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// 1.2 South Carolina on My Mind 
// Story: My Little Pony: Northern Aggression 
// by A. Tuesday 
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	The boom was so loud, it deafened Rainbow Dash for a time. For a couple moments, she could hear nothing but the ringing of her ears.
But, the noise was something Rainbow wasn’t concentrating on – it was more the instant, hard fall she had just taken – like as if she had fallen 50 feet, even though she had barely fallen.
Her eyes remained squeezed shut, in an attempt to soothe to horrible pain in both her ears and her entire body. The ground, which she had expected to be soft grass, wasn’t helping out either. It was this hard, cold, rocky material – individual pieces of rock stabbed into her fur.
She huddled in the fetal position, which is how she’d been since she’d created the Rainboom and teleported. The sound began to come back to her, gradually – the ringing faded away, only to be replaced by the booming. As if the firework was just continuous, and there were more of them.
What the - ? Those fireworks aren’t supposed to last that long…and just how many do they have?
“Ah! What the hell - ?”
Dash’s eyes snapped open at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, an only moderately low tone, but one she didn’t think she’d ever heard before. This, as she soon found out in shock and terror, was a correct assumption.
The…thing standing before her was as tall as two of the pegasus stacked atop each other, and then some. It was bipedal, kind of like Spike, but this was no Spike. It wore a navy blue uniform, complete with gold buttons down the front and on a cap it was wearing. No, fur either – the only fur that Rainbow could see was on its face, or what she imagined was its face. There was a bit of stubble around its mouth, just under its equally shocked eyes.
Of course, the usually-cocky pony didn’t just see that either. She also saw the inside of some sort of tube, pointed directly at her face – the thing gripped a larger part of it, white-knuckled, like he was going to squeeze something. Rainbow thought she had seen something at least slightly similar back in Equestria…she couldn’t put her tongue on it.
“Hey, hey – somebody! Get down here now! We’ve got a – a – a situation!”
The thing’s unsteady, shaky voice interrupted her thoughts, and made Rainbow shiver, even though it was fairly warm here. Still keeping her eyes trained on the thing, she waited until it looked like it had turned around then looked behind her, to see if any of her friends were nearby.
Sure enough, there was Applejack and Twilight, just lying there – unconscious. They couldn’t handle the initial explosion. Of all the times to be a pansy – now?
She poked her farmpony friend with an unsteady hoof, but nothing resulted. Same for the unicorn behind her.
“It’s moving! Come see!”
Rainbow’s had snapped back around, only to see the thing back, less shaky, with some others like it approaching from behind, still unaware of the pegasus’s presence.
“…I swear, Ephrams, I think you’ve been hitting the bottle too much,” one of them jokingly said as they approached the thing in front of her, not aware of Rainbow just yet, “I mean, a Martian? Really?”
“I don’t know what else to call them!” exclaimed the one named Ephrams, “Here, come look!”
“Them?” asked the one talking earlier, “There’s more of them n – Jesus Christ!”
The other things finally caught sight of the pegasus and her two friends. Her friends remained knocked, out cold, leaving a wide-eyed Rainbow to deal with the newfound things.
What do I – I don’t – Are they going to…?
Dash found she was at a complete loss of thoughts, and words. She was amazed that they spoke the same language, but didn’t want to jeopardize anything right now, considering most of them had their…weapons, she supposed, pointed at them.
“W-what are they?”
“I haven’t the slightest notion. I’m guessin’ Martians.”
“Sure this isn’t a Confederate thing?”
“Goddamn it man – when the hell would Confederate’s get their hands on a Martian?”
“They kind of look like horses…well, sort of.”
“Like a 5-year old drew on one of those Greek vases or somethin’.”
“Well, what do we do with ‘em?”
They looked amongst each other, as if one of them was going to put forward a constructive answer – none of them did anything of the sort.
Rainbow heard a groan behind her, causing the things to tense up even more, shaking all the while. She felt one of her friends moving behind her, and judging by distance, it was Applejack.
“Wow,” commented AJ, unaware of the things, “That sure was a mighty big explosion.”
“AHH!”
AJ turned around quickly, seeing the things who were frightened as anything.
“They can talk!”
“And…they speak English!”
“What the hell? Didn’t know Martians could speak English.”
