Chapter 10: Abandonment Issues
~~~Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, 3 days and 1 hour after the Ambush at Equus~~~
Through the window in Applejack's bedroom, the morning sun's brilliant orange rays filtered through, casting everything in a nice golden sheen. In the room's bed, Applejack stirred, the sunlight peeking through her closed eyelids and disrupting her rest. She would usually be awake at this hour, but the late night train ride back home from Canterlot in addition to the past day's events warranted the extra sleep.
Reluctantly, and after failing to return to sleep, she rose from bed, dropping to the wooden floor. After a brief stretch, she went to her door, opening it quietly and going to the kitchen.
The entire house was silent, as the whole family had shared Applejack's sentiment regarding sleep, but all had the fortune of not having a window directly facing the sun. She couldn't help but be a little jealous. That aside, she nonetheless began going through her morning routine; preparing a breakfast for herself and Apple Bloom, preparing Apple Bloom's lunch for while she was at school, then finally completing her hygienic tasks.
By the time she had finished all of that, Big Mac and Apple Bloom had woken up, and the filly had already been seen off to school. The two siblings were sitting at their dining room table, each enjoying their overdue breakfast.
“So Mac, ya tired from yesterday?” Applejack asked, breaking the silence.
“Eeyup.”
“Ah imagine ya don't wanta be doin' much today, then?” she inquired.
“Nope. But An imagine that we gotta lot ta do.”
“That we do,” muttered Applejack. “With not bein' here yesterday and all that, we've got a bit uh buckin' to catch up on, and we gotta empty the barn out of those good apples 'fore they turn bad.”
“Eeyup,” confirmed Big Mac, leaving the two of them once again eating their morning meals in silence. Applejack finished hers quickly, and after informing her brother that she intended on getting to work early, she made for the door.
She stepped outdoors into the cold morning breeze. The sun had risen slightly since she had awoken, and the conditions were perfect for a day of apple bucking. She went to the barn to retrieve the equipment she'd need for her chore. Once that was complete, she made to the orchards and began working.
“Heya AJ!” Applejack heard called from a distance away. She looked to where she had heard the voice originate and saw Pinkie Pie joyously bouncing her way, with a saddlebag stuffed full of paper. One final kick to the tree she had been bucking brought the apples down into the baskets around the base. By the time they had been loaded onto the nearby cart, Pinkie was within a reasonable talking distance.
“Hey, Pinkie,” greeted Applejack. “What can Ah do ya for?”
“Well, I've got a reaaally really really really big favor to ask of you, and I want to invite you to a party!” she excitedly exclaimed.
“Ah see,” replied Applejack. “Who's the party for?”
“I was hoping you'd ask me that!” Pinkie gleefully responded. “Well, overnight, some visitors came to town; Grevvy's droid friends, I think they were. Anyways, I greeted them last night and thanked them for helping to save all those ponies there in Canterlot, then I joined them in a scavenger hunt, and they gave me a bunch of really cool posters and told me to give them out to everypony.”
“Grievvy?”
“Yeah, Grievvy. You know? Grievous?”
“Oh,” said Applejack, no longer confused. “Why didn't ya just say that in th' first place? It woulda avoided this here confusion.”
“Silly, you know I like to use nicknames. Though Grievvy does kind of sound like gravy, so I suppose I can see where ponies'd get confused. I wonder if Grievous likes gravy? I wonder what he'd put it on. Maybe his cupcakes? Oh, I bet that'd be tasty! But, wait...Grievous doesn't have a mouth...I guess he can't like gravy, then. Life must be sooo miserable when you can't eat anything. Oh, I feel bad for Grievous, now. Maybe I should-”
Applejack sighed. “Ah hate ta press ya for time, but the past day really set the farm off schedule. Would ya mind just gettin' to the point?”
“No problem,” agreed Pinkie. “Well, I want to have a party to thank them, but they're a bit tall, and wouldn't be able to fit in any buildings around here except for your barn, so-”
“Ah see what you're gettin' at,” interrupted Pinkie. “Like Ah said, yesterday threw a bunch'a stuff off. The barn's full of crates of apples that we needed ta get into town yesterday, and there's a bunch more trees that need to get bucked. There ain't no way Big Mac and I'd be able ta get everythin' done today.”
Pinkie deflated a little, but instantly returned to her prior state once an idea came to mind. “If I help you and Mackey out, then would you be able to host the party?”
“There's no reason why Ah wouldn't be able to, Ah suppose,” said Applejack. “Ya got a deal, Pinkie.”
“Hooray!” shouted Pinkie as she leapt in the air, enthusiastically grabbing Applejack's hoof and vigorously shaking it while still remaining airborne.
“A'ight, that's enough, Pinkie,” said Applejack after having been severely shaken. She righted herself and then continued. “Why don't'cha show me the poster the droid fellas gave ya?”
“Okay!” said Pinkie, reaching into her saddlebag with her mouth and grabbing one of the sheets. She presented it to Applejack, and the country mare took it. The poster was highly peculiar.
'WANTED' was written across the top in large letters. A portrait was drawn underneath, depicting the broad shoulders and round head of some strange alien creature. It had no discernible eyes, nose, or mouth. The most noticeable trait was the large black 'T' shape that spanned the portrait's entire face. There were other small things about it that were curious, but that was definitely the portrait's defining characteristic. Underneath the portrait were more words, reading:
Soldiers from the Grand Army of the Republic
AKA: Clone Troopers
Kill on sight. 10,000 bit reward for proof of kill, redeemable from any CIS agent
Heavily armed and dangerous; pursue at your own risk
“Uh, Pinkie?” Applejack asked after inspecting the poster. “This here's a wanted poster. You know what that means, right?”
“Oh, oh, those are those posters that the police put up in those western films when the police want to catch the bad guy, right?”
“Yup,” confirmed Applejack. “Only thing is, though, it looks like Grievous ain't out to catch these guys; he means ta kill 'em.”
“Ooooh...” said Pinkie. Something had clicked in her mind. “So that's what the scavenger hunt was for. You know, I saw Rainbow Dash this morning, and when I gave her one of these posters, she said that these were the guys that she and Grievvy went after yesterday.”
“Hmm...” hummed Applejack thoughtfully. Then, she rolled the poster up and stuck it underneath her hat. “Well, Ah should probably get back ta workin'. You go on and finish spreadin' those posters. When you're done with that, ya come right back here and help me out. Then we'll see about gettin' that party of yours set up.”
Nodding, Pinkie bounced away to finish her task, leaving Applejack alone to continue her own work, keeping an eye out for any so called clone troopers as she did.
~~~Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, 3 days and 2 hours after the Ambush at Equus~~~
It was early in the morning and the start of he day for most ponies, like the servants who would make sporadic appearances throughout the castle's garrison. However, for the members of the Royal Guard, the day was already several hours old. Currently, Captain Shining Armor, along with a few of his higher ranking officers, were scattered about the large enclosed field doing routine morning drills with small groups of soldiers.
The previous night had been a long one for him, as he had stayed up much later than he was used to with General Grievous, helping him to pick out locations to station his own forces. In conjunction with the day's other events, Shining Armor was admittedly tired, but he refused to show it, so as to be an example for his wearied troops.
After a short water break, his small force returned to their block formation as the captain moved to stand in front of them. “Attention,” he commanded, and his soldiers obeyed, standing tall and rigid and falling into silence. “Alright, morning stretches,” he said after a few seconds. “You know the drill.”
As they were about to begin, the familiar clanking of metal against cobblestone could be heard off to the side of the group. Most of the ponies, including Shining Armor, turned to look at the approaching general.
