The Insecurity

by RandomExpert781

Operation Takedown (Part 2: Revelation)

Saturday, September 26, 2011
6:43 AM, Fluttershy’s Cottage
“WHAT?” Scootaloo exclaimed. What was Fluttershy talking about? The only thing she did was tell her about that dream, and next thing you know, she has this wide-eyed look of realization of something, and she –
Wait, realization? That little piece of info got her thinking. Is there something she’s not telling me? Only one way to find out . . .
“Fluttershy,” Scootaloo whispered calmly, a hint of rage in her voice. “What’s going on?”
Fluttershy stopped her pacing and gave her a sarcastic face. “Nothing. Nothing at all!” she lied. Being a terrible liar, it was obvious to Scootaloo that she was hiding something. With Scootaloo was not buying it, Fluttershy finally gave up and took a deep breath.
“This is gonna be hard to explain,” she groaned, sitting down next to the filly. Scootaloo was taken aback by the seemingly out-of-character reaction. Taking another deep breath, Fluttershy started to explain - even more hesitantly and nervously than usual. “When you started describing the . . . dream, I recognized it all too well. B-because . . . I had the same nightmare that you had last night, at the same time, same night. . . . Well, it wasn’t the exact same dream, but it had many of the same parts that yours did – the forest, the running, the voices, the mountain – similarities that are hard to . . . ignore.”
Fluttershy started to explain her dream. When she finally finished, Scootaloo's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, and she could only shake her head at what she was hearing. “No,” she cried, stunned. “That’s impossible.” She hesitated. “I-isn’t it?” Fluttershy looked down, refusing to answer. Scootaloo tried continuing her train of thought. “If that happened, are these nightmares . . . trying to tell us something? It’s a wild guess, but . . ." Her voice trailed off, leaving a tense atmosphere.
Fluttershy looked up, almost as if praying, a tear mark on her face. “I think,” she said softly, her voice breaking. “I think I have to agree with you.” The Element of Kindness made a small sigh and took a glance at the door. “I need to take a breath of fresh air.” She started walking outside, and motioned for Scootaloo to follow her.
Fluttershy never thought that fresh air could be so . . . calming in such a stressful situation. Of course, she'd given some of her patients that advice, but she had never experienced it firsthand. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally let out a sigh of relaxation and plopped down on the ground, closing her eyes. Oh, maybe I should just stay here for the rest of the day . . .
“Uh, Fluttershy,” Scootaloo whispered, poking her shoulder and pointing. She sounded worried. “Is that what I . . . think it is?”
Ugh, what now, she thought, slightly annoyed. “Scootaloo, I don’t want to see-” She suddenly stopped talking as she heard something that she had dreaded for the longest time: the sound of an engine. She slowly opened her eyes, hoping her ears were deceiving her. Unfortunately, they were dead-on.
HUMVEEs. Two of them. Both were passing by her house, heading towards Ponyville. As both the mares watched, the first HUMVEE took a left turn into the forest, following the border of Ponyville territory, but the second HUMVEE stopped right outside the border, pretty far away, but close enough for the two ponies to still see what’s going on.
Time seemed to stop forever. Fluttershy could’ve sworn she held her breath for a few seconds. Then the front door opened, and a hoof appeared.
A colt stepped out. He was dressed, head to hoof, with the MARPAT digital desert camouflage design, including the beret, his mask, and his bulletproof vest. Along with him was a submachine gun, and a side-arm Fluttershy didn’t recognize. The soldier was looking into the distance, completely unaware of the two ponies watching him.
“Is that an MP7A1?” Scootaloo whispered in horror. She had barely said that when the rest of the soldiers started exiting the huge truck.
“Quick, into the house,” Fluttershy said hurriedly, and both took a quick sprint into safety. Both found themselves panting, eyes wide in horror, calming down after a few seconds.
Sitting there after the close call, a realization hit Fluttershy. Standing up, she walked towards Scootaloo and confronted her, face-to-face. “How did you recognize that Hummer?”
Scootaloo was taken aback by the question. Who did she think she was? “Well, how did you recognize that Hummer?” she replied angrily.
