Gunsmoke

by Wanderer D

Chapter 31: Hunter

The team ran fast around the coast. The island was large... definitely a much bigger battlefield than ever before. Had circumstances been different, Nightmare Moon was sure they would be having a lot of fun at this time.

She had visited the Caribbean once, a while ago with Celestia and the whole place brought back memories of their small adventure there. It almost made her wonder, looking at the waves crashing onto the rocks, the sounds... to not only see and hear all of that, but to be able to feel the breeze, smell the flowers, feel the warmth of the sun... how far was this whole place from being an actual, different reality?

When had games become so realistic that with a tweak of sorts you could actually live inside of them in a manner of speaking. That had happened with the SAO incident. The players still needed intravenous nourishment, but had otherwise been able to live for all intents and purposes. The details of what had happened exactly were kept from the public, but certain things, such as some users setting up towns and dedicating themselves to fishing and discovering new recipes that actually tasted like real food and that had carried on to the new games—that's why the bars were so popular in GGO, after all.

They could all feel a dull sensation when hit by a bullet, although it was still nothing like what Mirage felt—not to mention it actually affected her body in the real world—how long would it take for things like these to turn into something outside of their computerized constraints?

They slowed down when Surgeon gave the signal, then followed a river deeper into the jungle. Nightmare Moon snapped her thoughts away from her musings into the here and now. At any time they could be attacked by XCOM or whatever it was that had been following her.

She watched as Thunderbird, Coyote and Heavy Collar ran ahead, scouting the area around them before giving the go-ahead by radio. So far there were very few cameras on them, which was fine by her.

When the sound of a distant explosion made them all jump into cover she took a deep breath and quickly climbed up a tree pulling her sniper rifle out and looking down the scope into the distance.

"Nothing from south, south west where we came from," she informed over the radio. "North east, however... I see a cloud of smoke as well as random flashes of guns being fired. I think XCOM found whatever it was that was hunting me."

"Roger that," Surgeon replied. "At least we have their position now. I don't think either them or your pursuer will bother circling us... any good areas to set up base?"

It took her a second to realize he was talking to the scouts, and sure enough Coyote's voice replied a moment later. "Creo que si. I found a little valley, East of our position, then slightly North. It's on the side of a small mountain."

"I can see it," Nightmare Moon reported, centering her scope on the area. "Or part of it."

"Let's take a look then," Surgeon said, motioning for her to come down.

It took them a few minutes to reach the place Coyote had found. The way up was fairly narrow and clear of trees or cover of any sort. The river flowed down the center of the path, the clear water reflecting the sun above them.

"Man, this place is awesome," Thunderbird whispered in awe.

When they arrived at the top, Nightmare Moon immediately saw why Coyote had chosen this place and could only agree with Thunderbird's declaration. "I agree... we can control a lot of combat situations from here."

The site had a small lake created by a waterfall that mysteriously emanated out of the rocky mountain behind it and reached the edge of the valley, naturally flowing down from there becoming the river they had been following into the jungle.

There were several rock outcroppings and some large trees around the lake, giving them plenty of cover if needed.

"And that's not the best part," Coyote said, motioning for them to follow. He walked around a large rock outcropping and disappeared.

"What the hell?!" Thunderbird gasped.

"Easy, chamaco," Coyote said, grinning as he looked out from the rocks. "It's just a trick from the angle you're standing on. Check it out."

Nightmare Moon walked around and saw a small, partially hidden entrance to a cavern. Walking in, she followed Coyote through a short tunnel into a larger cavern, which was hidden behind the waterfall.

"This... this is perfect!" Nightmare Moon gasped. "We can get Mirage back here!"

Surgeon nodded. "Then do what you must do. Coyote, Heavy Collar, I want you two to set up a LOT of traps on the way up here and create a perimeter. I'm going to look around and formulate the best defensive positions for all of us. Lion, you're on guard duty next to the way up while they work." He glanced at Thunderbird. "Since you have some of the highest agility here, I want you to head down and north-east. Scout ahead and keep an eye out for whatever came here after Nightmare Moon and XCOM. Don't engage, just contact me if you see them, okay? Check-in when you reach the Jungle, and then every five minutes."

Thunderbird gulped and nodded, running out, followed by the others.

Nightmare Moon took a deep breath and gave a thumbs up to the few cameras that had been following them.

Although the change had been unusual, the crowd at the Summer Competition had simply assumed that the video on screen was some sort of intermission, giving the girls time to organize themselves and discuss several things. Among them, the Siren's involvement with GGO.

"Wait. So you're saying you were part of The Kings?" Twilight asked.

"What? How?" Rainbow Dash spoke up.