“Your Captain never told you to be at ease,” Grievous criticized as he neared. The soldiers in the block quickly snapped back to attention.
“What do you want, General?” Shining Armor asked annoyed. “You're interrupting our proceedings.”
“I'm only an interruption because you're making one of me,” Grievous retorted. “I came to observe the way you handle your troops again,” he elaborated. “What I witnessed last time was very disappointing, but I want to give you the benefit of the doubt and hope that if was just an off day.”
“And what exactly are you hoping to find?” inquired Shining Armor.
“I'm looking to see if your troops could even potentially stand a chance against one of the Republic's,” Grievous explained. “The chance of such an engagement it there, and it'd be a shame to see ponies die simply for being ill prepared to retaliate.”
“And if you don't find that potential?”
Grievous looked out to the troops in front of him, all of whom still stood at attention, before responding. “Then it would be my duty to Equestria and your precious Princess to make your troops ready to fight off the Republic threat myself.”
“Uh-huh,” replied Shining Armor. “I'd ask how you intend on doing that, but I think we've already wasted enough time.”
“Yes, you have,” agreed Grievous, stepping away a few paces to allow the captain room to lead his men through their morning routine.
He and the group of soldiers started off with a few minutes of simple stretches to work out and knots and to get themselves limbered up for the day's training.
Although he was convinced that Grievous's assessment of his troops performance during the changeling invasion was exceedingly harsh and biased, Shining Armor couldn't deny that perhaps they could have been a bit more prepared. As such, he had quickly worked up a schedule for more intensive combat training for all of his soldiers, which was to begin that day. The first day of the regime was really a test to see how the new schedule would affect the troops. If he received positive feedback, or at the very least, nothing negative came from the changes, he would spend his mornings drilling with his high-ranking officers. After a while of that, those officers would be ready to do the same for the lower ranked troops, and would allow him to get back to the managerial stuff that his position entailed.
They completed their stretches without any further interruption and immediately continued with some conditioning exercises. Push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups, running laps; these and more they did for the remainder of the morning and a short time into the afternoon. All the while Grievous observed them, gauging their physical fitness and discipline, Shining Armor was sure. To his surprise, Grievous's expression, or what he could muster of one, was much less contemptuous than the previous times he had seen the general.
Finally, Captain Armor felt it was time to lets his troops off for a bit so that they could grab lunch and get some water. Many of the soldiers were quite winded, a testament to the Guard's lack of use as anything more than a display of wealth and political power.
“You're more patient than one could be lead to believe,” commented Shining Armor half-heartedly to Grievous as he approached the cyborg. Admittedly, Grievous's presence was just a tad bit irking to him.
“Certain things try me more than others,” confessed Grievous, still looking about the field at the troops in it.
Shining Armor looked out to his soldiers as well. “Any comments about how we screwed something up that you'd like to share this time?” he asked jokingly and accusingly. The response he received surprised him.
“No.”
“Really?”
Finally, Grievous turned to face the captain. “Considering the tools you have at your disposal and your society's lack of technological development, it'd be wrong of me to say you fall behind the standards set by those facts.”
It took a second for Shining Armor to realize that his forces had just been complimented. “Um, thanks for that, I guess,” replied, though unsure of what to really say.
“Don't let it go to your head,” Grievous scoffed, crossing his arms. “In the overall scheme of things, your forces are the weakest and most disadvantaged. However much you may wish to deny that, it is the ultimate truth of the situation.”
“I really should have seen that that compliment was just a disguised insult,” Shining Armor deadpanned.
“I know you see me as a brutish and cruel individual, Captain, and while I can't say that's untrue, let it not be said that I'm unreasonable. I'd like to think you're a reasonable pony as well and can see this fact.”
Looking up to Grievous, Shining replied, “Until I see what these Republic forces are capable of myself, I only have your word to go on. And I don't necessarily trust your word, so you can see where I have my doubts.”
Grievous tisked. “Learn to trust me soon, then, Captain. There are dire consequences for those who don't.”
“Is that a threat?”
“It is a warning; one that I would heed closely if I were you.”
“I don't like your insinuations, and I have no desire to speak with you any longer!” snapped the captain. His raised voice caught the attention of some of the breaking guards around them. “You wonder why I distrust you; I can't even converse with you without getting aggravated and threatened. Just get out of here.”
The general clasped his hands behind his back and backed away, simultaneously laughing sinisterly. He said nothing, though; he merely complied with the captain's orders, leaving his group alone to instead monitor the progress of another group of drilling troops.
It was now a bit into the afternoon, around four, in Shining Armor's perception of time was correct. As the day's schedule demanded, he was still out on the garrison's training field with the same group of soldiers, doing various exercises to hone his troop's abilities.
For the past half hour, he and his troops had been doing weapon drills, mostly reviewing basic attacks and parries with various pieces of equipment, primarily swords and spears. Predictably, when the weapons came out, Grievous had returned to bother his group some more. The general's timing couldn't have been more perfect, though; he arrived as soon as they were about to begin sparring.
For the first few minutes, he stood in silence and just looked out at the soldiers fighting each other. His eyes displayed ever-growing discontent as he watched. Refusing to let Grievous get the idea of joining in, he attempted to call it off and move on to the next thing on the agenda, but Grievous acted first.
“Your troops are very methodical about how they move in combat,” Grievous said to Shining Armor, but he was loud enough so as to get the attention of the entire group. All action stopped and all attention was focused on Grievous. Not wanting another confrontation, Shining Armor sighed and let Grievous have his way.
“It is good to see that your soldiers are capable of following instructions, but amidst combat is not the time to rely solely on technique, especially when dealing with the Republic,” Grievous criticized. “Be unpredictable and unorthodox; take advantage of the techniques you've learned in training, but dependence on them will bog you down and possibly get you killed.”
Grievous walked to a nearby rack of weapons, grabbing a wooden spear with a rounded tip off of it. “A weapon should not be a tool,” he said, distracting himself with swinging the weapon around a bit, trying to quickly acclimate to the absurdly short stick. “Your weapon should be an extension of yourself; its use should come naturally during a fight. Relying on learnt techniques with only make your fighting predictable and mechanical, easily the two most disadvantageous thing to have on your side.”
Most of the soldiers in the group were nodding in agreement to Grievous's short speech, though Grievous doubted any of them fully got what he meant. He pointed his sparring weapon at the troops threateningly. “Now then; come at me. Try to land a hit.”
The troops looked about nervously, but reluctantly began to reequip their helmets and weapons to take up the general's challenge. One particularly brave pegasus immediately charged him, barreling straight towards his chest with his spear leading the way. Grievous sidestepped the obvious maneuver and quickly brought the shaft of his weapon onto the pegasus' back, driving him into the dirt.
“Too predictable,” he said to the fallen soldier before turning back to the remaining ones.
“Grievous, I will not have you injuring my troops over a simple sparring session!” Shining Armor objected as he rushed to help the downed pony up. Fortunately, aside from a sore back and dented pride, the pegasus was uninjured.
“Your soldiers need to learn to fight against powerful adversaries, and the best way to do so is through experience,” Grievous spat in retaliation. “Additionally, you yourself are not competent enough to provide this to your soldiers. This is a learning opportunity, Captain. You'd be hurting them by refusing them the chance.”
“I'd be hurting them by letting them go through with this 'learning opportunity'!” the captain shouted. “You've said so yourself on multiple occasions that we're not ready for anything in your league; forcing us against you without any time to adjust seems ludicrously-”
“At ease, Captain.”
