I feel my heart racing.....my blood pumping throughout my veins...unable to sense anything in the world around me. My ears hurt, my knees ache, and my body feels swollen. Then, I suddenly open my eyes. There's nothing around me but mangled corpses, teeming with an over flowing amount of maggots.
Around the room, there was nothing else much. It was simply a dark room with a dim candle lit. It was too creepy, and I had to get out of here. I try to get up and--
clink, rattle
I am chained down to a chair. This is insane. How did I even get here, and who brought me here? All of a sudden, a door at the end of the room slowly opened up to reveal a familiar face. I look up at the pony, and my heart suddenly skips a beat.
".....You."
Three days earlier....
We are making a close breakthrough. Today me and my team prepare to complete our newest objective: Keep the ice dragon of the north from being disrupted from its slumber. It was a peculiar objective, sure, but I am not one to question direct orders.
Suddenly, I hear my name being called up to the squad line, "Chillington! Get yer ass over here, corporal!"
I close my journal, and nonchalantly walk over, "Here, sir." I look at my superior. Her name is Sargeant Tora. A thin unicorn mare with a deep blue coat and bright red eyes. Her military armor with woodland camo covered most of her body, but not her dark pink tail, or her flank which showed an archery target that head two arrows hitting the bulls-eye. She is certainly an attractive mare, but I think nothing of it as I need to fall in line.
My squad leader rolls her eyes at me. Apparently calling her "sir," was annoying to her. I like it. I then hear her speak in that bossy, raspy voice of hers, "Anyway, most of us should be ready to move out and protect the legendary ice dragon that lives in a cave several miles north of here. Apparently those stupid PMCs led by Devil Feather are trying to harness its power to take over Equestria. Well, we're not letting that happen, are we?!"
I hear my other squad members shout, "Ma'am, no ma'am!"
I however, do not respond. In fact, I roll my eyes at her entire little banter. It was foolish really.
Since she did not hear me speak, she stomps up to me. Her hooves pounding against the snow like bricks, "Did you hear what I said, Corporal?"
"Hm? Oh yes, I did," I respond with a tiny smirk.
"Oh really? Then why didn't you respond? I oughta make you run laps for that, Corpoal!"
My smirk only grew wider, "Yes, sir."
She scoffs and walks back in front of the group, "Honestly where did they find this jackass." I hear her mutter under her breath, as she walks back in front of us. She then begins to give us orders, "Chillington. You take Sapphire, and Amber around the back of the mountain, and find an alternate way in. Blaze, you're with Tankard, and Woodwork. You're going to head straight along the path to the cave until you reach the cave. Stay there and watch for any activity. Ruby and Stardust, you're with me. We'll lead the main charge. Everyone else, stay behind and defend the outpost."
After she finishes, me and the rest of my squad salute.
"Now move out!" she screams.
In what seemed like an instant everypony flees across the frozen landscape. The sound of hooves running everywhere at once sounded like a hammer on old wood as I begin to write in my journal.
Sapphire Crash is a young pegasus stallion of Private rank with a light blue coat a short white tail, orange mane, and green eyes. His cutie mark is an explosion with shrapnel flying, representing his dangerous love of explosives.
Amber Cage, the other Private rank stallion was tall, bulky, and always unhappy, well except to Sapphire. He was a brown earth pony with purple eyes and a blond mane that matched his tail. His cutie mark was a metal cage that represented his talent for building. He's a fix-it pony for sure, but creative nonetheless.
Crash decided to make himself known, "Well? What are we waiting for? We have a dragon to protect and a Devil to send back to hell!" he said in that overly enthusiastic voice of his.
Cage put a hoof in front of his team member, "Slow down. Think," he said simply in a mysterious tone, that would send shivers up one spine. He would never really talk that much, but when he did, it was something of note.
And then, there was me. I look at myself in a puddle to see my reflection. I am Iceberg Chillington. Corporal rank soldier in Equestria's Military Task Force 22nd Regiment. I am a lean, fit stallion with a dark greenish blue coat, a white mane and tail, and brown eyes. I was never really the one to pay attention, but I always managed to get things done. "Let's get moving, you two. Around the back of the mountain where Tora told us."
"Ugh. I get tired of taking orders from that chick," Crash says while hovering next to me.
Cage didn't say a word. He simply walks up next to me as well.
"Look, Crash, we have our orders, and we'll follow them, understand?"
Crash gave sighs with a hint of reluctance, "Fine. Though, I wish she wasn't squad leader."
"You better be lucky you have a squad leader. If you didn't you'd already be dead with the way you rush out into the action," Cage says.
Crash frowns at him, "....Ugh...good point I guess."
I chuckle a little, "Come on, you two. We're headed out to the back of Ice Mountain," I say to my team as I walk ahead. And with no other words, my team and I are on the move...
We walk for what seems like hours on end. Occasionally Crash would make his usual complaints about the situation. Cage randomly making comments about his marefriend back home. And me? I'm kind of an asshole.
