//------------------------------// // Sorrow and Alliance // Story: The Legend of Brave Rick // by Exelion //------------------------------// Arc 2: Hand of Hope A discussion took place at the shelter, the dim torchlight in it was just another witness. Princess Celestia and the elements were deeply analyzing the current situation with this new "element" they had found. Richard was aware for some minutes, without knowing how much time had passed since his passed out, he closed his eyes, he was pretending so the ponies didn't realize that he was already awake, but he didn't understand what they said, he didn't want to face the consequences of being awake with them in the same room. His body was tied to a big rock, sitting with his legs free, his military jacket was in a corner being examined, he was only wearing his shirt, pants and boots. Moving his feet he noticed general's report still there. Whit no more alternatives, he started "waking up" and opening his eyes, the room was very cold, the tension could be cut with a knife and a stifling air of sadness was present, it was unbearable, breathing was a very difficult task, but being tied may also be an influential factor. “Gi-girls” Rarity said trying to alert the others “He's aw-awake.” The ponies turned to see the nervous human who noticed the surprise face in the ponies. Within seconds, Rainbow dash quickly approached Richard, which invading his personal space. A lot. “It's time to sing. Where are the Wonderbolts?!” Rainbow said, staring menacingly. Richard just stared at her straight in the eyes, hiding the fear and nervousness. “Come on maggot, you can say it by hook or by crook!” She didn't receive an answer. “Rainbow, stop!” Twilight protested. “Oh, you want to do it the hard way? let's do it the hard way!” She lifted his helmet to hit him, but a violet aura stopped her. “Leave me hit him, he deserves it!” Rainbow said almost in tears. “Everypony wants to take revenge on him, but remember that we need him, plus, he can't understand you and you know it.” Twilight said. Rainbow just snorted at that logic and relaxed. “Leave him to me,” Twilight put her brilliant horn in Richard's forehead, he only managed to close his eyes and expect the worst scenario. “I'm done.” A bright flash lit every corner of the cave, Richard was expecting the worst pain and torment, but instead he got something he never expected to experience. “Are you okay?” Twilight said in a slow-pace “Can you understand me?” “Y-Y-Yes, I understand you.” He was very surprised by what happened, although he had seen this spell before but he was intrigued to know why they charmed him to understand. “Now yes, begin to talk, Where. Are. The. Wonderbolts?!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “I do not know what you're talking about,” “Don't lie, you know exactly who I'm talking about.” “I telling you, I don't have that information!” “That's It, set him free and let him catch a breath.” “Your wouldn't have a chance against me pegasus, you better surrender peacefully so I don't swat you." Richard said trying to sound calm. “Come here you piece of…” Rainbow said throwing herself against him. Twilight teleported and stood between them. “Relax you two!” Twilight shout “Rainbow, stop bothering him, and you, whatever your name is, you're not in the best position to act like a bully.” Richard didn't said a word. Princess Celestia appeared from behind. “Welcome invader,” she said with emphasis on the last word “I'm Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, as you may have noticed, you are in a compromising situation, and it's better you cooperate if you want to leave here alive.” Richard waited for the time to talk. “I'm surprised that you venture alone in these lands, humans are too confident” Celestia said. “That's the same confidence that led us to victory over your capital, majesty” Richard said with a mocking tone. “How dare you talk to the Princess that way you...!?” Twilight shouted, being silenced by one of Celestia's hoofs. “Since you're here, tell us your name, stranger.” Celestia continued, ignoring what he said before". "My name is Richard Senedor, Captain of the Fourth Infantry Division of the United States of America." “Well, you seem to have an acceptable range within the organization, I'm sure you have valuable information for us.” “Princess, forget it, I'll not saying a word, you are wasting your time with me.” “That's what you think” Celestia said looking into his eyes “We'll see.” With this, the princess and the elements left, leaving Richard alone with his thoughts, inside, he was cursing himself, he sought an opportunity like this and was wasting it. “This will be harder than what I thought, I must stop being such a stubborn.” Meanwhile, the ponies were planning how to get information from Richard. “What do you think princess, can we get some information?” Asked Twilight. “When I approached enough, I could feel his inner emotions, this guy has a big guilt complex” Celestia explained. “And how can we use this to our advantage?” Rainbow said seeking how to torture him. “We can make him feel more guilty, although he seemed tough and determined, surely he's using it as a mask, we must break his will” Rarity said. “Break,” Rainbow laugh. “Rainbow stop joking,” Twilight said “and Rarity... I didn't knew you thought that way.” “Twilight,” Rarity said with a muffled voice “in the past I cared about things without much meaning, now there are more important things ... to be scared about” she said with a tear in her eye and a