//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Escape by Boat // Story: Elements of Independence // by Paintbrush235 //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash POV Two Hours Later Rainbow Dash kept close to his friends. This was not out of fear by any means, no sir. He was sticking close to keep them protected from these strange humans. Twilight might have said before that the humans she had met were trustworthy, but she had already admitted that she had never seen humans like these before. Rainbow Dash didn't trust them either, but he trusted her friend, so when Twilight said that they would follow along with the crowd of blue coated humans, he followed as well. They had been walking for about two hours now, and the affects of the cold were starting to take their toll. Earlier, a wagon drawn by two creatures that resembled ponies that Twilight referred to as "horses" came by them. By then, Twilight and Pinkie Pie were struggling with the cold were showing signs of exhaustion. That is when the captain who was accompanying them stopped the wagon and offered it for Twilight and Pinkie Pie to ride in. They accepted the offer and Big Mac and Rainbow helped their two friends onto the vehicle and walked beside it for the rest of the journey. All the while, Rainbow Dash was taking in both her (correction: his) new body. It certainly felt strange to be walking on two legs now, but surprisingly, it had not taken him to long to get used to it enough to walk without looking silly. The cloths were strange as well. In Equestria, ponies wore clothes sometimes for special occasions or jobs, but the former pegasus had never seen nor worn anything like this. The clothes were very earthy in color and itched a lot. His shoes weren't all to comfortable either, but Rainbow Dash didn't mind much when she saw that some of the humans had no shoes at all and some only rags wrapped around their feet. Seeing that he now only had fur on his head, Rainbow Dash was grateful to have something protecting her feet from the snow. His knapsack sagged on his back, and Rainbow Dash was also grateful that he no longer had wings to be crushed by it. The cloth bag that hung on his left he found contained what appeared to be hard crackers and his canteen clunked against the buttons on the flap. When he looked at it, he saw that what he and Big Mac were carrying was not too different from what some of the other humans were carrying. That brought the former pegasus's attention back to observing the humans. The blue coats they wore were patchy and torn, with some buttons missing from them. Their pants were of similar condition with some soldiers having their knees exposed to the wind and snow through the cloth. The hats that sat atop their heads were similar to Rainbow's and Big Mac's, except that some had a white border along the edges. Some wore hats that looked similar to the wool caps that ponies wore in the winter back in Equestria. All in all these humans looked roughed up and tired. "COLUMN HALT!" Rainbow Dash was snapped out of his observations by the sharp yell of someone in front of him. He turned back to the front and saw that while he had been looking at the humans, they had arrived at the shore of what appeared to be a wide river. Humans were dismounting their horses and others that were walking made their way over to random trees, set their long sticks down and lay down themselves against the trees. The captain who was escorting Rainbow Dash and his friends walked up to the back of the wagon and held out his hand. "May I help you down madams?" He asked politely. Twilight and Pinkie Pie looked at each other before Twilight slowly reached out and grabbed the captain's hand. "Thank you." she said softly, and slowly with the help of the captain climbed out of the wagon followed by Pinkie Pie. The captain then gestured for the group to follow him. He then led them over to a group of humans that all carried swords and were all staring across the river. "Excuse me sirs." the captain said when he approached them. The group of humans turned around to face the new arrivals. Rainbow Dash immediately recognized the one in the middle as the human the captain had called General Washington. "Here are the civilians we picked up earlier sir." The captain gestured to the group. The one called Washington nodded. "Thank you captain." He spoke. "You may rejoin your company. We can handle it from here." "Yes sir." And with that the captain turned around and left Rainbow and his friends with Washington. Washington walked up to Rainbow and the group and looked them over curiously before speaking. "I am General George Washington." He said. "May I ask who you all are?" Rainbow Dash and his friends all looked at each other hesitantly before Twilight finally spoke. "My name is Twilight Sparkle." She spoke with confidence and firmness despite the cold. "And these are my friends Pinkie Pie, Big Macintosh and Rainbow Dash." Washington and the others present all looked at each other with confusion. "You're definitely not native to New Jersey I presume." He said. "Is that where we are?" Twilight asked. "What is New Jersey?" Washington cleared his throat. "New Jersey is one of the richest colonies in North America. Where are you all from?" Twilight hesitated. "We come from a land called Equestria." she said finally. Washington raised an eyebrow. "I have never of a nation called 'Equestria'." He said. "Are you telling the absolute truth?" Rainbow Dash felt insulted that this human just accused his friend of possibly lying. "Of course she is telling the truth!" He exclaimed. "Rainbow!" Twilight tried to shush her friend. Washington