An Angel and her Soldier

by Midnight Words

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

------------------------------

Headshot and Firecracker set up the explosives and checked the weapons.

Headshot lifted a crate and gently placed it on top of a red crate. "Looks like we're good to go."

Firecracker had a sadistic grin on her face as she eyed the explosives with a spark in her eyes. Headshot quickly took the Unicorn away. The duo left the room, Headshot dragging the still grinning unicorn.

"Tell your boss that the bombs are ready." Headshot said to one of the guards.

"Right." The guard turned around and walked towards the main room.

Headshot went out the cave with Firecracker. The two of them needed to wait for the rest of the plan to fall into place. The sun was setting and everything was falling into place.

"Just when you think everything is going well, something bad and unexpected happens." Firecracker said as the two of them bought a drink.

"Annnnndddd... You jinxed it..." Headshot said and took a sip of his drink.

Firecracker smiled. "I mean what could possibly go wrong when you try to be realistic." She said with an innocent grin.

Headshot stared at the mare for a minute and laughed. "You? Realistic? You tried to make a bomb with glue, a potato, a hayburger, five slices of pineapple and duct-tape!"

"Duct-tape fixes everything and it blew up didn't it." She said.

"You duct-taped a stick of dynamite on it..." Headshot said and floated up to a low cloud. "I'll go take a nap. Wake me up when we start the attack."

Firecracker smiled and threw her empty can at the Pegasus. "See 'ya later, Perv."

"A stallion can have his fetishes!"

"Whatever! I'll go see if there's something I can burn." Firecracker left the Pegasus alone and walked the messy streets of the town.

Many ponies think that she was just a psychotic pyromaniac skilled at making explosive but she is also a very talented singer. If things turned out differently she might have been a singer.

But... I would have never might Headshot... That strong, hot-headed, little colt that saved me and helped me when I was alone... He was alone too but he wore a smile on his face for me... He's my best friend and I would never give that up for anything... She thought as she looked at a poster, a singing competion.

It was too late to enter but she loved hearing beautiful voices of some of the ponies.

She trotted over to the theater and bought a ticket for the singing contest. She took a seat at the front row and smiled, waiting patiently for the show.

The lights began to dim and a pony wearing a tuxedo stood on the stage.

"Fillies and Gentlecolt! The show will begin shortly so just sit tight and-" The sound of an explosion silenced the host, Firecracker looked over her seat and spotted several armed ponies with balaclavas on their face.

"Get down and give us all your money!" A pony yelled.

"Screw that!" A pony from the audience yelled. One of the Kidnappers yelled and fired a rifle and killed the poor colt.

"Anypony else want to mess with us?!? Give us your damned money!"

The other ponies threw their money at the floor in fear. One of the kidnappers took out some rope and tied the other ponies down. Firecracker took out her bag of bits and slowly made it to the pile of bits on the ground.

"Hurry up, lady! We ain't got all day!"

Firecracker came close to one of the kidnapper and smiled an unsettling grin. The pony pointed his rifle at the unicorn.

Firecracker pushed down the rifle and yanked it out of the pony's grasp and burned the kidnapper. She turned her attention to the other kidnappers that were firing their own weapons at the pyromaniac.

She conjured a small spherical shape that blocked the bullets. She charged with the shield still active and rammed the shield and the one of the kidnappers to a wall, giving a sickening crunch.

She pulled out a rifle she took earlier and fired at the remaining ponies. The sphere shattered and turned into a ring of fire that surrounded her body. The flames were magic and caught anything and everything that passes through them with fire.

Firecracker's bullets passed through the ring and burned one of the kidnappers in the foreleg, the leg burnt to a crisp and soon the pony died from dehydreation.

She made quick work of two of them and the rest ran away with their tails between their legs.

Firecracker never loses her prey, ever... She let them escape for now but will hunt them down later.

She turned towards the cowering ponies, still bound by the rope. She quickly burned through the rope and left the theater, humming a tune to herself.

"Time to kill some baddies." She hummed and followed the panicking ponies in the distance.

