Anton grumbled to himself, heading stiffly along the path towards Ponyville. He tried to force himself to stand upright, only for his sore back and legs to whine at the shifting weight. Instead, all he could really succeed in doing to ease his burden was adjust the shotgun that rested on his back so as to prevent it from clattering as he marched into town.
As he moved past the border of Sweet Apple Acres, he came to a stop. Over a gust of wind, he heard... humming? Looking up the hill next to the path, he saw Fluttershy standing on the hill, picking flowers and placing them into a basket perched on her back. As she placed a dull yellow flower in her basket, she looked down and spotted him. "Oh. Hello Aquila!", she called, before stopping. "Oh my. Are you alright?"
Anton looked down, studying his mud-smeared uniform. It was torn in a few places, and a section near his tail was a bit burnt. However, he wasn't bleeding, not suffered any other kinds of injuries. "I'm fine. Just... tired. Of course, I need to get food and supplies, so that takes priority."
"What happened?", Fluttershy asked, causing Anton to let out a sigh and reflect back on the chaotic morning.
+++++~+++++
Anton sighed, placing the thorn rod back underneath his bed. Fresh arcs of pain ran across his back, while blood soaked into his fur. He slowed his breathing, before grabbing a few bandages on a nearby table.
After wrapping them up tightly, he tied them off beneath his chest and slid on his undershirt. He went about the rest of his morning routine without a second thought, hindered only slightly by the resonating throb coming from his back. Soon, he had a cup filled with a rough approximation of Recaf, and sat down on the firing step of one of his exterior trenches.
Early mornings in the Everfree varied heavily, even within the same season. Most mornings were foggy and cold, with this one being no exception. However, in this case, it wasn't particularly thick, with him even being able to see all the way to the river, a good ways outside of the canyon his position was in. Even as he sat and drank, the fog was beginning to clear, with it being almost entirely clear save a few lingering spots by the time he was finished.
He went back inside, grabbing an apple as he made his way to the wash basin near the far wall. He held it in his mouth as he washed the cup out, placing it back on his table to dry.
As Anton went back outside to take care of a few upkeep tasks, he saw something land on the trench wall. It was tiny, no bigger than hand grenade, and colored a dark blue. The only thing that broke that shape was four spindly black legs, a pair of transparent wings, and massive, dark green eyes. It made a weird buzzing noise, and almost seemed to be smiling at him.
"The frak are you?", he murmured, studying it. It continued to chirp and buzz, and still seemed to be smiling.
The fact that it was this... friendly with him raised immediate alarm klaxons. Most things in the Everfree either avoided him out of instinct or because of his propensity to shoot anything that approached. If this thing had approached him completely unprompted, and seemingly without fear, then it was either something new to the forest or something else was up with it.
The things gaze shifted to the apple hovering in his aura, taking flight and fluttering over to it. It gave a few tentative sniffs, smiling at him. Before Anton could react, its mouth opened impossibly wide, swallowing the apple whole in one clean motion.
Anton jerked back, eyes widened in shock. It twittered and smiled up at him, as if nothing had happened. Anton took a step back, edging towards the door of the bunker. The creature continued to hover in the air, still smiling. As he felt his hind leg impact the rear wall of the trench, he whipped around and lept over the wall. He bounded into the bunker, heading for the nearest weapon.
That just so happened to be his Model 34 shotgun, which he figured was for the best. He grabbed the sack he had filled with the various loose shells he had access to, opening up the action and sliding in several shells. When it was filled, he closed the action and pulled the charging handle.
As he got out of his bunker, his eyes widened again. Now, there was a second creature, this one a dark, muddy purple as opposed to the dark blue one. The two of them made overlapping chirping noises, turning to him when he emerged. "Throne be praised", he muttered, before raising the shotgun.
The blast sent a wall of pellets shooting toward the two of them. The two of them, however, avoided the pellets, flittering off with alarmed chirps. A second blast quickly followed, followed by a third and a fourth. Finally, one of the creatures was hit, exploding in a shower of pale pink blood and smearing the wood and dirt around the trench.
Anton scowled, heading back into the bunker. He opened the sack back up, replacing the spent shells with fresh ones. He then slung the sack over his back, turning to head back outside.
