Epilogue (1.0)
Flash Flood trotted along the pathways with a sense of accomplishment, as not only had he escaped death at the hands of the human forces, he was now on his merry way to a warm bed and relative safety. Around him the trees were at least half covered by leaves. Much thinner than they should be, but when a pony had spent a couple of days in an almost flattened warzone, then they don't really notice the difference. To him, the sight of green trees alone was enough to kick his spirits back into gear. He was filled with a feeling of happiness and excitement to finally arrive back at a friendly base, giving a report and treating himself to a nice lunch.
However he couldn't shake a feeling of anxiety that seemed to have followed him out of Ponyville. The path towards the Ponyville FOB winded around at times, and sometimes he found himself stopping to take a cautious look behind a group of hedges or a cluster of trees. Anything that could hide one of those hunters, like Alexei, made him walk the way somepony would when they felt they were being watched or stalked. Every now and again his smile and hope filled expression would be interrupted by a sudden surge of nervousness. A strange feeling, like the tingling of his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
*Crack*
Flood whirled around and raised himself onto his hinds while drawing his bayonet. He promptly found himself standing in combat stance and watching a small fox run across the pathway. Most of it was the usual orange/brown colour that foxes were with the odd white patch on the body. His eyes followed the creature innocently until it disappeared into a hedgerow, before being left in near silence as only the chirping of birds could be heard. A smile broke his serious expression as he started to snigger.
"Yeah, gotta look out for the foxes, Flood." He chuckled as he sheathed the bayonet. "They'll take over the world one day." He joked sarcastically and turned, dropping back down to all fours. He stared on for a moment before starting forward, still laughing lightly to himself. While his juddering diaphragm was flapping away, he kept his eyes and grin facing down towards the floor. Walking on for a while, he managed to stop laughing and return his attention to the path and his surroundings.
The path continued to be lined with trees as far as he could see up to the blind crest lying at the top of the ascent he had started. The path was, not surprisingly, a light dirtish colour. The grass and trees highlighting the edges served to make it look like some sort of clairvoyant road to freedom. A road he was willingly following. Flood noticed the ascent getting slowly more steep, and he felt it in his legs too. He analysed the horizon in front of him and estimated that it was going to stay at a similar degree of incline and reach the top roughly 40 meters away.
More birds chirped away and the guard decided to do a spot of amateur bird watching. He ran his view down the path and judged the near non-existent curve. Making his estimate, he turned his head to the trees left of him. The first thing he saw was a small group of blue birds and a few red ones, their bodies were short and plump but the tail feathers were about the length of the rest of the body. Making it appear a little larger than it really was. They hopped around a few nests and conversed with each other in their snappy alien language. After a few seconds of trotting, the group vanished behind a tree branch that had covered them up with the changing angle. Next he turned to the right and searched the evergreens for any more birds.
Instead, something shiny caught his eye. Hanging from a low branch was some sort of silver chain necklace with a pair of ovular shapes attached to it. It's strange feature in the current landscape was enough to break his troy and he came to a stop. Making his way over to the tree, he kept his eyes on the thing. It was almost completely silver apart from a black outline around one of the two ovals.
Coming to a halt underneath the branch, he looked up at the necklace dangling there. Then he had and idea. He swiveled to face the tree and began to take paces backwards. When he had gone as far as he could without backing into another tree, he stopped and stared playfully at the necklace's tree. Then he sprinted forward, closing the distance incredibly quickly. Coming to the trunk, he used his momentum to run up the tree. And when he ran out of momentum, he jumped off in the branch's direction. Reaching out with a hoof he barely missed the necklace, but got a good enough look to notice more writing in the tags.
He started falling and suddenly remembered that had dis-located his ankle previously. Time almost seemed to stop for a moment as he was struck with fear that the landing would break something even further. The the next thing he knew, he hit the ground. Hard. Landing on his back hooves first, the damaged one burst into pain and he let the front half of his body take the rest of the force. Once safely landed, he fell onto his haunches and lifted the bad leg so that he could look at it. At inspection the hoof didn't seem damaged and the pain started to recede. Flood let out a relieved sigh but silent cursed his own stupidity.
