Eye of the storm

by Bronycommander

Chapter 5 Common cause

Chapter 5: Common Cause

Tungsten groaned and moaned in pain, struggling to open his eyes as his first thought entered his confused mind.

I’m…alive?

Blinking a few times, his vision finally cleared, only to increase his confusion.

What… what happened? Where am I? He found himself on a bed in what seemed to be a hospital room, his chest bandaged, connected to an EKG. Looking around, his friends were in the same condition as him, groaning as they came to.

“Hey, I think they’re waking up.” A new voice ringed in their ears, but they could not make out any details.

“I’ll get the general.”

At that moment, Dinky and the siblings groaned as well waking up. “We’re…alive?”

“Yes, thanks to the quick response of our medical personal and the general himself.” Dinky’s eyes fell on a male human in camouflage uniform, armed with an STG44. His hair was dark brown, his eyes green, and the face was rounded. He looked tall but thin.

Her eyes went wide. She knew this man, having seen it before. Dinky tried to get up, but her body was aching, falling back with a groan, getting a concerned look from the soldier.

“Easy there, kid. That injury was not as serious as it looks but save your strength.”

“Of-Of course.” She nodded and Blau raised a hoof.

“Nice watch.” He pointed to the man’s right wrist, a silver, analog wristwatch with a rectangular bezel.

“Thanks, my mother gifted it to me.” The human smiled weakly. “Ah, where are my manners, Captain Kyle Schaeffer, but you can call me Kyle.

“Does your mother know what you do?” Katja asked and he sighed, with Dinky biting her lip, knowing what was about to come and how painful this was.

“No, I haven’t seen her since I was eleven. When I was nine, my biological father died in a plane crash. While it was depressing, my mother started dating and found a man again. His name was Ed Richardson. At the beginning, it looked wonderful but…” He paused to calm himself down as his voice got shaky.

“It was only after she got engaged and filed the child custody papers with the court that Ed revealed his true nature. He became irate for even the smallest things... he even started beating her. I was only eleven at the time, but I can still remember jolting whenever he got the urge to randomly backhand her. After about a year, she had enough, and then she decided, in secret, that she was going to leave.”

The siblings and Tungsten gasped at that. “Your mother left you behind?” Blau could not believe it.

“Not on purpose. In fact, she was desperate to take me with her. But for whatever reason, she couldn't get the court to give her legal custody of me. They didn't have enough evidence to prove that Ed was ineligible to assume custody. It was a losing battle, and with Ed putting most of her money into his own account instead of a joint account, she couldn't get a good lawyer with her free representation. Ed, on the other hand, was spending most of her money to hire some pretty high-end attorney to convince the court to rule in his favor... I guess he wanted to keep me around to do all his heavy lifting for him. Then, on the day before she disappeared, I saw her sitting on the porch. She was crying. She was repeatedly saying to herself 'I don't want to, but I have to'... He sniffed.

“...and then, on the following morning, really early before Ed woke up, my mom came to my bedroom and woke me. She told me that she had to go somewhere. I asked her where, but she said it was better if I didn't know. She had tears in her eyes as she was saying all of this to me. I didn't understand what was going on. All she told me was 'Be brave, Kyle. And just know that, even if I'm not here, I will love you to the end of the world'. Then, she gave me a long hug and kissed me on the cheek and left. I think I might have fallen asleep, because I woke up a few hours later, and rushed out of my room to look for her... but she was gone.”

The expression of the ginger colt became one of sympathy. “I am sorry, Kyle, you didn’t deserve this.” It reminded him a bit of how he lost his father years ago, having been still a very young colt, barely able to remember him, only how hard it hit his mother

But also of how Pip and his mother had suffered from their father and husband. It often had amazed Tungsten how the two, the support of his mother contributing, managed to endure this for so long, instead of running, like Kyle’s mother did, nonetheless got out without any emotional damage.

In response, the officer smiled weakly back. “It’s okay,” he said and pulled out a picture, it showed a woman with the same light skin and dark-brown hair that he had.

The colt looked at it in awe. “She looks very pretty.”

“Yes, she does. I still have hope me and my mother will meet again. Had it not been for the general, I would not have this hope now.”

“What do you mean?” Katja spoke up in confusion and Kyle looked briefly down.

“I owe him my life. You see, after I became of age for a job, Ed got me a job in a grocery but it was far from pleasant. Long hours, short breaks and minimum pay, not to mention every customer I got, was…expecting only the best of me, same with any coworker. But not Günther.”

