Avengers: Equestria's Mightiest Heroes

by Slam-Manian


Act 0: Ch.7 Captain Equestria The First Avenger

Act 0: Avengers Initiative

Ch.7 Captain Equestria the First Avenger

Germareny, 1954

A lone ship sailed through the waters of the open ocean, nearing an island northwest of their position. The waters were choppy made so by the thunderous storm brewing overhead. The ship carried a small platoon of soldiers, a group of ponies just brave enough and crazy enough to take on the mission they were about to engage in. Some of the roughest, gruffest ponies the Equestria military had the displeasure of training, the Hoofing Commandos. When there was a mission no other squad could or would handle, they did and no mission was so crucial as the one before them.

The ship quickly neared the shore and the soldiers prepared their weapon and themselves to disembark. As they felt the ship come to a stop, everything seemed to slow down and at the same time, their sensations amplified. They felt their hearts slowing, their rain pelting them from above and the cold steel of their weapons in hoof. The ship finally came to halt as it docked onto the beach, the hatch opened up and the squad of ponies rushed out, ready for battle. The beach they now found themselves on was quiet, too quiet for enemy territory. They were soon greeted by a field of steel girders welded into large stars stuck in the sand to prevent tanks or any other heavy artillery from passing that point. The soldiers halted, taking cover behind the girders. One pony pulled out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area ahead. His eyes quickly scanned the forefront, catching no visible movement and then looked up to their intended destination.

A large tower sat atop a large hill, its haunting malicious figure bathed in Luna’s beautiful moonlight. Lightning flashed through the air and thunder roared, almost as if the tower dared the group of mad ponies to venture toward it and test it and see who came out of this endeavor intact. The scouting pony pulled his binoculars down and looked back to his commanding officer with a nod. The Officer gave a gentle wave of his hoof telling his men to advance. The squadron continued onward onto the island when they came across what appeared to a graveyard. Tombstones of various shapes and sizes were standing in the muddy ground, their forms slightly off canter, as if whomever put them there did it without care, letting them hang in any way so long as they were standing up. The company advanced nonetheless keeping their eyes peeled for any suspicious movement. They had yet to meet any resistance, but that certainly didn’t mean their enemy wasn’t lying in wait somewhere.

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Unbeknownst to them, their enemy was in deed lying in wait. A smaller squad of soldiers hid behind a number of the larger gravestones a few clicks ahead. While the others stayed hidden, one had positioned himself at the rear and propped up his Gatling gun against atop the grave as he took aim.

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The Hoofing Commandos continued on until the sound of something being fired from a firearm went off in their ears. They quickly looked up and took notice of a bright object flying through the air, leaving a smoke trail behind it as it arched up in the air and quickly headed down towards them. “Commandos, move!” their Commanding officer shouted.

The ponies quickly scattered as the object closed the distance and hit the ground where the once stood, exploding on impact. Not soon after the explosion, the soldiers found themselves being pelted with heavy gun fire. The enemy squadron had sprung up from their positions and was opening fire while the Commandos took defensive positions, using the gravestones as cover. The Commandos returned fire at will, trying to take out any enemies they could, but the pony at the rear wielding the Gatling gun was laying suppression fire, giving them little to no room to work with. “Jeez, we’re sittin’ ducks out here…” the commanding officer shouted in frustration. “We need back up!” He shouted to the pony handling the radio equipment.

“Yeah, I’m working on it, bub, this isn’t exactly easy…,” snapped the pony working the radio in a gruff voice as he glared at his commanding officer, practically growling with a very thick set of sideburns.

The enemy soldier ponying the gatling gun continued to fire until the gun suddenly jammed and refused to fire any more rounds. The pony banged his hoof on the weapon, trying to force it start up again. In that instant, something whizzed through the air and sliced the gun's barrels in half at the handle. The pony could only look on in shock before his weapon exploded and knocked him to the muddy ground unconscious. The enemy squadron ceased fire upon hearing the explosion and turned toward the source to see nothing but a cloud, obscuring their vision. The cloud quickly dissipated, revealing a strange figure standing over their downed comrade. With the pale moonlight as their only source of luminescence, they couldn’t see who the figure was exactly, that is until a large circular disk came flying toward the figure. The mysterious pony caught it fruitlessly and mounted it on their right forehoof.

