//------------------------------// // Repercussions // Story: Godzilla in Equestria // by Algernon97 //------------------------------// EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, COMMAND TENT 4 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 1900 HOURS The three generals sat around the small table in the center of the tent. Patter sat on the right, West Point at the center, and the white unicorn on the left. A pegasus with a blood-soaked back stood in front of them, finishing his report. When he was done, West Point dismissed him, and he trotted out of the tent. The three generals looked down at the map on the small table, with nopony saying a word for what felt like an eternity. Then, West Point raised her head, looked across the table at the white unicorn, and growled, "Get out." The unicorn looked up, confusion flashing across his face. When he didn't move, West leaned over the table, and yelled in the unicorn's face, "Get out!" The unicorn stumbled backwards, before he ran out of the tent. West sat down at her spot, staring down at the map draped across the table. She closed her eyes. Of the forty-eight pegasi sent out, only two had returned. Just two, out of forty-eight. Every single squadron sent to help deal with the monster, gone in just one hour. And she was the one who gave the order. Not Patter, not the unicorn. She gave the order. She had seen ponies die in action, that was true, but to know that her orders caused the deaths of forty-six ponies, half of which burnt as they fell from the sky... "West?" West Point opened her eyes, and looked over at Patter. She said, "I'm fine, Pat." "You don't look 'fine' to me. If you need to talk abo-" "I said I'm fine, Pat. And that's all there is to say about it. Now," -West rubbed a hoof over her eyes, her voice cracking for an instant- "What can we do to slow th-this thing down?" Patter hesitated, concerned, before turning to the map. He pointed his hoof at a spot near the camp's location. "The eighth artillery's moving as fast as they can . They think they'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. With any luck, they'll be set up and ready by nightfall." "Okay. So, we set them up, use the cannons to take down the monster from a distance? Avoid any more...casualties..." West's voice cracked on the last word. Something started welling up in her eyes. Patter was still focused on the map. He said, "Yeah, that sounds about right. If we do that then..." -Patter looked back up to see West Point wiping tears out of her eyes- "West. Trust me on this, it's better if you just talk about it right now." West Point nodded her head. She said, "O-okay...It's just that...I approved Anguirus. Not you, not...him, me. Even though that idiot came up with it, I...I had the final say on whether or not we used it. And I gave the order that sent them to...to..." West Point broke down. She tried to continue talking, but her sobs made it impossible. She was surprised when Patter hugged her. "West. It's okay." She slowly returned the embrace, crying into the earth pony's uniform. "But-" West was cut off by Patter saying, "But nothing. Listen, this is the first time you've screwed up, right?" "...Yeah..." "And how long have you been a general?" "N-nine years..." "Do you know how many screw-ups I've had in nine years? "No..." "Five, all in the Badlands. I lost twenty five-ponies clearing out caves. It's not good, but this kind of thing just happens." "And how do you deal with it?" Patter hesitated, before he said, "I go out and console the families. I... I don't think you want to do that. It can get...stressful, at times." Both ponies didn't say anything else for a minute or two. Then, after a small hesitation, West said, "...Pat?" "Yeah?" "This... This doesn't leave the tent, okay?" Patter chuckled, and said, "Whatever you say West. Whatever you say." *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MEGAPELL DEVELOPMENT TENT 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0415 HOURS "Red, pass me that sixteenth-by-fourteenth, would you?" "Oh! Uh... Which one's that, again?" Seri looked up to see a now-awake grey earth pony stumbling around the spare parts tables. She sighed, and placed the tools down on the workbench. "Red, that's the third time you've fallen asleep. You sure you don't want to get coffee or something?" "Nah, no, I'm, uh, I'm good. Just need to... Ah ha!" Red pulled a short wrench from the spare parts piles and carried it over to the workbench. He dropped it next to the megaspell. Seri glanced down at the wrench in front of her, looked back up at Red, and said, "Red. This is a fourteenth-by-sixteenth. I asked for a sixteenth-by-fourteenth. Go get some coffee from the mess, will you? Last thing I need is for you to drop something into the megaspell." "Speaking of which, are you going to tell me wha-" "No. Now go get some kusokōhī." "...What?" Red soon found himself magically hurled out of the tent by the one-eyed pink unicorn. Not having anything else to do, Red got up, and trotted the short distance from the megaspell tent to the giant area that the other ponies in the camp called the 'mess'. It was a large field on the