//------------------------------// // My Name Is... // Story: Berry's Burns // by ThatGirl2147 //------------------------------// As the wheezing sound of the TARDIS ceased, The Doctor stepped away from the controls and headed for the door. “We’re here,” stated he, “now let’s go save us a Human.” “Too right, Mate,” remarked Burns as he donned his mask in preparation. He then took inventory of his weapons, muttering silently to himself, “one MP5 mag, three USP mags, two flashbangs, and a knife.” Around that moment, Burns’ radio sparked to life again, and Metal 0-4‘s voice echoed through the TARDIS. “Come in, Bravo 6-3. Thanks for the assist. The medic you sent is working wonders on my arm.” Burns replied, “repeat, Metal 0-4. We didn’t send a medic; we’ve not even arrived at your position yet.” “Well,” added Metal 0-4, “then I don’t know who sent this equine to heal me. He’s got some kind of horn with weird healing powers.” He was about to continue, but was cut off by the static, which cut on and off in an unusual pattern: four cuts in in rapid succession, followed by four more. The Doctor looked up from what he was doing, alerted by the strange sound. “Let’s go,” said he blankly, “we have to find him, fast.” “What’s the problem, Doctor?” asked Berry Punch, worried by the stallion’s urgency. “He’s back,” replied The Doctor. “The Master’s back, and he’s found your friend, Burns.” He looked to the Human as he spoke, and then added, “let’s go, now!” With that, he ran at full gallop out the TARDIS door. Following suit, Berry and Burns ran out of the large but small blue box to find that they’ve changed locations; now, the TARDIS was in the middle of a bright, emerald green forest. “This is Whitetail Wood,” said Berry Punch to the man by her side, “exactly where The Doctor told us your friend is.” “Then let’s find him!” shouted the brown stallion as he trotted, far ahead of the pair. After a minute of searching, Burns grew impatient, looked to the stallion, and asked, “is there any way to pinpoint Metal 0-4‘s location, Doctor?” “Well, why didn’t you just ask, Mate?” retorted The Doctor as he twisted the end of his silver pen device and it emitted a repetitive beeping sound, which grew more and more rapid as they walked along. “My screwdriver will go ding when we’re close,” explained he. Within a second, the screwdriver indeed emitted a high-pitched bell-like noise. “Like that,” said he. the trio then scoured through the woods for the other Human, when they found exactly that. This Human wore similar dress to Burns, though it was coloured differently: a light tan colour, with a small flag of red, white, and blue on his chest. He also wore a fabric mask which covered his face, a pair of dark goggles over his eyes, and a tan helmet atop his head. The man looked to the two ponies and Human, and then lifted his goggles, revealing a pair of brown, bloodshot eyes. He squinted to clear his vision, and sighed as he confirmed what he saw. “Good to see a familiar face, eh?” asked Burns, holding a hand to his fellow Human. The man said nothing as he took Burns’ hand into his own. As he was assisted to his feet, the man reached for a holster on his thigh. Reacting to noticing this, Burns swept his leg across the other man’s ankles, putting him on the ground once again. Behind the man stood a light tan Unicorn Stallion with a slicked back brown mane, matching tail, and golden eyes. An hourglass adorned his flank, and he had a devious grin on his muzzle. “Do it, Sergeant Westbrook,” whispered he to himself as his horn began to glow gold, “kill them all.” Burns’ attention snapped to the man, called Sergeant Westbrook, and saw that his bloodshot eyes were surrounded by the same golden glow that engulfed the Unicorn’s horn. He then reached to the holster on his thigh again, and produced a small device. It was a gun. A loud, cracking noise ranged out like a bell as Burns stumbled back, dropping his gun and gripping his chest. “BURNS!" shouted Berry Punch as she watched what she surely thought was going to be her friend’s death. Westbrook, his gun now smoking from the shot, turned his attention to Berry. He sighted in on the mare’s head, and prepared to pull the trigger. “No!” Burns reached for his thigh to grab something, which looked exactly like Westbrook’s gun, only with a long tube coming from the end. With his swift reflexes, he readied his sidearm and fired, his shot being almost silent. The other man’s gun flew out of his hand as sparks flew off from the bullet’s contact. “Glad I’ve got a tactical vest,” said Burns to himself, feeling the area where the bullet hit, but was stopped by his vest. Acting quickly, Westbrook jumped to his feet and, with highly skilled movements of his arms and body, knocked Burns’ weapon out of his hand and connected with a punch to his masked face. Both men fought well, but neither could gain the upper-hand over the other. Meanwhile, The Doctor approached the tan stallion and shouted at him. “What are you doing to him, Master! Tell me!” The Master rolled his eyes and said under his breath, “you’re under orders, Sergeant Westbrook; kill him, and the mare, too.” His horn’s glow faded to a barely visible tint as he looked to The Doctor and nonchalantly said, “you don’t have to shout, Doctor. But, isn’t it obvious? I’m in complete control over his mind, and I plan on using his heart of a killer to my advantage.” “And how did you get him here?” asked the brown stallion, still staring daggers at The Master, although he was genuinely curious. The tan stallion gave a chuckle. “Easy,” said he, “I’ve got a horn, a conduit for powerful magical energy. I honed in on your TARDIS, and mixed my magic with its trans-dimensional capabilities, and picked up a couple Humans.