Chapter 3: VIP
Lena sobbed for several minutes before she calmed down. “I’m here for you,” the filly said in a comforting voice, like her parents and sister did when she felt sad.
The woman sniffed. “Sorry… It’s just…Once you get taken away by ADVENT, you're never heard from again,” she told with a sad voice.
“B-but…they can’t just take people without a reason!” Dinky replied in disbelief.
“ADVENT can do as they please, sadly, they are in charge of Earth after all.”
“Why? Why did they take him? He did nothing wrong!” The unicorn exclaimed.
“I don’t know. Maybe they knew about his father. Or just…wrong place at the wrong time,” she replied, stroking the foal’s mane. She knew, even with her husband gone, she had to make sure Dinky wouldn’t be taken too. She was the only thing left know and the filly’s family and friends would be destroyed if something would happen to her.
“I hope they won’t hurt him,” Dinky said with fear in her voice.
Lukas was taken into a squad car. He expected to be brought to the local station for questioning. But that expectation vanished as the car left the City Center. “Uhh, the station is in the city, not outside,” he said, slightly worried.
“There is nothing to fear, Mr. Barber, the local station is not useable at the moment, so we have to go to a station outside of the City Center,” the Officer replied.
The car took a country road that went through the forests and after a while, a big facility came into view. The man looked at it with awe. “We are here,” the officer said and they stepped out.
The facility looked like any other ADVENT facility, yet it somehow had an intimidating aura for the human as heartbeat increased and he was slightly trembling. He felt like he was going in an old mansion.
For some reason, Barber couldn’t help but feel a chill down the back of his neck. As they entered the facility, Lukas swallowed hard, and, for some reason, felt like it would be his last chance to do so.
The rest of the day went quiet, Dinky helped out in the house as good as she could. She could tell how Lena was affected by the absence of her husband. For a long while her head was lowered and had a slight sad expression on her face.
Dinky knew she had to cheer her up somehow.
In the evening, the woman made vegetable flan for dinner. The filly enjoyed it, yet noticed that Lena ate very slowly with her head still lowered. “Why?” she asked, “Why did they take him? He didn’t do anything…”
It made Dinky sad to see how depressed her host was, so she decided to cheer her up and tried to think of the right words. “Maybe it was just a misunderstanding, like, false information! It wasn’t your fault, you aren’t’ to blame.” She said in a calm and cheerful voice.
The woman gave her a weak smile. “I guess you are right.”
Then they both went to bed.
Despite being worried, both of them slept pretty well that night.
In the next morning, they had breakfast as a broadcast came in. It showed the speaker again, two ADVENT officers next to him, their hands behind their back.
“Fellow citizens. For 20 years the ADVENT Coalition has worked tirelessly to repair the ravages and justices of the old world. Under our stewardship, our cities prosper, our people flourish and our world heals.” The live broadcast showed marching troops being watched by civilians, followed by a Trooper that offered a hand to a citizen.
“And yet, among us, there are still those who refuse to acknowledge the truth! Who are determined to see that all that we have achieved crumble!” he exclaimed and ADVENT troop transports that traveled around the globe got shown.
“That must end. Even as I speak to you today, ADVENT peacekeepers are advancing into the outlying territories to end this scourge once and for all. We will ensure your continued safety and well-being throughout this crisis. With your cooperation we will overcome these radical elements and usher in another 20 years of peace and prosperity.” With that it ended.
Then the doorbell rang again, followed by a knock, Dinky went out of sight as Lena answered it. It was an ADVENT officer again, escorted by a trooper. “Yes?” she asked.
“Sorry to bother, Ma’am, but we have reports about suspicious activity.”
Lena knew this was bad but tried to remain calm. Had they monitored them, or had someone seen Dinky and reported it? She didn’t know.
“That must be a misunderstanding, but would you like to come in?” She asked, slightly nervous.
“Thank you, but we have to search your house, standard procedure,” the officer replied as he and the other trooper entered the house, the latter looked around and made the woman hope that Dinky had selected a good hiding place.
The filly was hidden under the bed and hoped the soldier wouldn’t find her as he entered the room. As he looked around, she was breathing rapid, slightly shaking as he stood in front of the bed.
She held her breath.
The soldier kneeled and spotted her, pulling her out before she could react, Dinky screamed and struggled as she was brought to the officer.
The woman now started to shake nervously. “Please, I just gave her shelter! She means no harm, she’s just a child!”
“Of course, the Elders know to appreciate your concern and caring. We are just here to help,” The officer replied calmly.
“Lena, please!” Dinky pleaded, she cried heavily tears as she was brought out and still struggled until the soldier knocked out with a whip of his sidearm.