The squadron then knew who they were up against and opened fire with reckless abandon. The mystery pony brought up the disk as they charged the small platoon. The enemy squadron continued to fire, but the bullets had no effect on the pony’s defensive weapon. The mystery assailant quickly closed the distance and lunged forward at the two forefront soldiers, baring all their weight in the tackle. The two soldiers crumbled under the force of the impact as they felt the wind leaving their lungs. As they collapsed the ground, the mystery pony flipped onto their knees before two more soldiers came at them from both sides. The pony quickly stood up on their back legs and swung back at the pony coming at them from the right, sending him flying a good ten feet back.

As the other solider closed in, the pony quickly pivoted and turned around to see the solider swinging the pummel of his rifle down. The pony, with a very quick slight of hoof, changed the disk over to their left hoof and simply slammed it into the soldier’s face. The soldier’s eyes spun around in a comic fashion before falling back to the ground out cold. The two soldiers further ahead opened fire once more, trying to catch the mystery figure off guard. The pony quickly ducked for cover behind a nearby tombstone as the soldiers pelted it with gunfire. Seeing no end to the firefight in sight, the pony took the disk in their hoof and quickly scanned the area. They spotted another gravestone a good fifteen feet away, which was just what they needed. The pony then tossed the disk at the targeted tombstone and when it hit, the disk simply bounced off out of the pony’s sight, but they knew what would happen.

The disk then went flying toward another tombstone north west of it and then it bounced off to another not ten feet from it to the right which would line it up perfectly with the solider on the right’s head. The pony listened intently as the loud ‘gong’ sounded, confirming the disk had hit its mark and the gun fire suddenly stopped. The pony quickly got up and rushed the remaining solider seeing as he was preoccupied with trying to figure out what took out his friend. By the time he registered the figure coming at him it was too late as everything went black for him. The solider dropped to the ground, leaving the figure towering over him with the disk lying on the ground. The pony stomped on the edge of the disk, knocking it up into their right hoof before they sauntered over to the Hoofing Commandos. “Now, Ah don’t mind gettin’ down in the dirt to get the job done like any ol’ farm mare, but that was just a little sad, don’tcha think, boys?” Asked the pony in a southern female voice.

The Commandos came out of hiding and saw their savior. The rain suddenly halted and the clouds cleared allowing more of Luna’s moon light to shine down and reveal the mysterious pony. There before them stood an orange earth pony mare donning a blue skintight uniform, bearing a white star on her chest with stripes of red and white around her waist, red boots and a blue mask with an “A” etched into the forehead and a pair of very small horseshoes attached to the sides of her mask. Her most prominent feature was the red, blue and white vibranium shield on her arm bearing a red apple in the middle. The Commandos knew this pony as their captain, Applejack, but she was not just any captain. She was Captain Equestria, the first and only superpony soldier. Her blonde ponytail tied mane flowed behind her as her emerald green eyes looked on at her fellow ponies in arms. “C’mon, boys, this here’s the end of the line. Our job is tah take out HYDRA’s science base to stop 'em from finishin’ whatever ‘End Game’ weapons they have. Now we already got a mare on the inside to get us in, but we gotta reach that there castle first,” the Captain told them as she turned toward their destination as her men rallied behind her. “Now, let’s go show the Red Colt that Equestria won’t be takin’ without a fight! Let’s go put an end tah HYDRA once and fer all!” she shouted raising her shield into the air.

Her squadron shouted with vigor and gusto ready to fight and die with the Captain, but even more so, to fight and die for Equestria’s freedom.

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Elsewhere, inside the tower, a lone earth pony stallion gazes out his balcony window, the full brilliance of the moon washing over him. He wore a black suit with a four button jacket with a white dress shirt underneath with a purple ascot tucked in around his neck. Along the shoulders of his jacket bore the HYDRA’s insignia, but that wasn’t what made this pony stand out among the others. This pony held not a single coat of fur only bare skin, bare skin that was as scarlet red as blood. His the sclera of his eyes pitch black with golden corneas that shone with such brilliance that it was if it could see the true visage of the world around him. It was this very visage that spurred him on in his endeavor to make it so that earth ponies ruled over others. This wasn’t just HYDRA’s dream. It was his ambition, the ambition of Herr Hoity Toity, aka The Red Colt.

While others would normally admire such a beautiful sight, the stallion cared not for it. All he cared about was the product of his plans coming to fruition and he saw it all happening on this night. However this seemed not to be as a young werewolf wearing a HYDRA uniform barged in and saluted the Red Colt before being acknowledged, “Lieutenant Strucker, report.”

