//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Resistance: Remain Human // by Hurgusburgus //------------------------------// *clang* WHAT THE FECK WAS THAT I fell to the ground, snarling, gripping my bloody nose, or what passed for a nose on a Hybrid. After several choice curses, I sat up, more careful this time. Reaching out a tad blindly, I let my night vision return. The sight of my assailant got a somewhat-insane chuckle out of me. “Jesus Christ on a pushbike… It’s not even my birthday!” I cackled, eyeing the M-12 Sabertooth Light Battle Tank. One of the most common Yank war vehicles, this light tank had been sold to British Army in small numbers before the Chimera struck. This particular one was covered in branches and, uh… dead bits of Chimera. And humans. Shite. Well, best get crackin’, as Alice keeps saying. After a somewhat queasiness-inducing session of scrub and rub for the Sabertooth, I tried to weigh the pros and cons of having not gone to the Gala. Yes, I know, I broke my promise to Celestia. Boo, me. Bad James. No candy for me. Go away, unneeded feeling of guilt. Time to wreak havoc in the tank. The hatch took some work to open. The screws were a tad rusty, but I got it open. It was rather difficult to fit my Chimeran self through the hatch, what with my heat stacks severely impeding my progress. After a while, though, I was (relatively) comfortably seated in the driver’s/gunner’s seat. The nifty thing is that to use the tank, you only needed one man – the Sabertooth used an autoloader to service the 80mm cannon’s needs. Same went for the coaxial Gatling gun. The fifty-cal seemed to be a tad mangled, though. No worries. Jen can fix it. Recently, she’d even been able to restock our gunpowder firearms in her workshop. Not that we ever use them. Ahem. I hoped the battery wasn’t dead. If it were, my funride would be over before it even started. And that would make me a sad Chimera. A cursory inspection revealed something I was very happy about. I found a manual of sorts. Wasting no time, I opened it and started reading it… Canterlot Royal Castle Celestia smiled warmly at the mish-mash of ponies, humans and Chimera as the former knelt down. The human soldiers chose to give her a simple salute. Even though the Chimeran fraction (apart from Fred) simply nodded once, she didn’t mind. “Welcome to the Grand Galloping Gala, everypony. I do hope you will enjoy your stay here.” Fred stood up from his exaggerated bow, his wrought cane clanking on the marble tiles. As James had predicted, he wore a monocle and a tophat. The Americans and Ted were dressed in finely-made suits, courtesy of Ponyville’s resident fashionista. Even Jen had been goaded into wearing a suit. She was still fuming at Fred for his use of infallible logic, as was his way. “A glorious evening to you, princess!” Fred replied, smiling widely. Celestia chuckled softly at that, but her smile faded as she eyed the group. “Where is James?” “He didn’t come. Said he needed some time alone.” Alice piped up. “Oh… I see.” Celestia nodded, sighing sadly. “Now, then. I will be revealing you all to my ponies later this evening. I have informed the guards of your circumstances. Until then, you may reside in one of our guest rooms until I have explained the situation to my ponies.” “That seems reasonable, princess.” Fred nodded. Soon, their group was trailing after the two Royal Guards that led them to a private room where they spent some time trying to prepare for the upcoming events. Of course, in keeping with Celestia’s words, they had complete privacy. It had been an hour until they heard a knock on the door. It opened and Celestia entered; a slightly nervous smile on her face. “It’s time, everypony. Come with me. Let us make friends, hmm?” They walked through the quiet hallways, following the alicorn diarch, Fred’s thudding footsteps echoing in the air. The subdued clamour of dozens of ponies reached their ears as Celestia opened the wide doors and a sea of heads swivelled to face them; a collective gasp following seconds later as the group of humans and Chimera stepped on the small podium in front of Celestia’s throne, fidgeting a bit. The throne room had become deathly quiet as Celestia coughed politely, a somewhat forced smile on her face. “Now, my ponies, do not-“ “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” A random unicorn screamed. That was all it took. In a flash, the gathered nobility were galloping around, screaming bloody murder. Celestia tried (in vain) to get some semblance of order going, but to no avail. Ponies were wailing and screaming in horror. Jen was facepalming so hard she might’ve rubbed her face off if she kept it up. Ted had decided to join the screaming ponies and was running about, arms flailing. “THE HORROR! THE HORROR!” “ENOUGH!” A new voice bellowed and everyone/-pony froze where they stood. Everyone/-pony turned to look at the new arrival. A midnight blue alicorn was glaring at the gathered crowd, her ethereal mane shimmering in the light. Celestia smiled at her thankfully, before turning back to the crowd. “Please, do not panic. There is no reason to do so. They are friends and bear no ill will towards any of us.” “W-what proof do you have of that?” Someon-er, pony, stuttered fearfully. “They have been living in Equestria for nearly a year, to be fair. They have had ample time to harm us, yet here we all stand. Up until now, only the residents of Ponyville knew of their existence and I dare say that they received them with more hospitality than now.” At that, some of the ponies looked away ashamedly. “So please, give them a chance.” Silence reigned in the moments after her