To Devour a God

by the7Saviors

Chapter XIV – A Violent Debut

Author's Note:

We're gonna start dealing with Daeus Arms a lot more here as the story goes on, so just to give those of you who aren't familiar with how God Arcs (Daeus Arms in this story) look, and because I'm terrible at describing things, here's a brief overview of each weapon with some images.

Contrary to what I thought regarding how this 'check-up' with the doctor would go, it was relatively painless. All he really did was draw some blood, clean the needle, and insert the syringe into a slot on the top of a small cylindrical container. both the top and bottom of the container were metal with a large portion of the middle being made of glass.

Inside, beneath the glass I could see some kind of red light, and the bottom was connected to a laptop on the doctor's desk. It was a sort of bio-scanner used to detect illnesses and anomalies in the body, by way of scanning blood, blood plasma, and in some cases, other bodily fluids like urine and saliva.

I'd used a scanner like this one back in my own lab, though it was a specialized scanner provided by Wendigo for use in scanning unbound Hive Cells we'd managed to retrieve from the corpses of avidaeos. It wasn't an easy task to retrieve Cells when they'd been separated from the core, as the 'body' of the avidaeus began to evaporate within seconds, making retrieval impossible.

In any case, Doctor Whooves took my blood sample and scanned it into the computer, looking for any ill effects of the Daeification process. He was strangely quiet as he worked, and though I tried to strike up some kind of conversation and maybe lead him into talking about what he'd discussed with Harshwhinny, I didn't get anywhere.

He either deflected my questions or simply laughed them away, and I gave up before long. I had a feeling I'd find out soon enough what that was all about, so I didn't make too much of a fuss about it.

Eventually, after some more awkward silence and watching him read through the information displayed on the screen, the Doctor announced the Daeification process a complete success with no ill effects to see, much to my relief. There was still the possibility of a dormant strain of... something, just waiting to pop up later, but I pushed that worry to the back of my mind for now.

It wouldn't do me any good to constantly worry about what might not be the case, and I had more tangible things to worry about anyway.

A few minutes later I was out of the lab and back on the bench next to Seeker, waiting for Vinyl Scratch to return. I took the opportunity to get to know Seeker a little better, despite nervous the stallion made me, but, like talking to the doctor, it was a futile effort. The most I got when I asked him where he was from or why he decided to join, was a noncommittal grunt or complete silence.

The stallion was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, and frankly I wanted nothing to do with him either way, so I didn't try too hard to befriend him. Something about him set me on edge, and I couldn't help but breathe a small sigh of relief when Doctor Whooves and Vinyl finally stepped out of the lab, the latter shooting me a thumbs up and her trademark easy grin.

With all three of us taken care of, the doctor gave us exact directions on where the training room was before bidding us all farewell and good luck. I'd expected him to escort us there, but he just shook his head when I said as much, saying he had to check on Fluttershy.

Worried, I asked to come with and see her for myself before I left, but he insisted I go meet with my potential Captain in the training room. He promised I'd get to see her soon enough, so I left with little resistance, though not without some disappointment on my part.

Both Vinyl and Seeker had already left to meet with their Captain while I was talking with Doctor Whooves, and by the time I left the the doctor's office, they were already gone. I grabbed my bag and was soon on my own way, though this time I took the opportunity to deposit my own bag into whatever place the terminal sent things to.

That done, I made my way back through the door to where the Daeification Chamber was, then headed through the opposite door into the other hallway. This area seemed to be a lot larger, but that would've made sense given how big just the cafeteria and training room alone must've been.

I wandered down a few hallways, doubling back in a couple of instances until I came to yet another automated metal door. As I approached it slid open without any prompt from me, and I stepped inside, admittedly curious as to what the training room had to offer. What I wasn't expecting was a narrow passageway with a rather steep set of stairs directly before me.

Somewhere above I could hear voices, one of them sounding like an excited Vinyl, though I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. I could also hear what sounded like a struggle of some sort.

