Tragedy
As the brilliant light faded, the six soldiers uncovered their eyes, and viewed what had appeared. A Challenger 2 tank. Whatever they were up to, they saw the need for heavy fire power, or at least wanted it just in case.
"Sir, we've got a settlement on the eastern edge of the forest." Said the female voice, now known as Claire.
"Specifics?" Asked the gruff voice, the commander.
"Varying time periods. Some have thatched roofs, while other's have a Victorian style decor. Nothing past 1800's style." She said, peering through her telescopic goggles.
"Inhabitants?" The commander asked.
"Sir, you're not going to believe this." Claire said.
"Out with it major."
"Ponies, sir."
"What?"
"Multicoloured ponies. I'm looking at a market area, they seem to be going about business, buying goods, having conversations. It all looks like it's straight out of a cartoon for little girls." She said, taking off her headgear. She passed it to the commander, who put them on and to take a look.
"By god. What is this? Some of them are flying. Is that a unicorn? What the hell is going on here!" The commander had been in dozens of battles, and had seen men die right in front of him, but nothing could prepare him for the overwhelming level of sugar coated, rainbow, absurdity that he was seeing, and he lost his composure. The commander was good at his job, but he did not enjoy it. One should never take pleasure in war. This was the opposite of war. This was the opposite of everything he knew, and he actually felt a little happy. He had to keep up appearances though. Claire on the other hand, being the only female member of the group, was giddy.
"Should we report this to HQ sir?" She said with a laugh.
"There is no way in hell I'm gonna tell the head of Vendetta Securities that I'm looking at candy coloured, sentient ponies!"
Vendetta Securities is a mercenary group, sanctioned by the government, that provides protection of personnel and product being transported through dangerous territory. They also go on manhunts, to capture or eliminate fugitives, corporate protection and sabotage, and various other hazard pay jobs.
"Yeah, they'll think you've gone bonkers, then I'll have your job."
"Can it Mitch, you're too much of a loose cannon to be in command of a troop." It was true. Mitch had an itchy trigger finger, and a shoot first, ask questions later mindset.
With the tank, also came supplies, enough to set up a temporary base camp, and feed the whole crew of 3, plus the tank crew, for three months. There were medical supplies, fuel, and ammunition. After setting up their tents, and hiding the tank under a camouflage net, Claire, the commander, and Mitch headed into town, in order to have a closer look around. These ponies didn't seem hostile, and the soldiers had weapons, so it's not like there was anything to be afraid of.
"Claire, you stay here, at the edge of town, we need you to cover us as we go in. We don't know what the deal is with this place." The commander ordered. Claire was a sniper, and so she was often out of the action. She took up a position just outside the forest, on top of a house that appeared double as a maple syrup shack. It even had an engraved plaque, 'Shade and Shy's Sugar Shack' hanging in front of it. She was a little upset that she couldn't go see the ponies, but she had a job to do, and besides, where she was laying down was oddly peaceful. Looking through her scope, she saw a carriage, pulled by a number of pegasi. It landed in the center of town, and out stepped a number of ponies, plus a human with black wings.
"There are humans here? I thought it was just ponies." She said to herself. Seeing the human's face made her blood run cold. She recognized him from the briefing. He looked a little different, but there was no mistaking his face.
"Davis."
"Thanks guys, alright, let's head home. Being gone for three days, we're definitely behind on our work. AJ, tomorrow after I finish helping Fluttershy with the animals, and Pinkie with the Sugar Shack, I'll drop by the farm." Nightshade said.
"Aww shucks, you don't need ta do that sugarcube." Applejack said, not one to easily accept help.
"Sure I do, if you can get the apple's harvested ahead of schedule, then you won't have any excuse why we can't all go to Fillydelphia beach this year." He wasn't going to let her get out of having fun that easily.
"Commander." Claire said over the radio. "I've spotted the target. He's 200 meters northeast of your position, on the other side of the gingerbread house. He is surrounded by a group of the natives, and has black feathered wings. You can't miss him."
The two soldiers had been hiding in the evening shadows, not wanting to cause a commotion. They headed in the direction of the group, and spotted them.
