PonySide

by Puzzle Piece

Chapter Fourteen: Battle Lines

Mat ran back into the bakery the moment the TR Engineer was out of sight. He swore under his breath as he searched for Pinkie. There was a tense moment where he feared the worst. He could hardly hold onto hope that she had escaped unharmed as he stepped through the shattered glass and shards of wood behind the broken serving counter and made his way toward the kitchen. Almost every surface was pockmarked by the MANA Turret’s barrage. He himself had only evaded it by laying flat against the ground and praying the Engineer didn’t aim lower. He found Pinkie in the back corner of the kitchen, curled up in a tight ball and rocking slowly back and forth. Her eyes were squeezed shut as she whimpered.

“Pinkie,” he called in an urgent hiss. “Pinkie, are you alright? Were you hit?”

She uncurled slowly and took a steadying breath. “I wasn’t hit. But that doesn’t mean I’m alright.” She sniffled once and looked up at him. “Why? Why would that human do this?”

He could feel her questioning gaze boring into him in search of answers. He shifted his Mercenary awkwardly.

“We…I was…” He glanced behind him anxiously. “You see, he’s one of those…He was trying to…”

Mat let his arms fall to his sides and his head drooped in shame. Pinkie looked away, seeing that he was struggling to admit that he’d lied to her.

“You aren’t playing a game are you?” she asked dully.

Mat sighed. “No. I’m not. He and I are enemies. He’s trying to kill me and…I guess I’m trying to kill him too.”

“Could you stop?” she asked.

“He won’t,” Mat replied.

“Can’t you at least ask?” she pressed hopefully.

“And get my head shot off for my trouble? No, thanks.”

Pinkie pushed herself back to her hooves and faced him meekly.

“So you’ll have to...” She hesitated at the word. “You’ll have to kill him, won’t you?”

Mat nodded. Pinkie looked around at the damaged shop and sniffled again.

“Okay then. But we should try to keep any place else from being damaged like this. I hope the Cakes aren’t too angry at me for getting into so much trouble.”

“What’s this ‘we’ stuff?” Mat balked. “You’re planning to go out there and fight too?”

“I don’t intend to fight, per se,” she said, gesturing vaguely. “But I’ll help you win. I mean, if this human is going to trash the town, I have to do something to stop him. Just look what he did to Sugarcube Corner! What else is he going to shoot holes in? Because I bet it isn’t going to be the swiss cheese!”

“Er, right.” Mat rubbed the back of his head uncertainly.

“So what’s the plan?” she asked, not quite eagerly but still with the shadow of her former energy.

“We need to change up our strategy,” Mat said after a moment’s thought. “A shootout in the street isn’t going to give us much of an edge. And holing up in here doesn’t sit well with me. I’d rather take the fight to him but I need a way to get the jump on him.”

“Distractions and diversions! Got it!”

She left the building in a blur before Mat could stop her. He considered trying to catch up and form a real plan but he figured he would have to work with what he had. And what he had now was a very real possibility that he’d get another shot at the TR Engineer during whatever Pinkie had in mind. He checked his weapon and headed out the back door to find a position to wait for his opportunity.

~*~*~

“I don’t see him,” Rainbow said, peeking out into the street again. “He might have jumped up on the roof again. I can check.”

Before she could leap into the air once more, Gadrik put his hand on her back.

“Wait. First, Rainbow Dash, I’d like to thank you for the save. But second, where did you come from?”

“I was cruising back from some work I’d been doing between Cloudsdale and Ponyville with the weather team and I saw what was going down here. Good thing I did too, because you were in a tight spot.”

“I was,” Gadrik said ruefully. “Now the question is, what are we going to do about that Light Assault?”

“I was thinking we could tag team him, attacking from two angles at once,” Rainbow suggested. “You draw fire while I get around on him. Once I have him wrapped up, you can move in and finish him off.”

“That is…a surprisingly sound strategy,” the Major said, cocking his head to one side thoughtfully.

