Dragonpool: Friendship is Violence

Sandbar looked impressed when both Smolder and Gallus arrived. The two looked like the world's most notorious dynamic duo with their tuxedos. The orange dragon was wearing her grey-slate suit with the same colored necktie, a white vest underneath and black work pants. Shielding her eyes were a pair of square, black-framed glasses. The griffon beside her was looked nothing short of her bodyguard, wearing a black tuxedo with a black necktie and a white vest underneath. He was also wearing black, shadowy shades that made him look straight out of an action movie.

They both strutted their way over to the table, pulling out seats for themselves and sitting next to each other.

Sandbar, wearing his white-flower patterned tropical blue shirt had a more casual look. He wasn't complaining about his friends though. "Wow," he gasped.

Ocellus, sitting beside them wasn't really wearing anything. She didn't think much of dressing up for parties anyway.

"I'm with Sandbar," she giggled, "You guys should really get into acting. Maybe they'd inspire a dynamic duo from you two."

Smolder grinned from the other side of the table, her glance shifting to Gallus. The griffon smirked. "We came up with a name. Can't tell anyone our secret identities, though," he replied, winking.

Sandbar's eyes widened with excitement. "You guys have no idea how much I love action movies," he squealed in a fangirlish manner.

Ocellus put her hooves over her mouth, biting back a laugh. "Surely you could at least share your... secret aliases," she whispered, leaning forward with a hoof covering the side of her muzzle.

Gallus smugged, looking down at Smolder with a cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Crash and Burn. It's dumb, I know."

Against whatever reaction Smolder expected, Ocellus asked, "So who's who?"

Smolder blinked. Gallus nudged her, urging her to continue. "See? Told you she'd like it."

"I hate you," the dragon groaned.

"Anyway," Gallus digressed, giving Smolder a hard jab in the shoulder. She replied with a low growl. "We decided we'd do a bit of an inverse on our names. Make it less... ehh, predictable."

Both Sandbar and Ocellus leaned forward, both listening in. Gallus continued, "Long story short, I'm Burn, and she's Crash."

"Understandable," Ocellus chirped. "You two always find a way to crash and burn your grades, anyway." She glared at the two. Gallus and Smolder both took great interest in anywhere besides Ocellus' side of the table, looking around and twiddling their fingers innocently.

"That's amazing," Sandbar chimed, deviating from the current subject. "Who's idea was it?"

Ocellus nodded her head forward as well, her chin resting in her hooves as she waited for an answer. Smolder immediately jabbed Gallus in his side. "Gallus! It was his idea. Creative motherfucker," she said.

The griffon didn't move, only casting an annoyed look down at his friend. Then, he looked up at Ocellus, saying, "You know she's lying, right?"

"Dramatically," the changeling replied, casting the same look over to her friend at the other side of the table. "Don't worry, Smolder. Creative interpretation doesn't come easy for everyone. Still, I think this whole 'dynamic duo' thing makes... a lot of sense. The whole inverse situation, and the names. It's really creative. You should be a writer."

Smolder's cheeks reddened, the light pink being somewhat visible under her orange scales. "No, I don't think-"

"Woah! Who got Smolder to look like that?"

A pink hippogriff came hauling in from behind her, gripping onto her shoulders and flipping her around so that she could gain a better view. Smolder sighed, "I've been getting that a lot today, thanks."

Silverstream looked a bit more satisfied at that, sitting down on the other side of Smolder. Yona came up behind the two as well, sitting on the other side of Sandbar. "Yona like dragon and griffon's new outfits! Fit them well!"

