Chapters Operation One: Wings of Freedom
Author's Note
Like I said before, doing an overhaul with some of my stories. Hope you like it and enjoy
Operation One: Wings of Freedom
Operation One
WIngs of Freedom
“I don’t want to die.” That was all I could think of while running as fast as I could from the a-class Dionaea. Looking behind me I saw the abductor heading towards me as I took a left turn to an alleyway. I pressed myself against the wall hoping that it wouldn’t see me. To my luck and surprise, it worked as the abductor ran past me.
“Straight out bullshit. This was not how I wanted to spend my freedom. I had it all planned out. Buy as many supplies as I can get, head over to the secret oasis that I found underneath the abandoned city, and live out the rest of my days in the comfort of my makeshift home in that small haven. But no! I'm running for my life from a fucking abductor sent here from the people On High...fuck to make matters worse. If I don't leave this place, then they'll think I have something to do with it...and then it's back to being a sinner." I said before shaking my head to get my thoughts together. “J-Just try to stay calm Adelle. At least things can’t get any worse right?” While I was sitting there trying to collect my thoughts, I felt something wet hit the top of my head. I thought it was raining until I heard a low growl. I slowly looked up and saw it was an a-class Ramosa with blood dripping from its fangs and claws as it was looming over me from the building in the alleyway I was in.
"....I fucking hate this world!" I yelled before rolling out of the way of the abductor trying to pounce on me. The moment I recovered from the barrel roll, I countered by pulling out an assault rifle and unloaded a round into the robot's face. The moment I ran out of ammo and started to reload, the wall next to me exploded. The force behind it caused me to be sent flying backward and out of the alleyway leaving debris everywhere and revealing the Dionaea that ran past me.
I noticed that Dionaea opened its mouth and shot out a fireball at me. I didn’t have time to move out of the way as I switched out my binding thorn for my shielding thorn. I quickly formed a barrier of thorns around myself as the fireball crashed into it. To my surprise, the barrier worked well for a few seconds. The Dionaea swung its tail at me, and I was sent flying through four or five slabs of solid concrete sticking out from the ground. After going through the last piece of concrete, I was then flung through the window of a house as my body hit the floor.
"Aw...hell," I said as I tried to pull myself up, but soon fell back down and clenched my chest after hearing and feeling one of her ribs break. "Double hell...that attack could've killed me had I not used shielding thorns to boost my defense," I said before feeling the ground give out as I fell through the hole. My eyes widened as I saw that the house I was in was hanging off of a cliff. I quickly used my thorns to latch onto a nearby pipe sticking out of a building. I felt my arm dislocated the moment the length of the thorn reached its max length. I quickly released the thorns grip on the pipe as I fell on a nearby rooftop. I didn't have time to try and grab onto the roof to prevent myself from falling off it. I felt myself falling off the roof and landing on the roof of a broken-down car.
“Fuck that hurts!" I yelled as I tried to pull myself up. I soon looked over my broken arm as I winced from seeing it twisted with two pieces of her arm bone sticking out “Scratch that, this hurts more than landing on a car back first.” With my other working arm, I pulled out a first aid pill along with some painkillers. It helped to null the pain and fix my arm a little, but it was still broken from what I can tell.
“The universe just loves to screw around with me doesn’t it?” I grumbled as soon as I noticed something casting a shadow over me. Looking up I saw both Dionaea and Ramosa jump down heading towards me. “I need to keep my mouth shut.”
I quickly jumped off of the car I landed on and ran down the streets just in time as the two abductors landed behind me. There wasn't anything I could do given the situation I was in. My accessory was destroyed, my gear was only at level five, and most of the reinforcements were killed off due to the surprise attack from On High. It was like trying to fight against a tsunami...with a butter knife.
As I was thinking of a plan to escape, a sudden particle of Will’O passed by my vision. I looked behind me to see the Ramosa in the air firing Will’O shots at me. My eyes widened as I quickly tried to dodge the oncoming attack, but to my best effort, I was hit with a barrage of Will’O burst. I was once again sent flying as my body hit a metal wall. I slid to the ground as blood ran down my left eye. Guess my skull's been injured seeing how I could hear a slight ringing sound in my ears and my vision was getting blurry. Slowly, I began to stand up from the ground but soon kneeled after feeling a slight surge of pain from my femur snapping.
"One thing...after another with me." Even with the painkiller dulling most of the pain, I can feel my entire body screaming in pain. All I could do was ignore it and pop another painkiller into my mouth and swallow it. Thank god they were fast-acting as I reached for my P.R.P and tried to send an S.O.S to anyone nearby for help. Unfortunately, because Panopticon systems were heavily damaged, connections to other people in different Panopticons were cut off. I soon heard the sounds of heavy metal footsteps making their way over to my location. "Seriously!? How are they able to find me so damn fast!"
I soon turned my attention behind me and saw them closing the distance between us as I began to quickly limp my way down the only path that was presented to me. I could hear their footsteps getting closer as I turned around and fired upon them with my rifle, hoping that it would do some kind of damage to them, but to no avail. While I continued to return fire, I suddenly felt my foot slip. I looked behind myself to see the edge of a cliff and a large pool of Will’O energy flowing down in the pit. Given how there were broken pipes and molten metal still visible. Someone must've overheated the chambers where the Will'O vat was being held and triggered an explosion. I continued looking down at the chasm full of Will’O, forgetting about my current situation. It was almost...calming in a way, what with the cool colors and stuff. Sadly reality brought me back when I heard the abductors walking toward me.
“Okay, I have three options. Option one, I go down guns blazing. Option two, commit suicide and hope I don’t feel anything from them ripping me apart. Option three, I fall into the chasm of Will’O energy and hope I survive long enough before the energy kills me.” I muttered to myself looking at my situation.
I let out a sigh of defeat, option one would work if I had a team and we were doing a final stand thing. Option two, I’m too much of a coward to blow my brain’s out. Option three was pretty much the only option that didn’t sound that bad, but I would still die just slow and painfully. Due to the amount of Will’O energy that I’m absorbing, it’s pretty much poison if not treated quickly.
“So….this is how it ends huh?” I said as I limped backward even further towards the edge. “Finally got my freedom and my reward is death.” I take one last look at the abductors that were preparing to attack me. I could feel tears running down my face as I softly smiled, leaned backward, and fell into the sea of Will’O. Ever so slowly, my vision was beginning to fade due to my injuries and possible loss of blood. “What will happen to me when I die? Will anyone remember me when I’m gone...or will I be forgotten? I guess it doesn’t matter seeing how they don’t care for us sinners.” The only thing I felt was my body hitting what felt like water, a tremendous amount of pain, and then, nothing.
"Ugh, w-where am I?”
From what I could gather when I woke, I was in a forest. This was odd even for me, because if I remember from what I read, all plant life was destroyed a long time ago. So why is there plant life here? Normally I would wonder where I am, but due to the splitting headache I have at the moment, I'll have to wait till I recover a bit.
“What the hell happened? I remember that I was falling to my death." I said while rubbing my head. "Everything went dark and then..." I stopped to wonder why I felt weird. To my surprise, my brown-colored skin was now replaced with gray fur. Looking down, I noticed that I didn't have any feet, only...stubs. "W-WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO MY FEET?!” I screamed, wondering if someone painted my skin gray, cut off my feet, and left me for dead, or if someone was pulling a sick joke on me.
I'm starting to wish that it was a joke, that or it was just a dream I was having when I fell off that cliff. Because when I was crawling towards a running stream of water to get a good look at myself my face went pale. "I...I'm a....horse?" I said while still looking at myself in the stream's reflection. "How the fuck am I a horse? An anthropomorphic horse with bat-like features.......Yeah, this has to be a dream." I said while trying to walk with both legs or hooves….or whatever the hell you call them now. My legs felt wobbly for a moment before catching myself from falling with the help of a nearby tree.
"Ok Adelle, get yourself together, you probably just hit your head on something? Or better yet, you just fell into some kind of forgotten simulator room that people up top forgot and left to rust?” I then began to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. "Okay I'm wrong, this isn't a dream. If it was a simulator, then it would’ve turned itself off when I died...Oh fuck, I'm in the middle of a forest in the body of a bat-like horse!" I screamed which caused some of the birds around me to scatter off into the air.
I soon slump to the ground with a defeated sigh. So many questions filled my mind. How did I end up in this place? Was this a hallucination from the Will'O poisoning? My mind began to race through the many possibilities of how I ended up here, but my thought process stopped as I looked up at the sky.
"It's weird...I've never seen the sky look so...clear." I mean, I've seen pictures of what the sky looks like, but I've never seen it in person. A lot of the time I'm stuck inside due to limited restrictions, or on the missions I'm sent it's either raining, cloudy or in a sandstorm. It was...relaxing. Though that relaxation slowly vanish upon hearing the howl of some kind of animal echo throughout the forest
"Right, forest. Almost forgot about that." I said before pulling myself together and crawling over to the stream once again to get a look at my new appearance. "Okay, horse ears, bat wings," I said before opening my mouth to see I have fangs. "Fangs similar to that of a bat...Okay, I might not be a horse...I think?" I said before looking over at myself a bit. “At least I still have my P.R.P and my clothes...would be awkward if I was naked, but am I able to walk with nothing but stubs? That's another question?" I started to lift myself by using the tree next to the stream to help support me as I stood up. "Ha! I can still walk, that's a good thing I guess? Now let's see if I can use my gear?”
Looking around I can see my weapons next to the tree where I was when I woke up as I staggered my way over to it. I grabbed them but not before I tested them on the tree they were leaning up against. So far they seem to be working right, but something seemed a little off when using them. I guess it’s because of my new body or something.
"Well, at least I know it still works even with this horse body I have. Now let’s see what I have in my inventory." I said before opening up my P.R.P’s inventory to see if all my stuff was still intact.
Inventory list:
999x First Aid Kit
“Okay that covers my food and item supplies, now let’s check on my weapons.” With a press of a button, I open up my loadout screen to look at my gear.
Weapon 1: After shadow - Gale Force
Critical Chance (%): 1.0
Fire: 0
Weapon 2: EZ Katze Kralle I
Firing Mechanism: Full Auto
Fire: 0
“Gonna have to upgrade my weapons, but I have everything. Now then let's see if I can find a town or city that can tell me where I am?" Just as I was about to look around, I heard a blood-curdling scream from over the bushes to the left of me. With not a second to lose, I slowly began to run to where the screaming was coming from. The moment I made it to the area where the scream came from, only to see that there was a blue anthropomorphic horse with a horn on her head wearing a mage-like outfit. Next to her was some kind of animal that looked like a mix between a lion and a bird wearing a black shirt with a skull on it, blue jeans, and black fishnet stockings.
“Man mother nature must've screwed up that creature next to that horse. If I was born looking like that I would walk towards the nearest living thing and kill it. But then again, I have killed abductors that were uglier than that thing.” I chuckled a bit, thinking about how a lion and a bird can have sex with each other. Though before I started to lose track of what was going on, I was called back to reality by a roar that almost sounded like a roar from a Ramosa. Looking over to my right, I saw the monster with the head of a lion, wings of a bat, and scorpion tail.
"I don't know what the hell that thing is, but something tells me that whatever that thing is, it's trying to eat that horse and lion bird thing." I started to walk back a little, took a running start as I appeared out of the bushes, and swung my sword at the monster's left eye causing it to reel back in pain. I turned my head slightly back to see if the horse and loin bird thing were ok. "Hey, are you two ok?" I asked, but they didn’t say anything. They just stared at me with shocked expressions on their faces. I couldn't blame them, seeing how I just appeared out of nowhere.
I turned my attention to the monster, who was slowly recovering from the sudden sneak attack I did. The beast roared as it began to charge at me. As the monster charged at me, I reached into my inventory and pulled out a flash grenade. “You two might want to cover your eyes for a second or two,” I said as the horse and lion bird thing covered their eyes as I threw the flash grenade at the beast. The monster stopped in its tracks once the grenade went off as I used my binding thorn to bind the monster from moving.
While the thorns did their work in restraining it, I switched to my assault rifle and fired upon its front legs. As the monster kneeled face-first onto the ground, I pulled out a sticky grenade and threw it at its head. In a matter of seconds, the grenade exploded as bits and pieces of the monster’s head scattered around the area….including me. “Ugh, gross! What was I thinking when I did that? I should’ve moved away before blowing that thing’s head off.” Brushing off some of the blood and small pieces of monster out of my hair, I then turned my attention back at the two creatures behind me.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah, we’re fine.”
“The great and powerful Trixie didn’t need your help...But she is fine, thanks for asking.” Trixie said as she looked at me up and down.
"How were you able to take down that manticore? So far I have never seen a pony let alone a bat pony take out a manticore like it was just a fly!" The lion bird girl said before hearing Trixie speak.
"Yes, Trixie is also wondering? How were you able to take on a manticore without so much as dropping a sweat? You will answer Trixie's question at once!" Trixie demanded as she slammed her hoof onto the ground.
“Normally it would be against the rules to tell someone from a different Panopticon, not to mention that I would have 100 years added to my sentence. But seeing how I’m not back at home, I might as well tell them who I am.” Before I could answer my stomach started to growl, causing my face to turn red in embarrassment. “I’ll tell you after I get something to eat.” I looked over at the remains of that manticore I killed. "Hey, think that I can eat that dead monster over there?" This took them both by surprise.
“You eat meat?!” Trixie asked as I nodded.
“Well yeah. Why’d you ask?” I asked..
"B-but you're a pony right? Ponies don't eat meat. The only species that I know that eat meat are griffons like her and dragons." She said while pointing a hoof towards the griffin girl.
"Oh, so that's what she is? I always thought griffons were mythical creatures that didn't exist." I thought as I shivered a bit at the thought of her killing me if I were to call her a lion bird by accident.
"This "griffin" has a name you know?" She said with a pissed-off look on her face. "The names Gilda by the way kid." She said as she extended her claw-like hand out towards me for to shack
"Normally Trixie doesn’t give out her name to anypony...But seeing how you saved me and her, my name is." Trixie’s horn started to glow as she jumped back. "The Great and Powerful TRIXIE!" Fireworks and sparklers shot out from behind her like she was some kind of celebrity or something.
"Right...Anyway, my name is Adelle Topaz, a former sinner of Panopticon in New York.” I replied while shaking Gilda's claw hand.
A few hours have passed since we decided to camp out here for today. Mainly because of what Trixie said about how far we were from the nearest town. It made sense, given how thick this forest is while I was dragging the dead body of the manticore I killed. If we were to try and make it to this town called Ponyville, then it would be about nighttime. So far from what I could gather from Trixie and Gilda, I'm in a country or...planet called Equestria. Its population is mostly consistent with ponies which are divided into three groups. Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Pony. Hm, best not call them horses less I might insult someone, but either way, I'm currently in a world where magic shouldn't even exist.
