Rebellion Part 1

“Stop.” Wergal’s voice snapped me out of my angry charge. The Brothers had walked to the edge of The Podium, waiting for us with smiles on their faces. I growled at the sight of them before turning my head to look at Wergal.

“What do you mean, ‘stop’!? These fuckers just admitted that my friend and your mate were raped! The hell you want me to stop for!?” I rebutted angrily. I’m not seeing the logic in this whatsoever. He’s keeping me from chopping up some slavers and getting revenge!

“Can’t you see they were taunting you? It’s alright to have hatred for something, but to let that hatred guide your actions and your train of thought is suicide! How are you going to be a hero for these slaves when you cling to petty things like revenge!? Get your head out the ground and into the game!” Wergal snapped, growling at me for emphasis. I stepped away from him, fearing that he would’ve struck me or something.

“No, you’re wrong.” Wergal raised an eyebrow at my rebuttal.

“How so? You clearly have a fear of trusting others fully. How can you honestly call yourself the Alien Hero when you can’t even trust the ones you’re supposedly saving!? You’re nothing but a boy playing in his father’s vest!” Wergal snapped angrily.

“How can you honestly say that!? How have I exemplified any of your claims so far!? As far as I’m concerned, you-”

“IT’S NOT ABOUT ME!!!” Wergal stepped forward, grabbed my jacket with both of his hands, pulled me in and collided our heads together as he peered into my heart. “This is about giving up a part of yourself for thegreater good! How have you exemplified my claim? I shouldn’t of had to step forward to grab you like this!” We were now in a pushing match with our heads, giving long grunts of strain. “I shouldn’t have been the one to kill that guard and you

“WHY!?” Came the chorused question from the Brothers on top of The Podium twenty feet up.

“SHUT UP!!!” Wergal and I shouted back before continuing our argument.

“BECAUSE YOU WERE SCARED!!! No longer will you let your past judge your actions! All that shit you were spewing in the tunnels sounded good, but it was nothing more that you playing a role! NOW BE A DAMN HERO FOR THE MARE YOU LOVE!!!” Wergal gave me a headbutt strong enough for me to stagger back and hold my head with my free hand.

My eyes were probably pinpricks as what he said finally hit me.

“I DON’T LOVE HER THAT WAY, but you’re right! No more trying to fill shoes! I’m doing this my way! You hear that!?” I turned my body sharply and extended my wings, raising my sword arm up in order to point it at the Alpha Brothers. They were scowling at me. Ha, like I give two shits! “There’s no room for slavers on this planet and something tells me you’re not going to change your ways if I let you go! That only leaves me with one option....and that’s to beat the crap out of you! There’s no need to hate others, to live out your days in apathy! That’s not what I want and that’s not what those who care about me want either!” I jumped and started flapping my wings.

I almost crashed once or twice, so I knew actual flying was still beyond my level of expertise. I’m gonna need a flying coach after all this is done!

“This bravado of yours is sickening! We prefer living beings with broken spirits! I’ll enjoy breaking yours under my heel! Otto!” Dreggen looked to his left, a short pug with green eyes and rust-colored fur nodded. “Rex!” He looked to his right, a german-shepherd dog with a diamond mace in his hand nodded back at him. “Crush that Beta, I’ll handle the overgrown reptile!” Dreggen smiled devilishly at me.

“Crush my fighting spirit!? Who the fuck do you think I am!?” I dropped back down to the ground and ran towards The Podium, readying my blade for a strike. Otto drew a sword made from crudely cut diamond and lept over my head with Rex following him. I ran up the steps, nearing my target with a fire in my heart.

At one point in time it was cold and apathetic, but now there’s an inferno of passion! Can you feel it!? Can you feel that tingle in your spine whenever you do something you're passionate about!? Even if I’m knocking on Death’s door and demanding my rent, I fear nothing!

Dreggen jumped back as soon as I swiped the air in front of me with my blade. He kept jumping back even when I reached the top of the spire’s steps. The Alpha was in the center unarmed and staring at me with that knowing smirk he seemed to keep plastered on his face at all times.

