Phoenix

Chapter 14

The two elements entered the lobby of the hospital with a very angry Redheat chastising them about causing such a ruckus and disturbing the patients with their entirely unnecessary chasing.

“Do you know how many complaints I received? Hospitals are not a place to be chasing ponies, they’re a place for ponies who are injured to rest and recover!” Redheat chastised, managing to yell while keeping her voice low.

“I don’t know why you’re lecturing us, dear, it was that changeling that started running.” Rarity replied, as they observed their sisters playing around Fornite, running around her legs and chasing each other, while somehow managing to be quiet. The biped was seated in one the chairs looking relaxed.

Applejack growled, not liking the sight of her sister being so close to the changeling. “Apple Bloom, over here, now.” She stated, leaving no room for arguing, and pointing her hoof at the ground near her though that wasn’t going to stop the little filly from doing so.

“But Miss Fortni-”

“Now.” She punctuated her order with another hoof jabbing at the ground.

Apple Bloom frowned as she slinked her way over to her sister, the farm pony turning to give a hrd look.

“Now, Dante, you said you were goi-” Applejack began, turning to look at the biped, but she was met by his face nearly touching hers, his back bent in order to reach her face.

Her eyes went wide, as she backpedaled. “What the hay!”

The biped scooted closer, staring her in the eyes. This resulted in a nervous Applejack meeting his stare and trying to hold her ground, though she found it a losing battle after the second minute, her eyes screaming for her to blink while the biped seemed to be suffering no such problem. None of the observers seemed to be able to be bothered to intervene.

She blinked, and then spoke.

“Why are you staring at me?”

Dante hmmed, as he stroked his chin. Finally, he straightened his back and spoke. “I think I’m going insane, something seems off about you.”

He looked around the room, taking in the appearance of the occupants. “Eh… the fuck am I saying? I’m already insane. I’m in a room with a southern hick pony,” The biped pointed to Applejack. “A southern hick little sister pony,” He pointed to Applebloom. “A fancy-schmancy Brit unicorn,” He pointed to Rarity. “A little sister to the Brit with no accent, also a unicorn,” He pointed to Sweetie Belle. “A nurse pony with an ass-tat of a red cross.” He pointed to Redheart. “A pegasus kid pony.” He pointed to Scootaloo. “An insectoid equinoid whose queen is trying to overthrow the princesses of the ponies.” He pointed to Fortnite. “And I just operated on the broken leg of a rainbow maned pegasus. If this doesn’t qualify me for the kook house then I have absolutely no idea what would. What do you think, Fortnite, something seem off about Jack over here?”

Dante turned his head, looking at the changeling, pointing with his thumb to Applejack.

The changeling screwed up her face, and seemed to be thinking.

“You know… now that you say it… something does seem different about her… it’s on the tip of my tongue, I just can’t seem to put a hoof on it...”

“Darlings, dear, I hate to interrupt, but I must say I agree with Applejack, General, you told us after blasting out our ears that you would explain why there’s a changeling. However, first we would prefer you tell us why you mentioned Rainbow having a broken bone and you operated on it. Is she okay?”

Dante waved his hand, closing his eyes. “RD’s fine. She fought a cyclops that was trying to eat those three,” Dante pointed to the two fillies still by Fortnite’s side and then to Apple Bloom, standing next to her sister. “She bought them enough time for me to get there and finish the job, but in the process she broke her hoof and wing. We brought her here to get it fixed.”

“Well… then, thank you once more, General. I absolutely would not have been able to live with myself if Sweetie had been hurt.” Rarity responded, shocked at the escapade that had been summed up. Once more, Dante waved his hand.

“I didn’t do anything. Save your thanks for RD, she’s the one who deserves it. If she hadn’t intervened when she did then those three wouldn’t be here.”

“I can thank more then one pony, you know?” Rarity turned to Sweetie Belle, a fire suddenly burning in her eyes. “But for you, little miss!” Sweetie Belle quickly took cover behind Fortnite, cowering. The changeling took a single look at Rarity, then wisely decided to sidestep, taking cover behind the large figure of Dante, leaving a cowering Sweetie Belle behind.

“Traitor!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, upon realizing her concealment had left her behind. Rarity put herself on the ground, stalking forward. “First you skip school,” She took a single step forward as the little unicorn attempted to protest, but was quickly silenced by her big sister.

“Then you go off into a forest by yourself.” One more step, as she inched closer, everyone in the room watching with intensity.

“Bu-”

The monstrous gaze Rarity fixed her sister with silenced her immediately.

“And then you somehow manage to get a cyclops chasing you! A cyclops, really Sweetie? Do you know how many of those there are in Equestria? Less then ten! And you somehow manage to get yourself tangled with one!”

Rarity took a breath as she took the final step, pushing her face against her sister. “And then, on top of all that, Rainbow Dash was injured saving your flank and you inconvenienced the general. Don’t get me wrong, I am eternally grateful to him for intervening, but I’m certain he has more important things to do then having to save and then foalsit three fillies who should know better!”

Dante snorted. “Arson, murder and jaywalking, much?”

“You’re grounded, do you understand?” Rarity, in an uncharacteristic moment of the normally composed fashionista, growled. Her sister only being able to nod.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good, now that’s settled, General, dear,” Rarity stood up, giving her mane a flip. “I do believe you said you would explain the changeling.”

Dante nodded, as he looked to the other people in the room. “Everyone.” Dante stepped to the side, revealing the changeling who had hidden behind him just a minute earlier. “This is S-Four-Two-Nine-Two, I nicknamed her Fortnite because fuck sounding that out every time I need to get her attention. She was actually the pony we thought was named Sea Biscuit.”

“Okay, but is she...” Rarity struggled to find the word without sounding insulting.

“Bad?” Applejack beat her to it.

“Well, it’s not the word I would have used, but it is succinct.” Rarity replied, then looked to Dante.

“Well… I mean, she had plenty of time to do something to those three if she wanted to. And the worst thing she did to me was use me as a launch pad. Truth be told, I think she’s more terrified of you two, then you are of her.” Dante shrugged.

