My Little Carmines

Chapter thirteen: A personal bodyguard

Discord wondered through the newly furbished castle that once belonged to the princesses. He had to admit that the Wretches had done a pretty good job in decoration and, to his taste, had a good sense in colour. A simple corridor was painted with marble black stone while the carpet spilled a dark red from the tip of his tail to the other end of the corridor. Much similar to the glass paintings of the heroes in Princess Celestia's castle in Canterlot, the ones that smiled at his presence were nothing but pure paintings of him. Paintings of him showed, from supposedly the Locust or his biased point of view, Discord as being a brave, strong and insurmountable god that stood proudly and handsomely in every glass painting. He was seen in different poses that showed his power, 'beauty' and superiority over all inhabitants in Equestria. In one painting, he noticed that he was holding two chains; one chain in his lion paw held a chain that led to snake around the neck of Princess Celestia, and in the other chain was clutched by a claw and it met around the neck of Princess Luna. He smiled at the image, but something didn't fit hit taste with the princesses in chains; he felt that the image needed more of the princesses' freedom but still enslaved to his power. Perhaps if they were bowing at his sides, rather than subjected so low to torture and chains, then Discord would have felt as if he was a true evil ruler. Where was the fun in messing with ponies' minds when they were too weak, afraid and tortured to put their energy into his chaotic doings?

Nevertheless, he continued to walk through the halls as he passed head statues of him. Observing that everything was of liking to him, Discord then clicked his fingers to transport himself to the outside where he could observe his Locust army. From his point of view, they never seemed to stop working. They were always training, always fighting, always noisy and loud and never did they seem to sleep. But that was what Discord wanted. The sound of marching and thumping footsteps echoed through his ears as the Locust continued to train for their invasion. Their moral seemed relatively high compared to when they were subjected to their Queen's authority. Perhaps it was because of Discord's magic that they had the utmost belief that they would surely win, and also because their main enemy was ponies which they believed to be purely weak in mind and body. Plus, judging from what they had heard from Discord himself and other Locusts that had been out on patrols, they had no similar weaponry in comparison to theirs which meant that it would be an easy victory against them. And with the magic of Discord, they could be sure that supplies would always be high. But this was what worried Discord.

Discord knew that there was something with the Locust that made them corrupt and evil in a different kind of way. Ways that he would have to disagree with and fear, so he needed some sort of trustworthy bodyguard. Kreikie was the first to quickly be abandoned. As loyal as Kreikie seemed to be and made out to be, something inside Discord made him feel as if Kreikie couldn't be trusted since he was the captain of the Locust army. That was exactly the problem with the locust; they could not be trusted. From what he observed, back when he was spying on the Locust in their home world and how they worked, Discord came to realisation that they could be easily deceived or have a change in their, if they truly had one…or two, hearts then all their numbers could easily overpower him, or one could so easily murder him in his sleep.

He needed a bodyguard…and he knew just which species to turn to.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The four gears stumbled recklessly over the fragile bridge as they tried to kill the planted Locust that rested there. Below them, in the fiery depths of the imulsion polluted ocean, a giant Lambent Leviathan danced spasmodically and aggressively with The Sovereign ship, which parts of it were mutilating into the sea with no signs of stopping. From the bridge, it was a devastating sight, but the gears could do nothing with their hand held rifles to do anything about it. However, one of them, the most annoying but the brightest at the same time, had come up with an idea in which would use the dangerous devices of tickers to their advantage in taking down the Lambent Leviathan, but it would risk decapitating the ship and endangering Marcus and Dom.

Cole, Baird, Sam and Clayton had all managed to eliminate the Locust that was already stationed on the bridge. Cole radioed in to Marcus and told him about Baird's plan, but when Marcus has said that they were ready, more Locust had suddenly sprung from the concrete below which forced a dangerous distraction and halt on their plan.

Clayton immediately dived for cover as he kicked a dead Locust out of the way. Bullets from Hammerburts scratched the surface of the broken car, but they were too weak to penetrate fully. Clayton peered over once more and spotted his target that was reloading while foolishly not being in cover. He jumped up and held the trigger of his Torque bow so that the charge would be devastating and would make one hell of an explosion. Clayton released the trigger and the sticky explosive arrow flew as fast as a bullet, and when it stuck perfectly into the chest plate of the Drone, the explosion killed it and its comrades in front of him. Pieces were all that was left.

