A Better Place, A Better Time

by Mental_Zero

Survival of the Fittest

I had faced down plenty of heavyweights in my time fighting the Infected, but not even a pack of their strongest hunters could come close to being as terrifying as the three-headed dog standing before me. It was a horrid sight, all of its fur had fallen off, leaving a naked, sore-mottled hide behind. Its claws and teeth had become oil black, but the most terrifying thing about it wasn't what had changed, so much as what hadn't changed. The monstrous dogs eyes were exactly as they had been described for centuries in literature from Earth and Equestria, bottomless black pits, lit with what looked like the fires of Hell itself, holding a rabid viciousness and unsettling intelligence within them. It may look a whole lot different, but Cerberus was just like many other dogs at its core; a hunter, bred to chase down its prey and kill it without hesitation or mercy. And all six of those eyes were pointed straight at me. Great. It charged straight at me, intending to take me down in one pounce. I dove forwards, barely managing to slip under it as it leaped where I had been standing, giving a quick swipe at its underbelly. Unfortunately, all that seemed to do was piss it off, as it let off a furious howl and was practically back on me when I turned to face it again,

"Shit!" I had to dive to one side to avoid getting crushed, "Boss, you gotta take out his speed advantage. If he gets a good grip on the ground, we're screwed." I put as much distance between myself and Cerberus, we circled each other, watching each others movements, waiting for the other to move. I was about to send out a Unit to distract it, but Fail piped up, "Don't, Boss, it looks like Evil could take control of any copies we send out. We're going to have to go it alone on this fight." I cursed under my breath and let my claws slide out, waiting for the big dog to try and rush me again. Sadly, it was not so simple. It got near a wall and reached out with one paw, knocking a few stones loose from the wall, then kicking them straight at me. I barely managed to dodge them, and had no time to dodge it when it charged right behind the stones. I at least managed to keep it from swallowing me whole, but that didn't stop it from tearing my right arm clean off. I leaped back, clutching at the stump, dripping leaking biomass,

"Shit on a stick!" I fell to one knee, gasping from pain, "We can't let it get in another shot like that." I bit down and forced more mass into the stump, quickly reshaping a rough copy of my lost arm, fighting through the agony. I saw it tearing at my severed arm when I heard Evil's voice inches behind me,

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, I'm disappointed in you, Ryan."

He followed up by kicking me in the back hard enough to send me flying across the garden and into the outer wall of the castle. I dragged myself back to my feet,

"Two versus one?"

"This doesn't look good, Boss."

"Thanks for the breaking news."

Evil grinned broadly, looking at Cerberus, "Isn't he just the sweetest little thing? Sure, he plays rough sometimes, but he's a big teddy bear at heart."

I tried to better restore my arm, but it was still barely any better than a mannequin's. I kept glancing back and forth from Evil to Cerberus, trying to keep track of them. Cerberus was still chewing on my arm, Evil was watching me silently, a manic gleam in his eyes, "We can't fight both of them at once, Boss. We gotta take one out now if we're going to survive this."

I looked around the gardens for a moment, then threw out a tendril at the wall directly above Evil, hauling on it as hard as I could manage, sending the whole thing tumbling down on his head. That was the idea, anyway, but he dodged it easily, "A good idea, but hardly imaginative, Ryan. Come on, think outside of the box for once, I know there's some creative spirit in you, even if you did steal most of it from your victims."

With that, Cerberus rushed me again, pinning me up against the castle walls, its heads on either side snapping at me. I dug my claws into the head of the first one, that at least got it to back off, the center head lolling slightly to one side. I snapped tendrils at its face, driving it back further,

"I don't think that idea will work too well, Fail." He kept hammering away on his end,

"Then what do you suggest?"

I took a deep breath, "Open His cage."

There was a brief moment of silence, save for Cerberus' pained growling, "Boss, are you sure that's a good idea?"

"No, but it's all we've got right now."

I began preparing the needed biomass for His entry, "Shit, I hope this works." I heard him running out, accompanied by the jingling of keys. Evil looked at me quizzically, Cerberus seemed to have recovered and was getting ready for another charge, "Shit, shit, shit, which key is it?"

Cerberus began to slowly pad towards me, quickly picking up speed, "Hurry it up, Fail!"

"I'm trying! Come on, come on, work!"

I heard the small click-thunk of an old locks tumblers falling into place and opening. There was a split second of silence as Cerberus entered the air, headed straight towards me. I shaped the biomass to suit its incoming inhabitant, pointed at Cerberus, and roared with every shred of authority I could muster, "Rage, attack!"

I felt Him rush through my mind and into the body I shaped,

keeping the momentum and hitting Cerberus like a runaway freight train, carrying them both through the air and over the castle walls, out of sight. I slowly turned to face Evil, baring my teeth. He looked at me with an expression that bounced between mild surprise and amusement,

"Bravo, Ryan, you're finally taking risks. But sadly, without my brother in you, you just lost a rather large amount of your ferocity. A good gamble to deal with my pet, but you still fail to look ahead at the problem of facing me afterwards."

