Chapter 18: The Battle of the Victims
Alpha stared at the glowing eyes in the middle of the hallway.
"Shit, Zeta. We can't fight here. If we do, we can risk everything we have ever worked for. They could actually frame us with evidence of us attacking and destroying a hospital. We would be fucked!"
"What do we do?" Alpha muttered under his breath.
"Only one thing we can do. Run."
Alpha stared at Zeta. He watched as she walked from the darkness, her armor flickering on, glowing purple, as she made her way towards him.
"Hello, Alpha." Zeta said from within her armor. "Like my new armor?" She said as she looked over herself, the armor glinting in the light. "It does quite fuck up any and all stealth missions, but hell, it'll protect me from any and all power." The metal clinked and clanked as it hit the floor as she made her way towards him.
Alpha was already running down the hallway. "Really hope your ghost of us fools her long enough."
"So do I, keep running though."
Zeta was now a hoof away from Alpha's face. "I was about to ask- wait a minute." She squinted her eyes as she looked at Alpha. He wasn't breathing, he wasn't blinking. He wasn't actually moving.
"It's not Alpha. It's a ghost. Something to stall you."
"That clever bastard." She said as she swiped her hoof across the ghost. It vanished as it met with her metal gauntlet. "Fool me once, shame on me." She muttered as she placed her all her weight on her hind legs. "Fool me twice, you die." Pushing off her hind legs with all her strength, she galloped down the hallway, in search of her target.
Charlie slowly woke up and looked around. It was too dark for him to see, only seeing the outline of the door from the hallway light. Pushing the covers off, he hopped off the bed, landing chest first on the ground with a thud.
"Oof!"
"You okay?" Delta asked.
"The last time I checked, our bed was on the ground." Charlie replied as he stood up. "And the floor wasn't clean" He added as he swiped the floor with his right hoof.
"We are in a hospital. Alpha brought us here after we fell unconscious."
"But I'm not hurt." Charlie said as he felt himself, looking for any wounds. "I'm okay."
He made his way towards the door but stopped before it. He was felt like he was being watched but shrugged it off as being paranoid and went to reach for the doorknob when it spoke.
"Don't open the door."
Charlie froze. "Why not?"
"Because if she finds me, I'm dead."
Charlie looked to his right and saw the light switch. He turned his back to the door and flicked the switch up. There were bloody hoof prints on the ground. His eyes followed them and found its source. Alpha was hurt, lying on the ground in front of the window. His scar was open and bleeding, his left wing was broken while his right metallic wing was bent downwards. His eyes however caught Charlie and Delta off guard. While Charlie and Delta were used to seeing blood, Alpha's eyes were staring right at Charlie. The light switch turned off, Beta turning off the lights.
"So," Alpha muttered. "How long do you think you have?"
Charlie slowly made his way towards Alpha. "What do you mean? How long do I have for what?"
"To live."
Charlie was now in front of Alpha. "What are you talking about?"
"I know what you are going through, the depression. No pony ever says they don't want to leave the RF without a good reason." Alpha replied, gritting his teeth as the pain in his left wing worsened. "So I ask again, how long do you think you have?"
Charlie began to see Alpha's face, his eyes slowly adjusting to the dark. He lied down on the ground and placed his head on his front legs. "Don't know, Couple of months perhaps? You?" Charlie watched as Alpha's eyes, glowing in the dark, looked up and moved, following something behind him. He looked behind himself to see a suit of armor, glowing purple, walking past the room.
"Who is that?" Delta asked as Charlie got up and walked to the window to the hallway.
"Zeta and Gamma, Luna's Assassin." Alpha replied, Beta cloaking himself.
Delta's eyes widened when he heard her name. It wasn't possible. She was dead. He saw her die by Beta's… Delta turned around and looked at Alpha, who was now uncloaked and was watching him. Charlie walked over to Alpha. "I remember you. I know you, Beta."
"Took you long enough, Delta." Beta chuckled. "If you were wondering, that," He nodded to the hallway. "Is your sister."
"How can you be sure?"
"I remember those I killed. I remember who hurt me back then, who hated and bullied me." Beta's voice seemed to get deeper in tone as he remember and retold his darkest part of his life.
