The HLF has been dormant for five years. St Louis is the main serum research site. This will change.
It has been five years since Emergence. Since then, Bureaus have been opening around the world, and many are embracing the offer of survival that is ponification. The United States is still the center of the cooperative efforts to refine the serum that allows a human to walk in as a member of Homo sapiens and walk out as Equus equestriani. But a menace dismissed as an isolated incident is marshalling its might, and its eyes are turned toward the city that stands as the foremost center of the research effort. St Louis fell asleep to peace, and will awaken to thunder and fire.
Set in the Cloudyverse. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright to Hasbro and all other relevant owners. All original characters copyright to their respective owners.
“Alright guys, so where are you taking me?” Flare asked for the fifth time as the group of stallions made their way down the sidewalk. They’d left their armor in their hotel rooms, all seven of them admittedly tired of wearing it after the joint training exercises with the US Army a week ago.
“Now now amigo, it wouldn’t be much of a bachelor party if we told you what was going on, now would it?” Lariat said as he led the group into St Louis’ unofficial ‘pony district.’ While curious humans still entered, the majority of the stores now catered to the city’s rising pony population. It didn’t hurt that the city had recently passed San Francisco in its rate of Conversions, as well as being selected as the site of the new serum research center. At least one third of the city’s populace had undergone the procedure by now, and that number was projected to pass fifty percent within the next two weeks.
Eventually Lariat nodded as he led the group to a narrow alley, barely wide enough for two ponies to squeeze through. “This is the place. I’ve heard good things about it.”
The stallions all looked up the faded red door. A simple sign hung above it, illuminated by neon lighting to read Socks and Saddles. A faint pounding of music could be heard emanating from within.
“Uh, Lariat?” Aegis asked from the back of the group. “Why are ya hauling us to go clothes shopping?”
Cloudhammer snorted. “From what you said, you implied you were taking us to a salt bar.”
Dusty, Wrecker and Anvil stomped their agreement. “Or at least to a normal bar. Could be nose deep in a pitcher by now...” Dusty complained.
“Compadres, compadres, trust me. Not everything is what it seems.” Lariat said with a grin as he pushed open the door. The music doubled in volume, but that wasn’t what made everypony’s ears flatten in shock.
In front of them was a single large room, the right wall given over to a large bar, where a stallion could be seen serving both human alcohol and salt in equal doses. The floor in front of the bar was littered with tables in a haphazard configuration, with every table hosting stallions and the occasional mare. At the far end was a pair of double doors, one set obviously leading to the kitchen, as a mare dressed in a provocative sundress sauntered out, a tray of food balanced on her back. The other set of doors led to Celestia knew where.
However, the main attraction was an enormous stage taking up the entire left wall. It extended out into a runway-esque configuration, but the mare on stage wasn’t showing off some fancy ensemble. Her eyes half closed, she had a seductive smile on her muzzle as she slowly pulled a silk sock onto one of her forelegs. The stallions surrounding the stage whistled and threw a mix of bits and human bills at her hooves, which she carefully collected and deposited in a tote bag beside her, before pulling out a second sock.
“Seems that Gentle Breeze is on fire tonight! Keep showing her your love and she’ll put it all on for you!” A stallion behind a DJ station shouted into a microphone as he spun his turnstyle.
Flare stood there gaping for a few seconds before he recovered his wits and shook his head. “Uh, Lariat? Just what in Equestria is this place?”
“Amigo, welcome to St Louis’ first dress club.” Lariat said with a smirk as he led the way inside, nodding to the hulking bouncer standing by the door. “Still not sure where the idea originally came from, but it is something else.” He ushered the group down to an empty table with Wrecker and Anvil’s help.
“I don’t think I’m alright with this...” Flare said, trailing off as Gentle Breeze caught his eye and winked, finishing the second sock and reaching for a third.
“I just don’t get it,” Aegis said, settling onto his cushion as he waved a waitress over. “I’ll take a Blueberry Fizzy Bubbly ma’am.”
“Sure thing big guy.” The mare said with a smile as she looked around the table. “What else can I get you all tonight?”
“I’ll take a block of salt for now.” Cloudhammer said, his eyes flicking back toward the mare on stage as she rocked onto her hindquarters to tug the third sock on.
Dusty, Wrecker and Anvil all ordered beer, already reaching into their saddlebags for their bits pouches.
“I’ll take a shot...” Flare twitched as Gentle Breeze reached for the fourth sock, “make that a double shot of Jameson, and some hay fries if you have them.”
“Of course. We also have fresh fruit, just imported from Equestria three days ago, along with a barrel of Sweet Apple Acres cider. I’ll be right back with your drinks.” She sauntered off toward the kitchen, her tail swishing idly.
“So now what?” Flare asked, to the amused snorts of Lariat, Wrecker and Anvil.
“Now, we sit back and enjoy ourselves amigo. The night is still young after all.” Lariat said with a cheer as he tossed a few bits onto the stage.
Fifty miles away, a convoy of trucks made their way down the highway. They were all the same, a uniform shade of black, with darkened windows hiding their occupants from the outside world. There were fifteen trucks in this convoy and it, along with nine others, were finally drawing close to the agreed upon staging area, a large, empty field their superiors had bought for this purpose a year ago.
The trucks pulled to a stop, engines growling as they waited for the others to arrive. Over the next hour the field turned into an oversized parking lot, the trucks waiting patiently for the last members of their group to arrive. Another half hour passed before a pair of bulked up tractor trailers pulled in, taking their position at the center of the field.
“Everyone is briefed on their targets?” A voice spoke over the radios in each vehicle. A series of acknowledgements came in from each section. “Good. Above all else, it is imperative that The Package achieves its mission. All other targets and objectives are secondary to this.” The voice paused as its owner checked something. “Deployment time is at 7:00am, be in position by then.”
As the voice finished speaking, the tractor trailers fired up their engines again, the trucks following suit as they all began to pull back onto the highways, now separating into their operational elements. Ahead of them, their destination slept on, unknowing of what was coming for it.
Flare swayed in his seat as he threw another few bits onto the stage. Gentle Breeze had finally retired, but after some cajoling from the patrons on the floor, a pair of pegasus twins had emerged and began to dress each other to raucous cheers and a shower of bits and bills.
“I think... I think that thish was an eckshellent idea.” Flare said in a drunken slur as he tossed back his fifth double shot of Jameson. The stallion’s face was flushed, one ear folded back alongside his head while the other twitched in time to the music. “We definitely need to do thish again.”
Lariat grinned, thumping the unicorn on the back. “Well, we’ll just have to get another of our proud solcheros here to agree to leave our ranks to get hitched. Although I’d not be averse to coming back here myself.” He took another lick of his salt block, leaning back into his cushion appreciatively. “I never thought I’d enjoy salt this much amigos.”
Aegis shook his head as he took another swig of his drink. “I still think you’re all crazy.”
Cloudhammer was silent, the older pegasus digging in his bag for more bits, tossing the remaining coins on stage. “Do it in the air!”
Flare shook his head, laughing uproariously. “Don’t let Morning Sun catsch you acting like that, sir.”
Cloudhammer only snorted, keeping his eyes on the twins as they gracefully lifted into the air, putting on the last pieces of their outfits before bowing low and fluttering backstage.
“Speaking of significant others... Lariat, you convince Amy to convert yet, hmmmmmm?” Aegis grinned, prodding Lariat lightly in the ribs.
Lariat twitched, a blush forming on his face. “No, I haven’t! And I’m not interested in her like that amigo!”
“Hah, your mouth says one thing, but that blush sure says another, amee-go.” Aegis chuckled again; teasing Lariat about Doctor Getton was always good for a laugh.
In desperate need of a distraction, Lariat caught one of the waitresses as she went by, whispering into her ear for a moment and jerking his head toward Flare.. He discreetly hoofed over another bag of bits, which the mare slipped into her pocket with a smile and a nod before she made her way to the DJ. After she whispered to him, he brought the music to a screeching halt.
“Alright all you mares and stallions, we got a special request from one of Her Majesty Celestia’s Royal Guard. It appears we have somepony here who’s on his last legs as a bachelor and needs something special to send him on his way. So come on out Sugar Flank, for our stallion of the hour, Captain Flare!”
The floor erupted in cheers as a slender unicorn mare made her way out on stage, her coat a buttery shade of brown, with a mane of light amber. Her dark green eyes looked leisurely around the room as she sauntered her way up to Flare and the others. “I hear tell somepony at this table is getting married. That deserves something a little more... personal.” She slowly climbed off the stage and gently tugged Flare to his hooves. “Follow me.” Twining her tail around his neck, she dragged him, only partially resisting, toward the other double doors.
“Go get ‘er Flare! We’ll see you around!” Lariat cheered, Flare casting one more look back as the double doors swung shut. Looking back at the table, he sighed as he saw that Dusty, Wrecker and Anvil were well on their way to passing out. “Well Aegis, it looks like it’s just you, me and Cloudhammer.” The stallion looked between the two before settling on Aegis with a grin. “So Aegis, tell us about yourself some. I’ve known you for nearly....” he looked down at his hoof for a second before bursting into a fit of the giggles, “forgot I can’t count on my fingers anymore. But I’ve known you for at least three years now, and don’t even know where you’re from.”
“Well, lessee, I’m originally from a little town southeast of the Everfree forest called Snaffleton. I mostly did farm work and whatever odd jobs I could get ahold of. My main thing, though... Snaffleton is a launching area for expeditions and the like into the southern Everfree. And when some fool wanders in and doesn’t wander out on schedule, I’d go in after. Heh, apparently Cloud here heard about that part and decided I’d make a fine start for the Earth branch.”
Lariat nodded, before snickering. “So, why is this pueblo called Snaffleton?
“Well, the place is pretty much all about the bits earned from the rare Everfree materials those expeditions I mentioned go out for. ‘Bit-ton’ sounds awful, and a snaffle is a kind of bit. Sooo....Snaffleton.” Aegis grinned. “And shouldn’t a ranch hand have known that?”
Lariat thought about it, then started laughing again. “I suppose I should have amigo.”
Cloudhammer snorted, taking another heavy lick of his block. “Don’t sweat it Lariat, I’ve not been able to understand it either, ever since the Guard stuck my flank out there for six months...”
“Oh? Didn’t think you’d been there before dragging me out. When was it?” Aegis motioned for a refill. “Maybe we’ve crossed paths and not realized it.”
“Not likely...” Cloudhammer took a swig of water to rehydrate his throat. “This was nearly forty years ago, back when I was just a Second Lieutenant.” He chuckled as the old memories dusted themselves off. “There was this one mare, lemme tell you colts, they don’t make mares like that anymore.”
Lariat grinned and leaned forward. “So, don’t hold back on us. What was this mare’s name?”
Cloudhammer thought about it for a few minutes. “I know it started with a C... Ch... Chry....” He frowned as he tried to remember. Then he brightened and rapped a hoof on the table. “It was Chrysanthemum! And I’ll say it again; she was one heck of a beauty.”
While Lariat grinned at the older stallion’s recollection, Aegis sat there stone-faced and silent, glaring at Cloudhammer.
“What is it, Aegis?” The older pegasus asked, not entirely sure why the earth pony was glaring at him through the fog of the salt.
“Mah mother’s name was Chrysanthemum.”
The table was silent, the grin dying on Lariat’s face as he turned to stare at Cloudhammer too.
“Now hold it right there. This was thirty-nine, maybe thirty-eight years ago.” Cloudhammer said, the effects of the salt wearing off rapidly.
Aegis blanched, all trace of expression leaving his face. “My Mom didn’t meet my Dad until I was two. Cloudhammer, I’m 38.”
Cloudhammer paled, his wings unfurling and slumping down his sides with a thump. Lariat looked from one red stallion to the other, blinking his eyes a few times as he sized them up.
Further conversation was prevented as Flare swayed his way out through the double doors, drunkenly making his way to the table. Coming to a stop against it with a thud, he looked at the shocked stallions confusedly. “So, what’d I miss?”
The black and white police cruiser drove down the mostly empty streets on the suburban outskirts of town, the officer behind the wheel yawning as she took a sip of her coffee. It was always the same on this route, Officer Helen Whitt thought to herself as she drove up to the end of Bradley Avenue, stopping to turn away from the I-44 off ramp. Taking a glance ahead, she did a double take at the unusual sight of a convoy of black trucks heading down the highway, escorting a pair of large tractor trailers.
Picking up her radio, she counted off the number of trucks as she pressed the transmit button. “Dispatch, this is Unit 7-12. Reporting an unusual number of black trucks entering town on the I-44. Over.”
A bright, chipper voice answered. “Unit 7-12, this is Dispatch. It’s probably something coming to the central Bureau if they’re going down I-44. Will inquire when they open at 8. Over.”
Helen shook her head and smiled in amusement at the nonstop happy tone of their new dispatcher. The Chief had been against hiring a pony to what was predominantly a human police force, but Legal had reminded him that the amended law regarding equal opportunity employment now covered ponified US citizens as well, he’d backed off. For her part, she found Switchboard to be a nice change of pace from the usual monotone the old dispatcher had. Watching the last of the convoy drove out of sight, she felt a slight shiver up her spine, but shrugged it off as her nerves and turned to the left. Maybe she’d go by the Bureau once her shift ended, see if her brother wanted to go get dinner somewhere. Ever since he’d been ponified the previous year, he’d practically begged her to come try some of the restaurants in the pony district.
He sat in his recliner, remote in hand, and didn’t know what to do. Looking over at the mantle covered in photos and plaques bearing awards he’d earned, he sighed for what felt like the thousandth time that morning alone. Thirty-two years he’d given to the force, thirty-two years of early mornings. He’d endured two broken relationships, the derision of hundreds, and a pair of bullet wounds in his upper chest that had missed killing him by a cat’s whisker. And now it was done. He was retired, and he was realizing that he didn’t want to be after all.
Getting to his feet, he crossed the room to look at one of the plaques again, the brass polished to a soft glow.
“Awarded to Lieutenant Jesse Morales, for heroism in the line of duty.” He read aloud before shaking his head. Setting the award down, he returned to his recliner to catch the weather. “And of course, they’re still on commercials,” He groused as yet another car ad played. Looking away from the TV, he saw the flyer that one of his friends had given him at the retirement party the department had thrown him sitting on the end table. On the front of it was a stylized sun and moon, with the words “The Conversion Bureau” written across the top. Reaching over and opening it, he traced down the words again. The warning about the Rejection of the Earth into Equestria’s dimension. The procedure for checking in and what to expect during your stay, and what your options were post-Conversion.
Jesse held the flyer for a few minutes, then with a single breath made up his mind. After all, it wasn’t like he was doing anything here, was he? Picking up his keys, he walked out to his pickup, a battered old timer, just like him. Well, they could go for one last drive together at least.
“Yo, get your ass up Kirk. It’s your turn to watch the stash.” The harsh voice said as a boot kicked Kirk in the side. With a groan, the teenager sat up from the ratty mattress he had been sleeping on and rubbed at his eyes with one hand, the other instinctively patting the Glock automatic pistol shoved into the waistband of his pants.
“Alright already Sanchez, don’t gotta be such a dick about it.” Kirk grumbled as he got to his feet. The house the gang used to hold their weapons, drugs and any members who didn’t have homes to go to was a standard suburban affair, though the cracked walls and stained carpets indicated that it had seen better days.
Kirk stretched before walking into the living room, where the gang’s financial expert, Ricky, was hunched over a calculator and a pad of paper, a partially disassembled Uzi on the table next to him. “You still working on that broken piece of shit Ricky?”
“If we hit the Boys again this week or next, we can grab enough of their stuff to be able to buy replacement parts for this online.” He said without looking, though he knew that Kirk was wincing. The Southampton Homicidas were a pretty well-armed group, but they had next to nothing compared to the Boys of Destruction, the local Crips set. The only advantage they had was surprise and tenacity.
“Hit the Boys again? That’s fuckin’ crazy, we lost Jules and Lisa the last time, and there’s no way that we’d be able to hit them again so soon!” Kirk snapped. slouching into a chair and turning on the old TV they had. The damn thing barely got any reception, but they hadn’t mustered up the desire to go steal a better one.
“I know, I know... but if we want to expand our operation we’re gonna have to take some risks. Oh yeah,” Ricky turned around, “can you clean this place up a little? Andy’s coming back today from his final orientation at the Bureau in Northampton, least we can do is make things look less like a shithole for him.”
Kirk cursed under his breath, but got up anyway and started picking up the ever-present trash that seems to follow sixteen year-olds around. He was about to open the door to take out the first bag when there was a knock on the door. Keeping one hand on the Glock, he nodded to Ricky and opened the door a crack. Standing on the stoop was a single earth pony, colored a dark orange, a mane of bright yellow with a few strands of red showing cut close to his neck. “Who the fuck are you?” Kirk asked.
“It’s me, now let me in Kirk.”
“What’s the password?” The teen challenged angrily.
“Kirk, you jumped up little idiot, you got three seconds before I turn around and kick that door in on your skinny ass.” The stallion hissed irritably.
Kirk laughed. “Alright Andy, come on in.” He opened the door all the way. The stallion trotted in past him, swatting at him with his tail. Kirk could see the mark branded on his flank, that of a tree in autumn, a pool of shadow cast underneath it.
“And the name’s Fall Shadows now, so get used to it.”
Cloudhammer groaned as he put a hoof to his forehead. He should not have kept licking that salt block. The pegasus rolled onto his belly, wincing at the sunlight shining into his eyes from the window. Breathing into a hoof, he sniffed tentatively and snorted at the smell. “Always hate the smell the morning after going partying.” He grumbled as he trotted into the bathroom. Taking care of his business, including a vigorous brushing of of his teeth, he made his way slowly back into the room, better acclimated to the light of the new day. Looking around, he snorted at the mess of the room. Lariat, Dusty, Wrecker and Anvil were all sprawled out on the floor, while Flare was slumped half on, half off one of the beds. Aegis was nowhere to be seen. Cloudhammer sighed, the memories of the frankly disturbing revelations from the night before coming back to buzz around his head like a swarm of parasprites. Sure, he and Chrysanthemum had known that their relationship wasn’t permanent, and they’d been careful, or at least so he thought. But then his six months had ended, and he’d returned to Canterlot, leaving her behind... pregnant? Why didn’t she tell him? He snorted angrily and stomped a hoof as the door clicked, Aegis nosing it open and trotting in, a tray of food balanced on his back..
“Grabbed some chow from downstairs. Figured y’all would want something for the hangovers after last night.” He said, the barest trace of sarcasm in his voice. He set the tray down on the table and started to turn toward the door when Cloudhammer cleared his throat, taking a deep breath.
“Look Aegis, about what I said last night-”
Aegis turned back, his eyes barely smoldering. “Look, Ah’m not even sure what I want to think about whatcha said. That ya knew my mom, had... had relations with ‘er, and that I might be your get? How d’ya think I’d feel? There’s not even a way ta know for sure!” He said, his accent starting to creep back in as his frustration rose.
“Not quite amigos.” Lariat said as he sat up from the pile on the floor. Rubbing the back of his head, he looked to see where it had been resting and laughed at the sight of the others sprawled on the floor. “Now that is a sign of a party gone right. Anyway, there is a way. We can just go the Bureau and have them do a paternity test. Humans do it all the time.”
Cloudhammer looked over at the clock on the end table, the softly glowing face reading 6:55am “The Bureau opens up at 8, so I suppose that we could...” He looked at Aegis, trying not to sound too soft. He had his reputation to uphold after all. “What do you want to do Aegis?”
The stallion stared at the two of them and then snorted, trotting to look out the window at the city. “Sure, why not? Put this whole mess to rest one way or th’other.”
Cheerheart loved working at the Bureau. She didn’t have anything to do with the actual Conversion process itself, but her job was important all the same. Running a daycare was a tough job on any normal day, but when your charges occasionally included infants of a wholly different species that couldn’t be exposed to magic at all, things definitely got more exciting. Although, would that make the three tribes of ponies different species too? But they could have foals together though... She shook her head as she entered the cafeteria, which was filled with the staff and some of the newfoals, both pre- and post-Conversion. She had no clue where the term came from, but found it delightfully appropriate, given the newly Converted’s curiosity about everything.
She had been hesitant about moving here from Equestria, the rumors about human violence and apathy could be heard anywhere in the quiet corners, but she’d been pleasantly surprised. All the humans she’d seen come into the Bureau, even the ones just curious about the process, had been nice, a little nervous perhaps, almost like they were worried their friends would think less of them for coming. The ones with children were nervous, but for different reasons. She remembered a woman who was terrified that she’d somehow stop loving her child if she Converted. They’d settled that one out pretty easily, and by the end of the week the woman was now a lovely unicorn mare who loved her daughter even more.
It was at this point she realized that somepony was calling her name, and with an embarassed shake of her head and a flick of her tail, she saw that Cirrus, the Bureau’s new flight instructor and a newfoal himself.
“Earth to Cheerheart, are you in there?” He said with a grin. He fell into step with her as the two ponies walked up to the serving line. “So, a bit for your thoughts.”
“Oh, just thinking about all of this, you know? Getting to come visit a completely new country filled with a species that never existed to us Equestrians six years ago, and taking care of the foals of said species was definitely not something that I’d thought about when I discovered my special talent.” She said with a laugh as they collected the trays that Berry Delight gave them.
“That’s okay. I’d never really given thought to the idea that not only would a race of candy-colored ponies would appear on Earth, but that I’d be able to turn into a member of said race, and be able to fly on my own at that!” He chuckled wryly. “Although I do miss being able to fly helicopters now.”
“Really? Even when you can simply spread your wings and fly whenever you want now?” She asked as they sat down, doing her best to ignore the smirks coming her way from some of her friends. Everypony had started assuming they were going out because they spent so much time together, but nothing could further from the truth. They were just good friends, as odd as it seemed for a daycare pony and a flight specialist to become friends.
“Especially now.” He said, his eyes getting a little distant at the memories. “There’s just something... I dunno, moving about being able to lift a machine that by all rights should never leave the ground, and fly around the sky like a bird.” He took a bite of his muffin and chewed slowly. “I swear, what’s really impressive is how all you native Equestrians aren’t a bunch of butterballs, with how good this food is.” He ducked as Cheerheart flicked a cherry at him, a mischievous grin on his face.
“Oh, I almost forgot. How is Helen doing? Still no luck in convincing her to come have dinner in the pony district?” She asked.
“Not yet, though I’m hoping to convince her soon. Being a police officer here in this town is dangerous. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to her.” His ears flattened as his tone grew melancholy.
Cheerheart reached across the table and patted his forehoof gently. “Don’t worry, I’m sure that she’ll be just fine. Who knows? Maybe today’ll be the day! Or you could even see about getting her to take the plunge?” She said with a wink.
Cirrus laughed. “Not likely, she’s as stubborn as our dad was. She’ll come around to it eventually, but not by anyone else’s advice.”
The two laughed and continued to eat their breakfast, finally separating to go to their respective areas. Cheerheart was looking forward to playing with the foals today, maybe let them try some hoof painting again. Hopefully this time the paint would stay on the walls.
Spatial Shift smiled weakly at the stern faces of the guards, both human and pony, as he entered the heavy door that protected the main lab of the serum research building. He stood still as the decontamination shower washed off anything that could be brought in from the outside, and snorted as the enormous blow dryers mostly got the moisture out of his coat. Grumbling as he felt his coat already beginning to fluff up, he was once again tempted to just let a pulse of his magic fix it. But the rules were very clear, and he would not, could not break any of them.
It would be such a shame to waste the effort the PER had spent in getting him to work here, after all. Granted, his duties didn’t include all that much, really. Just sending them information on any promising developments in the serum, so that they could replicate it in their own stores they had stolen four years ago. He had felt a little bad that they’d had to steal it in the first place, but they needed a base amount to start from, and in a way it was still being used for its intended purpose, so he supposed that it was alright.
“Good morning Velvet.” He smiled at his fellow researcher as he trotted to his workstation. “What are we working on this morning?”
“Batch #37658, they think they stabilized the thaumatic matrix, so that the serum effectively doesn’t need a unicorn to cause the transformation anymore.”
Spatial tried not to show too much joy at the information. If he could get his hooves on a sample and send it to the rest of the PER, then anypony would be able to ponify a human. “That is a pretty big step, how much testing’s been done on it?”
Velvet shrugged. “I’m not sure, honestly. I think the unicorns back in Canterlot developed the original version this batch came from, but we’ve made some pretty significant strides in fixing some of the breakdowns in the serum stability. I think we’ll be able to test it on chimpanzees next week, if today’s tests go well.”
Spatial grinned. Today was indeed a lucky day for him. He decided that he’d wait until the tests were completed, then he’d try to send a sample to the PER HQ that evening. Nopony would mind if he offered to lock up the lab, after all.
The black trucks finished dispersing into their assigned units, many heading toward the police precincts around the city. Their jobs would be to prevent police responders from being able to show up to the true target, the serum research facility. Another group of trucks raced along the sleepy streets toward the suburban Bureau, their orders simple. Destroy it and everything inside.
Steve Rangel held his rifle tight as his truck came to a stop. He was a part of Alpha section, tasked with securing the Bureau next to the serum facility, and eliminating all the hostiles within. The way their orders read though, it was clear that any pony in the building was to be considered hostile.
He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. He knew that something had to be done about it, that the ponies were slowly wiping out mankind and everything that they’d accomplished, whether they realized it or not. There’d been protests, thousands of them the world over. But none of the governments wanted to listen, already convinced that this ‘Barrier’ was forming and that there was no way to stop it. If the so-called Princesses were so powerful, then why couldn’t they use their fancy magic and stop it?
But... to kill civilians, some of whom were still legally US citizens, even if they were ponies now... That just made him feel nauseous. He’d believed what they’d taught him in the Army, but after his term of service he’d had to quit. The ideals of nobility and honor that he’d thought were still there had just been smoke and mirrors to convince a dumb, idealistic eighteen year old to join up. But this, fighting to defend his very species against utter annihilation, that was something that he could understand.
The radio headsets they wore crackled. “One minute to operation commencement. Check weapons and prepare to deploy.”
His hands instinctively checking his rifle, he looked out the window at the tractor trailer his section had been escorting. They’d all wondered what was in the back of the trailer that was so damn important, but all they’d been told was, “It’s the Package. That’s all you need to know. Do your jobs, and don’t ask questions above your paygrade.”
He looked up, taking a deep breath as the clock on the dashboard ticked to 7:00. The radios clicked on again.
Corporal Mark Burton was not a man usually prone to alarm. His route was a simple one, just the ten or so blocks around the serum plant and the main Bureau. He’d only been shot at once in his career, and that was just some dumb kid thinking his crappy Chinese automatic made him a man. That being said, seeing ten black Suburbans open their doors not a block down the street from him, men in tactical gear carrying assault rifles start jumping out, and three more flipping open their roofs to swing out literal miniguns, was a sufficient reason for him to cry out in alarm, slam his foot down on the accelerator, and skid down a side street. He’d later realize that he meant to hit the brake, but the act of hitting the accelerator saved his life as, with a ripping howl like a band saw, a stream of bullets tore into the rear of his cruiser.
“This is Unit 5-21 under attack! I’m taking heavy fire from unknown suspects carrying assault rifles, body armor and fucking miniguns! Requesting backup now!”
“Unit 5-21, this is Dispatch. What is your location?” The voice came over the radio before it suddenly broke into screams and a similar band saw noise.
“Dispatch! Dispatch! Shit, shit, what the fucking hell is this?” Burton shouted as he drove his mangled cruiser onto the next street, where he stopped at the next intersection. Fortunately another cruiser drove up as he was surveying the mess the minigun had made.
“What the hell’s goin’ on Mark?” Officer Don Stewart asked as he got out of his car, both officers ducking as a burst of gunfire split the air.
“Hell if I know Don, but whatever it is, it’s bad. I think they’re hitting the precinct too. Got on the horn to Dispatch ‘bout this here, overheard that same noise and screaming.”
“Well, what the hell do we do now?” Don asked, his face ashen.
Mark took a few deep breaths. “Okay, I want you to get on the radio, hit all the emergency channels. I want a perimeter set up around the Bureau, any officers in this area only. Other precincts are going to be looking to their own right now.” The two officers began to wave other traffic around, feeling a little bit better as a few more officers showed up. Hearing more gunfire, he cursed his helplessness and wished for just one Hostage Rescue team.
Cheerheart flinched as that horrid ripping noise echoed down the halls again. The foals were crying their lungs out, and she was on the verge of joining them, but she needed to stay strong. She’d closed the door and herded the mix of fillies and colts to the opposite corner, but didn’t know what else to do.
Suddenly, the door swung open, the foals and Cheerheart screaming in terror. Cirrus galloped in, herding a few other Bureau staffponies in before closing the door. “Are you alright Cheerheart?”
“Cirrus, what’s going on?” Her ears plastered flat to her head, chest hiking as she breathed rapidly, she looked fit to fall apart at any second.
“I don’t know. There’s some people attacking the Bureau and the research facility too, I think.” he ushered the other frightened ponies to the back of the room, and then turned back to Cheerheart. “Alright, we need to push your desk to block the door. Then we get the foals into the opposite corner, then the adults in front of them. I need you to focus here Cheer.”
Cheerheart still felt like she was going to be sick, but Cirrus’ words were cutting through the fog of fear in her mind. Nodding, she and Cirrus put their heads to the desk and shoved it in front of the door.
“Okay now everypony,” Cheerheart said in a forced sing-song tone, trying not to lose control of herself as another chatter of noise rang out, “let’s all get into the corner. We’re gonna play a game of Shhh. Does everypony know how to play?”