"Yeah!" Sonata grinned. "I'm Rampage in the game, Adagio here is Recoil!"

The GGO-savvy girls turned to look at Aria.

"I was Longshot. Not that it matters, what I want to know is... what the hay is that thing?" Aria asked as the large TV focused on the battle happening between XCOM and some... creature. "I thought there were no mobs in any of the maps for the competition."

"There aren't," Twilight said. "That thing is chasing after Nightmare Moon and Team Surgeon. But now that they've set up base..."

"You have to wonder why the hell they don't stop this whole thing when it's clearly out of their control," Adagio muttered.

Twilight adjusted her glasses. "It's probably related to their PR. Most people don't know it isn't planned, so they—"

"It was a rhetorical question, Sparkle."

"'tis time for us to act," Luna said, keeping an eye on the computer. "My sister has given us the signal. Bring over Sunset. Twilight, are you ready?"

"A-are you sure this is the only way?" Twilight asked Princess Luna. "I hate to admit it, but I'm not very good in front of crowds and... well that's a very, very big crowd."

"Don't worry, Twi," Lemon Zest said, giving her girlfriend an encouraging hug. "We're here with you."

"Twilight," Princess Luna said, drawing their attention to the screen, which she was gesturing at with her hand. "Look at them. They're fighting to protect Sunset. You can't be there with them, given the rules of the contest... We have to do what we can now, from this side. Draw strength from all of us if you must, but do not forget your own, inner strength. Loyalty. Honesty. Laughter. Generosity. Kindness..." She poked Twilight lightly on her chest. "Magic. All of these reside within all of us. The elemental magic which your friends here have been exposed to will resonate with yours with the help of the Dazzlings. I will guide you. Fight your fear."

The Rainbooms and sirens took their place on either side of Twilight and Luna while the crowd muttered in confusion at this turn of events. They quieted down when the music started.

Pinkie started the beat with a slow-paced march of drums. The rest of the Rainbooms looked at each other and nodded resolutely before they started following the rhythm with short strums of their guitars, leading the music into a slow, almost ballad-like sound.

Rainbow Dash took the microphone and looked at the crowd as the music washed over them all. "Sorry for the delay guys! Have you been having fun watching the GGO finals?! Have you enjoyed the music so far tonight?"

The crowd roared in response, moving closer together now that the music was back and people were concentrating on the stage itself once more.

"This song is dedicated to a friend of ours... you can see her right here, i-in the wheelchair." Rainbow Dash blurted out, swallowing a sudden lump in her throat. "She can't hear us... you see, she fell into a coma after she saved our lives. Those of you from Canterlot High know what I'm talking about."

The crowd hushed, but here and there a few shouts of "Sunset!" sprung out from within it.

"So we want to thank her! And we wrote a song, kinda last minute, so it's not one of our best, and it's as cheesy as it gets, but do you want to hear it?!"

The crowd once more chanted their approval with an animated: "Sunset! Sunset!"

Aria licked her lips. She could already feel the energy levels rising. "Note to self: Offer job of hypegirl to Rainbow Dash if she'll take it." She ignored the dirty looks from the Rainbooms around her.

"Anyway! It's an easy song, nothing and here it goes!" Rainbow announced, placing the mic back in the stand and starting to play her guitar.

Watching you fight

Stepped away from the light

Into another world

I didn't know

I didn't care

As your worries unfurled

Rainbow waited a beat before calling out:

I wanna take it back!

The sirens and Rainbooms chorused Rainbow Dash as the crowd cheered, clapped and shouted, and those on stage could see a cloud of energy already forming there. She grinned and continued singing, guitars suddenly burst through the sad undertone like an explosion of sound, timed perfectly with the light of the Rainbooms Ponying up. The sirens themselves had trails of energy forming around them, like multicolored will-o'-the-wisps. Their translucent wings formed behind them, and their voices rose with power and magic as their energies were replenished.

Rainbow Dash only hoped their music and their magic could help her friend.

"The traps are all set, Surgeon," Heavy Collar said over the radio. "I also did the ones you asked on the front of the cavern."

"Mine too," Coyote added a second later. "Neither XCOM or the thing will know what hit them."

"Speaking of that," Thunderbird's voice reached them. "I have a visual."

There was a moment of silence.

"What does it look like?" Nightmare Moon asked.

They could hear Thunderbird gulping. "I-it looks like some sort of werewolf, like in the movies but... it's all made of shadows, except for the eyes. They're red and glow in a weird way. It's headed down south, but I don't think it knows where we are located yet. I don't know what happened to XCOM."

"Keep shadowing it," Surgeon ordered. "And keep an eye out for XCOM, they can't be gone or we would have automatically won the contest."

