The Slums of Thundera

“Oh fuck me!” Pumyra and I tried to scramble out of the way, but Claudis swung his axe like a club and hit the two of us with the flat side of the broad weapon, sending us flying down the street, stopping at the feet of Lion-O and Tygra.

“Uh, why does that look like Father?” Tygra asked as he started fidgeting with his gun.

“The answer to that question is ‘because Mumm-Ra’!” I shouted as I got to my feet. “And I don’t care if that is your dad, because that son of a bitch just wiped out a whole fireteam!”

Claudis smirked. “And just what do you intend to do about it?”

“I intend to kick your ass!” I shouted as I charged the large cat. But in my desire to avenge Fireteam India, I wasn’t paying attention to what I was doing. So as Claudis grabbed me by the neck and slammed me into the ground I had no right to be surprised. Yet in that moment I was, at least to an extent. I had thought to rush the large cat, knock the axe out of his hand and blast him in the face with some lightning… But I entirely forgot to take size into account. Size that Claudis used to grab me off the ground while I was still out of reach and toss me headlong towards the three dumbstruck cats that were standing in the street behind me.

“Dusk, you’re an idiot!” I heard Pumyra manage to grunt out from her unfortunate spot in the bottom of the pile of limbs.

I tried to get to my feet, but by the time I was on my back Claudis was already on us, and his axe was coming down fast… So I did the only thing I could do and threw up a shield over the mangled pile of limbs I was caught up in. “Ya, I know!” I retorted while straining under Claudis’ constant blows. As the large cat reared to bring another strike down, I dropped the shield and blasted his hands with a bolt of lightning. The blast forced Claudis to drop his axe, and consequently gave me an opening to sweep his legs out from under him.

Before I could do anything else, someone grabbed my collar and started dragging me away from the fallen cat. “You know I can stand!”

It turned out it was Pumyra that had dragged me down around the corner of the intersection a few dozen feet away from where we’d ended up on the ground. “And I really don’t care, we need to run. Let the Paris blast Claudis with high explosive shells, because we can’t take him!”

I looked across the intersection at where Lion-O and Tygra had taken cover. “You knew her before I did. Was Pumyra always this panicky?”

“Hey!”

“Not really. Headstrong, angry, and she was predisposed to ignore plans when it came to dealing with rat slavers.” Lion-O called out. “Panicking? That’s definitely new.”

“Ya, well you’re not exactly a hulking pile of pure muscle!” Pumyra countered.

Now it makes sense, Pumyra developed a fear of things that were bigger than her. Doesn’t matter where it came from, at least at the moment. “Alpha One to Paris, I need fire support on my location. High explosive air burst shells if possible.”

“Negative Alpha One, fire support is unavailable at this time. We can’t get into a position to get a clear shot of where you are.”

“Damnit… Anyone have any suggestions? And no, running isn’t an option.” As Claudis finally stepped into view hefting that axe of his over his shoulder, it became clear that we were out of time to debate. I did the only logical thing and tossed a bolt of lighting that caught the cat square in the face. “Pour it on!” While Tygra and Pumyra couldn’t readily do much, Lion-O could, as he pulled his sword and let loose with his own brand of magic-based retort.

As the two of us just kept blasting Claudis with electricity, two more sources of magical hellfire joined the mix. “We’re not too late, are we?” Dawn asked.

“I thought I left you on the Paris?”

“You did.” Dawn admitted. “Just call this my second wind!”

Whatever the magical strength of two alicorns, a cat with a magical sword and myself were doing obviously began to work, as Claudis dropped his axe from his shoulder and appeared to struggle to stay on his feet. Suddenly Dawn stopped, stepped into the maelstrom, grabbed Claudis’ axe and brought it down right into the cat’s chest.

The three of us that were still firing stopped and watched in utter disbelief. Dawn had clearly taken some hits when she stepped into the firing line, but looked unphased. “Any last words asshole?”

Claudis just smirked as he grabbed Dawn by the throat and got back to his feet. “You should’ve gone for the head!” The large cat suddenly slammed Dawn into the cobblestone and started stomping away while she tried desperately to get out from under the barrage.

And watching that whole display? Well it did a damn good job of REALLY pissing me off. Just who the hell did this cat think he was curb stomping MY daughter? Instinctively I reared my arm back like I was going to toss a ball of lightning, but as my hand flew forward I realized it wasn’t lightning.

It was fire.

As that ball of flaming plasma caught Claudis square in the chest and started melting his armor, it didn’t take Faust long to realize that something was terribly wrong. Maybe it was because the other cats had collapsed, or maybe it was because I was starting to feel light-headed myself, but as she put out the flaming hole in Claudis’ chest I started to head for the ground myself. The last thing I remember before finally blacking out was the distinct smell of scorched flesh, and the sight of Claudis’ exposed ribcage.

***

HMS Paris, some time later…

By the time I woke up I could tell I had been moved to the med bay on the Paris. “Glad you’re awake.” Pumyra said as she sat up in the bed next to me.

I rolled off to the side and realized that my combat gear had been taken off and replaced with a training uniform. “What the hell happened?”

“You don’t know?”

I shook my head. “I remember tossing some sort of fireball… Which I’ll admit I didn’t know I could do that.”