“How did you recognize the gun that colt was holding?” Fluttershy retorted, anger rising by the second.
“How do you even know what a gun is!?” Scootaloo shouted, rising to match Fluttershy’s eye level.
Fluttershy realized three things right at that moment: One, that they had one huge thing in common; Two, they both knew what to do; and three, if she approached this situation right, they could be the ones to stop a disaster from happening. “Well, well, well. I believe you and I both know what going on," I think we each have our secrets,” Fluttershy replied calmly, her face showing no expression. She started walking around Scootaloo.
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I believe we each have our own secrets." Fluttershy paused a moment, looking the filly in the eye. "It's hard to keep a secret with other ponies who share the same secret." Fluttershy held out a hoof. “Are we in an agreement? For now?”
A brief 'oh, now I get it!' moment now came over Scootaloo, interpreting the message hidden under the small riddle. Giving a smug smile, she shook Fluttershy’s hoof. “Yeah. For now,” she said, relieved. She glanced around the room, as if she was anticipating something. “Get me a rifle. FN SCAR.” She turned around towards a table she saw, noticing a little imperfection. “I need to make a phone call.”

6:58 AM, Border of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres
Aleksei sat tense behind the wheel of the Hummer. This is it, he thought tersely. It’s almost time for the action to come.
So far, everything had gone fine. The other HUMVEE had stopped where it was supposed to, and his HUMVEE had split, following the outside edge of Ponyville silently until the decided point, near Sweet Apple Acres. He was driving with three other soldiers: Kashar, Nabel, and Suha.
Suha. She was the reason he was on this mission. She had decided to convince the colonel to let him be on the mission. He can’t forget the moment when she went to tell him.
“I did it!” she yelled excitedly, entering Aleksei’s dorm. “I convinced Safi to join that mission to Ponyville.”
“Awesome,” Aleksei said happily, turning to face Suha. He had a bright smile on his face. “Now I can make a name for myself, for all of Equestria to know.”
No one else knew this, but Aleksei had known Suha before meeting her at the LDR mountain base. Aleksei had been able to keep it secret for now, but he was worried about the future. Anything could happen . . .
“Is anyone back there nervous?” Aleksei asked, his own nervousness showing through his voice.
“Mentioning it will probably make me nervous,” Nabel said. Weak laughter filled the air. Everyone is too serious, Aleksei thought. Well, for Nabel, it sort of made
Without warning, he suddenly stopped the truck. “This is our stop,” he called back. While everyone started exiting, Aleksei picked up the radio set to the frequency of the other Hummer, codenamed Hunter. “Hunter, units have been dropped off, 10-12.”
“10-4, Range, stay hidden, standby for further orders,” cracked the radio. Aleksei, sat back. Now, all he had to do was wait for the right moment.

7:01:07 AM, Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse
Applebloom opened her eyes and looked out of the window of the beautiful morning. She raised her head and stretched her arms out wide. She turned around to see Sweetie Belle stretching also.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Applebloom said apologetically. “Did I wake you up?”
Sweetie Belle gave a small chuckle and continued stretching. “No.” She stopped stretching for a moment to give Applebloom a quizzical expression. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Both girls started laughing from the small joke. After a while, however, Sweetie Belle’s expression turned serious. “I was just thinking . . . about our . . . past.”
Applebloom’s smile started to fade. “You mean . . . FISU?” Applebloom asked doubtfully, referring to an organization. Sweetie Belle gave a small nod.
Applebloom looked into the distance, remembering those times. There were some questionable times “For when we weren’t training, those were some of the best times I’ve had with some of the kindest ponies I’ve met.”
Sweetie Belle nodded, remembering one colt in particular. “I think Scootaloo liked the training better than anything else,” Sweetie Belle said thoughtfully, smiling at the memory. Noticing Scootaloo’s sleeping bag, her happiness turning to worry. “Hey Applebloom . . . do you see Scootaloo?”
Applebloom looked around the clubhouse to discover; indeed, Scootaloo was nowhere to be seen. Looking around, she found a sticky note that had writing on it. “No,” she responded, standing up and walking towards it. “But she did leave a note.” She proceeded to pick it up and read it aloud.
