A Soldier's Orders

by Animatorsnake

Renegade Arc: Ch.7 - Dodging Shenanigans

After the events that occurred in Ponyville, Canterlot, and the Everfree Forest, Twilight Sparkle and Soldier 3112 who was now called, Dark Armor, have gained the help of Trixie Lulamoon, a traveling magician who goes from town to town. When the two encountered Trixie, Dark notices that the princess and wandering traveler have a shared past… one that both intrigues him and makes him wonder about the young princess’s past. From their journey to Dodge City, Twilight was able to explain what she could to Dark about her people. The land he was on was the continent of Equestria, which was ruled before by Princesses Celestia and Luna, who have lived for thousands and thousands of years, and have seen their share of wars, past events, and much more that time had to give. There is also another alicorn princess, which was the species that the princesses were known by, they were third of an pegasus, third of a unicorn, and third of an earth pony. In the far north was an empire ruled under her brother, Shining Armor, and her sister-in-law, Cadance or her full title, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, who ruled with Twilight’s brother in the Crystal Empire. Twilight herself had actually only become an alicorn some months ago, when she was sent through a trial of sorts by Celestia, in which giving her the title, “Princess of Friendship”, in which she fought a being by the name of Tirek, and was given the crystallized castle within Ponyville. Dark was intrigued in the history of these ponies… well Dark would have been intrigued to anything, since he had a strange insatiable hunger for knowledge… which in turn made the princess smile, knowing what kind of interests that Dark had.

Since news of Twilight’s sudden escape plan of freeing the mysterious being in Canterlot, news of the incident have only spread out toward Canterlot, Ponyville, and Cloudsdale. The other cities and towns however have not heard the news but will surely hear of it this morning. Which was why Trixie’s plan was to head to Dodge City, find a doctor to patch Twilight and Dark up, and get a train toward… well, anywhere in particular. This plan would have been flawless in Trixie’s mind… if there weren’t just one, teeny, itsy-bitsy, tiny little problem…

Dodge City, Train Station, 9:00am

“Okay we’re here. Now, we all will come back here exactly at 10:50am, the train will arrive and leave at 11:00am. Do not be late,” said Trixie, instructing her plan. “If you do not arrive in time, Trixie will abandon you. Now, Trixie needs to see somepony for some supplies… do whatever you need to do.”

As Trixie left Twilight and Dark standing on the train station’s platform, the two stared at one another. “Well, ain’t she just a bundle of joy,” said Dark, sarcastically.

“You get used to her. Now, we need to find the town’s doctor, come on,” said Twilight.

Led by Twilight, Dark examined his surroundings of Dodge City. The small town looked like some wild west town, in one of those cowboy movies he heard of from the soldiers back at the base. From what he heard, towns like these have sheriffs, outlaws, horses, and a lot of gunfights… well except that all the residents of this world are mostly ponies, and I doubt their kind have the technology to create guns or weapons that he knows of.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been here,” said Twilight, talking to herself.

“You’ve been here before?” said Dark.

“Indeed… it was actually before I became an alicorn. Back then I was princess Celestia’s personal apprentice… I was a bit of a bookworm back then, well I still am. My friend Applejack, you know the one who works in the farm, she came here to work in a cherry farm that was here after some… events had occurred,” said Twilight, remembering the memory. “Still though, she was our friend, and we couldn’t just abandon her.”

“It’s good to have friends. There aren’t many ponies or people you can trust these days,” said Dark.

“Speaking of friends, do you have any Dark?” asked Twilight. “You mentioned your a sergeant of a military base before… do you have any comrades back there?”

Dark continued to walk beside Twilight, as the two walked down the path to the town ahead. Dark haven’t thought of friendship… which was funny because he was the most friendliest guy back in the outpost he was stationed in. However, Dark never could think of anyone that would come to mind as “friend”… but there were some who might have been considered as friend. “A few… their some subordinates of mine,” said Dark.

“I see. What are they like?” said Twilight, continuing the conversation.

“Well for starters, there’s Kako Jave, his the morale officer, making sure the soldiers don’t cause much trouble. His a pretty good talker… but not so good with women,” said Dark, laughing to that comment he made. “Then there’s Morlvin, who’s in charge of our weapons and ammunition. He may be a big tough son of a gun, but his smarter than he looks, he handles any weapon, unknown or known perfectly… pretty much weapons is his lifetime hobby.”

“They seem to be some… nice folk,” said Twilight. “Is there anypony else in particular, that you know?”

“Indeed… Lizna Vale, she handles our medical problems, both physically and mentally. Don’t let her looks fool you, she’s a certified soldier and can handle herself… funny enough she was suppose to be the sergeant if anything happened to the old one… that’s until I popped up. Ever since then she’s been trying to find dirt on me and get me fired or worse,” said Dark, chuckling. “The first time I met her, she attempted to shoot my privates off.”

