There she lay. Flat on her back. Every bone and muscle in her body felt as though it had been nailed to a bed of hot coals. Consciousness was finding and eluding her grasp, as if to tease her with the promise of life. Her eyes opened, closed then opened yet again, attempting in vain to view the prison she had for so long been besieged in. Slowly, she rolled onto her left side. Sharp stings of pain raced through each of her bones as she moved them. Her thin, light blue skin was pierced by hundreds of wooden splinters forcing their way into her left arm as she tried desperately to push herself into a standing position. The struggle was immensely painful and by no means worth the misery that plagued her. She gave up hope, released the pressure in her left arm and fell back down to the ground, pushing the splinters deeper inside of her frail, beaten body. Her eyes slowly opened, revealing to her a plethora of blurry, incomprehensible sights. Using all of the miniscule quantities of energy left in her body, she blinked several times over the course of 5 seconds and found herself gazing at a red wooden wall, painted a darker shade of red by blood. Her interests piqued, she gingerly turned her neck 90 degrees and caught a glimpse of a pleasant surprise.
She spotted a doorway that lead outside to a square courtyard. There were two staircases that lead downwards to an area that she couldn’t see. In the far right corner, there was a tunnel that also lead down into a mysterious place that wasn’t plainly visible. A mine, perhaps? She hadn’t the time to find out. She couldn’t keep straining her neck for more than a couple of seconds, so she returned it to neutral.
She diverted her gaze slowly down to the very spot where she was laying. The wooden floor underneath her was stained a deep shade of crimson. The color being provided from a flesh wound, 6 inches in length to the right of her spine extending from her lower to middle back.
Her thoughts began racing, as did her heart. She remembered their screams. Their cries of agony. The tears of water racing from their eyes and the tears of blood racing from every other part of their body. She remembered the beauty of the night sky tainted by the blinding light of gunfire and the sorrowful song played by Death sharpening its sickle. The voices. Their voices. She remembered them ever so clearly.
“We needa’ get her outta’ here, Soldier!”
“Take her, Scout! Get her to safety and make an old man proud!”
They sacrificed their very lives to save hers. But why? She was no soldier. No elite military operative. She hadn’t even the slightest clue as to what horrid method of transport conveyed her to this Celestia-forsaken landmark of death and misery. She clenched her eyes and teeth tightly, suppressing panic-stricken tears and screams. Too inevitable seemed her death to concern her with the intense pain she felt both physically and mentally.
What if their poor souls had all been eliminated completely? She would have been the catalyst. She could never live with herself knowing that. She lay crying in her exclusive silence. All that could be done in her power was waiting. Hoping. Hoping that somebody was still alive. Hoping that Celestia’s deliverance would rescue her from this torment. She wanted nothing more than to leave this place, where and whatever it was. Without the willpower or physical strength to control any voluntary muscles, she was vulnerable to even the weakest of hostile forces, whatever they may be. She thought, perhaps, that if she could overcome the bleeding agony of her bruised, beaten appendages, she may be able to take to the skies and escape. Although, one significant concern lay in her head. To where would she fly? She knew not her ultimate destination, nor did she care. It wouldn’t be her current locale, and that would be the only important matter. Quickly, hopefully, she continued to roll onto her stomach in order to utilize her wings. Small beads of sweat trickled down her forehead as she braced herself for a swift takeoff. Rather than a glorious journey to freedom, however, her attempt to soar into the spotless skies of the wild blue yonder resulted in a very audible crack, and albeit this was strictly confined to her, the torturous throb of several joints in her wing separating. Although it was the exact opposite of what she thought would be ideal for survival in a situation similar to this one, she uttered a loud, high pitched yelp.
She closed her mouth immediately, hoping that she hadn’t attracted the attention of anybody around, if there were such people. Another wave of intense pain, this time concentrated in her wings consumed a piece of her mind. As she tried exceptionally powerfully to stop the oncoming of screams, or at least sobbing, a third flow of tears set in, flooding her eyes. What was important, however, was that no one was heard. The stress was beginning to impact her. Not simply in her mental state, but in her vital signs as well. Her heartbeat slowed to only 10 or so beats per minute. Her world spun. The dizziness was driving her insane. She closed her eyes, and felt peace. A warm, bright, white light washed over her body.