The two of them turned to face the new voice. Princess Luna stood a few yards away from the group.
“Uh, Princess,” Shining Armor stuttered. “It's good to see you, your highness. What brings you here?”
“I came to investigate the sudden change in Royal Guard proceedings, Captain, though it appears to have been planned,” she said. “It would have been nice if you had informed my sister or I of it before commencing, but what is done is done. Regardless, I would like you to allow Grievous this opportunity to share his knowledge with the troops.”
Shining Armor was about to argue, but after remembering who he would have been arguing against, he wisely obeyed, stepping towards the princess to let Grievous do his own thing. The cyborg immediately reverted his attention to the troops and issued his challenge again. One by one the troops assaulted him, but each time, Grievous parried and countered with vicious blows. Bones were spared from being broken only thanks to the armor that the guards were wearing.
“Why are you letting him do this?” the captain asked Luna while this was occurring.
“I wish to test him,” she answered. “I wish to see if his interests are genuine, or if he simply wants to take the opportunity to inflict harm upon us. I want to trust him as Celestia does, but I can't bring myself to do that yet. I just hope that our differing standpoints doesn't change anything between us.”
“I see,” answered Shining Armor. “This is off topic, but I noticed that you're talking correctly all of a sudden.”
“Indeed I am. I'd prefer to stay away from the details, but I'll say that I had a discussion last night that had a lasting impression.”
Another guard rushed at Grievous, a unicorn, holding his spear in his magical grip in front of him. He thrust the spear at Grievous's chest. Grievous swung diagonally downward so as to strike the guard and deflect the spear. Suddenly, the spear vanished and reappeared to his side, the momentum from it carrying it into Grievous's arm. At the same time, the guard jumped back, avoiding the swing completely.
The spear bounced harmlessly off of Grievous's arm, but nonetheless, the guard's battered companions all cheered and rooted for him, as he had finally beaten Grievous's challenge. Grievous had to give the guard credit for being unpredictable. Away from them all, Grievous could hear Shining Armor also giving his support to the guard.
“It appears that one of you have finally began to grasp my meaning,” said Grievous.
“Thank you, Grievous, sir,” the guard replied, slightly winded from the effort needed to teleport the spear.
“Unit 5H-A1, Superior, contact has been lost with troop division allotted to entity: Applewood. Suspected Republic interference from surface. New forces have been prepared aboard Superior and await you command for departure.”
Stupid battle droids! They had a tank! There couldn't have been any more than ten clones; they should have been more than a match!
Enraged and disgusted at his droid's poor performance, he brandished his spear and furiously swung it a horizontal arc. His swing wasn't intended for the soldiers around him, but he was too angry to care about that as his weapon narrowly swung over the heads of some lucky guards who ducked in time. Others successfully moved out of the weapon's path. The guard that had successfully landed a shot on Grievous only seconds before, however, was not so lucky. The sound of his jaw breaking could be heard from several feet away as the devastating blow connected.
Rather than pay any mind to the guard that he had now seriously injured, he turned and stormed off, arms to his sides and fists clenched in rage. He stepped past Luna and Shining Armor along the way, but payed them no heed. Both of their gazes followed the general out of the field, Shining Armor's enraged while Luna's radiated disappointment.
Quickly, though, they returned their attention to helping the injured guard to the castle's infirmary. The scene had attracted the attention of everypony in the field. Already feeling the toll of the day's excursions, Shining postponed the day's regime until tomorrow, then followed after Grievous to get some explanations for his behavior.
~~~Site of Droid Engagement, Equestria, 3 days, 9 hours and 45 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
“Found it,” Gore announced as he hefted a part of their wrecked speeder's chassis off of a charred, dented, but otherwise intact crate. He lugged it to a debris-free area of road, where he then opened it and check his contents. Sighing heavily in relief, he said, “Excellent news, Captain. Spy took of with our ordinance and left us our rations.” Reaching into the open crate, he grabbed a blackened ration and held it before his face. “Most of them, anyways,” he finished, tossing the inedible waste away.
Elsewhere in the wreckage, Shy and R8 had finished up the dismantling of the commando droids head. Discarding the armor plating and other useless components, he took the droid's memory components and shoved them in one of his belt's empty containers. “We've collected the lead droid's data,” he said quietly. “Best not spend more time here than we should, but when we camp next, we can have R8 extract all of the intel on it for us.”
“Very good,” replied Viktor. He walked to where Gore was sitting with the crate of rations, sorting out the good ones from the bad.
“We've only got a couple of days of rations for each of us,” said Gore once he had finished. “We can maybe get a week out of what's here if we only have one a day for each of us. I don't know how smart of an option that is, though.”
Producing a melancholy sigh, Viktor replied, saying, “Unless we can find other sources of nourishment, we have to treat what we've got as if it's the last we'll ever have.” He tried lifting the crate then. It wasn't particularly heavy, but its size was still cumbersome. “We'll need a different way to bring it with us, though.”
“Wait, we're going to walk?” Gore questioned disbelievingly. “You can't be serious.”
Viktor looked to the burning remains to the AAT. “Seeing as the tank is destroyed and that our speeders are either wrecked or missing, I don't see any other viable method of transport. And we've got to move soon, before the Seps send a party here to investigate.” He looked back down to the crate of useable rations. “I can carry it all in backpack, but I'll have to ditch most of my ordinance; I may have enough room for a breaching charge and no more. However much I dislike that option, I dislike carrying in that oversized crate more.”
He immediately set to work clearing his pack of its ordinance, a few small breaching charges and a couple of remote detonators, and replacing them with the edible rations. Shy and R8 soon joined the two of them, Shy relying on his improvised crutch. “We're walking,” Viktor said to him once he was near. “Think you can handle it?”
Shy nodded in affirmation.
Having opted to not sit on the ground like Viktor and Gore had chosen to do, Viktor was forced to look up to catch Shy's response with him. When he did, he saw that the commando droid captain's vibrosword was mounted on Shy's back adjacent to his rifle.
The pack had been filled, and Viktor and Gore stood up. “You know you aren't supposed to grab enemy gear off of the battlefield, right Shy?” said Viktor as he reattached the pack to the back of his armor.
“You didn't say anything against him taking that electrostaff to use as a crutch,” Gore retorted.
“The crutch is a necessity due to Shy's injury, and I'm not going to deny him that tool. The fact that it doubles as weapon is a fun perk,” defended Viktor.
Shy lightly coughed, getting the attention of the other two clones. “If it's any justification, I feel that the sword is a necessity. We're planning to go through a forest and a bog, and a sword would be much more efficient at cutting through thick foliage than our knives.”
“It's fine; I wasn't going to make you return the weapon, anyways. We need any advantage we could get, including getting a head start. We've got one last thing to do before we continue north.”
“What would that be?” queried Gore.
Looking to the hill which Moon's corpse still lay on, Viktor responded. “We have a tank we don't want the Seps to possibly salvage, we've got Republic gear that we want to keep out of Sep hands, and we've got explosives that we won't be able to bring with us. Gore, you drag Moon's body here while I rig the AAT to det.”
Confirming his acknowledgment, Gore hurried up and over the hill to reclaim Moon's corpse. Resting the body on his shoulder, he returned and placed it in the burning wreckage of the AAT. Within a matter of minutes, the ordinance that had been removed from Viktor's pack had also been placed around the tank's remains.
