//------------------------------// // Chapter LV: The Calm Before // Story: As I'm Falling to Pieces // by Pinkamena Diane Pie //------------------------------// Chapter LV: The Calm Before “RISE AND SHINE SOLDIERS!! WE HAVE A BIG DAY AHEAD OF US!!” Lightning’s eyes shot open, and he sat bolt upright in bed. Phoenix was looking up at him, apparently from where he had fallen out of his own bed. “The fuck?!” he said, walking over to the window. He looked out, and he rolled his eyes. “You are not going to believe this.” he said, waving Lightning over. Lightning walked up next to him and looked out. He shook his head as he did. Lunar was standing below, his full set of armor on, and a megaphone in his grasp. He looked up at them, a broad smile on his lips. “The hell are you doing?!” Phoenix yelled. “The sun isn’t even up yet!” “Well, you are up.” Lunar said, opening his wings and flying up to them. “We will have to work on the shining part. I hope y’all are ready for the five days of training you have! Cause I can tell you now, it won’t be pleasant.” “Oh, please!” Phoenix scoffed. “We have been living out here for as long as we can remember.” He nudged Lightning’s shoulder. “I think we can handle us a little training. How hard can it be?” ***** Five days later “I shouldn’t have opened my fucking mouth.” Phoenix said, pushing open the door to their house. He made it three steps inside before he fell to the floor. Lightning made it to the couch, collapsing and letting out a sigh of relief. “I should have knocked you unconscious when I had the chance!” he said, laughing slightly. He looked out the window at the sky. Stars were gleaming in the night sky. All the other soldiers had returned an hour ago. But not them. “But come on! Calling us Colt Chasers!? The hell was that!?” Phoenix yelled, standing up and walking over to the chair. He sat down and hastily tore off his uniform, throwing it to the other side of the room. “Still, you didn’t have to insult his mother like that. And it was still better than what they called Rarity.” “How was I supposed to know his mother was dead!?” Phoenix said. “And what did they call Rarity?” “From what I can gather from Twilight, they called her ‘Whorse’ and ‘That DH Bitch’. So I think we got it easy with our little nickname.” “Damn...I can’t wait till all this is over. Most of these guys are stuck up pricks.” Phoenix said, walking over and standing next to the window. Suddenly, Lunar popped his head into the window, smiling at Lightning. “I hope you don’t include me in that.” he said, causing Phoenix to jump a few steps away. Lunar rested his fore-legs on the windowsill, smirking like usual. “Lunar! Don’t...Don’t do that!” Phoenix said, breathing heavily. “Best to be afraid now, cause you will be tomorrow.” he said, jumping in through the window. His armored hooves landed on the unpadded carpet with a loud ‘clang’. “I wanted to talk to you for a while.” he said to Lightning. Phoenix looked at both of them, then got the idea. “Oh...I will be back in a while.” And he jumped out of the window and flew out of sight. Lunar took Phoenix’s spot on the chair, looking at Lightning. He stared at him long enough to make Lightning uncomfortable. “I try to memorize every ponies face in this army, and I have almost done it. Maybe not some of the new recruits, but most of them. But yours....I have known you longer than that recruits, and yet I still can’t remember it clearly. Something about you makes it impossible to.” “Is this going somewhere?” Lightning asked, feeling really uncomfortable. “Not this, but I have something to ask, and I don’t want you to answer immediately. You should think about it.” “What is it?” “I have only ever lived in a Bunker. When that was destroyed, I had only here. And after this war is over, I won’t even have that. And I heard you were planning to start a home.” “You heard that?” Lightning asked. “Were you following me?” “No, but I did hear it. Luna did something to my hearing when I was small. As a result, I can hear much better than normal ponies. I could hear you, even though I was just flying by. And I know Phoenix is in the tree next to this house.” As soon as he said that, something rustled the leaves, and Phoenix poked his head in through the window. “Damn. So I guess you want me to leave again?” Lunar nodded. “Go to the park or something. And I will know you you don’t.” Phoenix nodded, flying off again. “So, as I was saying, I heard you were planning to start a home.” Lightning nodded. “Yeah, we were. Maybe have the nine of us there.” “And by nine you mean Cora, you, and the rest?” Lightning nodded again. “Would you maybe, possibly, consider having ten ponies there?” Lightning looked at him for a moment before he understood. “You?” “I understand if you don’t want it.” he said, standing up. “Some pony you hardly know in a house with your wife and foal. But just remember, I have never had a real home. This has been my home for my whole life, and in a few days, that will be gone.” “Of course you can stay!” Lightning said, standing up. “We may have met in a very...unorthodox way.” Lunar smiled at this. “But you are a friend none the less. I see no reason for you not to.” Lunar smiled, and he walked over to him.. “Thank you, but like I said, don’t answer right now. Your opinion might change over the next few days. So just think about it.” He walked over to the window and jumped out, hovering in midair. “See you tomorrow Lightning.” And with that, he flew away. A few moments later, Phoenix flew into the same window. “Was that anything I should know about?” he asked. “Not really. I will tell you after all this is over.” Phoenix