Twilight was a bit bewildered by the strange relationship that Dark had with this Lizna character… the two sounded like they hated each others guts. “That doesn’t sound like you two are friends,” said Twilight. “Sound like your enemies.”

“I guess it does… but she means well, she may try to do her best to get me out of my position… but she’s been by my side till thee end, whether she hates me or not,” said Dark. Twilight notices a faint smile under that blackened helmet of Dark’s. The two continued walking when, they were slowly interrupted by somepony.

“Um, can we help you?” asked Twilight.

The mare simply stared at the two, thinking she was staring at Dark… the mare was actually looking at Twilight, not even noticing Dark beside her. At what felt like hours, the mare finally spoke… well actually it sounded more like screaming… or was it squealing?

“OH MY CELESTIA! IT’S PRINCESS TWILIGHT!” screamed the mare.

Suddenly everypony from outside and within the buildings, started to look toward where the screaming had come from. After a few moments later, Twilight and Dark found themselves surrounded by ponies from every direction. Even though Twilight just became a princess some months ago, she’s still royalty nevertheless… whether she was a unicorn before.

“Princess Twilight, where?”

“One of the princess’s are here!?”

“I want to see, I want to see!”

A crowd of ponies appeared surrounding Twilight and Dark. For a town so small… it had a lot of ponies. Dark tried his best to protect Twilight… when a unicorn used their magic on Dark, and flung him aside like he was a bag of… well… whatever ponies throughout in bags. “Dark! Are you okay!?” shouted Twilight, seeing if Dark was okay.

Even though Twilight didn’t hear Dark, she saw his hand and what she believed to be his thumb sticking up while the rest of his fingers curled up into a fist. She didn’t understand what it meant, but she felt that he was okay… right now she had to deal with this problem.

“What are you doing here princess?” said a random pony among the crowd.

“Well… I… um...” said Twilight. Twilight couldn’t think of a good excuse to why she was in Dodge City. Her mind went blank and she simply deflated where she stood, her legs wobbling under pressure. Stuck between a hard place and another hard place, Twilight didn’t what to do… until she heard a clink.

Staring at her hooves, was a metal cylinder object, unsure what it was she heard Dark shout this out to her. “CLOSE YOUR EYES AND COVER YOUR EARS! QUICK!” shouted Dark, doing the same.

Twilight didn’t question what he was planning and immediately followed. Suddenly a loud band and a flash light appeared, blinding and dazing everypony in the vicinity. Once everypony opened their eyes, Twilight had disappeared. “Hey, where’s princes Twilight!?” shouted one pony.

The town went to a frenzy searching everywhere for her. After going to search somewhere else… in an alleyway, Dark hid and with him under his arm was Twilight, rubbing her eyes after the sudden flash and noise. “Okay, the close is clear. You can talk,” said Dark, looking at Twilight.

“What was that?” asked Twilight.

“That, was a flashbang… let’s say it goes flash… and bang,” said Dark.

“I get that part but… just… what happened?” asked Twilight, still confused.

“Well, when that flashbang did it’s thing, I grabbed you and ran to this alleyway. Trixie should of thought in the future about you being noticed since your a princess and all,” said Dark. “Speaking of her, where is she?”

As Dark check to see if he and Twilight can leave, Twilight attempts to stand on her own, but ends up wobbling to the ground. Noticing Twilight fell down, Dark picks her back up and makes her lean against the wall. “You okay? I think that flashbang might have been a bit too much for you,” said Dark

“I’m fine… thank you for the help back there,” said Twilight.

Dark smiles and pats her on the head, as Twilight smiles back at him. While the two sat in the alleyway, they both heard a light cough behind them. Turning to see who it was, it was Trixie, and she had some supplies on her. “Trixie doesn’t mean to be rude, but we should go now. When Trixie came back, Trixie saw a large group of ponies run by here… what did you two do?” said Trixie.

“We were hiding from that crowd when they realized Twilight was here. You should remember Twilight is a princess too,” said Dark. “Now just what exactly did you went to get?”

“Trixie went to get the necessary things we need… and Trixie can see you two haven’t gone to the doctor,” said Trixie, staring at Dark’s wounds. “Nevertheless, Trixie came prepared and went to get some medical supplies too while out. Now come on, the train is coming soon… oh and by the way, when you two need some privacy… try to stay quiet.”

Trixie left the two alone in the alleyway, while Twilight looked at Dark and blushed. After following Trixie back to the station, the train arrived with some ponies exiting the train, and luckily nopony needed to enter the train. Twilight waited for everypony to exit and when it was time, Dark and Twilight enter the train, while Trixie brought her wagon onto one of train’s storage carts. Once entering inside with Dark and Twilight, Trixie stares at Dark… which gave him the goosebumps. “What? Is there something on my head?” asked Dark.

