Chapter 38: Meeting with The Devil
Part 1: Bloody Mount Frost
TIME: 13:33 Local/12:33 Equestria Royal Standard Time
DATE: War Day 365/4 Quartus, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Mount Frost, Empire of Harmony
As a direct conflict to the rest of the area, Mount Frost itself was quite warm. No snow on the ground, in fact, the closer we got to its grey sides. According to the thermometer, the temperatures were well above freezing, so I had the girls stow their heavy jackets in their packs as we traversed the area. No sense getting overheated!
I was looking for a cave.. a cave that a dragon might use as a hideout. If Starsong really was behind this, that's where she'd be. That was where the Wishing Star had been taken, all those many centuries ago. It was our best bet. It was, really, our only bet.
Twilight: "I can feel.. incredible magic here.." She said as she climbed up.
K: "I'm glad someone can." I smirked a little. "How's it look up there, Dash?" I lifted my head up to look at her - she and Fluttershy were flying aroud a little, scouting.
Dash: "I found a plateau! It's up another.. thirty meters or so?" She said, zooming over around my head.
K: "Alright.. come on, everyone." I encouraged them as we climbed.
My body was ready.. I could feel all this coming to an end, and I was happy it had been a smooth ride. Maybe my paranoia wasn't right, after all? I hoped that it was. If Starsong was still alive, then that meant the Wishing Star was still safe..
We climbed the rest of the way up - Sven and his friends showing a particular adeptness for this. Hand over hand (hoof-over-hoof), we got up to the ledge of the plateau.. and climbed over. The Plateau was devoid of life, a barren moon-like surface. The ground was all gravel and loose rock. Up above, though, was a large cave opening in the mountainside - at the far end of the large Plateau, and up about ten meters or so.
K: "We're almost there.." I smiled a little as I led the way.
Applejack: "Anyone else feel.. ah dunno.. outta place?" She looked at Pinkie, who hadn't said a word in over an hour. "You okay, Pinkie?"
Pinkie: "Oh, fine!" She giggled a little. "But something's going to happen here.. and one of us is going to die." She kept going like she'd just mentioned it might rain today.
The rest of us stopped in our tracks.
K: "What's wrong, Pinkie?" I reached out and grabbed her shoulder. "Who's going to die?"
Pinkie: "Silly! You know I don't know who! I just know it'll be someone here..! Probably a couple people." She shrugged a little.
Ritt: "She speeks vit such confidence.." He coughed audibly.
Twilight: "S-She must be wrong, this time.." She blinked, her words coming out with an expected and knowledged nervous denial.
K: "Dash.. Pinkie.. with me, the rest of you set up in defensive positions. Girls, get your gear on." I suddenly tensed up.
The three of us walked towards the cave.. and once we were in earshot..
Pinkie: "STAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRSOOOOOOOOOOONG!" She called out to her.. just like Pinkie to act as though 2,000 years hadn't passed, but just a day.
Actually, she WASN'T acting like her third generation self.. that put me even more on edge.
From the cave.. came.. Starsong. I was amazed to see her. Two thousand years and she looked like she hadn't aged a day. I was awestruck as she took flight, flapping those gossamer wings of hers..
K: "Starsong.." I dribbled out. Spaghetti Alert!
Dash: "..my friend..?" She got a tear in one eye.. and wiped it way.
Starsong landed in front of us and immediately embraced Pinkie and Dash.
Starsong: "..I knew you would come for us, eventually." She looked at me. "And the Legend."
K: "Legend?" I tilted my head.
Starsong: "What is your name, human?" She paced over to me and rose up on her hind legs, putting her hoof to my face.
Now that I was able to look into her eyes, I realized that she was completely blind.
K: "K---- K---.." I looked at her in wonder. "..you're blind!"
Starsong: "I have been for some time. I now see by different means." She smiled and traced my face with the soft spot in the center of her hoof. "My own senses, and my special Flutter Pony powers allow me to see in ways you can't imagine. I guess this is what all Flutter Ponies were able to do if they ever got powerful enough.." But how had she lived this long?
K: "How are..?"
Starsong: "My first wish on the Wishing Star was for the immortality needed to watch over her. I was granted the life span to do so.." ..but, she could still die from accidents and the like.
K: "First wish?"
Starsong: "You're fortunate that the Star has not been wished on in exactly 1,986 years. The Cataclysm that you probably know of, was 1,982 years ago." As if she knew it all. That put it exactly at the 1,980 year mark, tracing back to the time I first arrived.
K: "You asked the Wishing Star to show you the future?" I tilted my head.
Starsong: "Of course I did! That wish, though, I made when I was.." She looked away. "..I made it the year after we nearly lost it. It was five years after that, that the Coldness began. That's how I knew what my fate was." She shrugged a little, with a grin. "But now you're here.."
K: "Amazing." I caught myself. "W-We need the Wishing Star."
Starsong: "Of course." She hugged me, this time. "You know, your coming was foretold. Not.. you, exactly.. but a human that would come and either bring the death of this world, or help to save it with his friends. Humans came here thousands of years ago, too, you know." She smiled and flew back to the cave.
K: "So.. I was a prophecy.." I blinked.
Pinkie: "DUH! But that story was only the beginnning. What you did here? That's not foretold at all. Just that you'd come. What you do with your life isn't set in stone.. but, sometimes, the paths you have to choose from are forced on you." She shrugged, and hugged me.
Starsong came back with the box that the Wishing Star was housed in. Such a magical treasure..
Starsong: "Here it is.." She put her hoof on the box lid.
K: "Can it bring someone back to life..?" The biggest question of all.
Starsong: "No.." She shook her head. "..that, it cannot do, but-"
(Deep, thundering voice): "I will relieve you of that trinket, Human." It was almost directly behind me.
I turned.. I knew who it was. My breath became ragged and shallow..
It stood over 12 feet (3.6 meters) tall, with a black coat on its lower half. Twin horns atop its head. Red skin from the 'waist' up. A massive mane sprouted from his head.. black as the rest of him. His eyes were large, angry.. burning. His wrists were adorned with dark black metal gauntlets, and his face with a braided beard that came off the left, right, and center of his chin in three large braids, decorated with silver jewelry. His face was just as I recalled.. squat, evil-looking.. and his legs.. so powerful and large. The Demon Centaurbull..
K: "Tirek!" I shouted, amazed the word escaped my quickly-closing throat.
Tirek: "Yes.." He sneered at me. "..now, give me the Wishing Star." He held his hand out for it. "Do so, and you shall pass unmolested from this mountain."
K: "Why let us go?" I looked at the girls - they were backing up to stand next to us.
Tirek: "I made a deal." He looked at Ritt.
Ritt: "Yes. Ay deel.." And he stepped between Tirek and Sven. "Please, brodder.. understand.. I do this for our peepel.." He blinked at Sven. "..the alternat've vere our deaths!"
Sven: "You.. traitorous {unrecognized curse word}! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!" He glared at Ritt.
Tirek: "Problems, Ritt?" He gave his ally a glance.
Ritt: "No'ting I cannot handle, Lord Tirek." He bowed, but kept his eyes on Sven, Kozac and Frimm.
K: "Girls." I nodded to them.
Tirek: *SNORT*Chuckle* "I suppose you want to resist." He shrugged, lifting one of his large hands to the side. "Fine. Go ahead. You will see..."
Twilight: "NOW! HIT HIM!" She yelled out, and I stepped out of the way with Starsong.
The Rainbow that the girls created was the most powerful one I'd seen yet. I didn't know if it'd make a difference, but I tried to put my own heart into what they were doing. If I had any 'energy' at all, I tried to 'push' it into their rainbow.
The Rainbow arced over, and slammed into Tirek with enough force to make the ground shudder. Slowly, his red skin turned grey.. it began to take on the look of stone..
..but Tirek's face made absolutely no movements, other than to look BORED..
..finally, the girls managed to push the Stone Spell over his entire body.. and he was then a statue. Frozen.
Only, he simply coughed a few times and the stone broke away. He finished this by simply dusting himself off LIEK A BAWS.
