//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: From Equestria with Love // by Juntao112 //------------------------------// Warm rays of sunshine covered the park that afternoon, and there were no shortage of ponies taking advantage of the weather. The laughter of children playing games drifted through the air, as did the relaxed conversation of their parents. Picnics had sprung up around the park at random, filling the air with the fragrance of wholesome homemade cooking. Ponyville had many qualities that made it an ideal site for infiltration. The population was large enough that a newcomer could easily blend in, unlike the frontier towns of Appeloosa and Dodge Junction. At the same time, it lacked the bureaucracy that came with a city like Manehatten or Van Hoofer. A pony did not need much in the way of official documentation or paperwork to live in Ponyville — supposedly, there was even a zebra who set up shop in the Everfree Forest without any official permission whatsoever. Of course, Ponyville's greatest asset was its location, within striking distance of Canterlot. Thunderball shuddered at the mental image of another attack on the capital, this time done in quietly in the dead of night. Chrysalis might have had a terrible plan the first time, but loss and wounded pride were a strong motivator to improve one's abilities, especially when vengeance was thrown into the mix. If the situations were reversed, Thunderball would have had no issue sneaking into Chrysalis's lair and planting a stiletto in her black heart. Thunderball craned his head up and gazed into the sky above, with a faint smile on his face. The Wonderbolts were flying above them, leading a group of trainees. A rainbow contrail stood out among the group, and Thunderball knew exactly who it belonged to. The sound of enthusiastic cheering filled the air as they passed overhead; a quick glance over his shoulder revealed a crowd of schoolfillies (and a hoof–full of colts) pointing at the sky. "Isn't Rainbow Dash the awesomest?" an organge pegasus filly cheered. "She'll become a Wonderbolt for sure!" A unicorn colt unfurled a rainbow–colored flag and began waving it in hopes of catching Rainbow’s attention. "Yeah, Scootaloo! Nopony can fly as fast as her!" Thunderball rolled his eyes. It was like Rainbow Dash had her own fan club. "Look, she's coming this way!" somepony shouted as the prismatic streak made a beeline for their location, followed shortly by the arrival of Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash flew a few loops around the park for the benefit of her cheering fans before she swooped down and picked up Scootaloo. "And how's my number one fan doing?" Scootaloo hugged Rainbow as if her life depended on it. "Super! I just love watching you fly around!" Rainbow ruffled Scootaloo’s mane affectionately. "Scootaloo, I've got to take you flying up there with the Wonderbolts one of these days. Let you spread out your wings and see what it's like for yourself." "Yeah! Then maybe I'll finally get my cutie mark in flying!" "Don't pigeonhole yourself, kid. You could get it in racing, stunts, weather control, or..." Rainbow Dash trailed off as she caught sight of Thunderball and grinned mischievously. "Hey Scoots, follow me." Thunderball looked apprehensive as the two drew near. "Can I help you?" "Thunderball, meet Scootaloo. She's been trying to get her cutie mark with her friends Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle." Rainbow gestured to a yellow earth pony and a white unicorn back with the rest of the fillies. "I thought it'd be good for her to talk to more ponies and see if she can find her special talent. Scootaloo, this is Thunderball. He's a secret agent from Canterlot!" Scootaloo's eyes widened in awe. "Oh wow! You mean like Roger Maare?" Thunderball smiled at Scootallo and promptly pulled Rainbow Dash aside. "Could you please not spread that around? You know, in case the enemy’s around? The bugs that can impersonate anypony you know and love?" Rainbow waved her hoof dismissively. "Aw, stop worrying. Scoots here isn't a changeling." "Nope! I'm just a pegasus!" Scootaloo added helpfully. "And a Cutie Mark Crusader, and president of the Rainbow Dash fan club!" Thunderball stared at Rainbow Dash incredulously. "You have your own fan club?" Rainbow Dash turned around to look over the fan club. "Yeah, it's pretty awesome, but I've been told it's not healthy for my ego to get so much attention, so why don't you take the spotlight?" The rest of the fan club had gathered around Thunderball, and he looked at them uncomfortably. Soldiers in his position did not make a habit of talking about their careers. "Oh, well, I started out in the 101st Airborne Infantry Division...Wow, it must have been eleven years ago. We trained to fly quickly over long distances in order to deliver reinforcements, ambush enemy forces, and attack vulnerable points in their supply chain or defenses." He noticed that Scootaloo was hanging onto his every word, as were her friends. Even Rainbow Dash was listening attentively — he suspected she was using the kids to get him to talk more about his past. It was a sneaky, underhanded move that was, unfortunately, working. "Being accepted into an airborne division is hard work; not only do you have to be a great flier, but you have to kick flank at hoof to hoof combat as well. Since we fly out to battle, we usually can't carry heavy equipment, and we fight as light infantry when we land. That means we usually end up facing enemies who are not only better equipped than us, but better positioned as well. Our only advantages are the element of surprise, superior mobility, and our ability to improvise." "After a few years, I