Braveheart: The Untold Stories Episode 10: Forced Labor
I stayed up all night studying the crystalline fragments. They emitted a faint red glow and gave of a faint, high pitched hum. Around midnight, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Sunset Shimmer standing there.
“You still studying those things?” she groggily asked.
“Yeah,” I said, yawning. “Follow my drift if you can, but they seem to have a familiarity to them, as if I’ve felt the energy they’re giving off before.”
“Now that you mention it, I feel that familiarity as well,” Sunset agreed. “But, I felt it in this world, not in Equestria.” Sunset’s face suddenly went pale.
“Oh shit,” she gasped.
“What?” I asked, worried. “What is it?”
“These shards,” Sunset said, still pale. “They’re…” I heard a thud, and Sunset’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fell to the floor.
“Fuck!” I cried. I flew out of my chair, knocking it over. I knelt down.
“Sunset!?” I cried. “Sunset, wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP, DAMN IT!!!” Sunset didn’t get up or open her eyes. I rolled her over onto her back and listened for breathing. She was still breathing. I breathed a sigh of relief and checked for a pulse. There was still a heartbeat. I calmed down and picked Sunset Shimmer up. I carried Sunset to her room and laid her on her bed. I got an ice pack and put it underneath her head, and a wet cloth on her forehead. I pulled out my pistol Pip had given me and loaded it. I tried to spawn in a suppressor, but then remembered that I didn’t have magic here. It was actually easier to hold the gun. It felt snug in my hand. I cautiously opened Sunset’s bedroom door, gun at the ready.
“I have a gun!” I shouted, to make sure the intruders heard me. “I will not hesitate to fire!” I crept throughout the house, ever careful. I heard footsteps behind me, and I whipped around. No one was there. I heard more footsteps, then a creak of wood. I spun around, finger on the trigger. I couldn’t see down the dark hall. I walked into Sunset’s nearby room and grabbed a flashlight from her drawer. I lit it up and propped it on the arm holding the gun. I closed Sunset’s door again, and suddenly had a bag put on my head. I acted fast, thrusting my elbow back. I struck something, and I heard a muffled wince of pain. One from a girl. I tore the bag off my head and pointed the flashlight and the gun behind me. A small, slim girl stood there, gripping her chest. She was wearing dark clothing and a mask over her face. Her light blue hair was in a ponytail sticking out of the back of the mask. I reached out for the mask, and felt a clang on my back. I whipped around, and saw another girl, a taller one with long purple and teal pigtails, had a knife in her hand, and it had been bent from the impact with my metal plated back. I barred my teeth and tackled the other girl. I sat up and held her down by the neck, gun pointed at her temple.
“Make one move and I’ll blow your brains out,” I threatened. The girl cooperated, and I kept her on the ground as I looked toward the other girl. She was running at me. I pointed the gun at her and she stopped dead.
“Get on the ground, face down!” I cried. “Right now!” The girl did as she was told. The girl in my grip tried to escape, and I swiftly pressed the muzzle of the gun to her head. She stopped struggling, eyes wide with fear.
“How many others?” I demanded, keeping an eye on both girls.
“J…jus…just us!” the girl on the ground stuttered.
“What do you want?” I questioned. The girl in my grip narrowed her eyes, unknown to me, she was smiling.
“You,” she said. I suddenly felt something club me in the back of the head. I blacked out and fell to the ground, releasing my grip on the girl.
~~~
I woke up when a bright light was turned on. I looked around, I was in a lone room with a table behind me. I struggled to escape, but the bonds that held me were tied tight.
“Damn it,” I said. I immediately thought about Sunset Shimmer.
“Sunset,” I breathed. “She’s going to notice me gone.”
“Look who finally decided to wake up,” a girl with a tenor tone muttered.
“Let me go!” I cried into the darkness. “Who are you?!”
“That’s not important,” another girl with an alto voice said. “What is important is who you are.”
“I won’t tell you anything!” I screamed. “Come out where I can see you!”
“Fine,” a soprano voiced girl said. Three girls stepped out from the darkness, walking seductively. I wasn’t fazed by the movement of their bodies.
“What do you want with me?” I demanded.
“We want you to fix our amulets,” The alto voiced girl said. She had a large mass of curly golden hair hanging down to her waist. All of the girls’ hair went down to their waist.
“Damn, you girls need a haircut,” I muttered, not thinking. The girl with the long pigtails pulled out a knife and held it to my throat.
“How’d you like it if you couldn’t talk?” the girl stormed. “Say anything else and I’ll make sure you don’t!”
“Aria!” the alto voiced girl yelled. “The agreement was not to harm him until he did the job.” Aria growled and lowered the knife, putting it back into her sheath.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“That’s Aria Blaze,” the girl with the long ponytail said. “The other is Adagio Dazzle, and I’m Sonata Dusk.” Adagio and Aria facepalmed.
“Damn it, Sonata,” Aria groaned. “We weren’t supposed to reveal ourselves.
“Nothing we can do about it now,” Adagio said.
“You are the worst,” Aria said to Sonata.
“You’re the worst!” Sonata stormed back.
“Girls!” Adagio cried. “Not in front of the prisoner.” I barred my teeth.