“Herr Red Colt, the enemy haf found ze fortress. They are advancing as ve speak.”

“Of course they are, she is vith them,” Red Colt said as he half turned to face the wolf. “Send your best regiment to confront them. Though they vill lose, it vill give us time to prepare the experiments. Vith the Captain here this vill make for the perfect experiment.”
The lieutenant saluted his leader and strode off with his orders. The Colt took a deep cleansing breathe. “Come, Captain Equestria, let us see whose form of evolution is better.” The Colt said with a dark, sinister smile as his skin with taut.

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Elsewhere, back on the battlefield, the Captain and the Hoofing Commandos were steadily making their way toward the Colt’s fortress. They met constant resistance but that didn’t deter them. This team was comprised of some of the most extraordinary if not strangest ponies Equestria had to offer. With their skills being led by Captain Equestria nothing seemed to slow their momentum. After about an hour or so, the team had finally made it to the Colt’s base. While most of her platoon stayed behind to give them some cover, the Captain and her second in command drudged forward to take care of any remaining forcing baring their entry way. When they reached it, they found that the tower sat smack dab in the middle of a giant trench with a narrow bridge extending toward the tower, but coming up short as a drawbridge was the only way in. As the two made it to the bridge, they were greeted by another small squad of HYDRA troops waiting for them.

The second they were sighted the HYDRA soldiers opened fire on the two, trying to halt their advance. Applejack brandished her shield up, covering herself and her comrade, but that still didn’t stop them. Seeing as the bridge was narrow, the HYDRA soldiers only had so much room to maneuver. Taking the lead, the young farm mare charged forward holding her shield up as she was still being pelted with gun fire. The HYDRA troops saw she was coming but had little room to operate with and by the time she reached them, Applejack pressed forward with her shield and using her superior strength, knocked a good chunk of them over the side and into a rock filled moat below them. The few that remained were quickly picked off by her second in command while she handled the rest her favorite way. She plucked the shield from her leg and flung at the remaining troops, sending the rest of them in the drink.

“Honestly, that thing should be standard issue,” her comrade said with a smirk.

“Sorry, sugah,” Applejack said as the shield came flying home to her hooves, “this here’s one of a kind.” Just as she hooked the shield back to her leg, her ear perked up to the sound of something flying through the air. She had just enough time to look up and see a grenade hit the bridge. Applejack pulled her shield up at the last possible second just as the grenade went off and exploded, creating a cloud of smoke. Even though her shield took the brunt of the impact that certainly didn’t stop her and her subordinate from being knocked on their flanks. The super solider quickly pulled herself from her haze as she pushed herself up, her ears still ringing somewhat from the explosion. “Night . . . Night, are you alright?” she called to her comrade, but when she pulled her head up, she found herself staring down the wrong end of a rifle being held by a lone HYDRA trooper.

“Ha, after I take your head, ze Red Colt vill reward me greatly.” The trooper chuckled as he looked down at the helpless mare.

Then suddenly, to both their surprise, the drawbridge came down, the end crashing right atop the HYDRA solider, just missing Applejack entirely. The mare stared in confusion for a second before looking up at the newly opened door where she spotted the figure of a young yellow filly. She had a light red mane tied up in a bright crimson bow that was also doubled as a mask to cover over her eyes. She wore a blue trimmed jacket with a white skirt and pair of red leggings all with a matching pair of black boots. “Ah hope Ah didn’t miss much,” the little filly said with a smile.

Applejack looked back to see her second in command was in one piece, being tended to by the rest of her platoon that had just managed to catch up. She then chuckled as she gathered her shield and stood up. “Not much, but Ah’m guessin’ y’all had yer own fun inside, right, Apple Bloom?” the farm mare said as she made her way toward her little sister.

“Nah, not much,” Apple Bloom huffed in annoyance. “There’re HYDRA solider everywhere. Ah tried to get to the lower decks but no such luck, but it’s still good, Ah know the way, no problem.”

“That’s good,” Applejack said as she patted her sister’s head before walking past her, “cuz the stealth part of this mission is official over.”

“Wait, that there was a stealth plan,” Apple Bloom inquired before following her sister inside. The two made into the wide open hallway until they came across a pair of closed wooden double doors. Apple Bloom then reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a grenade with a smirk and said, “Ah guess we should knock first.”

