Part 3: Creative Planning

Part 3

Chapter 12: Creative Planning

Earl's arms continually shook as he inched along the extensive hallways of the complex, his hands wrapped around the shotgun nervously. His strides were slow and confident, like those of a lion stalking it's prey. He kept his head low and allowed his eyes to scan each hallway freely as his companions followed close-by. Shining and Macintosh remained silent as they followed the twitching human in front of them, their sisters close behind, clutching their weapons nervously. Earl's eyes continued darting around the hallways as they walked, his mind trying to piece together a plan. They had the weapons, and the portal was probably still open, it was just a matter of getting there, and out of this oppressive hell-hole.

It only took a few minutes for the human's thoughts to come together into a plan, and a small grin appeared on his face as he stopped dead in his tracks, extending his hand to signal his companions to stop as well.

"You got somethin'?" Macintosh asked, lowering the rifle in his hands.

Shining lowered his weapon as well and waited for the human's next words.

Earl paused for a moment, passing the shotgun to his opposite hand and letting it fall to his shoulder. His mouth was hanging open, but the words weren't ready to escape yet.

"We need... to find one of them..." Earl said halfheartedly, still trying to piece together the rest of his sentence.

Shining Armor paused and raised an eyebrow.

"We need to find one of the humans trying to kill us?" He asked, his voice hushed.

Earl nodded.

"We need to find a car. They'd know where one is." He replied.

Instantly, all of the recently-humanized equines raised an eyebrow, causing Earl to sigh.

"It's like... a car... four wheels. Goes places? Y'know? Vroom vroom?" He said.

His companions replied with blank stares. Earl sighed quietly and allowed his face to fall into his palm.

"It will help us get back faster, so we don't have to walk." He said after a few moments.

"Well, ah reckon if it'll get us back, might as well give it a shot. What do you need us to do?" Macintosh asked, propping the M4 back into his shoulder.

Earl paused for a moment. He had thought out the result of a plan, but not the plan itself. After sifting through the possibilities in his head for several seconds, he looked to Twilight, who was nervously gripping her matte-black pistol.

"Hey, babe?" he asked quietly.

Twilight snapped her head up, slightly startled by his calling.

"Can I see that for a second?" He asked gently.

The purple-haired girl nodded and extended her arms, presenting the weapon to him. After gratefully taking it, he gave her a warm smile and glanced to his left, where a hallway was branching off. He pointed his finger in the direction of the wall.

"I need you guys behind there, quick." He said.

Shining nodded and cautiously made his way across the corridor to the branching hallway, and crouched beside the wall, Macintosh and Applejack following close behind. Twilight stayed however, and gave Earl a quizzical look.

"What are you doing?" She asked, looking at the pistol in his hands.

"Trust me." He replied softly.

Trust. Again it had been brought up in their relationship. Everything they had was based on it, and Twilight had grown to trust the human's actions more and more over the five years they've been together. She gave a firm nod and hurriedly made her way over to her brother, who was crouched beside the wall.

After making sure his companions were safely behind cover, he closed his eyes and aimed the weapon upwards.

Please work... Just for once, one of my plans not fuck everything up. He thought, wincing at the thought of other plans from the past.

Without any further thought, he fired the weapon twice. The shots echoed through the halls for a moment before returning to silence. Earl held his eyes shut tightly as he waited for what would come next. As planned however, voices rang down the hallway within seconds.

"Over here!" One sounded.

"Think we should call it in?" Another said, slightly further away.

"Fuck that. I want the glory of killing this asshole."

"Whatever man, you're dead if you let him slip."

The sound of a gun cocking quickly echoed throughout the hallways as well.

"I never let em' slip." The voice said.

Earl twitched in anger once more and quickly sprinted over to the wall his friends were lined up against. Shining and Mac readied their weapons as Earl passed the pistol back to Twilight. He put his hand atop Shining's gun and lowered it gently however. The blue-haired man shot him a quizzical look, but Earl replied by placing an index finger to his own lips, signalling silence. Before Shining could say another word, Earl stood up from his crouched position and brought his shotgun upwards, his hands wrapped around the barrel and the stock facing upwards.

He tightened his grip on the shotgun in his hands as footsteps began quietly making their way down the corridor, readying it for an attack, just as two soldiers began making their way past the corner.

"You think he's got those two bitches with him-?" One of the soldiers began.

The man was briskly cut off by Earl's shotgun stock meeting his face at high velocity. Instantly, a flow of blood escaped the guard's lips as his body was sent to the floor, his sentence cut short. His companion was surprised and caught off guard by Earl's attack and quickly fumbled with the weapon slung around his shoulder, trying to ready it. Before it could be done however, Earl sent a swift kick to his midsection, throwing him against the wall.

At first, the soldier was dazed, but came back to his senses just as Earl approached him. The recently-dazed soldier quickly charged towards Earl, who swung the shotgun once more. It met with the soldier's jaw, instantly shattering it and sending his head flying sideways at a sickening speed.

Shining and Mac exchanged nervous glances at the sounds of fighting just down the hallway, but their questions were soon answered as Earl dragged the two unconscious bodies down the hallway and in front of them, his shotgun resting on the chest of the soldier with the shattered jaw. Earl let out a lengthy sigh and panted for a moment, trying to catch his breath after the battle. After successfully regaining his breath, he retrieved his shotgun from the soldier's chest and continued dragging that body into a nearby room, leaving the other one in front of Macintosh and Shining as they stared at in disbelief.

"Just... watch him... I'll deal with this one..." Earl said in an exhausted tone as he dragged the unconscious soldier with a shattered jaw.

"Uhh... Right." Shining replied awkwardly, not breaking eye-contact with the soldier lying in front of him.

* * *

"Hey. Bud? Wake up, man." Earl said as he tapped the makeshift bayonet of his shotgun against the unconscious shoulder's face.

After a few seconds, the soldier groggily opened his eyes. They instantly went wide as the shining blade in front of him brushed across his throat.

"There wasn't two bitches with me..." Earl said, growing a smirk. "But there is now."

The soldier scowled and opened his jaw to speak, but instantly screamed in pain on his attempt.

"Well don't do that, dumbass. Your jaw is probably in a million fucking pieces." Earl said, taunting the soldier as blood rolled from his lips.

"Fuck you man!" The soldier said, his voice accented by the blood and broken bones.

Earl simply shook his head and chuckled.

"Annnnnd you keep talking...I'll never understand my own species." He said, pressing the knife against the soldier's throat harder.

"Tell me where you keep the vehicles and I'll make this painless." Earl continued.

The soldier gave no response, but simply spit at Earl, causing a spray of blood to paint his shirt, adding to the massive amount of the red substance already splattered across it.

"So... you're not going to tell me." He replied, narrowing his eyebrows.

"Piss off..." The soldier replied.

Earl sighed and drew his shotgun back.

"I was really hoping it wouldn't have to come to this, man." Earl said, withdrawing the bright orange flare gun from his pocket.

The soldier let out a pained chuckle.

"W-What are you gonna do? Signal m-me to death?" He said.

Earl scowled and leaned down, holding the weapon firmly in his left hand. He wrapped his right hand around the soldier's jaw and ripped his mouth open, causing the man to howl in agonizing pain as his bones were further shattered. Before the cry of pain could end however, Earl shoved the end of the flare gun in his bloodied mouth.

"No. I'm setting an example for your fuck-wit friend." He replied.

Then pulled the trigger.