Deathstroke is sent to Equestria, can he escape the colorful world he's trapped in?
Slade Wilson, a.k.a Deathstroke, is mistakenly sent to Equestria during one of his many battles against Nightwing and the Titans. Now he's stuck in what he calls a child's imagination, and more importantly, Equestria is stuck with him. But what they don't expect is that they have common interests, and they'll have to trust this bad guy to play as the good guy.
This is my my first fic, so feel free to criticize on any mistakes I made. I own nothing, not MLP, Deathstroke or any other DC characters in this story. They belong to Hasbro and DC .
It was around midday, birds were chirping, the sun was shining, the skies are clear, it was practically the perfect day for anyone, or anypony, as you may call it, in Ponyville. But not everyone would agree. In one house, it was a thunderstorm for a particular purple pony.
"Ughhhh! Not again!" For the millionth time in a row, her spell that she had working on for so long, had failed miserably. Not to mention the countless holes she had made in her home.
"Cmon Twi, you've been practicing that spell from almost 4:00! Don't you think you should at least take a sandwich break?" A baby dragon that was sitting on the stairs was trying desperately to convince her aggravated friend.
"Take a break?" One of Twilight's hairs popped out from her insanity.
"Are you out of your mind!? I am NOT going to TAKE A BREAK, from working on THIS PARTICULAR SPELL, THAT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO DO FOR AGES!!!" Twilight was practically in Spike's face, who had gotten his custom pillow armor on quickly, after the outburst from Twilight.
"Ummm..." Spike stuttered at first. "At least eat the sandwich?"
This made Twilight even angrier. If she was mad before, she's probably on fire now! She quickly charged the spell in frustration, directly in front of Spike, who had retreated in his pillow armor in fear. Energy was building up on the unicorn's horn, gathering up until it was too full to maintain. Her recklessness allowed her to dispatch the energy, blinding her and throwing her back onto the hard floor. The blast knocked her out, but Spike, who just stopped trembling in fear of her friend, had thankfully survived the blast. He slowly got up from the disintegrated pillows.
"Well, that could have gone better..." he looked around and saw the mess Twilight made. Spike couldn't believe how messy, especially for somepony like Twilight, could end up. "Well, I better go get her friends."
Gotham City, 11:00 AM
It would have been another normal day for a civilian in Gotham, the normal routine would be followed, and before you know it, it's already time to get some shut-eye.
But not for Deathstroke.
As a contract killer it was his job to carry out assasinations, but this contract did not go as planned. He never even reached his target, if it weren't for two of the young heroes, known as Titans. They had found him running on rooftops, Deathstroke was trying to get in a good position to pick off his target with a sniper rifle, but that didn't matter right now.
"You're kidding me right?" Deathstroke was rather frustrated with a current situation he was in. "You think that I'm going to accept your so called last chance offer, and I miss my chance to score some big bucks?"
"Actually," began Nightwing, leader of the Titans, who had Deathstroke in a tight position, "I didn't which is why I had an alternative prepared. Cyborg, do it." His teammate wore a smirk on his face.
"Already done, looks like you ain't got a choice Slade, cause' I just called backup from the Justice League, soon, you'll be surrounded by five their finest members."
Deathstroke knew he was in trouble, and there may be no place to go. "You're really that desperate to capture me?" Deathstroke asked. Nightwing replied in a very stern voice.
"Believe me Slade, after the many innocents you've murdered, we will go to whatever measures to bring you to justice. Deathstroke knew that many innocents have been eliminated by him. But he knew that the target he was going after definitely wasn't.
"Look kid, There's something I need to tell you about this contract," Deathstroke tried to explain.
"Save it Slade." Nightwing hissed.
Deathstroke sighed heavily through his mask. "Won't listen? Fine. Guess I'm doing this the hard way." In a split second, he pulled out his dual guns from his holsters and shot a few rounds at both of them. Nightwing dodged the bullets with a back flip and pulled out his escrima sticks, while Cyborg absorbed the shots and armed his tech sword. Deathstroke pulled out his own sword and advanced toward the two.
It was difficult defending himself against two fairly strong opponents, but his enhanced reflexes allowed him to swiftly block each attack. Unfortunately, Cyborg grappled onto the opposite side and made it difficult for Deathstroke.
"Monkey in the middle tactic? Is that what you call this?" Deathstroke stated with some humor in his voice.
"Nope, it's the Let's kick Slade's ass tactic!" Cyborg said with much enthusiasm.
Nightwing knocked Deathstroke's sword out of his hand. Thinking quick, he back flipped over to his sword and shot a grenade back to Nightwing and Cyborg.
"Move!" Nightwing shouted. The blast sent them back a few feet, but they quickly got up.
"Cyborg, let's finish this!"
"Roger that!"
They both ran toward Deathstroke, Nightwing running ahead. Nightwing then turned and lowered his palms. Cyborg stepped onto Nightwing's palms and leaped into the air. Nightwing then threw three wing-dings at Deathstroke, while Cyborg directed his power fist at Deathstroke. Deathstroke hastily shot down the wing-dings and had barely enough to escape the area where Cyborg had landed his fist on, which had a big crater in it.
Unfortunately, he didn't escape Nightwing's fist. Deathstroke had the air knocked out of him and flew a few feet back. He made a dry remark to their clever maneuver.
"I think you were mistaken earlier." quoted Deathstroke. "I think that was the kick my ass tactic."
"You got that right Slade." replied Cyborg, now that Deathstroke was defeated and victory was in hand. As they speak, five members of the Justice League, Shazam, Captain Atom, Red Tornado, The Flash, and Green Lantern had arrived. Flash was carried by Green Lantern's ring since he couldn't fly.
"Just in time too." said Nightwing as he places cuffs on Deathstroke's hands. "What took you guys so long?" When Green Lantern and Flash land they approach Nightwing and Cyborg.
"Well, we had to tango with General Zod." said Flash.
"Yeah, Superman couldn't take him on his own, so he needed our help, especially since most of the other League members were unavailable." Green Lantern states.
"General Zod?" asked Nightwing, puzzled by his sudden return. "But I thought he..."
"Was trapped in the Phantom Zone?" Green Lantern finished. "He somehow managed to escape, but all that matters now is he's defeated, and is currently being transported to high level security Belle Reve Penitentiary via prison transport which is monitored by Superman, until we decide what to do with him." The prison was found to be a criminal organization some time ago, but was reformed and is being ran by people hired by the Justice League. "Probably will end up back in his old cell where he escaped."
"Well, we've things handled here too." says Nightwing, gesturing to Deathstroke who grunts in return.
"Great! let's wrap this up then shall we?" replies Flash who is in a good mood now that everything has worked out. Green Lantern nods and points his ring at Deathstroke, intending to transport him to Bell Reve as well with a floating prison cell.
Suddenly, something had made a booming sound really close to where they were. A lavender vortex had randomly appeared behind them. Energy was swirling around, closing in on the portal.
"What?" Green Lantern lowered his ring from Deathstroke, confused by the portal's sudden appearance. Everyone, was looking at the portal in curiosity, and didn't notice Deathstroke sneak up behind Green Lantern.
"BAM!" Deathstroke brought down his cuffed fists on Green Lantern, who fell down on the hard roof unconscious. Everyone quickly turned to see that Deathstroke had dropped three small but powerful explosives behind him as he runs toward the portal, as it's his only route of escape.
"Agh!" Nightwing and Cyborg shout in unison as they fly back a few feet. "GET HIM!" The other League members try to subdue Deathstroke, but Deathstroke jumps into the portal just before it closes, barely escaping the projectiles Shazam and Captain Atom fire at him. Nightwing and Cyborg run to where the portal was temporarily, and they lower their heads in disappointment.
"Damn!" Cyborg and Nightwing say together. Sighing, Nightwing tells Cyborg what to do.
"Cyborg, I need you to contact Superman and tell him about our mishap. I'll meet you back at the Watchtower to discuss our next move.
"Got it. Contacting Superman now." replies Cyborg, as he pushes a few buttons on his arm and puts his hand to his ear. Nightwing nods and heads to the nearest zata platform, grappling down to the ground. The other League members head back as well, Captain Atom carrying the still unconscious Green Lantern over his shoulder and Flash having to be carried by Shazam. When Cyborg reaches Superman, he tells him about the incident.
"Superman, bad news. A portal popped outta nowhere and Deathstroke escaped through it while we were sittin' there starin' at it." says Cyborg in a disappointed mood.
"So do I. A portal, that could possibly be similar to yours, formed in front of the transport that held General Zod. The driver tried to skid to a stop, but ended up tossing the vehicle around and trashing it, away from the portal, thankfully. The driver survived, fortunately, but Zod was nowhere to be found, and neither was the portal." said Superman, with the same disappointed mood Cyborg was in.
"You had a portal incident too?" asked Cyborg with a confused look. "Coincidence? I don't think so. Let's discuss this with Nightwing and the others back at the Watchtower. Somethin' strange is going on."
Twilight felt the coldness of the hard wooden floor on her back. She slowly got up and groggily opened her eyes, and sees five colored ponies looking around in her house in awe and disgust. An orange pony with a stetson hat was the first to see that she was awake.
"Oh sugar cube your awake!" says Applejack happily. "What in tarnation happened 'ere?" Twilight was still having mental issues from her failures.
"Oh just great! Everything is going just as planned! You guys wouldn't mind if you left. I'M HA-" Rainbow Dash shoved her hoof into her mouth.
"Twilight, this happened before and we won't let it happen again. Just stop whatever you're doing and let us help!" says Rainbow Dash, almost screaming at Twilight. Twilight was about to shout in protest, but then paused and thought about what happened the last time she went insane. She then sighed in defeat and agreed to what Rainbow proposed.
"Okay... let's clean this all up."
"My goodness, darling, whatever did you do to make this place into a dump?" asked Rarity, disgusted with the damage done to her usually very organized house.
"Well, duh Rarity! That's why were here isn't it? replies Pinkie Pie, who was in a good mood as always. "I knew this might happen again, so I prepared for a Twilight-goes-insane-again-emergency!"
"Well, what do you have in store this time Pinkie?" asks Twilight, who was in a better mood.
"What do you think silly? A broom!" Twilight laughed at Pinkie's humor, as the others get started on cleaning up. Everyone was making good effort, Pinkie was cleaning up with the broom she brought, Rarity and Rainbow placed the books back on their proper shelves,and Applejack Fluttershy helped fix the floor. Even Spike brought back drinks for everyone once they were finished.
"Hey um, thanks for your help guys, I really appreciate it." says a very thankful Twilight.
"Oh Twilight, you're very welcome." replies Fluttershy who continued drinking. "But next time, remember that were always here to help."
"I'll try Fluttershy, don't worry." Soon, they finished their drinks and headed back to their homes.
"Well, I'm going upstairs to take a nap. Spike, you can head out if you want." Spike gleamed.
"Really!? Well I'm going out then. See you later Twi!" says Spike happily as he left the house quickly. Twilight goes upstairs to nap in her bed. As she gets under her sheets, she smiles at the thought of how the day went so far.
"Well that thankfully worked out." she says, thinking out loud. But as she starts to sleep, she wonders: "But why do I feel the need to worry?"
Whitetail Woods, 11:10 AM
Deathstroke had just jumped through a portal without knowing where it led. As he continued through the swirling vortex, he thought about what he did.
"I don't know if this was a good idea. It may have been better to get arrested, I'm already having a headache." Deathstroke was spinning in all directions, not knowing which way was down. He saw the end of the portal and prepared to land. As he leaves the vortex, he sees the ground headfirst. He does a ground roll to break his fall. He slowly gets up and observes his surroundings.
"A forest?" asks Deathstroke with confusion in his voice. "I don't recall any forests in Gotham, nor the season being fall. I'm definitely not in Gotham anymore." Then again, he didn't expect the portal to take him anywhere near. He continued to ponder these thoughts, when suddenly he heard a loud crackling sound behind him. He quickly turned to see that the portal had collapsed on itself, forming a ball full of purple energy. As the crackling gets louder and louder, Deathstroke quotes:
"That's not good." He quickly ran a few feet to a nearby tree and takes cover behind it. After a few seconds the ball of energy shrinks. A few moments of silence pass, and then:
"BOOM!!!" The ball erupts, sending large amounts of energy everywhere. Deathstroke could feel the wind rushing around him, leaves were flying everywhere. He continued to hide from the impact and thinks out loud.
"Well at least the others won't follow me here..."
Cloudsdale, 11:11 AM
Rainbow Dash had just returned to her home in the sky after helping Twilight clean up. She thought the day would continue as planned, she would perform some awesome stunts, hang with Scootaloo, then take a nap. But the day would not go as planned, because she heard an explosion coming from Whitetail Woods.
"What the hay was that!?" shouted Rainbow Dash in awe, seeing the explosion from her house in the sky. "I better go check that out!" Rainbow flies out her window, speeding toward the source of the explosion.
Canterlot, same time
Princess Celestia ran down the hallway to her sister's room. She had just sensed an magical energy unknown to her, which spiked up dramatically after shrinking. The effect had hurt her, making her drop onto the floor. But she needed to tell her sister. As she reached her sister's room, she quickly opened the door and saw her sister on the ground trembling.
"Luna!" Celestia shouted, quickly getting to her sister's side. "Sister, are you all right?"
"I am fine Tia. But I felt a magical surge rise to high levels. Did you..."
"I felt it too Luna." stated Celestia. "Let's send the Royal Guard to investigate."
"Agreed." replies Luna, slowly getting up. "I also think this is a good time to test it." Celestia nods in agreement.
"Send Shining Armor. He will be the one to use it."
Back to Deathstroke, 11:12 AM
Deathstroke peeked to see the results of the explosion. He saw a fairly large crater and some trees that had all of their leaves blown off, including his own.
"Someone definitely saw that." began Deathstroke, who was no longer hiding. "I better get moving." He started walking down the path, looking in all directions as he headed toward wherever he was going. As he walked, he saw buckets that were collecting tree sap, a small bridge, and a river. He continued pondering the question of where he was, definitely not Gotham, not Star City, and probably not Jump City. The fact that it was fall narrowed down his choices, but not narrow enough, and he was an assasin, not a geographer. Deathstroke crossed the bridge and headed toward more trees.
"This is getting nowhere." says Deathstroke, who was sure that he was lost. "I need answers, now." He continued walking, which seemed like forever. The path seemed to never end. Then before he gave up, he saw a sign in front of some bushes.
Train Station <------ Finish Line ------>
Deathstroke didn't even bother questioning what Finish Line meant, all he cared about was the train station.
"Now were talkin." says Deathstroke, heading to where the train station was. He increased his pace, when he suddenly heard a whistling sound behind him.
"Someone's trying to sneak up on me." Deathstroke thought. He decided to counter the sneak attack with his own. He continued walking and pretended to not see whoever's coming. He got his fist ready to swing. The whistling got louder and louder, and before he was hit...
"BIFF!" Deathstroke quickly turned around and swung his fist into his attacker's face.
"Agh!!!" Whoever attacked him was a she determined by her tone, and she flew back five feet. Deathstroke saw who attempted to attack him: A cyan colored horse with a rainbow colored mane and tail, and wings too.
"A colored horse? No, a pony. A pegasus, more specifically." Deathstroke said in his head, now knowing what his attacker was. "If she's a pony, then, I'm definitely not on Earth anymore." Him literally being on a different planet explained the portal, why it was fall, and the poorly made sign he saw earlier. But he could answer his forming questions later, right now he was in combat.
"What in the hay are you?" Asks Rainbow Dash, who was wincing in pain at the bruise on her face.
"I honestly should've asked you that, well, except for the part where you said hay." replies Deathstroke, who got into a fighting position. Rainbow Dash was shocked that it spoke Equestrian, but she saved her confusion for later and flew straight at Deathstroke, intending to hit him with her front hooves. She may have flown extremely fast, but Deathstroke reacted faster, grabbing her hooves and throwing her straight into a tree.
"Why you! I'm going to smash that mask of your face!" Rainbow was furious. She thought she had it when she flew behind it earlier, but everything changed, as her opponent didn't even break a sweat, she knew he didn't. Rainbow Dash was losing.
And she hated losing
She tried one last time to attack, this time she flew into the air and swooped into his opponent. But Deathstroke was just too hard to hit. Deathstroke side stepped the reckless attack, making Rainbow fly straight into another tree and breaking her wing. She had now hurt her head three times in a row, one time on her own, and now she couldn't fly anymore. Deathstroke went to a bucket full of tree sap, headed toward Rainbow, then held her up against the tree.
"Too easy." started Deathstroke. "And I didn't even use any weapons."
Right after he finished his victory speech, he splashed all of the sap in the bucket all over Rainbow Dash, leaving her head and one of her hooves.
"L-lemme go!" Rainbow Dash desperately tried to escape, but to no avail. She then saw that Deathstroke injected her hoof. Rainbow Dash winced a little at the pain, but she was more worried about what was in the needle.
"Wh-what did you do to me!?" Rainbow Dash asked dumbly. Deathstroke answered in a voice with little humor in it.
"The liquid I injected you with will make you forget the last hour of your life. Soon you'll go into a deep sleep, and when you wake up, you won't know I was even here.
"What? NOOOOOOO! SOMEPONY HEL-" Deathstroke covered her mouth.
"Sorry sweet cheeks, but I can't have you go telling everyone about their uninvited guest." Deathstroke put his face to Rainbow's ear.
"Sweet dreams." whispered Deathstroke as the multi colored pony slowly closed her eyes.
Cyborg was the first to reach the meeting room, since he had a teleporter built into him. The other two eventually came, Nightwing being last.
"Alright, were all here, now let's discuss the incident." says Superman sternly. Cyborg decides to fill in Nightwing on what he had learned from Superman.
"Nightwing, I learned that another portal had opened up in front of the transport that held Zod. He was never found after the accident."
"What?" Nightwing was awed by the information he missed out on. "You're saying that the portal that opened up on the rooftop wasn't the only one?"
"That's right." replies Superman. "We believe these portals weren't a coincidence, and there may have been more than two portals that opened up."
"And Deathstroke's not the only one who decided to go through his." Nightwing states. "But who opened these portals? And why?" There were still many questions on the incident to be answered.
"I think we should head back to where the portals were formed and see if we can find an energy signature from the traces of the portals. It's our best bet." Cyborg suggests, standing up to declare his suggestion.
"I agree. let's analyze the rooftop first." replies Superman.
"Then let's get moving." Nightwing states as he stands up and heads to the zata tubes.
Equestria, same time
General Zod wakes up, and the first thing he notices when he opens his eyes is he is surrounded by foliage. He sits up, still pained by the fall he took from exiting the portal, but still at full strength.
"Hmmm..." Zod hums as he looks around. "Not where I expected to be. But no matter. I will have my revenge on Superman for sending me to the Phantom Zone. He will-" Zod pauses as he hears footsteps with his super hearing. He flies with unthinkable speed above his target. Looking down, he sees a muscular man wearing a mask over his face. He also sees another man with a black costume decorated with a golden lightning bolt on the front. The two were walking together, not knowing where they were.
"Strolling around the landscape I see." The two look up to see a flying man wearing an alien like vest lowering to the ground. "I don't believe I've met you two before. Care to tell me your names?"
The two looked at each other and asked him: "Who are you to ask us what our names are?" Zod replied in gentleman like tone.
"Ah yes, how rude of me to not introduce myself." he began. "I am General Zod. I am a Kryptonian like Superman, that means I have all his powers as well." The two trembled a bit at the thought, another Kryptonian capable of everything Superman does. They introduced themselves as well.
"I am Black Adam."
"And I am Bane."
Zod raised his eyebrows at the sound of their names. "Fascinating names, you two. Do not worry, I do not wish you any harm." Bane and Adam were relieved at this. One of them spoke up.
"We were captured by Superman some time ago. We want revenge on him." General Zod smirked. They had a common enemy, and they could possibly forge an alliance.
"Well, I want revenge on Superman as well for sending me to the Phantom Zone. Don't you think an alliance is necessary?" This made the other two look at each other. They nodded in agreement to Zod's statement.
"Glad that you have agreed to my terms. I believe we should scout the area for more lost villains that may want to cooperate. Black Adam, I need you to fly up and see where we are. On cue, Black Adam flew high up into the air. A few minutes pass, until Adam returns to the ground and shares what he learned.
"Zod, the structures here are not of our planet. I do not believe we are on Earth." Zod is suprised at this and states their next move. "I'll prepare a proper shelter for us with Bane. You will scout the area for more villains and lead them to those mountains.
"Why the mountains?" Adam asks.
"Because." Zod begins. "That is where we will operate."
Whitetail Woods, same time
After Deathstroke defeated the rainbow pony, he left her stuck there and continued down the pathway to the train station. He thought about the world that was probably full of ponies that he was currently stuck in.
"Pffft. I'm trapped in a child's imagination. I definitely should've gone to jail instead." The word child remained in his head for a few moments. He thinks about his past, his family, his son. He stops to think about what he did to become Deathstroke. But like any good soldier would do, as the saying goes, he pushed back his emotions.
"I don't have time to think about the past." says Deathstroke, talking to himself and increasing his pace. "If I'm right about this world inhabiting ponykind, then I have to find a way to get on the train without anyone noticing."
As if right on cue, he sees the train station in the distance. It was similar to those back on Earth, just more... colorful.
"Alright, let's see if there's a map." He runs to the station and hides behind a tree. "I need to get closer," Deathstroke reaches the train station, hides behind another bush, and sees some more ponies. He notices that they have human traits. The ponies sat down on benches, mingled, there were even ponies that sold train tickets and a pony that probably conducted the train.
"Yep, this is a child's imagination." says Deathstroke in his head without a doubt. "There's definitely a map, but I can't get close enough to read it without getting noticed." He looks around to see if there's anything to hide in. He sees a group of ponies pushing carts full of hay from one of the train cars.
"Alright, I need to pull this off correctly." Deathstroke says mentally. He sees a rock and throws it at a trash can, making some ponies look at the commotion. Deathstroke then runs behind the large wall to the other side and jumps into one of the hay carts. Thankfully, the cart pushers nor the waiting ponies saw him. He then slightly peeks to look at the map.
"Alright, this train is headed toward, Ponyville." He wasn't surprised by the town having the word pony in it, but he was when he saw all the other names. "Los Pegasus, Fillydelphia, Baltimare?! Whoever names these cities is really into horse puns. I also don't get why these names are based off of places back on Earth." Deathstroke said in his head as he lowers back into the cart. The ponies pushing the carts pushed the carts into the caboose.
"If I'm ever going to get back home, I need to gain their trust. I'll have to take a gamble and try Ponyville." The ponies pushing the carts led the carts into one section of the caboose. Deathstroke heard one of them talk.
"Let's get moving. We're shipping more of Princess Celestia's special order and it has to reach Canterlot as soon as possible." Deathstroke heard another voice.
"Don't worry, I have it secured in the back over there." Deathstroke takes a look to see the pony gesture to one of the boxes, which was locked with a magical seal.
"Special order?" Deathstroke said to himself in his head. "Princess? So this place has a monarchy, and the source must be Canterlot. And this special order sounds interesting. Maybe I should go take a looksie." Once the ponies finished talking, they opened the door and left, closing it behind them.
"ALL ABOARD!!!" The train conductor yelled, Deathstroke being able to hear it from his position. Soon after, the train's whistle steamed loudly, and the train departed. He could hear some ponies talking from the train car connected to his. He waited a few moments, and when he was sure the coast was clear, he got out from the hay pile.
"Special order, huh?" Deathstroke thought out loud, now that he didn't have to worry about hiding. "Well let's see what's so special, about your order, Celestia." Deathstroke saw the large box and the magical ropes that sealed it.
"Magic huh? Well I have just the thing for that." He pulled out an nth metal knife and slowly cut the seals, disappearing after they were cut. Deathstroke acquired some nth metal some time ago to deal with magic users, he had an nth metal sword, knife, and even bullets. He was quite surprised with the box's contents.
"Well, that's certainly special." he says slightly dumbfounded. "These colorful ponies may not be as peaceful as I thought." Inside the large box were many weapons and gear. There were spear guns, hook shots, rapid fire crossbows, and lots more. There was also a set of armor designed for ponies. He picked up the armor and analyzed it.
"Hmmm, Titanium armor, rather heavy but strong. Not as strong as my prometheum armor though." He then notices some markings on the outside, as well as a circular area that extended out. From what he learned, there are pegasi, ponies capable of flight with their wings, and unicorns, ponies with horns used for magic.
"There must be more to this armor than just the titanium alloy." Deathstroke predicted. "Hmmm, what if this armor uses magic to amplify its strength?" It made sense, but it was only a theory. He decided that analyzing the weapons would prove it right. He picked up what looked like a miniature cannon.
"Nothing powers this, it must be controlled by magic." he said, proving his theory correct. He analyzed the other weapons, and took note of the hook shot.
"This might prove useful." He attached the weapon to his hand and tested it on a nearby satchel. The spear pierced it with no trouble, and when he pulled the trigger again, it pulled back the chain, along with the satchel. Deathstroke removed the satchel and the weight of the contents ripped more of the satchel off and poured some books out. He then looked at the hook shot again.
"Designed to fit the hoof of a pony." he said with a smirk under his mask. "Well now its designed to fit me." But he still wondered why Celestia would need such weapons. An idea popped onto his head. He took a tracking device from one of his compartments and placed it on one of the weapons. He then placed the cover back on top and moved the box back to its original position. He also placed the books back into the satchel, which he put back, even though the big hole was still there.
"Whatever your doing Celestia, I'm gonna know about it."
Whitetail Woods, 12:00 PM
The royal guard had arrived at Whitetail Woods to investigate the explosion. It took them some time, they weren't Rainbow Dash fast, and they traveled by carriage.
"Any luck soldiers?" A white unicorn with a blue mane and tail was determined to find out what happened.
"No Shining Armor sir!" one of the other guards replied. "Other than the crater and the bare trees, nothing." Shining Armor was getting frustrated at their limited clues.
"Sir! I found some tracks! They're not hoofprints, nor are they tracks left by any animal I know." Shining Armor was relieved that they finally found a trail to follow. Literally. He examined the markings for himself, and was puzzled by the complicated design of the mark.
"This track matches no animal. Follow this trail men." he commanded, and at his tone, they followed. They continued down the path, seeing more tracks, until:
"Sir! there are prints everywhere!" says a female guard. Shining Armor looks around and sees some broken tree bark, but that's the only clue he notices.
"Sir! Over here!" Another guard shouted from a distance. Shining Armor turned and ran in the direction of the sound. When he reaches the soldier, he sees a familiar pony.
"Rainbow Dash!" He notices that she's stuck to a tree with tree sap, and she's also unconscious.
"Is she alive?" asks a worried Shining Armor.
"Yes, but she's unconscious. There's a bruise on her face and there's some blood on her hoof." Shining Armor looked away, thinking about what to do.
"I need you and Stryker to get her off the tree and bring her to the Ponyville General. When she wakes up, ask her what happened. Understood?"
"Understood sir!" They approached Rainbow Dash and used their wing blades to cut off the sap. There was still a lot of sap when she was cut loose, but they needed to get her to hospitality. The two guards put Rainbow Dash over their shoulders, despite the tree sap, and headed toward Ponyville. Once they leave, one guard asks Shining Armor:
"Sir, what now?" Shining Armor replies to him in a stern voice.
"We continue to follow the trail. Whoever did this will be found, and they will be captured." They followed the tracks, which eventually led to the train station. Shining Armor questioned the pony who sold the train tickets.
"Tell me, did you see anyone suspicious board the train?" He responded awkwardly.
"Uhhh I don't recall. I jes' saw everyone mindin' their own business!" Shining Armor made a poker face at his unconvincing response.
Cyborg returned to the Watchtower after scanning the energy signatures of the traces of the portals. He headed to the lab to get a more accurate reading, although he had one built into him, he needed better equipment. He plugs in the readings of the energy signatures into some large complex machinery.
"Hmmmm, large traces of magical energy, photonic particles, that's strange..." Cyborg says to himself as he notices something about the last trace of energy. "This energy signature matches that of... the Phantom Zone!" Cyborg quickly removes the data chip and heads toward the meeting room.
"This is Cyborg to Superman and Nightwing. Head back to the meeting room ASAP. I have something y'all might might wanna know about."
Canterlot, about the same time
"Tell me Luna, what do you think caused the explosion?" asks Celestia, looking toward her sister.
"I am unsure Tia. For all I know it could have been the cause of somepony, or perhaps something else."
"I see. I wonder how the guards are doing. I hope they are-"
"PRINCESS CELESTIA!!!" shouted a royal guard. The sound came from outside their room, and came bursting through a royal guard who was panting. He hastily bowed down at the presence of his two rulers.