"Roger that."

"Let's hope your friends do what they need to do to help us, Moon," Surgeon muttered.

Twilight Sparkle closed her eyes. The magical energy harmonized exactly as Princess Luna had said it would. The Dazzlings' modulation of the energy made it resonate within her with each key pressed by Rarity like a twitch of her fingers, each beat of the drum beating alongside her heart, each strum of the guitars sending chills up her spine, the shake of the tambourine... each and every instrument and voice built power within her. A power she was very familiar with.

A sudden moment of panic hit her. 'What if I fail? What if I fall into my demon form again and I—' She stopped when she felt a firm hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Princess Luna smiling encouragingly at her.

"Don't be afraid. The magic is yours to command, and I will be right here helping you guide it," the pony princess-turned human promised. "Now, save your friend."

Twilight nodded and, in front of a huge screen showing a battlefield; in front of a band performing; in front of a magical event beyond her experience... fueled by hope, love and friendship... in front of a a live crowd, extended her arms and forced the universe to open like she had while in-game.

And the universe opened up. A swirling mass of energy that had a twin appear at the same time next to the fighting groups in the screen. "Now!"

Immediately Cadance and Lemon Zest pushed Sunset, wheelchair and all into the vortex. The crowd gasped and then cheered madly when Sunset disappeared and reappeared in the world shown on screen.

The portal opened like a pink and purple circular scar in the air, hovering for a few seconds before disappearing in a burst of light that reformed into Sunset Shimmer's body. It hovered in place for a moment before collapsing into the waiting arms of Nightmare Moon.

"She's here!" the sniper called into the radio.

"Well, get started," Surgeon ordered. "We'll make sure she's protected."

"Se dice facil!" Coyote's voice responded on the radio. "I don't think the creature knows where we are exactly, so don't draw too much attention!"

"Scratch that!" Thunderbird interrupted. "It just did a turn. I think it felt Mirage arrive!" His declaration was followed by a stream of swearing from the whole team.

"We need to cover them!" Surgeon's voice cut through the noise. "Lion, you set up behind the large rock on the left of the way up. Moon, you need to do what you have to do then join the fight. Coyote and I have a clear sight of where it is coming—heading straight for Heavy Collar's traps."

"This is going to light up the jungle like a second sun," Heavy Collar quipped.

"Acknowledged," Nightmare Moon responded, fishing the egg out of her inventory.

A strong, angry roar emerged from the jungle.

"It senses it!" Nightmare Moon warned, carefully placing the egg on top of Sunset's chest. The artifact slowly started to spin and glow, levitating a couple of inches from Sunset's body and releasing little bubbles of light that rained on top of the still body, seeping into the comatose girl who also rose up in the air a little over a foot. "It's working! But it's going really slow!"

"You'll have to leave it to do its work," Surgeon ordered. "Get out of there before the creature arrives. There's a nook a few feet right of where the waterfall comes out of the mountain. I think it's perfect for you to nest and be ready to take your shot."

"Guys, it's almost there!" Thunderbird warned. "Should I take a shot?"

"No," Surgeon ordered, "follow it until it reaches the traps! If it has high stats that's when we'll be able to do the most damage, especially if it's magical."

"Roger that!"

Nightmare Moon was barely paying attention to the conversation. She glanced nervously at Sunset's body then grimaced and ran into the side cavern. When she emerged, she immediately headed up to the little niche Surgeon had mentioned.

"Heavy, did you plant the explosives on the entrance to the cave?" Surgeon's voice came over the radio.

"Yeah, I got them."

"When your traps activate, I want you to take advantage of the confusion and collapse the entrance to the cave," he said.

"Um guys?" Thunderbird's voice sounded very nervous. "XCOM is right behind that thing. And they seem to be missing some people. I only count 4 of them."

An even longer string of swearing followed that declaration.

Nightmare Moon grimaced at Surgeon's vocabulary. It was a good thing they were not in the middle of her school or she would have him in her office so fast he'd leave skid-marks. "Surgeon! Concentrate! Can we change our plans to include them?"

"We don't have time," Surgeon's voice was strained. "Thunderbird. Find a way to distract them without hopefully taking them on. If we can take down the monster in one shot, we might stand a chance against them. Get ready, everyone."

Nightmare Moon kept an eye on the edge of the jungle. That's when she saw it. Thunderbird's description was close, but it didn't do justice to the creature. It did look like a bipedal werewolf made of shadows, seeming to blur in place constantly. She could see a more solid head turning this way and that, but on its wake, almost like an after image, another wispy head would form, snapping and growling. Shadowy energy seeped from the creature, making the area around it shimmer and distort... and the sight of it made Nightmare Moon feel a tinge of fear and the now-familiar echo of magic scratching at her senses.