But seeing Dinky getting hurt enraged the woman. With a growl she charged at the officer, who swiftly blocked her attack and hit her in the solar plexus which knocking the air out of her and made her collapse in pain. “I apologize, but it’s for your own safety,” He said with no emotion and left.
Lena cried over her failure to protect Dinky. She rolled onto her side and let out an ear-piercing scream.
“Ugh…” Dinky groaned as she woke up with an aching head and wanted to move but she realized she couldn’t. She looked around her surroundings and she found herself restrained She felt a device on her horn made her unable to use her magic.
She appeared to be in a prisoner van or something, as she could hear the sound of an engine from it and felt the rumbling as it moved. “Stay calm, panic won’t get you anywhere,” the filly spoke to herself.
Suddenly, the van stopped abruptly and shots were heard outside. Apart from the deep firing sounds of ADVENT troops, she heard a faint 'rata-ta-tat'.
Her ears perked up as the door opened and she tried to cover her eyes from the light. She slowly uncovering them, she looked at a woman in armor climb into the van. The woman’s armor’s color were mixed stony tones in a leopard skin pattern, armed with a rifle and a sword on her back. Her face was very similar to Lena, broad face and the chin wide, save for black hair for it was tied into a knot behind her head. Her green eyes were trained on Dinky. The armor was hiding her build well.
Before Dinky could process what was happening, the woman removed her restraints and offered a hand with a slight smile. “Come with us if you want to live.” The voice was in English with a French accent and sounded friendly.
The filly realized quickly that this woman wanted to help her and grabbed the hand to be led out of the van. “The VIP is secure and we’re on the move,” the woman spoke into a radio.
“Menace 5-1, status confirmed, VIP is now in tow. Proceed to the extraction point,” a male voice replied.
“Stay close,” the woman said in a calming tone, the filly nodded, as he looked quickly around, the can was in the middle of the city, a few dead soldiers and an officer were lying in their own blood on the street. “Nice work with the door, Abstraction.”
A man in dark gray chest armor came into sight from behind a wall, the rest of his armor was navy blue and held a rifle that was light gray. His hair was dark brown, his eyes green, and the face was rounded. He looked tall but thin.
She almost overlooked a small drone flying next to him, A bizarre contraption and almost like a floating crab made up of computer parts with a pair of lighted panels on either side like police lights on a police car. Its body was colored mint-green and the wings Cyan white; it had the same colors as Tootsie’s music teacher Lyra.
“Behind you! he yelled at the woman and a loud shot made Dinky flinch.
The sound of a body hitting the ground greeted her ears. She looked where the sound came from and saw a dead ADVENT trooper behind the woman; it laid in a puddle of strange orange blood.
She looked up and saw what appeared to be a woman with a sniper rifle on a balcony but was too far away to make out any details. “I got you covered!” the sniper yelled over the radio.
“Let’s move,” the French woman said and Dinky followed her with the man known as “Abstraction” down the street. She saw blood splattered on the windshield of the van; that meant the sniper had shot the driver.
Out of her eye, the filly saw another ADVENT trooper run around the corner and charged at the woman. In response, she drew her sword and rammed it into the soldier’s chest; blood splattered from it as he collapsed.
Dinky looked ahead where they were headed and saw a blue flare at the end of the street before the male voice on the radio sounded again. “Menace 5-1, be advised, hostile interceptors are inbound on your current position. Firebrand has a limited window to provide extraction.”
“Enemy reinforcements!” The sniper warned as a red flare lit up near the extraction point and an ADVENT airborne transport arrived. Another officer with three soldiers jumped out before it left.
The red-colored soldier pointed towards the filly and woman and yelled something that sounded like “Call her Patsy!” and his soldiers, in response, opened fire.
The French pushed her behind a wall for cover as the red colored bullets missed them both by inches, causing the child to cower in fear. “Under heavy fire!” Abstraction yelled as he was pinned down behind cover too.
Suddenly, a quick 'rata-ta-tat' echoed in Dinky’s ears, followed by a voice saying, “Run, cowards!”
She peeked around the corner and saw that the officer had fallen. In addition to his red-colored armor, his face was covered by a gas mask. Behind the corpse was the two soldiers and held what looked like a portable gatling gun. The ADVENT soldiers dived to cover but the man yelled, “Cry some more!” and drew what looked like a grenade launcher from his back.
He fired and the explosion resulted in both hostiles being blown a few meters back while covered in splinters and blood. The dead squad allowed the others to proceed.
Once at the extraction zone, the unicorn saw what looked like a troop transport, the engines swiveled on either side of the fuselage above them. The ropes were lowered in front of them.
The woman gently took Dinky on the arm and grabbed the rope with her free hand. The rope reeled them both on board with the others as they grabbed the other ropes.
