//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: An Angel and her Soldier // by Midnight Words //------------------------------// Chapter 5 ------------------------------ Brick slammed his front hooves on the ground and sneered at the enormous diamond dog with a happy expression. The diamond dog howled. "I'll handle this." Brick said to Angel and charged at the diamond dog. The diamond howled again and several dogs tried to block Brick's advance, the dogs didn't want to play fair and used sharp weapons like spears and swords to slow him down. Brick didn't slow down and rushed through them and even trampling smaller diamond dogs with a satisfying crunch. Brick turned, using all his momentum and BUCKED the giant diamond dog with his back hooves. The diamond dog flew back a few feet and had several, if not, all his ribs broken. Brick wasn't finished with the dog and jumped on the dog and slammed his hooves on its neck, cutting through the skin and muscles and pulled out the spine and skull. "HAHAHAHHAHAH! CRY SOME MORE! MORE BLOOD! KILL!" Brick pulled off its arm and threw it at a group of diamond dog. Those smart enough ran away while the slower or dumber dogs died without so much as a whimper. Angel stared at the pure carnage of Brick's onslaught and cringe at each snap of the spine, crack of the ribs or screams of the dying. Brick stopped and blinked. He stared at the last remaining diamond dog and... just stared, cold menacing eyes pierced the dog's small pupils, the dog wished Brick would just kill him and get it over with. Brick stared for what felt like an eternity. For the dog, it was staring at the Grim Reaper himself and he was toying with him, for Brick, it was Tuesday. The dog picked up a small knife and cut his own throat open, to stop the staring of the mayor. Brick turned around, stare still active and accidentally locked eyes with Angel. He quickly blinked and rushed over to her side. Angel saw the most terrifying thing she has ever witnessed, even for just a second. "SORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRYSORRY!!!!!" Brick repeated over and over. "Sorry, I didn't mean it!" Angel was scared but also very interested on what Brick just did. "It’s... alright, what did you do?" Angel asked. "It's sort of a family gift. The Stare as Sis called it. She said I got the most 'potent' Stare since Grandma Shy." Brick said. Several ponies came out of their houses, some of them were carrying knives and pitchforks. "That thing brought the diamond dogs here! The vice was right!" One of the ponies yelled and pointed at Angel. "They couldn't save those three girls and they brought monsters and bandits to our peaceful town!" Angel shrank back at the insults. Brick had enough. "LISTEN TO YOURSELVES! Do you think that without their help we wounldn't even be standing here, THEY SAVED OUR LUNA-DAMNED LIVES! If it wasn't for them all of you would be dead!" "But they couldn't save the kids!" One of the ponies yelled and the rest cheered in agreement. "Then what the fuck did you do? Hid inside town hall, cowering in fear. I gathered all I could to save as much as the population in Ponyville! Did you do anything? Tell me something did ANY of you actually do anything to help those foals? HUH!?! ANSWER ME!" Brick yelled at the crowd, effectively muting the sound. "IF ANY OF YOU HAVE THE GALL TO BLAME THESE SELFLESS BEINGS, THAT SAVED OUR ASSES WITHOUT SO MUCH AS A THANK YOU, THEN I SUGGEST TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY TOWN! NOW!" With that Brick motioned Angel to come inside the town hall and into his office. Brick sat down on his chair and sighed. "I never meant any of this to happen... Sorry I dragged you into this political mess." "It’s alright... I'm more worried about Roland..." Angel said, casting a long gaze outside the window. "Don't be, knowing Twi, Head, and Firecracker, he'll have all the help he needs." Brick said and put some paperwork in the shredder. "I guess you're right." ------------------------------ "...and I was like 'Oatmeal!?! Are you crazy?!?' and he was like-" Firecracker ranted on as they ascended the steap mountain. "Shhh... we're here." Headshot said and stared at a large wall with a huge energy dome. "Place the spark there." Headshot pointed to a weak looking wall. Firecracker quietly sneaked up to the wall and placed the small spark. Headshot aimed his rifle at the spark as Firecracker made her way back to the group. After she was safe with