Then I heard a loud, unnatural trill, quickly followed by another excited shout from Vinyl Scratch. The sudden terror I felt quickly turned to confusion, and after a moment's hesitation, I carefully made my way up the steps. When I reached the top, I had to stop and register what I was seeing.

I arrived in a room that was fairly large, length-wise, and the thing that immediately caught my attention was the massive monitor, surrounded by a few smaller monitors directly opposite of where I was standing. below the monitor was a small row of seated ponies with headsets working various different terminals.

On one end of the room, off to the right, was another door that led off to some other room, most likely the actual training area. There were probably other things of note, but I was too busy gawking at what was displayed on the large monitor to pay them any mind.

From what I could see, the screen displayed the blasted out ruins of some unknown town, and what looked like a titanic, scaly, bipedal black reptile with bony spines along its back, long arms almost as thick as its body, and wicked looking claws that were currently tearing apart the environment looking for something.

The avidaeus onscreen opened its mouth and let out another loud trill of frustration, giving me a good look at its multiple rows of huge serrated teeth and a slimy, ropy red tongue that whipped about like it had a mind of its own. Looking a bit more closely, I could see it had already been heavily wounded, suffering several deep cuts along its belly, back, and arms.

Its thick tail pounded the ground impatiently a few times and it raised itself up to its full height, sniffing the air. I watched, horrified by the sight, yet completely transfixed as I waited to see what happened next.

"Oh buck, there she is!"

The sudden exclamation brought me back to where I was and I looked down from the monitor to see Vinyl leaning over one of the chairs of the ponies observing the footage. Now that I was paying more attention, I could also see Seeker standing off to one side, watching the screen with folded arms and a deep and troubled looking grimace.

Vinyl Scratch herself was jabbing a finger at the screen, and I followed her gaze, spotting what she was probably looking at a moment later. Back in the ruins, whatever camera they were using had panned out and around to show a different point of view.

Behind a large chunk of debris, a good distance away from the avidaeus, I could see a mare clad in what looked like, black skin tight battle armor with plating across her arms, legs, and chest area, the Wendigo symbol painted on one side of the chest plate in teal. Her gloves were plated as well, the whole ensemble giving her the appearance of some kind of secret ops agent trained for infiltration rather than a standard Daeus Hunter.

Her coat was a light vanilla color and her mane and tail were two toned, with cobalt blue and fuchsia stripes. What probably stood out the most about the mare were the intensity of her icy blue eyes and the oversized amalgamation of machinery that was her Daeus Arm held tightly against her chest.

It was a gun, and judging by the lengthy barrel it appeared to be the sniper variety. It still amazed me at how effortlessly Hunters were able to wield such massive weapons, and the fact that I was now among one of them was still something I hadn't fully wrapped my head around.

The mare was crouched low with her back pressed against the wall. She took deep calming breaths as she reached into a large satchel strapped around her waist and pulled out a small metal canister. In one fluid motion she yanked a small lever at the top of the gun near the back, ejecting another, presumably empty canister from the bottom of the weapon before quickly pressing the new one into the now empty slot in its place.

That done, she slid closer to the side and peered out from behind the broken piece of concrete wall. In the distance, she could see the avidaeus wandering about, its elongated head still raised and trying to sniff her out. The path it took was slow, haphazard and clumsy, but it was clear the giant lizard was getting closer to the mare's location.

Pulling back behind cover, the mare adjusted her rifle, set her face in a determined frown and fully stepped out from behind the wall before immediately crouching once more. With painful slowness, she lowered the rifle and prepared to line up a shot, her face pressed against the scope.

For what seemed like an eternity, she barely moved, save for a slight adjustment of the barrel to keep it trained on the beast's movements. After a moment, the avidaeus snapped its gaze in the direction opposite the mare and gave another loud trill before stomping off the other way.

I didn't have time to ponder why, as what happened next happened all at once. The mare, still looking as calm as she could possibly be in this circumstance, pulled the trigger and a bright blue laser erupted from the end of the barrel with a deafening shoom.

