The Smokeless Flame

by BIGBLACKINTOSH

Um...I got nothing...

Vito and Mastodon immediately jumped off the roof and into the fight, screaming at the top of their lungs. Both landed with a roll and separated, Vito going right and Mastodon going left. A dog with a gem spear lunged at Mastodon with controlled fury, making sure not waste energy with each strike. Mastodon dodged each strike and grabbed the spear with his furry arm and quickly stabbed the dog in his chest with his hidden blade. The dog went down, but three more were closing in behind him. I saw Mastodon’s cocky smile before he switched his mechanical arm to crossbow mode and turned to his opponents. He fired three bolts and all of them nailed all three dogs in the head, nailing one to the tree by his eye socket.

Vito was putting his own silly nickname to shame as he tore through a group of dogs. Two came at him with spears but he just dodged them, disarmed them both and started laying down hits. Using his amazing speed, he landed a dozen punches on each of the dogs before they could react, every hit landing on their throats, eyes and chins. Both dogs went down, clutching their throats, gasping for air.

The attacking squad’s archers had wisely chosen to stay back and shoot crossbows at me and Velcro. A volley of bolts launch from the back of the forest in a perfect arch for the roof. I quickly counted about fifteen arrows and I somehow managed to shoot six right out of the air without straining my eyes to aim. I wrote that off as strange and tried to go for the other ones but found my gun empty. What the hell?! This thing doesn't run out of ammo! I thought frantically as I watched the remaining arrows fall towards Flan and her creations.

Arige quickly grabbed Velcro, Kitty and Flan and covered them with his body, facing his back towards the arrows. Each arrow landed on the croc’s back and snapped against the iron hard scales. I let out a sigh of relief, focusing on where the enemy fire came from. All right then furry fuckers, lets see how you like napalm. I thought as I brought my hands together for a grenade. It took a minute, but the grenade was made. Unfortunately, by the time I had completed the grenade, another volley was being launched at us.

Just before the volley reached its arch, I threw the grenade at the arrows. The ball of chemical fire exploded into a giant ball of flame, destroying the rest of the arrows. My shoulders slouched and I felt a ton of weariness fall upon them. Damn, I can't afford to do another one, I might not be able to stand up next time. Those archers needed to be taken out, fast. “We need to take out those-,” I began to say, but stopped when I saw Velcro jump over my shoulder and into the enemy filled forest.

I was going yell at her to stop, but cut off by the sound of ripping flesh and the whimpers of desperate dogs. For a maximum of twenty seconds, those sounds filled the forest and made me cringe a bit. Flan tapped me on my shoulder and smiled apologetically. “Sorry about Velcro, she can get quite energetic when it comes to my safety,” She laughed nervously.

Mastodon appeared behind me, breathing heavily. “All contacts down and I found no trace of Jill,” he reported.

“Damn,” I cursed. This was the second time Jill had been ahead of us. This was starting to get annoying, she’s beaten me to the punch twice and nearly choked me to death. I decided right then that when I saw her, I was going to shove my knife in a very sensitive place. I looked back to Flan, who was giving Arige another hug and breathed a sigh of relief, she was still alive and that meant she was still useful.

“Alight Flan,” I announced, interrupting her hug. “I need some info on Jill. One big question being, why the hell would she send an entire hit squad after you?” I asked with authority.

Velcro suddenly appeared over my shoulder and then by Flan’s side, covered in blood and staring at me. “Oh no. The last time Flan showed her projects to someone, this happened!” Velcro yelled defensively, pointing at the mangled body of a former King dog.

Flan waved her hoof dismissively. “Nonsense sister! These very talented brutes just saved our lives. The least we could do is give them a little information,” she suggested cheerfully. Velcro snorted, but otherwise didn't resist when we Flan led us in her compound.

Skipping some useless details, the compound was like the Sheytan, BIG. The only difference was the fact that the compound as a whole was dedicated to some the most advance science and medical procedures I ever seen. I’m talking more advance than the human race. Muscle enlargements, bone reinforcing. Hell, Flan even said she could perform brain transplants.

“Which brings us to why we are here,” she announced, grabbing my attention away from a brain tank. The room Flan had led us to was stark white, like a medical lab, which it was. She was standing in front of a grey door with several locks on it. “So, what's the big secret? And why is it so secret that you needed to separate me from my team?” I asked crossing my arms. Flan had separated me from Vito and Mastodon by having Arige give them a “tour” of the compound.