"Okay, we move in on my signal. 1. 2. Ah shit, he's gone." The commander watched as Nightshade, a rainbow maned pony, a yellow one with pink mane, and a smaller, orange one took to the air. The rest headed in different directions, but the group of four were headed straight for her.
"Claire, they're inbound to your position, get out of there!" She heard on the radio.
"Too late." She heard right next to her. She gulped.
"Well well well, what have we here. I never thought I'd see another human in Equestria. From the look of you, you're military. Don't tell me that after all these years, that bastard Richie's business friends still haven't given up on finding me." The imposing figure said. Claire swallowed hard again.
"Davis, by order of the government of the United States of America, and Vendetta Securities, you are under arrest. Do not resist, and you will not be harmed." She didn't know what it was, but having him just standing in front of her, she felt like she was being crushed. He was not the same as the last time she had seen him, back when he first disappeared. in the flash of light. She had been one of the troops that surrounded him when he first came to Equestria.
"Nightshade, what the hay is going on down there?" Rainbow Dash flew down.
"Rainbow, remember how I told you that I had to run away from my own people? Well, apparently, after five years, they finally figured out a way to come after me. This is one of the people hired to chase me, that thing she's holding is a weapon, like a cannon you hold in your hands. It can kill from over a mile away, but it almost useless up close."
"Nightshade? But you're Davis!" Claire yelled. Rainbow looked at him, and began to laugh.
"Davis? DAVIS?!? Baaaaahahahaha." She fell over laughing.
"Now you know why I changed my name. Don't go telling anyone, or I'll have to tell everyone about that time that you..." Rainbow stopped laughing and cut him off, wide eyed.
"Okay, you made your point, so what do we do with her?" The cyan mare asked.
"Well, she's a support fighter, so there are obviously more, I want to know how many, where they are, and how they got here. I already know where their base camp is." He said, showing Claire his teeth. She shuddered.
"I'm not telling you anything!" She drew a pistol, only to pass out.
"Let's get her inside, and get these weapons and armor off of her. I'd like to have a chat with her without a gun in my face." He said, turning off her radio.
Mitch and the commander headed back to base in the forest, still having not been seen. They passed right by where Claire was supposed to be, but didn't find any sign of her. She didn't respond to her radio. They arrived at the camp, very upset.
"Damnit! that bitch Claire went and got captured!" Mitch yelled.
"Calm down, we don't know that." The commander was trying to prevent the hotheaded youngster from blowing up.
"There's no sign of her, and she isn't answering her radio. There's no way she'd just bail. Face it cap'n, she's been nabbed."
"There's nothing we can do about it now, we'll have to wait till morning."
Morning
Claire awoke to the smell of raspberries, maple syrup, carrots, and celery. Fluttershy had made a fried vegetables, using a maple glaze, and some fruit sauce, but Claire didn't know that. She got up, and found that her combat armor was gone, and just her rifle was standing in the corner of the room. She grabbed it, and swore.
"No ammo. He's not stupid."
She opened the door of the room she was sleeping in, and heard faint singing. She headed down the stairs, to find a yellow pony with pink mane making a breakfast of some kind. Taking a step, one of the boards creaked, and the pegasus turned around. Claire instinctively pointed her rifle at it, only to see it drop to the ground, cover it's head with it's hooves, and hide under the table, shaking. Realizing that she was scaring the poor thing, she put the rifle in the corner, and bent down.
"Hey, I'm sorry for scaring you. It's just, I woke up here, and got a little scared." She said in as soft a voice as possible. The pony stopped shaking, and looked up to see her smiling face. She got out from under the table, and looked at her.
"Why do you have a weapon?" She asked.
"Because, it's my job. I need it to protect myself and others." She reasoned.
"No you don't. This is a peaceful place, it has no need for them." She replied.
"My name is Claire."
"I'm Fluttershy."
"Listen, Fluttershy, I'm looking for someone. He looks like me, but is male, and has wings. He's very dangerous. He's a criminal, and I need to arrest him." She said, trying to convince.
