Chapter II: Bandits
It was getting dark when the team of thirteen ponies reached Cherno, and with the night came the kind of tension that only darkness could bring. Not even the moon was of much help, shrinking into one of its half stages and not quite as bright or big as it used to be. Before, where the group had been buzzing as everypony chatted excitedly with their double, despite the protestations of their Marine companion. But now, the tension ran high as the silence and the looming sense of danger suppressed such thoughts. They were on the run from a deadly, unseen foe, and each sound, no matter how harmless, set them on edge. And with these "zombies" running amok, they couldn't afford not to be. Their long, sensitive ears swiveled about, trying to pick up on any threats their eyes couldn't detect, as the coming darkness would soon render their vision unreliable.
They snuck into town and started towards the local hospital, as they had run low on morphine treating Pinkie’s arm and leg. If she was to be somewhat combat-ready, they would need to find more. They moved along as quickly as they could while still retaining silence in their footsteps and frequently hid in whatever urban shadows they could find to escape the light of the waning half Moon. Though they themselves could hardly see, the zombies had already proven themselves proficient nocturnal hunters. Only when they reached the hospital did they allow themselves to feel a semblance of safety.
The establishment was simply designed; a rectangular prism with rows of windows across the front and sides, with the front entrance practically transparent with the amount of glass that was present in the wall, giving an unobstructed view of the interior. It was impossible to be ambushed here. Staying low, they entered the abandoned establishment, clearing the building slowly and methodically, checking every corner and never taking a step without a rifle at the ready. It was obvious that the hospital had been the subject of other raids, but they grabbed whatever medical supplies that had been left and made for the exit. With Blitz and Elusive in the lead, they exited the hospital through a side door, so as not to attract attention, opening it slowly to peek outside.
A loud CRACK suddenly rent the silence as a bullet thudded into the wall near Elusive’s head. He let out an involuntary yelp and Rarity cried out his name before Blitz roughly grabbed him and pulled him back into the hospital, shutting the heavy metal door with his other hand. Everyone else raised their rifles immediately at the sound while Rarity hurried over.
"Are you alright darling?" Rarity worriedly asked while Dusk took stock of the situation.
'The corridor we're in has no windows, but the same can't be said for the rest of the floor. We can't afford to be pinned here.'
"I'm fine, my dear," Elusive answered, putting on a brave face despite his trembling. "Of course, nothing at all to worry about. Just took me by surprise is all."
“Did anypony see who shot at us?” Twilight asked the others.
“Ah think ah know," AJ the mare offered. As per an earlier arrangement, they had all decided to call the stallion by his full name and abbreviate her's. "There's a tall building across from us, kind of looks like a hotel."
"Judging by the trajectory, I'd say AJ's right," Blitz confirmed. "That shot almost hit the wall sideways."
Hawkeye nodded. “I saw that building, it has a good line of sight on us. If we'd tried to go out the front door, it would nail us head-on. Same can be said if we try any of the side exits, and the back just leads out of town. With no buildings to cover us, we'll be stuck behind the hospital itself."
"What if we sneak in there and catch him off guard?" Rainbow Dash theorized. "I know I'm fast enough to get in there without being hit," she said with her usual cockiness.
"And I'm faster than her, so we should be fine." Blitz added, earning himself a glare from Dash.
"And then what?" Twilight countered. "We don't know how many of these thugs are in there, you could get in serious trouble."
"We need to get to higher ground and engage him," Dusk said. Everyone turned to him, knowing by now that his silence had meant a plan forming. "There's a good spot on the second floor where we can all fire at the same time without being so exposed, while still presenting a tempting target. When we draw his attention, that's when you snipe him from the floor above," he told Hawkeye.
"Sounds like a plan." The third floor would put him at about halfway up both buildings, just high enough to shoot straight into the upper windows of the hotel without being so high as to be at a disadvantageous angle while shooting at the lower ones.
"Let's go." With that, they moved out, careful not to be in sight of any windows as they ascended.
As the Marine headed to the third floor, the other twelve set up their position. There were about eight windows, each opened conveniently to the cool night breeze. Twilight and Dusk each took the second one to the left and right from the center while Blitz and Rainbow had their backs next to the innermost windows. Everypony else paired up with their double and headed for the remaining openings, still careful not to be seen. When Hawkeye was ready, he pounded three times on the floor of the building with the butt of his rifle, the signal to start.
"On the count of three," Dusk whispered, holding up three fingers as he counted off. "One…"
Twilight and the others gripped their firearms in anticipation. This wasn't the first firefight either squad had been in, and it wasn't nearly the last, but the trepidation always came to them in that calm before the storm. Fluttershy and Butterscotch trembled on opposite sides of their glass portal. AJ snuck in a leery, sidelong glance at her companion, Applejack, who tried his best to avoid her gaze. Rarity and Elusive shared a small smile, each promising and reassuring the other, while also laughing at the situation; had they not been soldiers, they would have gone into far more theatrical expressions of concern, a fact that both knew and found funny.
