//------------------------------// // Chapter Twenty-Nine: Park fight and escaping Manhattan // Story: Gleaner Chronicles: American Monsters // by sevenofeleven //------------------------------// Unknown Place Margot woke up on warm concrete. Again, she thought about the strange feeling she had when she stepped through the portal. It was like something more powerful had touched her gently. For some reason she felt less exhausted. That didn’t seem possible. After fighting Dr. Geist, she shouldn’t be able to get to her hooves so quickly. Margot resolved to talk to Apple Bloom later. She swept her eyes over the area. It seemed like she was in a small park with a black metal fence surrounding it except for three entrances or exits. Beyond the fence were tall buildings and her memory clicked. Margot looked up. Yep, she knew this area. She was in Herald Square. Macy’s was a quick walk, um, trot away. Margot checked out the team. Behind her the SHC were rising to their hooves and looking around. Far, Skybreeze and Nga'Devro were also getting up off of the ground. There was a pony missing. She wondered where was Jerome. One of the last things Margot remembered was that Skybreeze had carried Jerome using her telekinetic field. She walked up to Skybreeze. “Where’s Jerome?” Skybreeze looked around. Her eyes widened. “Wha? I thought I had him.” Apple Bloom walked up. “Jerome is with the Messenger. He needs special healing. When Jerome is healed he will be sent to us.” Margot was torn by that statement. She felt sorry for him, his screams showed that the horrible Dr. Geist had done things to him. Margot didn’t know any enchantment magic, but she figured that Gleaner Lord had done a lot of damage to Jerome’s mind. She would have to hope for the best and move on. Margot looked at the end of the park at Twilight, Rarity and Spike. Twilight Sparkle gawked at the tall buildings around her. “Rarity, the buildings are so tall here. It also feels familiar.” Rarity walked up to Twilight, Spike followed her. “Twilight darling, don’t you remember when we went shopping at Marecy’s?” Twilight nodded then she hugged Spike and Rarity. Margot gave them their moment of bliss before being a wet blanket. There were dead bodies slumped on some of the benches and in the street. The greyish brown color of their skin was different than normal corpses. It reminded Margot of the Remnants and zombies of the other worlds she had been to. If they decided to rise... Margot walked up when the hugs stopped. “I’m not sure what you mean by Marecy’s but this is Herald Square and Macy’s is nearby.” She pointed at the statue. Rarity looked at the statue. “Not Horseald Square? There was a statue of a stallion there not a statue of a strange creature.” Spike looked up. “What’s that?” Skybreeze walked up. She nodded at Margot. “Finally, the time I wasted having to study Bulfinch’s Mythology pays off.” Spike looked at Skybreeze. “What?” Twilight nodded. “Yes! I remember. Bulfinch was a pegasus stallion who collected stories from ponies years ago. There was a section about Humans. That’s a human.” Rarity peered at a corpse that was lying on a bench. It wore torn baggy jeans and a stained green shirt. “I imagine that humans don’t have a well developed fashion sense.” Twilight looked around. “According to Bulfinch, humans were clever dangerous creatures. Not as clever as ponies though. They could cause a lot of trouble.” Sweetie Belle cantered up to Rarity who was studying another corpse lying on the ground. The dead bodies were starting to make Margot nervous. Another thing also started to bother her, the corpses didn’t smell like rotting flesh. Something wasn’t right here. Nga'Devro walked up to Margot. “Nga'Devro wonders about these dead creatures. How did they die?” Far also looked around. “Yeah. I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this area.” Margot watched as Rarity and Twilight studied a corpse wearing a fancy looking black suit. Rarity gingerly pushed the suit open. “Now this Human seems to have better fashion sense. The fabric is better quality. Sweetie, do you see the fine stitchwork?” Sweetie Belle nodded. A purple glow surrounded the buttons on his shirt and one by one the shirt was unbuttoned. The corpse’s eyes sprang open and a green glow filled them. Margot recognized the glow, it was the glow of gleaner magic. There was a positive side, if they survived. Margot wondered if she was back on Earth. That could lead to talking to someone from D-Core and maybe being turned back into a human. First she thought, they had to survive the zombie attack. Rarity jumped back. “Oh my!” Far reached for the gun holstered on his left foreleg, but he couldn’t grab it. The corpse with the fine suit sat up. Spike grabbed his gun. “I guess he didn’t like Twilight undressing him.” Soft sighs and growls filled the air as the rest of the corpses started to sit up. Twilight peered at the corpse. “I’m sorry.” Margot looked around the area. She figured that if they killed the zombies in the park they might be able to deal with the ones in the area. Margot reached for her gun but it wouldn’t leave the holster. Spike shot the fancy suit zombie, but it got up again. Margot