Mane Effect

by Quillery

Chapter 15: Breaking Point

Chapter 15: Breaking Point

“Even savages can appreciate a diamond’s beauty.”

Throughout my five-year enlistment in Stable, I had taken part in many different exercises, both practice and practical. While I had spent most of that time in regulated environments, I had also spent a lot of time visiting colonies within systems and clusters the Earth Ponies had claimed. It had been an amazing experience, visiting various locales, planets and ecosystems, all with their own different things to offer. More often than not, I had ended up working in some sort of military-contracted facility, whether it was a mine, a factory, or anything along those lines, and most of my jobs entailed maintaining the facilities and their equipment.

It hadn’t been glamorous, or even all that exciting, but it had exposed me many different practical aspects of the Earth Pony expansion efforts. I learned much about my role in the military, and in traveling through our known galaxy, I had built the experience that helped me become one of the most skilled engineers in Stable.

Coworkers would often deride my planet-hopping as foalhood field-tripping, and though I gained plenty of practical experience, I did appreciate the raw novelty. Having grown up in what could charitably be described as a junkheap, I always enjoyed places with an abundance of flora and fauna, the bright colors of nature was a welcome change from the cold steel and metals of Earth’s underbelly. Of course, eventually I would have to get back to work, and usually my workstation didn’t have much of a view.

It was times like these that made me miss all those excursions, no matter how dull they might have been. Any one of them would have been preferable than being caught in the middle of a warzone on a criminal infested border planet. The explosions in the sky and loud noises made a valiant effort to make things exciting, but it just wasn’t working for me. It was all I could do to not get flattened from falling debris as we crossed the narrow streets into the Blood Claw base.

The street outside the gate was a mess by the time we got there. The fighting in the sky had made a rather large disaster of the place. The smoking wrecks of cars littered the street, some even managed to get wedged into the wall itself, or the buildings beyond. I hadn't taken the time to actually count how many ships there were, and Firestorm never mentioned a number if her visor had done it for her. All I knew was every time I glanced into the sky, their numbers hadn’t seemed much smaller from what they were earlier. I imagined there would be slag falling from the sky for some time, even while we were still inside, which made getting off the road all the more important. Of course, then, it would all be moot as we would have to deal with all the feuding Blood Claws on the inside too, but as I said, one step at a time.

We easily made our way through the barricade, stepping past the smoking bodies of Mutts and through the open gate into the outer yard of the foundry. Up close, the scale of the complex really sank in once we stood at the foot of it. From the sky, this one structure encompassed an entire city sector, but from down here it seemed like a city in of itself.

“Hopefully we don’t get lost in there,” Dexter commented. “Foundries aren’t known for their great layouts, and I doubt the ones on Sigma are any better.”

Firestorm glanced around, gun floating around with a twist of her wings. A smile formed on her muzzle, and she pointed at something down the side of the building. “There’s one thing I’ve come to understand from the Blood Claws,” she said airily, “when in doubt, follow the explosions.”

She was pointing at a smoking hole in the side of the building. At a glance, there was what used to be a large door frame, two large slabs of metal laying flat on the ground in front of it. At a closer look, they were charred black, and glowing red. I could feel the heat radiating from the steel, giving me plenty of reasons not to get much closer to it.

We arrived at the door together. South took up the rear, with Tinker right beside her. Everypony was glancing around, each explosion or roar from above prompting worried looks in their eyes as they scanned the sky.

“Let’s get inside.” I ordered. “Less chance of something falling on our head in there.”

We filed into the building. Firestorm gave me a cautionary glance as she strode past me. “If that racket keeps up, it won’t be long until we’ll have to dig ourselves out.”

“Ah’d be more worried iffin’ Ah find the main reactor,” Tinker said bluntly. “Place this size, an’ the reactor you’d need tuh run it, these charges would make a dandy sized hole after it went up.”

She patted her saddlebags affectionately. South place her hoof on her sister and gave her a stern look. “One step at a time, Sis. Let’s find the varmints runnin’ the show b’fore we make a spectacle of it.”

Tinker huffed a loud snort, sounding almost exactly like South’s. “Whutever, let’s just git goin’.”

South and Firestorm approached the door first. Dexter, Tinker and I followed closely behind them, watching their movements carefully. They walked slowly, guns on swivels in every direction. They crossed the threshold of the door, and each of them peered intently down opposite sides.

“Nothing this way,” Firestorm reported.

“Ah see a lot o’ smoke comin’ this way,” South observed.

I walked past them, looking down Souths side. Thick black smoke billowed out of the end of the hallway, and obscured my sight of what might lay beyond. I thought of Firestorm’s suggestion of following the damage, but walking into a black cloud with no idea of what was behind it in such a volatile situation was definitely not an idea I thought of entertaining.

“Banshee might have gone that way,” I pointed out, “but following through that smoke is a bad idea. Let’s try another way.”

“That will take longer!” South groaned impatiently. “We ain’t got th’ time to lollygag around, Shepard.”

I glared at her. “I’m not in any hurry to get shot, South.” I broke my gaze from her and looked at Tinker beside her. Going through a veil of smoke would only increase the chances of her getting hurt, even with that armor she made, although it seemed to have one flaw. “Plus, it doesn’t look like your sister’s armor has a helmet. So unless you plan on sharing your oxygen, we’ll go this way. The fighting doesn’t look like its reached down here anyways. Chances are, the Blood Claws have scattered elsewhere to deal with all this insanity.”

South’s mouth twisted around as she mulled over my suggestion. “Ah guess. But we ain’t got time to waste once this place starts burnin’ down around us.”

“We won’t be here long enough for that, South. Let’s get a move on.”

My decision led us down a winding hall that seemed to run the entire course of the facility. We passed several doors, but many of them were barred shut with no obvious way to open them. Tinker’s description of Sigma quality foundries went much further than I thought, and I was throwing off my expectations of what we should be encountering. In a Stable facility, we would have at least found a processing room of some kind, or at least one of the actual smelting rooms.

We galloped at a steady pace, keeping ahead of the infighting all around us. The sounds of battle raged on, and was quickly spreading through the entire building. While our quieter route seemed safer at first, the longer we lingered, the closer the chaos would be on our tail.

Firestorm skidded to a sudden halt. “Stop!” she hissed quietly. She looked around, her ears twitching. “You guys hear that?”