“This is Firebrand, VIP is secure,” the pilot of the aircraft reported.
“Status confirmed, mission accomplished.” The male radio voice replied.
Dinky looked at the humans in the squad as she sat down on the seats with them. The sniper of the squad caught her eyes because she saw that she was smiling, apparently happy that the mission was a success. Now that she was next to her and not on a building, Dinky could see the woman had green eyes and blond hair, that was also tied into a knot. She wore a cap that matched the grey color of her armor, which had the same muster as the French woman. Her face was rounded.
Thank you for saving me,” Dinky said as she looked at the four adults. The French woman petted her with a smile.
“It’s nothing, sweetheart. Catch some rest, it will take some time.”
Dinky nodded and closed her eyes, dozing off in the woman’s lap. She didn’t want to ask where they were headed. She was too tired and exhausted from the firefight.
“Can you believe it, Jade? Dinky Hooves from My little pony: Friendship is magic, right before our eyes?” Abstraction asked her.
“At first, no. I really wonder how the Council found out about her, but I’m glad we could save her from ADVENT,” she replied.
“Da, I’m glad too.” The Russian added. “What about you, Bianca?”
“Me too, Sasha. A young child like her hasn’t deserved this.” The sniper replied with an Italian accent.
After a while, they arrived and Jane gently shook Dinky’s shoulder. “We are here.”
“Okay…”the filly said, still a bit sleepy as they stepped out. She noticed the aircraft had landed on a big platform up in the sky because, as they stepped out, a wonderful view greeted them. It made Dinky realize that the “platform” was a larger aircraft itself as an elevator brought them and the small transport into a hanger.
“Well done, soldiers, you did an excellent job.” The filly’s ears perked up as she heard a male voice, the same as on the radio and saw the four operatives saluting an elderly man. His eyes were green, his hair brown but slightly graying appearing to be in his mid-fifties.
“Central.” Jade replied as he looked a bit confused at Dinky.
“At first I thought the Spokesman had lost his mind but I guess it was good he gave us this mission,” he mumbled and kneeled down to Dinky’s height. “I’m Central Officer Bradford.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Bradford, I’m Dinky Hooves.” She greeted him with a slight smile.
“I appreciate that you are polite, but Bradford or John is just fine,” he replied and turned to Abstraction. “Lieutenant Schaeffer, bring her to Dr. Tygan for a medical checkup, I discuss with the commander what we shall do with her.”
“Yes, sir. Follow me. ”Abstraction said to Dinky.
“We meet you at the bar!” Jade called out as the man and child walked towards an elevator.
The man pushed a button and the elevator moved down. As the door opened, Dinky’s eyes went wide as she saw a big lab with machines of all kind. Aside from the machinery, the filly spotted a dark-skinned man in a white lab coat and had his back to her. He was inspecting what looked like a generator. He seemed to have large scar on the bald back of his head. “Dr. Tygan?” the Lieutenant called out and the scientist turned around. He had brown eyes and wore glasses.
“Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice you. You are the foal I was told of, right?” He asked, sounding very fascinating.
“Uh, yes, my name is Dinky Hooves.” She replied, slightly nervous.
“I’m Dr. Richard Tygan, Chief Scientific Officer. Please, hop over here,” he said as he pointed to a large white table and the foal climbed on it. A scanner started to beep and whistle which made Dinky more nervous as it got to work. It moved up and down, then stood still.
I guess this was how Pip felt when he met the humans, she thought as she remembered how Pip met the humans through a similar accident as she had. Shortly after they first met, she got examined in a similar way.
Tygan smiled after a few seconds. “Apart from a slight bruise on the head, you’re fine. If you’re okay with it, I need a small blood sample.”
Dinky’s expression become one of fear. “It will only hurt for a moment.” He added as he grabbed what looked like, a futuristic syringe. “Genetic research is very advanced today thanks to ADVENT. It would allow me to understand your biology better if you get hurt,” he explained as the operative gently took her left forehoof, whispering comforting words.
The filly nodded, taking a deep breath and hissed for a moment as the needle entered her skin. “And done. You are very brave for your age.” The Scientist complimented her.
He put her blood sample in a machine and the screen bursted to life with science mumbo jumbo. The scientist analyzed the results from her blood cells and was quite fascinated, his eyes went wide.
While the blood was red, her cells were multi-colored. Like a perfect rainbow.
“I never have seen anything like that.” Then he turned to the child. “Anyway, you should get going.”
“Come, I show you around,” the operative said. He led Dinky to the other end of the hallway and came up to what looked like a room-sized factory. A woman worked on a workbench on something. She had brown hair and was dressed in an orange t-shirt with a green vest over it.
