Freedom Isn't Free
The Alpha went down easily, caught off guard by my sudden attack. My claws, the claws of a beast of myth and legend, cut through his leather armor and skin like scissors through rice paper. He screamed in pain and agony as I tore my claws free from his flesh as I turned to the next dog, swiping at the beast’s chest, easily slashing through its protection, leaving a stream of his scarlet blood to pour from the four clean cuts on his chest. Flicking my paw, I cleaned it of residue blood, and received a spear to the chest and a mace to the head. It didn't hurt. Me, that is, the two who hit me though were now holding their intestines in after a swipe with my claws to their gut.
I'm fighting back the urge to puke.
I have already taken down four out of the thirty dogs facing against me, and still the others are coming. I had hoped they would have fled after the first few fell, but no. It seems more will have to fall. It scares me, honestly, how easy it is for me to kill these dogs. A single swipe of my claws is enough to decapitate a taller dog, I accidently crushed a smaller dog when I rolled out of the way of an arrow aiming for my eye. It was like I was fighting against an army of caterpies as a charizard, too god loving easy.
And it sickened me.
It shouldn't be this easy to take a life. Duck, head but, slash out, ignore the pained cry. I shouldn't even be killing in the first place! Slash, duck under arrow, rush dog, ignore sword strike to my side. And yet here I am, with the deaths of thirt-er-fourteen dogs on my hands. Paws, whatever, I still have fifteen deaths now to bear down on my soul. And it was so easy! It has gotten to the point that nearly every other move I make is a killing blow.
My movements have gotten smoother, every move is more and more precise. Is this what it means to be a predator? To be able to kill with ease, to dominate those weaker than you? To kill with nary a thought? I shook my head to rid myself of those stray thoughts. It wasn't that I was a predator that made killing these dogs a easy physical task, it was my form. The greatest armor for skin and the sharpest blades for claws. A beast that took a man with the strength of a god to kill it, now with the mind of a man. I was a deadly combination, a foe these dogs never stood a chance with.
The last dog fell, its face frozen in terror on its detached head. The ground, once a dusty barren patch of earth, now soaked with the blood of thirty dead dogs, the bodies strewn about. The only patch of earth spared from the bloodshed was where I had left the pony earlier, right next to the canyon wall. A patch of earth with a now very much awake pony.
Oh, this will end well.
Blood. There was blood everywhere, and bodies. Well, parts of bodies. It was like a scene from a nightmare. Or from one of my dreams. Neapolitan thought grimly, as she kicked away the detached arm of a Diamond Dog that had landed a little too close to her for comfort. She had been a slave to the dogs for nearly three months, by her count. It was hard to keep track of time when you’re underground. And in that time she had often fantasized about what she would do to her masters if she had the chance. It often ended in a blood bath like this, though she usually imagined she would be laughing right about now as she gazed at the remains of her hated enemies. But instead she just sat there and starred at their remains.
And she smiled.
She didn't stop smiling as the lion, the one who had slaughtered the demons who had kept her and many others trapped in their hellish home, slowly made its way towards her. Its pace was slow, its head was also low, and it had what could only be considered a resigned look upon its face.
What does it want with me? She couldn't help but wonder. Was it about to claim her as its prize? Eat her? Maybe it was just going to slay her as it had the Diamond Dogs. She continued to puzzle over her fate at the paws of this lion as it approached, right up until it came to a stop right in front of her.
"Are you all right?" The lion asked, worry in its rumbling voice.
Neapolitan couldn't help it, she laughed. Here was this enormous beast, the slaughterer of her personal demons, worrying over her. She laughed, allowing the relief over not being eaten, not being immediately killed as she had thought. She laughed at the deaths of her tormentors, and most of all, laughed in joy at finally being free. Free of those dogs, free of being forced to strip the earth of jewels with her bare hoofs, of carrying mine carts laden with thousands of gems. Free to face life as she wanted once again. Even if that life might be cut down by this lion if he decided to kill her later, it was still hers. Not the dogs.
Eventually, she managed to calm herself down enough to respond. "I'm fine, I'm just so fuckin happy right now." She stood up, stretching. "My names Neapolitan." She smiled up at the lion who even now that she was standing towered over her. "Thanks for killing those assholes, I suppose I owe you now."
