Because I’m not ‘almost killed’ enough already
“You have got to be fucking kidding me.” I said, dread filling my voice.
“Hehe, nope!” Replied Thal, who smiled as the manticore let out a loud roar.
“Take me off the fire, I’m done-” I had no chance to complete my sentence, and a large paw shot out and hit the side of my head with the force a hurricane. I was flying through the air and nailed a tree deep in the forest. I let out a loud yell at a couple of my ribs cracked and my vision faltered.
Dear Celestia.. If I die, please, for the love of what you consider holy, send as many soldiers to this school and cleanse the damned forest. Amen.
I looked up to see Thal hit a tree next to mine, large knives falling out of his already cut up jacket.
[Incoming-]
~Shitstorm!~
I looked up, lo-and-behold, the manticore was right in front of me. It swung its tail around like a scorpion would, from the side. I ducked down and rolled to the right, the tip only grazing me. I righted myself, and jumped at it, my talons out. I landed a couple scratches into its stomach as Thal recovered from his injury, and jumped at it from the other side. I felt dizzy and lightheaded, and I lost my grip on the pissed off beast. It kicked me with its hind leg as it threw Thal off of itself, knocking me back a couple of meters.
I shook my head and went back it it, I drove my wings down as hard as I could to get some elevation on my target, the adrenaline in my system taking away most of the pain. Most. I dived at it, my talons going around its neck, and my beck buried in its lion’s fur.It forced the large bat wings on its back up, pushing me over his head, with my back on the ground.
[How about-]
DON’T THINK, JUST DO, I interrupted War.
It’s teeth were bared at me, one large paw on my chest, stopping me from moving. My vision started to blur again, pain increasing in my shoulder where the tail hit earlier... a scorpion tail. But..but... that’s unfair..
It grinned at me and slowly brought its head down to mine. Halfway there, a large blue blur of pure force hit its side. It stumbled back a bit, giving me just enough room to escape. I wriggled free and shot up, then got knocked aside with a bitch slap from the large beast. I went lying again, and hit another tree. I got the wind knocked out of me, and I couldn’t breathe. I ell to the ground, coughing and barely able to hold myself up. I was hit in the side by a large blue feathery thing, that could only be Thal. I looked down, still coughing, to see him out cold.
“Is that all..” I coughed loudly, a little bit of blood leaving my beak, ”you got, you ugly, son-of-a-bitch?”
As if it understood me, it gave a malicious grin. It swung its tail around, the back of it hitting me on the beak and side of my face, causing me to spin in place. Then it swiped a large paw down, pinning me to the ground on my side. Its tail snaked around and was right above my eye. I could see the poison on the tip with extreme clarity, and then it plunged it into my right shoulder.
Almost instantly I felt extreme pain, like my body was being eaten away by acid. I slowly became overwhelmed by the pain, the only thing I heard was;
“Fluffy, stop! No! You’re going to be fine!”
Warning: contains gore.
Use this map for locations
I dreamed of Operation Eclipse.
There were hundreds of Hippogriffs, all on a plateau south of the Broken Leylands, the land of Diamond Dogs. Funny, how they once had large cities. Each hippogriff had three escorts, one Griffin and two pegasi. There was a large round canister, about the size of an Earth Pony on steroids, with a small window on the side, showing green fire. What we had were prototypes of the prototypes, of what the higher up’s called ‘napalm’. It was some sort of magic powered fire that would stick to everything it touched, burning all the while, until a Unicorn put it out. Devastating, to say the least.
The two Princesses were standing in front of the entire Airborne Division, giving a speech. In short terms, the Diamond dogs were taking pony slaves, alongside Griffin and Hippogriff. The Princesses had enough, giving them multiple chances to give back the slaves to their families, and the warnings were ignored. The punishment? Well.. made my training look like a kid in a toystore.
“And to those who we send into battle, may the Sun and Moon guide your way. And to those that may not make it, we give a moment of silence.” The Lunar Princess said, bowing her head, followed by her sister. They then mounted a large chariot and flew the huge amount of miles back to Equestria.
The commander of the Division took the stand. “Everyone, I want you all to know, I am proud of you. What we are going to accomplish here, may kill hundreds, or thousands of Diamond Dogs, but will save hundreds of thousands of Ponies, Griffins and Hippogriffs. Good luck, and remember, this is for more than Equestria. this is for the Griffin Kingdom, and for the families of the affected.
“Now which one of you is a soldier?”
“North, South, East, West,
E-questria is the best,
Standing proud, Standing tall
We’re the greatest of them all!”
The Commander smiled, his voice amplified by a nearby unicorn, “Hooah!”
“Hooah!
Boom, like thunder,
We are gonna take you under,
Flash, like lightning,
We, are going to keep on fighting
Wind’s blowing, hurricane,
ERA’s gonna do it’s thing.
Soon as we, hit the ground,
Everyone else is going down,
Brace yourself,
Brace yourself,
HOOAH!”
“Celestia bless you. All of you.” The commander gave a little salute. “Mission is a go in five minutes. you know the signal... when the moon moves in front of the sun. Prep yourselves, it’s going to be a long day... for them, a long night.”
