//------------------------------// // Chapter 38: Playtime in Ponyville [Part 2] // Story: One Shot, One Chance // by SpeederClaw //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes and let her life memories flow through her head. Each event, each piece of happiness and sadness drifted by. Her body shuddered as Fuzzy Fry’s claw was inches from slashing at her whole body. With dust in his trail, the pony had targeted its prey and was about to end her life in one fell swoop. “Purple die!” “Ain’t happening ya bastard!” Brass Dozer’s spear was rejected by Fuzzy Fry’s claws as the stallion tried striking furiously. “Get away from the pretty lady!” The orange pony hissed with each jab Brass Dozer tried to land. “Hah! Some little horsey magic ain’t gonna stop us,” Cutter X said waving his sharpened arm. “Bring in the Death Divider, everybody charge with righteous fury!” “Forward, unto dawn!” Bull It Buster said spinning up his guns, the blue streaks of energy crackling within both muzzles. “Gotcha!” Dust Crack said operating the internal machine. The train creaked into a faster crawl alongside the springing combatants. “Time for a steamy, creamy, dreamy pile of eat da poo poo on your faces!” “Jesus H, that’s a stretch,” Joltaire said. “Girls get out of there!” Clyde yelled rushing the group behind a nearby building. “C’mon, Fluttershy, move!” Dumbbell said grabbing the mare. “Miss Twilight!” Twilight Sparkle shook as bullets flew across the ground, painting it with black indents. She clenched her teeth in a frown before fleeing with her friends. “Jaajajajajaaah!” Bull It Buster screamed in delight as he continued shooting wildly. “Holy shit?” Joltaire said eyeing Bull It Buster. “Shooting at girls? How could there be such a thing?” He aimed at the fleeing ponies and shot at the ground in front of them blindly. “Join in, folks!” Cutter X said to the idling thugs and mares. “Get into the fray, into the fun!” He swiped in an X formation before charging past Bull It Buster’s bullets and Joltaire’s energy blasts. A few meters in, Cutter X found a small ball bounce in front of him. The whole gang of Misfit Marauders watched as their leader exploded in front of them in a black blast. “What the hell?” Joltaire said. He craned his neck and found his own pellet hopping towards him. Another explosion plus one more as Bull It Buster went flying off the Death Divider in maniacal laughter. “Shatter my balls until I’m blown away!” A shadow dashed across the playing field with a silver blade running by the wind. Golden sparkles glinted in Cutter X’s eyes as Gray Shark zeroed in. “Bastard!” “Takes one to kill one,” Gray Shark said aiming his sword straight for Cutter X’s face. The sharp pony angled his head so that the blade clanged against his open helmet. In his case, that meant smashing his head into the ground. Cutter X chuckled. “What will you do now?” “Uh…stab you in the back?” Cutter X shivered as the blade on his helmet dug into the ground. He was unable to pull his head up and started shaking his body. “No! Don’t touch me, get back!” “Even more pathetic than me,” Joltaire hissed on the ground rubbing the black powder from his helmet. “I think I’d be doing you a better favor if I were to end you right here right now,” Gray Shark said pinpointing his blade at Cutter X’s exposed neck. He tried to pull through with his attack, but couldn’t move his arm. Gray Shark sighed and tugged at the newly wrapped chain around his golden hoof. “Hello there, young Miss. Here to ruin yet another one on one?” “Heya!” Platinum Chain hollered straining her magic grip on the chain. “I thought I’d just like to lend a helping hoof to this poor-gwah!” The mare rolled out of the way as a bomb erupted right next to her face. Gray Shark felt the chain loosen around his golden hoof and pulled back. With full slack, the chain drooped helplessly and Gray Shark resumed his payroll on Cutter X. “You are a feisty one!” Another chain coiled itself around Gray Shark’s leg and tripped him backwards. Without a scratch Platinum Chain began making her way into an alleyway, shambling Gray Shark across the ground. The masked pony struggled to remove the two chains stretched across his limbs. “…” Masquerade Blade instantly followed up to finish his never ending rivalry. Blades raised, the stallion burned with a passion to be victor. “No, Masquerade,” Sir Cutter X said halting Masquerade Blade’s progress entirely. “Stay. We need to deal with these creatures first.” He removed his head from the dirt and brushed the filth from his golden head blade. “Then we can deal with him…there’s no doubt he’ll probably overpower that girl. Heh, man’s job.” “…” “Ahh, the thing’s jammed!” a voice called from inside the Death Divider. “I can’t get it to work anymore! Damn, the guy blasted something…the train won’t start!” Doctor Rivet unleashed a pained sigh before marching towards his creation. “My work is yet unfinished. How utterly annoying! Dust Crack, I