A faint sound carried through the nearby walls, followed by loud bangs. Firestorm had stopped at a corner, and slowly looked around it, her gun following her gaze.

“There they are!” a gruff voice bellowed, followed by more gunshots.

Firestorm ducked away from the corner. After the shots quieted, she gave us a confused look, shrugging her wings. “They weren’t shooting at me.”

More shots rang out, followed by a smaller, but equally angry voice. “Kill ‘em all! Kill the felines!”

The room beside us erupted in a torrent of small explosions, rattling the heavy set walls we pressed ourselves against. I broke away from the wall to move up to Firestorm so I could see what the hell was going on. Firestorm uttered a quiet warning, and I crouched down to see past the corner.

Just on the other side was an open doorway into a large room. The sound of hissing reached my ears, and the rattling of metal clattered from the series of pipes and tanks that were scattered about the room. My eyes jumped to the far wall, where a heightened catwalk created an upper level to the room, and was filled with, well,cats.

A pack of Manticores was camped on the balcony, firing into an unseen corner of the room. I saw the streaks of grey fly around the room from both sides. I decided to take a risk and poke my head into the room, just to see if I could get a better view of who the Manticores were shooting at. All I saw was more pumping equipment, which seemed to be serving as cover . Many of the pipes were hissing violently, gushing steam and water all over the floor.

I heard splashing from behind one of the larger tanks. Something was moving rather quickly through the puddles that were forming in the room. A large shape darted out from behind the corner, zipping across the room. The water danced into the air with every step the racing Mutt made, ending with a massive geyser as he leaped from the ground towards the Manticores.

The massive weapons of the burly felines were far too slow to catch the Mutt descending on them. He landed on top of one of Manticores, who bucked and reared in an effort to get the dog off. His tail lashed through the air, but the Mutt spun and weaved on his back, avoiding the barbed limb easily. The Mutt bore his claws, and tore into the Manticore. He roared in pain as the dog slashed and gouged through his armor.

His fellows were quick to retaliate against the incursion, firing at the two of them, but the Mutt was still too fast. Just as fast as they had fired, the Mutt somersaulted in the air, landing on the railing of the suspended walkway. His victim had taken the majority of the shots, and his massive body crumpled with a ringing thud. The remaining Manticores didn’t show any remorse for their fallen comrade, swinging their guns to follow their daring attacker, but he was already gone again.

With a menacing cackle, the Mutt bounded again from the railing, back down towards the ground floor. Before he landed, I heard a series of loud clangs. I followed the sounds back to the Manticores, whose faces now had a shred of concern in them. They were looking down at the catwalk, but I couldn’t see what had earned their attention.

Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the room. The sound of tearing metal and howls of agony roared over the din of hissing pipes, as the entire catwalk came crashing apart and crumpled to the ground out from under the remaining Manticores. The weight of the metal scaffolding shook the ground, and sent a surge of the leaking water into the hallways. The rushing liquid shaped around our hooves, carrying with it a faint trace of red. I backed away from the foul color, but escaping the torrent of water proved impossible.

More laughing came from the room. The acrobatic Mutt stepped back into view, flanked by two smaller ones. They surrounded the twisted wreckage with deranged glee in their faces.

“Stupid cats blow up good,” the larger one said in a raspy voice. After a pause, the tree of them started laughing.

I watched in disgust at the scene. This sort of thing was all too familiar to me. I had lost count at how many times I had watched gang members fight between each other, and the reminder wasn’t something I appreciated. My revulsion was interrupted by a hoof on my shoulder. Tinker had grabbed me, and was pulling me away from the door. Her eyes were burning with anger, but her mouth was bent in the same sinister smile as the hounds. The sight of her smiling was unsettling. What on earth was she planning?

She produced a small sphere in her other hoof. My body jerked away from the object, when I realised it was colored a steely blue, not the prismatic sheen of a rainbow. She bounced the innocuous object in her hoof, before she hurled it into the room. It bounced loudly off of the metal piping, filling the room with ricochet's of metal.

The Mutts were quick to notice the new sound, and spun on the spot towards it. They spotted us immediately, and hunched down, ready to pounce on us next. Before they could though, Tinker’s grenade finally came to a stop, splashing very close to the Mutts. It almost vanished in the inch or so of water that covered the room, but as soon as it had stopped, it began to glow. The Mutt’s broke their snarling gaze from us to the shimmering light in the water. Their eyes widened, and they took off running in the opposite direction, but it was too late.

Another flash of light filled the room, and a barrage of blue sparks exploded in the narrow space. Arcs of electricity bounced around the metal room, and coursed into the flowing water. The electrified floor took its hold over the Mutts. They spasmed and twitched, and, with the momentum of their failed retreat, crashed into a nearby wall. Their bodies made loud splashes as they fell to the water, just as the glowing sphere fizzled out, and the water went dark.

There was a lull of silence before what remained of the pressurized piped continued their incessant hissing. Tinker was the first to move, stepping into the room towards the twitching dogs. South followed her sister silently, passing in front of me. I tried to catch sight of her reaction, but her head was fixed on the back of Tinkers’.

“I’m starting to wonder which is the scarier one now,” Firestorm observed with a frown. The rest of us followed the Belle sisters. I glanced at the twisted heap of metal that the Mutt had caused, before my gaze fell on the dogs themselves. They had piled on top of each other in their attempt to escape from the blast, and were lying on top of each other near an open door I hadn’t noticed before. They were still, aside from the ebbing of water that rocked their bodies.

Tinker was standing overtop of them, examining her results first hoof. South stood right next to her, and was whispering something into her ear.

“They ain’t dead,” she stated bluntly. “The ‘nade might’ve looked flashy, but it wern’t enough volts tuh kill a puppy, let alone a fully grown Mutt.”

She kicked one of the dogs, which groaned quietly in response. She turned her head to South, meeting her worried stare with a stern look. “Th’ water jus’ helped it along, is all.”

“Think we can wake one of them up?”

We all turned to look at Firestorm. She stared at the largest of the Mutts with narrowed eyes. “I’d personally like to know exactly why this place is falling apart.” She moved towards the dogpile, wrenching the larger one from the others with a mighty tug. She grunted as she pulled him free, and sat his body against the wall.

“Besides, he might be able to tell us where his boss is.”

