The Fast, Dangerous and the Furious

Chapter Eight: Twisted

I quietly shut the door to the main building behind me. My hooves stayed pressed against it, my eyes looked at the blood soaking my coat. I didn’t feel anything. I just … I … can’t feel anything. Silver Shoe … you … I miss you. My body felt cold. Not from the weather, not from what I had just done, but from the realization that my best friend wasn’t here anymore. Everything started to get watery and blurred together.

I blinked and water ran down the side of muzzle. My hoof finally moved from the door and I brushed the tears away. More kept coming. I took a step away from the door feeling the rain slowly coming down on me. The first thing I did was put my hooves in a puddle to wash the blood off. Nothing was in my head. Not the ponies and infected lying dead in that building and not Silver Shoe. Not even getting out. I just got up and walked.

The door to the hall of mirrors fell down and I walked in. First thing I saw in the mirror was myself, I stared back at myself and couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I couldn’t even recognize myself. Maybe it was because even when I didn’t have anything going on in my head I still had something troubling me. That makes sense right? Honestly I’m not even thinking straight anymore. My reflection started moving its mouth, “You look like a sorry sack of shit.” Oh, great now I’m going crazy.

“Yeah … well you know shit happens.” I was actually talking back. I brought my hoof to my face.

My reflection shook its head disappointed, “You know what the sad part about this is. You’re all alone.” The reflection was actually right. I was alone. My hoof felt around for something, anything. It wrapped around a shard of glass. I smashed it into the mirror making it burst into hundreds of pieces.

I turned away and bumped into a stack of crates making them tumble over. My hooves carried me around them and I walked down a large set of stairs. Each clip clop from my hooves made me cringe. Shut up. Just. Shut up! I want silence.

That’s exactly what I got. I landed on top of dirt that drown out the sound from my clip clopping hooves. My eyes wandered around while I went deeper into the room. I could see mirrors all around me sticking out in different directions. Several animatronics were sitting around decaying from over two hundred years of aging. That was freaking me out. Actually. This whole damn place was freaking me out. I could see a stair case and exit to my left, but I figured I might as well scavenge for some supplies. My eyes went to the gun I had taken from that clown pony. It was a semi-automatic pistol. I had four decent weapons now. A shotgun, pistol, semi-automatic, and a rifle. Not a bad way to go into a gunfight.

I reached the end of the room and walked up a set of stairs. By the time I got to the top of them I had completely forgotten why I had come up here. Oh … right, to scavenge for stuff. I turned around and saw piles of junk lying around the room. This wasn’t a hall of mirrors anymore. Just a pile of crap and darkness. This entire carnival was a pile of crap. My hoof held up a cloth serving as a door to the next room; I went in. There were several lit candles inside with flames that danced around while I let the cloth fall back into place.

I tried to light up my horn, but gave up on the effort. “I just want to go home.” I could feel my eyes burning from all the tears. I blinked a few times, pulling open several drawers. Great, several pistol ammo boxes. I scooped them into my bags and kept walking. The wall had something written on it. “The Cure,” was written on a piece of paper and stapled to the wall. Colored string ran from the title to several ponies. After looking at a few different colors I eventually came to the same conclusion, any pony that had been immune to whatever this cure was supposed to be for, had died out a long time ago. Actually it might have just been a few years ago at best.

The next drawer I opened held several tape recorders in it. Memory jewels are way better. I think I’m actually feeling a lot more negative than I have been. Silver Shoe would probably say to me, I made my voice high pitched, “You’re so negative, Runner.” I started coughing. I can’t do a Silver Shoe impression. Alright enough silence. I hit the play button on the recorder that was labeled as the first one.

“The assistant was right. The mare’s immunity to the infectious bite is uncertain, but we’re running several tests on her now. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before.”

That was it? Geez, I thought these things were supposed to be … I looked down at some papers. Most of it was science information I couldn’t even begin to wrap my head around. I hit the play button on the second recording. My eyes went back to the paper titled Cordyceps Brain Infection.