She then tossed the grenade at the door and in seconds, the device went off, blowing the doors right off their hinges and to the ground. No soon.er did the doors hit the ground did the floor begin to shake. The shaking grew longer and harder with each passing second, like somepony or something big was coming. “Huh, they must be sendin’ a welcomin’ committee,” Apple Bloom said as she widened her stance, preparing for a fight. “Don’t worry, Ah got this.”

Applejack eyed her sister before looking back at the entrance as the source of the shaking finally made itself known. What stood before the two mares was something neither of them had seen before. The creature was about the size of an elephant if not a few feet larger and wider all around. It stood on two legs wearing a wrapping around it’s ankles and chest with what appeared to be a large fur coat around it’s waist and shoulders along with a big thick piece of bark along it’s right shoulder like a shoulder guard. It had one large right hand but where it’s left should be was a thick tree truck, flat at both ends in the form of a makeshift hammer; However it’s strangest features were that it had the head of a pony, but it only had a single big green eye on its face and the even stranger collar around its neck. The collar had a glowing bulb attached to it and the Captain didn’t like the looks of it.

“Uh actually, Cap, Ah changed mah mind, y’all can have this one.” Apple Bloom said as she began to nervously inch back away from the creature. The creature roared, bringing up its hammer to smash the two to bits. The mares managed to jump back and dodge the attack as the monster slammed the hammer into the ground, putting a very sizable hole in the stone floor.

The creature cast its gaze upon the two sisters, not sure of which one to attack first before focusing on the smaller filly to its left. “Okay, now Ah know we’ve seen some weird things in this war and all, but seriously, what the hay is that thing?” Apple Bloom asked, trying to remain calm.

“Don’t know, one of the Colt’s evil experiments, but whatever it is,” Applejack said before the creature turned toward her and raised its hammer once again, “It’s mad.”

Applejack quickly brought up her shield and contorted her body as the creature swung it’s hammer, making full contact with the shield. The impact forced her back, but she dug her hooves into the ground, barely stopping herself. Apple Bloom then leaped forward onto the behemoth’s neck and covered it’s eyes with her hoof. “Hey, Ugly, you leave mah sister alone.” she told it as she held on for dear life. The monster roared and thrashed around in its blind state, trying to get the little filly to let go, but Apple Bloom held fast, trying to give her sister time to recover, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could hold it. The monster swung it’s hammer back, destroying a stone column, reducing it to rubble as it still tried to shake Apple Bloom. “Uh, Cap, anytime you wanna jump in would be great,” Apple Bloom stated before the creature stopped thrashing and pulled it’s right hand back to grab her. Apple Bloom yelped as the monster wrapped its whole hand around her body, pulling her to eye level. It growled in frustration before opening its massive mouth to devour to little filly.

“Cap!” Apple Bloom shouted in fear before something whizzed by and smacked the one-eyed freak right in his cornea. The creature howled in pain as he relented his grip on Apple Bloom, letting her fall to the ground and scurry away.

The creature rubbed its eye before opening it up once again. Its vision remained blurry for a second before focusing and finding Applejack standing near the drawbridge. Her shield came flying back to her and she caught it with her right forehoof and attached it to her leg. “Alright, Big guy, you wanna taste of this apple,” she said as she jerked her neck to the side, giving it an audible crack before straightening herself. “Come and get some.” she told it as she raised a hoof and made a come hither motion, taunting the beast.

The beast roared as the two quickly charged each other. It certainly didn’t take long to cover the distance. When they did, the monster raised its hammer to strike. Applejack simply continued to run and when she was close enough the beast swung its hammer down at her, but Applejack leaped in under its legs, dodging the attack. When she came up behind it, she quickly dug her front hooves into the ground before she reared her back legs up and bucked them behind the monster’s left knee. The behemoth felt its leg buckle under it and dropped to its knee. Applejack quickly continued her assault and jumped onto the monster’s back and when she reached its head, she jumped up and pulled her shield overhead and slammed the brunt of it down atop its head. The monster roared in pain before Applejack jumped into the air and somersaulted over it until she was standing right in front of it with her shield held in front of her. The monster only had enough time to see the insignia on the shield before Applejack sprung forward and slammed the shield into its face.

