//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - The Chosen // Story: The Tourney // by Emo Rainbow //------------------------------// Hunter fidgeted against the cramped wooden box he was hiding in and quickly brought his goggles down from his head and over his eyes. With a deep breath, he lifted the top of the crate and examined the train station area surrounding him. It had been a bumpy ride, to say the least, but he knew it was only a matter of time before the Chosen found him again. As far as he could see there were muscular ponies of all kinds manning the station, moving crates and shipments off of the train and towards the nearby storage units for pickup, but all of them were just ordinary workers. He hadn’t noticed anyone familiar as of yet, so with a quick inhale of courage he opened the crate and hopped out, just barely managing to avoid detection as he did.  He ran past the oblivious station workers and quickly hid behind a large stack of pallets near the barbed wire fences on the edge of the station, silently thanking the night sky for giving him the proper cover he needed. It was situations like these that truly made him feel blessed for being born with dark skin. As he sat against the pallets and made sure there were no other ponies around, he quickly took out his walkie-talkie and pressed the button on its side.  “Doctor! Are you there?” He whispered while peering around the side of the pallets. What he saw were several Ponies, Hippogriffs, and Griffons covered in blackened armor corralling the workers out of the area and tossing the crates and containers on their sides. They were officially out of time. “Doctor!”  “Yes, I’m here,” He replied, his older and gravelly voice filling Hunter with some much-needed relief. “I couldn’t speak until I was safely away from the Chosen. Listen, there’s a small guard shack near the entrance of the station. It’s small, has yellow walls, and a green roof. We’ll meet there.” The doctor explained. Hunter looked back to the Chosen as they ruthlessly searched for him and nodded in affirmation. “Understood, I’ll meet you there.” With that, he powered down his walkie-talkie and sprinted away from the pallets as fast as he could. He approached the fence and looked across the long yard on the other side, eventually spotting the shack that the doctor was talking about shining beneath a street light. He looked around for any way he could pass over the fence without getting shredded in the barbed wire, but it didn’t take a genius to realize that it wasn’t worth the risk. This meant that he was left with only one option, the warehouse that was currently teaming with creatures hellbent on killing him. Wasting no time dwelling on his situation, Hunter ran for the side of the warehouse that conveniently held one window not covered by the fence. He carefully made his way inside, stepping quietly against the wall and staying low behind many of the metal poles and wooden pallets that had been stacked around the area. He kept an eye on the mid lane where the goods from the shipment were being moved, and there he saw the majority of the armed gang members smashing open boxes and tearing apart packaging. With their focus being used up there, Hunter decided to pick up the pace. “Quick, smash everything that could even remotely hold the bastard!” A gruff white hippogriff commanded, eliciting a round of cheers from the gang members as they tore apart the containers even harder. He stealthily made his way past the groups of ponies and avians as they worked, and soon he had the exit in his sights. The only problem was that between his current position and the opened door, there was no cover to hide him. The moment he stepped around the metal barrel he was crouched behind he knew he’d be spotted, which meant he needed to create a distraction.  Hunter got as low as he possibly could and pulled out his Walkie-Talkie one last time while covering the mouthpiece to not generate any noise when activating it. “Doctor, don’t talk, just listen. I need you to use Fulgor or else I’m going to be found very soon.” The moment after his request felt like an eternity of waiting, but eventually, his wish had been granted. The gem on his right wrist suddenly lit up with a milky lavender color as the spell activated from afar.  Quickly Hunter reached into his back pocket and pulled out a thin piece of aluminum sheet metal that was no thicker than two inches. He gripped it in his hands as hard as he could, letting out a grunt as the small sparks of electricity spouted from his palm and stored themselves into the tool. “Please let this work.” He said as he slowly lifted his head over the barrel and looked for a nearby target. His aim quickly centered on a station worker standing off to the side with his hard hat in his hoof and looking at the Chosen in fear, unsure of what he was supposed to do. Hunter didn’t want to nail this guy in the head with his newly made weapon, but considering his lack of throwing strength he knew he had no choice. He uttered a soft apology, then a prayer, and finally lobbed the makeshift weapon towards the undeserving target’s head. The moment it made contact he let out a shivering scream and fell onto his side in a fit of spasms, but by that point, Hunter had already started running.  