REDEMPTION

"WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE THINGS?"

"They look like something those kooks at the labs have been working on."

"Did some dumbass in Genetics leave the cage open again?"

They were forced down the hallway of a large, concrete complex. The dim lights made it difficult to see, but at least the lighting in here was better than outside in the forest - though looking around, Twilight found herself longing for the darkness. The way these humans were staring at them - some looks were of confusion, some were of intrigue, but no matter what they were, Twilight could feel the evil emminating off of some of these humans.

They were pushed into a large cage, like a prison cell; the door was locked behind them. She shook her entire body, like a dog shaking off water, and took a look around. Like the rest of the complex, this room was made of dull gray concrete, the bars of solid steel. There was a slight buzzing sound coming from the bars - Twilight had no idea what that noise was, and she wasn't willing to touch the bars to find out. There was a rather uncomfortable looking cot on the far wall, and opposite that there was a hole in the ground - too small for them to squeeze through. Standing in the back of the room, arms crossed, was Vegeta, and Goku was sitting on the cot.

"Goku! Vegeta! We were wondering what happened to you guys!"

"Well now you know, furball," Vegeta said. He pushed off of the wall, keeping his arms crossed. "Those bastards jumped us. We couldn't react in time and got brought to this place."

"Well, at least you're both still okay," Fluttershy said, smiling sweetly at Vegeta.

"Except my pride."

"Why not just break out of here?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You guys are tough enough. Just rip out those bars and go all Super on these dorks!"

"We tried that, Rainbow," Goku replied. "But the bars are electrified. And it really stings."

Twilight stared at Goku for a moment, wondering if she should belive him. She turned to the bars and slowly, carefully, reached out to them with her hoof.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Goku warned.

Twilight could feel the fur on her leg standing on end as her hoof neared the bars. She hesitated for a second, before placing her hoof against the metal.

A sharp pain racked her body, a pain she hadn't felt since Sephiroth had used his Thundaga magic on her. She screamed in agony as she tried to pull her leg away from the bars, the electricity surging through her entire body, head to hoof, nose to tail. She felt like her eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets.

She finally managed to pull away from the bars, her fur standing on end, making her look like a purple puff ball, and the residual pain of the electric shock coursing through her body and down to her hooves.

"Are you okay, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked, her voice full of worry.

Twilight took a few deep breaths, slowing down her heart beat. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm okay," she said after a moment, still breathing heavily. "That was a stupid, stupid idea!"

"Well, at least it didn't really hurt you," Isaac said.

"Isaac, you're not the one who touched it, you didn't feel the pain. I did. It really, REALLY hurt."

"It looks like it hurt your fur more than anything, darling," Rarity said, looking on with horror at the way Twilight's fur was sticking up. Her horn began to glow with her typical light blue aura. "Here, let me fix that for you." The magical aura surrounded Twilight, straightening out her fur and fixing the hair on her mane and tail, putting everything back the way it had been before. "There we go. Good as new. And don't listen to them about the electricity not hurting so much. I understand completely what you're going through." She put a hoof to her chest. "I can still remember the burning sensation of that electric prod Megatron kept sticking me with."

"Okay, okay, we all know that touching the bars is a bad idea," Rainbow Dash said. "But what are they going to do with us? Are they gonna come in here looking for a fight?" She reared up on her hind legs and started shadow boxing. "Because I wouldn't mind teaching these goons a thing or two about horse fu."

"They're probably going to finish killing off the last of the Saiyans," Vegeta said. "That means me, Kakarot, and Isaac. I don't know about Doris, and as for the six of you - they're most likely going to cut you open, see what makes you tick."

"Why would they want to see what makes us tick?" Pinkie Pie asked. "We're not clocks."

Vegeta ignored her. "I imagine that in a few hours at least one of you will be on the slab like a frog in biology class."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-w-what?" Fluttershy stammered.

"Ugh, they would dare to do something so horrible?" Rarity cried. "It was bad enough when Knock Out almost did so; I certainly don't want any of these ruffians getting any blood on my fur and my mane."

"Do you really think they give two shits about that?" Vegeta growled. "They don't. To them, you're nothing but animals, animals they'd never seen before. And when a human wants to learn about something he's never seen before, he cuts it open. They'll probably start with one of the unicorns, or maybe the pegasi. Either way, it's not going to be pretty."