The foals, tears in their eyes, nodded and gathered in the far corner, whimpering in fear as more noise echoed down the hall. The adult ponies piled in between the foals and the door, with Cirrus and Cheerheart at the front of the group. Though for the time being, all of them were shaking like leaves in the wind, wondering if they’d make it out from the nightmare the average morning had turned into.
The main St Louis precinct looked like a warzone, bullet holes cratered the front of the main buildings, and officers still exchanged token gunfire with the well-armed men waiting outside. For some reason, they seemed content to simply sit and wait, not pushing into the building itself.
“So what the hell are they waiting for, an invitation?” One of the junior officers asked, fingering his pistol nervously.
“Looks like they don’t want us goin’ anywhere.” Chief of Police Oliver Nance said. “But we ain’t waitin’ for them to change their minds. You, you and you, I want you to head around the back to the armory, get every assault rifle, sniper rifle, shotgun, riot shield and set of body armor you can find. Then we’re gonna put any HR guys in them first, then anyone else who’s passed their marksmanship training. I am not going to let the St Louis PD sit here like a bunch of fuckin’ girls while these pricks get free run of our city! Now let’s move!” The officers sprang back into motion as Nance picked up a shotgun, firing another slug out the atrium. The barks of a dozen assault rifles answered, chewing new holes into the walls. “There are times when I really wish I had Fridays off.” The officers manning the front office chuckled nervously, from well behind cover of course.
Switchboard was in a panic. When the main precinct switchboard went down, the number of calls from officers requesting information had doubled. To make matters worse, a number of the black trucks had appeared outside his building too, though they only had two officers who carried firearms. As the reports came in that the Bureau was under attack Gary, the elderly officer in charge of this precinct had pushed Switchboard to the side and taken over his station. “In case they’re listening in, don’t want them to know you’re in here.” made a heck of a lot of sense to him.
“Dispatch, this is Unit 7-12, I have Units 7-8, 7-9, and 7-3 with me. What’s your status?”
“That’s Helen!” Switchboard cried out in relief.
Gary nodded and motioned for him to keep his voice down. “Unit 7-12, this is Dispatch. We have guests outside and they do not look happy to see us. Advise you attempt to rendezvous with other units at...” He trailed off as he looked over a paper map, “30 by 336. Acknowledge, over.”
There was silence on the other end. “Roger that Dispatch. Stay safe. Over and out.”
Switchboard looked at Gary. “What does that mean? Are they going to come and rescue us?”
Gary shook his head. “I told them to meet here, at this intersection. That’ll put them far enough out of the way that they should be able to avoid getting hit by any more of these assholes.”
“B-but what about us? Are those humans going to k-kill us?” Switchboard started to feel the panic returning.
Gary put his hand on the earth pony’s shoulder. “They might, I won’t lie to you. But our job is to help keep the officers on the street informed of what’s going on. We can’t let our friends down, right?”
Switchboard sniffled. “I... I guess not.”
Gary smiled. “Atta boy... err, colt, I guess. Now, let’s see if we can get ahold of anyone else.” They turned back to the desk, Switchboard handling the non-speaking roles for Gary, who continued to direct officers to rally spots away from whoever was attacking their city.
President Foster was eating breakfast in the White House kitchen when the Secret Service agent opened the door. “Sir, we have an emergency.”
Foster nearly choked and took a drink of water. “Excuse me?”
The agent reached over and turned on the television, which showed an aerial view of a city with a horribly familiar arch in the background.
“Oh God no...” Foster whispered, going pale as the helicopter pilot’s audio cut in
“As you can see Diane, we’re over downtown St Louis now, where you can see a large number of black trucks have disgorged armed men into the city. The police precincts have been put under siege, with no officers able to enter or leave. There’s been an additional group of trucks sighted heading for the secondary Bureau on Kingshighway Boulevard. We can see a number of trucks outside the serum research facility now, along with what appears to be an armored tractor trailer. Furthermore, there’s a number of trucks entering the city’s so-called ‘pony district’. They appear to be...” the reporter fell silent as a group of fleeing ponies was gunned down by weapons fire from the Suburbans, “My God; those ponies were just killed down in the street. We have no idea who the people attacking St Louis are, but they are armed and extremely dangerous. At this time we must urge all citizens to remain indoors and away from windows, especially any ponies watching this. For now we’re going to stay up here at a safe altitude, back to you.” The feed cut to a harried looking news anchor, who began to recap the information just shown.
Foster ignored it and turned back to the agent. “I want Defense State, Transportation and Homeland Security in the Situation Room ASAP. Find Curtis; have him meet us there too. I want the FBI and CIA working on finding out how in the world whoever the hell this is was able to just waltz in and kick us in the balls. Tell the FAA that I want all flights diverted away from St Louis, same for trains and public buses.” He started to walk out, and then paused. “And get a message to the Equestrian embassy. We’ll want to keep them involved with this.”
“Right away sir.” The agent began speaking rapidly into his wrist radio as he followed Foster out of the room. Other agents had already begun stepping up their own security protocols to ensure that if there was another hostile force hoping to pull off a repeat in D.C., it would fail.
Lariat sat on the floor in the common area of the hotel suite, tapping his forehooves on the floor. “Are you going to spend all day in the baño guys? We need to be going soon if we’re going to be at the Bureau in time.”
“Just a few more minutes tovarich.” Anvil called out. “Dusty still has his muzzle in the bowl.”
Snorting in amusement, Lariat started to get to his hooves to turn on the TV when he heard a faint buzzing, coming from the windows. Trotting over, his jaw fell open at the sight below him. Wheeling about, he galloped across the room and pressed the oversized power button for the TV. As the image snapped onto the screen it he felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. “All of you, get in here now!”
The alarm in his voice was infectious, and soon everypony was clustered in front of the screen, staring open-mouthed at the scenes of devastation unfolding across the city. “What do we do amigos? I’m not a coward, but I don’t like the odds of seven of us against miniguns.”
“I don’t either. But the guards stationed at that Bureau won’t be able to fend off that many humans either.” Cloudhammer furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “Okay, Flare; I want you to send a message to the embassy. Tell them we will proceed to the serum research facility on hoof to scout out the enemy forces. Any further coordination of forces with the United States will be handled on their end as per the treaty.”
“Yes sir.” Flare trotted back into his room to begin transcribing the note.
“The rest of you, put your armor on. Lariat, go get Aegis and bring him in here. We’re moving out in five minutes.” Cloudhammer said as he started to put on his armor, his russet coat beginning to shift to white.
The six trucks speeding down the quiet streets toward the suburban Bureau were a little surprised at the lack of police they encountered before they reached the actual Bureau. With a squeal of brakes they came to a stop, the men inside jumping out with their rifles up. The two minigun trucks flipped open their roofs and began to cover the two approaches to the front of the Bureau.
Illustrious Shine, the First Lieutenant in charge of security at the Bureau, had been in the process of opening the door when he saw the rifles and started to turn to shout a warning to the guards inside. The cry died in his throat along with him as a burst of armor-piercing bullets tore through his neck. The guards in the lobby had barely enough time to turn away from the small TV the receptionist had on the desk before the men had taken the steps and filled the lobby with a storm of firepower. Breaking up into fire-teams, they began to move through the Bureau room to room, brief chatters of gunfire ringing out as they cleared the building.
Gentle Smile shivered as the sound of boots on tile drew closer, keeping her small group of foals behind her. This Bureau’s daycare wasn’t as populated as her friend Cheerheart’s, given that in the suburbs there were fewer single parents who needed a place for their kids to play while they were living at the Bureau, but some of the staff had their children here with them.
The sound stopped at the door and Gentle Smile hoped that whoever was doing this would leave, but then the door was kicked in with a sharp crack. A large, armored figure stepped into the room, an assault rifle held tight in his hands. His eyes turned to look directly at them, and Gentle Smile recoiled as she saw... nothing. There was no emotion, like this human was simply taking a walk in the park. The weapon started to come up and she took a breath to scream for help.
Five minutes later, the gunmen left the building, re-entering their trucks. The man in the passenger seat of the lead truck picked up the radio.
“This is Section Gamma. Secondary Bureau clear, no hostiles remaining.”
“Roger that. Move to grid twenty-four, squad Charlie has intercepted a police officer. Radio chatter indicates they are rallying at the intersection of routes 30 and 336. Link up and contain them.”
“Yes sir. Orders received.” The man put down the radio. “Let’s go.”
The trucks sped off, leaving a few citizens to timidly venture out to see the damaged Bureau. One, a boy of about nineteen, felt his hands starting to shake with rage. He’d known some of these ponies, hell, one of his best friends had just spent a week in here. Reaching into his pocket, he first pulled out a green bandana and tied it around his forehead. Then, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number from memory. “Ricky? It’s Carlos. You seen the shit on the TV? Fuckers just shot up the Bureau. Get the guys together. We’re gonna do something ‘bout this shit.” Hanging up, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a piece of bloodstained paper. Taking a deep breath, he dialed the number. “Man, I never thought I’d be doin’ somethin’ so stupid.”
The phone rang for a few seconds, and then a harsh voice answered. “Who the fuck is this?”
“This is Carlos of the Southampton Homicidas. I know your asses have seen the shit that these black-suited fuckers are doing to your streets and mine.”
“So what the fuck you want me to do?” The voice asked, though some of the anger was now replaced with guarded curiosity.
“I know yours and mine ain’t seen eye to eye, but these streets don’t belong to some pansy-ass out of towners who think they can roll in here like they’re hot shit. So I’m sayin’, put our shit down for a day, and teach these motherfuckers what it means to fuck around on our turfs.” Carlos said.
“You’re a crazy ass fucker and I should shoot your ass dead where you stand for even having this number.” The voice replied, but Carlos could hear other voices in the background now. “Your puny ass gang has twenty-four hours. Any of yours try to fuck up any of mine, your asses are dust, you got me? BOD’s got our reputation to uphold, after all.”
“Same goes for the Homicidas.” Carlos hung up the phone and started walking away from the Bureau. A dark grin crossed his face, “Who’da thought there’d be a day when the Boys and the Homicidas actually agreed on something? Fuck me, this just don’t make no damn sense anymore.”
Second Lieutenant Brightwing was worried. They’d been able to seal the entrances into the inner parts of the research center and watch the feed on the cameras. But the soldiers hadn’t continued to press their attack. He felt his blood beginning to boil as he saw the bodies of those who hadn’t been able to make it, and switched the cameras to the loading dock. His eyes narrowed as he saw a tractor trailer being backed up to the dock. “So just what are you all up to now?” He cursed as the men walked up to the cameras and shot them out. Flipping between the other cameras, he could see they were being shot out too.
“Sir?” He turned to see Sergeant Cinnamon, the unicorn wasn’t technically under his command, but given the situation the normal rank structure seemed unnecessary.
“Round up the guards, post them to the rear entrances. The bastards are trying something new.” Brightwing ordered, getting to his hooves and making his way to the rear of the building. A dozen of the human security team were waiting, along with six of the Guard. After the other six Guards arrived, they spread apart to take up defensive positions.
“So, these doors are safe, right?” Cinnamon asked nervously.
“Well, even if they can get through them, we have enough firepower to hold them off until more help arrives.” A security guard said reassuringly, only to pause as a hard bang echoed from the other side of the door, a dent the size of a basketball forming. Repeated bangs echoed as whatever was on the other side hit it over and over. Eventually, the door gave way with a tortured squeal of metal and flew off its hinges into the room. After a split second to see if a flashbang was coming, the security guards put a hail of bullets through the opening. After a few seconds, they stopped, looking confusedly at one another.
Suddenly, a piercing cry split the air as a hulking shape burst through the door, followed by four others. The security guards lifted their firearms to return fire, but they were too slow, their brains not willing to register the monstrosities charging toward them before the staccato bark of submachine gun fire tore into them. The Royal Guards fared little better, one of the unicorns managing to get a needle fine beam of fire off that carved into one of the shapes like a scalpel before they were cut down.
The shapes stopped for a second, before the one leading the group coldly put a burst of bullets into the wounded one’s head. Gesturing for another to take the carcass to the tractor trailer, the three survivors checked the room for any stragglers. Once the fourth rejoined them, they set off into the facility.
Spatial Shift cowered in the corner of the supply closet. He’d been cowering in the center of the room, but the renewed bursts of gunfire had scared him into soiling the carpet. He wasn’t sure where the others were hiding, but didn’t dare open the door to find out. He checked the small plastic bottle sitting on the floor next to him. Batch #37658 floated serenely within, the faint glimmers of light it gave off calming him down somewhat. When the alarms had sounded he had managed to sneak the bottle he’d been tasked to work with into the pocket of his coat.
Flinching as a strange new noise made itself heard from outside the door; Spatial began to hyperventilate as the handle began to turn. Picking up the bottle and putting it back into his pocket, he began to pull as much power as he could into his horn. In a blinding flash of light and a bang of displaced air that knocked supplies off the shelves, he disappeared as the door was ripped off its hinges. The figure standing in the doorway hissed in displeasure before it set off down the halls, searching for the rest of its targets.
As Luna finally dismissed the last petitioner, she swore that she would think of something to get back at ‘Tia for convincing her to reinstate Night Court. Ponies these days had no sense of propriety, assuming that just because they asked nicely with their best begging face that their requests would be granted.
“Are there any other petitioners, First Lieutenant?” She asked the unicorn guard sitting to the right of the base of her throne.
“No, your Majesty,” Ruby replied, expertly hiding his yawn.
Or so he thought, anyway. Luna rose to her hooves and stretched. “Very well, I believe I will retire for the evening. Inform any tardy petitioners that they must wait until the Day Court commences for their chance to speak to the Crown-” She was cut off as the sound of frantic hoofbeats drumming on the floor could be heard. The doors to the throne room were flung open as a unicorn guard burst in. “Just what is the meaning of this?”
The guard paused for breath, his sides heaving. “T-there’s... there’s an attack ongoing on the serum research facility in St Louis. We just received this notice from the Embassy in Washington.” The guard levitated a piece of paper to her, his eyes fearful.
Luna rapidly scanned down the document, the minor scowl of annoyance deepening as her mane began to roil. “Summon Generals Gold Arrow, Cloudhammer, Amber Dusk and Captain Aegis Exemplar immediately.”
Ruby swallowed nervously. “Your Majesty, General Cloudhammer and Captain Exemplar... are in St Louis now. Captain Flare was having his bachelor party yesterday.”
Luna’s expression darkened further. “Then who is the ranking earth pony guard in the city right now?”
Ruby furrowed his brow in thought. “That would be First Lieutenant Sledgepetal, I believe.”
“Then send somepony to bring them here.” Luna took a breath, forcing her mane and emotions to calm themselves. “And I need you to go wake my sister. She will need to know of this too.”
Ruby gulped. “Y-yes, your Highness.” He saluted, barking orders at the guards as he trotted out the door.
Luna rose to her hooves, her horn igniting as she reached out with her will. In a cloud of indigo smoke, a massive table thumped down onto the floor of the throne room, a large map of Equestria laid upon it. She strode down to stand at its head, resting her hoof on it and concentrating. The map began to zoom out, new continents drawing themselves in until the map now resembled the entire Earth. Concentrating again, it began to zoom in on the central United States until the location of St Louis was in the middle.
“Celestia is not going to be happy with this.” Luna said absently as she focused on the map, filling in as much of the details on the city as she could remember.
Nimbus yawned as she stretched her wings, the pegasus shuffling out of the bedroom toward the kitchen. She flicked the light switch with her wing as she crossed the room, smiling as she saw her goal in sight.
“Hello beautiful.” She said as she picked up the coffee pot with her mouth. One of the major companies had seized on the idea when Conversion first became public and started designing products that would be more pony-friendly. The coffee pot bore a horizontal handle, with the pouring lip on the side, so it was a simple task to fill a cup. Letting the coffee sit for a moment, she trotted into her Breaker’s room. She felt her smile widen as she watched her son sleep for a few more minutes. Finally she nuzzled him gently to help him wake up. “Come on now Breaker, somepony has a doctor’s appointment today. And how’s my big boy this morning?”
Breaker squirmed out of the tangle of his sheets, rubbing at his eyes. “I’m sleepy Momma.”
“Well, if you want, you can sit and watch some TV while I fix your breakfast.” Gently lifting him onto her back, she carried the little colt out to the couch in the main room. Setting him down, Nimbus pressed the power button on the TV and tapped the buttons to bring up the morning cartoons Breaker loved. She trotted back into the kitchen to put her coffee in the microwave, fetching a packet of apple instant oatmeal from the cabinet.
She was in the middle of taking the coffee out when Breaker suddenly screamed, running into the kitchen and cowering underneath her. She set the coffee cup down and sat on the floor, scooping him up. “What’s wrong sweetie?”
“The TV took away the cartoons and now it’s being all scary!” Breaker buried his face into her chest, bawling like he hadn’t done since he was an infant.
Nimbus rocked him gently until the wails turned to sniffles. “It’s okay, now, let’s go make the TV stop being mean, alright?” Putting Breaker down, she picked up the coffee in her mouth and trotted back into the living room. Looking up, she froze at the feed on the screen.
“For those of you joining us, we take you again to Hank Wilson, our traffic helicopter pilot, who’s been covering this attack on St. Louis. At this time we cannot speculate on the identity of the attackers, but must again emphasize that these gunman are extremely dangerous. Any pony citizens in the St. Louis area are urged to stay indoors and out of sight.”
Nimbus was dimly aware of the sound of the coffee cup smashing on the floor, and Breaker’s continued wailing. Numbly, she turned the television off.
‘Oh Flare... Please be safe...’
Jesse scowled as he drove his pickup down the side streets, staying off the roads. His police scanner continued to spit out more and more bad news. It seemed that whatever precinct had begun redirecting officers had the right idea, as there were now about forty of them gathering at a rally spot. He’d thought about joining them, but then the scanner had picked up that there were a few officers still in the pony district who were frantically trying to avoid the armored Suburbans hunting them down. With a scowl, he turned onto Jefferson Avenue, heading downtown. Picking up his radio, he tuned into the channel the officers were using. “Any units listening, this is former officer Morales. Officers downtown need assistance. Requesting help from units not responding to rally point.”
The scanner crackled. “This is Unit 7-12, good to hear you back Lieutenant. I’ll task four to you, what’s your 20?”
“November SJA to the 44.” He replied tersely.
“Roger that, expect friends soon.” There was a sudden burst of noise on the other end. “Cancel that, the party found us. Sorry Lieutenant.” There was a burst of gunfire as the radio fell silent.
“Shit... guess I’m going solo.” Jesse cursed as he came to a stop at the next intersection. Reaching behind the seat, he pulled out his 12 gauge and a box of shells. Loading the weapon, he set it on the seat next to him and continued to drive down the road, hoping that he wouldn’t be too late.
The Situation Room was a clamor of noise, as the assembled politicians and military experts tried to get a grip on the situation.
“But how in the hell could they get this much equipment into the country?” Secretary of Transportation Robert Merricks asked angrily.
“Regrettably, it’s not that difficult.” Logan Harris, Homeland Security replied with a sigh. “Their weapons could have been bought legally and then modified, like the HLF attack four years ago.”
“But the miniguns on those Suburbans are a lot harder to buy. That says whoever these guys are, they have some serious backing.” Frank Kingsworth, Defense chimed in
“Do you think they’re connected at all with the HLF? We never did find out who their backers were...” Arnold LaRue, State wondered out loud.
“For now, let’s focus on what we can do,” Foster said, getting to his feet. “What assets do we have in the area?”
“Not much, sir.” Kingsworth admitted. “There’s the Marines next to Lambert, but I don’t recommend moving them. That and the St Louis Downtown airport are the two closest airports out.”
“What assets do we have in the area?” Foster asked.
Kingsworth thought about it, then leaned back as his aide whispered into his ear. “Well, there’s a a small number of Apaches at Scott AFB, they were due to be flown down to Little Rock tomorrow. I suppose we could use them-”
Curtis cut in. “Sir, I don’t recommend that. It’d be using American military assets on US soil., and inside a city on top of that.”
Foster thought about it for a few seconds. “Are there any ground assets we could send in, National Guard?”
“There are some National Guard assets on the other side of the river, not enough to reliably retake the city, but we can seal off the bridges to prevent them making a move for the St Louis Downtown airport. Sir, I think the Apaches would be our best bet at providing relief to the city police. We can arm them with the 2.76 inch rockets, that’d minimize the damage to the city.”
Foster steepled his fingers as he thought about it.
“Sir, doing this is a mistake.” Curtis said. “There’s no guaranteeing that the attackers won’t turn their weapons indiscriminately onto the city if we do this.”
“Curtis, they’re using their weapons on US citizens and foreign nationals already. If we don’t do something this will only get worse.” Foster looked to Kingsworth. “The order is given. I want it made clear that the Apaches have to be careful about their targets. I will not have them hitting civilians or police.”
Kingsworth nodded. “The helo pilots know their stuff. They’ll be spun up and airborne within twenty minutes. I also recommend we order up the Marines at Lambert to prepare to defend the airport should the enemy decide to try to go there for an evac.”
Foster nodded. “Alright. Now let’s pray to God that this doesn’t blow up in our faces.”
With a snap of displaced air, Spatial Shift landed hard on the floor of PER HQ. Shaking for a few seconds, he heard worried voices around him and managed to get to his hooves.
“Spatial, are you alright?” He recognized the voice and opened his eyes. Standing in front of him was an earth pony mare, her coat a shade of amethyst purple with a light blue mane. Her light brown eyes watched him worriedly.
“Aurora, oh thank Celestia. I thought I wouldn’t get out of there.” Spatial started shaking like a leaf and he nearly collapsed. Aurora and another earth pony caught him and helped him to one of the meeting rooms.
“What in Equestria happened Spatial? You were supposed to be there for another six months.” Aurora asked curiously.
Spatial nearly started crying. “It was awful. A bunch of humans attacked the serum facility. I think they k-killed everypony else! I heard s-something outside the closet I hid in, and I panicked. I managed to teleport before it found me...”
Aurora nuzzled him. “It’s alright. You’re safe now.” She turned to the other pony. “Go find Amber Dream, he’ll want to hear this right away.”
“I already have.” Amber Dream said as he entered the room. “Spatial, were you able to bring any of the serum back with you?”
“Y-yes, I have some right here in my pocket.” Spatial carefully took out the bottle and hoofed it over.
“Excellent work Spatial. And I am sorry that you had to suffer through that. We’ll take care of it from here. You two, take him to one of the guest rooms for now.” Amber levitated the vial with him as he left the trio. Trotting across the cavern floor, he bellowed, “Alright! I need everypony to assemble in the middle of the cavern please!”
The various ponies looked up and trotted over, forming in a mob that encircled the single unicorn. Taking a deep breath, Amber turned in a slow circle as he spoke. “St Louis is under attack by an unknown force of humans. We’re going to go help our fellow ponies. Knight Rampart, step forward.”
The muscled earth pony, sporting a number of vicious scars and an eyepatch over his left eye, strode forward. His coat was a shade of dull grey, while his mane was the color of the winter sky. “Yes, Grand Knight Amber Dream?”
Amber nodded to the earth pony. “I’m giving you the overall command of this mission. You will deploy first to the suburban Bureau. We have agents there, you can learn a more detailed idea of the state of the city from there. You will then proceed to either the serum facility or the pony district, depending on the situation. We’ll arm you with our newest serum weapons to defend yourself. But remember, those are for defense only. We’ll likely be revealing ourselves to the public, so we need to work to keep our public image intact.”
Rampart nodded. “I understand.”
Amber Dream nodded and lifted his head high. Raising his voice for everypony to hear. “Then go with the grace of Celestia, High Knight Rampart.”
The elevator doors opened to reveal a scene of chaos. Scared ponies were milling about the lobby, all trying to get away from the windows and doors. The human staff and guests were trying to do what they could, but when fear finds its way into the herd, it’s notoriously difficult to shake loose.
“THAT’S ENOUGH!” A bellowing voice cut across the anarchy like the decree of the gods themselves. The ponies abruptly found themselves stopping as one, newfoals and natives alike. All eyes turned to the elevator as the first gold-armored figure stepped out, the emblem of the Sun and Moon glinting.
Cloudhammer surveyed the room and nodded once. “Alright, I need you all,” he indicated the humans, “to take everypony to the back rooms, or to the basement. Barricade yourselves in and wait for rescue.” He turned to the other guards with him as the now orderly group of civilians started filing toward the service stairs. “We’re going to drive off or incapacitate the enemy attacking the pony district first.”
“But what about the serum research facility?” Flare asked.
Cloudhammer shook his head with a heavy sigh. “They’ll have to hold out on their own, our first priority has to be rescuing civilians.”
Lariat, Dusty, Anvil and Wrecker all nodded their assent, their eyes already growing colder as they called upon their training.
Aegis’ head still buzzed with the fact that the one giving orders just might be his own flesh-and-blood father, but for now he could fall into the happy distraction of disclipline.
Cloudhammer looked at them all and ruffled his wings. “We’re going to have to improvise, since we don’t have a conventional squad. Aegis, you and the earth ponies will be in charge of the brunt of attack. Flare, your job is to force them to keep their heads down with your magic. I’ll provide aerial recon and assistance as I deem needed. Does anypony have objections?”
Nopony spoke up, though Flare’s ears briefly twitched back.
Cloudhammer nodded. “Alright. Earth Guard, take a quick look out the front, see if it’s clear.” He waited until they were out of earshot and then turned to Flare. “Talk to me.”
Flare hesitated, ears folding back further. “I... I’m afraid sir. There’s going to be civilians around too... I don’t want to hurt them-”
Cloudhammer’s armored hoof rang as he struck Flare on the center chestplate. “I need you to drop that right now. You’re acting like a scared colt who’s wet the bed. If we don’t get out there and help those civilians, they will die. Control your magic and control yourself.”
Flare took a couple deep breaths. “A-alright, I’m with you, sir.”
“Good. Now come on, let’s go.” The two guards trotted to the front doors with the others. The street was clear for the time being, but a buzzing roar of gunfire from down the street indicated one of the gun-trucks wasn’t too far away. The seven ponies began to head in that direction, one of them spreading his wings and taking to the sky.
Corporal Burton now had thirty officers loosely under his command, but not all of them were physically with him. Soon after the attack on the Bureau had started, more of the black trucks had come around the corner, the damn minigun trucks mixed in. There’d been fifty-seven officers at that point, but some had chosen to hold their ground, buying the others time to disperse back into the pony district and the surrounding city.
“This is Unit 5-32, they’re all over my ass!” Another officer shouted out over the radio.
“Unit 5-32, this is 5-21. Take a blind corner and ditch if you can. Destroy your radio before you go.” Mark shouted back.
“R-roger that.” The radio crackled as that same damn band saw noise drowned out whatever the officer was going to say next.
“Fuck me, this is a disaster. Where the fuck’s our backup? We need the goddamned National Guard or the Army here.” He groused as he turned the corner. His blood suddenly ran cold as he saw three of the armored trucks sitting there, the one in the middle sporting a minigun. He watched in horror as the barrels began to spin, and dimly felt his hands throwing the car into reverse, but was too slow, as tongues of flame spat out and bullets shredded through his engine block. The car stopped dead, fluids spraying onto the pavement.
“Fuck, fuck!” Mark started scrabbling at his seatbelt in an attempt to get free. He saw the gaping muzzles of the minigun swinging to face directly at him, the men in the other Suburbans were getting out, rifles raised as they started to walk forward. He closed his eyes in anticipation of the coming bullets.
Suddenly, there was a flat whoosh and screaming. Well, more screaming, anyway. Mark opened his eyes in time to see a literal wall of flames extinguish itself, the men rolling on the ground trying to put out the fires. His eyes widened as a literal wall of gold thundered out of the alley, beelining for the closest truck.
“Hit ‘em while they’re down! All together now!” Aegis bellowed, the metal rhino horn adorning his new helmet glinting wickedly in the sun as the five earth ponies slammed into the side of the Suburban, the force of the impact rocking it clean onto its side. The minigun truck began to drive around the overturned vehicle, the gunner having managed to dodge the fire. As he started to squeeze the trigger something crashed onto the roof of the Suburban beside him. Turning, the last thing he saw was a pair of hooves that connected with the side of his head, just under the rim of the helmet.
Cloudhammer snorted as the gunner slumped down into the body of the truck. Turning his head, he bellowed into the alley. “Flare! Relieve them of their weapons!” He looked down as the driver opened the door and started to get out, only for Aegis to slam into the door from the other side, crushing the driver painfully. “Thank you Aegis.” He leaped down to the street as an orange glow enveloped the weapons, yanking them away, some of the soliders crying out in pain as their fingers broke. Flare’s face was impassive as he ripped their sidearms, knives and grenades off as well. Lariat was already busy tying them up and gagging them, Dusty and the other earth ponies helping hold down the ones who were still determined to fight.
Mark got out of the cruiser, knees shaking at his close call. Hurrying down the street, leaving his sidearm holstered, he slowed as he drew near the ponies, making sure to keep his hands in view. “Thanks for the assist there, I thought I was a goner.”
Lariat looked up from tying the last of them up. “No problema Officer. Almost didn’t get here in time.”
Cloudhammer trotted up to him. “What’s the situation at the central Bureau?”
Mark rubbed the back of his head, trying very hard to get his shaking back under control. “I saw them first showing up, but they chased us off pretty quick. We started trying to establish a perimeter, but more of those damn trucks showed up and we had to withdraw. We’ve been trying to stay mobile and help civilians where we can, but we don’t have the firepower to deal with these guys.”
Cloudhammer took a few steps forward. “Well, we’re here to take back this part of the city, then move on the Bureau and the research center. Can you rally the officers to help us?”
