...Are Often Dead on Arrival
PONYVILLE, OKLAHOMA
190943SJUL30:
The following morning Fluttershy, Flash and Spearhead waited on the tarmac of the makeshift helipad, waiting for an aircraft to arrive. There was a tension in the air, given that the arrival of this special group would set things finally in motion and whatever forces would be in play would finally take the field.
A sergeant spoke to Spearhead briefly before departing. “Just got word they’re on final approach,” he said. “Are you both ready?”
“As ready as we can be, sir,” Fluttershy told him.
“I’ll second that, Colonel,” Flash agreed. “Speaking of ready: do we have any extra information on the SEALs? Not that it’s necessary, but it might help to know who I’m working with.”
“They didn’t send much, as there wasn’t time. All I know, really is that it’s the Amazons, the SEALs’ all-female team; and that the officer in charge was recently promoted to O-4 for her actions in the field during the evacuation of Rome. Apparently, she caught the attention of President Sombra himself, though whether that’s a good thing or not, I can’t state.”
“That critical?”
“From what little we know, for some reason, she’s very much important to the whole situation, so essentially she was hand-picked by the President himself. Means whoever we’re dealing with has some very important backers and that we’ll want to make sure she’s a happy camper. So play nice, you two.”
Fluttershy nodded. “She must be extremely good at her job as a SWO.”
“SPECOPS, Major,” Spearhead corrected. “The term SWO, as I understand it, means something vastly different in Navy terminology, so you’ll want to keep that in mind. As it is, Navy jargon is arcane and confusing; when I was a major myself, I had the chance to work with the Navy at Fifth Fleet headquarters in the Middle East. Probably one of the most confusing moments of my career,” he said with a laugh.
The sergeant from earlier returned. “Sir, Belltower says they’re now within visual.”
Sure enough, a haze-gray HV-22C bearing Navy markings flew past the church belltower, which was being used as an impromptu flight tower. The tilt-rotor aircraft then stopped and started hovering over the tarmac as the huge prop engines cantilevered from the flight to the landing position, and the vehicle came to a gentle descent on the ground. Signalmen pointed it in the direction of the barn being used as a hangar, where several Army helicopters sat. The Osprey’s rotors slowed and then came to a complete stop as the rotors and wings began to fold.
“Now that is amazing,” Spearhead said. “I swear, I never tire of seeing our technology in action.”
After a few minutes, about twenty-five men and women got out of the aircraft. Most of the men were dressed in flight suits, nothing special, given that they were likely the aircrew. Additionally, a man wearing ACUs and a woman wearing a deep teal turtleneck and black cargo pants leapt out; Spearhead noted that was Col. Armor and likely the CIA liaison with him. The two walked together, chatting along warmly, and Spearhead wondered if Fluttershy and Flash weren’t the only couple in this operation.
However, it was the women that stepped out afterwards that caught everyone’s attention. All of them in various states of camouflage, muscular and had two things in common: they all moved as if they owned the place; and all of them had a generally scruffy look, definitely out of uniform regulations for any service…but that was the norm for Special Operations personnel in the field. All from various shapes and sizes, but all of them at the peak of physical fitness and more than a match for any one of the soldiers present.
But it was the one in the lead, wearing mirror shades and looking as though she could easily bench-press a deuce-and-a-half, briefly chatted with a few of her people before following behind the colonel and the CIA operative. It was then that Fluttershy thought she recognized the woman in question.
“Is that…?” Fluttershy whispered to her husband.
“Can’t be,” he murmured back.
But sure enough, it was.
As the trio approached, Spearhead offered his hand. “Shining? Good to see you! Didn’t know you were a part of this.”
“Yeah,” Shining said as he shook Spearhead’s hand. “Apparently they were impressed with how I defended Detroit from the Octos, so I was personally assigned to this by the Joint Chiefs. They went over just about everyone’s head on this, because President Sombra and Adm. Rider wanted me to run this show.”
