//------------------------------// // Plans head south...literally // Story: Fallen Order // by Jar Man //------------------------------// "What do you see?" "It looks to be a whole battalion down there, but there's probably more inside, we could use that ridge line to the west as a diversion then start the assault" I looked over to the ridge line and it did have a weak support structure, I could use catapults to destroy the support crush their forces. I went back to the catapults, we had to male sure it was the perfect it or else we'd be fucked. Once we were ready I signaled for the diversion, it was a perfect strike and the cliffs came down on the enemy giving us an advantage. Kelso lead the air assault while we pushed to the cave, they didn't see what hit them and by that I mean I kicked one of them in the face. We cut down the remaining demons that survived then stopped in front of the cave. It looked big enough to fit the catapults but that's not what I planned on using it for, I told the girls to ready their elements and went over to the catapults. I had them set in range and fired a few balls of fire into the cave trying to draw them out, the sounds of pained screeching and explosions was music to our ears. Once the horde charged out the cave the girls blasted them with their elements disintegrating hundreds of them in seconds. "Man I sure do love the smell of dead demons in the morning" I grinned. "Why don't we call them like imps or something instead of just demons?" Kelso asked. I never really thought about that to be honest but I guess we could call them something instead of demons. "Well after this we can gather up bodies and choose who we call what yeah?" He nodded in agreement and watched the big rainbow show. I looked over the bodies and there was a difference between some if them, the weaker ones were more red and black and the slightly larger one was pink. The biggest one looked like a hell knight from doom but with one eye in the center. I came up with three names for each, the first one would be an imp, the second could be tyrants and the third will be called titans due to them being almost 9 feet tall. I took a small team into the cave to find no one else in there, Tirek was gone along with that giant beast and it's cage. I had the team spread out and search every where but he really was gone. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" I raged. We went through all this fucking trouble only for him to dissapear again unfucking believable. I was so pissed I punched his retarded stone throne in half, I was so close to finally ending this bullshit but nooo he had to be a pussy and run off. "It's gonna be okay sir we'll find him again" Lucky tried to reassure me but I just couldn't do it. "I lost a lot of good men only for their sacrifice to mean shit today!" I kicked a rock into the darkness. I sat on the steps and pulled out some paper and wrote to Luna about only failure. After i sent it off we left the cave and I had others make sure no one could come back to it and we traveled back to camp. I pulled out the stereo and let it play music to try and ease my nerves. It slightly worked and I wasn't as angry but now kinda sad, I looked over to the ledge where the dead forest was and saw the countless bodies of ponies and Griffins even dragons laying about from our attack against the white behemoth monster. Me and the boys helped gather them up and load them on empty wagons for a proper burials when they got home. A few hours later and we make it to our camp so we can rest. Silver Steel and I went into the tent where the maps were to dicuss out next course of action. "The bad lands connect to the dessert Where there's a city full of sketchy ponies and other creatures" He pointed to a weird looking building on the map. I have never seen that place before, it was probably in a later season but I couldn't watch them all. "The city is called Klugetown and it's a pretty successful trading city mostly traders ever go there" "You think Tirek would go there?" I asked. "It's a possibility I mean where else could he go?" He shrugged. I noticed a very faded out mountain with letters above it. I tried to make it out but could only get "riffs" out of the whole thing. I wondered if he purposely tried to hife this location or someone else did. "What happened to this mountain, why is it scratched out?" I pointed it out to him. He squinted then tilted his head in confusion. "Huh I never noticed that on here when Princess Celestia gave it to me, maybe she didn't want us to know about that place" he hummed. I thought that maybe Tirek doesn't know about the mountain as well and is most likely at Klugetown. I was gonna look into it some more until the Crystal started buzzing in my pocket again. I went outside to see what Luna wanted this time. "Yes?" "Just wanting to see how you are holding up" she said in a cheery voice. "Well I'm not doing so hot princess we were so fucking close to getting Tirek and the son of a bitch just left!" I mused into the Crystal. "I'm sorry to hear that my friend" "We think think he went to a place called Klugetown so we might head there soon" this seemed to peak her interest. "That place isnt part of Equestria but is a big part in trade with other nations. I have never been there myself but Tia has she says it's very...hot" I nodded an acknowledgement. "Oh princess on the map there's a faded out area that looks like a mountain, I tried to make out what it said but only spell the last part "riffs" know anything about that?" She stayed silent for a moment probably thinking. "Are you talking about the hippogriffs?" "I guess?" I didn't know what the hell a hippogriff was but sounds pretty ugly. "Well they are an ancient race mix of ponies and griffins, we have not spoken to them in quiet some time..." If they were somewhat allies with Equestria then Tirek might not be there so Klugetown is our best bet. I thanked Luna and put the Crystal away, I went back into the tent and told Silver we'll continue plans tomorrow. He was also tired so we said our byes and I went to my tent where Colin amd Kelso were waiting. "So what's the plan?" Kelso