The Gate: A Strange New World

by Ranger-Redstar

Chapter fifteen- A Battle Between Life and Death

The night was dark and quiet, the moon was not quite full, but it glowed in the sky, nonetheless. The outside was wet and coated with a quick rain shower. Unknown to me and the girls a black van was slowly but surely heading towards the parking lot of the Hotel. Haynes and another one of his teammates saw the van as it pulled up. Haynes slowly approached the vehicle, as he did, he saw two men in the front with a black cloth covering behind them. The man on the passenger side rolled down his window to speak

“извините, сэр, не могли бы вы сказать мне, как добраться до шоссе?”
Excuse me sir, can you tell me how to get to the highway?

Haynes was not sure what he was saying as he stepped up to the window.

“Um I’m not sure what you’re asking but this area is off limits-”

Before Haynes could react, he was smacked in the face with the butt of a gun and knocked down. The other soldier raised his gun, as Haynes fell the driver pulled out a silenced pistol and gunned him down. The driver turned to the back.

“Let’s go”

The door opened on the side of the van and several men armed with silenced AK’s slowly made their way to the revolving door.

Meanwhile several armed men coming in from the foliage and trees behind the hotel slowly and silently crept their way closer. As they hid behind the trees, another of Hayne’s men could be seen standing guard. One of the men aimed his silenced skorpion and took him out.

“向上移动并进入内部”

Move up and make your way inside

Soon they moved in as they pried the door open and slipped in. At the same time a group of individuals were flying in a Skyvan were passing over the hotel. As it drew near, the back on the plane opened and several men jumped out and parachuted down towards the roof. Another one of Hayne’s men was keeping watch when he was hit and knocked down by one the men. The soldier was then stabbed in the back of the head by the man. He then stood up as he waited for his compatriots. They all gathered by the security door as one of them disabled the alarm and pried it open and they made their way down.

The AK men made their way into the lobby guns drawn as they approached the concierge. When he came around to see his next potential customers, he was immediately grabbed and held at gun point.

“Where?” one of them asked

They seemed very direct as the concierge was frightened and horrified but he knew if he tell them that they would let him go

“5^th floor”

They all made their way to the elevator but not before shooting the concierge in the face. Some of them stayed behind as the rest of them crammed in as they began to ascend. The Skorpion guys came in from the back after eliminating what was left of the kitchen staff and saw the elevator was in use, so they used the stairs instead. The men on the roof checked every floor to try and find us, as they got to the 5^thfloor that’s when they noticed the last of Hayne’s men standing by our doors. They waited patiently to see what would happen next. As the soldier stood by, the elevator door opened and when he turned and looked, he was quickly taken out. As he hit the floor a couple of them slowly crept up to the door while the others stayed out in the hall.

I awoke as I heard a thud, I looked at the door and saw shadows moving behind it. I raised my shotgun to my shoulder and waited. One of the men used the master key to open the door. While the other, gun drawn, looked inside, and was greeted by a load of buckshot right to his chest as he flew back against the wall. The sound was enough to wake and scare the living daylights out of the girls, as well as Luna as, they jumped right out of their beds. The other guy now seeing his comrade dead went in and ended up getting his head blown off. I sat there shaking slightly with the gun still pointed at the door as Luna, Twilight and Fluttershy saw what I had just did.

“What in the name of all that is good is going on?” Luna scream

“Girls, I believe we are under attack” I said nonchalantly

They all looked stunned and scared just then the door where Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity were in slammed open.

“What in tarnation was that?” Aj belted

“Bad guys” as I looked out into the hall “Stay here”

I got up from my chair and slowly made my way to the door. I slowly peaked out from the side and was greeted by gunfire. I jumped back onto the floor as bullets rained towards the doorframe. I looked and saw what looked like bullets coming from both sides. I was a bit confused and had to think quick.

I got up and grabbed my rifle and flashbangs. I slung the rifle over my chest and cocked it. I took a flashbang and tossed it towards the elevator. I waited a few seconds then an ear-piercing bang went off. I raised my rifle and peeked out from the door. And saw two men stunned by the noise. I quickly shot them up good as they fell to the floor. I was then hit in the back by bullets as I stumble foward. I quickly turned around and began shooting at where they were coming from. I looked and saw the stairwell door move slightly and waited for them to return fire. With rifle aimed right at the opening I waited for him to peek out. When he did, I fired at him which made him close the door before the bullets could hit him. I kept my rifle aimed as I went over to the door. I pulled out a frag grenade and pulled the pin. I let the latch go as I pushed the door with all my might in an effort to get it in the stairwell. It opened slightly as I dropped it, as the door was pushed back to close it. I tossed myself away from the door when an explosion went off and blew the door off its hinges. I slowly got back up and looked to see if any more were coming and after a few seconds I decided to get the girls out of here. I went back and saw the dead bodies in front of the door. I couldn’t let them see this, so I went back into the room and saw the girls all huddled up behind Luna as she had her wings open in an effort to shield them.