In return for telling me where I am, I told them where I came from. It's not like I'll get in trouble with the people back in New York given the state it was in before I ended up here. I only inform them about who I was, where I came from, how I ended up here, and certain aspects of how my gear worked. After cleaning the blood out of my hair and parts of my clothes, Gilda surprisingly made a fire and began cooking the meat on a rock in the middle of the fireplace she made.
"You know, I could've done that once I was done cleaning off," I said as Gilda smirked at me.
"Didn't know how long you would take to clean yourself off. Plus I doubt you know how to know which part of the manticore meat isn't poisonous."
"....Fair point," I said before sitting next to the fire where they were sitting.
"So you are a thing called a hue-men from a planet called earth?” Gilda asked as she flipped the manticore meat.
“And you used to be a criminal that served her sentence for her Panopticon?” Trixie said as she began to eat a salad she made from the surrounding wildlife.
“It’s pronounced human Gilda, and yes for your question Trixie," I said while looking at the fire. "Back on earth, I was pretty much sentenced for one million years for the crime of killing a man for trying to have his way with me.”
“....I'm sorry...did you say you were put in jail for one million years?" Gilda asked as I nodded. "Geez, and I thought the Griffonstone’s laws were harsh.”
“Suck part about it is that your freedom is kinda limited when you start as a sinner. You don't have the right to move around in your cell unless you're given a mission, you can't run, can't talk, can't buy anything, can't even use the bathroom without claiming the right to do that. The list goes on."
"...You're joking right?" Trixie asked as I shook my head. "What kind of place would do something like that to somepony!?"
"Well given how my planet is pretty much a barren wasteland of broken-down cities, sand, and lord knows what else. People have to do whatever they can to limit and use resources wisely. Hense where the fucked up system comes into play. If you commit a crime, you're sentenced to one million years in jail no matter what it is. I think the most fucked up rule is if you have a baby born, then that baby is sentenced to one million years in jail for the crime of being alive and a drain on human resources." I said before noticing shocked expressions on Gilda's and Trixie's faces.
"What kind of world do you come from?" Gilda asked.
"One where life is barely holding on. Years of war and conflict in the past caught up to people like me in the distant future. You want your freedom, you have to undertake operations and donate materials to the greater cause for your Panopticon...I never believed that crap. I'm pretty sure the people in charge of this system use the resources just for themselves."
"Don't you have some kind of freedom while in jail? I mean, they can't just keep you locked inside and only let you out to do operations?"
"Not unless you're a level eight and claim the rights you lost upon becoming a sinner over time. Other than that, you're pretty much locked inside your jail cell."
“Trixie hates to live where you come from, though Trixie is wondering something?”
“How did I take down that manticore?” I asked as Trixie nodded. "Well back on earth, the missions I would be sent on were either taking down abductors that kidnapped people or fighting against the people," I said before bringing up a couple of digital images of what an abductor looks like. "The manticore kinda reminded me of a Ramosa. They’re kinda easy to take down if you know what you’re doing. Plus I've been doing this for the past four years.”
"...How old are you?"
"Seventeen," I said as they were taken by surprise by what I said. "What? I was fourteen at the time when I was sent to jail after what I did." I said before noticing the meat was done as I summoned up a dagger from my P.R.P to pick it up and began to eat it. Gotta say it tastes better than the artificial food they make back in the Panopticon
"...You're an odd human...you know that, right?"
"How come?" I asked.
"You're saying this stuff so casually like it doesn't affect you, you're talking to us like we're not a threat, and you're eating meat...bat ponies can't eat meat."
"Yes, Trixie must agree with Gilda on that...normal ponies would be affected if they were in your position. What makes you so different?"
“Those who are young are given special training to help build mental stability when facing your enemies." Which was a lie because they pretty much threw me into the field on the first day. "As for why I'm not sick from eating meat. Well, humans are omnivores so that pretty much means we eat both meat, certain plants, and fruits." After saying that, both Trixie and Gilda got a little bit nervous at me saying that humans eat meat. "But don't worry I don't eat ponies, griffins, or any sentient being of any kind."
"We'll...take your word for it," Trixie said as I nodded.
"Nice save Adelle." I thought to myself, it would have been bad if I just left it like that and they started running away. "But enough about me, what about you two? Why were you both out here in the middle of the forest, and almost becoming that manticore's lunch?” They both look at each other as if they didn't want to talk about the event that happened a few hours ago, but with a sigh from Trixie and Gilda, they explain what happened.
From what Trixie told me, she was running away from Ponyville after something called an Ursa minor attacked the town and was humiliated by some purple pony named Twilight Sparkle. For Gilda, she told me about how this pink pony named Pinkie Pie was pulling pranks on her and took her friend Rainbow Dash away from her. Judging by how she put it, I could only guess it was one of those ‘long time no see’ friends that just wanted to hang out with her old friend ’ kinda deal.
"That explains the running into the forest bit, but what about the manticore thing? That doesn't give me a lot to go on, you know?" I said taking another bite out of the cooked manticore meat.
"Trixie was getting to that. Anyway, as I was running off into the Everfree forest after my humiliating defeat by that cursed Twilight Sparkle. I ran into Gilda, who was at first about to kill on sight. In my frightened state, I shot a magical beam at her face in self-defense but..."
"It missed and ended up hitting a sleeping manticore that was sleeping behind a shade of bushes," Gilda said, picking up from where Trixie had stopped.
"So here's my question again. You’re a unicorn and you’re a griffin right?" They both nodded. "So why didn't use some kind of magic spell to get you both the hell out of there or fly the fuck out of there?"
“Well...you see...Trixie was about to escape, but she couldn’t because… she was drained of her magic after what happened in Ponyville. That and running away on hoof can tire a mare out.”
“I would’ve flown away….but fear pretty much got the best of me in this case.”
"So it seems that we all have no place to go back to then huh?" I asked as Gilda and Trixie agreed with me on that one.
"Trixie lost her home due to the Ursa Minor crushing it."
"And I can't head back home due to...family issues," Gilda said before taking a bite out of her food.
"Well then how about the three of us become friends then?" They both looked at me with questionable looks on their faces saying ‘The fuck are you talking about?’ "Look, hear me out for a second. We don't have money or a place to call home. If we were to go our separate ways, life would be twice as hard. So why not stay together and help each other out as friends?”
“Hm, you make a valid point. It would be hard to make a living given our reputations. Trixie doesn’t normally be friends with anypony less than her, but seeing how you saved her from a gory fate I will be your friend for the time being.”
“I guess I’ll be your friend too only because you saved my tail. Plus I’ll be able to rub it in Rainbow Dash’s face when I tell her I have a much cooler and more awesome friend than she is.”
“Okay, then it’s official. We’re friends, now the first order of business is figuring out how to get money.”
“Trixie doubts we could get jobs to get money. Especially after what happened in Ponyville for me.” It was then I noticed Gilda walk over to a wooden sign that was at a fork in the dirt road covered in vines. Looking back at me, she then pulled out a few flyers.
“Adelle right? Can I ask you something?”
“What’s up?”
“How good are you as a fighter? Because…” She then set a flier down and when Trixie and I looked at it, we were surprised to see that it wasn't a flier but a wanted poster with a dragon's face on it. “If you were able to take down a Manticore, I think being able to take down a dragon might help us.”
"Are you crazy, bounty hunting is illegal in Equestria!?" Trixie yelled as Gilda rolled her eyes.
"We're not going to hunt him, Adelle's going to kill him and we'll take his stuff," Gilda said, which caused me to burst out laughing while Trixie stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
“That's even worse!”
"I'm not against the idea, but let's try talking to the big guy and see if he would hand over some of his treasure," I said as Trixie gave me the same expression as she did with Gilda. "What? He's on a wanted poster, so why not kill him. I mean he's worth one million bits dead or alive." Upon saying that, Trixie's eyes widen before taking the wanted poster from me as she examines it.
“Oh my……me.”
“Don’t you mean goddess?” Gilda said as Trixie glared at her.
“You worship your thing. Trixie worships hers!”
“Ladies, focus, please? Even if we don't get the reward for killing the dragon, we can still raid his place for the treasure he might have stored away. This means we can get you a new wagon, Trixie, and whatever it is that you need Gilda.”
“Not to sound like a downer, but how can you take down a dragon? The ponies that I know that can do that are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna.” Trixie asked.
“If the dragons are anything like the Dionaea’s back home, then I’m sure I can handle taking them down,” I said as I pulled my assault rifle. “Plus if you haven’t noticed, I’m like a weapon factory so this pretty works in my favor.”
"And what's your plan to win a fight with the dragon?"
"I'm gonna shoot it in the heart or head with my gun, simple right?” I smile at them both telling them my plan. A moment of silence that lasted for a few seconds until both Gilda and Trixie started to laugh.
"T-Trixie has heard of many plans before b-but this, this is just a plan is s-stupid."
"Kid that's something Rainbow Dash would think of."
"Oh screw you guys I think it's a well-thought-out plan that will work."
"Okay Adelle, then let's see this plan of yours work out tomorrow. I'll take you to the cave where the dragon lives, and if the plan works then I'll wear a maid's outfit. But if your plan fails then you'll have to fork over those weapons of yours and tell me how it works, deal?" Gilda spat into her claw and extended towards me.
"Okay then, you got yourself a deal, Gilda," I said as Trixie extended a hand out toward me to shake it, which I did.
"Trixie believes this will not turn out well, but then again nothing ever does, doesn’t it?"
Operation Two: Dragon Killer
Operation Two
Dragon Killer
[The Next Day]
“Hurry up! Trixie does not like to wait for slow ponies such as yourself to keep her waiting.” I wanted to punch Trixie. I wanted to punch her in the face so hard that it would knock her out and make her shut up. But I couldn't because she's my friend along with Gilda who was leading us to where the dragon lived...Though it would've been nice if one of them offered me a ride up the mountain instead of having me climb the damn thing!
“Oh, I’m sorry I don’t have magic that can levitate me, or know how to fly like Gilda. If you haven’t noticed I just became a bat pony in oh I don’t know, YESTERDAY!”
“Even a newborn colt or filly can do a better job than you can, Adelle. Trixie finds it sad that you were able to kill a manticore, but you don’t know how to fly.”
“.....You know just because I can’t fly and we’re friends, doesn’t mean I won’t shove my right foot right up your-.” Before I could finish my threat, we all heard a monstrous roar. Some of the rocks began to fall a few inches next to us. Trixie and Gilda dodge them without any problems, while I just simply had to lunge from left to right to avoid getting hit. “I take it that we’re close huh?”
“Really? Trixie didn’t notice. Was it because of the roar that we just heard, or was it the small rock slide?”
“You know this could’ve gone much faster if one of you carry me up this stupid mountain.”
“Trixie would, but she is still drained from yesterday and doesn’t have the energy to lift another pony.” She said while yawning.
“And I don't carry weak ponies that complain, so yeah. Sorry, you're on your own when it comes to climbing this mountain.” I’m starting to think being friends with these two will be the death of me, but at least we’re almost to the top of this damn mountain. After two hours of climbing and dodging falling rocks, we finally made it to the top of the mountain. No thanks to the unicorn and flying chicken who kept criticizing me. I mean really what kind of friends would do….you know what never mind. If my friends were still alive, then they would pretty much do that.
“Okay so how hard is a dragon’s skin and where’s its weak point?” I asked while catching my breath.
“From what I heard from my grandpa who fought against one. He said that their scales are as hard as diamonds, and their weak spot is their underbellies.”
“Okay.” I soon looked up at the giant cave with smoke coming out of it and pulled up a digital screen to access the Facility Management. “Now I just need to make a few Debilitators to deal with the dragon's scales," I said while pressing a few buttons as the devices were placed in my inventory."
"Debilitators?" Gilda asked. "What's that?"
"Debilitators are used to weaken the durability of an abductor's joints. Makes it easy for when you have to use a weapon to cut off a piece of their limbs." I said before making the screen vanish and motioning for Trixie and Gilda to hide behind a boulder near the entrance of the cave. "Stay hidden while I deal with the dragon."
"You're seriously going to go through with that plan of yours!?" Trixie asked as I gestured my hand sideways indicating that it was a maybe.
"That kid's gonna die," Gilda said as she and Trixie hid behind the boulder I motioned for them to hide behind.
"Thanks for the support." I soon turned my attention to the cave. "Now let’s get fire butts attention.” While Gilda and Trixie were hiding, I entered the cave with my assault rifle in my hands. As I walked deeper into the cave, my eyes widened in shock and awe at the amount of gold and jewels this dragon has. I mean I knew this dragon might have a lot of treasure, but holy fuck was this dragon loaded. If I had something like this back home, I would've been able to lower my sentence by half by donating it as raw material.
"I might end up retiring at an early age if we can manage to make this much money stretch." Just before I lost my train of thought, I felt a gust of warm wind blowing in my face. I looked up and saw the dragon in front of me. Odd really, I never thought that I would see a real live dragon before in my entire life. I mean they were supposed to be mythical creatures from what I looked up in the archives about fairy tales. It would explain why some of the abductors look like this. Just as I took a few steps forward, the dragon opened its eyes to see me standing in front of it.
“Morning sleepy head. You must be the dragon on this wanted poster, correct?”
“Who are you and why are you in my cave?” The dragon asked glaring daggers at me.
“Adelle Topaz is my name, and I’m here to collect the bounty on your head. Well, that or you could spare us some gold and we’ll be on our way.”
“We?” He asked, I simply just pointed at Trixie and Gilda standing behind the rock outside of the cave. “What makes you think I would let you have my treasure?”
“Because if you don’t, then I’ll have to kill you then. If you’re smart, then you should take my offer.” The dragon snorted, causing me to wave my hand a bit due to knocking away some of the smoke that exhaled from his nose. "So I take it that's a no?" The dragon nodded at my question as he picked himself up and began to inhale a huge breath of air. At that point, if it's anything like the Dionaea back home, then it was about to breathe fire at me. I quickly switched to my binding thorn out with my shielding thorn and created a wall of white thorns in front of me. The moment I was done, the dragon unleashed his fire upon me and I ended up being engulfed by the flames.
"DEAR CELESTIA!" yelled Trixie as she saw me being engulfed by the flames.
"Damn, I wanted those weapons she had. Now, what am I supposed to do now that Adelle’s dead?”
"Seriously? You worry about my weapons being yours then worrying about me?" To their surprise, as the flames died off, I was standing behind the wall of white thorns.
“What sort of magic is that? How were you able to survive from my flames?" He asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.
