//------------------------------// // 29: Endgame part 2, High Score // Story: Fortresshy: The Nine Fathers // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Twilight finished setting up the portable respawner and switched it on. "There we go. It's on." "How do we know it's working?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I hope we don't find out," Twilight replied. "Why's that, sugarcube?" Applejack inquired. "Because the only way we'll know it's working properly is if one of us gets killed and it resurrects us," Twilight replied. Everyone was silent at that. "Not a pleasant thought," Spike said, glancing around at everypony. It was beginning to set in to him that there was a high probability he was going to watch them get killed, only to rise again and again. That he might as well. He shivered, wrapping his arms around himself and rubbing his upper arms. He was surprised as Twilight and Celestia both extended a comforting wing to wrap him in a hug. "Don't worry, Spikey-Wikey," Rarity spoke up. "We'll all be just fine, I'm sure." To give him extra encouragement, she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his forehead. As Spike smiled goofily at that, Discord raised his head over the pile of rocks Twilight had arranged as cover. "Well, I suppose it's time to find out what we're up against." "Discord, get down!" Pinkie whispered frantically. "You can't use your chaos here, remember? That makes you the most vulnerable of all of us!" "Correction," Discord countered, turning his head. "I can't use my chaos-" His words were interrupted by his head exploding, followed by a loud retort. Everyone screamed. Fluttershy stared through her sniper scope, a pleased smile on her face. She had gotten the first kill. However, she paused when she noticed a couple of things. First, the body hadn't fallen over. Second, her scouter - a special gift from Saxton Hale just for her, which tuned into respawner frequencies so she would always get immediate alerts after a successful kill and kept a record of her kill streak (though for some reason she wasn't supposed to tell the other mercs that at no point did it melt into her ear or explode, according to Saxton's note to her) - hadn't registered a kill notification. She then stared in surprise as the head she had just blown apart with her shot reassembled itself. "That ing cheater!" she grumbled, the scouter's auto-censor function using the sound of her cute cheer to block out her angry oath. As always, she couldn't help but giggle. Since discovering that, she had actually started cursing more just because it was too cute to hear. Growling, she retargeted to the large white target. As Discord's head fully reassembled, he concluded, "-outside my body." He rubbed his face between his eyes. "Did that leave a mark? Tell me my beautiful face isn't scarred." Celestia rolled her eyes. "Discord, you are-" Her words were cut off as she fell backward, a small hole between her eyes with a large one in the back of her head under her mane, blood staining the prismatic locks. Both Twilight and Spike screamed in fear. "Get down!" Luna shouted, pulling everyone behind their cover. Fluttershy (headshot) Celestia Fluttershy smiled at that notification on her scouter, momentarily wondering about the name before setting her sniper rifle down. She saw the large blue one pull everyone behind cover, which meant sniping wouldn't be an effective tactic for a while. She carefully moved to where Angel was attached to his brace, taking hold of his handle and trigger as she swung him around towards the outside, awaiting the next target. Behind the cover, Celestia's body glowed before being sucked into the respawner, her body reforming whole. She blinked for a bit before ducking with everyone else. "That was unpleasant," she said mildly, spreading her wings to comfort Twilight and Spike, who had both tackled her in a hug as soon as she had spoken. Seeing as both usual leaders were busy and distracted, Luna quickly took charge. "Rainbow Dash, do a quick reconnaissance flight over that fortress to see what we're up against." "What?" Rainbow asked, shocked. "Why am I the one flying into danger?" "Because you're the only one available other than me who can fly, and you're faster than me," Luna said bluntly. "Besides, you're fast enough to dodge incoming fire, and you have unparalleled flight awareness. You could fly once around the fortress and tell us everything about it. You're the only one who can, we need you." Rainbow couldn't help but preen at Luna's praise and pep talk. "I'm on it!" she said, saluting before taking off. She flew rapidly around the fortress, seeing a lot