Agents of Discord

by Scarlett Haze

Diamond Dogs are Forever

"Here it comes again!" Rover screeched, ducking from the swinging pendulum.

Tyrone let the pendulum pass him, knowing his sword wasn't going to be any use against the steel ball that swung back and forth. Thanks to the arsenal that the underground base had, he and the rest of the diamond dogs were ready for a fight.

Just not against obstacles.

"Ow! My foot!" Fido howled. "Why 's there a step there?!"

"Step?" Screw Loose barked. "That means stairs!"

The gang continued their dodging and weaving toward the stairs and reached them. After catching their breaths, they took a head count.

"All here," Tyrone sighed thankfully. "Didn't want to go back to pick any certain dog out of a jam like last time."

"That jam was sticky and you know it!" Spot growled.

Tyrone rolled his eyes and continued up the stairs, followed behind by his pack.

"Why are we doing this?" Rover huffed. "We could be back home, digging up all kinds of gems for us to enjoy!"

Tyrone gave an angry look to Rover before continuing. He knew Richard was here, and it was his duty to find him and protect him. Not only this, but he trusted Quentin when he said that he was going to bring him back. He still felt confused as to how the castle worked, but shrugged it off as another test to his loyalty. He had come too far to be kept away from his duty.

"What's that out there?" Fido remarked, pulling himself up toward a window.

The others tried to crowd the window, each cramping up the tiny space.

"Is... that a piano flying out there?" Spot asked in confusion.

"No, that's a giant rock... I think," Screw Loose hummed.

Each of them beginning barking out to catch the attention of whatever was outside. It certainly worked as the object reached the window.

"Tyrone? Is that you in there?" The flying object with wings called out.

"I recognize that voice," Tyrone happily shouted. "Beta! What are you doing out there!"

"Trying to pick a good room to burst in," he said behind the glass pane. "Move outta the way, I'm gonna break through!"

The dogs fell off the window sill and waited to see Quick Fix shatter through the glass. With the approaching yell, they turned away to make sure glass wouldn't fall into their face. Instead of hearing glass breaking, they heard the sound of rubber bouncing. Looking back to the window, it looked untouched. Looking back outside, the dogs couldn't find a sign of the pegasus that said he would be coming in.

Giving a poke at the window, Tyrone's paw pushed against a rubbery surface. "It's... not solid."

"What happened to the pony?" Fido asked.

Giving a few more testy pokes, Tyrone sighed and dropped off the window sill again. "Come on, let's get going. Don't want to stop now that we could be close."

"You are," a voice came from further up the stairs. The group turned up to see a gray pegasus with a deck of cards in her hoof. "You'll need to go through a few more trials, but you are near the end of a long process."

Screw Loose began growling angrily, "Her eyes aren't normal."

The dogs all cautiously held up their weapons and began growling menacingly at the black eyes of the blonde mare.

"Allow me to lead you to your next task," the pegasus offered before turning away and going up the stairs.

Each of them gave a look of concern to each other before slowly pressing onward. The stairs led to a door, a large scratch etched into it done by a four fingered creature of some kind. Tyrone held up his sword and leaned up against the door, his hand on the knob and head turned to his team to give them a signal. With a confident nod, he pushed the door open and all of them were greeted to an empty bar room.

The lights began to flicker on and a jukebox began playing a song. A light flashed on, revealing the gray pegasus with her deck at a dealer's table. She had been shuffling the cards in her hooves as the dogs reached the table.

"You approach the Element of Greed, fifty-two cards in her hooves," the pegasus crooned. "She challenges you to a game of Poker, 5 draw, one redraw. If you take my tokens, you will be led to the exit. If I take yours, then you will be left in this room forever, under the debt of myself."

Tyrone looked to each of the Diamond Dogs and shrugged his shoulders, not knowing how to play the game she was talking about.

"I'll take her on," Screw Loose grumbled, moving up to the stool in front of the pegasus. "Lay them out, just as I do before I dig up the ground to bury my toys."

The pegasus didn't say a word as she made one final shuffle and dealt the cards, five for herself and five for Screw Loose.

"The house start's with 500 tokens," the pegasus stated before sliding a small pile to Screw Loose. "You will start with 50. Minimum bet is at 10 tokens to play."

Screw Loose gave a nod, a furrowed brow on her face as she lifted her cards.

Jack of Hearts, 9 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, 10 of Diamonds, 4 of Hearts.

She thought carefully on what to do as she pushed out her initial 10 tokens to start. She already had a pair, but she knew if she played the cards, she could have a straight.

Taking the chance, she put down the 2 cards and received 2 more. She watched as the dealer picked out three cards and put three others in her hand.

"The house raises 30," the pegasus chuckled, knowing that if Screw Loose were to call, she would only be left with 10.

Screw Loose did call, and hoped that her hand would top the house.

The pegasus began revealing her cards left to right.

5 of Diamonds, 2 of Spades, 5 of Spades, 5 of Clubs, Queen of Clubs.

"Three of a kind," the pegasus coolly remarked, waiting now to see Screw Loose's results.

With the encouragement of the Diamond Dogs behind her, Screw Loose took a deep breath and revealed her hand.

Jack of Hearts, 9 of Spades, Queen of Spades, 10 of Diamonds, 8 of Clubs.

Screw Loose shuffled her extra 40 tokens toward her. She was making progress, and with a little extra firepower, she felt a bit of hope that she could pull this off.

