//------------------------------// // Revengers: Assemble Part II // Story: My Little Spartan: Or, a Tale of Thundering Hooves // by ChaosKnight13 //------------------------------// "Griffin!" Gilda sighed in annoyance as she soared through the sky. Voldy-Hooves had taken care to establish a mental link to facilitate communication between them. However, it disturbed her that the mysterious unicorn was in her mind. Almost as disturbing was his voice. Everything about it just screamed "Look at me! I drive a big white van!" "Griffin! Report!" "Ugghh…what, my lord?" That was another annoying thing. The unicorn kept on insisting that everyone refer to him as "lord." This pissed off Gilda; the little bag of bones looked like that pathetic pansy pegasus Fluttershy could take him. "Have you sighted the target?" "No, I haven't. Cool your jets. If I saw the big damn guy, I would have told you already." "Do not trifle with me! Where I'm from, I was a god! A god!" "Pffft, sure. Whatever. Hey, where's the drunk?" "Bah! He is working on a crude approximation of filthy Muggle technology! Now, return to the mission at hand!" "Yeah, yeah. Whatever, Lord Moldy-Hooves." His arrogance disgusted Gilda. Voldy-Hooves didn't look like he could take on a school-pony, so much as a mighty griffin. Returning her attention towards the earth below, she sighed in frustration. "Oh, for Glob's sake! Where are you!?" Suddenly, she noticed something. "Wait a minute, I see something. I'm gonna check it out." Diving towards the ground, she alighted upon the barren earth. To stalk her prey. To her dismay, she saw it go into the Everfree forest. "Uggghhh…The target's gone into the Everfree Forest. Well, looks like we need to go in there." "I will join you shortly. But, for now, explore." If Voldy were here, Gilda would have strangled him. However, he was not. Even though she was a capable fighter, even Gilda was cautious when it came to the Everfree Forest. The tales told about the place were unsettling at the very least. Even more disturbing was the amount of stories that happened to be true. Taking one last look at the land outside the forest, Gilda gulped and plunged into the foreboding mass of trees. / "It has begun. Already, I feel my power grow." The sudden appearance of the other startled Cortana. "Gah! What the-?" Unfortunately, Cortana had said this through Chief's speakers, garnering her stares from the SPARTAN and unicorn. Smooth, girl. Real smooth. "Cortana, are you all right?" asked John. "Uh…pingas?" came her hurried reply. Through the MJOLNIR's sensors, Cortana could see John and Twilight exchange looks. "Ms. Cortana, are you sure you're okay?" asked Twilight. "I might not know much about your human technology, but I might be able to help you with some magic." "If you reveal our presence, all is doomed," came The Uther. Cortana shuddered. Having come this far, she was unwilling to let anything get in her way. "Of course I'm fine," she laughed. "Erm, Pinkie's magic of laughter must rubbin' off on me, heh heh." John and Twilight continued to stare at her. Finally, after what seemed like mega-cycles, they both seemed to shrug. Cortana breathed a sigh of relief. "O-o-o-o-o-kaaaaay," they both said. Then, they went back to the lesson. Still reeling from the near slip, Cortana withdrew into her subconscious. Here, she was plagued once again by the voice of her Rampant mind. See, they don't even care about you. A true friend would make sure everything is absolutely alright. If he really cared, his attention would be on you and you alone…. Stop it, Cortana! John does care! Ah. Maybe so. But, the ponies…they…THEY are taking him away from us…. Well, it's all the better that we've made that deal then. Perhaps. We shall see… / Gilda was running. Behind her was a very out of breath Voldy-Hooves. They were both trying to outrun a pack of Timber Wolves. As usual, Gilda was pissed. Unfortunately for her, this part of the forest was too dense for her to fly through. "Why! Why did you have to wake up those Timber Wolves!?" "Well…I didn't…know my….apparition would….wake them!" gasped Voldy in between breaths. "But, it doesn't matter! Run! Bucking run!" "Why don't you just shoot 'em with magic, my lord?" "There are too bloody many of them! There's no way I can take them all on!" As if to prove a point, he fired a killing curse into the crowd. Although it brought down a couple of wolves, the vast majority