Diamond's Evil Journey

Leon and Diamond exited a door to find themselves outside. Ahead was a bridge that led to a tower. They took a few steps towards the bridge but stopped when Leon received a call on his communicator. He took it out to see Salazar “Greetings Mr. Kennedy, it seems that you've lost someone. But don't worry, I'll make sure she's taken care of.” he said.

Leon growled at him “If you hurt her I promise you'll regret it.” he threatened.

“That's assuming that you'll make it this far, which isn't very likely.” Salazar said.

Leon quickly took out his binoculars and started scanning the tower ahead. He didn't see him so he turned his attention to a building to the right. He saw Salazar and his body guards leading a bound Ashley into the building.

He lowered the binoculars “Dammit!” he cursed.

“What is it?” diamond asked.

“Salazar already has Ashley, come on we have to save her.” he said before they started crossing the bridge.

Once they got halfway across someone saw them from the outside of the tower. He turned and yelled something. Leon turned to the right and saw a few catapults on a high cliff. Suddenly flaming boulders were launched at them.

They rolled out of the way causing the boulder to shatter against the bridge. Leon took one more glance at the catapults before turning to diamond “I can't get a good shot from here. We have to get higher.” he said. Diamond nodded and they hurried to the tower. The door was barred shut so instead they ran up a staircase around the side of the tower.

Once they were up they saw three guards in front of them and one to the right. Leon was about to reach for his handgun but Diamond stopped him “Stop those catapults, I'll handle these ones.” she said.

Leon nodded before running to the left. He took his knife out and slit the guard's throat on his way past. Diamond faced the three men wielding scythes. One ran up to her and tried an attack but she put a bullet into his head before he could. The other two attacked from two different angles. She jumped over the first attack and ducked under the next.

She ran behind one of them and punched him in the leg to get him to kneel. She then tackled him onto his stomach before she stabbed her knife into his head. The other guard raised his scythe for another attempt but Diamond quickly switched for her revolver and shot him in the head.

She then ran after Leon to check on him. Once she caught up to him she saw that he was waiting for her “They're taken care of.” he said. They then walked to the edge towards the next building. The noticed the lack of a bridge connecting to the tower.

Diamond sighed “If only I was born a pegasus, or even a unicorn.” she said.

Leon turned around and noticed a door to the inside of the tower “Let's investigate the tower. There might be a way to activate a bridge.” he said.

Diamond agreed and they entered the tower. Once inside they saw a mess of gears in the middle of the tower. Leon scanned the gears for a second “These gears have to do something. We need to find a way to activate them.” he said before turning to a ladder and starting to climb it.

Diamond spotted something among the gears “Wait, look!” she pointed at a wooden plank that was jammed between two gears “Why is that in there?” she asked.

Leon saw the wood and got off the ladder “That would stop the gears from turning. Whatever these gears activate, it's something Salazar doesn't want.” he said before shooting a bullet at the wood to shatter it “We should make sure that there are no more.” he said.

They headed up to the next floor and scanned for wood in the gears. Diamond smiled when she saw one. She took out her handgun and shattered it in one shot. They climbed another ladder to find themselves on the top floor. As they walked around the gears Leon found another wooden block and shot it out.

They then found a lever at the end of the path. Leon guessed that it would activate the gears and grabbed it “Let's hope we found all the blocks.” he said as he pulled it. To their relief the gears all started turning. The whole tower started shaking for a few seconds.

They looked over the edge to see guards entering from the bottom floor “I think we made them angry.” Leon said. He then spotted a few guards aiming crossbows at them. Leon and Diamond leaned away from edge as a few arrows flew past them.

“Keep your eyes on them.” leon warned.

Diamond glanced down at her bandaged leg “Trust me, I do not want to be hit by another one of those.” she said.

Leon peeked over the edge with his rifle. He shot a bullet into the head of one of the archers before backing into cover again. One the archers climbed the ladder to the top floor and aimed at them. He fired two bolts at them but luckily he missed.

Diamond shot him in the leg causing him to lose balance and fall down to the bottom floor. Leon leaned over the edge again and killed another archer. He then scanned the area but didn't see any more archers “We should be clear now. Let's get down to the bottom floor.” he said.

Diamond agreed and they climbed down to the bottom without any interruptions. They started walking down the path but Leon stopped them when a stick of dynamite fell in their path from above. They both jumped backwards and allowed the dynamite to explode from a safe distance.

Leon looked up to see a guard on a higher floor take another stick of dynamite and start to light it. When he threw it down toward them Leon caught it and threw it back up at him to blow him to smithereens.

They ran down the path to the door but a group of three guards blocked their way. Leon took his shotgun out to blast two guards in one shot. Diamond then fired three revolver rounds into the last guard's chest.

They then ran out of the door to see a bridge leading to the building Salazar entered. Three guards approached them from the bridge carrying spiked shields and flails. Before they could even get close Leon tossed a frag grenade at them. The explosion blew them all off of the bridge.

Diamond gave a smirk “Almost too easy.” she said. After a couple steps forward, two doors on the building opened up four guards came out of each. Another came out of the main door carrying a rocket launcher. They heard the doors behind them slam open and turned around to see three more guards.

Leon readied himself “Hard enough for you?” he asked.

Diamond rolled her eyes “Oh ha ha. Just come up with a plan to get us out of this.” she said.

Leon saw the guard with the rocket launcher ready himself to fire “Watch out!” he warned. The rocket flew towards them but they both stepped to the side to let it fly past. It exploded and killed the three guards behind them.

Leon then eyed the large amount of guards enter the bridge “We shouldn't fight in such a narrow space. We should just run past them.” he said. Diamond was about to ask how but stopped when Leon pulled out a flash grenade since she then understood the plan.

Leon tossed the flash grenade into the crowd and they covered their eyes as it went off. Diamond and Leon then ran through the crowd while pushing anyone in their way aside. They then opened the door to run in before closing and locking it behind them.

They then turned to look into the room and they sighed in annoyance at what they saw. Two blind prisoners waited and listened for any intruders. Diamond got Leon's attention and held up a hoof to communicate that she had a plan.

She sneaked past the two as quietly as she could and luckily they weren't able to hear her. After she got some distance behind them she waved to Leon to get his attention. She then stood on her hind legs to pretend to hold an imaginary rifle. Leon nodded in understanding and took his rifle in his hands.

Diamond lowered back down on four legs and smiled. She then took a deep breath “Hey, I thought you two were blind not deaf!” she taunted the the prisoners.

The prisoners extended their claws and turned around to charge the noise with muffled screams. As they got close to her Leon shot a bullet into one of their weak points causing him to fall limply to the floor. The other tripped over the body and fell onto the ground. Diamond decided to jump onto his back and stab her knife into his weak point.

The prisoner writhed in pain while trying to shake her off but she held on and finished him with one last stab. She then stepped off of him while Leon jogged up to her “That was pretty bold of you.” he said.

Diamond smiled up at him “I knew I was safe with you watching over me.” she said. They then continued through the next short hallway. They walked into the next room to see a throne room. Salazar was sitting on his throne while Ashley was on her knees to his left. On each side of her was one of Salazar's bodyguards holding a spear up to her throat.

When Leon saw this he started running up to her with diamond “Ashley!” he called. They stopped when Salazar spoke up “Ah ah ah.” he said while waving a finger in the air “I wouldn't come any closer if I were you. The girl might just get hurt.” he said.

Leon and Diamond stood on a rug in the middle of the room. Leon glared at him “Let Ashley go and we won't hurt you.” he offered.

Salazar scoffed at the offer “I don't know what gave you the idea that you are in a position to be making demands.” he said.

Diamond took a step forward “It's only a matter of time before we get her back. How about we just skip to the part where we kill you, it'll save a lot of time.” she said.

Salazar raised a hand “I don't think so miss Tiara, but I do like the idea of skipping to the end. Your end to be exact. Good bye.” he said before he slapped a button on his arm rest.

Suddenly the floor under Leon and Diamond opened up and they fell. Ashley gasped “Leon! Diamond! No!” she screamed.

As Leon fell he thought quickly. He threw out a grappling hook from his belt hoping it would catch onto the wall. He then reached a hand out to Diamond. Unluckily she was too far for him to reach as his grappling hook stopped his fall.

Diamond quickly took her knife in her teeth and jammed it into the wall as hard as she could. It stopped her descent and she just dangled from it. Leon looked down and saw that she was able to save herself. He breathed a sigh of relief and lowered himself to her so he could take her into his arms.

Back in the throne room Salazar was listening with a device but after a few seconds he raised an eyebrow “Hmm...where is the satisfying sound of one's impalement?” he wondered.

Back in the hole Leon spotted a mega-phone looking device and assumed Salazar was listening through that. He took his handgun out and shot at it.