“Shielding thorns. So long as I stand behind them, they'll create a barrier that protects me from almost any kind of attacks.” I said as I aimed my gun at the dragon. "Now are you gonna spare some of your gold, or are we gonna do this the hard way?" He didn't say anything but only swung his tail at me. I used my thorns to latch onto the roof of the cave to avoid the attack. Once his attack missed me, I made my gun disappear before throwing a Debilitator onto the dragon's tail.
With that on his tail, I released my hold on the roof of the cave and made a chainsaw-like blade appear in my hand. The moment I landed on the dragon's tail, I thrust my weapon into his scales and began to chip away at them. The sound of scales being ripped apart echoed throughout the cave before the sound of flesh being ripped into replaced it. The dragon let out a primal roar of pain as it tried to throw me off by slamming me into the wall of the cave.
Before I was slammed into the wall, I quickly released my hold on the dragon's tail and used the momentum to get a good distance away from it, only to use my thorns to latch onto his tail again and thrust my weapon into it again. Within a minute or so of me cutting into the dragon's flesh, a loud thud was heard after his tail fell off and hit the ground. Another roar was heard from the dragon as he recoiled back in pain from his tail being cut off before glaring at me.
"So are you gonna be nice and spare some bits?" I asked, only for the dragon to shake his head no and charged at me. "Okay then." I reached into my pocket to pull out another Debilitator and chucked it at the dragon’s head. Using my thorns, I quickly latched onto the left wall of the cave and pulled myself to the side to avoid the dragon's charge attack. Once I was on the side of the dragon, I threw another Debilitator at the dragon’s neck. The dragon looked over to where I was and quickly shot a fireball at me. I created a wall of thorns in front of me to block the oncoming attack. In retaliation, I reached into my other pocket and threw two sticky grenades at the dragon's neck.
“Hope this works,” I said before Switching to my assault rifle and aiming as I looked over the wall of thorns I made. Upon seeing my face, the dragon took in another deep breath as he was about to fire off another fireball. Before he could fire one-off, I quickly fired a bullet at the sticky grenade I threw at his neck, causing it to explode and sending the dragon backward.
(Third person P.O.V.)
"Trixie is in shock at what she is seeing." She said as she watched the fight between Adelle and the dragon.
"Yeah, it's a good thing she's on our side. I hate to be the poor idiot that fights against her." Gilda said as they both shivered at the thought of it. "You think she could teach me some of those moves?"
“Trixie is hoping she could show me how to do that wall of thorn thing. This would be great for Trixie to have when she performs again." She said with stars in her eyes.
"Yeah cause Celestia knows you'll be back to stardom after what happened in Ponyville."
"At least I can win over the hearts of the citizens, unlike you who scared them to death."
"I only scared them because they're a bunch of weak ponies. At least I didn't almost get them killed for boasting about taking down an Ursa Major, which it turns out, was just an Ursa Minor."
"At least I didn't lose my best friend to a pink pony that should be in a sugar coma."
"Oh, I am going to rip off your horn and shove it up your flank-" Before she could finish her sentence, Gilda noticed six colorful ponies walking up the path that leads to the summit of the mountain. Both Trixie and Gilda said in union. "Oh great, it's you six."
"Gilda, Trixie? What are you two doing here?" asked Twilight.
"Why should we tell you?"
"Cause if you don't, then will beat the answers out of you," said Rainbow dash flying in front of the griffon.
“Rainbow dash we’re here to find out what that noise was, not to start a fight with them," Twilight said standing in between Gilda and Rainbow Dash. She then turned her attention toward the griffon and blue unicorn. "Now can you both please tell us why you two are here?"
"Trixie doesn't have to answer to the likes of you Twilight Sparkle, in fact, why don't you look over there and see for yourself." She said pointing a finger towards the cave. The six ponies began to walk towards the opening of the cave, only to be blown back when a loud booming sound echoed out of the cave. Recovering from the sudden burst of air that pushed them back, a dragon’s head was popping out of the cave. At first, everyone was surprised at the dragon and thought it was about to attack them, but it didn't. It just stood there on the ground doing nothing like it was dead. Twilight noticed that a bat pony was sitting on top of the dragon’s head. The mare was wearing what looked like to be survivor gear, and a strange black box strap to her waist.
(Adelle’s P.O.V)
[Moments before]
Looks like the Debilitator is working seeing how his scales are cracking in the areas I placed them on. As I placed the last sticky grenade onto the dragon’s weaken body parts, the bomb self-destructed causing pieces of the dragon’s scale and flesh to scatter around in the cave. Judging by the way he looks, it looks like he’s ready to pass out, or keel over from the damage I did to him. “Last chance, big guy. You can either give up your treasure or give up your life?” asked as I pulled out my polearm. “Your choice.” The Dragon said nothing, only that he took in a deep breath of air. My only response was him spewing out fire at me. I once again used my shielding thorn to create a fence of thorns in front of me. As the flames died out and my thorn fence was gone, I threw my polearm at the dragon’s chest. At first, he laughed at what he thought was my killing move, but I pointed down at the spear which had a cluster of sticky grenades on the tip of it.
"You see, this all could’ve been avoided if you would’ve just shared." with a snap of my finger, the sticky grenades exploded as they left a huge gaping hole into the dragon’s chest. Before the dragon was about to fall on top of me, I used my thorns to move out of the way of the dead dragon. "Huh? If all the monsters here are weak, then fighting them would be easy as pie." I said pulling out my phone to take a picture of the dead dragon. "Can't lose the bet with Gilda if I don't have proof now don't I?" After the snapshot I took, I landed on the dead dragon’s back as I made my way to the entrance of the cave. When I exited the cave, there were six bright and colorful ponies standing there in shock at the dead dragon. I looked to my left to see Trixie and Gilda still hiding behind the rock.
"Hey, Gilda!" I yelled, throwing my storage unit towards her. "Go inside the cave and collect the loot this dragon had." With that Gilda and Trixie ran into the cave, leaving me here with the other ponies. I was about to follow the two into the cave, but I was cut off by a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane.
"Hey! Who the hay are you, and what happened to the dragon?" She asked, pointing at the dragon that I was standing on.
“My name is Adelle Topaz, and to what happened to the dragon….well I killed it,” I said, which took her by surprise for a moment before snorting.
"Please, like somepony like you could defeat a dragon."
"Maybe not you, but unless you have gear that can damage a dragon,” I said as I pulled out my gun to show her. “Then it’s pretty much easy to kill one.”
"Y-You killed him?" asked the cream-colored pegasus with pink hair as I moved past the cyan pegasus and used my thorns to open the dragon's eyelids to show them his lifeless eyes. Their expressions were a range of shock, horror, and disgust. "But why!? Why would you kill that poor defenseless dragon?"
“Because he was on the wanted list,” I said as I pulled out the wanted poster of the dragon from my pocket. “I was willing to let him live if he gave me some of his treasure, but he refused and I had to kill him.”
"....How dare you."
"Huh?"
"HOW DARE YOU KILL AN INNOCENT DRAGON!" She yelled before appearing in front of my face. "WHO GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO ATTACK THIS DRAGON WITHOUT ANY REASON!?"
"Yeah you tell her Fluttershy!" cheered the cyan pegasus.
"You better say you're sorry or else I'll have to give you the stare." The stare? As if her name wasn't bad enough, now she's gonna stare at me with this so-called stare? Okay then, let's see what this so-called stare is. Might as well humor her just for the laughs. With that I spit my tongue out at her, this pretty much causes all six of them to frown at me. Well besides the pink one with the cotton candy-looking hair. Looking back at this pony named Fluttershy she was giving me what I could guess is her so-called ‘stare’. The other ponies had smiles on their faces when they saw her using her stare on me. This is just a waste of time. I could be doing something else than this crap.
"Really? This is your so-called stare?" The girls were surprised that ‘The stare’ didn't work on me, but to be fair I faced scarier things than her.
"Why didn't the stare work on her?" asked the white unicorn with violet wavy hair.
"I don't know? The only ponies that I know that wouldn't be affected by her stare would be the Princesses." said the lavender unicorn.
"Why should I apologize for what I did? I gave the dragon the option to hand over his treasure and I would let him live. He didn't and then he attacked me. So in defense, I took him down before he could kill me." This took the cream color pegasus by surprise. "Now, could I have just left and hoped the dragon doesn't follow me? I could, but then he would've gone and attacked some other town or something in a fit of rage. Do you think you and your friends can handle a dragon that could level a town in less than a second? Given how you all are dressed up, I seriously doubt it." I said while taking a step forward as she flew back a bit. "You demand I apologize for defending myself against a dragon, then why don't you make you nature-loving weakling." Before I could turn around and walk off into the cave, a lavender color aura or something surrounded me. I looked over to see the lavender unicorn's horn glow.
"You’re not going anywhere until we get some answers." She said as I felt myself being pulled towards her. In retaliation to her attempt, I quickly reached into my pocket to pull out a throwing knife and tossed it into the lavender unicorn's shoulder. The girl let out a cry of pain as I felt her magical hold on me, release.
"Twilight!" Her friends said as they quickly rushed over to her. While they were distracted by their friend's injury, I quickly tossed a flash grenade over to them and bolted it back into the cave. The moment I turned around, I heard the grenade go off and the ponies screaming in pain. That should buy me some time to reach Trixie and Gilda.
(Third Person P.O.V)
As the light died out, all the ponies were still rubbing their eyes from the blinding light trying to regain their sight. When they were able to see, the bat pony that was in front of them was gone.
"Why that no good little...Oh, she is not gonna get away that easily!" Rainbow dash said before flying off into the cave and going after Adelle. While the pegasus flew into the cave, Twilight slowly pulled the knife out of her shoulder, as she winced from the pain.
"You okay sugar cube?" Applejack asked as noticed Twilight using her magic to patch the area up.
"I'm fine, but we need to go after them before they escape."
"W-We're going after them?" Fluttershy asked.
"We can't let them wander around by themselves. Especially that bat pony. Whatever she did to that dragon, we need to make sure she doesn't do it to anypony else." Twilight said as she finished patching herself up. "Not only that, but Rainbow Dash went after them."
"You think that girl would wait before storming off into danger." Rarity said as she noticed Twilight heading into the cave.
"Come on girls we got fugitives to capture," Twilight said as she and the others ran into the cave of the dead dragon.
Operation Three: Fight for your Freedom
Operation Three
Fight for your Freedom
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PUNK!!!" yelled the rainbow-haired pegasus flying after me. Really? Does she expect me to wait for her to catch up to me after saying that?
"Yeah sure. like I'll listen to a technicolor freak like you!" That pretty much struck a nerve when I looked behind myself and saw her face turn red. "Yep, that got her mad. Now let's see if we can make her crash into something?" I looked around the empty cave to see what I can use to give me an uphill advantage. To my surprise, I saw a cracked wall up ahead. A grin appeared on my face as I reached into my pocket and tossed a flash grenade into the path of the pegasus. A loud bang was made as a bright light-filled part of the cave I was in behind me. As the light vanished, I soon took a step to the side as I saw the pegasus rush past me and slam into the cracked wall off to the side. A loud thud was heard in front of me as I looked over to the cyan pegasus stuck in the wall like you see would in cartoons. I walked over to the other side of the wall. I couldn't help but laugh at the way she was trying to get herself out of the wall.
"You may be fast. But when it comes to thinking, you're not the smartest one are you?" I said with a smug grin on my face. The cyan pegasus face was hot red when I said that and was struggling to try to get herself out. I watched her struggle for a good few seconds before running further into the cave.
(Third Person P.O.V)
"Is that all the bits and gems we could get?" asked Gilda.
"Indeed, that is all Trixie was able to fit in this strange device that Adelle gave us,” Trixie replied. "Trixie has to admit, this thing would’ve been quite useful, if somepony made this."
"Yeah well let's just hurry up and get out of here," Gilda said as she placed the portable storage unit in her pocket. "Celestia knows we don't want those losers to catch up to us." Just as they were about to leave, Adelle jolted past them and hit the wall behind them.
"Ow....ugh.....I'm starting to wish I was a human, how can you ponies run with just stubby feet?"
"You still can't walk? How are you even alive after killing that dragon?" Gilda asked.
"Shut it bird brain," Adelle said as she picked herself up from the ground. "Anyway, were you able to get everything in the cave?" She asked as they nodded. "Good, now we need to book it out of here."
"Trixie is guessing that Twilight and her friends are heading this way?"
"That and one pissed-off pegasus that's on her way to kill me after what I did to her. You got my storage unit?" Adelle asked as Gilda handed over the storage unit to her. "Thanks now to time to set some traps.” The sinner said as she switched to her binding thorn, and placed a few traps around the cave they were in. “That should buy us sometime before they catch up to us.”
"Trixie is wondering what you’re planning to do with those?"
"Oh just setting a trap for are ‘friends’ that's all," Adelle said with a grin on her face as she laid the last trap on the ground. "And relax this won't kill them, it'll just trap them here long enough for us to escape."
"You think that’ll work?" asked Gilda.
"Well, it’s better than waiting here for them to find us," Adelle said as she switched back to her Shielding Thorn. "Now come on, let’s get going." With that, the trio ran off deeper into the cave in an attempt to escape the six ponies chasing after them. A good amount of time has passed as Adelle, Gilda, and Trixie made it to the end of the other side of the cave. So far Adelle was the only one that wasn't tired from the endless running. Thanks to the training and battles that she went through back home. Her new friends on the other hand were pretty much tired, sweaty, and gasping for air as they both collapsed on the ground.
"Y...You think...we lost them?" Gilda asked.
"Trixie...is too tired...to even look back...but she is hoping we...did."
"Wow, you guys need to work out more," Adelle said as both Gilda and Trixie glared at the sinner. "What? You guys were egging on me about my climbing skills, so why not get you back."
"Oh, whatever," Gilda said as she pulled herself up. "Anyway, you think those traps of yours work?"
"I hope so. I know that it should trap four of them at least." Adelle said as she pulled out aftershadow.
"Trixie suggests that we should leave before something else happens."
"Oh please, it'll take them at least an hour or two to get out of the traps I set."
"Have you ever tested it on ponies with magic before?" Gilda asked.
"No, but it's not like they can teleport or anything." Just as said, a flash of purple light appeared in front of the trio. As the light dimmed the six ponies that were chasing them, were standing in front of them.
“Hi!” said Pinkie Pie as she waved at them.
"Well look who's wrong!" yelled Gilda.
“Fuck you bitch. You never told me that they could teleport out of my trap.”
"Okay, now that we caught up to you three. Care to explain why you killed that dragon?" asked Twilight.
"Care to explain who you six ponies are before I answer your question?" Adelle asked.
