//------------------------------// // Sorry About the Mess // Story: Honor Above All Else // by Honored Service //------------------------------// Honored Above All Else Chapter 5 By Honored Service And this is why I'm evil. I wouldn’t find myself in this predicament if the whole town was burning to the ground. GRRRRAAAAA! “And again, I'm not evil! Now shut the hell up while I try to keep us alive!” I leapt over a collapsing wooden beam holding the ceiling up. I slid under the failing rocks and sprinted down the tunnel. Sorry doc, but things are getting strenuous. GRRRRAAA! I spun around and felt the rifle kick in my hand as I aimed one handed at the five foot tall rat chasing me through the Diamond Dog’s old home. My other hand held the slowly dying flare in front of me so I could see where I was running. LEFT! I swiveled the gun and fired half a clip directly into the maw of rat. Red blood gushed across my arm and over the rifle. The body of the rat stumbled forward and landed hard causing the other rat to trip over the body and fall towards me. I jammed the rifle up and fired at the same time. The barrel punched into the entrance wound from the first bullet and the second bullet blew out the back of the giant rodent’s head. “Good looking out Nightmare.” I jerked the rifle out of the corpse of the rat. I flicked my arm downward to get some of the blood off. “That would have been pretty bad.” I didn’t want to die. Or force myself to leave this body for one of these things. The flare sputtered in my hand and went out. I dropped the empty tube and pulled out the last flare I had. It sparked to life as I cracked it against the ground. The red light illuminated the tunnel. I spotted the trail of blue stones and cautiously moved down the tunnel. Removing the mag from the rifle I checked the amount of bullets left. Five 5.56 in that mag, and only two other mags in my chest rig, I was running out fast. GRRRRR- BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG Red hot shells dropped to floor as another overgrown rat fell in a heap at my feet. I panted heavily as I dropped that mag and loaded one of my remaining ones into the rifle. Good shooting. “Thanks. Good night vision.” I aim to please. “Let’s just get to the center of this place and remove the rats.” And how exactly do you suppose we do that? “We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.” I rounded a corner and entered a long straight tunnel that slowly widened until it open into a massive underground chamber. This must be the center of the Diamond Dog’s home. It was certainly large enough to house the entire pack I had seen, and then some. And sitting in the very center of the cavern was the biggest and ugliest rat I had seen all day. It was at least twice the size of the brown ones running through the tunnels and was a dirty gray color. Fangs as long as my arm hung at crocked angles from its jaw. Its hairless tail swished back and forth as beady red eyes stared in my direction. A low menacing hiss sounded across the chamber. Looks like it’s time to cross that bridge. “Seems like it. Ideas?” Can we run away and chalk this one up to incomplete? “Nope, not while I'm still breathing.” The enormous rat got to its paws and moved straight at me with incredible speed for something so large. Which may not be for long. “Not helping!” I yelled as I sprinted to right just as the rat jumped at the spot I had been standing at. Some kind of yellow gems in ceiling were casting a dim light in the chamber. I pulled my arm back and hurled the last flare i had at the recovering rat. It struck it right in its side and set a small patch of fur on fire. GGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRR! The rodents roar caused the entire room to shake. I cupped my hands over my ears and dropped the rifle. my ears stopped ringing and I picked up the rifle dodging another jump attack from the still smoking rat. Good job, now it’s pissed. “Can’t you do the fire magic or something? I could use a hand!” Give me a moment, I'm still figuring out how to use magic in this body. Having no horn makes it a bit harder. “Oh no, take your time. I have all the time in the world! I rolled to the side as the fleshy tail crashed down on the rocky floor, sending dust and dirt in every direction. Yeah keep that attitude up and see how far it gets you. I shouldered rolled again dodging another attack. I slung the rifle and wiped out Bad Bertha just as the rat brought its tall down on me. Shink With a sickening motion half of the rat’s tail flew off behind me as blood sprayed out from its severed appendage. “I guess now would be a good idea to turn… tail… and run.” I laughed to myself as I sprinted back round to the side of the rodent skirting around slash from its front paw. I have nothing to say to that. “Shit!” I screamed jumping backwards as two jagged fangs clamped down on the air inches from my face. I sliced upwards with the knife leaving a long deep gouge carved out in the face of the rat who threw its head into the air hollered; shaking the cavern again. I noticed that the stalactites hanging from the ceiling shook with the yell. “Ideaaa!” I sang out and ran as fast as I could from the gray furry demon. “Nightmare, can I get some of those explosives fireballs that you had with Queen Chrysalis?” I turned and