The battle of wits and luck continued, Screw Loose continuously being brought to the edge of losing, but managing to slip away with a victory to survive another match. The deck continued to be shuffled, again and again the sound of cards smacking against each other filled the room.

The game continued on, a calmness somehow mixed in the game. The jukebox began playing along to the tune that the bar gave. Despite the lulling sense of relaxation that the bar gave, Screw Loose kept her focus on the game as the saxophone began to play.

"You are very good," the gray pegasus remarked, fiddling with a card in her hoof. "Every time I try to keep track of the cards that have been played, you manage to surprise me in a different way."

Tyrone kept a grip on the table edge next to Screw Loose, staring down the pegasus as he tried to find a sense of danger behind the darkness of her eyes. His claws dug into the wood, a sense of fear behind him not knowing what the gray pegasus with bubbles on her flank was thinking.

"One last game," Screw Loose growled quietly.

Despite not knowing what Screw Loose was saying, the pegasus nodded and dealt out the final cards as both ponies pushed their tokens to the table.

Screw Loose kept her cards hidden, not wanting Tyrone to see, instead she whispered something in his ear. With a jerk of her head, Tyrone solemnly stepped back and went toward the jukebox.

Both ponies made their exchange of cards and sat there, waiting for the other to reveal what lay in their hooves. The gray pegasus began chuckling, her laughter increasing in volume as she revealed her hand.

5 of Hearts, 6 of Hearts, 7 of Hearts, 8 of Hearts, 9 of Hearts.

"The Straight Flush," she continued laughing, ready to take her tokens. Tyrone pushed a button on the jukebox, finding something

Holding a hoof up to stop her, Screw Loose revealed her cards. A straight face as each one was revealed.

Ace of Diamonds, King of Diamonds, Queen of Diamonds, Jack of Diamonds, 10 of Diamonds.

"Royal Flush," Screw Loose said clearly, watching the pegasus' face drop in shock. "The game is over."

Pushing a button, the jukebox started to play a song as Celestial and Lunar soldiers began to surround the area.

The Diamond Dogs gathered together, each a back against each other as they put their weapons up. Tyrone's sword slashed out an attacking guard, ripping the neck open and spurting blood out over the floor. Screw Loose's unusual combination of stumbling and heavy blows kept many more of the Celesital army on guard, not knowing if she was going to attack them next. Fido lifted Spot up and threw him with one arm, flinging the small dog into an incoming crowd of soldiers and knocking their balance off before he charged in with his axe. Rover's spear matched the skill of the other pony's that attempted to fight with him, but his height and agility would keep knocking his opponent's weapon away before he plunged the point into their chest.

Tyrone's sword clashed against the armor of a Lunar Guard before he noticed the gray pegasus trying to slip away.

"Follow that pony!" Tyrone ordered, shoving off three ponies that had tried to restrain him.

He kept a cover to the back as the fight became a full brawl between the Celestial Guard and Lunar Army with the Diamond Dogs attempting to wade through the battlefield the bar had become. Tyrone's sword kept slashing into ponies that dared to get close, some ponies becoming unfortunate enough to have their wing cut off as they fell to the floor screaming in agony.

A Celestial Guard jumped from the bar and attempted to stab at Rover, but Tyrone managed to get in between him and the stabbing spear.

"Keep going," Tyrone barked out, making Rover hurry faster with his team. Tyrone kept grip of the spear that had pierced just enough into him to still see the spear's point. With a loud grunt of effort, Tyrone's sword swung overhead and cleaved into the pony's head, making the struggle between the two animals end. With a slick pop, Tyrone torn the spear out of him and threw it into the mosh of ponies as an act of vengeance against his wound.

The gray pegasus had indeed led them to the way out, a trapdoor hidden in a corner of the room. It looked just big enough to crawl through one at a time.

Tyrone kept to his guard as Screw Loose went first. "Everyone, keep going! I'll hold them off!" Tyrone hastily ordered, running back into the fray with his sword out. His vision became clouded with a tunnel vision for anything that moved, it needed to be slashed with his fury. Ponies became terrified as he would pounce at them, sometimes not using his sword as he would just grip their heads and twist them until he felt a pop. His smell was only blood, his tongue continued to lap up the splashes of red that hit his nose, and his teeth would tear into other ponies as he would forcibly shake them before flinging them across the room.

Knowing most of his enemies were now either dead or hiding, his next instinct was to get out. He hadn't realized how hurt he was until he began limping towards the trapdoor. He attempted to ignore the pain and forced himself through the trapdoor.

"And here's the final Diamond Dog of the night, Tyrone," a showman's voice announced. "He looks to be cut up, bruised, and even may be in a state of shock. But, don't fret Tyrone, because you and your friends are now in the top sixty-four that will make it into the finals before the ultimate showdown!"

Discord stepped down from a podium, wearing a tweed jacket as he ushered Tyrone in, ignoring the growls.

"Rest up, check those wounds, we only have fifty more spots to fill and when they fill, the castle's going somewhere no pony can follow." Discord gave a look out beyond the window, expecting to see someone looking back. "Take your guess, I hope you can get it right before the real show starts..."

Comments

[Noble Wings]

oh god OH GOD OH NO PLEASE NO NOT A ROYAL FIGHT CHAPTER NO NO THIS WILL NOT DEW NOT AT ALL

[Lord Charles]

Is he teleporting them to hell our the moon let's wait snd see...