“Finally…” she thought. “She’s come to take me.” Oh, but how wrong she was. Her peace in death was interrupted by the ear-splitting noises of heavy machinery. A large, rectangular metal door that she had not previously noticed opened up in front of her. The door was slow, but it was opening nonetheless. As it contracted upwards into the ceiling it began to reveal feet. Human feet. Her heart rate shot back up to a solid 60 beats per minute, and her vision stabilized. She saw a scrawny teenage boy holding a baseball bat when the door opened entirely.
“’ey, fellas!” He yelled, not taking his eyes off of her. “Looks like our company’s still here!”
“We didn’t think that you was gonna make it!” Continued the boy, in an uncomfortably gleeful tone of voice. He looked and sounded very informally educated, and spoke in an accent similar to that of a Bostonian or a New Yorker. His hands were bandaged, and he was wearing a brown softcap with a yellow headset wrapped around it. A red t-shirt, slightly darker than the color of the building, fitting tightly around his torso was tucked into a pair of caramel colored khaki pants with a belt fit snugly around his waist. Around his neck dangled a pair of dogtags. One was inscribed ‘Scout’ the other, ‘Bonk!’ His socks were pulled up to his mid-ankle and his pant legs were tucked into the socks. His feet were adorned with what looked like very old, worn out, black running shoes. His entire frame was very small, and he couldn’t have been more than 5’5”. The baseball bat that was propped up against his shoulder was a shiny silver color, and had a massive dent. “Let’s get’cha in here, you don’t look like you’re doing too hot.” The boy walked over to her and picked her up by the arms. He carefully dragged her into the room where 6 other men were resting soundly in beds. Strange, seeing that 9 beds were present in the small white room.
“Lookie what we’ve got here, guys!” Shouted the boy again. “She’s alive!” One of the other men awoke, rubbing his tired eyes. He began to open his mouth and she heard the rasping voice mutter something in a distinctly American accent.
“Scout, what are you-“ The man ceased his speaking and directed his undivided attention towards her. “There’s no possible way…” He whispered.
“Whaddaya think we oughta’ do with her?” Queried the boy in his ordinary, vociferous tone of voice. The commotion had begun to stir up several of the other men. They arose from their beds and repeated the actions of the first man who awoke from his slumber.
“If she survived that mess, she’s bound to be a valiant member of our team.” Replied the man.
As the other men became enlightened on the situation, they began shrouding her in an invisible cloud of praise and good cheer. Their ethnicities and more noticeably their accents varied, one was French, another German, a Russian and even an Australian individual were present.
“She’s gonna need a name…” The boy pointed out. “How about something like… Scout Jr! Likin’ that one!” The boy let out a lengthy chuckle.
She finally mustered the courage to do it.
“Name’s Rainbow. Rainbow Dash.” Every awakened soul in the room halted their activities and jolted their heads towards her in an instant; dumbfounded that she was able to speak. “What’s the matter? Never seen a talking pony before?” Rainbow smiled and gave a quiet laugh.
The first to break out of his stupor and reply was the Australian. “No. No, I can’t say I have. Can’t say I’ve killed one either.” He picked up a rifle that was mounted on the wall at the head of his cot. Mounted on the gun was a massive telescopic scope, its crystal clear lenses reflecting a vision of Rainbow’s towards her. Rainbow assumed that the weapon was purely decoration right up until the moment that she was gazing straight down the barrel of it.
“Sniper!” Yelled the large American man. “What in God’s name do you think you’re doing? You can’t kill this thing! It’s one of us now!”
The Australian’s expression was a puzzled one for a moment, though he soon took on a look of annoyance as he stared down the American.
“Yeah…” He said. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He mounted his rifle upon the wall once more. “Look, mate, I’m sorry about that little incident. It’s just that I’m an assassin, and if there’s any time where I couldn’t feel more like puttin’ a bullet through some poor stork’s head, it’s when I wake up in the mornin’.”
