//------------------------------// // Chapter 35 // Story: Old Scars, New Chances // by Arcticbrony //------------------------------// He ran, faster than he had ever done so before. He ran like his life was on the line. Rocks tumbling around after his hooves had dug them up in his frantic escape. Blackstaff, that was his name, and he was a unicorn, like the majority of the other ponies that worked there. They still had some pegasi and earth ponies, but there was simply more diversity in what a unicorn could do with its magic. It was because of this exact thing, that he had always felt himself above other earth ponies and pegasi. That they were simply not as good or useful as unicorns were. He did not have any silly thoughts, like that unicorns should have more or better rights or anything like that. No, all ponies should be treated equal, he was a firm believer of that. He just believed that he, along with all other unicorns had been dealt better cards at their birth. Pegasi and earth ponies had their uses, there was no doubt about that. Unicorns were simply the best race, the most fortunate one. He had always believed that. Had. Recently things had changed. Alicorns had always been above them and everypony else, that much was obvious. They were the princesses, but there were so few of them at the same time. No. It was the appearance of the Pokémon that had made him doubt his way of thinking. For the longest time, they were an unknown, an anomaly. But hearing and seeing some of the things that those creatures could do…? He was scared. Or at least he had been, in the beginning. He had been part of The Weavers for a good while, and when they got word that they would start to target those Pokémon too, it had been like a dream come true. He finally got to take revenge on that race that had made him feel inferior. As time passed after that, the feeling of superiority that usually surrounded him had began to return. They were able to capture those creatures, to beat them. They were better. He was better. But, good things usually doesn't come to last. And neither did that. He had been wrong; he had been so very wrong. They were not better, or stronger than those creatures. They had just been lucky, and targeted the weak ones. The ones that had been easy to catch. He understood that now. Having been quite skilled in magic, Blackstaff was fairly certain in his own combat potential. His magic had always triumphed, always secured him victory in everything. It was because of this that he understood how strong their opponents actually were. Because of his understanding of his own strength, that he knew just how hopelessly outmatched that they had been once the fighting had started. The police ponies had stormed their base, taken them by surprise. But they had plans for such things, they would have probably even managed to take them down. If it has just been ponies, that is. They only had a few of those creatures, but that was all that they needed. They were quick, and they hit them fast. Faster than any pony that he had ever seen before, it just was not normal. He almost refused to believe what he saw. He had tried to fight back, to use his magic to assist as one of his companions had been taken down. He had thrown a large stone boulder at the attacker, he would hit his companion too, but that was a sacrifice worth making if he could manage to take just one of them down. As the rock descended on his foe and ally, he said a silent prayer for his teammate. It was unfortunate that he would have to squish him as well, but it was for the greater good of the organization. And just as it looked like the boulder was about to hit, it exploded. Tiny rock shards shot out, and it was just by reflex that he covered his eyes to protect them from the oncoming hail as the rocks pelted his body. When he finally looked up, he saw that the enemy was standing there, not another scratch on its body. His attack had done absolutely nothing, and even worse. It just stood there with its fist raised into the air as it now looked in his direction. It had shattered that boulder with its fist, with that tiny arm. It was in that moment that Blackstaff let fear take hold of him as he turned tail and ran, leaving his companions behind. “Screw them,” he thought as he ran. “Screw them and screw The Weavers.” He never signed up for anything like that. All he wanted was to make some extra easy bits, not to fight for his life against impossible creatures like that. His hooves thundered against the ground, sweat poured down his face and neck and a panic-induced expression was frozen on his face. He had to get away; he could not let those creatures get to him too. A sort of primal fear had been awakened in him and that was what drove him forward. The fear of the unknown. It took a great deal of will on his part, but eventually, he managed to muster up the courage to look behind himself as he continued to run. It had only been a few seconds, maybe even less than that. But to him, it had felt like hours, days even. And as he craned his neck to look behind himself, there he saw it. And time seemed to slow down even more for Blackstaff. The creature was in mid leap, the long fur from its arms was waving in the air behind it, and strangely enough it had the calmest sort of expression on its face. Blackstaff would have expected a lot of things, anger for that they had done to its brethren. Perhaps joy for the fact that it would get to take revenge, a feeling that he truly understood. But no, a calm and