Lauren Frost PoV:
Today had been a rather slow uneventful day as I watched the world go by. Nothing even remotely exciting happened with any and all chess pieces. Today felt like a bad Sunday after partying all night on Saturday and had to rest up/get rid of the hangover for the next day. “Huh to be young again” I mused out loud reminiscing days gone by. ‘I was such a light head back then’ I thought to myself with a slight chuckle “Oh speaking of chess pieces I wonder how Drake’s doing?” I question.
With a simple thought I created a mental link to speak to him only to hear a loud scream “UUUUUUCCCCCCKKKKKKKK”. As quickly as I open the link I closed it and sat there for a few minutes, though I could still hear a loud ringing sound, it wasn’t as bad a few moments ago. Curious as to the situation I opened up an image to see him and his companions surrounded by a group of Diamond dogs. He had a stoic look on his face with his eyes scanning each and every dog as they stalked closer and closer while his companions were huddled together holding one another in fear…including Derange.
“I wonder what he’s planning?” I asked out loud and cautiously reopened the mind link making sure to turn down the volume just incase.
“Why the *Yay~* didn’t we *Yay~*-ing think of that while we were eating those *Yay~-ing awesome muffins. We could have been *Yay~*-ing gone by now and those *Woohoo~* suckers wouldn’t have been the wiser, though to be fair they’re as smart as pile of *Yay~*. I mean seriously just what the actually flying *Yay~* was I thinking. Oh that’s right I wasn’t because of *Yay~*-ing Derange and his…” he continued on his little rant, but I cut off the link once more with a surprised look on my muzzle.
“… I think I’ll just talk to him later” I said out loud and closed the image.
My Pov:
‘And that’s why I hate Kiddy land’ I thought as I got over my rant and boy let me tell ya it was a doozy. Wait wasn’t something bad happening…oh yeah dogs encircling us menacingly almost forgot about that. Just as they were about to completely encircle us Derange yelled out “WAIT!”
“What now!?” Mutt yelled out annoyed.
Derange then began to dig into his feathery coat on occasion muttering ‘No’ when he yelled triumphantly “Ah ha nobody move or else” he threatened as he held up a bag full of pure white crystal, set item giving off a beautiful holy glow courtesy of the sun’s rays “I’ve got Charlie and I’m not afraid to use it” he yelled holding the bag in front of everyone, but the only response he received were confused looks. “Oh wait forgot that Charlie Sheen doesn’t exist here” he said as he started to list off different names, also is that a bag of what I think it is?!?!? “…Blow, coke, crack (and not just your momma’s), and my least favorite name snow” he said as he finished off his list though for the most part no one, thankfully, knew what he was even talking about. “….it’s a drug” he deadpanned.
“Ohhhhhhhhh” everyone said at the same time.
“Wait what the hay is a drug going to do to them?” Minuette asked confused by, which is hardly a surprise anymore, Derange’s logic.
“Uh I was going to throw it at them and get them really really high thanks to their sensitive noses and what not, then I was going to kick him *points towards Mutt* in the balls, then ????? And finally profit off of Mares gone wild” he said summarizing his oh so wonderful plan.
“….That makes no sense” Mutt stated the obvious.
“Besides” I said before he could rebuttal “One: I’m not going to introduce crack to Equestria” I said while grabbing the bag from Derange though while during the motion I took a real hard look at the drug and notice something quite interesting about set contents, but you know spoilers. “Two: even if we were able to spread this about there’s also the chance that we would get high and or shit faced. Three: and more importantly” I said and held it up in the air. “This is not crack, but something much better and plausibly more dangerous” I said finishing off my little speech with a mischievous smile.
“Ah ponies and lizards are bluffing” Mutt said clearly done with having to deal with our shenanigans “Tie up ponies and lizards and let’s go” Mutt ordered the other dogs obeying their Gamma’s instructions and converging towards us once more.
“When I give the signal we’re going to make a break for it towards the valley” I whispered to my companions only getting nods in response. “This” I yelled though the dogs continued to advance on us “is fulminated mercury aka a bucking time bomb just waiting for the right action or in this case reaction, see what I did there, as I shall now demonstrate” I yelled with a crazy grin as I chucked the bag towards Mutt who went bugged eyed and jumped out of the way. Now you’re probably thinking ‘How the hell did he know that from just a simple glance?’ Well just like how I know if you times 111,111,111 by 111,111,111 it turns out to be 12,345,678,987,654,321 or how bats, given their body size, have larger brains than birds or like how there is a law in Haiti stating it’s a crime to turn someone into a zombie. I kid you not there is an actual law stating that if I recall it’s under Article 249. Anyways back to my point….I just know some very random things. I don’t know if I should be annoyed because of my ability or not, though completely random and sometimes useless, it also does bring up some useful information I never knew about. Anyways back to the story,
“LEG IT! WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!” I screamed, while holding onto my hat to not lose it, and what else ran right through the dogs knocking some over and creating a pathway for my companions who were right on my tail.
“I thought you said it was suppose to explode, but I’m not hearing anything!” yelled our newest member who I forgot to ask for his name. Damn you social etiquettes!
“That’s because we summoned it” Derange answered.
“WOULD YOU STOP MAKING THAT SOUND!” Minuette yelled at me ‘Huh didn’t even realize I was still making that noise’ I thought and muttered an apology to the angry little mare beside me.
“That doesn’t make sense” the colt yelled back.
“Story of my life kid” I responded with a shrug and continued “Besides it will explode in about three….two….one” I counted off and was rewarded with a loud boom.
“Wait then why did it explode?” he asked beyond confused.
“Cause we/they summoned it” we all said at the same time.
“You guys are crazy” was his response after a good full minute of silent running.
“But the good kind” I said.
“Is there any other kind and yes that was rhetorical” Derange said stopping the others from responding to his remark. And then we ran entering the sea of jagged spikes in hopes of either losing our pursuers or at least using the environment to our advantage by using the enclosed space to squeeze them in making their sheer size in number, well in other word ‘won’t count for shit’.
“What’s the plan now?” Derpy asked as she flew above us Dinky riding on her mother’s back.
“Hopefully we’ll lose them if not we’ll use the enclosed space to our advantage and beat the hay out of them” I answered though our odds of winning was still 30 to 70 and I did not like those odds ‘Silver where the buck are you we could use your help right about now’ I thought though I had to keep up this facade of confidence for the sake of everyone else. I don’t like fighting because I always had some problems with it. For starters it is such a pointless endeavor to solve problem and or situation with when words could be used instead, but that usually doesn’t work on the average drunk American. Granted that doesn’t mean I don’t know how to fight, though in my childhood I basically learned the ‘punch in the face as hard as you can’ style though I did learn a particular fighting style when I was in my high school years, but it was mostly self taught. You see I learned how to use…’Oh buck me sides ways’ I thought as we exited out of the tunnel and into a good sized dome like room. The cavern (I’m going to go with cavern for three hundred Bob) itself was about fifty feet tall and twenty feet wide, how I knew this I had no idea. Hazy clear crystal adorned the wall of the cavern with some cliff mixed in there as well as it lead to the open blue sky. Boulders about the five feet tall and four feet wide were placed about the very layout of the cavern like area. “Everyone get ready to fight they’ll be here any moment now” I said grimly. Tipping my hat to cover my eyes I then enter into the room more cautiously my companion right behind me.
“Wait how do you know?” the boy and Minuette asked at the same time.
I then gestured towards the well placed/sized boulders “Strategic cover”.
They looked at me as if I lost my mind, which as far as I know I haven’t (because it in your head duh), and Minuette said “That is probably the dumbest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth. I expected this from Derange, but from you…honestly just wow” adding a disappointed shake of her head.
Before I could respond back Derange said with a rather serious tone “Do not question the ‘Strategic cover’ logic of video games…ever”.
“Pfffft please” Minuette said with a dismissive wave. “How about I prove you’re little ‘theory’ wrong right now” she said walking farther ahead of us and over towards one of the covers. After a couple minutes of standing there she said “See nothing bad happen…” but was interrupted as the pathway that lead us into here was blocked by a random cave in. “Ok I know what you’re going to say” she said as Derange and I gave her a skeptical look. “But that was just pure coincidence” she continued only for a loud crash to be heard.
“There ponies and lizard are” yelled a diamond dog as he ran out from a cloud of dust. More and more diamond dogs seemed to come out of every which way filling up the cavern in seconds.
Derange was about to say something until “Don’t you dare say it out loud” Minuette growled at him. Surprisingly he obliged to her request and instead brought out a piece of paper and quill, wrote something down and held it in front of. “’Dear Minuette, I told ya so’” Minuette read out loud. Taking a glimpse of the note I saw a small doodle of Derange blowing a raspberry at her. I couldn’t help but chuckle at Derange’s shenanigan though it didn’t last long thanks to miss party pooper Minuette and her glare of doom.
“Would you guys stop goofing around!” yelled the boy.
“Alright alright just give me a second” I told him dismissively, though in reality I was slightly freaking out. ‘OK so completely surround by oh three…ten…twenty five…thirty dogs with our only means of escape blocked off, can’t just fly us out of here because they’ll use those net launcher on us (plus my hearing just returned and I’m quite fond of it), and the people who I know can somewhat fight our me and Derange…….Well this is definitely not looking good’ scanning the sea of dogs I located Mutt commanding his brethren all the way from the rear and Not One Word Derange!