her team, Headshot shot the spark with water and the spark exploded. The explosion would make Mr.Torge proud as it rocked the whole mountain and completely blasted the huge wall and shields apart. The vibrations itself reached Canterlot and Fillydelphia. "THAT WAS AWESOME!" Roland yelled and broke from cover and ran inside the gaping hole in the wall. Griffons scattered throughout the sky and Roland fired his rifle at them. What I'd give to have a shotgun right now. He muttered and hid to cover as bullets bounced off his shield. He peaked over cover and saw his turret on a high balcony. "They took out the Limiter!" Roland yelled as his pony allies hid behind cover. "The what?" Headshot yelled and fired his lightning cloud at the circling Griffons. "The thing that keeps it from breaking! That thing will break without the Limiter!" Roland yelled back. "I can blow it up with THIS!" Firecracker pulled out a Rocket launcher from... somewhere and aimed it at the turret. Roland put his hand on the Rocket launcher and pulled down the pyromaniac. "We came here to get that thing back, not blow it up. Where the hell did you get that anyway?" Roland said and inspected the Rocket launcher. The leather handle and quick magazine reload system matched that of the Vladof Rocket Launcher but as Roland looked at it closer the weapon was also reloaded from both sides, fired three rockets at a time and has times three zoom. It was, by far, the most advance Rocket launcher Roland has ever seen. "Made it with duct-tape and metal bits I found around the Cracker-cave. That's my place by the way." Firecracker smiled and fired at the air, hitting three Griffons with the rockets. "I call it the Firecracker's portable hoofheld cannon device or FPHCD for short." Roland stared at the flame red pony. "You made this? This... is ... a fine piece of machinery." Roland couldn't help but complement the crazed arsonist. "Hate to break this up but we're still pinned and Griffons are circling us like buzzers." Twilight said and fired a magic bolt that missed its target completely. Roland snapped out of it and drew the turret's fire so that the other could find better strategic positions. Twilight stayed close to Headshot as his wing was starting to bend in an odd angle. Headshot moved to an open building with a view to the sky and fired at the flying Griffons. Firecracker was setting up some TNT and burning down anything flammable and shooting her Rocket launcher at the Griffons and anything on the ground. "BURN! TASTE THE RAINBOW OF FLAMING DEATH! BWAHHAHHHAH!" Firecracker cackled and burned down some Griffons that dived bombed her. Roland saw a big Griffon with Mohawk feathers on her head. "Hurry up and kill them! You useless pile of Doo Doo dung!" The Griffon yelled. As soon as the Griffon came out Headshot flew out with his broken wing. The turret aimed but The Griffon set it off. "RAZORWIND! You and me have a score to settle!" Headshot yelled at Razor. "Puh-leese, you’re old news Heady." Razor said and flew up to meet him at eye-level. "Looks like ol' Heady's wing has a boo-boo." She laughed. Headshot glared at Razor. "I could beat you with both wings broken." Headshot yelled and pulled up his cloud rifle and aimed. Razor flew towards him at neck-break speed and held him by the left wing. "Does that hurt? I'll take you up on that bet." She grabbed the other wing and twisted it to match the left wing. Headshot screamed in pain as his wing-bones snapped and he was blacking out. "Done already? Pathetic." Razor threw him back to the ground and swichted on the turret and turned her attention to Firecracker. "Hello! Nice to see ya again, you psychotic freak!" Firecracker took a fire axe from a nearby Emergency box. "Hi Razor! I'm going to kill you now!" She yelled and burned the axe and threw it at the Griffon. Razor dodged and dived bombed the unicorn and dragged her through the dirt. The Rocket launcher was on the ground and the turret was firing at Roland. Razor threw Firecracker to a wall and knocked her out. Twilight fired at the turret to try and disable it but Razor grabbed her by the horn and pulled her down to the ground. Roland moved towards the Rocket launcher and picked it up. One shot left. Roland though and fired at the last trio of rockets at the Griffon. He was out of ammo for all his guns. One of the many mistakes he kept repeating on Pandora, he always forgets to RESTOCK HIS AMMO! Razor survived the trio of rockets and dashed towards