//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Open Fire 
// Story: Terminus 
// by BaroqueNexus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4: Open Fire


“So...what do we do now?”
Shining Armor sighed, his brow bathed in sweat and dirt, his jacket and shirt sullied. “I don’t know. I mean...Cadance, but…”
“Ah still say we should go back!” Applejack cried out indignantly. “Maybe Pinkie Pie made it out. Maybe she—”
“She’s dead, Applejack,” Rainbow Dash said, limping and wincing. “She didn’t make it out.”
“Now how the heck do ya figure that? She coulda gotten out, maybe…”
As she trailed off, her face gave her away. Even she didn’t believe what she was saying. 
They were walking down Westhoof Street in Ardennes Village, barely a mile away from what was left of the Horseland Tunnel. Though the streets were empty, the night was alive with the sounds of emergency sirens, helicopter blades, and—
“Gunfire?”
Blu Badge, who had tagged along with them, listened closely as loud bangs echoed through the air. “No. That’s heavier stuff.” 
Shining Armor’s eyes widened. “You don’t mean—”
“Artillery rounds.”
Rarity cocked her head. “How do you know this, Officer Badge?” 
“My brother’s in the QDF,” Blu Badge answered. “I learned a thing or two from him before joining the force. And Blu is fine, Miss Rarity.”
Fluttershy shivered as the artillery fire continued. “It sounds close.”
“Yeah.”
“What do ya think they’re shootin’ at?”
“No idea.”
Blu Badge wiped his brow. He’d lost his officer cap in the tunnel collapse, and his snowy-white mane was matted and thick with grime. “Sounds like they’re using HMO.”
“HMO?”
“Heavy Magic Ordinance. Unicorn magic at its deadliest.”
Applejack looked at him uncomfortably. “Officer Badge, ah don’t mean to be rude or nothin’, but are ya sure ya shouldn’t be helpin’ any o’ these ponies ’round here? There’s gotta be more hurt ’n all…”
“My job is to serve and protect. I’ve served you and now I’m protecting you. Well, as best as I can, given the circumstances.”
“But…”
“We all appreciate it, Officer Badge,” Twilight interrupted. “Thank you.” 
“All in a day’s work, ma’am.” 
They walked in silence out of Ardennes Village, exiting onto Halifax Avenue. As they made their way down the deserted streets, the artillery fire seemed to lessen and the ground shook momentarily. The sirens continued to blare and blend together like a loud, annoying symphony. After a few minutes, Rainbow Dash winced and broke the silence.
“So what’s going on? Why’d the tunnel collapse? Do you know what’s happening, Blu?”
Blu Badge sighed again. “No, I don’t. Nopony does.”
“What?!” they all exclaimed. Blu Badge bristled. 
“I don’t know, okay? The MFRA said at first that it was an earthquake, but then I heard about the Statue of Freedom, and...well…” 
“Well, what?” Rarity asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Blu Badge wiped his brow again. “I was up ahead in the tunnel trying to direct traffic, when I felt something hit the tunnel walls. And...well, I saw it. I saw something crash through the concrete like it was tissue paper.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Shining Armor asked.
“I mean that the tunnel didn’t just collapse by itself. Something destroyed it. And whatever it was, they think it also destroyed the Statue of Freedom.”
“So it wasn’t an earthquake?” Twilight asked. 
Blu Badge shook his head. “No. It wasn't.”
“Hang on,” Rainbow Dash cut in, resting on the sidewalk as they all stopped to catch their breath. “What did you see in the tunnel? Before it collapsed, I mean.”
He turned to look at her, his eyes dogged with exhaustion. “Something big. Something alive.”
They stared at him in shock and horror as an eerie quiet settled over the street, broken only by the continuous sounds of sirens in the distance. For a few minutes, none of them said anything, until Fluttershy began to cry again. Rarity tried to comfort her as Twilight and Shining Armor confronted Blu Badge.
“What do you mean, alive?”
“What do you think I mean?” Blu Badge replied. “It was alive. I saw it smash through the tunnel. Whatever it was, it was big. Really big. And I think it had scales.”
“Like a sea dragon?” Twilight said. 
Blu Badge shook his head. “No. Something else. Something worse.”
“Well, what?" Shining Armor demanded, stamping his hoof in frustration. Blu Badge took a step back.
“I don’t know! All I know is what I saw, and I don’t even know exactly what it was I saw. And…” He checked his walkie-talkie, but all he heard was static. “Damn it. I thought that might happen.”
“What?”
“Communication blackout,” the officer replied. “With so many ponies trying to call for help and so many officers spread out over the city, I guess the comms got overloaded.”