A sharp ringing caught the student's attention. Suddenly, the clamoring in the foyer completely ceased. Students stopped talking, as Headmare Twilight was the one speaking. "Isn't it wonderful? Even after the shocking incidents following up to today, everycreature can still be friendly with each other," she said, smiling warmly at every occupant in the room. "Anyway,

"The event taking place in the earlier week hasn't been too kind to everyone, I know. What with the whole incident in the Everfree forest and all. Technically, this information should be classified, but I think at least fourty-five of your parents or guardians have attempted to address the issue," she said, rubbing one hoof on the back of her neck. "I wanted to apologize to all of you collectively. As a whole. To those six students who went on that field trip..." She swayed a hoof, gesturing to Smolder, Ocellus, Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, and Silverstream all together. "...To the two teachers that were attacked..." She swayed the hoof down to two other ponies, casting a gentle look at the two of them.

"...And to Spike, who helps investigate all the loud noises in the dorms that none of us can ever figure out-"

Twilight gestured to a short, jacket wearing figure, his face covered by a pulled-down hat and a pair of dark sunglasses.

"It's an honor to have such formidable staff and students. I truly couldn't ask to surround myself with better creatures."

'Clank! Clank! Clank!'

Six creatures at the most crawled sneakily through the ventilation systems just inches above the ceiling. Three were fussing around with each other, and the other three remained silent, or just quietly complaining.

("The fact that things can get hairy at the school and students still wouldn't hesitate to reach out just makes my day.")

"Be careful!"

"You be careful! We've gotta move quick if we're gonna catch us a Princess! Heheheh."

("Even as there's only been one full-blown, student threatening incident happening at this school besides what's happening now,")

"I vote you both shut the fuck up!"

("I'm still astounded at the fact that all of you keep your composure and manage to keep your cool.")

"Yak think we making too much noise."

("Hehee. That's what all the foals say, right? 'Keep your cool?' No? Okay.")

"Anyway, I just wanted to-"

'Clank! Clank! Clank!'

Everyone looked up. The source of the noise was definitely uncertain, but each and every creature could tell it was emitting from the ceiling.

Smolder's intuition kept shouting at her to spring into action. She heard it, but ignored it. There was no way she was going to save the day again. Not without being... that dragon. She couldn't do it. When she was becoming that alias, it was like she was having so much fun, that- that she was having the time of her life.

Once she began doing her job, it was all spiraling out of control. She could never stop herself. If she were to do it again, then what would happen to what Ocellus thought of her before? All that she may have established with her as that dragon could vanish. She didn't want that. Not again.

"Spike," she heard Twilight call, "Did we get the ventilation checked?"

'BANG!'

"Look out below," a raspy voice called, followed by a very graceful fall by a pony masked and wearing all black. He had a name tag on that read 'GLEN' in all capital letters.

His hooves touched on the ground so softly it was like he was standing there the entire time. Three more ponies dropped down behind him, and suddenly, the creatures touching down weren't ponies anymore.

"I caught a Twilight," a changeling called. He landed on top of the alicorn in question, keeping his automatic rifle pressed hard against her skull while he slipped a magical dampening ring on her horn.

The changeling's coat was black, and he was filled with holes. Much like a regular changeling, he had a hole-filled horn on his head, mint-green spines protruding from his horn all the way down to the base of his neck. His eyes were green as well, glowing a stinging glow piercing into any eyes that dared to gaze.

He was wearing a black sweater that looked like it was used for common burglary.

Applejack sprang into action, jumping at the changeling from the beside where Twilight used to stand.

"That cheating," a deep, rumbly voice bellowed, followed by a loud rumbling in the ground to accompany his four-legged gait.

"AJ," Rainbow Dash cried, jumping out in front of the earth pony in attempts to shield her from the attack.

"Ough," the yak grunted, his horns ramming straight into pony hide with ease.

Rainbow's unconscious body hit the ground, skidding on the floor until she hit the wall. Blood pooled around her, all from the pit of her stomach.

It leaked onto the cloths of the nearby tables that student sat, soaking the bottoms with crimson red.

Ocellus whimpered, trembling more than Smolder was in that moment. Sandbar touched her shoulder with a hoof, shaking her lightly in attempts to get her to come to her senses. Silverstream clutched tightly to Yona, and Yona did the same with Silverstream. All four, no matter their actions were all petrified with fear.