Rainbow merely smiled contentedly at him and snuck a quick wink at the stocky man. The Frenchman was the next to chime in.
“Oh, Sniper, you brute. You never cease to confound me with your murderous ways.” The Frenchman let out a laugh that quickly became a series of humorous snorts.
“DUMMKOPFS!” The German was the next to speak up. “You are confusing this poor creature! Do you think it has any idea what’s going on?” He asked sternly.
“That reminds me!” The Sniper perked up once more. “You could go for some introductions, couldn’t you? We don’t go by names ‘round here. That’s classified information. You can call me Sniper.”
“Nice to meet you.” Rainbow told him. “You must be Scout.” She pointed to the small boy who carried her into the room.
“Yea, how’d you know?” Scout asked, cocking his head to the right and raising one eyebrow. Rainbow pointed at Scout’s chest indicating his dogtags. “Aw, you saw these babies? I’ve had these since I was a boy…” Scout let out a sigh, and smiled. He murmured to himself.
“She said I’d never make it. That I’d never do anything with myself. Haha… WELL LOOK AT ME, MA! HOW D’YA LIKE ME NOW? Scout swung his baseball bat with colossal force, nearly walloping Rainbow right in the snout. He tore down the hallway with the speed of a hurricane, disappearing from eyeshot.
“Don’t worry about him.” Said the Sniper. “He does this a lot. Anyway, back to the rest of us. That crazy old kook over there’s the Spy.” The corners of Sniper’s mouth rose up into a friendly smile directed at the Frenchman who was presently removing a red striped suit from a small locker.
“Charmed, I’m sure.” Retorted the Spy.
“The bulky guy’s the Soldier.” Sniper acknowledged the man who had formerly questioned Scout about Rainbow’s still-living vivacity.
“Then you’ve got those two mugs over there.” Sniper continued hurling friendly insults as he pointed to the large bald man and the German. “The big Russian fella’s the Heavy Weapons Guy, and we call the German ‘Medic’. Sniper leaned over next to Rainbow and whispered. “Couldn’t pull those two apart with a crowbar.”
As if on queue, Scout returned from his run; His face as red as his apparel and his breaths as deep as the ocean. “You guys get finished with the orientation?” Scout asked.
“We got all the names.” Sniper told him.
“Aw, but you didn’t tell her how this whole deal started did ya’?” Scout asked.
“I was about to ask.” Said Rainbow.
“Listen here, kiddo.” The Scout knelt down next to Rainbow, placing his arm around her shoulder.
“Waaaay back in 1903, when the United States first got control over the Panama Canal, there was two companies working on it. There was the BLU company, short for ‘Builder’s League United’ and there was the RED company or ‘Reliable Excavation and Demolition.’” Now, we was just blowin’ up a couple of rocks, no big deal, until some of the dummies over at the BLU company decided that it’d be funny to get in our way. We blew up a couple sticks of dynamite, and let’s just say that some of the BLU workers couldn’t get out of the way in time, and they died pretty quick. BLU’s bosses seemed pretty calm about it, until we realized that they was plannin’ an attack on us. So we rounded up some of our finest workers, armed them, and turned them into heartless mercenaries. That’s how the Team Fortresses got started. There’s buildings like this all over the country. Thing is, this is our second big fight with the BLU company. The first one didn’t work out so well. Some of our less skilled fighters got a hold of a couple of the explosives. There went our shelter. So, we like to call ourselves The Stupendous Second, because we’re awesome the second time around, too.”
“Oh, please.” Mocked the Spy “Anything could be thought of as stupendous after that miserable failure.”
Rainbow was more than confused at this point. “United States? Panama Canal? They never had that stuff where I came from. Then again, I’m not sure where I came from at all anymore.”
“You sound like you could use some rest, girly.” The Scout offered her a cot to lie down on and get some well-deserved rest. “Why don’t you take Engineer’s old bed? We’ll handle our business, you handle yours. Deal?”
