Returning Survivor

by Itchy

Drawing Attention

Mecha groaned, while slowly opening his eyes. Blinking, he slowly cleared the dots from his vision caused by the bright lights above him. A quick glance around the room told him that he was probably the most popular guest at the hospital at the moment. Strike that, he had the most visitors in hospital history, as he just spotted the young foals standing next to Cheerilee.

“I didn't realize that I was so popular,” Mecha told them, holding still to avoid aggravating his injuries.

Everypony rushed up to his bedside, each asking him how he was doing, if he was okay, or what had happened. Holding up his mechanical hoof, Mecha told them, “One at a time, one at a time,” silencing the crowd, allowing Mecha to see who'd come to visit him. Everypony that had caught the end of his fight was here, as well as his aunt to no surprise. Big Macintosh and Doctor Whooves were present as well, with Sugary Spice standing in between them, Snips and Snails barely visible behind them.

Sighing, Mecha said, “All right, let's start with the most important one here...” and as Celestia stepped forward, he continued, “Cheerilee, go ahead.”

Everypony laughed a bit, as Celestia stepped back, giving Cheerilee room to step forward and say, “You've all but answer it, are you okay?”

Nodding his head, Mecha told her, “Yeah, although I wish I didn't have as many holes in my body.”

Chuckling, Cheerilee leaned forward and nuzzled him gently, before stepping back. Getting a nod from Mecha, Celestia stepped forward, asking, “What happened?”

Sighing, Mecha told her, “The Nightmare clan decided that I was in the way of their goals, and thus needed to send a hit squad after me. Speaking of which, where in Luna's name is Solaris! I mean, this is his clan, and thus his problem!”

Sighing, Celestia replied, “He's on his way now, but do you need anything else in the mean time?”

“Nah,” Mecha said, “I should be good to go. Although, I'm probably going to need an extension on your order.”

Shaking her head, Celestia said, “That's not a...”

When the door was forced open by Solaris, who looked at Mecha, before visibly relaxing, sliding down the doorway, saying, “Thank Luna you're alright, I was worried you'd been majorly hurt by uncle Rosebud...”

Blinking at the odd name for a cult leader, Mecha asked, “Yeah, about that... why didn't you warn me that the Wrath forsaken Nightmare clan put a hit on me!!!”

Blushing, Solaris rubbed the back of his head, saying, “Yeah... I was going to tell you today.” Seeing the deadpan look Mecha was shooting at him, he held up his forehooves and continued, “I didn't realize they'd assemble a hit squad so quickly!”

Sighing, Mecha's reply was cut off when Solaris was knocked over by Shining Armor rushing in. Looking around, he sighed when he saw that Twilight Sparkle was okay, saying, “Thank Celestia your okay Twiley!”

Raising an eyebrow, Mecha asked Shining Armor, “Is it a good idea to invoke the name of Celestia while she's in the room?”

Blinking, Shining Armor turned to the grinning Celestia, before facing Mecha, replying, “Probably not, although it seems like she doesn't care.”

“Luna doesn't care when I invoke her name in front of her either,” Solaris added.

Shrugging his shoulders, Mecha asked, “Is there any thing else you should tell me while you're here? Or am I going to have to wait for the bounty hunters to show up to learn that Astrum replaced the bounty on my head?”

Eyes widening, Shining Armor asked, “How'd you hear that so soon?”

Shocked, Mecha replied, “He actually did that?”

Nodding his head, Shining Armor told him, “We got the report in this morning.”

“That Pride forsaken bastard!” Mecha yelled, before wincing in pain, placing his forelegs over his wounds.

He was shaken out of his trance when Sugary Spice tugged on him, asking, “What's a bastard?”

Pupils shrinking once he realized what he said, Mecha shook his head, patting her on the head while saying, “A really bad word I shouldn't have said.” Glancing at the looks every mare in the room was shooting him, he shuddered and added, “And one you should never, ever, ever say, okay?”

Nodding her head, Sugary Spice walked back to where she was originally standing, before taking a seat on the floor. During this time, Mecha idly noticed that Snips and Snails were both watching her, large blushes visible on their faces. Eye twitching, Mecha thought it could be worse. After all, if either of them did something he didn't approve of towards his, recently bureaucrat approved, daughter, he could always work them to near death in the forge.

LINEBREAKER

Mecha was leaning against a tree in the town's park, reading a book on deer fighting styles. After all, the bounty hunters would show up any day now, and he wanted to be ready for anything they'd throw at him. Furthermore, he could add some of the moves to his skill set against the Nightmare clan when they threw the next hit squad at him.

