//------------------------------// // Gettin' the Hell Out // Story: To Call the Moon My Own // by That_Random_Pony //------------------------------// The tunnels were quiet, save for the hoofsteps of fifty guards, two princesses, six mares, and a large biped. Tony walked at the front, leading them with his sense of smell. There were a dozen Arthanians when he came, then there were nine after he took some down. Now… the complex held the scents of fifty to sixty soldiers. It didn't make any sense. There wasn't a single queen in the tunnels, they were the only way that the Arthanians could increase their numbers in such little time. Although, even with a queen it would still take two weeks before a soldier was grown and trained. Numerous things just didn't add up, and they were bound to get even more confusing. He rounded a corner and quickly knocked out another soldier. The glow of the unicorns was starting to make him think it would give them away. But the beams would be able to hurt the soldiers, as weak as they were, so he let them be. Another corner and still more tunnels, and even more intersections. "Are we getting close?" Celestia questioned, breaking the silence he'd been enjoying. "There's an entire facility between us and the princess, not to mention the dozens of soldiers scattered around, so no," he snorted. "And keep your voice down." Rainbow groaned louder than she should have, making the others glare at her. "We've been walking for an hour and we're not even close? Why don't we just split up?" "That would speed things up," Twilight admitted. "No," Tony said sternly. "The last thing we do is split up. These tunnels are meant to do that; split you up so they'll have an easier time picking you off. We stay together, we won't all die." Tony gestured for them to be quiet, creeping closer to the wall as the sound of claws on the floor grew louder. A soldier on patrol started to round the corner when Tony uppercut it. It collapsed, unconscious from the one hit. He dragged the body out of sight and continued, but stopped abruptly. The tunnel in front of him was unlike the others. Normally this wouldn't be such a big deal, but there was something suspicous about it. To begin with, there weren't any guards. Second, unlike the rest of the tunnels, this one was more finite than the others. The smooth floors and walls, the open space with no supports or beams to keep it from caving in. "You going or what?" Rainbow huffed. He kept scanning the room. It was all a ruse, he could feel it. "Keep your eyes peeled. This might be—" "Yeah yeah," Rainbow chuckled as she passed him. "We know what we're doing." A few steps in, Rainbow fumbled a bit. A loud shifting of stone began, and the next thing she knew, she was flat on her back. Above her, the ceiling was much closer than it was a few seconds ago. "Rainbow!" The ponies screamed as they rushed over. Twilight pulled her out from under the stone with her magic. The pegasus could see what had happened: she set off a booby trap, which was the portion of the ceiling that was meant to slam down on her. Except it didn't, which made her wonder why. Then, there came a few strained grunts, and the slab of rock began to slide upwards at a snails pace. Tony had barely gotten to her in time, lying on his back and using his arms and legs to keep the trap from falling on him. Celestia, Cadence, and Shining Armor used their magics to try and lift the stone off of him. The stone sluggishly moved, despite their combined magic levels. Tony - on the other hand/hoof - was pushing as hard as he could. Gradually, they were able to help lift it up, allowing him to slam it back into place in the ceiling. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! "What's that noise?!" Twilight shouted over the blaring alarms. "They know we're here, come on!" The ponies galloped after him as he ran through the tunnels. Arthanian soldiers began to converge on the small group as a soldier announced their location. The guards were the first ones to get hit, several soldiers dove right into the middle of their formation, disorienting them long enough to start clawing at them. The group seperated from those unlucky enough to get caught in the confusion, leaving eight guards to suffer a brutal death. Even with their losses, Tony made a mad dash, punmeling and ramming into any soldiers that got between him and his objective. He clotheslined a soldier that came out from one of the chambers, jumped up to kick another and swung his other leg around to sideswipe a third. Many more came, but he barreled through them. The ponies behind