“You never let me have any fun” he whined getting confused looks from our companions.
Ignoring him I went back to my own thoughts trying to figure a way out of this mess. ‘Ok so what do I know about Diamond Dogs. Well they smell, they have bad teeth, bad grammar, flees…lots and lots of fleas and…No wait that’s not what I should be thinking about. Damn you random knowledge you and your randomness ways. Ok come on focus *internal slap* Ok they seem to follow a ranking system as Alpha being the highest to Beta being the next though if I remember wasn’t it suppose to end there or something and any D-dog could challenge the Beta to fight the Alpha for control? …Ah whatever I’ll remember eventually. What I do know is that if I beat Mutt I’ll be considered their Gamma and they’ll have to listen to me!’ I thought triumphantly finding a loophole to their system. “Hey Mutt I challenge you for your title and leadership level of the back” I said while pointing at him dramatically.
“Mutt’s clan no follow rules of other clan. Mutt’s clan system is chosen by Alpha and Alpha alone” he yelled back with what I could imagine as a smug smirk.
I then turned to my friends and said “Well that’s all I got” adding a wing shrug to mix things up a bit. “Derange!” I yelled out as I turned to face our foes.
“Sir yes sir!” he cried out as he stood by me while saluting.
“You’re going to stay here and keep them safe while I go take out Mutt understood?” I asked never taking my eyes off of the target.
“But sir that’s suicide” he cried out “At least use the boy as a pony shield” he said and presented the colt in front of me.
“Hey! Put me down” the boy said while trying to break free from my alter-ego’s grip.
“…No…Just…No” I said as I shook my head at him. His response was to shrug and release the colt though he should have at least held him closer to the ground when he let him go. “Ready?” I asked.
He walked over next to me a shovel in his hand “Ready” he said in a Russian accent as he cocked the shovel, a shell casing flying out from the shovel…he was also wearing the Tower Pillar of Hats. ‘….Celestia, Luna, Faust, Discord and any other god/goddess that I forgot to mention damit.’
“That’s not funny at all and you should feel bad…except the shell casing now that was funny” I said as I shook my head once more though that didn’t last long as I turned my attention back to the problem at hand. I then got into a low stance my legs tightening up as I got ready to charge head first into the incoming mob of dogs. My breathing was calm and steady though my heart was beating a mile a minute as I felt the great feeling of adrenaline coursing through my veins. The plan was simple charge towards the dogs, kick Mutt’s ass, cause confusion amongst the ranks and take charge hoping that they’ll fall back on the old ways of leadership though this wasn’t guaranteed to work since for all I know the Alpha could have devised a ranking system so that if the Gamma fell the next what it’s called would come up next and etcetera etcetera. A long shot yes, but it was all I had at the moment so got make it count. As I took in one final deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to do, I then released all the tension I was building up in my legs and charge.
“What the buck did you guys get yourself into!?” cried Silver and might I say Thank you Celestia, Luna, Discord, Faust and any other god/goddess I neglected to mention. I would have literally stopped to hug the mare for showing up in our time of need, but I choose to continue with my plan.
“Dogs. Slavers. Protect them. Derange go nuts.” I yelled as I passed her by and just as I was about to clash with the dogs I jumped as high as I could, the momentum sending me right over the charging dogs, and took to the skies.
“For Narnia!” Derange screamed as he charged head first swinging his shovel though it was what he said next that made me really ticked off at him “Boink. Boink. Boink. Bonk”. No not that the next thing “Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here.” I mean really if you’re going to make fun of something at least do it right and or coherently though my train of thought was lost as a net came flying past me. With a quick flick of my wing I narrowly dodge the next one and continued swerving out of harm’s way as I slowly made my way towards Mutt.
Derange’s PoV:
“Dogs. Slavers. Protect them. Derange go nuts” Drake yelled and boy let me tell ya I was stocked at not only Silver showing up, because in all honesty we would’ve got our ass handed to us on a silver (ha I’m making a funny) platter, but also at the aspect of me showing the ladies my moves. “For Narnia” I screamed as I charged head first my weapon of choice for the day in tow. What came next was the most epic of lines ever to leave one's mouth “Boink. Boink. Boink.Bonk”…okay maybe not the first but it’s around there somewhere… “Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here” I said in tangent though I was paying more attention to the noise in the background.
“Double Kill” yelled out an announcer as I whacked two D-dogs in the face though I’m sure I didn’t kill them the voice still rang out. “*Whack*Triple kill. *Whack*Overkill. *Whack*Killtacular, Killing Spree” the voice rang out as I smacked the fifth dog that was in range.
“Must. Go. For. Ten. Kills” I said panicky as I charged towards the sea of dogs. The bloody cowards had a look of fear as most of them backed off though a few of them were still dumb enough to take their chances with yours truly.
A dog came charging towards me head first his sharp claws swiping at my head. I dodged to left and hit him with the end of my improp weapon his lifeless, or unconscious, body falling to the ground. “Killtacular” the voice continued to ring out. Another dog charged at me from behind trying to catch me off-guard. He thrust his spear (Mind out of the gutter people) where I was at only moments ago as I did a back flip, my face merely inches away from the spear, as I reappeared behind him and busted his balls…Ok I kicked him in the balls and they didn’t burst but the previous sentence sounded so much epicer than just ‘kick’. The dog yipped in pain as he fell to his knees as he caressed his manhood. Not feeling sorry for him I smacked him in the back of his head knocking him out like the others and also sending him face first towards a boulder, but meh that bit wasn’t really important. “Killtrocity”. Then two dogs tried to double team me, and it wasn’t the good kind, one with a worn out spear while the other came at me with wicked sharp claws. Just as they were about to strike at me I simply side stepped out of the way and watched as they smack right into one another, a loud whack sound echoing within the cavern, causing them to slump to the ground both rubbing their snouts. I then aimed a well placed shot at both of their heads and smacked them with my weapon knocking them out like the others. “Killimanjaro. Killtastrophe”.
“Two more to go…I’m going to do it” I said with a wickedly awesome, though I’ve been told it’s rather creepy, smile. The sea of dogs seemed to back off not wanting to face the awesomeness of yours truly…wait but that means I can’t…oh hell no. “You are not going to ruin this for me” I threatened as I took a step towards them. Their response was to take a step back. I growled at them as I took another threatening step towards the dogs though they responded much the same and took another step back. I growled once more ready to just bum-rush them until I noticed a dog making its way towards me from the back. He was a huge pit bull looking dog, which can translate to an ugly one, who was about an inch taller than me. He had black coat with yellow eyes though the most distinguishing feature was the massive bulge of muscles that were protruding from his arms, legs and rib cage. “Damn kid do you lift or what?” I asked rather surprised at the beast before me.
The dog didn’t respond to my comment as he sprinted towards me with a mad look in his eye foam also foaming at the mouth. ‘Well some people just don’t appreciate a good joke anymore’ I thought as the dog was merely moments away from crashing into me and introducing ‘thunder and lightning’. I calmly leaned my weapon against me, spit into my hands and furiously rubbed my hands together. I then picked up my weapon and got into a batter stance. “Bottom of the ninth. The scores are tied 9-9. Bases are empty. Two outs, with three balls and two strikes. The crowd is silent with excitement as Derange their star player gets ready to send them off to the championship. And the ball is loose and it’s a fast one does Derange have any hope of hitting it? Can he lead team Chaos to victory?” I said with an announcer like fashion. Just as the dog was only a few feet away I swung the shovel has hard as I could, the dog had a smirk on his face knowing full well that the shovel wouldn’t do jack shit in its current form, current being the key word as I pressed a small red button on the side of the handle.
The small shovel seemed to transform before everyone’s eyes as steam and gears seemed to spring up and out as it changed form. The once small weapon was now a towering mass of steam punkyness (too lazy to describe) over the dog though it was now firmly planted into the earth. The dog had originally stopped to watch the sudden transformation, but after a few seconds he began making his way over towards me once more a menacing look on his face while cracking his knuckles. I had a look of panic as the dog continued his walk towards me, but that quickly changed as I adopted a smug smirk on my face as I clicked a blue button on the opposite side of the handle. Steams and gears presented themselves once more as the back side of the shovel adopted a rocket like property and lit a flame, a brilliant blue I might add, as the shovel was launched towards the dog and smacked him with great force sending him flying off into the wall of the cavern. “AND IT’S A HOMERUN! TEAM CHAOS TAKES THE JAWS OF VICTORY FROM TEAM D-DOGS! IT’S ALL OVER FOLKS!” I cried at in triumph though I had to stop to make sure my weapon wouldn’t fly off as I re-pushed the red button and watched the shovel revert back to its original form.
“Killapocalypse” the voice rang out over the silence that presented itself after the whole I smacked that big guy with a shovel. I mean honestly it’s like they never seen steampunk before or something.
Getting over my epicness I gave them a wide toothy grin and said “Who’s next? No wait let me choose. Eeny, meeny you” while looking at a dog whose eyes went to the size of dinner plates and froze up. I then began to sprint over towards him only to feel something hit the back of my skull effectively knocking me face first to the ground. Quickly, and totally not rolling on the ground crying my eyes out, recovering from the blow I cried out “Motherbucker that hurt” while rubbing the back of my skull.
