A Bad Idea
Bolts made of pure iron narrowly whizzed past Captain Rogers' head, yet the Cap couldn't help but smile as he rolled under another pair of shots before catching two out of the air. The ponies gawked with awe under the armor at the reflexes of the Captain, before a returning shield caught two of them in the back of the head. Rogers grabbed his shield out of the air as the two collapsed, immediately forced to deflect a barrage of spell fire that had been directed at him.
"Keep moving! I'll cover you!" Captain America called out to a couple behind him as he bounced spells off of his shield. The pair raced past the Captain and into an alleyway behind him, while the Captain kicked off a brick wall and tossed his shield once more.
"Damn it! Somebody put this guy in a grave already!" one of the armored horses yelled as he began unleashing bolt after bolt of magic towards Captain Rogers. Three well-angled movements allowed the Captain to deflect the spell shots and redirect them back into some of the few guards that were left, dropping them and leaving the commander alone.
"You might as well surrender. I highly doubt you can beat me by yourself," Rogers advised him as he advanced towards the commander, who looked as if he was trying not to turn tail and run. Instead, he chose to draw a crossbow with a strange tip attached to the bolt and fired it square at the Captain's head. Rogers dodged the shot with ease before lunging forward and slamming the rim of his shield right between the pony's eyes.
"And that's the lot," Steve said with a smirk when he caught his shield, placing it onto his back before he walked forward and began to examine the unconscious guards. "Now, to figure out what a bunch of higher-ups like yourselves would be doing in such a small town." Examination of the first pony's armor revealed nothing, while all the second pony revealed was that he was skipping armor maintenance.
"Have fun cracking some grunt's skulls?" a snarky voice asked him from behind, informing Rogers that his ride out had arrived. "Or are you happy that you freed a town of six ponies from the cruel tyranny of the Four?" Belle's voice stabbed at him from behind.
"Well, you seem to be in top form today," Rogers shot back as he rolled the commander over, his eyes being immediately drawn to a strange item that was hanging from his belt. After unhooking it, Rogers held it up before him, discovering that the item was a very flat crystal. "How about instead of making snide remarks at me, you can instead tell me what this is supposed to be."
"A data crystal?" Steve heard Belle mutter to herself as she took the crystal, glancing it over with a sinister smile. "Oh, and you're a red class too, aren't ya? Come on Cap, we need to get back to base," she decided as she turned away from the Captain.
"An explanation would be nice."
"These are data crystals, or crystals used to record data, information or messages," Belle explained flippantly to the Captain as her horn began to glow with light. "The Four use them to relay orders, information and the like, and you can tell which messages are the most important by the color of the crystal. And red is the most valuable of them all."
"So there's enemy intel on that shard?" Rogers words gained him an eye roll from Belle before she finished her teleportation spell, returning the two back to the tree base in a blinding light. Upon being able to see again, Belle led the Captain towards the command center, while also sending off balls of light that flew in different directions.
"Yes Rogers, there's enemy intel on here. And quite possibly so much more," Belle stated as she threw open the doors to the command room, startling the three commanders that were within. "Rogers managed to recover a data crystal, red class. And you all know what that means."
Captain America saw the commanders' eyes light up at the mention of the crystal being a red class, and they all gathered around the central crystal as Belle slid the crystal into a slot. While the Captain waited in anticipation for something to happen, Belle turned her gaze towards the doors while counting softly to herself. A smirk crossed her face when the doors were hurled open and Applebloom ran inside, just as Belle had gotten to zero.
"Took the two of you long enough," Belle remarked as both Applebloom and Scootaloo entered the room, the Pegasus still bandaged up and clearly showing that she was not at one hundred percent.
"Ya sent us a message that ya had recovered a red crystal? "Applebloom asked, Belle nodding to Rogers before she pushed a button on the console and stood back while red lights began to flash. After a moment, an image erupted in the center of the console, one that made the ponies gasp while the Captain looked up with narrowed eyes.
"Careful you fools! If you break that field you may spell the end for all of us!" a black, insect looking creature roared at some of her underlings, who looked like miniature versions of the creature he was looking at.
