Blacklight Retribution: Ondra's Fall

“Heh, you know something, Ondra?” Sarah asked.

I look back at her on my back, “I’m pretty heavy on your back.”

I chuckle at her saying this, “You saying I can’t handle it?”

“No, I’m saying I’m feeling bad for making you carry me the entire way there, you’re looking winded.”

“Nah, I’ll push through it,”

“Let me walk limp with you, please,” she requested, “This is becoming too much for you.”

“Next thing you know, you’re too tired to outrun them because you carried me too much.”

“Nonsense,” I dismiss with a hand, “You know how I’m a long distance runner for Track.”

“That’s not enough to run a distance that is a street, we’re going to have to get into the city at some point, and stealth might not keep us safe for a while. Anyone can easily tell that they can smell us.”

“I said nonsense,” I lifted my pistol, “We both have guns.”

“Why didn’t you pick up a rifle again?”

“They were broken, they are pretty light so they were thrown hard to the walls either by the explosion or be being thrown because of the soldiers being affected BY the explosion.”

“Now see?” she started, “You’re getting tired just by taking the energy to use your head to understand some things and using energy to talk. Now let me down so I can walk, my leg’s not broken.”

I take a deep breath, “Fine, but just-”

She was already walking a little bit ahead of me, “Hey!”

Sarah finally looked back at me, but with a bit of irritation, “Whaaaaaaat?”

“At the first - the FIRST sign of danger, I’m carrying you,” I pointed a finger at her to emphasise my point, “Understood?”

She gave a heavy sigh, “I am so glad you’re one who comes up with compromise.”

I take another look at our path, it’s going to take a while. I will NOT lose her to this, I keep repeating this to myself like a mantra... She’s all I got... She’s all I got... I will NOT lose her to this...

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Crystal Royal Chamber: Unknown Path

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I place the helmet on my head and scanned through the cavern that led below.

“Nothing down there,” I remove the helmet and place it back on my strap, “But the question is, how far down is it?”

Twilight only shrugged, “I don’t know, I guess we’ll have to find out. You scared yet?”

I chuckled at this, “Me? Scared? This is one of the many holes I’ve explored,” I instantly went into a snickering fit. Twilight didn’t understand this; which was, I guess, a good thing.

“Let’s go,” she gestured to me after looking at me like I was retarded, “the crystal ponies need this to be done.”

After some time moving down these seemingly endless stairs, Twilight asked, “Hey, Flame, mind if you check what is going on outside? We need to know what the situation is out there.”

“Sure thing,” and with that, I start using those wings for direct vertical propulsion.

Flying sure was a neat experience, felt like you were the most important being in the world. I suppose that’s not how other pegasi feel because flying was a normal thing for all of them. Surely enough, I’m the first human being to be turned into a pony that has wings.

I made it to the top, we did not make much progress; but with Twilight still moving, I could tell this needed to be quick.

I basically run towards a window to look outside, it was all the same. Some ponies here and there, some ponies depressed and some ponies happy.

Thunder caught my attention and I looked to the horizon, the protection bubble that was making a serene background from the bitter cold was fluctuating back and forth. Surely enough this was a valid thing to point out that we NEED to hurry. I start my way to get to the passage.

“Twilight! It’s bad, WE NEED TO HURRY!” no response, maybe I needed to fucking scream that.

“TWILIGHT! WE NEED TO HURRY!” no response, and I was not hearing hoof steps [heh].

“I’m coming down there!” I holler out, preparing my wings for free fall towards the bottom, the stairs were far enough, I think.

I walk out of the edge and let my self free fall, as I try to adjust my wings to just place drag on the falling speed. I wouldn’t want to be falling at terminal velocity wouldn’t I?

Flapping the wings would be too risky, so I decide against it; however, seeing as I was basically falling at terminal velocity, I needed to improvise. I needed to improvise a landing.

I start to morph my wings in the way I prevented Rainbow Dash’s death, voil-

“AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!” the landing interrupted me, earning a bellow of pain from me.

I stumble to stand up and notice that my wing took damage, it didn’t look bad. I just noticed that I hit a very, very, very sensitive spot.

More importantly, “Twilight, there you are! You weren’t answering, so,” she was still ignoring me, just staring into a part of a wall that was framed by a door frame.

I approach the door, “Yo, Twilight, you ok?”

I start shaking her, this got her out of her trance. It looked like she was having it pretty rough in her own head, there were tears and she was holding on to her temples like there was that really bad headache.

“What?” Twilight stuttered, “What happened?”

“You were staring at that wall,” I deadpanned, staring into said wall, what was so special about it?

“NO! Don’t look into it!” Twilight shook my head away from the door frame, “It brings out your worst fears!”