Mark stared blankly at the pegasus, then started laughing. “I’ll hand this to you, you got spunk.” He looked back at the chewed up wreck of his cruiser. “Though the cruiser’s not going anywhere...” He trailed off as he looked over at the other, undamaged Suburban. “But, I think these gentlemen won’t mind us borrowing their ride, now will they?”
“Nyet, I think they would not mind at all,” Anvil said with a throaty chuckle. They gathered up the discarded guns and knives, all the ammunition they could find, the radios, and the grenades. Dragging the men to a bus stop bench, they used the cable ties and handcuffs in Mark’s cruiser to secure them hand and feet. Mark made sure to destroy the radios in the other two trucks before they climbed into the armored behemoth. Flicking on the truck’s radio, he adjusted it to the police frequency. “All units, this is Unit 5-21. I’ve commandeered one of the enemy vehicles with the assistance of some new friends. All units capable meet at 7th and Locust. Santa’s comin’ early this year.”
A chorus of affirmatives competed for the radio, the officer’s voices now laced with hope.
“Alright, let’s go turn the tables on these bastards-” He looked up suddenly as a dull buzz filled the air. In a storm of noise six helicopters flew overhead, five of them continuing on while the sixth wheeled around, coming back toward them. “Oh shit.” He started undoing his seatbelt and hurriedly unlocked the door, climbing out. “Everybody out, right now.”
“What’s going on?” Flare asked.
“I want to make sure he knows we’re friendly...” Mark opened the doors for the ponies, waving his arms in what he hoped was a friendly manner. After a few seconds the helicopter banked up and away. “Alright, let’s see...” He opened the rear and rummaged around for a few seconds, before pulling out a roll of silver grey material. “Knew they’d have this somewhere.”
“Wait, you wanted duct tape?” Flare’s eyes widened in realization as Mark quickly taped the word “FRIENDLY” across the roof. “Oh, I get it.”
“There ya go. Now come on, the others are going to be waiting.” Mark said with a grin as they all piled back into the Suburban. The engine roared as the heavy vehicle drove away, leaving the bound soldiers to curse their superiors for choosing such a hot day for the attack.
The staff in the command tractor trailer knew something was wrong. Squad 3 of Section Beta had stopped responding, and now Squad 2 was reporting renewed police activity, these now armed with all too familiar assault rifles.
“Hold them off, we still have the miniguns.” A voice called out over the radio.
“Roger that- I got movement right! Is that-? IT’S A GODDAMNED RHIN-” There was a crunch of metal, followed by shouts of surprise and pain as the sound of hooves thundering on pavement could be heard.
“Squad 2? Respond at once. Squad 2?” The radio operator looked up worriedly. “Squad 2 isn’t responding.”
“Sir! Squads 4 and 5 reports six Apache helicopters in the city! They’re pulling back, but they’re hitting us hard. What are your orders?” Another operator looked up, a trace of real fear in his eyes.
“We stay where we are. We still have a job to do.” The officer in charge picked up his own radio. “Section Alpha, what’s the status on clearing the Bureau and facility?”
The radio crackled, sporadic gunfire ringing out. “Still working on it. The Package reports it’s nearly through the final barrier to retrieving its targets.”
“Well hurry it up, things are starting to get hairy out here.” The officer barked before slamming the handset down.
“Alright! Listen up! Things are going to shit outside, so we are going to step this up. Squad One takes the fourth floor, Two gets the third floor, Three the second, and Four will finish clearing this floor. Leave no survivors, those are our orders.” Staff Sergeant Aaron Pruitt ordered coldly.
The squads fanned out, the majority heading into the stairs, while Pruitt led Squad Four towards the administrative wing of the Bureau.
“Miller, Polkowski, Rangel, clear the side hallway. The rest of you with me.” The three soldiers moved down the side hallway, checking each room as they went. Rangel moved to the last door on the left, only to find that it wouldn’t open, though the handle wasn’t locked. Shoving his shoulder against it hard, he felt whatever was on the other side slide a few inches back, allowing him to see into the room.
Six adult ponies stood in the opposite corner, five of them shaking with fear. The sixth, a pegasus, stared at him with determination in its eyes. What gave him pause was the dozen or so foals that cowered behind them.
“Rangel, you got somethin’?" Miller asked as he moved up and looked in. His eyes widened too, and he squeezed his rifle nervously.
“What do we do?” Rangel asked.
“We got our orders...” Polkowski muttered, but his heart clearly wasn’t in it.
“I dunno about you guys, but I didn’t sign up to shoot kids.” Rangel said, a bit of steel finding its way into his voice.
“What’s the holdup you three?” Pruitt’s voice boomed, the Staff Sergeant leading the rest of the squad down the hall.
“Sir... it’s a daycare. Dozen kids, six adults. No combatants.” Rangel replied.
“And how is this a problem? I gave you an order son.” Pruitt said as he moved up to the door and kicked it, shoving the door open enough to be able to enter the room. “Well, this’ll be easy. Rangel, take care of this.” He turned and started to walk away.
“No.”
Pruitt stopped and turned around. “What was that Private?”
Rangel trembled a little, but held his ground. “Sir, these are noncombatants.”
“Are we going to have a problem soldier?” Pruitt looked around at the rest of the squad. “Our orders are to clear this building. That means. No. Survivors.” He took a step forward, putting his face right up into Rangel’s. “So. Clear. That. Room.”
Rangel’s eyes twitched, looking to his fellow squadmates. Miller, Polkowski, and Fredericks all looked downcast. Pruitt and the other two members of the team stared coldly at him. He felt his training telling him to follow his orders, but his own sense of honor had seemed to pick up a new strength and was reminding him very loudly what it was they were asking him to do. It was one thing to shoot at other soldiers and those Royal Guard, who were at least fighting back. But this...
“Rangel! I officially hold you derelict in the line of duty. If you fail to follow orders in the next five seconds, I will carry out the punishment for disobeying a superior officer on the battlefield!” Pruitt bellowed.
Rangel felt his shaking hands suddenly stop, and a sense of calm coming over him. Looking to his squadmates again, he saw the same expression on their faces. Lifting their rifles, they made their choice, and so sealed their fate.
Staff Sergeant Theodore “Teddy” Franklin was starting to feel more confident. The police officers he’s been tasked with containing had been a thorn in his side, but now things were back under control. He’d nearly pinned them down at the intersection of Routes 30 and 336, but one of his trucks had been overeager, and given away the trap before the net was completely closed. They’d chased them north, toward the I-44, and had managed to pin them in against the gridlock of traffic that had been caused by the chaos in the city.
“All elements, this is Charlie-Actual. Hold your position, do not allow the police to leave. Weapons are free if they return fire. Acknowledge. Over.” Nodding as the chorus of assents came back over the radio, he opened the door, taking up his own defensive position behind the engine block. “There’s nowhere for them to go now.”
One hundred feet down the road, Helen Whitt was equally aggravated. It figured that the I-44 would be choked up, but they’d not had much of a choice except to head directly toward it.
“What are we going to do Helen?” She turned to the officer beside her, his face twisted with worry.
“We’re gonna hold, Johnny. Not much else we can do,” Helen said sharply, her palms sweaty as she gripped her pistol. “Can’t let these guys have a chance to hurt the civilians.”
“Fuck, where’s the goddamned National Guard when ya need em?” Another officer, Sam, remarked sharply.
“Guess they’re still on their coffee break. Gives us more time to show them what it means to work for a living,” Helen said with a short laugh. The other officers chuckled for a few seconds, but their eyes remained grim as they watched the armed gunmen.
“Yo, so what the fuck’s the plan Carlos? We ain’t exactly cut out to go against the kind of firepower that the TV says these guys got.” Ricky said, using his switchblade to make a careful adjustment to the Uzi. “I think the Uzi will work, but gotta be careful not to go nuts with it. Might explode.”
“Eh, nothin’s worth doin’ if it ain’t dangerous,” Carlos said with a raspy laugh. He looked around at the others. “Alright, so here’s the deal. We got a deal with the Boys, we stop tryin’ to kill each other for a day to deal with these stuck-up motherfuckers who think they’re hot shit. This is our town, and if anyone’s gonna fuck it up it’s us.” He racked the slide on one of his pistols, slid it into its holster, then picked up his real pride and joy, a Bushmaster M4A3 semi-automatic assault rifle. It’d taken a lot of work for him to get it, and he’d carefully stockpiled the ammunition, until he had twenty clips worth for it. “Besides, it’ll be fun to take a whack at some bitches who got better shit than the Boys do. Might be able to swipe most of it and be able to step up our game.”
The other Homicidas started chuckling, slapping their magazines into the motley assortment of pistols, machine pistols and submachine guns. Carlos looked with pride on his gang, then settled his green bandanna on his head. “Alright, let’s go get this shit done.” The gang followed him out the door with a chorus of cheers, the twenty or so kids spreading out to their varied vehicles. With a roar of engines and rap music they set out, following Carlos in his Escalade. He’d stolen a police scanner a few months ago, though he’d never thought that he’d be using it to come to the rescue of a bunch of cops.
“Alright boys, now let’s show these guys what it really means to fuck with the St Louis Police. Officer Jacobs, Simmons? Show our guests just who they’re messing with,” Chief Nance said firmly.
“Yes sir,” the two chimed in unison, their bolt-action rifles braced on the floor in the hallway. As the officers double checked their earplugs, the two snipers fired their weapons. The heavy slugs each caught a minigun truck’s gunner in the face, sending them pitching back, then falling into the interior.
“TAKE COVER!” Nance bellowed as the terrorists outside began to put suppressing fire into the precinct. A few officers were slow and took stray rounds, one through the head. “Shit, take the wounded to the back!” he barked to the riot shield officers, who carefully rolled their two riot-shields into place while others dragged the injured officers to safety.
“Well, we definitely have their attention now sir,” one of the junior officers replied.
“Yeah, but they’ll be smarter now, keep their miniguns out of our line of fire. I want you to keep hitting them you two!” He shouted to the marksmen, who didn’t even nod, too focused on reloading their rifles and punishing those who stuck their heads up.
“Sir, not to question your plan, but sitting around here doesn’t seem like a great idea. The radio calls we keep hearing aren’t encouraging,” one of the senior detectives, Henry Krakoviak said as he settled into the cover next to Nance.
“We’re working on it. I’d hoped to have the officers roll the SWAT trucks out, but they weren’t built to handle firepower like this. Sure the frame held up, but a couple thousand rounds doesn’t mix well with the tires. So, right now all I think we can do is keep as many of the bastards here as possible.”
The assembled officers looked up as a faint buzzing noise made itself heard, before there was suddenly a series of loud explosions from outside. The all too familiar bandsaw howl of the miniguns responded, but there wasn’t as much of it.
“What in the world?” Nance wondered as one of the officers he’d posted upstairs came sliding in next to him.
“Sir! You won’t believe it, but there’s an Army chopper outside, they just blew a fuckin’ crater in their formation!” He shouted, real happiness in his voice now. The other officers started murmuring excitedly amongst themselves.
“Alright, let’s not let it go to our heads,” Nance took a glance out the door, where the black trucks had pulled back in the face of the Apache’s attack. “Alright, let’s try and press the advantage. SWAT officers to the front! The rest of you provide supporting fire! And for God’s sake try and take one of these pricks alive! I want to find out what made them want to go through all this trouble in the first fuckin’ place!”
As one the officers rose to their feet and moved toward the front of the lobby, the more armored SWAT officers trading assault rifle fire with the me in the street. Overhead, the Apache rolled to the side to avoid a stream of minigun fire from the ten trucks that were still mobile, before it fired a couple more rockets toward them. The pilot swore as the trucks managed to avoid the salvo and continued firing at him. These bastards were more nimble than he’d expected, and he wished the brass had thought that through when they’d armed him with only unguided rockets.
The air inside the suburban Bureau was silent, none of the citizens who’d peeked in wanting to stay in such a charnel house of death and misery. The scattered applications littering the floor began to stir as the wind picked up. A dull hum filled the air as flickers of light began to spark off the solid surfaces and the bodies of the fallen guards. With a sharp snap the PER team appeared out of thin air, several ponies immediately retching at the stench and horrifying sights.
Rampart tried hard to keep his own bile down as he surveyed the wreckage of the lobby. “A-alright everypony. You know why we’re here. Let’s fan out and see if anypony survived.” He carefully trotted down the hallways, trying his best to avoid stepping in the pools of blood. Spent bullet casings clinked against each other as he stopped next to the body of a stallion lying slumped against the wall. Reaching down, he gently closed the vacant eyes, his hoof starting to shake. “What kind of people could have done this?” He looked up as a voice called out hesitantly.
“R-Rampart?” It was Chamomile, one of the earth pony mares who’d been helping with obtaining the newest versions of the training regimens from the Bureaus before coming to the main HQ. He turned and hurriedly made his way toward the sound of voice. Rounding the corner, he stopped for a second. Chamomile was on the opposite side of the hallway from a partially open door, her eyes wide with fear.
Slowly walking up to her, Rampart leaned down and nuzzled her to try and snap her out of it. “Chammy, what is it? What did you see?”
Not even responding, she slowly raised a shaking hoof to point into the room, the other clamped over her muzzle. Rampart lifted his head, hesitantly making his way into the room.
None of his fifty-three years living along the border between Equestria and Scythion could have prepared him for what he saw. His legs trembled, his stomach convulsed and he vomited at the sight of the little bodies, twisted into grotesque parodies of the lives that they had held. Wiping at his muzzle, he made his way across the floor, every step nearly being too much until he finally fell to his knees next to a little earth pony colt. Picking the body up, he felt tears streaming down his face as he shook it gently, sure that this was all some sick lie, that the foal would blink his eyes and laugh, that the hole in his face wouldn’t be there if he could just hold tight enough.
“M-mommy?” The voice was whisper quiet, almost lost in the deafening silence. Rampart’s heart wrenched as the colt drew a shallow, shuddering breath.
“It’s... It’s okay. You’re safe.” He managed to whisper back, clutching the colt to his chest in an attempt to keep life in that fragile body. Turning his head toward the door, he shouted, “SOMEPONY BRING THE UNICORNS! RIGHT NOW!”
“It’s so cold... I’m scared.” The colt’s breathing was getting weaker. His forelegs managed to find their way around Rampart’s neck, clinging tightly to his cobalt coat.
“Just hold on, you’re going to be alright. You’ve got to be alright.” Rampart swore he could feel it, the last, soft sigh of air as the colt went limp in his hooves. He was aware of somepony bellowing in incoherent rage, and after a moment realized it was him. He could hear the hoofsteps of the others, and their own gasps of horror as they saw the horrific sight.
He finally quieted and gently laid the colt’s body down, though he continued to shake with rage. Rising to his hooves, he turned to face the others, his forelegs stained with blood. “Gather everypony. We’re leaving.”
“W-where are we going? The central B-Bureau?” One of the pegasi, Cloud Climber was her name, asked haltingly, her eyes still fixed on the bodies.
Rampart strode forward, his eyes alight. “No. We will find the ones who did this. And punish them. All of them.”
“And we’re back from commercial. The story of the hour continues to be the unfolding attack on St Louis. The situation is still very confusing, but what we do have comes from our dedicated news helicopter pilot Hank Wilson. It appears that in the downtown ‘pony district’, a number of Royal Guard ponies have joined forces with police.” The chopper’s feed showed several Royal Guard charging a blockade of armored trucks, the single unicorn in the group conjuring a wall of flames to keep their heads down until the earth ponies could reach close quarters range. A few stray bullets ricocheted off the armor, not even slowing them down. A pegasus circled overhead before diving straight down onto a roof of a minigun truck to take out the gunner. “They’ve attacked several groups of the gunmen now and taken their weapons, and several of their trucks. In addition, six Apache helicopters from Scott Air Force Base are now in the city attempting to drive back the attackers, but it seems to be an even match, as the trucks are quick enough to keep ahead of the limited munitions the Apaches have.” The televised feed switched to a reporter on the ground. “Adrian, what else can you tell us?”
The man looked harried, and twitched at every burst of gunfire. “Uhhh, that’s right Diane. We’re still not sure how many police are cooperating with the Equestrian Royal Guard, but they seem to be substantial, as the black trucks we’ve seen have started roaming the streets in larger numbers. Earlier, we came very close to an engagement between the trucks and the Apache helicopters. It appears the two are at a virtual stalemate, but this gives the police the chance to regroup and try to push back.”
“I see. What are the streets like?” Diane asked, very glad to be safe behind her desk in New York.
“Well as you can see, it’s pretty bad down here. There are a lot of wounded ponies, and several hundred dead. The human citizens of the city have done what they can to help, but it’s been tough going. Some of the people we spoke with a little while ago claimed that some of the wounded ponies are reacting to any humans with fear and distrust. It’s just too confusing at this time,” Adrian said with a sigh.
“Well, just stay safe Adrian,” Diane said as she turned toward another camera. “The White House has issued a statement on the attack, saying only that they are aware of the situation, and are working on preparing a response as soon as possible. The National Guard has sealed off the bridges across the Mississippi to prevent the terrorists from being able to reach the St Louis airport, and we have word the Marines stationed at Lambert have set up a defensive perimeter.” She took a drink of water and a breath before continuing. “We’ve also heard unsubstantiated rumors from citizens that a large number of vehicles have been spotted driving toward Interstate 44 from the south and west, though who exactly these people are remains unclear. And lastly, there are unconfirmed reports that a large group of ponies have appeared in the suburban Bureau, which was confirmed to have been attacked earlier that morning. We have a video that was streamed to the internet a few minutes ago.”
The view cut to a shaky cell phone video of a number of ponies exiting the bullet-scarred entrance of the Bureau. A pegasus noticed the person holding the phone and leapt into the air, throwing a spherical object at them. The feed dissolved into a blur of static and was soon replaced by the general feed from the helicopter. Diane looked awkward for a moment, but then managed to get herself back on track. “We’ll continue to follow the story closely, stay tuned after the break.” The first commercial came on and Nimbus turned the TV off, her eyes hard. Breaker had finally calmed down and was sleeping for the time being. She’d called the Bureau and rescheduled his appointment for next week.
“At least Flare is alright for now. Aegis, Lariat, and the others too. And even the Old Pony himself... Well, if anypony can hold them together and keep them safe, he will.” She sighed, her ears folding. “I should have just made him stay here, or go to Hawaii for his bachelor party...”
There was a knock at the door and Nimbus trotted over, peering through the peephole first before opening it.
“Nimbus!” Skipjack cried out in relief as she entered the apartment, moving a little slowly due to her condition. She and Dusty had finally decided that the time was right for them to have foals of their own, and she was pretty far along, nearly seven months. To their surprise, the sixth month checkup had revealed that they were going to be having not one, but two foals. “Have you seen the news?”
“Who hasn’t?” Nimbus asked rhetorically as she pointed toward the couch. “Make yourself at home, I’ve got some milk left in the fridge if you want it.”
“That’d be great, thanks. Do you have any zucchini? I’ve been craving it for the past few days.” Skipjack said as she hefted herself onto the couch.
“Sorry, can’t say I do,” Nimbus laughed a little as she carried the glass on a small tray, setting it down on the end table.
“How’s Breaker doing?” Skipjack asked after taking a sip.
“Well, the news took over his morning cartoons and scared him, but I managed to calm him down and put him back to bed. The news feed showed Flare and the others just a few minutes ago, actually.” Nimbus clambered into the small recliner chair next to the couch.
“How are they doing?” Skipjack’s voice was worried.
“Well, they seem to be doing okay, the news says they’ve taken on a couple groups of whoever those humans are in conjunction with the police. There’s also a couple Apache helicopters giving the police a hoo- hand.” Nimbus laughed. “I swear, give me another year or so and you won’t be able to tell me from an Equestrian.”
Skipjack’s eyes were downcast. “I just hope that Dusty is alright...”
“Listen to me Skip. Dusty’s not about to let you deliver those foals without being there. On top of that, he’s got Aegis, Flare, Lariat, and the Old Pony himself watching his flank. I’m sure they’ll be fine.” Nimbus smiled, though she couldn’t help the small knot of worry that stubbornly clung to her heart.
“Mommy? What’s Aunt Skipjack doing here?” Breaker mumbled as he toddled out of his room, his Wonderbolts doll he’d gotten for Christmas held in his mouth.
“Well, she heard about the scary things on the TV and wanted to come make sure that we were okay,” Nimbus said with a smile, shooting an apologetic glance at Skipjack.
“O-okay.” Breaker yawned. “Can I watch cartoons?”
Nimbus hopped out of her chair, ruffling Breaker’s mane as she opened the DVD cabinet. “Sure, but just so the TV doesn’t try to be mean again, why don’t we put in one of your movies?”
“Yay! I wanna watch Finding Nemo!” Breaker giggled happily as he clambered onto the couch to settle down next to Skipjack.
“Alright then, let’s watch Finding Nemo.” Nimbus fumbled a little with the DVD case, but after a couple tries managed to get the disc into the player. “They really need to make pony-friendly versions of these.”
Skipjack laughed. “They’ll probably charge extra for them if they do though.”
Nimbus laughed as she climbed back into her chair, Breaker deciding he wanted to change seats to snuggle with her. The two mares shot each other a worried glance as the movie started playing, the same thoughts running through their minds, but both willing to let a child think the world had regained some sense of order.
“So what do we know of the situation now?” Celestia asked as she read through a document that had just been delivered.
Amber Dusk looked up. “The situation isn’t entirely clear, but it seems that the city police, in conjunction with the US Army and elements of the Royal Guard still in the city, have begun to push back the enemies. We still don’t know who they are or what they’re really after, only that they seem determined to retrieve something from the serum research facility.”
“I see,” Luna said, her eyes narrowed as she looked down at the map. “Has there been any request from the United States government for our assistance?”
“No, your Highness,” Amber Dusk said as an aide delivered another piece of paper. “My current opinion is they want to settle this on their own.”
Celestia nodded slowly, her eyes narrowed in thought. She turned her head slightly so that she was looking at Luna. ’What do you think, sister?’
’It does make sense for them to not ask our assistance, especially given the firepower the reports we’ve received indicate the enemies have.’ Luna replied. They didn’t usually speak using telepathy, but it did occasionally serve a purpose.
”So what should we do then? I’d prefer to not allow those Guards to go without help,” Celestia said as she took a breath. ”Not to mention that, even though they are not our citizens, we do owe at least some obligation to the ponified US citizens.”
“There’s another matter that has not been addressed yet,” Gold Arrow finally spoke up. “What do we do with the other Bureaus around the world? If the soldiers attacking St Louis are not the full extent of the enemy’s strength, then the other Bureaus could be at risk. To prevent loss of life from among our brightest who are working at the other research facilities, I propose that we recall them back to Canterlot and suspend all research on the serum for the time being.”
Amber Dusk shook his head. “We must not yield to these, these, terrorists, I believe is the English word for them. If we abandon our efforts here we will show them that we are of weak resolve. I am as appalled as the rest of us at this table, but above all, we must remain committed to our broader goal of saving the human race from extinction.”
“Amber Dusk, Gold Arrow has a point. Many of our citizens and friends are at immediate risk of death as we speak.” Celestia pointed out calmly.
“I understand that General Cloudhammer, Captains Flare and Aegis Exemplar, First Lieutenants Lariat, Dusty, Anvil and Wrecker, along with our experts at the serum research facility, are at risk. However, I have known Cloudhammer long enough to know that if he were here and I in his place he would argue exactly as I am now,” Amber Dusk said as he raised his neck. “Do I like putting ponies into harm’s way? Or course not. But this Council must remain above its personal feelings and work for the greater good of not only Equestria, but our friends and neighbors when they need our help.”
“But what about when they don’t want it? I’m sure this august body remembers the attack that occurred when we first tried to help these humans. They very nearly killed one of the Bearers of an Element of Harmony!” Gold Arrow’s voice was hot with anger now. “I’m beginning to think that the majority of this species isn’t even worthy of the efforts put into trying to save them!” A host of voices spoke up in support of him, while others decried his suggestion.
“That will be enough, General Gold Arrow.” Celestia’s voice rang out across the din of the throne room. The shouting instantly quieted down, the ponies occupying their gazes with the floor. She gently rose to stand on her hooves, the ever-present smile on her face somehow less warm and more imposing. “The humans are volatile, and prone to anger, that is true. But they are our friends, and we will not have discussions of abandoning all of them because of the actions of a relative few.”
“But, your Majesty-” Gold Arrow ducked his head as Celestia turned her gaze to him.
“I declare this session of Court to be in recess. We will reconvene in one hour. General Gold Arrow, if you would please remain.” The ponies gathered at the table gave each other nervous looks, muttering to each other as they filed out. Soon, the only ponies in the room were the Princesses and Gold Arrow.
“Princesses, I-” He clamped his mouth shut as Celestia rose to her hooves.
“Gold Arrow, you have served the throne well for decades. Nopony here can dispute that your loyalty to Equestria is absolute. However, your attitude regarding the humans is unbecoming of what is expected of a General of the Royal Guard. On top of that, the investigation into the sabotage of Captain Aegis Exemplar’s examination approximately three years and thirty-three weeks ago has revealed a special order discreetly hidden in your desk, for a chain not suitable for the boulder that Captain Exemplar was to pull.”
“That’s... I had nothing to due with that! Cloudhammer was in charge of setting up the test! Just because he wasn’t careful enough to-”
“General Gold Arrow, the evidence is overwhelmingly against you. Therefore, I strip you of your rank. You are not fit to be a part of this Royal Guard any longer.” Celestia’s voice was hard as her horn glowed, his armor glowing a similar color before it dissolved into a shower of dust. Gold Arrow’s coat faded back to its natural white-yellow hue, his auburn mane short-cut.
“Celestia.... please.” Gold Arrow pleaded.
“You are dismissed Gold Arrow.” Celestia’s tone was final, her eyes stern.
The former General opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, but hung his head in defeat, turning and slowly walking from the throne room. As the heavy doors swung closed Celestia sighed.
“It had to be done sister. We’ve been putting it off for a year now,” Luna said somberly.
“I know Luna, I know.” Celestia flicked her ears. “I still remember seeing him on the training fields all those years ago. Even then, he was dismissive of non-ponies, and had an enormous ambition in his heart. For a time that worked out, as Stormhoof was his superior, and even when he wasn’t still ignored him. But when he retired and Cloudhammer took the armor, Gold Arrow began to consolidate his authority.”
“Sister,” Luna chided gently, “I’ve done my research on the past millenium. You need not justify Gold Arrow’s character to me. Now, what do you wish to do about the researchers at the other facilities?”
“They will remain in place.” Looking toward the door, Celestia gently opened the doors. “Ruby? Notify the Guard to prepare themselves and a Beacon Stone on Hawaii. Contact Doctor Silverheart at Canterlot Hospital, we’ll need any of the hospital staff that can be spared.”
Ruby trotted back into view. “Yes, your Highness. How many Guards should be prepared?”
Celestia thought for a second. “Oh, about a regiment will do.”
“Right away Princess. Princess Luna.” Ruby bowed low and galloped down the hallway to carry out his orders. His mind was abuzz, having seen Gold Arrow leaving the throne room in disgrace. ’I wonder how General Cloudhammer will take it?’ he wondered.
“So how are things now?” Foster asked, tapping a pen on the table.
“Well, the chatter from the Apaches indicated they had early success, but the Suburbans are quick enough to stay out of the line of fire. The denser buildings downtown gave the edge to the Apaches, but after they first took casualties they fell back to the more open areas here around the Bureau and serum research facility.” Kingsworth pointed along the maps. “The St Louis police have been getting the edge back thanks to the timely assistance from those Royal Guard, and are starting to make a push for the serum research facility now. Sir, I think we can release the National Guard from holding the bridges and let them come give the police a hand.”
Foster didn’t even hesitate. “Do it. Send a message to the Equestrian Embassy. I want to have Fancypants come down so we can figure out what our next steps will be.”
“We’ll need to get the Director of FEMA involved, set up an area to start working on the wounded. St Louis Emergency Services will be doing what they can, but there’s still not a lot of doctors who are trained on the ins and outs of pony anatomy. See if the Equestrians would be willing to send over some of their doctors,” LaRue said, consulting some of his figures.
“Any word from CIA or FBI?” Foster asked next.
“No sir. FBI is looking through the records for any purchases of miniguns, but thus far they’ve not hit a breakthrough.” Curtis replied.
“Alright. Send an update to the Equestrian Embassy.” Foster ordered, his eyes narrowed as he watched the talking heads try to explain what they just didn’t know.
Another stream of bullets tore through a cruiser as the officers ducked. The unfortunate officer behind the cruiser practically flew back as the shells tore into him.
“Keep their heads down!” Corporal Burton shouted, bringing his assault rifle to his shoulder. “Damnit, they’re dug in tight.”
Three hundred feet down the road, the terrorist force had regrouped around the central Bureau. The men on foot had at least taken shelter within the Bureau itself, so that kept their firepower to a relative minimum. But the problem remained their damn minigun trucks. They’d learned not to take permanent positions with Cloudhammer in the air, though their success had not been without cost. One of the Apaches supporting them had been forced to withdraw after two of the minigun trucks had bracketed it and damaged its fuselage. The other three had done what they could, but were beginning to run low on their rockets and chaingun rounds, if their firing patterns were any indication.
Mark looked behind him, to where an EMT had volunteered to move with the officers and provide medical attention. “How’re they doin’?”
Jeremy looked up. “Well, it’s not a substitute for a hospital, but I’ve cleaned the injury as best I can and bandaged it.” He looked back down at Dusty, securing the bandage that covered his left eye. A cruiser had taken a burst of fire in the gas tank and exploded, a stray piece of shrapnel slicing across his face and shredding his eye.