"Rise, my subject." said Princess Celestia, allowing the guard to stand. "What brings you here?"
"I have come with information about the incident at Whitetail Woods." Celestia saw that he was a messenger, and he had urgent news to share. "At the blast there was nothing but bare trees and a large crater in the pathway. But we also found strange tracks that matched no pony or animal." Celestia raised her eyebrows at this.
"Continue, please."
"Along the tracks we found Rainbow Dash injured, unconscious, and stuck to a tree with tree sap. We sent two guards to bring her to Ponyville General. We continued to follow the tracks, eventually leading to the train station. The last train was headed for Ponyville first." Celestia knew with the information gathered, there could possibly be a new creature roaming Equestria. She ordered their next set of actions.
"Send more guards along with Shining Armor to patrol Ponyville first, but do not let anyone know what is going on. I do not wish to send my subjects into panic because of one person." The guard saluted.
"Yes your highness. But what should we do if we find the creature?" She thought for a moment and said:
"Attempt to convince him to be brought here. If he declines, use force, but do not hurt him too much."
"Understood, your highness. I will retrieve more guards and be on my way." And with that, he took off to send word of Celestia's orders. Luna spoke up to her sister.
"Tia, are you sure this is a good idea?"
"I am sure Tia. I do not wish it any harm, but I will terminate it if necessary."
Ponyville, around the same time
Spike was still walking around Ponyville, enjoying whatever fun he could get his hands on.
"Man, this cupcake is delicious!!!!" Spike enthusiastically said as he continued to chow down on it. He finished the cupcake in less than a minute, and with his tongue he licked the cupcake smears off his lips.
"Hmmmm, what should I do next? I could ride the hot air balloon, play with the CMC, or maybe even-"
"Excuse me!" Spike was interrupted by the sound of a royal guard.
"Huh-whuh?" Spike turned to see a female guard call him. The two guards run in front of Spike and quickly question him.
"Sir, do you know where Ponyville General is?" The guard had to look down due to Spike's shortness.
"Ummmm, that way. Why?" Then Spike saw the injured pony they were carrying. "Rainbow Dash? What happened?" The female guard spoke.
"That doesn't matter right now. We have to get her to hospitality, we need you to get her friends." Spike replied awkwardly.
"Ummm, okay..." He ran toward the tree library first.
"Let's get this pony to the hospital." said the other guard. "We have many questions for her when she wakes up."
Back to Deathstroke, 12:20 PM
Deathstroke was still waiting in the caboose. He got bored, so he decided to fiddle around with his weapons. He unloaded one of his pistols, checking the ammo remaining. He then decided to perform an arsenal check. He still had plenty of ammo for his pistols, rifle, and SMGs. He had mini grenades, mines, his nth sword, knife, ammo, and plates. He made some nth metal armor for his hands, which he could hold up to defend against magic. This tactic could be used with his sword too. He then realizes that if he waited to long, he would reach Ponyville and the bags would have to be unloaded, unraveling his presence.
"I should climb onto the roof of this car and enjoy the view." He said to himself. He could arrive at their destination any second, so he moved quickly. He carefully opened the door and climbed up onto the roof without anyone noticing.
"Well that was simpler than I thought." As he climbs on the roof, he stands up and takes a look. Astonished by the view, he sees ahead a small town which was probably Ponyville, a large forest to the side, a castle built on the side of a mountain to his left, and what was literally a city in the sky made out of clouds.
"Damn." Deathstroke was actually impressed by what he saw. "How the Hell am I ever going to explain this to Wintergreen." Then Deathstroke realized that he had to jump off before the train reached Ponyville. He saw a nearby tree up ahead.
"Time to put this to the test." said Deathstroke as he placed the hookshot in his right hand. As the tree gets closer and closer, Deathstroke pulls the trigger on the hookshot and fires the chained spear into the tree bark. Pulling the trigger again, he launched himself toward it. Deathstroke would have smashed himself against the tree if he didn't place his feet first on the tree. Releasing the reel on the hookshot, Deathstroke looked around to see where he head next.
"Guess I'm heading toward that forest..." Deathstroke said to himself as he ran toward it.
Whitetail Woods, 1:00 PM
Shining Armor was still waiting for the messenger's return. Although he had to follow Celestia's orders, he wanted to return home with his lovely wife. He saw some of the guards playing Tic Tac Toe, some just sitting down on the bench. The bystanders looked at the guards in curiosity. A filly even asked for an autograph from one of the guards, who gratefully accepted.
"We're wasting time here. We should head to Ponyville and-" he paused as he saw the messenger return, with ten guards following.
"Sir!" The messenger saluted.
"What are princesses' orders?"
"She wants us to head to Ponyville and patrol for any unknown creature that could be possibly roaming Equestria. If possible, she wants us to convince it to come to her palace, but use force if necessary." Shining Armor thought about the princesses' orders and if they were sensible or not. But he did not question her commands and went according to plan.
"We'll take the train to Ponyville. We then patrol the town and any nearby areas."
Everfree forest, 1:25 PM
Deathstroke was looking through his binoculars and observing the inhabitants of Ponyville. Earlier he reached the forest and climbed up a tree to use as a vantage point.
"What are those marks on their rear ends, some kind of tatoo?" Deathstroke asks himself, still having many questions to be answered on pony civilization. "Whatever those marks are, most of these ponies seem to have 'em." He continued to look around.
"A marketplace," he zoomed in to get a closer look. "Their currency seems to be similar to ours." He also saw a hospital in the distance, and a store which literally sold nothing but quills and couches. He zoomed in on one of the hospital windows and saw the rainbow colored pony he fought before. She had a very confused face.
"If I ever befriend these sentient horses," he started with sarcasm in his voice. " Then I have I a lot of explaining for Rainbow butt over there." he says humorously.
"Speaking of which, I wonder how she's doing?"
Meanwhile, at Rainbow butt's Dash's location
"What the hay is going on?" Rainbow Dash was very confused. Not only was her wing broken, but she had no idea how it happened. Her five friends, specifically Twilight, were bombarding her with questions, most of which she failed to answer.
"You don't remember anything?" Twilight asked, being the questioning pony she was. "Not even when you helped me clean up my house?"
"No, I was heading toward your house to help you clean up!" The two guards that were waiting outside became impatient and came barging in.
"Step aside, we will proceed with the questioning." said one of the guards in a harsh tone. Fluttershy hid behind her mane and tail in fear. Applejack was about to protest, but a glare from the guard stopped her. In disgust, the five ponies walked away from Rainbow Dash, who was not in a good mood.
"Do you recall fighting anyone?" the guard asked very strictly.
"No."
"Do you recall seeing an unknown creature?"
"No."
"DO YOU RECALL ANYTHING FROM THE PAST HOUR?" The guard was getting very frustrated with Rainbow Dash.
"NO NO NO!!! I DON'T REMEMBER ANYTHING ALRIGHT!?" The guard was boiling mad. Before he did anything stupid, the female guard put her hoof on his shoulder. The guard's eyes returned back to normal, and he just sighed. The female guard spoke to the six ponies.
"We ummm, have business to attend to." She wasn't as stern as the other guards, especially with her voice. "You five should stay with her for awhile."
"Okay sir, or ermm miss..." Applejack replied in an akward tone, and with that the guards left the room. There were a few moments of silence, until Pinkie broke them.
"Soooooooooooo, does anyone want a cupcake?"
"PINKIE!!!" They all shouted in unison.
Back to Deathstroke, 1:30 PM
Deathstroke was snickering at the whole scene, even though he didn't hear it. During the scene he also learned that there were ponies who wore armor.
"Soldiers." he said in his head. "I knew someone had to wear that armor I found." He then zoomed out and observed the town more, and sees more guards talking to the bystander ponies. He also sees a slightly larger soldier leading a squad of ten men toward the forest he's in.
"Looks like they've discovered my existence." he said out loud. "What they don't know is anything. About me." He decided to use that to his advantage. He formed a plan in his head to deal with these soldiers. He also found a way to get some answers.
Shining Armor, 1:50 PM
Shining Armor and his men arrived at the entrance of the Everfree Forest. They decided that this was a good place for the creature to hide, and it was worth investigating. As they entered, one of the guards spoke up.
"Sir! Are you sure this is a good idea?" Shining Armor could tell he was nervous about entering the forest.
"I am sure. But remember to keep all sides on watch." They went deeper into the forest, looking in all directions. All of them were very courageous, execpt for one.
"AHHHH!" Everyone looked at him. "Oh, it was just a branch." Shining Armor and a few of the other guards facehoofed.
"JUST keep moving soldier."
"A-Alright sir..." They kept walking, hoping they would find whatever was hiding in the forest, if it even was in it. But the more and more they traveled, the more it seemed like there was no creature to find.
"Shining Armor sir. I do not believe it is here. Perhaps we should leave." Shining Armor looked around one last time, and when he was sure,
"Alright men, let's head on out." They all started heading to the exit, and the nervous guard sighed in relief. But in the distance, a creature standing on two legs wearing a half-orange half-black masked watched in the shadows. It quietly made an evil laugh, then leaped to some more branches.
Shining Armor was rather disappointed that he found nothing. Looking down, he thought about how the creature might affect Equestria. He hoped it wouldn't take over the land, or anything bad like that. He wanted-
"Agh!" Shining Armor's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of one of his men screaming in pain. Shining Armor quickly turned around.
"Soldier, are you..." Shining Armor saw that he was talking to no one. The guard disappeared right after the noise. Shining Armor nervously looked around.
"Hnnnnnng!" Another guard went missing just before Shining Armor turned.
"I knew this was a bad idea!" The very nervous guard was now trembling.
"Ack!" There went another guard. Shining Armor just couldn't see where the guards went, he was a always a fraction of a second late.
"Huuuuuuck!"
*Gag*
*Choke*
"Erccck!"
Soon, there were all but four guards left, including Shining Armor and the fearful guard. All of them were bouncing their heads around and sweating like crazy. Then suddenly something landed in front of them, slowly standing up. What Shining Armor and his men saw intrigued them.
A monkey-like creature standing on two legs had dragon-like claws, some odd contents it was carrying, a lot of armor, and a mask on its face with a strange design. But what it was holding in its hand shocked them even more. In the creature's right hand was the helmet of one of Shining Armor's men. It had some blood on it, and it was cracked. The creature bowled the helmet over to him, stopping at his hoof. The sight of the bloody and cracked helmet angered him greatly.
"Don't worry I didn't kill them." the creature said, with little humor in his voice. The fact that the creature spoke Equestrian shocked the men even more. "I just put them in a long coma." Shining Armor didn't know whether it was telling the truth or not, but that didn't matter. It messed with the wrong ponies, and he was determined to make it pay.
"SHOOT HIM DOWN MEN!!!" Shining Armor shouted. The three other guards did as he said, even the fearful one. They charged magical energy into their horns, preparing to fire. Once the energy built up, they shot magical beams straight at the creature.
Back to Deathstroke
Deathstroke's plan went perfectly, he took out most of the guards quietly, leaving four of them left. Dealing with them head on was also part of his plan, this way he could learn how these creatures attacked. He learned that the hard way when beams of magic were shot at him. However, his improved reflexes allowed him to pull up his hands in time to block the three beams with his nth metal armor plates equipped on his hands. He then lowered his hands and made a quote:
"You'll have to do better than that to take me down. You're tactics are one-dimensional." he stated.
"Gee, well thanks for the tip coach!" Shining Armor shouted sarcastically. "Men! keep firing!" The other guards started firing the beams like a machine gun. Deathstroke quickly ran behind cover and pulled out his SMGs.
"As much as I like guns, I'm never going to gain anyone's trust if I kill." he said to himself in his head. He peeked and saw that they were slowly approaching. He looked around to see if there's anything he could use. Up above he sees some large branches.
"Wait for it...." Once the guards were under the branches, Deathstroke rolls out from behind cover and fires at the branches. Many of them fall and take out one guard. The other guard, who was too distracted by the foliage, didn't see Deathstroke pull out his sword and run for him. He made a sword flip, splicing the guard's front armor and knocking him out. The blow wasn't fatal, fortunately for the guard. Deathstroke turned to see Shining Armor's horn glow. He notices the armor he's wearing. It looked exactly like the one he saw on the train, the only difference were the pictures that were painted on it.
"Probably represents the military they have here." Deathstroke answered in his head, as he saw the familiar markings on the armor glow. Soon, the whole armor glowed a light bluish color. He decided to see how strong the armor was by firing some normal rounds at it with his SMGs. Shining Armor was knocked back a little, but other than that, the armor was practically okay.
"You cannot hope to defeat me creature! I am invulnerable to all your attacks!" Shining Armor shouted with much confidence in victory.
"Impressive armor. But it does have its flaws." replied Deathstroke, pulling out his pistols which he loaded with nth metal bullets. As Shining Armor charged him, he pointed to a specific spot on the armor.
"BANG!" The bullet flew straight into the armor, unaffected by the magical amplification and piercing Shining Armor's leg.
"AGHHH!" Shining Armor stopped charging and fell to his injured leg. Deathstroke shot the sphere in which the energy spread. He learned this back on the train in the caboose, where he analyzed the armor, and found some spots where if an nth bullet pierced, the magical amplification would cease to hold. The armor Shining Armor was wearing stopped glowing and turned back to regular titanium. Deathstroke approached him and crouched down.
"I'd love to stick around, but I can't stay any longer. Tell your precious ruler, I'm resisting arrest." Deathstroke's voice echoed into Shining Armor's ears.
"H-How did you-"
"BONK!" He was cut off by Deathstroke's rifle butt meeting his face. He flew back quite a few feet. Deathstroke got up, and without looking behind him, caught the guard charging him from behind.
"Don't think I lost count you fool." Deathstroke said, as he turned to the guard who was now trembling in fear. "You and I have to talk." The guard just begged for his life.
"P-Please don't hurt me!!!"
"Then you'll cooperate with me." Deathstroke states, throwing him onto the ground. "answer my questions, and I won't kill you."
"Anything you say sir!!!"
"Who rules this land?"
"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna! They are sisters, Celestia controls the sun and Luna controls the moon sir!"
"Sisters?" he asks himself in his head. "There's no king or queen, and they control the sun and moon?" Apparently the rulers literally controlled some aspects of life as well. He continued with the questions, planning to feed off as much information as possible.
"Did anyone attempt a portal spell of some sort lately?"
"Not that I know of sir!"
"Damn." It appeared finding the cause of the portal was more difficult than expected.
"What did Celestia order lately?" That question made the guard stutter.
"Wh-What do you-"
"Answer me!" Deathstroke pulled out his sword as a threat.
"AH-uh she ordered a set of prototype weapons!"
"Well why!?" The guard stuttered even more.
"W-We are currently in conflict with the Griffon Kingdom! She made weapons and armor for us to try out in preparation of war, like Shining Armor!" Deathstroke found out why Celestia order was so important, and the captain's ridiculous name. But he still felt like he was missing something. Unfortunately, he didn't know how to question the guard about that topic. He pressed forward with some other questions.
"What are those marks on your butts?"
"C-Cutie Marks s-sir! Ponies get them when they learn their special talent, s-sir!"
"Cutie Marks? Give me a break." Deathstroke mentally said, believing these "Cutie Marks" had a better meaning.
"What's the name of this land?"
"Equestria sir!"
"Agaaaaaaaain, with the horse puns." Deathstroke would have to ask Celestia why she's into puns, if he ever gets the chance. "Well give me a brief history of Equestria." The guard told him about the many enemies Equestria faced, Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, and King Sombra. He told him about how six ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, which he fought some time ago, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie always saved the day, usually with magical artifacts called the Elements of Harmony. He told him how important they were, and also included how Twilight is Shining Armor's sister, and Princess Cadence, who was apparently Shining Armor's wife.
Deathstroke took a bit to absorb the information he just learned, and he pulled out the same needle he used on Rainbow Dash and stabbed it into the guard's leg.
"OW!!! What did you-" *Snore* The needle took effect faster than he expected.
"Well, that was weird. I better go." said Deathstroke as he walked in the opposite direction, heading deeper into the woods.
Cyborg was waiting in the meeting room for the others to arrive. Sometimes he hated it when he arrived at the Watchtower so quickly. Though he was already in it when he made his discovery. Shortly, the other two walk in.
"What you got for us Vick?" asks Nightwing with curiosity. Cyborg pulls out the data of the energy signatures and displays them on his holographic device.
"The portal traces I scanned were built up of materials most portals had. But if you look here..." Cyborg said as he displayed the readings of the last signature. "You'll see that some of the portal contained energies of the Phantom Zone." Superman and Nightwing's eyes widened at this.
"You think this has anything to do with Zod's escape?" Superman asks.
"Possibly. I haven't confirmed yet though."
"Yeah, and there are still other questions to be answered." stated Nightwing, who then brought up a question for the others. "Tell me, have there been any recent disappearances lately?"
"Well, some villains disappeared a while ago, mainly after the portal incident. But I expected that." stated Cyborg who was still reading the portal traces. Superman then spoke up.
"So tell me, how do we return these villains back to Earth? That's a question we probably might wanna answer." Cyborg made a suggestion in return.
"We could try pulling them back with the cosmic treadmill, only this time I could fix the issues we had last time." Cyborg suggested, remembering back to how he ended up in an alternate dimension, and ended up helping the Insurgency fight for freedom.
"It's a good idea, but pulling back multiple villains inside the Watchtower probably won't end well." replied Nightwing, shutting down Cyborg's suggestion.
"Then I guess we should follow them." Superman started. "There's no other way."
"Now hold on Sups. This could be a trap we're headin' into." Cyborg replies. "If were gonna follow them, we need to a send a proper team to handle it."
"Not to mention Zod could be there." Nightwing added. Solving the issue at hand would prove to be tricky. "How do we pull this off?"
Fluttershy's cottage, 2:25 PM
Fluttershy, who returned from the hospital some time ago, heard the commotion in the Everfree forest from her cottage, since she lived quite close to it. The noise scared her animals, including herself.
"Oh my goodness, what was that awful noise?" Fluttershy looked in the direction of the Everfree Forest, seeing that a few flocks of birds had flown away. Fluttershy was worried about what happened to anypony that could be in there.
"Oh, but should I really go in there?" She then remembered her past experiences in the Everfree Forest. This time she wanted to have enough courage to actually go inside, even somepony like herself can have much curiosity. She fearfully went to the front of the forest, whispering to herself:
"Okay, here we go!" She hovered slightly above the ground, heading into the forest. The deeper she went, the more she trembled.
"Eeek!" She screams quietly as she hears an owl hoot. "Oh uh, excuse me Mr. Owl, I should get going." The owl merely hood in return. It reminded her of Twilight's pet Owl, Owlicious. It seemed like all owls only made a hooing sound. But nevertheless, she continued deeper into the forest. The creepy forest grew darker and scarier, and sighing she said to herself:
"Oh, why did I even bother? I should have stayed home with my animals. They're probably alone right now. I should really-" She paused as she sniffed the air.
"Something smells really bad!" She sniffs the air more, and walks ahead to see what the cause of the odor is. Gasping, she sees up ahead something on the ground. Squinting, she recognizes them.
"The royal guard?" She asks herself out loud. "Why are they injured in the middle of the Everfree Forest?"
*sniff sniff* Fluttershy looks up, and her pupils shrank immensely.
"T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T" She just couldn't get the words out. The wolves sniff the air, and turn toward Fluttershy.
"TIMBERWOLVES!!!!!!!!!!" She screams so loud, even Ponville could hear it.
Back to Deathstroke
Deathstroke was on a tree, scanning and observing the landscape, when suddenly, he heard someone scream:
"TIMBERWOLVES!!!!!!!!!" Deathstroke lowered his binoculars and looked in the direction of the scream.
"Who knew these creatures could have such a loud mouth?" Unable to see the source, he hops to a few more trees, until he gets a good view. Holding his binoculars to his face, he sees a butter colored pony with a pink mane and tail running away from some wolves which seemed to be made out of branches. Breathing heavily, he asks himself:
"Why the hell should I even bother?" That question was quickly answered in his head. If he saved the pony, he could feed off more information. It was also a good chance to gain some trust, which was a issue that people back on Earth had with him.
"Well," he started, pulling out his sword. "Let's get this over with."
Back to Fluttershy
Fluttershy ran for her life, as it was literally depending on it. Her fear snapped her wings shut, like when she journeyed to the top of a mountain to solve a dragon problem. She ran and ran, the timberwolves slowly but surely gaining on her.
"Oh somepony please help me!" Unfortunately, her immensely quiet voice was drowned out by the sound of the growling of the timberwolves. Fluttershy felt like she was running for hours, but the exit seemed to be nowhere near.
"GROWL!!!" One of the timberwolves launched at her and grabbed her by the tail. Fluttershy came to a sudden stop, and the pain in her rear end made her squeal a little. Fluttershy looked behind her, and saw the claw of the timberwolf rising, preparing to strike. Fluttershy could only curl up into a ball of fear as she heard the claw swipe down on her.
"SLASH!!!!"
...Fluttershy never felt the claw reach her. She opened her eyes and slowly turned around, and saw the timberwolf still there. She was frightened for a moment, but then took a closer look. The timberwolf stood still there.
Suddenly, it broke apart, starting from the head. The branches fell down on each other, until there was nothing but branches left. Behind what used to be a timberwolf made Fluttershy widen her eyes.
A monkey-like creature was in a bent position, looking like he just swung the sword he was holding in his right claw. It stood on two legs, like Spike, and it wore much armor. It also wore a mask with a peculiar design. Behind him, the other timberwolves were looking in awe. Then, as they growl, they approach the strange creature that just saved Fluttershy's life.
Back to Deathstroke
Deathstroke sheathed his sword and pulled out his rifle, pumping lead into the timberwolves, shattering them. The last timberwolf simply charged straight at him.
"Boom!" A grenade was shot into the wolf's face, scattering the branches. Putting his rifle back, he turns to the frightened pony.
"U-Um, I-I," She couldn't speak properly, after what happened. She strangely looked up. Deathstroke was confused, until he realized a shadow was looming over him. Quickly turning around, he saw the remaining branches of the timberwolves glow a greenish light, and they floated over to a large body of branches.
"Eeeek!" Fluttershy curled back into a ball, as Deathstroke prepared for what was going to happen. The branches continued to build up, until they all formed into another timberwolf. Only this one was much larger, and it made a ferocious look at Deathstroke.
"ROOAAAAAAR!!!!!!!!" The giant timberwolf brought its claw down on him. He quickly ran and slid under the timberwolf, avoiding the claw that crushed the ground where he was. It turned around and glared at Deathstroke.
"GROWL!!!" It was now focusing on the death of him. Then the timberwolf heard a strange noise below him. It looked below and saw a strange looking device on the ground, which seemed to be beeping.
*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* The beeping got faster and faster, until it paused.
"Roar?"
"KABOOM!!!!!!!" The mine Deathstroke set as he slid detonated, terminating every hint of existence of the monster. The mine wasn't one of the more powerful ones he had though, which thankfully didn't catch Fluttershy in the blast radius.
"I've faced monsters far greater than you." Deathstroke said to it. It obviously didn't hear him, since it was blown to smithereens. The butter-colored creature flew behind him, with Deathstroke turning around. Fluttershy stared at him in interest. A few moments of silence passed, and then:
Fluttershy reached out to him and embraced him in a hug. Deathstroke just looked down in awkwardness, and said:
"Are you done?"
"Oh, um, I'm sorry, I just, thank you for saving me!" replies Fluttershy, letting go of Deathstroke. She was awed at how he spoke Equestrian earlier, when he mocked the dead timberwolf.
"Well, long story short, I'm lost in this world. Can we discuss some things back at your house?" Deathstroke didn't want to make a discussion near the mess he made, more of the military ponies may scout the area soon.
"Oh certainly! Mr. uhhh..."
"Just call me Slade." He didn't want to give his codename, as it might not go well with her. Especially since she seemed rather... soft.
"Slade? That's an odd name. But nevermind, let's get to my cottage."
"So she lives in a cottage. Interesting." he stated to himself in his head. "We'll get there through those trees."
"Why the trees?" Fluttershy asked.
"Some of the ponies that serve the military in this world are looking for me." And with that, they headed toward Fluttershy's cottage through the foliage. Along the way, Deathstroke asked her a few questions.
"So what's your name?"
"My name is Fluttershy."
"Fluttershy? So she's one of those Elements of Harmony!" he said to himself mentally. He was glad he was with one of the six Elements, they couldn't be used against him if one of them didn't think he was bad. From what he learned from the guard, it only takes one element to be eliminated to destroy the link that powers them. He was also glad that she was the Element of Kindness, it was a perfect start to build trust. He proceeded with the questions.
"Tell me Fluttershy, what do ponies usually eat?"
"Well, plants are our main diet, but we also eat fruits and also sweets, like cupcakes."
"No meat huh?" Deathstroke expected that from a world full of colorful ponies. "That's gonna be tough for me to get by." After some trotting through the tall grass and trees, they finally arrive at the entrance of the forest.
"Slade, are you able to get to the cottage without being noticed?" asks a worried Fluttershy, looking toward him.
"Don't worry Fluttershy, this isn't my first time in stealth mode." says Deathstroke optimistically, as he quietly runs toward some objects and hides behind them. He repeats this process and arrives at the door of the cottage, Fluttershy strolling her way there to prevent suspicion.
"Here we are!" Fluttershy says to Deathstroke. "Oh and when you enter, please be cautious of the other residents that live in here."
"Other residents?" Fluttershy may have other ponies living inside her house. "I don't really think this is a good-" As the door opened, he saw an enormous number if animals inside, birds, beavers, turtles, and countless more.
"What were you saying Slade?"
"Well, nevermind."
All of the critters stopped what they were doing as they turned and saw him. In a few seconds, they all panicked and ran to some hiding places, emptying the place in no time. The only animal left was a small bunny standing in the center, giving a glare to Deathstroke.
"Sorry about Angel, he doesn't appreciate guests." Fluttershy states as she goes over to Angel and calls her animals. "It's okay you all! He won't hurt you." Slowly, the critters walk out of their homes and stare at him, who enters the cottage and closes the door behind him. They still cowered in fear, but when Fluttershy brought the food out, they all ran to their bowls to chow down on their supper.
"Well, that escalated quickly." Deathstroke says to himself in his head. He watched as the critters enjoyed their meal, ignoring the tall creature that was watching them a few feet away.
"Slade, do you want to have that discussion now?"
"Yes, but maybe someplace quieter." replies Deathstroke, as he hears the constant munching of food from the animals. They go upstairs and sit on some chairs. Deathstroke decides to lean on the wall, since the chair was rather small.
"Sooooo," Deathstroke starts first. "What's this world like?"
"Equestria's a peaceful land where ponies live and enjoy their lives." Fluttershy answers.
"That's what I thought at first too sweetheart. But that changed when I found those prototype weapons." he thought to himself in his head, unsure if he should share what he learned. "Have any friends?"
"Yes, five specifically."
"Could you describe them for me?"
"Oh certainly Slade!" Fluttershy then shared what she knew about her five other friends. He already knew their names, and that they were Elements, but he wanted more specific information. It took some time, but Fluttershy finished, with Rainbow Dash last.
"She's been a good friend ever since I was a filly!"
"Fascinating, fascinating indeed." Deathstroke was not fascinated by Rainbow Dash, but with all the info he learned about them. But there were still more things to be shared. This time, however, he told Fluttershy about himself.
"I should tell you about myself sweetheart. Trust me, you won't really like what I do for a living back on Earth."
"Earth?"
"That's the planet where I come from. I somehow got to this planet, in fact that's how lost I am."
"You're from a different planet? Oh you poor th-"
"Sweetheart, I'm fine. Anyways, back on Earth I do some, illegal business."
"Illegal?"
"Yeah. You see, I'm what they call an assassin." That word made Fluttershy slightly gasp. "More specifically though, I'm a contract killer. I kill to get paid."
"THAT'S what you do for a living?" Fluttershy was frightened that it was his job. "But why-"
"It's a really, really long and complicated story, alright?" He then looked out the window. "It's also personal and I don't want to talk about it. I only told you so you don't have to learn it the hard way." Fluttershy calmed down and asked another question.
"Um, is that why you carry all those weapons around?" A few moments of silence passed, and he answered:
"Yes." It stayed quiet for a bit, then Fluttershy asked:
"Are you hungry?"
"Yeah."
"What do humans eat?"
"We eat fruits and veggies like ponies do."
"Do you want some fruits?"
"Go ahead sweetheart." She then went downstairs, and in a few minutes she brought back a fruit basket. He grabbed an apple and turned away, slightly removing his mask, then took a bite out of it. "Huh, not bad." he remarked as he puts the mask back on. His face wasn't necessarily a secret, but he decided to keep it like that for now. Fluttershy then remembered the guards back in the forest.