“Despite not running into Ghastly Gorge like we were hoping,” Viktor said to his squad as he finished priming the last of the remote detonators, “we still crossed this road, which was a landmark we were looking for. If memory serves me correctly, by making our path slightly more eastward than before, we should run into a wooded area, which would provide a nice place of cover in which to set up camp.”
With a slight nod of his head, Shy confirmed Viktor's suspicions.
“Charges are primed and ready to blow. Let's get out of here and hope that the explosion helps cover our tracks.” Leading the way, Viktor walked, following the direction that the squad had been going before the brief engagement. Directly behind, Shy followed. R8 rolled next to him and allowed the injured clone to use his head to support his weight, allowing Shy to nearly keep pace with Viktor. Gore took up the tail, with his chain gun readied in the case a droid response team managed to spot their retreat.
Admittedly, Viktor was leading them at a somewhat slower pace than he would have liked. However, he wished to not aggravate Shy's injury by straining him. As such, it took several minutes of silent travel before Viktor felt they were at a safe distance from the rigged tank to press the button on his remote detonator and set them off. But when he did, an explosion of substantial size blasted into existence. There was no way that Moon's corpse and gear had survived obliteration, and it was likely that the vegetation in the area had been burnt and singed, which covered their tracks nicely.
~~~Campsite near Ghastly Gorge, Equestria, 3 days, 15 hours and 30 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
After having spent the past three days experiencing setback followed by setback followed by setback, finding Ghastly Gorge had been uplifting for the squad's severely dampened morale. By going more eastward as Viktor had said they would, they had inadvertently followed the road, which in turn followed along the top of the gorge's cliffs. The gorge itself was within viewing distance of the road.
On the opposite side of the road was a lush, green forested area. It wasn't quite the Everfree forest, which was their eventual destination, but it didn't have a name of its own, according to the map that they had taken.
The weary squad had marched for nearly six hours nonstop. By now, the sun had completely set, instead replaced with a brightly shining full moon and a multitude of stars. Deciding that the day had been taxing enough, the clones had retreated past the tree line and deep into the woods. Fortunately, the moonlight was sufficient enough for them to see without the aid of their helmets' night vision visor or even that of a fire. Unknowing if any creatures in the forest was capable of harming them whilst free of their armor and unwilling to experiment, they kept their armor on and each found a tree to rest upon.
As it had been during their trek thus far, the three of them had remained silent and tense. Knowing that they would have been helpless to defend themselves if even a minor force had discovered their whereabouts, they had been constantly on the lookout for any sign of movement during their journey; checking behind their should to see if someone was there. In fact, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to say that they had been paranoid about being caught.
But now, seemingly safe under the cover of foliage and night, they all could finally relax and rest. It was a glorious feeling.
“How're you feeling, Shy?” Viktor asked after a few minutes of comfortable silence. “Leg giving you any trouble?”
Shy shrugged in response.
“How do you not know?” asked Gore sharply. “Either it is or it isn't; pick one.”
“No need to be hostile, Gore,” said Viktor. “He-”
“It got jostled around a bit and it hurts substantially, but it won't be a hindrance,” Shy interrupted, halting the bickering that was about to ensure.
Viktor sat himself up and straightened his back, making himself a bit more comfortable. “Did you apply bacta to it yet?”
Shy affirmed with a nod.
“That's good. If you feel you need more, though, I've got a little left in my field kit; not that it'd help too much. I hear bacta's only minorly helpful with broken bones.”
“If that's true, then you should save it for in the event where one of us gets a grievous injury that bacta is effective at treating,” said Gore.
Looking to Gore, Viktor said, “I'm hoping to avoid that scenario.”
“I'd say that, under the circumstances, it seems like an unavoidable situation. Someone is going to get shot. Don't know who, but someone will. That's why we're here after all.”
“Please don't bring up what Moon told us,” Viktor requested, looking away. “It's not something I'd like to get into.”
“So you expect me to just forget that it was said?” asked Gore, crossing his arms in disapproval. “Too bad, Captain. It's been said, and now I want to know why you're a 'failure'; maybe see if Spy had the right idea.”
Viktor quickly fixed his gaze on Gore. “You will not abandon us, you hear me?” he commanded. “That's an order.”
“You give me no reason to obey it,” countered Gore. “I'm unwilling to trust you as a leader if you're going to keep secrets that should be shared.” After a brief pause, Gore decided to continue. “But you haven't really tried to be the leader, now, hove you?”
The odd statement left Viktor befuddled. “What do you mean by that?”
“You've been thrusting your responsibilities onto Shy ever since we got down here. You've been having him do most of your work. You're like one of those gluttons in the senate who do nothing but take the credit for other people's work.” He was shouting by this point. “Is that why you're a failure? 'Cause you won't do your own work?”
“I'm not some corrupt politician,” Viktor snarled.
“So if it's not that, then what is it?!” Due to the volume at which Gore had yelled, his helmet's cracked speakers spiked feedback. The sharp and loud whistle echoed throughout the woods for a short time. The arguing clones fell silent, both disarmed by the sudden noise and alert for the sounds of approaching droids.
“Don't yell loudly; you'll give away our position,” chastised Shy after the group had determined that the coast was clear.
Immediately, Gore and Viktor locked visors again. Neither spoke, and after a few seconds, Viktor finally looked away and sighed, defeated. “Alright, Gore. I'll tell you, but only because I want this discussion to be over and not be brought up again. You got that?”
“I want the same thing,” Gore replied contentedly, relaxing finally against the tree that he was sitting against.
Viktor allowed himself a minute to collect his thoughts and review the details of his short tale before finally telling it. “As was said aboard Loyalty,” he began, “I served with the Muunilinst 10 on Muunilinst. I was one of the seven standard infantrymen chosen to accompany Captain Fordo and those other ARC troopers due to my competence on the battlefield before the operation. After the mission had succeeded, the seven of us standard clones were offered the opportunity to undergo commando training.
“As I'm sure you're aware, most commandos are made specifically for that purpose and undergo much more rigorous and dangerous training than the standard unit. Really, the best the seven of us could be offered was a dumbed down version of the commando regiment that put us somewhere between a commando and a standard troop in terms of combat effectiveness. This is where things turned downhill for me.”
He paused and grabbed a nearby twig. He twiddled it between his fingers, hesitating to continue. Shortly, he found the resolve to do so.
“I was assigned to Ocean squad when I accepted the training offer. They had recently lost one of their members, and I was to be the replacement. It could be said that I wasn't well received by the squad. Neo, the leader of the squad, was very critical and demeaning when addressing me. Aqua tended to avoid me, and even threatened to kill me if I 'even attempt to replace Phin, or think myself better than Phin'. Madoor was the only one who tried to be kind to me.”
Viktor stopped fiddling with the twig and returned it to the ground. “I got through the condensed training alright, but there was one thing that the training couldn't do for me, or any of us who participated on Muunilinst: give us the correct mindset. Commandos are bred to be much more independent thinkers. No amount of training could fix that, and it was that deficiency that likely prompted poor reception from Neo and Aqua.
“Our first deployment as a squad was to seek out, gather intel from, and ultimately sabotage a suspected droid factory on Christophsis during the Battle of Christophsis. Thanks to the ongoing battle, we were able to make it to the surface undetected, and then carry out the rest of the mission by foot. We got within close proximity of the suspected factory, and that was when the mission turned sour.”
Pausing again, Viktor grabbed a nearby stick and began distracting himself with drawing in the dirt. “To maximize the success of the mission at minimal risk, Neo sent out Madoor alone to scout the factory while the rest of us stayed back. At least if he didn't return, we'd know at least a little of what to expect; that was Neo's logic, anyways. I personally felt it was a bad way to continue, but what's done is done.