K: "F-F-FUCK!" I stammered out. I was absolutely terrified.
Tirek: *LAUGHTER* "AS YOU CAN SEE! NOTHING! Nothing you have can even TOUCH me!" His face went serious, and he looked at me. "Now, give me the Wishing Star, Human, and I will spare your lives for this day."
Twilight: "K----.." She called my full name.
K: "I.." I forced myself to take control of my emotions. "..hit him again!" I pulled out the Sword of Rainbow's Light. "CELESTIA! GIVE ME STRENGTH!" I focused on her with all my might.
The sun dimmed for a brief moment. The blade grew warm in my hands.
K: "No way you're getting the Wishing Star, Tirek.." I held the sword before me. "..unless it's over my dead body."
Tirek: *Derisive snort* "Do-able.."
The Girls focused their energy one more time, and this time, I pushed the power of Celestia from the sword, into the Rainbow Beam - this time, they fired it directly at him.
Tirek: "INSECTS!" The Centaurbull bellowed.
He put his hand out, and slammed it against the Rainbow Beam.. stopping it in mid-air.. and then.. darkness came out of his hand.. it traced itself back along the rainbow..
K: "BREAK THE SPELL! BREAK CONTACT! NOW!" I screamed at them.
Twilight: "I-I CAN'T!"
In an instant the shadow magic hit all seven of us and flung us back like we'd all been hit by trucks. I skidded along the ground.. and the sun dimmed for a moment, again.
Staggering back to my feet, I couldn't stop Tirek as he charged across the short distance that separated him and Starsong. She didn't even try to get away.. she just stood there, and at the last moment, opened the box.
Tirek: "At least YOU have some sense, Pony.." He gave her a snarling grin as he grabbed the Wishing Star in his huge hand.
Wishing Star: "HEYYY! NOT SO ROUGH!" It squealed.
Tirek: "Ah.. my moment has come!" He laughed to himself. "WISHING STAR! HEAR MY DESIRE!"
At that moment, the only thing that came to my mind was the original Dragonball, when Oolong stopped Emperor Pilaf from wishing for immortality. I coughed, hacked, and forced myself to my feet.
K: "I WISH FOR SOMBRA'S BLACK HEART TO BE HEALED AND HIS LIFE EXTENDED!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
Wishing Star: "WISH GRANTED!" It yelled out.
And with a blinding flash.. I guessed that the wish was done... Tirek shot me the most enraged look I'd ever seen.
Tirek: "You.. filthy.. APE!" He pointed at me. "For that, you will suffer.." He looked back at the Wishing Star. "NOW! GRANT ME MY WISH!"
Wishing Star: "Buzz off, buck'o! I'm too tired to grant any more wishes! That one took a lot out of meEEEEEEEE!" It screamed as Tirek started squeezing it.
Tirek: "GRANT ME MY WISH OR DIE!" He yelled.
Wishing Star: *Gasp* "C-Can't.. not.. enough.. magic..!" It tried thrashing in his huge palm.
*CRUNCH!*
All the girls: *Shrieks of horror*
Tirek smashed the Wishing Star in his palm. Its blood.. it started oozing through his fingers..
Starsong: *NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!* She screamed.
Tirek: "Well.. if I can't have my first wish.. you know what they say about wishes.." He reached to his side, and a HUGE Trident appeared from a puff of smoke. "..sometimes, you have to make your own wishes come true." He started marching towards us.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: Crushed Dreams
TIME: 13:41 Local/12:41 Equestria Royal Standard Time
DATE: War Day 365/4 Quartus, 1002 C.S.
LOCATION: Mount Frost, Empire of Harmony
I was on my feet. It was do-or-die time. Tirek had just resisted the full force of the Elements of Harmony combined with power from Celestia, channelled through the Sword of Rainbow's Light. We had no other alternative - we couldn't really escape from someone like him, not now, not that he has us cornered like this.
I had no support. I had nothing to help me. All I had was the six girls, Sven and his two remaining friends. Tirek had himself and Ritt. And Ritt was supposed to be the best of all the ponies he led as Guardmaster? Given Sven's age.. well..
K: "Forget the magic! GET YOUR FIREARMS OUT!"
I pointed at Tirek.. it was our only real shot. Shoot him enough and hope to kill him or drive him away. We had three Grenadiers on the team - me, Dash, and Pinkie. We had plenty of fire power for a six-person squad. All we needed was a bit of the luck that led me to find Cheerilee and Scootaloo's house back in Ponyville..
..we just needed a little luck..
Sven: "J'oo TRAITOR!" Sven screamed, finally, at Ritt.
He had had enough of Ritt's treason, after all he'd done for him. Helping raise him. Treating him as a blood brother. After all of that.. Ritt had betrayed them for the being they thought of as Satan. He'd betrayed literally everything they ever stood for. Sven, Frimm and Kozac drew their swords on Ritt. This was their fight.. and, at least, it was three-on-one.
Ritt: "LORD TIREK! GRANT ME POWER ZO EYE CAN SMASH YOUR ENEMIES!"
He backed up a little, but he had his halberd out and ready. He would fight them, and return to the villages as though this never happened.. perhaps even claim heroism in the face of Tirek while reporting our glorious deaths in battle. The little self-aggrandizing shit.
Tirek: "Oh, FINE.." Tirek snorted in Ritt's general direction - he'd have to throw him a bone or something.
He gave a dismissive hand motion in Ritt's direction, and suddenly, Ritt began to change. His muscles increased in mass.. he grew black bat's wings.. and a twisted, solid, non-spired horn grew from his head. Tirek made him into an.. Anti-Alicorn? I guessed that part.
Sven: "J'OO DIE TODAY, BRODDER!"
Reminded me, a bit, of Metal Gear Solid. Funny, that.. Sven was no Solid Snake, but he was a brave, trained warrior. Sven and the other two ran right at Ritt without fear in their hearts or minds. Their weapons clashed all together, as Ritt tried to hold them off, but they all reared back, and slammed into him, sending the four of them sailing over the cliff's edge and out of sight. I prayed for Sven.. to win, and to live to tell of it.
Applejack: "SVEN!" She was about to reach out for him, but looked back at Tirek, who was still advancing on us. "Awlright! TIME TA SHOW YOU HOW WE DO THINGS DOWN IN PONYVILLE!" Out came her Chaffee Shotgun.. she reared up on her hind legs.. my Leading Mare was ready for battle.
Pinkie Pie: *Giggle* "I'm not going to die today, mister meanie!" She whipped out her Knox Grenade Launcher.. three different shells in her mouth, ready to go.
Rarity: "For my sister.." Sweetie-Belle. Out came her Hathcock.
Twilight: "..for my BROTHER..!" Shining Armor. Out came her Merrill Commando.
Rainbow Dash: "..for the foal that sees me as her hero.." For Scootaloo. Dash whipped her Bradley/Gavin out and readied it.
Fluttershy: "..and all the life on this beautiful world." A Ridgway SMG came out from behind her back and she audibly cocked the bolt back.
K: "For my friends!" I was thinking of all of them. My armament matched Dash's.. but I kept the sword in the other hand.
Were we really going to fight him here? This was crazy. Beyond crazy. I prayed with all my heart to anyone that would listen, that this would not be the end of us.
Tirek: "Talk is cheap, insects." Snarled the huge Centaurbull, black smoke coming from his nostrils. Suddenly, he charged us all, reaching incredible speed in just a few strides.
K: "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" I screamed, I guessed, by instinct.
I squeezed the trigger bar of the Bradley down, fire selector on full automatic, bracing the stock against my bent upper arm, to hold it on target. One-arming a Bradley isn't so bad, given how I designed it, especially if there's a grenade launcher on the end, weighing it down. The recoil of 7x40mm NEIGHTO was, though, not reassuring as it normally might be, in my hands.
Tirek, in the middle of his charge, started spinning his Trident in the air.. and summoned a magical forcefield in front of him that looked like the air itself was echoing off of him.
The bullets just bounced off of it.. Pinkie's grenades exploded harmlessly across it.. he was impregnable..!