"Guys, that thing is magical. Its defenses are going to be sky high," she whispered into the radio.

"I figured," Surgeon muttered. "But there's nothing we can do about that. Even with the other magical creatures we faced, they still had weak points, so hopefully what we have set up will work."

"Here it comes!" the Lion shouted.

The creature moved fast, but a second later the area around it became a miniature sun, making Nightmare Moon gasp and activate a filter to see through it. Bright green fire from plasma mines licked around a fireball that had erupted under the creature's feet. It was blasted side to side, up and down and soon the whole area was riddled with bullets from Lion's minigun, the gatling-gun spinning at full 4k rpm, all four thousand bullets-per-minute concentrating on the location of the creature.

Nightmare Moon kept careful track of the silhouette inside the explosions, ready to shoot when they died down, but Heavy Collar's voice stopped her. "Wait until I say shoot, Moon."

"Are you sure?!"

"Positive."

Surgeon and Coyote also fired their weapons as explosion after explosion rocked the mountain itself. Finally, the last explosion died off, revealing the severely torn, but still-standing shadow creature. It was missing an arm and half of its abdomen, but somehow it still stood.

It paused and its shadowy lips pulled back, revealing white fangs in what could only be described as a smile.

"Heavy?"

"Wait for it..."

The creature leaned forward and shot up again, moving at full speed straight for Lion.

"Heavy?!"

"Wait for it!"

And just as it landed in front of the Heavy Class fighter, a flash and light blue smoke exploded around it, clearing up a few seconds later to reveal a frozen-solid creature, claws a mere inch away from Lion's face.

"Now!" Heavy Collar shouted as Lion scrambled back in a panic.

Moon's shot sounded like thunder, cracking and echoing like the shout of an angry god. The frozen creature's head exploded into chunky pieces, followed seconds later by the rest of its body when the others opened fire on it.

Nightmare Moon sighed, pulling her rifle up and leaning her head against it. "We won." She looked down at the group and flashed them a thumbs-up and a grin.

Maybe now Sunset would finally be back and they could put this whole thing behind them...

The radio crackled. "Guys!" Thunderbird's voice came through. "That thing! It can regenerate from nothing! XCOM took it down earlier and it came back as if nothing had happened!"

Nightmare Moon took aim as fast as she could, but it was too late.

The creature was up again, as if their whole fight had not happened at all. Its claws were wedged deep into Lion's chest and it looked straight at her as it attempted to rip the player in half. Lion gasped, but managed to kick back and roll, just in time to avoid being split by the claws.

"You stole my property, girl." The creature's voice echoed in the little mountain valley, raspy and amused. "Now you must all pay the price."

"That was never your property!" Nightmare Moon shouted, shooting another blast straight through the creature's chest, leaving a wide, gaping hole in it, which disappeared when it waved its claw in front of it.

"You cannot win. You can only die here and live your 'real' life with the knowledge of your failure today!

Nightmare Moon didn't move, keeping her sight on the monster. Below, Surgeon, Coyote and Heavy Collar ran behind better cover.

"You can't possibly want to take the life of a young woman for this!" Nightmare Moon replied angrily.

"She's not even human," the creature replied. "She's something else pretending to be one, pretending yet again to be one in a game. Once her power is mine, I will breach the worlds apart and reveal to the world the multiverse that we have created!"

Nightmare Moon was visibly seething at the creature's disregard for Mirage. She was about to reply when a powerful blast tore through the monster as if it was made of paper. It flew a few feet and landed face down on the shore of the lake.

"That thing is annoying," Butcher stated, keeping his legendary alloy cannon trained on the creature, as it started to stand again. "Surgeon, how about we call a truce while we deal with our unwanted guest? We can shoot each other to death later."

Surgeon chuckled. "Only if you think you can keep up with my team."

With sharp signals of his hand, Butcher spread what was left of his team around. Rock, their large, shield-wielding tank ran up to stand next to Coyote, pulling out a handgun, while Sukiru dashed up a tree and from there jumped onto a small ledge on the side of the mountain, from where she could snipe freely with her anti materiel rifle.

Butcher himself took cover behind some rocks, while Wallflower crouched behind cover, close to where Surgeon stood. Striker, their close combat specialist joined Heavy Collar, alongside Thunderbird, who gave his team a victory sign.

"So both teams are here." The creature chuckled, standing up and looking at the thousands of floating camera links. "This is perfect. The world will now see what I can do with this power." It lowered its eyes, looking back at the gathered gunslingers.

"Let's do this," Nightmare Moon growled, taking the shot.