“The hell’s so funny, mutt!? I’m about to skin you alive, but you’re looking at me like you’re about to invite me to a tea party of something!” The wings on my sword flapped a couple of times, making a smirk of my own appear.

“Hmph. That sword of yours is quite the sight to behold. As for skinning me, it’s not gonna happen. I’m willing to bet all the gems in Granite Podium that you won’t even be able to nick me with that thing. I can tell by the uncouth way you hold that sword, you have no swordsmanship whatsoever! This little revolution you started will end on the same day it started, but you’ll be working for me in the mines till you keel over!” Dreggen took the rim of his tophat and used it to fling the hat away.

Shih Tzu. He’s an overgrown Shih Tzu. I was honestly expecting some sort of OH MY GOD HIS HAIR I’M ABOUT TO START CRACKING UP!!!

You would not believe what this boss has on his head. You know those little balls people in Beverly Hills put on their shih tzus, terriers, chihuahuas and poodles? He has two of those right behind his ears, fluffed up and everything!

“BWAHAHAHA!!!” I kept laughing at him, not even caring about the death glare he was sending me. “At least you’re original! Seriously, what’s with the dumplings mama’s boy!?” I probably just stepped on a landmine because Dreggen’s eyes were completely glazed over as he stared off into space. This made me stop laughing. I’ve seen enough anime to know where this was going.

I readied my sword for the impending charge of supreme hatred. He probably lost his mom to a dragon or something when he was little and he was there to see it happen; or something along those lines.

“Take it back.” Dreggen gnashed his teeth, white pools of saliva forming at the back. This nigga got rabies!? “I SAID TAKE IT BACK!!!” He rushed me on all fours, closing the distance quickly as I sidestepped out the way.

I expected him to fall over the edge, but he did a fucking handstand and caught himself right on the edge! His massive arms didn’t seem to pulse with effort as his whole body remained suspended in the air, held up by the two hunking logs of muscle and bone. Dreggen slowly fell backwards, landing on his feet and standing back up.

While he was doing all of this, I was backing up slowly while twirling Hope around and around slowly. I do this to ease my mind up. You can’t expect to be a hero without a leveled head in heated situations, am I right!?

Dreggen dusted himself off and licked the outsides of his jaw. After that, he glared at me.

“You know, you shouldn’t say those kinds of things to other people; they have feelings too, you know, but I digress.” He wiped off some dirt that had gotten on his black suit, making me raise an eyebrow. “I hope you know this little revolution you started is all for not. You’re a novice in swordplay facing off against a diamond dog that’s impossible to hit. You see, I’m not like other diamond dogs. Unlike my brothers...”I tensed up, backing away slowly. I had stopped twirling my blade in preparation for a charge. “I’m strong.” He charged me instantly and without warning.

This threw me for a loop, seeing as how I was taken by surprise with how fast he exploded from the edge. Dreggen was almost to my chest when I raised my sword arm and swung down, grunting from how fast that strike had been. I watched with widened eyes as Dreggen sidestepped the blade just before it touched his head, then punched me in the face.

He put his whole body into it and I was surprised that I hadn't been knocked out from the blow, which sent me flying to the other end of The Podium. Can he move at supersonic speeds!? Has he been playing around this whole tim-

“AHHHH!!!” I rolled out of the way as Dreggen’s screaming form stomped where my head had once been. A large piece of granite came loose and fell. “Would you look at that, I missed!” He spat out some saliva in that hoodlum-way, sticking his hands into his pant pockets.

“What the hell was that!?” I exclaimed while back springing up to my feet like martial arts masters do. “Where did that insane dodge come from!? What the hell are you!?” I swung my winged-sword for emphasis.