"Two…"
The twelve ponies clicked off their safeties and laid their fingers on the triggers. Pinkie and Bubble were ominously still as each tried to ignore the itching in their knees. Their demeanor shifted into serious mode, though they tried to retain a semblance of their usual air about them: they were at their best when playing games, and what was this but the most extreme game of whack-a-mole? The double Rainbows were tense and ready to spring, like they always felt before the flag dropped and the race was on. Combat after all was just another competition, and it never failed to give them that little thrill, that little shot of adrenaline that wound them tighter than a mousetrap yet let them snap twice as fast. Twilight and Dusk each had their faces set, their bodies rigid, like a predator waiting for the moment to pounce. They were commanders, and a commander was what was expected of both of them. In truth they were nervous, more so than their companions. Less than a year ago, they'd been students learning about the magic of friendship, neurotic and unsure of themselves. The same feeling always persisted, but they had learned by now to suppress that anxiety. The only reaction they gave to the situation was one of cold, hard calculation. Just another test to pass. And this one was a cakewalk.
"Three."
Dusk pivoted on his feet to face the hotel and fired once, with everyone else following suit. They all shot at the first window in their sights, quickly drawing the attention of the enemy sniper, as well as everything else within earshot. Hopefully, that everything else would just stay away. Dusk fired another shot at another random window before ducking back into cover. After a few moments of silence, he slowly turned his head to peak out of the window. He cast his eyes about, searching for any opening along the surface of the building that the sniper might fire from.
A mighty CRACK once again tore through the night as a shot from the renegade tore a chunk out of Twilight's wall, who leapt to the side with a cry.
"Twilight!" he called. She got up, showing no signs of harm, though her heart had begun hammering at the near miss. She forced herself to calm down and took her position. The others had already started shooting. Dusk peaked out again to see where the assailant was, but ducked back quickly when he didn't see him. He stayed there as more shots were fired from both sides, each pony taking it in turns to pop up when they thought they weren't being targeted. 'Hawk sure is taking his sweet time.' Dusk looked around the corridor, noticing a large mirror fixed to the wall, and pried it loose with his magic. He rotated it in midair until he could see the hotels reflection, just in time to see a shadow disappear from one of the windows.
"Get up everypony, and keep an eye out," he ordered, "he's switching positions."
"We can see that Dusk," Blitz said. "That's what happens when you don't hide behind a wall the whole time," he continued jokingly.
Dusk ignored the jab and kept his eyes glued to the hotel, waiting for the sniper to reappear.
"You really shouldn't talk to him like that," Rainbow Dash whispered mockingly. "After all, it sure would suck if you got even lower then you are on the chain of command." She started chuckling quietly, much to her partner's chagrin. At least for a moment.
"Well, maybe that's how it works in your group, but us stallions can actually take a joke," Blitz countered with a smile of his own as he trained his eagle eyes through his sights. 'Come out, come out, wherever you are…'
Rainbow glared at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked indignantly.
"Oh, nothing," he responded innocently. "Just that maybe the famous Elements of Harmony can't handle the a little joke, what with how stressful battle seems to be for you gals. No one would blame you, what with a name like that. Hey, relax! I'm just kidding," he said when he saw the peeved look on her face. "You need to lighten up."
"This is a warzone. Maybe you stallions just don't know how to take things seriously."
"Says the pilot who fell asleep on the job."
"Like you don't ever take naps on duty."
"Not while I'm flying a helicopter. How many is it you've crashed now anyways?"
"Why you little… I swear, if we weren't on a mission, I'd strangle you." Blitz ignored her and kept up his watch.
A small glint of light in one of the windows caught his eye, like some metallic object had hit the scant moonlight. He smiled. 'Forgot to factor in reflection, dumbass' He steadied his rifle and saw as the sniper brought his own to bear. It was a long shot, as his Car-15 wasn't built for military-grade accuracy, but he figured there was no harm. 'Well, if Hawk's just going to let anyone take it…' he thought giddily. As he was lining up the shot, finger on the trigger, he saw the mysterious gunman point his rifle towards him, but to the left a few degrees. His eyes went wide as saucer plates.
"Get down!" Blitz yelled as he flung himself toward Rainbow Dash, who let out a grunt as they fell to the floor, narrowly allowing the bullet to miss.
"Ow!" she exclaimed through clenched teeth at the rough tackle. Her mind quickly got over the initial surprise as she noticed the bullet hole in the wall adjacent to hers. She looked back up at Blitz, who got off her and offered her a hand, staying out of the window's sight.
“Thanks for the save," she said sincerely, more shocked than anything, as she took his arm, hauled herself up, and moved back to her cover, all thoughts of their rivalry temporarily forgotten.
He handed back her CAR-15. “No problem Dash.” he reciprocated with a smile, before the smile quickly changed into a smirk. "I suppose you owe me now."
"In your dreams," she scoffed. She rolled her eyes at Blitz's continued smirking. 'He'll never let me hear the end of it.' The pair got back to locating their target, who promptly opened fire again. Blitz leapt out and let off a few rounds of his own before ducking back into cover.
