Chapter 3.8 - Walking The Shadowed Valley
"Zenai!" Ace Gold shouted into the darkness, desperately searching with his magic as he ran further into the wilderness, "Speak up!"
"Ace Gold!" His teacher's voice called out desperately, "To your left!"
Ace Gold turned and lifted his hooves to defend himself as something came out of the bushes to his side, unable to determine it's shape before it was upon him. The fight was quick and dirty, Ace Gold shuddering as a hoof struck him about the jaw, another shove throwing him to the ground where a elbow was forced into his windpipe.
"Harm the boy and you I will see you in pain."
"I've no intention of doing anything to the kid, creepy zebra woman." Arick Grimfeather's voice called out from nearby, as breezy and inappropriately cheerful as ever, "Just passing on a message."
"And what is that?" His teacher replied.
"Zenai is ours, and she's already long gone. If you don't want her harmed you'll back off right now and head back home, because you are not getting in our way." He gave a loud, cheerful laugh, "So go tell Dusty to not try anything stupid."
"Your message is delivered. Now let him go."
"Gladly."
Arick took wing, Ace Gold shielding his eyes from debris as he swooped past and took the weight from atop him. Both soared off into the darkness beyond his sight, his teacher moving over and helping him to his feet. Her voice was grim, “You must go tell the36m what has happened.”
Ace nodded, still aching from his failure, “Nothing like delivering bad news...”
¬
Dust swore, furious with himself once again. Once again his own lack of attention and arrogance had got a member of the group hurt, placed in serious danger which the only responses were irresponsibly risky ones, "How did I let this happen?"
"Excuse me Dust Kicker." Easu stated in an angry growl, "I believe I stated that I would keep watch for danger. It is my fault."
Star Swirl let her head drop, "It's my fault, I shouldn't..."
"It was all your faults." Ace spat with not a little bit of directed venom, "And that's all I'm going to say about that. Now shut up self blaming already before I puke. What are you doing about it?"
Dust chuckled quietly at Ace Gold, amused that once again he seemed to be the most sensible pony here. And he was right that this wasn't getting them anywhere, "We need to get her back."
Star Swirl nodded firmly, "We do."
Fluttershy on the other hand did not look pleased, "Dust Kicker, you're talking about an army of well trained, well armed mercenaries. We have to negotiate..."
"We don't have anything they want Fluttershy." He insisted, having experienced more than one negotiation in his time, "They just want her as an asset in case we try to interfere with my plans."
"And if we attack, they'll likely kill her!"
Dust sighed, admitting that possibility. Still he had done this before, and had to go with the acceptable risk, "Standard hostage situation. Carrying around a hostage is difficult for even a well trained organization, the longer she's with them the more danger she's in. Trying anything tricky will give them time to counter, use the hostage against us. Our best course of action is to hit them, and hit them fast."
Star Swirl considered this for a moment before nodding firmly, "I can teleport to her, grab her and bring her back."
Dust didn't like relying on Star Swirl alone, especially sending her scouting right into the middle of enemy territory, "How foolproof is that plan Star Swirl? Could they fake her location, or trap you once you get there?"
"I can do it." She assured, her big face earnest.
"Actually, I don't recommend it." Puppy interjected, "Beyond this point, the ambient radiation picks up quite a bit. Any teleportation will be clumsy and imprecise, especially at long range. She could come out slow, give them all the time in the world to aim weapons at her."
Star Swirl frowned in irritation, "You know how powerful I am Puppysmiles! I beat Nightmare Moon!"
"I calculated the force of Nightmare Moon's horn blast Star Swirl, it was 470psi. The output of a TI-70 Plasma blaster can hit 560psi at full charge..."
"They're just bandits!" She shouted back, "I doubt they have a plasma cannon."
Dust held out a hoof, silencing them for a moment. Maybe it was because he was an earth pony, but he couldn’t help but feel that Star Swirl was overstating her power. Bullets through the head tended to take down ponies a lot faster than any magic he had seen, "No, she's right, we can't risk it Star Swirl. We have a good team here, our best chance is combined arms. I'm not going to send you in without support."
"So we just attack?" Fluttershy asked, not looking approving, "Won't they just kill Zenai the moment we come through the door?"
"Not the moment we come through the door. They'll be panicked first, rely on conventional force to stop us. It will be a short while before they organize enough to use Zenai against us, and killing her removes any advantage they could gain from possessing her."
"And if they do use Zenai against us?”
Dust frowned, planning it all out in his head. It was certainly a risky plan, but then so were all hostage situations. On one hand these guys were a lot better trained than your average criminal. On the other hand, their professionalism meant they wouldn't hurt Zenai without good reason. It made them more predicable at least, "Well that's the key point. We need to have located Zenai by then, have some of us ready to secure her while they’re distracted with us."
Easu grunted, "A covert mission."
"Yes."
"With who?"
Dust looked around, finding himself regrettably short of trained operatives, "It can't be me or Star Swirl. Nazir knows us, he would instantly question why we weren't in the main group."
Easu snorted, "Not that Star Swirl is in any way stealthy."
"Which will help with the distraction at least." Dust looked up at the alicorn, noting how damn intimidating she looked fully armored and standing tall, "I've never seen you really let loose Star Swirl. Ready to show me what an alicorn can really do?"
Star Swirl gave a firm nod, the tremble in her voice only slightly apparent as she summoned the spear of Celestia and left it hovering at her side, "Don’t worry about me. I'm ready to fight for Zenai with everything I have."
Dust scanned the rest of the party. His decision kept coming back to one mare, "Fluttershy... you've got that stealth cloak."
Ace Gold instantly interjected at this, "You can't be serious."
"You think I want to send her into danger?" He questioned, before locking eyes on Fluttershy once again, "You snuck up on us back in Demonivore, and I've read the account of how you saved those refugees during the second Enclave war."
Fluttershy considered his words, fixing him with those soft green eyes. Eventually she smiled, calm and confident, "I won't let you down."
Ace stamped a hoof, turning furiously on her, "No, I won't let you do this!"
"Ace Gold." Fluttershy stated with firm authority, looking him straight in the eye, "You told me yourself that I had what it took to be a hero."
"Yeah." He countered, "Being inspiring and healing ponies, not... getting shot at."
"Hopefully it will be us getting shot at Ace." Dust offered, "And while we have their attention, Fluttershy can free Zenai and give Star Swirl some cover so she can teleport us all out of there."
Fluttershy chuckled, "And if they ask why I'm not there, just say you left me behind. I am after all, a weak and fragile old lady."