Considering what this Mutt was capable of, waking him up didn’t seem like a great idea. We did need the information though, and a Mutt capable of taking out three Manticores on his own must have had some kind of standing in the Blood Claws. He had to have known something useful.

“Go ahead, just be ready in case he tries something.”

A blue glow settled around him, forming into bright blue rings that wrapped around his arms. I turned to see Dexter’s eyes closed in focus, adding his own method to maintaining the Mutts’ compliance. Firestorm nodded, and kneeled down. She brought out her omni-tool, which was glowing blue. She reached her hoof towards the Mutt, and I expected the medi-gel to work any second now to wake—

Firestorms hoof shot across the Mutts face. A small jolt jumped from her tool, eliciting a loud yelp from the Mutt. His eyes shot open, darting wildly. He lifted his claws, but Firestorm brought back her hoof, swatting the limb down. South edged towards the Mutt, covering his other side.

The dog thoroughly restrained, I stepped up in between the others to come eye to eye with the frenzied beast. He struggled against his many ties, but he made no progress in freeing himself. His eyes met mine, but all he showed was anger.

“I don’t suppose you would be willing to answer a few questions,” I asked him.

He growled at me, continuing his struggle. I shook my head and heaved a weary sigh. “We’re not in the business of killing to get what we want, like you are. We just want a few answers, and we might give you the time you need to escape this madhouse before it falls apart around you.”

He growled again, but this time it petered off slowly as his eyes shot upwards. More explosions rang out in the distance. They were getting closer, and it wouldn’t be long until they reached us. We were running out of time to find what we needed, and the worried look on his face suggested he felt the same way. He slowly brought his gaze back to mine, his anger smoldering to a quiet, but angry glare.

“What you want to know?” he asked venomously.

“Why are you fighting each other would be a good start.”

He shrugged. “Big boss said shouty bird causing problems. Said to deal with her.”

“You mean Banshee?”

He nodded. “Banshee screwed up job. Easy job. So boss teach her lesson. Now she crazy, turned her stupid cats against us.”

Firestorm sighed wearily. “Why does it always come down to cats and dogs?”

I ignored her comment, moving on to my next question.

“I guess Banshee is on her way to deal with your boss then. Where is he?”

“He was supposed to oversee job himself. Then he comes back early, says Earth Pony soldiers messing with Claws.” His eyes traced my armor, then glanced between South and the others. “Guess that’s you.”

I nodded, motioning him to continue. “After he came back, warned us Banshee would come back, if she lived. Said to keep her away from main foundry.”

“And where is the main foundry?”

He opened his mouth to continue, but was cut off by a piercing wail that cried out in the distance. I felt my body quiver at that familiar sound. The Mutt’s ears twisted and twitched, as he struggled harder against his bonds. As the sound subsided, his painful grunts melded into harsh cackling.

“Jus’ follow the screaming witch. Sounds like she’s pretty close already.”

Firestorm waded through the water towards the door. It opened at her presence, revealing another hallway. A wave of heat ushered out of the door, washing over us. The broiling air quickly turned steamy, only adding to the discomfort. Firestorm placed a hoof on her visor, scanning the way forward.

“If she keeps screaming like that, I should be able to lead us to her, no problem.”

“Then we better get going.” I stood and joined her at the door.

“Whut about him?”

I turned back. South, Tinker and Dexter were still close to the Mutt, holding him restrained. His grey coat was stained with blood and burns, and his eyes darted drearily around between us.

“Let him go. He won’t be give us any trouble.” I shot him an inquisitive glare. “Right?”

He grunted. “Not like I have much choice. Take what chances I can get.”

“Are you sure, Shepard?” The uncertainty in South’s voice was off putting, coming from her. If it was coming from Dexter or Firestorm, it would be understandable.

“I don’t expect much of this to be left standing when we leave here South. He’s going to have too much time running for his life to worry about double crossing us.”

“Especially if there are still any Manticores alive on the way out,” Firestorm mused slyly.

South eyed the Mutt dangerously. He met her stare with a level gaze, his ears still twitching at the distance sounds of fighting. Dexters glow has faded from the Mutt, who relished his newfound freedom with a shrug of his shoulder. Tinker stepped back beside Dexter, leaving South the only one standing close to the dog.

South eventually, reluctantly, stepped aside. Her eyes never left the Mutts’, who slowly picked himself off of the ground. He wavered as he made his way to his feet, and he managed to stand, although crookedly. He clutched at his sides with a lanky paw, covering the stain of red that permeated his grey coat. South cleared her throat, gaining his attention again.

“Yew hear ‘em, hound.” she said dangerously. “Start runnin’. Ah won’t wait fer long.”

The Mutt moved forward shakily. He panted slow, raspy breaths, wincing in pain with each one as he hobbled forward. We watched him carefully as he left our reach, picking up his pace as he neared the way we came in, despite his wounds. He made it to the door, placing a claw on the open arch to steady himself as he stopped, turning back to us.

“Not sure why Ponies want to fight Blood Claws. Praetor not happy, won’t make it easy for you, or shouty bird.” Then he stepped through the door and disappeared into the hall.

With him gone, we could get back to the task at hoof. The sound of battle around us was quick to remind me that getting a move on was probably a good idea, and we still had an unknown distance to travel to find what we needed here.

Another shriek shattered the lulls of silence between the bloody roars of the Manticores and Mutts clawing at each others throats. I gestured at the door to Firestorm. She nodded and stepped through, her visor flashing over her face. Dexter moved through after her, while tinker went to move after him. South, however, grabbed her sister quickly. Tinker gave her a confused look, while she looked at me with concern.

“Ah hope yew know whut yer doin’, Shepard. Ah didn’t come here expectin’ mercy from these varmints, not after whut they did tuh Tink and her friends. So Ah don’t see th’ reason to show any tuh them.”

South was right. I really had no reason to let the Mutt live. I was, much to my reluctance, trained to kill, and as far as Stable was concerned, I was expected to kill; so long as I felt my life or anypony elses was in danger. It didn’t make it any more right, nor did it make me feel any better about it, but those were the cards I was dealt.

“I might be a Commander, South,” I lamented. “I never wanted to be the one who has the make the call between who lives or dies, and that’s what Stable put on me. If there is a chance to save someone, pony or not, it’s my responsibility to do it. If they don’t like it, then they can find another. What would it say about our race if we just slaughter everything that we didn’t like? Chances are, we’d still be at war with the Pegasi.”

