10. New Base
--Chapter 10--
New Base
Falcon closed the door to the room when everyone else have left. Everyone, save for Applejack, who was left alone with her father to let the two catch up. “Heh, that was certainly unexpected turn of events.” He said.
“You don’t say. I would never expect this could possibly be him!” Rarity added.
“Who is this guy anyways?” Shaw wondered. “I mean, who was he before this whole ‘Joining’?”
“Well, his name is Lucid Brush.” Rarity answered. “He’s an artist, as you should have guessed from his cutie mark. From what I’ve heard, he and Applejack’s mother met during a trip to the mountains, but if you want more details you’ll have to ask him. Anyways, he comes from a rater poor family from Manehattan, where he lived until he started living with Apples.”
“Did you know him?”
“Not personally, but my mother was friend of his sister and he visited our house few times when I was still a foal.”
“Alright, it’s getting late.” Falcon begun as he checked the hour. “Really late. We should get some rest before we move to Ponyville.”
“Agreed. The train moves out at 3 AM.” Twilight informed.
“What!?” Rainbow yelled as she flew up to the unicorn, grabbing her head to yell even more. “Why so early!? I need some sleep!”
Twilight moved Rainbow away from her face using magic. ”We’re going this early, because I want to make sure ponies won’t start panicking when two white space monkeys appear.” You just earned yourself additional push-ups Sparkle… Falcon thought. “I’m going to prepare an official announcement to make sure we won’t have a repeat of Zecora Incident. You remember how they were reacting before we explained everything.”
“Then why don’t you take them with you and let us sleep, huh?” She argued.
“Don’t whine Rainbow. Be glad that I’m paying for the tickets.”
“Well, if being able to sleep some more means I’ll have to pay few bits, then I’m okay with it.”
Falcon decided to intervene. “If you want some sleep, you’ll have to work for it first, and I have quite a few things in mind…”
This seemed to get the job done rather well. “N-no, please! Anything but that!” She begged him. “I-I’ll get up early, just please don’t make me fly around that castle!”
“Who said anything about flying around the castle? That was just supposed to give me an idea of who I’ll be working with. And I must say, you’ve surpassed my expectations, and I have a special training session, just for those like you.” He smirked.
“Nope! I’ll pass.”
“Shame…”
“Well… anyways!” Twilight spoke up. “You girls can go ahead to the hotel, I’ll stay here and wait for Applejack.” The all agreed and left one by one. Abuyin also went back to her house to prepare herself for the trip.
“I’ll stay with you.” Shaw said. “This Brush guy seems peaceful enough, but you can never be sure.” She smiled and nodded. “Alright, see you in the morning Falcon.” He said as the commander moved away. “So… got any plans?” He said as he leaned against the wall.
“Depends on what we’re talking about.”
“Let’s say… Falcon training you. How do you plan to go through this?”
“Well, I guess I’m just going to study as hard as I can and give it my best. There’s not much else that I can do anyways.” She went silent for a while. “Um, listen. You didn’t tell anyone about… you know…”
He shook his head. “No, I didn’t. Your secret is safe with me.” A small smile appeared on her face for a bit, but it quickly disappeared, replaced with a sole tear that run down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, but Shaw have already noticed it. “Hey, it’s alright.” He kneeled down and placed a hand on her back. “Everything will be fine, there’s no reason to worry. If you will ever need to talk about this, I’m all ears.”
She smiled again, but her smile disappeared just as quickly. Another tear fell from her eyes, quickly followed by another one. She pressed her face against Shaw’s shoulder, allowing herself to cry. “W-why?” She asked in a shaky voice. “Why did he leave me?”
Shaw didn’t know the answer, but he knew that right now, she needed his support. He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her lightly. She immediately wrapped her hooves around him as well, turning into a crying mess.
"Wake up ladies! Bedtime's over! Everyone in the line!" Everypony in the room shot out of the bed as Falcon shouted.
Rainbow was the first one to stand at attention in front of her bed, while the rest was still rolling out of the beds. "Good job, Rainbow. And since you did so well, you have time to do some push-ups before we move out."
"W-what!?" But I-"
"No buts, soldier! Now get down and give me twenty!" She listened to the command, while Falcon walked over to Rarity's bed. "GET UP!" He shouted directly into her ear.
"Aaah!" She screamed as her plan to hide under covers and keep sleeping failed. Immediately, she jumped out of the bed, with her eye band still on, and somehow navigated through the room well enough to get in the line where the rest of the girls stood.