“Well, hopefully we can have a repeat of whatever you did and save Canterlot. It’s well overdue that we started taking back our cities.”
“I hear that. In any case, this is Chrysalis. She’s our CIA liaison and intelligence head.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Colonel,” Chrysalis said smoothly as she shook the man’s hand. If nothing else, her Agency training had taught her how to work with people of various stripes; she could tell just from the looks in his eyes that he was not happy that she was here, but that was more of an oh-god-it’s-the-spooks way rather than anything personal.
“No offense, Ms. Chrysalis, but I hope that your services won’t be needed,” he said.
She caught what he meant instantly. “None taken. My Changelings are here merely for intelligence and scouting. I know what you’re thinking…and frankly, I don’t care for that either. Thankfully, those that you’re referring to are known as the Diamond Dogs – and that group is kept on a tight leash.”
“You have people here already?”
Chrysalis grinned. “They’re already in Canterlot. The moment the mission was authorized we did a HALO insertion so they could gather HUMINT. Lost several of my agents in that, but we got the bulk down there.”
Spearhead looked at her oddly. “Okay…would’ve been nice to have been informed about it since its within my AOR, but it is what it is, I guess.” He then finally turned to the last one. “And you are?”
The final woman walked over to Spearhead and saluted. Once he returned the salute, she extended her hand, removing her glasses with the other one to reveal all-too-familiar apple-green eyes. “Col. Spearhead, I’m Lt. Cmdr. Applejack Apple, OIC of DEVGRU DET ONE. Pleasure to be working with you, sir; during the trip I read about your counterattack on the Octos in Texas. Very impressive, I have to admit.”
He shook her hand and nodded. “Thank you, Commander, but I can’t take all the credit. My troops did the hard work – I was just there to lead.”
“I understand how that goes, sir. My ladies put the rounds where I tell them to, and I can’t be prouder.”
Fluttershy looked at the woman, trying to keep her emotions under control. It was her – really her. Applejack, her former friend, the one that had fallen off the radar. But how? For one, there was no trace of the accent she had from her youth. And her hair was now longer than Fluttershy’s, definitely not military regulation, but there she was, in a Navy uniform, wearing O-4 oak leaves. None of this made sense.
Unaware of her thoughts, Spearhead then gestured towards Fluttershy and Flash, ready to introduce them, when a sergeant came running up to them. “Sir, we’ve just received word on a matter you may wish to look into personally.”
“Is it regarding Canterlot?” Spearhead asked and when the sergeant nodded, he gave an okay. “Well, Shining, looks like things are already hitting the fan. Care to sit in?”
“Sounds like a plan. Chryssie?”
“Right behind you, Colonel,” she said, sounding surprisingly professional, given her more impish demeanor around the office.
“Good. Jackie, can I trust you to take care of the rest of things here?”
Applejack, already one step ahead, turned to Tempest. “Lieutenant, have the petty officers stow the gear in the armory and have Chief Shipshape talk to the base SUPPO to get us berthing. Then have our usual guys hit up their S2 and S3 to get as much as we can – weather, flight conditions, the works. Once you do that and Splitdown and his folks put our ride to bed for the day, I suspect the Colonel will want us to join him for the briefing that’s likely to happen in…” She reached in her pocket and unfolded her smartphone, looking at the time, “…about fifteen minutes from now, isn’t that right, Col. Armor?”
Spearhead laughed. “She’s good,” he said to Shining.
Applejack grinned. “I’ve met enough full birds over the years to know how they think, sir.”
“Good. In the meanwhile, I’ll leave you with Maj. Fluttershy and Cpt. Sentry – they should be able to show you around.”
Tempest stood there as the senior officers departed. She could feel the tension in the air, and that wasn’t a good thing at all. Apparently Applejack knew these people – and the result wasn’t exactly anything pleasant. “Jackie, you okay?” she asked.
Without looking at her friend and subordinate, Applejack said, “You know what needs to get done, Tempest. Turn-to.”
