Friendly Fire

by Starscribe

Chapter 17

Jacob couldn’t have said how deep within Unity they were before he heard the first explosion. The air seemed to shake, his ears ringing despite who knew how many feet of intervening stone. Cries and whimpers echoed up from deeper into the castle, not all of them human.

He tried to keep himself calmer than the other voices, following Harley down the stairs. “Unity has guns, it has guards. Ponies were ready for an attack, weren’t they?”

Harley looked back, and her expression was grave. “A year ago we were. Until we tricked your gadgets and figured out how to disappear.”

“It sounds like you didn’t do as good a job as you think you did,” Danielle said, chuckling nervously at the end.

“Apparently not. If ponies get hurt because of this…” Harley’s voice remained dark, though the anger didn’t seem to be for them. “Nevermind. You three won’t suffer, even if I can’t help them all.” The crowd had come to a stop, backed up so thickly in the stairs Jacob couldn’t see the ceiling.

“I wish everyone would stop calling us ponies,” Eric muttered.

Harley ignored him. “Here!” She tugged them violently to the side, to one of the many little hallways that ended in an electronic door. They couldn’t open it, but her badge did, and with so much chaos nobody gave them a second glance.

There was another explosion, much larger this time. The ground shook, and nearby a bookshelf fell and shattered. They waited in the doorway for the shaking to subside.

“This place doesn’t look very magical,” Danni said, once the shaking had stopped. “Why wouldn’t we be allowed in here?” Indeed, it looked exactly like the housing areas further up in Unity, save that there were more portraits of ponies here. They were adorable, but not nearly so hard to look at as the ponies were in person. They had all been looking at pictures of ponies for years, after all.

“The only room with magic is the portal. Anywhere else is only magic because of the ones inside it.” Harley seemed to know where she was going, because she didn’t even slow down as they made their way through the empty room. Food trays were abandoned at their tables (or fallen to the floor), and they had to climb their way through. The whole room shook again, and this time Jacob thought he could hear other sounds. Jet engines, roaring as loud as they had ever done in the air shows he loved as a kid. This time the lights flickered, though they came back on after only a few seconds.

A few seconds of more screaming from the stairs.

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, nowhere.” Harley grinned weakly, then kicked a heavy metal door set into the kitchen wall. It swung open with a foul smell.

“God, you’re joking.” Danni stopped beside the chute, sticking her head briefly inside, only to pull it out again. “Is that big enough for humans?”

Harley nodded. “Us three, no problem.” Then she looked at Jacob. “The giant here is going to have to magic like he’s never magiced before.”

The room shook again, showering dust down on all of them. The lights went out, and this time they didn’t come back on.

Jacob drew his wand, and willed it to light as unicorns frequently did with their horns on the show. It worked of course, and his stick lit up as bright as a maglight. Harley did the same, though her own wand was green and so had a strange way of making shadows. Something whimpered from the room, a sound so pitiable that he could hear it even over the sound of distant panic.

“Only joking!” Harley gestured. “Danni, rip the door off. The pipes are plenty big.”

“Sure.” Danni bent down, and metal groaned. It came loose. “But this only works in movies.”

“Girls, I think someone’s in here with us,” Jacob muttered, wandering towards the sound.

They ignored him. “It will! Waste treatment is on the same level as the portal! I’ve been shoved down one… I mean, I know it’s safe—”

He ignored them right back. “Is someone in here?”

He didn’t hear words, but he did hear the whimper again, and that was enough to go on. Soon he found the source of the noise, in the first bedroom closest to the kitchen.

Sort of. The rooms at the end of the hall were stacked, like those cell-hotels from Japan. The rooms inside looked the same as their own, except that all the furniture was sized for the adorably-small ponies. Smart use of space I guess. “What are you still doing in here?” he asked, to the pony cowering by the doorway.

At first it looked like she was going to cower back into the room, which would’ve made it impossible for him to follow. Then the room shook again, and cannons started firing. The booms were distant, but Jacob recognized them, and the pony seemed to as well.