“Fuck the prisoner!” Aria cried. “I’m gonna make a necklace out of his teeth once he fixes our amulets.”
“What amulets?!” I cried. “I don’t even know what the hell is going on! I come home, wanting to study some crystal shards, but then you three barge into my life, knocking my roommate unconscious, and kidnap me. Damn it, I was here for a vacation. LET ME GO!!!” Adagio gave me an evil look. I returned with a glare of my own. Adagio stepped closer, furious. I never looked away. When Adagio and I were two inches from each other, she smiled, then slapped me across the face, making me spit out a bit of blood. I looked back up, about ready to kill her, blood dripping out of my mouth onto my leg.
“I trust you’ll keep your big mouth shut now,” Aria sneered, grinning. I did keep my mouth shut. It hurt too much to move my jaw.
“Now, you’re going to do as we tell you, or there’s going to be worse than what I just did,” Adagio said. “You’re going to fix our amulets, and then we’ll let you go back home. Agreed?” I was not about to do anything for these girls, but I needed to get back home. Unable to talk without experiencing pain, I nodded.
“That’s better,” Adagio said. She turned my chair around and undid the ropes around my wrists. “Now get to work.”
“I hate you,” I growled. I turned back around and got to looking at the amulet shards. I was a quick puzzle solver, so I had no problem finding pieces that matched. But I made myself look like I wasn’t a fast worker, just to irritate the group of girls. After about 15 minutes, Aria snapped at me.
“Aren’t you done yet!?” she yelled.
“Let him take his time,” Adagio reasoned. “It’ll all be worth it in the end.”
“It better be,” Aria grumbled. “I need to do it!”
“Come on, come on, come on!” Sonata moaned. “I’m bored.” Adagio cursed under her breath.
“Dear,” she said to me. “Could you maybe pick it up a bit? My friends are getting impatient.”
“I’m going as fast as I can,” I said. “Tell your friends to chill the fuck out. I’m nearly done.”
“Why I outta…!” Aria raged. She charged, but I didn’t see. I heard a loud slap and a thud.
“I didn’t wish to do that,” Adagio said. “You’ll get your chance. Just wait.” I fixed the last piece of the amulets into place, and they lit up with a bright red glow. The group of girls whipped around.
“Yes,” Adagio gasped. “Yes. Yes! YES!!! The Dazzlings are back!” My eyes went wide at that name. The Dazzlings? The same ones that nearly enslaved this world once before? I can’t believe I didn’t realize that before when Sonata had said their names. This was bad. Very, very, bad. I acted fast and tore the ropes off of my legs. I grabbed the glowing amulets, my gun and pack from underneath the table, and ran. I busted the door open and bolted to Sunset’s house.
“Get him!” I could hear Adagio scream. I ran as fast as I could to Sunset’s home.
“Braveheart!” I heard Sunset cry out.
“Sunset!” I cried back. I saw her as I ran. I ran up to her and she grabbed me in a hug. We embraced for a second before I tore myself free.
“What happened?” Sunset asked, eyes wet with tears.
“I’ll explain later,” I said. “We have to go.” I grabbed Sunset by the hand and ran back to her house. We ran inside, shut and locked the doors, and shut the window blinds. I pulled out my gun and checked the ammo. Still full. I cocked the hammer, hid Sunset behind me, and pointed the gun at the door.
“What happened?” Sunset asked again.
“The Dazzlings kidnapped me and forced me to fix their amulets,” I explained. “They were right behind me. I had to haul ass just to get to you in time. I grabbed the amulets and bolted once I realized that they were the Dazzlings.” We heard pounding on the door.
“Open up!” Adagio screamed. “Give us our amulets!” I put the amulets in my mechanical hand.
“Break down that door, and I’ll crush them to dust,” I threatened. “To the point where they can’t be fixed.” The door suddenly busted, falling forward. As I prepared to crush the amulets, Aria Blaze tackled me, making me drop the amulets. I fired off my pistol into her side. She screamed in pain as she grabbed the amulets. She was bleeding onto the hardwood floor, holding the amulets close. I pointed the gun to her head and pulled the trigger, but not before Sonata tackled me. The bullet went into the ceiling. I stumbled back and Sunset Shimmer caught me. Adagio and Sonata helped Aria up, and ran off. Sunset grabbed my gun and took aim. She fired another bullet into Aria’s leg. She screamed again as the other two Dazzlings carried her off. I grabbed my gun from Sunset and fired off the rest of the shots. They all missed. I threw the gun onto the ground in a fury.
“DAMN IT!!!” I yelled.
“Braveheart, swearing won’t help anything,” Sunset reasoned. “Calm down.” I slowly but surely stopped hyperventilating in rage, and I breathed normally.
“What now?” I cried, still angry. “What do we do now, Sunset?”
“We just need to get the amulets back,” Sunset said.
“Sunset, you don’t understand,” I stammered. “Aria had a bowie knife. She held it to my throat, and threatened to slash my neck open. The Dazzlings are more dangerous than ever.”
“You have a gun,” Sunset said.
“Maybe,” I said. “But what good will it do now that they have their amulets back?”
“I don’t know,” Sunset shrugged. “But we’ll think of something.”
“I sure hope so,” I said. I looked out the broken door. The Dazzlings were back and more powerful than ever, and it was all my fault.