“The fungus grows all over the brain while disabling all of their important motor functions, and with it, the hosts humanity. The host remains alive up until stage two of its metamorphosis. Stage one begins with the bite, after several days the host’s visual cortex becomes impaired and eventually corrupted. The second stage begins roughly a week after the initial bite, the host begins acting feral and out of control. Eventually they lose themselves and become what appears to be a plant. So far we have no scientific name for these creatures, they are only known as infected.”

I pulled up a few more drawers and found jack shit. Now that recording was interesting. Not really sure I’ll be needing the information, but at least it has entertainment value while I search for things. I hit play on the next one.

“Stage three and four are the fastest stages of an infected growth. In stage three the infected learns how to use sound to navigate to find any and all prey around it. After this it enters stage four. In the final stage its fungus hardens like armor plating and becomes almost impossible to injure. Most bullet types simply aren’t enough to handle it. The only type known to hurt it are armor piercing bullets.”

That actually explains a lot! No wonder why we couldn’t hurt the bloater. I wouldn’t call its fungus armor plating though, it still looked squishy like that one infected’s face. Ugh. It does not feel right touching those things. I looked back at the wall and saw something else interesting. Another colored string attached from “The Cure” and ended at something called “The Alicorn Sphere.” What the heck is an Alicorn Sphere? I ignored it and looked back at the diagrams of dead infected. They were releasing spores from their bodies. I pressed play on another recorder.

“Test subject 239, an earth pony, is showing signs of magical capabilities after being exposed to the Alicorn Sphere at seventy five percent completion. The pony has shown that he is capable of telekinesis, this was demonstrated by levitating an object the size of a quill. We will expose subject 239 to the Alicorn Sphere after it reaches eighty percent completion. Capabilities of flight have yet to be discovered.”

Alicorn magic is serious business. You should stay away from it. I mean that kind of magical ability should only be for a princess. They truly understand it. Princess Twilight would understand. There was another recorder. I rolled my eyes and played it.

“The Alicorn Sphere has reached ninety percent completion. The only problem is that the radiation itself cannot give a pony the capabilities an Alicorn has. It can only give them either magic or flying capabilities for an undetermined amount of time. In order for these ponies to truly become an Alicorn it must be one hundred percent complete. Once the device is complete and used, it will bestow the user with abilities that even Princess Celestia would be impressed by.”

Ugh. This stuff is sounding too crazy for my head. I’ll stand by my statement from earlier. Leave that kind of magic to the Princesses. I opened a small fridge and found an apple. My stomach grumbled. I just had watermelon, but after what happened in that building I hurled it all up. My horn lit up and brought the apple with me. I took a bite out of it taking interest at something on a makeshift bed. It was a medical kit. Inside it was a bandage rag made by none other than Fluttershy. Score. I put it inside of my saddle bags. My horn started glowing even brighter and everything I had moved or touched went back into its place.

Is stealing a pony’s apple and going through their stuff really the best idea? Silver Shoe has rubbed off on me. A lot. Silver Shoe … My eyes started watering again. I rubbed them and blew out the candles. Just as I started to walk out of the room I noticed something on the ground. The comic floated up, to my delight it was Swordmares issue four. I put it in my saddle bags.

I trotted down the metal stairs and landed back on the dirt. My eyes wandered around the room while I moved to the exit. Celestia, make those animatronic stop looking at me! Their eyes were following me around the room, I could feel them just staring at me! Ugh. KNOCK IT OFF! I rolled my eyes and passed one of the tilted mirrors.

CRA-CLFINK!

The glass exploded next to me making me dive to the ground shielding my eyes from the shards flying all around my face. I slid across the dirt and hid behind a mirror. My hoof went to my chest and I felt my heart beating harder than it ever had before. Those two clown ponies were dead. I … they … died in that building along with Silver … I’m the only pony left in here! “Come on out, I know you’re in here. Let’s have ourselves a little talk.” That voice was gruff and … no. It’s not him. Just keep saying that to yourself.