Ace Gold tapped his hoof angrily upon the ground, angry now, "You're still sending her alone into a whole mess of bad guys with no support. Zebra stealth cloaks aren't infallible."
Dust found himself feeling a little defensive of the mare now. Fluttershy was a little old to have some schoolkid bossing her around, “Ace...”
Fluttershy smiled, holding up a hoof and stopping Dust before he could speak. That done she turned to Ace, fixing him with a gentle smile, "Ace Gold, you're quick and quiet and good in a close quarters fight aren't you?"
He paused, worry passing across his face, "Yes...?"
"It makes sense." Dust admitted, calculating his plan in his head. Puppy called up maps of the area ahead and fed them to his visor, Dust inspecting the terrain ahead as he laid out his ideas, "Ace Gold and Fluttershy, you try and flank them, keep yourself undetected and attempt to find out where Zenai is being held. Star Swirl, is there anything you can do to make Fluttershy... I don't know, easier to teleport to so you can pick her up in a hurry?"
Star Swirl widened her eyes for a moment before nodding, "Yes, actually."
"Then Star Swirl, Easu and me will stay back, while Fluttershy and Ace try to locate Zenai. When you find her, or you hit trouble, signal us and we'll go in shooting to give you a distraction.” He motioned to her with a hoof, “Show me your radio Fluttershy."
She took it out of her bag, Dust moving over and showing her the buttons, "I don't want you giving away your position, so just send this signal to sign that you need us to attack, and this to indicate you need Star Swirl to teleport to your location. You got all that?"
"Right." Fluttershy looked up at him, the two sharing a private smile, "I won't let you down."
¬
Zenai lay on the cold stone floor, concentrating on her slow, measured breathing. She had already considered her position. The guards were competent and patrolled in large numbers, she had two of them with her at all times.
So she lay there, saying nothing. She took short naps, trying to stay as alert as she could be should the others come to rescue her.
Not that she wanted them to. The last thing they needed was to risk their lives for her. Still she knew they likely would eventually, even if it was just Star Swirl forcing their hand.
She lifted her head as Nazir walked in, two ponies beside him carrying a heavy television set. They placed it down in front of Zenai, leading her to turn her head up to Nazir, “What is this?”
“Our bozz want’z to speak to you.” He stated, hitting a button on the side with his hoof, “Be respectful.”
After a moment of static a voice emerged, low and growly, “I am Khalid Al-Rashid Ibn Faisal Al Saddle, Crown Prince of Saddle Arabia.” The picture faded in after a moment to reveal a tall, middle aged and powerfully built earth pony of alicorn proportions, his fur of a dark sandy colour and a regal, ebony beard gracing his chin, “Please accept my apologies for any rough treatment. Rest assured, the payday for these mercenaries depends on you being delivered unharmed.”
That only raised more questions, Zenai admitting she was lost as to the purpose of this, “What do you want?”
“Peace.” He responded firmly, his tone proud and full of conviction, “I understand that it might not seem this way now, but you are a small part of a vast design. One that will see this world returned to its rightful heirs, and these petty conflicts that mar this world finally put to rest. Though you may suffer now, your imprisonment is simply a passing thing. If you co-operate, I promise that you will be rewarded in time.”
Zenai’s suspicion that he was full of shit couldn’t get any more pronounced, “And how’s kidnapping me help with peace exactly?”
“Your leader, Princess Regina, has an impressive bounty on your head.” He replied, nodding his head with a rather practiced look of calm wisdom, “Once Caesar’s Curse is deactivated and the seas opened you will be a peace offering, delivered from the united zebra territories to Equestria. As rightful ruler of Saddle Arabia I will arbitrate as a neutral party. Thus will the seeds of peace be sown.”
Zenai grimaced, that all sounding rather nice... except for every assumption there being bullshit. This stallion really hadn’t a clue, “There is no united zebra territories!”
He smiled, his face full of rather smug cunning, “Not yet. But when Themba represents himself as such, the mandate will be upon him. He will have the wealth and power of Equestria flowing through his nation, and Caesar’s illegitimate empire of lies will be unable to stop him from reclaiming his lost territories. Thus will the groundwork of the new order be laid down.”
Zenai opened her eyes wide in shock. She had heard this before, “I know you!”
The stallion frowned, “Of course you do. I am the crown prince...”
“You’re the forth voice I heard on the recording I found in Estelle, you were talking with Princess Luna, Themba and Abartili!”
He paused, looking uncomfortable. Finally he answered, regret in his voice, “Yes. Estelle was such a shame, as was Princess Luna.”
Zenai glared, biting her lip, “A shame?”
“Abartili was a drug addict, his paranoia and erratic conduct risking destabilizing everything we had worked for.” He nodded sadly, “I despise violence, but his death was necessary. Both to tie up the loose end he represented and to finally reveal Caesar’s barbarism to the world.”
“You killed those ponies, not Caesar!”
“Caesar’s father raided hundreds of caravans, destroyed dozens of peaceful trading towns, all to finance his illegal rebellion against rightful authority.” Khalid stated with barely restrained venom, “He has no right nor claim to those lands. Themba’s family on the other hand is one that has watched over the Golden Coast for countless generations, formed of the most noble of zebra stock.”
“This is about elitism...” Zenai growled, feeling the anger grow, “And you, what the hell are you? There is no Saddle Arabia! The camels are in charge!”
“No.” He stated firmly, nobly, his nose rising into the air with indignant anger, “We have placed the camels as stewards over our lands during the current crisis, and they have done an admirable job. They will be granted the finest rewards when I return to the throne, and I will prove my worthiness for it with this. Peace between us, Equestria and the united zebra territories. I will undo what the ponies and zebra have wrought.”
“You son of a bitch...” Zenai growled, realizing at the pit of her stomach just what a class operation this really was.
Princess Luna, Abartili and now Khalid. When she had first heard their communication, seen the things done in Estelle she had assumed some vast secretive conspiracy, possessed of real, honest power. Now... it was just a collection of the naive, stupid and desperate, fighting for legitimacy in a world that had left them behind, "This plan is just going to get you, and a lot of other ponies killed!”
Khalid sighed dramatically, “Ponies die. But a chance for peace...”
“Ponies like Princess Luna and Abartili! Your own allies! What does that say about this plan of yours?!"
He looked shaken at this, struggling for his words, "Princess Luna died through her own actions..."
"She died in battle against an opponent far stronger and cunning than she was." Zenai shouted, "When you talk about you and Themba being the representatives of the new world... Themba had power, had mighty armies and he still lost the war against Caesar's father. How do you figure that it would go better a second time?"
Khalid's expression grew angry, "Do not lecture me on that war."