"Hawk, just where in the hay are you…" Blitz muttered as he tried his best to avoid the wall-piercing rounds.
“Wait for it…" Hawkeye muttered to himself as he saw the scoundrel pop out of a window and take a shot before popping back in. 'That's the fourth,' Hawkeye thought, finger ready on the trigger. 'He always waits five seconds after the fourth shot.' "Wait for it… Gotcha!” The M24A3 let loose a huge CRACK, releasing a .338 Lapua magnum bullet from the chamber that drilled into the sniper’s head, just as he popped back up. Hawk pulled back the bolt, ejecting the empty cartridge, and re-chambered the rifle, scanning for any movement. Applejack the stallion reached up and struck the ceiling with his rifle to get his attention.
“Nice shot Hawk." he yelled up out his window, figuring that any more noise wouldn't matter at this point. "Come on down, we’re gonna check out the bandit’s body.” Hawk stowed his rifle on his back and drew his pistol, a Colt Brothers Single Action Army. It was focused on power and accuracy instead of range, but range didn't really matter when clearing a building.
He jogged back downstairs and met up with the others. They had all taken stock of what was left of their ammo, which, thanks to their efforts to conserve, was still within a safe range. They descended and, exercising extreme caution on the street, headed towards the hotel building. Once inside, they headed to the fourth floor, where the sniper was shooting from. They entered the level with guns at the ready, and made for the only closed room. They broke down the door, finding the dead sniper inside. Hawk advanced first.
“Griffon, looks like he was a civilian." Hawk said as he moved to check the body before finding a pair of dog-tags. “Scratch that, guerilla forces.” Hawk pulled a pair of night vision goggles from his backpack. “NVGs, looks like he had two pairs.” He handed one of them to Blitz, who whistled.
“Military grade, how’d he get these?”
Hawk shrugged. “Probably took them off a dead zombie." The sniper had an SVDS sniper rifle, which Rarity held onto, and a Makarov pistol, which Dusk gave to Fluttershy, who had no weapon. She was as reluctant to wield a firearm as Butterscotch, but the Elements convinced her eventually.
"Y'know," Blitz began, "we could just stay here for the night. It's pretty defensible, so long as we keep the curtains drawn," he said with a laugh.
He was heading the group as normal as they walked away from hotel, Bubble Berry helping Pinkie limp along, with the intent of checking the town out a bit more before finding shelter. The whole purpose in going there was to catch their breath after all, and there were bound to be caches of useful supplies hidden around. They remained vigilant, but the victory had helped ease the tension and they loosened up a bit.
"What do you think Twilight?" Dusk asked.
"I think that we've made enough noise around here to attract a lot of attention, and the last thing we need is a territory dispute," she analyzed, ever cautious.
Dusk was partially of the same mind, but couldn't ignore it's tactical superiority. "All the same, Blitz is right on how easily we could defend this place. The thirteen of us could watch all approaches, and there are plenty of routes to retreat through in a bind."
"It does seem like the logical choice," Hawkeye added, "but only at a glance. There are plenty of exploitable qualities as well."
"Like what?" Applejack asked. "Seems pretty solid to me."
"Well for one, it's too tall, and has too many windows. Too many floors and entrances to cover without a small army, and each are completely accessible to anyone with wings. We don't have the time or materials to cover those up. And even if we did, it would be simple enough to break through."
"We could have a lookout stationed on the roof." Dusk countered.
"Then he'd be the first to go. Way too exposed." Hawkeye turned to Dusk. "You ever shot at a pegasus before, Dusk?"
"What?" he asked incredulously, completely taken back. "N-No, that's… why would I do that?"
"Thought so. It's harder than you think. It's not just their speed, they're also incredibly agile. Best of 'em can practically turn on a dime. Griffons might not be as fancy, but they can be just as hard to hit. Besides, we can't ignore the possibility of any rogue pegasi desperate to survive either." He noticed the look of shock on Dusk's face. "Don't get me wrong. The hotel might be as good as any place here. You just have to plan for these sorts of things. Your tactics are too ground-based," he ended with a smile, obscured with the rest of his face by the hood on his gillie suit.
Dusk and the others were more than a little perturbed at his explanation. There was a small awkward silence as they continued walking, finding themselves crossing a three-way intersection surrounded by abandoned shops. "Uh, have you actually-" Dusk cut himself off as Blitz, almost instantly followed by himself and the others, turned his head and directed his ears towards the road. "I hear it too."
There was a loud roaring coming from the countryside. Blitz put on the night vision goggles and gazed down the road. "There's a column of vehicles coming our way."
"Numbers?" Dusk asked as the group readied their weapons.
"Two Urals, side by side. Aaaaaand…" he said as he flew up a bit to see behind them. "…a jeep, and a white pickup truck. Griffon drivers. Wait…"
"That could mean a lot of trouble." Twilight calculated.
"We should probably go hide," Fluttershy timidly suggested, eyes wide. "That sounds like a lot of griffons."
"That's a great idea, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash agreed with a glint in her eye.
