//------------------------------// // Chapter 4-2: Stone Cold // Story: My Paper Pony // by Garfield //------------------------------// "Hey Mario, get up!" yelled a chipper voice. Opening his eyes slowly, the red stallion saw a pair of purple eyes right up close to his. "Luna wants us all downstairs!" Scootaloo cheerfully said, running over to the bed of the room. It's so damn early... How in Tartarus can she be so chipper? he thought. Slowly getting up, Mario felt a sharp pain in his chest. Opening up his ragged bandages, he saw a cut zigzagging across his chest. "You're gonna want to clean that up before it goes septic" said a low voice from behind him. A large red stallion was standing there, moving a pile of blankets from the centre of the room. "Frankly I'm surprised you're not bleeding more." "I'm just as surprised. Maybe I'm just lucky" said the plumber, walking towards the bathroom. In the distance, he could hear Trixie and Scootaloo arguing. "I don't care if the fate of Equestria is in my hooves, don't wake me up like that!" shrieked the mage. "You had a forcefield up around the bed to stop us entering! The only way I could get you up was by throwing that bucket of water" shouted back the orange filly. "You're lucky there are witnesses here, otherwise I'd have turned you into a puddle of rainbow!" shouted back the unicorn. Shaking his head, Mario opened up a cabinet in the bathroom. Inside was a small set of antiseptic herbs. "Do you want help with that?" asked a voice from behind him. Turning around, he saw two yellow, wonky eyes looking at him. "It is a pretty big cut, after all." "Do you know where there could be any bandages then? There doesn't seem to be any here." Walking over to a pile of sheets, Ditzy tore a length off of one of them. "If we just use these, it should cover the wound enough for it to not go disgusting." "Thanks" said the plumber, wincing as the powdered herbs were put into his gash. "Are you ready to go into the caves with us yet?" "I should be, but I can't help but be concerned for my daughter's safety. I haven't heard any word from any kids recently, other than Applebloom and Scootaloo." "They are likely safe. Hay, nearly every guard in Equestria are here, nothing bad can happen now. I can understand if you wanted to duck out now though. I'm missing my brother too." "What happened to him?" "I don't know. As far as I know, he is still up in Canterlot Castle." "Princess Celestia is up there. She won't let any harm come to anypony." "I hope you're right. Are we going to see Luna now?" "I guess we should" replied Mario, leading the pegasus down the stairs. Waiting at the bottom were the rest of his party, each wearing armour that fitted horribly. Applebloom and Scootaloo were wearing leather chestplates, Trixie was wearing a suit of chainmail and her trademark hat and cape. Finally, Big Macintosh was wearing a suit of black armour, usually reserved for the Lunar guard. "Took your time, you two. Put on those breastplates, we don't have much time to talk" said Luna, pointing her hoof over to a pile of armour. "Now that you are all here, I will start my briefing. As we know, Discord has been working with the dogs, and likely has made them stronger than they were before and driven them a bit crazy. Luckily for us, we have our secret weapon" she said, pointing at the blue hound sitting in the corner. "Your job is to go in there, steal the element of harmony and get back here. If you can rescue any ponies, go ahead, but it isn't your main job at the moment." "What about if Discord decides to attack Ponyville again? What if that Garble guy attacks when we are gone?" asked Scootaloo. "I took the liberty of creating a new barrier spell last night. Me and a few of the Unicorn guard will be maintaining it in order to prevent us being attacked again." Suddenly, the front door burst open, revealing the green guard from the night before. "Princess, there has been sightings of dogs on the outskirts of town and they...." he said, falling silent when he saw a red stallion standing in the room. "Brother, is that you?" he asked. Mario looked hard at the guard, and saw a familiar glint in his eyes. "Luigi, you're safe? I thought you were stuck in the castle." "I left at the last second and I've been in Canterlot ever since" replied his brother. "What's with the getup then?" the red plumber asked. "Canterlot was being corrupted rapidly, as well as there being Changelings flying about everywhere. The royal guard were snapping up every healthy male to fight and I managed to be quite effective. So here I am, Luna's personal guard." "Trixie thinks your reunion is absolutely charming, but can't it wait?" asked the mage. "Yes, what was you saying, Luigi?" said the princess of the night, walking towards her guard. "A small unit of the dogs have been spotted on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, and they look angry and ready to fight. A bunch of the guard have already headed over there already." Upon hearing this, Big Macintosh stormed out of the door. "What's up with him?" asked Scootaloo, who was wearing a coat of leather. "Ah, he just gets grouchy when he hears people are threatening the farm" said Applebloom, who was wearing a similar jacket. "He's probably gone to fight them off." "This could be a problem. We need to quell them soon, especially considering that if we are to get a strong enough