The Gramophoneby NotABronyNYMoreChaptersSo it beginsNew "Friends"Humanity's FinestPeace TalksHanging over the abyssSo it begins"Come on! We're close! Just keep firing!" These words echoed out of the mouth of Tank Dempsey and around the expansive chamber of "The Crazy Place". A rocky chamber ventured to by using certain music on various tunnels of excavation site 64, the place where the Germans had unearthed element 115 and an ancient evil: Zombies. The chaos that went on in The Crazy Place included falling bits of the ceiling, massive amounts of elemental energies unleashed by four humans wielding the ultra powerful Staffs of the Ancients, and a huge amount of the undead. "A good warrior, never loses his head." A Japanese man by the name of Takeo Masaki spoke his words calmly whilst launching a trio of red rocks onto the ground from his staff, Kagutsuchi's blood, a fire staff overcharged with element 115. The rocks exploded as soon as they hit the ground spreading three pits of burning magma which incinerated the zombies that walked into it. The staff was a long wooden pole with various metal indents all the way up to a blue checkered handle. The head of the staff was a bulbous circle with black studs jutting out of it; every one of the four staffs had this basic feature. The Tip of each staff was unique though. On the end of the ancient staff was a dull golden ring. Attached to the ring was a bright ruby crystal. On each side of the crystal, starting at the side of the ring were a pair of matching gold claws with iron bolts in the middles. Jutting out of the side of each claw was a silver edged blade. "Takeo! Now is not the time for that philosophic bullshit!" Dempsey yelled in return, not looking over his shoulder. The group of four were back to back on a large electric blue circle in the middle of The Crazy Place. They were on the final step to freeing Samantha from Agartha, and in doing so, opening up escape for themselves. After 5 days of hell at the hands of the relentless undead, they would finally be able to go home and end this nightmare. Their two other companions Nikolai Belinski and Dr. Edward Richtofen said nothing but continued to fire their staffs: Ull's Arrow, the ultimate Ice Staff, and Kimat's Bite, the ultimate Lightning Staff respectively. Each zombie slayed would send their refocused energy into a small glowing blue ball in a dark hole above the circle. Dempsey pointed Boreas Fury, the ultimate Wind Staff at a large group approaching from their side, sneaking in behind a fallen piece of the ceiling. The marine held down the pin on the side of the staff's handle, eyeing the fast approaching horde with expert precision. The cylindrical crystal right above the staff's handle began to glow in a bright amber light, and the main crystal followed soon after. A hissing sound resounded through the hot air and Dempsey released the pin. A large blast of air hit the horde with incredible force, the initial blast was rapidly followed up by a quickly spinning tornado which sucked in any zombie that was'nt instantly destroyed by the first blast. The marine cracked a smile at the carnage. Blood and organs covered the ground around the group. They air smelt of cooked flesh and was becoming blisteringly hot. After a good 30 seconds, the small ball expanded to show a upside down funnel of slowly rotating clouds. At the center, a bright light obscured by the clouds above. A light ding pulsed through the air. Nikolai quickly looked up and his eyes widened. "Hey comrades! Look!" The Russian pointed up. As the four looked up and saw the funnel cloud, they recognized it immediately. Nikolai charged his staff, the crystal glowing a bright icy blue, and fired it at his feet. A circular storm of icy enveloped the four survivors protecting them from the mass of zombies outside. "Zhats the-" Richtofen was interrupted by an ethereal voice speaking to their minds. "You've done it! I'm free!" Samantha spoke, joy very evident in her tone. The ice storm died down and the four returned to repelling the zombies. Richtofen looked back down and was face to face with a zombie. The skin was peeled back revealing rotting red flesh with pus dripping out of open pores. The doctor swung his staff around, landing one of the side spikes in the creature's glowing orange eyes. The white fluid dripped down the the spike. Richtofen jerked the spike out and pushed the now fully dead corpse into a group running up the short steps, before firing several bolts of lightning at the horde. "Alright little girl, if you haven't noticed we are kinda fightin' for our life's here! How about you get us out now, we can't hold out much longer!" Dempsey yelled angrily, continuing to turn zombies into red mist with his staff. "..." A pause."I...can't" The ethereal voice answered in a low flat tone. "WHAT!" Dempsey and Nikolai exclaimed at the same time. Takeo's eyes narrowed and Richtofen grit his teeth. "I knew you couldn't be trusted." Takeo growled. Samantha responded quickly. "I can't get you out directly, but I know how you can escape! Combine your elements, Use the music to open a gateway! I haven't been there but I know its better than here!" With that the voice was gone and the funnel of clouds Vanished. "God damnit Samantha!" Richtofen screamed in rage. The doctor pulled a toy monkey off his side wound it up, and tossed it away, distracting the zombies."Come quickly mein comrades!' The German ran for the wind section of The Crazy Place, the other three behind him bore similar expressions of anger, with Dempsey uttering a few choice words. As the monkey exploded in the distance Richtofen smaked his hands on the faintly glowing yellow circle beneath them. Rocks began to build a rectangular portal behind the circle. The doctor turned around to see his allies covering the two small staircases leading up to the section. Dempsey had a Magna Collider out, his empty staff on his back. He was covering one of the stairs, the upgraded light machine gun ripping apart the large horde of zombies closing in on them. Nikolai and Takeo were covering the other stair case. Takeo was holding a Spatz 447+, taking mesured shots and blowing the heads off the undead in a splash of blood and bone. Nikolai on the other hand was wielding The Afterburner, firing the pack a punched mp40 from the hip ripping through the bodies of the infected. Richtofen stood up and pulled out his boomhilda. The doctor fired the upgrade pistol, lasers destroying the zombies jumping down behind the four. The German mused to him self as he blew off both a zombies legs and then shoved his knife into its head. " The staffs will be useless without something to power them up. Maybe we will find some element 115 where we are going" The doctor thought to himself. An odd pulsating song pulled Richtofen from his thoughts. The rocks had formed a portal its colors solid yellow, and it seemed to beat like a heart. "Lets go!" The three whirled around and ran towards the portal. Richtofen jumped in behind them. As they exited they fell on the on the rough dirt, out of breath, the adrenaline working its way out of their system. The four got their feet and nodded to each other before walking up the path up into the main site. Light bombarded their dilated pupils, The Crazy Place being very dark. The enormous funnel of clouds with a bright light up in the sky was the only source of light. Richtofen got on his knees and pulled the four different gramophone records off his side and set them up: One on the top, one below, that, another on the side, and the last one on the other side. The doctor put the white vinyl in the center. " Alright." Richtofen sounded out of breath. "Lets hope this works" "How do you know how to do this, German?' Dempsey asked distrustfully. "I don't" The doctor stated simply."I'm guessing off what that damn girl told us." "Fine" Dempsey accepted it. "Alright, I have just enough power in this staff." He pulled out Kimat's Bite." to put a cloud of lightning on this Group of records. The 115 should be enough to make this portal Samantha was hinting at us. The others nodded grimly. The Downpour was drenching their already dirty, bloodstained clothes. The doctor leveled his staff at the white vinyl, held the pin, waited a few seconds, and then fired. The slow moving ball of swirling violet energy settled on the white record, its tendrils reaching out and touching the other four records. The records were soon engulfed by a bright light. With a loud 'ping' the light vanished, leaving a transparent cut in the air a couple inches across. The portal swirled in a whitish color. The silence was broken by familiar moans and screams. As the undead began to crawl out of their graves a loud siren echoed. The survivors looked at each other with dread. Zombies began to come towards them and a zombie in a massive suit of armor rashed down a few meters away from the portal. The four tried to make a run for the portal but the armored zombie shot something out of one of its claws. A grip seized Nikolai and began to pull him towards the iron monster. As he was pulled the zombies began taking swipes at the Russian cutting and scratching him arcoss his legs. Nikolai cried out in pain as the monster began to burn him with its flamethrower.The man was suddenly let go and dropped to the ground, groaning at his injuries. His comrades killed all the zombies around and the armored undead exploded sending Nikolai back a few feet. Dempsey grabbed his arms and pulled him back towards the portal, Takeo and Richtofen covering him. "You okay Nikolai?" Dempsey sounded worried. "Ill be okay Tank" Nikolai laughed weakly."I've had many wife's, it's gonna take more than that to keep me down. "You're a tough son of a bitch Nikolai." Dempsey smiled. The Russian just grunted in agreement. The three looked at each other and nodded before going through the portal, leaving the site filled with empty corpses. The journey though the portal was filled with odd colors and shapes. Incomprehensible Images and sensations. As they fell through the portal and landed on hard stone, they groaned in pain. The aches were much worse than the feeling of going through a normal Gramophone portal. The four opened their eyes and stared in disbelief. They were in a dark, dimly lit cave. The light source was the amazing thing though. A glowing horn on the fore head of a purple equine with five other equines behind it. The six had expressions of shock on their faces. "Wha...What the fuck!" Dempsey managed to utter. New "Friends"Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Blood covered bipeds with strange metal objects and wooden poles with golden ends. When Twilight had received a letter from Princess Celestia early that morning, detailing a strange energy source coming from the Smoky Mountain she had initially thought that the dragon they had kicked out had returned and was not happy; dragon's tended to give off large amounts of energy when they where in a rage. After gathering her friends,one in particular not wanting to get up considering just how early it had been, they set off on their journey, unaware that something was following them. When they arrived in front of the mountain, with Applejack letting do of Fluttershy's tail, having had to drag the petrified mare behind them, Twilight addressed the group. "Alright we've done this before, we just got to find where the dragon is,and hopefully we can get him to stay out. The stare worked last time, it should work again." Applejack gave Fluttershy a glance, who was hiding in a bush behind them, shaking like a leaf. The orange mare turned her gaze to Twilight, giving her a hard look. "Um Twi, do ya really think its a good idea to send little ol' Fluttershy in with an angry dragon?" Applejack raised an eyebrow "Well we need to end this with peaceful negotiations-" Rainbow Dash cut her off "Peaceful negotiations?!" The cyan pegasus asked incredulously. " Twilight, You cant negotiate with a pissed off dragon! I say we just give him the boot, you know...again. Dash chopped her hooves together in midair. "Oh silly dashie." Pinkie chided with a smile." You cant kick something out when you're only as big as one of its teeth." Dash grumbled something about "Awesome ponies can do anything. " Girls you're getting ahead of yourselves" Rarity chimed