Black Hearted Hero

Clenching my fist, I threw open the door to my house, with the girls close behind me, each of them already wearing a saddlebag filled with supplies.

“So what’s the plan?” Twilight asked, looking at me as she pulled out a scroll and quill, ready to create a paper version of whatever I had in mind.

Remaining silent, I instead went over to my shelf, and started scanning the books that lined it. At the sight of a blue book with silver bindings, I quickly grabbed it, and flipped it open to page thirteen. Muttering as I went, I walked over to the fireplace and tore out the page, crumpling it, and tossing it onto the ashes.

“What are you doing?” Pinkie asked, for once confused by someone else’s strange antics.

I kept quiet, and aimed my buster at the paper. Focusing, I switched the buster’s primary weapon, changing the color from its normal blue and cyan, to a blazing orange and yellow. A flick of the wrist later, and I had sent a small spark at the paper, lighting it, and causing the fireplace to suddenly expand, and transform entirely.

Where there was once a small pit filled with ashes, there was now a large, aged wooden wardrobe. With shaking hands, I slowly opened the doors to it, and let out a deep breath as I took in its contents.

Inside was a mannequin that was roughly my size, wearing a thick black leather jacket, fitted with steel bracers and shoulder guards.  A vest of chainmail rested underneath it, showing signs of obvious repair work, but at the same time managing to look nearly indestructible.  A worn-out bandolier was thrown over the shoulders, and each one of its bullet carrying pockets was occupied by a large rifle shell, each one still glistening as brightly as the day they were made.

Dark blue jeans adorned the lower half, fitted with small metal plates over the knees and ankles, with a weathered black leather belt looped through it, again with bullet holding pockets, only this time they were filled with heavy revolver rounds, some fitted with normal lead, while others were of a different material entirely.

Twin-shoulder holsters were attached to the back of the jacket, one holding what appeared to be an ancient and battle scarred Winchester repeating rifle, and the other holding a very familiar shotgun, lovingly dubbed, “Boomstick”.

To finish this familiar, yet terrible, outfit, a sleek, featureless steel helmet/mask was wrapped around the mannequin’s head, and I could easily see my reflection in its expressionless face.  Its simple appearance hid the technology that was sealed away inside of it, and I sighed, recalling every time I had put this on in the past, and wondering how many more times I would have to wear it.

Shaking my head slightly, angered, yet not surprised, that it had come to this, I stepped into the wardrobe, and closed it behind me, saying, “I didn’t want it to go this far.”

At the activation phrase, the magic in the wardrobe instantly equipped me with the clothes, placing the chainmail vest over a white t-shirt made of enhanced cotton, and putting small, thin sheets of metal over the tops of my boots. The steel mask was put onto my head, both sides interlocking with one another, and heavy metal bracers fit themselves over my forearms, almost instantly attaching to my jacket. Fingerless gloves with metal studs fit over the knuckles slid onto my hands, only getting stuck for a small moment because of the added mass of my robotic arm.

Not even five seconds later, I stepped out of the wardrobe, and the girls all took a collective step backwards, startled by my sudden change in appearance.

I glanced at my arm, and said, “Hey Rarity…you’ll probably hate me for asking this, but…could you rip off the right sleeve? It’s constricting my arm, and hindering my movement. I don’t want to have to worry about that later.”

Shaking herself out of her shock, she nodded, and her horn glowed, undoing the clumsy stitching that held it in place. With a heavy THUD, it fell to the floor, and I rotated my arm a bit, grimacing slightly.

“Are you alright, darling?” Rarity asked as soon as she was done, noticing my pained look.

“Yeah, I’m just feeling some minor pricks from my arm as it grows back…” I replied, tearing off the glove from my robotic arm. “How do I look?”

“Scary…” Fluttershy answered hesitantly, cowering slightly.

I nodded. “Good,” I said simply, walking outside.

Choosing to ignore my cryptic response, Twilight asked, “Okay, so you’re ready to fight…but how are we going to find Torrentican?” As I turned to look at her, she added, “He could be hiding out anywhere, and we don’t have enough time to search the entire forest for him.”

Scratching my beard with my good arm, I thought about it. “That’s…a really good point.”

You know those moments in animes where everyone falls on their face after someone says something really stupid? Yeah…one of those moments just happened.

“Hey, give me a break!” I said defensively. “I’m officially disarmed! This is entirely new to me!” At their un-amused expressions, I rolled my eyes, and said, “Okay, okay, I’m thinking…”

Pacing around my yard, and slowly growing azalea bush, I attempted to gather my thoughts. “Okay, Torrentican…he’s obviously wanting me to attack him, else he would’ve taken Celestia and Luna right off the bat, instead of exchanging insults with me back at the Palace. But he definitely wants to drain Celestia’s power, that much I’m certain of…he’s a big stickler for using ironic/memorable locations when he fights his enemies, meaning he’ll be somewhere we’ve been before, but also in a place that he can use to inflict psychological damage on his hostage. That means that he’ll be somewhere dark, with little-to-no sunlight,” I thought out loud, hoping that somepony would cut in with an accidentally geniu-

“The Diamond Dog mines!” Twilight exclaimed suddenly.

