//------------------------------// // Storm the gate // Story: Left 4 Dead in Equestria // by Pegasi will rule //------------------------------// Chapter 11: Storm the gate Twilight, the rest of the elements, and Princess Luna had been working on a portal spell for two weeks. So far, none of Celestia's books yielded any possibilities. The girls fell to the ground, exhausted after their thousandth spell combination. Twilight turned to Luna, sweat trenching her coat. "Luna... I don't... I don't think we can keep this up." She panted. Luna turned to Twilight and frowned. She looked over to the others and saw them in various states of exhaustion. She relented, nodding for them to take a break. They all sighed explosively and fell to the ground. The survivors walked over with some food and water that some servants had left, offering it to the girls. Francis went over to Pinkie's side and pat her shoulder. She looked up at him and gave a weak smile. "Oh. Hey Francy-poo. When did you get here?" Francis chuckled and helped her to her hooves, guiding her to the plush sofa that was placed at the far end of Celestia's room. She plopped down and Francis sat beside her. "How you feeling, cockblock?" He asked. She smiled and let her head fall against his shoulder. "Still grumpy about that, huh?" She giggled. Francis sighed and rubbed his chin. Yeah, he was kind of still pissed about it, but Pinkie... goddamn, no matter what he did, he just couldn't hate her. He hated plenty of things, but Pinkie Pie just wasn't one of them. "Kinda, but hell, you're cute enough to forgive." He planted a kiss on her forehead and she lifted her head to his, planting a big, sloppy kiss on his lips. Louis happened to look up at that moment. He tapped Zoey and pointed towards the two. She snorted as she held back the laughter, but Louis' chuckling got Francis' ears to perk up. He turned to Louis and snorted, breaking the kiss with Pinkie, who looked a little disappointed. "What, you jealous, Louie?" He goaded. Louis smiled and shook his head. "Sorry buddy. Not into the whole Pony fad just yet. You and Pinkie have all the fun in the world." He laughed. Pinkie gasped and smiled back up at Francis. "He said to have fun! Let's go have fun!" She yelped, dragging Francis off to another part of the castle. Princess Luna watched as they left and sighed heavily. "Well, I suppose we could try this with only five elements. Come, girls. I have another spell for us to try." Pinkie Pie bounded through the halls with Francis, looking for somewhere to have fun. She let out a groan of frustration when every room she found was either locked or a broom closet. Francis chuckled nervously as the pink pony slammed on the ground in frustration. "Heh. What's wrong there, Pinks?" She looked up at him in defeat. "Well, I wanted to make it up to you, but there's nowhere we can have a party..." She pouted. Francis sat next to her and began to laugh. "Wow, Pinkie. You're kinda... uh, how can I say this without sounding mean..." He pondered, but Pinkie knew what the words were. She didn't care what she was called. "A whore..?" She pouted. "My ex-coltfriend said that about me... I'm sorry." She said with a sniffle. Francis grunted and rubbed the back of his neck. "Wait, nah, it's not that. I mean, you just can't resist the lure of Francis, can you?" He chuckled. Pinkie giggled and gave Francis a squeeze of his hoof. "I guess. I mean, to me? Sex is like, the best party ever! Never had much of it, but when I did? Oh, wow!" She sighed, falling back into Francis' lap. Francis looked down at her, she looked up at him. There eyes met and they gleamed from within. Francis ran a hoof through her poofy mane. She blushed and pulled her forelegs up to her face, giggling lightly. Francis gave her a kiss and looked around the hall, smiling at the emptiness. "You know... We don't have to be in a room to have a party..." He mused. Pinkie looked around as well and smiled deviously. "Oh, your bad, Francy!" She whispered. Nothing was going to stop the two of them this time... Loner hung onto the undercarriage of the jeep for dear life. He'd been hanging there for around ten hours now as the vehicle drove south. It began to get warmer as the truck drove further and further out of the state. Where they were heading, Loner had no idea; but all he could do was focus on holding on and staying alive. For Tia's sake. Tia stayed as close to Cho as possible. After witnessing the death of Allan... well, let's just say she was a little to shaken for words. Cho held her close, glaring daggers at the soldiers. One of them clacked his gun and scoffed. "What are you looking at slanty?" Cho frowned and shook his head. "You had honor once, as soldiers for your country. Tell me, where did that honor go?" He asked. The soldier lifted his mask and spit on Cho, then went back to looking out the window. "That answers that..." He whispered. Celestia grabbed onto his shoulder. He turned to look at her and she shook her head. "Please, Cho." She whispered. "Do not upset them. We may be alright if we play our cards right." Cho nodded and looked out the window again. He noticed the