nodded, walking into the bedroom. But Lightning stayed where he was, staring at the stars. ***** Phoenix walked out into the living room, stiff and sore. The training had been tough, but they felt it had been good for them. He smiled when he saw Lightning, asleep, in the same place he had been the night before. He shook him awake , then walked over to the window. Lightning raised his head off the pillow, looking around. The morning sun and singing birds were canceled out by what today was. “Ready for this?” he asked, standing up and walking over to the window with him. Phoenix shook his head, but didn’t say anything. Lightning understood perfectly. “Shall we go then? Lightning said, retrieving Phoenix’s uniform from where he had thrown it the night before. Phoenix nodded, taking the uniform from him and slipping it over his head. Lightning walked out the front door, closely followed by Phoenix. Ponies were already on the streets. Flying and walking, they made their way towards the gate, out into the field. Looking around, Lightning saw Twilight and Rarity come out of their house. He waved them over, glad to be with someone familiar. “We should probably wait for the others.” Twilight said when she had reached them. She turned on the spot and looked at the walking crowd. She had never seen anything like it before. A sea of blue, waves heading in a single direction. “Probably a good idea to stick together right now.” As soon as he said that, Rainbow flew out of the window. She saw them and smiled, dropping to the ground next to them. It looked like the metal wing had ripped the hole for her wing, and a large slit ran down the side. But she just turned so it was out of sight. Pinkie came out of the house as well. Her hair was flat again, and she looked nervous and scared. She slowly walked over to them. Cora and Fluttershy came out a few moments later. They were both dressed in their medical uniforms. In addition, Fluttershy had her sniper rifle around her shoulders, and Cora had her MP5. Cora looked strong and stable, meeting their eyes as she walked towards them. But Fluttershy was the complete opposite. She was dragging her hooves, walking as slow as possible. Her eyes were angled towards the ground, and you could tell she was on the verge of crying. She reached them and gave a squeak of greeting, then closed her mouth again. “We should probably get going.” Cora said. “Just get this part over.” The others nodded. As one, they turned and walked into the crowd. They tried to stay in a ground, but they slowly got seperated. Eventually, Lightning was alone in the sea. But he kept going straight, following the other ponies. Looking up, he could see Rainbow flying, Fluttershy staying as close to her as possible. Rainbow looked down and saw Lightning. She pointed to a couple different spots, letting him know where the others were. He nodded, then continued on his way. They reached the gates and slowly filed through. As soon as they passed through, the sea opened up. Lightning could breath again as he wandered trying to find the others. At last, he found them. They were standing close to the middle of the group, standing close together. They waved him over when they saw him. “What do you think is going to happen?” he asked when he reached them. “I would guess some sort of morale speech.” Rainbow said. Lightning nodded in agreement. Slowly, the field filled with ponies. Most were in uniform, while others weren’t. Lunar had been right. Some still didn’t want to fight. Eventually, the sea of ponies ended, and they were all in the field. They waited for something to happen. Lunar rose from the ground. All other pegasi, including Rainbow, dropped to the ground. He circled near the from of the ground, a hundred yards from where Lightning was standing. He could see the megaphone from the other day in his grasp. Finally, he stopped and looked down at them. Even floating in the air, he couldn’t be still. He was still pushing his hoof through his mane. “Soldiers!” he said into the megaphone. “Today, is the dawn of a new era. Today, we take one more step towards peace in our world. Today, we fight for every pony alive!” A cheer rose from the crowd, shaking the ground under them. “For far too long, they have been terrorizing the land.” Lunar said, pacing in mid air. “Killing and converting simple ponies trying to rebuild. They, single-hoofedly, stand in the way of a proper reconstruction. They have destroyed harmony in our land, and for that, they must pay!” Another cheer rose from the crowd. Lightning looked around at the others. They were focused on Lunar with varying expressions of nervousness and fear. “The time has come, to end this. They outnumber us two to one, that much is true. But what do we have? We have firepower. We have loyalty. We have friendship.” He stopped pacing and turned and looked over the crowd. “And, most importantly, we have a cause worth dying for!” The loudest cheer yet rose from the crowd. “And when this is over, and every last fucking one of them is dead, you will know. You will know, that together, we made the world a safer place for all of pony kind. We ended the plague that was keeping this land broken. We, helped to restore harmony.” He lowered the microphone and dropped to the ground. It was a moment before anything happened. But soon, a swell was rising in the crowd. And the loudest single cheer that Lightning have ever heard, broke forth. A wall of energy and happiness crashed down on him. He turned back to the others, and was stunned to see them cheering along with the soldiers. And cheering the hardest, a look of pure joy on her face, was Rarity.