Silver nodded at the Diamond Dog Behind The Counter. "Yeh, seems that way, doesn't it?" He looked around at...everything. It seemed fairly dismal, but then, what didn't these days? "I believe I am here to offer my services, or somesuch?" He looked at the Diamond Dog inquisitively, waiting for instructions.
Severed followed the Diamond Dog and Heartburn to the room, or what passed for a room in these parts. At the mention of Magic Batteries, her ears twitched. You can never have too many of those... As her companion immediately set about rearraging the room to her liking, Severed simply stared, as she didn't expect her counterpart to be so...picky. However, she likewise began digging through the piles of refuse, searching in particular for any batteries that might be of use. She also made a mental note to set aside any objects that might be sharp enough to pierce flesh. One could never have too many improvised weapons if the need arose. Severed herself wasn't very proficient with blades, but she thought that Heartburn, being a kind of field surgeon, might be. In between rummaging, she would occasionally write in her "journal". Great Sandro, the Diamond Dogs of Iron Gate have been accommodating so far. They also seem to co-exist with ponies, which frankly is a relief. Due to a serendipidous occurrence, my room mate and now companion is a field medic named Heartburn. She is not Chosen, but I may be able to convince her to see Your ways. We have not had the opportunity to speak at length, but she seems amiable enough.
The diamond dog doesn't seem incredibly impressed by Silver's demeanor at first, and shrugs. "Alright, well, since you're the magical sort, I'm gonna put you in a small home for now while we figure out what to do with you. I just sent a pair of ritualists out, so you came just a little too late for that boat. Chances are, you'll end up in the same sort of area... but that's for King Midas to decree." He scribbles something on his piece of paper and grumbles. A guard from outside comes in to him and collects the paper from him. At that point, the guard looks at Silver and sighs. "Okay pony, come with me!" Meanwhile... Driller leads Inferno and Mary Sue to the armory, which is a fairly stable building that looks like it used to be an auto shop. "Alright Fillies, listen up! We've been getting more and more monsters from the Paradise of Nature roaming in our area. They pick off ponies and diamond dogs that wander too far out from town. Why they're leaving Paradise is an unknown, but since losing the last one, we've been looking for someone who could plant our mines out around Paradise, so that the beasts don't come out during the night. Now, let me introduce you to the Master of the Armory, Metal Head." Inside of the armory were cases and crates filled with weapons and ammo, all fenced off by a schoolyard-style metal grate fence. A pony is behind the fence, wearing black goggled with red lenses, and a metal cap on her head, pushing her mane down. "Okay, what do we have here?"
Heartburn finished her sorting with a sigh. Everything was much neater than before, but to anypony other than Heartburn it still looked like a mangled mess. She turned to Shattered Heart who was still clicking away at her pad. "So why are you here, anyways?" She asked in the sweetest tone she could think of. She couldn't think of any ways of asking the question without it sounding like a challenge, so she tried to make it sound as nice as possible. "I personally came here for work. Not much fun when you have a choice between healing a pony or increasing your own chances of survival. I'm done with decisions like those.
Inferno nodded. "The names Inferno. I hear you have some explosives which need placing on the outskirts of Paradise?" She then looked around, taking in the sights of the building, and her surroundings.
Severed glanced up from her work and turned toward Heartburn. "It was Sandro's Will that guided me here." That would be about as much of an answer as her companion would get. She returned to her work. After sorting through a few more things, and finding a particularly nasty edged piece of metal, she sighed and turns back toward her companion. "I once was given the choice of whether to heal others or to cause harm. When the Death Crystal joined the War against Ponykind, the choice was made for me. My homeland was destoryed, everyone I knew or loved perished." She muttered something under her breath: [size=-2]"Sandro forgive me."[/size] "In short, I came here because I have nothing else. I don't seek fame, or glory, or power. Part of me still doesn't know what it is that I seek. Maybe I only seek my own demise." "I don't know..." That being said, she returned once again to her task. She said, as much to just herself as to Heartburn, "I wonder what our assistant will be like?"
