Stalker

Chapter 6

Yeah she is angry with me. I wonder how many rules of war I broke when I launched that attack after winning the one-to-six, probably a lot. At least Twilight is up there with Luna so maybe I will have some backing in this.

“I would think that after living here for three months that you would be more familiar and understand that being friendly and trying to be diplomatic would be a better solution than what you did,” said Celestia with a relatively calm voice.

“The first three weeks I was here I was in and out of consciousness and then the fourth week I was locked away in one of your dungeons.” She gave me an icy glare, I guess that was a bit of a low blow but still I have only been active here for two months not three.

“What you did… I don’t think it can be forgiven,” Celestia stated, her voice shaking just a little bit. “You do not continue a battle once a one-to-one is completed.”

“I do not fight gentlemen wars Celestia. I fight to win and make an impression that we are not to be messed with and that is exactly what I did. Their army is crippled and they know not to fight you now,” I say trying to keep my voice calm but it was hard. Why could she not see that I was right in this?

“This is not you home, you follow our rules and our customs while you are guest in our kingdom,” she gestures to Luna and Twilight. “Furthermore you used one of your weapons on them. They had no chance.”

“You act like war is fair, it is not fair. War is hell and dirty. How bad are your relationships with other kingdoms that you need an army that size? I will bet you if there are problems they are gone now.” She looked a bit shocked at that. Was I right and there were problems with other kingdoms? I was shooting in the dark with that one.

“They would have left us alone after your victory that is the rules. What you did was slaughter.”

“And that is why I ask that you send them money, food and a few other things now because of the damage done. Do not have them pay war settlements if that will make you sleep easier at night.”

“You are missing the point. There was no need, they would have left us alone for a very long time. That is the point of the one-to-one fights, keep the casualties down.”

“The last time I trusted an enemy to leave me alone or my men I got stabbed in the back literally and figuratively and watched as my men, good men died. I have no trust in the enemy to keep to the rules when they attack unprovoked… or was it provoked Celestia? They seemed quite reasonable to me.”

“Of course not, they live in hate and fighting so they wanted to kill the Elements of Harmony because they could bring peace. Already in the short two years after finding them Equestria is better place. I ask that you apologize for you actions to the Equus’ and that you hand over the weapons on your hips and the large one slung over your back.”

“No.”

“Then don’t speak to anypony in Ponyville. Any further injuries you sustain will need to be taken to the hospital. If I find out that you spoke to one of the Elements of Harmony then I will have to take steps. I don’t need you influencing in any of you practices. If you decide to stop protecting Ponyville form any dangers that my come out of the Everfree Forest then I will stop you payments and confiscate your home.”

“Sister is-,” Luna started.

“Oh fuck you Celestia. Fuck you. You think that because you have some fucked up version of war that it is better than mine then you are wrong. One day you will see that I am right,” I do not wait for a response before I am gone from the throne room and heading toward the train station. God that bitch is stupid thinking that just because you kill someone in a single fight that the problems are going to be gone. No that is not how the world works. The high class ponies were staying out of my way. Good because I do not think I could be held responsible for my actions if one of them got in the way. I glance to my left and see the other five Elements of Harmony there and then they saw me. They started to move forward with Pinkie hopping in front and they all started to try to get my attention but I ignored them. Soon enough I was at the train stations and in one of the cars ready to go home. They had still been following me until a guard had stopped them.

I did not have to wait long before the train shuttered and started to move forward. I look across the aisle and out of the window thinking about how Flutters was going to react to this when suddenly the train car was rolling and throwing my around and then it went black as my head smacked into something.

“Fuck, my head,” the words were a croak and then the sounds of screaming caught my ears. I look up and see that the train car was on its side. I pretty much crawl my way out of the thing only to see that the car had been pushed, or rolled at least sixty yards from the rails. Of course my eyes move past that and I see makes my eyes go wide. Canterlot was on fire, dark curling smoke rose into the air thick enough to block out a lot of the sun. I get to my feet and start walking and then pretty soon I am jogging as adrenaline kicks in knocking the pain from my head. Screams from various ponies reached me. There are bodies lying on the ground all of the place, throats torn out, some were disemboweled, some missing limbs. There was a guard standing off to the side when I noticed that one of the ponies was acting strange. Its head was twitching back and forth and it… shit that is a bite wound. I draw my pistol and plant a bullet into its head and it fell without a sound of its own. The guard looked at me in shock and I move over to him in four big steps.

