//------------------------------// // Prologue: Free Fall // Story: Fight As One // by Bluecatcinema //------------------------------// Sterling Cross was sleeping. But it was a restless sleep. He couldn't feel the mattress beneath him, or the covers over him, leaving a cold sensation all over. In fact, he felt as if he was falling, the wind cutting into him as he descended. Then he heard a loud gurgling sound. He opened his eyes, and saw his new teammate, Caboose Napoleon, close by, snoring up a storm. "Hrrrk..." Caboose snored loudly. "Hrrk..." 'What is he doing in my room?' Sterling thought, confused... then he noticed that the wind was still blowing against his body. He looked around, finding that they were in the sky, and in the midst of free-falling from a very great height. "Oh, buck!" He panicked. He looked around more, seeing the rest of his new teammates, Black Knight Paladin, Fury Xaldin, and Fletcher Ulysses, all falling alongside them. "Black! Fury! Caboose! Fletcher! Wake up!" "What the..." Black stirred. "Ohh..." Fury groaned. "Hrrrk..." Caboose snored again, Sterling's yelling having no effect on him. "Did I oversleep?" Fletcher rubbed his eyes. "Forget oversleeping!" Sterling yelled. "We're in trouble! Big trouble!" "Oh, would you please stop yappin'?" Fury growled. "Your voice is irritating as flap..." He trailed off mid-sentence, feeling the wind on his feathers. "What the... did I leave a window op-" He looked down, realizing where he was. "What the frick?!" "Augh!" Black yelped. "What's going on?" "Whoa! What's happening?!" Fletcher gasped. "I dunno!" Sterling yelled. "I think somecreature dropped us out of an airship!" "Oh, you think?!" Fury glared. "Yes, I do!" Sterling yelled. "What were you thinking, that we just appeared in the middle of the sky from out of nowhere?" "Don't talk to me like that, punk!" Fury scowled. "Or what?" Sterling shot back. "This is really not the time for an argument, Sterling!" Fletcher yelled. “What are you getting mad at me for?!” Sterling snapped, “He started it!” “Well, you do have a tendency to rub ponies the wrong way!” Fletcher glared. “Oh, you really want to get into this again, pretty boy?!” Sterling seethed. “Hey, let’s save the arguments for when we survive!” Black yelled, “Speaking of which, any ideas?! Don't know about you guys, but I don't have a parachute!" “Neither do I!” Fletcher frowned, as he glanced around, “Looks like none of us have any!” “We don’t need them!” Fury declared smugly, “I can fly, remember? Grab onto me, and I'll get us out of here!" “All of us?” Sterling asked, “Are you sure?” “Hey, I could bench press a buffalo if I wanted to!” Fury sneered, “Unless you'd rather be paste on the pavement, you'd better shut up and grab on!” “Well, if you put it like that…” Sterling grimaced, reluctantly grabbing  one of his talons. Quickly, Black grabbed the other talon, while Fletcher, while pulling a still-sleeping Caboose with him, grabbed onto one of his back paws. "Okay, here goes..." Fury made to open his wings, only to find they weren't responding. “...Um, Fury, we’re still falling.” Fletcher frowned. “I think we can all see that, Fletcher!” Sterling glared. Fletcher simply returned with another glare of his own. “Fury, what are you waiting for?! Get us out of here!” Black barked. “Hey, don’t get snippy with me!” Fury snarled, as he tried to open his wings again, but to no avail, “Okay, what gives?!” Fury looked to his side, and realized to his horror that his wings had been tied down in some manner, “Who the flap tied down my wings?!” “Great, so much for that plan…” Sterling shook his head as he let go. “Then, that’s it?” Fletcher frowned, “Without a parachute, our chances of survival are next to nothing!” "Figures." Black groaned. "I survived falling to my death once and I doubt I’m going to be lucky this time..." “After all the crap I went through, this is how I die?” Sterling said flatly. “Well, buck me right in the ass…” "Hrrrk!" Caboose snored, still asleep. “Okay, seriously, how the hell is he still asleep?” Fury snarled. "Caboose is quite a heavy sleeper." Fletcher shrugged. "Well, we need to wake him up!" Black urged. "He could use his magic to teleport us all safely to the ground." "Yeah, sure." Sterling nodded. "Anycreature got an alarm clock?" "That attitude is not helping!" Black growled. As they passed through a large cloud, they saw a large mountain directly below them, and closing in fast. "Oh, this is gonna hurt..." Sterling cringed. "Gee, ya think?!" Fury growled. The group crashed onto the side of the mountain, tumbling downwards, striking rocks, trees and ridges as they continued their downward path. "Buck!" Sterling yelled. "Flap!" Fury spat. "Faust dammit!" Fletcher winced. "Crud!" Black yelled. They kept on falling, suffering more painful collisions. They were all in great pain... except for