I turned and glared at the culprit noticing a small D-dog holding a broken rock, the bits and pieces still falling from his hands, who responded with a sheepish grin followed by a sheepish wave “Uh hi” he said.
I was on him faster than the eye could see as I brought up my weapon to smack him like the others. The end of the shovel was a few inches away from hitting him when the announcer announced, heh yo dog… “Killjoy, Game Over” he announced.
The end of the shovel stopped right before it was going to hit his face while I mulled over what was said. “But…I was…one more…”I then fell to my knees and cried the dog running back to his pack to watch the scene unfold. I raised my fist to the heaven and brought it back to the earth multiple times, a small crater beginning to form, “Damit! Damit! Damit! Damit! Damit! Damit! I was so FUCKING CLOSE” I raged...and yes I did lose, but some things take priority. Then I heard the sound of a stampede coming towards me and wouldn’t you know it was the D-Dogs coming towards me trying to take advantage of my state right now. “This is all your fault” I said in a low voice as I slowly got back up and letting the shovel fall lifelessly to the ground. The shovel dissipating into nothingness before it even hit it “And you all are going to pay the price” I said as they converge over top of me all the while a smile plastered on my face.
Silver PoV:
“Dogs. Slavers. Protect them. Derange go nuts” Drake yelled as he passed me by a look of relief going across his face as he jumped into the air and started to make his way towards the rear. I could already guess what was happening: They ran into some slavers, Drake/Derange said something stupid, they ran and are now trapped.
“For Narnia” Derange screamed as he charged head first a shovel in tow while also sporting a tower of hats…no really he had a hat for a hat that was on top of another hat. What came next was the most annoying things ever said “Boink. Boink. Boink.Bonk” no not that what came next “Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here. Need a dispenser here” he said in tangent.
‘I swear if I ever find out what a ‘dispenser’ is I am going to shove one so far up his a…’ I thought though I was brought out of it as a dog tried to knock me out from behind. I rolled backwards right between the dog’s legs and bucked him as hard as I could. The dog yipped in pain, as he fell over and began caressing his manhood. I didn’t stop there as I then bucked him in the back of the head causing his face to fly straight down into the ground knocking him out cold. Scanning the area were the others were I saw three D-dogs making their way towards them. Minuette was throwing well sized rocks at them, but they merely brushed them aside while Ditzy was standing in front of the children wings spread out threateningly, amateurs. With a quick flick of my wings I dashed off and crashed right into one of the dogs. Thanks to the force of the impact they were sent tumbling over one another, but soon recovered and three more dogs joined their ranks.
“You guys alright?” I asked Minuette as I watched the dogs come towards us though they were being more cautious now.
“Yeah we’re all fine” Minuette said trying to join me on my side, but I held a wing up preventing her from going any further.
“I appreciate the gesture, but leave this to the professionals” I monotone to her. Before she could retort I flapped my wings once more and charged head first towards the pack.
The dogs were surprised by my charged though they recovered quickly as the lead one reacted by throwing a vile of knockout gas where I was going to be. ‘Wow a D-dog with a brain’ I thought surprised as I continued my charge into the cloud while holding my breath. Just as I exited out of the cloud I jumped onto the dog’s face and push off him. The force of the blow caused him to fall over and head face first towards a boulder. Continuing the momentum I shot off from the ground just as a D-dog pounced at the spot I was at moments ago and right towards another one making contact with his gut causing him to buckle over as I shot off again. Opening my wings to slow myself down I then landed right in the center of the remaining dogs. Two of them without missing a beat charged towards me spears ready to skewer my body. With one hoof I forced the spear towards the ground while I used another one to push the spear towards the sky causing both of the dogs to lose their footing. Using the momentum I spun around and smacked the dog below me towards the ground while prying the spear from his paws. The sound of a dull thud and the ease at which it was to acquire the spear from him signified that he was unconscious. As I swiftly turned about to face the other dog my body took on a bipedal stance as I used my wings to help me balance. Before the other dog could get his footing back I span the spear with my hooves around and smacked him hard in the back of the head his body falling to the ground as unconsciousness took hold of him.
I then placed the spear behind my head to block a sword strike from a D-dog trying to catch me by surprise. The blade was worn out and uncared for as I noticed it was rusted in a few place and the blade had a few chips missing from the blade itself. It was a disgrace for the dog to even be alive let alone to be holding a weapon in such a sorry state. The blade started to become much heavier as the dog pushed with all his might trying to cut me in half. Though this is what I wanted him to do I became concerned after I heard the sound of a crack followed by the spear starting to bend towards me. The dog noticing the spear starting to cave in and began to press down even more, but I was ready as I moved the spear down diagonally forcing him and the blade to fall downward. I wasn’t done yet as I placed my rear hoof in front of his leg the momentum forcing him to trip and fall hard onto the ground. Without missing a beat I jumped into the air, using my wings to give myself a boost, and began my descent back towards the ground which so happen to be where the D-Dog’s skull was. His head sank deep into the ground as I landed on top of him at full force a dull thud echoing out as his limbs flailed about for only a moment, but then laid there motionless.
There were only two D-dogs remaining left from the group of six as I slowly started to walk towards them. Taking a glance at the spear I could see it was barely holding together so I threw it away and brought my hoof towards my blade. The two D-dogs huddled together in fear as I continued my walk towards them my hoof gripping my blade just in case they wanted to try something they’d regret. Though I was much shorter than them I seemed to tower over them as I glared down at them. There reaction was to shake in fear and hold each other even tighter. Heck they looked like they were going to piss themselves and it took all of my willpower not to beat the crap out of them. “Boo” I said in a low voice my face merely inches away from theirs. Then they both promptly fainted while still holding onto one another. I rolled my eyes and sighed as I went back to all fours “Cowards” I said as I looked back amongst the sea of dogs trying to find Drake and Derange.
Derange was the first one I spotted and he seemed to be crying of what I didn’t know nor did I want to. His crying didn’t last long as the sea of dogs charged towards him and dog piled on top of him though just as they were about to cover him completely I could see that he had a mad grin on his face. With another sigh I began to track over towards him to give him a hoof when I noticed the pile of dogs shift.
“I AM ZE UBERMENSCH!” Derange cried out in a Gerpony accent, the pile of dogs were then unceremoniously thrown off of him in a cartoony fashion. Standing in the center of the D-dog pile was Derange, but he was now covered head to toe in a rainbow like outer shell. The shell seemed to move in a nonexistent breeze as the colors would shift from red to orange and excreta. Without missing a beat he charged head first towards a D-dog and started to beat him to a bloody pulp. The other dogs reacted quickly trying to claw, bite, slice, hold back and skewer him, but to no avail as the attacks would either break on contact or simply bounce off him. Derange cried out in triumph, with an odd accent, “I AM BULLET PROOF, YOU WANKERS” and continued on his rampage.
I watched him beat the shit out of three dogs before I shrugged “I’ve seen weirder” and started to look for Drake though I was brought out of my search by a loud girly scream. Turning towards the sound I face hoofed at the scene playing out.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!” screamed Drake as he flailed his arm around like an idiot as he was being chased by some D-Dogs.
“GET BACK HERE!” cried, who I assumed, was the leader of the pack followed closely behind by three other D-dogs.
“I really don’t get paid enough for this” I complained to no one in particular as I watched him with a bored expression as he continued to run around in circles while the dogs continued to chase after him. “Don’t even think about” I threatened in a low voice. Out of the corner of my eyes I could see the figure was caught off guard as he stood there motionless. It took him only a second to regain his wit, which is an accomplishment on its own, and then swung down his weapon towards me. “Hidden skill” I said in a low voice as I felt the wind gather around me. Time slowed down to a crawl as I sped off towards the wall of the cavern, which took me no longer than a few seconds, and used the momentum to shoot back towards the D-Dog who was none the wiser as my after image was still standing there. The war hammer came crashing down on top of ‘me’, but it simply went right through the image and completely shattered the illusion. The D-Dog was surprised at this and tried to locate where I was at, but sadly for him he’d never get the chance. “Dolosa Ventus” I whispered into his ear though that was after I crashed into his face with all four of my hooves. The momentum sent the dog flying off into the cavern wall as his head was now lodged within the very same wall.
“AH HA I got it finally!” Minuette cried out in triumphant as she held her weird looking item that she received from Drake in front of her.
*Click*
*Whiirrrrr*
The device rang out, a light blue glow emulating from the device. To a Equine it was nothing more than an annoying low Whirl sound, but to the D-Dogs it was the most painful thing they’ve ever heard as they all one by one fell to their knees while grabbing their ears and howling in pain. For the most part it was a brilliant idea, heck if we could harness this power fighting the D-Dogs would be much simpler/easier though it appeared to have a negative effect on our group in particular as both Drake and Derange were in pain as well. Drake was doing the same thing as the other dogs while Derange not only lost is rainbow like armor, but also tore his ears off, stomped on them, lit them on fire, and ate the ashes…so far that’s probably the weirdest thing I’ve seen him do. Though in the end it was all for naught as Derange was still clutching his head in pain.
“Minuette your idea is having a negative outcome though I would like to discuss it later” I told her as I appeared right next to her.
