Easy as Breathing
#6 of My Little Pony: The Aeons of Equestria
Warning : the following dark fanfiction contains Diamond dogs... enough said. Oh, there's also a bit of sex at the end there. Y'know, censorship this, age restriction that, blah-blah-nopony fucking cares. Get to reading already.
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My Little Pony
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Episode 5: Easy as Breathing
"Urk... ugh." Blinking away a dry ache in his right eye, Reno groaned and slowly swung his legs out the side of the bed. Slowly but surely he sat up straight and flexed loose his sore muscles. He felt like the morning after a strenuous workout.
He figured it would only get worse from here on out, as he recognised where he had woken. It was not his bed. It was Twilight's. So this was definitely not a dream. He was stuck in Equestria for sure... and he'd really slept with a pony last night.
With a sigh the human let his feet touch the floor and stood up, hearing a few joints in his back pop lightly. Looking back he saw Twilight Sparkle fast asleep on her front. She had kicked away some of the covers and lay semi-curled around a stain left on the sheets where she came vigorously last night. Her nightie was also rolled up revealing the full curvature of her round buttocks. In the morning light shining through the large window above the bed he saw a peculiar marking on her flanks, a pictogram of a six pointed pink-purple star surrounded by five smaller white stars.
Cocking his head curiously, Reno couldn't help himself inspect what he figured was some sort of tattoo. They seemed perfectly blended into her fur, and the more he stared, the more it seemed the smaller stars were actually twinkling. Slowly he reached out and let his fingertips brush her flank. He figured his fingers were inside her last night, Twilight wouldn't mind a little human curiosity.
But as he touched the fur on her hip something happened. Twilight, still asleep, uncoiled and gave a long sweet moan, louder than what she had done last night. He saw the region between her thighs grow moist in an instant, but couldn't look for very long. A spark erupted from her flank and connected with Reno's hand, causing him to jolt and stumble a step back. He felt light headed, the room spinning around him like he'd just knocked back a dozen tequila shots in one go.
He quickly shook it off and rubbed his forehead. "What the hell was that?" he wondered out loud while Twilights moans turned to a satisfied smile and she snoozed on quietly.
Shaking his head, he slowly moved down the ladder to the bedroom floor and spotted something on one of Twilight Sparkle's shelves. It was the book she'd produced last night. The Aeons of Equestria. Walking over, Reno took a hold of it and pulled it out. The book was about as tall as his forearm was long, and weighed about five kilos, even with a sizeable amount of pages torn out. The paper was yellowish and the ink coloured ink in the pictures and the scripture had faded over time. The cover itself was bound with leather, cracked and equally aged. Brass formed around the corners and the spine to hold the whole thing together. In all, the book looked like it had been riveted together with the sole purpose of surviving one hell of a long time. It was called The Aeons of Equestria after all. Reno figured it must have been some sort of history archive on Equestria.
Carrying the book as carefully as he could, Reno exited the bedroom and followed the steps down into the library's main chamber where the other ponies were still sleeping. Fluttershy had tumbled again, practically crawling into Reno's empty sleeping bag. Rainbow Dash was snoring over all of them, half hanging out of her bag and mouth wide open with drool running along her cheek. Applejack was laid back neatly, hands holding the back of her head and her Stetson-hat pulled down over her face.
Shaking his head at the sight, Reno put The Aeons of Equestria down on a nearby desk and spotted a door hanging half open. He walked over and looked inside to find a bathroom off the main chamber. It had all the recognisable features. A sink, shower and a toilet. Figuring he might as well get cleaned up before the Shadow Legion came back to fuck up his day again, Reno quickly grabbed his backpack and closed the bathroom door behind him. He found a towel in one of the cupboard and ran some hot water while he brushed his teeth. Ignoring the morning-rumblies in his stomach, the human stripped down and stepped under the flowing water with a sigh. All the tender places hurt. He had scrapes and bruises all over his limbs, and they stung as he scrubbed them down. He made sure to clean the larger cuts he could find. He wasn't sure what pony doctors were like and didn't want to risk an infection.
When he finished, he dried up, pulled on some fresh underwear and after his fifteen minute morning routine, he walked back into the library refreshed, clad once more in his flecktarn trousers and fleece. He dropped his pack beside his rifle, the dull 'thud' causing Fluttershy to wake with a start.
The yellow Pegasus blinked feebly, glancing around before resting on Reno's boots. Slowly she looked up until her eyes met with his and she let out a light squeak. Quickly Fluttershy scrambled out of Reno's sleeping back and retreated into her own, until only the tip of her nose was visible.
"Oh, my, I'm so sorry." She whispered softly.
"For what?" Reno asked confused.
"I was in your sleeping bag." Fluttershy's head slowly came out to give him a fearful look. "We didn't... I mean, I wasn't... well... I didn't... you know..."
"Uh, no, Emoshy, we didn't." Reno put in a flat, matter-of-factly tone. "I wasn't in the sleeping bag." He added simply walking back to where he'd left The Aeons of Equestria.
Sitting behind the desk, he half turned in the chair to see the other ponies were slowly waking up. Yawning brutally, Applejack stretched out her arms and tipped her hat back, sitting up and waving Reno a two fingered salute.
"Mornin', Reno. How 'r 'ya feelin'?" she greeted.
Reno returned the salute. "Like hammered shit." He responded, drawing an understanding laugh from the cowgirl pony.
"Now, now, dear." Rarity poked in, elegantly rising from her sleeping bag to reveal she was wearing some sort of a light red nighty with fluffy frills. It resembled something out of a Victoria's Secret catalogue, especially on the catwalk-model-like figure Rarity had. "There is no need for such bad language so early in the morning."
A light gasp and a pink blur grabbing rarity from behind caused the white unicorn to let out a small scream.
"Really? It's not?" Pinkie Pie asked after giving Rarity a surprise hug. Clad in a pair of panties and bra that matched her hot-pink fur, it was obvious Pinkie had no inhibitions about being so scantily clad in front of Reno. "Then what time should we all start using bad language. And what is bad language anyway, aren't we all speaking pony?"
"Is 'speaking pony' a euphemism for 'talking horse-shit' now?" Reno said. He smiled as Rarity gave a disapproving huff. Applejack laughed, Rainbow Dash joining in.
