//------------------------------//
// Defender: Combat Evolved 
// Story: Existence 
// by Spectar37 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 27



“So what are you up to?” Luna asked.

“Setting up cover, a shield and finding out where the demons will most likely attack from.”

“Is that all?”

“Hey, I hate making long plans,” I sternly told her. “It’s not very adaptable when it’s too long.”

“Ok,” Luna concluded our conversation as a group approached us. The group consisted of Applejack, Braeburn, Cloe and Tony. I groaned as I remembered what the others would most likely do.

“Aw, they’re so CUTE!” Cloe shouted out. I face palmed in embarrassment.

“You have no idea how much I hate you right now,” I mumbled quietly.

“The two of ya are pretty cute together,” Applejack agreed with Cloe, giving a sly smile while she was at it.

“Please, Applejack,” Luna began, grinning. “We don’t want to make the poor colt embarrassed.”

“Ah not you too,” I complained.

Luna giggled at my comment. “What, do you like me?”

“Nope,” I shouted as I turned around and briskly walked away. “Nopenopenopenopenope,” I continued saying as I walked away, drowning out whatever they followed their question. The laughter of the mares and my friends mixed together at my response. I couldn’t help but smile.

Anyway, work time. Grabbing my shotgun, I began to run out of the town. If we are to defend this place, we need to know the land better. The hill where the last sighting was seems like a good start so I ran towards it. On my way, I ran as many strategies through my head. Bum-rush with shotgun won’t work here.

As I crested the hill, a large expanse of dirt lay before me. This approach is very vulnerable to artillery but it is the only one for a large army. Then it dawned on me, there is no artillery here. Damn.

I began to turn and went to walk back to town when I noticed something. There was a long line laying on the horizon. I couldn’t make out what it truly was but it seemed to be a train or something similar. I once again went to turn around when a flash of gold in the sky barrelled down towards me. Aegis had finished scouting already.

He landed heavily on the ground next to me, shaking the ground slightly. He was breathing heavily and his eyes looked like they just saw a nightmare. “Sir,” he said in between large gulps of air.

“How hard did you push yourself, man?” I asked sarcastically.

“Its…” he tried to continue but his breath still hasn’t caught up with him.

“Take your time,” I said as I leaned down to his level.

He continued to take in as much air as possible, giving me time to contemplate his condition. What could cause an armoured guard to run as fast as possible from it? A hydra or dragon could.

“Ok, I’m good now,” Aegis finally spoke up.

“Good, now what is it?”

“There is a massive demon army approaching the town right now.”

Well I wasn’t far off of the ‘nightmare’ notion. “Ok, thanks for the info,” I said as I spun around and ran as fast as I could to town. The group of people I was looking for were not where they last were, forcing me to do a search. Luckily for me, the search was short. They were in the salt bar.

As I burst through the doors, the ponies inside screamed. Some ran, some came to their senses and resumed whatever they were doing but I paid no attention to them. The group were sitting at the bar, enjoying themselves, or they were.

“Why did you do that?!” Tony yelled at me.

“Demons are early, they’ll be here in about an hour.”

“oh…”

The group rushed to their feet, or hooves in some cases, and rushed out to prepare for an attack.

“So whats the plan?” Tony asked me.

“Get support, set up defences, win.”

(!MOAR TIEMSCEEP!)

We stood in a line, facing the hill waiting. The several slaps of rock we stuck around the place provided cover for the several ponies that have joined us in this endeavour. It was hard to organise but once they heard that their home was at stake and that we couldn’t do it on our own, they joined in on the defence.

“So,” I thought out loud, going over a mental checklist. “We got 100 ponies, cover, a few guns, a plan…”

“I can create a shield for the town,” Luna interrupted my thoughts.

“Thanks.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome.”

“Now, we wait.”

“… are they here yet?” Cloe asked impatiently.

“No.”

“Now?”

“Aegis,” I called out, gaining his attention. “Wanna scout some more?”

“Sure thing,” he acknowledged before taking to the skies. He reached his intended height and looked over the hill. His expression changed but I couldn’t make out what it looked like. What I did notice was an orb of energy fly over the hill at him. He ducked underneath it and flew back down, once again landing heavily.

“So they’re here?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Could you prep the shield spell please?” I asked Luna.

“Already on it.”

We waited a few seconds before a figure came into view. It stood far taller than the measly imps that we previously encountered as well as being far more bulky than one. Its pinkish red skin gave away its rank. One of Hell’s Barons led this army. It let out a deathly roar, the sound resonating off of the walls in the town. This is gonna be fun.

That is, until I saw its backup. Seven hulking beasts came into view, flanking the leading demon. Their fat body took up far more room than anything I have ever seen, their arms completely missing, replaced with menacing cannons that were far larger than anything we had. The deadly Mancubi have come into play noe. As they raised their arms to point at the town, the glowing eyes of a legion of demons came into view.

“I think we need more guns,” Tony said.

“Luna,” I said. “Shield?”

“Give me a little more time.”

Their weapons began to glow, telling me they were charging.

“Now?”

“Hold on!”

The barrels began to leak fire.

“Now!”

“Got it!”

A beam of energy shot out of Luna’s horn, hitting an invisible roof and encasing the town in a pure midnight blue field just as they discharged their weapons. The fiery plasma met blue shield, exploding harmlessly off of the barrier as they continued to shoot. The ponies began getting unnerved when their attacks were redirected at us only to meet the same fate as the other shots. They soon saw the futility in their attempts and ceased firing. I saw an opportunity to finish this slightly quicker.

“I can walk through that, right?” I asked Luna.

“Yeah, you should be able to,” she answered.

“Good.” I walked forward, going straight through the field like it wasn’t there and pulled out my rifle.

“What are you doing?” Cloe asked.

“Following the plan,” I told her as I raised the rifle, took careful aim and shot one round off. The plasma streaked through the air as fast as any bullet, hissing the entire way before hitting its intended target, the Baron’s head. It screeched in pain and clutched its face. It did not fall, killing my hopes with plan A. Time for plan B. I flung my arms out, making myself look extremely confident before I shouted out.

“COME AT ME, BRO!”

The leader looked up, having heard me and then roared once again. As if on response, several demon-dog things flew out from beneath the Mancubi’s arms as they aimed at me. They were soon joined by a line of imp’s. They came at me in leaps and bounds, propelled faster as their mechanical rear legs made closing the distance between us fast and baring their teeth.

Oh shit…