Nathan swung his Phantom up from his side so fast that it seemed to have materialized out of the air already pointed at the Light Assault. But as fast as he was, Twilight was faster. A bubble of purple energy sprang into being around the NC trooper in time to deflect the plasma bolt that Nathan sent streaking at him. The ricocheting bolt hit the ceiling and left a small scorch mark behind. The Light Assault flinched, throwing his arms up in a futile attempt to ward off the attack.
Nathan turned slowly to look at Twilight. The look of disbelief on his face suggested he thought she had committed a grievous blasphemy.
“What. Are. You. Doing?!” he said, forced to say the words slowly to keep his anger from exploding outward.
“Stopping you from killing a guest in my home!” she replied, also barely keeping her voice below a shout. “Just like the Terran Republic tried to do to you!”
Nathan shook his head. “Don’t try to twist this like that, Princess. This is different.”
“How?” she replied. “How is this even slightly different? They walked in and shot at you. Now he walks in and you shoot at him.”
“The difference is that we’re shooting first,” Nathan said evenly. “We waited for them to make the right decision and they ended up attacking us. Now we are taking matters into our own hands instead of leaving it in the hands of these incompetents.”
“Why is your answer to all the violence more violence?! How will that stop anything?” Twilight asked indignantly.
“Survival of the fittest,” he said bluntly. “We are the fittest, and so we will survive.”
“But we don’t have to kill them,” Katie interjected. “Right? We can force them to surrender, to give up, to see that we are right and that they must accept it. Isn’t that the goal in the end?”
“Not this time, Katie. On Auraxis, that is the only path to victory. But here?” he smiled with a grim satisfaction. “Here, we have a chance to eliminate our opponents permanently.”
Katie glanced at the NC trooper, who was watching the argument over his fate with a mix of terror and intense concentration. He caught Katie looking and his gaze turned pleading. She found she couldn’t look away. She was seeing him for the first time. Not as a soldier emblazoned with the blue and yellow eagle, but as a person who was afraid and alone, just hoping to see the end of this conflict.
“Listen to me carefully Nathan,” Twilight was saying, raising her voice enough to draw Katie back to the conversation at hand. “This is my home, my town, my country, and my world! You have no authority here, least of all to decide who deserves to live or die. This human came to me in peace and he has been kind and helpful. I see no reason to let you execute him for a war that does not belong in this place.”
“If we eliminate him and the rest of our enemies, there will be no war here.” Nathan pointed out. “Why can’t you simply let us finish our mission?”
“Because you can’t win without destroying this town in the process! They will fight back and my friends and subjects will be the ones hurt. I refuse to let that happen. I had forbidden fighting in this town to the TR and now I forbid it to both of your factions as well.”
“Forbid us? They won’t listen.”
“Oh really? Well that’s too bad,” Twilight said with a slight taunting sneer. “Because you only have control of your own actions. And as such, if you fail to comply with my order, it is only your failing. Now, I’m letting you stay to research a way to leave this place. But I’m letting him go elsewhere until it is safe for him to return.”
“He’s not going anywhere,” Nathan said, pointing his Phantom at the Light Assault again.
“Lower your weapon,” Twilight ordered.
Nathan responded with silence. Twilight’s lips pressed together into a thin line of intense displeasure. She turned to the NC soldier.
“Mathew? When I drop the shield, run.”
Nathan’s frown deepened as Mat nodded. The NC trooper dropped into a ready stance as he prepared to bolt, but as he did so, Katie noticed him reach for something at his belt. He saw Katie watching him and after a moment’s hesitation, he let go of the grenade. Katie was still processing his move when the purple wall of protection vanished. Mat leapt forward into the room and his path to the door brought him within inches of Katie. Their eyes locked and she hesitated. It was all the time Mat needed to slip past her and make his way to the door.
All the while, Nathan struggled to aim his Phantom at the fleeing Light Assault. The glow of Twilight’s magic surrounded the rifle, yanking it this way and that to prevent Nathan from lining up the shot. He struggled mightily but the Princess was too agile and her magic too strong for him to overcome. Then the door slammed shut and Mat was gone.
“You’ve made a mistake,” Nathan said coldly, regaining control of his weapon.
“Have I?” Twilight retorted. “I thought I’d saved a man’s life.”