He quickly reloaded his bow and fired more into the covering Locust while Cole flanked around then. He used a fire grenade that he had picked up and lobbed it into a group of three hiding Locust. They burned a slow and painful death. Clayton quickly sprung from his cover and dashed behind a couple of boxes while the Locust were distracted with 'The Cole Train' and his flanking method, but was quickly forced to retreat when all the fire suddenly attacked his direction. Sam and Baird open fired at the Locust in order to distract them, and one Locust was attempting to flank Baird and Sam, and passed the very box that Clayton was using for shelter. Reacting quickly, Clayton pulled out his Snub pistol and unleashed a hail of bullets into the Drone's back. The Drone moaned in pain as he dropped to the floor and started bleeding out. Clayton ran over to the downed Drone and kicked him onto his back. He stepped over his doomed body and, without mercy and using his ultimate strength, threw deadly lefts and rights at the Locust whilst it waited for its death. Clayton continued to release a cry of anger as he continued to inflict as much pain as he could before he decided to execute the doomed Drone. Finally, he decided not to waste his energy and delivered the final executing blow that completely mutilated the Drone's face.

Clayton stood back up and noticed that the rest of the Locust had been dealt with by his fellow crew. They all quickly dashed over towards the crate that was filled with explosive Tickers and they all used their strength in order to push it. After a few seconds, the crate slowly started to move, and as it dropped, it landed on an open side of the bridge, sideways, that was sticking out and the latch opened which forced the Tickers to roll out. Underneath, the giant yellow head of the Leviathan felt the full force of the massive swarm of Ticker explosions and screeched in utter pain. A tentacle from the Leviathan wrapped around a part of the bridge which was behind the four on the bridge so they didn't notice…yet.

"Hey, I thought you'd enjoy the witty irony of 'Grub on Glowie violence!" Baird said sarcastically to Marcus as he seemed to baptise himself in the accomplishment he just achieved for killing the Lambent Leviathan, but Marcus begged to differ down the ear piece.

"Yeah, that's fucking hilarious! You're gonna blow up the whole ship genius!"

The weak structure of the bridge couldn't handle any more pressure from the other tentacle that wrapped around another part of the bridge, and the strength of the tentacle pulled a part of the bridge down and forced the four to collapse suddenly onto the sliding disassembled road that led down to the sea. Taken by surprise, they all quickly, and pathetically, tried to latch themselves onto the road in attempts to hold on, but they were not strong enough.

"Jump for it!" Cole Train suggested, but Baird, being really 'supportive', differed.

"There's no point, we're so dead!" A sudden jolt from another collapsing part of the bridge caused the four to lose their grip on the bridge, and Baird was caught by Sam before right before he fell into the ocean. He turned to look at Sam and he seemed to be oblivious to the danger that he was in. "Uh, I suppose you want me to say that I always loved you," Baird's statement caused Sam to grunt in disgust at her so called 'friend'," but I don't; I really, really don't!"

Clayton wanted to laugh at the joke Baird had just made, but he couldn't because another jam of the bridge had caused them all to fall into the ocean, and right before the veteran gear passed out, a bright light flashed in front of his eyes and he felt something strange wrap itself around his body. But that was all he remembered before passing out into a blanket of darkness.

OXOXOXOXOXOXOX

The sound of nothing rocked the small environment where one figure lay passed out. It was a small part of the Everfree forest which was a few miles away from the Locust stronghold, and it was an area that the Locust had not discovered…yet. The only thing that showed presence was the penumbra of shadows from the trees and leaves along with the sound of distant critters that had little to know knowledge of the figure lying on the grass. If there was any sort of symbol that could symbolise his presence, then it would have been the two glowing blue eyes on his helmet. The leaves that were at the highest peak of the trees knitted together in an effort to hide the gear from Celestia's sun.

