Hunting Grounds
Jason dodged a spear, following up the attack with a jab of his own. The griffin fell, and he spun quickly, throwing his tomahawk into the side of another enemy's head. Dash ran by and slit the griffin's throat just in case, before she shouldered another, reaching backwards for her gun and bringing it straight to the griffin's head before discharging a round. A fair amount of gore sprayed onto the ground and she flinched, not wanting to look to hard at the splattered brain matter.
Jason looked around at the scene, sending out a slight bit of healing energy towards Hunter and fixing up a gash on one of his forelegs.
"Thanks." Hunter replied quietly, touching at the new flesh. "I can't tell you how nice it is that you can do that."
"Yeah, a lot of ponies seem to like this whole, immediate healing thing." He replied with a chuckle, before poking at a few cracks on his foreleg. "It would be nice if I could do that to myself."
"But then where's the challenge?" Dash asked, punching him in the shoulder playfully.
"Personally, I'd rather have a bit more toughness."
"As it is you're pretty much indestructible." She replied with a giggle. "And you pretty much recovered from torture in a few days."
Jason shivered. "Oh, that was terrible."
"Understatement of the century, I'm sure." Tank said with a laugh as they started to move again. At least Jason could take some solace that the team didn't seem too afraid of him after that whole episode. But why should they? They were the best and the brightest, they knew him more than anyone else and had the power to back up their opinions.
He often found himself looking at the carnage they caused almost effortlessly, and wondering how complicated things would be if any of these guys were on the other side. Even without him or Dash, they still formed a unit that continued to work almost as well, and could seemingly adjust to any environment or threat.
He'd seen the way other ponies had looked at any of the team, with a mixture of fear and awe as some or all of them walked by. There wasn't really an air of fame, more of a general likeness to a following out of respect rather than due to the fact that they were more highly ranked.
"Jason, stop here." Dash said, immediately grabbing a water bottle off her back. "I really need to get something onboard here."
"Pfft, eating." He took a sip of water, sighing as it started to cool him down. "Who needs food anyway?"
Dash giggled and pulled out a muffin, waving it in front of his nose. "I like food, but you know, since you don't want anything..." She took a bite, overly exaggerating how much she liked the taste. "And it's such a pity too, since you have my taste buds and everything." Morning was watching the back and forth with a grin, before nudging Tank and pointing.
Jason reached out with a hoof as Dash pulled the muffin away, holding it behind herself. "Come on Dash, you can't do that to me..."
"Why not? It's my muffin."
"Where'd you even get a muffin?"
"Don't you mean..." She reached into her saddlebag, pulling out another muffin. "Two muffins?"
"Dash, I haven't even eaten a muffin in months, please?" He begged, swallowing a mouthful of saliva as his mouth refused to stop salivating.
"I dunno, I only have..." She pulled out another. "Three."
Jason floated the muffin away from her hoof and took a defiant bite. He sighed and knocked the knives out of his hooves before shifting into Alternis and immediately spitting out the muffin chunk. "What is that? Cotton? Why the fuck did it taste edible?"
"Yeah." Dash replied, biting a hoof to keep herself from laughing too loudly. "I made it myself."
"So are those..."
"No these are real." She broke one in half and handed him the unbitten side. "Here, after all that you deserve this."
Jason took a bite and his face lit up, immensely enjoying the sweet flavor. "Blueberry?" He asked, taking another bite.
"I think." He nodded and shoved the rest of the muffin into his mouth, chewing it slowly before he changed back and replaced the knives.
"God that tasted great."
"You're so deprived."
"It's not easy remembering to eat when you don't get hungry." He took another gulp of water, washing down the rest of the muffin. "Now come on, it's getting late, and I don't want to fight this whole thing at nighttime."
"But isn't that usually our deal? Stealth and nighttime raids?" Morning asked, putting her water away.
"Well yeah, but the rest of the army doesn't really do that. I mean, they had experience with that in Windforge, but that was weeks ago, and pretty unoccupied by the time we left."
