My Little Combine: Resistance is Magic

Chapter 1 - Wake Up"Don't drink the water, they put something in it to make your forget."

You wake up to the sound of your alarm clock. It's 7AM, time to go to work at your dead-end job. There's no freedom anymore anyway. You're either forced to work or you get thrown in the underground with the zombies. You just happen to work for the war-effort. Making weapon parts is what you do.

Bzzz. Click! Bzzz. Click!

You wield the handles to the base, that's all you do.

Bzzz. Click! Bzzz. Click!

The machines run all day, all night. Some unfortunate ponies that have been convicted of resistance work in 20 hour shifts and have to consume energy drinks just to do their job.

Bzzz. Click! Bzzz. Click!

Luckily, you just work 14 hours. No pay, just the right to live in your apartment and get food. Sure, the work force could be prevented with all these machines running around, but the Combines don't want it to be done by machine. They want the parts to be made by ponies' hooves. It's a form of control. They need to keep us in line, they need to keep us exhausted. If we miss a day of work that hasn't been excused, we are automatically convicted of 'resistance' and will be escorted by force to work each day.

The loud, low-pitched whistle sounds, time for lunch. You walk down the halls to the cafeteria to retrieve your food. Walking down to the cafeteria, you see a Combine guard guarding the gates like he normally does. All you need to do is act casual and walk past him. When you get near him, he knocks a can over onto the floor and laughs. "Pick up that can"

You hesitate for a minute and just shake your head a firm (and a bit stupid.) 'No'. He lifts his stun-stick and preps it for a whack to your face. "Pick up that can." he says again.

You do as he asks, fearful of another beating like last time. You can stand the pain when they get one hit. When it's multiple hits, you just quit. He just laughs and moves off to the side. Heartless. You got up to the counter grab your food at the line from the machine. You sit down, across from another pony at a table. The room is quiet as usual. The mare sitting in front of you notices your can of water. "Don't drink the water." she whispers in a hurried tone.

"Huh?" You reply, confused of this mare's sudden outburst

"Th-they put something in it... To make you forget."

"What are you-"

"I don't even remember how I got here... What tram did I get on? I don't know. All I know is the city. Damn this city."

You push your water to the side, you're not drinking the water for a few days. If what she said was really true, then the local gov are trying to flush out any thoughts about resistance with something as simple as water. Surely this can't be true, many people have been drinking this stuff for years, and they end up joining the Resistance. Still, what if it's true?

You shun the thought from your mind and eat your lunch as normal in the quiet and dimly lit room. Only the sounds of eating or the occasional cough are heard. Slight radio chatter can be heard in the distance behind the doors. The doors burst open and three combines are forcibly escorting a stallion at gunpoint.

"NO! NO! I'M NOT WITH THEM! THEY JUST SO HAPPENED TO BE THERE! NO! PLEASE NO! GODDESSES! HELP ME!" The stallion yells as he's being hauled away.

"Shut up!" The deep, metallic voice of the Combine security officer says. One Combine whacks the pony on the back with his stun-stick about five times to get him to submit, sending shivers of flashbacks into your mind.

One day, you were walking your way to the cafeteria when you accidentally bumped into an officer. He readied his stun-stick and started to beat you. The pain was unimaginable. Each blow sent electric shivers down your spine and blanked your vision out. After a good beating, he walked away with a dark laughter.

Seeing this unfold in front of you, it's horrifying. You can't just let this poor stallion take a beating for something as silly as a gathering. You have to do something! A mental image plays out in front of you. You grab your tray and walk over to where the beating is taking place. You try to look casual as you walk by, looking as if you're putting your finished food in the garbage can. You take a new form of action and prep up your tray to get ready to bash the Combine armed with a gun in the head first.

WHAM!

You bash the security officer in the head, you can hear the satisfying sound of metal on plastic. You can see the helmet dent as the officer falls to the ground. You're not allowed to use any magic, but you push your luck and grab the tray with the bit of magic you know: telekinesis. Combining it with the force of your mouth, you bash the advancing officer in the face plate. You can see light sparks fly and the tray beginning to shatter. You toss the tray to the side and grab the gun swiftly. You quickly find out how to work the thing and jam the nozzle of the gun in the eye of the last Combine forcibly, shattering it.

BLAM-BLAM!!

He falls with a thud as you let off a few rounds into his head.

"C'mon! Let's go!" you say. You grab a wrist-work telekinetic generator from the Combine officer and slap it on the wrist of the earth pony. It allows any pony to use basic telekinetic spells if one puts their mind to it. You've seen some being shipped off somewhere when you were at work.

"Thank you!" says the stallion, "Come with me, though, I know the quickest way to the roofs. There we can make our escape." The roofs? He picks up a stun-stick off the ground in his teeth and beckons you to follow. You don't know what your fit-of-rage has gotten you into, but there is no way to stopping it now. You're on a one-way ticket to joining the Freemane Resistance.

********

You're dashing for your life, through an apartment complex. Your hooves hit against the cobble stone pathways of a backyard area. Combine chatter fills the air, sounding as if they are coming right behind you. You are galloping for the rooftops. You follow close behind your new companion and have your gun loaded for any contact. "In here!" says the stallion, he kicks a door in and continues to dash down a hallway.

"Are you sure this is the right way?" you say, uncertain about this course of action.

"Yeah! Notice these lambdas? They tell you that you're nearing a escape route!"

"I thought they were old graffiti from before all this!"

"Nope, they always have a reason."