“Deal.” Rainbow agreed almost immediately. The very idea of rest made her head spin with delight. She trotted over to the bed closest to the iron door and laid down. Her eyelids shut as if they too were made of metal, and sleep washed over her body like a tidal wave. Numerous hours passed. It was only mid-morning when she had fallen asleep, and she continued until deep in the night, dreaming vividly throughout the whole experience. A particularly memorable vision was of her friends. Her old friends, from her old town in her old world. No death, no pain, no suffering. Perfect. She saw their bright, affectionate faces smiling at her. Telling her stories of what had happened to them that day. She remembered her home in majestic Cloudsdale, the city that towered tall above the rest of Equestria. She was content to be present there; Even in a dream. The experience was short-lived, however. Her nostalgic fantasy was interrupted by the ever-present ring of gunfire and alarms. The door was closed tightly at this point, so she could tell by Scout’s strained moans in an effort to open it.
“Hey, Rainbow, get out here! We need’ja!”
Rainbow dismounted from her cot and lifted open the door with surprising ease.
“It locks from the inside.” Scout said as he smiled, humiliated. He was carrying his dented bat, but slung around his shoulder was a double barreled shotgun. The barrels were miniscule, as was the stock, but it looked as though it could do some damage. “We don’t got a lot of time. Take this.” Scout handed her the baseball bat. “You’re gonna be runnin’ over to the BLU building. If you see anyone dressed in blue, let loose on ‘em. Don’t hold back. When you get there, look for a room with a big blue briefcase in it. If you find it, grab it and scram. You don’t want any of them catching you when you’re carrying that thing. Got it?”
Rainbow nodded confidently. “You can count on me!” She mimicked an attitude taken on by a more confident individual, and she was actually quite nervous, but she was ready to be acknowledged as a heroine, or die trying.
Rainbow bolted outside, racing around until she found the fight. It wasn’t difficult to locate, but she hesitated slightly, thinking her decision over. She made her appearance on the battlefield, seeing it for what had might as well have been the first time. The BLU building looked identical to the RED one, only it was a light shade of turquoise, similar to her skin. The two buildings were separated by a 50 or so foot long bridge, with a roof similar to that of a gazebo one might see at a park. The bridge wasn’t very wide, and on either side of it was a deep pit with no visible bottom. The sky was dark, lit only by the small crescent of the moon and the surrounding stars. Rainbow gazed at it for a moment, but her attention was redirected to the fight as a large man, dressed in blue, spun up the barrels of a massive minigun. Rainbow’s fight-or-flight instinct kicked into effect, and caused her to disregard Scout’s directions completely. Rainbow swan dove into the pit, for what may have been the most nerve-racking seconds of her life. Her fears of plummeting to her death, however, were nullified. Her hooves hit the water, followed by her head, and then the rest of her body was immersed in the cold, aqueous abyss. She rose to the surface, inhaled and exhaled several times and surveyed her surroundings. It seemed an inescapable location, but something caught Rainbow’s eye. A small, neon blue sign reading ‘INTELLIGENCE’ was placed above a tunnel entrance.
“Jackpot.”
She swam quickly towards the tunnel, and stepped in. She navigated the shallow water trail through a small maze of twists and turns, until she finally led herself to a staircase. It had only a few steps, but Rainbow ascended it regardless. If it would lead her to her objective, she’d might as well try. The apex of the staircase displayed to her a wide room, passageways extending from each of the walls. She stepped forwards, made a hasty decision, and chose the path closest to her; the one on the left wall. The battle was still raging outside; it could be heard very clearly. Rainbow tried in vain to deter the sounds from entering her ears. They were more than her mind could handle right now. She continued gradually down the hall until she entered into a courtyard that looked similar to, nay, identical to the courtyard in RED’s base, with the exception of the wood color. Another sign read ‘INTELLIGENCE’, this time on the tunnel which she had before assumed led into a mine. She was determined to put the room out of its use.
Fast on her feet, and nimble as a mouse, Rainbow Dash crept into the intelligence room, expecting no resistance. Her entry, however, was greeted with a BLU Pyro’s gas mask. Obeying Scout’s instructions this time, Rainbow swung the bat viciously at the Pyro’s head. The sound of the bat’s cold steel coming into contact with the mask was an unpleasant one, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It stumbled over, and fell down, presumably lifeless. It mumbled some nonsense, before turning completely. Rainbow was going to feel bad, but she had to do what she had to do. Suddenly, a loud noise, comparable to that of a thunderstorm, startled her. She jerked her neck behind her in order to pinpoint the sound to an object. A rather svelte individual wearing a blue striped suit, similar to that of the Spy on RED team was the culprit.
