(Edit. Sorry for the resubmission to Chess Game of the Gods group. I deleted it the first time upon finding a few errors but they have been corrected for proper submission. Again, my bad)
Equestria, such a peaceful land. Barely knowing of any conflict or strife, besides the occasional god of chaos and changeling queen bent on conquest. But what about the other lands, the ones we have yet to see? Not every race is as peaceful as the ponies.
When Discord vanished, no pony knew where he went. He could've been anywhere at any time. Only a few knew the truth of what happened. Pyotr was one such person to know, if only for a few brief seconds. Now lost in a land of which the likes no other have explored, what is a now ex-underground fighter like Pyotr supposed to do? Diamond Dogs are not keen on having intruders in their lands.
(A/N. Inspired by Rust's story 'The Ballad of Echo the Diamond Dog' I bring my story to the table in an effort to compete with his. New edit: Thanks goes to Antrxx of Deviant Art for my awesome new cover art. If you're reading this, all my thanks goes to you)
Pyotr drove his knee into his opponent’s face, the sound of the man’s nose breaking filling the caged arena. The man blinked stupidly for a few seconds as blood ran down his face before falling to his knees and then to his face.
“And Pyotr the Bloody takes another win!” the announcer shouted. “Finishing Boris the Brutal with a devastating knee strike into his nose! The janitors are going to have their work cut out for them again thanks to him!”
The crowd laughed and cheered as the Pyotr held his fists up in victory, breathing heavily as he spat out a small globule of blood onto the mat. He walked out the door and headed for the locker room, intent on cleaning off the blood before seeing the doctor.
As he splashed water onto his face, he looked at himself in the mirror. Staring back was a man with a shaven hair style with grey eyes and a squashed nose from repetitive breakings. Six years ago he had been living with his adoptive father Isaac Makarov before he had been killed on the streets in Moscow by a mugger, or so they said.
Isaac had told him that he was ex-KGB and that one day he may not come back home because of some enemies he made. In the time he had spent with the man, Isaac taught him all he could about life and how to prepare for when he would finally be on his own. Managing money, cooking and cleaning, even the Russian fighting style of Sambo.
He was thankful for the last one since it was the only thing keeping him alive and off the streets. He had never intended to end up as an underground fighter in illegal death matches. Now at the age of twenty-two, he was constantly fighting for his life to get by.
When he first started, everything had been working out so well. Sure his first kill shook him up pretty badly but after the third guy he had managed to suppress it. He even managed to spare a few, which in turn saved his life a few times when he fought them again and lost.
As it began to get really dark for him with the constant death, he found something that changed his life. My Little Pony. At first he rejected the show, finding it too girly. But after a time he found himself constantly drawn back to it, watching more and more episodes. After finally completing both seasons, he turned to the internet. He picked up on reading stories others would write and even wrote a few himself, though they never did well.
He found it nice to imagine about a land where fighting was practically non-existent and everyone was everyone’s friend. Compared to what he did weekly that land was a paradise, a Shangri-La.
Unfortunately, it was only just a dream. A nice one, but still a dream.
As he walked back to his apartment, he thought about his new contact that had an offer for him. It wasn’t unusual that some people would come to Pyotr to have him fight in matches to gain money from his wins, but this new contact had been vague and that worried the fighter.
He had heard of several other fighters that had received such offers and turned out to be ambushes by other fighters to knock off the competition. The only consolation he had was that the contact wanted to meet in a fairly public place, a library.
Locking the door on his apartment behind him, he grabbed the vodka inside his fridge and took a swig. Another he was grateful to his adoptive father for, Isaac made sure that if he wasn’t pissing alcohol at the end of the day like a true Russian, he would force him through a fighting match with him. And at the end of each bout with the ex-KGB, he was always left bloody and battered.
A tough, sometimes cruel, man but Pyotr was still thankful to him anyways. Comparing the fights he had now to back then, fighting in the death matches was like playing patty cake with safety mitts on.
He sighed in contentment as the alcohol lessened what little pain that was left after the doctor had finished bandaging him up. As he collapsed onto his bed, he wondered what tomorrow’s meeting would bring.
“So let me get this straight” Pyotr started slowly. “You don’t want me to fight a match for you?”
The man sitting across from him sighed and shook his head. “No, I do want you to fight but not in a match. You should listen to what I’m saying before opening your mouth.”
Pyotr had plenty of experience with holding his temper but this strange man was pushing it. He looked Chinese, if only for the scraggly fu-Manchu beard. The rest of him was an oddity.
The man was wearing a cotton candy blue track-suit with pink vertical stripes that made Pyotr wonder exactly how the man had gotten through the streets without being jumped. Especially considering this man looked old enough to Sun Tzu‘s brother. When he first arrived, the man flashed a smile at him that showed a canine being longer than the other, slightly worrying Pyotr. Even more than his mismatched eyes did.
As he sat down, the man pulled out two glasses and poured him a small bit of vodka while he somehow got chocolate milk, out of the same container used to pour his vodka. They had chatted for a bit, talking about Sambo and other styles of fighting, which one was best, the different techniques, and finally ending up in Russia’s history. After beating around the bush, the man finally started talking about why he had contacted Pyotr.
“Then tell me what you mean before I decide to leave” Pyotr demanded.
“Kids these days, so touchy and impatient” the old man frowned before grinning. “Tell me, what do you know about these?”
Reaching into his pocket, his arm going further down than physically possible, and pulled out two figurines.
Pyotr’s eyes narrowed at what he saw. The toys were of Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh. Normally this wouldn’t have meant anything but he was a supporter of that particular shipping. He just could not see Mac, the pony of few words, being paired with Fluttershy, the shyest pony to exist.
“Aren’t you a little old to be playing with figurines of Twilight Sparkle and Big Macintosh from My Little Pony?” Pyotr asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Aren’t you a little old to know what show these two belong to and who they are?” the old man smirked as Pyotr silently cursed himself for the slip up. “What I’m offering you is a chance to go somewhere else, to escape this dreary reality for something else, something better. All you need to do is fight whatever comes your way.”
“So what you’re offering, and you’ll have to excuse my disbelief” Pyotr started, “is to send me to the world of My Little Pony?”
“Precisely!” the old man beamed. “Do you accept?”
“Let’s say for a brief moment I believe you. What are the terms in this contract?”
“Terms? Why whatever could you mean?” the man said innocently.
“I’m no fool to strike a deal without reading the fine print” Pyotr said. “Just for the sake of keeping your senile mind entertained, I’ll go along with this but with two conditions.”
“Smart lad, the first one didn’t even bother choosing what species he wanted to be when I booted him to Equestria” the man chortled.
“Alright, species first then.” Pyotr was silent for a moment, thinking which of the different races would be most beneficial. “Diamond Dog.”
“Any particular reason why?” the old man asked, looking interested.
Pyotr took a drink of his vodka as he compiled his reasons. “Unicorns, while possessing magic, are physically weak and may not be able to use said magic at some points in time. Pegasi are a step up the ladder but their thin bones would easily break against any real pressure, plus flying isn’t my thing. Earth Ponies are strong, and normally I would choose them if not for one thing.” He held up his hands. “Fingers. Holding things in my mouth isn’t sanitary and I’m not willing to risk some disease because I wanted to be a pony with strength.”
Pyotr paused as he drank down the last of his vodka to get rid of the dryness in the back of his throat before resuming his reasons. “With Diamond Dogs, not only will I have fingers and strength but still be capable of using Sambo. Sure some of the techniques will be unusable due to different bone structure but that’s something I’m willing to give up.”
“Logical and different, most would have chosen pony without even thinking about it” the old man chortled. “I can already tell I made a good choice with you, already straying from the beaten path of order and wandering into the woods of chaos.”
Pyotr pretended not hear the last part, adding it up to old man rambling syndrome. “The second condition is that I would need language and writing capabilities so I don’t stumble around like a dumb child while there.” Pyotr eyed the empty glass, slightly disappointed at it being empty as he sat it back down. “I have to ask, what do you stand to gain from sending me to Equestria?”
The old man nodded his head, his fu-Manchu bobbing as he wrote down Pyotr’s conditions on a piece of paper he seemingly pulled from nowhere. With the last stroke of his pen, he rolled up the paper and snapped his fingers, the paper vanishing in a pink puff. “What I gain is a little entertainment from all the chaos you’re going to cause.”
Pyotr felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop at this, sudden realization and horror dawning on him as the man in the tracksuit smiled wickedly at him.
“The conditions are set then! As your kind say here, do svidaniya (goodbye)!” Discord shouted, his fist glowing as he brought it back.
Pyotr tried to use any of his Sambo to block the punch but found himself immobile as the God of Chaos struck him in the chest, sending him flying through the air and into darkness.
“Forgot to ask him where he wanted to go” Discord frowned as he drank his glass down in one gulp and tossed the chocolate milk over his shoulder, the explosion tearing a hole in the wall. “Oh well, a fighter unafraid to take life is now in the picture. Even I wonder what sort of delicious chaos he‘ll cause.” Mad laughter echoed through the library as local police forces drove in to discover the source of the explosion, only to find nothing.