"How about you say something motivational," Rainbow Dash snapped. "Or better yet, just blow this whole joint up! There's nothing stopping you from doing to this place what you did to Discord."

One of the soldiers standing guard turned to look into the cell. "Hey! Shut up in there! Freaks."

#####################################

"Freaks."

That was the only word Deon had to describe those multicolored horses - freaks. Purple, orange, blue, white, yellow, pink; those were not natural colors for horses. Okay, maybe orange, yellow, and white, but when was the last time anyone saw a purple horse? Or a pink horse or a blue horse, for that matter? When was the last time anyone saw an actual unicorn or a pegasus? When was the last time a horse began talking like a human being? It didn't make any sense to him. They were just animals - albeit animals that looked like they'd jumped out of a little kid's Saturday morning cartoon - and they shouldn't be able to talk like that. Stomping their hooves on the ground to count is one thing, but to actually hear words coming from their mouths -

It's just weird. And it kind of freaks me out.

"What's, that, D?"

Specialist Richard Applegate was standing guard at the cell along with Deon. Deon liked Richard; despite having been forced to join the armies of the One World Nation like so many other people, he took everything in stride, always smiling and always having something funny to say.

"Those horses, Richard," Deon replied. "Freaking me out with their bright colors and their cutesy looks. And the fact that they talk."

"Well, I don't know if they freak me out," Richard said. "But I'll agree with you on the cutesy thing."

"You would. But I wouldn't look at them too long if I were you. You might end up having a heart attack from cuteness overload."

"Screw that; if I'm gonna die from cuteness overload, I'd rather they give me diabetes."

"You'll be getting that either way, as many sweets as you eat."

"Hey, to be fair, I only had ONE Twinkie at lunchtime."

Deon heard his radio beep. He pressed the reviever and spoke into it. "This is Private Stine."

"Private, it's Captain Winters. Is Sergeant Jameson with you at the moment?"

"No sir, he's not, but I'll have him go see you as soon as I see him."

"Thanks, Private."

"No problem, Captain." He turned off his radio. "Wonder why the cap needs to see Colin?"

"Probably because one of the humans in there is his sister," Richard guessed. He glanced into the cell. "She's kind of cute."

"If he finds out you've been eyeing his sister, he'll tear your head off and shove it up your ass."

"Wait, whose head am I shoving up their ass?"

Colin was walking towards them, his weapon slung over his shoulder in a very casual manner.

"Oh. Sergeant, Captain Winters wants to see you."

"What? Why?"

"He wouldn't say," Deon replied. "He just wants to see you."

Colin sighed. He had been hoping to get to talk to his sister again, to try to clear things up. "Okay, fine. Just keep an eye on things, okay fellas?"

"You got it, Sergeant," Richard said.

"While you're gone, Sergeant, you think you can get us some muzzles for those horses?" Deon asked, pointing into the cell with his thumb. "They won't stop yapping. It's kind of creeping me out."

"I'll see what I can do."

He walked down the hallway, his thoughts once again going back to his sister. He so desperately wanted to talk to her, to tell her just how sorry he was for killing their entire family. If only she would give him the chance, she would see the guilt and regret he'd been living with for over five years. It didn't help that, before they all came through that portal to get to this place - the coordinates Isaac had put in were still locked - he was starting to think that she might be dead. But now that he knew she was still alive...

There's just got to be a way to make her understand.

He walked through a door, into the offices and personal chambers of the commanding officers. Slowly, he made his way to Captiain Samuel Winters's office. Taking a deep breath, he raised his fist and lightly knocked on the door.

"Come on in."

Colin slowly pushed the door open and closed it behind him, snapping a crisp salute as soon as the door was shut.

"I was told you wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes I did, Sergeant," Captain Winters said. He was a tall, mildly muscular man, standing at around five-foot-eleven. His black hair was neatly trimmed and graying at the temples. The sunglasses he usually wore were hooked to the collar of his undershirt. Like all the other soldiers here, he was wearing the typical army uniform - gray and black camouflage, brown boots, and a patrol cap. His office was decorated with pictures of his family - a wife and three kids - with dates underneath each person; dates that Colin knew were the days that they died. There was a calendar on the far wall and a laptop computer opened on the desk.

"There's no need to be so formal, Sergeant," he said. "Go ahead and relax; this little chat of ours isn't going into any records."

Colin loosened up, sagging his shoulders back to their natural positions. "If I may, sir, why'd you want to see me?"