“I wasn’t there to witness it, but Madoor was captured...our HUD informed us of that. He was my closest friend, and I wanted to help him. When I requested that we attempt a rescue, Neo said no; that it was 'too obvious' and 'predictable'; that basically the droids'd be prepared for it.” He wiped away what he had drawn and began again. “But I went anyways. I managed to follow his path to the factory and avoid detection. I broke in and began to search for the prison block. Not long after, the alarms sounded.
“It was Aqua and Neo who had tripped the alarms, though. When I ran off, they must have followed me, figuring that the chance to get the entire squad together to finish the mission was more likely to happen than losing two then having the two of them finish up themselves. Regardless, we met up and freed Madoor. However, we eventually found ourselves surrounded by destroyers in a narrow passage. Foolishly, I tossed a thermal det, and when it exploded...”
His speech faltered as he looked at the large 'Madoor' he had written in the dirt. Quickly, he brushed it away. “And when it exploded, it brought the whole passage down. Something else volatile had been caught in the explosion that amplified it. I never figured out what it was, but I guess it was a fuel line or something similar that got caught in the det.
“The ceiling collapsed on us. I was lucky and only had minor amounts of debris land on me, but the destroyers and my squad...crushed, flattened, killed. I got out of there and retreated towards Crystal City, where Generals Skywalker and Kenobi were fighting. It didn't hit me until a while after I had escaped the crippled foundry that my squad was dead...and that I had killed them.”
The squad fell silent for a long while, both Shy and Gore allowing Viktor the time he needed to get through the emotions that began to flood his system. Even without being able to see his face, Gore could tell that Viktor was deeply upset. Soon, Viktor found the will to speak again. “Aqua was the comm specialist of the squad. He had the high-powered radios that could contact Crystal City. It would have been a good idea for me to take that equipment and call in a vehicle, as I didn't have one myself, but I didn't have the foresight to do that, probably a result of my being standard originally.
“It took me a couple of days to reach Crystal City on foot from the position I was at. Along the way, I came across R8, who had been abandoned by his owners as they fled the CIS occupants. He accompanied me back, assisting with navigation and gathering intel from a small CIS bunker we came across. It was during this time that the fact that I had killed my squad and my closest friend began to sink in. The guilt hasn't lessened from that day.”
While Viktor had been speaking, R8 had sidled to his side. Shy, predictably, said nothing; it was Gore who was fist to respond to Viktor's story. “That is quite the story there, Captain,” he said. “I'm guessing someone found out?”
“Yes,” confirmed Viktor. “R8 and I reached Crystal City shortly after the battle there had resolved. General Skywalker and Commander Tano were there to debrief me when I got there. I told them the truth of what happened, except for one thing, that being that I disobeyed Neo's orders for personal reasons. The little bit of intel R8 and I gathered from along the way back made the mission less of a failure, but it was me the caused the mission to fail and cause the death of my squad. That's why I'm labeled a failure.” Slowly, Viktor turned his head to face Gore. “Are you satisfied?” he asked coldly.
“Yes, sir, I am,” replied Gore. “I apologize for being so aggressive about it, but it was necessary in order for me to conclude that I have no issues following your command.”
“Apology accepted. I'll be honest: I feel a bit better now having shared that.”
“Good to hear, sir,” Gore said. “And if it's any further consolation, the next group of clankers we take down is for Madoor.”
“Yes,” Viktor sighed contentedly. “For Madoor.”
~~~The edge of some forest, Equestria, 4 days and 4 hours after the Ambush at Equus~~~
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Spy fumed internally as he tinkered with one of the BARC speeder's engines. He sincerely hoped he could get it back in running order, but having smashed in into a thick and incredibly solid tree, the dented and half detached machine was unlikely to do so. The crate of ordinance that had been on the speeder since departing the LZ had flown off upon impact, scattering the lethal devices within about the ground around him. Why was I not paying any attention? he mentally berated himself, to which his stomach loudly answered by growling loudly. Oh...right...
Thinking back on it, his last meal had been the breakfast the squad ad shared before leaving from Haze's cave. That had been over a day ago, and his stomach demanded sustenance. He ignored this, however, as more pressing matters occurred to him. Alright, I have no idea where I am, I'm in enemy territory, I have limited defenses, my transportation is ruined, and I abandoned my squad and best chance of survival while depriving them of their transportation and ordinance in the process...if we weren't doomed to fail before, we are now. Way to think things through intelligently and rationally, Spy.
Having assessed the situation and having come to the conclusion that he was screwed in the long run, Spy gathered up what ordinance he could find and put them back in the crate. After placing the crate on the back of the disabled speeder, he entered the forest that had claimed it in search of something edible.
~~~Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville, 4 days, 6 hours and 45 minutes after the Ambush at Equus~~~
“Banner's up!” proclaimed Rainbow Dash. Using her hoof, she nailed in the final fastener in the large banner that read 'Thanks for saving Equestria!' above the barn's large doors.
“Ooh, thank so much for helping me, you guys,” Pinkie Pie said as she pulled a large pink frosted cake out of nowhere and placing it on a nearby table. “I'm sure the droids are gonna love this!”
From the other side of the barn, Twilight replied. “I'm sure they will, Pinkie.” With food taken care of, she crossed that off of her checklist.
“I'm not so sure about that,” Rainbow dissented, landing next to her pink friend. “Grievous and his droids don't seem like the partying type. Or in any way celebratory, for that matter.”
“It's true that they were a little hesitant to come,” said Pinkie as she reflected back to the moment when she practically had to beg the lead droid to attend. “But,” she continued, putting a lot of stress on the word, “they're probably just so stressed out from their silly war that they forgot what 'fun' and 'relaxing' were.”
Applejack approached the two of them. “A'ight, Pinkie. Ah think everything's in order. Can't see anything out of place. How many guests're we expecting?”
“I was expecting all of them,” Pinkie answered, causing Applejack to grow wide-eyed, “but the droid I talked to would only permit eight to come, including himself. So eight.”
“Phew,” sighed Applejack, wiping away the sudden nervous sweat that had formed on her brow. “Glad it ain't all of 'em; barn ain't big enough to hold them all.”
“Oh well,” Pinkie sighed disappointedly. As usual, her negativity lasted mere fractions of a second. “But I guess this means I'll have to have another party!”
“Right, but that's an issue fer another time,” Applejack interjected before Pinkie could go on a tangent. “Ya never answered my first question, though: anything out of line?”
Pinkie hummed thoughtfully and scanned the barn's interior critically. Streamers and confetti littered the ground. Balloons filled a majority of the airspace near the ceiling. Overall, the scene was that of a young foal's birthday party. “It's perfect!”
“Sweet!” cheered Rainbow.
“Rarity!” Pinkie called, grabbing the elegant mare's attention. She halted trying the get the wrinkled tablecloth perfectly smooth to listen. “Since you're the closest to the door, would you mind getting the droids for us?”
“I can do that,” she replied, beginning to rise. “Where will I find them?”
“They should be waiting by the farm's gate; that's where the one I talked to said he'd be.”
“Alright,” said Rarity. Having fully risen, she turned to the doors and lightly pushed them open. She peeked her head out of the barn. She heard two simultaneous whirring noises, one from either side of her, and she looked to see a droid sentry on each side of the door. They were both looking at her. Their unchanging cold and emotionless gaze, if it could be called that due to their lack of eyes, was quite unsettling. In the orchard, she could see other droids milling about the rows of trees, likely checking for clone troopers.