A/N. Greetings bronies and pegasisters! I welcome you to my serious attempt for writing a story. For those we love . . . went over better than I thought with 27 likes and 1 dislike with quite a few people favoriting it and a few others now watching me. Thank you those who liked it and added it to your favorite list, you know who you are. I will be putting translations for any Russian words I use next to the word Tags, characters, and the like will be added as necessary. Now for something completely different!
Twilight: Do I ever cross your mind?
Big Mac: Eenope
Twilight: Do you like me?
Big Mac: Eenope
Twilight: Do you want me?
Big Mac: Eenope
Twilight: Would you cry if I left?
Big Mac: Eenope
Twilight: Would you live for me?
Big Mac: Eenope
Twilight: Would you do anything for me?
Big Mac: No
Twilight: Choose--me or your life
Big Mac: Mah life
Twilight runs away in shock and pain and the Big Mac runs after her and says...
The reason you never cross mah mind is ‘cause you're always on mah mind.
The reason why Ah don't like you is ‘cause Ah love you.
The reason Ah don't want you is ‘cause Ah need you.
The reason Ah wouldn't cry if you left is ‘cause Ah would die if you left.
The reason Ah wouldn't live for you is ‘cause Ah would die for you.
The reason why Ah'm not willing to do anything for you is ‘cause Ah would do everything for you.
The reason Ah chose mah life is ‘cause you ARE mah life.
Pyotr had read a few stories on a website called Fimfiction about how a human would get sent to Equestria through magical means. One second they were chilling on Earth, the next they were in the land of ponies having grand adventures.
Whoever believed it was a simple journey between realities was sorely mistaken.
Pyotr saw many, many things during his trip. Peeks and gazes into ‘what ifs’ and ‘might’ve happened’ in many different versions of his life and others as well. A guy being born as a girl, another choosing to be a scientist instead of a soldier, and one suffering a childhood that would lead to the end of the world instead of having a loving caring family.
He even saw the different dimensions of what looked anime shows and stuff from books he had read. Naruto, Eragon, Lord of the Rings, and so much more.
He saw it all in under a second and in the stretch of eternity, forcibly compressed into his mind. Finally, he started seeing realities of My Little Pony. A version where Celestia created a virus that turned Ponyville’s ponies into mindless monsters, a possibility where Rainbow Dash was framed for murder and a certain lawyer coming to her defense, and finally what looked like a Diamond Dog running with the fictional story character Daring Do.
'Wait, could that be the other person Discord was speaking of?' Pyotr thought. He didn’t have time to ponder it as he felt darkness over take his sight and crashed into something solid.
He awoke to find himself on a cold stone floor, no sound to be heard. He looked around to find himself in a small room made out of a dark stone that looked like obsidian. On the roof was some kind of glowing crystal bathing everything in a gentle white light.
He slowly stood up, suddenly finding himself top heavy and placed a paw against the wall. Wait a tic, paw?
He felt his eyes widen as he brought his new appendage close to his face, studying it closely. Yep, that’s a paw alright. Complete with a set of claws, each an inch and a half long. Nasty looking things that looked like they could easily tear through flesh.
Judging by the color of the fur on his arm he guessed that he was predominantly storm cloud grey, until he could find a mirror or some reflective surface that could otherwise prove differently.
He tried moving again, adjusting his balance to compensate for the new top weight he had with his larger arms and upper body. The muscle composition seemed to be concentrated more near the forearm and narrowed down as it drew closer to his torso. He could probably shatter bones easily with the muscle he was now packing.
His legs were like that of a regular canine, meaning he should probably learn how to move about on all fours before he began any real movement. Gently setting his paws onto the ground, he moved them in time with his legs and managed to keep himself from falling. Gaining confidence, he managed a small lope around the room not breaking into a full dash due to the small size of the room.
Finally confident that he had movement down, he went onto the next thing on his list: speech.
“My name is Pyotr” he stated slowly, making sure to enunciate his words. They definitely weren’t Russian, more akin to the English language which surprised him. “Menya zovut Petr (My name is Pyotr).” Seemed he still had his natural Russian language as well. Probably be handy for later.
Now, time to check off the second to last thing on his list. Clothing. He couldn’t bend his head all the way down thanks to his new muzzle so he reach a paw up to see if he could feel any material. He was pleasantly surprised to find a vest with multiple pockets on him, his fur blocking any feeling he normally would’ve had if he still had skin which explained why he hadn‘t noticed it yet. Checking the pockets, he was once again pleasantly surprised.
In the top right he found a bag of coins which he assumed were bits that served as the currency for ponies and probably the other races as well. He didn’t know if they did use other forms since the most anyone has ever seen of canon Equestria was limited to a few areas. Maybe that would’ve changed with season three but now he wouldn't ever really know. Putting the bag of bits back, he continued his search. The top left pocket held four gems: a red ruby, a green emerald, a brown topaz, and a dark red garnet.
He remembered vaguely that Diamond Dogs could consume gems without harmful effects and decided to try out the ruby to make sure. The gem broke easily under the power of his jaws and found that the rock tasted of strawberry’s. Assuming color had to do with flavor, the emerald would probably taste of either green apple or watermelon, the topaz of chocolate or maybe butterscotch, and the garnet of cherries.
The ruby was surprisingly filling considering his size but would either need to find more gems or another source of nourishment. Dieing of starvation sounded unappealing at the moment.
Both bottom pockets were empty to his disappointment but merely shrugged his shoulders and planned on using them later.
Now for the last part of his list, finding out where the heck in Equestria he was. He walked to the door and pulled it open, stepping out into a large hallway. At first it looked like he ended up in the palace at Canterlot but the architecture seemed a bit too . . . gothic. The walls, ceilings, and floors were made out of the same black stone from the room with large columns along the walls with various bits and pieces of pottery on stands lining between them. Upon the ceiling were more of those glowing crystals aligned to evenly light the halls.
Another thing Pyotr noticed was is how quiet it was. No sound echoed through the tall hallways, silence dominating the air. He slowly loped down a random hall, taking in what he could. Whoever lived here either liked the color black or that was all that they had available at the time, or maybe it held some special property that he just wasn’t aware of yet.
He would’ve continued to ponder this when something broke the silence.
“I’m telling you I can smell someone here” a rough voice stated, sounding agitated.
“You’re right, I can smell it too. Who would be stupid enough to intrude here?” a second, equally rough said.
Pyotr smiled, thinking that he could ask who ever was ahead for directions. Depending on where he was, he could probably get to Ponyville in no time!
He quickly ran ahead, using his arms to full affect and turned the corner to be met with a not so pleasant surprise. He came face to face with two large armored Diamond Dogs, both wielding spears. Their armor was reminiscent of what the guard dogs wore from episode nineteen when Rarity had been kidnapped (pony napped?) by the Diamond Dogs.
There was only a slight difference. Instead of the brutish looking faces from the show these two had more, refined looking faces. Sleek, more dog or wolf like. And their voices were deeper as well, which was nice considering what the previous voices sounded like. Their arms were also thinner as well, no less defined in muscle tone but not as large as his were. They seemed more built to average out rather than dominate in brute force.
The two dogs stared at him for a few seconds before snapping back to attention. The first pulled out what looked like a whistle and blew into it while the other started yelling ‘intruder!’
“Wait, you’ve got it all wrong!” Pyotr shouted, waving his paws frantically.
Both of the Diamond Dogs ignored as they charged forward with their spears intent on goring him. Pyotr grabbed beneath the head of the spear of the first guard dog and spun around, using the momentum to smash the dog in the side of his head with the back of his paw.
The first guard dog grunted as he flew through the air, a dent in his helmet as he crashed into a column and fell to the ground. Unconscious and out of the fight.
The second came in with a horizontal swing, trying to cut out his throat with the tip of his spear. Pyotr ducked under, feeling a few pieces of his hair come off and narrowly missing his ears. His eyes narrowed as he lunged forward with both paws, one grabbing the guard’s collar and the other grabbing the bottom of his armor and throwing the guard dog behind him. To his surprise, the dog flew high into the air and crashed into a pillar as well, slowly sliding down until reaching the floor.
“Sorry, but I’m not quite ready to die yet” Pyotr muttered as he ran off on all fours.
He could now hear the distant clatter of armor rattling and orders literally being barked out to find him. Wherever he was, it looked like the Diamond Dogs were in charge and they did not take kindly to those who did not belong there.
As he turned a corner, two more guard dogs spotted him. Before they could alert any more, Pyotr charged forward and slammed his arms into their necks in a double lariat. Both guards dropped, wheezing and clutching at their throats as their air supply was suddenly cut off.
“Just let me leave!” Pyotr shouted as he pressed on, knowing that he could handle the small groups of two to four but should they start coming in larger groups and with ranged weapons he could end in some serious trouble.
“Kill the intruder!” a voice shouted back, three guards coming around a corner this time.
He managed to duck under the first spear and spin out of the way of the second but the third managed to get him along the arm. Luckily it was a small scratch, a bit deep but nothing serious.