in. " Twilight already said she wasn't sure if it was the dragon." Rarity gave her fellow unicorn a nod. "Thank you Rarity. Alright I'll perform the spell, then we will know for sure what it is." The mare pulled up her mental spellbook and closed her eyes. Sifting through the mess, Twilight readied the necessary spell. Her horn began to glow a bright violet and the tip glowed blue. In her mind's eye, the mountain was black with the edges glowing softly. The mare 'looked up' expecting to see a large blue shape in the form of a dragon. To her confusion, the top of the mountain remained black. She scoped out the rest of the mountain, finally noticing a small brightly glowing blue square shape under ground. flicking the spell off, the mare regained her bearings eyes adjusting to the larger array of colors. Turning to her friends the, the mare told them of her findings. The lack of a dragon seemed to calm Fluttershy and she exited her bush cover.Twilight told the others to follow her, leading them to a small section off the mountain. With strange circular patterns in the wall. Twilight charged her horn and directed the energy on the wall, blasting it open to reveal a tunnel. " The energy source is down here." Twilight said aloud, begining to walk down. The others followed. Rarity was at the back and before entering the tunnel she turned around. The alabaster unicorn looked around, her keen eyes trying to make out any thing misplaced. She turned around slowly before running down the tunnel to catch up with her friends. She couldve sworn she felt something watching her. The tunnel was short, maybe a few feet down. At the bottom was a chamber, large enough for the six mare to fit. At the back was a Pulsating black portal, just barely visable in the soft glow of Twilight's horn. Around the portsl was a frame made of dark rocks. Rarity was about to walk up to get a closer look when four strange creatures fell out of the portal. The white mare jumped about a foot back. Rainbow Dash and Applejack dropped into crouched postures on instinct, Fluttershy hid behind Rarity. Twilight just stood there, eyeing the strange, bloodstained bipeds. They were completly covered in the red liquid. The six mares adopted shocked, horrifyed expressions. The four bipeds on the ground groaned and coughed loudly, dropped their strange metal objects on the ground. The group of disoreintated creatures looked up, disbeleif on the faces. One of the four had scratches coveringh it's lower half and it's upper body had burns on it. The biped next to this one spoke for the first time. "Wha...What the fuck!" The creature spoke in a rough, garbled language. It's eyes widened for a second before it grabbed one of the metal objects. This one was large. Larger than the others, with a sideways cylander on the side of it. It lifted the thing up pointing the end at he ponies. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood their ground, while the other four backed up. In the midst of this silent standoff two of the bipeds stood up grabbing their metal devices. The injured one remained on the ground, but pulled a weapon similar to another one of the creatures and pointed it at the ponies. The silent standoff was broken by a very familiar laugh outside of the tunnel All of the ponies pupils shrunk and their faces adopted dread. Twilight summed up everypony's thoughts. "Oh buck!" Humanity's FinestThe humans watched in confusion as the ponies ran out of the room and up the chamber. They lowered their guns and looked at each other. The survivors glanced behind them as the portal collapsed on it's self. "You gotta be shitting me!" Dempsey exclaimed before taking a deep breath. The marine got on one knee and pulled out a syringe. He grabbed Nikolai's arm, pulled the glove up and injected him with the numbing agent. "Zhis place is going to be something very different." Richtofen voiced everyone's thoughts. Nikolai thanked Dempsey as they both stood up. With the glow of the purple equine's horn now gone, the group was once again left in darkness. "What now?" Takeo asked aloud. The man furrowed his brow as he thought. Richtofen eyed his comrades, an uncomfortable expression on his face. The german walked towards the tunnel. " The only thing ve can do." Richtofen clicked the chamber on his Boomhilda and turned around." Exit the tunnel, find out vhere ve are, and if nessecary, shoot our way out." The other three nodded grimly before following. Nikolai caught up with the German. "Do you have any idea what the fuck those things were? They looked like small, colorful horses." Nikolai looked at the doctor expectantly. "No idea" Richtofen said simply. As the group began to see light penetrating the tunnel, they sprinted out, Walking onto the strangest thing they have seen yet. The six colorful equines had their backs to the four survivors. They were facing a large group of black, insect like quadrupeds that complely surrounded the side of the entrance in a huge half circle. Dempsey looked behind him, seeing that they had exited from a cave on the side of a mountain. At the very back of the army was a bigger version of the black ones, with long, green, insect like wings, The creature had a wicked smile on its face as it eyed the colorful ones hungrily. It's gaze flickered from the technicolor horses to the blood stained bipeds behind them and it's smile faltered. Chrysalis was overcome with happiness. After having been pushed away from Canterlot, The changeling Queen spent every waking hour planning her revenge. Her army of changelings had been moving into position to attack Ponyville. The ambush was about to be sprung when a scout reported that the Elements of Harmony were leaving town. Quickly switching her plans, the Queen gave the order to follow the ponies and attack them were they were isolated. Now here she was, with the Elements backing themselves up against the wall, literally. Her eyes moved as four new figures exited the cave behind the Elements. They were bipedal, standing on two legs with blood stained clothes and weird metal weapons. Her smile dropped as she felt the emotions brewing inside the new arrivals: anger, hatred, despair, bitterness, rage, coldness. All these negative emotions were hitting the Queen with tremendous force. These creatures were not from Equestria, that's for sure. Her smile returned and she gave the attack order. They needed the ponies alive, but the others could die. The survivors tensed as the big black one screamed out and the smaller ones charged them. The horse things in front of them kept in a tight formation, watching carefully(all but the small yellow one)for the incoming attacks. The four humans readied their weapons, waiting side by side. The sounds of gunfire broke out, destroying the pony's concentration. They all looked back to see the humans just outside of the cave, spreading out across the battle field in pairs of two. Dempsey and Nikolai moved through the field fireing their weapons at the attackers. The powerful upgraded rounds of their machine guns cut through the Changelings ranks like a knife through butter. "Feel the might of the motherland!" Nikolai yelled out as he pushed his blade in the throat of a Changeling that got to close and fired his Afterburner in his other hand. The ground was beginning to flow a river of neon green blood and the bodies continued to pile up., Dempsey cursed as his gun clicked. He quickly backed away as the insect like creatures swarmed his front. The marine felt a ferocious power coursing through his right hand. Holding the large machine gun in his left hand, the soldier swung is right fist into the changelings. The creatures were blown back in a mess of broken bodies as a tremendous blast of air formed around his punch. "Thunder Punch! Hell! Yes!" Dempsey cackled as he finished reloading his Magna Collider and unloaded a burst of fire into the creatures still around him. The bodies dissipated in a fine green mist. A loud yell drew Dempsey's attention. Nikolai was beating the Changelings back savagely with his gun, breaking open heads and snapping necks. Dempsey smiled. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Takeo sliced through everything in front of him with his katana, the samurai's blade cutting effortlessly through bone and flesh. The warrior eyed the increasing number of opponents with innate precision. Slipping his blade into it's sheath, Takeo pulled his Spatz 447+ of his side and aimed at the fast approaching Changelings. Bursts of fire ripped through the insect's skulls, splattering green goo all over the ground. Takeo felt something yank him down. Three changelings were on top of him pummeling his lithe body into the ground. The samurai quickly pulled his Mauser from it's holster and jammed it into the jaw of the creature on top of his chest. Pulling the trigger, the creatures head ruptured with a loud 'CRACK". Takeo pushed the body off him and took aim at a changeling biting his other arm. Growling as the mass was pushed off his arm, a large bleeding hole in it's chest, Takeo's eyes widened as the last creature was in the air, its jagged horn mere inches from his face. He sighed in relief as the insect was disentegrated in a red light. RIchtofen ran over to him. He helped his ally up, handing him his Spatz 447+ that he had dropped. "You fight with ferocity my friend." The German smiled and nodded before pulling out a modified Mauser from a holster on his side. Richtofen fired his dual wielded pistols ahead of him, letting his Japanese ally continue to decimate the Changeling forces behind. Rivers of a thick green liquid flowed through the mud. Firing his pistols, one shooting lasers and the other experimental 115 infused bullets, the element destroyed the bodies of any thing in their way. Richtofen turned his head to the colorful horses. They were holding their ground, but just barely. A few unconscious changelings littered the area around them, but nothing more. The sadistic doctor returned his attention to his front, firing his pistols at the hordes in front of him, before switching a pistol to each of his sides. The opponents attacking his flanks were quickly turned to dust as his onslaught continued. The doctor heard the shots of his ally behind him, short and controlled. A couple feet to his left, Dempsey and Nikolai were moving through the hordes just as quick, automatic gunfire lighting up their enemies. "Takeo, let's join the other two!" The doctor sprinted through the battle, running and gunning. The familiar 'SCHLICK" of the samurai's blade behind him and fast foot falls told the German that Takeo had heard him. Dempsey pushed a changeling into the ground with barrel of his gun, impaling it's cold heart. Yanking the gun out, Dempsey saw Nikolai beside him, keeping the hordes off of him. The marine pulled out his blade in one hand, rammed it into the head of a changeling beside him, before leaping forward and slicing the throat of a changeling behind his Russian companion. Green blood showered Nikolai's back, painting over the dry red blood. A large group rushed forward attempting to kill the two zombie fighters. A small green rock like object bounced painfully onto the head of one of the insect-ponies. The rock exploded, splattering the ground green with guts and blood. "Boom goes the corpses!" Richtofen said in a sing-song voice as he joined in with Dempsey and Nikolai. Takeo was close behind cutting his way through, coloring the edge of the blade green. Nikolai laughed as the four zombie slayers murdered every changeling they came across. "Nikolai enjoys the slaughter! Almost as much as my second wife" Nikolai spoke the words thoughfully. Takeo called out to his comrades. "Keep firing! They cant keep this up for much longer! For honor!" Takeo pushed his blade outward, impaling four changelings in a gruesome shish kabob. When the samurai withdrew the blade, green entrails coated it. "Takeo's right, lets finish this!" Dempsey joined in. The four warriors pushed through with even greater strength. Chrysalis watched with horror as the four humans killed her children; slaughtering them brutally and with a cold lack of remorse. She racked her brain trying to think of a way to take them down. There was none. The queen grit her teeth hard, If they continued like this her changelings would be all over the