---

During another agonizing day of work in 2016, Kyle was mopping the floors, praying no customer would approach him.

“Excuse me.” A male voice asked and Kyle did his best to keep his temper, yet did notice the voice was…polite, friendly and he looked up.

Before him was a young man, early 20s he guessed, dressed in casual clothes with blond hair, a friendly smile and calming blue eyes. “Do you know where I can find the sausages?”

Surprised by this, Schaeffer struggled to reply. “...I'm not exactly sure.”

The young man kept his smile, no sign of disappointment. “Okay, I ask someone else then…if I could find one. You appear tensed.”

“I just slept not well.” Kyle hastily replied.

“I see, but if you have problems, I might be able to help you.” The customer produced what looked like a business card from his pocket and gave it to him before walking away.

Kyle looked at it, his eyes went wide, not able to believe it. Harmonious Guard, Jessie Günther. The very known founder and leader.

Nonetheless, he continued his work day until his shift was done in the evening, glad to go home. Or so he wished.

Upon getting into his car, he turned the ignition but it only sputtered and stammered, “Oh, come on, not now! Ugh, Ed’s gonna kill me for being late.”

Just then, a car, a dark blue Crown Victoria, if he saw right, stopped next to him and the driver got out. Schaeffer could not believe it, it was Günther again.

“Need a ride?” He offered but the young man had doubts.

“I can’t leave my car back here.” He said, only for Jessie to wave his hand.

“Don’t worry, I can get a tow truck for you.

Somehow, Kyle could tell he was honest and got it. “Thank you, but...why?” he did not understand, getting a weak smile in response

“I just try to help others and I could tell you dislike your job when I saw you in the store.” As his helper told this, a tow truck passed by on the other lane. “Plus, helps you to avoid trouble I assume?”

“Y-yeah…”

“I mean it, if you have enough, just give me a call, I can give you a new start.”

“I’ll think about it. “With that, he directed his driver towards his home, getting there quickly. “Thank for you the ride, I just hope my car gets repaired in time.” Günther’s response was unexpected though.

The helpful man got out of the car as well, holding out the keys. “Take my car, I know you will take good care of it.”

Knowing that arguing was futile, the young American took them and walked towards the door of his home.

But once he got it, an unpleasant sight greeted him.

“Well, well, well, about time you show up!” Ed yelled angrily, causing the younger man to flinch.

“W-what, I came home on time as always.” He tried to explain but it didn’t matter.

Slap!

Kyle got struck across the face, stumbling from the force but, managed to catch himself.

“That’s what’s you got for defying my father!” Ed’s son Danny cheered with an evil grin.

“And as punishment, you won’t get any dinner today!”

While hungry, it mattered little to him, as most of the food in the house was fairly unappetizing, and Kyle never knew what to eat. Also, the young man had always been afraid of being hit by Ed, it happened often when he was younger.

Flinching, he went to his room secretly getting his phone while Ed and Danny were eating.

To his surprise, Schaeffer only now noticed the number of the card was a mobile phone number, calling it. “Yes, Kyle?” Günther’s voice sounded.

“Yes, it’s me, I am in. Where shall I go?”

“There is a base on the outskirts of the city, you can’t miss it.”

“Okay, see you.”

With that, he waited until Ed and Danny were asleep, then packed some supplies and quietly left the house through the basement door, getting into the car and driving away. A part of him could not believe what he was doing but it seemed the only chance of escaping this miserable life.

Though not long after, he felt his eyes were becoming heavy, getting tired. Kyle was more of a night owl, as nighttime was the only time when he was free to have some peace of mind without anything to bother or pester him but due to today, he really needed to rest.

So, he pulled out at a rest stop and tried his best to be comfortable in the car, falling quickly asleep.

A sudden bang tore him out and the door to the car was opened, being dragged out before he could react.

“Look who we have here.” He got thrown onto his back, his eyes small to see he was faced by Danny. “Thought you could run away? Wrong!”

Danny had him pinned down and punched his chest, causing Kyle to cry out in pain, unable to defend himself. “You will pay for this, I will teach you a lesson!”

With that, Ed’s son pulled out a knife, preparing to bring it down on Kyle. Schaeffer, in a fit of fear, managed to gather some strength and grabbed the knife, pushing against it.

But he was not strong enough and got stabbed into the stomach. Again, a cry of pain came out of his mouth, the worst pain he ever felt in his life, struggling not to cry.

