The Northern Guard

Vanhoover, City Centre Park

Cosmo looked around the clearing, giving brief nods to Dart, Dusk and Palmer. “Don’t say I didn’t give you any other options.” Cosmo took aim at the nearest gangster, checking the hammer on his revolver quickly before returning his finger to the trigger.

BANG!

The gangster fell back clutching the new welt left by the baton round that Cosmo had been packing. “Let em’ have it!” Cosmo tore off like a madstallion at the group of gangsters. While he was running, he tried aiming his revolver at the nearest target, but couldn’t keep the sights lined up. ‘Eh, fuck it.’

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Only one of Cosmo’s rounds hit his quarry, knocking the stallion back on his ass. Cosmo ran up to the wounded colt and smashed his face with his boot. Seven colts left.

Dusk made the next move, grabbing one unfortunate pony and tossing him into a tree. As the colt tried to recover, Dusk grabbed his head and smashed it back into the trunk. As the colt slid down the tree, the number of gangsters dwindled down to five.

Dart teleported behind the gang leader, kicking out the back of his knee before she flipped over him and grabbed one of his lackeys. The poor stallion never had a chance before Dart dislocated his shoulder and threw him to the ground. “Come on, this is too easy!”

Palmer sidestepped under the arm of one of the armed colts before grabbing him and pulling him over her shoulder, twisting the arm on the way down. “It’s never too easy.”

Dart stepped back, backhanding one of the three colts left standing. “Why can’t it be too easy?” She punted the stunned colt in the groin, pushing him away as he fell to the ground.

Palmer looked over at Dusk, now opposite of one of the two remaining gansters. She nodded, and started running at the stallion while Dusk tossed him up with his magic. By the time the stallion was halfway to the ground Palmer was on top of him, and slammed him into the ground with interlocked fists. “Because there’s always one left that tries to get away.”

Dart cocked an eyebrow, before spotting the escaping gang leader. “Shit!”

“I’ve got him!” yelled Cloud, kicking up a chunk of grass as he rocketed after the escaping leader.

“Anyone want to place bets on what happens next?” Asked Cosmo. “I’m betting he throws him into a tree. Anyone else?”

Dusk pursed his lips in thought. “Nah, not worth it.”

“Heads up!” The gang leader sailed through the air, slamming face first into a stone bench that was overlooking the flooded parts of the park, flipping over it and landing unconscious in a nearby bush.

Cosmo walked over to the unconscious leader, prodding him with his boot. “Well he’s not dead… I guess that’s a plus.”

“You guess?”

“Yah, why not?” Asked the ranger.

Dusk rolled his eyes. “Now that this pile of shit has been dealt with, what now?”

“Didn’t he mention a boss?” Palmer pushed past the pair and started digging through the unconscious stallion’s jacket. “Matches, extra bullets… Hello, what do we have here?” The mare pulled out an ivory-handled pocket knife. “Anyone think this means anything?”

Cosmo snatched the knife from Palmer. “Looks like these guys work for Stalemate.” He said as he handed the knife back to Palmer. “Every one of his officers I’ve run into has one of these knives.”

“So he’s calling hits to expand his control over the city.” Interjected Dusk. “It’s not like now isn’t a perfect time.”

“Then allow me to stop you right there.” Dooley had snuck up behind the group. “We got a tip to a group of armed thugs hiding out in Centre Park before the tidal wave hit. The rest of the contingent was ordered to investigate some sort of weapon stash in Edipon Heights.”

“Edipon Heights…” Cosmo mumbled. “That’s the bluffs south of the city… When did that order come down? Who sent it?”

“Canterlot sent it-”

“Canterlot? Are you sure?” Prodded the stallion. As Dooley nodded, he turned to Dart. “Didn’t you try to get Halsey out of the city?”

Dart nodded. “I did, but all of the trains were sold out. Some boarding school got invited to tour the old castle out in the Everfree by Princess Luna.”

“When did they leave?”

“I don’t know… I think the last train left about twenty minutes before we headed back to the loft to regroup. We were just walking in the door when the MAC round hit out in the bay. Why?”

“Canterlot tried to pull a silent evacuation.” Added Dusk. “That’s what you’re getting at, isn’t it Cosmo?”

Cosmo nodded. “When did you call it in?”

Dusk clicked his tounge. “About an hour and a half before I got to the station. After I left I did send a message to Canterlot about the situation-”

“And the Princesses reacted as they saw fit.” Finished Cosmo. “Still doesn’t save everypony, but it’s a start.”

______________________________________________________________________________

Half an Hour Later, City Centre Park

As the water began to recede from some of the streets of Vanhoover hundreds of the citizens managed to reach the safety of the park, drying off and trying to locate their loved ones. For many it was a simple task; by now there were rescue centers established along the outskirts of the city, with open communication between all thanks to air-dropped radios.

Cosmo was up to his head in ponies begging him for information when one pulled him free of the group and shoved Dooley in his place. “What the hell was that?” He asked.

“Are you really just going to stand here?” demanded the mare. “There’s a bunch of ponies over in Marcie’s that are stranded!”