A large Hippogriff approached me, a star hanging on one of his chest feathers. “Hey, how ya’ holding up?”
“Good, sir.”
“Hey, leave the formalities during battle, just call me Shadow. I’m a fighter just like you.” He paused, looking for the right words. “You have any family?”
“Just my mother, Flame Star.”
“Father?”
“Disappeared after I was born.”
“I see... well my bondmate is in the Griffin Kingdom, ask around for a Hippogriff named Tali, and they’ll point you in the right way. If I don’t make it through the battle, or any future battle-”
“Don’t talk like that, you’ll see her again. But... same thing for me, alright?” I interrupted before he could make his day worse. He simply nodded. “Now get your ass in gear sir, time to rock and roll.”
He smiled and nodded his head. “Alright, lets go. I’ll see you on the far side.”
“Likewise.” I replied as he took his leave.
I cracked my neck and my talons, and took hold of the gargantuan sized canister. My wings parallel to the ground. I saw other soldiers doing the same. I looked at my escort, the Griffin in the lead, i was flanked on both sides by a pony. Alpha formation, I reminded myself. ‘Skits’, the Griffin, he never told us his name, but he said he saw things that we couldn’t. His color was blue with a white crest. Fire Wing, the pegasus on my right, her ability to manipulate clouds enough to make them solid was amazing. She was an orangish color but her tail was blue and tipped with orange, same with her mane. Thunder Struck, to my left, just by bucking the air, he can cause a loud strike of thunder. A greyer color, with lightning yellow mane and tail. I trained with them for almost my entire life. They were my brothers, and sister. I prayed to Celestia everything will be alright for them, and they make it to their families next week.
As the other Hippogriffs took hold of their canisters, and made the right pose, a shadow fell upon us, and then the surrounding countryside. My eye gazed up, to the solar eclipse above us. I kissed my tags. Now or never. I heard shadow, his voice as loud as he could yell, “GO GO GO!” the beating of thousands of wings filled the air, with the grunts of hippogriffs picking up the large and heavy cylinders. We took to the air, as well as other division’s did around us on separate plateaus .
I knew the numbers. Two thousand Hippogriffs, almost our entire species. Four thousand Pegasi, a large number to be reckoned with. And last but never least, two thousand Griffins, a large chunk of their own species. Get home safe, all of you.
If it wasn’t for the Eclipse, we would’ve blocked out the sun ourselves. The canisters we were carrying almost as big as myself. It hit me suddenly. What i had in my talons, was not a weapon meant for subduing, but for destruction, shock and awe. It was fire in a can, literally. I felt sorry for whoever it landed on. I sighed deeply and shook my head of the thoughts.
The First Airborne (from the plateau on the left of us) broke off, as did the Third (on the right) to come around and hit them from the side. It was an age old strategy, a large group hits the front as a distraction, while the other two would hit the side. Sadly though, we were not the distraction... I looked down and saw ponies on the ground, already fighting with the Dogs. Flares of magic igniting then quickly silenced by wooden bolts of crossbows. Some of the First’s pegusi broke off of their own formation and gathered up some clouds, and started to rain lightning on the dogs below to help their comrades on the ground.
The dogs poured out of the ground like angry ants, escaping their collapsed colony to neutralize the threat, no matter how big or small. There were thousands on the ground. We literally, pissed off the hornets nest.
I looked back up to see and hear shadow let out a screech, as did every other hippogriff in Second, and we dropped the canisters one by one, onto the ground below. The sounds I heard that day would scar me the rest of my life. Yelps of pain, screams of the dying and worse of all, the fire crackling in their pain, refusing to go out, to consume all of the fuel from its host. It was almost like a parasite.
Finally it got to me to drop the bomb, and I did... only to get my talon caught in the right grip. I dropped like a rock, flapping frantically to stay upright. After I regained my balance I looked down to see the dogs were no more than fifty feet below me.
I let go of the canister finally, and watched it drop into a large mass of the dogs. It exploded, the shrapnel killing some, as the fire engulfed all in its path like it was kinlin soaked in lighter fluid. I blocked out any noise they made and watched the fire spread farther as I flew. It was as if it was following me, though most likely rom inertia. Something whizzed by my head, and then another hit me on my right wing, forcing me to the ground.
I landed heavily, but caught myself before I could wipe out. Around me landed my escort, the Griffin and pegasi... as well as ten or so diamond dogs. Must remember training. Weak spots... I looked at their armor, which was clunky at best. Made of different gems, but still clunky and scarce, almost as if they ate some of it. I clenched my talons.
The entire Second had dropped their canisters around us and dived to the ground to help the forces on the ground. Around me were the tell tale screams of griffins and hippogriffs engaged in combat, now it is my turn.
I let out a loud screech and dived to the closest Dog, my talons reach out for his weapon, which was a spear. I yanked the spear out of its hands and spun around, it digging into one of his comrades neck, the back out, and through the former owners stomach. I noticed Fire Wing having trouble with one of the Dogs, and was pinned. I pulled out the spear with a sickening sound, and threw it at his attacker. Sadly my weapon was lost, as it went through the diamond dog and shattered against another's breast plate.