large, fenced off area that was coming up over the road. The gates were thirty feet high and topped with razor wire. Inside the compound, soldiers ran every which way; cleaning weapons and checking on gas masks, Burning bodies... Celestia held her nose and gagged as the smell of burnt flesh wafted into the car. It was horrible, horrifying. She put her head between her knees and threw up all over the jeeps floor. The soldiers drifted as far away from it as they could. Carrier germs means you'll be infected fast. No one wanted that. "Are you alright, Tia?" Cho asked, helping her back up. Tia nodded as the jeep came to a halt. The two were shoved out violently, being led into the building. "Move it, you freaks!" The Sergeant yelled, pushing them into the threshold of the complex. Loner watched from under the jeep as they were led off. The door they took was shut and locked, making Loner curse under his breath. "There's gotta be another way in..." He thought. "Alright! Bring the jeep to the garage! She's been clunkin' the entire time back." One of the soldiers yelled as the jeep lurched forward again, making Loner scamper for purchase. The jeep rolled into the garage and was finally switched off. Loner waited for the thunking of boots to disappear and he took his chance. He rolled out from under the jeep, UZI in hand. He scanned the garage and saw one lone tech in the back, fumbling around with parts. Loner slowly crept over, knife in hand. He grabbed the soldier by the mouth and jammed the knife between his Adams apple and artery. Blood sprayed across the wall as the soldier bled out in seconds. Loner grabbed what ammo he could and pushed on deeper into the complex. The place looked like an office building. It smelled like an office building. Obviously the Military had to set up shot wherever they could. Loner continued down the tight halls, ducking into a room as the same Sergeant who took Tia and Cho walked by with someone definitely higher up on the military food chain. They were both flanked by a group of heavily armored guards. Loner wasn't going to risk taking them out, so he stayed out of sight, slowly following them at a good enough distance not to be spotted, but close enough so he could hear their conversation. "So the north is completely overrun?" Colonel Hall asked. Sergeant Grissom nodded. "Yes sir. We found one of our strongholds taken by a small group of survivors. I'm guessing that our men were already dead when they took over." Colonel Hall nodded somberly. "I see... What did you bring back?" The Sergeant grabbed his notepad. "Let's see... We got about three cases worth of ammo, forty M-16's, a few tactical shotguns... about two dozen pistols, and enough food to last us half of winter." The Colonel smiled. "Any carriers?" The Sarge nodded. "Yes, sir. Three, well, two now. We brought them to the holding cells in section 5-B with the others we picked up from New Orleans." The colonel furrowed his brows. "That's two more mouths to feed, idiot... Whatever, we'll dispose of them all tomorrow. Organize a firing squad and make sure to make the shots count. Don't want to waste ammo on the unimportant." The Sergeant nodded. "Yes sir. I'll get right on itl" The two groups turned down separate halls. Loner frowned and looked up at the section he was currently in. There, on the door frame, was painted 2-D. He needed to go two levels down. "Must be the basement." Tia was led into a heavily guarded sub-level of the complex. It was cold, musty, and it felt like one of the old dungeons back in her castle. The guard escorting them pushed her along when she slowed her pace. She stared at him bitterly and spat on his boot, which gave her a smack across the face with the butt of his gun. Tia fell hard to the cement, hitting her head. Cho bent down quickly and picked her up. "Tia, are you alright?" He asked. Celestia waved him off and continued walking, a large bruise forming on her cheek. "If I get out of here, I'm going to kill that sonofabit-" Celestia barely caught that thought. She never would have thought that bitterly towards somepony else. She couldn't help but think this was all Loner's doing. He had changed her into a monster over the past two weeks. She killed, she swore, she bled. But he taught her how to survive. She had no magic to rely on. No wings to fly away. All she had was her wits, her legs, and a gun to keep her safe. But, she also remembered she had Loner. He may have been somewhat of a hard ass, but he was sweet, kind... She cared for him so deeply, because he cared for her. "No... I can't be." "Alright, freaks. Welcome home!" The guard sneered, shoving Tia and Cho through the door to the cell. Tia watched as he shut it and locked it tight. All hope of escape left her as the guard walked away, leaving them to their fates. Tia looked around the cell. It was pretty dark, but her eyes were able to adjust well enough to make out four figures staring at them from the back. One of them stepped forward and knelt down. He gave her a smile as he helped her to her feet. "Well, all be. Yer about as perty as my friend Zoey. Hi. Name's Ellis. Pleasure makin' yer acquaintance."