screamed. “Shoot them in the head, that’ll kill them.” Rarity focused and hit the zombie in the head with a telekinetic slap. It slumped to the ground. Nga'Devro used his telekinesis to pull his gun out of his fore leg holster then he shot the zombie with the torn jeans. Sweetie Belle had her gun in a flickering green glow as she fired away at zombies. A purple glow covered Twilight’s horn as she cast a spell to block the entrances to the park. The situation seemed to improve a bit. The zombies just stood at the fence for a few moments. Margot thought about what spells to use. She had a feeling that something quiet would be the best choice, there were probably more zombies in the area. Also things felt kinda surreal like she was in a zombie movie. Then again zombies were the least of her worries. She wondered who made them. One zombie tried to climb over the fence but Nga'Devro shot it. Skybreeze looked around. “I know a quick fire spell that could thin the herd a bit.” Rarity grimaced. “Really Skybreeze? I’m not in the mood to smell burned flesh.” Spike looked around and said,”Eww.” Twilight looked around. “I know a spell that will deal with all of these, what do you call them again?” Spike sighed. “Zombies.” Margot looked at Twilight. “Princess, may I suggest that you do something quiet and not so magically loud? We don’t know what made these zombies and we don’t want to attract more of them or what made them.” Twilight looked at Margot. “Magically loud?” Nga'Devro walked up to Margot. “Nga'Devro understands what Margot means. We’re in a strange land and creating a commotion would just attract too much unneeded attention. Skybreeze will you help me?” Twilight turned to Rarity. “Why are they helping us again?” Margot faced Twilight. “We need to talk about that in a safe place.” Far tried to get his gun, but he failed again. Skybreeze walked up to Nga'Devro just as several zombies started to climb the fence. Nga'Devro’s horn glowed a bright green color as Skybreeze’s horn glowed blue. A greenish blue ball of energy appeared between Nga'Devro and Skybreeze then it flew toward the zombies. The air was filled with the sounds of skulls being crushed. Margot did a passive scan to check if anything hostile was coming their way. The scan didn’t find anything. Apple Bloom looked at the corpses. “I wonder if I should give them Grace?” Scootaloo shook her head. “They’re not ponies.” Far glanced at his holstered gun. “Why can’t we grab our guns with our hooves. We used to do that!” Margot looked around for more threats then looked at Far. “This world has different magical rules. Maybe you can do it but you have to change your magic or maybe you can’t do it here.” Twilight stepped up. She looked at how the buildings were painted orange by the setting sun. “We need to find a safe place to rest in until morning.” A moment after that, two jets streaked overhead heading south. Spike pointed at the sky. “What are those?” Margot looked up. “Jets. Military aircraft.” It gave her some hope, maybe there was some sort of military presence here. She focused on a spell that would pick up radio waves and turn them into sound. Twilight faced Margot as she sensed Margot’s spell. A voice spoke. “Tango two we need evac. We have several wounded and civvies here.” “No can do Tango one. The landing site is too hot. Take out that thing down there and we’ll land. Do it soon we can’t wait all day. This is the last evac from this area. You’ll have to go to the Battery Park evac zone.” “You’re killing us. There are probably too many hostiles between here and Battery Park. Can’t you drop us some heavy ordinance?” “No can do. I’m just a medical helo. You have a half hour before we don’t have enough fuel to return to base. I wish you luck.” Twilight pointed at Margot. “What did we listen to?” Margot faced Twilight. “Humans. If we help them we can get out of here.” “Can we trust them?” Twilight asked. “I think so. Maybe the SHC could heal some of the wounded,” Margot said while looking around. Skybreeze nodded. “How will this help us to get home?” Margot faced Skybreeze. “The Gleaners have attacked this world. Maybe the Messenger wants me to pass on the info I have learned from the other world. The two runes could be useful.” Twilight stepped forward. “According to Bulfinch, humans can’t do magic.” That annoyed Margot but she decided to let it slide. “They have flying vehicles and at least some of us can ride in them to a safe place,” Margot said. Rarity had a hopeful smile. “Maybe a place with decent beds?” Margot shrugged. “Maybe.” Twilight grimaced. “How do you know that?” Margot nodded. “I used to work with humans. I know how they think.” Twilight peered at Margot. “Magical runes? Can I see them?” Margot sighed. “Later when we are safe.” Far looked around. “Yeah, let’s do it before more zombies show up. Which way Margot?” Margot did a passive scan for radio signals. Uptown, there were a bunch. She pointed north. “That way!” The group galloped. West 42nd st and Broadway The group slowed stopped galloping as the sounds of gunfire and heavy metallic tromping came from ahead. Margot wanted to carefully sneak around to see what was happening, but Twilight had different plans. Twilight