I do not own MLP:FIM. MLP:FIM is property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust
The Hunt!…
"Because I said not, Rainbow Dash," Celestia scorned from the map room of the palace. "You two are to be wed in a week's time, and I will not have this ruined by something as petty as boredom with staying still." Eric stood over the maps, looking at them with his knuckles pressed into the wood of the table. "This is the perfect chance to let Leoj prove he deserves his knighthood. You two should just sit back and enjoy yourselves until your wedding." Rainbow Dash scoffed and walked to the opposite wall of the room.
"From what I heard," Dash argued. "He proved himself when you all held off the enemy at Three Hoof Pass. Then he defeated all of the enemies that got over the walls here while Eric was fighting their leader in the streets!" She threw her helmet across the wall, breaking a bust of somepony. "Leoj can pull support while we take the fight to them! Dammit Princess, we want to go out and finish what they started, and you know that can't happen until every last one is back in the ground." Se retrieved her helmet and walked out of the room, slamming the door.
Eric tapped the table with his gauntlet, rapping his knuckles against the rosewood. "Still think I'm lucky?" he asked with a smirk before pointing at the area circled on the map. "Back to the task at play, I suggest sending in the phalanx here," he pointed toward a bridge, tapping the paper. "If the cartography is correct, the river is too far down for even the undead to tempt. After the phalanx is in position, the Air Corps and Task Force Gamma should round the enemy into the bridge and drive them toward the phalanx." He raised his hand and shifted his weight to his other foot. "But that is just what I would do. If this was my mission, I would have Tee Eff Gee and Air Corps round them up out of the woods and push them towards me. No casualties, in and out in under an hour." Eric picked up his helmet and turned it over in his hands, wiping a smudge from the sculpted eye socket. "But, I'm going to leave this to you," he said, motioning with the helm to Leoj. "I have a fiancé to calm before she goes AWOL and gets herself hurt again." Eric put his helmet on and walked out of the door, leaving the briefing to Monarch and Clock.
Eric walked through the castle, nodding to the guards as he went by. He heard the crashing of metal and the shatter of glass coming from a room. He walked up to the door and was stopped by an earth pony guard. "Sorry sir," he said. "I was ordered to refuse entry from anypony. And in my personal opinion," the guard looked back as something obviously heavy slammed into the door. "I wouldn't let anypony go through for their own safety." Eric looked at him, staring long enough to make the veteran soldier flinch.
"You can keep your opinion sergeant," Eric said, walking past him. "I doubt she could throw anything dangerous at me." The guard nodded and took his post beside the door. Eric waited for the cacophony to quiet before opening the door. He was struck in the face with a vase as soon as the door opened, brushing the ceramic off of his shoulder before stepping into the room.
"Dumb Bitch!" Dash screamed before throwing another cracked vase at the wall. Eric ducked to the right as it passed over his shoulder. "The Night Hawks could take this and she knows it!" a sword spiraled through the air. Eric held out his hand and caught the four foot long blade by the haft. Rainbow Dash looked in his direction when the sound of steel sinking into stone wasn't present. Eric had his hands resting on the pommel of the sword, the blade seated in a crack in the floor.
"Don't mind me," Eric said, watching the diminishing pile of busted pottery and stoneware in the center of the floor. "I'm just here to make sure my best Captain doesn't go AWOL." Dash blinked, turning into a scowl and throwing the plate she held at the wall behind her. Eric watched her pick up a rather odd looking slab of stone and heft it. "Hold it!" he yelled, walking up to her and taking the slab. "Ok, you can keep going. Look out for more of these, I like to read old texts." Dash nodded as he walked away to a corner, picking up another, newer piece of pottery and chucking it.
'Ancient Greek writing,' Eric thought to himself as he deciphered the tablet in his hands. 'Figures, everything else here is Greek in origin.' He read the letters, finding it incomplete. It spoke of a magician that should not, the rise of the dead and the beginning of a new age of something. The rectangle ended before the next line. Eric set it in an old leather bag from the room, going back to the pile and rummaging through it. "Dash, help me out here." He asked after raising his faceplate. She looked at him, turning around and chucking everything that wasn't made of stone over her shoulders.
Eric laid out the ten stone tablets in the order he thought fit, reading the remainder of the texts. "Did you throw any of these?" he asked Dash. She shook her head, floating over him and looking at the glyphs. "Look around, would you? I want any of these you find. That's an order Captain." He said before she could protest.
"Yes sir," she said grudgingly, going around the room and looking for the tablets. Eric looked over the texts, finding he had the first one before him. He knocked on the door and requested the guard to bring some writing utensils and then go find Celestia. He found a patch of dust and wrote down what he could before waiting. Dash came back with a cart holding twenty similar tablets. "I found these in a corner of an adjacent room," she explained, handing him one. Eric brushed away a thick layer of dust and read through the tablet. He set it among the others before looking through the cart. The guard returned with the princess, some parchment and an inkwell with a quill.
"What do you want?" The princess asked. Eric turned around and pointed to the tablets on the floor, nineteen in total before writing down what was legible still. She looked them over, baffled by the ancient language. "This predates Equestria it's self," she said, looking them over for a date. "I suspect this even predates Discord's rule. Where did you find these?" she asked. Dash led her to the store room while Eric continued to translate them into the modern language.
They returned as he finished, writing the final line. "It's incomplete," he said, raising the stack of parchment to eye level. "But from what's here, it seems to be correct." The ponies looked at him like he was mad. "What is here is what is known as the Scriptures of The Alicorns, and the first edition also. It is a prophecy that apparently repeated throughout time on many planets." Celestia seemed surprised to here the name. "I see you know of them. It tells the tale of how a being of the planet but not, being able to use a power many but not all can, and still shouldn't be able to. This being brings happiness to the masses through revelry and debauchery, leading in what some think is an age of prosperity and kindness. But soon after his arrival, when the veil of the afterlife is weakest, a malevolent force comes to their world.
"This force raises the dead on that day, not an uncommon feat yet again. But instead of joining their lost family in celebration, the awakened bodies turn on them. They feast on the living, turning the bodies into their like. The force then leads its masses against the leaders of the world, taking them down and assimilating the world. Then another being, again not of the world and not seeming to be, leads them from the darkness. This being kills off the dark force, destroying it indefinitely. This being, unable to return to his own world, weds one of the native races. Their child is revered as the next of their saviors or their demise." Eric stopped, looking at Dash before returning his vision to the tablets. He pointed to the one in the center.
"This tablet says that the child looks like the savior in each scenario. In the latter scenario, instead of taking the fight to the remaining corpses, they will lead them against the savior. The savior then has to decide to kill their child, or to give their life so the world is saved." He set the papers on a table, running his hand through his hair. "In the better scenario, the child leads the world into an eternal utopia. The child assumes the mantle after the ruler's demise and leads them through its life, passing the crown down to their worthiest child." He picked up a vase and weighed it in his hand before throwing it against the wall. It shattered into the pile from Dash's earlier rampage. "But you already knew this, didn't you Celestia?"
Dash looked at the princess with something akin to shock, surely she wouldn't hold something as crucial as this from them. "I did," she said. "But I learned from my mother and father not to put stock in prophecy. I thought the Scriptures of The Alicorns were only as old as Equestria, not as foreboding as this." She pointed at the tablets on the floor. "These are as old as the written word in Equestria, and they have predicted the arrival of Keith and you, the raising of the dead, and your bond with Rainbow Dash to the letter." She shook her head. "But scientifically, the two of you having any offspring is impossible. The genetics don't match up, and if they did, I doubt any foals would resemble Eric." Eric looked at Dash, who looked down and grew depressed. "What aren't you two telling me?" Celestia asked.
"Should I tell her or would you like to?" Eric asked Dash. She waved a hoof to him, floating to the window and looking out at the scenery. "I guess I will," he said as he stood up and took off his helmet. "After the Gala, I ran a few tests. Dash wants us to have a baby, and I didn't know if it was possible." He shifted in place, suddenly nervous. "I cross checked the results with every other pony in the database, and it is a unique occurrence. Did any of the people present at the crash tell you what happened?" Celestia shook her head. "Figures. Long and teary story short, I died. Death came in person to reap my soul according to Leoj. Then a god and goddess turned him away, touching me and Dash with some kind of effect. I was given life again and returned to my body, while Dash…" Eric trailed off. "Apparently the goddess was a fertility one. She altered us enough so we could have children." Celestia looked at the tablets with gusto, despair filling her.
"So you both can have offspring," she concluded, buying his story without a second thought. She had dealt with deities before, and they loved to meddle in the affairs of mortals. "The baby shall be kept under watch," she said, getting a pained groan out of Dash. "I don't like it any more than you do, Rainbow Dash," she explained. "But if these are true predictions of events yet to transpire, I must take every precaution to ensure the safety of this land."
"If I may, your highness," Eric said, walking over to Dash and putting his arms around her. "These precautions may cause the unfortunate." Celestia gave him a quizzical look. "If the child is to resemble me, they will already be shunned from the other ponies. He or she will look different in the extreme, and your guards or anything you do to watch him or her will only further this. Humans don't deal with being different like ponies do. We get mean, resentful and spiteful even. Our child will lash out, and finding that assaulting others feels just to them, they will grow to like it." he let Dash go as she landed, walking towards the door. Eric followed her. "Permission to speak freely, milady?" Celestia nodded. "It would be better if you let this play out as it will. The worst case scenario is I have to decide weather to kill my own child or die for the greater good." he put his helmet on, holding the door handle. "In short. Keep your damned white horn out of it." With that Eric opened the door and left.
Eric and Dash landed at the lawn of their house, both still fuming over Celestia's misinformation. She had withheld information that affected their lives, and it pissed them off to no end. Dash walked through the door, followed by Eric. He pulled the cylinder at his waist, the armor scaling into the back section. He stepped out of the boots, setting the helmet on the reconfigured neck. "Alice, put this in the basement." Eric ordered. The AI took control of the suit, walking it to the stair and out of sight.
Dash flopped down in a chair, picking up a bottle of wine and popping the cork. She drank form the bottle heavily, still upset. "I'm not saying what she did was completely disrespectful," she ranted, continuing on what they had talked about on their way home. "But she could have at least mentioned it in some of the briefings we were present at." Eric took the bottle from her and drank too, wetting his throat. "Don't finish it, I'm still thirsty." Dash joked. Eric gave the bottle back walking into the kitchen and pulling some of the chicken out of the oven. Alice knew how to cook rather well for a computer.
"You want some of this?" he asked through the open wall. Dash shook her head as he bit into a leg, still too upset to eat. Eric on the other hand was famished when he was upset. It baffled Dash how he stayed so lean despite his huge appetite. "You know, Baby," he said, swallowing his food. "It isn't completely her fault. From what I heard, Keith is the pony expert on the Scriptures. He should have mentioned something first." Eric set the cleaned bone down, picking up a knife and crushing it with the pommel. He picked through the fragments, eating the marrow as well. Dash stuck her tongue out in disgust as she walked into the room and dropped the empty bottle in the trash.
"You are one sick stallion," she said, taking another bottle from the cabinet and pouring a couple of glasses. "I Can't see how you find that red stuff enjoyable." She handed him a glass and sipped from hers, enjoying the seven year old Fancy. Eric shrugged and picked up a rather long bone fragment, picking between his teeth.
"You still have to go hunting with me," he pointed out as he set the bone down and wiped the mess into the trash. "I doubt you would consider it disgusting after your initiation." She gave him a questioning look, setting her glass down. "Well, proper initiation demands you take a bite from the liver while it's still warm, eat the heart on your first kill, and drink one cup of warm blood." Eric watched her turn four shades of green before swallowing. He laughed at her. "I thought you liked meat," he sniped, walking out of the room with hr in tow.
"I do," she defended. "But it seems a little…" she searched for the word as they walked into the basement. Eric pulled a cross bow and a compound recurve from the wall, stringing the weapons. He handed one to Dash before testing the pull on his, letting the nylon cord twang as he let go.
"Extreme?" Eric asked her when she failed to finish her statement. He pulled a quiver and a pouch of bolts off hooks, handing the crossbow bolts to Dash. She nodded as she took them, slipping them over her shoulder. "Well, that's humans for you. We like the extreme and socially awkward." Erick knocked an arrow, pulling the string with ease and loosing the rod at a target a hundred yards away at the other side of the room. "Ready to go?" he asked before walking towards the door again.
They stalked through the woods, looking for game. Eric had been following some buck tracks for a couple of miles now, finding them rather erratic. They turned back, veered off in strange directions before returning to their previous course. "It's like the damn thing's drunk," he said, coming upon a steaming pile of excrement. "This way," he whispered, turning off to the right into some brush. Dash followed him, her crossbow still slung across her back. They walked behind some bushes until they spotted the animal. It was around four feet tall at the ears and had a rather impressive set of antlers. Eric motioned to her to take the shot.