Caboose. who not only slept through the whole thing, but seemed to avoid most of the more painful obstacles. "By Tartarus!" "Frick!" "Damn!" "Pluck me!" "Hrrk..." Finally, they came to a stop at the foot of the mountain, a bit bruised, but alive. “FRICK!” Fury cursed loudly, slumping to the ground. "Ugh..." Sterling groaned, struggling to stand up.. "Ow, my... everything." Fletcher winced. "Why couldn't we have just died?" Black grimaced. "I hate everything..." Fury grumbled into the ground. At that moment, Caboose suddenly woke up. "Ahhh..." He got up and stretched. "Good morning, world! Boy, do I feel great!" Smiling, he looked around, happy to be awake... noticing something was off. "That's weird... since when did I have a forest in my quarters?" He then noticed the others. "And why are you guys in my quarters? Were we having a surprise slumber party last night?" "Hate. Hate. Hate..." Fury groaned in the ground even louder. "Honestly, we don't fully know ourselves, Caboose." Fletcher admitted, as the group began to shake off their wounds. "'We don't fully know'?" Sterling scoffed. "We don't know anything at all!" "Not about where we are, how we got here, or even why we're here." Black agreed. "Or why my wings aren't working." Fury said angrily. He took a closer look at his wings, finding that they were bound to his body with some sort of wire and lock. "What is this junk?" "Hey, Caboose, you've got something on your horn." Sterling quickly realized. "I do?" Caboose frowned. He held a hoof to his horn, finding a strange dark metallic ring decorated with green symbols circling it. "That's weird." "It looks like some kind of magic cancelling ring." Fletcher noted. "You'll probably be unable to use any spells, or even simple levitation, as long as you've got it on." "Oh, yeah?" Caboose smirked. "Sounds like a challenge..." Screwing up his face in concentration, Caboose tried to use his magic. In a instant, a magic beam shot out of his horn, searing through a nearby tree, causing it to topple over. The others lit up in shock. “Well, that is one worthless magic cancelling ring if I ever saw one.” Sterling quipped. “I’m not complaining.” Caboose smiled, “No ring can contain the almighty Caboose!” He lit up his horn to emphasize the point, causing it to spark a bit… the spark landing on one of the Fury’s back paws. "Yeow!" Fury yelped, shaking his burnt paw, “Flap!” “Hehe, woops.” Caboose winced. “Frickin’ jackass…” Fury muttered. Just then, Caboose's suit began ringing. "That's weird..." Caboose frowned. He put a hoof inside the jacket, extracting a mirror with Elite's face on it. “Elite?!” Everypony (and Griffon) gasped. "Ah, there you all are." Elite smiled. "Good to know you made it through the landing in one piece." “Wait, so you’re the one who dropped us…” Sterling realized, before scowling, “What the hell is going on here?!” “Yeah!” Black nodded, “Where are we, and why did you drop us out of a airship?!” “Without parachutes!” Fletcher added, not the least bit happy, “Director, we almost died!” "We did?" Caboose frowned. “Calm down, everypony. There was no real threat of death." Elite declared. "We planned the drop accordingly. Master Mind had carefully calculated the angle of descent so that it would have resulted in a rough, yet survivable, landing." “Did it really have to be rough?” Fury growled, “You couldn’t have just landed the ship and dropped us off?!” “Well, it wouldn’t exactly be called survival training if we had simply given you a heads up.” Elite shrugged. “...Wait, what?” Black asked. “Survival training.” Elite answered, “As of right now, you five are now standing on an uncharted island a little ways South-West of Mount Aris. And for the next week, it will be where you will be stranded. It will be up to all of you to survive till then.” "What?!" The five chorused. "Are you crazy?" Sterling growled. "You want me to spend a week on some island with these clowns?" Fury snorted. "With no provisions?" Fletcher frowned. "Or survival equipment of any kind?" "i never had a chance to pack marshmallows for the campfire..." Caboose pouted. “Look, Elite, I get that you were and guys being pressured and all to test our skills and teamwork and all that jazz, but this is taking things way too far!” Black scowled, “I thought we were doing just fine!” “Well, I thought so too… until I saw the shameful display you five showed in the lounge.” Elite said firmly, not the least bit pleased. “Wait, is this about what happened the other night?” Fletcher frowned, “Sir, what happened there wasn’t my fault!” “Wasn’t your fault?!” Sterling scoffed, “Everything was just fine and dandy before you came along and ticked me off!” "I did nothing of the sort!" Fletcher retorted. "You're the one who took things too far!" "That's not quite how I remember it." Black stepped in. "You both had a hoof in that