Strider

by Olakaan Peliik

New Horseleans - VI

We got to ride in an airship, although admittedly not how I had fantasized. We were inside the heavily armored hull of a rapid deployment troop hauler. These things were made to descend fast, and basically crash into the landing zone, allowing for a fast dust-off...if the safety measures worked as intended and we didn’t all die in the landing.

Positive thinking, Strider. These things usually work. Usually.

Granted, if we survived, we’d still be facing a brainwashed army and a giant basilisk, but the Forty-Fourth was equipped to deal with both. They had special goggles that negate the basilisk’s turn-you-to-stone-by-eye-contact power. I had on a pair, as did Phillip, who was sitting next to him, expression blank as always. The tinted lenses made everything look a little orange in color.

“Sergeant Strider!” I heard KG call out. “Care to give the troops a rundown of what to expect?”

“Me?” I asked.

“We are going after your criminal, and you’ve been here before. You can inform us on what to expect.” KG sat down.

“Alright,” I muttered as I stood. Every eye turned to face me. I swallowed and raised my voice. “Alright, everypony I’m sure you’ve assessed why you’re here. The leader of a murderous cultist group is using a basilisk as a guard dog.”

There were whispers among the ponies.

“It rests in the water below the catwalks, has tunnels throughout the swamp, and it’s easily as big as an Ursa Minor. So stay out of the water until it's dealt with.” I let my words sink in a moment. “As far as the cultists themselves, there are about twenty of them. I don’t expect a lot of resistance from them, but be careful with them. Their leader is a half-unicorn, half-zebra: take her out as quickly as you can. No kill shots. We need everypony alive for trial.” I waited for them all to nod. “Captain, care to add?”

KG stood up again. “You heard the Sergeant! Watch out for the water and disabling shots only.”

“Unless it's the basilisk,” a soldier added.

“Unless it's the basilisk,” KG nodded.

“Initiating our drop. Everypony hold onto your helmets,” we heard the helmspony say over the communication crystals the ship had. I sat back down on the seat, gripping the sides really hard and remembered my life as it replayed before my eyes.

Why couldn’t the replay of my life have shown more time with Snow?

Being in the hull of the ship with no windows, I didn’t have a good view of the crash. The sounds coming from outside filled the imagination though. Snapping branches, the loud crack of a tree breaking, then the humongous smash of splashdown and sliding to a stop, shaking us all in our seats. I took in a deep breath and looked over at Finder and nodded. He nodded back. As the door to the hull fell open, I let out my breath and followed my fellow ponies out.

We emerged onto the dry lands of the swamp and began charging inwards towards the cult’s camp. As I expected, the cultists charged right back at us, but with their crude weapons and poor training, it was like sending ants to fight an alicorn. The Forty-Fourth was a well-oiled machine, calculated, precise, and unstoppable. The first volley of bolts flew almost as soon as they were out of the transport, downing most of the cultists. Finder headed out with Bravo squad after the cultists, snapping his baton open as he ran.

I took the sky and began circling the area, looking for my target, Xixphy. On my second pass of the crowd, I spotted her. It was kind of hard to miss her, considering she was standing on a raised platform and her eyes and necklace were both glowing that creepy blue color.

“Petenta Serpigeo, Petenta Serpigeo!” she chanted. With a loud splashing, her basilisk pet rose up behind her and surged toward the Forty-Fourth with a loud snarl.

“Basilisk sighted! Alpha, Charlie, Delta! Focus fire on the serpent! Bravo, follow the sergeant’s instructions!” KG shouted.

The sergeant from Bravo came over to me. “Orders?”

“Subdue and detain. As many as you can. You got a spare crossbow?” I asked. He handed me his. “Thanks.”

I took the crossbow up and I hurried through the chaos of wood debris flying about and avoiding the basilisk’s attention. I found my way to a kinda clear shot of Xixphy, but the basilisk kept getting in the way. But as KG and the other squads hammered it with tranquilizer bolts and spells, it started to slow down.

Timing. Like back when I got that stuffed polar bear for Snow. I breathed. Breathed. Waited for the right moment. The basilisk got in the way again, but I knew it would move by the time my bolt got there. I squeezed the trigger.

I watched. For me, it seemed like time had slowed and I watched the bolt just barely miss the basilisk and strike Xixphy in her enchanted necklace, shattering it into several small shards, and sinking into her chest. She cried out in pain and fell, but I could see the wound wasn’t fatal. She'd live.

No longer under the mademare’s control, the basilisk immediately disengaged from the Forty-Fourth and swam away into the swamp. All the cultists had been knocked out or were in chains, glaring sullenly at us. Amidst the cheering of the troops, I heard Xixphy cursing us.

“My ascension… so close… pay… all of you!” and she dropped unconscious.

“Detain her immediately!” I shouted. This should be an interesting trial, I thought.

