Chap 4.c) The Price of Vengeance. (Fluttershy)
Author: Brother Malachai
Editor: May I Cut In
“We must not respond immediately with force against the alien wildlife. Rather we should seek to understand why did they do that. They, like us, deserve a little kindness”- Princess Fluttershy right before she presented a siege worm to her fellow colonists
Thanks to Mr. Cthulhud, Fluttershy’s convoy reached their city safe and sound through the miasma fog that surrounded Everfree. Reaching the city limits, they led the worm to a specially cordoned off area for it to live in. “Thanks for your help Mr. Cthulhud. It was nice of you to lead us through the possibly harmful fog.”
The worm “rumbled” in response; only Fluttershy understood that it meant “No problem.”
Waving a hoof at the worm, they headed towards the city. Zecora had been doing a good job with setting up their facilities. She could see several farms and solar arrays as they went over the hill. As they went pass, several of the ponies who were working in the facilities noticed the little royal convoy and waved. Going further along, they passed the site of the first farm where the worm first appeared. With a smile, Fluttershy recalled how they had first met the siege worm.
……
“Cordon off the area! Get the wounded to the city clinic!” Iron Will shouted towards the small regiment of soldiers they had. “This is a crisis zone!”
Fluttershy could only stare at the gaping chasm that the alien had left in it’s wake. At the building rendered half demolished. Clearly the alien here was much more stronger than any other animals back in the Everfree Forest. Oh dear, how are we going to deal with this problem?
(1h later at the clinic)
“All together there were only 6 ponies who were injured.” The doctor, Tender Cure said. “All of them will be back to normal after a few days of rest.” He hesitated for a moment before continuing: “However, there is one who may not be able to walk properly ever again.”
“Oh dear. What happened?” Fluttershy asked with concern.
“It might be best if you see for yourself my Princess.” the doctor replied as they reached the ward. “After you Princess.” Tender Cure said while holding the door open.
As soon as she stepped in, the various injured patients that were resting on their beds noticed their beloved Princess and they tried to stand at attention as well as they could. Fluttershy went over to each of their sides and wished them a speedy road to recovery. Finally reaching the last bed, she cringed. The stallion had lost his right hindleg. In due time, he would be getting a prosthetic but for now it looked rather painful for him.
“How are you doing today Mr. Daddy McColt?” the doctor asked.
McColt looked at the doctor and the Princess.
He coughed and started speaking, “My princess. Ahm perfectly fine. However, there is one thing I would like to ask of you.” He stared at the princess. “Promise me that you would go after that thar abomination of a worm!”
“I…I can’t promise you that. Perhaps it was an misunderstanding?” Fluttershy offered. “After all, we can’t just simply figure out which party is right without understanding the whole situation.”
McColt looked at Fluttershy in the eye. “Princess. I understand what took place a long time ago between the Hooffields and my family was due to us not even taking time to understand each other and immediately jumping to conclusions. But no. Ah can’t do it this time. This time it’s personal. I had traded my life fer my hindleg when th’ great worm showed up. And this pony will not rest until I have hunted th’ Siege worm! I’ll will not rest till I hunt the Ground Eater,” he finished with a determined look in his eyes.
Fluttershy could see that he would break out into the armoury just to fight the worm, so she reluctantly replied: “Ok. I’ll...consider your...proposal.”
Still, Daddy McColt knew that “consider” was the Princess’ nice way of saying “no” or that she would postpone it indefinitely (especially when it came to matters that would harm wildlife). Not that there was much of a difference. After getting out of the hospital later that day, he used his collection of bits and contacts within and without the family to arrange a meeting with certain...shady individuals. Everything was arranged and within a few days he was to met their contact within a newly established saltlick saloon in the shady part of the colony. This part, due to the lack of scrap metal to go around and the difficulty in quarrying rock and chopping logs with a rather small population was simply known as “the Tent Quarter” or “Tent Town.” Not a particularly fancy-schmancy name, but accurate. It pained a master builder like him to see this part of town in this condition, but building supplies, workers, and tools were stretched thin. This was something he hoped his clan of architects, mercenary combat engineers, carpenters, and construction workers could fix...in time.