asked. "We're going to Klugetown tomorrow to find Tirek and I'm taking everyone so they know we're not fucking around" I answered. "What if they are hiding Tirek?" Colin mentioned. "If they are hiding him I will kill the men rape the women and enslave the children then lead ourselves to salvation" They looked at each other with big grins on their faces. "No but seriously though I'll be pissed now enough about that I'm hitting the rack" they went to the other tent and I went in mine to find Twilight sleeping quietly. I laid in my cot and went to sleep letting my body relax. But somewhere in the world someone has returned and is not happy. "TheCryptGod has invaded!" (Next day) We were close to the city and making good time, the girls complained about it being hot and I will admit it's a little hot but I'm used to having Oklahoma winters these days. We entered the city with all eyes now on our arrival, most just stared while a few others whispered among each other. I was wanting to find the mayor or leader but a weiard possum looking fuck stepped in my way. "What do ya want?" He asked in a scratchy voice. "I'm looking for someone" I replied. "Who are ya looking for?" "Tirek he was believed to have gone here for hiding" I explained. His eyes widened before he motioned for me to follow him. "Leta get a drink then we'll talk" he strode off towards a bar. I rolled my eyes and told Colin to have the others search around the area and followed him in. We sat at a table and a waiter came by. The possum ordered some weird shit while I just got cider. "Now tell me what you know" I wanted to get to the point. "We we're all just minding our own businesses until that red horned devil and his goons marched on in and ordered a way out of this dump. We first didn't agree to it until he...killed four others in a hrlorrible way" he shuddered at the memory. "Where did he go? Is he here?" I began to ask but he shook his head. "He along with his demons took some of our ships and flew off, they didn't even leave the crews alive" He took a sip of his drink and leaned back. "Why didn't y'all contact the Equestrian guards?" "We aren't aligned with them because their rule is flawed in many ways" he stated. "Trust me I know, I was locked up for days and broke out and foumd out the primcess forgot I was in jail" We both had a good laugh at that. After an hour of talking he told his name was Scrapple, He was a cargo delivery guy basically. I asked if he knew ahwere Tirek was heading he said East to Zebrica to probably obtain some ancient artifact for power. "I can take you there in exchange for protection against Tirek and his minions" he offered. "How do know you won't just fuck us over?" I asked. He chuckled and shook his head. "Everyome here hates Tirek and what he's done to us, I want to make sure it doesn't happen again;" I listened to him go on. "We may be thugs and all that but we have a great trade system and plus we can supply your troops with food and shelter over in the North sector of the city, its mostly empty buildings from the old days" I did like the idea of trade and my guys being fed and given a place to stay. "I'll talk with my friends and see about it" I got up and walked out of the bar. I walked over to Colin and Kelso who were trying to haggled a poor old lady for a really shiny rock...good lord its shiny. I draghed them away and over to a bench. "He said he can take us to where Tirek went but in exchange for protection, I guess after Tirek came theough he killed a few people and the locals although being minor thugs can't fight" I explained to them. "Like us protect this city?" Colin asked bewildered. "Well...yeah but we are trying to expand and with their trading post here he said we can get shipments of supplies for our men" I pointed out to them. "We'll have to talk to the princesses about this though" Colin said. I groaned as I didn't want to go through all that bs for once. I pulled out the Crystal and called the only person I could, Luna. At first she was completely against it saying would cause an uproar in night court but after realizing she nobles would be angry she happily agreed. Celestia however was on the fence since other nations might not be keen on a trading post that trades with everyone being guarded by a militia but fuck them. After a little bit of arguing between me and Celestia Luna took back the Crystal and gave us the green light. Most of Colins forces would stay behind as guards while the rest of us took off to find Tirek. I went back to the bar to tell Scrapple we would help him and spotted a cloaked figure heading to the shipping depot above, I didn't think much of it and headed inside. "So have you made your decision?" He asked. "Yeah and we're willing to help you but it may cause problems for others your trading with since other countries wanna be little bitches but it's whatever" I shook his hand..claw whatever and he left to get some ships together so we hung out in the bar chilling out. (2 hours later) Scrapple came back with a few others. "Okay the ships are fueled and are ready for travel" he announced. We followed him to the ships and they were floating freaking pirateships. "Holy shit...its like Pirates Of the Caribbean but in sky!" I exclaimed. We loaded onto the ships and shortly after we set off to the east. I got motion sickness at first but overcame it when I found out how the canon worked, I was like a child in a candy store. I played with the canon for a few hours acting like I was shooting at things. Twilight took a picture of me acting like a fool bjt i was having the time of my life with the piece of metal. Colin and Kelso joined in and we tried to shoot Kelso out of it but the girls stopped us before we could. After I was done having fun I stood on the end of the bow looking at the passing clouds. I started to get expresso depresso thoughts now, about whats going to happen after we defeat Tirek will we be able to live normal lives again? How the hell would we get home if the mirror broke? Do I really want to leave? All these things ran through my head as I stared at the passing clouds as the ship flew through the sky.