“You ARE a monster, my pet, you always will be, no matter what you do.”
My shotgun fired, as one of the bloodwings came flying down toward me, its head exploding into meaty chunks. Its body flew over me, hitting the far wall with a wet crunch. Seven shots left, and only forty or so left to kill. I ducked and rolled as two more flew over me, their screeching filling the air. I could see Stardust up on the upper balcony firing wildly as each one passed near him, concentration etched into his face as he lined up each shot. If he had his rifle I’m sure it would’ve been much easier for him. The 10mm I gave him earlier wasn’t doing enough damage to actually harm the flying beasts, most of his shots either missed or grazed tender areas.
Aura, was a monster in her own right. Unlike Stardust who was keeping to the ground, she was in the air meeting every one of them face to face. She looped around two who were coming at her. She flipped around in mid-air with her spear and beheaded one, then stabbed the other in the back. With a quick flap of her wings she flew higher, her weapon arching up, cutting another bloodwing from belly to neck. It screamed as it was eviscerated. Before it could even start to fall, she was already battling another one. The monsters weren’t stupid however, three went after her at once, each one dodging her spear and talons as the others kept her distracted.
I twisted and dodged two that were flying at me, using the butt of my shotgun to strike their wings as they passed by. I missed the first one, but the second went down with a satisfying crunch as the middle joint of its wing gave way. It skidded to the ground and started to get back up, hissing at me as it limped along. I ran up to it and bucked it in the face sending it flying into the wall. Before it could rise again, my hoof stomped down hard on its head, once, twice, three times, until the skull gave.
Ignoring the gore on my foreleg and hoof, I looked across the room at Sharp, she was watching us with a satisfied grin on her face. I grinned back at her and racked the shotgun pointing it toward her, “Thought you were ordered to kill me? Seems kind of lazy of you to leave it up to your little friends.”
Another bloodwing landed in front of me screeching and biting, I triggered S.A.T.S. and blasted two shells into its face. The body flew back in a red mist, five shots left. Two more landed in front of me, one in front of the other. I tried to hit the one in front with the butt of my shotgun, but it jumped back. I cursed and activated S.A.T.S. again as it lunged for me. Time slowed and I targeted its head like the others. I fired, and it missed, I jumped out of the way and activated S.A.T.S. again this time aiming for one of its wings. The shot connected, blowing the appendage off in a shower of blood. The other one jumped for me as its companion fell, I tried to use S.A.T.S. again, but it was recharging.
I ran toward it and slid on the ground as it lunged, aiming my shotgun up and firing as it passed over me. It screamed and fell to the ground as its torso burst apart, organs spilling over the floor. I got back to my hooves and looked over at Sharp again. She was still just sitting there smiling.
“Is this entertaining for you or something!?” I yelled. I only had three shots left, could I take her down with only three shots?
“No, it’s not,” is all she said, as she slowly stood.
“Then why don’t you just get it over with already?” I asked.
“I was giving you and your friends time,” she said as she took a step closer, those long spear like bones from her legs making tiny ticks with each step.
“Time for what?” I asked pointing my shotgun at her.
“Time for you to figure out a way to kill me,” she said, sounding sincere as she walked closer, her eyes looked sad.
“Is this some kind of twisted joke? Why would you want me to find a way to kill you?” I did want to keep her from hurting anypony again, but I still found it strange that she’d want to die.
She came within inches of my shotgun and said, “Because, I’m a monster, created by the doctor simply so he could take over this stable. I can’t kill myself to atone for my sins, so I’d need to have you do it. I won’t be able to just let you, I’ll fight back until I can’t anymore, I have no control over that, but I still want to die.”
The shotgun shook in my magic’s grip as she spoke. “That all sounds really complicated, but if that’s the only way to stop all this, then fine.” I pulled the trigger, and she dodged it faster than I thought was possible. She twisted around and bucked the shotgun aside. She screeched again and jabbed at me with those freaky bone things coming out of her legs. What kind of pony has mutant bone thingies anyway? Stupid question, she’s a monster.
I noticed as I dodged the strike that as she struck, she bent her hoof inward making the bone work like a small claw. She jumped into the air and dove at me with those damned claws coming down right at my head. Even though I knew it would hurt like hell, I tried to teleport away. My horn glowed red and in a flash I was about six feet to the left.
She landed a second later and her claws sunk into floor like it was made out of butter. She jerked and pulled, but she was stuck to the ground. She growled and looked over at me with her glowing yellow eyes. I kind of felt bad for her, I wasn’t sure why, but I just knew something wasn’t right. It was like she wasn’t in control of her own actions. She didn’t chose to be like this, she was just the product of a mad doctor. I lifted my shotgun toward her head and she jerked again.
“I’m sorry,” was all I could say as I pulled the trigger. With her last jerk, she pulled up just enough to keep the shot from hitting her head. Instead it blew the claws off her legs as she blocked the shot. She screeched again as blood spurted from the fresh wounds. As she did, my horn felt like it was being stabbed again, I looked up at her noticing something different this time. That pinkish glow around her muzzle as she screeched. It wasn’t coming from her, but from the collar she wore.
That had to be the source of whatever was fucking up my horn. The screech kept going on as she thrashed in pain, I could see my Pip-Buck starting to act up again. I ignored it and the pain in my head as I fought to hold onto the shotgun. I lifted it and fired my last shell. There was a flash of pink light and everything went black.
I opened my eyes looking up at Aura and Stardust. They both looked relieved as I opened my eyes. I smiled deliriously and asked, “So, did we win?”
“I’m not sure, whatever you did scared off the bloodwings. No idea where they went,” Aura said, helping me back to my hooves.
I took a second to look around. “Where did Sharp go?”
Stardust pointed toward the stairway that lead back to the upper level of the Atrium. I saw her shaking on the ground next to it, blood dripping from her legs. The collar I shot was lying next to her sparking on the ground. “She stopped attacking as soon as you destroyed that collar on her neck. She hasn’t moved from that spot since then either, so I figured we’d leave her to you. I feel like I’d say something sarcastic and insensitive.”
I walked over to her cautiously. She might not look like she’s going to do anything, but I had to be ready just in case. “Sharp, what was that thing you had on your neck?”
She looked up at me with tear filled eyes, now I could see that her shaking wasn’t from whatever happened when I shot the collar. She’d been crying. She sniffed and said, “Doctor Cell was using that thing, to keep me under his control. As long as I had it on, I had to do whatever he said.” She shivered more her eyes getting wider as she said, “He ordered me to kill those fillies. He told me to make an example of them. He made me kill so many ponies before the rest got away.”
I sighed and looked back at my companions. “What do we do now?” I asked.