“And there we go,” she said and an orange drone started to take off from the workbench. It flew around the room as she turned around. Dinky saw she had brown eyes and appeared to be in her late twenties. She smiled at the two. “Hello. You are the filly Central mentioned? I’m Lily Shen, Chief Engineer.”
“Name’s Dinky Hooves,” the foal replied as the orange drone stopped in front of her and hovered up and down. It made a buzz sound that sounded like a greeting in robot language. “Glad to meet you too,” she added in a friendly tone, although, it felt strange to greet a flying drone.
“That’s ROV-R, my personal GREMLIN. I think he likes you already.” Lily said with a smile. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Dinky.”
Me too.” Abstraction led Dinky to a room that appeared to be an armory because it had several mounts for weapons. Abstraction got out his rifle and sidearm and put them both into one empty mount while his GREMLIN landed in a charging station. The filly started to blush as her stomach growled.
“Sorry, haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“Then let me take you to the bar. it’s also the cafeteria.”
As they arrived, Dinky saw how the “bar” looked like. She never seen anything like it before. A counter with a barkeeper and several tables, small TVs mounted on the wall, a glass cabinet with pictures of the old XCOM team, at least she assumed it was an old team. There was even a toy version of a jet fighter and an older version of the smaller transport in the glass cabinet. Everything was engulfed in an orange light.
To her right was a big board that listed names, their last mission and a date. There were only two names on the board: Peter Osei and Ana Ramirez, both took part in operation Gatecrasher on the 1st of March. The board was lighted in blue.
“Ah, glad you came.” Jane waved at them where she sat with the others. “What can I get you?” The barkeeper asked Dinky as the filly looked at the menu.
“A salad with bread and noodles, please.” The Barkeeper nodded and did as told.
The unicorn smiled a she enjoyed her meal, glad to have something in her stomach. “Looks very comfortable.” Dinky commented at the look of the bar.
“Thank you. There’s nothing better than to relax after a mission here, having a cool drink or a warm meal.” Abstraction replied.
“What brought you to XCOM?” The filly was curious.
Jane took the word. “We come from many walks of life: bodyguards, prisoners, and resistance members are all part of XCOM's pool of hirees. Regardless of our background, we are united in our desire to take back our planet from the alien menace.” Jane took the word. “I used to be a teacher at a Martial Arts school, but ADVENT closed it down due being inappropriate…Hah!” She taunted. “They can’t tell me what to do. I took prides in my teachings, even with ADVENT, the people still need to defend themselves if no peacekeeper is around. After they tried to close it, I tried to justify myself, they wanted to arrest me for resisting and for helping a defenseless person against a robber earlier, stating I was hindering a peacekeeper on duty.” She had a slight hint of hate in her voice.
“Me I and a good friend of mine used to work in a factory of household products,” Bianca added into the conversation, “One day, there was a delay in the production line because of a malfunction. My friend, being the production manager, said it would take some time to repair, but the supervising officer demanded it shall be done quickly. As my friend said they need time, the officer shot him. Killed just for a minor disagreement. Terrified, I fled, not wanting to meet the same fate.” Bianca’s voice had a slight shaken tone and expression.
“Sorry to hear that,” Dinky replied and looked at Sasha. He was bald, his eyes blue, and his face and chin were broad.
Sasha saw the filly look at him and got the hint that he was next to talk. “I have nothing much to tell. I was born in Russia before the invasion, taking pride in my nation, and I am very educated, having gone to college and receiving a PhD in Russian literature. I could have gone far. But then, ADVENT came and arrested me for faking my PhD, which I did not like. XCOM saved me and I repay them by serving them.”
“I see. What is this ship we are on?” the filly asked.
“It’s called the Avenger, a repurposed alien transport ship and our mobile HQ. The smaller transport is the Skyranger, a VTOL troop transport that deploys us for our missions. Jane is a Ranger. They are the primary reconnaissance units, specialized in operation in the shadows and up close with swords and shotguns. And since Jane is good in Martial Art, it suits her perfectly.”
“You got that right.” Jane replied as he continued.
“I’m a grenadier, being amongst the tough, heavily armed soldiers that excel at direct combat and wanton destruction with our Gatling guns and grenade launchers. Now, what makes me a good grenadier? If I were a bad grenadier, I wouldn't be sittin' here, discussin' it with you now would I?” he asked, causing the filly to chuckle.
“Yes, you are a good grenadier.”
The Italian woman then took the word. “As you saw, I’m a sniper or ‘Sharpshooter’. Just like it sounds, we engage enemy targets with pinpoint accuracy from extreme range. We're also trained in pistol marksmanship for the occasional close encounter.”