"It is?" Fluttershy asked, surprised.
"We could ambush them as they roll by!" she continued enthusiastically, hitting her palm with a fist.
"Um, that's not really, exactly what I-"
"We've got a problem guys," Blitz informed them as he touched back down.
"What I meant…" Fluttershy finished quietly, unbeknownst to anypony.
"They've got a prisoner. Female Pegasus, bound and gagged in the back of the pickup. There're two griffins watching her, both with a barrel to her head. We start any shootouts and she could get killed."
Everypony turned to Twilight and Dusk.
That extra bit of information put Dusk in a dilemma. 'Let the convoy go and risk that pony's life, or attack and risk everyone's? I have a duty to my team, but what about everypony else? Don't I have a duty to them too?' He looked around for anything that might be of use, any sort of environmental advantages, but the convoy was getting louder by the second. No time for plans. 'We could be seriously outnumbered here. If we start a fight we'll have the element of surprise, but the prisoner might get killed, or used as a shield, or a bargaining chip. We don't know what kind of weapons they have, this could be a really bad idea… But we can't let them take her.' He glanced over at Twilight, who was deep in similar thoughts. She raised her head and nodded. Dusk nodded back. No pony left behind. “Alright," Dusk began, pointing at the various shop fronts along the road, "garrison these buildings. Bubble, you help Pinkie over to that restaurant, it'll give you some good cover. Everypony else, spread out. Get down, stay quiet, and watch your fire. If we're careful, we can save this pony." They all moved briskly to the fronts of the various stores bordering the streets.
The vehicles soon slowed to a halt in the middle of the intersection, much to the surprise of the group lying in wait. The engines continued rumbling, presumably while the griffons checked if everything was clear, before they died down and the headlights flicked off. The griffons exited the trucks, stepping out and standing up, proud and tall on their five-toed lion paws. They were donned in Spetsnaz gear over their brown feathers, with two large holes in the back to accommodate their large wings. Their guns were at the ready in their wicked talons, scanning in all directions. The concealed squad of thirteen ponies ducked down to avoid being seen. The pony, a marine, was dragged off the pickup unceremoniously by a pair of grey griffons who carried suppressed Bizon PP-19 submachine guns. There were a total of nineteen, a whole platoon of operators, armed with various assault rifles. 'Nothing heavy, and not as many as there could be. Trouble along the road, or are they all just scattered?' Dusk mused as he risked a peek. 'Good to know the freaking zombie apocalypse is capable of finally disrupting their war effort.'
The griffons made their kingdom in a mountain range north of Equestria, in a wild section of the world where nature ran its course. They didn't even have weather control, though not for lack of trying. The griffons could walk on clouds, but had great difficulty moving or shaping them, and it was completely impossible to tell them when to rain or snow. Still, they were a hardy species from living in the mountains and didn't mind their ineptitude: they preferred the lawless feel that nature had and, in their opinion, it meant they were tougher than their "soft pony neighbors". Unfortunately, they were right. The average griffon was more than a match for the average pony physically, and it was only with the invention and rapid development of firearms over the years of peace that the ponies had found an edge, where speed and maneuverability of their armies, as well as new schools of tactics, mattered more than the strength of individual soldiers. Over the centuries, griffons had depleted their metal reserves, meaning they had limited resources in the way of production for the modern brand of warfare. But the griffons were tenacious and adaptable, and learned now, as they had done since their kingdom's inception, to make do with what they had, and what they lacked in resources and development they made up for in determination and stamina. Coupled with the fact that their generals were quick studies when it came to the arts of war, the griffons had fought their Equestrian neighbors to a stalemate.
“Ok Spetsnaz, listen up," a griffon, apparently the leader, said in a deep, gruff voice, showing off his Equestrian to intimidate his prisoner. "You know the drill. Search the town for supplies, grab any ponies you see, and get back to the convoy." Just as the first few griffons spread their wings to take off, the ponies moved into action. Hawk was the first to squeeze off a bullet and dispatched one of the prisoner's guards from the bushes nearby. Surprised, the other guard took his focus off of the Pegasus, who broke out of his grip and leapt to the ground. Hawk shifted his aim to the leader next, and one loud bang later, he hit the floor. The griffons began turning franticly to locate him in the darkness before the others popped up, set on automatic. With the prisoner safely on the ground and bullets coming from every direction, the griffons were cut down in seconds. Any shots they fired went wide and the last one, the second guard, resorted to grabbing the captive marine in a headlock and held her close in front of him, his back to the large Ural.
“COME OUT YOU SUKAS!" he bellowed, wild-eyed and breathing heavily. The others stared him down through their sights. "Hands in the air! Throw your weapons away or I shoot!" he yelled at the ponies he could barely see. They contemplated shooting the weapon out of his hand, but couldn't get the right angle. He turned constantly, sweeping his shield in their firing paths. If they fired and missed, that pony was dead. Even if they hit him, the trigger was pulled to within a hair's breadth of firing. Hawk got up and silently moved behind the griffon's back, on the other side of the Ural. "I said weapons down! I'll shoot!" Hawk appeared around the Ural's front, brandishing his SAA at the feathery target.