Rarity returned her attention to the sentry on her right. “Um, we're, uh, ready for you now.” The droid said nothing; it merely nodded and looked out towards its companions as they cautiously made their way to the barn. Talk about paranoid, she though as the droids covered their rear and flanks, prepared to engage any nonexistent enemies at a moment's notice.
Like the gentlelady she was, Rarity generously held the door open for the incoming droids, one with her hooves and the other with her magic. None gave any sign of thanks or appreciation as they entered. Rude. The sentries were the last of the droids to enter. They did so backwards, keeping their weapons raised so as to retaliate against any possible ambush. Once they had cleared the threshold, Rarity followed and shut the doors behind her.
“Surprise!” yelled Pinkie as she leapt from behind a table that she had hidden behind just before any of the droids had entered. Pinkie continued after the droids failed to respond. “Okay, well, maybe it wasn't a surprise since you knew it was coming and Rarity so politely told you that it had started, but at least you're all here to partake in cake!”
“Ugh, they don't have mouths,” groaned Twilight, having just remembered that fact.
“Oh, right,” Pinkie said sheepishly. “Does anypony from your world have the ability to eat?”
“Only organics,” replied the lead droid, a brown commando droid with a white trident decal on its faceplate.
“I suppose I should introduce you guys, huh,” Pinkie said with a hint of awkwardness. “Everypony, this is L3-E7,” she introduced, gesturing towards the commando droid. “I call him Leet, though, since that's easier to pronounce and that's what his name looks like. Leet, these are my friends. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash.” She pointed to each of them as she said their name. Leet looked over them but said nothing. “Um...enjoy the party?”
The air was absurdly thick with awkwardness. Except for Leet, who was someone forced to participate in the little conversation shared for public relations purposes, the droids were completely silent. Two of them made themselves sentries while the others stood in other spots strategically chosen for quick response in case of an ambush.
Pinkie had really been the only one to engage Leet in conversation and had left him for a minute to grab herself a slice of cake. On the return trip, she was intercepted by Rainbow Dash. “Hey Pinkie,” Dash said in a hushed tone.
“Yesh Dash?” replied Pinkie, the plate held by her teeth messing with her pronunciation.
“Not meaning to be rude, but it doesn't really look like anypony's really enjoying themselves.” She waved her hoof around the barn, pointing out the droids who stood stoic as ever, the round table where the rest of their friends were engaged in light conversation, and the vacant patch of ground that had be reserved as a dace floor.
Pinkie spit her plate out and brought her hooves to her head in panic. The plate managed to land undamaged on the table Leet was patiently sitting near. “You're right, Dash! Oh, what should we do; what should we do! I can't have this party be a disappointment!”
“I had a feeling that the party would kind of fall apart,” admitted Rainbow Dash. She then pointed to the record player that sat by the empty dace floor. “It's a stretch, but maybe some different music would appeal to them. I've got something I think they might like at my house that could get if you'd like. It might be worth a shot.”
“Oh, yes, please, could you do that, Dash?” Pinkie nearly begged.
“If you don't mind me missing out on the nothing that's going on for a couple of minutes, sure.”
Pinkie squeed and pulled Rainbow into a tight hug. “Oh, thank you!” she managed to say before being pushed away by her friend.
“It's not a big deal, Pinkie. I'll be back in a minute.” Dash then exited the barn and zoomed for her cloud home.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Spy mumbled to himself as he slinked through the undergrowth of the forest that had been abruptly cut off by the presence of a dirt path. It was undeniable: Spy was miserable. Hungry and tired, he carefully made his way through the forest grime alongside the path, hoping to follow it to some sort of civilization; preferably one not sided with the CIS.
It had been approximately three hours since he had crashed and abandoned his speeder. Since then, he had only managed to get himself more lost and more frustrated. Reflecting back on his completely unwise decision to leave Victor squad behind and upon the Republic's crimes against him only fueled his frustration, lessening his awareness towards his surroundings, getting him more lost, and thus further frustrated. It was quite the unfortunate perpetual frustration generator.
The path had been a very welcome sign of progress. Whether it was progress towards his death or to his salvation he didn't know, but he ultimately didn't care. Any escape from his hopeless situation was hope in of itself.
His thoughts were halted when he saw something peculiar occurring in the sky. A short but blatantly obvious red streak was heading in his direction. Curious, he inched closer to the path, enough so that his view was unobstructed. At first glance, he had assumed it the trail of some sort of aerial probe. Upon zooming in on with his helmet's binoculars, though, he saw it for what it truly was: a winged horse.
Had he not already seen similar beings in the pictures he and Gore had scanned in Appleloosa, he'd have been more shocked by its existence. The trail following it, not revealed to be a rainbow and not just red, was a bit baffling, but he was not in the mood to question it.
He watched as the being flew near his position, zipping over the path. As fast as it had approached, it receded, heading towards a large cloud off in the distance that hadn't changed at all throughout the day. It flew behind the cloud, at which point Spy lost visuals on it.
Huh. Spy wasn't really in the mindset to think anything more of the event, and instead lay there and waited for several minutes to see if it would return. When it didn't he decided the coast was clear and continued his advance.
For several uneventful minutes afterward, Spy continued to follow the path. Finally, though, the path did something more interesting than go in a straight line. He rounded the bend and could see in the not so far off distance a settlement. He could see a tall tower-like structure surrounded my a few smaller houses, but not much else from that distance. More importantly, however, he saw on the other side of the path a bush riddled with bright blue dots. They could only be one thing: berries!
Excitedly, he lunged out from his cover in the underbrush, only to stop himself a moment after initiating the movement. He needed food, but he was still in hostile territory; the benefits of risking detection had to be extremely high, and he would have to move quickly and carefully to minimize the risk of getting caught.
A minute passed, and in that time, nothing changed. No ground forces were in sight, and the flying thing had yet to appear again; everything seemed clear. Taking the risk, Spy stood and bolted across the path, leaping into the brush on the other side. Making sure to cover himself as completely as possible with the forest vegetation, he greedily began to rip the berries off of the bush.
The bush was shown no mercy. Both his hands attacked it, grabbing every berry with easy access and tossing them into a growing pile atop his forearm clutched to his chest. Within a couple of minutes, the bush had been stripped of most of its fruit; none was visible at a glance, anyways. Satisfied, he stood and began to walk to the side of the path he had originally been on, opting to be careful to not drop his prize as opposed to being careful to not get caught.
He looked down to the pile that had grown about three inches tall and about a foot wide that was resting upon his folded arms. These might not even be safe to eat, he mused, uncharacteristically pessimistic. They looked like blueberries, but he couldn't be sure that they were. I could use Shy's egghead machine about now.
Without warning, something hit him from behind, producing a loud thunk as it impacted his armor. Not expecting the push, Spy lost his balance. He brought his arms out so as to catch himself, scattering berries all over the path in front of him. He was too slow, though, and landed hard on the dirt. And some berries.
“Ow, that hurt,” he heard a raspy voice groan from behind him. Forgetting his lost food, Spy quickly jumped to him knees, spun, and drew his pistol. Sitting on the path, rubbing its head where it had made contact, was the winged horse from earlier. When it turned its head up to look at Spy, it immediately noticed his weapon pointed its direction and began to fearfully back away.
“Don't move,” he ordered, and it stopped moving. There was a brief silence, and Spy took the opportunity to make some observations about the alien, sizing it up and trying to identify any vital weak points.
“Your face is different,” the small horse noted, confusing Spy slightly.
