Semper Pie

by deathtap

Mission 2, Part 8: Baying for Blood

"Well, well, well. So, here we have three equines, a rhino and a griffon." Blood paced the room looked at his prisoners, a cruel smirk on his lips. "Who among you is the one that he wants? Not you, obviously." He pointed at the Griffon. "Get rid of him."

No sooner had those words left Blood's lips when a spear stabbed the Griffon's back. He gave a squeak, blinked twice and collapsed in a heap. It took a moment for the others to register what had just happened. The act had been too sudden.

"You monster!" Providence screamed and took a step towards the pegasus Watu who had stabbed him. The spear pointed right at her making her stop mid-step. "How could you do that?"

The Watu's spear did not falter. Instead Providence found the tip pressed against her throat.

Providence tried to look into those eyes. Whoever these Watu were, they were not like the others they had encountered. There was something wrong with these, something terribly, dreadfully wrong. They were crazy. Then she caught a glimpse of the eyes and what she saw made her take a step back. Those eyes looked dead. They looked as if they lacked any sort of empathy.

"Do you like them?" Blood asked taking one of the Watu Wakali and lifting the helm off.

Lucky gasped, Zecora turned her head away in horror and even Providence, brave as she was, couldn't help but shudder as she felt a cold shiver run down her spine. Iron bit turned his face away in disgust at the sight. This Watu looked as if the skin over her head had been torn off. The skull seemed to be exposed and a broken bulge on the forehead signified that once upon a time that pony was a unicorn. However, that was nothing compared to what they saw in those eyes. Those hollow, broken eyes. There was nothing there anymore. It looked as if all the life had been sucked out of them and all that was left was a shell. An obedient, merciless shell.

"Horrifying, isn't it?" Blood said looking at the unmasked Watu. "Doesn't it just make you sad? Think of what this pony must have gone through to get this far? Think of all the pain it endured. Yes, amazing, is it not? Pain, agony, abuse, death. Nothing like that could ever do what was done to this... thing. No. You need to break more than a pony's will to live to get this far. You need to break their will to die. How, you ask?"

The others looked to each other. There was something seriously wrong with this whole thing.

"The zebrica would know. Ever hear tale of how ponies are skinned alive, slowly? How their hides are peeled using a hot blade to cauterize the wounds to prevent them from bleeding to death?" Blood grinned. "But that's not all. There are places to the far west where the wings and the horns of the creatures are removed, their bodies soaked in salts so they don't get infected."

"H-how could..."

The unicorn laughed. "Because of jealousy. You see, Equestria is a perfect little utopia. It doesn't have the kind of problems that other nations and kingdoms face. Why do you think that so many other creatures try to take ponies as slaves? Because they are inherently kind, good and gentle. For the most part. They are nothing. Without their princess the ponies would have fallen to the griffons and other creatures eons ago."

Lucky looked up at Blood who was standing near a bench.

"But I banter. Where were we? Ah, yes. Warriors such as these need to be given something to live for. So, we give them something that no pony can." Blood grinned and his magic wrapped around a syringe. "The only thing that these creatures need is release. Death? No, they've seen death. They've lived through it. They've come right to the border and peered into the abyss. Death isn't enough. They need release."

"You've hooked them on... whatever that is!" Providence shouted. "They don't want to die because they're hunting for their next fix!"

Blood narrowed his eyes at the pegasus. "Perhaps you would like to... experience this release?"

"G-get away from me!" Providence backed off, but they were in an enclosed room. There was nowhere to go.

"Seize her," Blood ordered calmly as he pressed the syringe into a vial of glowing green liquid.

Iron rushed in front of the pegasus and braced himself. Two of the Watu charged straight on at the rhino, one ducking down and, using a blade, cut around the back of his knee. He yelped in agony and dropped to the ground, using his forelimbs to stop himself from hitting the ground. He turned to the side as a third Watu tried to move past, but Iron caught that one by the leg and swung it up and then towards the floor with all his might. There was a dull thud as the Watu crashed into the floor, but the other two had managed to capture their target.