the soldier. Roland dodged and he had a brilliant idea. He ran towards the balcony, dodging as much fire from the turret and Razor as he could. He climbed up the balcony and tore off the head of the turret and used it as a machine gun. Bullets hit the Griffon leader in the chest and several others above the air until they retreated towards the clouds. Roland dropped the broken turret and rushed over to Firecracker and Headshot. Twilight was getting up and head over to Firecracker since she was the closest. Twilight shot a beam that healed her wounds. She then moved towards Headshot. "Not good, he needs a real hospital. I'll try to keep him alive for as long as I can but..." Twilight said and shot the same beam at Headshot. Roland picked up Firecracker and Headshot. "We don't have time to waste." Roland said. The soldier and the medic ran down the mountain and found the blocked off path Brick mentioned. Roland placed a TNT charge and blasted the rocks apart and dashed towards Ponyville. It took half the time to get back. Roland rushed towards the hospital and bursts through the door and placed Headshot on a table. "This guy needs help, Fast!" Roland yelled and gently placed Firecracker on a chair. A few medical ponies took Headshot's broken body and led it to an operation room. Twilight ran in with the medical ponies to assist the surgery. Roland waited for hours. Blaming himself for his team's injuries. I should have thought more. I should have seen it coming. I should have been in that room not Headshot. Roland thought, fiddling with his fingers. Firecracker woke up beside the soldier. "What happened? Why do I taste dirt?" Roland turned to his side and pulled out FPHCD and gave it to Firecracker. "... In the end, we didn't even get the turret back." Roland said. "Maybe not. I could make something similar to it but it won't be the same." Firecracker said and hopped off the chair. "I could use some of my experemental weapon designs to work like your turret." "Really?" Roland said. "Yup, I got Flamethrowers, Cannons, Crossbows and a Giant wooden robot shield thing. Choose your pick." Firecracker did actions to show what she was referring to. "Flamethrower sounds nice." Roland said. Firecracker bounced up and down. "Dragon Turret it is then!" She blasted off the doors and then she was gone. Twilight came out several minutes later with a sorrowful look on her face. Roland jumped up to meet the unicorn. "Is he alright?" Twilight was silent for a few minutes. "He's... He can't... He lost both his wings in that fight but the mechanical experts are working with two artificial wings, I don't know much about machines so I quietly left." Twilight sighed. "I hope he's alright." Twilight started to tear. Roland pulled her into a heartfelt hug. "I lost an entire squad of men in my care and I don't want to lose anymore." Roland said. "I blame myself all-day and all-night, kept saying 'If I was stronger, smarter, better maybe I could have saved them.' But I couldn't change the past no matter what I did." Roland realeased Twilight from her hug. "It wasn't your fault it was the leader. It was my fault. Don't blame yourself." "Thanks..." Twilight said softly. "Hey! What's with the sad faces?" Roland and Twilight looked at the door and found Headshot without his wings, smiling at them. "Your wings... I'm so sorry." Roland apologized. Headshot stared at the two depressed warriors and laughed. "Guys. Check this out." Headshot said and two holes on his back opened up and metalic wings came out and looked like his old pair of wings. "I never asked for this but this is so COOL!" Roland and Twilight smiled. "Good to see you're alright." Roland said. "Hey look. Turn on your ECHO thingy." Headshot said and went to the far end of the hall. Roland turned on his ECHO and Headshot spoke through it. "Those techie guys built in a radio in my head and I found your frequency." Headshot said from across the hall. "What did he say?" Twilight asked and leaned in. "He said that those ponies built a radio in his head." Roland replied. "Hey I can listen to Celestia radio on this thing!" Headshot yelled excitedly. Roland and Twilight laughed and they left the hospital with their new half-robot friend. Soft mechanical buzzing filled the air as Headshot's wings flap in the air. "I think those guys said something about boasters on this thing." As soon as he said 'boaster' two jets came out of his wings and he flew at extreme speeds and even made a sonic