But for now, Mecha merely relaxed, as Synge sang a relaxing, non-enchanting melody to the delight of passing couple. Glancing at the sun's position, Mecha marked his place in his book, gingerly making his way to his hooves so he didn't re-open his bandaged wounds. Walking out of the park, Mecha gave a wave to Pinkie Pie as she passed him, before walking into the town's cafe for lunch with Big Macintosh and Doctor Whooves.

Taking his seat, Mecha said, “Is it just me, or has this been a long week?”

Shaking his head, Doctor Whooves replied, “Its just you, it flew by for me.”

“Eeyup,” Big Macintosh added, nodding his head.

Sighing, Mecha said, “Well, I'm just glad it's over. Hopefully this next week won't be near as bad.”

Laughing, Doctor Whooves told him, “Look on the bright side, you haven't been blown up yet!”

“Or been attacked by a dangerous creature that's afflicted with somethin' that makes it ten times more dangerous,” Big Macintosh pointed out.

“Yeah, well that probably jinxed me,” Mecha told them, taking a bite from his usual order.

“Nah,” Doctor Whooves replied, “To jinx it we'd have to have said it could've been worse before listing our scenarios,” as he started to scarf down the feast in front of him.

Raising an eyebrow, Mecha said, “Does it matter that you just said it?”

Shaking his head, Big Macintosh said, “Eenope. Jinxing is a weird thing like that. Although, it's now possible that you'd be struck with somethin' totally different.”

“MECHA! We know you're here, show yourself!” came a voice from behind the chatting friends.

Turning around, Mecha spotted several deer, armed to the horns with weapons, and hollered out, “Do you mind!?! I'm having lunch with my friends!”

Blinking, the deer turned to him, before the leader said, “Dreadfully sorry about that, we can wait here for you to finish.”

Caught off guard by the deer's attitude, Mecha asked, “Aren't you supposed to yell out something about not caring about my opinion before you try and cut me down for my bounty?”

“Oh no,” came the bounty hunter's response, shaking his head. “It would be terribly rude of us to do so, especially since we've already had to yell to get your attention. Please, finish up and then we can do combat, so long as you have a location away from the civilians who may get hurt in the crossfire.”

Doctor Whooves started to laugh at this point, saying, “I like these guys! They're way politer than the last batch of deer who tried to claim your bounty.”

Nodding his head, Mecha replied, “Yeah, they are. Hey, how much is my bounty this time?”

Quirking his head, the leader of the deer said, “I believe it was around a quarter of a million bits when I last checked...”

Blinking, Big Macintosh turned to Mecha and said, “Ah don't suppose you'd let me turn you in?”

Laughing, Mecha said, “Nah, wouldn't want to get an even larger bounty on my head after I escaped.”

Thinking over what Mecha just said, Big Macintosh replied, “Probably a good call, ah wouldn't want even more bounty hunters on you're tail.”

Shaking his head, Mecha finished his meal, before turning to the waiting bounty hunters, saying, “Follow me, we'll use the Iron Pony field for our fight. Actually, would you guys mind if we sold tickets for ponies to watch in the bleachers that look over the field?”

Mumbling to themselves, the bounty hunters talked it over, before the leader replied, “We don't mind. In fact, it might add to the joy of the fight! Although, would it be wise to allow them to witness such a bloody event?”

“Not if we have Twilight Sparkle cast the arena spell,” Mecha told them.

“Then we accept on the condition we get ten percent of the profits,” the deer told him, “as it is unlikely that we'll best you in combat.”

“Well, I am injured,” Mecha pointed out.

Eyes widening, the leader replied, “Then we must postpone this until you recover! I am most sorry, I figured that you wore those bandages as a statement of your training, as most senior gladiators do back home.”

Shaking his head, Mecha told him, “Not a problem, I'll just work around them. Although, fair warning, if things go as I think they will, the princesses will probably have the bounty on my head removed before you'd be able to cash it in should you win.”

Shrugging their shoulders, the head of the herd told him, “If this pays well enough, we might just stay here instead and set up an arena instead of remaining bounty hunters.”

Nodding his head, Mecha said, “Good call. In fact, I'd enjoy having new sparring partners from time to time if you'd did, there's only so much you can do against the same opponent.”

“Yes, that is quite true,” the deer replied, as they reached the iron pony grounds.

Looking around, Mecha nodded as he noticed that the grounds had held together fairly well. Turning the his soon to be opponents, Mecha told them, “I'm going to go ahead and get the ticket booth set up, as well as try and find Twilight Sparkle. You guys go ahead and streach or whatever it is you do, and I should be back in about an hour. That work?”

Getting a nod in response, the deer trotted over to join his men, as they prepped for the fight.