"There's that other team though." Hunter pointed out as they started to move, moving through the nearly deserted streets towards the palace.
"Yeah, but I honestly don't know what to think of those guys, it's a pretty jumbled team of ponies."
"Blueblood's still on there?" Tank asked, looking over warily.
"Mhm. That's one of the things I'll never understand. He's still kinda well, like he used to be, so..."
"Why's he fighting?"
"I think he told me once, but I don't know what it was anymore. Oh well, they fight. Can't question their methods as long as they're successful."
"Isn't that the truth." Dash mumbled.
"Back in World War Two, the guy that led the bombing campaign in Japan famously said 'It's a good thing I was on the winning side, otherwise I'd be tried for war crimes.' Or something like that. But can you imagine? If we were on the side of the griffins how wanted we'd be at war's end?" He was met by silence as the other five rolled his comment around in their heads.
Jason suddenly grabbed Dash by the shoulder and pulled her behind a cart, watching as the others broke for cover as well. His reasoning wasn't clear until a patrol came around the corner, running quickly as they went to re-enforce the failing griffin lines, if there were still lines at this point. He let a patrol go by, giving them a few seconds before Jason burst from cover and swung a hoof into the first griffin's face.
Jason only got a one stab in before the entire patrol was neutralized, in something that would have probably been record time if he kept track.
"Alright, the castle's right over there, and let's face it, the king may not be here. But if he is... well, his day's about to get a lot worse." They shared a laugh and sped up, nearing the steps that led through huge double doors. It really was a sight, such a large building that rivaled the size of the biggest parts of the Canterlot Castle. Jason turned around and caught a view of what he assumed was the town square, bustling with activity and the glints of spears.
"It's really starting to sink in." Dash said.
"What?" Jason inquired, furrowing his brow in confusion.
"Well after this we could well be headed home. It's the last hurdle, I hope."
"Yeah you and me both."
"Well I guess it's now or never, huh?" He asked, pushing against the doors with his magic. "Or later, as it is."
"What?"
"The doors are jammed, probably barricaded. So let's see, me, you, Morning and...wow is that it?" He bowed his head. "Archer was a pegasus, huh?" He asked, getting a sad nod from Hunter.
"She better come back in one piece." Tank said, pointing towards Morning Rain.
"You forget who you're talking to." Jason replied. "Unless I die she'll be fine."
"Yeah, you better not die either."
"Hey Jason, you mind if we go look for another way in?" Steve asked, gesturing between himself, Sartos and Hunter.
"Yeah, go ahead. You're staying here, Tank?"
"As if I'd leave." He replied, a smirk playing across his face as he stuck a hoof behind Morning's head and pulled her over into a kiss before letting her go again. "Stay safe honey."
"Only if you promise to kiss me like that more often." She replied, trying to get full movement back in her wings as a blush somehow managed to show through her red fur. Morning leaned forward and kissed Tank again before the three took off, headed upwards to a few larger windows.
"You never told any of us that Tank was your colt friend." Dash teased, poking at Morning as they ascended.
"Well you never asked, I guess. Not like it wasn't pretty obvious." She jabbed back, giggling to herself. "Were you really just playing matchmaker when you put me on this team Jason?" Morning asked, giggling again.
"Ha. I wish. You two make a nice couple though." He moved a little ways away from the building, priming a couple flash-bangs and throwing them inside. The window broke easily enough, and as both of the bombs went off successfully the three flew inside and dove, flattening a similar number of griffins as they landed. There weren't many griffins here, really, and given the fact that most of them were dazed the entire group was taken care of in only a little more than a minute.
Jason stuck up a hoof, which Dash bumped with her own. "Easier every time, huh?" He asked, grinning over at her as he tore the ragged fortifications from the door and pulled it open.
"Is that some kind of record?" Tank asked as he walked in, slicing at a survivor with one of his machetes.
"I don't know, we should probably start keeping track of these things." Jason replied, kicking a broken husk of a flash-bang across the floor.
