Chapter 28

Flux and Battering Ram both sat at a small table in the corner of the quiet bar, the other patrons were drowning their sorrows into alcohol whilst the bartender happily served the drinks as long as the customers had the bits to pay with

Battering Ram slid a strong cider to Flux and she began to gulp it down, her eyes resumed staring at the same spot on the floor as she finished her alcoholic beverage. The large earth pony sighed as he placed a straw in his soda and drank gently

“All those mares and he expects me to shrug it off” Flux folded her hooves on the table and dropped her head into her makeshift pillow “We were going to get married at one point you know”

“I know” Battering Ram sighed, “I was going to be the best stallion” he tapped his hooves before looking back at the depressed Pegasus “That was a huge risk going to see him”

Flux sat up and rubbed her eyes “I know but I had to speak to him, it is my fault that Strong Shield and I broke up” she ran a hoof over her smooth mane “I suppose that thirty years is long enough to think about the past”

“I don’t want to hurt him either but he has the key to the vault, he knows where they both are now so it is a waiting game until he tries to make a move” Battering Ram glanced at the door as a small group of stallions walked in

The lavender Pegasus looked at her hooves “I wanted to grow old with Strong Shield, not grow up old fighting him” she looked up at her large friend as she groaned again “I know what you are thinking”

“If we get the key from him then I can go to the vault and you can try and mend your broken relationship with the guy that almost killed us” Battering Ram frowned slightly as he spotted the group of stallions approaching him

“Well hello there beautiful” The obvious ringleader stepped closer to Flux, his large orange wings flared into Battering Ram’s face “How about you ditch the fat lad and I show you a really good time” he smirked as his gang of five other pegasi sniggered

“I’m fifty one, kill ponies for a lifestyle choice and I am in a really bad mood” She rolled her head to look at the brash Pegasus “So how about you take your friends away and give each other hoofjobs”

The Pegasus snarled as he slammed his hooves onto the table, causing the other patrons that were trying to drink themselves into amnesia to leave the bar. The owner nervously began washing glasses and mugs as he watched the gang of pegasi try to intimidate the pair of older ponies

“Don’t talk to me like that you washed up whore!” the leader spat, his eyes flared at Battering Ram “What the hay are you looking at you pansy?” he swatted the small straw out of Battering Ram’s drink as his gang muttered insults to assist their leader

Battering Ram slowly stood and towered over the gang as he rested his hoof on the table “I suggest you leave while you still have the basic ability of breathing” he said calmly as the gang frowned and bared their teeth

“And what are you gonna do you overgrown weirdo?” they grinned as Battering Ram looked at Flux before taking a calm breath and sitting down

“We ain’t looking for trouble” Battering Ram picked his straw off the table and replaced it in his drink “Just leave us alone”

The leader smirked at his crew as he pushed Battering Ram’s drink off the table “Too late for that” he smiled as Battering Ram still held the straw in his mouth “You are pathetic you freak, you wouldn‘t try a thing, even when me and my crew are using your mare as a bucket”

Flux winced as she covered her eyes with her hoof and leaned back in her chair. Battering Ram spat out his straw as his eyes opened in anger, he looked up at the gang as he snarled at the pegasi that grinned at his friend

The large earth pony grabbed the leader’s head using one hoof and slammed it through the table and into the floor. Battering Ram rose out of his chair and used an uppercut to knock one of the gang members into the wooden ceiling before he elbow dropped another with enough force that his body snapped in half

Ram then used one hoof to swat a forth gang member across the room and into a wall whilst he punched one with enough force to send him out the pub window and crash into a shop window on the other side of the street

The final gang member tried to run for the door as he saw all his friends brushed aside by the mountain of muscle. He just opened the door as Battering Ram grabbed him and pressed his face against the edge of the door

“I would say that the door is two inches thick of solid wood and is also half a meter wide” he brought his mouth close to the crying Pegasus’ ear he whispered “Which would you prefer I push your head through?”

“P-please, we were only messing around” The Pegasus sobbed as Battering Ram roared into his ear

“YOU PICKED ON MY FRIEND!” he continued to growl into the ear of the Pegasus “I don’t like having my friends hurt in any way” he pulled his head away as he pushed the head of the Pegasus through the entire width of the door and stopped when he hit the hinges

The bartender gasped as splinters and blood sprayed around the room, the Pegasus went limp as his head ceased to have a shape that resembled a head. The door was messily cut in half as the sharp wood held up the Pegasus body

Flux stood up and walked across the room, dropping a bag of bits on the bar as she nudged Battering Ram out of the pub and into the dark streets of Canterlot. They both quickly began walking towards another street where the road was darker

“Another place we can never go to again” Flux sighed angrily “one definitely dead, one possibly dead, one crippled and the other three with serious injuries… all in under a minute because you can’t keep calm”

Battering Ram snorted, “I can be calm, but I can’t stand by and let us get walked over” he looked down at his friend “I’m sorry about them but we are both under a lot of pressure because of Strong Shield”

“I know” Flux sighed as her ears drooped against her head “He has never been off my mind”

The large earth pony looked down at his companion “Listen, we both made our commitments and Strong Shield made his” Battering Ram stopped walking as he gently placed his huge hoof on Flux’s shoulder “What are we going to do if Strong Shield doesn’t do anything?”