South lowered her head. I caught her eyes glance to the door, before they fell back on me. It didn’t take much of a guess what she bothered to look at, or what caused the sudden look of shame in her eyes.

“I don’t like the rank Stable gave me, South, but I’ll be damned if I don’t use it to set an example for others.”

The golden filly nodded quietly.. It was nice to know that the atmosphere of chaos and vileness of Sigma wasn’t completely inescapable, even if it changed your sight of things time to time. Still, what we were doing here would echo far beyond a simple gang war, provided we succeeded of course.

I smiled at the two sisters. “It’s probably best we get going. I bet you’re dying to see Banshee again.”

South’s eyes flashed angrily. She lowered her hoof from Tinker and gave me an affirming nod. She ushered past her little sister through the door with a not so gentle shove, ignoring the complaints coming from her sibling. We weren’t done yet, but with South in the lead, I doubted we would take much longer.

---

The sound of heavy panting was the cadence which the group followed, mine seeming like the loudest. Any complaints were kept quiet, but that did little to keep me from seeing them. South and Tinker plodded along together, holding each other up through the miasma of heat that permeated the inner confines of the refinery. It was interesting to see South, a mare I’d known to be incredibly stubborn and self reliant to be relying on anypony else to keep herself going, even it was her own sister. Tinker offered no resistance, if only to accept the help South returned to keep going in this maze. How the Blood Claws managed it, I had no idea. There was such a thing as acclimation, but this was ridiculous.

Dexter seemed only slightly less off put by the ordeal. His gait wasn’t weakened by the boiling air, his face focused. His body was covered in a faint sapphire glow, flickering slightly with each step he took. I could only assume it was sheer force of will brought on by the training needed to control his magic that allowed him to move along with little impediment. If we were here much longer though, I was uncertain how long his resolve, and was fearful of what might happen to him should it break.

What I couldn’t understand was Firestorm. Her armor was beyond impractically bulky, even with its supposed weightlessness. How she managed to fly in such restricting armor wa something I had given up on trying to understand, but the fact that she managed to lead the group, without a bead of sweat or errant grunt of discomfort to show for it. She even had the vitality to beat her wings lightly as she walked, parting some of the choking air for the rest of us.

“How are you doing that?” I wheezed.

Firestorm stopped to look at me. She tilted her head, looking over the rest of us with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“How can you stand this heat? Does that armor have air conditioning or something?”

She chuckled. “My name is Firestorm, do you really think a little heat will bother me?”

I stared dumbly at her. “It can’t be a simple is that. It’s just a name. You don’t see me herding a flock of sheep around, do you?”

She grinned as she glanced again between us. “You certainly have a knack for acquiring interesting company, sheep or not.”

As much as I wanted to refute her claim, it was pretty close, if not dead on to the reason I had gotten my name. At that point, I figured the heat was in the process of melting my brain and was making me more irritable than usual.

My frustrations tempered off at the sound of a loud metallic crash rumbling through the tiny hall. It echoed from every direction, but the ground shaking explosion that followed flowed from a single, easily discernable source. Firestorm snapped her head down the hall, pulling her gun from its harness.

“That sounded a lot closer than I’d like.”

“Sounds like Banshee found her boss,” Dexter breathed. “Guess we’re in the right place.”

Firestorm darted a few steps forward, breaking into a full gallop down the hall. “Then let’s hurry, we need at least one of them alive if we want any answers.”

We chased after her, not an easy thing considering the state we were in. The explosions grew louder and more profound as we escaped the narrow halls into a large chamber. There was a noticeable drop in the temperature upon leaving the service tunnels, though it was still far from bearable.

There was a large clump of welded panels that had been crudely attached to an opened doorway into the next room. I supposed it was an addition to the Blood Claws unique sense of insurance and protection. Its functionality could be debated though, considering the large amount of bodies lying nearby. Fallen Manticores and Mutts lay scattered in heaps all over the room. The door in question had been torn open, and what remained of its frame was only a smoking wreckage.

“Looks like we jus’ missed the party,” South observed.

Shouting emanated from the next room. I heard one voice, easily recognizable.

I moved towards the door, trying to better hear what was being said. “Sounds like it’s still going.”

Approaching the door, scraps of the conversation gained clarity. It was definitely Banshee’s voice doing the shouting.

“—tried to kill me!” she screamed. “You knew I was in the building, and you still set the bomb off!”

A far more reserved voice overlapped the lulls in Banshee’ silence. I recognised it as the one she had talked to with her radio, but I could detect a great deal more frustration.

“Maybe if you didn’t make a huge mess of everything, I would have given you the time to get out.”

I made it to the door and peered inside. The room was a mess of elevated platforms raised over rivers of molten metals flowing underneath. Stairways and catwalks were the only stable surface that I could see, surrounded by scaffolds supporting large cauldrons and melting pots in every corner. Movement caught my eye to the lower platform. Banshee’s brown wings were extended, fluttering angrily as she moved in a circular motion.

“How was I supposed to expect Stable of all things to show up and interfere!?” she barked. “Not even you would have anticipated that, and you’re supposed to be the smart one!”

Loud clangs rung from the metal walkways, but they did not synch up with Banshees movements. Something else was up there with her, and it sounded a lot larger than his soft voice led me to believe.

“I’m the ‘smart one’, because I don’t make stupid choices, something you never seem to understand, Banshee. Your reckless behavior was getting valuable assets destroyed or killed.”

Banshees voice roared with shock and accusation. “So you tried to kill me on purpose!?”

There was a loud crunch, followed by even louder chewing. “You sound surprised. I thought you were smarter than that, Banshee.” He laughed. “Maybe I should have tried sooner, if I’d known you were this clueless.”

Banshee reached back and stomped loudly on the metal grating. “How dare you! After all I’ve done for the Claws! After everything I’ve done for you, Diamondback!”

“What you’ve done? Like how you’ve turned the Manticores and Mutts against each other? How you destroyed half of this building for revenge. Everything we have has is being torn to pieces as we speak, and it won’t be long until the other Praetors hear what’s happened and come rushing in to pick of the pieces of your mess!”