It was Allie, the pony they had rescued only yesterday. “I was… sleeping…” She whimpered, looking around. “Are we under attack?”

“Yes.” Jacob offered his hand. “Come with us. We’re going to try to get to safety. We can carry you.” He winced involuntarily as he said it, expecting that maybe she would remind him that they had made a similar promise only a day before. She didn’t. The pony looked to be in very bad shape, with a disheveled mane, a matted coat, and no clothing to speak of. Even the eagle on her cutie mark seemed a little mottled.

“Okay.” She didn’t resist, and he might’ve thought she was a stuffed animal from how limp she went in his arms. Ponies weren’t big, and they weren’t heavy either. He didn’t need Danni’s strength to carry her.

Danni and Harley were gone, though Eric still crouched by the vent, gesturing urgently at him. “Hey, we gotta go!”

“I found someone who didn’t run.” He held up his burden so Eric could see. “What are you still doing here?”

He flexed his wings. “Apparently I’m supposed to go right in front of you and use my wings to slow the fall.”

“Does that work?” Jacob leaned down, poking his wand into the dark space. He saw only dirty metal, and a near-vertical shaft.

“I have no idea.” Eric’s wings fluttered nervously. “Harley said it’s mostly about using the magic to make us lighter. So long as I do that, we’ll land soft. I know what she means. I’ve fallen from all kinds of heights that would’ve killed me before and only got a little bumped up. The ponies on the show did it too.”

“Alright.” Jacob lowered his voice. “I think my friend should carry you. He seems less likely to die from this.”

“Why are you doing it, then?” The pony didn’t protest and climbed into Eric’s arms without much objection. “Not that it will matter. We’re all going to be dead anyway.”

“Harley saved our lives,” Jacob said. “If she says this is our best chance, then it’s our best chance.”

“You people are insane.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “You’re a talking horse talking to a kid with wings and another one lighting up the room with a magic wand.” He got down on his rear, then slid towards the opening as though he were getting onto a water-slide at a theme park. “We’ve got to go at the same time.”

Jacob followed, though he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do about going at the same time when his friend had wings that would hit him in the face. But then came another explosion, this one punctuated by the sound of small-arms fire and at least one other, smaller explosion, which shook so long it seemed the walls would start caving in. After that, he pressed his wand up against his chest and got ready to possibly fall to his death.

They dropped in at the same time, and Jacob found the ground curved after a fairly short distance. It still felt like they were being shot out of a cannon, but at least they weren’t being shot straight down. The stench and disgusting slime hardly even seemed to matter when he was so terrified.

It didn’t take very long. Eventually he felt his legs make contact with something soft, and the blurring speed started to fade. The floor curved down again, and dropped him into a pile of slime.

Then he smelled it, a mixture of food wastes of all kinds. Was anything broken? Nothing hurt. Unfortunately he was surrounded by nastiness, which felt as though it would seep down over his face. It was already too dark to see.

Jacob took his wand in hand and focused his will into light—without effect. No terrible surprise, considering how much crap was apparently around him. “AWAY!” A wave of sunflower light exploded from in front of him, and took half the mountain of garbage with it. Enough that he could finally see again.

Poor Eric was trapped beneath him, along with his pony companion. Jacob clambered towards the only other light source, then offered his hand to help Eric free. “T-thanks!” He whined. “If we did that and still die, I’m gonna be mad.”

“You aren’t going to die.” There was a sloshing sound, then a rush of water. Jacob found he didn’t even mind it might’ve just shorted out his phone—anything to feel a little more clean. “Well, unless you get infected. None of you ponies have open wounds, do you?”

Another explosion answered before any of them could, this one far louder and deeper than any that had come before. Jacob wanted to cover his ears, as a huge chunk of the ceiling cracked down the center, raining splinters of stone.

More screams, this time screams of pain. Then the floor dropped out from under him.

There was no sky, no external reference for how fast they were traveling or in what direction. There was constant screaming now, and a hundred little explosions from further above. An ocean of garbage swelled towards them, freed from the restraint of gravity. With his concentration went the light from his wand, plunging the room into darkness.

This is how I die.