looked back at the ceiling judging the distance the rat was closing in on me and time for the fall. Now that’s something I know I can do. Here you go, just don’t use them all up, I don’t have an abundance of magic right now. My left hand ran cold and I looked down to see an orb of green light resting in the center of my palm. “Oh hell yes.” I aimed my hand up towards the ceiling at a cluster of stalagmites hanging above the rat. I see what you're going to do. That’s pretty sharp of you. “Yeah, I think he’ll get the point.” I threw my hand forward and a ball of green magical energy rocketed from my hand and impacted at the base of the hanging rocks. There was an ear splitting crack, and the improvised spears hurtled towards the earth. The giant rat looked up to late. The three rocky spears lodged themselves in the rat’s face and neck. Blood ran down the body and onto the ground as the rat gave one last low growl and collapsed in a heap of fur, rocks, and blood. “HELL YEAH! That’s what I'm talking about!” I shouted and threw my hands into the air. A bolt of green energy smashed into the ceiling and caused rocks to come crashing down around me. I jumped left and right, avoiding the failing debris. Smooth. “Nightmare, I have to say, that was pretty bad ass of you.” The voice seemed to grow smug and cocky, Well thanks. I’m happy to help. That was fun, other than for the part where we nearly died. “Come on; let’s go let the Diamond Dogs know they can move back in… they just need to be mindful of the mess.” ********************************************************************** The human leaned back from the table and patted his stomach. What remained of the breakfast dishes were nearly all cleared by the gathered ponies and one human. Twilight Sparkle finished another scroll and rolled it up, writing a small number on the side. 43. “Wow Honored. It seems that trouble always finds you.” The purple unicorn said, levitating another scroll in front of her. More like you always go to trouble. “The Nightmare says I find trouble.” Honored smirked at the quirky nature of the voice in his mind. “And maybe he’s right.” “So how does it work in there?” Applejack pointed a hoof at the human’s head. “What? Oh like how do we talk to each other?” She nodded. “Well I can’t think to the Nightmare, if that makes sense. I have to speak allowed to him for him to hear me. And we both can think without each other hearing our thoughts. I only hear what he wants me too.” And I can only see memories that I pull up, or you show me. “And he can see memories, but only the ones I show him. he can look through them himself, but he learned that lesson the hard way. He doesn’t snoop through memories anymore.” The voice shuddered in the humans mind, Never again. Ugh still can’t get that song out of my mind. “This is good to know, I’ll have to go back and add more to the introduction!” Twilight Sparkle squealed in delight as she scribbled furiously on the parchment. “Now back to the Diamond Dogs.” ****************************************************************** I traveled along the tunnels following the red stones planted along the walls. I was having a hard time seeing the gems, and the Nightmare’s night vision was nearly as bad as my regular vision in the pitch black darkness of the tunnels. After a few hours and a couple of wrong turns I came out onto the main tunnel where I could see a sliver of light at the far end of the tunnel. As I approached the entrance, the Diamond Dogs rolled the boulder out of the way and stepped back to give me room to exit the mine. “Pup, did you get rid of Tunnel Rats?” Marxy asked me with enthusiasm as I breathed in the fresh… well not stale air from the mines. Twenty Diamond Dogs crowding around didn’t create the freshest air source. “Sure did Marxy. And I could have used a little warning on the size of the rats.” I said crossing my arms across my chest and starring at the brown dog. Marxy twiddled his claws together and looked down. “But then you wouldn’t have helped Diamond Dogs.” I raised a hand to argue but lowered it. Damn. Maybe these dogs aren't as dumb as they let on. Did we just get tricked by a pack of flea bitten, smelly, bastards?! “Well what’s done is done Marxy. It’s alright. Now can I talk to the pack’s leader about the pony problem?” “Of course! Ruffy just got in! I take you to him.” I followed behind the large Diamond Dog. As I passed groups of dogs, they stopped and waved to me with big tooth smiles. “See Nightmare, they all think we’re awesome.” I said quietly to myself. No, they think you're awesome. I'm thought to be dead right now. “Me too. We both fell off that city together.” But they all see you. I'm just stuck in here. We turned down another tunnel that opened into a small cavern. An old gray dog sat by himself near the back of the underground room. That must be Ruffy. “Nightmare, as soon as we get to Canterlot, I’ll make sure everypony knows that the super evil and extremely dangerous Nightmare, helped save my life, and patch up relationship with the ponies and Diamond Dogs of Zebraica.” You mean it? Super evil and extremely dangerous? The voice spoke barley above a whisper in my head. “Well if you don’t want me too…” I smiled. The Nightmare was coming around. slowly but surely there was still something of the original pony