I shifted my weight, getting ready to move, "That's implying that you were ever a very good fighter yourself, Evil."

He nodded thoughtfully, "You speak the truth, but you are forgetting one very important factor. I've been spending these last few months training with one of the more powerful beings in this dimension, who also just happened to take control of a sun goddess." Flames trailed up his arms, completely engulfing them, "And I may or may not have learned a few things about magic from my associate in that time."

He slammed his hands together, sending a pillar of fire the size of a house barreling towards me. I quickly formed a shield and slammed it into the ground, ducking behind it. I may not have gotten hit directly by the flames, but I still felt Perdition's wrath snapping at me, peeling back a large amount of skin and completely burning off my hair. I fought to regenerate the lost tissue, but it was an uphill battle against the flames. I donned the best armor I could manage at the moment and kicked the shield as hard as I could straight towards Evil. For a brief moment, I felt the hottest, most devastating mind-shattering pain I have ever experienced, barely protected against the full assault of the flames. But it would seem Lady Luck decided to give me a hand, as I heard a dull thud and the flames suddenly ceased. I fell to my, knees, gasping from the pain. I heard a pained wheeze from Evil and saw him get back to his feet, one arm completely crushed, the shield embedded in a wall near him,

"Not bad, not bad at all. You're starting to get a hold of thinking on your feet, Ryan. Or thinking at all, for that matter."

I shakily got back to my feet, maybe half of my body still covered by skin, my jacket burnt to a charcoal black, "Why thank you, Evil, I try my best to impress."

I reached into my jacket, reaching for what I had stowed in my bag. I had just barely gotten a grip on it before Evil smashed into me, carrying me to the nearest wall. The impact nearly snapped my spine, I was seeing stars, but I kept a grip on the object. Evil kicked my arm, pulling it and the object out of my jacket. I was holding a two foot long metal pipe, bent slightly at the last six inches. It had an inch and a half wide hole bored into the unbent portion, and it was only adorned with a small button, covered by my thumb, "Oh, and what is this, a cudgel? Did you intend to beat me with a lead pipe, Ryan?"

It was my turn to grin like a maniac as I gripped the personal project I had been working on with Iron Hoof the last few months, "No, no I don't, Evil." I gave him a solid punch in the groin, pushing him back. I raised the pipe to face him, "This!" I roared, channeling every last shred of Ash Williams I had, "Is my boomstick!"

I slammed my thumb down on the button, and with a roar of thunder that would've put Pa's old double-barrel to shame, sent roughly five pounds worth of tungsten shot going several thousand feet per second straight at Evil's head. Needless to say, it did its work like a miracle, taking his head and a good chunk of his upper body off. I threw the shotgun aside and hauled myself to my feet, laughing like a psychopath, "BOOM, HEADSHOT!"

Fail and Safe stopped typing,

"Activating Failsafe Mode now." I felt power flood into my body, the wounds I had suffered fading away in an instant, my body shifting to an even more powerful form.

Evil had already begun to regenerate, and I experienced another first for him. I saw real, genuine fear on his face. I let out a roar that could have rivaled my shotgun and charged him, sinking my claws into his chest and carrying him to the opposite wall, then through it and through the next three walls before coming to a stop, switching to hammerfists and pounding him into the floor savagely. I plunged my hand into his chest and tore out his heart, still beating. And with one final smash, I crushed his skull like a grape. I grabbed the body and dragged it back to the garden, tossing it into the pond, and watching it as it dissipated into nothing. I caught a flicker of movement and saw The Beast atop the wall, spattered with blood, watching me. He dropped down and walked over to me without a word. I shifted back my weight,

"Don't think I won't destroy you, too."

He looked at me silently, then pointed to the pond, speaking in a voice like grinding stone,

"Weak." He pointed to himself, "Strong." I looked at him unflinchingly, he returned the look, then pointed to me, "Stronger."

He turned and started walking away without a word. I took a step towards him, "Where do you think you're going?"

He didn't look back, "Away."

I felt my claws begin to form, "You know I can't let you run wild."

He stopped and looked back at me. He pointed to himself again, "No more violence."

I nearly stumbled back at those words, "What?"

He pointed at me, "Stronger. Purpose fulfilled."

I paused, thinking about what he had just said, "You were supposed to make me stronger?"

He nodded, "Make stronger, leave when stronger. Purpose fulfilled"

I pointed back to the pond, "What about him?"

He remained stony-faced, "Make smarter. Purpose fulfilled."

With that, he padded away, hopped over the fence and disappeared into the night. Unfortunately I was given no time to celebrate, as the battle between Luna and what was left of the Elements versus Nightmare Celestia seemed to still be in full swing. I heard Fails and Safes voice together,

"We have to move, now." I quickly grabbed the shotgun, stuffing it back into my jacket and sprinted to the castle throne room.

Things were not looking good when I arrived. Luna was holding up a shield of magic around her and the Elements, Celestia was pouring an incredible amount of fire onto it. Twilight and Rarity were doing what they could to bolster Luna's shield, the rest were tending to Fluttershy. She looked the worst of all, the infection was spreading quickly. I dove behind the shield before I got caught in the fire. Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie snapped their heads up to look at me. Pinkie spoke first, panic creeping into her voice,

"OhmigoshRyanareyouokayyou'recoveredinbloodandsmelllikeburntmeatandFluttershyisreallyreallysickwedon'tknowwhattodo."

