Anonymous in Nu-Questria 2

You found the ponies.

But what now?

The four mares are sitting in a tight group near the entryway plaza. They are guarded by three creatures of varying sizes and shapes. Hitch is strangely absent.

Somehow they must have gotten caught. Individual ambushes set up for every group. They must have planned this.

You’re crouched behind a pillar by the side of the courtyard. There’s a healthy thicket of bushes around it, so you feel pretty obscured. You’ve been able to get a good look at them from here at least.

Zipp and Pipp have their wings tied to their barrels with nylon rope. Sunny and Izzy seem fine, although they are clearly anxious. None of them appear to be hurt. At least, not yet.

If any of these fuckers starts handling them like that cat back there, then you’re not sure what you’ll do.

You count the bullets in the cylinder of the gun. There’s five cartridges. One of them were already fired. That leaves only three bullets.

Three bullets. Three heads. Math checks out.

You just need a plan.

You take another look at the gang members and think.

One of them is big. About six and a half feet tall. He looks like another cat. He seems to be the one in charge from how he’s just standing with his arms folded as he watches the others. His back is turned to you.

Another one is a svelte-looking lizard creature of some sort. You think you saw something like it before in Kludgetown once. It has pale green scales that cover its body, and it holds a long rifle in its claws, and it looks like a lever-action design.

There’s another one with a rifle as well. It’s short and squat dog. Not a diamond dog, just a weird bipedal dog. It has a face like a pug with bulging eyes. Its claws are barely long enough to hold the bolt-action rifle it carries. It waddles around on stubby little legs.

All of them wear dirty, dark-gray trench coats. You notice they have some sort of patch sewn into the front. It looks like a dragon skull stitched in black thread. Definitely the symbol of some sort of shady organization.

You’re itching to blast these assholes away, but you’re not sure how well you trust the sights on this revolver. They looks like they were carved by hand.

No, assaulting from a distance won’t work. You can’t risk missing.

You turn the revolver over in your hand. Your thumb tenses on the hammer, but you don’t pull it back. Not yet.

There’s something tugging at you in the back of your mind as you try to visualize the act you’re about to commit.

It makes you hesitate, and you know why.

Sunny.

Her words echo in your mind. “All these different creatures were able to come together and become friends.” You think of her touching that stupid button.

That’s the kind of world she hopes for, well... welcome to creature-filled Equestria, Sunny. Full of brutal carnivores that don’t give a shit about your pony values.

And yet... do you really want to be the one to show her what it really means? Will she ever look at you the same, once you’ve killed?

You shudder and shake the thoughts out of your head.

No. That doesn’t matter right now. It’s either us or them, and you’re not waiting around to see what they do.

You have to act.

You slowly move your head around the pillar, but your eyes widen surprise.

Izzy is staring straight at you from the center of the group.

You stare back. All she can see is your eyes and the top of your head. You shake your head slowly at her.

Suddenly, you see her stupid face light up in a small grin. Fuck.

You duck behind the pillar.

“Hey guys, uh...” Izzy says loudly.

“Shut up, pony!” A gruff voice snarls. You glace back to see that the tiger creature is gesturing at Izzy with his open claws.

“Yeah. Well, uh, I need to pee. Will you let me do that at least?” Izzy says.

“No!” The short dog says in a shrill voice. “You hold it!”

Izzy lets out a long breath through her flapping pony lips and tilts her head.

“Okay, well. I have been holding it. Since before you guys even showed up! So...” Izzy says.

Sunny glances nervously at Izzy. Zipp is staring into the distance with a serious but calm expression. Pipp is beside her, her mane is mussed up and she looks miserable, especially with the absence of her phone.

The lizard creature facepalms. “Ugh.” It says in a feminine-yet-crass voice. “Just go in the bushes then. Pugly, go take her.”

The lizard creature gestures at the squat little dog thing, who’s name is apparently Pugly. “Fine!” He says and then points his gun towards Izzy.

“Go, pony!” He barks.

Izzy perks her ears up and grins smugly.

“Why thank you, good sir.” She says politely and starts casually walking towards your hiding place.

Fuck.

You shrink down to the ground. You press your body close to the layer of leaves from the thicket, trying to make your body as hidden as possible.

Just in case, you hold your firearm level to the ground.

You hear hoofsteps approach. They are accompanied by paw pads hitting the grass. Then you hear Izzy stomping clumsily through the bushes.

“Slow down!” The dog cries out in a frenzied voice.

“Hey!” Izzy says, stopping in the bushes somewhere. “I can’t go with you watching! Look away!”

The creature groans in response. “No, no! Pony goes, I watch. Heheh.” He says.

What a creep...

Izzy, however, doesn’t seem to mind. You hear her go further into the bushes. Then suddenly you see her familiar white horn breach the surface of leaves.