"Damn, I can be an idiot." He said quietly and took a final glance at the tags. "Well then. I guess you can stay there, it's fine by me... Wait, who am I talking too, myself?" He sat there in the chirping and frowned. "I'm going crazy, it's finally happening." he said humourfully to himself again and stood up while shaking his head. He continued to give the necklace a long stare as he started to walk away, back on the road again.
"-Still, I wonder what they are? And why somepony would put them there? Maybe it's a special place marked with a special object? Yeah, that's probably it.-" When Flood got far enough away, he reached an angle where the sun's light shone off the tags through a break in the leaves and reflected with an almost painful shine. This forced his gaze away from the object, but didn't take his mind from the matter. He continued to mindlessly ponder until he finally reached the crest of the hill and his destination was revealed. So close...
Unturned Rock sat in her chair at the sentry post with her hinds dangling and her fore-legs crossed. She had her butter yellow and gold fleece under her armour to keep her warm when sat outside completely stationary for hours on end. Sometimes she was sent off duty to handle a fight between the refugees, but not often. She scanned the horizon with her amber eyes and tried her best to ignore the fact that her red mane was blowing in her face every few seconds. She decided to go over the horizon at the hill crest once more, starting from the left.
There was the big set of mountains highlighting the edge of her scan zone, anything left of that was not her problem. The mountains were a purplish grey and were nearly always snow capped, even through summer. They tended to get a lighter colour the further down they went, and it was something she had wondered for about at least and hour in total over the lat day or two. She followed the distant mass of rock down to the horizon and followed it right. Next she knew, was a large space of grassland which surrounded the FOB and seemed to carry on up until the hill's crest. After that was a set of tree that outlined the path to Ponyville. A path she was always weary of just in-case any human forces decided to come scrambling out of it.
Speaking of, she still had no clue what sort of opposition there was in Ponyville. There was a force of 800 sent from Canterlot that passed by her base, stocking up on supplies as they went passed. Stole her sweetroll they did... Bastards. But when they finally arrived in Ponyville and set up shop for the human assault, contact was lost within hours. Hours! As a result everypony back at base had no clue what they were up against. They got some brief mentions of armoured carriages and something about flying things, but other than that, zilch.
Coming back from her small mental fret, she returned her attention to the horizon. Scanning across the grasslands she saw nothing for the 100th time in not very long and skimmed over it like one would with a chapter of a book their friend had spoiled. Then she moved to the pathway. Just as dirt-like as usual, except with a small blob this time...
"Huh?" She rose up in her chair and shifted her sun-glasses down a touch to make sure she wasn't seeing things. Sure enough, a moving blob was making it's way down the path, and it looked like it was in a hurry. She threw her glasses to the floor and jumped off her chair.
"Hey!" She yelled at a pair of guards standing by a nearby building. Their heads jerked her way and eyes locked with hers. "We've got somepony heading our way! Considered a threat until further notice!" One of the guards suddenly bolted away in search of an officer, following protocol. She watched the guard run into the building they were guarding and let the door hang open. Then she turned back to see the pony trotting down the path not stopping at all. She heard ponies, probably the refugees, heading to the gates to see what was happening for themselves, and she didn't blame them. They had been on the edge of their seats for days.
She picked up a pair of binoculars laying in-front of her and raised it to her eyes. She adjusted the focus and zoom until they were at the right point to see details. When saw one of the human's weapon's hanging from it's body her mouth hung open. The pony was not wearing any guard armour, but as far as she could tell he was adorned with standard issue guard belts and pouches as well as the crossbow bayonet. But without the uniform there was no way of knowing. She turned to a small but growing group of guards and yelled at them.