"That's Queen Chrysalis. She's one of the Four. And those creatures you see around her are her changelings," Applebloom whispered to the Captain, who nodded to show he had heard. The smaller changelings were pushing along something that was covered by a large cloth, drawing every eye in the room towards the item. Except for Rogers, who was also looking around at the room the changelings were in. He spied multiple conveyer belts as well as giants vats filled with lava and massive cauldrons, that swung from the ceiling and made the Captain's eyes narrow.
'Seems like a factory,' he realized before the sounds of shouting came from the image, which turned towards the changelings that had been carrying the covered item. The item had fallen over and the cover had fallen off, allowing everypony in the room to see what had been underneath.
"It...can't be," Applebloom whispered in a voice so quiet that the Captain had barely picked up on what she had been saying. She, along with every other pony in the room, was staring at the massive crystal that had fallen out from under the cover, a crystal with a pony trapped inside of it. The pony was an orange color and had three apples on her flank. Rogers didn't recognize the mare, but all it took was a glance at Applebloom to figure out that she did.
"Idiots! If she got out, then I guarentee that not one of you would get out of here alive! And someone turn off that forsaken-!" The image cut off a few seconds after the pony was revealed, leaving everypony in the room stunned while Steve waited for one of them to explain.
"Mah sister..." Applebloom whispered a few moments later, confirming what the Cap had thought while also turning every eye in the room towards her. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she glanced around at everypony, a small smile spreading on her face. "They have mah sister. And from what Chrysalis was saying, she's-"
"She's dead Bloom. Don't kid yourself," Belle butted in before Applebloom could finish her statement.
"But...but Chrysalis said if she got out, then she'd kick they're flanks! Mah sister is in there Belle!" Bloom argued, but all Belle did was roll her eyes before reversing the image back a bit.
"Do you see what that is? That is a changeling. And that's a changeling. The whole, damn place is filled with changelings," Belle began as she glared daggers at everypony in the room. "What we're looking at right here is a trap, a trap for the Captain. Think about it. We've only gotten one red crystal before and it cost Sunset her life to get it. But suddenly, in a middle of nowhere town with only six guards to guard it, we get another one that has exactly what we've been waiting for all these years? It's obviously a trap. My advice is we break the crystal and never think about it again."
The other commanders nodded in agreement as Belle drew out the crystal, yet before she could break it with her magic Applebloom swiped the crystal from her and held it close. "But...but what if it is mah sister? What if she really is alive?! We have to at least try!"
"Bloom," Belle said in a voice that sounded on the edge of losing its patience. "We've been over this. We all agreed that if any of our family were to be held hostage, we wouldn't risk our lives and the lives of everypony in the Crusade trying to free them. It's just too dangerous."
"But...it's mah sister," Applebloom muttered with hopeful eyes as she gazed up at the image of her sister. "Ah have to know...even if ah have to go there mahself."
"Don't be an idiot! She's dead!" Belle roared at Applebloom with a snarl, shoving her face right into her friends. "She is gone! She died failing to protect our world! And the sooner you accept that like the rest of us the sooner you can-!"
CRACK!
Belle let out a swear as a hoof strike sent her sprawling onto the floor. She groaned once as she rubbed her jaw, lifting her head slightly to see an orange mare standing in front of Applebloom with rage seething in her eyes. "Get off your damn high horse," Scootaloo snarled with fury as she shook out her hoof. "And don't you dare try to change Applebloom into the hopeless jackass that you've become. I get it. Our sisters failed. It hurt. But that doesn't give you the right to-"
"To what? Tell your marefriend the truth?" Belle shot back with a cold glare that made Scootaloo's fury burn even brighter. "Besides, even if she is alive they're ready for us. It's a clear trap. All we would be doing by trying to free this "Applejack" is lose even more lives. Is that something you want to risk? All on the off chance that Applejack is alive?"
Scootaloo's fury faded a bit as reason crept back into her mind, her hoof shaking slightly as she glanced at the other commanders. The three shared the same looks before shaking their heads bitterly. Applebloom's face fell as Scootaloo wrapped a hoof around her shoulder, biting her lip as she stared at the ground hopelessly.
"Ah'm sorry Applejack. Ah'm so sorry."
"Applebloom." The clear and strong voice of the Captain sliced through the darkness of pain and loss, getting Applebloom to raise her head towards the Captain. He stared at her with a stern gaze before a smile crossed his face. "Suit up."
