//------------------------------// // Chapter 42: A night to remember (Part 2) // Story: New Beginnings // by Black Alicorn //------------------------------// Wolf slowly opened his eyes. A cloud of dust erupted from the ground as a Spinar artillery shell hit the ground. He couldn't hear the explosion though...Just a high pitch whine... More explosions, all around him. He calmly looked at them as they drew closer and closer... Two Marines knelt right in front of him, one of them firing in the distance, the other screaming something at him, but Wolf couldn't understand him. As the whine began to subside, his hearing returned... "Wolf! Wolf! Snap out of it! The Marine gave him a hard slap to the face. Wolf opened his eyes. He looked up into the night sky, just staring at it's beauty. A strange laugh echoed in the air. Wolf lifted himself up slowly, groaning as the pain from the impact set in. He looked around the area to try and find out what was happening. Sitting at the VIP table, everyone looked like they were frozen. Princess Celestia with an expression of sheer terror on her face. Everyone else sitting there, the same thing. He then looked at the stage opposite the table, to see a cloud of smoke in it's place. As it began to clear, he could see the silhouette of the figure behind it. The other ponies around him all gasped as they saw her. But he couldn't see who it was. His view was still obscured by some of the smoke. But then he saw her. Tall, jet black coat, half moon cutie mark, wearing a turquoise set of armor, was someone he had only heard about, but recognized anyway. In Equestria for a third time, ready to exact her revenge, was... Nightmare Moon. "No...It can't be..." Those four words escaped Princess Celestia's mouth. "Yes...I have returned once more! You all thought me defeated. You all thought wrong!" On another platform of Canterlot, Wolf saw something glistening in the moonlight. He then saw a red bead tracing on the table, then slowly moving towards Princess Celestia's head. Wolf knew immediately and ignoring the pain, clumsily barreled forward. "This time, I shall not be defeated! This time, I shall have my revenge!" A loud bang echoed through the night air just as Wolf crashed into Princess Celestia, followed by a glass vase shattering. Wolf rolled and gripping his pistol, swung around and showered the Griffon sniper with a hail of bullets, ripping him to shreds. Chaos erupted in the Gardens. Screams of all kinds could be heard. Guests calling to friends and family members, Guards shouting orders to each other and so on. "Form up! Protect the Princesses!" A platoon of Guards formed a wall in front of the VIP table as a squad of armed Griffon soldiers landed in front of them, opening fire with automatic weapons. The Guards were turned to ribbons. Wolf turned the table over in front of them. The fire didn't stop however. When the Guards were disposed of, the Griffons simply reloaded and peppered the now overturned table. In a matter of seconds, the table was turned into a sieve. As the smoke settled, the Griffons started congratulating themselves for their work. Just as they were replacing their spent magazines, a white haze leaped out from behind the table. "Oh shit!" "Contact!" "Shoot him! Shoot the bastard!" Their cries were drowned out as Wolf landed on the ground and stuck a blade in one of their comrades neck cutting the squad in two. Wolf spun the Griffon around turning him into a shield. His other free arm, bearing his freshly reloaded pistol cut down the half of the squad behind him, while the fire from the other side ripped through the flesh of their fallen comrade. When their magazines were all but empty, and while they were trying to reload, Wolf abandoned his old shield, his blade still covered in fresh blood. He turned around, slicing the throat of one of his adversaries. Within another 30 seconds, all the Griffons lay dead, Wolf in the center, covered in the blood of his enemies. From atop the stage, Nightmare Moon huffed. "Impressive." She muttered. "You are strong, but even you will not be able to stop what is coming." Wolf stood up and faced her. "Maybe. But I'm sure gonna give it hell getting here. A bright glow behind Nightmare Moon grew steadily, and with a bright flash she was gone. Wolf looked up at the sky as Twilight and the others emerged from behind the table. They had all been saved from a magic field Wolf had projected just behind the table. Wolf turned, and walked off, muttering something as he went. Twilight wasn't able to understand what he said.