Night Lord in Equestria pt 19

>The rest had gone home, while you, Gilda, had stayed. Rainbow Dash had rolled her eyes at that, while the other ponies didn’t particularly like it. Ever since Chosen said you had molested him, you could imagine why.

>The over-reactive git.

>He was still the only one you wanted, the only one dangerous and exciting enough to actually be interesting in this utterly boring place...

>Fluttershy had said she would stay and keep an eye on Chosen too, the little cunt.

>The pink-haired Pegasus sat in the corner, never taking her rather intense stare off of you.

>You sat closer to his bed, at his head, waiting for his eyes to open.

>The minutes ticked by slowly, ever so slowly, with only the sound of three people breathing in the room to pass the time.

>Your claw reached out for his bare hand, just for something to hold onto.

>A quick crack of a hoof on your claws makes you jerk back in pain.

>You hadn’t even seen her move.

>”Don’t you DARE touch him.” Fluttershy stated coldly, eyes narrowing.

>”Don’t you touch ME, you creepy little shut in.” You fire back.

>”I’m not going to let you hurt him again, Gilda.”

>”I never hurt him in the first place, dweeb. I kissed him and he went a little crazy.”

>”You never cared about anyone or anything the last times you’ve come to Ponyville. No one has any reason to trust you, either.”

>”I care about Chosen and Dash, that’s all. You can go to Hell for all I care."

> A sharp gasp of air made both of them turn.

>"You're awake! Thank the gods-" Gilda started, before Chosen flung the covers off his bed, pulled medication needles from his forearms and frantically tore through through the room, searching frantically.

>"Calm down, Chosen, you're alright! I'm here..." Fluttershy cooed as she tried to slow him down.

>"Where's my armor, my weapons?!" Was his only response.

>"Chill out, they're being held downstairs, I'll take you there now." You weren't worried, just confused as to why he was acting like this.

>He just clenched his fists and made a sound between a grunt and a growl before bolting from the room.

>Heads poked out of rooms as nurses and patients tried to catch a glimpse of what was making such a huge racket.

>"What the hell's got into him?" You mutter inquisitively.

 

Chosen's perspective

>Maybe there was still time!

>It had only been a few days, she may yet still be alive!

>The dream, oh that torturous dream.

>Failure to protect someone.

>The memories of the dream danced around your head in a vicious spin, yet began to lose any detail when you concentrated on them.

>It was like trying hold mist in your hands.

>But it had reminded you.

>"You'll never make it.... You left her to die.... So innocent... She begged you to free her..." The little voice whispered. You thought you could hear whimpering on the edge of your hearing.

>You had completely forgotten about her in all this insanity.

>Raging against your hastiness in donning it, the machine spirit of your armor vented its anger into your interface ports, making them burn like lit candles pressed against your skin.

>Trees and pathways began to look familiar, until at last you stood just inside a familiar mineshaft.

>No time could be lost.

>Sweat plastered your face in worry and exertion, despite the chill of the night.

>Naked senses told you well enough that tonight the dogs were pushing their slaves hard.

>Metal cracked against stone.

>Carts squeaked and groaned, their contents crunching together.

>The salty smell of strenuous physical labor painted it all.

>Hard edged voices and cracking whips added its own sense of urgency.

>There was no time for subtlety.

 

>The cart slowed to a halt, its hauler collapsing to the ground.

>She just couldn't.

>Not anymore.

>They had beaten her so much after she had nearly escaped.

>If only that... thing had been a little kinder, she would have been out by now, grading homework her students so diligently worked.

>Never again would she see those shining young faces, so happy to learn, so happy to just be the kids they were.

>She doubted she ever would see them again.

>A few harsh words heralded her pit boss' coming.

>She couldn't make out just what he said, but it didn't matter.

>It's not as if they ever did anything nice for her or the others...

>The sharp cut of a whip on her back made her involuntarily spasm in pain.

>She would have cried at the pain, if she had any tears left.

>"See? I told you she was still alive!" She heard overhead.

>"You broke her, pushed her too hard," Another said.

>Doesn't matter, we can always get a few more somewhere, doesn't matter if it's little dragons, ponies or griffins, they all work after a while." Yet another replied.

>She felt him before she saw him.

>Quick, short little thumps through the rock. What could it be?