The lion just looked at her funny for a moment, "You owe me nothing." The lion shook his head. "I killed them because they refused to release you and the other slaves they held. I killed them for your freedom, because all beings deserve to be free. You don't owe me anything, because all I did was right a wrong." He looked over the chunks of what was once a small army of Diamond Dogs, "Even if thirty beings had to die for me to do it." He sounded almost sad at the thought of the dead dogs, but that couldn't be right, could it? Who would be sad to see those bastards go? Not me, I'd be glad if I never saw another dog again.
"Well aren't you a fuckin saint? You do this often? Just, go around wastelands, saving mares and having a jolly good time?" She begin to pick her way through the bodies, heading towards the mouth of the cave. She liked to think that she was a good judge of character, and right now she felt that she could trust this lion.
"No, this is my first time. And I am no saint." The lion replied, laughing a little, and began following her through the field of death. "Where are you going?"
"Well you said you wanted to free everypony right?"
"Yes, that was my intent."
"Well, there all in here. And trust me, it's a maze down there. Luckily, I know where to go." Neapolitan shot the lion a cocky smirk, "Think of this as my way of saying 'Thank you Mr. Lion sir for saving me from those damn dogs.' Okay?"
"Mr. Lion?" The lion asked, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
Neapolitan turned around and gave the lion a bemused smirk, "Well, you haven't gotten around to telling me your name now, have ya?"
The lion stopped for a moment, before replying with a bit of a chuckle. "No, I suppose I haven't. My name is Godric. It is a pleasure to meet you, Neapolitan."
Neapolitan didn't lie, the place was a maze. I was lost after the third turn, and there were many, many more turns after that one. Down and down we went, passing chambers filled with the riches of the earth. Rubies and sapphires, gold and silver, gems the size of my paws. Rooms filled with wealth, and still down we went through the tunnels, going deeper into the bowls of the planet. The more polished tunnels that we had started in soon turned rough, jagged stones poking from the ground and walls, and parts of the passage way was missing, as though someone had torn chunks of it out.
My foul mouthed guide gave a running commentary as we delved into the lair of these Diamond Dogs, as she called the ape-dog hybrids I had killed earlier. I found it hilarious that there was a race named after a David Bowie song. Neapolitan looked at me funny when I laughed at the name, which only caused me to laugh harder, until I realized I was laughing at the name of the species I had just butchered thirty of. That brought me down fast.
We passed by a small underground river, which Neapolitan explained was the only source of drinking and cleaning water in the entire network of caves. Disgusting, but they had to do what they had to do. After all, it's not like they had a choice. We passed a small patch of farmland, somehow filled with plants even without the light of the sun. How that worked, I didn't have a clue, but I wasn't really wanting to question it.
Finally, we reached a large wooden door with numerous locks on it. It was obvious that this is where the Diamond Dogs kept their slaves. Whips and chains hung from racks on the wall near the door, empty mine carts with harnesses littered the hall way, and there was a sign with the words 'Slave Room' (the 'r' was backwards and the words were barley legible) hanging on the door.
"Well, here we are." Neapolitan began, walking up to the door, a sour look on her face, "Home sweet home." She turned back towards me, before pointing a hoof at the locked door, "How you planning on getting that sucker open? 'Cause, let me tell ya, stupid as those assholes may have been, they never let those keys out of their sight."
Well, that was unfortunate. Briefly, I thought back to what Bastet had told me, about how this was all a game to the gods, and wondered if this was the beginning of a fetch quest, find the key and save the civilians, maybe I would get one of those 'trinkets' Bastet had mentioned. The thought of this, all of this, being a game was comforting. If this was a game then the lives I had taken didn't really matter, they were just a part of the game, inconsequential.
I shook my head to rid myself of such thoughts. Bastet had also insisted this world was real, and a game to a god was something much different than a game to a mortal. My actions had consequences, and that was the death of some for the life of others. I would have to deal with the fallout of that later, but for now, I had slaves to free.
"Well then," I strode forward confidently, "It is a good thing I have a universal key."
"A universal what?"
I didn't respond with words, instead I sliced through the locks and part of the wood with my claws, opening the door. Who needs fancy lock-picking skills or fancy magic keys when you have claws that can cut through nearly anything? Eat your heart out Sora!