The creature roared as it stumbled back from the assault, trying to get its bearings. It quickly shook its head before glaring down at the orange mare. Applejack smirked and ran back toward the bridge, causing the beast to give chase after her. When Applejack made it to the middle of the bridge she stopped and waited for the monster to catch up. When it finally reached her, it wasted no time pulling it’s hammer up to crush her, but Applejack didn’t budge. She needed to wait for the right moment. When the beast finally swung down, she jumped to the side toward one of the chains at the side of the bridge. When the monster’s hammer connected, it smashed the bridge to splinters right underneath it, causing it to fall down into the trench below. Applejack quickly grabbed hold of the chain that used to hold the bridge and used its momentum to swing herself back toward the tower, where Apple Bloom had been waiting. “C’mon, Bloom, no time tah waste.” Applejack said as she marched on forward.

“Yeah, sure, let’s just ferget about the giant monster that tried to eat me. No big deal,” the filly said as she followed behind her sister.

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Inside the Castle

The Captain and Applebloom made their way further into the castle’s depths. However, since their first encounter at the entrance with the one-eyed monster, they hadn’t met an inch of resistance. No guard ponies. No monsters. Nothing. As they turned the corner down the hallway, Applejack asked, “Hey, Bloom, didn’t you say this place was crawling with troops?”

“It was,” The filly answered in a confused tone. “They were everywhere! This is farther than I got when I was scouting the place. Where could they've gone?”

“Don’t know,” Applejack said as they saw a bright blue light flashing up ahead. “But I think we’re about to find out.”

As they reached the end of the hallway, they found themselves atop a ledge overhead of what appeared to a laboratory. Their eyes widened in shock at what they saw. Scientists and soldiers alike trapesed around the room, all doing their respective jobs. Directly below them lay a large number of capsules and inside, a menagerie of creatures and monster neither of them had ever seen before, all of which wore the same collars as the monster they fought upstairs. Across from them was an array of machine and standing in front of them was a pedestal with a glass capsule atop it and inside was a cube. A blue cube glowing so brightly it was almost like a star and beside the cube was the colt behind all the warring and conflict around Equestria, the Red Colt.

“Hey, Sis, is that it?” Applebloom asked, eyeing the cube.

“Yea, that’s it, the source of the Red Colt’s power and influence in HYDRA, the Cosmic Cube.” Applejack answered as she narrowed her eyes at the stallion, standing calm and collected as he oversaw all around him.

Applejack heard tales of the Colt’s ultimate weapon. A cube that gave him power unlike anything Equestria had ever seen. According to their intel, the only reason he never tried anything big earlier on in the war was because he couldn’t control it, not completely. He had stashed the cube away to be tested and studied until he could make proper use of it and end the war in one shot. Hence the objective of her current mission. Intel had come in that the Red Colt finally learned to control the cube and he was gearing up for the end game.

But Applejack had no intention of letting that happen. “You can come out now, there’s no need to hide, Captain.” Red said as he looked up at her, his skin stretching back into what appeared to be a smile. “I told my men to let you through so we could converse,” he said as a slew of soldiers came running up to the apple sisters from both sides of the ledge, weapons locked, loaded and aimed at them. “I vanted you to bear vitness to my greatest triumph. To prove that great power cannot be given, but taken and with it, a new vorld can be created.”

Applejack and Applebloom kept their bodies back to back, ready to fight, but Applejack knew better and so did the Colt. “Now, now, Captain, you may be able to fight against such odds and come out unscathed but your dearest sister may not be so lucky.”

Applebloom’s eyes widened in shock as she glanced back at her sister to see Applejack looking back at her, her big sister’s eyes filled with fear and concern. “Cap, no,” Applebloom muttered, but Applejack already made up her mind.

“Alright, Red, you win,” Applejack sighed as she pulled her shield from her leg.

“Ah, music to my ears,” the Red Colt said as he watched Applejack hoof her weapon to one of his soldiers before they herded the two sisters down toward him. The soldiers dispersed, while two remained behind each of their captives, the pony guarding Applejack, keeping her shield strapped to his back. “So, Red, yah finally got us, so tell me, what’s this big ‘end game’ weapon of yers, hm?” Applejack asked as calm and casually as she could, trying to hold back the anger and disgust she felt for him.

“Tell me, Captain, do you know of the Bifrost?” Red asked without facing her.

“Sorry, not much of an ice cream mare. Ah prefer candy apple mahself,” she joked.

