• Published 25th Jan 2018
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XCOM: Ranger - Wanderer D



Sunset Shimmer escapes Equestria... with unforeseen consequences.

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Chapter 134: Flight

Ranger

Chapter 134: Flight

By Wanderer D

Dear Suns sister,

I hope calling you that is okay. I know when you said it, it came from the heart… it's odd to put it like that, but, I guess we are at the very least sisters in clan if not blood? It's funny, I would have never thought of things that way. Family. Clan. Tribe?

What really defines familial relationships besides blood and marriage?

Things have calmed down over here. Although it cost us the Elements of Harmony, we were able to seal them away and destroy the Plundervines that Discord planted thousands of years ago. He has actually proved very diligent in getting rid of them, and somehow, I don't think he dislikes me as much as before, although I'm not entirely sure why.

Either way, I'm glad to see this change in him, it feels nice to see him smile for a good deed and also feels great to say openly that I want him as a friend.

I am preparing some additional things for XCOM, but, I wanted you to know, that I've discussed a possible spell to extend your diary, and I will be making one of my own. Ideally they will both link to yours, if the spell works as it should.

I left some experiments with Tygan, about possible Magic Grenades. We had discussed this topic early on, as possible weapons against Psionic opponents, but, I have… new uses for them. I think, that you can modify one, with Shen and Tygan's help to be a battery of sorts. Every day there, our magic reserves slowly filled out again… if we transferred some of our magic directly into the grenades, we could use them both as weapons and batteries for more complicated spells… such as Twilights Technical Trifurcation (name still to be finalized, the alliteration for this one is tricky), which in conjunction with Starswirl's Secret Secretary (I swear, some unicorn must have mistranslated that one) would enable you to store and "hide" any number of pages, which we could multiply with Prance's Paper Pandemic ad infinitum without making your diary explode.

On our own, without the Element of Magic, we wouldn't be able to cast this there, but, with the grenades working as batteries? I predict a total success!

I know what you're going to ask. I haven't… really talked to them yet. We exchanged hugs, and were very glad to see each other. Once we crossed the mirror, Alejandra turned into a Griffon, and you won't believe this, but Tala became a breezie.

Yes. A breezie. I had to cast the Royal Canterlot Voice on her to be able to have normal conversations. I'm going to make a little amulet for her so she can control it, in case she goes along with Fluttershy's idea and goes to meet Seabreeze. The last thing they need is to be blown back by her voice!

I've just left Alejandra in the hospital wing. Don't worry, she's safe, just… injured. Luna said that she had asked an old friend of yours to check on her. A griffon? In any case, she's being tended by the best, and she should be fully healed, if sore, in a few days. Rainbow Dash is already itching to teach her to fly. I'd be elated about this, but I imagine I'm also to be included in the training.

I this

how

it's just I

I'm sorry. I just don't know how to begin on this part, so I'll just ask: How do you deal with seeing your soldiers get hurt, Sunset? I know I won't stop feeling scared for them, and that all of us signed for whatever mission we take. But being responsible for their lives… not as a result of an unexpected twist, such as Discord was, or Chrysalis here… but as their leader? Knowing that, even if you're going with them, you make the decision that might just kill them?

It's stupid, I guess. I suppose we just grow into it. I imagine there is no guide. Not really. All I know is, I don't want Alejandra to end up in the hospital again on my watch. Or at all if possible. I can only imagine that's how you felt every time and yet you stepped up to the plate over and over. I really admire you for that. I had no idea how hard it was to be there, even if they were going to be okay.

She got hurt under my command. My mission.

Anyway, I'm supposed to talk to Celestia and Luna… Shiny is coming over and so is Cadance. You should be here. I miss you, and Celestia does too. I haven't seen Luna since we released her from the vines; unlike Celestia she teleported out immediately. Celestia said she was worried about you. I'm not sure what teleporting away might have to do with it, but well, Luna is Luna.

I hope we can find a way to let you visit. Even if you don't think of this place as your home anymore.

Talk to you soon, sis.

~Twilight

Their area of the city was mostly quiet. Mostly. In the distance, they could hear the distant stomps of the search parties; the occasional gunfight. From the relative darkness of an alley, a woman peeked over a black metallic fence, staring down between the buildings, watching out for patrols.

"How many?" Scootaloo whispered.

Sweetie crouched back down, shaking her head. "I can't tell. But it sounded like they were moving away."

"This is madness…" a man said, crouching next to his wife and daughter. "Madness. Why isn't anyone stopping them?"

"They can't," Sweetie replied, "they've cut all contact from the city. Cut off communications. Set up a dead-zone of miles around."

"We shouldn't stay here," Scootaloo said. "Come on, we need to run."

"Run where?" the man asked. "Out of the city? Are you mad?"

"You saw what happened to our neighbors, Tom," Scootaloo retorted, "Do you really want to be taken?"

Tom looked down, opening and closing his fists in frustration. "I-I—" he stopped short, all of them crouching when loud stomps that shook the ground around them were heard. They came closer, and closer, and Tom made as if to run, but Scootaloo's hand shot out, pulling him down.

She shook her head, eyes wide.

The stomping stopped. They held their breaths, as if a giant was peeking over the fence they were hiding behind. For all they knew, frozen in place as they were, it might be.

The silence stretched and stretched, but they dared not move. Finally, with a strange, digital growl of some sort, the steps resumed and slowly faded away.

Scootaloo pressed her index against her lips, making a low shushing sound, then motioned with her hand for the others to follow behind.

She guided them through several blocks of buildings, stopping often, as stomping sounds or nearby blasts alerted them to enemy presence. Once or twice they heard shouts. Sweetie was so tempted to run, create a distraction and let them escape… but she couldn't, not right now.

She smiled in encouragement at Jenny, Tom and Monica's daughter, who had always had the cutest star-crush on her. The poor girl would stammer and blush and silently ask how Sweetie's day had been in the news. She was a big fan.

Sweetie couldn't feel any more guilty about feeding a young mind the lies that the Elders kept creating for them. More than once she had promised herself to tell the young woman the truth, but she never had a chance.

And now she had lost so much. She glanced behind, stopping for a moment.

"She's gone," Scootaloo whispered, taking her hand. "Come on."

Biting her lip, she resolved once more… for the twentieth time or so that night, not to cry. Not yet.

Scootaloo's zig-zagging route eventually led them out to the edge of the city, but before they could move further, she urged them all down. "Okay," she whispered, "My guess is that there's probably a lot of them around here. We have to be really careful, but don't hesitate to run."

She fished out a compass and gave it to Tim. "Sweetie and I have one, if we get separated, Monica or Jenny have to run with one of us." She pointed into the distance. "It's a long way, but we're going towards Peavine Peak. Just go into the forest, they won't follow us there."

"Why there?" Tom asked, taking the compass and looking at her warily. "What's at Peavine Peak?"

"Safety… maybe," Sweetie replied for Scootaloo, knowing that her celebrity power would help, even if just a little. "We have some ways of communicating out from there. We can't risk it from here, they would catch the signal immediately."

"Who would have thought this would happen?" Monica whispered.

"No one could have predicted it," Scootaloo said gently. "Come on. I know we're all scared, but we need to get going."

The others nodded, and, after looking around for possible enemies, slowly made their way into the wilderness.

Sweetie could only hope they were leading them to salvation. That Sunset and Jane had left some way of reaching them there. She didn't have her equipment with her, and transmitting from the city was too dangerous right now.

She hoped.

It was the only thing she could do.

o.0.o End Chapter 134 o.0.o

Author's Note:

Magical Grenades were initially reported as a research project by Tygan in Ch. 84: Meeting

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