broken voice." “Oh Rarity, we all go through difficult things, better times will come... difficult things... That's it!” Twilight exclaimed “Girls get together.” Meanwhile, Richard was making a mental map of the place to escape later. “Hello Richard,” Twilight said. He only answered with an indifferent look. “Before deciding what to do with you, I want you to hear a few stories.” “If you'll give me a history lesson, I don't care.” Twilight hold the urge to yell at him. “Have you ever heard the stories of war victims in your world?” Richard was shocked by the question, but he refused to answer. “Well, if you think you're different because we don't have feelings, you're wrong, it's time for you to see some of all the damage you have caused in this conflict. Come here girls.” The mane 6 were approaching, this war not only impacted on their physical appearance, but also had its psychological consequences. The rainbow maned Pegasus was the first one to speak. her state showed that had participated very actively in the conflict, two legs were half bandaged, her body had several cuts, some of them more marked than others and his forehead was bandaged in a manner that seemed to have a representative band the battle. “My name is Rainbow Dash, My task was to help with the weather in Ponyville, I love the speed and challenges, my biggest dream is to one day be part of the best flying group all Equestria,” She paused, trying to articulate their thoughts “Or at least it was, until you humans kidnapped them and made them who knows what things…” She cleaned her eyes to avoid a tear falling while she coughed, keeping her voice to break up “Not to mention that you made the pegasus look like cowards, they all hide in Cloudsdale…” “It looks like you only think of yourself, don't you see what happens around you?” Richard said. Rainbow felt offended, she wanted to grab him and make him her punching bag, she was not used to open up to strangers, but the situation dictated It. “Of course I know” her voice broke “but... my friends know me for being strong in most situations, I can't afford to be weak and sentimental when others need me!” She shouted crying “DAMN YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU WILL PAY FOR ALL EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID TO US!” Rainbow throws herself at him again, the girls grabbed her and forced her to retreat and stay calm, she walked against Richard whit her eyes all red and swollen. “I'll only ask you something, don't you see beyond your uniform and guns?” Richard felt a knife in his chest for a moment, his guilt again took his body again, the images of that dream where he listened to the cries of the wounded ponies roamed his mind like a high speed slide show, he swallowed saliva and shook his head to keep those visions away and maintain his composure, he couldn't feel. Twilight was the next to come, unlike Rainbow, this one only had a bandage on her right hoof product of their last meeting, she seemed exhausted with well-marked circles and a twitch in his right ear, his mane was disheveled, as if she didn't took care of her mane in weeks. “I'm Twilight Sparkle, faithful student of Princess Celestia, I used to work in the Ponyville's library and my favorite hobby is reading and learning magic, also I have a brother named Shining Armor” she said, pausing briefly “Do you have any brothers Richard?” He hesitated to answer, but he wanted to finish this quickly. “Yes, two to be exact, a brother and sister” he replied. “And how's your relationship with them?” “Well, I have a normal relationship with my brother, but my sister is different.” “How? Do you hate her?” “In fact it's quite the opposite, she is very precious to me…” “That much to protect her from any harm?” Twilight asked. “Exactly, I would give my life just to see her smile” He replied with an air of melancholy. “I'm sure you remember all the good times you had with her when you were little, right?” “That's... true” Richard was wondering why she was so interested in that topic. “Now, imagine that your sister It's called to fight in a battle she can not win, no matter the effort they put…” Her voice reflected sadness with each new word “and... and…” the tears started to show up and slide through her fur “That don't know if she will return alive, if you're going to hug her again or hear some of her stories again!” Twilight burst into tears, remembering the last words spoken before breaking abruptly. “Tell me that he is alive, that you have him like a prisoner, BUT PLEASE TELL ME THAT HE IS ALIVE!” Twilight shouted losing all composure. “I ... I don't know” Richard replied. “But how it is possible…” “I wasn't at the Canterlot's battle, I was wounded by an unicorn in the shoulder and I couldn't participate, as far as I was told, the city was already fully taken.” The elements, the princess and the ponies present were astonished, the equestrian capital had fallen, if any pony had a spark of hope it was already extinct and many had only one question in their minds "what now?" Twilight dropped a tear and she walked away, She said and heard enough. That tear fell into Richard's hand, experiencing a familiar feeling for him, he tried to remember, but he couldn't get anything. Pinkie was the biggest physical change, her hair was straight, just like when she had that misunderstanding in her birthday, except for one thing, it was cut to half its original length. At first the girls were concerned about the decision she made after the Ponyville's invasion, but they ended up accepting