Pyotr cocked his arm back and drove it forward like a piston into the face of the first guard, sending the dog flying like a rag doll into a vase sitting upon a pedestal. The second he dispatched when he spun around the spear again and drove his elbow into the back of the guard’s head after completing the spin, knocking him to the ground. The third was a bit more cautious and used the range of his spear to full affect, rapidly jabbing at Pyotr while hopping back incase he got close. Growing tired of the little game, the Russian fighter grabbed the spear haft and jerked the dog towards him. As the guard got close, he delivered a solid uppercut to the dog’s chin sending him flying into the air. Using his powerful leg muscles, Pyotr jumped after him and wrapped the hapless dog into an upside down bear hug.
“I’ve only seen this move in a game!” Pyotr laughed. “Crushing Eagle!” He placed his hind paws under the guards arms forcing them out and drove the guard dog into the ground head first.
As Pyotr backed off, gravity took hold and caused the Diamond Dog to fall onto the ground with a thud in a sprawled spread eagle style. He knelt next to the fallen guard and placed his fingers onto the dog’s neck, feeling for a pulse. He sighed in relief as he felt the steady thumping of a beating heart. They may be trying to kill him but they were only doing there jobs, this all being the circumstance of being in the wrong place.
“Sorry, but it’s nothing personal” Pyotr muttered standing back up.
“Oh but I do believe it is personal now” a voice said, distinctively smooth.
Pyotr spun around to see ten guards holding spears and crossbows with someone walking up behind them. Pyotr felt his jaw drop as he bore witness to the first female Diamond Dog ever seen by man, er human that is.
She reminded him of one of the Egyptian bred dogs, dark fur and a narrowed muzzle with narrow eyes. She was even wearing ankh earrings along with a full body white dress that reminded him of what females wore during the olden times of Egypt.
To see a dog wearing a dress and it not be for some internet meme was strange.
“You intrude into my fathers palace, take out my guards, and destroyed a few priceless artifacts” the female diamond dog stated, not looking angry in the slightest. Even her tone betrayed no emotion. Either she truly wasn’t angry or was capable of hiding her emotions better than most politicians.
“I never intended to end up here, I was trying to find my way out when you’re guards attacked me” Pyotr stated neutrally, keeping an eye on the guards. Father’s palace? She must be a princess then.
“How you got here is currently no longer important” the princess said, looking bored. “What is how you’re going to be leaving. Should it be in pieces or ashes scattered to the winds?”
“I think I prefer the third option where I just leave and don’t come back” Pyotr said backing away slowly.
“Now that’s no fun” she said, smirking. “Kill him, but try to keep the bloodstains to a minimum, they’re so hard to clean out.”
The four guard dogs holding the crossbows fired as one, the deadly bolts heading straight for Pyotr. Having no time to dodge, he raised his large arms and took the bolts with a grunt of pain.
He rushed forward to the startled dogs and grabbed one by the throat and swinging the dog into another sending both into a wall. He ducked under a stab from the next guard and grabbed the spear with his teeth, ripping it out of the dog’s paws.
He swung low and struck the guard’s legs with the haft of the spear, knocking him to the ground and finishing him off with a solid strike to the face with a punch.
He barely dodged another spear strike, this one barely grazing his side as it flew at him from behind. Unable to move in time however, the guard dog wrapped him in a bear hug and presented Pyotr to the guards with the crossbows for target practice.
Acting quickly, Pyotr swung a foot back and struck the guard dog in between his legs, his grip loosening at the sudden pain. Pyotr grabbed him by the arm and swung the dog like a living club, smashing into the four Diamond Dogs who had been intent on making him a pincushion.
“Eight down, two to go” Pyotr panted, the princess still looking bored. “Still want to do this?”
His answer came in the form of the last two charging him with their spears lowered. A dodge and a few punches later, both were out as well.
“Can, I go now?” Pyotr said, the wounds he received starting to affect him.
“I must admit that I am surprised that you’ve taken so many guards” the princess started walking towards one of the down Diamond Dogs. “However, impressive as it was with your strange fighting style I simply cannot let you live. So do hold still for a second.”
She grabbed one of the crossbows and fired it at Pyotr. Suprised at the sudden attack he didn't have the time to dodge or block. The bolt struck him above his left eye, sending him backwards to the ground with a thud.
“A pity, he would’ve made either an excellent soldier or a wonderful toy” the princess said, sighing. “Now I’ll need to find someone to take his corpse out of here.”
“I think I’ll show myself out” a voice stated behind her.
The princess’s eyes widened as she whirled around to see Pyotr standing there with the bolt still stuck above his eye, only now the eye was half-lidded and seemed to drift lazily to the left.
“Funny thing, my father told me I was too thickheaded to die. I guess he was right” Pyotr laughed.
“So what will you do now, kill me? Make me your bitch?” (I use this term not as derogatory slander but as a dog thing where he would take her as a mate) the princess snarled, slightly scared at this Diamond Dog who had a bolt in his head yet still lived.
Pyotr plodded forward till he was in front of the princess, looking down into her defiant yet slightly scared eyes.
“No, I will find my way out” Pyotr said walking past her.
The Diamond Dog princess watched with wide eyes as the warrior plodded past her down the hall, taking a few more steps before falling down again with a thud.
She watched his body for a few moments, making sure he was not getting up again and moved closer. Placing her next to his, she could hear the slow beat of his heart and a very slight wheeze of his breathing.
“Still alive. Remarkable” she muttered, leaning back. “It looks like your father was right, too thickheaded to die. Very well then. Romulus, Remus! Take our, ‘guest’ here to the medical ward and have them patch him up.”
Two shadows detached themselves from the ceiling, grabbing the unconscious form of Pyotr and quickly dashing away.
A/N. Welcome back everypony. Thank you for sticking with me this far. So far I’ve gotten five likes and three dislikes, along with two favorites! I’d like to thank you both for that. Also, the mention of the other stories? I do not, I repeat, do not own or make any claim to own ever. They are just mentions for part of the story. No copyright is intended. Take a guess at what the stories are, then go read them. Everypony knows how much better they are then mine. Now next on my list.
I know I’m not perfect, I will get things wrong or something may seemed to farfetched. That’s where I need you guys to help me by pointing those mistakes out. Help me, so I can help you. Remember, that like/dislike bar helps as well by letting me know how good or bad of a job I’m doing. See you all next time!
Pyotr groaned as he slowly regained conscious. There was a flaring pain on the left side of his head. He slowly cracked his right eye open, holding a paw up to shield himself against the bright light.
“Oh? You’re awake” a feminine, if a bit gravely, voice said sounding amused.
Pyotr managed to turn his head slowly to see a mostly white, probably from age, furred Diamond Dog sitting there with a white vest on, a red cross on the right lapel. She was holding a clipboard with a quill, setting it down on a stand to the right of his bed.
“W-where am I?” Pyotr managed in a whisper.
“In the infirmary of King Brutus’s castle” the nurse said. “The Princess Amethyst had brought you here.”
“What h-happened to me?” Pyotr coughed, rubbing his face. “Why can’t I see out my left eye?”
Here the nurse started looking a tad apprehensive. “Well, Princess Amethyst had shot you just above your left eye with a bolt from a crossbow. Luckily for you, the bow had been slightly damaged and the force behind the arrow was decreased. And if that wasn’t enough, the particular arrow fired also happened to be slightly dulled so it didn’t fully penetrate your skull and pierce your brain. It did however do nerve damage and blinded your left eye.”
His left eye . . . blinded? He tried blinking his left eyelid and felt it move, if a bit erratically, but he could see nothing. Taking a small shuddering breath, he pushed himself up into a seated position.
“So, what happens to me now?” Pyotr asked, trying to ignore his new handicap.
“Now I let the guard outside know you are awake to alert the Princess who will then proceed to decide what we are to do with a half-blood Diamond Dog who took out nearly twenty guards out like you” the old nurse laughed as she stood up and walked out.
“Half-blood, the hell does that mean?” Pyotr muttered as he decided to make himself comfortable as he waited for the Princess.
Ten minutes later, she strode in still wearing the ankh earrings and white dress. She studied him for a moment, saying nothing as Pyotr did the same. They continued watching each other for what felt like an hour till she spoke.
“So, it seems you are capable of patience after all. Or at least, smart enough to know to let your betters talk before you” Princess Amethyst said with a smirk.
Pyotr said nothing before shaking his head and looking at the Princess. “Sorry, you say something?”
Her smirk vanished faster than a cupcake being held before Pinkie Pie, her eyes narrowing.
“But I could be wrong and you could be a fool who doesn’t realize how lucky he is to be alive.”
“I’d rather be a live fool than a dead genius” Pyotr shot back. Talking to the one responsible for blinding his eye hadn’t left him in a good mood.
“Keep this up and you’ll be a dead fool. Now, it seems that your fate has been left up to me thanks to my father” she said cupping her chin with a paw.
Either her father was a lazy mutt or felt that she should decide what to do with him since she did in fact shoot him in the face and then save his life.
“After much thought, I’ve come up with three options” the Princess said holding up a paw with three digits extended. “Option one, I keep you as a pet, my personal toy to do with as I see fit. Option two, you join the guard and serve for five years and then discharged, allowing you to do whatever you see fit.”
“Why let me join the guard?” Pyotr interrupted.