“Well, Dusty, at least...hmm, what is it the humans say? ‘Chicks dig scars’?” Aegis slapped Dusty on the withers, trying to get his mood up. “Though what baby birds have to do with it, I’ll never know.”
Dusty flicked his tail irritably, ears still twitching madly at the dulled pain. “I just hope Skipjack doesn’t rip my head off over this. I’d like to keep ahold of what’s left.”
Lariat chuckled, though his ears were folded down slightly. “Amigo, Skipjack will just be happy to see you come home from this. If we do, that is...”
Cloudhammer’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t start with that First Lieutenant. We’ve made it this far, and we will keep going until this is over.”
Aegis looked Dusty over again. Besides the damage to his eye, Dusty’s armor had received a number of large dents along the shoulder plate on that side, more than Aegis was comfortable leaving for later repairs. “Flare, Anvil, Wrecker, moment of your time.” Aegis dug out of his saddlebag a silver sheet of undyed metal, the same titanium alloy the humans had provided to compose this latest generation of Royal armor.
“Okay, Wrecker, get Dusty’s pauldron re-shaped. Anvil, you I need to work on a patch for Dusty’s helm. Flare... How’re you holding up? I’m going to need a little spot-welding done on the helm, and heating otherwise for the shaping.”
Flare nodded weakly. “I got it.” He looked toward the police. “We’ll need to move back first.”
Cloudhammer nodded. “Corporal Burton! We need to tend to our armor. Can you keep this pace without us?”
“We’ll manage!” Mark shouted back. “Can’t have you Equestrians showing us up all the time,” he muttered as he crouch-walked his way back to the front line.
The seven ponies retreated a short distance down the street and into an empty alley. Flare carefully lifted Dusty’s helmet in his magic, the orange glow brightening as he disarmed the protective enchantments and began to heat both the sheet metal and the helmet. His breathing started to become labored, and his magic flickered a few times, but finally he passed them over to Anvil. Taking it gingerly in his armored hooves, he set about shaping a piece of titanium into a covering for the left eye socket.
“Flare, I saw that. You need to rest. Badly.” Cloudhammer said as he sat down next to the unicorn, taking off the hoof guards. “By the Pale Mare, these things have never been comfortable.”
“Sir, I’m fine, I just need a moment to catch my breath-” Flare tired to stand up and staggered as his vision swam. “Or maybe not.”
“Easy there,” Lariat quickly braced the exhausted unicorn, “You’ve been throwing around a lot of magic already amigo, you need to take a break.” He looked over as Wrecker set about reshaping the armor, Aegis giving him a hoof to smooth out the edges in his technique.
“You know, Wrecker, you and Anvil have gotten really good at this; maybe y’oughta see ol’ Gentle Flame, maybe get a transfer.”
“With respect sir, we’re frontliners, Anvil and me. That’ll turn out like the time you suggested Sledgepetal do a recruitment poster.” Wrecker pounded another dent smooth, leaving only a few scuffs on the pauldron. Aegis flipped the piece and looked it over.
“Well, if you ever get out of the Guard, you two have futures as blacksmiths, for sure. And Sledgepetal eventually stopped cracking the flooring whenever she saw me.” Aegis grinned, affixing the adjusted pauldron back onto the hardpoints of Dusty’s armor, giving it a smack. “How’s the helm coming, Anvil?”
“Just another few taps...” Anvil rapped his hooves smartly on the helmet’s new patch, then hoofed it back over to Aegis, “What do you think sir?” The helmet now sported a gleaming patch of silver over the left eye, as well as having the dents repaired.
“Sheesh, aside from the coloration, I can hardly tell this is a field repair. Good job.” Aegis allowed another moment for the freshly-repaired helm to further cool, then presented it to Dusty. “Good as new. But remember to duck next time? Repairing these things is expensive.” Aegis grinned, setting the helm on Dusty’s head. “How’s that feel?”
Dusty tossed his head to settle the helmet. “It’ll do for now. We ready to move out?”
Cloudhammer looked over from where Flare was now slumped on the ground. “Not yet, Flare’s still out of it.”
Flare pushed himself to his hooves. “I’m good to go sir, really...” His legs started shaking and he sat back down.
“Flare, you’ve pushed yourself to the point of thaumatic exhaustion. Just sit here for a bit and take a break. Everypony, rest break for ten minutes.” Cloudhammer ordered before turning back to Flare. “When we move out I want you to refrain from casting magic. Not just for keeping the police safe, but so you don’t burn out all of your magic. We’re not in Equestria, so you don’t have that cushion backing you up.”
Flare scowled. “I understand sir.”
Cloudhammer nodded. “You’ve done far more than I’d expected you to, given your feelings toward using magic against humans.”
“Well... if I may speak freely sir?” At Cloudhammer’s nod, Flare took a shaky breath. “I admit to having some second thoughts about this.” He gestured with a hoof to the street, where bullet holes pockmarked the pavement and buildings. “Just look at this. The humans that live here didn’t deserve this. I mean, I understand why the ponification serum is important, but if this is the cost we have to pay...” He trailed off, digging a hoof at the concrete.
Cloudhammer sighed. “I know how you feel Flare. But whatever these humans wanted to achieve by attacking the city, we cannot let them break our resolve.”
“But sir, are you really sure we’re doing the right thing? I know that there are a lot of humans who are willing to accept the ponification, but if offering it inspires such acts of violence from others, is it something that’s really worth doing?” Flare’s eyes were downcast.
“It is, and I’ll tell you why amigo.” Lariat finally felt compelled to join in on the pair’s discussion. “I know that there are things humans do that you native Equestrians don’t understand, but if you want an example of why it’s worth it to continue our partnership, it’s right down the street. Those police didn’t hesitate to defend the pony citizens of this city, even though they’re not of the same species. Flare, you didn’t hesitate when you used your magic to rescue Corporal Burton, did you?”
“Well no... I couldn’t just stand by and let them kill him.” Flare shot back.
“And that’s just examples of our two species under stress. When it mattered, neither you nor the police hesitated. Even not under stress, the fact that two sentient species could work together to create something as profundo as the serum despite our differences is nothing short of awe-inspiring.” Lariat stamped a hoof in emphasis, “I wouldn’t even be alive today if it weren’t for the effort our species put into creating that serum.”
“I... You’re right Lariat.” Flare stretched his neck, sighing in relief as it popped a few times. “Sorry I let all this get to me everypony.”
Lariat snorted. “Relax amigo, it happens to the best of us all the time. And besides, I think losing a little faith in people when something like this happens is justified. Just don’t let their actions spoil your opinion of all humans for you.”
Aegis made his way over to the other two senior officers and, having caught the last bit, slapped Lariat on the shoulder. “And let’s not forget Lariat’s personal efforts at furthering pony\human relations.”
Lariat snorted. “Ah, laugh it up amigo. But sooner or later the shoe will be on the other hoof, and I shall be able to laugh at you.”
Aegis gave an innocent look and, despite not quite getting the setup he’d expected, went ahead and said the out-of-place line he’d prepared: “Why, I never said anything about Amy.” Aegis grimaced. That didn’t quite work. There was a reason he didn’t have a cutie mark for comedy.
The other guards broke into laughter despite themselves, feeling better for the first time since they’d walked out the door of the hotel.
Helen was beginning to get really irritated with this. The reports coming in on the radio had told them that their fellow officers were finally beginning to turn the tide downtown. “So then where in the hell’s our backup?”
“We can’t just sit here Helen.” Sam was getting edgy. “I got a bad feeling about this.”
“Well no shit Sam, this is a pretty bad mess already.” But Helen couldn’t shake the new feeling of unease. Sam might be impulsive, but he had yet to be proven wrong on his ‘bad feelings’. “Just keep your eyes open.”
“Ma’am, I got movement at ten o’clock!” Kelly whispered urgently. The officers shifted to be able to see better, and despite themselves their jaws dropped open.
“Is... is that what I think it is?” Helen sputtered out.
“Looks like our reinforcements are here after all.” Johnny started laughing in spite of the situation.
Down the road behind the gunmen, nearly fifty cars of assorted sized pulled up from two different directions, stopping a mere forty feet behind them.. The doors slammed open as kids of various ages jumped out, guns already in hand.
Staff Sergeant Franklin turned around, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of a group nearly twice the size of his own. “Hostiles rear! Take cover!” He started to scramble toward a better position.
“Alright Homicidas, let’s show these pricks who they’re fuckin’ with!” Carlos shouted, levelling his rifle and sending a couple rounds into the relatively unprotected rear of the gunmen. The Homicidas followed suit, along with the Boys of Destruction. Literally hundreds of rounds of ammo tore downrange, eight of the soldiers dropping in the first five seconds. The gunmen returned fire as their trucks formed up into a doubled line. The miniguns spun up and started to spit rounds toward the gangs, several cars exploding as the bullets shredded into their gas tanks.
“Christ, the Boys and the Homicidas working together...” Helen whispered before the zip of a stray bullet whizzing past her head snapped her back into focus. “Alright, now’s our chance. Sam, I want you to take Kelly and Johnny, move back onto the I-44. We’ve got to get the civilians out of here. See if a couple SUVs can smash down that fence and direct them into the parking lot to the north.”
“Roger that.” The three of them moved through the cruisers and sprinted to the interstate. Talking hurriedly with the drivers of a few SUVs, they soon had a line of traffic heading north, away from the gunfire.
Cloud Climber floated overhead, her ears on a swivel to try and pinpoint the location of the monsters that had attacked the Bureau. She’d had some friends among the humans, and had seen their capacity for anger, but they’d always seemed so nice to her. This though... were all humans capable of such monstrous behavior? If they were, then maybe the ponification serum was more important than ever. Certainly none of the newfoals she’d seen could do something like this.
Her swirling thoughts were interrupted by a thunderous barrage of noise, and after regaining her balance, she looked down to see a cluster of multi-colored cars, then a number of identical black trucks, along with cars that she recognized as human police. There was a large highway further down the road, with cars streaming off it and away from the gunfire. Bringing her eyes to the group that was attacking the black trucks, she swore that they seemed to be... smiling? That couldn’t be true, but as she banked a little closer she could see it plain as day. Some of them had twisted grins on their faces as they shot at the gunmen, a few even laughing.
Deciding she’d seen enough, she wheeled about and hurried for the group of PER, who had chosen to hold position when the gunfire had picked up again.
“Have you found them Cloud Climber?” Rampart asked coldly.
“Yes, they’re just to the north of us. There are a number of other humans attacking them, though...” Cloud Climber trailed off hesitantly.
“Go on Cloud.” Rampart said, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
“Sir... the new humans appear to be... laughing. As if they’re enjoying this violence.” Her voice cracked as she tried to keep herself together.
Rampart was silent for a few long minutes, his orange eyes half-closed as he mulled over what to do. Finally, he sighed as he came to a decision. “Pegasi, I want you to gather as many potion spheres as you can carry.”
“What are you getting at, Rampart?” Powder Dance said as she fluttered her wings nervously.
“Humans that take joy in or feel no remorse at this kind of slaughter are evil. I intend to make an example of them. We’ll drop the potion bombs on them, then find out who it was who executed those foals. I will handle his punishment for his crime personally.” He looked at the other ponies levelly. “Are all of you with me?”
The ponies looked at each other nervously, the prospect of what they were about to do suddenly weighing down on them.
“I’m with you sir.” Cloud Climber said resolutely, trotting forward to stand next to him.
“I am too sir.” Bright Lights, one of their replication unicorns, levitated a couple potion spheres into Cloud Climber’s saddlebags.
Slowly, the other ponies all trotted forward to join them, until Powder Dance and another unicorn, Codex, remained. They looked at the line of resolute ponies in front of them, then at each other. Reluctantly, they trotted forward, Powder Dance opening her saddlebags to take the potion spheres.
“Alright. Now, the pegasi will launch the initial strike. We’ll move in once they’ve been ponified and establish a perimeter. Unicorns, I want you to stay back, and be ready to use your magic to defend us if you have to.”
“Defend us against what?” Codex asked anxiously, his tail swishing.
“Against anything. Those foals deserve justice for what those humans did to them, and we will deliver it. Now move out.” Rampart’s eyes were cold. The pegasi looked to each other for a second before spreading their wings and taking to the sky, the plumes of black smoke serving to direct them to their target.
“Alright, you six handle the black trucks. The rest of us will handle these humans directly below.” Cloud Climber said as she carefully took three spheres from her saddlebags, two in her hooves and one in her mouth.
Powder Dance and the others fell into a circling pattern over the black trucks. Looking at her fellow pegasi, she could only see anger in their eyes, and that disturbed her as much as the sights of the Bureau. The look in Rampart’s eyes continued to bother her as well. She looked over and saw Cloud Climber give the signal, her trio of potion spheres falling toward her targets. The others released their spheres, and with a sigh she released hers too. As she watched them tumble away from her, she felt the weight of the decision she’d just made nearly smash her from the sky.
Down below, Carlos was reloading a magazine into his assault rifle when Ricky clapped him on the shoulder. “Carlos, look at this!” He pointed up to the air over the black-armored men, where a couple pegasi could be seen circling. “What the fuck do you think they’re doing?”
Carlos squinted, seeing a number of spherical objects falling toward the ground. “Shit man, they’re bombing their position. Homicidas take cover!” The gang crouched down, the Boys of Destruction doing the same with their survivors. The two gangs had taken a beating, but they’d dished it out good to those black-armored fucks too. But then he felt... something, a tickle on the back of his neck, and he looked up. Overhead, a much larger number of pegasi circled, and the same spheres could be seen falling toward them. “LOOK OUT! EVERYONE SCATTER!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, scrabbling to get into his Escalade. He managed to fling the rear door open and dive in, Ricky following suit as the first spheres hit. But instead of the explosion he expected, the splashing noise of liquid could be heard.
“Shit, some of it got on my ankle...” Ricky said, his eyes growing drowsy before he passed out, his skin turning waxy and his limbs jerking in the clothes. Carlos’ eyes widened and he dragged himself and the transforming Ricky into the Escalade, tugging the door shut behind him and locking the doors.
“Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit... What do I do?” Carlos muttered incoherently before he could see Ricky’s leg trying to bend the pants too far forward. “Aw shit... you owe for this one buddy.” Pulling out his switchblade, he cut the pants, shirt and underwear free before Ricky’s legs broke completely. Pushing himself away from the roiling mass of flesh that his lieutenant had become, he tried not to vomit, and more importantly, keep himself out of sight of the windows in case those pegasi came back.
Down the road, Helen and the other officers were dumbstruck between shock and horror. They’d seen the pegasi overhead, but hadn’t seen any above their own position upon looking up.
“H-Helen? What do we do now?” One of the other officers asked, his hands tightening on his pistol as more ponies emerged from the side streets, saddlebags bulging.
Helen honestly didn’t know. Nothing she’d been trained for had prepared her for something like this. “We need to hold the line, let the civilians get away.” She raised her voice so the others could hear. “Get your cruisers ready. If those ponies try to come at us, we’ll use them for cover and buy as much time as we can.”
He opened his eyes, blinking at the brightness of the light. He was lying on his side, the pavement hot against his skin. He started moving, trying to sit up, but something felt wrong.
“Rampart, one of them is waking up.” A voice came from behind him. A large, cobalt blue earth pony with a dark grey mane and cold orange eyes came into view.
“Good, you’re awake. I have some questions to ask you.” The stallion’s voice was tight with anger. “Were you involved in the attack on the suburban Bureau?”
“W-what?” He was still groggy, and flicked his ears in irrita- wait? Flicked his ears? The earth pony that was Staff Sergeant Theodore Franklin screamed in horror. He felt a hoof press down on his side, compressing his lungs and cutting off his cry.
“I asked you a simple question. Were you involved in the attack? It’s just yes or no.” Rampart asked, pressing down harder.
Franklin felt his ribs straining under the pressure. “N-no, that was Beta Section,” he said, lifting a hoof weakly to point to the other side of their formation. He felt the pressure let off and gasped in a breath, wincing as his ribs flared painfully. He heard another set of hoofsteps next to him, and looked up to see a blue-white pegasus mare looking down at him.
“I’m sorry.” Her voice was so quiet he almost didn’t hear it.
“What did you say?” He struggled to sort out how to get to his feet... hooves. The reality of it hit him again and he sagged back to the ground, ears folding flat against his head.
“I’m sorry. As much wrong as you’ve done, you didn’t deserve... this.” The mare lifted her head as Rampart tossed another newfoal to the ground, apparently having gotten the information he wanted.
“PER to me! We have the one responsible!”
The mare looked back down at Franklin, and trotted closer to Rampart, standing next to an off-white unicorn as more ponies converged from every direction, until a ring of them surrounded a single emerald unicorn stallion. The newfoal tried to scoot away from Rampart, but bumped into the ponies behind him, who pushed him forward so he was sitting up.
“So, you were the one who found it necessary to execute a room full of foals?” Rampart asked, his voice dangerously calm.
“Those were our orders...” The pony’s voice was weak, eyes trying to find a way out and spotting none.
“I see. Well, I have my orders too. They were to safeguard the ponies of this city. And you have caused me to fail in those orders. The least that I can do is dispense justice to their killer, and hope that they will forgive me for my failure.” He stood taller. “As High Knight of the PER, I hereby sentence you, for the crime of murdering twelve foals and their caretaker. Does anypony present dispute this charge?”
Nopony spoke, their eyes hard as they stared at the unicorn.
Rampart nodded. “Then I will carry out your punishment. That punishment being death.”
The other ponies nodded firmly, though Powder Dance flinched, taking a step or two back. “Codex, this isn’t right. Just because these humans are so barbaric doesn’t mean we need to be as well.”
“I know... but what can we do? Rampart is our commanding officer, and everypony else supports him-” both ponies flinched as Rampart reared, his forehooves still stained a dark red as he thundered them down into the stallion’s head. The crunch of broken bone could be heard from back where they stood, and the stallion started to scream piteously, a wet gurgle underlying it before Rampart reared again. And again. And again. Mercifully, the noise stopped shortly, and Rampart stood there, breathing heavily. He turned his blood-flecked head toward Franklin, his eyes wild. “Bring him.”
Powder gulped, but stood her ground. “No Rampart. This is wrong. We’re supposed to be better than this!”
“DON’T LECTURE ME ABOUT RIGHT AND WRONG! THESE HUMANS ARE EVIL!” Spittle flew from his muzzle as he took a step forward. “I WILL NOT STOP UNTIL I SEE THEM PUNISHED FOR THEIR CRIMES!”
“But where will it stop? By his own admission, he wasn’t at the Bureau!” Codex shouted as he stepped forward to stand next to Powder. “Listen to me, please everypony! Even if what these humans did was evil, we can’t use that as justification to descend to that very same level. That logic will only lead us all into the same darkness that we escaped when our ancestors founded Equestria!”
A few ponies, who’d already looked sick at Rampart’s ‘justice’, wavered before trotting over to stand next to Codex and Powder. Soon, Rampart only stood with Cloud Climber, five pegasi, two unicorns, and four more earth ponies.
“If that’s the way you feel, then you’re just as bad as the humans. Pray that we do not meet again,” Rampart hissed angrily as he turned to one of the unicorns. “We’re leaving. Prepare the runes.”
“Rampart, don’t do this. We’re going to tell everypony what you’ve done here today. The Royal Guard will not rest until they find you,” Codex said, his voice wavering.
“I doubt that. Telling the Royal Guard would lead them to the rest of the PER first.” Rampart turned away from them, the ponies loyal to him following. “I pity your weakness of resolve.” The unicorns lit their horns, a series of runes forming around them before they teleported away.
“Well, now what do we do?” Powder asked despairingly.
“Amber Dream needs to be told of this,” Codex replied, “the rest of the PER need to know to keep an eye out for Rampart and his followers. There’s no telling what they’ll do if he’s willing to forcibly ponify humans and murder them.”
“What do we do with them?” Powder looked sadly at the scattered newfoals, many of them groaning as they started to come to their senses.
“We can’t take them with us.” Codex looked up as an engine roared, a large truck from the motley of vehicles racing away in a squeal of rubber. Looking the other direction, he could see the police officers starting to come hesitantly forward, shouting at them to stand down. “I think leaving them here is the best choice. I’ve studied the human police of the United States, I don’t think they’d hurt them.”
Powder wanted to protest, but had to admit the necessity of the situation. Looking sadly at Franklin as he tried to stand up again, she sighed. “Alright, let’s go.”
Codex nodded, concentrating power into his horn and forming the runes in his mind. In a flash of brilliant light, the remaining PER vanished in a bang of displaced air.
Franklin blinked his eyes as the last of the light cleared from them, seeing a female police officer standing over him with her pistol held at her side.
“Do you surrender?” Helen asked, her voice surprisingly calm.
“Not like I have a choice, do I?” Franklin asked bitterly, looking around at the now ponified team of soldiers. Police officers were moving in among them, warning the unicorns among them not to try anything. Two officers knelt by the dead unicorn, covering it with a sheet.
“Not really, no,” Helen admitted as she looked around. She could see about a dozen of the now ponified Boys of Destruction unconscious in the street, but of the surviving Homicidas, there was no sign. “What a mess.”
The staff in the command truck were now really on edge. Sections Beta and Charlie had dropped off the air and were not responding. Furthermore, Squad Four from Alpha Section had not checked in. They were about to send another squad to see when the radio hissed and an angry voice came onto the channel.
“Targets secure, ready to move out.”
The staff all collectively let out a sigh and began to call into their headsets. The officer for squad Four looked at the senior commander. “What do we do about Squad Four, sir?”
The officer opened his mouth, but then closed it, thinking. “Send squad Three. But if they’re not here in five minutes we leave without them. Make sure they know that.”
“Roger that. Squad Alpha-Three, investigate Squad Four’s location. You have five minutes ‘til the bus leaves.”
“Roger that,” Staff Sergeant Fred Serrick said as he put the radio back on his belt. “Alright, here’s the deal. Squad Four’s not responding. We’re gonna go in, take a look around, then bug out. Five minute limit, let’s move!” The squad hustled down the stairs, nodding to the other squads as they filed out to their trucks. They advanced down the hallways toward the staff offices, stopping at a side hallway.
“Sir, I got bullet impacts on this wall.” One of the soldiers pointed out.
“Alright, let’s investigate the side hallway. Keep your eyes peeled.” Serrick’s mood darkened as he saw a large pool of blood in the hall, brass shell casings littering the floor. “Alright, check the side rooms.”
The soldier opened the first door on the right and recoiled. “Sir, I got bodies! Looks like Staff Sergeant Pruitt and two men from Squad Four. No sign of the others.”
“Alright, check them, then we sweep the other rooms.” The soldier moved in, rifle raised as he checked the corners, then knelt down by the first body, it was lying facedown, and he gripped its shoulders to roll them over. As he started to turn the body over, a soft click was heard.
“GRENADE!” The soldier shoved the body back flat and leaped backward, landing flat on his ass outside the doorway as the grenade exploded. “Fuck me, that was close.”
“Alright, we leave em. Let’s check the other rooms and see if we can figure out what happened here.” Serrick said as the squad moved to the next room. They stacked up, and kicked the door in. The room turned out to be empty, and they checked the next room, also empty. The last door on the left was shut, and one of the soldiers tried the doorknob.
“It’s locked sir, what do you want to do?”
Serrick checked his watch. “Fuck it, there’s only a minute till extraction. Let’s bug out.” The soldiers hurried down the hallway toward the exit.
Inside the barricaded daycare, Rangel relaxed a hair, taking his finger off the trigger. “Okay, I think we’re good.” The other soldiers relaxed their weapons as well, though that didn’t go too far to assuage the fears of the ponies cowering in the corner.
“So what happens now?” Cirrus asked guardedly.
Rangel looked over, safing and then slinging his assault rifle over his shoulder. “Well, I think that once the rest of the force clears out, the police will move in. When that happens, we’ll surrender.”
“Thank you. I know how hard it must have been for you to do what you did,” Cirrus said.
“Don’t, I didn’t do it for you, I did because of them.” He gestured with a hand toward the foals.
Cirrus nodded before he trotted back over to Cheerheart. “We’re going to hold out here for a little while longer, how’re the foals holding up?”
“They’re doing okay, some of them want to go to the bathroom, and three of them wet themselves when the soldiers...” she gulped, “shot those other soldiers.”
Cirrus nodded. “Excuse me, Private Rangel? Some of the foals here need to go use the bathroom, think one of you would lend us a hand?”
Rangel looked at their scared eyes, then sighed. “Alright, but two of us will go with you, one to go first and make sure it’s safe, then the other to escort the foals.”
“I’m going with you.” Cheerheart’s voice was weak, but she managed to get to her hooves and trot to stand next to Cirrus. “These foals are my responsibility, after all.”
Rangel looked at her, then nodded. “Fair enough. But stay with the soldier, and don’t do anything stupid.” He turned to the rest of the squad. “Polkowski, take the lead. Fredericks, you cover the ponies.”
Miller chuckled. “Well look at you. Only a Private and you’re giving orders like a NCO.”
Rangel scowled mockingly. “You want to pull your made up rank? We’re deserters now, after all.”
“Nah, you’re the one who got us into this mess, might as well follow you the rest of the way,” Miller said with a wry chuckle.
Polkowski slid the desk out of the way, slowly opening the door and sliding out into the hallway, rifle raised. After checking the hallway, he motioned for Fredericks to follow him. The soldier nodded and gestured to Cheerheart and the foals to move, and the group cautiously made its way toward the restrooms.
Once they were out of earshot, Cirrus looked up at Rangel. “So tell me then, what made you join a group like this?”
Rangel was silent for a few seconds. Looking down at the light green pegasus, he finally took a breath. “Well, you Equestrians show up out of the blue, wielding magic that killed hundreds if not thousands of people in the two months before. Then after that space mission, there’s suddenly talk of some kind of ‘Barrier’ that’s going to kick the Earth out of our reality and back to yours? How could people be expected to believe that? And then you come along and say the solution is for us to become like you?” Rangel’s knuckles were white as he clenched his hands. “What kind of solution is that? We’re giving up our very humanity, all that we are, and you didn’t expect some of us to choose to fight back?”
Cirrus blinked. “Well, I don’t mean to insult your opinion on things, but attacking a city? Shooting defenseless ponies because of something none of us can help? I understand how you feel, I really do. I struggled with it for weeks before I even set foot in a Bureau. But there’s got to be better ways than by killing innocents who are just trying to help in the limited ways they can.”
Rangel did a double take. “Wait, you’re not a native?”
Cirrus shook his head. “Not at all, but thanks for thinking it, I guess. As for the giving up our humanity thing, I’m the same as I was when I walked in. Well, on the inside at least.” The short, awkward conversation was ended by Cheerheart, the foals, and the soldiers returning. Once the foals were settled back down, Cirrus gave one last look over his shoulder at Rangel. “For what it’s worth, I am glad for what you did. I’m the only family my sister has outside the police department.”
Rangel didn’t reply, instead double checking his rifle. Inside, he found the edifice of his beliefs, that he’d considered rock solid, while not crumbling, had some significant weathering. He didn’t accept ponification, but he was starting to believe that what the HLF was doing was... wrong. He felt his shoulders slump a little as the traitorous word took root. But, they were wrong. Not in resisting ponification as the only way out. But the pony, Cirrus, was right. There was nothing worthwhile to be had in this. “Hey, Cirrus.” The pegasus looked up. “What was your name? Before you changed, I mean.”
“Chris. Chris Whitt.”
Chief Nance was daring to let himself feel hope. With the help of the Apaches, they’d steadily pushed the trucks back, toward the the serum research facility. They’d taken down two dozen of the trucks, forcing the gunmen from them and confiscating their weapons. Though they’d suffered casualties of their own, twenty-two officers dead and fifteen more wounded. “Alright, let’s keep these assholes moving! Don’t let them set up a position!”
“Sir, look!” Jacobs pointed up, as the two Apaches that had been giving them support cut loose with another burst of chaingun fire, the guns falling silent almost too soon. The helicopters didn’t hesitate before wheeling toward the river, the officers looking forlornly after them.
“Okay, show’s over! They’re just out of ammo, and we’re not going to let these fuckers get the chance to push us back! Keep them on their back foot!” Nance shouted, but even he had to admit that without the Apaches, they were likely to be pinned down again, and this time without the precinct to help keep them safe.
However, the trucks did the last thing he expected them to. With a squeal of rubber, the trucks turned about and sped away, heading toward the Bureau. “Well, that was unexpected.”
“What should we do?” Simmons asked, slinging the rifle he’d appropriated.
“Don’t have a choice, way I see it,” Nance said as he holstered his pistol. “Alright! I want four of you to take two cruisers, keep on them and report what they’re doing! If they turn to engage, get out of there. As for the rest of us, there’s going to be a lot of civilians who need help, so that’s what we’re going to be doing. I want the five of you,” he said, pointing to Jacobs, Simmons, and three other officers, “ to come back to the precinct with me, we’re going to see if we can’t get this clusterfuck under some semblance of order.”
The officers nodded, piling as many officers as they could into the working cruisers they had, others moving out on foot toward downtown.
Jesse Morales navigated his pickup around the overturned wreck of a Suburban, staring curiously at the hole gouged into the side door. “What in the hell’d I miss?” Looking down the street, he could see a small knot of cruisers bunched up. He started to turn the truck down the road when his gaze was caught by the sight of a few EMTs clustered around a tour bus that had run up onto the sidewalk. A few dozen bullet holes marred its side, and two of the EMTs were treating the driver.. He pulled up to the curb and rolled down the window. “What’s going on?”
One of the EMTs turned. “There’s a couple hurt ponies on the bus, but they won’t let us on to try and help.”