“Oh, that was more than a fireball. Just the heat it gave off knocked most of us out. Hell, the last thing I remember was Claudis screaming before I went under.”

Cripes, what the hell did I do? I’ve never been able to toss fire before, let alone something hot enough to knock others unconscious just from the sudden onset of heat exhaustion. “I don’t remember Claudis screaming…”

“Oh, he was screaming.” Pumyra retorted. “In fact they have him next door. He was screaming on and off all night.”

“All night? How long have I been out?”

Pumyra shrugged. “Twelve hours, give or take a few minutes.”

I got out of bed and made for the door. I had to see exactly what I did to be certain I understood the ramifications. The ICU was right across the hall from the ward’s door, and through that window I could see Lion-O and Tygra both hovering over Claudis as Faust seemed to be working on his chest. And oh boy, was it one hell of a mess. Between the streaks of raw and burnt flesh I could tell that Faust must’ve already patched the hole I left. But as I walked in and Lion-O started glaring, I started to feel a little bit unwanted… So I asked the only question I could.

“How’s he doing?”

“That’s all you have to say?” Lion-O growled.

“In Dusk’s defense he’s never previously shown the ability to conjure superheated stellar plasma and project it.” Faust offered off-handedly. “Although his grandmother can do the same trick, so I guess it was only a matter of time before Dusk stumbled upon it.”

Wait, she said superheated stellar plasma… “Are you saying I threw a miniature star at Claudis?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Faust said as she stepped back from Claudis’ chest, revealing fresh tissue where his armor had once been. “You need to remember that you are part Alicorn, so your own abilities will only increase with time as you learn to properly manipulate your powers.”

“Wait, so that’s what knocked us all out?” Tygra asked.

“It’s also why Dusk was the last one to go down as he inherited some of the Alicorn’s natural heat resistance, which according to Dawn is something he’s already exhibited while redirecting Daybreaker’s own magic.”

“Alright… Is Claudis still going to try and kill us all? And what about Fireteam India?” I asked.

Faust shook her head. “Breaking Mumm-Ra’s control was easy. As for Fireteam India, we managed to resuscitate the entire team, but they’re looking at months of recovery and physical therapy before they’re even able to be considered for active duty again. Claudis… Goddess, he butchered them.”

“I know, I was there Faust.” I countered. “Now then… Let’s address the elephant in the room. We need information on Mumm-Ra that’s up to date. Claudis likely has it.”

“But he’s in no condition to talk.”

“Doesn’t matter. Wake him up.”

Faust glanced at Lion-O and Tygra before waving her hand over Claudis’ forehead. His eyes snapped open and the large cat started clutching at his chest. “What… What happened?”

“I’d imagine you remember getting a hole melted through your chest.” I offered.

“Dusk!” Lion-O snapped.

But I held my hand up. “Look, I know you remember me. You tried to kill my daughter Claudis… But for now I can get past that. I need your help, and I need it badly.”

“Mumm-Ra… You want to go after that monster, don’t you?”

I nodded. “That’s why I’m here. When I ran into him last, he could only go so far away from his throne and I need to know why.”

“Probably because he used up so much of his power on me.” The cat replied with a grimmance. “He’s still not at full strength, and I doubt that reviving me helped his situation at all. Now I need to know something from you… Where am I?”

“You’re aboard the HMS Paris, a warship in the Equestrian Royal Navy.”

Claudis looked around, taking note of some of the medical instruments such as the EKG that he was hooked up to, and the IV that was stuck firmly in his arm. “What are these things?” He asked.

Lion-O cut in almost immediately. “Technology, medical technology to be specific.”

“You mean like those trinkets you toyed with?”

Lion-O shook his head. “No, those turned out to be weapons. Some of this technology helped save your life.”

“Wait, so you were toying around with weapons?!”

“In my defense I didn’t figure out what half of that stuff was until we rebuilt Thundera.”

I rolled my eyes. “Good defense.”

“What? It’s not like anyone got hurt… At least outside of some singed eyebrows.”

I couldn’t help but clutch the bridge of my muzzle. “Yup, you’re definitely helping your case… Alright, changing the subject. Anyone opposed? No? Alright. Now we need to deal with Mumm-Ra. I’m thinking a massed assault by the Paris and the Marines should clear out hostiles and let me get in with that spirit urn thing so I can finally bottle him up.”

I got a number of blank stares before Faust finally stepped in. “And that’s it? You go in and take out Mumm-Ra just because?”

“Well… Ya. Isn’t that what we’re here for?”

“While that’s true, we’re a bit outgunned at this point Dusk. To pull this off we need reinforcements.” Faust explained.

I nodded. “OK… Who are we calling in? Blue Team? Red Team? Majestic?”

“No…” Faust said as she shook her head. “We need experts in dealing with overwhelming negative odds while coming out unscathed. We need the Northern Guard.”

Author's Note

Well there's that firefight and reunion out of the way. Now I think it's time we go check in on Cosmo and see what he's been up to since Dusk left...

Anyone got questions? Like what you're seeing so far? Hell, maybe have some gripes? There's a comment section and the Mirrorverse Codex. Read and comment away, because I want to hear from you fellow denizens of this corner of the internet. Until next time gang!
-Striker