however just chuckled. "There was no disrespect intended young lad." He reassured. "It is just that we have been running into tory spies that would reveal our most precious secrets to the enemy at the first chance." Twilight now raised an eyebrow. "The enemy?" She obviously had more questions but Washington raised his hand to stop her. "I am afraid that we must cut this conversation short." He said bluntly. "The enemy is in pursuit of our men and we must put this river between us and them or else all is lost. Colonel Glover!" "Yes sir." The human who answered wore a black cape over a brown green coat and had light brown hair under a triangular brown hat that was tied into a short pony tail with a black ribbon. He, like the other humans present, carried a sword, but Rainbow Dash could see that that was the only military like item that he carried. He stepped up to Washington. "Glover, take your men up river to the smelter like we discussed and requisition the boats. All of them Glover. There is no time to waste." Glover grunted. "I will as quick as I can sir." His voice seemed to resemble those that Rainbow had heard in Trottingham. "But it won't be easy." "For God's sake Glover." Washington sighed. "Just get it done." "Do y'all need help?" Rainbow and everyone else present turned to the figure that had spoken. Big Mac had now stepped forward from the group and had a helpful expression on his face. Glover walked up to him and Rainbow Dash and looked them over. "You ever been on a boat crew before?" He asked. Big Mac shook his head. "No. But Ah was always a strong worker back on mah farm. And mah friend here can do just about anything that he puts his mind to." He looked at Rainbow and winked slightly. Glover frowned. He then looked back at Washington who simply shrugged and nodded. "It is your decision Glover." Glover looked back at Rainbow and Big Mac. He then sighed. "Alright you two." He said gruffly. "Follow me." Twilight looked at Big Mac questioningly. "What are you doing Big Mac?" "Y'all said that we had to trust them to get us someplace safe." He replied. "So we gotta give 'em reason to trust us." Twilight sighed, realizing Big Mac was right. "Alright." she said. "Just be careful." Rainbow Dash smiled reassuringly. "We will Twilight." "Hey! You two!" Glover was waving to Rainbow and Big Mac. "Sometime this winter!" Big Mac and Rainbow Dash quickly hugged their two friends, then ran over to the human called Glover. Twilight and Pinkie Pie waved to them as they left. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Macintosh's POV Big Mac kept close to Rainbow Dash as the human called Colonel Glover led them over to a group of men all carrying the strange sticks that the rest of the humans were carrying. Glover stopped a few feet from the group of humans and gestured to Big Mac and Rainbow Dash. "Wait here." He ordered. He then walked up to a human in the group who had straps on his shoulders. The blue coated human had a long white tube with a very small bowl at the end of it that had smoke coming out of it. His hair was scraggly and unkempt and he had some fur on his face. "Sergeant O'Keefe." Glover spoke to the rough looking human who answered with a short salute. "Yes Sir." O'Keefe said with a grimy sort of voice. Colonel Glover pointed towards Big Mac and Rainbow Dash. "These two have volunteered to join the regiment in our expedition to acquire some boats for the army. Give them muskets and have them somewhat acquainted with them. We march in two minutes." "Yes sir." O'Keefe replied and then looked to Big Mac and Rainbow Dash. He then gestured to them to come up to them, which the slowly did. "You two ever handled a musket before?" He asked. Big Mac's mind experienced a moment of understanding. Muskets. So thats what they called those big long sticks. He still didn't know how they worked though so he shook his head. Rainbow Dash shook his head as well. O'Keefe sighed, then reached down and grabbed two these "muskets" and handed them to Big Mac and Rainbow. He also have them two leather boxes that were connected to white leather slings and he told them to sling them over their left shoulder. He then grabbed another one and held it in front of the duo with both of his well. "Ok then. This is the trigger, this is the flint, this is the frizzen, this is the ram rod and this is the muzzle." He said pointing to various parts of the musket. "Now I want you to repeat what I do. Ok?" They nodded. "Good. Now first ya reach back here to yer cartridge box and grab one paper cartridge like this." He showed them. "Then ya tear the top open with yer teeth. You then open the frizzen hear and pour just a wee bit of powder into the pan here. Ya then close the pan and pour the rest of the powder down the muzzle here and then the ball as well." When he finished performing those steps and when he saw that Big Mac and Rainbow Dash had completed the steps correctly he continued. "Ya then take yer ram rod out here and put it in the barrel and ram it all home. Ya got it?" The two nodded. "Ya then take the ram rod out and put it back in it's place. And then when yer ready to shoot, ya cock it back all the way and then pull the trigger here. Don't do it now!" He quickly said when Big Mac and Rainbow attempted to do the last step. "Just wait 'til I tell ya. Ya got it?" "Yes." "Eyup." "Good." O'Keefe sighed. "Now fall in over here." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Big Mac grunted. He hadn't expected the musket to be so heavy on his shoulder. That was where he and Rainbow were carrying theirs, as they were told to do so by Sergeant O'Keefe. O'Keefe seemed to be a bit of a bully to Big Mac when he saw the way he ordered his men around. But what Big Mac came to understand, it all seemed necessary to keep order amongst the group of humans he and Rainbow were now marching with. Big Mac saw the resemblance these humans had with the Royal Guards that he had seen back in Equestria. The biggest glaring differences were the weapons, the uniforms and of course the species. They had been marching for about twenty minutes now, and Big Mac was wondering if they were ever going to get to this "smelters" or whatever they called it, when he at last spotted a couple of wooden buildings near the river. One small building that Big Mac recognized as an outhouse stood in the middle of a small field. At the shore of the river, he could also see the boats that they had come to get. "Halt the column." Big Mac heard the voice of a human he had been introduced to as Lieutenant Gordon. At once the group of humans stopped and faced the outhouse. Big Mac then saw Colonel Glover climb off of his horse and approach the outhouse, stopping about halfway in between. For a few moments, nothing happened and Big Mac, Rainbow Dash and the rest of the humans stood in silence. Then suddenly, the door of the outhouse opened to reveal a man dressed in dirty clothes and shaggy black hair come humming out. He was busy pulling up his pants and didn't seem to notice to group of humans in the field until. "You are Robert Mackenzie?" Colonel Glover spoke up. The man looked up slowly and stared for a few moments at the line of men that had appeared in his field. Colonel Glover then walked up closer to Mackenzie. "You are the proprietor of the the iron works of Durham?" He asked. Big Mac saw Mackenzie straighten up a little bit, but he also eyed the soldiers with suspicion. "Who are you?" He asked Colonel Glover. Colonel Glover reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Mackenzie. "My necessity and authorization from the army of the Continentals." Mackenzie took the paper and read it over as Colonel Glover continued. "We have commandeered your fleet of boats for the temporary use of the American revolutionary effort." He said plainly. Big Mac could see a look of disbelief come over Mackenzie's face. "What? By God sir is this your so called revolution?" He said indignantly. "Is this your 'liberty' and 'equality'? To destroy a man's business? To rob him of his property?" "I follow my orders sir." Colonel Glover said frowning. "Who's orders?!" "General Washington." "Well Goddamn him for the bandit that he is!" Mackenzie shouted. "How am I gonna make a living?" His next question was addressed to the soldiers, and Big Mac could swear he was looking straight at him. "Who's gonna pay me?!" "The Continental Congress." Colonel Glover answered. "And our eternal thanks for your generous assistance in the matter." He then turned around and faced two other officers at the head of the column. "Let's go." "Alright lads." Lieutenant Gordon said to the group Big Mac and Rainbow Dash were in. "Right face." As one, albeit somewhat clumsily as one, they all turned to face to their left and began marching towards the boats. All the while Big Mac continued to stare in sympathy at Mackenzie as the man continued to shout. "Goddamn you and your 'Continental Congress'! I'll see you all hanged! Every last one of you!" He then pointed at random men in the column, including Big Macintosh. "You too! And you! You will all suffer the consequences! YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE! GIVE UP NOW!" Big Macintosh looked down at his feet in shame. They were taking someones goods without there consent. He had never felt more like a thief than he did now. ------------------------------------------- Later as they began to row their way back down river in the boats, Big Mac still couldn't shake the feeling that nagged him since he hear Mackenzie's words. He sat in the boat clutching his newly acquired musket with a frown adorning his face. Beside him sat Rainbow Dash, who also seemed a bit disturbed by the recent events. Sitting across from them was Sergeant O'Keefe, who looked at them with his own frown. "Alright ye two." He finally spoke. "What's eatin' ya?" Big Mac looked up and sighed. "It don't seem right ta take the man's boats like that." He said quietly. O'Keefe sighed. He looked to his left shaking his head before turning back to speak the to pair. "I'll tell ya somethin' lad." He said sternly. "This is war. Alright. There ain't nothin' thats right about it. We all gotta make some sacrifices. Personally, I've no sympathy for a man like that who is unwilling to help th' ones who're fightin' fer his freedom. Besides if we didn't get the boats, we'd all be dead soon from a redcoat bayonet." Big Mac looked back down at his feet after hearing this. It seemed to make sense to him. He had heard of some of the early wars in Equestria in school. He had always been proud that the Apple family was willing to give to those in need without asking anything in return. Also, they needed the boats to get Twilight and Pinkie Pie to safety it seemed like. He looked back up at O'Keefe and nodded. "Ah guess ah understand now." "Good." O'Keefe smiled. "Now just keep ready on that there musket if them redcoated bastards show up when we get back. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight's POV Twilight and Pinkie Pie huddled near a small tree about two yards from the river shore. They had wrapped themselves as tightly as the could in their shawls for warmths. By this time the snow and wind had died down, and they weren't as cold as before. It wasn't warm by any means however. Twilight had come to learn three key points of information as they waited for Big Mac, Rainbow Dash and the boats to come back: One, the humans were soldiers and their sticks were called "muskets". Two, they were part of an army called the Continental Army. And three, the man called George Washington is their commander. The humans were as generous as they could be as well. Twilight was informed that they were running low on supplies and therefore, when she was offered a canteen of water, she tried to politely refuse, but the soldier who offered it insisted and she accepted. She gave some to Pinkie as well. Neither of them had realized how thirsty they were until that point. Twilight was and Pinkie Pie were still huddled up together when another officer (Twilight had figured out that the officers were to ones who carried only swords) walked up to them. The officer removed his hat and revealed that his hair was a dark brown and was tied in a pony tail like most of the soldiers present. When he stopped in front of the two girls, he bowed slightly in greeting. "Madams." He said. Twilight could tell by his voice that he was young. "I am Captain Alexander Hamilton. His excellency General Washington has asked me to accompany you when we cross the river." Twilight and Pinkie stood up while Twilight extended her hand to the captain. "Thank you very much Captain Hamilton." She said with a smile. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Captain Hamilton in response to Twilight's gesture, took her hand and kissed it lightly on the top. This in turn caused Twilight to blush with embarrassment and Pinkie to whisper. "OOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH." "Pinkie!" Twilight exclaimed, blushing even redder. Captain Hamilton simply chuckled lightly at the exchange. "Well ladies." He said smiling. "I'll be here to make sure that you are all safely...." "Mister Hamilton!" Captain Hamilton spun around at the shout and saw his commander, General Washington, running towards him with a group of officers running beside him. "General Sir!" Hamilton saluted. "Prepare at once for embarkation." Washington said quickly. "Scouts have reported that the vanguard elements of the British are fast approaching." "Yes Sir!" Hamilton turned back to Twilight and Pinkie. "Ladies if you will please come with me." Twilight and Pinkie Pie began to shake again. Not from the cold, but from fear. Fear of this unknown enemy that was bearing down on these soldiers. Then Twilight heard a shout that filled her heart with relief. "The boats are back!" ------------------------------------------------------ Rainbow Dash's POV Rainbow Dash looked intently towards the shore for his two friends as the boats rowed closer and faster. He could see other soldiers scrambling around on the shore grabbing bags, crates and barrels. Others seem to be forming a line of men facing the opposite direction of the shore. At last he spotted his friends, who were crouched near the shore with a group of Continental officers. With a bump, their boat reached the shoreline. Colonel Glover who had been at the front of the boat, jumped onto land and began waving at the officers around Twilight and Pinkie Pie. They started to run towards the boat. One who ran right next to Rainbow's friends shouted the entire way. "Colonel Glover! Move that boat over here!" "The boat is moving Mister Hamilton!" Colonel Glover shouted back. "Come on lads move quickly now!" "50 YARDS SIR!" A shout came from the shore. Then Rainbow Dash began to hear small explosions and looked up to see they were coming from the soldiers muskets. They were now pointing them at other humans that had appeared in the trees near the shore. The difference was they were dressed in red coats, and they seemed to be pointing their muskets at Rainbow Dash and his friends! ZZIIIINNG! Rainbow ducked down as something whizzed by his head. "What was that?!" She shouted to no one in particular. "That be the red coat musket balls!" Rainbow turned and saw that Sergeant O'Keefe had his musket up and pointing at the red coated humans in the trees. "Remember you two! Do as I do! Aim for the red coat bastards!" Rainbow looked at Big Mac. He had already mimicked O'Keefe's moves and was now aiming his musket. Rainbow quickly brought his up and aimed it like O'Keefe. He spotted a red figure. He was kneeling and aiming his musket towards their boat. Rainbow remembered. Pull the trigger. He did. The red figure dropped and didn't get back up. Rainbow was now having trouble seeing through the smoke the muskets made. He heard a grunt to his right and turned to look. O'Keefe now had his musket down and was looking at his chest. Red liquid was squirting out and creating a deep red stain on his clothes. Rainbow recognized it was blood. O'Keefe then fell forward into the water with a splash. Like the red figure, he didn't get up. They had killed him! Now Rainbow began to feel scared. He could be killed soon. Then he remembered he also had a musket. He could defend himself. He started the process to load that O'Keefe taught him. He would avenge O'Keefe. Cartridge. Prime the pan. Down the muzzle. Ram it home. He was about to get ready to fire when he fell to boat jolt. They had loaded it while he was busy and now they were pushing off from the shore. Rainbow quickly took aim back at the shore and just pulled to trigger. Didn't wait to see if he hit anything. He then ducked down behind the wall of the boat with Big Mac who had the same idea. He then covered his ears and began to whimper at the loud bangs and the shouts of the men. As his vision started to turn black from fear, all he could hear was Colonel Glover. "PUSH! GET US OUT OF HERE! PUUUSHH! ROW DAMN IT ROW!"