Jesse looked down the road one more time before sighing and opening the door. “I’ll try to talk ‘em down. Name’s Jesse.”
“Eric.” The two nodded to each other before Jesse walked cautiously to the front door of the bus.
“Hey there, my name’s Jesse Morales, I hear you have wounded?”
A bulky, orange earth pony stallion with a shock of dark grey mane stood at the top of the steps, ears flat and eyes wild. “Stay back! I won’t let you hurt them any more!”
Jesse raised his hands disarmingly. “Look, I know today’s started off bad, but I won’t hurt any of you, and I promise these guys won’t either.”
“Why should I trust you? We come here to just visit, and the next thing we know there’s all the screaming, and then that human pointed that awful thing at us and Glitter got hurt because of you humans!” He practically shouted, a little foam at the corners of his mouth, eyes narrowed in anger.
Jesse took a deep breath. “I understand how you feel. But you can’t let what one person does color how you see all of us. I’ll tell you what. You can take me hostage, in exchange for letting these gentlemen treat your hurt.”
“Hostage?” The earth pony asked, confusion now warring with his anger.
“It means that if anything happens to Glitter and the others, you can take revenge on me,” Jesse explained calmly.
“W-what? That’s cruel, I wouldn’t do that!” the stallion protested, his ears still flat, but now his eyes were wide with shock.
“I’m sure you wouldn’t. But if you don’t let the other ponies on the bus get treated, you’re being cruel to them too.” Jesse knew he had the stallion then, he’d been to enough questionings to spot the signs, even if it was a pony.
“A-alright. Just please help them!” The stallion moved out of the way, and a few EMTs hurried onto the bus, their bags in hand.
Jesse turned to Eric, still treating the driver. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, he just got some cuts from the glass and a graze from one of those damn miniguns.” Eric finished applying a bandage and looked up. “So what’re you doin down here?”
Jesse rubbed the back of his head. “Well, to be honest, I retired from the police two days ago. Was actually going to go to the Bureau when my scanner picked up all this mess happening. So I decided to come down and try to help out.”
“Same here, can’t really sit by when this kind of thing is going on,” Eric agreed.
“Yep.” Jesse said simply, before turning back to the bus. “Gonna go see how they’re doing in there.”
“Sure, we got this out here.”
Jesse climbed into the bus, settling himself into the driver’s seat next to the stallion. The EMTs had begun to treat the injured ponies, though thankfully only a few of them had been struck by bullets. “So, what’s your name?”
“Gridiron.”
“That’s an interesting name... I’m Jesse Morales.” He extended his hand, and after a second of thought Gridiron shook it.
“Not really, my dad was a big time hoofball player, named me after I stole his prized ball from his display case and bucked it clear across the yard.” He turned slightly, eyeing the hoofball emblazoned on his flank, then looked back at Jesse.
Jesse glanced at the earth pony for a second, trying to see if he was telling the truth or not. The stallion’s dark blue eyes met his levelly, and Jesse finally shook his head in amusement.
“L-look, I’m sorry I yelled at you before. I just got scared when everything started happening. I mean, they warned us in Equestria about being careful here in the human nations, but I didn’t think it’d be like this,” Gridiron admitted, his expression downcast.
Jesse shrugged. “To be fair, this isn’t exactly a normal day for anyone. Tell you what, I’ll show you around town when there aren’t lunatic gunmen shooting up the place. Well, any more than usual.”
Gridiron blinked in confusion. “Oh, o-okay. That sounds like... fun.”
Jesse laughed. “Trust me, this city is actually a pretty nice place to be most of the time. I’ve been here all my life, couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Gridiron pondered that as he and Jesse sat side by side, watching the medics do their work.
Sledgepetal shifted again in her armor, the mare glancing at the other ponies gathered around the map table. There was barely any room around the massive map table, guards and logistics ponies clamoring anxiously. Dr. Silverheart, along with several of the head nurses, were at the far end of the table, laying out their lists of staff. Her eyes narrowed as she caught one of the male nurse ponies staring and she scowled, tossing her head slightly as he hurriedly looked away. She sighed as she looked down at herself again. The armor’s enchantment dutifully hid her natural colors, but couldn’t do anything to hide her slender build or height. It’d made the initial training sessions hell, since she stood a full head taller than any other guard in her class. Her ears flicked as the doors swung open.
“Princess Celestia! Another letter from the Embassy!” the unicorn guard called out as he trotted into the raucous throne room.
“Thank you my dear,” Celestia said as she levitated the sheet in front of her, eyes flicking back and forth as she scanned the words. “Doctor Silverheart, you said your lists were accurate?”
Silverheart nodded. “Y-yes, your Majesty. We have confirmation from all the nurses who have the next two days off to help treat the wounded newfoals. We can leave whenever you want.”
“And General Amber Dusk? What is the status of the Beacon Stone that was sited in the research facility?”
“We’ve tested forming a link to it, and determined that it’s still within the facility. We’re not sure if that means they’re ignoring the Stone, or if they have an ambush planned. Therefore, we’ve decided to release a new Stone to take the medical staff here,” he indicated a point on the map near the largest bridge into the city, “since the reports are showing the US National Guard are locking down these bridges. This location is of course pending both US approval and any information from the ground that shows the serum facility is safe.”
Celestia nodded, her eyes distant. Then, in an abrupt motion she rose to her hooves. “I think that it’s time we get a more direct feel for the situation. General Amber Dusk, First Lieutenant Slegepetal will accompany me to the White House, so that we can coordinate directly with them. Captain Sky Shimmer will remain here in Canterlot, and continue to organize the response to this incident together with Doctor Silverheart.” She strode down the steps of the throne and toward the doors, Amber Dusk and Sledgepetal falling into step almost instinctively. Once they’d reached a balcony, Celestia focused power into her horn and they vanished in a burst of light.
Carlos took the turn at speed, the Escalade threatening to tip over with the weight of so many bodies crammed into it. Fortunately they were still sleeping, so he’d been able to just stack them on top of each other. All he knew was that he had to get away, before those lunatic ponies found them. He still heard the crunches of hooves on bone and the horrific screaming, and slammed a fist into the dashboard. “Fuck. Fuck! This is...” He trailed off nonsensically, idly noticing that they were at last in Homicda territory. Skidding to a stop, he risked a glance out the broken window, finally relaxing a hair as he didn’t see any pegasi outside.
“Alright, lost ‘em.” He looked over at the passenger seat, where a vermillion unicorn stallion still slept, though he spotted him twitching awake. “Fuck, Ricky...” he looked into the back seats and cargo area, where the rest of the Homicidas were passed out, a riot of colors and pony types. “Fuck... everyone but me... fuckin’ figures.” He looked back as Ricky’s eyes fluttered open. “You okay man?”
“Ughhh, my head.” Ricky started to look at Carlos, but froze as he realized he could see his own face now. “C-Carlos?”
“Yeah, those ponies hit you with whatever shit they had, turned you and the rest of the Homicidas too. I got everyone into the Escalade and split.” He shuddered a little as the memory of the look in that stallion’s eyes came back to the fore. “Those ponies were insane man, they ponified all of those out of towners and then killed one of em.”
Ricky was still staring dumbfoundedly at his new hooves. “But... but what are we gonna do now man? We can’t do this shit as ponies man!”
Carlos reached over and smacked Ricky on the back of the head. “Get a hold of yourself! We’re still the Homicidas, we didn’t get arrested by the cops like those guys and the Boys probably did, and we will figure something out!”
Ricky blinked a few times, then took a deep breath. “Y-you’re right. Thanks man.”
“No problem.” Carlos stepped on the gas again, taking the next few turns until they reached their safe house. He honked the horn twice, and Fall Shadows trotted out.
“Hey, you guys made it back- Christ, what happened Carlos?”
“I’ll tell ya once we get everyone inside. Ricky, drag out all the beds, dunno when they’re gonna start wakin’ up.” Carlos opened the door and hefted the first pony, a pegasus mare, onto Fall Shadows’ back. Ricky nodded and hurried inside, followed closely by Fall as Carlos slung an earth pony that he thought was Kirk across his shoulders. “Damn Kirk, a heavy waste of space as a human and you’re still heavy as shit,” he grumbled as he walked quickly into the house.
“Gunfighter-Six, this is Gunfighter-Five. I’m out, returning to base. Keep safe.” Warrant Officer Hank “Shortstop” St John saw the other Apache bank up and away.
“Well fuck, guess this means it’s down to us Andrew.” He glanced down at the back of his gunners’ head, then back up as he swung the chopper around a building to line up another attack run on the black trucks. “Goddamn, this is such a clusterfuck.”
“Got that right Hank, least we were able to help out.” Andrew looked down out the side as they banked around a building, seeing pony and human bodies laying in the streets, some with others around them tending to them. “Gonna be a lot of bodybags to clean this mess up.”
“Well, least we can do to pay ‘em back is add to the total. We got one more salvo left, let’s make it count.” Hank swung the helicopter back into view of the serum research facility, and hesitated for a second. “They’re... leaving?”
Indeed, the trucks were starting to pull out from the facility, heading down the main street toward Interstate 70.
“Where the hell are they going?” Andrew wondered.
Hank angled the helicopter forward. “Doesn’t matter, let’s hit em one more time.”
The Apache quickly came within range, and Andrew lined up the targeter on a pair of the minigun trucks that were trying to return fire. Squeezing the trigger, six rockets streaked downward on trails of fire and smoke. The lead truck tried to hit the gas while the second one braked hard and swerved to the side. The rockets detonated directly behind the lead truck, sending it flipping end over end and into the guardrail. The second truck managed to escape the worst, though one of its tires seemed deformed by the blast. However, it managed to keep pace.
Andrew snorted and switched to the chaingun, peppering the roof of the truck with their remaining 30mm slugs to finish off the gunner. With a beep, the ammo indicator turned to zero. “Well, that’s all folks.”
“Alright, we’ve done what we can.” Hank switched to the general radio. “This is Gunfighter-Six, returning to base. Be advised, hostile ground forces are moving toward the I-70, likely toward Lambert Airport.”
“Roger that Gunfighter-Six, return to base. Thanks for the heads up.”
“Maybe they’ll have gotten some ammo in for us,” Andrew remarked sarcastically as the Apache loped back to the base.
“Tell the Marines at Lambert I don’t want to see a single one of those terrorists set foot on a plane!” Foster ordered irritably. “And we have the airspace totally locked down?”
“Yes sir,” Kingsworth answered. “We’ve got an AWACS flying in now, it’s not seeing anything else coming in to St Louis on the scope. There’s also a wing of four F-16s coming in from Whitman AFB to help with preventing any aircraft from going airborne.”
“Excellent, how long can they stay airborne?” Foster said.
“We’d prefer to send them down after four hours, but there’s another wing that we can send up to relieve them when the time comes for it.” Kingsworth paused as an agent entered the room.
“Mr. President, Princess Celestia has just appeared in the Rose Garden with two of her guards, what do you want me to tell them?” The agent whispered into Foster’s ear.
Foster sighed. “Well, bring her here. Was honestly wondering when she’d show up.” The agent nodded and left the room. “Arnie, I need you to send a letter to the Equestrian Embassy informing them of Celestia’s arrival. Tell them we won’t be sending them further updates, but will instead give the information directly to Celestia.”
“Alright,” LaRue sad as he scribbled a note on his paper pad, handing the page to his Undersecretary.
A few minutes passed and soon the sound of hoofsteps could be heard as Celestia entered the room, flanked by Amber Dusk and Sledgepetal.
“Hello President Foster, I apologize for just dropping in without warning, but felt that being here as the situation develops would allow for a better response from both of us.”
Foster tapped his pen on the desk for a second, then sighed heavily. “Alright then.”
Celestia looked at him out of the corner of her eye, but otherwise didn’t comment on his attitude. “Is there any way we can begin moving aid into the city?”
“Not at this time, we’re still trying to corral the terrorists and either detain or eliminate them.” Kingsworth said, pausing as an aide whispered in his ear. “Well, the Apaches are out of ammunition, but they’ve taken a heavy toll on the enemy force.”
“Gentlemen, and Equestrians, I think we have a new problem here,” Harris said as he indicated the TV set, which was now showing a shaky cell phone feed.
“As you can see, those are pegasi in the sky over a vicious shootout that erupted between local gangs and a group of terrorists. They dropped what appears to be spheres of the ponification serum, but a previously unknown variant that transforms on contact, as opposed to needing to be injected. The terrorists and the gang members were universally ponified, and more ponies emerged from the side street, and began searching for a particular terrorist. I’m afraid that I must warn any parents watching, the next images are extremely violent and not suitable for children.”
The video showed it all. The ponies surrounding the green unicorn stallion. The cobalt blue stallion rearing and bringing his hooves down. The hideous screaming of the ponified terrorist before it ended in a crunch of bone.
For a few long seconds the room was silent. Then Amber Dusk hefted his forelegs onto the table and peered closer. “Is there any way for a picture of that stallion to be taken from this? Or any of the other ponies?”
Kingsworth nodded. “We can get the tapes from CNN. But why would that help?”
Amber Dusk turned his eyes to stare at SecDef. “A pony’s cutie mark is almost universally singular. Those few who develop the same cutie mark are still an incredibly small number. By combing through the Archives, we might be able to at least put names to these ponies, and start assembling a picture of who we’re dealing with. While I doubt they’ll simply return to Equestria, identifying them will also lead us to their friends, families, and associates, which might in turn lead us to more of these individuals. Since it’s obvious to me that they are connected with the same group that stole the initial batch of serum bound for Britain at the end of the year in 2033.”
Foster stared closer at the screen, and nodded after he thought about it. “That does make sense. Curtis, contact FBI, I want as many cutie marks identified from this video as possible, see if any of the ponified US citizens match these descriptions. Arnie, prepare a notice to send to every country with a Bureau, we’ll put this list in as many countries as we can, close the net tight.”
Both men nodded, scribbling their respective notes onto paper.
Foster turned back to Celestia. “Now, one question I want answered is who exactly are those Royal Guard in the city? Your Embassy wasn’t able to get us a reliable answer.”
Celestia nodded. “There is General Cloudhammer, Captains Flare and Aegis Exemplar, and First Lieutenants Lariat, Dusty, Wrecker and Anvil. Flare was I believe having his bachelor party the night before, and was due to return today.”
Foster’s eyes were unreadable, but then he sighed. “Well, I guess it was for the best that they were there. The St Louis police downtown would likely have been wiped out otherwise.”
“I just wish that there was some way to get more forces reliably on the scene,” Sledgepetal spoke up, before realizing she’d spoken aloud and snapped her mouth shut, folding her ears back a little as everyone turned to look at her. “Sorry.”
Celestia tilted her head. “Then what would you do, if you were the one to make the decision?”
Sledgepetal gulped, then looked down at the map spread out on the table. “Well, we know that General Cloudhammer and the others are already within the city. Why not simply use a Beacon Stone to teleport a unicorn skilled in long-range telepathic communication to the secured area, then contact General Cloudhammer and have them verify that the Bureau and serum facility is clear? Then once we know the terrorists really are all gone, then we can begin mass teleports to the serum facility and begin to assist the wounded ponies.”
The assembled politicians looked at her for a second before Kingsworth nodded. “Well, that’d make it a hell of a lot easier to transport at least half of the medical staff and supplies. How soon can you deploy?”
Celestia allowed a small smirk to cross her muzzle. “We’ve been preparing since the initial report came in. All we need to do is send the order to begin teleporting.”
Foster nodded. “Alright, let’s go with that. In the meantime, I want to re-task the Apaches once they get rearmed at Scott AFB.” He looked over as Kingsworth cleared his throat. “Yes?”
“Well, they don’t have any more of the rockets for them. There’s ammunition for their chainguns, but other than that they’d have to skip over to Whiteman AFB.”
“I see. What do you think?” Foster asked.
“Well, the rockets would help, but if they’re going for Lambert, then we want to have them be more precise.”
Foster nodded again. “Alright. Have them stick with chaingun rounds for now. Now, there’s another thing that I want to hear from you, Celestia.” He turned to face the alicorn. “I want your personal assurance that the ponies that committed that cold-blooded murder will be brought to justice if at all possible, and in a US court of law.”
Celestia didn’t even hesitate. “Agreed. Their actions shame us all, and we would be more than happy to see them brought to account for them.”
Foster let out a slight sigh, one of his concerns alleviated. “Alright then, I formally give approval for the commencement of Equestrian Royal Guard operations on US soil. In coordination with US Army troops, they will secure downtown St Louis and treat the wounded.”
Celestia smiled softly and bowed her head in thanks. Lifting her head, she looked at Amber Dusk, “General, let’s get started.”
Corporal Burton stared for a second, not believing his eyes as the trucks just drove away, like they were going for a leisurely Sunday drive. “Where the fuck are they going?” His eyes twitched closed as Lariat started to move past him, the light glinting off the gold armor. “Where the fuck are you going?”
“They’re leaving the Bureau and serum facility, we should press forward and search for survivors,” Lariat retorted.
“Hold on First Lieutenant. We need to be careful, they might have traps set up or an ambush waiting for us,” Cloudhammer said, rubbing his forehead with a hoof.
“I’m used to watching for traps. Some of the things you run across in the Everfree are a bit more...active... in their means of deterrence,” Aegis volunteered. “I admit, though, I’ve never seen what might qualify as a ‘human’ trap...”
“Everything alright Cloudhammer?” Flare asked, giving the pegasus a sidelong look.
Cloudhammer didn’t answer as the headache transformed into a spike of freezing cold. A voice suddenly intruded on his thoughts. ‘General Cloudhammer? This is Warrant Officer White Noise. I’m relaying orders from Celestia. We’re ready to deploy a contingent of Royal Guard into the city to help, but we need confirmation of the security of the Beacon Stone in the Bureau.’
‘I see. Well, we’ll be making our entry soon, we need to make sure there aren’t any surprises waiting for us. I’ll have Flare charge the Beacon Stone once we’re sure it’s clear.’
‘Understood. Stay safe General.’ The freezing sensation faded and Cloudhammer shook his head to dispel the last of it.
“Something wrong Cloudhammer?” Corporal Burton asked absently, his eyes mostly focused on the serum facility ahead.
“Just getting new orders. There’s an artifact in the Bureau called a Beacon Stone. If we can secure it, we can start bringing more Royal Guard and medical unicorns into the city to start treating the wounded.”
“You mean back up? Finally!” Aegis sighed in relief. “Hate to admit it, but even I’m getting a bit tired.”
Lariat grinned. “Come on then, what’re we waiting for? Those civil aren’t going to rescue themselves.” Putting his shoulder into one of the cruisers with a grunt, he pushed it far enough to make room and started to trot purposefully toward the Bureau.
“Don’t have to ask me twice. Anvil, Dusty, Wrecker, you heard ‘im. Star formation around Flare. I have point. Cloudhammer, we’re ready when you are.” Aegis looked at Flare. “Assuming you are, Flare?”
Flare nodded, taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.” The ponies started moving forward, and Corporal Burton shook his head.
“Alright, officers forward! Keep your weapons up and eyes sharp! Maybe we’ll luck out and find someone they left behind, get some actual answers for all this insanity.” The officers moved forward cautiously alongside the ponies, all eyes trained on the entrance of the building ahead. Eventually they reached the steps and made their way to the doors.
“Clark, Don, check those corners, then we make our entry,” Burton whispered, and the officers nodded, scanning the lobby with their weapons before carefully entering the Bureau lobby. The broken glass crunched under their feet and hooves as the police and guards surveyed the devastated room.
Cloudhammer’s eyes were hard as he trotted to a fallen guard, a pegasus. Rolling it over, he sighed as he looked at the face.
“Someone you knew?” Burton asked as he walked to stand next to him.
“No. That’s the worst part,” Cloudhammer muttered before he looked up. “The hallway to the right leads to the administrative section and the daycare. The left leads to the Conversion rooms and the housing facilities. Aegis, I want you and Flare to come with me. Lariat, you take Anvil, Dusty and Wrecker, secure the Conversion rooms. Corporal Burton, could you split your men up as well? Once we secure the Bureau we can move to the serum research facility together.
“Makes sense to me.” Burton quickly divided the officers up. “I’m coming with you guys.”
“Just be careful, and we’ll let you know when you need to stay clear of the Beacon Stone while Flare charges it.” Cloudhammer took a deep breath before leading the way down the hall.
They picked their way down the bullet-scarred hallways, the ponies and officers eyes growing colder as they saw each fallen body. It was when they reached a side hallway that Cloudhammer’s nose twitched. “Just what is that smell?”
Corporal Burton pointed. “Got a couple human bodies here. Those look like some of the terrorists.” He carefully entered the room, and grimaced as he saw the ruin of the closest body. “Looks like someone rigged a grenade as a trap.”
“But who would do something like that?” Flare asked, his ears swivelling as he looked around nervously.
“Someone who was trying to bag whoever’d investigate these bodies...” Burton trailed off as he noticed that of all the doors on the side hallway, only one was closed. Gesturing to Cloudhammer and the others, he lifted his rifle and moved to stand beside the door. Waiting a moment for the ponies to get into position, he tested the doorknob, trying to push the door open when it turned. With a light thud it ran into something and wouldn’t budge. “Shit. Well, might as well, they know we’re here,” he muttered, “St Louis police! Open the door!”
There was a muted scuffle of noise and the door opened a crack. “Show me your badge first!” A voice replied, as cold as black ice.
Burton thought about it for a second, then pulled out his badge and held it to the crack. The door opened a little wider, and after a second more there was a sigh of relief. “Alright. Just give us a moment.” The door closed, and something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor. A few voices spoke quietly with each other, and a number of clatters could be heard before the door was opened. Burton shoved it the rest of the way with his foot and entered the room, rifle raised, the ponies following after him. He stopped for a second to process the scene in front of him
There were four terrorists in the room, all standing with their hands held in front of them. Clustered around their ankles were a dozen foals, all staring at the officers warningly. Around them were four adult ponies, three mares and a stallion. And standing between all of this and them was an earth pony mare and a pegasus stallion. On the desk, four assault rifles, pistols and grenades sat harmlessly.
“So, mind explaining what in the hell is going on here?” Corporal Burton asked.
One of the men lowered his hands, but kept them in view. “Well, we want to surrender ourselves.”
Burton blinked. The Guardponies all blinked. As one their eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait, you what?” Flare managed to stammer out first.
The terrorist laughed despite himself. “We’re surrendering. You know, putting down our arms and giving up?”
“We understand what you meant, but it’s surprising, given the behavior of the rest of you today,” Cloudhammer said with a snort.
Rangel scowled, looking down at the foals around him. “Well, sometimes a man has to choose what values he’s willing to throw away and which ones he can’t.”
Burton narrowed his eyes. “And would it be a valid assumption to make that you had something to do with those bodies in the other room?”
The foals all shrunk back, and Rangel took a breath, but Cirrus beat him to it, “Now see here! Those other humans wanted Steve and the others to kill us all, and they courageously turned their weapons on their own to protect us! Then when other soldiers came looking for them, they set up the booby trap and were ready to lay down their lives to defend ours! So don’t criticize them! I’m proud to call Steve my friend in spite of all this!”
For a moment, no one said anything. Cirrus’ wings were flared upright, and he was breathing heavily, a hoof digging angrily at the carpet. Then Steve shook his head and put a hand on the pegasus’ shoulder. “Calm down there buddy, not a thing he said that wasn’t true.” He looked up at Burton. “He is right, my commanding officer ordered me and the rest of us to kill these foals. But we just couldn’t bring ourselves to do so. So we killed them, set the grenade trap, and barricaded the room.”
Burton thought it over before he shrugged. “Well, I can’t fault you for doing it, but I guess I’m still not sure what prompted you to remain and defend the ponies when you could have tried to escape.”
Rangel nodded. “Well, for starters, it’s not like we could go back to the HLF after killing our commanding officers. Not to mention after we went to the trouble of saving these ponies, just abandoning them didn’t seem right.”
Every single guardpony went stiff. Cloudhammer’s eyes narrowed. “Did you say that you’re members of the HLF?”
Rangel swallowed nervously in the face of the pegasus’ piercing glare. “W-well, not anymore. I still think ponification is wrong, but I’m not about to cross a line like shooting kids about it.”
Cloudhammer held his glare for a second longer before nodding. “I do think I’d like to talk to you further about the HLF. There’s a lot we’d like to know about them, and any information you all can share would be most appreciated.”
“Now hold on a second! These men have committed crimes here in St Louis! They’re under our jurisdiction now!” Burton protested.
“That they may be, but I still want to be able to find out what they know. Now, there’s the serum research facility that still needs to be cleared. Flare, I want you to go charge the Beacon Stone, let White Noise know he’s safe to begin sending their aid into the Bureau. Corporal Burton, you have custody of these humans. Though if I may, I’d like you to assist us with clearing the facility.”
“Uhhh, sure.” Burton gestured for his men to take the four terrorists into custody. “We’ll be holding you here for the time being, since we don’t want to risk those fu-” he looked down at the foals, “guys coming back and trying to hurt you.”
Cloudhammer nodded and turned to leave. “Alright, let’s get going. I think the answers we’re looking for will be in the serum research facility.”
“Be advised Lambert, initial hostile forces are coming along the I-170 toward the freight terminal, ETA five minutes or less. Estimate enemy strength at around two hundred. Air support not available at this time.” The radio crackled into Captain Ian Hodges’ ear.
“Lovely of them to not provide air support,” He snapped irritably. “Alright, listen up! We’re going to be entertaining guests in five minutes! I expect all of you to be perfect hosts and show these bastards what it means to fuck with the US Marines! Do I make myself clear?”
The men they’d managed to pull together shouted their acknowledgement over their radios as the eight trucks that hadn’t been down for repairs raced across the runways toward the freight terminal. The Marines had been itching to jump into the one-sided battle that had been raging downtown all morning, and the prospect of finally being able to put the bastards down had them all wound up.
Pulling into the parking lot in a squeal of rubber, the trucks formed a staggered line, men carrying assault rifles leaping out and starting to drag anything they could get their hands on into defensive positions, every so often shooting glances toward the access road.
“I want snipers to push back, set up on top of the roof there!” Hodges barked, the three two-man teams nodding before running to the wall, where they grabbed a nearby service ladder and quickly started climbing up.
“Sir! Movement on the road!” One of the soldiers shouted as a quarter of black Suburbans swung around the turn, the truck in the lead sporting a minigun. They skidded to a stop, the minigun swinging to aim directly at them.
“Marksmen! Take out that goddamned gun!” Hodges shouted as the Marines dug into cover and the minigun opened up in a buzzing roar. Cracks of rifle fire answered as each squad’s designated marksman took aim at the minigunner. The other trucks pulled up alongside it, doors opening as the men inside started leaping out and returning fire.
Suddenly, a louder crack cut over the rifle fire, the minigun driver’s head vaporizing in a spray of red. Hodges didn’t turn around, but thanked all the gods he could think of for the sniper support. “Alright! Keep their heads down! We can turn this around!”
The Marines redoubled their firepower with a cheer as more black trucks came into view, a pair of large tractor trailers visible among them.
The covered walkway connecting the Bureau to the research facility was eerily silent as the seven guards made their way down it carefully, the dozen police officers holding their weapons nervously. Flare had remained behind to take a break, and to coordinate the reinforcements and medical staff now pouring through the Beacon Stone.
“Alright, we’ll check the research wings first, and then the rear of the building,” Cloudhammer said quietly.
“Works for me,” Corporal Burton said as they reached the door, half closed.
Carefully edging the door open, the mixed group made its way along the hallways, glancing about worriedly before Lariat’s ears suddenly folded back and his eyes narrowed. “Something’s not right...” he muttered.
“You’re right Lariat. Something is definitely strange here.” Wrecker said, his eyes scanning the walls.
“What do you mean?” Burton asked, tightening his grip.
“There’s no bullet holes here, no shell casings, or magazines. Which means that if the HLF came through here, they’d either killed the security contingent or hadn’t found them yet.”
Cloudhammer’s eyes widened as he realized Wrecker was right. “Good eye, Wrecker. Let’s get to the labs.”
Following the signs, the group moved quickly toward the research wing. As they drew close, Wrecker’s nose twitched as a strange smell made itself known. “Hold it, do you smell that?”
Anvil winced, he thought he’d been quiet about it. “Sorry, think the food from that club isn’t agreeing with me tovarich.”
Everyone stopped and stared at the earth pony for a few seconds.
Wrecker shook his head. “Not that smell you idiot There’s something else...” He sniffed the air again. “I’ve never smelled anything like it, have you Captain Exemplar?”
Aegis took a deep breath through his snout, eyes both closed to help him focus. “Couldn’t be... Cloudhammer, is that what I think it is?”
Cloudhammer didn’t even answer, his eyes wide enough the whites were visible. “No... they couldn’t be... not here...” Getting himself together, he shot a look at the others. “Tighten the formation now. Corporal Burton, have your men keep their weapons up, don’t let your guard down for a second.”
“What is it?” Burton asked, a trace of fear in his voice as he lifted the rifle, the other officers doing the same. Anvil, Wrecker, Lariat and Dusty started instinctively edging closer together, their ears flat as the musky odor steadily got stronger the closer they got to the door ahead..
Cloudhammer ignored him, striding toward the door to the lab and kicking it open with his forehooves. The inside of the room was a mess, beakers and equipment smashed across the floor, and two trails of blood could be seen leading from the middle of the room, armor scattered around as if it’d been violently torn off. Cloudhammer lowered his head to peer at a piece before he stiffened. “Do you know where the HLF were going, Corporal Burton?”