“Hey Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Had to take care of some business early in the morning. I’ll be back in the clubhouse before 8 o’clock to do some awesome crusading! -Scootaloo.”
Both fillies gave a sigh. “Great,” Sweetie Belle groaned, falling back to her sleeping bag with a thud. “What are we gonna do for another hour before Scootaloo comes back?”
Suddenly both fillies were aware of a small buzzing noise. Both turned to see a section of the table disappear, and two small, rectangular devices appeared on a platform from below. Also on the platform was a small, eight centimeter speaker.
“Bluetooth headsets,” Applebloom whispered in awe. Immediately after, the speaker started crackling, and Scootaloo’s voice came on: “Hey, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle. Like the headsets? Listen carefully; this is a live, one-way conversation. This is not a recording, and this is not a drill.”
“Ponyville is being attacked by foreign soldiers. This is 10-35. Ghost Guard has been initiated.” Sweetie Belle’s eyes widened in shock. What are we supposed to do about it? She thought fearfully, hoping the answer wasn’t what she thought it was.
Scootaloo continued, “The goal, although still unclear, seems to be targeting a kidnapping of all the Elements, specifically focusing on the Element of Magic. Your objective: Get all the elements in Pinkie Pie’s basement; that’s where we shall escape. Use the headsets in front in front of you to keep in contact with me. Weapons and ammunition are also provided on the wall beside you.”
As if on cue, the wall behind them opened up, and all-different types of rifles, submachine guns, sidearms, and snipers popped up. The voice continued, “For radio safety, do not call by name; call by the element they possess, like Magic. I shall leave you to start preparing. What happens today will be in history books. Weapons free, engage at will. Stay sharp, and good luck.” A click told the two fillies that the line was dead.
“Well,” said Applebloom, picking up a headset and looking around the clubhouse at all the gear. “We should get started.”

7:01:47 AM, Rainbow Dash’s Cloud House
Rainbow Dash looked up at the ceiling of her house from her bed. The beautiful sunrise coming over the horizon, the only thing she could think was: I am so lucky to be the pony I am right now.
What can I really complain about? Rainbow Dash told herself. I live in a house – more like a mansion, really – I have a job, I’m still walking, and I have some of the best friends I could have. What more can I ask? Rainbow found herself chuckling. Wow, I’m actually reflecting on something. Never expected that to happen.
Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by the sound of metal downstairs. Rainbow sat up, suddenly alert. “Whose there?” she shouted, a hint of nervousness in her usually boisterous voice. No response. As anypony would, she decided to investigate.
Rainbow Dash crept down the stair slowly, staying close to the wall, completely unarmed. Her big ego driving her forward, she made it to the bottom of the stairway, not making the slightest noise. Breathlessly, she stood up on her hind legs and took a peek from where she was hiding, looking for anything suspicious inside her living room.
If Rainbow Dash had the smarts to look behind her, she would’ve seen a colt dressed as a soldier with a gun, creeping down the stairs. She would’ve seen the colt stop, wide eyed, at how easy this was. She would’ve seen the colt put his gun down, ever so slowly. She would’ve seen him noiselessly fly up, so that he was only a few feet off the ground, and straight above her. . . .
Rainbow Dash felt a few quick jabs to her back. Before she could even react, she was pinned to the ground, face-down, with the intruder sitting on top of her with his gun. She tried to move herself, but she found that her muscles wouldn’t move. She couldn’t move anything but her head!
“W-what,” she stammered, cringing in pain. “What did you . . . do to me!?” She tried to turn her head to see the criminal on top of her, but a hoof pressed down on her face, pinning her head to the floor.
“I paralyzed you temporarily,” a calm, low, male voice responded. “Don’t worry, it’ll wear off in about ten minutes. But from now on,” – Rainbow could now feel him breathing on her face, - “you are under my command, and you are going to do whatever I say. Got it?”
Rainbow, still trying to catch a glimpse of the soldier, gave a defiant look. “I’m not going with you,” she replied haughtily. “Who do you think you are?”