"Let. Me. Go!" Providence shouted, struggling against the two.

Iron tried to help, but his leg wouldn't work.

"Release her!" Iron roared and pulled himself towards the pegasus.

He felt a sharp pain as the back of a spear pressed into his fresh wound. He tried to push it off only to see Blood rotate the spear with his magic and press it against this chest. He took a step forwards forcing the large rhino to lay down on the ground. "I am impressed you managed to kill one of the Elite. That is impressive indeed..."

He looked at the Watu who was convulsing on the ground, blood oozing from an open mouth.

"But you weren't able to finish the job." Blood stepped away from Iron and gestured with his hoof. "By all means, you must finish what you started."

Iron looked at the red unicorn. "You can't be serious! That creature is in no condition to fight-"

"Get up, Watu!" Blood shouted. "Get up and kill the rhino!"

The pony stopped convulsing. Impossibly, it began to push itself from the floor. Turning towards Iron, the others saw a set of ribs protruding from the left side, its blood pouring from the wounds. It staggered and picked up a sword and held it firmly in his hoof.

"Make it fair," Blood said coldly. "The rhino is unhoofed. That isn't fair."

One of the other Watu pulled out a dagger and threw it in front of Iron, the curved blade glinting in the low light glow. Iron looked up at the severely wounded Watu and furrowed his brow. "We don't have to fight! You don't have to obey him!"

The Watu stumbled, wavered, but steadied him or herself by placing the sword on the floor. "Kill... rhino..." came a hissing voice. It didn't sound Equestrian. It didn't sound like anything of this world. It sounded like a snake that was out of breath. It sounded evil, a being of pure hatred. "Kill!"

"S-stop! You're going to kill yourself if you attack me in that state!" Iron said, struggling to stand, hoping to push some reason into the creature.

"Kill... you..."

And with that, the crippled Watu charged.

---

"So, why are you here?" Wish asked looking at the pony with her. The Equestrian pony. Amber was her name and she had managed to save her life, using her partner as a decoy for the Watu that were hunting for them, to get the infirmary and patch her up. "Why is a pony from Equestria here?"

There was something about her. Something eerily familiar, but also different. It had been decades since she had seen her homeland, and she had been a slaver for so long that she couldn't really remember anything else. All she knew was that the stallion that ruined her old life was still alive, that he had somehow managed to cause havoc on the Eleonora, and that the Lipizzan was still flying. The past few days were just full of surprises.

"Our mission was to monitor the slave trade and report any ponies that have been captured," Amber said quietly. She wasn't supposed to reveal her mission, but right now there were other things to worry about. "We were ordered to ensure that ponies brought to the Griffin Empire were reported back to Equestria and a new anti-pony slave treaty is to be signed. Any pony held against their will is to be freed..."

Wish laughed humorlessly. "You really think that the Griffins would allow that?"

The silence was enough of an answer.

"I don't think that the Court would've agreed to something like that," Wish continued. "You have to be with the Royal Guard."

"Yes, sir," Amber stated gently. "We -- me and Chase -- are both part of the Day Guard, sir."

Wish turned to look at the young mare and sighed. She didn't belong here. None of them did. It was just bad luck that she was chosen for such a cruel mission. Equestrians shouldn't have to be exposed to the horrors that go on outside their borders. That was what the Border Guard was for, to keep things like this outside their kingdom. It wasn't as if they could really do anything.

"Sir, that ship that attacked us earlier... you... you said something-"

"Stop right there, missy," Wish said holding her hoof up. "I don't want to talk about that ship. It's not something that I am interested in going over."

"But-"

"No buts! I have a ship to take back, and I'd very much like to do it before she sinks." Wish stood up and tested her leg. It was moving, but there was some discomfort. The Guard did a good job in fixing her up. "You're hiding something else from me, aren't you?"

