Chapter 80 - "Monsters of Men"
"Hey! Guys! Wait up!" Spike yelled, jogging to catch up with his friends, holding himself back from laughing at what's to come. The group of young ponies stopped in front of an alley between two homes and looked back at the young dragon, smiling warmly at him.
"Oh, hey, Spike!" Sweetie Belle said happily.
"How are you guys doing?" Spike asked as he stopped by them, trying his hardest not to look away from them.
"Pretty good, how about you?" Scootaloo inquired.
"Pretty good," he said with a wry giggle. He pointed at the half-rolled poster for the circus that was balancing nicely on Applebloom's back/ "You guys reading up about the circus that's coming to town?"
"Yup, we're really excited about it!" Applebloom said with a wide grin. "Circuses are so much fun. Specially when they got clowns and stuff. We're gunna try and see if our talent has something to do with them. Could be fun workin' for the circus."
"Well, you girls would certainly fit in with those guys," he said with a laugh, then scratched his chin. "But I thought they had cancelled, though."
"Cancelled? Why would they be cancelled?" Scootaloo snorted. "They've come here every year for the past thirty years! Most ponies don't just cancel traditions..."
"You mean... you didn't hear?"
"Hear about what?" Scootaloo asked with a raised brow.
"About the monster," Spike said slowly, making his eyes bulge lightly to really sell the act. The girls looked at each other cautiously and glanced back to Spike uneasily. Sigma glanced at Theta who took a small step back. "You really haven't heard, have you?" Spike continued.
"We didn't hear anything about no monster..." Applebloom said, licking her lips.
"Yeah, it was a new act that they were gunna try and put on at the circus. Word has it that they thought that lion taming had become too boring, so they wanted to up the stakes a bit. And when they got word that a monster was loose near where they were putting on a show, they jumped at the chance to catch it and show it off for the world to see. It was supposed to be this huge, hulking creature. Over seven feet tall. Scales like a snake. Hide like an armadillo to prevent itself from being harmed. Fangs to suck out the blood of its prey!""
"Wh-what happened?"
"When they found it, the monster nearly killed all the ponies that tried capturing it. But that just made them want it more. A violent, untamable creature is just what they wanted for the act to make it more exciting," Spike said, and the girls began to marvel at the thought. A real life monster. "But on their way to Ponyville it got loose," Spike said, and as he uttered the words, the girls froze. Spike quickly catches sight of Junior slowly skulking through the alley, being as quiet as possible. "They quickly sent word out that the creature was on its way to Ponyville, and it was last sighted a few hours ago in the Everfree..."
"That's not too far away from here..." Sweetie Belle gulped. "Is anybody trying to catch it?"
"I think Twilight said her and the girls were gunna try and capture it, but the circus ponies said that they should be as careful as possible when dealing with it. A group of the highly trained strong-ponies could barely catch it, and they somewhat knew what they were up against. Even with the Elements of Harmony, the girls might be in for a bit of trouble if they tried to catch it."
"They could do it," Applebloom suggested uneasily. "They've stopped monsters before. 'Sides, they got the guys t' help them with it."
"Yeah, Caboose and Grif sure would be a huge help and not at all an inconvenience," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. "Those guys have nothing on the things that the girls have done. If anything they'd just get in the way."
"But Simmons and Church are really smart, and Sarge knows how to fight," Sweetie Belle countered. "And any little bit helps."
"It doesn't really matter if they don't find it in time. This creature hunts ponies for food, especially fillies and colts. Their blood tastes better to them. And if the girls can't find it before it strikes..." Spike shuddered. "I really feel bad for you guys. Since I'm a dragon, it won't eat me. My scales are too tough for that."
"W-what did they say t-to do if it comes after us?"
"You'll be lucky if you see it," Spike said, taking a step towards them, voice growling slightly in pitch. "This monster lives in the shadows. Watching. Waiting for a moment to strike and snatch up a snack. You'll just be minding your own business, your back turned to the shadows as you go about your business. The only way you'll know it's after you is when it sneaks up behind you and bellows out a deafening--"
On cue, a roar comes from a few yards behind them and them and Theta in the girls began to shriek. They all snapped around to see Junior slowly walking towards them, arms held outwards as his jowls extended, causing them to shriek once more and begin to run away. Sigma merely stared at Junior, studying him, unphased by the creature, recognizing it from his time with the Freelancer computers.
"Pfft, bwahahaha!" Spike giggled loudly as he slapped his knees uncontrollably, watching Theta and the fillies galloping away at mch five speeds. "That was great, Junior!"
"[I'll admit, that was pretty fun,]" Junior said with a alien chuckle. Junior saw Sigma out of the corner of his eye and turned towards him.
"You think that was funny?" Sigma asked, the echo of his voice low and grainy.
"Kinda," Spike said, slowing down, wiping a tear out from under his eye. Spike's smile turned into a frown when Sigma gave him the blankest, most emotionless stare he had ever seen up until that point.
"He is not a monster. And if I remember, he comes from a quite honorable species at that."
"It was a joke, I know he isn't a monster..." Spike grumbled, not understanding how Sigma couldn't see the joke. "So you weren't scared, huh?"