"No he's not. He's kind and caring. He risked his life many times to save the innocent. He blocked this sting of a manticore, taking the venom into himself to rescue a filly, He ran into a burning building without a second thought to save a student and teacher. He took an ancient evil on himself to save it's host, then let himself be turned to stone to bind it forever. Through blind luck, he's free, and that evil is gone for good. He's a hero. Yesterday, he was knighted. We built this house together, started the worlds first maple sugar business. He adopted an orphan, who became one of this worlds best fliers, after he taught her to fly." Fluttershy recounted the things he had done for them. Her tone was not one of fear, or anger, or joy. It was plain.
"He killed a man at the head of medical research, he ran from the authorities. He killed three men who were chasing him. He crashed a helicopter, killing the pilot, and those who were near the crash." Claire told her in the same tone.
"Any who died chasing him did so by their own hooves. When they tried to kill him, he turned it back. Every injury inflicted was passed to the one who gave it to him, nothing more. When he first arrived here, he was stained with blood, ALL of it, his own." Fluttershy did not yell, but her tone was getting a little more forceful.
"We chased him because he killed an innocent man." Claire started crying, finally starting to realize what she had been doing all this time was wrong, not wanting to admit it.
"You chased him because you were lied to, and those of you who know the truth were paid to ignore it. You chased him because you wanted to get paid for catching him. Those who want him want him so they can make money off abusing his power. He ran from your world to prevent his power from being used by the rich to oppress the poor. To prevent your world from ending because of greed. He came here, and despite his pain, made this world a better place for all of us. I am truly sorry." Fluttershy said coldly. She was the element of kindness, but Claire needed to hear the truth. Once she heard it, she needed to be left alone with it for a while.
"Now that you know, what will you do?" Nightshade asked, flying in the window.
"You're lying to them and brainwashing them!" Claire screamed, not wanting to believe.
"No, that isn't my power." He said, drawing the knife he had taken from her. He handed it to her, and turned his back.
"If you don't believe her, or me, then go ahead, stab me in the back. Do your job, then go home, and get paid." Claire stood there for a moment, holding the knife. She didn't understand. Now looking at him, he didn't seem scary at all. The crushing pressure she felt when she first saw him was gone.
Claire took the blade, and quickly slashed along his arm, causing a thin line of blood to appear. She felt a pain in her own arm, and found that it was bleeding profusely. It caused her to drop the knife. He turned around, and looked her straight in the eyes.
"And now you know." He said with a frown, and walked out. Fluttershy came back in, dressed the wound, and hugged her. She knew beyond a doubt what Fluttershy had been saying was the truth. If she had gone for a lethal stab, she would have died.
"I know you've done things you regret. I can see it in your eyes. I see the same regret in his. He would never kill unless he didn't have a choice. Neither would you. But now you have to think, how many jobs have you done that you may have been lied to? I know it hurts, but it's something that needs to be done." Claire just sat there, crying into the pegasus' shoulder. She wasn't evil. Sure, she killed people, and she got paid for it. But she was killing evil people. Criminals, fugitives, assassins, terrorists, gang members, was that all a lie? Was she really just eliminating people who got in the way of big business? There was no way for her to know.
Claire had worked in the American military, and was later given a promotion to Vendetta. Every time she went on a mission, she had always been told that she was busting a crime lord, a terrorist, something. She thought that there was nothing wrong with protecting the world from evil people, and getting paid well. Vendetta were the go to guys for the really important missions.
She thought for a while. Davis, or rather, Nightshade, was no threat to them, he was in an entirely different world. As for justice, by testing his powers, she knew what Fluttershy had said to be the truth. The fact that she had been lied to about this job led her to believe she had been lied to on other jobs as well. How many innocents had she killed, or captured, who had just been trying to live their lives, and who those with more money than morals wanted out of the way? It completely broke her resolve. What about the others? Was the rest of her team being lied to as well? Or did they know the truth, but just not care? There were too many questions and no answers.
"By the way." Nightshade had poked his head back in. "Princess Celestia is on her way here. I had Spike send a letter. The rest of the group are coming as well. I'll be meeting them at town hall. Fluttershy, do you think you can bring her there after?" Fluttershy just nodded. "Thanks, now I've just gotta go pick up our other guests."
