//------------------------------// // Level 8: Rest & Relaxation // Story: Resident Pon-Evil (Mission II) - Operation: Phoenix Fire // by Delta 727 //------------------------------// After the bombing in Manehattan, Chainlink had nearly snapped as he had thought that the Canterlot Police Department had betrayed them, just as Harrow's End had. As he busted into Cherry's office, she revealed that the citizens and soldiers of the SpecOps had been sent to secure locations and evacuated, and that the Manehattan recovery was a lost cause. As they begin to settle back into the base, they await orders for their next mission in hopes that this one will not blow up in their faces. *Begin Transmission* Chaos shut his journal, staring down at the grey cover. He had been sitting at his desk in the living quarters of the Canterlot Military Department, a small room with a standard bed, dresser, lamp, night table, and work desk, where he now sat. He pulled open a left side drawer and placed the notebook inside, then pushed out his chair, dropped to the floor, and headed for the door. The door opened into the main C.P.D. living area, occupied with the rest of the team. X-Ray sat in an armchair by a brown, wooden coffee table, cleaning his gun. Chainlink was standing with Blade under a large monitor at the back of the room, showing him how to disarm a mine, with Blade eyeing it with distrust. Marigold and Dingo were conversing next to the exit door on the left wall, and Itzel and Socket were sitting on a couch across from X-Ray, Socket accessing a small laptop computer resting on the arm of the couch. As Chaos entered the room, he trotted up to a small armchair in front of him at the lower end of the coffee table and climbed on. "You were... In there for some time..." X-Ray said, not looking up from his Hammer. "I was busy," Chaos replied simply. X-Ray didn't question further. There was a bang from the other side of the room, causing everypony to jump and direct their gazes to Chainlink and Blade. The mine had disappeared, only to be replaced by a black blast-zone-shaped shade of ash across the wall, the floor, and the fronts of the two stallions. Chainlink removed his mask, cleaning ash from the lenses. "I told you to watch the pressure plate!" He scolded Blade. "You're lucky that was a training model, or you would've blown us both to bits!" Blade removed his own mask, and coughed. "Well, my apologies for not being-" "Will y'all quit arguin'?" Marigold asked from across the room. "Ya sound like a bunch'a foals." "The lady's got a point..." Dingo agreed. Blade began to replace his mask, resetting it with a hsss, letting him disguise his voice before murmuring, "Kiss-up..." "Do your guys always always act this way?" Itzel asked Socket next to her. Socket just shrugged, focusing on his computer. "Where's Cell and-" "TrailBlaze?" Chaos asked. Itzel gave a curt nod. "Still in Medical. Cell should be back with her soon." Moments later, Cell entered from the door on the left, TrailBlaze on her back. When Cell trotted up next to the couch, TrailBlaze hopped off her back, landing next to Itzel on the arm of the couch. Her left wing was wrapped in pink bandages. "How was she?" Itzel asked. "Just fine," Cell replied. "They had to put her under for the procedure, but the drugs will be wearing off," she eyed TrailBlaze as she hopped off the couch over Itzel, and landing between her and Socket, "and she seems to be fully conscious." "What's her condition?" "It'll take a few months to heal. We need proper technology to replace the damaged nerve, but it was not severed. When we have the proper equipment, she will be flying normally." Itzel breathed a sigh of relief, and turned to her daughter. "How're you feeling, Tibs?" "Awesome!" She said. "I've never been put to sleep before. It's kinda like when you sing me a lullaby, but with less singing and more stinging!" She giggled at her pun, giving her bandaged wing a quick flap. "They even let me choose the band-aid color!" "Be careful," Cell said. "You don't want to split the bandages." "She's right, Tibs. Listen to Dr. Cell," Itzel said, giving TrailBlaze a peck on the cheek. TrailBlaze giggled, and trotted over to Socket. "What's that?" She asked, looking at the computer monitor. "It's called a