//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: One way Deal // Story: Deathstroke, Equestria's Terminator // by UltimateGunner //------------------------------// Canterlot Dungeon, 1:00 PM *shak* *shak* *shak* *shak* *gritter* *shak* *shak* *shak* *shak* *shak* shak* *shak* *gritter gritter* ............................................................................ *shak* "WOULD YOU QUIT IT!?" An angry guard's voice echoed throughout the entire dungeon, specifically at Deathstroke, who was sitting in a chair in his cell. For the past few hours he was annoyingly flipping his knife in the air, making a tick sound as it landed in his palm. The guards have been gritting their teeth so long, one may have broke. "Problem officer?" Deathstroke didn't expect to have this much fun in a dungeon. "I swear to Celestia, one day I will get you back." one guard said angrily, as both continued to guard his cell with steaming heads. "Good luck with that." he replies, throwing his knife into the air again. The guards were about to retaliate once more, but then heard the hoofsteps of five ponies heading toward them. They turn to see six familiar faces. "Alright, so can we take over from here?" Deathstroke heard one of them talk. "Yes, miss." The guards answer as they leave the vicinity. The six ponies walk over and take their place, and he immediately recognizes them as Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was in a wheelchair. An awkward minute of silence passes, until Twilight speaks up. "What... are you?" "Oh, he's-" "I'm doing the intro here sweetheart." Everyone except Fluttershy gasps at his remark. "You... can talk?" "Well you can talk. Why can't I?" he replied. Meanwhile, Pinkie was looking at him in a rather strange way. "What is it Pinkie?" Rarity noticed her strange looks. "He kinda looks familiar..." "Darling, it did appear at Pon-" "Oh oh oh I know! He was that guy looking through those binoculars in the Everfree Forest!" Everyone gives her a look of shock, even Deathstroke, but slightly. "Wait, Pinkie, let me get this straight." Twilight starts. "You knew about him? Well why didn't you tell us!?" "I tried to at the hospital yesterday, remember?" Yesterday, at Ponyville General "Hey guys guess what?" Pinkie asked as she looked out the window to some odd creature looking elsewhere with binoculars. "NO." Everyone else rudely replied. "Okey Dokey!" Back to Present Time "Pinkie, some unknown creature roaming Equestria is not really a 'Guess What' situation!!!" Twilight was pretty pissed that she knew all along about him. They continued arguing, while the others looked at Deathstroke. "What the hay are you supposed to be?" Rainbow Dash asked and yelled at the same time. He just flipped his knife like he didn't care. "Hey! I asked you a question mister!" she rolled her wheelchair closer to him. He just sat there in his wooden chair. "Do you have any idea who I am!?" "Rainbow Dash. Element of Loyalty. Currently training to become one of the Wonderbolts and claims to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. But then you went too slow and bought yourself a ticket to the hospital." Rainbow Dash widens her eyes, along with Rarity, Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie, who stopped arguing. Fluttershy had a worried look on her face. "H-How did you-" "Let's just say that I'm a fast learner." "Ah don't believe ya." Applejack, who tipped her hat over, walked up to him. "No way you coulda' learned all dat so fast. Why don't ya start by tellin' the truth?" Deathstroke remained calm. "Didn't expect any more from the Element of Honesty. A shame your bushel lost one apple." Applejack was confused, but took back a few steps as she figured out what he was talking about. "Wha, why, how could ya-" "Truth hurts, doesn't it?" With a smile under his mask, he shut her down. Applejack stepped back and started to tear, Fluttershy running to her side along with Twilight. "How could you!?" Fluttershy couldn't take having one of her friends hurt really bad. "Simple. Like so." he replied, gesturing to Applejack. Twilight then wore a stern look as she was next to stand up to him. "Whatever you are, I have questions for you. A lot, of questions." "How about this. you ask three? And let's not get too personal here." "Fine. Fluttershy said she knew about you. How is that?" "Well, I was a 'guest' in her cottage" Twilight gasps and looks at Fluttershy. She remains calm as she replies. "I umm, gave him a room to stay in my cottage. So yes, it's true." "Fluttershy! Why would you!?" Everyone