“Gah! Would you not sneak up on me like that? Also yeah you're right” she said as her horn flickered with magic followed by a *Click* and the whirling sound slowly dying out.
“Old habits die hard” I responded back with a shrug. “Also it appears you’ve made yourself a prime target” I duly noted as most of the D-Dogs who weren’t busy with Drake and Derange were now coming towards us.
“Ah ponyfeathers” she muttered to herself as she quickly started to fiddle with her…I’ll classify it as a ‘weapon’. “Eh let’s see here if I turn this and this it will calibrate the rate and distance of the frequency. And by connecting this wire with this wire it’ll change the output of the sound wave and allow the charge of the screwdriver to last longer” she muttered to herself as she continued to fiddle with the device.
“Why can’t anything ever be simple” I muttered to myself as I charged towards the oncoming horde of dogs. *Because you’re in the company of three civilians and a Draconequus with a repressed psyche running about* ‘Gee really I had no idea that was my current situation’ I replied back sarcastically to my inner monologue. Gathering the wind around me once more I gave a mighty flap of my wings and shot off closing the distance in seconds. Just as I reached the first dog, set dog bringing his weapon to bear, I slid right between the dog’s legs and grabbed set legs causing him to fall face first. Continuing with the momentum I rolled out of the way just in time to dodge an axe as it left a scar in the earth. Getting back on all fours I continued to dodge and counter attack the horde of dogs as best as I could hoping to make myself the prime target rather than the others. That was until I made a rookie mistake as a rock slipped from underneath my hooves causing me to slip. ‘SHIT!’ I screamed in my head as I tried to get back up quickly glancing my surroundings I could see a trio of D-dogs trying to dog pile on top of me. Just as the dogs were merely upon me a decenstly size rock smacked into the side of one of them and caused a chain reaction as it forced all three of them off course and away from me.
“HA HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES!” Minuette cried out in glee as she came up to my side a huge smug grin on her face.
Quickly getting up I pushed her out of the way just in time as a claw swiped down from behind her. Following the motion I jumped backwards, using my wings to boost me up, grabbed onto the D-Dog’s head and forced him to the ground followed up by a swift stomp to the head causing his head to go deeper into the earth.
“Heh thanks” she said as she rejoined my side once more.
“To you as well” I responded back. “Now please go back to the others you’re just going to get in the way” I stated as nicely as possible.
“Hey I just saved your flank” she said annoyed.
“As did I” I retorted.
“And besides I think I figured out the problem” she said as she brought out her item once more “Now all I have to do is-” she tired to say before a D-Dog smacked her hard as she skidded against the ground towards the other and laid there motionless.
“MINUETTE” I cried out turning towards her prone body and sprinting towards her only to be blind sided half way there. “DAMMIT GET OFF!” I roared as I shoved the dog off of me only for another to take his place. More and more seemed to join in on the pile as I continued to push, shove, bite and kick them off though with little to no result as the pile continued to get heavier and heavier with each passing minute. I tried to gather the wind around me once more only for a dog to swipe at my blade causing it to slide against the ground a few feet away from me and for the wind to die down. ‘Dammit’ I thought as I reached my hoof towards my weapon though I was barely able to even touch the damn thing let alone grab it. My vision became dark and my hearing became muffled as I was finally consumed by the pile of D-dogs. ‘Dammit’ I thought as I let my body relax deciding to save up my strength rather than wasting it. Minutes past by as I awaited for the dogs to get off me taking slow and steady breaths to not only keep my heart calm but to preserve what little oxygen that was able to seep in. ‘What the buck is going on out there?’ I questioned as a pang of panic swept through me for only a moment.
Then I heard the scream of a familiar little filly...and it wasn’t Drake or Derange I was referring to. ‘No.No.No.No.No.’ I thought my breathing becoming rampant as I struggled against my oppressors once more though with little to no results as the only thing that got free was my front right hoof. More screaming and shouting could be heard as I continued my fruitless struggles. My breathing becoming more panic and my vision became darker. ‘No...not like this...not again’ as my consciousness slowly faded away.
“S...r” cried out a quiet yet familiar voice.
‘No’ I thought with a sense of dread though I couldn’t make out the words I knew who and what they were saying.
“S...r ...lp ...e” she cried out again.
“Please no I don’t want to remember this”I whispered pleadingly clutching my head with my remaining hoof.
“S...r ...lp ...e” she cried out once more.
“Don’t call me that! Leave me alone!” I cried out pleadingly as unwanted memories began to surface.
“S...r ...lp ...e p...a...e it h...ts” she echoed out making her voice sound like a thousand cries for help.
“shut up” I muttered amongst the dozen of voices though they persisted on getting their message across. “SHUT UP. SHUT UP. SHUT UP!” I cried tears streaming down my muzzle then the world faded to black.
A few moments later and the world came back into focus. No longer was I trapped underneath a pile of D-Dogs but was now standing tall in a cramp dark cave. The ceiling of the cave was only two ponies high and wide as I began my track deeper into the cave. Hours past by as I continued walking further in the only company I had were the echo of my hoof steps. Then I heard something. Turning around quickly I could see milky white eyes staring at me whispering in quiet hushed voices. Making my way over towards them I noticed that for every step I took towards them they would always stay the same distance away.
“Hello?” I called out though I didn’t get a response as they continued to stare at me whispering amongst themselves. With a huff of annoyance I resumed my track once more every so often checking behind me to see if my ‘guest’ were still following me.
More time past by as I continued my endless track through the cave. That was until I stepped into something wet and moist. Looking down at my hooves I couldn’t tell what it was thanks to the nonexistent light, but I knew for a fact that it wasn’t water since it stuck to my hooves. Turning my gaze behind me I wasn’t surprise to see more of those lifeless milky white eyes still staring at me though their whispering increased in volume yet it was still too hard to hear it. I grew tire of their presence and their consistent whispering as I yelled “WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME”. Their whispering stopped for only a moment as they gazed lifelessly at me, but then they resumed it once more. I roared in anger as I charged head first towards them pushing my body to the limit trying to catch up to them though just like before they were always able to stay out of my grasp by a few feet. Eventually I grew tire of the endeavor and stopped to catch my breath thankfully the whispering had stopped for the moment. Looking towards the eyes I noted that more joined in on watching me as they now again resumed whispering amongst themselves. ‘I need to get out of here before I lose it’ I thought as I barely kept my composure. Turning around back towards the way I was heading I began a quick trot the only company now were the squishy yet disturbing sound of my hooves against the ground and the still persistent eyes.
Hours, days, months and years all seemed to be an illusion in this cave as I continued aimlessly trotting further and further down. Never resting or taking a break since apparently that too was an illusion as I never felt tired, hungry or thirsty. Though it seemed my persistence paid off as I walked out into a small pit like cavern. The ceiling was a good ten feet high and the room was spacious about eight feet wide enough to fill a good hundred ponies in. It was a good thing too since I was not the only one in here as black shaded figures stood in the room all looking at something in particular. Taking a step further into the room I was unnerved as all the figures stop staring at what it was they were looking at and gazed upon me. There were a multitude of different species in the room such as griffons, all types of ponies, some weird bipedal cat looking things and even some D-dogs though they all shared one thing in common as they continued to gaze at me with those lifeless white eyes.
Instinctively taking a step back I found that I could no longer go back the way I came as the tunnel was gone. Without much of a choice I began tracking towards the figures set figures would move out of my way as I reached them as if leading me to something. I became paranoid walking through the group as I constantly looked every which way. Then they began their whispering once more though this time I was able to hear what they were saying.
“We didn’t have a choice” said one.
“There was no other option” agreed another.
“We didn’t mean to we were just scared” another joined in.
My walk turned into a fast trot as I tried to make my way out of here as soon as possible. The voices became louder and louder as I made my way further into the center of the cavern.
“She said we could”
“She said that it was alright”
“She said that she didn’t care”
My trot turned into a full blown sprint as unwelcomed memoires sprang out. Like a symphony of a thousand voices they continued their singing repeating the same lines over and over again. I ran, ran as fast as I could trying to get to the center of the room where she would be the innocent victim who was taken from this world cruelly and unjustly. My sprint then abruptly stopped as I finally made it to the center of the cave my breathing quick and rampant. The voices stopped their pleading as I slowly made my way towards the limp body.
Back in the academy one of the things they taught the night guards was how to remember the littlest of details. Scenery, body language and how one speaks were an important part of the job since it was usually too dark to get a good description of any perpetrators, but it also just a handy skill to have in general...this is the only time I wish I wasn’t so diligent in the class as I gazed down at the small stiff body.
She was a pegasus filly no older than seven by the looks of it, she also didn’t have a cutie mark I noted, with a snow white coat and a robin blue mane. Her once lovely white coat was littered with cuts, gashes, blood stains, bruises and a white substance that was sticky all over her small frame. Her wings though small, but usually energetic for her age were now beyond repair as the bones were bent the opposite way and feathers littered the floor next to her body. Her long robin blue mane that could easily be mistaken for the sky on a lovely sunny day was covered in grime, blood and the same white substance from before as well as patches of hair missing from her head as it mixed with the blood and feathers on the floor. Turning her over gently I got a good look at her face as cut and bruises adorned her once beautiful face much like her body. Her once lively and kind silver eyes were now nothing more than hollowed and dead.