“I am not!” Fortnite protested, looking Dante in the eye, causing Dante to smirk.

“Oh, sure, I suppose that’s why you were running away from them while screaming my name and begging me to come save you.” Dante reached down and ruffled the changeling’s smooth head.

The changeling mumbled, looking away.

“Yeah… so… in any case, RD’s in the hospital because she got the shit beat out of her saving three kids and Fortnite here is under Imperial protection.” Dante glared at the Elements with the last statement, as Rarity cleared her throats.

“Yes, I would like to apologize for that, Fortnite. We should not have rushed to assumptions like that. Had we taken a minute to think it through, we should have seen why what we thought was… well, illogical.” Rarity glanced to Applejack as she finished her apology. The farmpony resolutely fixed her hat on her head.

“I ain’t apologizing.” She stated.

Dante shrugged, as he grabbed his rifle he had leaning against a wall. “Good enough.” He began walking out the door. “Come on Fortnite, I need to go wake that lazy fucknut named Bulwark up. Missing all the interesting shit, the nerve of that corporal.”

Dante held the door open for the changeling, as she slipped through it, the biped turned to look at the rest of the ponies in the room. “Y’all should probably go check on RD now, she’s probably awake or about to wake up, I think she’d enjoy the companionship.” With that, he walked out and the door closed behind him.

“Does he… does he walk around town all the time covered in blood?” Redheart asked, as the Elements merely nodded.

“Eeyup.” Applejack answered. “And Scootaloo,” She turned to the orange pegasus trying to sneak away. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this free. We are telling your parents.”

Bulwark sighed as he sunk deeper in the water. The nearly full day of running a combat course with that insane biped who seemed to have limitless energy had taken most of the life out of him. The stallion was amazed he hadn’t fallen asleep while rescuing the ponies from the diamond dogs.

And now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember the biped ever slowing down, much less sleeping.

He had been up for as long as Bulwark had when the stallion collapsed from exhaustion, yet he didn’t seem to have single wink of tiredness in him.

He had woken up just a few hours ago, and the ponies who worked at the spa had already given him a full course massage, and now he was just resting in the baths, only a few other stallions with him. The baths themselves were about the size of a pool in a recreational center, though not very deep. Two and a half feet at the deepest, they were meant for ponies to rest in, not swim.

All was quiet and peaceful.

Though this peace was not to last, as a fully armored biped, now complete with helmet and gloves on, and at some point having washed the blood off his armor, kicked open the door to the baths, causing the occupants to jump.

Bulwark sunk deeper, praying to Celestia the biped wouldn’t notice him. At this point, only his snout was visible in the water, as he breathed through his nose.

A feminine shriek sounded, as muffled shouting reached the stallions ears.

“I said put me down, Dante!”

“No time.”

The biped had waded into the water, as it reached only slight above his knees. The rest of the ponies gave the odd creature a wide berth, as well as the flailing black pony like creature held securely to his side.

He made his way to the corporal and reached his hand into the water, grabbing the unicorn by the scruff of his neck and lifting him up.

The two locked eyes, holding it for a few seconds… before Dante tucked him under his right arm and started wading through the water once more back to the dry area of the room. “Come on, Bull, we got shit we need to do! Back to Canterlot so I can go home!”

“But, wait, what about my armor!” The stallion protested.

“Already got it.”

Bulwark went limp, hoping his not supporting himself made more work for the biped.

He looked his right, spying the changeling in Dante’s other arm.

“The changeling woke up?” He asked, looking to Dante. The biped nodded.

“Yep. Her name’s Fortnite.”

“It’s S-Four-Two-Nine-Two.” The changeling in question answered, as she too went limp, an unhappy look on her face.

“I call her Fortnite and she has not yet explicitly told me to stop so I will continue calling her Fortnite. Because fuck sounding Four-Two-Nine-Two out every time I address her.” Dante stated as he continued to walk through Ponyville, paying no attention to the various ponies who stopped to gander at the biped manhandling a pony and a changeling.

“What was so urgent you felt the need to physically foalnap me from the spa before I could even check out?”

“Our jobs.” Dante replied as they approached the truck he had driven here in, bent down and let Bulwark go, the stallion jumping from his arms, he repeated the process with Fortnite. He covered the last few feet to the truck and opened the door, tossing the bag he had had been lugging around for the past day and a half into the back of the truck.

“Can I help you?” He asked, as a cross-eyed grey pegasus mare landed on the roof of the truck, both Fortnite and Bulwark eyeing the new visitor warily.

The mare held up an envelope and seemed to stare intently at it, before asking. “Are you Dante?”

Dante looked around the area, observing the various ponies who were milling about. “Normally I’d ask for a last name, but based of the naming scheme I’ve seen here I’m slightly doubtful there’s anyone else on this planet with my name. Yeah, I’m Dante.” He nodded, as the mare held out the envelope.

“You’ve got mail, sorry for the delay, sir. But it was very difficult to find you.”

Dante took the envelope. “How the fuck do I have mail, I swear if its future me writing to present me from the past again, I’m going to time travel back in time solely to kick his ass.” Dante tore open the pink envelope, pulling out a card.

He scanned it, his eyebrow raising as he read. “You’re invited to the ‘Thank you for Saving Us from an Evil Queen and for Saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders’… Who the fuck are the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Dante asked, as he looked to his two companions. Bulwark

Fortnite stepped forward. “Cutie Mark Crusaders? That’s what those three fillies back at the hospital called themselves.”

“Wait a minute, what is this about three fillies.” Bulwark questioned.

“I killed a cyclops after it attacked them.” Dante grunted.

“What!” Bulwark nearly jumped after the revelation Dante had killed a cyclops, any guardstallion worth his salt knew they were endangered.

“This is signed Pinkie Pie, I know her from a short meeting, how long ago did you get this? I only killed the cyclops a few hours ago.”

“Pinkie Pie gave it to me right when I was about to start my route. Around noon.”

Dante turned to Fortnite and Bulwark. “That was fuckin’ hours before I killed the cyclops.”