------------------------------

"Welcome to the Flim n' Sham trading and CO,." The yellow colt said across the counter, hiding his surprise and fear in front of the two aliens. "I'm Flim the third and my cousin will be right out with Sledge's special stash."

Roland bit his lower lip, he didn't like these business-man/pony types, the only one he actually trust would be Marcus, even if he was a slimly, greedy man. That man always provides what they needed and wanted.

But... He sighed. Marcus isn't here...

A mare with the same color scheme of her cousin came out of the backroom. "Bombs, books, bullets and booze we got 'em all. Are you sure this is everything?"

Angel nodded. "How much?" She asked.

"Five thousand bits." The colt calmly said. Roland rubbed his temples with his fingers.

Angel raised her hand. "We only owe three thousand. Don't try and trick me I can do basic math." Angel said and the two ponies deflated.

"Right..." Flim said and handed over the briefcase. "It's got all the stuff, ammo, bombs, some medical supplies and Sledge's sawed-off shotgun, but I don't think you can use it effectively unless you modify it to work for you. We can mod it for only one thousand bits, this is a once in a lifetime offer."

"Thanks but no thanks, we already got someone who can mod this." Roland said and picked up the briefcase.

"How much is your friend charging?" Sham asked.

Roland and Angel walked towards the door and turned around to face the two business ponies. "Free of charge." Roland and Angel left the shady shop and headed back to the cave.

A rush of hot air and the smell of smoke came to them.

"Fire?" Angel said and moved towards the smoke. Roland followed the Siren through the streets and the startled ponies.

"Firecracker?" Roland said as he pushed through the crowd of ponies.

"BURN! BURN! BURN! TASTE THE CLEANSING POWER OF THE FLAMES OF DEATH AND AGONY! BWAHAHAHAH!" Firecracker yelled as she burned down an old building and some ponies along with it.

"Isn't somepony going to call the guards?" A pony in the crowd said.

"Nah, remember the last time a guard tried to stop a psychotic unicorn." Another pony said with a sigh. "I swear, our guards are useless."

"Firecracker! Stop! They're dead!" Roland yelled and placed his hand on the unicorn's shoulder.

Firecracker turned around and stared at the soldier. "Hi, Rolly!" She said in an upbeat voice.

"Aren't we going to tell the guards that there are two biped thingies walking around town?" The same pony said.

"Nah, remember that half-dragon-gorilla-changeling thing a few days back? The guards will probably get their asses kicked." The other pony sighed. "We should get out of here before something bad happens."

The crowd started to dissipate and left the unicorn and two humans in front of the giant burning building.

"Why the hell did you burn that?" Angel said and pointed to the burning building.

"Bunch of thugs tried to kidnap the ponies in the theater so I burned them... all to a satisfying golden... black." She said and stomped on a pile of ash.

"Right... We should head back, the plan should start soon." Roland said and went the wrong way.

"Other way." Angel said with a roll of her eyes. "You are useless with navigations."

"You've seen all our adventures. They never ever let me drive." Roland said and turned around walked back towards the cave.

"There was that one time you drove Scooter's Monster into a mine and blew everybody up." Angel said and followed the unicorn and soldier.

"Well... once." Roland shrugged.

"And that one time you drove off a cliff... twice..." Angel pointed out.

Roland quickened his pace. "Alright, thrice."

Angel and Firecracker matched the soldier's speed. "And don't get me started on the time you got the Bandit Buzzard."

Firecracker stopped above a cloud and shot a fireball at it. Headshot yelped at the red-hot ball of fire that impacted his flank and singed his short tail.

"Stop your kinky dreams and get up! We're about to go!" Firecracker yelled and ran to catch up to the two humans.

Headshot grumbled and opened the holes on his back and released his wings. He turned on his own radio in his head and started talking. "Yo, Roland. I'm heading on out first, scoping out the area and stuff." He said and flew over the forward Minotaur base.

Something red popped up on his vision and saw a missile heading straight towards him. He banked left and dodged the first missle but two more came up and blasted him out of the air. He plummeted down to the ground and landed on the middle of the forward base.