Taking to the air, Nightshade spotted two life signs. He flew down directly in front of them. The younger one fell over in shock, while the older one stood his ground. Both bringing up their rifles.
"What did you do with Claire?!" The younger one demanded.
"Oh she's fine. She's just resting at my place. She'll be at town hall later, you'll see her there." He explained.
"Kidnapping is a federal offence boy." The older one said.
"Yeah, except we're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy, your laws don't apply, and you have no authority. Besides, attempted murder is a much more serious crime.." He spat back. The man prepared to fire his gun, only to pass out.
"Commander!" The younger one yelled. Nightshade grabbed the commander by the neck of his armor, then did the same to the soldier on the ground.
"Come'ere cupcake. You've got a date with the princess."
I'm moving the tragic tearjerker to the next chapter. Also, notice how he's got absolutely no patience for dealing with humans. Fluttershy was a little harsh, but Claire needed to see what was happening, and was quick to comfort her once she had the realization that she was actually one of the bad guys. Come're cupcake is one of the phrases of the TF2 Soldier.
Ps. Claire is actually a nice gal, she's just been fooled. You know how easy it is to brainwash someone into believing they're doing the right thing? Actually pretty easy. Unlike other military types who just follow orders, she won't do something she thinks is wrong, meaning she is actually pretty strong willed.
First Again!
252740 I love you too.
COME'ER CUPE CAKE XD
Tragic tear-jerker? Bet'cha have a Chekhov's Gun in mind, and i think I know what it is. If it is done correctly, it will be a Crowning Moment of Awesome, as well as Heartwarming for Nightshade. (wow, three tropes by name in a single post...)
EDIT: It's actually a Chekhov's skill, but they are basically the same anyways
252833 Trust me, 2 chapters MAYBE on humans, and then back to the story. The humans are just the set up. Hell, everything is just the setup for the plot.
252846 and then GLORIOUS Discord??!?!?! Amazing! Don't you judge me.
252846
I hoped you would not make this the main plot. Good to know this is just set up. And by the way, damn Nightshade works efficiently. In less then half a chapter he already has the invading humans situation pretty much handled. Based on the attitudes of the other two humans besides Claire, I think the moon may have some new residents soon.
Celestia was originally going to send Nightshade home, because humans are too chaotic, and would serve as a source of power for Discord to use to escape. Hmm, yeah there's totally NO way that a bunch of humans steeped in the chaos of war could have ANYTHING to do with that. As I said, I've been planning this out since I was halfway through monster. I've already got idea's together for a third story, which will be much shorter than these two. It'll be more of an extended epilogue, but still.
252986 heh, heh, i agree, glorious insanity
253109 FINALLY someone gets it!
253152 well, that may be because i'm the embodiment of insanity
253198 MMmmmm. Shall we duke the title out one day? Or perhaps a puppy drinking contest?
253220 not THAT kind of insane, more 'cupcakes' insane
253234 of course, a good pint of puppy blood in the morning really gets my spirits up!
How could this get any wo... wait, creation of fire? Infinite energy source from nowhere? Yeah, it got worse.
253419 Only when she feels strong emotions. And remember, her powers are like his. It's not limitless. It would obviously tire her out. It needs a SOURCE. Sure, he's immortal now, but remember, there are some things he can't fix. Next chapter you're gonna see it. And you are gonna
253359 I'd be willing to join the fight if you add some bleach and piss to the mix
253436 I concur. Many villains in these stories do not think twice. However, remember how OUR world is. A business deal selling guns and such would only corrupt Equestria, with nothing to show for it. Also, their money is different...
253427 I'm just going to put what I meant by Chekhov's skill in a way that would make what I am thinking clear to everyone, but will require a bit of thinking. Sparks of life. However, he mentioned not using this power...