"Well then learn your lesson from it!" Zenai shouted, "Your conspiracy is already two down, and you barely scratched Caesar. He's smarter than you, and so is Starhammer. They'll be the ones leading the zebra nations, and when they find out what you have done..."
"No!" Khalid shouted suddenly, cutting her off. He looked honestly furious now, his dignity lost, "I will willingly die before I see Caesar rule."
"Why? Why do you hate him so much?"
"Because I know what that line is capable of." He stated grimly, “My sister, an innocent ambassador of peace, was tortured and killed by his father, body put on display for all to see. He stated that it showed exactly what he thought of peace.”
“And Caesar isn’t his father!”
Khalid shook his head, “Blood will show. He is of the line of the Silver Imperious, the genetically bred enforcers of the most vicious of the Star Demons. For a thousand years that blood has dwelt within the deadliest, most vicious and least honorable of all the zebra, and I will be damned before I let one of that line sit on the throne.”
"You're as bad as Luna, holding onto old grudges that the recipients had nothing to do with!" She spat, letting her fury out unrestrained, "And it's going to end the same way!"
Khalid drew back in shock before glaring furiously from the screen, "I did this for you, to make you understand, to reassure you that all this has a purpose...!"
"Luna did that too."
"What...?"
“She stood in front of us, tried to make us understand, tried to assure us it was all for the greater good.” Zenai shook her head, angry at the mare for being so stupid. For getting herself killed, when she could have achieved so much, "And she did it too late. But it's not for you. Call the mission off, let me go, stop this madness."
"I..." Khalid hesitated for several long seconds, frozen in place. Finally he drew away, shaking his head as he hit a button and the image faded.
"I can't believe it." Nazir stated with a big grin on his face as one of the ponies deactivated the monitor, "It was exactly as she said."
Zenai frowned, not expecting that reaction, "Exactly as who said? What are you talking about?"
"Oh no, there are enough monologuerz in thiz world." He chuckled as the television was wheeled back out, "You'll see in time, don't you worry about that."
His evasiveness wound her up even further, "My friends will come for me Nazir!"
"Oh, I know." He gave her a big smile, "I'm counting on it."
¬
Messonera was as oppressive and creepy as described, famously ominous architecture now crumbled into blackened skeletons of former glory. The streets were covered in scattered bones and long decayed military equipment, the bright blue flowers that marked megaspell impacts standing out all the more in the gloom.
All the debris made Nazir easy to track however, and it was much easier to remain hidden as they made their way through the gutted buildings either side of the street. He was just stepping across some loose rocks when he saw Ace staring at him, Dust just staring back until the buck finally decided to draw closer and speak his mind. He looked around for Fluttershy, reassured that she was ahead with Star Swirl but still whispering his words, “How could you send Fluttershy into danger so easily?”
Dust rolled his eyes, “She’s part of the team, and capable of handling herself.”
“Don’t you love her?”
Dust couldn’t help smirking. Oh little foal... “It’s not that simple Ace.”
“It is.” He insisted, “You want to keep those you love away from danger. You want to throw Fluttershy into it.” He glared darkly, “I love her more than you.”
“Most likely Ace, you’ve known her longer after all. But it’s not that simple.” He sighed, not really wanting to deal with Ace’s jealousy now. Still, it was best to clear the air, “I love Fluttershy because she’s smart, courageous and willing to fight for her passions. I love her because she’s willing to face danger, because it’s the right thing to do.”
“And if she dies?”
Dust Kicker sighed. Maybe it was something Ace would never understand, “Everypony I’ve ever had a serious relationship with has faced battle at my side. And some of them I have seen die, yes. But that’s my life Ace, the bullets fly and ponies die. The world has shifted so many times in my life, I’ve learned to accept that in a moment... everything could change.”
Ace let his head fall, “Everything is finite.”
“Yeah.” He smiled, looking ahead to Fluttershy. Her perfect smile, her determined stride... he felt affection for her he hadn’t for a long time, and to be honest... he still couldn’t quite believe she was real, “Honestly Ace, I think Fluttershy is going to outlive us all. She’s not like us.”
Ace took a deep breath, “I know what you mean.” He glared up at Dust sulkily, “I still hate you.”
Dust grinned, “Yeah.”
“Do you think we’re going to pull this off? Save Zenai? The plan seems risky.”
“It is.” He acknowledged, deciding to be honest, “I’m gambling with high stakes here, but it’s the best option of a bad bunch. The pragmatic option would be to just leave her. Trying to save her now means walking right into a trap, risking everypony here...”
“But we can’t just leave her.”
“No.” Dust nodded, looking ahead into the ruined city, “So I’m going to give it everything I have. And what happens... will happen.”
They continued through the ruins, watchful for any sign of Nazir’s mercenaries. Dust had ordered Puppy to be on full alert for any sign of trouble, rather pleased when he spotted them first, "Hotel to the left."
It did indeed appear to be a hotel, a half collapsed sign stating it was... something to do with royalty? It certainly looked like it had once been very impressive, solidly built and rather military styled, with the aggressively blocky architecture he had seen around Star Fall. Statues of stern looking zebra still ringed the building, a mostly faded relief on the facing side reading off some pretentious quote.
There were also two mercenaries standing at the front of the building, clearly part of Nazir's group. That meant this was the place.
It was very defensible. Unlike many of the buildings around it there were no obvious breaches in the lower floors, obviously why it had been chosen. Except... "That building next door, it's leaning against the hotel see? From the fourth floor on you could easily jump between the two buildings.
Fluttershy looked a little less than enthusiastic, "It... looks like it's about to fall down."
"It's been there long enough, it must have reached equilibrium." Ace pointed out, inspecting the building assessingly, "It looks stable, at least stable enough for two ponies."
Dust looked around, sharing some of Fluttershy’s concern but unable to think of a better idea, “It looks like the only way in Fluttershy. We could try something else but...”
"No... I'll trust you on this then Ace Gold." Fluttershy finally conceded, "I just hope we don't drop a building on poor Zenai..."
¬
Fluttershy admitted this was easier than she thought, thinking that maybe Ace Gold might have a point. He was an engineer major after all, though she noted that that was electronic and mechanical engineering, not construction.
Still nothing bigger than your occasional spider fell on them as they made their way through what looked like it had once been office buildings, on alert at all times for any enemies. They made it up to the sixth floor just to be safe, Fluttershy engaging her stealth cloak as they advanced on the wall facing the hotel.