The two of you continue your dash up the flights of stairs. You are on the second floor hallway of the complex; you see a door down the hall burst open, a Combine Office room! "Over here!" Your friend quickly bucks the door next to you and heads through the apartment room. Your adrenaline is pumping into your blood at full speed. You feel like you could buck one of these Combines in the head and knock it clean off! You look back as you are running through the room and see an officer running behind you. You pull up your gun and aim it at the evil enforcer.

BLAM!

You hit his front-leg, slowing him down. You don't stop to finish him off, you couldn't risk that. You follow tightly behind your 'tour guide' and bring up your stun-stick up for close quarters combat. You make it back out into the hall and up onto another flight of stairs. "THE COMBINE ARE COMING!" your friend shouts.

You two bash through another door into the apartment halls and slam the door shut. You are on the 4th floor at least and nearing to top of the structure.

"Hey! Over here!" another voice shouts. This one is friendly. You see a pony down the hall beckoning the two of you to cut through that apartment. You meet up to the mare and she beckons you further to go inside.

"Quick, before they know you're up here!" she says

You step inside the small apartment. You notice a small group of people gathered around. A lambda spray is on the wall, symbolizing that this is a supposed 'escape route'. "We need to get though quick," the mare says, "The Combine know we're here. If we cut through here, we can get to the attic and we are in the clear."

You follow the mare through the apartment room and out another door into the hall. You follow her down the hall to another door that leads to what you think might be the attic. The door is labeled 'Staff Only'.

"Okay, this is as far as I go, I need to make sure the Combine don't bust our defence. Just go out the window and go along to the left. Drop down to the ally and crawl through the small crawlspace. You should meet up with some other resistance members. May Celestia guide you." She runs back to the apartment room and leaves you in front of the attic door. Let's hope you made the right choice.

You open the door and walk up the creaky flight of steps. You find the attic. It's cramped, with a low ceiling and tons of boxes.  A small lambda is painted on the floor and next to it is a few rounds for your new pistol. You look out the window and see a few Combine on the street below armed with hoofguns. This isn't going to be easy.

You stick one hoof out the window and notice that all hoofing is good. You can easily gallop along the side if you pay attention. You step out of the window and brace yourself for hell. You gallop along the rooftop and the Combine below start to fire upon you. Shit! You continue to dash for all life. The sounds of hoof-on-metal echo throughout the world around you. Gun shots fling past you and you swear that your tail just got hit. You try desperately to gain control of your breath and your heart begins to thunder inside you chest. You can see the end of the roof and a Lambda on the beginning of the other roof. There is an arrow pointing forward. It suggest only one thing to do: jump.

You dash with all your strength and prepare your self for the jump. You jump over the large gap and hold your breath; wind blows through your mane. You hear the sounds of your hooves hit the metal roofing and you let out a sigh of relief. You don't stop, you continue your mad-dash. Good news, the firing has stopped. A few yards ahead, you can see another lambda pointing down into an alleyway, this must be the point where the crawlspace is located. You stop at the edge and get ready to hop down.

Thud!

Your hooves hit the ground. You think for a moment. You can't believe what you just did, running from gunfire like a criminal. No, you're not a criminal. You look around your new surroundings. The alleyway is dark, surrounded by two brick walls on either side. The sounds of Combine radio chatter fill the air. You stand around for a moment to catch your breath. A new sound rings throughout the city: A Strider. You've heard rumors about them, but never heard them before. It sounds like an animal of sorts.

You spot the second lambda marking the crawl space. This one is smaller and blends in with the wall behind. Should I go? Without a second thought, you get down on your stomach and push your way through the cramped crawlspace. You are on your way to join the resistance. Who knows what lies on the other side of this crawlspace? What if it's a trap? No, it couldn't be.

"Hey, look! Another member!" says a friendly enough sounding voice.

"Well, would you look at that." says another, "Here, take my hoof, kid."

You look up to find a stallion wearing Freemane Resistance gear. He has a lambda band around his shoulder, representing his resistance. You take his hoof and he helps you out of your cramped chamber. "Thanks." you say, not knowing what else to add.

"No problem, kid, always looking to help a mare or stallion in need. I'm Bullbuck and this, here, is Stompers." the stallion says.

"Where are we exactly?" you asked. Surely a place like this was in an abandoned structure.

"We are in an old factory. This is the ground floor, in one of the large supply closets. We are close to the sewage system so we can lead any ponies on the road to freedom. The sewers take you through the city and out. Just follow the lambdas. Here, take this gun and follow me."

He hands you a sub-machine gun and beckons you to follow. He leads you through a door and down a hall to a staircase. At the bottom is a metal door that's labeled 'Worker's Only!' in big letters.

"Okay, just go though here. If you follow the lambdas, you should be fine. Goddesses be with you on your path, kid." He walks off to the supply closet. You walk down the metal staircase and open the door, the smell of raw sewage greets your nose. Sick! You walk down the sewer large pipes. Graffiti litter the walls, saying things like "Freemane!", "Turn down the Combine!" and some other profanity. You can hear the light sounds of Combine traffic from upstairs. You load up your newly acquired gun and get ready for a new life.

You see a lambda marking your path and telling you to go right. You head down the sewage pipes. All is silent. You splash in the water and walk over to the left. You see some supply boxes left behind by some previous escapists. Inside you find a few more clips for your SMG and Pistol. You also find an attachable flashlight which mounts on your shoulder. You are all set, it seems, to continue on the road (or tunnel) to freedom.

May the Princess Sisters guide you.