“Uh-uh. And you, Abstraction?” Dinky asked.
“Please, call me Kyle, Abstraction is just my nickname,” he replied with a smile. “I’m a specialist. That drone you saw, called GREMLIN, is our special weapon. We can take on a variety of tactical support roles, including field medic duty and remote hacking.”
“Ok, Kyle. Nice nickname.” she replied with a smile.
“Thank you. You surely want some rest from all of this. Come, I’ll take you to the living quarters.”
“Lead the way. Bye everyone!” She waved at the others as she walked out. She wondered how the living quarters would look like.
It was only a short walk from the bar and the filly found what she saw to be quite comfortable. The living quarters had several double beds, two couches, a table in the middle with some chairs and a dart board on the wall.
“Looks very nice.” Dinky said to Kyle.
“Glad to hear it,” he said as he sat down on one bed and reached for a guitar and started to tune it.
“Do you play music?”
Kyle smiled. “Yeah, it helps to relax and I draw from time to time. Sometimes, I play music to get over losses or to boost morale in general.”
The filly remembered the blue board, realizing what it meant. “You mean the blue board in the bar?”
Kyle sighed. “Yes. It’s a memorial for those who died in action, so we can pay our respects. Operation Gatecrasher was the rescue of the commander. With him, we are finally able to do some decent damage to ADVENT.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” she lowered her head. “But, why is your GREMLIN colored like Lyra?” This question caused the Specialist to look puzzled at her, thinking for a moment.
“Well…back in 2010, there was a kid show called My little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It showed the adventures of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. You and Lyra are background figures and she turned out to be my favorite pony, so I colored my GREMLIN after her, I even nicknamed it Lyra,” he told, slightly blushing.
“Makes sense,” Dinky replied, completely calm.
“You’re… not confused by this?” he asked in surprise raising an eyebrow.
“Well, my uncle Fletcher Fray landed on Earth before, finding out about the show and told me about it.” Then the unicorn told him about her uncle and how he became what he is and who he was, the man listed with interest, being fascinated.
The lieutenant processed everything she told him. “Sounds like you have been through a lot. I’m also sorry to hear what happened but I promise we will keep you safe from ADVENT.”
The filly smiled. “I appreciate it. Why did you join XCOM?”
The human sighed again. “...Are you sure you really wanna know? Because this is pretty heavy stuff for a filly your age.”
“That doesn't matter! Please, tell me!” Dinky said, extremely curious.
Kyle stayed silent for a moment. “...Alright. Years ago when I was nine, my biological father died in a plane crash. While it was depressing, my mother started dating and found a man again. His name was Ed Richardson. At the beginning, it looked wonderful but…” He paused to calm himself down as his voice got shaky.
“It was only after she got engaged and filed the child custody papers with the court that Ed revealed his true nature. He became irate for even the smallest things... he even started beating her. I was only eleven at the time, but I can still remember jolting whenever he got the urge to randomly backhand her. After about a year, she had enough, and then she decided, in secret, that she was going to leave.”
Dinky gasped. “She left you behind?”
“Not on purpose. In fact, she was desperate to take me with her. But for whatever reason, she couldn't get the court to give her legal custody of me. They didn't have enough evidence to prove that Ed was ineligible to assume custody. It was a losing battle, and with Ed putting most of her money into his own account instead of a joint account, she couldn't get a good lawyer with her free representation. Ed, on the other hand, was spending most of her money to hire some pretty high-end attorney to convince the court to rule in his favor... I guess he wanted to keep me around to do all his heavy lifting for him. Then, on the day before she disappeared, I saw her sitting on the porch. She was crying. She was repeatedly saying to herself 'I don't want to, but I have to'... He sniffed.
““...and then, on the following morning, really early before Ed woke up, my mom came to my bedroom and woke me. She told me that she had to go somewhere. I asked her where, but she said it was better if I didn't know. She had tears in her eyes as she was saying all of this to me. I didn't understand what was going on. All she told me was 'Be brave, Kyle. And just know that, even if I'm not here, I will love you to the end of the world'. Then, she gave me a long hug and kissed me on the cheek and left. I think I might have fallen asleep, because I woke up a few hours later, and rushed out of my room to look for her... but she was gone.”
Dinky’s expression was one of sympathy. “I'm so sorry.” She gave him a hug.
Kyle smiled weakly. “It’s okay,” he said and pulled out a picture, it showed a woman with the same light skin and dark-brown hair that he had.
The filly looked at it in awe. “She looks very pretty. Just like you.”
“Yeah.” He pointed to a watch he was wearing on his right wrist. It was a silver, analog wristwatch with a rectangular bezel. “My mother gave it to me as a final gift before she left. I haven’t seen her since the invasion.”