“Word of what you’ve done has reached my father’s ear and he was impressed, at least enough to consider letting you into the guard” she continued, ignoring the interruption. “Finally option three, you fight in a death match with a warrior of our choosing. You win and you go free. Lose, well that should be obvious.”
“Service to you, service to your father, or a high death risk on the third. Tough call” Pyotr said dryly. “But if there’s one thing I know, it’s a death fight. I’ll take option three.”
She raised an eyebrow at this. “Pity, I was hoping you choose option one. I wondered what it would be like to see you in a dress.” She shook her and cleared her throat. “Very well, tomorrow you shall be escorted to the arena to fight. We’ll see tomorrow if your determination is strong enough to get you out of this.”
“I’ve been in enough death matches to know how to survive, I’ll be fine” Pyotr said lying back down.
Princess Amethyst shook her head again before walking towards the door. “Oh, before I go, what is your name? My father will be announcing you tomorrow and will need a name to announce.”
A name? Pyotr silently cursed himself, he hadn’t thought of that. Pyotr was too different, too foreign. He needed something that could blend in better with the locals. It was a fresh start, a spark to light the fire of adventure, cheesy as that sounded.
“Flynt, my name is Flynt” Pyotr said, keeping his straight face on.
“Flynt?” she said, rolling it off her tongue. “Odd name, but you are an odd half-blood. Very well, Flynt. Prepare yourself for tomorrow as it may be your last.”
Pyotr, now Flynt, watched her leave and the old nurse come back in. “Tell me, what did you and the Princess mean by half-blood?”
The nurse looked at him in surprise. “You don’t know? I thought it was common knowledge around here.”
“I’m not exactly from around here” Flynt said. “I was raised in pony territory by an old gryphon and he wasn’t exactly in the know about Diamond Dogs.”
“True, those flying chickens wouldn’t know much about us” the nurse said dryly. “Very well, I will tell you. As you’ve probably seen, there are two different types of us Diamond Dogs. The ones you’ve probably seen in the pony territory, the ones who’ve given in to their greed and let it affect their appearances. They are called the Tainted on the account they have lost their natural appearance. While losing their once distinguished looks and most of their intelligence they now possess greater strength and endurance, making them tough foes to face.”
Flynt could remember back to the episode, their mutt like faces and brute strength along with their broken speech. The Mane Six had a tough time beating them, it was only thanks to Rarity’s high pitched whining they weren’t put into slavery.
“Then there’s us” the nurse continued. “We’re the ones who have not sunk into our greed like the Tainted have and as such we retain our more dignified appearance. Though, we are not as strong as the Tainted are but we’re faster and are smarter by far.”
“Then what about me? You said I was a half-blood” Flynt said.
“I was getting to that” she admonished. “Now, for some reason there has never been a recorded case of a female Tainted, only males. So it goes without saying that the male Tainted rape the non-Tainted females.”
“So you’re saying I’m a by product of rape?” Flynt said, trying to sound disgusted. If that was the reason why he looked the way he did he had to make sure he played his role well otherwise he could end up in hot water pretty fast.
“Don’t blame yourself, it’s not your fault” the nurse said sympathetically, placing a paw on his shoulder. “Now you need to rest, if you want to survive tomorrow then you’ll need all your energy back.”
Flynt nodded and let his eyes drift slowly shut. “Thank you, um. I don’t believe I got your name” Flynt said, looking sheepish.
“It’s Sakura dear” she said. “Now rest.”
“Flynt Ironpaw?” the gruff Diamond Dog said, looking up from his anvil and setting his hammer down.
“I don’t recall the Ironpaw being part of the name” Flynt said uneasily. When he awoke in the infirmary, Sakura was gone and a guard was in her place. He escorted Flynt without a word to the armory for his fight. There, he met Sprocket the forge dog.
His face was scarred along with a few other areas like his arms and chest, showing that he was no stranger to combat. Judging from memory, Sprocket appeared to resemble a Great Dane.
“Guards started passing it around when word of you beating nearly twenty guards with your bare paws while they were wearing armor” Sprocket growled as he stood up, forcing Flynt to look up. “The Princess wanted you to last a bit longer to give the crowd a bit more entertainment before you died. Waste of time if you ask me.”
“But I didn’t ask you” Flynt growled back. “Now are you going to give me something to kill with or are you my opponent and your strategy is to talk me to death?”
Sprocket bared his teeth and growled again, right in Flynt’s face. They stared each other down, refusing to look away. Surprisingly, Sprocket broke first by leaning back and laughing.
“You’ve got fire in you pup, I like that” Sprocket chortled. “Just hope that fire doesn’t get put out today. Now come on, let’s get you equipped.”
Sprocket led Flynt through some weapon racks and armor stands, pointing some out and saying some useful tips about some while denouncing others. It seemed Flynt couldn’t find anything when he spotted an armor stand at the end, covered in cloth. He pulled it off and gasped at what he saw.
It was a suit of armor, just a upper body piece plus a helmet but it was perfect. It would cover his entire torso with layered plates that would slide in on each other if he were to duck or bend over and slide back out again when standing up. They were thick enough to stop an arrow from piercing but still thin enough to allow mobility. The armor would cover his arms completely, ending in gauntlets that covered his paws with small holes at the ends for his claws to poke through. The helmet was designed for a canine’s head, a metal strip that would run between the eyes and end over the muzzle with the rest covering his cranium with a bit of chain mail coming out the back to cover the neck.
“What about this one?” Flynt said, running a paw over it.
“That one is not for use” Sprocket said firmly, throwing a cloth back over it. “It was my teacher’s last work before he passed the hammer to me and I do not want to lose it.”
“Is it not the purpose of a tool to be used?” Flynt asked taking the cloth back off. “Why make armor if you do not intend for it to save a warrior’s life? It’s no better than a painting in a museum. Pretty to look at but no real use other than to just leave it there and collect dust.”
Sprocket’s eyes softened as he placed a paw onto the armor. “You may be right. I can hear him now, shouting at me for letting something like this go to waste by collecting dust and rust. Very well, I’ll let you wear it but promise me one thing” Sprocket said rounding on Flynt.
“You better damn well survive this fight, I don’t want it ruined by you dieing” Sprocket said poking him in the chest.
“The last time you see this armor is me walking out as a winner and a free dog” Flynt said donning the helmet and the armor. The chest piece was actually a bit large for him but his vest filled in the empty space making it secure.
“You’d better. Here, take these as well” Sprocket said pressing two objects into his paws.
Flynt looked to see what looked like knuckle dusters with spikes at ridges but with a slight difference. At the end of each was a blade, almost seven inches in length. The grips and knuckles were a dark grey while the blade was a non-reflective matte-black.
“I call them paw knives” Sprocket said proudly. “Made for close combat. Good for not only smashing your opponents face in but cutting as well. Two weapons for the price of one.”
“Very nice” Flynt said sliding them on. He gave a few experimental punches and swings with the knives in a reverse grip. “Though instead of paw knives, how about trench knives instead? Anyways, I need to hurry. Thanks for the armor and knives Sprocket!”
“Trench knives huh?” Sprocket muttered, pulling out a second pair as Flynt walked out the door. “That does sound better.”
Flynt sat down on the bench, staring through the portcullis that led into the arena. From what he could see, it was like the roman Coliseum except made out of the same black stone that lined the castle along with much higher walls and fewer seats.
‘Archers on top of the walls at even intervals’ Flynt idly noticed. ‘The high walls are probably meant for any land bound creature with the archers for those with wings. Which means I’m not the first to do this.’
The door to the room slammed open and two guards with spears walked in. The first one started prodding me to the gate, saying nothing and keeping a stoic face.
“Alright, I’m going” Flynt grumbled as he secured his trench knives. “Got anything to drink before I go?”
The one prodding Flynt looked to the one still by the door who shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a canteen, tossing it over. Flynt uncapped and took a sniff, recognizing the smell of alcohol.
“Spasibo (Thank you)” Flynt said gratefully as he took a swig. The alcohol was strong, probably normal by Diamond Dog standard, but thanks to previous drinking plus his body’s new hardiness it was manageable.
The two guards looked at each other, wondering what he had said as the canteen was passed back and the gate opened.
“Presenting, Flynt Ironpaw!” a strong voice shouted.
Flynt strode out to the roars and howls of the audience, all eager to see the new dog get killed. That or just excited to see death of any kind really.
“He will be fighting for his freedom today against our current champion! Win, and he walks out free. Lose, well . . .” a dark chuckle followed this with the audience laughing with him.
Flynt looked up and saw the source of the voice, a rather large Diamond Dog wearing a gem studded crown made out of some kind of golden metal. He knew it wasn’t gold, he didn’t know why or how he knew, but it wasn’t gold. Maybe a different material similar to gold.
‘That must be King Brutus’ Flynt thought, staring. ‘I guess the strongest leads and judging by his size I can tell that he would have no trouble against most challengers.’
“His opponent today is our champion who holds the record of defeating his opponents in less than a minute. His very paws can crush boulders, his bite capable of tearing trees out by the roots, it’s Bowser!”
A loud howl echoed through the coliseum, actually making Flynt stumble for a second. Then he realized it wasn’t the howl, but the trembling earth as something large came out of the other gate across from him. The gate itself was about four stories high, and what came out of it . . .
