Hi! My name's Elcia Ashford. I'm a Crystal Pony living happily in the Crystal Empire!
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Is what I'd like to say. My life here in the Empire is going horribly. Ever since Sombra came to power, it's been nothing but Tartarus here. He's been working us to death down in the mines, thinking that the crystals will give him strength. And they will. With every crystal he absorbs, he grows stronger. His magic is unlike any other unicorn in history. He uses it to enslave ponies and make them work in the mines. Now, most ponies know him as a tyrant who rules with an iron hoof. But I still remember him for the stallion he once was. He used to be such a nice stallion. I would know. He was my coltfriend! But I'm getting off topic here. Point is, he's a real asshole and we all need him dead. I made peace with the fact that he isn't the stallion who used to go out with me, give me chocolates and cheer me up whenever I feel down anymore. He's nothing but a cold-hearted douche who can't even hold for two minutes in bed.
I've imagined many ways to kill him, all of them involving salmon for some reason. I must have been hungry at the time. Oh, and steak too. I fucking love steak. Why are you looking at me like that? Oh! It's because I'm a pony, right? Well, fuck you, I eat what I want. Anyway, back to the topic. Everyone wants him dead. But there's a small problem with that. With all the power he's gained, I can't hurt him with a normal weapon. It's like he has some sort of plot armor that protects him from any and every attack. Weird, right? But I've already got that covered.
I slowly poke my head out from the side of one of the empty, derelict houses to check for any Corrupted patrolling the area. What's that? You don't know what a Corrupted is? Well, there isn't much difference from them and normal ponies. The only differences are their unrelenting lust for the deaths of everypony around them, their green scleras and red irises. They also have small black crystals on some parts of their bodies, indicating how long they've been corrupted. They are also extremely vicious towards ponies. Especially their former loved ones. But that's a topic I don't really feel like sharing at the moment. Corrupted also have their physical attributes multiplied.
I look around and sure enough, I see a Corrupted walking around in the dead of night. It was a stallion with a grey coat and a blue mane. Black crystals jutted out from his jaw, forming a sort of beard. I knew that one. His name was Marc Volun. He was once a good-hearted carpenter who invited me and my coltfriend for a beer every now and then. Now, he's a bloodthirsty cannibal who feasts on the corpses of his former friends. I pull my head back and wait for him to pass. As soon as the telltale sounds of bloody hooves hitting the dirt pass, I poke my head back out and proceed towards the rendezvous point of my rebel friends. I walk through the streets silently, not wanting to attract attention to myself. I passed a large shop window and as soon as I got 10 feet away from it, I heard the sound of tearing flesh. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'It's dangerous! Don't go in there!' And you may be right. But I was always a curious pony. It's how I found out about the weapon that could kill Sombra.
I might have been curious, but that didn't mean I was stupid. I peeked into the ruined shop and my dinner seemed to like the idea of exiting through the entrance. Six foals were feasting on the corpse of what I assumed was the shop owner. His mangled body was very hard to identify, but I'm sure it was a guy. Two of the corrupted foals were feasting on his innards, intestines and blood spilling out of his body and onto the table that they used as a dissection tray. One of them was gorging itself of his brain, grey matter staining its already bloody mouth. The other three had taken themselves to tearing the stallion apart with their bare hooves. I quickly pulled my head back and continued on my way to the rendezvous, periodically covering my mouth to prevent myself from vomiting. No matter how many times I saw a scene like that, I always felt disgusted. Well, at least I kept some of my sanity.
I quickly dash behind one of the houses to avoid the watchful gaze of one of the corrupted sentries. Sombra's been tightening security ever since he found out about our little rebellion. It started out small, with a few small scale raids and courier assassination being our common practices. Then it began to grow, with general assassination and large scale sabotage being much more common. Of course, I was at the head of the most important missions. It always brought a tear to my eye whenever I watched an outpost burn or see one of his generals get roasted inside a brazen bull.