calculated expression was all that he got as his opponent slowly soared through the air towards him. It was at that point that he knew that he would not be able to get away. That he had never had even a chance of escaping in the first place. From the moment that their eyes met, he knew that every action that he could possibly take would have been utterly and entirely pointless. He was beaten, there was only a matter of time before that creature would reach him and finish him off, like it had done with the rest of the ponies that it had encountered. Time slowed down to a crawl for Blackstaff as he watched the creature slowly move through the air towards him. He did not want to go out like that, to be defeated by something that he once thought to be underneath him, something lesser than what he was. But even as his mind screamed at his body to react, to do anything at all, nothing happened. His muscles refused to listen to him, even his trusted magic was out of reach. It was like his body had recognized its defeat and was just currently waiting for the inevitable. There is a sort of primal fear that is present once you face something that is so much stronger than you that you can't even measure the difference. And that was exactly what was happening to him. His last thoughts were not about self-preservation, but rather about how maybe he should have helped his allies, he knew that they were criminals, that what they did was seen as wrong by most ponies. But they were still his companions, and maybe, just maybe, that he should have treated them differently. Then a furry, white fist connected with the front of his face, and everything went black. “Alright, I think that’s the last one.” Brawly called out as he stood over an unconscious unicorn. The assault had gone more smoothly than they had anticipated. There were much fewer guards stationed at this base compared to the last one, and there had not been any Pokémon helping them out either. And so, Protocol's police ponies had managed to take them by surprise and take out the majority of them immediately, with Brawly and Vernus picking off any of the stragglers. “Dudes never stood a chance. You can't stop a wave this big once it gets going.” Feeling the sense of victory, Brawly could not help but smile. And he was not alone, the feeling of a victory what had surpassed any and all expectations, had raised everyone's spirits to their highest. “Smooth, man, you made that look easy.” Vernus commented as he came up besides Brawly, a limp pegasus laying across his back, several small cuts across her body from where Vernus's Razor Leaf attack had hit her. “Though why did he just stop and let you hit him?” He had seen the last part of what had happened, just before Brawly had taken the unicorn out, and could not help but find it a little strange. “I have no idea, dude.” Brawly just shrugged and leaned down to pick up the unconscious unicorn. “Maybe he just tripped or something.” In all honesty, Brawly had not given the unicorn that he now had slung over his shoulder much thought at all. “Yeah, probably.” Vernus just shrugged. It was not that important anyway. “Let's head back and put these two with the rest.” They had gathered all the captured ponies outside the base where a number of Protocol's police ponies were watching them, making sure that they could not escape. With a nod of agreement from Brawly the two of them started to head back. But as they were heading out, further inside the base, something else was going on. Brawly and Vernus had been tasked with catching and taking care of any stragglers, and while they did that, Ethan, along with Jenny's Growlithe, Protocol, and a few of his ponies were heading in the opposite direction. Further into the base. They had encountered a few ponies along the way, but those had just been researchers and the like who had surrendered almost immediately without a fight, all the guards and the like had been positioned near the entrance it seemed like. “It’s hard to believe that ponies would do these kinds of things.” One of the police ponies that walked with Ethan and Protocol commented. “What would compel them to fall this low?” “Bits.” Protocol scoffed as he kicked an empty cage with his hooves. “Or a feeling of power, abusing those who are weaker than you. Whatever the reason, they are trash and it's our job to clean things up.” With those words, a collective “Yes, sir.” came from the ponies that walked with them. Protocol was good at inspiring his ponies, that there was no doubt about. “But we have not seen any sign of Shady yet.” Ethan sighed out. He, along with everyone else, had hoped that they would finally catch that piece of shit. “He is smart, as much as I hate to admit it.” Protocol grumbled. “After our last encounter, he has realized that we can find them now, and he is being more careful as a result. It would be foolish of him to stay too long in one place.” Having been in the profession for as long as he had, Protocol had learned how dirtbags like Shady thought, how they acted. He could get inside their heads. “But we did not come here for him in any case.” Ethan shook his head. Shady would have been a nice addition if they had caught him, but they were there for Jenny in the first place. The group slowed down slightly as they came out into a big room, and a metallic odor filled the air. Cages was stacked neatly over in one of the corners. Cages of all shapes and sizes, Ethan shuddered as he knew exactly what they had been used for. But as Ethan's gaze moved across