//------------------------------// // Chapter 43: Mental War // Story: Bounty Hunters 3: Genesis // by Jasper77W //------------------------------// "What really happened back there?" Magnum whispered to Octavia. They had Silver resting in the car, after following EDI's advice and patching her wounds up. She was still in a very weak condition though. "Her wings..." "She deserved it." Rainbow jutted in with a slight snarl, staring up at the night sky. Magnum frowned. "You cut them off?" "Ripped." Rainbow said, looking down again. Octavia sighed, sitting on a rock by the campfire. They all sat around it, staring into the flickering and crackling flames. "You still haven't forgiven her, have you..." She said, her chin resting on the back of her hooves. "What makes you think it's so easy after all she's done?" Rainbow snarled at the flames, anger flashing onto her face. "Honestly? I still want her dead. I want her in shreds, to tell the truth." Octavia nodded, acknowledging the meaning behind that. "Thanks, Rainbow." She said glumly, her eyes half closed. "For what?" "For realizing what was more important." Octavia said, and fully closed her eyes. It had been a long night, and she was still hoping to get some sleep before they set off again tomorrow. Rainbow was silent for a few seconds, but then she took off her hat and set it aside. Getting off the log she was sitting on, she found a comfortable spot on the ground and closed her eyes. "You're welcome." She said, and placed her hat over her face. That left Magnum and Octavia by the light of the fire. Soon they could hear Rainbow's gentle snoring- so very unusual of her. They both chuckled a bit, but left her be. "So... You remember anything else yet?" Octavia asked. "Not quite yet... But I do know I miss a lot of ponies." Magnum chuckled. "I have this odd feeling... Can't really go into details, but it feels like I'm not... ME..." She sighed frustratedly, and ran a hoof through her mane. "It's hard to explain. Nothing feels right." Octavia chuckled. "I know that feeling." She nodded slowly. "That lost feel. It's such a big world out there, and we have no idea what it's going to throw at us. Don't worry, you'll get your memory back." "Well, I better." Magnum laughed. "How am I supposed to know what to protect when I don't remember what I hold dear to myself?" She looked down at the stump that was her shoulder. "Although, in my current condition..." "You'll be fine." Octavia placed a firm hoof on her shoulder. "We'll all get out of this bloody mess- as long as we work together." Magnum nodded, and grinned. "For what we hold dear." "For better days yet to come." Octavia nodded in reply. * "How was your cake?" Blithy said glumly, her arms folded. "Bloody terrible. I'm executing the chef tomorrow. Wanna come see?" Val said somewhat angrily, wiping her mouth with a napkin and tossing it behind her as she walked into the throne room. "I'm fine thanks." Blithy said, and Val laughed. "Take a joke, will ya? But he's still gonna get some punishment for that. How bout five years in prison?" She said, turning around and falling back into her throne. "What? What the hay did he even do?" "How about he annoyed me." Val said, yawning. "I clearly said I wanted the sponge to icing ratio to be six to one, and he gave me four to one. If he anyone wants to work under my command, they need to learn how to follow precise commands." "Like they have a choice." Blithy growled. "Yeah, well." Val snickered. "Now- back to proper business." She grinned, pulling up a holographic display. "Ah. Looks like our little magic faction friends are in position. HEX, order the strike the moment the sun rises." She said. "You're going to take them out?" Blithy frowned. Val sighed frustratedly, then laughed. "Oh, it's harder than you think. Direct strikes don't seem to affect them- so, I just want to soften them up a bit before I hit them again." She said, and yawned. "Well, ONE of them." This is going to be interesting to watch, she thought. Those mares won't fare very well with a psychological attack- with all the stress being put on them in these past few days. And even as Val thought about this, she could feel her heart ticking with anticipation- she was like a little kid, waiting for the effects of her prank to register on the victim. Only... This was a lot more than just a prank. * Octavia yawned loudly. Was it morning already? She was still half asleep, but forced herself to sit up anyways. The campfire had went out on its own, and she rubbed her eyes. Then a sharp wailing noise sliced through the air and pierced her dulled brain, instantly dragging her into full consciousness. Everyone around her jumped, eyes immediately flung wide open and their brains firmly lodged in the painful dimension that is reality. Magnum sprung to her hooves and whipped out her pistol, snapping it to point in the direction in which the noise was coming from; eyes wild however focused. "Rise and shine." EDI said in her usual monotoned voice, turning off the siren. "Goddamnit EDI, what the hay is wrong with you!!??" Rainbow yelled. "Enemy forces within detectable proximity. Five targets, all Science Faction Strikers. Firepower unknown, unusual weapon layouts detected. Attempting scan..." EDI replied, then suddenly all of the car's lights turned on and it started beeping wildly, honking the horn at the orange morning skies. "Son of mule! What the hell!" Rainbow yelled. "Damnit Rainbow, we're under attack!" Octavia screamed, ran to her rifle and snatched it off the ground. "Light-weight demolition explosives detected." EDI said. "Calculating ETA.... Forty seconds." "Shuck..." Magnum quickly limped to her pistol and picked it up. Rainbow deployed her cleaver, the sharp silver blade catching a glint of sunlight. "EDI, turn off the alarms