“But wait,” Twilight said suddenly, “can’t you use your instant communication spell, Shining Armor?”
Shining Armor frowned. “I don’t know. I tried a little while ago, but got nothing from Cadance. The spell makes my head really hurt. I don’t know if I want to try it again.”
“Then what th’ heck do we do?” Applejack said again, her voice laden with fear and frustration. “We can’t stay here. We gotta find someplace safe!”
“We will,” Shining Armor answered. “We’ll get onto Bridleway and follow the trolley line. Then we can find Cadance and get out of here.”
Blu Badge nodded. “If we’re on Halifax Avenue now, I think I know a route we can take to get to Bridleway.”
“Okay then. Let’s go.”
Shining Armor started down the street, but Twilight ran in front of him and spoke up. “Shining Armor, stop. We need to come up with a plan.”
“We have a plan, Twily. Find Cadance and go home.”
“And what if we don’t find Cadance?” Twilight snapped. “What if something else happens while we’re out here, and more ponies get hurt? Pinkie Pie is dead, for Celestia’s sake! And look at Rainbow Dash! She needs help!”
“No…” the pegasus said weakly. “I’m fine…”
“You’re not fine. You’re hurt badly and you need medical attention.” Twilight turned back to her brother. “Shining Armor, I want to find Cadance as much as you do. But we can’t just go rushing through the city without some idea of what we’re going to do in case things go wrong again.”
Shining Armor gritted his teeth, trying his best not to yell. He knew his sister was right, and it infuriated him to no end. After a few moments he started to breath normally, his eyes losing their glimmer of rage as he hung his head sadly. 
“Okay, Twily. But what do we do, then? We’re in the middle of the city with no way of contacting anypony. Blu Badge’s radio won’t work and I can’t get any word from Cadance via magic.”
Twilight frowned. “If Spike were here I’d be able to send a letter to Princess Celestia.”
“I don’t know if there’s anything Celestia would be able to do here, Miss Twilight,” Blu Badge said, taking out his flashlight and shining it up and down the dimly-lit street. “I mean this isn’t the kind of—ah, damn it.”
The others gasped. Almost every store on either side of the street had been vandalized. The windows were all broken, with broken glass strewn everywhere. The remains of store goods and other debris lay scattered across the pavement. A light pole had collapsed, tearing into the awning above a fruit stand. It looked like a war zone.
Blu Badge cursed under his breath. “Looters. Son of a parasprite.” 
Fluttershy cringed at the officer’s swearing as Shining Armor looked around forlornly. “Already? Do these ponies have any sense of decency?”
“You’d be surprised how much ponies change when they feel their lives are in danger,” Blu Badge muttered, carefully examining some of the broken glass. “Watch your step.”
“Are we still on Halifax Avenue?” Rarity asked, looking around. 
Twilight nodded. “Yes. Do you know how far Bridleway is from here, Blu?” 
The officer looked up and pointed north. “Several blocks in that direction, I think. I can help you get there to rescue your wife, Shining Armor. But I can’t guarantee everypony’s safety. I’m not sure I can protect you all.”
“Hang on, ah I thought ya said that ya were gonna protect us!” Applejack said indignantly. “Now yer saying ya ain’t gonna?”
Blu Badge turned to look at her, his face lined with exhaustion and latent fear. “I am going to protect you. I’ll protect anypony we find. But whatever it is that’s causing this mess, it destroyed Tribucka, the Statue of Freedom, and the damn Horseland Tunnel. If we come across it, whatever it is…” He paused, gulping and looking away. “I won’t be enough.”
Deafening silence settled over them. The shaking and gunfire had ceased, and even the sirens now seemed muted. Rainbow Dash shifted on her hooves, moaning softly as Applejack tried to comfort her. Fluttershy hiccupped as she tried not to cry again. Rarity sat on her rump, ignoring the broken glass, a blank expression on her face. As the sounds of the night began to fill their ears again, Twilight stepped forward and looked Blu Badge in the eye.
“Thank you, Officer Badge,” she said with genuine warmth, extending her hoof. “I know I already thanked you, but honestly I can’t thank you enough. Your service means so much to us. Without you, we might have all died in that tunnel. We owe you our lives. I’d say you’ve done a good job of protecting us so far.”
At this, Blu Badge blushed and smiled for the first time that night, albeit awkwardly. “Gee, er...well, it’s my pleasure, Miss Twilight. Thank you as well.” After a minute or so, he cleared his throat. “Okay, then. What’s the plan?”
“Find Cadance and get the heck out of here,” Shining Armor replied quickly.
“And if we run into trouble?” Rarity asked, snapping out of her funk.
“We run. I don’t care where to, we just run.”