Luna saw me and immediately let her guard down

“Is it over?”

I didn’t respond as I grabbed some blankets off the bed and went into the hall to cover up the bloodied bodies. I went back into the room to get the girls out.

“Follow me and stay close”

The girls all shaking and full of nervousness did what they were told as they slowly followed close behind me. As they passed the bodies Fluttershy almost threw up from all the blood. We made our way to the elevator and waited for it to return. As it was about to open out of the corner of my eye the stairwell from opposite side opened and out came a man shooting his silenced skorpion at me. I dodged out of the way shooting at him as he dipped out of my way. Luna and the girls rushed into the elevator as I landed on the floor. I took out my other flashbang and threw it at the guy as I jumped into the elevator as it went off. I hit the 1^st floor button and soon the doors closed, and we descended. As I lay on the floor my blood and adrenaline were through the roof and there was a slight ringing in my ear. I could faintly hear the girls say something to me, but I couldn’t hear them. At that point I didn’t have time to answer their questions, my only concern was getting them out and back to the gate. I hoped Haynes was still alive so he could help. We got to the bottom as the doors opened and I slowly rose to see any enemies. I slowly walked out with rifle in hand as we made our way towards the exit. I thought we were almost out of here but there were more men guarding the exit.

When they saw me, they immediately opened fire as I dove towards the concierge’s desk and so did the girls. I plopped down hard as I looked up and saw the concierge’s dead body as bullets hailed overhead. The girls as well as Luna kept their heads down. I reloaded my rifle as I peeked around the right side of the desk, I saw men coming in also firing on me. I moved away as more bullets came by. I checked the left side and saw a different group of men shooting at me. I kept crouched as I got the shotgun and began blind firing over the desktop towards the men in front of the exit. I kept doing the same with left and right sides until I was out of shells. I switched back to the rifle as I kept watch and listened. I looked back at the girls and some of them had tears in their eyes and some were shellshocked. I turned to Luna as she just stared back at me. I knew what I had to do, I had to fight no matter what even if I die here right now, I have to make sure their safe. I readied my rifle and I rose up and began shooting the men facing the exit knocking down one of them. I then whipped out my pistol and fired towards the left and aim my rifle at the right. Bullets were flying everywhere tearing up the hotel as I made my stand.

“Fuck you, you fucking fuckers!” I screamed still shooting

All of the sudden one bullet hit me right in the arm and another in my thigh. The pain was too much as I slowly fell back down.

“Aw shit!” I yelled as I held onto my wounds

I laid back against the desk as the gunfire ceased. My rifle was out of ammo and was down to my last pistol magazine. I tried my best to reload, despite the pain as blood began to trickle from my wounds. Soon all the men began to close in on me as they all aimed their guns now at each other

“Who the hell are you?” the group from the sky yelled

“Da it’s none of your business comrade” the Ak guys yelled

“We want ponies now!” the Skorpion guys scream out loud

“Sounds like Russian and Chinese to me men”

“Your accent, you guys must be European Da”

“Enough we all want same thing”

As I kept my head down listening on the conversation, I knew exactly what was going on.

“Huh they all came hear to kidnap you guys, ha that’s rich” I said softly and still in pain.

“But why?” Luna spoke

“Well, it would seem that a few countries became quite jealous that America got the gate, and they didn’t, so they sent their best to try to kill me and take you guys for themselves”

Luna was downright shocked and infuriated by this. I turned to the girls as they all looked back at me

“I had I good run girls, it’s been a real pleasure” I readied my pistol as I was about to make my final effort to fight when all of a sudden, I felt a rush of dark energy waft over me. It was cold as it sent a chill down my spine. I turned to see what was supposed to be Luna, but I looked and saw Nightmare Moon standing in her place.

The men stopped arguing and looked at the wicked mare of darkness. In a dark, grainy and evil tone, she spoke

“Do you foals think you could capture me!”

The men grew scared of her as they backed away from her

“You foals think you know darkness? I will show darkness!”

By then all of them began shooting at her until all their guns were empty. To their surprise the bullets were deflected off of her magical shield

“Hahaha your toys are no match for my POWER!” sounds and gusts of darkness formed around her as well.

Soon she produced a magical black scythe as she began slaying the men one by one without mercy. She sliced and hacked them up into pieces as they tried to fight back but it was no use. All but one man remained by the door trembling with his pistol in hand. The darkness subsided as he looked at all the corpses around him. Nightmare moon stood in the entrance way staring down at him. He slowly raised his pistol up to her and before he could pull the trigger her magic scythe pierced his chest. His pistol still aimed at her and in his dying effort unloaded his gun hitting her magic shield. He kept firing after all the bullets were gone as his mortal soul left.

I slowly got up to see Luna still as Nightmare moon standing there. I composed myself as I walked over to her and put my hand on her back. Nightmare looked at me as we caught each other’s eyes and soon the darkness left her, and Luna was back to her old self again. She almost fell to the floor, but I grabbed her just in time. Luna was out of breath, probably from using that dark magic for so long must have used a lot of energy.

“I did not know I was capable of such things” she said trembling

“It’s okay I’ve got you” As I held her up, I was getting weak from my injuries, so I slowly brought her to the floor. The girls all came out and over to us.

“Is it over now?” Fluttershy said

“For now,” as I got to my knees “for now” I held onto to Luna and almost passed out

“You alright there sugarcube?” Applejack stepped forward

“Honest opinion or theenot so honest opinion?” as I still was bleeding

“Wait!” Twilight yelled

Her horn began to glow and soon she disappeared.

“That never gets old” amazed how magic is still something that unicorns can do

Soon she re-appeared with her saddle bags. She opened it up and began to sift through it. She then pulled out what looked like a roll of fabric and a small vial. She trotted over to me and gave me the vial

“Drink this”

I took the vial not knowing what it was and downed it in one shot. The aftertaste was rancid and bitter. Twilight then rolled up my sleeve to look at my wound and began wrapping it with the cloth. When it contacted the wound, it stung a bit and then began to feel numb. She tied it to prevent the blood from dripping.

“Not sure how to dress your thigh though?”

I took out my tanto knife and began cutting a hole in the pant leg to allow Twilight to wrap it as well. Soon I started feeling better with a boost of energy as I stood up

“Woo, I feel good, what’s in that stuff?”

“It’s a simple health potion that I’ve been experimenting with, its suppose to help with the regeneration of skin and tissue cells”

“Seems to be working”

“Ambassador perhaps we should be leaving” Luna said

“You're right” I turned to the girls “Gather your things as quickly as you can and meet us outside”

They all nodded as they hurried back to the room. I made my way to the revolving door with my pistol and checked outside. I found another dead soldier was well as Hayne’s. I rushed over to him and checked to see if he was still alive. He didn’t seem to have any wounds on him except a bloody nose. I shook and yelled at him to wake up and slowly he began to regain consciousness

“What the hell happened, ow my face?” he rubbed his face and head

“We were attacked, I’ll explain later, get the bus ready to go asap”

Hayne’s got up and stood as he looked at the hotel

“Where’s my men?” he said

I looked at him in with sincerity “They didn’t make it”

“Damn”

Hayne’s knew deep down that he let these men down but that was neither here nor there as he made his way to the bus. I sat down on the steps with my head down trying to process what had just happened. It was crazy thinking that I somehow managed to survive this whole ordeal. It made me think about the dead guy I hallucinated back at the beach, and I almost wanted to cry or pass out. I waited for the girls as Luna trotted up in front of me.

“What you did in there was probably the bravest thing I had ever seen, I was not aware of what you were capable of, where did thou train to fight like a soldier?”

“Eh, let’s just say I’ve played a lot of airsoft back in my day” I said trying to smile

“What’s airsoft?” Rainbow said

I turned around and saw the girls packed and ready to go. I could see they were upset but this would be remedied when we got back to the gate

“I’ll tell you on the ride back”

They all got their belongings and climbed back onto the bus. I went back inside for my weapons, they weren’t technically mine, but I wasn’t just gonna leave them behind. I climbed back onto the bus and took a seat as Hayne’s drove us back to the gate. As we drove along the rode the girls and Luna were all silent not sure of what to say after what had just happened.

“So, what exactly happened back there?” Hayne’s yelled from the front

“Russian, Chinese and Europeans mercs tried to kill me and take the girls”

“Son of a bitch! seems like the gate has made certain enemies”

“Apparently” I said rubbing my wounds

“And you took them all out by yourself?”

“We’ll not exactly, I did have some help” as I turned to Luna

Hayne’s looked back as well but decided to just let it go as he continued to drive. We all looked to Luna for a possible answer.

“How did you do that?” I asked

Luna’s face grew sad as she looked at the floor trying to avoid the question.

“There is still a small part of Nightmare Moon inside of me, the Elements were able to defeat her, but she still resides within, I’m not sure if I will ever be rid of her or the darkness that remains” she held her hoof to her chest as a tear formed in her eye

“Nightmare Moon isn’t who you are any more. She never will and as long as we're here we’ll make sure that won’t happen” I stood up and gave her a hug.

Luna hugged back as we held each other for a few minutes. I sat back down next to Twilight as she looked scared, I could see it in her eyes, I couldn’t blame her.

“Will this ever happen again?” she said

“It’s hard to say but at least these nations know that we won’t be fucked with”

“Damn straight” yelled Haynes

“So, what is this airsoft, is it like some military training or what?” Rainbow asked

I did chuckle at her question which felt good to do.