K: "FUCK! FUCK! SCATTER! RUN! RUN AWAY!" Not 'retreat' but 'run the fuck away.' This wasn't a defeat - this was a rout. And I called for it FAR too late..
I scrambled off to the left, as Tirek reached us.
His Trident was swung onehanded like a bat, and the flat of the 'blade' end impacted Rarity in the side, making her shriek in pain, and sent her flying more than 20 meters, to impact and roll on the ground like a lump of meat.
His right foreleg kicked Twilight in the face so hard, all she could do was groan, and that sent her flying like a purple football. I never saw where she landed.
He trampled Pinkie Pie under his hooves, making her scream in agony.
His horns bashed Rainbow Dash out of the air, causing her to crash headfirst into the mountainside and make a crater.
Applejack was hit with the blunt butt end of the huge Trident on the return swing, and flew into a rock about 15 meters away, shattering it with the impact and making her grunt.. she did land on her feet, but fell over immediately afterwards.
Only Fluttershy managed to get a little distance from him - but not nearly enough. His other, open hand lashed out, and grabbed Fluttershy out of the air by her tail, and he spun her around like a propeller..
Fluttershy: *SHRIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!* She was practically a blur in his hand.
K: "FLUTTERSHY!" I stopped running away - my friends were in danger. I couldn't abandon them. I charged for him, dropping the Bradley, and readying the Sword of Rainbow's Light. "LUNAAAA!! GIVE! ME! STRENGTH!" I screamed, envisioning my other beloved, and I felt the sword glow..
..and like lightning, I saw a brief flash of the Trident..
..the tips of the three-pronged weapon lashing for my chest..
..I tried to dodge, to put the sword between me and the barbs..
..but he was way too fast.
Pain. Increadible, searing pain.. that's all I really remember of the impact itself. Flying off my feet, I felt my back hit something hard and solid. I gasped.. I had no air.. no breath. Looking down, I could see that Tirek had impaled me into the ground with his Trident. The middle barb was in my chest, above my heart to just under my armpit. The inner barb to him was impaled through my lower ribcage.. I was certain he got my liver.
I coughed. Dark, sticky blood came from my lips.
I was dying.
K: "Let.. her.. go.." I managed to wheeze out. My hands no longer held the sword..
Tirek: *Hmpf!* He stopped spinning her.. she was limp by her tail. Knocked out just by the G-Forces of the velocity at which he'd spun her. "Pitiful human." *Chuckle* "Really, though, did you think you could defeat something as mighty as me? I've met your kind before! I know what you can do! AND THIS TIME, I STAND READY FOR YOU!" He leaned on the Trident, shooting fresh suffering through my body. "You have no magic, and you haven't the Rainbow of Light. You're NOTHING to me.. you have NO PUNY THING that can even HARM me!" He laughed, hard and long.
K: "S-Science..." I dribbled out, my vision darkening.. I could feel blood coming out of my mouth.. and my left hand moving behind my back.
Tirek: "What's that?" He leaned over, cocking a confident brow, tilting his ear to my mouth, to hear my last words.
K: "..Science.. Will.. FUCK YOUUU!" I grabbed hold of the butt of my sidearm, and pulled with every drop of adrenaline-induced strength I had left. Morgan out, I fired a blind shot right into his eye.
Tirek: *PRIMAL ROAR!* He staggered back, clutching his hand to his face. His other hand still held Fluttershy. "BEFORE YOU DIE, I WILL SHOW YOU THE DEATHS OF ALL YOUR FRIENDS!" He whipped Fluttershy around, grabbing her by the neck..
Angel Bunny: *SQUEEEEEEEAAAAAK!* OUT FROM FLUTTERSHY'S COAT, WITH HER BAYONET! HE PLUNGED IT INTO TIREK'S HAND WITH ALL HIS MIGHT, BURYING IT UP TO THE HILT!
K: "A-Angel..!" I gasped.
Tirek: *NGAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!* He dropped Fluttershy.
Angel turned and looked at me, as Fluttershy stirred for a moment.
The look on his face said 'take care of her.' For an instant, I didn't know what he meant.
Tirek: "YOU DIE FOR THAT, YOU LITTLE BEAST!" *WHA-TOOOOMMM!*
And suddenly, he was gone, beneath Tirek's giant hoof. The only thing left was a spatter of blood that hit Fluttershy's face, causing her to stir.
Fluttershy: "A-Angel..?" She looked up, and saw a tiny bunny ear sticking out from beneath Tirek's giant hoof. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAANGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!" She shrieked.. and scooted back from Tirek, looking for a weapon, and seeing none that she could grab. "YOU! YOU!" She looked off in the distance.. and calmed down immediately. She began singing..
From out of nowhere, animals began appearing.. Starsong was leading them..
Tirek: "WHAT STUPIDITY IS THIS!?" He turned to look at them all.
Fluttershy: "BRAVE AND NOBLE CREATURES! THIS MONSTER WANTONLY KILLED ONE OF OUR FRIENDS! HELP ME DESTROY HIM!!" She sobbingly pointed at Tirek.
Tirek grunted, both at being outnumbered and at the appearance of all these animals from what should have been the weakest, easiest pony to kill.
Tirek: "YOUR TIME WILL COME! WHEN I RULE THIS WORLD, I WILL HAVE THAT MOUNTAIN BURY THIS WHOLE REGION IN WHITE-HOT LAVA!" He reached out with his unwounded hand and punched Starsong hard enough to send her flying back over the cliff. "At least I ended the human and his friends.." He snarled in our general direction and suddenly vanished in a giant puff of black-and-red smoke..
Fluttershy: *Ohh..* She groaned, and flopped over, a hoof outstretched to where Angel's flattened corpse was.
My vision grew darker.. until all I could see.. were pinpricks..
K: "A-Applejack.."
I heaved a long sigh.. and accepted the darkness.. I'd failed. I'd failed everyone. And now, we were all dead.
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: Wide Awake (I'm Not Dead Yet)
TIME UNKNOWN
DATE UNKNOWN
LOCATION UNKNOWN
K: *GGGGUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaaaaaassp*
I woke up with a start. I could barely move.. I was bandaged.. I was.. in a hospital?
K: "Ahh.. alive.." My voice didn't sound like my voice. Like.. I'd been intubated..
I lifted my arms.. bandaged. My hands.. were free. So, I felt my neck area. No sign that they'd done a tracheotomy. My throat felt so raw, though.. like I'd had a breathing tube in there. I looked to the side, and saw a heart monitor. I was hooked up to a lead. Was I in.. {REDACTED} County Hospital? Was I..
..no, I was in Equestria. That's right. Equestria. Ponies. My friends.
I forced myself to sit up and looked down at my chest. Bandaged. Why? DEAR GOD THE PAIN.. okay, back down, lay back down.
It slowly started coming back to me. The war. Applejack. Luna. Starlight. My friends. My lovers.. oh, god, I remembered I had a lot of them. I felt my face up. I felt a scar across my cheek. How did I get that? Tirek.. the fight with Tirek. The wound wasn't fresh, either.. no, it was old. Was I in Ponyville? Had I lasted long enough for Gilda to find me? Did Sven go back and get help?
All those memories came back to me. All of them. I lay in bed for.. I didn't know how long.. remembering.
Finally, I made myself sit up.. slowly.. and check my bandaged wounds. Lifting the edges of the bandages just slighlty, I could see I'd been both stapled and sewn shut. Advanced medical technology. Moreso than Equestria. I wasn't in Equestia. The Crystal Kingdom, then? That was my guess.
Naked except for a hospital gown, I forced myself to get out of the bed - and stayed hooked up to the cardiac monitor - and realized that I'd lost weight and muscle tone. I felt myself down with shaky hands and realized that I'd probably dropped thirty or more pounds.
That takes WEEKS at the very LEAST.. how long was I out?!
I staggered over to the end of the bed, and found my medical chart. I was expecting to see Dr. Allcome or Dr. Well Wishes pen-pony-ship.. instead..
K: "Cyrillic.." I blinked.
