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Hex lunged at the tiny creature, and even though she reared (He assumed female with the way she was screaming) her hooves merely clanged off of his armor as he scooped his left arm over her back and under her to pick her up off the ground.
"HELP I'M BEING ABDUCTED BY A HISPONY ALIEN!"
Hex snorted and laughed. Hispony? Hispanic? No way, it couldn't be that even if he did just talk to her in Spanish. Oddly enough though she was speaking English, which made things a whole lot easier as he situated the struggling horse under his arm until his hand was resting against it's chest and the rest of it was neatly tucked under his arm.
"Haha my tiny horse is talking to me! Come Horse! We are off to the castle to meet the the rulers of fucking fairy land! My names Hex! What's yours?"
This got her to stop struggling as she looked up at the lifeless yellow shell of the face shield. Pushing her shades up higher on her nose she just kinda dangled there for the first few steps until finally speaking up.
"It's Vinyl....... Vinyl Scratch...... and I'm a pony not a horse.... what the buck are you?"
Hex thought about how he should respond to the comment as he strolled in the middle of a wide street towards the castle. He had to have been dead, I mean come on was that a fucking clothing store for horses/ponies/whatever the fuck they are?
"I'm a human. And the last thing I remember was being in a situation where I was dead. Very dead Scratchy, very, very, body being torn to shreds dead. Now I'm here in magic pony land!"
He could swear he felt her quaking a bit under his arm but he tried to calm the little thing down by patting it on the head. Unfortunately with his powered exo-suit the massive fingered appendage that could easily crush her skull only made her quake more.
"Ok.... Listen dude. I don't know how you got here but uh.... I guess you could talk to the princesses about it. Oh! They are the ones who rule here. Princess Celestia and Luna."
Welp. It was a start at least, and since every critter was moving out of the way or out right fleeing maybe these people/ponies/tiny creatures could direct him in this insanity.
"So Scratchy whats up with the cloths and shit? Why are you naked when these other people are wandering about with cloths? And why is that guy coming at me with a spear?"
This thing had to have been brave but for the life of him Hex couldn't figure out how the fuck it was holding a spear with hooves. He looked like he had something to say, but when the spear was close enough he reached out and snapped the tip off before opening his face shield to pick at his teeth.
"Look at that Scratchy! Such a nice thingamabobber. He brought me a tooth pick to get that pesky meat from breakfast out."
It was impressive how green the poor fellow turned, and once more Hex had to give the guy credit for not fleeing as he passed by. Flicking the spear head away he felt his poor captive shutter again.
"Hey... uh... so... you eat meat?"
"Why yes I do Scratch, oh... your just a tiny little pony. I'm assuming you guys don't eat meat huh?"
"........... Please... don't eat me.."
Hex started to chuckle evilly as whispers spread amongst the crowds and it looked like they were about to start panicking with the way he was laughing.
"Don't be like that Vinyl! I'd take my time with a girl like you. Hell I'd eat you all night long until your begging me to have seconds."
It was probably more a product of stress, or the fact that an alien was carting her around town towards the castle, but she actually started giggle snorting at that comment. Looking around didn't help as most of the poor folks within ear shout were turning all kinds of red. Even her legs started wriggling about underneath as Hex chuckled at the poor critters on the street.
"Dude you are a sick. And cloths here are optional. They are kinda like accessories but its fine going about in your birthday suit."
"Huh. Humans wear cloths all the time but I guess its because we walk on two feet. I can't be wandering about with my dick flapping in the wind for everyone to see. I have to ask though... Whats up with all the ass tattoos? Is it some kind of fetish or something?"
A proximity alert chimed in his helmet as a notifier relayed information about something behind him off to the right. Pivoting on his left foot it was easy enough to scoop up another one of the armored ponies before holding it out in front of Vinyl to see. This one was female it seemed with the demands she was making to be released but his next words froze all movement.
"Look at this one here. Cherries? Does it mean she has a fetish for cherries? Does she like having cherries licked off of her or something? Is she cherry flavored? What powers do you hold over cherries tiny pony!"
Vinyl only laughed and hid her face with a hoof. "Its a cutie mark Hex. It shows what the pony is really good at but it isn't always exact. She could be really good at making cherry stuff or dealing with fruits."
Releasing the tiny creature and chuckling at how it fled from them red faced he had to admit it was glorious picking at the poor things. Though this was some kind of whacked shit the city was actually kinda nice.
As they neared the castle it seemed like the civilians that were wondering about had been quickly replaced with quite a number of guards. Assuming the armored ones acted as the cities milita he smirked as a few of them looked ready to attack, though it was hard taking them seriously. They were just so adorable in their tiny horse armor.
"You know Scratch, Its kinda messed up forcing you along like this but there is a reason for carting you to the castle. Ya see... So long as I'm carrying you about like this those people over there won't be so keen on sticking me with pointy objects. As far as I'm concerned I won't be randomly killing you critters unless given a good reason too."
She tapped her chin with a hoof before looking up at him with a weary smile.
"Its ok Hex. You might be charged with kidnapping or something but I guess I can vouch for you when we meet the princesses. It might have helped if you had asked but then again you are one freaky looking pony. By the way we're ponies not people, whatever those things are."
"Hey now... I'm still not convinced if this is real or I'm just so high I've reached the end of the rainbow."
"Dude. If you want to get high I can get some shit that will make you vomit rainbows."
".... Don't you tempt me Scratchy. Don't you tempt me with silky words. Unless there's booze involved."
"When we're done I'ma wreck your shit Hex."
"I love you tiny pony."
With glorious thoughts of illicit substances in his near future he barely acknowledged the packed formations of ponies that crowed the streets and entrance. One stood out in the middle of the gates with much finer armor than the rest, which he assumed to be the leader of sorts. Closing the gap towards the gate he smiled at seeing almost identical hair coloration to Scratch's. Stopping in front of him he cocked a smile before looking down at Vinyl.
"Hey Scratchy can you tell your brother or relative I'm not going to attack no pony?"
Vinyl responded by looking up at him with a confused look on her face.
"Dude. Just because we have the same mane stylist doesn't mean we're related. That's Shining Armor, the captain of the guard."
"Huh.... I didn't know hair styles for men and women were shared here. So its ok for a guy to run around with fabulous hair flowing in the wind?"
The guards now surrounding them suddenly contracted a terrible case of coughing, some of them hacking into their hooves with full body tremors shaking their frames. It was a shame the captain's fur was white, it made the beet red blush all the more apparent as he tried to retain a commanding tone.
"Release that mare and come along quietly. Nopony has to be hurt if you cooperate and come peacefully."
Vinyl waved a hoof at him as she tried to suppress her mirth.
"Its ok man.... he's not going to hurt me.... and I agreed to stay with him.... to see the princesses...."
Hex couldn't blame the guy for looking at him with pure venom, he was after all embarrassing the poor fellow in front of so many other guards but it helped to diffuse the otherwise tense situation. After grunting and beckoning them to follow he let out a sigh of relief as the guards fell in line beside them still having trouble keeping straight faces.
"Oh boy we get to meet the pretty princesses with a pretty escort service all the way there. I bet Shiny has all the mares and stallions chasing his sweet ass."
Barely suppressed laughs and snorts sounded from amongst the other guards, and he could swear every inch of the captains body that was visible had a distinct shade of red to it.
Given the simple fact Hex was seven foot tall and weighed close to a ton in his exo suit he thought doors would end up being a problem for him as they walked through the castle but apparently they were going for the huge door deep pocket theme.
"So Vinyl, I've seen ponies with wings and some with horns and some that just looked like normal horses. Are there any more? Also whats the deal with the head appendage? Just a bit more horny than the rest of them?"
"Ha ha ha. Old bad joke is bad guy. We're Unicorns and we can do magic through our horns, the ones with wings are Pegasus and they can fly, and the guys without anything are Earth ponies. No magic or flying from them but they tend to be tougher and physically stronger than the other two."
Taking the information in stride he was quite for a bit as he tried to accept the idea that magic existed and apparently there were ponies who could use it... Spotting what looked like a maid pony waiting off to the side of the hall as they passed he waited until she was within reach before lunging at her.
The little pony made the most adorable little squeaking sound he had ever heard as he picked her up until they were face to face.
"Cucumber sandwiches. Lots and lots of them. A whole platter of them if you would please? I'm guessing you don't have any bloody steak in the castle so maybe, just maybe I won't be tempted to find something plump and juicy to eat myself."
The moment he put her back down the little maid went speeding away down an adjacent hall. Shiny was glaring at him again which prompted him to wink before looking back down at Scratch.
"Do you guys even have cucumbers?"
"Yes Hex... We have cucumbers... You wouldn't really... eat a pony would you?"
"I might be convinced to eat a girl out if I'm drunk or high enough, but eating something that can hold a conversation is... disgusting in my opinion. It would be too much like eating another human. That by the way would get a human executed."
She was silent for a moment before smirking.
"Dude you might want to hold down on the sexual harassment thing. Princess Celestia or Luna might crush you. Oh! Since Shining Armor is here the other Princess Cadence might also be here. She's the ruler of the Crystal empire and crystal ponies."
It didn't take them too long to reach an even more impressive set of doors adorned with a stylized sun and moon that opened by itself. Weird thing was he could have sworn he saw it glow slightly yellow before opening up to what looked like a banquet hall. There were four individuals sitting around the other end of the table spaced out evenly with a chair large enough for him at the other end twenty feet away.
The guards crossed their hooves over their chests and even Vinyl bowed her head from where she dangled. Sighing Hex picked up the giant chair in his free hand and began walking down the length of the table towards the little group.
"Dude what the hell we're supposed to sit at the other end!"
"You know what distance means Scratchy? Easy kill. I already said I wasn't going to hurt none of you ponies. This is the third and last time."
Shiny had turned around and blocking their way. His horn was actually glowing and Hex had to force himself to stay still. The machine wanted to drop the chair and snatch the Gauss pistol attached to his hip, but before he did anything a curt voice cut through the room.
"Shining Armor, please stand down. We will not be the ones to perpetrate aggressions with a new species."
"Princess he's dangerous...."
"Stand down."
So that one was big mama... Looking over the four in front of him he had to guess they were all female but two of them were huge compared to the others. The white and blue one were at least twice the size of those he passed on the streets, that along with the fact they sported wings and horns along with the pink one. The purple one looked about the same size as Scratch but she as eying him with a really creepy smile.
"Hey Scratchy, pick that cushion up so you can sit by me."
Hex didn't plan on putting her down, and had to take a deep breath as a glow surround the object before lifting it off the ground. So they weren't fucking around about the magic thing but he wondered if there was a difference between it and what a Ghost could do. Placing the chair between the white and purple one he chuckled when the cushion landed beside big mama.
"Nope. You get to sit by miss creepy smile Scratchy. She looks like she wants to put me on the table and poke at me."
Purple looked particularly chest-fallen when he deposited Vinyl beside her. As much as he wanted to meet a pony that may have been happy to see him purple definitely wasn't the one.
Sitting down and looking at the women surrounding him along with Shiny glaring he sighed deeply as the awkward silence set in. Pulling the Gauss pistol from his hip holster he put it on the table followed by the rifle attached to his back. It actually took a few minuets to pull off every weapon he had considering the machine grabbed loads of stuff but it did make him smirk when the pneumatic knife snapped out of his left gauntlet and made them jump before removing it.
With a few clanks from his suit Hex was able to take off his helmet. Placing it beside Scratch he rubbed hard at his eyes before glaring at the pile. He really was loosing his shit, and in the past 2 years he could never remember an instance when he was completely unarmed. Hell even the suit was a weapon but if big mama next to him had any powers like Scratch then she really could crush him.
"Go ahead Shiny. Take them. Take the only things that have kept me alive for 2 years."
He felt something tapping at his right hand, and turned to see Vinyl with her hoof over his hand. His hands were shaking while he watched Shiny magically lift the pile in front of him away.
"Its alright Hex. We're not going to hurt you. No one is."
Even if he believed her the machine was not convinced as his mind churned over ideas of how he was going to protect himself if things got violent. The problem with crawling back into yourself while calculating the best way to bludgeon something to death made you stare at the table in utter silence.
What brought him out of it was a timid little squeak from behind him. The maid from earlier was balancing a large silver tray of the fanciest cucumber sandwiches he had ever seen on her head. Relieving her of the burden he smiled in a toothy kind of way that made the poor thing bow quickly and scamper away. The ladies around the table were looking at each other confused.
Flattening his hands out and pointing at the sandwiches Hex grinned at the purple one.
"Mind Control"
It was fascinating watching the ponies huge eyes shrink down to pin pricks as the blue one reared up and slammed her hooves onto the table.
"DO NOT THINK WE ARE SO FEEBLE MINDED CREATURE!"
She looked dangerous enough until a snort from Vinyl caused them all to look at her. She was hiding her face behind her hooves as her entire body shook with laughter. The pink one was holding a hoof in front of her mouth trying to poker face it and failing miserably. Poor girl tried so hard to hold it in she actually choked as Hex laughed and poked at Vinyl.
"Give in to the dark side tiny pony. Our superior minds will enslave the masses into making sandwiches."
Vinyl and the pink one broke down completely as the white ones face started getting pretty twitchy. The purple one giggled a bit but thankfully some of the tension was oozing out of the group.
"Alright, which one is which? I'd really like to call the ponies by name instead of thinking of them as Purple, Pink, Blue and White."
It was the purple one that answered, and judging by the enthusiasm in her voice it sounded like she'd love nothing more than explain everything.
"White is Princess Celestia and blue is Princess Luna. They rule Equestria and raise the sun and moon respectively. Pink is Princess Cadence, the ruler of the Crystal Empire. She's also my sister in law and my brother Shining Armor's wife. I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's student!"
"Oh! I'm sorry Princess' I didn't mean to refer to you as pink and blue and white..."
Hex pointed at all of them in turn before speaking.
"Scratchy, Celly, Catie, Lulu, Shiny, and Sparky. Yeah yeah I get that they have high stations but I'm terrible with names so I usually give people nicknames at first. My full name is Hexus Murdoc, but Hex only."
Sparky looked like she was going to go into full lecture mode after that, so picking up one of the neat little sandwich triangles he held it up to Celestia who blinked.
"Go ahead Celly, that maid took the time to make these but she did do it because I asked. There's no way it would have poison or something.... unsavory would it?"
He really had to stop rustling the ponies so much. They seemed like a really high strung bunch as the whole group, even Scratchy got to their hooves until Celestia held up one front hoof and took a dainty bite out of the middle. They sat down looking butt hurt, but after watching her swallow and smile gently Hex took a massive bite from where she had eaten.
"Hey now, don't get me wrong but I took a risk giving my weapons away."
Finishing the sandwich he offered Celestia another, who repeated the process just to be sure. Scratchy and Sparky both took a sandwich from the tray and bit into them.
"Dude! That's not cool! Princess Celestia would never allow something like that to happen! See! We're eating them and its fine!
Hex simply took another massive bite out of the delicacy, chewing slowly as the other ponies glared at him with the exception of Celly.
"Fresh, crisp cucumbers, the perfect amount of mayo, a dash of salt and pepper... I guess since you raise the sun this is what sunshine tastes like. What does Lulu taste like? Moon pies?
Oh god they were so adorable when they blushed. All with the exception of Celly who smiled and shook her head slowly while the rest of them looked like they were glowing.
"Mr. Hex, please spare my little ponies the coarse humor. It is wonderful that we are not bickering or hostile towards one another but I do not think their nerves can take much more."
"Alright alright. So Catie and Shiny are hitched huh? I bet there babies are precious little mites, where are they?"
He could swear Catie was no longer pink but a fine shade of red all over, and Shiny's body had turned that unique shade of pink again.
"What? No babies? Why not? Does... Does it not work Shiny..."
"OF COURSE IT WORKS"
He could barely breath with how red the poor ponies were getting, and even Celly was starting to blush a bit as he cackled. Lulu pipped up after a stretch of his laughing and their dirty minds filling in some images.
"May we move on to another subject... besides the taste of ponies... and children..."
After being a general ass at the expense of the poor virgin eared mares and stallion Hex smiled at Sparky who was furiously staring at her left over sandwich.
"Hey Sparky, I noticed some of the stores in town made cloths. You think one of them might be able to make something for me? I don't think clunking around in armor will calm any one down. Then again I might need some help getting out of the suit."
"Oh! I'm sure my friend Rarity could make you something to wear! She would love to make something new! But why do you need help getting out of your suit? Is it really tricky and complex? How do you even move in that thing?!"
"Its not hard getting out, I just need you to push a few specific buttons on the back to unlock it."
Twilight's face scrunched up a little bit at that before she choose her next words carefully.
"Why are you locked into the suit? I can see that it would provide a lot of protection but what if you were all alone like today?"
Hex was silent for a moment as he looked down at his hands and clenched his fists, the powered gauntlets creaking with the pressure.
"Because I was a prisoner and this is my prison. We are used as the first line of defense against an enemy calling themselves the Zerg. Prisoners are used because most of those who volunteered to fight them are dead and there was no one else."
The silence was so complete he could hear the tiny whirring of motors inside of his suit as he turned to look Twilight in the eyes. "This morning I was given the code to unlock the suit. I know you've got a lot of questions Sparky but I'm begging you to keep them to yourself."
Placing his helmet back on and rising to his feet Hex sighed again and wondered if telling them the truth was the best option. Too little too late now to go back though.
"Celestia, Luna, Shining. A word alone please. This isn't something to be discussed with those who have never experienced war."
They rose with him and Celestia was the one who lead the way but he couldn't help but notice the hard look on their faces. All things considered, he'd have the same reaction in their shoes but the story he had to share wasn't something he wanted the others to hear. Not Twilight or Vinyl, not so long as they lived. They didn't need those kinds of nightmares.
After being led down a few passageways they came to a set of doors embroidered with suns, what he assumed to be Celestia's room but he couldn't figure out why she'd take him here. Prisoners were spoken to in interrogation rooms, not private living spaces. The question answered itself, as soon as everyone had entered a white aura wrapped around his entire frame and moved his entire body in front of the tree of them. Figures big mama would dole out the questions.
"I have no reason to believe you are lying about what was said downstairs, and I will commend your honesty in admitting that you were a prisoner but I cannot take your word at being given a release code today. For all we know you could have stolen it at some point or even killed to take it. We will enter your mind to see the truth of your sentence, and whether or not you have truly paid for your crimes."
Hex was shaking, and for the first time in years he felt wetness flowing down his cheeks as his mind recoiled at her words.
"I will cut my own arm off to prove my honesty. Anything Celestia, ASK ANYTHING! Don't do this to them, not to Luna, and not to Shining. He has a wife for fucks sake! How is she going to react with him screaming in the night!?"
Celestia knew from experience an inmate could weave some convincing stories, and she knew from the past they could generate any emotion needed to further their case but there was something wrong with the man in front of her. He didn't seem to care about his own well being but instead the safety of her sister and the captain.
"We cannot do that Hex. You can't shed blood or mutilate yourself to prove innocence either. Your mind must be examined if we are to believe what you say is true."
Hex was silent for a long moment as he stood there. With a long shuttering sigh he looked up at Celestia and pleaded one last time.
"Just you Celestia. Just make it between me and you then. You'll know the truth you want so damn badly and Shining Armor and Luna won't be scarred for the rest of their lives. Remember Celestia, I offered to cut my own arm off to keep you from this."
Celestia hesitated as she looked at the man in front of her. He was shaking so badly the entire suit showed signs of it. She could recollect some of the most horrible atrocities history had ever seen in the centuries she lived though, but what could be so terrible to make a soul offer their limb to keep hidden? "Luna, Shining. Please leave us. Shining, wait by the door. No one is to disturb us or enter under any circumstances other than dire need."
Both protested heatedly but Celestia would not hear otherwise. After they took their leave with the doors closing behind them she looked up at the man in front of her. "Are you ready Hex?"
Dropping down to a knee Hex leaned forward and took off his helmet. "Sit down Celestia and let me show you what you want to know. Don't dig around in there though, there's stuff that's blocked off for a reason even from me."
It all came back like a bad dream he couldn't get out of. Celestia was there in his head and she could feel, see, and hear everything he did which made him shutter. His memory was wonky enough with the Resoc Tanks but she made it crystal clear in all of its horror. Hex had been a college professor before he was turned into an inmate, and he could taste his own terror at the message his little brother had received via instant transmission.
Mark had been screened for pysonic potential and tested positive, two soldiers were on their way to take him in for more testing as well as their mother. If he hadn't have been there at the time they would have taken him away and turned him into a puppet. Nothing more than a killing machine for the government and turn his mother into a lab rat since the gene always came from the mothers side of the family.
In the span of a few moments he threw his life away by grabbing the guass pistol that was kept hidden in case of burglary. His bother was screaming at him to stop and his mother was begging him to put the gun down when the soldiers kicked the door in. Two well placed shots put them down, and as his mother began screaming he fired one more round at his own family. He told them to run, he threw his wallet at his bother and told him to take everything Hex owned and flee, then fired two more rounds at them before giving them a warning. Leave or he would kill them himself.
Hexus murdered two soldiers and continued to fight the ones who showed up afterwards until he was brought down and prayed he had bought enough time for them to escape. The next memory was just a flash that spanned three months, a flash of agony to represent those months spent being beaten and tortured before he was stuffed into the re-socialization tank. It was on his own home world that he met the zerg forces for the first time, and after being locked into a suit he was deployed into his own city.
He remembered the quirky way zerglings hop when they moved and watched as a group of them had flushed a family out of hiding. He could feel the thuds from his Gauss rifle against his shoulder as he tried to save them. Most of all he remembered the way they screamed as the zerg tore them apart.
He saw the woman still scream and struggle even after being torn in half, and remembered in hellish clarity the way blood just poured into the streets. Millions were flooding out of the area trying to escape as zerg pods dropped into the masses, and millions died in front of him as the zerg tore through them.
Hex could still feel his mind screaming at what was in front of him but how it was dulled down and pushed aside as the machine took over. He tried to resist the order to retreat, he wanted to go back and try to help, he wanted to throw himself at the zerg that were slaughtering everyone. But the machine wouldn't let him go, and as a drop ship scooped the other marines up to take them back to the battle cruiser he could only watch the masses die.
His mind shattered shortly after returning to the ship and while it was usually deemed appropriate to execute inmates who couldn't serve the captain of the shipped voted against the action. Hex was put back into the re-socialization tank a second time to correct the problem.
The machine was no longer a force that dominated his mind as it did the other inmates, after the second dunk he was able to disobey orders but chose instead to serve regardless of the fact. He wanted to kill the zerg, and the machine kept his emotions in check as he went about the grim work.
What followed were flashes of battles he had fought in. Blood ran freely from both sides as he felt a tingle run up his back, the memory of a zerging landing on him and tearing into his body. So many instances passed where he should have died, times when a hydralisk' quills punched his armor, or when an ultralisk had knocked him aside like a toy to attack a bunker. Whole worlds burning under nuclear hell just to keep them from multiplying and spreading to other planets.
The one memory that stood out above all else was the nuking of his primary base. It had been over run by the zerg, and while the men and women he had fought beside tried to get as many out as possible he remembered the flash before his visor slammed shut and the mushroom cloud that billowed in front of him. There on the ridge beside him a ghost decloaked, and Hex could only stare and feel the cold alien touch of the mans pysonic powers.
It was why he fought now, he remembered. To keep his brother from ending up like this. A monster that would just as easily kill his own as well as the zerg if ordered to do so. The ghost shook his head slowly and whispered "You'll understand" before vanishing once more. To this day he had wished to remain ignorant until he witnessed one of his own friends blown apart by an infected terran.
Learning when it was kinder to kill someone than to let the zerg take them away would have been hard on a normal person, but the machine kept it everything down to a minimum. It was only after a year with some of the other veterans that the only thing not suppressed by the Resoc Tanks was humor. They were all gone now too with the events of that very day. It was almost like a sick joke being called down by the very same captain who had put him through the tanks again only to be given the release code.
Everything was still fresh from that day. The attack of the hive cluster, the three men he had killed, falling from the sky, and tiny little Vinyl Scratch scared out of her mind only to laugh at his dirty jokes.
Almost like a bad dream the images tapered down until only sweet blackness remained, and while he was perfectly content to simple stay that way he knew there were people waiting for Celestia to finish her observation. When he opened his eyes his vison was obscured by nothing but pastel fluff and he could feel the Princess breathing against his neck. She was hugging him, and when she pulled away to look him in the eye he could see the dread within them and the tears streaking her cheeks.
Like sharing a secret too terrible to bear he felt bad for the ruler as he he raised his powered hand up and wiped the tears off of her cheek. He had warned her after all, but it still didn't make him feel any better. She didn't have the machine to push it all down and dull the pain out. When she turned away and opened the doors to her chamber Vinyl, Luna, Shining, Cadence, and Twilight flooded into room. They all asked question, but with a strained shout from Celestia they were silent.
A quill and a few pieces of parchment floated towards her as she voiced what was being written down.
"Hexus Murdoc is here by granted amnesty and free to explore the cities and lands under my rule in peace. He will be billeted a place of residence within the palace and a stipend from this day forth until he so chooses to depart. All matters concerning him of city, state, or law shall be forwarded to me and he is free to refuse questioning by any authority outside of my own or my sister Luna. I here by judge the contents of his mind to be dangerous and forbid any pony the use of mind altering or reading spells on the grounds of life imprisonment."
Signing the document and sealing it with a stylized stamp the Princess scratched out a second note before signing it as well.
"Shining Armor. Hex's weapons are to be stored within the castle vaults, and tampering with them in any way shall carry with it the same sentence of tapping into his mind. Should he pass away they are to be destroyed immediately without a trace. This document is here by a royal order and is to be printed and distributed throughout the entire realm of Equestria."
Turning towards him she dipped her head in a small nod before speaking. "You are free to go as you please but I ask that you keep the contents of your recent years a secret. There will come a day when I ask you to educate my ponies on the matter of your former enemies, but I beg you do not share it with anypony until I have prepared the appropriate ponies to take the account."
Walking slowly behind him he could feel the access panel open and the distinct beeps of the release code being entered in before a confirmation chime sounded and the panel was once more closed.
"Shining, all matters of today are to be canceled and rescheduled for another time... I am to remain undisturbed for the remainder of the day."
As Luna and Twilight stepped past him to comfort the Princess Hex opened a hip compartment and removed a clear plastic cube filled with light blue pills. Turning around he offered them to Celestia. "Take one of the tablets before you go to sleep Celestia. They are designed to prohibit dreaming. Until you learn to deal with those memories, its best that you sleep without being plagued by them. They never worked on me before, and I've only kept them for other soldiers within my unit to use."
After floating the container to a bedside table the Princess hugged him one last time before asking him not to cause too much trouble for her ponies, and with that Hex left her there with Twilight and Luna as the rest of them left her in peace. An awkward silence followed them as Cadence, Shining, and Vinyl led the way towards Hex new home.
"Hey Scratchy.... About that thing we talked on earlier.... Wanna do it tonight?"
"Holy crap dude?! Really? I gotta go make some calls I'll be back in a bit!"
With a chuckle at her diminishing shape that left him alone with Cadence and her husband as they finally reached their destination. Cadence opened the door and walked into the large room first before turning to him with a nervous smile.
"I hope you enjoy your stay here Hex. There's lots to do and if you're free before Twilight jumps you I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have on ponies or Equestria. Twily probably knows a lot more than me but her lectures can leave even the stoutest learners comatose."
Hex actually bowed slightly in thanks, and before the two of them could depart he spoke.
"Shining Armor, a moment if you could?"
With a nod to Cadence the stallion turned to look at Hex who knelt beside him and spoke softly.
"Keep an eye on Celestia Shining... I don't know how badly the memories got to her, but I'm the only one she can talk to about it.
"How could your crimes have been so terrible that they would hurt her so much?"
"I killed two soldiers to keep my bother from being tortured, broken, and turned into a mindless killing machine, and my mother from being dissected. He was.... gifted, but it was a time of war and they didn't care what was done to the soldiers, especially with how deadly they could make him with such gifts. Does it bother you that I would do it again?"
".... was there no other way?"
"They had to die and I had to continue fighting the others or they would never have gotten the chance to escape. You may not like me Shining, but you have killed, and you will kill again for your families sake. I don't ask forgiveness for my crimes, but you have the right to at least know why I wear my prison."
He only nodded grimly before offering his hoof, one he tapped with a closed fist to get a resounding clunk before turning to leave him alone with his thoughts.
It didn't take him long to finally strip out of his armor, and for the first time in years he could actually see his body instead of a holographic image of it. He was deathly white, and while his muscles were defined and hardened from continuous combat the stark pink of scars crossing his whole frame would never be completely hidden.
The chemical bath he took while locked in the suit kept his body from growing hair, which made his over all appearance even more disturbing but there was nothing he could do about it. Wondering into the gigantic bathroom he could only whistle low at the gigantic steaming pool of water being constantly refilled by a small water fall. Fancy didn't cover its description.
Wading in he couldn't make heads or tails of what the soaps were for so he used a bit of everything to scrub down before getting out and toweling off. Manly soap was in order if he was going to stay, he smelled like a field of flowers, but he'd rather be clean than dirty.
Scrubbing the water out of his hair he walked back into his room when the door burst open as Vinyl barged in.
"Dude this place is sweet......"
Being ass naked with Vinyl staring at him Hex simply dropped the towel and placed his hands behind his head. Shifting his hips left and right his dick swung about and made a gentle flopping noise against his legs as he adopted a sultry voice.
"Do you like what you see? Am I hung like a pony?"
~Flop, Flop, Flop, Flop
"This is the dance of my people."
~Flop, Flop, Flop, Flop
Shining called out from the hall way before barging in as well. "Hex I brought you your stipend but don't go blowing it all on booze or something..........."
~Flop, Flop, Flop, Flop
"STOP LOOKING AT MY PENIS! YOU'RE MAKING ME TERRIBLY UNCOMFORTABLE"
Vinyl skidded on the marble floor in her haste to escape as well as Shining who dropped the bag he was carrying and slammed into the poor mare as they both tumbled out of the doorway in a tangled mess. Shiny kicked the door shut as Hex laughed so hard he had to run into the bathroom to keep from pissing himself.
Into the Night and Beyond
Unbeknownst to Hex, ponies also dance dirty. Or it might have been because Vinyl had decided to take him to a strip club that had an open dance floor. It could have also been corrupting the entire club earlier into binge drinking and the perverted acts that went hand in hand or hoof in hoof in this case.