ground, most of them already were. They had to retreat. The option was unthinkable. Most of her children were starving, lacking the love they needed. The love the Elements could provide. Though if she made them stay here, she along with her children, would all die. The queen sighed and made her decision. A strange clicking emanated from the Changeling queen's throat. All the insect creatures returned to her. Chrysalis took a final glance at the battle field and her eyes locked with one of the bipeds. He was wearing a tan vest on top of a white shirt stained red and green. Those eyes made her shudder. Hazel pits filled with fire and death. She tore her eyes from his and flew off, her few surviving children following her. The four survivors watched the few black insect creatures escape with their leader. They took a look around, taking the time to notice how many bodies littered the field. Looking back they saw the six multicolored horses sitting there, terror and repulsion on their faces. The yellow one was crying and the cyan one seemed like it was in a trance. "Holy shit." Nikolai spoke, wonder in his voice. " Thats alota fuckin' blood. At least we won, who wants drink? Doesnt that sound nice? Nikoali laughed. "Good intro to a new world I say." Dempsey sighed as he looked around. How the hell would he explain this to whoever lived here? Peace TalksDempsey closed his eyes and leaned back, resting his body on a large boulder. A sigh escaped his throat. Around him, his allies inspected their equipment thoroughly. Nikolai scrubbed at the surface of The Afterburner, his unfocused eyes glazed as he went through the repetitive task. Takeo wiped the neon green blood from his katana, the blade shining faintly. Richtofen however just stared uneasily at their company. The six mares had sent there rainbow maned friend off to the east. She returned shortly after bearing a smug look on her face. The German doctor simply glared, distrust and paranoia present on his features. The pegasus gave him a wary expression, before turning quickly and racing back to her group. The yellow pegasus sobbed behind the other mares, while they just tried to keep as far away from the brutal carnage as possible. A sadistic smile split Richthofen's lips. The fear they felt was empowering to him. Ten minutes later, the distant sound of flapping wings caused Dempsey to open his eyes. Flying towards them at high speeds, six figures, silhouetted by the shining brilliance of the sun. His fingers grasped the handle of the Magna Collider. His allies came to attention as well, holding their respective weapons cautiously. The six ponies landed a few feet in front of them, eyeing the horrible bloodshed around them, grimaces crossing the faces. This ended swiftly as the directed their attention to the four survivors. Two of the ponies had snow white coats and were draped in some kind of primitive golden armor. The other two seemed to be the opposite. Dark grey, with light blue armor. the similarities ended there however. While the white ones had the normal wings they had seen on the two pegasi, the grey ones had bat wings and stilted, reptilian eyes. These four steeped in front of the last pair, which were tall and regal. The alabster one had a flowing rainbow mane and tail. Atop her head sat a gold crown with a violet gem embedded into it. Her hooves were tipped with golden shoes, elaborate and expensive looking. A shining sun adorned her flanks. She also had a horn and wings. Dempsey's eye brows raised at this. "Leaders perhaps?" The smaller stood beside her, a stoic expression on her face. Her mane and tail, dark blue lined by a lighter shade, sparkling like a starry night. Her coat a dark blue. Her flank tattoo was a crescent moon, framed by splotches of onyx. A necklace with the same mark was wrapped around her neck. The marine assumed the other four were these twos guards. Dempsey tensed and raised the large machine gun as the guards raised spears. Beside him he heard his "friends" raise their respective weapons. "Well first contact couldn't have gone better" He thought sarcastically, smirking. The silent standoff, filled the air with tension. Richtofen eyed the colorful congregation before him with a trained eye. Years of observing the psychology of people had made him rather adept at reading emotions. A drop of sweat slid down one of the armored guards, while the two Alicorns just watched, emotionless. This was the break in visage he needed. Grinning manically, he took a quick step forward. The guards flinched, holding the spears tighter with their wings, and jerking them forward. " They are afraid of us." Richtofen called to his team, grinning the whole time. "Seems that way. Dammit how do we handle this, they don't speak our language!" Nikolai grunted angrily. the German looked over him allies. They were tense and paranoid, the hell they had went through feeding into their minds. Richtofen had an idea. "Lower your weapons." He yelled to his comrades. They tensed, never taking their eyes of the group in front of them. "Doctor..." Takeo growled, dangerously close to rushing the ponies. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to slice up the dishonorable beasts in front of him. It was only through sheer will power alone that he kept himself planted where he was. "We wont get anyvere just sitting here pointing our weapons at each other" The doctor reasoned. Dempsey glanced at him suspiciously. This was unlike the bloodthirsty German, however he did have a point. He glanced ahead of the tall leaders, noticing how the six mares from before had gained the courage to move up a bit. They were now sitting behind the two Alicorns, staring uneasily at the blood soaked humans. Growling, the marine hesitantly lowered his gun. Nikolai following his example. Takeo however continued to hold his blade out threateningly "Just fucking do it Takeo!" Nikolai shouted. Slowly the samurai complied, holding the sword at his side. The four guards relaxed at this. The two Alicorns talked quietly for a moment before nodding. The group of humans had to resist the urge to aim and shoot as the Alicorns horns began to glow brightly. The tense moment ended quickly and the air smelt of burned rubber. The ponies jumped as Richtofen screamed. "Vhat ze fuck vas zat!" The doctor's eyes narrowed and his hand touched the holster on his side. A feminine voice answered him. "Magic. My sister and i-" She was cut off as the doctor screamed indignantly. "Magic doesn't exist svine! Science...science." He muttered before lowering his head. The alabaster Alicorn was about to speak but the German spoke first. "Science!"He finally bellowed, not noticing the ponies slowly backing away from him. He trembled and his eye twitched. "Magic is a fairy tale!' "Uh...doc." Dempsey spoke seriously. however the ranting German paid him no heed, continuing to mutter. "I vill have to find the source of that. Maybe the horn channels ze energy. I vill need to obtain one." The unicorns shuddered at this statement. "Richtofen." Dempsey once again tried to grab the doctors attention, only to once again fail to break the German's trance. Richtofen's voice began to tremble. "Just a quick snap and one of them will be mine"The doctor giggled madly and everyone shivered. "Richtofen!" Dempsey shouted angrily, annoyed at how the German was ignoring him. " Notice how we can fucking understand them now?" Dempsey seethed. Richtofen blinked stupidly. "Oh ya ve can." The doctor said in high pitched voice. Dempsey sighed before turning to the group of equines. The two Alicorns eyed him with an amused expression. The marine shook his head, grumbling and the two Alicorns laughed, the heavenly sound filling the air. The six mares seemed to relax as their princess's handled the situation, with the exception of Fluttershy who was sobbing softly in Dash's hooves, her friend patting her back. "What are your names?" Celestia asked, a soft smile on her lips. Meeting with an unknown species didn't happen everyday. Dempsey hesitated, unsure if he should be giving out his name to, what were basically, aliens. Although he didn't want to accept it, he needed their help. Him and the rest of his team had no idea how this world worked. "Corporal Tank Dempsey." He answered after a pause. He didn't miss the smug smile that crossed the guards faces. "Higher-up motherfuckers. We could kill you ten times over bitch" The marine thought angrily. "Sergeant Nikolai Belinski, the red menace" He gave a quick grin before sipping his vodka, the alcohol burning his throat. Takeo stepped forward, slipping his sword into it's sheath. "Captain Takeo Masaki" The samurai gave a quick bow. Richtofen grunted as he walked over "Doctor Edward Richtofen, the butcher" The German allowed a sadistic grin to split his lips. The six mares once again looked nervous. Celestia noticed and gave them a reassuring look. "And who would you be?" "Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun." The humans quirked their eye brows at that. "Raiser of the sun? What the fuck?" The Alicorn beside her adopted her stoic expression. "Princess Luna, sister to Celestia and raiser of the moon. Charmed" The humans nodded. The purple mare stepped up beside the two princess's. And gave a strained smile at the four. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. I do have to thank you for..." She looked at the bloodstained ground, shuddering heavily."...dealing with the changelings. Who knows what could have happened?" The purple unicorn took a deep breath. "These are my friends, Rainbow Dash" The cyan pegasus struck a pose, though the humans could clearly see the discomfort on her face." Rarity" The unicorn flipped her mane and batted her eyelashes. "Pinkie Pie" In less than a second, zoomed up to the humans before speaking impossibly fast. " Hi I'm Pinkie pie are you an alien because I've never met an alien before and now I can throw a party for one!" An orange pony grabbed The mares tail in her teeth and yanked her back. "Sorry about that, hi i'm Applejack, pleasure to meet you" the stetson wearing pony spoke in a thick southern drawl. The mare over there is Fluttershy. The pony in question tried to hide behind her long, flowing mane. Celestia spoke, voice authoritative "Now, I believe there is much to talk about. We should go somewhere less...' She trailed off as she surveyed the bloodshed around them."...macabre. However is there anything you need before we go? Nikolai looked her dead in the eye, and said completely serious "Vodka." Hanging over the abyssThe cold claws of terror wedged itself in Dempsey's mind. His eyes fluttered and looked around. Through his blurred vision several shapes made from bits of red and orange stood out. As his mind began to piece together, the fast rhythm of his pounding heart grew louder and louder. His deeply ingrained instincts came to the surface and his hands frantically moved around. When they landed on a cold, long, metal surface they stopped. His discarded Mauser lay several feet in front of him. Gripping the handle tightly, the marine pulled it close to his prone form. Digging his elbows into the ground, he pushed himself into a sitting position, aching muscles crying out in protest. Around him were rolling hills dotted with the occasional tree. The sun was setting, but strangely enough sat motionless on the horizon. Twisting his neck, Dempsey eyed the macabre scene he was surrounded by. A metal carriage, supported by several planks of wood, was tipped on its side. Two of the strange equines he had witnessed early were sprawled out beside. Through his mental fog, the marine could easily see they were dead. One had each of its wings ripped to the base, along with a piece of shrapnel stick out of it's skull. The other's neck was twisted almost around to its back. Grimacing slightly, Dempsey shook his head and took a deep breath. He grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet, careful to keep his finger off the small pistol's trigger. He cracked his spine loudly, instantly feeling less stiff. Once he was on his feet, he gave his surrounding another quick glance before a sudden thought jolted through his brain. He turned quickly. His magna collider was nowhere to be found. He figured the neon LMG would stand out pretty easily. His eyes fell and disappointment shot