Peering around the mirror my eyes darted around the room. No pony was visible. I leaned back against the mirror and took in a deep breath. One. Two. Three. I looked around the mirror again. No pony was in here. It was dead silent now.

I looked at the stairway leading to the exit and hit my head against the mirror. I had to cross the entire room to reach the damn staircase that would get me up to the exit door. My breathing rate became fast pants. I looked out again. No pony was visible yet. My horn lit up. Everything in front of me became transparent. No pony was here at all. My horn stopped glowing letting the spell ware off. I got up galloping as fast as I could to the stair case.

The animatronic next to me exploded!

I slid across the dirt diving behind another mirror. The top of it shattered and fell down next to me. Shit. Whoever it was could hit their mark very well. I ran around a pile of junk and went for the open door near the overturned crate pile.

WHACK!

I hit the ground and rolled in front of a mirror. My hooves went up to my muzzle while I cringed. AGH! What the hell was that? I looked around and saw nothing. My head started spinning. A figure appeared in the mirror in front of me, its boots squeaked on top of an animatronic head while the pony crushed it. The pony looked like it was three different stallions until my head stopped spinning. When it did my heart started to pick up its rate. I could hear its “pa-pumping” sound the faster it got.

I’m pretty sure I’m going to die here. My eyes didn’t deceive me. The pony approaching me had a flaming red and orange mane. His mask had a large creepy smile on it that I knew had just set its sight on me. Something went into the ground, it looked like a chainsaw. Set next to it was a machete. My eyes went to the shotgun floating in the stallion’s levitation field.

Sour Tooth.

RUN. DAMN IT. RUN!

My hooves wouldn’t listen to me. Sour Tooth’s boot pressed down against my neck pinning me down. I started to cough. “So you’re the little runt that’s been running around my carnival killing my hired guns.” Oh, shit. I am going to die here. This guy is going to use that machete and … or he’s going to … I could think of dozens of ways this was going to end, but none of them ended in me getting away. I am going to die here.

I pushed myself up aiming to run away. The boot shoved itself deeper into my neck and kept me planted on the ground. “Sit still and listen good,” his voice boomed across the room. I started to shake. Sour Tooth started to study me. His eyes behind the mask squinted and I could tell that behind that mask he was smiling at me with an even creepier smile than that mask had. “I’ve seen you before, haven’t I?” Oh crap! He remembers me! Wait. He saw me? “You were at my house the other day with a mare.” He started looking around. His boot lightened up its hold on my neck. “Where’s that mare you were with?”

My eyes started to water again. I … She … I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to bottle up what happened, put it in a chest, burry that chest and build a house on top of where I buried that chest. His boot pushed down on my neck making me cough again. “Answer the damn question!”

“She’s dead because of me,” it was my fault. I should have just listened to Silver Shoe and gotten out of here. Even if I didn’t like where we might be going into I could have at least had a friend. Now I’m alone without any friends and I feel like I’m becoming crazier just being next to this psychopath!

Sour Tooth leaned closer to the mirror and put more of his weight on my neck. I coughed. His eyes were staring at mine. Closely, like he was studying me. “Which one of you went on a rampage inside the building over there?” His head nudge towards the building I had come out of. I told him it was me. My heart was ready to explode. At this point I’m surprised it hadn’t just blown out of my chest trying to escape from here. “You? That’s a good one kid.”

“It's cause of you and your men,” if you hadn’t been here we would have left after the coaster ride and Silver Shoe would still be here!

