Author's Note

Starting’s a little weird here, but bear with me!

Chapter 14: The Male of the Species

“Mmm… Mmmnn… yeahhh…” Milly Mulcher gasped as she leaned down against her husband’s chest as her hips moved themselves up and down.

“Milly, I’m gonna… It’s coming…!” Beck Call groaned and held on firmly to her butt.

Milly felt him ejaculate within her, his white sticky fluid filling up her insides as she slipped off his dick, breathing heavily.

“That was great…” Beck wrapped his hands around her shoulders. “Come here, you.”

Milly smiled and inched herself up to kiss him on the lips. She looked deeply into his bright blue eyes and she chuckled. She loved him with every bit of herself.

“Hey, you really need to go take on that supe.” He grinned and kissed her again. “Memory will be coming after me if I don’t get you out of the house soon.”

“Nah, Beck. Takin’ down supes can wait.” Mulcher twiddled with the ring around her finger. “Time with you always comes first.”

“Well, you’ve already had it all night.” Beck kissed her again, then pushed himself up against their bed’s backing. “Come on. You’ve got work to do.”

“Fine. Fine…” Mulcher blew at her fringe and combed back her long black hair with her hands. “But when I come back, you’re gonna give me the deepest farm you possibly can, that’s a deal, yeah? You’re gonna be makin’ babies swimmin’ up me twat.”

“Right, right, so go on, scoot.” He slapped one of her butt cheeks as she got out of bed. “You’ve got this, Milly. You always do.”

“Can’t argue with that one.” She tied her hair up, then gave her husband one more kiss. “I’ll see ya when I’m done, yeah. Ya better remember your promise.”

That had been years ago and as Milly Mulcher opened her eyes, she sighed deeply and scratched at her forehead. She let out a huge yawn and then smacked her lips together. She wished she didn’t have this memory, but she woke with it almost every night and every night, it only made her miss Beck more and more.

Beck Call had never fulfilled his promise to her that day. When she returned home, he had already gone and it was only after digging around for clues on what might’ve happened, she found that the last place he had been seen was Canterlot Park and that Protectorate Sod had been seen with him.

She balled her fists at the memory of the camera footage from the park’s security feed. That was all she had to remember her husband by. She didn’t know if he was still alive or not, but what she did know was she was going to make Sod pay.

Mulcher turned and faced the back of her seat as she lit a cigarette, and watched Sunset Shimmer gazing out the back of the van, her eyes still on the Eastern restaurant across the street.

“Sunny?” She stretched her arms up as high as she could, then took a drag of her cigarette. “Did ya get any rest?”

The fiery haired girl shook her head without turning from the window. “We need to keep watch.”

“Nah, mate. I told ya. They ain’t comin’ at night. Did ya see anything since?”

She shook her head again. “But I had to be sure.”

“Yeah, alright. I guess so. Prench? What’s up?”

The Prench woman sat beside her in the van, her head lulled to the side and a bubble coming out of one nostril. Mulcher shook her with a foot and she startled awake, sucking the bubble back into her nose as her eyes shot open.

“What, did we see something?” She wiped at her face with a hand and snorted.

“Nothin’ yet. Just checkin’ to see if you were still alive.”

“What time is it?” Father’s Coffee sat up from beside Sunset and stretched. “Man, you need to get some heaters for your van, Mulcher. How can you take this?”

“Duh, coat.” Mulcher gestured to her black trench coat.

Coffee shook her head and turned to Sunset. “Sunny, you alright? You better take another blanket.” She tossed an old ragged cloth over the fiery haired girl’s shoulders. “Don’t want the cold to kill you before we even get anywhere.”

Prenchie was quick to whip out a cigarette and she winded down a window as she lit up. “Are you sure this is even the place?”

Father’s Coffee flashed her an evil look. “Yes. I got it straight from Soarmaster’s mouth. I can tell. He wasn’t lying. He was doing anything he could to prevent that incident from getting out to the public.”

“Killing his own landlord?” Prenchie scoffed. “Histoire incroyable.”

“Yeah, messed up supes.” Coffee shook her head. “He said Z-Truck had been running the stuff to the place.”