The sentry was perched on a wooden tower with holes in the sides so he could see. The tower was placed in the middle of the intersection, giving him a large line of sight. With a pretty huge field of vision, I couldn't exactly run straight past him unnoticed. I reach into the bag on my back and pull out a tranquilizer gun. This piece of machinery took me days to perfect. It was about the length of my foreleg and it was magazine fed, meaning I didn't have to chamber another dart to fire again. The poison took me even longer to formulate. I had to hunt down tons of Barions over the course of 7 months. Tricky bastards with their armor and hidden sleep sacs. I mounted a metal rail and placed a clear Hawk crystal on the top. The crystal allowed me to focus on distant targets. I took my aim and I slowly squeezed the trigger, only enough to chamber the dart. I held my breath for half a second and I fired, the dart silently puncturing his neck and injecting the tranquilizing solution. Before he could scream to alert the other Corrupted, he was already falling asleep. I look around and as soon as I see that there were no more guards, I move for the sewer entrance. I moved the lid and slipped inside unnoticed.
I dropped down into the sewer after closing the lid. I landed in the muck of the sewers and I felt my face scrunch up due to the horrible smell.
"Ugh.... I still hate the fact that our headquarters is in the sewer..." I groan as I navigate through the winding maze of the sewers of the Crystal Empire. Despite the size of the place, it was fairly easy to find my way around. Back when we were just foals, me and my friend, James (Now Sombra), used to play around in here. We didn't mind the smell. All that mattered at the time was having fun. Before more of the memories of the life I used to live came back to haunt me, I found my way to our base.
I round the corner of the sewage pipe, and despite the horrible smell filling my nose, I smile at the sight. Two guards who I recognized as Mark and Vince stood outside a rusty metal door, equipped with weapons that I designed myself.
Many would describe me as straightforward and generally not smart at all. Those are the ponies who don't know me well. Only my closest friends know that I have a knack for making weapons. I wasn't good at making or working on things before Sombra came to power. I barely knew how to work an engine. But ever since he came to power, I worked on my weapon creation skills. Well, I wouldn't really call it "skill". A more appropriate term would be "sadistic creativity".
Most of my weapons focus on the brutal death of the target. A good example of this is my "Energy Saw". It's a spinning blade of magic that is made to tear the enemy apart. Another would be the "Force Charge Gun". It fires 1-4 magic charges into the target. These charges detonate and the sheer force causes the target to basically turn into a puddle of red paste. By far though, my favorite had to be my recently acquired weapon. I'll tell you more about it later.
The ponies at the entrance were armed with some of my more efficient weapons. They were carrying the G-43 rifle models. These rifles fired flechettes that splintered inside the target, ensuring the target's death. They were also fairly ammo efficient. They were semi-automatic and they had a 32-round capacity. Many have complained how the weapons looked. They looked like silver spines. The barrel and the body were very bone-like and it was elongated, much like a spine. But I don't think I'm gonna change how it looks. I made it and I'll change it if I want to.
"Hey! Mark! Vince!" I wave to them. They smile as I approach them.
"Hey, Elcie. Everypony's been waiting for you." Mark says.
"Yeah, sorry. I had to be a bit more careful this time. They tightened security around this district." I say and Vince speaks up.
"So, you really think that sword can kill Sombra?" He asks as he points at the sword mounted on my back. It was a large sword with an inch and a half thick blade. It had silver filigree running along its length and some blood splatters from earlier use.
"I hope so. I risked my life to get this thing. We'll just have to see." I say as I walk through the rusty doorway. I enter a dark hallway with mold and insects crawling along the walls. We never really minded the smell or the look. It was all about functionality. I walk down the dark hallway and soon, I come to another door. I push it open and the four ponies inside turn to me. Some of them had smiles on their faces, while others had disapproving frowns.
"You kept us waiting." A brown stallion said. He had a buzz cut black mane and tail and dark brown eyes. His name was Johnson McDuffy. We just called him Sarge. I know, I know, it sounds clichè for us to call him that, but you'll just have to deal with it, you whiny shit.
"Where'd you run off to?" A light blue stallion said as he lit a cigarette. He had a maroon mane and dark blue eyes. His name was Emile La 'Ques. He was our team sniper. I use the word 'team' lightly because he's more of a lone wolf. He hefted a G-117 onto his shoulder, the barrel sticking out and nearly touching the rather low ceiling.