"Where in Tartarus is our officer? I thought I got somepony to go get one, didn't I?" At that point a general walked out from the building where the guard had run off to, followed by the guard in question. Who quickly returned to his post and stood stoic with his companion. The General didn't wear armour, but wore his red shirt with all of his earned medals attached on the right side at the chest. He walked up to her post and made his way up the steps before giving her a stern look.
"What's happening?" He asked with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
"Pony coming our way, sir." She stated, hooving him the binoculars. He took them and proceeded to look down them at the stallion trotting down the path. " He appears to be using guard issued equipment but is lacking uniform. He also looks to be armed with human weaponry, Sir." She stood straight and waited for him to finish his stare.
"Take up your crossbow and train him, tell him to hold still and if he gives you a hard time, incapacitate him. Got a feeling this might not be good." He said the last sentence in a grumble which prompted Rock to think: "-No, your just pissy because we interrupted your tea.-"
"Yes Sir." She said blankly. The general then just turned around and walked into the crowd who parted to let him through. She picked up her crossbow and noticed the sentry at the other side of the entry gate doing the same. She pulled back the crank with her magic and took a bolt from it's quiver. She then secured the bolt in the frame and walked up to the edge of her post, taking aim.
"Halt!" She shouted. "-Damn I'm yelling a lot...-" The stallion stopped for a second to register what she was saying before carrying on.
"It's okay, I'm a guard!" He shouted back.
"I said halt!" She shouted with venom at the stallion, causing him to stop mid pace.
"Aren't you gonna' ask for my name and rank?" He yelled his questioning back at her. All of a sudden there was the sound of a cannon that she judged was closer than Ponyville. The sound made the tress-passing stallion jump out of his skin as he jolted 180 degrees to look nervously at the trees at the top of the hill. He definitely acted like he had just come out of a war-zone.
"Can you just let me in? That sounded close, and I don't wanna' spend any more time around those humans!" Rock ignored him and turned to the officer who was standing in-front of the refugee swarm.
"Sir, that cannon-shot didn't sound like it came from Ponyville." She said to the impatient looking officer. He grunted grudgingly and turned to her with bored eyes before saying:
"And where do you think it came from?"
"It sounded much closer, Sir. I would recommend sending a scout team." His eyes rolled up for a few seconds as he pondered a course of action. Suddenly he looked to Unturned Rock with a blank expression and gave her a quick shake of the head.
"Not enough time." He turned to a guard who was standing on post at the building he had come from, the same pair who had been told to get him. "Corporal!" He shouted. The higher ranking guard on post braced up. "Go to the barracks, tell 'em all to stand to. Once done, get Major Green Hoof to report to me, got it?" The stallion nodded before saluting and running off. The sound of rotor blades and huge engines could then be heard fading in through the quiet, making the crowd start to hustle and whisper to each other.
"They're on their way here! I can help if you get me some weapons, I have experience fighting them! I might be valuable!" The rogue stallion pleaded with the officer.
"Looks like you're already armed." He said pointing to the weapon slung around the stallion's body. He just looked at it before glancing over his shoulder nervously.
"I- I took this from a human! Please, just let me in!" He said taking a few steps forward. Rock spotted this movement and immediately yelled at him.
"Stay right bucking there, matey-boy! I'm warning you!" She shouted her order and the stallion stopped dead when he saw her crossbow, putting two and two together so that he saw what she was threatening him with. The males in the crowd were all trying to get a good look at what was happening while some mothers were beginning to usher off their foals to somewhere where there was less aggressive behavior.
The increasing loudness of engines were starting to break the rogue stallion's composure, and Rock could tell just by looking at his shrinking pupils that, true to his word, he had some experience with whatever was coming their way. Rock too was beginning to feel un-easy about the whole situation.
"-Damn officer thinks he's the best thing that ever happened to Equestria. We could be dealing with some serious stuff here but he's wasting time!-"
Another cannon shot ruptured the air and this time it was far too close to be safe. Some of the crowd ponies began to turn back and trot away to their assigned bunkers. The shot was immediate followed by an explosion somewhere nearby and the stallion outside the gate started to walk forward again, this time in a light panic.