/ \
//A\\
/// \\\
"Thanks fer agreeing to go with me, but that doesn't make what Belle said any less true," Applebloom admitted bitterly as she and the Captain walked back to her room. "And Belle isn't going to be happy that you're doing another suicide mission with one of her friends again."
"Strange, because the three of you sure didn't act like friends back there," Rogers pointed out. "Anyways, I can deal with Belle later. Right now our biggest focus should be on the mission at hand and how we're going to get your sister out of an enemy base."
"Well, it can't be as hard as bringing down the Starfall, right?" Applebloom asked with a slight chuckle, but the expression on the Captain's face silenced any more jokes.
"The Starfall for the most part was easy. All we had to do was cause a weapon of destruction to explode on the inside with enough force to bring it down. This is a hostage situation," Rogers clarified for Applebloom before opening the room to her door for her. "And they are always infinitely harder than just destroying something. I'm going to need to know a lot more about the enemy before we go in."
"Alright, that ah can do. Changelings, Chrysalis' forces, are shape shifters that can take on any form as long as its around their size," Applebloom explained before pressing a button on the wall near her desk. Rogers raised an eyebrow beneath his mask as the wall slid up to reveal an exoskeleton that was being suspended with magic. "They're all mostly skilled with magic and follow their queen without question."
"Understood. How about the location? Were you able to recognize it from the background?"
"Yeah, ah believe that it's their main facility for forging armor and weapons," Bloom deduced as she began to slip the exoskeleton over her body. "It's also a place where they take ponies to be interrogated, or so ah've heard. Apparently, Chrysalis is good at making ponies spill their guts...in both senses."
"So, she's got an army, is skilled with torture and is one of the Four, meaning that she'll be tough to fight," Rogers summed up as he grabbed his shield and wiped the surface of it with his glove. "But she's no Red Skull and she's definitely no Doctor Doom. This will be easy."
"Are ya sure? Yer suit's not resistant to magic like we planned, and it's only the two of us," Applebloom reminded him as she walked forward completely armored up in her exosuit. Rogers lifted both eyebrows this time as he glanced over her suit, which seemed to be reinforced with armor while still allowing mobility for the wearer.
"And you say that as you walk out in a weapon like that," Rogers teased, getting Applebloom to glance down at herself with a bashful smile. "That's quite the piece of work you got there. Might even grab Stark's attention if he was here to see it."
"Thanks. Ah built this suit to enhance mah strength and allow me to move far faster than any other earth pony," Applebloom explained as she started moving around in her exoskeleton, slamming her hooves together with enough force to generate a small gust of wind. "It moves fast and hits hard. Ah call it the Motherbucker."
"An appropriate name. Now let's hope it lives up to your words," Rogers smiled as he holstered his shield and walked towards the door, but a glance back at Applebloom saw that there was more she wanted to say.
"Cap...do you believe that this is a trap?" Applebloom asked, her face sinking slightly when Roger's nodded without any doubt in his eyes. "Then...do ya also believe what Belle said? That mah sister...really is dead?" Rogers frowned slightly before he walked over to the mare and knelt down, pulling back his mask as he did so.
"There's a high chance that she is. In fact, it's the most likely outcome of what happened to your land," Rogers shot straight, making Applebloom's face fall slightly. He then placed both hands on her shoulders and made her look up at him once more. "But just because it's the most likely outcome doesn't mean that you should give up hope. My grandfather told me once that a man that loses hope, loses everything...as you've seen with your friend Belle. So keep that hope that your sister is still alive. And if you can't do that, then have hope that you'll bring down the evil that killed her and save your land. But don't give up hope."
Rogers smiled at her smile before standing up and turning towards the door once more. "Cap...Steve, thank ya." Rogers didn't turn around this time, but instead waited for Applebloom to finish. "Ah know ya might be a hero and all, but ya didn't have to do any of this. This isn't yer fight, yet ya risk yer life more often than any of us. Ah'm grateful, but...aren't ya worried there are folks that might miss ya if ya die?"