The corridor led to an office, a fairly small but still useable window leading to a gap short enough to reach across. It faced another window that led into the hotel opposite, looking into what looked like one of the guest rooms. Fluttershy tried not to look down as she advanced to the edge, noting that after all this time she was still scared of heights.
Really scared of heights. And this time, she couldn't fly.
"Ace... catch me if I fall..." She whispered quietly, feeling just a tiny bit sick.
"It's only a short climb."
"I know, but..." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes...
And opened them again, because she couldn't see what she was doing.
"Fluttershy!" Ace quietly insisted.
"Right!" She shouted a little louder than she intended, reaching out and grasping the window sill.
There. Now just a little pull...
“Fluttershy, what are you doing?”
She gave a whimper as her body froze up, knowing any second she was going to lose her grip and fall to her death... “Help! Help!”
Ace slammed into her and she was catapulted through the window, rolling inside and onto the floor of the hotel in an undignified heap. She gasped in relief, rather embarrassed when Ace Gold hopped up with little fuss and delivered her a rather sassy eye, "I thought you were joking when you told me you were scared of heights."
She glared moodily before clambering back onto her hooves, shaking her head clear and trying to regain her dignity, "I don't know how you stand it, all that... height, and having no wings to save you if you slip?"
"Don't slip." He replied as he walked past her.
"You are getting so sassy lately." She commented grumpily, feeling her elder's privilege slip away, "A little respect would be..."
"Shush!"
She clamped her lips shut, looking around Ace as he stared through the open doorway. Standing just a short way away was a large, solidly built zebra, a assault rifle dangling from a harness. She felt her heart skip a beat as Ace carefully stepped over, tensed his body...
He leapt, the zebra just looking up as Ace struck him in the back of the head with a flying elbow, slamming him into the ground and giving him another hard punch just to be sure. The zebra struggled briefly before going limp, Ace looking around and waving Fluttershy on.
She smiled at him as they advanced, rather proud of how well he was putting his skills to work out here, and how his blindness barely seemed to phase him anymore. She knew that he was an excellent martial artist, still she had never appreciated just how good.
They carefully made their way through a selection of empty rooms, slowly making their way around the building. There was some sort of courtyard in the middle of the hotel, Fluttershy scanning the windows for anything of interest.
"Anything?"
Fluttershy shook her head, "No."
"I can't get a good reading through these walls." Ace complained, horn glowing a little brighter, "This place is heavily saturated with radiation, it makes everything so fuzzy that I can barely see beyond this room."
Fluttershy bit her lip, knowing they were on the clock here, "Maybe we should try and go down a floor."
"Yeah." Ace started toward the door, shaking off the tension, "This floor is almost clear of guards, it can't be..."
A hoof lunged out of the doorway as Ace passed, slamming into the buck's jaw and sending him skidding across the floor.
“ACE!” Fluttershy shouted as a pegasi charged out from the doorway, a truly pathetic looking specimen with ratty, uncared for fur and a scrawny, underfed frame. All the same he moved with surprising power, Ace kicking out but hitting nothing but air. The pegasi smirked and span around to jab Ace hard in the jaw with a back hoof, Ace growling and swinging back... to once again hit nothing but air.
Something was wrong. Ace wasn’t fighting at anywhere near his normal skill.
“Fluttershy!” He yelled as he took yet another nasty hit, “I can’t get a bead on this guy! His... stench, it’s messing with my sight!”
Fluttershy lifted her shotgun reluctantly, not wanting to fight. Still if she had no choice, she... wait.
Something... to her left. A sickening, horrid nothingness, malice untainted by true emotion. Fluttershy looked round and found herself staring into the barrel of a heavy pistol, desperately slamming her hoof down upon the communicator as a talon tightened on the trigger.
~
Dust looked down at the communicator, the light clearly blinking. Nothing ever went smoothly, “Time to go, Fluttershy needs a distraction.”
They galloped towards the front entrance, the two guards looking up at their approach. Puppy quickly highlighted three snipers at the windows, Dust whispering to Easu and Star Swirl, “Easu, take the two guards. Star Swirl, give us a shield right after we’ve fired.”
Dust activated his Eyes Forward Sparkle and delivered a double tap of his rifle, downing the first sniper with two through his head. Easu’s own shots were no less accurate, pistol bursts taking both the guards almost simultaneously. Returning fire from the snipers bounced off Star Swirl’s shields, Star Swirl then deactivating them as Dust and Easu took them both out with pinpoint efficiency.
They burst through the front door, Dust hesitating at the sight in front of them. Nazir had been ready for this, the hotel lobby absolutely covered in mercenaries. They had constructed a barricade on the bottom floor and squatted behind it in a intimidating looking gunline, snipers on the balcony above surrounding them on all sides.
And they hit the gunline like a tornado, Dust Kicker never so happy to run with this crew.
"Snipers along the top balcony! Highlighted!"
Dust activated his eyes forward sparkle and aimed up at the balcony, Puppysmiles throwing him up targeting solutions. He studied the information and in front of him and quickly worked out the best plan of attack, reality blurring into motion once more. His sniper rife and shotgun span to strike down four opponents almost simultaneously, his shotgun tearing apart the entire balcony and sending it raining down upon those below.
Star Swirl shattered their barricade apart with a blast of her horn, her telekinesis flinging shards of broken wood backwards to scythe through their ranks. Easu came out behind her with guns blazing, sending pinpoint shots through foreheads one after another. Bullets came back in response of course, pinging off Dust's armor, thudding uselessly against Easu's thick hide or dissolving against Star Swirl's shields.
In the back a final sniper had just lined up a headshot when wrinkled hooves reached out of the shadows and snapped his neck with a simple twist.
"Keep pushing!" Dust yelled as he charged onwards, "Don't give them a chance to regroup!"
¬
Fluttershy winced as the pistol discharged with a roar, the flame licking the barrel as hard lead flew straight at her. She tried to dodge to the left, even though she knew there was no way to dodge a bullet...
Which left her rather surprised when she did, dust swirling around her as she found herself a good meter across the room, the bullet slamming into nothing but concrete. She looked down at her hooves, searching for comprehension.
“Did you just... fucking teleport?”
Ace looked up in surprise at the voice, “Ari...!”
“Shut up you.” The smelly pony growled as he kicked Ace to the floor, looking round at his companion, “I can’t do that. Can pegasi do that where you’re from?”
The surprise faded from Arick’s face, the griffon chuckling. His eye floated across Fluttershy’s form in... respect? Admiration? Attraction? She wouldn’t but anything past him, the griffon padding across the ground as he continued to stare, “Well, well, well... Element of Kindness... you’re looking amazing Fluttershy, if I may say so.”
She glared, not feeling very kind right now, “You may not.”
