//------------------------------// // Don't Forget to Clock Yourself Out // Story: Yaerfaerda // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// After minutes of relentless bullet-firing, the security guards inside the goblin battleship's engine room stopped firing. They panted for breaths, peering past the spinning barrels of their miniguns. Before them, the supply crates in the center of the pulsating chamber lingered in a smoking heap of shrapnel and burning metal strips. Several blood-stained engineers timidly poked their heads out of hiding, gazing past the glow of the skystone core to see the results of the battle. “Is... is it dead?” one guard stammered, his pointed ears twitching. “Did we kill the pony?” From deep within the smoke, a crimson visor flickered. The guards gasped and reached for their triggers. Thw-Thwppp! A grappling hook shot out, embedding bloodily into one goblin's chest. “Srnkkk!” The guard spat blood. As he felt himself being tugged forward, he dropped his minigun and fumbled for a bandolier fitted all over with grenades. Just as he palmed one explosive—Twnnng!—he was yanked screaming into the smoldering haze. Seconds later, a huge explosion rocked that half of the engine room. Imps flinched and dove aside as chunks of burning metal flew across the room. Leaping out of the blast, Roarke glided across the room and landed in a smoldering slide. Tongues of flame billowed across her armored plates, and her suit was falling apart at the extremities. Nevertheless, with electrical twitches, she managed to pivot aside and fling a chunk of hot metal at the other guard. “Grkkkkt!” The imp dropped his minigun, clutching at the jagged spear embedded into his neck. Before he could fall down, Roarke had galloped over, yanked the bandolier from off his body, and flung all the grenades across the room so that they rattled to a whirring stop right beside the column of glowing skystone at the engine room's core. “Aaaaaaaaaugh!” Engineers ran off in all directions, clawing and scrambling at the sealed-off doors. Ka-POW! The middle of the room erupted in flame. The skystone imploded, sucking flailing bodies towards it before just as swiftly pushing them away in all directions. A vaporous bubble of heated air billowed across the compartment, incinerating goblin flesh and melting instrument panels. Roarke felt herself slammed up against a bulkhead. Multiple portholes lined up beside her exploded with shards of glass. A vacuum of tight air billowed out of the chamber in multiple horizontal vortices. She shuddered as flecks of debris and body parts zipped past her, sucked out of the portholes. And then—CHUNK! A shard of flickering skystone embedded into the wall next to her like a spear. She looked aside, peering at it through her cracked helmet. With a trembling hoof, she reached up and yanked the shard out. She examined it, then looked out the fresh fissure the stone had made in the wall. Beyond, she could see billowing white clouds and a reddening sky. Several hundreds of yards away, the other battleship loomed, and it was hovering north at a steady pace. “Jex... why isn't it at least smoking by now?” she murmured into her venting helmet. After a hiss of steam, the aching metal mare gazed back at the erupting engine room. Red lights were flashing, and detected the hint of a blaring siren beyond all of the unnatural bedlam. The manaconduits were erupting all over the ship now that its central core had been wiped out. There were minutes left at best. Seconds... Holding her breath, Roarke grabbed a loose length of exposed wiring from a console, snapped it loose, and used it to tie the skystone shard to her left forelimb. The ship shook and rattled with distant explosions all across its metal body. She heard decks collapsing in on itself through the bulkheads as she stepped back from the fissure in the wall and braced herself against the roasting metal floor. Leaning forward, she popped a missile launcher free from her right fetlock's panel. There were only two rockets left. She made good use of one Pftchoooooo-POW! She fired it at the fissure. The exterior wall of the battleship burst wide open. The air fountaining out of the chamber multiplied, propelling Roarke out before the flames could erupt from the consoles behind her and consume her battered suit. Fwooooosh! Roarke flew out of the battleship like a living cannon. Just as she felt her body decelerating, she slapped a hoof across a strategic part of her armored chest. Sch-Schwiiink! Two webbed metal wings extended from her side panels, stretching wide. Within seconds, her horseshoes smoked, sputtered, then finally fired a blast of rocket exhaust. She glided forward, sailing for the other battleship right as— FWOOOMB! The fuel and steam reserves inside the huge dreadnaught behind her erupted at the