I whirled around, and said, “Beg pardon?”

“It makes sense! We’ve all been there before, even Torrentican, and he could easily scare away the Dogs with his powers!” Or worse. I wasn’t going to tell her that though, she was on a roll! “It’s underground, and the twists and turns will make it harder for us to find Celestia!”

I scooped Twilight up in a hug, and planted a Looney-Tunes style kiss on her cheek…well, I touched her cheek with the spot on my mask where my lips would’ve been, and made overdramatic smooching noises. “Twilight, you magical genius!”

She blushed slightly, but then started rubbing off the kiss, and I set her down, taking the hint. Smiling at everypony, I said, “Alright, we don’t have much time. We can make it to the quarry where the Dogs were last seen, and camp out there for the night. Tomorrow morning, we’ll head into the caves, and search for Celestia…well, you guys’ll search for her.”

As we took off down the path, Fluttershy asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“I’ll explain it tomorrow,” I said, stalling for time. I knew that they wouldn’t like my plan, and they would most definitely argue with it, but it was the only way we could do this with minimum injuries.

As the sun slowly started setting, being lowered by Luna so Equestria wouldn’t panic, I pushed my glasses up onto my face, and sprinted down the road, running as fast as my legs could carry me, somehow managing to keep up with the girls.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

What felt like a couple of hours later, I had finally tapped a robotic finger to the side of my mask, and pressed a small circular protrusion, turning on the sensors inside of it. I blinked, as light blue holograms popped up into my field of vision, giving me the status of my various injuries, the most pressing of which was the arm. According to the sensors, if I kept up with my current plan of action, it would take at least a month for my arm to regenerate, instead of the earlier prediction of 24 hours.

I guess deciding to take on an army of Shadow-Stalkers and Torrentican would do that.

But Torrentican crossed a line. And it was time for him to remember why he needed to create an army to fight me in the first place.

“…Pinkie, will you please stop making faces at my mask?” I asked in a monotonous tone. For the past five minutes,

Pinkie had started making funny faces in the reflection of my mask, watching the admittedly comical distortions warp her face.

“Aw…but they’re really funny! And I can’t tell if you’re smiling or not inside of that weird thingie!” She pouted, getting closer to my face.

I smiled, and picked her up in a hug, giving her a friendly noogie as we walked. “Trust me, Pinkie. If I wasn’t smiling before, I am now!”

The rest of the girls laughed at our antics, and I set Pinkie down, my laugh echoing strangely inside of my mask. We continued walking; only now the mood had lightened considerably. None of us had forgotten the seriousness of our mission, but at least now, thanks to Pinkie, we were able to enjoy the calm before the-

A large, seemingly shapeless mass launched itself at Fluttershy, and I quickly slid in front of her, and intercepted it, punching at what I hoped would be its gut. With my free arm, I pulled my revolver out of its holster, and slammed the butt of it on the attacker’s head.

With a shrill howl, it fell to the ground, fur-covered arms wrapped around its head, and my eyes widened once I realized it was a Diamond Dog.

I grasped the dog by the throat, and brought it up to my mask, as the dog squirmed, trying to avoid looking at me. Tightening my grip, I said to it in a snarling voice, “Who are you, and why did you attack her?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Fluttershy was cowering on the ground, and I felt my heart pang as I realized that I was scaring her worse than the diamond dog. Pushing aside my feelings for the moment, I shook the dog after it didn’t answer me.

Stuttering slightly, it said in a high, reedy voice, “D-did not mean to hurt! O-o-nly wanted to w-w-warn!”

“Keep talking,” I growled, although I set him gently on the ground once I saw the fear in his eyes. Greeeaaaaat. Now I can feel guilty for hurting the Diamond Dog. Joy.

After he coughed to clear his throat, he continued talking, twitching nervously. “Stay away from pretty gem cave! Scary shadows attack us, and drive us out of home!” His eyes darted around, as if afraid that he would be overheard by something.

“Why are you helping us?” I asked, kneeling down until I was looking it in the eye. This dog seemed familiar somehow…

He then did the strangest thing: he stuck his nose next to my mask, and started sniffing rapidly, much the same way a dog would sniff another dog’s…I’m not gonna finish that sentence, as it will end with me insulting myself for the umpteenth time.