There was another crash, and Banshee jumped back. A huge shape lumbered across the walkway towards her, shaking the platform with each step. It walked on a pair of tremendous paws, and walked with a hunched back. Two massive arms hung lazily at his side swaying slightly to the force of his powerful gait. He stopped just in front of Banshee, who held her ground as he smiled sinisterly.

“So, what will it be Banshee? Do you want to die here, and be remembered as the failure you are? Or would you prefer to run, and die alone and forgotten in the gutters? I assure you you won’t have trouble finding one suitable for you here on Sigma.”

Banshee widened her stance slowly. Her fur tipped tail flipped and lashed around, much like a Manticore. She remained silent, staring into the eyes of the largest Mutt I had ever seen.

“I won’t die at all!” she screamed, bringing out her gun and firing it into his chest. He blinked, but was otherwise unphased. His smile widened, as he lifted one of his massive arms, claws bared.

“I guess your choice is made then.”

He lashed his paw into Banshee, who made no effort to get out of the way. She flew into the air, soaring over the platforms and crashing into the wall. A small ledge saved her from falling into the molten material below, but her body laid dangerously close to falling in, and was no longer moving.

Diamondback laughed heartily at his victory, but his glee was short lived when his gaze glanced downwards towards us. His eyebrow arched intensely, and he heaved a great sigh.

“And she was dumb enough to lead Ponies here.” He walked towards the edge of his raised platform, holding his arms out to address us.

“I suppose you are the Stable soldiers interfering with our contracts?”

“We might be,” I challenged. “What’s it to you?”

“Be careful, Shepard.” Firestorm hissed under her breath. “He isn’t a Mutt.”

I turned to face her. “What?”

“He’s a Highbreed Gemini, not a Mutt. You know, the smart ones?”

Diamondback laughed. “You flighty friend is right, Shepard. You won’t find me as dimwitted as my feral brethren.”

Firestorm and I shot him a worried look. He flicked his drooping ears, smiling slightly as he did so.

“I’ve heard your name before, Pony. I have great interest in what happens in Corral space, even out here. I like to know who my potential threats are. But I never expected the first Earth Pony Sleipnir to come all the way out here to die.”

He withdrew something from his vest-like armor. It was a black stone of some kind, which he popped into his mouth and chewed loudly as if it were some kind of delicious candy.

“I’ve spent a long time of my life building the Claws into something more than a bunch of savages. While the changes my intelligence have brought have been met with restraint, you cannot dispute the results it yields.” He glanced over to Banshee’s still body, still hanging precariously over the edge. “So long as you deal with problems like these before they get out of hand.”

“You’re pretty quick to kill your own,” I shot back. He only looked more amused.

“It would be boorish of me to blame it on the standard of canines versus felines, but sometimes even intelligence cannot defeat instinct all the time. The Manticores and Mutts are all useful on their own levels, so long as you know how to motivate and control them.”

Firestorm scowled. “Looks like you have a pretty good scam going on then.”

He scoffed. “Of course the Pegasus, with her values of honor and militarism, would see wrong where I see right. Perhaps that’s why your race is only good for war, and little else. Isn’t there some poor, newly developing race you can oppress, or are you merely content with playing the pretentious self proclaimed bulwark of the galaxy?”

Her wings flared open, and began beating furiously. “Why you...” she snapped. Her gun swiveled down into her grasp, as she swiftly aimed the weapon straight at the taunting dog. Before I could stop her, she fired.

When I looked back up to Diamondback, he was still standing. His paw was raised, and glowed with a strange, sparkling sheen. His limb had suddenly been covered in a shell of crystal, which moved and twisted along with his own skin, as he twitched the digits in turn. A small blemish had dug itself into the palm of the appendage, glowing red and smoking in the crest of the gemstone. He plucked out the impurity with his other paw, holding the burning hunk of metal between his claws.

“Temper, temper,” he chuckled, flicking the bullet into the molten steel below him. “You aren’t disproving anything with an attitude like that.”

He ignored Firestorm’s look of shock, turning his attention back to me. “I cannot express how happy I am to see you here, Shepard. Your name has become rather valuable in our line of work, and you would be surprised how much money is attached to you head, Shepard, after only being a Sleipnir for a few days. I am very interested to know what you have done to earn such a bounty.”

I hadn't really done much to earn any kind of bounty on my head in my week of being a Sleipnir, and I certainly hadn’t done much official work against any gangs until now. I could think of only one pony in the galaxy that would want me dead so soon. I felt a surge of elation at the fact that we really hadn’t come all this way for nothing.

“It was Artemis, wasn’t it?” I asked him. “He’s the one who paid you.”

A sinister grin spread across Diamondbacks mouth. “It isn’t often a Council Sleipnir seeks out mercenary help. His name is legendary among the Blood Claws. I was honored to accept his request.”

“What did he want from you?”

He laughed. “Surprisingly little. A few of my best to maintain order for his endeavors. Two different tasks, on opposite sides of the galaxy. Only with one commonality.”

He gripped the railing of his elevated platform. In a swift motion, he leapt over the edge and landed on the ground only a few meters away from us. He stood to his full height, and even at the distance he was from us, he towered over us by a good few feet. The glowing sheen returned, and coalesced around his body. My eyes widened as I watched his matted coat shift and harden, changing from a blackish grey to a transparent blue. His coat hardened and turned to the texture of glass, reflecting light from every direction. He shimmered with effervescent light from the dull glow of the molten pool of steel behind him. His gleeful smile took on a crystalline quality, and his eyes glazed over like agates. The claws were the scariest, taking on the appearance of razor sharp blades with the hardness of diamonds. He started walking towards us, claws fully extended, the ground rumbling with each step.

“You have no idea how happy I am to see you here, Shepard. I would have earned so much money at no expense if you had arrived sooner. I mean, how often are you paid to kill someone , and then they come to you?” He laughed again, but with far more frenzy in his voice this time.

“It’s like a dream come true. Now be a good little pony, and sit still. I’ll make this quick, as thanks for making this so easy.”

His pace quickened and he broke into a hasty stride towards us. Superheated metal collided with Diamondbacks crystal armor as we opened fire, but it only ended up bouncing off harmlessly. He charged, closing the small gap between us frighteningly fast. Firestorm was the closest, and was firing her rifle madly at the rushing dog. Her gun was powerful, but it wasn’t getting through diamond. If it was doing anything at all, it was slowing him down, although slightly, from the force alone.