same time. Half of the ship was instantly incinerated while the other half—doused in flames—plummeted heavily towards the arid mountains below. Loose bulkheads and pieces of propeller engines littered the air, along with an ever-expanding bubble of heated air. Roarke outflew it, veering left and right as she struggled to balance her long glide. At last, with the rocket propulsion in her fetlocks fading, she cut her engines and swiftly sailed down at the top deck of the Gamma vessel, utilizing gravity and inertia to her best advantage. There was no conceivable way that the goblins on board would not see her incoming. A pair of guards rushed up, aiming their rifles high. However, they did not anticipate the speed of her entry. They gasped and flinched at the last second— Th-Thwack! Roarke landed several feet past them, grinding to a stop. The tips of her metal wings dribbled with blood. Two seconds after she had made physical contact with the top deck, the two headless guards collapsed in twitching heaps behind her. The mare stood up, retracting her wings as she reared her hooves into a fighting pose— Ch-Chtung! No less than thirty guards stood in a semi-circle, their rifles and miniguns trained on the single mare. They were not alone. Standing in the center of the group on thick metal legs was Haman in his insectoid mech. The torso of the Cartel's boss leaned back in his steaming apparatus, and he bore a spit-stained frown across his multiple chins. “End of the line for you, pony.” Whirrrrr. He raised one metallic claw, strangling Jex's twitching figure by the neck. “For both of you.” “... ... ...” Roarke stood absolutely still, her cracked helmet reflecting the multiple gun barrels as well as the faces of Haman and Jex. “You think I'm stupid, pony?” Haman snarled. “You think the moment I heard the distress calls from my sister ship, I wouldn't suspect a fellow conspirator on board my chief vessel?!” He smirked briefly. “Thankfully, when I sniffed him out, I didn't have to gut any entrails to get the truth out of the runt...” “Pony...” Jex hissed, sputtering for breath. “He... pr-promised to c-carpet bomb every goblin family home from here to Val Roa...” His pained eyes teared. “I'm sorry. I... I gave in...” Haman tightened the claw around Jex's throat. “Grkkkk-tkkkk!” Jex's eyes rolled back, the blood vessels bursting red inside. “You are going to surrender, pony,” Haman hissed, his stubbled face covered in steam condensation and drool. “And I am going to feast on your organs while you're alive for what you've done.” “Wake up, pony pony pony!” Jake wheezed in mid gallop. He, Floydien, and Midnite Bastion galloped down a long metal chamber lined with flashing alarm lights and blaring sirens. “We could really use your smexy wings right now!” “It's no use use,” Floydien grunted. He gave his flank a brief shake, and Rainbow merely groaned in misery. “Color wheel boomer is out for the count!” “The fight was over anyways!” Midnite spat, leading the group left and right down dark hallways echoing with the military alarm. “But it's okay! I can still get us out of here!” “Charcoal boomer can?” “Yes! There's an exit that leads into the mountains! It's a long crawl, but there's a security door I can seal behind us! Then we can lose our pursuers in the wilderness and regroup within the capital!” “How long of a crawl are we talking about?!” the Constable thundered. “Look, it's the only option we've got now, okay?!” Midnite frowned. “The front entrance has got to be absolutely crawling with guards at this point! If you want to see your beloved Duchess and friends again, then we need to exit out the rear before the first batallion of soldiers rush in here!” Fl-Fl-Fl-Flaaaash! Several streams of mana surged past them from behind. One struck the moose in the flank. “Aaaaaugh!” Jake stumbled to his knees. Floydien helped him up as the moose winced and seethed. “You mean like those ass crackers?!” “Go go go!” Midnite's voice cracked as they bolted around a corner. “Quickly! The exit's up ahead!” “Gawd,” Jake grumbled, limping after her as more blasts surged their way. “I would be really pissed if only the last blast hadn't evaporated all of it inside my bladder!” Before ducking around the corner, Floydien spun around, returned a few bright volleys, and carried Rainbow's twitching figure along with him. “Grnnngh...” Saikano stood up, pulling himself onto his hooves by the console's levers along the wall. He pressed a button, and all of the barriers flew up at once, exposing the full length of the corridor. Groaning guards were slowly getting up, tending to their bruised and unconscious cohorts. “General!” one reindeer hobbled over, wincing. “The suspects! They're gone! All four of them!” “Cover... all exits...” Saikano wheezed, turning around to stare sweatily at the remaining cocoons. “Do