---

Over the duration of the trial, which took two weeks, I spent a lot of time either in the courtroom or at the card table in the Tavern that was on base. Finder had been staying on my couch since he needed to be here for the trial. He was helpful and relatively polite and seemed to get along with Jett well enough, but I could tell that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. I wanted to leave too.

Finally, the last day of the trial came and went. I was sipping on a cider when Finder walked in and sat next to me. I would have been playing cards but nopony else was playing.

“You hear the verdict?” Finder asked.

“The ‘guilty but insane’ verdict?” I scoffed. “Yeah, I heard. She should be going to Earthcracker Prison for what she did, not a hospital.” I took another sip. “I thought for sure bringing in that Twilight Sparkle mare as an expert magical witness like you said, would have been enough to convince the judge.”

“So did I,” he commented. He was silent a moment. “You know Captain Swampfire is looking for you?”

“Yeah. I know. He wants to fire me. Been avoiding him.” I took another swig of cider.

“You mean you've been gambling while avoiding him?” Finder said rather bluntly.

I just nodded. I was too tired to think up a good counter-argument.

“You need help, Strider. I can see what this is doing to you. I know the signs.” Finder said.

I looked at him as he pulled out a small purple coin with a ten embossed on it, showing it to me. A sobriety coin. “What was your poison?” I asked.

“Red poppydust,” Finder admitted, putting the coin back in his vest.

That was a particularly nasty drug. Common, but very addictive and easy to overdose on. “That's harsh,” I said.

He took a breath. “So would you trust me when I say that this is gonna kill you? Either by stress or by owing money to the wrong ponies.”

I just sat and listened. Some part of me knew that he was right.

“If you don't want to do it for you, do it for your daughter,” Finder jabbed. “She already lost one set of parents. If you die or lose her because of your mistakes, how do you think she'll handle that?”

An image of Jett staring down at my headstone suddenly flashed into my mind and I winced. She wouldn’t take it well at all.

“Think about it, Strider.” He stood to leave. “If you’re ever in Ponyville, look me up.”

He left without another word. I stared at my drink for a few moments of silence, then finished off the cider and stood, dropping some bits on the bar.

It was time to get things taken care of and back on track.

---

Dismissed from the unit. As I expected; no way was Swampfire going to let me hang around now that I’d made the entire City Guard look like idiots. Jett and I were repacking our belongings, not that we ever really unpacked in the first place. I wasn't angry or anything. In fact, I was kinda glad to be leaving here.

“Dad, where are we moving now?” Jett asked.

“I sent a letter to your Uncle Atlas,” I said. “He sent a letter back saying we could stay with him for a while, as I attend some... meetings.”

I didn’t tell her that the letter included a long apology, an admission that he was right, I did have a problem, and a plea for a place to stay while I attended Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Atlas, thankfully, replied that he was willing to let us stay at his place, but not before giving me an “I told you so” scolding. If I didn’t deserve that, brother...

“Uncle Atlas is cool. Are you gonna try and find Snow when we get there?” I heard the hope in Jett’s voice.

I hesitated. “I think... I will… in time. Once we get settled in.” I went into the kitchen and changed the shipping address on those boxes. “Make sure you properly label what you want to go into storage!”

“I will,” Jett said.

As I continued to label the boxes properly. I thought about everything Snow said to me regarding my gambling problem. And I realized more and more that she had been right all along. She was even right to leave me.

I just wished that she wasn't so angry with me she wasn't willing to give me a second chance.

Author's Note:

That's it for this arc. Honestly after some time I might come back to give it a "V.2" treatment. More detail, more content, the works, but right now I think it's okay as is.

Drop a thumbs-up, and leave a comment on what you liked or something that you were expecting in this arc. Who knows? Maybe I'll fulfill those expectations when I come back to this.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[TheAmazingMe]

She was even right to leave me.

I mean, quite specifically for the ‘straw that broke the camels back’ no. I would still have hard feelings about that. But it’s not like he didn’t have a problem, just that she was wrong about it that particular time.

[Olakaan Peliik]

8955452
I kinda imagine Strider having a voice like Chris Evans' (Captain America) even though he's nowhere near that cool. Jett I'm imagining a similar tone-of-voice as Scootaloo. As for the rest it's hard to pin down what their voices might be like.

8955681
He's depressed at that moment. Thinking that it was all his fault. I'd be thinking the same if I were in his horseshoes.

[harts fire]

case closed, now on to fix a lingering problem.
a grate chapter for a super story.

[Amos Anon]

As I continued to label the boxes properly. I thought about everything Snow said to me regarding my gambling problem. And I realized more and more that she had been right all along. She was even right to leave me.

She was right about his gambling problem, but was absolutely NOT right about leaving him and his daughter. At least, not without talking to him about it first. I firmly believe that when Strider bought the engagement ring, and dismissed the gambler at the door, that he was making progress, and the fact that Snow didn't take the time to ask about his side of the story and hear him out says a lot about her. No, Snow leaving the way she did only did more harm than good, and caused Strider to become depressed, and to backslide.