The door swung open, letting light poor into the darkness that was on the other side.
Fourteen Ponies like Neapolitan, three unicorns, six pegasi, fifteen griffons, a minotaur and a small black bug like pony creature were all crammed into a room much to small for such a large group. They all looked roughed up, beaten, and in most cases, defeated. Fur was missing on a couple of the ponies, the minotaur had lash marks across his torso, and handfuls of feathers were missing from the griffons. The fur on the ponies was matted and disheveled, and every being there was chained to the floor. They all flinched away from the light provided by the torches along the wall, spilling into the dark room. The minotaur just stared straight at me.
"Are you here to kill us?" The minotaur asked, a hint of hope in his voice. The other slaves perked up at that, looking at me expectantly.
I didn't respond for a moment, just gazing at the poor beings before me in sadness for a moment. How horrible it must have been, to be a slave, that the thought of death brought hope. Neapolitan stood quietly behind me. I had thought that they might be like her, full of spirit and will, ready to be free. Not, for lack of a better word, broken. How long had they been here, how long had she been here? Why had no one done anything before hand?
"No." I finally replied. "I am not here to kill you." They all seemed to deflate, losing what little hope they had for the future. I couldn't just let them sink into despair, so I blurted out my purpose with little. "I am here to set you free."
One of the ponies snorted, "Yeah right." The pony sent a weak glare my way, "You're probably just going to enslave us as well, or eat us. Don't lie to us, the dogs would never just let us go. You probably bought us, didn't you? Or they caught some more unlucky bastards and figured they would get rid of us to make way for some fresh blood." He snorted once again and spat at the ground before me in disgust, "Free, yeah right."
I was about to respond, probably with some kind of flowery speech that was totally not stolen from Transformers, when Neapolitan got impatient and shoved her way past me into the room. I don't know what she had been doing while I had been in the room, but she now was wearing a small gold circlet, had a ruby earing and now looked and smelled much better than before.
"What's taking you so long? I thought you said you were going to free these guys?" She asked with a huff, clearly she was not a patient one.
"I did, and I plan to, but they seem skeptical about my desire to free them."
She rolled her eye's. "Alright, I'll talk to them." She walked a little bit further into the room.
The pony who had spoken up earlier look shocked at Neapolitans appearance, in fact they all did. "Neapolitan, is that you? I thought you at least had made it!"
"Yeah, it's me Emerald. And I did make it, about a mile before those damn dogs caught up to me. Luckily, this guy," She jabbed a hoof in my direction, "Came along and beat those dogs down. Then he dragged my unconscious self back here, demanded you guys to be free, and when those mutts said no? He killed every last fuckin one of 'em!"
An excited round of whispers broke out among the slaves at Neapolitans declaration. I shifted uneasily as the eyes of nearly everyone shifted onto me. Everyone in the room seemed more, well, alive now. Whispering in earnest with each other. Maybe their beaten down behaver was an act, meant to fool the dogs into thinking they were all truly subservient?
"Are you serious, Nea? Are they all really dead?" He asked in a feverish tone. The one known as Emerald seemed to be aptly named. His whole color scheme seemed to be just various shades of green. Though, his mane was streaked with silver to give it variety. Personally I would have called him Lucky, because he reminded me of the leprechaun from the cereal. But that's just me.
"I had to walk through a pile of dismembered dogs just to get here." Neapolitan replied smugly. It kind of disturbed me how casually she spoke of the deaths of all those dogs, but then again I wasn't the one who was enslaved by them. So, I really couldn't really judge her.
There was a moment of silence, and then an explosion of noise. All the beings around me cheered at the news of the dogs death. They all cheered, some hugged, and the little bug pony thing with the moss like hair seemed to be almost glowing with joy, and a strangely satisfied look on its face. Almost like it had just eaten a satisfying meal, strange that. While the now former slaves were cheering, I decided to start the actual 'freeing' part of 'freeing the slaves' and went from one to another, cutting chains as I went, being careful not to cut into skin.
