The clatter of the fifties nearly drowned out the rumble of the engines as I swung around, bringing the VTOL to a halt. Bill brought down a group of cannoneers that tried to turn their artillery piece to bear on us. A pair of griffons then tried to board the Kingfisher. Much to their misfortune, Alice, Will, Snag and Tag were present as well. Two bloodied griffon corpses were tossed back out moments later and Ted and Bill kept firing. I saw the distant glow of Fred’s heat stacks as the looming Titan waddled alongside Dead Bits, numerous griffons following them up the road leading up to the fortress. Dead Bits slowed for a moment, its turret turning to face the gates of the bastion. With a distant crump, the eighty-mil spoke and the shell impacted the gates. Splinters of timber and iron flew everywhere, but the gates held. That’s when Fred joined in, his hand-held cannon spitting oversized shells at the already-damaged gate. This time, it stood no chance and the gate was torn from its hinges. With a gleeful holler, the griffons surged forward, swarming inside the fortress. Fred’s thudding footsteps followed moments later, Dead Bits hanging back and destroying several more cannons. Of course, the Kingfisher was still in the air, but the fifty-cals were almost empty by now, so we’d have to land soon.
Leaving the VTOL behind, we ran forward – Me, Ted, Bill, Will, Alice, Snag and Tag. Jack and Jen were still screwing around in Dead Bits, providing overwatch for the advancing forces. There were dead griffons everywhere as we kept moving, trying to catch up with Songwyre and her troops. There were a lot of destroyed buildings here, too – either peppered by cannon fire or Fred-shaped holes, all of it tastefully decorated with more dead griffons. Delightful.
Just as we stopped to take a breather, we were set upon by a dozen rebel griffons that fell upon us from the air. It was by Ted’s timely warning that we weren’t shredded like cabbage. Tag was the first to strike, however, leaping upwards and colliding with the leading one. The griffon yelled in surprise and the two of them slammed into a nearby house as the rest of the pack attacked us.
I would say they handled themselves well, but I’d be lying. Even though the griffons had the edge at close-quarters fighting, we had our guns. My Bullseye tore gaping holes into a heavily-built griffon that tried going for Snag. Others’ Folsoms rattled and chattered as the din of the on-going battle drowned out everything else…
“Sit still, Alice. Don’t make it any worse than it is.” Bill muttered, trying to inspect the cut on her face. Of course, the stubborn Texan wasn’t complying. Blood was smeared across her face as she feebly tried to resist.
“Naw, man, Ah’m fine. Ah just need a stiff drink!”
“Ya nearly lost your eye, Sarge, 'f course you're not fine!” True enough, I could see the long line carved into Alice’s face, starting above her eyebrow and ending about two inches below her eye.
“Ya came this close to dying, ma’am! Now, sit still and let me patch you up!” Ted decided to pitch in then as he rechecked his carbines.
“Y’know, lass, you’re better off listening to him. You’re not Chimera, so one would think you’d be more careful regarding injuries.” Giving a defeated sigh, she straightened out.
“Ah’m not getting past y’all without gettin’ a bandage, am Ah?”
“I would say so.” I muttered quietly, fiddling with my Bullseye. She grumbled, a rather sour expression taking place on her face.
“Fine, then. Ah’ll hold still.” Bill smiled thankfully at that and set to disinfecting the wound. Alice grit her teeth as he dribbled some good old-fashioned hydrogen peroxide onto her wound. Once he had finished with that, he carefully wound a length of bandaging around her face, covering the rather unsightly cut. God, griffons would be all over her in a heartbeat once they saw her. They liked scars. Especially the females.
Yeesh.
Anyways, Bill was soon finished. Alice stood up, half of her face covered by white bandages, her shock of red hair falling over her pale face.
“Well, that’s your depth perception out of order for a while. Ya take a rest ma’am, y’hear me? Maybe next time you’ll wear your helmet.” Will spoke up from his sniper’s perch on top of a nearby house. He snapped off a couple of shots, nodding, satisfied with the results.
“You guys are no fun. Agh, fine.”
“We should just send her back to the Kingfisher, you know.” I muttered and got approving nods from others. Of course, Alice was stubborn.