His hands clutched his wound, his vision became blurry, breathing ragged as slowly, his mind faded from the intense pain, hearing faintly a siren and scream.

---

The children could only gasp at this “How could he do this to you?” Dinky asked in shock. She could imagine from her last time that Danny and Ed were unpleasant people but going as far as this was…unbelievable.

“I guess Danny snapped or something…” Kyle mumbled, as he petted her to calm her down. “I would not be here, had it not been for James…”

---

His body ached as he came to, groaning, accompanied by the sound of beeping in an even rhythm.

Struggling to open his eyes, Kyle looked around to see he was in a white room, a hospital.

“Ah, you’re woken up.” a male voice said and Jessie walked in with a weak smile. “Danny got you quite bad, you lost a lot of blood but I have seen worse. Most of your organs were fine, only your small intestine was punctured, and required surgical repair but nothing I could fix.”

“A-And Danny?” Kyle stuttered, still weak.

“Arrested for assault, he won’t bother you again, I’ll saw to it personally.” He got assured by Günther before gasping upon noticing the IV in his arm. “Fear of needles I see, don’t worry, you get over it.

“B-but what after I recover?” Kyle was unsure, only for his helper to raise a hand.

“Let that be my worry, son. After you are back on your feet, I provide you with a new home. Also, welcome to the force.”

Time passed, it was late in the night when Kyle woke up to an odd sound. He looked towards the window to see a human silhouette approaching. There was a click.

“Ed, is it?” Günther’s voice sounded from outside, the silhouette turned around, Kyle’s eyes went wide.” Kyle's told me so much about you.” He sounded neutral

“Do you think you scare me with that museum piece?” Ed did sound unimpressed

“It still packs a punch. But then I reckon the police are gonna be interested in a trespassing and parental abuse case. Guys like you get much attention from the big guys behind bars as scumbags who break into hospitals to beat up kids.”

“...He's mine.” Ed hesitated, his voice slightly raised.

“He doesn't seem to think so.”

“His word doesn't mean squat in my house.” Ed stated now fully angered, making Kyle tremble but Jessie was not fazed.

“We're not in your house.” He countered, Ed did not respond at all. “Get out, don't come back, this never happened. Are we clear?” Now, the German sounded slightly threatening.

Ed’s silhouette slowly walked away, with one arm throwing a gesture at him.

---

“James really went so far to protect you?” Tungsten could not believe it.

“Yes, he cares for any of his soldiers and he told me he was a close friend of my father, being the least he could do. Of course, my first engagement…well…” Kyle sighed, “Training could not prepare me for this, it was a simple transport job.”

---

After finishing training, Kyle had the honor to be assigned to James’ bodyguards, always close to him before he was told to guard an armored truck, thinking it was a good start.

“I know this is your first assignment but don’t worry, the route we take is safe.” The driver of the escort car he was in assured him as he was slightly nervous, grabbing his rifle tightly.

“I hope so.” The ride was quiet, yet he felt tensed, like something bad was about to happen.

“…We just received a warning,” The radio interrupted, “there is a major traffic accident on the freeway, clogging it completely. It’s like a war zone, so you better take the scenic route.”

“Darn it…” Kyle cursed as the convoy was forced to use the secondary route, going off the main road and into an alleyway.

He looked around, it was quiet, not a soul in sight. Too quiet.

Suddenly, a group of armed men emerged on an overpass and opened fire, the bullets denting the car but did not penetrate, as it was armored.. Then a mental clank and Schaeffer looked back. The truck got rammed into the side by a heavy loader, pushed through a fence and into the roof of a slaughterhouse facility.

“Protect the truck!” His comrade yelled and they jumped out. The young man trembled slightly as he fired wildly at the robbers, surprising them, then got behind the car for cover.

He took notice how the way was blocked by garbage trucks, with the escort in the backs fighting the drivers before looking up, his eyes wide. “Watch out!” Taking quickly aim, he fired at a robber that had aimed at his fellow merc, hitting him into the chest and taking him out.

Kyle breathed heavily. Not able to believe what he just had done. He killed another human, blood on his hands. It made him fear what his mother would think of him, if he ever would see her again.

“Advance!” His comrade ordered as they fired, but Kyle was frozen, just standing there in shock. Then he snapped out as he got slapped on the shoulder. “Check on the truck drivers!”