edge of the camp, filled with makeshift tables. When he got there, he found only three other ponies in the mess. Of course, Red was far too tired to care about the number of ponies who were eating breakfast. Finding the coffee pot, half-empty thanks to other drowsy ponies, he grabbed one of the small paper cups and filled it to the brim. Carefully holding it in a hoof, he slowly made his way over to a nearby table, and plopped down next to a yellow pegasus. Red took a swig of the bitter, foul-tasting beverage in his cup, before the pegasus to his left said, "Morning, sir." Red stopped drinking, and turned his head to the left. Now fully awake, he finally figured out why the pegasus had been sitting by himself. Bloodshot eyes, a tired, somber expression plastered on his face. And, Red noticed, the pegasus was also missing his right wing, and seemed very focused on an envelope on the table. Red said, "...Morning...Uh...could I ask-" "No." The pegasus' growled at Red. Red took that as his cue to get up, and go back to the megaspell tent. As he entered, he saw that Seri had continued working without him. He trotted back to the workbench, standing on the opposite side from Seri. Even though the mare was secretive, Red found the work to be a nice distraction from thinking about...other things. Except for fetching the tools out of the parts tables. He didn't particularly like that. Seri glanced up at him, and said, "I need a fifteenth-by-thirteenth, Red. Mind finding one for me?" Red Sky groaned, before trotting over to the tables. This was going to be a fun day... *** EQUESTRIAN MILITARY ENCAMPMENT, MESS AREA 3 DAYS UNTIL DEADLINE 0430 HOURS Sergeant Lucky Strike was not a happy pony. After all, he'd just learned that he would never be able to fly again. Also, everypony he was playing cards with and talking to last night were dead. To top it all off, he'd probably get discharged if he couldn't find a new position quick, since the Air Corps didn't have much use for a flightless pegasus. Come to think of it, not many places in Equestria had a use for flightless pegasi. Perhaps he could take up farming. That'd be relatively peaceful... Lucky looked down at the wire necklace on the table. The captain had left him these tags, and Lucky was pretty sure he knew why. He checked the small print on the metal tag once more: Ironclad, Captain... Fillydelphia... A street address, and...that was it. Nothing about the next of kin, so he'd have to find that out when he got there. He pushed the metal tag to the side for a moment, focusing on the envelope next to it. The letter had arrived in the middle of the night, right after Lucky had discovered his itching wing no longer existed. The letter was from Hollow Shades. His home. He hadn't really thought about what the attack on the town meant. He knew it might be bad, but he simply had to assume that his family made it out okay. He needed to, because thinking about his family got him through that giant screw-up of a mission. Heck, for a moment after he realized he'd lost his wing, he'd thought about how his family would react. Ember would probably think it was 'cool', or 'awesome', little guy always liked that kind of thing. Rose, tiny little foal she was, she'd probably say how gross it was...right before she poked the little nub on Lucky's back. And Pinewood... Well, Piney would probably slap him for scaring her to death, and then kiss him because he made it back. And then the letter had arrived. Lucky flipped the envelope over in his hooves, considering what it would contain. When a pony in this situation got a letter from a devastated town, it meant one of two things: One, his or her family was alive and well, and had sent a 'wish you were here' card. Or, two, there was a somber letter that started with 'We regret to inform you that...', and only went downhill from there. Lucky hadn't opened the letter since he got it over six and a half hours ago. He didn't want to know what was in the envelope. But at the same time, he had to know. Lucky tried to steel himself for what might be in the envelope on the table. He ripped the top of the envelope off, and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. His ears folded back, and his eyes grew wide. Piney knew about the card and letter 'system'. Lucky had explained it to her very well before he shipped out. She promised him that no matter what, she'd always send the silliest card she could find. But if there was no card... "Oh no... Please, Goddesses, no..." Lucky muttered under his breath. He moved quickly, almost ripping the parchment in half as he unfolded it. He eyes sped across the letter, reading as fast as they could. Lucky read it again, trying to make sure he wasn't misreading the content. The letter fell from Lucky's hooves. His head crashed into the makeshift table, hooves folding around his head. First his wings, then his friends, and now... Lucky Strike sobbed into his hooves. He cursed the cruel joke he had for a name. He cursed the generals for coming up with that stupid plan. But most of all, he cursed that abomination for destroying everything he loved. And he swore that, no matter what, he'd see it die.