Conflict in Bloom

by aDerangedBrony

Checkpoint Charlie: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Apple Bloom stared at the rebel in silence for a time. He was an impossibly small colt, who looked like he was malnourished. Lying perfectly still, shrunk as low to the ground as possible, he seemed absolutely insignificant. His coat was a powder blue, and his unkempt mane was dark brown. His deep blue eyes were filled with terror. He wore white leg bands with a red cross on them, meaning he could be either a medic or masquerading as a medic to pull some elaborate trap.

Sweetie Belle was quick to arrive behind her friend, but still didn’t say a word. The three of them remained in stunned silence, exchanging glances. No pony knew what to do from here. They were massively relieved when Whiskey, Avalon, Riggs and Whistle all arrived at the same time. Avalon was the first to talk.

“Hey little guy,” she said, “what’s your name?”

“Corpsman Blue,” he croaked in a quiet, fearful voice.

Avalon crouched down, lowering herself to his level, and smiled at him warmly. “I’m Sergeant Avalon,” she said, “and I can tell you, this will be a lot easier if you tell us if there are any other rebels still around our base.”

“No- not that I know of. All my friends, I mean all the rebels, fell back. They tried to take me with them, but...” he trailed off and started crying.

“No pony here is going to hurt you, Blue. We’re not like that. What they tell you about us- it’s a lie. We’re regular ponies, just like your friends. How old are you, Blue?”

“I’m fifteen.”

“By Spitfire’s perfect flank!” declared Whiskey, “are the rebels running a bloody kindergarten?”

Every pony in presence glanced at the corporal disapprovingly for a moment, before looking back to the medic.

“Are you injured?” inquired Avalon.

“Just a sprained ankle. I could’ve gotten out of here. But I just... couldn’t. I mean, just look out there!”

“That’s perfectly understandable. You’re just a kid. Look, don’t worry too much. You’re safe now. I’m not going to lie to you, we’ll probably have to ship you off to prison for a while. Maybe until we put down this insurgency. Can’t risk you running back and joining the rebels, you understand. None of us will harm you, though.”

“Stop fraternising with the enemy, sergeant,” a cold voice said. Lieutenant Malum sauntered out of the forest and smirked at the scene before him. He was holding a service revolver aloft with his unicorn magic, and he holstered it when he saw his allies. When none of them saluted, he screamed “ATTEN-TION!” which prompted all but the chief, medic and Apple Bloom, who still had her gun trained on the medic, to raise a hoof in salute. “At ease,” he said, satisfied.

“Well, you’re up early, Malum,” the chief jeered, “I suppose you wouldn’t want to miss anything important.”

Malum merely scowled at Whistle. “I leave the soldiering to the soldiers,” he said calmly, “my job is to manage the platoon. Offices for officers. See how that works?” He paused briefly to examine the other ponies. Satisfied none of them would challenge him, he continued, “I’m afraid to inform you that we do not have the facilities to process a prisoner of war at this checkpoint. As we are now at a state of high alert against this rebel faction, probably soon to be a state of total war, we cannot make an exception. I’m ordering the summary execution of this terrorist.”

Every pony gaped at the officer. The medic began to whimper, and tried to plead for his life. He couldn’t manage anything more than a soft, indecipherable blubber. Avalon placed a hoof over him protectively and scowled at the lieutenant. All the enlisted soldiers, plus Riggs, looked instinctively to the chief. She would solve this mess, for sure.

Whistle stared at the ensign for a moment. “Now’s your chance,” she thought, “now’s your chance to show that you’re different. Challenge him. Show that you’ve got guts. Show that you’re better than him.” Riggs did no such thing. The chief sergeant sighed and shook her head in disappointment.

“Sir,” she said in a respectful and calm, yet commanding voice, “You can’t authorise a summary execution, that’s illegal. It goes against the Manehattan Convention-”

“My family wrote the Manehattan convention, soldier,” Malum interrupted, “and I happen to have a copy with me. This is a perfectly legal scenario for an execution. Terrorists like this aren’t recognised as soldiers. It’s our only option.”

“We could easily facilitate this POW. I’m sure one of my sergeants would gladly volunteer their fire team to-”

“They’re not your fire teams to play with!” the lieutenant screamed suddenly, “They’re mine! They belong to me! You’re MY second in command. These are MY soldiers. That’s MY prisoner, and I’ll do with him as I please! If you try to stop me, I’ll have you done for insubordination.”

Whistle rolled her eyes and scoffed. She looked directly in the officer’s eyes and replied, in a very calm, clear voice, “Oh, that’s worked so well for you in the past. You might have a commission and rank, but you don’t have respect. I’ve been soldiering for almost twenty years. You think a court marshal will prosecute me because some rich college kid tells them to? I served with the regimental warrant officer back in Nightmare, making me his close personal friend. That’s as good as being the general’s buddy. You have no power over me. It might be different in the outside world, but in the military you need to earn respect. You need to earn power. That’s why you’ll never make it past senior lieutenant in your whole career.”

Malum’s eyes bulged with rage. He was rendered totally speechless and was breathing very heavily. In the respite, the other ponies kept looking from the chief to the commissioned officer. It was his move, and he wasn’t the sort to back down from those who he viewed as inferiors.