remained in hot pursuit. "Gah! And I can't bloody set them on fire, either The whole forest could burn down! Curse this stupid frame for limiting my power!" "What!?" "Never you mind, you cretin! Just run!" And so they ran. They were able to put some distance between themselves and the pack. Unfortunately, as if the author needed some cheap plot device, they ended up in front of a deep crevasse. "Buck this! Why did I join your stupid team? Gah! I had such a promising career as an assassin!" "Well, I certainly didn't think that this would happen. Maybe if you found the bloody target earlier, we wouldn't be in this jam!" "Either way, I'm not going down without a fight!" snarled Gilda. "C'mon you twigs! Let's dance!" Lunging at the nearest wolf, she set to work on it with her talons. Dodging the gaping maws of terror, she weaved her way in and out throughout the crowd, slashing here and there. Unfortunately, she was surrounded. More and more Timber Wolves came. If they didn't kill her by biting her, then the sheer amount of wolves would surely suffocate her. Suddenly, she heard a crashing sound. She turned to see a massive figure charging through the masses. "When someone invades your personal space, YOU SHOVE THEM OUT OF YOUR WAY!" It was a minotaur! With his powerful frame, he was able to break through their numbers with ease. His strong arms batted aside the wolves as if they were no more than rag dolls. One intrepid wolf managed to jump on the minotaur's back. He merely flexed his shoulders, and crushed the creature as if it was made of golden plastic. "Yeah! Uh-huh! Nobody defeats IRON WILL!" Snarling, more of the wolves began to turn their attention towards Iron Will. Eventually, it got to the point where even he was getting overwhelmed. Although his tactics were effective in routing many of the wolves, it would take more than one berserker to bring down the wolves. As if sensing the author's intent, Iron Will pulled out his whistle and blew. The sharp, clear note seemed to have no effect. Suddenly, five wolves fell through the ground, as if someone had dug out the earth beneath them. In fact, someone had. Breaking up through the surface came a Diamond Dog. He started clawing at the wolves, smashing them, breaking them. "Good boy!" crowed Iron Will. Picking up a leg of one of the defeated wolves, Will brandished it like a club. However, he did not attempt to smash through the crowd. No, he shook the stick, and made gestures towards the dog. "Look Fido! Stick! You want the stick, boy?" "Aruff-ruff-ruff-ruff! Yes! Stick, master! Stick! Stick!" came the slobbery reply. "Well then, FETCH!" With that, Iron will threw the stick into the midst of the wolves. In his haste to get the stick, Fido bowled over many more wolves. At this point, the battle turned for the villainous bunch. With magical support from Voldy, and with the occasional cave in from Fido, Will and Gilda were able to fight off and finally rout the timber wolves! As Fido played with the sticks, Voldy-Hooves, Gilda, and Iron Will regrouped. "Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" crowed Gilda. Her cries of victory were well received by Iron Will, who patted her on the back. "Well said, brother. That fight was TOTALLY HUMONGOUS!" "I'm a GIRL!" snarled Gilda. "Why does everyone keep on thinking I'm a guy?" "I can think of a couple reasons," muttered Voldy-Hooves. "What?" "Nothing." Turning to Iron Will, he began his introduction. "Greetings, Mr. Will. My…employer has need of someone with your skillset. Eh, your companion's too." "Okay." "What? Really? I mean…no seriously? Really? D-don't you even want to know what's in store, first? You're not going to argue?" "Nah. You guys are so assertive, I figured I could pick up some tips for my next seminar." "O-o-o-okaaayy…" Taking it as a sign that his own fortune was beginning to return, Voldy just left it at that. "Ahem. Now then; I think we have enough to use against the accursed citizens of Ponyville. We shall return to base, where all shall be properly introduced to my…master. Now, let us depart!" "Leaving so soon?" This new voice startled the group of villains. "Over here!" The sing-songy voice was disturbingly familiar to many in the crowd. "Her," growled Gilda. "You just couldn't stay away, could you?" "That's right. That's right Gilda, that's right reader. It's Piiiiiiinkiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeee …."