//-------------------------------------------------------// The Long Road to Victory -by Foreflight- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Junkers Row. //-------------------------------------------------------// Junkers Row. A lone figure tore through the undergrowth and thick trees, an occasional Clank-Clunk and jangling of chains sounding out as he cleared the trees in front of him. The figure mumbled to himself in a deep, powerful voice as he lamented the loss of his friend, and how he was going to tear Canterlot apart, brick by brick if he must, to get his revenge and find his friend. “Stupid hog.” He moaned to himself. “Why couldn’t I see what was coming? Why couldn’t I save Junkrat?” He hit himself with a hook he was carrying. “I’m a poor excuse for a friend.” The figure continued, breaking out of the forest and gazing at the city perched on a mountain in the distance. “I’m coming, Junkrat.” He said, and raised his voice so loud that everyone in the nearby town. “I swear that I will rip apart Canterlot, if I have to, to get you back.” The figure, a hog with strips of leather draped across his shoulders, overlaid with large pads, a well-worn, blue camo pair of pants with a roll of chain attached to the hem, and half a tire with spikes sticking out of it on one of his shoulders. A gas mask obscured his face, though his hair was mostly uncovered, grey hair pulled back into a man-bun. A flask rode on his hip, a small hook holding a length of chain in place, a chain which lead to a larger, spike-studded hook resting in his left hand. In his other hand he held a strange device, the one he used to clear the trees away. It fired scrap metal, of which he had a supposedly unlimited supply, in sprays of shrapnel. It could also fire balls of compressed scrap that would burst after a short trip through the air. On his right hip was a couple of components, including a funnel and crank. He approached the town mentioned earlier, hook and scrap gun in hand. A passing rainbow-maned cyan Pegasus saw him and instantly sped off in terror. I simply chuckled and continued down the path. As expected, a 2-3 metre wall and a wooden gate stood between me and the entrance to town, a small sign saying ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ in cheerful pink writing. I didn’t feel too welcome, mainly because a dozen guards aimed crossbows at me. “Halt, hog!” one sneered, clad in lieutenants gear. “Your barbaric ways are not welcome here.” I simply stared at the foolish pony, who obviously did not know me and exploited his position. “No.” I said, startling him. Obviously he thought he could intimidate me. Pathetic. “I will not halt. Do you not know who I am?” I asked him, raising my weapons for all to see. All of the other guards shrank back in terror, knowing now who I am. The lieutenant simply laughed. “You will not harm me, hog.” He said with absolute certainty. “You would not risk war with the superior race and face extinction.” At this point one of the other guards came over and whispered in his ear. His ears flattened in rage and he spoke with renewed superiority. “So, you are the dangerous, wanted Criminal I have heard so much about. You attacked Celestia, our righteous and wise ruler unprovoked, yes?” He proclaimed and gazed at me, smug and expectant. I had had enough. I threw my hook with perfect accuracy, the spikes digging into his back as I yanked him to me with a yelp. I stared directly into his pain and rage filled eyes. “It was not unprovoked. I had evidence that she was a crucial component in the kidnapping of my good friend Junkrat. I have killed and I will do it again, so OPEN UP THE DOOR!” I finished with enough force to knock the crossbows from the soldier’s trembling hooves. I deposited him on the ground and aimed my scrapgun at him. “Tell them to open it.” He gulped and nodded to the soldiers on the battlement, who all let loose their arrows into my belly. I roared with pain and pulled the trigger, but I had enough sense to aim before I shot, only taking of the lieutenant’s leg instead of his head. He instantly fell unconscious from the pain. I then took the flask off my hip and stuck it onto one of my breathing filters, and instantly felt better as my wounds repaired themselves and the arrows fell out. I hummed a dark, grave tune as I let a couple of fumes go into the lieutenant’s face. His strained face instantly flattened, and the stump stopped bleeding and sealed up. “Hopefully that encounter will humble him down a bit.” I mumbled as the guards on the battlements rushed to get the gate open. With a creak of wood, the gates opened. One more obstacle down on my way to victory. Yet I knew it was going to be a long road. As I entered the town, the creaking of wood greeted me, the house's obviously overstuffed with vendors and ponies who heard the commotion outside. As I reached the town square, seven figures greeted me. Five of them wore necklaces with variously cut jewels inlaid in the center, and the middle one wore a crown of gold, a six-point star gem set into it, with the seventh being a small, wingless dragon riding on her. The Elements. Come to try to banish me again. Didn't work then, won't work now. "Your wasting your time." I announced to the group. The crowned one stepped forward, snorting like a horse...which she was, so...haha? "Roadhog. For months you have evaded capture, and now you come here!? To Ponyville, the home of the Elements of Harmony? After attacking Celestia unprovoked. CELESTIA!" She said, raising her voice so much that ponies peered out of windows to see what was going to go down. I laughed. a deep throaty laugh that would unnerve even the bravest of warriors, which Twilight was not. She visibly cringed, remembering our last experience. Her ears flattened in terror and anticipation "Do you remember our last run-in, Twilight? You were the hunting party sent to capture me. I hooked you, stared into your terrified eyes, and felt a strange sense of happiness. I had caught not the biggest fish, but the most profitable bait to catch Celestia and expose her for her crimes." At the last words her terror was replaced with rage. "Crimes!?" she shouted, outraged. Her friends were watching the shouting match like a game of tennis. "Celestia is wise. Any crimes would be necessary, if there was actually one accusation that would have evidence and not be completely baseless!" It was my turn to snort, but this time like a pig, which I was. Haha. "Oh I have evidence." I proclaimed, taking a binder out of my scrap pouch. "Our bike, with spears and arrows embedded in it, all blank except for an etched symbol. Celestia's mark. These are standard for royal guards, but were easy to replicate and steal, so i needed more set-in-stone evidence." I explained tossing the binder to Twilight. She caught it in her magical grip, and flicked through it as I spoke. "I found a discarded grenade cartridge in a warehouse that would be an obvious place to go, when faced with approximately two dozen royal guards. Signs of explosives being detonated, small powerful ones and small concussion blasts. Also, a destroyed tire with spikes in it, and a singed tuft of a captain's plume." At that mention she gasped. I knew that her brother was the head of the guard. "So, with the evidence, i went to Celestia's court, hoping to plead my case. The objections and calls of deception, lies and my head frayed at my temper when i presented. Celestia herself proclaimed royally 'Get the fuck out of my court'. So, I attacked in blind rage, sending ripping scrap metal through Celestia's body. Thankfully, she lived through her injuries, but every single guard turned on me, and I hightailed it out of there, riding my bike all the way from Canterlot to the Everfree." "So, now that you know what really happened, I'm gonna meed two things." I finished as Twilight closed the folder, looking stunned. She regained her composure and looked at me. "And what might that be?" She asked, all traces of anger, fear and confidence replace with meek confusion. "One: to be able to pass through Ponyville unharmed. I passed all the speech checks. And two: that folder back." I replied. she floated the folder to me and stepped aside, joining her friends on the line that they had made on the side, gesturing for me to go. I did a two finger salute and started to walk out of town. As he walked, to himself, as if he was being recorded, said "I have passed Ponyville, the second biggest obstacle. Now to crack a heavily fortified city on the mountainside." A war council was in effect in the Canterlot throne room at the day council. Nobles were in outrage at the postponing of their daily complaining session, and Shining Armour was trying to calm the calls of anger. Celestia pondered a map, showing a trail of destruction, with smoking metal, ripped legs, three-hole wounds. All of his signature. She looked at the crowd of nobles and sighed. "QUIET!" she shouted into the fray, and all the voices instantly ceased, except for a heated argument between Blueblood and a royal guard, a newbie for sure, as all the experienced ones knew to not argue with the snobbish pony. She straitened and addressed the crowd, and stifled her small thoughts. "You all remember Roadhog, who attempted to kill me after pleading his case against me, and I refused any involvement of the foalnapping of his friend Junkrat." She started. Several nodded their heads, some hung their head, and others hissed their dissent at 'that no-good pig'. She nodded before continuing. "Well, we have reason to believe he is coming here. His trail stops around halfway from Saddle Ara-" her words were cut short by a loud Clack-Clunk as a ball of metal burst through the doors. No, she thought, How is he here so early? As this last thought played through a guard screamed "GET DOWN!!" as the doors exploded in a hail of scrap metal and heat. As the steel rain died, a figure, flanked by two unconscious guards, lumbered into the room. The nobles shrank back in terror, and the conscious guards skittered nervously. No-one dared to oppose him as he advanced on Celestia. She stood to stare into those hellish pools of black on his mask. "How did you get here so soon? The trail said you were halfway from Saddle Arabia to here." Celestia said to Roadhog. He snorted. "I was nowhere near Saddle Arabia. I was hiding out in the Everfree." He replied with a professional air. "Now, to business." He said, advancing more and lowering his scrapgun to her face. "I have pulled the trigger, and I will do it again. To you that makes me a villain. But I am simply trying to get my friend back. Your student understood." He said, and chuckled at the confused face Celestia now wore."Yes, I passed through Ponyville. What a cakewalk. She saw my evidence. Now," he said, squeezing the trigger until it was a millimeter away from firing. "Where. Is. JUNKRAT!?!?!?!?!?!?" He shouted the last word, lifting Celestia up by her neck. "He's...Not...here!" She choked out. He growled. "I...Pinkie...Promise." She again choked out, having heard of the all-binding promise. Roadhog's gaze swept the room for a sign of a pink bubbly pony. She was standing at the shredded doorway, with one of those giant hands, with the thumb down. He sighed, and dropped Celestia. "I was so sure. Everything was right." He lamented, dropping his gun. "Lock me away for my crimes, but know that I was wrong for doing those things. Rage and longing are no excuses, but I beg of you to let me go free." He said, addressing the crowd. It was then, in the moment of silence after his words, he heard someone whisper something in Spanish. He whirled around, but all he saw was a food cart. Then, a shimmer, a purple pixelated section of air. He lumbered over, all eyes on him. He then saw the device. it was like a pulse bomb, except black and purple. He knew what it was. "Sombra's translocator." he murmured. "This is not good. From what I saw, this world doesn't have the tech." he then thought of Sombra's invisibility. 'But what about what I didn't see?" He turned back to the court, all looking confused at the change of heart he just had. "This world is in danger." He pronounced. One of the nobles finally spoke up. "How?" He asked. Roadhog smiled. "I'm glad you asked. This is how..." Author's Note Don't have much to say down here. So, more might be said next chapter, but for now, see ya!