The Vipers Pit
Kickback fired his guns furiously at the Sand Vipers and their leader with almost no regard for anypony’s safety. Gun smoke filled the room as he shots bullets in just about every direction as the Vipers tried to flank him from either side. The foals ducked for cover behind the walls so as not to get shot in the wake of Kickback’s rage. They were startled when a few bullets actually did whiz by them into the hallways they had come from, and hit the stone walls they were using for cover. Shadow Shroud didn’t dare risk using the smoke as cover to attack for the risk of the storm of bullets claiming her; plus, her ears were ringing again.
When the storm subsided after a couple minutes, the smoke dissipated to reveal a grisly scene. All of the Sand Vipers had been shot, but thankfully none were killed or mortally wounded. But they were pretty staggered from eating so much lead. A good few of the Vipers managed to brave through their wounds to go after Kickback, but that wasn’t what had his attention right away. What turned his fury into shock was the sight of Ms. Sunrise lying unconscious in her net!
“Oh no…….No!......Please don’t tell me!!” Kickback stammered.
The hiding foals looked on in horror as they feared what Kickback did. This entire evening had just been one shock after another. With the storm of bullets no longer an issue, Shadow Shroud leapt into the dark of the chamber, and snuck towards the hanging net holding Ms. Sunrise.
The Sand Viper boss staggered to his hooves, holding his shot shoulder. He looked back at their hanging captive, and smirked. “Wha-oh! Looks like it happened again, champ. Yer own teacher this time.” He sneered. Kickback finally dropped his guns as he looked on in horror at the notion of what might have just happened. The very same shock he felt that fateful day a year ago….it had happened upon him again. “What’s the matter, Sheriff? Cat got yer gun?”
Holding back their own shock, and having seen enough of Kickback getting bullied by the bandit leader, the remaining foals charged into battle to save him. They rushed to his side just as Shadow Shroud successfully reached Ms. Sunrise. She cut the net just enough that she could slither through. Carefully inspecting her, Shadow Shroud didn’t see any blood coming from the unconscious teacher. Feeling and listening carefully, she could detect very light breathing, and a pulse!
“LEAVE HIM ALONE, AND LET HER GO NOW!” Fire Fight shouted as he and the others bar Shadow Shroud reached Kickback.
The Viper boss was surprised to see to the sudden guests. “Huh? What the-? Who let y’all in?” he demanded.
Air Slash poised one of his swords at him. “Oh, pay us no heed. We let ourselves for but a moment to retrieve our friend, and reclaim whom you have taken hostage!”
The boss just laughed. “Are y’all stupid!? Li’l sheriff right there just did her in! Take a good look!” he said as he pointed towards the net…..which was completely cut open and empty! “Huh!?”
“Not quite so…” he heard a dark whisper right beside him. He turned quickly to see a cloaked Shadow Shroud staring him down. Not even a second before he noticed her did she leap towards him, and knock him out. The other Sand Vipers were shocked and confused. Kickback was still too distressed to even perceive what was happening around him. Shroud faced her comrades. “She merely fainted from all that was happening. She’ll be fine.” She explained.
Relieved of their initial shock, they looked at Kickback who was still sleeping with his eyes open whilst having a horrific nightmare, and tried to get his attention. “Ya here dat, son? You good!” Turf War said, but to no avail as Kickback didn’t even seem to hear him. Turf War waved his hoof in front of his face. “Homie?” still no response.
The Sand Viper boss recovered frighteningly quick as he got up. He chuckled devilishly. It was then that they noticed that all of the other Sand Vipers got up from the beatings they’d received earlier, and began to circle around the foals. The fallen Vipers from the saloon and storeroom, even those who’d suffered nasty injuries at the hooves of the foal entered the chamber to join their comrades. Many of them were pissed, and more than ready to beat down on the foals who had humiliated them like this. Unshaken by even the seemingly impossible odds, the foals stood their ground ready to defend themselves, and Kickback.
“Careful, Spiral. I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but the sky is open here!” Shadow Shroud warned.
Spiral looked up to see that the stars were indeed out and ready to send her into a frenzy if she wasn’t careful. “O-O-Ok! Thanks, Shroud!” she said, trying to keep her cool.
“Don’t rightly know what no roof has to do with ya, but Ah reckon you’ll get to heaven a lot quicker that way!” one of the Vipers hissed.
Air Slash pointed one of his swords at them. “As will you!” he said. A group of pegasi Sand Vipers soared towards him with weapons ranging from broken bottles and chairs to stone clubs drawn.