of weaponry set up but no one manning it. Eventually, however, she came around to the front of the fortress, where she saw movement and flew towards it for a better view. She froze as she approached the figure. While she was different from how she expected with a lot more red than she'd ever seen on her, she recognized that blue eyed gaze easily. "F-Fluttershy?" she called, both in joy and confusion. The last thing she saw was Fluttershy's happy smile before her world went white with pain, and then her mind went blank. Fluttershy (Angel) Rainbow Dash Fluttershy smiled as she watched the bullet riddled body fall, a bit confused as it glowed and was dragged back to the enemy respawner. She felt a slight twinge inside as she read the name. It momentarily felt like she'd done something horrible. However, she brushed that aside, awaiting the next assault. Rainbow Dash was very shaken as she reformed. "Fluttershy..." she said softly. "What about Fluttershy?" Pinkie asked eagerly. "Is she in there? Is she okay? Is she-" "She shot me!" Rainbow yelled out. As everyone stared at her in shock. Pinkie finally spoke up. "I didn't expect that," she said in wonder. "Are you...certain you aren't mistaken, Rainbow Dash?" Rarity asked, shivering. "It doesn't seem like her to-" "I'd know her anywhere!" Rainbow insisted. "I looked her right in the eye, and she smiled at me before pumping my guts full of lead!" "No more detective novels for Rainbow," Twilight, still clinging to Celestia, mumbled. "It sounds like she's brainwashed," Pinkie spoke up. Rainbow only shivered, rubbing her forelegs as she remembered what happened. The feeling of seeing her oldest, best, first friend blow her away like that with a smile would likely haunt her nightmares for a while. "If that's the case," Discord spoke up, "we'll probably have to capture her forcefully, subdue her, and drag her back home with us so we can restore her original persona from under the brainwashing with the spell Twilight used to break my power over all of you." He glanced around. "So which of us is going to punch Fluttershy?" "I'll do it," Rainbow said firmly. She pushed herself to her hooves. "If anyone's going to beat the feathers off Fluttershy, it's going to be me." She took off, heading towards the Fortress. Fluttershy smiled as she saw Rainbow Dash fly back out from cover. She saw her heading straight up to come down at a high angle, to high to target her with Angel. Smiling, she picked up her rocket launcher. One explosion later... Fluttershy (Rocket Launcher) Rainbow Dash She smiled happily, then frowned as she saw the blue Pegasus taking flight from behind the artificial cover again. "Persistent, aren't you?" she cooed. This time, she grabbed her tee ball bat from its holster on her side, bracing herself as her target approached at high speed. At the last moment, she side stepped and swung. Fluttershy (Home Run!) Rainbow Dash She watched the severed head fly through the air before it and the body were once more sucked up by the respawner. Setting down her bat, she lifted out her pan as the mare came in for another dive. Fluttershy (Pan) Rainbow Dash She watched her pancake faced victim fall backwards before once more being sucked into the respawner. Seeing the blur, she sighed as she reached for her knives. Fluttershy (butterfly knife) Rainbow Dash She carefully pulled her knife from the now even more crimson eye. As the body was once more reclaimed by the respawner, she idly wondered why it wasn't leaving bodies behind as she drew the sword she'd borrowed from Boom Daddy. Fluttershy (Eyelander) Rainbow Dash She watched the bisected pony fall as she picked up her shotgun for the next attack. Fluttershy (shotgun) Rainbow Dash As she watched the splattered body fall, she picked up her newest weapon, a cooperative design by Daddiem and Daddenji. It was time to test how it would work, and if it would even work on these targets. As Rainbow Dash flew back towards her, Fluttershy switched her Medigun on in reverse. As the blue light was drawn out of Rainbow's body and into the gun, Rainbow's face showed surprise as she dropped out of the sky, crashing into the wall of the Fortress in a twisting motion as she splattered. Fluttershy (Medi-Drain) Rainbow Dash As Rainbow Dash returned again, Fluttershy held up the other end of the new device and pulled the trigger, releasing a blast of energy that vaporized the approaching Pegasus. Fluttershy (Medirupt) Rainbow Dash Fluttershy watched as the molecules were drawn in in specks of light to the respawner. Setting her weapon down, she picked up what was normally a tool for the next assault. Fluttershy (wrench) Rainbow