//------------------------------// // File 22: Month 7-Part 1: Pump Action // Story: SWWC: Something Wrong With Canterlot // by Lighttone GryphonStar //------------------------------// The window on the top floor broke open with the sound of a shotgun. Not showing any care of being heard at all, the earth pony mare dropped down to the ground and scattered the glass across the slick floor. Despite her recklessness, her eyes peeled on her surroundings and made her way to a corner office. She stopped against the wall by the door as it flew open. The security officers had noticed the sound of the glass shattering and rushed towards the source. The mare bashed one across the face, and stomp on the other's foot. They grabbed her, so she followed up with a kick to the back of one's neck. Throwing her head back, she broke the first's nose, and threw the out cold one over and on top of him. Pinning them both down, she aimed her shotgun at the one still conscious. "Where is the file?" she growled at him. The guard shook his head. He refused to answer her questions. Without warning, he stuck out his tongue and bit it off, spitting blood in her face. This was shamefully not surprising for an undead wretch. The earth pony winced and pumped lead through his skull. The mare pulled back as the blood splattered on her face. Flipping her attention to the other one, she didn't waste the bullet and instead bashed his neck with enough force to snap the brain stem. The earth pony wiped the blood off her muzzle with her sleeve. Stepping off of both of them, she raced down the hallway. "They were worthless." She sighed in annoyance, moving until she found another group of guards to repeat the process. They refused to answer her too, leading to the same gruesome reprise against her and quick demises committed by her. Leaning on a door frame, the mare panted at the sight of so much blood. She had hoped one of them would break under the pressure. There was no way all of them were just as undead and mindless slaves. All this wasted time had brought her no closer than when she arrived. "Killing more is pointless..." She commented mostly out of the fact that she was running low on shotgun bullets and not out of a sign of mercy. Such a thing had long been broken out of her after all this time searching. Her rage was understandable as she had come so far and was this close. In the end, it was futile, but she didn't care. "The file is here, but where?!" She wiped off more blood and then turned her sight to an air vent. "What did sis call that game? Metal Gear... Solid or Rising?" Her head waved back and forth in confusion. "No, she might have been talking about Among Us. Her meta jokes never made sense." She used a bullet to break open the vent and jumped inside. The vent shafts were very large and allowed her to move with ease. However, she did not go far before her path was blocked by a large piece of metal. "Guess I have to break it down." Turning around she gave a hard kick and nothing happened. Her eyes widened, "Strange... My earth pony magic was working early." Backing up to the outside of the vent, she leaned out and threw a piece of rubble with her full might. It tore through the floor like a bullet. Doing the same inside the vent gave a very different result. "Why have magic blockers in the vents? Actually better question is why not just cover this whole building in magic blockers? The King hates it when we use magic in general." Such questions were beyond her mental scope, so she ignored them and moved back to the large metal piece. She placed her hands against it and pressed down, yet it wouldn't budge. She pressed harder but still nothing. "Why... won't... you move?!" she growled. "I'm not giving up! Not after all I have gone through! My answers are in this building!" Despite her furious yelling, she still couldn't break the metal. Not only that but it had become harder to breathe. She pressed her body against it and gave it everything she had. Finally, it creaked loudly and burst away, leading downward. Unable to catch her footing and the metal piece slipped away, she fell with great speed. Landing down two floors on her back, she groaned and shook her head. She was more surprised not to have any broken bones from such a crashing fall. Her body ached, but she was able to get up just fine. However, that was far from her greatest problem as the lights around her flickered on and revealed the purpose of her confusion in the vents. She found herself below the building itself, surrounded by thousands of purple crystals. "All this magic blockers..." She jumped and put up her guard. "Who the fuck put a science lab right above a mine?" "Wow, you are dense!" A voice echoed behind her. She turned around and found herself face to face with several soldiers, far more than she could handle. They are charged in faster than she could react, moving as if they were immune to the blockers. The mare ducked and rolled away, letting them slam against the wall. Only to be stopped and dropped to the ground by their commander. "So, you lead these fuckers!" She growled, taking a swing at his face. He dodged out of the way so easily by flying above her attacks. "Tell me, where is the file on Pinkie Pie?!" "You're still after her?!" he laughed at the notion. Despite all the crystals around them, his powers were unhithered at all, much to her annoyance. "Shut up!" she screamed as she threw herself at him, attempting to bite him, being stopped by steel limbs, shining in the blackness around him. They wrapped around her and took her back to the base floor away from all the gems. "Those were...?!" The mare shivered around to face him as he dropped her to the ground and approached out in the light. The pegasus tipped his metal wings between her eyes and leered over to face her. "Now we have you... Limestone. You are under arrest for the murder of Flim, Flam... and your own mother." He cut her cheek with the edge and he pulled his wings back to intensify his following comment. "How do you plead?" "I plead by fucking killing you, Iron Sentry!" ******