“Pyro…” His accent was French as well. “You… MONSTER! You’ll pay for this!” The man drew a revolver from his back pocket. Before he had time to pull the trigger, Rainbow grabbed a hold of his forearm, spun around 270 degrees towards him, and without letting go of his arm, brought her elbow down upon his. A violent cracking noise was emitted from the man’s arm, and he watched in agony as his forearm dangled helplessly, disconnected from the rest of the appendage. Without a second thought, Rainbow grabbed the behemoth of a weapon that the Pyro was carrying. She pointed it towards the suited man and pulled the trigger, knowing not the results. She held the trigger down as a stream of flaming hot pyre spewed from the barrel of the monstrosity. The man had no time to scream. Before he knew it, his life had met its end.
Rainbow breathed deeply, contemplating the acts she had just performed. She cleared her conscience, knowing that she had done what was best for her team, even if they weren’t the most morally stable individuals in existence. She left Scout’s bat where it lay for the moment, she had a task to complete. She carried the flamethrower into the room labeled ‘INTELLIGENCE’. As she approached, she noted a noise coming from inside the room. It was a beeping sound, consistently sounding once every few seconds. She stepped around a corner into the room, and there it was. Not the briefcase, but the atrocity guarding it. It appeared to be a gun with two barrels, each the same size of the one that had been aimed at Rainbow before she jumped into the water. Above those was mounted a rectangular vessel housing what appeared to be, to Rainbow’s horror, 4 rockets. The machine was mounted atop a tripod. It took aim at Rainbow, and sent loose its accumulation of rockets. Rainbow's eyes widened.
This was the end of the road. Time slowed, giving her time to contemplate what was about to happen. If she was going to die, it would be like a heroine. She had promised herself this. She brought forth the flamethrower and pulled the trigger, expecting to cast fire out upon the room, ensuring that her death would at least look grand. Instead, as she pulled the trigger, her hoof slipped. The weapon belched forth a massive blast of air, pushing the rockets away with its sheer force. Rainbow lost her balance, and fell over backwards. She was deafened by the sound of the rockets blowing to bits the heavy machinery that had nearly ended her life. She shook off the dizziness, but nothing could tame her raging heart; it was beating dangerously fast, and Rainbow felt as though it may jump out of her chest and bounce away if she wasn’t careful. She stood up again, and looked past the wreckage and debris. There it was. The grand prize, so to speak, of her terrifying journey. A large blue briefcase sat atop a desk. Rainbow walked silently over to the case, hoisted it over her shoulder and walked away. On her way out, she dropped the flamethrower, and retrieved Scout’s baseball bat. She retraced her steps out of the now wrecked fortress. As she neared the outdoor exit, she noted that the fighting had ceased. Even though she hardly knew these people, she hoped deep inside of her loving heart that none of them had gotten hurt. She inhaled deeply, smelling the fresh air. She flapped her wings, which at this point were fully-functioning, and took off towards RED’s base. All was peaceful until gunshots began to ring out. Multiple tracer rounds whirred past Rainbow’s body. She flew faster, nearly landing at her base when a round clipped her wing. She screamed out in pain, but with the incentive to safely return the briefcase to the RED team, she crawled quickly up to the where the iron door should have been. It was there, but it was wide open, and all of RED’s members stood there. They looked at her for a moment, and broke out in applause. Cheers from all of them flooded Rainbow’s ears, and she loved it.
“Come here, you magnificent bastard, you!” Soldier grabbed Rainbow, removed the briefcase from her back, and laid it down on a table.
“How’d I do?” Asked Rainbow, curious. She didn’t know if BLU’s base was infiltrated regularly or not.
“You were outstanding!” Exclaimed the Soldier.
“Now let’s see what’s in this case.”