Her big, dumb, lavender face leans out towards you.

You quickly make a motion of zipping your mouth closed.

She nods. She then mouths the words “Hello!”

You mutter under your breath, “Izzy, I need you to do something for me...”

She smiles and says quietly, “Do you want to come with us? We’re going with our new friends to see their boss!”

You shake your head and grit your teeth.

“No. Where is Hitch?” You say in a harsh whisper.

“I dunno. Zipp said he ran away.” Izzy says.

Then you hear it, a distinct sound of fluid hitting the ground. Izzy has started to piss while looking straight at you.

You see the faintest of blush under her rosy lavender cheeks. Her smile widens in relief. Then she sees you cringing in disgust, and her eyebrows furrow.

“What?” She says. “I really did need to go.”

You slowly crawl a few inches away from the bush.

“Listen, Izzy. These people are bad. Bad guys, okay? They’re going to hurt you and the others!” You hiss at her.

“Hey! What you doing? I can’t see you!” The goat thing yells.

Izzy raises her head up out of the top of the bush and looks back.

“Uh, almost done!” She says. “C-Can’t a mare get some privacy? Heh...”

Truth be told she is indeed almost done urinating. You are running out of time....

“Izzy, do a spell on this guy. Take him out!” You whisper loudly.

Izzy pokes her muzzle through the leaves once more. “What? But Sunny says we need to be friends!” She whispers.

“That doesn’t matter, just do it! Please!” You whisper loudly.

Your plea falls upon Izzy’s ears as she finishes up. Her mouth curls in uncertainty.

Then she just says, “Anon, go find Hitch! He’ll know what to do.”

Her muzzle disappears as she starts to stand up. She shakes her flank and flips her tail, rustling the bushes as she does. She then turns and starts bounding back towards the group.

“La la la!” She sings.

Dammit!

You hear her clear the thicket and start trotting away. You press your hands to the ground and think about making a move.

“Slow down, pony!” The dog complains.

You push yourself up and look out over the bushes carefully.

The creature is turning around as Izzy walks over to the group of mares.

“Ah! I feel much better now.” She says exuberantly. Sunny and the others all look relieved just to see her returning.

You raise up to your knees and steady your gun arm. From here, you could probably shoot that dog. But then what?

Come to think of it, Hitch would probably be your best bet for a distraction. He has to be around somewhere, and you can make it to the south wing from here.

Yeah. Izzy’s right.

You begin to sneakily crawl away from the bushes.

Then suddenly you hear a gruff female voice say “Wait.”

You stop moving.

A few seconds go by. The wind is rustling in the trees high above the courtyard. There’s no way they see you under this heavy brush, right?

You hear some heavy footfalls coming your way. You quickly scramble, trying to make it to the row of pillars behind you.

It’s too late. The small, ten eyes of the creature crest the top of the bushes and the lizard female sees you.

“I knew I saw another heat sign! Over here!” She says.

Fuck! Well, no use in hiding now! You scramble to your feet and quickly dash to the pillar behind you.

“Stop running!”

You hear the action of the rifle as it chambers a round.

There’s a line of young trees by the pillar. You leap towards them and pull yourself forward by grabbing onto the small trunks.

There’s an explosion of splinters as the tree trunk right near your head explodes.

God dammit!

You shoulder through the trees quickly. Young twigs snap against your chest and scrape at your shirt. You manage to make your way through and then press your back up to the pillar. You are concealed now.

There’s another loud report as the rifle fires once again. You don’t see where the bullet goes, but you hear it whiz by you at a lethal velocity.

“Come out! Drop the gun!” She screams.

Nah. Not today, you crusty bitch.

You turn back the hammer on your revolver. You raise up the heavy iron frame with two hands. You wait a second, steeling your resolve.

Just turn out and fire. Just turn and fire. Don’t think.

You finger gingerly touches the trigger.

Then, with one swift movement you lean out from behind your cover and aim at the bushes you were just previously at.

You immediately see a lizard creature being strangled by her own rifle frame. It’s enveloped in a bright fuchsia aura. She manages to get out a “Gk! Help!” as she struggles.

Izzy stands a few feet from the creature, her horn shining bright.

You hear another rifle go off. You see the amber muzzle flash pointed up in the air. “Enough. Stop doing this! Now!” The dog shrieks. He waves his rifle around.

“I will shoot- AUGH!” The dog says before he is suddenly tackled to the ground by Sunny.

Zipp flies at the tiger and delivers a powerful kick to his stomach. She springs back and takes to the air. Her unrestrained wings spread to their full width.

Holy shit!

“I won’t let you hurt him!” Izzy shouts. The lizard is still wrestling at the rifle and trying to shake herself free.