Silver tagged after the Diamond Dog. One thing annoyed him, though, and that was the fact that they kept calling him "pony". He was pretty sure the snarky response of 'Okay, Diamond Dog,' was not going to endear himself to them, however. "Please, call me Silver." He trotted up beside the Diamond Dog. "What's your name?"
Mary trots behind Driller and Inferno, looking around the weapon store as she does so. A few cut-outs made a rough collage on the wall made up of a pretty mares and large guns. She wears the usual expression of disinterest and aloof distrust as she meets Metal Head on the other side of the fence. "Mary Sue. So you get that name cause you welded that helmet to your skull or are you just into Thrash Metal?" she enquires, sizing Metal Head up through the fence.
*Straight Jacket sits in the chair, the occasional puff of smoke vents from his mask as he looks at the Diamond Dog with a slight tilted head* Psycho: "You wanted to see principle?" Loco: "Principle?" Crazy: "You had better choose your words wisely you fool! I am your future evil emperor after all HMahaha!" Psycho: "I'm not in trouble right? I dont like to be in trouble. Trouble is bad. I'm a nice pony" Loco: *sighs* "...look dude. We're not insane...Psycho is just an idiot and crazy is hell-bent on world annihilation. We're completely totally sane"
SSSSSSSKIP! These days, it didn't matter much who you made allies with, they all seemed to either turn on your in the name of "survival" or die in their attempts. Teamwork, while incredibly important, seems to be at such a premium, it's always so wonderful when somepony finally finds a true ally. Iron Gate was such an ally to those ponies who worked for it. A safe haven from the outside world that had walls and armed guards... but this was no longer the world run by ponies and diamond dogs. The Two Hearts had about two days to get acquainted before it happened... In the dark of the night, gunfire erupted from the Northern gate. The shouts of the guards echoed through the night, and from the position of the old schoolhouse, either one of the two mares could easily see a fiery explosion rise above the front gate. A loud groaning sound followed, and slowly they saw the main wall collapse down upon the frontal guards. Screams could be heard as the foe, unseen from this distance, assaulted the city in the night.
"Great Sandro, that was magnificent!" Severed Heart leapt from her improvised bunk somehwere above Heartburn and dashed out of the old school house. "Why I'll bet anything involved would've met Their End with that one!" Severed had been watching the assault for some time, hoping beyond hope that she would see Her Master in action. The diety of Death did not disappoint. Her excitement barely contained, the cyan unicorn gathered her PDA and threw on her cloak. She literally hopped in place in the doorway to the Two Hearts' dorm. "Come! Heartburn! We must assist the wounded and send the deceased to their final resting place! To the Gates!" This is going to be so wonderful!
"My bonesaw, where is it!? I can't leave my bags! No! Heartburn frantically got her things together to prepare for the near future. She had a million thoughts flying through her mind. I was told this place would be safe dominated the collage of thoughts. Stumbling around with her bags, she barely got outside in time to be with Shattered Heart. The mare looked like she was about to wet herself with anticipation. "Do you even have any plans!?" Heartburn shouted. She cringed as a gutteral scream marked the end of a pony's life not too far away. "One does not simply walk into a battlefield, we have to stay back!"
Severed stopped in her tracks and turned to her companion. "Sandro will keep me alive for as long as He needs me. When his cold embrace envelops me, I will be ready!" She smiled at the thought. "However, I do agree with you. We need a plan. We should proceed with caution, if only for your sake, as you are not Chosen by Sandro. We should find out who our foe is, so we don't walk directly into his path."
A troupe of diamond dog guards ran through the alley ways to the side, barking something at one another. A flash of green was seen through the streets chasing after them, spreading blood and carnage in its wake. The diamond dogs finally stopped and turned, raising their rifles. A series of gun shots rang out in bursts before the large creature was upon them. It was a little larger than a diamond dog, but had six legs, and two large arms that had scything blades for "hands." It appeared the bullets were wounding it, but only mildly. First, it severed one of the guard's torso from his hips, and after that it slashed off another guard's wrists. The last guard got a good shot in on it though, sending a spray of bullets through the creature's skull, knocking it back and sending it to the ground. The one guard wailed in pain as he knelt by his severed hands, while the other fired another spray of bullets into the arthropod creature... for good measure. The carnage in the background was dying down slightly, but it seemed like the bulk of it was getting closer to the center of town... closer to where the armory was.