“Surprising? Why is it surprising?”

Gadrik shrugged. “I guess I didn’t expect you to acclimate to a combat mindset so quickly.”

“No sweat! It’s all about outmaneuvering the enemy and that’s my specialty.”

“I’m glad to have you with me then,” Gadrik said solemnly.

“Speaking of being with you,” Rainbow said, looking around suddenly. “Where’s Anthony?”

“He’s dead," Gadrik said with a deep scowl. "One of the NC got to him while he and I were at Fluttershy’s.”

Rainbow’s mouth dropped open in shock. “H-he’s dead? But how? With all that armor and those big guns…how?”

“He’d taken his armor off while talking to Fluttershy. He was trying to get back into it when an NC Heavy caught him.”

“I can’t believe it. He’s dead.” Rainbow leaned against the building as she came to terms with the revelation. Then another thought occurred to her. “Hold on. Fluttershy? Where is she? She’s not hurt is she?”

“Not badly hurt. She was with me on our way to…”

He trailed off as he recalled leaving her behind as he ran off after his revenge. He put his hand over his face as the counterproductive nature of this fight sank in. He’d returned to town in an effort to convince the Princess that he could be trusted and he’d gone right back to what he’d been kicked out for. He groaned at his own stupidity.

“She’s in town somewhere," he continued. "But we became separated when I ran into this NC trooper.”

“Well, as long as she stays away from the fighting, she’ll be fine.” Rainbow looked out into the street again. “And if we pull this off, we won’t have to worry about any more fighting in town.”

“We need to coordinate before we rush in there. I like your idea but we need to make sure we’re both ready when it comes time for our parts.”

“Okay Major.” Rainbow saluted sharply. “So what’s the plan?”

“You’ll need to be close enough to make your move when there’s an opening but out of sight enough that he doesn’t see it coming.”

“I can manage that easy.” Rainbow waved a hoof dismissively. “What kind of opening am I looking for?”

“Catch him reloading. I’ll get his attention on me sure enough. He seems to be itching for a fight and I’m going to see if he’s willing to chase me for it. Just don’t leave me hanging.”

“You can count on me, Major.” She saluted again. “Loyalty until death!”

“Strength in unity,” Gadrik replied with a grin.

Rainbow took off, staying just below the rooftops. Gadrik waited for her to get some separation from his position before making a mad dash to a different alleyway. The bits of wood and plaster strewn across the street by the fighting crunched under his boots. He half expected to be attacked as he made his move, but all was still. When he reached the alley, he turned to scan the area. The broken front of the shop was empty of life and the street was deserted. There was no movement anywhere. He grunted and prayed that Rainbow Dash was ready. He stepped out into the open with his arms held wide, inviting his enemy to attack.

~*~*~

Katie didn’t have to guess where her enemy was for long. Gunfire popped and sputtered a few streets over moments after she left the library. She was closing in on the source when the shots subsided again. She proceeded cautiously. She rounded a corner and found herself at the site of the exchange. She stepped back into the shadows to observe. Crouching back in the darker alley, she noted the damaged front to a pony’s store and the abandoned MANA Turret aimed at it. The best she could tell, the TR had pinned the NC down in the building. But judging from the angle of the damage on the turret, they hadn’t kept them there.

No sooner had she completed this analysis than the TR Engineer broke cover at a run and crossed the street. He disappeared into another alley. A minute of silence passed. Then he walked back into the open. Katie couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He was exposing himself so obviously that she almost jumped up to shoot him right there. But she also read that it was a ruse. She couldn’t fathom how it would work to the TR’s advantage to get himself killed, but she also knew that giving away one’s position with ill-timed attacks was just as deadly as such blatant disregard for caution. And patient soldiers like her were the reason it was so. Thus, she waited for the NC to take the bait.