“Cute, Captain, very cute,” Red said as he turned to face her. “The Bifrost is from Horse mythology, the fabled ‘rainbow bridge’, leading to the legendary kingdom of Asgard, home to Celestia, Goddess of the sun. However, Asgard isn’t the only realm, in fact, it is one of nine, our own included. Do you know vhy the Cosmic cube is called just that? It is because it is not of our vorld, just like these creatures,” he said as he turned to look at the monstrosities he captured. “And it is vith this power that pony kind vill evolve to take our rightful place in the cosmos! As Gods!”

“Ain’t that a bit over the top for just one little cube?” Applebloom asked.

“Of course, a couple of foals could never understand my vision.” he said as he turned back to the Cosmic cube.

“Yer right in one aspect, Red,” Applejack said, getting his attention. “Ah could never understand your vision, but not cuz Ah’m a foal. Ah’m just a solider and you, yer just a prisoner of yer own twisted delusions!”

Applejack quickly reared her back legs up and bucked the solider behind her in the gut. The sudden impact knocked the wind out of him causing him to fall forward in pain. Applejack then reached onto the soldier’s back and removed her shield, just as the Red Colt pulled out a pistol an aimed it at Applejack’s back. The star spangled mare heard the ‘click’ of the gun barrel and instinctively turned, pulling her shield up. The Red Colt immediately fired, but the bullet instantly bounced off the shield.

Applejack then charged forward as the Red Colt continued to expend bullet after bullet only for them to bounce harmlessly off her shield. By the time she closed the distance, the Red Colt had wasted all his shots. With his gun useless, Applejack pulled her shield aside and threw a punch, only for the Red Colt to jump to the side and dodge the attack. When his back hit something, he turned to see in fear what he had hit. By the time he turned back around, he saw the Captain’s shield in full view. The solider guarding Applebloom instantly pointed his gun at the Captain to try and aid his leader, until Applebloom grabbed the soldier’s gun and leaned forward, hauling the solider overhead as well as slipping the gun from the soldier’s grip.

When he slammed back first into the ground, Applebloom took the butt of the handle and bashed it against the soldier’s face, knocking him out. The next thing she heard was the sound of glass shattering, which instantly garnered her attention back to her sister. The young filly saw Applejack with her shield extended and the Red Colt lying on the ground and the Cosmic cube rolling on its side a few feet away from him. When the cube finally stopped, it’s glowing began to brighten as a low humming began to sound. Everypony stopped as the humming and glowing became louder and brighter. And once the brightness had reached its peak, the cube released a powerful pulse that shook the entire castle and everything within. The machines in the lab sparked and exploded, sending debris and ponies flying left and right. The sounds of roaring became apparent as the creatures that were detained roused and roared, banging against the capsules that held them. With little effort, they broke free and began to rampage. Scientists scattered and ran in fear while the soldiers opened fire on the creatures. Applejack looked in surprise until she heard Applebloom shout, “Big Sis, Red’s getting away!”

Applejack looked to her sister to see her pointing a hoof off in the distance. She looked and instantly found her target, the Red Colt handling the Cosmic cube with a pair of industrial gloves as he attempted to place it into a metal briefcase. “Ah don’t think so,” Applejack said as she charged toward her foe. But before she could get too far, a large wolf, more than twice her size with black and grey fur baring its jagged teeth as it growled menacingly at her. “Easy, big fella, Ah don’t wanna hurt y-” Applejack was cut off as the beast lunged, roaring with hunger.

Applejack rolled forward, under the airborne creature and when she got to her hooves, the beast hand landed a few feet behind her, trying looked around for its prey. It was then that the Captain noticed a part of the creature’s anatomy swinging precariously between its hind legs. She quickly backed stepped and when she was within range, she bucked her rear legs back into their target. The instant her attack made contact, the poor pup gave a pain filled whine before collapsing to the ground. “Like Ah said, Ah didn’t want to hurt yah…much,” Applejack said with a smirk before a barrage of bullets was flying at her. The orange mare instinctively pulled up her shield and curled up behind it to protect herself as she heard the distinct pinging of bullets bouncing off of it.

Seeing her sister pinned down, being peppered with gun fire by a small group of soldiers, Applebloom sprang into action and opened fire on the enemy line, spraying widespread shots along the array of HYDRA enemies, causing them to scatter and run for cover. Applejack pulled up her shield to find herself safe and looked over to her sister who was smiling at her. “Jeez, what would you do without me?” Applebloom joked.

“Let’s pray Ah never have to find out, huh?” Applejack said as she got up.