“If you didn’t notice, my hands have been a bit full.” Retorted Cosmo.

Dusk noticed this and approached the arguing pair. “Alright, what’s the problem?”

“There’s were a bunch of ponies over at Marcie’s when the wave hit.” Replied Cosmo. “I was trying to tell this young lady here-”

“I’m forty five!”

Cosmo sighed. “I’ve been trying to tell this older-than-she-actually-looks mare that I’ve had my hands full.”

“Then consider the problem solved.” Dusk looked at the mare, a caring smile crossing his face. “Whether it kills us or not, we’ll get there.”

Cosmo groaned as the mare walked off to join the group of refugees. “Whether it kills us or not? Are you kidding me?”

“What? Unless I missed something there is a good chance of us drowning.”

“We can’t do shit we’re dead!” Insisted Cosmo. “So what’s the brilliant idea to get us to Marcie’s?”

Dusk tapped his chin for a moment and scanned the ‘beach’ for a possible solution. “Rowboat.”

Cosmo looked down at the waterline and caught sight of an older wooded rowboat with a small motor strapped onto the back. “You do realize that won’t move a building full of ponies.”

Dusk pulled a flare gun off his belt. “Who said it has to?”

______________________________________________________________________________

Marcie’s Department Store, Downtown Vanhoover
Half an Hour Later

Dusk and Cosmo hopped out of the boat and into Marcie’s front door. “Want to head up from here?” Asked Cosmo.

“I don’t see why not.” Dusk pushed the inner doors open, allowing water to flow into the store. Cosmo clambered through, and he and Dusk managed to push the door shut and lock it. Inside, the water was only up to their ankles.

Cosmo fished a flashlight out of his coat, shining it around the store.

“Is there anything you don’t keep in that thing?”

Cosmo shrugged, stopping the light. “Far side of the store. You see that?”

Dusk looked where Cosmo was pointing the light and sloshed his way across the store floor. “We’ve got one!”

Cosmo rushed to close the gap between him and his companion. As he neared, Cosmo started hearing muffled sobs.

“Look, I need to get you out of here.”

“Not without mommy and daddy!” came a female voice.

Cosmo rounded a soaked rack of shorts, finding Dusk trying to rip a golden earth pony mare away from two dead bodies. Both were earth ponies; the male was brown furred with black hair, while the female had pale yellow fur with brown hair.

“We don’t have time to argue!”

Cosmo tapped Dusk’s shoulder and pulled him away, taking a knee in the water next to the filly. “What’s your name?”

“Archer…”

“Alright Archer, I need you to come with me. If you stay here, you could get very badly hurt.”

The filly backed away from her dead family. “But-”

“No buts.” Cosmo scooped up the filly and stood up. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

The filly started kicking and hitting Cosmo as he started walking away, smacking his helmet a few times.

NO!!!!!

Dusk looked down at the bodies, grabbing a gold chain off the dead mare. Attacked to it was a locket.

MOMMY, DADDY!!!! DON’T LEAVE THEM!

Dusk flipped open the locket, finding a picture of the two ponies doting over the wailing filly. Wiping away a tear and rising to his feet, Dusk looked around at a desolate desert.

“Dusk, we’ve got to go!”

Dusk turned around, watching a white Pegasus trying to rip a younger version of himself, bleeding profusely from a wound in his chest, away from a dead crimson unicorn.

“We can’t leave them!” insisted the unicorn.

“I don’t have time to argue.” The Pegasus grabbed the colt and threw him over his shoulder. “Comet, we’re leaving!”

The grey pony rushed past Dusk, firing off two arrows from his bow. “Already working on in! Meteor, we’ve got to move!”

Dusk turned around as a phantom sword passed through his chest. Behind him the spitting image of his grandfather was in the midst of a melee with two changelings. “Just get moving, I’ll catch up!” The stallion dove under one swing, parrying it with an uppercut from his own blade. He tried to swing at the other, but stopped short. Dusk didn’t flinch as the spray of blood passed through his face and landed in the sand behind him.

GRANDPA, NO!

Dusk blinked away some tears, finding the sands of the desert replaced by the soaked hellhole of the store. As he looked back down at the locket, Dusk sighed in defeat. “I know how you feel Archer…” Dusk stuffed the locked into one of the pouches on his belt and walked off towards the shorted-out escalator.

______________________________________________________________________________

The roof of Marcie’s was quiet for a moment, interrupted by the door to the stairwell being blown off its hinges. “Alright, everypony file out in a calm and orderly-” Dusk was pushed out of the way by the crowd of ponies lining the stairwell behind him, cracking his head on an air conditioner. “-fashion…”

“Are you alright mister?” asked a young filly.

“Just hurt my pride.” Replied Dusk. Brushing off his pants once he got to his feet, the stallion pulled out an orange gun and loaded a cartridge into the rear.

“What’s that?”

“Our ticket off this rock.” Dusk pointed the gun skyward, shooting off an orange flare hundreds of feet into the air. The roof was silent for a few minutes before it was interrupted by the roar of a Pelican from overhead, followed by the thud of it touching down.

“Alright, everypony pile in!” yelled the guards, waving in the survivors from the lower levels of Marcie’s.

Dusk stood back and watched as the Pelican was loaded up and flew off. “Guess I’m walking.” He turned and started to walk back to the stairs, but hit a dark colored wall. “The hell?” Dusk stared up at a blue pair of eyes, and looked down to see where his hands were and backpedaled. “Princess Luna!”

The princess cocked an eyebrow. “Let’s forget that you just groped me, alright?”

“I don’t even know what we’re talking about anyway.”

The princess nodded. “Good to know. Regardless, we have something of a situation that requires your attention.”

Dusk deadpanned and held his arms out. “What could be more important than all this?”

“Try a loss of contact with the team sent to investigate the crashed MAC platform in the tundra.”

“Loss of contact… What are we waiting for?” Asked Dusk.

“We were waiting for you show up.” Replied Cosmo.

Dusk whipped around the dimly lit cabin of the Pelican. “You teleported us, didn’t you?”

Luna shrugged. “Not my fault you’re dense as a brick.”

“You were saying that you lost contact with somepony?” Asked Cloud.

The Princess nodded. “As of an hour ago, we’ve lost contact with the Redoubtable, Blaze Squadron and the marines that we sent to the tundra.”

“So you need to know if anypony is still alive up there.”

“That’s the primary concern. Assuming that the lack of contact is a simple equipment malfunction, do what you can to assist the crew in securing the crash site.”

“So the MAC platform is in one piece?” Asked Palmer.

“More or less. Before contact was lost, Redoubtable had marines securing a perimeter around the crater. Blaze Squadron was to have been deployed once the all clear was given.”

“Then we’re assuming that Steeljack never got that far.” Added Dart. “So we drop in on the perimeter of the landing zone, then sweep and clear?”

The Pelican shuddered as it hit the ground. “Not quite.” Luna teleported away at her final statement.

“Isn’t that reassuring?” Groaned Dusk as he walked off the Pelican. “We get dumped in the middle of a fucking glacier!”

Dart and Cosmo followed close behind. “Which way do we go?”

“Probably towards the frigate.” Suggested Palmer. Off in the distance behind the group was the Redoubtable. “Maybe a five click hike?”

“In equish please Ms. Palmer.” Snipped Dart.

“She means we’re looking at about an hour of walking ahead of us.” Retorted Cosmo.

For the first half an hour of the hike, the only noise accompanying the group was the occasional gust of wind and whipped-up snow. “What happened to the filly Cosmo?”

“What filly?” Asked Dart.

“Archer should be fine. Captain Sentry is taking her back to Canterlot for now.” Replied the Ranger.

“She tell you if she had any other family?”

Cosmo shook his head. “She cried herself to sleep before I could ask.”

Palmer was at the front of the group, scanning the tundra before she stopped short. Cloud stumbled into her, only to get brushed off. “We’re being watched.”

“Do you realize how-” Palmer elbowed Cloud’s gut, staggering the stallion back at the sheer force of the strike. Behind them came the click of a revolver’s striker. “So we are being watched?”

Dusk at Dart pulled their pistols off their belts standing with their backs to Palmer and Cloud. “Then what are we missing here?” Asked Dart.

Cosmo backed into the group and closed their circle. “Cloud, spin up the pulse jets on your legs.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Because I don’t have a bag of flour I can toss up in the air.”

Cloud smirked beneath his helmet, powering up the pulse jets just enough to start blowing around a cloud of snow. As it started to blow around the tundra, it fluttered around a now-shimmering figure in front of Palmer. “Found our pony.”

Cosmo ducked down as Palmer was blasted square in the chest and tossed over his head. “Shit!” The ranger rolled off to the side and fired off three rounds at the shimmering figure. His bullets impacted as the cloak dropped. “Really? An alicorn?” Cosmo was hit in the side of his helmet with a green bolt of magic from the creature. “Can this day get any worse!?”

Dusk crashed to the ground behind Cosmo, and Dart bounced off the frozen ground like a stone thrown across a pond. “We could all die.” Groaned Dusk.

Cloud backpedaled away from the alicorn and fired off two quick shots from his gauntlets. “Could the lot of you get off your asses?” The stallion turned and tucked under a wide swing from the alicorn, firing off a shot into its back.

The alicorn turned and backhanded Cloud before kicking him to the ground and teleporting away. “Anyone want to guess where she went?” Asked Cosmo as he hauled himself to his feet. “I’ll give everyone three guesses.”

“Well what’s big, grey and a massive target?” Sniped Dusk. By the time that the group had struggled back to their feet, gunshots and explosions were heard off towards the Redoubtable. “Any questions on where we’re going now?”

Dart dusted the snow off her coat and charged up her pistol. “Then what are we waiting for?” The mare started charging her horn, and released a sudden burst of magic and light. Once everything had cleared, there was nothing left but empty tundra accompanied by the echoes of rifle fire.