The beam hit home, blasting a hole in its shoulder and causing it to stumble slightly. It faltered and whipped around to face the direction of where the shot had come from, only to get a face full of laser as the mare fired another shot right into its gaping maw.

Ignoring Vinyl's ecstatic cries, I focused on a point somewhere behind the staggered avidaeus, catching sight of something leaping towards it at a ridiculous speed. A split second later the giant lizard pitched forward as something slammed into its back with evidently enough force to send it smacking into the ground face first.

With its bulk out of the way, I could just make out another pony landing atop the thing. The camera once more panned over to where it was, giving us a better look at the pony that had felled the monster. It turned out to be another mare with an orange coat of fur, wearing a dark brown knee-length duster and a stetson of a lighter brown color atop her blonde, tied off mop of a mane.

That, combined with the simple black button-up collared shirt beneath, a belt with a large, silver apple shaped buckle, and light brown pants made her look like a cowpony straight out of a western. Rather than an old six shooter strapped to her hip though, she instead wielded what was essentially a giant mechanical chainsaw on a stick.

The sword was as large as she herself, was—maybe larger, yet she held it with only one hand, and didn't even seem to have to shift her own weight to compensate. She stared down at the creature below her for another second before hopping off and landing right next to it.

The avidaeus stirred, but didn't rise, letting out a few weak clicks as it shifted about. At first I thought it was over, but then I saw the stetson wearing mare turn to the lizard, raise the blade above her head and over her shoulder with both hands, and widen her stance in preparation for another strike.

She stayed that way for a few moments and before long, a strange, dark violet aura began to gather around the blade, building higher, denser and sharper until it was almost twice the size of the blade itself. Whatever that function was, I had yet to hear about it, and had no idea what its purpose was other than to artificially make the blade's length even more ridiculous than it already was.

As she continued to build whatever power she was wielding, the reptilian avidaeus finally seemed to gather itself once more and started to rise to its feet. Before it could get very far, two more shots rang out from where the other mare was hiding, the lasers striking the creature in each of its enlarged limbs and downing it again.

It trilled again, though whether in pain or more frustration, or both, I couldn't tell. As it fell, the orange mare gave a loud victorious cry of her own and her blade fell with it, biting deep into its scaly neck and splitting its head from its shoulders with seemingly no resistance whatsoever.

The dark violet aura around the blade dissipated after a moment and the only sound that remained was the dying gurgle of the avidaeus' severed head. It's body squirmed weakly, but the orange mare, who, by this point, I'd suspected was Applejack, ignored it and straightened up, raising her buster blade onto her shoulder.

With a casual ease reminiscent of Luna, she walked over to the body and, with just as much casual ease, brought the sword down to one side. The blade shrank into itself as a familiar and monstrous black mouth grew out of the hilt and surrounded it. With two quick motions she stabbed it into the body before ripping it out again.

And just like that, it was over.

The blade returned to normal, the mouth shrinking back into the hilt, and the cowpony swung it back over her shoulder before adjusting her stetson and looking skyward towards the camera, allowing me to see her face clearly for the first time.

Contrary to what I was expecting, her bright green eyes weren't hardened dulled by years of experience, but calm, easy, and oddly reassuring just like the smile she wore, and her freckles made her look every bit the country gal she probably was.

I could see the other mare making her way over to where Applejack was, but something else drew my attention back to the felled avidaeus. To my shock and bewilderment, the beast didn't dissolve into an inky black mist like it should've, but rather its body became less tangible before vanishing outright, leaving behind a glowing, wiry green frame which itself disappeared a moment later.

"That'll do it, Applejack, Bon Bon," came the voice of one of the seated ponies, "thanks for the demo, seems like the newbies got a kick out of it."

Wait... what? Demo? What is he—

Then the entire area around the two mares vanished in a similar fashion to the avidaeus, and in seconds, they were standing in a massive empty metal chamber. For a second I stood there in stunned silence, then my eyes widened as everything clicked into place.

