//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: The Time's Come // Story: The Descendants // by Gherkin //------------------------------// Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death. ~ Omar N. Bradley Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, Equestria 24th May 1002 C.R. 9:56PM Shit. Am I dead? No, can’t be. There’s no way being dead hurts this goddamn much. His eyes fluttered open slowly, and he was surprised to find himself lying on a dusty old sofa. He sat up, flinching slightly as a light pain shot through his side, and looked around the room. “Nate, thank Celestia, you’re awake.” A familiar southern drawl caught his attention, and he turned his head to see Applejack trotting towards him. “You crash landed right outside Twilight’s shield, so she opened a hole and let you all in.” Drake put a hoof to his head, rubbing it softly, before getting up onto his hooves. “Damn... everyone else okay?” She nodded, and he breathed a sigh of relief. “Yeah. John’s upstairs with my brother, using one of them ‘rifle’ thingies,” she told him. “Whole box of them magically appeared right here on my coffee table, courtesy of the princess, of course. They’ve been picking some of those monsters off ever since we hauled you inside. Mighty useful, that spell of Twi’s. We can shoot out but they can’t shoot in.” He nodded as he trotted to the window and looked up into the sky. Through the purple haze of Twilight’s shield, he could see the giant ship looming above Ponyville, covering almost the entire town. We need to get up there, he thought to himself. Finish this once and for all. “And how’s everyone else doing?” he asked, turning back to the country mare. “We’re okay, for the time being,” she answered. “Cole’s out front fighting some of ‘em, along with Rainbow Dash. Ezio and Pinkie are downstairs making sure Granny Smith and Apple Bloom are safe, and Rarity and Fluttershy are with Twi in the other room.” She looked back towards the kitchen. “She ain’t doin’ too well right now, Nate. “I don’t know how long she’s gonna be able to keep this spell of her’s up. And if it goes down...” She trailed off and looked away. “We need to take the fight to them,” Drake murmured, still staring at the ship in the sky. “That’s the only way the end this.” Applejack trotted over to him and followed his gaze. “You’re saying you need to go up there? Darn, Nate, I don’t know about that. I reckon that’s stupidly dangerous, and you know it.” “You got any better ideas?” he asked, turning back to her. “‘Cause if you do, I’m all ears. But sitting here waiting for them to break through isn’t going to do anything other than get us all killed.” She looked away, her ears folding down against her head. “I’m sorry, but that’s pretty much the only option we have.” “You’ll all be going to your darn deaths!” she shouted, tears forming in her eyes as she looked outside, watching her life’s work consumed in the fires of the war zone beyond. “I know,” Drake whispered quietly, gently putting a hoof on her shoulder and drawing her into a hug. “But we’re not just gonna sit on our asses ‘till we die. Now, do you have any idea of how we’re going to get up there? I mean, I could just fly up right now, but it’s a stupid idea enough without being alone.” Applejack sighed, and thought for a moment. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but not all of them have wings,” she spoke up. “Guess they must be the basic frontline soldiers, or something.” She waved a hoof, ushering him over to the window. “Look out here,” she said, pointing. “The wingless ones get dropped down here in some sort of carriage, only it ain’t being pulled by anypony, see?” Nate took note of one of the so-called ‘carriages’ just outside of the barrier. “Yeah. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” She nodded. “If you can manage to commandeer one of them fancy carriages...” “...we could fly it right up there and find a way to take them out.” Drake smirked. “What do you think?” She chuckled and raised an eyebrow. “I think you’re completely crazy,” she answered. “Though probably just crazy enough to pull it off.” He chuckled. “Looks like you’ve gotten to know me well, then.” The farm mare smiled slightly. “Heh, I guess so.” She stood up and started to make her way towards the kitchen. “If that’s the plan, then you four better get to it. But first, we need to clear a the farm of those things.” Drake nodded, and followed her into the kitchen. “Yeah, of course.” Sitting at the kitchen table was Twilight, her horn glowing bright with her magic. She looked barely conscious, a fact that was making Fluttershy, Spike, and Rarity, on either side of her, look concerned. “You doin’ okay, Twi?” Applejack asked softly as Nathan followed her inside. She looked up slowly, and nodded weakly. “Yeah... I’m... I’m okay.” Her friend smiled warmly. “Don’t you worry ‘bout a thing, you hear? We’re almost through this.” She turned to Drake. “If I were you, I’d head upstairs to give John and Big Mac a helping hoof. I’m gonna stay here with Twi and the girls, okay?” He nodded determinedly. “Gotcha.” Taking a breath, he turned and trotted briskly towards the stairs. Heh, maybe we’ll get through this after all, he