Alicorn Song

Alicorn Song

Chapter 4

Slaughterhouse

Luna was confused, but she distinctly felt the presence of several Ponies that meant her harm. How had she gotten to this beach, and who were these two Ponies with her? They didn't seem to be hostile towards her at all. Quite the contrary in fact. Affection was radiating from both of them, which confused the Alicorn mare even more.

There was no time to think about it though. There was no way these Ponies knew who or what she was. Her illusion spell should have ensured that. Yet... She couldn't bring herself to start a fight while those two were still present, even though she was looking directly at a mare who tried to hide herself between some bushes. The other mares rifle was aiming for her head. If a fight ensued, Luna knew, she would be able to protect the mare and stallion who stood on both sides of her. But... would they understand?

Luna didn't know who they were or how she had come to be with them, but there was something in the back of her mind that just didn't want these two to see her fight. In fact, she felt the strange urge to act like an innocent little foal around them... When she tried to figure out why, the only thing she could think of were Muffins for some reason...

        “Is everything alright Lulu? You suddenly look pale.” the white Unicorn mare... Celest... asked her. How in Tartarus did she know her name? And why was this mare calling her Lulu? It didn't matter at this moment. She had to get them away from here and get rid of the Ponies hiding in the shadows of the night. If she had her way, she would just scare them off, but she already knew that this was most likely not an option. Doing her best to act casual, Luna turned her head towards the worried looking mare.

        “T'is nothing. Say, fair maiden, could you do us a favor?” Luna inquired, hoping that she was not sounding too formal. Judging from the mares reaction however, she had.

        “Ehm, sure... What can I do for you Lulu?”

        “We require to be alone for a little while, so we would ask of you to go home without us. If we have not returned within the hour, do not worry for I will certainly come back.” Luna smiled for what felt for the first time in a million years. It was certainly strange, but she caught herself actually wanting to keep that promise. The stallion spoke up, shaking his head.

        “Lulu, seriously, are you sure you can find the way from here? It's not like you got some amazing sense of direction after all...” he protested.. Luna found that, to her surprise, she knew his name as well.

        “Do not worry, Candy Cane, we will be alright. We just need some time to ourselves.”

        “Well... If you say so... But if you're not back by midnight, I'll come looking for you. And if you remember anything, you'll tell us, deal?” the stallion suggested and Luna nodded in agreement. It relieved her to know that they would be away from the fight that was sure to begin soon. What these two Ponies did not know, was that she was able to track both of them by their inherent Unicorn magic. It wouldn't be hard at all for her to find their place of residence once she had finished her business here.

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Firestorm breathed a sigh of relief as the two civilians made their way back towards the town, leaving her target alone on the beach. This was supposed to be a stealth mission, and she wouldn't have wanted to hurt these two even if it wasn't. There was a limit on how far she was willing to go to accomplish a mission after all.

What came next, the experienced soldier had not expected. As soon as the two Unicorns were out of earshot of the beach, a brilliant flash illuminated the night and her target was suddenly gone. The giant mare was nowhere to be seen, until she head the rattling of automatic weapons fire further down the beach.

        “Teleportation? What the fuck? Where did she learn that?” Firestorm cursed, taking to the air and flying towards the sounds of fighting.

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It was so typical. Luna had exited her teleportation vortex right next to one of the hiding Ponies, but she had not attacked. She hadn't even raised a shield spell to defend herself. Instead she had just looked down at the Earthpony stallion who, at first, hadn't even noticed her. Only when she had cleared her throat and spoken up, did he finally turn his head to look at her.

        “Ahem... If you want to live, leave now.” she had said in a low and dangerous whisper. Instead of answering her, the buck had raised his weapon towards her, resulting in an annoyed sigh from her. There really was nopony willing to listen to reason in this world... Nopony except that one maybe...

Luna created a small shield spell inside the barrel of the stallions automatic rifle and, when he fired, the weapon exploded in his face. The shards of the weapon ripped deep gashes onto his flesh, making him scream in utter agony. She could make out a brown coat and terrified lavender eyes as the mares combat armor was ripped to shreds by the miniscule explosion. Her own body was protected by a shield bubble.

As cruel as these Ponies thought she was, Luna did not want this Pony to suffer any more then was necessary. His injuries were quite serious, and the main aorta on his throat had been severed by a few pieces of flying metal. She did not feel bad about seizing his convulsing body in her magic. Neither did she feel any remorse for reducing his size to about a fifth by crushing him to death. She, the supposed monster, had given him the chance to live, and he had forfeited it. It was as easy as that.

More shots rang through the night, and Luna was quite surprised to feel a sharp pain in her flank, as one of the bullets grazed her. They had actually penetrated her shield! That had never happened before! Rage welled up inside the Alicorn. Rage like she hadn't felt in a long time.

        “They really all want to die? Then I will grant their wish!” she thought, teleporting left and right to avoid the bullets coming her way. Then the graceful Alicorn, who had been tortured and experimented on almost all of her life, spread her wings and took to the air. For a moment the fire stopped, as she flew directly in front of the moon. All the anger she had felt when she had killed her first Pony intentionally came flooding back into her very being. These soldiers were trying to take her back there or kill her. Either way, they were denying her what she wanted the most. Freedom.

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        “Do you really think it was a good idea to leave Lulu at the beach like that? What if she gets lost on her way back?” Celest asked worriedly as the pair of them reached their house. Candy Cane sighed heavily in response.

        “She seemed dead set on it. Look, I meant what I said. If she's not back at midnight I'll go out and look for her. How hard can it be to find a giant Unicorn wearing a white dress with pink flowers?” he said, only half jokingly. Celest gave him a deadpan look.

