A Twinkle of Hope

A Twinkle of Hope - Chapter 21

The dust cleared, revealing a depressing room, surrounded on all sides by dull, gloomy concrete walls. Several uniformed ponies stood, absolutely frozen. A steel door had just fallen down inexplicably. A green earth-pony began to yell.

"Guards! Find out what caused that explosion! Shoot on sight!"

Three armed ponies stepped across the door. Out of nowhere trails of bright bullets sprayed from the hall, bringing down the guards. However the fire missed the others inside the bunker. Out of the shadows of the hallways came a dark grey pegasus. He didn't remove his rifle's muzzle from the doorway, a fact made inescapably clear to the Premier, as the bayonet came within inches of his face.

The green pony spoke up, his retainers cowering in the corner. "I demand to know who you are, and what gives you the gall to intrude on my personal bunker?"

"You're nice and safe within this room while you send out ponies to die, like those three just now. Name's Cloudrunner."

"Cloudrunner! So you survived too!! Whoever took credit for killing you will receive HARSH punishment. Well it seems he did a half-job in any case."

The General still held up his weapon. "You don't seem very alarmed that at any moment I could kill you."

"Then why don't you, Cloudrunner? You obviously have no use for me."

"Call it an attempt to probe the mind of a psychopath."

The Premier let out a weak chuckled. "I have long respected you. I'd be willing to name you one of my generals. What do you say?"

"Are you kidding? You think I would so easily turn my back on my cause? After all I've been through?"

"Such unquestionable loyalty. My, you certainly aren't like the Marshal at all. But everypony has a price." He started to his desk in the room. "I can give you a spacious house, full benefits, all the mares you could want."

"I don't have a price. I came here to end the murderous tyrant who has ruined the lives of so many."

"You aren't seeing what I have done. My ponies are well fed. They work for a common good.  I have removed the oppressive unicorn and pegasus elites. All are equal. You, being a pegasus, do not know of the earth-pony's plight. I..."

Cloudrunner cut him off. "And what do you know of it? You know you're history. Born to a well-off family, pampered and spoiled as an only child. They sent you to fancy prep schools. And then you see those reveling in poverty. You felt for them."

"What is your point? Regardless of my background, I still saw they were suffering. Indeed it was made worse by the rich flaunting what they had."

"Well perhaps I was too rash. True, everypony gets all the food, shelter, clothing, and whatever else they need. Perfect security. Safe, protected by the military. However, there is one component your state lacks. It's the entire reason I'm here."

The Premier raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What, pray tell, is that? What does my perfect realm lack?"

"How arrogant. For all its welfare, there is no freedom. You tell the ponies to go and have a good time while your bureaucrats give them what you think they need. And they are completely vulnerable to the force you display to make sure things go your way."

"Freedom is a dangerous thing, Cloudrunner. With it, ponies could hurt themselves. Endanger the lives of themselves and others. No, ponies are safer this way." The Premier could not be more sincere.

"You know, I believe once your heart was in the right place. But you have been corrupted, and now you'll do anything to prevent somepony from knocking you off your iron throne. Anything."

"My methods are less than...chivalrous, yes, but nothing will stop my pursuit of Utopia. If ponies compromise my goal, then I shall enlist the help of whatever force is necessary to remove them. As well all know, General, the end justifies the means."

"The hell it does." Cloudrunner was shaking, his core beliefs being assaulted by the jaded philosophies of the green ideologue.

"I'm sorry you feel that way, but like I said, nothing will stop me. And I'll silence anypony who gets in my way!" He pulled open a drawer, reaching for the pistol in its contents. Cloudrunner was too quick and gunned him down, painting the wall behind with blood. With a loud "thud", he fell onto the top of the desk.

"You can pursue ‘social justice’ in Hell. Everypony else in this room, you might wanna get out soon." The retainers ran out, thoroughly scared at the Premier's death. The General looked at his watch. “Damn! Only ten minutes left!” He began to run a very painful run out into the halls, remembering the path he had taken to get there in the first place.

Soon the castle would go up in the most magnificent explosion anypony likely would ever see. Cloudrunner would get a front row seat, or be part of the show.

"Ten minutes 'til bomb time, over!" Starblazer yelled over his radio. The skies had long been clear, and despite the occasional bogie, the bomb progressed with no interruptions. Rainbow Dash, however, without any action to engage in, constantly worried for the General. He was still inside the castle, and no signs of him coming out yet.

Another voice sounded on the radio. "Alright, the explosives have been secured around the castle. Preparing evacuation behind outer wall. Over" It was the Colonel.

Rainbow perked up hearing the transmission. "Whoa! Wait a minute...what explosives??"