You were there?…” The filly looked at him in shock.
“Yes, I saw everything with my own eyes…”
It was a normal day like any other, March 2015. Kyle had just returned from another long, exhausting day at work. He was sore from standing for eight hours with only short breaks, and looked forward to climb into bed, and to sandwich himself in between the sheets. It was always the time he looked forward to the most out of his work day. It was a little after eleven o'clock, Kyle had been scheduled the closing shift, which only further made him tired and ready to collapse under his own weight. But his fate had other plans.
“Get up, boy!” Ed shouted. “Dinner won’t make itself!”
The young man let out a quiet groan and used the little energy he had left to get into the kitchen, to make some pork chops. While he enjoyed his meal, he felt out of place, as Ed and his son Danny were ungrateful. They didn’t appreciate his work and left him to clean up while the elderly man watched TV and his son played video games.
Suddenly a loud explosion shock the house, strong enough to throw everyone over. “What was that?” Kyle wondered confused as he got up and noticed that almost all the windows were broken.
“Hey, Dad, look!” Danny looked out of the window, his father and Kyle joined him. Outside on the street was a crater, inside a big, black pod.
“Looks like some kind of alien thing. Let’s take a look.” Ed suggested, sounding rather curious.
“Stay inside, we don’t know what it is.” Kyle said as he advised against it. He knew that something wasn’t right.
“Did we ASK for your opinion?” Ed asked with an angry expression and caused Kyle to hold up his arm in defense.
“I’m just careful.”
“Whatever, coward,” the elderly man replied and joined the group of citizens already outside to inspect the pod, Kyle watched with worry.
What happened next, burned itself into his mind.
Jade-green gas hissed out of the pod and caused everyone to flee in panic, Ed and Danny included. They tripped and got sucked towards it, screaming as they vanished into the fog.
“Mother of god…” the young man muttered in shock, not able to believe what he had just seen.
As the fog vanished, his eyes went wide as he saw Ed, Danny and many others down on the ground, encased in a verdigris green gel.
The young man, breathed heavily, stared what was in front of him and tried to process what had just happened.
Then, he saw something he had never seen before.
A group of small, thin humanoid creatures, with open chests that glowed a sickly green, moved in together with a group of men in blue suits. The former had no visible mouth and big black eyes and were armed with pistols that glowed green. The latter had black hair and sunglasses and carried glowing rifles that glowed green as well. Kyle decided to stay hidden.
He watched as the men used older-pattered syringes on the trapped humans before they abducted them. The young man did nothing, he knew they would gun him down the moment he would be within their sights.
“They may be have not been very nice to me, but even they haven’t deserved something like this.” Kyle finished with a shaken voice.
“Oh my…” Dinky mumbled in shock. “Did…did your mother…”
He patted her head. “I don’t know. Twenty years have passed and I haven’t found her. I can only hope she’s still alive. If she was killed or died of old age, I comfort myself that she’s in a better place, but I haven’t lost hope yet.” Kyle weakly smiled. “Me and Sasha are the only ones in the squad to have seen the invasion. Jane and Bianca were too young to remember.”
“That a good attitude, Kyle,” the filly responded to brighten his mood a bit “Now, why did you join XCOM afterwards?”
“Well, despite what I had seen, I kinda believed on their lie of peace, trying to find my mother, while having nightmares of the invasion at times.” He took a deep breath. “But after some time, I noticed people went missing and knew something wasn’t right. As ADVENT wanted to go into a Gene clinic, I took my chance.” His expression became determined. “Mark my words: one day things will change. We will reveal the lies of ADVENT. Taking back our planet.”
“I’m sure you will,” the filly replied.
“The supply raid was a full success, ADVENT didn’t know what hit them!” a muted voice with a German accent sounded on the hallway.
“Yeah, the Combat protocol of Gyro makes a very effective combination with your accuracy,” a British voice replied.
“Hey, our teamwork guarantees success.”
“Righto.”
The German voice reminded Dinky of Fletcher’s relative Wagensroll. After Fletcher became her uncle, the earth pony also became a part of the family. He often visited them, he would chat with her father about old technologies and played with her, which she enjoyed.
The British voice sounded similar to Purple Patch. As far as Dinky knew, he was an old friend of Nancy but kept his distance due to her husband’s violence. After he left her, Patch and Nancy spent time together again, and Patch took care of Pip when Nancy was busy. He told her once that he sometimes saw Patch as step-father.
A faint ringing tone tore her out of her thoughts. The sound came from Kyle’s radio. “Yes, central?” he asked. “Acknowledged, I’m on my way.” he replied and looked at her. “We shall go to the bridge, they have decided where it will be safer for you.”