“Well, the I-70 leads north to Lambert airport, there’s US Marines stationed there though, so they won’t be going anywhere from there.”
“Can you get in contact with them?” Cloudhammer’s voice was hard.
“Not likely, it’s probable that they’ve already engaged the HLF forces already...” Burton trailed off as Cloudhammer turned around, something held in his mouth.
“It doesn’t matter. If we don’t get in touch with them right now, they are going to die.” Cloudhammer said, passing the single tawny feather to Burton, who looked at it curiously.
“What in the world is this from?”
The firefight was proving to be more brutal than Hodges had thought. Whoever these fuckers were, they were no slouches. They’d dropped most of the minigun trucks between the snipers and the designated marksmen, and had inflicted heavy casualties on the regular terrorists. But they’d taken a significant number of casualties in return. He guessed that maybe forty percent of his men remained, but they’d knocked the hostiles down to a paltry twenty five or thirty percent. Not too shabby for being outnumbered two to one.
“Sir! One of the trucks is moving up!” A Lance Corporal shouted, and Hodges risked a glance over the barricade he was crouched behind. Sure enough, one of the tractor trailers had turned around and was backing up toward them. The surviving snipers on the roof fired a few rounds at it, but its armor seemed to be thicker than the Suburbans.
“What in the hell are they doing?” Hodges muttered before the back of the trailer suddenly clanged down, the interior dark from the sun outside. “Ready weapons!” The Marines swung their rifles into position, fingers on their triggers and ready to fire.
They weren’t ready for what burst out of the back with an inhuman screech, landing heavily on the pavement.
“What in God’s name...” Hodges gaped openly at the sight. “Is that... a griffon?”
The griffon stood approximately five, maybe six feet tall, and maybe eight feet from head to rump. What he could see of its muscled upper body was covered in tawny brown feathers, lighter around its head. The back half was covered in short, wiry grey hair. Over its body it wore a bulky suit of articulated leather armor, with steel rivets dotting it, as well as a helmet composed of the same material. But what worried him more was the unmistakable profile of the M249 slung across its back, and the M32 grenade launcher held in one of the eagle clawed forepaws. Its cold eyes seemed to stare directly at him, boring into him like he was a just a piece of meat. Feeling beads of sweat starting to form, his eyes twitched toward the trailer and saw three more hulking shapes moving toward the rear of the trailer.
“F-fire! Open fire now!” he shouted, pulling the trigger on his rifle, as did the thirty nine men holding the line with him.
They weren’t fast enough. The griffon had already sprung into the air, and began to fire it’s grenades not at the men on the ground, but directly at the snipers on the roof. The explosions blew them to pieces before the spotters could finish getting their rifles up. The other three griffons surged out of the trailer and into the air, one holding another M249 in both clawed feet while the others each had a submachine gun held one-pawed, which they began to use to deadly effect against the now-exposed Marines. They tried to return fire, but the terrorists rose up from behind their trucks and began lending their own firepower to the chaos.
The Marines put up a good showing, managing to take down ten more terrorists and knock a griffon from the sky when it got too eager for a kill. But ultimately, the griffons were too quick for the Marines to get a reliable shot, and the ones that did hit, their armor seemed to stop, leading Hodges to suspect that they had another layer of body armor underneath the leather. After another five minutes of resistance the Marines were all dead or dying. The griffons landed and began to stalk among the fallen, three of them leaning down to rip a beakful of flesh from the still living, grinning savagely at their screams. The one with the grenade launcher, meanwhile, strode up to glare down at Hodges. Tilting its head, it examined the bullet wounds in his torso and arm, and after seeming to find some satisfaction, it tossed his M4 aside and took his helmet off. Lifting the grenade launcher, it hissed a string of words at the others before swinging the launcher to collide with the side of his head, sending him spiraling into the darkness.
Codex sighed in relief as he felt the teleport spell deposit him, Powder Dance and the others onto the stone floor of the PER headquarters. “I thought we’d never make it.”
Powder Dance smiled. “Nonsense, you did great.”
“Please, I’m nowhere near Spatial Shift’s level.” Codex looked up as Amber Dream came galloping over.
“What are you all doing here? Where’s Rampart and the others?” Amber Dream’s eyes narrowed as he saw them all look nervously at each other. “Tell me what happened.”
Powder Dance took an awkward step forward. “W-well, we arrived at the suburban Bureau... there, there were no survivors...”
There was a chorus of gasps from the rapidly growing crowd of ponies. Amber Dream silenced them with a sharp look and turned back to Powder Dance. “Go on.”
“They even killed the foals... in the daycare.” Powder Dance gulped as she felt the nausea returning. “R-Rampart he... he just went crazy...”
Codex put a hoof on her shoulder, then looked at Amber Dream. “He ordered us off-mission, to hunt down the ones who’d carried out the attack, but it got out of hoof. They started ponifying people we passed along the way, and when we found the humans responsible, many of the others had become as driven to see revenge done. The humans were engaged in a fight with a group of what I believe were local ‘gangs’. Upon Cloud Climber’s observation that the gang members seemed to be enjoying themselves, Rampart ordered the pegasi to attack both groups with the serum spheres.”
Amber Dream’s eyes narrowed as he pondered this disturbing information. “I assume there’s more?”
“Yes. Once the serum had done it’s job, Rampart began to interrogate the newly converted until he found the one who had killed the foals in the daycare...” It was here that Codex began to feel sick. “He... he killed him on the spot, and was going to keep going...”
A few of the ponies who had come back nodded weakly in agreement.
“We... we stood up to him when he demanded another, and only a few ponies decided to follow him, including Cloud Climber. He mocked us for being weak before teleporting away.” Codex hung his head. “I’m sorry that we didn’t do more to stop him Grand Knight... but you should have seen the look in his eyes...”
Amber Dream shook his head. “No, do not blame yourself. What matters now is what we do from here on. Aurora, get some parchment and a quill, we’ll need to notify Grand Master Sky Shimmer about this right away. Spatial Shift should be waking up soon, so he can go to the pre-arranged spot, drop off the letter, and get out before anypony notices him.”
Aurora nodded as she hurried off. Amber Dream turned to the others. “I know this is a lot of information to take in, but we cannot let this sway us from our purpose. We need to be ready for whatever Sky Shimmer and the other Grand Knights decide to do.” The other ponies nodded and dispersed, beginning to double check their supplies in case they had to relocate.
“Amber Dream...” Codex hesitated, “there’s something else. I threatened Rampart with tipping the Royal Guard off about him, and he just laughed, saying that it would lead to the rest of us first.”
Amber Dream sighed. “That is true, they’d probably find us first. But, we have an advantage Rampart does not anymore. We’ve not hurt anypony, and the humans we attacked to steal the initial batch of serum were not killed either. On top of that, if we disperse, and everypony each takes a serum sphere with them, then even the Royal Guard doesn’t have the strength to find us all. The PER, the true PER, will continue in spite of this.”
Codex nodded, feeling a little bit better as he joined the other ponies in making preparations. Once Amber Dream was sure he was out of earshot, he sighed heavily. “Rampart... wherever you are, I’m sorry for putting you through that.”
The lobby in the San Francisco Bureau was packed to capacity as the ponies and humans watched the shaky feed in silence, eyes wide as the griffons slaughtered the Marines.
“What in Equestria are we supposed to do now? If there are more of those lunatics out there I don’t feel safe here anymore,” one of the ponies, a native, said as he stamped a hoof irritably on the floor.
“Is there a teleport to Hawaii planned anytime soon? I don’t think I feel comfortable trying to raise my family here if something like this can happen.” another native piped up nervously.
“Why isn’t the Guard there? They know how to fight those things!”
At the back of the crowd of nervous ponies, Miguel stood by the counter staring at the screen. He’d been working maintenance here at this Bureau for the past two years, ever since the Hawaiian Evacuation. He liked it here, the native Equestrians had been a little cold to him at first once word got out of what he’d done in Brazil, but he’d gradually earned their respect and even friendship. He didn’t have much, but to him it was enough. But this, seeing his friends trying not to be frightened around him infuriated him more than he thought it would. He tightened his fists, crushing the Bureau sign-in form he’d been filling out before this whole mess had started. He’d finally made his choice to undergo ponification, having nothing left keeping him bound to his human body. But this... this demencia, he could not turn his back on this. If those lunatics were so set on their course of violence and death, then he had do what he could to show the ponies that not all men were like that. Crushing the form into a ball, he threw it into the garbage with a sigh.
“M-Miguel?” He looked down to see one of the older earth pony colts, Alan, looking up at him. He was here while his parents were undergoing the ponification process. He’d become friends with the colt after he’d found him crying down in the basement. Apparently his family was planning to move to Equestria and he didn’t want to leave his friends behind.
“Hey there Alan, what’s up?”
Alan dug a hoof nervously at the floor. “Well, I just wanted to say, I overheard some of the adults saying some mean things about you, and wanted to make sure you knew you’re not like those mean people on the TV.”
Miguel couldn’t help but smile as he tousled the colt’s mane. “I know, but thanks amigo.” He looked back up at the TV as it went back to earlier coverage of the Royal Guard assisting the police. “I hope that Flare is alright. Nimbus is going to kill him if he gets himself hurt.”
“Mister Flare is there?” Alan folded his ears back. “I think he should leave the Guard, go back to Equestria so he and Miss Nimbus and Breaker can not have to worry.”
Miguel shook his head. “Well, it’s because of who Flare is that he can’t be anywhere else.”
Alan thought about it and snorted. “That doesn’t make any sense Miguel.”
“Well, I guess you’ll understand when you’re older,” Miguel said with a small chuckle as he looked back at the screen.
The Situation Room was silent as the footage of the griffons attacking replayed. Foster took a deep breath, then turned to look at Celestia. “Might you have an explanation for why there are griffons participating in this attack?”
Celestia shook her head. “No. This is as much a surprise to me as it is to you.”
“Can you enhance this video?” Amber Dusk’s eyes were hard as he stared at the screen.
“Well, we would need to let our analysts spend some time with the video, but yes, we can enhance it. What are you getting at?” Kingsworth asked.
The unicorn got to his hooves and walked to stand in front of the screen, staring intently at the video of the griffon striking a Marine unconscious. “I’m not sure... I swear that I’ve seen that griffon before, or seen a report about that griffon.”
“Are you sure Amber Dusk?” Celestia asked curiously.
Amber Dusk nodded. “I’m sure of it. That griffon’s a Hunter, usually employed by the Skyclaw Eyrie.”
Foster tilted his head. “So, what is that supposed to mean?”
Amber Dusk sighed, settling into a pose that reminded everyone present of a college professor gearing up to put his class to sleep. “The Skyclaw Eyrie was one of the most outspoken eyries against Iron Talon’s rise to power. Even now, they still remain very friendly to ponies, in spite of Scythion’s continued stance against Equestria.”
Kingsworth nodded, starting to see what Amber Dusk was getting at. “You suspect something’s not right about this.”
“That is correct. Hunters are only nominally bound to the Eyries, ultimately they serve whoever is paying them, and then the King, in that order.” Amber Dusk’s eyes narrowed. “It’s too early to say for sure, but I’m starting to think Iron Talons might have something to do with this.”
Foster tapped a finger on the desk, before leaning forward. “So do you think he’s directly working with these terrorists?”
“While I wouldn’t put it past him, all he’d have to do is arrange for the knowledge of Hunters to come to the public’s attention, and from there the terrorists could have made contact with them.”
“So then what do you suggest we do?” Kingsworth asked.
“The important thing is not allowing those griffons to leave this city. If we can capture them, we’ll find out what they know.” The unicorn’s voice was hard.
Kingsworth nodded. “Well, the air force has four F-16s overhead now, nothing can get off the ground, and the National Guard troops are heading north as we speak. Fortunately we evacuated the pilots from the airport, so unless they brought their own they aren’t going anywhere.”
“Good,” Amber Dusk rose to his hooves. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to have some of the Royal Guard entering St Louis to help secure the location as well. We don’t know what other tricks these terrorists have remaining up their sleeves.”
The column of National Guard trucks raced along the I-170 toward Lambert Airport. The men inside were silent, the news having come down a moment ago about the slaughter of the Marines.
Inside his fire-team’s Humvee, Sergeant David Young drummed his fingers on his knees as he looked out the window. His eyes were drawn, still seeing the damage done to the city and the inhabitants.
“Yo, bleedin’ heart, you still feelin’ sad? Not worth your time bro.” The man sitting on the other side of the backseat said irritably, his M-14 rifle leaning against the seat next to him.
“Well, look at the smoke, Dessie-”
“Desmond.”
“Whatever...this could have been Belleview. These are our people out there.” David sighed. He’d never expected a combat deployment on US soil of all places. It was all he could do not to rifle through his seemingly meager first aid supplies.
Moses grunted from the front passenger seat. “Always time to care.” His meaty hands worked their way one last time, checking the ammo belt that fed his M249 for kinks before locking the cover down. He’d said his bit, and that was that.
“Yeah, well, all we gotta worry about right now are them monsters at the airfield. You hear much more, Sargey-wargey?” Desmond aimed at Emmet, who was the one currently in control of the vehicle. Roger Cullen, the ‘stranger’ amongst the four, was handling the M2 .50 cal mounted on the roof.
“We’ve not received more specific orders as of yet, corporal, if that’s what you’re asking. Now hush back there, or I’ll turn this thing around. And no ice cream.” Emmet grinned. He had David and even Moses laughing, though Desmond was less than enthused.
“Sergeant! Looks like our exit’s ahead!” Roger shouted down, knuckles white as he gripped the handles of the M2. He’d only completed basic combat training a week before, and was ready to step up and defend his countrymen.
Emmet turned the wheel, following the other Humvees down the ramp toward the freight terminal. Peering ahead, the soldiers could see the black trucks of the terrorists surrounding one of the bulk transport planes.
“Sir! More soldiers coming!” One of the men on the line shouted back to Captain Brett Owen.
“Hold the line for as long as you can, then fall back to the airplane, our hostages and data we took will force them to let us go!” Owens shouted as he climbed the ladder to the airplane and entered the body. As he stepped through the door he could hear the first barks of gunfire reaching out toward the Humvees, and he sighed, knowing that given their pitiful numbers, they wouldn’t make it. “So, is there an escape plan if they try to storm the airplane?” he asked the hulking griffon standing in front of the door to the cargo area.
The beast looked down at him with a disdainful sneer. “Do not worry yourself human. The mission will be completed as per orders.”
“Good, good. Now, I think at least letting me begin preliminary interrogation of the prisoners would tell us which one is the most valuable-” He tried to push past the griffon only for it to shove him backward violently, knocking him to the floor.
“Our orders are clear. No one is allowed to see the prisoners but us.”
“And I’m the ranking officer on this mission! You answer to me you freak-” He started to get up, only to be shoved back down by the barrel of the M249 in his mouth.
“Speak another word and I will end you, you hairless dog. Our arrangement was very specific. Do not push its boundaries.” The griffon jammed the barrel further, then withdrew it and slung it over its shoulder.
Brett gasped for breath, spitting the tang of gun oil from his mouth as he got to his feet. He didn’t know who thought hiring these fucking monsters was a good idea, but he was definitely going to recommend they not do so again. He turned and walked to the flight deck, risking a glance out the windows. He could see the National Guard trucks forming up, punishing salvoes of firepower cutting down his men as they tried to fall back to the airplane. “Fuck me, this is going south fast.”
The griffon waited until the noisome human was out of earshot before pulling out a phone. Pressing the buttons to dial a preprogrammed number, it held the phone awkwardly to it’s ear. “Yes, this is Rend. The enemy will be upon us soon. Doubtful of escape aboard the aircraft.” The voice on the other side spoke briefly and the gryphon nodded. “Yes, contingency plan in place, no survivors will remain to talk.” He allowed a savage grin to cross his face as he looked toward the sealed door, wishing he could be in there for all that was going on.
Inside the cargo area, the three other griffons stood at roughly equal positions around the interior, careful to not obstruct the lines being drawn by the wizened griffon ritualist. The bound unicorns writhed in terror as the ritualist dipped his claws into the exposed innards of Captain Hodges, the human screaming incoherently past the gag in his mouth. The ritualist ignored him, continuing to paint the red lines across the floor and walls. “Human serves better than expected, his agony will be more than sufficient to fuel the ritual,” he rasped in a dry, brittle voice.
One of the other griffons clacked it’s beak eagerly as it looked hungrily toward the two bound pegasi they’d taken along with the unicorns. “Excellent, we could always use a snack for later. How much longer until we are ready?”
The ritualist tilted his head and eyed the complex array of lines. “Very soon. As his lifeblood flows, the ritual will reach the required potency. Now be silent, I must direct the blessing of the Great Hunter.”
The remaining terrorists were starting to realize the futility of continuing the battle against the National Guard, and despite the shouted orders from Captain Owen to continue to resist they were laying down their arms and surrendering.
“Should just fuckin’ shoot em all. Bastards want to shoot up an American city and then think they can get off scott free? Fuck em," Desmond said irritably as he kept his rifle trained on one of the surrendering terrorists while another soldier cable-tied him.
“Just because they’ve done monstrous things is no reason for us to fall to their level, Desmond," David said as he treated one of the injured terrorists.
“Seems like a waste of time to me,” Desmond said irritably before his and the other soldier’s attention was drawn to the far end of the tarmac, where a number of brilliant flashes were resolving themselves into the shapes of Royal Guard unicorns. “Well well, look who’s late to the party.”
The unicorns made their way over, their brown eyes locked on the airplane until they’d joined the National Guard troops. One of the unicorns trotted up to Emmet. “I’m Captain Nebula, who’s in command here?”
Emmet pointed to where a cluster of command staff could be seen. “You’d be looking for Sergeant Wallen. He’s right over there.”
‘Thank you. Any response from them?” The unicorn indicated the plane with a nod of his head.
“Not that we’ve seen,” Emmet said.
Nebula nodded. “Very well.” He turned to another unicorn. “Solaris, begin to establish a perimeter, I don’t want anything sneaking in or trying to use magic without us knowing.”
“Yes sir.” Solaris turned and started sending the unicorns to stand in a loose ring around the airplane.
“I thought griffons didn’t use magic.” Moses observed as he stared at the plane.
Solaris blinked. “Well, as far as we know, they do have a ritualistic culture, but I don’t think it’s more than superstition.” He looked toward the airplane, “So, did you guys have a plan in place to take the plane? They’ve got hostages from the serum research center... all the researchers and two pegasus guards.”
Emmet blinked. “We didn’t know anything about that.”
“Well, Sergeant Wallen will change the plan,” David said quickly. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them all out safely.”
“I hope so. Between the researchers and the records the terrorists stole, it’d set us back months on the development of the serum.”
Inside the aircraft, Captain Hodges could practically feel the blackness creeping in. His hands and feet were numb, and the feeling was spreading inexorably towards his torso, which remained a hellish inferno of pain. The ritualist dipped it’s claws into the open wound in his stomach and slowly drew the last line into place. “The array is complete. We may begin at any time.”
The other griffons nodded, their eyes roving across Hodges’ body as though deciding what to carve off. The one closest to the door opened it and hissed to the one waiting outside, who grinned as he entered the room. Taking a deep, appreciative sniff, he shut the door and barred it. “Then let us begin, our employer has given us permission to escape by any means necessary. No sense in trying the means that might not work, after all.”
The griffons all chuckled before turning toward Captain Hodges. As the claws came for him, he at least satisfied himself with only having to tolerate a few seconds of it before a beak tore his throat out.
Outside, one of the unicorns closer to the tail of the plane noticed it first, a low, steady throb in the air. “Uhh, Lieutenant? Something’s going on...” He took a few steps back as the skin of the plane began to pulse a dull red, snaps of brighter red lightning dancing across the metal.
Solaris’ eyes widened and he wheeled toward Emmet and the others. “Get back! It’s magic!”
Moses didn’t even hesitate, snatching David and Desmond up in his hands and throwing them over the hood of the Humvee, grabbing Emmet before doing the same. Other soldiers began to run, but with a final, heavier thud, the light suddenly exploded outward, patches of the plane’s frame ripping free from the force of it. It washed across running men, their skin searing black in seconds.
Moses howled in agony as the wave washed over him, the last conscious act he remembered trying to cover his squad with his own body. It didn’t make any difference in the end, the surge of light passing right through him to bathe the men now trapped under him.
The unicorns fared better, the thaumatic radiation not harming them directly, though all of them fell to the ground as the metallic taste of blood filled their mouths, pulses of pain originating at the base of their horns, and the stench of burning flesh assaulting their noses. Gasping for breath, Nebula pushed a blackened corpse off him and looked around in horror at the devastation. “Solaris! Get back to the Bureau! We need serum and we need it right now! The rest of you, fan out and find survivors!”
Solaris nodded, his horn glowing bright despite the pain as he locked in on the Beacon Stone, and vanished. Unicorns, staggering to their hooves, began to carefully search among the bodies for any surviving soldiers, helping the living as best they could.
With a wheeze, David heaved Moses off of him, hissing in pain as his skin and muscles burned. He tried to get up, but couldn’t feel his left leg, and after a glance down at the blackened husk decided that he didn’t need his breakfast anymore. Steeling himself, he took off his backpack, nearly blacking out in the process, but managing to start pulling his medical supplies out.
Looking around, he felt what little of his body he could go numb. All around him he could see the bodies of soldiers lying twisted on the ground, their uniforms ripped and exposed skin blackened like overcooked steak. His eyes stopped on their Humvee and he felt his stomach convulse at the sight of Roger, slumped over at the gun, a shriveled black mass barely recognizable as human.
“There’s four survivors here! Give me a hoof!” A trio of unicorns galloped over as David, tearing his eyes away from the Humvee, started trying to apply bandages to Desmond’s writhing body.
“Who’s there! Jesus Christ I can’t see!” Desmond howled as he tried to sit up.
“Take it easy there, I got ya,” David said weakly, fighting to keep his eyes open. He heard more snaps and slowly turned his head, seeing more unicorns appearing and splitting up towards different soldiers. “Don’t worry, we’ll have you seeing crystal clear in no time.”
“Heh... always... gotta be the bleeding heart, don’tcha?” Desmond said as he blacked out.
Four unicorns skidded to a stop next to them. “How many?”
“All four still breathing, but they’re going to die right now unless we ponify them. I’ll accept any punishment,” Solaris barked, helping to restrain Emmet as another unicorn levitated a needle out of a case.
David felt hooves gently rolling him onto his back, and a mild pinching as he felt something slide into his arm, truth be told a blessed relief from the searing pain the rest of his body was experiencing.
“Just lay back, you’re going to be okay.” A voice was saying to him, but he couldn’t even tell whose it was as the world faded to black around him. His last thought was ‘Someone better remember Moses is O negative.’
Carlos sat on the ratty-ass couch that squatted in the safehouse living room, his head in his hands. On his left sat a vermillion unicorn, a dark orange earth pony on the right. Around the rest of the living room, eighteen other ponies slept, though a few were starting to show signs of waking up.
“So what do you want to do now Carlos?” Ricky asked, trying to scratch at the side of his head with a hoof.
“Kind of hard to do our usual business if we’re all ponies,” Fall Shadows pointed out, peering at one of the sleeping earth ponies. “Wonder who this was?”
Carlos sighed, rubbing his face. “Fuck if I know man. Just... fuck.” He tried to find the words to say what was on his mind, but just couldn’t.
“Look, Carlos,” Ricky stopped the scratching and put a hoof on Carlos’ shoulder, “no one could have expected this to happen. If what you said about what those insane ponies were doing was right, they’d have fucking killed us all. You saved all of us man.”
Carlos nodded, though he still felt like shit for not seeing this coming. “What the fuck is wrong with those ponies? I thought they said this shit was supposed to be our choice?”
Fall Shadows nodded. “I talked a lot with the ponies at the Bureau, none of them were like what you described. Were any of them wearing armor, or all white with blue manes?” Carlos and Ricky both shook their heads. Fall Shadows tapped a hoof on his chin, “Hmm, then that might mean these ponies weren’t part of the Pretty Boy Brigade. Though given some of the shit I’ve seen unicorns pull, I wouldn’t put it past em.”
Carlos opened his mouth to reply when one of the pegasus stallions sneezed and opened his eyes blearily. “Guys, why am I naked on the floor?” The coffee brown stallion lifted his head off the floor and froze as he saw his new legs. “Guys, why am I a pony?” His free wing extended itself involuntarily. “Cooool, I have wings!”
In perfect synchrony, Carlos, Ricky and Fall Shadows smacked their respective hands or hooves to their foreheads. “God damnit Kirk,” they said in unison, looking at each other in surprise.
Kirk struggled to get to his hooves, repeatedly falling down until Fall Shadows finally snorted and climbed off the couch. “Okay Kirk, you are killing me over here. Put your front hooves flat on the floor, then get your back hooves under you. Push up with your hindlegs, then your front.
After another few minutes of struggling, Kirk had gotten himself standing upright, by which time the other newly converted Homicidas were beginning to wake up. Fall Shadows quickly found himself running an impromptu pony education class, pacing back forth in front of the unruly little herd.
Carlos looked at Ricky. “This is going to be shit on wheels for a few weeks, isn’t it?” They both looked over as one of the newfoal mares awkwardly trotted up to them. “What do you want?”
She scuffed a hoof at the floor in embarrassment. “Umm, I have to take a shit...”
Ricky sighed, his ears flattening. “Yep.”
Flare clasped both hooves to his head, not even feeling himself hit the floor. He was dimly aware of the others calling out in alarm, but all his attention was focused on the throbbing pain at the base of his horn. It almost felt like he had the taste of blood in his mouth, and his nostrils were overloaded with the scene of decaying flesh. “Make it stop! Make it stop...”
...At the site of the shootout between the terrorists, police, and gangs, Helen Whitt could only watch as every single unicorn in the group they’d arrested howled in agony, the other ponies whinnying in fear. Fortunately the newfoals were still uncoordinated, so none of them were getting away. They’d fallen back at the first sparks of magic, but the rifles they’d managed to confiscate would make sure none of them tried to bolt. The real problem was that it made for one hell of a racket. “Just what in the hell is going on here...”
...Inside the Bureau daycare, the unicorn foals were screaming in terror, almost all of them losing control of their bladders as they tried to drive the horrifying sensations from their minds. Cheerheart and Cirrus were doing their best, and several officers had grabbed paper towels from the supply closet to clean them up, but in the end they had to evacuate that section of the building as several foals tried to use their magic to escape their nightmares...
...Jesse Morales stood on the other side of the street from the damaged bus with the EMTs. “What’s going on, Gridiron?”
The orange stallion appeared in the doorway. “I’m not sure! Glitter’s horn started sparking and he’s been shouting about blood and agony! I looked him over and I can’t find any further injury at all!”
Eric shrugged. “Must be a magic thing.” He turned to Jesse. “What about your scanner?”
“I checked it, it’s apparently not just us, unicorns as far away as the bridges are suffering these same symptoms.” Jesse scowled towards the Bureau, seeing other small knots of ponies helping isolate unicorns from any human passerby. “Shit, today just keeps getting better and better...”
...Carlos rocked back as Ricky tumbled from the couch, clutching his head in pain. “The fuck’s your problem?” He looked up as all of the new unicorns fell to the floor. “The fuck’s their problem?”
“I... it hurts...” Ricky spit on the floor, “tastes like blood.”
“Looks fine to me, I just think you’re all full of it.” He twitched as Ricky’s horn sparked, a dim yellow glow surrounding it. Almost immediately, his skin started to burn and he jerked backwards over the couch as he saw another unicorn on the floor starting to ignite his horn. “Fuck man! Knock that shit out!”
“Carlos!” Fall Shadows bumped him towards the door, hard. “You gotta get out of here, I’ll take care of things.” Both of them looked over as yet another unicorn lit their horn. “I’ll holler for ya when it’s safe, go wait out back.”
Carlos clenched his hands, but nodded and hurried out the back door to the small yard. Sitting on a cheap plastic chair, he felt himself wincing a little as howls of agony could be heard from inside. As much a hardass as he was, the gang was the only family he had, and seeing them hurt from something he couldn’t put bullets into infuriated him. “Those fucking douchebag ponies had something to do with this, I know it. Not gonna take that shot now, that’s for fuckin’ sure.”
“And we’re back from break. With us is Doctor Joseph Friedler, our legal expert. Joseph, what can you tell us about these revelations that griffons are operating in concert with these terrorists?”
“Well, for the time being I don’t want to speculate on whether these griffons were working for the Scythion government, or are simply these “Hunters” that some sources on the internet have been circulating. As far as their legal status goes, it really depends on if they were official US citizens or not. If they are not, then they become considered foreign combatants and would thus fall under military jurisdiction. Provided they are taken alive, of course.”
Diane nodded. “And what about the newest feed coming in, showing unicorns bearing armor of the Equestrian Royal Guard ponifying the soldiers at the airport? We don’t have audio feeds, but our footage does not seem to indicate the soldiers giving consent.”
Joseph hesitated. “Well, while it’s true that under normal circumstances this would be illegal, I think that any court of law would find that the conditions surrounding this decision to ponify soldiers who were on the verge of death from thaumatic exposure warranted action. The principle could be argued as similar to rendering lifesaving treatment to someone who could not give consent, even if the cause of their injuries was from a suicide attempt.”
Diane nodded again. “I see. What do you think is going to be the next step in this investigation?”
“Well, for starters they’ll be examining the weapons the terrorists used for any trace of information that could lead back to who hired them. In addition, if any of the terrorists were taken alive, I’m sure they’ll be taken into custody by the FBI and questioned. From there I can’t really speculate on where the investigation would lead.” That was a lie and both the lawyer and the anchorwoman knew it. There were really only two directions this could go.