“Then we tear his life apart” Flux growled as she wiped her tear from her face “The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few” she nodded as she looked up at Battering Ram “That is what we stand by and that is what we must pursue”

Battering Ram smirked as he walked up to one of the houses and opened the door, allowing Flux inside before closing the door and placing an anvil behind it “If push comes to shove, who do we target?”

“He held his guards highly” Flux began lighting a fire in the dusty fireplace “We take one of them and he will retaliate” she looked over her wing at the earth pony “We will only take Dave or Nox if the situation becomes dire”

“We touch either of them then the princesses will know and our cover is blown” Battering Ram sighed as he walked over and sat next to Flux “And I thought death was going to be peaceful” he rubbed his hooves as the fire finally flickered to life and bathed the room in a warm glow

Flux shivered as the heat from the fire began to battle the cold air in the room “you made the choice to save yourself or save me” she smiled as the earth pony nodded “luckily we saved each other”

“I still will never know how Strong Shield managed to beat us both” Battering Ram reached around and felt the large scar across his spine “losing the use of your rear legs really makes you think about life”

“You still managed to get us to safety” Flux smiled as she pulled Battering Ram’s hoof away from his scar “Don’t dwell on the past, just make sure that we are ready next time”

Battering Ram nodded “Alright, I’m going to hit the sack” he stood before walking towards the stairs “Don’t beat yourself up too much” he waved before ascending the creaky steps

Flux’s smile lasted until she heard the large earth pony crawl into bed, his quiet complaining lasted a few minutes before his snores slowly began to roll through the house. The Pegasus walked into the centre of the room and rested the tips of her wings on the floor, with a deep breath Flux threw her body upwards and allowed the tips of her wings to suspend her body in the air

She slowly lowered her body until her nose almost touched the ground before she pushed her wings straight again, her groans never got louder than a quiet grunt every time her wings became fully stretched

As Flux continued her exercise, she closed her eyes as memories floated back into her mind. Memories that defined her and memories that haunted her, the type of memories that made her stronger and the types of memories that begged her to give up

Her pace increased as she continued to push her body into the air, her wings ignoring that the pain her muscles were slowly gaining. Her hooves remained by the side of her body as her face occasionally winced at the pain her exercise was doing

“If I said that I loved you then that would make you a weakness”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes”

Flux’s wings buckled as she collapsed to the floor, panting as her head rested against the cold ground, the heat from the fire hitting one side of her sweaty body as the freezing air attacked the other side

Growling in determination, Flux rolled onto her front and began doing push ups, her wings rested as she used her hooves to lift her body this time

“The captain has said that I should stop having feelings for you, said it was a distraction that we couldn’t afford”

“Oh, so the captain has ordered us to work together and not have this affect our performance?”

“Basically”

“…”

“But I think that our relationship helps our teamwork”

“I like to think so too”

“You know, Battering Ram is in the barracks and won’t be back for a while”

“So we have the entire room to ourselves?”

“Yeah, if you wanted to we could go over our plan for the next mission”

“Or get some last minute training in”

“I suppose a few rounds of sparing wouldn’t go amiss”

“We could practice a few grapples”

“Counter attacks”

“Positions…”

“…Did I ever tell you that I love you?”

“Many times and I hope you never stop”

“How could I ever stop loving the beautiful Flux?”

“And how could I stop loving the handsome Strong Shield?”

Flux shook her head as she returned to reality, her eyes looked over to the fireplace where a few bits of ash were the only evidence that a fire ever existed. She turned her head and saw the morning sun being blocked by the curtains

“You were talking in your sleep” Battering Ram stood at the bottom of the steps as he looked down at Flux “You must have been exercising most of the night, you look exhausted”

The lavender Pegasus stood but her legs wobbled and forced her to sit down “I needed to occupy myself with something” she sighed as she gazed at the fireplace “I’ll be fine in a minute”

“I’m going to get something from one of the cafés” Battering Ram walked over to the front door and pushed the anvil aside “I’ll get something for you to eat”

Flux nodded as her friend left and she resumed sitting in an empty room as her thoughts continued to pester her

“Are you insane? We are going for Puppetmaster’s headquarters tomorrow!”

“I know, this may be my only chance”

“This is ridiculous”

“Flux, will you marry me?”