I was in.. the Herdiet Union. Fortunately they use the same numbers as Latin characters, so I flipped through the chart to find my date of admittance. Nice of them to have my whole medical history in this clipboard. I found the first date, and, after some very hard thinking and math, figured out the current date. I looked around the walls, and found a clock to tell me the time..
TIME: 03:37 Herdiet Western Time
DATE: War Day 404/12 Quntillis 1873 (1,873rd Year of Revolution)
LOCATION: Hospital in Unknown City, Union of Herdiet Stableist Republics [???? ????? ??????? ?????????] (UHSR/CCKP)
Fascinating. The year part I figured out from my very rudimentary knowledge of Russian (learned from having to find info about firearms on Russian language websites). I knew what the word "Revolution" looked like in Cyrillic (?????????).
I was a prisoner. That much I understood. I also understood I was really in no condition right now to try and escape. My muscle mass was all drained (lost my GAINS, man, I ain't SWOLE no' mo'!), and I felt weak as a kitten.. but I was alive.
They were probably keeping me around to question (interrogate) me. And probably denied to Princess Celestia that they'd found us. Which meant that Celestia was probably under the assumption that Tirek had us prisoner. If.. anyone managed to get away from the area.. or Celestia and Luna came there themselves to check it out.. or something.
I'd have to bide my time.. and pretend to be much sicker than I was. If the Herdiets were anything like the Soviet Russians, they'd give me between five days and a week from the time they realized I was conscious... but I'd have to be conscious for them to give me any food... ah, the conundrum.
It also bothered me that I'd been out of contact with anyone for.. 39 days? I hoped Luna and Celestia hadn't done anything rash in my absence.
I decided to crawl back into bed.. and think about my options. After much debate and effort to get my mind fully back in order, I decided the best thing for me to do was to act as frail as possible in hopes of getting good, healthy food to eat. Calories. And to try and excercise at night or something to try and regain my lost muscle mass. They didn't seem to be paying attention to my cardiac monitor - the nurses probably got bored after a week or two and were just listening for the alarm to go off, now, of me flatlining.
That worked in my favor.
My first step was going to sleep, and hoping I could contact Luna..
..yes..
..sleep..
.....
....
...
..
.
I sat up in a grassy field outside of Ponyville. For a bit, I had to remember that THIS was the dream, and reality was far worse. I didn't see my Luna.. so..
K: "LUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" I screamed for her.
She appeared in a cloud of sparkly moon-dust.. and promptly tackled me to the ground.
K: "LUNA! LUNA! Settle down! Settle down! I can't let my heart rate get too high!"
Luna: "MY LOVE! MY LOVE! OHCELESTIAYOU'REALIVE!" She kissed me (she was in her 'human form' - which she often did to try and.. well, it was a favor to me) all over my face. I just let her.
K: "Luna.. settle down.. I'm being held prisoner-"
Luna: "How did you evade Tirek's magic?" She stammered out.
K: "Shh! Shh. Listen to me, then you tell me what you know." I put my hands on her C-Cups and pushed her back a little. "And no sex."
Luna: "Bu-But..!" She pouted.
K: "This is serious. Now, listen, I'm a prisoner in the Herdiet Union. I'm frail as fuck, but I'm alive. We fought Tirek on Mount Frost on exactly the one year anniversary of the attack on Canterlot. That was 39 days ago. I've been unconscious since then.. probably died on the table at least once, but the Herdiets saved me. I don't know if any of the girls managed to survive the attack.. and I found a Flutter Pony. Her name is Starsong - she's about 2,000 years old and lived during the very end of the Empire of Harmony. She guarded the Wishing Star. Tirek nearly got it, but I managed to change the wish to something else - to heal Sombra, since the Wishing Star can't return the deceased. He then killed the Wishing Star. He also killed Angel Bunny.." I lowered my head. "..did anyone survive the attack at Mount Frost?"
Luna: "Alright, my turn to tell you what I know. That nice little old man, Sven, managed to make it back to Byntra all alone and with almost no supplies or warm clothing. No one else came back with him. When he got back, Gilda and Toola Roola were still there and debating about leaving. He told them what he saw happen - that you were fighting Tirek and that his brother betrayed him - and Gilda few back to the Crystal Kingdom to get help. Cadence and Sky Captain Iris Emerald came out in the Superb to try and find you, but by the time they got there, you were already gone. We.. we found Angel's body.." She ran the palm of her hand along my cheek. "..we gave him a proper burial, don't worry. And we added his name to Hero's Rock." She shrugged. "It looked like he died fighting.." And shook her head, continuing. "..we searched for you for two weeks before we gave up and assumed Tirek had captured you somehow. We.." Another head-shake. "..we've been trying to figure out what you'd be doing if the situation were reversed. So far, we've started training a military for the Crystal Kingdom, and we started work on the airships. They'll be fully armed and ready to go in about five days."
K: "Alright.. if you were thinking about invading Tirek's home, don't. We'll get to that, later. Right now, I have no idea exactly where I am, other than a hospital in the Herdiet Union. Now, I don't want to start another war - we can barely handle the one we're in - so, don't bring this up with anyone. Tell Celestia, but you two absolutely must not tell anyone that I'm alive and well. I'm pretty sure there's spies all over the place. Chemical Splash was working on that case." I shrugged. "Continue preparing the Crystal Kingdom. How's Sombra?"
Luna: "Whatever you wished for him, he's fully healed, and back to his old self. Which is to say, he's pledged his life to defend the Crystal Kingdom.. you know, he cried when he realized what you'd done?" She smiled. "Cadence restored his old title - Lord General of the Crystal Kingdom's Military. That makes him your equal, in rank." She nodded off to the side a little. "..so, do I tell Starlight?"
K: "No. I'm sorry. You can't." It crushed me not being able to tell my own daughter that I was alive. "Not yet. Listen up, though - once you have a full Battalion of Regular Army ready for the Crystal Kingdom, have them prepared to cross the border in all the airships you can muster - all three XY's plus Superb and Swiftsure - to come rescue us on a moment's notice. I'm going to play off like I'm terribly weak - weaker than I really am - for a few days in hopes of being properly fed. Once I feel I'm ready, I'm going to try and bust out of here. I'll get to a radio and call for you. Hopefully, I'm not too far away. Have the Lads rig up a radio receiver - as big as possible - on the towers of the Crystal Palace to catch the signal. Once you triangulate it, come get me. You'll probably have to roll up with a huge force to keep the Herdiets from trying to pick a battle with you. That's the last thing we want. I just want to get out of here.. preferably without starting a shooting war. A few deaths can be denied, and we can pretend this whole thing never happened, but a major ground war with the Herdiets is the last thing we want." I rubbed my chin a little. "Oh.. what.. how do you guys do your calendar years? I've been working off of my own from my watch all this time.."
That's right, I had NO IDEA what the Calendar looked like! I'd been plotting the days as "War Days" since the start of the conflict, and each of my plots and planning charts used this system.
(And the proper Equestrian calendar has been visible this entire time as a point of reference for the Reader)
Luna: "We count from the year we claim Celestia took the throne as Princess. So, it's the year 1003 C.S. (Celestia Sol) - 13 Quintillius, actually." She shrugged. "Why did this come up, all of a sudden?"
K: "I figured out the Herdiet Union's calendar. They say it's the 1,873rd year since their revolution. But Prince Blueblood once told me they'd only been around for a hundred years.." Curious, that.. and curious still that the calendars were off by a day.
Luna: "Ah." She shook her head. "A hundred years ago is when we first encountered them. They've never really had official diplomatic relations with us, so.. even something as basic as their calendar is totally unknown to us."
K: "And you never used spies." I shrugged. "Alright.. as long as I'm asleep.. I suppose I can run the war effort remotely?" I gave a dismissive hand wave. "Run me through all the problems and stuff.."
We spent some time going over things and decisions I'd usually have made if I was actually there. Once we were done, though, Luna casually made out with me for about half an hour. She missed me, and I missed her, but I couldn't chance a high heart beat rate setting off some alarms and blowing my cover.
K: "Okay, I have to go." I hugged her again. "I love you. If you can somehow find the girls.. if they're even alive.. let them know not to give up hope."
