//------------------------------// // Moving Out // Story: Lost Planet (of ponies) // by Mixer //------------------------------// Roland and Twilight headed back to the armory to check on the progress of everypony’s equipment. “He didn’t seem to friendly,” Twilight said as they rounded a corner. “He’s not most days, but he’s in charge.” “Why?” “Because, no other man around here has a head for tactics and logistics like Parker. That, and he’s been out here longer than most of us.” “And how long have you been out here?” “Hard to say exactly, most of us stopped caring a while ago.” “But don’t you ever miss your homes? Or your families?” “Some do, some don’t, some don’t have anything to go back to. Regardless of what they had before, this is home now.” “I suppose that makes sense...” Shortly after they arrived at the armory to see that Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Shining Armor, and Pinkie were all outfitted with armor and Rarity was just finishing her own suit. “This might not be my finest work... but it should suffice for keeping everypony warm.” Riggs looked up from where he sat at Roland who looked surprised to see four suits done so quickly. “Yeah, surprised me too. She works fast. Might be useful for keeping everyone’s equipment in good shape.” Twilight looked at her friends’ new armor. Rainbow Dash had added little to the armor bits Roland had given her before, though her undergarb had a patch in the shape of her cutie mark on it. Applejack had a chest piece strapped to her suit for protection and arm and leg bits to cover her legs. She didn’t wear a helmet, just her usual stetson, but had red scarf to cover her face with. Pinkie’s armor looked a bit more patchwork, having small plates of armor draped over her sides for protection instead of a solid sheet. Shining Armor wore his suit much like his guard armor. He was big enough to have plates on his front and back as well as full leg protection. He had some goggles and a black headwrap to shield his face from the weather. Rarity’s suit didn’t have armor yet, just the plain suit, though it was adorned with a slight frill at the collar and the cuffs flared out a bit. “Wow Rarity, these look great,” Twilight said. “Thank you darling, but the selection of colors is simply dreadful. There’s nothing but grey black and red.” “Somehow I don’t think you’ll be going out in the field,” Roland commented. “And why not? Who says a lady can’t fight too?” she retorted. “Well, for one, you’re soft as a marshmallow,” Riggs said, standing up. “And for two, you’d be more help at the base with your talents.” Rarity huffed but did not seem overly bothered. Mike ambled over to the doorway and looked in on the rag tag group of ponies. “Hey Roland, Boss wants four of ‘em for the ops. Wants em in the command center asap.” Then he ambled away. “Well, looks like you can stay Rarity,” Roland said. “Twilight, you take whoever’s not coming with you and try to stay out of trouble.” She nodded, “Alright...” “Riggs, Shining Armor, Rainbow- ugh... We need better names for you.” “How about callsigns?” Riggs suggested. “Perfect. Hmm... Shining, how about Sparky?” “Sparky?” “And how about Ranger?” he said pointing to Applejack. “Sounds good to me.” “And Bluebird for you, Dash.” “Bluebird? Yuck. How about just Dash? Or maybe something a little cooler.” “Cooler? How about Frosty.” Rainbowdash groaned, “Fine, at least it’s better than bluebird...” “And for you...” “Ooh! Ooh! I know! Cupcake!” Pinkie said, giggling. “Cupcake?” “Or how about Short Stack?” Riggs suggested. Pinkie shook her head and then gasped, “I got it! Firefly!” Roland nodded, “Firefly it is.” “Come on, we wasted enough time on this, Parker will be waiting,” Riggs said, heading to the door. Roland nodded and the four ponies followed them out of the armory. After a minute of walking, the group filed into the command center that was now dark, the holographic map being the only illumination.. “I’ve brought four of them like you asked,” Roland said. “These are different from the one before,” Parker said. “And they have armor.” “And harmonizers. But we don’t have t-energy canisters for them yet.” “They can get those before they leave. Do these ones have names?” “Yes, but we’ve given them callsigns for ease of use. This is Sparky, Ranger, Frosty and Firefly,” Roland said, pointing to Shining Armor, AJ, RD, and Pinkie in turn. “That’s a little better than ‘Twilight Sparkle’,” Parker mused. We’re sending two with the main force in the jungle and two with the Waysiders taking the train.” “Who is going where?” Shining asked. “Roland, take Sparky and Firefly. The other two will be taking the train.” Roland nodded, “What about the other three?” “They’re staying here at the base. Send them to me and I’ll find a job for them.” Roland nodded and headed out of the room with his team. Parker looked down at AJ and RD from across the table. “Pay attention because I’m only going over this plan once. You’ll meet up with the group on the outskirts of this desert,” he said, pointing to the holographic map. “Alrighty, then what?” Applejack asked. “Then you