"Well either way, the throne room's right over there." Tank said, pointing to another set of double doors.
"How do you know?" Jason asked, staring at Tank.
"It says throne room over the door right there."
"Ah." He paused. "Okay, epic entrance, ready set go!" He primed another flash-bang and threw it as his magic flung the doors open. The four shielded themselves from the blast before rushing inside and slowing to a stop. "What luck." Jason said, smirking. "The king's still here."
A large griffin was sitting on the throne, looking rather indifferent to the whole scene. He shrugged at them, looking bored. "Yes, in a sense the king's still here." He paused, as a few emotions flashed across his face. "And yet in a sense, he's not." The doors slammed shut behind them as a few spears floated into the air behind the king, slowly spinning menacingly.
"The fuck..." Jason mumbled, looking between the spears and the king. "What the hell are you?"
"I'm a griffin, in body and in soul. At least, he was." The king smirked as he opened his beak again to continue. "But then I got here."
"N-Nightmare?" Dash asked, taking a step back.
"In the flesh. Oh wait..." A spear let itself fly as Dash dove out of the way, watching it bounce off the floor and stick with a twang in the wall behind them. "It's funny how little those elements did, really. Evict me from Luna, weaken me a little bit. But hey, here I am. And you..." She stared at Dash. "It's not very nice, pulling someone out of a body like that. It really hurts."
"We don't need the elements to beat you, whatever you are." Jason said, taking a step forward. "I'm sure if you're in enough pieces it'll have the same effect."
"Oh please, three ponies and a changeling? I'm so scared." Nightmare paused, before breaking out into laughter. "You mortals are so funny. I came over here and started a war at the snap of a talon, and not one griffin questioned me. And then what? You ponies bounce back and I end up responsible for the biggest loss of life in Equestrian history. And I did it without the power of a princess, without even the use of magic, only a few words. I'll tell you, the stars really lined up for this one."
"You bastard!" Jason yelled, watching the Nightmare turn its gaze. "You killed some of my friends, you damn near killed me!" He flung a bolt of magic, which the Nightmare easily deflected. He pulled the AUG off his back, holding down the trigger.
BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG
Jason smirked as the first one hit the Nightmare in the shoulder and put it off balance. Another to the side, before a shield went up to deflect the rest of the projectiles and the Nightmare screamed in agony. Jason kept firing before he was thrown backwards, contacting the door with a heavy thump. His AUG slid across the room and behind a pillar, before spears started to fly.
The four ran for cover, staying behind the pillars as a near endless stream of spears seemed to fly by. Jason stuck his head out for a moment, catching a view of the Nightmare, fuming in anger as a cloud of black swirled around and blocked his view of the wall. He pulled his head back in as a spear hit the side of the pillar, chipping off a large chunk of wood.
"Dash, I got an idea, grab your pistol when I say go and stay behind me." He grabbed the riot shield from her back and stuck his hoof through the strap.
"Ready?" He asked, jumping as another explosion of splinters flew past. He motioned to Tank and Morning that he was going to try something before turning back to Dash and watching her nod. "Go!" He yelled, coming around the corner and putting the shield up, feeling Dash stay close behind him as a few spears hit the shield and made him slide backwards a foot.
The Nightmare stopped firing for a moment, taking a closer look at Jason while one of his talons tried to attend to blood oozing down his side. "Ah, more of your things. No matter." Jason caught sight of a spear flying in from the side and turned to deflect it as Dash dove out of the way of another, hiding behind a pillar that was much closer to the throne.
"What now?" She asked as another spear whizzed by.
"See what happened to Tank and Morning, I guess." He replied, risking a glance out from behind the pillar again as Tank barreled into the Nightmare and sent them both rolling across the raised stage that the throne sat upon. Tank got a hold of his machete, pulling it free and slashing it downward as the Nightmare moved his head out of the way.