Severed Heart glanced at the wounded diamond dogs. After checking to see if the coast was clear, she knelt by them and whispered, "Sandro take you. May your souls find the afterlife." This, despite not knowing if they were actually alive or not. After returning to all fours she noted that the bulk of the battle was getting closer to the armory. "Heartburn!" She pointed in the direction of the armory. "If you can tend to the wounded, I will handle our living enemies. We can't allow our enemies to take the armory."
Heartburn lifted her bag off her back and shook her head to clear it. Trotting over to the dogs with a face of grim seriousness, she studied their situation. The one who had lost his hands was still in shock, and the other was swearing violently. "You took care of us, now we must return the favor." she said to them. With an anesthetic spell, she dissipated the feeling in the injured dog's arms. She motioned for the other dog to get back and lifted her bag to scout the area for the most effective way to aid the wounded. From what she saw, it was looking very grim on their side.
A gun shot explodes overhead, followed by a tirade of swearing. It's a barely understandable mixture of English and snarling. One minute your convinced you can hear something about publishers, book signings or article deadlines, the next, it's been replaced with a wounded wildcat. A whole spiel on the hardships of the writer remixed with swear words growled at the edges of comprehension. Mary Sue had loaded after the last shot that flew off for miles, looking now to aim waiting for whatever threatened the Armoury coming this way. She get's bupkis if it's flattened and bupkis was what she had when she arrived. She wasn't ready to let anything kick her out of the best spot in whatever's left of this world. The death threats continue as she takes aim with her wrist-mounted weapon.
The Armory was being dutifully defended by six different diamond dogs, Mary Sue, the Guard Captain, and the armory master. Up until that point, the creatures would only appear one at a time. "These giant bugs are very persistent!" "Less talk, more killing! Aim for the eyes! Their shells are too tough!" Driller shouted at the diamond dog guards as he stomped his hoof. FORGOTTEN INSERT: Heartburn was able to bandage and cauterize the diamond dog's hands. After a short conversation in their language, the "healthy" one switches to a full clip and looks at Heartburn. "T'anks. Now come on, we gotta get to the armory. Buddy over there's headed for a safe hole to stay in." The diamond dog becomes Heartburn's escort for the rush over to the armory. Around the corners of the desecrated city they came towards the standing armory. The bugs began to bunch up at the alley ways, making like they were going to attack as a swarm from the Northern Arch when the Two Hearts arrived at the Armory combat ground from the Southern End. The diamond dogs paused their gunfire for a moment as they could hear the bugs bunching up around the bends. "This doesn't look good." "Where the heck did they come from?"
Flour still permeates the air in a thick fog, almost rivalling the dust that implodes as your hoof lands. Mould has melded with dough, slowly eating everything that the rats haven't gotten to yet. Light has to barge through dirty windows before even thinking of tackling the air in here. The bright shelves have been all but completely demolished. Splintered and snapped planks fall in piles around the larger frame they once sat in. One of the larger shelves had crashed to the floor, emanating a peculiar mix of decay, olive oil and nutmeg. Autumn coloured powders have splashed out around the the edges of the downed shelves. It makes an unsettling crunch while walking over the top. A quick-paced clicking to the side. In the particulate gloom, the waxy shine of something scuttles around. The armour gives nothing away about the through process. Feelers scan the air. It began to charge. Mary looks down her foreleg. She watches for the bugs, urging each one to put one antenna into the open. Just one... "This shouldn't happen this often..."
Severed trained her sight on one of the clusters of bugs coming from the side. It was important to her to have a focus when casting a spell. Especially if it was done in the name of Sandro. She exhaled, keeping her gaze locked on her first victim: a bug that was situated in the middle of the group. In her mind's eye, she saw a dark purple cloud surrounding the group of bugs, slowly draining the life from their bodies. She grinned wickedly as her horn glowed dark purple. As she focused on casting her spell, she whispered, "Please accept this humble offering, Master Sandro..."