I put up my hand to silence her,

"I'm fine, Pinkie." I turned to look at Applejack, "AJ, do you know if there's any way to fully wield the elements without Fluttershy?"

She shook her head,

"Ah don't think so, sugarcube. What with Twilight and Rarity helping Luna with the shield, we'd be lucky to get to use them even with Fluttershy."

I took a deep breath, "Stand back a bit."

"Boss, what are you doing?"

I rolled up my sleeves and put my hands over Fluttershy's head and chest, "If there's going to be any chance of them beating Celestia, Fluttershy needs to be on her feet now."

I readied myself, "Boss, we've sustained a lot of damage tonight, this could easily be a one-way trip."

I nodded, "I know."

Rainbow Dash looked at me, "W-what are you talking about, Ryan?"

I looked back at her, "She needs to be on her feet, now, Dash. I can remove the infection and heal her, but I don't know if I'll survive it."

Their faces dropped, Pinkie stepped up, "B-but Ryan, how will we have human-pony parties without you?"

I bit my lip, "I don't know, Pinkie. I'm sure you'll find a way. Dash, I want you to do me a favor."

She looked at me, "Yeah?"

I swallowed, "If I don't make it out of here, tell Twilight I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise and that I love her."

She flinched slightly at hearing that, "O-okay, Ryan, I will."

I took a deep breath and looked down at Fluttershy, "Bless you, Fluttershy, on the power of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. May the road always rise up to meet you, and may the wind always be at your back."

I extended tendrils into her, seeking out the infection and consuming it, repairing the corrupted tissue and restoring her consciousness with a burst of adrenaline. I fell onto my side as she sat up with a gasp. I saw Rainbow embrace her for a moment before Applejack said something to them. My hearing had faded to a constant, deep roaring sound, kind of like when you're underwater. Blackness was creeping at the edges of my vision. Applejack and Rainbow Dash helped Fluttershy up and got her Element on her. I saw Twilight and Rarity turn back towards them. They all grouped up, a rainbow of light beginning to form between them. Luna dropped her shield an instant before a brilliant white light erupted from the Elements, crashing into Celestia, bathing her in its brilliance. With the last of my strength, I reached into my breast pocket and held onto a small charm, the bullet that was used to kill my brother. Twilight rushed over to me as soon as the light faded. Then, blackness.

And when you wake up

Everything is gonna be fine

I guarantee that you wake in a better place

In a better time

So you're tired of living

Feel like you might give in

Well don't

It's not your time

Author's Note:

Yep, we're going to leave off here while I rewrite the earlier stuff. Why? Because I love cliffhangers and I'm a jerk like that.

Comments

[H550]

What song?

[Mental_Zero]

5102888 A Better Place, A Better Time by Streetlight Manifesto

[shinhi]

God dam cliff hangers!

[H550]

5103978 seems appropriate.

[Mental_Zero]

5104123 Would it make you feel better if I told you the next chapter was written, just waiting to be published with a single click of a button?

[Mental_Zero]

5125564 You greatly overestimate how good of a person I am if you think this is a self-insert.

[Mental_Zero]

5143317 In that case, it would seem that I have a lot of new paragraphs to create. Thank you for that snippet of information, good sir.

[Mental_Zero]

5244277 *shrug* I'm rewriting everything, I'll fix that when I get to it

[Mental_Zero]

5249739 Can I hire you as my PR guy?

[Mental_Zero]

5255866 He was a coyote pup Ryan found in the woods and subsequently took in.

[Flint]

noooooooooo i need more

[Ink Sword]

I think that this was written really well, and I hope to be able to read more.

[DanteVael]

Cool story, bro.

Couldn't resist. Anyway, despite a few continuity errors, and the dialog not being properly split, this is a good story. Had me cackling like a maniac.

[AlphaNexus]

Hiatus?

[alfaomega]

you moter fucker

[Rhombicosidodecahedron]

5996542

[alfaomega]

7274050 10/10 woud make unintendid refrence agean

[The Crimson Reaper]

7396384 you are welcome...
Though I have a question for you....

MmmBUTSCRACHAAH!?

[VikingOtaku6]

5127128 I have but one question for you... One query that is burning my brain with all-consuming curiousity... One that may determine our fates, in all of it's intrinsic importance: "Do you like bananas?"

[Layman11]

I wish this story was updated

[VikingOtaku6]

8592026
Eeyup!

[Lovecraftia]

7396930
Ich dachte, das war Deutsch .. ihr alle saugt euch das?

[Lovecraftia]

8905487
Ah. entweder deine Prahlerei oder du bist wirklich so mächtig oder so. Wie auch immer, der Autor wird bei unserem Gespräch verwirrt sein :) Nun, da ist die Tatsache, dass ich gerade das Kapitel beendet habe ... und das Buch ... Traurigkeit.