“Oh, well my name is Twilight Sparkle.” The lavender unicorn said as she pointed towards. “And these are my friends, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy.”
“....Well...those are….interesting names.”
“Now care to tell us who you are, sugar cube?” Applejack asked
“Yeah, and why are you with Trixie and Gilda?” Rainbow Dash added.
“Well to answer your first question Applejack. My name is Adelle Topaz, a former sinner of the Panopticon in New York." Adelle said as she pulled out a sign with a barcode on it. "And why am I with these two chuckleheads behind me? Well, to make a long story short I saved them from a thing called a manticore, and we became friends afterward."
"Ok that answers my first question, but I have a few more questions," Twilight said.
“And those are?”
“What the hay is a sinner?” asked Rainbow Dash, which caused Adelle to groan in annoyance.
"Not like they'll believe a word I say...might as well see how it plays out." Adelle thought as she turned her focus onto Twilight and her friends.
(Adelle’s P.O.V)
I pretty much told them everything to some degree. Had to lie about what country I came from, that a sinner was a criminal forced to do what the higher-ups tell them to do, and how I ended up here. Unexpectedly, the expressions on their faces were a mixed collection of confusion, interest, and not so much interest. Mainly from Rainbow Dash and Applejack from the looks of it.
“And that pretty much explains who I am, and what a Sinner is in a nutshell," I said, finishing up my story.
"So you’re a former prisoner from another country?" asked Twilight. I just nodded yes to her question.
"Now if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way-" Before I could turn around and leave, Rainbow Dash quickly appeared in front of me.
"And where do you think you're going? You expect us to just let you wander around Equestria after telling us you're a criminal?"
"Rainbow Dash is right. There are a few things in your story that don't add up," She said before I noticed her and the others circling us. "And given what you did to that dragon, you'll need to come with us to have a word with Princess Celestia."
"....You saw what I did to the dragon, what makes you think you six can take me down?"
"We're the elements of harmony," Rainbow Dash said with a grin on her face. "If we can take down Nightmare Moon, we can take down a punk kid like you." Great, hot-headed, and overconfident.
"I don't know who this Nightmare Moon person is, and frankly I don't care. But unlike most of the enemies, you must've fought, you never dealt with someone like me. So, I suggest you and your friends leave me and my friends alone, or else you'll regret what's going to happen." I said as I once again tried to walk away, only to feel something wrapped around my wrist. Looking at it, I followed where it led as I saw Applejack was the one behind it.
"And just where do you think you’re going, partner?"
"Um...leaving, where else?"
"We told you before. We can't let you leave," said Twilight. "You're coming with us to Princess Celestia."
"I'm giving you six one more chances. Let me go, or else it's going to be a fight where you will not last, nor will you come out untouched.”
"Taking a life is wrong, you could’ve just run away from the dragon." said the pony named Fluttershy. I Shifted my gaze at her which caused her to hide behind Twilight.
"Yeah cause that dragon would’ve let me go without any problems whatsoever," I said sarcastically. I mean really if I read anything about how the predator and prey relationship works, is that the predator will always chase down their prey no matter what. “If I did run away, then that dragon would have burned down that village over there," I said pointing over at the village, how the hell do these ponies survive this long without getting killed?
"Be that as it may you three are coming with us," said Twilight.
"Fine. Let it be known that I gave you the chance to leave just like I did with the dragon." I said before quickly cutting the rope around my wrist and trying to strike at Rainbow Dash with the blade part of my aftershadow. Rainbow Dash quickly pulled herself back to avoid my attack as she tried to tackle me, on to notice me dropping another flash grenade onto the ground as it went off after closing my eyes.
The moment the light from the flash grenade died down, I opened my eyes to see the girls were currently blind. I took this opportunity to switch out my sword with a pair of brass knuckles and deliver a hard punch to Rainbow Dash's chin as it sent her tumbling to the side.
“One down, five to go,” I said before noticing the girls recovering from the flash grenade as they quickly closed the distance between me and Applejack by using my thorns to bring myself over to her. Once I was close, I tried to deliver a punch to her face, only for a barrier to appear around as the recoil from hitting it caused me to stagger back a bit. I soon felt that weird force pulling me over to her like before as I quickly threw the handle part of a knife at Twilight's horn. The unicorn let out a yelp of pain as the glow around her horn vanished.
“Oh, you are so dead you little punk!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she flew behind me to catch me by surprise. I quickly ducked underneath the tackle as she collided with the barrier that Twilight made around Applejack. The moment she made contact with the barrier it instantly shattered as Rainbow Dash tackled Applejack as they both went tumbling backward.
"For a bunch of heroes that took down Nightmare Moon, you have pretty poor combat skills," I said while pulling myself up and taking up a boxing stance. "Come on, is that all you got?"
"That overconfidence will be your downfall," Twilight said as her horn started to glow even brighter. In a blink of an eye, a lavender color beam was heading toward me. I quickly use my shielding thorn to form a barrier around myself. The blast hit me, but it didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. Judging by the expression on Twilight's face, she wasn't expecting me to be unphased by her attack.
"Look stupid, I only killed that dragon because he was on the wanted list. What's the big deal, it's not like he was your friend or something?"
"Taking another life is wrong, even if he was a criminal. You could’ve talked to him so that he would turn himself in."
".....Were you dropped on your head when you were a child or something? Because if you were, then you must be even stupider than your friend Rainbow Crash."
"Hey! don't you dare talk about Rainbow Dash like that, you meanie!" I looked to my right to see the pink pony named Pinkie Pie with a sky blue cannon with her. If I remember correctly back in old times, people used cannons like that during the medieval ages, and after seeing videos of their destructive powers, then I was dead as fuck. I tried to move out of the pink pony's range of fire, but given the surprising state I was in, all I could do was stumble backward and all on my ass.
"Oh, this is so gonna hurt." I closed my eyes waiting for the impact to hit me. But to my surprise when I opened my eyes upon hearing the sound of a party favor going off, I found myself covered in party streamers and confetti. "Really? Fucking confetti? Out all the things you could've used, you used fucking confetti and streamers!?" I yelled as I felt my anger boiling. The pink pony started to slowly back away in fear as I stood up. Of all the most humiliating things for me to fall for, a fake cannon is one of them. "You fucked up big time, fatty. Now I am going to punch your face in until it's nothing more then-" Before I could finish my threat, I felt something hard hit me at the back of my head. I looked behind myself to see the marshmallow unicorn behind me levitating a bunch of rocks around herself.
“You uncouth ruffian! Stay away from Pinkie Pie!" She said while hitting me with another rock at my head. I have to give her credit for hitting me with such accuracy, but damn that gem hurts like hell. If she keeps hitting me in the head like that, then this could be a problem.
"Look I told you before he was wanted-" I couldn't finish my sentence as she threw another rock at my head. "....He was a criminal and I was-" Another rock hit me in the head and I could feel the anger once again boiling up inside me. Though that said anger was now directed toward Rarity. "...You throw another rock at me again, and I will-” Just as she threw another rock at me, I quickly dodge, replacing my brass knuckles for a handgun, and quickly shoot her in the joints in her shoulder and kneecap. She soon screamed in pain before falling to the ground. "Maybe next time you let me finish before interrupting me!" The moment I made my gun vanish, I was taken by surprise by a sucker punch to the face by Applejack and was sent tumbling to the side.
"Y'all gonna pay for that!" Applejack said as I heard her walking over to me. I quickly jumped onto my feet as I was about to deliver a punch to her face, only for her to grab my fist and bend it backward.
"Fuck!" I yelled as she soon delivered multiple punches to my face. Upon the fifth punch, she soon grabbed me by the throat and lifted me from the ground.
(Third Person P.O.V.)
"Are you seeing this?" asked Gilda.
"Trixie can not believe what she is seeing, but she's seeing it.”
"Should we do something?"
"Trixie believes we should, but she doesn't have a plan at the moment."
"Well we gotta think of something fast, I mean look at her," Gilda said as she pointed at Adelle being choked by Applejack.
"......Trixie has an idea on how to help her."
"And what is that?" asked Gilda, raising an eyebrow at the unicorn who motioned for her to follow after her. While the two began their plan of escape, Adelle was busy dealing with the farm pony as she tried her best to escape her iron-clad grip by kicking her in the chest and abdomen area.
"It'll take more than that to release my hold on you kid. Give up now, there's no way you'll escape."
"Then I guess I'll have to improvise!" The bat pony yelled as she switched out her shielding thorns for her binding thorns and quickly had them latch onto the farm pony's body. This took the earth pony by surprise as she felt restrained by the red glowing thorns and released her hold on Adelle's neck. "That should keep you there for a while."
"Concarnit, what is this stuff!?" Applejack yelled as she tried to break free from her bindings. Her ears twitch upon hearing something coming from behind as she quickly jumps into the air. Looking down she saw Rainbow Dash trying to tackle her again, but missed. She soon heard the sound of a beam going off as she quickly twisted her body around to avoid a magical beam from her right before landing back on the ground.
"Ok Adelle, think. You took down two of them and now there are only four left...well two seeing how that pink pony and cream pony can't fight worth a damn...and they're treating the marshmallow unicorn's injuries. Getting around the cyan pegasus won't be an issue, but the unicorn is another story seeing how she can use her magic to pin me down or restrain me like before." Just as she was about to make her move, Adelle noticed Trixie in the background making weird body movements saying ‘get into the air.’ "I'm going to assume they have a plan of escape." She thought before turning her attention onto Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
"Welp, it's been fun and all. But I'll be taking my leave." Adelle said as she noticed Rainbow Dash coming after like a bullet. The bat pony in return pulled out another flash grenade and slammed it onto the ground causing the four ponies to cover their eyes again. Adelle launched herself into the air with the help of a frag grenade. While in the air, she notices Gilda flying at her telling her to put her hands up. She did as she was told and put her hands into the air, and Gilda grabbed them.
"Hey, you seemed to be able to handle yourself fighting them," Gilda answered. "You're not hurt are you dweeb?" Gilda asked as she and Adelle landed where Trixie was just as the light from the flash grenade disappeared.
"Other than almost getting choked out by Applejack, yeah I'm fine." The bat pony answered while rubbing her neck. "Okay, so now what?"
"The Great And Powerful Trixie will teleport us out of here," said Trixie giving off a short victory pose.
"Okay...Why didn't you teleport us out of here sooner?"
"Because I wasn't expecting Twilight and her friends to be here. Plus, it takes a while to gather enough magic to teleport the three of us."
"Whatever, let's just go before we get-." Before Gilda could finish her sentence, the rock they were hiding behind was moved. "caught...horse apples."
"There you are!" said Twilight. "Now surrender or else."
"Eat debilitator nerd!" Adelle yelled as she reached into her pocket and threw a debilitator at Twilight's face. At first, it didn't do anything, but after a few seconds the lavender aura that coated the giant rock disappeared and the rock fell back onto the ground. "Wow, I didn't think that would work."
"You mean you threw whatever that thing was without even knowing it would work?" said Gilda.
“Yep.”
"....I'm not even gonna question it, but anyway." Gilda turned her attention to Trixie. "Trixie get us out of here."
"Trixie is working on it. She needs a few more seconds to build up some more magic." While Trixie was building her magic, Adelle saw something coming at her from the corner of her eyes charging at her.
"You’re not going anyway chumps!” said Rainbow Dash.
"Shit!" In a state of panic. Instead of using her Shielding thorn to block the oncoming attack, Adelle used Aftershadow - Gale Force to block the attack. As the attack made contact with the long sword, Adelle was soon sent flying off into a boulder.
"Ha! taste the rainbow loser!"
(Adelle’s P.O.V.)
"D...Dammit, didn't think she would be fast enough to recover like that." My vision was getting blurry and it felt like I was gonna pass out, that is until I felt a sharp pain coursing through my abdomen. Some of my vision came back as I looked at my broken blade. Looking around I tried to find the other end of the sword, only to notice a trail of blood trailing in front of me. Following the trail of blood, I looked down only to find the other half of the blade. The only problem was that it was lodged into my chest. "Huh...Wasn't...expecting that."
Were it not for the auto-healing augmentation, I'd be dead within seconds. I'll have to use the healing thorns just to make sure I didn't bleed out to death...but I don't have much strength left to even pull that off. My attention was soon turned to the sound of someone landing next to me. That rainbow color jerk landed right in front of me with a cocky grin on her face.
"Thought you took out the great Rainbow Dash? Well, guess again chump."
"Rainbow what the hay were you thinking?!" yelled Twilight as she and her friends appeared around me.
"Hey, she started it. Plus she was mopping the floor with us."
"You could’ve nearly killed her at the rate you were flying, I mean ever heard of-." Before she could finish lecturing her, I started to cough and spat out a huge amount of blood. “Oh no.” From what I could tell with parts of my vision still focused, the color on their faces turned pale.
“Oh crude.” Rainbow Dash said as her eyes widened in horror. “I-I didn’t mean to do that.”
"This isn’t good. The blade is lodged into her chest, and I don’t know how to get it out. We need to get to Ponyville hospi-." Before Twilight could finish, I felt someone pick me up in a hurry. Look up, it was Gilda and Trixie who I can guess swooped in from the side and grabbed me by the tail. "What the!?"
"Nice work Gilda, Trixie is amazed that you can carry us both."
"Just teleport us out of here! You two are heavier than I thought you would be."
"Are you calling The Great and Powerful Trixie fat?"
"Whatever, just teleport us out of here for Luna's sake!"
"Fine, but Trixie is not done talking about this." Just as she was instructed to do. Trixie's horn glowed, and with a blink of an eye, the three of us vanished within seconds. After that everything faded into darkness, and I fell unconscious.
(Third Person P.O.V)
"What the, where did they go?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I don't know," Twilight answered "But they couldn't have gotten that far with the injury Adelle has. If I’m right, they should’ve teleported to Ponyville’s hospital.”
"But what if they don’t head to the hospital?" asked Rarity while wincing from the pain she felt in her shoulder and leg. "We just can't let her roam free after what she did to that poor dragon."
"We're not Rarity. We'll come back after we inform Celestia of what happened, then return with a search party to find her along with Trixie and Gilda."
"Why not now?" asked Rainbow Dash. "By the time we return they will be long gone by now."
“Because we need to take Rarity to the hospital for her injuries, and we need to get Applejack out of those thorny things,” Twilight said as she pointed at Rarity before pointing over to Applejack who was still trying to break free of the Binding thorns.
"You guys take care of Applejack, I'm going on ahead and finding them." Before anyone could say anything, Rainbow Dash flew into the air towards the Everfree Forest.
"Rainbow Dash wait!" yelled Rarity as she watched the cyan pegasus fly off. "Why does she always do this?"