As the music continued to pound against the bodies of the dancers Hex was barely able to keep up with the twirls, dips, and otherwise very personal dance moves his partner Vinyl was leading him through. Everyone was drunk at that point, and after a little nip on the ear from the pony in his arms he knew things would only spiral further out of control.
In the lull of music an entire line of mares cleared the bar and hopped up to sit pretty before the clubbers beckoning their respective prey forward. Each one put a small pill into their mouths, and when Hex stepped up with a line of stallions he looked to his right to find the stallion that helped him start the whole thing.
"This is it bro, this is the end of things. It was fucking awesome while it lasted, but where we're going there's no turning back."
With one last fist and hoof bump they stepped forward boldly into the unknown, where the mares in front of them smiled in a devious kind of way. Before he could even ask what was happening Vinyl hooked a hoof behind his head and pulled him into a hot kiss, drawing a cheer from the crowd, most of which only thought of it as a sexy make-out.
Hex knew better when he felt the mares tongue press into his mouth and transport a small pill to him, prompting him to swallow before they broke apart with Vinyl smiling like a Cheshire cat. The effects of it happened in seconds as his vision distorted and amplified the colors being received ten fold. The hard buzz he had from drinking was suddenly at war with a massive high brought on by the elicit substance. After looking to the left and right he saw some of the couples were still making out while others were being led away on wobbly legs.
His buddy nodded with a joyous smile on his face as he spoke one last time. "My name is Lightweight! And we will party again my friend!
Hex could feel tears of Joy brimming his eyes as he smiled and waved farewell, three mares dragging his buddy into the back room. "STAY THIRSTY MY FRIEND, WE SHALL PARTY AGAIN!"
There was no more time for farewells as he felt legs wrap around his waist and squeeze suggestively. "Its time to go Hex." Turning around he felt Vinyl hop onto his back and with slow steady steps he exited the bar with cheers sounding behind him. There was no telling what time of night it was or how long they had been in there dancing and drinking but with his senses going ballistic there was little chance of him finding out.
All things aside he had been getting some pretty off signals from Vinyl and hoped the booze would liquor them up enough to make it back and pass out. The pony on his back would have none of that it seemed. Whatever it was she gave him cleared away any exhaustion brought on by the alcohol and added being high as fuck on top of drunkenness.
It was really hard trying to concentrate on how to convince Vinyl out of jumping his bones, made all the more difficult with the way she was nuzzling his hair, licking the back of his neck, and nipping at his ear.
"Man, you ponies sure know how to party... Are they always that wild?"
The only response he got was a low moan and the feel of her grinding her body into his back.
"It's gotten pretty late.... maybe... we should crash for the night......"
She whispered against his ear as her front hooves wrapped around his chest. "You're not tired at all. I don't buy weak shit, and if its working the right way you won't sleep without some... exercise."
Dammit, she wasn't going to back down. At least she stopped making blatant erotic advances while they passed the gate guards. He really hoped beyond reason Vinyl had passed out on his back with how still she was as they entered the castle, a guard smirking at him as he stopped for direction.
"Partied a little too hard huh? Your room is down the hall, up the first flight of stairs you see, and making a left the first door on the left. Maybe next time you'll get lucky eh?"
Hex chuckled nervously, and had to fight the urge to yelp when he felt Vinyl's teeth bite into the back of his neck. Walking as calmly as he could down the hall he ran up the stairs and towards his room before the mare on his back did something crazy. The moment he slammed his door and locked it he heard an evil giggle from behind him before Vinyl slid off his back.
"Now Scratchy..... we should talk about this like adults.... FUCK"
He felt a force close around him that yanked up hard and threw him across the room onto the bed.
"Yep, fucking. Lots and lots of fucking."
She actually looked scary as fuck when she took her glasses and smiled evilly, floating them to the bedside table.
"Undisturbed, unrestrained, filthy fucking."
Strange glowing symbols appeared on the doors which were accompanied by a solid thunk. He really shouldn't have waved his dick in front of her earlier. She walked painstakingly slow towards the bed, and when Hex sat up the only thing he got out was a pleading "Wait!?" before the force returned and held him down on the bed.
Crawling onto the bed she licked her lips suggestively before pressing her face into his stomach again and inhaled deeply. "Celestia you smell so good..."
"Vinyl! Be reasonable! Yes there's basically no chance I'll see my own kind again! But it hasn't even been a full DAY! I'm not comfortable with this!
She just smiled hungrily, turning around to sit on his chest as he felt magic pull his boot laces apart and yank everything below the waist off. His decency went flying away with his cloths as she giggled and poked the tip of his raging hard on.
"Go ahead Hex, tell me how you're uncomfortable with this when your dick is throbbing in my face."
He grunted when he felt her hooves stroke up and down his length and another giggle sounded from the rapist on top of him.
"Geeze.... Your guy here is hard as hell. When was the last time you got a piece of flank?"
"I don't have to answer that! And you realize this is rape right?!?"
He could feel a line of saliva run down his rod before she took the head into her mouth followed by the entire length, stopping him mid rant.
"HOLY FUCK STOP! FINE THREE YEARS!"
Releasing his cock with an lewd pop she stroked his length and smiled wickedly back at him.
"Poor baby, you'll blow your load in no time... Oh well, that little treat I gave you has more than one perk."
He didn't even get a chance to make a comment before she started sucking him off hard. He had always been kinda proud of his boy down stairs, but either he wasn't as big as the average stallion or Vinyl was a fucking pro at knob jobs. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists he did everything in his power to relax his body from the waist down, trying to hold out as long as possible but once more she wouldn't have any of it.
Taking his cock down her throat over and over again before sucking on the head and stroking his length made it impossible not to tense up, and after agonizing minuets ticked by he could not hold back the groan and curses. She took every inch one last time and sucked hard, making him blow his load down her throat before going right back to deep throating and milking him of every last drop.
Hex couldn't remember a time in his life when he came so hard, but the real torture started after he finished. She didn't stop sucking him off until his body responded with his cock hardening painfully from her attention. When she finally stopped and panted over his sensitive member she let the drool and cum in her mouth dribble over it before turning around to face him. Pressing her ass into his crotch and grinding hard she reached back and slipped his cock between her cheeks, hot dogging him with a crazed smile on her face.
"That should hold you over for a bit lover boy. You're thicker than any stallion I've had, but not quite as long. Sokay though, its just about the right length."
Leaning down to lick up his neck she whispered hotly against his ear.
"Are you going to leave me hot and bothered or are you going to fill me to the brim?"
Between blowing his load like a virgin, being held down, and taking a gut shot to his pride Hex wasn't going to let that stand if given the chance. With a low, long moan Vinyl ran his length against her sex before lowering herself slowly until every inch was throbbing inside of her. She smiled wickedly one last time before he felt the magic holding him down vanish, it was all the coaxing he needed to wrap his arms around her and roll over.
Vinyl was just the right size to thrust into, and after grabbing her ass in both hands he went to work with short hard strokes. It had been too long since he last had a good lay, and the mare under him made it really really hard not to enjoy fucking her. The feel of her lower legs clutching his waist and her upper hooves working up and down his back was heavenly. She only moaned and panted, squeaking ever time he gripped her ass hard and took a long, rough thump into her tight sex.
The rougher he got, the louder she became until he was literally praying whatever she did to the doors included sound proofing. As embarrassing as it was blowing his load so quickly he smirked and bit the mares ear hard when he felt her legs shaking around him. With a few more fevered pumps he savored the sound of her screaming out and going completely flaccid, drenching his waist completely in girl cum as he kept pumping her through the orgasm. He vaguely wondered if all female ponies where such heavy squirters but since she had gone limp he pulled out of her completely and walked away into the bathroom before she could wrap her legs around him again.
"Where..... the fuck.... are.... you going..... bastard!"
With the bathroom being as massive as his bedroom it wasn't hard finding a place to hide behind the huge door. When she wobbled her way into the bathroom it was easy to pick her up from behind and bend the mare over the roomy sink top. Poor Vinyl was too short to lean over and keep her back hooves on the ground. Grabbing her hips he teased her hot sex for a moment before slamming himself home with a wet smack.
The counter was too slippery from steam to give her something to hold onto, so all she could do was squirm there as he bucked into her round ass and completely at his mercy. Revenge was so very sweet, and the feel of her ass slapping against him with every stroke made it all the more pleasurable. He wanted nothing more than to "rut" her this way for the next few hours but after her earlier peak and the way her body was shaking underneath him it was time for his second load.
It was significantly easier to line up her next peak with his own given her earlier treatment, and he might just have to thank her for the blow job later.... For the time being he only smiled wickedly as the pony in front of him went rigid and came again only to have his load pumped deep inside her cunt. It was even messier than her first orgasm, but that only made it better as he continued to thrust until one last stream shot into her. Leaning down and gently kissing the back of her head he slowly pulled out and smiled all the wider at the massive amount of semen poured out of her.
Remembering the old saying about fucking like a horse he was pretty sure no human could have imagined the ride a mare could take a man through but he groaned with dread as he felt the familiar force of magic wrap around him. He couldn't move again, and worse he was standing up which gave him the paranoid feeling of falling over. Vinyl turned around and gave him that evil little smile she did so well before bending over in front of him to take his cock into her mouth once more.
"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!"
Taking his cock out of her mouth she simply smirked. "Oh I'm sorry, you thought you'd get the last laugh?"
There was no way in hell he should have been able to get hard again regardless of what she was doing. He just blew two huge loads into the pony taking his cock down her throat... AGAIN. But low and behold with no small about of soreness his traitorous dick rose to the challenge. This pony might actually break him before the night was through but when she stopped blowing him she turned around and floated him along into the bath.
If the funny way she was walking and her panting were any indication she was about ready to collapse, so maybe this would be the last round no matter how painful it might end up being. After rearing up and using the water fall for support she pulled him against her and smirked, giggling at the way he squirmed as she rubbed herself up and down his shaft.
"Ready for one more big boy?"
Hex could only grunt in reply as she used her left hoof to guide his member, but not into her pussy. His eyes widened as she lined him up with her ass, and with a low groan pushed back and sank his length all the way in until her ass rested against him. Vinyl's pussy was tight enough to make him extremely sensitive and sore by itself, but her ass was twice as tight, and when she pushed all the way back she clenched down and forced him to groan in both pain and pleasure.
"Come on stud, one last load and I'll let you go."
When her magic let him go Hex leaned down and wrapped his left arm underneath her, lifting the shorter pony up to make it easier to thrust. He seriously doubted she could get off with him fucking her in the ass unless she was truly a freak, then again she was fucking an alien to begin with but an idea popped into his head as he slowly slid out of her and reached his right hand down to her pussy.
He simply cupped her sex for the first few strokes, but when he got into a steady rhythm his fingers splayed out with his middle finger pressing hard against what he thought was her clit. The sharp yelp was all he needed to confirm his theory, and as he started to pump into her his fingers pressed, rubbed, and pinched at the same sensitive spot.
If someone told him he would meet talking ponies two days ago he would have slapped them. If they continued to say he would be fucking one in the ass while he fingered her closer and closer to an orgasm he would have requested them dunked into the Resoc Tanks again. Low and behold here he was, pumping his cock in and out of a kinky little pony named Vinyl Scratch and loving every second of it.
Leaning forward Vinyl let the hot water course over her back and against him, arching her back a few seconds later with a loud moan of pleasure. Pounding into her with a deep grunt he furiously worked her pussy until he felt her clench up one last time and managed to blow a third load balls deep inside of her ass. With a few more desperate thumps he drained him self while Vinyl came into his hand, both of them panting and wheezing before Hex pulled out of her and sank into the hot water with his playmate held against his chest.
When he managed to swim them to the edge of the pool his head flopped back with a thud against the marble as Vinyl turned around and collapsed on top of him still panting hard.
"You couldn't let me have it could you? Forced me into sex and wouldn't be satisfied with a railing to make you walk funny. Nope. You had to mess me up to so we'll both walk cock-eyed tomorrow."
"You loved me fucking you stupid, just like I loved it big guy."
Besides the time at the bar it was only their second time sharing a kiss, and for some reason it made it absurdly more pleasurable knowing he had actually fucked her more times. After a few more moments of soaking, Hex managed to get them both manage-ably clean (At the very least getting all of the sticky love juice off of them) and picked his tiny pony up to dry off and put to bed.
If it wasn't for the fact that there were three think blankets covering the bed they would have been royally screwed, but after removing the top two it left them with one last think blanket to snuggle up under and finally drift to sleep. The last thing he could remember was being severely satisfied and warm before succumbing to blissful blackness.
Warmth was the only thought that crossed Hex's mind as he slowly climbed out of the blessed blackness of sleep back into the waking world. He was warm, lying in a soft bed with an especially warm and soft pony sleeping against his chest that made it difficult to shake the grogginess from sleep away. Hugging the soft woman closer and leaning down to kiss the top of her head proved a much more sufficient way of waking him up though as he was reminded of a very pointed appendage jabbing him in the eye.
"Fuck my life that thing is dangerous."
Hex grumbled as he moved passed it to kiss her forehead, one eye open and awake while the other was squeezed closed from the stabbing pain. Vinyl murmured cutely in her sleep as her forelegs pawed gently at him until his hands ran through her mane and began rubbing her ears and messaging her head.
"mmmmmm stoppit Hex..... I wanna sleep...."
Regardless of her protests she was moving a lot closer to him and arching her back to press her head harder into his fingers. Quirking an eyebrow he smiled deviously before pulling her on top of him and started messaging her head in earnest. She started to wriggle quite a bit more while he worked on her ears, but the moment his fingers worked their way up to touch the base of her horn she let out a low moan.
His curiosity got the better of him as he kicked off the blanket to see just how her body was reacting to his treatment, and seeing her squirm with her tail flicking back and forth brought a wider grin to his face. Apparently it felt really good to have that part messaged, but what really made his eyes widen was when his fingers nimbly slid up and down her horn Vinyl's body shuttered and he felt something very wet course down his leg.
Low whimpers and moans filled the air as he kept assaulting the sensitive horn with rough strokes, scratching and rubbing behind her ears just to mix the pleasures together until he decided to lean forward to lick it from base to tip before using his canines to nip it at the base.
The moment his tongue touched her horn the ponies legs clenched down on him and just after he gave that little love bite a flood of liquid splattered his legs before a small explosion of blue light and sparks issued from her horn. Vinyl went limp against his body as she panted, and Hex's face adopted a look of horror as a thought crossed his mind.
"Oh god, I've been working a head penis this entire time..... Does this make me gay?!"
Vinyl nearly choked with how hard she started laughing, tears streamed down her eyes while her entire body shook with mirth.
"I'm going to tell everypony how good you are at stroking the head penis."
"Don't you do it Scratchy! No one would believe you anyways! You have nothing on me!"
She silenced him with deep kiss, and after a few moments and the taste of each others tongue she broke the contact with a pant.
"Relax lover boy. If I went around making you feel awkward you'd never do it again. By the way, is that all those wriggly little things are good for? Holding stuff and doing crazy erotic shit?"
"....... We do everything with our hands Scratchy, but the erotic stuff is more out of curiosity on my part. I don't think another human would try half the things we've done on the first night."
"If last night was just a practice run I'm going to break you in and share you with some other sexy friends....."
"Vinyl.... are you going to prostitute me out as a kinky money maker?"
"DUDE! Do you know how much rich weirdo's would pay to sex a freaky orgasm machine like you?!"
"Hello! My name is Hexus of the planet Cunt Destroyer in the Aphrodisiac Nebula! Let me show you the dance of my people!"
He playfully pushed the cackling pony off of him as he made his way into the bathroom to get cleaned up. Vinyl joined him after she could breath again but as he waded into the bath and started collecting soaps to wash in she pointed at the bottles before looking back at him.
"Uh.... Did you read what any of these soaps do?"
"......I'm an alien remember? Its freakin weird I can read the names but I have no idea what the brands do......."
"No wonder you smelled like hot sex. Ponies are sensitive to pheromones, and half of these soaps amplify them."
"So your saying I walked around yesterday smelling like sweaty sex? That's disgusting on whole new levels."
"Nah dude, since you took a little of everything you just smelled like flowers.... Really, really, sexy, I'm in the mood to buck and drill like crazy, kind of flowers."
"....so.... which ones should I use?"
"..........all of them........."
"......"
"Come on! It'll be hilarious to watch ponies sniff you! We've already bucked so it's not going to effect me that badly! Why not see who else is in the market for something new and kinky?!"
"You are a freak Vinyl, I'm glad we're friends."
"Friends with bucking privileges are the bestest of friends. Which reminds me, looking for some return for that wake up call?"
While the gestures she made were tempting Hex shook his head as he started to wash himself down. "I'm still in shock about the head penis..... It'll probably ware off later......"
Once more laughing her ass off at his expense they both finished up and to Hex's delight there was even new tooth brushes for himself and Vinyl. Retrieving his cloths from yesterday he was relieved to find them unsoiled, and how he managed to get them out of the bar still clean without being drenched in booze or otherwise was beyond his comprehension.
When both were ready to go Hex froze when Vinyl opened the door to find a male and a female guard waiting for them, beet red, and looking nervously at him. Smiling evilly at the ponies in front of him he lunged forward to wrap his arms around their necks before whispering sensually.
"Funny thing about my kind. We can remember faces for the rest of our lives with just one look. It would be a shame if news spread about what happened in the privacy of my room. I would be tempted to find those lying bastards and show them how my kind can torture a soul in..... that department for days on end."
Both quivered and nodded their heads enthusiastically before Hex smirked.
"Terrible way to go you see.... Being held at the edge of bliss for so long the moment you peak the poor victim's heart just can't take the strain and stops beating..... Awful way to go when you think about it."
"PRI....PRINCESS CELESTIA WOULD LIKE YOU TO JOIN HE FOR BREAKFAST SIR......"
With a brisk pace set and the guards more than happy to lead the way and then flee for their lives Vinyl whispered loud enough for him to hear but not the poor guards in front of him.
"Question guy, does your barn door swing both ways?"
"Hell no it doesn't, but that guy doesn't know that does he? I just kinda went off the theory that you might have homophobes on this planet too."
"Ugh... that's a problem with your kind too?"
"Too each his own in my opinion, but why the fuck not use it to make people awkward and uncomfortable?"
"You're a bad bad stallion Hex."
As they entered into the same banqueting area as yesterday with the exception of the table filled with breakfast delicacies and servant ponies wondering about attending them Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight were all seated and eating when Shining Armor walked in through a different set of doors with a neat stack of papers floating beside him. While Vinyl and himself found a place to sit Hex could swear Shiny was looking pretty damn nervous this morning for some reason....
His suspicions were confirmed when Luna took a dainty sip of her tea before looking dead at him with nothing but flowers and sunshine. "Why good morning Flank Shot. I trust you've had enough rest after last nights.... adventures?"
Cadence and Twilight nearly choked on their food as Celestia looked at him with a quirky smile and an arched eyebrow.
"Where pray tell.... did you get such a unique nickname for Mr. Hexus Luna?"
"My goodness sister! I thought you would have gotten the night report from Shining by now, but I'd be glad to give it myself."
Oh you dirty, filthy, sneaky moon pony.
"Well sister, after you and Twilight retired for the evening I began my nightly rounds when a very.... interesting situation arose. It seems that Hexus had taken a bit of his stipend to explore Canterlot last night with some..... varying results."
Taking another dainty sip of her tea Hex took a long drag of the black coffee in front of him before attempting to curb the situation.
"After being cooped up inside of the suit for a while it felt right walking around without the clunky thing for a bit. Since Canterlot is going to be my new home I thought I'd take a look around."
This time he saw Luna smirk, and the damn moon pony wasn't going to let him off that easily.
"That might have been the case if Sir Hexus had not stopped at a.... bar of some ill repute. It seems our new guest was so charismatic that the ponies visiting the establishment caused some damages to the building in their revels. Surprisingly though, the owner wanted me to thank you personally for a night he would never forget. With the bits you brought in he has bought the entire building out and is turning it into a large club. The stallion has seen it fit to name the new establishment "Four Seasons : Home of the Flank Shot"
With every pony face hoofing and Hex studiously ignoring them as he enjoyed some delicious eggs and fried baby potatoes Celestia sighed heavily before speaking.
"I know I will regret asking this for many months to come... But why did the stallion feel it necessary to include Flank Shot in the name?"
"Well my sister.... It seems that Sir Hex was so charismatic, the noise drew of the attention of two off duty guards heading back to the castle. The party goers were then convinced to lift them into the air and carry them to the bar. While being transported Sir Hex had then convinced two mares to balance a shot of potent alcohol on their flanks as they bent over the bar. The guards had no choice but to take the shots and then kiss the mares flanks afterwards."
"In my defense I didn't tell them to kiss their flanks. They did that on their own accord."
"There is also a.... rumor spreading across Canterlot after the events of last night. Apparently the new creature under royal protection is a species of such.... provocative natures that reading or tampering with their minds would cause a pony to succumb to a life of sin and pleasure seeking."
Poor Twilight was covering her face with both hooves as her she flushed red, Cadence unable to stand it any more was laughing quietly behind her hooves and Celestia was actually smiling. Luna merely smiled before commenting
"Quite impressive for the first night in Equestria."
When Cadence had gathered enough of her self to speak she smiled at Celestia.
"Well.... At least the populace won't view him as being a dangerous creature to be feared."
Celestia took one more calming breath before speaking.
"I was considering the draw backs of having you here in the capital Hexus due to your unique situation, but seeing the.... reputation you've built in a single night I don't believe it would benefit you to stay in such a large city."
With a pause of consideration she smiled as an idea began to form in her mind.
"Miss Vinyl Scratch? I do believe you live in Ponyville as well as my student Twilight?"
"Uh.... yeah that's right princess. I was here to pick up some equipment."
"Mr. Hexus, I do believe that it would benefit you greatly to live in a smaller more rural town while you get used to your new life here. Twilight and the other elements of harmony should be more than sufficient to help you make adjustments, and with miss Vinyl in the same town you won't be isolated from the first friend you made here."
While his normal mind was reeling by how easy he had gotten off for last nights antics, along with the shocked look from Luna making the deal all the more sweeter the machine promptly pointed out that this situation was manufactured. It fell into place too snugly, but it did also point out that because of what he had done last night there was no backing out without serious rebuttal.
"I'd be happy to live in a quaint little town. I do prefer the countryside over the big city."
"I'm pleased to hear it Mr. Hexus."
Hex was more than a little glad to get off the hook, but after making his report to Celestia, Shining Armor asked him to follow. Once outside in the large courtyard he felt the machine kick in immediately with the pile of stuff spread out in front of him. Guards from throughout Equestria had come across strange machinery that had apparently crash landed in random areas, and after a direct order from Shining they had been transported through some kind of teleportation to the capitol for examination.
All of the equipment in front of him was Terran technology in various states of damage. There were two intact cargo containers but otherwise most of the other stuff was damaged beyond repair. After asking the captain to bring Celestia under the possibility of war he vanished in a flash of purple. He really wondered if it was possible to learn how the hell that even happened but the machine was already punching in an access code to one of the containers.
A chill ran down his spine when the container opened. The code he used was only supposed to work if the fleet ships had been destroyed. It was a last ditch command in the hopes that someone could use the equipment against the zerg, and if this shit got planet side then he had to assume the zerg could have come as well.
A series of snaps sounded from behind him that signaled the arrival of Celestia and Shining, but he said nothing to them until he had verified the contents of the cargo and stepped back out of the container. Luna, Celestia, and Shining Armor looked at him expectantly, and after taking a look around to find themselves completely alone he spoke in a cold voice that lacked any feeling or concern.
"This is all warfare equipment from my species Celestia. The fact that I can open these containers is proof enough that the soldiers and army I was fighting with has been completely wiped out, most likely everyone fighting with me is dead or worse."
Sitting down on a nearby crate and gesturing for them to sit down in front of him he laced his fingers together and sighed heavily.
"I had hoped that whatever brought me to this planet was an isolated incident and couldn't be repeated, but with this equipment here I have to assume the worse. The enemies I fought against may be present on the planet. I showed Celestia my origins to prove my freedom, but I cannot withhold the information regarding the enemy of every species in the universe if there is any chance of you being forced to fight them."
"Luna, since you and your sister rule here it is your right to know the extent of the threat. I have heard before that you raise the moon while Celestia raises the sun. I hope for the sake of this planet you are that powerful. The only thing that could possible save this place from destruction is keeping the zerg from making planet fall altogether, but how that is to happen I can't say. I need the three of you to watch the events inside of my head carefully. It may determine if your entire planet lives or dies."
With another deep sigh he closed his eyes and waited. The machine was still at the forefront of his mind when he felt other presence of others he smiled sadly at how they recoiled from the cold, soulless instincts that guided his actions. For ten minuets he made the watch a large scale battle against the zerg, showing how some of them launched spikes to impale his fellow soldiers and kill them.
Some of the zerg flew over head and lobed acid and deadly spinning disks that melted and cleaved through whole units while others merely fell upon the soldiers with claws. Hulking mountains of flesh rampaged through the lines, and only after the combined efforts of scores of rifles did they finally fall over in death.
The next memory was of him watching from orbit as two massive monstrosities floated over a planet, raining down thousands of pods filled with the same creatures he had fought on the planet. The last memory was of fighting a losing battle to hold a base as pods crashed down around them only to explode, spilling their horrifying contents to tear the infantry apart.
"Last night Vinyl Scratch used what you ponies called magic to physically lift me up and throw me across my room. I am assuming that since a civilian not trained in warfare is capable of that, then some of your guards may have the ability to crush the life out of these creatures. As you saw, fire also works fairly well against the smaller ground units so that could also be a possible way of dealing with them. Seeing as you do not have the means to kill these creatures the same way my species can, you'll have to be creative in the methods of ending their lives should they come here."
Luna and Shining were both pail after watching the butchery that he had lived through but he continued when both looked back up at him with the same cold drone.
"Understand that these creatures are not sentient and are incapable of feeling. They serve what we they call the Swarm and live for the sole purpose of slaughtering the inhabitants of planets before assimilating some of the more promising species into the fold."
After tapping his head he showed them a memory of what looked like a small vicious little predator running cross the dunes of a desert planet. After warping the image with armor, clawed limbs, and enhancing its aggression the creature turned into the zerglings deployed by the Swarm.
"The zerg are no more than dangerous animals without the presence of a commander, so if there are some planet-side they should be easy enough to put down alone. The problem arises when a command unit is present to direct them. Since there hasn't been any cities vanishing or thousands dead somewhere I doubt anything like that is here unless it's attempting to remain hidden. I'll take the equipment here as well as the weapons I had earlier to keep them close at hand when I leave."
Looking down at his clenched hands he considered the possibilities of repelling a zerg invasion with grim certainty. Since he didn't understand the magic ponies used there was little he could think of besides the obvious until an idea came.
"Celestia, if you really are capable of raising the sun or have some sort of affinity to it a possible solution to an invasion is using the star to burn the fleet in space before they have a chance to land. From our standpoint Shining, it would be prudent to gather at least one thousand of the best unicorns within the guards here at the capital for training. The number should be small enough to go unnoticed if they're plucked from across your domain, but large enough to act as a shock unit to respond to any isolated zerg encounters."
When he did finally look back up at the three he stopped for a moment. Tears were coursing down their cheeks, and while he was confused at first it was the machine that answered his own question. He had just told them that possibly thousands of his own kind had died within the past two days, fighting a horrifying enemy, and while the machine managed the emotional response to keep him from falling prey to depression or sadness they didn't have that ability.
Luna closed the distance with him and wrapped her front legs around his shoulders in a hug as she buried her face into his neck.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
He suddenly wished he could actually feel something more than the cold acknowledgement from the machine, but for the time being those kinds of emotions would remain suppressed until it deemed the time was appropriate to address them. He wondered just how bad that day might turn out as he returned Luna's hug. When she broke away and dried her eyes he was relieved to see a solid determination behind them.
Celestia showed the same determination as her sister but he was quietly pleased with the rage he saw in Shining Armor's face. He only hoped that he could find more men who would share that same anger in the defense of their home.
"Twilight has an assistant that can receive messages from either of the Princesses and myself. I'll address them as sealed for you, and trust her not to open them. For the sake of security I'll leave out any true details, but there will be a thousand Unicorns here in three days to deploy. When everything is ready, I'll send some guards to escort you back to brief them."
"Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst."
"I look forward to solving this problem."
With a vicious smile shared between the two of them he looked back at the sisters who nodded before Celestia responded.
"My sister and I will begin planning a method of dealing with them above our planet, but we will also call the other nations to meet and discuss the severity of the situation. It may take a while to gather them all here but once they are present we'll be relying on you to give specifics on the threat."
Nodding his affirmation the three of the departed with Shining flashing away and the sisters heading back into the castle. Hex was left to sort through the equipment with the captain returning moments later with his suit, weapons, and the left over bag of money he had brought the day earlier.
"Maybe its time to put some buns in the oven eh Shiny? Might not get the chance later if things go bad."
"Yeah... Maybe I'll pull the same shit you did with Vinyl yesterday. Not to bad of a score with that piece of flank."
"How the fuck did you know that?! You got those guards spyin on me you bastard!"
"Nope, you just told me."
Hex was left fuming at his stupidity as the captain of the guard flounced off laughing his pretty little head off.
Ponyville! Now with Human!
It hadn't taken nearly as long as he'd thought to completely go through the contents of the cargo and scraps. The first container held a heavily modified Vulture hover bike with sidecar and enough spare parts and fuel to maintain the bike for the next few decades. While he was familiar enough to ride the things he hadn't ever seen one modified to seat a marine in full suit, and after a few diagnostic test it had been further modified to operate at the same speeds as a standard bike.
The thing had to have belonged to a mechanized platoon leader to have so many modifications, but regardless of who owned it before he was glad to have a fast way around Equestria. The second container was filled with even more goodies than the first. It housed a repair and engineering kit for modifying his suit and even making advanced repairs, but the cream of the crop came in the form of a Reaper kit and ammunition.
The kit held a brand new Reaper suit complete with the dual guass pistols they normally carried into combat. There was also plenty of ammunition for his own guass rifle and the pistols to last him through a campaign. The last thing inside of the container was something of an odd ball though. It was a cutter usually used to cut through bulk heads in case marines became trapped in an area but the thing had been heavily modified just like the Vulture. First off it was as long as his arm, and the chain looked like it was made from a different material entirely from the standard cutter.
