Borderland: Friendship is futile

by reddestreaction

the stronghold

We ride up to the gates of Bloodshot Sternum, only to be greeted with hostility .Based on any of the dialogue that has been tossed around (such as, “We don’t appreciate trespassers!” “Go back from once you came!” and “ those who go in don’t come back out!”), they was recently stormed by some other opposing force and was now trying to fight back. Sadly, this was short lived.

Gunfire went off, blood splattering everywhere as broken screams of agony rang out. But i wasn’t worried about that. No, i was worried about the statue in the middle of the yard.

It was oddly placed, amongst all the trash and scraped parts was a stone statue of a dog. A statue that kinda seemed impenetrable by any of the bullets that bounced off of it. Something about the statue was alive and ominous.

As i tried to write it off as nothing, blood splatter across it’s nuzzle and i one foul swoop, a tongue slinked out and licked it away. That seemed to get the bandit’s attention.

“The Mauler! It’s awake!” a bandit shrieks before getting devoured by the large dog.

It’s stone complexion turned gray and red, it’s blazing bloodthirsty eyes scanning the area. It seemed that it hadn’t been up in a while, but understood what was going on. One swipe of the mammal’s paw was enough to move several ponies away and knock them off their feet with ease. And with the canine being towering at 3 ponies tall, our odd looked stacked against us.

The Mauler growled, letting all know that they was trespassing on his yard and will pay the ultimate price. Most of the gunfire was turned to the large beast, but i had common sense and retreated back to the Catch-a-ride.

I press the button activating the minigun turrets. I aim, pulling in and out, and fired for the chest and muzzle. The green gunpowder of corrosive bullets in-pacted the skin and burned into it. The dog growls, roaring out. It’s roar was deafening, shaking the gate and everything around it.

I t’s tail shoots out, grabbing me by my face before slamming me against the ground a couple times. It raises me up to its face and sniffs me. I was bleeding now, it getting into my eye before the canine licks it off.

I levitate my gun over, right behind it head, near it’s temple. It notices that i'm using magic but doesn’t seem to worry about what on, making me believe that it is impervious to magic. But that won’t stop me from shooting it.

“Down Boy.” i hiss, shooting the gun.

Bang!

There was no blood, not immediate reaction .I had to even look at the gun to make sure it went off. Smoke steaming from the barrel, and at the place i shot to make sure that it did. It took a second for it to drop me, it’s body slowly and grotesquely turning back into the stone it once was. The monster didn’t seem to mind, almost at peace with it, which was strange.

I pick myself up, swaying a bit, looking around to see who was left. From what i could see, there was about 12 of us left. Which was probably more than enough.

“Alright everyone, change your bullets to silent-but-deadly. We don’t want to make more of a commotion than we already had.” I hiss.

Knockout bullets, ones of the Doctor’s design. With a strong enough sedative to put an enemy to sleep for about an hour. Which was more than enough time. We was hoping to use these the whole time, however, we had no time to prepare for the ambush.

I whine at that.

No one had to die today. They was all too trigger-happy to stick to the plan. They could’ve easily switched out ammo with duck and cover. They didn’t need to retaliate toward an enemy with a very unstable mind, one that barely comprehends friends from enemies.

I refuse to look around at the corpse that remained on the yard’s floor. I didn’t want to count the casualties that didn’t need to happen, wonder what lives they had before we arrived at the gate, wonder what their names and special talents were. I didn’t even loot the bodies, so distraught.

The Stronghold was a maze within itself, it having many different corridors and turns to navigate through. Some rooms was just that, rooms. Some were locker rooms, holding ammo and other goods. Some were hallways and atriums, others being meeting rooms, sleeping quarter, jail cells, and even a cafeteria.

There was unique thing around every corner, old technology and books. Even the posters on the walls, though faded and torn they were eye pleasing. Which made it more hard to believe that the Stronghold belonged to bandits. The Doctor would be pleased by my findings.

To be honest, i was surprised to see that our plan was even working. Some of the bandits didn’t even have to be taken out, seeing that i had a pizza was justifiable enough for my presence, making me believe Venandi’s statement about whoever in charge must like pizza. They must like it so much that they actually order it and have it delivered often enough for the bandits to not even question it anymore.

They pointed us to where we needed to go and we went on our way, making sure to knock them out with sleeping gas on our way out.

There was only one pony who questioned our presence. The Janitor, he called himself. He was a large stallion, tall and bulky.

“Who goes there?”

“Uh...pizza delivery?”

“We didn’t order any pizza.”

“Are you sure?”

“If we ordered a pizza, i would know because i order them.”

Shoot. Quick, think.

“It’s from the boss.”

“The boss?”

“Oh yes. They told me to bring it here to congratulate the boys on their successful raid. They really loved the selection of pretty new captives you brought us.”

The Janitor scowls. He clearly wasn’t happy about the raid.