Salazar winced as the loud noise caused his ears to ring. He growled in anger as he stood and stomped “That insolent little...” he turned to one of his bodyguards “I'm through playing games! Kill them! I want them dead!” he ordered.

The bodyguard nodded before leaving. Salazar started to leave as well “Come quickly! We shall prepare for the ritual right away!” he ordered.

The bodyguard stood Ashley up and pushed her to follow Salazar. Ashley smiled to herself “They're alive...thank god.” she said.

Leon slowly lowered himself and Diamond to the bottom. They found themselves in a dank cave with giant spikes in the middle. Once they were safely on the ground Leon got a call from Salazar “My patience with you grows thin. I've sent my right hand to dispose of you once and for all.” he said.

“Your right hand comes off?” he asked in a joking tone.

Salazar didn't look amused “Jokes won't be able to save you. You're as good as dead. You and the brat. I'm only sad I won't be able to do it myself.” he said before cutting the transmission.

Diamond glanced up and Leon “What do you think he meant by his right hand?” she asked.

Leon shrugged “I'm not sure but we're probably about to find out.” he said.

They then walked around to find a way out. After a few seconds they found the merchant standing next to a ladder “Ah welcome stranger, you too little one.” he greeted.

Leon raised an eyebrow “Did you somehow know that we would fall down here?” he asked.

“Coincidence.” he answered simply.

Diamond seemed convinced by that or she just didn't care “Well as long as you're here we should buy some more ammo and supplies.” she said.

The merchant smiled wide “Music to my ears.” he said.

Twilight and Luna stood together and talked as they watched over the mirror. Eventually Twilight covered her mouth with a hoof and yawned “I think I should rest, I wouldn't want to be too tired to teleport Diamond home. Should I get some of my friends to take over watching the mirror?” she asked.

Luna shook her head “We have no need to take a break, inform them that we only need one.” she said.

Before Twilight could do as she asked, Celestia walked into the room “Actually, maybe you should get a replacement for Luna as well. I would like to have a talk with her in private.” she said.

Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister but Twilight walked off with the mirror to inform her friends. Celestia started walking with Luna following behind. Once they were away from everyone else Celestia turned to Luna “Sister, I couldn't help but notice that you've taken quite an interest in this situation regarding Diamond Tiara. Is there a reason for it?” she asked.

Luna eyed Celestia suspiciously “Is there a reason that we should not have an interest? Is it not our job to assure the well being of our ponies?” she questioned.

Celestia tried to calm her down with a gentle smile “Luna, I've known you for far too long to not know when you're trying to hide something.” she said.

Luna seemed caught off guard by that but collected herself quickly “I see...so thou hast noticed.” she said.

Celestia walked to her sister's side and pulled her into a side hug “You know that I trust you, so why would you try to keep something from me? What is it that you felt you needed to keep to yourself?” she asked. Luna glanced down at the floor in thought. After a few seconds of silence Celestia spoke up again “Does it have to do with Diamond Tiara?” she asked.

Luna pondered for a moment before nodded “It does.” she said simply.

“Is it an idea of how we could bring her home safe?” Celestia guessed.

“No. We just have had an idea that we know thou wouldn't approve of.” Luna said.

“How do you know that I wouldn't approve if you don't tell me?” she questioned.

Luna thought for a moment before shaking her head “It won't matter unless Diamond Tiara survives, there might not be a reason for you to know.” she said.

Celestia seemed a bit worried about that “Then...will you tell me when she comes back?” she asked.

Luna turned to look at her sister before nodding “We shall inform all, if she survives.” she said.

Celestia nodded and was about to speak up again until one of her guards walked up to them “Please excuse me for interrupting princesses, but we caught somepony trying to get inside the castle.” he said.

The princesses looked at each other with questioning looks before turning back to the guard “Who is this pony? Are they a threat?” Celestia asked.

The guard rubbed the back of his neck “Uh that's what I wanted to talk to you about. She's a filly. She said that her name is Silver Spoon and that she wanted to see Diamond Tiara. Me and the others don't know what to do with her.” he said.

Celestia and Luna shared shocked expressions until Celestia collected herself and cleared her throat “Just bring her here, we shall talk to her.” she said.

The guard seemed confused as to why they would want to talk to a filly but he didn't question it “Right away.” he said before walking off.

After about a minute he came back with a small gray filly following behind him. Celestia turned to look at the guard “Give us some privacy, I will call for you if I need you.” she said. The guard saluted before walking away.

Celestia then turned to look at the filly who seemed slightly scared. Silver backed away from the alicorn's gaze slightly “I'm sorry about trying to sneak in. I won't do it again I promise.” she apologized.