LINEBREAKER

Two hours later, and the combatants took to the field, to the roaring cheer of the audience. Mecha stood at one end of the field, while the five deer stood at the other end. Giving a signal to Twilight Sparkle, her horn glowed as she cast the arena spell, a wave of magic rushing over the fighters. Turning to his enemies for the moment, Mecha asked, “Do you mind if I use some of my more... unique weapons to fight?”

Shaking his head, the leader replied, “Not at all my fine opponent! After all, this is combat, so use whatever tricks you must to pull ahead!”

Smiling at the deer's understanding of true combat, Mecha decided to ask, “What's your name? After all, you've been so polite all day, I must know who I'm about to fight!”

Laughing, the leader told him, “Something too long to say. Instead, just call me what everydeer calls me, Limbs!”

Chuckling, Mecha nodded his head as he stood upon his rear legs, waiting for the signal to start. After all, Spike had to warm the crowd up with his speech. Tensing his muscles, Mecha threw his cloak off revealing the grenade laden sash he'd grabbed while searching for Twilight. Seeing Spike begin to wrap up his speech, Mecha opened his mechanical leg and armed himself, watching Spike's arm, as he raised it into the air. After three tense seconds, it dropped, signifying the start of the battle.

Knowing he'd only have the one chance to use the grenades due to his injuries, Mecha started to grab and chuck them at the charging deer, taking no time to actually aim. The deer tried to charge through them, not knowing what they were, only to change direction after the first went off and threw one of them sky high, and knocked another off his legs, side singed

Mecha knew he'd been lucky to take one of them out while injuring another as he tossed the last one, and tightened his grip on his swords. All he needed to do now was survive the oncoming attack, and he'd be good.

The first deer to reach him was Limbs, who tried to run his sharpened horns through Mecha, only to hit air as Mecha span around him, before hissing slightly as he nearly re-opened his wounds. He didn't have long to focus on the pain though, as he was forced to duck under a sword strike from behind, to which he responded to by stabbing behind him, blades meeting flesh.

Pulling the blades out, Mecha didn't even look at the deer he'd just 'slain,' for Limbs had returned with another charge, which Mecha had to once more spin around, actually opening a wound this time, causing blood to slowly seep into the bandages he wore.

This caused the crowd to gasp, as they though Limbs had landed a blow on Mecha, most unaware of his previous fight with the Nightmare clan.

Limbs, however, didn't notice this as he turned to face Mecha, before pulling out his weapon, a large steel hammer, covered with pictures of various deer fighting. Snorting, Limbs pounded the ground with it, leaving a small crater where it impacted, causing Mecha to groan. Of course the one time he couldn't use his agility to full effect was the one time he truly needed it.

Sighing, Mecha waited for one of the three remaining opponents to charge, lacking a plan to deal with the three.

The deer he'd injured with a grenade earlier was the first to move, attempting to crush Mecha's head with a mace, only for Mecha to sidestep the attack and ram his mechanical knee into his burnt side, causing him to gasp and drop his weapon. Mecha then ducked under a sword slice, rolled underneath the deer he'd just injured, before pushing him into the attack meant to finish him. This stunned the attacking deer, who stared at his sword lodged in his friend, allowing Mecha a cheap strike at his chest, before he was forced to step around a hammer strike from Limbs.

Turning to face the last standing deer, Mecha panted heavily, blood dripping from all of his now re-opened wounds, saying, “I really hate that thing.”

Smiling, Limbs replied, “I did offer to fight you when you recovered.”

Shaking his head, Mecha said, “Which I turned down... and to think, I ran from Pride's army before, and yet allowed pride to tell me to fight.”

Chuckling, Limbs didn't respond, eying Mecha's wounds. Realizing that he had no other choice, Mecha charged forward, hoping to land a quick strike to end the battle. Crossing his blades, Mecha lashed out, sending out as many slashes and thrusts as he could, only to land minor cuts as Limbs either blocked or dodged his attacks. Finally, Mecha resorted to channeling magic into his blades, before unleashing a wave of magic, passing out as he did so.

LINEBREAKER

Opening his eyes, Mecha blinked as he gathered his wits. He was laying on the ground, facing the sky, with Solaris standing over him. “You all right?” he asked, worried.

“Yeah,” Mecha told him, not bothering to move. “What happened?”

“You passed out after sending that wave thing at me, which knocked me out as well,” came Limbs reply. “Followed by the spell lifting and everydeer regaining consciousness while your friend her came to tell us that the bounty was gone. Which means we'll be sticking around to run the arena.”

Blinking, Mecha replied with, “Okay,” before closing his eyes to take a nap.

Comments

[Stormy Sunrise]

This story needs WAAAAY more views then it already has!

[Xaratos]

Yeah you are right 1112042. It is way too funny to have that small amount off readers....