After a deep sniff, he nodded, as if he had just confirmed something, and he said, “You smell like nice pony that help me!” His stubby tail wagged a little bit, and I finally recognized him.

“Runt, is that you?” I said, all traces of anger gone from my voice, as I looked at the tiny diamond dog. Suddenly, I remembered our little…fiasco, in the Diamond Dogs’ Mines, and how Runt was the only dog who had helped me (or at least tried to) escape from them, and fight my way out.

Runt’s tail shook even harder, and he stood up on his hind legs, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. “It IS Ommie!” he said happily, as I scratched his head.

“You know this…dog?” Rarity asked, looking from me to Run, with confusion in her eyes.

“Yeah, he’s an old friend. Remember that little rescue attempt?” I reminded her, not even taking my eyes off Runt. Currently, my mask was telling me that aside from some minor starvation, and some cuts and bruises, Runt was in okay shape. Well, as okay as you can get being the runt of the litter. I suppose that’s what prompted me to give him the nickname, instead of his old name of “Fur-face.”

He liked the name too, and he had ended up helping me out of a sticky situation. He occasionally dropped by from time-to-time, visiting my home and helping me get to know about his race.

After some apologies and introductions, I looked at the horizon, and winced when I saw that the sun was already setting. Thankfully, if Runt and my memories were correct, we were just outside of the quarry where the mines were.

“Alright, we’ll camp here for tonight,” I said, sitting down on a rock. Looking at Runt, I grunted, “You okay?”

He nodded. “Runt is fine! But Runt needs to return to pack, before they get suspicious! Runt will see Ommie and his pony friends later!” He waved at us once, and then took off, kicking up a massive dust cloud as he ran.

I chuckled, and shook my head. “He’s got his quirks, but he’s pretty alright once you get to know him,” I said, looking around the quarry. Spotting a dead tree that was about ten feet away from out little clearing, I snapped my fingers, and watched my buster change colors.

“Hey, Twi,” I called, getting her attention as I aimed at the tree. “Pick up some of the branches after I cut ‘em, would ya?”

She frowned slightly, and opened her mouth to speak, before being interrupted by a metal screech. Her mouth fell open, as I shot a couple of razor-sharp saw blades at the tree, cutting off most of the branches, and filling the air with the fresh smell of sawdust.

“Thanks Twilight.” After that, and a small spark from me scraping a knife on my buster, we had a cheery little fire lit up, its small flames chasing away the darkness.

For a few moments, we all sat in silence, not knowing exactly what to say. Heck, I’ll admit that I was speechless too. I mean, what do you say to someone who’s gone almost their entire life without having to worry about war, and they’re about to be thrust into one? Not only that, but they were also some of my closest friends. What am I supposed to say to them?

“So…” I shifted my position on the rock I was sitting on into a more comfortable one. “Lovely weather we’re having.”

…Don’t give me that look.

Rainbow Dash looked up at the clear, night sky, and sighed. “Yeah…I was supposed to be on weather detail today, but once I heard that the princess was kidnapped, I had to…” She stopped, and just hung her head. “I’ll probably get chewed out for missing my shift today.”

“Hey, I think rescuing the princess is a bit of a higher priority,” I jokingly said. “I think that entitles you to at least one day off!”

We all laughed at my weak joke, each of us desperate for something to ease our nerves, or just for something to take our minds off of what tomorrow promised. I frowned, and tapped the side of my helmet/mask again, activating the med-scan.

Heart rate: Showing signs of stress/worry.

Energy Levels: Normal

Hydration: Normal

WARNING: Nanites being pushed to critical levels. Restrain self from exerting self, or risk losing all progress on tissue regenerating process.

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head, and turned off the scanner. Yeah, tell me something I DON’T know…

Realizing that we had all gotten quiet again, I cast about for another conversation starter. And of course, I ended up saying the first thing that came to mind:

“Anyone up for a game of Stories?”

Everypony gave me a confused look, and I felt slightly shocked. “What?” I asked in disbelief. “Haven’t y’all heard of Stories?”

“I know about stories,” Twilight replied. “But I didn’t think that there was a game for it.”

“Well, I guess technically, it’s not a game,” I confessed. “But I just like to call it a game, ‘cause it helps to lighten the mood.”

“What are the rules?” Pinkie asked eagerly, nearly getting into my face again.

Pushing her down a little, I explained it. “Basically, you play this at either a poker game, or around a campfire. You, and whoever you’re with, all tell one story, and try to make it as entertaining as possible.”

“That’s it?” Rainbow Dash asked. “Well, that’s kind of lame.”

I gasped overdramatically, and clutched at my heart. “Thine words hast pierced mine heart! How dare you speak such blasphemy!”  I cried, mock swooning.