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “Why two?” asked he. “I wasn’t planning on two,” replied The Master, “I was going to just get the SAS soldier here, but that damned mare found him before I could, and then YOU found him.” He glared at The Doctor as he mentioned him. “So, I had to find another, and so I got Westbrook.” Before The Doctor could speak, The Master said confidently, “and now, you’re going to ask what I plan to do now, yeah?” He looked at him, and continued, “I knew it. Anyway, I’m going to tap into that man’s killing instinct, and cut him loose on the Royal Family. Those foalish Princesses will welcome him to Canterlot with open arms because he’s different, and that mistake will cost them their lives.” He began to laugh a maniacal, disturbing laugh, but calmed down as he continued, “And then, when the War Drums sound, I will strike down the man, and take my place as king of Equestria!” “What do you mean, ‘killing instinct?’” asked The Doctor. “Oh, I think you know,” replied The Master cockily. “Humans are warriors by heart, killers by nature. They’ve been fighting wars ever since they’ve existed, and I need that killing ability to take down the Princesses and anypony who stands in my way, including the mare and Burns.” His horn then began to glow brighter as he said, “finish them off, Sergeant Westbrook.” At that moment, Burns and Westbrook had been at a combat stalemate. Then, Westbrook took in a deep breath and sent several punches into Burns, putting him on the ground. Defenseless, Burns began to relax his muscles and accept his fate as Westbrook picked up Burns’ gun and held it to its owner’s head. The Doctor took a deep breath, and exhaled as he put his forehooves on either side of The Master’s head. He closed his eyes, and focused. “Ah! What are you doing?!” barked The Master, trying to break free of his enemy’s grip, to no avail. In an instant, the golden glow of The Master’s horn flickered a faded azure. The Doctor then let go of his adversary. “What?” asked a bewildered Master, “What was that? What did you do?” The Doctor merely gave a sly smirk. “Look for yourself,” said he calmly, pointing a hoof to the two Humans. Westbrook was still aiming the gun at Burns’ head, but his hand was trembling. Shutting his eyes, he cast the weapon aside. “Not in a million years,” said Westbrook blankly. He then offered his hand to Burns, who accepted. “Thanks, Sgt. Westbrook,” said Burns gratefully. “No problem," said Westbrook, “and you can call me Frost.” “And I’m Sgt. Burns," replied Burns. As the pair of soldiers looked at each other, a comradely respect and trust connected them. Suddenly, it was broken by a piercing scream from Frost as he grabbed his head and fell to one knee. Upon closer inspection, a golden aura surrounded his eyes once again. Burns turned face and saw The Master’s horn glowing as he stared angrily at the man, and The Doctor unconscious behind him. “You’ve failed me, Sgt. Westbrook, and now you die.” “Not on my watch!” shouted Burns as he scooped his gun up in his hand and fired it at The Master. The bullet connected with the stallion’s shoulder, and in a spatter of blood, he staggered back and fell to the ground, unconscious. He then looked to Frost, who was holding a hand to his forehead in a daze. “Come on, Frost,” said he as he helped his comrade to his feet, “we’ve got to get out of here.” By this point, Berry Punch had said absolutely nothing in her utter confusion. Breaking her silence, she shouted in frustration, “excuse me! Can someone please explain to me what’s going on here, who this Human is, who that stallion is?!” “He’s called The Master,” answered Frost blankly. “He’s an evil being bent on ruling wherever he can find himself. I saw into his mind, and he won’t stop if we die; he’ll just grab himself another Human and try again until he can start a war.” “Okay,” answered Berry, still frustrated, “then who in Celestia’s name are you?” Frost took a deep breath, exhaled, and began to answer. “My name is Derek Westbrook,” said he, “I’m a soldier in Delta, the most skilled group of warriors the United States has to offer. My team, callsign Metal, along with other U.S. forces, fought and won the Battle of New York. Now, I’m from Upstate New York, and waging a war that close to home is unnerving to say the least; I wouldn’t wish anyone, be they Human or talking horse, be forced to do it.” He then turned and looked to The Master, who was beginning to stir once more. “You know, when I joined the military, I vowed to protect my country with my life. This isn’t ‘my’ country, but this place is in need of defending, and I’m here to answer that call. Go, Sgt. Burns; get you and your friends out of here, and I’ll deal with this bastard.” Burns nodded, and then walked to the unconscious Doctor. Nudging his side with his foot, the man managed to wake the stallion up. “Huh, what?” stirred The Doctor as he opened his eyes groggily. He looked up to see Burns‘ masked face. “Come on, Doctor,” said the man, “we have to go.” As he glanced to the side and saw The Master begin to awaken as well, he added, “now.” The Master, as he got to his hooves, tried to focus on Frost, but was met by him instead. Frost grabbed the tan stallion and held him tightly under one arm. “Go!” ordered he, “you have to leave!” “What are you going to do?” asked Burns, almost afraid of the answer. Frost merely looked to his comrade and replied, “exactly what Sandman’d do.” He then motioned to a trio of small, baseball-like iron balls strapped to his vest. Burns looked to Frost with concern and told him, “you don’t have to do that, Frost. If he dies, neither of us have to.” The other soldier shook his head. “You’re wrong,” said he. “I know a lot about him. If he still had a body, even a corpse, he can come back to life. I have to destroy all evidence of him.” Then, The Master began struggling again, to which Frost responded by shoving Burns away and yelling, “Get out of here!” At that, he reached a finger into a small ring on each ball and pulled the pins. The Doctor dove into a small ditch in the ground, while Burns grabbed Berry Punch and attempted to run away and do the same. A loud, thundering explosion ripped through the air as a massive ball of flame engulfed Frost, The Master, Burns, and Berry.