Gallus' pupils shrank down to blue dots, each shooting a terrified gaze over at his draconic friend.

She just continued to tremble, slamming her fist down on the table and causing the silverware to rattle and clank.

'PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!'

Everycreature screamed in a mix of surprise and terror. "No one move," a hardy voice shouted, coming from a seemingly under dressed griffon. The voice didn't sound like it had belonged to him. He was a skinny griffon who had a lion's tail, much like any other. His body feathers were a salmon pink, and his head feathers were all the same.

'creeeeaaaaak...'

One female student caught his eye, her hindleg stretched out as it looked like she was attempting to quickly and quietly leave her seat. Clearly, her half-baked method was ineffective.

'BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

"Everyone, under the table," Gallus shouted.

One by one, Ocellus, Yona, Sandbar, Silverstream, Gallus, and finally Smolder all gathered under the table.

The cloth was gradually illuminated each second by the pale golden glow of steaming bullets being fired. Each shot made most of them tremble, the other two just tensing up more and more.

Gallus looked to Smolder again, his eyes filled with hope and angst. "Smolder, you've gotta do something," he whispered, his hiss hushed down so that none of the others would catch on.

Ocellus' gaze shifted to the both of them.

Smolder stayed trembling, each gunshot causing her to slam her fist hard on the floor.

"Smolder, come on," Gallus urged, gripping his claws on the dragon's shoulder and shaking her with frantically shaking hands.

She couldn't do it. Not again. Not after all the other times. She couldn't lose control like last time, or all the other times. everything changed when she was in that costume. Her personality, everything- she couldn't lose herself in her job again.

"Smolder!"

Killing with such vigor was so cruel, not only to Ocellus(or the rest of her friends), but to the whole of Equestria. If she only came here to kill, then did what she was learning at the School of Friendship mean nothing?

"We're in serious danger, here!"

If she was really so happy to hurt, then she was really no better than the heartless creatures attacking them.

"Come on, Smolder! Get up!"

Unless she wasn't.

What if she wasn't as happy and eager to kill somecreature like that dragon would be? If she were to show no emotion, would that have worked out better? Would she have gained a better perspective without quipping in the face of madness?

She said it herself- her bloodstained costume was in the washing machine(without being noticed, she hoped). Without that suit, she could be herself again. She could get as much blood as she could on her suit and not crack a single smile.

She was... free.

"Smol-"

"Gallus," Smolder barked in a whisper, "I've got a gun. Two. You know how to handle one?"

Gallus was about to nod, but, he could sense something had changed. Firstly, Smolder seemed adamant to do something after at least fifteen more of those gunshots. Maybe she had some sort of flashback or something? Either way, Gallus was pretty uneasy about her change of tone.

On the partially good side, she didn't seem more eager and more... determined. Like she was reluctant to do her job, but knew her life depended on it. Like she was taking it seriously.

Gallus knew what he saw in that forest the other day. He knew what endeavor they were in, and how happy his friend was to deal with it. Something told him she wasn't on the right path again, but, something else kept telling him that she was starting to veer. That she began to take the right path again.

That made him smile. "Yeah."

Spike tried his best to hold his breath, for the last time he allowed himself freedom with his breathing, he set his whole outfit alight. Now, he was exposed. Pulsing red stone-scales and all.

"Awww, so the dragon hasn't finished his molt," teased a tall, beefy, hooded dragon. He had royal blue scales as Spike could see. The rest of his scheme was hidden by his tight, black burglar jacket and black cargo pants. "You're lucky Ductus hasn't turned into a Roc and tried to eat you," he continued, gesturing over to the changeling who pinned down the purple alicorn Princess.

"Spike," he heard her cry from afar. Ductus only hit her over the head with the gun, but not enough to bruise her. After all, he knew what they were here for, just as much as any of them. If he wanted to really hurt her, he'd have to save that for later.

"Pipe down! I can't even hear my own voice!"