laptop." Socket pressed a key on the computer, and a small document came up. "See, if I press a certain button on this keyboard, it causes it to come up on this screen." "How does it work?" TrailBlaze asked, tilting her head. "It uses technology similar to Blade's hood that causes it to turn him invisible," Socket answered, signaling to the hooded stallion that trotted up next to him, replacing his mask. "So can the lap-a-ma-jiggy turn invisible?" TrailBlaze tilted her head back upright, and Socket chuckled. "No, TrailBlaze, it can't turn invisible. But it's something like that." "So that can only mean one thing..." TrailBlaze turned to Blade. "Blade's a laptop!" Blade facehoofed his replaced mask, everypony (Except X-Ray) in the room chuckled, and Marigold hopped up to position her head above the back of the couch to look down at TrailBlaze. " 'At's exactly right, Sugarcube! How'da know?" Blade tried to say something, but X-Ray cut him off. "Lucky guess..." Dingo and Chainlink trotted around into the gap between the couch and Chaos's chair. "Somepony should press 'is buttons and see what happens!" Dingo chuckled. "First of all, I am not a laptop, and-" Blade stopped mid-sentence and looked down. TrailBlaze was poking him in the leg. "I don't think it's working," She said. Everypony (Except X-Ray again) laughed, and managed to stop just as Commander Cherry's image appeared on the monitor. "Greetings Nova Team, Harmony's Elements," Cherry said calmly. "Your work in Manehattan has saved many lives, and destroyed a large mass of Infected in the area. Clean-up teams are already moving in, and the city's ruins will soon be quarantined." "I hope you don't plan to blow them up this time?" Chainlink asked sarcastically. "Very funny, Chainlink." Cherry adjusted her bifocals. "But your sarcasm is unnecessary. You all saved many lives, and that is a debt unrepayable. Your next mission will, hopefully, be drastically more... Successful. Mission Launch will not be for a few weeks, for you and your team will need time to rest. Good work, Elements." The screen flashed to static, and went black. " 'Ey!" Dingo said humorously. "What about us?" "Hoof it, Dingo," Cell said. "Don't act jealous. We are all a team here." "Eh, don't worry about me." Dingo ran a hoof across the jawline of his mask. "I get plenty attention as it is!" Socket facehoofed, and Cell rolled her eyes under her mask. "If you all're done admiring yourselves," Chaos got up from his chair, "I'm heading out to-" "Chaos!" A mare yelled from the doorway at the left, and a SpecOps mare rushed in, embracing Chaos by the neck. Hard. "-find Morning Star," He finished in a choked voice. Blade chuckled behind him. "Thank Celestia you're alive! I was worried we lost you in the explosion!" Chaos didn't respond. "Oh! Sorry!" Morning Star giggled slightly, releasing her grip. Chaos took a gasp of air. "Flood and I have been waiting for you in the armory. C'mon, let's meet him there." Chaos rubbed the back of his neck, and the two of them trotted out of the room. "D'aww, ain't that cute?" Marigold said. "I knew there was a big softie under that hard shell o' his!" She tilted her head slightly, a wistful look on her face. "Nopony is... Who they appear to be..." X-Ray said, clicking his Hammer Assault Rifle back together. "Even the strongest can be... Affected by gentleness..." "And apperently," Chainlink started, "Even the ones who like to shut up can prophesize." "I will assume... That was a compliment..." X-Ray hopped out of his chair. Itzel stepped off of the couch, TrailBlaze in her bag. "Well, I say we head out after Chaos. All in fair ward?" "Sure," Dingo replied. "Wha'ever that means!" He trotted for the door, Itzel following. The Team stood silently for a while, when Socket flipped his laptop closed and set it on the coffee table. "Well, don't just stand there. We have another 'adventure' to prepare for..." He hopped off the couch and followed after the already gone ponies. Blade left after him, and within minutes, the room was empty, all except for X-Ray. He sighed as he said, "Let us hope... Our next mission is not one of suicide..." He exited the room, leaving it in silence. --- "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." - Hellen Keller *Transmission Ended*