"Blunt as always," Winters said. "You know, that's one things I always liked about you." He took a quick look at his computer. "Well, wherever we are, we don't have internet access." He closed the laptop and sat down in a chair. He gestured to another chair. "Please, sit."

"If it's all the same to you, sir, I'd rather stand."

"Suit yourself. So, Sergeant - okay, forget that, let's go with a first-name basis - Colin, I understand that one of the people your squad took was your younger sister?"

"Yes sir, that's right."

"I'm certain you'd rather her not suffere the same fate as the rest of your family - "

"Sir, if you're trying to blackmail me - "

"Relax, that's not what I'm going for. I might be able to help you see that she gets set free. I've got friends in the chain of command, I can get a few strings pulled."

"And what about the others - Isaac and those...ponies?"

"Well, the Alten boys already got what they need from Isaac. As for those 'ponies', as you call them well...I'm sorry to say that I doubt they'll let them go."

"Why not?"

"Well, it's not every day you see a unicorn or a pegasus, let alone one that can talk."

"How'd they - "

"Someone in your squad spread the word, and you know how quickly word gets around. The science boys want to take a good look at them."

"And let me guess. That means cutting them open."

"Isn't that how people make new discoveries?" He stood up and put a hand on Colin's shoulders. "I'm sure you'd want to help them, Colin. You've always put others before yourself; it's how you managed to make Sergeant at your age. But I'm sorry to say that that decision's already been made, and I really don't have any say over what those nerds can and cannot do. So just go back to your room. Get some rest. You look like you need it."

Colin didn't move; he just stayed where he was, staring at Captin Winters.

"Is there something else you'd like to talk about, Colin?"

"No sir," Colin said, hiding the rising anger in his voice. "Nothing. I'll be off now." He snapped a quick salute before walking out the door.

##########################################

The humming in the bars faded away. A second later, they opened, sliding into the roof and the floor. On the other side of the bars were two scientists - each one carrying a rope - escorted by two soldiers. The soldiers entered the cell first, aiming their weapons at everyone as the scientists eyed the six ponies.

"We'll take the yellow pegasus," one of the scientists said.

Fluttershy shrank back with a small gasp. "Oh my."

The scientists tossed their ropes around Fluttershy's neck. They began to drag her out of the cell, Fluttershy resisting the whole time, digging her hooves into the concrete floor and flapping her wings, trying to get away.

"Hey! Let her go!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She flapped her wings, getting ready to take off, only to get the barrel of a soldier's gun pressed against her face. "If you hurt even a single hair on my friend's mane, I'll stomp your faces into mush!"

The soldiers didn't seem to care; they followed the scientists out of the room. The bars went back into place and once again began brimming with electricity.

Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof on the floor and let out an angry snort, her wings flared in rage. "There has to be something we can do! Anything!"

"There's nothing we can do while we're stuck in here," Isaac said glumly. He balled his hands into tight fists. "But I swear, if they hurt Fluttershy in any way, shape, or form, I will tear them apart." He put a hand on Rainbow Dash's back. "I promise you that, Rainbow Dash."

I don't care if we're stuck in here, he silently added. I don't care if they have guns. There's no way I'm going to let them hurt timid little Fluttershy.

###################################

Colin sat on his bed, his knees hugged to his chest. Captain Winters had said that he would guarantee Doris's safety, but not the safety of her pony friends. It was bad enough that he had been forced to kill their family; if she found out that he let her pony friends get sacrificed for what those people called "science", she'd really hate him. He didn't want that; he didn't want his only living family member hating him for the rest of their lives.

But what was he going to do? He was only an E5, a Sergeant; he wouldn't start having a say in any matters until he got to be at least a Sergeant First Class, two grades above him. Until then, the only thing he could do was sit back and let the higher ups do their thing.

But this just isn't right. It's wrong. And it's partly my fault. If only I'd convinced Dad not to fight back, if only I'd convinced them to let my family live. Doris wouldn't hate me, we wouldn't be in this...other world, and her friends wouldn't be in danger. He stood up and walked over to the nearby window, looking out into the dark forest. It had started to rain a few moments ago, the water running down the glass on the outside.

Without realizing it, Colin began to sing.

I have to find a way

To make this all okay

I can't believe this small mistake

Could've caused so much heartache

Oh why, oh why?