“You do not let any of them leave this town, they try kill them. Keep it contained,” he just nodded his head and moved into the middle of the street and I noticed a few other guards do the same and it looked like he relayed what I told him. I started running further into the town but the further in I went the worse it got. Ponies were tearing each other apart many of which had violently twitching heads. The road was slick with blood and I almost lost my footing once or twice. A lot of the buildings I went pass were on fire or heavily damaged like something heavy had gone through it. I kept moving hoping to not attract the attention of the infected but by the time I was within about a block of the palace my rifle was out of ammo as was my .45 and I had left my fucking bag in the room I had stayed in, and I only had three more rounds in my revolver. Passing a large building that looked like half of it had come down I heard crying coming from inside. Fuck ‘em, the princesses can wait. I dash through a hole in the side of the building and I see Applejack, Rarity and the rest of them except for Flutters in a corner. I walk over to ask where the missing friend was.

“Where is Flut…,” what is that behind them. My strides increase and soon enough I was shoving Rainbow Dash out of the way. Fluttershy was laying on the ground, blood had pooled around a gaping hole in her side. There was a roaring sound in ears and my hands were shaking. “Did she get bite,” I could hear that my voice was unstable and the rest of them backed away a little bit. Guess they do not like the look on my face.

“No, the big thing smacked her and she went through the wall and when we found her she had the hole in her side,” Rainbow’s face was streaked with tears then a sound of feet searching for purchase came from behind us. I stand and move so that I was in front of them only for it to be a pony guard coming in. No it was Shining Armor. I walk over and grab him by his horn squeezing it hard. His eyes betray his discomfort at being grabbed like that.

“Let go,” he said his voice deadly.

“Not before you tell me what happened,” my voice must have been enough to convince him not to fight me.

“Something big, and extremely dark came through town destroying everything in its path,” I could feel my hand go slack and it started to shake. It has to be the Stalker, that is the only thing that could get this far in and not be stopped first. “It’s in the palace as we speak. I tried to get in but something is blocking the doors and I can’t seem to enter using magic.”

“Stay here and help Fluttershy. If I come back and find out that she died I am going to kill you,” he nods as best he can. Letting go of his horn I move past him and down the rubble till I am standing on the street and the rest of the way I take at a run. Soon enough I am standing in front of the palace doors and I shove the blood stained doors open. I pass various bodies and limbs before I am standing in front of the throne room doors. I push on them but they do not move and soon enough I am kicking at them trying my best to get them to open but no luck. I look at the hinges on the door and see that there is only two, very big ones. I pull my revolver out and shoot one bullet at each and then kick the heavy door causing the hinges to pop off. The door stood there for a second before it fell inward with a thundering crash.

The inside was a complete mess, it looked like most of the guards in the castle had found their way in here then died. In the center there was the… Stalker? It was not the Stalker even though it did very dark black skin. No that was not skin but an exoskeleton. The first generation of infected were more violent than the ones they spawned and some had developed exoskeletons. Only problem was that this one was humanoid. Two arms, two legs, about seven feet tall and had to weigh minimum of four hundred pounds. I looked past him to see the three Princesses and boy did they look scared. Could not blame them but this was not a Stalker so my earlier worry was replaced with anger. Everything started to fade just a little bit. The thing turned to look at me and I saw that its teeth were about four inches long and sharp as all hell. Its eyes were too big for its sockets so they bulged out quite a bit. I pull out my knife and start circling it causing it to turn to keep me in its sights when its back was to the Princesses Celestia launched a ball of magic that slammed into the back of the thing and I could feel the heat from across the room. The ground around it literally melted around its feet but all it did was turn and looked at her. Its back was fine, nothing wrong with it. They were as stunned as me.