“Okay.”
The bridge looked very fascinating as they arrived.
She saw several terminals and a big screen on the wall. But the most interesting contraption was in the middle, a big holographic globe. “That’s the Geoscape, it allows our commander and Central to plan operations around the world.” Kyle explained as they saw Bradford talking on a headset.
“Commander, I have new information about this faction, called the Eternal Knights. They consist of three ponies.
Their leader is called Midnight Blade. He's an undying swordsteed with an affinity with shadow magic. As far as we can tell, he may be some sort of quasi-vampire. One thing's for sure though, he's damn good at his job” The screen activated and showed the grey pony. “His propensity with the broadsword may seem like a no-sell but that blade cuts through the hardest ADVENT armor so quick, they may as well be wearing suits made of cream-cheese. His short-range teleportation consumes very little focus, making it easy for him to outmaneuver any enemy. Equipped with long-range boomerangs and bombs, he can open up the weaknesses of the foe and then move in for the kill. His real talent lies with blood magic which can heal any wound, even those that would normally be fatal to ordinary soldiers. In a scrap, he can even drain the life out of a defeated enemy. If, by some miracle, ADVENT get the drop on him, his Blood-Moon rage will make them wish they hadn't.”
As he told this, the screen showed how Midnight killed ADVENT soldiers with his blade, the way he teleported in a cloud of red mist, grenades thrown at enemy groups, and drained a fallen over officer. His hooves glowed faintly red as he did so and roared as his rage was shown.
“Second is their melee specialist, called White Wolf.” The screen switched from the bat pony to the Pegasus. “Raised in a perilous environment and made strong through lethal training and questing, she'll be more than a match for anything the enemy can throw at us. Her natural flying abilities give her extended movement reach across even the harshest battlefields. Flying over short distances, her affinity with storm clouds makes her invisible to all but the keenest predator. She can land with a force of lightning, stunning any nearby enemies around her, even in the middle of a tight formation. In pitched combat, her knives are deadly weapons and can land multiple strikes on one enemy or individual strikes on several enemies in mid-range vicinity. Her deer magic allows her to call upon nature's wrath with vines that lock enemies to the ground and wild wolf packs that'll rip and tear at an enemy's defensive line, acting similar to their Lost.”
To his words, it was shown how Wolf flew around, sliced enemies, using clouds as cover before she stunned them with lighting and slammed into the ground to summon vines that immobilized enemies, followed by a growl to command a wolf pack to have the soldiers meet with them
“And their Sniper is called Fletcher Fray.” The green unicorn was shown. “Something of a knight in shining armor, Fletcher's skill lies in an enchanted bow. As a sharpshooter, I say with certainty that he has few if any equals. Placed atop a vantage point, his reach is staggering and if any enemy is in his sight, he may fire upon them, no matter how safe they may think themselves. Using focus wisely, Fletcher may fire tracking projectiles that seek out and hit foes behind or over cover. He may also loose bolts strong enough to pierce armor for maximum damage. His focus can also be used to teleport himself around the battlefield. Vantage and stealth can aid him greatly but if he is surrounded, his bow will morph into a spear and, by god, it’s fast. With the right means, he can also serve as an engineer, programming or upgrading vehicles and even bringing his own to the party.”
The screen showed how he fired his bow. The arrows he shot homed in and broke through cover. It showed him teleporting around and fought at close range with his spear. The last recording showed a drone on tracks, armed with a minigun next to him.
“We need to find them and get them on our side. Their enhanced stealth and heavy attacks mean they can provide support from the shadows on one turn and a full-assault on the next. Good luck, commander.”
Seeing this relieved Dinky. She now knew that they were alright.
“Ah, there you are.” The elderly man turned to her and Kyle. “For your own safety the commander and I have decided to get you to a settlement, which is a safe haven for civilians.”
“Okay. When?”
“Right now actually, as the Skyranger just returned from a mission.” He turned to Kyle. “Lieutenant, escort her.”
The Specialist saluted. “Yes, sir.”
On the way to the hanger, Dinky asked Kyle, “Who’s the commander?”
The middle-aged men shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know. He directs us via radio during missions, but I have never seen him directly. He’s mostly in his quarters as far as I know.”
Once onboard, the filly leaned back as she enjoyed the ride and caused the Brony to smile.
As the aircraft arrived, the foal looked at the settlement in awe and fascination.
The settlement consisted of several old buildings, outfitted with metal plates for protection or as a roof, it’s hard to tell. There were also small fuel depots and a few parked vehicles around it, in a rural environment. Overall, it looked quite nice and kinda reminded her of Ponyville.
