//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Fear Not, My Friend From Up North // Story: Two Best Friends Play: Equestria // by MisterMercenary //------------------------------// The wind howled in Matt's ears as he tumbled through the air alongside Pat. Everything was a jarring blur as the two plummeted towards the ground beneath them. As the ground came closer and closer, they found out that what people had said about dying moments was true: you really do see your life flash in front of your eyes. While Pat's short life whizzed by in his view, Matt's mind stubbornly clung onto a lone memory. A special memory. A memory that gave him solace in his last few seconds and displayed a moment in time that would shape his view on the world forever. The time when Matt's life was saved by Captain America. --- Twenty Years Earlier The Canadian Museum of History was, as always, spotless. It was also, like any self-respecting museum, populated with bored children dragged there by their parents and schoolkids taken there by their teachers on field trips. Among those two groups, young Matt was among the latter. "Oh, come on, Miss Tuwilliger, when are we going to leave this place?" he whined to his teacher as his class observed a trio of mannequins dressed up as Mounties on horseback. "This is so boring!" Miss Tuwilliger wagged a disapproving finger at Matt. "Now, now, Matt," she said. "Just because you want something to happen doesn't mean fate is going to bend over backwards to make it so. You aren't going to always get what you want." Matt crossed his arms and pouted, "Hmph. Fine." "That's better." Miss Tuwilliger turned to the placard that stood in front of the exhibit and read aloud to the class. "The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is both a federal and national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognizable in the world." She wheeled around on her heels to face the class. "Can anyone tell me what the nickname for these men is? Anyone?" She never got an answer. The diorama behind her exploded in a shower of metal, fabric, and fiberglass. Matt was thrown backwards into the air into a wall. When he got up, most of his class was lost in the rubble, and sinister, German-sounding cackling could be heard from the hole punched in the museum. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The German then sighed. "Oh, blowing up a bunch of schoolchildren on a field trip. What bliss." A figure then stepped into the newly-made passageway. He was wearing a black, leather Nazi uniform, and his skin was a nasty red that contoured to his skull like paint. Adorned on his face was a maniacal grin. He was one of the greatest threats to humanity the world has ever seen. "RED SKULL!?!" Matt cried. "Yes, it is me, in all my glory." Skull took a bow to a nonexistent audience. "Wha-wha-what are you doing here?" Matt stammered. Skull chuckled, then said, "You see, my boy, my hatred is not limited to just America. Far from it, in fact. My flaming, burning, scalding hatred for the state the world is in is what drives me to cleanse it through my reign. Only under my leadership will the world become a perfect place to live." "You're insane!" Matt screamed. "And you're cliche." "Says the man who wants to take over the world!" "Never mind that, boy. To take over the world, one needs a little... assistance from time to time." Skull ominously gestured outside. "Behold." A tentacled silhouette strode inauspiciously to the hole in the wall, accompanied by nebulous mechanical whirs and hums. The thing stepped into the building, towering over both Matt and Skull. The machine consisted of a thick, disc-like pod, from which a quartet of legs emerged, along with a pair of metal tentacles. The worst part, however, was the bifurcated robotic head that sat inside the pod. On one side, a serious-looking man with a thin, square mustache and flat, black hair. The other, a hardened, dominant man with slicked-back hair and a huge mustache. Both had glowing red eyes. "Behold... MECHA ADOLF STALIN!" Skull howled skyward. "THE PINNACLE OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT!" "MASTER. WHAT IS YOUR COMMAND?" Mecha Adolf Stalin queried. Skull turned his head slowly towards Matt, then pointed at him. "...kill the boy." "YES, MASTER." The robot's tentacles swooped Matt up. The boy squirmed and writhed against the arms in vain. Mecha Adolf Stalin's piercing crimson eyes bored into his soul. Matt, seeing no reason to resist, stopped his jerking about and closed his eyes, praying he wouldn't see it coming. A shredding sound made its presence known before any of that could happen. Matt fell to the ground with segments of the machine's tentacles following suit. He saw a shield ricochet back to a man behind him. He turned around to see a buff man clad in a blue and red jumpsuit with a white star on his chest and the letter "A" on his forehead. "CAPTAIN AMERICA! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU'LL WIN TODAY!?" "The day I let you kill a child is the day I let America down." the star-spangled man replied. Cap looked at the boy. "Fear not, my friend from up north! I am here!" He raced towards Matt and put a caring hand on his shoulder. "You alright, son?" "Uhh... yeah, I think so." "Good. Now, get out of here. I can't have you in the line of fire, especially with Red Skull here." "What? I want to help!" "You'll help me out a lot if you get out of here." "Fine..." Matt grumbled. "YOU FOOLS!" Skull interjected. YOU CANNOT STOP THE GREATNESS THAT IS THE RED SKULL! NO ONE CAN!" Cap shook his head. "He's such a ham. Now go, son. Go!" Matt pushed himself on his feet and ran. Cap faced the robot and Skull. "You built a robot in memoriam of two of the worst men to ever walk the earth? You sicken me, Skull." Cap bashed his fist against his shield. "Come on, let's go!" Skull cackled evilly. "It's your funeral, Captain." He pointed at Cap. "Kill the American." Mecha Adolf Stalin walked forward, towards Cap, its tentacles repairing themselves as it did. Cap frowned. "Great. That's all I need," he said, his sentence bathing in sarcasm. A tentacle lashed out at him with incredible speed. Dodging that, he stomped on it and cut it with his shield. Another whipped at him, and again Cap dodged it. He tossed his shield at the machine's legs, severing all four of them. The pod holding the head fell down like a stone. Yet another tentacle tried to strike him, and again Cap expertly weaved his way out of the metal arm. When Cap wasn't looking, however, a limb bashed into his back, sending him reeling and his shield into the rubble. Skull marched forward. "Well, well, well. Where's your help now, Captain?" Skull laughed. "There's no way out of this one, is there?" "Yeah, there is." a voice said. A rock conked against Skull's forehead. Cap looked behind him. Standing there was Matt, a serious look adorned on his face. Cap picked up his shield, winked at Matt, and then threw his shield at the head, severing it clean in half. Skull threw himself on the ground with an outstretched hand, hysterically screaming, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cap smirked and looked at Matt. "Like I said, ham." He then got down on one knee, to Matt's level, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks, son. For helping me back there." Matt smiled. "No problem, Captain America." Cap smiled back. "Now, listen, son," he began, "no matter where you are, where you're from, how old you are, or what you believe, always know that you can count..." He paused before shooting his shield hand up, then saying, "...in AMERICA!" Matt widely grinned, then imitated him. It was at this moment where he found out where his allegiance really lied. --- The flashback caused tears to well up in Matt's eyes and fly into the air. Like he did over two decades ago, he closed his eyes, tears streaming out of them, and hoped to God he didn't see it coming. The impact never came. Matt opened his eyes to see a winged, light purple, pony with a bow in its hair carrying him to the ground. He looked over at Pat to see him getting hoisted by another light purple pegasus. Pat was smiling. Matt felt he needed to say something. "Are you an angel?" The smile on Pat's face faded instantaneously. "If you reference Episode One again, I swear to God I will tear you limb from limb and rip your fucking lungs out." The two pegasi gasped as Matt replied, "Love you too."