"Now, I want all of you to take you your stuff and march to the train station. Move it." Rainbow was the first to start walking, but remembering what happened when she woke up, she quickly slowed down and allowed Pinkie to take a lead. Falcon noticed that all of Rarity's bags, were not carried by her, but rather by her dragon friend, Spike. He immediately decided to put a stop to this. "Rarity, you're carrying this on your own." He grabbed the pile of bags from Spike's hands and placed them on Rarity's back.
She almost lied down on the ground from the weight. "P-preposterous! First that brutal waking up, and now this!?"
"Get used to it. Now move it because if you won't get there in time, I'm gonna make you carry this all the way to Ponyville!"
"Hey! What's your problem!?" Spike yelled at the commander. "I always carry her stuff, why can't I now!? Tell him Twilight." No answer came. "Twilight?" He looked at the unicorn as she quickly loaded her books into her saddle bag before she put it on and run behind the rest of the girls. "Umm..." He looked back at the commander.
"Listen kid. Take your stuff, and follow the rest to the station" The dragon 'humph'ed as he picked up his bag and walked out of the room, with Rarity and Falcon following behind.
Rarity fell on the ground with a huge sigh of relief when she reached the train station. Shining Armor and Cadence were there already, saying their goodbyes to Twilight. Abuyin and Shaw arrived a bit after them, carrying Abuyin's baggage. This was the first time they have actually seen her without a lab coat on. Abuyin was a bright yellow mare, with straight black mane that reached down slightly below her shoulders. She was aUnicorn, very slender for her race, and really tall, at least as far as ponies go. Her cutie mark was a red cross with a white pigeon next to it.
They waited for the train to arrive for few minutes, filling the time with chat as they waited. When it was there, the conductor went out of the wagon, expecting to see no one at the station as he usually does at this hour, but this time, he was up for a surprise. He almost screamed when he saw Falcon and Shaw, but he stopped himself and fainted instead. "Well, that's reassuring..." Twilight muttered under her nose as she picked up conductor's equipment and marked each of the tickets.
"Let us hope that that town of yours will react better." Abuyin said as she picked up the conductor and placed him inside the train.
"Do you mind if I come with you?" They heard Lucid's voice. He was disguised as a himself from before the Joining. A rather slender earth pony with short mane and tail. His cutie mark was a paint palette along with a paintbrush.
Applejack immediately run over to him and gave him a quick hug, bringing a small smile to his face. "Weren't you supposed to be in the hospital until Princess can talk with you?" Abuyin asked.
"After a conversation with commander, I realized that Princess Celestia will not be much of a help in taking care of Chrysalis and her campaign. I decided to put my support in Princess Luna's project instead."
"Yes, but how did you get out without getting spotted?" He answered by smirking. Suddenly his body begun to disappear in a faint blue flame. She jumped a bit in surprise when she suddenly felt something tugging her tail. "Aaa!" She yelped as she turned around.
He reappeared with a chuckle. "It was a child's play. It was easy enough to sneak out, and it's not like they knew I can do that in the first place." He said. "But back on the subject, do you mind if I have a little talk in private with you commander?"
"Not at all." The rest of the group went into the wagon, as Falcon and Lucid walked away from it. "So what is it that you wish to discuss?"
"First, I'd like to thank you for saving my daughter. If you haven't showed up when you did, Chrysalis would use her and her friends for breeding."
"What?"
"Chrysalis have discovered a way to use ponies' bodies to hold eggs. Normally, Queen is the one who holds the eggs, and her body is prepared for doing that. However, while ponies can keep the eggs alive, they can't survive the moment of hatching. The young hatchlings just rip their bodies apart in attempt to get out. I've seen this being done to many ponies. It's a really slow and painful death. Thank you for saving them from it.
I only wish I could have spared Twilight Sparkle from witnessing it..." He added the last bit under his breath.
"Think nothing of it. I'm just doing my as a soldier of the Galactic Republic. Is this all you wanted to talk about?"
"No, there's one more thing. There is something that I've noticed earlier about your subordinate that I feel you should be aware of. And very something similar I have noticed about you. Something that you wish to keep secret..."
After finishing the talk, Falcon and Lucid followed the others to the wagon. The train moved out soon after that, with them as only passengers. Lucid sat next to Applejack, dropping the disguise, and the two begun to discuss his return to the farm. Twilight and Shaw were sitting on the end of a wagon, talking about something silently. Falcon was standing alone, looking through the open window.