"Well?" He asked after he blew out a puff of smoke. I scowl a bit before answering.
"I had to go around the regular route. They tightened security." I say with a bit of a growl in my voice. I don't know why, but he always seemed to get on my nerves. Whenever he spoke to me, he always had more venom in his words than when he spoke to others. Yeah, that was probably the reason. Before I could strangle him, another stallion stepped in.
"Break it up, you two. We have more pressing matters to attend to." A stallion with a light grey coat and brown mane said. His name was Cyrus Magna. He was the guy who prevented me from strangling Emile. He was a really nice stallion, unlike Emile. He knew just how to treat a mare like me: like a normal pony. My condition often put me in very violent mood swings. Like one moment, I'm really happy and another, I'm gutting ponies.
This usually repelled ponies and caused them to call me a madmare. I didn't really mind it, though. They are all welcome to insult me WHILE I TEAR THEM APART LIMB FROM LIMB!!!...... *ahem* I'm sorry. That happens a lot lately. Anyway, back to the topic. Cyrus is a nice stallion and he's been the one keeping Emile alive these past few months.
"You're right. And while I would simply LOVE to impale Emile on a spike, I guess it'll have to wait." I say and the stallion in question scoffs.
"Ha! You don't have the guts!" Emile says. This stallion had just about gotten on my last nerve. I reach for the sword on my back and begin unsheathing it to turn Emile into a bloody mess, but Cyrus stopped me yet again.
"Elcia! Stop!" He says as he holds my hoof back. "We need him!" He says and I slowly sheathe my blade with a scowl on my face. Emile gets to live. For now. Then, he turns to Emile.
"And Emile, stop harassing her! Of all the ponies in the room, she has the most reason to cleave you in two." He said and Emile backed down, but not before throwing me a nasty expression. I tried my best to ignore him as another voice rang out from the back of the room.
"Come on already! Let's start this meeting so we can kick some Corrupted ass!" A rather childish voice said. I looked to it to see a young mare with a bright red coat, blue eyes and a white mane and tail. Her name was Alisa Valenwood, one of the daughters of the Duodecim, the 12 families that assisted the ruler of the Crystal Empire. She was the only one of the Duodecim who rebelled against Sombra. For a noble, she was a big loudmouth. She didn't care about what others expected of her. All that mattered to her was that she be given freedom. I respected her for these reasons.
"Yeah, let's get this started. I really want to gut Sombra by tomorrow morning." I say before I take a seat before the table in the middle of the room. Everypony sat down and we all began the meeting.
"So, does everypony know the plan?" Sarge says and I speak.
"Yeah. But I'm gonna elaborate just to be sure." I say as I pull over a map of each of the 12 districts. "Okay. We are here in District 9." I say and I point to the ninth district. "Sombra's castle is in the center of the city." I mark the castle with a nearby pen."Districts 4 through 8 are completely overrun and Districts 10 through 12 are falling quickly." I mark the aforementioned districts. "Most of Sombra's forces are outside of the city, being kept busy with assaulting the other cities. All he's got in this city are the Corrupted." I say and Sarge speaks up.
"Districts 1 to 3 are where our forces are." He says.
"If we can get to them and coordinate we'll have a much better chance at this working." I say and Sarge nods.
"Yeah. Cyrus and Emile." He says and the two stallions stand at attention.
"Yes?" Cyrus says.
"You two are going to rally the troops. Contact us and give us a headcount when you get there." He says and they both make their way to the door.
"Yes, sir." Cyrus says as they open the door and leave. Then, Sarge looks to me.
"You and Alisa will be infiltrating. Get in there and kill that sonofabitch." He says and I smile. It was about time.
"What about you?" Alisa asks.
"Me? I'll be leading the frontal assault with Cyrus and Emile. Now go, you two. Sombra dies tonight." He says and I smile evilly. I have been waiting for this moment for 4 years. Finally, after years of sabotage and subterfuge, I will have my sweet, sweet revenge.