boom. "Ponyville hadn't seen a sonic boom since the peaceful times." Twilight commented. "Roland?" Angel said through the ECHO. "Angel? Where are you?" Roland replied to her ECHO message. "Hello? So I just talk to this thing?" Brick said, unknown to him that Roland was listening in. "So... ahhh... Roland? I don't know if you can hear me but if you want to beat Anarchy then you need an army." "All copy, Brick, where are you guys anyway?" Roland said in his ECHO. Brick gave a startled grunt. Angel took the ECHO and talked back to Roland. "There's a bandit clan; The Hammers, that have good relations with Ponyville so they might give us a hand-er-hoof." "Copy." Roland said. "What the hell happened anyway?" "Woke up in a mine guarded by dogs. No big deal." Angel said. She looked out the window and noticed the sun go down and the moon rise up. "We're in town hall. We'll stay the night here." Roland looked over to Twilight. Twilight had a concerned look on her face, probably thinking about Headshot's condition. Roland did fell a bit guilty for what happened. "Negatory, Me and Headshot will stay at Twilight's place. He was injured earlier and lost both his wings. I'm not entirely sure he's fit for duty." Angel was a bit concerned without Roland for the night but I guess she understood why. "Alright, meet us inside Sugarcube corner tommorow, Okay?" "Sounds good, Roland out." Roland pressed the switch on his ECHO and started to follow the signs of destruction that Headshot left. Headshot was smashed inside the wall of an old clock tower as his muffled cries for help were drowned out by the gears and springs inside the clock tower. Roland poked his leg. "You alright?" Headshot rolled his eyes. "Do I look alright to you?" "I've seen worse." Twilight said and used her magic to pull him out of the hole in the wall. Headshot shook off the dust from his coat and mane and retracted his new robotic wings. Headshot thought silently for a moment. "Go Go Gadget Toothbrush!" He yelled and waited for something to happen. After a few minutes Roland face-palmed. Twilight led them back to her place. It was a giant library tree house thing. Twilight opened the door and went inside. Roland shrugged at the Pegasus and ducked to follow the unicorn. The inside had a hard wood floor and bookshelves lined with an assortment of books. A stone horse head was on the table and several medical notes and other things were surrounding the Horse-head Bust. Twilight pulled out a small brown box and shoved several... "Devices" in it and quickly hid it away. "You two didn't see anything." She said menacingly. Headshot and Roland slowly nodded. "Good. Make yourselves comfortable while I go prepare the beds." Twilight said and went upstairs. Headshot pulled up two cushions and sat down on one, Roland did the same but it was a bit too small for the gruff soldier. "So what's the story with Firecracker anyway?" "How she got her Cutie-mark was sort of unique." Headshot said lied down on the cushion. ------------------------------ She burned down a town... with two rocks and a few sticks of dynamite... Let me start at the beginning. Me and her? We go way back, back when we were around our teen years. So I was an assassin for hire while she did whatever she wanted in our little hide-out. I got this job to take out a bandit leader call Mow-Down, a Minotaur. He was large, fast, strong, smelly and had an IQ of a rubber duck. The perfect Minotaur bandit leader. So he built a town, a small empire near Manehatten and the folks there hired me to get the job done. I was at the top of my game, not one shot missed since I picked up the old scope and barrel. I missed when it was time to take out my mark but the fucking Razorwind tackled me to the ground and the lightning bolt missed completely. Firecracker was reading a book of combat spells at the time and learned how to burn things... a lot... even burnt a few of my feathers... She was also reading a book titled "The Bombinomicon" and she learned how to blow up EVERYTHING... She even blew up our hide-out. Firecracker's first creations were firecrackers but those were enough to ruffle a few feathers and send a Griffon flying away. I lost my "No missed shots ever" record because of that Griffon. So I was a bit pissed. I was down and couldn't fire my rifle but Firecracker burned anything that got to close and burned down the buildings with ease. Mow-Down tried to take her down from a distance by throwing everything at her