"Sir?"

"About your mission. Something other than accounting for ponies being sold into slavery. What is it?"

Amber looked away. "We're here to... arrest... you. You and members of your crew... for taking part in all this. At least, that's what it was originally. Our mission changed after we saw what you were doing for the creatures, not just the ponies. We understood that without you a lot more of them would never had made it across the sea."

That made Wish smile. "Sadly, that is true. It rather unfortunate that you were exposed to this world. It's not as if many of us had much of a choice. For ponies, work outside of Equestria is difficult, and life is hard. It brings out the absolute worst in us, as you can plainly see from the Watu. What choice do we have? Either live life as a criminal or end up serving criminals for a decent living."

"I know. I understand, but..." Amber let herself trail off.

Wish shook her head, she knew that look very well. "I know. Orders. Well, I can't say that being locked up in Equestria is better than shuffling slaves across the sea. If I wasn't exiled, I would have tried to make an honest living back home."

Home. Wish found herself laughing inwardly at that. Even after all these years, she still thought of Equestria as her home. She actually wanted to return, even if she had to spend the rest of her days as a prisoner in some forgotten cell.

"Ensign Amber here," the earth pony said into a communication tube. "I have the cargo with me..."

"Affirmative. Good job, Amber. This is Acting Captain Nautical. How soon can you deliver the package? We have major problems in the lower decks. I'm afraid that the Eleonora has sustained severe damage to the lower hulls. As of now the... slaves are escaping. We have yet to get the ship back under control, but at this point it doesn't seem like we need to. Crew members have been asked to report to the rear deck until further orders."

Wish nodded. That was smart. Get her crew to the reserve lifeboats in the rear half of the ship. Some of the slaves may have been innocents taken from the lives, snatched out of their homes or whatever it was they were stolen from, but a good number of them were criminals that were sold and some of them were very, very bad. In the chaos there would be no doubt that some of them would have escaped. They would have no qualms with killing others to get their way, and in this mess that was most likely what has already happened.

"And the attacking ship, sir?"

Wish flashed a look at the speaker. Amber turned away. Wish knew that she could not speak up. Her voice could be heard over the tubes and who knew who was listening? If it were an enemy, then it would be disastrous.

"We don't know. There have been little to no news from the front of the ship. Most of the slaves have already escaped from there and... the Watu had taken over that section of the ship."

That confused Wish. Surely Blood would not allow his non-pegasi to remain there. He would have made for the rear with the other members of the crew.

"They seem to be... waiting for something. Or perhaps someone. We are unsure," Nautical stated to the unasked question.

"Sir? A-and Ensign Chase? Have you seen or heard from him?"

There was a long pause. "Sorry, Ensign. None of us here have heard or seen him."

"Oh." The entire demeanor of the mare sagged. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll be bringing the cargo to the rear of the ship, sir."

"Report once you are there," Nautical ordered and the tube clicked, signifying that he had stepped away from the mouthpiece.

Amber let go of the latch where she stood, the same click echoing in the silence between them.

"I'm sure he's alive, Amber," Wish lied. But right now she needed the ensign to be in top form. Not that she doubted her abilities, she was a Day Guard after all. Incredible as it was. A Guard so far outside of Equestria, and with an active mission as well. Things were certainly different from when she was a mere recruit. "Let's go."

---

"Pony is alpha," the beta stated disbelievingly. If he had not seen what had happened with his own eyes, he would have refused to accept the possibility, but there he was, standing tall and proud. His weapon dripping with the blood of the Hyena queen as she lay still at his hooves.

"Pony is alpha," another beta whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder it would have attracted his attention.

"Pony is alpha..."

"Pony is alpha..."

The voices echoed the news throughout the hold. Eyes all focused on the pony.

"No." Every dog flinched at the soft spoken words from the pony's lips. "I am the omega."

"Omega?"

"He is last. He is last?"

