//------------------------------// // Laying the Foundation // Story: Honor Above All Else // by Honored Service //------------------------------// Honor Above All Else Chapter 29 By Honored Service Pre-read TheDarkAngel “Did you really just suggest that?” Luna had stopped dead in her tracks and stared at me with a look of utter shock. “Destroy all of Ponyville to destroy Day Terror’s massive army. That is simply ridiculous!” Luna turned her head from me and stormed off towards the tent where I had left the other ponies. “Listen Princess, unless you have a better plan on how to take on an army larger than the entire guard force we had before all this, then I'm all ears.” I waited for Luna’s remark, but none came. Instead she stopped in her tracks. “Fine, I’ll at least hear your plan.” “Awesome.” I smiled and rubbed my hands together. This plan was going to be brilliant. I’ll make you proud Sky. A shadow pulled the wooden wheel towards the left. The massive airship began its lazy turn and decent towards the unprepared war torn town. “Shadow Brother Captain, the hold is filled and the shadow warriors are ready to fall. The Shadow Gunners have the first volley equipped to fire, and the Shadow Brother Engineers are ready to make repairs if the vessel should become damaged.” The larger shadow rotated its head from the large window in front of the wheel to face the other shadow. “Excellent news Shadow Brother Comrade. We will fire the first volley on my command and then air drop the shadows. Once they have either been defeated or pushed the pony defenders back, we shall then let the shadow warriors fall.” “A most perfect plan Shadow Brother Captain.” The lesser shadow bowed to the Shadow Captain and turned away and ran through the maze of corridors through the ship. The dim red lights casted shadows everywhere allowing the crew of the ship to blend in everywhere. The Shadow Comrade entered a small room with a microphone system set up. It pulled the magically enchanted megaphone close to its fanged mouth and coughed, “Ready all Shadow Brother Gunners, the first volley on the Captain’s command. All first drop shadows prepare for fall. Shadow warriors; be on the alert for wave two.” The Shadow Comrade let the megaphone fall back into place before rushing from the room towards the large cargo hold, or now was known as the weapons room. Over twenty cannons now lined the floor and walls, all stockpiled with plenty of cannonballs and magical propellant. Simple gem stones enchanted with an explosive spell to send the solid ball of metal and explosive down to the earth. The Shadow Comrade smiled through his fangs as the Shadow Brother Gunners began performing the only task they knew how to do. Load, aim, and fire cannons. Such a simple existence. Shadow Brother Comrade was created by the almighty Day Terror to serve as a messenger and second in command to the Shadow Brother Captain of the mighty Fast Skies. Day Terror’s ace in the hole. And boy was this going to be one hell of a card game. “First volley…” “FIRE AND RAIN SHADOW BROTHERS!” “So you see Luna? It has to happen. We weaken the defense force around Canterlot and then we make our push. Day Terror will put all her pawns on the front here,” I jabbed a finger on the map pointing at Ponyville, “the great fucking flood will wash her massive and only remaining army away and give us a day or two to launch our counterattack on the city.” I traced a line along the path the first army took to get to us. “Once her army is gone, she’ll start making another, and that will keep all her attention on that while we rush and crush her!” I slammed my fist on the table, while Luna and Twilight jumped backwards with disgusted looks on their faces I quickly raised my hand and silenced the pair. “SSSSHHH!” I listened intently to the night sky. I could hear something. Something like a propeller. A steady thumping in the distance. “SHIT!” I turned around and grabbed the two ponies and knocked them to the ground. A loud whistling filled the air as three holes punched through the canopy of the tent and exploded outside behind the tent. Shards of metal whizzed through the air. I slammed my gauntlet on the ground and the burst of red magic exploded outwards and created a brief barrier between us and the flying shards of death. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM From far way I finally heard the firing of canons. I looked to the two ponies hunkered below my shield. “Fuck. Luna, Twilight, you need to get everypony that isn’t a guard…actually get everypony you can into the basements, hard structures, and under bridges. This is artillery fire and I have no fucking clue where it is coming from!” I jumped up and ran to the giant hole ripped into the side of the tent and looked out, trying to find some kind of sign as to where the barrage was coming from. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM “SHIT!” I dove back over and slammed my fist into the ground just as another wave of cannon balls obliterated the surrounding buildings. As soon as it stopped, I got up and ran towards the open area outside. “Get to it girls, this needed to happen five minutes ago!” As I left the two mares to get the evacuation to underground started, I made a beeline towards the tallest building I could find. Some kind of fucking zeppelin thing was bearing down on the town. This ugly warship was making its way directly over Ponyville. I was determined to stop it before it could unleash a volley when it was directly overhead. That would completely destroy the town. Nothing would be left standing if all of those guns could open up directly on the town. I reached the clock tower that rested and the edge of the town. Somehow this thing was still standing, but I don’t know for how much longer. I raced through the main floor and up the rickety stairs, jumping two at a time, trying to reach the top before another volley could be unleashed. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM Too late. BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM What the fuck. I looked out a small side window and watched in horror as another side of the airship erupted into smoke. It had two ports of cannon. Great. Just fucking great. The whole world seemed to tremble as the last volley struck the earth. I shuddered at the thought of what the impacts were doing to the sleepy little town. Those buildings back in Ponyville weren't made to withstand anything of this magnitude. I came to a halt underneath the large bell in the tower, the arch of the bell holding the echo of each cannon shot as the airship lazily drifted by. The windows and side of the airship were covered in rough looking armor. I could try some magically enhanced magic bullets, but something told me that those wouldn't be enough. I lifted the rifle and set a burst of magic into it as I pulled the trigger, sending the bullet out of the barrel with a bright flash and a loud crack of thunder. The trail of blue light raced forward and smashed into the side of the airship under carriage. I cracked a smile and then lined up another shot. Well more like twenty-nine more shots. I unloaded the remaining bullets into the airship’s side. I couldn't tell if I was making any significant damage, but if the cannons were swiveling to my position, than that means they aren't firing on Ponyville… Oh shit. It clicked in my mind as all the cannons on one side of the ship swiveled to my position on the clock tower. FUCK! Was the only thing running through my mind as I quickly tried to think of a way out of this explosive situation. I gripped the rifle at my side in my right hand and aimed my gauntlet in front of me; making a fist and focusing the magic into it. I closed my eyes and concentrated the magic as the thumps of cannons began to fill my ears. I opened my eyes and jumped forward, releasing the spell at the same moment. The world slowed to a snails crawl around me as my body moved through the air towards the airship. The air rippled and shimmered by me as I moved past the incoming cannonballs that seemed to be frozen in mid-air as I preformed my first (intentional) short ranged teleportation jump. My feet landed on something hard and my eyes re-focused. I was standing on top of the armored balloon of the airship looking back at the clock tower as every cannonball impacted the side of the structure. Bricks and boards splintered and fragmented in every direction as the tower was cut in two by the heavy metal balls. I let out a breath of relief and looked around the top of the balloon. I dropped the rifle to my side and drew Zappy while making my way to the edge of the balloon. The airship was held from the balloon by many long thick ropes. I eyed the closest one and jumped towards it, gauntleted arm outstretched to catch the rope. I gripped the rope and swung my way around it before sliding all the way down the cable until hitting the roof of the actual airship. I smiled and slammed the sword into the metal roofing. Jerking the sword around in a three foot circle, I made my entrance into the airship’s interior. I pulled the sword from the metal and un-holstered my pistol. I cracked my neck and slammed a boot down on the weakened area. The cut away circle slammed into the floor below with a massive crash. I jumped feet first into the dim red lighted interior of the airship, sword brandished and at the ready, while my pistol was charged with magical energy. I immediately fired three magical bolts of energy into the chest and head of a charging shadow that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The creature jerked with each hit, before I dashed forward and plunged the electric charged blade into its chest where is spasmed for a brief moment before sliding off the blade and onto the metal floor, black blood pooling around it. Oh, I loved close quarters fighting. I ran through the twisting corridors and never ending hallways, slaughtering anything that was unlucky enough to cross my path. I smashed in the door into a large room filled with shadow humans. I calmly walked into the room before slamming my elbow in the door control, causing the door to slam shut behind be with a loud bang. Grinning from ear to ear I brought the sword to my side and the pistol to my front before sprinting forward into the crowded room. I ducked under a swing from one shadow while simultaneously slicing the legs out from under a different shadow; pointing the pistol up and firing a bolt of magic into the head of the attacking shadow. I flipped myself off the ground and swung around, crashing the hilt of the sword into