through him. He also noticed something else was missing " Shit! where are the others? Dempsey frantically looked around, until his eyes fell upon a familiar looking piece of equipment. Limping over to them quickly, Dempsey reached down with his free hand and scooped them up. Nikolai's goggles, bloodied and worn. A large patch of thick, tall grass drew his attention. "Nikolai!" He yelled, hoping to get a response. For a few seconds nothing happened. Just as he was about to turn, a loud rustle came from the patch. Instantly Dempsey had his feet planted, eyes narrowed, and Mauser raised. The marine slowly put one foot in front of the other. Almost a minute later, he planted a foot into the grass moving it aside. With a gasp a figure shot up. Dempsey jumped back and almost fire off a round. With a sigh of relief Dempsey lowered his gun. Sitting up, trembling, the unfocused eyes of Nikolai greeted him. "You alright" Dempsey asked as he extended his hand out. The Russian grabbed it firmly and pushed himself up. He clapped Dempsey roughly on the shoulder. "I'm good, comrade" Came Nikolai's gruff response as he rolled the soreness from his shoulders. The two were silent for the moment as they gathered their thoughts. "So, what exactly happened here?" Nikolai asked as he too scanned the chaos around around him. Small fires burned here and there and the smell of blood was thick. Further ahead, more bodies littered the landscape, shockingly enough, some of them from those insects they fought earlier. His American ally said nothing as he strode over to one of the bodies. Bending on one knee, he examined the corpse with an expert eye. It bore no bullet holes, curiously. In fact the only visible wound was a large burn covering it's face. Standing up, Dempsey tossed the Russian his goggles. "Come on, lets fine Takeo and Richtofen, then figure out what the fuck is going on here" The American glanced at Nikolai, who only nodded and pulled out his upgraded Mp-40. Stepping past the dead changeling, the duo marched. The land sloped up into a steep hill after the first 100 feet or so. As they climbed, each of their minds raced with theories and explanations. Why did it all have to go wrong in Germany? It couldn't have been just a standard mission could it? Anger quickly began to build in both of them. Their footfalls began to take on a harder tone, nearly stomping into the dirt angrily. While Nikolai was simply frustrated, Dempsey was downright pissed. Once they reached the top, he gave a furious yell, startling Nikolai. "This is fucking bullshit!" Breathing deeply through his nostrils, the irate marine sat down hard, sighing as he did so. He slammed his fist into the ground, kicking up the brown earth. Nikolai gave him an annoyed look. "Now is not time to panic." Nikolai scolded with a scowl on his face. "We don't have luxury." Dempsey gave him a look that could bore through mountains, but Nikolai stood his ground. Dempsey got to his feet and stared the slightly bigger soldier down. They stood still, glaring at one another, for a good minute. Finally, the marine looked down and closed his eyes. Berating himself for having lost his cool. Nikolai's look softened slightly. "Come on Tank, things could be worse." His ally said, nothing, turned on his heel and continued down the hill. Dempsey's resolve hardened as he put the metal blinders over the corners of his mind. A narrow line of focus resumed inside him. The slope of the hill flattened out into a long treeline. Raising their weapons, the two carefully eyed the woods ahead of them, weighing their options. If they hadn't seen them out in the fields, then they had to be in here. With a goal set in stone, they stepped over the thick roots and branches and into the dark forest. The silence inside however maddening, gave the two the perfect peace they need to maintain an iron composure. The darkness wasn't completely overwhelming, but it did make vision quite shallow. For some reason Dempsey felt incredibly on edge. Every time a leaf crunched under his boot he flinched. The soldier instincts embedded deep in his mind were screaming at him that something was about to spring on him. He wondered if the Russian beside was feeling the same unease. Seconds ticked by in his head, counting off a clock to what had to be something bad. Unknowingly, his pace had begun to speed up increasingly. Nikolai noticed and cast him a wary glance. The hand gripping the handle of the Afterburner tightened. Dempsey's unease began to peak, a bead of sweat dripped of his brow. He really wanted to find his two allies and get the fuck out this forest. A loud crunch off to his left was the only warning he got before he was blindsided. Knocked painfully into Nikolai, who also fell, Dempsey's head struck the ground hard. He swung out a second later, catching his attacker in the jaw. Through his haze, the American kicked hard, hearing the sharp crack of rips breaking. He rolled to his right and swung himself around. With his right hand planted firmly on the moist earth, his left quickly pulled his knife out of its sheathe. His eyes widened as he viewed his assaulter. Hunched over, holding it's chest, was a odd canine creature. Looking like an offspring of a human and a dog, the creature was covered in light grey fur and stood a good head shorter than Dempsey himself. The dog's face was pulled into a snarl that stretched way too far across it's face. The marine tossed his knife into the air slightly, catching it by the blade. He reared back and tossed it. It whistled before it stuck the beast dead in the chest, causing it to howl in pain. The creature beheld the blade in his torso with horrified eyes. Before Dempsey could rush forward, several loud clack behind him sounded off. Invisible cannons stuck the injured dog, sending a thin spray of red. With a weak groan it collapsed on it's back, the knife protruding. Dempsey glanced back. Nikolai, feet squared, held his gun out, his eyes half lidded in a bored expression. The American strode forward and ripped the blade out with a wet "Schick". As he straightened out he heard Nikolai mutter something along the lines of: "This place is almost as weird as fourth wife." Choosing to ignore that, he pushed the blade back into it's sheathe and resumed their march, with Dempsey feeling a tiny bit less on edge. They walked for the next hour or so, stopping only once to eat and drink before resuming their walk. The density of the tree seemed to get a bit less compact as they continued on through, they found themselves having to step over thick roots less often and squeeze between trees as well. However night seem to have finally found it's way to them. The two could barely see around them, but didn't dare stop. The forest got lively as the darkness fell. Roars and growls echoed around putting even the battle scarred warriors into a nervous panic. They gripped their weapons tight and kept their eyes forward. A growl particularly close to them stopped the soldiers dead in their tracks. Back to back, they surveyed the pitch black darkness surrounding them. After a few minutes of tense waiting, haggard gasps escaped them. Quickly catching their breaths, they kept on. Dempsey lead, nervous energy completely covering him. Nikolai followed closely, not wanting to lose his companion in the suffocating black. In between moving quickly through the woods and stopping to watch for close threats, they made very little ground. The forest seemed endless, the darkness all encompassing. The moments when the chaos of the night were cut by terrible silence were the worst. The silence built a very eerie tranquility, bringing about a very haunting tone. To the two however, they would be alright. The horrors of the infection at northern France had turned them from regular soldiers, into almost titan like being of war. What they were not prepared for, to their immense discomfort was the role of diplomat they had taken for their species to this unknown one. They knew this and it just added to the anxious pit in their stomachs. Their silence was split by a shrill screeched a few hundred feet ahead of them. They both flinched strongly and just about fired their guns. Giving each other a quick glance, they dashed off towards the scream. As they got closer, the sounds of crying echoed off the trees, along with several flashes of magenta light. After rushing through a particularly thick patch of trees, they burst through a clearing, weapons raised. The purple equine they had met earlier lay on the ground, head buried deep in her hooves. She was surrounded by a glowing purple shield. Said shield was being viciously attacked by a pack of wooden wolves. To say the two humans were shocked would be an understatement. This was by far, the strangest thing either of them had ever seen. Knowing that the horse was no threat, Dempsey looked at Nikolai, who looked right back. Nikolai gave Dempsey and almost imperceptible nod. Dempsey raised his Mauser, the steel chassis kicking as a round escaped its thin barrel. The round blasted through one of the wolves wooden head, exploding in a shower of dark green gore. The round would'v bounced off the purple shield if the mysterious horse hadn't used the last of it's strength, and passed out. The rest yelped and backpedaled away from their dead pack member before racing off towards the two humans. Glad that the animals were distracted. Dempsey popped of about three shot before they were upon him. Dempsey quickly twirled around as Nikolai unleashed a burst of machine gun fire, lighting up the dark clearing for a second. The Russian grimaced as a set of sharp wooden teeth lodged themselves in his right arm. He curled his left hand into a fist and brought it down on the beasts neck, shattering it. Meanwhile, Dempsey was having similar issues. Having been further up then Nikolai, most of the remaining pack rushed him. His left leg was assaulted, as was his left arm. As he raised his Mauser to take of both of their heads, a third wolf rammed into him, knocking him to the ground. His pistol fell to his side, just out of reach. Growling in agony, the marine quickly pulled his sharp blade and plunged it into the wolf currently biting through his thick leather torso clothing and into his flesh. Wiggling the green drenched blade free,, he sent a rapid slash across the eyes of the beast ripping into his left arm. When it let go and reared back it pain, Dempsey shoved the knife into the hard neck. The third wolf, in a fit of anger, tightened it's grip and thrashed around, nearly breaking Dempsey's leg. He yelled out in agony, dropping his blade and clenching his teeth and fists. Before the timberwolf could break his leg, it was grabbed roughly by the throat and thrown to the ground. Nikolai stomped on the beast's throat in a brutal and devastating series of blows. After severing the neck from the head, Nikolai took a few quick breaths and quickly walked over to his comrade. Dempsey groaned as his deep bite wounds burned. Nikolai got on one knee and reached into his side packs. After rummaging around a bit, he pulled a long spiral roll of gauze. Pulling a long strip of the thick wrap, he cut it with Dempsey's blade. Dempsey had to into his arm to not yell out when Nikolai lifted his leg to wrap the gauze. Quickly locking it in place, Nikolai gave Dempsey a pat on the shoulder. "You will okay comrade?" Nikolai asked with genuine worry. Dempsey eyed his leg in the darkness, the white gauze practically glowing. "Y-yeah, Ill be good." Dempsey said weakly, throwing his head back as the adrenaline started to wear off, letting the sting back into his skin. Nikolai must have noticed this and pulled a syringe out of his pack. "You need rest" Nikolai lifted one of Dempsey's gloves and jabbed the needle in, making the American wince. Nikolai turned to the unconscious pony, resting a few feet from them. "I will watch over both of you. Morning should be here soon." Dempsey could feel the effects of the needle, already making him very drowsy. Before he could utter a response, he was out. Nikolai gave his American companion one last look, before dragging him and the pony over to a nearby tree. Laying them down, Nikolai leaned against the thick trunk, his aching bones creaking as he lowered himself. A smile graced his lips. He couldn't wait to get home, but he kinda liked the adventure, and this was bound to be one hell of one.