Given their conversation the previous night, Tempest felt more than a bit worried and protective of her friend. “You know where to find me after this is all done.” Giving a wordless nod to the other two officers, she went off to go issue orders to the troops, leaving Applejack alone with her literal and metaphorical past.
The trio were quiet for a few moments, the two women silently sizing up the other before Fluttershy spoke: “Applejack? Is it really you?”
The naval officer frowned. “Yes, it’s me. But I wasn’t expecting you to be here.” The words flowed out of her, both incisive and hurt at the same time as old feelings welled to the surface. “I have no idea why either of you two are here – or why you’re dressed like that – but I’m hoping this is a coincidence, and that after this is done, I don’t have to see you again.”
“I’m dressed like this because I’m a major – I’m an Army doctor,” Fluttershy said. “The war needed my skills as a healer more than it did as a chemistry teacher.”
“The war, huh? I’m sure you know all about the war. Like what it’s like to see people die constantly.” Applejack crossed her arms. “I haven’t seen many people I know come back from that, because of, well, the war.”
“Actually, yes, I do,” Fluttershy said. “Here, we’re treating wounded from battles as well as taking care of the refugees that are scattered around Ponyville. The town’s population is larger than it seems – it’s just that people are understandably afraid to live in large settlements like they used to. And why are you here? I thought you told us you were done with Canterlot – that you were blowing town and you didn’t want to see us ever again?”
“I don’t. But I have to go back, and I don’t have the luxury of disregarding orders. I go where I’m sent.” She then looked at Flash. “And what’s your excuse?”
“I’m married to her. We’ve been married for about seven years now,” he told Applejack.
Applejack’s lips moved as if she was going to say something, then thought better of it. Finally, she commented, “So I guess this means we have to work together.”
“Yes, it does,” Fluttershy said. “Look, the past is the past—”
“Yes, the past is the past. I have to live with the fact of what I did to Sunset. Looks like you chose not to,” Applejack replied. “In any case, I need to find Sunset’s journal – I need to find her if I’m going to save the world.”
“Sunset? What does she have to do with—” Flash began, but found himself cut off by an angry Applejack.
“You of all people don’t get to make that decision,” she hissed at him. “You didn’t wait long for your girlfriend to take off before you found yourself in bed with someone else.”
“I would appreciate it if you laid off my husband,” Fluttershy said, coming to Flash’s defense. “We started our relationship years after we left Canterlot for Cloudsdale. There’s no proof that he and Sunset would’ve been together at that point.”
“Well, you seem to have grown a backbone after all this time,” Applejack said nastily. “Clearly some things have changed…but I guess what you did to Sunset wasn’t one of them.”
Fluttershy’s eyes narrowed in anger. “What I did to Sunset? She lived with you and you kicked her out of your house!” The moment she uttered those words, she knew it was the worst possible thing to say, but she couldn’t help herself. She wasn’t the same shy girl that was when they last knew one another and she was going to make that very clear.
“At least I didn’t bed her boyfriend!” Applejack snarled. But she quickly recovered and added, “Look, we’re going to have to work together on this, clearly. But whether you’re going to Canterlot for the same reasons as me – and I doubt that – or you’re there to do whatever it is you do? While we may have known each other once, we’re not friends, got that?”
Fluttershy looked as though she’d been slapped, but she refused to back down. She did that when she was younger, and maybe if she hadn’t, things would have been different. She wasn’t sure if they would be better, but she knew that she wasn’t going to roll over like she did in her youth. “Fine by me, Commander. I’m sure you can find your way around the base. Captain, let’s leave her to her own devices; I’m sure we have better things to do.”
Flash glared at Applejack as well. “I’m in agreement, Major,” was all he said as both walked away.
Applejack stood there, fists clenched, her breathing shallow. Of all the Goddamn nerves…. A part of Applejack wanted to be happy to see Fluttershy again, to celebrate the fact that she was alive and well and happily married. But it was who she was happily married to that was the problem. Or the fact that she acted as though she was blameless for what had happened – and had the nerve to accuse Applejack herself as if she’d been the one to mastermind what had happened!