All of a sudden there was another pink blur and Reno's smile vanished in a flash. Pinkie Pie had practically teleported out of thin air and landed heavily in the human's lap, causing him to let out a light 'oof!' The frizzy maned pony was still in just her underwear, perched neatly on Reno's lap with her long sleek legs crossed out to one side. One of her bare arms wrapped around the human's neck and practically shoved his face into her cleavage.
"WHOA, Pinkie why are you sitting on me!?" Reno cried as he tried to pull away, but the heavy pony held him fast with a broad smile plastered on her face.
"Oh, I just can't help it. That was the first time I've seen you smile, Reeny!" Pinkie Pie gave the human's cheeks a tug. "And you look so cute I could just..." she paused for a moment, a crazed look flashing through her eye. "Bake you into cupcakes and eat you!"
Reno frowned. "Wow. That's really... twisted."
Rarity seemed to grow more disapproving in the background, waving Pinkie Pie down. "Pinkie, for the love of Celestia, would you get of poor Reno and make yourself decent!"
Pinkie hopped to her hooves and bounced to where her clothes lay in a heap, giggling playfully at Reno. "Oh, don't worry, Reeny-pie. I wouldn't really bake you into cupcakes. Could you imagine? Pony cupcakes!? Those would taste disgusting!"
"Err, yeah." Reno grumbled slowly, doing his best to hide the tent pitched in his trousers. How was his body supposed to react? He just got a face full of pink cleavage!
"Reno, dear." Rarity interjected moving closer with one hand held over the low cut collar of her nighty. "I don't want to be rude, but would you perhaps like to head to the diner in town and prepare a breakfast table while us girls get changed?"
"Oh, no, course you ain' bein' rude, Rarity." Applejack chuckled. "Yer' jus' askin' the poor guy 'ta navigate 'is way 'cross a strange town all on 'is lonesome."
"Relax, Reno." Dash added seeing the human glance between the ponies. She was already grabbing the hem of her t-shirt to strip it before changing back into her clothes. "We're not going to kick you out. Just... y'know." The sky-blue Pegasus quickly held up a finger and made a twirling motion.
Reno didn't see for a moment. He was looking at the ponies' flanks. Not because he was a pervert, but because he noted something. Those tattoos, like on Twilight Sparkle, and like he had seen on Trixie. All of them had them. Individual markings and seemed to reflect the ponies in one way or another.
Rainbow Dash's marking was of a cloud with a rainbow coloured lightening arc shooting from it. Applejack had three glistening apples planted on her hip. Rarity had a trio of glittering diamonds, and Fluttershy was adorned with a trio of brightly coloured butterflies. Pinkie Pie's, the first he ought to have noticed, had three party-balloons.
Glancing up he realised Dash was indicating for him to turn around. "Wha... oh, right." He quickly swivelled in his seat and looked at the cover of The Aeons of Equestria.
Slowly he opened the cover, hearing pages within crackle over the sound of the pony girls shedding their sleeping attire and getting dressed behind him. He flipped through old, tattered pages filled with archaic looking script and roughly drawn pictures. There were images of giant monsters, critters corrupted with a shadowy looking plague and pages on armoured monsters that ran on clockwork. Clockwork warriors! He remembered seeing them in the village laid to waste upon his arrival.
There were images of the uniformed and masked commanders he'd seen, and corrupted conscript ponies.
One image was of the rifle Reno had taken from Preacher on the train. It was sketched out in black ink and stained grey. Along the bottom were Arial letterings spelling out an easily recognisable configuration. The book described Reno's rifle as an X1 'Raider.'
He turned a page and found himself looking at a fierce looking creature marked with another English footnote. The creature was called a Diamond Dog, a fierce looking anthropomorphic hound clad in armour. The dog's build was all-neck, with a huge upper torso and a large flat-snouted head, broad jaw, thick lips and large arms ending in four fingered claws. His legs were fairly small, but powerful enough to carry him forth like some sort of armoured dog-gorilla. The armour over the torso was as rusty as was his helmet pulled down low over the eyes and leaving gaps for the pointed ears. The creature was letting out a foamy bellow, clutching another familiar weapon in one claw.
Reno hadn't seen the weapon in Equestria yet, but in the drawing it was impossible to mistake the distinct shape of a rifle famous in his world. The Diamond Dog was clutching what looked like a Kalashnikov rifle with a straight magazine, a weapon forged of cast-steel and solid wooden furnishings and a long, vicious looking bayonet built into the front-grip. The Kalashnikov from Reno's world was renowned for durability, able to survive grenade blasts and still fire reasonably straight. The ruggedness of the weapon, along with the rustic design seemed to suit the Diamond Dog.
There was another sketch of the rifle under the Diamond Dog, labelling the weapon as a Krak rifle. He wondered why it was called a 'Krak' of all things.
A door falling shut caught his attention and he snuck a peek over his shoulder. The ponies were finished getting changed and were rolling up the sleeping bags. Twilight descended the steps from her loft bedroom, clad in a fairly purple skirt that ended halfway down her thighs; blocking the markings on her flanks, and a sky blue blouse buttoned up high enough to cover her bra, but undone enough to reveal a little of her chest.
"My, my, Twilight." Rarity exclaimed with a smile when she saw the lavender unicorn gracefully hop down to the main floor. "You're absolutely glowing, dear!"
"Yeah, I..." Twilight paused to sneak a broad smile at Reno. "I slept very well."
With a flash of every colour in the rainbow, Rainbow Dash swept down low and hovered over the unicorn's shoulder, flicking back her multi-coloured mane and fanning out her matted tail for balance. "I'm sure Reno has something to do with that." The Pegasus teased with a sly smirk, causing the human and the unicorn to avoid each other's gazes awkwardly. "I can't believe the two of you actually kissed. I mean, Twilight kissed a boy! Yuck!"
"Yeah, pretty gross." Reno said in mock agreement. "You stay-gay, pony-girl."
Dash frowned "Uh, what?"
Applejack laughed, the only one who seemed to understand everything Reno said. "We'd best go get sommat' 'ta eat. C'mon, everypony."
"Fabulous idea. Come-come, dear. You can read through this later." Rarity snatched The Aeons of Equestria out from under Reno's nose, and book clutched in one arm she hooked her other under the human's and dragged him to the door.