Damn, she’s getting feisty, Huller, the colt, thought. Time to be a little forceful. He got up, put his gun down, far away, and then approached the mare again. Still paralyzed, it was at that point that Rainbow Dash managed to get a good look of the criminal. Along with the desert camouflage uniform, he had a light-brown mane, and his face was covered with a mask. Not much of a description, she thought to herself.
Huller proceeded to pick the mare up by the scruff of the neck and slam her to the closest wall, both of them upright on their back legs, his arms holding her by her shoulders. Huller pulled out his pistol on his belt and held it right on her temple.
Rainbow Dash’s face turned from one of determination to one of sheer horror, eying the piece of metal that could kill her with only the pull of a trigger. Her eyes watched the colt in front of her as he pulled out . . . a knife? What would he do with a knife? she asked herself. As this point, she could run away if she wanted to, but you don’t want to with a gun pointed at your head, right?
Huller proceeded to put the knife on her neck, first with slightly any pressure, then putting more and more pressure. Rainbow started shuddering, actually scared for the first time since she woke up. He might actually kill me, she thought. Oh, sweet Celestia, I don't want to die.
Finally, a trickle of blood appeared on her neck. Rainbow, seeing the blood, finally broke down. “STOP!” she begged, tears starting to flow down her face. “Stop, stop, I’ll do whatever you want, just stop this!”
A smirk appeared on Huller’s face, unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash. “Excellent,” he said evilly, in that evil voice that most bad guys happened to have. Just for good measure, he took his knee and drove it right into her abdomen. Dash crumpled to the ground, no longer having the will to defend herself or run away. She kept sobbing and mumbling incomprehensible and unrepeatable things to herself.
Huller went back to grab his MP7A1 rifle. Returning back to the broken mare, he grabbed her by the mane and raised her to her hooves. “Come on,” he said gruffly. “We’re leaving.”

7:02:11 AM, Sweet Apple Acres
Applejack was happy. It was a beautiful morning, she was at the farm, doing what she does best: bucking apples. Her sister was at a sleepover with her friends, so she actually had some alone time to think. But she didn’t really have much to think about. Well - yeah, actually, there was a little something disturbing her.
She stopped for a moment.
She kept picturing . . . soldiers, yeah, soldiers. But they weren't any soldiers. One of them was her, and then there were her friends the other Elements, and the Crusaders, all in battle, taking down the enemy-
She shook her head vigorously. Just keep buckin', Applejack, she thought. Ya shouldn't be thinkin' 'bout thangs like that. Get that image out of your head.
She sensed today that something was gonna be - different. It was that sort of sense that tells you that somepony is behind you. She didn't know how, or why, or any idea if this could be good or bad. She just . . . knew. And those images in her head weren't comforting her much.
Thud. Applejack heard a soft noise, like an object hitting a floor. And it wasn’t an apple.
“Whoa, there,” she called nervously, looking around the orchard. “Hello? Anypony?” she looked around, starting to get worried. I must be hallucinating, she thought.
Before she could even realized what happened, she was on the ground, a desert-camouflaged soldier on top of her, point his gun at . . . her. She could’ve sworn her heart skipped a few beats.
“You’re gonna come with me,” he said. Applejack noticed he had a heavy Russian accent. “You’re gonna do what I say, and you are not gonna resist.”
Applejack tried to give the pony a cold stare through his mask. “And if I don’t do as y'all say?”
The soldier pushed the gun harder on her head. “Then it’ll be the last thing you do,” he replied fiercely. Applejack could only nod, her face expressionless.
Kashar was surprised. He thought he would get some more resistance from her, but instead – it was weird to say the least. He got up to allow his captive to get up, the gun pointing at her the whole time. He glanced around – and his hopes fell at what he saw.
Big Mac. Running at him like a full-throttle steam train. A look of pure fury and rage on his face. The thing he hoped he wouldn’t have to go through. So that's why Applejack didn't seem to care.
Shit.
He pulled Applejack closer, pushing the gun against her head. “Come any closer, and I shoot!” he growled, his determination showing through his mask. Applejack was becoming more scared by the moment.