request, but, as always, Fred was the first to break it. “Good evening, everyone! I am Fred!” It had taken some time but the initial awkwardness had been overcome. The Gala was in full swing by now and the humans/Chimera had dispersed through the crowd, chatting with ponies or each other. Jennifer’s POV “I honestly cannot believe how disrespectful the servants have become. It is a sad thing that punishments have been discontinued. They all have become so lax it beggars belief.” Oh, this was going to get fun. I pinpointed the source of the arrogant voice. After a moment, I saw the pudgy bastard. Wasting no time, I walked up to him, tapping him on the shoulder. Without even looking at me, he responded haughtily. “Begone, peasant. Your presence offends me.” “How about you learn some manners, mate?” Oh, he really wasn’t expecting that, was he? He whirled around, his annoyed expression changing to that of shock. “Buh-buh-buh-buh-“He stammered, much to my amusement. “You know, being nice to others is considered the sign of civility. And it would seem you’re the biggest yobbo of the group.” He stared at me for a couple of moments before responding, arrogant as hell. “How dare you address me in such a manner! I am Prince Blueblood and you will address me as such! Apologize immediately!” “Okay. I’m sorry you’re such a pompous arsehole and a waste of life. I have half a mind to kill you and significantly heighten this world’s average intelligence quotient.” I nearly choke on my tongue as he splutters indignantly. “I am nobility! I am Princess Celestia’s nephew and I deserve to be treated as such!” He stretched out his foreleg. “Kiss it and you may be forgiven.” His emphasis on ‘may’ did not go unnoticed. “Whoa, mate! Won’t you even take me out for dinner first? That said, I didn’t know you had a thing for Chimera.” I tried to put on my best bedroom eyes, which really wasn’t saying much. At least I managed to make my voice relatively sultry. His face became beet red as the two cogs in his head crunched noisily. When was the last time someone did maintenance on him? He stormed off angrily. “Ooph. Thank you, er…” One of the nearby ponies sighed. “Jen. I’m Jen.” “Nice to meet you. Truth be told, I would not have lasted any longer listening to that disgrace to Equestrian nobility keep waffling off about everything being terrible and-look. This is a case of the ten percent giving the ninety percent a bad name. But enough about that. I am Starry Dawn. And you have my thanks for getting rid of that oaf.” He stuck out his hoof and I happily obliged. “Nice t’meet ya, mate.” James’s POV I hollered gleefully as the tank crunched over a tree trunk, the engine roaring loudly. Slowly, but surely, I was making my way towards the farm from the depths of Everfree. Pausing for a moment to take control of the main gun, I aimed at a large fallen tree in my way. I could just drive around it, but that’s just plain boring, right? The 80mm rifled cannon exhaled deafeningly and I cackled gleefully. “Boom-shacka-lacka!” I have no idea what I’m saying. I throttled the engine again, smashing my way through the smouldering tree trunk, blissfully unaware of the trail of destruction I was leaving behind. Jennifer’s POV James was going to get his arse whipped, that much was sure. Alabaster Damsel seemed to be getting more and more ticked, though she didn’t let it show. Much. She wandered over to me – I was striking up a conversation with the griffons that were present. They were a nice bunch – I could relate to them, at least. That and there was meat to be found. Yum. “How are you finding the food, Jennifer?” Celestia asked, a smile on her face. “’s good. Thanks.” She leaned closer, whispering. “Would you know where I could find James?” “No idea. Said he wanted to take a walk around the forest.” “Ah. Well, it does indeed sadden me he did not come with you. I would have liked to talk to him.” “Well, that’s too bad. I know he can be bit of an arse. Most of the time. Scratch that, he’s always a pain.” “Perhaps so. Still, where could I start to look for him?” “Ah. I guess the farm is a good place to start with.” “Thank you, Jennifer. Now, enjoy-“ “Auntie Celestia!” I saw Celestia cringe and she sighed, turning around. “Yes, Blueblood?” “I have been disrespected in a most terrible way! One of those monsters you invited to the Gala completely disregarded my royal status!” “That’d be me, mate.” I added helpfully. Blueblood snarled, glaring at me. Ineffectively. “You! How dare you mock me so! Apologize immediately!” “Nah.” I swear, his head nearly burst from all the anger he was experiencing. Same couldn’t be said about Celestia, though – she was trying to keep herself from laughing. That or there was something stuck in her throat. “Jennifer, do be polite to him. I think I know how we can settle this matter. A duel.” Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Hold the freaking phone. “I get to beat the bagels out of him? Sign me up! I mean, if that yobbo’s royalty, he knows how to handle a weapon, right?” Celestia was straining to remain neutral by this point and I turned to face a speechless Blueblood. “You shouldn’t mouth off about others, lad. The servants you seem hell-bent on slandering have been very polite to me and my friends this whole evening, something you seem to be unable to do. So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to run away with what few scraps of honour you have or lose whatever respect others have for you after I’m done wiping the floor with you?” All I got in response was a whimper as he ran away, galloping his chubby arse away from me as fast as he could. “Thought as much.” Celestia snickered.