They all laughed again, and I sat back up, grinning underneath my helmet. “Seriously though, just give it a shot. The only rule is: It has to be a true story.”

“OOH! Me first, me first!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing up and down with her hoof in the air.

How can you say no to that? Honestly, these ponies…So, we let Pinkie entertain us with a story of the time she made her first brownies. Long story short, she almost burned down the bakery, got flour everywhere, and ended up selling all of them in the first twenty minutes. DAYUMN. So that’s how Equestria was made…wait.

“Okay then,” I muttered. “Who’s next?”

“If it is quite alright with you,” Rarity stated from her pillow and blanket (where did those come from? I though Pinkie was the one who did that kinda stuff!), “I would like the honor of going next.”

“Rarity use funny words!” I grunted, much to the amusement of Dash, who had to stifle a giggle.

“Very well then. Oh! I know the perfect story! So, just the other day, Opalescence was…”

Apparently, Sweetie Belle had attempted to help Rarity with a new design, and accidentally spilled Catnip onto one of the dresses…needless to say, evil kitty, plus delicate dress, plus weed-for-cats, equals one heckuva disaster.

“And wouldn’t you know it, but Opal’s artistic creativity must have been pushed that day!” Rarity gushed. “He made the most artful cuts, perfectly styling it into a whole new line of fashion! I’m calling it my, ‘Cat-scratch Fever’ line!”

…Okay, I swear, I have NOT shown her any rock music…yet. I’m still trying to figure out a good way of getting them to listen to AC/DC. Then they can finally get the Thunderstruck joke!

“Huh…” I commented, nodding. “Applejack, you’re next.”

“Hm,” Applejack rubbed her head for a moment, trying to think of something good. “Well, there was this one time that Apple Bloom had snuck into the barn, and she had a bit of rope with her…”

Thinking that she could get a cutie-mark in “net making” (I have no idea where she got that idea from), she had attempted to tie the rope into a net, and set it over the doors to the barn, rigging it so that whoever came in next would be tangled up in a mess of ropes and super-glue (…okay, I’ll take responsibility for that).  Well, long story short, Applejack walked in with a cart-load of apples…

The rest is a sticky mess best left untold, unless some young, dashingly handsome, author decides to write it out…

We all passed the time in this fashion, with nothing better to do…then it was my turn.

“Oh, jeez, would you look at my wrist! It’s late, we need to get to sleep!” I stammered, propping my head onto a rock. “Goodnight girls, I’ll see you in the mor-”

“No you don’t, old-timer!” Rainbow Dash said, poking my stomach with her hoof.

“Who’re you calling an old-timer, skittles?” I shot back, slightly irritated by that. Sure, I might technically be REALLY old, but I certainly don’t act like it!

“Why don’t you want to tell us one of your stories?” Dash asked, ignoring the skittles comment.

I rolled over, turning my face away from them. “Because…I don’t know which story to pick,” I confessed, crossing my arms. “I’m not really good at Stories.”

“Yes you are!” Pinkie said, her head right above mine. “Maybe you just don’t know which one to pick!”

I nodded. She hit the bull’s eye with that one.  See, if I have a story to tell, I normally choose to tell it. But if it’s a game, and I have to pick one on the spur of the moment, I’m not really good at it. Ironic, ain’t it?

“Well, what if we chose?” Twilight asked.

“Beg pardon?” I’ve been saying that a lot lately…

“Hey, yeah!” Applejack agreed. I turned back around to look at them, and felt a slight pang of worry when I saw the gleam in their eyes. Did I just set myself up for this? Or do the multiverses like picking on me? Probably both.

“…I’m not getting a say in this, am I?” I deadpanned, sitting up. Shaking my head, I sighed, and said, “Alright, ask me somethin’.”

All of the girls were silent, as they started to think. I just reclined against the rock, and watched the night sky, once again amazed by how beautiful the night was. After a few moments, surprisingly, it was Fluttershy who spoke first.

“Um…if it’s okay with you, do you think that maybe you could, uh, tell us about one of the happier Seven Days? I mean, if you want, I don’t want you to be sad, but…” She squeaked, and curled up into a ball.

Smiling, I scooted closer to her, and wrapped my good arm around her. She jumped a little, but then looked up at me.

“You know what?” I said musingly. “That’s a good idea. Alright girls, this one is one of my personal favorites. It’s the third of the Seven Days…I like to call it, ‘A Dance Among the Clouds’…”

XHXHXHXHXHXHX

“Come on Jen!” I called out, pulling Jenna up a small, grassy hill.

She laughed, sending chills down my spine, and said in her musical voice, “Okay, okay, I’m coming!”

We reached the top of the hill, and Jenna laughed again when she saw what I had made such a big fuss over: A rusty, blue swing set. Like the ones you’d see in parks, only a bit bigger, and a little more beaten up.