“I’m Dreggen the Agile Dog, one of the Alphas here at Granite Podium. That,” He pointed a finger off the side of The Podium, where I looked after making sure he wasn’t doing anything fishy. “is Otto the Ingenuitive. What he lacks in brawn, he makes up for in smarts. The other one is Rex the Blitzer Breaker, whose abnormal strength only grows as he’s angered. Wergal may be putting up a good fight, but it’s foolhardy to think that he’ll win. Besides, he’ll be easier to subjugate than you, seeing as how we already broke his will once.” Dreggen shrugged with that knowing smirk again.

“How can you be so cruel? These griffins, ponies and minotaurs all have families and friends that miss them!” I stomped my foot for emphasis.

“Surely you’re not suggesting that we simply let our mules go, do you? Foolishness, Mr.Dragon, foolishness. All clans, save for the accursed Marble Pillars, believe in slave labor. In fact, some clans have been known to break the wills of dragons. Before you showed up, my brothers and I were actually getting ready to mount a full-scale raid on that little town of Stonehaven a little ways south-west.” I growled as he finished his last sentence.

“Sorry pal, but it’s not going to happen! You better be ready to die, Dreggen, because you’ve just pissed off the most badass hero on Equis and beyond!” I put both hands on my sword, trying to give the impression of knowing how to fight with it.

“Tch! If this guy has supersonic movement on his side then I’m screwed. I know five spells is my limit, so using magic could be fatal if none of my spells prove effective! Damn it! I thought it would be easier than this!” I began pacing, taking slow but sure steps in a half-circle pattern around the Leader Alpha.

“Are you hesitating? Why? You aren’t scared of me, that’s for sure. Are you trying to figure me out, get in my head? You’re more than welcome to try it, though I doubt the results will be fruitful or to your liking.” He gave an evil chuckle and started walking towards me with his hands in his pockets! Uh oh! I better think of something...and quick!

Umm...

AHA!

“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re doing this, as in slave labor. It doesn’t make sense, how you can be so apathetic to ruining another sentient being’s life.” He stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. I raised my own in response.

“Really? You’re trying to stall for time? Ah what the hell, why not?” He shrugged and stood right where he was, leaving me on my side of The Podium. Good, he took the bait, even though I was surprised that he caught on to my ruse.

“Now where should I begin...Ah, we’ll start off with the natural order of things! Listen close. At the top of the food chain are dragons, who are really just a bunch of barbaric beasts that prey on diamond dogs or anything they can get their huge claws on. Monsters, in other words. Then we have the predators like griffins and diamond dogs. Then ponies and minotaurs. This world, outside of Equestria, is a cesspool of death and murder; slavery and assassinations, which are done for the sake of money and fame.”

“Diamond dogs capture slaves in order to mine out large quantities of gems in order to protect themselves from dragons on their land. We can’t possibly sate the hunger of a dragon by only having thirteen or twenty dogs in a warren, it’s unfathomable.”

“Gem Fido was where Granite Podium was located, right until the stories of the Griffin Pirates came around. Can you imagine whole dens and warrens being slain, profits and gems down the drain all in the span of a few hours!? These Griffin Pirates would take the remainders of toppled slaver dens and ship them off to the ever-growing Marble Pillars. This warren has abandoned the traditional ways of mining, seeking to live in peace with one another as if it was a regular town of commerce! They do not respect tradition and that angers me!” He stomped his foot for emphasis, some spit sliding out from between his grinding teeth.

“But at the time, Granite Podium didn’t have the amount of numbers needed in order to fight the Griffin Pirates so we combined our clans. We’re not brothers on blood, but rather brothers in objective and survival! We wish to maintain the old ways of our people, to live out like our forefathers have! And if this means that other people have to be kidnapped, then so be it! Our course is set in Granite, that’s the motto we live by; so if you wish to become a ‘Hero’ and destroy what we’ve built from the ground up, then I have no choice but to protect my inheritance! If this entails having you die, then I will enjoy every second of your painful screams!” Dreggen charged me as he finished.

He still had his hands in his pockets, so I took it for a weakness and swung Hope horizontally. Again, right before the sword managed to cleave him in two, he ducked underneath and springboarded from the ground, heabbutting me in the chin and making me stagger back.