It took him a moment to realize what the crazy bastard had made. The damn thing was designed it to take on zerg in hand to hand combat. While the idea was fucking absurd the weapon itself could actually cleave into the monsters carapace and kill one if it came down to that. Shrugging he installed its carrying bracket to the back of his suit and mounted the weapon before donning his armor, smiling viciously when he drew the weapon and watched it roar into life.
The machine agreed in keeping it as well. There was no point in abandoning a perfectly good weapon no matter how impractical it seemed. If all else failed he could use it to survive, but he had to admit it would be extremely satisfying to take the improvised chainsaw to a zergling or a hydralisks face.
After figuring out the rigging mechanism for the Vulture there was surprisingly room left over even after stowing all of the weapons and ammunition on the bike, but even though the diagnostic read all green with the added weight impeding max speed by 20% he'd have to ride the thing carefully. Even if the damn thing was practically new if he crashed it with all the munitions and explosives it was carrying there would be nothing left to bury. Not that a hole would need to be dug for anything after it cratered the landscape.
By the time he finished adjusting his own suit, double checking that the cargo was secured, and telling the guards that everything else was to go back into the castle storage Vinyl and Twilight had joined him carrying small saddle bags with Celestia. It was hard to tell which of the girls made it to the bike first and start blasting off questions to him.
"DUDE! What the buck is this freakin thing! It looks sick!"
"Is it some kind of transport that will follow the train? How does it move? How does it know where to go?!"
Taking their saddle bags and storing it in a smaller compartment he saved for them Hex promptly scooped the ponies up into his arms before settling them down inside of the sidecar. After strapping them in a sitting position Vinyl looked like she was about to go on the ride of her life as Twilight protested and fiddled with the straps.
"Uh... Hex I don't feel comfortable riding in an unknown vehicle. Couldn't we just take the train like normal ponies?"
"Don't be like that Twilight! This is going to be awesome!"
Smiling deviously at Celestia he gave her a wink before straddling the bike with Celestia cocking an eyebrow.
"I can't move my things on a civilian train as they are too dangerous and cannot leave my sight. As for being uncomfortable the trip won't take too long if Ponyville is in sight of Canterlot. Don't fiddle with the straps while we're moving Sparky, we'll be moving fast so I want you to be safe. Technically you can ride without them but I don't think you'd want to take the risk of accidentally flying out of there do you?"
The poor pony slammed her hooves into the forward handles like she was afraid the thing would catapult her out of it any second.
"I'M REALLY NOT COMFORTABLE WITH RIDING THIS THING CAN'T I JUST TAKE THE TRAIN?!"
"If you did that me and Vinyl would get to Ponyville hours before you would show up on the train! Then we would have to wait until you got there to do anything!"
With a deep thrum the bike came to life and floated three feet off of the ground, humming ominously as Hex waved at Celestia who waved back with a nervous smile before they started moving forward. While they were moving through the city he had to keep the speed way down to prevent possible accidents, but Vinyl still waved at ponies watching the strange sight.
Twilight had hyperventilating for the first 10 minuets until she finally realized that they weren't in any immediate danger.
"Hex! I thought you said this crazy contraption would get us there hours before the train! How are we going to get there first if the train is moving way faster?!"
When they made it out of the city and down the path leading to the open fields to Ponyville the train passed them on the left and was indeed going much faster. Turning around to look at both of them he smiled wickedly as they nosed their way onto the open field where he closed the face shield to his helmet.
They didn't have enough time to ask before he opened up the throttle. Even weighed down as they were the bike had nothing but open fields and small hills between their destination, so with a crazed laugh he watched as Vinyl's hooves shot up to hold her shade on while Twilight held on to the forward handles for dear life, both ponies screaming their heads off.
With their current weight the Vulture could only reach a max speed of 184mph, but given the way both of them were screaming even over the roar of the wind it was certainly moving faster than anything on the ground they had been on. At some point of riding for a few minuets the girls had lost the wind to scream further and instead held on for dear life.
Most likely breaking the land speed of any vehicle in Equestria the entire trip to Ponyville took less than 40 minuets, and while he reduced the speed significantly it didn't stop him from flying through the small town before banking and settling the bike down by the huge tree house.
Letting the bike settle to the ground and cutting the engines Hex stepped off of the bike and freed the panting ponies, placing the on their hooves and laughing as both flooped over on their sides still breathing hard. There where ponies everywhere taking animatedly about the strange creature in their midst, and Hex could only smile at the new targets for his twisted sense of humor.
"So Sparky, Celly never told me where exactly I'll be living here... Is there a house or something I'm supposed to go to?"
"My name is Twilight Hex, and you'll be living with me in the basement of the Library. My assistant Spike already left this morning to put the equipment down there into storage so you should have plenty of room."
"My my.... I barely know you Sparky and I'll be living in your house? Sooner or later we'll be sharing the shower to save time. I bet you bite your pillow in the throes of pleasure."
"Remember to charge for it dude! Its a once in a lifetime experience after all!"
Poor Twilight hid her head underneath her hooves as the residence started babbling all the more. After handing the girls their bags back and unloading his own equipment the next order of business was to get some new cloths. Since they had arrived early Twilight said it would be a few more hours until the other elements of harmony gathered to meet him.
She offered to take him to Rarity but he decided against it even if she did glare at him suspiciously. With his things put away and once more out of his power armor he was about to walk out the door when his forehead slammed into the top of it. This got a laugh out of his new roommate considering he had bent over to avoid giving himself a concussion but he was still too tall for the door.
Vinyl was waiting outside and laughing her ass off as expected, and after cursing for a little while she led the way towards the Carousel Boutique.
"I think your going to like Rarity big guy. She comes off a bit snooty but damn she knows how to work it."
"Scratchy my dear, I didn't know you swung that way."
"You haven't met my roommate Octavia yet, but we got some hours to spare so if we have the time we'll see her too."
"Question Scratchy. I'm not sure how.... relationships work with ponies but is it ok to go about.... bucking everything that moves?"
"For the most part? Nope. I'm just friskier than other ponies, and a lot more adventurous."
"So your roommate is just a... buddy with bucking rights?"
"Well.... More than that I'd say. Then again your the first stallion I've been with since hooking up with her."
"Are you sure that wasn't the alcohol, drugs, and pheromones thing?"
"Do you really think any of that keeps a girl from knowing who's bucking her? Pfffft. Women always know who's tapping it Hex, drunk, drugged, or otherwise. Besides, Rarity will probably be your first customer when you start putting out."
"I don't think I'm comfortable whoring about Scratchy."
"Lie to me big boy and tell me you didn't like it."
"It should be a requirement that I'm at least drunk and high."
"I don't know.... you weren't either of those this morning when you were.... working my shaft."
"I don't want to talk about this anymore......"
She only giggled at him and pranced about in an irritatingly happy manner.
"I still think your far off on the kinky side Scratchy. I doubt another pony is going to be gunning for a night with me."
"Dude, remember when I said how rich ponies who are looking for something new would be all over you?"
"I think its because of the pheromone thing but I'll bite."
"Rarity is one of them. You think I'm a freak in bed, I ain't got shit on that mare."
"I think we should find another seamstress."
"There aren't any here in ponyville sexy. And unless you want to wear something uncomfortable as fuck she's the only one who can hook you up with decent cloths. She's that good at her job."
"You planned this didn't you...."
"Nope, she's considered one of the best cloths maker there are. It just so happened that she's also a lady on the streets and a freak in the bedroom. Its also a coincidence I'm coming along to watch."
He was about to open the door when he did a quick about face and started walking in a different direction.
"Nope I'ma wait until Twilight is with me!"
Cursing the instant he felt that oh so familiar force wrapped around him Vinyl only smiled in that evil little way as she floated him through the door and almost singing out.
"Mistress Rarity! I have some special business today!"
"Vinyl you're an evil conniving bitch! I don't wanna get cloths today!"
"Yes you do!"
Hex was able to look around even if his body was floating along the ground at the various manikins and equipment. Everything on the outside made it look just like a clothing and tailoring shop but if what Vinyl had said was true.... What might be lurking in the back rooms or hidden away in those chests?
The pony that stepped out was about the same size as Vinyl if not a bit on the thicker side. While she shared her white coat the new mare had curly purple hair and dark blue eyes that twinkled with something... terrible. It didn't help that she had something of an accent when she spoke, unfortunately a weakness of his.
"My dear Vinyl! That title is for my other services! Surely you can't mean this gentleclot could you? Twilight told me your little group wouldn't be here or hours! Let alone for something... of that nature."
"Why mistress Rarity, Twilight Sparkle isn't as.... adventurous as we are. Does she even know about those extra curricular activities?"
"Celestia no! But you can't be telling me that.... you and him?"
"For three rounds, or should I say three peaks, in the bed, on the counter, and in the bath."
"Oh my...."
Hex struggled to get out of the air when Vinyl finally let him go and dropped him on his ass. Getting up and glaring at the sneaky little pony he bowed first and then knelled in front of Rarity before extending his hand.
"Madam Rarity I do not know what this provocative mare is talking about but I have come to you for your expertise in clothing. Since I am the only one of my kind I was told you are the best I could find, and I need something besides this single set of clothing."
When he kissed her offered hoof the smile that split across her face was somewhat.... disturbing. Strangely reminiscent of the one Twilight had given him the first time he had met her.
"Oh my poor darling! You have come to the right place for all of your needs! Please! Right this way so I can get you measured up! You would look simply dashing in black and red! Oh! Maybe even some deep purple or dark blue!"
With a sigh of relief Hex moved in front of a large three way mirror and before a giggle from Vinyl caught his attention. A deep in hail of breath sounded beside him and looking down he saw that same dreamy look Scratchy had when she did the same thing yesterday. This mares horn started to glow white, and the windows of the shop all snapped closed as he heard heavy locks issuing from the door.
"Darling.... I can't get a good measurement with your cloths on. I'll need you to strip down so I know what I'm working with."
It sounded like a cheesy fucking line from a porn flick, and Vinyl was cracking up as Hex looked at himself in the mirror. He was still sore from yesterday but he needed the cloths Rarity could provide him. Badly. With a heavy sigh of defeat Hex stripped out of everything save his underwear.
There were a few times he could feel the brush of her breath when she stood up on her hind legs and took his numbers, making him shiver each time she did so. It didn't help that on more than one occasion she would brush against his bare body, reminding him just how soft and warm ponies could be.
When she seemed satisfied the mare stood in front of him with a coy smile playing across her face as her hooves slid his boxers down. Rarity missed nothing, and even measured his junk.
"Vinyl dear, you were always one of my favorite customers considering your... taste in roughness. Pray tell how a stallion like this one was able to satisfy you? He doesn't seem like much in that regard."
"Why Mistress Rarity! Are you thinking of taking a taste of the unknown? He is a sweetheart by himself but with a little bit of coaxing he can be quite an animal."
"What kind of coaxing does the dear need? I'm sure he was inebriated when the two of you shared some carnal knowledge...."
"He was! But he also liked that little thing you make so very well. The stuff in Canterlot is always weaker, but again he went three rounds without too much trouble. Oh! That was after admitting to a few years of celibacy. As for coaxing..... his pride is very sensitive, and he bucks like crazy after holding him down for a bit."
This wasn't just a little bad, this was fucking awful. The mare in front of him might have finished with her measurements but as she tapped her chin with one hoof the other was tapping his now raging erection prodding and grasping here and there as if examining every facet of it.
"It is a shame we can't stay for longer my dear Vinyl... I would love to see what these little delicate fingers can really do but we should really be going here soon if we are going to meet the other girls on time."
"Then maybe a trail run?"
Hex felt himself lifted up once more and flown to the couch where he landed with a soft thud. Vinyl was on top of him in an instant with her that same devious grin on her face from the night before.
"How about a little of everything Rarity? I forgot to mention how those little fingers can give a pony a magical peak. No toys, no stimulation past the neck, nothing but those tiny little things, a single lick, and just one nip. I never repaid him for that since he was convinced a horn was nothing but a head penis."
With a neat little flounce Rarity sat in his lap and smiled up at him coyly, her front hooves taking off Vinyl's glasses to show her eyes glittering evilly right before the mare shoved her head down roughly over his shaft. The mare in his lap never stopped smiling at him even as she made her friend gag over his cock.
"I've never left a stallion unsatisfied after having a lovely little peak of any kind Mr. Hex and I can see you're still hesitant to go through with this so here's something to consider. We both know Vinyl won't be the one getting you off here, and I would never take a stallion if he did not wish to play, but if you are unwilling... you will leave here in your current state clothed and... uncomfortable."
He felt magic coiling around his frame once more as Rarity's smile took on a cruel hue. Vinyl was pulled away from the with a forceful jerk, and after spinning her around she was bent over the coffee table with her arms yanked behind her back. After sliding slowly off of his lap the mare trotted around the table to gently caress her head.
"I'm sure you would enjoy some... payback for her earlier behavior. Vinyl has always been one of my favorite pets if not sometimes a mouthy one."
So he may have been lured into another sexy time by Vinyl but Hex knew he could have bailed far earlier if he wanted too. Nope, he simply let it play out too long, and watching Rarity make out with Vinyl bent over and looking very inviting there was no way he would leave with blue balls.
Knelling behind Vinyl he smiled wickedly as he teased her entrance, causing her to squirm with Rarity cocking an eyebrow. He pressed himself against her wet sex gently, noticing that the other mare was still holding her down tightly and not allowing the poor girl to buck back in need but with a look and a small wink Hex waited for just the right moment to grab Vinyl's tail and yank back hard, slamming his hips forward.
He may have felt sorry for the devious little harlot if she didn't squeak so loudly and cutely, making him yank her tail harder and simply pound away into her. Rarity on the other hand seemed to be showing her a lot of gentle pleasure, making out with the sandwiched pony before licking and suckling at her horn.
They hadn't been at it for even five minuets before Hex noticed Vinyl's horn glowing and felt her hips and legs shaking beneath him. With a smile of pure evil he took long hard thrusts into her and watched as Rarity took the mares horn into her mouth and down her throat. How she managed to do that without impaling herself was beyond him but the moment Vinyl started to really pant and moan he saw Rarity's eyes on him. He gave her a little wink before pulling out completely with her doing the exact same thing up front.
"NOOOooOOOoooo!"
Vinyl was left whining pitifully on the table, squirming and even trying to use the friction of her tail and legs to finish what they had brought her so close to. Rarity promptly held the mare down to keep her from finishing up before she leaned over the table and gestured for him to come closer.
"Darling.... I didn't know you had it in you to torment. We are going to have such a lovely time together... especially if we're sharing this little pet."
Hex was pretty sure when two people shared a first kiss it was supposed to be soft, tender, loving, and very satisfying and while it was all of those things it didn't clear the solid perversion of what was happening. Just when he thumped his way back into Vinyl, Rarity had lowered her self on the poor mares horn and was using her as an improvised dildo. He could taste Vinyl on her lips and while he couldn't currently think of something as hot as this occurring in his life time Vinyl found where she had left off and promptly exploded from both ends.
He continued to work the poor girl through her orgasm but the moment she went limp underneath him he felt Rarity's magic pick him up and throw him into the couch once more. There was no doubt left in his mind why they called her mistress, before he was even fully seated she was already turned around and sliding down his shaft, slowly taking half of his length into her before sitting down hard and taking the rest. She had dragged the half dazed Vinyl along and shoved the mares face between her legs, ordering her to lick even as he bucked up from underneath.
"Come my dear pets. We still need to clean up afterwards."
She felt a lot different from Vinyl, but even with the mare in question licking and sucking down below along with his thrusts she didn't feel any where near a peak whatsoever. At the rate they were going it might have taken a long while to get the woman off but with a little smirk he reached up with his left hand and pulled Rarity's head back by the horn before messaging it roughly.
So Rarity seemed to like it rough as well from the way she moaned out, and after curling his right arm across her chest to grab her shoulder all notion of gentle loving flew out of the window. Should some random person walk through the door they would find little miss prissy Rarity with her horn being pulled and stroked, forced to ride his dick hard as he pulled her down with each thrust, and a random Vinyl Scratch sucking on her sex and licking his shaft as it appeared for a moment before vanishing back in.
Once again he noticed that a mares legs tended to shake involuntarily when they got close, that and the way she was screaming, moaning, and clenching down on his shaft were enough of a heads up. But just when he thought it was about time for her to cream he was deviously glad ponies were on the short side. He was able to dip his head and roughly nip the base of her horn with his canines. The difference was that when Rarity did finally cry out and came from both ends, he got to enjoy being balls deep inside a mare he just met and fill her to the brim.
Sure it was weird as hell to be fucking ponies, even more so with the whole horn thing shooting off magic as well but he couldn't compare emptying himself into the soft, warm, and extremely tight mare as she babbled incoherently while he pumped his seed inside of her. When they were both finally done he could still feel Vinyl licking and sucking at them, and as he pulled out of the mare in his lap he noticed how evil Vinyl was smiling before pressing a big, sloppy kiss against Rarity's mouth.
He would have laughed at the prissy pony getting snowballed, but since he had no desire to taste his own spunk he held it in until they broke apart.
"Darlings, as much as I would enjoy spending the rest of the evening playing such games we really must get cleaned up. We are probably going to be late!"
Being directed towards a smaller shower by the kitchen while the girls took the bigger upstairs one Hex had a moment to himself to consider the days events. Day two and he got busted for last night, could possible end up in another war, and managed to have a short but crazed threesome with one of Twilight's best friends. He also found out pony number two was another squirter and was apparently some mistress of doom that she did besides her day job of making cloths.
He really needed to figure out a way to counter magic.... or at the very least know when its appropriate to jump out of a window. There had to be mares in this freakin world who weren't total freaks in the bed.... right?
After putting his cloths on once more (And thanking whatever diety that decided to spare them being sullied with sex juice) Hex made a mental note to get his cloths from Rarity and then attempt to avoid her like the fucking plague. It was bad enough dealing with Vinyl's apparently ravenous sexual escapades he really didn't need a second, even more rambunctious contender driving him nuts.
The girls looked refreshed and bouncy, which honestly pissed him off a little considering he felt like a worn out toy that had been shown way too much love. But he reminded himself that cloths were essential if he didn't want to go around in his suit all the time. That and he would need to wash his current pair soon if he wanted to keep from smelling rough around so many females.
That was something he considered while the girls chattered and led the way through the town. There seemed to be an excessive amount of mares running around the place that didn't quite make sense. A lot of the guards were male but then again there were also a lot of female ones as well. Also there was the little fact that the ruling bodies for both Equestria and the Crystal empire were all ladies... He wondered if there were any of the weird critters like Celestia who were male...
All functional thoughts ceased when the Library came into view. There was a Viking ship parked outside in assault walker configuration right beside his Vulture, and unless he was going bat shit crazy (Which he still secretly thought was possible) someone had piloted that beast here. Guards were stationed at the door, but from the shit eating grins on their faces something amusing was going on inside.
"Oh please, please, any god across the universe let it be anyone besides....."
As the door opened he saw the last person he wanted to lay eyes on. The very last human being that he might be forced to spend his entire life with, and just so happened to be straddling Shining Armor and molesting the poor bastards ears and horn with gusto.
"HEXUS FUCKING MURDOC! FUCK ME SIDEWAYS YOU'RE OUT OF THE CAN!"
Minerva Mendoza. The one Viking pilot in the entire universe of Terran pilots who not only knew Hex personally but had some kind of vendetta against him.
Celestia and Luna where there along with Sparky and four other mares he didn't recognize. All of them were smiling and giggling at the plight Shiny was in, and he actually felt kinda bad for the captain since he knew how easy it was to immobilize a pony when you fondled their heads.
"PLeaSE! HeX! Get HER OFF!"
"Awwwww Hex! These little boy ponies are the cutest thing ever! Look at that blush! Who's a naught boy!
"Minerva. Get off of Shiny, I kinda need him coherent. Two things, one that particular pony your molesting is married and two how in the fuck did you get here?"
"Well sir killjoy, I'm not a pony so I'll play with this cutie pie all I want. And as for the second, no idea. I was retreating through a warp gate with a capital ship when Kerrigan blew the damn thing up mid jump. Now I'm here."
After a long winded sigh silence fell over the group as Hex, Rarity, and Vinyl found places to sit. Celestia was the one who finally broke the awkward moment.
"I believe introductions are in order. All present know my sister and I so if you could Minerva?"
"Minerva Mendoza, 104 Raiders squad and the pilot of that huge walker outside."
Hex listened carefully as each of the new girls gave their names and strangely enough what kind of element of harmony they represented. He still had no idea what that meant but when it was his turn he tried to slide by with as little as possible.
"Hexus Murdoc, Infantry."
"And......."
Of course that she bitch Minerva would bust his ass.
"And what? Just infantry attached to the North Star."
"You didn't tell them you were a Death's Knell did you?"
"Why would they need to know that Minerva?
"Because Death's Knell are the most dangerous soldiers in Terran employ. They also happened to be the worst criminals known to mankind. How did you manage to get out of that suit Hex?"
After a glare was shared between the two of them Celestia once again came to the rescue.
"Hexus has proven beyond any reasonable doubt. He has earned a pardon from his own kind as well as myself. I can assure you Minerva that after personally going through his memories he is in fact a free man."
"Wow.... You have to be the first fucking death head to survive your sentence you know that Hex? I bet your head is a scary ass place."
Rolling his eyes he attempted to steer the conversation clear of anything weird but Minerva beat him too it.
"It's not that I hate Hex here, its just that he's kind of a legend in our circle. This crazy bastard actually saved my life, twice at that. Then there's also the running bet his dick and balls have been replaced with huge metal monstrosities considering how many times he's survived something that should have killed him off."
He could only glare at Minerva with the purest hate before being dragged through the dirt not ten seconds later.
"Oh Mr. Flank Shot also has a name for himself here in Equestria!"
Fuck you moon pony, fuck you all the way to the damn moon but the moment she said that Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all snapped their heads towards him and spoke almost unanimously.
"YOUR FLANK SHOT?!"
The sound of his hand impacting his face was enough to bring girlish giggles from nearly all of them with the exception of the small yellow pony who was hiding under her hooves beet red.
It wasn't enough having Minerva and fucking moon pony poking at him, his new human comrade decided to keep things rolling.
"If you'd be so kind as to fill me in on that story later Luna I'd love to hear how he got that name. So you're finally out of the can eh Hex? These little ponies are kinda cute! I wonder if the males are hung like horses..."
"You're sick Minerva, it's been what a single day?"
"Bitch please, you're the one who's been locked in a can for what three years? Bet fucking money you've tapped one of them! I'll even bet you blew like a virgin and passed out!"
"Actually he's got six girl-gasums to four of his own in what..... less than a day?
The sound of his head smashing into the table and literally fracturing the wood was only dulled by the hysterical laughter from Minerva, who laughed so hard she actually stopped molesting Shining and fell off. The captain took his chance and escaped while he could.
"FUCK MY LIFE VINYL!"
"Dude! Ain't nothing to be ashamed of! You should be proud!"
"VINYL! THERE ARE FOUR WOMAN I DON'T KNOW HERE AND THREE OF THEM WHO DIDN'T NEED TO KNOW THAT INFORMATION!"
For the love of all things holy it was the quiet yellow pony Fluttershy who pipped up.
"Umm.... If Twilight, Princess Luna, and Princess Celestia are the three who already knew you then.... shouldn't it be.... five that don't know you? I mean.... you came in with Rarity so I guess... you already know her......"
"I went to visit her earlier to get some cloths and have my measurements taken...."
"HOLY FUCKING SHIT YOU BONED BOTH OF THEM DIDN'T YOU?!"
As a last plea to whatever god had decided to torment him he looked over at Vinyl and Rarity, praying that they would at the very least deny the accusation. Rarity only smirked and fluffed her hair out and Vinyl wore a proud fucking grin that confirmed everyone's suspicions.
The sound of his melon splintering wood sounded again as he wanted nothing more than to curl into a ball and die. He couldn't bring himself to look at the group of woman surrounding him.
"WOW! I didn't know you had in you Hex! The first human to make contact with ponies! AND YOU SHAGGED TWO OF THEM IN ONE DAY! ONE SO WELL SHE BRAGS ABOUT IT!"
"Minerva, please just die already."
"Oh but Hex! Then I wouldn't get a chance to tap that! Hell if your already banging the locals I might as well give the studs a shot myself! Gotta help build that legend up! WE ARE HUMANS AND WE FUCK LIKE GODS!"
"I hate you so much."
When he did look up Celestia, Luna, Minerva, Vinyl, and Rarity all had soft blushes and those horrible grins spreading across their faces. The others however looked extremely red and uncomfortable, poor Fluttershy looked like she would die of embarrassment and to be honest he didn't even care. Of all the ones to drag that out she was seriously the last he would possible accuse.
"I'll be right back, I'm going outside to kill myself."
As he got up to leave Vinyl hopped onto his back and hung there while she nuzzled his head.
"Nuuuuu! Who's going to pet me when I get lonely!"
"I.... I just want to drink until I forget how to breath....."
Applejack actually came to his rescue when she pulled out a large crate from behind where she was sitting.
"Its a might rude for you ponies to drag somthin like that out! Ah promise it won't leave the room from my mouth Hex! Now don't be down cuse of a little brow beatin, Ah brought somethin to welcome yew two ta ponyville!"
From the thick accent and the three huge clay jugs with three X's across the front he had to assume that nothing but liquid oblivion was sloshing around inside, but with a sweet smirk Minerva plucked one of the jars up and winked at Applejack.
"I would love to stay and hear the liquored up story of what Hex has been up too but I've got some work to do on my Viking, that and I've got to convince cutie pies wifey to let me borrow him for a while. Maybe I'll use the shocker on that little lady."
Holding her hand out in the jester and making her whole arm shake suggestively Hex could only sigh and look at Shiny sadly. The poor stallion was looking at him with terror and pleading but he couldn't help him. If she wasn't so interested in Shiny then she'd probably be after him, and he didn't need to add another name to the crazy fuck buddy avoidance list.
When Celestia, Luna, Minerva, and Shining Armor bade their farewells (Shiny looking like he wanted to flee into the woods) Hex breathed easier when he heard the Viking start up and fly away into the distance. Another human was in Equestria with him, and poor Shining was the first victim on that crazy bitch's rape list.
Looking around he found the elements of harmony plus one Vinyl Scratch chatting and giggling to each other as the flying rainbow colored pony flew in through the open window with multiple shot glasses.
"Now every pony, about that game I heard about.... Who's up for spin the bottle flank shots?"
Oh god. He just couldn't get away with anything.
Regardless of the amount of booze consumed the night before and the hellish game of picking through Hex's escapades while in Equestria, the night remained pleasant enough with the girls turning in once most of them weren't able to walk right. Even if he did have a lot of that apple lightning, he rarely suffered from any sort hangovers so in the quiet hours of the morning he fiddled around with some of his newer toys.
Since he had never used the suit before it took quite a few hours to adjust both the internal and external parts to fit his size perfectly, that and making sure everything was functioning at optimal efficiency was another few hours of testing. He wasn't about to go flying around outside without making sure he wouldn't fall out of the sky. Loading out the suit with its standard dual guass pistols, a few grenades, and as a last thought the modified cutter.
It seemed appropriate to take the cutter along since it was originally designed to be used with the Reaper suit, but after making the final adjustments and silencing any stray movement issues he figured it was about time for Twilight to wake up. Taking care not to smash a hole through the doorway with his now taller stature Hex smiled at how cute the tiny pony looked with her hair properly ruffled and still half asleep.
Walking up behind her probably wasn't the best idea though because the moment she turned around the poor thing screamed bloody murder and hurled the cup of coffee she was floating beside her at his face. If he hadn't been wearing the Reaper helmet at the time it probably would have hurt like hell.
"Well good morning to you too sunshine. Is there anymore coffee or did you hurl all of it at my face?"
"Celesta Hex! Why are you wondering around in that thing! You could have given me a heart attack!"
"If I wasn't in the suit I would have scalding coffee and glass smashed into my face."
After she took a few deep breaths and cleaned the entirety of the mess up (Both on the floor and splattered across his suit) she made him a cup of coffee as well before sitting down in the main room to enjoy it. Cautiously taking off his helmet and looking at her suspiciously he smiled when she giggled lightly before taking a long drag of the hot coffee.
"So Twilight, I've got some errands to run today but I have a question and possible a favor to ask. I noticed the flying ponies could stand on clouds, and that there is a city in the clouds not too far away that one day I'd like to see but is there a spell or magic that would allow me to stand on clouds too?"
Tapping her chin for a moment she gave him a look over before replying.
"There is a spell that I can cast on your feet to let you walk on clouds.... but it would be tethered to your own body for magic. Should it fail you would start falling immediately so I don't think we can do it today."
"Awww come on Twilight! This suit is designed to fly and has safety measures built in! Should I start falling too fast it will automatically slow my decent and land me safely on the ground. I'm not trying to wander a city in the sky alone mind you, I just want to practice actually stepping on clouds so I know how they feel underfoot."
She still looked very hesitant at the prospect of a creature without wings suddenly flying around outside but with a smile he leaned over and cupped her cheeks in his hands.
"Twilight, I promise not to over do it while I'm testing this suit. Let me preform the tests that I want to do and I'll let you preform one test of your own to me. So long as it's in the realm of reason and will not excessively cause pain or damage you can think up a test while I take care of my errands."
He might have over done it with the way her face split in a smile and the crazed twitch her eye produced, but as she closed her eyes he watched her magic weave around the heavy boots of his suit and leaving behind glowing swirls in their wake.
"Done and done! Just please don't over do it Hex! I don't want to see you get hurt."
Leaning down and kissing her at the tiny junction between her horn and forehead Hex caressed her ears fondly before polishing off his coffee and slapping his helmet back on.
"Thanks Sparky! I'll be back sometime tonight!"
After leaving the poor mare there to blush he made one last check through of the suits systems before stepping outside into the early morning sunlight. With a deep steadying sigh he crouched down and jumped, engaging the twin engines attached to his back before hurtling into the air at break neck speed. The Reapers he had met weren't kidding when they said the suits could just as easily kill you as a zerg.