Diamondback lashed at her, but she beat her wings and took to the air. The Gemini skidded to a halt as he passed underneath the Pegasus. He crouched down, and leapt towards Firestorm. He was on top of Firestorm in less than a second as she frantically tried to change course. With one swing, he crashed his massive diamond coated arm into her. A loud crunch followed, and Firestorm came sailing back down to earth at my hooves.

Her eyes were spinning, but she was still conscious. I rushed to her side to help her up, freezing at the crashing sound that landed right beside me. I looked up, my ears flattening against my head at the sight of Diamondback standing over me, regarding me with a look of satisfaction. My mind stalled, unable to come up with any action to save either myself or my dazed companion.

A bolt of blue flashed from behind me, crashing into Diamondbacks face. He recoiled from the force, sliding back several feet on his paws. His sharp claws dug into the ground, gouging long streaks in the rust colored metal. His diamond coat shimmered a dark blue, and his face twisted into a snarl, his eyes focused on something behind me.

“Shepard!” Dexter shouted. “Get Firestorm up, I’ll hold him back!”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I went back to Firestorm, ushering her to her hooves. She was mostly responsive, so I could leave gauging her her well being until later. It didn't help that her weapon as barely hanging on its harness and swinging into me. I grabbed the damaged weapon and snapped it from her back and tossed it aside. It wasn’t like she needed it right now.

“On your hooves, soldier!” I shouted, rousing some motion from her sluggishness. She lifted her head, meeting eyes with me. She had an annoyed look on her face, masking faint winces underneath.

“Shepard, if you start talking like my mother, I might have to slug you.”

There was a lack of seriousness in her voice, and after her head went limp again against my attempts to move her, I chalked it up to a concussion. Just one more thing for me to deal with once we got back to the Normanedy. If we got back.

As I dragged Firestorm to the doorway, Dexter continued to blast the advancing dog with magic. Diamondback lifted his massive arms in an effort to lash out at the Lieutenant, only to be continuously pelted with shockwaves of force. Each effort the lumbering dog made to close the distance with the Magitech was met with an powerful explosion of blue sending him skidding across the metal ground. The crystal shimmer around his face made it hard to tell his expression, but it was easy to read the anger in his voice.

“Earth Pony magic,” he hissed. “So primitive. All you can do is turn your will into force, hardly an efficient way to focus such an ability.”

Dexter smirked. “You would be surprised at what I can do.”

The tan lieutenant gritted his teeth, his brow furrowing in concentration. Tendrils of blue coalesced around him, writhing and whipping around as they slowly took shape. His power radiated, and I could feel a harsh breeze spin through the room that dampened the harsh temperature of the molten metals all around us. In an instant, when it appeared to be at the peak of its power, his eyes snapped open. They were glowing the same color of his magic.

He screamed, sending the ribbons of his magic flying towards Diamondback. The Gemini stepped back from the oncoming torrent of energy, but it was already surrounding his escape. He managed to lift his arms up, just as the tidal wave of blue crashed into him, sending him flying through the air and crashing into a metal beam. The force alone was enough to split the support in half, bringing down a stock of cauldrons down on top of him with a tremendous crash.

South and Tinker began laughing with relief, and even Firestorm managed to gain enough cohesion to utter a few praises. Dexter was wobbling on his hooves, panting loudly. Sweat streamed down his face, his eyes locked on the mess he had created. A frail smile worked its way to his face, and he began to stagger his way over to the rest of us.

A loud, metallic grunt silenced the elated sisters, and my head spun towards the pile of metal. The steel laden cauldrons shifted, groaning and grinding as they collapsed over each other. The beam that had fallen over was tossed out of the heap, revealing a diamond paw clawing its way from the depths of metal.

“Whut in the hell is that dog made of?!” South cursed.

A loud cackled erupted from the pile, echoing from the dark recesses of the twisted steel and glowing metals. “I thought Earth Ponies knew geology.” Diamondbacks voice bellowed. “If you are honestly asking that question, then what use are you dirt dwellers good for? At least Moles have the decency to praise their betters.”

The protruding claw thrashed about, clearing out more metal and knocking over more of the filled cauldrons. The giant dog burst out from the metal confines, still covered in the layer of diamond skin from head to paw, and a coat of liquid steel to boot. It dripped off him, the glowing slag adding a infernal look to his crystalline sheen. His eyes were fixed on Dexter, who was frozen mid step. His eyes were wide, and his head was still bobbing in between his loud breathing.

Diamondback sneered. “If that’s all you have to offer, Pony, I am still thoroughly unimpressed.” He started towards Dexter again, laughing madly as he pursed his claws anticipatingly. Dexter backed away, almost tripping on his own hooves. He was exhausted, and was not going to last long against this thing.

“Tinker, get over here and keep an eye on Firestorm” I snapped at the golden filly. She complied immediately, South sticking with her. I glanced to her as her sister took over tending the dazed Pegasus. “South, let’s go.”

She nodded, stomping her hoof. Her gun unfolded neatly, and the two of us dashed towards Dexter. Diamondback halted his advance at the sight of us placing ourselves between him and his prey. He regarded me with curiosity through his yellow eyes.

“Such devotion to each other. Pathetic. I will kill you all soon enough, no matter how hard you struggle.”

I drew my plasma blade, holding it towards the bemused hound. “If you want me, you better come get me.”

“Uh, Shepard?” South inquired. “Whut are you doin’?”

“I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” I whispered to her. “I was hoping one of you might have a plan.”

“I got one,” Dexter breathed. Me and South glanced at him expectantly as he continued to recover. he slowly managed to voice his words, stuttering each one with a deep breath.

“We’re...going...to...RUN!!”

Dexter spun around and took off, running deeper into the foundry. It was only a few seconds later when I realised that me and South were following him at full speed. An avalanche of molten steel, gemstones and ferocity followed us in pursuit, accompanied by a vicious cackling sound. Dexter led the way, flying up a series of stairs into the catwalks. Our hooves clattered on the metal walkways, drowning out the laughter.

The catwalks were narrow, barely enough room for three ponies to maneuver easily. They also didn’t look very stable either, the metal beneath my hooves vibrating loudly with each step. The thought of a diamond coated Gemini that was nearly as large as a Manticore chasing us around up here was not a plan I could have come up with, but seeing as our weapons were currently useless, time was the best thing we could get, while I frantically thought of something.