“Ha no it’s a fun sport I used to play back when I was young”

“Wait you used to play a sport that involves shooting at each other?”

“Yeah, but the weapons we used fired little plastic bbs so none really died”

“Well, it seemed like it paid off, I thought for sure you were gonna die this time” Applejack sadly interrupted

“Yeah but at least, I was willing to go down fighting” I put my pistol in my lap “I am willing to die for you guys I know it’s not what you want to happen but if it ever does I will”

They all nodded along with Luna

“We understand Ambassador”

We soon came around a turn that lead us towards the main road when another vehicle pulled out and slowly began to follow us. It followed for a good couple of miles. Hayne’s looked in his rear-view mirror and saw it had no license plate.

“Mel” he said as he pointed in the back.

I stood up and saw the van following us. One guy leaned out the window with a gun and was about to shoot but Haynes steered away. The girls including me almost lost our balance. Bullets began flying hitting the back of the bus while a few went through the windows shattering the glass. I leaned on the back seat and aimed out the window and shot back at the van. I had to use my last magazine wisely otherwise I would doom us all. I had to wait for Haynes to swerve back around. I held my breath as I timed it carefully as soon as I was aligned with the driver I squeezed the trigger and hit him through the windshield as it swerved and smashed into the guardrail. The fight was official over as I sat back down out of breath. I almost wanted to take a nap, but I opened my eyes and saw the girls all staring at me with worry.

“I think we’re good, no more!”

We soon made it back to the gate, as we pulled in the major and other soldiers came and rushed to see our slightly damaged vehicle. Haynes got off along with me, the girls and Luna looking disheveled.

“What on earth happened?” The major shouted

“We were attacked sir” Haynes said

The Major noticed that I was injured, and the girls were still in a state.

“Mel, head into the trailer along with the girls, medical staff will be with you shortly, Hayne’s I want a full report of what happened”

The major went back to his office, I headed over to the trailer, and soon Haynes headed towards the majors office. We all gathered in the trailer that was once used to house all the scientific equipment that they used on me when I first exited the gate but now it was converted to a storage unit. I set up a few tables and chairs for the girls to sit on. Soon a doctor came up to the door along with his assistant and medical kit.

“Who would like to go first?” he asked

“Check on them, I’ll go last”

The Doctor began examining the girls by checking their pulse, their eyes, their bodies for any visible injuries. Fluttershy had a minor injury, she had cut her hoof on some broken glass. The doctor disinfected the wound and wrapped neatly. I had no idea that she was injured but then alot was happening to us. Everypony else was okay aside from slight tinnitus and some shell shock. The doctor finally turned to me and checked my arm and leg. He looked at them with confusion

“When were you injured exactly?”

“Couple hours ago, give or take”

“Fascinating, these wounds look like they’ve been healing for almost a month!”

“Well, you can thank Twilight for that”

The doctor then turned to Twilight

“Oh, it’s not a big deal Zecora gave it to me just in case, she called it Kaphulia amanzi, it’s a special medicine that she added to some bandages that helps wounds heal faster, that coupled with my healing potion must have worked wonders”

“I’ll say”

“Everyone here seems okay I suggest that you get some well needed rest”

After he left, the girls all got out their sleeping bags from their saddle bags and set them on the floor. A soldier came by with a blanket and a pillow. I took them and gave them to Luna instead

“Eh, it’s not the ritz but it’s the best we got” I handed them to Luna as she laid down on the floor with the girls.

“What about you Ambassador?”

“I’ll be fine”

Applejack was laying down on her sleeping when she spoke up

“You could sleep with me if you want sugarcube”

It was a kind offer to which I gladly accepted. I laid down in between her and Fluttershy. She offered me a pillow which I then rested my head on. Aj then turned to me

“You gonna be alright” she said still worried

“I’ll be fine let’s get some rest now”

I turned and closed my eyes and tried my best to fall asleep. I could then feel Fluttershy snuggle up close to me and so did Aj. I drifted off knowing that the girls were all okay thanks to me and Luna

We had won the battle

Comments

[dar88]

All hail the moon

[Booster Spice]

They got too greedy and delved too deep.

They have no idea that if Celestia just went to the last option and asked Discord if he would like to play, from news reports and some statistics, he would only have to effect a couple percent weapons apparently at random, as in those bullets that when fired would kill someone, would have cotton candy for propellant etc.

As fo the more powerful and complex weapons, its suprising just how much they rely on hundreds of tiny complex componants all behaving correctly at the right time. One bit of chocolate in the works and they can end up a total dud.

Theres far more subtlty in between. Unless you could call a day at the beach with Daybreaker subtle.

[Starlight Nova]

Is this a crossover with the light novel GATE?

[Ranger-Redstar]

11808604
10 billion point for you, I definitely took inspiration from Gate