>It wasn't the clinking of picks, nor was it blasting charges. It was something else.

>PUH-PUH-POOM

>She couldn't pick her head off the ground to see what had happened, but the dogs howled like she had never heard before.

>Good. At least they won't be able to hurt anyone anymore.

>A shadow moved over her eyes. Maybe whatever hurt the dogs had come to kill her too.

>She tried, oh she tried to stand, but bloodied hooves and bruised, knotted muscles couldn't bring her to rise, let alone run.

>A cold hand gently pressed her back down.

>"Don't move," A bassy rumble tried to whisper. "You'll need to hold still if I am going to stabilize you quickly."

>A bee sting on her thigh and the world turned a little less painful...

 

>She was still alive.

>If barely.

>Frantic work had sedated her and applied numerous squirts of disinfectant, half a roll of synthskin bandages, and used more time than you could afford.

>More dogs had charged your position behind the mining cart, but you could smell them long before they got there.

>The horse's tiny heart beat with alarming slowness, her breathing sluggish as well.

>You hauled the little maroon horse on your shoulder as gingerly as possible.

>A smear of blood from one of the now thoroughly dead dogs on your tongue answered a curious question.

>The faces of dozens of prisoners leap into your mind, all scarred by whippings or goaded to work by billy clubs.

> And there were more dogs here than last time.

>MUCH more.

 

>You had seen Chosen bolt from the Hospital, but the crazy fool was too fast for you to keep up with.

>When he darted into the woods you had lost sight of him, but the path he seemed to be following led onward well enough.

>Through briars.

>And low tree limbs.

>Fluttershy followed stoically behind you, not content to leave you running after Chosen alone.

>She was such a pushover last time you were here. A yell and few angry words sent her flying home.

>Dash had made sure to curb that little habit though.

>If you didn't stop, you'd have to look for some other place to stay at...

>A hop, skip, and a jump later, you arrived at your destination.

>At least, you think so.

>A cave, and a rather small one at that.

>It doesn't even look like Chosen could fit in it...

>But his footprints led inside, so inside you would go.

>You could faintly hear something like yelps and little explosions, right after one another...

>Fluttershy wasted no time at the mouth of the cave, instead soaring inside, while you followed as fast as you could.

>The broken ground wasn't exactly making things easy, and you didn't exactly have enough room to spread your wings the way fluttershy did.

>She soon outstripped you.

>"Wait up, dammit, I can't fly down here," You called out.

>Whether Fluttershy heard you, or even cared what you said is debatable. Either way, she didn't respond.

>Fucking Fluttershy.

>You could hear growls and yelps and the little popping explosions growing louder.

>"C'mon Gilda, there's a fight going on in here. And I bet Chosen's kicking their asses so hard they're coughing up their prostates-"

>Voices, angry, impatient voices materialized in a hallway to your left, rising above the chaos you were following for just a moment.

>You staggered to a halt, hearing gruff voices speaking of "slaves", "cell blocks", something about "chain them all to the wall", and host of other things relating to forced labor.

>They can wait until this is all over to be freed.

>Unlike Fluttershy, you weren't exactly useless in a fight.

>You notice a well worn sledgehammer lying discarded next to a pile of crushed rocks.

>While not untrained in the arts of combat, you would much have preferred a sword.

>It will have to do though.

>Time to crack a few skulls.

 

>One of these days, you were going to make a nice dogskin rug to have in your home, just to remind you of how foolish this whole adventure was.

>A patrol of a dozens had found you as you ran to the exit, slowing you down enough for reinforcements to surround you and force you into your current predicament.

>The maroon mare lay in a small alclove behind you, further protected by an upturned mining cart filled with solid rock.

>You were not exactly so lucky as her.

>While the diamond spears wielded by the dogs you met your first time here could not penetrate your armor, the damnable beasts now sported primitive muzzle-loading fire arms. Among other things...

>While not exactly a threat, there were literally HUNDREDS of them now. Maybe even more.

>Mangled, burned, or evicerated canine bodies formed a tight ring around your post, where many had charged you and learned the error of their ways.

>Most held back, content to simply shoot you to death.

>The simple weight of numbers would kill you before long.

>All your ammo was spent for your combi-flamer, which was smashed to pieces by an unfeasibly large mutt wielding an axe nearly as big as you were.