Dash She pulled out a cloth to wipe the blood from the wrench, but was surprised to see it drawn away by the respawner energy. "Certainly the cleanest battle I've ever been in," she said mildly. She then stuck her backhooves into weighted gloves nearby before bucking backwards into the approaching Pegasus. Fluttershy (double upper-buck) Rainbow Dash Slipping out of the gloves, she reached for a bomb launcher before turning around into what was supposed to be a surprise charge. Fluttershy (head bomb) Rainbow Dash Flutterhsy then turned her turrets on, programming them to fire on an intercept course. As Rainbow Dash flew over the wall for a side on charge, the turrets locked on and fired at point blank. Fluttershy (Turret) Rainbow Dash Lifting up a nozzle hooked to a large pack, she turned and opened the valve, letting the pilot light do its work as her target screamed in the flames. Fluttershy (flamethrower) Rainbow Dash As she saw Rainbow Dash coming up yet again, Fluttershy groaned in frustration. "This is getting old," she said, hurling a knife into the attacker's throat. Fluttershy (knife) Rainbow Dash "Let me kill someone else already!" she groaned in frustration as she leapt out from behind Rainbow at her next charge, driving a knife into her back. Fluttershy (backstab) Rainbow Dash As Rainbow came up for another charge, Fluttershy's anger peaked. Her eyes locked with Rainbow's as she gazed at her with powerful intensity as she flew at top speeds. "Drop," Fluttershy ordered. Rainbow's wings gave out, and she fell out of the sky, her brain blank as she slammed into the Fortress wall again. Fluttershy (Taunt Kill *Stare*) Rainbow Dash Rainbow Dash huddled in on herself after respawning. "How about someone else take her on now?" she whimpered. "Where did Fluttershy of all ponies learn to fight like that?" Rarity wondered, shocked. "And where did she get all those wonderful toys?" Pinkie asked eagerly. "Well, I think it's time I give it a go," Rarity said, swallowing convulsively. Drawing in her magic, she conjured a very small protective shield around herself. "Wish me luck," she said as she walked out of cover. She carefully positioned her shield to deflect each incoming bullet, bomb, or rocket. Halfway to the fortress, however, she saw something glimmering in the ground. "What's this?" she asked, digging it out before gasping. "Look at this dazzling diamond!" she marveled, holding up the large gem. "Why it must be-" Sunlight seemed to focus on the gem before a focused laser beam shot out of it, burning a hole straight through Rarity's head. "A trap," Rarity sighed as she respawned. Fluttershy (Laser Refractor) Rarity Fluttershy grinned happily, making a note to tell Daddenji that the new laser gem traps worked wonderfully, especially when a greedy target lifted the gem to the light to examine its sparkle. "Charge!" a voice yelled out. Fluttershy glanced down and saw an orange pony racing across the ground, only to explode when her hoof came down in the wrong place. Fluttershy (land mine) Applejack Fluttershy giggled to herself. "Gotcha," she said softly. Applejack groaned as she rubbed her head and hoof. "That hurt a lot," she grumbled. She looked up. "Glad the respawner fixed my hat, too, though I don't know why." "I also don't know why the respawner drags your bodies back to it to recreate all of you," Luna commented. "Actually," Twilight spoke up, "I think I've figured that out. It must try to recreate us exactly using ambient matter, but our bodies aren't native to this dimension, so the only ambient matter available to recreate us with...is ourselves." "Convenient," Luna mumbled. "Pinkie, what are you doing?" "Gonna see if my Pinkie Sense can help me get closer!" she said as she bounced happily out from behind cover. Fluttershy watched the approaching pony bounce easily between all the traps and other deterrents she had set up on the approach to the Fortress. She decided it was time to test what she had mixed up with Boom Daddy and Mama. "After all, I'm supposed to be hospitable," she said as she launched the blue iced cupcakes over the wall. "Cupcakes!" the pink pony called out, leaping to catch one with her mouth. Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy smiled, then frowned as she saw the same pony dash out from behind the rocks...only to gobble up another blue iced cupcake. Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie "Maybe I should have baked more than two baker's dozens," Fluttershy mumbled. Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie "Pinkie!" someone shouted from behind the rocks. "Stop eating the cupcakes!" "But Twilight, they're delicious!" Pinkie shouted. "They're like an explosion of flavor in my mouth!" Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie "They are exploding in your mouth!" Twilight shouted back. Fluttershy (cupcake bomb) Pinkie Pie "That's what makes them so good!" Pinkie shouted in reply as she zipped around the field, looking for more. Fluttershy tilted her head. "I don't know whether to be pleased she likes my cooking or concerned about her mental stability." Luna looked around at the group. "We are getting our flanks handed to us," she said bluntly. "Not for long," Celestia said, rising to her hooves. "We will do our best to avoid hurting Fluttershy, but it's time for us to show her what three Alicorn Princesses are capable of when roused!" She spread her wings wide. "Right!" Twilight said, spreading her own wings with Luna. All three Princesses then took to the air. Luna took her position behind Celestia and to her left, with Twilight mirroring her to the right. She watched as they made their approach, gathering their magic for an aerial bombardment of spells. However, Luna's long eyes spotted Fluttershy lifting a launcher of some sort. Acting on instinct, she folded her wings and dropped, using her gathered magic to land softly just as two spiked balls stuck to the tip of Celestia and Twilight's horns, a third passing harmlessly over her head. As the two spheres exploded with the two Princesses gathered magical energies, Luna raced back to cover. Fluttershy (energized sticky bomb) Celestia, Twilight Sparkle Fluttershy smiled at the kill notifications, but frowned as the third target escaped her fire. She almost had a complete kill ratio. It would be so disappointing if she ended this battle without getting at least one of everyone...except the cheating regenerator. That still rankled. Luna glanced around at everyone as Celestia and Twilight reformed. "Well, all our attempted assaults have failed. The defenses are too well prepared for us, and one blast back here and we won't be able to try again any more. Anyone have any suggestions on how we can get inside to-" "We just want to get inside?" Pinkie asked. "I can do that!" Luna raised her eyebrow. "Then do so." Smiling, Pinkie stuck her head over the rocks, waving a white flag. Luna groaned in frustration. Fluttershy stared at the pink pony in perplexity. "What is she doing?" she wondered. The pony was exposing herself to fire, and waving that flag as though it would somehow protect her. She decided it was time to consult her Daddies. She lifted her communicator. "Poof Daddy?" Spy held up his hand to stop the poker game he and the others were playing. He put his hand to his communicator, tweaking it so everyone would hear the transmission. "Yes, Fluttershy?" "I have an assaulting group pinned down, and I think they're trying something sneaky. So I thought-" "Wait," Soldier said into his communicator. "Did you say you have an entire assaulting group pinned down?" "Yes, General Daddy Sir," she replied. "All nine of them too scared of me to come out from behind cover." "Why didn't you call us when we came under attack?" Scout asked. "I was only supposed to call if something came up I couldn't handle, wasn't I?" Fluttershy asked. Medic chuckled. "Valid point." "You said they were trying something sneaky?" Spy asked. "Yes, that's why I called you, Poof Daddy." "What is it they are doing?" Spy asked "One of them is sticking her head over the cover and waving a white flag at me." The entire table sans Spy cracked up laughing. "Yeah, Spy was the one to ask about that!" Scout called out, ignoring Spy's glare. Spy sighed. "Fluttershy, the white flag means they are surrendering." "Oh," Fluttershy replied. "Umm...what does that mean?" "They don't want to fight anymore. They are giving up." "Oh." Fluttershy was silent for a time. "So...what am I supposed to do now?" The mercs glanced amongst themselves, looking for an answer. None of them had ever had an opponent surrender to them, so they didn't actually know what to do. Engineer, remembering something Fluttershy said, asked a different question. "Fluttershy, did you say she was waving a white flag? Who or what are your opponents?" "Umm...it looks like most of them are ponies...like me." Engineer's face went pale. "Fluttershy, gather your gear and open the front gates, then meet us at the main entrance to the fortress proper." He stood up from the table. "Everyone, grab your gear on the way out. This is...going to be an important day." They all stood up. None of them looked happy. They all knew what this meant. Others of Fluttershy's kind had shown up. Whatever the result, today would change everything. To be continued...