"Whoa, okay." Reno couldn't really protest as he hopped on one foot, the pony dragging him along. He just about had enough time to point back at where his rifle was laying. "Pinkie Pie, grab that for me, would you?"
"Okie-dokie-lokie!" the pink pony cried as she bounced across the library. Thankfully she was careful enough, picking up the loaded weapon by the stock and bounded out after them. As she closed in she held out the weapon.
Reno caught it by the sling and strung the weapon diagonally across his back, the barrel pointed safely down at the ground.
Rarity frowned at it. "I must admit you have a rather strange taste in accessories." She gave an awkward smile and eyed Reno's clothing over, lingering on the blotchy camouflage pattern on his trousers. "And a ghastly sense of colour coordination."
"Practicality beats aesthetics." Reno admitted, patting the Raider. He wasn't going to go anywhere in Equestria without being armed. As much as his instinct told him this world was supposed to be one of rainbows and happiness, he had yet to see an actual rainbow.
The ponies walked Reno through Ponyville. It wasn't a large town, as the name suggested, more of a village. Houses were dotted around at random, like the original settlers had no idea about urban infrastructure. Houses were mainly wood and clay brick, with thatch roofing. The Sugarcube Corner, a house made of bits of cake, gingerbread and other candy was an obvious exception to the standard design.
Eventually they led Reno to a market square. The area was bustling with ponies and market stalls selling all sorts of fruit, vegetables, even bales of hay and large sacks of freshly cut grass. It made sense ponies would eat the grass. In the centre of the square was an outdoor café of sorts, a small building surrounded by tables and chairs with parasols erected over them. Pinkie Pie bounded in and secured a table for seven. Arm still in his, Rarity led Reno over and presented a seat. However, thinking he ought to pretend to be nice, Reno pulled out the chair and waved Rarity into it.
"Oh, why thank you, Reno." Rarity smiled and elegantly stood in front of the seat, slowly shrinking down to sit.
"Y'all are quite the gentlecolt, Reno." Applejack complimented as she sat down.
Reno shrugged. "Oh I have my mome-"
'Thud!'
Swallowing his words, Reno looked down to realise he'd forgotten to push the chair closer to Rarity as she sat, and the unicorn looked up disgruntled from where she'd landed on the ground. Clearing his throat he quickly helped her up and properly tucked the chair in for her the second time around.
The waiter trotted over and straightened his white collar. Neatly dressed, the stallion had light grey fur and a greased up black perm, with a waxed little moustache of all things. Reno couldn't help stare at the snooty looking pony's face-ferret unable to comprehend the fact he was looking at a horse with a moustache. He however blinked it off under a condescending look from the waiter, then looked down at the carte laying on the wooden table in front of him...
'Splat!'
Reno smiled, for a dreadful minute thinking Rarity had fallen from her seat again. Time seemed to freeze as he turned his head and opened his eyes. Specks of crimson were still flying, dappling the side of Rarity's face, staining her pure white fur and her dress. Her mouth was agape with a shrill scream, both arms clutching The Aeons of Equestria to her chest as she cringed in the rain of blood. The waiter's body was limp, falling towards the ground. His eyes weren't watching them anymore, in the equine face's place was a crater of raw meat and crimson flesh. As he slipped around the table and out of view, his notepad bounced on one corner, skittering across the table and resting in front of where Reno was sitting.
Time slammed into overdrive, everything suddenly progressing at a faster rate than Reno was used to. Fluttershy dove under the table in fright as Rainbow Dash reacted immediately by shooting straight up into the sky. Flashes of golden light screamed every which way, the phosphorous in the bullets burning like suns as they ignited the air in mid-flight. Applejack reacted by kicking over their table, causing the flying rounds to thud into the makeshift cover as she ducked beside Fluttershy, dragging Pinkie Pie and Twilight Sparkle down with her. Rarity simply flopped to the ground in hysterics with them.
Reno was the last to react, oddly enough by standing up straight in the hail of fire and shrapnel. He twisted around, pulling his rifle to his side and snapping it up, left hand catching the front grip when the weapon was level.
He found himself looking at creatures popping from the earth with severe force. The top-heavy hounds were holding rifles and firing from the hip as they burst out of the ground in geysers of brick, dust and earth. They landed heavily and went to ground, seeking out cover like a military unit would as soon as they landed in a hot-zone.
Diamond Dogs, clad in rusty steel armour, pouches mounted around their waists and carrying a mixture of Raider and Krak rifles like the human had seen in The Aeons of Equestria. Only they were slightly different. While their armour and weapons looked fairly beaten and old, their utility belts looked brand new, as if they were recently issued. The belt-buckles donned an all too familiar insigne.
The brand of the Shadow Legion.
A particular hound landed heavily thirty metres Reno's right and levelled the bayonet of the Krak rifle at him. The weapon let out a loud 'crack' and a white hot scattershot disintegrated Reno's chair. Now he understood. A crack rifle.
Without pondering it too much, the human whipped around and squeezed the trigger of his own weapon. He didn't even register what he was doing, his body simply reacted. There was no time and space to realise he was firing a deadly weapon at another living creature. There was no time for guilt, no space for hesitation.
The Raider kicked full automatic in his shoulder, the muzzle flashing hot lead death at the Diamond Dog. The creature howled in pain, dancing to the beat of a sustained burst from Reno's weapon. Swatting at invisible flies, the dog fell back with gaping crimson holes punched in his torso. The hound hit the dirt with a thud and the wood and steel rifle slipped from his claws, laying by his side.
More rounds flashed his way, cratering into the ground at Reno's feet. He quickly ducked behind the table the ponies were using for cover and looked around. The Diamond Dogs didn't seem to have any particular objective at the moment. They were popping out of the ground at random locations and were firing on randomly fleeing ponies. One mare took a Krak shot in the back and fell over dead, a bundle of apples rolling across the square.
Gritting his teeth he realised Pinkie Pie was screaming at the top of her lungs. For the first time Reno saw she wasn't smiling. Her mouth was agape with an expression of tearful horror on her face, hands clamped tight over her aching ears. The equine's mane had lost all of its frizz and fell straight and boring down over her face.
A multi-coloured streak slashed down from the sky and slammed into one of the Diamond Dogs moving along the left flank. Reno saw Rainbow Dash land on top of the dog and stomp its face into the pavement before dashing out of the line of fire again. She had the right idea. Kill these motherfuckers as quickly as possible.