“It’s going to be a fucking honor to kill you.” He brought his gun up once more, “But teleportation or not, you’re still just one old woman.”
~
"Careful everypony, Puppy's detected an ambush beyond that wall."
Star Swirl expanded her senses as they ran towards the next door, quickly locating the life signs in question. She charged up her magic, feeling it collect at her horn, slowing her heart rate and calming her mind, "I'll scatter them. Back me up."
A surge of magic and she was in the middle of a defensive barricade, surrounded by heavily armed mercenaries. They had a second to react as she charged her magic once more, halfway through desperate turns and yells of challenge before she unleashed her spell. They were instantly all suspended in mid air, elevated out of cover, off balance and scrabbling for their weapons. The spear of Celestia appeared at her side and span in a powerful arc, carving through ballistic armor like butter. A moment after and the others burst through the door, guns blazing.
¬
"Boss, they're through the second barricade!"
Zenai smirked, drinking in the shocked expression on the radio officer. Her friends had come from her, and they were more than a match for these thugs, "Maybe you should try negotiating."
Nazir scowled at her, loading up his rifle and barking orders to the others, "Get everything that can hold a gun out there in the courtyard, get some flanking fire down on them!" He turned an evil eye to Zenai, simmering with barely contained malice, "And you... don't you worry, one way or another you've got a role in this little drama that I will see done."
¬
Fluttershy rolled on to her side and swept her shotgun out from under her, grabbing the trigger with her teeth and wincing as it slammed into her shoulder from the recoil. The shot went slightly wide as a result, flying high and to the left, peppering the left side of Arick’s face. He screamed in pain, flapping his wings to drive himself skywards and firing his pistol wildly in her direction. Fluttershy took one shot in her shoulder before she managed to activate her wind walking, appearing in a swirl of circling dust a few meters away and firing another blast of her shotgun. This took him straight in the chest and sent him flying backwards to skid along on his back, Fluttershy turning to where Ace was still struggling with the smelly pony.
Arick soon gained her attention back however, finishing his slide by summersaulting through a break in the outside wall and opening his wings wide to reveal only some minor damage to his body armor. Fluttershy swung round and tried to get an aim on him but he suddenly burst into movement, soaring upwards across the building’s exterior and out of her sight. Fluttershy had only a moment to consider helping Ace before the griffon came back through the open window to her left and slammed into her with crushing force, seizing her in a wicked claw.
Fluttershy gasped in pain, then activated her wind walking once more. To her horror however Arick maintained his grip, both of them coming back out of it far removed from her intended destination, suspended midair to crash down upon the concrete in a whirling, struggling mess.
¬
Dust was amazed at how well they were doing, having easily taken down near twenty of the mercenaries while taking barely a single injury so far. He figured that they were approaching the central area, and that the mercenaries couldn't have too many more ponies to throw at them by now.
And then they burst out into the open, Dust seeing light above his head and looking up at the sun beaming through blackened steel and crumbling masonry. This appeared to be a large garden for the hotel, the remains of benches and dead trees poking through the dirt and a thick forest of blue flowers in the corner where a megaspell must have hit. Puppy quickly highlighted up a row of enemies near a stone fountain, Dust barely outside when he saw Star Swirl teleport forward to meet them. As expected he was soon greeted by the sounds of screams, bandits falling to her hooves as she made quick work of them.
Puppy's voice called out in his ear, a large framed form highlighted as it stepped out of the darkness, "Dust Kicker, third floor balcony!"
He looked up as a large female minotaur emerged, sweeping up a heavy minigun. And Dust knew all too well how good Calope was with it. He yelled a warning and leapt for cover as the ground exploded around him, her weapon punching out a steady stream of death.
Star Swirl yelled something at the minotaur, her horn flashing with light. Instantly a shield formed around Calope, stopping the same way they had stopped her before. Once again sealing her within an airless bubble as she struggled for breath, leaving her totally defenseless as her oxygen ran out.
But not for long.
The shield trembled and failed as a heavy bullet punched straight through Star Swirl's shields and armor, splattering the mare's organs across the dirt. Star Swirl's eyes opened wide, her ruined body tottering for a moment before she dropped with a wet thud.
"Star Swirl!" Easu broke cover and sprinted with terrifying speed, his hooves a blur as he kicked up a cloud of dirt in his wake.
Dust leaned out, eyes stuck for a second on Star Swirl lying motionless in a pool of her own blood. He quickly tore them away to study the seemingly empty battlefield, aware they were in a killing zone, "Puppy, give me a location on that sniper!"
"D...done..." She stated, her voice clearly shaken. A green outline set around Nazir himself, grinning triumphantly upon a fourth floor balcony some distance away with his anti tank rifle propped upon a stone ledge. His face set into a snarl as he clearly spotted Dust Kicker, Puppy throwing up aim corrections.
Dust Kicker discharged his rifle with a crack, Nazir's eyes widening. His reactions were as fast as he his mouth and the camel ducked just in time, the bullet just taking off an ear. A moment later and Calope's minigun swept round, bullets tearing through the bench Dust was squatting behind. He was forced into a mad sprint for some better cover, knowing that at any moment someone was going to get a decisive shot on him.
It had taken attention off Easu however, and his darting, powerful progress across the garden made him very difficult to track, especially for the bulk of Calope's heavy weapon. It wasn't a moment later that more mercenaries charged out from the surrounding buildings to counter him, all running into cover and lining up shots on the zebra. Easu was totally exposed and though Dust wanted to help he just didn't have a good firing position, his desperate snap shots just pissing them off.
And then mercenaries started dropping, a trail of destruction linked by dirt kicked up by invisible hooves. First one, then two, then three, battered them into unconsciousness with their weapons disassembled around them. One of the smarter mercenaries noticed the soft hoof prints and opened up with his machine gun, resulting in a cry of pain, splattered blood and the fading static of a stealth cloak.
The elderly, scarred female zebra grunted at the deep wound in her side, moving into a lightning fast sprint and slamming a hoof into the mercenary hard enough to send him skidding across the sands. Another charged at her flank with a knife clutched between his teeth and she kicked him away with jaw breaking force, screaming as a shotgun blast caught her in the side.
Dust rolled behind a planter, sighted up and blasted the shooter through the head with his rifle. He watched the elderly zebra stagger a little further and desperately reach for a harness of healing potion vials, only for her strength to give out at the last moment. She slumped down, not stirring again.
~
“How would you like it if I took your eye Fluttershy?!” Arick screamed as he took Fluttershy’s cheek in his talon and slammed her head down, claw hovering over her face with dangerous intent, “What do you think oh great mare of harmony?! Any words of wisdom for...?!”