mess." "And so did the moron, here." Fury sneered at Caboose. "Making a mess worse as always." "Hey, I didn’t do anything-" Caboose started. “Enough!” Elite yelled, his voice nearly blowing out the mirror’s audio. Everycreature winced from the loud uproar. “Now then…” Elite calmed down, but a glare stuck on his face, “It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. It just makes it clear as day that as a team, all five of you are distinctly lacking in camaraderie and unity. And considering this team is what Project: Freedom is all about, that does not bode well for everypony involved!” "Well, I certainly know all about teamwork…" Fletcher stated. "It's this former rogue here who's the real problem!" He pointed at Sterling. "I do know how to work in a team!" Sterling protested. "Just because I wasn't trained in some fancy academy, you think you can look down on me?" "Here we go again..." Black growled. "How am I supposed to with these guys when theyre always bickering like children?" "It's not my fault these guys are all uptight idiots!" Fury snarled. "Wait, what are we talking about again?" Caboose asked. “...Grr…” Fury shuddered with anger. “I’m sorry, but it’s going to take more than words to convince me.” Elite shook his head, “If this team and this project is ever going to amount to anything, you all need to shape up.  And a little time together in the wilderness should be just what you need to help you rely on each other. Which is why while you were all sleeping last night, the rest of us brought you onto an airship, flew you over just in time for morning, and dropped you over the island." "You did all that without us noticing?" Fletcher frowned. "I always knew I was a heavy sleeper, but this is ridiculous." Caboose noted. "So that's why you threw us into a free fall in the middle of nowhere, without a head's up, or any supplies at all?" Sterling asked. "Survival training mixed with another team building exercise?" "Who said anything about no supplies?" Elite frowned. "There should be a survival kit arriving any moment..." "What survival kit?" Caboose asked. Suddenly, a large metal case dropped down on top of Caboose. "Ouch." Caboose groaned, barely holding onto the mirror. "That survival kit." Elite pointed out. "Finally." Fury smirked. "That clown gets to share the pain..." "Nice timing." Sterling added. "Here, let me help you with that." Fletcher moved the case off of Caboose. "Let's see what we've got." Black instructed. "Don't suppose there are any bandages in there?" Caboose asked. Sterling opened the case. To his surprise, he found the sword Loveless had restored for him inside. "Hello, beautiful." He smiled, taking the sword out and holding it in his hooves. "Ah, now we're talking." Fletcher smiled, taking out a bow and a quiver full of arrows. "Now we're really talking!" Caboose grinned, picking up a crossbow and several clips full of bolts. "Look what we have here..." Black smiled, extracting a 'Homer' from the case. "Good ol' Armory. Stick with what works, that's what I always say." "Hey, what about me?" Fury frowned. "Uhh... can't you, like, create spears from outta nowhere?" Caboose asked. "That's not what I meant." Fury retorted. "Yo, Everest, isn't there something in that case to get this junk off my wings?" "I'm afraid not." Elite declared. "The point of this trip is to build teamwork between all of you. There wouldn’t be any point to survival training if one of you can simply just fly off the island and get help.” “Get help?” Fury scoffed, “I just want off the island and away from these yahoos!” “Yeah, not helping, Fury.” Black scowled. “That is why I had Armory tie your wings to your body.” Elite explained, “And don’t bother trying to cut it off. That is the same ‘armor thread’ he uses for the ‘Homer’. On top of what you just said, the ability to fly would give you an unfair advantage, thereby lessening the teamwork aspect of the trip. That is also why we placed that magic-nullifying ring around Caboose's horn." "That was you?" Caboose asked. He seemed outraged... then smiled. "Aw, and I didn't get you anything." "But that thing doesn't work!" Fury complained. "That son of a draft horse just cut down a tree!” “It’s not that kind of magic-nullifying ring.” Elite explained, “The ring is rigged to inhibit his ability to teleport, levitate objects, and cast complex spells. However, he can still use his offensive magic. For the sake of self-defense.” “So the Unicorn gets to keep his ability to use magic, and I can’t fly?!” Fury scowled. “Don’t give me that, Fury. You still have your dark magic abilities, so you really can't complain." Elite pointed out. "Oh, yeah." Fury pouted. "Just watch me." "Regardless, you now have everything you need to survive on this island." Elite declared. "And the measures that have been taken regarding Fury and Caboose ensure that you