So it begins"Come on! We're close! Just keep firing!" These words echoed out of the mouth of Tank Dempsey and around the expansive chamber of "The Crazy Place". A rocky chamber ventured to by using certain music on various tunnels of excavation site 64, the place where the Germans had unearthed element 115 and an ancient evil: Zombies. The chaos that went on in The Crazy Place included falling bits of the ceiling, massive amounts of elemental energies unleashed by four humans wielding the ultra powerful Staffs of the Ancients, and a huge amount of the undead. "A good warrior, never loses his head." A Japanese man by the name of Takeo Masaki spoke his words calmly whilst launching a trio of red rocks onto the ground from his staff, Kagutsuchi's blood, a fire staff overcharged with element 115. The rocks exploded as soon as they hit the ground spreading three pits of burning magma which incinerated the zombies that walked into it. The staff was a long wooden pole with various metal indents all the way up to a blue checkered handle. The head of the staff was a bulbous circle with black studs jutting out of it; every one of the four staffs had this basic feature. The Tip of each staff was unique though. On the end of the ancient staff was a dull golden ring. Attached to the ring was a bright ruby crystal. On each side of the crystal, starting at the side of the ring were a pair of matching gold claws with iron bolts in the middles. Jutting out of the side of each claw was a silver edged blade. "Takeo! Now is not the time for that philosophic bullshit!" Dempsey yelled in return, not looking over his shoulder. The group of four were back to back on a large electric blue circle in the middle of The Crazy Place. They were on the final step to freeing Samantha from Agartha, and in doing so, opening up escape for themselves. After 5 days of hell at the hands of the relentless undead, they would finally be able to go home and end this nightmare. Their two other companions Nikolai Belinski and Dr. Edward Richtofen said nothing but continued to fire their staffs: Ull's Arrow, the ultimate Ice Staff, and Kimat's Bite, the ultimate Lightning Staff respectively. Each zombie slayed would send their refocused energy into a small glowing blue ball in a dark hole above the circle. Dempsey pointed Boreas Fury, the ultimate Wind Staff at a large group approaching from their side, sneaking in behind a fallen piece of the ceiling. The marine held down the pin on the side of the staff's handle, eyeing the fast approaching horde with expert precision. The cylindrical crystal right above the staff's handle began to glow in a bright amber light, and the main crystal followed soon after. A hissing sound resounded through the hot air and Dempsey released the pin. A large blast of air hit the horde with incredible force, the initial blast was rapidly followed up by a quickly spinning tornado which sucked in any zombie that was'nt instantly destroyed by the first blast. The marine cracked a smile at the carnage. Blood and organs covered the ground around the group. They air smelt of cooked flesh and was becoming blisteringly hot. After a good 30 seconds, the small ball expanded to show a upside down funnel of slowly rotating clouds. At the center, a bright light obscured by the clouds above. A light ding pulsed through the air. Nikolai quickly looked up and his eyes widened. "Hey comrades! Look!" The Russian pointed up. As the four looked up and saw the funnel cloud, they recognized it immediately. Nikolai charged his staff, the crystal glowing a bright icy blue, and fired it at his feet. A circular storm of icy enveloped the four survivors protecting them from the mass of zombies outside. "Zhats the-" Richtofen was interrupted by an ethereal voice speaking to their minds. "You've done it! I'm free!" Samantha spoke, joy very evident in her tone. The ice storm died down and the four returned to repelling the zombies. Richtofen looked back down and was face to face with a zombie. The skin was peeled back revealing rotting red flesh with pus dripping out of open pores. The doctor swung his staff around, landing one of the side spikes in the creature's glowing orange eyes. The white fluid dripped down the the spike. Richtofen jerked the spike out and pushed the now fully dead corpse into a group running up the short steps, before firing several bolts of lightning at the horde. "Alright little girl, if you haven't noticed we are kinda fightin' for our life's here! How about you get us out now, we can't hold out much longer!" Dempsey yelled angrily, continuing to turn zombies into red mist with his staff. "..." A pause."I...can't" The ethereal voice answered in a low flat tone. "WHAT!" Dempsey and Nikolai exclaimed at the same time. Takeo's eyes narrowed and Richtofen grit his teeth. "I knew you couldn't be trusted." Takeo growled. Samantha responded quickly. "I can't get you out directly, but I know how you can escape! Combine your elements, Use the music to open a gateway! I haven't been there but I know its better than here!" With that the voice was gone and the funnel of clouds Vanished. "God damnit Samantha!" Richtofen screamed in rage. The doctor pulled a toy monkey off his side wound it up, and tossed it away, distracting the zombies."Come quickly mein comrades!' The German ran for the wind section of The Crazy Place, the other three behind him bore similar expressions of anger, with Dempsey uttering a few choice words. As the monkey exploded in the distance Richtofen smaked his hands on the faintly glowing yellow circle beneath them. Rocks began to build a rectangular portal behind the circle. The doctor turned around to see his allies covering the two small staircases leading up to the section. Dempsey had a Magna Collider out, his empty staff on his back. He was covering one of the stairs, the upgraded light machine gun ripping apart the large horde of zombies closing in on them. Nikolai and Takeo were covering the other stair case. Takeo was holding a Spatz 447+, taking mesured shots and blowing the heads off the undead in a splash of blood and bone. Nikolai on the other hand was wielding The Afterburner, firing the pack a punched mp40 from the hip ripping through the bodies of the infected. Richtofen stood up and pulled out his boomhilda. The doctor fired the upgrade pistol, lasers destroying the zombies jumping down behind the four. The German mused to him self as he blew off both a zombies legs and then shoved his knife into its head. " The staffs will be useless without something to power them up. Maybe we will find some element 115 where we are going" The doctor thought to himself. An odd pulsating song pulled Richtofen from his thoughts. The rocks had formed a portal its colors solid yellow, and it seemed to beat like a heart. "Lets go!" The three whirled around and ran towards the portal. Richtofen jumped in behind them. As they exited they fell on the on the rough dirt, out of breath, the adrenaline working its way out of their system. The four got their feet and nodded to each other before walking up the path up into the main site. Light bombarded their dilated pupils, The Crazy Place being very dark. The enormous funnel of clouds with a bright light up in the sky was the only source of light. Richtofen got on his knees and pulled the four different gramophone records off his side and set them up: One on the top, one below, that, another on the side, and the last one on the other side. The doctor put the white vinyl in the center. " Alright." Richtofen sounded out of breath. "Lets hope this works" "How do you know how to do this, German?' Dempsey asked distrustfully. "I don't" The doctor stated simply."I'm guessing off what that damn girl told us." "Fine" Dempsey accepted it. "Alright, I have just enough power in this staff." He pulled out Kimat's Bite." to put a cloud of lightning on this Group of records. The 115 should be enough to make this portal Samantha was hinting at us. The others nodded grimly. The Downpour was drenching their already dirty, bloodstained clothes. The doctor leveled his staff at the white vinyl, held the pin, waited a few seconds, and then fired. The slow moving ball of swirling violet energy settled on the white record, its tendrils reaching out and touching the other four records. The records were soon engulfed by a bright light. With a loud 'ping' the light vanished, leaving a transparent cut in the air a couple inches across. The portal swirled in a whitish color. The silence was broken by familiar moans and screams. As the undead began to crawl out of their graves a loud siren echoed. The survivors looked at each other with dread. Zombies began to come towards them and a zombie in a massive suit of armor rashed down a few meters away from the portal. The four tried to make a run for the portal but the armored zombie shot something out of one of its claws. A grip seized Nikolai and began to pull him towards the iron monster. As he was pulled the zombies began taking swipes at the Russian cutting and scratching him arcoss his legs. Nikolai cried out in pain as the monster began to burn him with its flamethrower.The man was suddenly let go and dropped to the ground, groaning at his injuries. His comrades killed all the zombies around and the armored undead exploded sending Nikolai back a few feet. Dempsey grabbed his arms and pulled him back towards the portal, Takeo and Richtofen covering him. "You okay Nikolai?" Dempsey sounded worried. "Ill be okay Tank" Nikolai laughed weakly."I've had many wife's, it's gonna take more than that to keep me down. "You're a tough son of a bitch Nikolai." Dempsey smiled. The Russian just grunted in agreement. The three looked at each other and nodded before going through the portal, leaving the site filled with empty corpses. The journey though the portal was filled with odd colors and shapes. Incomprehensible Images and sensations. As they fell through the portal and landed on hard stone, they groaned in pain. The aches were much worse than the feeling of going through a normal Gramophone portal. The four opened their eyes and stared in disbelief. They were in a dark, dimly lit cave. The light source was the amazing thing though. A glowing horn on the fore head of a purple equine with five other equines behind it. The six had expressions of shock on their faces. "Wha...What the fuck!" Dempsey managed to utter.
New "Friends"Twilight couldn't believe what she was seeing. Blood covered bipeds with strange metal objects and wooden poles with golden ends. When Twilight had received a letter from Princess Celestia early that morning, detailing a strange energy source coming from the Smoky Mountain she had initially thought that the dragon they had kicked out had returned and was not happy; dragon's tended to give off large amounts of energy when they where in a rage. After gathering her friends,one in particular not wanting to get up considering just how early it had been, they set off on their journey, unaware that something was following them. When they arrived in front of the mountain, with Applejack letting do of Fluttershy's tail, having had to drag the petrified mare behind them, Twilight addressed the group. "Alright we've done this before, we just got to find where the dragon is,and hopefully we can get him to stay out. The stare worked last time, it should work again." Applejack gave Fluttershy a glance, who was hiding in a bush behind them, shaking like a leaf. The orange mare turned her gaze to Twilight, giving her a hard look. "Um Twi, do ya really think its a good idea to send little ol' Fluttershy in with an angry dragon?" Applejack raised an eyebrow "Well we need to end this with peaceful negotiations-" Rainbow Dash cut her off "Peaceful negotiations?!" The cyan pegasus asked incredulously. " Twilight, You cant negotiate with a pissed off dragon! I say we just give him the boot, you know...again. Dash chopped her hooves together in midair. "Oh silly dashie." Pinkie chided with a smile." You cant kick something out when you're only as big as one of its teeth." Dash grumbled something about "Awesome ponies can do anything. " Girls you're getting ahead of yourselves" Rarity chimed in. " Twilight already said she wasn't sure if it