She balled a blob of blood and mucus in her mouth, took a deep breath and spat it straight in his remaining eye, pulling back as he loosened his grip in surprise.
“GARGH!” He lifted his talon into a fist and brought it down towards her skull, Fluttershy just managing to roll her head away. The fist accordingly hit the concrete with a thud and a painful crack, Fluttershy pretty certain he had fractured a couple digits, probably cracked in the osseous tissue in his tarsometatarsus. Yes, that was right, she was an orthopaedic specialist. She decided to use that to her advantage, throwing her weight against the injured bone and displacing it all the way, “NAGHHH!”
He released his hold on her, Fluttershy kicking him away and scrambling for her hooves. She wasn’t quite fast enough unfortunately, screaming as he reached up with his remaining foreclaw and took firm hold of her hair. She struggled, yelling out in pain despite her best efforts, “Ah! Let...”
“No... no.” He pulled her backwards towards him by the roots, “You’re going to pay for that...”
Fluttershy steeled herself, and for the first time in her life was thankful for her thinning hair. She drove herself forward, allowed herself but a wince as whole strands of her hair were torn away and hit the ground rolling. Her mouth found Arick’s discarded pistol, eyes narrowing as she swept it up at the charging griffon.
He threw himself upwards, taking the shot on his chest rather than his face. It still flung him backwards, crashing through a plywood wall with a scream and dropping like a stone off the edge of the building.
Fluttershy gasped, finally drawing breath back into her lungs as she absorbed the silence.
Silence.
She looked around, Ace choking on the floor as his opponent drove his hoof into the buck’s neck. Ace was clearly out of the fight, muzzle bloody and left aft leg splayed at an old angle, the smelly pegasi grinning triumphantly as he pressed harder, and harder...
Then Fluttershy shot him through the temple, grin still playing on his face as he hit the ground.
Ace gasped his first breath in a while, choking for a second before looking down at his quite dead opponent. Then he looked at Fluttershy, eyes widening, “What happened to... did you beat him? Did you kill him?”
“I...” Fluttershy had to pause suddenly, feeling very light headed. She wondered if she was having a heart attack for a moment, before realising it was something far more prosaic. She quickly ran over to a corner, emptying her lunch in a few sharp heaves, feeling every single one of her muscles ache like never before. She recovered enough to straighten out, her voice strained and pathetic as Ace Gold limped over to see if she was alright, “I’m... far too old for this...”
¬
Dust growled in frustration as he ducked away from another group of incoming mercenaries, his last grenade stunning them and giving him time to spray them with a burst of automatic fire. A satisfying series of status bars indicated they were disabled, Dust ducking back and studying the battle as he calmly reloaded.
Calope laughed, loud and aggressive as she fired her weapon in a wide arc and tore the battlefield apart in a barrage of high caliber bullets. Easu slid past her shots on his side before unclipping a grenade and flinging it at a window just under her. It discharged with a roar of collapsing masonry, Calope yelling out, flinging her minigun aside and leaping through the air to land with a roll just beyond the cloud of rising dust. She pulled out a pair of submachine guns from her sides and opened up, Easu dodging left and right as he returned fire with his pistols.
Dust wondered who was going to fall first. Easu took dozens of shots without slowing, his own bullets seeming to do little but annoy the minotaur. Dust levered up his rifle and fired at her head, taking out her eye and causing her to roar in pained rage. She reached backwards with a mighty hand, grabbing a heavy block of masonry and holding it before her as she charged forward with a bellowing scream.
"Anti-tank rifle!" Puppy screamed again.
Dust acknowledged Puppy's warning and darted out from the planter just as it exploded in a cloud of debris. He rolled, skidding past some dying plants and following Puppy's arrow towards Nazir above. He rolled onto his side, his targeting reticule hovering over the camel, "Got you..."
He fired, Nazir firing at the same time. The result was obvious, the heavy anti tank round shattering his own bullet apart mid air.
Dust leapt sideways with a force he didn't know he possessed. As such, he only lost one side of his armor, stinging pain from shattered plating and the atomized remains of his rifle scattering into the dirt. He gasped and scrambled for cover, feeling Puppy quickly move to inject a vial of healing potion. Her voice spoke out, full of worry, "Dust Kicker, armor on that side is all gone. Mobility will be... impaired. I'll try to fix it as quickly as possible."
Easu and Calope however were already dancing. They met in close combat, Easu jumping over her thrown bolder and using it as a stepping stone as he leapt across her head with guns blazing. She charged through the hail of bullets and leapt upwards, catching Easu mid leap and slamming him down before her, razing her fist for the strike as she descended.
But just as she was about to finish the zebra a bright purple ray of magic slammed into her chest, stunning her and giving Easu time to wiggle free and roll between her legs. He flung down his entire bandoleer of grenades as he went, leaping backwards and sighting up as he skidded across the dirt.
One shot and they all went up at once, Calope giving one final scream before her bloody torso slammed into the floor and her eyes rolled back in her head. Star Swirl stood gasping behind her, still dripping blood from the huge wound in her torso but upright on four legs at least.
The smoke and ash from the explosion was swiftly caught on the breeze, smothering the battlefield. Dust grinned at the unexpected boon, using Puppy’s targeting systems to his advantage. The green outline around Nazir shone out, Dust moving to the weapons bar and selecting...
Shit. His rifle was gone. He reluctantly switched to his assault rifle, aiming carefully before directing as much raw firepower as he could in the camel's direction. Nazir clearly took a few hits before ducking out of his firing arc, Dust taking whatever he could get as he moved to new cover.
The smoke cleared, Star Swirl coughing up blood as she injected another vial of healing potion. Dust was impressed by the mare's resilience, still conscious and moving with what looked like both her lungs still torn apart. Easu seemed similarly pleased, galloping over...
Before more mercenaries poured out from the surrounding buildings, bullets slamming into the exposed alicorn. Her shields struggled and failed pretty quickly, Star Swirl pretty much unable to do anything but take it as bullets slammed into her body. Dust cursed at the terrible tactical position they were in. Star Swirl was right in the middle of the battlefield where she could be flanked on all sides. Not to mention that she was just too big for any available cover, and didn't even have any ranged abilities to defend herself. He was also well out of hearing range, he couldn’t even shout for them to regroup.
Instead he just rose out of cover, aimed up and discharged his assault rifle in a series of quick, short bursts. Mercenaries dropped... but not fast enough.
"ANTI TANK RIFLE!"