She needed to talk to Shining as soon as she could. No way in hell was she going to work with those two. She knew she had to find Sunset, but even though Sunset said that she needed all of them to come together, Applejack knew that wasn’t going to happen. Not if Fluttershy was any indicator.
“It’s out of my hands, Jackie,” Shining told her several minutes later. The two were having a private conversation in Spearhead’s office, and Applejack had wasted no time telling him everything.
“No, it’s not, Shining,” she told him. “They cannot go. I don’t have the faith of their infantry unit commander and I won’t risk my people. Furthermore, I will not work with either of them. I don’t trust them – I can’t trust them and—”
“You were given an order, Commander.” The tone in his voice changed, and Applejack knew that tone: the attitude of command. She knew she’d had to use it on more than one occasion. “You were literally directed by POTUS to do whatever it took to get your friend back. And as a SEAL, you know that means sometimes dealing with unsavory things.”
She sighed. “Colonel, I….”
“I’m not saying that I don’t sympathize. I remember what you said. And without their sides of the story, I only have your word to go by, and you’re clearly shaken up about that. What I’m saying, Jackie, is that you need to remember: the fate of mankind is at stake here. Either we get that book and try to find clues as to where your unicorn friend is, or we all die. And if that means you have to work with your worst enemy, so be it.”
She nodded sadly. “I know. It’s just….”
“It’s painful. I know. I had a student of my wife’s that used to work for me, but I had him reassigned because just seeing him reminded me of her. So I completely understand how you feel,” he told her. “But we have to put our feelings aside for the sake of the world. If I were in the situation where I had to work with Lt. Plume again, as painful as it would be, I would do so.”
She slumped back in her chair. “I hate the fact that you’re right,” she admitted.
“Look, no one says you have to go out and have drinks with her after the mission. But if she is involved….”
“Yeah, fuck me,” she sighed. “Fine. Fuck Six. I’ll do it, Shining.”
He nodded sympathetically. “I didn’t expect anything less of you.”
She gave him an honest look. “You expected more of me than I did.”
The general planning meeting turned out to be tolerable, with most of the information given being the fact that Firebase AC was now in contact with the Canterlot Resistance and they were passing along information as to what their strengths, weaknesses and current conditions were. Chrysalis, unfortunately, was unable to get a hold of any of her personnel, so the information at the moment could not be corroborated.
“Any chance of us going in HALO or HAHO?” Applejack asked.
“If the Changelings got in, they got in during a time when the Octos weren’t concerned about it. Not anymore, though – they have an airtight defense perimeter around Canterlot now,” Spearhead told her. “In fact, the only way we could get communications gear to the Resistance was to send it in via a heavily-armored drone and have the unit move to a suitable location where it could be brought down under controlled conditions.”
“By ‘controlled conditions’ you mean where it could crash without destroying its payload, I take it?” Tempest asked.
“Unfortunately, you’re correct on that. The Resistance reported that they were able to successfully destroy the drone with their homemade explosives, but that they lost people while recovering the comms gear,” another officer explained.
“Do we know about the medical situation of the civilians?” Fluttershy asked. “Conditions have to be abysmal, to say the least – and they’ve been there for years!”
“Well, fortunately, given that Canterlot is the state capital, there were plenty of emergency supply stations in the event that World War III ever broke out,” Shining noted. “Obviously it didn’t, but the emergency supply stations had enough stuff within them to last them for years. Undoubtedly, though, some of those stations were probably lost during the attack, and likewise, after all these years, chances are that they’re running dry.”
“Then we need to make sure that we have ample supplies going in,” Fluttershy responded. “We could be facing starvation, cholera and worse. Plus, if we have confirmed pregnancies, that means there are likely children there as well and protecting them is paramount.”