“I say kill the thing and let’s get out of here,” Aura said nonchalantly. I noticed she had dozens of cuts on her from the fight.
“She wasn’t in control of herself. I say give her a chance,” Stardust said.
Great, I was the tie breaker. Why couldn’t a better pony than me decide this? I’m not a judge or an Overmare. Why should I choose who lives or dies? I mean if she was still attacking me, I wouldn’t hesitate, but the bar on my E.F.S. was white. I groaned and sat on my haunches pressing my hooves to my eyes. “Why does this have to be so hard?” I looked back at Sharp and asked, “You said before that you wanted to die, right?”
She looked up at me and nodded. “It’s the only way to atone for my sins, and to keep me from doing any more harm.”
“Do you want to hurt my friends or me anymore, or any other pony?” I asked.
She gave me a quizzical look. “I don’t, but what does it matter?”
“Then I can’t kill you, from how I see it, you only did what you were forced to do.” I got up and turned away from her. “If you wanna do something good, don’t kill yourself, that won’t bring back the ponies who died. Only a coward would do such a thing.”
Without looking back at her I walked toward the stairway. Her voice floated to me quietly, “Thank you.”
“Let’s go,” I said to my companions as I started to walk up the steps.
“Are you sure about this Shorty?” Aura asked, walking up next to me.
“I’m not sure about anything anymore. All I know is that we need to get out of here, and I need to have a word with Doctor Cell. We can’t leave Stable 9 until he’s dealt with,” I replied.
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea, you saw what she could do. Do you really want to let her live with that kind of power?” Aura asked.
“That’s not up to me, if she was still trying to kill us then yes I’d take care of her. I can’t go around and kill everypony I think could be dangerous. If I did, I wouldn’t have helped you,” I said looking over at her.
She blushed and looked away. “Fine, but if she ends up hurting someone down the road, you’ll only have yourself to blame.”
I ignored her making my way over to one of the doors on the upper level. I saw my saddle bags sitting next to it, along with my duster. I reached down, picked up my stuff, and put my bloodstained duster back on. When I was done, I loaded my shotgun again and looked back at the two of them. “How did you find me?”
“When the griffon found me, I still couldn’t find another way out of that hallway. All the doors on that side were sealed off, I was still trying to find any way I could to open the doors when the lights went out. The two of us flew back to the room where you were, but you were gone. We ran back to the Atrium door, with no power, we couldn’t open it,” Stardust said.
“How’d you two get to me then?” I asked.
“We tried to find another way to get to the atrium, when the power came back on though we just flew back and tried the one that didn’t work before,” Aura said, simply.
We kept moving down the hall, weapons drawn. I wasn’t gonna risk running into more monsters without being ready for it. The hall rounded a corner and led us to two different doors, over one door there was a sign that said ‘Overmare’ the other said ‘Biology Lab’.
“If I was a crazy doctor scientist guy, where would I go if I was in a panic and trying to get away from somepony who wanted me dead?” I asked looking at both doors.
“Really? Is that even a real question?” Stardust asked, giving me a look.
“The lab it is then,” I said, making my way over to the door and opening it. Stardust just shook his head as Aura snickered.
The door opened into another short hallway that lead to another door. As I approached it Aura chimed in, “Why would you have two doors like this, I mean what’s the point of one door, then a short hallway, then another door to a lab? No wonder stable ponies are so weird, they come from fucked up places like this.”
Come to think of it, it was a little odd, Stable 28’s labs were set up the same way, same for the clinic. I wonder if there was some scientific reason for it, I however wasn’t the sciencey type. I just looked back at her and smiled wide. “No idea, but who gives a rip, it is what it is.”
The door opened and I walked through, the first impression I got was it looked a lot like I would expect a lab to look. Microscopes on tables, beakers, and terminals. I also saw something else I didn’t expect. A dead bloodwing on the far table, partially dissected, blood pooling on the floor next to it. Then the door behind me slammed shut, Stardust and Aura still on the other side of it. Why does this stupid shit keep happening to me? Oh yeah, I forgot to knock on wood, that’s right. Now this makes total sense. From now on I’m gonna knock on wood, throw salt over my shoulder, say rabbit when I wake up, the whole shebang.
“Shadow!” Stardust yelled, on the other side of the door. “Don’t worry we’ll get you out of there.”
“I’ll be okay, go to the Overmare’s office and see if you can get this door open from there,” I said.
“Fine, just be careful,” Stardust responded.
“How nice of you to join me,” Doctor Cell said from the room on the other side of the lab.
“I figured you’d come running up here,” I said, checking my shotgun and slowly walking forward.
He smiled. “You surprise me. I never expected a filly like you to be able to fight off so many of my children, even more, I didn’t ever think you’d figure out how to get Sharp out of my control.”
“Wasn’t hard to figure out, when I saw her using that screech of hers, I saw the glow from the collar, figured shooting it would do something,” I said.
He chuckled a little as if this was amusing. “Ah, that was very smart of you. Well done, I take it you’re up here to kill me then?”
I could see the red bar on my E.F.S. and I slowly moved closer. “Yeah, you’ve done some nasty things Doc, it’s time for you to pay for your crimes.”
“Sadly, I can’t let you do that, I have so much more to do,” he said as he poked his head out from the doorway. “So how about you die instead.”
Using his magic, he tossed something toward me. I had no idea what it was, but after what he said I knew it couldn’t be good, I wrapped my magic around it, intending to throw it back at him. As my magic connected with what he threw, and I knew my mistake as soon as the connection was made, and the world around me melted away.
oooOOOooo
A memory orb, just fucking perfect. That was something I really wasn’t expecting. Now I was stuck in this thing, while the crazy doctor was doing, goddesses knew what, to me. I was in a stallion, yep that was defiantly something that didn’t belong on a mare. I felt something fluttering on my sides, with no horn and the extra appendages on my side, I figured I was in the body of a pegasus.
My host was making his way through an assortment of soldiers in some kind of field, a large tent looming in front of him. The body I was in felt like it was pressed into some kind of armor, but it fit nicely. He turned away from the large tent and walked into a smaller one.
Inside was a tall red earth pony stallion putting on the last of his combat armor. His head turned as my host walked through the tent flap, a smile on his face, “Big Mac, it’s good to see you old friend,” my host said, in a deep voice.
“Night Stalker, it’s been a while. I didn’t expect to see ya here today,” Big Mac said.
“Luna’s orders, she wants all hooves on deck for this. She’s afraid the stripes will try something,” my host said, walking up next to the tall stallion and looking into the mirror as well.