As he did, he froze as that twittering clicking was now within the bunker. Turning around, he saw the creature sit on the rim of the bunker firing slit, frowning at him. He jerked the shotgun around, firing another blast at it. Stone and wood splinters broke as the pellets hit around the creature, sending it ducking down into another box. Into his larder.
Soon, the sounds of loud chewing came out of the wooden crate. The box shook and shuddered, before finally falling over, sending the cloth cover that was over it spilling off. As the sound of clicking and strange murmuring arose, Anton could only say one thing:
"Oh frak."
+++++~+++++
"Let's just say that some of the creatures in the Everfree are far from pleasant", he said, giving Fluttershy a side-long look. He decided that he didn't need to mention the fact he had nearly burned down a part of the forest, having had to resort to his meltagun to get rid of the things. Considering what he knew of her, she probably wouldn't appreciate that.
Fluttershy said, "What kind of creature?"
"Don't know, don't care", Anton said. "I just plan to get some food and wood, then head back home and pass out." With a final wave to the yellow mare, he continued his trudge into town.
Ooooo no
Exactly how he would react
Goodbye and good riddance, Parasprites.
So, did he take out the whole swarm before it could reach Ponyville, or did he just wipe out part of it around his bunker and the episode would continue while he wasn't around?
Also, I love how many Everfree threats are best handled with high energy, anti-armor weaponry.
11325619
He killed that one Parasprite that Fluttershy would have found. He also killed the swarm that was created when it ate all of his food. So, no Parasprites in Ponyville.
And while the high-powered weapons are effective... careful application is needed if you don't want to destroy your own house.
> Anton sighed, placing the thorn rod back underneath his bed. Fresh arcs of pain ran across his back, while blood soaked into his fur. He slowed his breathing, before grabbing a few bandages on a nearby table.
> After wrapping them up tightly, he tied them off beneath his chest and slid on his undershirt. He went about the rest of his morning routine without a second thought, hindered only slightly by the resonating throb coming from his back. Soon, he had a cup filled with a rough approximation of Recaf, and sat down on the firing step of one of his exterior trenches.
I'm starting to wonder when the girls are going to find out about this and what they're going to do about it.
Ofc guard would recognize the threat. W40 universe had similarone, also some kind of bug. I wondered if parasprites were a mixture of tribbles and those.
As the saying goes PURGE THEM IN HOLY FIRE!!!!
I hated those things. Reminds me of flying cockroaches.
11325652
Where's my flamer?
11325697
Only with a liberal application of sacred prometheum can they be handled properly.
11325744
He, unfortunately, doesn't have one. He has a Melta-gun, but no Flamer.
11325747
Too bad he's with the Imperial Guard and not the Ecclesiarchy, they always have flamers and heavy flamers.
11325652
What about that one that got away when he blasted the first one?
Also, is the visit to primarch (?) sunbutt next chapter?
Wonder how he react that the pink demon wants to get rid of the pest just as much as he did. Only her is more Paragon approach.
11325759
That was the same one that got into the bunker.
11325652
Cool, Although that means that Twilight and the others don't learn the lesson about listening to Pinkie, (And/or Pinkie doesn't learn that she needs to tone it down a bit when she want's to be taken seriously).
I wonder what the 'Dear Princess Celestia' letter was about then. Also, if Anton circumvents too many episodes like this, it may trigger "Lesson 0" early...
11325865
Yeah, I based her statline on a mix of a Primarch and a Deamon prince. Seemed appropriate.
(Or was it one of the greater deamons? It's been a while, but Deamon is where the 5+ invulnerable came from.)
My big question is where's he getting all the ammo for this? He eventually has to run out right? I'll admit I don't know much about the Imperial Guard weapons but I don't think they come with infinite ammo toggled.
Ok that's hilarious
11325675
That's a good question. How will hos friends react to something obviously insane as that? And further more, how will the over the top religious nut react to his friends confronting him about it
11326203
He primarily uses his lazgun which (and I'm not a gaurd fan so idk) has basically an indefinite ammo supply as long as you leave it out in the sun
11326203
He predominantly uses either a Lasgun or Laspistol, which can have either Power Packs recharged by the sun or even a fire in a pinch. He has a limited amount of ammo for his Shotgun, Heavy Bolter, and Meltagun, but since he doesn't use them very much, that limited ammo supply is mitigated for the most part.
11325693
I hate tribbles. If fire isn't the answer, you're not asking the right question.
11325745
AMEN!