"We'll go after Rainbow Dash later," said Twilight as she levitated Applejack into the air. "Right now we need to get you and Applejack to the hospital quickly." She said as the five of them began to make their way off the mountain. While this was happening, near the other side of the mountain. A small cave could be seen giving off a flash of light as Adelle, Gilda, and Trixie appeared inside the cave and landed hard on the ground.
"Ugh...my head," said Gilda, pulling herself up from the floor. "I'm starting to remember why I hate magic so much."
"This is what happens when you rush magic. You should be lucky that you’re still intact."
"Whatever at least we got away from those dweebs with the loot we got from that dragon."
"Trixie agrees with you on that, but what do we do now?"
"We'll have to lay low for a while until the heat cools down, so until then let's just hide in this cave till th-." Before Gilda could finish, the griffon heard a cough echoing in the cave.
"Who said that?" asked Gilda.
"Trixie thinks the voice came from Adelle," Trixie answered as she noticed the blade sticking out from the sinner. “Oh, dear Trixie!”
“How in the flying feather did that blade get stuck inside her like that?!” Gilda asked as she rushed over to the injured sinner.
"Something tells me that it happened during the fight with Twilight and her friends."
"W-What do we do?" Gilda asked as she was about to remove the blade, only for Trixie to stop her.
“Don’t do that! If you remove the blade, then her blood will start to pour out of her like a fountain!”
“Can't you just use a spell to make her all better or something?"
"Magic doesn't work that way, you simpleton. You can't just simply use a healing spell and poof you're all better, it takes time and practice for that to work. The time that we don't have at the moment."
"Well think of something! If we don’t do something fast, then we can kiss Adelle goodbye!” Trixie tried to think of a way to try to mend Adelle’s wound, but so far she couldn’t think of any ideas. Because they were miles from the nearest hospital, and that it might kill her if they teleported again. This looked like to be the end of the poor sinner’s life, that is until Trixie had an idea.
"Trixie has an idea!"
"And what would that be, Miss. Great and Powerful Trixie?" Gilda said sarcastically.
“Seeing how we can’t remove the blade without killing her, why not just use the blade on her body?”
"How are we supposed to do that?"
"Simple, my less intelligent friend. I have a spell that allows me to fuse certain items with anypony."
"And you didn't tell me this earlier, why?"
"Well, you didn't ask Trixie if she knew any spells that can do that."
"......You know what, forget it. I'm not even gonna argue with you about this, just do the spell on her."
"With pleasure, now stand back!" said Trixie as she pushed Gilda to the side. "Watch in awe as The Great and Powerful Trixie does her magic!" Trixie's horn started to glow as an arcane circle appeared underneath the unconscious bat pony.
“I pray to Faust this works.”
Operation Four: Royal Invitation
Operation Four
Royal Invitation
I felt something warm hit my face as I slowly began to wake up from my slumber. As I woke up I had the strange taste of metal in my mouth along with something liquid inside. Turning to the side, I spat out whatever it was that was in my mouth, only to notice that it was blood...the hell happened to me when I was knocked out? My eyes began to adjust to the darkness as I found myself in what appeared to be a cave with a small campfire off to the side.
"Thank Celestia you’re awake." I turn to my right to see Gilda carrying a few pieces of wood, along with what appears to be a dead boar on her back. "We would have thought that you would be asleep for another day or so after what happened two days ago."
"Wait, I've been asleep for two days?" I asked while pulling myself up a bit as Gilda nodded. I blinked as I felt a slight chill run over my body. Looking down I quickly covered my body with my arms upon seeing my naked body...well slightly naked body, I had bandages covering my breast and lower part of my body. "Is there a reason why I'm naked...and where are my clothes?"
"Trixie had to throw them out due to the blood," Trixie said as she moved from behind Gilda. "Couldn't you wake up with blood-covered clothes? So Trixie burned them." Dammit, and those were my favorite clothes. "Trixie is more surprised that you're awake. Especially given the injury that you had. But worry not. For The Great and Powerful Trixie has saved you!"
"...Care to explain?"
"You ended up with a piece of that sword you were holding when Rainbow Dash hit you with a surprise attack from the side," Gilda answered as she pointed to my abdomen. I looked down to see a patch of my skin or fur in this case covered in a strange metal substance. "We couldn't pull that thing out, so Trixie used a spell to fuse that piece of metal into your skin so you wouldn't die of blood loss."
“...I...I'm amazed something like that is possible to do.” I said before trying to pull myself up slightly but winced due to the pain I felt in my abdomen.
“I wouldn’t recommend moving anytime soon. From what Trixie could tell even though she stopped the bleeding and sealed up your wound, you're still in no condition to be moving around as much.”
“This wouldn't be the first time I've been in a situation like this...though at least someone was willing to patch me up without me giving up my stuff,” I said before standing up, but soon fell back down onto the ground. "Plus we shouldn't stay here for long. Especially given how those girls are pretty much looking for us."
“All the more reason why we need to hide out here,” Trixie said as I lay against the wall of the cave we were in.
“Yeah, plus I do have food for use to eat...well for you and me, Trixie can't eat this stuff so I found some plants that might be edible for her to eat.” She said before making her way over to the campfire near the entrance to prepare the meat.
"Fine, I suppose I can relax a bit...anyone here has a mirror that I can borrow?" I asked as Trixie levitated a mirror from out of her cape and over towards me. I took a good look at myself, the iris around my eyes was black, my pupil was neon blue, and lines were going down my cheeks.
“Question. While you or Trixie were treating my injuries, did I happen to have these weird lines running around my body?”
“From what Trixie could tell, yeah. I just figured it was a side effect of when she fused your broken blade to your body.”
“What kind of spell allowed you to do something like that?”
“Trixie...honestly doesn't know. She kind of just mixed different fusion spells from a book she found in the castle of the twin sisters. Originally it was used to help repair pieces of my wagon, so this is the first time she has done this on another pony before.”
"...So this was your first time doing this...and you didn't think that it would kill me or worse?"
"Well it worked, didn't it?"
“I mean yes, but you shouldn't do something like that without testing it on someone else!” I mean seriously, for all we know it could've turned me into a ball of flesh or something.
“Yeah, because Trixie can just ask somepony to test it on,” Trixie said in a sarcastic tone.
“Look, you're not dead, so be grateful and stop complaining,” Gilda said before placing the meat on the fire. "Most ponies in your position wouldn't survive long enough to see the next day or so."
“...Fine,” I said before looking over at Trixie. "Thanks for saving my life I suppose."
"The Great and Powerful Trixie accepts your gratitude towards her healing abilities." She said as I rolled my eyes at her comment.
"Did you at least survey the area we're in while setting up traps in case someone was trailing us?" I asked as Gilda and Trixie looked over at each other for a moment before shaking their heads.
"Trixie placed a spell that would cover our tracks and around the cave we're in. The only way somepony would be able to find us would be the princesses or a highly skilled unicorn with a tracking spell."
“I suppose that will keep us hidden for a while.”
“Yep, so we can take it easy for a while and eat before we have to move.” She said as she started to put seasoning on the boar.
“Yeah I guess, but damn how the hell did I get taken out by a rainbow color freak?”
“To be fair I’m sure you’re not the only one who got their flank handed to her.” Well, don't I feel so special now. “But hey, at least you can say you fought against the Elements of Harmony. Most ponies wouldn't stand a chance against them seeing how they're all about the magic of friendship and stuff“
"Indeed. It's very annoying when they talked about that stuff when Trixie met them for the first time." Trixie said as I snorted in amusement.
“This world is weird but peaceful. Though I will get payback for what that rainbow-haired jackass did to me."
"Right, she sucker-punched you from the side. I can't blame you for getting hit like that seeing how Rainbow Dash is really fast."
“Yeah, I'll be sure to take her out the moment I see her,” I said before pulling a digital screen as I began to make some gear for myself.
"What are you planning on making?" Gilda asked as I looked over at her.
"Making augmentations to help improve my physical skills. I never had the chance to make them due to being called upon to do missions."
"Augmentations?" Trixie asked.
"They're kind of like special tech that improves a person's physical abilities. It can range from physical strength, endurance, stamina, and regeneration. Though it takes longer for a lost limb or severely damaged organs to regenerate."
“Well aren’t you full of surprises,” Gilda said as a smirk appeared on her face.
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
"How are you feeling by the way?" Trixie asked.
"Shit, I blame that stupid pegasus for that," I said before spitting off to the side due to the taste of blood in my mouth. "I think the worst part about it was that I lost my favorite sword. It took me months to get it upgraded. Not to mention getting lightning materials are hard to come by."
“Hey, you wouldn't happen to have some spare weapons that I could borrow, do you?” Gilda asked. "You know, nothing big or anything. Just something that could be helpful for me when I go out hunting?"
"Hm...I'll see what I can make for you," I said before bringing up a digital keyboard and beginning typing on it. Seeing how I'm no longer part of the system back home, I should be able to make some alterations to some of my gear.
“Trixie would also like something from you as well. A staff so that it can make me stand out more when I do my magic.” Trixie said as I rolled my eyes at her comment.
"I'll see what I can make for you as well, but don't expect it to be fancy or anything cool,” I said before looking at Gilda. "Is the boar meat ready?"
“Not all, but the leg is done,” She said before tossing me a piece of the boar’s leg. I sniffed it for a moment before taking a bit out of it. The moment I did that my mouth started to drool as I couldn't help but let out a moan of delight. “Fucking hell, I can never get tired of eating real food like this~”
“The perks of living in griffonstone,” Gilda said as she pulled a piece of boar meat from the boar and started to munch on it. “We may be rude, but we make good food when meat is involved.”
“If food was this good back in the Panopticon I lived in, I wouldn't mind working my ass off to the bone for them...well that and they didn't treat us like scum."
"Life was that hard on your planet wasn't it?"
“Oh, you have no idea.” Before I could say anything, we all heard a loud voice coming from outside of the cave we were in.
“WE KNOW YOU THREE ARE IN THERE! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP!” The voice said as the three of us looked at each other for a moment before seeing Trixie make her way to the entrance of the cave. She soon pulled her head back inside as Gilda and I noticed the color of her fur turning pale a bit.
"The royal guards are outside...and Shining Armor is leading them," Trixie said as I noticed Gilda's eyes widened.
"Oh buck me sideways."
"I assume he's some kind of leader or something?" I asked before hearing Trixie speak up.
"He's captain of the royal guards who serve Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." She said before moving over next to me. "I didn't think they would send him after us. All of my spells to hide are useless against a unicorn-like him!"
I stood up from where I was and popped my head out of the cave. The moment I saw what Trixie saw, I saw a white unicorn with blue hair wearing purple & gold armor, and a few of these royal guards that I was wondering what they looked like from what Trixie had said.
"...I don't think I can take them on. Even in my current state.” I said cursing the current condition I'm in. I then turned to my friends who had worried expressions on their faces. "I'll draw their attention, you two try to make a break for it with the storage unit."
“Wait a minute. You’re gonna fight Shining Armor and the royal guards?” Gilda asked. “He’s like the strongest pony within the royal guards, and you think you can beat him?”
“I killed a fucking dragon, didn’t I? I’m sure I can handle him without any problems whatsoever.” I lied, in the current situation I won’t be able to last long. “I'll see what they want first before making any decision. If I drop a flash grenade, then you two run for it.” I said before walking outside of the cave to see the royal guards looking at me with mixed expressions. Most of them were either shocked to see that I was a bad pony or the fact that I was naked with only bandages covering my breast and private area as they tried not to look at me.
“Are you the pony by the name Adelle Topaz?” The unicorn who I can guess is named Shining armor asked.
“I am her, yes, what do you dorks want?”
“You and your friends are to come with us to meet with Princess Celestia.”
“What for?”
“She would like to speak with you about what you did to that dragon. Not only that but she would like to ask you why you attacked my sister and her friends.”
“She couldn’t have just come here herself and asked me that herself. But instead, she sent her knights.”
“The Princess is very busy ruling over the kingdom of Equestria.”
“Yet she had enough time to organize a group of knights to come here instead of herself. Hate to say this, shiny butt, but I’m not going with you.” Just as I was about to go back into the cave, Shining armor placed his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you leave, kid, the princess orders us to bring you and your friend with us.”
“Then she should’ve got up from her lazy ass, and come here herself if that was the case.” As I said that, all the guards gasped when I insulted their princess. Most of them looked like they were about to kill, and some of them were about to charge at me. Just when they were about to attack me, Shining Armor ordered them to halt.
“Is there any way we could persuade you into coming with us? Given that injury you have, I doubt you can last long in a fight, but I do know not to underestimate someone that took down a dragon and my sister and her friends.” The dude got a point, I would prefer not to waste any energy with these fools.
“Under a few conditions. One, we are pardoned from any crimes that we may have committed. Two, you give Trixie a new mobile home that can fit me, her, and Gilda. Three, you tell your Princess to come to meet me, face to face the next time she wishes to speak with me.” I then extended my hand out toward him in agreement. “Do we have a deal then?”
“I make no promises, but I'll try and see what I can do.” He said as he shook my hand. “Now then, shall we head off to Canterlot then?”
“Give me a minute,” I said as I called out for Trixie and Gilda to come out of the cave. At first, they were hesitant to come out, but after seeing me act all buddy-buddy with Shining Armor they decided to come out. “Okay, now we’re ready.”
“Good then let us leave then, MEN MOVE OUT!!” He yelled as we walked off towards the path that led us tow their princess.
Operation Five: Challenging Royalty
Operation Five:
Challenging Royalty
(Canterlot Throne Room)
(Addle’s P.O.V)
Three hours have passed since our trip from the Everfree Forest to Canterlot has begun. And judging by the way the sun was setting, I can only guess that it was noon time. Normally flying would make things go along much quicker, but seeing how the royal guards wanted to make sure I didn't attempt to fly off, we were pretty much grounded and had to take the Friendship Express to Canterlot. Not like I can fly my ass out of here seeing how I don't know how to fly, and I'm still injured from my fight with those six ponies. Nevertheless, the ride was somewhat decent despite seeing the citizens looking and talking to each other because the three of us were being escorted to Princess Celestia's Castle with a large group of guards surrounding us. Within a matter of minutes, we made our way into the castle and to the throne room. Looking around I notice that the royal guards that were surrounding us leave the throne room.
"The princess will be with you shortly. I advise you not to try and escape, because this castle is filled with guards that won't hesitate to bring you down." Shining Armor said before leaving the throne room. The moment he left, I turned my attention to Trixie and Gilda.
"Is there some kind of rule where I can fight my way out of this situation we're in?" I asked as Gilda shrugged, but Trixie spoke up.
"There is, but even I know you're not strong enough to do it."
"And what would it be?"