His wings suffered major damage as the wires and cords were slightly visible. He tried to contact the others but something was blocking the signal.

"Remember me, dipshit?" A tall white Pegasus hovered over him. "I remember you saying something along the lines of 'If I ever see you again I'll rip out your wings and shove them up your ass' or something."

Headshot coughed as the a few sparks came out of his wings. "How the fuck could I forget my own brother?"

------------------------------

Roland and Angel received Headshot's message and headed back to Sledge. Firecracker sprinted ahead.

"You think he's going to be alright?" Angel asked as the two made their way through the cave.

Roland stopped and turned around, facing the cave entrance. "... I don't know... He seems alright but... I just can't shake this feeling that something bad is going to happen..."

Angel put her hand on the soldier's shoulder. "You know, you care a lot about your friends and I'm sure he's alright." Angel said but she also had this unshakable feeling in her stomach that something is wrong. "Maybe... Maybe we should get going?"

Roland nodded and they made their way to the main room of the cave.

Roland pushed open the door and walked inside the crystal clear room. Angel followed the soldier but she felt like something was just pulled out of her, something on her back.

"Heroes! We are ready to save those foals!" Sledge yelled in excitement. "The bombs are in place, and my most blood thristy warriors are itching for a fight!"

Roland checked his ammo and his Dragon Turret and his shields. "Ready when you are."

Angel still had an uneasy feeling about this, but she pushed it aside. "Ready." She said.

Diamond smiled. "Alright! Let's show those ruffians who their dealing with!" She said. "Meet us at the entrance of their forward base and we'll discust how you get through."

"Right." Roland said and switched on his ECHO device. "Headshot, we're coming in, prepare to provide support, over." Roland said but all that replied was static. "Repeat, prepare to provide sniper support, over." Again, no response. "Headshot, Respond." The static didn't stop. He looked at the others that were doing a last minute weapons check. "Headshot's not responding, I think he's in trouble."

Firecracker slipped a fresh batch of rockets inside her new rocket launcher, The Fire Blaster, and ran out the door, not even stopping to for the guards.

Roland and Angel followed the unicorn outside town and saw the huge group of guards, ready to fight.

Firecracker pushed through the front and slowed down, she hid her rocket launcher and casually walked up to the two Minotaur guards in front of the large gates of the Minotaur forward base.

"What do you want, Pony?" The Minotaur on the left said.

"Leave before we make you." The other one said.

"What am I doing? That's a funny story actually." She said and walked back and forth. "I'm here to- Look a distraction!" She pointed to the sky and the two Minotaurs looked up only to be burned by the psychopathic unicorn.

Sledge signaled the attack and pointed to the poorly fixed hole in the side of the base. "There's your entrance! We'll take it from here!" Sledge and a few dozen guards stormed the gates and broke it down with ease, the Minotuars inside didn't know what hit them before it was too late.

Roland and Angel went towards the crack on the wall and broke it down and ran inside. The same feeling of forebodding came back, only stronger.

"Something's not right..." Angel said and looked at the raging battle.

The ponies were slaughtering the Minoutaurs without breaking a sweat.

"Yeah, This is way too easy..." Roland and Angel charged through the ruins of the base towards the cave system where the main base was hidden.

Firecracker wasn't getting the satisfaction she wanted. She didn't even have to fire her new rocket laucher. The guards were easily destroying the base without her flames. She saw the mouth of the cave and it piqued her interest, she also noticed a few wires on the ground and picked them up.

Hmmmm... She hummed and ran inside the cave.

Diamond, despite her size, was dominating everything in her path. Her earth pony heritage and Sledge's strict training, this was like playing in the sandbox filled with sharp spikes.

Please. She thought. I grew out of the sandbox when I was five. She yawned and smashed a head of a Minotaur with her diamond encrusted hammer.

Sledge was just enjoying the blood but Diamond was already bored. "Father I think I'm going to see if there are stronger things to smash." Diamond said and pulled her hammer from the bloody corpse of a Minotaur.