Losing promise

I don't know what to do

Seeking answers

I fear I won't get through to you

Oh why, oh why?

"I'm not going to let them kill. Not anymore."

He slipped on his vest, making sure he had all of his ammunition for both his rifle and his side arm, before gathering up his weapons and heading out the door, his face set into grim determination.

A scream, like the scream of a young girl, coming from the laboratories. Colin started running, first as a light jog, before picking up into a full-on sprint. He silently prayed, hoping he'd make it to the labs before they opened up whoever screamed.

He skidded to a stop just outside the labs. He kicked the door down and ran through the halls, peeking through the window of every door he came to.

There, in Lab Number Five, three scientists attempting to strap the little yellow pegasus with the baby pink hair to an examination table. The pegasus was fighting as hard as she could, but to no avail - the scientists finally managed to strap her to the table. They hooked her up to an EKG machine, taking measurements of her heart rate and brain waves. Her heart rate was skyrocketing - no surprise there; the little pegasus was scared.

Colin spotted something on a nearby table - examination tools. One of the scientists was using a stethoscope on the pegasus, another one taking her blood pressure. Colin watched for a moment, for what seemed like an eternity, as the scientists took all sorts of measurements, which also included her overall wingspan. But there was something else on the table, something that narly made the blood in Colin's veins run cold - scissors, scalpels, a bone saw.

Jesus. They really are going to cut her open! He'd seen enough; he tightened his grip on his rifle, took a step back from the door, and kicked it open, catching the scientists by surprise. He didn't waste any time; he quickly aimed and pulld the trigger, shooting one scientist in the throat. Blood splurted everywhere as he fell. Colin turned to the other two scientists, one of whom now had the bone saw in his hands, and fired again, the bullet making a clean hole in the scientists head.

Colin turned to the third scientist, the only one still left alive, and aimed his rifle at him. "I'm only going to give you one chance to let her go," he growled. "Now."

"N - no," the scientist stammered. "I - I have my orders."

"To hell with your orders," Colin hissed. He fired, the bullet hitting the scientist in the knee, knocking him to the ground. "Release the pegasus!" he hissed through clenched teeth. "NOW!"

"I won't!"

Colin walked over to the scientist and kicked him in the face. "Last chance, asshole."

"No!"

"Suit yourself." He took out his sidearm and fired, putting a bullet in the scientist's head. He then turned to all the electrical machines and fired, causing smoke to billow out of all of them before turning his attention to Fluttershy, who was squirming on the table, trying desperately to get free.

"P-p-p-p-p-p-please d-d-d-d-d-don't hurt m-m-m-m-m-m-me," she squeaked, her voice cracking with fear. Colin could see the tears rolling from her eyes, matting her fur to her face.

Colin put his sidearm back into its holster and slung his rifle behind his back. "It's okay," he said, making his voice sound as soothing as possible. "I'm not going to hurt you." He picked up the scalpel from the rolling table. "I'm here to help." He wedged the scalpel between the straps and the pegasus's legs, turning the blade upwards and slicing, cutting the straps. "Come on; let's get out of here, um...It's Fluttershy, right?"

Flutteshy sniffed and wiped some tears away with her hoof. "Y-y-y-y-yes, I am. But, how did you - "

"I heard Isaac and those other ponies talking," Colin replied. "But enough talk; somebody will have heard those gunshots. We have to get out of here."

"But, you work for these bad humans, don't you?" Fluttershy asked.

Colin reached into his shirt, grasping the chains of his dog tags. He took a moment to look at them -

Jameson, Colin G.

12 March 2023

O Pos

235-81-0092

He gave the chains a good tug, yanking them off from around his neck, and threw them to the floor.

"They can consider that my official resignation. Now, let's go. And stay close to me. Okay?"

"O - okay."

They left the lab and made their way down the hall, moving slowly, quietly, keeping low at every window they came to. Colin kept his eyes open, Fluttershy's ears were swiveling left and right as they looked out for any signs of danger.

They came to a corner. Colin pressed his back against the wall, using his free arm to hold Fluttershy against the wall as well, as several soldiers ran past, no doubt heading to the labs to investigate the gunshots. Once the last soldier had gone by, Colin slowly let out the breath he'd been holding as he and Fluttershy slid around the corner. A few more moments, they found themselves at the cell.

Good, Colin thought. The shifts have changed. I'm sure Deon and Richard would have understood, but I don't want to take that chance.