'POW, POW, POW, POW!!'

"Ugh... oof..."

The dragon collapsed , his blood spreading in a small pool around him. Spike chuckled in slight victory, allowing himself to forget the current situation in turn for a slight moment to revel in his love for gory things.

"Look out, jackasses," Gallus announced, "It's time to Crash and Burn."

Spike turned, looking across the empty foyer to two, dressed down creatures standing back to back in a dramatic pose while they both wielded their pistols. The boy couldn't lie, if the two were an actual dynamic duo in one of his comic books, he wouldn't be able to put them down.

Ductus was barely surprised. "Ruckus," he shouted, "Keep these two from bustin' my balls, alright?! I'm outta here."

With those last words, he extended his right foreleg, a grapplehook in his hoof. He shot the gun, a metal hook shooting into the air and pulling both him and Twilight swiftly toward the ceiling. "M-My friends- Applejack! Rainbow Dash," she cried.

Smolder's expression barely changed from blank, her eyes staring straight and a frown on her lips as she shot bullet after bullet at the changeling flying toward the ceiling. None of the shots hit, and thankfully, none even grazed the Headmare.

'BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!'

The ground shook, cutlery on the tables all shaking and clanking.

"Ruckus help!"

An average-sized, young, black-furred yak came barreling toward the two, an golden-plated katana held in his mouth. Gallus gasped, jumping in front of Smolder and tugging at his gun to fire.

'PLAP! PLAP! PLAP!'

Ruckus swung his sword, and the bullets all ricocheted one by one. "Damn! He's too strong," Gallus growled.

Smolder grunted, "Not for me."

Leaping forward the dragon used her wings to gain the literal upper hand over the barreling bovidae. He only swung his sword more erratically, his noticeably terrible sword skills being a surprising asset to him as Smolder tried to dodge.

Despite being under pressure, she held herself together, moving and swinging herself this way and that with the grace of a trained ballet-dancer. Except she wasn't dancing.

The sword swung at her head, and she nearly collapsed her upper body, leaning back so far down that the back of her head almost touched the floor.

Ruckus pulled back, then whirled the katana aimlessly downward to cut Smolder off at the feet. The dragon caught on with ease, jumping up and landing her claws on the blade of his sword. Her scales barely parted at the silky, yet slicing touch of the golden blade as she gripped on with her toes.

Ruckus' eyes widened with fear, his gaze being locked on her's. "You better pray your little boyfriend doesn't lay one of his cretin hooves on that Princess."

The yak gulped, sitting back on his haunches. His eyes were stuck- like they were being pulled into another dimension by soulless, lifeless turquoise eyes. She had no remorse, nor would she have any if she actually hurt him. She could tear him into pieces, and still wouldn't give a horse's ass about it.

"You messed with the wrong school, with the wrong students," Smolder continued, pressing the barrel of her pistol on the yak's forehead. "What's say you take today off?"

Ruckus nodded.

He knew that if he were to decline the dragon's rather generous offer, he would've gotten his life taken. He liked his life, no matter how doggedly loyal everyone thought he was.

Smolder, pulling her pistol back, jumped off the blade of his sword and back onto the floor. Ruckus dropped his sword before taking off out of the school, the ground pounding as he left.

"Woah," Gallus chuckled. "You make it look easy. And it looks the part, too."

"Nah, nah, what it looks like is that you've forgot you've got three more to deal with," A pony spoke, the soft thwip of twelve hooves all separately touching the floor.

Smolder leaped backward again, leaving both her and Gallus back to back another time over. She kept her hands guarding her, as well as her pistol guarded with both claws.

Looking around, she scanned the rest of the ponies and their names. After all, their names were on their nametags. They were all wearing the same clothing of masks and all black thermal clothing.

The one speaking was named 'GLEN,' as seen in a capital letters. The next was 'ALEX,' the one standing next to him(but spaced out, of course), and the last was 'MAX', and he was bigger and bulkier than the two of them. All three were wielding swords, making Gallus have to question why everyone Smolder had to fight was so obsessed with blades.