Someone gripped his hand, tugging him forcefully. He felt several other bodies close, familiar and all as dirty as he was. “Defy the gate,” Harley muttered, her voice a panicked rush. “Sideways tread, outside step, 1000, 25…” BANG!

Air roared into his ears like a predator. The darkness was gone, and Jacob was tumbling. He saw the ground, the sky, and the ground again, rushing up to meet him. There were some other colored blurs falling with him, though he couldn’t tell who was who.

Far away, there was another massive explosion, grinding with rock and soil as it went.

Jacob tried to spread himself out, maybe slow his fall or at least stop the spinning, but to no avail. Just because it worked in movies didn’t mean he could do it in real life.

He did manage to keep hold of his wand, the only thing he could do as he fell. He would still have it when he died.

Then he felt hands on his shoulders, and he stopped spinning with a jerk. It was Harley, tugging with all her might on his arms. She had wings—transparent fairy wings pierced all over with little holes. It was barely enough, but it was enough. They started to slow. “What about the pony?” He shouted, quite ineffectual.

Harley didn’t seem to hear. “Eric has Danni! They’re just behind us!”

“Does he have Allie too?!”

Harley’s eyes widened. “Why would he?!”

Comments

[mrk]

Does Allie have wings or something?

[ChaosDX1]

Someone guessed channeling after the last chapter. Good job, someone!

[Yami Vizzini]

Of course "Allie" happened to be hiding or whatever near our protagonists... then again, knowing this was coming, she would probably have also known where best to ride it out.

Couldn't help but think of the air raid on District 13 in Mockingjay. Of course, Katniss and company couldn't go another mile down a garbage chute. And, I'm guessing, open an emergency portal to Equestria.

[Corsair]

7467026
I've figured Harley was a changeling from almost the beginning. The not-so-subtle hints that Starscribe has been dropping just confirmed it. The real question is: Is Harley Chrysalis?

[TieID]

7467062, I guess no. While she might hide behind "Changelings" tag, I highly doubt we will see the one who lead an ambush on the Canterlot.
Meanwhile we have Nightmare Moon tag, while she didn't appear anywhere in the story. Maybe we won't get Chrysalis, but we'll definetly see some action involving Eternal Night Prophet.

[Revan]

Emergency transits can be really good or really bad.

[SolangeEggbert]

7466856 At the size the ponies are being described in this fic - very limited 'magic' or luck would be required to protect them from long drops, at least to the point of not impacting fatally.

[mrk]

7467606
Ah, I see. That seems to be a break from the "propoganda."

[Latrans]

7467606
While their mass to surface area means a slightly lower terminal velocity, they would still be large enough to have a poor chance at survival, especially since they are not built to absorb that kind of impact with their legs.

[Lithl]

7467026
People have been assuming she's a changeling ever since she placed a grammatical barrier between herself and ponies when she first started explaining things.

[Noble Cause]

Yeah, about time Harley revealed herself. Yelling can come later, gotta keep from dying right now.

[imgonaeatarat]

I am calling Chrysalis.

[Therizzen]

And so ends Unity. I don't think this could have gone another way. I'm surprised ponies could get so complacent in a time when their numbers are getting increasingly thinned and humans are winning more and more engagements. They underestimated what we could do and they sure as hell payed for it. God, this story is fantastic but damn it all everything is falling apart! How can this end but badly?

[Snow]

And thus they all died, Celestia said 'Fuck it' and hurled the Earth into the Sun. The End.

[NeirdaE]

I am agreeing with other comments here, that these ponies are stupid. All these fortifications, and no plan or organisation to use them. A warning that happens just as the attack happens is slightly better than nothing at all.

And the ponies have utterly failed at trying diplomacy.

[Nox Knock Jokes]

7469354
7467026

That and she went from using a wand to having a pair of wings in one chapter (quick scene shortly after Jacob's chat with Rainbow Dash). Another chapter also mentioned that her canine teeth were slightly sharper.

[BlackKyurem14]

I already guessed that Harley might by a Changeling, a Changeling Queen or Chrysalis. I'm really excited to see who she really is