him took care of the wounded and dazed wolves. Applejack struck her hooves against a soldier's head, knocking him clean out. Flying wasn't an option for Rainbow, so she had to hope her tackles, followed by a bone shattering kick from the cowpony, would help. Behind Pinkie Pie and her party cannon, Fluttershy gave a soldier "the stare". With the soldier distracted, Twilight hit it over the head with a rock. The unicorns singed the faces of any reinforcements to give the pegasus guards time to attack them. With their numbers they easily overpowered the few that came. Three or four guards could beat the hay out of one, even with the claws sinking into their armors. Celestia stuck close to her niece, since she didn't have combat intelligence or experience. The Celestial Ray spear she took was useful to bash any who came close. Shining Armor also did his role in the skirmishes, using advanced magic to make some fall asleep or attack each other. One he thought was asleep grabbed him by the leg and tossed him into the guards. Before it could do anymore damage, Celestia lifted it with a spell and hurled it at another three running. "Are you alright, Shining?" Cadence asked as she helped him back up. "I'm fine," he said. "Just a few bruises." "I found the prison blocks!" They galloped to meet Tony around another corner. He stood by an open door as he waited. "Buy me some time!" Shining ordered the stallions into tight rows to prevent any more Arthanians from breaking in. They came in slightly bigger numbers, and they had weapons of their own. Most were running with a spear in paw, while some had a sword. Given their small stature compared to the wolves, the wall was broken by their sheer mass. The spears were mainly used to slap them around, the swords broke through the armor like a hot knife through butter. Shining, Twilight, Celestia, and Cadence did as much as they could from behind the guards. Tony came back from his search and tackled a soldier. He punched it in the muzzle and knocked it out, flipping back onto his feet and bashing two over the head with his elbows. "She's not here. They might've taken her to the C-D blocks," he told them. "And where might that be?" Shining asked. "Deeper in the structure," Tony answered. Celestia and the elements pushed ahead of the guardsponies. "Then what are we waiting for? Show us the way." The real side of Tony could feel her determination, while his other side only saw arrogance. He led them further into the underground system. Not far from the first prison chambers was a door. The door took them to the Arthanians feeding lounge, where they were waiting. One by the door came out and kicked him onto his back. That was as far as it got, as Celestia blasted it off of him. He jumped up and ran at the other wolves, swing the tables around to send them flying. Deeper in the Everfree UBO ( Underground Base of Operations A soldier dropped face first into the floor, a blade embedded in its back. Dan dragged the body out of sight, then pulled the sword out. He made a hand signal, to which Luna acknowledged by positioning herself by the next turn. Once she was there, Dan stood behind her, the two peering around the intersection. "Okay, feeding… sleeping… training… prison blocks… a-ha!" he whispered with delight. He pointed to a far door down the corridor. "See that door, Luna?" The darkness was nothing to her eyes, since she was accustomed to the black of night. "Yes, is that the way out?" "Sorry, but no," he sighed. "But it will get us close, let's…" he paused as light scampering reached his ears. "Are we going to—" He placed his hand over her mouth to silence her. He made the signal for silence by raising his finger to his mouth. The scampering was explained by four guards rushing to their escape. Instead of going through, they pointed their spears at the door and waited. From the distance they were at, Dan could make out a few words. They spoke Neric, which an old friend had taught him. "Ut lekov bils ut Doshu'um dit ojing (The master says the Doshu'um is coming)" one said. The others shuffled in place. "Jra furgl vef zeel. Jur bils jur deko manogowen it Doshu'um gark jur ojiil marosh (I heard as well. He says he will challenge the Doshu'um once he comes through)" another replied. "Hruuk jur ojiil marosh (When he comes through?)" a third shakily said. "What are they saying?" Luna whispered. Dan gently set the sword on the ground. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the pistol. Making sure the clip was loaded he pulled it out then snapped it back in. He pulled the barrel back carefully, so as to not make noise, then flicked the gun off "safe" mode. He peered around the corner to make sure the Arthanians were still there, which they were. "We need to leave now!" he whispered to Luna. "This was all a trap! Me and you, we're just bait!" Luna's eyes widened in fear. "To bring my sister here!" she snorted, stomping a hoof. She stood still and kept just as quiet, waiting for claws to scratch the ground. "My apologies." "Luna, they aren't here for your sister," he said. "They're here for the other one, and if he gets through here he'll be trapped, along with your sister. We're gonna make a break for it, there's a ladder in one of the tunnels just a ways down." He rolled into the tunnel and fired rapidly. The closest had two bullets rip into its skull from behind, the one beside it having a bullet enter its eye and lodge in its brain. The other two realized what was happening and charged at him. Dan dropped one with four bullets, emptying his clip. He tossed himself out of the way of the Arthanian that slammed its halberd into the ground and grabbed another clip. The soldier came back as Dan fumbled with the weapon. Luna bashed it in the side of the head with the club. The soldier was completely surprised, the club knocking him out cold. "Thanks," Dan panted. "Gur el um," the club muffled her speech. Dan slipped the ammo back in and ran to the door. "Okay, there's gonna be a lot of chaos outside, so just hit anything that gets close and keep running. Ready?" She nodded, and he kicked open the door. Rescue Team "Okay, the prison blocks are just a little further in," Tony said. "We get your princess, then haul ass back to the hatch, got it?" The ponies nodded. The door swung open as he approached. The familiar tube of a pistol barrel was pointed right between his eyes. Acting on instinct, he pushed the arm of the wielder up - just in time too - and went to grab it. The gunner smacked his hand and spun his arm away, right as Tony retrieved his Daedalak. The two stood face to face, blade to one's neck, barrel pointed at the other's face. They both stared in disbelief at each other. The sudden meeting was interrupted by Luna, who sideswiped Tony with a club. "Luna, no!" Dan shouted before she could run. " It's alright! He's a friend!" "That bitch!" Tony strained as he recoiled from the hit. "My mistake! I mistook him for Netu'ung," she apologized. Dan grabbed onto Tony's hand and pulled him up. "Hold on, he's the—" "The smaller one, I know," Dan chuckled. "Hold a sword to my throat will you?" Tony rubbed his swore jaw. "Point a gun at me and hit me with a club will you?" Tony groaned in pain. The hit left his ears ringing and with a major headache. "Luna?" Celestia called. The indigo princess rushed past them to her sister. "Luna!" "Luna!" the others shouted happily. They all mashed into one group hug, with Luna at the center. "You came for me," she whispered. The elder sister pushed her back for them to be facing each other. "You're my sister. Of course I came for you," Celestia smiled with watery eyes. "We would never leave you." "That's right," Rainbow chuckled. Dan enjoyed their reunion, but they were short on time. "Tony, we need to leave. This was a trap. Netu'ung's here—" "I know," Tony said. "Let's go. Alright everyone, we're leaving. Dan, lead them out. I'll keep any stragglers from sneaking up on us." He nodded and ran to the guards. "There's another hatch a ways down. Come on." The guards followed him back the way they came. The ponies galloped out, just as another pack rushed in. Tony made quick work of them, a few knuckles to the head, and a little knee smash to do the trick. He ran after the ponies, and when he caught up it was chaos. Dozens of scouts were mixed in with what remained of the guards. They were about the same height, but the scouts were way more vicious and deadly. The guards were barely holding them off, the unicorns throwing them back and shooting them. Dan was shooting his pistol at any scout he saw, burning through his munitions. A mutt rammed him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. It jumped on top of him and snapped its jaws in his face. He clamped his hand around its mouth, then put the pistol to the side of its head and fired twice. He pushed the body off of him and shot another before it could pounce on an occupied guard. One of the smaller scouts jumped onto Celestia's back. Its claws ripped right through her Solar armor, almost ignoring it. However, they weren't long enough to reach her coat. She bucked around until it fell off, then kicked it into the wall. Her sister