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The Cavalry has Arrived!

The atmosphere in the freezer was so tense you could have cut it with a knife. They had settled on a staggered deployment. That is not entirely correct. Granny Smith had settled on a staggered deployment, being not only the most experienced in this field, but being in such a position of seniority that her word was essentially law, and thus had to be obeyed.

At the front, the Rangers had been positioned, namely Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and Sunset Shimmer. A row behind them, and slightly off to the side, were the Grenadiers, who were composed of Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie. Behind them were the Sharpshooters, namely Sweetie Belle, Rarity, and Fluttershy. Lastly, the Specialists-everybody else-were mixed in to use their drones to provide medical support.

Granny Smith herself was positioned far back, in order to ensure full tactical control. Cheerilee was helping to relay orders forward.

Scootaloo looked over to Sunset. “Look, with all that’s happened, I’m-”

“Save me your apologies,” Sunset replied. “I’ve heard, and issued, enough to last me a thousand years.”

“Harsh,” Rainbow Dash added, “but fair.”



Further back, Apple Bloom raised some questions.

“How many of those thin’s do ya think are out there?” she asked.

“five, ten, a hundred maybe. What’s it ta ya?” Applejack snapped.

“Well, ammo conservation and all,” Pinkie observed. “We can’t affort to waste it, after all.”

Applejack shook her head. “Apple Bloom, Ah swear ta God if we die, Ah will tan ya so hard y’all have ta-”

“Ya can’t tan me if ya dead,” Apple Bloom observed, her deadpan tone obvious. “We should focus on NOT dyin’.”

Applejack was speechless. Pinkie simply nodded her head.

“Always the priority!” she said cheerfully. “Staying alive!”



There was an interruption. “Just a second,” Cheerilee radioed. “We’ve got movement. At least thirty foot mobiles, some MECs as well. Focus your shots, and we’ll get out of this.”



There was suddenly a loud bang, and the doors of the freezer were blown off their hinges. They landed with a loud and furious clang that left a massive dent in the walls. Through the hole that was created by the absence of the doors stepped an ADVENT officer and two troopers, walking in through the smoke.

At that very moment, the Rangers fired, having set up in ambush. All three soldiers were thrown through the air and flew back at least 10 feet, smacking into soldiers behind them.

“Good shootin’!” Granny Smith called. “But we got more approachin’!”



The next wave of soldiers closed in, charging forward with stun batons deployed. They got blown over by the percussive roar of Gatling cannons, shredding armour and throwing the Enforcers through the air and onto the floor next to their comrades. It was then that things changed.

Ten round objects flew through the air and landed on the ground next to the front-line defences.

“FLASHBANG!” shouted Sunset. “COVER YOUR-”

It was too late, as although she meant to say ‘ears’, the grenades went off with a bang. The three students fell about, their eyes blinded and their ears ringing as the boxes next to which they crouched caught fire.

In advanced another wave of soldiers. These ones wore white armour, and were surrounded by red auras. They formed a wall in front of the advancing line, closing on the Rangers.

“Sharpshooters, engage!” Granny Smith ordered. They were all equipped with armour piercing ammunition, and these slammed clean through the shields, leaving the soldiers who had deployed them vulnerable.

And they were, as suddenly a volley of grenades flew through the air and crashed into their positions. The storm of shrapnel cut through armour and the percussive explosions from the grenades more than had the desired effect, as they fell.



Scootaloo came back to her senses, and saw the foe apparently withdrawing. “They’re pulling back!” she called. “We did it! We held them off!”

“You think that’s it?” Cheerilee radioed. “That was just testing the water. We need to do something different. They are not retreating; they are regrouping and moving in with different assets. Brace yourselves, this is about to get messy.”

Red smoke emerged in the distance, accompanied with raised voices and loud clanking noises. The MECs-large, white robots with massive guns no human could hope to carry-lumbered into the freezer room, discharging a volley of grenades into the area to clear it. More disorientation grenades, of course. But then came the real surprise for them.

A group of drones flew at them, and suddenly discharged bolts of electricity into the MECs, temporarily disabling them.

“Grenade volley! Now!”

The three Rangers, as well as the Grenadiers, either threw or fired a grenade, which flew at the robot targets and hit them, blowing them backward out of the room. They flew through the air and landed on top of the next group of soldiers, crushing them.

“Good tactic!” Pinkie observed. “Explosives really do make things sweeter!”



A loud series of further bangs sounded behind them, what sounded like energy weapons.

“We did it!” Cheerilee called.

“We did what exactly?” Rarity asked.

“We held off the enemy long enough for XCOM to arrive!”

Granny Smith came forward, her shotgun loaded. “Let’s go!” she called. “Drive them back!”



The militia stormed forward, producing an incredible storm of firepower as they closed on the foe. Weapons roared and shots hit true and the enemy buckled under the weight of being attacked from two angles at once. As they began to run, one fired off a shot-that hit Granny Smith.

“No!” Applejack cried, as the other XCOM team entered the room. “MEDIC!”

Bradford indicated to one of the others. “Get the drone over there, patch her up!”

Applejack and her younger sister bent down to try and stabilise Granny Smith’s injuries. “C’mon, c’mon!” the younger apple said. “Ya can pull through Granny! Ya got to!”

Granny Smith looked over to her, and smiled. “Mah race is run,” she said weakly. “Ya need ta...fight back the aliens and send them back ta where they came from. Besides...ya were played from the start.”

“What?” Applejack asked. And her face was filled with horror.

Granny Smith’s body, clothes and all, simply seemed to melt into nothing, becoming a quivering puddle on the floor. But then the mass began to reform, growing taller and morphing into a horrifying creature at least 15 feet tall, with a featureless face and horrifying claws.

One of the soldiers called to Bradford. “You owe me 10 bucks!”

Bradford shrugged. “I think I’m going to need a bigger gun.”

Author's Note:

Bet you didn't see that coming!