Dash crouched down with him, pulling up her crossbow and pulling back the string. The lock clicked, causing the deer to look up and around the area. It continued to look around as she set the broad head bolt into the block and nodded to Eric she was ready. He coached her through the process, trying to make sure she wouldn't hesitate. "Deep breaths," he said as she closed her eyes. "Slowly, in and out. Breathe through your nose and lift the stock to your shoulder." she did so and rose up slightly. As she sighted in the shot, Eric continued to talk to her, holding his bow at the ready if she did hesitate. "when you have the shot, breathe in through your nose," she did, setting her hoof against the modified trigger. "when you fire, breath out slowly and pull the trigger when it is all the way out." she exhaled, punctuating the breath with the thump of the string. The arrow streaked through the air, landing in the bucks shoulder. The shaft passed through the chest and out the other side.
"Nice!" Eric exclaimed as the buck fell forward. It recovered and ran into the woods ahead of it, the sounds of the deer falling dead in a crash of bushes and limbs could be heard for a mile in the silence. "Come on," Eric said as he released the tension on his bow and returned the arrow to his quiver. He jumped over the bushes and stopped as he heard Dash heave once, her stomach uneasy but keeping to itself. She followed him into the open, finding the tracks and blood trail in the dirt and grass. "You either hit the heart or an artery," he commented lifting the blood to his nose and smelling it. "Yeah, artery. Nice shootin' Tex." He said with a face accent. They walked along the trail, finding the animal collapsed in some juniper bushes.
"I think I'm going to be sick," Dash said weakly as Eric pulled it out and into view. The animal twitched and kicked, trying to run but not having the strength to. Eric drew a foot long dagger from his belt and held it out to Dash.
"Your deer, your kill." He said, pushing the handle into her hoof. She walked over to the animal and looked at it. It looked so helpless, like it was blaming her for what she did. She continued to stare back at the beast with wide eyes, not noticing Eric had taken her hoof in his hand. "behind the shoulder," he coached, placing the point of the dagger along the ribs. "Between the ribs, forty five degree angle." Dash was deaf to his words as the deer gave another burst of energy as it tried to escape. "And," Eric pushed her hoof down, sinking the blade in it into the animal's heart. The deer shuddered and tensed, breathing in short bursts before the light left its eyes. Dash felt the world grow darker around her, her stomach finally giving way to the feel of the blood that coated her hoof and foreleg.
Eric pulled the blade out of the deer's chest as Dash ran towards a tree, the sounds of vomiting issuing back to him. Eric walked up to where she was as she gained control again. "It isn't like killing zombies she said, turning around. "Their already dead." Eric nodded and slid his thumb along the flat of the blade. He places a line of red under her eyes and one on her brow. She turned around and vomited at the smell of the gore.
"You aren't done yet," he said, walking back to the animal and sinking the dagger into the dirt. He pulled a small knife from his belt, turning the deer over and cutting under the skin of its belly. He dug his knuckles into the flesh, stripping the hide from the meat. As he laid the skin down on the ground, he tied a rope around its back legs. He tossed the rope over a thick tree branch and heaved the animal up. "You have to drain it now," he said as he pulled the remainder of the skin from it with a ripping sound.
Dash walked up and pulled the dagger from the dirt. She stared at the knife, reading what was filled with gore. Honor and Blood was inscribed on the steel. She stood up on her hind legs, breathing deeply to steel herself. She swung the knife, cutting the neck open to the bone. Eric held a cup under the torrent of red water that poured out of the gash, filling it to the brim. "No," Dash said as he handed it to her, the blood sloshing over. "Just… No." Eric shook his head and filled another.
"Together then," he said, pressing the cup into her hand. she took it and stared at her red reflection, grimacing all the while. Eric raised the cup to his lips with her, waiting for her to commit. Dash swallowed hard and poured the warm gore into her mouth, swallowing it quickly. Eric smiles and drank it slowly, letting some run over his chin and down his neck.