“Elaborate,” he commanded.
“You're a...you're a clone trooper, right?” it asked. Its wings tensed as if it were preparing to take flight.
“Yes,” he answered. “And I said don't move. State your name and affiliation.”
It gave him a questioning look. “Affiliation to what?” it asked.
“Republic or Separatist,” he clarified. “Clone or droid.”
“I'm Rainbow Dash,” the horse introduced itself as. “And, um, well, you see, I'm...” Dash stammered, getting nervous.
“You're with the droids, aren't you,” he surmised. Rainbow Dash looked about nervously, but didn't answer. “I'm Spy; well met. It's good for you that you're Sep, then. You'll make for good intel and a good hostage.”
“Hostage!?” Dash exclaimed, leaping into the air and backing off. “No; there's no way I'm letting you take me hostage.”
“Shame,” replied Spy with fake sadness. “I suppose that if you'll be no use to me, I'll have to make sure the Seps can't get any use out of you either.” He took closer aim. Simultaneously, his stomach growled loudly.
Rainbow dropped to the ground. “No, don't shoot,” she implored. “Listen, I was on my way to a party; why don't you come so we can maybe talk out an arrangement where you get your intel thing and I don't become a hostage.”
It's a trap. Nearby, he noticed a small boom box laying on the ground, likely dropped by Dash after she had flown into him. So maybe the party bit wasn't a lie, but he was certain of some sort of catch. “Will we encounter any droids?” he asked.
“No,” Dash answered hesitantly.
Alright, so there will be droids. His stomach rumbled again.
“There's, um, cake?” Dash offered.
Spy lowered his weapon. “Take me to this party,” he agreed. “I'm sure we'll work something out."
“Come on, Spy,” Dash commanded, annoyed by him taking cover behind one of the barn's corners, out of view of the door.
“I'm not sure I'm entirely okay with this idea after all,” he complained. He leaned around the corner, and upon seeing no droids, quickly leaned back behind cover.
“Ugh,” she groaned, flying next to Spy and pushing him towards the door. “Just get in there so we can get this discussion over with!”
“Alright, alright,” conceded Spy, taking a few steps towards the barn door. He stopped and turned to Rainbow Dash. “You've got friends in there, right?” Dash nodded in affirmation. “Then I want to make an entrance; good first impressions and all that jazz. Here's what we're gonna do,” he said, reaching to his grenade pouch and retrieving an EMP grenade. “This thing here,” he said, holding the grenade towards Rainbow Dash, “makes a really nice light show when it goes off. I'm going to set it on a timer. I want you to bring it inside, and when it goes off, I'll come in. It'll look awesome.”
“And how am I supposed to know you're not gonna run off while I do that?” she countered.
“And I thought you wanted me gone,” he chided. He then reached for his helmet and removed it. He held it towards Rainbow Dash, saying, “Well, if I leave, I won't be able to get this back, then, will I?”
“That's true,” admitted Dash, taking the helmet from Spy.
“So you'll do it?”
Dash sighed defeatedly. “Fine, but only because I'm late getting back here as it is and I don't want to delay further."
“Good,” said Spy. He tinkered with his grenade for a second before handing it to Dash. “Timer's set; get movin'.”
Items in hoof, she flew to the door, landing in front of it and shoving it open with her shoulder. When she stepped in, all of her friends looked her curiously, or more accurately, at the helmet and grenade she carried.
“Leet,” she said, addressing the droid that hadn't moved since she had left. “I ran into a clone on my way here; he's outside the barn if you want him. He handed me his helmet and this thing,” she held the grenade towards Leet, who took it, “but I don't know what it is. He said something about a light show-”
“EMP,” Leet proclaimed. The droids in the barn attempted to get as far away from the device as possible. Not a second after the droid's proclamation, it went of. A sphere of cackling electricity pulsed throughout the entirety of the barn. All eight droids were caught in the blast radius, their overpowered circuits sparking as they fried. The ordeal lasted only a couple of seconds, and in its wake, eight useless piles of scrap lay about the barn floor.
“Leet?” Pinkie asked sadly as Spy pushed his way through the barn door.
“Nothing like the smell of fried droid to lighten a depressed clone's spirits,” he said. All eyes went to him as he made his way towards the body of Leet. Only a couple of steps in, though, and Rainbow Dash was flying right in his face.
“What was that!? What did you do!?” she shouted.
“I did nothing,” he said calmly, stepping around her. “You had the grenade; these are your kills.”
Spy had made it to Leet's crumpled remains, where he crouched and grabbed onto his head.
“Kills?” both Pinkie and Rainbow asked simultaneously. “As in...dead?” Rainbow continued.
Spy unsheathed his knife. “Eeyup,” he confirmed. “I must say, getting eight with one droidpopper is a really difficult task. You should be proud. Though you did say we wouldn't be seeing any droids...” Without waiting for a response, he put the knife to Leet's neck and began slicing away at the wires keeping Leet's head on.
The shock of the scene had worn off on Applejack. She marched over to Spy. “You're one of them clone troopers Grievous is wantin' dead, ain'tcha?” she asked harshly.
Without stopping his task, Spy responded, saying, “Yeah, I am. You know the head clanker?” Leet's head finally detached, and he held it in front of him. Looking at it, he said, “I'll say nothing about the unintended but morbidly hilarious pun.”
“That's unimportant. What is important, though, is an explanation as to why y'all did this, else Ah might be inclined to collect on the handsome bounty he's put on you clones's heads.”
“A handsome bounty is befitting of a handsome clone, I suppose,” he said, rising to his feet. “I suppose I'll be taking my leave then.” He turned to Rainbow Dash, who was still furiously glaring at him. “Dash,” he ripped his helmet out of Rainbow's grip, then turned to the barns other occupants, “and friends; have a good day.” Turning, he pushed aside the barn door and left. After a couple of seconds, he peeked his head through the door again. “Oh, and I wouldn't eat that cake.” His head disappeared from sight, Spy having left for real this time.
Off to the side, Twilight shook her head furiously. “What just happened?”
“That bucker!” Rainbow cursed. “He used me to take out these droids! I'm going to hunt him down and turn him in.”
“Not alone you ain't,” said Applejack beside her. “Girls, why don't ya see if Big Mac'll escort y'all home while Dash and I track this nuisance down.” Nopony had any objections, and they left the barn as a group. Once outside, they could see Spy just passing the tree line.
“We'll bring 'im to justice,” Applejack assured the rest as she and Dash took off after the troublesome clone.
“Get him for Leet!” they could hear Pinkie call from behind then as they passed through the gate of Sweet Apple Acres and into the nearby forest.
Having successfully lost Rainbow Dash and her orange friend, and no longer having the energy to run due to his lack of nutrition, Spy slowed to a walk and continued to move away from the barn. Even though no droids were nearby and he doubted that Rainbow was pursuing, he still had his DC wielded, ready for if he was incorrect with his assumption.
He had met with surprising success. In the end, it seems that Rainbow's request had happened: he had collected his intel in the form of the commando droid's head and any data contained inside of it, along with the knowledge that the ponies and CIS were aligned, while Dash was free of becoming his hostage. Some cake would have been nice, though. Privately, he celebrated his victory, but as he trudged through the woods, he began to question. Why did I want this information? How does it help me to know this stuff?
He heard some rustling come from distantly behind him, along with the echos of a pair of voices, one of which sounded like Rainbow Dash's.