“Well… ever since Trixie found you and Twilight… you haven’t seem to act the same as Twilight, considering your wounds are… how you say… ‘nopony could survive’,” said Trixie. Trixie points at a particular hole on Dark’s armor. The hole wasn’t big or deep, but Trixie expected blood to leak out… bu nothing of the sort did for the last few hours they walked and arrived to Dodge City.

“Well we can worry about that later… I don’t feel so good if you can tell,” said Twilight, wobbling side to side. Dark carefully leads Twilight to a seat on the train cart they were in. Once laying her down, Dark realizes that the cart their in was empty.

“Say Trixie… why is this cart empty? It’s almost afternoon yet nobody is in here. What gives?” asked Dark.

“Ever since Twilight’s attempt at freeing you at Canterlot, a lot of ponies have either went to Canterlot to ask Princess Celestia what’s happening, or gone to Ponyville to see the mess you two done down there,” said Trixie. “Now, make Twilight eat this, it should help with her fever.” Putting out his hand, Dark is given a green bottle and wooden spoon. Opening the bottle and dropping a spoonful of the liquid on the spoon, Dark places the spoon on top of Twilight’s mouth.

“Open wide Twilight,” said Dark, holding the spoon steadily.

The second Twilight opens her eyes and sniffs the liquid, she makes a disgusted face, closing her mouth shut. “What is that smell, I’m not drinking that...” said Twilight. Her face begins to look worse, the more she doesn’t drink the liquid. So Dark goes with a tactic he seen used by Lizna before when one of the soldier’s won’t drink their medicine. Dark pinches Twilight’s nose, so she is unable to breath, forcing her to open her mouth… in which case Dark shoves the spoon into her mouth.

Twilight coughs, tasting the liquid… which is also just as horrible as the smell. “What were you doing?” said Twilight, continuing to cough. “Are you trying to choke me. I couldn’t breath.”

“Well you wouldn’t drink your medicine,” said Dark. “So I used the good old, ‘Hold the nose’ tactic.”

“Well… it was mean for you to do that,” said Twilight, grumpy. “Though… I do feel sort of better now.”

“Trixie gets the best medicine Trixie can when Trixie arrives to a town. Now get some rest, we’ll arrive at Manehattan at night,” said Trixie, taking a seat opposite of where Twilight lay down.

“Wait, Manehattan?” said Twilight, surprised. “Why are we going to Manehattan?”

“Uh, what’s Manehattan?” asked Dark, not knowing the city.

“Manehattan is the biggest city in Equestria, and the busiest,” said Twilight. “My friends been there before and helped out this pony in a fashion contest some sort. My friend Rarity was attending that contest, the last time I remembered.”

“A city… that might be a good idea to hide actually. Good thinking Trixie,” said Dark.

“The great and powerful Trixie always comes up with the best plans,” said Trixie, boasting herself.

“Not all the time,” said Twilight, whispering.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.

Twilight smiled and stared at the window, as the passing scenery began to change. “Well, you better rest Twilight,” said Dark. “Your going to need it if you almost fainted back at that alley.”

At first Twilight wanted to retort at Dark… but she felt the dizziness in her head, and agreed it was best she slept. So dozing off, Dark and Trixie were left alone in the train cart, whilst Twilight slept. After half an hour had passed, Trixie made sure Twilight was a hundred percent sure she fell asleep… and when she did…

“Dark… there’s something Trixie needs to ask… no… not ask… ‘confirm’ from you,” said Trixie.

Dark sensed the sudden change in atmosphere and saw Trixie’s eyes. Instead of the boastful pony Twilight talked about… this pony was serious, and worried at the same time. Dark wasn’t sure why she waited now to ask him a question now… unless… she didn’t want Twilight hearing. “Uh sure… what you want to know?” asked Dark, readjusting where he sat.

“Trixie… ‘I’ want to know… why is Twilight here?” asked Trixie, not using her name to refer herself anymore.

Dark gave an inquisitive look toward Trixie, what did she mean “why is Twilight here?”, Twilight is here because she freed Dark that’s why… but… Dark felt Trixie meant something else by why she was here. “What you mean Trixie?” said Dark, also becoming serious.

“I mean… why is she not at Ponyville… and instead with a complete stranger? Why isn’t she in her crystal castle, doing her responsibilities, but instead… adventuring with… whatever you are? Twilight made a promise to somepony… somepony special to her… to her friends… to me… and she’s breaking that promise,” said Trixie.

“What promise… and to whom?” asked Dark, trying to understand.

“The promise… to my special somepony… to her friend… to her ‘dead’, friend… to Anim...” said Trixie, continuing to speak.

Why was she risking her life, when Anim risked his to save Equestria?

Comments

[Jankrieg34]

The plot thickens (Not THAT kind of Plot you sick F*cks!!!!)

[Animatorsnake]

7540774 OH MAH DEITIES THANK YOU! The second I posted the first few chapters, I got a few likes and what not, but... NOW THIS! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU~!