pointed her right fore hoof up ahead. “What’s going on up there?” Margot winced. She didn’t want to sneak with Twilight tagging along even if she was a powerful princess. The humans might shoot her or something. “I would like to go ahead by myself. You might frighten the humans.” Twilight shook her head. “No, if we walk calmly up to them, they won’t be frightened. The sun is setting and we don’t have time to waste.” Margot wanted to argue but she knew Twilight made sense. “Stay next to me and let me talk.” Just to make sure, Margot cast a bullet blocking spell. People under stress could do some strange things. Also maybe the soldiers might think that the ponies were enemies. “Stay here until we send for you,” Margot said. She walked uptown with Twilight. While they headed up the block, Twilight looked around at the buildings. Margot didn’t gawk, she scanned the area ahead. The tromping noises were being made by a large Gleaner construct made of metal and animated dead flesh. Finally, they arrived at Times Square, it was different than Margot expected. Humvees and cars lay scattered around the area like discarded toys.  She was glad they had some cover. Several dead soldiers were also lying on the ground. Past the vehicles was a small recruitment office with shattered windows. Some live soldiers were poking their heads out from behind cover. Margot also noticed that the ground was littered with small shards of grey bone with Gleaner magic on them. The tromping got louder. Margot pointed to an overturned car just as a two story tall metallic machine with greyish brown flesh stomped into view. She ran while Twilight followed. At the last second they hid behind the car while bone fragments bounced off of the other side. Several soldiers fired at the construct and it stopped firing at the ponies to move up the block and fire at them. Margot peeked around the edge of the car to see what the construct looked like. It looked like a bipedal mech from the bottom down. The greyish metal legs were bent backward like a chicken’s. Underneath the front of the machine two devices that looked like guns spewed shards of bone. Above the square bottom was a grey metallic cage where greyish brown flesh throbbed. At the back of the construct, a cylindrical metal cage held a greenish glowing device. She wondered if the back was a weak point. Twilight tapped Margot. “A human is approaching.” A soldier ran and crouched near their car. He kept his rifle down and peered at them. Twilight spoke first. “We can help you.” Margot wished she was allowed to speak first. The soldier’s eyes widened. “You can talk?” Twilight nodded slightly. “How can we help?” Margot knew that the soldier saw her gun holster. “Well, you need better weapons if you want to take that thing out. Your pink unicorn friend’s pistol won’t cut it.” Again Margot scanned the enemy construct. She knew what would damage and eventually destroy it but she didn’t have enough power to do it. There was another way to bring it down. A few moments later, a camo colored rectangular rifle lay on the ground. The soldier’s eyes widened some more. “What the hell?” Twilight’s eyes widened too. Margot’s vision blurred, but then it cleared up. Exhaustion was moving in again. “Use that on that construct. It’s a pulse rifle. Use it against that thing. Keep moving. Once, you hit it, it will want to kill you for sure.” The soldier nodded. “Thanks.” He slung his assault rifle up on his shoulder and grabbed the pulse rifle. “Hey? Can you make more?” Margot shook her head. She barely had enough power to do anything else. Twilight leaned forward. “What’s your name? Mine’s Twilight Sparkle.” The soldier crouched down as more bone shards bounced of the car. “My name is Philip Davis. Nice to meet you Twilight and...” Margot stuck out her right fore hoof. “Margot Summerholt.” Philip grabbed her hoof and shook it gently then he crouch walked to another overturned car. She could hear Philip tell the other soldier hiding there what happened. Twilight pointed at the construct as it tromped up the block. “I’m going to attack the thing while you deal with the humans. Maybe if we attack it together, we can destroy it.” “Maybe? I wonder if that thing will explode or something if we destroy it. Maybe we should disable it? I know we don’t have much time. Be careful.” Twilight nodded and took off. Margot watched as Twilight flew back to where the rest of the group was hiding. Then Margot’s ears perked up as more footsteps headed their way followed by the pinging sound of bouncing bone. Unlike Philip, this soldier seemed to be some sort of officer. Margot could see by the silver bars he was a captain. “Who are you ponies and what are you doing here?” “My name is Margot and we’re here to help out and hopefully get a seat on the evac helicopters.” The captain ducked as bone shards bounced off of the car. A white flash flew from behind one of the cars and hit the construct in the leg. It shuddered then it turned and fired its guns. The captain’s walkie squawked. “Sir, that weapon the unicorn gave me works. It seems to cause more damage to the mech. Can I lead it uptown a bit so the area is secure?” The captain gazed at Margot. “What