Tank suddenly flew upwards, hitting the ceiling with a pained cry before he started to free fall back downwards. Morning caught him, losing a fair amount of altitude before she could recover to normal flight. Then a shower of glass rained down as Hunter sailed through a window behind the throne, punching the Nightmare across the face as soon as the large griffin started to get up. Hunter landed with a thud, sliding a fair distance away from the throne before he got up and ran at the Nightmare again.
Hunter shot backwards into Morning Rain as she set down Tank, before Jason stopped the three of them with his magic and took off into the air, dodging around a spear. Another spear suck into the floor next to the Nightmare, letting out a nice twang as Steve let out a few audible curses from the same window Hunter had come through. He ducked out of the way as a blast of magic blew up the surrounding stone and wood, returning a few seconds later to chuck another spear.
Dash blurred past Jason, pulling out a regular grenade from her belt and tossing it directly under the Nightmare, whos eyes went wide before he disappeared in a blast of light. He reappeared in the air and took a swat at Dash, which Jason deflected with his arms as he flew in front of the talon. One of the claws got stuck in a hoof-hole, and he jerked it around, breaking the claw clean off.
There wasn't so much as an acknowledgment from the nightmare as it took another swipe before landing, sending Jason back up against the wall. A spear stuck in the Nightmare's side and he howled in pain, firing another blast at Steve, who dove out of the hole in the wall with Sartos just behind. The griffin slowed Steve's descent before banking around a pillar and aiming straight for the Nightmare. He made contact just before a shield through him off, tearing a lengthy gash from the Nightmare's chin to the tip of its ear.
Steve tried to dodge another round of magic but it hit his hoof as he dove, sending him spinning into the wall. He slid down and hardly moved, his muzzle already covered in blood. Jason threw his tomahawk as he regained his bearings, watching it deflect towards Tank, who ducked quickly and glared at Jason.
Dash unholstered her gun and aimed, firing a few bullets towards the Nightmare. One grazed his chest before another shield partially deflected the others. She watched as Jason slid under the nightmare, jabbing just as he jumped out of the way and back into the air. Jason continued his path towards Steve, stopping in front of the pony and running some quick diagnostics before he started to repair his broken nose and chipped hoof.
He wasn't waking up anytime soon though. Jason dragged him behind a pillar and took another run at the Nightmare at the same time as Hunter. The griffin let out a yell before they all flew backwards into the walls, sliding down quickly as he wiped at his wounds. Hunter sprang up to fight, grabbing a spear as he was thrown across the room like a rag doll.
"You can't... Beat me." The Nightmare said slowly, wiping the cut on his face with a talon. "I'm too powerful for you." Tank ran out from the side of the room, spear in hand, as the Nightmare turned and grinned, sticking him through with a spear as he ran closer. Tank let out a gurgle and fell, sliding in behind her. "See? It was a good fight for sure, but let's face it. You're just not good enough."
"Tank!" Morning yelled, running out before dodging another spear.
Jason wiped his forehead, his hoof coming away slick with blood. "We don't need strength." He said with a smirk as he silently started to heal Tank, watching the pony pull out the spear with a grimace.
"Oh? I'd say its pretty important."
"Not when we have..." Tank got up and ran up alongside the Nightmare, grinning as she heard his machete leave it's sheath. "Strategy." Tank's machete contacted the Nightmare's neck almost silently, and he stood over him as the Nightmare fell to the ground, breathing heavily as a puddle of blood started to cover the floor.
"Heh." The Nightmare said, shifting slightly on the floor as most of the rest of the team got up to join them. "There's a reason that this is really funny, a couple actually. The more important, since you didn't use the elements, is that there's nothing against me switching bodies." The black cloud that had all but died out flared, growing to double, then triple the size of the body as the group backed up.
The cloud funneled towards Jason, and he flew backwards across the room, hitting the raised part of the floor with a thump as pain lanced across his body. He got up quickly as a sort of haze fell over his mind, and his thoughts became slower and harder to complete.
A chuckle echoed through his head. Oh, it's good to be me.