was recruited into the 21st Special Air Service regiment. They perform unconventional military operations like infiltration, sabotage, reconnaissance behind enemy lines — things regular soldiers aren't trained to do. The SAS takes only the best; you need three and a half years of service before they'll even think about accepting you, and two years of training before you can be deployed. A special forces operator can be called upon to perform anything from aerial combat to underwater demolitions, and must therefore be well–versed in every aspect of warfare. He may have his squad killed or incapacitated, so he must be able to act alone as well as in a group. He may be sent into unknown situations adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. He may become trapped behind enemy lines, so he must be able to act independently without orders." "Wow, that sounds so cool!" Scootaloo jumped in the air excitedly, her wings buzzing as she did so. They managed to keep her afloat in the air briefly each time she jumped, but it was clear that she could not actually fly with them. "Did you like it?" Thunderball decided it was, perhaps, best to avoid mentioning that you joined the army to fight and die for Equestria, and that the army would do its best to send you to places where you could fight and die for Equestria. Scootaloo was too young for that much cynicism. "It's a lot less glamorous when you're dragging a hundred pounds of equipment through the air, or swimming for two hours through freezing cold water to land on a muddy beach in the middle of winter. Plus, they'll shave your mane and dock your tail." Scootaloo looked aghast and clutched her tail. "You mean they cut it off?" "Oh, no. No no no. They just cut it real short, see?" He flicked his tail around to show her that it was still in one piece. Applebloom looked at Thunderball’s tail closely. "It’s just like how Big Mac's tail is, Scootaloo. He had to crop it so it wouldn't get caught in any of the farming equipment." "Well, that's not so bad," Scootaloo concluded once she had been assured that the army would not mutilate her. "I could live with that if I got to do all those cool things!" Sweetie Bell pointed at the green ball of electricity on Thunderball’s flank. "So how'd you get your cutie mark? Doesn't look like it has to do much with being a soldier." Thunderball looked at his cutie mark fondly. "Well, it has to do with how I fly, but I don't know if I can show you around here." "Please, you're a pegasus." Rainbow Dash launched herself into the air and flew circles around him. "Just fly up there and dazzle us." Thunderball caught her by the tail and pulled her down. "You know, I really don't think I have clearance for that sort of thing. Looks like the Wonderbolts reserved the sky for their training, which is still going on, judging by how your coach is making the slower fliers do extra laps." "Come on, they won't mind. Sky's big enough for all of us." Rainbow stretched out her wings and pointed herself up at the sky. "I'll race ya; first back from that bunny–shaped cloud is the winner." "Yeah!" A lavender unicorn filly stepped out from the crowd. "My mom told me how awesome you were! Can't you show us what you do?" Her golden eyes shone with excitement and Thunderball could not help but notice their remarkable resemblance to those of the mailmare he had met earlier, though they both actually managed to point in the same direction. "You wouldn't happen to be Miss Doo's daughter, would you?" Shen odded proudly. "Yup! Name's Dinky Doo! I'm secretary of the fan club!" Thunderball closed his eyes for a long minute and contemplated the choice before him. Showing off was unprofessional conduct at the best of times for an agent, but he did not want to disappoint the children, either. Especially not the blank flanks. Who knew, he might just inspire them to find their special talents. Hopefully, they would turn out better than Private Cold Snap, whom Thunderball had found after a battle during the Saddle Arabian Succession Crisis surrounded by corpses of the enemy, with the mark of an equine skull laid out above two spears on his flank. It had taken a lot of counseling to help Cold Snap get over the fact that his special talent was either combat or killing ponies (nopony was willing to test and figure out which one), though last Thunderball heard, Cold Snap was doing fine in the Night Guard. It probably helped that the only ponies he would ever have to kill would be ones who really deserved it. "We are only going to do this once. No exceptions." Rainbow Dash rubbed her hooves together. "Muhuhaha! Exactly as planned! Hey Scoots, gimme a countdown!" Scootaloo immediately obliged. "Ten! Nine! Eight!" Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. "You can just start at three, you know." The suggestion earned her a dirty look from Scootaloo. "...Three! Two! One!" Rainbow Dash and Thunderball kicked off at the exact same moment, leaving the children behind in a cloud of dust. Thunderball's wings were in fantastic shape, but even so there was no keeping up with a dedicated flier like Rainbow Dash. She easily outpaced him and reached the cloud, where she sat down and waved at him. Thunderball ground his teeth in irritation and rushed forward, only to see Rainbow Dash dive off and soar past him. He reached the cloud and looked down to see her floating down lazily with her hooves behind her head. Thunderball growled and kicked off the cloud with his rear hooves. The cloud exploded with electricity, which propelled him downwards at a blistering pace. Thunderball tucked his limbs in as he did so in a dive–bombing maneuver designed to reduce drag on his body and increase his velocity. He