Reno turned and looked Twilight dead in the eye. "Twilight, I'm going to cover you!" the human screamed over the rattle of gunfire and hiss of passing projectiles deafening them. "When I start shooting take everybody to the library. Lock yourself in and wait for this to stop!"
Wide eyed, Twilight gave a quick nod. "Okay, Reno. I..." she looked like she was about to say something, but hesitated. Instead the unicorn grabbed Applejack by the wrist, who grabbed on to the others.
Reno stood and stepped past them, putting himself between the shooters and the ponies. His knee hit the ground, the stock hit his shoulder. He fired another sustained burst and Twilight ran for it. Rounds from the human's rifle slammed into upturned tables and the carts Diamond Dogs were using for cover, thinning out the return fire. The ponies trailed straight across the square in the direction of the tree in a few blocks away. Reno gave a slow count to ten and glanced to where they had run to see the group had almost cleared the immediate danger zone. They were a chain, holding on to each other's hands and keeping their heads low.
But Reno's brief distraction was his downfall. A round hissed past his face, so close he could feel the burning heat of the tracer. Gasping and cursing he dropped onto his back and kicked the ground, sliding back into cover behind the table. Scattershot slammed into the wood, tearing away whole chunks around the edges. Sitting up again he saw the enemy fire intensify again. Layers of fire crisscrossed left and right. A volley of bullets slammed into the ground by Rarity. She was at the end of the chain, and let go of Pinkie Pie's hand in a panic. Screaming and unsure where to go, she closed her eyes and the white unicorn dashed into an arbitrary direction. The Diamond Dog's popping up on that side of the square seemed to take notice and chased after her.
"Shit!" Reno cursed. Rarity wasn't going to fight off a pack of armed Diamond Dogs on her own. Quickly he ejected his Raider's magazine and checked how much ammo he had left. His stomach sank as Reno stared into an empty magazine. He had one bullet left in the chamber, judging by the closed bolt.
With a deep sigh, Reno braced himself and waited for a break in the gunfire as the majority of Diamond Dogs stopped to reload. They may have had the sense to seek out cover and lay plenty of covering fire, but they didn't have the sense to alternate fire. There was a huge break as practically all of them stopped to swap clips. Reno jumped up and sprinted across the open ground.
As quickly as he jumped up, he stopped, dropping onto one knee and slid to a halt beside the first Diamond Dog he'd killed. From a half-laying position he whipped around and fired his last round. With surprised eyes, Reno saw a hound's head explode in a shower of crimson bits.
Surprised with his impossible luck, Reno quickly dropped the empty rifle, grabbed the fallen Krak rifle and unclipped the dead dog's belt buckle. The utility belt came loose with a light tug, and Reno quickly wrapped the pouches of ammunition and gear around his own waist, securing the buckle and tightening the straps at the front. Holding the Krak by the narrow end of the wooden stock, he quickly dashed out of the way. Fire picked up again, rounds slamming into the dirt at his heels, smashing tiles and throwing grit into the air.
At the end of his sprint, lungs burning with fatigue and legs stiff, Reno dove forward and slid to a halt on his front. Quickly rolling onto his side, Reno reached out, planted the butt of his Krak against the ground and dragged himself tight behind a market stall. Bullets pounded the wood and splintered through, showering him in shards of timber and bits of obliterated fruit. Reno couldn't help cry out at the top of his lungs, leaving the rifle in his lap and covering his ears to give them a moment's relief from the noise ripping at his ear-drums.
Looking up he saw Rarity had taken cover in the porch of a nearby building. She was still holding The Aeons of Equestria tight against her chest, tears running down her cheeks. Reno shifted his gaze to see several Diamond Dogs move closer to where she was hiding.
"Dammit!" Reno cursed as a hole blasted through the stall right beside his face. Lifting the rifle over his head he squeezed the trigger and fired a single blind shot over his cover. Realising the Krak only fired semi-automatic, he fired twice more with a sweeping motion. More fruit exploded and Reno retreated.
Rolling to his feet he dashed from cover and sprinted closer to Rarity with the Krak shouldered. A Diamond Dog popped up to his right. Reno swivelled on the run and fired. The muzzle flashed and a brown-red plastic and brass shell shot out the side of the rifle. In an instant the dog disappeared again and Reno quickly moved on. He was still too far away when the hounds reached her however.
One of the Diamond Dogs ahead slung its rifle and dug its claws into the cowering unicorn's arm, dragging her from the porch. Another started clawing at the ground, quickly disappearing in a haze of dirt and dust. The Diamond dogs hopped into their hole, a screaming Rarity trailing behind, the book still clutched in her arms.
"No, god-damn it!" Reno screamed firing twice into the ground, succeeding only in tearing some chunks out of the mole hill left in their wake. "Nononono!" he ran right up to the hill, rifle trained on it.
To his side a window exploded, sending glittering shards of glass spraying everywhere and causing Reno to recoil. Without thinking he whipped around and fired a single shot. The hammer struck the firing pin of the next round, combustion propelling the round from the shell, out the chamber and down the barrel. The recoil cycled the mechanical action of the Krak and sent the composite shell spinning over Reno's shoulder. As the bullet itself reached the muzzle, it split into spinning, sharp shards of lead. The flechette buckshot scattered over an area of a few feet, embedding themselves into the gut of a nearby Diamond Dog, puncturing armour and tearing loose chunks of hamburger meat. The hound yelped and was thrown back into a vegetable cart, causing the wooden stall to splinter and crumple.
Another dashed from his flank, unleashing a mighty roar as he held his riffle to bear. The hound was rushing without thinking it through properly and Reno aimed low. The next shot took out the dog's leg and sent him crashing face first in the dirt. Spluttering away dirt and grit, the hound lifted his head for air, and rose on all fours.
Gripping his weapon by the narrow end of the stock and under the front grip, Reno quick-stepped around the Diamond Dog and swung the rifle in. The clip-point of the bayonet slammed into the armoured side of the hound, breaking through a rusty patch of armour with ease and embedding into flesh and organs. Howling with pain the dog's back arched and he was practically sitting up straight on his fragile looking knees.