“Bozhe moĭ! (My God!)” Flynt whispered.
It was two stories tall, grey blue fur with black hatred filled beady eyes. Around its paws were dark stains, most likely blood with even more of it near its mouth. Fangs protruded from its lips and claws raked against the ground as it stomped out of the gate. Around its neck was a blue gem studded collar with a long chain dangling from it.
“I’m supposed to fight this thing?” Flynt whimpered before shaking his head, fire lighting up in his eyes. “No, no time for fear. The bigger they are the harder they fall. And judging by your size, it’s going to be one hell of a fall” Flynt snarled.
“Good luck Ironpaw!” Brutus called out mockingly. “Bowser, kill.”
Bowser roared, the sound wave forcing Flynt back a few inches from it and was pelted by a few strands of saliva.
“Disgusting” Flynt groused flinging off a few loose strands when he noticed a large shadow forming around him. Without thinking, he leapt to the side and narrowly dodged a paw slamming down onto the ground where he once stood.
Bowser growled loudly as his intended target dodged his strike, only a few had been fast enough to dodge it. Turning his paw onto its side, he made a sweeping motion to catch the small annoyance.
Flynt took to all fours as he ran across the ground, the large paw sliding after him. He completed one full rotation when he realized this was not going to get him anywhere. Bowser had size, strength, and more than likely stamina to keep trying to squash him for hours. Flynt on the other hand, er, paw did not.
“New plan” Flynt muttered. He suddenly spun about and charged the sweeping paw. As he neared it, he leapt high into the air and dug a trench knife into one of Bowser’s digits and swung himself up on top of the paw.
He ran down the length of the paw and up the arm straight towards Bowser’s snarling face. He dodged a cross swipe from Bowser’s other paw and leapt forward, both trench knives out ready to dig into the freakishly large dog’s face.
That was the plan but surprisingly Bowser threw his head forward and smashed Flynt away. Flynt bounced along the ground and crashed into the wall, leaving a Diamond Dog shaped crater in it.
Flynt groaned as he tried to pull himself out of the wall but was smashed back by a paw slamming in front of him. If it weren’t that he was alraedy buried in the wall, he would’ve been a smear from the impact.
He felt the paw shift down a bit so that his upper body was uncovered. He could hear Bowser manage a type of chuckle, sounding more like boulders being grated together. He watched as Bowser lifted his other paw and slowly bring it forward, a very large claw aiming for his face.
Managing to pull his arms out in time, he caught the claw only a scant few inches from his face. Flynt was strong, maybe stronger than the average Diamond Dog, but against a Diamond Dog like Bowser? He was but a small rock trying too hold back the ocean.
The claw was coming closer, his death bearing down on him. And for the first time in his life, he could not fight his way out of this.
“Do you wish to live, pup?”
Flynt opened his eyes to see everything frozen. Bowser trying to claw out his face, the crowd frozen in mid cheer, Brutus’s cruel smile from across the arena with Princess Amethyst’s slightly disappointed one next to him.
“Answer me when I talk to you pup!” the voice snarled. “Do you wish to live?”
“Yes, I want to live” Flynt groaned.
“Will you fight for me, kill for me, and even die for me if I should command it?” the voice demanded.
“Up yours!” Flynt growled. “I may have fought for others before but that was on my terms! No one owns me, no one!”
The voice laughed, a cruel laugh that sent shivers down Flynt’s spine. “Oh you have fire within you pup, good. If you had so easily accepted I would have killed you myself.”
“Who are you, what do you want with me?” Flynt demanded.
“Quiet pup!” the voice shouted again. “I will talk, and you will listen! I am the forgotten god of these Diamond Dogs Hircine, lord of the Hunt! You bear the body of my Dogs but the soul of a much greater hunter.”
“You, know what I am?” Flynt wheezed. That headbutt had done more damage than he thought. Probably a few broken ribs and internal bleeding at least.
“Of course I know fool!” Hircine snarled. “Even preoccupied with my Hunt I know what goes on in this realm. Ever since that spawn of Sheogorath brought you here I had my eye on you.”
“Spawn?” Flynt mumbled. “You mean Discord.”
“Is that what it call’s itself?” Hircine mused. “A fitting name for the spawn of the Prince of Madness. But I am not here to talk of that fool with you. I am here to offer you power.”
“Power? What sort of power?” Flynt grunted as he strained to free himself from Bowser’s frozen paw to no avail.
“The power of which to make enemies like this abomination fall to you like the chicken falls to the fox” Hircine said sounding smug. “All that you must do is simply fight for me.”
“I’m pretty sure that somewhere along the line someone decided to play it smart and make sure beings such as yourself couldn’t mess with mortal lives” Flynt said.
Hircine growled at this, remembering the event that prevented him from contacting the Diamond Dogs ever again. “The Contract made so long ago left a loophole. I can no longer interfere with the lives of my hunters but you, you are not one of my own. I ask only one more time, will you fight for me?”
“Another devil, another deal” Flynt sighed shaking his head. “What choice do I have? Fine, give me the power I need to win and I’ll fight for you!”
“Good, now go and strike down this abomination!” Hircine roared. “Hunt well pup, I’ll be watching you.”
Time unfroze and once again Flynt was holding back Bowser’s claw from gouging his face but something felt different.
All the Diamond Dogs watching felt their jaws drop and eyes widen as Bowser was flung back from the hole in the wall. Their jaws were scraping the floor when two glowing orange constructs resembling Diamond Dog arms came out of the wall, one after the other clutching the arena side.
Pulling himself out, Flynt stood proudly as the manifestations of his arms bared their claws. They were half the size of Bowser’s arms but packed just as much strength behind them.
“Alright ugly, round two” Flynt grinned, his fangs glinting in the light.
A/N. Chapter three, done by me. I welcome you all again to the Chronicles of Flynt. Cookie to any who know where Hircine Sheogorath come from. Before any of you start saying he’s going to be overpowered with the new arms, let me stop you right there. Don’t worry, this is a once in a while thing. It will be explained more in the next chapter so just sit tight till then. Remember, reviews and comments are always appreciated. Tell me what you think, if you see any mistakes let me know, and so on. Until next time my friends.
“Looks like your ‘pet’ isn’t doing so well” King Brutus chuckled as he watched Flynt run from Bowser’s paw. “I must remember to have a word with the forge dog about that armor and why he hasn’t made it for the guards yet.”
“It looks like the work of the last forge dog father” Princess Amethyst said quietly. “And I would not count him out yet” she continued as he turned about and charged the sweeping limb, climbing up it and charging Bowser’s face.
Brutus gave a barking laugh as Bowser head butted Flynt into the wall and slammed a paw over him. “Once again dear daughter I win. You’re champion has fallen and Bowser has claimed another victim. Now, the deal was is that if he lost you would marry a suitor of my choosing.”
Brutus stroked his chin pretending to be deep in thought. “Oh I know, that one noble from the south.”
Amethyst grimaced as she knew the noble her father spoke of. The noble was a dumb, fat Diamond Dog who was known to be brutal to anyone, even family. Rumor had it that he had his father poisoned so that he could kill him without a fight so he could take over his place as noble.
“Now come along, it will take a few days for the messenger to reach- what the?!” Brutus shouted as the very ground shook.
Amethyst rushed to the edge of the spectator box and felt her eyes widen as she watched Bowser fall to the ground. Out of the wall came two large glowing orange arms followed by Flynt falling to the ground.
“No father, it seems to be a new game” she said, smirking.
“I don’t know what kind of drawbacks I’ll get from dealing with Hircine” Flynt muttered as he eyed the glowing arms extending from his own. “But with benefits like these, I’m willing to go along with it.”
His musings were interrupted as Bowser got back to his feet and roared at Flynt, pulling back a fist and throwing it forward. Flynt managed to catch it with one paw, sliding with it and placing the second glowing paw under Bowser’s other arm and flipping him over his shoulder straight into the wall.
“Lay down” Flynt smirked as he jumped back to get some distance.
Bowser roared again as he got up once more, swinging his arm like a club hoping to bash the strange Diamond Dog. Flynt had other plans.
He grabbed at the wrist and near the base of Bowser’s arm, using the momentum from the swing to start spinning Bowser in a circle gradually getting faster and faster till swirls formed in the oversized Diamond Dog’s eyes.
“So long Bowser!” Flynt shouted, letting the oversized Diamond Dog go. High into the air did Bowser fly, higher than the walls of the arena. He let out a long mournful howl as he sailed into the sky before gravity took hold and brought him back down to Earth.
The very ground shook for miles from the impact, sending Diamond Dogs everywhere to the floor from the impromptu earthquake.
Bowser gave a slight stir, trying to get back up even after being smashed into the ground. He lifted a paw weakly only to be met with a glowing orange one smashing into his face.
“Play dead” Flynt said coldly as blood and tooth flew into the air. Bowser gave one last twitch before falling still. “Good boy, now stay dead.”
“Very good pup” Hircine said, his voice echoing through Flynt’s skull. “Now, claim one of the tooth fragments as a symbol of your victory.”