was the dragon." Rarity gave her fellow unicorn a nod. "Thank you Rarity. Alright I'll perform the spell, then we will know for sure what it is." The mare pulled up her mental spellbook and closed her eyes. Sifting through the mess, Twilight readied the necessary spell. Her horn began to glow a bright violet and the tip glowed blue. In her mind's eye, the mountain was black with the edges glowing softly. The mare 'looked up' expecting to see a large blue shape in the form of a dragon. To her confusion, the top of the mountain remained black. She scoped out the rest of the mountain, finally noticing a small brightly glowing blue square shape under ground. flicking the spell off, the mare regained her bearings eyes adjusting to the larger array of colors. Turning to her friends the, the mare told them of her findings. The lack of a dragon seemed to calm Fluttershy and she exited her bush cover.Twilight told the others to follow her, leading them to a small section off the mountain. With strange circular patterns in the wall. Twilight charged her horn and directed the energy on the wall, blasting it open to reveal a tunnel. " The energy source is down here." Twilight said aloud, begining to walk down. The others followed. Rarity was at the back and before entering the tunnel she turned around. The alabaster unicorn looked around, her keen eyes trying to make out any thing misplaced. She turned around slowly before running down the tunnel to catch up with her friends. She couldve sworn she felt something watching her. The tunnel was short, maybe a few feet down. At the bottom was a chamber, large enough for the six mare to fit. At the back was a Pulsating black portal, just barely visable in the soft glow of Twilight's horn. Around the portsl was a frame made of dark rocks. Rarity was about to walk up to get a closer look when four strange creatures fell out of the portal. The white mare jumped about a foot back. Rainbow Dash and Applejack dropped into crouched postures on instinct, Fluttershy hid behind Rarity. Twilight just stood there, eyeing the strange, bloodstained bipeds. They were completly covered in the red liquid. The six mares adopted shocked, horrifyed expressions. The four bipeds on the ground groaned and coughed loudly, dropped their strange metal objects on the ground. The group of disoreintated creatures looked up, disbeleif on the faces. One of the four had scratches coveringh it's lower half and it's upper body had burns on it. The biped next to this one spoke for the first time. "Wha...What the fuck!" The creature spoke in a rough, garbled language. It's eyes widened for a second before it grabbed one of the metal objects. This one was large. Larger than the others, with a sideways cylander on the side of it. It lifted the thing up pointing the end at he ponies. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stood their ground, while the other four backed up. In the midst of this silent standoff two of the bipeds stood up grabbing their metal devices. The injured one remained on the ground, but pulled a weapon similar to another one of the creatures and pointed it at the ponies. The silent standoff was broken by a very familiar laugh outside of the tunnel All of the ponies pupils shrunk and their faces adopted dread. Twilight summed up everypony's thoughts. "Oh buck!"
Humanity's FinestThe humans watched in confusion as the ponies ran out of the room and up the chamber. They lowered their guns and looked at each other. The survivors glanced behind them as the portal collapsed on it's self. "You gotta be shitting me!" Dempsey exclaimed before taking a deep breath. The marine got on one knee and pulled out a syringe. He grabbed Nikolai's arm, pulled the glove up and injected him with the numbing agent. "Zhis place is going to be something very different." Richtofen voiced everyone's thoughts. Nikolai thanked Dempsey as they both stood up. With the glow of the purple equine's horn now gone, the group was once again left in darkness. "What now?" Takeo asked aloud. The man furrowed his brow as he thought. Richtofen eyed his comrades, an uncomfortable expression on his face. The german walked towards the tunnel. " The only thing ve can do." Richtofen clicked the chamber on his Boomhilda and turned around." Exit the tunnel, find out vhere ve are, and if nessecary, shoot our way out." The other three nodded grimly before following. Nikolai caught up with the German. "Do you have any idea what the fuck those things were? They looked like small, colorful horses." Nikolai looked at the doctor expectantly. "No idea" Richtofen said simply. As the group began to see light penetrating the tunnel, they sprinted out, Walking onto the strangest thing they have seen yet. The six colorful equines had their backs to the four survivors. They were facing a large group of black, insect like quadrupeds that complely surrounded the side of the entrance in a huge half circle. Dempsey looked behind him, seeing that they had exited from a cave on the side of a mountain. At the very back of the army was a bigger version of the black ones, with long, green, insect like wings, The creature had a wicked smile on its face as it eyed the colorful ones hungrily. It's gaze flickered from the technicolor horses to the blood stained bipeds behind them and it's smile faltered. Chrysalis was overcome with happiness. After having been pushed away from Canterlot, The changeling Queen spent every waking hour planning her revenge. Her army of changelings had been moving into position to attack Ponyville. The ambush was about to be sprung when a scout reported that the Elements of Harmony were leaving town. Quickly switching her plans, the Queen gave the order to follow the ponies and attack them were they were isolated. Now here she was, with the Elements backing themselves up against the wall, literally. Her eyes moved as four new figures exited the cave behind the Elements. They were bipedal, standing on two legs with blood stained clothes and weird metal weapons. Her smile dropped as she felt the emotions brewing inside the new arrivals: anger, hatred, despair, bitterness, rage, coldness. All these negative emotions were hitting the Queen with tremendous force. These creatures were not from Equestria, that's for sure. Her smile returned and she gave the attack order. They needed the ponies alive, but the others could die. The survivors tensed as the big black one screamed out and the smaller ones charged them. The horse things in front of them kept in a tight formation, watching carefully(all but the small yellow one)for the incoming attacks. The four humans readied their weapons, waiting side by side. The sounds of gunfire broke out, destroying the pony's concentration. They all looked back to see the humans just outside of the cave, spreading out across the battle field in pairs of two. Dempsey and Nikolai moved through the field fireing their weapons at the attackers. The powerful upgraded rounds of their machine guns cut through the Changelings ranks like a knife through butter. "Feel the might of the motherland!" Nikolai yelled out as he pushed his blade in the throat of a Changeling that got to close and fired his Afterburner in his other hand. The ground was beginning to flow a river of neon green blood and the bodies continued to pile up., Dempsey cursed as his gun clicked. He quickly backed away as the insect like creatures swarmed his front. The marine felt a ferocious power coursing through his right hand. Holding the large machine gun in his left hand, the soldier swung is right fist into the changelings. The creatures were blown back in a mess of broken bodies as a tremendous blast of air formed around his punch. "Thunder Punch! Hell! Yes!" Dempsey cackled as he finished reloading his Magna Collider and unloaded a burst of fire into the creatures still around him. The bodies dissipated in a fine green mist. A loud yell drew Dempsey's attention. Nikolai was beating the Changelings back savagely with his gun, breaking open heads and snapping necks. Dempsey smiled. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Takeo sliced through everything in front of him with his katana, the samurai's blade cutting effortlessly through bone and flesh. The warrior eyed the increasing number of opponents with innate precision. Slipping his blade into it's sheath, Takeo pulled his Spatz 447+ of his side and aimed at the fast approaching Changelings. Bursts of fire ripped through the insect's skulls, splattering green goo all over the ground. Takeo felt something yank him down. Three changelings were on top of him pummeling his lithe body into the ground. The samurai quickly pulled his Mauser from it's holster and jammed it into the jaw of the creature on top of his chest. Pulling the trigger, the creatures head ruptured with a loud 'CRACK". Takeo pushed the body off him and took aim at a changeling biting his other arm. Growling as the mass was pushed off his arm, a large bleeding hole in it's chest, Takeo's eyes widened as the last creature was in the air, its jagged horn mere inches from his face. He sighed in relief as the insect was disentegrated in a red light. RIchtofen ran over to him. He helped his ally up, handing him his Spatz 447+ that he had dropped. "You fight with ferocity my friend." The German smiled and nodded before pulling out a modified Mauser from a holster on his side. Richtofen fired his dual wielded pistols ahead of him, letting his Japanese ally continue to decimate the Changeling forces behind. Rivers of a thick green liquid flowed through the mud. Firing his pistols, one shooting lasers and the other experimental 115 infused bullets, the element destroyed the bodies of any thing in their way. Richtofen turned his head to the colorful horses. They were holding their ground, but just barely. A few unconscious changelings littered the area around them, but nothing more. The sadistic doctor returned his attention to his front, firing his pistols at the hordes in front of him, before switching a pistol to each of his sides. The opponents attacking his flanks were quickly turned to dust as his onslaught continued. The doctor heard the shots of his ally behind him, short and controlled. A couple feet to his left, Dempsey and Nikolai were moving through the hordes just as quick, automatic gunfire lighting up their enemies. "Takeo, let's join the other two!" The doctor sprinted through the battle, running and gunning. The familiar 'SCHLICK" of the samurai's blade behind him and fast foot falls told the German that Takeo had heard him. Dempsey pushed a changeling into the ground with barrel of his gun, impaling it's cold heart. Yanking the gun out, Dempsey saw Nikolai beside him, keeping the hordes off of him. The marine pulled out his blade in one hand, rammed it into the head of a changeling beside him, before leaping forward and slicing the throat of a changeling behind his Russian companion. Green blood showered Nikolai's back, painting over the dry red blood. A large group rushed forward attempting to kill the two zombie fighters. A small green rock like object bounced painfully onto the head of one of the insect-ponies. The rock exploded, splattering the ground green with guts and blood. "Boom goes the corpses!" Richtofen said in a sing-song voice as he joined in with Dempsey and Nikolai. Takeo was close behind cutting his way through, coloring the edge of the blade green. Nikolai laughed as the four zombie slayers murdered every changeling they came across. "Nikolai enjoys the slaughter! Almost as much as my second wife" Nikolai spoke the words thoughfully. Takeo called out to his comrades. "Keep firing! They cant keep this up for much longer! For honor!" Takeo pushed his blade outward, impaling four changelings in a gruesome shish kabob. When the samurai withdrew the blade, green entrails coated it. "Takeo's right, lets finish this!" Dempsey joined in. The four warriors pushed through with even greater strength. Chrysalis watched with horror as the four humans killed her children; slaughtering them brutally and with a cold lack of remorse. She racked her brain trying to think of a way to take them down. There was none. The queen grit her teeth hard, If they continued like this her changelings would be all over the ground, most of them already were. They had to retreat. The option was unthinkable. Most of her children were starving, lacking the love they needed. The love the Elements could provide. Though if she made them stay here, she along with her children, would all die. The queen sighed and made her decision. A strange clicking emanated from the Changeling queen's throat. All the insect creatures returned to her. Chrysalis took a final glance at the battle field and her eyes locked with one of the bipeds. He was wearing a tan vest on top of a white shirt stained red and green. Those eyes made her shudder. Hazel pits filled with fire and death. She tore her eyes from his and flew off, her few surviving children following her. The four survivors watched the few black insect creatures escape with their leader. They took a look around, taking the time to notice how many bodies littered the field. Looking back they saw the six multicolored horses sitting there, terror and repulsion on their faces. The yellow one was crying and the cyan one seemed like it was in a trance. "Holy shit." Nikolai spoke, wonder in his voice. " Thats alota fuckin' blood. At least we won, who wants drink? Doesnt that sound nice? Nikoali laughed. "Good intro to a new world I say." Dempsey sighed as he looked around. How the hell would he explain this to whoever lived here?