Though they had been here before, Vito still wanted to see all the amazing stuff in the compound again and Mastodon just wanted to be by Vito if anything happened. The wolf talked a good game, but I highly doubt he would separate from Vito even if he were forced to.

Flan nervously looked behind me and went back to locked door, levitating a single key from a fleshy pocket in her neck. “Despite what Velcro thinks, I learn from my mistakes. Its all a part of being a surgeon and what's in her could change the medical world,” she replied, almost whispered.

I groaned in annoyance. I hated cloak and dagger. “Alright I Pinkie Promise that I won't tell anyone and show anyone what's behind the door. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” I repeated the lines, even going as far to nearly poke out my normal eye.

Flan looked confused but proceeded to open the door. Inside was cold as an industrial freezer. I hadn't really been anywhere cold since coming to Equestria, but this felt like standing in the middle of a blizzard in the middle of Antarctica. Flan strode to a nearby table in the dark room and lifted what looked like a long cover cover for a bread box. Under it was a well lit row of unicorn horns. There were twenty in all, each one grey and had an eerie white fog drifting from the bottom of them.

Oh my god, I just walked into a Pinkemena kill-room! I started to back away from Flan very slowly. “Um Flan, what is this?” I asked nervously.

Flan gave me the trademarked Pinkimena smile before going back to normal and picking up a horn with her magic. “Have no fear my friend. For these are my greatest inventions,” she replied excitedly.

I stopped moving towards the door and stared at the horn genuine interest. “What is it?”

Flan tapped her chin with her hoof, pondering how to answer me. “Think of it... As a matrix. This horn can store magic energy and disperse it at the will of the user,” she explained. As she continued, Flan idly moved around the room, making hoof gestures like a professional speaker, sort of like Iron Will.. “The best thing about this is anypony can use it. From the lowest farm pony to the dumbest of minotaurs. Anyone could have access to magic and it would only take a mere thought to do it!” she exclaimed proudly.

During the explanation, I had taken a seat on the empty space on the table and kept my eyes on her the whole time. “How long have you been working on this?”

Flan gestured for me to get up and placed the horn back in its place. “Twenty years. I’m actually older than I look,” she replied proudly.

That forced me to raise an eyebrow. “Just how old are then?” I asked.

Flan ignored the question completely and turned back to me, worried. “I suspect this is why Jill sent that force against me. The operation she had was expensive and selling one of these would instantly make up for what she paid for.”

This beckoned a eyebrow to be raised. “What kind of operation?”

“Facial reconstruction. She wanted to have smaller eyes so I complety reconstructed her skull and gave her some eyes from a minotaur I had laying around,,” Flan confessed smiling.

The eyebrow did not lower. “Why the hell would she need smaller eye socket?”

Flan was going to gladly answer but stopped when Velcro slammed open the door. She was breathing heavily, her hat gone from her head, revealing a really stitched dome with only some hair to the sides of her head. “Flan! We’re under attack... Again.”.

“By who?” Flan ask, annoyed.

“This must happen often,” I muttered idly.

“Its the blood mare!” she replied to Flan.

Flans eyes grew to the size of saucers. “What blood mare?”

Velcro reached behind her and pulled out another hat. “Oh, the one that passes out flowers-THE ONE THAT FIRES FUCKING IRON BLOOD YOU IDIOT!”

Flan started frantically running back and forth around the room, panicking. On her second lap, Velcro and I managed to hold her by her shoulders. “Whoa, whoa, whoa!” I shouted. “What's so bad about this one?” I asked. Flan shook her head with worry and an boom sounded from the inside of the compound. Flan shrieked. “Mimi, the bloodmage. You can say she was... An accident,” she explained nervously, clopping her hooves together like a guilty child.

Velcro shook her head. “By accident, she means she saw a mare taking a nap and thought she was dead,” she groaned.

“How was I supposed to know?!” Flan shouted, holding her hooves up defensively.

Velcro facehoofed. “By checking her pulse first!”she yelled into her hoof.

There was another boom somewhere in the compound, shortly after Vito and Mastodon rushed through the door.“That mare from Dustown is cutting a swath through the lab,” Vito reported.