He flashed a contemptuous glance at Rarity. “You didn’t even try to help us.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to agree with Twilight,” Rarity replied calmly. “He is a guest in her home. Rude would have been to not offer him a chair. But to try to kill him? Darling, there isn’t any part of social etiquette where that belongs.”
Nathan huffed at her and turned to Katie. “And you. What were you doing? Just letting him run by you? Would you mind getting the door for him as well?!”
“I didn’t mean to. It was just that he was…” Katie tried to articulate her confusion but Nathan jumped on her hesitation.
“He got away. Nothing else matters now does it?”
“I’m sorry,” Katie whispered.
He ignored her. “There is one important detail left. The real reason he escaped us.” He rounded on Twilight and raised his Phantom. “If you so much as twitch that horn of yours, I’ll blow it right off your head!”
Twilight blinked, obviously not ready for this. Rarity let out a startled yelp.
“Now, Nathan. Let’s not be…” the Unicorn began.
She was cut off by a sharp, steely glare from Nathan.
“Nathan! What are you doing?” Katie asked, startled by his sudden turn. “She’s our friend!”
“Is she? Keeping secrets from us? Vital information? Aiding our enemies?! Doesn’t sound like a friend to me.”
“She’s helping us get home,” Katie pointed out.
“A lot of good that does us if she’s allowing the NC and TR to escape as well,” he threw back at her.
“Please, Nathan. Think it through,” Katie begged. “We can still find a way through this without fighting. Just put the rifle down and we can talk this out.”
“If she’s throwing her lot in with them, then she’s made her choice and she’ll pay the price.”
He said the words with the same even tone as he ever did but there was a glint in his eyes that Katie had never seen before. It almost looked like eagerness.
Because it was behind his mask, she thought, the realization forcing her to fight off a gasp. Is this who he’s been all this time? Did I ever see who he really was?
She took a step away from him. He didn’t even glance at her. All of his attention was on the pony in his sights. Twilight was slowly backing away from him, unable to see anything but the long, dark barrel of the laser weapon mere inches from her muzzle, giving her no room to think of defense.
“Besides,” Nathan went on. “We’ve got all the information on magic to unlock its secrets right here in hard cover. Ten times as much to work with than what Vanu left us.” The glint in his eyes flashed dangerously. “We don’t need her.”
A burst of laser fire caused everyone to flinch, but the Phantom remained silent. Nathan’s legs gave out and he fell. From where he lay on his back, he craned his neck to look at his assailant. The glowing barrel of Katie’s Pulsar darkened again. He gasped as he tried to turn his questioning expression into words but to no avail. Katie watched silently as he struggled. With one last sigh, he was still. She dropped to her knees beside him and pulled his body close, her eyes clenched tightly shut.
Twilight approached cautiously.
“Katie? What did…? Did you just…?” she asked, unable to complete the thought aloud through her shock.
Katie didn’t seem to hear her.
“Katie?” Twilight asked again, this time gesturing to her medical applicator.
Katie took it out and looked at it, her expression filled with pain. She mouthed words, and after a moment, it seemed as if she were counting silently to herself. She kept looking at the applicator until she reached zero. Then she dropped it and clutched Nathan close, sobbing. Rarity stepped up next to Twilight.
“What in the world just happened?” she asked in a hushed tone.
Twilight thought for a moment before gasping in realization. “She waited until it had been too long for the applicator to work. There is a small window of time that it can bring someone back to life and she…she let it pass.”
“But why?” Rarity asked, covering her mouth with both hooves.
“Because I couldn’t let him do this,” Katie answered suddenly, wiping her eyes. “I had to stop him. And if I‘d brought him back, he’d have just ended up doing this again. I never truly saw it in him before, but he’s always been a fanatic. Nothing mattered to him except knowledge and the furthering of Vanu’s teachings. He’d kill anyone that got in his way. Now I see that he might have even enjoyed it. And over these past few days, I’ve come to the realization that the man I fell in love with…might never have existed at all.”
She bit her lip as tears again threatened in her eyes. Twilight stepped closer and put her hoof around Katie’s shoulder. Katie leaned against her and let the tears flow freely.