“Dante, if I may,” Fortnite began as she looked at both the guardstallion and the supersoldier. “None of the infiltrators who were tasked with gathering information on VIPs before the wedding were able to get close to the Element known as Pinkie Pie, she always managed to sniff them out before they could get close, but never burned their cover. The scholar’s best guess for why she was able to do this is… well, officially the intel us soldiers received is that the Hive believes Pinkie Pie may have latent reality warping magic, manifesting mainly as precognition.”

Dante groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “God, fuckin’ A. Reality warpers, I love dealing with those assholes.” He allowed his hand to drop.

“It says the party is at Sugarcube Corner. I suppose I should probably go check this out, now that I’m aware that pink one is possibly a reality warper. Make sure it is latent and she’s not going to abuse it.”

“And if you determine that she is going to abuse it...” Fortnite questioned, though if his previous actions were anything to go off of, she believed she already knew the answer. Bulwark sucked in a breath at the realization of Fortnite’s implication.

“If you’re asking if I’m going to kill her, the answer’s no. I still need Equestria’s assistance and I’m walking on thin ice as it is. Killing a national hero ain’t netting me any friends. I’ll just have to keep an eye on her and make sure it doesn’t manifest anymore then it already has. Precognition isn’t all that big a deal, I’m more worried about active warpers.”

Dante went back to the truck and dug something out of the bag he had thrown in there. He backed out of the truck with his rifle, dropping the mag and checking the chamber to ensure there was a round, he replaced the magazine and slung the rifle his chest.

“You know, sir, not every situation needs a gun.” Bulwark rolled his eyes as he watched the biped grab a cylinder shaped device and slip into a holster resting on his left breast.

“Shut up, pussy, no one asked for your opinion.” Dante grunted and he secured the holster.

“I have to agree with...” Fortnite looked to the stallion, realizing she had never gotten his name.

“Corporal Bulwark, ma’am.” He nodded to the changeling, who nodded back.

“I have to agree with him, I don’t think that… whatever you called it, is necessary.”

Dante smiled at Fortnite, clapping his hands together. “Your opinion is appreciated, Fortnite,” Bulwark’s face became contorted with annoyance. “However, this is merely a precaution. It’s better to have and not need then need and not have.”

Fortnite nodded, as the pegasus on top of the truck cleared her throat. “I apologize for interrupting, but would you all mind if I join you all? I just finished my route with you and something from Sugarcube Corner would be amazing.”

Dante shrugged. “Works for me, name’s Dante Jaeger.” Dante held his hand out, the grey pegasus bumped it with her hoof, as Dante brought it back and looked at it, confused.

“My name’s Derpy, I’m the mailmare for Ponyville and the surrounding area.” She smiled at the biped, who returned the formality.

Hunter violently rejoined the world of the living, his hands wrapping around the nearest thing, his eyes filled with rage, his vision red as he forced who ever he had grabbed to roll. The young man straddled his prey, preparing to bring death upon them.

An open palm raised as a cry sounded, Hunter finally realizing just what his red tinted vision was seeing. “Hunter! Wait! It’s me!” Smith shouted as Hunter’s fist hung, suspended in the air.

Hunter paused, his brain working to realize what was happening, as it still fired on auto-pilot. It was still calling for violent defense against those oddly dressed men who had attacked the village and… his mother!

Hunter glanced around, stopping as he saw the back of a body he recognized, mere feet from the ashes of a burned hut. The young man shot from Smith’s pinned body and crawled on fours over to the back.

“Mom!” He shouted as his hand landed on the woman’s back, rolling her over. Her face revealed, white as a ghost, her once lively blue eyes now dulled with the taint of death.

“No, mom!” The cry of denial shouted to no one in particular, as the young man brought the corpse closer to him, hugging it, sobbing, tears flowing from his eyes, as he begged her to wake up.

Smith slowly recovered from the shock of the attack, rubbing his throat. He stood, his eyes falling over the ruined and burned village.

With some hesitation, he made his way over to the sobbing young man, his mother’s corpse held tight to his own body.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Mom, please. Come back, mom!” Smith stopped for a second, having never heard the normally quiet and calm Hunter sound so pathetic, even after being gored by the auroch he didn’t let out more then a few groans of pain.

But here he was, having a breakdown in front of another man.

“Mom, mom, mom.” He continued on with the mantra, his voice muffled by the corpse’s shoulder as he gently rocked on the ground.

Smith slowly approached the young man, he knelt down and put his hand on his shoulder. “Hunter come on, we need to go. They may come back, there are survivors and we need to get moving, we don’t have time to waste.”

The man continued sobbing, as he knocked the hand off his shoulder, not giving the man a response. The man sighed, putting both hands on the young man’s shoulders. “Hunter, come on. We don’t have time.”

Hunter twisted his body, using his arms to knock the man off him.

“Fuck off!” He shouted through sobs. Smith could feel the anger boiling in him as he grabbed the young man by the shoulders violently tore him from the ground.

“Hunter, we don’t have the time, they might come ba-” Smith was cut off by a strike from Hunter, he staggered backwards, falling on his rear as he grabbed his nose in pain.

“Then let them come!” Hunter roared, his voice cracking, his eyes tinged red from the sobbing “Let them come! Let them come and I’ll kill them all!”

Smith rose from the ground, stomping over to Hunter. He grabbed him by the shoulders, as Hunter reciprocated the action. “We don’t have time, Hunter! I’m sorry she died, but winter’s setting in and we need to find another place. You need to come with us!”

“I’m not leaving her!” The young man protested.

“We already have injured people, we don’t have the man power to collect the dead!”

“Then leave!”

“We can’t leave, not without you!”

Hunter shoved the man off him. “Why! Because I’m the only one who knows how to hunt? Because everyone else couldn’t kill a damned boar even all its limbs had been ripped off? Where the fuck were you! When they were killing everyone in the village? When they killed my mother! Where were you, Smith!” Hunter pointed an accusatory finger at the man, his face red with anger.

“I was making sure our blood wasn’t wiped out! We hid in the forest! Those men, they wielded thunder, how were we supposed to fight against them! We couldn’t do anything! You couldn’t do anything!”

“At least I tried!” Hunter bellowed.