not let them escape. The Prince's life depends on it.” “Word from above is that a full batallion has been sent to intercept them, sir!” Saikano stood up tall, eyes narrow. “Do you have full control of your senses once again?” The guard blinked. “Sir?” “I am not talking to you!” Saikano snarled. The reindeer backed off, wincing. “S-Sorry... sir...” Nervous, he spun around and tended to his fellow soldiers. Fuming, Saikano glared off into the distance, eyes flickering green. “Rainbow Dash is unaccounted for. The soldiers are intercepting.” Silence. “Yes. I feel my control of the soul sentries returning.” “Too much has b-been compromised,” Secretary Sharp Quill wheezed, leaning against a marble pillar inside the corridors of the royal palace. “If the Noble Jury has pierced our defenses—” He was suddenly silent. His brow furrowed. “Yes. Yes, I see. Then we have no choice but to draw them inward. They have to guard the Coronation at all costs.” Silence. Sharp Quill's eyes twitched. “Yes. But of course.” He spun around, beginning to march down the hall. “Secure the Prince at all costs. She...” “...wouldn't have it any other way,” Fishberry said, standing tall. “She?” Arcanista blinked. Mamunia and Jet exchanged nervous glances inside the Chancellor's office. “Who is she talking about, Your Honor?” The Duchess frowned. “Who else.” “Traitors...” Fishberry's gaze swam across the room, frowning. “...eliminate all traitors.” Jet stumbled backwards, gulping. “Duchess...?” With pounding hooftsteps, six guards galloped into the room. “Chancellor!” The captain stepped towards her, bright-eyed. “Are you alright?” “No. I am not. There's been an attack.” “Yes! We know!” The guard gulped. “The Soul Sentries all over the building collapsed briefly! And it's not just happening here. All over the city, there've been reports. And now we're hearing word from General Saikano's compound—” “It's a breach of security on all fronts.” Fishberry pointed a cloven hoof. “And they are part of it.” Arcanista's eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?” “Chancellor...?” The guard leaned his head aside. “They attacked me! Just now!” Fishberry spat, her eyes savage and spiteful. “Arrest them! Arrest them all!” The captain swiveled, frowning. “It's a lie!” Arcanista stammered. “I came here to speak with the Chancellor when she spontaneously collapsed! Just like your soul sentries!” “A likely story.” The captain nodded towards his guards. “Soldiers?” Arcanista felt hooves grasping her from all sides. “Don't touch me! You have no evidence! I refuse to be accosted without a proper—” “Duchess!” Jet shrieked. She and Mamunia were being seized from behind. Mamunia put up a fight, stomping on a guard's hoof. Another soldier reached in, striking her savagely across the muzzle. “Mamunia!” Arcanist sneered. Thrusting her head forward, the Duchess of Sehlp fired twin beams of electrical energy from two nubs in her skull. “Aaaugh!” The blast knocked the guard who had struck Mamunia back. His body plowed into the soldier grabbing Jet. Freed from their clutches, Jet gasped and flashed the Duchess a frightened look. Arcanista grunted. “Run.” Biting her lip, Jet turned and dashed out. “What are you d-doing?!” Fishberry hollered. “She's getting away—” Arcanista spun to face her. Fishberry blinked, her pupils shrinking. Arcanista smirked. Zaaaaaaaaaaaap! She fired a beam so bright that it danced sparks between Fishberry's ears. The doe fell back in fitful spasms while the guards all converged on Arcanista, plowing her struggling figure to the floor beside Mamunia. “Hgrnnnghhh...” Arcanista spat, smiling painfully. “...hope you smell your insides, hussy.” And her breath fell short as not one, not two, but three hooves took times punching her into submission. Panicked delegates and clerks craned their necks to see into Fishberry's office. Panting and sobbing, Jet scampered past the nervous figures. She looked back once, tears clouding her eyes. She spurred her hooves on through sheer panic. Voices shouted down the corridor, growing angry and angrier. Seething, the servant thrashed her neck back and forth. Layer by layer, she stripped out of her hood and dress, so that soon the unidentifiable pony was scampering naked towards the nearest stairwell, where she made a desperate exit. “Please... you have to let me in!” Ebon Mane shouted. “The Princess! I have reason to believe that she may be in trouble!” “Sorry, sir,” one of two guards said, flanking either side of the door to the throne room. “But Prince Eine of the House of Evo has specifically requested that he and his guest not be disturbed during their important meeting—” “You don't understand! He's in danger too!” Ebon resorted to a vicious frown, stomping his hoof down. “As royal advisor to Her Majesty Princess Kera Tin Mehjj Xon-Nagu'n, I demand that