To the dogs that made no sense. Why would he be the last? No dog had ever heard about being the omega. It made no sense. Did he mean the alpha of alphas?

"What is omega?" a smaller dog asked, cowering as he did so.

"I am the last. There are none before nor after. I am the one that can unite the alphas of alphas. I am the omega. You will all follow me."

There was no dog who did disagree with that. They would follow him. They would run with him. They would hunt with him. They would kill with him. And, by the Moon Mother's name, they would die for him. For he was omega, the first and the last.

---

Iron felt sick to his gut. He did not know what to think. He had just killed a Watu. That was not what disturbed him. What disturbed him was how he was practically forced to kill the pony because of an unrelenting desire to kill. Not him, of course, but from the Watu. All that it wanted to do was take his life, and he had come close several times. Even with his advantage of size, strength and the fact that he was not bleeding to death, the Watu put up a vicious fight. Even after Iron had dishoofed the pony's weapon, the creature just kept on coming.

"Very well done," Blood said and nodded. "Crushing his head beneath your leg was a nice touch."

"You're a sick fiend," the rhino panted in response. "Letting him die like that."

"You could tell it was a stallion? I can never tell, you know. After they become like this, I can't even really see them as equestrians. No, they're nothing more than ghosts." Blood turned to see Providence looking at the dead Watu. "Oh, that's right. I was going to make you experience what it's like taking this. Hold her."

"Stop!" Iron roared and tried to move, but it was hopeless.

"Please stop and let her go! She is just didn't know!" Zecora pleaded. "Do not make her take those ooze! She has too much to loose!"

Blood stopped and looked at the zebra. "You actually think that I'd stop because of you?"

He walked over and the needle easily broke Providence's skin. He looked into her eyes, hers filled with horror as she realized what was about to happen...

"What was that?"

"Sounded like one of the diamond dogs baying to the moon, sir," came the response.

Blood made a face. "I know that! But why does it sound like... a..."

He walked over to the edge of the railing that separated the foredeck from the rest of the ship and peered across the huge expanse of wood before him. His armies of Watu stood guard there, for he knew that whatever or whoever was coming would have to come across that open plain. There would be no place for whoever it was to hide.

He never expected him to show up quite the way he did.

"Orders, sir?"

Blood snarled. Invading, looting, ambushing and assassinations were the forte of the Watu. They could attack a ship in the air or on the sea, overpower the crew and take its cargo. They could loot a merchant vessel in seconds, even scuttle it and empty the contents before it crashed into the ground below. They were masters of ambushing, able to strike hard and true into the best guarded caravans and convoys ever mustered. When it came to assassinations, they were a league unto their own.

But if there was one thing that the Watu lacked, it was open discipline. In a proper battle, they were no more than a rabble of freshly trained militia. Few, if any, had the hard training of a soldier; the discipline instilled to maintain the calm and effectiveness in a battle. To be a single part of a greater whole. Blood understood these things, for he had trained and abandoned that calling many years ago.

What he never expected was to be standing on the decks of the Eleonora staring down an army, but not just any army. An army of some of the most feared creatures of the Equestrian continent. Not merely the diamond dogs and their kennels. No, they were pushovers -- desperate mongrels ready to serve any master so long as they were strong and showed no fear. What Blood never expected was to be staring down an army of diamond dogs and the packs of canines from the other breeds that they had captured, the wolf clans the worst of all. Blood was so sure that they would have torn one another apart in the lower holds vying for control of the alphas, but as she stood where he was he could see the unmistakable sign of the alphas standing their ground in front of their packs at the bast of the smoking ruin of the ship's bridge.

A lone, unmistakable figure stood in the center of them, the fires silhouetting him, but the long plume and the shape of his body was unmistakable.

"Stand your ground!" Blood roared to his Watu. "We outnumber them ten to one! A golden bit for every heart of a dog you bring to me! And a thousand for the heart of that pony!"

The Watu roared.