“Come with us or stay here! But I will not risk the rest of the village for your selfishness!”

“Then go! Leave me! Leave me and mother and the dead!” Hunter shouted, gesturing wildly with his arms, Smith turning to stalk off back into the forest to the waiting survivors. “Run and hide like a coward! I will stay here, I will bury our dead as you run! And if those bastards come back, I will kill them! I will kill them!” Hunter shouted at the man’s back, who stopped and turned around, stomping back to the young man, stopping a mere few feet from him.

“Your mother would still be alive had you not gone into the village!”

Hunter’s vision once more became tinged red, he roared in unholy fury at the implication his mother’s death was his fault.

He charged Smith, landing a solid punch on him. He dragged the older man to the ground. However the older man was not to go so silently, as he pulled his fist back and launched into the young man’s face.

It barely phased the man as he landed several more strikes on the face of Smith. His face quickly becoming bloody. Hunter continued to land strikes as Smith went limp, the young man shouting at the silent man.

He stopped, his hands soaked in blood, shaking. He fell back on his rear as he looked in shock at the bloody face once belonging to his friend.

“This is your fault!” The man bellowed, the dirt sticking to his hands as he scrambled back on his rear, his hands pulling him backwards. Still the body lay silent, unmoving.

“This is all your fault, Smith!” Hunter rolled, his knees and arms supporting him as he coughed, gagging.

Digested food mixed with stomach acid and blood splattered on the ground, as Hunter emptied the contents of his stomach on the ground. The acid burned his throats as the realization hit him like a thousand spears.

His mother was dead, his best friend was dead by his hand, he had no family to look to and no home to return to.

For the first time in quite a long time, Hunter was truly by himself.

The young man curled up, his stomach still churning, no care give to puddle of vomit and blood given as he sobbed to himself.

For miles, the only sound anyone could hear was the mourning of a lone young man.

“Hey, Dante.” The biped shook his head, as Fortnite hovered in front of him, the odd group still walking to Sugarcube Corner. The changeling had been concerned about her companion’s sudden lack of awareness.

“You alright there, big guy? You zoned out.” She asked, Dante responding with a nod.

“Y-yeah. Just remembering something I’d rather forget.” Dante shook his head once more.

“You sure you’re alright?” Bulwark asked. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I’m fine, dwelling on the past isn’t going to help me get home. Forget about it.” Dante stopped as he looked up, observing the ginger bread looking building they had stopped at. A sign above the door displayed a pink cupcake.

“Call me crazy, Derpy, but I assume this is it?”

The grey pegasus who had been quiet the entire trek nodded, pushing open the door and holding it open for the trio, who all thanked her as they entered.

“Jesus christ,” Dante stated as he covered his eyes with a hand. “You ponies really do like your bright colors, don’t you? I thought the outside was bad, I was expecting the inside to be a bit more subdued.”

He squinted his eyes as he scanned the building they had enter, looking for any traps or hazards, obvious or otherwise.

The dinner crowd who had come in quieted upon the entrance of the odd group consisting of two government employees, a changeling that most of Ponyville still had no idea what she even was, and the oddest of all them, the tall biped, towering over everyone in the establishment, also a government employee.

“Yo.” Dante stated, raising two fingers in a v-shape, nodding. “How’s everyone doing?” This seemed to settle the crowd, as the patrons went back to eating and talking.

“How do you do that?” Fortnite questioned.

“Do what?” Dante asked as he led the group over to a booth the two ponies slipping into the booth.

“One minute you’re the walking personification of death and the next minute no one seems to care you’re standing there.” Fortnite clarified, causing the biped to chuckle. She slipped into the booth.

“Ten-thousand years of violence, death, regrets and learning how to carry yourse-” Before Dante could finish, he whipped around on his heels, grabbing a pink blur mid-air, using the threat’s momentum against itself, Dante threw it into the table, destroying it and causing the two ponies and changeling seated their to jump at the sudden movements and sound and causing the restaurant to once more go silent.

Dante took several steps back while simultaneously unholstering his pistol.

The weapon mounted light shone on the debris that was once a table, as a pink hoof popped out, holding an immaculate cake.

“The cake is safe!” An overly-exuberant voice, especially for a pony that had just been thrown onto a table hard enough to reduce to nothing more then splinters, shouted.

“I told you not to try and surprise him, Ponk.” Keith calmly stated as he looked at the pile of debris containing the pink pony, absentmindedly cleaning his fingernails.

“Pinkie?” Dante questioned, as he reholstered his pistol and walked to the debris. Reaching in, he grabbed the first thing that felt like flesh and not wood and metal and lifted it.

Revealing a smiling Pinkie Pie being held by the scruff of her neck, an undamaged cake covered in black frosting with the words ‘Thanks for Saving Us from an Evil Queen and the Wendigos and for Saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders from a Cyclops and Welcome to Ponyville in particular and Equestria in General, Dante.’ in white ink.

“First, why did you try to ambush me?”

Pinkie smiled, producing a party horn and blowing it, continuously. This went on for a few seconds, Dante raising his eyebrow.

He then snatched it out of her mouth and threw it away, the pink mare still blowing out air. She realized her horn was gone and smiled once more at the biped.

“Because surprise parties are the best!”

“You sent me a card telling me about this party.” Dante held the card up. “How was this a surprise party?”

Pinkie snorted and then giggled. “Silly! That was the invitation for the ‘Thank you for Saving Us from an Evil Queen and for Saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ party! This is the ‘Thanks for Saving Us from an Evil Queen and the Wendigos and for Saving the Cutie Mark Crusaders from a Cyclops and Welcome to Ponyville in particular and Equestria in General, Dante.’ party!” She gestured to the cake with her hoof, using it to underline the text on it as she spoke.

Dante pinched the bridge of his nose. “Pinkie, I don’t think you understand how surprise parties work.”

“You can tell her that all you want, Dante, but Pinkie is as Pinkie does.” Keith called out,.

Pinkie only continued to smile. “Of course I know parties, it’s part of my special talent!” Pinkie stated as she contorted herself oddly in order to point at her cutie-mark.