He walked up to the grimy and dinged metal table that passed for a bartop and hopped up onto a nearby crate that served for a stool. He then said said to the nearby barkeep, “Two blocks of saltlick.” He then shoved forward a decent sized pile of bits and continued, “And the extra is fer keepin’ yer yap shut about what goes on here.”
The barkeep merely nodded and grabbed the bits.
As Daddy McColt helped himself to a few licks from his block, a brown and white Palamino Earth Pony mare with a raven-colored mane and chestnut eyes trotted up to him. The pony’s Cutie Mark was that of a rolled-up scroll with a red wax seal and a purple band upon it.
“Well, hello Blue. What brings you to this part of town,” she asked. She then quickly adjusted a tan newsboy hat that she had on top of her head.
From his previous meetings with his contacts, he knew this comment would be the contact’s way of confirming that she was who she said she was. He then prepared the response that he was to give in turn (according to the contacts he had) to confirm that he was the one they needed to speak to.
“Ahm just ‘ere fer th’ salt n’ music,” he said with a rather low growl. With most ponies this would be intimidating or hostile, but the growl in his voice was just a normal thing for Daddy McColt.
“Oh, but I heard...differently,” the Palomino Earth Pony continued, “I heard you had a little...worm problem and would like some help taking care of it.”
Daddy McColt merely stared down for a moment at the salt lick before him and then briefly looked down at the stump where his leg used to be and sighed. He then continued, “Well, alot of ponies say alot of things, Missy. But...let us assume that it’s true. Can ya help me?”
“Theoretically, yes,” the other pony continued, “But, it will be dangerous. This will not be cheap. Whether we use the growing black market, attempt to infiltrate the armory, or both. We will be putting our lives at great risk. We will demand a rather healthy...donation to our own cause. Even then, why not use the contracted gear given to your combat engineering corps?”
“We will,” Daddy McColt continued, “but it’s not enough fer that giant thing. Hide’s too thick. We do have a few mortars, n’ rockits, but most of our arsenal are traditional six-shooters n’ a few repeater rifles, shotguns, an’ grffinikovs. Just enough t’ protect ourselves when doin’ construction werk in fruit bat country, but not enough fer th’ hunt whar goin’ on.”
“Very well then,” the Palomino continued, “We will grab what we can for you on the black market and will attempt to knock out some of the perimeter on the agreed time. If we do manage to get some items for you on the black market, where and when do you want to pick them up?”
“Warehouse Twenty-Seven about twenty minutes after we rush in and grab what we can from the armory. If you can pull it off.”
The mysterious Earth Pony then took a lick from her own block and continued, “If certain measures were in place it would most certainly be more difficult. However, the colony is still very new and they have yet to set up proper hoofprint, eyescan, DNA, and shapeshift scanning technology. They are still mostly dependent on armed guards, tagging wargear in and out, and ID badges. We can just grab a few guards on the outer perimeter and take their ID’s and uniforms.”
“Ah want casualties t’ be avoided if ya can,” McColt interrupted, “Mah feud is with that thar armored Tatzlwurm. Not th’ local troops!”
“Of course. But no promises though,” the Palamino replied as she looked around, “But we do agree that offing too many guards would be...bad for business. It would put too much heat on us. We will use weaker doses of our stinger venom and other weapons. You know, tazers, smoke bombs, and the like. However, I can’t guarantee we won’t lightly...snack a bit...during our infiltration attempt.”
Mr. McColt merely shuddered a bit at the comment of “snacking” and then warily slipped the strange Earth Pony a decent-sized bag of bits.
“As agreed,” the much shorter stallion commented, “Half up front an’ half when yer done. At th’ warehouse.”
The Palomino Pony then weighed the bag in her hand, opened it up, and bit one of the bits that were inside.
“A real pleasure doing business with you, Blue,” she concluded with a hoofshake, “Take your positions outside of the armory in about four hours and wait for the doors to open. If it’s not open by about twenty minutes past the arranged date, consider the op a wash and go to the warehouse to pick up what we can find for you on the black market.”
“Rest assured, th’ pleasure’s all mine,” the blue pony replied in turn; even though he seemed a bit less than eager to shake the hoof of the Palomino.