are all on even footing. As long as you all stick together, combine your talents, and work as a team, I know you all be able to make it through the week.” “And what if we can’t?” Fury challenged. "Hadn't thought of that, really..." Elite admitted, a bit uncertain. "But I'm sure you'll be able to keep it together. As long as you work as one, you will survive." "Somepony's optimistic." Black scoffed. "It's more like I have great faith in all of you." Elite smiled fondly. "You are all strong ponies... and a strong griffon. You have already faced many great challenges individually, and survived. So logically, surviving this experience should be a breeze. Nonetheless, I wish you all luck. We’ll be back in a week to pick you up. Until then..." Elite's face vanished from the mirror, which started glowing and sparking. "Is that supposed to be happening?" Caboose frowned. "Caboose, I think perhaps you should put that down..." Fletcher suggested. Before Caboose could comply, the mirror self-destructed, exploding into a shower of shards and sparks. "Yeow!" Caboose cringed. "Coulda done without that present..." "So now what?" Sterling asked. "We have to hang around this island for a week, rough it out for a week?" "Looks like it, yeah." Black nodded. "Not how I would've wanted to start the day..." "It won't be so bad, guys." Caboose smiled. "Just think of it as a week-long campout!" "If only we all had access to your limitless reservoir of optimism, Caboose." Fletcher sighed. "I don't know what four of those words mean." Caboose replied. "This is all you clowns' fault, you know that?!" Fury scowled. "Us?" Black frowned. "Yeah, you." Fury spat. "We wouldn't be forced to go on a 'teamwork survival course' if you flappin' fools woulda just got with the program!" "Like you can talk about teamwork, Mr. ‘Loner'!" Black shot back. “He’s right. I’ve only been on this team for a month, and I’ve been working better with this team than you have!” Sterling joined in. "That's a matter of opinion." Fletcher scoffed. “Oh, don’t you start with me, pal.” Sterling pointed accusedly at him. “Firstly, we’re not pals.” Fletcher scowled, “Secondly, I don’t know why Caboose and I got roped into this. The two of us have been working together long before we joined the Taskforce. We're practically experts in teamwork!" "Yeah!" Caboose nodded. "...So you're saying we should be in charge, right?" "Like I'd take orders from a goodie two-hooves and a moron!" Fury snarled. "Hey!" Caboose growled. "Don't call Fletcher a moron!" "Thanks for proving my point, craps-for-brain!" Fury smirked. "Oh, knock it off!" Sterling yelled at Fury. "Like being a jerk is going to help anything!" “You better watch yourself, Cross.” Fury spat, “You saw what I did to Lunard, and I could do the same to you in the blink of an eye." "Using your fancy powers, maybe." Sterling sneered. "But when it comes to close-quarters combat, I'm thinking it'll be another story." "Oh, yeah?" Fury sneered. "I don't need my powers, or even my spears. I've got talons. Think those flat hooves can do any good against me?" "Only one way to find out, right, turkey face?" Sterling taunted, throwing his sword aside. "Come and get me. Or are you... chicken?" "Why, you!" Fury charged at him. "I'll tear ya apart!" "Bring it, cat butt!" Sterling jeered. Fury tackled Sterling, knocking him down. The two began grappling with each other, Fury's talons grasping at Sterling, while Sterling's hooves swung at Fury. "Oh, wonderful." Fletcher rolled his eyes. “Fighting got us into this mess, and the first thing we’re doing is fighting.” "Can we place bets?" Caboose asked. "My money's on Sterling!" “Oh, flap you!” Fury snarled, as he grabbed Sterling’s neck. “Ya!” Sterling took advantage of his distraction, headbutting him. "Gahh!" Fury growled, stumbling backwards. "Oh, now you're gonna get it!" "Oh, are you ready to fight for real now?" Sterling said flippantly. "I thought we were still warming up." "I'll give ya 'for real', punk!" Fury snarled. The two charged at each other, eager to continue the brawl. "Alright, knock that off!" Black stepped in, forcing them apart. "I didn’t expect much from Sterling, but I thought…” He grimaced, “Actually, I expected no better from you either, Fury.” "Well, happy to disappoint you, Paladin." Fury scoffed. “Look, you can get all pissy as you want, Fury, but like it or not, we’re stuck in this mess together.” Black growled, as he then glared at Sterling, “As for you, please try not to provoke him.” "Yeah, like that's some great feat." Sterling retorted. "This guy seems to alway be angry." He then narrowed his eyes. "And no offense, but where do you get off, telling me what to do? Who put you in charge?" "Well, I do have the most experience with working with the Taskforce." Black pointed out. "Not to mention all those of fending for myself also give me the