“Why am I even trying to talk to you, it’s not like you can hear me, the only one who can hear or see me is Ponk.”

“Surprise parties don’t work when the person you’re trying to surprise is aware there’s a party occurring, even if it is two different parties.”

“I mean, even Ponk is ignoring me.”

“But it does! Because you weren’t aware of this party!”

“But I was aware there was supposed to be a party, so any surprise was ruined.”

“See, look, Dante, your mother’s a whore!”

With inhuman speed, moving so fast even the pink reality warping pony was incapable of seeing it, Dante cleared leather, sending a round into Keith.

Of course, since Keith was nothing more then a mental construct of Pinkie Pie’s, Sugarcube Corner instead only received a new nine millimeter hole in their wall.

The ponies in the room, with the exception of Bulwark who had already lost a good portion of his hearing at this point, were covering their ears in pain, as Dante squinted towards the spot he had fired at.

“What was that for!” Pinkie Pie screamed, her hoofs scraping in her ears as ringing drowned any sound out.

“I don’t know why, but something told me to shoot at something right there.” Dante frowned, still looking at the spot.

“Holy shit! He heard me… er, rather, he did something! But he reacted to me!” Keith smiled, upon the realization that perhaps he isn’t as fake as he believed he was.

“Dante!” Fortnite shouted, rubbing her ears. “That’s the second time today, will you please stop shooting things indoors!”

Bulwark merely shrugged. “Doesn’t bother me anymore.”

Dante reholstered his sidearm, as he plucked the changeling from the booth and the pink pony from the booth, walking over to an undamaged booth and depositing the two there. Bulwark and Derpy had already moved there as Dante took his own seat in the booth.

“And will you stop picking me up! I’m not a child.” Fortnite protested her treatment, Dante merely looking her in the eye.

“Mawp.” He casually sounded, as he switched his gaze from the changeling to the pink pony. “So… what’s this about a party?”

A hooded figure walked down the alley, her hands resting in the front pocket of her hoodie, her head down. Her slim figure was dwarfed by the high rise buildings she stood between. The hoodie she wore was plain, black. The jeans covering her lower body gave off an air of pure functionality.

The moon hung high in the night sky, the ground wet from a recent rain.

She had seen the men standing in the alleyway, scoffing in disgust at how cliché the point was, wondering why they chose an alleyway.

However, the group of men who dwarfed her by a sizable amount did nothing to deter her from continuing to walk down the alleyway.

One of the men, stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

“You know… those pants would look better off you.”

The girl nearly burst out laughing at how dumb the line was, as she struggled to keep a straight face as she continued to stare at the ground.

“Even for a rapist, that line was fucking cringey as shit, dude.” At this point, she lost it. Any control she had was gone as she burst out laughing.

“Maybe you should have spent less time holding girls down and more time working on one liners before committing a violent crime! You’re a fucking loser, you stupid prick.”

At this point, the man who easily outweighed the girl by a few hundred pounds was beet red in the face from the insults, the little girl apparently not afraid of him.

“You have a mouth on you, maybe I should fucking fix that!” He threw a punch, fully aiming for the girl’s face.

However, it was stopped, seemingly with no difficulty at all by the girl, her hand grasping his arm. He attempted to bring it back, but her grip tightened, holding him firmly in place.

She leveled a previously unseen handgun at his face, the man now staring down the barrel of a Glock 17.

She finally lifted her head, giving the man a few of her eyes. Her right eye a brilliant blue, her left an emerald green.

“It’s been a while since I’ve had fun, so let’s see you try, Lebensunwertes Leben.” She growled.

“So… you decided to hold a party as a way to thank me for what I’ve done so far and someone told you not to do a surprise party.”

At this point in time, the ringing in most of the patron’s ears from the gunshot had worn off, though the damage, unbeknownst to them was done.

Of the odd group that sat at the table eating the cake, Derpy and Pinkie Pie had taken the longest to recover, having been exposed to less deafening explosions then either Bulwark and Fortnite and not having the advantage of augmentations in their ears to compensate for loud sounds like Dante. Keith, of course, was unaffected by it.

The pink pony nodded. “Yep! Keith told me that you probably wouldn’t take it very well.”

Dante stopped his fork midway to his mouth. “Keith? That’s the weirdest fucking pony name I’ve ever heard, but he’s right.”

“He’s not a pony.” Pinkie replied, Dante shrugging as he put the bit of cake on his fork into his mouth.

“Gryphon, whatever the fuck he is.”

“But you’ve met him before! He’s sitting right there!” Pinkie protested, pointing to Keith. Who merely raised two fingers making a “V” sign.

“Yo.”

Dante stared at the area Pinkie had pointed to, running it through various scanners. After a few seconds, he found absolutely no energy signatures in the extensive suite of scanners he had available to him.

“Pinkie… there’s no one there.”

“Yes he is.”

“No, Ma’am, there isn’t.” Bulwark backed the biped up.

“Er… yeah, I’m with Dante and Bulwark, there’s no one there.” Fortnite added. Derpy, too, nodded.

“Pinkie, there’s nopony there.”

“Ponk, I’ve explained this to you multiple times, they can’t see me.” Keith sighed.

“But how! You’re standing right in front of them! Look, I’ll prove you’re here! Keith, Delta Foxtrot Bravo!”

The group watched as Pinkie produced several bowling pins from seemingly nowhere and threw them to where she claimed the being known as Keith was. The pins stopped mid-air and then seemingly began to be expertly juggled.

The pink earth mare then threw herself into the fray, as the bowling pins and the Element of Laughter was also being juggled, the pink mare laughing in joy.

“Well...” Dante spoke, as he looked to his companions. “I think I can positively confirm Pinkie’s a reality warper and her powers aren’t as latent as you had believed, Fortnite.”

Fortnite merely groaned at the implication, as Bulwark worried for the Element.

The woman hissed as she pulled a pipe out of her lower abdomen. How she had managed to miss the one who was hiding up to the point he was able to drive a pipe through her she had no idea.

“Fucking dickheads.” She growled as she looked around the alley, now soaked in blood. As the bodies of seven men lay motionless, dead.