Dash struggled to keep the blood down, shaking her head and swallowing almost continually. The taste of coins coated her tongue, her throat threatening to open up. "Gah!" she exclaimed. "I don't ever want to do that again." she looked up at Eric who was filling his cup again. "Ok, that's just sick." She said as he took hers and caught the last of it.
"I'm not drinking it," he said as he set them on a stone and took off his pack. He reached in and pulled out a small stove and a pan. He attached a tank of fuel to the base of the stove and lit it, filling the pan with the blood. "If you boil this stuff and splash it over the meat, it will keep for a month in cool weather." He explained before handing her a hooked knife. "You gotta cut it open and pull out all the guts," he said as she took it.
The effect on her that killing the deer had faded. Now Dash was able to do this without hesitation or remorse. It was dead now and starting to grow cold. She stared at the hips, sinking the hook into the soft underbelly and pulling it down. The carcass opened with a hiss of air, she knew it was from the lungs being punctured. As Eric watched, she pulled out the stomach, kidneys and pancreas, intestines, spleen and gal bladder just like he told her to. He stood up and held up his hand for her to stop. Reaching in up to his elbow, he pushed aside the lungs and diaphragm, working around the liver. He counted with the tips of his fingers up the vertebrae, grasping the large lump of flesh just above them. Eric wrapped his fingers around the ventricles and pulmonary veins, twisting the heart around until a muted snap was heard.
"That sounded nasty," Dash commented as he pulled out the organ and handed it to her. she took it in her hooves, staining her blue coat further red. "Eat it, huh?" she asked. Eric pulled out a pouch of salt, taking a pinch and sprinkling it over the heart. After a moment, the organ began to give a few feeble beats. Dash looked up at him and scowled. "I hate you," she said before looking back at the beating heart.
"No you don't," he said before adding more salt to it and causing it to beat faster. "And you said science was cool yourself. This is the…" he paused for effect before adding more salt. "Darker side of cool." He finished as he plugged the veins and arteries with his fingers. The heart was beating heavily, pressure building inside of it. "Close your eyes," he said just at it began to expand. Dash shut her eyes just as a spatter was heard. She could feel warm goo fall on her face and chest.
She opened her eyes as she heard Eric laughing. He had let go of the burst heart and was giggling to himself as he stirred the simmering blood with a stick. "I think you need help," she said, holding the heart in one hoof and sitting down. She took a large bite out of the organ in her hoof and chewed it slowly. It was very salty, not from the added salt either. She had rinsed that off in the pan of blood. It tasted like the meatloaf only less sweet and with a copperish taste.
Eric stood up and pulled out the liver, cutting a slice off of it and puling a skillet out of the bag. He handed the slice to Dash, continuing her initiation. She finished the heart and held the liver in her hoof. It jiggled like a worm on her hoof. Almost falling off a few times. "You know," he said. "Most ponies would say you need help for doing this." Dash took a bite out of the liver, spitting it out as it wriggled on her tongue. "Then again, I've needed help ever since I started my crusade against the undead." She handed the piece back to him. he set it on the flesh of the deer pelt, cutting several lumps of fat from the carcass. Eric slid them around on the skillet, greasing it before slapping the liver on the hot cast iron. He added the smaller piece to the pan before sprinkling salt over the flesh and turning it over. Eric repeated the process before standing back up and pulling the remaining organs from the deer. He set them on the skin, laying the lungs, kidneys, spleen and diaphragm down before splashing them with the boiling blood. He let them dry before turning them over and doing it again.
They sat there and ate the liver after it finished cooking, Dash finding it to be much better after it was fried. They buried the viscera, Eric shouldering the deer and putting on his glasses. "Alice," he said into the communicator. "Send in the battle suit to this location and start the fireplace. We should be home soon." Eric put the deer on the skin and filled the body cavity with the organs, they now had a sheen from the laminate the blood gave them. The suit landed with a clank of metal before ratcheting back over itself. He stepped into it and picked the deer up, having been wrapped with the skin so the single pieces wouldn't fall out before taking off toward home with Dash.
Eric walked out of the shower room, steam following him as he continued to dry his hair. It needed a cut again, and he also needed a shave. That could wait until tomorrow though. Him and Dash had planned on watching the Canterlot News Network. They were airing the battle outside Southpony and they were curious if Leoj had a leader's spirit. "Alice, tune the television to CNN," Eric ordered as he opened the drawers in the bedroom. He heard a few protests from Dash in the living room, he program having changed.
