The mares had been brutally defeated in the fight for the stable. We stallions had gone to their rescue. While we may not have brought down many of the Overmare's forces, our appearance had forced them to pull back from completely encircling the rebelling mares. This had allowed our endangered allies to flee through the hole that we had punched.
Their salvation had come at a price, a steep price. I galloped away from the battle as fast as I could. Though I looked back over my shoulder. Green, or Lucky Charm, as I should call him now, was laying in a bloody heap on the steel floor. Tide had gorged his neck and stomach enough to be quickly fatal.
Tears in my eyes, I ran down the hall back towards our own stable. I had not just lost a fellow comrade, I had lost a friend, a brother, a pony that had been with me since the beginning. He had been reliable, and as far as I knew, well-liked by the other stallions. He was not the smartest of the stallions that had been freed, but he had been learning. We all were.
As I ran down the hall, leaving him with the carnage, I was distraught. I had seen ponies die before. I had killed so many... so many. Why did this one hurt so much? It only got worse as I rounded the corner headed for the stairs, breaking my sight of his body. Behind us, the entire security team of the Overmare was shouting taunts and pelting the fleeing ponies with heavy fire.
I drew my revolver as I reached the staircase. Using the wall as cover, I returned their fire. My .357 did little but slow our pursuers down. One. Two. Three. Four. I had two shots left in the drum. I didn't see a single mare go down.
I watched the numerous rebel mares as they ran by. Most of them looked worse than Lucky Charm had. Their armor was shredded and their weapons were trashed, most had all but run out of ammo, and had resorted to using their guns as glorified clubs.
I was forced to duck into the stairwell, as a round exploded right by my head, coating my helmet with shrapnel. I felt a sharp piece of something gouge into my neck, but it did not feel bad enough to cause any worry. Up the stairs we went. I was among the last ponies heading up, so I used my magic on an apple-shaped grenade that was attached to her BDU. She barely noticed as I pulled it loose, and pulled the pin. Dropping it down the stairs, I left a little surprise for the security ponies trailing us.
I squeezed through the door at our level. Behind me, I heard an explosion so loud that it left a ringing in my ears. Still, multiple ponies were howling in pain, and I could hear them. Sweet Celestia, I could hear them. No time for this now. I needed to put some distance between me and them.
Most of the security ponies up here had been dealt with already, so now we were in the home stretch. As the screams of pain faded to echoes, I noticed that the stallions had barricaded themselves on the stallions' side of the breach.
"Come on! Come on!" "They're coming!" "Go! Go! Go!" yelled UP-1, Hot Shot, and Blowtorch.
six assault rifles were propped up on an upturned table, pointing back into the mare's stable. I ran to the simple fortification, and jumped over it. As soon as the last of the mares were clear, those six ponies released a torrent of gunfire down the hall into the advancing security ponies.
The security ponies returned the volley. Their shots were not powerful enough to penetrate the hoof-thick steel lab table. How had these ponies gotten this all the way here anyway? A look to my right, and I saw the other nine stallions lined up against the wall. The tan buck and green buck were panting. Well that answered that question.
I pulled my shotgun off of my back. I quickly realized that I had left the SMG's and my assault rifle sitting on the ground next to Green... er, Lucky Charm. His name would take some getting used to. No matter, I would have to make due with what I had.
With the hum of automatic weapons fire, the sparks from exploding shots against the stable wall, and the buzz of those shots whizzing by overhead, I jammed as many shotgun shells into my 12 gauge as I could. It held seven.
I matched my comrades, adding my barrel to the other six peeking over the table. Before I fired a single shot, beside me, I heard a cry as I saw red splatter on the table. I looked down as a light blue buck was clutching his shoulder with his hooves. As if on queue, another pony approached from the line of stallions, and dragged him away from the table. Another pony, replaced him instantly.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! I saw three mares go down as my shotgun send beads of buckshot into a concentrated cluster into the mares bodies. Even though we were looking down a hallway, the stable was still really close quarters. The Shotgun did its work, as did the other stallions around me.
The mares began to take cover, as they began to go down one-by-one the closer they got.