She picked the Glock she had dropped when she had been stabbed off the ground and slipped it back into its holster, covering it with her clothing. Though the blood soaked clothing was a dead giveaway and she would need to get home soon.

Those gunshots undoubtedly attracted unwanted attention.

“Let me see your hands!”

The girl cursed to herself, cringing. They weren’t supposed to be this fast.

She raised her hands into the air.

“Slowly walk back to the sound of my voice, do not reach for anything do not turn around, keep your hands up!”

She did as she was told, trying to figure the best way out of this one. She could only hear one officer, but there was every possibility there were more.

And while a bullet to the head wouldn’t kill her, much less slow her down, she’d still rather avoid it. She was not a fan of the pain it caused.

She continued backing up, until the voice called out once more. “Stop. John, you have lethal?”

The girl felt hands grab hers, which is the point at which she decided to act.

She twisted her body to the right, tearing her left hand from the officer’s grip, and throwing him into the wall and pinning his left arm. The other officer who had his gun drawn and was supposed to be covering the arresting officer hesitated to fire, fearing he may hit his partner.

The girl took advantage of this, tearing the officer’s duty holster off his belt and expertly throwing it at the other officer, hitting him in the head, forcing him to stumble back from the force of a two pound gun being hurled at his head.

The girl slammed the first officer’s head into the wall, letting him go and allowing him to collapse to the ground. She whirled around and raced to the other officer who was still dazed from having his partner’s gun hit his head.

She kicked his service pistol out of his hand and away from him, tearing his radio off his belt and flinging it somewhere behind her. It wouldn’t buy her a lot of time, just enough to prevent him from immediately informing dispatch what happened when finally worked himself out of having a gun conk him in the head.

She took off down the alleyway, racing back to her vehicle, hoping to beat the cops out of the area.

Hunter’s knees were tucked into his chest, as he silently stared out over the clearing. The piles of disturbed dirt standing quietly, though quickly turning to mud in the pouring rain.

There were forty-seven of them. Each of them six feet deep, hundreds of feet away from the destroyed village.

The young man’s eyes were bloodshot, deep and dark bags under his eyes, his stomach was churning, his heart beating far faster then it should as his head protested by pounding his brain with a hammer.

It had taken him three days of non-stop digging with his hands to bury the dead, or had it been four? And he had finished it two days ago, or perhaps it had been three days. The young man had lost track of how many times the sun had gone up and gone down, and how many times the moon rose and fell, as he sat still, silent, watching.

The forest had come back to life with the sounds of animals going about their days. Yet the sounds the man was so used to were gone.

The sounds of men roaring in laughter as they regaled each other with tales, children screaming while play hunting, mother scolding children.

Arguing, agreements, worried voices, cheers.

Smith arguing.

Baum doing something stupid.

His mother scolding him for disappearing again.

Wordlessly, the young man rose to his full height. He turned, his eyes staring at the sky as he staggered into the forest, no particular location in mind, just anywhere but here. No mind was paid to the predators he passed, who paid him respect by avoiding him. Birds became silent as he tread upon the dirt, and prey scattered as his feet fell, no care given to whether or not he was silent, as he pushed his way past brush and limbs.

He just wanted to be away from here.

“Ah, fuck.” Dante groaned as he stretched, holding the door open for the other ponies and changelings who had joined his slowly growing group. “That took longer then I had expected it to.” He looked up to the slowly disappearing sun, which suddenly seemed to speed up, the moon quickly replacing it.

“That’s fucked.” He stated, as everyone else present looked at him funny.

“Discrepancy noted, Dr. Krelnash is going to have a field day with this planet.”

Dante groaned at the name. “After she’s finished doting on me, I swear to god that woman makes no fucking sense. One second she’ll be as heartless as a golem and the next she’ll be doting on the nearest troop like a mom who just watched her son get the living shit kicked out of him.”

The gray pegasus mare cleared her throat, as she began hovering. “Well, I’d like to thank you for allowing me to accompany you all, I had a nice time. But I have to get home to Dinky. I will talk to you all later.” Derpy lifted off full as the rest of the group waved their goodbyes.

Once she was out of eyesight, Fortnite turned to Dante. “Something seemed off about her.”

“Yeah, I know…” Dante brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it. “She wasn’t nearly depressed enough to be a government employee.”

“Hey!” Bulwark growled, Dante merely flipping him off.

“Go suck a dick and choke on it, you fucking faggot.” Bulwark huffed at the insult as Fornite facehoofed.

“No, I mean she seemed oddly interested in turning the conversation to you. It was like she was trying to piece together information.”

“I know.” Fortnite incredulously looked to Dante, not believing him, the biped merely rolled his eyes.

“Don’t give me that look, Fortnite. I’m fifteen thousand years old. You don’t get to be that old without learning how to read body language, even if it’s a non-humanoid species. Why do you think I kept giving her piecemeal and then immediately changing the subject. I gave her just enough to make her feel like she had achieved something. I didn’t tell her anything I haven’t told you all. Now she has non-sensitive information she can bring back to whoever she’s reporting to.”

“Is she a threat, sir?” Bulwark questioned, as he eyed the direction the mare had disappeared in.

Dante shook his head. “I don’t think she is. And I don’t think Pinkie is either, from what I’ve seen it seems like she’s far more interested in using her reality warping powers to make people happy… rather then world domination.” Dante clicked his tongue at that statement. “That could have gone worse.”

Dante turned and began walking away from the building. “In any case, come! We need to get back to Pony Washington and get my satellites into the air. So I can get home, Fortnite, I think you’ll enjoy Imperial space. We figured out how to synthesize food for empathivores.”

Dante stopped and looked down to the following changeling, catching the nervousness she had.

“Unless… you were planning to go back to your hive.”

“I… I- I don’t know what I want to do.” She frowned. “You’re leagues better then Chrysalis, and only the most brainwashed of changelings would claim otherwise, even though none of them would admit it in front of another changeling. You haven’t threatened to tear my chitin off and even gave me a choice between leaving or going. You’re still giving me a choice. But they’re my brothers and sisters...”

Dante patted her on the head. “Just think on it, we’ve still got a little while before I get my larcom back, it’s not like heading to Canterlot is the point of no return.”

