Chapter 5: Guns

At first I thought that the large shed was the main headquarters of the Resistances forces, since it didn't look like there were any other structures in the vicinity of the junkyard. But that was before I got the tour of the Resistance base. Apparently, there were dozens of building scattered around the junk yard, cleverly hidden under a simple yet ingenious way. All of the buildings were hidden under a pile of junk, from old appliances to random chunks of metal, and the only way to get there was through a secret passage. I found it quite amazing at how craft this guys can get.

Heading towards a large pile of metal, I saw Dusk enter through a narrow entrance that barely fit a pony. I then watched Autumn heading for it, as she beckoned me to follow. I was quite hesitant at first, since small confined places weren't exactly something I like. Let's just say that I have a slight case of claustrophobia.

But after a few seconds of staring, I decided to confront my fears and enter the depth of this tunnel. By confront my fear I mean, screaming and panicking inside as I try to get through it as fast as I can.

Reaching the end, I was amazed to see a large concrete room, which was as large as the metal shack we were in earlier. It must have been underground the Dome and I wondered what part of the Dome was this. Because, unless they broke to the protective layer of the base, this had to be some secret area of the Dome. At first I thought the buildings were just hidden under the pile of junk, but after the long travel through the tunnel, I could tell that this was deeper than the pile of junk laid outside.

So as my curiosity brought me the weirdest ideas, Autumn was kind enough to explain.

"This was a former storage area…" She explained. "…there were dozens of these places all over the dome and they come in different shapes and sizes. They were abandoned and sealed off, when the great rat infestation happened. But when the Resistance found them all those years ago, they found nothing but rotting supplies. So they decided to clean them out and used them as a base of operation. They then built tunnels leading to the junk yard, which wasn't an easy feat mind you, and hid the entrance under piles of junk. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Well I got to admit, this is impressive." I told her, nodding.

I continued to look around and noticed that there were a lot of weapons hanging on the walls and laying all around. There were large guns, which looked like it could destroy an entire army, while there were small guns, which could be easily concealed. They also have tons of ammunition boxes that were laid all over the room, enough ammo to wage a war. But even if they had this many weapons, it was clear that the government had more. Because if they didn't, then why hadn't the resistance started hitting the government hard with their large array of weapons? So it was clear that the government had a stronger force than I though.

I was impressed with the large array of weapons and ammunition they had and wondered how they manage to smuggle this. But my thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound that echoed all over the room.

Bang!

The loud blast of a gun rushed through my ears, as I instinctively ducked down and covered my ears with my hooves. I was probably traumatized by the earlier events and didn't want to experience it again. But when I looked up, I noticed that Autumn was chuckling at me, while Dusk was shaking his head with a disappointed look in his face.

"Relax, there isn't any danger here." Autumn said. "That was just Bolts doing some target practice on the firing range." She then pointed towards a far corner of the room. Looking towards it, I noticed a dozen target boards that were hanging near the wall, while canvass mats lay sprawled on the floor. It looked like any other firing range I have seen before, except the fact that it lacked some safety protocols. Standing on one of the mats was an orange unicorn who was levitating a long barreled rifle in front of him, as he looked down the sights. He steadily levitated the weapon as he carefully aimed it, with all his concentration.

Another loud 'Bang' made me wince, but this time; I didn't jump down on the ground and made a fool of myself.

"Come on…" Autumn said, as she walked towards the make shift firing range. "…I'll introduce you to him."

"Hey Bolt!" She called as we approached, making the orange unicorn look towards us. "I want you to meet somepony."

Gently putting the rifle down, he moved away from the mat and waited for us to arrive. I could already feel his gaze inspect me, as we approached, and I hoped that he was thinking of me approvingly. The small warm smile on his face looked comforting. Especially compared to Dusk's expressionless one. Speaking of Dusk, where was he? Looking behind, I noticed he wasn't there anymore. He must have left a minute ago, probably not wanting to waste another second with the 'new pony'.