The darkness surrounding him was absolute, yet it didn’t bother him as he drifted lazily. Finally, he felt his feet settling onto what felt like dirt. Gradually a sourceless light illuminated the area, revealing an endless plain of grass as tall as his waist. Running a hand through it as he started to walk, he realized that he was naked, yet the grass seemed not to cut him. “Not precisely what I think Grandmama meant by the Elysian Fields,” Moses mused as he continued onward, though where exactly he was not sure. Before long he felt the ground beginning to tremble and turned around to behold an onrushing wall of shapes, vaguely equine in form. Squaring his shoulders and digging his feet in, he prepared himself to meet their charge with nothing more than an absolute unwillingness to move. However, the wall of bodies drew to a stop, the outliers trotting slowly around to form a circle with him in the middle. One of the forms trotted closer, extending it’s muzzle toward him, it’s breath warm against his chest as it snorted...
… and Desmond snorted right back at it. “The fuck you doin’, breathin’ on me?” The spectral equine staggered back, ears flicking as the pupiless eyes narrowed. It pawed at the ground, and tossed it’s head toward the horizon. “What, now you wanna race? I dare you to try and be as fast as me, you little bitch!” Desmond took off at a dead sprint, the equines breaking into a gallop along with him. He and the equine he challenged stayed neck and neck as the herd hurtled along around them. Up ahead, he could see that the grass field suddenly ended in a sea of stars, and simply grinned. “Trying to cheat, are ya? Well you’re not gonna win this one!” Reaching over, he put his hand on the back the equine, bracing with his arm. As they hurtled off the edge he tried to maintain his grip, and even went a few paces before his arm fell right through the shimmering body. He plummeted into the darkness with an angry curse, shaking his fist at the herd thundering by overhead. Rolling over, he blinked as he saw columns and walls rising up around him...
…Emmet spread his arms and legs out to try and slow himself down as he saw the floor approaching, but realized that he was already slowing down. Coming to a gentle stop on the marble floor, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around, seeing an enormous pair of doors at the far end of the hall. “Alright, then let’s get going. No sense standing around.” He marched past the ornate statuary and artwork to the doors, pushing them open with a grunt of effort. Inside he could see a massive plinth with two thrones practically growing out of it. On his left was a glowing white presence, which resolved itself into the shape of an alicorn, it’s eyes the color of a newborn sun. On his right, a dark blue presence swirling with stars resolved itself into a near twin of the other, its own hard eyes the silver of a full moon.
Coming to a stop in front of the plinth, Emmet snapped to attention. “Ma’ams, Master Sergeant Emmet Webb, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The darker alicorn laughed lightly. “This one is so formal in front of us sister. Its heart burns strong with the fires of duty and honor.”
The lighter one nodded. “Yes indeed. Now, to the matter of your soul’s choice of form...”
Emmet coughed politely. “Ma’am, there is a... request. I want to volunteer myself and my squad for your Royal Guard. Soldiers are what we are, and I know for a fact that we aren’t ready to lay down arms yet. If there are more of the terrorists that attacked St Louis out there, we’ll want a piece of them too.”
“So feisty,” the midnight alicorn said with a grin, “I do think I like this one.”
“But regardless, that is a choice for the waking world. You will have your chance to serve again should you choose to take it, Emmet Webb.” The white alicorn tilted her head as the wind began to pick up, tugging at Emmet’s skin...
“... Wait! Can you at least tell me if my squadmates are alright?” David asked desperately, fighting to keep his footing as the wind dragged him back to the throne room doors.
The white alicorn rose to her hooves, followed by her sister. “You truly have a caring heart, David Young. It has caused you much suffering for one so young, but it is also a source of strength for you. Hold on to that strength and things will work out for the best.” The wind picked David up and flung him through, into the blinding white light...
…David squeezed his eyes shut against the blinding sunlight that shone down on him. He felt the heat of the pavement underneath him, but realized a second later that the wind blowing gently against his skin was ruffling what felt like... “Hair?”
“Hey, he’s awake. Bout damn time there, thought you were gonna sleep the rest of the damn day off there David.” Desmond’s voice came from over his shoulder. Craning his head around, he could see a red pegasus with a shock of black mane and tail. Realizing that his head and neck shouldn’t be that flexible, he looked down at himself, white-coated and scarlet-tailed. “So... I guess they ponified us all?”
“Correct, Sergeant,” a white earth pony with a coal-black mane and tail said as he awkwardly trotted into view.
Beyond him, David could see another earth pony, this one truly massive and well muscled. “Moses?” The pony’s only reply was a curt nod. “Thank God... I was worried we’d lost everyone...”
Emmet’s ears folded back a little as he looked toward a white sheet draped over a still body. “Well, not all of us made it...”
David struggled to his hooves, taking a slow, awkward step at a time until he stood over the sheet. “Oh Roger... oh no...”
“Hey, no sense worrying about the dead, eh, ‘Heart’?” Desmond said as he trotted to stand next to David.
“What’d you call me?” David asked confusedly.
“Well, you already have that mark on your ass, makes sense to me to call ya that still.” Desmond said with a shrug, nearly falling down as he did so.
David turned his head around to look at his flank. Sure enough, there was a large, red heart emblazoned there, in the shape of a heart from a deck of playing cards. A quick check confirmed that it was on the other side as well. “Well I’ll be. ‘Heart’.” He rolled his tongue around as he considered it. “Why not? Means I get to call you Diamond more often.” He gestured to Desmond’s flank, where a white diamond shape was proudly displayed. Looking to Moses and Emmet, he could see a white club and a black spade on their flanks, respectively. “Guess we’re playing with a full deck then, huh?”
Emmet shook his head in amusement. “I guess so, Sergeant.” The four new ponies laughed a little despite the devastation surrounding them, each relieved that they hadn’t had to bury any of the other three.
Gradually, the eye-splitting pain faded and Flare sagged to the floor in relief, sweat soaking his coat and the carpet he’d been laying on. The unicorn opened his eyes and looked around the room, seeing the other guards conferring with Mark. “So... what happened?” His throat was dry as the desert and he coughed weakly.
“Flare, you’re awake!” Lariat said as he trotted over and helped the unicorn to his hooves. “As for what happened, you’ll have to tell us amigo. You just started freaking out and collapsed, saying something about blood and pain.”
Flare shivered as the ghost of the sensations came back to the front, and with a deep breath managed not to vomit what little breakfast he’d had. “I don’t even know... it just hit me all at once. I’ve never felt or even heard of magic like that before.”
Cloudhammer nodded. “Well, the important thing for now is you’re alright. We’ll want to get in touch with the forces we sent to the airport as soon as possible, get an idea of what’s going on...” He trailed off as a unicorn guard trotted in, his eyes dark. He whispered something into Cloudhammer’s ear and the pegasus stiffened, before nodding firmly. “Thank you, does Captain Nebula require assistance?”
“No sir, he just wanted to make sure you were kept in the loop.” The unicorn turned to Corporal Burton. “Sir, if I may have a moment of your time?”
Mark nodded. “Sure.” The unicorn led him out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.
“What did he say Cloudhammer?” Flare asked worriedly.
“All of the Marines were killed, by griffons.” The assembled guard’s eyes widened, but Cloudhammer wasn’t finished. “Apparently the National Guard responded and took down the HLF force, but there was a pulse of magic soon after our unicorns arrived. Almost all of the National Guard were killed, and the unicorns there described the exact same sensations that you felt Flare.”
“Do we know what caused it?” Flare shook his head to clear the last of the headache away.
“No, but knowing Nebula, if he hasn’t started, he will be soon. Now, let’s go. Somepony has to start coordinating this mess, and I’m going to need your help. Aegis, I want you to take Dusty, Anvil and Wrecker, take charge of those civilians who survived and access the Bureau records. We need to find out if any those foal’s parents survived the attack.” He sighed heavily. “As far as telling the foals of those who didn’t, we’ll let Foal Services handle that.”
Aegis folded his ears back. “Yeah...you got it, boss...”
“As for myself, Lariat, and Flare, we’ll work with the police here and start securing the bodies to prepare to take home to Equestria. Least we can do is give them the chance to be buried back home.”
Aegis saluted, before turning to the other earth pony guards. “Well, you heard the General, let’s get to it.” He led them back through the research facility and across the walkway to the Bureau. Passing the police who were covering the bodies of the fallen with sheets, he shook his head in anger at the senseless death that had been delivered. At least the beasts of the Everfree were simple predators in their violence. For another thinking being to do think to do this... he just couldn’t understand it.
Finally, they found themselves at the side hallway and Aegis stopped the formation. “Alright, Dusty, I want you to go to the records room, the door’ll be in the director’s office. Grab the employee and Convert records for this week, they’ll tell us who had foals here.” Dusty nodded before trotting further down the main hall. Aegis turned back to the side hall and took a breath to steel himself before trotting to the daycare. The four HLF men had been taken away, but Cheerheart and Cirrus were keeping the foals there for the time being. “S’cuse me, Miss Cheerheat?”
The earth pony mare looked up, trotting over as she saw the look on his face. “What do you need?”
He sighed. “We need to know the list of names of the parents who had foals here today. We’re going to be doing a sweep of the building, see how many were able to find hiding places when the attack started.”
Cheerheart nodded, her eyes getting misty again. Taking a few seconds to compose herself, she opened one of the drawers in her desk and pulled out a thick file folder. Opening it, she motioned him over. “These are the photos of the parents for every foal here for the past week. I can also just give you their names if you want.”
Aegis shook his head. “We’ll need the photos if... if they can’t answer back,” he finished weakly, trying very hard not to look at the foals who were whispering to each other, a few pointing at his helmet. One little blue earth pony colt, vivid green mane in a mess, inched forward and bravely tapped on Aegis’ flankguard. Aegis, mildly startled by the tap, glanced down at the colt.
“Are you a rhinocelus?”
Aegis laughed lightly. “No, no, not a rhinoceros, though a very friendly rhinoceros I met inspired my helmet.” Aegis reached up, unstrapped his helm, and pulled it off to a series of ‘wows’ and ‘oohs.’ The foals stared, wide-eyed, as the brown coat deepened into a dark shade of red, while the tan mane darkened to a rich brown.
“But you’re big as one, mister!” claimed a grey unicorn filly. “I know, I went and saw one before I was a pony. They’re a whole bunch bigger than ponies, like you. I didn’t know they could take off their horns and turn colors, though.”
Aegis chuckled. This was like trying to explain to Leapfrog why earth ponies couldn’t fly like pegasi not-so-many years ago. Unfortunately, as Aegis grew a bit sober, he didn’t have time to demonstrate he was, indeed, a pony. He had to go find out if these foals had homes and parents to return to. “Well, trust me, kiddos, I’m as much a pony as you are. Now, I do gotta get to work, lots more to take care of.” He held up a hoof at the chorus of disappointed moans from the foals. “Now, don’t ya’ll worry, when I’m all done I’ll be right back, ok?” Aegis strapped his helmet back on, his coat and tail reassuming their earth guard coloration.
The earth guards moved out of the room and back down the hallway, stopping in each of the offices on the floor. Unfortunately the scene was the same in every room they found, ponies who’d been just getting started with their day slumped at their desks or sprawled on the floor where they’d tried to bolt.
After five such rooms, Dusty pushed open the door to a maintenance storeroom, shaking his head as he didn’t see anything. “Write it off as empty, sir?”
“No, we’ll search them all,” Aegis said as he entered the room. “Is there anypony in here?”
One of the large garbage cans against the back walls rattled and fell over with a thud, a unicorn mare tumbling out to land sprawled on the floor. “Ouch...” She looked up, nearly bursting into tears at the sight of the two guards staring down at her. “Oh thank Celestia you’re here! I was just getting some more plastic cups when I heard this horrible noise! I peeked out the door and saw those awful humans shooting everypony! I managed to hide in the garbage can before they came in, and was so afraid they’d find me and-” her eyes widened in sudden terror, “-Oh no! My little filly, Spring Joy! She was in the daycare! I-is she...?”
Aegis let a smile break out. “Your little filly’s just fine, we’re holding them in the daycare right now to keep them safe.”
The mare stared at him blankly for a second, her eyes begging him to be telling the truth. When he nodded she sagged to the floor in relief, the tears finally coming out. “Oh thank goodness!”
“Wrecker, take her back to the daycare. We’ll regroup at the stairs to the next floor.”
The two black trucks pulled up to park in front of the bullet-riddled police station, eliciting more than a few nervous looks from civilians. The ten men inside got out and calmly took a look around, one snapping a few photographs of the face of the building.
“Suppose it’s about time you guys showed up, now that the action is all said and done.” Chief Nance said as he walked down the steps, four SWAT officers walking beside him.
“Special Agent McClanahan, FBI. We’re here to begin coordinating questioning of any prisoners taken from the ranks of the terrorists.” The man in front said as he took his badge out of his jacket, noticing the SWAT officer’s fingers not quite move toward the triggers of their rifles. “Your men seem a little jumpy still, Chief Nance.”
“Well, I can’t really blame them, given how this day started. As for prisoners, we’re still bringing in the group from out in the suburbs, so if you want, you can kindly have a seat in what’s left of our waiting area.” Nance replied coldly as he escorted the FBI agents into the lobby, showing them to the half shredded couches and chairs. “Now, I need to get back to work, but two of these fine gentlemen will remain here, in case you need anything. I’ll let you know when our officers come in with the prisoners.” He strode off into the rear of the building, the agents looking at each other before Agent McClanahan shook his head and followed after Nance.
“Chief Nance, I’m afraid you don’t understand. This incident is being labeled an act of terrorism and as such falls under the FBI and Department of Homeland Security’s jurisdiction. So for the time being I am in charge here. Now, I know you’ve had a tough morning, but I do need your help to start putting the pieces together on where these guys came from, where they got their weaponry, and what their target was. I can start ordering you around, but frankly that’s just going to piss people off on both sides, and I’d rather we work together to figure this out.”
Nance stopped outside his office door, holding onto the doorframe so tightly his knuckles were white. Finally heaving a sigh, he turned around to face the FBI agents. “Alright. Here’s the situation as we know it now. The terrorists are still at the airport, though some phone calls coming in say there’s been a flash of red light, and unicorns all across the city are collapsing. I want to send officers to investigate, but I’ve got enough problems on my hands as it is.”
McClanahan nodded. “Well, we’ll have more field agents coming in to the St Louis Downtown Airport this evening, and DHS agents the next morning, as well as Red Cross support staff to lend a hand to the local hospitals.”
Nance stared at the agent for a few more seconds, before he sighed again and stuck out his hand. “Thanks. Sorry I snapped, just been a really shitty morning. We appreciate the help.”
McClanahan took it, the two men shaking once. “It’s what they pay us for. And you can call me Caleb.”
“Oliver.”
“How are they doing?” Captain Nebula asked as he trotted over to the quartet of soldiers they’d been able to save from the thaumatic burst.
Solaris looked up. “Well, physically they’re fine, just need some time to come to terms with the fact that they’re ponies now.”
“You understand you’ll have to go on review for this Solaris. Even to save their lives, you still ponified them without their consent.”
Solaris nodded, though his ears folded back a little. “I understand sir.”
Nebula looked over at the ruined body of the airplane. “Alright, then come on. Let’s see what those griffons were up to that caused this disaster in the first place.” The two unicorns trotted cautiously to the ladder that had been pushed back against the side of the plane. Climbing up the steps, they peered carefully inside. A quick glance toward the flight deck made it clear they didn’t want to go in there, their noses wrinkling in disgust at the sight of the body sprawled in the doorway.
Looking the other way, they could see the door to the rear cargo area was twisted and blackened from whatever had gone on behind it. They trotted carefully down the aisle, the copper tang of blood reaching their noses as they drew closer.
“You ready Solaris?” Nebula asked as he drew a faint glimmer of power into his horn. Taking hold of the wedged door, he twisted his head and yanked it free, Solaris braced to receive whatever trap might be waiting on the other side, but nothing came beyond deathly quiet. The two unicorns looked at each other worriedly before they carefully made their way into the section beyond.
Almost immediately their eyes were drawn to the ravaged body lying against the wall, it’s skin seared black and charcoaled organs spilling out into dust on the floor. There were lines burned into the floor and walls, though what purpose they served wasn’t clear to either of them. Several holes had almost been melted through the hull of the plane, torn ragged like claw wounds. The last thing they noticed was the heat, almost a palpable wave that washed over them.
“What... what is all this Captain?” Solaris asked, his ears flat against his head as he looked nervously at the lingering shadows.
“I don’t know Solaris... but whatever they did here, they’re not here now. Let’s back out, let somepony more experienced in these matters get a look.” Both of them hurriedly exited the airplane, glad for the breaths of fresh air that awaited them. Nebula bellowed for a quartet of guards to take up position and prevent anypony else from having to see what was inside that plane.
Foster found himself torn between wanting to feel relieved that the situation was starting to get under control, and outrage at the failure to capture any of the griffons. The word that the terrorists were, in fact, calling themselves the HLF had only served to increase his aggravation. “Alright, the table’s open. I want suggestions for responses.”
“A strong condemnation of the attack, and thanking the St Louis police, the Army, the Marines, the National Guard, and the Equestrians for their assistance in both protecting the city.” Curtis said at once.
“Well, we have the images of the griffons, we can inquire with the Equestrian Embassy to see if they entered the country through there.” LaRue said, though his tone made it clear how well he thought that’d work.
“Unfortunately, if they were able to use whatever ritual they used to teleport here, then there won’t be any record of their entering the country. We would have to ask Iron Talons directly for the information. And you know as well as I do what he’ll say.” Amber Dusk said to Celestia.
Celestia nodded. “I’ll contact Luna, have her speak to the griffon ambassador in Canterlot. He might have some information to give us.”
“The real question then becomes what is our response should Iron Talons be responsible?” Kingsworth said, looking at a file folder. “I doubt you’d be willing to order the Royal Guard into Scythion unsupported.”
Celestia looked at Kingsworth levelly. “You would be correct. Especially if there’s been smuggling of human weaponry into Scythion. The Unicorn Guard simply does not have enough unicorns skilled in barrier magic to be able to safeguard themselves and the other ponies that would be needed. Not to mention the difficulty that any group attempting to raid an eyrie would face. However, I believe that before any further speculation is made on what course of action should be taken, that we need more information.”
“I agree. It may well be that this was a mercenary job,” LaRue pointed out. “We can’t consider deploying military forces to another country, even for this.”
“However, regardless of whether or not these griffons were authorized visitors to the US, they still committed an act of terrorism on US soil. Even if the Equestrian Royal Guard will not take action, the US government cannot stand by and allow this kind of attack to go unanswered.” Kingsworth retorted.
Amber Dusk snorted. “Do remember that we have lost citizens of ours today as well. But we cannot rush into a course of action without being prepared.” He put his hooves on the table. “When Scythion closed off communications with Equestria, I had my agents begin to... ask, discreetly, about the northern border and the human nations as to the activity of griffons coming and going. The vast majority of it was nothing useful, but there were three griffons in particular who stated they would be in one place, and could not be found for several hours. That was two years ago, twice here in the United States, and once in the northern towns.
LaRue glared at the unicorn, “So you’ve had spies operating on US soil as well? That is a serious breach of the diplomatic treaties the United States has with Equestria.”
Amber Dusk returned LaRue’s glare cooly. “Is it spying to ask a simple question of the customs officers in our Embassy, or someone who interacted with a griffon? At no time did an agent of Equestria conduct an operation on foreign soil. What Celestia said is true, the Royal Guard does not have the ability to take any action to enter Scythion, especially if they’ve been acquiring human weapons. Whether it’s to retrieve the Hunters responsible, or for more... large-scale maneuvers.” Amber Dusk leaned forward. “It’s my duty to safeguard Equestria and it’s citizens. I won’t be squeamish about what needs to be done to do so.”
Celestia put a hoof gently on his shoulder. “Amber Dusk, your dedication is admirable, but I’m afraid that LaRue is correct. In the future, any attempts to gather information will be done only with the approval of the US government. And you and I will need to have a conversation when we return to Canterlot. However, what he said is true, Equestria alone cannot take action against Scythion should it become necessary.”
“Then what do you suggest we do? It’s not like we can send troops of our own in with guns to act in concert with yours.” Kingsworth replied as he stared at Celestia.
“Well, we only really need the guns,” Sledgepetal spoke up again, the mare feeling out of place as again, every pair of eyes in the room turned to look at her. “I mean, we just need to either find enough unicorns who could levitate guns, or better yet, allies with fingers of their own.”
Celestia got a distant look in her eye, before rising to her hooves. “If you all will excuse me, I have a message I need to send.” She made her way out of the room, heading toward the Rose Garden. Once she was there, and certain no human was within the minimum safe distance for her spell, she once again established a connection with her sister.
“I see,” Luna said once Celestia had filled her in, “this is a disturbing series of thoughts to follow.”
“It is, though we still don’t have enough information to determine an accurate course of action. I’d like for you to speak with the griffon ambassador immediately. I have the feeling that he might be trying to go on vacation in the near future.”
“I understand ‘Tia. How far am I to go in talking with him?”
“Be civil about it, at least. There is still the likely chance that these Hunters contracted independently. Of more interest to me is First Lieutenant Sledgepetal’s observation.” Celestia filed Luna in on that as well. “I do believe a solution exists right under our noses, and with the right motivation, would be more than willing to lend its assistance.”
Luna blinked as she made the same connections Celestia had. “I... see. Are you sure that it is wise to be so hasty though?”
“Well, it is true I’d like to have a few decades to ease the idea in, but we are operating under more than one deadline Luna. Even if the Hunters contracted individually, it must be made clear that such actions will not be tolerated. And I know the humans well enough to know they will not tolerate violation of their territorial sovereignty. Better that we remain in the loop and part of the solution rather than them trying to take action on their own.”
“You do have a point. Very well, I’ll contact the necessary ambassadors. You know their neighbors are not going to be happy about this.”
“Well, why not extend them the same offer? In hindsight, this should have been pursued from a much earlier time. Although there will of course need to be tests performed and results collected, but given the prior research the bulk of the work is already done.”
Luna’s astral self shook her head. “Just be careful not to move too quickly, we don’t want to destabilize the situation any further.”
Celestia laughed lightly. “I’ll keep that in mind. Let me know what you learn from the ambassadors.”
Luna nodded as their shared space faded from Celestia’s vision, the Rose Garden slowly replacing it. She sighed and turned back toward the White House, wondering how President Foster would take the suggestion she was about to make.
Aegis sighed as they exited the stairs to the third floor dormitory. They’d found most of the foals’ parents, though two of them had not survived their injuries. He hoped against hope that those were the only two deceased, that he wouldn’t have to break more hearts than he had to today. “Okay, we’re looking for Theodore and Genevieve Hendricks. Their son is Bobby,” Aegis stopped as he saw the photo of the beaming, light blue earth pony colt. “They’re supposed to be here on this floor, Room 327. Check the other rooms on our way down.”
Slowly, the four ponies made their way down the hall, opening the doors and peering into rooms, wincing at the rooms that held the remains of ponified residents. The majority of the rooms actually had human survivors in them, and Aegis sent Dusty to take them all down to be processed out by the police. Finally, they stood in front of the door to Room 327, and after a second to steel himself Aegis turned the handle and opened the door...
...only for Fate to deal another blow to his heart. Both were lying there on the bed, the sheets stained red around them.. Theodore had already been ponified, winding up a pegasus; his wife was still human. His last act had been to throw himself atop her to try and shield her, though the bullets had torn through them both anyway.
Fighting down the anger that started smoldering in his chest, Aegis turned away from the scene. “Guards, move out. We have one final duty left.” The others silently nodded, though their own scowls of anger were clearly visible. Together, they made their way slowly down the stairs, each wrestling with the knowledge that they would be telling three foals their parents wouldn’t be coming home.
Stopping outside the hallway, Aegis turned to the others. “If any of you choose, you can back out now. I won’t blame ya.” When none of the guards took a step back, he nodded. “Alright then, let’s go.” Together, they entered the daycare. The surviving parents had been allowed to take their foals from the room, but Bobby, the grey unicorn filly, and an orange-red pegasus colt remained, the three looking up hopefully as the door swung open. Cheerheart and Cirrus met their gazes, and Cheerheart stifled a sob as she realized the awful truth.
Anvil and Wrecker looked at Aegis, and at some unspoken signal took the pegasus colt away to one corner, Dusty leading the unicorn filly away, and Aegis looked down sadly at Bobby.
“Mister, where’s my mom and dad? They were gonna come pick me up once they were ponies too,” he said as he looked into Aegis’ eyes. Seeing the downcast expression they held, his own started to tear up. “They’re okay, right? They just gotta be!”
Aegis felt his heart breaking as he took a slow breath. He’d, unfortunately, had to do this several times before, but it never got easier. “I’m... I’m afraid that they’re gone.” He tried to find more words to say to lessen the impact, but was interrupted by the colt grabbing his leg with a wailing cry.
“You’re lying! Mom and Dad wouldn’t just leave me like that!” Bobby shook Aegis’ leg weakly, crying incoherently as Cheerheart trotted forward and gently pried him loose. With another wail he buried his face into her chest, tears soaking into her white coat. In the other corners of the room, similar screams of denial came from the other two foals, Cirrus trotting over to help the pegasus colt, while one of the adult mares nuzzled the unicorn filly.
“There there, just let it out,” Cheerheart said, her own tears falling to the floor as she wrapped a leg around the colt. She gave him a wet nuzzle. “I know that your parents loved you very dearly, and if they could, would be here now. But sometimes the Pale Mare calls ponies to the Eternal Herd for reasons we don’t understand-”
“It’s not fair though! They were my Mommy and Daddy! Why’d they have to go?” Bobby shouted as he sniffled, mucus smearing across his muzzle as he wiped at his eyes with a hoof.
Cheerheart didn’t have an answer to give him, so she simply hugged him tighter as he continued to wail.
The four guards stood stoically, each recalling times of their own when they’d been given a similar message. Some had had the chance to at least say goodbye, but these foals had no warning. Mom and Dad were just gone, never again to tuck them in, or to play the little games and tricks that parents use to show their love for their children.
“Confirm Helen, you have all the prisoners?” Switchboard spoke into the radio, glad that he was able to do his job again.
“Roger that Dispatch, moving them now to Precinct HQ, will be dispersing after successful transfer. How are you guys holding up?” Helen’s voice came back, sounding more tired than Switchboard had ever heard her.
“We’re still a little shaken up here, but otherwise fine. Take care of yourself there 7-12. Say hi to your brother for me.”
There was laughter. “Roger that Dispatch. See you tomorrow. Over and out.”
Switchboard put the headset down and pushed back from the desk with a sigh, looking over at the clock. The uncaring lights glowed a dull red as they displayed the time. “Is it really only twelve fifteen?”
Gary looked up from his seat. “I guess it is.”
“So, what do we do now?” Switchboard asked tiredly, climbing down from his chair.
“Well, I don’t know who’s supposed to come in and relieve us.” Gary said as he walked over to the coffeemaker. “I’ll brew up a new pot, give HQ a call and see if they can send our relief in.”
Switchboard nodded, putting his headset back on as the two other officers in the building came wandering in at the smell of fresh coffee. “Precinct, this is Dispatch, requesting status of relief, over.”
“Relief is being assembled now, expect at eighteen-hundred hours. Over.”
“Roger that.” Switchboard sighed as he looked over to the three officers. “Got another hour more to go.”
There was a chorus of groans from everyone present as they settled into their chairs, a degree of normalcy that they eagerly clung to after the events of the day.
Luna rose from her throne as she finished speaking to Celestia. “I apologize, but there is crucial business to be attended to. Sky Shimmer, if you could please continue to organize things in my absence.” Without another word she strode out of the throne room and down the hall. As she passed a shadowed alcove, two patches of darkness ruffled their wings and trotted out to join her.
“Do you have need of us, my Lady?” the bat-winged pegasus on her left asked quietly.
“Indeed, Starstruck. Celestia has asked that we call upon the griffon ambassador. Given the events in St Louis, she feels that some information might be gleaned from him. Has he left his embassy yet?”
“No. The other Nightguard report that he is still within his home, though one who got close enough heard sounds of activity.” The other replied.
“Excellent Moongrazer. If you would please go ahead and prepare the area, I will be with you shortly.”
The pegasus nodded and leapt into the air, darting through the halls with the precision common to the bats his wings resembled. Luna and Starstruck strode calmly through the halls until they reached one of the castles balconies. Spreading their wings, they took off over the sunlit buildings.
“Why is it that we cannot simply confine him to his home and wait for nightfall?” Starstruck asked rhetorically. “Night’s more fun anyway.”
Luna smiled despite herself. “I agree. But time is of the essence, after all.”
“I suppose.” Starstruck muttered, as the pair banked into a downward spiral over the diplomatic district. New buildings were being constructed on the end of the row, for the ponified representatives of human nations to inhabit. Landing in front of the griffon embassy, Luna could see a number of pegasi in conventional Canterlot dress positioned strategically around the building, though to a casual observer they would appear to be normal citizenry. Letting her awareness spread, she counted a dozen unicorns placed to nullify any attempted teleportation or other magical treachery. Moongrazer stood smartly at attention outside the front door, the pegasus glaring at anypony who came too close..
“He is still inside?” Luna asked. When Moongrazer nodded, she allowed another smile to cross her face. “Then let us have words with him.” Signalling the rest of the Nightguard to hold position, Luna and the two visible guards opened the front door and walked in. The fact that the door had been locked didn’t occur to any of them as a problem.
“Who dares to barge in he-” the griffon ambassador shouted as he entered the front room of the building. When he saw who it was standing on the carpet he tried to turn and run, only to find the doors had closed behind him.