was now glaring at her with confusion. "He saved my life." Now they were wearing even more confused looks. "Don't bother explaining. Those would be personal questions." Deathstroke told Twilight as he flipped his knife again. "Alright, here's a different one. What are those, things you're wearing on your armor?" "What do you think those are?" Twilight tapped her chin, examining the strange looking objects. "Weapons." "Good, you guessed right!" Deathstroke humorously clapped his hands in applause. Twilight was not amused at this. "One more question. Make it count." Twilight knew that she had to ask him something important. She perked her head up and smirked as she knew what to ask. "Now why exactly would you need all those weapons?" It was a good question to ask, but one does no simply outsmart Deathstroke. "Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?" "What?" Twilight was rather puzzled. "You have all the clues. Everything you need to solve this riddle, if you can even call it that. But then again, I can't really expect you to, since missing a 'Friendship Letter' can give you mentally insanity, driving you to, well, you get the point. You remember the rest anyway." Deathstroke had learned so much about them from Fluttershy, so he knew exactly which buttons to push. "Hey! That was-" "Darling, allow me to handle this." This time it was Rarity to step up to the plate. Rarity poked her snout through the bars to make a good talk with him, since he was sitting quite a distance from them. "Now, whatever you are, you fiendish ruffian, I will not allow you to-" "Oh you. You're that fashion critique." Rarity slightly raised her eyebrows at her knowledge. "Why yes! I am Equestria's most famous fashionista! Equestria will soon be bedazzled in my outfits!" She was now in an awkward pose, as if she was in one of her magnificent dresses. "Don't get so ahead of yourself." Deathstroke says as he rolls his eyes behind his mask. "Besides, one of your hair strands are loose." "WHAT!??! WHERE!? I MUST FIX THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!" Deathstroke was chuckling hard, not expecting her reaction to be that dramatic. "I think you'd apply well for dramas." Rarity stopped panicking and glared daggers at him. "Annnnyways..." Twilight, who was still pretty pissed, slightly shoved her aside. "The princesses want an audience with you. I'm going to place a magical hold on you while you head there." Glowing her horn, she forms holds on Deathstroke's arms, but he simply cuts them with his knife, slightly straining Twilight. "What? How did you break it so easily?" she asked, implying much confusion in her tone. "You didn't say please." "But that doesn't-" "You ran out of questions already, so don't even." Twilight frowned hard and grumbled as she placed the hold once more. It is cut again by the knife. "Ah ah ah, you didn't say please." he was enjoying getting under her skin, as he saw her grit her teeth. "Please." "The whole thing." Deathstroke replies, no intent of stopping at it. "Will you come with us please?" "Slower." "Will, you, come, with, us, please?" "Faster." "Will you come with us please?" "Louder." Now she was really getting pissed. Trying to keep calm, she tries her best not to explode while she asks one last time in the nicest way possible. "Will you come with us please?" "Finally. Why was that so hard?" he teases, with Twilight moaning loudly. Her friends were snickering a little during the process. Twilight places the magical hold on him, and they head off to the throne room. Pinkie bounces alongside Deathstroke, a wide smile engulfing her face. "I can't wait to introduce you to everypony! We could play games, eat cupcakes, throw parties," "Do I look like the type of person who would do all that?" Pinkie rapidly taps her chin. *EPIC GASP* "What?" Deathstroke asks as Pinkie was still epic gasping. "That's it!" "What's what?" "I should tooooooootally have emergency stashes of games, cupcakes, and parties everywhere in case of a I'mnotsomeonewhodoesallthatstuff emergency!" Deathstroke just stares at her awkwardly. "Well, I don't even know what you just said." "Oh it's okay! I'm sure the writer can edit that out!" Pinkie replies, and by the way Pinkie, I will not edit that out. "Oh it's okay writer!" Pinkie stares at me with a wide smile at what seems to be no one it particular. Deathstroke continues walking, as if nothing happened. Twilight decides to advise him in the presence of the two rulers. "When you're in the throne room, I want you to remain polite to Princess Celestia and