I was rewarded with a roundhouse kick to the side of the face for falling off balance, sending me flying off The Podium. I fell for what felt like three seconds before my back thudded against the unforgiving rock floor! I let a pained gasp leave my mouth as the wind was knocked from me. I even closed my eyes tightly to try and concentrate on the pain going away.

“SILAS, MOVE!!!” Wergal’s shout made my eyes snap open just in time to see Dreggen jumping off from The Podium like it was a turnbuckle. I willed myself to fight through my tight stomach and lungs, rolling to the right in order to avoid the deadly blow that was coming from on high.

“AHHHHHH!!!” My vision was filled with dust as Dreggen’s yelling form smacked into the ground where my face had once been. The Alpha could be heard chuckling from the cover of his impromptu smokescreen. Tiny specs of dirt made small hissing sounds as they fell back to the ground. “I’m trying to kill you in a flashy manner but you keep moving out of the way! Please hold still, I promise to MAKE IT QUICK!” Dreggen came bounding out of the smoke with a manic grin of bloodlust on his face.

I was still rising from the ground, so I knew that dodging his next attack would be useless. I tried a simple diagonal swing, hoping to at least graze him! When he jumped over my slash and grinded his foot into my face, using his momentum to drive my body backwards until he crushed my head on the ground, I was a little surprised. And in pain.

Definitely in pain!

“And just like that...you’re under my heel! This whole fight is pointless and I’m finding no pleasure in it.” I grunted in pain when he added more pressure by leaning into the leg that had me pinned down. I can’t breathe, he’s going to literally crush me beneath his heel! “It’s a shame I have to kill you, Mr.Alien. You would’ve made such a great slave.” I heard him sigh in what sounded like disappointment before I could feel the bones in my head scream in protest, feeling the new sense of pressure as he practically tried pushing through my skull with his foot.

I was screaming my ass off. The nails on his foot were slowly digging into my scales. I know that if he really wanted to, he could’ve scalped me and been done with it. Amidst all my screaming I remembered something that I had forgotten, something so crucial to the way he fights it’s a wonder I forgot about it!

I began pushing back with my head, feeling his nails sink all the way in but were not long enough to puncture anything vital. I grit my teeth in pain and focus, slowly making headway while giving long and continuous grunts of gusto. I made eye contact with Dreggen, who had his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised in amazement.

“Hoh? So you’re still fighting back, even though I’m in a position to scalp you right now? This bravado of yours is marvelous, but at the same, vile.” He narrowed his eyes and leaned his whole body in, making my eyes bulge. I can’t do this! It’s hurts too bad! “By that look in your eye I can tell you’re in an insane amount of pain. Why don’t you just lay down and accept defeat? It’ll stop the pain you’re feeling right now.” Dreggen’s weight was no joke because I was slowly being forced back down. Blood was running down my face and into my eye, making me close them in the hopes of ejecting the ichor. When I opened them again, everything was blue.

“Are you still trying to fight back!? Even though you’re blue blood is running along my foot!? GAH,” Dreggen scoffed angrily, “I have no need for fools with spirits like yours! Your pelt will make a good furnishing for my ro-GUH!!!” In the middle of Dreggen’s dialogue, a black-furred fist slammed into the side of his mouth. His body was lifted off the ground as the sound of crunching bones and flesh tearing filled my ears. I cried out in a horrifying amount of pain as I felt my entire forehead get ripped off. Blood poured into my eyes, but I wiped it out.

To be honest, I was feeling a little frustrated. I was frustrated that I had to be saved. What kind of hero gets saved!? Fuck being frustrated, I’m pissed!

I groggily stood up, grabbing Hope with my left hand. The wings were still there, so I knew that the unicorn magic still resided within. Perfect.

I sluggishly raised my sword arm and twirled the blade so that the tip punctured my wound minutely. “Medico.” I felt the effects of the magic instantly, feeling the energy seep into the wound and begin to patch it up. I shook my head, getting the spirals that had entered my eyes out.