damnit. Keep the wounded and kids safe, understand? Do whatever is necessary." She turned to Magnum, and waved at EDI. "Magnum, get in there. You're in no condition for a proper fight." "Did you even hear EDI!? They're buck'n bombing us, there won't even be a fight! They drop one of those bombs on us and we're dead!" Magnum yelled back, jabbing a hoof at the sky. "Demolition bombs. Performs less fragmental damage. Only intended for demolishing buildings without creating huge messes for the clean up crew." EDI reported. "What, so they're going to take out the entire cliff face?" Babs raised an eyebrow, loading her shotgun. "Possibly. Thirty seconds." EDI replied. "Technically they don't have enough bombs to compromise the structural integrity of this cliff." "Then what the hay are they doing!?" Rainbow yelled angrily, frustration taking hold of her. "Scanning for viable targets.... One out of one detected within the immediate area. "EDI reported. "Reprogramming ETA." "And that is...?" Daring frowned. There weren't many targets nearby to hit- but even as EDI started a new countdown, they seemed to all think of the same thing. Octavia and Rainbow looked at each other, uncertainty on their faces. But they knew they both had the same target in mind. "No way... That's absolutely pointless though!" Magnum remarked. "Twenty seconds." EDI said. "EDI, can you shoot them down?" Rainbow asked. "The probability of a calculated launch of a dumb missile hitting its target is currently only at seventy percent. The act is not recommended, as it would compromise our location. We are also an unlikely target in this situation. Ten seconds." Rainbow wiped a few beads of sweat off her forehead, and gestured at the edge of the cliff. They all instinctively ducked down as they heard the jets whoosh past overhead, the loud roars of engines pounding against their eardrums. They looked up just in time to see the jets disappear, hidden by the thick foliage of the woods. "Damnit. Come on everypony... Let's see what they're up to." Rainbow said, tucking the cleaver away and running towards the edge of the cliff. "Eight seconds." The other ponies followed her, skipping over the hazardous forest terrain. Babs almost tripped on a root, but regained balance and kept on going. Finally they saw sunlight ahead, indicating the end of the small area of forest. Rainbow came stumbling out of the woods and into full golden morning sunlight, breathing hard. She straightened up and watched as the jet fighters continued their way to the other side of the canyon. She heard the other ponies jog to a halt behind her, all silent and watching. "Six, five, four, three, two..." EDI continued. * Val watched everything unfold as she sat in her throne, not daring to take her eyes off the screen as she didn't want to miss a single second of it. "Home... That's where one lives, correct? Often the closest one can ever feel to a location... Anywhere else would be cold and oddly unpleasant." She said, then chuckled. "Oh, dear. You know, it was the capital of Equestria years ago... Before the wars, actually. They must still hold it as something of a symbol, hopes of a long lost age. Still something they hold dear, despite being completely abandoned and useless. Oh, this is going to be unpleasant for some ponies." She grinned, and Blithy could only sit silently as they watched the jet fighters close in on the ancient and abandoned city of Canterlot. * "One," Octavia took in a sharp breath as she realized Canterlot really was their target. They watched the Strikers circle around the huge city perched precariously on the cliff face, its age old glory still somewhat evident in the golden domed buildings. It had lost its majestic white walls though, replaced by damaged and wrecked surfaces of muck. "Zero." The Strikers unloaded their demolition bombs at the base of Canterlot, and turned around to leave. The bombs went off, and from this distance they looked like nothing. Five small explosions, fireballs exploding out of the supports that held up the city. The shock waves ripped through the ancient material, reducing them to shreds and knocking them completely out from underneath the city. Without its supports, the city was like a pony without legs. Octavia held her breath as she watched the city slowly sink down a few meters, sliding along the near-vertical cliff face. Occasional reflections of gold would blind them as the roofs deflected the bright light of the sun. The city crumbled inwards as it slowly collapsed, skyscrapers caving in and walls falling apart. Then it started tilting forward, the sky scrapers horizontal to the ground as they fell. Some of the taller buildings simply snapped in half as individual pieces, falling alongside the general mass. Then the city hit a spot on the cliff and completely turned upside down, the tall buildings crushed and ground against the cliff face. They could all feel the earth shaking as several million tones of material tumbled down the opposing cliff face, now all but a twirling mass of concrete, wood, gold and dirt. Then finally it reached the end of its journey at the bottom of the cliff, hitting the earth and splaying its mass out like a splatter of water. Still a large amount of remains kept on going, crushing the forests below and tumbling into the mighty river that ran through the canyon. Rainbow heard the loud splash of water as the shreds impacted the river, then everything seemed to dim down. No more rumbling, the fighters were gone, the air was still. The only thing that indicated to Canterlot's previous existence was a crater in the cliff face, and a slowly drifting trail of dust and ash dragging down the cliff and to the pile of debris at the bottom. Octavia watched as her old life came to rest in a pile of indistinguishable