Then it moved, faster than it should be able to and I could see that the fight would be tough. The three of them just barely managed to throw a shield up yet when it slammed its heavy clawed fist into it making it crack, small fine cracks. I looked around the room and saw swords, shields, and spears laying around. I quickly picked up a spear and threw it at the bastard the head just missed its arm but it caught its attention. Then it was moving at me, not bothering to watch, just wanting to kill. I tried to get out of the way but was not fast enough. Its claws wrapped around my leg and then threw me backwards causing me to slam into the far wall and I think something might have broken. A racking cough escaped my throat. It was moving toward me again only much slower, as if relishing the moment. It smiled, it was grotesque because of the meat and blood stuck and staining its teeth. The world became just a little bit duller, the pain becoming just a bit less, sounds not quite as loud. I tried to crawl away but it just grabbed me and pulled me toward the center of the chamber. It flipped me over so that it was holding me by the throat and it brought its mouth close my face, the smell was horrid and I started to thrash around but that only caused pain to shoot throughout my body.

It dropped me thinking that I was not a threat anymore and started to move back toward the three Princesses but this time their shield looked much stronger, a mixture of purple, dark blue, and a few other bright colors. It was giving off a nice glow. It slammed its fists against the shield but it held however by the forth blow it was cracking again. I tried to get to my feet again but it hurt terribly. I looked away from them, not wanting to see what it would do. God why do this to me, why do this to them? My thoughts drifted to when I saw the picture of the baby boy surrounded by the dead, how thankful I had been that it was still with the living. Then they drifted to all the dead in the streets of this place, how so many of them had to have families. That gaping hole in Fluttershy’s side, the blood coming out of it.

The world’s brightness decreased some more, it was all just so dull now.

My hand moves almost by itself and wraps around the shaft of a spear near me and I pull myself up, the pain was just as dull. Strange. The shield they had thrown up was cracked, pieces actually missing and it lost its glow. Everything was black and white now. There were no sounds, it was like I was a passenger in my own body. My arm came back and threw the spear and it planted itself right behind the knee of the fucker. My hand moved to the extra blade on my belt and I pull it out. The thing turns toward me with a scowl on its face and I could feel my face morphing into an expression I was not familiar with.

It pulled out the spear and quickly turned it around and threw it at me only it seemed to move so slow through the air. I easily lean out of the way. Then my feet were carrying me forward and soon enough we met. The blade bit deep into its body over and over again as I danced around it, blood flew and splattered the walls, the floor and even making contact with shield the Princesses had thrown up in a ditch effort to protect themselves. It cut through with some resistance but it did its job with the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and organs. Just before a killing blow to its spinal cord it gave me a back hand straight to my sternum and I feel things break. I am lifted off my feet and slam hard into the ground meters away however it crumpled to the ground as well, its head propped against the shield. Its mouth was filled with blood. It looks at me with undisguised hate and I return it, well I think I do. I am not sure what is going on with my body, why I seem to be acting with less thought than usual.

I look at it and see that it is staring at me with hate and pain and then we both glance at the revolver laying in the middle of us, actually closer to me than to it. It must have fallen out of the holster at some point. I start moving forward only the pain intensified and I look at the ground and watch as droplets of black hit the ground from my mouth. I look up and see it moving toward my revolver, my father’s revolver. The one thing in my life that I had kept by my side, even while I slept was soon to be in this monsters hands. This thing that very likely started another apocalypse here in Equestria… Fluttershy was probably dead by now. Rage flared in my like it never before and I move forward on my stomach, crawling toward what was mine and what would end get my revenge on this thing.

My gun was suddenly enveloped in a purple light and it just barely avoided the monsters claws and it came to my hand. I let my finger slid into the trigger guard, feeling the familiar curve. I push myself up onto my knees all the while it moved toward me and I waited with the barrel planted against the ground. When it was within a foot of me I lifted the revolver and aimed down the sights. I squeeze the trigger and feel the buck as the bullet left the gun and entered the beast’s head, right above the left eye. Its face bulged, the skull cracked and shifted, the eyes left the skull, and brain leaked onto the damaged floor. I look up at the princesses… or rather tried to but instead I fell over and blackness thicker than death fell on me.

