Chapter 3: Visitors
Shining Armor moved quickly down the hall, determined to find the pony he was after. It had been a full week since he had been informed about the barrier's weakened state. Since then the pegasus, Gale, had not had success in redirecting its power. But Shining was not looking for Gale. He was looking for the most unpleasant pony he knew. In the back of his mind he knew he should have anticipated Storm Hammer not to follow the orders given to him. This was yet another thing about him that annoyed Shining Armor. Storm Hammer always liked to be in charge of things and he would frequently manipulate his orders for what he though would be beneficial.
Finally Shining turned down a corridor and found him conversing with another pony. He angrily marched right up to him.
"Storm Hammer, I need to talk with you." He said sternly.
Storm Hammer, in complete disrespect, held a hoof up to Shining's face. "Just a sec, I'm talking to someone."
Shining's blood boiled. Ten years ago he might have ignored it, but certainly not now. Over the years he had grown intolerant of insolence "NOW!" He shouted. The level authority in his voice was rarely heard as he usually tried to keep a level head.
Storm Hammer sighed and turned to the pony. "We'll talk late-" Shining put a hoof on his shoulder and pulled back hard. Storm hammer spun around and was slammed into the wall.
Storm Hammer laughed trying to hide his nervousness. Shining Armor held him in place against the wall with a hoof pushed against his neck. "I've been told that you gave the humans in Europe kill orders." He said angrily.
"I did." Storm Hammer groaned. He was trying to keep his composure under Shining's hold.
"Why would you do that?!" He barked back. "Those weren't your orders."
Storm Hammer finally pushed the hoof away from him and fell to the floor. "You truly do baffle me, Shining Armor." He said calmly once he caught his breath. "How could someone as talented and sharp-minded as you be remain so blind of our situation? I gave the kill orders because they were necessary."
Shining shook his head in disagreement. "It was never necessary to massacre entire settlements of converts."
"Oh really?!" Storm Hammer jumped. "You've seen the data on the humans in Atlanta, you know how big their numbers already are AND how much they increase everyday! You said it yourself, the only way to stop it from rising is to cut off ponies from leaving settlements. Thats exactly what I'm trying to do!"
"I never meant killing any ponies who wanted to leave. You knew that." Shining said.
Storm Hammer was sounding frantic now. "Fine! While you wait to find another way to stop ponies from leaving, the barrier gets weaker by the day!"
Shining Armor hesitated to respond at the mention of the weakened barrier. "How had he found out? Did Gale tell him as well?" He asked himself. Storm Hammer noticed his pause.
"Oh yeah I know all about that! How long was it going to be before you informed the rest of us of that the only thing separating Equestria from thousands of angry humans is a couple hundred miles of water?"
Shining stammer for a moment, not knowing how to respond. He held up a hoof to try and ease him. "The humans don't know about it and Gale is working on a fix."
"Just how long do you think that will last?!" He said wildly. "Those humans in Atlanta WILL find out eventually and when they do they are going to crash onto Equestrian shores like a tidal wave." Storm Hammer looked away as he sighed heavily. "We will all have to pay for what we've done to them."
"Not me!" Shining snapped quickly. "I've done nothing to the humans. I never wanted anything to do with them in the first place."
Storm Hammer quickly looked back and forth desperately trying to find something that would get Shining on his side. After a while he had something. "And what about Twilight?" He asked. Shining's face turned gray at the mention of his sister. One look and Storm Hammer knew he had him. "Yes what about Twilight Sparkle? They tried to kill her once, Shining. If those humans make it to Equestria they will be looking to finish what they started. You know that"
Shining was conflicted. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of killing humans, but he would do anything to protect his sister. "What do you propose we do about it? He asked quietly.
"For the moment I know of one thing." Storm Hammer said quickly as if he had been waiting for this moment. "Any stand against the humans would be hopeless with our current weapons, so I'll need you to be on my side in the upcoming council meeting."
Shining raised an eyebrow. "On your side about what?" He said skeptically.
"We are in desperate need of a complete defense overhaul and I need you to be with me when I propose my new weapons to the council."