am entering the Death Divider. Get out.” Clyde breathed sighs of relief for the small window of opportunity. “They seem to be distracted, you girls should go,” he whispered as quick as he could. “We can’t,” Twilight Sparkle said watching Fluttershy sobbing in the arms of Dumbbell. She grimaced, but solemnly held her place. “We have a job to do.” “We’re not fillies anymore, Clyde, we can handle this,” Applejack agreed with a firm nod. “Right Big Mac?” “Eeyup!” “Girls! Don’t you understand what’s at stake here? I cannot, I repeat. I cannot risk losing any one of you,” Clyde said with torment. “Don’t do this.” “Clyde, listen to me. It’s going to be all right,” Twilight Sparkle assured. “You can trust us. We will stop them.” “I can’t.” “Totally not trying to be sexist or anything,” Brass Dozer said with an honest shrug. “But how can a bunch of girls-” “You’re sounding just like those guys,” Twilight Sparkle said with suppressed fury. Brass Dozer shrugged again and brought forth his spear. Twilight Sparkle grew tenser as her gender role was being challenged. “Listen, if you think that spear is any more powerful than my magic…” “Hehehe, now’s mah chance and luck!” Bull It Buster had slid across the wall and peered around the corner to find the hiding ponies. He snickered before banging the wall and jumping in the center of attention. “Guess whose back with a brand new rap!” The guns spun up and sputtering clicks racked themselves though everyone’s ears. Bull It Buster stood with two spinning death machines that refused to fire a bullet. His mouth hung in disbelief and he started chuckling once he realized what was going on. “So, you decided to cock block me with your fancy magic!” “Sure you can call it that,” Twilight Sparkle said, her horn glowing that light purple hue. Similarly purple texture of energy had lathed itself on Bull It Buster’s guns. “Heh, clever girl. But, you’re dealing with the rootinest, tootinest, shootinest gunman in all of Gayland!” Bull It Buster reared up and showed his dark pink tongue before rushing at the group. The guards instinctively raised their spears and moved forward. “I will squeeze yo heads in like soft titties!” “Party cannon!” Pinkie Pie squealed with mirth. Bull It Buster turned his confused face in time to see a full-sized cannon inches away from his chest. He screamed in terrified laughter before getting the wind knocked out of him as the cannon blasted compressed air right into his side. Confetti and balloons flew with Bull It Buster into and through the building wall. “Over here! I got ‘em,” a voice rang from the corner again. “You sure, Crimson? You sure they went that way?” “I’m sure, moron, let’s go!” Twilight Sparkle strode forward towards the end of the curb and hid herself just next to the end of the wall. Brass Dozer opened his mouth to protest, but was halted by Clyde. “It’s time to fight back.” “Like I said you dope, they-hey! There she is!” a red stallion said pointing towards Twilight Sparkle who was now in plain sight. The red stallion and a few others raised their crossbows and aimed directly for the head. “Listen, lil lady. I ain’t a stickler for being a gentlecolt. I ain’t afraid to shoot you down right here right now, right boys?” His crew cheered and jeered. “Go ahead,” Twilight Sparkle said cloaking her extreme fear by biting her cheeks. “Shoot me.” And so they did. They shot, but their bolts never left the bow. A purple mixture had coated their weapons. Dazed, but confident, one of the stallions threw aside his ranged item and charged towards Twilight Sparkle. “Rainbow Dash!” A multi-colored figure zoomed by and clocked the rushing stallion with a buck to the head. He tumbled and sent the other members into a panic. “Screw it!” The red stallion shrieked before running towards Twilight Sparkle. Rainbow Dash swooped in for another take down, but missed as the red stallion went into a slide straight for Twilight Sparkle’s legs. “Gotcha!” “Nope.” Before the red stallion made contact with the purple mare, Applejack had intervened. The crook came to a full stop as Applejack had bucked his body right back into the ground. The pony sprawled back and sprang back into combat stance. Applejack and her brother now stood side by side with Twilight Sparkle. The glares shared between were unsettlingly gloomy. “Mama always said not to hit girls,” the red stallion said. “Too bad for her…” He started to strafe in place, beckoning his partners to follow in his routine. “Let’s make this easy. Give up now and maybe we won’t do naughty things to y’all.” “Seems like everyone is underestimating us, huh, girls?” Twilight Sparkle said. “I’d like to think me and mah brother are pretty much on equal terms,” Applejack proposed. “Eeyup.” “I’d like to think I’m the best fighter here,” Rainbow Dash called out with a tight landing. She left her wings spread out and looked smugly at her converging opponents. “You boys aren’t that tough after all.” “We’ll see, punks.” As