Luna." "And why should I?" "Because they're our rulers! Do you want to get sent to the moon, or the sun?" He remained calm at the sound of the what the punishments were, since he learned about Luna's banishment to the moon. Remaining silent, they headed up a flight of stairs, Twilight having to help Rainbow Dash up them. Then they went a few more hallways, and approached the throne room. Two guards opened the doors for the six, and glared at Deathstroke. "Now behave. Starting, now." Twilight ordered Deathstroke, who ignored what she just told him. Inside the throne was a fancy carpet and a large set of stained glass windows, each depicting an interesting picture. There was also Shining Armor, wearing many bandages and in a complex wheelchair. With him was an alicorn mare, which he easily presumed was Cadence. "Princess Katins!" Twilight was excited to see her foal sitter visit. He watched as they made an awkward dance. "Sunshine Sunshine Ladybugs Awake! Clap your hooves and do a little Shake!!!" They sang in unison as they ended the little hoofshake shaking their rear ends. "Twily!" Shining Armor wheeled over to her. "Shiny!" Twilight responded by giving him a hug. "Ow ow ow!" "Oh, sorry Shiny..." Twilight quickly apologized as she got off him. "By the way, what are you two doing here?" "Well, Celestia invited us to see this um, creature roaming Equestria?" "She's talkin' about me." Katins and Shining Armor look at Deathstroke, his expression hidden behind his mask. "What the..." Katins slightly exclaims, but Shining Armor squints at him. "He looks kind of familiar..." Shining Armor continues his attempts at recognizing him.Unfortunately, his memory was still foggy from yesterday. "What exactly are you? And how can you talk?" Katins was now curious about him, giving him more confused looks. "You ponies are very persistent with the questions, aren't you. Besides, I apparently have an audience with the princess." He turns away and walks toward the throne. "Sister, what shall we do with it?" "I am unsure. I am also unsure if we should trust him." "I think we should give it a chance." "Very well then." Deathstroke and the other eight ponies walked up to them, some guards standing behind them. Every one of them bowed. Well, everyone except Deathstroke. Twilight nudges him on the leg. "What are you doing? You have to bow before Equestria's rulers!" "They're not my rulers." Celestia and Luna raise their eyebrows at him talking. "So you are sentient." Celestia stated very sternly. "Everypony, I have brought forth this meeting to discuss what we should do with this, creature." Celestia stated, both princesses glaring at Deathstroke. The magical hold was still on his arms, but he could easily break them with the nth plates on his hand. The others watched in worry, not knowing what could happen. "Why don't we start off by introducing yourself?" Deathstroke had to tread carefully through this talk. "Believe me, I'm many things. But your enemy is not one of them." Both Celestia and Luna hoped that this was some sort of peace offering. "However, I did run into many problems ever since my arrival." "And what could these 'problems' be?" "First one's in Whitetail Woods. Someone, or, somepony tried to assault me. Well they failed. Miserably." he secretly mocks Rainbow Dash. "Do you know who this pony was?" "Oh sure, she's sittin' over there in that wheelchair." he gestures to Rainbow Dash. Everyone gives her a confused look, and Twilight is the first to ask. "Rainbow, you... assaulted him?" "What? No I didn't! I don't remember anything like that!" "When you were down for the count, I injected you with a syringe that made you forget about the last hour of your life. You never knew how you ended up in the hospital." This just confuses them even more. "You have the technology to do that?" Twilight asks. "No more questions from you, geekwad." He turns back to the princesses while Twilight slightly grumbles, along with Rainbow. "Anyways, in the badly named Everfree Forest, I was being searched for by some guards. Including Shining Armor." "Shining Armor and Katins look at each other in confusion. "I took down all of them. Including Shiny over there." Shining tries to put the pieces together, and widens his eyes at his success. "Wait, so you're the one who-" "Bought you a ticket to painful surgery. Yes, that's me." Shining Armor remains very confused. Deathstroke continued with his short story which got the interest of the two rulers. "I hitchhiked a train ride to Canterlot. On the way I ran into some of the so called 