Was it necessary for me to do that and to do it so crudely? He picked up his pace slightly, being careful to be as quiet as possible. The rattling of the droid's head in the helmet held upside down in the crux of his arm wasn't helping. He could hear his pursuers getting closer.
I have no need of this. It's for an assignment I no longer wish to complete. Boss man would make use of it, but I don't serve the Republic any longer. His decision was made. He came to a halt near a sizable bush. He set his helmet down a few feet in front of the bush, and then hid himself behind it. The DC he had equipped was swapped out for his pistol. The trap was set and his plan in motion; all there was left to do was wait.
It wasn't long before his pursuers, undoubtedly Rainbow Dash and her orange friend, by the sounds of their voices, had come upon his helmet. “That's peculiar,” he heard the orange one say warily.
“He seemed to really like his helmet,” Rainbow said to her friend. “I doubt he would just abandon it like that; it's probably a trap. Be on your guard, Applejack.”
“Gotcha,” Applejack acknowledged, walking straight for the bush that Spy was concealed behind. Her orange hoof poked through the bush, nearly striking Spy's unguarded face, and pushed the foliage aside, revealing the waiting clone.
“Dash!” she managed to exclaim before being pounced on by Spy and promptly pinned. He kept his pistol away from her, though, instead keeping it pointed to the sky.
“Quite astute of you to realize that this was a trap, Dash,” he complimented, turning his head to her.
Beneath Spy, Applejack struggled to escape his grasp. “Let her go!” Dash demanded.
“You're not quite in the position to be making demands,” Spy said, twirling his weapon around for emphasis. “I'm really not interested in using this, and if you'll just hear me out, I think we'll come to a resolution that'll be beneficial to us all.”
Looking at Dash, he could see that she was tense. Her wings were flapping heavily, and she was likely preparing herself to lunge at him as opposed to listen. To deter her, he pointed his weapon at Applejack. “Please, just listen.”
“Just don't hurt Applejack,” she said, dropping to the ground.
“Thank you. Now, if I were to guess that you followed me in here to capture me and bring me to the droids, would I be correct?”
“Yes, and that option sounds really good 'bout now,” came Applejack's muffled reply.
Spy let some pressure off of Applejack. “Then please note that I am willing to go peacefully, as long as you can assure me that I will not be harmed by anyone.”
Rainbow was certainly not expecting to hear that. “So you'll just...go? Resistance free?”
“So long as you can ensure I'll not be harmed, yes,” he repeated. “Of course, I'm not willing to just walk into an area highly concentrated with droids without them first knowing that I'm there to be taken into custody. Dash, find a droid and let them know of my offer. Lead a small group here to take me, and Applejack here will be left unharmed. Deal?”
“How do I know you won't hurt AJ while I'm gone, huh?”
Finally, Spy let Applejack free, but kept his weapon aimed at her. “Because she's my hostage. It doesn't make sense to damage your bargaining tool.”
“If Ah'm your hostage, why'd ya let me go?” Applejack asked, dusting herself.
“Just a courtesy,” Spy replied. “But don't try running; I'm willing to shoot.”
Applejack sighed and turned towards Dash. “Do it. If he wanted ta get rid of us, he had plenty'a time just now to do so. I think I'll be fine when ya get back.”
“Alright,” Rainbow agreed. “I'll be quick.” And she was, zooming up through the trees and out of sight in the blink of an eye.
Spy sat down, crossing his legs and sitting a few feet away from his hostage, whose gaze was focused on the weapon he still had pointed at her. “Ya don't be needin' ta point that at me. Ah ain't gonna run; I'm true to my word.”
Complying, Spy rested the pistol in his lap. “And I'm true to mine; run, and I shoot.” After that, silence pervaded the two of them for a long while, Spy questioning the wisdom of his decision while Applejack still tried to figure out what exactly had happened to get her where she was.
“So ya fight for the Republic?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.
“Not anymore. There was a startling revelation that drove me away from them. Hopefully I'll be able to prove that to someone and not get killed for being a clone.”
“What exactly is the Republic?” inquired Applejack.
“You don't know?” he asked, slightly stunned. “You're sided with the Seps, but don't even know what the Republic is? Man, has Grievous tricked and manipulated you.”
“Whaddya mean? Are you sayin' that Grievous is a bad guy or somethin'?”
Spy allowed himself a minute to word his response before answering. “I don't know Grievous too well, but considering that we were on opposite sides of the conflict, I think my biased answer would be that yes, he's bad. But so is the entire CIS; they're corrupt and evil. The Republic’s not perfect, though, as they use clones like me, but at least they don't assassinate their own representatives.”
“The CIS...they really do that...that ain't good at all.”
The clone gave her a curious look. “You're not even going to question the legitimacy of my claim?”
“Ah know honesty when Ah see it. However much Ah dislike what ya've done since arriving, Ah can't deny that what you've said is true...or, at least true to you.”
“Thanks, I guess?”
Before their conversation could continue, Rainbow Dash made a reappearance, landing between Spy and Applejack. “The droids have agreed to not hurt you. Somehow, Princess Celestia has been notified of you and wishes to speak with you,” she said.
“Excellent,” replied Spy. He began to remove his weaponry, tossing his small armaments into his helmet. Everything except for his DC fit. “Hold on to this,” he said, handing the filled helmet to Rainbow Dash. After dumping his DC onto Applejack, the three of them made their way out of the forest.
“A train's apparently being arranged to take you to Canterlot right now,” continued Rainbow Dash. “And, well...since I found you, she wants me to come along.”
“Terrific; it'll be a great bonding experience,” he said sarcastically as they neared the edge of the tree line. He could see a couple of droids waiting for him beyond the edge of the forest. “Go ahead and turn in my equipment; make sure they know I'm unarmed.”
The ponies did as requested, leading a few paces in front of the captive clone. As soon as he had broken free the trees, four battle droids approached with raised weapons while another came behind with binders and bound his hands together behind his back. “You are to be escorted to entity: Ponyville train station to confront entity: Princess Celestia,” the droid that applied the binders began. “You are to not ask questions and obey any given commands. Noncompliance will result in execution.”
“Sounds good,” said Spy. “Just one question: can we get going?”
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WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!
2693866 And look, you got first comment, just like you wanted
2693876 I hope the next chapter dosent take as long............... *BLRRRRRRPT* Twilight? Twilight: heh heh excuse me..........
I'm on the clones side. Not the republic or the CIS, but Victor squads side now.
I'm also hoping Spy doesn't get shot in the face. Or anywhere, really.
Good chapter. I like it.
Finally
Hmm Spy really thinks not this much without food huh?Good thing XD
A notice to all members of Dark Aeon:
Grab your TR-16's. The Wendigo Protocol is in effect. Watch, wait for the signal. Fire at first sign of betrayal from CIS. Agent Switch, attempt to locate a clone. Extract information. Luna Nobis Providet.
- General Solaris
To those thinking WTF is going on, I am referencing This Story
Quality fic it is.
Definitely deserves upvote.
2730422 Thank you very much
.
Does anyone know next time this fic updates?
2905230 I'll be updating after a short list of things happens. First, I've gotta get of vacation. Secondly, I need to find myself a proof reader, as my current one will be unable to continue assisting. Thirdly, I have to actually write it. I hope that all that doesn't take too long, but I can't give you a definitive answer as to when it'll update.
Hey I really enjoy this story. One question though: Spy says to Applejack "The Republic’s not perfect, but at least they don't assassinate their own representatives...or use clones.” What does he mean by the last part?
4168280
Typically separatist leaders who pushed for negotiations to end the war tended to either be killed in “Clone” attacks or just disappear