"Don't worry. All my family and loved ones...they all passed on a long time ago." Applebloom wore a look of concern as Rogers stared ahead for a moment before smiling back at her. Rogers then opened the door to find a panting Scootaloo standing outside with a hoof half raised. She immediately lowered her hoof as Steve glanced down at her, taking in a few deep breaths when Applebloom approached.
"I want to come with you," she blurted out quickly, getting an eye raise from both human and pony. "I have...a really bad feeling about this fight. So I want to come with the two of you, wings or no wings!"
"Scootaloo...ah appreciate the concern, but yer hurt," AB reminded Scootaloo, who moved to conceal her bandages slightly. "And if ya go with us, there's a better chance of ya dying than there is ya being of any help. Ah know ya want to be there fer us...or just me...but stay here and stay safe. Fer me?" Scootaloo let out a growl as she crossed her hooves, but a look at Applebloom's pleading eyes was enough to break her.
"Fine. Go have fun getting yourselves killed," she muttered. Bloom smiled at her before she turned to leave, but when Rogers tried to follow after her, he felt an iron grip wrap around his arm. "Listen to me well, Captain. I respect you, but if anything happens to Bloom I will hold you accountable. So either come back with her alive or don't come back at all. Cause if you come back without her...I'll end you."
"And if I do run back here and leave her alone to die, then you have my permission to end me," Rogers nodded with a serious glare before following after Bloom, not planning to let anyone die on the mission. 'It'll be tough, but I've dealt with worse. We'll have Applejack rescued in no time.'
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Ah how nice. Swettie Bell is a damn asshole almost like him vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/8/8c/Wolverine_Vol_3_73_Variant_Frame_Textless.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/316?cb=20090925123509
i overestimated sombra or someone did not go through with executions
6617140
Except he has some likable points. Sweetie in this story is going all Punisher here and she is letting her past cloud her judgment and denying the possibility for hope. She has a point it is could be a trap but if it is they are expected it already.
6617140 I would kill for a future story with Wolverine on it. Or Lobo. Or booth !
Honestly, I hope that AJ is alive and just being held captive.
But given that there's no character-tag for her, I fear that that isn't the case, that she's dead, like her fellow Elements, and that this is a carefully planned out trap.
But I've seen red herrings in stories before, so we'll see.
Well, looks like I was right. They still are alive, and were being held in a way that stopped them from being threats.
We know that they'd harnessed Discord for power. Given what the Changelings do, there's a good chance they may have done the same thing to the Six, and possibly to the Diarchs, as well. And if Glimmer was using Twilight's cutie mark, there's a fair chance that they -had- to be kept alive to allow that. We shall see...
Honestly...I wouldn't be surprised either way on Applejack being alive or dead. Or if the same thing happens to AJ that happened to Discord: Make a sacrifice to take down a mad god and several of Chrissie's loyal subjects.
6617241 I think Chrissy's using her as a love battery, as well as several other ponies if they're lucky. I foresee this turning out like the prison break in Captain America: The First Avenger.
Given what happen at the Starfall just proves that SOME OF THE SIX has to be alive in some form or another for the Five to use their powers in some way.
This is just the first physical proof that the Crusaders have in years.
Besides saving Applejack would not only boost morale to the Crusaders, but also give them an edge over the Four.
Let hope that Cap has a plan to deal with the Changelings and their queen.
Please do keep up the good work upon a great story.
6617199 Honestly it's smarter to keep the bearers of the Elements of Harmony alive because
1. If they died it could be possible their cutie marks couldn't be used by Starlight (though after her death this point is kinda null)
2. What if it's like the Avatar in Avatar The Last Airbender where if you kill the bearers the Elements just go to 6 other ponies?
3. They could probably harness the magic that they have (which would be greater than magic from almost any other creature) and they need them alive if they plan on harnessing their magic (as it was proven when it showed Discord who was used as a living battery)
And let's be honest the only thing you gain from killing people instead of trapping them in something they cannot escape (like being trapped in a crystal that only needs to be stored in a room so it doesn't break and release the trapped pony) is showing everyone else it's pointless to resist.
6618606 My noble half-brother whose throne I usurped will be killed, not kept anonymously imprisoned in a forgotten cell of my dungeon evil overlord list rule and for the heroes no exceptions I've seen so many villains horribly die because they ignore this rule and I'm pretty sure that if someone ignores this rule they will end up being a part of them so if sombra knows how to be a good evil overlord he probably either killed the heroes or this whole thing is a trap and whatever is in that crystal is a monster or a changeling I bet is a trap
6617715 Good point.
And I can see that happening, too.