the room, he felt his stomach turn as it came across one table in particular. Spots of blood covered the ground around the table, and leather straps was fastened to it, their purpose all too obvious. Next to the table stood a metal trolley, scalpels, bone saws, syringes and all kinds of medical equipment was neatly organized on it. As Ethan stood there looking at that table, all that he could think about was what if Jenny had been strapped to that very table. That those scalpels and other objects had been used on her. But he pushed those thoughts as far back into his mind as he possibly could. He could not afford to think about such things, not at that moment. No, they still were not done there. “Sir!” One of the ponies called out as he stood over by another set of doors. But unlike all the others they had seen up until that point, those were different. They were quite solid, that was apparent just from the first glance. They were much sturdier than any of the others, and they also had a thick wooden beam laying across the two of them, holding them in place should somepony try to open them from the inside. Yes, they were designed for holding something locked within, that much was apparent. As Ethan and Protocol got closer to that door, the number of blood drops that could be seen on the floor increased. That was where they had kept the Pokémon that they had captured, Ethan was absolutely sure of it. And as they got even closer, his acute ears picked up faint sounds coming from the other side. Low moans of pain, heavy breathing, crying, it all mixed together into a ballad of sorrow. “Let us see what they were hiding then.” Protocol stated, and with that, his horn lit up with the familiar aura that accompanied his magic. The same magic aura immediately appeared on the wooden beam, and Protocol swiftly lifted it up and out of the way. The doors let out a slow creaking sound as they were opened, revealing little but darkness inside. Had it not been for the sounds of distress that Ethan was still hearing, he would have thought that it was empty at first glance. But with a single flash of Protocol's horn, that thought was dispelled as the room was illuminated, revealing a multitude of cages, but unlike the ones in the previous room, these ones were occupied. “By Celestia… look how many of them there are.” One of the police ponies commented as they walked into the room. They had saved quite the number of Pokémon during the raid on the last base, but as they entered the room, it was easy to see that there was at least twice the number of captured Pokémon there, if not possibly more. And not only Pokémon, all kinds of magical creatures native to Equestria could also be seen stuffed into their own cages among the others. “Alright, everypony spread out. I want every creature in this room freed as soon as possible.” Protocol spoke, and his voice carried significantly more volume and force than usual, as he wanted to make sure that all the poor Pokémon would hear him. “Anypony who needs medical attention is to be brought outside to receive the help that they need.” His words seemed to have reached some of the Pokémon who now looked up to the approaching group with a glimpse of hope in their tired eyes. Hope, which many of them had previously given up on. But as the first of the cages got opened, and they saw that none of the ponies meant them any harm, Joy began to spread throughout the room. Their torment had finally come to an end. Ethan assisted Protocol and the police ponies in setting all the captives free and making sure that they were alright, but as time passed, and the number of remaining Pokemon dwindled, he began to feel a dread growing inside of him. Because Jenny was still nowhere to be found. “Fwuffeh bunneh!” A rumbly voice suddenly spoke up and spooked Ethan. He turned on his heel as the voice had come from behind him, but immediately regretted that decision. A shadow loomed over Ethan and suddenly, he felt really, really small. A large gray hand descended on Ethan who had no chance at all to escape before it's large fingers wrapped around him and lifted him up. “W-what are you doing, let me go!” His response was based on pure reflex. Had been taken by surprise and grabbed on top of that, by someone that he did not know who… or even what was when he looked at it. The creature in front of him did not remind him of any Pokémon that he could think of. The closest resemblance that it had was to that of a Conkeldurr, but only slightly so and it was also significantly bigger. It had rough grey skin all across its body, the kind of skin that could protect it from most kinds of weather. There was two large green patches on both of its shoulders, and from what Ethan could see as he was lifted up to the creature's face, it almost looked like moss of some kind. Though he was unsure if it was just something that the creature had put on himself, or if it was something that was actually growing there. It also had a loincloth of sorts; it was the only piece of clothing that it was wearing actually. Around its wrists there sat two heavy, solid metal cuffs, which were in turn chained to the wall behind them. These cuffs scratched against the creature's skin as it lifted Ethan up to its fact, though if it bothered it, it did not let it show. Ethan recoiled slightly from the breath once he had reached face level. Its face was rather sunken in, which also gave it a rather big underbite as well. And a single rough and sharp looking tooth could be seen sticking up on