Luna: "I will, my love." She kissed me one last time..
Time to wake up..
.
..
...
....
.....
[End of Part 3]
Part 4: Prison Break
TIME: 02:21 Herdiet Western Time
DATE: War Day 410/18 Quntillis 1873 (1,873rd Year of Revolution)
LOCATION: Hospital in Unknown City, Union of Herdiet Stableist Republics
It was time to go. The doctor that had been seeing me today got into an argument with a scar-faced pony in a dark blue uniform and enough brass and ribbons on it for Pinkie to throw a party with. Unfortunately, his collar and shoulders didn't look very decorated, so I made him for a Company-grade officer in the Political corps, or whatever they called them here - secret police, Cheka, whatever. The Cheka guy seemed intensely irritated at the doctor, and clearly made threats. The doctor managed to talk him down, and said something to me in.. I guessed the Pony equivalent of Russian. The words, I couldn't understand. But the tone was comforting with a note of fear and caution.
Basically, the doctor really couldn't hold this guy off for much longer. That was my cue to leave.
Over the last five nights, I'd tried to do as many isometric excercises as I could. Stuff developed for office workers, or prisoners. Things that I could do to get my muscles back in order. That and some walking around my room (tethered to the cardiac monitor). They didn't give me a nurse call button or anything - I'd played the part of the barely-responsive, severely wounded alien creature as best I could and they just figured I couldn't communicate with them - so I tested nurse response time by gently tugging my cardiac leads free a few times. They were between two and five minutes - that told me the nurse's station was a bit of a distance away.
I also saw that guards were posted outside my room at all times. One at night, two during the day. Which is exactly the reverse of what I'd be doing. Actually, no, if I were in their shoes, I'd have five guards on me at all times - three outside the room, two inside, with all weapons loaded, ready, and safeties off. Shoot-to-kill authorized.
Idiots. I was dealing with idiots.
Whether or not I felt I was in any condition to go made no difference. I had to leave tonight as I may never get another chance. My next stop was probably a prison facility of some kind. Torture and questioning, then likely execution on the fear that I could spread dangerous ideas.
Dangerous ideas? They had some technology that was.. oh.. 1960's quality? Maybe about there? I didn't see a cardiac defib unit around the room, but they did have a cardiac monitor, central electrical power, I could hear motorized things outside at times, and other small things here and there that told me the Herdiet Union was about a century ahead of Equestria in most ways.
What really got to me was seeing firearms on these assholes. The Cheka guy carried a pistol that looked vaguely like a simplified Morgan. The guard outside carried what looked like a mutant SKS or SVT-40. They'd stolen my designs, alright. And what's worse, they had my cell phone and it was fully charged. If they could figure out how to not only turn it on, but get to the graphical files I had on there, they'd have the ability to take some stellar technological leaps in military technology.
Plus.. I had photos of all kinds of things on there. I had all but handed them all the intelligence they ever needed on a silver platter. I'd need to get it back.
At least they'd fed me over the last few days. Thick stews and potatoes. The stews had meat in them - and it didn't seem like the meat was supposed to be a part of the dish, so I guessed it was cooked seperately and put into my food before it was given to me. I had no idea where the meat came from or what it was - it was neither pork nor chicken, so it might've been beef. I didn't care, the food was good and the nurses hand-fed me.
I got out of the bed slowly, did some stretching, and prepared myself, mentally, for what I was about to do. I had no clothes, I had no shoes, I had no weapons.. nothing. And I was going to try to escape custody like this.
I moved over to the door, carefully and quietly.. and the guard that was there (standing directly in front of a door that opens INWARDS) seemed to be paying absolutely no attention what so ever. I opened the door.. very slowly.. very quietly..
..and grabbed him around his horsey neck!
Guard: "Svyatoye der'mo!" He yelled as I pulled him back into the room.
The struggle was hilariously drawn out. In the struggle, my cardiac leads were pulled off. He dropped his rifle right away, and kept trying to go for his sidearm. I'd swat his hoof away, and try to strangle him from behind. This not working, after a bit, I wrapped my monkey toes around his ball sack, and smashed them on the floor!
Guard: "YEBAT!" He screamed.
That allowed me to grab the knife on his belt, and start stabbing him. Neck, mainly.. and I got good, deep stabs on him. Finally, he stopped moving.
I grabbed his things.. I didn't have much time. His pistol belt was hilariously too small for me, so I slung it over my shoulder and used the Sam Browne (cross-chest strap) to rig it up like an underarm holster. His rifle magazines were on there, too. His clothes, of course, wouldn't fit me. I tied the hospital gown around my waist and bits like a loincloth, and picked up his rifle.
Time to fuck shit up.
Out into the hall, I met the responding nurse. I didn't shoot her, though.. she screamed at seeing me with a weapon, so I did the universal sign for shut-the-hell-up (a finger to the mouth, and "SHHH!"). I walked past her. The hospital seemed almost deserted at night. I walked to the edge of the next section of the building and found a fire escape map.. handy.
I simply walked towards the entrance.. when I finally got to where the Nurse's Station was, they screamed and spoke Roostian words at me, but I made no aggressive moves towrds them, so, they seemed content with cowering in place.
Good. No one try and be a hero, here.
And I just walked out the front door.. right to the rear of two guards. They were guarding the entrance.. no sign of any other troops. So, I walked up behind the first one and clubbed him over the head with the stock of the rifle, and swung and nailed the second one in the face with the side of the butt stock. Both were looted for ammunition. One had a wallet with cash in it (they used paper money, unlike the metal Bits of Equestria). The other had a wallet, but no cash. I took the cash. Paper laminated ID cards were in here, too. They'd be useless for me, so I left them. I used one of the guard's tunics to fashion a sort of hip sack, by tying off the end.
Off I went.. and I realized I was in a city of some kind. Not a big city - it was probably the size of Ponyville or a bit bigger - but it was big enough to present me with options. Where to first?
I'd need a lot of things. But first, I needed something to carry anything I acquired in. So, I went out into the town to look for a store. That took me about ten minutes.. and by then, I could hear vehicles coming at a high speed. Yeah, they reported my escape. I wasn't exactly capable of hiding very well. The store I found wasn't locked, so I just walked in.
Dark and deserted. The guard's belts didn't have flashlights, so I simply got low to the ground and felt my way through. After a bit, I found a saddle bag set, and shuffled them into the belt I had. I then took as much food from the barrels as I could carry that I could eat raw - apples, carrots, leeks (I think they were leeks), onions (they suck ass raw, but they can be eaten that way), and some bread. No meat here. Figures, Roostians probably have 99.99% vegan diets. I also found some hard cheese that I stuck in the bag. Hard cheese? That means they have dairy products. Cheese is calorie dense like fuck, so I made sure to eat some. It was kinda creamy and salty, like hard Swiss or Provolone or something. Tasted good. I washed it down with something that tasted like cider from a barrel off to the side. It wasn't Apple Family cider, but right now, it was better than a dry throat.
I opened the cash register quietly and stuck half the guard's money in there, careful to shuffle it around as best I could so all the right numbers were in the right drawers - I hoped it would be enough to compensate them for the things I was taking.
I may be a prisoner in their lands, but I wished no harm on the Roostian people themselves. Yeah.. I wasn't a monster.. I realized that, now.
Starlight.. my little girl..
Enough of that. I scooted out the back. I didn't need a firefight, and they'd be searching the area soon enough.
Where to next? I needed clothes. Something basic to protect my fragile hairless ape skin from the elements. A clothing store was found about five minutes away from the food store. Again, it wasn't locked, so I just went in. I knew some basic sewing (THIS IS WHY BOYS NEED TO TAKE HOME EC!) and with enough time and thread, I could probably make something wearable. But my goal was much more simple - get some cloth, throw it on, and take a sewing kit for later. Later, after I found a place to hide, I would try to sew some clothes.
I grabbed some cotton-like linen cloth.. black, good, that was better than my natural peach skintone. I wrapped it around my chest, back, and under my arms so it made a very rough tunic-like thing. The lower bits were next. I kept the hospital gown as undies, and used some blue cloth to make a waist wrapping. The ends of the cloth were wrapped around my legs, and secured with some thick ribbon-sort-of-thing I found.