Tears started to follow down from my muzzle as they either fell on the body or mixed with contents on the ground. After a few minutes of crying I decided that enough was enough as I subtlety closed her eyes with my hoof and laid her back down in a peaceful manner. Then the symphony of voices returned in full volume crying out their words of justification towards their action. Louder and louder they cried out their voices echoing off the cavern walls making it that much more louder all the while they began to converge on top of me.
“shut up” I said quietly instinctively reaching for my blade which just so happened to have just appeared right when I gripped the handle. This did not deter them as they continued their wailing and surrounding me. “SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!SHUT UP!” I cried as I drew my blade and chopped the first being to be in sword reach. My blade easily slicing through the cat thing’s head as blood sprayed all over the general vicinity though this did not discourage them in the slightest. I fought back as best as I could making sure none of these sick fuckers no where near her body as I chopped and sliced away mauling down any who were dumb enough to get close. Gathering the wind around me I charged up my technique waiting for a large enough group to come near me. “Hidden Skill:” I said in a low voice the bastards just about to converge on top of me “Filii Tenebrarum Temperstatem” I cried out as a tornado of wind either sliced through my enemies like they were nothing or blew them far away towards the wall of the cavern.
Drake’s PoV:
‘Man either I’m the greatest dodger ever to exists or these guys have really shitty aim’ I thought as I literally stood; or is it flew?; in place while rocks, nets, spears and bottle soared by me. Shrugging off the randomness that I call my life now I began to search for my target when I spotted him at the very rear of the pack. With a grin I nosed dived towards him and closed the gap between us in seconds. As I landed a few feet away from him I stood to my full height as I glared down at him “Ya know in some cultures denying my challenge would be considered rude” I chided and continued “But now I only have one thing to ask you” my expression turning serious “Do you feel lucky punk? Do ya?” I asked him.
With a nod of his head three D-dogs appeared behind him all sharing menacing looks “Yes Mutt does” he said with malice smile. *Intimidation speech failed*
“…Oh…uh wow I didn’t plan for this” I stated awkwardly as I tipped my hat back over my eyes and might I add I really love doing that.
Without a moment’s notice the three dogs sprang towards me two brandishing a sword while the other had an axe. My mind went into overtime as I planned out my next few moves carefully. The first one to reach me was the axe wielder as he swung the heavy weapon with reckless ambition. Dodging just by the hair on my chin, while keeping my hat in place, I leapt back just in the nick of time as the two sword wielders tried to pincer me. With a mad grin, which looked more badass with the hat on (see having nice stuff almost always pays off in the end), I had formulated a sound plan and began to initiate it. Hopping in place like that of a boxer would I pointed towards the axe wielder and taunted him most of which were insult to his mother which he responded back kindly.
“My mother was a saint!” he roared in anger barely on the threshold of sanity.
“Yeah saint sucks a lot” I retorted with a smug grin. His pack mates winced at the insult, and just as planned, the axe wielder roared in anger and charged head first towards me. Continuing my hop in place the dog reached me in seconds and swung once more, but this time I was ready as I dodge inwards. Then using both of my arms I brought my left arm up and my right arm down on the axe wielder’s lead arm. A loud satisfying crack rang out as his arm bended in an odd angle, the axe falling from his hands and landing on the ground with a clank. Before the dog could even register the broken arm I span around quickly and chopped him in the throat. The dog tried to let out a scream of pain, but nothing came out as he now used his remaining good hand to hold his throat. Every breath he took looked like his last as he struggled to breathe, the life in his eyes slowly fading away. Feeling ever so slight sorry for the dog I decided to end his pain with a good old fashion Krogan greeting…and by that I mean I head butted his face and knocked him out cold allowing him a somewhat painless death.
Turning towards my two remaining foes I did the good old fashion ‘Come at me bro’ hand signal as I beckoned them over though during the taunt my tail seemed to constrict around the axe like that of a snake. Both dogs turned to one another and both nodded in agreement as they charged towards me. Trying to pincer attack me once more they came at me from both sides, but I easily dodged out of harm’s way. “Come on guys make this a challenge I’m dying of boredom over here” I taunted as I yawned while still dodging the onslaught of sword swipes. This seemed to only anger/encourage them, I wonder why, to continue their assaulted. Just as they were about to swing at me I jumped high into the air, using my wings to give myself a boost, and began my descent back to the ground though this did not deter the dogs as they came charging towards me trying to skewer me from both sides. With a shake of my head I tossed my hat higher into the air and once more reached into hammer space pulling out a card, but this card was special. It had an image of me clad from head to toe in a black tattered cloak and at the bottom of the card it had the words Speculatrix Clandestina. As I brought the card in front of me I said “Adeat” a bright light shined out from it momentarily blinding me.
3rd Person:
“Adeat” the Draconequus said as a bright light shined out from the card for a moment to only then reveal the same being the difference being that he was now wearing a black grim reaper like cape. “Tengu no Kakuremino” he said all the while the very cloak he wore seemed to be swallowing him into nothingness.
Just at the point of landing both of the dog’s blades pierced through the cloak a sick slicing sound echoing out as they had triumphant smirks plastered on their faces only to then make a 180 as it changed to one of shock. Looking down they could see that not only did their swords go through the cloth, as well as a portion of their arm, but also their blades seemed to pierce out from the other side striking one another through the chest. As their brains started to catch up to their development they released their blades and brought their hands towards their wound in hopes of slowing down the bleeding. As the dogs stood there shell shocked at the predicament it only escalated to worse as a lion paw and an eagle claw shot out from within the cloak and grabbed both blades protruding from their chest. Before they could even react the hands seemed to spin, the cloak following along with the motion, as the blades were both forced out from the dogs bodies. Another sick slicing sound echoed out as the blood of both dogs covered the ground of the cavern as well as their weapons and standing in the very heart of the blood filled carnage was a familiar looking Draconequus. He had an eerily calm expression on his face as he cleansed the blood off the blades with a quick swipe in the air, the blood leaving the blade and creating a bloody streak from the recently made corpses, he then slowly made his way towards Mutt.
To say the dog was scared would be far off from the truth…he was beyond terrified as his eyes went to the size of atoms as he stood there motionless. Each step the Draconequus took towards him felt like an eternity, his heart beating a mile a minute and sweat soaking up his fur coat, the creature stood before him before the dog even realized it. The dog fell down to the earth and slowly backpedaled away though this only made the situation more frightening as the creature was not deterred by the dog’s action and continued his slow march. Eventually the dog ran out of space to run as he backed himself into a wall effectively trapping him as the Draconequus caught up to him. He then brought both blades up towards Mutt’s neck while the axe was raised high above his head.
“Please no” the dog said barely audible. “Mutt do anything lizard want just don’t kill Mutt” he pleaded panic all too evident in his voice
The dog visibly flinched as the Draconequus leaned into his ear and whispered venomously “That’s just not how it works”. Before the dog could plead for his life both swords sliced through the dog’s neck like butter while the axe split his body into two. Blood and guts sprayed everywhere as the Draconequus was drenched from head to toe though he showed little to no care as he tossed the weapons aside and turned to the remained D-Dog that stayed/watched the scene unfold. Those who were brave enough to stay for the whole show quickly turned tail and ran as fast as their feet could carry them though not before they lost their lunch of course. With the once full cavern of D-Dogs gone the Draconequus turned towards his companions only to get tackled by set friends. All were happy, hugging and cheering his name as they, somehow, threw him into the air only to then catch him and repeat the action. Joining in the celebration was Luna, Celestia, the main six and the whole of Ponyville heck he was even rewarded the ‘Your Awesome’ medal from Dash herself eight years in a row champion. All was right in the world and him and Luna got married a year later….
Drake’s PoV Back to reality:
‘Oh yeah that’s totally what’s going to happen in the next five minutes’ I thought as I put the final details of my plan together. ‘Now all I have to do is implement my plan and I’ll be good ta go’ I thought as I reopened my eyes to see the four dogs standing there looking at me oddly. Pointing dramatically at the dog in the middle I cried out also dramatically “You’re mother is a bitch”.
We stood there for a couple minutes me holding up the air of drama queen while the dogs looked at me beyond confused. Eventually he responded with “Uh yes my mother is a bitch” he said warily.
“Oh…right I forgot that it means female dog” I snapped my fingers in disappointment. “Okay plan B” I said quietly to myself and once more pointed dramatically at him again “Your mother is a whore!”
“Hmmm yes yes she was” he nodded in agreement not even slightly annoyed.
“Uh” I said with a blank expression apparently not planning for this to happen.
“Enough!” Mutt cried out beyond done with this situation. “Get him” he roared the dogs immediately following his command.
My brain barely had time to catch up as all three dogs took a swipe at me with their weapons. Ducking down below the swipes I was able to avoid them though the same couldn’t be said about my hat as it slipped from its perch and was now shredded into tiny little piece. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a message saying ‘Perception -1’ though I didn’t have time to cry for my lost accessory as they continued their bombardment of swipes. With my plan crumbling before my very eyes I decided that a tactical retreat was in order as I turned and ran away all the while a ‘bee’ was trying to sting me so I began swiping at the little bugge…you guys aren’t buying this are you? “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I screamed as I ran away.