shot towards the ground like a bullet until he was even with Rainbow Dash, who saluted him before power diving herself, leaving him behind in her rainbow–colored wake. Thunderball pushed his wings to the limit to try and catch up. The wind rushed through his mane and coat, which stood on end as sparks began to fly off of him. The static charge built up to the point where electricity enveloped his body and left a crackling trail behind him. He kicked back with his legs and unleashed another burst of lightning from his rear hooves in an attempt to propel himself past Rainbow Dash. The extra speed, impressive as it was, was not enough to overcome Rainbow's lead; there was simply not enough room left to catch up. Rainbow Dash reached the ground ahead of him and claimed victory, much to the delight of Scootaloo. Thunderball banked left at the last minute so that he could land on the park's dirt trail. The electric field around him discharged into the ground with the force of a small explosion. Dust filled the air, followed shortly by the smell of ozone. It slowly dissipated to reveal Thunderball standing in a small crater of his own creation, panting heavily from the exertion. "Wow! You got second place, but I still think that was awesome!" Scootaloo hopped into the crater and examined the burned soil. "How'd you do that?" "My hair...builds up a static...charge really easily," Thunderball said between desperate gasps for air, as his mane slowly settled down. "It's terrible in winter. I turn into a walking Tesla coil." "So what you're saying is that you got your cutie mark for being a shock trooper?" Rainbow chuckled. "Well, that's pretty cool. You're not as awesome as me, but I can definitely see why the SAS wanted you. I bet if you ever landed on somebody like that, there wouldn't be anything left except cinders. Could your friends do that too?" Thunderball froze in place. Rainbow blinked before slowly waving her hoof in front of his face. "Uh, hello? "No," Thunderball said flatly, before abruptly changing the subject. "Well, Scootaloo, if you ever want to try out for an airborne division, you know what to do. Fly fast, drop hard." "I am totally going to try that when I fly!" Rainbow ruffled Scootaloo's mane affectionately. "Why wait? Come on squirt, I'll take you for a ride right now." She picked up the pegasus filly and zoomed up into the air before diving back down again at breakneck speed. They landed right where they had taken off; Rainbow Dash looked no worse for the wear, but Scootaloo's eyes were wide open and her body was shivering. "D–Did I g–get my c–c–cutie mark?" she asked through chattering teeth. Sweetie Belle shook her head. "Better luck next time." Thunderball helped Scootaloo off of Rainbow’s back. "Give it some time. I didn't get my cutie mark until my first free–falling drop. Never flew fast enough to generate a static charge until that day, and I was an adult." Scootaloo perked up immediately upon hearing his story. "You mean somepony as awesome as you went through your entire childhood without a cutie mark?" "Yeah. Even though I spent the better part of my foalhood trying to get one, I had never joined the army — how could I if I was just a kid? But it turned out the army was my calling." Scootaloo hopped around her friends excitedly. "So maybe I just need to be older! Aww,I wish I wasn't so young! Being young sucks." Rainbow laughed and picked Scootaloo up before she could run into somepony. "Don't worry so much kid, You'll grow out of it." Thunderball sat back down on the park bench, content to watch the antics of Rainbow Dash and her fan club. They looked so happy and content together; his SAS team had clustered around their commanding officer, Major Goldeneye, the same way. A faint smile graced Thunderball's lips as he remembered some of his fellow soldiers. Moonraker was like a little brother, Icebreaker had the most infectious cheerfulness of anypony he had ever met, and Skyfall… A memory of the blond haired blue eyed, white pegasus — who could have easily stepped out of a Royal Guard recruitment poster — flashed through Thunderball's mind. Skyfall had been with him ever since the day they both enlisted in the army. He was, in many ways, the brother Thunderball never had, closer than the family he had sought to escape. When ponies spoke in reverent tones about the bonds of camaraderie that soldiers developed with one another, Thunderball thought of Skyfall. "Hey Apple Bloom! Time to head on home!" a familiar voice called. Thunderball turned his head to see Applejack walking into the park. "Well, lookie here! Fancy meeting you again, Thunderball." "Princess Twilight gave me the afternoon off, so I thought I'd spend it in the park, relaxing," Thunderball replied politely. "Not that I got much of that done with Rainbow Dash around, but I tried." Rainbow ruffled her feathers in mock outrage. "Come on, I know you enjoyed that race as much as I did, Ok, maybe not as much as I did, but I saw you smiling." Thunderball quickly turned his back to her. "I did no such thing." Applejack walked around Thunderball so she could come face to face with Rainbow Dash. "So RD, how about you join us for dinner? I bet you could eat like a horse after all that!" "Ooh! What'll we be having, apples?" Rainbow licked her lips. "Can I count on some pie?" Scootaloo tugged on Rainbow’s feathers to get her attention. "But Rainbow Dash! You said you'd spend the evening with me!" Applejack gave Scootaloo a pat on the head. "Aw, don't you fret, Scootaloo. You and Sweetie Belle are invited too. The more the merrier, right?" The sound of the fillies cheering just barely drowned out the dull clunk of Thunderball's ironclad hooves hitting his forehead.