A few hours later, Daddy McColt had taken his small band of kinfolk hunters, trackers, and mercenaries and had set up shop in a family built dorm across the dirt and rock street from the armory. Daddy McColt peered across the street at the armory from his balcony with a telescope. So far, nothing. But then again, they had about a few more hours before the deal was officially a bust. Still, the closer the deadline came the more nervous he became. It was then that he jumped at hearing a series of knocks at the door. He recognized that the number of knocks and the speed it was done at was the agreed upon code indicating that the person on the other end was friendly. He quickly got up upon the shoulders of a nearby Earth Pony and looked into the peephole. It was the mystery pony that had finalized the contract mere hours before. Daddy McColt quickly indicated for guards to flank both sides of the door as he got down from the Earth Pony and slowly started to open it.
“Quite a party you got here Blue,” quipped the mysterious Palamino as she entered. She then handed over a earbud to one of the guards and replied, “I wanted to hand this over to you before you patted me down for weapons or a wire. It’s the earbud I’m using to communicate with the troops on the ground. You are free to inspect it of course.”
“Sparky McColt, is it clean,” asked Daddy McColt as another much younger Earth Pony gave it a look over. While this was taking place, the mare was being given a quick pat down, although she obviously seemed less than thrilled about it.
“Yeah Paw, it’s clean,” he commented back, “It’s a heavily modified earbud with multiple frequencies and a jammer, but no tracer or tracking device. I see a place where they may have been installed earlier, but it seems it was removed. Ahm goin’ t’ guess it was because our new...allies knew how concerned we were about bein’ ratted out.”
“You are very astute, little larvae,” replied the Palamino as she dropped her disguise and slowly shifted into her true form. Dropping the multi-colored fur coat for black chitin. She then stretched and continued, “I hope you don’t mind. Having to hold a disguise for a while can really make you stiff after a while.” “I’ll take yer word fer it,” replied Daddy McColt as he handed her back her ear bud.
She then proceeded to talk on the ear bud, “Yeah, I’m at the contract site. Go ahead with the infiltration op. You all ready found a mark? Where? Good. Go ahead.”
“Blue...I mean, Mr. McColt. If you have a pair of binoculars or telescope with good quality thermals or night vision, I’d suggest looking on the nearby corner of Wolf Beetle Run and Manticore Lane. Big Daddy McColt grabbed in binoculars again and proceeded to do so. He noticed what seemed to be a rather attractive young mare talking to a nearby guard. The Guard was probably just going on Night Patrol when he was distracted by the lovely individual. It was then that he noticed another ponies sneak up behind him, put a cloth over his muzzle and dragged him into a nearby alleyway. He then saw what looked like the same Guard pony trot out and re-adjust his armor.
The Changeling, now back in her disguise, trotted up next to him and commented, “The guard you see is actually one of our operatives in disguise. The original has been bound and gagged and stuffed in a box in the alleyway. We used to put them in dumpsters or trash cans, but we had unfortunate incidents where they were accidentally thrown into dump trucks. I shouldn’t have to tell you what happened next.”
The smaller male Earth Pony only shivered in a bit of slight horror as he imaged what happened to those unfortunate few. He then watched as the Earth Pony walked up to the Armory’s Guard Shack, got into a bit of a conversation with the guard, and presented him with some paperwork and cards of some sort. He then saw the gate go up and the pony walk in.
“Well, I’ll be Discord’s missin’ fang. That little sunnuva gun got in. Still, we haven’t got our weapons an’ ammo yet.”
“Patience is a virtue,” the Changeling in turn replied as she looked through a pair of binoculars.
After about another five to ten minutes, the Changeling motioned for Daddy McColt to look up at the top of the roof of the main building. On top was the disguised Changeling, who had opened the door on the roof to the main stairwell. About a dozen or so Changelings then quietly flew down from the sky and landed on the roof and followed him in. A few minutes after that, a green fog was seen flowing out of building and it eventually enveloped the entire facility. Guards and civilian personnel were seen gagging and coughing until they finally fell over and lost consciousness.
“Don’t worry, as you requested, it is non-lethal,” said the mysterious Changeling that was next to Daddy McColt, “We will need to move fast before reinforcements arrive. While I do hope you have gas masks I also took the liberty of telling my troops to carry spares on them.”