it, she had his personal reasons after all, she became more passive and quiet, her spirits died and she speaks only when It's necessary. “I'm Pinkie Pie, I used to work in a bakery called Sugar Cube Corner, I used to love laughing and making others laugh, that was the meaning of life for me, everyone in Ponyville were my friends, each of them, until you arrived, at the beginning I wanted to make you my friends, you know, not every day an opportunity like this was presented, be friends with someone from another world” It seemed that she was recovering her energetic way of talking “But at my surprise my supposed "friends" no just didn't want to get along, but they also wanted to kill me…” Richard felt her voice was cheerful and lively, but that it was surrounded by an aura of sadness and bitterness, which give those feelings to anyone who she speaks to, he blinked for a second and it was gone, he thought she was gone, but he got scared when he saw a pink hoof holding a picture coming out from behind the rock he which tied to. “This is me,” she said pointing at the photo while she was lying over the stone “they are Mr. and Mrs. cake and their children, if you're wondering, they are safe in Manehattan, hoping that all this is resolved, along with other refugees in the same situation.” He noticed something strange on the photo and he didn't hesitate to ask. “What happened to your hair?” Twilight smiled, she was expecting him to ask that. “After knowing the number of deaths that occurred in Ponyville, I felt a great void in my heart, knowing that I would never see them smile anymore, It was too much for me, my disheveled hair as it was in the picture didn't meant anything anymore, and as a way to not forget, I picked up some scissors and I made a smooth cut, leaving it this way” she began to cry, but it was not his usual waterfall cry, this was one full of sadness and sincerity “maybe…” she sobbed saying this words “you doesn't care at all, but I lost many friends in this stupid war.” Pinkie walked away, wiping his face full of tears, but before leaving, she share a few last words. “It's the first time in my life, I hate someone with all my being.” The last words left everypony speechless, they never thought the day would come when Pinkie hate someone. Richard was thoughtful, if something like this could change the happiest of ponies, then he wouldn't imagine what happened to others. Applejack was the next to take the floor. Her hat had a bullet hole from the flight, his blond tail had black tips and imperfections produced by burns suffered in a fire at her farm. Her front legs and abdomen were bandaged, trying to extinguish the flames. “My name is Applejack, I represent the element of honesty, I like athletic things, especially rodeo” her accent was identical to the southern habitants of his country “I lived and worked on an apple farm, farming, gathering, make cider and every so often we harvested special apples called Zap Apples”. She paused for a moment. “I used to live with my older brother Big Macintosh, my sister Applebloom and my grandmother, we used to call her Granny Smith. You know sugarcube, I still clearly remember when you attacked my farm and burned down the barn, the house and apple trees, the fruit of several generations of work disappeared in a moment and the worse thing is that…” She said hoarsely. “My brother sacrificed himself to save us, we didn't opposed resistance, we let everything  burn in order to insure the life of my grandmother and my sister, but your wish of blood and destruction was endless and inexplicable, my brother stood against you and you killed him... he…” She covered her face with her hat to hide her disappointment and guilt of not being able to stand up for what her grandmother and parents had worked all their life, she was furious with herself for not being able to change the rhythm of things. “I don't think that your people can understand it, you are not the victims here.” Richard felt guiltier with each story he heard, like that night he read the report in the chemical bath, but at the same time, the history of Applejack brought him a vague memory of a documentary that he saw long ago, it was about the second world War, more specifically, refugees from the war, they had to travel great distances to contact their families, to publicize their situation and in some cases, fighting for their lives, leaving behind their destroyed and burned homes, bringing a unique garment and memories of bygone days. The scene that perpetrated his mind was one of a mother and her little daughter that were about two years walking through rubble of buildings in a desert town, the small sobbing in the arms of her mother begging for something to eat, while Mrs. was falling on her feet by the fatigue and hunger, the camera followed them until they were lost in the desert, the scene went black and some white letters adorned the screen "They were found dead near the limits of the city, the mother was laying on a tree, her daughter was found drowned in a lake not far from the place ", ending with photos of both victims in their respective places of death. Richard saw Applejack reflected in the face of the woman who would do anything to take care of her daughter no matter what. Rarity was next, her hair was in a deplorable state, it looked like it hasn't been touched the water in days, it lost its elegant shape and it fluffed, plus it had lots of split ends, her white coat now was gray and it had brown spots and some bruisings and her tail seemed like