"What new weapons?" Shining Asked confused.
Storm Hammer sighed. "Follow me to my warehouse. There are some things you need to see."
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Matt kept running for his life down the dimly lit corridor. He knew his pursuer could not be far behind. Sure enough he heard the quick noise of hooves close behind him. When he turned left down another hallway is when he was spoken to again.
"Matthew, where are you going?" The voice sounded like two combined together. One was the soft voice of a woman who sounded sad that he was leaving. The other sounded like a demon who would rip him to shreds if they caught up. The combination sounded so horrible to Matt that he used all his strength to go faster.
"You can never leave me, Matthew." They said again sounding much closer. "I've almost got you, Matthew."
Matt screamed and kept going. When he went down another hallway, he swore he could feel a hoof on his shoulder. He yelped and brushed it of quickly, but when he turned around there was nothing there.
Matt flew back as he ran into what he though was a wall. However as the light slowly increased he could see the giant light pink legs of his old overseer. She leaned her giant face right against his and in a voice that was all demon spoke. "You'll never escape me!"
Matt sat straight up on his mattress. He was breathing heavily and was drenched in sweat. He looked around quickly making sure he was still where he ought to be. When he saw a few more rows of mattresses all occupied with humans he sighed in relief.
"Just a fucking dream." He said to himself as he stood up and stretched. There was no way he was going back to sleep. He cautiously stepped over dozens upon dozens of mattress that were spread unevenly throughout the closed hanger. When he finally made it, he slipped through one of the back doors and started his walk in the night air.
There were a few sharpshooters keeping watch in high places, but once he waved and identified who he was to them, he continued walking towards one of the runways.
It had been seven days since they attacked the base and since then, much had changed. There was much work to be done and the first three days were spent just to get the power back on.
The number of humans on the base had steadily risen to just over 400 people. An empty hangar had been accommodated for sleeping and eating.
Matt continued onto the now clear runway. It had been two days of hard labor clearing it of rubble, but now Matt looked over it, proud of what he and others had accomplished in a such short time.
As he continued his walk down the runway, he took a look inside around another hangar. Rows of UH-60 Black Hawks were outside while, to Matt, the more interesting things were inside the structure.
Ducted fan VTOLs gathered dust as they sat unused for years. Seeing them, Matt thought back to more than a decade ago when Equestria first rose from the sea. The U.S. had no idea what to expect, so in response they beefed up their forces on all on their east coast bases- even the reserve ones. There were four that were much more well armed than the other. Rebecca identified them to him as AV-28 Wasps. The other ten had a wider body and was less armed. She said they were UV-36 Night Owls. A bunch of converted military pilots had come to the base and confirmed they could fly them.
As soon as Matt stepped away from the hangar, he could hear a noise far in the distance. He turned around until he was able to pinpoint the direction on the noise. He looked west as the the sun started to rise behind him.
As the noise grew louder and louder, Matt couldn't believe his ears. It had been years since he had heard it. The snipers were as dumbfounded as he was. They shouted and talked back and forth through radios as it grew louder.
Suddenly, Matt saw the source of the unmistakable sound. Two large helicopters came into view from the west. More and more people, including Hudd and Jacob began shuffling out of the hangar as the sound of the helis woke them.
"Hey Rebbeca!" Hudd called. She slowly came outside, still obviously very tired. "Can you tell what those are?" He asked.
The Helicopters were heading over the runway now and had greatly reduced their speed. Now that they were closer they looked so fat and heavy to Matt that he couldn't understand how they were able to fly at all. As the gray crafts began circling the runway Matt could see a red star near one the tail rotors.
People nervously raised their weapons. They talked back and forth with each, unsure of what to do.
"Hold your fire!" Hudd shouted, though he too had a rifle out.
"Holy shit." Rebbeca said wiping her eyes.
"What is it?" Hudd asked anxiously. As the gray crafts began circling the runway Matt could see a red star near one the tail rotors.
"Those are Mi- 26s." She said with fear in her voice. "Those are Russian helicopters."