~*~*~
When Fluttershy finally disengaged from Gadrik, her expression was steeled with bitter resolve. She forced herself to look at the dead NC soldier. The coldness in her gaze was worrisome to the Major, who had been under the impression that this pony was a timid one. She turned to the motionless MAX suit and put her hoof against it. As she did so, her expression softened again and her grief managed to show through.
“We have to put an end to this,” she said, looking at Gadrik and speaking with ringing conviction. “No matter what it takes, this has to stop.”
“Even if that means we have to fight to end it?” he asked.
She hesitated but nodded. “I’m no good at fighting but if it comes down to it, I will.”
“No, you won’t,” Gadrik said sternly. “If there’s fighting to do, I’ll be the one doing it. I’m a soldier after all. It’s what I live and breathe every day. You’d be better suited to finding a peaceful solution, don’t you think?”
Fluttershy smiled in appreciation. “I’m sorry I yelled at you about Anthony. I was just angry a-and…”
Gadrik held up a hand to stop her as she started to break down again.
“There’s no need to apologize to me,” he said gently. “In fact, I may have needed to hear those things.”
Fluttershy wiped her eyes and nodded.
“First off, we need to talk to Twilight again,” she said. Fluttershy saw the dubious look Gadrik was giving her and added, “I know she’s angry with you, but things have changed. I’ll talk to her and we’ll work it out. You’ll see.”
He agreed reluctantly and they started toward town. It was a somber walk. The absence of the MAX’s heavy footfalls was already bothering the Major. The Corporal hadn’t been in his outfit for very long but Gadrik could no longer imagine a drop without him. He had a steady, grounding presence in the field that helped Gadrik keep a grip on tough situations. He’d been the epitome of a loyal soldier, never hesitating to charge the lines when the call came. Gadrik recalled the many times he’d thrown himself between the Major and enemy fire. It was a trait that he’d always admired in the young soldier. He would miss him.
They entered the streets of Ponyville and made for Twilight’s library. Hardly any ponies were in the streets now. The brave few who had risked venturing forth quickly scurried away at the sight of the human. Curious eyes followed them from windows as they passed, wondering what Fluttershy could be doing alongside the dangerous visitor. None dared to approach.
Gadrik took to watching for danger as they neared the center of town. There was still the very real possibility of running into whatever other NC and VS who might be about. They were bound to still be in town, and without the MAX, he was beginning to feel vulnerable. He tightened his grip on his TRAC-5. He knew it wouldn’t do him any good against the other challenge he was marching toward.
He glanced over at Fluttershy. The Pegasus was walking along just ahead of him in apparent composure, but the tiny frown and occasional nervous flick of her ear told him otherwise. He began to wonder how she would handle the Princess. Did she have a plan? Did she know something about this Princess that made her think she would listen? Was she even in an emotional state that could handle the confrontation?
What will I do if it all goes south? he suddenly thought. No use going in without a backup plan.
He’d gotten half way through the rough escape route he’d use when he decided to scrap it. He was sick of try to plan things out. Besides, his plans had been what got him into this mess. There had been too much reliance on procedures and regulations. Here, there was no need for him to outline an objective. He didn’t need an angle of attack. There was no backup to be had. This time, it came down to whether this Pegasus would be able to talk the Princess down or not. He was banking everything on this one gamble and he decided he would simply accept the results.
It was liberating to be able to forget about the process and just let the situation play out. His friend would be his lifeline and he would either sink or swim on her ability to handle what came next.
Isn’t that what a squad is supposed to be like? he mused. I might have lost sight of that somewhere along the line. Somewhere on my way up the command chain.
In the relative silence of the shell-shocked town, he could hear every door that slammed and every hooffall of the ponies retreating into their homes. He supposed he should expect it with all the fighting going on. But what he didn’t expect to hear were the curses being shouted by someone who seemed to be headed in his direction. He stopped walking as he tried to pinpoint the source.
All at once, an NC Light Assault came careening around a corner up the street and quickly disappeared down a side street farther on. A string of indistinct profanity and shouting was left in his wake. The Major stood indecisively for several seconds. Fluttershy had stopped when he did and now stood beside him, also staring after the fleeing soldier in confusion.
Gadrik felt his anger building at the sight of the NC colors. He knew he should stay with Fluttershy and stick to their plan of meeting with Twilight, but once again, he came to the conclusion that he was done with plans. It was time to act. And he was going to act with vengeance. He took off after the Light Assault, ignoring Fluttershy’s pleas for him to come back.