He began walking again, heading to his truck, the pony and changeling following him.

“About Canterlot, sir.” Bulwark began.

“What about it?” Dante questioned, turning his head to look over his shoulder back at Bulwark.

“I don’t think they’re going to be as receptive to Miss Fortnite as you, me and the rest of Ponyville was, considering...”

Dante waved his hand, as he returned his gaze to its original position in front of him. “If those fucks have got a problem with Fortnite, they can take it up with me.”

Dante pondered upon a realization he just had. “With that being said, Bull. Why did you take so readily to her? You were present at the Wedding as well.”

“You were there as well, sir.”

“I’m different, I know why I took to her without a problem. I want to know why you’re not bothered by her.”

Bulwark sighed, as he glanced over to the changeling, who was silently listening as the trio walked to the alien carriage. “It’s because you’re here, sir.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dante asked, as he scanned the roofs of the buildings, the moon hanging high in the sky.

“Well… it’s like being scared of an Ursa Minor when there’s an Ursa Major standing right next to it. I heard the rumors from the other guards who were at the actual wedding and not just patrolling the castle grounds, like me, then I hear about you killing a cyclops. A changeling isn’t nearly as terrifying as you are.”

Dante shrugged, as the two equinoids merely continued to follow the alien.

“Spread out, search patterns.” The white coated armored pegasus waved to his squad, who gave him a quick salute in recognition and began their own flight patterns to search for any sign of a mass grave.

“And if any of you see a Hydra, shout for Us, We will deal with it.”

The pegasus glanced to his side, eyeing the armored alicorn, the Princess of the Moon.

“Your highness,” He began, turning his body to face her directly. “While I am very proud to be able to serve by the side of a Princess, was it necessary for you to put yourself at risk like this?”

“We appreciate the concern, Sergeant, but We are more then capable of protecting Ourselves and We worry for you all. The Hydra residing in this bog was powerful enough to prove a menace to Our sister’s student, indeed a formidable foe.” Luna nodded, as she scanned the area she was hovering above.

The Sergeant refrained from pointing out that just a few days ago the Two Sisters had to be rescued from a shapeshifting bug by an alien who had just woken from a coma a few minutes earlier.

“Very well, your highness. How would you like me to proceed?”

“Join your stallions and assist them in the search. We can assume this grave was utilized recently, look for disturbed dirt, foliage, uneven earth. If you believe you find anything, immediately mark it and inform Us. If you come across the Hydra, immediately ascend to a safe height and find Us.” The stallion nodded and then flew off to join his comrades.

Princess Luna herself also began patterns over the bog.

The least they could do was properly lay the dead to rest.

Hours passed, as various false positives continued hitting, though everyone of them was a failure in the end.

As the sun was slowly lowering and her dominion was once more coming to life, Luna truly believed they wouldn’t find the grave, at least not tonight. However, as the rays of light were slowly disappearing, she spotted something suspicious.

She began descending upon the clearing, as she landed, she gagged. Struggling to keep her lunch in her stomach. The smell had been masked in the air by the bog. But now she smelled it, full force.

She had not smelled it in a very long time.

She worked through it, letting her breath out, and breathing back in once more as her stomach settled, her mind reminding her there was once a time when she wouldn’t have even flinched at the smell.

Luna watched the sun disappear, the moon taking its place once more. The princess began walking to the area of the large patch of disturbed Earth.

She stood on the edge, pondering on what she was about to do. Minutes passed, then seemingly hours as she steeled herself.

She lifted a large portion of dirt in her magic, and her stomach immediately relieved itself.

The alicorn moved the dirt to the side and charging the magic into her horn, she let off a flare into the sky, to alert the guardstallions who had accompanied her.

She then continued to empty her stomach.

“Wait, what the hell is that?” Dante questioned, as he leaned from the truck still sitting in the town square.

Bulwark looked to the sky, spotting the flare. “Looks like a flare, sir.”

“Any idea who it’s from, Bull?”

“No, sir, unfortunately I don’t.”

Dante hesitated, looking to the truck that was ready to get him back to Canterlot, then back to the flare in the sky.

On the one hand, he had already been delayed enough as it was.

On the other hand, someone in trouble could need help.

“Goddamnit.” Dante breathed as he slipped out of the truck and grabbed his rifle once more.

“Come on Fort, Bull. We’re checking that out.”

Princess Luna had finished emptying her stomach when her guards had arrived. Who promptly after arriving, began emptying their own stomach as well.

“What in Tartarus is that smell.” The Sergeant asked in between throwing his stomach up and breathing.

“Ponies. Sergeant… ponies.”

Luna turned to her sick guards. “No matter what, we can not allo-”

“I know that smell.”

Luna’s heart dropped, as she heard the voice, and more gagging to her side.

She looked to her side, seeing the Human slowly walking to the edge of the mass grave beside her. His expression unpertubed by the smell, indescribable in its horridness. His two companions, however, were vomiting their cake up.

“General, I really can’t advise you approach.” Luna stated, as she moved to block him. However, the biped used his left arm to push her away, continuing to the grave.

He paused at the edge, setting his rifle on the ground as all present stared hesitantly, unsure of what the seemingly unstable biped was planning to do.

With surprising care, he lowered himself into the grave. Luna trotted quickly over to the edge, peering over, terrified of what he was planning.

She watched as he gently maneuver his way down an embankment, and then walk carefully so as to avoid stepping on bodies, all of them in various stages of decomposition.

The grave she had revealed was only a small portion of the disturbed earth, but large enough to walk in, easily.

Dante finished his walk through the hole of death, not at the end but he had reached what his eyes had set on when peered over the edge of a grave.

He knelt down, on both knees. He made no sound in respect for the dead as he looked at the corpse of a foal, the once brilliant blue coat dirtied with the stains of blood and earth. The vibrant green eyes dulled with the taint of death, glassy and faded. His tongue lolled out. His black mane and tail ragged. The foal lay on his side, almost as though he were merely sleeping.

He couldn’t have been older then three or four years.