As he made a beeline for the door he glanced back for just a moment to make sure no one had spotted him and smiled thankfully when he realized that he was home free. He spun his head around once more to find the path towards the shack, only to stop dead in his tracks as he came face to face with a wall of glowing maroon knives floating directly in his path. He skidded to a halt on his heels, stopping just before the tips of the bladed weapons, and looked down at the culprit. Standing about a yard in front of him, coming in at only four feet tall, was an eight-year-old girl with short wavy brown hair, peach skin with rosy cheeks, and a wicked smile on her face. She was wearing a frilly maroon dress, as well as matching maroon dress shoes, and a bow on top of her head, all of them complementing the bright maroon gem around her wrist that she showed off while cutely putting her hands together in front of her. “Going somewhere?” She asked innocently while staring at him, her blood-red eyes putting him on edge immediately. She smiled when she saw the fear in his eyes and took a playful step forward, simultaneously commanding the knives to move closer to Hunter at the same time. Hunter stepped back in fear until he felt the eyes of his pursuers burning into his back. He craned his head around slowly and saw the sneering faces of the gang as they all glared at him, weapons at the ready. Swords, Crossbows, a couple of hammers, and several unicorns preparing magic. Hunter was not in a good spot. From behind the group of armored lackeys, an elderly grey coated unicorn stallion stepped out slowly and locked eyes with Hunter. He had a thick white beard, and a long white mane tied into a bun behind his head. His skin was slightly wrinkled and his eyes were slightly glazed, showing that his age was beginning to finally slow him down after years of persevering. "Well ain't this a surprise! Who'da thought we'd find you so quickly Hunter?" He said in an elderly southern accent and with a bright smile that seemed to liven up his face. "Yeah, you got me," Hunter replied shakily as he turned his head back towards the knives in front of him. He looked down at the smiling girl, doing his best to not look her in the eyes, but despite his best efforts, she seemed determined to follow him wherever he looked. He couldn’t stand seeing the lack of emotion in them, well, lack of any emotion besides pure unadulterated rage. The stallion let out a few tsks from behind him and took a step to the side. "Ya know, it's hard to have a conversation with a man who has his back turned. Mind facing me youngin?" He asked with a feigned kindness that greatly juxtaposed the sinister overtones of the situation. Hunter took in a sharp breath as he watched the girl smile even harder, but with no other options, he conceded to the old pony's wishes and turned around. "Good." He said simply as he approached Hunter. "If you're planning on killing me then… well I understand, but I highly discourage it," Hunter said as the stallion looked up at him with a bright smile and angry eyes.  "Oh Hunter," he said while pinching his cheek with a red magical grip from his horn. "That all depends on whether or not I find it here," After saying that, he released the grip on his cheek and started ruffling through his cargo pant pockets with his magic. “Besides, I wouldn’t JUST kill YOU. I’d kill Doc too, as well as anypony, creature, insect, and plant you ever interacted with.” "Well... talk about overkill.” He said anxiously as the stallion continued rifling through his pockets. “Listen, I-I don't have it, Doc does!" Hunter quickly said, hoping against all odds that it would get him to stop.  "Oh come on, you expect me to believe that?" he said while casually continuing his search. "Katie, do you believe that?" He asked the little girl who started marching around Hunter with her hands behind her back like she was playing soldier. "Nope!" She said happily while bouncing her head left and right as if she were listening to music only she could hear, her maroon gem still glowing with energy. She hopped the last few paces around Hunter until she was just behind the older stallion, then twirled on her left foot and gave him a little curtsey. Hunter nodded nervously towards her as he felt the tips of the knives touching his back. It was only a matter of time before they found it on him, and he had no idea how he was getting out of this one. Hunter stood as still as a statue while the stallion searched, but the moment he saw the dim grey bracelet and gem being lifted out of his pocket he gasped in fear. "Well now, whadda we have here?" He said while gazing at the inactive gem. He looked up at Hunter condescendingly and gave a light chuckle as he jostled the bracelet in his magical grasp. "See now Hunter? The truth will set you free, but the lies will only drag you down." Katie gasped with delight as she heard this, stepping forward and grabbing onto the stallions fur while jumping up and down. "Oh, oh! Can I kill him now? Pleeeeease?" She asked him with big pleading eyes. The stallion just turned to her and patted her head softly, lightly pushing her off of him as he did. "Almost sweetie, he still has a lot to answer for. When we’re done, then you get to gut him like a fish." Katie gave a small squee of excitement and hopped in place as the stallion stepped closer to Hunter. "Where is The good doctor, if ya don’t mind me askin?" “Well I’d say I do mind, but I get the distinct feeling that you won’t care.” Hunter started, receiving a polite nod of affirmation from the pony. Hunter struggled to find the right words to say next, but that all changed when a small metallic bolt fell from the sky and hit the little girl on her shoulder. Its three-arm clamps tightened on her like a claw from a prize machine, and before anyone could react to it another struck the stallion on the forehead. "Right there bitch." Hunter said smugly. The moment he proclaimed this both of the claws lit up with electricity, paralyzing both the pony and girl and getting them both to drop their spells. As the kid shrieked in pain the ethereal knives finally vanished, allowing for Hunter to make his move. He quickly took the gem from the paralyzed stallion and sprinted away as fast as he could, the sounds of flapping wings and cocking weapons hot on his tail.  