"Bolt." Autumn said, with her cheerful voice. "I would like to introduce you to my friend, Silver. Due to some circumstances…" 'Right…circumstances.' I thought. "…she is now one of us." I gave small smile and a wave of my hoof as a greeting. He seemed to respond by giving a quick nod.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Silver." He said, with his rough voice.

"It's nice to meet you too." He seems friendly enough.

He then turned towards Autumn and asked:

"I'm glad to meet new members of the team, but is there any reason why you're here?"

"Well yes. We came here so that you can help arm Silver here with a gun of some sorts." Wait; did she just say a gun? I have handled guns before, during basic training. But that was almost a year ago. I was pretty rust about it and wasn't sure how to use one anymore. Besides, the sound of a shot alone was enough to scare me, let alone firing one.

"Get a gun?" I asked confused. "I don't remember talking about that."

"What do you mean? I told you about this as we went down the tunnel." Right…the tunnel. I was probably so afraid of going down that I didn't notice that they were telling me something.

"Ohhh…yeah…" I said, embarrassed and glowing a soft shade of red. I was also not enthusiastic about this. I didn't really want to have a gun, because it meant I would have to use it to take another ponies life. The fact that I seriously hurt the pony earlier already scared me. But I guess this was part of my new life now.

Bolt seemed to see the expression on my face, and decided to reassure me. Putting his hoof on my shoulder, he said:

"Don't worry, Silver. I'm sure we can get you something here." He then led me towards a table near the firing range. It was filled with different assortment of guns, of all scales and sizes. Some of them looked difficult to use, and were probably made for unicorns. While other seemed simpler and easier to use, like a pistol that had a strap, so that it could easily attach to a hoof.

But as I looked at all the guns, my attention fell upon a specific one. It was a pump action shotgun, which had a large and long metal trigger (Located near the gun butt.), so that it could easily be used by hooves, and an easily graspable pump, that had an out layer of rubber. It was smaller compared to the other shotguns, and could easily be concealed under a coat. Being a Pegasus, I could easily hover above the ground and wield this weapon.

Bolt seemed to notice my gaze and smiled. "Looks like you found something you like. Want to try it out?"

"Well…sure." I sad hesitantly, having never fired a shotgun before. In fact, the only gun I fired was a tiny pistol, which was strapped to my hooves. That gun gave little kick back. But the shotgun…

Hovering over a mat, as I flapped my wing slowly, I held the shotgun in my hooves. My right hoof was on the trigger, and I knew that it would take a little more force to actually activate it.

"Alright, now just look down the sights, aim, and shoot." Bolt told me, as he stood of to the side. Doing what I was told, I lifted the gun and looked through its sights. A shot gun released a lot of tiny metal pellets, giving it a wide arch of damage, so aiming wasn't much required for it. But I still did it, since it made me feel professional.

I tried to keep myself steady, hovering as stable as possible, while keeping my hooves still. I didn't want to make any mistakes, since a mistake with a gun would prove very dangerous. Especially in a place where there wasn't any safety protocols. Or so I think.

Seeing that I was on target, I started to apply pressure on the trigger, gently pushing it so that I could fire the weapon. Slowly and gently I…

Bang!

The loud shot of the gun echoed in my ears as it temporarily deafened me. I think I should have worn ears muffs for this. But the deafening sound wasn't the only thing the gun did, as I found myself pushed back by the guns kick back.

Its inertia launched me away from the mat, in which I was hovering, and across the room. Adrenaline pumped through my body as the exciting power of the gun pushed me back before landing me with a thud on the floor. I was amazed at its power and I knew that I wanted to wield it once again. It gave me the sense of strength that I never had, while removing my fears. I clutched the shotgun closer to me, giving it a hug as I lay on the floor.

The sound of hooves rushing towards me snapped me out, as I saw Bold and Autumn looking down at me.

"Silver, are you okay?" Autumn asked concerned about my safety. I could see it in her eyes that she was afraid that I was hurt, which I luckily wasn't. Other than being stunned by the power of the weapon, I was completely fine.

But the strength and power of the shotgun still dominated my mind. The only thing I was thinking was using it again and again, having great power within my hooves. So, at the moment, the only response I was able to say was:

"Wow!"