thought, as he began to climb. He had almost reached the top when the whole house was shaken, nearly knocking him down the stairs. His ears perked at the sound of a pained yelp from downstairs. “Shit!” He heard a familiar voice at the end of the upstairs hallway. “Some of those bastards got through!” “Marston!” Drake called out, galloping towards him and Big Macintosh, both of whom were looking through the scopes of their respective weapons. “What happened?” “Nate, glad to see you’re with us again!” the gunslinger called back. “After that explosion outside, Twilight’s shield dropped for a second. Let some of those things in, but it’s back up now.” “Explosion? What blew up?” John smirked and tipped his hat back. “I may have shot something important on one of their flying thingies. Blew that thing clean out of the sky.” “Eeyup,” Big Macintosh commented. “But now we got a number of them things giving your friends down there some trouble.” Marston peeked out of the window and looked at Cole and Dash fighting outside. “Damn, you’re right. Let’s give them some cover.” “Eeyup.” Lining up a shot, Big Mac pulled the trigger. *click* "Goddamnit it, are you out?" Marston asked. Big Macintosh nodded in reply. "Shit, I ran out just now, and we ain't got no more ammo. Looks like we're gonna have to get down there." A yelp from below caught their attention. "Rainbow Dash!" Nate shouted as the pegasus mare was tackled out of the sky by one of her attackers. "Shit, where's Cole?" "Round the other side of the house, I think," Big Macintosh answered. "Oh, fuck," John moaned. "I can't get a clear shot from here." "We gotta do something!" Nate cried. "Shit, I got an idea," Marston told them both, stepping away from the window. "Get out of the way." "Marston, what the hell are you doing?" Nate asked him. "Something fucking crazy." He looked towards Big Mac. "Sorry about the window, buddy." Before either of them could respond, he galloped forward and leapt through the half open window, drawing his revolver in the process. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as he crashed through the window pane. Shards of broken glass surrounded him while he fell towards the ground. Aiming down the sights of his gun, Marston squeezed the trigger four times, dropping four of the invaders, including the one pinning Rainbow Dash, with near-perfect accuracy before crashing into the dirt in a heap. “Jesus Christ!” Drake shouted, looking down as Marston picked himself up off the ground. “A little warning next time would be nice!” “I said sorry, didn’t I?” John shouted back, helping Rainbow Dash move the now lifeless body of one of the monsters off of her. He jumped as he heard a high-pitched shriek. Looking to the sky, he saw one of the winged beasts, heavily injured, heading straight for the window he had just dived out of. “Oh, shit, look out!” “Oh, crap!” Nate dived out of the way just in time as the monster crashed through the window, bouncing down the wooden hallway before coming to a halt at the opposite side. “Big Macintosh, go downstairs and help Twilight,” he told the burly red stallion. “Get her into the front room, I don’t think the floorboards up here are gonna hold the weight of this thing.” “Eeyup.” With a nod, Big Mac picked himself up and galloped down the stairs, keeping a wary eye on the injured creature on the far side of the hallway. Nate watched him go, before looking towards the alicorn-esque creature as well. Groaning, he picked himself up and made his way towards it. “Why?” he asked, noticing that it was still conscious. “Why are you doing this? What’s the point?” “You ungrateful, ignorant little ponies,” the ‘alicorn’ spat. “I’m not surprised your wonderful princesses didn’t tell you.” It’s voice was distorted, and dripped with sarcasm. “We created you, raised you, but that wasn’t good enough. No, the traitors had to go and breed with you lowly creatures, and next thing you know, those crossbreeds Celestia and Luna use those damn elements to exile us!” “But why come back?” Nate drew his gun and aimed it square at it’s head. “Why stay hidden for thousands of years only for you to come back now?” “Biding our time,” it replied, before coughing up blood. “A millennium of peace has made you ponies weak. You all know nothing of war. We’re here to reclaim what is rightfully ours, and nopony is going to stop us this time." “This world isn’t yours,” Drake told him defiantly, weapon still trained on the creature. “Not anymore.” “Perhaps not.” It smirked, coughing again. “However, neither you or I shall live to see if you are correct.” “What the hell are you talking about?” A high-pitched beeping noise made the pegasus’ ears perk up. Oh shit. Realizing the alien’s plan, he turned to gallop away, screaming, “Out! Everyone get out, now!” There was a blinding flash of light, a deafening roar, and then darkness. *** Appleloosa Meanwhile... “Braeburn, one on your right!” “I see it, sheriff!” Aiming down the sight of his rifle, Braeburn squeezed the trigger. The monster circling the small town cried out in pain, and dropped towards the ground. Satisfied, the farm pony chambered another round and took aim once again. He had gotten used to the strange weapon relatively