A smile crept across his face. He was about to make his retort. The forest itself seemed to be holding its breath for the angered officer. When he finally spoke, it was with an upmost calmness that chilled to the bone. His voice was incredibly quiet, but remarkably crisp and understandable. “Maybe I can’t get to you,” he said to the chief. After a brief pause, he rolled his head to the other non-commissioned ponies and grinned maniacally, “but I can sure as hay get to them.” He glanced back at the chief with a sickening smirk before looking Apple Bloom directly in the eye. “Private, kill that revolting, ignorant, despicable, impoverished earth pony dissident. If you don’t, I’ll have YOU court marshalled. I don’t think the regimental warrant officer will be pulling any strings for a new recruit, do you?”

Apple Bloom was stunned. Her mouth hung open and she gaped stupidly at Whistle, looking for support. She was emotionally crushed when all her superior NCO could offer in response was a blank stare. She turned to Riggs, who was grinding a hoof on the ground, pretending to be somewhere else. He wouldn’t offer any support either. She panned her gaze past Whiskey. If he was even capable of expressing emotion, it was hidden behind his aviators. Her eyes finally fell on one of her oldest friends, Sweetie Belle, who looked like she was on the verge of tears. It was useless. No pony would help her. It was time to grow up and take responsibility by herself.

With no comfort to be had from her comrades, Apple Bloom resigned herself to commit the heinous deed. Even so, she was determined to show the poor colt the respect he deserved. She looked directly into his big, blue, pleading eyes. “I’m sorry,” she blubbered. In response, the colt collapsed even further into an emotional wreck. Holding back a sob, the farm girl checked her aim one more time. All it would take was a little flick of her hoof. A light squeeze to operate the modified trigger mechanism was all it would take to send a piece of lead screaming out of her weapon, spraying the medic’s brain across the forest floor. She squinted in concentration and prepared for the moment.

A single shot rang out through the forest. The medic seemed to stare at Apple Bloom for a moment, eyes still bright and pleading. For a split second she thought that, through some divine miracle, the colt was still alive. This idea was quickly driven out of her head as the boy fell to the ground limply. His head flopped to one side, revealing the damage the bullet had done. Apple Bloom gasped heavily, before realising that she never pulled the trigger.

“Why did you take the shot, corporal?” demanded Malum.

“I wanted this to be MY kill sir,” Whisk replied with a thin smile, “like you said, that colt was scum. The private here, bless her innocent little heart, was taking too long for my liking.”

“Fair enough,” Malum smiled at the corporal. He stopped the private from taking the shot, sure, but he had done it for good reasons. He couldn’t be mad at a pony after his own heart. Besides, he hadn’t technically disobeyed any orders. “Main thing is that he’s dead, I guess. Don’t act without orders again.”

“Yes sir. Sorry sir.”

“Glad you understand. I have work to do back at the office. I think I can trust you soldiers to deal with this.” With that, he departed.

Avalon stared wide-eyed at the dead medic, before contorting her face into a look of rage and glowering at Whiskey. “You- you give this boy a proper grave,” she hissed, “We’re not burning him like trash. That’s an order, corporal.” For a moment, she looked like she would hit the stallion. She decided better of it and stormed off.

“Riggs,” said the chief sergeant in an ice cold tone, “I think we need to have a little talk. In private.”

The ensign merely swallowed and nodded, before following Whistle back to the barracks.

The two new recruits stared at the corporal intently. Sweetie Belle concluded that he was a monster. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded. The corporal didn’t look up from the body, and didn’t give an answer. The unicorn swore at him before leaving him, unable to stand his company.

Apple Bloom wasn’t so sure about Whiskey. She tried to read him, but his face was blank. There must be something deeper behind those shades. Some semblance of empathy. The young mare studied him intently, but couldn’t find any hint of remorse. She was somewhat disappointed to think that he was just a genuinely bad pony. She turned to leave without a word. Before she had moved out of ear shot, the corporal let out a heavy sob.

With an annoyed sigh, he admitted, “I was hoping I could hold that in until you left.” He removed his aviators to reveal his bloodshot, emerald green eyes.

“why’d yah do it?” the young mare demanded.

“Look, I wasn’t kidding when I said I’m a bad pony. I’ve done terrible things. All I’ve ever done is inflict suffering on other ponies. You and that bonehead friend of yours, you’re not like that yet. You’re still young. I have to admit, I thought you must be some kind of sadist when I saw how happy you were to take down those poor bastards last night. But when we came out here, I saw the truth. You didn’t really understand what you were doing. I saw something in you, something that I haven’t had in a long time. Pure, youthful, ignorant innocence. It’s a beautiful thing, and something that doesn’t last long in this world. Well, not in my world anyway. I figure, if there’s just one good thing I can do in my life, then... I don’t know. Point is, it’s worth protecting. I wasn’t about to let you lose it on account of some mad officer. You run along now. I want to put this boy back to the earth meself.”

“Ah- alright then. Uh, thanks, Whiskey.” Apple Bloom turned to go then hesitated. She felt like she had something more to say, but nothing came to mind. The corporal and the medic both seemed to deserve more words, but there seemed to be no words to do either of them any justice. After a moment, she continued back into the barracks in silence.

Comments

[brickguy213]

The cover art! IT'S MISSING!!!