With his vantage point above the city it was relatively easy to pick a cloud large enough to land on. As he drew closer and closer he honestly thought falling through would be easier than standing on the damn thing but as his feet touched the solidity was undeniable. Here he was, the first human ever to stand on a fluffy cloud but as the smile started to spread across his face the sensors in his helmet picked up movement... something it was programmed to spot from a distance and high altitude. He was already flying towards the disturbance with both pistols drawn.
2 minuets earlier...
Twilight shook her head as she huffed. That human was always a handful, but if he wanted to play in the clouds for a little bit it was worth running an experiment on him. Pulling out a massive scroll she picked her way down the list looking for the most promising of the thousands of tests she had thought of since his arrival. A crack of thunder from outside drew her out of the swirling ideas.
"SPIKE! Is there a storm planned for today!"
The small dragon, still sullen after being put to bed early and not allowed to join in the drinking responded with a sigh.
"No Twilight. There isn't any storms planned for this whole week. Maybe it's just Rainbow Dash playing a joke one somepony."
That wasn't anything out of the ordinary but when the thunder sounded twice more she rolled her scroll up and listened more carefully. A screech tore through Ponyville, a sound that was both alien and filled with pain. Other screeches joined the first, and as the hair rose along her back she could somehow feel the hatred in those sounds.
"SPIKE! SEND A LETTER TO CELESTIA AND TELL HER TO COME TO PONYVILLE NOW!"
Before the tiny dragon could question her Twilight teleporeted away to the fields close to the everfree forests. As her eyes made sense of the scene in front of her it wasn't the letter that reached Celestia in Canterlot first, it was the telepathic scream heard by every unicorn between Ponyville and Canterlot that hit home.
Hex was lost in the machine when he heard Twilights scream. How she was able to produce enough volume to be heard over the screeching of the zerg was beyond him but it created the distraction he needed to land his last grenade where it would count the most.
The assault group he came across was no more than a dozen Hydralisks and about a score of zerglings, most of which were easy to kill with how tightly packed they were. Maybe three hydra's were left along with a dozen zerglings but since the little bastards couldn't get to him in the air the went after the closet breathing ground target.
Turning around in an attempt fly Twilight out of danger the hydra's still alive sent a volley of spikes into his booster pack, grounding him in between the zerg and the petrified pony. The machine made things easier as his world slowed down enough for him to make sense of his choices. Just a little ways above Twilight was Rainbow Dash, coming to see what exactly was going on and giving him the out he was looking for.
Taking a deep breath, he screamed as loud as he could with his suit amplifying his voice to Rainbow Dash. "TAKE HER AWAY"
Turning to the oncoming Zerg he raised the gauss pistols and allowed the targeting systems inside the helmet to take over with the machine.
Twilight watched the flash of weapon fire from Hex's hands and saw the creatures charging him die in splatters of gore. She felt something wrap around her waist and lift her into the air away from the carnage not ten feet away. Looking back in panic she found Rainbow Dash flying her away and once more screamed.
"WE CAN'T LEAVE HIM!"
Dash's face hardened as she wrapped her arms and legs harder around Twilight's body and flew faster in the opposite direction. She could still see him fighting against the monsters, their bodies falling out of the air with each shot but when only a few remained his weapons went dry.
With a roar from his back Hex managed to draw the modified cutter and carved into the first Zergling that fell dead at his side. The second had already closed the distance before he could bring the weapon around for another swing, sinking one of its back claws into his right leg and bringing him to his knee before driving the cutter through its skull.
Nothing stopped the Hydralisk from getting to him though. The blinding flash that came from behind them didn't slow it, the sound scores of hooves, or the deadly warning given from Celestia. They could only watch as the things right claws punched through his chest armor and out of his back and he heard a familiar scream from behind him as the Hydralisk lifted him up to eye level.
Hex never got the chance to raise the cutter in his left hand before its body contracted powerfully, sending its other claws through his armor and cleanly depriving him of his arm. Looking into the things eyes irritated him for the few moments he held him up before tossing his harmless body aside. It didn't even have the decency to hate him like he hated them, the bastard just moved on to the next target.
He could feel the suits medical systems pumping his body with antibiotics and counter toxins but he doubted they would do any good raising up just enough to see what was happening he smiled when he watched Celestia burn the bastard into nothing but ash before his vision faded into blackness.
Celestia was beyond angry. The other two living Hydralisks didn't have enough time to take a second breath before they too were incinerated. Behind her one of the guards that had accompanied the Royal sisters spotted movement within the tree line but no one was given the chance to pursue them.
They could only feel their Princesses mind reach out into a large area, feel the boiling rage when she came across more of the zerg holding back behind cover, and then watch as she torched a blocks worth of the everfree forest along with the remaining monsters hiding from her. Only after the threats were dealt with did she snap out of her wrath with Luna's pleas, the unicorns led by Shining Armor moving into the forest in thick groups to scout the area.
Three unicorns were surrounding Hex, two of which were already casting spells while one was arranging for transportation to the nearest hospital. A forth solemn unicorn was floating a large object close to the ground that was wrapped in black cloth. With the guards scouring the area for signs of where the creatures had come from Luna convinced her sister to accompany the transport back to Ponyville hospital with the hopes that there was something she could do to help.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash waited outside the surgical suite as Celestia talked with the surgeons for a moment before they went to work on a being none of them had any experience with prior. Knowing the prospects were grim the Princess asked the two for the whole story as closely as they could recall.
Hours ticked by as the other elements of harmony soon joined them in the waiting area, but the silence was soon broken the moment Minerva walked in with pure rage contorting her face.
"What happened."
Her demand was met with Twilight's and Dash's recount of what had happened, Minerva seemed to be on the verge of strangling the both. One of the surgeons quietly exited the surgical suite, and with a neutral voice gave Hexus little chance of surviving the night. Luna was the first one to break the silence that followed.
"He should have never fought them alone."
"You can fucking shove it Luna."
Minerva was shaking with anger as she shoved a finger at Twilight.
"You want to place blame? Why don't you start with the cunt that got him killed."
Shining Armor was in her face a moment later. "MY SISTER IS NOT A SOLDIER."
"No, she isn't Shining. So why the fuck was she there in the first place? Here's one more for you prick. Why would a veteran turn his back on enemies?"
"MINERVA THAT IS ENOUGH"
"FUCK YOU TOO SUN TYRANT!"
There wasn't much breathing going on through the room as the human and the monarch of all ponies faced off. Minerva didn't seem concerned that she was trying to pick a fight with something that could incinerate her. Turning towards Applejack an insane smile crossed her face.
"You're the element of Honesty right? Tell me Honesty, am I lying? That purple shit bag teleported somewhere she didn't fucking belong, and some of the freaks Hex was fighting went after the only other target they could get to."
Twilight was hyperventilating, tears were coursing down here eyes as the dots connected in her head with Minerva slapping her in the face with the truth.
"A Veteran turning their backs on zerg? Bullshit. He went soft trying to save this one's life, and he's the only soul on the Planet who knows how to fight the zerg as infantry. You're not fooling anyone either Rainbow Dash. I stake my life on the fact that you showed up just like this fucking one to see what was going on."
The pegasus could only quiver and look at the floor. She tried to spare her friend because at the time she hadn't heard what Hex called out for her to do before turning around.
"What were his last words Rainbow Dash? If he's going to die, lets here the last thing he had to say."
In a voice that was less that an squeak she whispered, words that everyone heard regardless. "Take her away."
The flash of white and the sound of a body slamming against the ground broke the silence. Twilight was on her back, convulsing on the floor with Vinyl Scratch on top of her, front hooves and magic choking the girl to death. Two spells from Celestia ended the confrontation, the first tearing them apart and the second knocking them out.
"Is this what you wanted Minerva? His friends blaming each other for his death?"
"He was my friend too tyrant. I reserve the right to place blame where it belongs. And you still have to pay for your students mistakes."
"The doctors have already said nothing can be done..."
"The doctors aren't going to be yanking his memories out of his head, you are."
Luna tried to talk some sense into the woman.
"Minerva this is madness... the doctors gave him little chance but what your asking will kill him on the spot."
"He would die happy knowing that knowledge wasn't lost because of his death. Go ahead Sun Tyrant, make a fucking choice since you'll have your way regardless. Let him die in the night, or put him out and still save thousands of your precious ponies?"
As much as Celestia hated to admit, Minerva was right in her assumption. While Hex had shown her what the Zerg had done, he didn't impart his expertise in fighting them on the field of battle. She was damned for killing him even if it was to save countless more, and damned just as equally for leaving him be.
"I really wish you wouldn't ensure my death Minerva. I think I'm fine with just being almost dead."
Hex had been pushed out of the surgical suite by an incredibly irate nurse who was berating him for speaking and moving. Babbling ensued from everyone until a pained grunt from Hex got their attention.
"Would you crazy bitches calm the fuck down please? Luna. Take Minerva into Twilight's basement. Minerva, underneath the crates of ammo on the left side of my suit there is a large canister with a blue cross on it. Bring it here. Oh and another thing, stop kicking the beehive you ornery shithead! I'm not dead yet."
Before Minerva could respond Luna curled her left foreleg around her shoulders and vanished with flash.
"Celestia, Shining. I figure you both already made sure Ponyville is safe but I need you to collect some of the more intact corpses for training. It won't take too long to put myself back together again and I'll need them. Oh and miss I'm an angry sexy nurse! I need you to go get my arm from where ever you guys stored it. I'll be reattaching it soon."
It was kinda cute the way her eyes were bulging out of her head, but she promptly went running down the hall leaving the little group alone for a few moments.
"As for the rest of you please stop crying. It's making things awkward and uncomfortable."
The elements berated him angrily before each gave him a careful hug, and with another flash Luna and Minerva reappeared with the canister in question.
"How do you plan on escaping death again Hex? I would think having your arm hacked off and being harpooned through the chest would be enough for any man."
"Nanites. Nanites programmed with the anatomy and physiology backing of surgical nanites."
"Where in the fuck did you get that program from? And you do know that even if it does work the agony of having your body rebuilt by non surgical nanites might kill you right?"
"You were trying to convince Celly to kill me seconds ago, I could have died from the pony doctors patching my chest up, and that zerg was pretty sure I was dead when it flung my body away like a rag doll. What's your point Minerva?
"We need you alive to train the Equestrian ground soldiers or your memories to give too them. I'm thinking it would be safer taking the memories."
"Well you can go eat a bag of smashed dicks. I plan on surviving even if it means having to scream for the next few hours."
The nurse had returned with long cooler on her back, and after the thing was placed on his bed he instructed her to take him into a private room and for Celestia to follow along. He was going to need her help through the night. With one last farewell to the small group of friends, Hex let his thinking mind go as the machine took over and prepared the contents of the canister with his right hand.
"Hex.... can this truly kill you?"
"Yes Celestia, it can kill me. But I have survived more grievous injuries with the same method by myself before, so I am confident that I can survive now. Please sound proof the room."
With a quick spell she ensured no one could hear what was happening inside without coming through the door, and after making sure it was locked she looked skeptically at the massive syringe filled with moving blue liquid and the long needle that accompanied it.
"Two things I need you to do for me Celestia. The first is to hold my severed arm against the stump after I've injected myself. The second thing is I need you to hold me down if I start thrashing and screaming. Try not to worry too much about the screaming though, it just means I'm alive and I'm being fixed up to my former glory."
Celestia felt herself quiver as another equally large syringe was removed with a thankfully non moving substance filling it. She watched him remove the bandages carefully from the stump of his arm, and after cleaning it off used her magic to press the detached limb against it. After she had lined the thing up to where it was supposed to go her eyes widened when she saw the needle rest against his chest.
"I really don't think we should be doing..!"
She didn't get the chance to finish the statement before Hex pushed the needle into his heart and pushed the nanites into his system. Seconds after the first syringe was depleted he repeated the process with the second, and after no more than a minuet ticked by his body started to convulse in pain.
While the first injection provided the machines needed to put him back together, the second gave them the raw materials needed for them to preform the work. Medical nanites were too valuable to be used on he likes of him, but mechanical nanites were essentially the same thing that could be programmed to do anything. The difference was medical grade came with anesthetics built in, healing and treating pain at the same time while the mechanical ones didn't.
Both were thankfully suspended in a sterile solution that wouldn't hurt a person, and Hex knew from experience he could save his own life with these things. That thought didn't ease the pain of what felt like billions of ants biting, tearing, and repairing his body. The worst part of it was they repaired the neurological system first, so as soon as they reattached his arm's nervous system he was greeted with cold so pronounced that it hurt along with the screaming of the dying cells in need of blood and oxygen.
Nope, not even saving his life could dull out the sounds of his own screaming while the nanites went to work.
Exhaustion. That was the only feeling Hex could understand when his senses returned after the ordeal. He remembered passing in and out of consciousness in the worst kind of ways. At times the agony was so bad his mind would shut down temporarily, only to start back up again in the same type of pain that had put him out.
He was grudgingly proud of his fancy little idea for patching himself up but during the night he was starkly reminded that it may have simply been easier to die. The only thing truly keeping him together at the moment was the machine, and after a quick peak around the room to find himself alone he took a deep sigh of relief. There was still a few hours left in the night to rest, but he dreaded the day to come and the backlash of yesterday’s fiasco to bite him in the ass.
There was no rest to be had the following day after refusing to obey the orders for bed rest in lieu of interrogating his first visiter. Sparky came in crying her eyes out after the near brush with death, but Hex had heard enough being pushed into the conversation to know who gave her that thought.
It was wrong of him to use Sparky’s guilt, but he knew none of them would be filling him in on the details of what happened after he blacked out. It was sad how predictable the ponies were, and sure enough Twilight spilled the beans on the royal sisters having a war council meeting in Canterlot within the next few hours.
The nanites had done their job putting him back together, but they could do little to alleviate the battering he received, so with a grunt of pain he got his feet under him before pressuring the pleading pony beside him. He would have to make it up to Twilight for what he put her through after forcing the poor girl through another breakdown in so many hours.
He hung forgiveness in front of her tear streaked face, promised to forget the mistake that was not entirely her own, used her own grief to drive the message home, and though he knew no one else could teleport him where he needed to go willing she would do it out of guilt alone. The little pony wept at his side as she took him to her basement, watching him put on his personal suit, and continued to weep when they flashed into the middle of the war council in Canterlot.
The room was filled with shouting, ponies of various armors and cloths lined the long table, hooves were being slammed into the solid wood as everyone attempted to make their point. His presence only irritated the problem as some blamed him for bringing the zerg, Minerva yelling in his defense, Luna demanding to know why he wasn’t resting.
The machine was in overdrive as sounds started coalescing into one throbbing mass, possible threats were marked, ponies stomping their way to him, demands to know why Twilight was crying, and another armored figure standing at his side, pressing a pointed object into the injection port of his right arm.
A loud metallic clank sounded through the room followed by an audible hiss as the contents of the device emptied itself into his blood with cold, calming effectiveness. Everything sharpened as the drug washed over his mind, every word spoken, argument yelled, and otherwise nonsense babbled was made crystal clear. He felt himself breath once more and sighed with content as the pain from his earlier injuries seemed to fade away.
The sound of gun being fired into the air silenced everyone as the armored figure beside him spoke.
“If you ain’t Infantry, Get the fuck out.”
A male pony dressed in what looked like business attire inhaled as if to start yelling once more, but a second shot, causing part of his chair directly beside his head to explode and slash into his face silenced him once more.
“What did I say? If you ain’t Infantry, Get. The. Fuck. Out.”
Minerva spoke quietly and raised her hands towards him.
“Durge, you need to calm down…”
A third round cut her voice off and left a bleeding gash across her cheek, and once more silence filled the room.
“Princess. Move these ponies, or move their corpses. The next round goes through someone’s head.”
Hex knew the last thing either Princess wanted was deaths amongst their allies. She couldn’t risk using magic on the other infantryman without the possibility of him using an unknown weapon to hurt an innocent pony. The council started to disperse, the ponies were silent as they glared back, and when every single person save Shining Armor, Hex, and the other armored terran.
The man pulled off his helmet, and Hex smiled wickedly at the disturbing grin being returned to him.
“Who am I Hexus Murdoc?”
“You’re Durger Hacks, the only asshole left in Terran space still in a Firebat suit.”
“And who is this pretty pony?”
“Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards.”
“And why the fuck are we here?”
“Because there are zerg that need to die.”
“Right, right, but why are we listening to that bullshit when we have to do the cleaning?”
“We don’t…. the killing is left to us.”
Nodding sagely, Durge pulled out a half smoked cigar and lit the end with the pilot light of his right gauntlet, blowing a perfect circle into the air.
“You think you can get us a few mugs and booze Shiny? You’re not going to like where this conversations goin, but by the time we’re through we’ll show you how to deal with the critters.”
Eying the other human suspiciously, Hex smirked at his old friend and nodded his agreement to Shiny.
“You’re going to want booze Shiny, you might not get another chance where we’re going.”
Rubbing at his temple hard, the captain vanished for a moment and returned shortly after with a small barrel and three tankards. After pouring a round for everyone they all took long drags before Durge pointed at his compatriot.
“I would just like to point out that you look like shit Hex. Mind filling me in on why my old partner looks like shit Shiny?”
“Hex was nearly killed yesterday protecting my sister. While I can’t thank him enough I still don’t appreciate him forcing the poor girl to bring him here.”
“You’re sister didn’t have any place on the killing fields Shiny, and that was a dirty fucking thing to do messin with her head like that Hex. You’re a cleaner man than that, and you know how I hate filth. Did you really save his sisters life?”
“Yeah, I guess I did manage to keep her alive.”
Another long draft emptied their tankards, and Hex was the one to refill them before Durge continued.
“Didn’t believe you Shiny, not until hearing it from this bastard’s mouth. Since when do you go sticking your neck out for a pony who literally kills themselves?”
“Since I started feeling like they were worth saving.”
“Huh…. Does it feel nice?”
“It does when they give you a hug and mean it.”
“But that’s probably why you were so damn messed up not too long ago. If I didn’t have that STIM you might have snapped”
“I was a little stressed.”
“You killed hundreds the last time I saw you that way.”
Another long hit from their drinks before Durge pointed at him and spoke to Shiny.
“Last time he snapped, this one here slipped out of our unit to go do some zerg killing. He baited those monsters for days into traps, blowing them to pieces, killing and killing until nothing but corpses and charred earth remained.”
Taking another sip of his ale Durge smiled at Shiny with an insane twinkle in his eye.
“Hundreds of dead zerg Shiny, like the ones you saw yesterday. All of them led to their deaths by this crazy bastard because he was “Stressed” as he puts it. That’s why I didn’t believe you before. A couple of Zerg putting him in the dirt over a female? You must have a shine on her eh Hex?”
“The way I see it Shiny, you ponies have been tryin to rehabilitate this bastard when you need him to be crazy. Too much kindness, too much lovin, too much feelin all in all. You may like these ponies Hex, and hell they seem to like you too, but they don’t need your feelings and they sure as hell don’t need your happiness. They need you to do their killing.”
For the third time they drained their tankards, and after being offered a drag Hex arched an eyebrow as he watched Shiny take a long puff before letting out a cloud of smoke as Durge gave them a refill.
“We’re going on a bug hunt Durge. We’re taking fifty guards that can use magic with us plus Shiny. We’re going to go play in those woods for a spell and teach them how to kill the hard way. Then we’ll be back with a few veterans to teach the others how it’s done.”
“What about the females Hex? How you gonna deal with them if they don’t agree?”
“Let them deal with the bigger picture, handle the talking, and reigning in those other ponies. When the time comes to do some killin, they’ll need us ready to go and we need to train for that day.”
“I get where you two are coming from, but Princess Celestia would never allow it to happen. Especially since you just survived something that should have killed you Hex.”
“That’s the thing Shiny, this is between me, you, and Durge. We’ll leave a note to let them know where we’re going and what we’ll be up to.”
Shiny drained his Tankard and looked at the two alien creatures with a crazed smile on his face.
“You’re both bucking crazy.”
“Actually I’m a lot more crazy than Hex, but he’s a better killer then me. Details details, but you should make the note fancy! Make it sound like we’re going to die for a great cause.”
“I thought that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“Yeah it is Hex, but I bet Shiny can put it into words that’ll make the girls moist.”
“That is only going to piss them off more. Cadence is going to kill me.”
Durge cackled before draining his ale.
“Either that or she’s going to fuck you stupid if we make it back alive.”
“I don’t think it works that way Durge. By the way, aren’t you even a little fucking freaked with the talking pony thing? Besides however the fuck you got here shouldn’t this magic and shit bother you at least a little bit?”
“That’s yours and Shiny’s problem Hex. You two have too much brains in your damn melons for your own good. I started out crazy, this place is crazy, and all the whack talking fucking ponies are crazy. Far as I’m concerned nothin’s changed.”
Hex polished his drink off as he looked at the two other men in turn. Shiny took another hit of the cigar and Durge filled their mugs one last time. Raising it in a toast he smiled insanely at them, and strangely enough they returned it and raised their mugs.
"To dead bugs, for nice hugs, may we all come back to get laid."
"You're a poet Durge, even if you're an uneducated retard."
"You're both shitty humans and you'll end up getting me killed."
All three drained their mugs for the last time before they stood, Hex and Durge checking their equipment before nodding to Shiny who teleported them away.
Like any great adventure undertaken by men this one began with the Shiny, Durge, and Hex intoxicated, half crazed, and giggling like kids doing bad things. Shiny teleported them into the guard barracks where he selected fifty unicorns, and at the two humans heckling he picked the ones with the most raw magic out of the original thousand.
The next thing Hex and Durge had the fifty men do was "acquire" some of the black armor the night guards used and enough rations to last for one month. One particularly young unicorn by the name of Popper whined about eating the shitty guard food but was silenced with a slap to the back of his head from Hex. It took them only a few minuets to get everything they needed, and in that time Shiny was polishing off the departure letter before giving it to one of the guards on duty for delivery.
With every man ready the unit was ordered to mass teleport to the area where Hex had first encountered the Zerg while the three still drunken commanders flashed into Twilight's basement to gather the armaments Hex and Durge needed. It didn't take long to get back to the unit, and after a bit of consideration they were all ordered to cast spells to hide their scents and suppress any sounds made by their bodies.
The rest of the day was spent making headway into the Everfree forest with each man fitting their new armor along the way. After finding a clearing that was overshadowed by the trees and close to a wide stream Hex called for a halt and allowed the men to rest while Durge addressed their mission.
"Ok ponies. This is a bug hunt, and we're off to kill some really nasty critters that almost offed Hex. Mind you he wears armor about three times thicker than the shit you have on now and one of these bugs harpooned him through the chest before cleaving his..... Left? Yeah his left arm off. He was able to get it put back on and just got out of the hospital today so we'll be taking it kinda easy."
Every single one of them was staring at them with mouths hung open.
"So! These bug things are really dangerous and some of you are probably going to get torn apart and die awful deaths. While we're resting me and Hex need to know how you guys use that magic shit to keep you alive. We're here because we're the only ones who have experience with the fucking monsters and know fairly well how to kill them. Now! Who's got some ideas!"
One stallion was literally shaking as he babbled out in fear.
"I'm... I'm just a shield pony! I don't know how to kill!"
Durge only shook his head and waggled an armored finger at him.
"Look at that ponies! We have a volunteer! So Mr. Shitbag, let me make this clear. We're here to kill. If we don't kill them they will tear us apart screaming and then go after the cities. So your friends, family, mares that you like to fuck, whatever will be the next in line to die screaming when your gone! I'd figure out real quick how you can make somethin dead with that fancy shield thing. Can you kill something with a shield?"
"I.... I could crush it.... I think..."
"I would hope so! If you can't then you'll die."
Hex stretched before tapping out with Durge and stood in front of the gathering of unicorns.
"Ok, so this doesn't seem to be penetrating your thick skulls. I'm going to show you a little something to give you a taste of what we'll be fighting. Shiny is going to pull you assholes into my head, but I'll warn you it's not a pretty place. I wouldn't root around if I were you, I don't think we'll be able to stop you from screaming."
Nodding to Shining the captain gathered magic to his horn before casting it over the entire group, allowing them to see the memory he wanted to show them. It was the same one that stood out when he was first turned into a marine, of the family being spooked out of their hiding place only to be slaughtered in the streets. He pressed the feelings he had at the time into the group, of how he was still newly trained, awkward with his weapon, and hesitant.
Focusing on their faces, especially that of the small girl being torn apart between a group of zerglings the memory turned into a more recent moment. The conflict that happened not even two days ago. He showed them the calm efficiency he used to ventilate their skulls and blow them to bits, how the appearance of Twilight had shifted half of the remaining zerg, and finally how he stood between them and the small pony as Rainbow Dash dragged her away without a second of hesitation.
When his mind went blank and he opened his eyes more than half of their unit were actively vomiting their guts up, some actively crying, and quite a few had pissed themselves.
"I don't need you all to live, just like I don't need all the guards in Equestria to live. I need a few of you to learn how to kill like me and Durge. I need you to learn enough so you can pass it on to your fellow guards and keep them alive. All in all I need you fucks to die the way I almost died. To serve and protect, till death do you part."
Looking around at the poor ponies and shaking his head at the way Durge was laughing at them he ordered the unit into the stream to clean themselves. He wasn't about to wonder around the forest with them smelling like piss and vomit. After gathering the men together once more they pressed their way through the dense forest, the younger pony Popper once again making errant comments.
"Why is this a complete sausage fest? I know we were picked for being the strongest magic users but I was sure there were just as many mares as stallions."
Durge was the closest to Popper, so after smacking him on the back of the head he answered the question.
"First off, ponies are probably going to die and dead women hurt moral more. Second is the last thing any of us want is for a man and a woman to develop feelings all they way out here. Third is if we're not getting any, you ain't either. And last is men tend to want to protect woman, which could get a lot more of you killed if one was here. Losing a brother can send a man into a bloody rage, and usually he'll kill more. Losing a fucking woman will throw him off the deep end."
The sound of something screeching brought them too a halt. Hex and Durge ordered complete silence from that moment forward, and after slowly advancing forward they came to a fairly high cliff overlooking a large clearing. Down below there were zerglings screeching and fighting over what looked like the corpse of a lion with wings, and Hydralisks wondered about mindlessly, occasionally sending barbed spikes spewing into the trees whenever a bird made too much noise.
Hex and Durge brought the company closer together before Hex gave them one last order.
"Those are the things we'll be fighting boys. Some of you won't live after meeting them but you'll be spared this one time. Me and Durge are going to deal with the group below us, you're orders are to watch."
Moving to the cliff edge both looked down at the small group of enemies and counted sixteen zerglings accompanied by six scattered Hydralisks in the group. Both took out grenades from their belts and primed them to detonate at set intervals before tossing three apiece.
The explosions tore through the unsuspecting zerg with brutal efficiency, but before the blasts even reached them Hex and Durge had already thrown themselves off the cliff into the middle of their enemies. Back to back, they turned in a circle, Durge dumping flaming fuel into the maimed zerg while Hex's rifle crippled, killed, or blinded the more heavily armored Hydralisks.
For miles around the forest could hear the screams of agony from the zerg, and those unfortunate enough not die from rifle fire or the explosives died thrashing into the flaming ground. Twenty-two killing machines had been waiting in the clearing, and every last one was killed in less than three minuets. Signaling the men down Hex and Durge moved a short ways into the surrounding forest to check for more enemies, but when none could be found they met the company next to the burning corpses.
"Did we take prisoners? Did we ask them to surrender? Did we offer them the chance to live? Today you forget the training they gave you back in Canterlot. You are all killers now. You won't be using non-lethal tactics unless I tell you too. And by the time we leave, each and every one of you will earn your place... or die trying."
From beneath the ground not five feet away a single zergling surfaced. Screeching as it launched itself through the air at Hex, his pistol already leveled with the things head, the little bastard suddenly blew. Blood, gore, and chunks splattered a good half of the company as everyone turned to look at Popper. His horn was still glowing as he shook there hyperventilating, looking around at everyone in a panic before babbling out.
"I... I.... I was scared.... so I shoved... magic into it.... and then... made it pop."
Hex and Durge were laughing so hard they nearly pissed themselves, ponies all around them looked on in shock as they slung off chunks of zergling until Durge found the things head and brought it over to Popper. Using his flame thrower at low setting he sloshed away flesh and even tiny bits of brain before shaking the thing down, putting its fallen jaw back into place, and ordering Popper to cast a spell to keep all of it's teeth and jaws together before tying it to his upper left foreleg.
The skull was more grizzly looking than the zergling itself, its tusks and razored teeth on display in a ghastly little smile with the head even larger than the ponies own. Patting him on the back Durge looked at the men surrounding them.
"You will each wear a skull to represent your first kill. If you can't find the one you killed first, doesn't matter, any skull will do after that. You'll all be doing a lot more killing so take Popper here as an example. It may have been done out of nearly shittin himself but you want magic to kill. You done good little Pop! I expect to see a lot more exploding zerg before we leave!"
Hex was rubbing his domed helmet as his mind wrapped around an idea.
"One of you ponies use magic to check the ground around us. We forgot to tell you zerg like to burrow and they can pop up whenever they feel like it."
Another younger looking stallion stepped forward and started to cast his magic, but an instant later the stallions hooves pressed down into little craters as he bared his teeth. Muted screeches sounded around them for an instant before three dark splotches appeared in the dirt fairly close by.
"........ I smooshed them."
Hex and Durge started chuckling once more before Hex took a deep steadying breath and spoke to him.
"What's your name son?"
"... It's Pippin Sir."
"I'm not a Sir. I'm Hex now and this is Durge. Welcome to the man club, you can call us by our names."
After Durge walked over to one of the splotches and pointed at it Pip unsurfaced the flaccid remains of a zergling that looked like it had been stepped on by something very large. Once more a skull was cleaned, and now two of their numbers proudly wore their first kills, and hopefully before their excursion was over many more would as well. Now the only thing was whether or not they could make it out of the forest alive.
Durge smiled in that crazed kind of way that screamed pure evil as he addressed the company.
"That's it for training little ponies. We showed you how humans kill, and two of your own already wear their first skulls. Every time we meet Zerg from now on me and Hex are gonna pick a few to earn their place. We'll teach you how these bugs tick, and how to kill them real quick, but whether you live or die is up to you. We'll watch your backs, but if a zerg is standin in front of you and kills you because of something stupid like fear or hesitating.... Try not to scream while you die. We don't need ponies that can't kill."