Reno gave a light twist, straightening up the dog's posture a little more, then just like he'd seen in a video game, the human tugged the weapon loose with a distinct squelch and moved around the hound's front. He swung the weapon in a wide arc, the silver bayonet flashing dangerously. The sharp end hit the Diamond Dog in the throat and cut through exposed flesh with ease. Crimson spurted from the gurgling creature's slashed throat, splattering the side of Reno's face and his left sleeve. Dying slowly as his life-blood oozed out of the wound, the hound hit the ground and twitched uncontrollably for a while.
The motion had come so naturally it made Reno sick. Killing was so natural to human beings, it was as easy as breathing. But he had to wonder where all this was coming from. How was he shooting so accurately? How was he holding his own against impossible odds? Was it luck? Then again, he was in a land of magical ponies, so was there something else going on?
Ignoring the questions for now, he raised the Krak, unable to truly describe the feelings tearing at him. Smoke rose from the weapon and blood dripped from the as Reno slowly lowered the muzzle, keeping the butt-plate against his shoulder. All across the Ponyville square Diamond Dogs were hopping into holes and burrowing away into the earth, leaving only typical mole hills. The raging noise of the brief battle had passed leaving only dead silence and a distinct throbbing in Reno's ears. Somewhere in the light dusty haze that descended upon the disturbed square he heard a mare crying and sobbing. The air was choked with dust and smoke, the smell of ignited gunpowder stinging his senses. About two dozen corpses lay strewn over the market square, mostly ponies. Moving slowly forward he walked between the numerous mole hills, sweeping between the mounds with the barrel of his rifle.
That was it. As quickly as they had appeared the Diamond Dogs were gone, along with Rarity. Along with The Aeons of Equestria. Along with Reno's only ticket home. A selfish thought for sure, but who was he supposed to be thinking about? Rarity wanted to come between him and the Shadow Legion, she should have known the risks... all of Twilight's friends should have.
So why the rotten feeling?
Something crumbled and Reno whipped around to face it. One of the mounds was growing and shaking, dirt crumbling and running down the sides of the slopes. Reno angled his eyes behind the sights of the Krak and tightened his grip on the weapon.
Reno felt his mouth twist into a scowl as he prepared for a game of whack-a-Diamond Dog. "C'mon you ugly motherfucker. Make my day."
But a dog's head did not exploded into the air. Dirt and grit shot up. Reno's finger tightened around the trigger... but through it all he saw a red blink. His eyes widened as the dust settled and the dirt started raining down around him. A small cylindrical object made itself known, about big enough to fit in his hand and neatly grooved around the mid-section of the shell. The top light was blinking and beeping loudly as Reno realised what it was.
Concussion Grenade! A voice in his mind screamed.
He was already turned around, rifle clutched in one hand and dragging through the air behind him as he ran as fast as his tired and sore legs would carry him. It wasn't fast enough...
The grenade exploded, Reno realised that much when he felt pain in his ears and a loud ringing buzzed through his brain. Something hit him in the back, lifting Reno clean off his feet. His eyes fell shut automatically as he tumbled through a blurry mess that was supposed to be the world around him. Pain raced through his insides. Everything was broken, jumbled and ruptured by the explosion.
Concussion Grenades were designed to kill using shock-waves in enclosed areas, ideally in bunkers or buildings. But at this range, Reno had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.
He was gone by the time he hit the ground...
"C'MON, RENO! BREATHE!" she yelled at the top of her lungs while pressing on his chest, begging for a breath or a heartbeat. She looked up with tearful eyes to see lavender movement through the slowly rising murk surrounding the market square. "TWILIGHT! HELP ME!" Rainbow Dash cried desperately trying to revive a still and unmoving human.
Twilight's heart skipped a beat and she froze with one hand over her mouth. The unicorn didn't know what to do for a dreadful moment. What had happened? How could...
"No." she whispered moving briskly closer. "No. Reno, no!" she lowered into a sprint and dropped to her knees beside the dead human. "What happened?" she cried looking up to Rainbow Dash.
"I don't know. There was an explosion. I just found him like this." Dash was in an equal panic as the other ponies gathered around, but kept their distance to give them some air. Fluttershy was sobbing. Pinkie Pie fell defeated to her knees by Reno's still head.
The human had blood caked around his ears, more drooling from his right nostril. His mouth was open, globules of crimson running from the corner over his cheek. His teeth were stained red, like the patches on his clothes were stained with soot and dirt. His skin seemed to have darkened with the dirt clinging to it once more.
Twilight took over from Dash and pressed the side of her face against his chest, listening intently. Eyes widening with shock she looked up again. "There's no heartbeat." Quickly she moved her face to Reno's and pressed her lips against his, tasting copperish blood on her tongue. She exhaled slowly, filling Reno's ruptured lungs in the hope she could at least get a pulse.
When his lungs were full, Dash started pushing down on the young man's chest again, working his heart for him. If they could only see the damage inside they would have realised how feeble their attempts were.
"Get clear." Twilight ordered as she got an idea, brushing Dash's hands away. "Clear!" she cried and the ponies leaned back to give her space. The unicorn's horn started to glow vibrantly, the area around Reno's body doing the same.
A beam of light connected the tip of her horn with Reno's chest. A pulse ran from the horn to Reno, suddenly jolting the still human. Energy flowed through his dying nerves, jerking at every muscle of his body. Everypony held their breath. But it was a reaction, an illusion of life. Reno's body went slack again as the magic faded.
"No, don't you dare, Reno. Breathe, Celestia damn it!" Twilight cursed at the top of her lungs as she tried again.
And again... and again. Jolt after jolt, minutes passed, yet Reno remained still.
"C'mon!" Twilight kept trying desperately, after each jerk of his body she hoped her magic would work and his eyes would open. But nothing happened.
Until she looked down. She noted his hand was laying close to her hip where she was sitting on her hoof-heels. She had an epiphany. Cutie-marks were born of pure magic. They idolized a pony's destiny, their meaning of life if you will. If there was any way of boosting her magical effect, Twilight suddenly realise it had to be...
The lavender unicorn snatched up Reno's stiff hand and slipped it under her skirt, pressing the skin on his palm against her flank. Immediately she felt light headed. Her horn glowed twice as bright. She could feel his dying energy compared with what was building up within herself. It glowed brightly, so bright her vision was washed out. She heard her friends gasp and stumble back.
Another jolt and this time it came with a cry... but not from Twilight...