"Not funny!" Eric heard her yell through the house as he dressed. He put on his pants and shirt, walking out to find her stomping around. "Really? I think I've seen enough blood for one day at least." Eric chuckled as she sat back on the couch, laying on her back and sighing. "Git me a drink, baby," she demanded coyly. Eric smirked and snapped his fingers. A fifth of bourbon, a bottle of cola, and two glasses with ice rose up from the floor. Dash took her glass and held it on her chest. "Then pour it for me mister suave," she said, poking her tongue out through her teeth.
"Fine," Eric said, taking the cola and pouring her glass nearly full. He added the bourbon until it overflowed onto her. Dash gasped and set the glass on the table with a huff. She waited until he filled his glass before jumping up and knocking him down. She sat on his chest and held his shoulders to the floor.
"You have been a bad pony, sir." She said laying on his chest and looking him in the eyes as he tried to overpower her. She giggled and held him down, being stronger from her athletics. "No," she said. "I don't think I'll let you up." she said, flipping a lock of his hair with her hoof playfully. Eric sighed and let his arms fall to his sides before poking her. Dash yelped and twitched, narrowing her eyes. "That isn't going to work," she said, twitching as he continued to tickle her.
"Then what will?" he asked, poking her again. Dash looked up and bit on her lip in thought. Eric took this moment to roll to the side and pin her to the ground like she had him. "That?" he asked with a smile, getting a frustrated look out of her. Dash struggled and beat him playfully with her wings, pawing at his chest with her hooves.
"Let me go you ruffian!" she shouted in a fake accent. "I said unhand me fiend!" she continued to play fight with him as they laughed together, rolling around on the carpet. She got back on top of him and grabbed his hands in her hooves as he tried to push her off. "Now the shoe is on the other hoof!" she exclaimed, pinning him again. Eric panted from the exertion, laying there as she wanted him to. he reached up and ran his hands through her mane. Dash sniffed Eric's hands as they passed over her face. "Hmm, you still smell like gore," she purred, leaning closer. "That is so hot," Eric smirked and kissed her as the news broadcast started.
"Hello and welcome to the Canterlot News Network. I am Inkwell, your seven o'clock reporter. Tonight we have a special broadcast, and I must advise any ponies with young foals to please, ask them to leave." There was a pause as Eric and Dash rolled on the floor, knocking a table over. "If all the foals are away, we will now switch to our live Pegasus camera. Camille, can you hear us?"
"Yes Inkwell. The scene here is nothing short of a blood bath. The famous Phalanx Division, formed by Eric Gaines Johnson or the legendary Firebird, has proved their efficiency once more. This time, Knight Leoj Clocktum, call sign Clockwork is commanding an attack on the remaining undead forces. The air corps led by Spitfire and Task Force Gamma led by the unicorn Little Strife have pushed the enemy towards Baltimare Bridge where the phalanx has set up." There was another pause as the camera was dropped. "Sorry, I was caught off guard by the air corps there. they are now pushing the last of the area's undead toward the bridge, which is littered with bodies I might add. Blood is running deep off of it. there is a veritable waterfall of gore here. The smell is absolutely horrifying, Ink." The reported paused to get a better angle. Eric and Dash were En Maneuvers in the room, the sounds of sex rather loud.
"Iron Hoof! Rein in the first line!" Leoj was shouting orders into the phalanx. "Come on Gamma! Force them in! You, get out of here, this is no place for civilians!" just then a scream was heard on the television.
"Stallion down, Stallion down!" was the word over the radio operator's set. "We have a hundred plus undead bringing up the… Oh Gods! Hel…" Eric sat up and looked at the TV. The camera was showing more than five hundred zombies running towards TFG.
"What's wrong," Dash asked from the floor, pulling Eric back down to her and kissing him. "Is it not good enough?" Eric kissed her back and pulled out, pulling up his pants. "What the hell?" Dash yelled as he ran towards the basement door. There were screams and cries for reinforcement over the TV. "Oh crud…"
"Alice, load up the ammo and add on a few of the longer swords." Eric ordered as he walked toward the platform in the center of the room. The sound of moving metal and clanking gears could be heard from under the floor. Eric stepped into the center of the platform, the boots clasping on from all directions as the boom arms appeared from under the steel. The machines placed the suit on his body as Dash came into the room, standing in a small section of the room. A few arms came down and connected the light plates of her armor Eric had made. "What do you think you're doing?" he asked without turning around.