'Wonderbolts'." "You fought the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow Dash nearly jumps out of her wheelchair. "I bet they were like, POW! BAM! KABOOM!!!" "That's what I did to them." Rainbow stops with the sound effects and looks at him. "Turns out they were slow. Really slow." "What? Where are they now?" "Well, I threw them off the train after their humiliating defeat. Don't worry, they're still alive. I can't say the same for their flight though." Rainbow Dash was horrified, as she could only imagine what happened to them. "By now some guards probably found them and picked them up. But that's aside the point." He shuffles around a little so his feet won't go numb. "You probably know the rest of it, so I won't waste my time with this." "A mercenary." Luna determines. "I have figured it out. You work as a mercenary." "Lucky guess." Deathstroke sarcastically compliments. "Enough. We are swaying from our current topic." Celestia declares, standing up. "If it is true that you are a mercenary, then I cannot let you roam around Equestria. Someone could hire you to target ponies and execute them without prejudice." That word made the other ponies slightly cringe. "She's trying to rid me since I'm one of the suspects that ravaged her special order" he determines to himself in his thoughts. "Celestia, wait." Celestia and Luna barely hear Fluttershy speak up. "What is it?" she asks, turning to her. "I know he's a mercenary, but you can't do anything bad to him!" "And why is that?" "It's hard to believe, but, he saved my life." Everyone now stares at her in disbelief. "But Fluttershy why would-" "I think he's a good person. Can't you give him a chance?" Celestia and Luna were in deep thought, Celestia trying to find an excuse to rid him. She merely sighs in defeat. "Very well then. He will be-" "Not so fast." Deathstroke interrupts. "So now that you actually decided to give me a chance, it's time to get down to business.You see, I don't belong here, but neither do some people I know. I'm not the only uninvited guest here." The princesses look in confusion. "Some, 'colleagues' traveled here too. I met with one of them. Applejack here probably knows what I'm talking about." Applejack taps her chin, and perks up. "How could I forget!? You were there!" "When your precious sister was abducted. Yes." All the ponies, specifically Rainbow and Shining, were still trying to process everything they just heard over the meeting. The others, however, were shocked that he knew a lot. "I could probably help." "You can find her?" "Yes. At some conditions though." He turns to Celestia. "I'm definitely going to need guards. But were not leaving right now, we need to wait for their next move. Have your guards prepare their supplies. For now, I'm staying here. Besides, I think they want to have a talk with me." He gestures to the six ponies and Shining Armor, who was glaring daggers at him. He then raises his hands, showing the seal was broken, making Celestia and Luna slightly gasp. "I should be off now." Turning, he walks nonchalantly toward the eight ponies. "Hold on." Deathstroke stops and turns back to the princesses. "We have forgotten about something. Yesterday, we felt a strange energy source dispatch to high levels rather quickly. Do you know anything like it?" "Well, no. Probably another one of Sparklies's failed spells." That was the last straw. Twilight charged her horn and tried to hold Deathstroke in place. "Rrgghh!" He was being overwhelmed by the aura of magic surrounding him, but with his nth plates, he broke out of it easily. "Aggggghhh!" The sudden breakage of the spell caused Twilight's horn to become unstable, magic spewing everywhere. "H-H-Help!!!!" "Twily!!!" Shining Armor shouts, as Celestia, Luna, and the other ponies try to help her, but the energy keeps them away. Twilight was forcing magic out of her horn when Deathstroke broke the target area, making it go in one direction. The magic was making cracks in the floor and the ceiling, and even shatters some windows making glass fly all over. However, he had an idea. Forcing his way toward her, he grabs her horn with his nth armor on his hands. The energy tries its best to push back, but dissipates as it touches the nth metal. Pushing harder, he makes sure the magic goes nowhere at all, and soon the surrounding aura of magic in the room ceases. Twilight stops glowing and drops to the floor with a thud. Everyone looks at the incident awkwardly. "You should get her to a hospital." he suggests very dryly. "And remind me not to piss her off again."