A loud grunt prompted me to quickly look back. Diamondback was airborne, and flying right towards us. Instinct took over, and I pushed South aside before screeching to a halt myself. She stumbled a few steps from my sudden shove, running into the railing. Her head spun, eyes trained on me in anger, but as her mouth opened to scream at me, her eyes darted upwards, widening in horror.

It was about then that Diamondback landed just in front of me, facing away. His landing rocked the catwalk, causing the still running Dexter fall on his face. The behemoth dog turned his head slowly to face me, the smile of glee still plastered on his face.

“Is running all you Earth Ponies are good for when you have nothing left? Pity.”

“Ah got these!”

He turned back just in time to catch South’s rear hooves bucking him in the face. He recoiled from the strike, howling loudly. He staggered away from the source of his pain, as South landed hard on the metal beneath her.

When I looked back to Diamondback, I almost lost what little I had eaten in the past few days. After he had regained his posture, he was still painfully clutching his face, what was left of it anyways. The left side of his cheek had been torn off. Blood oozed from under his crystal paw, which barely hid the massive wound. His eyes were fixed onto South in maddened rage.

“HOW?!” he bellowed. “How can an measly Earth Pony break through diamond?!”

South grinned smugly, tapping her hooves loudly. “These hooves were made fer buckin’, bucko.”

I blinked. Then felt the corners of my mouth threatening to fall off my face. South’s horseshoes! Her diamond coated horseshoes. I almost broke into laughter at the sheer simplicity of it, watching the pompous Gemini try to piece it together. His eyes darted between our faces, picking out the evident mirth, and growing equally angrier as a result.

“Shame all yer skin turns tuh diamond. Now that half yer face is missin’, you ain’t much tuh look at.” She shot him a sideways glance. “Not that yew were much tuh look at in th’ first place.”

His magical glow reconstituted around his head, resealing the opened wound in a fresh layer of diamond. The newly formed gemstone didn’t make the hole in his face much better to look at, but as his stance relaxed, I assumed that it at least dulled the pain.

“N–no matter,” he said through clenched teeth. “I will just kill you first.” He lumbered towards South, holding his arms out wide. The catwalk gave South little room to escape, and his lengthy arms would catch her if she tried to run. She backed away, hitting the railing. She turned her head and looked down, her face paling.

Diamondback swiped at South with his right claw, which she managed to duck from. The force of the swing was enough to knock her hat from her head, and it sailed into the air. South let out a strangled noise as she thrashed out for the hat with her teeth. She just barely grabbed it, but her panicked flailing sent her right into Diamondback’s claws.

He grabbed at South with an outstretched paw, and picked her up off the ground. He dangled her over the edge of the railing, as she fidgeted and squirmed to break free of his grasp. A glint of light flashed from the bottom of her hooves, catching his eye. He examined the bottom of the hoof in his possession, frowning slightly. “So this is the reason. Such an inane use of such a powerful substance.”

I blasted my omni-tool at him, firing everything I could think of at him. Thousands of volts, beams of searing plasma, but nothing managed to pierce his protective shell. I rushed him, but he swatted me aside with his free arm. He laughed as I tumbled to the ground, and I brought my head back up to witness a sudden change in his visage. His smile widened, as well as the look of horror in South’s eyes, just before he dropped her.

“South!” I screamed, scrambling to the edge of the railing. It was too late. She was already out of my grasp, falling into the molten steel below. Her scream carried out throughout the room, masked by the victorious cackle of Diamond back. When her scream suddenly stopped, I had imagined the worst. I fought against my better judgment, prying my eyes open.

I looked back down, sighing in relief. Tangled in a hanging mess of chain and hooks, swaying back and forth and uttering a thousand cursed a second, was South. She was thoroughly tied to metal a good few meters above the molten steel below. Her precious hat that had nearly gotten her killed was wrapped in her tail, and was otherwise alright.

It took a few moments for me to fully process what was going on. Looking up, I saw that Diamondback was no longer smiling. In fact, he looked very annoyed. A loud snarl rumbled from his mouth as he cast his eyes down the catwalk. I peered around him, seeing Dexter standing at a small console attached to a metal beam. I followed the beam up to a series of rails that covered the ceiling of the room. Following those, I noticed that each individual track had a lengthy chain attached to a wheel mounted crane; and the one closest to us was glowing blue.

The walkway suddenly shook as Diamondback’s legs stomped loudly on the ground beneath him. “Why won’t you Ponies just die already!?”

Diamondback rounded on me at the end of his tirade. The dog leaned forward on all fours, his back arching and bobbing with each furious breath. I stepped away slowly, my ears folding back. I knew exactly what he was going to do, and I definitely didn’t plan on standing here when he did it.

I spun around and took off running. I weaved down every turn I could, hoping that the bends would slow him down, not that I was keen on turning back to confirm. The path rattled harder as he began to close in on me, making it harder to keep steady. His massive size coupled with that damned diamond skin was just too much for this place. Too much longer, and we’d all end up taking a molten steel bath.

Molten steel bath. That gave me an idea. I looked up at the supports that held the raised platforms above the lake of metal. Much of it was held up from the ceiling, with thick metal beams spaced out around the room. I was running towards one of these beams, and my idea began to take shape, I just needed to get some distance first.

He hunched over again, panting loudly. He squatted down, claws fully extended. I backed away, knowing that was coming next. I looked around, seeing that I was running out of platform. He had me here, and Dexter was still a while behind. My fatigue was starting to catch up with me, my heavy breathing almost matching his. He smiled, knowing that I was wearing out. With little reason to prolong it any further, he leaped into the air.

It was too easy.

I watched his massive form catapult through the air, careening towards me. I briefly calculated where he would land, and I had managed to stop exactly where I wanted, right beside a support beam. I swung my omni-tool out, plasma cutter fully extended, and sunk it into the walkway in front of me. I cut a huge swathe in the metal, tearing it apart.

I watched Diamondback’s expression dissolve instantly. His face of ferocity and anger had melted into panic, his arms flailing madly in mid air, desperately trying to change his trajectory, but it was too late. He landed with a crash right in front of me,and the predictable happened. The path barely rocked as the two sides of the platform I had cut split instantly, dropping out from underneath him. He vanished in a blur, only managing to let out a choking gasp.