My host seemed normal looking to me, dark grey coat, black mane, and emerald green eyes. He was however almost as tall as the red stallion he called Big Mac and over his left eye was a wicked scar. It looked like a claw or talon had torn away a large chunk of skin over the eye leaving it a pink and red patch of skin. He was wearing similar looking armor to Big Mac, only it was black, with dark blue running along its edges. There was a crescent moon on the chest with a red ruby above it, slightly glowing. Hooked to one side of the combat armor, was a helmet with goggles and a rebreather connected to it. They goggles had a red tint to them and in the middle were three tinny gem stones. There were two swords strapped to his back. The swords glowed a little even in the dim light of the tent and looked sharp has hell. The handles had small bars poking out of them, like they were made to connect to something. On his sides under his wings was a battle saddle with two disintegration rifles attached to it. I remembered seeing something in The Wasteland Survival Guide about them.
“We’re here for Princess Celestia to talk over terms of peace with the Caesar’s representative. If they were up to no good, wouldn’t they try to go after the current ruler of Equestria, not the former?” Big Mac asked.
“I wouldn’t put it past them my friend, you’ve been in plenty of battles with the stripes. You should know better by now, you can’t trust them,” my host said, walking away from Big Mac and looking around the tent.
“Heh, e’yep, I sure have been. I’m hopin’ that today won’t be another. I still don’t understand why you’d be sent here? From what I heard, you’ve got your own squad of ponies to lead now. I thought they were supposed to be kept secret,” Big Mac said.
“Eh, you know I can’t just stay out of what could end up being a good fight. Luna wanted us here to back up you and the marauders. Heh, if something goes down, you couldn’t ask for better ponies to be here,” my host said getting a little more enthusiastic. “Tell me, how’d you hear about my new team? I only started recruiting them a few weeks ago, and as far as I know our missions have been kept top secret.”
Big Mac gave my host a look. “I have my ways of findin’ things out, and Celestia ain’t good at keepin’ secrets when it comes to some of her trusted ponies like mahself.”
“I’m sure that young stallion Echo had a little to do with that, more than the princess’ loose lips,” my host said.
“Maybe he did. I’m not sure why ya care. Do ya think my team or I, will go around telling ponies about the Princess’ secret group of assassins?” Big Mac asked.
“We’re not assassins, more like a special unit that can be sent in to take care of the things normal soldiers can’t,” my host replied.
“So, you’re more like a secret society that just happens to kill ponies,” Big Mac said, with a smile.
“Something like that, sure,” my host responded, seeming to let Big Mac win.
“You know I’m just yanking your chain Night Stalker. I’m proud to see ya makin’ your way up the ranks like ya are. How does it feel to be a Captain?” Big Mac said, smiling again.
Night Stalker rubbed the back of his head. “Honestly, it feels weird. I barely got used to giving orders as a Sergeant before Celestia recruited me to be part of Luna’s guard, then to take on this project as leader of a new secret special ops team. Now I’m bumped up way higher in the ranks than I ever thought I’d be.”
Big Mac nudged my host in the shoulder, saying, “You’ll do fine, I remember what it’s like to have ponies looking to ya for leadership. When the Marauders started, I was scared shitless that I’d mess somethin’ up. Ya’ll have a good head on yer shoulders.”
“Ha. You ended up being one hell of a leader, your team is highly respected and probably among the best fighters in Equestria,” Night Stalker said.
Big Mac nodded. “That might be true, but that could change soon.”
He had a funny look, my host must’ve noticed it too because he walked back over to the large stallion, “You okay?”
Big Mac smiled, “More than okay. I’m peachier than a peach cobbler.”
“You’re still a bad liar Big Mac. You’re leaving the Marauders, aren’t you?” Night Stalker asked.
A small smile came to his face, “I’m retirin’.”
My host was taken aback by that. “Why?”
“I have a special mare that I owe a better life, after today, I’ll be done with this war. I plan on movin’ back home to Sweet Apple Acres or maybe Ponyville. I’m gonna ask her to marry me,” he said, his smile growing.
I felt my host smile. “It’ll suck to see you go big guy, but if anypony deserves to leave this life behind and be happy with a mare, it’s you my friend. What’s her name?”
“I’ll introduce ya’ll after we get engaged, before that, I’m not telling anypony,” Big Mac said, waving his hoof.
“Fair enough,” Night Stalker responded.
“What about you Night Stalker, do ya have a special somepony yet?” Big Mac asked.
I could feel my host’s cheeks starting to burn a little as he blushed. “Not…really.”
“What kind of answer is that?” Big Mac asked.
“I have feelings for a mare, but she’s way out of my league. She knows how I feel…I think, but I couldn’t ever ask her to love a pony like me,” Night Stalker responded.
“What mare wouldn’t want a good-looking buck like you, I mean yeah that eye of yours is a little messed up, but most mares like a buck with scars,” Big Mac said with a wink.
“I’ll tell you when I meet your mare friend,” my host said, with a sly smile.
“Fair enough. Well I think it’s about time to get to our posts. I gotta check that my own team is in position, then I’ll be headin’ over to the main tent,” Big Mac said.
“I’ll see you there, Big Mac,” Night Stalker said.
The two bumped hooves and my host left the tent and headed toward the large one. He walked in and headed for the long table set up on one side of the tent. Sitting by it was a Goddess, Princess Celestia herself, looking regal and beautiful, just how she did in the many books I’d seen her in, only now she was here in front of me. Well at least when this memory took place. She smiled as my host trotted over to her, bowing low.
“Night Stalker, I’m glad you could make it,” she said.
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else Princess,” he said as he once again rose.
She laughed lightly. “I’m sure you’d rather be anywhere else than here. No matter, I’m happy you are. I’ll admit I’m a little worried that something will go wrong, and I feel much safer with one of Luna’s Children of the Night along-side me.”
“Everything will be fine Princess, and you’ll have Big Mac and the Marauders here as well. You’re the one who set up this peace talk, and you’ll only be meeting with old zebras, not much can go wrong,” he said, giving her a smile.
“Still I’m glad you’ll be keeping watch. Where is the rest of your team?” she asked.
“They’re set up in different areas of the camp, watching the borders to make sure the zebras don’t get the drop on us, in case this was all a set up,” my host said, pulling his helmet off his hip and putting it on. When he did the eyes on the helmet brought up what looked like an E.F.S.
“Good,” she said as Big Mac walked in and stood on the other side of the Princess.
A few zebras started to walk in with some ponies, all of them coming up to the table. What happened next I really didn’t pay much attention to, it was all a bunch of bickering about crimes the ponies committed or the zebras and how they could overcome the damage that happened in the war. Half way though, a little radio in the helmet made a hissing sound then a mare’s voice echoed into my host’s ear, “Capitan I’m seeing movement in the trees to the north.”