Celestia giggled and tried to calm the filly with a soft smile “I'm not angry with you my little pony.” she said.

Silver seemed to relax a bit “Y-you're not? Then why did you have your guards bring me to you?” she asked.

“I was curious as to why a filly who lived in Ponyville would be in Canterlot at this time of night.” Celestia said.

Luna nodded “And we heard that thou had mentioned Diamond Tiara to the guards. Why would you assume she was here?” she asked.

Silver touched her fore hooves together nervously “I overheard her father, Filthy Rich mention something about news about Diamond Tiara at Canterlot castle. I asked my parents to bring me but they wouldn't, so I waited for them to fall asleep so I could sneak out.” her face reddened slightly “I didn't really have a plan for when I got here.” she admitted.

Celestia took a step closer to her “What do you know about Diamond's situation?” she asked.

Silver hung her head “N-not much. I was with her when Twilight hit her with that spell, but I haven't heard anything about her since.” she said.

Luna turned to whisper into her sister's ear “Perhaps we should just send her home.” she suggested.

Unfortunately Silver was able to hear her “Wait, don't do that! Diamond Tiara is my best friend, I need to know if she's okay. Please tell me if you have any information.” she pleaded.

Celestia pondered for a few moments before turning her head to the guard who was standing across the room “Come here for a second.” she said.

The guard nodded and walked over to them “Did you have need of me?” he asked. Silver hung her head as she knew what Celestia was going to say.

Celestia used her magic to grab a quill and piece of paper and started to write “I would like you to fly to Ponyville to put this note on the door of the Spoon residence.” she said as she held the note out to the guard. He took it in his mouth and quickly left the room.

Silver Spoon seemed shocked that she didn't order him to take her home “Uh, what was on that note?” she asked.

“It's just to let them know that you will be safely in our care for tonight.” she said.

Silver smiled “So you will tell me about Diamond?” she asked.

Celestia nodded “I will, but I will warn you that her situation is not pretty.” she said.

Silver's smiled faded quickly “I-is she okay?” she asked.

Celestia thought of the best way to answer “She...she's alive. It'll be easier to explain the full story from the beginning. Afterwards you could even see her if you wanted.” she said.

Silver took a calming breath before sitting down to listen to the story.

After their encounter with the merchant Leon and Diamond climbed up a ladder to end up in a sewer-like path. As they walked through the filthy water they started to hear quick footsteps behind them. They quickly turned and took out their handguns but they saw nothing and the footsteps seemed to stop abruptly.

Leon lowered his gun but continued to scan the area “It's trying to mess with us, keep your guard up.” he said. They then continued forward while listening for anymore strange noises. Eventually they reached the end of the pathway and entered through the door.

They found themselves in another long hallway. There were grates under and over them. Along some of the walls were rusty pipes. After walked for a few seconds they saw that the path split ahead. The path to the left led to a door while ahead just continued on.

They suddenly heard the door behind them slam open. They turned around but couldn't see the door anymore due to the hall's curvy nature. They waited for a moment but nothing came for them. Leon glance to the nearby door then to Diamond “In here, quickly.” he ordered.

They ran into the door to find a small room with a few uninteresting electronics and an elevator shaft. Leon walked up to the controls for the elevator and tried to call it. After a few seconds of nothing happening Leon sighed “Damn it, no power.” he said.

Diamond frowned at the news “Is there anything we can do about that?” she asked.

Leon thought about that for a second “Maybe there's a way to get the power back on. Let's check some of the other rooms.” he said. They left the room and started walking down the winding path again.

Leon stopped when he started hearing scraping noises in the grate ceiling. Once the noises were directly above him his eyes shot open wide “Get down!” he warned and he crouched. Right at that moment a tail-like thing with a bladed end came down to swipe at him. Once it missed it retreated back into the ceiling.

Diamond frantically searched for it in the ceiling but it was too dark to see anything “Where the hay did it go?” she asked.

Leon stood up and saw another split in the path ahead “We're sitting ducks here, come on!” he said.

They ran and entered the next room to see a relatively empty room with the only notable thing being a large red canister in the corner. Leon looked up to see that the grate ceiling continued into that room. Once he heard the creature above him he dodged as the tail shot down towards him again.

They then ran back out of the room and down the path until the hit the end to see one last room. Once they entered Leon dodged another attack from the creature's tail before continuing into the room.