“I’m...not running…” Rainbow Dash said, but Applejack shushed her.
“Yer stickin’ with us, sugar cube. We’re in this together, and ah ain’t leavin’ you. Nopony is.” 
“Alright then,” Blu Badge said. “We find Princess Cadance and then get off the island. If anything bad happens, we run with our tails between our legs. Great plan.” 
“You got a better one?” Shining Armor countered, cocking an eyebrow. Blu Badge looked away, blushing again. Shining Armor then turned to the rest of the group. “Okay. Everypony good?” 
Though none of them felt good in the slightest, they all nodded, and Shining Armor gave a half-smile. “Then let’s get going.”
And so they set off down Halifax Avenue, drawing closer to Bridleway with every step.


* * *


The streetlights were flickering on Bullion Boulevard as the group walked on the trash-littered sidewalk. The night was still alive with the sound of sirens and the occasional burst of gunfire. But the group was growing even more nervous, in light of Shining Armor and Blu Badge confirming that the gunfire was, in fact, getting closer. 
“How close, ya think?” Applejack asked the officer, looking around uncomfortably. 
Blu Badge strained to listen at the crackles and bursts. “Too close. There’s the rumbling, too. If you’re all gonna make it to Bridleway, you might wanna go a different path.”
“Does that mean you’re abandoning us?” Fluttershy said quietly. 
Blu shook his head and smiled. “Absolutely not. Like I said, protect and serve. And who better to protect and serve than members of the Royal Family!”
Twilight blushed, but Shining Armor did not seem to share the sentiment. “Look, sir, we appreciate the fact that you saved Rainbow Dash, but don’t you think it’s—”
RRRRAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!
One block down the street, a building collapsed in a pillowing cloud of dust and smoke, and from it emerged a large, dark shape that was partially masked by the dust. The group stared in horror as the shape seemed to looked up at the moonless sky, and another ear-piercing roar rattled the night, loud enough to shatter the storefront windows. A fireball blossomed as another building went down, and for a brief moment, in the light of the fire, they saw something moving among the dust clouds. The fireball dissipated before they could get a good look at it, and just as they all managed to snap out of their terror-induced stupor, somepony cried out behind them.
“OPEN FIRE!”
Suddenly a hail of magical bolts flew over their heads, smashing into the thing in the clouds with bursts of multicolored energy. They whipped their heads around and saw black-camouflaged QDF soldiers moving swiftly down the street, their weapons pointed high and blasting. The blinding light momentarily confused the group, until one of the soldiers shouted and waved with his hoof for them to move out of the way. They were all too happy to comply, ducking behind abandoned carriages on either side of the street.
All except one.
Applejack screamed and pointed from behind the carriage. Several of the soldiers were tripping over something that was lying in the middle of the road. Horror struck them as they realized that it wasn’t something, but somepony. It was Rainbow Dash, lying in a heap on the asphalt. The soldiers were trying to avoid her as best as they could, but some of them, too focused on shooting the thing in the clouds, kept tripping and trampling over her.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight screamed, desperately scrambling from underneath the carriage. Shining Armor yelled in protest and pulled her back just as more QDF soldiers made their way past them, firing at will. More smoke and dust filled the air, but the only thing Twilight could see was her beloved friend being stepped on carelessly by the soldiers. Tears rolled down Twilight’s cheeks as she and Shining Armor clung to one another, while Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity cowered in fear on the other side of the street. Blu Badge was nowhere to be seen. Another roar ripped through the air as more and more soldiers fired, lighting up the sky like a Hearth’s Warming Eve tree. An explosion followed the roar, and then another. Neither Shining Armor nor Twilight could see what was going on, as they had their eyes closed and heads covered to protect themselves from the falling debris. But as the gunfire seemed to momentarily subside, Twilight opened her eyes and gasped. 
A soldier was standing over her, dressed from head to hoof in black camouflage. His face was hidden behind a black gas mask. In his hooves he held Rainbow Dash, limp and bleeding with bruises all over her body. Her wings were askew and she was covered in ash and grime. Her eyes rolled lazily in their sockets as dirty drool leaked from her mouth. The soldier bent down and placed her in front of Twilight and Shining Armor. While Twilight pulled her friend in behind the cover of the taxi carriage, Shining Armor looked up at the soldier. Though his face was covered, he could see the soldier’s eyes behind the plastic lens of the gas mask. They were bright blue, bloodshot, and wide with fear. Shining Armor wanted to thank him, but as soon as Twilight settled Rainbow Dash into proper cover, the soldier grabbed his shoulder.