Giving a quick nod, he and some other guards made their way towards the slaughterhouse, opening the door. Kyle was relieved to see that the workers provided first aid to the drivers, one of them stunned, and crouching, the other unconscious next to the truck. To his disbelief, the armored truck was on its roof.

“Great job, everyone, the truck is safe and the robbers have been neutralized!” The commander announced.

As police arrived to secure the scene with additional reinforcements, Kyle was sitting in the car, slightly shaking from the experience.

“Well, this was not how I had your first day in mind.” He looked up to see James approaching him with a sympathetic expression.

“I…I…”

“Deep breath, calm down.” Günther gave him a pat on the back. “You only defended yourself, Kyle. You are not a murderer. Never engage locals unless they provoke you first. If you are having trouble, come to me.”

---

“He cared for me like a son, something I appreciate greatly.” He smiled.

“And it pleases me to hear that.” James' voice sounded as he entered with a smile and Kyle saluted. “At ease.” Then James turned towards the children. “Hello. It’s a pleasure but I had hoped to meet you under more peaceful circumstances. But be assured, I will ensure you are safe during this conflict.”

They all smiled but before they could give any reply, shouting came from outside. “Kyle, stay here, I will take a look.”

Looking out of the window, the eyes of the kids went wide to see 2 ponies at the entrance, both unicorns with neutral expressions

“I just want to see my son, is that too much to ask?” Blue looked at one of the soldiers, who tried to explain to them with a slightly unsure expression.

“I am sorry but by orders of the general, I can’t allow any entry by foreign personal.”

“It’s okay, let them through.” James gave a nod and pointed to the hospital.

With hope and relief in her eyes, Blue entered first. “Sweetie, you’re okay!” She gave Tungsten a gentle hug.

“Glad to see you are okay, children,” Fletcher added with the same expression.

“Yes, thanks to the efforts of James,” Dinky replied, causing Blue to turn towards him, but he waved a hand.

“It’s nothing, I just do my duty.”

“Why are you here?” Fray asked.

“Well, an environmental NGO got informed that the government of Solis performs a highly dangerous project, aiming to control and use the weather as weapon, hired me to take care of that. This is too dangerous, humanity can’t be entrusted with this, it would endanger peace and balance.”

Fray and Blue looked at each other. They could understand James’ cause due to having helped Big Boss with a similar threat in their last adventure, that had been too dangerous to exist.

And they knew, if this was the cause that got the children here, it could not be allowed to be completed.

“Can we be of any help?” Blue asked and James nodded.

“Yes. Currently, we are still establishing a frontline but you could gather Intel for us. Some workers of this project are often seen relaxing at a club in the north of the country. And don’t worry, your young friends should be recovered in a few days.”

“How did you find us?” Tungsten asked his mother and Fletcher cleared his throat.

“Via a tracking spell.”

---

“Tungsten, his friends, they’re hurt.” Blue stated to Fletcher, who just nodded.

“Then we must hurry.”

Without a word, both got into the car and drove as fast as possible to the tracked location.

The stallion steered towards a hill, where they could overlook everything, taking out their binoculars, seeing to their surprise how troops of the Harmonious Guard unloaded at a harbor

“Oh, no…” Fray’s eyes went small to spot the kids wiggling in their own blood, seriously injured.

“Tungsten!” His eyes perked up to see Blue Murder dropping her binoculars in shock, shaking.

She looked as if she was about to jump down, so the green pony quickly grabbed her. “Let me go! My son needs me!”

“Don't rush anything!” Fletcher tried to calm her down before spotting something. “Look!”

To the relief of both, a squad of medics approached the kids, checking and stabilizing their wounds, then picked them up to get them to an aid station.

“Thank Faust they were here so quick…” Tungsten’s mother mumbled…”I hope he makes it…”

“We can only hope for the best.” Fletcher pointed out with the same relief in his voice.

---

“Now, I got something prepared so you can infiltrate the club. Follow me.” James made a gesture and Tungsten looked at his mother with concern.

“Be careful, Mom.”

“Of course I will be, sweetie.”

He then sighed. “I really thought that was it…that we would not survive…”

Dinky’s eyes fell on what looked like a patch on Kyle’s noticed uniform. It looked like a Lyre. “Is that Lyra’s Cutie Mark on your uniform?”

---

Both unicorns followed James into a small building and he painted to two miniature, portable, Terminal-like devices on a table

“The ponyfication device? Are you sure it works on us?” Fletcher had doubts. Blue had only been told by this, she could only raise an eyebrow at this.