"Wait, this was a training exercise?!" I cried, catching everypony's attention, "but... how?"

"I know, right?" Vinyl shouted back, rushing over to me and throwing an arm around my shoulder as she gestured to the now blank display overhead, "that's what we're gonna be using to train, can you believe it?"

"No, no I can't!" I shouted back, ducking out from under Vinyl's arm, "that's crazy! How does it even work? That's not just a simple holographic projection, it's... it's way beyond that! You can interact with the scenery and... a-and the avidaeus! How did you—"

"Hey, whoa, chill, Sparks," Vinyl laughed, "it's like, magitech, that's what this stuff does. Aren't you supposed to know these things? You're a scientist, right?"

"I'm a Hive Cell researcher, not a magitech engineer," I replied, crossing my arms and frowning at the bespectacled mare, "I'd planned on branching off into engineering at some point in the future, but... well..." I sighed, taking a moment to calm down before speaking again in a more measured tone, "...this happened, and now I don't know if I'll ever get a chance."

"Aw geez, that sucks," Vinyl replied, putting a consolatory hand on my shoulder, "hey, maybe you'll get a chance someday."

"Maybe," I muttered, not really believing it. I shook my head and looked back at Vinyl, opting to change the subject, "so I guess those were our future Captains out there?"

"Buck yeah," Vinyl exclaimed, "did you see—"

The rest of her words were cut off as the door on the right side of the room slid open. We all turned to watch as both Captains stepped into the room, Daeus Arms in hand. It didn't take long for them to spot all of us, and the mare I suspected was Applejack made a beeline right for me, a welcoming grin crossing her face.

"Well shoot, look who finally decided to join us," she chuckled as she made her way over, "ya'll must be that prodigy HQ dumped into this ramshackle town, Twilight Sparkle, right?"

"Y-Yeah, that's right, though I wouldn't really call myself a prodigy," I replied with an awkward smile, "I just... got lucky, I guess. Had the, uh... right blood for the job," I frowned inwardly, but pushed on nevertheless, "a-and I take it you're the Leader of the 1st Unit, Retaliation Team Captain Applejack?"

I held out my hand, intending to shake hers, but she just sidled up next to me and slapped me, rather painfully, on the back with a gloved hand. The gesture caused me to stumble forward a bit as I winced in pain.

"Got it in one, sugarcube," she replied in a jovial tone, completely oblivious to my pained grimace, "mighty pleased ta meet'cha," she stepped back around so that she was facing me again, and gave me a more measured and earnest smile, "from what ah hear, ya'll were a researcher before ya came here, right?"

"Actually, I still am," I corrected, "apparently I'll still be working part-time as a Hive Cell researcher while I'm here. I'm still not sure how that's going to work out, but... well... I suppose the Director will think of something."

"Sounds like ya got yer work cut out for ya then," Applejack responded, her smile turning sympathetic. She gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder before walking past me, "don't ya worry none though, Twi. As long as yer here, we'll all make sure yer taken care of. You'll be fine, trust me."

She threw one last encouraging smile back at me from over her shoulder and I smiled back in return. Satisfied, she continued over to one of the other ponies by the monitors and I turned away, my smile falling into a weary frown as I muttered to myself uncertainly.

"Yeah... thanks, I guess."

Comments

[Chrome Masquerade]

The stallion was a riddle, wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, and frankly I wanted nothing to do with him either way, so I didn't try to hard to befriend him.

I get it!

[The Cynical One]

This keeps getting better and better. Also, When Twilight get Avideus PTSD? I could read this forever so take your time getting there.

[thedarkalicorn]

Can't wait till the story continues it is really good.

[thedarkalicorn]

9412732
As long as it doesn't take too long.

[the7Saviors]

9446393
Going down my list of stories right now for updates, and this one is next on that list, so expect a new chapter sometime soonish.