Hex knew it was a lie, that both of them would do everything in their power to keep the tiny ponies from meeting a horrible death but their men didn't. Not yet at least. So with a signal from Durge the company moved into the trees and left the corpses to burn, evading the patrols of Pegasus guards scouting the area and checking the disturbance. They were not apart of their unit, and no one could know where they were or what they were doing in the dark forest.
Hex sighed tiredly as he stomped along in front of the three lines of ponies with Durge to his right and Shiny on his left, already missing the murky depths of the Everfree forest. Just outside the city of Canterlot on the main road Shiny had convinced them to march back through the city as proof to the citizens that they did exist and were actually still alive.
"What the hell did you put in that letter Shiny? Did you tell them we were all going to kill ourselves?"
"I wrote exactly what you two drunken fools wanted me to. I told them we were going to fight an unknown enemy to train our armies in dealing with them."
"I know I said make it fancy Shiny, but how fancy exactly did you do it?"
"Just like you wanted Durge. Something to make the girls moist."
"Yeah, I said that. But what possessed you to send the damn thing to every city in the country?"
"Simple. We could wait for Celestia to announce it and have every pony panic or we could do it ourselves and show them that somethings being done."
"For the one who kept sayin the wife was gonna kill him you sure dug yourself a fine grave Shiny."
"One day I hope you're married Durge. So you can feel my pain."
As they passed one of the cities outer checkpoints, Shining commanded the guards on duty to bring him a copy of his note, and Durge and Hex they both sighed at its contents as they read down the lines.
Citizens of Equestria
An enemy of unknown origin has made it's presence known to our great nation, and due to their unique and foreign abilities, that of which the race of ponies have never before witnessed, drastic measures have been taken to protect the populace. Allies have made their presence known to our Princesses, plans have been laid out to ensure the safety of all those living in our lands, but a sacrifice must be made to in order to prepare our armies should an escalated conflict arise.
Fifty of Equestria's best guards have stepped forward to bear the burden of this sacrifice. These men have chosen to meet our enemies in full knowledge that some will not return, but with the information gathered those who remain will pass on the means for their fellow guards to survive. This unit will engage a known enemy location and will not return until our lands are once more safe, or a quarter of the total strength remains.
We of the Death's Knell Company ask the ponies of Equestria to remain calm, listen to the guards who have been sworn to protect the innocent, and for the loved ones of our unit to forgive our sudden departure. We go willingly into the dark for the sake of the light.
At the bottom of the letter was a stylized drawing of a Hydralisk skull, and beneath that were the full names of every pony in their improvised company. Looking back at the ponies he smiled before handing the letter over to Durge, who more closely examined the fine curved lettering and the drawing.
They had made it out of the Everfree forest after three weeks of scouring the lands in search of Zerg. With nothing more than the letter and a months worth of food taken from the store houses in the Castle their company actually managed to comb the entire woodland area. Each of the ponies following behind had a single bleached zergling skull mounted on the upper portion of their right foreleg as a memento of their first kills, and a clear sign of what they faced in the dark.
All of them sported an injury of some sort, their black armor cracked and gashed, some with bandages wrapped around their bodies, some were missing ears, and two had lost an eye to the close encounters with the Zerg. Amazingly their company suffered no deaths.
"Shiny went way overboard with this fancy shit. But at least he looks like a fucking MAN NOW"
Hex and Durge smashed their armored fists into each other as the ponies behind them roared with laughter. A flying zergling had nearly killed the captain if it hadn't been for Durge Torching it mid jump. The problem was the things clawed hand slashed across Shiny's face and subsequently set his mane on fire. A brutal scar ran from above the captains left eye down across his face and ending just below the right side of his muzzle.
Durge was still snickering even as they entered the main gates and down the echoing corridor through the all into the city.
"He looked girly as fuck when I first met him. Now that his flowing mane has been burnt down and his face ain't so pretty he's manly as hell!"
"We wouldn't be half as banged up if you were a better teacher Durge!"
"You wouldn't be half as banged up if you all weren't shit bags!"
"Says the asshole missing a little finger!"
Laughter echoed down the passage way until the unit once more marched in the open sunlight. Whistling a particular tune Hex began singing, his voice carrying over the company until every man sang the words.
"Bring sally up, bring sally down, lift and squat gotta tear the ground."
"Bring sally up, bring sally down, lift and squat gotta tear the ground."
"Bring sally up, bring sally down, lift and squat gotta tear the ground."
"Pretty boy Shining is dead and gone. Left me here to weep and moan."
Each man sang with a smile, their march matched to the tune of the song that carried them through the town and kept their minds occupied while they made way to the castle. All around them ponies were flooding into the streets to see the guards and the strange humans who had taken them away from family and friends to learn the arts of war.
Strange humans who had convinced the captain of the guard that some would die without saying good bye to their families. The song itself was a part of their training as the name replaced at the end of the verses took on one of the company. As far as every Deaht's Knell was concerned they were already dead, just biding their time until the ponies from home put them in the dirt.
It helped Hex, Durge, and Shining memorize each name, scorch it into their minds, and laugh at their antics while they still lived. The ponies realized eventually what that song meant, but watching them march along with wicked smiles on their faces and seeing the bleached skulls jangle against their arms had the effect he was hoping for.
These men were no longer like the rest of their ilk. These men were ready for the grave, and looked forward to meeting their enemies. The streets of Canterlot were silent as they pasted through, only the sound of their singing echoing around and lingering in the minds of those gathered.
It was in the grand courtyard before the castle gates that they were met by princess Celestia, the ponies of Canterlot both high society and lower class standing hoof to hoof with many more behind them pushing here and there to get a good look at the Death's Knell Company. Celestia greeted them with a kind but worried voice.
"Death's Knell Company! It warms our hearts to see you all returned safe and well. You are free to see your families until summoned to serve once more."
Hex roared to the men behind him.
"DEATH'S KNELL COMPANY!"
"TILL LAST MAN STANDING, TILL LAST BREATH TAKEN, BY OUR BLOOD, BY OUR LIVES, TILL DEATH DO WE PART, WE WILL SERVE!"
It brought a cold chill down his spine and crazed tears of joy to his eyes hearing them roar without a second's hesitation. They grew up so fast, and the ponies of Equestria would feel that chill too. They could start pitying their enemies, his men were no longer capable of it.
With one final salute to the Princess the company started to disperse, ponies from all around rushing them and babbling questions here and there about where they vanished too, what they did, who's skulls adorned their armor, and how every pony had received an injury of some kind. It made Hex smile all the more widely when each of his company sported a similar crazed smile but kept their mouths shut.
Celestia gave Hex, Durge, and Shining a withering glare before beckoning them to follow. It wasn't until they were well into the castle that they noticed there were no guards anywhere in sight and that something was wrong. Durge was the first to point this out.
"Hey Shiny, is uh... is there a reason Celestia is walkin kinda funny? And why is her hair suddenly pink? I thought it was like rainbow pastel or something."
The sound of Celestia's grating voice silenced them.
"Do you fools have any idea what week it is?"
Once more Durge with no sense of self preservation or insight answered once more.
"Uh.... no. Is it like a holiday or something?"
The doors of their familiar meeting hall banged open and as they followed the princess who sat in an awkward kind of way. Lifting a tea cup to her lips and sipping carefully she smiled at them with a dangerous kind of glint in her eyes.
"I would think you should know how important this special time is for a mare Shining. I fully understand why you boys needed to get out and about, and the meaning behind such a crucial training expedition but I would have thought you of all people would remember. I'm sure you and Cadence will work through such a.... drastic oversight."
Shiny's eyes narrowed into pinpricks as his mind pieced together what she was saying with Hex and Durge raising an eye brow at how the Stallion started quivering.
"Oh shit... the beginning of this week marked the mares Estrous cycle."
Durge looked between the Princess and Shining before asking.
"Ok.... what the fuck is Estrous?"
"It's when mares go into heat."
Hex tapped at the dome of his helmet before replying.
"Alright Shiny, I'll bite. How does that have anything to do with us?"
"We left without telling them, we left a letter that said we might not come back alive, and double whatever stress that may have brought with an.... itch that can't be scratched without a stallion to do it for them. Hard. Everyday during the cycle."
"Ok.... so me and Durge are fine but Cadence is going to wreck your shit twice as hard. You lucky devil."
Shining looked at them and smiled deviously, but Durge was the one that buried them alive without him even opening his mouth.
"Barricade the doors Hex, the mares will be all over us aliens. Besides, we don't have an access code to get me out of this suit."
Celestia looked up from her tea, giving Durge the most vicious smile Hex had ever seen.
"No need to worry Mr. Durge. While you boys were running about our guards found more salvage from your kind. There were extra suits similar to the ones you and Hex wear so.... I'm sure it won't be too painful tearing you out of there. Luna has been dying to see you."
Hex could feel himself starting to sweat. There were two mares he had left behind without word of where they were going. A purple one who he had conned into bringing him to the castle and a white one who he was pretty sure hadn't seen him since he was pronounced dead by the doctors.
"Durge.... What did you do to moon pony...."
"Welp.... She was really worried about you over doing it after coming so close to death.... and I kinda told her I'd convince you to rest.... then we kinda left.... But hey! We're still aliens Hex! Even if they are really pissed off and... frisky no worries right?"
Shiny only smiled with sick revenge glittering in his eyes.
"No worries at all Durge! Hex here proved that ponies and humans are perfectly suited to mating! So well in fact one of those mares openly brags about sleeping with him! We'll all go down in this burning ship like brothers in arms!"
"Really Hex? I know you were in the can for a while but seriously...."
The thought wasn't finished as the sound of something teleporting snapped through the room, a pink blur plowing into Shiny and pinning him to the ground. It was Cadence, who was currently foaming at the mouth with murder burning in her eyes and painted across her face.
"WHEN I'M DONE KILLING HIM YOU'RE BOTH ARE BUCKING DEAD!"
Another flash signaled the exit of Cadence with her prey, leaving Hex and Durge to laugh hysterically at the poor captain. When Durge could partially breath he panted out.
"Hex..... Hex..... we need to bail before shit goes south."
Shit rode south on the back of a fucking party wagon. An explosion from the side doors rocked the room as Luna snarled through the wreckage, stamping her front right hoof into the ground so hard the marble buckled and sent cracks running through the solid floor.
"DURGE!"
Hex's body couldn't decide between laughing and fleeing as moon pony shot through the air like a rocket and put Durge on his ass, skidding across the floor.
"LUNA! CALM THE FUCK DOWN"
"WE ARE CALM MORTAL! AND WE WISH TO EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE FOR YOUR FILTHY LYING WAYS!"
The sound of tearing metal filled the room as Luna's magic tore through his armored shell like a wet paper bag. Durge was about as big as Hex, and while they were not physically small in any way, shape, or form the man's eyes shrank down in shock. He had been in the can for a lot longer than Hex, and suddenly being naked to the world sank in deeper than any knife.
"RUN HEX RUN!"
Run he did, straight for the window and through it as a second explosion rocked the meeting hall. Hex was actually smiling at his luck, falling the short distance too the ground would give him ample time to evade and escape as shards of glass glittered around him in the sunlight. He didn't run fast enough though, something stopped his fall and yanked him right back through the window. Being dragged in full armor across the floor with sparks flying up around him nothing but doom awaited at his destination.
Vinyl was looking down at him through her shades, a small trickle of what looked like saliva trailing down her muzzle as she panted over him. Turning around and dragging him along Hex looked sadly at Durge, who was currently grappling naked with a moon pony who was laughing hysterically at his attempts to dominate her and occasionally pinning him to the ground with magic.
Ah potatoes. Glory of the dirt and staple of both humans and ponies for hundreds of years. Hex thought of how simple a potatoes life was, growing under the warmth of the sun and in the safe, loving embrace of mother earth. When their time comes they are dug up to perpetuate life itself, only to eventually be passed back into the ground to one day nurture other potatoes. So as Vinyl dragged him through the castle he imagined himself being a simple potato, regardless of the gigantic skid mark his armor was leaving in the once pristine marble floor.
"I am the great potato.... I go to my next life in peace."
"............................."
She was trying really hard to hold a laugh in, but Hex knew it was only a temporary fix to a much more serious problem. It was time to pay the piper for leaving Vinyl behind, but for his own sake he was glad she was alone. He would still have to deal with Twilight later on.
It wasn't until Vinyl dragged him into a particularly familiar hall way that he realized she was heading to his old room, and with a bang of magic flung the doors open before sending him skidding across the floor as she turned back too the door. If the spell she cast on the door last time was any indication of locking the door, the spell she used now was not only barring the only entrance but was also coiling around the walls. In one last ditch effort Hex got up and went hurtling through the room to fly through balcony doors and over the edge.
He was convinced that Vinyl couldn't get a hold of him mid way through whatever spell she was weaving, but once more he felt magic seize him midair and turn him slowly around. His blood ran cold when he saw who it was holding him up. Twilight Sparkle was sitting at a tiny table, sipping tea casually with her horn glowing.
"Good morning Mr. Hex! I'm glad too see you so frisky these days! I would hate if something were to damage my specimen..."
Trotting him back inside and even fixing the door Vinyl was smiling in her special rapist kind of way before hopping on top of him the moment Twilight put him down.
"Get outta there Hex, you're only making it worse.
"I am a potato. You must peel me to feast upon my innards."
"Do they call themselves potatoes while inside the armor?"
"No Twilight we refer to ourselves as canned cocks."
Vinyl finally cracked and started shaking with laughter. After taking off her shades the pony on top of him rested her horn against the orange mirrored visor, and Hex could feel a shiver run up his spine looking into those crimson eyes once more.
"Come on Hex, you owe me. In fact I'm pretty sure you owe me weeks worth of your ass. I nearly choked Twilight to death when I heard you were pronounced dead.... Then I wake up and where's Hex at Twiliy?"
"As Cadence so adequately put it. Off on a blood fueled testosterone adventure to get themselves killed "
"So Shiny is getting plowed by his wife and Durge is currently trying to wrestle a goddess naked. Still doesn't mean I have to get out of the can."
Twilight was smiling again. That fucking crazed smile that made her eyes narrow to pin pricks as she panted against his helmet, misting it over.
"And what makes you think I can't crack that shell open and dissect you like the lovely specimen you are? I'm confident I can notate every facet of your being before you expire."
"Go ahead Sparky, destroy alien technology of the likes you've never seen before and probably will never see again. Moon butt already did, and that suit was an antique. Never to be produced again, with zero chance of you ponies coming across another like it!"
"Princess Celestia already collected other types of suits Specimen!"
"And how the fuck does she know which is which Sparky? Does she turn human every now then to touch herself with our wiggly fingers?"
The poor thing turned beet red at that last comment, and Vinyl only sighed deeply before looking into his helmet and taking a long, slow lick from the bottom to the top, leaving a trail of drool along the way.
"The point is you still owe us Hex. Both of us. All I'm saying is I want my payback in the form of your meat stick and Twiliy wants to watch because you promised her she could experiment on you. What's the harm?"
"I have a feeling you are going to do awful things to me Vinyl, awful, terrible things.... Am I supposed to forget what happened to Durge and Shiny? Besides I don't want to have sex in front of a virgin. It's just creepy."
So maybe it wasn't a good idea to get the protegee of Celestia all riled up, and it never failed to amaze him how a woman can go from one emotion to another at the toss of a dime. Sparky was now beet red with anger at that last comment, as her horn started glowing the suit integrity sensor started going haywire with a single crack running down the length of his helmet. The purple unicorns front hooves were stamping on his helmet as the metal of his suit groaned under the pressure.
"I'M NOT A VIRGIN YOU DIRTY BASTARD! GET OUT OF THAT SUIT!"
"PROVE IT EGG HEAD! I DOUBT YOU'VE EVEN SEEN A COCK EXCEPT IN A DIRTY BOOK!"
A snap sounded behind the girls, and with it went a bit of Twilight's magic, giving him a chance to see who had teleported into the room with them. It was Shiny, his armor nearly torn off of his body and his breath coming in ragged pants as he looked at the scene in front of him.
"TWILIY WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"
"BRO HELP! SHE'S TRYING TO DISSECT ME WHILE VINYL'S TRYING TO RAPE ME!"
A pink snap followed, and there was Cadence, her hair frizzing out everywhere and her tiara hanging from her horn in a cock eyed way. What followed was a series of flashes as Shining avoided being plowed into the ground once more and managed to get to Hex before flashing them away.
They landed with a thud inside a very dark room, and on the gigantic bed was Durge. It was the first time Hex had ever seen the man afraid, and judging by the straps tying his arms and legs down he wasn't in the least surprised. Both men moved to untie their fellow soldier when a bang from the bathroom announced the arrival of Luna.
"ARE YOU READY FOR OUR WRATH MORTAL?!"
Moon butt was floating a whip next to her head, and was as far as he could tell dressed up in some kind of leather outfit with a mask over her eyes. Shiny flung his front hooves over both their shoulders and teleported them away. They all landed in awkward ways as darkness surrounded them, and with one last spell Shiny managed to produce enough light for them to see.
It was Twilight's basement, and after frantically getting out of his suit and diving onto the pile of neatly folded cloths he tossed Durge a pair of everything as both men dressed.
"What the fuck man! What the fuck is wrong with the fucking ponies!"
"I don't know Durge! But we have to bail! They will find us here eventually... Shiny! What's the plan?! Where are we going from here?"
The captain was barely coherent as he wobbled around and tried to make it to the door, nearly falling off the stairs as he panted.
"I can't.... teleport us.... I... I don't have anything left."
"FUCK ME RUNNING! HEX YOU HAVE TO HAVE A FUCKING HIDING PLACE!
Things were spiraling out of control. Durge looked like he was on the verge of outright panic and Shiny could barely walk, so with a grunt he slung the captain over his shoulders and made his way out of the basement with Durge on his heels. Outside they looked around in a panic for anything that might serve as a hiding place until the heat died down but nothing looked familiar, just a bunch of random houses he had never seen or been in.
Out of the corner of his eyes a green flash caught his attention, and a mint green unicorn was flagging them down and ushering them into her house. Throwing caution to the wind they peddled towards sanctuary as the tell tale snaps of teleporting sounded not far behind them. The mint green pony was looking curiously behind them, as if nothing was out of the ordinary having two humans toting around the captain of the guards was just a normal occurrence.
Kicking Durge into a small closet and piling Shiny and himself in all three of them fought to control their breathing, the sounds of familiar voices sounding just a few feet away.
Good morning Lyra! I was wondering if you've seen those crazy creatures that have been running about these past few weeks... The royal sisters would like a word with them. Also I've got a bone to pick with one of them myself."
"I did see them a few minuets ago Twilight! They were running towards the market but it looked like they were carrying your brother between them."
"Yep. Shining seems to be under the wrong impression so I'd like to clear a few thing up with him as well. It looks like those silly creatures have convinced him of something."
"What would that be Twilight?"
"Its nothing really, just a silly little rumor. Thanks for the help Lyra! Come find me if you catch wind of them again!"
The three of them let out an audible sigh when they heard the door close, and like an overflowing container flooded out of the closet once the door was opened. It was a cream colored pony with candies stamped on her flanks that had let them out, and it was currently looking at the green one with worry written over her face.
"Lyra... are you sure it was a good idea to hide them here... I mean... it was the royal sisters looking for them."
"It's fine Bonbon! They won't go bucking doors down for them and I think the poor fellows need a bit of a break. Look at Shining! I bet Cadence has been riding him like a bad pony ever since laying hooves on him!"
Shiny looked like hammered dog shit to be more precise, Durge looked like he was traumatized from whatever Moon butt was planning on doing with him and Shiny had caught his own sister partially on top of him with Vinyl. Yeah, they needed a break from crazy in a bad way.
After helping Shiny over to the rug he simply flopped over in exhaustion, Bonbon pulling a blanket out of the closet to drape over the captain as Hex sat down hard on the couch with Durge taking the single squishy chair. The girls had pulled a blanket out for each of them, and as Hex took a deep breath he looked over at Lyra who was looking up at him with excitement glinting from her golden eyes.
"As much as I appreciate helping us escape and billeting us in your house why exactly did you risk getting in trouble for us?"
The unicorn only prodded at his left hand in wonder, manipulating his digits gently before placing it over her head with a smile of utter contentment that left him wondering if this pony was honestly all there. Bonbon hoped up on the other side of the couch and sighed.
"Lyra's been obsessed with you critters ever since Celestia announced your arrival here. She's been pumping Vinyl for information when she got back to ponyville but I have to say... You're an ass for putting that poor girl through that."
Hex should have expected such a remark considering he felt like an ass himself. Gently caressing and messaging Lyra's ears and head he smiled gently at the way she squirmed and groaned under the attention.
"You're right Bonbon, I'll be paying Vinyl back for hurting her feelings soon enough. It's how I'm going to be paying her that worries me."
"Well... at least you know you've got some owning up to do... Would you please stop molesting Lyra though? It's really weird."
"Sweet... Celestia.... You gotta try this Bonbon! He could put Lotus and Aloe out of business..."
Sighing once more Bonbon wriggled closer and used Lyra as an improvised pillow, and after cocking an eyebrow at the two of them Hex leaned his head back and relaxed for the first time in weeks. He didn't have to worry about zerg gutting him in the woods, or crazed mares, or Cadence, Celestia, or Luna trying to concoct some equally insane method of punishment from himself or his other two partners in crime. As the sounds of even breathing and sleep settled over them all Hex felt himself drift away into the comforting embrace of blackness. He would deal with everything after a much needed nap.
No matter how tired Hex might have been, three weeks in the wilds with a very rigid wake up call doesn't allow the body or mind to sleep in. He hated the idea of leaving such a warm and fuzzy bliss but the moment he cracked his eyes open and realized he was face first in a lot of soft white fur he had to hold the curses back.
That conniving cuntbag Lyra had set them up, and he was currently sleeping with his face buried into Vinyl's chest with her hooves curled around his head. There was a special place in hell for women like Lyra, and he would have to come up with the appropriate revenge once he figured out how exactly he as supposed to get away from Vinyl. Throwing a can of gas onto the fire he heard a distinct murmur behind him and felt something cuddle closer to his back.
Maybe it was just a sham to get the three of them to actually relax and stop running for a while, and a decent nights sleep was extremely nice even if it meant being in the clutches of their respective temporarily psychotic mare friends. Well... friends didn't tend to tie you to beds or threaten to tear you out of a suit of armor or call you specimen but beggars can't be choosers. Nuzzling Vinyl's soft neck and gently running his hands up her back and into her hair got him a soft giggle.
"Finally feeling lovable?"
"I would still be running if you didn't have so many traitorous whores in your employ."
"Don't be like that... we gave you boys a nights rest after all. It isn't our fault you ran yourselves ragged."
"And I'm supposed to be comfortable with little miss specimen curled up against my back?"
Crawling over him with a coy smile on her face Vinyl slid behind Twilight and nuzzled the back of her head, nipping at her ear gently to get a soft moan from her even as she slept on.
"You know she was sleeping in the other bed last night when we brought you in."
"There will be no sexing the nutty little bookworm Vinyl. It goes against the man code."
"Awww come on! She's such and adorable little button. I bet she bites the pillow when she gets really randy."
"A man does not have sex with his friends sister without permission. It's a guy thing, and experiments or not I'll have no part in any happy time with her around."
Vinyl sighed heavily before pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from a nearby study to jot down a sloppy letter that she immediately set on fire with magic. After quirking an eyebrow at her another letter appeared in a flash of pink flames, and after unrolling it she read in a fake official voice.
"Dear Miss Vinyl
I have convinced my husband to allow Twilight Sparkle to do whatever her dear heart desires to Mr. Hexus, on the grounds that it is his fault for both maiming my Shining Armor and attempting to carry him away once again to escape the due revenge he deserves. I kindly beseech both you Miss Vinyl and my sister in law from tormenting him too extensively, as I would personally like to share my ire for the scar down my beloved husbands face by crushing the life from him slowly. Make sure to use him as much as possible, but please leave him lucid enough to fully realize my... agitation. I still intend to see both Mr. Hexus, and Mr. Durge expire before the week is out.
Have a lovely time torturing him,
Princess Cadence"
"........ It's a lie. Cadence can't speak for him and she's a serpent that wants me to die."
"It has Shining Armor's signature on it."
Inspecting the neatly written letter and recognizing Shiny's writing from the letter he left behind Hex looked up at her and sighed deeply.
"He's not in his right mind. His wife's probably plowed him into the ground so many times that he's delusional."
"I actually think Shiny just wants to share the pain. Luna is probably having a field day with Durge so why not go down together like brothers?"
If Shiny was getting wrecked because of himself and Durge then he would be all for seeing him staked to a table and letting his sister slowly pull him apart like a bug. If what he said in the meeting area was anything to go by then he was probably really pissed off at the two of them.
Vinyl started smiling in that special kinda rapist way as she slid off the bed and began looking around the room.
"It's a good thing she sleeps like a log. Can you give her that special kind of wake up call Hex? I'm going to see if she has anything extra hidden in here. Just keep her distracted until I find her stash."
"Vinyl, I don't think Twilight is a sexual deviant. I think she's still a virgin."
"Come on Hex... all alone in a giant library? No one to scratch that itch when it comes up? All these freakin books? Some of them have to be saucy. I bet she at least understands how to buck your brains out even without practice."
Looking at the mare in question and seeing her left front hoof paw at nothing in a dream and seeing the little line of drool running down her muzzle he sighed deeply. Vinyl was currently rummaging around inside her closet.
"Just do it Hex! Pretend its some sick fantasy taking advantage of a helpless horny girl."
"Please do not think your fetishes will tempt me the same way they turn you on."
"Play along with sexy time or I can just wake her up and tell her she can start her examination of your body by gathering blood and tissue samples."
"Nope."
Pulling the sleeping mare on top of him he began to gently rub her ears and head the same way he did with Vinyl their first night together. It took a little coaxing with Sparky, but after a soft series of moans she opened her eyes gently before snapping them open. Shifting his fingers to the base of her horn he felt her quiver on top of him before stuttering out a few words.
"Wh... Where's.... Vinyl?"
"She left to get some things from her house, but she asked me to take good care of you while she was away. Do you like it?"
It was interesting to watch the mares body shift against his own frame and the way her eyes closed slightly and rolled back. They really seemed to like having their heads rubbed and their horns touched but things got a little weird when he noticed a heavy scroll float beside them with a quill. With her eyes closed and her soft body grinding into his he watched the quill write out neat, detailed notes on everything he did.
This was on a whole new level of freaky. There was just something extremely off putting about a girl writing down everything that was occurring during such an intimate time... but with a glance at he closet Vinyl was smiling and shaking her head yes. Pulling Sparky's head down for a kiss Hex got the impression that she didn't have much experience but at the very least her taste was pleasant, and she made the cutest little noises when he touched the right places.
After breaking the kiss and enjoying the sight of Sparky leaning back and letting out a long low moan another glance at Vinyl almost made him pause. She was standing on her hind legs and gesturing at him with her hooves. With one higher than the other and quickly switching places it looked like she wanted him to flip her over and.... leave it to Vinyl to smile while thrusting her hips into the air.
Taking her advice it was simple enough to shift her weight and flip the smaller pony onto her back with him on top, but going the extra mile he flipped her over once more with her back arching and a very inviting ass pushing into his crotch. Leaning down to nip her ear his left hand returned to fondling her head and horn, but his right hand slid down to do a bit of work.
Hearing her squeak was by far one of the most adorable things he could recall, that and seeing the quill suddenly make a splotch mark also added to the enjoyment. All things considering the pony beneath him was quite the sexy little book worm after all, but Vinyl slowly walked up to the bed with a box floating behind her and oddly enough a ring.
"Having fun with my meat stick Twily?"
If he had not already been between her legs she could have done some serious damage with the way she bucked back, but Vinyl slid the ring down on her horn before lifting them both up with magic. The quill and parchment hit the floor as Hex was tossed on his back with Twilight on top of him and finally Vinyl on top of both of them.
"I'm the Queen of the pony pile!"
"Wa...Wait a second Vinyl! We had a deal!"
"We did Twily! And it didn't include sexy time now that I think about it so think of this as an extra chapter in your studies!"
Hex quirked an eyebrow as Twilight tried to slide the ring off her horn with her hooves, prompting him to grab her horn in one hand and the ring in the other, screwing it down until it was jammed on with no possibility of being removed without help.
"HEX! I CAN'T USE MAGIC WITH IT ON!"
"Welcome to the club Sparky, it's a terrible place filled with people who hold you down with magic all the time."
He felt Vinyl yank his cloths off once more and could swear she was getting better at how fast she could get him naked. Twilight still squirmed until Vinyl forced her head back and slowly licked up her horn.
"Come on Twily. Your soaked and I bet no one's played with you during Estrous. I promise to take the ring off once we're.... situated."
She was dribbling something over the sandwiched mares backside, and while she struggled a bit Vinyl maneuvered her over his shaft and used her magic to push her down slowly. Sparky was clenching so tightly it felt like the head of his cock was being crushed, but after feeling her relax for just a moment she slid half way down his length with a squeak.
A glance back showed him why she was so tense. Vinyl currently had some kind of strap on attached and was stuffing the thing into Sparky's other door. The more she managed to push in, the farther down the mare slid on his shaft until with one final push and a weak little moan from Twilight they were both all the way in.
"I found your special books beside that stash of toys Twily... and guess where I found the book mark on the top one?"
Following Vinyl's lead and sliding out of her they both shoved right back into her with another adorable little squeak. Taking a moment to find the right rhythm they took turns pulling out and pumping in, slowly bouncing the cute mare between shafts as Sparky wrapped her front hooves around his neck.
With a glow from Vinyl's horn the ring popped off of poor Sparky's horn, but the moment she was free from it the quill and scroll once more began floating beside them. There was no way either of them would let her get decent notes, and it didn't help that every time they thumped into her another splotch appeared on the already skittishly written scroll.
So the games began as Vinyl and himself labored over the sandwiched mare, the way she panted and continuously tried to write only to be ruined by their thumping brought a crazed smile to his face. Sparky wasn't able to hold out much longer, and after matching Vinyl's pace they both took long hard thrusts into the mare.
Surprisingly enough Vinyl was the first to go, pounding into poor Sparky until she came as well. It was bad enough getting drenched from one of them, but with both on top and no where to go Hex felt himself tense up and blew his load inside. The way Sparky babbled and whimpered while they rode her made him wish the whole depraved scene was being recorded but when they finally finished Vinyl simply flopped on top of Sparky and panted.