the left side of its jaw. Ethan held its breath as the creature stared down on him… with its rather small eyes. Now that Ethan had gotten a better look at it, it really did not look that frightening at all, if you looked away from its size that was. And in his surprise and panic he had failed to notice how gently the creature was holding him, with hands that huge, it could have easily have crushed him. But instead, it held him gently. “Um… Hello?” Ethan meant to say, but it came out more like a silent little squeak instead. He could go against humongous aggressive Pokémon and be totally fine and calm, because he knew how to act against them, how to read them. But here he was faced with something completely unknown, and while he was sure that the thing did not mean him any harm with how it held him, he was still a little scared. “Fwuffeh bunneh, f-friends?” The creature concentrated really hard as it said the last word, but in return, it came out much clearer than the rest. The creature slowly opened the hands that held Ethan, and held them underneath him instead, allowing him to stand there. It looked upon him with kind and gentle eyes, and Ethan began to feel much more at ease. “Y-yes. We came here to help you. We are friends.” He motioned down to all of the ponies below who were freeing the Pokémon and assisting the ones who needed it. Though some of said ponies had stopped with that they were doing and were not looking up at Ethan and the giant creature. “Hey, what is this thing!” Ethan shouted down at Protocol who were looking up at them with an amused expression. “That, is a Cave Troll.” Protocol informed Ethan. “Not to worry, they are usually rather gentle creatures, as long as you don't do anything to anger them at least. And it appears to have taken a liking to you.” “Yeah yeah, can you give me the keys?” They had found the keys to all the cages and the chains in the room before and had been using hose to free everyone. Protocol levitated the bundle of keys up to Ethan who grabbed them and turned to the Cave Troll once again. “I am going to take off your chains now, big guy.” Ethan said, gesturing to his own wrists to make sure that he was understood. “Pwetteh bunneh fweeing Jim?” Well, at least now he had a name to go by, Ethan thought to himself as he walked over to the first of the two cuffs. “Yes, I am freeing you. And my name is Ethan, by the way.” He smiled as he worked the key within the lock, and with a click, the first cuff opened and fell down to the ground with a loud clatter. Though Ethan had not been prepared for what was underneath. The rough skin that Jim had, was completely gone around the area where the cuff had been. He had thought it impossible for something like those cuffs to get through Jim's tough skin. For it to have gotten that bad… the only other possibility that Ethan could think of, was that Jim must have struggled against his bonds, and not just a little either. But if his damaged wrists bothered Jim, he did not show it, instead his smile only grew as the first cuff fell down to the ground, and he immediately held up the other hand to Ethan, who unlocked that as well. “Yeah, we are going to need to do something about that.” Ethan commented as the second cuff fell to the ground, revealing the second bloody wrist that Jim sported. “Fwee, finally fwee!” Jim shouted from the top of his lungs, making everybody nearby cringe from the volume, and some dust even fell down from the roof afterwards. Ethan in particular felt like his head was spinning, his hearing was better than most, and he suffered because of it. “Oh… Bunneh hurt? Jim is sorry.” Ethan shook his head as the ringing in his ears got down to manageable levels again. “N-no, it is okay, Jim. I’m fine.” Jim slowly lowered his hand, allowing Ethan to jump back to the ground. Jim was much smarter than his broken speech would initially indicate, that much Ethan had realized. But as he looked up to Jim, an idea sparked in his mind. “Jim, do you think that you could help us?” Ethan asked, and hearing those words, the Cave Troll began to nod enthusiastically. “Yes, Jim help!” “Good, good.” Ethan smiled. Because not all of the magical creatures were friendly, some of them were quite hostile in fact, something that a few of the ponies had found out as they got close to a few of the cages. So they could not just let them out, but they could not leave them either, that was not an option. “Do you think that you could help us to carry some of the cages outside?” Protocol and some of the other unicorns could most likely manage to levitate them, but Jim looked more than strong enough to handle such a task. And it would help to speed things along too. It did not take long before all of the captives had been freed, and the more dangerous of the magical creatures had been carried outside, courtesy of the friendly Cave Troll, Jim. A lot of the Pokémon that were able to and in good enough health had left immediately, having had enough of that place. But there was still quite a few of them that needed medical attention, among other things. They had even recovered a substantial amount of information. Much more than what had been salvaged from the previous base. Names, locations, buyers, sellers, they had so much more to go on. Most of it was encrypted or written in some sort of code, and it had been different from what they had previously encountered, but still. Protocol was sure that they would be able to crack it. And with the help of Cursed Vision, Ethan had to agree. They were