Most that I freed simply thanked me, before moving on back to joyfully talking with their friends, most talking about plans they had once they made it to a place known as 'Equestria'. A few, however, hugged me and barely managed to stutter out thanks through their tears of joy. One stuck out among all the others though. The little bug-pony chattered something in some strange language, before buzzing it's wings and flying onto my back. There it sat regally, as though it was a royal sitting upon their loyal steed. Or, I could have been reading to much into it and the little creature just wanted to rest on something that wasn't stone and I was one of the few things there that was big enough to bare it's weight, slight though it was. Either way, I really didn't mind. It was rather cute, in a alien sort of way.
As I made my way between all the cheering beings, with bug-pony sitting comfortably on my back, I happened to over hear one of the unicorns ask Neapolitan if they had to worry about me growing hungry and eating them.
I actually laughed a little at that, catching the two off guard.
"Princess fucking Celestia, don't sneak up on me like that Godric! You damn near gave me a heart attack!" Neapolitan berated me, glaring up at me.
I laughed again, even when she was glaring at me, the little pony was still pretty dang adorable. Seeing her glare was not having her desired effect, Neapolitan opted to pout and turned away, walking over towards a couple of adamantly talking griffons. With a simple shrug, that got me a little bit of angry chatter from the thing on my back, I sliced through the chain holding the unicorn. Luckily, that was the last one.
"Thank you." She mumbled looking away from me.
"You are welcome." I reply with a smile. "You know, you don't have to worry about me getting hungry and trying to eat you."
"I don't?" The unicorn asked, not sounding as though she believed me at all.
"No." I shook my head, sending my mane flopping about. "Thanks to a blessing I received by Bastet, I no longer need to eat or drink to live. That is, as long as I get a little sunlight each day." I explained, not at all concerned about revealing my lack of a need for food, or talking about the goddess. I had no reason to hide it.
"Really?" The pony asked, surprised. "Wait, who's Bastet?"
"Bastet is a goddess, and the reason I am here." I walked away from the pony towards a frantically waving Neapolitan. It was easier to move through the room now, as a few braver souls had wandered out to the hall. She was standing next to the minotaur, the largest of the griffons, a unicorn and a pegasus. "Is something wrong, Neapolitan?"
"No, nothings wrong." The others nodded their agreement, "It's just, we were wondering, what now?"
I blinked in confusion. "What do you mean, what now?"
"She means," The minotaur began, his voice rather soft, "What will we do now? We are free, but what are we to do? Where are we to go?" He waved his arm in the general direction of the others, "We have all been taken from our lives, some of us have been down here for years. Our country men most likely think we are dead, so we have nothing to return to. What are we to do?"
They all looked at me, waiting for my response, hoping for some great words of wisdom or reassurance. I was very sorry to disappoint them. "I don't know."
They all just looked at me in shock for a moment, before Neapolitan spoke up. "What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I mean what I said; I don't know. I don't know where you could go, because I don't know where I am. I don't know what you are to do, because I don't know what I am to do. We are all lost here." They all looked so dejected, did they really think I would have some kind of magical answers for them? "However, I can offer some advice." I couldn't leave them high and dry, "Gather whatever you can, food, water, gems and gold, though mostly focus on food and water. Gather as much as you can carry, load up the mine carts if you must, and then go."
"Go where?" The griffon asked harshly.
"Wherever you feel is best. Personally, I am heading out north tomorrow." I reply with a shrug. The thing on my back chittered something and then bonked my head, before lying down. "And I guess this thing is coming too."
They all shared a look between themselves. "Then we shall follow you and the changeling. At least, until we reach Equestria." The minotaur announced decisively.
Changeling, hmm? Interesting. And again someone mentions this 'Equestria'. I shall have to look into it latter, it sounds important. "If that is what you want, your welcome to tag along until we reach this 'Equestria' place." I said with a grin, "It will be nice to have companions to travel with. Though I must ask, do any of you know the name of the changeling on my back?"
Neapolitan sauntered over to me, pilfered jewelry gleaming in the torch light, "Not a clue, no one knows her name. But that's mostly can understand what the fuck she's saying." She shrugged her shoulders, or whatever you call them on a pony, "Most of us just call her changeling or 'hey you', but I guess you can pick something more permanent out."
I thought for a moment. Did I really have the right to give her a name, when she most likely had one of her own? I didn't even know her! But, still, I couldn't just go around saying the changeling all the time, now could I? If worse came to worse I can just say it was a nickname, and use her real one if I ever figured it out.