that the Nightmare had once been. No, I do! “Alright then, I promise Nightmare. And thanks again for the help today. I couldn’t have done it without you.” I know you couldn’t have. “Don’t kill the moment asshole.” “Ruffy, this hairless pup that save home.” Marxy stepped aside so that the old dog could see me. The old graying dog Ruffy, slowly got up and walked over to me. He examined me closely with his yellow eyes. He moved around me studying everything about me. As he came around back to my front he extended his paw to me. I took it into a handshake. Or pawshake. “Thank you creature. Your assistance is most appreciated.” Whoa, he certainly doesn’t use vocabulary like a Diamond Dog. “Now what do you want in exchange for your valuable support.” An army of Diamond Dogs! “The ponies and zebras need these mines back. Would you please move back into your old home?” I asked as nicely as I could, but not sounding soft. This was more of a demand than a request. The elder dog threw his head back and gave a deep chuckle. He looked back to me and gave me a smile. “Your heart is in the right place, pup. But I cannot accept this request.” I frowned at him. “Because we had already made plans to move back as soon as the mess was cleaned up, I won’t accept this request because it would not repay you for your kindness.” The gray dog smiled at me again. I returned the smile. “Thank you sir, but I don’t know what I want.” I racked my mind for possibilities but I honestly didn’t need gems for anything. Ruffy tapped a claw to his chin. “If you will trust me, I believe I can think of something that will do a creature of your skill some good.” “I trust you completely Ruffy.” I nodded to the elder Diamond Dog. He moved bake to his chair and sat himself down. “Excellent! I’ll have it brought to in about three days. Marxy will show you to the exit. And Marxy, once he is shown the way out, please help Duffy, Rocky, Brody, and CoCo in cleaning out the old home.” “Yes Ruffy. Come on pup.” I bid farewell to the wise old leader of the Diamond Dogs and followed the tall brown dog down more never ending tunnels to the exit of the gem mines. “Thank you pup. We happy to have you anytime.” Marxy said to me once we reached the exit of the mine. I waved good bye to the Diamond Dog and walked along the path leading to the small village. The sun was nearing the horizon and the sky was awash with brilliant violets and oranges. A few stars dotted the sky as I neared the first huts of the village. A few ponies and zebras were still trotting around, but as soon as they saw me, they sprinted towards me shouting. More and more ponies came out of their huts and grouped around me in the market area of the village. So what do think this is all about. “I don’t know, but I got a feeling we’re about to find out.” Zecora and Doctor Zulu came trotting up to me followed by a zebra I hadn’t seen before. She wore a funny headdress that was covered in feathers and beads. She wore a simple robe that had a large wooden staff strapped across her back. “Where were you off to slick; you had us worried sick!” Zecora spoke sternly at me. She opened her mouth to say more, but the zebra with the headdress held up a hoof. “Do not be angry at him; he went out on a whim.” The zebra smiled at me and motioned for me to move closer. “I am leader Zebay; and you have helped us in a great way. I have heard about the aid you gave at the mines; fighting deep in the confines. You solved the problem of mine; involving the silly canine.” The crowd of ponies and zebras cheered once they found out the situation involving the Diamond Dogs had been resolved peacefully. They do know that it wasn’t resolved peacefully, right? There are lots of dead rats down there. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them Nightmare.” You're still covered in blood. “Minor details my boy. Minor details.” I carried myself over to Zecora’s temporary hut and collapsed onto the bed. My body ached and my midsection was burning up. The door opened and I heard hoof steps approaching the bed. “Zecora let me sleep.” “I'm afraid that Zecora isn’t here.’’ I rolled over to see Zulu standing next to the bed. “Oh hey there doc.” He gave me a deadpan stare. He doesn’t look to happy. “I believe I said something about no strenuous activities. And fighting is under that.” He held out a bowl of light pink liquid. The liquid puke medicine. “No.” “All of it Honored.” I took the bowl and took a small sip. I nearly gagged on the taste and then remembered I still had an entire bowl to go. “And I'm going to wait here until you finish it all.” The doctor sat down if to prove a point. “You're enjoying this aren't you?” I took another mouthful of the damned healing potion. “Absolutely.” Can I kill him? Just a little, please? “I’ll think about it.” I whispered as I took another swig of the worst thing every made. Healing potion my ass. ******************************************************************** “Was it really that bad?” Quick Flurry asked the human as the group of ponies moved back to the throne room to continue the story. The Princesses slipped off for a moment to get caught up on paperwork and to check on the royals. “You know, I could ask Zecora to make some for you if you would like to find out.” I stared at the floating pegasus. “No thanks, I’ll take