Dash let out a bark of laughter and grabbed her helmet from the wall. She cradled it in her hoof, wiping prints from the polished steel. "What the hell do you think?" she said, donning the Spartan style helmet. "We are getting into it pretty good, and then Leoj starts getting his ass kicked. I want something to take my aggression out on." She walked over to the tunnel, pulling a long silver and gold Claymore sword off of the rack as Eric stepped of the platform. "Did you honestly think I was going to stay here?" she tilted the blade towards him.
Eric took the sword and stared down the blade. It had a titanium edge and a tungsten carbide back. "Good choice," he said as he lifted it and gave it a test swing. His armor lacked the turrets on the shoulders, letting him attach a metal scabbard to his back. He slipped the sword sideways into the scabbard, making sure it didn't obstruct the thrusters. "Come on," he said as the jets charged up. "We got an immortal idiot to save."
Eric and Dash flew toward the battle at super sonic speeds, the added thrust of the suit Eric made for her allowing her to keep up. "When we get there, clear the area so TFG can get out. Then join up with Air Corps and lead them into the battle," Eric ordered. He wanted to get this snag cleared up as fast as possible. Leoj wasn't at fault, the enemy coming from out of nowhere, but he had lives to save. "Use the tactics we used at Ponyville. Only instead of just clearing them out, drive them into the phalanx. From there, the soldiers can handle it."
"Yes Sir," she replied, descending toward Air Corps and issuing orders. Eric observed the operation from above, watching as Air Corps cleared a path for Gamma to get behind the phalanx formation. Eric made his descent, drawing the Claymore on his back and hacking his way through the meat so Gamma could make it with minimal trouble.
"Clockwork," he said into his radio microphone as he sliced the heads with long sweeping motions. "We need to talk. Get up here." He gave a hack to a zombie, cleaving it in half from nose to tail. The reporter from CNN descended up behind him and began pestering him with questions. Eric made a spinning slash, decapitating four zombies and covering the camera lens with gore. "Get to Baltimare! You are a liability right now and I don't want to drag you back to the hospital injured! Go!" he screamed as he stabbed the blade behind him. Eric felt three bodies impale on the sword as Leoj appeared from a time rift.
"Firebird," he said curtly before defending himself with his rapier and Webley revolver, slashing down before firing left handed into the remaining barrier of undead. "I had this under control," he said quiet enough so only Eric would hear him on the radio. Eric scoffed and turned his speakers up louder.
"You didn't have shit to stand on when they got reinforcements, Clock," Eric said as he pulled his sword free of the bodies with an upward heave. "You need to know when to send out recon before you begin a fight. Get that damn camera out of my face!" he said. taking the recorder and throwing it over the edge of the bridge. Leoj thrust at several enemies, splitting their skulls each time.
"I did, Eric!" the immortal screamed at him. "I did before with Air Corps and during the battle personally!" he kicked a zombie in the head, knocking it over before firing into its skull. "These monsters weren't in the area a moment before they arrived, and that worries me." Eric stabbed his blade into the ground and raised his fists, firing a barrage of small caliber rounds into the remaining zombies. He retrieved his sword, wiping it clean on a corpse before returning it to its scabbard.
"This way!" he called to Task Force Gamma, waving them towards the bridge. He turned around and motioned to the Phalanx. "Separate! Five feet down the center!" TFG thundered past him at a gallop, entering the new teleportation circle with a flash of white light. "Close it up!" he ordered, receiving instant cooperation. Eric looked up towards Air Corps, finding Dash and Spitfire leading the enemy toward the Phalanx and decimating them in sections from the sides and rear. "Clock, I want you to take ten ponies from the back rank and scout out a five mile radius. Kill anything that moves, understood?" Leoj nodded, bowing before entering a time rift. Eric could hear him ordering the back rank to follow him. Eric turned around and motioned the soldiers forward. "With me!" he cried, getting several battle cries from the soldiers before drawing his sword and charging into the remaining zombies with them.
FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT! Hahaha :D
SO what do you think, was it ominous enough? I sure hope so. Also, Mat and Sapphire will be making sparse appearances for a little while. I'm getting up to some personal things with Dash and Eric.
Please R&R