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Chapter XIII: The Run

The ponies and their human companion paused in a thick cluster of bushes, most of them gasping for air. “Okay, looks like we got enough distance between us and them,” Uris said. “God willing, they won’t catch up for a while.”

“Ugh,” Rarity collapsed on the ground, ensuring that a silken pillow cushioned her fall. “Theah’s no way any of this is good for my perm.”

“Better to have a messed up mane than a hole in your head,” Rainbow Dash commented.

“Rainbow, why don’t you go on ahead and search for help?” Twilight said. “Celestia knows you could get out of here pretty easily.”

“And leave you guys with him?” She shrugged in Uris’ direction. “Not likely, Twi. I’d rather take my chances with the maniacs trying to kill us than leave my best friends in some weirdo alien’s care.”

This time, Uris didn’t comment. He was too focused on Fluttershy to pay any attention to Dash’s constant jabs. The little yellow pegasus was hunched over a stump, trying (and failing) to hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears. “Fluttershy?” He asked.

“That house was everything,” she sniffled. “I-I left behind so many animals there, and I didn’t even think about them until just now. What kind of Element of Kindness am I? Back there, all I could think about was myself! I…” her breath shook, “…I didn’t even save Angel!”

Thinking for a bit, Uris replied. “I’m not sure what kind of ‘Element’ that makes you (or even what that means) but I do know that makes you a regular person.”

She looked up at him, a quizzical look in her tear-streaked eyes.

“Or pony! Whatever,” he sighed. Comforting chicks was definitely not his strong suit. “Look, anybody can get lost in the heat of the moment just start reacting to the crazy crap going on around them. That’s probably the only reason we’re still alive right now. And if you’d stayed behind, odds are they would’ve just killed you.”

It was pretty obvious this wasn’t working as Fluttershy didn’t even lift her head up, so he added: “Besides, they probably haven’t even touched your animals. WE are their target, remember?”

“So…” she finally picked her head up off the stump. “So my animals are probably okay?”

“W-well, probably,” he rubbed the back of his head. “I mean…” She sniffled again, her head dipping low to rest on the stump again. “Absolutely! They have to be alright, okay? Just perfectly fine!”

“Well,” she stood, her legs quaking. “I-if you say so…”

“I know so!” He plastered a big fake smile on his face and winked. “Right now, all we should focus on is getting out of this alive so you can get back to them as soon as possible. Okay?”

She nodded, wiping at her nose with the back of her hoof.

“Aw jeez, here,” he pulled a pack of tissues out of one of his pockets. She accepted one gladly, bending down to blow her nose. The moment she ducked, a flash in the corner of his eye caught Uris’ attention. He turned just in time to see one of the enemy soldiers, leveling a bolt-action rifle on them. He heard himself scream: “GET DOWN!” And felt himself dive onto Fluttershy, shielding her with his own body just as a bullet tore a thin line across his back. In the next few milliseconds, his pistol appeared in his hand and fired a few wild shots in the shooter’s direction. The rifleman went down, just as the cries of his comrades started filling the forest, converging on the small cluster of bushes.

“EVERYPONY RUN!” Pinkie screamed, and suddenly, Uris was yanked to his feet and being pulled along. His shocked mind barely processed Rainbow Dash grasping onto his hand as they ran. Still running on instinct, he fired a few more wild shots in the direction of the enemy’s screams. Another gunshot rang out, and he could see something small and terrifyingly fast ripple Twilight’s flank as she vaulted a log. Still barely on his feet, he managed to wrench his hand free of Rainbow’s hooves and run on his own, quickly ducking behind a tree as the ponies dashed past.

“Mr. Uris!” Fluttershy screamed.

“Just go, go! I got this!” He screamed back, ducking out behind the tree and blind-firing a few more shots. A whole cascade of bullets followed as the men with assault rifles switched to full-auto and let loose in his direction. Once he was certain their pursuers had stopped to focus on him, he ducked out from behind the tree and raced away in the bush, bullets splintering the bark of the trees around him.

Rainbow Dash appeared in front of him and ran alongside. “Here, I thought you were doing something stupid!” She yelled over the gunshots landing all around them.

“You’re not gettin’ rid of me that easy, Ms. Dash!” He hollered back as they caught up with the rest of the ponies. Uris’s gambit had actually bought them a few extra seconds, but the enemy soldiers were closing fast, rifles blasting the entire way. Trees exploded all around them, terrifyingly close to their bodies, and still they ran. A burst of shots landed in a stream as they vaulted it, sending little bursts of water cascading onto their bodies. But still, they were all in one piece, and for a while, Uris actually started to think he might live to see another sunrise.