I tumbled backwards onto my rear from the shock of it all, listening to the sound of groaning metal collapse underneath me. Several yards of the platform had given way under the Gemini’s weight, taking a large portion of it with him into the molten depths. As everything slow came to a quiet end, I finally took a moment to breathe. I even managed to find the power to laugh, chuckling quietly to myself. It was probably the adrenaline talking, considering that had I been wrong in my estimations I’d’ve been dead. I’ll take a win when I can get one.

“Shepard!”

I looked down to see Dexter standing across the great hole I had caused. I waved at him with a beaming smile.

“Hey, Dex,” I said smugly. “I think I’m going to need some help getting out of here.”

He wasn’t smiling. Actually, he looked rather panicked, and was staring directly underneath me. I glanced down at the edge of the platform that was left, and felt my blood go cold. There, just barely gripping the edge was a diamond claw. Then a second and eventually, a diamond coated head slowly raised up over the edge, its eyes glaring.

His massive shape raised over me onto the platform, while I watched frozen in terror. I couldn’t move, I could barely think. I could only watch as this damned thing just kept coming back, no matter what I tried. Now I was cut off from my friends, with nowhere left to run and a very pissed off Gemini.

“You are starting to be more trouble than you are worth, Shepard,” he growled.

“I hear that a lot,” I replied weakly, trying to back away.

He advanced on me, holding his claws out wide, ready to grab me.

“You just couldn’t leave well enough alone. Now, you die, and I’ll take my reward from your bones.”

I wondered if all Gemini had a flair for the dramatic. I mean, I knew he was a dog, but that seemed a bit over the top, even for someone of his intelligence. I eventually ran out of platform, and he stopped just within reach. He flexed his claws, cracking his knuckles sickeningly.

“Any last words, Shepard? I have a feeling Artemis will pay extra to know that you groveled.”

I stared vacantly at him, when I caught sight of a fiery glimmer off of his crystal hide. Part of me wanted to break out laughing at the thought of repeating it a second time in the course of a few weeks. Considering the circumstances, though, it was too appropriate to pass up.

“Yeah,” I said calmly. “Duck.”

He was taken aback at that. He glanced around, but by then it was too late to avoid the blazing hoof colliding into his chest. He croaked loudly as his crystal coat cracked from the impact. He toppled backwards over the railing, falling headfirst over the edge. He let out a scream, but it was soon silenced by the writhing of molten metals churning beneath us.

I looked up, watching Firestorm’s shape slowly return from the mass of cinders that enveloped her. She slowly descended onto the platform beside me, a confident smile on her face.

I just stood gaping at her. Not a second ago, she was surrounded in flames, and she just brushed it off like nothing.

“Firestorm, what was that!?” I exclaimed.

Her smile faded into confusion. “What do you mean?”

I pointed around her at the shimmering embers that were still floating around her frame. She casually brushed them away with a smirk.

“What, you’ve never seen Pegasus magic before?”

You think you know somepony. All this time, I’d been travelling with two magitechs, and I didn’t even realise it. I would have pressed her on it more right there, but she quickly turned her attention over the railing as if nothing was wrong. The bubbling steel churned sickeningly, before easing into its original undisturbed state.

“He might be covered in diamond, but I doubt he can breathe down there for very long.”

She showed me the undersides of her hooves, which shimmered slightly. “Plus, borrowing Tinker’s horseshoes helped a bit too.”

I stared incredulously at the shoes, then I shrugged sagely. I guess growing up with shoes like those leaves you with little reason to wear anything else. The Belle mares were an interesting lot, I gotta hoof it to them.

“Oi, are y’all done playin’ with the little doggie?”

Speaking of Belle mares. I turned to see South and Tinker had joined Dexter on the other side of the gap. She had something with her, well, some-Gryphon. Banshee was still unconscious, draped on South’s back.

“She’s still alive, Shepard.” She glanced down into the steel below. “Ah don’t reckon that feller will tell us much now, so we might as well take her as a close second.”

“Where are we gonna take her?” Tinker inquired. “It still ain’t very safe here.”

“We’ll take her back to Speccy’s,” I suggested.

“What? Yew can’t be serious, Shepard.”

“I doubt we’ll have much trouble handling one lone Gryphon cut off from her pack. Plus we know what she’s capable of and how to deal with it if she get’s out of hoof.”

I perked my ears for the sounds that had been plaguing us all day. They were faint, but I could still hear the chaos from outside had not ended.

“And this place doesn’t seem that it will get any quieter soon. We’ll go out the way we came.”

“Then let’s get going,” Firestorm said briskly. She beat her wings to get airborne, and hovered above me. She wrapped her hooves around me and carried me into the air with her across the gap back to the other side, and on our way out of this hell hole. For once, the thought of visiting a junk yard was like music to my ears.

---

Codex Entry Updated: Gemini

Get a Move On, Little Doggie: Paragon Points Earned.

Your Pegasus Tempest has become more adept: Firestorm’s Spitfire Unlocked.

Your Earth Pony Kinetic has become more adept: Poindexter’s Fissure Unlocked.

Comments

[Wolfy]

Well that was a very interesting fight seen. Diamond covered shoes actually have a use, didn't see that one coming.

[Edukas]

I just read the last chapter of Mane Effect at 2am local time (hush about it..), and I'm not sure if I'm more intrigued about that it's going to continue A LOT, or annoyed that I still don't know how it ends as I have spent last 3-4 days absorbing all these chapters. I'm surprised how well you've accomplished to transfer these two worlds together, and managing to create a whole new story as well. Well, it's pretty normal here in fimfic, but to make work out as a whole and make it so detailed and amusing at the same time, I just don't even care about some mispellings here and there although I'm normally such grammarnazi....

Maybe the only thing I'm disappointed about is actually the number of readers who have read this story of yours, under 500 at the last chapters? I could guess it's 'cause of not actually going the same steps as Mass Effect, which was a bit disorienting at first. But hay, it's different place alltogether, they don't have flying ponies transporting their commanders on top of Citadel Tower

Not making this too much 'tldr' I'll just say that I'm waiting for the next update so much, but wanted to make my thoughts into some acts. That's why I made this account. Just to leave this here. So. I'll just. Leave this. Here. Thank you

[jmmovieboy]

I get the feeling that griffins are the krogan. And when you find the equivalent of javik in Alicorns that luna would be perfect. Quarians I don't know about.