//------------------------------// // Arrested Development // Story: Returning Survivor // by Itchy //------------------------------// “I must say,” Cheerilee told Mecha, as they both sat down for lunch, “ I did not expect you to go so far as to get Twilight Sparkle to cast an illusion to teach a history lesson, let alone have the whole town show up to watch it.” Chuckling, Mecha replied, “I didn't expect it to get that far either. All I knew was that telling stories about history, as exciting as some of them may be, can get boring quick. And once I stepped up my game the first time, they probably expected it to be stepped up again.” Smiling, Cheerilee said, “Well, thanks once again for filling in. I had a fun time at the conference, and learned a lot of different ideas to try and use in class!” Returning her smile, Mecha bit into his apple salad, before saying, “It wasn't a problem, and I enjoyed myself. That is, when I wasn't stressing about the plans for the next day!” Nodding her head, Cheerilee replied, “It can be stressful at times, but worth it. Oh, by the way, your book was a good read, and informative.” Grinning, Mecha said, “Good to hear, since I just sent a copy to a publishing company.” “Good for you!” Cheerilee told him, before taking a drink from her tea. After taking a drink from his own cup, Mecha said, “Yeah, it'll be nice to have a little revenue from the sales, seeing as something happens every time I get a major payday and lose all of it...” Laughing, Cheerilee told him, “It's probably just the universe keeping you from getting a swelled ego.” Shaking his head, Mecha replied, “Whatever the cause, I just hope it doesn't strike me while I'm out camping.” Raising an eyebrow, Cheerilee asked, “You're going camping?” before taking a bite out of her apple pie slice. Nodding his head, Mecha told her, “For about a week. Figured I'd hike through a forest or two, go swimming in a lake, possibly climb a mountain. One things for sure, I need this vacation.” LINEBREAKER Light fluttered down through the top of the trees, as Mecha walked along a seldom used path towards... well, he wasn't quite sure. And judging by the looks on the deer that were just ahead of him, neither did they. “Excuse me,” he called out, “Are you lost?” Turning to face him, the largest of the deer, dressed in what looked like captain's armor, replied, “Thank Astrum! We've been trying to get to Ponyville for days, would you happen to know the way sir?” Blinking, Mecha looked over the deer in front of him, and raised an eyebrow. All five of them were wearing simple armor, with exception of the captain of course, and had swords strapped to their backs. Looking back to the leader, he asked, “Why do you need to go to Ponyville?” Looking back at his soldiers, the leader turned back and said, “Yeah, I can see why you're suspicious. Don't worry, we're not here to pillage it or anything, we're just looking for an Earth Pony named Mecha.” Caught off guard, Mecha replied, “I can save you the time of going to Ponyville. I'm Mecha, what do you need?” Blinking, the captain stared at Mecha and said, “You're Mecha?” Nodding his head, Mecha replied, “Unless someone changed the name on my birth certificate. May I ask who you are, and why you're looking for me?” Shifting to stand straight, the deer replied, “Captain Tutela, and you're under arrest for the murder of king Astrum's pet!” Stunned, Mecha said nothing as the other four deer surrounded him, pulling out their swords. He snapped out of it when one of the guards poked him, and he said, “Say what now?” Pulling out a pair of hoof cuffs, Tutela snapped them in place, replying, “You are under arrest for murdering king Astrum's pet aboleth.” Eyes widening, Mecha said, “I don't suppose the fact that it was trying to destroy a city and kill several thousand ponies wouldn't change anything?” Shaking his head, Tutela told him, “Nope. The king was quite found of Fluffy, and demanded your arrest.” “Fluffy?” Mecha asked. “He named that Wrath forsaken thing Fluffy?” Shrugging his shoulders, Tutela turned around, saying, “He received Fluffy as a birthday gift when he turned three,” and started to walk, with the other deer following him, forcing Mecha to follow along. Sighing, Mecha said, “Of course he would, everypony names their first pet Fluffy. Don't suppose you'd tell me what's likely in store for me?” Turning his head to face Mecha, Tutela shrugged again, saying, “I don't suppose it could hurt. After all, you seem nice enough for a pony. Basically, you stand at even odds of either being thrown in jail for eternity, and being forced to fight in the colosseum. My money is on you being forced to fight, as the king is likely going to want to watch you die in combat like his pet.” Blinking, Mecha said, “Then I probably shouldn't tell him that I killed Fluffy via one giant explosion then?” Snorting, Tutela