Spitfire was the first to answer her question. "Yeah, Cap'n. You must have been inside the castle when Princess Luna gave the order. She doesn't want the castle to remain, so she had Armor surround it with charges. They're set to go off when the bomb hits. The Princess wants to be thorough."

"Bu...but what about the General? He'll be vaporized!"

"Well the way I see it, Cloudrunner's incredibly hard to kill. They've been trying for four years. It's a little joke we have in the Air Force. He'll try his damned best to get outta there. Besides, we've still got...ehhhhh...eight minutes or so." The wonderbolt saw the expression on Rainbow's face; one of anxiety over a somepony she really cared about. "Don't worry. He'll make it. I'm nervous about him too. He was a mentor to all of us wonderbolts."

"What was it like when the 'Night Phantom' flew?" Dash wanted to change the tone of the subject, if not the subject itself.

"Amazing. When he flew, he left this long trail of lightning. Kinda like your 'rainbow trail'. One time..."

Around a minute or two remained, and the exit was in sight. His running had subsided due to pain, and a fast limp was all the General could use for locomotion. Just a few feet more and he could open the door.

Soon he reached the handle, and opened up the doorway to the outside. There were no dead bodies in the courtyard. His concluded they were taken for proper burial. Ruined of statues and artillery laid on the grass. The battle was over, or at least was experiencing a lull.

During his trek out, Cloudrunner came across several soldiers reporting for duty on the towers. He of coursed stopped them. Whatever soldiers the castle barracks still held had most likely already been sent out. He turned around, admiring the once great fortress before it would be compromised by the dragonroaster. To his horror, the General noticed the charges placed along the castle perimeter. He turned to the hole in the outer wall, noticing more charges just placed.

Above him was the bomb glinting in the moonlight. The ponies deploying and protecting it were probably too high to see him. All Cloudrunner could do was rush to the wall, hoping to make it in time.

Not five seconds later, the bomb dropped. The few remaining AA guns posed little threat, and a whistle sound made its way to his ears. A few dozen yards to the wall. He'd make it. Just a bit...further...

The heavy bomb's tip came in contact with the top of a low tower. It drilled its way down mere moments before detonating. The explosion was bigger than the previous two, igniting no only the charges around the castle, but also all the ammunition inside. The great plume of fire overpowered the retinas of many ponies, turning their eyes away. Rainbow Dash looked on, more uncertain than she had ever been.

The earth shook so much, the heat so great, the noise so powerful, that a timid yellow pegasus back at the camp, who had just finished her meal, nearly had a heart attack. The castle flared up, its base crumbling. The foundation engineered to withstand centuries of wear and tear was pulverized. The turrets, once bearing the Equestrian flag so proudly, toppled over.

The whole ordeal lasted little less than a minute. The smoke cleared. Colonel Armor looked back. No sign of Cloudrunner. Rainbow Dash, Princess Luna, and the rest of the airponies flew down to investigate. Just behind the outer wall, out of the line of sight provided by the gaping hole, was a charcoal pony, laying on his right side. Rainbow Dash swooped in. The pony was covered in minor scrapes and bruises. His tail was singed, but still there. The cyan pegasus nudged him with her hoof, hoping to awaken him. Nothing.

Another nudge, this time more forceful. Again, nothing. Those rose eyes began to water up. A third nudge, physically moving him a few millimeters. There was nothing. Rainbow Dash lay on top of him, sobbing. "Get up! Get Up!" She yelled in vain. Her crying intensified as she buried her head into his dark grey fur. "Don't leave me, daddy...why won't you stay..."

But then, her ear against his barrel chest, she heard something; weak breathing. A quiet groan followed. The confused filly lifted her tear-soaked head up. The stallion's voice was rough and scratchy. "I ain't goin' anywhere."

And then, for the second time that night, Rainbow was made oblivious of all around her. Her world was perfect for a few moments. Against the backdrop of rubble, she wrapped her forelegs around Cloudrunner, agitating his bruises. But he didn't care. They had won. And he had somepony to special to share it with. She let go as Cloudrunner went back to sleep, exhausted and in need of care.

But everypony else cheered. They cheered louder than they ever cheered before. Many of them would lose their voices the next day. Luna flew up, Rainbow Dash beside her. The Princess of the Night spoke up for one more time. "The battle is over! Many souls have been lost, but we shall never forget their sacrifice! Their deaths were not in vain, for the tyrant has been overthrown! Let Freedom ring! It is a brand new day, let's celebrate!"

It was almost six o'clock. The battle had raged on for the entire night. Luna's horn began to glow, as everpony looked up. Celestia, from her cot, shed a tear of joy. Her beloved sun began to rise, blanketing the land in light. Millions of ponies praised the sun, lost for six months. The Liberators had freed Canterlot from the Republic's oppressive grip.

At long last, after so much, they had won.