“The Eastern Dragon.” Mulcher looked at the place from her side view mirror. “Nice ring to the name, but it’s no five star, I’ll give ya that. Looks like a farmin’ sheephole.”

There were two women standing by the restaurant entrance, just talking in their Eastern language, but they didn’t seem to be doing anything suspicious. Yet. Sunset narrowed her eyes, but she kept watch on them. She had to find out why Z-Truck was bringing Hold X here. She doubted it was just to inject herself with. She could just do that at home or at Soarmaster’s place. What was she bringing the Hold X here for?

As Sunset stared at the two workers, there was a sudden gust of wind and one of them turned around and scratched at her hair, looking down at an orange parcel.

Wait a second. Was that already there?

She picked it up and the two of them talked for a few more seconds, then proceeded into the restaurant.

“Uh, hey, I think I got something,” Sunset called for the others. “The two women there. They just picked up an orange package.”

“Looks like the game is on.” Mulcher nodded and pointed out the window. “You three go on in. There’s a little somethin’ I have to see to.”

“What?” Coffee raised an eyebrow. “What could you possibly have to see to at this moment?”

“A little sightseeing with an old friend. See what she knows about this whole Hold X situation.” Mulcher tossed her cigarette and waved a hand to get them out of her van. “Go on, I’ll see you back here later. Or wherever. Just keep in contact, yeah?”

“Alright, alright. Let’s just head outta here.” Father’s Coffee opened the van’s door and hopped out. “The fewer of us, the less conspicuous we look, walking into that Eastern shack.”

Sunset complied and followed along behind her, while Prenchie got out the side door. As soon as all doors had been shut, Mulcher honked a goodbye to them and drove off, slowly disappearing from view down the street.

Sunset watched her go, then turned to follow the two older women into the restaurant. It was still before lunch time, so the restaurant was not yet open, which meant there was no one to greet them in the front, or really anyone in the main room at all. And that worked out just nicely, seeing as they didn’t want to have to talk to anyone about why they were here.

They spotted the two women from earlier entering the kitchens and they hastily followed after them, keeping low. The kitchens, unlike the main room, were filled with chefs and servers, preparing the food, plates and utensils for use later. Fortunately, they were all so busy prepping for lunch, they didn’t see Sunset and The Girls sneaking through, walking down past them and into a backroom near the restaurant’s freezer.

The room past the kitchen was absolutely dreadful, with dark stains on the walls and floor and cockroaches scurrying out from behind a stack of wooden crates. Compared to the kitchen, it looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in years. Then again, the kitchen wasn’t all that clean as well and neither was the whole restaurant, in fact.

Prenchie wrinkled her nose after sniffing at the air and she recoiled her head. “Sheep, this place smells like diarrhea. Worse.”

“Coming from someone who does all that crack, I think it’s a compliment.” Father’s Coffee shook her head.

Prenchie glared at her. “Now see here, your boobs might be bigger, but that doesn’t mean jack.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“You’re always walking around, swinging them like they’re everything.”

Coffee looked down at her breasts as she walked and then frowned at Prenchie. “I can’t help it that they do that.”

Sunset groaned inside. She didn’t see how any of this helped their current situation. “Can we please, focus on the objective at hand?”

“Yes, petite Sunny is right.” Prenchie nodded and walked past the both of them. “We have better things to do than compare breast size.”

Father’s Coffee raised a finger, but then shook her head and said nothing. Sunset just shrugged and pointed forward. They still had to find out what they were doing with the Hold X here.

“This place stinks.” Sunset waved a hand around her face. It was musty and the air felt heavy, not in the foreboding kind of way, but more like it was incredibly hard to breathe. Then she shook her head. The foreboding sense was there as well.

The hallway was badly lit and there were some opened crates of alcohol and vegetables stored here, with the latter having flies buzzing around them. Sunset cringed. If this was what they were serving in the restaurant, she was never going to come here for a meal. She also thought about a certain Glascow chef who would have a field day with this place.