said, “Unless you want to be strapped to a giant bomb or something, no. However, the good news is if he choses the colosseum route, you could choose to take the gauntlet and earn your freedom, provided you survive it that is.” Quirking his head, Mecha asked, “The gauntlet?” Nodding his head, Tutela replied, “Three days and nights of none stop fighting, and a crowd favorite. Basically, it's you vs anything the king has caught and wishes to throw at you, whether it be a manticore, sphinx, mimic, or harpy, he'll send it out. Last time somedeer tried, he made it to the second day when Astrum sent in a siren and an agas*.” Pupil shrinking, Mecha asked, “A siren and an agas? What did the poor lad do?” Thinking hard for a minute, Tutela replied, “I think he broke a vase.” Stopping for a minute, Mecha had to be prodded into movement, saying, “A vase? He broke a vase?!? What in Greed's name is he going to do to me for killing his pet!” Quirking an eyebrow, which Mecha couldn't see, Tutela said, “Are you already considering planning to take on the gauntlet?” Calming down to respond, Mecha told him, “Yeah, I do. Although, I have an advantage that the other challengers don't.” Taking a left turn at a fork in the road, Tutela asked, “And what advantage would that be? Because a metal leg doesn't seem to helpful to me.” Laughing, Mecha replied, “It's actually more helpful than you'd think, but that's not it. I can go three days and nights without sleep, provided I get an hour before it.” Joining Mecha in laughter, Tutela said, “That would help indeed.” LINEBREAKER It had taken two days to get to Cervidaeia, the land of deer, and just as Tutela predicted, Mecha had been sentenced to the colosseum for life, or until completion of the gauntlet, which ever came first, which meant that he went for the gauntlet off the bat. So here he was now, standing in front of a gate, waiting to be allowed into the arena, talking to himself, saying, “Things to talk to Luna and Celestia about when I survive this. One, set up treaties that require foreign authorities to check in with them before arresting citizens. Two, require that all nations give trials to all criminals. And three, get them to send me an all day pass to the spa, I ain't leaving Ponyville until the gala after this, and I want' to relax for Luna's sake! Well, minus anything happening during poker night, I'm not leaving Ponyville.” Suddenly, the door in front of him lifted, and he walked through, the sword he'd been given slung across his back. Ignoring the cheering from the crowd, and the announcer’s speech, he walked into the center of the arena where he got onto his hind hooves, pulling the sword out of its sheath. Extending his mechanical leg foreword, the crowd marveled as it split and let out a sword before resealing. Swinging both in lazy circles, he settled into a semi-serious stance, waiting for the creatures he was to fight to be released. After all, at his peak he could fight against a horde of demons for three days and nights, and he'd be training to get back to his peak, so how hard could it be to fight a couple of mindless beasts? When the other doors to the arena opened, he got his answer in a pack of manticores. “Wrath's dagger deep fried in Gluttony's fryer wrapped in Lust's panties!” Mecha swore, before sighing and adding, “At least they aren't rabid.” At this point, two of the manticores jumped at him, to which Mecha reacted by side-stepping the larger one while ducking under the smaller one, slicing into its stomach at the same time, before twisting around to stab the other in its side. Roaring, the beast leapt back, allowing two more to take its place, charging at Mecha. Waiting for them to swipe at him, he hopped on top of the closer one, ran up its back, slicing off its wings, before doing the same to its tail and leaping off, only to twist as another tail nearly impaled him. Mecha would've then sliced off that tail, if the manticore above him wasn't about to crush him. Rolling out of the way, Mecha jumped out of the roll, and jumped off the wall he'd been slowly fighting towards, and landed on the large manticore he'd wounded earlier. Roaring the beast tried to throw him off, failing when Mecha lodged his swords into its back, using them as handles. Growling, the beast attempted to kill him with its tail, only for Mecha to leap off, causing the tail to impale its head instead of his. Turning, Mecha eyed the three remaining manticores, and smirked. Charging forward, he sliced his way past the smallest one, before leaping over an swiping claw, and impaled one of his swords in the skull of the wingless manticore. Removing the sword, he twisted around a tail sent to impale his heart, and ran around the manticore that had trapped its tail in the dirt floor. Spotting his target, Mecha bum rushed the creature, which attempted to use its wings as a shield. Crossing his