“GET BACK HERE!” Mutt screamed as he continued to chase me his pals right behind him.
“HOW ABOUT NO AND WE SAY WE DID!?” I cried back though his response was to chuck a bottle full of, apparently, acid at the spot I was at moments ago set spot dissolving into a pile of nothingness. “I’LL JUST TAKE THAT AS A NO” I cried back once more. So yeah the next few minutes was of me running around in a circle failing my arms trying to get that damn bee while Mutt and his pals tried to catch me and beat the ever loving shit out of me. Sadly this was going to happen soon since I was slowly being forced into a corner.
‘Crap I’m about to be put between a rock and a hard place, metaphorically and physically, if I don’t think of something quick’ I thought as the dogs continued to herd me towards a corner. Looking around I noticed a lot of flat like rocks placed about though not big enough to hide behind or to be used as a distraction but enough to do something with of what I was not sure. ‘Come on brain think of something anything!’ I pleaded as I was at the last stretch before I was completely and utterly screwed. ‘Do a barrel roll…no that’s just stupid, throw barrels…no they’ll just jump over them, Blue shell of death…no I’m technically in first place so that’d just help them, how about a care package….no that could potentially help them plus I don’t have a kill streak going, the cake is a lie…well granted it is that doesn’t really…wait a tick could I do that?’ I question but I really didn’t have that much time left to think about it as I was merely moments away from crashing head first into the wall. Without a second thought I aimed my right hand towards the wall and my left hand towards one of those nicely placed flat surfaced rocks on the ground. ‘If there is a god…well technically there’s like dozen of them I guess…at any rate please help a guy out’ I pleaded to whoever was listening. Like how one acts like they’re shooting someone with their hands I to did that and ‘fired’ from both hands though at the time I didn’t hear it a portal gun sound (for the life of me I can’t determine aka type the sound effect so here a link to it
) ranged out which was followed by a blue and orange ball of energy shot out from my hands. And just in the nick of time as I ran right through my portal and shot out from the other side incidentally ramming right into one of the dogs chasing me and knocking him out cold from the force of impact.
Now many things were running through my head as I looked at not only the terrain I was in, but at my well placed and moving ‘cushions’ but there was only one thing that I had to say before I could continue “….Ahhhhhh yeahhhhhh” I screamed out as I got back onto my feet, shot both portals a foot away from me and jumped out from the others side. I jumped in and out of my portals a few times getting the feel of it. Satisfied after the tenth or so time I turned to the remaining dogs that chased me with a devious smile “My turn” I said as I charged towards them.
Mutt roared in anger as he charged me as well his remaining body guards right on his tail. Just before we were about to clash with one another I aimed my right hand at the ground in front of me while my other hand was pointed to a smooth flat rock on the left of the incoming dogs. Just like before a blue and orange energy ball shot out moments later two portals appeared where I was aiming at. I jumped into the blue one and thanks to gravity/momentum I was shot out of the orange one and crashed feet first into Mutt’s body guards sending them soaring towards a wall. Doing a flip in the air I landed perfectly on the ground while Mutt simple turned and had a look of panic as he lost his remaining men though he quickly calmed himself down and became much more wary of me getting into a defense like posture while holding his dagger in front of him.
I just smiled devious while looking around the area once more and asked him “Ya know what I’m thinking?”
“Mutt doesn’t and doesn’t care what lizard is thinking” he said in a low growl as he slowly approached me.
“I’m thinking with portals” I stated and fired my blue portal below his feet. Before he could react the portal opened beneath him and he was sucked into it. He yipped in surprise as he fell through the other end and since he didn’t have a sense of where up and down was he responded by flailing his arms around like an idiot. Before he could fall to the ground I shot an orange portal underneath him set portal forming at the spot as he fell through the portal once more and out the blue one, but thanks to the momentum he was shot pretty damn high into the air. Continuing his plan of ‘wave my arms enough that I’ll eventually fly’ I aimed an orange portal at a wall and stood a few feet away and to the side of it waiting for the dog to come back down to the planet. “What goes up” I stated as I held my lion arm in the pathway of the soon to be projectile. Mutt then fell back into the blue portal and like plan rocketed out of the orange one right into my arm. Now you’d normally think he’d smack into my arm and fall to the ground knocked out thanks to the speed at which he was traveling and the object in which he smacked into. This was not the case as he literally span around my arm a good few dozen times before he was launched face first to the ground forming a small crater. “Must come down” I said finishing off my previous statement adding some flare to it by blowing on both of my index finger like it was a smoking gun. Though my victory was short lived as Mutt slowly got up though a bit disoriented it took him only a moment to regain his sense of balance before he turned towards me pointed his blade at me.
“Really come on guy you can end this pain, suffering, and annoyance by just calling off your pack” I said as we slow began circling one another. He chose not to respond as he continued to glare at me. I sighed and shook my head in disappointment “Alright you asked for i-“ I tried to say before an ungodly noise started to ring out. It sounded like the offspring of Dubstep, Justin Bieber and Rebecca Black or in other words just plain awful as I went into the fetal position while covering my ear, to no avail, and silently prayed to the gods to smite the one causing the noise. Thankfully it didn’t last long as the noise eventually subsided though it didn’t come without repercussion as I now had the distinct taste of skittles in my mouth…no wait not skittles blood is what I meant sorry I get the two mixed up so easily now. Groggily getting up it took me a moment to get my bearings and what I saw could only be described in one word: hell. Everything went to there after Minuette tried to help out as the D-Dogs found a new sense of strength in them and started to overpower us. Derange was slowly losing as the D-Dogs continued to dog pile on top of him though he didn’t go down without a fight as he punch, bit, scratched and head butted any dog within rang though odds were still not in his favor. Silver was having similar problems as she was slowly being forced down into submission her weapon only an inch away from her as she struggled to reach for it.
Turning towards the other I could see that Minuette was on the ground unconscious while Derpy stood in front of her and the kids protectively. As my brain caught up to the scene I quickly tried to get over there only to be blindsided as I was tackled to the ground. Struggling against my foe I brought my hands out and fired two portals one underneath the girls, don’t ask how I was able to hit there, and one high above on a rocky alcove. Like plan they fell in and out of the portal landing high above and away from the D-dogs though what I didn’t account for was that the kids weren’t close enough to fall in. As I tried to fire another portal underneath the children I felt my hands being forced to my side as three other dogs joined in on restraining me both portals vanishing into thin air.
“Aaahhhhhh” Dinky screamed as a sleazy dull red looking D-Dog made his way towards her. The colt charged towards the dog bravely trying intending to buck him, but was merely slapped aside by the Dog as he continued stalking towards her.
“DINKY!!!” Derpy cried as she flew down from her perch only for a dog to dig out from the side of the cavern wall and tackled her back to the ground a few more dogs having to help him hold her down.
‘No, no, no, no, no! I swore that I’d keep them safe!’ I cried out as a newfound sense of strength came over me. Wiggling my tail free I slapped all three of my holders away and sprinted over towards her, but my path was being blocked by a huge pit bull looking dog. “OUT.OF.MY.WAY!” I cried out as I punched him in the face only for my arm bone to shatter into millions of pieces, okay not a million peices but it still felt like a punched concrete or something, as I fell to the ground holding it though not for long thanks to the lingering Chaos in the air. Confused as to why my attack did nothing I took a glance at my pip-boy and saw that my unarmed skill was at ten. The huge pit bull looking dog just laughed at my feeble attempt and continued to ‘cock’ block me from getting over towards Dinky.
She eventually ran out of space to run away and was slowing being put in a corner. The sleazy dog still smiling creepily at her yelled out towards his leader “Hey boss! Alger has been good and you promise a reward, so Alger want use of reward now” he said as he licked his lips hungrily, but not in the way of food but of desire.
“Normally Mutt would say no, but ponies and lizard has made this very difficult so go ahead” Mutt responded back.
“NO!” Derpy cried out streams of tears rolling down her muzzle and continued “Please don’t touch her you can do whatever you want to me, but please not her”.
“Don’t worry pony everyone here is rewarded to do what they want” Mutt cried out to his fellow dogs with a sickening smile all the dogs responding with a cheer of gratitude.
“NO!” I cried out trying to tackle the dog out of my way to no avail as he pushed me back to the ground hard. “PLEASE stop this madness” I pleaded to Mutt all the while bowing low towards him.
Mutt just looked at me with an evil grin and said “Don’t you remember what Mutt said earlier: ‘Dogs bigger and stronger than ponies so ponies don’t get choice. Ponies have to listen to dogs’ and so do stupid looking lizards” he quoted himself and laughed evilly.