“Listen to it talk…its accent…you don’t think maybe…”
“Confederate? Well…actually, I don’t know. That is one hell of a Southern accent, though.”
In fear, AJ leaned towards Rainbow, and whispered in her ear, “Rainbow – what are these things?”
“I…I don’t know,” she whispered back.
The things couldn’t do anything; weapons pointed, not moving or speaking. With slow movements, Applejack reached over to Twilight and gently shook her shoulder. She finally awoke. “Ow, my head….”
“They all talk!” one of the things cried.
“Huh? Who said that?” Twilight turned around to face the uniformed group, and, unlike everyone else in the room, was more puzzled than frightened.
The things continued talking amongst themselves, as if the ponies couldn’t hear.
“Is…is that a unicorn?”
“I…I don’t know. That other one is a pegasus, I think.”
“Great. First, we’re trapped in this hellhole, now this happens. This day has just gone to – “
Twilight, the pony that she was, used the period of confusion to negotiate somewhat. “Um…hello?” she asked, unwarily.
The things stopped talking, and just looked to Twilight. Weapons still pointed, the one named Ephrams replied, “Uh…Hello to you, too.”
“Can – can you, um – can you tell me and my friends where we are? I’m not entirely sure.”
The men looked to one another for answers, but this time looked with a face of disbelief. Ephrams, being their temporary ambassador, spoke for the group. “You’re in…um, Fort Sumter. At not the best of times, either.”
“And…” Twilight cocked her head to the side, more sure of herself, “Why would that be? And where is Fort Sumter?”
“Well, there’s a bit of hostility between us and the Southerners, I’m guessing, so we’ve been – uh, trapped here, for a while. In South Carolina.”
Twilight nodded. “Okay…so, who’s us?”
Ephrams lowered his weapon, and with an eyebrow raised, asked, “Just where are you guys from?”

“So, lemme git this straight – this ain’t in Equestria?”
About a half hour later, another boom shook the fort, and the orange farmpony still couldn't grasp the gravity of the situation. Had it come any earlier, it would’ve drowned out Applejack, who now cringed at the rumble.
Ephrams shrugged. “Well, considering I have no idea where that is, I would say not.”
“AJ, he already told us!” yelled Rainbow, “We aren’t in Equestria anymore. We’re in South Maroflina – “
“South Carolina,” Ephrams corrected.
“Whatever.” The pegasus waved him off with a hoof. “We’re in South Carolina, in some place called America – I’ve never even heard of here! Are we even on the same planet?”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Beats me. Why should I know? I ain’t the one who got us here.”
Dash glared at AJ, and then turned to Twilight, who gave the flier a nervous smile. “You,” said Rainbow coldly, “You got us here.”
“It was an accident, Rainbow!” replied Twilight, “This has never happened before!”
“Guys, guys,” Ephrams attempted, “ – er, ponies – just calm down. Now, I don’t know where you came from, or how you got here, but fighting isn’t going to solve anything.”
Rainbow turned her attention to the soldier. Losing all of the fear she had earlier, she hovered straight up to Ephrams so that she was eye-level. “Oh yeah? Then what are you doing outside these walls?”
Ephrams held up a hand to counter, but, after thinking about it, withdrew his hand, unable to come up with a reply. 
“She does have a point,” noted Twilight.
“Look,” Ephrams said, “I meant that kind of fighting. This,” he pointed to the walls, in the direction of the constant explosions, “is a little different, in case you haven’t noticed.”
As soon as he said that, a greasy, bruised and battered man came stumbling into the room, from the set of steps just outside the opening. “Ephrams,” he panted out, “Ephrams, we need your help outs – what the hell? What are them things?”
“Don’t mind them,” dismissed Ephrams, “What is it?”
“A fire – there’s a fire in the south corner and we need more men to put it out, before it spreads.”
“Another one?” questioned Ephrams. He exhaled, shaking his head. “Alright, let’s take care of it.” Turning to the ponies, “You three stay here. I don’t need anymore commotion out there than there already is.”
He walked off with the soldier who had just come in. The three ponies looked to one another.
“Well?” asked AJ, “What are we gonna do?”
Twilight looked to the ground. “I – I don’t know at this point.”
“Did you hear him?” said Rainbow rather loudly. “A fire! How cool is that?”
“Uh, Dash, I don’t think cool is the right word to describe a fire,” Twilight replied.