Peace TalksDempsey closed his eyes and leaned back, resting his body on a large boulder. A sigh escaped his throat. Around him, his allies inspected their equipment thoroughly. Nikolai scrubbed at the surface of The Afterburner, his unfocused eyes glazed as he went through the repetitive task. Takeo wiped the neon green blood from his katana, the blade shining faintly. Richtofen however just stared uneasily at their company. The six mares had sent there rainbow maned friend off to the east. She returned shortly after bearing a smug look on her face. The German doctor simply glared, distrust and paranoia present on his features. The pegasus gave him a wary expression, before turning quickly and racing back to her group. The yellow pegasus sobbed behind the other mares, while they just tried to keep as far away from the brutal carnage as possible. A sadistic smile split Richthofen's lips. The fear they felt was empowering to him. Ten minutes later, the distant sound of flapping wings caused Dempsey to open his eyes. Flying towards them at high speeds, six figures, silhouetted by the shining brilliance of the sun. His fingers grasped the handle of the Magna Collider. His allies came to attention as well, holding their respective weapons cautiously. The six ponies landed a few feet in front of them, eyeing the horrible bloodshed around them, grimaces crossing the faces. This ended swiftly as the directed their attention to the four survivors. Two of the ponies had snow white coats and were draped in some kind of primitive golden armor. The other two seemed to be the opposite. Dark grey, with light blue armor. the similarities ended there however. While the white ones had the normal wings they had seen on the two pegasi, the grey ones had bat wings and stilted, reptilian eyes. These four steeped in front of the last pair, which were tall and regal. The alabster one had a flowing rainbow mane and tail. Atop her head sat a gold crown with a violet gem embedded into it. Her hooves were tipped with golden shoes, elaborate and expensive looking. A shining sun adorned her flanks. She also had a horn and wings. Dempsey's eye brows raised at this. "Leaders perhaps?" The smaller stood beside her, a stoic expression on her face. Her mane and tail, dark blue lined by a lighter shade, sparkling like a starry night. Her coat a dark blue. Her flank tattoo was a crescent moon, framed by splotches of onyx. A necklace with the same mark was wrapped around her neck. The marine assumed the other four were these twos guards. Dempsey tensed and raised the large machine gun as the guards raised spears. Beside him he heard his "friends" raise their respective weapons. "Well first contact couldn't have gone better" He thought sarcastically, smirking. The silent standoff, filled the air with tension. Richtofen eyed the colorful congregation before him with a trained eye. Years of observing the psychology of people had made him rather adept at reading emotions. A drop of sweat slid down one of the armored guards, while the two Alicorns just watched, emotionless. This was the break in visage he needed. Grinning manically, he took a quick step forward. The guards flinched, holding the spears tighter with their wings, and jerking them forward. " They are afraid of us." Richtofen called to his team, grinning the whole time. "Seems that way. Dammit how do we handle this, they don't speak our language!" Nikolai grunted angrily. the German looked over him allies. They were tense and paranoid, the hell they had went through feeding into their minds. Richtofen had an idea. "Lower your weapons." He yelled to his comrades. They tensed, never taking their eyes of the group in front of them. "Doctor..." Takeo growled, dangerously close to rushing the ponies. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to slice up the dishonorable beasts in front of him. It was only through sheer will power alone that he kept himself planted where he was. "We wont get anyvere just sitting here pointing our weapons at each other" The doctor reasoned. Dempsey glanced at him suspiciously. This was unlike the bloodthirsty German, however he did have a point. He glanced ahead of the tall leaders, noticing how the six mares from before had gained the courage to move up a bit. They were now sitting behind the two Alicorns, staring uneasily at the blood soaked humans. Growling, the marine hesitantly lowered his gun. Nikolai following his example. Takeo however continued to hold his blade out threateningly "Just fucking do it Takeo!" Nikolai shouted. Slowly the samurai complied, holding the sword at his side. The four guards relaxed at this. The two Alicorns talked quietly for a moment before nodding. The group of humans had to resist the urge to aim and shoot as the Alicorns horns began to glow brightly. The tense moment ended quickly and the air smelt of burned rubber. The ponies jumped as Richtofen screamed. "Vhat ze fuck vas zat!" The doctor's eyes narrowed and his hand touched the holster on his side. A feminine voice answered him. "Magic. My sister and i-" She was cut off as the doctor screamed indignantly. "Magic doesn't exist svine! Science...science." He muttered before lowering his head. The alabaster Alicorn was about to speak but the German spoke first. "Science!"He finally bellowed, not noticing the ponies slowly backing away from him. He trembled and his eye twitched. "Magic is a fairy tale!' "Uh...doc." Dempsey spoke seriously. however the ranting German paid him no heed, continuing to mutter. "I vill have to find the source of that. Maybe the horn channels ze energy. I vill need to obtain one." The unicorns shuddered at this statement. "Richtofen." Dempsey once again tried to grab the doctors attention, only to once again fail to break the German's trance. Richtofen's voice began to tremble. "Just a quick snap and one of them will be mine"The doctor giggled madly and everyone shivered. "Richtofen!" Dempsey shouted angrily, annoyed at how the German was ignoring him. " Notice how we can fucking understand them now?" Dempsey seethed. Richtofen blinked stupidly. "Oh ya ve can." The doctor said in high pitched voice. Dempsey sighed before turning to the group of equines. The two Alicorns eyed him with an amused expression. The marine shook his head, grumbling and the two Alicorns laughed, the heavenly sound filling the air. The six mares seemed to relax as their princess's handled the situation, with the exception of Fluttershy who was sobbing softly in Dash's hooves, her friend patting her back. "What are your names?" Celestia asked, a soft smile on her lips. Meeting with an unknown species didn't happen everyday. Dempsey hesitated, unsure if he should be giving out his name to, what were basically, aliens. Although he didn't want to accept it, he needed their help. Him and the rest of his team had no idea how this world worked. "Corporal Tank Dempsey." He answered after a pause. He didn't miss the smug smile that crossed the guards faces. "Higher-up motherfuckers. We could kill you ten times over bitch" The marine thought angrily. "Sergeant Nikolai Belinski, the red menace" He gave a quick grin before sipping his vodka, the alcohol burning his throat. Takeo stepped forward, slipping his sword into it's sheath. "Captain Takeo Masaki" The samurai gave a quick bow. Richtofen grunted as he walked over "Doctor Edward Richtofen, the butcher" The German allowed a sadistic grin to split his lips. The six mares once again looked nervous. Celestia noticed and gave them a reassuring look. "And who would you be?" "Princess Celestia, raiser of the sun." The humans quirked their eye brows at that. "Raiser of the sun? What the fuck?" The Alicorn beside her adopted her stoic expression. "Princess Luna, sister to Celestia and raiser of the moon. Charmed" The humans nodded. The purple mare stepped up beside the two princess's. And gave a strained smile at the four. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. I do have to thank you for..." She looked at the bloodstained ground, shuddering heavily."...dealing with the changelings. Who knows what could have happened?" The purple unicorn took a deep breath. "These are my friends, Rainbow Dash" The cyan pegasus struck a pose, though the humans could clearly see the discomfort on her face." Rarity" The unicorn flipped her mane and batted her eyelashes. "Pinkie Pie" In less than a second, zoomed up to the humans before speaking impossibly fast. " Hi I'm Pinkie pie are you an alien because I've never met an alien before and now I can throw a party for one!" An orange pony grabbed The mares tail in her teeth and yanked her back. "Sorry about that, hi i'm Applejack, pleasure to meet you" the stetson wearing pony spoke in a thick southern drawl. The mare over there is Fluttershy. The pony in question tried to hide behind her long, flowing mane. Celestia spoke, voice authoritative "Now, I believe there is much to talk about. We should go somewhere less...' She trailed off as she surveyed the bloodshed around them."...macabre. However is there anything you need before we go? Nikolai looked her dead in the eye, and said completely serious "Vodka."
Hanging over the abyssThe cold claws of terror wedged itself in Dempsey's mind. His eyes fluttered and looked around. Through his blurred vision several shapes made from bits of red and orange stood out. As his mind began to piece together, the fast rhythm of his pounding heart grew louder and louder. His deeply ingrained instincts came to the surface and his hands frantically moved around. When they landed on a cold, long, metal surface they stopped. His discarded Mauser lay several feet in front of him. Gripping the handle tightly, the marine pulled it close to his prone form. Digging his elbows into the ground, he pushed himself into a sitting position, aching muscles crying out in protest. Around him were rolling hills dotted with the occasional tree. The sun was setting, but strangely enough sat motionless on the horizon. Twisting his neck, Dempsey eyed the macabre scene he was surrounded by. A metal carriage, supported by several planks of wood, was tipped on its side. Two of the strange equines he had witnessed early were sprawled out beside. Through his mental fog, the marine could easily see they were dead. One had each of its wings ripped to the base, along with a piece of shrapnel stick out of it's skull. The other's neck was twisted almost around to its back. Grimacing slightly, Dempsey shook his head and took a deep breath. He grunted as he pushed himself up to his feet, careful to keep his finger off the small pistol's trigger. He cracked his spine loudly, instantly feeling less stiff. Once he was on his feet, he gave his surrounding another quick glance before a sudden thought jolted through his brain. He turned quickly. His magna collider was nowhere to be found. He figured the neon LMG would stand out pretty easily. His eyes fell and disappointment shot through him. He also noticed something else was missing " Shit! where are