"Oh, ummm, what happened to those guards back in the forest?"
"Guards?"
"They're called the Royal Guard, military men from Canterlot."
"So that's what they're called." he thinks to himself. "I took them out since they were looking for me. They're not dead, just unconscious."
"What drove you not to kill them?" He thought about that for a moment, then answered:
"I only kill if I get paid." He partly lied about that. "By the way, the other guards are probably in the forest lookin' for them."
The other guards, around the same time
A female guard was running through the forest along with the other guards. "C'mon men! The sound came from this way!" The guards recently heard a screaming noise from the Everfree Forest, and they decided to see why.
"Mam! There's a small crater here and some branches! There was some struggling here!" The guards examined it, then the female guard said:
"Keep going. There might be something up ahead!" They continued sprinting, until they see something up ahead. Laying on the ground were Shining Armor and three of his men.
"Captain Shining Armor!" The female guard crouched by his side and held his head by the back. "Sir are you alright?" He just slept there unconsciously. She then rattled off her next orders.
"You, fly back to Ponyville and get the other guards here to help bring the men to Ponyville General."
"Yes Mam!"
"You, find the rest of Shining Armor's missing men and bring them to Ponyville General. I'll get Shining Armor there."
"Yes Mam!" they said in unison. She then picked up Shining Armor and ran toward the forest entrance as fast as she could.
"Hang on captain, you'll be alright."
Three hours later...
It took three hours to bring the men to the hospital, the missing guards were hard to find, until they realized they were looking in the wrong places. All the men were gathered into one specific area in the hospital, the same place where many of Ponyville's residents went after eating Pinkie Pie's "Baked Bads."
"St-Storm." The female guard hears Captain Shining Armor speak to her. "What is it sir?"
"G-Get my s-sister here." His injuries made it difficult for him to even speak.
"Yes sir." replied Storm in a deep tone as she ran off to Twilight's house.
Twenty minutes later...
Twilight was in her house casually reading some books. She didn't hear the screaming from the forest, she was too busy focusing on her books, and Spike went to sleep a little earlier than usual after the day he had, it was almost night time after all.
*Knock Knock Knock* Twilight was interrupted by the sound of knocking on her door.
"Coming!" She does a little stretching and walks to the door. Opening it, she sees a female royal guard wearing a sad expression.
"Oh, uhhh, is there a problem mam?" It was hard for Storm to put it, so she stated it simply.
"Twilight, your brother is severely injured, he's currently at Ponyville General right now." Twilight puts her hoof to her mouth.
"What!? He's..." Twilight dashes off to the hospital. Behind her, Storm sighs and closes the door, heading back to the hospital.
Back at the hospital, 8:00 PM
Twilight quickly arrived at the hospital and flew through the curtains. She saw many royal guards being treated, and recognizes one of them.
"Shining Armor!!!" Twilight ran to him, who was covered up in some bandages, especially his knee.
"Hey sis," He could only get a few words out. "Good to see you."
"Shiny what happened?" Twilight asks. He tries to remember what happened.
"I don't remember, my mind is kinda foggy. *cough* *cough*"
"I'm glad you're alright, BBBFF." says Twilight, smiling. "Doctor, how is he doing?"
"Well, he has a large concussion, some minor scrapes on his knees, some bruises, and our X-rays show that there's something stuck in his left foreleg, which is also broken." she states, showing the X-ray results to her. "We'll have to perform surgery." That last word made Twilight wince a bit.
"Promise me you'll be fine Shiny."
"I promise Twily, I promise."
Fluttershy's cottage, around the same time
For the past few hours, Deathstroke kept his energy up by eating some food, and they discussed more about each other. During that time period he told her a few things about the super heroes and villains of his world.
"Fluttershy."
"Yes Slade?"
"A few hours ago, I told you that I kill people for a living. What drove you not to hate me?"
"Well," she started off shyly. "I think you're a good person inside."
"You think?"
"And a good friend."
"You would call me a friend?" he asks.
"I do." she answers with a small smile. "Would you?" He thought about it for a moment, then answered:
"I wouldn't exactly say yes." Fluttershy could only smile at his remark. He takes the spare blanket sheet Fluttershy gave him earlier and places it on the wall so he could sleep-sit.
"Aren't you going to use the bed?" she asks.
"No. Too small." he replies dryly as he closes his eyes behind his mask. Fluttershy turns off the lights and heads downstairs.
"Goodnight friend."
"Don't push it kid."
Meanwhile, at General Zod's hideout
General Zod had their hideout set up, a large cave with some technology set up with help from The Brain, who was found with some other villains some time ago. Other super villains, Count Vertigo and Star Sapphire also joined his team of villains. Count Vertigo went up to Zod, who was looking outside.
"I like the Secret Society you've started, Zod." he complimented. "But if it is true how we are on a different planet, how do you plan to do whatever you're planning?"
"Our presence in a new world makes many... complications." he tells him. "But to make things short, I plan to have us rule this world and whatever civilization it has. Then we shall find a way to get us back to Earth and take revenge on the man who imprisoned me." he finishes, clutching his fist.
"But before we do all that, we must know what we're dealing with. Which is why I'm sending The Brain to scout nearby civilization. If this world has a military that I can control, then we can use it to rule Earth as well." he states with an evil smile. "Brain. Over here." A large jar-like machine on wheels carrying a brain went over to them.
"Take a good view of the landscape and analyze it. I need all towns or cities scanned."
"It will be done, General." The Brain said with a complex communication device. He took off with his built in jet-pack system and left to scout the unidentified world they were in. Zod smirked to himself as he disappears.
Cyborg, Superman, Nightwing, and Flash were at the Zata Tubes. After much discussion earlier, they decided that they should send a small team of league members to where Deathstroke and the others have went. Cyborg and Flash were reconfiguring the Zata software to make it suitable for inter-dimensional transportation.
"When can it be set up?" Nightwing asks, looking at the alterations that have been currently made with the Zata Tube.
"We're not quite sure. We still need to find a way to generate enough power for inter-dimensional teleportation." Flash answers, who continues to click buttons at unimaginable speeds.
"Yeah, and besides, we still don't know where we're going. Before we follow those guys, we need to know if wherever we're headin' is even possible for us to survive at all. And something is preventing us from locking onto the world their in" Cyborg added. "Give us like, a few days or so."
"Okay Vick." Nightwing replies. "When it's set up, we'll send some guys to find the missing-"
"That won't be necessary." They all stop working and turn to the where the quote came from. In the distance stood a man wearing a black and gray costume, with a bat symbol on his chest."I have a different idea in mind."
"What do you mean Batman? Why can't we send a squad there?"
"I've been looking into this portal incident as well. The place you're trying to go to is the source of a magical energy signature that caused the portal."
"Really? Well what does that have to do with-"
"The magical energy interacted with energies from the Phantom Zone, which might have caused Zod's escape." Batman interrupted, with the information he unfolded. "And that's not all. The combined energies were far too powerful, and they dissipated around Earth, locking onto to nearby areas of people. If you try and follow, the same magical energy may indeed accidentally alter the inter-dimensional transport of one of the squad members." Cyborg and Nightwing looked at each other with concerned looks.
"Well that just opens up new questions." Cyborg replies, stopping what he's doing. "How we supposed to get there then?"
"You're an expert on inter-dimensional travel. If you can find a way to alter the energy outputs of the Zata Beam, then you may be able to teleport there without having your course altered." Superman flies over and tells him:
"Batman, the number of people that can travel is already limited by the amount of power we need, and changing the energies will limit them even more. Besides, how do you plan on their return?"
"Once the Zata Tube is reconfigured, Flash and Cyborg will do the same with the Cosmic treadmill."
"Alright, but who are you sending?"
"Nightwing and Cyborg."
"What!?" Nightwing slightly shouted. "Why us?"
"You two are the most qualified to capture the runaways without causing panic any inhabitants that may live there."
"Bats I think you got that first part wrong." Cyborg replies. "I don't think the two of us can deal with all those runaway villains."
"I know, that's why I brought this." Batman pulled out a data chip and handed it to Cyborg.
"What's this?" Cyborg asks.
"A copy of a list of weaknesses I made when dealing with formidable opponents. Use them to your advantage to take them down." Cyborg scanned the chip and uploaded it with his own files.
"I got it Bats. Anything else?"
"Like I said earlier, you'll finish reconfiguring the Zata Beam, then the Cosmic treadmill. Then you'll head off to follow them." Batman stated.
"Good." Nightwing spoke to the two of them. "Let's get our things ready. We have to prepared for anything."
The Brain, 1:00 AM, Present Time
"Zuch a strange land indeed." The Brain had finished analyzing most of the unknown landscape. He saw many fascinating structures, but it was the inhabitants that fascinated him even more. He saw many varieties of colorful ponies, which he assumed were ponies, during the nighttime. He stayed at a good height to avoid visibility.
"Zis is nothing but a little girl's imagination." he obviously wasn't amused that he was in a world of colorful ponies, due to his tone. He sees a nearby town in the distance, and says to himself:
"Let's make zings interesting, shall ve?" He jets above the quiet town, probably because many were sleeping. He then lowers into the vicinity. "But before ve do that, let's see if this place has some resources I can use."
Twilight's house, 1:20 AM
In her comfy bed, a purple unicorn was sound asleep. She was dreaming about her childhood, her mom, dad and her brother. She was mumbling and smiling inside her dream and real life.
"Teddy, how's your tea?"
"I like my tea just just fine! Thanks Sparkles!" Shining Armor was holding the Teddy bear and held the tea to its mouth. "This tea party is just wonderful!" They were laughing and playing, their parents smiling at their enjoyment.
*Shuffle* The filly Twilight Sparkle stopped laughing and looked around.
*Whump Whump Whump!* "Shiny, what was that?" Twilight looked at Shining, only to see that he was no longer there. "Mom!? Dad!?" Her parents went missing too. Then suddenly, everything started to... disfigure. Her tea party, her house, even herself were swirling into what used to be happiness. Then it all started to disappear into nothing but darkness.
Twilight opened her eyes and saw her wooden ceiling. She quickly looked around, only to see her usual bedroom all neat and tidy, and Spike, who was snoring away in his small bed.
"Oh, just a dream. Thank goodness." She started to close her eyes again.
*Shuffle Shuffle*
*Whump Whump Whump!* She opened up her eyes as she heard the same sound in her dreams.
"Ughhhh, what's that sound.?" she said to herself as she groggily got up. She opened the door and exited the bedroom, and can't see anything due to the immense darkness. She reaches for the light switch.
*Click* As the room instantly brightens, Twilight rubs her eyes.
"Alright, what's-" She stops halfway as she sees the books laying on the floor, more dropping onto it. She recently organized her bookshelves, and now she had to redo them in the morning.
"HEY! Why did-" She stopped shouting and widened her eyes as she saw who was messing up her neat bookshelves. A tall black... jar with a scary face on the front seemed to be extending a claw to examine the books, throwing them on the floor as he reads the cover. It turned as Twilight shouted, who was now staring in awe.
"How fascinating. You horses are zentient." Twilight was awestruck as he saw it talk, but then she saw what was in the jar. A brain that was bigger than the brains of ponies was in a jar full of what seemed to be water. Wires were attached to it, and it seemed to glow slightly purple.
"Wha- I-" She could only stutter at her sight.
"Perhaps zis vill enlighten you." Whatever it was, it armed strange looking machinery that glowed brighter and brighter. Twilight could only get out two words as it happened.
"Uh Oh..."
Fluttershy's Cottage, 1:40 AM
Deathstroke was sleeping on the wall, his head against it and was asleep. He wasn't in a deep sleep though, not because of the hard wall but because he was used to staying up in the night.
"Friend. Hmmph." he mumbled during his half-sleep. He quietly planned in his head how he would deal with the residents in this town, especially the royal guard. He fed off a lot of information, which would help him deal with that. He also thought about the imperfection of this world, the weapons being created, bloody war waging. Well, it wasn't necessarily war, but it could very well be. He remembered the contract he signed back on Earth.
"Don't think I'll ever be able to fulfill that now." he thought to himself. "I probably never get my salary, now that I'm stuck in this 'Equestria land', and how I have to gain all their trust and sh-"
"AHHHHHHHHH!" His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a female pony screaming.
"Really!?" he says out loud as he gets up. "That's two days in a row!" He carefully peeks out the window, and sees some houses on fire in the distance, and many ponies were screaming, running and screaming for their lives. Deathstroke decided to see what all the fuss was about. As he carefully climbed outside, he humorously says to himself:
"Kids, that's why we don't use straw for rooftops."
Ponyville, The Brain's location
Buildings were on fire, ponies were panicking, chaos was unleashed. And the source of it was coming from him. The Brain. His multiple plasma cannons were causing destruction amongst the townspeople.
"You creatures are smaller and weaker zen I thought!" he shouted as he fired off more of his plasma beams. The container he was in wasn't really designed for combat, yet he was still unleashing destruction like someone like Black Adam. Twilight, escaped her house with Spike, the Brain set it in flames with his weapons. She watched in the distance how it was destroying her town.
"Twi! There ya are!" Looking behind her, she saw Applejack who was with Rarity.
"Rarity!" Spike was glad that she was fine." She wore a look of disgust on her face as she ignored Spike and saw the Brain.
"What in Celestia IS that vile creature!?"
"Rarity, we can worry about that later! Raht now we 'ave to gather up the other Elements!" Applejack replies, as a building collapses onto the ground.
"But Applejack!" Twilight started. "Rainbow Dash is injured and the Elements of Harmony are in my house! Not to mention it's on fire!" Applejack looked at the ground in worry, then said:
"Have the weather teams clear the fires. I'll evacuate the anypony near that thing. Dunno what t'do about it though."
"Don't worry AJ, it'll turn out fine. Spike, go get Fluttershy and Pinkie."
"On it!" he replied to her with a salute. And with that, he and Applejack ran off.
"Rarity, go to the hospital and make sure the guards are okay."
"Yes darling. By the way what happened to your mane?" She looked at Twilight's messed up hair. She made a poker face in return.
"Just. Go." Rarity quickly left, leaving Twilight to get the weather team.
Deathstroke's location
He watched as havoc was unfolding in the town. It wasn't an uncommon sight to him, he has seen it before.
"I wonder what's causing all this..." He looked around more, then sees a plasma beam strike down a royal guard.
"That doesn't seem right in this place." He jumps to another building and recognizes the person who's the cause of all the commotion.
"Well well well," he says to himself. "Looks like I'm not the only one who warped here."
Back to The Brain
"Guards! Detain it!" Four guards were facing the Brain. "Give up! You're outnumbered!"
"Zat may be true." the Brain replied. "But you, are outmatched." Arming more cannons, he kills the four guards with four shots each, his cannons pointing directly at one each as they charge him. Some blood trickles from their bodies, their faces wearing no emotion.
He stopped firing and disarmed his cannons for a bit. He maniacally laughed to himself a little.
"Hahahaha, it von't take Zod to conquer zis world!" He shouted, looking at the corpses of the ponies he killed. Suddenly, someone jumped in front of him, his hand clutching the ground as he slid. The Brain recognized him as he stood up.
"Deathstroke." he said, not trying to threaten him. "I zee you've been pulled here too."
"Uh huh. By the way, I like the mess you made." he says sarcastically.
"Zat iz not important right now." the Brain replied "While you don't have any, superpowers, you are still Earth's greatest assassin. Our Secret Society could certainly use you."
"Secret Society?"
"Yes, other villains have been pulled here, you zee. Zey have formed their own Secret Society, me included. It is led by General Zod."
"General Zod?" Hearing that name made him curious. He thought about his offer for a few seconds, then replied:
"I worked for you before, Brain." he starts, the Brain still listening. "But I'm running on a different contract now, and your name's not on it." He was rather disappointed at this, but did not retaliate.
"Very well." he started, respecting his decision. "Please leave me to my work zen." He started to move to another area of the town, but then Deathstroke spoke up.
"Sorry, but I can't let you do that." The Brain stopped and rotated his mechanical chamber to face him.
"And vy is zat?"
"These ponies are the key to fulfilling my contract."
"You pity zem."
"No, I'm just retrieving my payment late." A few moments of silence passed, then the Brain spoke up.
"I suppose you know vere zis is going zen..."
"I always have." After a few seconds, they run in opposite directions and fire at each other with their guns.
"TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK!"
"CHAK CHAK CHAK CHAK!"
Bullets and plasma beams were flying everywhere, laying waste to the buildings all around them.
"I'll enjoy hurting you."
"Don't act zo cocky."
Deathstroke took cover behind some rubble. The Brain had a force field equipped, so he couldn't shoot him directly. Running from cover, he fires his SMGs at him while running to some more cover. He was shot by one of his plasma beams, giving him a bruise. He felt a sting to his chest, but the bruise wasn't too bad, and he had taken punishment worse than this.
"You're getting annoying." he says to the Brain loudly.
"Zen allow me to finish zis." the Brain replied, arming more cannons, this time he armed his deadly plasma ray as well. "Prepare to be eliminated, Deathstroke." The ray glowed a bright red like his cannons. In a few seconds, a large beam was fired straight to where he was hiding. Deathstroke quickly jumped away, barely escaping the cover which was now vaporized. The beam was then quickly following him, he moved quick to avoid being vaporized by the beam. He ran in a circle around the Brain, jumping on top of buildings. As he jumps to the ground, he arms his hookshot and points it to him.
"SHAK!" The spear stabs a part of the Brain's container, forcing him to shut down the beam. Deathstroke triggers the reel, swinging the Brain around and launching him into a building. He gets up with his jet system, seeing that Deathstroke spins his pistols around, taunting him with a small laugh.
"Zis iz not finished yet!" He rapidly fired off more beams at him, this time with a faster fire rate. Deathstroke took cover again, seeing sparks fly off the top of his cover.
"Now you're really getting annoying."
Applejack's barn, around the same time.
Granny Smith and Big Mac were downstairs, worried about Applejack, who was in town helping the ponies in whatever way she can.
"Ya think she'll be alright?" the old green pony asked.
"Yup." Big Mac simply replied. He wasn't much of a talker.
"Well I sure hope yer right Big Mac." Upstairs, a certain yellow filly wearing a bow on her apple colored mane was unaware of all the commotion as she slept in her bed. The Apples, which was what others called this family, decided not to traumatize her with the horrible news.
"Applebloom!"
*Snore*
"Applebloom!"
*Snore*
"Appleboom!"
"Huh, whuh?" Applebloom groggily opened he eyes and turned to the window. Shuffling around her bed, she sees two familiar fillies smiling at her.
"Scootaloo, Sweetiebelle?" Applebloom was very confused. "Why you two up so late?"
"For more crusading of course!" Scootaloo replied.
"Uggghhhhh..." Applebloom moaned in response. What kind of crusading could we do at 2:00 AM in the mornin'? Sweetiebelle was the one to reply.
"Well, there's some commotion downtown about this jar on wheels wreaking havoc everywhere!"
"Yeah! It was like, shooting everywhere! Then this other... thing, or whatever, joins the shooting! They were like, pew pew pew! Bang Bang! And Kaboom!!!" Scootaloo added, with Applebloom widening her eyes.
"Huh, that there does sound mighty interstin', but what kinda cutie marks could we get from it?" Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle tapped their chins, thinking about it.
"Ummm, well, we could be Cutie Mark Crusader uhh matchmakers?"
"Spectators?"
"Oh wait I got it! Creature studiers!"
"Uh, those are called zoologists." Sweetiebelle replies, being the dictionary she was.
"Yeah!" Applebloom said enthusiastically. "Cutie Mark Crusader Zoologists!"
"C'mon crusaders! Let's get to it!" Scootaloo finished.
"Sure!" Applebloom agreed. "Just one thing though..."
"What's that?"
"How the hay did you even get up here?"
"Oh, uh well, it's a long story, eh heh heh..." Scootaloo answered, looking at the contraption they made: A large catapult made out of a a cart, some wooden boards, and a cow.
"Now that you mention it, we didn't think of a way to get back down..." Sweetiebelle added. "Oh well, I'm sure we'll be fine."
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS ZOOLOGISTS! GO!!!" They all shouted in unison as they dropped out of the window.
Twilight, 2:00 AM
Twilight Sparkle finished alerting the weather team and ran back to where the creature was.
"I hope it didn't cause too much damage..." she thought to herself. She ran past some more panicking ponies and got back to where it was last time. Looking far, she saw the creature fighting, what she could only describe was another creature. Nearby were destroyed buildings, and some guards whom were dead.
"What in Celestia's name!?"
"Twi!" She heard Applejack behind her. "I've evacuated as many residents as possible, how is- What in the hay?" She saw the two strange creatures battle it out with odd looking weapons.
"I hope the princesses know about this, we could really use their help right now."
"I couldn't agree more Twi." They continued to watch the battle in the distance.
Ponyville, Deathstroke's location, same time
"Vat's wrong Deathstroke? You're usually better zan zis!" The battle was still raging on, neither taking too much damage.
"I would've finished you already, but I'm trying to keep a low profile for now. The stuff I would've used to defeat you won't help me do that."
"But neither vill keeping zis battle at large!" He knew he was right, if the battle continued on, more guards would probably arrive, blowing his cover. He needed to finish it quick. Steadying himself, he armed his hookshot and ran to the side, catching the Brain off guard. He shot him with the spear, however, instead of throwing him, He reeled him in. Once he was pulled close enough, he whacked him with his fist as hard as he could, making a large dent in the Brain's capsule. He was in no shape to fight, the repairs were more important right now.
Unfortunately, he wasn't finished yet. Deathstroke ran over to him and whacked him with his staff, damaging him some more. He finished it with his staff spin, hitting the Brain hard, who was now damaged but not severely. The Brain formulated a plan in his head to escape. He sees the building beside him, and in the distance he sees three fillies peek their heads from an alley lane.
"You've signed the wrong contract Deathstroke." he started, "And you vill regret it." He fired off his plasma ray into the building, which started to collapse on top of Deathstroke. He ran away before the building smashed itself onto the ground. He then saw that the Brain had disappeared.
"APPLEBLOOM!!!" Deathstroke turned to see that he jetted toward some panicking fillies that were trying to save a filly that was being held by the Brain's claw. He also sees two ponies somewhere else which he recognize, from what Fluttershy told him.
"Applejack and Twilight Sparkle." he determined in his head. "Looks like Applejack's sister is taking off with the Brain." He learned about the "Cutie Mark Crusaders" from Fluttershy as well.
"APPLEBLOOM!!! NOOOOO!!!" He hears the one called Applejack call out to her little sister as she flies away. Deathstroke quickly climbs onto a building and follows the Brain on the rooftops. Leaping from each roof, he waits until he gets a good range, then pulls out one pistol.
He takes a couple shots, only to miss as the Brain flies farther and farther away. He lowers his pistols in defeat, but not in disappoint.
"I might be able to get a contract out of this." He then sees Applejack and Twilight who were with the fillies named Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo stare at him in sadness, with the loss of Applebloom looming over them. All of them except Twilight start to cry, but Deathstroke only has one thought on his mind.
"Time to go. I've stayed out in the open for too long now." He heads back to Fluttershy's cottage through the rooftops. Meanwhile, the four ponies continue to grieve for Applebloom.
"Applejack, we're so sorry. We got careless with our crusadin' and, and..." Scootaloo couldn't finish, and Applejack continued sobbing. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie arrived, led by Spike, who asked:
"Applejack what happened?"
"Th-It took Applebloom!!!" Spike, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie gasped at this.
"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy said out loud. Twilight put her hoof over Applejack's shoulder.
"Spike, write a letter to Princess Celestia. She needs-"
"That won't be necessary." Everyone looks to see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna a few feet behind them in royal chariots.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight is the first to speak up at the presence of the two rulers. "How did you get the news about Ponyville so fast?"
"We didn't." Luna answers. "I felt a strange disturbance in your dream Twilight, so Tia and I decided to investigate. Speaking of which, what happened here?"
"Well, it's really complicated. To put it short, this strange creature that looked like a jar on wheels attacked Ponyville, then this creature standing on two legs wearing a strange mask started attacking the other creature." Twilight explained. Fluttershy slightly gasped hearing about the creature with a mask. Twilight continued explaining.
"The creature on two legs eventually won, but the other one distracted him and got away... with Applebloom." The princesses cover their mouths with their hooves hearing this. "I already alerted the weather team to clear out the fires around Ponyville."
"Excellent work my student. You should all head back to sleep. We will continue from here with the royal guards."
"But yer highness, what about Applebloom?" Applejack didn't want to go home and sleep right after her little sister was abducted. Celestia thought about it, then spoke.
"We'll try our best to find her, Applejack. Right now, you should head back to your family, and tell them." Applejack was about to protest, but only sighed in defeat.
"Alright, yer highness."
"Goodnight, my little ponies." And with that, they all headed off to their homes, leaving the two sisters and the royal guards that pulled the chariot.
"Sister, how will we capture these creatures, and whichever creature we find first, what will we do with it?" Celestia wore a stern look on her face, and replied:
"We will have the royal guard on high security for any creature that doesn't belong, and they will use whatever means necessary to capture it." She then looked up to Ponyville with her sister. The town was now in repair, fires were being put out, and the bodies of some royal guards were being carried away. "They have wrought destruction upon Equestria, and I will not stand for it."
Fluttershy left the commotion after she and her friends were dismissed by Princess Celestia. She ran back to her cottage, thinking about the odd creatures Twilight described.
"Ohhhhh, was that Slade fighting that thing?" She says to herself worryingly as she rushes back to her home, hoping that Slade would be there. Arriving at her doorstep, she bursts through the door and bounces her head around, looking everywhere. The animals inside wake up from their sleep and look at her in confusion.
"Oh, erm, I'm sorry, you can go back to sleep." The animals close their eyes again. Running upstairs, she turns and sees Deathstroke on the wall, his legs crossed in a relaxing position.
"Oh there you are Slade! Thank goodness you're okay."
"Of course I am." he replies with no emotion at all. Fluttershy was still unaware of the name he and others mostly go by. "So you saw me at Ponyville?"
"I did. Some of the others know about you now, even the princesses."
"They know? How did they learn about it so fast?" he asked, getting up from his relaxing position.
"Well, Luna felt a disturbance in Twilight's dream, so they both came to investigate."
"Disturbance in dreams?"
"Oh, um, I forgot to tell you how Princess Luna is also responsible for watching over ponies' dreams." she stated.
"Interesting." Deathstroke replied dryly. "Well, now more guards are probably be on the lookout for me, especially after the commotion I made with that guy."
"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Fluttershy
"I'll hang low for now. Other than that, I don't know."
Canterlot, 4:00 AM
"Tia, I am going back to my room to fulfill my duties of the night." Luna says to her sister.
"Very well then Luna. Have a good night." Luna smiled and headed back to her room, after they helped the repairs of Ponyville, especially Twilight's house, they needed to return to Canterlot. As Luna was no longer with Celestia, she was about to head to her room as well, until she heard hoofsteps coming from a royal guard.
"Your highness, your shipment has arrived, despite the delays we had we the inspections." he started after he bowed at her presence. "However, there is one problem." Celestia wore a puzzled look.
"What is the matter, my subject?" she asks.
"We found the magical seal on the box was gone, and further inspections have shown that we are missing one of the weapons." Celestia gasped at this. If anypony found out about those weapons and the cause for it, there could be a massive conflict in the monarchy.
"How was the seal broken?" she asks, with worry in her voice. "Was not the spell cast by some powerful unicorn guards I sent?"
"It was, your highness. We made sure no pony would be able to break it, not even high level unicorns like Twilight Sparkle." Celestia pondered in her head, then remembered the creatures roaming Equestria. She made her orders quick and simple.
"Send more guards along with three of the Wonderbolts to pursue the creatures. Also tell all the other guards to attack on sight."
"Yes, your highness." And with that, he ran off. Celestia went back to her room, and said to herself:
"I cannot risk to let them know. I must flush them out."
Ponyville General, Rainbow Dash's room, 4:00 AM
"So let me get this straight," a familiar cyan pony started, oblivious to everything that happened. "This jar on wheels with a brain in it attacked Ponyville, battled another strange creature, then got away with Applebloom?!" In the room with her was Twilight Sparkle, who just explained everything that happened to Rainbow Dash.
"Yes... That's correct." the lavender pony replies, in a slightly sad tone.
"Ahhhhh man! I seriously missed out on all that?" Although she could entertain herself with one of the Daring Do books, she was still very disappointed that something exciting happened and she wasn't there.
"Well, Rainbow, I think we should worry about Applebloom right now."
"Oh, right. Wait, she was taken by that jar thingy!?"