You duck out of the trees and take a few steps forward. You have a clear shot now, but just as you start to draw a bead, you see the creature pry its long snout free of the rifle stock and drop down to the grass.

For a moment you lose her, then you see her springing forward with a terrifyingly hateful glare in her eyes.

Her muzzle opens wide. Her teeth are nothing but rows of sawtooth blades dripping with spit. Her muzzle has a line of pink grooves embedded on it. Infrared sensing glands. Clever girl. Now let’s see if you’re bulletproof.

You stare her dead in the eyes and pull the trigger.

Click.

You expected the gun to buck hard. You expected a thunderous bang. The round didn’t fucking go off! Shit! Shit!

A twinge of panic shoots down your spine as you turn back the hammer with your other hand. The cylinder moves to the next bullet, but the creature is getting closer and closer to you.

“STOOOP!!” Sunny yells at the top of her lungs.

The lizard creature is quickly enveloped in a bright pink glow and lifted off the ground. Her intense expression disappears.

You raise up the gun up again as you assess the situation.

Sunny is looking at you and Izzy in a panic. The dog creature is rubbing his head as he slowly picks up his rifle again.

The tiger is holding Pipp in his big, meaty paws. He has one long, yellowed claw pressed up to her neck, threatening to pierce into her perfect pink coat.

Zipp is standing firm a few yards away with her wings splayed out menacingly.

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” She yells.

Sunny turns back. “Zipp! Stand down!” She shouts.

“You better listen to her, birdie. I’ll do it.” The tiger says with a low growl.

You glance around at the creatures, unsure what to do.

Izzy is still holding the lizard in her telekinetic grip. She is approached from behind by the dog creature.

“Put her down!” The creature shouts as he pokes his rifle against her barrel.

Izzy looks at Sunny, who nods at her in response. She then levitates the lizard thing over towards the dog and drops her on the ground.

The tiger nods, but his distinctively feline face retains a snarl. Sunny and Zipp seem to relax a bit.

“Good.” The tiger creature says in a deep, intimidating voice. “Don’t make any wrong moves, now.”

You decide that the situation is fucked. You raise your hands up slowly.

The tiger’s eyes cut to you.

He snarls. “Now you. Drop the gun, or I’ll send her to Tartarus.”

Nothing you can do now unless you want Pipp to die a horrific death. Slowly you lower your arm and drop the firearm on the ground.

Suddenly, there’s a crash from the west side of the courtyard.

The tiger creature points his ears and slowly glances that way. His grip on Pipp stays firm.

There’s another thud. Another crash.

“What the...?” The tiger says.

“You! Unicorn! Stop doing this magic!” The squat little dog yells at Izzy.

Izzy scoffs. “I’m not doing that!” She says, turning up her snout.

You look over to the treeline in the distance. You squint your eyes. After a few seconds, you see another tree trunk shake. There’s another loud thud sound.

What the... fuck?

You see the form of another creature appear from the treeline. The all-black cat creature from the northwest wing is sprinting in a ragged fashion and nearly out of breath.

“Nails! What’s going on?!” The tiger yells.

“Run!” He cries out in response.

“What?!” The tiger cries out.

From the depths of the forest, there arises a glorious sight. Some might say, even divine. You have never been this happy to lay eyes on the one and only Hitch Trailblazer as he expertly rides a humongous fifteen foot cragadile out of the wild patch of trees.

“Hee yaw!!” Hitch shouts. The cragadile stomps forward on its massive feet and slams its tail into a tree, making it quake and shudder with a resounding thwack.

Hitch had fashioned some improvised reigns out of vines and tree branches. He holds it taut in his forehooves as his hind legs firmly grip the rocky hide of the beast’s back. There’s a look of daring bravado on his face as he guides the beast towards you all.

“Shoot that thing! Now!” The tiger beast yells in a hurried voice.

The dog aims his weapon. The lizard thing quickly dives for her rifle hidden in the bushes.

“Uh oh.” Hitch says and dives off the back of the cragadile. He tucks and rolls on the ground behind the beast.

A moment later the rifle of Pugly goes off with a loud crack. The bullet ricochets harmlessly off the thick stone scales, not even leaving a scratch. The cragadile continues rampaging and flinging its tail around.

Well, that’s a good distraction. Time to get the fuck out!

You ignore the lizard creature rummaging frantically in the bushes for her rifle and sprint towards Izzy.

“Izzy!” You yell. She looks back at you.

“Pillow him!” You shout, pointing at the tiger creature.

Izzy’s face lights up, both from her sudden smile and her horn glowing.

The tiger begins to run from the cragadile, and you see his fearful eyes for a moment before a huge, fluffy, blue pillow materializes in his face.

“Gah!” He shouts with a face full of fluff. He shakes his head and sputters.

“Everypony!” Sunny shouts.