“Leave her," he began, making the griffon jump and face him, "and I'll let you walk.”
"You expect me to trust the word of a pony?" he asked.
He pulled back the action on the revolver. "I expect I'll shoot you if you don't."
The griffon considered his options for a second. “…Ok, ok, I’m going.” The griffon released his captive, who walked slowly over to Hawk, and backed away towards the Jeep, his arm holding the Bizon in the air. The griffon tossed the weapon inside, started up the jeep, and drove off, back towards Electro. The rest of the squad came out of cover and came together in the road to check the vehicles, Elusive and Rarity leading the way with lit horns.
“Think we should warn him about the sniper?” Bubble Berry asked Dusk.
“Nah, let him find out for himself.” Butterscotch looked at Blitz, who merely shrugged. In the meantime, Hawk and the other Marine were gathering up ammunition from the dead griffons. Dusk and Twilight went to talk with the marine, horns also alight.
“So what’s your name corporal?" Twilight asked, noting her rank. Bathed in the violet light of her illumination spell, the Pegasus could be seen properly: her face was covered in pale blue fur, her mane was silvery-white and cut to medium length, which she was now bobbing up into a ponytail, and her tail was cropped short at 5 inches long, as per regulation. On her sleeve, she wore a patch of her cutie mark, a snowflake with a small gust of wind flowing from each point.
“Stormy Winters ma'am, Fox Company, designated marksmare," she answered in a light Prench accent and saluted Twilight.
"Hey Rarity!" Dusk called. The white unicorn stuck her head out of the Ural's window. "Our marine friend over here is a sniper, she could use your SVDS."
"Aw, and I was beginning to like this rifle," she responded sullenly. She sighed and tossed it to Dusk, who caught it with a levitation spell and presented it to Stormy.
“Here, you look like you’ll need a weapon.”
“Thank you sir. I must say, I’ve never used a Griffon rifle before.” She gazed down the sights of the rifle and started fiddling with the scope. After about two minutes of scavenging the dead griffons for their weapons and ammunition, they split up into four groups. Hawk was on top of the hospital, guarding the guys in the hospital wards, and Winters was on top of the hotel with girls below in a room, both of them equipped with the NVGs.
While the others slept, Twilight found herself kept awake by a worrying observation: the behavior of the two Applejacks towards each other. It was a subtle thing to notice, but it was there. 'It could be nothing…' she thought to herself, but she couldn't deny that the stallion Applejack was rather skittish around her Applejack, and she decided to get an answer. She got up from her place on the floor, having given Dash, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity the two beds in the room, slowly walked over to the window, and lightly nudged the orange mare, who was helping to keep an eye out with whatever light the moon and stars could provide. Not much, but it beat laying there and leaving the outside to her imagination, in her opinion.
“Hey, AJ?” She turned her head towards Twilight, keeping her Car-15 aimed down the street towards a couple of zombies. "Mind if I ask you something?"
“What’s up Twi?” AJ asked.
“I just noticed that whenever you’re with Applejack, he acts kinda nervous. Is there a reason why?”
Applejack took a few moments to respond. “Twilight, ah really don’t think this is a good time to be askin’ me somethin’ like that."
"I beg to differ. This is about as peaceful as it's going to get," Twilight reasoned.
AJ just became more uncomfortable. "Well, it's… Uh, this is somethin' that needs to be worked out between the two of us. Family business. I shouldn't be tellin' anypony."
"There's no need to keep secrets, AJ. Maybe we can help." She was silent. "And if it's affecting how the two of you work together, I think I deserve to know. So does Dusk."
"Ah just don't think ah have the right to tell ya is all. It's personal, to both of us."
"We can't have personal problems on this team AJ," Twilight said, growing stern. "There's no such thing." Again, she was silent. "Applejack, I don't want to pull rank on you but I will."
AJ sighed. “Ok, fine, ah’ll tell ya," she surrendered. "But… whatever you hear," she said nervously, "ah want ya to promise that ya won't change your view o' me. And ya can't tell the others, either."
"Why not?"
"You'll get it once ah say my piece, Twi," AJ answered almost desperately. "Please, promise me."
Twilight was confused, but changed her expression to one of sympathy. "You have my word Applejack," Twilight said comfortingly, laying a hand on her shoulder, before enacting their customary oath. "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
"Thanks," AJ said, a little relieved. Then she sighed again. "Well," she began, "the thing is… ah don’t trust him."
"What?" Twilight asked in shock. "You two seemed to get along perfectly after that whole… misadventure we had."
"We did. But the thing is he came to the farm a few months back, 'afore the war. It was s'pose ta be a surprise for y'all, that our doubles were here in Equestria. Wouldn't even tell me how or why he got here. But the mornin' after he arrived, he volunteered to help Big Macintosh with some chores. They went into the Everfree Forest ta check out a new potion Zecora had for us to help with the orchard. All of a sudden, bam! They're in a fight with a couple timber wolves. And Applejack just goes and leaves Big Mac to fight 'em himself!"