“C’mon, Ah think Ah know where Red’s headed an Ah know a short cut.” Applebloom said as she started running toward a hallway with her big sister following right behind.

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HYDRA Hanger

The Red Colt marched toward his escape aircraft. A massive cargo plane, a flying arsenal filled with a number of HYDRA tech of armor and weaponry alike as well as a group of some of the most viscous monsters he could acquire. Being followed by his elite guard he headed straight for bay door of his war ship with the Cosmic cube safely in hoof. The dear Captain may have slightly derailed my plans, but I that simply means I must push my time table forvard. This var vill end and from its ashes, HYDRA vill rise and reign supreme. he thought to himself as he began to board his ship.

As if to mock him, the Red Colt and his forces heard the sound of gun fire, causing them to halt. They turned and saw another hallway flashing with gunfire along with the sounds of his soldiers being laid to waste. “The Captain! Kill her!” he ordered.

His troops saluted and went charged to do as they were told, while the Red Colt galloped onto his ship. He knew his troops would fail, but that didn’t matter. He simply needed time to take off. After that, his plans would come to fruition.

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Applejack had just finished plowing through a small line of HYDRA troops she and Applebloom emerged from the hallway, trying to gauge their surroundings. “Yah call that a ‘short cut’?” Applejack said skeptically as she looked around and saw they were in HYDRA’s hanger bay.

“It was a short cut, it just took longer cause it was guarded this time,” Applebloom rebutted, but no sooner did she finish her sentence did they once again find themselves under heavy fire, literally as a torrent of flames came flying at them. Applejack quickly leaned down and pulled her head and neck underneath her sister before pulling the filly onto her back and making a mad dash for cover. Applebloom looked to the side to see the Red Colt’s elite guard, all armed with rifles and one with a high octane flamethrower. She then took aim, but the second she pulled the trigger, an audible ‘click’ sounded as the gun refused to fire. “Argh pony feathers, Ah’m out of ammo,” Applebloom groaned.

Applejack quickly dove behind a set of large wooden crates, setting her sister down as the crates were bombarded with bullets and flames. As wood chips began to fly, Applebloom looked to her sister and asked, “What now?”

Before she answered she looked between a gap in the crates and saw the soldier with the flame thrower stepping up to the front of the line. The rear soldiers quickly ceased fire, giving their comrade room to work. Applebloom flinched in surprise as she watched her sister punch her right hoof into one of the crates and pulled off a large flat plank of wood. “Step back,” Applejack said as she stuck the plank in her mouth and backed away from the crates.

The flames from the flame thrower roared forth, spraying the crates all over. The Apple sisters watched the crates become saturated in fire as it quickly started destroying their cover. The elder sister acted fast and took the plank in her mouth, holding it close to the flames. When the tip was lit, she backed away, while the crates started to crumble and turn to ash. Applejack acted fast and took her shield off and stuck the other end of the plank inside in the strap. Before the crates collapsed, Applejack tossed the shield high into the air above them. The soldiers saw the shield flying up, away from its owner, but nowhere near them. When the crates finally crumbled into a pile of burning ash, Applejack and Applebloom were left standing, defenseless.

Seeing nothing but easy prey, the rear soldiers took aim and prepared to fire, when suddenly the soldier ponying the flamethrower felt a slight tug on his gas tank before a loud thud rang in the air. The rear soldiers looked down to see the Captain’s shield stuck into the ground with the flaming end of the plank standing up right. They then looked and saw the tube that connected the tank to the flamethrower was cut, releasing the gas, right over the flaming plank. The pony’s eyes widen in fear just as the flames from the plank lit the gas ablaze and in a matter of seconds, the gas tank caught on fire, creating a large explosion. Applejack quickly pulled her sister down underneath her, using her body to protect the filly from the explosion. When the loud ringing in her ear faded, the two got to their hooves to see their enemies had been decimated. “Okay, Ah gotta add that one to mah roaster,” Applebloom commented with a smile.

Before Applejack could comment, the sound of engines turning over and turbines revving sounded drawing the two mare’s attention to the airship; they saw the ship starting to inch forward, while the hanger bay doors opened up for it. “C’mon, Bloom, let’s go,” Applejack said, her voice brimming with confidence.

Applebloom nodded and the two ran toward the slowly closing lower hatch of the place, but not before the Captain reacquired her smoking, yet still fully intact shield.