Four days after Canterlot

Oh God what happened? My eyes open slowly and I look around the room I am in only to feel a tugging sensation on my face. I reach up and place my hand on what feels like an oxygen mask. I wonder how they did that one. Everything was fuzzy though and… distant. Not really there. Darkness started to creep back in around the edges of my eyesight and then I was gone again.

Six days after Canterlot

“When do you think he’ll wake up,” asked a voice. I think it was male.

“I don’t know, I’m sorry,” that voice was female. I try to open my eyelids but they feel so heavy. It takes a while but I got them moving upward. I turn my head a bit to the right and notice that the oxygen mask is still in place.

“Hey you’re awake. Gave a lot of us a scare ya bastard,” it was Short Sword. I look over and see his light tan fur and darker tan mane. I turn my head back so that I am staring at the ceiling. “Don’t feel like talking I take it. Well I’m sure you would like to hear about what has been going on right? Good news or bad news first?” I make two of my fingers twitch hoping he understands. Whatever pain medication they have me on is wonderful and slightly a pain in the ass. It was hard to move anything.

“Bad news first,” his voice was… a bit sad. “Well about a thousand ponies died. Three hundred of which were the royal guard.” They had that many, damn. “A few of the infected got away and we have Pegasus air patrol looking for them so maybe we’ll catch ‘em or maybe not. The good news is that you’ll make a full recovery and so will Fluttershy.” My eyes snap wide as I remember the condition she was in when I went into the palace. I try to sit up but my body does not respond. “You can’t get up… man, I think is what you say. Yeah any way it was a flesh wound, she just lost a lot of blood but she will probably get out before you. You got fractured ribs and a punctured lung. The doctors here didn’t know what to do so they had to fly in a few from Ponyville. They fixed you up but it got close a couple of times from what I hear.” So the doctors at Ponyville actually learned something. I could feel myself drifting off again. I let Short babble on about whatever it was while I got cozy.

One week after Canterlot

Fuck. Oh God this hurts, holy shit. My breathing increased which only caused my chest to feel even worse which I am not sure how that is possible but it is. My limbs were not so heavy this time and I start feeling around for a call button or something to get the attention of a nurse or just someone when a couple rushed in with a couple of syringes of stuff. They both injected one right after the other and my body quickly went numb, well not as numb as I would like. I could still feel an ache and pins and needles in my side and my breathing was not as smooth as it should have been. Was I breathing like this the last time I woke up? I cannot remember. I just remember someone had told me… something. I think they said Fluttershy was okay. Please God let that be true. I tried to turn my head and found that I could though it was fairly stiff like it had not been moved for some time.

The room was obviously a hospital one with white walls and a white ceiling. I got to admit that a lot of the medical equipment in this room was similar to what humans have. I wonder how that works exactly, I guess the same way that they have construction equipment and can operate it. I look at the doorway and see what appears to be an equally white hall. I never understood why they have to be white all the time, why not like… blue, or red. Hell even pink was better. I move my hand up to the oxygen mask and give it a tug and feel it leave my face, the straps were made from rubber or something else that stretched. I started to breathe a bit and was happy to note that it was not too hard but since they had left the mask on my face I figured that it would be best to leave it on.

The minutes passed slowly. I had called out once but oddly enough when I did it took my breath away for a while and I had not reached anything more than a normal speaking voice. I wonder how badly I got fucked up in that fight with that thing. I still was not sure what it was but it was comparable to a brute in anatomy, not nearly as big or strong, but body structure and then it had characteristics of a Stalker. Did the thing mutate… can it even do that? No it could not have otherwise it would have done so earlier and caused more damage that it had already like kill off the human race instead of crippling it. I pull myself out of my thinking and look around some more but seeing nothing really of interest I try to lift my arms with some success and hoping that I could stretched them and to get some feeling in them. Only problem was that my left side started to scream when I did that so I quickly stopped. I do the same to my legs, lifting them about two inches off the bed only this really tired me out.

“Good to see that thou are awake,” well that voice could only belong to the great and benevolent Luna. I pull the mask down a bit.

“Well I… wish I… was not.” I look at her and see that she is frowning. “Am I all… allowed to… speak with… you?”

“Yes why would thee not able too,” she asked.