Opening her eyes, Twilight let go of Reno's hand out of shock. Alive once more, Reno rolled onto his side, retching and coughing at the same time. Globules of coagulated blood flowed from his mouth as he vomited up a pool of chunky crimson matter on the ground beside him.
"Argh! Holy shit!" Reno cried out, all his senses rushing back at once. His joints felt stiff, his innards burned as magic flowed through him fixing everything at once. His ears were ringing, ear-drums mended once more. His skin was dead-cold, and caused him to shiver. He blinked away the dry soreness in his eyes and looked up at the ponies gathered around him. "I was fucking dead, wasn't I?" he asked hoarsely seeing relieved looks on all their faces.
Through the cold he felt something warm as someone - or rather somepony - wrapped her arms around him and cradled him from behind.
"Don't ever do that again!" Pinkie Pie sobbed, her hair growing a little bouncier, but only a little.
Overcome with relief, the other pony girls all fell on top of him, embracing Reno in a warm and fuzzy group hug, drawing an aggravated moan from the human.
"Argh, please make me to dead again." He spat out clumsily. Slowly he managed to shake them off, worming out of Pinkie Pie's grip and rising to his feet. As he rose he spotted the Krak rifle he'd been using and scraped it up. "They took Rarity and The Aeons of Equestria." Reno announced drawing a shocked gasp from the ponies. "Where did those Diamond Dogs come from?"
Applejack pointed out to the rocky hills beyond the Ponyville borders. "Out in the hills. That's where the diamonds are. That'll be where y'all 'll find the Diamond Dogs."
"Good." Reno nodded. "I have to grab some gear from my backpack and I'll go get her back."
The ponies jumped up in protest. "You need some time to rest!" Twilight shouted; "I'm coming with you." Rainbow Dash tried; "The Diamond Dogs will kill you." Fluttershy said with worry in her tone; "Y'all ain't goin' alone." Applejack stated. Pinkie Pie was quiet for once.
"Everybody shut the fuck up!" Reno shouted with a glare that granted him silence. He was holding his rifle across his chest, glaring at them dangerously. "Last night that stallion nearly killed all of you because you were harbouring me! Now those hounds snatched one of your friends, and that's no coincidence. It's because you were harbouring me! I don't need this shit on my conscience! You want to help? Stay here!"
Reno had nothing more to say. Turning he started jogging to the library. He had to pick up a few things from his pack and then he'd be on his way. He realised the chances of him actually finding Rarity and the book were very slim, but he had to try at least.
He was slowed by a hand on his arm. It grabbed his sleeve and forced him to turn. Looking up he saw it was Twilight. Her eyes were red and raw, and there were stains on her cheek. Her lips trembled as she forced him to stop and just stared for a moment.
"Reno I just..." She managed to force out eventually in a cracked voice. "I wanted to say, I..." she stopped, completely lost. After a sigh, she managed to finish; "Please be careful."
Reno didn't react. He pulled his arm from her grip and moved on...
---***---
Karskin stood among the rows of benches outside the inner sanctum of the Shadow Fortress. Deep in the southern lands, where Celestia's sun did not reach beyond the mountains striking the sky like vicious teeth was a single fortress from which the Shadow Legion operated. For thousands of years they had hardly ventured beyond the 'Dagger Mountains,' until recently of course. With rumour on a powerful artefact known as the Throne of the Moon, how could they not? Legend said that this was throne upon which the infamous Nightmare Moon had perched herself during her short reign over Equestria. It was said that whoever controlled Throne of the Moon controlled Equestria.
And control over Equestria is exactly what the Goddess wanted.
At least, such was the message the lord and master portrayed. There were three sanctums in the Shadow Fortress. The public sanctum was open to all members of the Shadow Legion. There were factory floors where weapons of destruction were produced, dorms for commanders and conscripts and warehouses filled with war-machines like the Clockwork Warriors. The inner sanctum was only accessible to the most devout Shadow Legion commanders and was simply a dark garden that served as something of an air-lock between the holy sanctum and everything else.
The holy sanctum was at the very heart of the fortress, the most sacred ground and home to the Goddess herself. It was only accessible by the lord and master himself, and was guarded by a pair of celestial guardians known as 'Angels.'
The Angels were austere sisters of battle, perfectly identical pure white unicorns clad in in polished silver armour, golden filament scrawling alien insignias over every sleek mirror-like surface of their bodices. They stood with military perfection, nimble little penitence engines working off their own sins in the condemnation of others. Their platinum fringes sparkled in the poor illumination of the inner sanctum gardens. Like the great golden doors blocking the holy sanctum from view, the Angels were the epitome of unicorns, the mere imaginings of whom kept common men like Karskin awake at night with the martial beauty.
Karskin took his eyes off the Angels for a moment to look at the book he carried in his arms. The Aeons of Equestria, he hadn't opened it yet. It had only arrived by dragon-fire an hour ago before being placed in the commander's care. Since then he had been standing there, staring at the Angel sisters waiting for the Lord to return from council with the Shadow Legion Goddess.
Slowly, Karskin looked up again and felt his posture falter, only a little. One of the Angels was staring at him, a neutral look in her eyes. The commander however felt himself lost in their radiant beauty. It was as if their brilliance drained the colour from his surroundings.
"Keep your distance, Commander Karskin." Came the Angel's burnished voice; its lightest touch commanding immediate obedience.
My name. the commander thought, for a fleeting moment his mind losing all the discipline he had spent lifetimes honing and refining. She knows my name?
Derailing his train of through, there was a deafening crack of wood and steel. The locks of the great golden doors that glowed in the fortress' eternal night let go and one of the gates slowly creaked open. In response, Karskin stood to attention. The Angel averted her eyes from the commander and stood with neutral pride once more.
A dark figure stepped through the murky haze spilling from the door. It was like the night-sky followed the lord out of the holy sanctum. Wisps of the glittering smoke evaporated at his shoulders as the great doors fell shut behind him and he strode briskly to where Karskin stood.
"The one labelled Karskin." The lord and master announced, his voice carrying through the commander's mind. "Admiring the view?"
Karskin could tell by the look in the lord's dark eyes he was smiling beneath the scarf wrapped over the lower half of his face. "M'lord?"
"The angels, commander. A sight to behold. One labelled Damnation." The lord turned and indicated between the unicorns. "The other labelled Salvation. This one finds it ironic that one cannot tell the difference between the two." the lord chuckled.