Rainbow's. “Hello, my name is Rarity and... and…” she tried to hold back, but she felt touched by the story of her friends “Enough of this circus!” She screamed “Because of you my sister is fighting for her life in a hospital, very, very far from here, I can't tell you how sorry I am that I can't go see her, I can only be here helplessly as you take over Equestria, I can only think of the moments that would have happened if I had been a better sister, I don't I deserve it, I hope you rot... IN HELL!” She burst into tears, hitting weakly Richard in his chest. He only looked at her pity, she really was emotionally unstable and those hits prayed for the company of his sister to come back safe and sound, for the first thing they'll do to when they get to see each other would be a unique and fraternal hug. The girls took the disturbed Rarity away and left the floor to Fluttershy. She expelled the smell of smoke from her body, besides the obvious burns on her, she didn't wanted to be treated, it was a reminder of her losses. Her pets were everything in her life, her passion and vocation. Sawing them scream and burn whit her house was the most shocking thing she had ever experienced. Since that day she didn't said a word, if anypony asked her something, she'll responded with gestures, she was looking at the ground and her badly burned mane covered her eyes, she had suffered the most psychological damage, her nightmares were just repeated films of that event, she couldn't dream of anything else. Her friends tried to spoke to her without results, her wings were tied, avoiding her to go out and commit suicide. For her, this wasn't living, even if there was a miracle she couldn't go and leave everything behind, her innocent world became a world full of blood and fire, a hell on earth, as she described it with what'll be her last words. She stood in front of Richard, he couldn't take it anymore, at any instant, feelings will swallow him and he'll make a scene, for some reason he couldn't let them go, as if he needed a missing drop for overflowing the sentimental glass. Fluttershy moved her fringe enough to see with her left eye, that eye reflected nothing, some say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, it seemed that her soul disappeared, like an abandoned house that was only sustained by its structure and that the time was in charge of worsening it's condition. She stared at him for a moment, Richard expected to hear her story, a tear came out of her discovered eye down her face, and it touched the ground. A sound toured every corner of the cave, all ponies turned to see what it was, the mane six were shocked, Richard stayed with his face looking to the side, also surprised, he had a hoof's mark on his cheek. Fluttershy hit him, a fast and clean hit, she backed off, that was all she wanted to do. In his mind, clearly saw Fluttershy's hood hit the glass and spilled its contents. In real life, Rick stayed with his head down and with a cold stare, the ponies waited a moment for the possible reaction, seeing that nothing happened, they felt dumb thinking that their suffering would make a human soldier change, defeated, they begun to walk away and to think what to do with him, until: “I'm... I'm…” He whispered. The ponies stopped for a second. “I'm... I'm sorry…” he whispered inaudibly. They thought they misheard it until... “I'm sorry!” He shouted, breaking the funereal silence of the cave, producing an echo that is heard throughout all of the cave. “I'm so Sorry! I regret all the ponies I killed, I regret all the suffering I caused, I can't speak for all my people, but by my actions, I don't know if you'll ever forgive me, or let me fix my mistakes or leave me even live, but I ... I ... I'm willing to help, I just ask you to trust me” he said bursting into tears. The ponies gasped, at the end their plan worked perfectly, but they still didn't trust him, how about if it was just only a trick to escape? Twilight looked at the scene, all of this reminded her the last words of the prophet before dying in Ponyville. “Tears are the relief of a soul tortured by guilt, they are an unmistakable sign of sincerity that reveals the essence of his carrier, that he is different from those who manipulate him, keep that in mind next time you see someone cry.” She thought all that was weird, as if the prophet would have known that he would die and then she would find a helping hand, literally. Princess Celestia still had her serious face, except for a rebellious tear that escaped from her body to hear the heartbreaking stories of her subjects, she noticed the empty star of her faithful student, she wanted to know what was she thinking, but there were no time for it. “What should we do with him?” Twilight thought It for a second, it was the perfect time to get some information. She approached Richard who had teary eyes. “You want to be useful to us? Then answer, why did you invaded Equestria?” The question surprised him, in his mind there was only a memory about the talk he had with the general, only this time, Richard was in the shoes of the general, sitting at his desk about to read a bloody letter when suddenly an emotionally and mentally unstable captain enters his store to ask a question, which was represented by Twilight, on that occasion, Philip didn't answer as he expected, but he couldn't repeat the same situation, he had to stop the denial aside and accept the fact that he invaded that place. “Why did we invaded Equestria…” He said thoughtfully, making the words to answer “the