"Uhhhh, yeah, I just said that R-"
"OHHHHH NOOO!" Rainbow Dash yelled, putting her hooves to her ears. "Ugghhhh! If only I were there I would have taken Applebloom right out that jar's filthy... whatever! Then I'd buck his brain into-"
"SSHHHHHHH!" Twilight shushed her, her hoof covering her mouth.
"Oh, sorry Twi..."
"Nevermind that. You should go back to sleep Rainbow.
*Sigh* "Alright, see you in the morning I guess."
"Goodnight Rainbow."
Fluttershy's cottage, 4:30 AM
Fluttershy was sleeping on her couch downstairs, since she wanted to give Slade time to himself, as usual. Speaking of which, he was not sleeping, he was actually scouting Ponyville through the window.
"I got too careless there with the Brain." he thought to himself. "Time for Plan B." He stopped scouting and brainstormed some things he could do, when there was a sudden banging on the door.
*KNOCK* *KNOCK *KNOCK* Fluttershy lifted her eyelids groggily.
*Yawn* "Who could that be?" she said out loud as she turned on the lights and hovered over to the door. As she pulls the door open, she slightly hides her mane at the sight of two royal guards in front of her.
"Mam, we are searching for a creature that stands on its hind legs. Does that sound familiar to you?" She shivered in her head, quickly thinking of what to say to the guards.
"Um, I uh... don't think of heard of that..."
"Well we still need to take a look and see if there's any clues to our search."
"Oh, well, I... suppose you could." Her tone was really awkward. The two guards enter and inspect some of the things in her house.
"Nothing here. Mam, may we continue our search upstairs?" Fluttershy instantly knew that Slade was in danger, and herself as well. If they discovered that she was harboring him, they both would be arrested. Saying no would make things suspicious.
"I uhhhhhhh, ummmmmm.... ok." She had no choice but to say yes. The guards turned away and headed upstairs, a terrified Fluttershy following. She closed her eyes shut in fear.
"......Nothing here." Fluttershy opened her eyes, confused that the guards didn't find anything. "We should get going. Have a good night miss."
"Good night." she replies in a rather quiet tone. The second the guards shut the door behind them, she rushes upstairs, to see that Slade wasn't there.
"Slade!? Where did you go?"
"Not far." Fluttershy turns her head everywhere, and sees Slade crawl out of the fireplace. "Your chimney is surprisingly clean." he finishes, looking at the minimal dirt he has on his armor.
"Slade! There you are! Where did you-"
"Up the chimney, as I mentioned before. I hid on the roof for a bit." he interrupts. "I also heard some knocking on the door, and the voice of some guards I hid from."
"Slade, they're all looking for you and that, jar thing. What will we do?"
"Simple. But it doesn't concern you."
"What? What do you-"
"I'm better off doing this alone. I told you what I do for a living. Better if you don't see me do it." Fluttershy just stood there shocked, thinking about what he just said to her.
"But Slade, you can't-"
"I'm not asking permission." he interrupted for the third time. He opened the window and started to climb out. Before he exited, he said one last thing.
"By the way, others don't go by the name Slade very often. I'm best known as Deathstroke." He leaped out the window, leaving an awestruck Fluttershy behind.
Deathstroke had a plan, or at least, an objective. He needed to find a way to Canterlot, get Celestia to summon the Elements to the palace, then convince them into cooperating with him, so he could fulfill his contract. From what he learned the princess may not agree to his terms, but having the Elements there, especially Fluttershy, may give him a better chance. He would have to take another ride on the train.
"More guards are on the lookout." he thought to himself, observing the multiple groups of guards patrolling Ponyville on the roof of what was probably an apartment. They used their horns as lanterns to emit a bright light ahead of them, allowing the other guards in the group to see well. "Train station's over there. Just need to keep a low profile." He then noticed that there were also pegasi guards patrolling from above, using large flashlights to make spotlights on the ground, similar to those of helicopters.
"Very clever." he mentally complimented. The roofs were a no-go, so he had to reach the train station through dark places, like alleyways. Carefully, he jumped off the roof into a dark alley, hiding behind a cluster of trash bags as a guard shines a bright light into the alley. The guard shines his light around, scanning parts of the area, then leaves along with the guards following, removing the light from the alley.
"These guards are good." he thought to himself as he got up and ran to another alley lane. He saw a spotlight headed for him, so he quickly dove into a pile of sheets. He peeks and sees the spotlight directly above him, which slithers away after a few seconds. Getting up, he peeks from behind the walls and sees from afar what looks like a large treehouse. Not the kind where you build it up on trees, but where the house is literally a tree.
"Twilight's house." he determined, with what he learned from Fluttershy. "I expected the Element of Magic to live in a place more... magical." He already knew that her house was a tree, but he expected the tree to have some... magical stuff. But nevertheless, he continued to trek through Ponyville unnoticed.
"Hmmm, now that I think about it, I could probably get to the train station quick if I grapple over to the foliage above her house." he stated to himself in his head. "But I need a distraction. A big one." Opening up one of his compartments, he brings out an explosive. Carefully, he arms it in the alley he's in, then runs to another one quickly. In his palm was the detonator.
"If you hear something go boom, that's normal." he quietly jokes. "If you feel your limbs blown off, that's normal too."
*click*
"KABOOM!!!" The bomb detonates, sending debris everywhere, laying waste to some parts of the nearby buildings and engulfing them in flames. In a few seconds, it got the attention of all the nearby guards.
"Mother of Celestia!"
"Get the other guards!"
"There are ponies inside! We have to save them!"
"Guards! Hurry!"
Deathstroke heard the commotion of all the guards swarming in on the mess he made. When he was sure no one was paying attention, he armed his hookshot into the foliage of Twilight's house, reeling himself into the large patch of green. Peeking he sees the guards trying to put the fire out, and some others going inside to rescue whoever is trapped inside the flaming house.
"That should keep them busy for a bit." he says out loud, looking over to the train station that was not very far from where he was. "I don't need the next train to come soon, I can get to it without the commotion. But if it does come, all the better." he states to himself.
"BEAST OF TARTARUS!!!" Deathstroke hears the cry of one of the royal guards from far away. "I KNOW YOU DID THIS!!! WHEREVER YOU ARE, I WILL FIND YOU, AND I WILL SLAY YOU!!!!!!" The guard was now shaking his hands hooves in the air in anger. But to him, he was just insane.
*Sigh* "You ponies are overreacting. If you just-"
"CRACK!!! CRUMBLE!!!" The building couldn't hold any longer and collapsed. Directly on top of the dramatic guard.
"Well, forget everything I just said." Deathstroke says humorously. "Rest in pieces son." A few guards manage to escape the rubble, and in their hooves are some of the residents of the now destroyed building. A large gray stallion, a light purple mare, and a filly.
"A family." he presumed. The word loomed around in his head, making him remember his lovely wife and his children.
"TOOT TOOT!!!" He snaps back into reality at the sound of a train approaching the station.
"Good timing." he says to himself as he arms his hookshot. "Just need to do this right." The ponies at the station enter the train, and in a few minutes or so, the train whistles again, signaling their departure. It slowly accelerates, and right after it leaves the station, he launches the speared chain at one of the rear cars, and he quickly triggers the reel. He launches toward the train car, landing him on the side. Carefully, he held on to the roof of the car and detached the spear. He climbs up and stands up.
"Canterlot." he says to himself as he looks at the outstanding view of the castle. "I'm coming for you Celestia. You and I are going to have a talk."
Spitfire, thirty minutes later
"Captain, what are we looking for again?"
"The guard describes it as a monkey-like creature that stands on its hind legs, and it carries much armor and has odd looking weapons." Spitfire answers to Soarin, who is uneasy about the mission. "We have to be cautious about it, it may be hostile."
"But sir, if we do manage to find it, what will we do?" Fleetfoot asks, with a worried look on her face.
"Celestia's orders are to attack on sight. I need you all to keep a eye out for anything that looks like what the guard described it as." The three pegasi continued to soar through the air, while remaining vigilant. But their real patrolling area was Ponyville, not the journey there. Spitfire believed they still needed to keep watch, however.
*Yawn* "Captain, its already past midnight, and whatever we're looking for could be anywhere by n-"
"FOUND IT!!!" Fleetfoot was startled at Soarin's sudden outburst.
"What!?" shouted a very confused Spitfire. "What do you mean you found it!?"
"Exactly that! It's right there on top of that train!" he points to the roof of one of the train cars, where a strange looking creature was standing. The three of them were shocked at the sight, then Spitfire spoke up.
"Alright folks! You know our orders. Attack on sight!" And with that, the three of them bolted toward it.
Deathstroke, same time
"This is going to be a long train ride." Deathstroke complained to himself.
*Whoosh!* He heard a whooshing sound from above him.
*Whoosh!* *Whoosh!* He heard two more of them. He quickly turned around to see three pegasi flying straight towards him. The pegasi slowed to a stop and landed in front of him. He heard them talking to each other.
"Are you sure we should attack it?"
"I dunno about this..."
"I say we charge it."
"We should talk it out."
"You know I can hear you." The three pegasi gasp at the sound of Deathstroke speaking.
"Y-You can talk!?"
"Yes. And I can hurt. Really, really bad." He brought out his staff and whacked Fleetfoot on the side of her head, knocking her onto the ground. He learned about the Wonderbolts from Fluttershy, all that information saved him a lot of questioning. Spitfire and Soarin were startled at the sudden attack, and they charged him.
"Whack Whack Whack!" They rapidly threw punches at him, all of which were blocked or didn't seem to effect him. He grabbed Spitfire's hoof and threw her straight into Fleetfoot, who was still recovering.
"Dang it!" Soarin exclaims, as he continues to attack Deathstroke. "What are you made of?" Deathstroke grabbed him and smashed his head into Soarin's skull. This caused Soarin to fall backwards onto the ground in pain.
"The Wonderbolts. I've heard about you and your team are the fastest in Equestria. But tell me, are you fast enough to avoid this?" He brought out his rifle and shot a grenade from his grenade launcher attachment. None of the Wonderbolts were able to react, and as the projectile exploded, they were sent flying everywhere.
"Soarin! Use the flare!" Spitfire shouted to Soarin. The impact injured her badly, and she was holding onto to the side of the train car. She felt the constant rushing of wind flying at her. Soarin, who was injured badly along with Fleetfoot, pulled out a small device from a compartment from his suit and activated it, sending a firework into the sky, exploding into a variety of colors as it reached a good height. He then saw Deathstroke walk over to Spitfire.
"Need a hand sweetheart?" Deathstroke sarcastically asked as he lowered his hand for Spitfire to grab.
"Go to the pits of Tartarus!"
"Thought so." Deathstroke stood up and kicked her off the train.
"SPITFIRE NOOOOO!!!" The other two Wonderbolts shouted in unison as they watched her hit the ground and roll painfully into unconsciousness.
"You obviously can't take me." The two worried ponies looked over to him. "Because you're too slow." This angered the two of them, making them charge recklessly at him.
"RAHHHHHHHH!!!" They both came to a sudden stop as their faces are hit by Deathstroke's staff, which he held horizontally to hit their heads. He picks both of them up and throws them off the train, their bodies violently rolling around.
"You think you're fast. But in reality, you're as slow as a turtle." After a minute or so, he hears a fizzling noise to the side. Jumping to the rear of the caboose, he sees a glowing energy in the distance. Then it seems to pop, momentarily blinding him. When he recovers, he sees multiple airborne chariots made of gold with royal guards. They were pulled by four pegasi guards each.
"THERE HE IS!!!" A guard in the leading chariot shouted, implying hostility toward Deathstroke. "GUARDS!!! FIRE AT WILL!!!" Suddenly, magical beams were flying everywhere, he quickly flipped backwards to avoid the barrage of beams. The bolts heavily dented the caboose.
"GUARDS!!! PURSUE IT!!!" Pegasi guards flew from the chariots and headed straight into him. Deathstroke quickly pulled out his rifle and took aim.
"RAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT TAT!!!" Bullets pierced the guards' flesh, killing them and dropping them to the ground with a crack. He then pointed to the guards pulling the leading chariot. With another *RAT TAT TAT*, the guards were killed, and the chariot fell, breaking as it hit the ground. The guards, including the one he presumed was the leader, tumbled out of the chariot, disappearing into the horizon as the train speeds away. Deathstroke puts away his rifle and pulls out his SMGs.
"TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK!!!" He aimed at all the guards pulling the chariots as his fingers were pulling on the triggers, destroying more chariots as they make a loud crack on the ground. A few guards even got crushed by the destroyed chariots.
"POP POP POP!!! POP POP POP POP POP!!!" More chariots were teleported at the news of the sighting of the creature.
"GUARDS!!!" Another guard shouted, with much confidence like the last one who shouted. "DIVIDE AND CONQUER!!!" Without hesitation, the chariots flew in three direction, two flew to the sides, one flew above.
"ATTACK!!!" Guards climbed onto the train car and dropped from above. Soon, they surrounded him, with unicorns charging their horns and levitating swords. The pegasi prepared to charge, with their wing blades set to go.
A few moments of silence passed, then Deathstroke got his sword out, ready to strike with the others. With a great leap, he flipped with his sword.
"SLICE!!!" The guard he was aiming for was killed with a slice of his sword, spilling blood from his chest. Two pegasi guards charged him with their wing blades. He blocked the attack with his sword and swung around one of of them, snapping his neck and throwing him into the other pegasus guard, resulting in them falling off the train. Three unicorns swung their swords at him, only to miss as he ducks. He then shoots straight into their skulls from below, disfiguring their faces as the bullets destroy the skulls and pouring blood onto the train car. The remaining unicorn guards fire more bolts at him, but Deathstroke drops from the train car and hangs from the roof.
"BANG!" Hastily, he breaks the mechanism holding the caboose and quickly jumps to the next one. Looking behind him, he sees the remaining guards fade away into the distance. But they're still close enough for him to see the stunned look on their faces.
"Here's a get well soon present for your Captain." Pulling out his rifle, he looks through the scope and snipes the remaining guards with one shot each.
"TAK! TAK! TAK!" They fall down as the bullets pierce their bodies and leave a bloody mark. He then aims for the guards pulling the chariots, which are advancing toward him.
"TAK! TAK! TAK! TAK! TAK! TAK!" One shot at a time, the chariots all wreck themselves as they tumble over on the ground. There are only four chariots left.
"That's it! GUARDS!!! Bring in the big guns!"
"But sir!"
"DO IT!"
"Yes sir!"
The unicorns glowed their horns together, connecting their magic and focusing on the area behind the chariot holding the leader.
"CRACKLE CRACKLE!!! POP!!!" The guards slightly cringe at the new weight added to the chariot. Behind them was a cart holding a giant contraption that resembled a cannon.
"GUARDS!!! CHARGE IT UP!!!" The cannon started to glow, specifically on its markings. Markings in which Deathstroke recognized.
"Dammit, that can't can't be good at all." He remembered the symbols from weapons he examined and Shining Armor's well, armor. This, however, was new to him.
"FIRE!!!" The cannon fires loudly, the glowing lights dissipating as a large bright orb flies through the air and heads directly into him. He quickly leaps to the next car before it hits.
"KABOOM!!!" The explosion completely obliterates the train car, shattering it into multiple pieces and violently shaking the train.
"Agh!" The impact sent him back a few feet, stopping near the edge. "Are you bastards that desperate to kill me!? That train car had pe-ponies in it, dammit!" he almost said people, since he wasn't actually speaking perfect Equestrian.
"Then again," he thought to himself. "Maybe it's Celestia that wants to finish me so bad. But why?" Unfortunately, he couldn't ask himself questions at the moment, as the guards completely ignore what he just shouted.
"CHARGE IT UP!!!" The cannon glows again, so Deathstroke quickly got a running start to the next few cars. "FIRE!!!" Another orb is launched, but for some reason it seemed to follow where he went.
"Great..." he sarcastically says to himself mentally. "These projectiles are designed to follow its target before it lands! Damn!"
Hastily, he loaded his nth bullets into his rifle and fires at the orb.
"RAT TAT TAT TAT! SIZZLE!!!" The orb dissipates now that it can't hold due to the disruption of magical energy. He sees the chariot rise to a higher elevation to get a good shot.
"CHARGE IT AGAIN!!!" The markings glowed once more, but this time Deathstroke would not allow it. Quickly zooming in with the scope on his rifle, he aims toward the glowing circle on the cannon, similar to the one on the armor Shining Armor wore.
"SAY YOUR PRAYERS CREATURE!!!" the leader shouted with much cockiness in his tone.
"Speak for yourself."
"TAK!!!"
Just before the cannon was fired, a bullet was sent toward the cannon.
"Tink! Sizzle!" The cannon starts fizzing, the energy gathered now becoming unstable. The chariot was rattling around very violently.
"BOOOOOOM!!!" The cannon exploded, obliterating the remaining guards from the other chariots. When Deathstroke regains visibility, he sees the golden chariot now engulfed in fire, falling toward one of the rear cars. Deathstroke makes a leap of faith to the next car.
"CRASHHHHH!!!" The chariot wrecks the train car. He jumps to the next one before the car he's standing one explodes from the impact. Turning back, he sees the destroyed car disconnect violently and takes the cars behind it with it.
"It was a pleasure killing you. Too bad you're not on my hit list. But then again, I suppose PETA will offer substantial respect for you." As he spoke, he saw the sun beginning to rise from the horizon, signifying the start of a new day. "All of that happened in just one day. This is going to be an interesting journey indeed."
Zod's hideout, 7:00 AM, thirty minutes later
"Ugghhh, where is he!?" Star Sapphire was getting impatient, having to wait for the Brain to return. "It's already morning, he probably got himself abducted or something."
"He was sent to scout and examine the entire landscape!" Count Vertigo yells, who was more patient than the others. "You can't expect him to return anytime soon!" Bane steps in as well.
"We will wait another hour. If he doesn't return by then-"
"Enough." All of them look at Zod. "There will be no more arguments. He WILL return." he finishes, clutching his fist in confidence. Star Sapphire, however, protested.
"Who made YOU the boss anyway!?"
"Fool! You were the one to agree to join us!"
"No one ever said someone like you was leading!"
Silence engulfed the room for a few moments.
"It appears we have a standoff." Zod stated to her.
"I don't think so." Extending her hand, she forms ten spears, and flicking her hand forward, she launches them toward Zod. They were intended to stab him, but instead they shatter as they hit him. Her jaw fell as it happened. Then, with great speed, Zod grabbed her by her neck.
"You will submit."
"I-I-I d-do!" It was hard for her to speak, since she was being choked halfway to death. Zod dropped her onto the floor, and she breathed heavily, gasping for air.
"Does anyone else have a problem with my leadership?" None of the others made a retort. "Good."
"I have returned, Zod." Everyone looked over to the cave entrance to see the Brain slowly making a landing. He sees Star Sapphire breathing heavily on her knees. "Iz zere a problem?"
"Nothing much." Zod answers as she slowly gets up. "Have you done what I have told you?"
"I have General. But we may have a problem."
"And what is that?"
"I found Deathstroke. He fought me, saying that I was in the way of his contract."
"Deathstroke?"
"He claims to be Earth's greatest assassin. He has good reason." Zod motioned his head upward in thought.
"I see. But no matter, only a minor setback. What did you find?"
"I scanned the landscape, unfortunately it iz too wide to examine, so I had to find a map of some sort from a library." With his mechanical claw, he pulled out a book from his compartment and handed it to him. "It iz written in unknown characters, but I believe I can translate it with enough time."
"Good." Zod replied in a dry tone.
"One more thing." the Brain stated, with Zod's attention. "You probably von't believe what the inhabitants here are."
"Oh? Well what could they be?"
"Ponies. Colorful, sentient ponies."
It remains quiet for a few seconds, then Vertigo speaks up.
"Don't be ridiculous Brain."
"I'm not. Zat is vy I have brought zis." He opens up his chamber, and out falls a miniature horse-like creature.
"Wh-What the hay!?" Everyone widens their eyes at her sentience. "What's goin' on 'ere!?"
"Actually, I lied. I brought her here for examination." the Brain stated, correcting himself. "And, interrogation as well." On cue, he opens up his surgery tools. Applebloom's pupils shrink to the size of peas. She tries to run, but Star Sapphire traps her in a force bubble.
"H-Hey! Lemme go!" She tries desperately to escape, banging on the bubble with her hooves.
"I think you've played your part for now, Brain." Zod told him. "You should get to translating that book. We will proceed with the interrogation." Applebloom could only look in fear as Bane, Black Adam, Star Sapphire, Count Vertigo, and General Zod glare at her with menacing eyes. She swore she saw Zod's eyes glow a bright red.
The train came to a slow stop as it arrived at the city of Canterlot. Deathstroke was hiding in a bush just outside of the city gates. Earlier he jumped off and landed outside the city, like how he did taking the train to Ponyville.
"Would ya look at that. The view's greater up close." he complimented to no one in particular. "No wonder this is the capital of Equestria." He stood up and stared at the city gates and the walls. Ponies were walking on the bridge that were headed inside the fancy-looking city. He quickly runs to the tall wall and starts to climb it, and remembers something on way up.
"If Celestia is that desperate to kill me, there any particular reason why?" He thinks back to what he did yesterday, the portal, the train, the weapons. "She must think I have something to do with the fiddling of her toys, if she even knows about them." It was still a good theory however, especially since his existence was discovered already. Keeping steady, he holds onto the wall with one hand and pulls out the hookshot.
"As much as I like this, I probably don't want to keep it on me when I have my pep talk with her." He was about to toss it, then realized how stupid that would be. "Can't leave this just lyin' there, that would end badly." He continues to hold onto it and reaches the top of the wall. He then carefully drops and finds a bush nearby. With the hookshot in hand, he lodges it into the bush.
"Not exactly a good hiding place, but it'll do for now." says Deathstroke. Nearby he sees the shadows of two ponies approach him. Quickly but silently, he climbs up the windows of a nearby building and onto the roof. Looking down he sees two ponies dressed in very formal and fancy clothing.
"The fall weather is just wonderful, don't you think?"
"Quite so, miss. Though it is rather exasperating to stand out in this warm weather."
They laughed in a very exquisite tone, similar to that of a gentleman and a lady. Deathstroke hated these types of people.
"Posh bastards. Always think their so much higher than others." he wore a frown under his mask. Trying to forget what he saw, he turns and sees in the distance a large building that was significantly taller than all the other structures.
"Must be the palace." He determines to himself, as he examines the roofs of the regular buildings. "No guards. Doesn't seem like anyone reported to her yet." He thankfully didn't have to stay alert on any guards, but there was the problem of the buildings being very spaced from each other. He would have to carefully get on the ground to get to the next building.
"Probably would have been easier if I kept the hookshot." He could quickly retrieve it, but then he thought how easily using it would give him away. Crouching, he scans the streets for any open eyes and drops down. Without haste, he ran to the next building and grabbed onto the window frame, pulling his body weight upward onto the roof. It took him thirty seconds. He repeated this process for the second building.
"Only two buildings. Still a long way to go." he said looking at the floor of the roof. Looking up, he sees the palace still a long way to go. He sighs at the massive distance he had to cover, which seemed like miles and miles away. Then something else gets his attention. He turns to the sound of the rolling and stepping of a carriage being pulled by four royal guards. The cart was rather big and had a bunch of crates in it.
"Let's get moving. Don't want anypony to see what's in this."
"Roger that. We should get to the palace as soon as possible."
Deathstroke was close enough to eavesdrop on their conversation. The cart was heading toward him, and immediately he knew what to do.
"Looks like I just found an easy way to the palace." he thought to himself as he prepared to jumped. When the time was right, he hastily landed behind the cart and into the stack of boxes that were loaded inside.
"Let's move quick. This cart seems to be getting heavier by the moment."
"Worry all you want, soldier. What I'm worried about is keeping this a secret from everypony." another guard spoke, gesturing to the boxes Deathstroke was hiding behind.
"He has a good point. I know she's our ruler, but is it really necessary to hide what they should know? And if they find out, what would happen?"
"I don't know. What's even worse is that she wants these to care of them."
"Well if we don't want to do what she deems is necessary, shouldn't we talk to her about it?"
"Maybe, but if I were you, I wouldn't mess with the sun goddess."
They continued to chat with each other as Deathstroke got the curiosity of the box contents.
"More prototypes?" he asked himself in his head, looking at all the boxes that were surrounding him. "I should take another look at this." He quietly pulls off the lid from one of the boxes and looks inside. He recognizes some of the contents, but a few were new to him.
"This doesn't look like something you would use to attack people with." he states to himself in his thoughts as he picks up the odd looking prototype. "Must be a component or something." placing it back and sliding the lid back on, he pulls the lid from another box. More strange-looking devices were inside.
"Yup, they're definitely components. Hmmm, what do we have here?" beside the components was a folded paper. Opening it up, a diagram of what seemed to be the constructs of the prototypes. Though he wasn't an engineer, it didn't take those brains to understand the parts needed to create this type of weaponry and armory.
"Let's see here, iron, gold, ancient crystal? Never heard of that." looking around the diagram more, he finds the source of the materials in the bottom right corner. "Ancient Crystals harvested from Crystal Empire. Crystal Empire? I'll have to look into that later." Deathstroke looked at the diagram more, and saw how the crystals were the conductors for the magical amplifications and power sources for the prototypes.
Unfortunately, the diagram only displayed blueprints of them, not specific info in particular. Slowly, he placed back the diagram inside, lifted the lid back onto the box and pushed it back into its original position.
"Something tells me the Crystal Empire doesn't exactly know what these crystals are being used for."
Thirty minutes later
The cart arrived at the front door of the palace. Deathstroke peeked from his hiding place and got a good view of the front doors. They were extremely large and were decorated with golden pictures.
"Everything in this city seems to be fancy-shmancy." he said to himself in his thoughts. "I can only imagine what the inside's like."
"Has the order arrived?" Another royal guard that was patrolling the front door said as he approached them.
"Correct. This is it."
While the guards were talking, Deathstroke quietly crawled out of the cart and ran behind a statue of a pony in a strange pose. Peeking, he sees the guards using their magic to unload the contents. The palace guard opened up the large doors, and the boxes were hauled inside.
"This is taking too long. I need a distraction." he thought as he pulled out his rifle and aimed for a pony-shaped head on top of the palace doors. "Besides, I personally think those decorations are hideous."
"BLAM!!! SNAP!!!"
"LOOKOUT!!!" One guard shouted to the others as the head of Princess Celestia made a thud as it partly buried itself into the ground. "What the hay?"
"Another one of those stupid pranksters!" The palace guard shouted. "Spread out and find him!" The guards ran in all directions, leaving the crates completely unguarded.
"Not exactly how I planned it..." Deathstroke thinks out loud, as his original plan was to draw their attention to him, not some guy who wasn't there. Not that he was complaining of course. "It'll do." He casually walked past the cart and stepped over the golden head into the palace. He wasn't surprised at what was inside.
The walls and columns were of exquisite design, like Greek architecture. The windows were tinted with multiple shades of blue, yellow, red, and some other colors. A large carpet covered a path from the entrance to the upstairs, which he presumed was also filled with such decoration. Though, he wasn't really surprised, it was more of a fact than a theory that everything would be so decorative. What was surprising is that it was empty.
"No residents in the palace. That's fortunate for me." Though he did expect some residence, like some royal guards, or family of the princesses. He stepped up the stairs slowly, staying cautious about any guards that could be nearby. A hallway was waiting for him at the top of the stairway. Three hallways, to be specific.
"Hmmmmmm..." To the left is a set of doors with room numbers above. To the right is a pathway heading to another hallway. Straight through is a large doorway.
"That must be the throne room." he determines, seeing a few royal guards in the distance. He didn't want to approach it quite yet, barging into the throne room with two powerful princesses was not a plan. He would have to figure out something first.
"Time for some recon." Pulling out his staff, he heads to the hallway to the right. Increasing his pace, he arrives at the start of another hallway. Placing himself on the wall, he peeks from behind. Not too far off are four guards.
"Search everywhere! I want him dead!" Deathstroke heard the voices of guards behind him.
"Damn." he exclaimed quietly, practically trapped, with guards coming from both sides. "Those guards came back sooner than I expected." He would have to stay away from the throne room, so he ran down the hallway to where the four guards were standing.
"YOU THERE!!! HALT!!!"
"So much for recon." he humorously thought out loud.
The four guards charged him, but he extended his staff and with four repetitive whacks, they were taken out. Deathstroke made no haste and dashed to the next hallway.
"Urggggghhhh..." Somehow he heard one of the guards make a moaning noise, which was quickly replaced by the shout of another guard.
"HALT IN THE NAME OF CELESTIA!!!" More guards were present, and he couldn't risk killing them. Up above he sees a chandelier.
"Sorry, but I'm not wasting my time with you knuckleheads."
"BANG!!! CRASH!!!"