*WHUMPH!!!*

I looked to my left just in time to see Wergal slam into my chest from the blow I heard. I grunted and fell back from the new load of weight I had acquired, much to my chagrin. Once my back slapped against the ground again, I shoved Wergal to the right and sprung right back up to my feet.Soft crunches of dirt made me snap my head to the left, just to see the Alpha Brothers standing next to one another.

Two of the Alpha Brothers, just to let you know.

“Where’s Otto!?” Dreggen asked Rex angrily, the latter shrinking back and wincing.

“He’s over there.” Wergal answered for the Alpha nonchalantly, walking up to the right of me. The Brothers and I turned our heads to look at where Wergal had begun pointing, noticing the small pug’s body slouched against the side of The Podium. Blood splattered the wall of rock behind him.

“And over there.” Wergal then jutted his finger to a patch of Earth some ways away from Otto’s body, revealing to us the other half. Yeah, you read right. THE OTHER HALF.

“And if you want, I could show you whe-”

“ENOUGH!!!” The deep voice of Rex interjected as he thundered towards us with his mace held high. ‘Nightmare Hound’ tensed up like he was getting ready to engage, but I pushed him out of the way. You’re not saving me twice!!

Rex had closed the distance relatively quick, swinging his mace in a horizontal arc. I ducked and simultaneously swung Hope, cleaving through his midsection like it wasn't even there. I then spun around his body to the left, watching him as he stepped a couple of times before falling down with his legs separated from his torso.

I turned my body so I could look at Dreggen with a knowing smirk on my face. “Did you honestly expect a lummox like him to last long? He was worse than me! And now it’s two versus one!” Dreggen looked pissed, but he took a deep breath and began to chuckle. That chuckle escalated to laughter, and then maniacal laughter. He kept it up for a couple of seconds, maybe thirty-ish? I don’t know exactly, but it seemed like he had been laughing at us forever.

He stopped his laugh impossibly fast and looked at us with uneven eyes; and by uneven, I mean one eye was a pinprick while the other was normal, only serving to creep me out further than I already was. Dreggen placed a hand on his head and swept the balls of hair back like a mobster would do his gel-top. He then let out a shaky breath, which, I swear to God, dropped the temperature in here by a couple of degrees!

“Two against one??? Do you honestly believe that I’m all alone down here!? I have guards by the thousands! In fact, there’s approximately two-thousand guards here! That’s more than half the amount of slaves we keep under watch! OBSERVE!!!” He angled his head up and took a deep breath. “AROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Dreggen moaned loudly, making me cover the small triangular ears on the side of my head. Wergal was standing with his arms crossed, looking at Dreggen with a knowing smirk of his own.

The sound of what I can only assume to be his backup reverberated through the tunnels of Granite Podium. It felt as if Equis itself was shaking and that made me scared beyond all belief. Well, that and Dreggen’s maniacal laughter.

“Calm yourself, Silas. He’s in for a nasty surprise.” Wergal’s smirk increased into a full blown grin that showcased most of his elongated teeth. I’m gonna half to ask him how he killed one of the Alphas like it was nothing and how he enters ‘Nightmare Hound’ form. I wonder if he knows about it?

“It’s too late to flee now, Alien! You shouldn’t have come here! I built this empire of dirt from the ground up, trained the guards myself and single-handedly took over the clans that Rex, Otto and Diamond ran! You’re trapped between me and approximately two-thousand guards! There’s no way in tartarus you’re getting out of here alive!” At the end of Dreggen’s rant the rumbling halted.

“NOW GUT HIM MY-"

*FLOOMPH!!!*

Right in front of our faces a gashed and bloodied body of a diamond dog in armor fell. Dreggen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he turned around dramatically and looked up. I didn’t think it was possible, but I’m pretty sure Dreggen’s mouth is scooping up dirt right now.

I angled my head to look around and nearly did the same thing Dreggen did.

Slaves....a lot of them spilled out from the tunnels above and next to us. Seconds later, it was raining diamond dog guard bodies! They impacted the ground harshly, making me flinch with each one that hit. I looked over to Wergal, whose grin evolved into a full blown smile and chuckle.

