Chapter 9
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"One simple job... I give you one simple job of guarding a Weapon of Harmony and you FAILED!?!" Anarchy snapped at the black suited monster. "A punishment is in order..." Slender's face was visibly shaken as two eyes, a nose and mouth started to form.
Slender felt his face and its new features. "Wh-What did you do to me!?!?!" He yelled at the God of Chaos.
Anarchy smiled a toothy grin. "Simple, I took away your immortality and the only way to get it back would be getting the Weapon of Loyalty back into my claws." Anarchy said and grabbed Slender by the throat. "And if you fail me again, I will make you and everything you hold dear suffer a fate worse than death." He said and pulled off Slender's red tie. "Celly, be a dear and hide this for me, it wouldn't be very interesting if he could just summon his Maskies to do his bidding."
"Yes... Nark..." Celestia said took the red tie and left the room.
"Such a dear, that Celestia. Now be gone and do not fail me again." Anarchy said and Slender bowed with an angry stare and left in a swirl of black smoke.
Slender cursed under his breath as he teleported outside Manehattan. "Curse that Anarchy, thinking he could mess with a being created out of pure darkness."
"And I am a being created out of pure chaos, remember I can hear you from anywhere. It doesn't mean I would always be there, but be careful of what you say, Shade."
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Roland and Angel went to the infirmary with the Pyromaniac and the three foals. Diamond sat in the lobby with the doctor who examined the other's injuries.
"The foals are mostly fine with only minor injuries... I'm more worried about that unicorn you brought in, she has two maybe three fractured ribs with several burns and an injured fore-leg." The doctor said to Diamond.
"I'm sure she'll be fine I'm more worried about Headshot... It's been an hour and a half already and did you hear that explosion just now?" Diamond said.
The doctor pushed up his glasses. "Yes, but I have no idea what that was and I hope we don't have too."
"It came from the mountain... I hope he's alright." Diamond said with a worried look on her face.
Meanwhile...
Roland was more or less fine in his opinion but he still needed to rest. He was lying down on the hospital bed and checked his ECHO messages.
Claptrap had another message. "Spike! No! You do not eat robot parts! Oh? It's on?" Claptrap said.
"Right. I have recently discovered that Spike's fire doesn't burn stuff but sends it somewhere else! Maybe even a different planet or universe all together! This is a discovery of a lifetime and if I might finally be able to get that oil hot tub I always wanted! But... I could always go to that boiling oil pit..." Claptrap said and Spike growled.
"Hello?" A different voice called out.
"Hello? A visitor? Hello there! My name is-"
"Claptrap, I know." Said the female voice. "I was wondering if you know how to get to Sanctuary? I followed the map but all I found was a huge hole."
"Yeah. You have to use the fast travel network, since it turned into a flying fortress." Claptrap said and led to the outdated fast-travel station.
"Thank you." She said.
"...Who are you? You seem familiar." Claptrap said. "I know I've seen that pink highlight before."
The girl giggled. "Maybe, turn off your ECHO and I'll tell you."
That's when the ECHO recording ended.
Roland tossed around in bed. He took out his old knife and saw the names of the soldiers of his old squad on one side and the names of his new friends on the other.
"Man..." Roland said in a low voice. "I really miss you all." Roland turned the blade over. "And you guys too... I wish I could just, I don't know..." Roland saw the skull tattoo he had on his arm.
"I remember when we all got this tattoo... What I'd give to have the old days back." Roland said to himself and shook his head. "No, I gotta stop thinking like this, I'll go senile or something."
There was a knock on the door. "Come in." Roland said and sheathed his knife.
Diamond peaked in with the three foals. "Hello Roland, The girls were curious about you, I tried to stop them and say you needed to rest but you know." She said and the others rushed in.
"Hi!" The little blue Pegasus said, bouncing up and down an unoccupied bed.
"What's your name?" The green Unicorn said and watched the soldier up close.
"What's your Cutie-mark?" The yellow Earthpony asked and looked at his arm that had the skull tattoo.
"Is this your Cutie-mark?"
"What's your favorite color?"
"How old are you?"
"What are those things on the end of your hooves?"
"Do you know magic?"
"Can you fly?"
"How strong are you?"