"AUGGGGHH!" The guards scream in pain as the chandelier probably broke every bone in their body, which hurts even more as Deathstroke steps on them.
"If this keeps up, they'll eventually run out of royal guards." he was keeping himself entertained by the number of jokes he was making, even though it wouldn't be to those whom he was hurting. Up next was a set of stairs leading downwards.
"HALSTERIGTTHERE!!!!" Three guards shout at him at the same time. "DAMMIT JENKINS!!!"
"I'm starting to see why you fight like minimum wage mall cops." Chuckling to himself, he leaps a mighty height into the air, stomping hard on one of the guards, making a disturbing cracking sound as he landed. With his staff still in hand, he grabs the edge and spins it around it a circle, clearing the rest of the guards.
"Tell your princess that your 'Royal Guard' is a huge disappointment." Not just because they stood no chance against him, but because of the time Queen Chrysalis attacked Canterlot with no effort. But nevertheless, he continued to run down the stairs and into a large room. He continues to run through the wide room and stops near the center.
Guards were in the room as well, too many to count. The second they laid their eyes on him, they formed a circle around him, blocking any means of escape.
"Surrender! And we will show mercy." a female guard spoke. "You are outnumbered. You can come quietly if you cooperate." Their horns glowed as bright as Green Lantern's light.
"I've faced many of you pathetic guards." They slightly twitched at his insult. "You'd need at least five hundred of you to stand a chance against me."
That did it. One of the guards got pissed and fired without orders. Deathstroke back flipped just in time to dodge it. The blast took out another guard in the face. The guards make a gasp at this.
"FWOOM!!!!" He launches an energy blast at the top of a guard's head while he was still airborne. They were set to non-lethal, so they wouldn't kill the victim. The rest of the guards hastily charge him without notice.
"WHACK!!! SHOOM!!! CRACK!!! SIZZLE!!!" One by one the guards fell like dominoes. He made use of his energy properties within his staff to defeat the guards. Thankfully, none of the guards were testing the prototypes. In a few moments, the floor was covered with injured guards, many were moaning in pain, some were even crying, having their pride scarred by just one person.
"THERE HE IS!!!" More guards were approaching. "SEIZE HIM!!!" These guards were quite angry at the mess he made.
"What, you need your asses kicked too?" This only made them angrier. They charged at each other, with no intent of holding back.
"STOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!" Everyone halted to a stop and turns to see a familiar butter creamed pony.
"Fluttershy?" Deathstroke thought to himself, very confused.
"Everypony please! Let me handle this!" They were going to protest, but a guard standing beside Fluttershy made things clear.
"Fall back. She will handle it." His voice was extremely dry. The guards retreated a good distance, making lots of space for Fluttershy and Deathstroke. She approached him slowly.
"You followed me."
"I did. I convinced some guards back at Ponyville to take me in a chariot."
"Well why?"
"I couldn't just sit there while you, you-"
"That's why I said I would do this alone."
Silence surrounded them for at least a minute. The guards were watching in interest, though they didn't necessarily hear what they were saying. Deathstroke finally broke the silence.
"What do you want Fluttershy?"
"I want you to remain in the dungeons, I'd like you to have a proper meeting with my friends, and I don't want you to run around Equestria as a masked menace, wreaking havoc all over, if umm, I mean, well," As much as Deathstroke hated staying in a prison, let alone a dungeon, this was probably the easiest way to get the elements here.
"Will those guards cause trouble?"
"I'm not really sure, I-"
"Promise me this. If I don't get hurt by those guards or your princesses, or by your friends, then I will." It was a tough choice for her to make, but eventually, she decided.
"I promise. Guards, you can do your thing. But don't hurt him." Carefully, the guards approach him and form a magical hold on his hands, and they slowly headed off to the dungeon. Deathstroke made one last thought to himself before he headed there.
"And here comes the mountains of explaining to do."
"WOULD YOU QUIT IT!?" An angry guard's voice echoed throughout the entire dungeon, specifically at Deathstroke, who was sitting in a chair in his cell. For the past few hours he was annoyingly flipping his knife in the air, making a tick sound as it landed in his palm. The guards have been gritting their teeth so long, one may have broke.
"Problem officer?" Deathstroke didn't expect to have this much fun in a dungeon.
"I swear to Celestia, one day I will get you back." one guard said angrily, as both continued to guard his cell with steaming heads.
"Good luck with that." he replies, throwing his knife into the air again. The guards were about to retaliate once more, but then heard the hoofsteps of five ponies heading toward them. They turn to see six familiar faces.
"Alright, so can we take over from here?" Deathstroke heard one of them talk.
"Yes, miss." The guards answer as they leave the vicinity. The six ponies walk over and take their place, and he immediately recognizes them as Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash was in a wheelchair. An awkward minute of silence passes, until Twilight speaks up.
"What... are you?"
"Oh, he's-"
"I'm doing the intro here sweetheart." Everyone except Fluttershy gasps at his remark.
"You... can talk?"
"Well you can talk. Why can't I?" he replied. Meanwhile, Pinkie was looking at him in a rather strange way.
"What is it Pinkie?" Rarity noticed her strange looks.
"He kinda looks familiar..."
"Darling, it did appear at Pon-"
"Oh oh oh I know! He was that guy looking through those binoculars in the Everfree Forest!" Everyone gives her a look of shock, even Deathstroke, but slightly.
"Wait, Pinkie, let me get this straight." Twilight starts. "You knew about him? Well why didn't you tell us!?"
"I tried to at the hospital yesterday, remember?"
Yesterday, at Ponyville General
"Hey guys guess what?" Pinkie asked as she looked out the window to some odd creature looking elsewhere with binoculars.
"NO." Everyone else rudely replied.
"Okey Dokey!"
Back to Present Time
"Pinkie, some unknown creature roaming Equestria is not really a 'Guess What' situation!!!" Twilight was pretty pissed that she knew all along about him. They continued arguing, while the others looked at Deathstroke.
"What the hay are you supposed to be?" Rainbow Dash asked and yelled at the same time. He just flipped his knife like he didn't care.
"Hey! I asked you a question mister!" she rolled her wheelchair closer to him. He just sat there in his wooden chair. "Do you have any idea who I am!?"
"Rainbow Dash. Element of Loyalty. Currently training to become one of the Wonderbolts and claims to be the fastest flyer in Equestria. But then you went too slow and bought yourself a ticket to the hospital." Rainbow Dash widens her eyes, along with Rarity, Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie, who stopped arguing. Fluttershy had a worried look on her face.
"H-How did you-"
"Let's just say that I'm a fast learner."
"Ah don't believe ya." Applejack, who tipped her hat over, walked up to him. "No way you coulda' learned all dat so fast. Why don't ya start by tellin' the truth?" Deathstroke remained calm.
"Didn't expect any more from the Element of Honesty. A shame your bushel lost one apple." Applejack was confused, but took back a few steps as she figured out what he was talking about.
"Wha, why, how could ya-"
"Truth hurts, doesn't it?" With a smile under his mask, he shut her down. Applejack stepped back and started to tear, Fluttershy running to her side along with Twilight.
"How could you!?" Fluttershy couldn't take having one of her friends hurt really bad.
"Simple. Like so." he replied, gesturing to Applejack. Twilight then wore a stern look as she was next to stand up to him.
"Whatever you are, I have questions for you. A lot, of questions."
"How about this. you ask three? And let's not get too personal here."
"Fine. Fluttershy said she knew about you. How is that?"
"Well, I was a 'guest' in her cottage" Twilight gasps and looks at Fluttershy. She remains calm as she replies.
"I umm, gave him a room to stay in my cottage. So yes, it's true."
"Fluttershy! Why would you!?" Everyone was now glaring at her with confusion.
"He saved my life." Now they were wearing even more confused looks.
"Don't bother explaining. Those would be personal questions." Deathstroke told Twilight as he flipped his knife again.
"Alright, here's a different one. What are those, things you're wearing on your armor?"
"What do you think those are?" Twilight tapped her chin, examining the strange looking objects.
"Weapons."
"Good, you guessed right!" Deathstroke humorously clapped his hands in applause. Twilight was not amused at this. "One more question. Make it count." Twilight knew that she had to ask him something important. She perked her head up and smirked as she knew what to ask.
"Now why exactly would you need all those weapons?" It was a good question to ask, but one does no simply outsmart Deathstroke.
"Why do you ask questions you already know the answer to?"
"What?" Twilight was rather puzzled.
"You have all the clues. Everything you need to solve this riddle, if you can even call it that. But then again, I can't really expect you to, since missing a 'Friendship Letter' can give you mentally insanity, driving you to, well, you get the point. You remember the rest anyway." Deathstroke had learned so much about them from Fluttershy, so he knew exactly which buttons to push.
"Hey! That was-"
"Darling, allow me to handle this." This time it was Rarity to step up to the plate. Rarity poked her snout through the bars to make a good talk with him, since he was sitting quite a distance from them.
"Now, whatever you are, you fiendish ruffian, I will not allow you to-"
"Oh you. You're that fashion critique." Rarity slightly raised her eyebrows at her knowledge.
"Why yes! I am Equestria's most famous fashionista! Equestria will soon be bedazzled in my outfits!" She was now in an awkward pose, as if she was in one of her magnificent dresses.
"Don't get so ahead of yourself." Deathstroke says as he rolls his eyes behind his mask. "Besides, one of your hair strands are loose."
"WHAT!??! WHERE!? I MUST FIX THIS IMMEDIATELY!!!" Deathstroke was chuckling hard, not expecting her reaction to be that dramatic.
"I think you'd apply well for dramas." Rarity stopped panicking and glared daggers at him.
"Annnnyways..." Twilight, who was still pretty pissed, slightly shoved her aside. "The princesses want an audience with you. I'm going to place a magical hold on you while you head there." Glowing her horn, she forms holds on Deathstroke's arms, but he simply cuts them with his knife, slightly straining Twilight.
"What? How did you break it so easily?" she asked, implying much confusion in her tone.
"You didn't say please."
"But that doesn't-"
"You ran out of questions already, so don't even." Twilight frowned hard and grumbled as she placed the hold once more. It is cut again by the knife.
"Ah ah ah, you didn't say please." he was enjoying getting under her skin, as he saw her grit her teeth.
"Please."
"The whole thing." Deathstroke replies, no intent of stopping at it.
"Will you come with us please?"
"Slower."
"Will, you, come, with, us, please?"
"Faster."
"Will you come with us please?"
"Louder." Now she was really getting pissed. Trying to keep calm, she tries her best not to explode while she asks one last time in the nicest way possible.
"Will you come with us please?"
"Finally. Why was that so hard?" he teases, with Twilight moaning loudly. Her friends were snickering a little during the process. Twilight places the magical hold on him, and they head off to the throne room. Pinkie bounces alongside Deathstroke, a wide smile engulfing her face.
"I can't wait to introduce you to everypony! We could play games, eat cupcakes, throw parties,"
"Do I look like the type of person who would do all that?" Pinkie rapidly taps her chin.
*EPIC GASP*
"What?" Deathstroke asks as Pinkie was still epic gasping.
"That's it!"
"What's what?"
"I should tooooooootally have emergency stashes of games, cupcakes, and parties everywhere in case of a I'mnotsomeonewhodoesallthatstuff emergency!" Deathstroke just stares at her awkwardly.
"Well, I don't even know what you just said."
"Oh it's okay! I'm sure the writer can edit that out!" Pinkie replies, and by the way Pinkie, I will not edit that out.
"Oh it's okay writer!" Pinkie stares at me with a wide smile at what seems to be no one it particular. Deathstroke continues walking, as if nothing happened. Twilight decides to advise him in the presence of the two rulers.
"When you're in the throne room, I want you to remain polite to Princess Celestia and Luna."
"And why should I?"
"Because they're our rulers! Do you want to get sent to the moon, or the sun?" He remained calm at the sound of the what the punishments were, since he learned about Luna's banishment to the moon. Remaining silent, they headed up a flight of stairs, Twilight having to help Rainbow Dash up them. Then they went a few more hallways, and approached the throne room. Two guards opened the doors for the six, and glared at Deathstroke.
"Now behave. Starting, now." Twilight ordered Deathstroke, who ignored what she just told him. Inside the throne was a fancy carpet and a large set of stained glass windows, each depicting an interesting picture. There was also Shining Armor, wearing many bandages and in a complex wheelchair. With him was an alicorn mare, which he easily presumed was Cadence.
"Princess Katins!" Twilight was excited to see her foal sitter visit. He watched as they made an awkward dance.
"Sunshine Sunshine Ladybugs Awake! Clap your hooves and do a little Shake!!!" They sang in unison as they ended the little hoofshake shaking their rear ends.
"Twily!" Shining Armor wheeled over to her.
"Shiny!" Twilight responded by giving him a hug.
"Ow ow ow!"
"Oh, sorry Shiny..." Twilight quickly apologized as she got off him. "By the way, what are you two doing here?"
"Well, Celestia invited us to see this um, creature roaming Equestria?"
"She's talkin' about me." Katins and Shining Armor look at Deathstroke, his expression hidden behind his mask.
"What the..." Katins slightly exclaims, but Shining Armor squints at him.
"He looks kind of familiar..." Shining Armor continues his attempts at recognizing him.Unfortunately, his memory was still foggy from yesterday.
"What exactly are you? And how can you talk?" Katins was now curious about him, giving him more confused looks.
"You ponies are very persistent with the questions, aren't you. Besides, I apparently have an audience with the princess." He turns away and walks toward the throne.
"Sister, what shall we do with it?"
"I am unsure. I am also unsure if we should trust him."
"I think we should give it a chance."
"Very well then." Deathstroke and the other eight ponies walked up to them, some guards standing behind them. Every one of them bowed. Well, everyone except Deathstroke. Twilight nudges him on the leg.
"What are you doing? You have to bow before Equestria's rulers!"
"They're not my rulers." Celestia and Luna raise their eyebrows at him talking.
"So you are sentient." Celestia stated very sternly. "Everypony, I have brought forth this meeting to discuss what we should do with this, creature." Celestia stated, both princesses glaring at Deathstroke. The magical hold was still on his arms, but he could easily break them with the nth plates on his hand. The others watched in worry, not knowing what could happen.
"Why don't we start off by introducing yourself?" Deathstroke had to tread carefully through this talk.
"Believe me, I'm many things. But your enemy is not one of them." Both Celestia and Luna hoped that this was some sort of peace offering. "However, I did run into many problems ever since my arrival."
"And what could these 'problems' be?"
"First one's in Whitetail Woods. Someone, or, somepony tried to assault me. Well they failed. Miserably." he secretly mocks Rainbow Dash.
"Do you know who this pony was?"
"Oh sure, she's sittin' over there in that wheelchair." he gestures to Rainbow Dash. Everyone gives her a confused look, and Twilight is the first to ask.
"Rainbow, you... assaulted him?"
"What? No I didn't! I don't remember anything like that!"
"When you were down for the count, I injected you with a syringe that made you forget about the last hour of your life. You never knew how you ended up in the hospital." This just confuses them even more.
"You have the technology to do that?" Twilight asks.
"No more questions from you, geekwad." He turns back to the princesses while Twilight slightly grumbles, along with Rainbow.
"Anyways, in the badly named Everfree Forest, I was being searched for by some guards. Including Shining Armor." "Shining Armor and Katins look at each other in confusion. "I took down all of them. Including Shiny over there." Shining tries to put the pieces together, and widens his eyes at his success.
"Wait, so you're the one who-"
"Bought you a ticket to painful surgery. Yes, that's me." Shining Armor remains very confused. Deathstroke continued with his short story which got the interest of the two rulers.
"I hitchhiked a train ride to Canterlot. On the way I ran into some of the so called 'Wonderbolts'."
"You fought the Wonderbolts?" Rainbow Dash nearly jumps out of her wheelchair. "I bet they were like, POW! BAM! KABOOM!!!"
"That's what I did to them." Rainbow stops with the sound effects and looks at him. "Turns out they were slow. Really slow."
"What? Where are they now?"
"Well, I threw them off the train after their humiliating defeat. Don't worry, they're still alive. I can't say the same for their flight though." Rainbow Dash was horrified, as she could only imagine what happened to them. "By now some guards probably found them and picked them up. But that's aside the point." He shuffles around a little so his feet won't go numb.
"You probably know the rest of it, so I won't waste my time with this."
"A mercenary." Luna determines. "I have figured it out. You work as a mercenary."
"Enough. We are swaying from our current topic." Celestia declares, standing up. "If it is true that you are a mercenary, then I cannot let you roam around Equestria. Someone could hire you to target ponies and execute them without prejudice." That word made the other ponies slightly cringe.
"She's trying to rid me since I'm one of the suspects that ravaged her special order" he determines to himself in his thoughts.
"Celestia, wait." Celestia and Luna barely hear Fluttershy speak up.
"What is it?" she asks, turning to her.
"I know he's a mercenary, but you can't do anything bad to him!"
"And why is that?"
"It's hard to believe, but, he saved my life." Everyone now stares at her in disbelief.
"But Fluttershy why would-"
"I think he's a good person. Can't you give him a chance?" Celestia and Luna were in deep thought, Celestia trying to find an excuse to rid him. She merely sighs in defeat.
"Very well then. He will be-"
"Not so fast." Deathstroke interrupts. "So now that you actually decided to give me a chance, it's time to get down to business.You see, I don't belong here, but neither do some people I know. I'm not the only uninvited guest here." The princesses look in confusion.
"Some, 'colleagues' traveled here too. I met with one of them. Applejack here probably knows what I'm talking about." Applejack taps her chin, and perks up.
"How could I forget!? You were there!"
"When your precious sister was abducted. Yes." All the ponies, specifically Rainbow and Shining, were still trying to process everything they just heard over the meeting. The others, however, were shocked that he knew a lot. "I could probably help."
"You can find her?"
"Yes. At some conditions though." He turns to Celestia. "I'm definitely going to need guards. But were not leaving right now, we need to wait for their next move. Have your guards prepare their supplies. For now, I'm staying here. Besides, I think they want to have a talk with me." He gestures to the six ponies and Shining Armor, who was glaring daggers at him. He then raises his hands, showing the seal was broken, making Celestia and Luna slightly gasp.
"I should be off now." Turning, he walks nonchalantly toward the eight ponies.
"Hold on." Deathstroke stops and turns back to the princesses. "We have forgotten about something. Yesterday, we felt a strange energy source dispatch to high levels rather quickly. Do you know anything like it?"
"Well, no. Probably another one of Sparklies's failed spells." That was the last straw.
Twilight charged her horn and tried to hold Deathstroke in place.
"Rrgghh!" He was being overwhelmed by the aura of magic surrounding him, but with his nth plates, he broke out of it easily.
"Aggggghhh!" The sudden breakage of the spell caused Twilight's horn to become unstable, magic spewing everywhere. "H-H-Help!!!!"
"Twily!!!" Shining Armor shouts, as Celestia, Luna, and the other ponies try to help her, but the energy keeps them away. Twilight was forcing magic out of her horn when Deathstroke broke the target area, making it go in one direction. The magic was making cracks in the floor and the ceiling, and even shatters some windows making glass fly all over. However, he had an idea.
Forcing his way toward her, he grabs her horn with his nth armor on his hands. The energy tries its best to push back, but dissipates as it touches the nth metal. Pushing harder, he makes sure the magic goes nowhere at all, and soon the surrounding aura of magic in the room ceases. Twilight stops glowing and drops to the floor with a thud. Everyone looks at the incident awkwardly.
"You should get her to a hospital." he suggests very dryly. "And remind me not to piss her off again."
"Mmmmmm, huh!?" Twilight snaps her eyelids upward and quickly shut them at the glaring light from outside her window.
"Twily, are you alright?" Reopening her eyes, she sees Shining Armor standing in front of her along with Cadence and her five friends. She also finds herself lying down, and trying to get up only results in pain coursing through some parts of her body.
"Ow!"
"Careful, you took quite a blow back there." Shining Armor tell Twilight, who was looking around in confusion.
"Ugggggghhhh..." she moans at first. "What happened?" Pinkie pronks in front of her and inhales deeply.
"Well, you got really pissed at how he was making fun of you, so you tried to hold him, he broke free, you messed up your magic, and he saved you from blowing up!" All of that was said in a very short span of time, and it didn't help Twilight understand the situation.
"Errr, what she's tryin' t'say is," Applejack explains, walking to the side of her bed. "ya got kinda pissed for his annoyance, and you tried to get you back, which led to a disaster, but he sorta saved ya." she finishes, smiling awkwardly.
"Well I still don't trust him!" Everyone turned to see Rainbow crossing her hooves. "Remember how he broke my wings? And the Wonderbolts!?" she was now shouting angrily with her hooves flailing in the air.
"Well, where is he now?" Cadence is the one to answer.
"Right now, he's being held in one of the deluxe guest rooms, you know, those spacey ones? A force field was placed around it so he won't escape." she sums up. "By the way, we were planning to have a talk with him as well when you wake up. Oh and be careful when you stand up."
"Huh?" Twilight removes her bed sheets and widens her eyes at the number of bandages on her body. "What in Celestia's name!?" Shining Armor bites his tongue and speaks.
"Ummmm, I'm not going to get too scientific here, but whatever you did, well, injured you." Twilight tries to stand up, but only results in stumbling down.
"This is going to be a looooong walk." she moans to herself as she groggily stands up.
Twenty minutes later
Deathstroke awkwardly waited in his room for his next talk. Although he could easily escape, he decided to save it for later.
"Wonder what Zod's up to." he thinks out loud as he examines one of his pistols. "Finding their secret hideout won't be easy. Neither is dealing with Zod when I get there. If I get there." On cue, he hears the opening of the door.
"Well look who finally arrived." he sarcastically welcomed, implying much impatience in his voice.
"It's not just him you're dealing with." he hears as more ponies gather inside the room, along with Rainbow in her wheelchair, who just spoke. "I'm not finished with you yet, mister!"
"You're right. I only led you halfway to death." That made Rainbow and some other ponies step back a little. "Don't be scaredy cats. Most of the time I come up with comebacks like that."
"Not funny mister!" Rainbow wheeled herself over to him, face to face. "You messed with the wrong pony!"
"Except I don't regret it." Deathstroke finishes, and raising his leg from his sitting position, he kicks Rainbow's wheelchair, making her roll straight into a wall.
"BONK!!!" The wheelchair tipped over as it rolled, making her hit her head on the wall.
"OW!!!" The pain coursed through her head, and through the bruise which didn't finish healing.
"There. Now you're finished." he humorously said to Rainbow as she was seeing stars fly around her. Shining Armor and Cadence approach him as the squeaking of his wheelchair is the only sound that engulfs the room.
"Whoever you are, I'm have some unfinished business with you, mister." Some of the other ponies enter, with Rarity helping Rainbow Dash up. She was going to protest, but stopped as they saw Shining sitting directly in front of Deathstroke. "You injure me badly, make me go through the painful surgery, and injure my sister as well!"
"I saved your sister from, whatever was going to happen. The band-aids were the side effects. So unless you want me to make you go through more surgery, you better get out of my face." Shining Armor was pretty pissed.
"Shining, let me try." Cadence suggests as she rolls him away. "Alright. Now why did you injure my husband?"
"Well, they didn't take kindly that I resisted arrest."
"You didn't have to hurt my husband that bad."
"He should be thankful that I didn't kill him. Because that's what happens to most of my enemies." Three of the ponies in the room slightly gasp. Cadence glares at him.
"Fine. You win." Though it wasn't really something you would call a victory.
"Alright, anyone else here have a problem with me?" No one makes a sound. "Good. Because I'm hungry. It would be great if you politely let me have dinner."
"Silly you!" Pinkie exclaims, obviously not affected by the incident. "It's only midday! Maybe we should have lunch instead!"
"Yeah yeah whatever." he nonchalantly replies.
"Do me a favor." Shining Armor tells him. "Don't cause any more trouble. You got that?"
"Fine. But no promises." And with the glowing of Shining Armor's horn, he slowly took down the force field.
Ten minutes later
Deathstroke and the eight ponies reserved their dinner in the palace's dining room. They were sitting at a large circular table, with some glaring eyes from Rainbow and Shining Armor. The dining room was private, so no commotion would be caused.
"So what's on the menu?" he asked like any normal customer would.
"Depends. What do you eat?" Twilight responds.
"Just get me some fruits and a coffee and I'll be fine."
"Alright then. By the way, we privately warned the waiters about you, and how they should react normally." Deathstroke didn't respond to that. A pink pony wearing a maiden dress approached them. He saw her slightly look at him, but she did her best to continue her job.
"How may I help you today?"
"The lunch special, please. Oh, and a fruit bowl along with a coffee." The waitress writes down their order on a paper.
"Okay, we'll have that ready ASAP!" she says enthusiastically, and leaves the vicinity within a few seconds.
"Hey there!" Deathstroke turns to see Pinkie directly in his face."
"What do you want?"
"I just realized something! I didn't introduce you to all of my-"
"I know all your names alright? Just sit down."
"Okey dokey lokey!" And in a jiffy, she sits back down.
"Well what about you?" He turns to Twilight, who was still wearing a bunch of bandages. "We don't know your name."
"And I plan to keep it that way for now." he replies dryly. "By the way, good job on nearly blowing yourself up." Twilight only gives him a poker face in return.
"Look, I know I tried to get back at you, but I-"
"That's not my point. You injured your horn too."
"Wait, what!?" Twilight points her pupils upward to see a bandage covering her horn as well. Quickly, she bounces her head to Shining. "Why didn't you tell me!?" He looks at Cadence awkwardly.
"Shining, I thought you were going to tell her!"
"What? Same with me!"
"Oh no oh no oh no oh no!!!" Twilight starts to panic hard.
"Your order is here." Everyone turns to see a unicorn holding multiple plates. Slowly, he levitates them onto the table, along with the fruit bowl and a coffee, which Deathstroke takes. Everyone takes their food and starts to eat, with Twilight last. Applejack looks at Deathstroke, who drank his coffee while slightly uncovering his face.
"Tell me, whatever yer name is, what are ya hiding behind that mask?" he finishes sipping and places his mask back on.
"Don't dig too deep Applejack. It'll only lead to trouble." Applejack glares at him.
"Hey you!" Rainbow almost shouts at him. "You know, you've been kind of a pain in the butt lately. If you really wanna mess with us, then why don't we take it outside?"
"I agree darling." Rarity joins the conversation. "You are quite an annoyance. Not to mention you insult fashion with that horrible outfit and that mask!"
"And he made me injure my horn!" Twilight rants.
"You know, I don't see any of you trusting him!" Fluttershy was angry that they were ranting at him at once. "I want all of you to give him a chance! But you're not!" Meanwhile, Deathstroke just sips his coffee. The ponies stop ranting at him.
"Y'know, I jes' realized something." Applejack stands up to declare her statement. "We're s'posed to be savin' mah sister 'ere! Why are we just sittin' 'ere enjoyin' dinner?"
"Because we can't just go look everywhere. We need to be patient." Deathstroke answers.
"Ah can't wait! We have to start lookin' raht now!" she slammed her hooves into the table, making it shake slightly.
"Laughter, Kindness, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, and Magic." he points out. "Each of you possess these qualities. But none of you have patience. You want to save your sister, you follow my advice." Applejack grumbles at the fact that he just corrected them like some kindergarten teacher.
"Incompetent waiter! I expect you to have some respect for somepony like me!" Everyone turns to the commotion, and the ponies wince at who it is.
"What in Equestria is he doing here!?" Rarity complains to the others. The rude pony turns and wears a face of disgust. He and his bodyguards approach their table.
"Now what are you supposed to be?" he rudely asks Deathstroke, who only sips his coffee nonchalantly. "Why are you incompetent ponies sitting with this vile creature!?" again, he ignores him.
"Fool!!! Do you have any idea who I am?" Now he was in his face.
"Of course I do. You're the bumbling, spoiled prince of Canterlot. I suppose the royal bastard would like some of my coffee?" he jokingly gestures his coffee toward him. Prince Blueblood was awestruck at first, then with a sense of rage, he knocked the coffee straight out of his hand.
"Well apparently not." He determined jokingly. Time slowed as he flipped over Blueblood from his chair. He then brought down his hands and flipped him onto the chair upside down.
"CRACK!!!" The coffee mug hit Blueblood's skull and coffee was dripping all over his face. It gives him a strong burning sensation, and many moments of silence pass.
"You. Will. PAY FOR THAT!!!" Blueblood was now steaming, along with the dripping coffee on his head. He recklessly charged Deathstroke, who leaped over him and onto the table. The other ponies were watching in interest, Rarity was even snickering.
"Your highness, allow me to serve you tonight's special." Deathstroke jokingly mocked as he kicked up one of the plates. Another kick sent the plate flying straight toward Blueblood, who turned just in time to have salad splattered all over his face.