Poor girl... she was still babbling when they pulled out of her but after she started to snap out of it they both laughed at her first coherent words.
"muh....my poor... nootes...."
Vinyl rolled off the top to his left while Sparky rolled to his right, all three of them panting and down for the count.
"Didn't know you had it in you Twily.... Have you been practicing or somthin?"
"No.... Its just there is a section of books that I've always been curious about."
"Well you can be curious all you want while we're here. I will be your willing sexy partner, and meat stick will provide the meat."
"What the fuck Vinyl.... I don't have infinite stamina and could you at least use my name?"
"I have a spell to fix that."
Hex's eyes narrowed when he looked over to find Sparky smiling in that psychotic way, and feeling Vinyl's hooves run up and down his back wasn't helping at all.
"Face it stud. You're stuck with us until the weekend. I'm sure you can bend in a few of the ways in Twily's fancy book."
Sparky was levitating a book in front of him. A book called the Pony Sutra and after she flipped through a few of the pages he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Fuck my life."
Three days of Estrous passed with the commanders of the Death's Knell Company trapped in their respective hells. Three days filled with sweaty nights, hot moans, awkward positions, and minor injuries. Durge, Shiny, and Hex had agreed before entering Canterlot that they would meet in the in the castle gardens at a large outside round table five days after at one hour past sunset. As Hex limped his way towards the designated meeting it only irritated him more that the other two bastards were already at the castle.
Sparky had him take the train along with Vinyl and herself. A train ride that was hellish in ways he couldn't describe as both mares wanted to explore the term voyeurism on the ride there. His right leg was still cramped so badly he couldn't help but walk with a limp, and feeling generally like hammered dog shit didn't help at all. At least the bastards had the decency to have a keg of something alcoholic and an empty mug waiting for him.
"What'sa matter Hex? Did that white pony fuck you in the butt or somethin?"
"Chug Durge. We're playing the reference game. Any reference of fucking drains the cup. And no she steered clear of my ass. Did Moon butt whip the piss out of you?"
Shiny only chuckled and filled his mug, gesturing for him to drain it after breaking his own rule.
"Its what you cretins deserve after convincing me to go. The wife has been pissed off ever since we got back."
Shiny seemed to be taking after himself and Durge a bit. The captain was a lot more laid back then when they first met, but they both couldn't resist the easy target.
"I bet little Shining is cookin in the oven eh Hex?"
"I bet Cadence fucks him instead of the other way around."
Both men filled their mugs and slammed them together before draining it with Shiny rolling his eyes.
"At least my wife isn't into whips, small dicks, and other chicks like the lovers you two have."
They both pointed at him and the captain drained his mug. They hadn't been there for five minuets and all three of them were sporting a buzz.
"Speaking of wrecking someone's shit... Did my sister give you that limp Hex?"
Shiny refilled his tankard and drained it again while Durge did a double take.
"Ah man you fucked his sister?! That's low. That deserves two chugs for breaking the man code."
"First off I'll give you one for that. As for the second this asshole here gave his sister permission to do whatever the hell she wanted with me. I don't know how you feel about having tissue samples dug out of your hide but Shiny could have at least warned me his sister was into the Pony Sutra."
While he was chugging down two mugs of booze Shiny was laughing his ass off while Durge was just shaking his head.
"It's bad enough he gave you permission but worse knowin she was a kink in the sack. You're both fucked up beyond repair."
"Hey, Twily is a grown mare and I didn't know she was that wild. All things considering you two don't seem all that bothered bucking the local women even if they are alien."
"Whoa Whoa Shiny! We both saw what Moon Butt was doing to Durge in her room, and I was drunk, high, and being held down the first time so it wasn't exactly willing."
"It ain't as bad as you make it out Hex. They may hold you down when they want it but hell if they don't fuck like crazy."
All three men nodded sagely as they filled their mugs and drained them together. They all choked on the liquor when a soft happy voice floated over them.
"What are you boys up too?"
Cadence, Vinyl, Twilight, Luna, and even Minerva were heading their way over with chairs and mugs of their own. Each girl sat beside their respective playmates. But when they all stopped choking and looked around nervously they all gave their response in unison.
"Nothing...."
Cadence arched a perfectly manicured eyebrow before taking a sip from Shiny's mug and replying.
"You know boys, when we were trying to track you down I found out that Shining here had brought a keg of hard cider from the stores with mugs for you three. I'm assuming all of you were getting drunk when you came up with the brilliant idea to vanish for three weeks. I'm hoping this isn't the case this time hmmm?"
Luna nuzzled Durge in an awfully familiar way before filling her own mug and taking a sip as well.
"I you hope you've learned a valuable lesson after this weeks... ordeal Mr. Durge. You wouldn't be lying would you?"
Hex pointed at her mug.
"If you're not going away you have to play by our rules. Drain the cup Moon Butt. Any reference to what happened this week empties the mug unless explaining the rule."
Minerva smirked as she filled her own cup.
"Act like you didn't enjoy it Hex, it makes you look like a rape victim."
After draining her mug Durge scratched his head and managed to ass end the already awkward moment.
"Hey Hex.... Shouldn't we be tryin ta repopulate or something since as far as we know we're the only humans? Minerva might be rough around the edges but its kinda weird we're all doin talking ponies and all."
While he drained his own mug Minerva cackled and smacked Shiny's ass, causing him to jump and Cadence to giggle.
"First off, there's no way either of you fucks are as well hung as this stud. That and you're both ass hats so you can forget about hittin this."
Another mug was drained, followed by Hex jabbing his finger in Shiny's direction.
"The pot calling the fucking kettle black eh Shiny? You've been fucking Minerva and you wanna talk about us being weird!"
"I don't see what's the problem. We fucked on the train ride here."
Hex could only face palm as Vinyl happily filled and drained her own mug, Luna filling her own once more before adding her own two cents.
"They may be smaller than other stallions but they have those wonderful little fingers to play with a mare."
"Those fingers are quite dextrous Princess Luna! I have a whole paper written on some of their... uses."
Now Twilight was joining the drinking game with Luna as Shiny, Durge, and Hex covered their faces with hands and hoof. Hex was the one to recover first.
"Can we please get off the subject of our dicks and fucking?"
Cadence filled her own mug and drank it down before agreeing in the most obnoxious way possible.
"As much as I hate to agree with Mr. Hex this is very awkward. Luna and I are related as well as Twilight and Shining. It isn't appropriate to talk about such things in front of family."
As if coming out of his stupor Shiny turned to Twilight with a shocked look on his face.
"Twily... Did you fuck Hex on the train ride here?"
"I... well... I didn't plan too..."
"Luna likes it in the butt when I give her the stanky finger from the front."
Durge was holding his right hand in the center of the table and making an obscure gesture, shaking it vigorously as half the tables occupants choked and snorted while the other half turned beet red. This continued through another barrel of whatever they were drinking. While the dicks of their group had the sense to watch how much they consumed after the girls arrived it was Celestia who came down and ushered the mares inside, most of which were wobbling and slurring on their way in.
Hex could tell the other two men were losing their buzz as well when Celestia appropriated Cadences mug and polished off what was left before filling it.
"I'm glad to see you boys alive and in one piece, especially you two. I was worried that Cadence would have killed you already for the scar on Shining Armor, even if it does make him look quite a bit more fierce and dignified."
"Nice ta see you too Celly, but cut to the chase. Why are ya out here with us?"
"Always so blunt Mr. Durge? Tomorrow is the Royal Gala. A gathering of Canterlot's elite along with delegations from all across the world. Some of those delegations are very interested in the sudden appearance of a death corps being established by ponies, and led by none other than two unknown species. You three will represent your company and answer any questions they might have."
Shining was already draining his cup at the news before pouring out another one.
"Princess. Is it wise to bring in outside powers at this time? Our company has dealt with the threat at large and are more than capable of training more ponies as the need arises."
"True enough Shining, but I cannot allow a threat to the entire planet to go unannounced. The delegations have been updated on the severity of the situation, and the corpses Hex produced during the first encounter was sent as proof of the threat. They will want to speak with soldiers who have experience with these enemies, not diplomats to ease their anxiety with smooth words."
Hex drained his own mug and filled it one last time.
"We'll be there Celly, and its no trouble explaining what the zerg are and how dangerous they can be but I have to ask. Are we seriously your only group of soldiers who are capable of ending lives?"
"As much as I wish to answer that with a yes Mr. Hexus, you are not. Luna's night guards are experienced veterans who do have training in those arts. Though we keep them in reserve if anything should happen, Shining Armor's letter has reached the delegations. The night guards were an unannounced entity that could use deadly force, your company has declared to the world that my ponies are prepared to kill openly in the defense of Equestria. If anything, that letter has made it clear the threat is not something to be ignored if we are gearing for war."
The three men nodded their understanding before draining their mugs on final time, flipping them over and smiling when the watched Celestia do the same. No further instructions were needed, and their company had already spent well over their allotted time loitering about. It was about time they got back to work, and with any luck they might have some new friends to join in the festivities.
Oh sweet torturous revenge. While Hex never usually suffered from hang overs, that fact alone became the bane of Twilight and Vinyl's existence the next morning when a knock was issued at their door just as sunrise peaked its way over the horizon. It wasn't a problem shooing away the maid that was sent to wake them, but when he found himself alone with the two girls currently suffering from last night's drinking he cackled evilly before pouncing on top of them.
Rolling them over, nipping at their ears, hugging and flopping about on the bed almost made up for the few days of hell they had put him through. Both whined and tried to crawl away in the manner of pitifully hung over saps but he wouldn't leave them alone.
"I don't have to DJ for the party until tonight! Leave me alone...."
"That doesn't mean I don't get to torment you until tonight! You shouldn't have drank so much!"
"Please leave me alone Hex... My head is killing me."
"Its your own damn fault Twilight! Once more for good measure. GOOOOOOD MORNING SPARKY! GOOD MORNING VINYL!"
Eventually they tossed him laughing out of the bed with magic, but he couldn't torment the poor little things for too long. Taking a hot bath and slipping into some comfortable day cloths he could wear within his suit Hex gave them both a soft kiss on the head, smiling as they snuggled down into the blankets to sleep off the booze. He smiled even more when he saw Cadence looking just as hung over with a fleet of maids following her into his room with various equipment.
He prayed to whatever deity that could hear him for the day to last as painfully long as possible, knowing full well they were probably going to remain in a pissed mood well into the evening. As for himself a quick check on Durge and Shiny to see if their unit was ready he smiled to see a few more surprises in store for the Gala.
After rehearsing their arrival for the Gala, he allowed his men to disperse for the rest of the day until the evening with their armor tucked away in an armory specifically for them. Hex and Durge's weaponry had also been stored here, and after helping his friend fitted into another firebat suit he smiled deviously.
"You think you can keep Moon Butt from tearing you out of this one?"
"I think she's alright now. I just hope she asks next time instead of tying me to the bed."
"Have you pissed her off recently?"
"Does last night count?"
Shrugging his shoulders he left his fellow human to contemplate what he had done the previous night in front of everyone. Pulling a number of weapons from the armory and loading his suit down with what he normally would carry into combat Hex decided he might as well get used to carrying his standard load out once more. There was no telling when he might need it.
Once he was ready to go he made straight for the castle gates and out into the city, hell bent on spending at least a walk in comforting solitude. The city was just as he remembered it from his first day in Equestria, but with a few noticeable differences.
A lot of the ponies still babbled the moment they caught sight of him as he passed, but for a few he noticed with a chill that when his helmet swiveled to look at them they bowed their heads in respect. It was... disturbing. He would have to do something to get them to stop that, but what made him more comfortable was when an equal number would stand on their hind legs to wave at him yelling flank shot.
He thought they would have forgotten about that by now... but apparently it looked like it was still circulating. Passing by a lot of the stores Hex found the particular shop he had seen when he went out and about with Vinyl. It was a candy and chocolatier store that had quite a few patrons milling about and looking through the display cases for their vice.
As far as he could remember it had been about four years since he had anything that resembled sweets of any sort, discounting the terrible chocolate flavored shit that was occasionally given to himself and the other marines and filled with enough nutrients to sustain them for days. It was something of a dark little desire to see if the ponies had something similar to what he deeply enjoyed all those years ago.
Of course being in full armor and towering over all of the tiny ponies getting their chocolates and candies made him feel like the bully about to take their sweets away from them. Some of them even hid their purchases behind their backs, causing him to chuckle in an evil kind of way.
"I'm here to take your candy."
There was a lot of nervous laughing around the shop, and from just below his vision an adorable little squeak. It was a little mare, or now that he thought about it she must have been a little kid given her size. The poor thing was looking up at him in terror, and as he bent down at the knees she was so tiny that she fit in the palm of his left hand when he lifted her back up to his height.
"I've never had pony candy before little one. Would you know what tastes nice and what I should avoid? I'd be happy to share some of what I buy with you if you'll help."
The little thing almost bounced out of his hand as she smiled and pointed towards the cases. It didn't take long for him to spot her parents, but both of them nodded gently as he let the little girl lead him through some of the cases. He had always loved kids, and maybe if things hadn't quite turned out the way they did he might have had a few of his own. After trying a few things and buying a bit for the child the parents saved him from buying out the store.
Waving goodbye to the family, he turned back to examine the contents of the store more closely. The ponies around him were much calmer than when he first entered, but as he made a slow circle around the cases it looked like he wouldn't find his own vice. At the last case he thought he might have had a mild aneurism after reading one of the labels.
Milk Chocolate Mint Truffles..... There was a god in the universe and apparently it saw fit to bestow a small portion of paradise directly in front of him. If these things tasted the way he thought they should, everything would be made right with this world. His joy was short lived. The machine suddenly went ballistic inside of his melon, and before he could piece together exactly what the threat was his Guass Pistol was already pointing into a mares face with a click sounding the safeties release.
The mare was smiling at him with half lidded eyes, and actually looking at her she was dressed in a different manner than the other ponies. She was wrapped in what looked like silks of red and gold, with inlaid gold beads helping to weigh the silks down to keep them in place. Blonde haired, tanned fur, and a grey horn he couldn't see her cutie mark with the silks in the way, but his examination was interrupted when her smile widened.
It unnerved him greatly when her tongue slid out to slowly lick the front of his pistol, giggling in a musical voice that screamed evil serpent. Turning towards the case she inspected the candies within before speaking.
"Strange sort of man. No one really knows how to take you Mr. Flank Shot. You made such a grand entrance your first day, spent that evening in an even grander manner, vanished a few days later, and now lead the first Death Company under Celestia's rule."
She pointed at one of his coveted delights while he clicked the safety back on his pistol before returning it to his holster. The woman took her time with the sample given, maybe a bit too much as she smacked her lips and licked chocolate off of her hoof.
"Stranger still... I would have to assume you were just for show. After your first night and seeing you play with that little filly I couldn't peg you being very dangerous. My dearest friend recently married though, and her husband.... He said to be very careful of you. He told me I could die in an instant if I pressed my luck."
She was smiling in a taunting kind of way that made him want to savagely kick her in the teeth, seeing as it wouldn't be too much of a hassle with her height. But he replied in as civil, low voice that wouldn't carry to anyone else.
"You look like you enjoy playing that game. That very very dumb game where you think I won't kill you in the middle of this store. I pulled my weapon because you were a threat, but you backed down and so did I.
She smiled all the wider, and Hex felt himself shiver. Her eyes and the way she smiled... it looked too much like affection.
"And how did you know I was a threat before you laid eyes on me?"
"Call it a bad feeling, call it instinct, call it luck. I shouldn't have backed down, I think you're far more trouble alive."
"Then kill me Hexus Murdoc. Kill me in cold blood when I'm not posing a threat."
The way she smiled in a.... loving manner while she asked him to kill her really bothered him. He didn't like this woman, he didn't like her at all, and when she did turn back to the counter she pointed at his paradise and whispered to the worker behind the display.
"He was right about you Hexus, and I owe him a thanks this evening at the Gala. I'll just have to take your candies for now."
The worker had returned with a good sized tin, one that she traded a small bag of bits before popping the lid open and floating one to her lips, licking it before slowly before eating it.
"Maybe if you're free I can feed you some of them, on your knees and out of my pussy of course, since you have such good taste in sweets."
She left with a sway of her hips and a tinkle of the gold on her silks, and as he turned to glare at the worker with seething hatred and fury, the bastard confirmed his suspicions.
"Sh.... Sh.... She... She bought.... alloftheminttruffles"
The door of the shop nearly cracked off of its hinges as Hex shoved it open with his right hand, and outside in the crowded streets the mare was no where to be found.
Stream after stream of literary obscenity flowed out of Hex as he stomped his way back to the castle. Men, women and children fled from the grating, hate filled, black rage that colored both known and unknown profanities and acts of degradation of the like ponies could just barely imagine in twisted, sickening, and frightening mental images.
In all reality he shouldn't have been so angry over candy, but he was. He hadn't felt so very pissed off in such a long time that he couldn't help but feed the black rage more fuel as he studiously ignored everything. It was that woman... the way she talked and the way she looked... He just wanted to step on her until she ceased to be and if anyone had even the slightest idea as to why he was so pissed it might cause them to break down and cry laughing.
The trouble with being extremely pissed off was it tended to carry on for quite a while, and people liked to continuously poke at you trying to figure out what was wrong. Said poking came in the form of Shiny and Durge harassment, along with a very perturbed Sparky that was convinced he was about to go outside and start shooting randomly into the crowds. The rest of the day proceeded with random ponies and people coming out of the woodwork to ask what was wrong to his annoyance.
Why could the girls be pissed off and he couldn't? Come to think of it a certain, currently hated mare was responsible and after going over the short conversation they had she was supposed to be at the Gala tonight.
"Can I shoot a mare in the face tonight and splatter her brain matter across the pavement? I think she's a threat."
He didn't ask anyone in particular, but given that Luna walked into a wall as she was passing by and Celestia stopped mid sentence. Turning the corner into a room, closing the door softly behind him, and promptly jumping out of the window when he heard urgent knocking at the door saved him from being grilled by either of them. Evading Celestia and Luna added an adventurous side to the otherwise ruined day, and while both Princesses were busy with preparations, he knew they might have caught him by now if they weren't so preoccupied.
It wasn't long before he was standing in a high up, secluded series of rooms where his men were preparing for their introduction to the world. Looking down out of a window Hex could still make out a lot of the ponies wandering about in grand fashion with quite a number of other creatures as well. There were foreign ponies in what looked like tribal garb, and strangely enough reminded him of Zebra's from the old stories of earth... along with huge gryphons who seemed like a bunch himself and Durge would get along with.
Besides the obvious ones who stood out he also saw quite a number of ponies dressed in silks, feeling his face contort with anger as he tried to pick out the one that had blonde hair.
"Hex get outta that window. I'm startin ta think you're developing an unhealthy relationship with them seein as you keep jumping out."
"I'm not going to jump out of the window Durge, and a window is perfectly acceptable as a means of escape."
"You still look like a brooding turd with yer face scrunched up like that. I bet someone in this damn city knows what got your panties in a bunch earlier."
"I'll bet you fifty bits its over something retarded Durge."
"I'll take that bet Shiny. I'm thinkin somethin else has him all rustled."
He could only grunt in irritation as he watched some of the guards flying about and frantically look for someone. Hex, Durge, and Shiny had all recieved instruction to be announced offically and presented down the giant carpet before the princesses. Problem was they were no where to be found, and it didn't take a genius to figure out that the sudden vacancy on he carpet meant something was up.
"Shows on boys."
The usher was sweating profusely as the line of delegates and officials suddenly went dry. There were other parties behind Hex's group, and ponies started to murmur and chuckle at the lateness. Celestia and Luna were still on the dias waiting to greet the other groups when Celestia nodded towards the usher to continue regardless.
The stallion took a few deep breaths and looked at his list, calling out to the Gala.
"Death's Knell Company. Captain Shining Armor, Sergent Hexus Murdoc, Sergent Durger Hacks."
Soft giggling could be heard as the usher announced people who weren't there, until a mare who crossed the carpet to speak with another group of females screamed in terror when she turned around. She was staring into the grizzly smile of a zergling skull, and with practiced ease the entire company of men moved down the line in step, and in utter silence.
One of the boys had reworked the standard teleportation spell into something more suited or their purposes. It caused the spell to move them without the common snap that followed and also removed the flash of magic. For those who were watching the area where they came in they did so without any warning.
As the proceeded down the line, Hex smiled behind his mirrored helmet. His men had modified their armor to match the matte black of himself and Durge, giving them an inky black/blue color that reflected no light. Along with changing the zerg skulls to a dull shade of grey, it would make any of them extremely difficult if not impossible to see in pitch black night.
Behind the three rows, with Durge and Hex leading the two outer lines and Shiny in the middle there were two standard carriers in the back of the formation. One carried the emblem of Equestria with its mixed colors of both sisters, the other carried a blown up portrait of the Hydralisk skull Shiny had drawn wreathed in flames with their motto written in curving cursive beneath the picture.
When they reached the dias, each man slid a combat knife from identical sheaths with Hex and Durge raising their left arms across their chests. The heavy hiss and thunk of their punch daggers locking in place completed the salute.
"Till last man standing, till last breath taken, by our blood, by our lives, till death do we part, we will serve."
They all spoke the words softly, their voices easily carrying over those watching in silence, and with a nod from Celestia the men sheathed their weapons. Hex turned to look at his men, and with a single nod they vanished from sight, most appearing near the various food tables set up for the guests while a few mingled about and a few even visiting friends and relatives. The standard bearers set their colors beside the princesses dias, and with one final bow from the three of them they also departed.
The Gala was buzzing with noise once more, ponies jabbering away at how it was supposed to be only the leaders of Death's Knell Company attending and not the entire unit. Others still were making straight lines towards some of his men and slowing down significantly when they got close. For the most part the boys simply flirted with the pretty mares and were eating the free high end food. None of them took wine, all of them refused alcohol that was offered.
It wasn't likely that they were needed in any sense, but for the time being they were barred from booze until the Gala after party later on in the evening. More guests were still milling down the carpets, but the ponies and other creatures gathered were far more interested in the unicorns wearing black armor, and especially the skulls mounted on their shoulders.
The three leaders had barely gotten away from dias before a small group of gryphons landed in front of them. A particularly large one held out a clawed hand to shake, which Hex took up with a smile as his helmet's visor slid open. What surprised him though was the simple fact that this gryphon was female.
"A fine entrance for a death squad if I do say so myself. I was worried that your company would look like the same pansy ass guards all over Equestria. I wasn't expecting them to have scars and wearing skulls. You look good by the way Shining. You don't look like a mare anymore with your mane cut down and that sexy scar down your face."
Hex's admiration and affection towards gryphons significantly increased at that moment before he replied.
"I told you the ladies would like the scar Shiny."
"No one asked you Hex... And thank you Surra, as always it's a pleasure to see you again."
"Likewise. I like that pet name little Shiny... Maybe if Cadence doesn't still have a tree up her ass she'll let me borrow you. Even if you do look manlier you're still one pretty stallion."
"I really like Gryphon birds. The only thing that would makem better is if they actually brought meat."
"I'm glad you like us Durge, and we did bring meat if you'd like to join us."
Both Durge and Hex agreed simultaneously much to Shiny's dismay. The princesses had finished greeting the royal guests, and both were making their way towards them as their group stopped to wait. As Celestia drew closer a mare crossed between the princesses and the groups wrapped in silks, catching Hex's eyes for just a moment.
She had a dark brown coat with long jet black hair, and she was smiling at him in a strangely familiar way before the royal sisters were close enough to talk politely. Things seemed to break down and slow to a crawl as the machine kicked in, and just beside Celestia there was a glimmer of something in midair. It was like an object moving and vanishing but before Hex could even speak the cutter was roaring into life and tearing through the area the aberration had appeared in.
Sparks flew as metal met metal, and a single step forward brought Hex close enough to impale the now visible man standing in front of him. The other mans rifle came to a rest as his cutter came dangerously close to ripping the other mans throat out.
"Where in the nine hells do I get a sword like that?!"
If he didn't currently have a rifle pressed against his head Hex might have answered, but from his right side out of the corner of his eyes another small group approached. He wasn't going anywhere, and neither was the man across from him, but he did hear Celestia's gratingly angry voice."
"Salamack. What is the meaning of this?!"
"Princess Celestia, it's good too see you out and about. As much as I'd like to ruffle your feathers, it was my son in laws idea. Said he had to greet family in the right kind of way."
A cold was settling over Hex, it was something so deep that it made the cutter quiver in his grip and still spinning dangerously close to the mans neck it nicked him slightly, causing blood to seep down his chest. The rifle was lifted from his head, and a deep chuckle issued as the man spoke through the heavy metallic filters used by terran ghosts.
"Its been a very long time Hex. Mother's doing well, but she misses you something fierce. Still believed you were alive even when I gave up on the thought. Imagine my surprise when I read a letter with your name on it."
The man stowed his rifle and took off his helmet, Hex slowly pulling the cutter away and stowing it once more to see a face he hadn't thought was still in this world. They looked enough alike to tell they were related, but his brother's face still held the boyish look of youth, and had a sharper nose than Hex.
"How are you a ghost with mom still alive?"
"There's more ways than one to skin a cat Hex, same for ghosts it seems. The same who harbored us had ghosts of their own, and they taught me everything I needed to know in order to survive if anyone ever came knocking. Turns out they don't appreciate being taken in the dark and used as lab rats."
Turning towards Celestia he held out a hand and smiled disarmingly.
"I do apologize for the scare Princess Celestia. I had to figure out a few things before coming into the open. My name is Markeith Murdoc, Hex's younger brother."
As awkward as the handshake between Celestia and Mark was, Hex was having a damn hard time coping. The chances of his family hiding on their home world was miniscule, escaping after the zerg invaded even smaller. The fact that he was even alive after the zerg came was enough to stamp him dead by anyone's standard, but here he was today. Standing in front of him in a world that he nearly died in to prove true.
Two taps against his chest snapped him out of his withdraw, and the same mare that had passed in front of him moments before was staring up at him intently with her hooves resting against his chest, standing on her hind legs to get a better look at his face.
"He's not as handsome as you... But he has a nice rugged look to make up for it. I can see why Lumia is interested."
Pushing off of him lightly the mare trotted over towards Mark and nuzzled her cheek against his stomach and his hand came down to caress her other cheek and down her neck. The pony Salamack broke the silence and shattered what was left of Hex's quivering sanity.
"Now that everyone has been introduced to my wayward son in law I can give the good news. Markeith and my Daughter are to be wed within the next moon, and invitations will be given all around."
The sound of mechanical servos whining in protest issued from Hex's gauntlets, casing everyone to look at him nervously. Durge stepped up beside him and applied a Stimpac to his right arm which raised eyebrows all around when the long exposed needle was visible after being removed from Hex. Luna looked at the thing with fear and back at Durge before speaking.
"You did that before Durge, when you first talked to Hex. What in the hay is that thing?!"
"Stimpacs Luna. Its a drug used by Terran infantry to help soldiers focus, stave off panic, and keep them from going insane."
"Why did you shove it into Hex's arm then? He hasn't said anything."
As the drug washed over his mind in a cold soothing way Hex's right fist snapped out and caught his brother full in the chest, sending him tumbling back and choking for breath. If he didn't have armor on he was sure it would have killed him, but he was equally sure that while it might not have been enough to break anything it would hurt. A lot. And hopefully bruised the ribs and made it hard to breath for a long time.
"I am overwhelmed."
Those three words prompted Durge to pat him on the back.
"It's ok buddy. Just let out and everything will be alright.
Salamack only chuckled an ushered the bewildered ponies and gryphons to follow, leaving poor Celestia and Luna to deal with the mess of ponies gathered around wondering what was going on. For the first time he noticed that his entire unit was surrounding them, but with a simple nod and an order they dispersed once more.
"Ah family. These two remind me of my own brothers in Saddle Arabia. Always fighting and bickering but we love each other."
"At.... Least.... Hex.. isn't angry..... He might have killed me.... if I stole his candy."
"I will end you brother if you continue that line of thought."
The odd stallion only laughed as he led them along, and finally into a gigantic tent that took up a huge part of an adjacent courtyard.
The inside of Salamack's tent somehow looked bigger than the outside. The floors were covered with a thick heavy carpet, and the center of the tent was left open while small tables no bigger than night stands were arranged in a huge semi circle. Two unicorns were waiting just inside the entrance and bowed deeply, before speaking something in a language Hex didn't understand.
Salamack removed what looked like a saber from his side with magic, undoing the holster as well before handing it over with Mark also giving his rifle over. The gryphons followed with a few small knives as well, but when Hex saw his brother removing his armor to reveal cloths underneath looked at the two of them.
"Tell me you guys have cloths on underneath the suits."
"You may be Hex's brother, but your balls haven't ever chaffed or sweat like ours have in these suits."
"We've got cloths in the back compartments Mark, but we need somewhere to change."
He did not like the way his brother was smiling at him, and after the two unicorns relieved them of their weapons (both of them filling up three cabinets together) they were led to a smaller tent. Mark merely held his hand out before going back inside the main tent, leaving Hex and Durge to look at each other in suspicion.
"Your brother comes off as a sneaky bastard."
"He's that and snarky too."
"You think we should do this?"
"He took his armor off, and he can use it to turn invisible... and I just proved the suit is as much of a weapon as any."
Hex went in first, followed closely by Durge to find what looked like a bathroom. There were storage cabinets along the walls and a huge tub of water but the plethora of mares occupying the tent and carrying out various tasks was what got to him. They stopped, bowed deeply, and promptly surrounded the two of them.
"Whoa whoa now! We can remove our armor without help thanks! I don't need moon butt catchin wind about somethin like this!"
What greeted them was the saddest looking puppy eyes either of them had ever seen. One particularly pitiful mare looked like she was on the verge of crying.
"Master Salamack will be angry with us if we didn't help his guests! Especially the brother of his son in law!"
"That sneaky bastard is going to land us in a mound of shit Hex."
"I know! I know! I probably shouldn't have punched him so hard."
"Fine. No funny business girls, we need to get going."
A chorus of giggles greeted them, and reluctantly they both started to shed their armor. All of the mares were earth ponies, and every single one of them was very... hooves on while the took chunks of their armor away to be stored in one of the cabinets. When both men were bare chested, they opened their back compartments and took out the regular cloths.