The hours passed for him on watching the Equestrian landscape. He was surprised by how green the place was. In his time spent on war, he was usually fighting on heavily industrialized worlds, or just straight up wastelands. He rarely had an occasion to see so much green at the same time.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t anything else to be seen. Canterlot mountain alone was a sight to be seen, but other than that the train have passed next to many lakes, rivers and few small towns, all beautiful in their own way.
Commander sighed as he thought back to the events on board of the ‘Intrepid’. He had lost a lot of his brothers in the past, but it seemed to get to him more since Luna showed him that he can use the Force. There was also the fact that Haskri was dead. The Zabrak general was the second person that became his friend, even though he hated Haskri’s previous padawan.
He was glad when that guy have left. Falcon may be a commander, but even he doesn’t like to follow all the rules and regulations, preferring to use all means he had t his disposal in order to win over the enemy with as little loses as possible. This guy however was extremely keen on doing everything by the book. And that attitude was what has on multiple occasions placed him in positions when Falcon was forced to save him from certain death, often losing some of his man in doing so.
Sakri on the other hand was the opposite of that. She has practically no respect for acting according to the rule books, and goes with her gut as a soldier should, while still showing some tactical ingenuity. That is not to say that she isn’t careless and that he had to save her quite a few times before, but it still felt better to do so then before. Probably because he simply cared about her more than about Haskri’s previous padawan, and because she was quite often the one who saved him for a change.
“Twilight.” Falcon called out to her. “Do you think it will be possible to go back to the ‘Interpid’ and take some equipment from there?”
“Do you mean that ship that crashed?” He nodded. “Well, I don’t think I have the power to get us there, but Princess Luna does, and I’m pretty sure she will help.” Suddenly, she got an idea. ”Do you think we could go too?” She asked. “To that ship I mean. I would simply love to see all that things Shaw told me about!”
“I guess so. We could use some help with the heavy lifting anyways.”
Twilight smiled widely and immediately begun to jump around the wagon while yelling ‘yes!’ all the time. “Wait a second.” She suddenly stopped and looked around the wagon. “Where is Pinkie?”
“I think I saw her jumping out of the train and running ahead.” Rainbow said as if that was normal. To Falcon’s and Show’s surprise, Twilight seemed to have the same opinion on the matter.
“Wait a second. You’re saying that as if this was something normal.” Shaw said.
After a moment of silence, ponies begun to laugh. “You have… a lot to learn!” Twilight said between bursts of laugh.
From that point, it took the train a little over an hour to reach the town of Ponyville. “Alright, listen.” Twilight begun. “You’ll be staying in the old magazine on the outskirts of the town. It’s been out of use for several years, but it will have to be enough for now. I’ll bring two beds for you later today, but the renovation of the building will have to wait until Princess Luna takes care of the paperwork. Now, as for introducing you to the town, I want you two to go with me and try not to be spotted. I would like to avoid any of the townsponies seeing you.”
“We can do that. Let’s go.” Falcon motioned Shaw to go behind him.
Everyone else left to their respective homes, Rainbow flew up to her cloud house, Applejack took Lucid and went back to her Farm along with Fluttershy who’s cottage was nearby, Rarity slowly dragged herself towards her boutique, though this time Falcon allowed Spike to help her a bit with the lifting and Abuyin walked towards the town center where her new house was waiting.
Twilight led the two clones through the town, using her knowledge of town’s alleys to avoid being spotted by the few ponies who were already awake. Eventually they’ve reached their target. The warehouse was, as expected, broken. Windows were in pieces, doors looked like they were about to fall out, dust covered everything inside and there was a hole in one of the rooms on a higher floor. “Well… it could have been worse?” Shaw said.
Falcon was the first one to open the door, making them fall on the ground the moment he touched the handle. “Great…” He mused. He made another step inside, turning on the flashlights on his helmet to get more light. The warehouse was divided into two sections. The first one was a big room meant for storing items, and the second one, was a set of rooms placed on two floors.
The moment falcon placed his boot on the wooden floor of the building, it broke, and his feet fell below it. He tried to pull it out, but ended up breaking a plank even more. “I’ll be honest Twilight. This place is crap.”
“Oh, it can’t be that bad.” She walked in as well. “I admit *COUGH* it’s a bit neglected, but there’s nothing to be afraid off around here.” Suddenly, she felt something touching her hoof. She looked down, and let out what could only be described as a very loud squeak. “Aaaaa! A snake!” She run out of the warehouse and hid behind Shaw’s legs. “Kill it! Kill it with fire!” She yelled.