Turning his head to the side a little my host whispered back, “Are they Stripes?”
“I think so sir, but I’m not getting a good view, it’s possible they’re wearing zebra stealth cloaks. Do you want us to intercept?” the voice asked.
“Use the thermal goggles and only engage if they move past the tree line. They may just be guards for the ambassador. Be sure to keep me updated,” he replied.
“Yes sir,” the voice said.
“You can’t expect me to agree to these terms ambassador, my sister is the ruler of Equestria now, and for the last time she is no longer Nightmare Moon,” Celestia was saying to an old looking zebra.
Another voice came over the radio, a stallion this time from the sound of it, “Sir we have movement on the other side of the camp. Zebra stealth cloaks for sure.”
“Engage now, make sure they don’t get near the tent,” Night Stalker said. He turned toward Big Mac and was about to say something when all hell broke loose. Zebra’s seemed to appear out of nowhere, blades in hoof as they charged toward Princess Celestia. Big Mac and my host jumped into action, the former pulling Celestia back, the latter firing his guns at the charging zebras. They started to explode into dust as he fired shot after shot.
He looked back at his friend, who was also firing at the charging zebras. Ponies were yelling and screaming from outside the tent as the advancing zebras fought their way toward the tent and Princess Celestia. My host bucked at a Zebra who got too close, sending him flying into three more, his face caving in from the force of my hosts kick.
“Big Mac, you have to get the Princess out of here,” he yelled.
“I’m tryin’, but I’m a little preoccupied at the moment,” Big Mac replied.
The other soldiers that were posted in the tent with them, fell as zebra assassins advanced, using a fighting style I’d never seen before. They seemed to dance around shots and dodge any melee attacks. Soon the only three left standing against the zebras were my host, Celestia, and Big Mac.
“You’ll be coming with us Princess,” one of the zebras said, a look of triumph on his face.
“I don’t think so,” my host said firing at the old zebra.
With surprising grace, he dodged the shot and attacked. My host tried to block the on slot of blows, but he wasn’t fast enough, and many got him in the ribs, legs, and face, bringing him to his knees. The old zebra smiled. “You ponies don’t stand a chance against us, and we are some of the best hoof to hoof fighters the Caesar has.”
A shot rang out and his head exploded in a burst of gore, bone, and brain tissue, blasting over my host. “You were saying?” my host said wiping the gore from his goggles then saying into the radio, “Thanks Comet Tail.”
“You got more coming sir, the others will be there soon, I’ll hold my position incase more try and make their way into the tent,” she responded.
Big Mac didn’t let off as he fired over and over, doing his best to kill anyone who got too close to Celestia. “Princess you need to evacuate, we can’t hold em’ off forever.”
“I won’t leave you two here to die, not like this,” she said. To me she looked too stunned or shocked to do anything.
“Dammit,” my host said, then he spoke into his radio once again, “We need all soldiers to the tent, they’re after the Princess.”
Big Mac backed up putting his body between Celestia and the oncoming zebras, as he moved back a distant boom filled the air and a hole appeared in the side of the tent, a bullet ripping through Big Mac’s Chest. Blood flew and time seemed to slow, as the large stallion fell. My host watched for a split second taking in what just happened, looking down at the lifeless eyes of his friend.
Then as if his training kicked in and kept him going he said into his radio, “Sniper, we have a sniper out there, Big Red’s down. Babs get to the tent, we need you here for defense.”
“I’m on it,” another mare’s voice said through the radio.
It seemed the zebras were shocked as well at the death of the large pony. They faltered for a moment, confusion written on all their faces. Then a deep bellow came from my host’s lips as he reached up and attached the silvery swords to his armor, each one pointing outward, sharp edges facing away from him. As he roared his pain and rage, his wings flapped and faster than even Stardust could move, he crossed the space between the zebras and himself. His right foreleg flew out and sliced cleanly through the neck of a zebra, his head coming free from his body, blood spraying in the air.
“You fucking bastards will pay for what you’ve done!” my host yelled, jumping at another zebra, his left blade stabbing him in the chest. Another tried to stab at the crazed pegasus, but my host ducked. With his other hoof out, the sword cut the zebras legs out from under him. Another fired a pistol, but it only dinged off the armor, the ruby glowing a little as it did. He died as my host’s swords cut him in two, his innards spraying across the ground.
The rest tried to flee, but Night Stalker wasn’t having it. He rushed in and his blades took down whoever was left in the tent with him. He screamed then looked back at the Princess as soldiers came running in creating a defensive circle around the princess and the fallen soldier. Seeing the princess was safe he flew out the tent flaps and went high in the sky. He reached up and pressed a button on the side of his helmet. Everything went blue and red, and he started looking around the area. Running red pony shaped marks were all over the place, some fighting, others chasing.
My host didn’t give them a second thought, he was looking for something else. He searched the rocky hills near the field and saw only a few dots of red on them. He deactivated the spell in his helmet and raced toward the cliffs. When he got there, he looked down to where he’d seen the red marks before. There were only ponies around, one was a sniper. She was looking through her scope firing at zebras as they fought the ponies.
Shaking his head, he cursed and said, “Where the fuck did that bullet come from?” When nopony answered, he sheathed his blades and flew back toward the field where the rest of the soldiers were chasing off the last of the zebras who’d attacked.
He landed next to the tent and walked inside. Celestia was crying, same for a few of the soldiers as they looked at the still form of Big Mac. Pulling his helmet off, my host walked over and kneeled next to his friend. With a shaking hoof, he closed those lifeless green eyes and let one tear fall. “Those motherfuckers will pay for this.”
A hoof rested on his shoulder and my host looked up into Celestia’s melancholy face. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault,” she said.
He stood and shook his head. “No Princess, you were trying to make peace. Those zebras are the ones at fault, they don’t understand peace. All they know how to do is kill.”
“Don’t blame the race for what a few of their kind do,” Princess Celestia said solemnly.
“They’re all monsters, every last one of them,” my host said, then he looked over at one of the soldiers. “Get her out of here, just in case they have backup coming.”
He saluted. “Yes sir.”
My host walked to the flap of the tent again, before he was out, Celestia yelled, “Night Stalker, please don’t walk out like this.”
“Sorry Princess, but I need a little time. Get back to Canterlot safe, I’ll be sure to give my report to your sister when I get back.” He walked out, then flew into the air.
He started making his way over toward the edge of the field then landed next to a white pegasus mare, with a black and yellow mixed mane. She had a zebra tied up next to her. She saluted when he landed, saying, “Sir, we were able to capture one of them.”