“Ambassador Sunwing. I am pleased that we were able to find you at home. You and I are going to have a conversation about the activities of some of Scythion’s Hunters this day.” Luna said as she walked forward, admiring a painting on the wall.
“Y-you know that Scythion does not control the activities of the Hunters. If they receive a contract, then they are not bound by Scythion law.”
“However, when your nation’s subjects have violated another nation’s sovereignty, and taken the lives of both Equestrian and United States citizens, then that, I’m afraid, does not excuse them from the law. In particular the treaty that Scythion and Equestria ratified over thirteen hundred years ago.”
The ambassador blanched. “I still cannot tell you anything. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have been recalled to Scythion for the time being.”
Luna smiled predatorily, and stalked forward until she towered over the ambassador. “And why the sudden interest in leaving? There is no need to be afraid, unless you knew in advance that you would need to vacate the country.”
“You have no proof of these accusations! I insist on being permitted to leave, as per Article Twenty-Four, Section Twelve, Paragraph Eight!” the ambassador shouted as he fluffed his hackles angrily.
“Ah, that is true. However, you forget that Article Seven, Section Eleven, Subsection Nine, Paragraph Twelve of the treaty nullifies diplomatic rights should recognized agents of Scythion’s government, including Hunters, participates in any action that causes the death of Equestrian citizens.”
The ambassador just stared, trying vainly to come up with a way out, but with the Princess of the Night herself standing in front of him, there was nothing he could do. “What’s in it for me?” he asked rather lamely.
Luna leaned in close, letting her eyes bore into his. “Your freedom, if you’re lucky.”
It was almost three thirty when Helen pulled her cruiser into a parking spot across the street from the Bureau, just sitting there for a moment as she looked at the countless bullet casings littering the streets. “I do not envy the forensics guys,” she said with a chuckle, before she realized that they’d probably pull officers to help with picking up as much of the mess as they could. “Aw crap.”
After another few minutes, she opened the door to the cruiser and climbed out. Crossing the street, she felt the glass crunching underfoot as she entered the Bureau lobby. Seeing one of the FBI agents standing nearby, she walked over. “Officer Helen Whitt, here to pick up Cirrus Whitt.”
The agent gave her badge a look, then at her. “Driver’s license please.”
Helen nodded and pulled her wallet out, flipping it open and handing it to the agent. He took the ID out and looked at it for a few seconds before nodding and handing it back to her. “He’s still back in the daycare. Down the hall to your left, there’s a side hallway that’ll take you there. Can’t miss it.”
Helen nodded. “Thanks.” She walked past the agent and down the hallway, finding the correct side hallway easily enough and stopping at the door to the daycare. She could see Cirrus standing next to a white earth pony mare, along with two other ponies in suits with badges pinned to their chests. Another suited pony was talking quietly with two foals, a unicorn filly and a pegasus colt.
“-while we can’t let them stay here for now, if you are serious about this, you can come with us to Canterlot and begin to fill out the paperwork Miss Cheerheart.”
The earth pony mare nodded resolutely. “I’m sure.” She flicked her ear and craned her head around to look at Helen. “Oh, well look who’s here, Cirrus.”
Cirrus turned around to look and visibly brightened. “Helen!” He bounded forward as Helen dropped to a knee, the siblings embracing tightly. “I’m so glad you’re alright.”
“You big doofus, worrying about me, when you were right here in the middle of it.” Helen said as she felt a little bit of moisture gathering in the corners of her eyes. She felt the hug tighten briefly before they let go. “Hello Cheerheart, how are you feeling?”
“Well, I could be doing better, but the real victims are them,” she said with a heavy sigh as she looked at the two foals, who were now crying their eyes out.
Helen winced. “Oh god, I’m... I’m sorry.”
Cheerheart nodded. “It’s going to be tough for all of us. But Celestia willing, I’ll be able to help them work through this.”
Cirrus tilted his head. “So you’re really going to to go through with this Cheer?”
“I am. Those foals lost everything today. Least I can do is provide them a shoulder to lean on and a home to come back to.” Cheerheart said resolutely.
Helen nodded. “Well, I wish you the best of luck. All of you.”
“Thank you,” Cheerheart said as she let a small smile cross her face. “I’m glad that you’re okay too Helen. Cirrus talks about you a lot.”
“Whatever he’s said, I deny everything.” The three allowed grins to cross their faces, but they faded as one of the suited ponies trotted over. “Miss Cheerheart? We’re ready to begin the teleport if you are.”
“Alright, thank you.” Cheerheart turned to Cirrus, and before he could react, threw her forelegs around him in a massive hug. “Thank you for not running. You’re a good friend.”
Cirrus blushed. “Well, it wasn’t like I could up and leave a bunch of kids alone, could I?” He shot Helen a glare to remind her to keep her laughter to herself.
“Well, I’m going to be moving back to Equestria for the time being. If you ever find yourself near Trottingham, we should catch up.” She released him from the hug and took a deep breath, facing the suited ponies squarely. “I’m ready to go.”
“Right this way then.” The pony in the lead nodded respectfully to Helen and Cirrus as he trotted past, Cheerheart helping the two foals as they despondently shuffled down the hallway.
Once they were out of earshot, Helen looked down at her brother. “So, she’s...”
“Adopting them, yeah.” Cirrus’ ears folded flat.
“And I couldn’t help but notice your face goin’ red as a tomato there when she hugged ya.” She snickered as he flushed red again.
“Look, there’s nothing going on between us!”
“I kid, I kid. Still, she seemed nice. Someday we’ll have to take her up on her offer.” Helen mused as she looked out the window.
Cirrus’ ears perked bolt upright. “You mean... have you decided?”
“Hold your horses there bro,” she laughed at her own bad joke, “I’m not deciding anything yet. But I don’t intend to be one of the loonies who’re trying to ‘ride out the lie’ when Rejection happens.”
“Yeah... I’ll say it again, you’d make one hell of a pony sis.”
“Yeah, and maybe pigs’ll sprout wings.”
“Who knows? If you end up a unicorn you may well be able to give em to them!” Cirrus said with a laugh. His stomach growled and both of them started laughing harder. “What do you say we go get some food?”
“I don’t know if there’ll be any restaurants open. Tell you what, we’ll just go by the Walmart at Richmond Heights, grab some groceries there and have dinner at my place. Sound like a plan?”
Cirrus opened his mouth, but his stomach grumbled louder. “Guess my vote’s already been cast.” Together, the two siblings walked out of the Bureau toward Helen’s car, trading good-natured barbs at each other the whole way.
Luna finished the sip of her tea as she looked across the table at the griffon ambassador. “Now, I don’t want to make this any more difficult than it has to be. Is there any information that you can tell us?”
The griffon swallowed nervously, pinned as he was between the cold stares of Luna and her unnerving guards. “Well, you understand, I’m only a dignitary. Even if there was anything planned I would not have been told anything of value.”
Luna nodded. “I’m sure.” The sarcasm in her voice was plain to all. “However, even if details of such a hypothetical arrangement were not given to you, surely you received some form of message indicating that you should leave the country?”
The griffon hesitated for a second, then reached into his messenger bag and withdrew an envelope. Setting it on the table in front of him, he idly tapped a claw on it. “Should I ‘misplace’ this, I will require one thing in return. That I be allowed to leave the city as expected, and Scythion’s sovereignty will not compromised by any Equestrian.”
Luna smiled demurely. “You have my word, upon my verification of the envelope’s contents.”
The griffon nodded and took his claw off the envelope. Luna’s horn glowed azure as she lifted the envelope and opened it. Unfolding the letter, she read it once before nodding once and tucking it back into the envelope. Levitating it to Starstruck, who tucked it into his armor, she got to her hooves. “We’re done here.”
Moongrazer and Starstruck turned smartly and followed her as she strode calmly out the door. The disguised Nightguard were already fading into the background of the gathered Canterlot elite. “My Lady, what did the letter say?”
“Not here. We need to inform Celestia of this at once. Things just got more complicated.” She spread her wings and took off, the two following after her. “I’ll be teleporting to Washington. Moongrazer, I want you to make sure Sky Shimmer is able to get the last of the relief effort to St Louis without delay. Starstruck, you will accompany me.”
“Yes, your Majesty.” Moongrazer peeled away, arrowing toward the castle, while Luna and Starstruck simply flew straight up, Luna picturing the designated place in the Rose Garden. With a brief twist reality folded and they were gone.
Diane took a deep breath and put on her ‘reporter smile’ as the red light stopped blinking. “And welcome to the CNN Evening News at 6. Today has been a tragic day for Americans and Equestrians everywhere, as we begin to come to terms with the true scale of what has begun to be called The St Louis Massacre. While the final number has yet to be determined, the casualties are at least three hundred fifty humans dead, and over nine hundred ponies killed. The wounded combined number over a thousand as well, though the timely arrival of National Guard and Equestrian medical personnel was able to prevent much more loss of life. At this time it is believed that all of the terrorists are dead, though unconfirmed eyewitness reports claim that four men were seen being led from the downtown Conversion Bureau, and that several dozen ponies were being loaded into police vehicles and taken to an undisclosed location. More on that in our News at 11 report.
In other news, attendance at Conversion Bureaus across the world plummeted in the wake of the attack. CNN spoke with several citizens outside Bureaus around the country.” The feed switched to a middle-aged man standing outside a Conversion Bureau.
“Well, I was thinking to sign in, but if people like that can just show up anywhere, then I don’t want to give it a try right now.”
The feed showed a woman standing outside an average looking house, some snow still melting on the ground. “I mean, the ponies are nice and all, but I’ve got two kids. If I went to one of these Bureaus and another attack happened, what would happen to my kids?”
Several other clips played, each showing a man or woman explaining why they were withdrawing from the Bureau in their area. Finally, it cut back to Diane, who turned in her chair to make room for an overlayed video. “Earlier today President Foster and Princess Celestia made a joint statement condemning the attack.”
The audio changed to the recorded speech, Foster speaking at the moment, “-and I stress again, no matter how long it takes, the American government will not rest until those responsible are found and brought to justice.”
Celestia took a breath. “I want to extend the condolences of both myself and Equestria. Today we are not two separate nations or species, but united together in our mourning of the fallen, and the praise of the heroes of the day. Those brave humans and ponies laid down their lives to defend not only their fellow beings, but the very ideals that our two nations share: that no one, human or pony, is any greater than another, and that we are all entitled to the same rights of life and love.” The audience responded with applause, and the audio returned to Diane. “The President and Celestia turned down any questions concerning more responses to the attack at this time, only saying that their focus was on helping the survivors and those who lost loved ones work through this trying time. This is Diane Moore for CNN, please tune in at eleven for more information on this attack.”
Foster turned off the television and looked at Celestia and Luna. “Well, let’s see that letter you brought with you.”
Starstruck nodded, pulling the envelope out from the pocket under his armor and setting it on the table. Foster opened it, and after a glance slid it back across the table. “What does it say?”
Celestia turned it around with a hoof. “It says, ‘Expect Equestrians to dig for information. Destroy all secret documents and leave the city at once. If called upon by the Equestrians, rebuff them.’ It is signed by Stormeye, Iron Talons’ chief of state.”
“I see. And what exactly does this mean with regards to these ‘Hunters’ working with the HLF?”
Luna lowered her eyelids in thought. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that Ambassador Sunwing knew nothing of value. However, I do still feel that Scythion had a role to play in this incident. We just don’t know enough.”
“However, there is a way that we can uncover the answers we seek,” Celestia said calmly, “and we need your country’s help to do it, Tyler.”
Foster tapped a pen on his desk before he looked up. “And just what help might that be?”
Celestia smiled. “Lieutenant Sledgepetal’s suggestion gave us a... new line of thought. But in order to sway our allies that meet the prerequisites, we will need to offer them an appropriate bargain. We will need to revive the serum project.”
Foster blinked. “You don’t play by halves, do you?”
Celestia laughed lightly. “I occasionally turn two problems into one solution, yes.”
“Well, let’s arrange a meeting then. I’ll need to meet with Congress, secure funding for the project-”
“As kind as the offer is Tyler, we are more than capable of funding this project. Providing the research and scientists who helped create the original ponification serum will allow us to create this new serum that much quicker.”
“I see. Well, that’ll certainly grease the wheels with Congress. I believe this time, we’ll pick a military location, to prevent a repeat of the HLF’s first attack.”
“I agree. I did tell you several times that we needed a better location Celly.” Luna said with a sad smile.
“Yes, and Autumn Frost paid the price for my choice,” Celestia said quietly. “That will not happen again.”
The ten unicorns shivered quietly on the hard concrete floor. They’d blacked out from the stress of the teleport and the ensuing sensations it forced into their heads, and when they’d come to, the pegasi with them were gone. That had been nearly four hours ago, and the silence of the room was starting to get to them. They’d attempted to use magic, but quickly discovered that the griffons had placed something around their horns that not only nullified the magic, but subjected them to intense pain until they released the spell.
Finally, the handle on the door could be heard turning, and with a swish of metal on metal it swung open, revealing a pair of humans pushing a large television in atop a stand. One of them turned the TV on, and then leaned down to the small computer sitting under it and pressed a key. The TV lit up with a plain room, devoid of furniture of windows save for a single chair. Suddenly, a voice spoke up, the owner apparently behind the device filming the room.
“I suppose you are wondering why we have taken you prisoner, or perhaps some of you have figured it out. Either way, the reason is simple. Simply because the masses have swallowed the lie that is the Conversion, does not mean that the human race is finished. The HLF is more than just men, more than just acts of violence and terror, though those serve their purpose. The HLF is an ideal, that humanity will not lie down quietly and submit to the only solution you ponies offer.” The owner of the voice entered the view of the screen and sat down comfortably in the chair.
“But the serum is the only choice!” a unicorn mare shouted. “We’ve tried, are still trying other solutions, but nothing has come up yet!”
The man in the chair shook his head. “But see, there’s a flaw with that. Just because serum is the only method discovered thus far that works, instead of continuing to fund research into other methods, those funds are now used to build Conversion Bureaus, refine serum, and distribute information about it to as many people as possible. Never before has humanity simply gone with a solution because it was presented first, and I will not accept doing so now, with the fate of our very species on the line.”
“But why not work publicly to try to find another solution?” The same unicorn retorted. “Why commit such heinous violence against those who are trying to help?”
“It’s simple. I believe, wholeheartedly, in my species. We’ve struggled throughout our short history to find ourselves on top of the world, and I will not be a willing participant or even an observer to the end of all of our achievement. So when you ponies showed up, and began infiltrating and weakening our nations, I began to spread ‘informal’ contacts among the higher echelons of society, garnering what support I could. And when the serum was met with resounding applause for it’s success, I formally founded the HLF in response. And now, you are going to help me to put an end to the nonsensical belief that Conversion will save the human race.”
“We’ll never help a monster like you!” The unicorn shouted, the other chiming in as they stomped their hooves on the floor.
“Oh but you will. What’s your name?” the mane asked the unicorn who’d been talking.
After a second’s hesitation, the mare looked levelly at the screen. “Rose Swirl.”
“Well, you see Rose, I know you’ll help me. Because if you don’t, we’ll bomb a Bureau, or shoot up a pony establishment, for every time you all refuse to do the tasks you will be given. The attack in St Louis was showy, yes, but it’s awfully easy to whip a single angry person into committing an act of violence, and all but impossible for anyone to stop.” The man’s voice was like ice, his eyes even colder.
The ponies were silent, staring at the screen in a mix of horror, disgust, and fear. “How... how can you be so cruel?” Rose Swirl asked.
Curtis Miller leaned forward. “Because sometimes, a man must allow the darkness to stain his soul, to save those who have not the wit to see the danger staring them in the face.”
They’d had to move the ceremony to the fields below the mountain, because there was simply no way to fit that many ponies into Canterlot itself. Over the course of a month, the stage was built, letters sent to families of those who perished, and, of course, the construction of the coffins. Nine hundred and thirty seven ponies had fallen during the St Louis Massacre, three hundred sixty two of them native Equestrians.
To accommodate the enormous influx of ponies pouring into Canterlot, the Canterlot Construction Company, with the assistance of the Royal Guard, built simple yet comfortable housing around the base of the mountain. There were ponies coming from as far away as Vanhoover and Manehatten, even more than had received letters themselves, for they were friends of the families and wanted to come lend their support.
Many of the Royal Guard could not be present, as the Bureaus around the world still required the protection they offered, but gradually, unit by unit, company by company, hundreds of them were pulled from training to attend the mass funeral. For many of them, this was their first time seeing Equestria proper. For others, it was their first time visiting while on duty.
“I’m serious Flare. I want to move out of that apartment.” Nimbus said as they walked down the castle passage.
“I understand, but where are we going to move to?” Flare replied, craning his head around to give their son, sleeping securely in his foal-carrier, a quick nuzzle. “Finding an apartment here in Canterlot’s going to be prohibitively expensive, and we just don’t have the bits for it right now.”
Nimbus thought about it for a second. “Well, why don’t we try to rent with Skipjack and Dusty? There were those new apartments opening up on Hawaii that had decent rates...” She trailed off as a wall of red joined them. “Good morning Captain.”
Aegis snorted. “Ah ain’t on duty, Nimby.” He fell into step with them, smiling down at the sleeping Breaker. “I swear, little guy gets bigger every time I see him. So, you two looking for a place to stay?”
“Yeah, we were looking at buying one of the new homes that’re getting built out on Hawaii, but the price is outside the range the four of us can afford.” Nimbus peered back as Breaker started waking up. “Well good morning sleepyhead.”
“Mornin’ Mommy...” Breaker mumbled as he rubbed at his eyes with a hoof. Looking up, he perked up. “Hi Uncle Aegis!”
“Howdy yourself champ,” Aegis said with a smile, before his eyes glazed over a little with a thought. “Well shoot, why don’t me, Fireball, and Leapfrog move in with you? I know Fireball’d love to go back, she really enjoyed our visit a week ago.” Aegis was glad for the fact that his red coat hid the mild blush that formed on his cheeks.
“Well, why don’t we talk about it after tomorrow?” Flare asked as they approached the castle daycare.
“Well I’m going to San Francisco with General Cloudhammer after the funeral, hopefully put this whole him bein’ my dad thing to rest,” Aegis replied with a snort.
“Well, we have some time off for the next few days, we should get together once you come back and discuss this.” Nimbus replied with a smile as they arrived at the door. Flare nosed it open, the giggling of foals spilling out, and the pair walked inside. “We’ll see you around Aegis!”
“Sure thing you two,” Aegis replied with a chuckle as he trotted down the hallway.
The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off of the gold armor of hundreds of guards drawn up in perfect parade formation. They occupied the forward left section of the field, with thousands more ponies surrounding them.
At the front of the assembled mass of ponies, the stage sat, patiently awaiting the speaker. Behind it, the hundreds of coffins sat quietly, a soft glow of magic surrounding them to prevent heat from building up.
Finally, a pair of winged shapes flew down from Canterlot, resolving themselves into the forms of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Luna landed gently at the front of the row of guards, while Celestia landed next to the stage.
Celestia walked slowly to stand on the stage, giving the vast array of coffins behind her a somber look before turning to look across the vaster herd in front of her. Igniting her horn, she took a deep breath before beginning.
“I want to thank all of you for coming.” Her magically-amplified voice rang out, echoing faintly off of the mountain. “There is never a time when it is easy to say goodbye to a loved one, a family member, or a friend. A month ago, the city of St Louis was torn apart by violence and fear, and many paid the ultimate price any being, human or pony, should have to pay. Yet even during the darkest times of that day, there still shone beacons of heroism, ponies and humans who fought to defend the rights that all living things have. Ponies like Ridge Breeze who, despite being shot through the torso, used the last of his strength to lead the terrorists attacking him away from a group of hiding ponies. Ponies like Nutmeg, who stood her ground to let others flee. Ponies like Cirrus, who didn’t run when the lives of foals were in danger. Humans like police Corporal Mark Burton, who didn’t hesitate to put themselves into harm’s way again and again to defend the innocent. Humans like Captain Ian Hodges, who refused to give up in the face of insurmountable odds, and gave their lives trying to deny the terrorists escape. Ponies like General Cloudhammer, Captains Aegis Exemplar and Flare, and First Lieutenants Dusty, Wrecker, Anvil, and Lariat, who despite being off-duty did not hesitate to don the armor of the Royal Guard and do what they were trained to do.
It is with great sorrow, yet great pride that I welcome these brave souls back to Equestria, and lament that I did not know them better, pony and human alike. Nothing can bring the dead back to life, but by continuing on, we honor their sacrifice, and ensure that their memory never dies. I would ask that you all join me in a moment of silence, to honor these heroes of Equestria and Earth.” Celestia bowed her head, mirrored by the thousands standing in front of her. For the duration of their silence, it seems that even the wind and animals paused for a moment in remembrance.
Finally, Celestia lifted her head. “For those of you who have traveled from distant towns and cities, I have commissioned the trains to depart in the morning, to take the fallen and their families to their homes for private services.” With one final bow to the rows of silent coffins, she looked out over the assembled crowd. “Know that I am deeply sorry for your losses, and all of Equestria will mourn with you.”
After another bow, the crowd began to slowly disperse, many ponies spreading out into the field of coffins to grieve individually.
“Thank you for your patience Mr. Exemplar, Mr. Cloudhammer, we have the results of the paternity test right here.” The doctor said as he opened a manilla folder and scanned the page.
Aegis shifted awkwardly in the seat. Human chairs were always uncomfortable to ponies, and the situation certainly wasn’t helping any. He shot a quick glance to Cloudhammer, but if the older pegasus noticed, he gave no sign of it. The past two days had been the worst kind, where he just needed to get out and do something, but needed to remain close by.
“Now, I want to stress that we’ve not really done this for ponies yet, so there is a small chance that the results are incorrect. But for the moment, I can say with confidence that you are indeed Aegis’ biological father, Cloudhammer,” the doctor said calmly.
The room was quiet as a tomb for a few long seconds, punctuated only by the two stallion’s breathing and the mild hum of the lights.
Flare shifted his shoulders to settle the armor, looking over at Nimbus. “So how do I look?”
“Like you’re ready to take on the world sweetheart.” Nimbus said as she reached out and adjusted a plate. “Now come on, you don’t want to be late for this.”
“I know, I know.” Flare looked over to Breaker, the little colt bouncing on the enormous hotel room bed. “Come on now Breaker, it’s time to go.”
“Aww, but I want to play some more!” he protested as he flopped to the sheets with a huff.
Flare chuckled and levitated his son into the air. “Now, you’ll have more time to play once we get out of the ceremony. Think you can behave yourself until then? We might take you out for pizza....” he let the word trail off slowly, a grin spreading as Breaker’s eyes lit up and his legs started flailing about.
“Really Daddy? Can we Mom? Please please please?” Breaker looked at Nimbus with the best begging face he could muster while floating two feet off the floor.
“Now how can I resist that face? Alright, if you behave yourself the whole ceremony, we can go get some pizza.”
Breaker cheered as Flare set him down on the floor. “Let’s go then!”
The two parents laughed as they followed their son to the elevator.
The assembled crowd was composed of Royal Guard, St Louis Police, US National Guard, US Marines, and assorted civilians both pony and human. The rebuilt front of the downtown Bureau was now composed of two sets of stairs, and a divider in the middle with a sheet-covered statue standing atop it.
In the front row, Aegis sat with his marefriend, along with the other guards and their families. Once more Aegis found himself trying to avoid making a ruckus in the uncomfortable human-style chairs. There still wasn’t much market penetration for pony seating on Earth, as when a pony decided to sit, they didn’t need a chair to do so. Fireball nudged Aegis, again, giving him an admonishing look. Flare stifled a chuckle, earning himself a similar look from Nimbus.
With a warning glance from Cloudhammer, they quieted down as the Mayor of St Louis, Adam Nielson, stepped forward to the microphone stand. “Okay, I want to thank you all for coming to this historic ceremony. As you know, two months ago, St Louis was the victim of a heinous terrorist attack the likes of which has not been seen on US soil since the September 11th attacks. Our city was gravely wounded, with many citizens, both human and pony, losing their lives. However, during the chaos of that day’s events, there were those who stood up as symbols of calm and order. Police officers like Corporal Mark Burton and Officer Helen Whitt. US Marines like Ian Hodges. National Guard like First Sergeant Ronald Wallen and Master Sergeant Emmet Webb. Ordinary citizens like Jesse Morales and Cirrus. And even those not from our city, such as the Equestrian Royal Guard.” He nodded respectfully to the small gathering of guardponies. “It is in their honor today that I officially declare the St Louis Downtown Conversion Bureau open again, and commemorate their heroism with this statue.”
At his signal, the two police officers standing on either side of the statue gripped the sheet and pulled it down. Revealed, the audience stared in awe at the gleaming bronze sculpture. It bore six figures standing proudly on the plinth, three humans and three ponies. A US Marine and a National Guardsman flanked a police officer, and arranged in front of them was a pegasus, earth pony, and unicorn guard. All six figures had looks of stern determination as they faced outwardly from the Bureau, their metal eyes staring resolutely at the assembled onlookers. On the base was a plaque with an inscription, stating simply,
In honor of those who fought to defend this city, and for those who paid the ultimate price without hesitation. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten, for the ideals they died for are eternal.
The audience broke into light applause as Mayor Nielson indicated for the row the Guards, police, and four newfoals sat in to stand. “It is at this time that I wish to honor those who stepped forward and fought to protect our city and citizens from the terrorism of the HLF.” He turned as an aide presented a case filled with medals, each one bearing the city seal. Moving slowly down the line, he placed a medal around the necks of each officer and pony in the row. Reaching the end, he saluted the row. “You have the gratitude of this city, and for those of you who are not citizens, you are always welcome to return.”
The applause returned in greater force, accentuated by the stamping of hooves from the ponies present.
‘Well,’ thought Fireball to herself, ‘no time like the present.’ She gave Aegis a congratulatory nuzzle. “Have a second to talk?”
Aegis smiled at his marefriend. “Of course, always time for you.” He glanced at Leapfrog, who had already made herself busy entertaining Breaker. “No time like the present, right?”
“Weeeell....you remember our trip, several weeks back? To the beach?” Fireball blushed a little. That had been a very good trip.
“Of course. That was real fun, all the sand and surf. Heh, now it’s just a day trip.” Aegis thought back to Leapfrog kissing that unicorn colt. “Mostly...” The two teens had kept their promise to write each other. Thank Celestia they lived across a nation, and now, an ocean, away.
“Well, there was also plenty of sun, too. A lot of, um, sun.” Fireball, usually brimming with confidence, was starting to waver a little. She fluttered her wings in nervousness.
“Yeah. Are ya wantin’ to head back to the beach? I’m sure we’ve got plenty of time before I go back on duty.” Aegis wasn’t helping anything.
“Ah, no, not quite yet. Um, there’s something I really need to tell you...”
“Oh? what is it, oh love of my life?” Aegis smiled, leaning down so as to hear a little better over the crowd. They’d been together for nine years. Pretty soon, they’d even have enough for a very nice wedding.
Fireball smiled at her coltfriend and bit her lower lip. Then, with a tiny whisper that just pierced the noise of the crowd, spoke.
"I'm pregnant."
Aegis Exemplar, Captain, ranking officer of the earth pony branch of the Royal Guard, who had before that faced the terrors of the Everfree Forest without so much as blinking, who had ran headlong into enemy fire to protect both human and pony kind, who had never once backed down from a challenge lain before him, and the new, eldest son of General Cloudhammer, turned towards his marefriend with a look of incredulity...
...and promptly passed out.
Bright Hope trudged slowly to his home in Baltimare, not even noticing the sad looks his neighbors gave him. What could they know of his pain, his loss? He still remembered the loving smile on Sparkleberry’s face as he kissed her goodbye, leaving her to play in the daycare with her friends. He remembered waving to his daughter Cross Stitch as she finished the morning laundry. He remembered his wife High Hope blowing him a kiss as he walked out the front door of the Bureau, to be at the grocery store in time to pick up supplies for the kitchen. His eyes squeezed shut as he remembered seeing that black truck driving by, the top opening up like some hideous flower to reveal that horrid weapon. He could still hear the screams as it tore through his friends and the pain as a stray round zipped in front of his eyes as he dove for cover, so close he could feel it. He remembered seeing the large shelf falling over onto him, the heavy metal cans raining down and striking him on the forehead, knocking him unconscious.
When he’d awoken, hours later, it was over. He’d rushed to the Bureau, only to learn that it was too late. The light of his life was gone, his beloved wife and children dead. They couldn’t even find Cross Stitch’s body, and while he’d held out hope for the first two months, he finally had to admit that his family was gone, that his last hope was truly broken.
Looking up as he approached the mailbox, he could see that the flag was raised, indicating that somepony had sent him mail. That in itself was odd, he’d already received the day’s mail. Opening the box, he saw a single pamphlet inside. Gently levitating it out, he opened it and read the short message in the interior.
Humans profess to be good at heart, but willfully perform violence on anything they fear, not caring in the slightest for the morality of their actions.
They feel that they have somehow ‘earned’ the right to share in the Equestria we have created through over a thousand years of labor and sacrifice. What right have they to wear our form and proclaim themselves our equals?
We know the pain of losing a loved one to their barbarism, and hope to extend a hoof in sincerity to help you through this difficult time.
Included with this pamphlet are directions to a meeting place two days from today at sunset.
Equestria for Equestrians.
Bright Hope stared at it for a second, then looked up toward the setting sun, a single tear making it’s way down his face before he made up his mind. He tucked the envelope into his saddlebags and walked into his house. Maybe this group could help him after all.