“Careful, y’all! They’re tougher than they might look!” one of them called out. He swung his stone club down at Air Slash, which he parried with ease…..well, more like sliced right through it and followed through with a slash across the Viper’s body, sending him careening into the dirt in agony.
“Case and point!” Air Slash sneered. He soared into the sky towards the stars, and tauntingly waved his sword at the pegasi, and they flew up after him. Air Slash’s swords glistened with furious beauty as they danced in the night sky slicing his swarm of opponents. There were far more of them then he’d mentally prepared himself for, so all he could do was keep moving and go with the flow.
Back on the ground, Spiral used her magic to move Kickback and his guns to a location in the dark that Shadow Shroud specified. It turned out to be the location where she hid Ms. Sunrise’s limp body. After that, Spiral carefully ignited her magic as she created a mini galaxy around herself, and stood beside Ms. Sunrise to protect her oncoming Vipers. She blasted with carefully charged nova shots, and gravity waves so as not to accidently call down another shooting star.
Meanwhile, Fire Fight and Turf War were at odds with the Viper boss, and some of his goons, who were keener on standing their ground. “Huh…Shame y’all couldn’t join our li’l family here. You’d be MVP’s!” he said with detectable nervousness.
Turf War shook his head. “I ain’t ‘bout to be no damn snake, b****! Dealt wit enough o’ d’ose back in Detrot, and y’all ain’t s*** compared to them!” he said. He banged his shield with his hammer tauntingly.
“We won’t let you bully Kickback and cause trouble for Dodge City! Either stand down now…”Fire Fight said, then ignited his horn. “…or you’ll be playing with fire!” he growled.
The boss gritted his teeth furiously. He was done playing games. “Sounds like fun! Come show us a good time, varmints!” he shouted. He charged towards the two colts, but Turf War shield-rammed him. It didn’t do much as the boss just got pushed back a few inches. Before Turf War could smack him with his hammer, one of the boss’s goons flanked him and bucked him from his right side, sending him a good few feet away.
“Turf War!” Fire Fight shouted. He then looked at his opponents, who were smirking deviously. It was in that moment that Fire Fight knew he couldn’t hold anything back. He bellowed a war cry, and let his body erupt into an inferno, startling the bandits. He kicked a fire disc at them, which the goon that kicked Turf War took with his whole body. He ran around screaming in agony as he tried desperately to put out the blaze. Fire Fight then rocketed himself towards the boss to try for an uppercut, but too was flanked by another goon guarding the boss. He took the blow from Fire Fight and was sent to kingdom come, but he left himself vulnerable to the boss as he grabbed Fire Fight by the tail, and flailed him around violently, slamming him into the ground a few times.
Turf War staggered to his hooves after sustaining the blow to his side. “M*********!” he growled. It was then that he saw the punishment that Fire Fight was sustaining, and got really mad. “Oh, HELL NO!” he shouted. He tried to run towards him, but he was grabbed by the tail. He turned around to see a Sand Viper trying to pull him by the tail, but Turf War pulled back with all his might, and then swung his hammer-axe backhanded by its axe side into the Vipers temple, knocking him out. He then noticed another Viper charging him from the right, and swung hard. He hit the Vipers body with such an impact, that it knocked him into a couple more Vipers that sent them tumbling into each other, and into the dirt. Another guy came from his right, and received a shield jab to the muzzle. The Viper braved through the blow, and swung a chair he was carrying horizontally and hit Turf War, shattering into splinters on impact. Turf War took that blow like a champ, and followed up with a power swing to the temple that seemed to almost take the Vipers head off as he fell to the floor unconscious.
Despite being tossed around like a ragdoll, Fire Fight was still in his berserk mode ignoring any pain he might’ve been sustaining. He blasted fire in random directions trying to sear the Viper boss. It wasn’t until a black egg flew into the boss’s face that he was forced to release the fiery colt as a thick cloud of smoke and dirt covered his face. “AH! What in tarnation!?” he said. He quickly ran out of the cloud, and wiped off his face. He felt something whiz right by him as he did. He looked into the direction of whatever that was went to see a cloaked mass with a pair of amethyst eyes flying towards him with a kunai in hand. He quickly grabbed Shadow Shroud out of the air just before she could land a hit, and slammed her into the ground, pinning her by the neck with his hoof. “Why you little…!” he growled.
Shroud struggled to breathe as she continuously stabbed the boss’s hoof, which he miraculously braved through! The boss gritted his teeth viciously as he tried to asphyxiate the little ninja, but when the already enraged Fire Fight got up and saw what was happening……..
“RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”
Fire Fight’s body was alit as though a thousand volcanoes were erupting continuously off of it. He rocketed towards the boss, who looked on in terror as the flaming inferno of a colt blasted into him with untold fury. He was knocked clean from Shadow Shroud with a furious punch to the face. Sent into the air and vulnerable, Fire Fight began lashing out at him with a flurry of punches and kicks, keeping the boss’s body in the air with each searing strike. For the finale, he uppercut and front flip kicked him into the air, shot a supercharged fireball at him, jumped into him and kneed him as he ascended, and finally axed kicked him with meteoritic force into the ground. The subsequent explosion sent surrounding Sand Vipers flying and char-grilled away from him. The Viper Boss was out like a light.
Fire Fight’s berserk mode petered out after the brutal combo, and he calmed down. Not caring that he was pretty winded, he immediately went to check on his ninja friend. “Shroud! Are you alright!?” he asked. He began panting from exhaustion after his rage.
Shroud was still catching her breath. She leaned into Fire Fight, and he let her use him for support. She was coughing and sputtering from the assault. “So….the tables <cough><cough> have turned, have they? You’re rescuing me now? Hmph! How sweet.” She sneered. They were both out of breath and about ready to collapse when they noticed an enraged Viper charging towards them. They braced themselves for a nasty blow when they heard a loud ‘bang!’.
They looked up to see the viper curled on the ground clutching his chest. They then looked over to see Kickback pointing his smoking gun in that direction with his hat over his eyes, looking calm and collected as ever. “Kickback!” Fire Fight shouted.
Kickback slightly lifted his hat to let his determined eyes peek out. He smiled, and tipped his hat at them before marching out into the middle of the arena. “Ah reckon Sound, Fury and Ah have had just about enough o’ you varmints!” he said. He put his hoof on the brim of his hat. “Now y’all listen close, ‘cause Sound and Fury got a few things they’d like to say to you!” he said as he braced himself.
“YEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAW!!!!!”
Kickback threw his hat straight up into the air and let it spin like a frisbee as he drew his guns. With rage and anger replaced with courage and determination, Kickback aimed and fired his trusty revolvers with peerless precision and accuracy, even more so than when he performed. The fire in his eyes could be seen as smoke belched from his guns in every direction along with a hail of bullets that all hit their marks. He’d reload when needed within milliseconds. Vipers charging him would fall to the ground whether they came from the ground, or from the sky away from Air Slash. The injuries they’d already sustained from fighting the other foals prevented them from recovering so easily this time. The very last Viper who hadn’t been shot leapt like a cat towards Kickback he was within a couple feet of the guncolt when he quickly turned around, and shot him, letting his limp body fly and tumble right past him.
Kickback blew out, and holstered his guns. His hat fell back to him. He caught it, and whipped it around as he turned his body around just put it back on his head. This caused all the gun smoke around him to be fanned out quickly. Kickback simply stood there with his hoof holding his hat down just over his eyes looking calm and collected as before. His bandana flicked and waved it the little breeze he’d created as the foals looked on in awe that he’d managed to subdue them without killing them in such a spectacular manner.
As the smoked cleared, Kickback approached Shadow Shroud and Fire Fight. “Y’all alright?” he asked.
“WHAT!? I CAN’T HEAR YOU! MY EARS ARE RINGING AGAIN!” Shadow Shroud shouted.
Spiral magically carried Ms. Sunrise, who was still conked out as Air Slash descended back to them; he was pretty winded from the exhausting amount of aerial sword fighting he had to do. Turf War was equally tired from sustaining as much forceful punishment as he did, but still tanked through. All of them were pretty beaten up save for Spiral, who had a nasty headache from trying to keep her magic in check, which she miraculously did, but it still meant she had a ways to go. Kickback’s emotions were still shaken despite his act of heroism tonight. Spiral braved through her headache as she and Fire Fight magically carried Ms. Sunrise back through the now tame hallways. Air Slash lifted her upward as he flew while Turf War supported her on his back. Shadow Shroud kept her mask on.
“Ah suppose y’all heard about mah mama…..” Kickback muttered.
“We did. Our condolences, Kickback.” Shadow Shroud said.
“Yeah, bruh….Dat’s…….damn……” Turf War commented.
“That’s why your dad doesn’t seem to like you very much, huh?” Fire Fight said.
Kickback solemnly nodded. “He hasn’t looked me in the eye since that night. The only reason he let me keep Sound and Fury was because mah dang Cutie Mark appeared shortly after.” He explained. “But…..every time Ah draw mah guns, Ah have a quick flashback……of me runnin’ to mah pa holdin’ her and…..” he began to sob. The calm cowpony tried to hold back tears, but his face was just about drenched at the thought of watching his mother pass away right before his eyes. “Mama!” he wept. Shadow Shroud nuzzled him as the other looked on in deep sorrow. Kickback managed to wipe away his tears, and calm down as he got the urge to ask. “Who are y’all anyway?”