“Good work Comet Tail,” he said walking over to the zebra. “Why did you attack us, we were here to negotiate for peace?”
“There will be no peace while Nightmare Moon rules,” the zebra hissed.
“Enough with that bullshit, why did you try to kill Princess Celestia?” Night Stalker asked.
He looked confused, “We did no such thing, and we were only to capture the Princess to use her as a bargaining chip to force Nightmare Moon to step down and to help end this war.”
“Liar! One of your snipers killed a good friend of mine while he was protecting the Princess!” Night Stalker shouted.
“We had no snipers you fool, it must have been one of your own,” he said, glaring up at my host.
“More lies, nopony here would’ve ever taken a shot at our Princess or Big Mac. Tell the truth,” he said, angrily.
“I am you damned fool, and I won’t change my words for anything. Now how about you take me in as a prisoner of war. I look forward to the hospitality your government will have for me,” he said with a smile.
In a flash, my host drew one of his blades with his wing, sliced it through the zebra’s neck and sheathed it again. The head rolled off and blood sprayed everywhere. The mare backed away and looked at my host with horror. “Why did you do that Captain? He could’ve had information we could’ve used.”
My host looked back at her and said, “Because, he wouldn’t have stopped his lies, and we captured a few of his friends for the M.O.M. to have. He was useless and deserved no less. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to tell Luna what happened here, if she’s angry then I’ll bear all responsibility.”
“Yes sir, understood,” she responded.
As my host turned his back on the dead body of the zebra he smiled and started to slowly walk away, the pegasus mare, close behind…
oooOOOooo
I jumped as I came out of the memory, I tried to move my hooves, but they were tied down. I looked around, seeing I was still in the lab on a table. Doctor Cell was standing next to me, his horn glowing as he mixed different concoctions in beakers and flasks. He looked over at me. “I see you’re awake, good. How did you enjoy your nap?”
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, pulling at my restraints.
“Keeping you from trying to kill me again. I told you before, I needed another subject to try my experiments on. I think you’ll do nicely, but I do have a couple of questions before we begin,” he said smoothly setting down the potion he was working on.
“Oh yeah, like what?” I asked.
“How in Celestia did you get a hold of that Pip-Buck? It’s a very rare model, I’ve only ever seen THREE like it before,” he said, lifting his foreleg and showing me his own Pip-Buck. It looked a lot like mine only instead of having a shiny finish like my own, his was mat black with a purple accented lines.
I smiled as I saw it. “Funny I could ask you the same question, how did you get one?”
“There were three of them in Stable 9, one went to the Overmare, another to the head of security, and the last to the head of research. I got mine a couple years before the stable went to shit. Now, how did you get your hooves on the Overmare’s?” he asked.
I looked down at my Pip-Buck wondering that myself. I looked back to him with a smile. “Gift from my mother.”
He smiled and said, “When I killed the Overmare, she didn’t have her Pip-Buck on anymore. I wondered what she’d done with it. I guess one of the survivors had ran off with it. Oh well, it’s not really that big a deal, my other question is simple as well. Why did you open my stable?”
I was strapped to a table by a mad scientist who made monsters. What could it hurt telling him the truth, I was already royally fucked. “The Steel Rangers wanted a Pip-Buck like mine. Since they can’t get mine off, they figured they’d send me in here to find another.”
“Hmmm, Steel Rangers huh, the name alone is kind of misgiving. I’ll have to be sure to deal with them when I leave here,” he said, picking up his potion again.
“My friends are outside the door and they’ll kill you as soon as you open it, no matter what you do to me, you’re dead. What makes you think you can get out of here?” I asked.
He chuckled and pointed toward a few terminal screens. “You see them?” he asked. I looked over and to my horror, I saw thousands of bloodwings throughout all of the lower levels of the stable. He laughed again. “They’re my ticket out of here, and they all see me as one of them thanks to a gene I fixed when I created them. Both them and their offspring will never hurt me and will always do what I tell them to, no magic needed like with Sharp. They’ll take care of your friends and Sharp for me, then I’ll let them loose in Equestria. My own personal army.”
“Is that why the lower parts of the stable were sealed?” I asked, in horror at the sight of so many bloodsucking monsters.
He smiled again, “Yes, but only to you three. My creations, bloodwings is what you called them I think? They can get through any door in this stable even if I seal it, I set it up that way to keep the rest of the ponies from escaping. It only kept a few from getting away unfortunately.”
I thought of the eight pony heads Stardust and I saw when we first got into the stable. “You’re a monster.”
“I may be a monster, but don’t worry, soon you will be too,” he said, smiling wider as he pressed the potion to my lips. “Enough talk. It’s time to take your medicine.”
“Wait, one question before you do that,” I said, quickly before closing my mouth tight.
He sighed. “What?”
“Can you at least tell me how to get one of these Pip-Buck’s off?” I asked.
He pulled the bottle away from my lips looking at me curiously. “Well it’s not like it matters, but the Mark II only unlocks when a pony dies, at least that’s the way we got them off in here. The Overmare knew another way, but she never shared that information with the rest of us.”
That couldn’t be right, mother took hers off and left it for me. Either he was lying to me, or he really didn’t know. Oh well, it can’t be helped now, I had enough of this nut job. I could see something on one of his terminals, so using my magic, what little of it I had left, I flipped the switch next to the main terminal hoping it would do what I hoped it did.
The door to the lab clicked and in flew Sharp. I saw her on the terminal rushing up the hall and hoped she wasn’t coming to kill me. Sure, enough as the doctor looked up, she slammed into him throwing him through the glass window of an observation room. She flapped her wings to slow herself then landed next to me.
“Hey Sharp, nice timing, think you can help me out of this?” I said, giving her an, I’m a big idiot for falling for a stupid trap, smile.
She looked at me for a moment and pressed a button next to the table. There was a hiss and the straps holding me down clicked open letting me loose. I jumped to my hooves and picked up my shotgun. Doctor Cell was getting up on the other end of the glass, he looked at both of us, one with her wicked fangs, me with my shotgun held in my weak magic.
He only smiled and chuckled maniacally. “Knew I should’ve killed you years ago.”
“Yes, you should’ve,” she said, hissing at him.
“Don’t kill him yet,” I said stepping in front of her.
“And why not? He deserves it and more,” she asked.
I looked at the doctor and asked, “Is there a way to fix what happened to Sharp?”
The batpony looked at me in surprise, the doctor however only laughed hysterically. “Why would I make a cure when there is nothing wrong with her, she’s perfect as she is, even if she doesn’t listen very well. Stupid Sharp, you’ll regret turning your back on me.”