“Well, what do ya think?” I asked, chuckling. “I remembered you said something about never getting to do stuff like this when you were little, and I figured that maybe yo-mph!”

Jenna had stopped me mid-ramble with her usual method: A quick peck on the lips. She pulled away, and gave me a soft smile. “I love it,” she said, already sitting down on the swing, and watching the sunset.

By some sort of silent agreement, I walked behind Jenna, and started pushing her, chuckling while I did so.

“What’s so funny?” Jenna asked when she came back down, glancing at me from her seat.

“Oh, nothing…” I said, averting my gaze in a show of faux-innocence.  She raised an eyebrow at me, but remained silent, by now used to my random quirks. I still had no idea how I had been lucky enough to meet her in the first place. Ye Gods, but she…I still, to this day, have no words that can truly describe the feeling.

After a few minutes, I looked up at the sky, and failed to prevent a huge smile from lighting up my face. Up above us, various sized clouds were starting to roll in. All of them were tinged with a pinkish glow from the rays of the slowly setting sun, and a gentle breeze rustled my hair.

I looked back at Jenna, and her eyes widened as she started to guess what I was about to do. “Omnius, wait, don’t-!”

TOO LATE!

Grasping the chains in my hands, I ran back, and charged forward, pushing with all of my strength, laughing maniacally all the while. The force of the launch caused Jenna to fly up into the sky, and I ran forward, calling forth my Wind Aura.

My hair flew back, and my clothes all turned into varying shades of grey and white, matching the colors of a summer storm cloud perfectly. Jumping into the sky, I willed the wind to carry me to Jenna, and I caught her arms in my own, and lifted us higher, and higher.

“Omnius!” Jenna half-screamed, half-laughed, clutching my arms.

“Don’t worry!” I replied, spinning her around as if we were dancing. “Just let the wind carry you!”

Her grasp loosened, and I moved my hand into hers, giving her a large smile. Together, we flew above the clouds, watching the world fly by underneath us.  In awe of the majestic clouds that were spread all around us, Jenna reached down with her free hand, and gently let her fingers carve a line through the cloud beneath us, her smile growing wider.

I swung her up, letting go for a moment, and then flew up and spun the two of us around in a circle, as we fell threw a small tunnel that was forming in the clouds.  The wind blew through our hair, and stung our eyes a little, but we didn’t care. We were literally riding the wind, flying through the skies…

Standing upright, I bowed to Jenna, my hair wildly flying about my face, and offered her my hand. “May I have this dance?” I asked, before clutching at my throat. “Ack! I swallowed a bug! Bug swallow, bug swallow! Quick, get me an ice cream! I’ll freeze the little bugger out of there!”

Jenna laughed at my antics, and shook her head. “You really know how to charm someone, don’t you?”

“It’s a gift.”

She grabbed my hand, curtsied, and said, “I would love to dance with you.”

Wrapping my other hand around her waist, we slowly revolved on a spot, the very clouds themselves becoming our own personal ballroom, the whistling wind our orchestra.  For what felt like hours, we simply danced up there, forgetting for a few precious moments that soon, she would be gone, and I’d be alone…

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“But I’m not really alone, am I?” I finished, sighing as I remembered the joy of being up there.

“Oh my, Omnius! I never expected you to be such a romantic,” Rarity said, her eyes sparkling.

“As much as I love flying and all,” Rainbow interrupted. “Why was Jenna so amazed?”

“Rainbow, you gotta understand something,” I said, looking at the night sky above us. “Human beings can’t naturally fly. I know I’ve mentioned how we have machines that can let us do that, but…there’s something majestic in flying without the aid of technology. To just let the wind carry you into the sky, and touch the clouds with your own hand. To view the world as an eagle would, and not be hindered by any limitations…”

“I guess when you put it like that, now I know why she liked it so much!” Dash grinned suddenly. “Y’know, if she were still alive, I bet she’d think I’m pretty awesome! I mean, I am the best flier in Equestria!”

Thinking about it for a moment, I nodded. “Yeah, you’re probably right. But while you might be the greatest flier in Equestria, what about the Lylat System?”

“What?”

“It’s getting late! Time to sleep,” I said, turning over again. “G’night all. Pinkie, if you start twitching, let us know so we can amscray at full speed.”

With that, I plopped my head onto the rock (even in my helmet, it still isn’t comfy enough!), and fell asleep.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

“Oh, come on,” I groaned, smacking the side of my helmet. “I’ve fought demons, pirates, ninjas, and Football-playing mustachioed royalty in space. WHY IS MY WORST ENEMY AN ALARM CLOCK?”