        “You mean with her coat color and the fact that it's night? What if something happens to her? Depending on which way she takes back, she'd even have to pass the local pub and since it's spring break, there are bound to be some drunk wannabes there...” the white mare said in a worried tone of voice. It was quite obvious to Candy, by the way his cousin was chewing on her lower lip, that she was really worried about their guest. He would never have admitted it to her, but he was too. She was just so innocent. What if some scumbag talked her into going home with him on her way back? Damn, what monkey had ridden him to actually leave her there alone? He checked his watch. 10:30 PM... He had promised her until midnight... But...

        “Argh... To Tartarus with this!” Candy said, motioning with his hoof for Celest to get in the house. The white mare brightened up considerably as she understood what he was about to do.

        “If I'm not back in an hour, call the police.” he said before galloping off towards the beach once more. Celest watched him disappear into the darkness and couldn't help but smile a little.

Her cousin had always been the one to help the weak. Even when they were still in kindergarten together, he had always stood up to the bullies. He had received his fair share of beatings for it, but it was the thought that counted after all. It was due to his courage that she had decided to become a teacher. The kids these days needed somepony to show them what was right and what was wrong after all...

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Luna stood over the shaking form of a Pegasus stallion whose weapon she had just ripped out of his mouth. Several of his teeth had broken off in the process, and were now laying in the already red sand. All around her, torn Pony bodies littered the ground. Their lifeblood was being swallowed up greedily by the dry sand, as some of their guts looked like black seaweed in the darkness of the night.

        “Please... Don't....” the stallion begged, soiling himself. Luna could actually smell his feces as the smell mixed with that of cooling blood. She didn't like either smell. Without another word, her magic reached into the stallions chest cavity and gripped his heart. He gasped as he felt the magic on the organ, but it was already to late. The Alicorn mare yanked the still beating organ out of his chest, examining it for a brief moment. Blood was splattered all over her body and dress by this point, but she didn't care. She could always shed the dress and take a quick bath in the sea. As the stallion breathed his last breath, Luna was about to place his heart on his chest, when a bullet narrowly missed her head and grazed her cheek.

The next bullet hit the sand as Luna teleported to the side and behind the cover of an overturned boat. Her magical senses reached out and found her attacker almost instantly. It was the Pegasus mare from before. She herself was hiding behind a small wall that was separating the beach from the road. The mare had already located her, and Luna teleported once more to avoid the bullet coming her way. This one would not be killed so easily...

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Firestorm was cowering behind the small wall, reloading her sniper rifle. The damn thing had jammed after her last shot, so she had to eject the chambered bullet and slam home a new magazine. Her target had, of course, spotted her by now and she doubted that the other mare would just let her go. Not after the bloodbath she had caused on the beach. Fifty Ponies... All dead in less then ten minutes... Utterly unbelievable...

They had been warned that this mare was extremely dangerous, but Firestorm had shrugged it off as fear mongering on her employers side. Many high class Ponies were that way, and always described the target they wanted to see dead as highly dangerous, so she had thought nothing of it. The only thing she had taken to heart, was the advice to use supersonic armor piercing bullets. The sheer strength of this mares shield was beyond anything she had ever seen.

But that didn't matter now. She was sure that, with her next shot and the grenade in her hoof, she would be able to end this once and for all. The slow hoof steps of her target could be heard in the sand as she came ever closer. That teleportation spell was another problem, but the grenade was designed to disrupt that kind of magic.

Another step...

        “Come on closer. Just a little more.” the Pegasus thought to herself. Finally, she deemed that the other mare was close enough and jumped out of her cover, holding the grenade with one hoof, and the trigger bit of her rifle in her muzzle. The sight that greeted her was something she had not expected. Instead of an unarmed mare waiting to finish her off with her magic, that monster was holding the gun of one of her fallen soldiers in her muzzle.

        “That's just not fair...” Firestorm muttered, as a stream of bullets cut through her own combat armor, leaving several new holes in her hide. Her target stepped over her, a cold expression on her face. The Pegasus mare got the distinct feeling that her life didn't matter to this monster at all, and that it might have been better to deny this job altogether...

In one last effort to kill the mare, Firestorms left foreleg shot upwards and the combat knife attached to it raced towards her targets throat. A second later, her leg was floating in the air, and the experienced mercenary lay screaming in the sand.

        “My leg! You ripped my fucking leg off you cunt!” she screamed, thrashing wildly as the other mare just looked at her without saying a word.

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Luna had won, and she knew it. All that was left, was to end this mares life. The Alicorn was just about to charge up her horn to crush the other mare, as one of her thrashing wings hit something on Lunas neck. She could feel something swinging gently there.

        “What the...?” She though, grabbing onto the small necklace around her neck with her magic and lifting it up to eye level. The mare shouting insults at her from below was completely forgotten as she spotted the crescent moon in the middle of the necklace.

        “My... Cutiemark? But... how...?”

An image of Candy Cane appeared in her mind. A memory maybe? She saw him putting this necklace around her neck, huffing about how it was a waste of Bits, but smiling all the same. A teleportation spell formed on her horn that was not her own doing. Even before the vortex of the spell swallowed her whole, Lunas vision faded to black...

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Lulu did not know where she was or how she had gotten there, but her body hurt. Especially one spot on her flanks was pulsating with every heartbeat, sending jolts of pain throughout her body. The innocent mare dropped onto her haunches, bawling loudly.

Just as she closed her eyes and threw her head back, Candy Cane came galloping around the corner...