edge." "That's nice." Fury chimed in. "Ya wanna tell us your college grades too?" "Laugh it up, featherball." Black retorted coldly. "He has a point, though." Fletcher frowned. "If you think being in charge relates to knowledge, I was trained at one of the best military academies in the world, and was made Royal Captain under the recommendation of the previous Captain, and two Princes. I do not wish to boast, but I feel I should be the one to take charge." "I used to go on hunting trips with my bros all the time." Caboose added. "Sure, there were the odd wild animal attack, and some incidents with poisonous plants... but I'd be more than happy to give you guys pointers." “I appreciate the thought, Caboose, but if any of you had forgotten, I actually had to live out in the wild for three months when I was barely a teenager.” Sterling pointed out, “If anything, you guys should be asking me for pointers." "Not in this lifetime, Cross." Fury scowled. "Enough of that." Black growled. "It doesn't matter who's in charge, or who has the most experience in this sort of thing." "Really?" Sterling frowned. "Wouldn't have guessed it a second ago." “Look, we should be focusing more on how we’re going to survive this.” Black declared, “And that means we’re going to have to band together. So how about we put aside whatever grievances we have with one another and actually work together as a team. Otherwise, there’ll be nothing left for the others when they come back for us but a bunch of corpses. So let’s do this… for Elite and Project: Freedom.” The group looked at each other. "I can get behind that." Sterling nodded. "As can I." Fletcher agreed. "Sure beats dying, hooves down." Caboose smiled. "...Like I really have a choice." Fury said petulantly. “Alright then.” Black declared, “Let’s get down to business. The first thing we oughta do is set up camp before it gets dark. We don’t know what’s on this island, and we don’t want to be caught off guard. So, two of you will get firewood and the other two will forage for food.” "And what will you be doing?" Sterling asked. "I'll go a little way back up the mountain." Black answered. "Get the lay of the land a little. If any of you feel like trading jobs with me, feel free to do so." "...No, I'm good." Sterling shook his head. "I only go up when I have a functioning pair of wings." Fury snorted, “But considerin’ I don’t, and I hadn’t had breakfast yet, I guess I’ll be findin’ food.” "Maybe you and me should go looking for firewood, Sterling?" Caboose offered. "Sure, why no-?" Sterling began. "I will go with Caboose." Fletcher cut him off. "The two of us work quite well together. Why don't you go and accompany Fury? That griffon needs somepony to keep an eye him... And vice-versa." “I guess I’m going with Fletcher, then.” Caboose gave a nervous smile, “Maybe next time, Sterling?” “Yeah… sure.” Sterling solemnly nodded. “Okay, then.” Black smirked, “We’ll meet back here to set up camp once. Try not to be gone too long, fellas…” "As you wish." Fletcher nodded, as he and Caboose headed off towards a nearby group of trees. "See ya soon!" Caboose waved. "No promises." Sterling said curtly. "Let's make this quick, Cross." Fury scowled, “The sooner we get the food, the sooner I can eat.” "Here's hoping." Sterling muttered, as the two began heading towards a field in the distance. As they made their way to their field, Sterling saw Black climbing up the mountain out of the corner of his eye. 'He wants to take charge of this group? Good luck.' Sterling thought. 'It'd take a miracle for this bunch to survive out here for a day, let along a week...' "Hurry up, Cross!" Fury yelled, having gotten ahead of him. "I'm not doing all the work here, ya know!" "That'll be the day." Sterling muttered under his breath. As he reluctantly moved to catch up with his new teammate, Sterling couldn’t help but second-guess a decision he made a couple months back to join Elite’s new team. It wasn’t the first time, either. His integration into the team hadn’t been going as smoothly as he would have hoped, and even though the others don’t show it, he could feel they had been having trouble getting used to each other. Clearly, Elite sending them on this survival course was his and the Taskforce’s last hope of changing that… But given how things hadn’t changed much from a month ago, Sterling highly doubted that it was going to work. 'Everest is way off base here.' Sterling thought. 'If the wilderness doesn't kill this bunch, we'll probably do the job ourselves. The whole team seemed to be an utter mess. Their chances of working together seemed as likely as Discord becoming a librarian, or every dragon in the world donating their gem collections to charity. With that in mind, it looked like they were in for one awful week. 'How did we even end up in this mess in the first place?' He despaired.