253359 meh, i actually prefer the killing and torture aspect *evil smile* would you care for a demonstration *gets out a bloody, serrated knife and slowly advances toward you*
253503 ooh please *prostrates self to better fit on table*
253517 -_- your no fun *stabs the side of your left leg, right under the kneecap and pries the kneecap off*
Incidentally, I am wondering exactly how powerful the Sisters are, and how prepared the Equestrian Military is for open war. Normally in fanfics the Sisters are portrayed as nigh-omniscent, omnipotent Goddesses, one capable of seeing literally everything under the Sun and the other all things under the Moon. The Sister of the Sun is often ascribed unparalleled power to smite with any form of electromagnetic radiation, and the Sister of the Moon is given the tides and the falling stars.
As for the military, incompetent though they may appear show-wise, in truth the presence of the Six lessens any threat present dramatically. I am more than certain that living less than an hour's walk from the Everfree shows just how effective Equestrian Border Patrol is. If there were a Mage Council I would be supremely unsurprised. The Wonderbolts have utilized wingblades in dealing with threats such as loose dragons, anything having to do with most "tricks" are very easily weaponized (lightning-laced smoketrail? Buckaneer Blaze? Sonic Rainnuke? even just a regular Rainboom?), unicorn magic goes quite far in being the most adaptable tool and weapon in history, a simple earth pony can PULL A BUCKING HOUSE, and such things as swords (cutie pox), cannons (sweet and elite), bullets (may the best pet win), guns (last roundup), biohazards (cuite pox), pox (cutie pox), tanks (may the best pet win), cancer (read it and weep), insanity (read it and weep), drunkenness (over a barrel), war (hearth's warming eve) and death (hearts and hooves day) are not unknown to Equestria either, rarely spoken of though they be.
Equestria is a peaceful place, with love and tolerance and lots of happy candy colored ponies, but it's also dealt with manticores, cockatrices, hyrdas, dragons, timberwolves, windigoes, star creatures, and even worse, and barely even broke a sweat.
To restate in human terms, that's:
creatures with toxic venomous tails and claws and teeth that could tear chainmail and kevlar to shreds like paper,
creatures that could literally destroy the laws of thermodynamics and convert biological creatures into granite with a single wrong glance,
creatures the size of skyscrapers with speeds that rival supersonic jets that are nearly impossible to kill and have multiple craniums in order to surround and trap prey while being a single body,
MOTHERBUCKING DRAGONS,
creatures that can rend a human in power armor limb from limb and absorb bullets with about as much effect as shooting a bush while coming back to life if left untouched for more than a minute,
creatures that literally feed on strife and can cause an ice age simply by existing,
and even creatures that can smash cities with a single step, cannot be killed, are made of nuclear-powered STARS, and have INFANTS that rival the Empire State Building in size.
Welcome to Equestria, pull up a chair and have some cake, and if you do anything WE CAN BUCK YOUR HORSEAPPLES UP.
253545 hehehehehe ive had worse! Too bad for you, this is enjoyable for me!
253567 O.O apt description of the dangers of ponyville, but you forgot to include plants such as poison joke, and deadly nightshade
253448
money difference is nothing; corporations have been dealing with foreign currency for years, and some even prefer it to their own country's currency. Plus, it doesn't look like jewels are that valuable at all in Equestria, so saving up on a few bits would be the best decision in a CEO's life. Collect a couple cartloads of jewels, and slowly release them into circulation maybe once every few years, and watch the rich and famous flock over the "exotic jems from another world".
And hey, weapons manufacturers are needed just about in any universe, and I'm sure the Equestrian Military always has need for defending itself against various threats to ponykind. And if it never had such a risk before, well, now it knows, and knowing is half the battle. And if it's REALLY a tough sell, you could always market it as a "rapid pea planter"
253571 that's why it's no fun, also the knife was poisoned
253605 ooooh nice touch My turn?
253614 by the way, the poison causes loss of all motor control for 10 hours aterword, you get no turn *begins skinning you*
253617 ahh oh well then, I guess I'll just wait the timer out. By the way, you aren't allergic to mustard by any chance?
253622 no, i happen to like mustard *sprinkling lemon juice on the skinned portions of your body*
More man, we need more XD.