do you know about that mech?” Margot shook her head. “Not much. It seems to be reanimated dead flesh and metal.” “Can you make more of these weapons or even some grenades?” Margot shook her head. “Before we were sent here, we fought a battle. I’m still recovering from it.” “Do you have any wounded?” Margot briefly thought about Jerome, but he was with the Messenger. At that moment, Twilight Sparkle, Far and Nga'Devro flew overhead to attack the construct. “These your friends?” Margot nodded and pointed to Skybreeze, Rarity, Spike and the SHC. “These too. Some of them can heal.” She and the captain ducked as more bone shards bounced off of the car. The captain peeked around the car to look up the block. The limping construct was being hit by purple and green flashes of light. “I hope your friends take out that thing before we run out of time or we will have to make our way through the zombies to Battery Park. Name’s Forrest. Captain Forrest.” Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “Tango One, this is Tango Two. You got fifteen minutes before we leave without you. It seems that you have some help from ponies?” Forrest looked at Margot. “I work with D-Core and these other ponies are with me,” Margot said. Forrest nodded. “Fine, D-Core has been helping us but I don’t know if all of you can fit in the helos. We have a lot of civvies and soldiers. I’ll see what I can do.” He grabbed his walkie and spoke into it. “Tango two we need more helos for the ponies helping us.” “No can do Tango One. These are the last helos for this area.” Forrest looked at Margot. Margot peered around the car to see if the construct was destroyed. The machine was limping and a dark green smoke was rising from the back then it fell over. Margot retreated behind the car as the construct exploded. Silence reigned for a few moments then a ragged cheer rose from the surviving soldiers. Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “The purple pony did some serious damage to that thing. We’re coming in. Get your people and ponies ready!” Forrest stood up. “Helo inbound. Let’s get a perimeter established and get those civvies out!” He turned to see the SHC walk up. “You got fillies?” Scootaloo mumbled. “Why do they always say that?” Twilight flew back with Far and Nga'Devro. Forrest waited until Twilight approached him. “Thank you. I don’t think there is enough room on the helos for you.” Twilight frowned then smiled. “I can fly and follow you.” Margot watched as a small group of people stumbled from some of the buildings around the square. Nga'Devro nodded. “Nga'Devro is fine with following the Princess.” Far nodded “Me too.” Forrest turned and watched as the dark green helicopter with the red cross on it landed. “Follow me. I’ll try to get you all onboard.” He ran toward the helicopters. Margot followed him. Forrest’s walkie squawked again. “Sir, this is Hansen. I see some zombies and clankers inbound.” Forrest replied. “Deal with them.” Margot looked up at Forrest. “Clankers?” “They’re like that big thing you saw. Dead meat in a tin can except they’re human sized and they have guns. The flashers, green glowing things are the worse. They can drain a man in seconds.” When they reached the helo, the door opened and a harried looking medic gazed at them. “Hell no. No pets. We barely have enough room as it is.” Forrest grimaced. “These ponies helped us. They’re not that big.” The medic shook his head. “Pets or not, we may not have the room.” Forrest looked around then back at the medic. “How about you get the soldiers and civvies onboard then we-” Again the medic shook his head. “Not enough fuel to carry extra weight.” Margot sighed. It was getting so hard to stay awake. “If I refill your gas tanks, will you come back for us?” The medic grinned. “What? You’re gonna use rainbows?” Margot thought about cursing, but she decided to be civil. “Do you want the fuel or not?” The medic nodded and went back into the helo. A bunch of civilians and soldiers started to stand around the helo. They kept a bit of distance from Margot and Forrest. Gunfire sounded in the distance. Margot thought it was getting closer. The medic came back outside. “If the helo starts falling. I’m tossing your pink pony ass out.” Margot nodded. She kept her cool and walked toward the helo. A quick scan showed the nearly empty gas tanks. With a tired sigh, she did a scan of what was left of the fuel. Then she started conjuring up more. Whatever energy she had earlier was mostly gone. Then she felt another’s magic interfere with her spell. She turned to look at the source, it was Twilight. A purple glow covered her horn and she gritted her teeth. The level of fuel rose quickly in the tanks. Margot gave Twilight a nod and let exhaustion carry her away. When Margot woke up she felt warm arms around her. A small child had her arms around her like she was a giant plush toy. One of the soldiers whispered, “That’s the first good sleep she had since her mother died.” Margot tried to not wake the child as she looked around. Skybreeze was looking down the other end of the helo. Exhaustion moved in again and as Margot’s eyes slowly closed she hoped that the helo wouldn’t hit a giant monster.