“My name is Wind Thrasher, Wind Thrasher! Do you hear me?” she screamed, grabbing him through the window with her fangs and throwing him into a wall, blood spraying across the ground.
I could see the pain on her face, the tears in her eyes, as Doctor Cell just kept laughing. She walked up to him again, but she stopped and started to shake. She looked back at me. “I’m not a monster, and I don’t want to be a monster. He made me into this, and still I can’t…I just can’t do it.”
I walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. Right then my friends came rushing in. They looked at me, then at Wind Thrasher, and then at the doctor. Aura finally broke the silence. “For fuck sake, why is it every time we walk off, something interesting happens to you?”
I only grinned at them then turned back to look at Doctor Cell as he continued to laugh uncontrollably. Is he ever going to stop? He looked up at Wind Thrasher and yelled, “You ARE a monster, my pet, you always will be, no matter what you do. I named you Sharp because Wind Thrasher died years ago. Now, be a good little monster and fucking kill this damn unicorn and her friends like I told you to!”
I lifted my shotgun and said, “Her name is Wind Thrasher, and she’s no monster, you are.” I pulled the trigger and his brains splattered against the far wall, his body fell to the ground twitching as blood started to pool around what was left of his head. I had enough of this, it was time to leave Stable 9. I looked down at his still twitching body and flipped his left foreleg around. The latch to his Pip-Buck was there. I removed it and placed it in my saddle bags.
Sharp, or Wind Thrasher, looked at me in confusion, “You…killed him?”
“He was the real monster, it was time for him to be put down,” I said, walking past Stardust and Aura heading back toward the hall. I stopped for a moment saying to them, “Look at the terminals in there.”
I made my way back into the hall, then through the door that lead up to the Overmare’s office. I went into the empty office letting the door close behind me. Walking over to the desk I sat down and looked at the terminal. It looked like Stardust was able to log in. I saw dozens of files on the terminal, along with a few audio files, and a selection to unlock the Overmare’s safe. I plugged my Pip-Buck in and downloaded the files. After that I unlocked the safe and walked over to it.
I opened it only to find a few things, there was a recording, some gold pre-war bits, some old dusty files, and a memory orb. I reached into the safe and took the orb, recording, and bits, placing them in my saddle bags. I looked over and saw bones not far from the safe. It looked as if she’d been trying to reach it when she died, her hoof reaching out for it. I looked closer and saw another recording next to her hoof. I reached down and picked it up, I sat against the wall of her office and placed it into my Pip-Buck and hit play.
A week voice came out of my Pip-Buck breathing heavily, “This is Carrot Cake, Overmare of Stable 9…former Overmare now I guess,” a wet cough came from the recording, “All I wanted, was for my stable to be happy and healthy, we did so much good here. Now, the stable is dying, Doctor Cell, has killed me, killed so many of us. All I wanted for him to do was to save my daughter.”
She coughed again and I could hear her crying. “He didn’t help her at all, he made her into…something. She’s killed so many under his orders. I know it’s not her doing it, it can’t be.” She took a deep breath again and continued, “Wind Thrasher, if you ever find this…and you’re better…just remember….I love you…I’m sorry. This is Overmare Carrot Cake, and he didn’t get all of us.”
I looked down at my Pip-Buck ejecting the recording, tears fell from my eyes as I looked back at those bones laying on the ground, her hoof reaching for the safe. It looked like she was trying to put the recording into it, but she died before she could.
“She was a good mother,” Wind Thrasher said, from the door.
I looked up at her, she was looking down at the bones. I still found her a little scary when I looked at her, but the pony she’d been before showed through the monstrous exterior. I wiped my tears away and asked, “What happened?”
She sighed. “This stable was supposed to be a kind of safe haven for different animals of Equestria, a special request from Fluttershy, the mare who ran the Mistry of Peace. Over the years though, only a couple species survived. Cell was a bioengineer and had this crazy idea to see if he could use the Vampire Fruit Bats to make some kind of super creature, and eventually use their DNA to help us survive in the outside world. Nopony knew that though, we thought he was working on something else. I got hurt twenty years ago, while working with security. I got electrocuted, and I wasn’t doing well at all, so my mother, the Overmare, ordered him to help me in any way he could. He did this to me, put that collar around my neck and showed me to mother. Then when she freaked out, he stabbed her, and ordered me to start killing everypony.”
I could see tears falling from her eyes as she sat on her haunches. Stardust walked in and came over to me sitting down, Aura wasn’t far behind. To my surprise, she sat next to Wind Thrasher wrapping a wing around her. “Listen, sorry I called you a monster, and sorry I said Shadow Star should kill you. I read the reports on the crazy doc’s terminal. You were just a kid when this happened huh?”
She looked up at the griffon and nodded softly. “I’d just gotten my cutie mark, mom set me up to work with security when this all happened. He made me kill so many,” she said, starting to cry again.
Aura shook her head. “How many?”
“The stable had five hundred ponies in it, only a couple hundred made it out. He made me kill all the rest, then he kept their bodies in storage to use for a source of food for his monsters. When that ran out, he found another way to keep them alive along with us,” she replied.
I walked up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Listen Wind Thrasher, we have to get out of this place, then we’ll have to seal it again to keep those things from getting out of here. I want you to come with us, we could use a pony like you out there in The Wasteland.”
She looked up at me and sighed. “That sounds nice, but I couldn’t, not yet.”
“Sure you can, The Wasteland isn’t a safe place for one pony on her own, we can help you,” I said.
“No, just look at me. When I leave the stable I’m going to go out on my own, see what The Wasteland has to offer something like me, and maybe even find the survivors and hopefully find forgiveness,” she said, with a sad smile looking over at the bones of her dead mother.
Stardust still sat there as he said, “If you ever feel like you need help out there, just find us. I remember what it was like when I first went out on my own, it was scary. Before I found Shadow, I was all alone, it’s not a nice feeling.”
She smiled at him. “One day, maybe I will,” she said as she stood and wiped her eyes.
“I have one more question before we get out of here, actually two,” I said.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“First, what happened to my magic and my Pip-Buck when we first entered the stable, and later when we were fighting? It wasn’t as strong then, but the first time I heard that screech of yours, it did something to my Pip-Buck,” I asked.
“That’s easy, the collar I had on wasn’t just something to keep me under Doctor Cell’s control, it disrupted magic and tech, the longer I did it the worse the effects. I was on the other side of the door when you first got here, Doctor Cell wanted to scare you two when you first arrived, he saw it as a kind of game,” she said, with a small laugh. “I have to admit, it WAS kinda funny.”
“So, with the collar gone, I won’t have to worry about that happening again?” I asked, looking down at my Pip-Buck’s screen.