Falcon shrugged. “As you wish.” He pulled out his pistol and shot the little creature. In the head, killing it instantly.
“There’s no way, I’m letting you stay in here! You’ll be sleeping in my library, come on.” She magically put the door back in place and walked away from the warehouse. This time she led them to a large tree, that was supposedly her home. This wasn’t however the only strange building in the town. There was even a building that looked like it was made out of sweets that they’ve noticed when passing through. Those ponies have a strange taste in architecture.
Twilight opened the door and motioned them to walk in, before going in herself. Falcon was about to look for a light switch, but suddenly, the darkness of the room disappeared, and the room was filled with loud yelling and confetti. “SURPRISE!!!”
The two clones immediately run behind the closest cover, which happened to be a table, and flipped it over to hide behind it. Falcon reached for his pistol, while Shaw grabbed the rifle, and both of them pointed their weapons from behind the covers, ready to shoot their alleged attackers.
Attackers that turned out to be a group of ponies led by Pinkie Pie, who was waving a huge flag with ‘Welcome to Equestria’ written on it.
“Umm… sir…” Shaw spoke out after a moment of silence. “I… report no hostile activity in the area…”
“So I’ve noticed…”
“I don’t know if I should do this Applejack…” Lucid said as the two walked between the apple trees. “I haven’t seen them for so long… Big Mac must have grown into a strong stallion by now… and Apple Bloom… she probably doesn’t even remember who I am…”
“Don’t worry dad. Everything will be fine.” She reassured him. The two slowly approached the farmhouse, spending the time in silence. Lucid was almost shaking from nervousness. He hadn’t felt like that in years. In fact he hadn’t felt so nervous since he married Applejack’s mother.
When they reached the farmhouse, Applejack knocked to the door. “I’m coming!” Lucid almost begun to cry when he heard Apple Bloom’s voice. Soon, the door were opened by a small filly with a bow in her red mane. “Hi Applejack!” She have her sister a hug. “Who’s your friend here?”
“Call Granny and Mac downstairs. We need to talk.” The filly nodded and run back inside, giving the newcomer only a puzzled look.
Applejack looked at Lucid, who was at the edge of tearing up. She placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a smile as they entered inside. Lucid looked around the farmhouse with tears in the corners of his eyes and ragged breath.
“Can’t… be…” They heard an elder voice from the stairs. As they turned around, they saw an elder form of Granny Smith. “L-Lucy? Is that… you?”
Lucid’s eyes gave up, and tears run down his face. “Y-yes… that’s me Granny…” He cried as he was embraced by the elder mare. He knew this was his true home, and he swore to never live it again.
The door to the throne room opened. “My king!” A elder griffon said as he entered the door, immediately making the guards in the stand at attention. He was after all, their general. “I bring you news of utmost importance.”
“Speak.” King Fallus IV Brave said from the top of his throne. His wings were covered by black feathers, as was the rest of his body. A golden crown rested on top of his head, and a blue cape rested on his shoulders. He looked at down at the general with his deep blue eyes as he got up and slowly walked in his direction.
The general bowed as the king approached. “My king, our spy from Canterlot has returned with very interesting informations about the state of Equestrian army.”
“Ah, Gustave returned! What have my friend found out?”
The general smiled widely before answering. “My king, it turns out that despite its numbers… Celestia’s army seems to be… lacking…”
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I hope to see more of Falcon's training sergeant, it's so satisfying to see the arrogant Rainbow learn some discipline, and the not so fit, or lazy types(Twi, Rarity, and Fluttershy) be whipped into shape.
I wonder what Sakri's reactions going to be when she wakes up...
Can't wait for the next chapter! Keep up the great work!
(Griffin army arrives)
"Now, we invade! Our conquest begins-
"Excellent shot. Fire turbolazers."
And thus, the Griffin army, became the KFC army.
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That is the problem with paper armies. Once the facade is pealed away, you are at a distinct disadvantage. Although I see the guard being very self motivated to improve, without the institutional knowledge that Celestia has withheld, they will still not match up. Lets hope they at least do the obvious and have sharpened the swords. They might be a joke military, but those ponies love and want to protect their nation enough that might taken steps to improve even with orders to the contrary.
The changlings had no chance against one clone. The griffons have zero chance against 2, after all arrows won't get through that armor and they have no magic
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Radar has picked up a helicopter going soi soi soi.
Isn’t that normally reserved for spiders?
9080630
Yes, yes it is.
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Yes very.
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...
Do i even...
I lost it when I read this paragraph
that's pretty violent for a pony to say