"Really?" Twilight asked. "That doesn't sound like him at all."
"Well, that's what happened. He came back to the farm half-draggin' Big Mac along with 'im. Mac had tons of scrapes and scratches, his legs were bruised up real bad, and he was barely awake. Looked exactly like timber wolf work ta me. There's was even some bark stuck in some of 'em. That's when Applejack basically says, 'I was scared! I left 'im!'" she mockingly imitated. "Then he has the gall to start spinnin' some yarn about some kinda giant he saw that made 'im take off. Says he ran for a while before the guilt got to 'im, and he came back. Mac was unconscious, bleeding, and the 'giant' was gone." AJ's tone suddenly became somber, and she dipped her head slightly as she talked. "We got into a huge fight about what he did, and he stuck to his garbage of a story, sayin' I'da done the same if I were him. Well, that tore it for me. Ah told him right then and there to leave and… that if ah ever saw him near my farm again, I'd…"
"That must have been hard," Twilight said gently, only imagining what AJ could have said when she was that angry.
"We were just so worried… I mean, for a minute, it looked like Mac could've been crippled. And to think that he'd just turn tail and run! And then come back with some cockamamie conspiracy theory! We're supposed to be family!"
"We all get scared sometimes, AJ," Twilight said, trying to defuse the earth pony. "We all do things we regret. He is sorry, isn't he?"
"Oh, he says he felt just awful," Applejack remarked sarcastically. "He was so ashamed, he hasn't even told any of his friends. Said he swore never to speak of it." AJ again switched to a more serious tone. "But that ain't the point. Ya didn't see how crazed he was. I've never seen anypony that scared before." AJ lifted her head and looked Twilight straight in the eyes. "Now I'm nervous he’ll do the same here, and leave us fer dead.”
“I’ll make sure Dusk knows, so we can keep an eye on him. Ok?” The mare nodded, turning back to her Car-15. "And try to understand why he did it. You two are family, and family members forgive each other.
“Thanks Twi." She paused for a few moments. "And ya ain't mad that I didn't tell y'all the good news, about our doubles bein' here? It was mighty selfish of me to keep that from everypony. Ya had a right to know," she apologized guiltily.
"Applejack, it sounds like you went through a very trying ordeal. I can understand you not wanting to talk about him or any of them for a while."
"Well, that makes me feel a tad better." She smiled faintly, then continued watching the Zombies shuffle around a few yards away. Despite having gotten the incident off her chest and telling someone, she still felt uneasy when she thought of Applejack. The mysterious rifle fired several more shots that night, louder than ever now, which did nothing to help AJ calm her already worried mind.
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After a night's rest, the ponies returned to the main road and set off towards Stary Sobor, where an Equestrian military base was set up outside of town. Being on foot meant traveling alongside the road in order to avoid the mountainous foothills that flanked it, or else spend several extra hours walking, something they couldn't afford. Blitz was on point again with his shotgun, followed by Hawk, with Stormy bringing up the rear this time. While the vehicles would have been faster than walking, there was always the worry of the strange rifle-like weapon that seemed to be tracking them. The survivors were about half a kilometer out from Stary when they heard the steady thrum of a helicopter. Looking up, Blitz's eyes grew wide in fear: a Griffonian Hind helicopter was rapidly approaching.
“SHIT! Hind on our six Dusk!” Blitz roared, grabbing the closest pony to him, Butterscotch, and flying into the hills, which served as the only available protection, while Dash did the same with Fluttershy. The remaining survivors ran for cover as the Hind began to fire its forty millimeter machine gun at the ponies scrambling on the ground. The pilot of the Hind looked through his helmet’s HUD and gained a lock on the small white unicorn mare that held a Car-15. The griffon grinned broadly, but the smile soon fell from his face as he took a bullet through the chest, accompanied by the loudest noise that the mysterious rifle had made yet. He grunted and slumped over the controls, sending the chopper into a wild spin. The ponies had stopped after hearing the strange rifle go off and set up a defensive perimeter, watching the helicopter crash into a nearby forest.
"Did you guys here the sound it made?" Blitz asked nervously, worried about the proximity of the unseen gunman.
"That definitely wasn't a normal rifle," Elusive agreed. "Bubble, Pinkie, any thoughts?"
The two pink ponies looked at each other and shrugged. "I got nothin'," came the simultaneous reply.
"Well that's definitely the loudest it's ever been," Hawkeye observed. "Wherever that son of a bitch is hiding, it's close."
"In that case, we should go check that crash out. Perhaps our mystery sniper will be there confirming their kill," Stormy spoke up, clicking the safety off of her SVDS rifle.
Dusk and Twilight considered the idea. "Ok, Hawk, Dusk, Stormy and I will go check it out. Everypony else, try and get out of sight in the tree line, we’ll be back within the hour," Twilight ordered, checking the clip on her L85 TWS for the bullet count – twenty three, with two extra clips in her backpack. The four ponies started off towards the crash site, towards the east of the road in a clearing. They didn't have to walk for long before finding the crater it made. They watched it from the trees, and saw an earth pony with an odd looking rifle strapped to his back. He was wearing a plaid shirt and some blue jeans, a battered black Stetson resting on his head. In his hands he carried a Lee Manefield rifle, and he was trying to pry open the cockpit, which had been jammed shut by the crash. The four ponies started over to him stealthily, and crept up behind him.