~*~*~
“A medic! They’ve got a frickin’ medic! That’s like, cheating or something! Why couldn’t we get a medic!?”
Mat yelled these words as he ran, lacing more colorful expressions of his anger and fear creatively throughout. Streets appeared ahead of him and he left them behind just as quickly. He had no idea if the VS were pursuing him or not and he didn’t want to wait to find out. He kept running until he was sure he’d collapse if he took another step. He fell against the nearest wall, taking heaving breaths.
He’d gone into that library looking for the VS. He hadn’t expected to have them walk in the front door.
Didn’t exactly expect to be doing house work either, he mused dryly.
Twilight hadn’t been pleased to see him. He found out why quickly enough. She managed to guilt trip him into helping her repair the window, sort through damaged items and clean up the mess left by the other fighting factions. All the while, Mat had tried to find the right time to ask if she’d direct him to where the VS had gone. He’d lost the will to do it somewhere along the line as he listened to Twilight’s passive-aggressive comments. He realized the kind of chaos he was helping to sow in this town and started to rethink his action plan. But like any good plan, it was thwarted by the Vanu.
Now he just wanted to make it back to the farm and meet up with Trevor again. He hoped against hope that the pink pony he’d met earlier had found some of the equipment he needed. They could skip town, set up their beacon away from the fighting, go home at last and never have to deal with this mess again. He could hardly believe it of himself, but he couldn’t wait to get back to the war on Auraxis. The spawn tubes were a comfort he was sorely missing with so many close encounters in this town. All the relaxing scenery in this world, and any other world for that matter, wasn’t worth the risk of being shot dead at any second.
The sound of footsteps brought him back to reality with a start. He looked out from his meager shelter, expecting to see the two VS soldiers closing in on him. Instead, he saw the TR Engineer barreling down the street at him, carbine up and murder in his eyes.
“Shit!” Mat breathed as he took off again.
Bullets hissed past him as he jumped up to a nearby rooftop and ran across to an adjacent street. He doubled back the way he came and hopped from building to building trying to put some distance between himself and his pursuer. Unfortunately, his pursuer was quick and persistent. As Mat cleared each rooftop, he felt more impacts on his shields. He knew his shields wouldn’t be able to keep recharging fast enough forever and his mind raced to find an escape.
He led the Engineer into an alley and held his course until the TR soldier was half way between the streets before hopping the roof and switching directions. He could hear the curses of the Engineer follow him as the soldier sprinted to find a way to reach him again. Mat was rapidly exhausting himself but he couldn’t slow down for fear of being caught. There weren’t any magic princesses there to save him this time. But as he topped a particularly tall building, he spotted the pink pony from earlier making her way down a street ahead of him. He homed in on her with wild, desperate inspiration.
“Pinkie?” he called, hoping he’d remembered her name correctly.
It appeared he had because she looked around to find him and waved as he came bounding toward her over the buildings. A saddle bag was slung over her back and it appeared to be bulging with mismatched items. Mat thought he recognized a coil of copper under one of the flaps. He dropped down next to her.
“I…need…a…” he said, panting.
“I’ve got it all right here!” she said, interrupting him brightly and dumping the bag out at his feet. “All sorts of metal wires, rods, and plates, some tools and even a bunch of batteries, just like you said! I was on my way to A.J.’s with them to finish the scavenger hunt.”
“New game!” Mat nearly shouted, managing to catch his breath and break into the conversation before she could get up any more steam. “Hide and seek! Know any good places?”
“Pshhh, yeah,” she said with a dismissive flip of her hoof. “But those are the places everypony looks right away. The really good places are where nopony would expect somepony to hide at all. Follow me!”
She took off and Mat struggled to keep up, using short hops with the assistance of his jetpack to close the distance.
“So where is this hiding place?” he asked as he fell into step beside her.
“You’re going to have tea and cakes in Sugarcube Corner while the seeker looks under rocks and behind trees and in flowerbeds. Isn’t that the greatest? They’ll never expect you to be sitting at a table in a shop.”
She snorted with laughter as she bounded ahead. Mat hopped and ran along behind her, wondering if this pony was an idiot or a genius.