The glowing orange appendages faded away in small motes of light as Flynt walked to one of the smaller tooth fragments and picked it up. The fragment was from one of Bowser’s longer canines, just a bit smaller than one of his fingers.
As he picked it up, a hole appeared near the base and a leather cord leaked out each end till reaching a length were he could use it as a necklace.
“Wear it and let those who would see it know of your hunt here today” Hircine said. “Now, you will not be able to use that power again until claiming my token. Go to the east, towards the race known as the Griffons and find my shrine. There, you will find my token and regain the power you witnessed. Hunt well, young pup” Hircine said, his voice fading. “I will be watching you.”
“Wonderful” Flynt muttered before turning towards Brutus and Amethyst. “Alright, I won. I beat your ‘warrior’. Honor the contract and let me go!”
King Brutus was silent as he stood up, walking towards the edge of the spectator box he set his large paws down the edge. He held up one paw, the archers all raising their crossbows and taking aim.
“Father please, he won” Amethyst said trying to persuade her father. “Just let him go, there is no need to continue this!”
Brutus’s face changed into a visage of rage as he backhanded Amethyst with his free paw and swung down with the upraised one. The twang of crossbows filled the air.
Flynt threw his paws over his face in an attempt to block the deadly bolts. The crowd gasped as the sound of arrows met flesh.
Flynt opened his eye to see a large shadow over him. He looked up to see it was none other than Bowser’s paw over him, shielding him from the cross bolts.
“Oh you can’t die just yet boy, you still have so much chaos to cause” a mirthful voice said. “Now, listen to Uncle Hircine and go east young man!”
Bowser’s paw grabbed him and lifted him up. He felt the arm draw back, a feeling of dread going through him.
“Oh no, oh no no no” Flynt moaned, already guessing as to what was about to happen.
“OH YEAH!” Discord laughed as Bowser hurled Flynt out the arena and through the open air.
“What?!” Brutus roared, not believing his eyes. Bowser had not only just protected Flynt but had hurled him away to possible. “Kill Bowser, find that insolent dog, and bring his corpse back to me!”
As the archers reloaded and fired again, none noticed Bowser’s left eye was elongated like a cat’s along with his right tooth becoming longer than the other even though it had been broken earlier.
Flynt felt himself soar through the air, the wind howling past his ears and the ground sailing past beneath him. He didn’t know where he would end up, he didn’t know if he would live or not. He did know however that if there should ever come a time where he would see Discord again he would remind him why he was once known as Pyotr the Bloody.
Flynt noticed that he was starting to descend, the momentum carrying him through the air losing its hold over him and fall towards a river stretching out ahead of him. “Eto budet bolʹno (This is going to hurt)” he muttered.
“Is he alive?” a voice asked, sounding young and girlish.
“Don’t know sweetheart, he looks pretty banged up” a second voice answered, sounding more masculine and mature.
“I say we just kill it and move on” a third voice said as something sharp pressed up against Flynt’s neck. This one was feminine like the first but sounded older, brash even.
“Now, now” the male chided. “Let’s not be hasty. He doesn’t look like the other Diamond Dogs, just look at his face.”
“I don’t care Jack” the third voice snapped. “They’re all the same, no matter what they look like. Greedy monsters that only deserve to die.”
“Your race isn’t all that better” the male, Jack, said as his voice turned cold. “It was because of your kind that Snowflake’s mother is gone yet she does not hate you for it.”
“That’s because you’re not the mean old Griffon that did it” the younger female, Snowflake chirped. “I can’t hate you for something you didn’t do. If we all blamed each other for something a different race did, we’d all be fighting!”
Jack chuckled gently. “You’re such a smart little filly, aren’t you? So much smarter than your old man.”
“I have to be dad, you have so much empty space in your head” Snowflake giggled.
“Oh, the fair maiden wounds me more so than any sword or arrow” Jack said dramatically.
“You two losers are going to make me puke” the third voice spoke again, making fake retching noises.
“Oh hush, now come on. Let’s get our friend here back to the caravan” Jack said.
Flynt felt himself being hefted up and set upon a broad back. Judging by the scent, Jack must be a pony along with Snowflake from when he said filly and the third being a Griffon. Flynt tried to say something but only ended up passing out.
Flynt opened his eyes to find himself sitting in a bar, a small place with a few wooden tables and chairs with a jukebox in the corner playing a soft and slow tune.
“Welcome friend, what can I get you?”
Flynt looked up to see none other than Discord in his human form standing in front of him. He looked down to see that he too was once more human and in his old outfit before being knocked into Equestria.
“Discord, to what do I owe the pleasure of speaking with you again?” Flynt asked reaching under the bar and pulling out a large bottle of vodka.
“Oh, I can’t just see how my little contract fighter is doing?” Discord asked, feigning hurt. “And here I thought we had something special.”
“The only thing I have for you is the desire to implant my foot in between your colon and lungs” Flynt said dryly.
“Careful boy, I may be trapped in stone now but that does not mean I can’t still mess with you” Discord chuckled, a flicker of something going through his eyes.
“Fair enough, so what do you want?”
“Well I wanted to know why you left me for another god” Discord said, pulling out his signature chocolate milk of glass. “You broke our contract Pyotr, and I don’t appreciate that.”
“If I recall, my contract was that I fight for you and cause some chaos” Flynt said taking a drink from the bottle. “I have fought, and caused chaos by defeating the king of the Diamond Dogs undefeatable warrior. If I hadn’t come along, Bowser would still be around and killing any that faced him. Plus, I‘ve been contacted by the Diamond Dogs long forgotten god.”
“True I suppose” Discord said thoughtfully. “Ever since the Contract was made just after my creation contact between the Lords and their respective races have become non-existent.”
“Hircine mentioned that as well, what is the Contract?” Flynt asked.
“In a nutshell, my old man and his buddies can no longer mess with the mortals. Luckily for me, dad found a loophole and managed to keep me here to keep causing glorious chaos.”
“Wonderful” Flynt muttered tipping the bottle onto its side and watched the last of the alcohol spill out onto the counter.
“It is, isn’t it?” Discord said smiling. “Now, I do believe its time for you to wake up.”
“Aren’t I awake already?” Flynt frowned.
“Not yet” Discord laughed, grabbing the fighter by the back of the head and slamming him into the counter.
“I’ll kill you!” Flynt snarled, wrapping his hands around Discord’s throat.
“Get off of me you stupid mutt!” Discord shouted in a strangely familiar female voice.
Flynt blinked once. When he opened his eyes, instead of Discord he was once again a Diamond Dog and had his paws wrapped around a Griffon’s throat.
“I said off!” the avian snarled, placing her hind legs into Flynt’s stomach and flipping him over.
Flynt fell onto his back with an audible thump, pain flaring through him.
“Vy suki (You bitch)” Flynt groaned, clutching his sides. Apparently he still hadn’t healed from his battle with Bowser.
“Whoa there fella, don’t want to tear wounds open again” a voice warned. “I just replaced the bandages and I don’t want to repeat the process again so soon.”
Flynt looked up to see an rust orange colored Earth Pony with a black mane and tail standing over him. The most distinguishable feature about the pony was the face paint he had on. He had grinning skeleton mouth, making it look like he was always smiling. On his flank was a pumpkin with a laughing face carved into it.
“Glad to see you’re awake” the pony said. Flynt couldn’t tell if he was really smiling or not, any chance of seeing his mouth was hidden in the paint.
“Where am I?” Flynt asked, slowly sitting up.
“Why you’re currently in the Griffon Dominion, near the Gem Fido border to be a bit more precise. My name’s Jack O’Lantern” the rust orange pony said holding out a hoof.
“Flynt” the Diamond Dog grunted, shaking the hoof.
“I see you’ve met our resident hot head Griffon” Jack said, looking up at the avian.
“The name’s Gilda loser, remember it” she muttered as she stomped by and out of the cart.
“Yeah, she’s pretty much like the rest of the Griffons” Jack sighed.
‘Gilda? That’s just fantastic’ Flynt thought darkly. ‘Now all we need is a certain show pony constantly shouting her name and my day will officially be screwed over.’
“Oh, and you’ll also need to watch out for Butch” Jack warned. “He’s a Diamond Dog like you but a bit lacking in the looks department. Butch see’s himself as the ‘alpha male’ of our group and probably won’t take too kindly to your presence.”
‘At least he didn’t say Trixie’ Flynt sighed in relief. “Right, I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Good on ya” Jack laughed. “Now come on, let’s get you introduced to everyone else.”
Using Jack as a support, Flynt managed his way out of the cart and to the outside. He was temporarily blinded by the light from the sun and had to hold up a paw in an effort to lessen the pain. When his vision cleared, he was greeted with quite a surprising sight.
"Welcome to our merry band of misfits" Jack said.
All around were more carts with races from all over walking to and fro. Minotaur’s, Griffons, ponies of all races, even a few Changelings as well.
“Yeah, kind of surprised me too when I joined the group” Jack chuckled noticing Flynt’s stare. “Before you get too worried, these Changelings don’t feed on love without permission so don’t worry about them trying to suck you dry when you‘re not looking.”
Flynt watched one chat happily with a Pegasus and another get into a drinking contest with one of the Minotaur’s. A third was changing into different animals in front of a mixed group of kids, making them laugh.