quickly, and had little quarrel over killing the creatures attacking the frontier town. Ain’t nothin’ but varmints that need to be put down, he thought to himself. For a bunch of frontier folk that had never even seen one of these rifle thingies before, I’d say we’re doing alright for ourselves. The Appleloosans, while outgunned, appeared to outnumber their invaders, and had, thankfully, sustained relatively minor casualties. Braeburn deduced that the invasion force was spread thin, attacking towns like his all over Equestria. I only hope that they’re all doin’ as well as we are. “Braeburn, get on inside!” Sheriff Silverstar’s voice shouted out from the porch of his office on the other side of the main street. “There’s a whole load of ‘em comin’ and we need to hunker down! Get over here, I got ya covered.” “I read ya loud and clear, sheriff!” Picking up his rifle with his mouth, Braeburn waited for the sheriff of Appleloosa to open fire, before breaking out into a gallop across the war-torn street. Bullets and bursts of magic alike whizzed past his ears and impacted the ground around him, sending up blinding clouds of dust. Undeterred, he bounded up the steps to the sheriff’s office and crashed through the doors, rapidly taking cover behind an overturned table. “Ya alright?” Silverstar asked, crouching down next to him. Braeburn nodded, wiping sweat from his brow and tipping his dusty hat back. “Yeah, I’m fine. Few cuts and bruises, but nothin' to worry about. You seen my pa?” “He’s holdin’ out from the roof of the Salt Block,” the sheriff informed him. “Don’t you worry none, you of all ponies should know Baldwin’s one tough son of a bitch.” The farm pony chuckled. “Heh, you ain’t wrong there, that’s for sure. You doing alright?” "I'm about the same as you, boy. Bit shaken up, but nothin' to go cryin' to your ma about." A deafening explosion outside the front of the office made Braeburn wince, and Sheriff Silverstar stood up to shoot down one of the wingless monsters that had run up onto his porch. “Darn things,” he muttered, chambering another round. “At least we’re doin’ better than I thought we would.” “What, you think they underestimated us or something?” Braeburn asked, chuckling slightly. “Heh, maybe. Or maybe this is just the first wave." Silverstar grimaced, and ducked back behind the table once more. "For the love of Celestia, I hope that ain't the case. First they kill my deputy, then they attack my town? Heck, all of Equestria?" He peeked out and aimed his gun, firing at a group of aliens in the street. One fell while the rest scattered, diving behind cover of their own. "Nopony asked for any of this." "I hear you there, sheriff," Braeburn agreed, before leaning out to take a few shots of his own. One got lucky, and caught one of the monsters clean in the head, killing it instantly. "I reckon them four stallions that were with us are trying their darn best to put a stop to all this, though. I'd bet my life on it." "I hope, for everypony's sake, that you're right, boy." Silverstar crouched behind the table again. A stray bolt of energy flew over his head, blowing the hat off of his head before it rapidly turned to ash. "Darn it!" he cursed. "That was my favourite hat." He growled and turned to Braeburn. "Stick with me, Braeburn. We're gonna take down as many of these things as is physically possible." Braeburn smirked. "Sounds like a mighty fine plan to me, sheriff." Silverstar nodded, a determined look on his face. Taking a deep breath, they both leaned over the table to open fire once again. *** Sweet Apple Acres 5 minutes later... He slowly came to, wincing in pain as he felt blood ooze out of a wound in his head. Oh, for Christ’s sake, not again. Every nerve in his broken body screamed in agony, begging him to stop, but he slowly sat up. He tried to extend his wings, but winced as pain shot through them. Damn it, they must be broken. The distinct smell of smoke flooded his nostrils as he looked around the room, searching for his weapon. “Shit,” Drake muttered, coughing up even more blood, “Whole damn place is gonna burn to the ground.” Nearly pulverized twice in under an hour, he thought. Heh, must be a new record. He tried to call out, but only coughed as smoke invaded his already dry lungs. Now, his friends were nowhere to be found, he was slowly bleeding out, and he was going to burn to a crisp if he didn't get out fast. His eyes fell upon his weapon; a battered and bruised nine millimeter handgun. He scrambled towards it, grunting in pain. “Must have a few broken ribs,” he said to himself through gritted teeth. An ear-splitting scream slapped him out of his internal thoughts, and willed him to ignore the pain. He quickly scooped up the gun and scrambled to the window, looking outside. What he saw only made his heart sink. There they were. His new friends. And they had them held at gunpoint. He could see Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle being hauled out of the burning wreckage. AJ and Dash tried to put up a fight, but were ultimately powerless against their invaders. They’re only innocent girls, they didn’t deserve to get caught up in any of this. Despite the agonising pain, Nate propped himself up on the windowsill