Big Mac stopped, almost unsure for a moment. A mischievous smile appeared on his face. "Nope," he responded in his signature low voice. He took a step slowly, then another, and another.
Kashar realized he was testing him – testing if he would actually shoot. “C’mon, Mac. You and I both want Applejack here alive.”
Mac kept creeping closer. He looked at the intruder with a mix of determination and doubt. “You would never pull that trigger in your lifetime,” he said flatly.
Kashar recognized this was his chance. “Unfortunately, you're wrong,” he said evilly. He took the gun off Applejack’s head, pointed it somewhere else, and fired.
Applejack screamed in agony as the suppressed weapon fired a bullet into her back-right knee. She had once heard - she had no idea where - that the knee is the most painful place to get shot in. She knew it was painful, but not this painful.
She took a few steps, stumbling, trying to get away from the enemy, before collapsing on the ground in an exasperated heap, clutching the bleeding knee. She gave another cry of mercy before succumbling to silence, only able to whimper a few times.
Big Mac watched the scene in horror and understanding. A new fire of rage burned in his eyes. "Oh, no you didn't," he growled.
Taking his attention away from the suffering mare, Kashar aimed his assault rifle at the farm colt calmly. "You're next," he hinted.
This is not workin' out, Mac realized. The tables are turnin'. He looked around, hoping for some inspiration somewhere around him. To the right, nothing but skies and trees. To the left, only the Clubhouse and the fillies - wait, what?
Big Mac looked closer. Eeyep, his eyes weren't foolin' him - There were Applebloom in Sweetie Belle, plain as day, holding weapons and dressed like trained soldiers! What were they doing? Applebloom noticed him, apparently not noticing the predicament he was in. She gave a small smile a a small salute. At that point Big Mac knew what he had to: get out of there. They must know what they're doing if they're walking around fully armed, right?
"Get lost," Kashar barked fiercely, noticing Mac thinking and procrastinating. "It's hopeless."
Mac backed up slowly, keeping his eye on the intruder. Applejack, still sobbing, looked up from her place on the ground. "NO!" she screamed. "DON'T LEAVE ME!!"
But before she could try to get up, he was gone. Running away from the scene. Which surprised Kashar even more. Big Mac is not the type of colt to run away from a fight, he knew that for a fact. So why would he run away? If he saw something, no matter - the rest of them will be able to take care of it.
"Get up," he barked to Applejack, who was still struggling with the knee wound. "Let's go."
"Where?" Applejack said calmly, resisting the urge to say something she'd regret..
"You'll see."

7:02:19 AM, Ponyville Public Library
Twilight is a busy pony. She's busy making checklists for checklists for a day, reading books, making experiments - it's always work, think, read, study, go with friends, more thinking, go with friends. But today, nothing was happening inside the Ponyville Library. Nothing at all. Strangely, today wasn't a day where Twilight was doing anything. Oh, wait - I lied, she's reading. Cancel that last part!
With Spike on Canterlot duties, Twilight had no company. And since she was a very organized pony with no organizational skills at all, Twilight was trying very hard not to make a mess, shown by the pile of books sitting next to her couch. She had decided not to do any studying or work; rather, to take a few fiction books to read for fun. She was wrapped up in a book when she saw an unfamiliar word, which was very weird, since she had half-memorized the dictionary.
"What's a terrorist?" she asked aloud to herself. Finding no answer in the sky, she picked up the dictionary next to her and searched through it. "Ah-ha! Terrorist, a pony or creature who practices terrorism." More flipping pages. "Terrorism, the use of violence and threats to intimidate, especially for -" She stopped disbelievingly at the next part. "Political purposes?"
She sat back, shocked that something like that could even exist. "Why would someone use violence just to express hate for the Princesses? I may be a little biased, but they are the kindest, most warmhearted ponies I have ever met. Who would ponies like that be for - Discord?" She took a moment to ponder her own question. "Actually, I can so see that. But what would they do for violence - kidnap high political officers?"
Without any warning, the door to her house was suddenly knocked right off it's hinges, and a camouflaged and masked colt with a gun steps in. He points his gun straight at Twilight.
"Hooves up," he says softly, approaching closer. "This is a kidnapping."