I got up, and noticed that the girls were already up and ready, cleaning up the campsite.  Shaking myself awake, and wishing for a cup of soda (screw coffee!), I set about the arduous task of synching my buster with my helmet. A while ago, with the help of some certain famous geniuses, I had rigged my helmet to have access to the Shadow-Stalker category of the Timeless Library, providing me with the weaknesses of each kind. By synching my buster to it, I’d be able to instantly switch weapons at the speed of thought, allowing for more badassery in the middle of a fight.

Ten minutes later (and after a sparse breakfast of apples), we walked over to where a large cave was set into the side of the quarry, gaping at us like the maw of some long dead creature.

“Alright, here’s the plan,” I said, doing one last weapons check. “I’ll go into this cave, and wander around until I find whatever army Torrie’s got in there waiting for me. You girls will enter the Diamond Dogs’ tunnels through a side entrance, and find Celestia. Then you’ll get out of there ASAP.”

“That’s the plan?” Twilight asked incredulously.

“I know, I know, it has more detail than what I normally plan, but I had a few hours to think about this,” I joked. Pulling out the Winchester, I stepped into the cave, and called over my shoulder, “Find Celestia! I’ll hold off everything else.”

Before they could follow me, I punched the side of the cave wall with my buster arm, and boulders fell down, cutting them off from me, and sealing me inside of the tunnels.

“They’re gonna be pissed,” I chirped, twirling my rifle and clicking a flashlight on my helmet. “But I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“I can’t believe he just did that!” Rainbow Dash shouted, kicking at one of the boulders in anger.

“Well, ah’m not surprised. And maybe he’s got a point,” Applejack said, adjusting her Stetson on her head. “Now we can look fer the Princess without havin’ ta worry about them stalkers.”

“Oh, that’s good,” Fluttershy smiled, relieved that she wouldn’t have to worry about that…only now, she was starting to worry for Omnius. He seemed confident enough, but he said that he’d be fighting an ARMY. Could he really handle that all by himself?

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“Now where the Saxton Hale would Torrentican hide an army in this place?” I asked myself, as I turned into another tunnel.

Maybe I should’ve planned this out a bit more…

Wait. Me? Plan something? NAH!

After I made my way through the dark tunnel, I came into a large, open cavern, lit by a combination of glowing gems that were embedded into the rock, and several torches. The cavern was massive, easily as big as a warehouse, and just in front of me…

“...I’m gonna need a bigger gun.”

Filling up half of the entire room, all of them at least a hundred feet away from where I was standing, hundreds of Imps were clustered into a large group, their expressionless yellow eyes glowing menacingly in the dark.  Peppered among them were various Vultures, basically Imps with razor sharp steel wings, and tattered cloaks.

Lifting up my rifle, I aimed it at the large group, and fired it, taking out one of the lead Vultures before they could take off.  As if that were the cue, all of the stalkers ran at me, attempting to overwhelm me with sheer numbers.

I kept unloading my Winchester on them, reloading with my robotic arm as fast as it would allow me to. They came closer, and closer, and I kept firing at them. One of the imps finally broke away from the horde, and threw itself at me, snarling viciously as it bore down on me-

-and then I smacked it away with the butt of my Winchester. What, did you think guns are just used for shooting? There’s a reason they’re made of heavy wood and metal!

I kept them at bay for a while longer, smacking them furiously with my gun, before it was torn out of my hands by a Vulture that had escaped the initial onslaught. Grunting, I let the rifle go, knowing that it would return of its own volition back to my Vault.

Without skipping a beat, I reached with my free hand to the Boomstick on my back, and used my other hand to fire off my revolver, making sure that I still had some room to maneuver. Talons slashed across my good arm, and I quickly blasted another Vulture with the Boomstick, somehow managing to take out a few more that were behind it.

Unfortunately, something inevitable then happened.

“Shit! Looks like I’m all out of bullets…” I lamented, dismissing my guns. I then smiled crazily, and brought up the buster arm. “BUT NOT IN THIS ARM!”

There was a high-pitched whirring sound, and a massive fireball shot out, incinerating most of the stalkers in front of me, and more importantly, giving me a path to run through.

“COME ON, YOU BASTARDS!” I shouted, running forward into the horde. Switching Buster weapons, I hurled as many metal blades as I could at them, slicing them apart with ease.

“Metal Blades FTW!” My helmet beeped, and I groaned. “Maybe I should’ve been a little less overzealous with firing them…okay, next weapon!”

Quickly sliding underneath a Vulture, I grabbed it with my buster, now a rich earthen-brown color, and slammed it onto the ground. Jumping over it, I then slammed my fist onto the ground, causing a large boulder to fall from the ceiling into my waiting hand.

“And they say that the Super Arm was a lame weapon!” I chided, before launching the boulder at another clump of stalkers.