“Sometimes, i’m sad to say i work here. I do it for the money and protection, but i wonder if it is enough.” he sighs. “In the back is an elevator.”

We’ve been through the whole Stronghold and come across many elevators, only to find that they was broken. Which means, that was intentional, so whoever just waltz in here hoping to get a job done and leave would be so, so, so horribly wrong.

The elevator had one button, the down button labeled THE BASEMENT.

The music in the elevator was unsettling, like a teasing music to you impending doom. It churned an uneasy feeling inside of me, one that i get when something bad is going to happen.

When the door open, we get a warning shot.

“What do you want?” says a filly’s voice.

I poke my head out of the elevator to find a yellow earth pony glaring at me. She looks about my age, but her large blue eyes was full of hatred and distrust.

“Pizza delivery?” i try, my voice cracking. “Form the boss?”

“The boss?” She raises an eyebrow, revolving the chamber of her revolver.

“Uh...they said congrats on the raid.”

“Raid?” she says, her eyebrows knitting together, apparently she was kept out of the loop. She looks at me with distrust, then at the pizza.

“What kind is it?”

“Look lady, i just deliver. How should i know?” I say, testing the waters. She didn’t seem like the type to shoot someone if she wasn’t sure that they deserved it.

She nods.

“Fair enough. But just to make sure…”

“Delivery!” she calls out.

“Pizza!” three colts voices ring out, running up to the door. They trip each other and wrestle before seeing the look in their filly’s eyes and falling into line.

“TC. DC. RC.”she says sternly. “What is this raid that i am hearing of?”

The three colts gulp at the same time.

“We didn’t have a choice, Gluttony soldiers was at the door and stormed us and we agreed and we sent people out and we’re sorry.” the three say at the same time, cowering.

Another warning shot goes off, causing everyone to cower.

“What did you do?”

“We didn’t do it!” TC says.

“We sent other ponies to do it, so we aren’t guilty.” DC concurs.

“Yeah!”

The filly glares, revolving the barrel again.

“We sent ponies out to kidnap fancy ponies from Sanctuary.” RC cowers.

“Is that it?”

“Yes’m.” they whimper.

“It better be. Because if it isn’t...i might have to consider that ransom on your heads, brothers or not.”

I blink at that.

“Forgive them, they have the courage of a mouse when threatened. Being dumped in corrosive chemicals can do that to a person.” she shrugs. “They get themselves in trouble more often than not.”

“Uh..no worries.” I say, my voice giving way what i was truly feeling. Being the only one standing here was intimidating, even if i had a gun. She had me pinned in a corner and she knew it. She was the daughter of a well-known bandit clan, so she must be dangerous. Hell, even her cutie mark told you that she was bad news.

“Now, as for the pizza.” she says, taking it out of my hoof. She opens the top to find that it was a cheese pizza with stuffed crust. “You came from Sanctuary.”

“What?”

“WyldStyle’s is in Sanctuary, is it not. I bet you wanted info on where your friends were sent, so you came up with this half-baked plan.”

I open my mouth to deny the accusation but she cuts me off with a “Save it”. Mauler roared earlier, meaning blood had been shed. Normal pizza ponies don’t carry guns and know never to come through the front gate.”

I blink, swallowing.

“Don’t worry, i’m not mad. In fact, I’ll tell you where they are.”

“What?!?”

“They wouldn’t be in this mess if my brother’s weren't so stupid.” she says, taking a slice of pizza and taking a bite. “They’ll probably be beamed up into Sloth’s arena. They’ll be fighting for their lives up there, so you might want to stop that from happening.”

“And where do i go to find them?”

“Probably at Polaris Express?” she says. “Any other questions?”

I had many, many more questions before i could open my mouth and ask, she smirks with a “I thought not.”

I blink.

“Now, the elevator to your right will take you to the door you was supposed to come in. Come see me again some time. Oh, and in 5 minutes, anyone still left in the building will be dealt with by Mauler. And trust me, what you did to him only hurt him, he will have no mercy.”

She turns to her brother throwing them each a piece of pizza, watching them dive for it. She tuts and shakes her head.

“Poor Boys, look what they did to you.”

I walk over to the elevator, looking over my shoulder at her. Her eyes was endearing, pity in her eyes. She was the result of her brother’s minds being scrambled by corsives, but she didn’t have the hearts to kill them off. She was an enigma, a caring heart.

The elevator lead me to a small cave, that overlooked that whole valley, all the way to Sanctuary. Which means, she saw us coming.

So...why did she let us leave?

As promised, Mauler was awaken in 5 minutes, but by then we were long gone. Which makes me wonder how Warning Shot could tame such a beast, and why she didn’t have it chase after us.

As we rode back to Sanctuary, a dark shadow reigned in the sky. A large airship hoveres to the southeast.

Congrats you have leveled up to level 14!

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[Undead Equestrian Writer]

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