“No, what is paramount is getting the Journal,” Applejack insisted. “While I appreciate missions of mercy as well as the next person, those are not our orders. Our orders are to get the Journal and figure out how we can either recover Sunset or get assistance from Equestria!”
Spearhead overheard those words and looked at Shining. “Something I missed, Colonel?”
Shining realized that his counterpart hadn’t been told. “Okay, anyone who is not directly involved with the mission planning or does not have an SCI needs to leave now.” He waited for a few minutes for those to depart, and then finally explained everything to Spearhead, who looked at his counterpart with disbelief at first before it morphed into confusion and finally complete astonishment.
“And you’re telling me that Cmdr. Apple here was a friend of this ‘unicorn-turned-human’?” Spearhead asked with complete surprise.
“She…wasn’t the only one, sir,” Fluttershy admitted. “She was a friend of mine as well.”
“And yours as well, I take it, Cpt. Sentry?”
Flash tugged awkwardly at his blouse collar. “Actually…she was my girlfriend. Slept with her a few times.” Every set of eyes in the room suddenly settled on him. “Hey, I didn’t know until well after the fact, okay?”
From where she sat, Chrysalis chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure you have some interesting stories to tell, Captain.”
After taking a five-minute break to let the laughter out and let Flash recover from his mortification, they then went on with their plans. Flash and his company would cover Fluttershy’s medical team and deal with the day-to-day matters of the Resistance, while Applejack and her SEALs would move through the town, searching for the Journal and as a secondary mission, finding a way to take down the enemy and prepare the way to recapture Canterlot. Chrysalis would go in with them and work with the SEALs, using her Changelings as a secondary force to assist Applejack and her troops. The latter two groups would put a priority on trying to neutralize the Octos’ air defenses, not only so that airstrikes could be conducted, but also that supplies could be airdropped in to assist the relief effort.
As the meeting finally wound down, Chrysalis made her way over to Applejack. “You got time to talk, Jackie?”
Applejack grunted. “Not you, too.”
“Hey, I’m your friend and I’m worried about you, okay?” Chrysalis pointed out. “You are not on your game right now. Normally you’re not this tense.”
“I just….”
“Yeah, I can gather. Trust me, I get how you feel. One of my personal worries is if we go into Canterlot and we find out that Shining’s wife isn’t dead after all and that she’s been holding out for him all this time.” The look in Chrysalis’ eyes was one of honest worry. “I haven’t mentioned it to him, but as we get closer to Canterlot, that’s been a concern of mine.”
“I doubt he’d leave you. You two are made for one another, you know that?” Applejack told her.
“I wish I could believe that,” Chrysalis responded, “but some loves you just can’t forget.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better you have me in your corner. Besides, we’re living in the here and now, girl. We can’t always look towards the past, or else we’ll have no future.”
Chrysalis, however, was skeptical. “If that’s the case…then why are you looking for someone who vanished over a decade ago?”
Those words haunted Applejack later as she found herself looking at one of the abandoned apple orchards in the civilian section of town. She idly wondered if a member of her family had ever lived here; Apples, her grandmother had told her, were always found where there were apples. But Applejack knew that statement was an exaggeration even back then – and now, when the world’s population was a desperate fraction of what it had once been, it made those words into a cruel falsehood.
She heard the rustle of grass behind her and without even bothering to turn, she called out, “You may as well come out, Fluttershy. I can hear you, you know.”
“I wasn’t trying to hide,” the voice responded.
“Bullshit you weren’t. You clearly don’t know about moving through brush quietly. That takes training and I suppose even Flash knows how to do that.” The blonde turned to face her former friend. “So, why are you following me?”
Fluttershy folded her arms. “I said I wasn’t trying to hide. I just…. I came to see how you’re doing, AJ.”
“It’s Jackie now,” Applejack told her. “AJ makes me sound like some sort of inbred hick.”
“You’re still AJ to me, if that means anything to you,” Fluttershy said. She hadn’t intended it to be insulting, but likely Applejack would take it that way.