“I am sure it does, it would allow you to blend in easily. Give it a try.”

Fletcher and Blue did as told, picking them up and placing them on their right forelegs, watching as the screen booted up, then showing the words “disguise ready”.

To their fascination, the screens showed their health in form of a healthy EKG rate. As Fletcher looked at his reflection in the window he saw a young, muscular man with blue eyes and blond hair in a business suit.

Yet his eyes went wide at Blue’s human form as he saw her reflection. She was a woman with curly, auburn, shoulder-length hair and dark blue eyes, her build athletic, also dressed in a business suit.

“Wow…you look pretty handsome, if I may say so.” He complimented, causing her to blush slightly.

“Yes, it makes her look brighter in the sun.” Ifrit added in a neutral voice.

“Thanks, you look good too. But, should we call in Tybalt and Shadowplay, given our situation?” She asked and he nodded.

“Good call.” They focused to cast their magic, their horns blinking like a Morse code. It surprised them to see that the device was balancing this out by making their eyes faintly glow in their respective magic color.

“Interesting, it was obviously never designed to hide unicorn magic.” James commented, “Now, Anna will fly you to the club.”

They nodded and moved out, towards a civilian chopper they saw parked outside.

“Well, well, well, look who it is.” Fray’s eyes peaked up to see a familiar face. Jens. He grinned. “And I see you got a mare, eh?”

“Uhh, no, no, nothing like that, just friends” The stallion hastily replied in embarrassment and Maier gave an apologizing smile.

“Oh, my bad. Anyway, good luck.”

“Appreciated,” Blue replied with awkwardness before moving on and getting into the backseats of the chopper.

“Alright, once we are there, you watch out for those 2 men.” They looked at a picture of a man with short hair and mustache, the other was clean-shaven, wearing glasses and was bald. “Those are Dante and Hector, 2 researchers of the Illapa project. You can listen in with this.” While focused on the stick, she managed to hand both a listening device disguised as a cigarette case.

It took only 10 minutes before the club was in sight. A small white building on a cliff, the words “Mile High Club” on it in a bright turquoise neon color as the chopper touched down on a landing pad.

Outside, there were some chairs with tables and a bar, people were dancing as music sounded from the inside.

But barely stepped out of the chopper, they got stopped by a bouncer. “Sorry, I don’t know who you are.” He said and both considered their options before he shrugged. “Ah, whatever. You seem like class acts. Come right in.”

Inside, they saw the DJ on his equipment, dancing to the music, with several flash screens showing dance moves, with more chairs and tables, as well as people dancing. Oddly enough, they also spotted a man in a green body suit dancing.

Nonetheless, they sat down at the bar inside. “What can I get you?” The barkeeper asked.

“Got any non-alcoholic drink? We have a business meeting later.” Fray replied, though in reality, it was due to job focus.

“Sorry, we’re out.”

“Then a beer, please.”

“Same.” Blue ordered.

As the barkeeper prepared the drinks, she got nudged by Fray and turned to him. Two men were entering, looking like the targets and she activated the listing device.

“Ugh, finally a break, this project is killing me.” Dante sighed as he ordered a drink.

“You tell me, Espinosa is pushing us hard. And now with that rebellion and apparent invasion by a foreign force, he surely will push us harder.” Hecker pointed out. All the while, the 2 disguised ponies took a sip of their drinks to blend in.

“Don’t remind me of that, I am just glad when its over. The testing goes well, I hope it will work.” Dante sounded fearful.

“Agreed. He will have our heads if it won’t be done in time. I have heard he plans to sell it, probably Americans.”

“Really?” Now, Dante sounded surprised. If so, I doubt he will let us live…”

“Sorry man. Let’s enjoy our drinks, si?”

Acknowledging that this was all they could get, the 2 ponies decided to finish their drinks to leave.

But as they tried to, they suddenly felt a heavy headache, vision became blurry and unable to walk straight. Barely one step later, they lost their balance and passed out.

“What the…”The barkeeper wondered as he inspected the bottle he had poured for them his eyes went wide. “Darn it, I accidentally gave them the strongest drink!”

“Then, mind helping me getting them back on the chopper?” Anna asked in a fake South American accent as she gently lifted Fray, the barkeeper did the same with Blue.

“It’s the least I can do for this screwup. Also, it’s on the house.”

At least we got some information. Mission failed successfully I guess… The pilot thought at this misfortune

Author's Note:

Kyle belongs to my friend Midnightwolf