swung at another that tried to get the jump on her. The scouts just kept coming, as if there were endless amounts. Even as they fought their way through, the scouts wouldn't let up for a minute. There was just one last hall and dozens of scouts that stood in the way of freedom. Tony threw a soldier through the center of the scouts, scattering many of them and opening a hole. The remaining guards charged forward with Celestia and Luna, the elements supporting behind them. The forces smashed together, ponies dropping, scouts getting blasted, thrown, and bucked. Dan fired with presicion because he was at his last clip. The ponies were making a strong push; the hatch was only a few yards away. A little more and they would be home free. A few more— BOOM! A bright flash of white, followed by yellow and fiery orange, was all they saw before they were thrown back. Celestia rose to her hooves and saw more flashes ending with flames. Luna helped Twilight back up as the explosions sounded. Shining was ahead of them when it happened, giving him some time to put up a protection spell. Dan felt blood running down his arm and a familiar pain. He forced himself up and felt the tunnels reverberating from the blasts. He ran to Celestia. "Run for it!" he shouted above the explosions. "They rigged the place to blow!" The scouts were killed from their close proximity to the blast radius, leaving a clear path to the ladder. Rainbow and Fluttershy carried out Rarity and Pinkie while Celestia had Twilight and Applejack. Dan and Luna stopped after a loud crack made them look up. The stone above them was collapsing. They braced for the crushing feeling but it never came. Dan opened his eyes and saw Tony in his metal form, holding the stone in place. "Get out of here! I can't… hold this forever!" he grunted, his voice distorted horribly. Dan pulled Luna along to the hatch. Though the ceiling wasn't crashing down on them, small boulders and large rocks were falling around them. They dodged the death rocks by mere inches. One came so close that it brushed through Luna's tail. After the suicide run to the hatch, Dan was the first to climb. He went to make sure that Luna was following, and no sooner did he turn around did a rock fall on Luna. "Luna!" he screamed as he jumped down. He nearly tore a muscle as he lifted it off of her. "Are you alright?!" She yelped in pain as she tried to move her wing. "My wing is hurt! You have to go!" she shouted. "DAN! GOOOOOOO!!" Tony screeched. A few scouts actually survived and latched onto him, clawing at his exposed parts. Dan picked her up, which wasn't so hard since she weighed about as much as a regular woman. "Get on my back!" he instructed her. She wrapped her forelegs around his neck and stomach tightly. He climbed the tall ladder out into the light. He found himself in what looked like a lake devoid of water. The ponies were already at the bank, more guards helping some up. "There they are!" Twilight shouted. A terrifying groan of steel made Dan look around. There were pipes around the base of the lake, pipes that were gushing water. He ran as fast as he could with the pony on his back and tried scaling the muddy bank. He only slid down each time he got a few feet up. The water closed in on him, then threw him and Luna around like ragdolls in water. He managed to get a deep breath before it slammed into him and Luna, but he wasn't sure if she did. Their violent churning ceased at last, Dan doing what came naturally. Swim. He had swam in high school, his experience getting him the stamina he needed. He started a strong breast stroke towards the surface. His efforts doubled with the passenger, who was thrashing around a little. He knew she didn't have a lot of air, and he was close to the surface. A few more pulls and he would have surfaced, if Netu'ung didn't grab him first. Luna felt Dan rip away, she in turn being pushed back down. The last of her breath escaped, and as she tried to swim up, she went limp. Her lungs began to fill with water and drown her. Her vision began to fog up and fill with black. On the surface, Dan exploded out of the water, being held by his shirt three feet in the air. Netu'ung was holding him up, smirking, and at the same time seething. Dan didn't (more like couldn't) try and break free. Netu'ung was over twice as strong as Tony, and he was tired from pulling Luna through the water. "Where is he?" Netu'ung growled. Dan weakly pointed to the water. Netu'ung tossed him back to the ponies, none of them even trying to stop him. "Where's Luna?!" Celestia panicked. She shook him hard and repeated, "Where's Luna?!" Dan pointed back to the water. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Luna layed at the bottom of the lake. She couldn't close her mouth, or her eyes, or even move. All she could do was wait for the darkness in her vision to consume her, for her to die. A dark figure began making its way to her. As it came closer, she could see it was the other human. A mist of red and black trailed behind him as he swam to her. He shook her a bit to get a response, to which he got none. He took her pulse, there was nothing. A faint beat gave him hope, she was alive but teetering. He needed to do something fast. She needed air, but even with his speed he couldn't get her to the surface fast enough. There was one thing he could do. It would save her, but would probably get him imprisoned or executed or whatever they did to royal offenders. Still, saving her was his main concern. If Luna could still control her body, she knew she would have probably bucked him. The Loki'irian put his lips on hers, then separated her own and kept the water out by keeping them pressed against each other. Her lungs started to tickle, then water began pushing out as wonderful oxygen was forced in. The air let her blink again, telling Tony she was back. He separated, held her, then swam to the surface. They reached the surface, each gasping for air while Luna coughed violently. Tony wrapped an arm around her sides as he swam to the edge of the bank. He laid her on the grass and fell onto his hands and knees. "Are *pant* you al-*pant*-right… princess?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "I'm fine *cough cough*," she managed to say. The ponies ran to her and made a defensive line. Tony saw Dan pointing his pistol at… Netu'ung. The bastard was smiling with his axe slung over his shoulder. "We got a little situation, kid," Dan panted. Tony got up and stood next to his friend. "Still have your gear?" "Never leave home without it," Tony said. "But I don't think it'll work on him. He's too strong." Netu'ung stopped a couple of meters away. "Then how are we gonna get them outta here?" Dan nodded to the ponies and guards. "Ragnok," Netu'ung called loudly. "Ragnok ut Doshu'um Reku'un (I challenge the Doshu'um Reku'un)" Everyone was silent. Dan glanced at Tony, who had the neutralist of faces. The only emotion he was showing was fatigue and pain from his heavy breathing. Netu'ung slammed his axe into the ground beside him and removed his armor. His muscular body was on display like some sort of trophy. No matter how he looked at it, Tony had to admit Netu'ung looked impressive. Sure, he was an adult and his body came naturally, but it was still slightly intimidating. Dan could see the fire in Tony's eyes. He wanted to fight Netu'ung, no, he needed to fight Netu'ung. Now that they were going to be uninterrupted, what was to stop him? "What did he say?" Pinkie whispered loudly. "Rags knock?" Rainbow whispered back. Tony reached for his Daedalak, but Dan stopped him. They stared hard at each other, their eyes speaking their thoughts. "You're not fighting him, kid, not like that," Dan sternly said. Tony turned back to Netu'ung, who was still waiting for his response. "It's the only way Dan," Tony monotonously countered. He tried going for his Daedalak agin, but Dan's grip tightened. "Tony, you're messed up pretty bad. You're in no way good to fight him—" "I know!" Tony growled, sighing softly and looking away. "I know. But it's the only way you guys can leave. I'll keep this asshole busy, and in the meantime, get the princesses and the rest of them back to wherever." "No way," Dan protested. "I'm not leaving, no way, no how. I told you fifteen years ago I would stand at your side no matter how strong the bad guy was. That doesn't change now, and it never will." Tony wryly laughed at Dan's small speech. "You do realize you were thirteen when you said that." Dan smiledumbly. "Ten years and you don't change in the slightest." "Ten years and aside from getting a couple inches on me," Dan joked, "You're still the same Tony I know. I'll keep them safe, but you have to kill that bastard." "I made a promise twelve years ago. I never make a promise—" "Unless you can keep it," Dan finished his statement. "Alright… give him hell." Dan limped back to the group of ponies. Tony pulled his bright blue blade out, then stabbed it into the dirt beside him. He took off his torn black shirt and hung it on the handle. He did a once over of his body: toned, thin, and young, not much compared to his opponent, but he was older. "Jra gutet (I accept)" Tony called back.