"Hold right there!" Rock shouted. She felt the general was becoming impatient as he started to glare at the stallion.
"Just let me in, please!" He shouted as he paced ever closer to the base. The engine noises continued to get louder.
"STOP!" Rock ordered with a voice the guard had become for.
"You should listen to the sentry, my friend." Warned the general. The engine noises growing louder still.
"Please! I'm begging you!"
"HALT! THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!"
"You heard her."
"Please!"
"He's not stopping, open fire."
"Wait!" Rock tried to stop the second sentry from firing but she was far too late to make a difference. The tell tale 'twang' sounded and told her that the crossbow had already been fired. There was a cry of pain as the bolt connected with the stallion's right fore-leg, crippling him and sending him down on the floor. Rock was shocked for a second and did nothing, because there was nothing to do, but stare at the stallion thrashing and rolling in pain. What was left of the shrinking crowd went silent as they too hung their jaws and went pale at the sight of the crossbows poor victim. "Buck it." She said to herself and threw her crossbow on the floor. She leaped over the front wall of her post and landed on the large hardened clay blocks helping to protect the base from attacks, and jumped off' those too.
"What are you doing, missy?" The general shouted to her and as she slid along the ground and up to the fallen stallion before picking him up and resting him on her shoulder.
"What I signed up to do, Sir! Saving lives!" She shouted back. She slowly hobbled her way back to the gate, much to the officer's annoyance. The stallion's breaths were so hard that Rock could feel his lungs expanding to very abnormal levels in an attempt to get in a large amount of air. His chest felt like it would explode at any moment. This only served to make her speed up as the sounds of engines all but advanced on the horizon no more than a couple hundred meters away. Arriving at the gate, the general started walking alongside her and gave her the deadliest looking glare she had ever seen.
"I'm going to make sure you pay for dis-obeying my orders, private." He stated sternly. But he was utterly blown away when the guard slurped inside her mouth before spitting on his hooves. he stopped immediately and stared at his wet hoof and raised it up so he could see. He began shaking with anger and returned his glare to the mare who had the began to make her way through the crowd, as they parted to make a gangway for her.
Time Turner was one of the closest ponies to the mare walking the injured stallion through the crowd. When she came close to him, he tried to follow to get the best look he could at the wound. The bolt-head had gone straight through the leg and the only thing hanging it on was the wooden frame for the bolt. As he followed, he glance to the blood trail he left behind while he groaned and squirmed with the pain.
A heavy clunk then sounded out as something fell from one of the pouches around his body. He stopped all of a sudden and flank-checked another stallion who shrugged it off and continued to follow the mare to the medical bay, unaware of the dropped item. He examined it and as far as he could tell he was looking at the back of a large photo of some kind. Struck by curiosity, he reached a hoof down to pick up the frame. Turning it over, he froze. There within the frame, was a widescreen shot of a family he recognised like the back of his hoof. He was standing in the photo, looking happy alongside his partner Ditzy and his little filly Dinky. There he forgot all about the war, all about the sound of engines approaching over the hills. Tears began to well up in his eyes as his hoof trailed the photo, almost expecting it to be a fake of some kind. But no, it was very real.
"Dinky... D-Ditzy..." He began to breath irregularly and a few moments later, he buried his head into the frame and burst out into full blown crying. He faintly heard hoofsteps approaching and while he was crying alone, half with joy at the retainment of the old photo, half with despair at the reminder of their passing, a hoof landed on his shoulder.
"There there..." The officer tried to comfort him. The officer who ordered the shooting of the pony who brought him the memory was trying to get him to calm down! Anger brewed almost immediately and he lashed out at the older pony, batting his fore-leg away with a hoof. He turned and gave him a glare that could destroy the soul of a pony if they stared into it for too long, and the general winced while taking a step back.