Fire Fight explained his history, his mission and his association with his friends bar Shadow Shroud’s nature as a Shadewalker. He then explained how their search had brought them here to Dodge City. “That’s about the gist of it.” He said.
As Kickback listened to him more and more, he felt strangely…..inspired. “Say it ain’t so.” He said.
“It is so, Kickback. Looks like you could use our help, huh?” Fire Fight said.
Air Slash looked curiously. “But I thought we determined that this was just a problem between him and his father? Everypony else seems to quite respect Kickback.” He inquired.
Kickback looked down. “Ah’m not so sure about that, partner. Not even Ms. Sunrise knew about me shootin’ mah mama. And just like ya said, she passed out from all the shock right after she did. What’s everypony gonna say now? Are they gonna be afraid Ah’ll shoot ‘em too!? Ah just……Ah just can’t bear the thought of havin’ to put Sound and Fury away fer good just to save some grief. Y’all can see mah flank! Ah need these two! Don’t know what Ah’d do otherwise!” he said
“So does that mean….” Fire Fight started.
Kickback swallowed, and looked Fire Fight in the eye. He smiled, and tipped his hat. “If ya really think you can make a place just fer me and other ‘lost foals’ as ya put ‘em, then Ah’d be much obliged to come to join ya, Fire Fight! Mah pa would be happy to see me gone anyhow.” He proudly declared.
The foals cheered upon hearing that. It was then that Shadow Shroud revealed herself to be a Shadewalker. Kickback was pretty shocked to hear her tale, but he was assured that they were now allies, to which he nervously accepted. Air Slash said that he’d protect him should the ‘creature of the night’ try to harm him, to which he got glares from both her, and Fire Fight, shooting down his pride.
Before they could come up with a plan, they heard Ms. Sunrise begin to stir as they nearly made it to the mouth of the cave. They put her down, hid in the shadows, and let Kickback talk to her once she got up.
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And they have another...this party keeps getting bigger and bigger. Well, I wonder what location they'll be going to next?
7799073 I can't wait for you guys to meet the next foal! I've been pretty excited to introduce him/her!
7799077 That's nice but...we've hit 6 characters. That is gonna get crowded if you just keep adding and adding. The main cast of MLP are about 10 characters, (Mane 6, CMC and Spike) and that's pretty crowded. I just hope you don't start repeating characters/personalities.
7799083 Oh don't worry. I think you'll find that my cast will be pretty diverse in either respect.
7799094 What about number though?
7799096 My initial plan was 16, but I'm considering cutting a few, as much I hate to...
7799104 16?! Wow...I've only made 1 OC mlp character...that I'll probably never fully write his story...you have some impressive imagination.
7799117 Thanks! To be fair, I conceived this idea around May or June, so I had a lot of time to think before deciding to start publishing.
7799132 I know the feeling. My stories usually have giant plans too. Good luck my friend!
7799138 Thank you! You too!
Kickback tips his hat too ya!
7799143 I tip my non-existant hat to him as well!
I really would like to see this talk, It'll be interesting on how it'll go.
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WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Lets see here, if I remember my math right, Axe + Head = Dead-pony!
Not saying he's dead, but 'limp body' doesn't sound like he 'Okay' either.
)
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This was a pretty good fight, if I do say so myself.
However, when you have the time, I would suggest that you go back and double check your grammar. It wouldn't hurt anypony to make reading the thing go a little smother. Not saying that you have to do so now, but somewhere down the line when you feel like you can do the busy work.
If not, send it to a friend who knows their grammar. (Not me though, I'm good, but far from great.
7799939 Thanks! Admittedly, I don't proofread these as much as I should, and kinda get them out in a hurry.
7799967 it's cool, Normally I'd suggest to don't rush things, but when I applied that I just got lazy.
I notice up until now you've been pretty against killing ponies, so I wanted to make sure that's the word you intended to use.
Eviscerate means to disembowl. That is, cut open the abdominal wall so the intestines spill out inhorrific loops of gore.
Uh, that said though most of what htey've been fighting would have been ten different kinds of dead by the end of this chapter. Blunt force trauma to the skull, multiple gunshot wounds, flame inhalation, shock, organ trauma, blood loss, broken bones, being ripped apart into molecular if not atomic constituents due to a singularity's gravity (of ANY size) being able to rend matter apart...