you let me in at once!” The guards glared at him... then past him. Suddenly, they saluted, eyes bright and vigilant. “... ... ...?” Ebon slowly turned around. Secretary Sharp Quill was thundering straight down the hall, flanked by four soul sentries. “Secretary Sharp Quill, sir!” one guard spoke at attention. “Is there something we can help you with?” the other exclaimed. “Let me through,” Sharp Quill grumbled. “The Prince's security is at risk.” “Sir, we've been given explicit instructions on behalf of Prince Eine himself not to allow any interruption of his—” Sharp Quill snarled aside, eyes blazing green. “Neutralize.” Fl-Fl-Flash! The soul sentries fired a steady barrage of emerald energy. The guards flinched, raising their polearms. P-POW! They grunted as they were knocked violently off their hooves and against the rattling door of the throne room. Ebon gasped, his fake horn rattling. Sharp Quill's nostrils flared. He flashed the changeling a vicious look. “...the imposter as well.” “No...” Ebon's ears drooped. He lunged for the door. “Kera! Kera, run—” FLASSSH! Kera spun towards the door of the throne room, skirts flouncing. Her muzzle hung agape. “Ebon...?” “Huh?” Prince twirled as well. “Did... did you hear that just now?” WHAM! Sharp Quill kicked the doors open. He stomped in, flanked by reindeer with smoking antlers. Behind him, two guards and a burgundy figure lay in limp heaps. The filly's tattooed face grimaced. Eine stormed past her. “What is the meaning of this?!” Eine frowned. His petite figure stood resolutely in the thick shadow of the royal advisor. “Sharp Quill, I demand to know what you are doing here after I specifically ordered—” “There is no time, my Prince,” Sharp Quill said, taking a deep breath. “There's been a breach to Val Roa's defenses. We are being attacked on all sides.” “Attacked...?!” “Your life is in danger. Come with me right away.” Sharp Quill's nostrils flared. “We must take you to the royal bunker.” “Wait... just wait.” Eine waved a tiny hoof. “What attack?! What's happening to my kingdom?” “I haven't the time to explain—” “I think you do.” Eine frowned. “As Prince, soon to be King, it's my responsibility to know what's happening and what can be done to stop—” “Prince... Your M-Majesty...” Sharp Quill winced, rubbing his head. “Please, you must... gnnnnhhh.” Kera cocked her head aside, lips pursed. “Sharp Quill, I am not going anywhere until I have a proper explanation for—” “Rrrrr-RAAAUGH!” Sharp Quill hoisted Eine's tiny neck up by a cloven hoof and slammed him against a pillar. Wham! “Grkkkkk!” Eine sputtered, blue in the face. “Now you listen to me, you sanctimonious ingrate piece of shit!” Sharp Quill's voice warbled as his eyes took on a flaming green glow. “You will go where I tell you and you will go there now! She will not have it any other way! And what she wishes, I will rightfully provide—” POWWWW Sharp Quill flew back from a vaporous discharge of mana. “Unnff!” Eine fell to his rear, grasping for breath. His twitching eyes fell on Sharp Quill's sprawling figure. With a gasp, he looked to his right. Kera crouched low, her horn and tattoos brimming with silver energy. Seething, she looked aside at the soul sentries. All four reindeer stood in the doorframe, charging their antlers. “Haaaaaaaaaaaaugh!” Kera raised her hooves and slammed them back down, unleashing a beam of unbridled magic. Eine's muzzle dropped as his head swiveled to follow the path of the manastream. WH-WHAM! The sentries were collectively knocked back. Their antler discharges sailed into the roof of the throne room, exploding in sharp bursts of marble. “Aaaugh!” Eine flinched, curling up into a little fuzzy ball as chunks of plaster descended over his figure. A tattooed hoof reached in and yanked him out of danger. SLAM! Breathless, Eine limped into Kera's figure, trembling. “This is bad,” Kera sputtered, her horn smoking as she gazed across the smoking interior. “I mean, it's kind of super awesome on a way, but also super friggin' bad.” “I... I-I don't understand!” Eine shivered. “Sharp Quill! Why did he—” “Dude, like, were you listening to anything I was telling you earlier?!” “Duaaaah...” Eine's beady yellow eyes were centered on Kera's glowing horn. “I am now.” Wh-Whud! Whud! Another door across the room blew open. Six soul sentries poured in, antlers brimming. “Come!” Kera's voice squeaked. She tugged at the Prince's limb as she scampered behind the throne, leading him down a narrow passage way. “Come with me!” “C-c-come with you wh-where?!” he stammered, hobbling weakly after her. “Anywhere!” she shrieked as bolts of green energy sailed over their galloping figures. The Soul Sentries gave chase, filling the room with hot burning mana. Slowly, groaning, Sharp Quill sat up. He stared after the exiting foal and fawn, his brow furrowing angrily.