“More like dangerous,” noted the orange pony, “Why are there fires, anyway? Is this place that much of a danger?”
The pegasus put a hoof to her chin, thinking. “I think they’re from those guys – whoever’s hurling the cannonballs at us.”
“What?” inquired Applejack, “Why would anypony deliberately start a fire? That might hurt somepony. Or – or even kill them.”
“I – “ the scholarly Twilight began, slowly realizing things, “I think that’s what they’re trying to do.”
The other two ponies just looked at her in shock. “They – they want to hurt these guys? But why?” Rainbow asked, shocked.
“I don’t know,” answered Twilight, “These things are so different than what we usually do – “
“Wait, wait,” interrupted Applejack, “Y’all hear that?”
The three ponies listened. They didn’t hear anything.
Wait, they didn’t hear anything. The usual, constant booms they had heard for the last hour, were now replaced with silence – the fire had ceased.
“Did – “ started Rainbow, “Is it over?”
As an answer, the sound of boots on concrete began to get closer, and Ephrams stepped in. “It’s over,” he said, “We’ve surrendered.”
“Er, Mister Ephrams, what does ‘surrender’ mean?” Applejack asked.
“It means that they gave up,” replied Dash.
“No, no,” Ephrams quickly replied, “It means we’re ending things before someone gets hurt. By some miracle, no one’s died yet, and we aren’t going to last much longer. You three should probably come with me – we’re going to salute the flag before we leave this hellhole.”
He led the way out of the door. The three friends looked to one another, for an answer. Twilight just shrugged and said, “He’s the only one we’re familiar with. If we’re ever going to know what to do, or get time to find out how to get home, it’s best if we do what he says.”
With that, she followed him out of the door, and her two friends reluctantly followed, albeit slowly.

There was talk as the four of them passed by, but they were soon hushed by the commanders. The three Equestrians went red with embarrassment as they walked by, and went back to their original state of scared silence.
Ephrams walked to a spot in the newly formed grid of soldiers, the three ponies standing right in front of him. He leaned down to them, and whispered, “Go over to the side for now – we’re about to honor the flag. It might be a little loud, just warning you.”
Twilight led the way once again, as they stood to the right of the group of soldiers. From here, they could see most of the fort.
The entire place was in shambles. Rubble, destruction everywhere – blackened bits of dilapidated walls and rooms, from where fires had been. There were some other men in leaning over some soldier – they seemed to be wrapping them in bandages, or cleaning them with some sort of washcloth.
Twilight just looked in awe. She had been right – they had been out to hurt, but more likely was that they had been out to kill. But, who was "they"?
Looking over to the right, out on the bay area, a wooden warship floated, docked in the calmish water. A flag waved over the mast, contrasting with the overcast of the day – the design was not entirely unlike that of the one on the flagpole in front of her now, but there were a lot of differences. Was that boat – were they them?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a tall, sturdy man walking back and forth in front of the flagpole on the fort. He spoke with a booming voice, and his words seemed to pierce the hearts of the soldiers.
“Gentlemen,” he began, “It has been an honorable battle. We haven’t lost a single man, and for the past day and a half, we’ve fought bravely and valiantly against our Confederate opposition. But, there comes a time when we must stop.
“Our supplies are almost down to nil, and I don’t want to risk losing a man while we still can. The Confederate general, Beauregard, has graciously allowed us safe passage back to the north. We shall spend the night on that very ship in the distance, the Isabel, before transferring to one of our own. 
“Do not be shamed men – we have done a great honor to our country, in fighting the first battle of this great war. We shall now honor the flag of our country, our homeland, our pride, with a one-hundred gun salute. Drummer, if you would please.”
He motioned towards a smaller soldier, who Twilight guessed must’ve been several years younger than Ephrams or anybody else she’d seen. The soldier began playing the snare drum what hung around his neck, in true military fashion.
“Ready!” exclaimed the soldier at the flagpole.
The grid’s first row, a line of 10 soldiers, reached behind their backs for the thing that had been pointed at Rainbow earlier – a rifle, Ephrams had called it. They pointed it towards the sky.
“Fire!”
The soldiers squeezed the triggers, and the sound was louder than the muffled explosions. Smoke shot out from their guns as a sound as loud, if not louder, than a sonic boom reverberated throughout the fort. Applejack crouched down and covered her ears; Twilight cringed, and Rainbow stood there, although the scholar could see she was suppressing the urge to cover her ears as well.