"If a pony were to get in trouble like how we're all in right now, then they can do a trial by combat." She said which caused Gilda to blink in surprise by this.
"They still do that here in Equestria?"
"Yeah, but it's rare for a pony to request that seeing how you would have to fight against Princess Celestia or Princess Luna."
"Hm, I'll keep that in mind depending on how this conversation with Celestia goes," I said which took them both by surprise.
"Are you brain damaged or something? You can't possibly think of challenging her to a fight. You do know that Princess Celestia can move the sun, while Princess Luna moves the moon, right?"
"I prefer not to go to jail again anytime soon, so I'll do whatever it takes to keep my freedom...without having to kill someone," I said before hearing the sound of someone magically appearing in the throne room. Looking forward, I saw a white unicorn with wings, and wavy magical hair, and was wearing an elegant dress that you would see in an old fairy tale story.
“So you must be Adelle that Twilight told me about in her letter, correct?” She asked as I simply nodded. "...When she mentions that your age was about that of a teen filly, I wasn't expecting you to be this young."
“Yeah, I get that a lot.”
“Would you care to explain why you killed that dragon, and attack my faithful student along with her friends?”
"Like I told your...student. I gave the dragon a choice. He could either give me his treasure and leave, or I have to kill him for it. Plus he was on a wanted poster so it shouldn't have been an issue." I said before noticing a disgruntled expression on Celestia's face.
"I thought we got rid of those wanted posters after the nightmare moon incident." She said before turning her focus onto me. “I'm going to assume you're from a different country and you didn't know about the rules of going after somepony.”
“....Sure, let's go with that.”
“Normally I would pardon you for that, but seeing how you also attacked Twilight and her friends, not to mention from what she sent me in the letter, you have illegal weapons on you that we've never seen before, and a criminal from another country. I can't let something like this slide.” She said before looking over at Gilda and Trixie. "You two will share the same punishment as her, given how you could've stopped her from killing the dragon."
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!?" Gilda yelled. "It's not like the dragon was going to let us go. Plus we needed to bits at the time given how we were homeless."
"Then you should've looked for other means of gaining bits than to attack a dragon."
"Ah, you're one of those rulers," I said which caused Celestia to raise an eyebrow at me. "You're one of those peace-loving leaders that think all life should be preserved. No matter who they are or what crime they've committed. While I can respect that, that dragon was on the wanted poster, something that you should've taken care of if you didn't want something like this to happen. For your dumbass student and her friends, I gave them the option of leaving me alone, or else I would knock them down a peg or two. They chose not to leave me and my friends alone, so what happened to them was their fault."
“Be that as it may, no pony is above the law.”
“God it's like dealing with those peace-loving radicalist, only I'm not being ordered to shoot them,” I said before looking over at Trixie. "How is this lady able to rule a country like this?"
“Adelle, what the hay do you think you’re doing?!” Trixie asked. "You can't talk to a princess like that!"
“Oh like I'm scared of a lady whose only good use for her is to move the fucking sun. It's not my fault that she didn't get all the wanted posters that her sister had made a long time ago. And it's also not my fault that her dumbass student attacked me. Plus I'll talk to her any way I want, seeing how she's not my leader, nor do I know her.”
“You do realize you just insulted the princess of Equestria right?” Celestia asked as I rolled my eyes.
“Your point? Just because you have some fancy title, doesn’t mean anything to me.” I then pointed a finger at her. “As I said, you’re not my leader. So why should I be afraid of someone who just sits on her throne and does nothing, while her soldiers do the work she could’ve done herself?”
"....Welp, we lived a good life. Wonder if we can survive being banished to the moon or sun." Gilda said as Ignored her and looked over at Celestia, with an unamused expression on her face.
"It would appear trying to get you to understand your predicament has failed." She said before standing up from her throne. "Perhaps spending a day in the dungeon will make you see things more clearly and have a better mindset then-" Before she could finish her sentence, I summoned a handgun into my hand, aimed it, and shot a warning shot at Celestia's face as a means to stop her from leaving.
"If you think that I'm going to prison, then you're sadly mistaken," I said before making my handgun disappear. "If what Trixie said is true, then I challenge you to a duel." As I said that, I notice her motherly expression change to a tired and annoyed expression.
"Youth these days. Thinking that just because they're young they can do just about anything." Celestia said, sitting back down on her throne. "I'll play along with this little game of yours, but it should be obvious that you won't win."
"I wouldn't underestimate someone that you have little information on," I said as Celestia smirked.
"I should say the same thing, my little pony~," She said before crossing her legs. “If I win you will hand over your weapons, and you will have to learn the meaning of friendship from my faithful student and her friends.”
“And if I win you pardon us of any crimes we may or may not know we committed and give Trixie a new mobile home. Do we have a deal?” I asked as Celestia in turn nodded.
“Our battle will take place within two weeks. For the time being you and your friends will be staying in Ponyville on the Apple family farm, seeing how they have extra room for you three and so you can apologize to Twilight and her friends.”
“It'll be a cold day in hell before I apologize to them, but I will accept the offer to live someplace for free for the time being. But if someone attacks me, makes fun of the way I look, or anything. I’m gonna shove my foot up some pony's ass.”
Ponyville
Sweet Apple Acres
"You are insane!" Trixie said as the three of us were teleported from Canterlot to Sweet Apple Acres. Have to say, it's kind of cool that they can use magic to go from one place to another just with magic and not some tool or something, I think I'll take the train or chariot when it comes to long-distance traveling. Because I feel like I just got punched in the gut.
“W-Well I think it t-turned out okay...excuse me,” I said before moving off to the side and throwing up. "F-Fuck, does this happen when someone is teleporting?"
"Oh right, that was your first time being teleported while still awake," Trixie said as she walked over to me and patted me on the back as I threw up more. "Your body will get used to it over time, but try not to push yourself too much when that happens."
“Were you dropped on your head when you were a little filly or something? How stupid are you to do something like that to the Princess of Equestria?” Gilda asked as I slowly began to recover from my vomiting session.
“Well what was I supposed to do, just sit there like a deer in headlights and act like a good little pony?”
“You could've done it better than act like a jerk to the princess. For all we know, she could've just sent you to the moon...or worse we all could've been sent to the moon...or the sun!” Trixie said as I just simply rolled my eyes at that.
“Look, I have two weeks before the fight, during that time I'll be gathering information on her and pony anatomy.”
“You really think you can beat Celestia, do you?” Gilda asked as we made our way to the front door of Sweet Apple Acres. “Anyway, I'm sure Celestia sent a letter to those six dweebs that attacked you two days ago. So they should be inside and up to date with what’s going on.”
“Hold on Gilda, let me open the door first,” I said as Gilda backed away from the door, and the moment I opened it I ducked out of the way of a rainbow color blur. Figures the rainbow color jerk would do something like that. The moment I turned around, I quickly summoned my binding thorns and launched them at her to bind her to the ground.
“You really are dumb if you think a sneak attack like that was gonna work.”
“Rainbow Dash what in tarnation are you-.” The moment the country girl saw what was going on. Her facial expression changed from annoyed to anger. “Oh…..it’s you three.”
“Glad to see you back on your feet, country girl.” She pretty much said nothing but glared at me. Yep, she’s still pissed at me for what happened.
“Now girls, let's not do anything barbaric.” said Rarity, “Though this was to be expected seeing how Rainbow Dash always does the shoot first, ask questions later .”
“Understatement of the fucking millennium lady,” I said which caused Rarity to deadpan at me before speaking again.
“...Twilight would like to meet with you inside.”
“I’m not going inside.”
“Why not?”
“After what your technicolor pegasus friend tried to do to me, you expect me to trust you and go inside the house to meet Twilight Sparkle?”
“Um...yes?”
“Yeah, no. Not happening.” I said before sitting down on the ground. “If your friend wants to talk to me, then she’ll have to come outside and talk to me.”
“Fine. Let me go get her.” Rarity said as she walked back into the house.
I've seen a lot of crazy stuff in my life. Abductors ripping a person in half on my first mission as a sinner, seeing a bunch of sinners commit suicide due to the pressure of being stuck in jail or having to go on missions against their will, or in some cases seeing the people from On High disembowel or brutally rape or murder us sinners for their amusement. But never would I find myself in a new world with the body of a pony bat hybrid...I should be freaking out, but given how I'm away from prison, I'm not going to complain about this second chance at life. Before I could lose myself in my thoughts, I heard the front door to the house open as Rarity returned with Twilight.
“I take it you were filled in about what happened in Canterlot?” I asked.
“Celestia sent me a letter about it,” Twilight said as she kneeled towards me. “I also want to apologize for what we did to you when we first met. It was wrong for us to attack you for defending yourself against a dragon that would have caused a lot of damage, or hurt a lot of ponies in Ponyville. Will you be willing to forgive us for what we did?”
“I'm willing to accept your apology, but-” Before I could finish, I felt someone sneak up behind me and pulled me into a hug.
“Yay! We’re friends!” My left eye twitched as I began to wiggle my way out of Pinkie Pie’s hug. “What’s wrong?”
“Don't...ever do that ever again without my permission,” I said before cracking my back. “And let me just say this. I will accept Twilight's apology, only because she doesn't represent you five and she apologized to me. But that doesn't mean I've forgiven you.” I said before rolling up the bandages to show them the damage they caused. “If it wasn’t for Trixie and that magic spell of hers, I would’ve been dead from what Rainbow Dash did to me. Not to mention the country girl and fashion girl tied a rope around me and pelted me with rocks. And let’s not forget the pegasus that’s more worried about a dragon than her own kind.” After hearing me say that, most of them had shameful expressions on their faces. Well, only the egghead, the animal lover pony, and the pink party pony. The others were pretty much glaring daggers at me. “Shoot me all the looks you want, but you know you all were in the wrong.” I then pulled myself up and started to walk inside along with Trixie and Gilda. "It's going to take a long time before I'm willing to forgive any of you. But at least one of you got a foot in on trying to get on my good side."
Operation Six: Dream Walker
Operation Six
Dream Walker
Throughout the entire day, I spent a lot of my time in the guest room Granny Smith provided me. Most of the time spent there I was either sleeping or tinkering with the P.R.P to see what else I can do with it. So far to my enjoyment, I can create a lot of new weapons, medical items, tools, and small forms of transportation. Though it seems to make objects larger than I am like a car or aircraft takes more time to make even without the restrictions that are no longer in place. I’ll have to look into it a bit more when I get the chance, but for now, I’ll just focus on what I can make with the unlimited freedom I have with the P.R.P. About five hours or so later, I heard a knock coming from the door.
“The door’s open! You can come in if you want!?” I yelled as the door opened up. Standing there was a yellow pony with red hair who was wearing a green shirt, blue overalls, and a reddish-pink bow on her head.
“Granny Smith wanted me to get you for dinner.”
“Apple Bloom’s your name, right?” I asked as the filly nodded. “You sure I’m allowed downstairs? Cause so far I only got death threats from your sister, and I doubt she’ll be okay with me eating with them.”
“Granny wants you to join us for dinner. Your friends Trixie and Gilda are downstairs waiting for you.”
“Fine I’ll come downstairs, but if she starts a fight with me then be prepared to see her on the floor knocked out,” I said, which made her gulp in fear upon hearing that.
“N-Noted.” She said as I began to make my way out of the guest room and follow her downstairs. “So how old are you?”
“Seventeen,” I said which caused her to pause and look over at me. “What?”
“You’re seventeen years old!? You’re a year older than me and you took down a dragon!?” Apple Bloom said as I nodded again.
“Wait, how did you know about what I did?”
“The newspaper and I overheard Applejack talk about it with her friends.” Okay, I’m a bit impressed that news about what I did spread so quickly. Kind of hoping to keep a low profile, but I can just hide out here for some time if things get out of hand. “Is it true that you’re a convict?”
“Former convict. Not like I had much of a choice given the situation I was in…I take it you overheard Applejack mention something about that?” I asked as she nodded. “Look I prefer not to go into detail about it due to…personal reasons, but let's just say that place I came from pretty much taught p…ponies how to fight so they can lower their sentence time when performing tasks when they’re called upon.”
“Do these tasks involve what you did to the dragon?”
“No, they mostly involve escorts, saving ponies, or fighting…um…magical golems?” I lied, for the most part, not like I can tell her the truth for the most part…at least not until I know I can trust her with my secret as I did with Gilda and Trixie. “Fighting against a dragon isn’t that hard so long as you have the tools and skills to take them down.” That and the dragon reminded me of the Dionaea back home on earth, just not made out of metal. This seems to catch her interest from the expression on her face as she started asking me questions. Where did I come from, how long have I been a mercenary , and where did I get the tools to take down the dragon? The list goes on and I wouldn’t mind answering some of them, but I couldn’t because we were coming upon the dining room where Apple Bloom was leading me into.
The atmosphere in the dining room became heavy and awkward as I noticed Applejack and Gilda glaring at each other while the red stallion who I can assume is Big Mac and Trixie were watching the two with worried expressions on their faces. Though Granny Smith doesn’t seem bothered by this seeing how she still had a motherly smile on her face as she placed the last piece of food on the table. Her attention was soon drawn to Apple Bloom and me as she spoke up.
“Well, it’s nice to see you’re out of your room Adelle.” She said which caused everyone at the table to look over at me. “Come sit. You must be hungry after spending so much time sleeping and whatnot.” I couldn’t say no to someone as nice as her…plus the food does look…interesting. All I could was compile with what she said as Apple Bloom and I took a seat at the table. “Hard to believe someone as young as you could cause such an uproar around town for the past two days.”
“I take it because of the dragon incident?” I asked which caused her to nod.
“I’m not one to judge on why you killed the dragon, but I’m sure you tried to reason with him as best as you can.” She said while making a plate of food for each of us. “Then again, dragons are known for being stubborn as mules and prideful than us ponies. So trying to reason with them would be a challenge within itself.”
“Yeah, plus if I did leave. It might’ve gone and attacked this town.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised by that. Ponyville does have its fair share of odd things happening in this town.” She said before giving the last plate to Apple Bloom as she sat down at the head of the table. “Allow me to introduce myself seeing how I didn’t get the chance to do it on account of you being tired and all. My name is Granny Smith, but you can call me Granny for short.” Granny said as she pointed a finger at Apple Bloom, Big Mac, and Applejack. “And these are my grandchildren Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Mac.”
Apple Bloom and Big Mac, simply nodded at me as they were eating. Though with Applejack she simply glared at me. Wouldn’t blame her given what happened two days ago on the mountain, but whatever. Not like I’m going to be friends with her anyway. If I’m being honest, I wanted to sucker punch Applejack for what happened, but I’ll save it for when the moment calls for it.