the three mares and Big Mac faced their various enemies, Clyde was dishing out orders to his two other subordinates. “Do you understand? Go now and don’t come back!” “But, Clyde, how the hell are you gonna stand up to all-” “Just go. Take them and go. Please.” “Clyde, I will not!” “You will. No questions.” Brass Dozer cursed in fury before turning to the remaining forces of Ponyville’s defense. “Alright, you three guys and three mares, come with us. Me and Glass here are gonna take you all somewhere safe.” “Safe?” Rarity asked. “I fear I’ll never feel safe ever again! And we’re just going to leave Twilight and the others?” “Listen, this ain’t open for argument. It’s Clyde’s order so I just follow it!” “Looks like we’re really fighting a bunch of girls,” Joltaire commented at the battle royal between the mares and crooks. “Kinda sad how the guards just shut down.” “I don’t believe so,” Sir Cutter X said. “Look, here comes the big hot shot.” Clyde walked to the three conceited stallions without considering the fight occurring next to him. He stopped with a firm stomp and swung his heavenly spear forward. “Just a royal guard performing his duty.” “Guess so,” Cutter X said displaying his bladed hooves. “The hero always falls, however.” “…” Clyde tightened his muscles and tensed his jaw. “If I fall, so be it. I’ll die protecting this land! You won’t hurt those girls or anyone else in this town, I promise you that!” On the sidelines, two stallions were conversing comically about the whole scene. “Dude, what a big joke,” one of them said unimpressed. “I know, let’s just go pillage the place already. Why we standing around fighting these wimps when we could be making big money?” the other replied with a shake of his hoof. “Excuse me, but am I interrupting something?” The two thugs spun around to find Pride standing nonchalantly against a back wall. “What the-hey!” The two stallions revealed their own personal knives and eyed the activated Pride. “Bug off if you know what’s best.” The stallion had died before he could take another breath. In the distance, Sir Cutter X perked his head up just in time to see the other stallion being cut down. Two bleeding corpses were marked as Pride whipped his sword. “What…” “It seems there’s already quite the commotion going on here,” Pride said edging himself closer to Cutter X and his associates. “Huzzah, we’re late to the party-hoowee, that’s a cool looking thingy!” Greed said pointing his cane at the Death Divider. “Yo who the hell?” Joltaire grumbled to Masquerade Blade. “Who are you fools?” “They ain’t no true horse pisslots,” Cutter X said ignoring the stunned Clyde entirely. “Goddammit are you part of Enzo’s crew?” “Not in the slightest,” Pride answered striding closer. “All I’m here for is to find the one known as Gray Shark.” “And I want that fancy-ass train over yonder, see,” Greed said grinning viciously from ear to ear. “That thing’s got style.” “Ugh, Masquerade Blade, take care of them,” Cutter X ordered. “We must finish this imbecile gawking in front of us.” “…” Masquerade Blade took his metal rotary blades and aimed them at Pride. “And now it seems I have yet another duel coming,” Pride said. “Keyword ‘I’,” Bloom added from the sidelines. “You can probably handle him, he don’t look too tough, right Wrath?” “I don’t care.” “Hah!” Cutter X said switching his focus back and forth between Clyde and the sins. “You think you’re hot shit? Obviously I’m the best around along with my two buddies so sit down and get owned.” Pride’s eyes narrowed and he took a step in Cutter X’s direction. A spinning blade found its target and made way for Pride’s neck before the fencer dodged. The blade landed itself next to Bloom who jumped into Wrath. “Oi, Pride, you trying to tear my beautiful face off? Block that!” Pride showed no response and began to bolt en route to Masquerade Blade’s position. Sword drawn and sights set, Pride leaped into the air and tried to land an aerial strike. Masquerade Blade selected another blade and defended himself with a crossed block. He swatted and threw Pride back into the air, hurling both blades. Pride tilted his body to dodge one and swiped away the other. He landed close by and resumed his assault. Masquerade Blade restocked and threw both his saw blades horizontally. Pride ran faster before somersaulting in-between the space given and attempting to pierce Masquerade Blade’s skull. The pony held up a blade at the last second and managed to catch Pride’s sword within the hole. Without hesitation, he launched the blade and sword into the air. Pride jumped back and tilted his head as Masquerade Blade began chucking every rotary blade he had. Pride swung by each with incomprehensible ease, inching closer and closer to Masquerade Blade. Pride started to side strafe, making Masquerade Blade miss completely. The unarmed swordsman was already behind Masquerade Blade by the time he had figured out what was going on. The sword in the air