but she burned it and threw it back. She started to change after that... She began to cackle madly as she roasted the boss down to a fiery crisp, her mane was a perfect match with the fire in the background and she hummed a disturbing parody of a song. A song that was supposed to bring smiles to everypony who hears it. "They call me the Cracker And I am here to burn I'm gonna burn you all today and smile all the wayyyy! It doesn't matter now If you had things to do 'Cause burning all your friends is what I'm here to do 'Cause I love to make you hurt, hurt, hurt Yes I do It burns your body down unto the ground Yes it does All I really need is for you scream, scream, scream In the fiery pits of hell!" I sort of blacked out after that but after I woke up I saw her Cutie-mark, A burning time bomb with fiery bat wings. Seriously she's fucking scary. ------------------------------ Twilight came back down from the stairs. "The beds are ready but if the two of you are hungry. I could make something for the both of you." She said. "Nah, I'm good." Headshot said and walked up the stairs. "I'm gonna hit the hay early. Night, guys." "Not really hungry right now.Maybe tomorrow." Roland said and went up the stairs. After a few minutes, Twilight went up the stairs to see if the two warriors were asleep. Roland was fast asleep on the bed and Headshot fell out of bed but was still asleep. Twilight quickly ran down the stairs and excitedly took out the brown bag. "Now that I'm alone..." ------------------------------ Brick gave Angel a presidential suite inside town hall. Brick also lived inside town hall for two reasons: 1. It was easier to get to work in the morning when he sleeps in. 2. He doesn't like his house, it smells like rats, cider and animal dung, sure he liked furry animals and was taking care of a few of them but it stinks so bad. Angel took off her shirt and turned on the shower. Water poured down from the shower-head and slid down her body. Her slender form was quite nice to look at even if you were a pony. She looked at her blue tattoos and remembered all the times she lied to the nine vault hunters, five years ago and from earlier this year. Brick was in the suite next door and Brick flushed his toilet. Hot water splashed on Angel's body as she yelped from the sudden change in water temperature. "Are you alright?" Brick yelled through the wall. "I'm fine!" Angel replied. She picked up a purple bath-towel and wrapped it around her body. She noticed the bloody pile of clothes on the floor. She placed them inside the washing machine and turned them on. She was thinking, something she did all the time when she was locked up inside the A.I control room. What if I wasn't a siren? Maybe thing would have been better with me and Jack... She thought as she sat down on her large bed. ... Or maybe he would just get rid of me when I was a new born. That sounds like something Jack would do. The sound of the washing machine stopped and she took out the clothes, she then placed them in a magical dryer made to quickly dry clothes and avoid shrinking. As soon as she pressed the button the machine stopped and she pulled out the fresh clothes, all pressed and nice... until the next bloodbath that is. Angel put on her short and shirt and lied down on her bed. What would happen... She thought to herself. If I just told the vault hunters of what was in the vault... Maybe I could have avoided all this trouble. ------------------------------ Firecracker took out a roll of duct-tape and several pieces of metal. The FPHCD was redisigned to fire rockets and shoot out flames but she had another problem. The FPHCD turret or Dragon turret for short needed to be portable. How in the wide, wide world of Equis can she do that?!? Of course she could carry it around, she had access to Hammer-space but this was for the big alien soldier she liked. She likes fire and explosions and he like fire and explosions. Of course she likes him. Firecracker wrapped her brain around what to do. In her frustration, she threw all her equipment on the ground. She noticed an old toolbox in the corner of her workshop and had a brilliant idea. She dismantled the turret and, with a little unicorn magic, took out a small gray box and compacted the large turret into the box. "I... am... the ... MOST BRILLIANT UNICORN TO HAVE EVER BURNED DOWN A TOWN!" She yelled at her triumph and looked at the clock. "Nap time." She then fell back on her bed and instantly fell asleep.