Then, something turned his blood to ice: a whistle falling from a high to a low pitch, and growing louder. No time to duck, no time to dodge, just enough time to gasp: “SHHHIIIIII…” before a massive explosion threw him off his feet.

A mortar. Those bastards had called down a mortar strike! It had hit close too: a massive, smoking crater had opened up beneath a pile of fallen trees, just a few yards away from where he lay. But he knew he couldn’t stop now, he had to get up, he had to get moving, he had to save…

A white-hot, blinding pain rocketed up his leg, blasting all other thought out. He looked at his ankle, and almost hurled at what he saw. A small twig had embedded itself into his ankle, blood now gushing around it. He lifted his head up to the sounds of soldiers approaching, quickly closing in on him.

That was it, then. Game over.

“Mr. Uris!” Fluttershy screamed.

Trying to keep a brave face for her, he grinned. “Keep moving, Flutters! I’ll be right behind you!”

Nodding, she turned and bolted with the rest of her friends, trusting that he would soon follow. And why wouldn’t she? He’d pulled this stunt just a few moments ago. Except this time, there would be no ducking out from behind a tree and racing off into the woods. Not with his ankle as it was. “Which makes this the last stand at the Alamo,” he muttered, loading his last clip into his weapon and bracing his back against a tree.

He ducked out just as the first soldier rounded a tree and appeared in his view, taking him down with two rounds to the chest. The next few guys were smarter, hanging back, waiting to hit him from a few different sides at once. He fired a few shots blindly into any bush or tree that rustled a bit too sharply, which kept them back for now. But how long would that last?

He fell back behind the tree, and a few seconds later the enemy opened up on him, splintering the pink bark-covered oak. His cover failing, his leg useless, and one last clip in his pistol, Uris mused on how awesome it would be to have a big ol’ cigar with him. One of those nice, thick Cubans that flooded a room with smoke. Or even a decent one-liner would satisfy him right now. Something to throw in those bastard’s faces before they sent him to meet his brother. “He’d get a kick outta that,” he muttered as a bullet sent a shower of splinters raining by his face. “Like somethin’ straight out of an action movie, he’d say…” he paused, trailing off. Something caught his attention, high up in the sky. A little teal speck, moving at the speed of some of the jet fighters he remembered at his old base back home.

“Damn, that little pony can move,” he said as the speck suddenly angled down and rocketed right towards the men gathered behind him. A blast of sonic energy echoed through his ears as shockwaves of red, orange and yellow blasted all around him.

“Ah knew y’had it in ya, Dash!” Applejack screamed as one of her hooves cracked across the faces of a pair of soldiers near her.

“MR. URIS!” Fluttershy cried, bursting out of a bush and running into his arms.

“Goddammit girl,” he sighed, embracing her in the deafening silence that now filled the forest. “What did I tell you about surprising soldiers? You weren’t supposed to come back.”

“Dahling, did you really believe we were just going to leave you to your fate?” Rarity asked, appearing at his side and shaking her head. “Not likely.”

“You don’t understand! They’re here to kill you all! I’m only here to protect you, at all costs. If you stay, my mission will be a failure!”

Fluttershy hugged him harder. He sighed as something stirred in the bushes behind them. Pulling out the pistol again, he blind-fired a few more shots around the tree just as the rest of the ponies joined them.

“Don’t you see?” He whimpered. “I’ve failed here.” A half-dozen soldiers closed in on them, weapons raised, ready to end this chase once and for all. “I’ve failed.”

In the split second before the soldiers could squeeze the triggers on their weapons, a glow appeared around Twilight’s horn. “NOT YET YOU HAVEN’T!” She bellowed as, rather suddenly, a massive ball of pure white light surrounded them. With a deafening boom, everything suddenly disappeared from the forest: the ponies, the soldiers, and the one American pilot, clutching to the most precious thing he’d ever encountered in his life.

A short while later, the birds resumed their song. A few squirrels peeked out from their tree-homes and a hawk alighted upon a branch, peering curiously at the large, blank patch of dirt where he was certain a tree had been just the other day. Then his mind returned to where he might find his next meal.

Once again, all was at peace in this patch of the Everfree forest.

Author's Note:

For all you who might be wondering about my inspiration for this particular scene:

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