>He died with your claws in his chest and his intestines on the ground.

>Your plasma pistol arrived at its final resting place soon after.

>A lucky shot had cracked the flask containing the superheated plasma, and you had only just managed to fling it away from you before it had detonated amongst a pack of dogs, leaving nothing behind but their silhouettes burned into the wall and lances of pain through your nearly blinded eyes.

>A fresh smacking of lead against your side brought your annoyance to bear once again.

>You could hear a voice, faintly laughing on the edge of your hearing.

>It abruptly stopped the moment you felt a hot punch to your hip.

>Damn them, they had managed to hit a joint.

>Your armor's combat stimulants had swallowed the pain hole.

>You needed to get out of here, or both of you would soon be dead...

 

>It had been so funny, up until that shot.

>It... It HURT.

>He may not be able to feel it any more but YOU sure could.

>You had not felt such pain before.

>In fact, you can't recall the last time even a scratch had marred you.

>Despite not actually owning a body, you clutched tightly to your hip, feeling white-hot pulses of pain and warmth with every beat of your non-existent heart.

>Perhaps you had had enough fun with this one.

>He was going to die soon anyway.

>"Ta-ta, Chosen, sorry to leave you in such a lovely state of hopelessness, but I really must be off. Im sure you can have fun without little old me. Say high to Pinkie for me!"

>A slight tremor overshadows your farewell.

>He doesn't even spare a thought to you.

>A host that doesn't even say goodbye? How utterly rude.

>A sunflower yellow haze surrounded you as you-

>BUMP

>That wasn't supposed to happen.

>It had been a rather long time since you possessed anypony. Maybe you were just a little rusty.

>Second time's the charm!

>Smack!

>Ow...

>What? This isn't supposed to happen!

>No No No No NO!

>You had to use everything. It doesn't matter if he guesses who you really are.

>Another sharp pain lanced through your leg.

>He was digging out the bullet.

>You could feel the clicking of his knife against the slug, coaxing it out of the wound.

>And with damnable clarity, because it was happening to you too.

>How much more could you take? Your hands shook violently, and your teeth clenched. You could see you wouldn't last long like this.

>Everything you had went into this shot. If it didn't work-

>The sound of two coconuts colliding did little to buoy your spirits.

>This wasn't happening to you!

>The plan had been perfect!

>What had you overlooked?!

>There had to be someway you could get out!

>You weren't going to die here!

 

>A headache. Marvelous.

>On top of the Overboss of the Diamond Dogs demanding that you throw down your weapons and be gutted like a good little monster, now this.

> Pinching the bridge of your nose in frustration, you look over your cover to see if any openings have presented themselves.

>Nothing, just...

>This has to be a joke.

>No one is this stupid.

>Fluttershy stands around the edge of a hallway, out of sight of the dogs, who are far too enamored with killing you to notice her.

>Despite shaking your head harder than a noise marine on a bad acid trip, she slowly makes her way closer to the Overboss, who still blathers on about how he was going to turn your armor into his own personal toilet when he was done with you.

>"Is he having some kind of seizure, boss?" A yappy, runty looking dog inquires, giving you a somewhat confused look.

>A wet grinding sound is all the response he receives.

>Never would you have believed it if it had been told to you.

>In a moment of utterly hilarious calm, every eye turns to Fluttershy, most in slack-jawed shock.

>She lets the limp body fall from her hooves, its mouth leaking blood.

>Fluttershy hovers above the ground, teeth clenched, voice strained as she utters a single word.

>"NO."

>Some of the dogs are regaining their senses and are readying their weapons.

>A screechy caw of a scream breaks the spell of the Overboss' death.

>Out of your peripheral vision, you catch a glimpse of Gilda, rushing headlong into the dogs, a mushroom headed sledgehammer cracking skulls and splintering limbs in front of her.

>Her prodigious strength bowled over dogs, scattering them left and right with savage strikes from her hammer. She spun through them, graceful as a tornado. Fluttershy was likewise pummeling those around her, though her strikes far less smooth and practiced.

>Hell of Hells, could this night get any more insane?

>You grab the maroon mare, cradle her in your chest, lower your shoulder and charge through pack of dogs, praying you can grab your friends and get out of here before ALL of you end up as eulogies in one of Twilight's books.