“I guess all Changelings aren’t so bad after all” Flynt idly said.
“Yep, now come on you’ll need to meet the boss” Jack said. “If you’re going to be staying with us you’ll need to be doing something useful.”
“Sounds fair enough. So what do you do?”
“Well, I do scouting to make sure the group stays safe” Jack explained. “I go out and make sure that there aren’t any monsters or slavers are nearby. It’s how I found you actually.”
Flynt raised an eyebrow at this. “Slavers? I know of some Diamond Dogs in Equestria who practice slavery but Griffons?”
Jack barked out a harsh laugh, his eyes turning cold. “Pretty much all species practice slavery, even ponies. It’s how I met Snowflake, sweet thing. Some ponies were getting ready to ship her out when I found them. Needless to say I got her for free when I was finished with them.”
Slavery, the word left a foul taste in Flynt’s mouth. He may have fought for peoples entertainment in constant life and death situations but he always held the right of accepting and denying contracts. Slavery took away any and all rights for freedom.
“But let’s not talk about such things” Jack said suddenly, his demeanor changing quickly. “We need to figure out where exactly you belong in this group till you decide to leave.”
Navigating through a train of carts, Flynt found himself in front of a larger cart. This one was a bit more elaborate in design being bright blue in color and had a few wooden star cut outs and the roof.
“Yeah, she may be a bit egotistical and all but she’s been a good leader to us” Jack said walking up to the door. “Hang on a sec, she just loves this.”
‘Please for the love of God, or Celestia, or whoever may be listening please don’t let it be-’
“Not a thing, just more flatland and some mountains” Flynt muttered to the small light blue filly perched upon his shoulder. “And why are you perched upon my shoulder again, brat?”
“Because it’s comfier to be up here than to be on the ground” Snowflake said in a matter of fact tone. “Plus you think I’m too cute to get rid of.”
“Impertinent pup” Flynt grumbled, not denying anything. “Come on, let’s head back to the caravan.”
It had been two weeks since Flynt’s integration to the caravan. It had surprised Flynt to no end to find Trixie of all ponies to be in charge. Apparently she had decided to shape up her act after the Ponyville incident and begun to help others. The idea for the caravan had started about a month after what happened.
After stumbling to the border she came across a transaction of ponies being sold to a group of Griffons. Using her talent in illusion magic, she freed the enslaved ponies and escaped. Since then she had begun small hit and run raids on other slavers, gaining allies from freed prisoners along the way.
After meeting, Trixie had assigned Flynt to scouting due to Diamond Dogs having sharper senses than ponies and Griffons. He had been given back his armor after recovering from his wounds along with his trench knives and had been sent out with Jack O’Lantern to see how well he could perform.
“Hey there!” Snowflake shouted, waving a hoof furiously back and forth in the air as they approached the caravan. “We’re back!”
“Ow” Flynt grumbled, rubbing his ear. “What have I said about shouting in my ear, brat?”
“Um” Snowflake’s face cutely scrunched up as she thought hard for a second. “To not do it?”
“Right, now why are you doing it?” Flynt asked patiently.
“Because it’s fun!” Snowflake shouted before jumping off his shoulder and running off.
“Brat!” Flynt roared. “Get back here!”
“Ah leave her alone Flynt, she’s just a filly wanting attention” Jack laughed, wiping away a tear. “Chase after her and you’ll just give her what she wants.”
“What she’ll get is a good spanking” Flynt muttered, sitting down next to Jack.
“Here, this should help” Jack chuckled, passing over a mug.
Flynt sighed as he grabbed the mug and drank it down, feeling the familiar sting of alcohol run down his throat. “Good stuff.”
“It should be, it was made for Diamond Dogs” Jack chuckled. “The alcohol made for ponies is weaker due to our tolerance level being lower than yours. But if you’re looking for a real drink, you should try the Minotaur brew.”
“Is it that strong?” Flynt asked pausing in his drinking.
“Buddy, I’ve been drinking for years and built up enough tolerance to at least stomach Diamond Dog alcohol. One sip of their brew was enough to put me out” Jack said.
“Hm?” Jack looked up to see a Diamond Dog glaring at the two, more specifically at Flynt. “Oh him? That’s the one I warned you about, that’s Butch.”
Butch was a tall gruff looking Diamond Dog with darkish grey fur. Judging by his more brutish appearance he must’ve been one of the Tainted. His lower jaw jutted out with fangs poking out from his lip, wearing a black tattered vest and a black spiked collar.
“Better watch it, he’s coming over” Jack warned.
“You, runt!” Butch barked pointing at Flynt.
“What do you want mutt?” Flynt drawled, leaning back.
Butch snarled at this and suddenly leapt forward, knocking into Flynt but this was what the Sambo user was expecting. He rolled with the tackle and shoved his hind legs into Butch’s stomach and threw him over into the wall of a nearby wagon.
Butch staggered back to his feet, snarling. He charged forward again with his claws out but was met with Flynt’s forearm digging into his windpipe. With colliding into Flynt’s arm his legs swung out from underneath him and did a back flip forward, landing with a thud on the ground.
The Diamond Dog lay wheezing on the ground clutching at his windpipe as a shadow fell over him. Already a crowd had drawn together to see the resident ‘alpha’ get his tail handed to him.
“Let’s get something straight” Flynt said squatting down. “You don’t like me and I sure as hell don’t like you, but if we want this caravan to survive we have to work together. Now, we can put this behind us and move on or.”
A flash of steel and a flicker of fear. “I’ll kill you without any hesitation. Are we clear?”
Butch snarled but made no move to get back up. “Clear.”
“Good” Flynt said standing back up. He grabbed Butch by the shoulder and hefted him back up with a single paw before giving him a shove to get going.
Butch snarled one last time before shoving his way through the crowd. They were silent for a moment before braking out in applause.
“Nice work mate!” Jack congratulated. “That one has been a right terror, bullying most of the others. The only reason why he’s been allowed to stay is because he keeps the other Diamond Dogs in line. However, more than likely you’ll probably find yourself the head of his pack now since you made him submit to you.”
“I fail to see how the others didn’t take him on themselves if he was that easy to beat” Flynt said as he walked to one the wagons and sitting down.
“Easy for you to say, not all of us have your fancy fighting moves.”
“Alright everyone, it’s time for us to move on!” Trixie shouted.
“How come she says everyone instead of everypony?” Flynt asked as he hitched himself to the wagon next to Jack.
“Incase you haven’t noticed, not everyone here is a pony” Jack pointed out as Flynt helped him into his harness. “It’s kind of offensive to say that so we say everyone instead of everypony.”
“Makes sense” Flynt said. He placed two fingers in his mouth and gave a sharp whistle. Out of the gathering of wagons came Snowflake followed by a Minotaur child.
“This is Burning Passion, he’s going to be riding with us” Snowflake said, wrapping a hoof around the Minotaur.
“Um, h-hello” Passion said meekly.
“Doesn’t really fit the name does he?” Jack whispered. “Right you two, hop on then so we can get moving.”
Snowflake squealed with delight and started dragging the hapless Minotaur to the wagon and jumped in, using her magic to float Passion aboard.
“So where are we too next?” Flynt asked as he pulled out a map.
“There, the plains between these two woods here” Jack pointed. “Near the town called Whisper.”
“That will be three marks” the vendor said, holding out a claw.
Flynt pulled three small bronze coins from inside his cloak and handed them over, walking away with the supplies in paw.
The Caravan had had set up a few miles outside of Whisper and had sent a few scouts in to gather supplies and information. Flynt had been surprised to learn that the Griffon form of currency differed from Equestrian bits.
Their economy ran on coins similar to bits but with a few differences. Marks were round bronze coins, the lowest form of currency. Next up on the ladder were ruble, squar sliver coins that were worth ten marks. Finally, the golden oblong shaped yen being worth one hundred marks.
The Caravan managed to make some money from different talents ranging from entertainment like Trixie’s magic to carpentry and pottery from some of the other races. Unfortunately, it never brought in a lot of cash but it was just enough for the group to survive.
Flynt opened up the coin purse and peered inside. He still had several marks left from his purchase, and Trixie didn’t say anything about not using the change. . .
“A bit weak but it’ll do” Flynt muttered sipping from a mug. The Griffon style of alcohol was a bit stronger than the ponies but still not as strong as Diamond Dog alcohol.
He sat outside the bar, watching different races walk by as he waited for the rest of the group to show up when he spotted something that got him worried.
“Flynt, Flynt!” a pony wheezed running up. It was one of the others that had accomponied Flynt into Town. His name was Far Strider, a dark green earth pony with a pair of horse shoes as his cutie mark. “It’s Snowflake and Burning Passion, they were taken by a group of Griffon slavers!”
“Yebat’ (Fuck)” Flynt cursed quietly. “Knew those two should’ve stayed back at the Caravan. Alright, go find the others and get back to Trixie, tell her what’s going on.”
“But what are you going to do?” Strider asked nervously.
“I’m going to get those two and do what I do best” Flynt answered grimly as he took off.
“What luck that we got not one but two new slaves” one of the slavers snickered.