Man, why don’t I use the Buster more often?! It’s freaking useful, and it can use a lot more-

BEEP BEEP BEEP.

“Did I just run out of ammo?” I looked at the energy levels, and gulped. “Of course I did. I still have normal buster shot mode, but I guess I forgot to recharge since the last time I used it. Oops.”

Okay, looks like there’s only one thing I can do now…I pulled a knife out from a hidden pocket on my jacket, and discarded my helmet. I wouldn’t need it now. Fighting off the stalkers with the knife, I started to build up as much energy as I could in my buster, feeling it start to vibrate and heat up. Soon, it started glowing brightly enough to be considered a second sun.

“Just a little more!” I panted, feeling some of the excess energy burn away the re-grown bits of flesh on my still recovering arm. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and I lifted up the buster.

“Goku can suck it,” I muttered. Then, I let out all of the energy.

A massive, glowing green beam of destruction shot out of the arm-cannon, completely annihilating all of the stalkers it hit, and with a bit of struggling, I managed to fire the beam as I turned in a circle, stopping short of destroying the thick walls. As it was, I think I made a couple new windows.

I’ll fix those later, I swear.

After that, I fell to the ground, exhausted. “WARNING. WARNING. POWER LEVELS AT CRITICAL. WEAPONS SYSTEM OFFLINE. REGENERATIVE SYSTEMS OFFLINE.”

“If you tell me that the morph ball systems are offline, I’m trading you for the V-watch,” I grumbled at my arm.

“OMNIUS!”

“Princess?” I thought, stunned.

“Yes. Twilight and her friends managed to free me, but my magic is otherwise drained at the moment.”

“Did Tor-”

“No, he didn’t steal any of my magic. But he’s also coming your way! Get out of-”

A slow clapping sound made its way to my ears.

Clutching my knife, I slowly stood up, and looked across the room to see Torrentican standing there, with grim delight etched onto his features.

“Torrie,” I said curtly, nodding at him.

“Nathan,” He replied. “Do you know how long it took me to amass that army?”

“Really long?”

“Quite.”

“Good, I’ve been wanting to tick you off.”

“I’m sure,” Torrentican said, bringing his staff up. “Shall we just move on to the next part?”

Feeling like my knife wasn’t going to do much, I stood up, and twirled my knife a little. “Took the words outta my mouth, you sly bastard.”

“It’s a gift.”

“That’s my line!”

With that, he ran at me, slamming his staff at my side, and I felt myself lifted off of the ground by the sheer force of the blow.

I slammed into the ground, cracking my head on the hard ground, with stars flashing in my eyes. Wearily, I stood up, panting heavily. I wiped the blood away from the open cut above my right eye, and managed to block Torrentican’s next attack on my arm, wincing as his staff crashed into the silver colored bracer, denting it and bruising the skin underneath. I threw a haphazard punch at him with my free hand, and he deflected it with a lazy flick of his staff.

Gasping, I grabbed the staff in my fist, and stabbed my blade into his leg, the only area I could reach. Blood flowed from the ghastly wound, and Torrentican hissed mockingly at me. I sneezed in his face, and wheezed, “’Scuse me.”

He backed away, favoring his wounded leg, as he wiped off the bits of snot from his eyes. “Did you really have to result to such crude tactics?” He asked, disgusted.

I spat out a small wad of blood, and smiled. “Heh, you always say that you’re nothing to sneeze at. Guess I just proved that wrong, didn’t I?”

His eyes narrowed dangerously, and I kept up the mocking. I can’t help it. The closer I get to getting my ass kicked and the more evil and powerful the villain is, the more I tend to snark. “Endless Traveler of Evil, dude who has more power than a few Gods, and I sneezed in his FACE!” I said triumphantly. “You just got sneezed in the face by a Half-Mexican, Eternal, Smart-Assed, part Irish Traveler! That’s new material for me to mock you with!”

Torrentican lunged at me, and grabbed my face in his pointed-finger gauntlet, covering my entire face. He slammed my head into the wall, and half-snarled, half-mocked, “As much as I hate to admit this, but you are more powerful than you lead others to believe. Your Auras, for example, are extremely remarkable, in the way that they can enhance any of your abilities to the point of near-perfection if used properly…”

“Your point?” was my muffled reply.

“Do you recall your ‘Dark Aura’?” Torrentican asked in a deadly tone.

“That one scary Aura that nearly killed an entire world several times? The one that I just so happened to destroy a while ago?” I shot back.

“That very same one,” Torrentican said, his tone mockingly praising me. “But to tell you the truth: You have many more Auras with the same potential for uncontrolled destruction.”

I felt my blood run cold, and the armored hand started to apply pressure, squeezing my head.