your word on it.” Quick Flurry gave a sheepish smile. I would have enjoyed seeing that. ******************************************************* I sat up in bed and stretched out my arms. I yawned and scratched my back. “Morning Nightmare, have any bad dreams?” Mostly about your face. “Alright that was good.” I swung my legs out of the bed and got dressed in the only clothes I had with me. I holstered up everything and slung the rifle. I but on my backpack and headed for the door. It was time to resume the journey back to Canterlot. I had been in this little village for a week now and everything should be healed up. “A good morning to you; where are you leaving to?” Zecora asked me as I walked towards the door of the hut. “I'm going to head home Zecora. Now that I'm healed, I'm going to try and get back to Canterlot. I need to let the Princesses know that I'm alive and I have some other important information that is on my mind.” Oh wow so clever. “Very well if you must go; than do not let me slow.” Zecora trotted over to me and gave me a quick hug. “Thanks Zecora for taking care of me again. It seems like this happened not too long ago.” Please tell her thank you for the soup. Not because I'm going soft, but because it was nice of her, and I don’t want to seem mean. Shut up. “And I have a friend that says thank you for the soup.” Zecora gave me a confused look but smiled at me anyways. “Tell your friend that the past is the past; and the future’s choice is vast.” She winked at me and turned back around to working on a bubbling green liquid in a pot. Wait was that to me? “Pherhapse.” I responded, just as confused as the Nightmare was. As I exited the hut a few zebras and ponies waved goodbye to me as I walked to the end of the village. “Honored hold on just a moment!” I turned to see Zulu trotting up to me. He caught up to me and reached into his saddle bags and pulled out a brown flask and a roll of paper. “The flask has a dose of that healing potion you like so much.” I laughed along with him and tucked it into my pack. “And that’s a map that should get you out of Zebracia and back into Equestria.” He pointed out the village of Zebrabaway on the map. “Thanks for helping with gem mine.” “Thanks for patching me up and giving me a place to stay.” I held out my hand and Zulu stuck out his hoof. I shook it and began walking on my journey. “PUP!” I saw a large brown shape sprinting towards me with incredible speed. “Marxy!” I called out and waved to the approaching Diamond Dog. “What are you doing?” Maybe he wants to be our pet on our journey through this land. “Ruffy wanted you to get this.” He reached behind him and pulled a long wrapped package off his back. “To say thanks for saving home.” The Diamond Dog held out the object to me in his large paws. He motioned for me to take it. The object was heavy. At least heavier than my rifle and pack combined. Please be something dangerous. I tore off the brown paper around it and my jaw dropped. I was staring at a sword and scabbard. The hilt of the sword was brown and gold and had the same colored scabbard except there was a large red paw print made of gems on the side of the scabbard. Marxy pointed with a finger at the red paw print, “That is pack symbol. Ruffy thinks of you as a pup to us.” I didn’t know how to respond to that. I was family to ponies, zebras, and now Diamond Dogs. Making lots of friends aren’t we. I gripped the hilt and slowly slid out the sword incased within. I was momentarily blinded as the sun glinted off the blade. Wow. Holy shit. “Second that.” I whispered out as I stared at the weapon in my hand. I was holding a sword that was three feet long and crafted out of what felt and looked like diamonds. The sword was translucent, but had a dark blue color to it. The sun sparkled off the smooth surface of the blade. “Marxy this is amazing. I… I don’t know what to say.” I just stood their holding the weapon in my hand. “Then say nothing pup. See you around.” And with that, the large Diamond Dog took off back to his home. If you don’t like it, I’ll take it. “I don’t like it, I love it!” I examined the sword closely. Along the cross-guard scrawled in messy writing was, ‘Pup’. “I guess pup is the same in English as it is in Equestrian.” Who cares, let’s go start some fights! There was long sling attached to the scabbard that aloud for it to be worn over my shoulder. I removed my duster and put the sword across my back and placed the duster back on. I slung the rifle next. Now I had four deadly weapons strapped along my body. I could reach over my head and grip the handle of the sword with ease. It slid out with a faint scraping noise. So bad ass. I think we just got more evil. “Or more equipped to protect ponies.” Sure if you want to be boring about it. “Come on Nightmare, let’s not ruin this moment.” I held the sword up and kissed the flat side of the sword before sliding it pack into its scabbard. “Now we’re only 6 days out from Canterlot. Let’s just get home.” That won’t be a problem if we don’t stop to help pitiful ponies. “I'm sure nothing like that will happen.” I plodded along the long dirt road as the Nightmare talked about ruling Equestria and the benefits of being feared rather than loved. I could only smile knowing that I was rubbing off on the monstrosity, not the other way around.