barrier up, me and my mages need to sleep" said Luna. "What do you suggest then, Princess?" asked Ditzy, placing a silver helmet on her head. "We start moving now. By creeping past Carousel Boutique and into the badlands, you should be able to get into the caverns. Take the element of harmony and get out of there. I will send an attack squad in 5 hours, in which you should be able to use as a distraction in order to get out of there. Good luck and don't screw this up, my little ponies" said the princess, firing a bolt of light at the dazed diamond dog. Jerkily, the dog stood to its feet and stared at Mario. "That thing is already creeping me out" said Scootaloo, trying not to look at it. "Should we get my brother first?" asked Applebloom. Almost instantaneously, Luna replied "No. There is no time. Hurry and find the next element, before the whole of Ponyville falls to them." Nodding in agreement, Mario, Ditzy, Applebloom and Scootaloo ran through the door, with a lumbering Fido running on all fours behind them. "What are we going to do if this doesn't work?" asked Luigi, picking up some books that had fallen on the floor. "We fight to the death, for if Ponyville falls, Equestria falls" replied the Princess, with a grim look on her face. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ "I can't believe my brother is safe" said Mario, as he ran out of Ponyville. The outskirts of town were a combination of chaotic nature, such as pink trees and a river of lemons, as well as a barricade that was turned into bubblegum. "It does seem to be quite lucky" said Ditzy, flying alongside him. "One question that bugs me is why Discord hasn't attacked us directly." "Maybe it's a thing about powerful magicians?" asked Scootaloo, who was riding on Fido's shoulder, along with Applebloom. "He's just so arrogant, he doesn't even think we are worth attacking." Glaring at the orange filly, Trixie hissed back "I hope that wasn't a dig at me, because I'm not above frying smartflanks." "Calm down girls, we are almost here" said the red stallion, slowing down. In front of him was a large plain of the badlands, covered in holes. Surrounding a few of the holes were diamond dogs, which were wielding large spears and standing in a group. As if by magic, the large blue diamond dog that was carrying two fillies bolted upright. His large yellow eyes glared at the ponies surrounding him. "Ponies... Must destroy Ponies" he growled. "Wait, what?" asked Ditzy, watching it throw off the two fillies that were riding it. "Did Luna's spell fail?" asked Mario, backing away "It doesn't matter, get out of the way!" yelled Trixie, standing in front of the red stallion. Firing off a white blast of magic, she covered her eyes with her hoof as a powerful light exploded upon his face. Slowly opening her eyes, she felt a powerful paw around her neck, causing her purple hat to fall off. "Silly little ponies magic don't work on me. Lord Discord has made me indestructible" replied the grinning dog, as he slammed the squirming mare into the ground. Groaning in pain, her horn flared up again. Seeing this, he swung a fist at the mages face, knocking her towards the ground in front of Mario. Looking at the unconscious mare, Scootaloo ran towards the huge dog yelling. Grinning, he took another swipe, easily knocking the young orange pegasus flying, causing her to collide with the young earth pony, knocking both of them out. "Ditzy, fly away and get help! I'll hold them off!" shouted Mario, putting himself into a fighting stance. "That's suicide! I'm not leaving!" she shouted back, before flying down towards Fido with her legs outstretched. "Stop!" shouted the red plumber, as the diamond dog leaped into the sky. Reaching the same level as the pegasus, he slammed his fist down onto her skull, firing her towards the ground, where she landed with a dull thud. Running towards her, Mario heard footsteps behind him. Turning around, he saw the guards that were near the hole approaching. Forming a circle around him, they all began to bark at one another and pick up the unconscious body. Smiling, Fido began to walk towards the red earth pony. "The boss is gonna give us all of the gems in Equestria when he sees we captured you" he laughed, throwing a right hook at Mario's face, causing him to crumple to the ground. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ "Are they awake?" growled a voice. Trying to open his eyes, all of what Mario could see was blurry outlines of his companions sprawled out on the floor in front of him. "I think red pony is awake" said another one, with a higher pitched voice. "Bring him to me" said the first voice. Shortly afterwards, the red stallion heard a clanging of keys, and some paws on the ground next to him. Picking him up by his neck, he felt his body being dragged out of the jail. "Wake up, pony" he said, slapping him across the face. Feeling the sting of the paw on his cheek, Mario coughed up some grit. Blinking his eyes, he saw three diamond dogs looking at him, all wearing earmuffs. One of them was the one that had betrayed them earlier, along with a lanky gray one, wearing a red waistcoat and a short yellow one wearing a similar gray waistcoat to the largest dog. "Why are you doing this?" asked the plumber. "Shouldn't it be obvious?" asked the lanky dog, reaching into his pockets. Pulling out a bundle of shimmering diamonds, he threw them