"GUA-" He tries to call for his bodyguards, but another plate full of food muffles his voice, not to mention the guards are watching in humor as well. Suddenly, all of the ponies started laughing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" Rainbow Dash laughed the hardest, and she brought up her own plate and threw it at the annoying prince. This made the others join in as well, even the guards.
"HA!!! GOTCHA!!!"
"TAKE THIS YOU RUFFIAN!!!"
"FOR EQUESTRIA!!!"
"YEAH!!! FOOD FIGHT!!!"
Meanwhile, Deathstroke exited the scene as he wiped off some food on his armor.
"That should keep them busy for a bit. Now it's time to get down to business." Carefully opening the window, he ducks to barely avoid a cake flying toward him. Ignoring it, he climbs outside and shuts the window behind him. He slowly makes his way up onto the roof of the castle.
"If Zod's here, then I have business to get done." he says to himself as he climbs onto the roof. Looking around, he sees a tower with a balcony.
"An observatory" he determines. "Just what I need." Running to the bottom of the observatory, he starts to climb it. Thankfully there were a lot of ledges he could use to get to the top. He pulls himself up onto the balcony. With the telescope in hand, he views the surrounding area.
"There's Ponyville. And some broken houses. We brawled in that area, so the Brain flew in that direction." He points the telescope slowly toward The Brain's direction of travel. "It leads to that forest over there. Just need to find out where they're hiding. He examines the telescope and finds a dial. Turning it, he zooms into the forest.
"Don't see anything through all that foliage. Then again, an underground base doesn't seem very... fitting for someone like Zod. He looks around more with a telescope, and sees an oddity in the mountain ranges. Zooming in more, he sees a small opening in the mountain, and inside were some people. Not ponies, actual human people.
"Ah hah." He quietly exclaimed. "Ya sneaky little devil."
The food fight lasted quite a bit, and when it was over, Blueblood rushed out of the room angrily with his bodyguards following. The eight ponies made a mess of the room, and they were on the floor laughing hysterically.
"HA! That was awesome!"
"Woo wee! Let's do that again!"
"Ummm, girls..."
"Blueblood sure got what he deserved!"
"Girls..."
"Let's have the same-"
"Girls!!!" Everyone turned to Fluttershy.
"What is it Flutters?" Pinkie asked enthusiastically.
"He's gone!!!"
"Who's gone?" Rarity asks. Suddenly, she realizes that Deathstroke is gone. "What!? Where did..."
"What do we do!?" Twilight was now panicking along with Cadence and Shining Armor. "What do we do waddowedo!?"
"We have to go after him! No one's leaving the castle on my watch!" Rainbow Dash shouts, and with that, they all split up to find him, Rainbow Dash being last since she was in a wheelchair.
The Throne, same time
Celestia was currently handling some papers at the moment with the help of her sister. A pile of papers was being levitated in front of them by Celestia.
"Tia, is it wise to trust him?"
"I don't know Luna, but Applejack is desperate to save her sister, I just couldn't say no."
"I understand."
After their small talk, they continue to file the papers, until:
*SHOVE* A loud shove is heard across the room. The two princesses perk their heads up to see Deathstroke entering.
"Halt!" A guard blocks his entry. "Your entrance is unauthorized!"
"Neither is your stupidity." Deathstroke says as he pushes him aside. Celestia and Luna place their papers down and step down from the throne.
"Give me a good reason why you can barge into the royal throne and-"
"I know where they are. Are you're guards ready?" They both stand their for a bit, then answer.
"They are prepared. I don't suppose you have some way of reaching those 'colleagues' of yours?"
"I have a plan. Listen closely, I don't like repeating myself. Tell me, do you have a way to teleport me back here?"
"I do." Celestia uses her magic to pop up a small bright ball and levitates it to him. "This works as a homing signal, this way I know where you are in means for me to reach my teleportation spell to you."
"Good." Deathstroke replies as he takes the device in his palm. "Make sure your men are equipped with flares, we'll use them to signal you to get us back. Hopefully your royal guards are up to the task."
"You won't be taking the Royal Guard." Luna steps in, her sister looking at her with uncertainty. "You will take the Night Guard, and I suggest you depart at night. It will help you stay unnoticed."
"Good thinking." Deathstroke slightly compliments. "What is the Night Guard anyway?"
"A special division a guards who patrol Equestria overnight. They are better trained and have proven to be more effective then the Royal Guard. The standard guards usually only patrol the daytime." He pondered this for a few moments.
"That's odd. if the Night Guard patrol the night, how come the standard guards were patrolling Ponyville? Why were they the one's who attacked me on the train?" he asks himself in his head. "Celestia's hiding something, not only to Twilight and her friends, but even her sister."
"BAM!!!" The door is once again burst open with eight ponies following behind.
"THERE HE IS!!! GET 'IM!!!" a reckless Rainbow Dash shouts, but no one does so.
"Good thing you're here. We're departing on our rescue mission at dusk."
"What?" Shining Armor and Cadence exclaim in unison. "You know where they-"
"Yes I do."
"Celestia, please allow me to come." Shining Armor requests, with Celestia once again being uncertain.
"Shining Armor, you are still injured from your encounter with him. I do not believe that would be wise."
"Don't worry, just a minor bruise and my leg's good enough to go- AAAUUUUGGGGHH!!!" he finishes with a scream of pain as Deathstroke stabs a syringe into his leg.
"What did you do!?" Cadence shouts at him, as the six other ponies look in disgust and worry.
"It's an anesthetic, it'll help relieve the pain in your leg." he states as he pushes in the last drop of liquid and forcefully removes the syringe. Shining Armor stops wallowing in pain and moves his hind leg around a bit.
"...It doesn't hurt anymore, uhhh thanks?"
"Just get on your, hooves. we're heading to that forest."
"That one?" We can take a chariot there you know."
"Alright, but we're not flying. We stop at the forest and go on foot. No questions." He then turns to Celestia. "You know your role in this. Keep watch, will ya?"
"I already know what to do. In the meantime, make sure you truly are prepared."
"I already am." He turns to see Twilight and Cadence by Shining Armor's side as he tries to stand up. He wobbles a bit, but after a few seconds, he manages to stand like he isn't injured at all.
"Huh, we should make those here!" he suggests jokingly, looking at Deathstroke. Cadence and Twilight look at him in worry.
"Stay safe, will you handsome?" Cadence flirts with him.
"I will, beloved."
"Hey BBBFF, you'll come back right?" Her eyes implied much worry. Shining Armor looks at her for a few seconds, then replies.
"I'll come back Twily. I promise." He then walks outside along with Deathstroke, who stops halfway.
"Word of advice Celestia..." he starts with a high tone. "Next time you name a city, don't put a horse pun in it." Celestia is left baffled with Luna snickering, while Deathstroke merely smirked under his mask, and with that, they left the room.
Three hours later
In a room crowded with chariots, Deathstroke and Shining Armor were getting ready to depart.
"So tell me, how exactly will we escape with Applebloom?" Deathstroke pulls out the small sphere.
"You see this? This is a tracking device. When we're ready, we'll send a flare high into the air and Celestia will lock on to the signal and teleport us back." he explains.
"Remind me why I'm working with you."
"Don't blame me, it was your idea to come along." He states as he tosses a small bag into the chariot.
"You know, you haven't actually told us your name..."
"Not right now." Deathstroke replies dryly. Meanwhile, the night guards occasionally stare at him, some even giving him the stink eye. But nevertheless, they focus on their current task.
"Alright, is that all?" Shining Armor asks the night guards.
"Yes sir." The pegasi knights attached themselves to the two chariots they were taking. The design of their wings were very different from those of the standard pegasi, they resembled the wings of a bat.
"Kinda reminds me of someone I know." Deathstroke thinks to himself. "I wonder what he'd think if he knew what I'm doing right now."
"Hey." He turns to Shining Armor, who gestures him to get in the chariot. He walks over and sits in the back row with him. "How did I get stuck with you..."
"Enjoy while you can." Deathstroke jokingly tells him as he lays back his hands in a relaxed position. Shining Armor only grunts in return. The chariot sped faster and faster toward the forest, almost as fast as a modern car. Almost.
"Tell me, who are these guys we're dealing with?"
"They're pretty powerful, remember that. Don't underestimate them, they each have their own... let's just call it magic for now. Believe me, they can make one helluva mess. Remember the attack on Ponyville?" Shining Armor thinks back to yesterday.
"Yeah I remember, they called it a brain in a jar. He caused a lot of mayhem, even killed some ponies." he states as he also remembers seeing a dead body from his hospital window, and the sight makes him cringe a little.
"That was just one of them. The others are the same as my species."
"Which is?"
"Human."
"Human you say? Yeah I coulda' sworn I knew what you were, but for some reason I just couldn't get it out. Speaking of which, there's this pony in Ponyville who's way into humans. Lyra, I believe." he tells him as the chariot they're riding makes a small bump on the ground. "Probably didn't get to see you due to all the commotion caused in Ponyville, not to mention our knowledge of you and whoever we're dealing with is classified info."
"Huh. Well if she does somehow find out about me, don't expect me to answer all her fan mail." They both snickered at the thought.
"You know, I just realized something." Shining Armor begins. "That mask has a strange design, and it only has one eye hole. Why's that?"
"Perhaps I'll tell you later. For now, we have to get to the forest and set up a rendezvous point. From there, we'll scale the location of the hostage. That's when things get heated." he explains to Shining Armor. "You know what's hard to believe? I'm sitting next to the guy who tried to attack me."
"Don't think that's hard for you only. I'm still piecing together what happened yesterday."
"And hopefully this ride ends soon. We need to get there before something happens with the hostage."
"Indeed. It's already hard enough for the Apple family to accept that one of their family members has been abducted." he recalls.
"Yeah, what do think will happen when they learn that she's been killed?" This draws the attention of two other sitting night guards, but they don't turn their heads.
"They would actually do that?" Shining Armor asks worryingly.
"This isn't their first time doing so. And have you forgotten that you're working with a mercenary?"
"I know that, but this is a child we're talking about! Why are we even relaxing here about it?"
"Abduction, terrorism, murder, I sat through all of it, even did some of it myself." The captain could only look at him with terror in his eyes. "None of it seems to even faze me anymore. I've been through it all."
Twenty minutes later
The two chariots skidded to a stop in front of the forest. Some guards pulled the bags out and the others stood in front of the large forest.
"I hope you know what you're doing." Shining Armor tells Deathstroke. "And by the way, I still don't like you for making me go through surgery."
"If you want I can make you go through it again."
*Sigh* "Fine, you win. Again. Alright guards! Let's get moving." Everyone follows Deathstroke and Shining Armor into the dark forest. The foliage made it very dark, but the night guards had night vision and Deathstroke had experience in the dark. Unfortunately, Shining Armor had neither.
*bump* *bump* *bump* *whump*
"How are you doing back there?" Deathstroke humorously asks, implying hilarity in his tone.
"Don't even ask. I'm practically blind."
"Well don't blame me if you end up in the hospital again." Deathstroke remarks very jokingly, snickering at the end of his sentence.
"Shut up and keep moving." They continue to trek through the black night bestowing upon them.
"I really hope we won't be too late." Shining states.
"Well we have to set up a rendezvous point first."
"What? Why?"
"I know these guys. They'd probably have something waiting for us in this forest, now that I encountered one of them."
"Alright, any idea what they would be?"
"Think of them of snare traps that kill you." That made him shiver for a millisecond. "Except they're not necessarily traps you lay on the ground. More like, well, it's hard to describe."
"I think you've described it thorough enough." Shining Armor replies with a shiver. "By the way, where are we heading?"
"Toward those mountains."
"Why?"
"You'll see when we get there." For another good fifteen minutes they trekked through the maze of trees.
"Urggh." They turn to see one of the night guards slightly cringe.
"What's wrong soldier?" another guard asks.
"Nothing, I just felt something strange course through me..." he tries to use his magic, but his horn doesn't glow. "Something's not right. I can't use my magic."
"You can't?" he then tries to use his, but to no avail. "I can't either. What's going on?"
"Hold on." Deathstroke looks around the area, scanning the ground and some trees. He crouches down and stares at some odd device.
"What is it?" Shining Armor approaches him.
"Field dampeners."
"Field what now?"
"Field dampeners. These are used to prevent teleportation. That means our escape plan won't work out the way we wanted it to."
"Dang." Shining Armor remarks.
"That's not all. These must have been designed to prevent any unicorn magic, like Celestia's. Though I already mentioned her teleportation won't work inside this dampening field."
"Can't we shut it down?"
"If we try to disable it, it might alert the one who put them there, so we can't run that risk. I'm not sure what they're here for though, could be any of the three I just mentioned. My best guess is that they're used to keep a low profile."
"I see. So what do we do now?"
"This is our rendezvous point right here." Deathstroke steps outside the dampening field and creates a mark on one of the trees. "When we have the hostage, we make a fast escape outside the dampening field, and that's when we send up the flare. For now, we rest."
"But why?" Shining asks.
"You just like to ask questions, don't you. Haven't you learned to simply follow orders during your military training?"
"Well..."
"Because that's what I learned in my training." Deathstroke sits down and leans his back onto a tree.
"You worked as a guard in your world?"
"Yes. A soldier to be specific. Get some rest, we leave in an hour or so." The injured captain just stared at him for a few moments, then sat down to his own tree. Deathstroke gets up and walks away.
"Where do think you're going?"
"I won't be long." Ignoring him, he walks a good distance into the foliage, some other guards looking at him.
A few minutes pass, during that time period the other guards decided to make themselves comfy while it lasted. On the other hand, Shining Armor was shuffling his hooves nervously and couldn't take it.
"I should go after him." he says to himself out loud. Slowly getting up, and follows the trail Deathstroke went in.
"What could he be up to?" he thinks to himself. "He better not be up to no good." Glowing his horn, he makes a bright light shine ahead of him, though not to bright. It was a relief that Deathstroke didn't head in the direction of the dampening field. He comes to a sudden stop as he sees a figure up ahead. Squinting, he sees Deathstroke up ahead, but something was... different. It seemed as though he could see the back of his head. He gasps when he sees him holding his mask in his hand. Deathstroke slowly turns, and reveals his face.
He had strands of white hair sticking up from his head, and he also had a crystal white beard. An eye patch covered his right eye, and his expression, not amused.
"Ya just couldn't let me go could ya."
"Well sorry." Shining Armor apologizes. After a few moments of awkward silence, he starts to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Heh heh, nice eye patch gramps! Ha ha ha!" Deathstroke doesn't really understand why that's so funny. "Why do you even heh, need it?"
"I was shot." Shining Armor's laughing dies down a bit.
"By who?" *snicker*
"My ex-wife." Now the laughing died down completely. Deathstroke had only told him about his eye patch to shut him up. He places the mask back on and heads back.
"Get your ass back there. I don't know what kind of training you took, but I sure as hell don't know how you even got to call the shots." he insults him, implying much frustration in his voice. Soon, he disappeared from the captain's sight, who was just standing there baffled.
*shink* *shink* *shink* *shink* The night guards could hear Deathstroke sharpening his sword with a rock. He was only doing this to get his mind running on what to do, especially since nth metal doesn't really wear out. He was sitting away from the other night guards so he could have his personal space.
"Hey." He turns and secretly glares at the annoying captain under his mask. "Look, I'm sorry."
"You should be."
"But that's not the point I'm getting to. What happened?"
"What do you mean what hap-"
"You KNOW what I'm talking about. Something happened between you and your wife. What. Happened. I want to know." It seemed as if he wasn't kidding.
"Well why should I tell you?"
"We've already gotten straight that you're a merc n'all, but you must have been... different if you had a wife before. I'm being serious here. What were you before you put that mask on?" A few minutes of silence pass before Deathstroke speaks.
"You know, few people know my story. So listen closely. And don't interrupt."Like a good soldier, he sits down beside him and listens closely, while the masked mercenary sheathed his sword. "It began when I joined the military, having lied about my age." Already he is fascinated by his story.
"I rose through the ranks and became an expert in guerilla warfare. Then later on I trained under Captain Adeline Kane, who was amazed at how skilled I was." his voice was very dry and it was easy for Shining Armor to tell that he wasn't happy about sharing his story. "She fell in love." He widened his eyes as he knew part of what would happen next.
"I mastered every fighting form they showed me, and I earned a high rank. I was a legendary soldier. Then later I was married with Adeline." Shining Armor looks down and thinks about himself and how similar they both were.
"I was chosen for an experiment, an attempt to create super soldiers. It had nasty side effects, I went mad and attacked everyone, and it took time for me to recover. The experiment was abandoned and I was discharged from the military due to the side effects." Deathstroke thoroughly explains. "But despite everything that happened, the experiment worked, considering how I kicked your butt yesterday." He regains some of his humor and clutches his fist, while Shining Armor slightly frowns.
"Since I was no longer in the military, I had no way to support my family. So I worked as an assassin without my family noticing. That's when tragedy struck." Deathstroke then looks up to the night sky. "My son was kidnapped to use as a blackmail to find out who my client was. I managed to save him, but he was rendered mute when part of his throat was slit." Shining Armor wore a look of shock on his face learning that he had a son, and more importantly how he nearly died.
"Adeline found out. With a gun in her hand, she took my right eye. That's why this eye patch isn't a laughing matter bub." he gestures to the eye patch under his mask and remains silent. For the next minute of silence, Shining Armor felt guilty for bringing back his past, let alone insulting it.
"So... what happened next?"
"What do you think? I carried on my career as an assassin. This armor has seen countless deaths, and so far doesn't show any sign of stopping. I'm the world's greatest assassin. Very likely Equestria's too." Shining Armor only looked at him in both amazement and fear, because he could very well be a threat to even Celestia.
"That's what you're known as?" he asks in a variety of emotions.
"Yes. That's what I'm known as. They call me Deathstroke, the Terminator."
"Let's get moving." Deathstroke orders the night guards. "We're scaling that mountain, so we'll have to figure something out if you unicorns don't have magic. Try tying yourselves to the pegasi." With the help of the pegasi, ropes are tied to both them and the unicorns.
"I hope you know how to climb." Deathstroke tells one of the unicorns. He then turns to Shining Armor, who is sitting at a tree looking rather depressed. He walks over to him and he looks up.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just-"
"Well get moving." Deathstroke replies dryly. Shining slowly gets up and walks toward the preparing night guards.
"Shining Armor sir."
"What is it soldier?"
"Without our magic, these swords and spears are of no use." They turn to Deathstroke with a worried look.
"Guess we'll just hafta improvise. You'll have to hit them with your hooves, either that or you can bash them with your helmets." The guard gives him a poker face. "Just a thought. Same goes for you Shiny." He then heads toward the bottom of the mountain with the others.
"They're hiding up these mountains. Let's go." They all start to climb the tall mountain, with the pegasi having more difficulty since they had to pull up the unicorns. One of them speak.
"Sir, it may be some time before we actually reach the top."
"I know. Kind of embarrassing to say, but I didn't really succeed in wall climbing back in training. I usually used my magic to do that."
"Honestly sir, you probably should have tied yourself to one of the other pegasi."
"Nah, I'll manage. By the way, where is..." He looks up to see that Deathstroke is already more than ten feet ahead of them. He stops climbing and looks down at them.
"Enjoying the view? 'Cause I am."
"You're not helping!" Shining shouts back as he attempts to reach another ledge.
"Well hurry up! Applebloom won't save herself!" Hearing the filly's name gave Shining a small boost of confidence.
"Can't... give up... now!" He desperately reaches the ledge and makes it, though it doesn't make up for the distance between him and Deathstroke.
"So how exactly are we going to sneak past these guys!?" Shining Armor has to shout to him to get his question clear.
"Simple! We improvise!" he shouts back. He decreases in size as he gains more distance from them. The overwhelmed captain only sighs.
Zod's hideout, same time
"BZZZZZRRRRRRTTTT!!!!!!" The sound of electricity coursing into blood surrounded the room.
"Tell me EVERYTHING about these, Elements of Harmony you mention." Count Vertigo's voice was aimed at their small yellow filly whom they held hostage. She was currently in a machine in which The Brain designed, to electrify Applebloom if she didn't cooperate. The voltage was set to a certain level where it wouldn't kill her, but would still effectively hurt her, especially since she was only a filly.
"A-Ah c-c-can't, Equestria..."
"BZZZZZZRRRRRRTTT!!!!!!" Once again the machine was turned on, and electricity coursed through her body. Although the pain was unbearable, Applebloom was doing her best to keep Equestria safe from these tyrants, despite the fact that it was so painful she couldn't even shriek.
"How is the interrogation?" Vertigo turns to see Zod.
"It's going well Zod. We have a lot of information sucked out of her. But she refuses to tell me about these 'Elements of Harmony.'"
"Then proceed." Vertigo continues to suck out information like some kind of leech, while Zod walks elsewhere.
"Zod." The Brain approaches him from the side with the book. "It vas a long process, but ze translation is finished. Also, there's something here I believe you might take interest in." he opens the book to a certain page and shows it to him. Zod examines the pages, then widens his eyes.
"Hmmmm, fascinating indeed. As he finishes examining it, he returns to Applebloom, with Vertigo turning around again.
"I will proceed with this interrogation. I have some questions of my own I'd like to ask." Vertigo shows no retaliation and obeys, leaving them to talk. "Now, why don't you stop struggling? You know it's hopeless, you're feeble, weak, just like every other pathetic pony that lives in this land."
"Ah-Ah won't talk to a monster like you! Ah can't!"
"Still struggling? How incompetent. Fine. If you have a death wish, I have no objection against that." For a second, Applebloom was both relieved and afraid.
"But not only will I finish you off..." his maniacal voice trails off for a few moments. "I will continue onto your family. I will strangle your brother to death, slowly. Then your grandmother. Then your precious sister." True evil was coursing through Zod's mind and even through his eyes, that glow a bright red. Applebloom could only shiver at the sight of losing her entire family, she already knew what these monsters were capable of. She just couldn't take it.
"Fine...... I'll talk."
"Good. Good." Zod wore an evil smile on his face. "Now tell me, what do you know of the Griffons?"
"Not much, they live in another land or somethin'. But I did hear somethin' about Equestria being in conflict with them, but that's all I know." Meanwhile, Zod was taking in the information she just said. He then motioned to move away.
"Done already?" Vertigo asks.
"I was hoping to get out more, but I think I already have the information I need to place my next move. She is of no more use." he replies thoroughly as he continues to walk away.
"So what shall we do with her now?" Zod stopped for a few long seconds, then turned and said:
"Kill her." Applebloom gasps as Vertigo approaches her with an evil grin. She saw him pull out a sword from his sheath. Her fear is so intense that no sounds could leave her tongue. The sharp sword is held against her chin.
"Don't worry, little one. We'll make sure your family is notified. About the corpse hanging on my wall!" Applebloom swore she saw her life flash before her eyes as she closes them and hears the sword lunging through the air and into her skull. Her adventures with the CMC, applebucking with the Apple family, and the times she had with her sister. Then she remembered how it all even happened in the first place. If she just wasn't stupid enough to head out into Ponyville while that menace was on a rampage, she wouldn't have to deal with all of this.
More importantly, her sister having to deal with the death of her beloved sister. Guilt washes over her as she fully understands that this was all her fault.
"Applejack... Ahm so sorry..."
"BANG!!!" Applebloom opens her eyelids to see that the sword was no longer in his hand.
"What is this!?" He and the others turn to see a person with a pistol held in his hand, smoke rising from the end.
"Sorry to crash the party, but we have business with the little one." A tall guard along with a group of other night guards come in from behind.
"Deathstroke." Vertigo recalls his name. They all ready themselves in a fighting stance, no doubt a standoff with in progress. Applebloom only watched in interest, despite that she was still very hurt from the electricity coursing through her.
"So you sided with these weaklings." Zod claims, now knowing who his enemy was. "Why do you side with them? You show weakness, Deathstroke."
"Maybe. But I'm just a hired gun. You're a psychopath who always tries to rule Earth. I'm just fulfilling a deal I struck with these guys. Don't get used to it."
"Fine. But don't expect any patronage from us."
"SHUNK!!!" Deathstroke and the others turn to see a wide array of spikes engulfing a night guard, blood was spilling from his messed up corpse.
"What in Celestia!?" A night guard exclaims, before collapsing at a loud screech coming from Count Vertigo. "Augggghhh! Wh-"
"Little man, you know nothing of strength." Bane charges Deathstroke, who front flips and lands on his back. Bane brings his arms over his head and attempts to grab him, but no luck. The Terminator cuts the venom tubes, which resulted in venom spilling all over his body.
"Fool!" he exclaims to Deathstroke. "What have you done!?"
"I'm not done yet." Still on his back, he grabs his staff and jabs it into the venom, and uses the electric function to send electricity through his body.
"BZZZZZRRRRTTTTT!!!"
"AAAAUGUGHAUGHGUHG!!!" Bane shouts as he falls unconscious. He had already taken down one of them, but the others weren't doing so well. A night guard falls dead to one of the Brain's plasma beams, and another is smashed into the wall by Black Adam's Lightning. Shining Armor was lucky to be alive.
"THOOOOOM!!!" A beam shining bright pink is sent from Star Sapphire's hand, and darts toward Shining Armor fast.
"Oh Celestia..."
"SHOVE!!!" Deathstroke shoves him out of the way just in time, and recover after a few moments.
"Thanks... I guess?"
"Do me a favor. Hold on tight." He grabs Shining's rear hoof and starts to swing him around.
"What... Are.... You... Doing!?"
"Hit her as hard as you can!!!" He finally releases him and sends flying straight into Star Sapphire, his rear hooves smashing into her face. The momentum was so high that she was sent into the wall unconscious.
"Hey!" he recovers and returns to him. "Nice move!"
"Thanks. But we have an objective to complete. I'll hold them off along with the other guards. You get Applebloom."
"On it." he rushes to find Applebloom while Deathstroke goes face to face with Vertigo.
"Fool! I'm going to wipe that grin off your face!" he activated his Vertigo effect, and already Deathstroke was fazing away.
"Rrrggggh! I won't... be defeated... that easily!" he manages to bring out his staff and fires an energy blast straight into him, and the effect ceases, but he still stands nonetheless.
"Impressive. But let's not get too hasty." he says as he positions his hands in a fighting motion. To make things fair, Deathstroke puts away his staff and uses his hands only.
"Raaaahhhhhh!" he rushes the still mercenary, and tries to jab his fists into his gut. Deathstroke parries and blocks the attacks.
"Not very impressive for the king of whatever country he rules. Oh wait, you're not. No wonder."
"I have many tricks up my sleeve, Deathstroke!!!" he throws more punches at him, but his hook was blocked, his uppercut was parried, and when he threw one more punch, it was grabbed by him. He then starts to twist his arm.
"Ack! Gah!" Vertigo could feel his bone almost cracking.
"CRACK!!!" Deathstroke's kneecap is brought up and smashes his face.
"CRACK CRACK!!!!" This is repeated two more times, and Vertigo stumbles back with blood trickling from his nose. He even coughs up some blood from his mouth. Deathstroke runs over to him and grabs him.
"CRACK!!!" He smashed his face once more with his head, then grabs him by his feet and starts swinging him. He throws him directly into Black Adam, who is currently handling the other night guards. Black Adam is hurled onto the hard stone floor.
"Get him!!!" The night guards who still are untouched charge him, and soon they overwhelm him greatly.
"Well that's taken care of." Zod turns to face Deathstroke and walks toward him. They look at each other face to face, and Zod's eyes showed that he was not pleasant.
"A shame you sided with them. You would have made a marvelous addition to our Secret Society."
"Sorry. But they signed the contract first."
"Hmmmph. Tell me Deathstroke, how exactly are you going to stop me?"
"I have something special for you." Moving fast, he grabbed something from one of his compartments. But before he could use it, Zod sped to him with speed matching Superman. With a whack, he knocked the strange object out of his hand. Still in hyper speed, Zod hastily turns to see what he knocked out of his palm. His eyes instantly widen as he sees what it is.
A small vial containing a glowing greenish stone was falling to the floor in what seemed to be longer than just seconds.
"CRACK!!!" The sound of the vial breaking open echoes through Zod's super hearing. In a few moments, he slightly stumbles being weakened by the tiny rock of green.
"Kryptonite." He recognizes them from previous encounters with his enemies. "How did you... come by it?"
"I'm always prepared for the worst. You should understand that."
"Not so fast." Swinging his fist upward, he hits Deathstroke on the chin as hard as possible. The masked assassin is sent a few feet back by the hard impact. Not lethal, and certainly not the worst he took, but still a bit painful. Although Zod is still at fair strength, he still remains prone to the kryptonite.