"You don't tell me to calm down, you heartless bastard!" He then proceeded to whirl around and see the injured stallion riding on the guard-mare's back near the medical bay. He had to know where he found it, he had to thank him for bringing the photo back to him. He shoved the frame into a pocket of his waist-coat and started to run after him, adrenaline making his speed match that of athletes.
"Wait!" He pleaded for them. "Wait!"
To be continued...
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5421573
Who?
5421583
I said I would explain thy Alexei chose to fight with honour in the sequel/prequel and revise the fight scene after I finish the epilogue to make it feel more genuine.
The Russian's could of done this secretly and then the U.S. could find out, and then come through their portal to save aliens and KICK ASS!!!
5427245
SHH!
5427769 HYPOTHESIS CONFIRMED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
sequel? PLS D:
If the Ponies win, I will call bullshit. I'm pretty sure that Russia has a army size higher than the entire population of the Ponies. Adittionally, I have to ask how the Ponies are able to operate firearms. Or use spears for that matter; Their biology should leave almost no room for military potential.
And why don't the humans use staffing with planes or bombing runs? They have pretty much uncontested air superiority on account of the fact that helicopters'd kill anything that would try to oppose them and Pegasi wouldn't be able to catch planes (or fly to the altitude some fly at, for that matter.) And even if they could, they wouldn't be able to pierce the planes' metal armor.
5429416
I'm going to say to you what I've already said multiple times, and I'm going to continue saying it with patience.
There are reasons for some of Russia's limitations that will be explained in the sequel and prequel.
5429783 So, you're pretty much implying the ponies will win.
I never questioned the abilities of the Russians, after all you're not going to raid a single town with your entire force. I would expect them to have some casualties (However small they may be.
I was merely questioning as to how the ponies were able to operate weaponry whatsoever. (Which you ignored.) I was also providing a rather obvious strategy that should've been utilized. Unless.of course the Humans' intelligence is somehow being sapped. (Which I'm starting to think to be true on account of the fact that they're trying to fight the trained supermen in melee combat.)
so did Russia take over the world, or are other countries unaware of Equestria's existence?
5431539
The ponies get their asses handed to them on a plate. They can only win with some help from a few inter-dimensional friends who also happen to be mutual enemies with the Russians. This series hasn't even finished yet, why question was hasn't even happened?
5431868
That would be spoilers.
5432976
On a side note: I have no idea who is consistently downvoting your comments and upvoting mine.
5441092
Try to ignore it. However thanks for bringing my mistake up, but still. Ponies definitely could not win this on their own. Not a chance in hell. Also, a picture for the guy downvoting my comments:
33.media.tumblr.com/e4f4b717925048ba1d02e35b4314b1d0/tumblr_mf6xtrxXY91rqfjfqo1_500.gif Seriously, I'm trying to have an intelligent debate with someone, chill out.
5443192 What is that from, might I ask?
5444579
Devil May Cry 4. Why do you ask?
5446350 Curiosity
5458143
There are great authors on this site: TallestBrony, WhatMustIDo, MadMaxTheBlack, Zamairiac, I could go on. But I'm not one of these people and thus, I have the writing capability of a developing person. Writing is a skill that I am far from perfecting, so I'm sorry if my work is less than stellar. However when it comes to some structure issues within the writing itself, I will sift through this at some point and update it yet again to make it a little better.
5458143 No need to be all nitpicky. On this website, normal people with writing as their hobbies come and write down their thoughts. This means that everything don't have to be exactly as in the real world. Special forces sniper, shooting rockets (blah blah blah) Just think outside the box! I am not butthurt over you disliking this, but as i said, no need to be all nitpicky over some mistakes that has with the real world millitary system or whatever it's called.
Psst, we are in the world of talking multi-colored sized down horses ^^
5512463
Thank you for being supportive and understanding my writing.
5512929 Thank you for writing this awesome story! I don't think it would be as enjoyable if you made it too realistic. Fimfiction is the name!
When more chapters?
For real, or abandoned?