“He’s coming out!”
“What do we do, Doctor?”
“Put him back under, now! I want fifty milligrams in him now! Send someone out to fetch Dream Weaver!”
Doctor? They don’t belong in this... do they? It’s never happened before. Dream Weaver? I never heard of them either. In my distraction, a diamond dog bit into my right arm, just above my talon. I reach up to repel it, but had my arm trapped by another that came from nowhere.
“He’s fighting it! Put fifty more in!”
“Won’t that hurt him?”
“He’s a Hippogriff, it’ll take twenty times more to hurt him.”
“Yes, sir.”
I felt another Dog bite me, but on my other arm. I let out a loud screech, hoping to intimidate them and get them to let go. Thankfully it worked, I felt the pressure on both my talons loosen, and I shook them off. I didn’t hear anymore talking, and it was as if nothing moved from before it. I shook my head and dived at the large D-Dog, my talons ripping off the armor by the straps it had, holding the armor to the dog, and I quickly dug my beak into its neck, coming back with it full of blood. The dog fell, and I spit out the blood onto the ground, which landed in a sick spluch.
“Who’s next?”
As I said that, First and Third came from the sides, dropping their canisters into the fray, lighting up the ground behind me with multicolored fire. Which was, of course, followed by the screams of the dying. A small trail of fire exploded around me, but was mysteriously pushed around me so it wouldn’t land on me, in a sphere. It then shot off into a small row of Dogs behind the small ground attacking my Escorts and myself, causing them to hit the ground and start rolling to put themselves out... which wasn’t working.
I was suddenly knocked off my hooves by a larger explosion on my side, and felt myself hit the ground. I looked up to see my escorts on the ground as well, covering their ears... save for Skits. He stood and watched the fire, a growing smile on his beak.
“Skits! Help us before they attack again!” I yelled out.
“My name is not Skits,” He spat out the nickname like it was a curse. “My name is Thal.” He picked up two diamond knives, and dove into the fire, laughing and singing a song that one would consider happy.
What!? What is Thal doing- OH SHIT THAT IS THAL! No wonder he thought he knew me earlier!
A large force hit me in the side again, causing me to look up. It was a female griffin, with eye shadow on. “C’mon.. Wake up big guy. It’s been forever... please... for me...”
I blinked a couple of times, and my vision tunneled, with a light brighter then any explosion in front of me. Next thing I know it’s approaching me with the speed of a train.
I took a large gulp of air and brought my talon to my head. Of course, the first thing I say comes out like a freaking genius, “Wherea teh phuck am ah?”
Then Gilda tackles me on... a hospital bed? What happened? I thought that- The manticore. Celestia.. so help me I don’t hunt it down with a canister.
“Thank Celestia you’re back!”
“Heya G, what’s up?”
“You are, now. You’ve been out for a long time.”
“Define ‘out’ and ‘long time’ and ‘now’”
“You’ve been in a coma for the past two weeks, you woke up during the middle of the procedure to remove the tail of the manticore. Yes, the end with the poison got stuck in your shoulder. The poison they couldn’t fix, said the only way is for your body to work it out itself.”
“Two weeks? Doesn’t feel like it... seems like it was yesterday.”
“Regardless... you’re lucky Victory found you when she did.”
“Wait, Victory?”
“Yeah... turns out the manticore is her pet.”
“Da fuq?”
“Yeah. My thoughts too. It’s best not to look too far into it”
“So what now?”
“You get your lazy ass back in shape. You are in NO condition to fly, let alone fight.”
I sighed and facetaloned. “Time for some PT...”’
(A/N
Gnome - I think i'm in the wrong story. Solar said he would meet me here... stupid Pegasi, always late.
Solar - You sonofagun.
Gnome - So why did you want to meet me here?
Solar - To look at what I got.
Gnome - Well it seems ok. I like how you finally got your ass handed to you.
Solar - Shaddup. It had to happen eventually.
Gnome - True... so think we should tell them about our.... little plan?
Solar - Sure, why the hell not. Alright everyone, another crossover with Gnome is on the way. It is going to be, as Rainbow would say: AWESOME!
Gnome - Hells yes it will be it involves monsters from ,World Of Warcraft Dungeons And Dragons and some native to Equestria.
Solar - Guest starring: …. uhhh.... seven very peculiar enemies.
Gnome - That and Badger is going to get a new beating stick. Its very pointy.
Solar - Thal is also going to be a main character as well, and has a very special place.
Gnome - Well thats all we can say for now but the colab starts at the end of Solars next chapter so heres hoping it won't take him a month this time *stare* lets hope.
Solar - Tough luck, but I’ll be trying. Anyways, shameless promoting, I have been working on a new story, ‘In the Darkness the Lone Blades Light the Way’ have a look see.
http://www.fimfiction.net/story/28015/In-the-Darkness%2C-The-Lone-Blades-Light-the-Way