“Worst fears? The magic must be getting you high,” I sigh in relief, nothing was entirely wrong right?

“What do you mean ‘getting high’?”

I dismiss that with a hoof, “Forget about it. What did you see?”

“My worst fears,” Twilight looked at the ground like it was horrible remembering it.

“What were they?” I brought my face closer with an intrigued face.

“I don’t want to say,” she shook her head.

I continued to stare at her with the same distance, I could tell she was feeling my stare. And she was losing it.

Her head shot up and, “I failed my task and I was no longer Celestia’s student! Happy?!”

I went into a snickering fit, “Was being studious really all this girl cared about? Oh well,” I thought to myself.

“What in Equestria is so funny?! That was not a laughing matter!” Twilight stomped her hoof.

When I stopped laughing to myself, I straightened myself to see that she was staring at me.

“What?” I look with a poker face that ‘for-chan’ site had a lot of; the internet was a magical place, dating from the 1998. May seem like just decades ago, but a lot of people thought of it to be stupid that an old man like me was looking at this stuff, my sister introduced me to the most hilarious ‘rage-comics’ I’ve ever seen. Made me feel seventy years younger.

“Look at the door,” she firmly said, I complied. Worriedly.

“Uh huh?” I was staring at the door.

I look back at Twilight who was glaring at me.

“What?!” I cried out, I thought she was going to kill me.

She shook her head and sighed, “I’ll look into it later. You were not affected by the dark magic.”

Hearing this made me feel like I heard I was immune to the infection. I was not immune to the infection.

Hoping to change her subject, “Let’s get this door open, what do you have to do to not get affected by the dark magic?”

Twilight looked like she was figuring something out, “Some kind of counter... Oh, I know!”

White and bright light was charging from her horn... Light magic? I saw a lot of things on the internet after my sister introduced me to the wonders and corruption of the internet.

The part of the wall that was framed by the door started opening.

“That does not make any fucking sense, we’re in a damned basement,” I deadpanned towards the daylight.

Twilight looked at me, “Magic can do many things,” she looked at me again with an intrigued face, “What does ‘fucking’ mean?”

I looked at her with my poker face, the very same poker face when I explained the birds and the bees with Sarah.

“It’s something I use when I’m angry, or anything I use,” I approached her and put a hoof on her shoulder, “That word stays down here, you hear me?”

She complied as the door was completely open, “Good, now let’s se-”

I was interrupted by the unmistakable bunch of fabric as the chibi... How the hell did it get here?

I approach the doll.

“What is it, Flame?” I ignore her as I lifted it up, it was the authentic chibi my sister gave me. The very same question keeps popping my head: WHY IS IT HERE!?

I continue staring at it until.

“FLAME!”

I cover my ears and shake my head at the instant headache from that scream.

“WHAT?!” I appropriately scream back.

“You were staring at blank space! Are you going to be ok?”

It wasn’t real... It wasn’t real... It wasn’t fucking real... I need to finish this.

“Let’s just go,” I dismiss with a hoof and look up, “We’re supposed to get up there?”

Twilight sighed in disappointment, either to me ignoring her questions or more stairs.

I heard her mutter to herself, “Stairs.”

“I’ll meet you up there,” I prepared my wings.

“Wait! What about me?”

“I’m not confident in my abilities of flying to carry a woman just yet. Besides, you’re a unicorn, you’ll figure something out with your ingenuity!” I argued defensively, then I took off.

“MIDNIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHT!” she called after me as I flew, I chuckled at this.

Flying straight up sure was a challenge, and I was almost there as some time past flying.

“MIDNIGHT!”

“Waoh! Twilight, I knew you’d figure something out!”

“Not with your help!” she was sliding on her hoofs upside down on the flat part of the stairs, she used magic to decrease friction with her hooves? Impressive.

“Keep it up! We’re almost there!” I called out to her, she nodded in return.

We WERE almost there, aaaaaaaannnnd we made it.

“That was one hell of a work out, huh?” I panted, as my wings took some energy out of me.

Twilight just glared at me, I let my head down to get some energy back.

“So where is this crystal heart?”

“There,” Twilight said in awe as she pointed with a hoof, “C’mon! Let’s get to it!”

“Twilight, wait!” I called out to her, “IT’S A TRAP!”

Getting to the heart, she was still safe, was I wro-

And a lot of thorns came out of nowhere, great.

“IT’S A TRAP!” Twilight exclaimed, I basically face-hoofed.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,” I mutter to myself.

“Is there anyway I could help?!” I said through the thorns.

“No!” there was a pause, “Wait! Yes!”

Another pause.

“What is it, woman?!”

“GET THE HEART!” I saw her fiddling her forelegs to move that heart, “HERE! Get it to the bottom! You’ll see the generator, place it there and this dark magic will dissipate!”