swords, Mecha cut into the wings, and ignored the blood as he made his way into the shocked manticore's guard, cutting off its head before it could recover. Stepping back, he turned to see the last of the pack still stuck, giving him a chance to breath. Rolling his shoulders, he got closer, before throwing the sword he'd been given into its chest. Roaring in pain, the creature struggled for a minute, before finally dying, allowing Mecha to approach it and retrieve his sword. Walking back to the center of the arena, he smirked, giving the watching king Astrum a 'is that all you got?' look. LINEBREAKER It was the first night of the gauntlet, and Mecha had yet to brake a sweat. Yeah, the flock of harpies had been challenging, but considering the fact that he could easily turn to block attacks from behind, they weren't as deadly as they could've been. However, he wasn't prepared for what came next, as he wasn't aware that wryms even still existed. The wrym used this shock to its advantage, gliding towards him, before tucking its wings in to get the most speed out of its charge. Mecha managed to snap out of his shock long enough to twist upon impact, significantly reducing the damage he took. Tightening his grasp on his sword, Mecha waited for the wrym to charge him again, only this time he span completely out of the way, and took the chance to slice into the side of the legless creature, causing it to hiss at him. Flying away from him, the oversized blue lizard took in a deep breath. Eyes widening, Mecha charged forward with the entirety of his speed, leapt, and backflipped into a kick that shut the wryms mouth, before landing and throwing his sword into the jaw, forcing the jaws to stay closed, leading to a build up of frost in it's throat. Panicking, the creature tried to force the sword out by ramming the top of its head against the wall, but unfortunately, it couldn't dislodge it in time, for it's neck burst in an explosion of snowy death. Waiting a minute to make sure that the sword wouldn't freeze to his hoof, Mecha walked up to his sword and picked it up, chuckling. At this rate, he'll throw this sword more often than he throws his knives back home! LINEBREAKER Beginning of day two, and Mecha was still going strong, despite the efforts of Astrum to throw him off with a succubus. He'd actually laughed at that, as he'd come face to face with Lust herself once, and that was way worse than what a succubus could do. Giving his neck a crack, Mecha took a look at the audience while he waited for his next challenge. They were all moving about, either cheering for him or booing him, he couldn't tell as the barrier that protected them from the fight in the arena also kept sound from getting in. And judging by the sound of hissing behind him, it also protected them from the basilisk's stare that was about to try and swallow him whole. Closing his eyes, Mecha leapt forward, managing to avoid getting eaten, before turning around, crouching. Ears twitching, Mecha listened as the giant snake slid across the arena's floor, trying to get behind him. Slowly turning, Mecha faced the basilisk again, this time walking backwards, until he hit a wall. Hissing at Mecha, the creature charged forward, moving at a pace most would struggle to keep up with. Mecha, however, wasn't using his eyes, but rather his ears, and knew when to jump when he heard the snake getting close, landing on its head. Using the brief moment of safety, Mecha opened his eyes and found an off color scale. Using that as a mark, he started hacking at the scales near it, barely damaging them before he was forced to close his eyes as he was thrown off. Landing on his rear hoofs, Mecha charged towards the snake, leaping over the sound of rushing wind, which turned out to be its tail. Landing, Mecha turned towards the hissing sound, leaping onto the head once more, and locating the off color scale, quickly picked up where he left off, before he was once more thrown off its head. LINEBREAKER It had taken him the rest of the day to hack his way though the scales so that he could get to the brain, especially since the jerk king kept sending in more creatures every ten minutes or so. At this point, Mecha had broken out in sweat, but it wasn't to bad, and his breathing was still even. Walking into the center of the arena, Mecha waited, knowing that Astrum had to have been getting angry, and likely to send in the big guns now. Spinning the blade in his hoof, he turned to face the lifting doors, and said to himself, “If Wolfgang ever finds out about this, he'd kill me,” for standing before him was at least three, if not four, packs of timberwolves in front of him. Sighing, he got into a stiff stance as they charged towards him. Side-stepping each attempt to knock him over, Mecha responded by sticking a blade in the side of each timberwolf that flew by, until they finally realized