//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: Double the Bass // by Blacktastic //------------------------------// A/N Update as of 7/1/2012, I just changed the ending of this chapter to be more appropriate for the rest of the story ----- The night of the gala came and I had my plan was coming together. Rarity came through with my ticket and dress, which i thanked her for gratefully, I dyed my mane and tail brown so I would blend into the crowd better and this way it'd be harder to recognize me, and I spent some time trying to figure out that device Soundwave made. Turns out it's an Energon repair ray' so I can fix up Soundwave if I find him. All I had to do now was get into the castle, find Soundwave, probably repair him and his minicons, and get out unseen...the more I thought about all of that I realized it might not be as easy as I thought. ----- The night of the gala came and I still had to decide how to punish Soundwave. My sister had sent someponies out to retrieve the guard and to my happy surprise they were all still breathing, horribly injured, but alive. Nopony, however, had attacked royalty in thousands of years, not since Discord, but the punishment that came with that could not apply to him. I went to the dungeon and stopped in front of his cell. He had not moved since I placed him in there. I assumed he was dead, but my sister insisted that there was a 'spark of life' still inside of him and his minions. I didn't believe her in the slightest, nothing could survive a lightning bolt to the chest and the amount of magic I unleashed on him. Even if he was still alive, if he stayed down here he'd die soon. Either way his punishment would be delivered to him and Equestria would be safe from whatever evils I knew he was planning on bringing with him. ----- I made my way into the castle easily enough, I just flashed my ticket and they let me in. I walked around looking for hopefully some sign of where they were keeping Soundwave. I kept pushing my way through the crowd until I hit the jackpot inside the ballroom. Two guards were conversing off to the side talking about some 'visitor' kept in the dungeon and how one of them had to 'get back to guarding him'. I smiled, this was my chance to find Soundwave, albeit a bit convenient, but I didn't care at the time. I trailed the guard as he made his way out of the ballroom and into the hallways of the castle. I kept low as I trailed him only to hear the sound of another patrol coming my way. I panicked and looked for a place to hide and spotted a rather large potted plant. I lifted the plant from the pot and ducked inside dropping it on myself and laying low until I heard the muffled sound of the guard passing. I popped out coughing up dirt and shaking myself off. I continued my pursuit of the first guard. I walked down the hallway for the few minutes before catching up with him opening a large heavy looking wood door. He went inside and I heard the faint sound of it locking behind him. I let out a frustrated swear as I approached the door. I had to come up with some way to get in, and chances are if I do stealth will be out the window seeing as the place would be probably full of guards. I got out the Repair ray thing I had and hooked it up to my hoof. The day I figured out what it was I tried to test it, turned it on, and set half my apartment ablaze, but it fixed up one of my stereo's...plus it said what it was when I turned it on. I began to power it up, the tube in the middle began to glow bright blue as it made a high pitched whine. I pressed in on it with my hoof and it fired a bright blue beam at the door, searing right through it. The guard that just went in came back out, I panicked and used the ray gun to butt him on the head really hard, knocking him out cold. I rushed inside moving past quite the plethora of empty cells, I guessed the crime rate is pretty low. I kept running until I finally found Soundwave's cell,but to my utter dismay he was guarded...by Princess Luna ----- I stood there before the intruder in a combination of disbelief and anger. "Who are you!?" I commanded "How dare you intrude in our castle!" I saw the fear in her eye. I eyed the weapon in her hand and my eyes went wide with realization. "You've been hiding this abomination haven't you!" She was taking a step back, her silence was damming. I glared at her with the hatred I only felt since I was Nightmare Moon. I took a step forward. "I will not let you take this war machine out of here, and I will not let you hurt my citizens!" Fear became replaced with confusion, but I didn't fully notice it until after I began to attack her. I fired a few magic bolts from my horn, which despite the confines of the narrow dungeon hallway, she avoided. I was attacking relentlessly pushing her back, until she stumbled and landed on her back. I approached her charging my horn ready to deal the final blow. She flinched, causing the device in her hand to fire off hitting my point blank in the chest and sending me back as well. I stood up ready to assault her once again. She called out down the hallway "Princess he's not here to hurt anyone!" "Then explain why he attacked me and hospitalized most of the Night Guard" Clearly she had not known about this incident, her mouth was agape and all she could say was "W-what" "This 'thing' attacked me! And according to Equestrian law, attacking the royal pony sisters is a crime punishable by death!" She was shocked, we stood at stand still for what seemed like hours until she looked at me with a renewed conviction. "NO!" she shouted "Soundwave would never hurt anypony!" "Then explain why he almost killed me and my men!" She was at a loss for words for a moment "He's my friend! I won't let you hurt him!" She pointed the device she had at her hand at me, but I was surprised to see her turn it on Soundwave. I chuckled "What do you intend to do...burn a hole through your new 'friend'" She smirked and fired the device, which to my surprise it didn't hurt him, it began to actually heal him. I fired a bolt at her to try and stop her from finishing, while the bolt hit her square in the chest, apparently she did what she needed to do, and Soundwave was coming back to life. ------ >>WARNING SYSTEMS CRITICAL<< >>WARNING SYSTEMS CRITICAL<< >>WARNING SYSTEMS CRITICAL<< Systems coming back online..... Basic Systems- Online Weapon Systems- Offline Utilities loading.... Energon Barrier-Online..... Beginning Start Sequence My optics turned on just in time to see Vinyl Scratch get blasted by a bold of energy. In her 'hoof' I saw the energon repair gun I had been working on for some time. Across from her I saw that cursed 'princess' glaring at me with anger, energy powering up in her horn. "This time when I hit you you'll stay dead!" she fired a blast, I reacted quickly and threw up my newly repaired energon barrier stopping the blast in it's tracks. The light from the two forces colliding blinded her long enough for me to break open the flimsy cell doors the contained me. It collided with her and pinned her to the wall and dazed her. In my haste I grabbed my energon ray and began to make my escape, leaving Vinyl by herself. I bust through the walls leading upward and rushed through the hallways, breaking out of a window. I transformed, landing in some sort of gathering in a garden, scaring off everyone and driving off into the night. ------ A strange new being comes to this world, tries to fit in, befriends a pony, attacks the princess, and with the help of the Elements of harmony ruins the Grand Galloping gala. It was the perfect time to wake up and get ready to spread some chaos. Soon the last strands of harmony that bound me would shatter. However I believed our new visitor would pose a problem. I needed something to stand against him, something that's familiar with him, something clever, something who will take any opportunity it can to win, something...that just refuses to die.