the others? Dempsey frantically looked around, until his eyes fell upon a familiar looking piece of equipment. Limping over to them quickly, Dempsey reached down with his free hand and scooped them up. Nikolai's goggles, bloodied and worn. A large patch of thick, tall grass drew his attention. "Nikolai!" He yelled, hoping to get a response. For a few seconds nothing happened. Just as he was about to turn, a loud rustle came from the patch. Instantly Dempsey had his feet planted, eyes narrowed, and Mauser raised. The marine slowly put one foot in front of the other. Almost a minute later, he planted a foot into the grass moving it aside. With a gasp a figure shot up. Dempsey jumped back and almost fire off a round. With a sigh of relief Dempsey lowered his gun. Sitting up, trembling, the unfocused eyes of Nikolai greeted him. "You alright" Dempsey asked as he extended his hand out. The Russian grabbed it firmly and pushed himself up. He clapped Dempsey roughly on the shoulder. "I'm good, comrade" Came Nikolai's gruff response as he rolled the soreness from his shoulders. The two were silent for the moment as they gathered their thoughts. "So, what exactly happened here?" Nikolai asked as he too scanned the chaos around around him. Small fires burned here and there and the smell of blood was thick. Further ahead, more bodies littered the landscape, shockingly enough, some of them from those insects they fought earlier. His American ally said nothing as he strode over to one of the bodies. Bending on one knee, he examined the corpse with an expert eye. It bore no bullet holes, curiously. In fact the only visible wound was a large burn covering it's face. Standing up, Dempsey tossed the Russian his goggles. "Come on, lets fine Takeo and Richtofen, then figure out what the fuck is going on here" The American glanced at Nikolai, who only nodded and pulled out his upgraded Mp-40. Stepping past the dead changeling, the duo marched. The land sloped up into a steep hill after the first 100 feet or so. As they climbed, each of their minds raced with theories and explanations. Why did it all have to go wrong in Germany? It couldn't have been just a standard mission could it? Anger quickly began to build in both of them. Their footfalls began to take on a harder tone, nearly stomping into the dirt angrily. While Nikolai was simply frustrated, Dempsey was downright pissed. Once they reached the top, he gave a furious yell, startling Nikolai. "This is fucking bullshit!" Breathing deeply through his nostrils, the irate marine sat down hard, sighing as he did so. He slammed his fist into the ground, kicking up the brown earth. Nikolai gave him an annoyed look. "Now is not time to panic." Nikolai scolded with a scowl on his face. "We don't have luxury." Dempsey gave him a look that could bore through mountains, but Nikolai stood his ground. Dempsey got to his feet and stared the slightly bigger soldier down. They stood still, glaring at one another, for a good minute. Finally, the marine looked down and closed his eyes. Berating himself for having lost his cool. Nikolai's look softened slightly. "Come on Tank, things could be worse." His ally said, nothing, turned on his heel and continued down the hill. Dempsey's resolve hardened as he put the metal blinders over the corners of his mind. A narrow line of focus resumed inside him. The slope of the hill flattened out into a long treeline. Raising their weapons, the two carefully eyed the woods ahead of them, weighing their options. If they hadn't seen them out in the fields, then they had to be in here. With a goal set in stone, they stepped over the thick roots and branches and into the dark forest. The silence inside however maddening, gave the two the perfect peace they need to maintain an iron composure. The darkness wasn't completely overwhelming, but it did make vision quite shallow. For some reason Dempsey felt incredibly on edge. Every time a leaf crunched under his boot he flinched. The soldier instincts embedded deep in his mind were screaming at him that something was about to spring on him. He wondered if the Russian beside was feeling the same unease. Seconds ticked by in his head, counting off a clock to what had to be something bad. Unknowingly, his pace had begun to speed up increasingly. Nikolai noticed and cast him a wary glance. The hand gripping the handle of the Afterburner tightened. Dempsey's unease began to peak, a bead of sweat dripped of his brow. He really wanted to find his two allies and get the fuck out this forest. A loud crunch off to his left was the only warning he got before he was blindsided. Knocked painfully into Nikolai, who also fell, Dempsey's head struck the ground hard. He swung out a second later, catching his attacker in the jaw. Through his haze, the American kicked hard, hearing the sharp crack of rips breaking. He rolled to his right and swung himself around. With his right hand planted firmly on the moist earth, his left quickly pulled his knife out of its sheathe. His eyes widened as he viewed his assaulter. Hunched over, holding it's chest, was a odd canine creature. Looking like an offspring of a human and a dog, the creature was covered in light grey fur and stood a good head shorter than Dempsey himself. The dog's face was pulled into a snarl that stretched way too far across it's face. The marine tossed his knife into the air slightly, catching it by the blade. He reared back and tossed it. It whistled before it stuck the beast dead in the chest, causing it to howl in pain. The creature beheld the blade in his torso with horrified eyes. Before Dempsey could rush forward, several loud clack behind him sounded off. Invisible cannons stuck the injured dog, sending a thin spray of red. With a weak groan it collapsed on it's back, the knife protruding. Dempsey glanced back. Nikolai, feet squared, held his gun out, his eyes half lidded in a bored expression. The American strode forward and ripped the blade out with a wet "Schick". As he straightened out he heard Nikolai mutter something along the lines of: "This place is almost as weird as fourth wife." Choosing to ignore that, he pushed the blade back into it's sheathe and resumed their march, with Dempsey feeling a tiny bit less on edge. They walked for the next hour or so, stopping only once to eat and drink before resuming their walk. The density of the tree seemed to get a bit less compact as they continued on through, they found themselves having to step over thick roots less often and squeeze between trees as well. However night seem to have finally found it's way to them. The two could barely see around them, but didn't dare stop. The forest got lively as the darkness fell. Roars and growls echoed around putting even the battle scarred warriors into a nervous panic. They gripped their weapons tight and kept their eyes forward. A growl particularly close to them stopped the soldiers dead in their tracks. Back to back, they surveyed the pitch black darkness surrounding them. After a few minutes of tense waiting, haggard gasps escaped them. Quickly catching their breaths, they kept on. Dempsey lead, nervous energy completely covering him. Nikolai followed closely, not wanting to lose his companion in the suffocating black. In between moving quickly through the woods and stopping to watch for close threats, they made very little ground. The forest seemed endless, the darkness all encompassing. The moments when the chaos of the night were cut by terrible silence were the worst. The silence built a very eerie tranquility, bringing about a very haunting tone. To the two however, they would be alright. The horrors of the infection at northern France had turned them from regular soldiers, into almost titan like being of war. What they were not prepared for, to their immense discomfort was the role of diplomat they had taken for their species to this unknown one. They knew this and it just added to the anxious pit in their stomachs. Their silence was split by a shrill screeched a few hundred feet ahead of them. They both flinched strongly and just about fired their guns. Giving each other a quick glance, they dashed off towards the scream. As they got closer, the sounds of crying echoed off the trees, along with several flashes of magenta light. After rushing through a particularly thick patch of trees, they burst through a clearing, weapons raised. The purple equine they had met earlier lay on the ground, head buried deep in her hooves. She was surrounded by a glowing purple shield. Said shield was being viciously attacked by a pack of wooden wolves. To say the two humans were shocked would be an understatement. This was by far, the strangest thing either of them had ever seen. Knowing that the horse was no threat, Dempsey looked at Nikolai, who looked right back. Nikolai gave Dempsey and almost imperceptible nod. Dempsey raised his Mauser, the steel chassis kicking as a round escaped its thin barrel. The round blasted through one of the wolves wooden head, exploding in a shower of dark green gore. The round would'v bounced off the purple shield if the mysterious horse hadn't used the last of it's strength, and passed out. The rest yelped and backpedaled away from their dead pack member before racing off towards the two humans. Glad that the animals were distracted. Dempsey popped of about three shot before they were upon him. Dempsey quickly twirled around as Nikolai unleashed a burst of machine gun fire, lighting up the dark clearing for a second. The Russian grimaced as a set of sharp wooden teeth lodged themselves in his right arm. He curled his left hand into a fist and brought it down on the beasts neck, shattering it. Meanwhile, Dempsey was having similar issues. Having been further up then Nikolai, most of the remaining pack rushed him. His left leg was assaulted, as was his left arm. As he raised his Mauser to take of both of their heads, a third wolf rammed into him, knocking him to the ground. His pistol fell to his side, just out of reach. Growling in agony, the marine quickly pulled his sharp blade and plunged it into the wolf currently biting through his thick leather torso clothing and into his flesh. Wiggling the green drenched blade free,, he sent a rapid slash across the eyes of the beast ripping into his left arm. When it let go and reared back it pain, Dempsey shoved the knife into the hard neck. The third wolf, in a fit of anger, tightened it's grip and thrashed around, nearly breaking Dempsey's leg. He yelled out in agony, dropping his blade and clenching his teeth and fists. Before the timberwolf could break his leg, it was grabbed roughly by the throat and thrown to the ground. Nikolai stomped on the beast's throat in a brutal and devastating series of blows. After severing the neck from the head, Nikolai took a few quick breaths and quickly walked over to his comrade. Dempsey groaned as his deep bite wounds burned. Nikolai got on one knee and reached into his side packs. After rummaging around a bit, he pulled a long spiral roll of gauze. Pulling a long strip of the thick wrap, he cut it with Dempsey's blade. Dempsey had to into his arm to not yell out when Nikolai lifted his leg to wrap the gauze. Quickly locking it in place, Nikolai gave Dempsey a pat on the shoulder. "You will okay comrade?" Nikolai asked with genuine worry. Dempsey eyed his leg in the darkness, the white gauze practically glowing. "Y-yeah, Ill be good." Dempsey said weakly, throwing his head back as the adrenaline started to wear off, letting the sting back into his skin. Nikolai must have noticed this and pulled a syringe out of his pack. "You need rest" Nikolai lifted one of Dempsey's gloves and jabbed the needle in, making the American wince. Nikolai turned to the unconscious pony, resting a few feet from them. "I will watch over both of you. Morning should be here soon." Dempsey could feel the effects of the needle, already making him very drowsy. Before he could utter a response, he was out. Nikolai gave his American companion one last look, before dragging him and the pony over to a nearby tree. Laying them down, Nikolai leaned against the thick trunk, his aching bones creaking as he lowered himself. A smile graced his lips. He couldn't wait to get home, but he kinda liked the adventure, and this was bound to be one hell of one.