Easu cursed, seeing Nazir at a new window aiming up on Star Swirl with a sneer on his face. He loaded up his assault rifle, closed one eye... “Puppy, activate EFS, give me a firing solution!”
“Yes Dus...!”
And then something hit him hard in the head, Dust closing his eyes as his visor shattered and the roof of his helmet bounced away. He gasped in pain, blinking away blood and watching Puppy's image fuzz out of existence. He tried to fire his rifle but his vision swum from the concussion, unable to do anything but watch as Star Swirl stood there like a great big target...
Nazir was about to blow Star Swirl in half and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
Then he felt his armor grow hot around him, his fur standing on end. Pink energy shone out.
Nazir fired, the bullet hitting empty earth. Star Swirl yelled in desperate pain as she was flung through the sky by a bright burst of telekinesis, blood streaming from her wounds as she sailed limply through the air to slam down into the blue flowers in a tangle of bloody flesh. Dust gasped at the sight, trying to work out exactly who had just done that. Because despite all indications, it couldn’t possibly have been... "Puppy, what just...?"
"I'm... s...s...sorry... Dust...."
Her feed shut down, his heads up display going dead and his audio fading to static. The servos seized up, his pipbuck giving a low whine before fading out with a shower of sparks and the smell of burning plastic. A second later and the latches disengaged, Dust sent stumbling out to land with a thump onto the churned up ground. He looked behind, eyes widening at the sight of the blackened, burned out armor, smoke still rising from sparking components.
Easu glanced at Star Swirl’s motionless form, a second before another wave of mercenaries broke through the door. Esau turned to face them, firing his guns, dodging into cover behind a broken statue and injecting a healing potion as he calmly reloaded.
Dust did the same, panting in exertion. They had to be getting there now, how many of these bastards had they killed? They just had to be running out...
And then one of the mercenaries pulled out a rocket launcher and fired it straight at the statue. It exploded into razor sharp fragments, Easu flung away to crash through the dirt with blood streaming from his wounds. Dust cursed and instantly burst into action, grabbing the assault rifle off his ruined armor, seizing the mouth grip between his teeth and running forward.
Just like old times. His body was stiffer, his breaths more ragged. But he had carried a rifle like this during his first days as a mercenary, met battle with the wind on his fur just like today.
He opened up with his weapon, the zebra with the rocket launcher hitting the ground with a flaming bullet in his throat. The zebra beside him fired a rifle shot and Dust felt it thud beneath him as he lifted his hoof, firing a return burst that sent the zebra's weapon spinning away.
He felt his heart lift as Easu pulled himself out of the dirt, reaching for a healing potion. The relief was cruelly stolen away as a anti tank round took Easu's left hoof straight off, the force of the impact throwing him through the air to slam limply upon the bloody ground. Dust growled and threw himself sideways, rolling across the dirt and sending a stream of bullets upwards at the balcony.
Nazir’s curse echoed across the courtyard, first as his rifle was blown in two, second as a bullet clipped his face and burned all the way across his eye.
“Got you fucker... agh!” Dust winced as a bullet caught him in the stomach, gasping and scrambling to his hooves as more struck the ground around him. He fired back but already saw them flanking, well aware that he was now all alone. He took several deep breaths, calming himself as he charged into battle against... seven well armed opponents.
Was today a good day for it? Saving a friend... he could die for that. He just wished...
And then a building fell on them.
~
“Fluttershy, you just saved my life!” Ace exclaimed with breathless awe, desperately looking around the room, “What happened to Arick?”
“I knocked him off the building.” She bitterly explained, wishing she had done more at this point, “Hopefully he fell all the way down and died.”
Ace chuckled, “Fluttershy...”
“Get up there now! They’re both wounded, just finish them off already!”
That was Arick’s voice. He was directly below them. Fluttershy’s head flicked round towards the stairway just beyond the door, hearing stamping hooves heading upwards, “No, no, no...”
“Fuck... we’ve gotta g... damn!” Ace shouted as he tried to hurry back the way they came, only for his leg to buckle under him. He limped briefly before collapsing against a wall, closing his eyes at the pain, “Fluttershy, go!”
Not likely. She took one look at him before unclipping a grenade and hurling it down the stairs, hopeful that it would delay them at the very least. She didn’t wait for the explosion, galloping over to Ace and pulling out some medical supplies, “This is going to hurt...”
The grenade went off. The whole building lurched.
Fluttershy hit the floor with a shriek, her medical equipment clattering down and rolling against the far wall as the floor angled itself to the side, the walls cracking under the pleasure. She looked on in horror as the wall continued to press inwards and the building leaned further into the courtyard below, glass popping outwards and furniture upending. The roof fractured and came down in chunks around them, Fluttershy screaming as one slammed down right beside her head, “Oh no, oh no no no!”
“Fluttershy!” Ace shouted, “We need to get out of here!”
Fluttershy looked around, eyes going wide as the doorways both crumpled and the floor shifted. Her legs failed beneath her, slumping numbly against the far wall. There was no way out.
They were going to die!
~
Ace Gold wasn't about to hang around any longer, nor be nice about it. In his experience things went better when you just forced Fluttershy to get on with it.
He leapt forward, ignoring the pain in his leg as he tackled her out the window.
They flew through open sky, Ace Gold looking behind to see himself vindicated as a whole section of the hotel completely collapsed on itself in a shower of rubble. If they had waited a moment more they would have both been killed.
Unfortunately it was a long way down.
"ACE! OH NO, OH NO!" Fluttershy screamed, her heart beating about a hundred and twenty beats a second as she clutched him tight, "I CAN'T FLY, YOU KNOW THAT RIGHT?!"
Ace took a deep breath, focusing himself. He was absolutely calm, and there was no need to worry, "We can glide..."
"Ace, the muscles are gone! I can't hold my left wing erect at all!"
"All right..." He reasoned, "I can still work with this. Forgive me Fluttershy."
"What?"
He knocked her grip away and swung round onto her back, aware that the ground was approaching fast. He needed to be quick, reaching down and tearing open some of the stitching on her armor, using his telekinesis to tear down the seam, "Fluttershy, listen closely. Keep both wings completely loose alright?"
"What good will that do?!"
"If you just open one wing it will send us into a spin." And likely break the bone in half too, considering their speed. Ace quickly calculated to account for that, "And... don't panic."
"WHAT!"
He pulled the last seam, Fluttershy's wings nearly hitting him in the face as they exploded outwards and feathers streamed everywhere. Ace winced as he felt their composition with his magic, figuring he should have expected it. In all the time he had known her he could be justified in thinking she was an earth pony, this about the... third time he had ever seen her wings unbound? And naturally, although the feathers were well cared for the muscles and bone were almost completely atrophied. That meant this would most likely... oh, well it wasn't as if they wouldn't need a healing potion after this anyway, "Fluttershy, this is almost certainly going to break your wings."