In the middle room was a square fence protecting some kind of machine. They ran past it to the back of the room where they saw a white metal box on the wall with a lever. Leon stopped by it “Looks like a power unit, this is what we're looking for.” he said before pulling the lever.

The doorway to the room they were in suddenly blocked by a shutter door “Please wait approximately four minutes for the elevator to arrive.” said a robotic voice over some kind of speaker system.

“Four minutes?” Diamond complained. They then ran back to the door to see the shutter door blocking their way. Leon tried using a control panel next to it to get it open but nothing was working “What's the problem?” Diamond questioned.

Leon growled in frustration “It must be closed for safety, hopefully it doesn't stay closed for too long.” he said.

Diamond scoffed “Safety? I can't think of anything less safe then being trapped in this room right now.” she said.

Suddenly something dropped from the ceiling near them. They turned to see Salazar's right hand. It was a insect-like creature with long claws and an exoskeleton that resembled steel. It stared at them with glowing orange eyes.

It had them cornered so Leon tried to think of a way past him. Suddenly Diamond jumped onto it and climbed onto it's head. She started attacking it which seemed to be pissing it off more then hurting it “What are you doing Leon? Get past it!” she shouted.

Leon snapped himself out of his shock and ran past the distracted right hand. It then wrapped it's tail around Diamond's body and tossed her off of it's head. Luckily Leon was in position to catch her. He set her down before taking his handgun out. Diamond did the same and they opened fire on it.

The bullets didn't seem to be penetrating it's hard exoskeleton and it continued walking towards them. Diamond turned to Leon with a worried expression “It doesn't seem to care that we're shooting it. What now?” she asked.

“Run!” he shouted before they both turned and ran back into the room. The right hand ran after them and Leon tried to think of some way to slow it down. He gained an idea when he saw a large red canister that they were about to pass.

Once they were a fair distance away from the canister, Leon turned and fired a bullet at it. It connected right when the right hand ran past it. Suddenly liquid nitrogen started spraying all over the creature. It writhed in pain as the extreme cold started to quickly cover it in a layer of ice.

Once the liquid nitrogen ran empty the right hand was left trying to fight through the extreme cold to purse Leon and Diamond. Leon fired a bullet at it and the bullet was able to pierce the exoskeleton. It stumbled back a bit from the pain.

Leon glanced at Diamond “The cold seemed to of weakened it. Let him have it!” he said. They both sunk as many bullets into it as they could. Eventually the right hand was able to break out of all of the ice and it's exoskeleton's strength returned. Leon's and Diamond's were doing little to nothing to it once again.

Then they heard a beep and the shutter door open. Leon and Diamond turned to each other and smiled. The right hand charged them and tried to take a swipe at Leon with it's claws while also trying to stab Diamond with it's tail.

Leon rolled to the left and ran past it while Diamond just sidestepped the tail before running under it's legs. They sprinted out of the door and continued towards the room with the elevator shaft. As they ran they heard the scraping sound from above them. Leon saw the tail shoot out towards him and he stopped to dodge with a back flip.

The right hand then broke through the grate and landed in front of them. Leon noticed that it just happened to land next to another large red canister. He quickly shot it to douse the right hand in more liquid nitrogen. It was quickly once again covered ice. Leon and Diamond started firing on it again but it wasn't very long before it shook off the ice and returned to normal.

Diamond growled at it “This thing is durable.” she said in anger.

“It shouldn't be able to take much more, try to find more canisters.” Leon said. He then ran towards the right hand. It throw a claw at him but he ducked under the attack before Leon shoulder checked it. He struggled the move the heavy creature but was able to push it against the wall. Diamond used that to run past the creature. Leon took off after her before the right hand could retaliate.

They ran until they reached the elevator room and saw that the elevator hadn't arrived yet. Diamond glared at it “How has four minutes not passed yet?” she asked in an angry tone.

Leon turned to see another canister next to the door “We can still buy more time.” he said while pointing to it. The door then was broken off it's hinges and the right hand stood menacingly behind it. When it took a step into the room Leon shot the canister to give it another dose of liquid nitrogen.

Once ice covered it's body again, Leon decided to swap his handgun for his rifle. Diamond continued firing at the creature to keep it at bay. Leon aimed between it's eyes and fired. The bullet pierced straight through it's head. With that the right hand fell to it's knees before limply falling forward.

Leon and Diamond took a moment to take a calming breath while they could. They then heard a ding behind them. They turned to see that the elevator had just arrived. Diamond face hoofed “Great timing.” she said sarcastically. They then walked into the elevator and it took them down.