An unusual gesture, and an unusual topic of conversation they were having. The lord and master was in a strangely good mood. The 'Goddess' must have had good news.
Still, Karskin was pessimistic. He had committed sins... horrors in the name of a Goddess whom he had never even answered his prayers. He was expected to simply trust the lord, who was the only one who ever met and conversed with the Goddess. After the things Karskin had seen and done in his service to the Shadow Legion, he couldn't simply take things on blind faith. There were times he wished for the old times under General Strife's rule. The goal had been simple. The leadership had been physically present!
All the cloak and dagger around the Goddess' leadership after Strife's fall had grown on Karskin's nerves. Though he had never vocalised his complaints.
"The Goddess has a task for you, Karskin." The lord said with excitement in his tone. His hands were clasped behind his back as they walked through the inner sanctum's gardens. Great planters lined the marble walls and huge trees with black bark and grey leaves hung over them forming a roof between them and the starry sky high above. "You are to use The Aeons of Equestria and retrieve the one labelled General Strife."
Karskin's eyes widened. Excitement caused his heart to skip a beat. "We are ready, m'lord? I may finally excavate the general?"
"The Shadow Legion now has the means to locate the general." The lord indicated the book Karskin was clutching. "And according to the great Goddess, the time is right. The Shadow Legion will retrieve the general, who will lead the assault of Canterlot."
"We take Canterlot?" Karskin asked with some surprise. "Princess Celestia would surely..."
"Fall. Burn. Die. Take your pick, the one labelled Karskin." The lord announced confidently. "The Throne of the Moon remains at the princess' side at all times. When the general is seated in the throne, the Shadow Legion will rule all of Equestria. So it has been prophesised by the Goddess."
Karskin nodded with a sunken heart. He needed more than the Goddess' word on the success of their mission. "I will not let you down, m'lord."
"This one knows that." The lord nodded with a dismissive wave.
Karskin shrank away and left the inner sanctum. He passed through marble arches and descended wide staircases, saluting his fellow Shadow Legion brothers and sisters as he passed. His arm remained coiled around the book at all times. He was not going to let it out of his sight.
The commander reached his private quarters on the thirtieth floor, noting something fairly odd as he approached the sliding door. The lock-strip was green as he removed his keys from his pocket. Slowly he moved closer and took the handle in one hand, sliding the obstruction aside with the noise of metal grinding on metal.
Karskin's room was the same kind of box room every commander got. In one corner was a steel bunk and footlocker. A chair and desk littered with reports and briefings on the far wall, and a lounger to the left behind the door. To the right was a door leading into a small bathroom housing a shower, sink and a private toilet. It was small, but functional, exactly how Karskin liked it. Exactly what he was used to.
Even though there was nothing worth stealing in his room, he never forgot to lock the door. In all the aeons, not once. He stepped inside and slammed the door behind him, noting the perpetrator in an instant.
The conscript was laying elegantly on the commander's bunk. The room's lights caused the clean azure fur covering the unicorn's naked body to shine, every one of her sleek seductive curves revealed to him. She was rolled on one side, tail fanned out with her blue-gray mane behind her. In the cool air her nipples stood hard and erect, though Karskin hardly believed that was because she was cold.
She wore nothing but a bundle of white bandages wrapped around her left hand, her cutie-mark revealed on her rounded flank to be a magic wand giving way to a wave of glittering pixie dust.
"Conscript Trixie." Karskin said dryly as he clicked the lock on his door home. "Our arrangement did not include breaking into my personal quarters." He briskly moved to his desk and put down the book.
"Trixie couldn't help herself. We have been apart for hours. All that time her body has been yearning for you. Aching!" the once great and powerful Trixie elegantly rose from the bed and moved closer, her hips swaying seductively with every step that caused the loose hair in her mane and tail to flutter and flow in all the right ways. Her tone was laced with lust, and her expression indicated she would overpower and violate the commander if she had the means.
As she moved closer, Karskin turned and snatched up her bandaged hand. His eyes did a quick check over of the clean bindings and he gently felt along her knuckles to make sure there was no swelling as a result of infection.
"Does it still hurt?" Karskin asked carefully squeezing her hand.
Trixie heaved her shoulders with a heavy sigh. "You always take away Trixie's pain and leave only pleasure, commander." The seductive conscript slowly turned her head to Karskin's work-corner and her eyes visibly widened. "Is that it? The Aeons of Equestria?"
Karskin quickly glanced over then let go of her hand. His grip suddenly clamped around Trixie's throat and he pushed her away from the desk, closer to the bunk. "Our arrangement definitely does not involve your snooping in my work!" the commander suddenly spat with anger.
But his sudden outburst only proved to widen the conscript's smile. She liked it; no, she preferred it when the commander got rough. Gently wrapping one hand around Karskin's neck, the other touching the side of his mask she slowly pulled him in until her bare breasts pressed against the front of his cold tac-vest. Slowly she pulled away the head-dress, revealing a head of short dark brown hair with grey around the temples, and gently she raked down with tender, delicate fingers, gently fumbling at the hem of the scarf pulled up over the bottom half of Karskin's face.
"Trixie simply cannot help herself, commander." The unicorn hissed in a husky tone as she contemplated looking upon the face of her lover for the first time. "Trixie is a bad little filly. She's a bad little filly and she needs to be punished."
The commander gazed deep into Trixie's magenta eyes for a tense moment, then shoved hard. Laughing, the pony fell back onto the bunk, landing on the mattress with a springy squeak of metal. Biting her bottom lip, Trixie slowly sat up on the edge of the bed, watching the commander intently as he reached up and undid the clips at the back of his chest-rig. With a few light tugs the tac-vest fell away and landed with a thud by his boots.
While his hands moved down, undoing the buckle of his belt bearing the insigne of a four fingered claw, Trixie eagerly leaned forward. Her bandaged hand gripped the edge of the bunk while the other slipped down over her abdomen. Gently her slim fingers started playing with the swollen flesh between her thighs, sending arcs of pleasure shooting through her body.
In seconds Karskin's erect manhood hung in the conscript's face. Still biting her lip, she slowly moved her hand from her own sex and reached out, tenderly touching the shaft. He felt the warmth of her hand close around him and closed his eyes, feeling his mind drift away with a light jerking action. Karskin was somewhere else, thinking of someone.