the face of a shadow and then ramming the end of the pistol into its face and unleashing torrents of focused magical energy. It staggered backwards with each shot before collapsing to the ground missing a head. I brought my arm up and deflected a hit off the backside of my gauntlet. I jerked the pistol around and whipped the creature across the face with it, before firing a quick trio of shots into its gut, flipping the sword into the air and catching it an elongated upwards slash, leaving the shadow without an arm and head. Before long I found myself dancing through the room, both swords drawn blocking and slicing my way through the shadows. With this many shadows in one room, I could only imagine it being used as a drop bay to deploy them onto the city. The floor jolted under me, as two massive bay doors slowly began to open over the hill side. I looked to the door and saw a shadow watching me as it dumped the shadow humans and myself to our deaths. I leapt over a rushing shadow and jammed both blades through its skull while continuing my run towards the door as the bay doors continued to open. The corpses of the already slain shadows beginning to slide down the slick surface towards the ground hundreds of feet below. I sheathed one sword while reaching out with my gauntlet to grab hold of the door frame. The bay doors slid out all the way leaving me grabbing onto the door frame for dear life. I had about an inch of floor to stand on supporting me from the airship and the drop to the ground. The shadow on the other side of the door smiled at me. I smiled back and pulled my arm back that was still holding the sword. I jammed it quickly through the small glass window in the door, piercing the shadow through the eye. “That’s getting the point across.” I jerked the blade out and fired some magic into the door releasing the lock. I opened and walked out into the hallway whistling to myself as I made way towards what I hoped would be the bridge. “Shadow Brother Comrade? Shadow Brother Comrade come in. This is Shadow Brother Captain requesting an update on the situation in the drop bay. Are the Shadow Brothers ready to be deployed?” The shadow captain spoke into the magic megaphone. “I repeat, is everything –“ A loud bang come from outside the door, causing the captain to turn away from the speaker system and watch as a Shadow Brother Engineer flew through the door to the bridge and smashed into and out of the large window next to the steering wheel. The Captain had been created to fly and command the airship Fast Skies to the best of its abilities. But it knew next to nothing about fighting. That’s what the Shadow Brothers and Shadow Warriors were for. Day Terror gave it the knowledge to fly and command a ship, not fight, but she did give every shadow the basic knowledge of that. That two legged monster that was solely bred to cause death and destruction. A genocidal monster that couldn’t ever seem to be stopped. Day Terror gave each of her shadows the knowledge of that human. Everything it has done, everything it has killed, everything it has stopped. The memories of it were extensive. It was a death creature. To meet it was to simply welcome death. And the captain of the ship was staring right at that human. The human began walking towards the Shadow Brother Captain, the walk slowly turning into a jog, which turned into a dead sprint. The human seemed to move with the speed of light as it moved effortlessly from side to side before appearing right in front of the startled captain. The blade caught the shadow in its gut and sank all the way in to the hilt. The human jerked the blade up, spilling black blood over his armor and onto the floor of the bridge before drawing the blade out and letting the dying shadow drop to the metal deck with a muffled thud. The human turned to the speaker system and picked up the magic microphone, giving it a few taps, and clearing his throat spoke into it. “Attention crew of this ship. Fuck you! This is the human Johnson. Honored Service. Demon. Shadow Slayer. Monster of death. I am giving you the option to leave the ship now or face immediate death at the end of my blades.” As the human spoke, he scanned the long rows of controls and switches. Smiling he placed his hand on the one he was looking for. “Actually you know what; I don’t like the idea of any of you things going free.” The human slammed a gauntleted hand down on the button and a series of loud clanks filled the airship as every possible exit was sealed with metal hatches and locks. “Please remain calm. Death will be to each of you shortly. And from everyone here at fly human, we hope you enjoy the fight.” The microphone dropped to the metal deck of the bridge with a clatter and a pop that echoed through the entire ship. The human flicked a few switches and the airship stopped its flight over Ponyville. “You're all locked in here with me.” The laughter of a mad man filled the sound system through the entire ship. Luna and the ponies cautiously poked their heads out of the basement as the thumping of cannonball impacts stopped. The town fell silent as ponies everywhere began to emerge from their hiding spots. “Do you think Johnson stopped them?” Twilight asked the princess as they walked out onto the crater filled street. The airship still