thing is, our scientists predicted that human activity began to affect the Earth's climate…” “But if they know what the problem was, why they doesn't do anything to fix it?” Twilight asked. “The problem is money, is the most powerful thing in our world, maybe it sounds funny to you, that money dominates our world. closed-minded entrepreneurs handle us like puppets only for their interests. When you came along, we were afraid of what we might find, but more than scare us, we were impressed by the exuberant amount of resources you had, you used gold to trade daily, in our wildest dreams we imagined something like it, and that diamonds and other gems were used in the making of beautiful couture gowns” Rarity got blushed “and in some cases used like food, do you know the monetary value they have in my world?!” in his face appeared a grimace of greed, which the girls already knew for experience. Richard noticed that and regained his composure. “So we took action on the matter, everyone who you knew, either buying your products, living in your parks, and in some cases, working, were our informants, who had the mission to give us information on where to get these jewels and to achieve an unparalleled wealth, and that was our primary goal, until we found something that was unimaginable for us, something that we can't play whit.” “What was it?” Celestia asked. “The pegasi, these winged creatures who could handle the weather at will to schedule rain, snow, storms, sunny days, cloudy days and more. To relieve that information to the base, we were asked to catch a few copies to make experiments and test them, then we allow the entry to the ponies into our world, obviously we had to organize the media for the news of multicolored magical horses will come to our world never leave the confines of the city.” “You aislated them from the world” she said. “Something like it, we are very selfish in that aspect, if we could have pegasi to work in our weather, we would do business with that too, that's what I meant, money makes the world, everything is subordinated by it, and slowly, the pegasi and unicorns were tricked into staying longer and in some cases, were abducted, all his suspicions were correct.” Rainbow felt pressure in her chest, her heart beat was slow, she had a deep breath and her eyes got wet. “So ... the Wonderbolts ... are held there?” “I really don't know, if the ponies refuse they were slaughtered without any more, but as I said, I don't know where are the missing ponies, that's not my business.” Rainbow's blood melted, with tears in her eyes she grabbed Richard's shirt and she shouted. “How can you just don't care about it!? You should be ashamed, come here!” She said while shaking Richard and repeatedly hitting the rock. The girls took her away while Richard reincorporated himself. “The discussion didn't last long, Princess Celestia appeared and after a short talk, the war was declared, our superiors saw it as an opportunity and prepared everything, now we were going to get what we wanted by force” he paused “I hope that this answers your question.” Certainly, the ponies were surprised, they thought that humans were intelligent and peaceful beings, but turned out to have more facets. Proud, greedy, anxious, warriors and the list goes on. “But ... don't judge all mankind by the ambition of a few, on the other hand, there are good-hearted people, we are the bad seeds.” The mane six moved away to discuss. “What do you think?” Twilight asked. “It's not worth any forgiveness” Rainbow said. “We're not debating if we forgive him, I wonder if we can trust him... as an ally” Twilight said. “Wake up darling!, he is a human, I don't think he's capable of betraying his people to help us” Rarity said. “We have to put ourselves in his boots, surely it would be difficult for any of us if we were in the same situation” Twilight replied. “But he's the enemy! Why do you insist on defending him?” “It's for the prophet's words, I feel he was referring to Richard…” the others looked at her “Okay, if you want to see otherwise, he may be our last hope, with the information we gathered, we will have an opportunity to end this war, plus, we are not in a position of wasting opportunities when we played all our cards.” They analyzed the situation for a moment, coming to a conclusion. They approached Richard and Twilight spoke. “I think after all we can trust you, Want to join us?” He thought a moment, He knew that after agreeing with them, there was no turning back, he questioned everything lived in this war and now was the time to help those who really need it, the words of Captain Samuel before going home resounded in his head. "It's disturbing to discover that you fight for the bad ones when we were teached from kids that you always have to fight for good and justice" Twilight extended his hoof as a way to seal the deal, Richard attempted to extend his hand, but remembered he was gagged, Applejack laughed innocently as she untied him, with free body, Richard looked into Twilight's eyes, those bright eyes, he stretched out his hand and took a firm grip to the hoof, being joined by a few seconds. “Well, it's bedtime, Twilight you are in charge of guarding tonight” Princess Celestia said. “Yes princess.” “Richard come with me, I'll give you a place to sleep.” Celestia gave him a pillow and a blanket, he layed down on the floor and he closed his eyes, thinking in what happened on that day. “Justice, in the end it turns out its a term used very badly in my world,” he thought before falling asleep.