building material, all the old memories swarming into her brain. The laughter, the happy old days in a long lost reality and past where she enjoyed playing music for others and listening to their performances. The high class of Canterlot, of a city at its highest glory. Memories of the grand galloping gala, of the friends she made, of the highs and lows of life that they shared, of a past that she missed so much but never spoke of again. Rainbow had her jaw clenched, but then she let it relax and sighed. She turned to leave, and caught a glittering tear sliding down Octavia's face. She stopped to catch a better glimpse- this can't be right. If anyone was capable of shutting their emotions out, it was Octavia. But it was no illusion- she was crying. Octavia's eyes were invisible, hidden by a shadow cast by the edge of her hat. She had her head lowered, and sunlight could only go as far as her face. Rainbow looked at the other ponies. Daring, Babs, and even Magnum had followed them. She made a curt gesture with her head, and they all nodded back and slowly left, one by one. Eventually that only left Rainbow and Octavia. "Tavi..." Rainbow said softly, and heard Octavia make an attempt to hide a sniff. But all was too quiet for any noise to go unnoticed. Octavia felt Rainbow put an arm around her shoulders and pull her into a gentle hug. She turned away from the wreckage and hugged Rainbow back, crying silently into her shoulder. "Come on now Tavi..." Rainbow said gently, rubbing her gently on the back. "Val meant to do this. She meant to put us down." "She targeted me this time, didn't she..." Octavia said, shaking her head. "She meant to hurt me. I didn't think it would hurt... But when I really did watch it crumble down like that..." She let out a quiet sob, and buried her face in Rainbow's shoulder. "There there." Rainbow cooed softly, gently patting her on the back. "It's just an abandoned ruin anyway... Nopony was there..." "I know... It's just... The memories..." Octavia sighed, and let go. She held Rainbow at arm's length, and nodded. "Sorry." "Don't worry. A bit of emotion is good." Rainbow smiled. "Let's go, aye? Staying here and watching nothing won't help us get back at Val." Octavia nodded. "Right, right." She said, and chuckled. "Sorry." "Stop apologizing." Rainbow said, and gave Octavia a slightly harder hit on the back. They both turned around, leaving the ruin behind them. Slowly they walked back into the woods, but as soon as they entered the shadows of the forest Octavia's expression darkened. If this is the type of game Val is looking for, then so be it. She'll play along, and tear her organs out with her bare hooves when she gets the chance. * "That was pointless." Blithy remarked as they watched Rainbow and Octavia walk back into the forest. "Maybe by your standpoint." Val said, a soft smile on her face. Blithy raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that? You wanted them to feel despair, and yet nothing happened." "Oh, no. Not despair." Val laughed. "That I can reserve for some other time. No no no... This time it wasn't that I wanted." She chuckled. Blithy didn't reply, or ask what it was that Val really intended. She didn't need to, since Val was going to explain anyway. "So far, you've seen what blindness and damage the lust for revenge generates... Right?" She said, pointing at the screen. "Silver, even you and I... You should understand. Look what that thirst has done to us..." She made her mechanical body parts click, her robotic eye rolling and making a faint hydraulic whine. "Silver lost her wings, because Rainbow ripped them out. And we killed our own parents, with this." She said, turning a hand before her eyes. "So are you admitting it's a bad thing now?" Blithy asked. "No, not at all. It's only a bad thing to those who are too serious about it. Anger makes ponies stupid." Val laughed. "I only get angry occasionally. And yet I get my revenge pretty much whenever I want." She grinned. "And I bet you Octavia there wants my head on a platter right now. I bet you." She said. "What I did there, was plant that little seed. That'll grow soon, and when it does... Oh, how beautiful it'll be. It'll cause that mare to do so many drastic things... And yet, the only ones that will be affected would be her friends." She laughed. "She would never hurt her friends." Blithy said. "I know, maybe not INTENTIONALLY." Val shrugged. * All seemed quiet in the middle of the mess, where a huge fist of rock had slammed through half the city of Manehatten. There was a slight gap between the front of the fist and one of the last remaining buildings that was in its path, and there was an eery shuffling noise slowly crawling its way out. Dust was still settling, slowly drifting down to the earth. Then suddenly a long and dented silver blade tore through the rock and emerged from the crack, turned on its side, and clipped onto the edge of the building. Then another claw did the same, clipping onto the side of the fist. Slowly, Colgate pulled herself out of the gap and stumbled into clear space. Blood seeped through and soaked her mane, her horn glowing dimly as she applied a healing spell to herself. There was a loud bang as Terra leaped down from the top of the rock fist, landing heavily onto the ground and on the same level as Colgate. Colgate only smirked at Terra's emotionless glare, steadying herself with the two long blades implanted into her front hooves. She leant forward onto them as if they were her real legs, taking the stress off her back legs and spine. Terra crunched his armored front hooves together, sparks exploding out from between them. Colgate leaned back on her back legs, then lunged forward- gone in an instant. Terra raised a hoof, ready to crack it into the earth. Here we go again.