"Howdy there," the pony called out neighborly, making the ponies freeze in their tracks, before finally prying open the cockpit of the Hind with a groan of the metal.
“Uh… Hi?” Dusk released his finger from the Car-15’s trigger guard and flicked the safety on. “I’m Command Sergeant Major Dusk Shine," he introduced formally. "Are you the pony that shot down this helicopter?” he asked the pony, who stood up and turned to them with a nod. With the pony facing them, Dusk could finally get a good look at their haunting gunman. The pony was white but Dusk could also see a black splotch sticking out of his left sleeve. 'A spotted pony?' Dusk thought to himself with amusement. His mane and tail were both jet black, with matching gloves on his hands.
“Sure did! This gun will take out all kinds of cars n' stuff. There’s only three vehicles ah haven’t destroyed in a single shot: a tank, a bus, and a cargo plane. Never have found out why those damned buses won’t blow up…" he said in contemplation, looking away from the group. Twilight and Dusk looked at each other and Hawkeye raised an eyebrow. "Anyway," he said, returning to ponies in front of him, "ah was waitin’ fer you to start thunderin’ through the forest, but when ya’ll stuck to the road, ah got giddy, ‘cuz the griffs like ta use their choppers to watch the road. Ah hate ta break it to ya’ll, but you’re about as stealthy as a sugared-up filly in a room full'a horns." He extended his right hand to Dusk, who shook it. "Name’s Wild Karde. Ah moved out here afore the war started, ta settle down somewhere quiet. Used ta live down in Dodge junction. Now with the war over an’ all them zombies runnin’ around, I hunt them and the griffs. Ah’m jus’ using you as bait ‘cuz yer loud enough to wake half of Tartarus," he readily insulted. Dusk decided he didn't like this guy.
“Hey, my flank we’re loud! I’ve been keeping everypony quiet the whole way to Stary," Hawk fumed, flicking the safety on his M24 off. Nopony insulted the stealth abilities of Hawkeye Archer. Karde merely chuckled.
“If that’s what ya call stealth then paint me white and call me Celestia. I’ve heard you since back before Electrozadversk...Vask…Elctrovads…Electro. Thank ya kindly for drawing those griffons in the Ural towards town by the way, they’d been stealing my ammunition stashes. So, what are ya army types doin’ out here instead of up at Stary?”
Dusk decided to answer from now on, as it didn’t seem like letting Hawkeye, who looked ready to commit murder, talk any longer. “We were shot down near Electro, and we’re trying to push through Stary up to Namalsk to use the radio there. We need to get reinforcements and get the princesses to deal with this plague or… whatever the hay is happening around here.”
"Army types, I'm a marine you uneducated hick," Hawk muttered venomously.
“Ha, good luck gettin’ the princesses ta get off of their plots ta help us outta here," he said amusedly, to Twilight's shock. "Don’t ya think that if they were gonna send us reinforcements, they would a sent ‘em already? Naw, we’re alone in this fight. Anyways, good luck with your mission, ah’ll be watchin’. Happy Trails!”
It was as the pony turned to walk away that Dusk noticed an image on his gloves: two shovels super-imposed onto an arrowhead. "Wait a minute…" he whispered in disbelief. "Hey!" he shouted in shock. "Where did you get those gloves?" Karde stopped. "Those gloves are from the Engineering and Breaching Corps. Equestrian military. Where did a civilian like you get those from?" he asked. 'If someone from the Corps is down here, we might not be alone in this!' Dusk and his squad had made many new comrades during their time in the Engineering Corps, and they needed friends more than ever right now.
Without turning around, Karde replied, "Now that there's my own damn business, now ain't it?"
"It's mine as well," Dusk replied, more seriously this time. "I was in that branch. And I want to know where those came from." 'I won't let this lead go. If there are others down here, we have to find them.'
"And why should I tell a pryin' little soldier boy like you, huh?" Karde retaliated defensively, turning around to look Dusk in the eye. "What business is it o'yours what gloves I'm wearin'? Maybe I should ask why your 'sneaky' li'l sniper there has his ridiculous get-up."
"What'd you say to me!?"
"Hawk, stand down," Twilight ordered, doing her best to suppress her own annoyance.
"Maybe you should mind yourself, Sergeant Major, and do your buckin' job instead of questionin' us simple folk down here about our choice in gloves. Maybe I took 'em off a zombie, maybe a corpse. Maybe I made a corpse and then took 'em. Why should I tell ya?"
"Because you're outnumbered," Stormy threatened, standing back with her SVDS pointed straight at him. "Now answer the question. I don't like disrespect to my superior officers, trouduce.
