Gadrik wound up and threw the grenade as hard as he could. It struck the fleeing NC squarely in the back of his helmet, causing him to stagger. Seeing his opponent flailing his arms to regain his balance, the Major called out a taunt.
“That’s right. Run you—”
The Major was cut off when the NC’s haphazardly returned fire found its mark. His shields collapsed and he felt the bullets cut into him. He grunted and spun back behind the door frame. He pressed a hand to his left side to stop the bleeding, and when the motion cause additional pain to jolt through him, he realized he’d also been hit in the right shoulder.
“...you lucky bastard,” he finished under his breath.
His shields chirped at him briefly before they recharged and, together with his suit, stabilized the bleeding. Still, he knew he was in bad shape.
Fortunately, Gadrik thought with grim satisfaction. I seem to have some breathing room with that rebel scurrying off like that.
He took the opportunity to analyze his options. They weren’t doing much better than he was. He was out of weapons, save his last claymore mine. He was low on allies, with only Rainbow accounted for and he was surrounded by enemies, human and pony alike. And at the rate this was going, he would likely find himself an enemy of the Princess as well.
He looked around the building he was in and spotted a pair of ponies clutching each other and huddled in the corner of what seemed to be a living room. The holes from the NC’s latest bullet hail scarred the wall above their heads. They regarded the Major with fear and shrank from him when his gaze passed over them. If he weren’t in such pain, he might have said something sympathetic. He moved on in his examination of the house and noticed a door that led to what appeared to be a kitchen.
His rapidly thinning options seemed to leave him little choice and he sighed in defeat at what he was stooping to. He walked into the kitchen, gritting his teeth against the pain, and grabbed a sharp knife that fit more or less into his sheath. He walked back to the door and took stock of the scene. The first thing he saw was the injured pony and the Unicorn by the fountain. The Unicorn seemed to have interceded between the grenade and the other pony. But the Major noticed that she did not appear injured. Instead, bits of gemstones littered the ground around her, obviously blasted away by the shrapnel.
And as the Major expected, the Unicorn’s body crumbled away into a pile of gemstones just as it had before. Gadrik watched them closely this time, determined to learn the secret of the impressive trick. The Unicorn appeared from behind the fountain and rushed back to Applejack’s side. As she did so, Gadrik saw the gemstones shudder and move toward her. They turned invisible when they touched her hoof and she shimmered. Gadrik peered closer and saw a ripple in the air detach itself from the Unicorn and move away. He grinned to himself.
She keeps replacing herself with the gems and using invisibility to escape danger. Have to admit, it's a smart strategy.
Rainbow also emerged from behind the fountain and moved to the fallen pony’s side. She exchanged a few words with the Unicorn and received a curt response that Rainbow was visibly offended by. When she tried to respond, the Unicorn shoved her away with a burst of magic. The Pegasus recoiled, obviously hurt and outraged at the same time. She struggled with words for another second before retreating toward the Major.
“I’m sorry,” the Major said sincerely, the moment Rainbow was close enough to hear him.
She hardly looked at him as she passed through the door and landed at his side.
“Don’t be. Applejack made her choice,” Rainbow said with spite sharpening her words. “I warned her and she didn’t listen. The same way she didn’t listen to reason when she decided to be against us.”
The Major was silent, considering the change he was seeing in her and not liking what he saw. The silence wasn’t long. Rainbow lifted her wing to reveal Gadrik’s Commissioner.
“I managed to grab one of your guns,” Rainbow said, holding out the Commissioner to him. “Pinkie dropped it when she tackled me.”
“Excellent work,” the Major said, taking the pistol and checking the ammo. “We’ll end this soon, I promise.”
Rainbow looked at him then. She was on the verge of tears.
“I hope so. I don’t think I can take much more of this.”
There was a pair of quick flashes of light from outside and they looked back toward the fountain. The incapacitated pony was gone and the Unicorn was looking around, bewildered. The color of the light was reminiscent of the shield that Gadrik had seen the Princess use back at the library. He looked around but saw no sign of her. Still, to be safe, he decided to operate under the assumption that she had arrived to intervene.
“What’s the plan?” Rainbow asked.
“Move our position. We don’t want to be predictable. Stick close to me until we know enough to put a real plan together.”
Gadrik glanced out into the square. He saw the Unicorn galloping into the city hall and no one else. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, the Light Assault and the Medic were out of sight.