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! I saw two more drop. I couldn't tell if they were from my shots or other ponies. The mares quickly cleared out of the stallions' sightline. I wasn't sure how many there were, but it seemed like the entire security force had followed us to this breach. They crammed into rooms and hallways to get some cover from the stallions.
I reloaded my shotgun, and propped it back up on the table. A few mares tried to peek out from their hiding spots to get a few shots off in our direction. I peppered the heads that I saw, but nopony went down. After a moment of this, everything fell silent.
I could feel the blood coursing through my veins. I had wet patches that I knew would need some tending. I heard the shuffling of hooves as the smell of cordite filled the hall. Smoke trickled from the muzzles of barrels on both sides, making a small cloud against the ceiling.
One minute of silence prevailed. Two. Three. It was deafening, and that was after being so close to a live grenade. Beside me, I heard ponies panting and huffing as they sloughed off minor injuries to keep watchful eyes on the Overmare's ponies.
A single mare rose from her crouched position beside an open door. She stepped into the middle of the hall, slowly. All seven stallion muzzles trained on her. Her rifle was pointed at the ground. To my surprise, she took her helmet off.
She was an olive-green mare with a ginger mane. A scar ran across her eye. I knew here. I had serviced her many times. To me, she had been just another mare. I knew that she was a ranking member of the security detail, though not the chief.
The expression she wore was a death-glare. She hated us, not for what we were doing, but for what were putting the stable through. I could respect that.
"Cease Fire! Stand Down!" She ordered.
"But ma'am..." one of the mares protested. "They're getting away."
"I don't think these bucks are going to let us through, are you?" she asked, looking at me. My only response of was a shake of the head. Even though I knew they would be backing off, the stallions kept their guns trained on every mare that they could, until the scene was clear.
I quickly realized just how hopelessly bad at aiming the stallions were. Without SATS, they couldn't hit the stable door from the operators console. All of that gunfire, and only five ponies were dead once the mares cleared their wounded.
"I'm sealing the breach," I said. once I was certain that all the mares were clear.
"How?" asked Blowtorch.
"You two, what're your names again?" I asked the green and tan earth ponies.
"Backcut," answered the dark green buck.
"Hound-dog," answered the tan one.
"Right, Hound-Dog, Backcut, see if you can raise this table up on its end."
The two powerhouse ponies picked up either end of the table and flipped it so that the long side was up, and the short side was on the ground. Maybe it was a bit overkill, but the two of them then pushed the table over the breach. Blowtorch picked up one of the laser cutters and used it to weld the table to the wall of the stable.
"Ain't nopony gettin' though that!" Blowtorch said as he admired his handiwork.
With that, we broke off and headed for the cafeteria. We knew the way, just follow the trails of blood.
When the sixteen stallions made their way there, we found almost every table had injured ponies on them. One of the stallions shed his armor, and ran into the kitchen to start making food for the traumatized mares.
Across the way, I saw Cinder getting bandaged for several bullet wounds, and Gadget was getting her head wrapped by Empty Syringe. I picked up some of their conversation as I approached.
"... and then they started coming from our left. We thought we had the element of surprise on out side, but the Overmare must be drafting as many ponies as she can. We must have been up against half the stable, and we must have killed a quarter of them!" explained Cinder.
Their conversation was halted as I approached.
"Overstall-" Gadget began. I put my hoof up to silence them.
"My office. I'll have a word with the two of you."
"Oooh, someponies are in trouble," said Empty Syringe. She grinned slyly as she finished wrapping Gadget's head.
I lead them out of the cafeteria, leaving Hot Shot in charge. I called Blowtorch and Backcut over as we left. I did not feel comfortable being alone with these two any more. They also did not seem to appreciate the other presences. We quickly made our way to the Overstallion office.
I had Backcut and Blowtorch stand by the door, and told Gadget and Cinder to take their seats opposite the desk. I took mine and stared in silence at them for a few seconds before dropping my head into my hooves.
"What were you two thinking?" I scolded. "I told you that we were going to lead charge, not you! Yet you blatantly went against me! Why?"
Gadget held her head up. Cinder dropped hers a little bit.