The first one to spring was Glen, going straight after Smolder with his sword drawn.

Gallus took a step forward in attempt to protect her, but was cut off by Alex, who jumped down on him from above somehow. The griffon jumped back, landing upside down on his claws and flipping right-side up again, back on his paws and claws.

Alex ended up piercing the ground, his sword digging into the hard stone floor. He looked up at Gallus, who had his pistol aiming straight at him. Even when he was staring death straight in the eye, Alex was unshaken. "You wouldn't," he uttered, his unnaturally high, yet hissy voice spoke. Gallus grunted, his claw trembling on the trigger.

Smolder dodged the impending katana which nearly pierced the fabric on her back. Glen lunged forward, plunging his sword again, and again, and again.

Smolder bent backward, dodging another thrust of the sword being swung at her as she flipped and landed backward on her feet. Glen still persisted, thrusting and swinging his sword at the speed of mach 20.

Still, the dragon kept her composure, her blank-slate expression not faltering. Glen rolled his eyes, "Ugh! You wriggle like a damn caterpillar," he complained, thrusting his sword faster and more aggressively.

Sweat began to bead on Smolder's forehead, but she kept her composure, still. Somehow, she kept her stare straight, her eyes focused on that pony and his sword.

Suddenly, she bolted forward, avoiding the sword from being thrown into her chest.

Glen stood on his hooves, his body still lunged forward in a stuck position. His tail was trembling, and sweat covered his body. His weapon was there on the ground, thrown there with no context, or any regard for how it would affect the owner.

With that conclusion, Smolder was satisfied. Drawing her gun, she took aim.

"What makes you think so," Gallus asked Alex, the position of their situation the same as before.

Alex laughed:

"You ain't like your friend, I'm sure," he replied, "No matter how much you dress alike. You're not the same creature, you know. You're different. You've had nowhere to go but up, working from rock bottom, kid. I knew you'd be the type. You're not like your friend, you're like me, ya know?"

Gallus narrowed his eyes, lifting his head up as if h were looking down upon the pony. The gun still stayed pointed at him, and if he moved, Alex was gonna get it, he was sure.

"Surely, you wouldn't kill your own people."

The griffon was at a loss for words, his mind racing with so many questions he didn't want answers. Was- was the guy saying what Gallus thought he was saying? Did- did he want to betray his own friend and save...?

'FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

Green fire washed over, covering every inch of where the pony lay. It sprayed until the body was practically scorched to black dust, nothing of him distinguishable besides the ashes of his body.

Gallus sighed, liking the thought that he was no longer questioning his own loyalty. He had proved that already, right?

Looking over to Spike, he chuckled. Spike looked back, giving him a reluctant thumbs up.

One thing Gallus forgot as he looked back over-

Smolder knew what she had to do. Her eyes with no shine, her expression with no life, her body with no soul...

"...Smolder....?"

The dragon jerked her head upward.

The table cloth at the table from across the room had risen from the bottom, showing a surprised and distraught Ocellus stepping out from under it. She could also see the fearing faces of the rest of her friends who didn't dare come out from under that table cloth.

"Ocellus...?"

At last, Smolder finally broke. Her emotions spilled out from the chamber locked up and pressed down in the back of her mind. Her eyes filled with tears, her expression filled with life again. The soul spread out into her body, filling up her mind with racing thoughts and memories of what all happened in the past ten minutes.

She lost control again.

"Ack-!!!"

'SSSSSSHHHHHING!'

Behind her.

A katana blade, right through her back and out through her chest. Blood spurted from the cut, the blade splitting her scales and parting her flesh in ways she didn't want it parted.

"Smolder, no!" Gallus jumped forward over Alex's ashes, drawing his gun and shooting at the assailant. It was nearly impossible, his eyes blurred with small tears.

'PLAP, PLAP, PLAP, PLAP, PLAP!'