It's good to be together. A team.
Our mission: To protect the legendary ice dragon from being disturbed out of his sleep, and keep him from Devil Feather and his Firebird PMCs.
It doesn't sound too hard, but considering we're trekking near the area of a high profile target, its stakes are higher.
We decide to stop and take a rest for a moment in the snowy weather. The mountain is only a few miles away now, so we should beable to make it there by sundown. After stopping for a moment Crash keeps on yapping away.
"Ya know...I think the chain of command is seriously screwed," he says.
Cage and I exchange looks at each other. We both know where this is going when it comes from out of that boy's mouth. "Why don't you sit down and shut up?" I tell him.
"What? Dude, come on. You can't deny that only a fool would assign Tora Blackdash as our squad leader. I mean, she hates literally everyone and is quick to point out what other ponies do wrong before she addresses her own problems," he keeps on going with that tone of arrogance, "If you ask me, she's one of the most hypocritical and judgmental ponies I've ever met."
Cage and I cover our faces with our hooves. Will he never shut UP. "And only a fool would allow you to keep talking that way," I say as I get right in his face, "You shut your mouth. Yes, I may not like Tora either, but that's no excuse for talking behind her back, youngster."
Cage abruptly interjects, "He's right. Let's go." I turn my head to see him walking ahead of us.
I look back at Crash, "Get it together, son," I then turn and walk with Cage as I hear Crash grumbling behind us. We continue our journey up the side of the mountain.
Hours upon hours pile up as we keep walking. It seems as though we may freeze to death before we actually get up the side of this mountain. We're all shivering like a mad pony in an insane asylum, and we can barely feel the ground beneath our hooves as we walk. I've never questioned orders, but I sure as hell have questioned motives.
I am able to write down a few lines of text in my journal as we walk, when suddenly I hear Crash's annoying voice once again, "Guys look," he points his hoof forward, due north.
I look up to see what he was pointing at, and there it was: Ice Mountain.
In a fit of relief, I actually manage to crack a smile. We finally made it to the base of the mountain after hefty hours of walking. I look around for some kind of entrance. "Alright, boys. Let me tell you about the ice dragon," I turn to them to give an explanation, but Crash decides to cut me off.
"Ugh. Another history lesson?"
I glare at him, but before I say anything, Cage shushes him. I continue with my explanation, "Anyway....the ice dragon is a legendary creature. Every one thousand years, is awakens and flies over the Frozen North for one full day before returning to its cave. But if it is disturbed in any way, it could lash out and in scientific terms, cause an ice age."
Crash was stunned by my explanation. I could see it in his eyes, "Wow...so what does Devil Feather want with an ice dragon?"
Cage then chimes in, "Simple. So he could take control of its power and plunge Equestria into an ice age."
"Woah woah woah. Back up. How do you expect this guy to carry a whole dragon out of there?" Crash asks.
I shake my head, "Because it's a baby. He plans to take the baby dragon that was recently born a few hundred years ago. Its mother has passed away and now it lives alone." I keep walking forward to hopefully find an entrance of some kind.
I then hear Crash speak again, "Damn. So, we have to protect this thing." I hear his wings flapping as he follows me, "Devil could probably extract its power."
Cage begins following us, "Or worse. He could enslave it and make it his own."
I smirk, "Well, we know that's not about to happen." I look around, and finally see an entrance on the far side of Ice Mountain, "This way, boys." We all continue to walk until we reach a cave-like entrance. We step inside, and it feels warm, but damp. As if we were inside of an animal, this cave has water dripping from its ceiling, and ice crystals forming on the ground around us. It was indeed a sight to behold, but not one to focus upon, as we currently have a mission: Keep the ice dragon out of Devil's hooves.
We trot inside as I create a bit of light magic from my horn to illuminate the dark area. Crash for once has nothing to say. He must be focused this time. Cage however, decides to speak up, "Any sign yet, sir?"
"Nothing yet, but we should be getting close." I pull out a map with my brown-tinted levitation magic, "We should reach the heart of the mountain before nightfall."
Cage simply nods in understanding. He wasn't the type to usually question or say anything. I feel as though that goes both ways, as he may not speak up for himself, but he certainly does for others. Especially when Crash gets himself into trouble. I chuckle at the thought, but keep my gaze forward. The cave only seems to get more monotonous as we travel. As if somepony were duplicating the same stretch of cave over and over for us to traverse through. It was indeed becoming tedious after a while.
After a long amount of time, we finally reach the heart of the mountain, where the ice dragon is slumbering peacefully on a single rock platform in the middle of a bottomless pit. It's scales were akin to glimmering snowflakes in the winter, and it's body was shining as light from a hole in the mountain's side was gracing it. It was truly a never-before-seen experience to see an ice dragon this close. However, something feels wrong. There is no sign of Devil and that is what unsettles me most, as usually he would leave signs or clues for us to find as evidence he had been here.
I turn to my team, yet only see Amber Cage, "Cage. Where's Crash?"
