the head just as he's getting ready to pulse detonate something again.
Also, it seems Josho might have saved EE and himself just there. One can only hope.
dude, you really know how to make a good psychopath.
2233087
This far from Equestria, in a land so wrong and twisted in comparison, it is interesting to see that the same basic laws still guild pony life. Even out here, 1000's of miles away, a pony's nature is still often perfectly defined by his name.
Well, so much for hoping. Mighty brave of Josho to stand up for Eagle despite the orders of his psychopathic superior.
2233078
200 is the chapter limit, can't go any higher.
I can only hope that some how EE and Josho survived that and that Roarke is going to come in and save the day, or something like that.
He's losing it.
CALLED IT!!
I knew Josho would betray Shell eventually.
even though the motive were different than what I thought I still called it.
WHADDAYA MEAN, "COMPLETE!?"
Great job, man.
Well, fuck. Shell, if you keep going on like this, I wouldn't be surprised at another mutiny like Josho.
Also, you just tried to toss a master teleporter off of a cliff. Hopefully he has the common sense to teleport to some solid ground rather than take the long way.
Good job Josho.
Probably should be shield.
Epic chapter, by the way.
IIIIIt's Dashie's Tenth Marathon Evaluation Time!
Another great fight scene...where...unfortunately...I was correct. Except for EE, perhaps, but I'll get to that in a minute. First off, I just want to say that the writing here does an excellent job if painting Shell's character as a psychopath. It truly make him look insane. Except his magic was also a bit OP...anyways, Josho was good at long distance teleportation, right? So maybe he got away in time with EE. And speaking of Josho, I just want to say that, although what he did was good, it wasn't really brave. It was just sort of reckless. I mean, there was no way Josho of all ponies was going to beat Shell. He should've just teleported away when he had the chance. Anyways, this is shaping up to be an amazing ending, as always. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
P.S. Seven left! Knock 'em out!
Aww, man! See, even the jerkwad comic relief villain is better than you, Shell. How does that feel?
Crimson! I guess I knew it was coming, but still. I'm glad that Josho has switched sides, kind of. His long-range group teleporting skill is finally serving a positive purpose. At least, I'm assuming he magicked himself and EE to some form of safety, if such a thing still exists with all the explosions and enemies everywhere. Onward, although I'm kind of dreading what might happen next...
Good on ya, Josho. You're about as rough as they come, but I knew you'd shine through when it counted.
Yeah, this from the stallion who's expressed (and demonstrated!) a willingness to commit any atrocity on the world around him rather than finally face up to the fact that he's wasted his life in the thankless service of power-mad imbeciles.
I'm not even kidding, that line actually made me angry. MAN, what a great villain.
...
That was f*cked up.
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My Little Caboose: Blue is Magic! by Darkwing has 257 chapters.
Check for yourself. I did, and I was surprised.
static.tumblr.com/z5f6qdv/xUNmdk21z/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.gif
2233087 A weapon ultimately acts purely by the agenda of someone else. Shell is currently defying the laws of Ledomare. As far as my opinion goes, he remains what he was: a weakling and a coward who needs the heat of combat to silence his conscience and the mask of duty to hide from the truth. I think he acts like someone who deep inside knows how absolutely, pitifully wrong he is - and who will do anything to avoid having to face it, for he does not have the strength to deal with his own sins.
So even his soldiers have realized that Shells gone off the deep end.
RIP Crimson, EE
DAMNIT SHELL
YOU HAD YOUR HUMANITY FOR A SECOND THERE
I WAS STARTING TO THINK YOU MIGHT BE A LIKABLE VILLAIN WITH MORALS AND GOALS AND SHIT
Ha! I was right about Josho!
Except now they're all dead.
-SPirit
Yep, Shell's an asshole.
2243404 Josho didn't really switch sides. He obeyed the rules of engagement. which is the code of a soldier. Shell did not. He has indeed gone overboard. He's a bloodthirsty merciless, primevil monster. I doubt he even chooses to serve the queen anymore. Just his own barbaric interests.
fuck
fuck fuck fuck
I take it back
Crimson pls don't die
on the bright side, we got Josho on our team!
And Shell has lost all sense of decency.
A few chapters ago, I pitied Shell. Not anymore.
Is that Darth Vader.
Their victory won't look outstanding after this.
Nice to see Josho finally turn on Shell, that was a long time coming.
Also, Crimson, Eagle Eye, and Josho all went over the cliff into the rapids? No way they're dead.
6414083
You already know what happens. But Josho also happens to be a teleporter. The rocks converged on them, but they might have not been in the center at that point.
Noooooooooo! Crimson!
It's also nice to see Josho have some sort of morality. Assuming he somehow survives the fight, we may see a Heel-Face turn.
And it looks like we're heading towards a climatic final showdown! I can't wait!
Josho finds his soul at last, though it might be the last thing he ever does.
... actually, oddly enough, I'm now estimating that all three of them survive the fall. It would certainly be the first time fall damage has killed anypony in this story.
Edit: Correct.
Josho's teleportation abilities.
Chekov's Gun.
'Nuff said.
Passed 10:36 a.m. MST June 10, 2017
Hell yeah! Take that Shell you asshole! Josho finally found his soul.
I think Shell is a lot more powerful then we give him the credit for.
He just shrugged off the face of a fucking cliff. And seemingly without much effort.
Solid sediment, harder then pavement, would take over 2000 Newton's of force to break like that.
That's more then enough force to snap a bone or break a neck, given the chance.
Shell is without a doubt insane, and I wonder how loyal he actually is to the council and the queen, or if he serves himself and only himself alone, he said it a few chapters ago to Josho I think (paraphrased here) that essentially everyone was expendable, my guess is that despite his words at the end of the day all he wants is absolute power or destruction. I think he would make good friends with a certain prosthetically enhanced mercenary they both have a very twisted view of loyalty, they both want RD's head, and both are rather OP at times (I could go on, but the story calls and I gotta answer.)
NOOOO! CRIMSON! I enjoyed that guy. Now with the third-best character down, at least 2E’s still around to give me hope for the story. The good news is that Josho finally found some morality, and I too, probably wouldn’t’ve thrown somepony off a cliff if my superiors ordered me.
Presuming that this is still part of the arc that I said represented Kindness, I no longer think so, perhaps, this arc is telling a moral about being Kind to those that need it, but also choosing your Loyalties wisely. There’s a recurring theme here that involves Rainbow Dash choosing her Loyalty to those she wanted to, such as following the mercenaries, and remaining Loyal to her friends by saving them several times over. I have mentioned that Dashie’s Loyalty is my favorite part of the story, and that was part of this arc, and she showed her Loyalty in several ways here. In addition, we’ve got all the Kindness overtones.
Now, it’s been several hot minutes since I read Austreoh, but if I recall a comment I’ve seen, were Kindness and Loyalty the only two virtues not represented in Austreoh? Perhaps I’m incredibly far off the mark, but I think that instead of those virtues getting separate arcs, we’re getting a two for one deal here.
This is Dashite, and thanks for coming to my TEDTalk.
I hope Shell dies a horrible, horrible death.
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Don't we all.
CRIMSON, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!! At least Josho found his spine near the end