“And I’ll bet you’re wondering why I don’t have my old accent either, right?” The chiffon-haired woman said nothing and Applejack continued, but now in the almatine tones the other woman knew. “Th’ Navy don’t like none of us SPECWAR types havin’ distinct accents on account o’ them being, well, distinct, an’ Ah use t’ have one.” Applejack looked at the afternoon sky and said in the tones she used now, “So those of us who had them had to attend nightly voice coaching classes given by DLI until we spoke like we were from LA.”
“I didn’t know that. For that matter, I didn’t know you joined the Navy. None of us did.”
“And would you have cared regardless?” Applejack accused. “What was I supposed to do? We drove Sunset away and then you all abandoned me! We drove away the one girl that was like a sister to me and then you all figured it was my shit to deal with? With my grandmother furious with me for kicking Sunset out even while my kid sister was still jealous that we took in an alien girl even after she drove her away? And then you all just said ‘fuck it, it’s AJ’s problem?’”
“It wasn’t like that,” Fluttershy told her.
“Bullshit it wasn’t! I was so alone that by the time I graduated, I had no idea of where to go or what to do – I just knew I couldn’t be on the farm anymore. Since I didn’t know where to belong, I ran away – the Navy’s great for that kind of shit. But I did so well in boot camp that the brass practically pushed me to BUDS as part of the Fleet’s experiment in getting women into combat positions.” She reached in her pocket, pulling out a well-worn challenge coin, looking at it and savoring the memories. “I outclassed so many of the others in Coronado that the Captain there pushed for me to get into officer training, but they turned me down because I was just a seaman apprentice with a high school diploma. But Capt. Mizzenmast told me he wasn’t going to accept that shit, and that I shouldn’t either.
“So I turned-to like a motherfucker and when I wasn’t jumping out of planes or shooting rounds, I worked on getting my diploma from an online university via Navy Campus – got an MBA from Virginia State without ever setting a foot on campus, and then started working on a second degree. By then, Capt. Mizzenmast made Lower Half and talked to a friend of his at BUPERS, pulled some strings for me and got me into an OTC. Six weeks later, I came out an ensign just two days after making SO3.”
Applejack turned and focused hard eyes on Fluttershy once more. “Since then I’ve been busy putting out fires all over the world: Somalia, Syria, the Philippines, Myanmar – you name a place and I can neither confirm or deny I was there, though I’m sure the spent rounds will tell you a different story. And yes, I’m an efficient operator, which means I’ve taken lives. I don’t expect you to understand what that’s like, though given what you all did to me, maybe you do.”
The two were silent for the longest time, before Fluttershy spoke. “You may think that being a doctor is easy, but it’s not, not at all.”
“Don’t give me that shit – look where you are! Nowhere near a battlefield, in some small town—”
“With limited supplies and having to triage the incoming wounded!” Fluttershy reminded her. “In case you forgot, the whole world is under assault! While you’ve been running around the planet, I’ve had to patch up the seriously wounded, some of which I can’t!” The look in Fluttershy’s cyan eyes was one of anger and pain. “Did you know that last week I had to treat wounded from the offensive in Nairobi? One of them was one of my students from when I was a teacher! And do you know what I had to do? Amputate the rest of his leg. He’s never going to walk again, and the last time I saw him, he was a straight-A student! Now he’s lost everything, and I had a front row seat for that! So don’t you dare give me that shit about hiding, damn you!”
The two women stood there, old friends at odd due to an impasse of their own making. Finally, Applejack turned away. “My point still stands. We were friends once, but after what we did to Sunset – after what I did to Sunset – I don’t think that’s a gulf that can be repaired.” Applejack walked past her, saying nothing more.
Fluttershy grabbed her shoulder as she passed. “AJ…she’s alive. Sunset’s alive!”
“We don’t know that.” Green eyes bored into cyan ones. “And there’s no one that wants her back more than me. Which is why I’m doing this. I don’t know why you give a fuck, but I owe her and I have to do what’s right.”
