//------------------------------// // Chapter 36: Explosive Consequences // Story: A Forgotten Trooper // by TheIronPone035 //------------------------------// Strider still felt dizzy even as he walked with Fluttershy towards her cottage. To say that he had been shocked to be told that he had been out for over three weeks would be an understatement. However, Fluttershy was able to somewhat calm him down. "So you were dreaming about a b-battlefield?" Fluttershy asked in a weak tone. "Yep, it felt real though. The only thing that made it different from a real battlefield was how my brothers acted. They were acting more like droids than human, telling me to follow orders. But the strangest thing was when I saw an eye watching me from a door." Strider exclaimed. "An eye?" Fluttershy questioned. "Yeah, an eye with a blue iris. But before I could make out the creature, the door shut. When I opened it, the only thing on the other side was the rest of the base." Strider stated. "Sounds scary." Fluttershy said. "Not really. I've seen much worse during other battles." Strider claimed, straightening his helmet on his head. Fluttershy was about to comment when a massive explosion rang through the two's ears. They looked forwards to see a wave of fire and smoke float into the sky. "That's close to my cottage!" Fluttershy stated, panic rising at the thought of her animal friends being hurt. "Come on Fluttershy, double time! We need to see what happened!" Strider proclaimed, taking off in a full trooper sprint down the path towards the explosion. Strider and Fluttershy reached the cottage in minutes, both sighing with relief when it was completely in tact. However, a few seconds after that realization settled in, Strider's blood ran cold. "No, no no no," Strider repeated, rushing around the cottage and towards the sight. "no no no NO!!" Strider shouted as he spotted the source of the explosion. Resting on the burned up grass was an on fire Gunship, pieces falling to the ground with hard thumps and crashes. Standing in front of the scene was Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and a third filly who he didn't recognize. Strider ran towards them, anger in his eyes. But he quickly realized that they were stunned by the shock. Each one stared, unblinking at the chaos. "Can any of you three hear me!? What happened!?" Strider questioned, but the fillies remained still. A loud smashing sound caught Strider's attention, causing him to turn around and gaze at the carnage. He quickly spotted something moving from under a piece of metal. Something was caught underneath. Strider quickly dashed over to the shard of metal, his suit offering zero protection to the flames around him. With what strength he had, Strider lifted the shard of metal off the creature and dropped it to the side. Resting in a heap of broken wires and burned grass was Twilight Sparkle, her mane and tail slightly singed by fire. The Unicorns eyes were shut but her chest rose and fell, signalling that she was still breathing. Strider tried to move Twilight but quickly realized that a much larger piece of metal had trapped both her hind legs under it. Strider tried to move the piece of metal but halted once Twilight grunted in pain. He was gonna have to lift it off. Strider went over to the piece of metal and tried to lift it, but the weight proved to be to heavy for him to lift. He looked over at the three fillies who were still staring at the wreckage. "HEY! I NEED YOUR HELP OR TWILIGHT ISN'T GONNA MAKE IT!" Strider shouted. Those words seemed to finally break the fillies from their trances. They quickly rushed over to Strider and with their combined strength, lifted the chunk of metal off of Twilight. Strider quickly picked up the unicorn and followed the fillies over to a safer part of the area. A strike of pain from Strider's chest caused him to fall, landing hard on the grass with Twilight rolling out of his hands. Fluttershy emerged from the side of the cottage and instantly spotted the two on the ground. She rushed over to them and let out a gasp in horror at the state Twilight was in. Fluttershy quickly rushed inside the cottage and came out with a medical kit. She quickly got to work, trying her best to bandage any serious cuts. As she did that, Strider got back up on his feet and turned to face the destruction of the Gunship. He watched, unable to do anything as the Republic Symbol, a sign of hope and order, broke off of the Gunship's walls and fell into the flames below. Strider fell to his knees, the hope for him returning to the Republic draining with each crackle of the fire. He had been so close to finishing it, so close, only for it all to be blown to pieces. "Strider?" A trembling Apple Bloom called out. Strider clenched his hands into fists, fighting the urge to scream bloody murder into the air. He looked up one last time at the wreckage, his ticket home burning right in front of him, before his anger finally began to leak. "What were you three THINKING!?" Strider shouted, turning to face the fillies who quickly recoiled in fear. "W-we were just try'n to f-fix your ship so ya didn't need ta worry 'bout it w-when ya woke up." Apple Bloom stammered. "I-It was supposed t-to be a gift for helping us." Scootaloo exclaimed. "W-we didn't know it w-would explode." The final filly who appeared to be a unicorn stated. "Well, not only did you DESTROY my way home, you seriously INJURED someone else!" Strider barked, pointing at Twilight. "We're so sorry! We didn't know! If we could change what happened then we absolutely would!" Scootaloo claimed. Strider wanted to grab a DC-15S and take out all his anger on every single cloud he could see. But instead, he just grabbed the first thing he found from his utility belt which happened to be a spare power pack and chucked it as hard as he could at the wreckage. The power pack struck part of the right transportation bay door, causing it to break free from the rest of the ship and fall to the ground loudly. Strider didn't care, the ship was already a lost cause, just like any way to get back to the Republic.