Dante gently lifted the child’s head, watching as maggots spilled out of the foal’s collapsed face.

The biped breathed in deep, taking in the scent of death and decay as ill memories rushed back to him, his eyes once more alight with millennia of anger and rage, death burned in his eyes.

He breathed out.

And disappeared.

Luna started, taking to the skies. “Get back to Ponyville, get to the jail and stop the General. He’s going after the Diamond Dogs!”

The stallions hesitated, prompting Luna to raise her voice. “Now!” The pegasi took to the sky, racing to the small town in the distance.

“Corporal, follow Us!” Luna shouted to the land borne Bulwark, who nodded and began following the pegasi and Princess, Fortnite following, before she skidded to a stop and went back to the grave, doing her best to avoid looking in it. As she levitated Dante’s rifle into the air and then took back off racing to catch up with Bulwark.

Dante had reappeared a short walk away from the jail he had commandeered hours earlier. He pulled his pistol from his holster, replacing the magazine missing two rounds with a fresh one, checking the chamber in the process to ensure there was a round in it. He reholstered it.

Various ponies stopped to watch the biped, the Human walking with nothing but mission in his step. Nothing would distract him from his objective.

He reached the jail, not stopping to gently open the door, as he planted his boot into it. Kicking it open.

The Lieutenant who had been the sole person in the guard shack jumped to his hooves from his seat at the reception desk. A pony wearing a white lab coat began to speak to the Human.

“Sir, the prisoners you brought were fairly roughed up, but I manage-” He was cut off the as biped spoke.

“You’re not needed anymore Doc, LT. I’d advise you all leave, now.” The final word hung in the air, as the doctor took the advice and quickly trotted to the door, exiting.

Lieutenant Rock Salt, however was not as easily dissuaded, as he continued watching the biped make a beeline for the Diamond Dogs who realized the biped was here and were mostly trembling in a corner.

The biped paid no attention to the hook containing the keys to the door. Merely gripping onto a bar and violently pulling it to the left, the lock shattered under the force of the angered biped as walked into the cell and hauled the small ring-leader up by his shoulders and slammed into the right wall that connected to another empty cell.

“How many!” He spat, the dog trying to make himself even smaller then he already was.

“What?” The answer was apparently not to the biped’s liking, as he slammed a fist into the dog’s face. The dog howling in pain.

“How many, you fucking asshole!” He roared, spit flying from his mouth as he bared his teeth at the dog.

“I don-” Before he could finish the sentence, Dante slammed his fist into the broken ribs of the dog, a scream came from his mouth.

Dante slid him along the wall to the left, lifting him off it and slamming him back once he had reached solid brick.

“Kids!” Dante pushed his face into the dog’s, the dog freezing at the sight of his eyes. “How many of them! How many! How many lives of children’s did you… you…” A guttural growl emanated from the biped’s mouth, as he spat out his language.

“Suh-Byumens fucking snuff out! Tell me!” He slammed the silent dog into the wall again, eliciting another howl of pain.

“How many of them did you fucking slaughter! How many of them begged for their lives, choking on their own vomit as tears streamed from their eyes? Did you kill them slowly? Did you kill them fast? Did they feel pain? Did you enjoy it!”

Dante pulled his sidearm from its holster, as he aimed at one of the dogs who had cowered in the left corner.

“How many!” He roared once more. “How many of them. I swear to god I will kill your buddies!”

“Don’t know!” The dog spoke, hoping to save itself. Dante dropped a round into the wall, causing the dogs and pony in the room to fold their ears down, as they were bombarded by the sound.

“H-hundreds.” The dog whimpered.

He dropped the small dog, the creature crumpling to the ground. Dante leveled the pistol to the dog’s head as he begged, his hands up in an attempt to look non-threatening.

“How many children begged you for their lives!” The biped roared in anger, as he violently kicked the dog, hearing bones crack. “How many begged for their lives! And how many did you let live? You showed them no mercy so why would I show you mercy?” He pushed the barrel of the handgun into the head of the dog.

“Son,” Rock Salt began, hoping to prevent more bloodshed. “I realize you’re pissed. And if I’m hearing you correctly, you’ve got every right to be. But think about this, you’re about to murder a defenseless, intelligent creature. Can you sleep with that on your conscience.”

The dog continued begging for his life, as Dante blinked, Rock holding his breath.

A bang sounded as Dante executed the dog, turning on his heel and emptying the magazine into the four other dogs cowering in the corner.

“I’ll sleep just fucking fine.” Dante stated, as he turned to the entrance, watching Princess Luna walk in, accompanied by Fortnite and Bulwark.

He began walking out as Luna stared at the blood bath in front of her.

“Gods, what have you done...” She muttered, as she saw the pile of diamond dog corpses in the corner.

“I ended life unworthy of life.” Dante stated as he walked past the Lunar Diarch, her mouth agape. He replaced the spent mag in his handgun with a fresh one. “Child killers. You’re welcome. Fortnite, Bulwark, come on. We’re done here.” He reclaimed his rifle from the changeling, the insectoid following him out of the door as Bulwark hesitated, looking back to Princess Luna.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Go, Corporal. This was not your fault, I will deal with the repercussions.”

“Your Highness… I believe the General would consider it a point of pride if you were to ensure everypony was aware that he did this of his volition and why he did it. I don’t believe he cares if his reputation takes a hit.”

Luna smiled to the corporal. “Thank you, now go on. Celestia did make him your commanding officer after all.”

Luna watched as the stallion slowly trotted out of the doors, sighing as he left and then returning her gaze to the murdered dogs.

“How are We going to explain this to the nobles?”

“Could always just tell them to screw off.” Rock Salt suggested. Luna glared at him in response. “Uh… Your Highness.”

The blue alicorn could only roll her eyes.

Author's Notes:

Well, it's 4 in the morning and I have a 10 to 7 shift so have a nice sleep everybody!

Again, as always, if you liked and favorited this story, please tell me why. If you disliked this story, please tell me why you disliked it. Thank you very much. I also enjoy criticism as it helps me to improve. So if you do downvote, please leave a comment letting me know why. Be it grammar, spelling, pacing, or you just fucking hate the character!