Now for the feet. Interesting note? The Russian Army on Earth used foot wraps instead of socks up until very recently. They were more efficient, really, because if you got a hole in them, you could just wrap them another way. If you got a hole in the socks - usually towards the toes - you had hole-y socks unless you could darn them. So, I picked some thick cloth material and cut off two pieces. I knew how to do a foot wrap - a friend I had back in college.. her husband was a World War II re-enactor. He showed me.
The foot wraps made, I took some wool-like material and made an over-wrap for them to function like cloth boots. They weren't shaped or anything, so, it was a bit strange. I secured them with leather string as best I could - I didn't know the difference between decorative and functional leather string, but I tried the stuff out first. If I could snap it with my hands, I didn't use it. I also grabbed some pieces of leather to make soles out of, later. I just didn't have time right now. Just to be on the safe side, I grabbed some extra leather and some extra cloth. A simple sewing kit was stashed in the saddle bags, with plenty of coarse thread. For payment, I stuck the rest of the money in a spot I knew any tailor would find it (the bottom of their bigger sewing kit) and left out the back door.
I was surprised I hadn't woken anyone, yet. I was happy for that, though.. the last thing I needed was to be spotted and shot at.
Now that I was clothed and had food, I decided the best thing I could do was try to get out of town. I knew that as long as I headed south-west, I'd hit a NEIGHTO nation sooner or later. If I was lucky, I could get somewhere I could identify, contact Luna, and get picked up - and with the plausible deniability (sort of) of the Crystal Kingdom, I could try and locate the girls.. if they were still alive.
Yeah, it hit me.. I might be the only one left alive. When I had slept over the last few days and met with Luna, she had told me every time that she couldn't find them. At least the Superb and Swiftsure were fully armed and ready to initiate an extraction-under-fire. Derpy had the Rangers ready - wearing Crystal Kingdom uniforms. No one knew I was alive.. but they had been told to be ready to initiate an operation at a moment's notice. I knew Derpy.. she'd pull through at any cost once she knew it was me she was saving.
So.. out of town. But first, I wanted to see if I could somehow inhibit pursuit.. do something to slow them down. So, I made my way - very carefully, of course - towards where all the commotion seemed to be coming from. It didn't take me very long to find the.. police station, I guess? Something like that. It was a big square thing that looked purpose-built for the task. There was even a parking lot.. and most of the vehicles were gone. Judging by the shadows left after a brief misting earlier tonight, it looked like they'd scrambled every vehicle they could fill.
Good. Fewer troops for the inside.
I snuck around the sides a little, moving as quietly as I could get away with. There were windows all over the place, but none of them large enough for me to crawl in. I'd have to be more direct. That meant a side or front entrance. There were guards patrolling the place, but they were simple to avoid - while the place had electricity, they didn't have flood lights or even many exterior building lights.
Finally, I found an entrance.. and there was only one guard at it. And he looked almost asleep. He seemed to be armed with some kind of drum-fed sub-machine gun that reminded me of a PPSh-41. I'd take him quietly. I approached from the bushes to the side of the building, came around the corner, and violently clubbed him over the head several times with the rifle.
I knew what Secret Police like this were supposed to be like. And that they deserved no sympathy.
I robbed him of his SMG, his magazines (the drum, which was loaded and six sticks that looked to hold at least 30 rounds each), his belt, and his wallet. I'd killed him, I was pretty sure, so he wouldn't need them. I took his knife, too. The side door was locked.. so, I took his keys as well. It didn't take me long to figure out what key went to the door, and I just let myself in.
I found myself in a side hallway. I wondered if they had radios? Hm. Looking around the hallway, I could see they were dumb/smart enough to label everything in pictograms as well as words. I didn't know if it was decorative, or because they had a low degree of overall education in their conscript forces and pictograms were, thus, necessary.
One looked like a lighning bolt.. one looked like a 1920's phone.. and one looked like a jail cell door. One had a star on it, and I guessed that was the commander's office or something. Another had the shilouette of a gun.. in fact, the shilouette looked like the handgun I had on my belt. That must be the Armory. Good.. I'd need to see if I could secure ammo or other gear I might need.
The jails, though..
I headed for them, just.. just because a part of me still had hope. At the very least, I could let any prisoners in there go, to create more of a distraction.
I slid up to each corner in turn, and peeked carefully around them to see what was up. After several of these corners having nothing around the bend but more hallway, I finally found the jail area.
Problem? It was guarded. Three ponies - one at a desk, two standing at the ready.
I checked the PPSh.. thing.. it should have a full-automatic setting. Finding the lever ahead of the grip looking much like the selector switch on a real PPSh, I toggled it back and forth a little. Let's see.. A for automatic, O for single shot, right? Right. Now.. the two ready guards were on the other side of the room from each other..
..should be do-able.. at least if this thing has a Rate of Fire anywhere close to the Earth version..
..I whipped around the corner..
Guard #3: "YEBAT!"
Guard at Desk: "DER'MO!"
Guard #4: "OSTAN-"
..and applied full grip to the wrist of the stock, depressing the trigger bar.
*BCHODODODODODODODOODOOF!*
It was actually faster than I expected. Much faster. I simply pulled it across the room like a hose. Typical gaming tactic. This fucker would take some getting used to. Short, controlled bursts.. but, hey, I wasted them like they were nothing. I got lucky - the guard at the far right had his rifle totally unslung. Only him dropping like a sack saved me from getting shot.
I checked each shot-up corpse. The guy at the desk had some shinies on his shirt.. probably an NCO of some kind. He just had a pistol on him. I took this, anyway. The guards had rifles. I took ammo until I was out of space to put it - I had 14 rifle magazines, six stick magazines for the SMG, and 12 pistol magazines. The guards at the hospital had all had pistols - these guys didn't, save for the NCO. I also robbed them of their money. I wasn't sure how much it was worth, but it was a nice wad.
I grabbed the keys and made for the rear of the prison area.
In the next room, I was presented with options - what looked like a pair of interrogation rooms, and then the hall turned towards what I assumed was the cell area. I advanced and checked the windows to the interrogation rooms, finding them empty..
...the clatter of hooves on concrete got my attention. A guard was coming. I slid around the far corner of the hall, and waited for the hoof clopping to get a bit closer. I then spun around the corner and pulsed the trigger a few times.
*BCHODODOF!*BCHODOF!*BOCHODODOF!*
There had been two guards.. and they were both dead. One had continued his forward momentum and slammed himself into the ground face first. The other spun to the right (to be fair, my shot was low and to the flanks) and ended up on his ass, against the wall. My last burst had been into his side. Again, I robbed them both. Two pistols, three magazines each (one in the weapon, two spare). I took the mags.. I was almost out of room for more ammo, but thankful I had so much.
I advanced to the next corner..
Guard #6: "Ty v poryadke?"
I heard a voice around the corner ask. I couldn't understand the words, but the tone was clear enough - he was checking on his now-dead comrades. They probably told him to wait by the cells.
I whipped around the corner and hip-fired the weapon at him.
*BCHOODODODODOF!*
And cut him down. The look of surprise on his face stuck with me for a moment. I didn't bother looting him except to check for keys. These, I found, and went to the door in this room. There were a lot of warning signs all over the place - a couple looked fresh. This was a set of double barred doors, leading to an anteroom, and then a set of cells beyond.
The doors open, I walked into the anteroom, sliding against the wall, and checking my corners. No more guards. So, I walked into the center of the anteroom to see if I could release any interesting prisoners.
In the dim light cast by the eclectic wall lamps they had strung around the area, I caught sight of a pastel yellow feather on the inside of one of the cells.
K: "Fluttershy!?" I screamed, slamming myself to the cell door.
Fluttershy: "OH!"
She looked up.. I could see her head in shadowed profile.. and she came towards the bars. I could hear the chain dragging on the ground, telling me she'd been cuffed to something. When her face got into the light, it looked like raw hamburger. Like they'd been beating her regulalry. Her tummy looked sucked in.. she was a complete mess.. and she was missing a patch of feathers on one wing, which looked like it was wrenched.