“Guys, Ah’m not leaving ya! Jus’ lemme tag along!” She grumbled angrily, standing up and grabbing her Folsom. There was an expression of utter defiance on her face as she stuck her helmet on her head. Then she wavered a bit, the blood loss and dizziness getting the better of her.
“Bloody hell, Alice, you need to take it easy. With one of your eyes out of action, you can’t shoot for shit.” I spoke up again. “Stubborn woman. Fine, you can come with us. Just keep your head low, alright? Be careful.”
“Ah always am, James!” She grinned.
“Despite evidence on the contrary...” Bill muttered, packing up the medical kit up.
“Ah heard that!” Bill merely rolled his eyes at that.
Three hours later
We'd been fighting non-stop this whole time. But it had paid off in the end. About two hours into the battle, we managed to break them – I used the Kingfisher to support the loyalist griffons as we made several daring insertions into various locations all across the fortress. Dead Bits, Jen, Jack and Fred had also apparently done a very good work of supporting Songwyre and her troops. The keep was surrounded by thronging mobs of griffons that hastily parted to let Dead Bits and Fred through to the thick, steel-wrought doors. The last of the rebels were hiding inside, along with their leader.
“Come out, traitor, so that you may at least die with some honour!” Songwyre bellowed mockingly, yet the doors didn't move. Fred coughed quietly – as quiet as a Titan can cough, that is - to draw the griffon's attention. “Allow me and Dead Bits to help out, miss.” Warily, she nodded and waited. Fred coughed again, rubbing his palms together before hefting his cannon as Jen brought Dead Bits' turret to bear. With deafening noise, the two of them opened up on the last defence the defector had. It took them only a couple of moments to blast the doors apart. Fred then pried them wide open, letting the rest of us swarm inside.
The last battle was short, but furious. There were few griffons left inside the keep and we quickly overwhelmed them. In the end, only one big bastard of a griffon was left, still defiantly fighting. As I stepped forward, the rest of Songwyre's troops took several steps back, forming a circle around us. Quickly, he turned to face me, a deep scowl on his face.
“So, you are the one responsible for this massacre. Those mules in Canterlot can't do a damn thing by themselves, can they?”
“Well, truth be told, we were getting rather bored by just sitting on our arses. When Celestia asked us for help, we just had to accept. A bored me is a dangerous me.”
“So, what manner of beast are you?”
“I'm a Chimeran Hybrid. My name is James Willoughby.”
“I am General Steelclaw. And I no longer serve this weak-willed Empire that bows to every whim and fancy of Equestria. That being said, I do not hold any dreams of escaping from here. Let us settle this with honour. We will duel.” I pondered on his words for a couple of moments.
“Nah.” Whatever he was going to say was lost as I squeezed a burst of Bullseye fire that demolished his head. The headless corpse swayed almost-drunkenly, sputtering blood on the ground. A moment later, the late General Steelclaw toppled over. Silence reigned supreme before Songwyre stepped forward.
“That was just about as dishonorable as it gets, James.”
“I know. It's why I won.”
I woke up in the general's personal quarters next morning. There had been a huge celebration last night, right after the battle. We all had gotten very, very drunk. Unfortunately, I remembered all of what had happened last night. Songwyre stirred from her sleep, yawning as she did so and turned to face me, who was already sitting up from the bed.
“Oh, James... You are a mighty warrior, both on the battlefield and in the bed.” She grinned widely and I cringed.
“Not. A. Single. Word.” I muttered sullenly as I stood up, spitting a broken feather out of my mouth.
“Stay with me! Our offspring would be fierce and strong! I would be a good wife to you!”
“Uh, thanks, but no thanks. I'm not your type and vice versa.”
“Oh, I will find you one day, James Willoughby!” She called out after me, her voice sultry and suggestive as I left the room, my belongings clutched in my hands, face burning a bright red. I needed to find the others and skedaddle from here as soon as possible.
That plan crashed and burned very soon. As it turned out, Empress Arienda herself had arrived to inspect the aftermath of the battle. And she was rather curiously inspecting the Kingfisher. Of course, she turned to face our group as we drew close.