“Told ya’.” Was all Wergal said as I turned my attention back to the dogs that were being thrown off the outcroppings of rock fifty feet in the air. I had to sidestep once or twice to avoid falling bodies, but it was still a sight that merited some form of awe. Once the bodies stopped their plummet, the slaves stepped forward simultaneously, leering at the only Alpha standing between them and sweet freedom.

“WHAT DO I PAY YOU IMBECILES FOR!!!???” Dreggen shouted madly as began to continuously stomp on a dead guard’s face. He kept doing it, the only sound in the Podium Chamber was his grunts of exertion and the squelches coming from the flattening face of the diamond dog guard. He’s lost it. “YOU HAD ONE JOB!!! ONE JOB!!!” On ‘job’ he gave one last stomp, turning the head under his heel into spaghetti sauce.

“Look at you, Dreggen. You were so hung up on yourself that defeat seemed like a far off thought. Otto had been suggesting for years that we build an airship to acquire more slaves and guards from the Main Continent but you slapped him away every time, claiming that he was insulting your savvy in breaking the spirits of your slaves! You brought this on yourself and you know it! That’s why you’re falling apart, you can’t deal with it!” Wergal sneered while keeping his arms crossed, making me smirk at how badass he was looking. He’d make a great anti-hero.

“FUCK YOU, BETA SCUM!!! FUCK ALL OF YOU!!! LOOK AT WHAT YOU SCUM DID!!! LOOK!!! I HAD AN EMPIRE THAT WAS SAFE FROM THAT INSUFFERABLE GRIFFIN AND HIS MERRY MEN, BUT YOU HAD TO GO AND FUCK IT UP MR.INVADER!!!” Dreggen’s fur had become severely matted because of the river of sweat pouring from his body. He placed both his hands on his jacket, pulling it apart at the seams. He only had his pants on now and his arms were hanging loosely at the sides of his body. That manic look in his eye stayed the same, however.

“I know I’m awesome, no need to shout it into the heavens, geez!” I said dismissively, waving my sword in front of me haphazardly. I could’ve swore his eye twitched in contained fury. Fucking priceless! “Look here, you can either surrender and face judgement at the paws and hooves of those you enslaved, or you can fight Wergal and I. Either way you die, but it’s more honorable if you get killed by your slaves. You could go out with a clear conscious and some shred of respect then as some measly dog who’s compensating for his penis size with his ego. The choice is yours, Mi Amigo!” I mocked him, to which he gave a loud growl of complete fury. I could tell my rant succeeded in pushing him further into madness based on the way he was frothing at the mouth now.

Bastard does have rabies! Ewwwwwwwww!!!

“You meet your end either way, Dreggen. I would be lying if I said that I would be fine with you picking the second option. You deserve to be cut down just like your brothers were, if you ask me.” Wergal smiled devilishly, his eyes gleaming with bloodshed.

Definitely an anti-hero!

“Well,” I asked with a challenging edge to my voice, “What’s it going to be?” I rose my sword arm and pointed Hope at Dreggen, who was still hunched over and heaving like a deranged lunatic.

“You’ll all die down here. ALL OF YOU!!! IF I CAN’T RULE THE DIAMOND DOGS OF THE WORLD THEN NONE OF MY SLAVES AND ENEMIES DESERVE TO LIVE!!! COME ON!!!!” Dreggen roared into the air somehow, shocking me because it sounded like a strange mix between a dog’s bark and a lion’s roar.

He then charged Wergal and I.

“Join your brothers in the dirt, mutt.” Wergal said simply before going down on all fours and taking off faster than my eye could follow. Dreggen outstretched his claws while running on all fours as Wergal did the same. They leapt and collided with one another, making me wince at the the sound of it happening. I remember seeing two werewolves in a movie do that once but I forgot which movie. Needless to say, the dogs were rolling around in a ball of death, biting and scratching one another viciously.

Somethings gotta give eventually.