253682 Good, cuz this place is gonna be flooded with mustard gas in about half a second. (Doors Seal shut) Yellow smoke fills room.
send them to the moon!
253690 *standing right next to you* did i mention that i have the same powers as pinkie pie? (in comments ONLY)
253699 Unless Pinkie has developed a resistance to a chemical that killed millions of Jewish in WW2, I don't know what that means.
253703 it means i'm not in the room anymore :3
253436 You forget, he's about to die, and is desperate to live. Being VERY clear on the fact that he wasn't gonna make him live forever, or make him rich, he wasn't thinking straight. If you're about to die, and someone is holding immortality in their hands, plus the promise of billions, but won't give it to you, what do you think you're gonna do? Besides, having realized that immortality is a very real prospect, for someone in his field of work, it's enough to make you go crazy.
As for military, yes the wonderbolts were dealing with a dragon, but they did so rather poorly. The Equestrian military is not at all prepared for open war. While they do have the potential, and they had a fairly bloody series of skirmishes in the past with griffins, that was over 600 years ago. No living Equestrian, save the princesses, has any actual combat experience, and their presence is enough to deter any outside threats. As for why the animals stay in the everfree.... Magic *snort snort* Literally, they've got some magic everfree monster repellent. (Warining, everfree monster repellent may not work on ursa's, the ponies sent to test it have not been heard from since they left, 7 years ago) The princesses are indeed gods, and having such powers at the helm means that they are very used to peace. As for full scale invasion, IN NEXT CHAPTER, me explain why that wouldn't happen. Besides, they don't even KNOW what's on the other side. All they found was a bunch of bits of wood and dirt that loosely obeyed the laws of physics, which again I'll explain in the NEXT CHAPTER.
While the sonic rainnuke is powerful, they were just using it to destroy a half ruined barn. Using it against an armored targets is out of the question, as the projectile is organic. As for chemical and biological weapons, such things are presumably outlawed, due to the adverse effect on the world. They have tech like record players, and they know about guns and tanks, as well as cannons (they had pirates....pipsqueak knows what I'm talking about, by the way, EVERY fic depicts him as actually being a pirate, or pirate obsessed despite the fact that it was just his nightmare night costume) but they haven't used any of them in such a long time, that they actually developed weaponry into a party dispenser. They have no idea about war, and the wonderbolts are more of a stunt group than an air force, although they technically are military.
253705 nah. the concept of here and there is a farce, therefore you are here and there at the same time, the only reason most people are not here and there at the same time is because they fail to realize they are both everywhere and nowhere. If said person were to recognize that fact, then being there would make no difference as here IS there. Thereby making your argument irrelevant, likewise it makes the argument of my body being paralyzed mute as well, because my body does not actually exist, it is only a concept of my reality. So if neither you or I exist, and all that's taking place is our concept of reality, or even perhaps (not to be presumptuous) just my own sense of reality. So hereby making the statement that you are immune to my ploys leave another existence where my ploy worked, and another existence where your ploy demolished my own and set me spiralling into Flutteshy's tummy in a Cupcake like death. But the possibilities are endless, so therefore going back to the point, you aren't really sounding insane, just pathological and evil.
253728 too many words, ignored most, *teleports out of the room with magic* hi *rips your horn off* *teleports you into the room with magic* (i am a UNICORN in case you didn't notice,)
253738 Oh well, maybe I was getting my hopes up that you would get it. Whateva.
253752 2 things
1 YAY, FLUTTERSHY *glomps fluttershy*
2 why are you up so late? it's 11:30 after all (I am nocturnal)
253764 i NEVER SLEEP
253772 if he killed fluttershy i would rip his stomach out and cram it dwn his gullet, then i'd skin him, then i'd throw him into an incinerator, IF he kills fluttershy *giving author the evil eye*
253782 its a story bro. Stories are meant to do the unexpected at times.
253801 i know, but i tend to think of story characters as real, also have you read any of my stories?
253805 oooh no. ima get on that
Just a side note: you can get more jail time for kidnapping than murder in the US, from where you're military says they come.
Fun fact.
This story is pure comedic gold
So Nightshade is now Painis Cupcake?
OH GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!