Sour Tooth brought his hoof down on my stomach. I coughed and tried to roll away. His boot went back to my neck keeping me in place. “I didn’t do shit to you. I certainly didn’t kill your friend either. Neither did you, I don’t see killer in your eyes.” He would know. My horn lit up and my semi-automatic lifted up out of my saddle bags. Sour Tooth fired a spell at it knocking the weapon across the room until it clattered against a trashcan. Screw you! “I know your type. You got caught up in a fit of rage and took it out on the only ponies around. Well I’ve got news for you, that doesn’t make you a murderer. So put your conscious at ease.” That … actually made me feel better. But, Silver Shoe. That was my fault. And you don’t know shit about me. “You probably would have put a bullet through your own head if they hadn’t been here.”

I … Silver Shoe where are you when I need you? Sour Tooth’s horn lit up levitating his machete over to him along with a sharpening stone. His magic dragged the sharpening stone along the blade making sparks fly from it. “If you’re really a killer then prove it.” His boot moved away from my neck. My semi-automatic floated back over to us and the barrel pointed right at his forehead. Between his eyes. I bit down on the gun sliding my tongue on the trigger. “Pull the trigger.” I will. I’ll do it. Just pull the trigger. I can’t do it. My body started to shake. “Like I said, I don’t see killer in your eyes.” His boot swung at me kicking the semi-automatic across the room. “Even when you have nothing to lose you can’t pull the trigger. You want to know why I’ve survived this long. It’s because I know what I’m fighting for, if I die now at least I know what I was fighting ever day of my life for.”

I couldn’t pull the trigger. I could have lived! This is it. Sour Tooth engulfed me in his magic bringing me back on my hooves. “I want revenge for what happened to my men and I’m sure you want to get back at me for being here while you and your friend where having fun.” That hurt. We were having fun and it was ruined. “I’m going to give you a chance to leave. You have to kill me.” My horn lit up and my pistol floated up. If he’s giving me a chance then I might as well go for it. Even if I die I can at least go down fighting. Probably going to go down fighting, this stallions probably got dozens of spells in his arsenal. I’ve got only a few.

I’ll need all the weapons I can get my hooves on. My semi-automatic floated back over to me hovering next to my head. Sour Tooth levitate his machete and shotgun up. The shotgun cracked open and he slid two new shells into it, then cracked it shut. All of my guns levitated up. Here we go. Sour Tooth’s horn lit up brightly forcing all of the mirrors up straight, they turned and faced us. They faced Sour Tooth actually, his reflection appearing in all of them. I looked around and shook my head not understanding his stunt. That only works if a pony doesn’t know where you’re at … where’d he go … son of bitch used an illusion spell!

I proceeded further with caution. My eyes carefully went from mirror to mirror searching for the real Sour Tooth. “Watch your back,” one of the reflections across from me spoke up. The mirror to my left exploded into a shower of glass only giving me a narrow moment to sprawl down. Glass splattered down on top of me while the blade from Sour Tooth’s machete flew out of control and cracked a mirror. My hoof shielded my eyes long enough for the stupid machete to hide again. I noticed the chainsaw was still stuck in the ground. Trying to stay light on my hooves I pushed myself up firing two rounds from my revolver into the cracked mirror making it shatter.

At a time like this I wish I had a bag filled with grenades. Take this son of bitch with me. My eyes darted from mirror to mirror again. They all look the freaking same! I fired another revolver round at another mirror. Glass shattered everywhere. Another mirror exploded and the machete thrust itself at me. I ducked down, but not quick enough. The blade grazed the back of my neck. I couldn’t feel any blood yet. I unloaded my two shotgun rounds into another mirror. One of the mirrors moved forward, as if it was on a track, ramming the gun from my levitation field.

Two more mirrors next to me exploded. I rolled to the side listening to the sound of Sour Tooth’s creepy laugh echo around the entire room. Ugh. If I survive this that laugh is going to haunt me. I unloaded every gun I still had in my levitation field at a different mirror. Each one of them shattered into hundreds of pieces. The machete blade sliced one of my back hooves. I dropped down hearing a burning sting cry out at me. All of my guns reloaded and I stood back up. The gash on my leg cried out again, but I did my best to ignore it. I promise myself if I make it out of here I’m going to bandage myself up and find Showering Stones. I owe myself and Silver Shoe that much.