“Your sis… did not want… me to tal… talk to… all of… ya,” talking was a pain. Literally. “It hurts… to talk. Tell me… what happe… happened.” Her frown deepened.

“Short Sword informed me about what he told thee. We found the ones that got away and We personally dealt with them. Fluttershy will make a full recovery. We fear that Short Sword may have misinformed thou about thee’s condition. They fear that thou may never recover full functionality of your lung.”

“What?”

“We don’t know how much it will affect thou but it means that thou will probably have trouble breathing for the rest of thy’s life. I am sorry.” I look away from Luna not really wanting to hear about how I might be a cripple now. Eventually she leaves and I slip into a nightmare.

Two weeks and four days after Canterlot

My eyes open once more and hopefully I can stay awake for more than thirty minutes. The drugs they keep giving me knock me out after a while of being awake. I take a small moment to check to see how my body is feeling and I can safely say that I am a lot better. I wonder how long I have been out for. I lift my left arm and feel a lot of aching, pins and needles, and a lot of stretching muscles. I let my arm fall and then I focus on my breathing and while it seemed that they would be fine for small durations of exercise or conversation. I look around the room seeing if maybe I had a visitor but I did not. After maybe ten or so minutes a visitor did appear however I was not exactly happy to see her.

“Hello Richard,” she said evenly and in way that said that she did not want to get into a pissing match again. I could actually agree to that.

“Can I help you Princess,” I ask.

“I wanted to see how you were doing. I don’t like seeing you in this condition,” there was a bit of compassion in Celestia’s voice which was nice I suppose. “The doctors informed me that your lung is on the mend and should be almost good as new. Also that you should be getting out of here in another week.”

“Almost good as new?”

“Well they say that it will only function at about seventy percent or so.”

"Guess it is a good thing that I do not take stock in what doctors think."

“You handled yourself well in my throne room,” she said changing the subject

“I am not going talk about that. Your sister has tried, your student, hell you even tried to get Fluttershy to get me to tell. I sure as hell ain’t telling you.” She was even more taken aback my hostility but fuck her. I am not going to discuss something that I do not even understand about myself. Actually that side of me, the side that apparently hides so well, scares me a bit. I really need to think of this without me being drugged so much and at my house so I was at least more comfortable.

“You changed in there and I would like to know why. Are you not telling me something? I know this will only anger you and you have done me and my sister a great deal but,” there is always a ‘but’, “I am afraid that side of you will resurface at a less convenient time. One where there are innocent ponies around that could be caught up in it.”

“I was very much in control of myself so what the fuck are you talking about.”

“Only at the end. I say you change back into… well more of you than whatever it was that possessed you for that short amount of time.” I remembered that I had no real control over what I was doing, it was just a straight killer instinct with everything, my body just doing what it felt it needed to bring down my enemy. I wonder how much hate plays a factor in it because I was feeling an unhealthy amount of that when it all went… dull. That is the best way to put it. Everything just lost… its life and color and just… I do not know.

“You are not going to leave me alone about it are you.” The pauses in between my answers and responses were longer than they should be. I shake my head at the thought but then Celestia started to speak again.

“No,” her answer was dry. We sat there for a good five or so minutes before I responded.

“Fine, you win. I will tell you but give me more time to think about it.” Bigger breaths after finishing a sentence. Yeah I am going to need to see if I can get my lung working better despite what the doctors said.

“Thank you, now what was that thing?” I do not think her anger was directed at me but I was not too sure. I was supposed to stop something like that from happening.

“I do not know. It… had characteristics of older first generation. The ones that got directly infected. Some, not all mind you, but some grow a type of exoskeleton. It had the structure of a brute, not as fast or big. Structure was very close though. Lastly it had the same color as a Stalker. Same color and teeth and claws. They were a bit shorter than that of a Stalker but… yeah that is all I really got for ya.”

“Why did you not tell us of this ‘first generation’?”

“Cause we killed all of ours, hell I was not even born when they bombed everything south of the border. It slipped my mind.”

“Alright I want you to rest up and in one months’ time we will have that talk about what happened with you.” The tone of her voice made it clear that no matter what I did we were going to have that conversation.