For some reason I can picture Doom looking around after Steve said that one line about him
6618110 sombras is a dark magic user it is also possible for him to drain the life force energy in their powers for all we know their souls are trapped in crystals and that's where he's getting there power there dead but their souls are in crystals
6618988 lol
6618692 Oh it is most definitely a trap and you know what move to make when there's a trap?
And again I still say it's better to capture the bears instead of killing them because if you kill them the Elements will move on to 6 other ponies and The Four would have to look for the new bearers and kill them before they can learn how to use the Elements and that would go on and on and on forever until The Four die meaning to avoid that you would have to keep the bearers alive and captured because as long as they are alive and still have their friendship and ideals (Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty ect.) the Elements would still be bound to the current bearers.
6619261 sombras is a dark magic user it is also possible for him to drain the life force energy in their powers for all we know their souls are trapped in crystals and that's where he's getting his power from they are dead but their souls are in crystals since the elements cannot tell they are dead then they do not move on to someone new and if the main six work were captured all sombra has to do is throw the elements into deep water or lava then as yoda would say gone it is
Stop blowing holes in my emotion ship!!
~Dollars.
While I'm rather enjoying the story, one bit is starting to irk me a bit.
Captain America has repeatedly said things will be easy compared to what he has faced in the past. While this may be true for him, it comes off as a bit flippant.
I understand that he's trying to be an inspiration and give people hope, but he is making ponies place all their hopes and dreams in the basket that is him.
I feel he needs to let the severity of the danger be fully known.
When told it's "impossible" or "suicide" instead of saying "this will be easy compared to (...)" I think he needs to respond more along the lines of "Nothing is impossible. I've seen ordinary men, not heroes just men, with no powers overcome insurmountable odds and achieve victory. We're going to do the same here."
I am willing to bet that Sweetie is actually a changeling spy who was planted to keep track of enemy morale and keep it low while under deep cover.
Someone needs to smack some sense into Belle. Because despite her being a big time resistance leader, she's still given up on all hope, and that means the bad guys have won before the battle even started.
6619703
To be fair, once you've been an Avenger for awhile, there isn't much that can scare you.
Also, Tirek aside, none of the Five/Four really seem to stack up against Marvel supervillians. Starlight and Ahuzotil were cut rate magicians with fancy gear, but hardly a threat once their toys were taken away. Chrysalis needed a massive power boost to knock Celestia on her butt, and was defeated by an hyper-overcharged shield spell. Sombra we don't know much about, but he seems to be fairly close to someone like Baron Mordo, at best.
Compared to powerhouses like Abomination, master tacticians like Red Skull, magical heavyweights like Loki, or the sheer danger posed by Doctor Doom just entering a room, because he's DOOM, most of what these villains bring to bear falls short.
Tirek will probably give a challenge, though.
6619302 That theory depends on whether or not Sombra can but a soul into a crystal which would possibly be very hard for any magic user too do and even then I would think the Elements would know when a bearer was dead based on the condition of their body and their mind, also I'm pretty sure throwing the Elements into deep water or lava would stop powerful magical artifacts.
6621592 even if they would not destroy the artifacts they would be traped in a deep ocean or incased a very hard to destroy rock trapped in the earth their location lost to time once again
More on the forties:
WWII happened.
That's really all I need to say on the matter.
Supposed to be "Their"
When saying something said by someone else or what you did in the above sentence, use half quotation marks: --> ' Or apostrophes.
Please, when writing chapters, don't rush. It always ends in things like this.
Still enjoying it!
"Ah call it the Motherbucker."" Bucking loved it!!!
6749961
now lets go buck the mother of all changelings.
Ok,i have not read the entire chapter yet, but if this doesn't sound like a trap, i don't know what does
holy shit I can't believe apl jak is ded
The story is going great so far but the idea of Scootaloo and Applebloom together just doesn’t appeal to me. It’s not that they’re both mares but I really just don’t see the chemistry between them (although who am I to judge, I suck at chemistry xD)
Hands down, best suit name