They kept walking down the dark hallway until they began to hear the chattering of soft voices. All three women ducked down behind stacks of crates and waited. Sunset tensed up, but she didn’t hear the sound of walking, and neither did the two older women. She ducked her head out to survey the hallway and found that no one was approaching. The voices were coming from a room on the right, where a faint blue light could be seen against the wall on the left.

Prenchie gestured with her head for them to keep going and Sunset slowly crept out from her hiding spot and followed behind her and Father’s Coffee. They rounded an entryway and stuck their heads out in a row as they took a look inside the room. The two women from before were in their watching a football game on a small TV, with the volume turned rather low.

In their room were more crates and tables filled with magazines, both the paper and firearm kind, and of course, a few assault rifles.

“What could they be doing here?” Prenchie hissed.

“The living conditions here are dreadful…” Coffee shook her head. “Why won’t they just clean this place up?”

“Only criminals would live in a place like this…” Prenchie sniffed at the air.

“It looks just like your place,” Father’s Coffee said.

“Shhh, wait. What is that.” Prenchie pointed to what looked like a holding cell behind the tables.

“Are they keeping prisoners here?” Sunset whispered.

Prenchie waved for them to follow her. “We should take a closer look.”

She snuck into the room, keeping low. She slowly moved each foot in front of the other, careful not to make a sound louder than their football game on the TV. Sunset copied hers and Father’s Coffee’s actions, moving almost as slow as a snail as each step made her heartbeat pound louder and louder in her ears. She was afraid the two Eastern women would hear her at this rate, but they didn’t seem to.

As they now stood outside the cell, Sunset could see that there was another TV inside, though a lot smaller, playing the same football match and in front of it was a man, seated there on the ground with his knees to his chest, his attention on the game.

“Who is that?” Sunset whispered to her companions. “Some kind of hostage?”

The man was caked in dirt and grime and he looked and smelt like he hadn’t had a shower in weeks. No. Years.

“What are they doing with him?” Prenchie approached the cage and crouched before the door.

The man inside must’ve heard something, because he turned his head to face them, a vacant expression on his face. He just stared at them blankly and for a second, Sunset thought he would yell for the women on the other side of the room, but all he did was stare at them, unblinking. It was kind of creepy for her.

“Hey, don’t worry, mon ami.” Prenchie placed a hand on the fenced door. “We’re going to get you out of here. Let me just get my tools…”

“Prenchie wait.” Coffee put a hand on his shoulder. “We shouldn’t rush to conclusions.”

“He’s dirty. He’s a prisoner. What more do you need?” She whipped out a lockpick and began working on the door’s padlock.

After a few seconds, there was a click and the lock swayed to the left side, unlocked.

This noise was heard by the two women and they got up from their side of the room, their eyes swiping from Sunset, then Prenchie, then Father’s Coffee, then the opened lock. Immediately, their eyes went wide and they rushed for the table of guns.

“Down, down!” Father’s Coffee grabbed Sunset and kept them all low.

Prenchie just moved out of the way of the door a second earlier as it was thrust open, smashing against the cell wall with a metallic clash. The man inside was now standing, though crouched and hunched, his hands forming into hooks like those of a bird of prey.

He immediately threw himself over the table in a single bound and the first woman screamed and was unable to point her gun in time. The man landed on top of her and there was the sound of ripping flesh and her gurgled screams as his hands flew across her body so fast Sunset almost couldn’t see it. Something flew into the air and landed before the three women and at first, Sunset thought it might’ve been a grenade or something, but then to her horror and disgust, she realized it was a human arm, crudely torn off at the bicep, where the shattered humerus could be seen jutting out of the tender flesh.

Sunset held back her stomach as the man attacked the second woman, who managed to fire off just a single round of the rifle. It missed and hit the wall behind the man, but it was too late for her.

“Quick, get in here!” Father’s Coffee pushed Sunset into the holding cell and then grabbed Prenchie by the collar and threw her in as well.

The screams of the second woman stopped and the man looked back over at them, a wild look in his eyes.

“Go go!” Coffee slipped into the cell and pulled the door closed as the man jumped back at them, crashing into the cell door and shaking it.

Coffee, Prenchie and Sunset held on to the door for dear life as the wild man tried to get inside. For a single person against three women, he was really strong and Sunset thought they were going to die here in this dark and dirty cell as the door was shoved open an inch.