“You’re not the only one, AJ. I owe her as well. Maybe…we can do it together?”
Applejack shrugged off the other woman’s grasp. “Fluttershy, I’m twenty-nine. I’m an adult woman. I gave up fairy tales, even the ones I wanted to believe, long ago.” Applejack reached up and pulled an apple from one of the trees. “Here – give these to the people you’re taking care of. At least you can put some apples to use.” She tossed it towards Fluttershy and departed.
Fluttershy stood there, looking on in shock, as she was left alone in the apple orchard.
PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA
2237BJUL30:
The South African military was on its last legs. The once 550,000-strong combat force was now down to a handful of men and women, fighting a desperate struggle against the aliens. And now Pretoria burned, the capital of the proud nation reduced to cinders.
At the moment, WO2 Rhebok was pretty sure he was the highest-ranking person in what was left of the South African military. He wasn’t even Army – he was SAAF – and he was leading what was left of the personnel under his command while trying to desperately hold the line here until reinforcements from the 5th Canadian Division would come in to save the day. At least, that was the plan.
He didn’t want to tell his people that it was obvious they weren’t going to make it in time, or that even if they did, they might not live long enough to see it. But that didn’t matter; Rhebok’s orders were to hold the line at any cost and make sure that any civilians stupid enough to still remain in the capital were evacuated.
So here he was, maintaining his position in the burnt-out remains of a shopping mall in one of the eastern neighborhoods, shouting orders into a radio and sending the thousand-or-so young men and women to assured deaths. In the distance he could see the burning white rays of alien energy fire trace into the nighttime sky, illuminating it like geometric lightning, dotted occasionally by the red blips of tracer fire while his forces desperately tried not to turn a semi-organized retreat into an all-out panicked “run for your lives” event.
“Fireteam Delta Four,” he called into his radio. “What is your status? Please respond!” he shouted. They were the closest to the fighting and his best chance to find out what was going on.
“Sir, we have to evacuate!” He turned to look at the able seaman standing next to him. Like him, AB Seebreiese was a fish out of water (in a matter of speaking), somehow having missed her deployment with the SAN during their last offensive. But given that said last offensive had become a literal last offensive, and now that the once-proud ships were underwater tombs off the coast of Madagascar, maybe it had been the best for her.
“Seaman, where would we go?” he looked at her. “This is our nation. This is our fight.”
“Sir, we don’t have to. Please, I’m afraid. Take me with you out of here and we can run away!” she pled.
“No. Even if it’s our lives, this is our land, not theirs,” he hissed. “The streets run with South African blood and we will fight to the la—”
The nearby wall exploded, sending brick and mortar flying. Rhebok and the seaman were knocked to the floor, but the blast completely enveloped one of his other personnel. He forced himself back to his feet, but as he did, he could see fluid, inky shapes coming towards them. The aliens had arrived and there was nowhere else to flee.
He turned to see Seebreiese knocked unconscious by the blast. She was beautiful, and perhaps if they had been civilians and had known one another, he would have probably tried to court her. But that was a pipe dream; they were now to be killed.
He reached for his sidearm and screamed, “YOU WILL NOT TAKE OUR LANDS!” He fired off the magazine at them, taking down one. He was about to reload when a ray of energy snaked out and hit his arm. The appendage exploded in a blast of blood, bone and decompressed body fluids, dropping him to the ground even as the wound self-cauterized itself from the blast.
More of them waddled in, almost casually, as though they would savor murdering him, both of them. Dazed by pain, he crawled towards Seebreiese, who was coming to. They would go together, probably the last of South Africa’s defenders, but he wouldn’t break down before them.
“Do your worst, naaiers,” he hissed at them as they brought up their weapons.
But instead of feeling the pain of death, he watched as blasts of violet energy hit them from just above him. The lances of amethyst power turned into tethers of a sort, and the aliens found that they couldn’t move – even their attempts at firing their weapons turned their energy blasts turned the projectiles into impossibly-slow bolts of light that moved slower than clotted honey.
