Chapter 2: Friends and plans
They awoke in the night as they heard a scream. Both ran to the guest room worried about their guest.
Rumble was trembling, breathing heavily and had cold sweat on his face.
“Did you have a nightmare, my dear?” Vittoria scooped the colt in her arms and patted his back. “Shh, calm down.”
His trembling slowly stopped. “Y-yes.”
She rocked him and hummed a lullaby until he was asleep. “You can sleep with us.”
They went to bed. They both smiled at the sleeping child. “Goodnight,” Marco said before he was asleep again.
In the morning, the young man stretched himself as the sun was shining. He had to smile as Rumble hugged the teddy bear with a smile while his wife did the same to him.
Marco went quietly into the kitchen to make breakfast. It didn’t take long until Rumble and Vittoria were awake.
“Good morning, you two. Slept well?” He asked with a smile
“Yes, Marco. What’s for breakfast?” The colt asked, still a bit sleepy.
“I made a glass of juice and a bowl of oatmeal for you, Rumble.”
While they breakfasted, the radio turned on.
“Good morning, citizens of Medici! I’m (apparently) the new voice of the General’s News Network, your only LEGAL source currently events. Another successful Di Ravello Week is in the books! Some minor reports of anti-government action, but we have troops en route to utterly destroy the last pocket of resistance as we speak. Vive Medici!”
“Strange. This guy sounds just like Dinky's dad.” Rumble mentioned as the voice sounded familiar.
“Maybe the speaker is his human counterpart here.” Marco joked.
“There is a Rebellion?”
“Yeah, but they are failing. I can understand their fight, but they lack a professional leader and without that, they have no chance against us.
I have a younger brother that is in the Rebellion. He said that I was an idiot for serving the general. I lost contact with him but I still love him like a brother should.” Marco explained with a small hint of sadness in his voice, missing him.
This reminded Rumble of his brother. He managed to suppress a tear as he missed him. “What do you want to do today?”
“We wanted to show you the city if you like.”
“Of course but is this really a good idea?” Rumble asked Marco with worry.
“We could just say you’re our son in a costume. Just don’t use your wings and you should be fine.” The young woman suggested, causing him to smile weakly.
“It’s worth a try.”
At first, Rumble was hiding Vittoria’s back but every citizen and even soldier commented how nice his “costume” was.
Like yesterday, Rumble was amazed by the skyscrapers. They came across an old building which emitted opera music.
“Hey my friend, how’s it going?” Luca joined them. He had brown hair and green eyes, while Marco had black hair with brown eyes.
“Good. Rumble, I told you about my friend Luca. He’s a Commando, an elite soldier.”
“Hello again, Luca.” The pony greeted friendly.
“Hey there, little buddy.” He knelled down to him and patted him. „May I join you?”
“Si.” Vittoria replied. They told him Rumble’s story.
“Poor boy. But I won’t report him, you have my word.”
“I know you never would.” His friend and comrade replied.
“This that the general?” Rumble pointed to the statue that was next to a palace.
“Yes. The palace you see is his house.” Luca explained.
“Looks nice.” A Propaganda van drove past him.
"Attention, citizens - rebels can be identified by their long hair, sunglasses and baseless idealism. Report any such offenders to your local authority.” The driver said via speakers.
“Really?” Rumble wondered as it sounded strange.
“Actually not. I and Luca never fought them before, we only did prisoner transports. They wear blue clothing, helmets, sunglasses, yes, gas masks, caps, headsets, ski masks and so, but I never saw one with long hair.”
“Uh-huh. What’s that on your back?” The foal pointed to his rifle.
“That’s the U-39 Plechovkam, the standard issue rifle for the military. It has a straight stock and an over-barrel gas operation for enhanced precision and combat high recoil rates. It is very reliable and has a magazine of 35 rounds. The standard sidearm is the U-55S Pozhar, A single-action, semi-automatic .45 pistol developed by URGA. Magazine-fed and recoil-operated, the Pozhar is the 'no-frills gun that gets the job done.” He pointed to his holster. “My buddy is using the CS Predator, a solid mid-range assault rifle that has found a lot of popularity amongst people who like shooting at each other. Has a magazine of 30 rounds.”
“Interesting.”
Rumble was trying to read a Di Ravello billboard as he bumped into a soldier wearing black and red body armor, his face concealed by a balaclava. “Watch it, citizen.” The soldier said in a robotic voice, frightening Rumble.
“S-sorry sir, I didn’t see you.”
“Next time, exercise caution, citizen.”
Vittoria patted Rumble’s back as they walked away. “Thanks. What does that billboard say?”
“It’s Medician for ‘peace, security and prosperity.’ The Medician language is a mix of various Romance languages, such as Italian, Sicilian, Catalan, Spanish, French, Latin and Romanian but the people are also fluent in English and other languages. We can teach it you if you want.” Marco suggested.
“Would be useful so I don’t get lost. What are those guys?” The boy pointed to a man in heavy red colored armor.