He turned to Fluttershy. "Stay here and wait until I take out those guards," he whispered. Fluttershy nodded in response. He slowly slipped out from around the corner, before rushing at the guards.

#################################

"Oof!"

"What the - " Crack.

BANG!

They all tensed up as the bars slowly retracted, relaxing once they saw Fluttershy standing on the other side.

"Fluttershy!" Twilight ran to the yellow pegasus, pulling her into a light hug. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Fluttershy said. "Thanks to Colin."

As soon as she said that, Colin came into view, a small smile gracing his face. He was now wearing his ammo vest and carrying his rifle, which was slung across his back.

Doris let out a small growl and rushed at Colin, slamming a hard fist into his face, sending him reeling.

"Doris!" Fluttershy gasped. "Colin helped me escape those bad humans!"

"No, Fluttershy," Colin said. "I've had that one coming for a long time. But enough about that. Listen, you have to get out of here." Nobody moved, they just glared at him. "Look, I'm letting you go free; they already know that I'm helping you by now, so you can either get out of here and live another day, or you can stay here and probably die with me."

"Why should we trust you?" Doris asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because," Colin said. "I've chosen a side."

######################################

Surprisingly, there were no guards at the front gate. Colin quickly ran to the control panel, everyone else close behind him. He punched in a code, and the gate slid open.

"They're right behind us," he said. "So I suggest you get as far away from her as possible, preferably out of the forest. Our searches haven't gone that far yet."

Again, nobody moved; they just stared at him, some - like Doris - angrily. "It's too late to ask me to forgive you, you know."

Colin let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm sorry for the part I played in their deaths," he said. "I really am. I'd ask you to consider this as my way of making amends, but even I know that won't absolve me of everything I've done."

"Who's there?"

"Shit." He took his sidearm out of its holster and aimed at the soldier looking down at them from the top of a nearby barracks building. "Get going. I'm right behind you."

Applejack could hear the uncertainty in his voice. "No you won't. Y'all are lying, ain'tcha?"

Colin looked from Doris, to Isaac, to Goku and Vegeta, to the ponies - all of whom were staring at him with wide, worried eyes. He knew they were taking pity on him - the ponies were, anyway; he wasn't entirely sure about Doris or the other humans - but he knew that this was something he'd have to do; he had to let them go, he had to stay behind and suffer whatever consequences the commanding officers had for traitors.

"Please," he said. "Just get out of here. Get somewhere safe, don't worry about me!" He watched as the ten of them hurried out of the gate, Doris staying behind for a few seconds before following her friends.

A few moments later, the soldier was standing in front of Colin. He was a younger soldier, only a Specialist. What was his name again? Appleby? Abernathy?

Andrews, Colin. His name is Specialist Andrews. Just look at the name tag, you idiot.

"Sergeant, what are you doing?"

"Get back to your post, soldier," Colin said. "This does not concern you, Specialist Andrews."

"I'm sorry, Sergeant. But you know that I can't do that." He took a whistle out of his pocket.

"If you blow on that whistle, I will shoot you!"

Andrews wasn't listening - either that or he just didn't care - he put the whistle to his lips and blew on it, the shrill whine of the whistle filled the night.

###################################

They all turned back to the complex at the sound of the whistle. They could still see Colin, his pistol drawn, facing another soldier, the same soldier who was now blowing the whistle.

Doris started to run back to the complex. "Colin!"

Isaac grabbed her arm. "Doris, wait! Don't!"

The ponies all grabbed her shirt in their mouths. "They'll kill you too!" Twilight cried.

"We don't want you to die," Fluttershy said.

"No! No, let me go! I have to help Colin! I have to help my brother!"

Colin heard Doris screaming for him. He turned to look at them, his face now sporting a worried look. He glanced towards the controls for the main gate -

And he fired, the bullet destroying the control console and shutting the gate!

"Colin! No!" She broke free of her friends' holds and ran towards the gate, beating on the large concrete slabs with her fists. "Colin! Don't be stupid! COLIN!"

Twlight activated her unicorn magic, the light purple aura forming around Doris's body and and lifting her off the ground, bringing her back, away from the gates.

"Doris, come on! We've gotta get going!"

"NO! NO, I WON'T LEAVE HIM! COLIN! COOOOOOLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIN!"

######################################

She sat against the outer trunk of the library, sobbing loudly for her brother.