“You sure!?”

“No!” she yelled back.

I catch the heart, it was pretty light; which was pretty strange, but I had no time to question about it for the world of the crystal ponies already is becoming reduced to the bitter cold. I needed to hurry.

I kinda remember where this thing is. At the bottom of the palace, it looked like there were two cones aimed at each other perfectly vertical, that had to be it.

“I’ll be back!” I yelled towards her, and prepared to dive off the window. This was going to be one of those moments where I save the day in blazing glory, I was ready... I think.

Dropping down was pretty scary at first, we were pretty high. The architecture of this damned empire was going to have a piece of my mind.

There was enough distance between me and ground to start picking up speed, it would be pretty simple to just drop down and guide that momentum circling the entire palace right?

The world just went ‘NOPE.AVI’ and let the winds come at me, making difficult turn into an understatement of understatements. The cold winds in my eyes and trying to hold on to the crystal heart.

I heard a roar right behind me, I look back and see that black cloud. Some of it forming into a pony’s head: Sombra?

“GIVE ME THE HEART!” it bellowed after me, this was the bad guy I was supposed to keep the heart from so I’ll keep it away from him.

“FLAME!” I heard a voice in front of me, so I turned my head forward.

“CADENCE?!” then something pierced through me, it made a sharp pain that was worse than being hit by a MAG round.

“So this is what it feels like to get shot through the stomach?” I thought to myself, grinding my teeth trying to hold on to the now bloody crystal heart, I grunt in pain as I was caught by Cadence.

“Hold on!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!” I heard the disgusting voice of the tyrant.

My vision became blurry, most likely because of the blood I was losing by velocity and the wound. I could tell; however, that the crystal heart was in good hands.

“THE CRYSTAL HEART! IS MINE!” the tyrant yelled again.

Those good hands... Hooves were not going to last as I saw Sombra prepare another strike of magic, I prepared for that by getting my machete out of my sheath with my telekinesis.

I was preparing to shoot that machete like when I placed Dead Space, my friends thought I had no taste in gaming, but never mind that. Aiming the machete at sombra was still pretty difficult as flying was also difficult for Cadence, but were were almost there.

“Today,” I notice that we were steady, and took the opportunity, “You lose.”

His magic went out the same time as my machete, at least I was sure her was going to die by my machete... I think.

I jump from Cadence, leaving the heart on her hair.

She snapped her head back, “FLAME, NO!”

Protecting a princess felt like something almost as good as doing something in a blaze of glory, the reason that is is because I was going to die, and not brag about it. I was able to say something really fast:

“I REGRET NOTHING!” I bellowed with all my might as that magic strike hit me again, right in the chest. Make that two MAG rounds I know the feeling of being pierced by, it is fucking painful.

As I was falling I thought about what I had done. Whether it be good or ba-

“I got ya!” Rainbow Dash... Caught me, I’ll think about that shit later, right now, I’m dying on a rainbow maned egotistic female pony. All in a day’s work.

My vision and hearing all became dark, I was losin’ it, and I was losin’ it fast.

I hear the muffled voices of Twilight... And Cadence... And others.

“He will be alright, right?” I heard twilight ask in a pleading voice.

Silence... News must be grim.

“But I tried to catch him!” I heard Rainbow Dash.

“I’m sorry,” Cadence voice came to my ears.

I tried to open my eyes, then I noticed that Twilight took notice of this.

“He’s awake! Oh thank Celestia he’s awake!” Twilight came to me with a relieved face.

“You’re going to make it, Midnight, I promise!” Rainbow Dash said, “I WAS the one who caught you!”

I saw Twilight glare at her, and this earned a little chuckled from me, “You’re a bad liar, Dashie.”

I never thought I would be the one to say that.

“You’re assignment is complete, how do you feel, Twilight?” I said weakly, trying to lighten the mood.

“What? That’s all you cared about?!”

“Of course it was,” I coughed a little blood, “It was what YOU cared about, right?”

She looked taken back from what I said, then I closed my eyes.

“Remember when I said, ‘I’ll have a smile on my face at the end of this’?”

I assumed she nodded, so I let a smile on my face as I could feel the blood streaming from my mouth.

“Midnight,” I felt shaking... Twilight.

“Midnight?” she was becoming choked up.

“Midnight!” it’s a real shame she has to witness death.

“MIDNIGHT!” I could hear sobbing, like she was saying she could have done more but some part of her that she thought she could control stopped her. I couldn't blame her, anyone could feel that way, and lose themselves. In all honesty I blame myself, I’m going to die... For real.

I was slowly losing consciousness as I felt her head rest on my chest sobbing into my coat.

“So this is how it ends?”