There’s another explosion. The lizard creature sends a round that tumbles in a spiral off the side of the cragadile’s heavy hide. The cragadile gets ever closer and winds up its powerful tail.

“Get to the cargo elevator! Now!” Sunny yells.

She starts galloping away as the cragadile smashes its thick, stone-covered tail directly into into the back of the tiger. The tiger’s back bends forward with a disgusting crack. His claws loosen, and Pipp is launched from his arms.

“Oh shit!” You shout. “Izzy, quick-” You start.

However, you are interrupted by a white blur streaking by and grabbing her midair. Zipp holds her sister in her hooves effortlessly. With a few powerful flaps of her wings, she carries her away from the rampaging reptile.

“Nevermind!” You shout.

You then sprint as hard as you can along with Sunny, Izzy, Zipp and Pipp towards the stern of the airship.

Your heart is pounding. There’s sounds of grunts and screams of agony from behind you. Hitch is shouting in a weirdly cheerful voice. “Get ‘em girl! Show them what that tail can do! Yeah!”

You glance behind to see the creatures getting thrown around by Hitch’s new animal deputy.

Sunny stops a few yards from the cargo elevator. You stop with her.
Zipp deposits Pipp onto the cargo elevator. She waves a hoof at Izzy, who runs over quickly and crowds onto the bin next to Pipp.

“Hitch! Come on!” Sunny yells at the top of her lungs.

Zipp flies up to start the winch. You shout at the stallion as well, “Hitch!”

The creatures are either running away or writhing on the ground in pain. Hitch, who was watching all of this unfold, suddenly turns to you and Sunny.

He throws his head back and lets out a heroic laugh. He starts to trot your way, but yells over his shoulder, “Thank you for your help, ma’am! Equestria will remember you!”

The apparently female cragadile stops for a moment and lets out a happy growl. Her tail sways slowly from side to side, as if she heard what Hitch said.

Damn, he even has a way with those animals just like Flutters did...

It almost hurts just how amazing he is.

Your shoulders slump. Sunny waves Hitch forward as you hear the elevator winch above you clunk to a stop.

Sunny meets Hitch half way on his victory procession back to the ship. His mane is still perfectly quaffed. His smile is bright and proud. The world trembles before him.

Then a creature leaps out of the bushes behind Hitch. It’s the black cat from before, and he’s holding a rifle in his claws.

“Hitch! Look out!” Sunny shouts.

“Won’t be that easy, you dumb ponies!” The cat shouts, pointing the rifle directly at Hitch as he chambers a fresh round.

You are frozen. You know it’s too late. No cover to hide behind. No way to push Hitch out of the way. Time almost seems to progress in slow motion at you see the creature squeeze the trigger of the rifle, and his bruised face twists into one of psychotic rage.

“No!” Is all you hear Sunny shout before the bang.

You clench your eyes as you hear the rifle go off. You feel the sound rumble in your chest. You know when you open your eyes, you will see death.

You slowly open your eyes, but what greets them is not the red of blood. Instead, you see a bright and shimmering golden light that seems to pervade the air. All things, the bushes, the grass, the trees, the ponies and the creatures are coated in metallic glaze. The bullet intended for Hitch’s skull is curving away from him in slow motion, and the metal is heating up with a white-hot glow as the fabric of reality is bent towards the singular task.

Sunny’s horn and wings shine forth boldly. Just like the picture you saw, they are ethereal and translucent. Her mane is lifted up from the arcane energy coursing through her, and there’s a rainbow streak running down it.

You have never been this happy to see an alicorn in all your life.

A moment later, the spell ends, and the bullet zips harmlessly into the soil. Sunny pants, the ethereal set of alicorn appendages fade a bit, but don’t disappear.

The cat is standing in absolute shock. His arms tremble and his mouth drops open.

“N-no it can’t be! That’s impossible!” He shouts.

“Oh yeah?” Sunny says. Her mouth pulls into a stoic smile, her eyes narrow and her horn sparks menacingly.

“Believe it.” She says.

A bolt from her horn zaps at the cat’s feet. He draws back, dropping the rifle which then clatters to the ground. He turns tail and begins to run with panicked whimpers escaping his throat.

All you can do is stare and grin.

Sunny turns to you. There’s confident look on her face beneath that golden horn. Hitch looks around with widened eyes.

“Woah! Sunny!” He says.

“Quick,” Sunny says. “To the ship!”

Hitch gallops towards the elevator as it finishes descending back to the ground.

You are still dazed by what just happened as Sunny walks up to you. “Go with him, Anon. I’ll protect you both.”

She turns and spread her wings. You notice that Sunny’s satchel is bulging outward a bit more than usual. There’s three distinct lumps in it still flickering with bits of magic energy.

You turn and swiftly follow Hitch onto the elevator, and it begins to rise.