They'd been beating and torturing my friends this whole time.
I could only sink to my knees.. and start crying.
Fluttershy: "Shh.. shh.."
I could feel her hoof gently stroke the back of my head. Even beaten as she was, she still had enough warmth in her heart to tell me it was okay.
I'd rescue my friends, alright, then I'd proceed to inflict as much pain on the Herdiet War Machine as I could possibly manage before I left. I didn't care.. I would have my revenge.
[End of Part 4]
Part 5: Tension
TIME: 03:35 Herdiet Western Time
DATE: War Day 410/18 Quintillus 1873
LOCATION: Police Station, Unknown City, Herdiet Union
I could not stop crying. I couldn't imagine what the other girls had been through. It felt like it was my fault. All of it. Then again, the war was taking its toll on everyone, why should I be any different?
Fluttershy: "There, there.. K.. it's-"
I felt the pistol under my arm tugged free of its holster, and that once-gentle hoof push me towards the ground.
*PAKOW-PAKOW-PAKOW!*
I ducked under her line of fire, but still..
Fluttershy: "You should get me out of here.. if that's okay with you?" As I looked up at her, she just smiled. That warm, comforting smile.
I had to unlock the cell.. just so I could hug her. Tightly, closely, to beg forgiveness.. because of me..
Fluttershy: "It's alright, K. I'm not mad at you." She lifted my head up in her hooves, one hoof still grasping the pistol.
K: "Fluttershy.. because of me.." I could only get that much out before SHE hugged ME.
Fluttershy: "It's alright. This isn't your fault." I could feel her one working wing gently caress my arm.
K: "H-How.. can you be so strong?" After everything that's happened to her..
Fluttershy: "I told you, I was abused as a filly.." She shrugged a little. "..it made me realize that no matter what happens to me, there's ponies that need me to stay strong for them.." She smiled again. "..that's why I decided way back then, that no matter what others do to me, I refuse to give in.." She lowered herself to my level. "..I won't let pain or torture or.. anything, really.. change who I am."
K: "But.. you've been through so much.." I caressed her face.
Fluttershy: "And no matter what, I'll go through it all." She hugged me as tightly as she could. "Because giving in to those feelings.. I've done that before.. I won't let that be who I am." She patted my head. "Now, come on.. we can.." *Grunt*
K: "You're hurt." I finally got up. "How bad?"
Fluttershy: "I can't fly.." She flexed her injured wing. "..that one stallion chewed my wing." And she looked down at her stomach. "They did things to me.. but I'll be alright." She gave me a look like 'please don't ask the details.' She cleared her throat and forced herself to go back to her usual attitude. "I can walk. Give me the rifle."
I handed it over and she figured out how to operate it after a few moments. Meanwhile, I used the keys to undo the chain around her rear right ankle.
Fluttershy: "They seperated us when they captured us." She shrugged. "Rarity is in this town with me. I don't know where the others are."
K: "We have to find them." I shrugged. "Oh, no.. what did they do to Rarity?" I was suddenly horrified.
Fluttershy: "She's this way - take the rifle from that guard, K, she'll need it."
I did as Fluttershy instructed.. really.. she was far stronger than I'd given her credit for. I thought she was some kind of cosmic door mat for the universe's latrine - always getting the shit kicked out of her, one way or another - but in reality, she was strong and powerful in ways that meant more than physical strength. She was the most emotionally stable of all of us.. that or she was secretly completely insane and just really phenomenal at faking it.
I took the lead.. this burp gun of mine was wicked at clearing rooms. I wouldn't be keeping the drum magazine, though - it was just too bulky. I'd stick to stick magazines, if I could find them. We moved to the rear part of the cell area - the torture chambers. Rather, the 'enhanced interrogation' centers.
Through the gate, we could hear three ponies talking in Roostian. I couldn't understand a word, but one of them was freaking out, one was angry, and one was being stern - the stern one also sounded big and gruff. I nodded to Flutters.
K: "Take the right." I told her in a low voice.
Flutters just nodded to me, and I slid the gate open. We came around the corner with our weapons raised, and I squeezed the trigger bar of the sub-machine gun down as soon as I had something in my sights. Everything seemed to happen almost in slow motion. There was one huge guy there that looked as big as Big Mac, and two smaller stallions by him. The two smaller ones were on the left..
*BCHOODODODODODODODODOF!*
I fired the weapon until empty, chopping the stallions down in nice spurts of blood and pain.
*BACHOOM!**BACHOOM!**BACHOOM!*
Fluttershy dumped three rounds, perfectly center-of-mass, on the larger Stallion. They all went down, and we approached. I pulled one of the stick magazines out, pressed the magazine release behind the magazine well with the tip of it, and as the drum fell away, slid the stick magazine in place. I then ran the bolt with my mouth - just to test it for myself. The taste of metal aside, it was actually pretty easy to rack the bolt this way.
Fluttershy: "RARITY!" She called out as she walked over to the large stallion. He was still breath-
*BACHOOM!*
Nevermind. Headshot. Like he was worth less than nothing. I took one of the pistols, and the rest of the pistol magazines. The larger guard didn't have a firearm, just an oversized knife. I kept that, sheath and all. I stuck the extra pistol and five magazines in my 'tunic.' At the end of the hall was one last room - the 'interrogation chamber.'
Rarity was chained up in there.. her mane was shorn from her head in crazy angles. Her tail was lopped off almost to a nub. Her pretty white coat was stained with yellow and brown. One eye was blackened. There was also a metal ring around her horn. She was chained up to.. what I recognized as a mating stock. It's what underground pitbull breeders use to lock females in place for forced breeding. I pulled the gate aside and stepped in.
K: "Rarity.. what.. what have they done to you!?" I was almost ready to puke. I mean.. torture like this just goes against everything I ever stood for.
Rarity: *Sniffle* "D-Don't look at me.." She turned her head away. "..I'm hideous.." And she started crying softly.
As I approached, I could smell what they'd done to her. Humiliation torture - they'd used her as a bathroom. She was covered in the urine and crap of Celestia-knows-how-many stallions.
K: "Rarity.." I put a hand on one of the shorn-flat sections of her head while Fluttershy worked to release her. "..I'm so sorry."
Rarity: "K.." She suddenly faced me. They'd carefully cut along her lips and let them heal improperly, to destroy her face. "..please. Tell me.. tell me you'd.." She started sobbing.
K: "Rarity.." I gently kissed her nose. "..I'll find a way to fix this. You're still beautiful to me."
Rarity: *Sniffle* "Th-Thank you.." Her lip quivered. "..would you please.." She started. "..fix my mane?"
It was the least I could do.
K: "Flutters, watch the hall." I handed her the SMG and went over to the torture rack. Finding a pair of scissors, I went back to Rarity and started gently cutting her hair. "..you're going to end up with a manestyle like Dash's, I'm afraid." I gave her a weak smile.
Rarity: "I-I'll still.. look far prettier than her.."
She sniffled again and let me barber her hair. I could see that they'd chipped and cut into her hooves, too, to ruin them as well. They'd done psychological torture with a physical edge. I didn't want to think about what they'd done to Fluttershy - she'd been raped once already. Did they know? Did they use that against her? Did.. oh, My God..
K: *Whisper* "Rarity.. did they deliberately rape and impregnate Fluttershy and give her an abortion?" I had to know.
Rarity just looked at me.. she couldn't bring herself to talk about what they'd been through.
K: "I'm sorry." Was all I could say.
It took me a couple minutes to finish styling Rarity's mane into something approaching acceptable.. it wasn't the beautiful long locks I was accustomed to.. but it was better than what they'd left on her head. She whipped her head back and forth a few times and got out of the stocks. Fluttershy had unlocked them already and was standing guard.
I handed her the extra rifle, one of the pistols, and one of the guard's belts to carry the pistol and pistol magazines in.
Rarity: "K. Promise me something?" She asked as she looked into the fragment of mirror they kept around to show her what they'd done to her.
K: "Anything." I nodded to her.