It only took moments. The NC Light Assault ducked out from behind a chimney above the building behind the damaged shop. He fired a quick burst and jumped to the top of a nearer building for a cleaner shot. He didn’t get one though because the Engineer had been expecting him and bolted for cover down another alley. The NC gave chase, turning his back on Katie. She waited until they were getting out of sight before pursuing. She traveled a parallel path to the two enemy soldiers, pausing every so often to make sure they didn’t double back into her. All the while, she listened to them exchange fire. The chase led them all back into the town square.

The Engineer threw himself behind a fountain and fired back toward the Light Assault as he came out of the cover of the buildings. The Light Assault used his jetpack to dodge the volley while moving around the fountain to flank the Engineer. The Engineer’s magazine clicked empty and he broke cover for the streets again. The Light Assault sprayed bullets at him as he fled, but only managed to take a chunk out of his shields. He then dropped behind the fountain as he too was forced to reload.

Katie paused to calculate her next move. As she was weighing the risks of attempting to eliminate the Light Assault while he was reloading, someone else took the initiative. In a streak of blue outlined by a prism of color, a Pegasus dropped out of the sky from behind a low hanging cloud formation and landed on the NC soldier. He flailed in surprise and the Pegasus kicked his gun away from him. With a deft flip of her hooves, the Pegasus managed to grab the Light Assault from behind and pin him in a kneeling position by standing on his legs and holding him under the arms. Every effort the human made to free himself was met with a harsh yank and a beat of his captor’s wings as she kept herself stable in the awkward position.

“Now Major!” the Pegasus shouted.

There was no response.

“Major!” the Pegasus shouted again, twisting to keep the struggling Light Assault from slipping away. “Get him, quick!”

There was still no response. Before any of them could determine what had become of the Engineer, an orange pony came barreling into the square and rammed into the Pegasus. All three of them went down in a heap. The orange pony pushed the Pegasus off of her and pulled the NC trooper back to his feet.

“You alright Mathew?” she asked him.

“Yeah, thanks Applejack,” he said, dusting himself off and scooping up his weapon.

“What are you doing AJ?!” the Pegasus yell, leaping back to her hooves and preparing to jump on the Light Assault again.

“Helpin’ out a friend, that’s what!” she shouted back, grabbing hold of the Pegasus so she couldn’t attack. “What reason did ya have fer wrappin’ him up like that?”

“He’s an NC soldier, that’s what!”

The Pegasus struggled mightily but couldn’t break free of the other pony’s grip.

“That don’t mean nothin’!” the orange pony exclaimed. “He’s only lost and tryin’ ta get home.”

“He’s trying to kill the Major!” the Pegasus shot back.

“He shot at me first,” the Light Assault cut in, scanning the streets in vain for the Engineer.

“But you killed Anthony!” the Pegasus countered.

“The Major? Anthony?” The orange pony looked between the Light Assault and the Pegasus in confusion. “What’s going on?”

“Trevor killed that MAX. And the best I can tell, this Engineer killed Trevor.” With a decisive snap of the magazine, the Light Assault finished reloading. “I don’t intend to leave until he pays for it.”

“Not on my watch,” the Pegasus said, gritting her teeth at him.

“Is that so? You’re with the TR?” He turned his full attention to the Pegasus, raising his Mercenary. “Then you picked the wrong side.”

“Wait!” the orange pony said, holding up a hoof to stop the human. “Don’t shoot! She’s a friend of mine.”

“Are you actually on his side?!” the Pegasus asked her incredulously.

“I’m not going to let some pony get me killed, friend or not,” the Light Assault said, refusing to lower the gun.

As the chaos and shouting rose to a feverish pitch in the town square, Katie watched patiently. She knew that the time to strike was near. All she needed to do was to wait for the NC soldier to step out from behind the two mares and she would have a clear shot. And if she’d heard correctly, both the MAX and the NC Heavy Assault were no longer a problem. It would be down to the Engineer and herself. She weighed those odds and found them favorable.

That was when she heard someone approaching her from behind.

Comments

[Cosmalone]

More please :D