“I presume this machine belongs to you. Am I right?” That kind of left us speechless – not really the sort of royalty I had expected, to be fair.
“Uh... Yes. I am James. This is-” The griffon empress cut me off at that point.
“I know what your names are. Princess Celestia informed me several months ago of your presence in Equestria. When Steelclaw deserted, your names were the ones that first came to my mind. I knew you could help us with this... incident. I have not been proved wrong, now have I? Steelclaw is dead. This fortress has been reclaimed. I would say a proper reward is what you and your friends deserve.”
Eh?
“From this moment onwards, you are friends of the Throne. You have free passage across our borders. You may come and go as you please. Should there be any trouble, however, show the troublemakers this token.” She opened a small pouch on her waist and took out ten golden necklaces handing them out to us. Snag chittered, proudly puffing his chest out as the small medallion swung from his tail where it'd been tied to. Tag seemed confused by the tiny disc of gold around his neck. Fred had tied his to his cannon, but thanked Arienda nonetheless. Others did the same. I nearly laughed when I saw the Empress eye Alice quite appreciatively, but I managed to keep quiet. Barely so.
It took us another fifteen minutes to reattach Dead Bits to the Kingfisher. Fred waved us a goodbye as he waddled off to his airship. The rest of us climbed aboard the VTOL and were airborne in a matter of moments. Many griffons waved to us as we turned about and flew off, following Fred's transport.
When we got back to Ponyville, the place was decorated in honour of our homecoming. Apparently some of the weather team had spotted us approaching. Pinkie Pie had been extra excited to organize a party for this occasion, apparently. As soon as we set down on the edge, we were beset by cheering ponies. Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends were among them. Fred took it in stride, however, his booming voice echoing in the streets.
“But you must!”
“Naw, miss, Ah’ll be fine! Tha‘s jus’ a flesh wound!” Alice waved off – or at least tried to - the white earth pony, her face still half-covered by the bandages.
“Sit still, you!” Nurse Redheart grumbled, trying to remove the bandaging in question. “I need to see how bad is it. I just hope you won’t be needing stitches. Griffons are vicious fighters.” Alice grumbled, but calmed down. Redheart sighed relievedly at that. “Thank you, miss Bradley. Now, let’s see how bad is it…” Carefully, she cut the bandaging away, using warm water to make removing the blood-crusted fabric easier. Alice winced slightly as she opened her eyes, looking at Redheart questioningly.
“Well? How is it?”
“Hmm. You might just escape getting stitches. Whoever tended to this wound knows their stuff. I’m still going to need to check it for any infections.”
“Ya do that.” Alice muttered.
“Hmm. What was used to clean the wound out?”
“Hydrogen peroxide.”
“I have no idea what that is, but it seems to work just fine. The cut’s clean and there’s no infection. Hmm. Yeah, there’s no need for stitches. The scar’s staying there, though. Nothing I can do about that. That being said, don’t hesitate to come to the hospital if any problems do show up.”
“’kay. Ah’ll keep that in mind. Should I get new bandages, then?”
“I think that would be for the best. You need to keep the wound clean until it’s fully healed. Luckily for us both, I have some bandaging right here. All I need you to do is sit still. Can you do that?”
“Sure can, miss.” Alice closed her eyes as Redheart wrapped the bandages around the injured half of her face.
“There! That should do nicely for the time being. Come and see me at the hospital after a week and we’ll see how it’s then, okay?”
“’kay. It’s a date.” Alice winked at the nurse, making Redheart blush furiously. “Ah’m kiddin’! Relax!”
“That wasn’t funny!”
“Oh, it so totally was.” Alice snickered, putting her helmet back on. “Well, if tha’s all ya need me for, Ah’ll be goin’.”
“O-of course, miss Bradley. Enjoy the celebration.” Redheart answered, packing up her medical instruments as Alice left.
I turned around, being presented by Fred’s looming figure.
“James. Could I talk to you for a moment?”
“Uh. Sure. Anything wrong?”
“No, but I’d like some privacy. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Oh… kay…” I nodded slowly and followed him. The noises of the party slowly died off as we put some distance between them and us. What was eating at him this time? I guess I would find out soon.