at the ponies face. "The boss promised all members of the Legion of Chaos anything they wished for. We wished for more diamonds than we could ever possible use, along with the pony that humiliated us so long ago" he continued, snapping his finger. On cue, two smaller dogs walked in with a large chest. "Unfortunately, Boss is a trickster. He give us rainbow pony, not white, loud pony" said the large dog, opening the trunk to reveal the card holding a blue pegasus. "I hear that you are looking for these" said the short one, grabbing the stallions face. "Unfortunately for you, us dogs are much smarter than Apes, Changelings and Mule." "So what are you planning on doing then?" asked Mario through the paw of the dog. "Well, first of all, we are going to send your broken bodies up to Canterlot Castle, so the boss can torment you for eternity. Then, we will attack the pony village and take the scary princess as our own" quickly said the small dog. Hearing this, the lanky dog smacked him around the back of his head. "Idiot! Don't tell him our plan! Anyway, it looks like your friends are awake now" said the gray mutt, gesturing towards a large metal cage. "Any last words you'd like to say to them?" "Wha-?" asked a dazed Ditzy, blood trickling down her face. "What's going on?" "You lot will be our trophies. Now hold still, while we get our pet in here" growled the small dog. "Wake up Trixie!" shouted Applebloom, who was shaking her awake along with Scootaloo. In the distance, they could hear a soft clucking, as well as some soft footsteps along the ground. "Wait, I recognise those" said Scootaloo softly, with a hint of dread in her voice. "I just can't remember!" "What is it Scoots?" shouted Mario, being held back by 3 armoured dogs. "I think it's a cockatrice!" she screamed, breaking into sobs. Upon hearing this, Applebloom's jaw dropped and a loud shriek was heard as a reptilian figure entered the room. "Lord Discord gave us this little present a while ago, back when it was that crazy pony running the show. Now, our little collection of ponies could do with some more added to it. Now... Who to petrify first?" said the lanky dog, a grin creeping across his face. "I will snap every bone in your body and feed you to a manticore if you even so much as think about touching them" snarled Mario, still fighting against his captors. Laughing, the largest dog punched the red stallion in his gut. "I think he said he wants the funny eye pony turned first" it laughed, hitting him in the stomach again. "Good idea. Dig dogs, grab her" barked the smallest diamond dog. Two armoured dogs entered the cell and grabbed the gray pegasus by her legs. Wailing and begging for mercy, they dragged her into the alcove where the cockatrice was hiding. After a few seconds, there was silence and the dogs returned to the room, dragging a petrified Ditzy behind them. "Who next then?" asked the lanky dog. Mario was looking down, with his eyes clenched shut. "I think blue mage is a good one to go for." "The big Hero doesn't seem to be arguing about it anymore. Take her off!" shouted the small dog again. Much like last time, they dragged the motionless body of Trixie off, returning a short while later with a stone figure of the unconscious mage. "Looks like it's just the little fillies left" laughed the dog, as he wandered over to the cowering fillies. Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "What is that?" asked the dog wearing the red waistcoat. Almost instantaneously, three unconscious Dig dogs rolled through a hole in the wall, followed by a massive red stallion. Barrelling towards the yellow dog, Big Macintosh, skidded to a stop and turned around. Extending his powerful hind legs into the jaw of the dog, he caused it to fly across the room into the opposite wall. "Big Macintosh!" cheered Applebloom. "We thought you had gone to the farm!" "Run you two" he growled, turning to face the advancing dogs. His body was covered in cuts and scrapes. "Get away from here!" Nodding in understanding, the fillies fled the room, ignored by the dogs who were defending against the giant who had begun to attack them. "Put that pony down if you know what is good for you" snarled the farmer. "Hah, you should be more concerned about yourself" laughed the lanky dog. A low growl emanated from behind the orange maned stallion, causing him to turn around. Directly behind him was a large reptilian chicken, looking directly into his eyes. Before a noise could come out of his mouth, Big Macintosh was turned to stone. "Now that little distraction is gone, all that we have left to do is get you ready for transport" said the large blue dog, walking towards the red stallion, who was still being restrained by the dig dogs. "When Luna finds out what has happened down here, she'll destroy each and every one of you" said Mario, fighting back tears. We've lost he thought, soon those dogs will attack Ponyville again and destroy it, along with the rest of Equestria. The large blue dog laughed and said "Of course she will. With any luck, our army will bring her beaten body to us. Discord will make us Diamond Dogs the dominant race in Equestria! Now, any last words?" "Choke on a flint" the red stallion said, putting on a brave face as the cockatrice approached. Staring deep into the monsters blood red eyes, he felt the life in his body slipping away, until all that remained was darkness.