"Here. Maybe this will enlighten you." Deathstroke sarcastically tells Zod as he pulls his rifle out.
"RATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAT!!!" Weakened by the kryptonite, Zod is pushed back by the swarm of bullets hitting him. They don't pierce him directly, but the kryptonite disables some of his invulnerability.
"Oof!" Deathstroke is caught off guard by a punch to the side by Black Adam, who recovered from the pile of night guards, which were now laying dead with limbs everywhere and blood painting the floor red.
"Didn't think those guys would hold you for long." he replies with a beam of lightning, which is blocked by his nth sword. The lightning crackles everywhere and sizzles loudly as Deathstroke pushes back.
"Whatever Applesmack's up to right now, she owes me big time."
Canterlot Throne, same time
"Applejack, you alright?" Pinkie, even though she was in a happy mood as usual, was concerned about her friend.
"Ah am Pinkie. Ah'm jes' not sure that everything'll turn out fine. Ah mean we're trustin' a masked killer, t'save mah sister!" Her tone not only implied worry and doubt, but also anger.
"Awww cheer up AJ! Everything WILL turn out fine! I mean, I can already hear them saving the day!"
"And how exactly do ya know that?"
"It's in the script silly!"
"The what now? Ah forget it." She lowers her head in despair. Her other friends approach her, with Twilight laying her hoof on her shoulder.
"Applejack, I know you have doubts about that it won't turn out fine. But we need to hope! I bet your sister's worried abut you too!" She imagines that in her head.
"Ah guess so Twi. And I ain't leaving this room until they return. Could be any second now, could be another hour. But either way, I'm waitin' fer her t'return." Applejack manages to smiles sheepishly. Soon, her friends smile at her as well. "Thank y'all. It's good t'have friends like you there to help me."
"I know how you feel Applejack." Cadence speaks up. "I really do hope he will keep his promise." At this point, Twilight stops smiling and wears a worried look as well.
"Well, Katins, I suppose the only thing we can do is hope for the best." Everyone agrees in their thoughts as their mixed feelings of confidence and doubt collide in their heads. In the distance are Celestia and Luna, who are overlooking the the upper area of the forest Shining Armor, Deathstroke, and the night guards entered. They wore looks of worry on their faces. Earlier, Celestia lost the signal of the homing device, but they dared not to mention this to the seven ponies in the throne room with them.
"Sister, we cannot continue to stall. We must tell this to them sooner or later."
"I understand Luna, but we have not confirmed that they are finished. We must remain confident that they will return."
"Very well then. We will give them more time."
Suddenly, the throne room doors suddenly open. They all turn to see some familiar ponies enter with two royal guards behind them.
"Granny Smith!? Big Mac!?" Applejack exclaims.
"Scootaloo?"
"Sweetiebelle!?" Rarity finishes off.
"Granny, Big Mac, What are you two doin' 'ere?"
"Ah'm sorry Applejack, Ah just had to come along and see how you were doing."
"Yup." Big Mac finishes with yet another one of his simple quotes.
"Sweetiebelle! What in Equestria are you doing here with Scootaloo!?"
"Well, we felt really guilty about what happened, so when Granny Smith and Big Mac were about to leave for you guys, we asked if we could follow. Besides, we're her friend too..." her voice showed that she really was guilty.
"Yeah, it was our fault she was abducted." The two fillies lowered their heads in guilt, along with the nine other ponies. Applejack decides to speak up.
"Listen ya two, ah know ya got ahead a'yourselves, but we can't sit 'ere pointin' fingers. Applebloom will be fine, and that's all that matters." The others do their best to stay confident, while Celestia and Luna remain focused on the task at hand.
"They will come back Luna. They must." However, elsewhere in Celestia's head, a different topic was being pondered.
"I do not know if it knows about the top secret armory I plan to unfold. If it shows even the slightest bit that it does, then I must remove him from the equation." No one suspected Celestia's true intentions, not even her sister.
Zod's hideout, ten minutes later
"Ah c'mon!" How do you do this!?" Shining Armor was desperately trying to break Applebloom free, who was currently too weak to even talk at the moment. It would be accurate to say that she was near unconscious. The machinery was unknown to him, so he had no idea how to release the lock holding the weary hostage. Behind him the heat of battle was echoing through his ears, and he knew he had to act fast since the night guards wouldn't last very long if he didn't hasten up.
"Alright, let's try this, and perhaps this one." he says to himself as he presses a few more buttons.
"BEEEEEP!!!" The machine beeps angrily as it refuses to cooperate. Shining Armor is pissed off.
"Why won't you WORK!?"
"You ridiculous four-legged fiends can't even use your brain correctly!!!" The angry captain turns to see the Brain staring directly at him.
"Pretty ironic coming from you!!!"
"Oh believe me, zis is more than just a jar for my fragile brain." Out from the 'jar' came multiple plasma cannons armed and ready to fire. Shining Armor was baffled at the massive armory built into his chamber. "Don't be surprised. Zere's a reason why zey call me 'The Brain.'"
"Ohhhh horse feathers!!!" Just before the plasma cannons fired, something hit him directly on his fake face, making him fly backwards. Deathstroke just fired a grenade from his rifle.
"Thanks!"
"Don't mention it." Deathstroke replies.
"By the way I can't get this cursed machine working!" Shining Armor shouts back so he could get his voice through the ongoing battle.
"Remember what I told you earlier!?" Another shout came from Deathstroke.
"What's that!?"
"Improvise!?" He then returns to the heat of battle, while Shining Armor thinks about what he said.
"Improvise, yeah right. What do I even have to use right now- I got it!" Bringing his hoof up, he smashes the control board on the machine. The locks holding Applebloom by the hooves unlocked. "Yes! Hey Deathstroke!" He turns, surprised that his name was called by him.
"I got Applebloom!" Applebloom only groans as she is placed and tied over his back.
"Good! Then let's get the hell outta here!"
"On it! Guards! Let's get out of here! Our objective is complete!"
"Yes sir!" the remaining guards reply, which is not that many in fact. They all rush toward the exit, with Zod and his allies chase after them. They stop at the exit, which is a mountain cliff. Behind them are Zod's allies who still remain standing.
"Give up. There is nowhere for you to run."
"I disagree." Deathstroke replies. Thinking quick, he pulls out his rifle and fires a grenade at the cave ceiling.
"CRUMBLE!!!" The ceiling ceases to hold and collapses directly on top of Zod and his allies.
"What now!?" Shining Armor asks.
"We jump."
"What!? No wa-" He is interrupted as Deathstroke pushes him off the cliff. "AHHHHHHHH!!!" They could hear him screaming in the face of danger as he continues to fall.
"Bon Voyage!" He and the remaining guards jump off after him. Deathstroke positions himself so he could fall faster and catch up to the screaming captain.
"Having fun?"
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M HAVING FUN!?" he shouts loudly with both anger and fear. "DID YOU EVEN THINK THIS THROUGH!?"
"I think through everything son." he replies nonchalantly despite that they were falling faster and faster. Before Shining Armor thought they were dead meat, something grabbed them by the shoulders. He looks up to see a pegasus night guard carrying them and lowering to the ground.
"Alright... we're not dead meat." He heavily breathes a sigh of relief. They reach the ground fast and their feet reach ground level.
"Told you I think everything through." Deathstroke brags.
"Ah don't feel so good... URK!!!" Applebloom, still tied to Shining Armor's back, turned green and covered her mouth. She hurls her last dinner onto the grass, and Shining Armor gives the masked ally a poker face.
"Didn't think through that one, did ya." he declares. Deathstroke couldn't argue with him. They look to see the other night guards approach the ground wearing parachutes.
"CRACKLE!!!" A bolt of lightning strikes down one of guards before he landed, frying him. The other guards are lucky to be alive, and everyone looks up to see Black Adam's hand sizzling with lightning.
"Let's move!!!" Deathstroke, Shining Armor, and the remaining night guards dart out of there, with lightning bolts and laser beams following them.
"We have to get out of the dampening field fast! Get the flare out will ya?" Deathstroke shouts to Shining.
"I got it."
"Good! Keep it ready until it's time!" It was getting getting harder to talk since they were sprinting away from their pursuers.
"So these are supposed to be your colleagues!?"
"Actually that's a lie! Just the brain in a jar!"
"Are you kidding m-"
"SHINK!!!" A large pink needle pierces the body of one of the running night guards. He remains stuck there with blood leaving his body, then falls dead as the spike fades away.
"That's not good!"
"Shut up and keep running! Don't drop her!" Deathstroke shouts back as the sprinting intensifies.
"SSSSSSSSSSIZZLE!!!!" A pair of laser beams strike down another guard.
"How close are we!?"
"Close. Give me the flare." Without question, Shining Armor tosses him the flare, and he nabs it in his palm.
"I'll give her a head start." he states as he pulls the trigger, sending a red spark flying into the night sky.
"KABOOM!!" The flare bursts into multiple colors, showering an array of sparkling light everywhere.
"You ponies like to have everything colorful don't you?"
"Long story! Good thinking by the way!"
"BOOM!!! SIZZLE!!!" They hear more guards scream as they are killed, and even the spilling of blood. Turning, they see Black Adam, Star Sapphire, and Zod flying straight toward them.
"Keep running!"
"I know that!!!" The three opponents fly closer and closer to them, making it all more intense.
"This is gonna be close!!!" Right before they were hit by them:
"ZAP!!!" A golden light flashed with Deathstroke, Shining Armor, Applebloom, and the remaining guards gone afterward. The three of them halt to a stop.
"We should go after them." Black Adam suggests.
"Leave them, Adam. We already have everything we need from her, enough for me to plan our next move." he starts in a very stern tone. "After all, they have merely prolonged the inevitable."
Canterlot Throne, a few minutes back
"The flare has been shot up Luna! But I still can't sense the signal." The other ponies were waiting behind them eagerly with the two princesses knowing about it. "Everypony, I must stay focused." Applejack was biting her tongue very nervously as Celestia was doing her best to sense the signal.
"Agggghhh! The pressure is so intense! I can't take it!" Rainbow Dash complains, putting her hoof to her ears.
"Rainbow! Be quiet! They have to focus!" Rainbow remains silent, although she glares at Rarity who just shut her up. A minute of awkward silence passes, and then:
"I feel the signal! Now to lock on it. Everypony, step back!" They hastily step back, and a golden aura of light surrounds Celestia's horn as she channels her magic.
"POOF!!!" A flash of golden light blinded everyone, and when they managed to open their eyes, what they saw relieved them.
"Hey guess what? We're not dead. And we have your precious sister here as well." Deathstroke states in his usual tone of optimism. He unties Applebloom, who is practically unconscious.
"Applebloom!!!" Applejack rushes to her, while Granny Smith, Big Mac, and the fillies stare at Deathstroke awkwardly, but they're too focused on Applebloom to worry about that now.
"You should get her to a hospital." Applejack stares at him for a few seconds.
"Alright... Everypony, ah gotta get her to hospitality. C'mon Granny Smith, Big Mac. You young'uns can come too if you like." she gestures to Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle.
"Y-you really mean it?" Sweetiebelle stutters at first.
"Ah mean it! C'mon, she won't take care'a herself you know." Wasting no time, everyone except three ponies left the room. Cadence and Twilight embrace Shining Armor in a hug.
"You came back Shiny!" The two relieved ponies exclaim.
"I promised didn't I?" he replies happily. Even the remaining night guards show a hint of smile, but Shining Armor wears a slight look of worry on his face as he continues to embrace Cadence. The two princesses approach them.
"I see you stayed true to your word." Luna states to Deathstroke sternly. "Are these all that's left of the night guards? What happened to the rest?"
"Dead." Luna and some of the other ponies widened their eyes.
"But how? The night guards are expertly trained! I would expect more have survived."
"Well we had a change of plans in between. We ran into a bunch of problems, alright? I'm heading back to my room." He leaves the room along with Shining Armor and his family.
Deathstroke's Room, 10:30 PM
Deathstroke was sitting on the couch, as he decided to sleep sit again. He hears someone enter. Opening his eye, Shining Armor enters.
"What are you doing here..." asks a not amused Deathstroke.
"You didn't think I forgot about our little conversation did you?" Shining Armor sits down on the couch.
"Nope."
"Well, honestly, after everything you've been through during your life, I know there's been many-"
"State your business." Deathstroke interrupts sternly. Shining Armor thinks about what to say next.
"Well, my point is, maybe Fluttershy was right. Maybe you're not such a bad person. But there's something else I want to get to here."
"And what's that?"
"I've been thinking about you and how similar you were to me, with your soldier training and all that. And the more I think about it..." he pauses in between, implying the nervousness for his next line. "The more I realize that I could have ended up like you." A few minutes of silence pass, and during that time Deathstroke imagines what he just said.
"You really believe that huh."
"Yeah. If things had gone differently between me and my wife, then maybe..." he doesn't need to finish the rest of his sentence.
"You very well could have." Deathstroke declares, now agreeing with his statement. Without saying, Shining Armor gets up and leaves the room, but stops in between.
"Tell me, Deathstroke. Have you ever imagined what it would be like if you never put that mask on? If you never decided to make that decision that turned you into Deathstroke?"
"Never." he replies dryly, and Shining Armor only turns away with a feeling of sadness and guilt. When he first met him, he was angry and hateful toward him. But as he learned more and more about him, he began to feel sad and guilty toward him. What if things never worked out for him? What if this is who he would be for the rest of his life? He felt the pain of it all, knowing that he could have been him, and he could have been in his situation. A voice in his head loomed around and refused to exit, repeating over and over again.
A royal guard had led the group of ponies to the palace hospital. This place was designed for the royal guards, but they were allowed to have Applebloom taken care of. Room number 231 was checked in for her, and she was currently being handled by the doctors. The group of ponies was sitting outside her room, and many of the ponies were twiddling their hooves, especially Scootaloo and Sweetibelle.
"Still can't believe what happened over the past two days..." Rainbow Dash states, everyone could only sigh in agreement. So much happened in such a short time, unlike Big Mac, who remains quiet as usual. "Besides, Celestia knows what we're gonna do with that merc we're keeping in that room."
"Yup." Big Mac replies.
"Hey, where's Shining Armor? He should be here." Twilight tells Cadence.
"Well, I'm not really sure where he is, last time I saw him he was headed for 'his' room." The princess replied, making Twilight widen her eyes.
"Well I'm not going near that brute if it's the last thing I do!" Rarity exclaims loudly. This doesn't help the current situation.
"Rarity, Ah know ya don't appreciate 'im but please." Rarity looks at her with concerned eyes, and simmers down guiltily.
"You know, we did get chance to see him while we were there. While he was at Ponyville he did seem to be stopping that jar brain thing..." Sweetiebelle claims in a shy tone.
"Oh please. He's not a hero!" Rainbow Dash shouts, still using her wheelchair. "Besides, the only hero in Ponyville is me!" The overconfident mare raises her hoof in triumph, but everyone else is just too depressed to deal with her.
"Why was Shining even talking to him anyway?" Twilight points out right after she realizes so.
"I'm not sure. I should look into that later." Cadence replies. Silence invaded them once again. It became so quiet, that the loudest thing they heard was the twiddling of their hooves. There wasn't even a clock around to break the silence.
"Miss." Although it was annoying, the silence allowed them to hear the nurse loud and clear.
"Is she alright?" a slightly panicked Applejack asks.
"She's turned up okay." At the sound of this, everyone shows looks of relief and happiness, especially Applejack. "You can go check on her if you want."
"Gladly!" Applejack exclaims with a smile. They all pile up in the room, which was thankfully rather spacey. A bed was lying in the corner of the room, and lying on the bed was Applebloom, who was injured, but alive and well.
"Applebloom!" The overexcited pony rushes to her with Granny Smith and Big Mac. Applejack embraces her little sister in a hug.
"Applebloom. Ya don't know how much I've missed ya." The filly smiles back at her.
"Ah do big sis'. Ah do." With that, the rest of the family joins in and makes a group hug.The others watched and smiled.
"You know what this means!?" Pinkie shouts to everyone, but Twilight stops her from answering her own question.
"Pinkie, I know you want to throw another one of your ridiculous parties, but we still have a bunch of issues we have to deal with." Pinkie slightly frowns.
"Like what?"
"Gee, I dunno, maybe the masked assassin we're harboring in one of our guest rooms?" Twilight sarcastically speaks. "Or maybe we should ask him about his 'colleagues.' And you know, there's still a bunch of questions I have to ask. He owes me." The seemingly annoyed Twilight points to her bandaged horn.
"You can go ahead Twi. But I gotta stay here with Applebloom."
"We're staying too." Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo say in unison, regardless of the current situation. No objection is made against this, as they understand their feelings for the past events.
"Well I'm headed to find Shining Armor, I'll see you later Twilight!" she properly leaves the group of ponies, with Twilight waving back.
"Alright, I'm headed for his room with you four." she gestures to Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie. "Bye Applejack." She waves back without turning, as she was focusing more on Applebloom. Without her magic, Fluttershy has to push Rainbow Dash's wheelchair.
"When these babies get better, I'll teach that bozo a lesson!"
"Um, Twilight, maybe we should save the questions for tomorrow, if that's okay with you. I mean, it is getting late." Twilight tapped her chin a few times before deciding.
"Well, I am rather tired..." This is expressed as she yawns loudly. "Yeah I guess we should head to sleep. It is late. I guess I'm heading to my bed. Goodnight Fluttershy."
"Goodnight Twilight." she replies as she hears Rainbow Dash grunt.
"Alright then, let's head to our guest room." They started to head off, but were quickly interrupted.
"Excuse me, Rainbow Dash I presume?" A different nurse approached them.
"Yeah that's me. What is it?"
"There's someone who would like to see you, if you don't mind following me." Despite the current time, Fluttershy willingly pushed the wheelchair and followed the nurse. They passed guards in wheelchairs, an common sight, since this hospital area was designed for the royal guard. After a minute of walking, the nurse walked up to a door and opened it with her magic.
"Please enter." she requests in a calm tone. Rainbow Dash could only wonder who could be expecting her at a time like this.
*GASP* What she saw shocked her immensely. Three beds were arranged in a row, and in each bed was a pony that she recognized: Spitfire, Fleetfoot, and Soarin from the Wonderbolts. Soarin was the only one that seemed to be awake.
"SOARIN!!!" she shouted loudly, with her movement very limited. She had completely forgot Deathstroke's story about how he took on three of the Wonderbolts, but she didn't expect Spitfire to be one of them. "Are you guys alright!?"
"We couldn't... stop him... Too... fast..." his messed up voice trailed off as he continued to stare at nothing in particular. Rainbow Dash managed to turn around despite her current condition.
"Nurse, what's wrong with them!?" The nurse walked over nonchalantly.
"Spitfire and Fleetfoot are unconscious, and we haven't diagnosed Soarin's medical conditions. They're alive, but very injured." The worried pegasus was even more worried, but if you looked closely you could see a hint of anger as well.
"Well, thanks for letting me know."
"No problem." Once again the nurse replies in a calm voice. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash once again try to head to their rooms. While they are on the move, Fluttershy asks a question.
"Um, are you okay Rainbow Dash?"
"It's one thing to mess with me, but when you mess with the Wonderbolts!?" Out of nowhere came the steaming anger of the rainbow colored pegasus.
"He's in for it now!!!"
"But... your wing didn't heal yet..." Fluttershy states in a shy tone.
"That won't stop me. I'll get him... tomorrow." And with that they continued to look for their room. In another place, a purple pony is having just as much trouble as Rainbow is.
"Man, not only is that monkey an assassin, he's really a pain in the flank!" Twilight was still angry about having to put up with him. "And now I don't remember what my room number is. Great. Just great." The frustrated unicorn, her magic still disabled due to the past incident.
"Alright, I guess I should find somepony who can help me." she thinks out loud. Though many frustrations were surrounding her, that didn't stop her inner geek to rise. "If I remember correctly, my room key should be in my satchel, except I don't have magic. Ugggggghhhh!!! Ever since that jerk arrived, nothing's been going right!" Now she was really irritated.
"Okay... I can do this... I just have to-OOF!!!" She ran into something, or someone at the hallway intersection. Recovering, she sees a slightly hurt Cadence standing right in front of her. "Oh I'm so sorry Cadence! I wasn't looking where I was going!"
"Oh it's fine Twilight!" Cadence heartily replies as she recovers.
"So... what are you doing here anyway?" Twilight asks.
"Well, I'm still looking for Shining Armor. Haven't seen him anywhere, did you?"
"No, sorry. Didn't you say he was headed for the mercenary's room?"
"Well I expected he'd be gone by then. I should probably check there." Quickly, she heads in the direction of Deathstroke's room. Twilight follows her and before she gets to say anything, Twilight speaks first.
"I'm going to look for him too. There must be something going on with him." Cadence stares awkwardly for a few moments, then smiles.
"I understand Twilight, but maybe you should get some sleep."
"Oh it's fine, I forgot my room number anyway." They both laugh at this a little too hysterically. With no more argument, they stroll down the fancy palace hallways.
"By the way, I might stay here for a bit."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"Celestia thinks she might need me to handle this guy should anything go wrong."
"I see."
After a bit a talking, they reach Deathstroke's room.
"Uhhhh, could you help me out? I'm not exactly prepared for this." Twilight states.
"Hm? Oh right..." Cadence nervously chuckles. She glows her horn and takes down the force field barricading Deathstroke inside. "Alright, let's head in." And so they entered the darkened room. All they found was their captive sleeping on the couch.
"Well, nothing to find here." Twilight tells Cadence in a disappointed tone. "Still no Shining Armor."
"Where could he be?" Cadence was now more worried. "Hold on, let me turn on the lights." Glowing her horn again, she flicks the light switch, illuminating the room. With more visibility, they see another pony sitting on the couch.
"Shining Armor!?" Both Cadence and Twilight shout in unison and confusion.
"What?" he perks up from his sitting position.
"Shiny where were you!?" Cadence was worried sick.
"I... I was... I should head to sleep." Groggily, he gets up and leaves the room. He didn't even say anything to Cadence. The two mares give each other worried and confused looks.
"I better go after him. Will you be alright Twilight?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Cadence then leaves the room and after Shining Armor. Twilight starts to exit the room as well. Before leaving, she gives Deathstroke one last look of content. She then walks out the door.
6:00 AM
Deathstroke woke up and was ready to face another day in this strange colorful world. His departure was uncertain, but that did not matter at the moment. He had a debt to settle, and he would not leave until it was paid.
"Alright... what did I accomplish so far since I got here? Injure Rainbow pony, injure Royal Guard captain, injure a bunch of guards, injure geeklord, huh. Didn't realize how many people I sent to the hospital." he quietly chuckles to himself. He gets up rather quickly and tries to leave, only to be stopped by a force field.
"Don't trust me eh? Too bad, you're just gonna have to stick with it." Instead of trying to cut it loose with nth metal, he instead would use his fists to try and break it open. He decided he would need a morning workout.
*crack* One punch made a small crack in the force field. Since there was nth metal on his hands, it made the punch more effective. However, the force field slowly fixed the crack, which faded away within a few seconds.
"Time to get real here." he rotates his neck and flexes his muscles.
"CRACK CRACK CRACK CRACK!!!" Four consecutive blows break open the force field.
"Dunno what I should do now. Guess I should go find Shiny. He might have something for me to do." Exiting the room, he heads down one of the hallways. "Wonder if he really meant what he said about him being me. But whatever." Deathstroke continues strolling, but has no idea where Shining's room would be.
"Where is that bastard."
"...Deathstroke?" He turns and sees the captain of the royal guard in his bathrobes. Awkward silence engulfs the vicinity. "How'd you get out?"
"Well I got bored. So I escaped and went looking for you." he explains. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in your room? With your wife?"
"Uhhhh, well..."
"Nevermind. I don't wanna know." he interrupts quickly.
"Well, there's something I want to show you." Shining Armor states. This gets the attention of Deathstroke. "Follow me."
"If you say so." And so he followed him to wherever he was taking him.
Twenty minutes later
The two of them approached a large door with silver linings and a unique design carved on the front. A shield with two swords crossing symbolized the front of it. Shining Armor glowed his horn and the door opened. They entered, and below them they could see a multitude of guards practicing their skills with various weapons and tactics.
"So this is where the guards get trained." Deathstroke determines just by looking.
"That's correct. Our fighting force is fairly strong, but our real strength are the princesses, and the Elements of Harmony. However, we still need this fighting force for various reasons."
"Don't bother listing them. I can think of a bunch of reasons by myself." They could hear the clanging of swords and the jabbing of spears.
"Tell me Deathstroke, what do you think of this?"
"Not really impressed. But why would you want to know?"
"Well you are an expert in combat. And you did work as a soldier once, like a royal guard."
"True. True."
"CLANG CLANG!!! BONK!!! BIFF!!!" More ruckus could be heard from the constant battle training.
"So what makes this not impressive?"
"Bunch of reasons. Not going to bore you to death with them." They continued to sternly stare at the scene.
"Hey! That's my knife! Give me my knife back!" They turned to see a guard ranting at another.
"I didn't take your knife!"
"I SAID GIVE ME MY KNIFE BACK!!!" The angry guard threw a punch at the other, and soon the other guards rush in and try to stop them. In a few seconds, the angry pony is being dragged by two others into another room unwillingly, as he tries to struggle free.
"There's one reason right there for ya." Deathstroke states jokingly. They both walk to another part of the upper balcony, revealing more of the large training room.
"FIFTY BITS ON THE TALL ONE!!!" Both of them look down and see a large pit. Two guards were facing off in it, while other guards who were standing on the edge were cheering for their desired player. A large barricade prevented them from interfering, and they could see four gates which could be opened for entrance.
"POW!!! SLAM!!!" Each fighter was desperately trying to take out the other.
"Interesting arena you have there." Deathstroke compliments. "Apparently this is where the gambling takes place."
"Tell me about it. One time a guard had all his limbs broken in one match."
"Well, that's probably why your fighting force is weak."
"Huh?"
"Your guards injure themselves before the real battle even starts." This makes them both laugh. Suddenly, they hear the lower door open. Turning, they see none other than the two rulers of Equestria. Everyone turns and immediately bow before their presence.
"Please continue." says Celestia, and with that, the training proceeded. They walked over to the pit arena, and the guards make room for her.
"I BET ON THE WINNING ONE!!!" The princesses watched in awe as the two guards battled it out, blow by blow, until one of them succumbed.
"BAM!!!" With a mighty punch, the guard was taken out. The crowd went wild.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!" Everyone was cheering like they just won a grand prize. Meanwhile, the princesses looked and watched in interest.
"Ehhh, probably could be more interesting." Deathstroke criticizes. "Time to liven up the joint." He motions to jump down, with Shining panicking when he realizes.
"Don't!" Deathstroke stops right before he drops down. "Are you crazy!?"
"Maybe. But these people need a show."
"SWOOOOSH!!!" The air rushed past him as he flew toward the ground.
"THUMP!!!" He lands in the center of the pit perfectly and instantly grabs the attention of everyone, specifically the princesses. Celestia is about to interfere, until Luna raises a hoof in front of her.
"Hold on Tia, I would like to see how this goes."
"Are you sure?"
"A hundred bits on the mercenary."
"What!?"
The two guards in the arena turn their attention to Deathstroke.
"So you're what's causin' a fuss in the training room."
"No. Not yet at least." Deathstroke motions his hands in a taunting position. The two guards quickly react by charging him.
"THWACK!!!" The guard only gets his face pummeled by his fist. He then picks him up and throws him directly at the other guard.
"CRASH!!!" They both fly face first into the wall, and the crowd goes wild once again.
"His combat is impressive, don't you think?" Luna states. Celestia stares back.
"Let's see how good he is." says Celestia, tapping her hoof on a guard and gesturing for him and three others to enter. Four guards are now in the arena and surround Deathstroke in a circle. "If this how you want to play sister, then three-hundred bits on the guards." Luna smiled back in rivalry.
"Depends on how many guards he can take at once. Five-hundred on him." The betting gets stronger between them, and in the meantime, the masked assassin faces off against four guards at once. One of them charges him from behind, and he quickly reacts by pulling his staff out.
"WHACK!!!" He swings it around and hits him on face, and he slides on the ground with pain. Right before another guard hits him, he front flips and slams his feet into his skull, which smashed the hard floor. He then runs over to another guard and leaps into the air, impressing the audience at how high he could jump. Positioning both of his feet, he plants them directly onto a guard's forehead, and the impact made him slide back a few feet.
Unfortunately, the last guard managed to grab him by the head, but he wouldn't lose that easily. Bringing his hands over his head, he grabs the guard and smashes him onto the ground. The crowd cheers violently.
"You must admit Tia, he is very talented in fighting."