Since both were about the same size Durge was still borrowing some of the stuff Rarity had made for him, but as much as they wanted to bail the mares didn't give them any room to escape. It wasn't hard breaking down the rest of the armor and stepping onto the floor naked, but the women around them were making other things stiffen.
There was a lot of lip biting and more than a few sultry giggles as they were dressed, slowly, with teeth and hooves seeing as none of them had magic. Hex and Durge were used to the idea of having... relations with ponies after their days in literal purgatory, and there were a lot of very attractive ones surrounding them and brushing against them in terribly suggestive ways.
"OK THAT'S ENOUGH OF THAT! THANK YOU LADIES GOODBYE!"
Durge actually beat Hex to the entrance as a loud "awwww" followed them out. They were carrying their boots and after adjusting their cloths (and themselves to prevent boner exposure) they walked back into the main tent. Mark was sitting with his unicorn wife laying across his lap, smiling like a kid with a new toy.
"That didn't take long."
"Have you not bedded a mare yet Hexus? Your brother was quite stubborn at first but he seems to enjoy a mares company quite a lot. My name is Kalia, please, sit with us and eat."
Slowly rising to her hooves she ushered them closer and seated them close by with Hex, Shiny, and Durge on one side of a small table, his brother and Salamack on the other side, and the gryphons separated by another small table occupying the left.
"It ain't that we don't like mares. Its just some of them are a bit on the... possessive side. Moon Butt doesn't fancy other mares."
The sound of Hex and Shiny slamming hand and hoof into their faces was followed immediately by laughter from the others gathered around, Surra passing the meat she had brought along down the line towards them before wheezing out a response.
"I didn't... think Luna was the adventurous type, but I can see how she might be the jealous and possessive kind. What about Hex and Shiny? I heard there was a female human here as well... are they the adventurous types?"
"Yep."
"Can you not put my laundry out into the streets Durge? I don't care about Shiny but at least ask me first."
"You're both shitty humans, and so what if I had a go at Minerva? Hex here has been winging threesomes for ages now."
"Those include your sister you sick bastard."
"Twilight's a grown mare, and besides... She said most of the time you were on bottom with Vinyl and her on top."
"It's a damn lie and I hate all of you."
Clapping sounded from their estranged group as they shared a laugh at Hex's expense. He was currently rubbing his face in fatigue and when offered both meat and a chilled glass of something alcoholic he took both with joy.
Salamack rang a very small bell at his side, and as music and singing drifted into the tent their entertainment had arrived. Vinyl showed him that ponies were capable of some pretty questionable and very personal dancing, but she was vastly out classed by the mares who came in. They danced like they had been born to walk on two hooves, and flowed with the music to sway back and forth. Nothing but shifting curves and silk, with the same little gold beads he remembered from the unicorn he ran into earlier that day.
"Mind telling me how you ended up getting married to a pony Markeith? For your sake I hope you have a damn good reason."
Kalia and her father smiled, and after gently nuzzling against him she spoke with a hint of amusement coloring her voice.
"Our culture is simple if not rigid Hexus. When the daughter of a powerful family is eligible, suitors are allowed to fight for her hand. The difference is these matches are to the death, and only the ones with status and courage can compete. This way it keeps the families from dealing with too many sons, and proves which among them is worth husbanding a family."
Hex had to keep himself from shivering as he watched his brother feed her a grape. Even if they were getting married the blatant display of sickening affection was a bit too much for him. Salamack continued where she left off.
"Imagine our surprise when a creature stepped out of the shadows to compete. While it is my decision on who is allowed to try for my daughters hand and who may not I decided to let him have a go. That very same day my countrymen brought me news of a death squad being formed in Equestria. One that was led by two very similar creatures."
It was hard for Hex to take all the information in with the distraction right in front of his eyes, and after letting the machine slip in to help clear his head he looked over to see Mark staring at him curiously as Salamack continued.
"I didn't think he would actually win against unicorns throwing magic at him, but your brother is.... highly proficient in the arts of combat. You are actually the only soul I've seen come close to ending his life Hexus, but it makes sense in the end. It was only after the other competitors were dispatched that I showed the letter to Markeith. More surprises still, seeing that you lead the men here."
"While I appreciate the explanation you'll have to forgive me if I'm a bit slow. It still doesn't answer my question."
Mark chuckled at the blank looks given by the father and daughter, and after taking a slow drink he explained himself.
"I'm in a land of talking ponies Hexus, with nothing to my name but some weapons and my training. An opportunity arises for me to embed myself in one of the most powerful families of the west. All that was standing in my way were a few wayward opponents who had no trouble trying to end my own life."
Hex took a long pull of his drink, thankful that whatever they were having had just the right amount of potency to ease his body even if the machine was staving off the buzz he wanted.
"Salamack, Kalia, try to understand it from my brother's point of view. Power never interested him, nor does the prospect of playing political games until he's old and dying. Subterfuge is not a game he will play, but he'll gladly meet you in war if you do share disagreements."
"I can understand why he wouldn't want to deal in those games husband, but you have proven yourself in combat as well. Which of you are more of a threat on the field?"
Hex did not like the way his bother smiled. It reminded him too much of the machine's blatant disregard for feeling.
"I am more dangerous in single combat Kalia, but my brother can train men to kill. If he can turn guards into killers, then imagine what he could do with some of our own soldiers. Those skulls are just for show, those ponies did not need them to prove a point, or secure a kill. Besides, I'm only better because I hold an advantage he can't use. An edge he doesn't know how to sharpen... yet."
His brother was playing games he could barely grasp, and with the lives and likely hood of quite a number of ponies if Salamack was as powerful as Mark had said. There was also the feeling that Mark was alluding to something a lot worse, and the feeling that he was holding something back from the group of people around them. With his finger tapping impatiently at his mug and his eyes closed in concentration he could only sigh deeply and hope for the best.
Something that did not happen as his train of thought was wrecked the moment he opened his eyes. In front of him was a set of lavender eyes that were very familiar, and the moment he opened his mouth to say something those eyes drew even closer. He felt something round pressed into his mouth, followed by a slick skilled tongue that promptly crushed the object on top of his tongue.
She drew away with a soft pant, turned back to the dancers in the center, and slipped back in seamlessly to the rhythm of the music. Hex could taste honey, strawberries, chocolate, and infuriatingly mint. There was whistling from both sides of him and when Kalia stopped giggling she answered the question on everyone's mind.
"My dearest friend, Lumia Florenseen. She loves to dance but I think you've irked her by not watching."
Her father smiled dangerously at him before speaking.
"I think she has other things in mind. The Florenseen family has been friends and allies for generations, and when my namesake took power they joined as my right hand. Problem is, her father passed away some months ago and the remaining blood relative that was male competed against Markeith. By rights she can pick any husband she wishes without a contest, seeing as she's the only heir to their name."
The sand witch he had met earlier was his bother's wife's best friend, she was heir to the right hand of the family his brother would be taking over, and could pick whatever dick she wanted. The witch just crushed a chocolate in his mouth with plenty of tongue, and his head gave a massive throb at the implications Salamack just slapped him with. If the two families had a merger through two weddings....
He did not need this shit right now, and then Mark made it worse.
"Don't mind Hex's face ponies, gryphons, and fellow human, he's just mad because Lumia stole all of his candies."
"You fucking asshat..."
Shiny suddenly looked up and laughed.
"That's why you've been looking butt hurt all day?! You owe me fifty Durge! He's been pissy over bucking candy this whole time."
"Holy fuck Hex... She stole your candies and you were broodin around the window like a killer lookin for prey."
Mark continued to dig his grave deeper before kicking him into it.
"You should have heard the shit he was saying down the road. Nothing but cursing and stomping all the way back to the castle after Lumia stole his chocolates."
Draining his cup to the roar of laughter around him Hex got to his feet and announced in the snootiest way possible that he was going outside for air. The peanut gallery all chorused boo's and laughs as he made his exit, taking what dignity he had left outside into the cool night air.
As Hex swam his way out of peaceful oblivion, the sad thought occurred to him that some of the happiest moments in the past few months had been waking up to a delightful little ball of warm fuzz snuggled against him. As his eyes cracked open he immediately recognized the white fur and two toned hair of Vinyl. Strange thing was the pony wasn't asleep, and was in fact listening to her headphones and using his head as a book rest.
When she noticed him wriggling about surprise crossed her face before a frown took over, and rolling him onto his back while sitting on his stomach she slid her headphones down and poked his chest none too gently.
"You. Need. To. Stop. Doing. This. To. me."
Each word was punctuated with a hard jab that made him wince, but after saying that she leaned down and rested her head against her hooves while propping herself up on her elbows.
"So. You go off to have a private show at the behest of one major person from the Gala. Hours later Shining and Durge find you trumping around, blood gushing from every hole in your face, and not a single bruise in sight. Mind filling me in? Cuse as far as I know your face doesn't just start pumping out blood unless that's a human thing you didn't tell me about."
Rolling over with her and nuzzling his face into her soft neck he groaned in irritation. Thankfully Vinyl didn't press him for information as her hooves moved to play with his hair.
"Where to start? You're asking about a gigantic pile of shit Scratchy, are you sure you want to deal with more drama?"
"Don't think I won't get some payback later Hex, but I think I'm a bit higher on the titles list besides fuck buddy considering the shit I've put up with for you."
"Fair enough Scratchy. To make things as simple as possible, my bother showed up last night out of the wood work."
"Yeah, I may have socked him in the dick after he admitted that part of the problem was because of him."
That single statement made him ridiculously happy. Hooves weren't exactly the softest things in the world, and since Scratchy nearly choked Twilight to death before meant she probably didn't hold anything back.
"Well, Mark figured out that I had a certain... talent that me and him shared. And yes it was originally his fault I was pretty messed up but I... over did it as well."
"Ah the truth comes out."
"You see Vinyl, there are certain humans who can do... special things with their minds. It's not like magic, but it can be very potent. Mark messed me up yesterday when he showed me that I had that talent."
She sighed in irritation as she forced him back onto his back and promptly began poking him in the chest.
"Just like a foal with magic for the first time. Really Hex? Even if you can use some strange human magic what the hell is the point if its going to make blood gush out of your face?!"
"When someone's holding you down with magic might be a good place to start."
She stopped and narrowed her eyes viciously, and Hex suddenly wondered just how cruel is little Scratchy could be when she was pissed off. Sitting up on his hips she looked down at him before speaking.
"Who was holding you down with magic?"
"No one you have to worry about anymore. I over did it when I tried using that talent for the first time and in felt like it was killing me. That pony may recover... but I have no idea how much damage I did to them since I've never used it before."
An idea occurred to him as he felt the machine's presence once more. It felt a little.... different now, but just as before he imagined using it to touch Vinyl's mind. Being as delicate as possible he imagined a single long stick with a blunt rounded end, and with the slightest touch poked her brain.
The reaction was instant, her front hooves drew back in shock and convulsed before they shot back out to kick off his chest, knocking the wind out of him. She was flew off to the side cursing and holding her head with her hooves.
"OW OW OW WHAT THE BUCK HEX?! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"
Hex was currently wheezing and clutching his chest, trying to catch is breath as Vinyl jabbed him in the back with a hard hoof.
"WHAT THE BUCK DID YOU DO?! IT FELT LIKE YOU POKED MY BRAIN YOU ASS!"
"That's.... exactly... what I.... did."
They both stopped speaking for a while as they caught their breath. Vinyl rubbing at her head before shaking it vigorously. After figuring out that she had done a lot more damage than he did, she huffed and rolled him onto his back once more before snuggling up against him.
"Dude. So... you can mind buck ponies? Remind me never to hold you down with magic again... shit it doesn't hurt anymore I just feel... Violated."
"So you didn't feel violated when I woke you up by molesting the hell out of you?"
"That felt great Hex, whatever you just did hurt, and it felt like you were inside of me... in a WRONG kind of way. Is that how you got that pony to stop holding you down with magic?"
Scratching his head he looked away for a moment as he thought about how he should answer. Looking back up into her suspicious eyes he decided that the truth would do him a lot more good than lying.
"No.... The reason I was so messed up was because I over did it. I just barely poked you brain Vinyl... barely, with a long stick that had a blunt rounded end. I was in a lot of pain yesterday, and that particular pony was being very smug about holding me down so I did a lot worse."
"Hex. That was seriously scary what you just did to me. What did you do to them?"
"You know what a rail road spike is?"
"Yeah....."
"Well, if I wanted to I could talk to you with my mind Vinyl. The only problem being I would have to actually press something into your head in order for you to hear me."
"What. Did. You. Do."
"I drove a rail road spike into their mind and said: I will end you."
She was silent for a very long moment as she tried to think of how badly that would have hurt.
"Were you seriously trying to kill them?"
"Nope. Like I said Scratchy, I was tired, in pain, and being pinned to the ground. I also had no idea how much it hurts a pony to touch there mind at the time."
"So without knowing what you were doing you drove a rail road spike's worth of that talent into someones brain. Essentially."
"That's as far as I understand it."
More silence followed, but after a moment's hesitation he leaned up and kissed her softly on the lips.
"I'm sorry for hurting you Vinyl, and I'm sorry for the shit you have to deal with from me. You won't ever have to feel that sort of thing ever again, and I won't be blatantly driving things into places they don't belong. Not unless I absolutely have to."
After settling in a more comfortable position with a little smirk on her lips she returned the kiss before snuggling against him once more.
"I know you won't. Thank you for being honest, even if I don't know who you mind bucked. I feel bad for them though... you probably messed them up. Speaking of being messed up you need to eat."
The mention of food caused a gut wrenching pain to issue from his stomach as well as an angry sound of being denied sustenance.
"How long have I been out?"
"Oh its just past noon right now. So that makes.... two and a half days?"
The amount of explosive shit that could have taken place in that time was astronomical. He was seriously starting to understand where those crazies on the sides of roads screaming about the world ending got their paranoia from. Before anymore questions could be asked, his stomach made another painful protest so he figured when food was out of the way then maybe he could dive head first into the ocean of septic filth.
Vinyl wouldn't let him get at his suit that was currently being housed in his companies armory, but she did manage to get his regular cloths cleaned. After stumbling about with Scratchy catching him a few times with magic he realized just how weak he had gotten. He needed some food in a bad way, but waiting down stairs would put a damper on even his half starved appetite.
Durge, Mark, Shiny, and Celestia were speaking softly over a gigantic map of Equestria, and once more Kalia was hanging off his brother but looked up quickly when she noticed who it was. If looks could kill daggers would be flying out of the unicorns eyes with the glare she gave me, but as she opened her mouth for an equally vicious statement Durge got to it first.
"The dead rises again. Never met a man bleedin from his face without a single damn scratch on him, but yer brother here tells us that you almost died in a completely unique kinda way."
"You had us very worried Mr. Hexus. You could at least try not to perish when we are not looking at you."
Same old Durge and mama Celestia, but Mark was shaking his head as he pointed at Shiny and Durge.
"I may have been the one who messed you up brother, but you could have said something a hell a lot sooner. These two and some of your company nearly tarred and feathered me before your mare friend shattered my balls."
"You broke my favorite toy, so I broke yours."
"Ha. Ha. Ha. Regardless it's still your own damn fault for ending up the way you did. But really Hex? Did you have to use a rail road spike?"
That comment got everyone looking at him curiously, and a very dangerous sounding comment from his wife only in a language most of them did not understand. Mark's face took on a hard look as he caressed his wife's head with his hands.
"Oh right... I never explained that part. You ponies... at least the ones with those damn horns, seem to like using magic to hold people down, fling them about, and even use them as weapons when you want to. Problem is, there are two humans who have this really nasty trick that can split your mind in half and tear your personalities out of your assholes."
Looking down at his wife and tapping the side of her head he smiled almost bitterly before continuing.
"You were that way at first Kalia, and you liked doing it a lot so I humored you. Then that day came when you wanted things your way, and thought you could take it by force. I showed you why that was a mistake, and your friend... she made that same mistake with my brother."
Slipping his had down to a small side pouch, Mark pulled out a brand new rail road spike with the same blue shine he imagined it to have and let in clatter onto the table. The ring it produced bounced off the walls for a good long moment before finally dying down.
"Problem number two, I'm trained to use that nasty trick the same way a doctor can use a surgical blade. Hex here learned that he could use that trick yesterday, which original caused the bleeding and pain. That's normal, it happens with everyone who has the talent, but my dearest... wife's... friend... decided she wanted to hold my brother down and demand something Hex wasn't willing to comply with."
The silence could be molded in front of them as Mark allowed time to brood over those implications. He did however hold up his hand when Celestia's wings started to unfurl angrily and her front hooves caused the table to creak as she glared at Kalia.
"Now now Celestia, no need to dole out punishments anywhere. Just try to imagine for a second. Think of this spike smashing through your skull, your conscious, subconscious, and the very soul of your being, with every once of agony to go with the wound."
Picking up the spike he tossed it to Hex who caught the thing and took a moment to examine it. Lumia's name was etched in long cursive letters along with the message he had given her the night before, one Mark had decided to leave out of the explanation.
"Every ghost has a memento for the first time they use their... extra knife. You know how dangerous it is now Hex, there won't be any excuse for making a slip up in the future. Now every pony knows that some humans have a little something to counter that one sided magic you horned folks seem to like so much."
"You really didn't have to sound like a complete douche Mark. You're making us look bad."
"Ya know Hex, I was thinkin the same thing. Don't mind Sir Douchealot over there ponies, Hex ain't changin for no one as far as I've known him."
"Oh come on! I've been working on that for two days!"
"I didn't think a person could be a douche for two days straight. Fancy that."
Much to the annoyance of Mark the group got a good laugh at his expense. It didn't change the fact that everything his brother said was true, and the naked threat was left on the table for everyone to think about when they chose to acknowledge it. Kalia was very still after she heard what happened, and when Mark murmured softly down to her she curled herself closer against his body and shuttered.
Both he and his brother shared a lot more than Hex had originally thought, but he couldn't help but wonder what Mark had done to Kalia when she attempted the same stunt Lumia tried. Given his training, and the amount of control he had over his gifts anything was possible. He had to remind himself that they both shared the same strange talents that Kerrigan once had, and is now amplified a thousand fold after being taken by the zerg.
While Hex's meal remained civil as the ponies and humans went over a few details of the coming days he couldn't help but notice how guarded everyone was. It seemed that his allies didn't take the hostile way his brother had earned his position, even if he had been truthful so far of everything brought to the table. The constant threat of violence that may have garnered him respect from the west wasn't going to work here in Equestria, but at the very least they shared the same goals as far as the zerg were concerned.
"Up for a bit of training brother? Lumia and Kalia have a number of troops here in Canterlot that need a commander with your unique talents."
Just as Vinyl slammed her hooves down on the table top Hex reached over and placed a finger over her lips with his other hand halting any the rebuttals of those still gathered around the table.
"First off do they come with some sort of price tag? I'm not too keen on borrowing or taking things on loan. Second question is why ask me? If we're talking about that talent we share wouldn't it be more efficient leading them yourself?"
"Nothing on loan Hex, nothing with strings attached. I have a number of my own hand picked units that I can use, but a majority of them are not suited for what we need. We aren't looking specialist like me. The zerg may have high value command units, but even without command they are dangerous and need to be put down by the hundreds."
"What's the matter Mark? It's a part of bein higher up ta have your hands soaked in the blood of your men. Gettin cold feet now?"
Durge had a point. Leadership of all those ponies fell to him after putting down the competitors for Kalia's hand. Come to think of it most of the poor souls had probably spent much of their young lives being groomed for the position of leadership. Regardless of how well a soldier preformed on the field the story changed into something far more dreadful than the prospect of death. It is always easier to die under the orders of another then handing them out personally.
"I would send any number of soldiers to die if it meant keeping these populace safe. I would gladly make my own grave beside them, but the difference is Hex knows how to bring more of them back home alive. I don't know how to fight as a unit, or in any large scale battle, or watching out for someone else on the field. I am a sniper, I have one target, and nothing else matters. The infantry could pick up some marksman skills from me, but not the mass killing my brother has survived through."
Lumia looked up from where she was resting to stare at him, anger still glittering in her eyes even if her voice remained neutral.
"Mr. Hexus... We have two hundred and fifty of our best soldiers sitting idle within our tents. It would be a waste of their skill to leave them in less capable hands. Every single one of them are adept magic users, and can surely supplement the fifty guards that are still new to open warfare."
Once more it was Durge who answered her.
"I hate to break it to ya Ma'am, but your best ain't worth anything more than cannon fodder. Death Knell's know what we're fightin against, they know how they move, what spots to aim for, and more then anythin how to stand their ground. You're not dumpin your trash on us. Those boys have enough to worry about without baby sittin."
Shining laid a hoof on his shoulder before addressing the mare in a more civilized tone.
"I'm sorry Miss Kalia for my sergeants bluntness, but I am forced to agree with him. We can't simply take new troops and hope to mesh them together without taking them to the enemies... and seeing whether or not they can survive or simply perish. Three weeks is by no means a great length of time, but when nearly all the members of the company came close to being killed and subsequently ending the lives of the zerg... there isn't a way to mimic the training. It will take months of further instruction to give our own armies an idea of what they will be dealing with. Your infantry is greatly appreciated but it would do a far greater amount of good to have them integrated with regular units during instruction."
Kalia looked back up into Marks face as he nodded.
"You are correct Shining, in the practical terms of training. I full understand the necessity of those hazardous expeditions, but I am not speaking of integration by normal means. We can all agree on the need of able bodied infantry to deal with the zerg, but we don't have the luxury of knowing how much time we have. My wife has a spell we wish to use in order to speed their preparation. Both yourself and Mr. Durge have witnessed my brother's efficiency in disposing of the zerg, now I want you to imagine borrowing that proficiency for a short time."
This was going somewhere Hex didn't like. It was bad enough having Mark inside of his head but having more strangers occupying the already cramped space wasn't something he wanted to attempt. Kalia continued to ruin his day further with an explanation.
"The spell is by no means dangerous to the pony or human it is being cast upon. The caster enjoys the same level of expertise understood by the subject having the spell cast upon them. When my husband's infantry use it their ability to single out targets and magically destroy them over long distances are unmatched. It is not perfect by any means, and while no harm can come to the subject, the caster can be succumb to insanity or death."
"You were never much of a gambling man Hex, but the pay out for the soldiers who can survive would be soldiers similar to you in open combat. They may not use the same weapons or go about things in your exact manner, but it would keep a lot more of them alive. My talents lie in stealth and hunting brother, your machine is built on survival."
"I thought you said that was just the talent Mark. Even if this insane bullshit were to work how can any of those soldiers borrow something like that out of my head?!"
"The talents are all ghost, the structures though... What you made it into is all your own design."
"What about breaking everything apart to put it back the right way?"
"There's nothing wrong with the talents Hex. There is plenty wrong with your head though, and that's where all that resistance and pain came from. It's nothing more than a trial run with a few ponies. Those numbers we gave you were the best on hand, and out of them those two hundred and fifty volunteered to come."
Durge knocked on the table for attention.
"Your names Vinyl right? I need ya to vacate the table for a minuet sugar. There ain't no point for you to listen to this what we're about to talk on, no reason to give you nightmares. Don't worry on Hex though, he ain't doin shit that will get him killed, at least not for a while."
"I like you a lot Durge, but I'll crush your dick if he gets messed up again the moment I leave."
"I would let ya do it."
With a sigh she gave Hex a hug that he returned. He would miss his comforting little friend while they dove deeper into the land of bullshit and insanity. Durge looked over at Mark the moment Vinyl closed the door.
"Yer wife there said somethin about dying if this magic shit goes wrong. It's one thing losin men from combat and another gettin them killed before anythin gets done. Second is you ain't been around your brother long enough to understand he's ass backwards as far as stability goes in combat. Sure he's good at puttin zerg down, and he fights real well at the head of a company, but he ain't right in the head for someone killing things."
"I wouldn't expect him to be normal considering his talents Durge. As far as ponies going insane from the spell my wife will be there to sever the connection should something go wrong today, and any unfit to use it will go with Shining Armor's recommendations. Unless you have a hidden company of Death Knell's we need more infantry suited to the work, and it will take some time transporting the rest of my forces here. If anything goes wrong I will be present to neutralize the problem..."
"So your gonna kill your own men after testin this shit on them? For a ghost I'd think you'd be against fucking with peoples heads."
The two of them looked close to blows after that little comment, but thankfully Kalia interrupted them in an irritated and unexpected way..
"If you boys are finished comparing dick sizes then we can continue. There is no danger and there are plenty of precautions to avoid incident."
He suddenly liked Kalia a lot more when she dropped the polite air she held when talking. Hex was rubbing at his temples trying to wrap his head around an idea that sounded like something out of a cheesy flick.
"Five. I'll test this horse shit out on five of the infantry."
"Don't you mean pony shit Hex?"
"I wish I had the ability to set you on fire Mark."
"Maybe when you're not so pissy and whiny I'll teach you how to set people on fire."
"This is bull Hex, why risk it?"
"Because I would like some peace today Durge. Maybe if I threw myself out of the window I'd have it."
"I told ya about them damn windows..."
Assholes. They were all assholes, but he had to admit that was what friends and family were for. Without further interruption their little group departed for the courtyard in question. It surprised Hex that Celestia was joining them for this little experiment and when they did arrive he had to resist the urge to flee.
Sparky was there chatting to a group of mares dressed in brown robes, and if the previous week had any forebaring the word experiment and Sparky should never be used in the same context as it always ended painfully. Looking around at the other ponies milling about one fact stuck out like a sore thumb.
"Mark.... Why is the courtyard filled with mares?"
"These are the infantry we brought. They're the personal guards of Lumia and Kalia so why wouldn't they be mares?"
"I can't integrate them with an all male unit."
A tap on the shoulder had him staring face to face with an irritated looking Celestia.
"Do you have a problem with female assistance Mr. Hexus?
"Not when they're segregated into single sex units no. Problem with mixed units is they tend to form relationships pretty quickly when shit starts going down hill. I don't need a soldiers going mad when their lovers die in front of them."
Kalia stepped in front of the group and said something in her native language, causing nearly a third of the massed mares to step forward.
"These are the ones in relationships with other mares in the unit Hexus. Is it beyond your comprehension that some of your boys might see each other intimately?"
The tell tale throb of pain signaled the oncoming migraine. He wondered when everything went from simple bug hunts to convoluted freak mind training and remembered it was his brothers fault. There was a beating in Marks future, even if it meant possibly getting his brain fried.
Pointing to one of the massed mares and gesturing her forward brought the first volunteer.
"Hexus, my husband and I have already selected the best candidates..."
His nerve broke when he detected that same arrogance her damn friend had, and in an instant he was bent over and in the mares face.
"I DON'T FUCKING CARE WHO WAS PICKED! SHE GOES FIRST AND IF SHE DIES YOU CAN ORDER THE REST OF THEM OFF THE FUCKING CLIFF SIDE"
So maybe he was a little pissed off with the political and ethical game they had been playing all morning. There was a time in his life when he would have gladly debated the issues, but that was years ago and thousands of people dying around him since. The anger he could see on his selected mare's face only added more fuel to his own aggression.
"Whatever the fuck your name is, cast the spell."
Another few lines of foreign language from Kalia had the mares horn glowing, and after a few seconds pause he could feel a tingling along his scalp and a very irritated presence. Mia was her name, and even though her thoughts came in that strange language he could understand them. He understood what she was saying out loud from the link, and as he slipped into the machine he didn't feel the slightest bit sorry for her terror after being called a sexist prick.
She was recoiling from him, her mind was trying desperately to sever their link but Hex used the machine to draw her further in and forced her to recall a very specific memory. During an assault on a hive cluster one of the men in his unit had developed some very personal feelings for the medic that was attached to them. He felt a memory of her own surface, one of another mare who she shared such intimate affections for. It made his example all the more horrifying when a hydralisk tore into the medic, and impaled her over and over again as she screamed through the radio and thrashed on the ground.
He recalled turning towards her lover, and hearing his voice over the comms as he began to whimper and cry. Before he could stop the man a grenade was already primed in his hand, and with a scream he threw the weapon straight for their commanding officer who had his back turned to them. The explosion killed him and another marine, leaving their platoon without command. Hex drew his guass pistol and ended the still screaming individuals life. He spoke to her through the machines cold presence, welcoming its lack of emotion and watching the mare in front of him weep as her body quaked.
"Many will die in the warfare to come, and three soldiers died for something as ignorant as love. He was arguing with the commander before the mission began, and blamed him for her death. Another died simply from being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we lost three soldiers who could have prevented many more deaths. This is why I do not mix my units. What purpose will you serve if your lover dies?"
Mia was shaking and crying when she babbled her reply, still in her native language but perfectly understood while she remained within his mind.
"We won't fail you. Our lives are yours to use till death takes us. We will not fail you."
"Then let us test your resolve."
Turning back to the gathered infantry he yelled for twenty of the mares to stand in the more open part of the courtyard.
"DEFEND YOURSELVES AS IF YOUR LIVES DEPENDED UPON IT!"
Turning back to Mia, Hex dragged her into the comfortingly cold embrace of the machine. Her breathing went back to normal and the tears stopped flowing down her cheeks as a neutral expression dominated her face.
"Tear them apart, but leave them alive."
The twenty mares were still staring at him when Mia vanished, and shock replaced their angry glares when the mare teleported into the middle of them and cast her first spell. Lightning arched between them, causing some to thrash violently as a few cast spells to ward off the effects. Mia vanished again only to appear beside one of the few still remaining upright. Smashing her right hoof into the half stunned mares jaw she moved on to the others before the limp body could come to a rest.
Mia worked just as well under the machine as he always had, and while he didn't know the details of the spells she used or how she was selecting targets the mare would have turned it into a slaughter if ordered to do so. When none of them remained she stood over one limp form and asked for release. It was her lover, partially burned but still alive and he could sense her mind trying desperately to feel something.
The machine didn't allow emotions to interfere, and he wondered if she would have acted differently if it hadn't been designed in such a way. He turned to the other gathered mares who were staring at the scene with shock and confusion.
"Treat the injured and return here tomorrow. That will be all for today."
He allowed Mia to terminate the spell, and the mare broke down crying again beside her lover, babbling in her native tongue once more. Mark patted him on the back and smiled before speaking.
"Not bad brother. Should have to worry to much about the zerg if all of them can manage to do that."