“Not only that, but one’s a pony and the other’s a Minotaur” another chuckled. “What do you think’s going to happen to them? Mining or the Coliseum?”
“Who cares, as long as we get our money they could become sex slaves to royalty for all I care” the captain of the group said.
“You’re so sick captain” the gryphon pulling the cage laughed.
“You’d better let us go!” Snowflake shouted. “Or you’ll regret it!”
“Oh, and why is that my little pony?” the captain asked, walking up to the cage.
“Because Mr. Flynt will come for me and kill all of you!” Snowflake said with a smirk.
“Oh really, and just who is this ‘Mr. Flynt’ that’s coming to kill us?” one of the slavers sneered.
A sharp crack drew the attention of the slavers, causing them to turn around. Standing there was Flynt, dropping the Griffon who’s neck he just broke.
“Me. But for now, you can just call me ‘monster’” Flynt snarled, his trench knives flashing. “Kids, close your eyes.”
Snowflake and Passion shielded their eyes with the Minotaur child whimpering softly. The sound of screams accompanied with breaking bones and tearing flesh quickly filled the air. And as soon as it started . . . it was once more silent.
They heard the creak of the door to the cage they were in and were just about to open their eyes when they felt a paw cover their faces.
“Don’t open your eyes till I say” Flynt said, his voice sounding dead. “There are some things you don’t need to see at your age.”
Flynt gently picked up the two children and walked away from the scene, scavengers birds already starting to circle.
“Trixie, we have a problem” Flynt said sitting down next to the show mare after leaving the two kids with Jack.
“Trixie already knows Flynt” she sighed, rubbing her face with a hoof. “Just tell Trixie you didn’t leave any survivors to tell the rest about us.”
“No, there were no survivors but I got a few things off of them that you may want to see for yourself” Flynt said, pulling out some papers.
Trixie levitated them over and gasped in surprise. They were wanted posters, with hers, Gilda’s, and Flynt’s face on them. Each had their own price with Gilda’s being the lowest but wanted alive, Trixie wanted dead or alive, and Flynt having the highest with dead or alive as well but the price was higher if brought back dead.
“What could you have possibly done to warrant such a bounty?” Trixie gaped, staring at the number.
“Pissed off the current ruler of Gem Fido may have something to do with that” Flynt shrugged.
Flynt then turned serious. “Trixie, with prices such as these on our heads plus all of us traveling together, it’s only a matter of time before we’re overwhelmed with bounty hunters.”
“Then what should we do Flynt?” Trixie huffed. “Turn ourselves in? This group needs a leader otherwise they’ll just be recaptured and put back into slavery and Trixie is not going to let that happen.”
“No, that’s exactly what we can do” Flynt said perking up.
“I’m sorry but Trixie currently has something crazy residing in her ear because Trixie could’ve sworn you just suggested we turn ourselves in” Trixie said with a deadpan look.
“Hear me out” Flynt said holding his paws up. “We each have one member of the group hand us over to the Griffon Republic to collect the bounty then they would come back to the Caravan and make tracks for Equestria. With the money they should be able to set up near the southern border far from any border prowling slavers.”
“And who would you suggest lead the Caravan after Trixie leaves?”
“Have Jack do it. I’ve seen him in action, the others listen to him and respect his decisions. If you put him in charge he’ll be able to get them into Equestria.”
“Trixie, Trixie isn’t sure about this” the mare said uncertainly. “But what choice does Trixie have? After Ponyville, Trixie decided to do better with her life instead of just trying to scam ponies out of their money. Trixie thought this would be the best way.” Trixie gave a weak chuckle, a few tears glistening in her eyes.
“If you truly want what’s best for this group, you’ll turn yourself in” Flynt said gently, resting a paw on her shoulder. “No matter what happens, I’ll make sure we get out of this alive.”
Trixie sniffled a bit before looking up at Flynt. “You promise? No matter what?”
“I’ll burn down the nation if I have to” Flynt chuckled.
“Very well, but there is just one problem with your plan that Trixie can see” the show mare said grimly.
“Really? What’s that?”
“THERE IS NO WAY I’M DOING THIS!” Gilda shouted.
Omake One
Proving your worth
Or
The demon pony child from hell
“Alright, Trixie has decided on how you can prove yourself trustworthy enough of joining our group” Trixie announced, looking down at Flynt.
“Right, what’s that?” Flynt asked, not liking the evil glint in the show mare’s eyes.
“YOU MUST! . . give her a bath” Trixie said smugly, pointing at a giggling Snowflake.
“Wait, that’s it?” Flynt asked raising an eyebrow.
“That’s it” Trixie said smugly.
“Ooh, tough luck mate” Jack said patting Flynt on the back.
“She’s just a filly, how much trouble can she be?” Famous last words.
Flynt walked up and knelt down next to the still giggling Snowflake.
“Hey there Snowflake, if you could just come with me” Flynt started, reaching out for the filly when she blew a raspberry and suddenly took off.
Flynt ran between the wagons, trying to spot the little filly when suddenly the ground in front of him froze over in ice, causing him to slip onto his back and crash into a wagon.
He dazedly got back to his feet clutching his head when he spotted the giggling filly, her horn glowing with magic.
“You little brat!” Flynt growled, running after her once more.
Running between the wagons again, the ground in front of Flynt froze once more but this time the Diamond Dog was ready.
“The same trick won’t work twice!” Flynt grinned, jumping over.
What he hadn’t noticed was the pit filled with water, ice rimming the edges. Flynt out a very unmanly yip as he was suddenly coated in ice water, going under for a second and then coming back up encased in a block of ice.
“Give up Mr. Flynt?” Snowflake asked innocently, smiling at the frozen dog.
“You are so dead” Flynt managed to grate out.
“Guess not!” the filly laughed as she pranced away.
With a roar, Flynt broke free from his icy prison and again reinitiated his pursuit. He kept slipping on ice slicks, getting dunked in water traps, and buried under snow mounds.
“How, can anyone do this?” Flynt panted, sneezing as he felt the first signs of a cold starting to affect him.
“Because you’re thinking too straightforward” Jack said, sipping on some beer. “Keep going the way you are and you’ll be lucky to only have a minor case of hypothermia.”
“Too straightforward huh?” Flynt grumbled, sniffling. ‘Wait, I’ve been thinking like a human too much! I’m a Diamond Dog now!’
Flynt raised his arms high and commenced digging, dirt flying behind him.
“He got dirt in my beer” Jack said flatly, staring at the overflowing mound of earth rising from his cup.
“Now where did Mr. Flynt go?” Snowflake hummed.
“Got you now brat!” Flynt shouted, popping out of the dirt with his fangs and claws bared.
Snowflake only managed a terrified scream before being grabbed and dragged back underground with Flynt, only a small pile of dirt marking anything had occurred of what just happened.
“And be sure to get behind your ears!” Flynt ordered, sipping on some hot tea.
“But the water is so cold!” Snowflake whined.
“It should be, you made it earlier!” Flynt snapped before sneezing. “Caught a cold because of you brat.”
“I’m sorry” Snowflake muttered as she levitated the soap to get behind her ears.
Omake Two
Something crazy in my ear
“I’m sorry but Trixie currently has something crazy residing in her ear” Trixie said using a hoof to rub her ear.
Using her magic, she grasped a hold of something and tugged it out. Needless to say, both Trixie and Flynt were surprised with what came out.
“What . . . The . . . Buck” Trixie deadpanned.
“The hell did you get in there?” Flynt asked, looking into Trixie’s ear.
“The hell if I know” Deadpool shrugged. “One moment I’m in an interview about my new game next I’m getting tugged out her ear.”
“The fourth wall has been shattered! Every Diamond Dog, Griffon, Minotaur, and Pony for themselves!” Pinkie shouted running past.
“Wait, what?” Flynt was getting seriously confused when he felt the ground rumble and a shadow cover most of the land. He turned about to see what was the cause and felt his eyes widen.
Approaching was a living wave of ponies. Earth Ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Alicorns taking up most of it. All of them were shouting something about how they should be paired with the Mane Six or how amazing they were.
“Should we run?” Flynt asked, looking up.
“Eh, its not much of a plan but it’s perfect plan” Deadpool said shrugging his shoulders.
“RETREAT!” they both shouted, high tailing it out of there.
The day would later become known as OC-Day, the day every poorly made OC invaded Equestria at the same exact moment. The stress on the fabric of reality couldn’t handle the sudden influx and was torn asunder, beings from other realities were sucked in as well causing even more confusion and chaos.
Discord was released from his stone imprisonment but was promptly taken down by the OC ponies saying how he was either to be paired with them or be turned female and then paired with them.
(Authors notes. Welcome to the end of another chapter of the Chronicles of Flynt. If you’ve made it this far, you somehow managed to stomach my writing and for that I thank you. You must have some kind of iron gut to get here without getting sick of this. Next, if you’re wondering about the omake that was just something I needed to get off my chest. Ever since reading the ‘How Ever Shipfic Would Actually Happen’ bonus chapter, and ‘Alicorns, Alicorns Everywhere’ something had to be done otherwise I’d go crazy. I’d recommend both, they’re pretty good. Unless of course you’re a FlutterxMac fan then I suggest staying away from the first one.)