Or rather something. He could see her steely gaze look up to him, fix her eyes on his as her platinum mane flowed down over her perfect naked body like some sort of makeshift gown. The Angel's mouth moved, asking him if he wanted more. But it was not her polished voice.
"Are you ready to punish your naughty little filly, commander?" Trixie asked with a naughty frown. She had slipped from the bed and sat on her knees before Karskin watching him like an eager filly waiting for a treat.
Jerking his eyes open angrily, he glared down at her. She'd broken the illusion already? He certainly was going to punish her for that. Grabbing the conscript by the sides of her head, he thrust forward, shoving his erection deep into her agape mouth, feeling her tight, hot wetness close in tight all around.
Trixie let out a surprised cry, muffled against the commander's manhood that filled her mouth and reached back as far as her throat, her lips pressed tight against the hilt of his cock. Gagging lightly, she was allowed to breathe as he loosened his grip slightly, allowing Trixie's head to bob back. But she did not back all the way out. Running her wet lips over the shaft, she lifted her tongue and swirled it over the head before sliding his cock all the way into her mouth again. The head reached back and crashed into her wet and slick throat again, her muscles massaging it gently.
Holding her breath she held it there for a moment, then slid out again, lips raking over the commander's erection. Sighing as he felt the pleasure ache his loins, Karskin gently massaged Trixie's hair, drawing a muffled moan from the unicorn. As she slowly started to pick up the pace, thrusting her tight mouth back and forth over the commander's shaft, Karskin's hand started to glow. The hand massaging her hear projected a dark aura over his skin, prickling sensations shooting through every nerve his shadow magic came into contact with.
Trixie had been looking up at her lover with large innocent eyes until then. When she started to feel the pleasure race down from her skull and down into the depths of her lower abdomen she couldn't help moan through the slurping noises she made and closed her eyes.
Slowly Karskin's hand moved up and wrapped around Trixie's horn. With a light tug he helped her thrust his cock in and out of her throat, lengthening the stroke. She had planted her tongue along the bottom of his shaft, each thrust raking the wet organ over his sensitive flesh, drawing a moan from the commander. For a mare who had been a virgin up until she had been conscripted into the Shadow Legion a night ago, she was extremely good at what she did.
Tenderly he started to rub Trixie's horn. Black sparks shot from the ivory appendage sticking from the equine's forehead, causing her to moan deeper. She felt the magic reach down within her. It was drawing away her strength, numbing her pain and leaving only pleasure. Darkness swirled within her womb, expanding slowly with each passing second. It sent electrical impulse to all the right nerves, causing her to tingle with joy.
Trixie nearly screamed as she felt her clitoris ignite. The creeping shadows crawling over her azure fur moved down from her face across her slender body and gathered around her groin. She felt as though she was being penetrated, the most sensitive areas of her slit massaged and stimulated by Karskin's careful spell casting.
Trixie grew louder within the following moments. She felt Karskin's hips buck as his warm, throbbing erection began to twitch inside her mouth. She felt pleasure build inside herself too. It was building, causing her whole body to buck and shake involuntarily. Her hips were swaying back and forth, her body craving and aching for more. She was close.
Close to...
Karskin grunted as he released. She felt him swell against her tongue as a hot wave of semen exploded from his head. It spurted against the roof of her mouth, coating her tongue in a thick, gooey and salty substance. Swallowing the first load down, Trixie pulled her head back, the commander's shaft pulled from her mouth with a wet pop, strings of saliva and cum dribbling over her chin. It didn't stop there.
Her mouth was agape as the second spurt sent a wave of hot liquid shooting across the ridge of her equine muzzle. She watched though narrowed eyes with fascination as her hand closed around the shaft and jerked two more powerful sprays from the commander. As the two final twitches from Karskin emptied his creamy load over her face, Trixie let out a loud moan feeling her own waves of pleasure leak down her leg.
She had hit the epitome, as far as her body could go. The darkness crawling over her groin area slipped into her slit, the magical shadows forming within her vagina. They stimulated everything they touched making Trixie cum.
And she came hard...
Her juices sprayed out over the floor, excess liquid drooling down her inner thigh as the unicorn twitched in the afterglow. She slowly leaned back, hips trembling as she squirted a second, shorter spray down her leg, her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she tried to comprehend the feelings race through her body.
With a sigh, Karskin looked down and saw he was still as hard as he had been when Conscript Trixie had begun her duties. He was glad to see his stamina hadn't degraded over the aeons. Not quite done with her, he grabbed the dazed unicorn by the arm and pulled her unevenly to her hooves before shoving her hard again. Sobering a little, Trixie fell on the bed and looked up with confusion.
When she suddenly realised the commander was still hard and bearing down on her, she gave a weak smile and reached up, wiping some of the cum from her face.
"You are feisty today." Trixie panted, slowly catching her breath.
She rested her head back, feeling the head of Karskin's erection rake up through the sopping fur on her thigh. She felt the head press against her closed slit, but it didn't stay closed. Opening her legs a little more, she felt her own lips part to grant the commander entry.
The head slipped in first, stretching out her wet, soft walls, drawing a moan from the unicorn. Eyes shut, she grabbed two handfuls of the bed-sheets and wrapped her long legs around the commander's waist. Entirely vulnerable to him, she felt him slide all the way in, smoothly and quickly until she felt the tip of his manhood press tight against the entrance of her womb.
"Aaah. Oh by the great stars... ah, yes!" The mare whispered with closed eyes at the commander's half-masked face.
Slowly his warm erection slipped along her slick inner walls as he pulled out, and before the head popped free to allow her body to close in on itself... he thrust back in hard again, crashing against her womb yet again.
"Fuck, yes... YES! Trixie wants you to punish her! PUNISH YOUR LITTLE SLUT-MARE'S TIGHT HOLE. AAAAH, PUNISH ME HARDER, YEEES!" Trixie's uncontrollably wavering voice screamed with dramatic joy, enjoying the abuse her body went through. She loved to have every orifice on her body violated by the commander. He knew exactly how she liked it. As rough as possible.
So he kept his pace, long fast thrusts. He'd already finished once, it would take longer to cum a second time. And he didn't have all night. Outside in the hall all that could be heard through the dorm's door were Conscript Trixie's breathless screams of pleasure with each rapid squeak of the bed springs while Commander Karskin had his way with her body...