and took aim at their captors. There was an air-splitting bang as he opened fire, dropping all of the invaders he could see below in a matter of seconds before they could react. After all, they weren’t expecting survivors on the top floor. Unfortunately, the feat had drained all of his energy, and he collapsed again, gasping for breath. The door of the room suddenly burst open, revealing a hallway of flames beyond and blasting the room with an unbearable heat. One of the invaders charged in, raising it’s weapon. It glanced around the room, before it’s eyes fell upon the broken pegasus. A smirk seemed to form on it’s twisted face. “You thought you could even hope to stop us?” it sneered, advancing towards him. “How pathetic.” Drake closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable to come. “Come on, you big ugly bastard,” he muttered weakly. “Do it.” He cringed as he recognised the sound of the weapon charging. There was a blast of energy, and then nothing. Wait. I’m not dead. He could still hear the crackling of the flames as they consumed the old farmhouse. He could still hear the cries and whimpers of his friends outside. How? He tentatively opened his eyes just in time to see the lifeless body of the creature collapse to the floor in a heap. Drake stared at it for a second, catching his breath, before looking up at the pony behind it. “Pinkie?” Pinkie Pie stood there, weapon still raised, staring at the dead body of the alien she had just killed. She didn't respond, and only trembled slightly as she looked down at the monster's unmoving corpse. "Pinkie Pie," Nate repeated, warily getting up onto his hooves and making his way over to her. "You okay?" "I... I killed him," she murmured softly, finally dropping the energy weapon she had been holding. "I know," he said to her softly, pulling her into a gentle hug. She buried her face into his chest, looking away from the alien's body. "For what it's worth, thank you. You saved my life." She looked up at him and smiled weakly, and he smiled back. "Is everyone else okay?" She nodded. "I think so. Ezio was moving AJ's family up from the basement with Big Mac and Spike when we heard the shots. Guessed that was you." "Sure was." He told her, before a call from outside caught their attention. "Nate? Pinkie? If you can hear me, come to the window!" "That's Applejack," Pinkie observed. "She's okay!" Smiling happily once again, she trotted towards the window. Looking out, the both of them could see a cart of hay that Big Macintosh had hauled underneath the window. "Are they all gone?" Drake asked, calling out to them. "Yeah, me and John finished 'em off, for now at least," Cole explained. "Yeah, but they're the least of your worries right now!" Applejack shouted. "The whole place is gonna come down, ya need to jump!" "Jump? You must be crazy!" Nate shouted back. "Oh, man up, Drake," Ezio taunted from below. "You act as if you've never jumped from a building into a pile of hay before." "Come on, Nate." Pinkie climbed up onto the windowsill. "It's not hard, see?" Smiling back at him, she leaped off into the cart, surfacing a moment later, giggling. Well, shit, I guess I've jumped off a cliff more than once before. This can't be as bad as that. Taking a breath, and taking one last glance back at the burning room behind him, he climbed up onto the windowsill and jumped. "Oh crap!" "Not so hard, is it, eh?" Nate grabbed Ezio's hoof as the assassin helped him climb out of the wooden cart. "Yeah, yeah." Nate rolled his eyes and brushed himself off, before stepping away from the farmhouse, which was rapidly burning to the ground. "Shit, sorry about your house, AJ." "It's okay, Nate," she said softly. "We've rebuilt it plenty of times before, I'm sure we can manage again when it's all over." "So, what's the plan?" Cole asked, stepping forward. "You guys need to find somewhere safe." Nate pointed at the Apple family and their friends. "Meanwhile, we...” He pointed his hoof upwards. “...are going up there." "I coulda guessed as much," John commented, looking up at the overbearing ship in the sky. "How do you propose we get up there?" "We use one of those," Nate told them, pointing towards one of the transports that had dropped off the aliens. Cole chuckled. "Okay then. Let's just hope whoever's at the wheel actually gets us up there and doesn't crash us into the ground again. I've had enough of that for one day." “I hear you there,” the pegasus agreed, before turning back to Twilight and her friends. “Will you be okay?” Twilight nodded, having regained some of her strength. Noticing Drake's wounds and obvious pain, her horn lit up gently, and Nate felt the broken bones in his body began to heal themselves. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than before. “Yeah, we’ll be okay," she told them. "Applejack has a barn in the fields not too far from here that we can use to hide in while you’re doing...” she trailed off and looked up at the sky. “While you’re doing whatever in the world you’re gonna do up there. Just promise us one thing. Come back alive.” Drake smirked and nodded. “We’ll do our best.” Waving one final goodbye, the four of them turned and started to gallop towards the alien craft.