A sense of dread came over me as I remembered the conversation and to what he was detailing. “No” I stated quietly as I got back up my legs were ready to buckle over, but I refused to go down. The pit bull seemed to be done messing around with me as he cracked his knuckles while making his way towards me. ‘I will not lose’ my screen glowed a bright green though it was obscured by the natural rays of the sun. ‘I swore I’d keep them safe’ number and letter danced down the screen eventually settling back into place though the words were in their correct place numbers were drastically changed as my pitiful score of ten unarmed was now amped up to eighty-five. The pit bull was upon me as I felt his repulsive breath hit my neck as I felt the heat from his hands reach towards me. “And I always keep my mother fucking promises” I stated quietly once more and faster than the dog could react my right hand tore through the ground like it was non-existent. As my arm was almost towards its target I noticed it was surrounded by a golden flame as the fire danced around my hand and fingers. My attack made contact with the dog’s chin as I followed the motion I couldn’t help but scream “SHORYUKEN!” as we were both sent into the air the flame transferring over towards the dog as he was lit ablaze. The dogs were quick to react as they tried to grab me from below, but I opted to use them as stepping pads and hopped my way towards the others. As I was near my landing descent I spread my arms far apart and felt the wind gather around my arms and finger tips. Slicing towards my intended targets I cried out once more “SONIC BOOM!” only for both of my attacks to miss as I was blinded sided once more. My first attack was towards the pedo, but the attack barely missed him as it sliced by his face while the other one went way off target as it flew past Silver though it hit something as a loud ding sound echoed out within the cavern.
I struggled as best as I could, but the dogs were persistent on holding me down as more and more continued to dog pile on top of me. ‘Is this…is this really how it’s going to end?’ I thought as I stopped my struggle and looked towards my companions once more. Time slowed down as the event played out: Alger reaching towards Dinky with a disturbingly sick smile, Derpy being repositioned to better…accommodate for the ‘fun’ activities, Derange and Silver both still underneath the dog pile of dogs. I tried to gather my chaos magic once more, but it seemed to be ignoring my request as it did the opposite and flew away from me, if that makes sense. ‘No, please no you can’t do this to me. I’ll do anything just please no!’ I pleaded to the magic but I was simply ignored.
Time continued once more as Dinky was picked up by her torso tears flowing down her muzzle as she let out another high pitched scream.
“DINKY!!!” Derpy screamed again and struggled to break free, but got nowhere as the dogs beat her back into submission.
Remember how I said everything went to hell earlier…I wish to take back that statement and use it now.
The very skies darkened as black ominous cloud covered the skylight while thunder and lighting arched across the sky. The wind began dancing about randomly yet at the same time it seemed to be gathering towards the pile of D-Dogs that were holding down Silver. “Hidden Skill: Filii Tenebrarum Temperstatem” cried out Silver as a small tornado of wind explode from the pile either shredding any who were holding her down or sending them flying away from her. As bodies, blood and body parts splattered the ground around her before anyone could even react she disappeared in a flash. Barely able to keep up with her instantaneous movement she reappeared right beside of Alger as her blade was held out below his arms. The dogs finally catching up with where she appeared they were able to witness how Alger’s arms were sliced off cleanly. Dinky fell to the ground with a soft thump all the while both arms still holding onto her torso. Alger looked at Silver then to his now missing arms as his brain slowly caught up to the events that happened. Blood spilling out all over Silver, Dinky and the ground was the first thing to happen followed by Alger’s eyes going to the size of peas. He tried to let out a scream of pain and fear, but was silenced as Silver’s blade tore through his neck and up his skull cutting his head into two like it was nothing. Blood and brain matter litter the area around Silver and Dinky as Alger’s blood ran free from his body before it eventually was taken over by gravity and fell to the ground lifelessly the blood still streaming from his corpse like a river.
Everyone was silent as we watched the scene unfold. My captors released me from their grips as they slowly backed away from the scary mare while I slowly got up into a crouching position. She stood perfectly still as she looked at the recently made corpse with disgust though that wasn’t the only thing I saw in those eyes as a deep chill went up my spine as I recognized the look of untold rage. Swinging her sword away from her a trail of blood was left in its wake as she turned towards Dinky. She had freed herself from the arms grip thanks to the help of the colt though they both froze in fear as she turned and looked at them. Admirably the colt stood in front of Dinky and tried to look intimidating though failed miserably as he was shaking like crazy. Without even a second glance she walked by the two and slowly made her way towards the closest dog all the while smiling a spine chilling smile. The dogs all slowly started to back away while Silver continued her march both parties falling in step with one another as they continued their odd dance. Derange made his way over towards me wide eye in surprise while holding onto his right arm while Derpy made her way towards the kids to comfort them as best as she could.
Eventually Mutt came over his fear for only a moment and stuttered out “K-k-kill her!” His pack looked at him like he was crazy, and continued to back away from her though a couple fool hearted one did do as their Gamma commanded and charged head first towards her.
“Heh heh” Silver laughed under her breath as she stopped to wait for her foes to get closer. Only for her laugh to become loud and twisted as she laughed demonically “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA” her eyes were beyond sane in any nature or form as she continued her laughter. The dogs backing away from her froze in place once more as they were near the point of either passing out, pissing themselves or more than likely both. The few brave dogs that were charging towards her didn’t deter as they were merely moments away from skewering her each wielding a different variety of weapons. Just as they were upon her she vanished in a blink of the eye and reappeared a few feet away from them. Just as the dogs skewered the ground where she was at moments ago they fell apart body part by body part as a puddle of blood started to form from underneath their once whole bodies.
Without missing a beat she disappeared once more only to reappear beside a dog in the middle of the pack. The dogs all backed away from the two while the latter didn’t move still complete paralyzed by her prowess. Daring to take a glance at her he soon found his head turning to far as it slowly began to slide off followed by his arms and legs. After that everything became a chaotic mosh pit as dogs pushed, shoved or ran away from the deadly mare though they could never get away as she would always block their escape route.
“This…this is no longer a scuffle…this is just…” I stated out loud trying to still process how things escalated so quickly.
“A massacre” Derange said shocked as well all the while we continued to sit on the sidelines and watch this awful scene unfold.
The once proud, if you can call them that, slavers stood tall and strong at thirty were now reduced to eight…I mean seven as they were now cowering in fear near one another. Silver continued her slow march towards the cowering dogs and apparently she wasn’t being creepy/scary enough as she decided to hum a tuneless tune all the while a disturbing smirk plastered across her face. The dogs began to plead for their lives as they offered anything and everything from wealth, to clothing/armor, to weapons and hell even themselves though it fell on deaf ears as she continued making her way towards them blood dripping from her body and blade.
Eventually one of the dogs cried out “It-it-it was Mutt’s doing” while point at him as he separated himself from his leader. “We only do what Mutt says cause he’s leader. We dogs would never do such things, but Mutt and Alpha forced us” he lied through his teeth while Mutt denied these allegations though in the end it didn’t matter as they promptly threw Mutt in front of her.
“Please spare us and kill bad leader” they all said in unison while bowing their head low to the ground.
Mutt got up quickly only to fall back on his ass as Silver stood in front of him all the while humming and smiling. “N-n-no wait” he stuttered out as he threw his bag full of potions and his dagger to the ground. “Mutt gives up so pony can’t hurt Mutt” he cried out desperately though Silver obviously didn’t care as she brought her blade up ready to slice him cleanly in half. “NO! STOP Mutt was only doing what Mutt was order to do. Military pony has to understand” he cried out once more.
Silver hesitated for only a moment as her blade began to slightly shake in her grasp the smile and humming abruptly stopped as she glared down at Mutt. “There is always a choice, you just choose wrong” she roared in anger as she brought her blade down upon him.
“Enough” I said quietly as I got up. Time slowed to a crawl as I used the last bit of my strength to sprint over towards the two. “Silver STOP!” I cried out as I stood in-between the two. This didn’t deter her in the slightest as her attack continued anyways ‘Oh fuck’ I thought as I reflexively raised my arms in front of me waiting for my inevitable demise.
*Clink* echoed the sound of metal hitting metal as her blade scratched against my pip-boy. I would’ve celebrated if it wasn’t for the fact that she was still trying to cut me in half as she applied more pressure into her blade. “SILVER SNAP OUT OF IT!” I yelled as I pushed back using my pip-boy as an improp shield as I held her off. Nothing I said or did reached her as she continued putting more and more pressure into her attack slowly, but surely she would overpower me in a few moments.
*Click*
*Whiiirrrrrr*
“AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH” Silver cried out in pain as she held her hoof over her head her blade falling lifelessly to the ground.
Turning towards the sound I saw Minuette making her way towards me as fast as she could though she had a slight limp in her step. “What…what the hay happened?” she asked out of breath as she reached my side.
“Turn it off” I said as I felt the chaotic energy return to the room once more. Quickly I reached into hammer space and pulled out a bucket of water and tossed it towards Silver. Minuette complied with my request just as the water splashed Silver in the face.
“Wahhhhh what the buck?!” she cried out annoyed like how one would be rudely awaken from their sleep only to make a one-eighty as the events played back in her mind a sense of dread spreading across her muzzle. Only to change once more as it adopted a neutral look as she then without another word cleaned off her blade and walked far enough away that she could help in case of an emergency, but not close enough to hold a conversation with.
“Silver…” I said as I hesitated for a moment only to then feel something hug my leg.
Looking down I saw Mutt who was kissing the ground on which I stood as he cried out in joy “Thank you thank you. Mutt knew that liz…I mean Draconequus would understand”.