Rarity: "Promise me we're going to leave a trail of fire behind us as we leave this wretched place?" Her voice was very matter-of-fact.
K: "Oh, I give you my word." I was more angry than I'd ever been in my entire life.
Fluttershy: "Let's start with this building." She turned and had a small grin on her face. "I think it'd help our healing process if we levelled it."
K: "Agreed." I nodded.
I didn't want to think about how horribly the girls would be scarred from all of this. And there was nothing I could do but follow the path laid before me, and hope I could find an easier, less painful way of doing things in the future. For anyone that says PTSD is a fake illness.. they've never seen a war from the eyes of someone so innocent.
We moved out into the hallway - no resistance, good. Rarity was having a little trouble walking - the ring around her horn had blocked her magic, and its removal made her a bit lightheaded. As if barely being fed or watered for the last 40+ days hadn't taken their toll, too. We moved back up to the main corridor, and I tapped the sign for the Armory - our next stop.
We got towards the Armory - as I expected, there were guards here. They looked to be on alert - they weren't at their desks or anything. I saw two trying to take cover behind a large filing cabinet.. that made me guess there were at least three others. I motioned to Rarity to take the right, and Fluttershy to take the left.
We rushed the room.. I bore down on the two behind the filing cabinet - if my guess was right about this gun, it should have superior barrier penetration capability. And I was. It cut right through the filing cabinet. To the right, where Rarity was, I heard the meaty thunk of a rifle stock hitting flesh. I turned to see that she was levitating her captured rifle around the corner, and beating someone to death with it. To the left, Fluttershy calmly dispatched one soldier with her rifle, putting three rounds center-of-mass (though one would have done the job).
Fluttershy: "I have keys!" She picked them up in her mouth.
K: "Take their money, too." I nodded. "Good job, girls."
Fluttershy: *Hm!* She gave her usual sweet smile and went about looting the fuckbags.
Rarity: "All cleaned up over here.." She gave me her usual calm gaze.
K: "How are you two not trying to kill yourselves or something?" I shrugged. "I mean.. I didn't suffer hardly at all, and-"
Rarity: "Because, My Darling.. I refuse to let what they do to me, change me." She gave me her usual haughty grin. "I'm stronger than that. I'll simply.. deal with this all later. And hug my darling little sister, and my little Opal.." She shut her eyes. "..sorry, Fluttershy."
Fluttershy: "Oh, no! It's okay." She unlocked the gate leading to the Toy Room. "Angel Bunny wouldn't want me to let something like this hurt me. Not where it counts." She nodded, assertively. "Break my body with all your might, but my mind you'll never reach, my soul forever sacred." She shrugged a tiny bit. "Nursery Rhyme." She led the way into the Toy Room.
Inside were Assault Rifles that looked like AK's.. different pistols.. and rocket launchers.
K: "How much of my stuff did they steal!?" I was offended.
Rarity: "That's the spirit, K." She patted my hip with her right forehoof. "Be angry at those that dare hurt you - never sad for the wounds." She shrugged and walked over to the weapons racks. "Same Nursery Rhyme."
K: "Interesting nursery rhyme."
I took a look at the posters on the wall - they had detail stripping instructions on them, along with basic data. After having looked at so many Russian language websites in my day, and pictogram charts just like these ones, I knew what I was looking at. I took a minute to study them, that I may learn the weapons of the enemy that I'd be borrowing for the interim.
'Avtomot Kilment'
'Pistolet-Pulyemot Sverdlovsk.'
'Pistolet Turonov.'
'Avtomaticheskiy-Pistolet Sverdlovsk.'
And the others. I picked up each weapon in turn and compared it to the diagram and my own memories. They'd been copying my shit since I started making firearms! The little fucks. And they were very adept at it, too.. the APSv pistol was a completely unique design. So, while they had been COPYING, they had also been LEARNING.. cheeky fuckers.
I went over to one of the weapon tables and grabbed a SVK rifle, and a scope from the rack of scopes set out nearby, and with a little difficulty, attached the scope mounting rail and the scope itself. It was a non-magic scope.. basic 4.7x magnification. Not bad, really. I offered this to Rarity.
Rarity: "Oh, thank you." She hefted it, and sighted down the scope. "I'll have to zero this in properly when I get the chance."
Fluttershy picked up my PPSv and grabbed a load bearing vest for a sub-machine gunner. Getting it on, she loaded magazines into pouches, and got a set of saddle bags on, to carry extra ammo and whatever else we could gather. Rarity already had saddle bags on, and was getting an LBE. She telekinetically hefted a Sverdlovsk Machine Pistol and twirled it in the air.
Rarity: "I think these would be better sidearms, K." She nodded. "I'll be sure to secure some magazines."
Fluttershy: "We should get some of their clothes, too.. to blend in.. if that's alright with you?"
K: "Good idea. I can't blend in, but you can." I looked at my eclectic clothing. "And Rarity, if you're up for it later, I'd like you to fix my mess here." I shrugged.
Rarity: "Not a problem, Darling."
We loaded up with what we felt we needed. We each took a Sverdlovsk pistol and five magazines for it. Rarity got a scoped SVK and had five loaded magazines, I took an AK-72 and a chest rig for magazines (it carried eight once I added a couple extra pouches to it), and Fluttershy got my PPSv which she reloaded with a drum magazine. We took 240 rounds of 7.92x24mm pistol ammunition, 120 rounds of 7.92x52mm and 240 rounds of 7.92x44mm rifle ammunition.
Once we were loaded up with gear and ammo (we also took some military equipment with us, like canteens, knives, fire starters, some rope, a grappling hook, and two shelter halves), I also grabbed an RVP rocket launcher and some rockets for it - but I'd be using that right away. We also packed away the food I'd 'bought' from the store. We weren't sure at all what the food situation would be like. The girls dressed in warm combat uniforms - they were a dark olive green with geometric splotches on them for camouflage. Not a bad pattern at all, really. And there was some white in them.
It was time, I nodded for us to leave.
Rarity: "And how do you presume to leave this building in flames?" She tilted her head at me as we walked.
K: "Simple.." I had the Sverdlovsk pistol out, two-handing it as I made my way up the hallway. "..we have RPG's, and they heat the building with gas."
Rarity: "A gas leak." She smirked.
Fluttershy: "Ooo.. that might hurt." She blinked a little.
Really, the more she talked and didn't cry, made me want to hug and comfort her all the more. I led the way to the boiler room - it was easy enough to find. Down there, were two guys working on one of the boilers. They were busy putting some of the plates back in place and looked like they'd been doing routine maintenance.
I walked up behind them and shot them both in the back of the head - two rounds each. The second guy didn't even realize what was going on - the boiler room was pretty noisy. They had steam pipes banging, a central air unit running.. yeah. I just walked over to the pipes that looked dangerous and started bashing them with a wrench until they cracked open. I expected the rotten cabbage smell - I got rotten meat instead. Okay, so they DID add a scent to natural gas here for safety reasons.. alright. Good. I motioned to the girls that it was time to leave, and out we went.
The smell of rotten meat filled the boiler room, and with the fan going, it would saturate the building in short order, so I went for the door we came in, just as a guard came inside, looking freaked - he probably found the body I left out there.
Fluttershy surprised me by rushing him and knifing him in the stomach.. and whispering 'Hush now, quiet now' into his ear as he slid down the wall. She pulled the knife out, and let me open the door.
Was she psychologically broken? I didn't know.. right now, while I cared, it wasn't a priority. All the girls probably were, to some extent. Forty days of torture will do that. Once we got outside, I nodded for them to start moving as fast as they could for the woods on the edge of town. I kept walking, and hefted the RVP launcher on my shoulder. Once I was about 100 meters away (actually, 100 paces, but my paces are pretty close to a meter), I could hear whomever was left in the building start screaming - I guessed because they smelled the gas, finally..
I turned to face the building, and knelt down, sighting in the hallway that we'd come out of in the slightly magnified optic.
K: "And La said die.." My brother's words.
*PTN-CHOOWWWWWWWWWWWWMMMM!* And the rocket fired.
{End of Chapter 38}