Clayton's body started to stir awake as he rubbed his head that had suddenly been infected with a throbbing pain. His eyes, from underneath his helmet, started to flutter open, but what they saw was not what they expected. The last thing he remembered was him falling into the ocean and a strange feeling wrapping around his body, and he became even more surprised at the fact that he was completely dry and not drenched in salt water. Quickly, he sprung his upper body into a sitting position and took in his environment which confused him even more. He thought he was going to see the ocean, and of course The Sovereign completely destroyed with a dead with Lambent Leviathan, but seeing the change of scenery freaked Clayton slightly. He reached for his sawed off shotgun on his back, but he could not feel it at all. His Torque bow was still on his back though.

"What the hell?" Clayton groaned as he tried to stand up. He stumbled slightly on his steps, as would a baby attempting their first few steps, but was able to stand and shake off the abrupt feeling over his body. "Where the fuck am I?" He asked himself." And where the fuck is my shotgun?"

"Missing something, Clayton Carmine?" A sudden male voice echoed through the bushes and the trees. Clayton spun around and aimed his Torque bow in multiple directions in attempts to find the voice.

"Fuck…How do you know my name? Where the hell are you…who the fuck are you? Show yourself!" Clayton demanded into the shadow of nothing.

"Now, now, Clayton, there's no need for foul language. I understand that that type of language used in your world is tolerable, but here it does not exist, so don't use it again." The voice was telling Clayton off as if he were a school child being told off by a teacher, or a mother telling off her son. And the scolding was already agitating Clayton.

"Shut up you son of a bitch. Why don't you grow a pair and show yourself, pal?

A shadow suddenly towered over Clayton, and as he turned around to try and aim his bow, a magical aura snatched it from his hands and held it slightly above Clayton so that it could torment him. A laugh soon followed as Clayton swore at the fact that he was being tormented with. But he looked forward and slightly up to see a figure towering over him; a figure he had never seen before. He reached for his Snub pistol but the magic swiped that as well. Once again, Clayton swore and clinched his fists. Slowly, he watched as Discord revealed himself fully to the experienced gear.

"Oh, Clayton, you were always so different from your brothers. Always the violent one," Discord seemed to have struck a serious nerve in the older gear. He ran forward in rage and attempted to take a swing at Discord, but was played like a fool when Discord snapped his claws and Clayton suddenly became trapped in a large patch of bubble gum. Clayton grunted in anger as he tried to free his feet, but his efforts were futile. To add insult to injury, Discord summoned a single raincloud to purposely pour chocolate rain over Clayton.

"You freaky piece of shit, you know nothing about my brothers! When I get outta this, you're dead!" Clayton continued to try and force himself out of the bubble gum. Discord simply laughed victoriously as he teleported around Clayton as if he were dancing around him.

"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Discord, and I know you and your brothers more than you think, Clayton. One of your brothers especially, Benjamin, I had tried bringing to me before, but I didn't understand the spell that well and sort of lost him somewhere. Shame really, I still haven't found that poor young soldier. Perhaps Princess Celestia found him…or maybe he's been eaten by Timberwolves," Discord continued to mock Clayton, and Clayton couldn't do a thing, so he stopped struggling and actually acknowledged Discord.

"How do you know Benjamin's name? It's impossible for you to know him! The COG told us that he fell into a giant rift worm, but his body was never discovered. Marcus Fenix said that himself!" Clayton responded harshly.

"You never were the bright one, Clayton. Did you not hear what I just said? I used my magic spell to bring him here, but it went wrong."

"You're lying! Nobody knows my brother, Squirt, like I do, or Anthony, so you can cut the stupid crap that you're trying to do!

"Oh why do I bother? I guess I should just cut to the chase and explain why I bought you here. You see, Clayton, I'm leading an army to victory in my pursuit for supreme rule over Equestria…" Discord started.

"Jeez, I'm already bored!" Clayton wined sarcastically as he folded his arms. The chocolate rain had stopped falling on his head but the bubble gum remained. Discord sighed at Clayton's rudeness but remembered that he brought Clayton to Equestria for his reason. If his plans didn't go well in persuading Clayton, who seemed highly at the current moment, then a simple brain washing spell should do the trick. Either way, Discord was confident that he was getting a bodyguard that would be good at protecting him day and night.