"WHAT!"
He ignited his telekinesis, slowing them as much as he could without straining himself too much. Then he transferred his telekinesis to her wings, gripping as firm as possibly before spreading them outwards.
After everything they had been through the next part happened surprisingly quickly. Both of Fluttershy's wings did indeed break, causing the left to crumple slightly as he lost his grip on it. It quickly sent them into a spin, the ground rushing up as Ace struggled to hold on...
~
Dust gasped for air as the dust from the collapsed building finally cleared, covering his eyes as he moved forward. That had certainly been fortuitous, Dust moving over to one of the mercenary corpses to see if they were carrying any healing potions. It was a middle aged zebra, his leg crushed but his saddle bag intact, hopefully containing something...
The zebra rolled over at his touch, seizing his hoof and kicking Dust in the side. Dust reared back and tried to get his weapon aimed but the zebra was too close, the mercenary drawing a long knife and going for the throat...
And then he dropped with a moan and the sharp discharge of a shotgun. Dust backed away with a gasp of relief, having to let out another as he looked up to see Fluttershy standing atop a large chunk of rubble, “Celestia’s teats Fluttershy...”
She let out her own sigh and raised a hoof to her forehead, not looking too good herself now he had a chance to look at her properly. Her head was bleeding, her armor torn up in several locations and her wings hung broken and limp across her sides. Still she smiled as he approached, strained and clearly in pain but still a smile, “Sorry I’m late. Did I drop a building on you?”
“No, just the bad guys.” Dust realized this was no time for flirting, deciding to get to the important stuff, “Fluttershy, we have a lot of wounded.”
“No shit...”
Dust turned, seeing Ace laying nearby with his hoof splayed beside him, bone sticking from tattered flesh. Dust winced at his initial assessment, the buck wasn’t going to be much help for the time being, “Hang in there Ace. Fluttershy, Easu had his leg taken off, he should be just over that way. The zebra that’s been helping us, she took a few hits and fell unconscious at the far end of the courtyard. Star Swirl...”
“I’m here...”
And it was her, Star Swirl staggering out with bullet wounds still healing, her stomach furless and raw. She looked like hell to be perfectly honest. And she was glowing, Dust feeling a slight prickle in his ear as she moved over. He approached a step and she quickly held up a hoof warningly, her voice cracked and whispered, "Don't... I'm... storing quite a lot of radiation."
Dust looked her over. His initial assessment was right, she was clearly about to drop. It was then that he was reminded where she had landed, "Star Swirl, did you just absorb all the radiation from a megaspell impact? Isn’t storing too much... dangerous...?”
She glared, “I don’t care.”
He really didn’t like the look in her eye, reminded that alicorns were warned against excess radiation exposure due to the possibly of it causing... mental defects, “Ok... Star Swirl, stay here and look after Ace. Fluttershy...”
“I’m on it.” She stated firmly before galloping off towards their fallen friends. He watched her go, once again reminded why he was so damn attracted to her.
“I’m going to save Zenai. I can feel her now, she’s nearby.”
He turned to Star Swirl, inspecting her skeptically, “Star Swirl, you’re in no condition for further combat.”
“And Zenai needs saving.” She stated back, her eyes flashing with a crackle of balefire, “I can rest when she’s safe.”
“Ok...” He looked to Ace, “We’re going in. Puppy burnt out a lot of her systems, when you can walk again, check on her for me?”
“Sure...”
Star Swirl cursed, then turned away to gallop towards the far door, “We don’t have time for this!”
Dust reluctantly followed as she headed into the building, just hoping she didn’t do anything stupid. They had taken enough causalities for one day.
~
Zenai winced as Nazir broke through the door, his body blooded and his face panicked. The mercenary guarding her clearly saw his boss’s distress, moving away and drawing his weapon, "Boss, what's the matter?"
Nazir took a moment to compose himself before speaking grimly, "They're a force of fucking nature. I can't stop them. Lozt near half the team."
Zenai could help smiling. They had come for her, and they were winning...
He growled and stepped forward, backhoofing her across the jaw, "Don't you dare you little bitzh. You've cozt uz a lot of good soldierz." He looked up at the guard, grimly insistent, “Take her to the back of the room, we have to do this now...”
The door burst open, Star Swirl rushing in. She looked like crap and her horn spluttered weakly as the guard fired his shotgun at her, her shield shaking at the impact of the pellets. Indeed Star Swirl staggered backwards with a few new wounds on her coat and Zenai felt her heart skip a beat...
Dust Kicker came out from behind Star Swirl, his assault rifle discharging with a roar. It hit the guard in the chest and flung him into the far wall, the blood splatter on the wall marking it as a kill shot. Zenai gave firm cheer, though her voice froze in her throat as Nazir dodged behind her and placed a pistol to the back of her skull, "Don't move, or I'll blow her head off!"
Dust Kicker tried to circle but stopped as Nazir poked the gun harder against her head, growling warningly. Dust sighed and put his rifle back down upon the ground, tone diplomatic, "Ok Nazir, you hold the cards."
"I've got nothing you little shitz!" He cried, sounding desperate now, "You've killed half my crew!"
"And you're still alive, so give up while you're ahead."
Star Swirl snarled at him, her body tense and twitching in pain and fury, "Let her go!"
Nazir was silent for what seemed like an eternity, his voice when it finally emerged full of bitter hatred, "While I'm ahead huh?"
He shoved Zenai in the back, sending her staggering along on her tied hooves. She saw Star Swirl moving to catch her, smiling in joyful relief, "Star Swirl, I'm so, so sorry..."
There was a sudden crack, and the feeling of impact on the back of her head.
Then... it was peaceful. It felt nice.
She had been so sad for so long. Now she wasn’t sure what she had been so worried about.
Stats
Page generated in 0.025 seconds
Total duration
1,042 users online
97,346 hits today, 2,004,447 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
It truly amazes me on how a writer, such as yourself, can write this much without losing flavor or interest
5550383
I honestly can't write short fiction. I'm not the most elegant writer, with a mastery of poetic language. My specialty is labyrinthine plots, which require a certain amount of raw word count.
This chapter marks a evolution in my work though. In my previous stuff the plot quite dramatically changed from moment to moment, as new ideas flooded in and subplots became more interesting than the main one.
This chapter is exactly as it was it during my initial planning stages, 2 years and
537,616 words ago.
Zenai...