landed perfectly in Pride’s hoof and the rearmed fencer dashed forward. Masquerade Blade reached and felt his stomach churn as he felt air where his blades should have been. He had run out. “I commend you for your fighting skills. Certainly you must be the best out of your group.” Pride’s blade was homing in on Masquerade Blade’s neck and the pony could do nothing but stare at his maker. “However, you are not the best and so-” The sword took another victim as it sliced through the flesh in a clean cut. Masquerade Blade’s headless body crumpled to the ground, his head went flying as blood splattered everywhere. “You lose. Now then, you say you’re the best?” Pride said now looking at a mortified Cutter X. “Let’s find out.” For the first time, silence washed over the dull expressions everybody owned. All quarrels stopped and Pride slowly crept up on Cutter X specifically. “He just…killed Masquerade…he killed him,” Joltaire whispered backing away. An air of passiveness swept across the playing field. The fighting stopped. “No, no,” Cutter X cried as Pride stalked his prey. “Get away from me!” Cutter X maneuvered himself into a rampant sprint. “Slow him down you assholes! Do it!” “Wait for me!” Joltaire howled running after his leader. “Every guy for himself!” he called back to the now formed line of stallions. “Pitiful,” Pride commented with scorn. “I only seek the one who calls himself the best. However, should you all get in my way; I have no other option but to cut you all down.” Behind the line of terrified stallions, a mare and stallion were fleeing the scene as Pride proceeded to dash and slice through the defense without any effort. Lifeless bodies flew as the swordsman continued bolting after his target. “Deal with the rest if you wish,” he announced back to his partners. Twilight Sparkle and her friends had all watched the carnage take place. Death, gore and screams had filled their hearts with permanent scars. No more spirit was needed for Twilight Sparkle’s opponents also fled the scene. All that remained were a couple of abandoned Misfit Maruaders and the sins. “Well, the man said clean up so let’s roll boys, eh? Wrath!” Already airborne, the frustrated sin crashed into a cluster of enemies. Bloody cries echoed into the crater Wrath had created with single body forged into the middle. “Screw that, forget Cutter X’s order!” one of the stallions said watching multiple bodies flying lifelessly onto the blood stained ground. As the stallion turned to flee, he felt a burning sensation pouring onto his back and in an instant, he was dead. A white hot light had devoured the crook with a single blast from Greed’s cane and the pony lay askew on the ground singed. “Seeya, sucka.” The silver cane had its bottom nozzle lit up an intense, sparkling white. Greed grinned as he aimed his cane at another victim and felt his entire body blowing back as he fired his laser. The Misfit Marauder death toll was too much for the remaining members to handle. The rest felt their legs mechanically attempt to escape the massacre. “We shoulda left a long goddamn time ago-what the hell is that?” Vines burst from the ground and started to entangle themselves with the scampering stallions. “Thanks, Bloom,” Greed retorted. More lives were vanquished with short blasts from Greed’s cane. “Least someone’s getting my name right,” Bloom said with relief. He let his magic die down; the dark green glow extinguished itself along with the vines. Doctor Rivet watched from the Death Divider in complete disappointment. He ran his hoof down the side of his creation before jumping at the voice of his crazy companion. “Oh boy, mah boy, doctah! We gotta scram now! Doc, c’mon,” Bull It Buster frantically spat. “No, that one wants this train, my creation. I am not going to let him take it,” Doctor Rivet explained. “Then you die, bruddah. I’m skidaddling!” Doctor Rivet saw his options dwindling. “…Fuzzy Fry-we are leaving.” The pony kept an eye on the sins before following the doctor, dragging its claws on the blood stained dirt. “Run, witch doctah, run!” “Hey, you two think you can just leave, eh?” Greed hollered aiming his cane with a smile. “How rude, see.” “Pissnuggets!” Bull It Buster sent a flurry of bullets Greed’s way, causing the sin to retract his shot and hurl himself back. “Oh shit!” “Not used to shooting things that shoot back?” Bloom commented slyly. “Bah let ‘em go, see,” Greed said while the three ponies made their way out of sight behind a building. “Wrath’ll take care of those pricks-oh.” In the distance, Wrath was continuously thrashing at a stallion’s body. Sickening cracks and crunches contrasted with chunky, sloshing melodies. The crimson slab of mutilated meat was all that was left for Wrath had completely pulverized the poor stallion into red mist. The sin finally stopped his rampage and glanced gingerly at his fellow sins. He then proceeded to kick the flesh sack away and grunted to himself. “I hate everything.”