A second later, arcs of blue occurred as the monsters began screaming – and Rhebok and Seebriesie watched as the aliens were suddenly bisected as if they were nothing. A second later, the final one fell, literally split in two, and as dark green ichor from its body joined the growing pool on the ground, the two South Africans stood to look at their savior.
Standing there, holding a staff seemingly made from pure electricity, was a cloaked figure with a human shape, wearing what looked to be a bizarre combination of medieval armor and modern body armor. The figure faced them, then pointed out the door.
“Reinforcements are on the way,” the figure said, the voice unidentifiable due to vocal modulation.
As the figure turned to head back out to the fighting, Rhebok asked, “Who are you?”
The figure turned back to him and though he couldn’t see a face, the officer swore he could almost feel that the mysterious person was somehow smiling at him.
“You picked a great spot to fight,” was all that was said and then the figure rushed out into the night.
A second later, troops burst in. “Hey, we’re from the Halifax Rifles, 36 Canadian Brigade,” one of the soldiers said. “Who’s in command here?”
Seebriesie helped Rhebok to his feet as he said in a shaky voice, “I am, Sergeant. Warrant Officer Rhebok.”
“Sgt. Maple Branch,” the sergeant said, signaling to his medic to assist the ailing officer. “I’d salute you, sir, but I see you’re not in the best condition at the moment. Anyway, where are we right now and what’s the situation?”
As the medic reached him, Rhebok finally passed out from his pain. In his stead, Seebriesie faced the Canadian soldier, feeling shame about her earlier panic. As the medic took the injured officer from her, Seebriesie looked at the newcomers and said, “Thanks for saving us. We wouldn’t have survived if it wasn’t for you and your strange, armored figure.”
“Strange armored figure?” Branch asked. When the seaman explained, the sergeant immediately turned to one of his others. “Get the info to headquarters. It looks like the Queen’s here – we might stand a chance.”
“Queen?” Now it was Seebriesie’s turn for questions, and Branch explained as best as he could and her eyes opened wide. “She said we picked a great spot to fight. I don’t understand.”
“Yeah, me neither,” the Canadian replied. “Anyway, where are we?”
“It’s a residential neighborhood on the east side of Pretoria, nothing significant about it, as far as I know,” Seebriesie responded. “It’s called Equestria.”
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What a coincidence!
Okay, so Applejack hates Fluttershy and while the latter is willing to work with the former, there’s no love lost there either, even after all these years.
Something tells me that reconciliation is going to be a very long and winding road.
9248912
Something tells me you're right.
Uh AJ? You do know it wasn't just Apple Bloom behind Anon-A-Miss, right? It was Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, Rarity's sister and Rainbow's honorary sister.
Have you not considered that maybe they had their own shit to deal with?
Also, stop slut-shaming Fluttershy and Flash. He and Sunset broke up way before Twilight even showed up and you damn well know it.
9250517
Not to mention that they've been married for seven-plus years and even if Sunset and Flash hadn't broken up well before Twilight arrived, they weren't together while Flash and Fluttershy were at Cloudsdale University. So yes, Applejack is very much in the wrong there.
Applejack is only considering her own pain, just as Fluttershy is. It's not going to be pretty, because years have calcified their opinions on the whole thing. Maybe Fluttershy can turn things around, but only time will tell.
9252072
So, essentially they've learned nothing.
When Sunset broke them up the first time, they were separated for a very lengthy period of time (the length varies throughout different fanfics). All it took was five minutes of talking to each other (and Twilight) to realize they'd been tricked.
When Anon-A-Miss happened, they never stop to think about why Sunset would do this. They were so focused on their pain, and their moral outrage, that they never stopped to consider that Sunset herself was suffering, due to her being abandoned by the people she loved and trusted.
And now history once again repeats itself. Instead of talking to each other, and leaning on each other for support, they've each decided to wallow in their self pity and anger, allowing it to fester and ruin their friendship. Again.