He felt the arrows flying past him, barely missing their mark by a few centimeters and even striking the ground on either side of his path. He heard a few more screams from up above and chanced a look back, catching glimpses of more bolts striking and electrocuting his pursuers. Looking up he saw his partner, Doctor Wizard, flying in the air with a long jury-rigged rifle in his hooves firing on the chosen as they gave chase. The pegasus was a very light peach color with a short black mane that showed signs of graying and a small amount of noticeable stubble on his chin. He was wearing goggles that were very similar to Hunters, and flapping in the wind behind him was a long flowing lab coat that, while very cool and stylish, made him stick out like a sore thumb in the night sky.  The large horde of chasing creatures broke off into two groups, with six chasing Hunter and five taking to the sky after the doctor. Doctor Wizard tried shooting them down on their approach and even nailed one in the chest, but when the other four closed the distance he had no choice but to start evasive maneuvers.  As the doctor led the others on an aerial chase around large pallets and between storage houses within the large transport yard, Hunter continued on foot towards a large set of metal pipes and concrete cylinders under large tarps. He bolted for the darkened area and jumped over a large pile of metal rods kept under wraps. Once on the other side, he pushed them over with all of his might, doing his best to use the obstacles to slow the others down. He knew that four legs were better than two, and if he didn’t find some way to lose them soon then he’d definitely get caught.  He kept ducking and jumping over the pipes and equipment within the area, trying his best to break their sights on him, but the unicorns giving chase were determined to keep him in range. As he heard the unmistakable sound of magic being prepared to fire, he took a hard right out of the dark storage area and into a massive opened storage crate, barely dodging the burst as it hit the door and scorched it black. He ran through the crate to the other side and slammed the door shut, flipping the lock closed from his end before they could follow him through. He heard them grunt in frustration and run around the other side, determined to find another way into the new area he had locked himself into. Hunter took a moment to prepare himself before continuing, taking out his walkie-talkie as he approached a set of pallets that created a convenient set of stairs for him to reach the next level of stacked crates. “Doc, you there?” He heard the sounds of rushing wind on the other end and hoped that he could at least hear what he was saying. “Listen, I’m on top of some huge storage containers, near the center of the yard. I need a pickup, and I need it fast.” Just as he said that, the edge of the platform he was standing on became singed as several bolts of pink magic pelted the side.  Hunter ran across the top of the container while dodging the attempts to hit him, and in the distance, he saw the same coated pegasus making his way closer with two griffons on his tail. Sprinting as hard as he could, Hunter jumped off of the edge and grabbed onto the doctor's hoof, successfully evading his own gang members and joining the aerial chase. Doc's speed began to decrease immediately after lifting the young man, so Hunter quickly tried pulling himself up and grabbing onto the rifle slung on the doctor's back.  “Easy!” The doctor yelled as he was pulled downwards due to Hunter’s impromptu gymnastics, his wings slapping against his arm painfully while Hunter tried to yank the rifle down. After a lot of tugging on the poor pegasus, Hunter finally unslung the rifle and brought it to bear against his right shoulder, but before he could take aim he was attacked by one of the griffons who managed to get in close. With a forceful grunt, Hunter swung the rifle like a club, clocking the griffon in the head and eliciting a squawk of surprise that only warded him off momentarily before he returned to the chase. Once they got some more distance Hunter finally aimed the tool with one hand as best as he could, which wasn’t easy considering they created the rifle specifically to work with hooves in mind. Despite this he still found a reasonable angle to fire from and launched a couple of bolts at their pursuers, managing to knick one of the griffons in the shoulder and send him plummeting to the ground. The other one was much more nimble, dodging the bolts effortlessly until Hunter had only one left in the long chamber. “Doc! I’m out!” He screamed as loud as he possibly could. The griffon smiled and picked up the pace, nearly reaching both of them in a matter of seconds before Hunter quickly lifted the rifle again and fired the last bolt directly onto his forehead. “Gotcha dumbass!” He laughed as the final griffon giving chase fell like all the rest.  