Daddy McColt and his band of ponies rushed across the street with the Changeling hiree taking point. They all wore gas masks, except for the Changeling, who was handed one by one of the disguised guards as she approached the gatehouse.
“We predict you got about fifteen to twenty minutes tops until the other troops start getting worried and sending reinforcements to investigate. Grab what you can and run,” advised the Changeling with the Trilby hat and gas mask. Her voice was now a quasi-garbled mumble due to the gas mask she had on, but Daddy McColt got the gist of it. He nodded and took his hunting party with him as he rushed into the armory.
After packing as much as they could into a nearby wagon with what little time they had, the mixed force of Changelings and ponies fled the armory and went down a maze of alleyways and dirt streets until they arrived at the agreed upon warehouse. When they arrived, there was another group of Changelings waiting them, they also had a wagon of their own, loaded with crates that had Changeling, Minotaur, and Griffin text upon them.
“This is what little we could scrape off the black market in short notice,” the lead changeling replied, “However, once we get everything inside I do think you will find the results most satisfying. After getting their collection of ill-gotten gains within the warehouse, the McColts started opening the crates and inspecting them. As they said, the results were indeed satisfactory. It was a mix of assault rifles, rocket launchers and mortars. And more than enough ammo, gun oil, manuals and cleaning kits to keep them up and running.
“Very well, a deal’s a deal,” the short blue pony replied, “Here’s the other half, as promised.” He then handed over to the mysterious female ringleader another bag of bits. She weighed it in her hoof, took a peek in the bag, and bit one of the coins. She then smiled and replied, “This will suffice. Consider our contract fulfilled. If you need our services again, you know how to contact us.” She and the rest of the Changelings then ran and flew off into the night.
After the McColt Clan looked on for a few seconds, Daddy McColt then grumbled and barked out, “C’mon! Get a move on! We’ve got to get this gear out of here! We got a hunt to go on and I want us to get out of town before we get in more trouble! Move move MOVE!”
……
After a few brief and intense trips down various alleyways and streets, the newly armed and equipped hunting party was able to make their way out of town and managed to get out into the fields that made up the farms that made up the “frontier” of the new colony. Daddy McColt stopped for a brief moment to look sadly at the ruined fields and buildings that now surrounded him from the recent attack. It was then that he heard some trotting behind him. He drew out a six shooter and spun around. Behind him stood “Ma” Hooffield. The Clan Matriarch of his Clan’s former rivals.
“‘ave ya come t’ stop me ‘Ma,’” he growled as he pointed his pistol out here.
“Naw. On th’ contrary. I’ve come t’ ask if I could come along. In case ya forgot, this land ‘ere is ours an’ I lost crops, shelter, prime farmin’ land, an’ a few o’ mah own kin are in th’ Clinc now due to that dern thing!,” she cooly answered as she unslung a Hoofchester ‘87 Rifle from her back. As she did so, more Hooffields started to creep out from the ruins and trees that surrounded the farm land.
“Heh...it’s been awhile since we agreed on anythin’ Ma,” Big Daddy chuckled, “Very well! Brick! Mortar! Git these ‘ere Hooffields armed up! We don’t ‘ave much time ‘afore th’ Guards from th’ Colony start tryin’ t’ chase us down!”
“Wait...wut Guards,” Ma Hooffield asked with a tinge of concern and suspicion.
After explaining the situation the Hooffields still agreed to go along and were armed up with better gear. After all, they too lost much in the situation and were frustrated by Fluttershy’s refusal to take action due to her love of nature. Indeed, they were the largest faction of farmers in the entire colony. Due to this, they also gained much influence within the political structure that made up the frontier of the town. “While ahm not thrilled about it ah do agree we need t’ take action. It’s just a shame it took you havin’ t’ take such extreme actions t’ git th’ weapons we need,” Ma Hooffield concluded with a nod.
“Yup. Ya can only push a stallion...or a mare...so far before they snap,” Big Daddy agreed in turn, “But enough chewin’ th’ cud. We gots t’ git goin before dem Guards git here t’ detain us.” Ma nodded in agreement and went to round up the kin that agreed to join her own war party and made sure they were given sufficient equipment from the ill-gotten gains of the McColts.