"Let's tip the scales then shall we?" Celestia says with a smirk. She calls over six guards, all of which are pegasi, and she gestures for them to enter. Shining Armor watched from above, and was interested in the scene as well.
"I probably should get down there." he tells himself, and he heads down the balcony stairs.
All of the pegasi guards rush at once, as if they were homing missiles. Deathstroke jumped before he was struck by one, and landed his feet on top of him and using him to jump further. Time slowed as he was in midair, he strikes down another guard with his staff, and lands on another, making another jump. While airborne, he sees a pegasus flying straight toward him, but his fast processing allowed him to spin kick him out of the way. Some of the audience saw blood fly out of the guard's mouth as he sped toward the floor.
Deathstroke landed on a pegasus again, grabbing his head and dropping down. The combined force of his momentum and his weight quickly jolted him down. The guard struggled to stay airborne, but had little time to think about it as the skilled mercenary pulled himself upward and smashed his face with his feet. Unconscious, the pegasus dropped down along with Deathstroke, who landed safely on the floor, while the other slammed into it. Three pegasi remained.
"Princess!" In the distance, Celestia and Luna turn, finding the six elements, along with the Apple family and Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle, approaching her. Applebloom's surgery was finished, and she managed to walk afterwards. "We can't find our captive! We-"
"Do not worry my little ponies." She points at the arena, and they gasp at the sight.
"Whoa! Look at him! Take THAT!!!" Scootaloo roars in excitement at the epic battle taking place.
"Celestia, are you sure about this?" Twilight asks nervously.
"I assure you Twilight, it will remain under control." And so they watched the three pegasi battle the mercenary menace.
"Yeah, and besides! I can't wait to see his butt get kicked!" Rainbow Dash shouts enthusiastically.
Two guards continuously throw punches at him, all of which are either blocked, parried, or dodged.
"SOCK!!!" A hook takes out one guard.
"WHAM!!!" A fist dropping from above took out the other. For every guard Deathstroke defeated, the crowd roared in excitement. The last guard anxiously prepared to fight, you could even see sweat dropping from his face. In a fatal attempt, he threw as many punches as he could, with his eyes closed.
"BIFF!!!" He is immediately countered by a blow to the face, and already he's exhausted. Gasping for air, he runs toward Deathstroke, and throws one last punch.
*punt* It hits his chest like a gust of air. The blow was so weak no one even heard it.
"BOO!!! YOU'RE THE WORST!!! DON'T EVEN!!!" Even Rainbow Dash was protesting, who really wanted Deathstroke to get beaten.
He grabbed his hoof and made sure he would go nowhere, and he slowly brought up his fist. His deadly, deadly fist.
"CRACK!!!" With a mighty blow, he sends the guard flying backwards, and he crashes into the pit wall. The impact was so hard, he dented the wall and got stuck in it. The crowd went crazy after that.
"Looks like I win Tia." Luna told Celestia with a look of victory.
"Did you SEE that!? That was awesome!!! When I grow up I wanna be just likehim..." Most of the other ponies give her a glare of disapproval, especially Rainbow Dash.
"He is stronger than I have imagined. Perhaps it is time to makes things a slight more interesting." She finishes her sentence with a smirk. She opens her wings, and the most of the others realize what she's doing.
"Luna! Are you-"
"Don't worry Tia, I'll be fine. Also, five hundred bits if I win." Shining Armor had just arrived, with not a hint of what was happening. Was this really a good idea? To battle what would seemingly be the best assassin you would find? But Luna wanted to have a battle with a fair opponent, and finding one was very difficult, until he came along. She was sure that no fatal injury would result in this duel. Everyone was awestruck at what would happen: Luna vs Deathstroke, the possibilities were mind-boggling. She came to a thump as she landed in the pit.
"Thou have proven thyself a worthy opponent. Would thou like to battle against the princess of the night? Watcher of Dreams and Deliverer of Darkness?" She asked in the royal Canterlot accent.
"Look at that. Someone finally worthy of this blade." The blade sheathed on his back was pulled out, shining as he rotated it. Some of the guards beamed at his sword, wanting to know the craftiness behind its work. Deathstroke knew he was in for something big. The sharp end of the blade was pointed toward Luna. "This should be interesting, don't you think?"
"I agree. But before we begin, would thou tell thy name?" Now this was different. But then again, he had held it in for long enough, it was time to put on a show.
"One eyed mercenary. The perfect soldier, and also known, as the Terminator. Many have fallen through my weapon. Call me Deathstroke." The emphasis in his tone was strong. Very strong, in fact, and the show only got better.
"Very well then, Deathstroke! Prepare to face me in a duel no pony will forget!" Her wings sprung open, and she hovered in the air. The audience watched with much awe.
"I'm not counting on losing to you." Luna wore a frown, but inside her was much confidence in herself. The unconscious bodies of the other guards were levitated away by her. Now the true duel would begin. They waited for each other to make their first move.
"ZAP ZAP ZAP!!!" Three consecutive beams were fired from Luna's horn, but Deathstroke simply sidestepped the attack. The barrage of magical beams were being constantly fired at him, and that's when he started running. He sprinted on the side of the pit, ducking and dodging the blasts that hit the wall after they missed him. Many broken spots could be seen on the wall. It was quite a battle, with the intense fighting taking place. Deathstroke couldn't keep circling around, so with his current momentum, he started to run up the wall.
Seeing this, Luna believed that this would be her chance to strike. Running on the wall should make him easy to hit, since there was no way he could react in that kind of position. She charged up her horn and darted straight toward him. There was absolutely no way he could react, right?
Wrong.
Time seemed to slow as Deathstroke leaped off the wall and twirled above her. Disbelief quickly washed her mind, but she didn't even have time to think about it. As he twirled, he brought his staff out and spun it into Luna and whacked her hard.
"CRASH!!!" She crashed into the floor, while Deathstroke broke his fall by ground rolling. The audience gawked, no one had ever gotten a hit on Luna before! Few had challenged Luna one on one, none of which had even gotten a hit. But him, he was better.
"Impressive!" Luna shouts with pride. "No other challenger has ever made a strike on me before!"
"Save the compliments for when I win." Her opponent mocked her without guilt. Needless to say, he was very simple-minded.
"C'mon!!! Get 'im princess!?" Rainbow cheers from the crowd.
"Rainbow, who do ya think'll win?" Applejack asks nervously, with the heat of battle taking place with two of the most unexpected people.
"Well duh! No pony can defeat Luna! I bet a hundred bits if she wins!"
"Ah wouldn't be so sure about that Rainbow. Tell ya what: You get t'paint mah barn if he wins." Rainbow glared at her with the feeling of competition.
"You wanna take that bet AJ!?"
"Sure am!"
"Well if I win the bet, you get to wear make-up for a whole week!"
"Yer on Rainbow!!!" They clapped their hooves in determination, while Luna battled without caution against her formidable foe.
A multitude of darkish orbs formed from her horn, and they launched into the air. They slowly decelerated, and started to fall on Deathstroke. Unsheathing his sword, he prepared to defend himself. Two sidesteps help him avoid the first two, while three quickly slices with his sword took care of the rest.
"BUMP!!!" He suddenly felt something hit his side. It was a distraction, and Luna got a cheap shot on him. He flew into the wall, but with his superior processing, he positioned his feet correctly and bounced off the wall, slamming his fist into Luna's face. She had never seen it coming, every time she attacked she never expected him to retaliate with a counter-attack. In other words, she kept underestimating him. Why was she losing so badly? Her thoughts washed away at the sudden realization that he wasn't finished attacking quite yet.
It turns out he leaped behind her right after he landed. She was able to protect herself with a force field just in time. Looking up she saw him smashing the shield.
"Fool. My shield can withstand the might of a-"
*crack* *crack* *crack* Her eyes shrank to the size of peas. Her shield slowly cracked open. It was impossible! Even at this level, her shield could withstand at least one ton of force! How could it break because of a monkey who doesn't even seem that strong?
The shield shattered into pieces, which faded after a few seconds. She was immediately sent back with the force of both of Deathstroke's feet. The spectators were boggled with this logic just as much as Luna.
"Impossible!" she exclaimed as she recovered. "You couldn't have broken my force field! You're too weak! How!?"
"That's for me to know and for you to find out." In his head, he snickered how he broke it with a nth metal on his hands. In fact, this battle wouldn't be as easy to win without them, and he was very grateful for that. The mercenary brought out his sword. "I'll enjoy hurting you."
She would not let him do that. He may be strong, but she was the princess of the night, there was no denying that. Her rep was at stake here, and so was her bet.
"C'mon princess!!! You can do it!!!" Rainbow cheered, with a bet looming over her head as well.
"GOOOOO LUNA GOOOOO LUNA!!!" Pinkie had somehow gotten a cheer leader costume on, and attracted some puzzled eyes.
"Luna! You can do it!" Even Twilight was in the mood to cheer. Earlier the crowd was fairly large, but now EVERYONE in the training facility was watching the epic fight. Guards were shoving their way in, desperate to get a piece of the action.
"I must say, this is quite entertainin' even for my age!" Granny Smith pointed out.
"Yup." With one word, Big Mac agreed with her.
"WOOOT!!! GO LUNA!!!"
"TAKE DOWN THAT RUFFIAN FOR ME!!!"
"YEAHHHH!!!" Even the fillies cheered at the violent battle.
"GOOOOOO DEATHSTROKE GOOOOOO!!!"
Did Shining Armor just... cheer for Luna? While everyone else was watching the epic battle, The Apples, the elements, the fillies, and Celestia stared at Shining Armor.
"Uhhh, I was... I mean..." And so the awkwardness begins. You know you're gonna have a bad time when you cheer for the team everyone hates.
"Shining Armor, is there a reasonable explanation why-"
"Uhhhhh-"
"Deathstroke? That's his name?" Rainbow asks. "Wow, that's actually pretty scary. I-I mean um, nothing scares me!"
"Deathstroke..." Now Twilight was in the mood for questioning. That is, if he wasn't battling one of their rulers at the moment.
Luna was throwing everything she got. A barrage of lunar blasts were being fired, each one not doing much damage. She tried to trap him with a magical cage, but he merely sliced through the bars. Sweat was dropping from her face as Deathstroke ran closer to her. She decided to form four swords with her magic. As he approached, the swords swung at him.
"SHINK SHINK SLICE SLASH!!!" Each sword dissipated as they were countered by Deathstroke's blade, which was sheathed as he was now practically in front of Luna. Before she was hit, she glided into the air and tried to stomp on him. He quickly jumps back, avoiding the impact that could have hit him, seeing small cracks from where Luna is standing. The princess brings up both her hooves and tries to shove him, but he ducks and grabs them. With Luna temporarily immobile, Deathstroke lies on his back and repetitively kicks her gut. He does this quite a few times, before she breaks free of his hold and throws him back. A reverse ground roll is used to recover.
Luna pants for breath, while Deathstroke, needless to say, seems very unharmed. The audience watched patiently to see what happens next.
"Are we done here?" he asks both jokingly and nonchalantly.
*flap flap* Her wings quickly unfold, and determination spreads across her face. She was not going to surrender. Not now, not ever. The source of this creature's strength was unknown, but she was confident to overpower it with one last trick up her sleeve, the Lunar Omega. It was easily one of her most powerful attacks. She has used it before, and those who were its target have all perished. Deathstroke readied himself for whatever would come, with his sword out since magic was being used.
"THOU DARE INSULT ME!? FOOL!!! I AM THE PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!!! AN IMMORTAL WHO HAS LIVED COUNTLESS AGES!!! YOU, KNOW, NOTHING."
Her voice echoed throughout the entire room, frightening some guards. The ponies watched as her horn glowed immensely bright.
"THOOOOOOOOOOM!!!" The rest of the magic she contained was drained as she erupted a dark colored beam from her horn and into Deathstroke, who quickly held his sword up.
"SIZZLE SIZZLE!!!" The ponies could not believe what they saw. The beam split in two! To pull that off would be, well, impossible! For most ponies at least, but this was just extraordinary. However, the force of the beam was slowly pushing him back, he needed to fight back. Since he still had a lot of energy, he slowly but surely pushed back against the force of the beam. Slow at first, but he became more confident. Luna couldn't believe it. No one could. Desperately, she forced out the Lunar Omega more violently, having to stay on the floor to concentrate, but he still fights back strongly.
"You think of me as a fool Luna." Deathstroke manages to get a message out. "Well I think of myself as a messenger. And I bring you the gift of pain!" With an epic leap, he jumps over the beam, which left a hole in the wall afterward. Luna barely had any time to look up, revealing him and his staff. Something shot out of it that flattened Luna against the ground. The beam was immediately ceased, and a large bruise is left on top of her.
He had done it. He had won against one of the most powerful beings. It was so unbelievable, that the audience screamed at their loudest. However, thirteen certain ponies dropped their jaws, Shining Armor's the least dropped.
"What... That's... impossible..." Rainbow muttered loud enough for Applejack to hear.
"Guess ya get to paint mah barn, eh Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash could probably just cry right now. After all, no one had expected it. Even Celestia. All they heard was the crowd of guards squealing in disbelief and excitement. Deathstroke walked over to Luna, who recovered, but was obviously defeated.
"How?" She asked confused and disappointed. "How could you have won? It's not possible." Her pride was severely injured, and it hurt more than the physical injuries she had. Deathstroke replied by staying silent. He climbed the ladder and left the arena, leaving Luna there lying disappointed. The ponies stared at him with a variety of emotions.
"Hey Celestia. You now owe me five hundred. Of whatever currency you use." Everyone stared at him and didn't even bother to follow as he left the room. Turns out he hadn't lied about being the greatest assassin. This was just too much for them to process. It was not possible. Not at all. But he had done it, there was no denying it. Deathstroke had done the impossible.
"Anyways, my sister would like to have a word with you." Deathstroke remained silent as he remembered her, and how annoying she and her onslaught of questions was.
"I'll deal with her later."
"Alright. By the way, I have a favor to ask."
"Go ahead."
"You've heard about the royal guard right? Well the thing is, over the past events, we've had our butts kicked hard. We were mostly saved by the Elements." He thought about it for a few seconds. Help improve their military? "And besides, those guys we delt with at the mountain?" Now that was a good point. Although he was strong, he was still only human.
"Guess you're right. But not now. I just battled you're princess."
"Yeah... You caused quite the uproar."
"Don't blame me. She's the one who challenged me in the first place." He only stays mute at his remark. After all, it wasn't something that would happen everyday.
"Sir." They turn to find a guard standing behind them. Note that it was rather obvious how he was anxious around Deathstroke, with his hooves slightly trembling and his face sweating rather vigorously. "The princess would like a word with you."
"Which one?" Shining Armor asked, and the guard gulped with nervousness.
"Princess Luna." he gestured for them to follow, and were led to a specific door in the hallway. He opened the door and they entered to find Twilight Sparkle and Luna standing directly in front of them. Behind them you can see her five other friends.
"Ahem, I've brought you here for some further questioning."
"Really? I thought we were gonna have dinner!" Deathstroke shouts sarcastically, and some of the others couldn't help but snicker. Twilight gives a poker face.
"This is serious! I have a bunch of questions to ask, and we're gonna do in there!" The angered unicorn points behind her and displays what you would call the Equestrian version of an interrogation room. With her mood slightly tempered, she motions for Deathstroke to enter. They walk into the dull room and sit on the opposite ends of a table.
"Alright, before we start, I would like to inform you that those two guards can counter whatever kind of magic you're using."
"Don't know what you're talking about."
"I'm talking about the thing you did to counter Luna's spells!!!" However, this assumption was incorrect. He might as well have assumed that this place had no evidence of nth metal. "Also, Luna is currently using a mind spell that will determine whether you are lying or not." This was a smart tactic, as Deathstroke thought. But like any cunning assassin, he knew how to counter this.
"Alright, for starters we would like to know why you use 'Deathstroke' as your codename."
"Well any good assassin needs a fancy name." The purple unicorn ignores his tone and moves on.
"Tell me, would it be possible for you to take down Celestia and take over?"
"Depends." This answer was not very satisfying.
"What do mean 'depends?' You just took down Luna by yourself!!!"
"And what does that prove?" As much as he disliked interrogations, he really enjoyed aggravating Twilight.
"Fine. Next question. What makes you so powerful?"
"Skill."
"No really. I've seen you take on other foes before."
"So?" Why wouldn't he cooperate? She could just have Luna detain him right now. Unfortunately, there weren't any rules he had broken.
"You know, there were a lot of other questions I wanted to ask. And I mean a LOT."
"Pity." She screamed in frustration. Or rather, she would, if Luna hadn't interrupted. Twilight sighs and leaves, with Luna teleporting inside and taking her place. Deathstroke just sits there in a relaxed position.
"What could it be..."
"Hmmm?"
"What makes you stronger than the might of a minotaur? What makes you agiler than the wind? What is it?" Despite her efforts, she gets a shrug in reply. "I am not in the mood for joking around!"
"For starters, you're not very good in 'hoof-to-hoof' combat."
"What!?"
"Reaction time is slow."
"I-"
"You're most powerful asset is your magic. It does a bunch of stuff. Without it, you're nothing in combat." She took a few seconds to absorb the information he just stated. "You really wanna know what makes me so powerful?" He reaches in closer, and the others watch in interest.
"Here's the truth. I'm not. I cheat." His statement is simple and quick, and also kind of true. All her magic was countered with his nth metal, mainly on his hands and sword. This is how he was able to break her shield and block her lunar beams.
"Luna, can I resume?" Twilight asks, and Luna leaves with a look of ponder. Twilight sits down in her seat.
"If we want to keep you here, we'll have to examine your belongings. That includes your entire armory."
"Maybe you just want to see what they can do."
"Trust me, I'm fully aware what they're capable of."
"Do you know what I'm capable of?" For five seconds, everything was silent.
"I... I do?"
"Good. 'Cause you're not laying a hoof on my property."
"Oh c'mon! Can't I just-"
"No." Well that was disappointing, she thought she could get the chance to examine the technology from his world. "Let's just continue with the questions. Tell me, what is it that you fear most?" That was an interesting question.
"Why would you want to know that?"
"To-"
"Oh wait I know. You're afraid of me, so you want to know what I'm afraid of, so you can take advantage of that."
"What!? No! I was just uhhhh...."
"If you really want to find out more about me, try putting more trust into me."
"Well what makes you think we don't trust you?"
"This pathetic security." Twilight was straying off course badly. This was a tough interrogation.
"Can you answer just one question?"
"It better be good."
"Alright. Just what are the limits are your strength?" Describing this to her would be quite complicated.
"Well, there are specific side effects in-"
"Any chance you-"
"Let me finish!" Her friends were hearing the whole thing. It was hard to believe that Twilight was the one being annoyed, it was usually the other way around.
"I'm really not sure about this..." Fluttershy mumbled under her breath.
"Don't worry sugarcube, if anythin' goes wrong, the Elements should do the trick." Applejack replies confidently.
"As I was saying, there are specific side effects in my 'strength.'"
"Would you mind telling me?"
"Yes."
"What!? This is not an argument! We need to keep you in check!"
"I can take care of myself, thank you very much."
"Wha- hey!" Deathstroke left the room, and although there were two guards protecting the doorway, they were wise enough not to mess with the guy who kicked Luna's ass. Twilight was pissed, it was like having to deal with a three year old. He was one tough guy to talk to.
Five minutes later
Deathstroke and Shining Armor were walking alongside each other and were prepared to receive some advice from Deathstroke. Or at least, every guard who would stand up to him.
"So what kind of skills are you teaching us?"
"I wouldn't exactly call it teaching. More like correcting."
"I see."
"By the way, you seem very subtle about me remaining quiet."
"Yeah well, every time I tell myself that I can't blame you, well I mean..."
"At least you trust me better than the others." Shining Armor wasn't sure how he should feel about this.
"I still can't get over how you defeated Luna."
"It's my job to fight. So tell me, where are we headed?"
"We have training grounds this way." The training grounds was similar to the training room, except with more space out in the open, ranged weaponry was practiced more often here.
"Hey I was wondering, what effects did that experiment have on you?"
"Bunch of stuff. My strength and speed dramatically increased, and I could think a lot faster." This caught the interest of Shining Armor. It was possible for the technology n his world to perform those kind of feats?
"Was this formula used again? Ever?"
"I don't like remembering it. Besides, that's how I lost one of my kids."
Wait, what? So not only did he have a wife back then, he even had kids? He hadn't paid much attention to that part back in the forest. But it didn't matter now, did it.
"Hey Shinings."
"Yeah?"
"Remember that armor you wore a few days ago?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"It's seems different from what your regular weapons are."
"Oh, it's just a new experimental set we're testing." This, of course, was not true. Deathstroke didn't believe him, he knew why they were being made.
"Don't lie to me. I know what they're for." Shining Armor stared at him nervously and gave in.
"Alright. Celestia wants us to test out this newly made arsenal of weapons. She says they're for when the Griffon Kingdom attacks us. They're used to defend Equestria."
"Well over the past few days, I had some strange encounters, and I think Celestia's hiding something." He receives a look of disbelief.
"What makes you think that?"
"I put together some parts of the puzzle after dealing with guards and talking to your princesses."
"Alright. But I can't believe you right off the bat. Maybe we should just keep this between you and me for now."
"That's what I was thinking." After their brief discussion, they entered through a set of double doors and into a grassy area. Immediately, everyone turns and slightly shivers at the sight of Deathstroke. Almost every guard had learned about Luna's defeat right after it happened.
"Attention everypony! I understand that you may not like it, but this person will be training with you today!" Looks of awe and anxiousness could be seen within the crowd of ponies.
"I'm gonna need a volunteer." Deathstroke states, and no one even makes the slightest movement. Almost no one. One cocky guard decided to step up to the plate.
"I'm gonna run you over like a steam train!" This guard was obviously unaware of what Deathstroke was capable of. His punch is immediately countered and is twisted by the hoof. He spins around and hits the floor in defeat.
"Sloppy." That's the only thing he says to his poor fighting skills. "Anyone else?" Again, everyone remains silent. That is, until one guard brings out a bow and arrow. Time slowed as the arrow flew toward him, and by swiftly bringing his hand up, he grabs the arrow just before it hits his face.
"Predictable." Another one word phrase comes from Deathstroke's mouth. "We have a lot of work to do."
Thirty minutes later
"Twilight, was it really necessary to try and look at his personal belongings? Sometimes I think you're just too curious."
"What?"
"My little ponies, please settle. There is something I must ask of you Twilight." The six ponies along with Celestia and Luna were sitting at a table discussing about him.
"What is it Celestia?"
"Since he will not cooperate, it is required that I specifically need you six to try and gain his trust."
"Why should we trust him?" Rainbow Dash asks in an angered tone. Her friends glare at her in disapproval of her disrespectful attitude, especially in the presence of their two rulers.
"Rainbow Dash, I understand that this is a task that you dislike, but he mentioned that other creatures similar to him roam Equestria as well."
"Alright, alright. At least I'll be able to settle a score with him!" Once again, the others disapprove.
"My subjects, you do not understand the importance of this mission I have assigned. If he alone can defeat the magic of an alicorn, what do you think the others could do?" They hadn't pondered this until now. Fluttershy, who had talked to Deathstroke before, had learned about some of the terrible things the villains in his world could perform. However, being the shy pony she was, she dared not to share what she learned.
"Well I think it'll be fun! I mean, don't you think his mask looks cool? Well, maybe without the darkish part, but full orange doesn't seem very interesting. Does it? Maybe the other half should be blue! Or maybe green, no! Purple!" Pinkie was oblivious to the current troubles that were in their homeland. It was probably better if they didn't stray from their real objective. And that was keeping an eye on the assassin.
"We will send you back to Ponyville with a chariot." Celestia states. "Where is Shining Armor? I need him here."
"I will find him Tia."
"Thanks Luna." Celestia smiles to her sister as she leaves the room in search of their captain.
"Now where could he be?" There were many places he could've gone. He could be in the training room, but after what happened today, she didn't think he would head back there. Perhaps the armory? Probably not, this was not really a good time to stock up on weapons. Besides, why would he even want to do that right now? The training grounds? She wasn't sure, but that was probably her best bet. And so she headed in the direction of the training grounds. She would have to make a subtle appearance after he defeat with Deathstroke. The balcony would be a good place to do just that. It took her ten minutes or so to reach the door to the balcony of the training grounds, with ponies bowing to her as she passed by.
The doors slightly squeaked as they flipped open, so she made a mental reminder to have them oiled later on. She only wished her mental noting was as good as Twilight's. But she had a task to complete, so mental noting and squeaky doors were not the case right now. She stepped onto the balcony floor and looked down to see guards practicing their fighting techniques with Deathstroke.
...Hold on a minute. That's not supposed to be there. Why were they... Shining Armor? Apparently he was watching the whole thing from a good distance. His expression was different from the other guards, was he a part of this? She watched in interest as Deathstroke fought the guards with only his hands. But even so, those who challenged him only succeeded in hitting their face on the ground painfully. That's it, time to have a talk with their captain. Spreading her wings out, she glided down to Shining Armor, even though she was bent on having a subtle entrance. Some guards turned their heads, and as she expected, she received some awkward looks. She did her best to ignore them.
"Shining Armor, my sister requests your presence in the meeting room. It would also be wise if you brought him." Luna motions her hoof to the mercenary. Without responding, he calls out to Deathstroke, who had just taken down a group of guards and correcting their mistakes. He receives the message and walks over as the guards behind him crouch up and scrunch their manes.
"Hey Deathstroke. Celestia wants us in the meeting room." They weren't too thrilled about this.
"Well, let's get this over with. Luna guides the two of them to the meeting room. She was planning to ask Shining Armor what was going on, but she had remembered how important her task was. At least another dull ten minutes pass as they head toward the meeting room.
"Celestia, are you sure about this?"
"You had experience working with him, correct? I assumed that it would be wise to have you come along." Shining Armor was just told to follow the six to Ponyville to keep watch on the mercenary. Although he trusted him, he was fully aware that Celestia was making Twilight bite off more than she can chew. But nevertheless, he didn't argue any further, as it would only lead nowhere.
"I'm sure we'll have a wonderful time." Deathstroke's sarcasm takes over yet again. If anyone was counting how many time he'd done so, they would've lost count a long time ago.
"You're the one who's unhappy about this? I'M the one who has to deal with a notorious brute like you!" Rarity complained, despite that she was still in the presence of Celestia and Luna.
"My little ponies, please, this is not something to argue about. I require you to meet your full expectations. And that means getting to know Deathstroke." The six look at each other with uneasiness. Deathstroke only smirks evilly, but only because he looked forward to pissing them off. "Your departure is already prepared. All of you should head back, and remember to bring the Apples and the fillies with you.
"I'll have them ready." Twilight tells Celestia, who smiles at her attitude.
"Alright everypony, you are all heading back to Ponyville. I suggest you get your things ready." On cue, they all exit the meeting room to prepare for their departure back to Ponyville. They partly looked forward to it, but with Deathstroke in the equation, it seemed as if things would be messy.
"And you." He turns to Celestia, who was wearing a look of concern and strictness. "Do not try us, creature. We will intervene if we must."
"Good luck with that." Deathstroke replies nonchalantly. With their plans set in motion, it was time to get some things ready too.
Half an hour later, everyone was outside and ready to leave. Celestia and Luna were there to say their goodbyes. They needed a large chariot since the group of ponies, and human, was rather large. They gathered into the large chariot, but Twilight is stopped by Celestia's hoof.
"My faithful student, before you go, you need to have these with you." A deluxe box is levitated over to her, and instantly she realizes what they are. But why did she need them? True, he is powerful, but he proved to be more of a jerk than an assassin. To her, at least.
"But Celestia, why would I-"
"I must make sure that nothing goes wrong. That means you must do what you deem necessary, Twilight." Although her explanation was reasonable, having a gun behind your back while shaking his hand just seemed wrong. However, she also determined that arguing with her wouldn't get her anywhere, so she just took the box quietly. She steps into the van, and is surprised what seat she gets.
Beside the terminator. Great. Just great. For one whole trip, she had to sit beside this bastard. Deathstroke was sitting down beside Shining Armor and his frustrated sister with his legs crossed. There was also Rainbow Dash, who was sitting beside Twilight, wings still injured. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy were sitting in front of them with Sweetiebelle and Scootaloo, while the Apple family sat in the back. With everything set to go, they took off for Ponyville. Behind them they could see Celestia and Luna waving at them.
"Goodbye, my little ponies!" Celestia and Luna yelled to get their message straight. Twilight saw them and smiled. It was great to have a princess as your mentor. Unfortunately, even the sight of those close to her couldn't stop her from ignoring Deathstroke, who was staring blankly into space. Somehow she found that irritating, but a look from her brother shut her up before she said anything stupid. She knew this was going to be a long way back to Ponyville.