"Who's your favorite Wonderbolt?"
"Where can I get that hat?"
"What are you?"
"Can I trade for this hat?"
"Where did you come from?"
"How much for the hat?"
Roland began to get a headache at the rapid-fire questions that came out of the trio's mouths.
Diamond stepped up. "Alright, foals. Give him some room to breathe." She said and scooped the trio away from the soldier.
"Right... My name is Roland, I don't have a Cutie-mark, red, twenty-nine, fingers, no, no, I don't know, I bought it back in my world, human, no, Pandora, it's not for sale." Roland answered the questions in order.
The three fillies began to open their mouths but Diamond quickly put her hoof on the three fillies. "We could play twenty questions later. Right now, I think you three should get some rest." Diamond said and led the three saddened fillies out the room.
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Headshot saw a large hole in the wall that leads to an abandoned mineshaft. He squeezed through the hole and looked around.
It was too dark to see anything but he could feel some old tracks under his hooves. The path on the left had a dim light and he followed it.
Headshot walked through the deep dark cave, old train-tracks led from the mountain and towards the outskirts of Canterlot. When he gets out he would contact the others and warn them to be on a lookout for Slenderpony.
As he walked down the empty tunnel he noticed something at the distance. "Hello?" He called out and something moved behind him. Headshot wasn't scared but felt very uneasy in that tunnel. "Just keep calm and move on..." He said to himself and continued to trek through the tunnel.
When he reached a small station for loading and unloading he noticed that there were a few recently lit torches in the area. He knew he wasn't alone in the cave. The sound of hoof-steps came from behind him.
A knife pressed up against Headshot's neck. Whoever or Whatever that thing that had Headshot spoke in a language he didn't understand. Several more voices came from behind him.
"If you want to kill me..." He said and extended his razor-sharp wings and injured what was attacking him. He quickly turned around but only found darkness. "I know you're there. No use hiding." Headshot said softly.
A unicorn with black symbolic lines were drawn all over her body came through the darkness. "I asked you to leave quietly but you only go deeper into the mines." She said.
"I didn't hear anything." Headshot said and tensed up his muscles. "And I think you tried to kill me with a rusty knife."
"Your ears are deaf, colt. You couldn't hear me or my words because of your clouded mind." She said and stepped forward. "Leave now!"
"I am! I'm trying to get to Canterlot!" Headshot replied and stepped forward. "I'm lost and alone and you try to kill me? Talk about hospitality."
The mare came forward. "Continue down this path and it will lead certain doom." The mare said and stared at the sniper.
Headshot stared back. "I've had worse odds." He said. "Also, am I going the right way? I'm not sure which way is Canterlot."
"Down the path you will find, a dead god locked behind, chains of old and chains of new, will come and consume you." The mare said and disappeared in the darkness of the cave.
"Chains of old and chains of new? Huh?" He said and looked to the direction he was heading. "Behind locked doors and opened cracks, lies a demon within the tracks, one of gold and one of blue, will come and protect you." He recited an old poem that he knew.
"Through the burning ashes and flame, will come one they call Cain, the master flight and master rain." He said and the tracks and rocks began to heat the deeper he went through.
"And through the shining edges of steel, will come one named Keel, the one of golden radiance and might, will end your suffering and the blight." Headshot ducked as a sharp throwing knife came very close to his head.
Two ponies wearing gold and blue came forward, spears at the ready. "The two of these..." Headshot said and pulled out his rifle. "... will protect the weak..." He recited and fired his rifle. "... but the one they protect is neither wicked or meek..." The two of them were hit by the bullet. "... and through the burning locks and chains will release the one known as Pain."
Headshot walked pass the two guardians. He stared at a large gate that presumed to house the demon. "One of the Elements of Harmony and Light will show the demon compassion with his might." He said and reached out to the gates. "The one of loyalty will break through the demon's shell and save the protector within the veil."
The large gates and two large glowing eyes. Headshot stepped back.
Headshot took out his rifle and aimed. The bullets didn't seem to affect that thing. "Son of a..." Headshot said as a giant scally claw sent him back.
The thing slowly came forward. It was a giant Earth Dragon, a dragon without wings and could easily destroy an entire army of war-trained veteran Unicorns.