He sat down on the small hill with a quiet thump. I sat down at his side and we looked at the setting sun.
“Quite a sight, eh, James?”
“Yeah… It is.” I muttered quietly as I looked up at Fred. “So, what did you want to tell me?” Fred sighed, his shoulders sagging a little.
“Hmm… I’m not sure how to put this.”
“Eh?”
“Ah, well. Here goes nothing.” He sighed again. “James, you know that I care for you dearly. And I care about others, too. Jennifer. Ted. Alice. Snaggletooth. Tag. Will. Jack. And Bill. And I have also grown very fond of these ponyfolk. But… you are like my own son to me. And I was driven up the proverbial wall by worry back at that fortress – what if a griffon got the drop on you? What if you were crushed by a collapsing house? I still dread to imagine how I would cope with losing you. I already lost my family – my wife, children, their children – to the Chimera. We all have already lost too much to the Chimera, haven’t we?”
“Well, you have us. You know we’ll be there for you and others. Dysfunctional we may be, but we are still a family… Dad.” He nodded slowly at that and I felt his large arm around my shoulders.
“That we are, Son. That we are. Forged in the flames and trials of war and destruction…”
“Nothing shall separate our mish-mash bunch of misfits.” He chuckled softly at that.
“Indeed…”
As we sat there and watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon, a question came to my mind.
Could Chimera cry?
I certainly was. Not because I was sad, mind you.
As I sit here and write these words in this diary of sorts I’ve been keeping for a couple of weeks, I come to reflect on our life here, in Equestria. The start may have been very rocky, but we overcame that. Against all odds, we managed to settle down in this idyllic land. And, though we were distressed at leaving Earth behind, we would acknowledge the fact that we had done our part in the liberation of humanity.
But enough about that. Things have happened.
Alice and Redheart are together. Neither of them are telling us how’d that happen, but they seem happy enough. Ted made the mistake to mock Alice with the good old-fashioned ‘Sitting in a tree’ rhyme. He’s still wearing a cast on his left leg. Bloody fool. Still, Alice kind of went loco once she found out she had the hots for Redheart. Started drinking – quite badly, too. Redheart was heartbroken. Heh – and we had to intervene. We helped her sort out her feelings and… well, the two of them are now sitting on the other side of the street at Donut Joe’s. That scar on Alice’s face isn’t really standing out as much as I’d thought. They’re laughing. Good for them.
Fred’s still running his foalsitting business. He helps Cheerilee out at the school when he can. Since the news got out that he would work there, kids are just about raring to go to school in the mornings.
Ted’s snarking, as always. With that cast, he can’t do his courier thing. Still, he’s making a living. He helps out at Fluttershy’s place. The meek pegasus has taken quite a shine to him.
Jack and Will are employed at the Sugarcube Corner. With their help, the Cakes’ business is flourishing quite nicely.
Bill and Jen are still at the Sweet Apple Acres. Jen apparently has a thing going with Big Mac, while Bill’s going gaga over one of the Apple family’s relatives – I don’t remember which one, sorry.
Of course, seeing as Jen was very toothy and scary, she asked Twilight for help. I think I’m going to leave the details out of this, but Jen’s now a pony as well. A pegasus, to be fair. She’s happy with Big Mac. Granny Smith’s overjoyed that her grandson finally has a ‘special somepony’, as she so eloquently put it. Then Jen kicked me in the face.
Ouch.
Tag and Snag are still out and about, too. As it turned out, Snag is a she. We came to that revelation when the Leaper in question ran off one day and returned two days later with a group of teeny tiny Leapers. One heck of a surprise, that.
As for me, well… Twilight’s sitting at my side, smiling at me. She’s saying my quill handling needs work. I think she’s right. Doing magic is ve
Ah, sorry about that. I passed out for a moment. Ever since I became a unicorn, I’ve been learning how to use my magic. Twilight’s been immense help regarding that part of my becoming a pony.
Oh, right. I forgot to mention. I’m a unicorn now. I know some of you may be saying that I finally did give up on my humanity, twisted as it was.
Maybe so. But deep down, I’m still me. I’m still human.
And that is what matters.