“Luckily for me,” Torrentican continued, “I have learned of a way to force you to learn a new Aura…I wonder, Omnius, have you truly experienced Pain?”

Before I could answer, my mind exploded in a wave of agony. The armored hand let go of me, and I fell to the floor, helpless, as I felt my entire body succumb to the pain. Everywhere, all across my being, pain reigned supreme. I tried to escape into my mind, but even that was feeling its own pain: The pain of reliving my worst memories.

As I let out a wordless scream, Torrentican leaned his face down next to mine, and whispered, “Your Auras come forth when you do nothing but focus on a certain object. A prime example of this is when you learned your first Aura: Fire. You focused only on a burn, and called forth the powers of fire. Now, I am forcing you to focus on nothing but pain…” He grinned, and said in a louder voice, “Your friends had better hurry! You don’t have much time yet!”

Through my pain-blurred mind, I realized that he was baiting the girls into running in here, and I was helpless to stop them.

Torrentican laughed, and disappeared, leaving me to my pain, and the rising monster that was about to be freed…and the monster’s first victims…

I screamed, and heard the girls get closer and closer…

Of course. Celestia would be concerned, so she’d bring the girls here to back me up, and if they were coming…so was she.

Howling in agony, I felt myself start to transform. Shadows were torn off of the walls, and merged with my skin, making it seem as if I were becoming pure shadow. Jagged crystals erupted from my fingertips, and floated a few centimeters above them, pulsating wickedly in the light of the torches. All of my thoughts were replaced by thoughts of pain, and fear, and…I wanted more. I wanted others to feel what pain I had felt, I wanted them to fear me.

I needed to kill something…and it didn’t matter what it was.

As the transformation finished, there was the sound of concerned voices, and then-

“Omnius!” Pinkie shouted, bouncing into the room. “We were really really worried about you!” She then frowned, and said,

“Why are you all…dark and scary?”

I said nothing, and flexed my fingers, sending sharp lances of pain throughout my body.

“Um…why are you looking at me like that?”

Crouching, I placed one hand on the ground, and held the other one behind me, ready for the kill.

“Pinkie!” Celestia shouted, lifting her away from my lunge, preventing me from tearing out her throat.

“Omni, what are you doing?!” Pinkie shouted, her eyes widening in fear.

I let loose an unearthly wail, and shot forward like a bullet, unwilling to let my prey escape my wrath. Every movement sent a searing wave of pain through me, yet I moved with a sort of horrible grace, my body perfectly in tune with my primal thoughts.

Hunt. Suffer. Wrath. Fear.

I lunged again, my arms slashing downwards at another’s head. I don’t even remember who I was attacking. All I know was that I would rip apart anything that moved, and make it feel the same pain I was suffering.

A colorful blur kicked at me, and I tore out a few feathers from its wings, sending it tumbling onto the ground. A purple bolt of magic shot at my chest, pushing me away from the fallen pony, and it gave another one a chance to repeatedly buck me in the chest, before leaping out of the reach of my claws.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“Princess, what’s wrong with him?!” Twilight shouted as she blasted Omnius with another pulse of magic. “Why is he trying to hurt us?”

Celestia scowled, her brow furrowed in concentration. Her magic was still slowly recovering from the aftereffects of both Torrentican’s spell, and of being trapped in a lightless room for so long. Still attempting to gather her strength, she said, “I’m not sure…I think Torrentican somehow triggered a Dark Aura.”

“I thought he got rid of it though!” Fluttershy squeaked in fear, unable to move from where she was.

“Omnius’ Auras allow him to increase any ability or attribute he has,” Celestia explained. “If that’s true, then that means that while it can increase his positive abilities, then the same can be said for his negative ones as well!”

“So you’re saying he has potentially limitless dark Auras?!” Twilight shrieked.

“Unfortunately, yes. He hasn’t activated many of them yet, and he has destroyed the most powerful one, yes, but…Twilight, look out!”

Celestia flared her powerful wings, and sent a gust of wind at Omnius, pushing him away from her prized pupil.

“What do we do?”

Celestia’s eyes widened, as she finally felt that enough of her magic had returned to her. Or at least, enough for the spell she was planning on casting.

“Twilight, hold him off for just a few more seconds!” She commanded, her horn glowing brightly.

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

In another realm entirely, a hooded figure looked up, hearing a soft voice call her name. Looking around, she spotted a warm light that beckoned to her, urging her to come to it.

“What is wrong?” She asked, walking towards the light. Suddenly, she heard voices shouting, and a high-pitched wail of pain.

In a flash, everything returned to her, and she knew what was happening. With an iron resolve, she ran into the light, and felt herself falling through the barriers that separated her realm from the other one.

She would return to her rest later.

Her loved one was in trouble. Next Chapter: The Only One He Fears Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 17 Minutes