Big Daddy cleared up his throat and then started to address the ponies that surrounded him, “Alright Hooffields an’ McColts! Listen up! Me an’ Ma agreed to split our party into two groups. We are goin’ after that infernal giant worm that tore up our farms! That ruined th’ buildins that we built an’ th’ land ya’ll tended! We cannot allow this insult upon our pride go unanswered. Now, we will be into two war or huntin’ parties. The last we saw of that infernal critter he was goin’ due west. Therfore, that’s whar we goin’. The Hooffields will take up the left side and we’ll take up the right. We’ll try t’ pin that overgrown earthworm between us an’ take ‘im down wi’ mortars an’ rockits. Now let’s get movin’! McColt Regulators! Hooffield Wildcats! Move out!”
Upon hearing the orders, the assembled ponies hooted and hollered and proceeded to run forward to the Western Treeline.
Meanwhile, from a nearby nearby hut, a hidden Daisy and Lily whispered to each other.
“You think this counts as awful,” asked Daisy.
Lily nodded.
“And disastrous,” Daisy continued to ask.
Lily again nodded.
“Then we got to notify Fluttershy then,” Daisy concluded.
“I agree,” Lily finally said, “Even if that creature did harm poor Carrot Top; I still think picking a fight with it is a bad idea. I would rather our Princess try to talk it down first, as she had done with animals back in Equestria. Let’s flee to town and warn her after the hunters have left.”
After spending most of the night and a good chunk of the morning tracking down the creature; the Hooffields and McColts noticed a pattern in the creature’s movements. It would often sink below the surface, but would inevitably rise to the surface. They were unsure why, but it reminded them of what a whale would do. Of how it would often come to the surface to breathe after swimming the mysterious dark depths of the seas back home. Whether it needed to surface to actually breathe or for some other reason was unknown. Nonetheless, they agreed that that was a matter for scientists to figure out, not them. Something the scientists will have plenty of time to do once the creature has been turned into a stone cold dead corpse.
After following the creature for so many hours it had surfaced next to the lake. “This is our chance,” roared the short, blue, Stallion, “Regulators! Wildcats! Pin ‘em in an’ OPEN FIREEE!!!!!”
Mortar teams rushed to set up their batteries while rockets and various assorted firearms open fire from the surrounding mass of ponies. The large monstrosity raised up several stories into the air and let out a ear-splitting roar.
“Keep firin’,” yelled Ma Hooffield, “We ain’t gonna git a second chance!”
The creature then let out another roar and was starting to rear up even higher; it was preparing to strike with the massive trunk that made up its body. It was then that a massive flash of light appeared out of nowhere between the worm and the ponies, and blinded both. From the flash of light roared another loud voice; screeching, “BEEEEE STILLLLLLL!!!!!” The voice was that of a unusually loud Princess of Kindness. Both the worm and the surrounding ponies recoiled in pain from usage of the Royal Equestrian Voice. Behind the band of backwoods ponies charged and flew a band of Fluttershy’s Royal Guard. Accompanying them were Zecora and Iron Will in a flying chariot.
“Put your weapons down now,” growled a unusually angry Fluttershy. Anger was a rare thing for her, but even she had her limits.
But then Hooffield in turn yelled at her, “But Princess! That infernal thing took mah leg an’ destroyed th’ buildin’s ah built!”
Ma Hooffield then added, “An’ it ruined mah crops!”
Fluttershy then took a second to recompose herself, but still spoke with a tinge of frustration and anger, “Look. I’m sorry about what happened to both of you, especially you Mr. Hoofield.” She then sadly looked down at Big Daddy’s leg and continued, “But you risked the lives of my Guards and stole government property for the sake of fulfilling a GRUDGE! You risked the lives of fellow colonists for a grudge!”
“Only because you ignored us,” yelled back the McColt Patriarch.
“I was NOT ignoring you,” Fluttershy then yelled back, “I was going to talk to the creature and attempt to get it to leave us alone! But you couldn’t wait for me to do it! Could you!?”
Daddy Hooffield then looked down at his leg and replied, “But my leg…”
Fluttershy then got a bit misty-eyed and put her hoof upon the short stallion’s shoulder, “I know what it did was wrong, but killing it is not going to give you your leg back. Even if it was still within it, it’d probably be digested and rotted beyond repair now. Look, I know Princess Sparkle is having some of her scientist researching cybernetics and my own scientists are doing research into cloning body parts. I will see if I can find you a replacement.”