“So…not to sound rude, but what is this that we’re eating Granny?” I asked while examining the food spread. Some of it looks odd, but the smell was very captivating due to how sweet it smelled.
“Oh, just something special that I make on the weekends or when we have guests over. Apple pies, apple squares, apple coffee cakes, salads with pieces of apple in them, apple cider, spaghetti with tofu balls, and egg salad.” She said before looking over at Gilda. “Sorry I couldn’t get you anything meat related. I hope the egg salad will do as a means of protein seeing how you're a griffon and all.”
“That will depend on how good the egg salad is.” She said while examining it on her plate for a good few seconds before tasting it. Her eyes widened upon tasting it before quickly digging in like a person who hasn't eaten in weeks. Normally a human depending on their health wouldn’t be able to consume this much amount of sugar, but seeing how I’m not a human, this should be okay to eat. The moment I sank my teeth into the homemade apple pie…I paused…and blinked at how good it tasted. It didn’t taste moldy, dry, or an old boot.
“Damn, this tastes better than anything I’ve ever eaten in a long time!” I yelled before vigorously eating the food on my plate just like Gilda.
“Nice to see you’re enjoying the food I made. Though you might want to slow down before you choke.”
“Given how I’ve been asleep for the past forty-eight hours, you can’t blame me for how I’m eating,” I said while guzzling down some apple cider.
“That and taking down a dragon and a manticore all by yourself,” said Gilda, which took everyone by surprise, well everyone except Trixie.
“Y-You took down a manticore!?” asked Applejack. “How are you not dead or injured?”
“Training. Creatures like them are nothing compared to what I fought back home.”
“And where is that?”
“Oh, it’s a town called ‘None of your damn business,” I said before taking another sip from my cider.
“You’re lying.”
“What makes you think that I’m lying?”
“I don’t know, but you’re keeping something hidden from us.”
“Maybe it’s because you need to mind your own damn business, and not snoop around into someone else’s business.”
“It is my business when it involves the safety of the farm and my family.”
“Then mind your own business then.”
“Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do, kid.”
“Pretty sure I don’t fall under the kid category seeing how I killed a dragon, manticore, and kicked your friends' butts.”
“You only won because of those fancy weapons of yours!”
“Huh, didn’t know you make wine out of an apple!” I said as it caused Applebloom, Trixie, and Gilda to snicker a bit from my remark. “Even without my so-called fancy weapons . I still can and will beat you without any problems whatsoever.”
“Why you little-.”
“Now, now girls. Let’s not fight at the dinner table.” Granny said as we both looked over at her “You can have your little fight after dinner or tomorrow, but for now let’s just enjoy dinner okay?”
“...Fine.” We both said as we still glared at each other and went back to eating. So far throughout the entire dinner service, it was pretty much idle chatting. Granny explains how Sweet Apple Acres was made, what they do on the farm and everyday life in Ponyville. I mean minus the occasional monster attacks and misadventures of Apple Bloom and her friends, this town wouldn’t be so bad to live in. About an hour into dinner service, I decided to head back into my room after placing my plate in the kitchen sink…It’s weird…this world…compared to earth, this is like a paradise made in heaven…Something that I wish earth was.
(Dreamworld)
My eyes shot open to find myself on the ground in the abandoned city of sector three. I blinked in surprise upon seeing this as I looked down to see if I was human, to my somewhat disappointment I was still a bat pony from what Trixie told me of what species of pony I was. Looking around I slowly pulled myself up from the ground and began to look around the city. As I was walking, I soon heard the sound of gunfire echoing through the air I quickly pulled a revolver out of my thin air and scanned the area to see where it came from. To my surprise when I looked over to my right, I saw my old self off to the side pinning down a person from On High with the barrel of the sniper rifle pointed at his head.
“You think killing me will stop us? You people who hide behind our precious walls are nothing more than trash to people from On High.” The man said as my fifteen-year-old self glared at him while on the verge of crying. “You filth are nothing but worms feasting in the dirt of this once beautiful world. You all deserve to rot and die!”
“Is that all you have to say? No remorse for what you did to my friends? We’re trying to survive and you're laughing and thinking we’re nothing but scum and worms in your eyes?”
“Why should we care about someone like you? We’re the superior humans, you're nothing but trash. The moment we gather enough materials to take over these cities, then we can live in peace. Fuck your friends, fuck your homes, and fuck you. You’re nothing to us-” Before he could finish his sentence, the younger version of myself pulled the trigger of the sniper rifle, and embedded a bullet into his head. I couldn’t help but give off a weak smile upon seeing this memory. It was supposed to be a simple mission, a supply mission to be specific as we were supposed to deliver important materials from Tokyo to New York…sadly that didn’t go so well when Natalia didn’t inform us about being on the lookout for people from On High.
Needless to say, it was hell. My friends were ripped to shreds by the abductors, the other teammates were gunned by the people of On High, and I lost an important friend during the fight when I woke up. The only thing I could find of Amber was the sun necklace that I gave as a birthday gift. This was the day…the day when I became a killer…a sinner. I always did enjoy this place, not because it was a good place the snipe the people from On High during my missions, but the constant rain helps calm my mind...and…it feels like the rain could wash away the blood of the people that I killed.
“Mom…Dad…you guys must be rolling in your grave at how disappointed you must be in seeing what I’ve done.” The moment I let the rain continue to wash all over me, my ears picked up the sound of someone coming up behind me. I quickly turned around with my weapon aimed at whoever it was that was behind me. To my surprise, it was a dark blue colored pony similar to that of Princess Celestia, but different.
“Don’t shoot! I mean you no harm!” She said, which took me even more surprised that she would say that.
“Um…okay…care to explain who you are and why you’re in my mind?” I asked as I lowered my weapon but still had my finger on the trigger.
“I am Princess Luna. Co-ruler of Equestria and Celestia’s little sister. As the ruler of the night, we have to watch over the dreams of ponies. Not to read their minds or anything, but to banish any nightmarish dreams that they may be having.” She answered while looking around the area we were in. “Though over the thousand years before I was banished to the moon, I have never seen anything like this before.”
“Okay, that answers a few of my questions. But how are you able to enter into my…dream…mind…place?”
“Dreamscape to be specific and how I was able to enter your mind is with magic.” She answered while pointing to the horn on her head.
“So…your Celestia’s sister…I take it she told you about me?”
“We have not, but we have heard rumors about a bat pony killing a dragon on top of a mountain. I take it you found the old wanted poster that I left behind before my imprisonment?”
“I did…gotta say, she did not do a good job at getting them taken down. If you don’t mind me asking, what were you imprisoned for?”
“I tried to take over Equestria because I wanted ponies to appreciate the night more…needless to say, it didn’t turn out so well when she blasted me with the elements of harmony and sealed me away in the moon for the past one thousand years.” She said which took me by surprise at how blunt she was in telling me about this for the most part.
“...Damn, didn’t think you would be so blunt about telling me that. I mean I figured you would do something like I'll tell you something but in exchange you tell me something kind of deal.”
“Given what we’ve seen during our little walk around this Dreamscape, we can only assume that you’re not a pony from our world, but a human.” She said, which took me even more by surprise. “But you’re not from the mirror world that my sister and I visited so long ago. Mainly because human skin isn't just brown or white, the world isn’t a barren wasteland, and I don't believe they would allow children such as yourself to do something like this.” She said before appearing next to me. “I can only assume that you’re a human from another world. But why is it that you have the body of a bat pony instead of a human body is a mystery to me.”
…This woman is different compared to her sister. While Celestia is more of a person that would prefer to solve her problems with peace and authority of being royal, her sister is more calculated, calm, and very good at analyzing the situation presented to her. If she were to tell Celestia about what or where I came from, this could spell trouble for me in the future.
“Nevertheless, you need not worry about me telling my sister about this.”
“...Really? You’re not just saying that just to pull me into a false sense of security, are you?”
“What would I gain from telling my sister about this? I love my dear sister, but she has to learn a lesson that not everypony will submit to her ruling at times.” She said before floating in mid-air. “I find you most interesting, to say the least, and I want to see how this will turn out for my sister. I only ask that you don’t kill her.”
“I won’t kill when we have to fight within two weeks…though I can’t promise that she might lose an arm and possibly receive a few scars on her body.”
“Hm, I suppose that will do for not trying to kill her,” Luna said before standing up as a door appeared next to us. “I would like to talk more, but I’m on the clock, and I need to get back into looking through other ponies' dreams to make sure they can have peaceful dreams.” She said as the door opened and was about to leave, only to stop and look over at me with a smile on her face. “Before I go, let me give you a bit of an example of what I can do.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked before noticing Luna raising her hand and snapping her fingers. Upon doing that, I instantly found myself on a fluffy cloud floating in the night sky with the crescent moon out. I stared in disbelief at what she had just done as I turned my attention to Luna.
“Perhaps next time we meet, you will be willing to tell me a bit more about yourself. But for now, think of this as a gift from the princess of the night.”
“Um…thanks?”
“Don’t mention it. Until then, have a pleasant dream. Adelle Topaz~” She said before leaving through the door as it vanished from sight…Hard to believe that magic can do something like this…but not gonna lie. Seeing the night sky like this while floating on a cloud… this is one hell of a gift that I can enjoy.
[Reality]
(Morning)
My eyes shot open to find myself sleeping on the bed in the guest room. It’s been a while since I slept in a decent bed instead of the bed in the Panopticon. I wouldn’t mind sleeping in a bit longer, but I get the feeling that Applejack would say something stupid about me being a bum. I slowly began to pull myself up from the bed but paused upon hearing someone knocking on my door. Given the somewhat light knocking like before, it might be either Apple Bloom or Granny Smith at the door.
“It’s open!” I yelled as the door slowly opened to reveal Apple Bloom entering the room.
“Oh, you’re awake?”
“Yeah….hey, you wouldn’t happen to know of someone named Luna would you?”
“You mean Princess Luna? Everypony knows who she is seeing how she watches over the ponies at night. Why do you ask? Did you meet her in your dreams?”
“You could say that,” I said before noticing the backpack she was carrying. ”Going somewhere today?”
“Heading off to Ms.Cheerilee’s class.”
“Wait, this place has a school?”
“Well yeah, where else do ponies learn stuff besides homeschooling.” Fair point, just rare to see a place that involves learning that’s not from a smartass mascot computer in a prison cell.
“You make a valid point I guess.”
“You wanna come with me to see what I’m talking about?”
“Might as well, seeing how I’m gonna be staying in this town for a while,” I said as I got out of bed and scratched my head. “Okay kid, lead the way.”
“Um, wouldn’t it be wise to put some clothes on before leaving the house?” She asked as she pointed at my body. Looking down I notice that I wasn’t wearing anything by my sports bra and underwear…geez, guess I was really tired last night if I didn’t notice that.
“When does school start?”
“In about an hour, I sometimes go there early so I won’t be late.”
“Give me about five to six minutes and I’ll be ready,” I said as I walked over to the bathroom. “I’ll meet you outside.”
Operation Seven: Schooling
Operation Seven
Schooling
“Welcome to Ponyville’s School Adelle!” yelled Applebloom, pointing at the colorful building.
“This is where every young pony goes to school.”
“Never thought I'd see something like this before. It’s very….interesting.”
“What? You've never been to school before.”
“Where I’m from we don’t have schools like this. We pretty much just learn stuff from our prison cells in the Panopticon or on operations we get sent on.”
“What did you do to get put in the dungeon where you're from?”
"I...prefer not to talk about it. At least not yet.” Not like I didn't want to talk to her about it, it's not something that I'm proud of speaking about given the circumstances. “Shall we go, kid?” I asked before making my way to the front door of the school.
“I can’t wait to tell everypony that the dragon slayer is living at my farm!” Apple Bloom said as she moved past me and into the building. Well, I can't say that I'm against the idea of being used as a show-and-tell project...better than being used as bait or a scapegoat. The moment I entered the classroom, it was the beginning of my hell.
It’s not that I didn’t mind going to school or anything, but it was the fact they asked me...personal questions involving who I was, where I came from, how I took down the dragon, and how I was able to use my tech which they considered magic. I mostly had to lie to them about certain aspects of my life, where I came from, and how I can summon weapons out of thin air. While the children were excited about some of the stuff I performed in the classroom, the teacher was not impressed. If anything, she was annoyed by some of the stuff I said or did. I think what got her most irritated was me about to hand a kid knife. This went on for about a good hour or two until Ms. Cheerlie decided to get the class's attention to do their work for the morning part of the class.
Given the slight glare she was giving me, it was clear that she wanted me to leave and wait outside of the school. Not that I was against it, but something tells me that if I were to go against that pony, then she would get Twilight and her friends to force me to leave. So as a means for us both to make things easy without conflict, I decided to leave and wait for Apple Bloom outside near the playground.
"This is definitely...weird?" I asked before reaching into my pocket to pull out a cigarette to smoke. Talking humanized ponies, magic and mythical creatures, civilization, and nature. You would think this was all a dream you would think of after reading books about life in the past. Though I suppose pinching myself multiple times would make me believe that this is all real. I suppose I should be questioning this kind of...I don't even know what to call this, but I'll take this place over going back to earth and dealing with the people from On High, Natalia, or the accessories being...wait...my accessory!
The thought never occurred to me, but seeing how I'm no longer part of the system for sinners, I can get away with a lot of things. Like being able to recreate the accessory that I lost back in New York. I soon opened my P.D.P. to pull up a digital screen and decided to look further into the matter of the off-limit area. Lo and behold, the locks that were placed on it were removed as I grinned in excitement.
"Oh, I am going to have a lot of fun with this." I brought up the files of my accessory. To my surprise, it looks like I can recreate my accessory, though it's going to take about three days and about half of the Ramosa materials I collected back on earth. Well having an A.I. a partner can be helpful in case something happens to me and I can't get to my P.D.P. As I was typing in the process to have my P.D.P. recreating my accessory, I heard a pair of footsteps coming from the right of me.
“Don’t you know smoking is bad for your health?” said a familiar voice. I looked over to my right to see Apple Bloom and what I could guess are her friends seeing how they were hiding behind her.
“It’s not a real cigar, it's electronic to make it look like it’s real,” I said as I touched the top part of it to show them. “Quite handy for those who want to smoke something that doesn't cause lung cancer. I take it those are your friends hiding behind you?”
“Yeah, these are my best friends. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” She said pointing at the white unicorn with a light purple & light lavender mane wearing a dress; the orange pegasus with a magenta mane wearing an orange shirt and blue shorts. I just simply waved at them until Sweetie Belle asked me something.
“So…...is it true?”
“What’s true?”