“Let’s go. Before they pin us down in here.”
“Wait. You’re hurt,” Rainbow pointed out.
“We all are,” Gadrik muttered as he stepped out into the square once more, Commissioner held ready. The two made their way stealthily toward the city hall.
~*~*~
The grenade struck Mat a solid blow and lights flashed before his eyes as he ran. He heard his magazine click empty and decided he needed to do better than just run and shoot blindly. Instead, he veered toward the city hall as the grenade exploded ineffectually behind him. He dropped the empty mag and pulled out another. As he did so, he realized it was his last mag and it wasn’t even full. He continued resolutely toward the closed door of the city hall.
Not breaking stride, Mat rammed his shoulder into the door and it flew open. He stumbled into the room and glanced around. What he found was the last thing he expected. The VS medic was staring back at him with as much shock as he felt from across the open layout of the ground floor. She blinked once. Her Pulsar and the infiltrator’s Phantom were slung at her side and out of the way while his weapon was gripped tightly in front of him at the ready. He swung up the Mercenary and pulled the trigger as fast as he could, but she managed to make her move first.
She pulled a grenade from her belt and threw it hard. As she followed through with her throw, his bullets hit her. They ripped her shields apart and pierced her body. She gasped in pain and crumpled to the ground. The grenade went wide of him and he heard it bounce off the wall behind him. He knew it would be rolling back toward his feet and that he had to move to avoid it. He sprinted back through the doors, rounded the corner and kept running past the city hall and back into the streets.
What the hell is it with everyone and fucking grenades all of a sudden?
He’d heard the grenade discharge but it took a few moments to realize that it hadn’t been the sound of an ordinary frag. He racked his brain for the kind of grenade it had been and then skidded to a stop.
“That clever little bitch,” he breathed. “A revive grenade?!”
He leaned against a wall to catch his breath and let his mind catch up with him as well. After panting for several seconds, he got his wits about him.
“Pinkie?!” he shouted, hoping she would find her way to him.
He didn’t have to wait long. She zipped around the corner and stood on her hind legs, pressing her back against the wall beside him. Her chest heaved as she, too, caught her breath.
“Yeah? What did you need?” she asked. By the sound of her voice, she was badly shaken by today’s encounters.
“You did a great job disarming the Major. Do you think you could do that again with the VS in there?” He gestured toward the door of the city hall.
“Okie Dokie Lokie!” she said.
She still sounded a bit distressed but she once again ran off before he could say anything more. He sighed and accepted it with a shrug. He decided he’d better get into position before shit hit the fan again. She was working wonders with everything he asked of her. He just needed to try to keep up with her until he could capitalize on it for a win. He worked his way around the square in the back alleys, trying to flank the city hall. He wanted to be right on top of it by the time Pinkie had her way with the VS. He went over the situation in his mind as he maneuvered.
He could be fairly sure the Major was out of weapons at this point. And the VS seemed to be avoiding a direct firefight. If he could get the drop on the Medic and finish her off, it would be down to him and the Major. The results there were obvious. The NC could win this day if he kept his head about him. Still, he wasn’t in the best shape. He’d been torn up by the claymore, though his shields were back to full. His jets seemed to have been damaged but were still partially functional. He was down to his last mag in his…
He looked down at the Mercenary in his hands. With a chill of fear, he slipped the mag out and looked at it. It was empty.
Taking out that medic, he thought bleakly. For all the good that did.
He put the empty mag back into the weapon with trembling hands.
I just about ran head long into this with an empty mag. I almost fucked up in the worst way!
He slung the weapon and pulled his Mag-Shot, checked its magazine in paranoia and moved ahead once more. He felt the odds against him coming back closer to even and he sighed.
If nothing else, it will at least be interesting.
He crossed into the square again, striding up to the city hall from behind and skirting around toward the front.
~*~*~
Katie came to with a groan. As soon as she could manage to move, she rolled to one side and leveled her Pulsar at the empty door. For one tense moment, she wondered where the Light Assault was hiding. As seconds of silence ticked by, she realized he had probably not realized her strategy and left assuming she was finished. She relaxed marginally and retreated farther into the building before any more surprises found her. She shook her head in incredulity. It had seemed like such a good idea to change up her location after firing from the same spot twice. Yet somehow, the NC had managed to charge straight into her new position the moment she’d closed the door.