I took a deep breath. I’ve got to live through this.

My eyes went back to the chainsaw. I groaned. He got to it. Sour Tooth took the damn- The ground under me exploded, jagged teeth tearing towards me while I frantically kicked myself away! Loud buzzing sounds were the least of what was scaring me. The freaking chainsaw had been shoved through the ground! The thing was pulled back down leaving a large hole. I look down into it and could make out a network of tunnels built under the room. Ugh. He’s got the home advantage fighting here.

I stood back up and galloped around a pile of junk away from all the mirrors. My heart was racing and I was getting my ass kicked little by little. I looked at my leg immediately spying blood running from the cut it had received. The back of my neck felt fine if only a bit sore. I pulled out my bandage rag and ripped part of it off. I tied it around my leg before carefully peering around the junk. The mirrors still had Sour Tooth’s reflection in it. The floor exploded again!

I rolled and the first thing I saw was that Celestia damned chainsaw being thrust up through the ground. My heart continued to race yelling at me to do something about this guy. The chainsaw went back into the ground leaving a hole behind, across from it I saw where Sour Tooth had disappeared to. A square hole inside of the ground. I galloped over to it and looked down. I was right. There were tunnels branching underneath the room and lots of them. I managed to catch a glimpse of Sour Tooth’s flaming mane, but he disappeared around a corner. “Yeah, I’m not going down there!” I stood back up and looked at the stairway. The hell am I doing? I bolted for the stairs.

The chainsaw burst out from the ground right in front of me. I stopped in my tracks taking three heart stopping hoof steps back. Sour Tooth’s incredibly creepy laugh echoed around again. I galloped around the chainsaw and

WHACK!

All of my guns clattered to the ground, I brought my hoof to my face. I forgot about the machete! My cheek felt like it was about to swell up from that hit. The butt of the machete hurt almost as bad as the freaking blade. Catching sight of its shining blade, I got ready to move. It swung around at me and I rolled away from it. I rolled over my pistol and picked it up in my mouth. The trigger couldn’t have been pulled fast enough. The machete got shot out of air, giving a satisfying clatter against the ground. My horn lit up while I focused on the ground. It wouldn’t become transparent! Ugh. I rolled ditching my spell. The chainsaw burst through the floor where I had been. This guy was using my transparency spell … and he was better at using it! I have no edge on this freaking psycho clown!

I kept rolling. A boot was shoved into my stomach just before it shoved me right into a mirror. The glass shattered and something sharp struck me. I looked at my side catching the sight of a shard of glass sticking out of my stomach. I bit down on it and pulled it out with a huge sharp burning sting. I tried to get up, but that same boot slammed down on my neck and force me back down. “The only murderer here is me you foal.” His voice was literally right on top of my ear. Shit. I looked up at his machete floating above my eyes. “You should have stayed far away from this place. As far as I’m concerned the only stallion that should have the balls to come here is,”

KA-BOOM!

The wall behind us exploded collapsing down on top of several grey crystal that I knew hadn’t been there before. Sour Tooth shut his mouth and from the look in his eyes I could tell the face behind the mask was smiling. His boot lifted up from my neck while his machete impaled itself into the ground an inch away from my muzzle. “You ever read about tyrant that ruled over the Empire?” I nodded. Wait. The Crystal Heart was supposed to have killed him. Well … can the Elements of Harmony and Crystal Heart actually kill ponies? I looked up at the wall and swallowed. I have no idea what I just walked into, but I have a feeling it’s about to end real fast. My eyes went to the stallion standing on crystals. The smoke cleared and I felt my heart sank so low that I could have sworn for a second I had lost it.

King Sombra.