"Well, I guess I'll call you Mimi, unless you have any objections?" I said to the newly dubbed Mimi, who just shot me a lazy look, before curling into a ball and falling asleep. "I'll take that as a go ahead." I chuckled and turned back to Neapolitan, who was frowning a little. "What?"
"Mimi? Really? That's a stupid name."
"Well I like it." I replied with a huff, and turned and began walking down the tunnel.
"Where are you going?" Neapolitan asked as she raced after me, having to lightly trot to keep up with my longer paces now that I wasn't following her.
"Looting, and maybe a place to get some sleep." I replied honestly, while peeping into some of the side caverns that already had others going through them in earnest.
"You're looting?" She asked with a look of disbelief.
"Yeah, why?" I asked as I finally found a room that someone hadn't already claimed. It was mostly filled with jewelry, unlike the other storage rooms that had contained raw and unrefined metals and gems. This must be where she got that circlet and earing. I realized as I shifted through the many, most likely stolen, items.
She walked up beside me and began shifting through the treasure as well, occasionally inspecting one thing or another before discarding it. "You just don't seem the type."
I hooked my paw on a rather nice looking ankh on a chain. What an Egyptian symbol of life was doing in a place like this, let alone attached to a chain big enough for me, was anyone's guess, but I liked it. While attempting to get it on, I replied, "Oh? Then what is my type?"
"You know, the morally uptight guy that doesn't like it when ponies try to have fun. You know, like the royal guard." She picked up what looked like a golden apple, and turned it in the torchlight inspecting, before tossing it over her shoulder.
"You figured I was a stick in the mud? You've only known me for maybe two hours, three hours tops." I turned from the pile of jewelry and made my way over to a corner of the room.
"Yeah, I guess your right. So, what you doing now?" She asked as she trotted over to where I had carefully laid myself down, careful not to wake Mimi.
"I'm going to take a nap. We have a big day tomorrow, after all." I let out a loud yawn, "And today wasn't exactly without excitement itself."
Neapolitan nodded with a yawn. "You got that right. Between running from those bastards and the excitement from finally being truly free of them, I'm beat. Mind if I sleep with you?" I raised a brow. "Not like that! It's just cold in here and you look all soft and warm."
I chuckle lightly, and motion for her to lie next to me. "There is only one way to find out." With the invitation extended I rested my forehead on my fore paws and rested my eye's. It wasn't but a moment latter that I felt Neapolitan curl up next to me with a content sigh. It had been a trying day for us all, and I could not help but wonder what the future held.
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I take it that's one of Bastet's gifts she left scattered?
Whee~ Bath in the blood of a thousand dogs. Also Mimi's a changeling after my own heart!
6559462 I love that 'ling. She's based on a certain character from a certain online comic. I loves her.
6559459 Perhaps
Yes, blood and loot! The essentials of every good adventure. Heh, the idea of a caravan consisting of nearly every species on Equis, lead by ginormous Lion, this I find very amusing. Somehow has something of The Animals of Farthing Wood to me.
Also, Mimi the Changeling using Godric as a giant pillow, that made my heart melt with all the D´aaaw~ness. <3
6559528 Filly sized changeling on Celestia sized lion, it's like those pictures of a kitten with a gorilla, you can't help but daww'. Blood and loot, wouldn't be a chess verse if there wasn't both.
I'm calling this caravan of misfits The Pride. Not really a spoiler, just a name for the group, for easier reference.
6559574
Damn, now I have to google pictures about a gorilla and a kitten.
Also, high time I toss my own, poor and unsuspecting piece into this Verse. Reading them stories latley really got me in Chess-Verse story writhing mood.
6559772
Bwahahaha, Just find pictures of Coco the gorilla and her sweetie I'm 90% certain you'll have an easier time of that than I did when I tried looking for a cat riding a lion. Found something close, it was funny, but it wasn't the same.
6559772 Get to it, the game is waiting.
Also, this is a chess game, right? And I'm a lion. Guess that makes me the king!
Here we go next chapter:the start of adventure!
He does have the wise sage part down, doesn't he?
Or would it be the Optimus Prime part?
Is that a Griffindor reference? (I’m a Harry Potter fan)