"Anyway, the reason that you are here is because I need a good bodyguard that can watch my back day and night. And I believe that you are the perfect one for the job, Clayton. Someone like yourself, who is: tuff, dangerous, strong, and unafraid of anything, isn't scared to take on a measly job such as being able to protect, are you?" Discord asked getting dangerously close to the veteran Carmine.

"Bro, I'm a soldier, not a stupid bodyguard. Find someone else to do your whack job!" Clayton replied harshly. Discord's face arched in as slight anger flushed through him. Convincing Carmine seemed harder than he thought. He would have chosen someone else such as Marcus, Cole Train or Dom from when he observed their events on Sera, but they were too intellectual to have been convinced to do his dirty work, but Clayton was an exception to him. He was everything that he needed and Discord believed that he wasn't as intelligent as the others. But he did have one secret weapon that he could use against Clayton. Something that he always craves for…

"Hm, let's say you do become my bodyguard, and you do agree to serve me and protect me from those who I suspect to be plotting against me…" Discord started as he put on a tone that showed he was making an offer. It did catch the full attention of Clayton, but he quickly made a brief proposal of his own if he was going to listen to Discord.

"Hold up, release me and give me back my weapons and then I might just listen to what you have to say," Clayton's demands were simple enough for Discord to grant, and with the snap of his claws, the Torque bow and Snub pistol dropped onto the floor, and the bubble gum evaporated into thin air and a flamethrower suddenly dropped in front of Clayton.

"There, happy?" Discord asked.

"Wait, I had a shotgun, not a flamethrower!" Clayton exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter! Now will you listen to my offer?"

"Maybe…"

"Ugh, you humans really are annoying! But anyway, if you do agree, which you will, to my offer then we just have to get one thing to get past us, and that is the fact that you will be guarding me from my very soldiers… the Locust!" The last words took Clayton back in surprise and he immediately threw in a fit of denial!

"No way, there is no way in hell that I'm walking around with the Locust! We'll shoot the shit out of each other as soon as we see each other! You think I'm some kind of idiot? There is nothing anyone can say to me that could make me work with those Locust fucks! I'll put a bullet in every one that I see, so no way man, the deal's off!" Clayton roared at the god of chaos, but he was excepting that kind of response.

"Hold up just a second there, Clayton, you haven't heard the rest of my offer," Discord started," you wouldn't accept my deal…not even for all the bacon your heart could desire?" Discord had struck a nerve point in Clayton. Just by hearing the sheer name of bacon, Clayton was already in a trance as the image of him consuming himself with bacon clouded his vision. Discord smiled as he knew that this was the very advantage he would have in controlling Clayton. Discord had to snap his bear paws at the mesmerised gear in order to wake him.

"So: become your bodyguard and I get all the bacon I want…what happens if I refuse?" Clayton asked.

"You become lost in the labyrinth on the Everfree forest and, if the Locust and feral critters of the Everfree don't find you first, die a slow and miserable death." Discord replied.

"Oh," was Clayton's only response…Several minutes passed.

"So do we have a deal, Clayton?" Discord asked with an evil smile as he stretched his claw.

Clayton stared at the claw for a few minutes as he battled with his mind about what to do. Back in Sera, there was hardly any bacon to go around, but Discord had just offered him a life time supply of bacon, which was one of the very dreams that he dreamed about a lot when he was sleeping. That and…having an awful nightmare where he would be eating bacon in the bath, with his helmet and lower COG gear on for some reason, and would accidently knock the radio into the bath. The conclusion was not pretty, and Clayton shredded every time he thought about it.

Finally, he came to a conclusion.

Clayton walked towards Discord's claw and extended his left hand. Discord's smile widened inch by inch as the hand grew closer, but suddenly, the right hand that Discord failed to pay attention to, swung a sticky smoke grenade right onto his claw, and the explosion pulverised the air with a thick smoke. Discord coughed uncontrollably as the air invaded his eyes and his lungs. Clayton took his chance and spun around in the opposite direction and ran. Before he ran too far for Discord not to hear him, he yelled something at him which showed that they would never be working together.

"The Locust killed my brothers! There is no way, not for all the bacon in the world, that I would betray my kind for the Locust! Fuck you, Discord!"