All dragons grew up by succumbing to one of the Sins of Chaos, Sky Dragons were the most common, they were made from succumbing to Greed. The Earth Dragons were a rare breed, created by succumbing to the sin of Wrath.
The dragon had large brown scales and red glowing eyes that stared at Headshot with intense rage.
The dragon roared at the tiny Pegasus forcing him to step back.
Headshot jumped behind a large boulder and took cover from the white-hot flames. Headshot rushed towards the Dragon and went under him and attacked from behind.
Each attack only seemed to make the Dragon more angry. The Dragon swiped his tail and struck the sniper out of the air.
The Dragon turned around and grabbed Headshot, he had Headshot in a death grip with his claws and was slowly squeezing the life out of Headshot
"Please! Stop!" A voice said from inside the large doors.
The Dragon stared at the newcomer and released his grip on the Pegasus and it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"I'm sorry! I thought you were one of those monsters." The voice said from inside the doors.
"Monsters? What monsters? And what did you do to that Dragon?" Headshot asked and coughed up some blood.
The voice came out of the large doors. The voice was a young mare with golden eyes and a dark green mane. "A-Are you alright?" The mare asked shyly.
Headshot couldn't help but blush at the cute mare. "I-I'm fine. What are you doing in a place like this?" He asked.
"I, ummm, live here. I didn't know there were others outside, especially somepony who was brave enough to fight my Dragon." She said and smiled shyly on the ground.
"W-wait! Your Dragon!?!" Headshot yelled in surprise. "D-does that mean?"
The mare nodded. "I'm a Summoner." She said.
Headshot shot up in the air and charged at the mare. "That's impossible! The only Summoner is... was Juno, and she eaten by thousands of Parasprites! All the other Summoners were killed by Anarchy years ago! Who the hell are you!" Headshot tighten his grip around the mare's neck.
The mare started to choke and her horn glowed a soft yellow light and Dragon from earlier appeared and swatted the sniper to the aside.
Headshot got up and felt his wing snap. "I-I guess you're telling the truth." Headshot dusted off and retracted his broken wing.
The mare was surprised by the sniper's retracting wing. "I, umm, I'm sorry for your wing..." She said.
Headshot shrugged off the injured wing. "Nah, I'm sorry for trying to choke you. But you said there were monsters here?"
The mare's eyes shot open. "EEEEEEKKEEE!!!" She screamed.
Headshot turned around and faced a large moving shadow. "No...Not you again..." He said silently and turned to the mare. "Run."
Both the ponies ran pass the shadow and back to where Headshot came from. He saw the hole that led back through the cave and the decaying support beams, Headshot let go of the mare and pointed pass the hole. "Just keep running! I'll hold him off."
The mare stared at the long, dark tunnel and then back to Headshot. The sniper pulled out his rifle. "GO!" He yelled and the mare ran down the tracks.
Headshot aimed his rifle at the support beams. The Shadow was closing in.
"Steady..." Headshot muttered. "Steady..." He fired and hit the support beams and the entire section came crashing down. The Shadow wasn't dead, several cracks on the wall began to ooze. "Yeah... didn't think that would work..." Headshot quickly turned around and began to run away from the shadow.
"I can't use booster with a broken wing!"
*Booster activate*
"DAMMIT!" Headshot yelled as one of his boosters appeared on his back and propelled him forward. He couldn't control his flight as he spun in one direction. "DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!"
Headshot saw the mare running and he quickly grabbed her. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed as both of them saw the light at the end of the tunnel.
They flew out of the tunnel and into the warm sunlight and the Shadow quickly dissolved into nothingness.
Both of them could see the Canterlot waterfall and Lake Canterlot in the bottom. Headshot was going too fast and he needed to stop. He aimed himself at the lake and both of them splashed into the water.
Headshot swan up and surfaced, he noticed that the mare wasn't with him. He swam back down and found the mare and grabbed her and swam up.
He swam ashore and placed the mare on her back. "Dammit..." He muttered as he put his hooves on her chest and pushed. "Come on... Breath..." He said and pushed again and again. He placed his lips on her's and with a few more puffs she began to cough up the water.
Headshot panted for breath. "You... Alright?" He said between breaths.