“Move up!”
Those soldiers split down the middle, and walked around the group until they were in the back row. The next row of soldiers marched up – Ephrams was among them.
“Ready!”
The soldiers took to position. 
“Fire!” 
The sound happened again. Amidst this, Twilight noticed their form of salute to be odd – by shooting whatever was in the rifle towards the air around the flag. Maybe I’ll understand it, she thought. But then again, maybe not.
“Move up!” Marching again. “Ready…Fire!”
Another round of gunfire disrupted the still air. The next row of soldiers lined up.
“Ready!”
They raised their rifles.
“Fire!”
This time, the sound was accompanied by a larger boom, and the lavender unicorn saw a flash of light from the other side of the grid, along with hearing the screams of some soldiers. The entire group looked to that general area, where moaning of pain only got louder.
“The gunpowder!” one screamed, “It ignited!”
“One more!” screamed the commander at the flag. “Ready!”
Through the panic and confusion, ten soldiers managed to line up to do another salute.
“Fire!”
The gunshots fired simultaneously, the sound in unison with a groan of pain from one of the soldiers. The commander walked over to the scene, and, after some silent and mental debate, the three ponies followed him to the scene. The soldiers looked to the ponies, with some shock, but not as much as before- they were focused on whatever happened.
“Out of the way,” commanded the major, and the soldiers stepped aside to give the commander a berth to the carnage. The ponies used this opportunity to see what happened.
White powder was everywhere. There was a massive burn mark on the ground, and several soldiers lied on the ground, either moaning in pain or otherwise unconscious. On close inspection, Twilight saw that some of the soldiers had red liquid seeping through their uniforms, and all over their skin. Blood, recognized Twilight, What happened?
“What happened?” asked the major.
One of the soldiers, who appeared to be a doctor of some kind, looked up from the soldier he was examining. “The salute – it ignited some of the empty cartridges. Or, what we thought was empty. Poor boys never saw it coming.”
“Well, what’s the report?” demanded the commander.
“Mostly injuries,” noted the doctor, “Although this one here’s a little more serious. And…” he looked at the ground, exhaling, “We lost one. Private Hough, I think his name was. Didn’t stand a chance.”
The major hung his head, breathing out deeply. Some of the soldiers did the same, while others looked to each other unsure of what to do.
Twilight was actually shocked. Somebody died?!? 
She looked towards her two friends – Dash simply went wide-eyed, and Applejack had taken off her hat and put it against her chest, like all the other soldiers began to do, including the major.
The commander, after a brief moment of silence, looked up from the ground, placed his hat on his head, and began speaking again. “Men, Private Hough will go on in history as the first casualty of this War with the South. Let us hope there are few others.”
The doctor resumed working, and the men separated, going about their ways, collecting their things, getting ready for the passage.
“He…he died?” asked Twilight to an approaching Ephrams.
“It would appear so. Only a private, too – that man’s soul will go to a better place, after dying for his country. He’ll be there to greet the others, I suppose.
Others? asked Twilight to herself, More people would die?
Just what kind of war was this?
Lost in shock and thought, Applejack interrupted her reverie. “Well, would ya look at that…”
Rainbow looked towards where AJ was looking. “Wait, what? How is that even possible?”
“Guys,” mentioned Twilight, “A soldier just died out here. He died! Not from sickness or anything – from actual weapons! What could be more important than that?”
AJ looked over to Twilight. “I don’ know, Twi’. I ain’t sayin it is really important – but I think what’s on that boat out there is a bit more related to our situation.”
“What are you talking about?” inquired Twilight. She looked out towards the warship anchored in the bay. She squinted, trying to see clearer. “Applejack, I don’t see any –“ She cut herself off mid-sentence.
There, on the deck of the boat, mixed with the grays, greens, and blues of the warship and uniform, was a splotch of pink. Now, Twilight hadn’t been here long, but she could imagine that pink wasn’t really a big thing around here. And, the splotch was moving – more like bouncing.
Bouncing. Only one thing around here would have the eagerness to do that, if they were even here. And, unless Twilight’s eyes deceived her, they were.
There, on the deck of the Isabel, was Pinkie Pie.