“It’s not the same…,” Daddy McColt growled. He then turned away and look at Ma Hooffield. She merely nodded in silent assent. “Ponies! stand down,” Daddy McColt barked out, “Turn th’ stolen weapons back over to the Guards!" Fluttershy then ordered her Troops, "They are not to be arrested. They are also to be allowed to keep the contraband as long as only their combat engineers and guards are the only ones to be equipped with it.”
Iron Will then slightly objected, “But Fluttershy!? Why apologize when you should criticize!?”
Fluttershy then put up a hoof and chided, “Now now. While what they did was wrong it was only because they felt I was ignoring them. My decision stands. No jail time for any of them. Now excuse me; I must go try and talk down the worm before it attempts to attack us some more.”
As she walked away, Iron Will angrily stomped towards Ma Hooffield and Daddy McColt.
“She may forgive and forget, but I will not,” he growled, “You owe this colony big time for the trouble and damage you caused. I will be expecting discount on your farming and construction contracts for a long time. Remember, you and your kin are only one warrant away from an arrest.”He then pointed as his eyes and back at them several times before he in turn stomped off to accompany Fluttershy. Zecora merely shook her head at both the rebellious ponies and the angry minotaur and in turn went to go accompany Fluttershy.
“I really hope I can do this. I never talked to a critter from another planet before,” Fluttershy whimpered a bit to herself.
“You can do this Fluttershy! Don’t back down now,” Iron Will commented, “Remember my main rule for negotiations. ‘If somepony tries to block. Show them YOU ROCK!!!”
Zecora then cleared her throat and added, “Remember too that kindness is your strength. Show some restraint.” Fluttershy looked back at them and nervously smiled.
Having finally recovered from the combination of the bright flash and loud screech of the strange extra-terrestrial creature the gigantic worm started to rear up and roar again. Various troops from the Guard, Hooffields, and McColts started to grab weapons and raise them, but Fluttershy yelled, “Stand down! I will take care of this!” The assembled ponies nervously lowered their weapons in response. The creature started to coil back. From Fluttershy’s time in the Everfree forest and elsewhere she noticed this as a stance often used by serpents who are preparing to strike. While she wanted to talk to the creature she realized she was running out of time before it attacked.
“Mr….erm...worm Sir,” she started, “I’m sorry about what my ponies did but…”
The large worm then lunged towards her. The surrounding ponies neighed and screamed in horror over what was happening. Just as the ponies were about to break her orders and attack, there was another flash of light.
They then saw what she was doing. She was using a combination of a restraint spell and her own main weapon: The Stare. Sweat was forming upon her brow and she grunted a bit in pain. Even though she was an alicorn she too felt the consequences of being on a planet that lacked magic. It was a test of wills: Alicorn Vs. Giant Wyrm. After staring at each other for what seemed an eternity both sides started to back down. The worm coiled up with it’s back against the edge of the lake and growled angrily and Fluttershy landed and huffed a bit.
She then continued to speak, “Now...Mr. Worm. Now that I got you to stand down and I’ve called off my ponies, are you willing to talk?”
The giant beast gurgled in what passed for language in its bizarre and limited mind.
After several tense minutes, Fluttershy managed to arrange an agreement with the creature. That it would stop attacking the colonies in exchange for its own parcel of land. After Fluttershy agreed to this, a band of Guards was assigned to send the Hooffields and McColts back home. The other guards surrounded the new creature and guarded it while Zecora and Fluttershy examined its wounds and injuries. It was around this time that Iron Will came to Fluttershy and requested that she speak to him in private. Zecora continued the medical exam with some combat medics and scientists while Iron Will and Fluttershy walked off.
Iron Will said, “Fluttershy. It’s important. Princess Sparkle wants to talk to you. She’s trying to arrange a meeting between the Elements. And she’s got some news about Applejack. She’s hasn’t heard from her in a while and she and her forces are going through some rough country.”
“I understand,” Fluttershy nodded. She grabbed a earbud from Iron Will and put it in her ear. Fluttershy then asked the Princess of Friendship, “Hey Twilight! What is this about you arranging a meeting and Applejack going missing? This sounds very, very bad.”