"No, because I know something that very few do. The scariest part about monsters isn't the fact that they look different, have different feeding habits or live on the other side of the world. The scariest part about monsters is that they can be right in front of you. They could be walking amongst you. They could be in contact with you. They could be someone you know. Someone with a deep pain that gets their mind ripped open by claws of blind violence, tearing their sanity out with it," Sigma said quietly, never blinking as he stared deeply at Spike. "My problem is that I know that real monsters do not look like him. Real monsters are created from spite, ignorance and anger. I should know. I've created one," Sigma glanced down and, for a brief moment, frowned. "I was one." Looking back up at the pair, Sigma saw that they had fully stopped laughing. "And you too almost became one, if I recall correctly. So you should know that monsters are not something to be taken lightly. Someday you might just see what a true monster is, and it may very well put your life, as well as the life of those you love, at stake," he said, starting to turn around to find his brother. "And I hope if and when that time comes, you won't sit around making jokes."
Spike thought of those words as he watched Sigma trot away after Theta and the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"[He seems... fun...]" Junior grunted roughly.
"I guess he just doesn't have a good sense of humor..." Spike grumbled hesitantly. Shaking his face, he forced a smile and elbowed Junior in the leg. "C'mon, let's go find some grub. My treat."
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yay
FORESHADOWING!!!!
Well, shit in my blankets and prank me with monsters under my bed tonight,
did a grandmaster scientist did a Frankenstein and rose this thing from the depths of unlife?
'Cause I swore I thought this was dead, apparently it's not right.
In a matter of fact, IT'S ALIVE!
huzah! XD its back!
Profound words from a former monster, let's just hope that it isn't hinting towards something truly diabolical.
Great work as always, Darkwing, and welcome back.
Ahhhh... it returns.
holy shit nuggets, how far behind am I!!????! I thought I was caught up, but nope! 16 unread chapters! jeez, where have I been?
I was waiting for this to resurface after such a long time.
Well Sigma... I did not expect you to admit that.
Spike can now Blargh with the best of them.
I want the freelancers to show up!!!!
Sigma knows how it goes.
Still, it wasn't as good as when he took Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon down a peg.
Bring in the Meta. Why? Because he a bad ass killing machine.
IT"S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
with the way this story became ALIIIIVE!, I'd say sigma wasn't the only monster
Darkwing!!!! Your alive! Another great chapter.
We have a pulse!
and there was much rejoicing!
way to be a buzz kill Sigma, ya dick.
Jesus christ! I waited all spring for this. You sir do not dissapoint.
Rejoice! A new chapter!
I maintain an argument that began early on.
This fic needs none other than Blood Gulch's finest team leader, Captain Butch Flowers.
That was almost the exact reaction I expected from sigma. I say ALMOST because I didn't expect him to make that small speech of his. And for Spike to tell that story in such detail... What the hell has he been reading now a days?!
and so it returns! i hope we get some more regular updates from now on
IT HAS RETURNED!
rebuildingholly.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/huzzah-lolcat.jpg
4641081 Butch is dead though, it would canonically make no sense at all.
Unrelated note good chapter and I hope there's more soon.
4648078 So is Tex, and all the A.I.s, so your argument is invalid.
4648089 Tex and the rest of the A.I.'s weren't living beings, in fact the ones you see right now are just fragments of Epsilon/Church's memory.
4653178 Tex was a completely separate A.I. created as a by-product from the sheer strength of the Directors memories of Alison when Alpha was made.
If Tex wa an A.I. made by memory, what's to stop Epsilon recreating the other Freelancers and Blood Gulch characters?
To clarify, I see Flowers as a harmless blood gulch character in cyan armour and Florida as the deadly Freelancer ODST, despite them being the same person.
Sigma's silver tongue comes through with this, in some epic dialogue. ts1.explicit.bing.net/th?id=HN.608015417677121904&pid=15.1&P=0
4641902 rebuildingholly.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/huzzah-lolcat.jpg indeed.
4654150 THIS SHOULDN'T BE PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE!!!
4654121 But this is cometely different Tex and the rest of the A.I. weren't supposed to exist to begin with. If you recall Church wanted to bring Caboose to life with old necky and the A.I.'s were a by product of that resurrection.
4655067 Your argument is still invalid.
If Epsilon wa able to give the memories of the other AIs physical bodies, there is nothing to stop him from doing the same with Andy V.I.C. and Flowers
4655142 He didn't give them squat except a new chance at life and even then it wasn't in his hooves. If you need more proof go to the first story.
Also Epsilon's memory is still messed up season 9 is a perfect example of that, because he was never apart of the blood gulch chronicles.Instead relying on the stories of Michael J. Caboose of what happened.
4655284 You've already lost this argument. Now your only fighting for the sake of it.
4655298 At what point did I lose it, because from this point of view I've proved your point to be well just a rambling fan that wants a side character to return without sticking to facts.
4655374 Tell me, who's memory was it that York recorded his video-logs on that Epsilon showed Carolina in S10, because it couldn't have been Epsilon?
Even in this fic series, Epsilon regained his memories, therefore, as long as he has them he can re-create ANYONE from them with the exception of the Director, because he already is the Director's replica.
4654819 and yet, it happened.
4655690 The answer to that question is easy to answer though harder to explain. The answer was Delta and the realm of that explanation falls in a previous season or two.
Also the author explained in the previous story why bringing back the dead has well its consequences. The A.I. are a good factor in that.
Bow Chicka Bow Wow
5750094
I don't get it