"Ferme ta bouche, soldat de dame," he shot back, much to everypony's surprise, especially Stormy's, who lowered her weapon. "And don't try ta threaten me. I've got the big scary gauss gun, remember?"
'So that's what it is,' Dusk noted. 'But that kind of technology is still in the works. How'd this guy get a hold of a gauss rifle?' Either way, Dusk wasn't about to let this Wilde Karde test such a weapon against his men.
"Look, we all need to calm down here," Dusk said, stepping out between Karde and Hawkeye. "We have enough enemies as it is." He decided to try a more diplomatic approach. "I need to know where those gloves came from. If there are any other soldiers out here, we could help each other get out of this mess, get a message to Canterlot. Anyone wearing those gloves'll know me and my men."
"Well ah hate ta break it to ya, but the pony who wore these is dead. If it helps, ah ain't the one who killed him. And a word a' advice: stick to yourselves. The only other ponies out here are lookin' out fer themselves and nopony else."
"We'll take our chances," Twilight stated seriously. Hawk and Stormy’s weren't the only ones rubbed the wrong way by Karde's mouth. "Even if we could, we aren't going to leave any of our friends here to die."
Wilde Karde laughed darkly. "Well, ain't that the most sentimental thing I ever heard. That kinda thinkin'll get y'all killed. You get a chance to get outta here, you take it, and everypony else be damned. Now if you'll excuse me, ah got some feather faces to hunt. Good day to ya," he spat. The southern pegasus then headed off towards the east, disappearing into the trees. The squad turned to each other.
"Who votes we hunt down that arrogant bastard?" Hawk asked.
"I'll second that," Stormy agreed.
"You two get back to the others," Twilight ordered. "Tell Blitz and Dash to fly back and get the Ural. I don't think Wilde Karde is going to shoot us, so long as we keep attracting targets for him. We could use the transportation. Dusk and I will try to find him. There are some more questions I want answered." Hawk and Stormy nodded, and started walking back to the convoy.
"You really meant that, Twilight?" Dusk asked when they were out of earshot. "About my friends?"
"Of course, Dusk. Any friends of yours are friends of mine, and I don't let my friends down. If they're here, we'll find them." She smiled softly at him. "That's a promise, bro."
He smiled back at the word. They did consider themselves siblings, and he had a feeling that this war would only strengthen that bond, no matter what some crazy pony said. "Thanks sis." They started following the direction Karde had gone. "You don't think he was serious about the princesses, do you?"
"Absolutely not," replied immediately. "You can trust the princesses as much as you trust your princes. I'm telling you, they must've heard that our squads never arrived, and is marshaling a rescue as we speak." But Twilight, as ticked as she was at Wilde Karde's words, she couldn't hide a hint of doubt from herself.
After looking for fifteen minutes, the pair of unicorns gave up and teleported out of the forest, making their way to the waiting Ural truck. They then continued on towards Stary, Twilight still pretty angry about the earth pony’s words about the princesses, with Hawk angry at the insults to his stealth. He grumbled all the way into Stary Sobor about stupid earth ponies who didn't even know the concept of stealth.
“He’s absolutely wrong," Twilight reassured herself, sitting in the back of the Ural. "The reinforcements are probably on their way at this moment.
“He has a point though," Stormy admitted, polishing the barrel of her Dragunov SVDS rifle with a rag that had been in the pickup’s glove box. She sat across from Twilight. "It would only take a day or two for a marine combat force to get here, half that for the SEALs. It’s been two days.” Twilight bit her lip, knowing the Marine was right. “Still though,” Stormy continued, “they’ll probably send reinforcements soon. They might just have been notified late due to issues with the communications relays. The ESS Khe Sahn’s probably on its way right now.” That re-assured Twilight slightly, but she still couldn’t shake Karde’s words from her mind.
'Who is this guy?' she wondered. 'He's obviously a giant jerk, and he acted so idiotic and hot-headed, like he was daring us all to attack. But then he got serious… All because of those gloves. He even spoke freaking PRENCH; where did that even come from?' She shook her head. 'It can't just be the gloves. He has some connection to the Engineering and Breaching Corps. Maybe I should ask Dusk…' She glanced at her look-a-like who sat just to her left, thinking almost the exact same thing. What Twilight hadn't told Applejack earlier was that she already knew their doppelgängers were in Equestria: Celestia had told her she had requisitioned several companies’ worth of ponies, almost all colts, from Dusk's universe to supplement their army, a fact that the Princess and now Dusk and his companions wanted kept a secret. Twilight knew she never would have told her that unless Dusk and his friends were among them. Save for a few exceptions, they had all been gathered to form the Engineering and Breaching Corps. 'He said he doesn't remember Karde from the Corps, though. Was Karde even there, or did he just know someone?' She sighed internally. 'Either way, there's definitely more to this guy than just a simple scavenger.'
“Hey, we’re approaching Stary. Get ready for anything," Elusive called from his position in the Ural’s driver seat. Twilight shook herself out of her almost meditative state and prepared her equipment. The ponies began to check their weapons, making ammo counts and flicking their safeties off. They were more than ready.
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