“There you are,” a male voice sounded in her ears. She saw a man with a hat and green eyes walking towards them, escorted by two armed guards who eyed her suspiciously. “I’m Denfather, the leader of this small town, and you must be the foal I was informed of,” he said with a smile.
“That’s correct, I am Dinky Hooves.” She shook his hand.
“Well then, welcome to our safe haven. I’ll show you around.”
“Okay. Bye, Kyle” She waved at him as he returned it and went back into the Skyranger before it took off.
The unicorn noticed how most of the residents looked either confused or with distrust, which made her slightly nervous.
Dinky felt calm that all the children she saw here had only confused looks. One of them, a young boy, apparently the same age as Pip, with chocolate brown short hair and matching wide eyes walked up to her. “H-he-hello. My name is Edward Brown.” His hand was shaking as he stretched it out for a shake.
“I’m Dinky. Dinky Hooves.” She shook it with a smile and noticed he had a British accent. Where is this settlement located?” She wanted to know as Denfather sounded German, and wondered if she was in the same area she was at before.
“Oh, it’s Germany, near the border to France.” Edward replied.
“I see. If you don’t mind me asking, why do you live here?”
The boy’s expression became slightly sad. “Mommy never told me much. I only know she and father used to live in a town in England. She never told me the name of it though. It was attacked by the aliens and was almost wiped out. My parents, along a few others, were the only survivors and had been relocated to Germany. My father was taken by ADVENT before I was born, so mother fled here, to avoid the chance that she could lose me.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” The unicorn gave him a hug.
He returned it. “It’s okay. Would you like to meet my mother?”
Dinky grinned. “I’d love to.”
She was led by him to a small house, and saw an elderly woman with wavy blonde hair, doing laundry, her back to the children as her son called out, “Mommy!”
“Yes?” His mother turned around, startling as she saw the unicorn. Dinky saw that she appeared in her late thirties to early forties, her eyes were blue and sunken, showing that her age had taken its toll.
“Er...Eddy...Wh-what's this?” She asked with a confused expression
“This is Dinky, mom.” Her son replied with a big smile.
“Rrrrrright...” His mother said in a disbelieving tone. “But where did she come from?”
“She's with XCOM.”
“I see...Might as well not question it. I mean, don't mistake me, they're good people, we owe them all our lives. But I can't begin to imagine what they get up to in their labs.” The woman looked rather distrustful and it made Dinky slightly nervous. “You are the foal everyone was talking about?” Her voice sounded not friendly but not hateful either, her expression was neutral.
“Uh, yes, I am.”
“Please, mommy, she isn’t one of them. Can I play with her?” Edward asked, giving his mother puppet eyes.
She sighed. “Fine.”
The young child smiled as he took the unicorn’s hoof and led her to the other children. “Does your mother not like me? she asked in confusion.
Edward looked down. “I’m sorry, after daddy got arrested, she’s not very fond of strangers.” He looked up again. “How did you end up here?”
The grey pony took a deep breath. “It’s kind of a long story.”
As Dinky told the children where she came from and how she landed on Earth, they all looked very fascinated at her. “Sounds…like you have been through a lot Dinky…” Edward said in awe, his eyes wide. “But I’ll make sure you are comfortable until your friends arrive.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. Now, what kind of game had you in mind?”
The boy grinned. “Tag! You’re it!” He said and ran away, the other children did too. The filly giggled and chased him, unaware that his mother watched them with a weak smile.
The foal had so much fun for the day. She got introduced to the rest of the children, but could only remember Edward’s name. Nevertheless, Dinky had fun, and enjoyed every second with Edward before it became evening.
She ate salad and baked potatoes with Edward and his mother and smiled as she enjoyed it. “That was very delicious. Now, where can I sleep?”
“We have a guest room,” Edward replied as Dinky yawned.
“Okay. If you don’t mind, Ms. Brown.”
“It’s fine,” the woman replied and tucked her son in.” Goodnight.”
“Night, Mommy.” Edward smiled before he fell asleep.
As Dinky was about to climb into the guest bed, she heard the woman’s voice, “Let me help.” Edward’s mother lifted her gently up and tucked her in.
“Thank you, I appreciate your hospitality, Ms.…”
“Rosie. Just call me Rosie.” The elderly woman smiled slightly. “It’s nothing personal, I just…” Rosie sighed. “After I lost my husband, I don’t want to lose my son too, and today, you can never be sure who’s a spy for ADVENT.”
“I understand. But I think you are a good mother, Rosie.” Dinky complimented her.
“It pleases me to hear that from you. Your parents did raise you well too. Goodnight, sweet dreams,” the mother said with a smile and left.
Dinky fell asleep with a sign. She hoped that the Eternal Knights were doing fine.