Before he could say another word I brought my arm back and smacked him in the snout as hard as I could. A loud satisfying crack echoed out as he was then launched towards the remaining dogs. Mutt howled in pain as he covered his snout with his hands though that didn’t stop the blood from bleeding out. “Let’s get one thing straight here” I yelled as I closed the distance between us while glaring down on him. “I didn’t save you out of the goodness of my heart for all I care you can go rot in hell. The only reason I ‘saved’ you was because enough blood has been spilled today” I roared in his face. “So this is what’s going to happen you fleabags are going to dig us a way out then you’re going to bury the remains of your fallen brothers and finally you are going to your leader and telling him that if he fucks with us well…” I stopped as I took a glance at Silver she just sat there back turned to us as she watched the cavern walls with an almost dead look “I won’t stop her again. Got it” I threatened him.
“Y-y-yes” he said barely audible.
“Good now get to work” I said nodding my head towards the way we came in originally. The dogs got to work fast as they easily tore through the wall like a hot knife through butter.
As they continued their work my legs buckled over and I fell on my ass completely and utterly exhausted “You okay?” Minuette asked as she sat next to me rubbing one of her back hooves.
“Yeah I just need to rest for a bit” I said as I felt the chaotic magic do its magic and slowly healed my wounds and exhaustion. Derange made his way over towards us on a light pink cloud now back into his originally small size “How are they doing?” I asked nodding my head towards Derpy and the kids.
“The colt is doing okay though Dinky on the other hand not so much” he said as they made their way towards us I noted that Dinky was clinging to her mother not leaving her side for even a moment. “And Derpy says she’s alright but…I just don’t know” he said finishing up his report.
I sighed as I slowly got back onto my feet what chaotic energy that was left would not make a difference to my healing process “Let’s try to put some distance between this place” I stated as we all got up and made our way towards the exist.
“So uh…” I said trying to lead the kid to introduce himself.
“Wild Hunt ” he stated in a low voice.
“Do you know if there a river of water or something nearby?” I asked.
“Yeah it’s only a few hours away” he said though it was half-hearted as his young mind was still trying to comprehend the previous events.
“Would you mind?” I asked hoping he’d understood what I was asking for. He didn’t say anything as he made his way towards the exit and disappeared into the darkness the other quickly following though I decided to linger back for a second as I turned towards Silver. She was still following us at a distance and the second I turned towards her she would actively not make eye contact with me. “Silver…” I said as I took a step towards her though she responded by taking a step back. I tried once more, but was rewarded with the same action. I sighed once more as I decided to drop it for now and catch up with the others, Silver still trailing behind us, as we made our way out of the valley of spikes and back into the wastes.
“Hey” Derange said as he ushered me over. Complying with his request I did so as we walked a bit away from the group.
“What’s the plan?” he asked.
“For now I want to know what the connection between the dogs and the kid was” I answered and continued “Besides I’m getting an…odd vibe from the direction that we were heading towards and by the looks of it the kids came from that very same area” I stated as I glanced at the kid once more feeling the very same energy I kept on feeling from the destination we were heading towards.
“And what about the D-Dogs? What if they come back again with more numbers? We were barely able to hold them off let alone beat them” he said concerned.
“I just don’t know!” I said that a bit louder than I wanted to. “But I do know that I will at least make sure they get out of this unharmed” I said as I turned to make my way back towards the group I turned to him once more and said in a low, but serious voice “No matter what”.
~A few hours later~
It didn’t take us long to find the stream as we all opted to wash the mud, sweat and grime from our bodies…and the blood too can’t forget that I suppose. Wild Hunt and I bathed further downstream from the girls, apparently there was some sort of mares and colts bath separately rule which is odd since they don’t wear any clothing so why have such a thing, regardless it was me and the colt as the cold water felt nice against the hot sun though this wouldn’t last much longer as the sun slowly began to set. Getting all of the…stuff off of us we made our way back towards the campsite, which was a few feet away, as the bag leaned against a few boulder though I was surprised to see that we weren’t the first ones there as Silver was laying down finding great interest in a pebble the second we walked in. The kid instantly huddled closer towards me as if I’d keep him safe from her. I tried to be as friendly as possible as I waved at her casually “Hey Silver done alre…”
“I’ll get the firewood” she blurted out as she took to the skies and flew away.
“Heh heh something I said?” I said trying to pull it off as a joke, but got no comment from the colt as he silently began unpacking his sleeping supplies. While he was busy unpacking his stuff I noticed that his cutie mark resembled a small campfire with small white little stars above it ‘Either he’s good at making campsites or the more likely one that I notice is that he’s a natural outdoors type’ I mused while setting up a pit for the campfire. Soon after the girls joined us and they too began unpacking as well though when Silver came back with the firewood the camp became eerily silent. Though it didn’t last long as Silver took a small bundle of firewood for herself and walked off behind some boulders. With the campsite all set and done it became quite as we watched the fire burn and the sun set. “I guess I’ll whip up some dinner” I stated, but received no response. With no objection I began digging into their supplies, randomly throwing out some pans and ingredients hoping to get some sort of response (though I got none) and began cooking up a meal.
~a few more hours later~
After the meal, which was creamy potato soup and some bread, I was pleased to see that Derange was doing one of the things he’s somewhat good at: entertaining kids as he told a random story that he made up on the spot. Though I wasn’t really paying attention to the story as I continued to stroke the campfire I was pleased to see Dinky eyes back to their childlike innocence while Wild Hunt was enamored by Derange’s story telling ability. Derpy and Minuette were near one another talking of what I couldn’t tell, but from the look on their faces I could only guess it wasn’t pleasant.
Reaching for another bundle of timber wood I heard a *bing* noise come from my arm and a message flared in my upper left vision that stated I had mail. Curious as to why I would have mail or even how it was possible I shifted through the screen towards my notes and read the following letter:
Dear Drake,
You may be wondering how and why I know your name right about now-(“…” totally wasn’t but out of curiosity I shall keep reading.)But that is not important (Boo~). What is important right now is that you know that you need to be checking your stats and perks every so often since we shall not let you know when you level up you lazy prick. (…) Also if you use me as a shield again I’ll make sure you pay. Thank you and have a pleasant evening.
Love, Jane
“…Even though I’m creeped out I’m still going to keep you” I stated after a few minutes passed. I then got up, dusted myself off and looked at the screen once more “Also I make no promises”. Jane’s, who I guess I shall refer to my pip-boy, responded kindly by jolting me with a few watts of electricity. “OW” I cried out quietly as I shook my hand to rid myself of the tingling sensation. I glared at the offending screen and whispered annoyed “Your lucky I’m a huge Fallout fanboy…and I’m not referring to the band”. I then proceeded to make my way towards Silver trying to be as nonchalant as possible while I scrolled through my pip…‘Jane’ and was meet with: You leveled up by three levels, what the hell man! We’ve been waiting for quite awhile now you dick! (Excuse me for being busy with running for my life and fighting off slavers. Next time I’ll ask them politely to wait a moment):
New Perks:
Slow Learner: You’re a slow learner costing you minus 5% experience point, but thanks to the time and effort you take to learn you tend to remember things more clearly and effectively.
Slippery Eel: Just like the saying ‘Slippery as an eel’ your foes have trouble keeping up or holding you down +10% in speed and dodge.
Also yes your spells count as Perks (That’s BullShit!) think of it as a punishment.
Portals: (Rank 1) Thanks to many years of playing Portal you’ve gain the ability to what else shoot portals. (Only two portals can be created at the current rank)
Hammer Space: You’ve gained the ability to reach into hammer space allowing you to store or bring out random items. (though technically you’ve been able to do that for some time now we are putting it down on fine print) Note: It is different from summoning items as it is only common items that exist in the world you reside in that can be brought out. Also Perk ‘What the F…’ does affect this Perk but only at a one and fifth chance of happening.
Quest Perk:
Reboot: (Random Skills are Random required) No you are not a robot, but through sheer force of will and determination once per day you can change all of your skill points though they will of course be at random.
<Error code not found>: Please wait while we sort this out.
Bringing my arm back to my side I began to ponder the new abilities I acquired ‘Kind of BS that spells count as perks and what the heck is with the code error message, but I guess theres nothing I can do about it’ I thought as I shrugged it off. Turning a corner I saw Silver set up for the night in a miniaturized size version of our camp. She was tentatively cleaning her blade as she was putting the finishing touches on her job by applying choiji oil (thanks random knowledge) to both sides of her sword with a piece of cloth. Her ears perked up giving me the hint that she knew I was there though she continued to ignore me and proceed with the finishing touches. I sat down across from her watching her every stroke as she went up and down with a soft and gentle touch like that of holding a newborn foal.
“Hey” I said after a few minutes of silence her once burning fire began to slowly die out. She didn’t responded, which I was already expecting to happen, as she continued to clean her blade. With a sigh I got up, made my way over towards her and tossed a bundle of twigs into the dying fire set fire roaring back to life as it re-illuminated the small area. I then sat down next to her playing with fire for a moment to make sure it wouldn’t go out anytime soon though she continued to ignore me cleaning her blade to the point that it would be a frickin light saber as the light from fire reflected from the blade and nearly blinding me as well. ‘Enough of this’ I thought as I promptly snatched her blade from her grip and with a quick, and might I add cool, flourish I returned it to its sheathe and set it down beside her. She glared offendedly at me while I responded with an even look. We sat there like that for a full minute until she was done and turned her gaze towards the fire.
“We need to talk” I said all the while keeping my gaze on her.