"To be quite honest, we thought it was the best move," Gadget replied.
"Best move?" I asked.
"Yes. We thought that by you not leading the charge, the Overmare would not be able to hurt you any more than she already has. If you were killed..."
"It wouldn't happen! Tell me, Gadget, when you first started your attack, did the mares shoot first?"
They didn't respond.
"You came across security patrols in the halls of the stable, now I am asking you one simple question. Did they shoot you first?"
"No..." came Gadget's response, "But does that matter? We're dealing with the Overmare. She-"
"She knows how few stallions there are. They didn't shoot first, because they needed to confirm a target before they killed it. If they shot up all of the stallions, then that's it, right? Everything's done! Might as well all jump in the reactor because the stable will have seen its last living ponies."
"What are you talking about?" asked Cinder.
"The Overmare's ponies won't kill stallions! That's why we were going to spearhead the attack!" I yelled at them.
Cinder looked at her hooves. "They didn't start shooting us, until they got hoof-to-hoof and stripped one of us down."
Gadget looked horrified. "...because they needed to know that they were fighting mares, not stallions."
"Exactly!" I confirmed. "They never found a stallion among your ranks. I wonder why that is... So when we did show up, they just thought that we were another wave of mares. Now because of your actions, Green is dead, and ponies are hurt."
"Wait, Green died?" Gadget asked.
"He was killed by Tide, because Tide thought he was a mare," I told them.
"I- I'm so sorry," Gadget answered.
I felt the tears from his loss welling up in my eyes again. No, not now.
"You can shut your mouth, Gadget!" I barked. She was taken aback at the sudden outburst by a pony so much younger than her.
Silence fell over us again. I was fuming now.
"What am I supposed to do with you two?" I asked them.
"Technically, you can't do anything to us," Cinder said, looking at Gadget. "We're not subjugated to you."
"I never said you were, but you must understand. I don't know a lot about friendship. Now, I do know one thing... FRIENDS DON'T LOCK UP FRIENDS!" I shouted. "I may not be your overpony, but you are in my stable. The two of you are confined to quarters until further notice. If I find out that either of you are out wandering the halls, I'm turning you over to the Overmare, am I understood?"
"I understand," answered Gadget. Cinder just nodded. The two of them began to exit the room between the two very uneasy looking stallions.
"Not yet, I'm not done," I said, calling them back in.
"Not only did you two violate my trust by locking me and every other stallion up inside the bunkroom, but you even threw our original plan away. Why?" I questioned.
"We needed to beat the security detail before we got to the Overmare," Gadget explained.
"By walking past her door to get to the security ponies? She was in your grasp Gadget. You could have cut the head off right there!" I countered.
"Wouldn't two more just take its place?" Asked Cinder.
"That's a hydra sweetie, not the Overmare," said Gadget.
I shook my head. "Our fight is against the Overmare, not the ponies of the stable."
The two mares just sat without saying a word.
Finally, I broke the silence. "Get out of my sight."
They got up and headed for the exit again. "Make sure they go straight to the mare's bunkroom," I told Blowtorch and Backcut. They nodded and exited the room.
As soon as they were gone, my head flopped to the desk hard enough to make my horn hurt. Nothing hurt so much as the memories of those screams, the sounds of the gunshots, the smell of the cordite, the image of Green's... Lucky Charm's body lying limp in the middle of the hall. No, nothing hurt as bad as the knowledge that it was all my fault. Those ponies were dead, and it was all my fault. I cried. Not even the bullet wounds hurt so bad.
I opened a drawer. Inside was a small stash of emergency medical equipment. I jammed a needle of Med-X into my hind leg, and downed a healing potion. Besides that, I just sat there, alone, and cried.
Chapter 48 is done. Wow, that was quick. We see our hero did not appreciate what Gadget and Cinder did too much. I think his equivalent to house-arrest is a relatively easy reprimand. What do you all think? I think I have something in store for Rose next chapter. I wonder what she's been up to... I guess we'll have to see. Anyway, thank you for reading, and feel free to leave a review with your thoughts.
Brohoof /)