“Stay here and keep your head down!” he shouted, his voice muffled from the mask and just barely audible over the chaos unfolding around them. Shining Armor gulped, nodded, and hugged Twilight tightly, who in turn wrapped her hooves around Rainbow Dash.
The soldier stood up, took a step back, and then suddenly looked up. For a final moment, he stood there on the street, frozen like an action figure with his eyes to the sky. Then the world seemed to turn upside down as something huge slammed into the ground and crushed him, kicking up blinding clouds of dust and bits of asphalt. Twilight and Shining Armor screamed, the latter covering her and Rainbow Dash with his body to shield them from the debris. After several agonizing seconds, Twilight opened her eyes and coughed, still sandwiched between her brother and Rainbow Dash. But she had a clear view of the street, or what was left of it, and her eyes widened as the dust began to settle, revealing a truly horrible sight in front of her.
Where the gas-masked soldier had been moments before, there was now a gargantuan foot. The foot was gigantic, covered in chipped black scales and ending five sharp talons, like the foot of a dragon. As more dust settled, Twilight saw that the foot was attached to an even bigger leg, bulging with muscle and curved like that of a reptile. Another leg emerged from the smoke and slammed into the other side of the street, mere inches away from where Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack were hunkered down. Shining Armor opened his eyes just as another roar tore through the air, right over his head. The sound nearly burst their eardrums and shook the few remaining unbroken windows around them. The other soldier ponies began to shout frantically and fire their weapons in all directions, just as the two legs seemed to kneel and an even bigger shape emerged from the smoke. Twilight and Shining Armor saw it for only a fraction of a second: the colossal body of a monstrous creature, covered in black scales with a bloated, disfigured face. But then the dust and smoke kicked up again as the creature lifted its legs and disappeared, smashing through a nearby building. Debris flew everywhere as they cried out again, shielding each other as their lungs filled with smoke, their eyes burned from the dust, and their bodies shook as they were pelted and smacked with bits of wood, concrete, and glass. 
Several minutes passed, an eternity too long for the cowering ponies on the side of the street. The gunfire had stopped, and all was eerily quiet. Twilight and Shining Armor slowly opened their eyes again, coughing and panting as the dust finally began to clear. Twilight stood up, brushing herself off. Her mane was filled with wood chips and flecks of paint, and her body was bruised and covered in ash and dirt. She looked around and caught sight of Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity on the other side of the street, all coughing and trying to stand up. Shining Armor also got up and stepped out onto the broken road, just as a stallion popped up from behind an overturned newspaper stand. It was Blu Badge, his uniform grimy and his brow glistening with sweat. Slowly, they all convened in the middle of the street, with the exception of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. Nopony said anything, not until Twilight called out behind them. 
“We need to get her to a hospital!” 
They turned around to see her cradling a broken, beaten Rainbow Dash in her hooves. For a moment, they all stood in stunned silence. Finally Shining Armor turned to Blu Badge.
“Hospital. Yeah, we need a hospital. Do you know where one is?” 
Blu Badge seemed to be having a harder time collecting himself than Shining Armor, but soon shook his head free of dust and blinked to attention. “Um, a hospital...I think there’s a hospital not too far from here, on Neighville Avenue.” He pointed north. “Just down there, I think.” 
“You think?” Shining Armor repeated. 
Blu Badge shrugged uncomfortably. “Yeah, I think. Sorry, it’s just...yeah, there’s a hospital on Neighville Avenue. You’re going to take Rainbow Dash there?” 
They nodded. “We have to,” Twilight said, still holding Rainbow Dash behind the carriage. “She needs help. She’s hurt bad.” 
“Oh no,” Fluttershy whispered, tears welling in her eyes. Rarity comforted her with a hug as the others looked around awkwardly. Shining Armor sighed. 
“Okay,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “We’ll get Rainbow Dash to the hospital, then we’ll find Cadance. Is everypony else okay?” 
Thought they were far from okay, everypony slowly nodded. Shining Armor took one last look at the destroyed street, then turned back to the others. 
“Let’s get going, then. I can carry Rainbow Dash on my back, and maybe we can find something else to stop her bleeding. We should—”
“Now hang on just a darn tootin’ minute!” Applejack snapped. “Ain’t none o’ y’all gonna talk about what the flippin’ heck just happened? What in Equestria was that thing?”
Several seconds passed in silence. In the distance, more sirens echoed up and down the city streets. A fire had broken out in a grocery store just down the road from where they stood, throwing oily smoke into the air. But they could do little else than stand there in shock and awe, trying to remember what they had seen, yet at the same time trying to forget. 
“I don’t know, Applejack.” Shining Armor said, his voice quiet and uncertain. “I don’t know.”