"Mia nearly broke under that spell Mark. We still don't know what will happen when one does."
"We just have to hope for the best Hex. At least smile a little, today was a success."
"A success at what? They will all be fucked up by the time this is over."
"A sacrifice that has to be made. Trade a few for the many brother, it is always better that way."
"And deal with the fact that its my fault when they get messed up."
Turning away and ignoring everything else being asked or said behind him Hex took a direction and kept going until he was alone with his thoughts.
"Females....."
Hex couldn't get over the simple fact that his life now included female problems in abundance. From his lovable Scratchy to the crazed Lumia it seemed like there was a constant progression of problems with the core of each being a woman of some sort. He was honestly missing the days when the only thing he had to worry about was being mauled to death by the zerg, now he had to deal with a sister in law that he couldn't begin to figure out.
It also didn't help having a female dwelling inside of his melon either. There was something so many kinds of wrong with being connected to a feminine mind and the idea of having possibly hundreds doing the same thing, even if they weren't talking to him through the link he imagined it feeling like throwing himself off a cliff into a sea of estrogen hell. His cursing and dark mutterings had most ponies clearing the way for him, and after a quick look around he realized that his musings had taken him into the heart of Canterlot.
A flash of hope brightened his mood as he checked his pockets to find the bits stuffed in them from earlier that morning. He had almost forgotten about the money, and now that he was away from the festering pile of waste that was the castle there was a chance to salvage the day. A chance that was promptly crushed from existence as he felt the familiar touch of magic glue his feet together and send him face first into the street.
He just laid there breathing hard, rage bubbling in his guts and turning his face beet red before finally looking up. Feeling the dribble of blood flowing down from his forehead only to see a white, coyly smiling mare daintily sipping from a tea cup. Beside her was a grey mare looking at him and smiling the same way a serial killer might look at their next victim.
"My goodness dear! You should really watch where you're going! Otherwise you'll miss those pesky curbs. I don't believe you've met my friend Octavia."
The anger he felt started to drain away with what remained of his vitality. He didn't even have it in him to be pissed off at the two, considering he knew exactly why they were angry to begin with. Taking a seat in an empty chair across from them, he looked at Rarity's devious smile and Octavia's psychotic smirk before his head thumped into the table with a soft splatter. Blood was still merrily pouring out of his skull, and he thought it looked a bit neat watching it slowly trail down to the table edge.
"So I'm an ass who vanishes after being pronounced dead. There were issues I had to address after putting myself back together again and we both know Celestia would have prevented me from going if she had a say in the matter. You're pissed about Vinyl getting hurt, Octy here is probably more so because she is her roommate and something of a love interest with Scratchy, and everything female within a few hundred miles is pissed off in some manner. Did I miss anything?"
"Quite noble of you dear for acknowledging your mistakes. I've heard Vinyl and Twilight had a bit of fun and revenge at your expense but there's still the matter of Octavia having her issues to settle with you. Also, there is the tiny little business of all the cloths you and that other male human have been running through."
"I'm pretty sure the castle has been paying you anything asked for those clothes....."
"That doesn't cover what I think you owe me dear."
"I thought you were the element of generosity."
"Oh my! I'm so glad you remember that dear! But that doesn't excuse you trampling over a poor girls feelings after almost getting yourself killed."
There was logic and then there was woman logic. No matter how he could argue his own actions and points it would be circled right back around to slap him in the face.
"If this beast wants my forgiveness I'm not going to ask much. I just want to see him gelded."
"That doesn't sound too bad, what is gelding Rarity."
"That is inappropriate Octavia, and gelding is where a stallion has his ability to reproduce removed."
At that moment he recognized a particular voice humming and heard the sound of splashing and shattering glassware. Vinyl was shaking his shoulders and yelling at his already pounding head.
"DUDE WHAT THE BUCK! WHY ARE YOU BLEEDING EVERYWHERE?!"
Looking up at her and seeing her face contort in horror his reply was monotone and filled with fatigue.
"I tripped and fell. Luckily my face broke the fall and it's just a little wound Scratchy. Head wounds always bleed excessively."
Her next response came in a calm level tone and accompanied by her hooves tightening around his shoulders.
"I'm going to put you into a box unless I'm actively watching you."
"Can we stuff the box full of venomous scorpions?"
"Now now girls... Why would we stuff the box when I'm sure we could stuff him. They struggle for a while but eventually they like it."
His head hit the table once more as he took hold of the machine and decided that maybe he shouldn't be treating them so softly if they were actively planning something that horrid. Shaping it carefully he wondered if he could communicate with them through a link of sorts. The stick he used to poke Vinyl would only make the situation worse, and since he didn't want them traumatized he decided to connect their minds with a string.
It took a few minuets to envision the smallest strand of string he could think of, just the tiniest line of spider web that was strong enough not to break but light enough for them to experience without mentally fucking them.
"Ladies, I think we might have broken the poor dear. It won't save him, but maybe we should lay off for a bit. He seems terribly stressed."
Too little too late, he cast the strings out and coiled them around their minds, all three went rigid the moment their consciousness came in contact with the deathly cold machine inside of his head. The reason behind his disappearance came in the form of him stuffing the images into their cramped skulls without the slightest hesitation. Flashes of the zerg attacking him and his men in the night, pitting the green ponies against those monstrosities to see if they would kill or be killed, and all the while watching over them carefully to keep them alive as long as possible.
An explanation followed for the zerg, what they were, and what his function was as a soldier against the swarm. He didn't allow them to think, or come up with excuses, or whine. There was only the conveying of memories and the cold suppression of emotion from the machine, hollowing them out until they took the knowledge and understood it without doubt.
"This is my job, this is what will kill me, and this is why sometimes I have to do things that may hurt your delicate feelings. I'm not your damn doormat, and I will violate every part of your being if I hear another word about torture."
Looking up slowly at the mares across from him he could see distress in Vinyl's expression, excitement from Rarity, and terror from Octavia. Feeling at least a little vindicated even if it meant dealing with more bullshit later he calmly picked himself up and walked away, looking for the first place that served booze. Turning a few corners and covering a couple of blocks a voice from his side drew his attention.
"What the hell happened to you Flank Shot?"
Off to his side a bouncer was staring at him with some concern, and while he couldn't remember the stallion by name he recognized him from somewhere.
"I need to find a drink."
"I think you need several. Come on in boss, we'll fix you up right."
The inside of the large building brought a smile to his face. It was the same bar Vinyl had taken him their first night out, only this time it was three time larger with a lot more space and bar top. Before he could order a drink one of the bartenders placed a large mug in front of him and a mare trotted up with what looked like a medical kit. After his face was cleaned and his head bandaged the bartender was looking at him with a familiar twinkle in his eye.
The problem with Hex drinking was the more alcohol he went through, the less he cared about any sort of inhibition he may have had to start with. Add a bad mood and within the hour he was on the dance floor making an ass of himself with a mare that had a particularly nice smile. The next thing he knew there was that same mare lying down on her back with various shots balanced over her body, lime wedges and salt separating each one.
Six shots and a lot of licking later brought him to the central cat walk to enjoy the amateur talent strip off, but a lot of ponies thought since he was wearing cloths he was there to strip as well so with a bit of prodding and coaxing he climbed onto the walkway with some help and made his way slowly to the pole. His belt went spinning away into the crowd, followed by his shirt swinging over his head and much more cheering. Slipping out of his boots and letting his pants slid down he gave a sultry smile and spun around pole once.
Standing in front of a crowd of cheering party animals he looked down to see the gawking faces of Octavia, Vinyl, and Rarity. Looking slowly across the crowd he held his hands up and quieted the mass of ponies down.
"THESE ARE MY MARE FRIENDS, AND THEY'VE BEEN VERY MEAN TO ME. BUT IT IS AS A WISE MAN ONCE SAID!"
Grabbing the sides of his boxers he smiled down at the girls.
"IF YOU'VE GOT A PROBLEM WITH YOUR CHICK GIVE HER THE HELICOPTER DICK!"
Shoving his boxers down he did just that. Proudly swinging his junk in a continuous circle a cheer went up with some ponies falling over from laughing. The laughter rose to deafening levels as Vinyl shot out of the crowed and tackled him to the ground. A magical pull brought his boxers up once more and after floating what was left of his cloths on stage with him in the air Vinyl shoved her way through the crowed with Rarity and Octavia in tow. Waving bye to the party ponies he yelled one last time.
"WHAT HAPPENS IN FOUR SEASONS STAYS IN THE BAR! BYE BYE PONY FRIENDS!"
There was a mare standing on her hind hooves with her front legs pushed through his lost pants, waving furiously and laughing so hard she almost fell over without help from those around her. Even if he was being carted away by Vinyl he noticed that it was nighttime when they got outside, so at the very least he partied somewhat into the night.
"Shit."
For lack of better words that curse embodied everything currently happening on board the capital ship North Star. Klaxons were blaring throughout every hallway and bathing all things human and not in red as the Zerg pushed farther and farther into the ship. Since the North Star was the farthest behind the main fleet it hadn't been hit nearly as hard as those who first encountered Kerrigan's main swarm cluster, and still there were critters popping out here and there to tear those unlucky enough to shreds.
Retreat had already been sounded, everyone was running for their lives, and Hex could only grunt in irritation as he clunked his way down towards the escape pods with his Gauss rifle held out in front of him.
When he reached the pod chamber he watched as a group of zerglings hopped about some poor bastards who were too slow to get away. The human in him said he should try to help them, but a far colder side said they were making a good distraction. That cold pit also pointed out that those zerg were not tearing them into wet chunks like they should, they were slashing their legs and dragging them away to do something far worse than killing them.
With a sigh he unlatched an HE grenade from his waist and tossed it into the middle of them before entering an assault pod, closing the door just as chunks of mess splattered the outside. It was a compromise between his conscience and the machine. They were better off dying with the bugs than being dragged away and turned into one of them. It took one step to bring him to the console and after a second pause the pod blew out of the housing and into open space.
Hex knew he was dead and after glancing out of the view port, and confirmed that point with certainty as the North Star produced a warp rift in order to flee. Pods didn't survive warp, and if he somehow managed to not get sucked in (Which was impossible via shitty pod Thrusters) the Zerg fliers would be along to turn him into digestive slush with acid.
The machine didn't care about such things as logic and mortality, so while his head might have been coming to terms with death his hands were popping open storage cases and attaching various weapons, munitions, explosives, and medical equipment to different parts of his suit. He stilled his body when he looked down at the impact gun, quirking a weird smile.
"This is for landing, we're not landing, we're going to be crushed into infinity." As if the warp wasn't bad enough Hex actually froze when he saw a gigantic figure coming at the North Star with what looked like fire in her fists. Even the machine was stilled without any comprehensible action to take.
"That's a huge bitch." Hex sighed as he watched Kerrigan tear the North Star to shreds with whatever freak powers she had. So there goes the North Stars jump and his chances of a painless and instantaneous death but it seemed the universe wasn't quite done fucking with him... at least for the time being.
Hex watched with confusion as some of Kerrigan's powers splashed across the warp rift and frowned at the way all of it seemed to coalesce into some kind of space goop that his poor pod floated carelessly into. "I'm probably going to have cancer from this shit."
He grumbled as the stuff floated through the pod and his suit before the not so nice vision of his pod melting in front of him as well as a strange tingling going through his own body. Hex honestly thought melting would have been a lot more painful but it was actually kinda pleasant as everything slipped away.
Fuck peace and quite oh no, he couldn't just kill over and have things easy. Hex woke up and opened his face shield only to catch a grenade flying about right in the eye. The pod was going ballistic, things were flying everywhere, and he could distinctively feel that he was "Falling" for whatever reason.
"FUCKING GRENADES, FUCKING POD, FUCKING GRAVITY, ALL I WANTED WAS SOME FUCKING PEACE." He howled in his tumbling coffin until the machine kicked back in and placed the errant explosive with the others before smashing through the paneling that hid the purge button and sealing his helmet. Charged rivets blew along the entire pod length as it came apart in chunks, and Hex was left falling through the sky cursing and spinning.
Taking a moment for a nice deep breath as he fell into oblivion he appreciated the cold psychotic part of his melon for grabbing the impact gun. The problem was after he leveled himself out to actually use the thing he noticed underneath him was magical fairly land castle and city.
While his mind tried to wrap around how fucked this place looked the machine primed the impact gun and fired three shells into his landing zone before his body shifted around to take the impact across his back. Funny thing with impact shells was it felt like what he imagined landing in a pool of jello, strangely calming that jello cushion and since the stuff started dissipating seconds after being deployed he never got the chance to poke at it to see what it really felt like.
Once the gel finally cleared away Hex had to stop breathing for a little while as he stared at the thing in front if him. It was looking at him with what might be shock but it was kinda hard to tell since it was a small horse. Its mouth seemed to be working as if it was trying to speak but Hex could not stop staring at the things two toned blue hair and the ridiculously large sun glasses it wore on its face. He actually snorted when he saw a tramp stamp on the things ass in the shape of a musical note but after he could breath right again he decided this thing was as good as any.
"Hola. Mi nombre es Paco."
"..................................."
Drinks, Kinks, and All Hands Overboard
Hex was infinitely glad that he had the mind to grab some standard issue gear and store it in his back compartment before shit hit the fan. Popping the seal on the plastic package the only actually cloths to his name was a pair of fatigue pants, underwear, a stretchy under shirt and a pair of socks and boots. Maybe this Rarity pony could make him something more with just these, he could always get back into his suit if need be but if they were going out to get shitty drunk he'd have to be careful not to ruin his only set of cloths.
Scooping up the bulky bag of coins Shiny had dropped he opened it to find it filled with gold coins with a stylized one on them. He had no idea how much stuff costs so he simply filled his cargo pockets with them until they bulged. With a smirk he left his room to find Vinyl studiously looking at a vase he knew she didn't give a damn about. She had acquired headphones from somewhere but how they functioned or even played music was a mystery but since she wasn't paying attention he took the time to sneak up on her.
It was still easy to pick her up in a bear hug but without his suit he lost about a foot of height and 800 pounds of weight, still she was even more soft and fluffy than he imagined as he nuzzled her mane.
"HEY WOAH PERSONAL SPACE MUCH?!"
She stopped struggling when she realized it was him and cocked an eyebrow at him. "I didn't know you were into ponies Hex..."
"Says the first ever human cock examiner..."
"Dude you were flopping the thing about, I was in shock."
"My dick has that effect on most woman."
"PPFFFFT"
Putting her down she gave him a look over before poking his arm with a hoof and rubbing his skin. "Woah.... Not even a little bit of fur... Crazy smooth."
It was kinda cool being examined... then again he was basically an alien. It stopped being so cool when she buried her face into his stomach and inhaled deeply. "You smell really good...."
"Oook that's enough of that miss. Its officially become uncomfortably awkward."
"Says the guy who has no problem waving his dick in the air at a Mare and a Stallion...."
"I was just doing the after bath time ritual that is sacred and passed down from generation to generation."
Snorting a laugh Vinyl led the way down the halls and after a few turnarounds they finally made it back outside into the grand city. He hadn't noticed how long they had been in the castle, and already the sun was dipping down in the sky as day faded into night. There were still ponies milling about but all stopped to stare and gawk at the creature walking amongst them.
Over by what looked like a bulletin board many of them were gathered around reading a news letter when one of them gasped and pointed in their direction. There were a few brave enough to walk (or trot) up to them but as soon as Hex turned to look at them the poor things scurried away.
A few pokes and prods from Vinyl kept him moving until they came to a shady looking establishment that had no advertising anywhere in sight but did have bouncers outside of the front doors. A wink from Vinyl was all they needed to open the doors but Hex could only smile when they eyed him, more so when they turned a bit green after noticing the canines.
So when a lady takes you out for drinks, especially if its an alien that no pony had ever seen, the establishment would be at least a little on the mellow side. But oh no, while the outside looked regular enough the inside was nothing but plush crimson couches, polished tables, a wide dance floor, and a cat walk complete with pole as well as a mare twirled about in lingerie.
While there was something ridiculously provocative seeing a pony in lingerie when most of them were naked anyways once more everything quieted down when they walked in. Hex walked up to the bar running along the wall and asked the bar keep for three mugs of the house's finest on tap. Things were still quite with the exception of murmuring, even the pole dancer stopped to stare, but when they got their drinks he slid one to Vinyl before turning back to the ponies staring.
Lifting his left leg up he slammed his booted foot down on the short stool hard enough to cause the legs to crack, the sound echoing throughout the club. Placing his fists on his hips he announced to the masses loudly and without hesitation.
"MY NAME IS HEX! I AM HERE TO GET DRUNK AND EAT PUSSY! IF YOU ARE NOT HERE FOR THE SAME..... THEN YOU ARE NOT DRUNK ENOUGH!"
Total silence with the exception of Vinyl face hoofing so hard the thunk could be heard by everyone. On the other side of the bar, the biggest, muscle bound stallion with the tiniest wings he had ever seen got up and yelled.
"BUCK YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Pointing at the third drink beside him then pointing back at the stallion he roared in response.
"DRINK WITH ME!"
Stomping his way down the bar the stallion actually snorted steam as he smiled insanely, seizing the mug and slamming it into Hex's to create an explosion of foam. Both knocked the drinks back, and all Hex could taste was apple flavored fire as he forced himself to chug it down. He had found his illegitimate brother born on another planet, because the moment they both finished they raised their mugs and slammed them into the bar hard enough to cause the wooden tankards to explode into little more than fragments before roaring in each others face.
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Turning back to the shocked ponies Hex pointed at everyone and roared one last time.
"SHOTS! SHOTS FOR EVERYONE!"
The uproar of approval from the ponies could be heard for blocks as they crowded around the bar with the others gathering close behind them. Hex and his unnamed brother drummed fists and hooves on the bar top and were quickly mimicked by those who could crowd around. Shots of amber fire floated while the bar tenders flocked about pouring the shots, and as the tempo rose with a drink in front of ever soul Hex and the guy to his right stop to snatch the shots before knocking them back.
Shots were taken, heads leaned back, and the roar of approval came from that came from every pony shook the entire building. Looking around even the bartenders had taken shots, and through the doors burst two royal guards ready for a fight.
"WHAT THE BUCK IS GOING ON IN HERE!"
They both looked young to Hex, so with a crazed smile he pointed at the two of them and yelled to the frenzied crowd. "BRING THEM UP"
The clubbers surrounded the poor guards, and while they struggled there were just too many innocent ponies around to do anything about it. Hex leaned down and brought the pole dancer and Vinyl closer, whispering pure wickedness and corruption into their ears until both smiled deviously and leaned up on the on the bar and perked their asses into the air.
Bringing a bar tender in close he whispered his plan which brought a crazy smile to his face before he poured four shots. Hex signaled for his brother to hop on onto the bar he handed him two shots before balancing the other two on each of Vinyl's cheeks. Following suit both stood on the bar and smiled with madness as the guards were deposited in front of the pair of asses.
Hex pointed with his fingers jabbing the at the shots while his bro pointed with his hooves.
"DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK"
The chant was taken up by all the clubbers, the bar tenders, and even the bouncers as both blushed solid red looking at the inviting drinks. Both took the first shot in their teeth as silence reigned over their defeat, and as they knocked back the second shot both spat the glasses out and gave the respective girl who presented them the drinks a kiss on the ass.
Holy fuck Hex thought the windows would shatter with the cheer that went up, and reaching into his bulging cargo pockets he crouched down and littered the bar with the gold coins. Immediately everyone started pushing coins onto the bar and calling for more rounds, three others bought a round for the entire house and as Hex looked around at the chaos, cheering, and two royal guards being escorted out with two pole dancers a piece kissing them on the cheeks. It was the most fun he's had in years.
Whatever the fuck the ponies drank to get liquored up was already flooding his brain with warmth, the two fists full of money he put on the bar top was nothing compared to the ankle deep heaps of money now crowding the bar top and still ponies were drinking and calling for more.
The number of bartenders had doubled, and two of them were scooping heaps of coins into bags and with a quick pat down he knew his own funds were far from diminished. A tug from his leg brought his eyes down to Vinyl who was smiling with a shine of red on her cheeks.
She gave him a sultry smile before beckoning him to the dance floor, and the moment she cleared the crowd she stood on her hind legs and pivoted around in a very captivating manner drawing the eyes of the patrons. Three shots were handed to him, and three shots were killed as Hex headed out onto the floor to dance with Vinyl, followed by every dancer the club had and all the mares besides. A cheer came up when the music started to throb through the crowd.
He was going to be so fucking wrecked before the night was over. Ponies it seemed could party hard and it appeared he had created a new drinking game aptly dubbed "Flank Shots" that was repeated in earnest by the pole dancers.
Comprehension started to making its presence known as Hex stepped out into the cool night air. The combination of stress, Stimpacs, alcohol, and the extensive amounts of raw data was pounding against his skull in a dull throb of pain. Show off the company at the Gala, finish for the night, and get back to work preparing the troops for warfare. Take care of business and then go to bed had been the plan, but everything went to shit after the first step.
He managed to get to a small secluded bench in the middle of Celestia's gardens, not far from where his small circle of friends had gathered just the night before and sat down heavily. There was too much weighting down on his mind, he loved his brother and his mother was somewhere safe as far as he knew, yet in the same stroke he was pulled into a game he didn't know the rules too by nothing more than blood relation. They needed infantry that wasn't scared to kill, but it would come at a cost to him and the turning of gears he couldn't understand.
A feeling he could only describe as a dull knife being slowly pushed into his skull was enough to remove any doubt that things were only going get worse.
"I'm truly sorry to bring you into this, but I need you at your best."
Looking around only sharpened the pain, and deepened his sense of dread when he found there was no one remotely close to him.
"I get that your a ghost now Mark. But that hurts. A lot. Talk to me when your actually beside me. I've got enough of a headache without you adding to it."
"That's the problem Hex. I can't talk to a dull mind, I've tried and it isn't pretty. I'm not strong enough to have a conversation like this without killing a regular human, but every ghost can talk to those with the gift. It hurts at first, but practice makes it easier."
If felt like his guts were bottoming out when the dots started to connect in his throbbing head. The pain seemed to bounce back a second time so hard that all he could do was lean forward and empty is stomach of everything he had just consumed. It only made things worse.
"I hate to do this to you brother, I really do. The thing is I need an ally that isn't half crippled, and that means breaking everything down and putting it back together again the way its supposed to work."
Another wave of vomit came, with enough force to make his entire frame shake with the strain. He knew somehow that his brother was holding back, yet it did nothing to curb the feeling that his skull was cracking open.
"I was stronger than you when we got tested, and they came after me because they couldn't detect the gift that we both shared. I got away with mom, but they got you and didn't know what they had. They tried to put you through the resoc tank, and it failed."
The gift his brother went on about was trying real damn hard to kill him, or at least that's what it felt like as he heaved for a third time in front of him. Somehow he had managed to keep from splattering himself but his boots were slowly being surrounded by a growing pool of filth.
"They put you through a second time and they thought it took, but while they convinced themselves it worked you did just the same even if you knew something was wrong. Too many problems to address it properly, no time to rest. You have the time now, so own up to the issue."
"Mark. I don't know what the hell your talking about..."
"Don't deny it Hex, it only makes it worse. You've been using a ghost's abilities this whole time, and its kept you alive and protected you from going off the deep end. Your mind is a scary fucking place, and the only thing keeping it together is what makes a ghost so much more dangerous than a dull."
"All Marines are given what they need to survive combat Mark, its shoved into our head in the tanks and was done so twice for me after two dunks."
"There it is Hex. Everything they need except for that little bit of something extra you've got that they don't. Resoc tanks shove knowledge into your head, everything you need to know, but not how to apply it. Humans would have won the war already if they had a ghosts perception, you've just given it another name and slip in like it comes naturally."
Another forced heave gave way to every last ounce of fluid left in his stomach. He was so empty that the pain from his stomach only added to the crippling agony tearing his head apart. It was probably the pain that kept him from realizing something so very simple, and as he covered his face with his hands his body continued to shake as he whispered.
"The machine."
"That's right big brother. Marines don't have that cold spot in their minds that let them function so very well in combat. That's why they've died by the droves, and you survive. You may have had your close calls, but that's because you've had more at hand then they've ever dreamed of. You've gone farther than I did when I first started out, and I think you'll go farther with a bit of training, but think it over Hex. I can hand you the weapons but you have to be willing to use them."
"You're already splitting my skull Mark, so at least tell me how your talking to me."
"Think of the machine as clay Hex, something that you can mold in your head then use outside your body. We're talking because I'm thinking of it as a needle in your brain, one that you can actually hear my voice from. You will die if we continue, and using it at all might do the same, lay off."
With on final flash of agony he felt the dull knife yanked from his skull and sat there with his face in his hands and the taste of copper filling his mouth. He was breathing hard, and there wasn't a damn thing he could do at that moment besides sit there and hope that he wouldn't pass out in the pool of vomit beneath him.
When he found the strength to get up and wobble towards the small pound off to his left the vison in his right eye suddenly blurred and stung, causing him to tear up and for the first time notice there was fluid leaking out of his nose. The reflection staring back at him looked like something from a horror movie. There was blood slowly seeping out of his right eye, along with a massive nose bleed and from what he could tell by the pain in his mouth it felt like blood was being pushed out of his gums over his teeth. If that was just a needle, he could only imagine how painful it would have been if it was something bigger.
All in all he looked a lot like shit as he did his best to wash the blood away and try to clean some of it out of his eye. Either he was bleeding from his tear duct or a blood vessel had burst in his eye, but there wasn't much he could do besides keeping it closed and letting it slowly weep blood. Two soft hooves wrapped around the sides of his head as something warm pressed into his back, and against the top of his still pounding head
"Poor little lamb, are you lost in this land?"
It was strange how his anger exponentially increased towards Lumia every single time they encountered each other. Maybe if she wasn't tied to so much luggage he might have thought of her as wanting to try something new, but nope there was too much shit following the mare for it to be coincidence.
"Get your damn hooves off of me Lumia. I don't want anything to do with you or the bullshit my brother is knee deep in."
"Whether you like it or not Hexus, you're apart of our little circle now. Your brother made sure of that when he asked for my dearest friend's hand in marriage."
Regardless of how much his mind rebelled against the idea, his body had no problem with her comforting softness or the soothing way her hooves felt running down his shoulders and slowly wrapping around his chest. Nothing like a mare who knew what she wanted, and cared even less about how she was going about to get it. He suddenly missed his dear little Scratchy, the only strings that came with her was a decent rut at the end of a nights drinking.
"It doesn't have to be so difficult Hexus... I can make it worth your.... commitment."
A slow promising lick up the back of his neck would have felt a thousand times more erotic if it didn't carry the guarantee of husband entrapment. He was tired of the stupid game, he was tried of his brother who hadn't been around for more than a day, and he was certainly tired of this bitch who was literally on his damn back with nothing to offer but years worth of headaches.
She thought he was complying when he reached back to caress her face, and as she licked and nipped the side of his neck he smiled and sighed with genuine pleasure. It was really easy to grab the bitch by her horn, giving her the old lean and pull as she was yanked over his back and pulled over his shoulder to land in the pond with a satisfying splash. Given the way she was thrashing about he assumed she couldn't swim, but she was close enough to the edge not to drown.
Walking away from her struggling form he wondered just what kind of repercussions he'd face from the political department for throwing a house figure head into a pond. His question was answered the moment his feet suddenly seemed glued to the ground before being yanked out from underneath him. Like the crazed she-bitch that Lumia was the pony was snarling as she flipped him onto his back and jumped on top of his chest.
Like some kind of sick rapist she still held his head gently between her hooves as she smiled down at him.
"Struggle all you want Hexus. I don't have to be nice with you and I certainly don't have to take your whining."
His arms snapped up on either side of his head and where held there as her horn glowed crimson. Even with the such a bad situation the machine kept him calm and even eased some of his pain before he stopped.
"I bet your the kind of man who enjoys being rode Hexus, the ones that like being held down."
Slipping out of the machine and looking at it inside of his head, Hex did as his brother had explained and thought of it as something else entirely. He thought of it as a nail, but that was too small... a really big nail, and just like that the machine changed its shape into a rail road spike.
"Don't get me wrong Hexus... I'm not mad at you."
A slow and very distracting lick ran its way up his neck and all the way to his ear, where it ended in a shape nip on the lobe. Pulling his focus back in he went back to the spike and with a bit more concentration it turned into the prettiest rail road spike he had ever seen. Nothing but shining blue steel, fresh off the factory line and ready for a few whacks to send it into it's final home.
"It's like the old saying goes. Nothing of value is gained without a struggle."
"You're going to have to try harder woman."
He took his fancy spike and looked up into those questioning lavender eyes. Imagining the tip being placed at the top of her head, he felt the heavy pressure return in his own head in a flash of pain but ignored it. She raised one perfectly lined eyebrow as she smiled at his pain, and as he imagined a hammer and the single blow it would take to drive it home. The bitch never saw it coming as she licked the tear of blood running down from his right eye.
One good blow, and her body went rigid. As agony exploded in his own head he could still see the way her eyes narrowed to pinpricks and the way her jaw locked in a silent scream. He knew she was in so much pain that she couldn't cry for help, he knew that even though it was killing him to do it, the cost was well worth the pay, and he also knew what terror tasted like from the spike drilled into her mind.
Through that spike he said just a few words that he put every ounce of promise he could muster behind.
"I will end you."
He yanked the spike free, and she convulsed on top of him before falling to his side. It took everything he had left to get up and onto his feet but looking down at her he felt joy for the first time in his life from causing someone else pain. She was scared, and tears streaked her pretty face as blood ran from her nose. There would be no more magic from her, and at that thought he laughed and walked away.
Everything was suddenly funny as he wobbled along. He laughed at the tears steaming down his left cheek while blood came down the right, he laughed even as blood dribbled from his nose and out of his mouth. What made him laugh the hardest was when he saw Mark, looking deathly ill and the rest of them looking mighty scared.
"I'll sooner die a free man then led by a leash. No matter how pretty that mare holding the leash may be."
Mark seemed to get paler, Shiny and Durge just looked confused, but Salamack was smiling before nodding his head in agreement. It didn't take them long to snap out of their stupor, and when they did rush him with demands of what happened Hex did the one thing he had wanted to do for a while now. He simply let go, and slipped into that welcoming blackness that took all the pain and worry away.