“Nope, not unless you run into somepony who knows how to do that kind of thing that is. What was your other question?” she replied.
“I didn’t see any pegasus bodies around when I was searching different parts of the stable, so how did you get wings?” I asked.
She smiled and looked back at her mother again. “Because I was the first pegasus born in Stable 9, my mother said it was possible that it was in our bloodline somewhere. The doctor’s experiment didn’t give me wings, it only changed them.”
I was about to ask her more when an alarm started going off. Okay really, what else could this stupid place throw at us? I looked at Wind Thrasher and asked, “What’s that?”
Aura however pointed at the window overlooking the Atrium, “Shorty, you might wanna look out there.”
I looked over my shoulder and felt my legs go weak, and my shoulder throb. Bloodwings were swarming into the Atrium from everywhere. Their loud cries echoing inside the large space. One spotted us through the window and it rammed its body against the thick glass. Another ran into it right after, a small crack started to form on the window as more continued to run into the round window.
“I take it this is a good time to get the fuck out of here,” Stardust said.
“How are we supposed to do that? Those things are blocking the only way out,” Aura asked, pressing the button to shut the door to the Overmare’s office.
I ran to the terminal and searched for what I hoped would be there. Sure, enough toward the bottom I saw the words 'Emergency Escape hatch' and I clicked on it. The desk started to lift revealing the tunnel underneath. I saw one more thing written on the screen as well, I knew I didn’t have time to play around so I downloaded the file to my Pip-Buck, then ran down the tunnel.
“Hurry up, this’ll get us to the stable door!” I yelled.
None of them argued as they all ran past me and down the tunnel. I hit the button on the wall making the desk sink back down, right as I heard the window above shatter. I got a quick glimpse of a few Bloodwings flying into the room, before the desk sealed the tunnel again.
“Shorty, you comin’ or what?” Aura asked pulling on my barding. I turned and nodded, running after her.
***
It only took us a couple minutes to reach the secret door that lead right to the large stable entrance. Thank Celestia and Luna, the bloodwings hadn’t found their way in here yet. Wind Thrasher flew over to the switch and pulled it, nothing happened.
“I sealed it,” I said running up to her and plugging my Pip-Buck back in. I quickly unlocked the door then nodded at her. She pulled the lever and the drill arm came down and attached itself to the large gear shaped door, this time no alarm sounded. “Let’s hope there isn’t any nasty surprises on the other side.”
“I’d rather deal with fiends than those things,” Stardust said as the door pulled open and he ran through.
We all followed, I was the last through. When I got past the door, Stardust pulled the outer lever shutting it behind me. A moment later and the door was shut again. I walked up and sealed it, making sure that nopony could open it this time.
“Well I guess this is goodbye for now. Also, sorry about trying to kill you and everything,” Wind Thrasher said with a smile, her fangs showing again.
“I guess so, just be careful, and be sure to get away from here fast, there are some nasty ponies just outside this cave,” I said, advising her of the next immediate danger.
“Yeah you really don’t wanna have your first experience in The Wasteland to be running into fiends,” Aura said slyly.
Wind Thrasher only beamed at us her eyes glowing more. “Oh, trust me, I’m part bat, and we’re very good at being sneaky,” she said as she flapped her wings and rose into the air. I noticed then how quiet she was when she moved. She winked and in a flash, she was gone, flying quickly out of the tunnel.
“So, we snuck past dangerous fiends, made our way into a stable filled with monsters, a psycho doctor, and now have a griffon following us around. What do we have to show for that?” Stardust said, looking over at me.
“We got the Pip-Buck and saved a pony,” I said.
“C’mon, couldn’t we have at least gotten something, like a new rifle for me?” Stardust asked.
“You can go back in and look for one if you really want to?” Aura said, walking past him.
“Can you two keep it down, you do remember we still have to get past the fiends again, right?” I said, quietly, trying to stop their bickering.
Stardust looked around, “I’m kinda surprised there aren’t any guards out here after that alarm went off earlier.”
“Maybe they figured it was nothing,” I said, slowly walking down the tunnel with my shotgun at the ready.
We saw the mouth of the cave up ahead. It looked clear, so we worked our way slowly toward the light flowing in. As I drew closer I could hear ponies talking in the towers close by.
Stardust walked close to me whispering in my ear, “Let’s head out from here, if we take off quick enough we should be fine, even if they see us.”
“Yeah let’s do that,” I replied, in agreeance.
I started to put my Shotgun away, when a pony rounded the corner and looked right at us. He kind of reminded me of the raiders from Cartwheel, spiked armor, and dirty. His eyes though, were pin pricks, he saw us and yelled, “Die!” his rifle came up pointing right at me. His tongue started to pull on the trigger.
I hit S.A.T.S. targeting his head with two shots. I fired, the first shot grazed the side of his cheek, knocking his own shot to the side, my second shot hit him in the neck. He fell, blood flowing from his neck. He didn’t yell or anything, he just looked up at me and started to giggle. He pulled out a vile of Med-X, and injected it. He started to get up, his neck still bleeding.
“Bitch is gonna die,” he gurgled.
I froze, Stardust however didn’t. He walked up pressed his gun to the other pony’s head and fired. The pony’s body fell limp like a worn ragdoll. Stardust picked up the assault rifle opening his wings. “Fuck! We gotta go, now!”
“Agreed,” Aura said opening her wings.
Gunfire erupted outside, barely missing me as I jumped back into the cave taking cover. “Okay, now what?” I asked as bullets rattled off the rocks overhead.
“Fuck, I need a rifle with a scope. This bullet waster isn’t gonna be much help,” Stardust said, looking panicked and irritated at the same time.
“Just suck it up and use it! At least it’s better than that pistol!” Aura yelled angrily.
“Shut up! I don’t need to take orders from you!” he yelled back.
I'd had it. “Both of you idiots shut up! If you haven’t noticed, we’re being shot at by psychos who probably want to eat our corpses after we’ve been blown to bits! Stardust use the fucking gun and Aura, uh… quit fighting with Stardust I guess. There, everything’s fair now, so help me kill them before they kill us.”
They both looked at me in awe at my sudden assertiveness, then I heard a pinging sound getting closer. I looked toward the sound and saw a shiny metal apple bouncing toward us.
“GET DOWN!” Aura yelled, tackling Stardust and I.
A loud explosion thundered through the cave making my ears ring. I got up feeling light headed. Looking around, I saw Stardust next to me dazed. On top of him was Aura, there was smoke coming from the feathers on her back.
“Aura!? Are you okay!? Say something!” I said.
“Why is the cave spinning, and why does my back hurt?” she asked, reaching to feel her back with her talons.