closing in on them, at last. But even with all of their recent success, Ethan could not help but feel a wave of sorrow and helplessness wash over him. He could not partake in the joy of victory, for it was a hollow one. “I was so sure that she would be here.” Ethan sighed out. “I was so sure…” The Growlithe was still inside the base, searching for any clues. He had found her scent there, so they already knew that she had been there at some point. But there was not too much else that he could do at the moment. There had been a Gloom who had been shaking profusely and spraying its poison everywhere when they first came in, and the Growlithe had been unfortunate enough to be standing too close as they tried to help it. As a result, his sense of smell was currently ruined. Ethan looked up as he felt a paw on his shoulder and looked up to see Brawly who was standing besides him, a reassuring smile upon his face as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Jenny is a tough girl. She can take care of herself.” “Yeah… you are right.” Ethan leaned into his boyfriend who wrapped his arms around him. Jenny could be stubborn, annoying, and she had tried to put him in jail several times in the past. But she was his friend, and he could not help but worry about her. Not to speak about the Growlithe… Ethan was sure that he was going through hell since they had gotten so close. “Jenny?” Both Ethan and Brawly looked up to see Jim who was walking over to them, the ground around him gently shaking with each step that he took. His arms had been bandaged after they had a salve applied to them to soothe his damaged skin, though he had already eaten one of the sets of bandages so they had to put on yet another one. “Fiwe fox?” He asked as he looked down at the two of them. “Wait… you know Jenny?” They had asked several of the other Pokémon that they had freed, and while some had seen a Vulpix at some point, none of them knew what had happened to her, or when she had disappeared. They had all been concerned with what was going to happen to them, and Ethan could not blame them. “Fiwe fox was nice.” Jim nodded and slumped down besides the two, Ethan actually lifting of the ground from the impact Jim had as he sat down. “They hurt Fiwa fox, hurt bawdly.” The sadness in the Cave Troll's voice was easy to notice. “Do you know what happened to her then?” Brawly spoke up, and Jim paused as he looked out into the forest. “They took away.” Jim shook his head slowly. “Jim try to help her, but no could move, chains too stong.” Ethan separated himself from Brawly and walked over to Jim and put his paw on the Cave Troll's huge hand. “You tried to help her…” He had seen how all of the Pokémon had looked at Jim, he was their protector, their safety. He at least he had tried to be as best as he could. “Not know what happen to fox… but angry pony come back after. His face all black and smokey. There was lot of shouting.” Jim looked down to Ethan again, a small glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Fiwe fox escape?” His words had certainly brought some hope to both Ethan and Brawly. But there was still too much that they did not know. It was possible that she tried to escape, and failed. They just did not know. “I really hope so Jim… I hope so.” If she had failed to escape, it was likely that she had been punished for her attempt, and depending of how much of a fight she put up… no, Ethan did really not want to think about what could have happened to her. There was still hope, and that was the important part. “We should go help gather things up, man. There are still quite a lot that needs to be done before we can leave.” Ethan felt a familiar arm drape over his shoulders, and looked to the side to see the comforting smile of his lover. “Yeah… you are right.” Ethan smiled, just standing around there thinking thoughts like that would accomplish nothing. “Thank you.” Ethan smiled and gave Brawly a small kiss, it was a short one, just lasting a second or two, but it showed his love and gratitude towards his friend and lover. They could hear Jim making some sort of sound in the background, but ignored it. Afterwards they separated and started walking back towards the others. Ethan was still sort of leaning on Brawly as they went, but halted when one of his ears twitched slightly. He stopped and looked back into the forest that was behind them. Ethan ears twitched again, making him look closer at the area, trying to pick out anything at all. “What's wrong?” Brawly inquired as he had stopped with Ethan, and noticed how intently that he was looking back. “I was sure that I heard something.” A Lopunny's hearing was better than most, by a significant margin at that. But Ethan was still getting used to his improved senses, and while he had been sure that he had heard something, he was not sure of what. “It’s probably just one of the Mon that we freed who decided to linger around, nothing to worry about.” But even though he said that, Ethan held his gaze there for a little longer. “And it looks like you need to get some more bandages, Jim is eating one of them again.” That however, brought Ethan out of his concentration. “Oh come on, Jim, not again!” Ethan complained as he ran over to the cave troll who was currently slurping up one of the bandages like it was spaghetti, while Brawly stayed behind and simply laughed at the sight. And they allowed themselves to feel a little better, for even a hollow victory was a step in the right direction. And another step towards finding Jenny.