"Y-yeah..." She said and lied down on the grass, staring at the clouds above.
Headshot stayed quiet and lied down on the grass as well. "So... this your first time?"
"Excuse me?" She said surprised.
"Being outside, I mean. Outside that prison." Headshot said and pointed to a cloud. "Being with nature... I just wish there was more, like during the peaceful times."
The mare stared at the moving clouds. "Was it always like this? The clouds? The sun and moon?" She asked.
"No, thank Anarchy for fixing the laws of physics that Discord broke a few thousand years ago." Headshot said and the cloud he was pointing to slowly drifted down. "Pegasi can still control the weather but in some cases the weather became too unpredictable."
"I was... stuck in there, behind that door for years. I remember the ponies trying to dig through it, but it didn't work. Honestly, I thought this was a dream until you started choking me earlier." She said and gazed at Headshot.
"Yeah, sorry." He said and remembered that he needed to contact his friends about a new danger. "Excuse me." He said and stood up.
He turned on his ECHO and called Roland. "Hello? Roland? Do you hear me?"
There was a loud buzzing sound and Roland's distorted voice. "Ye-can hea- ou." Roland said.
"I can't hear you, you're breaking up. I'm near Canterlot, and tell Firecracker that Slenderpony is alive, she'll know what it'd mean. I'll contact you later." Headshot said turned off his ECHO.
He turned his attention to the staring mare. "Nevermind. We should go to the city before it gets dark. My name's Headshot, by the way."
"I'm Pain or Abyss as some of the creatures I summon would call me." Pain said and reached out ot grab Headshot hoof.
Headshot stared at the mare. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "I'm scared..." She said quietly. "I was stuck in there for a long time, I don't even know how long."
"Well... Where are you going now?" Headshot said. "We can't stay out here, you'll die." He got up and turned to face Canterlot.
Pain jumped up and grabbed his hoof again. "...Don't go...Please..." She said and started to cry.
"Who said I was going?" Headshot said and flashed her a quick smile. "I just asked where we were going." Headshot grabbed her hoof. "I was thinking Canterlot or maybe Ponyville. It would take a day to get to Ponyville but, your choice."
She wiped her tear off her face. "L-let's go to Canterlot."
"Let's go!"
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Roland and Angel checked out of the clinic.
"I got a message from Headshot. He said he was going to a place called 'Canterlot' or something." Roland said to the others.
Firecracker jumped up. "WHAT!?!" She began to pace back and forth. "This is bad! This is really bad!"
Diamond tried to comfort the Unicorn. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Canterlot is the chaos capital of the world and Headshot is a wanted stallion there! The most wanted!" Firecracker yelled. "He's got the biggest bounty on his head! That stupid stallion!"
"Now what?" Angel asked. "We could go to Canterlot and pick up Headshot."
"But we won't make it in time! If he ever finds out about... No, let's go... Hurry up!" Firecracker said. It was strange to see her so serious.
"I'll have to stay here, but the Hammers are with all of you." Diamond said and left the clinic. "Oh, and don't worry about the foals, I'll get them back to Ponyville safely."
"Let's get out of here! I go get an airship." Firecracker and and rushed out the door. "Meet me outside the town later!"
Roland and Angel left the clinic. "I hope that idiot's alright." Roland said.
"He reminds me too much about Mordicai." Angel said and walked down the street.
"Reckless, Headstrong, and Loyal." Roland replied and smiled at Angel. "Sometimes a bit too reckless."
"I remember the time Mordicai took on Moe and Marley alone, crazy son of a skag." Angel laughed.
"Huh... Never thought I'd miss them this much..." Roland sighed. "Wish I was back..."
Roland and Angel walked in silence as they exited the town.
They waited silently for a few minutes, noticing the difference in the environment in Equistria and Pandora.
The soft green grass and blooming flowers were very alien to Roland and Angel. They heard a loud horn overhead. The two of them looked up and stared at the large red airship with Firecracker's Cutie-mark on the side.
A rope ladder flew down. "HEY! Get up here! Let's go!" Firecracker said from the deck of the ship.
"Let's do it." Roland said and climbed up, Angel following closely behind.
Firecracker flipped a switch and the airship increased it's altitude. "The S.S Firestorm has set sail!"