“There was an exploding apple, you shielded Stardust and I. Take this,” I said, giving her a healing potion.
She drank it and the burns on her back started to heal, “Damn. You mean I shielded dumbass too?”
“You know, you should ask a stallion on a date or two before jumpin’ his bones like that,” Stardust said smirking.
“I think we got em’. Let’s go check it out,” I heard a fiend’s voice say from outside.
“We’ve gotta get out of here before they come up here guns blazing,” Stardust said.
I looked over towards the entrance and noticed that the dead fiend had been blown to smithereens in the explosion. I looked up, coming from the high ceilings above where large stalactites.
“I have an idea. One of you fly me up there and we’ll hang on to the stalactites and hide,” I said.
“That won’t work! I’m pretty sure they’re smart enough to look up,” Stardust said in disbelief.
“Just do it, quick! They’ll be here any second,” I said.
“Fine. I just hope this works,” he said as he picked me up and flew up to the stalactites, Aura following.
Not long after, about a half dozen fiends came in through the cave entrance. “Ha-ha! Looks like they got blown to chunks! This place is a mess, good work Springtrap,” the fiend who seemed to be the ring-leader said, sounding pleased.
“How did you know this would work?” Aura whispered.
“I saw that the fiend Stardust shot got blown to bits in the explosion. They don’t know that there’s three of us so they probably thought they got whoever was up here,” I whispered back.
“What about the one I shot? Don’t they realize that there was one of their own up here?” Stardust asked, quietly.
“They probably thought nothing of it. Fiends are like raiders, only a little smarter and more organized. Just let them think they got us and they’ll let their guard down enough so we can sneak out of here,” Aura whispered back to him.
The fiends left the cave after a few minutes of kicking around the chunks of meat like they were playing some sort of sick game.
“Alright, let’s get out of here while we can. We can go up the side of the mountain and take off from there to stay out of sight,” Aura said, releasing her grip on the stalactite and flapping her wings to hover.
“Yeah that’s a great idea. Let’s climb a mountain and take a chance of being seen by the tower guards. Your idea is gonna get us killed,” Stardust said, sarcastically.
“Oh yeah, then what’s your brilliant plan oh fearless leader?” Aura asked.
“I thought I was the leader?” I said, feeling left out.
“We’ll decide this later. Let’s just do what I said and get the fuck out of here,” Aura said, sounding annoyed.
“Fine. Death it is,” Stardust replied.
We descended back down to the cave floor and walked toward the entrance quietly, trying not to get the attention of the guards in the tower close by.
***
We snuck out the cave entrance and started to climb the mountain. I was the only one who physically had to climb, Stardust and Aura were using their wings to give them lift so they wouldn’t have to use more energy climbing. Personally, I thought it was cheating, but I guess if I had wings I’d probably do the same thing.
We were getting a good distance up the mountain, and I made the mistake of looking down. The sight of the ground so far below gave me tunnel vision, and I was starting to feel light headed. The feeling made me loose grip on the rock I was stepping on. I started to slide down the loose pebbles that covered the mountain, after a moment I was able to get hold of another rock and I stopped.
With my heart racing, I started to climb again. I put my hind hoof on a large rock to boost myself up, it broke off and I was left hanging by my fore-hooves as it tumbled down the mountain. It crashed into other rocks on its way down causing a small rockslide. The sound alerted the fiends in the camp down below, shots rang out, and bullets ricocheted off the mountainside where I was hanging.
Stardust glided down fast and grabbed me, “Dammit! I told her this was gonna get us killed!”
He dove down trying to avoid the gunfire and I proceeded to exclaim, “AAAHHH! What are you doing! You're heading TOWARD the danger!”
“Calm down, I got this,” Stardust said.
“What the fuck are you doing!?” Aura yelled, from behind us.
He opened his wings and caught wind, sending us gliding over the fiend infested town. I could feel bullets hit my barding as we flew over, luckily none punched through the armor plating sown into it. Aura was following close behind trying to avoid getting shot.
I could see the edge of the town coming fast, among the ponies shooting at us I could see a large stallion loading a strange looking object into a large contraption. “Oh shit! B.E.L.!” Stardust yelled flapping his wings increasing speed.
“What the fuck’s a B.E.L.?” I asked.
We’d just gotten past the edge of the town when I heard a strange whistling sound coming from behind us. (KA-BOOM) A huge explosion erupted behind us, the shockwave knocking Stardust and Aura out of control. We hit the ground hard, bouncing and rolling. We came to a halt and I could barely move, pain covered every inch of my body. I managed to use my magic and get three healing potions, I downed mine and started to feel its effect immediately.
“Hey Shadow… you okay?” Stardust asked.
“I’m fine, I took a healing potion. What about Aura?” I said levitating him a potion.
“I think I sprained my leg, and a few ribs, but I’ll be fine. I’ve got supplies,” Aura said wincing at the pain in her ribs.
I was finally able to rise to my hooves and then…(CLICK-CLICK).
“I suggest ya’ll stop right there before we turn you into a bloody mess,” a stallion said, from about ten feet away, he had a rifle raised and pointed right at us.
“Great! Told ya her dumbass plan was gonna get us killed,” Stardust said annoyed.
“What are you gonna do, kill us? Torture us? Eat us?” I asked.
“What do you take me for, a raider? I ain’t gonna eat ya’ll, but on the other hoof, the other two sound pretty good right now. I’m Gator, the mayor of this fine town and the ponies in it. Now ya’ll are gonna come with me and these fellas, or if you’d like to run, I need the target practice considerin’ I didn’t hit ya’ll with ma Balefire Egg Launcher,” Gator said. B.E.L., I get it now.
“Why should we go with you? You’re just gonna kill us whether we run or not,” Stardust said, angrily.
“Now I never said I was gonna kill ya, I just said the idea sounded good. I will kill ya if ya try to run though. I just want to know how ya’ll got into that there stable up in the cave,” Gator said.
“How do you know it was us in the stable?” Aura asked.
“Ya’ll really do think I’m some sort of idiot dontcha? I know a staged death when I see one. Just cause I look like a dumb drugged up raider doesn’t mean I am one. I just prefer doin’ whatever the fuck I want, whenever the fuck I want, those things just happen to be killin’, drugs, and the occasional pillagin’,” he answered.
“What are you going to do if we tell you?” I asked.
“How about we discuss this elsewhere. Come with me and we’ll have a lil’ chat, maybe we can work somethin’ out,” Gator said.
[FOOTNOTE: LEVEL UP!]
NEW PERK ADDED!
Bloody Mess: You now have a 15% chance of making a target explode upon death dealing damage to anypony surrounding them. Note: If you are too close to the target you will also take damage.