She cursed her lack of training with the Phantom as she made her way up the stairs. If she’d been half as good with it as she was with a Beamer, she would have dropped both of her opponents by now. As it was, it was still the better weapon for her situation, so long as she could find another vantage point. As she crept up the stairs to search the second floor, she became aware of a pony at her side. She froze, shocked that she hadn’t realized the mare was with her until just then.
The pink pony stopped with her, leaned in close and whispered to her conspiratorially. “What are we searching for?”
“We…I, um,” Katie stumbled with her words briefly. “Who are…I mean, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you,” the pony said simply. “My name is Pinkie Pie. What’s yours?”
“I am Katie Lani, Disciple of the Vanu Sovereignty.”
Katie held out her hand cautiously and Pinkie shook it warmly. Katie recovered from her shock quickly and remembered something strange that had been waiting in the back of her mind for an opportunity to be considered. Now, such an opportunity was shaking her hand and smiling.
“Actually Pinkie, there is something I wanted to discuss with you.”
“What’s that?”
They continued up to the top of the stairs and found a room that looked down on the square.
“Your involvement at the fountain just a moment ago,” Katie said. “I wanted to know what it was you did, specifically your reactions to the TR.”
“You mean all of those explosives?” Pinkie asked after thinking back.
“Precisely. I could have sworn I heard you say something about an ‘odd taste’ and look toward the claymore, even though you couldn’t have known it was there.” Katie watched the pony closely for any reaction. “I saw a similar expression on your face just before the Major threw the first grenade as well. Care to explain?”
Pinkie nodded sagely. “That’s my Pinkie sense. It’s what I call it anyway. I get strange feelings that warn me when something is about to happen. I’d never gotten that one before but once things started exploding, I figured it out.”
“What kind of strange feelings?” Katie pressed.
“They’re all different, depending on what is about to happen. This one was kind of a weird taste in the back of my mouth. Like onion and banana juice. And…maybe pickles?” She looked at Katie for her opinion but the Medic could only shrug. “Anyway, Now I know that one means things are about to explode! Not a bad one to know about, eh.”
“I can see the practical applications of—”
Katie stopped speaking as rapid steps approached from the floor below. She reached for her Pulsar but couldn’t find it. She cast about hurriedly but it had vanished. The Phantom had also disappeared.
“Pinkie, where is my…” Katie began, but stopped again when she saw her weapons, including her Force Blade, Proximity Mines, C4, and remaining grenades being carried swiftly out of the room by the pink pony. “Pinkie?!”
Rarity reached the top of the stairs at the same time Pinkie did and stared in confusion as the other raced by with the weapons.
“Pinkie, darling? Where in Equestria are you going with those?”
“No time to talk, jobs to do!” she replied without looking back.
She disappeared down the stairs and fled the building in a flurry of pink. Rarity turned to Katie again, questions in her eyes. Katie was stunned. She’d been so busy with the discussion that she hadn’t noticed Pinkie lifting her equipment. Katie realized too late that Pinkie had been with the NC while charging the fountain.
“What just happened up here?” Rarity asked.
“Pinkie just took my weapons while distracting me,” Katie answered in a detached voice. She reached to her belt unconsciously and found Nathan’s Beamer still safely tucked away in its holster behind her applicator. “But she didn’t get all of them.”
She drew the Beamer solemnly.
“It’s time to end this,” she said. “There are no more tricks, no more running. And I’ve run out of patience for this conflict.”
Rarity nodded slowly in understanding. They descended the stairs together and headed for the door. The door was still open and they approached it cautiously. They strode through it and looked around. She looked one way and then the other…
…and then did a double take in both directions. She heard Rarity let out a squeak of surprise and fear when she saw what waited for them. On her left was the NC Light Assault, Mag-Shot held ready and a grim set to his jaw. On her right, the TR Major was advancing with his Commissioner in steady hands and a steely gaze directed at her. Pinkie Pie crouched beside the Light Assault, ready to leap into action. Rainbow Dash coiled to spring forward from the Major’s side at his word.
For a fraction of a second, all three groups were frozen, each as surprised as the others. For a fraction of a second, the world stood still, holding its breath to see what would happen. For a fraction of a second, Katie was able to see her life in perfect clarity, from the first she could remember to the moments leading up to this one. And in that fraction of a second, in the space between synapses firing in the brain, she wished she could say she was sorry.
Then everything disappeared in a cacophony of gunfire and light.