floated above the town, just seemingly suspended above everything as if it was trapped in time. Luna was about to respond, but a loud crash sounded out. Everypony ducked, expecting another cannonball, but a dull thud came from next to the main six and the Princess. The body of a shadow warrior lay splattered on the cobblestone street. Soon another Shadow Human body landed near the dead warrior. “Yeah,” Luna sighed and watched as another body was thrown through a hole in the side of the airship, “he’s stopping it.” “Look out below!” Came a shout and a body flew towards the ground before sliding down the roof of a adjacent building and leaping onto the street before shoulder rolling to a leaning rest on the side of a destroyed wall next to the Royal Princess. The human jerked a thumb towards the floating airship. “Yeah I just captured us a mobile artillery battery. What did you do today?” He gave a wide smile. “Oh just moved a 743,400,000,000,000,000,000 pound object through the sky.” Luna shot back at me, meeting my smile. “Buzz kill,” I mumbled, wiping blood from the shoulder armor I still had on. Twilight levitated the missing piece of golden armor that had been knocked off my other shoulder. I took it out of the air and smiled at the purple pony before reattaching it to my body. “Okay now that we have some mobile artillery, we can make the assault on Canterlot even more effective.” I ran a hand along more parts of my armor covering my legs, trying to get the blood and grime off them. “Now about the stuff I'm going to need to help with my plan…?” I looked to Luna who sighed and mentioned for Twilight and her friends to come closer as we began to explain my plan to them. “You do know that this plan will completely destroy all of Ponyville and the surrounding area.” Twilight stared at me in utter disbelief. Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash all shared similar looks of disgust and anger. “Ah can’t believe that y’all would even suggest such a thing!” Applejack huffed at me. “Mah family, mah farm, my life is in Ponyville. Without it we have nothing to live for here!” “My shop is in Ponyville. In fact, all of us have something keeping us here fighting for this town.” Rarity fumed at me, taking a step with each word to punctuate her point. “All the animals that would be harmed with your plan is… is… is just horrifying!” Fluttershy was absolutely terrifying as she hovered in front of me, staring at me with those massive eyes. “ALRIGHT!” I screamed, backing away from the angry six ponies. “Alright,” I added a little quitter, “okay y’all have made your point. No blowing the dam to kill the army that is going to be on top of us in no time.” I sighed. “Princess you have any other ideas?” Luna was very silent. She was concentrating hard and looking between myself and the Elements. “Girls,” she finally spoke after a few long moments of silence, “we need to think about this. If we chose to ignore Honored’s ridiculous plan, then nothing is going to stop the next army from overrunning this town. We simply won’t have enough guards or the strength to stop it. Sacrificing the town might be…no is the only way to stop this.” “Wait.” I stood up and looked at the map again. “Make the town plan B. I’ve got a better plan. I'm going to need five hundred pounds of dynamite, a shit load of detonation wire, and a lot of magic.” I smiled deviously as I took a quill and began to make some changes to the map on the table. The ponies gathered around and their eyes grew wide as my master plan to end all plans slowly came together before them. “And I shall call this beauty legen- wait for it- dary!” “When did I say this was a good idea?” I called up to Luna who was holding onto the other end of the rope. I was dangling along the side of Ghastly Gorge slowly and painstakingly packing the walls and lining the edges of the chasm with over five hundred pounds of dynamite. I had a pattern of the explosives set up all the way from the beginning of the gorge to the end of it. If I couldn't blow the damn then I was sure as hell going to blow something… up. Since we now had the artillery airship, we had a way to force the invading army off the main road and into the waiting death trap. The airship would meet the army head on and hopefully drive them into the gorge to avoid the deadly aerial bombardment. “Just a few more Honored!” Luna called down to me before dropping the rope suddenly. “AAAHHHHH!” I was jerked to a stop above the last magically drilled hole for the dynamite. I glared daggers at the smiling alicorn. She tried to act innocent, but I could see through that disguise. I reached into the nearly empty satchel wrapped around my side and pulled out the last remaining stick of explosive. I shoved it into the hole and connected the thin fuse to the detonation wire linking all the explosives together. “Okay, Luna, pull me up.” I was dropped rapidly again before being drawn up. I crossed my arms and gave Luna a deadpan stare as she laughed at how easily I was scared by the sudden rise and fall of dropping to my near death even though I would leap from an airship to the ground below without blinking. I kindly responded with a ‘fuck you that’s why’ and walked away towards the camp to finish the final stages for the upcoming mega battle of Ghastly Gorge.