that the current method of attack wouldn't work. Growling, they surrounded him, stepping around the corpses of their pack mates without care, hate in their eyes aimed at the killer. Face hardening, Mecha waited for the first to strike, coming from the side to which he twisted around, stabbing it before ducking under a leap from behind, finally jumping over a low strike from his front. Blurring for a moment, Mecha rushed towards the circle, slicing off the heads of the timberwolves he passed before stopping in front of a wall, turning. Haven broken the advantage of being surrounded, the packs of timberwolves gave up strategy and attempted to use their numbers to overwhelm him by charging all at once. Fortunately for Mecha, they'd never worked together before, and most of them ended up fighting and killing each other, with only a small amount reaching him. Spinning and twisting around their attacks, Mecha struck back with flashes of steel, causing them to collapse in bloody heaps. LINEBREAKER He had one hour left until Astrum had no choice but to let him go, and Mecha was exhausted. Sweat was pouring off him, his breathing labored, and blood leaking from a nasty gash across his chest. Mecha was favoring his right rear leg, having taken a glancing blow from a boulder tossed by a hippogriff. The two swords were covered with blood, the one he'd been given was bent and chipped, while the one he'd built into his leg merely had small chips in it. With a hate filled glare towards Astrum, Mecha turned to the opening doors and stared at what would likely be his final opponent, and cursed loudly, “Wrath's bow stung with Lust's panties stored in Greed's treasure chest next to Pride's mirror! A wendigo**!” For walking into the arena was a giant, bipedal mass of fur, claws, and teeth. Glancing at Mecha, the creature let out a massive roar, before charging towards the tired pony. Clenching his teeth, Mecha psyched himself for the battle, rushing forward to meet the creature in combat. Swiping with his swords, they were caught by the creature's left arm, before it swung with it's right arm, causing Mecha to duck. Pulling back, he tried to slice at its stomach with a blade, only for it to step back. Having dodged the attack, the wendigo stepped forward, slashing at Mecha, who blocked with his swords, a loud clang ranging out. The crowd watched in glee, as the two clashed in an epic battle of skills. A swipe blocked by claws, an attack dodged by a side-step, neither gaining an advantage. They watched as Mecha concentrated hard upon his battle, ignoring all his previous injuries. A glow began to form around the two, as the blows grew harder, the strikes faster, and the intensity higher. Slowly, an image of the two rose to the sky, growing larger and larger as soon the entire city could see them fighting. But neither of the combatants noticed this, too focused on each other to care, sending strikes at each other non-stop. Mecha finally leapt back, and span, a glow different from the one that engulfed them earlier emitting from the sword, before flying off it and towards the beast that he had been fighting for close to an hour for. Slicing through the air, the wave cut through the arm that the wendigo tried to use to block, leaving the being roaring with pain. Using the distraction, Mecha charged in, and forced both of his blades into the heart of the beast, ending the battle, and the gauntlet. Pulling out his blade, he stored it in his leg, before turning to king Astrum. Grinning, he said in a cocky tone, “I've won, you've lost. Whatcha' gonna do about it?” Astrum glared hatefully at Mecha, before grinning evilly. “Why, simple. I'm going to let you go. I am a deer of my word after all. Although, I suppose the several thousand bit bounty on your head might make freedom a little less enjoyable.” Eyes widening, Mecha noticed that the audience, which had been cheering him on earlier, had suddenly started to rush to an armory to claim the bounty the king had just laid on his head. Facing Astrum, Mecha told him, “I hate you,” before running out of the arena. LINEBREAKER It had taken Mecha two days of dodging bounty hunters and soldiers to get back to Ponyville, during which he'd been lucky enough to avoid fighting anypony in his condition. Limping into town, he walked past a hoping Twilight, who'd been shouting out “YESYESYESYESYES!” Coming across Cheerilee, she looked at him and smiled, asking, “Did you enjoy camping?” Staring at her for a minute, Mecha said nothing before walking home. Quirking her head, Cheerilee asked herself, “Was it something I said?” *Agas- basically a succubus with larger wings that have eyes in them, and is a master of illusions involving eye-contact. **Wendigo, a large cannibalistic beast, not to be mistaken for the windigo, which is a frozen horse like creature that lives off the hate which comes from arguing.