And the lightning streaked the skies. The clouds were overhead now which brought new hope to the Watu. Rain and unpredictable weather meant that they had reached safety.

They were in griffon waters now.

Comments

[Dravkwn]

I'm happy to see more of this story, keep it up.

[Vates Despero]

There was no dog who did not disagree with that. They would follow him. They would run with him. They would hunt with him. They would kill with him. And, by the Moon Mother's name, they would die for him. For he was omega, the first and last.

That is... a double negative. You just said that EVERY Diamond Dog DISAGREED with him.
Nope, Omega is last and only last, Alpha is first. He has insisted that he is NOT first... and that he is first in the same sentence which is also internally contradictory.

[deathtap]

3506759 True that! Thanks for noting it.

As for the last part... I meant that he is the first omega, and also the last (in the literal sense). Maybe I ought to make that clearer...

[Grif_Bladefeather]

first off, your awsome

second yeah you have the body of a griffon on deck, piss off the griffons... smart

third these are freaken canines, wolves hyenas, hunting dogs. you know what the most fearsome predator on the african savnna is? no not the lion, it's the hyena. lions overpower them one on one but hyenas in numbers are stonger. even if the griffons side with you this fight is over.

[Silber-Baren]

It updated! In its epic true form. I have to say that bit with the Omega was the only time this story's language gave me trouble. It is nice to see Captain Wish again after all this time. But anyways, I thought Blood was going to bite the dust in this chapter But that is Okay since now he is set up for an earned death after an epic fight scene! This is very pleasing, out of five for you good sir.

[Admiral Stoic Rum]

Read it all up from here. Aside from some homonyms and some simple typos the language gets across... (Words like past instead of passed).

A legendary soldier story. It has some nice touches toit. Much detail. YYou've still got your side story regarding glitter and the whole ponyville bits. Important still is finishing this adventure. It feels static though sometime I feel like I am spectating but then there is a shiftin the scene and we are listening the wish again... There's no transitional marker. Weird part is I don't feel semper ever struggled even in his training period. This is where it lacks even accounting for the pie family sense... Pinkie sense in a way... I think he breezes too well.

[Mossy Mare]

"It's nothing something that I am interested in going over."

"In a proper battle, they were no matter than a rabble of freshly trained militia. Few, if any, hard the hard training of a soldier, the discipline instilled to maintain the calm and effectiveness in a battle."

I want to tell you how much I have enjoyed working my way through this. This story has none of the literary elements I usually gravitate towards, no shy shrinking violets, no villains being redeemed. It is full of fight scenes, which usually I can't even stand to read through. Yet here I am, having finished the last chapter and quite desperate to find out who makes it out of here alive. I can see why moguera recommended you.

[deathtap]

3732553 I have incorporated most of the corrections you've pointed out (and some of my own). Thanks for that. I'm glad you've found it enjoyable. I don't know who moguera is, but tell him I said thanks for recommending me. It tickles my bones.

[Mossy Mare]

3755216
I'm glad to have helped, and I'll pass that along. You can find him here, and his recommendation was on chapter 6 of Shadow of the Sun, in the author's notes.

[Emperor]

Ah, I wonder if Providence will survive whatever she just got injected with. I don't think there are any drugs that if you take once, they'll get you looking for the next fic, but which the need for the next fix never wears off, but again, magic. Plus, there's the possibility she gets a lot of bloodlust too out of it.

Well, Blood might finally be biting the bullet next chapter.

Seems to me the Day Guard is just a little bit too late. Now that the ship is officially in Griffon waters, the Griffon Empire would have a field day with the Day Guard attempting to arrest the captain of a ship in Griffon waters, and use it as a casus belli. Sure, Celestia would wreck them, but there's so many other things they could do.

[Umbra Animo]

7876878
I dont think she was injected just yet just had the needle it i have had shots is not the instant the needle is in it has the fluid has the pushed in they were stopped just as the needle broke skin