With their pursuers finally defeated, the doctor took a hard right towards a very large stack of metal storage crates and landed, placing them both behind the darkened cover beside the top. “Haha! That was some fancy flying doc!” Hunter said as he quickly leaned against the metal crate beside them and caught his breath. The pegasus quickly sat down on the ground and tried to catch his as well, before looking back over to Hunter and sticking out his hoof. Hunter, understanding what he meant by that gesture, tossed the rifle over to the pony for him to sling. “You know, I planned on my flying days to be done ten years ago, and then you showed up, you lunatic. I’m not as spry as you’re expecting me to be kid.” He yelled at him between his heavy breaths. Hunter walked over and sat next to him, playfully jabbing him in the arm as he did. “Nah, you did great for an old-timer,” He looked down and started digging through the tiny compact saddlebags strapped to his barrel beneath the lab coat, eventually pulling out a second rolled up lab coat and another makeshift rifle that seemed way too large to fit in the compact space within. “Yours is pretty nice, but I like mine better.” He said as he pulled down the lever of his personal bolt rifle and loaded it up.  Once he finished reloading his rifle and throwing on his own pristine white lab coat, Hunter lifted his goggles back to his forehead and tossed the inactive gem over to the doctor. Doctor Wizard caught the gem in his hooves and looked it over while raising his own goggles, giving both it and Hunter a quizzical look. “So, you still have it?” He asked while shifting himself into a sideways laying position like a large cat. “Yeah, and I regret every second. Our experiments were great, but without our data or equipment the thing is useless,” He said while flicking his wrist towards it in frustration. “All that thing did was paint a target on our backs. Might as well just destroy it and get it over with.” He said while miming a crushing gesture with his fist.  Doctor Wizard held up one of his hooves for a moment as he stared at the gem, hatching a plan as he did. “Not so fast Hunter. If this gem got us into this mess, then it could possibly get us out.”  Hunter looked down in surprise as the Doctor cast a wistful gaze out onto the majority of the yard that they now had a clear bird's eye view of. It took a second of staring, but eventually, Hunter realized exactly where the doc was looking.  The boss couldn’t be in two places at once, so what better way to increase their chances of survival than splitting up his forces? Either follow them, or follow the gem. “So where do you want to send it?” Hunter asked the doctor, confident that he’d already deduced the plan. The doctor let out a small hum of satisfaction as he stood back up and looked towards the next prepping train in the distance. “Where else? Let’s send it as far as possible, and to the place that’ll give him the most trouble. It ought to buy us enough time to set up a new lab to lay low,” The doctor looked down at the gem and sighed. He regretted giving up such a useful tool, but their survival came first, no matter what damages may come as a result of their decision. “You have served us well, old friend, but now we must part ways. Enjoy your trip to Canterlot.” The Jade dragon reached up and accepted the large package that the burly brown earth pony atop the train had handed her. With a grunt, she accepted the package and took to the sky above the other station workers behind her, set to take the rest of the cargo from the large crates and pallets that had arrived in the new shipment.  The dragoness hooked a left and landed in a large clear section of the yard where several other creatures in her group were working, setting the items into the proper packaging and conveyors for the unicorn lifters to process. Setting the massive package down with a loud thud, the dragoness groaned as she heard something within jiggle around with a distinct glassy sound.  She lifted her head and looked over to one of her coworkers, a thestral, and waved him over. “I think we got another broken one Lucky.” She said with a sigh while covering her head from the sun momentarily.  As the thestral came up she shook the massive package around allowing the jingling sound within to repeat itself. “Eh, that’s another pocket transaction. Take it out back and see what you can get.” Lucky Day said with a shrug as he erased it’s code from his list and went back to check on the other packages.  With a sharp breath, the dragoness lifted the package again and flew off to the secluded portion of the yard filled with discarded packaging meant for the incinerator. She set down the box and rubbed her hands in anticipation before dragging a single sharp talon across the top and cutting it open effortlessly. Tipping it on its side, she saw a medium-sized leg rest fall out with one of its legs broken on the side. She shook her head at the waste of time and kicked the furniture piece into the pile of trash, but just before she could do the same with the package she saw a small object fall out at the last second. She crouched down and picked up the bracelet, staring curiously into the deep grey gem on its middle. She felt strange when she watched it, almost like she could see clouds of energy within the jewel calling to her. Suddenly the gem flashed gold for a brief moment, making her heart stop as she gasped in surprise. The bracelet started to coil around on its own, almost like it was alive, so obviously there was only one thing she could think to do. She reached over and strapped her new prize to her wrist.