Sledge smiled at his daughter. "Alright, just don't kill them all before Papa could have his fun, this is just a warm-up."

Diamond smiled and went inside the large foreboding cave.

Roland and Angel noticed that the Minotaurs didn't send reinforcements. Something was up and both of them knew it. They saw the light at the end of the cave and saw that a few dozen well-armed and armored Minotaur.

Roland and Angel couldn't fight all of them at the same time. The turret and Phase Shift helped but them couldn't win with cheap tricks and there was little or now cover in the area.

Angel readied her rifle and her hands began to glow. Roland pulled out his turret and waited for the first Minotaur to charge and then deploy it.

Several large explosions shattered through the crowds of Minotaur causing a large inferno. The ones that survived charged at Roland but were knocked back.

A small grey and white earth pony stared at the huge amount of Minotaurs. "Ohh! This is going to be fun!" Diamond squealed excitedly. The Minotaurs charged at the lone earth pony, but Diamond lifted her hammer and smashed the ground causing a huge shockwave the destroyed everything in its path.

Firecracker fired her rocket launcher and burned through the dozens upon dozens of Minotaurs. Her flames burned through their skin like paper and everything that tried to grab her burned to fine ash in an instant.

Roland threw his turret out and it burned anything that came close. Roland and Angel took out the Minotaurs that were too far from Roland's turret and Angel used her Phase Shift to take control of some of the warriors to fight for them.

A remaining Minotaurs tried to find a way out of was blocked by Firecracker or Diamond. They were pulvarized and burned at the same time.

Roland and Angel panted for breath before going forward. Firecracker sat on a bloody beaten corsp of a Minotaur. Diamond cleaned her hammer with a handkerchief she carried around.

"Thanks for the help." Roland said.

"Really thanks, if you guys didn't show up, we might not have made it." Angel said.

Firecracker jumped off the dead body and smiled. "Well we were just bored outside so we followed-"

"Very impressive. You managed to beat my weakest pawns." Anarchy appeared in a puff of black smoke. "And don't even waste your ammo, you can't hurt me with those puny toys." He pulled out three fillies from a very small suitcase that could barely fit clothes for a rat. "Want this? You need to beat the king of this pool of pawns and his queen."

"You know that sounded very gay." A white Pegasus with a dark blue mane came out from above. "Considering the queen is my brother and me, the king, isn't a completely useless piece on the board."

Anarchy rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Boom."

"Boom" sneered at the chaos god. "My name is Critical! Boom is dead!" He pulled out a storm cloud. "And if you call me Boom again I will hunt you down."

Anarchy gave a mock salute at the Pegasus. "Whatever, Critz. Have fun with the guests." Anarchy waved goodbye and disappeared.

Critical turned his attention to the four warriors on the ground. "As you've heard my name is Critical and I believe you already met my brother." He gestured to the ceiling that opened and revealed a dark blue Pegasus with a dirty white mane.

"Headshot!" Firecracker yelled. "What did you do to him!?!" Firecracker pulled out her rocket launcher.

Headshot's dead eyes looked at the four warriors as they stared at shock.

Critical flew over to his brother. "Just an old family reunion minus the folks." Critical pulled out two storm rifles from a nearby cloud and gave one to Headshot.

Headshot aimed his rifle at the warrior and fired, hitting Firecracker on the shoulder. The unicorn screamed as the bullet lighting bullet went through her shoulder and sent an electric shock through her body.

Headshot... Firecracker thought as she was blacking out. Missed? Headshot Missed? I was standing still that should be an easy headshot for him!

Firecracker was pulled into cover by Roland and was being patched up by Angel. "Headshot is still in there... You gotta... save... him..." She then blacked out.

Critical smiled. "This should be interesting."

Inside Headshot's mind, he tried to scream but no sound was made. A small tear rolled down his emotionless face.

Roland aimed his rifle at Critical. "I'm gonna kill you!" Roland fired but Headshot blocked the bullet and it bounced off his metallic wings.

Critical's smile broadened. "Very interesting indeed."

Comments

[The Shade]

This is Ponylands: 2