Cage looks behind himself, "Probably dawdling. I'll get him." He then turns around to go look for our missing teammate.
I stand in waiting for twenty minutes since Cage went to search for Crash, and I my heart rate jumps; something had to be wrong. I have no choice, I must go look for them. I turn back the way we came, and search for my teammates, when all of a sudden--
WHAP
I am unable to hear, or see anything. The world around me is blackened out, as if Celestia had turned off the sun. After a while, I awaken to find my hooves chained to the cave wall near where we entered. I look to my left, Cage is there chained as well. To my right, I see Crash undergoing the same fate. There can only be one explanation: Devil.
Surely enough, that motherbucker himself flies in front of us, and lands on the cave floor. I glare daggers at him. His piercing black eyes glare back at me. All he is wearing was a grey cloak that conceal all parts of his body except for his eyes. He starts to speak in that awful grotesque voice of his, "Well well well....if it isn't Iceberg Chillington of Equestria's 22nd Regiment. How have you been, eh? Finally managed to get that shoulder fixed?"
I spit at him, "Maybe it is. Why don't you undo these shackles, and you can see for yourself?!"
He laughs at me, "Haha. Tempting, but no. And don't even think about trying to escape with magic. My top spellcasters made them magic-immune."
"...Tell us what you want, Devil," I growl at him.
He chuckles, "Isn't it obvious? I knew you'd all be coming up here, so I decided to pop in."
Sweat starts to roll down my face, "W-wait....you're not here for the dragon?"
Devil only smirks, "Of course not. I'm not some stupid fool who wants to attack a dragon, that'd be ridiculous."
Crash eventually wakes up beside me, an shouts, "Go die in a fire you worthless piece of sh--" He's then suddenly interrupted by Devil who punches him right in the face.
"Shut up, you useless insect."
I try to free myself, but the shackles were tightly gripping my hooves the more I try to get free. I know I can't do much in my current state, however, there's something he overlooks. "Ha. Jokes on you, Devil Feather. Once the rest of our squad realizes we're gone, you're going to have more trouble than you bargained for," I state with a smirk.
But Devilface's grin doesn't stray from his face as he calls for one of his guards. The guards toss in a bounded and gagged mare. One that looks all too familiar: Sargeant Tora, "Aw, such a shame a pretty face like yours has to go..."
Tora's bloodcurdling screams and cries were muffled by her gag. She could not scream to save her life....literally in this case. Tears of sorrow run down her face as if she knows what's coming. I seethe as I witness what he's doing, "Don't you bucking dare lay a hoof on her you son of a bitch!"
Devil smacks Tora, "Shut up!" He then turns and looks at me, "Oh you naive little fool. You think that this world is supposed to be tailored to what you say and how you feel. No it's not. The world is only controlled by those who dictate and have the authority necessary to pull you weak-minded sheep in line. But no....most of us are tired of having to bucking control you fools who can't do anything on your own. This world would be so much better if it weren't for mindless ponies like you!"
I look at him with every ounce of hatred I can muster, "NO! You're wrong! The world takes up all kinds an--"
He punches me in the face all the sudden to shut me up, "See? You're brainwashed. You'll never get it if you follow that propaganda bullshit, but I'm wasting my time with you," he pulls out a knife with his grey-tinted levitation magic.
Tora whines through her gag. I assume she's whining "No," over and over, but there's nothing I can do.
Devil's evil smirk pierces her heart, as she stops whining, "The Devil has come from hell...." in an instant, he picks Tora up, and stabs her right in between both of her knees. Her screams sound muffled through her gag as I watch this unfold before my eyes. Devil doesn't stop there, he goes on, and drags the knife lightly through her skin, all the way down her body like a buzzsaw. He continues all the way back up to make a shallow "U" shape on her belly that began bleeding a bit. Tora had by now, fell silent, as her eyes began rolling to the back of her head. However, I could see she was not mortally wounded. Devil laughs in her face, and turns back to the rest of us, "How does it feel, bitch?"
I am unable to say anything. My heart is racing, I can feel my blood pumping through my veins, and my ears are ringing. I have never seen someone maimed in such a way before my eyes. I wish I could forget it, but this will be implanted in my brain forever.
Devil smirks at me, "Exactly. Now you know how I feel." He cleans off his knife and begins pacing the room, "She will survive. However, one of you must die, so that the rest of your pathetic regiment can see how close I am to them. Choose, Iceberg. You, Cage, Crash, or your lovely squad leader, Tora." He pauses for a moment before shouting at us, "Make a decision now or in ten seconds you're all dead."
I don't know what to do or how to feel. My head is still spinning from what I have just witnessed. However, I could tell that Devil was serious, and I needed to make a decision that would forever change the future. Unfortunately, the rest of our squad wasn't around to save us in a sudden fortunate break of helpfulness.
Cage looks up to me, "Sir...I can't...I have two foals....they..."
Crash was stuck in silence for yet another rare occurrence.
I have to make a decision, and now is the time, "I..."