Delta turned around and looked at the door. A suit of Armor, glowing neon purple in patches and streaks, was peering through the glass frame.
"I killed those who hurt me because I could not take it any longer." Beta replied, staring at Zeta. The door opened and in came the suit of armor. "Half of Ponyville hated me because I was a mutant, like you. Just like you."
"Come now, Beta. We all knew you were different." Gamma's voice came through from the suit. "We bullied you because you were weak. Hell, even my brother was like you."
"So you do remember me? I thought you forgotten about me." Delta interrupted. "I wouldn't be surprised, you always were the mean one in the family."
"Delta, is that you in there? It has been a long time. How's mom and dad?"
"Dead, no thanks to you." Delta replied, annoyed.
Zeta peered at Alpha, who was staring at her, watching her every move. "I see you met my friend, Beta, or should I say murderer."
With the door open, Twilight snuck her way into the room to listen.
"You know why I killed you." Beta said. "I told you why when I tortured you."
"Yes, but I would like to know why you killed me." Gamma replied.
"He killed you because you weren't only hurting him, you were hurting others." Delta answered.
"Delta, I will deal with you later. But before I kill him, I want to know why I died." Gamma said, turning her attention to Beta.
"Your little brother already told you, and he is right. Not only were you hurting me, you were hurting countless others. Before I died I promised myself to make sure all bullies were punished. And I lived up to that promise." Beta said.
"You will not kill him for he is innocent." A voice said behind Alpha. All the ponies in the room looked out the window to see Nightmare Moon, hovering in place.
The bond between Alpha and Beta began to repair both of Alpha's wings.
Nightmare moon opened the window and climbed into the room. "He is an innocent, a victim. He died reacting to the pain. And somepony here is the reason why a battle broke out after he was defeated." She turned her attention to Delta, leaning in close. "The Battle of the Victims."
"How do you know?" Delta replied, shocked that Nightmare Moon knew what he had done.
"Just because I was banished to the moon does not mean I am blind to what happened in Equestria." She replied. "From what I know and saw, Delta here saw Beta die. In an attempt for revenge, he gathered the remains of the victims that Beta had spared, creating a loose army of the bullied, the hated, the ignored and the alienated. Ages ranged from 8 years of age to 50 years of age in this army."
"I only did it because it needed to be done. Celestia could have done something, but instead she decided to not help and watch as Beta was bullied and hurt. She waited for him to go on a rampage. She wanted him to go on a rampage." Delta interrupted. "It had to be done. Something had to be done!"
"What happened?" Alpha asked.
Delta lowered his head. "The Battle of the Victims began. After Beta was defeated, I thought Celestia would be weak, so I gathered the rest of the victims that Beta spared and attacked her." He sat down beside the bed. "It went on for so long. So many mutants, so much untapped, unknown, uncontrollable power was unleashed." He closed his eyes and began to slowly shake his head, regretting what he did. "We were all angry. A fellow mutant killed by our so-called princess, the one who banished her own sister to the moon for 10 centuries, the Alicorn that could raise the sun, Celestia. We wanted revenge." He said, anger creeping into his voice. "We came together at the base of Canterlot and began our ascent to the castle." Delta took a deep breath and looked up at Nightmare Moon. "In the end, we failed. Celestia did not show any mercy. She slaughtered and tortured us. To be honest, I'm more afraid of your sister than I am of you, and I hate her as much as Beta hates my sister."
Alpha struggled as he got up and limped his way to Charlie's side. Once there, he placed his metallic wing around Charlie in an attempt to comfort Delta. Before he could do so, however, he was hit in the side by a bolt of magic and flew backwards by Zeta and Gamma; an attempt to end his life. He hit the wall and fell to the ground, badly injured.
"What are you doing!? Stand down!" Nightmare Moon yelled at Zeta.
"We aren't under orders from you." Zeta replied. She pushed past Nightmare moon and went to the struggling white Pegasus, stained in his own blood. His metallic wing laying on the ground, all bent and disfigured, and placed her metal gauntlet on his back. "Don't worry, this isn't personal." She stopped then added, "Well to me, of course." Her horn began to glow as she got ready to end his life.
Unbeknownst to Zeta and Gamma, Delta had other plans...