“You defeated a dragon all by yourself,” answered Scootaloo. “From what we heard from our sisters, they said that you beat a dragon single hoofenly. So is it true or not?” I turned my attention to the digital screen I had up and pulled up an image of me defeating the dragon. Specifically, me standing on top of his head without the blood showing. This got the two of them looking at me in both shock and amazement.
"Wait, what kind of magic is that?" Sweetie Belle asked as she looked me up and down. "You aren't a unicorn...are you?"
"Of course not. She's a bat pony." Scootaloo said before doing the same and looking at me up and down. "Are you?"
"I'm a bat pony. This is just some highly advanced technology from where I came from."
"Where did you come from?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Prison," I answered as I noticed the surprised look on Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's faces. "I prefer not to go into detail about it, let's just say I was wrongfully placed in jail and served my time there. So you don't have to worry about me doing anything that's evil or something."
"Um...okay?" Scootaloo said as she and Sweetie Belle moved in closer to Apple Bloom as if using her as a shield.
“So what’s up? Do you need something from me?” I said before making the screen disappear.
“Not to sound like a jerk or anything, and I don’t mind you three hanging out with me. But why don’t you hang out with the other kids in your class?” Judging by their flinching and disgruntled looks on their faces, I pretty much hit a touchy subject. “Let me guess, you three are the odd kids in the classroom?”
“We’re not odd! We just go on crusading to find our cutie mark…...which sometimes gets the town almost destroyed…...a lot,” said Scootaloo who was blushing in embarrassment.
“Okay…question. What the hell is a cutie mark?” I asked and in turn, they looked at me like I just insulted them. “What?”
“You don’t know what a cutie mark is!?” asked Apple Bloom to which I shook my head. “How can you not know what a cutie mark is? It’s a mark that you get when you finally find your special talent.”
“How can you tell that you get your so-called ‘cutie mark’ ?”
“They appear on your flank.”
"...Wait seriously?" I asked, which caused me to stretch my pants slightly to see if what she said was true. To my surprise, I didn't have one. Guess it would make sense that I didn't have one seeing how I don't know what my special talent is. "Huh, guess I don't have a cutie mark...You think I would get one with the stuff I've been doing."
"Wait, you don't have a cutie mark?" Apple Bloom asked as I shook my head.
"How old are you?" Scootaloo asked.
"Seventeen," I answered, which caused her and Sweetie Belle to look at each other for a moment before the young unicorn spoke.
“So you’re a former prisoner with skills of that of an expert royal guard pony,” Scootaloo said as I simply nodded. “Do you work for anypony?”
“I doubt anypony would hire me. Especially with what I did to the dragon on the mountain.” I said as the three of them huddled together for some kind of little meeting. Seconds later. The one named Sweetie Belle walked up to me and offered some gold coins.
“Would you like to join our club?” asked Sweetie Belle. “We can’t pay you as well as how Celestia does with her guards, but we could-.”
“Let me stop you there kid. I’ll join your little… what's the name of the club anyway?”
“We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders!” They said in union which caused me to cover my ears. I mean really, if they screamed at the top of their lungs they could break glass.
“Okay…anyway, I’ll join your club free of charge.”
“You will?” Apple Bloom asked as I nodded.
“Might as well, mainly because I get the feeling you girls will need someone to get you out of trouble or patch you up if you get hurt.”
“Oh come on, we don't hurt ourselves that bad...right?” asked Scootaloo as she looked over at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, who looked off to the side as a means to avoid eye contact with her.
“I guess that answers my question-” Before I could finish my sentence, I was hit in the face by a water balloon. “What the fuck!?” I yelled as I looked up to see who threw the water balloon at me. Looking around I saw two earth ponies laughing as if what they did was funny. From the way they were dressed, those must be Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon that Cheerlie called on when they were making rude comments during my Q&A segment in the class.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't the blank flanks club," said Diamond Tiara.
"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, what's your problem? You hit our newest member of the club," said Scootaloo pointing to me.
"Ew, you got that thing to join your club?”
“You got that bloodsucker to join your club?” said Silver Spoon pointing out the way I look. “You do realize that she's a bat pony, right? She's going to suck your blood in your sleep.”
"Which is a bad idea to do seeing how their blood would taste bad. You might end up dying from drinking blank flank blood."
"...Okay who are you two and why shouldn't I kick your...flanks into the ground?" I asked as the two girls stood in front of us.
"If you must know bloodsucker. I am Diamond Tiara."
"And I am Silver Spoon." She said before flipping her hair to the side. "We're the richest and most popular ponies in Ponyville."
"Okay...never heard of you two," I said which caused them both to laugh.
"Well of course you would’ve never heard of us. A commoner like yourself wouldn't even know what a rich pony looks like if they hit you in the face." Diamond Tiara said as she eyed me up and down. "What's a bloodsucker like you doing in a place like this?"
"Yeah, shouldn't you be sleeping in a dark cave or something?" Silver Spoon asked before sticking her head a bit towards me before sniffing the air and recoiling back. "Ew, no wonder you're in this place. You must have smelled the country bumpkin due to her smell like rotten apples."
"You take that back!" Apple Bloom yelled as she glared at Silver Spoon.
"Why? Every pony knows that you smell like rotten apples. I bet you roll around in it every day seeing how you live on that filthy farm of yours."
"...Alright, I see where this is going." I thought as I moved in between the two groups. Once there, I turn my attention to Apple Bloom and the others with a smile on my face. "You girls might want to stand back."
"What are you planning on doing?" Apple Bloom asked as I turned around and began walking towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
(Third P.O.V)
“Hey Apple Bloom, is Adelle okay?” Sweetie Belle whispered as the farm pony spoke up.“Of course not. Keep in mind they called her a bloodsucker, which is a racial slur from what we learned in class a month ago. It also doesn't help that they threw a water balloon at her."
“Should we try and stop her?”
“You want to try and stop the mare that took down a dragon?" Apple Bloom said as Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Plus, we're not the ones who'll get in trouble for fighting Tiara and Spoon...this time."
"I suppose, but wouldn't her getting in trouble mean that we'll get in trouble as well?" Apple Bloom asked as Scootaloo shrugged.
"We'll keep what she does a secret." She said before noticing the bat pony talking to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. She notices the three of them exchanging words with each other before noticing Diamond Tiara's face burning bright red as a loud slap could be heard from where the CMC was standing. The sound caused the trio to flinch before seeing the bat pony touch her face. In a matter of seconds, pegasus noticed Adelle cracking her knuckles before delivering a hard punch to Tiara's face, which in turn caused her to hit the ground hard with a loud thud.
"Holy Celestia!" Apple Bloom yelled as she was taken by surprise by the sudden punch to the rich pony's face.
"Wow, I didn't think she would punch Tiara like that," Scootaloo said as she tried her best not to burst out laughing. She then looked over at Adelle who was beginning to chase after Silver Spoon with a metal bat that appeared out of thin air. "....I think we should let her do her own thing."
"We can't let her do that!" Sweetie Belle yelled before chasing after Adelle and the others.
(A few hours of screaming and seeing two ponies running later)
(Adelle’s P.O.V)
Perhaps I went a bit too far with the whole, knocking them down a peg or two. Maybe when they ask me to stop breaking their legs was a clear sign that I should've stopped...but then again, when you get slapped in the face, all bets are off the table...I mean I didn't give them permanent damage, just maybe leaving them unable to walk for about a month or two.
"I get that what they said and did...offensive." Sweetie Belle said as she looked up at the flagpole of the school to see a battered-up Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon tied up and hanging from the pole. "But isn't this a bit too much?"
"She slapped me in the face. What do you think was going to happen?" I asked before looking up at my work. "They're lucky I didn't do more than just cripple them for a month or two."
“Wait, you didn't break their legs because of that racial slur about you being a bloodsucker?” Scootaloo asked as I raised an eyebrow at her.
"That's a racial slur?"
“Well yeah, didn't you know that?"
"No...wait what other racial slurs have they been saying to me?"
"....If I tell you, I get the feeling you would do more to Tiara and Spoon."
"What? No, I would never do more than what I did to them." I said which caused the trio to deadpan at me. "You don't believe me?"
“After what you did to those two, we're implied to not believe you.” Apple Bloom said as I shrugged.
"Okay, fair point. I would've done much worse with the information you would've given me on the spot." I said before hearing the sound of footsteps. Turning around I saw Twilight, her friends, and Cheerlie making their way over to where I and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were standing. Their attention was focused on me for a moment before looking up at the flagpole as they gasped in horror at the two battered-up ponies
“Hey, how's it going?” I said while giving them a fake smile.
"Don't you "Hey, how's it going" jerk. Why are Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hanging from the flagpole!?” yelled Applejack.
“Okay before you say anything or try to attack like last time, I would like to say that I didn’t start anything….this time.”
“If you are telling the truth, then why are there two fillies hanging from their panties on the flagpole like a flag?” asked Ms. Cheerilee.
“They hit me with a water balloon and call me a bloodsucker,” I said pointing to the red handprint still on my face.
"It's true, we can testify to that." Apple Bloom said as her friends nodded in agreement.
“And you think doing that to those poor fillies was warranted!?” asked Rarity. "For Celestia's sake, you could've just walked away and gotten Cheerliee to handle it."
“I could've, but I doubt she would've done something about it. I mean given the way they were acting, I bet she would've given them a stern talking and given them some kind of homework assignment. Which wouldn't stop them from acting the way they were acting.”
“While I can understand the anger, that's still no excuse for what you did,” Twilight said as she walked over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You need to be the bigger pony in this matter. Especially seeing how you're older than them."
“I'm only a year older than them," I said before taking Twilight's hand off my shoulder. "And being the bigger mare is overrated.” With that, I was about to walk and head back home. That is until Applejack lassoed a rope onto my arm and started to pull me over to her.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
“Back home, where else.”
“You’re not going anywhere until you apologize to Diamond Tiara & Silver Spoon for what you did to them.”
“I don’t apologize to bratty children. Maybe this will teach them a lesson for thinking they’re better than anyone else.” I pulled on the rope causing Applejack to stagger a bit. “Now I suggest you let me go or else I’ll kick your flank like last time.”
“Applejack, maybe you should let her go,” Apple Bloom suggested, but was ignored as Applejack simply pulled harder on the rope. As she was pulling, I summoned a small dagger into my hands and cut the rope, causing Applejack to fall on her flank. I couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape my lips from seeing her fall like that.
“What’s so funny about jerkface?” asked Rainbow Dash who looked like she was ready to fight me.
“Nothing that you shouldn’t worry about, idiot.” The moment I said that the pegasus known as Rainbow Dash zoomed off and headed toward me in an attempt to tackle me to the ground. I quickly reached into my pocket and pulled out a flash grenade to set it off in the direction Rainbow Dash was heading. The moment she was close, a white flash burst within the area we were in as the pegasus let out a loud yell before falling to the ground. The moment she was on the ground, I quickly made my way over to her, pulled out my binding thorns, and pinned her to the ground. As she was pinned, I soon grabbed her wings and began to move them a bit.
“Idiot. You may have gotten me last with that move, but I won’t fall for the same move again.” I said while examining her wings. "Your wings are what makes you the fastest in Equestria, right? Well then, how about we make you into an earth pony for a few months or so?”
“Wait What!?” I started to pull on Rainbow Dash's wings as she started to scream in horror at the fact she thought I was gonna rip her wings off. I wasn’t gonna rip her wings, just break them so she would be earthbound for a couple of months. As I was about to break her wings, I felt someone trying to pull me off from Rainbow Dash. I looked behind to see Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo pulling on my tail as a means to get me to stop.
“Adelle, stop!” Apple Bloom yelled.
“Why should I stop? She and your sister attacked me first, so I have every right to attack back. Breaking this idiot mare's wings should teach her a lesson not to attack some pony." I said before applying more pressure to Rainbow Dash's wings. "Keeping her on the ground should mellow her out a bit."
"I get that you're angry, but doing this isn't going to help anypony." Apple Bloom said which caused me to put less pressure on the pegasus's wings. "You just got out of prison for a crime, right? You wouldn't want to go back again because of this...right?"
"Plus, we did hire you to be our bodyguard and join our club. So having you in jail again would be a problem for us." Scootaloo added.
“P-Please, don’t break Rainbow Dash's wings,” said Sweetie Belle, giving me an innocent look as if on the verge of crying. I stared at the trio for a moment before everything started to change around me. Instead of seeing Apple Bloom and her friends behind me, I saw three kids in ragged clothing.
"Please...don't kill our papa." The girl said as looked down to see that instead of holding Rainbow Dash, I was holding a bruised-up and blood-covered man wearing tattered clothing. I can feel my heart racing due to remembering this image I was seeing as I released my hold on the man as he dropped. I soon looked around the area to see that I was within the city when I had last night's dream. Bodies riddled with bullet holes, stab wounds, and limbs were scattered across the ground. I can feel my heart racing along with my hyperventilating.
"Why did you hurt us? We didn't do anything wrong." said the boy next to the girl as I took a step backward.
"I-I was just...I...I..."
"You're a monster! Leave our papa alone you freak!" said the girl on the right next to the boy. The more I see this, the more I begin to hyperventilate. The moment I took another step back, I felt my footing give way as I fell backward onto my back. The moment the back part of my head hit the ground, I found myself back to reality as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were standing above me with worried expressions on their faces.
“You okay?” Apple Bloom asked as I felt my breathing and heart rate slowly returning to normal as I pulled myself up a bit.
"W-What happened?" I asked.
"You started to slowly back away from us after Sweetie Belle asked you to not break Rainbow Dash's wings. Then you mumbled something, tripped over my scooter, and fell onto the ground."
"....Okay....what about the others?"
"They're currently trying to get Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon from off the flagpole." Sweetie Belle said as I looked over to see Twilight and the others carefully getting the two fillies off the flagpole without breaking any more bones than what was already broken. "Twilight wanted us to make sure you were okay and inform her when you were okay to stand." She said as I noticed she was about to call for Twilight, but I quickly covered her mouth to prevent her from speaking.
"You guys wouldn't have a place that's private or secluded?" I asked as I heard Apple Bloom speak up.
"We have a clubhouse. It's mostly used for meetings to figure out what we could get our cutie marks in, hang out after school, or sleepovers." The farm pony said as sighed in relief.
“I...need to sleep there for tonight," I said before noticing the confused expressions on Apple Bloom and her friends' faces.
“How come?”
“Because after today, I'm not in the mood to be questioned or get into another fight with Applejack or Rainbow Dash," I said before slowly beginning to stand up. "I...I just...just need a quiet place to stay in." The girls looked at each other for a moment as they nodded. They soon looked over at me and motioned for me to follow them. I nodded and followed them to the clubhouse while doing my best not to make too much sound to draw the attention of Twilight and the others.