Suddenly, from behind the man, there was a gunshot and a bullet burst through his shoulder and sprayed blood against the three women. The man stopped pushing against the door and turned to face another Easterner, this time a blue haired man holding one of the assault rifles. His eyes were wide with shock and fear and Sunset knew there was no chance of him getting out of this unscathed. Or even alive.

The wild man was upon him a matter of seconds and the rifle was knocked out of his hands, or so Sunset thought. As the rifle clattered to the floor near them, the man’s right hand was still clutching the weapon’s grip, though the wrist ended in a bloody stump, spilling blood all across the already grimey floor.

Screams and tearing flesh echoed out around them and Sunset pressed her hands to her ears, trying to drown them out. Her heart pounded in her ears and her breathing got heavier and heavier. She felt she was going to pass out any second. She just wanted it all to end. She had tuned out everything else until two hands grasped her shoulders and shook her roughly.

“...set! Sunset!” Father’s Coffee’s voice phased into her ears. “Come on. He’s gone. He’s gone.”

She inched an eye open, then dropped her hands from her ears and listened out. There was not a sound to be heard besides their own breaths.

“Hmm…” Prenchie hummed to herself and darted her eyes around the room. Then she pushed the door open and walked out. “Coast is clear.”

“Man, what the sheep did we just let out?” Father’s Coffee pulled at her pink beanie. “That was no human.”

“Non.” Prenchie shook her head and pointed to the floor. “Definitely not.”

The floor was now caked in fresh blood and the three bodies, those of the two women and the man, were literally torn to shreds. Sunset couldn’t even see their faces anymore and what was left of them were scattered everywhere, with blood covering almost every portion of the room, even the TV. There were guts strewn across the crates, a small intestine hanging over one like a long worm. An arm was sticking out from under the table and it was missing every finger except the middle finger, which looked to be flipping them off even in death. Half a breast sat against the wall, the nipple still fully visible and covered in blood, and Sunset was sure there were a few eyeballs as well, close beside it. The sight and stench was too much for her and she ran to the corner and threw up her breakfast, spitting everything onto the floor in a brownish sludge.

“Petite Sunny, you okay there?” Prenchie came over and patted her back.

Sunset heaved again and shook her head. Something shiny caught her eyes on the side. She wiped at her eyes and nose and looked. When her vision was clear enough, she noticed it was a syringe. No, a stack of discarded syringes, just lying on the floor, all used up.

“H-Hey…” Sunset wiped her mouth with the back of a hand. “Look. Might be the Hold X…”

Prenchie squeezed past her and bent down to pick up one syringe. “Don’t tell me they’ve been using these, then? On what?”

“Might be that little friend of ours.” Coffee pointed to the entryway. “Look what he did to all these people. This isn’t human. They must’ve been pumping him with this Hold X.”

“But why? What would they do this for?” Sunset said groggily.

“Anything else about these people?” Father’s Coffee looked around the bloodstained room for anything she could find.

“Too much mess to determine.” Prenchie shook her head. “But I would say this must be an insurgent cell. The thing is… what is Z-Truck doing with them?”

Sunset wiped at her face again, then looked around. The dim lights and stacks of weapons and goods surely looked like a place terrorists would hang out in, at least according to the movies. She’d never actually met any terrorists in her life, thankfully.

“Here, I got something.” Prenchie held out a tattered portion of what used to be a shirt. It had an emblem on it, which was a sun. It was partially torn on the right side, but there was still enough of it to determine the sun image. “Must be the Celestial Unified Totalitarian Army. Only ones I can think of with Easterners and this.”

“Is, uh, is that a problem?” Sunset asked.

“They aim to destabilize governments, which in this case, they’ll be up against Vogel and Canterlot. But if Z-Truck has been giving them the Hold X… It might not be as simple as that.”

“You don’t think Vogel is creating… supervillains to fight them?” Sunset gulped. It didn’t sound good. “Do you…?”

The other two women looked at each other. “We need to find that man before Vogel does. Perhaps we can get what we need out of him.”

Sunset didn’t like the sound of that. She didn’t like it at all.