“What do you mean a “swath”?” asked Flan.

Mastodon rolled his eyes. “He means that the mares tearing up the place. She mostly targeting the lab equipment and heading this way.”

Flan’s expression became very angry, electricity arched from the nails in her neck and a sort of loop. In her eyes was a fierce intensity that told me she did not like to this mare wrecking her work. Flan marched through the duo, with me and the rest of us with her. “Flan wait!” Velcro protested.

Flan turned back to her sharply, a determined look in her eye. “I will not! There is an angry mare wrecking equipment and killing my babies. I will not stand by and watch!” She declared before taking off.

We ran after her, quickly approaching the sounds of chaos and angry yelling. I took out my revolver as I ran and checked the cylinder. Still empty. Dammit, I’m going into battle with no teeth. Where the hell did my bullets go? I didn't have any bullets, which meant if this fight got close, I’d have to go toe to hoof with an enemy with no armor. Dammit it all! I hate being human.

We made a sharp turn and entered a large arena like room. Goo tubes took up most of the room, along with some operation tables. A bunch of the tubes had been broken open, spilling green medical goo on the floor. The culprit was standing in the middle of the room, screaming her head off. Her fur would have been white if not for all the bloody cuts covering her body. Her mane was (as expected) blood red with white bangs. Her hair had a liquid like fluidity, as if was actually made of blood. What surprised me the most was her cutie mark, being that it was a paintbrush on a canvas. She continued her animalistic scream as she smashed another medical tank..

Flan stepped right up to the mare without fear, a look of scolding anger on her muzzle. “Mimi, I demand you stop this chaos at once!” she shouted at the mare.

Mimi stopped screaming immediately and switch her gaze onto Flan. “Stop? Stop?! You want me to stop destroying these travesties! These abominations?! These things that helped you turn me into a monster?!” She yelled, shaking a bloodied hoof. Blood was constantly streaming from what looked like self inflicted wounds. “And even worse you made it impossible to take my own life. But that was all a part of the experiment wasn't it? Create an undying bloodmage with no limits? Wasn't that what you said?!” she asked the scientist.

Mimi’s wounds all over her body were swelling with blood, forming rows of red spikes. “Let me make that wish... A reality,” Mimi said blankly before the spikes exploded out of her wounds.

Just before any spikes could reach Flan, Velcro seemingly appeared in front of her with amazing speed. Two spikes had punctured her side and were in deep. Despite this, Velcro was standing firm, and her scowl unwavering. “ No one... Touches... My sister!” she shouted, the spike her side shattering like glass.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delay, well extended delay. Been dealing with some college issues and GTA came out, so I haven't been able to write unless it was late at night. I know this ended suddenly, but I promise an awesome extended fight scene next chapter.

Stay frosty out there readers

Comments

[mild hotsauce]

Seems good. Although when the dialogue first starts in the beginning you put in an unnecessary we next to flan. I couldn't find anything else though.

[Inferno demon Dash]

Gods damn, but forever since I seen this, I forgot to review the last two chapters, wonder what happened to Nightheart and if he is ok, shit all the creatures seem to be going a bit on the Mary/Gray-sue route, making them impossible to kill, be very careful about that, nothing worse then heroes and villains who act like Gods and don't die Holy shit, love this new villain, something about her reminds me of Carnage from Spider-Man, how strange, I shall look over the last two chapters and review after I have a smoke, welcome back brother Also, you made a few Pinkie references, any chances of the Mane Six or background ponies, other creatures from the show or even any of the five Gods of Equestria going to see the OC's rather then it being just about...well, OC's really?

[BIGBLACKINTOSH]

3252672Whats up smokestack? Why would I.D. be a sue? She's nearly died like three times. And I'm going to touch on that later. Just stick around and you'll see the pieces fall into place.

[Inferno demon Dash]

3252782 My brother, what is up? And not I.D. but the rest of the squad, they seem to be like un killable and having no wounds on them, be careful with that, aww yes!! I can't wait to see the creatures from the show be around even if it's for a bit, I'm excited Also, you got Skype? If to add me, Flameclaws2, it would be cool to chat with you.

[Ninja x SpEd]

Wasn't there an anime about turning your blood into a weapon?