hijack the train as it’s leaving the station. Your handler in the field will have more detailed orders.” “Sounds easy enough,” Rainbow said. “It is easy,” Parker snapped, “So don’t screw up!” Rainbow snorted, “As if.” “Get going or I’ll feed you to the arkid myself.” Rainbow Dash and Parker glared at each other, daring one another to say anything more. “Alright, let’s get goin’ RD,” Applejack said, pulling Rainbow Dash with her. After they were outside of the command center, Rainbow Dash rounded on AJ. “What was that for?” “You don’t need to be gettin’ yerself into trouble right off the bat.” “Did you hear that guy though? He’s such a jerk!” “Well, right now he’s our boss. At least until we can find some way to get back to Equestria.” Rainbow Dash snorted, “Fine. At least we don’t have to put up with him out there too.” -- Twilight was looking at a VS in one of the hangers along with Rarity and Fluttershy. “Well it’s design is certainly... utilitarian,” Rarity said, looking at the large grey machine. “It looks kind of scary...” Fluttershy said. “This whole place is a little scary. Big Monsters, humans who steal from each other to live and all these machines...” Twilight added. “And their sense of fashion is simply horrifying,” Rarity chimed in. “Rarity, I don’t think fashion is exactly high on their priorities,” Twilight admonished. A mercenary walked over while they were talking and jumped onto the VS. “Hey, get outta the way!” he shouted as he powered it up. Twilight and the others scurried out of the way as the VS started lumbering away to get outfitted with it’s weaponry. A standard GTF-11 Drion, getting loaded out with a rocket launcher and a gatling gun. “You’re still hangin’ around here?” a somewhat familiar voice said from behind the ponies. They turned around to see a man in a flight suit with a black bandana tied around his head. “Sorry, do we know you?” Twilight asked. He gave a laugh, “I’m the one who saved your and Roland’s skins earlier. My name’s Razor, in case you forgot.” “Roland told us to try and stay out of the way...” Fluttershy murmured. “So you’re just standin’ around in a hangar takin’ a gander at the VS’s?” “Well, there are people running around inside the base, and it’s cold outside,” Twilight said. “Well you best be finding someplace quiet, we’re heading out in five minutes and you’re liable to get stepped on if you sit around gawkin’ at things like that.” “Is there a library?” Twilight asked. “A library? Out here?” Razor almost broke out laughing. “You’d be better off tryin’ to warm yourself up by rollin’ in the snow!” Twilight looked a little put off by that, and the folded back ears gave Razor the hint. “But, if you want something to look at, I’m sure there are some maps or Akrid data that could use some lookin’ over.” Twilight visibly perked up at that. “And where could we find those?” “Command probably. Or communications. Talk to Parker, he’ll know right where you can go.” Twilight’s ears drooped again. As excited as she was to learn something about this place, she didn’t like Parker’s abrasiveness. “Thank you Razor.” “No problem Sparkles.” “It’s Twilight Sparkle.” Razor shrugged, “Eh, close enough.” He then proceeded to walk off towards the door, leaving the three ponies with little to do but go back to the base proper. -- Roland, Shining Armor, Pinkie, Riggs and Mike were all piling into an Osprey that was ready for takeoff. “Alright, does everyone know the plan?” Roland asked, checking his rifle. “We fly with the rest of the group into the jungle and deploy at the designated location,” Shining said. “Right.” “Sparky, Firefly, you’re equipment all good?” Riggs asked the two ponies. Shining nodded, “My rifle looks all good. This suit is holding up as well.” “And my “party favors” are ready to party!” Pinkie said. Mike chuckled dryly, “I’m sure the welcoming party will be ecstatic.” “Cut the chatter people, it’s show time,” Roland said, closing the door to the Osprey. Everyone took a seat as the Osprey’s engines revved up and began to rise into the air. -- “You two ready back there?” the pilot called back to his unusual passengers. “Yeah, we’re ready to go,” Applejack said. “Yeah, let’s get out of here,” Rainbow added. Applejack and Rainbow Dash stayed on their hooves as the Osprey lifted off the ground and started to fly south, away from the base and the rest of the ospreys. “You think we’re ready for this?” Applejack asked RD. “Pfft, are we ready? Are we ever! Now that I can fly, there’s no way that some stupid Akrid thing is going to stop me.” “It’s not them Ah’m worried about, it’s these humans. Ah’m not sure Ah trust ‘em.” “That Parker guy was a jerk, but the rest don’t seem too bad.” “But what about these ‘Waysider’ fellers we’re supposed to work with?” “What about them?” “From what he said, they just sound like a bunch ‘o bandits.” “From what he said, they’re all bandits. But what choice do we have? There’s no way back to the Crystal Empire as far as we know. These guys haven’t tried to shoot us yet. Plus, they did save us from freezing.” “Ah know... but somethin’ just don’t sit right with me...”