“Those guys belong to the D.R.M. They are a pro-government militia and work alongside the military. As you can see, they’re dressed in red and brown uniforms with some wearing police riot gear and helmets. The heavily armored man is a captain. He is equipped with the Urga Vdova 89. It’s a light machine gun also used by us soldiers. A heavy hitter, the URGA Vdova 89 makes up for lower accuracy with raw firepower and a massive magazine. Even if you miss a lot, you're sure to obliterate your target.” Luca joked as the captains often miss.
“They replace the police as the police department was corrupt. But for us, they’re having such a terrible aim that we lost respect for them. Besides, a police officer was way better trained than a militia.”
“What was that car you used Marco?” Rumble wanted to know.
“The Weimaraner W3. It’s a SUV. It is the general purpose vehicle for military and rebel forces alike. Suitable for all terrains, it is especially capable in off-road situations. There is also a civilian version but as it was mostly built for the military, it’s rare to see it.
The car over there is an Urga Szturm 63A. This armored vehicle perfectly blends defense, speed and assault capabilities as it has a machine-gun turret. Useful to deploy in hostile areas.” Marco pointed to it, parked on the sidewalk.
“The man you bumped into it was a member of the Black Hand. They are an elite private military force hired by the general to assist us. Sometimes, they scare me too with their voices.”
Two children, a boy, and a girl crossed their way. The boy had brown hair and blue eyes, the girl black hair and brown eyes. Their parents were good friends of Marco and Vittoria.
“Hello there, do you want to play with us?” the boy asked.
“Sure, can I?” Rumble asked his “parents.”
“Si, have fun.”
“My name is Francesco and this is my sister Greta.”
“My name is Diego but my nickname is Rumble.” The colt quickly came up with it.
“A nice nickname.” The boy liked it.
“Thanks, Francesco.”
They played together, the adults watched with smiles as Rumble had found some friends of his age.
“We moved from Vista Dracon here. It is high up in the mountains of Libeccio. The view is beautiful.” Greta told Rumble.
“I’m not afraid of heights.” Rumble replied as it sounded silly that a Pegasus would be afraid of heights.
“We wanted to go back tomorrow to visit our grandparents there and maybe go to the beach after that. Do you want to come too? Our grandma makes always delicious cookies.”
“That’s nice from you but I must ask my parents first.”
Vittoria didn’t mind. “Of course we come. My cousin lives there.”
“Ok, see you tomorrow!” the children called out and left.
“If I may ask, why are you wearing a sand colored uniform if there is no desert in Medici?” The Pegasus asked.
“It’s the standard uniform but it has something to do with an old tradition as far as I know.” Luca said goodbye and left.
Back home, Vittoria made a tomato soup for Rumble while Marco taught him Medician and the colt was a fast learner.
“Repeat after me. Citate.”
“Citate means city.”
“Correct. Fratre.”
“Fratre means brother.”
“Excellent. You’re learning fast. Never thought you would master Medician so fast.”
“The human teacher that represents our pony teacher taught us several languages from Humanity and they’re interesting. Also, the magic in Equestria allows me to understand your Language, for me, it sounds like English while for you it sounds like the language you speak.” Rumble explained proudly.
“And it has been paid off.”
While they had dinner, the radio turned on again. “Greetings! As part of our beloved General Di Ravello’s public works initiative, he’s decided to raze Vis Electra and move towards a greener energy economy. Ah, it’s just some routine controlled demolitions, nothing to be concerned with. Like the fact that some armed man just took away my cell phone. Ah, Vive Medici.”
Marco and Vittoria had stopped long ago in believing in the propaganda. They knew the rebels had taken over thanks to Rico. They heard about what he did in San Esperito and Panau.
“I’m in the living room, drawing if you need me.” Rumble had enjoyed the soup with great pleasure.
After cleaning the kitchen, their hearts melted.
Rumble was fallen asleep on the floor with a picture on between his hoofs.
On it were his brother with the word Fratre, and Cloudchaser and Flitter with the word Sorores which meant sisters. Cloudchaser had rose eyes, a Light Blue and White mane and a Grey Blue coat. Her Cutie Mark was a shooting star. Flitter had Violette eyes, a turquoise mane and the same coat color as her sister. She was wearing a bow. Her Cutie Mark was three dragonflies. Under them were the words “I miss you.”
Vittoria hung the picture on the fridge while Marco took a photo of the picture and Rumble with his phone and sent it Luca before he tucked the colt in.
“It’s sad how he misses them.”
“I know but he has us until they find him.” His wife replied.
Before they went to bed, they heard Rumble talking in his sleep, “Madre, padre, I love you.” They didn’t know if he meant his deceased parents or them but they were sure that he meant them.
“He’s so cute when he’s asleep.” Vittoria whispered.
“I know but my heart exploded when he called us mother and father.” Marco admitted.
“Guess we like parents for him already.” She kissed him and fell asleep. They all looked forward to tomorrow.