Author's Note

Hello everyone! When I was writing this chapter, for some reason I've been listening to "Underwood". Hope you'll enjoy them as much, as I did!

The screaming gun

"So, how's the life, Sid?"

"Sort of good, Spike. I mean, I'm still stuck here, but at least I have a job now, so I will not die from hunger."

"And what's the job?" Spike asked.

"Now I'm testing all the newfound technology from that underground hangar," the man chuckled.

Cider and Spike were riding in an old GAZ through the streets of Canterlot. After sort-of-completing the mission about the Queen Chrysalis, everything's sorted out a bit. The human now was maintaining the special department of the Royal Canterlot armory -- the one, that's been recently filled up with human technologies, that were found under the city of Manehattan. Princess Celestia said once, that she would organise search-and-rescue teams to find more stuff like this, but Cider didn't really care about it, since it didn't help him in getting back to Earth. However, now his life wasn't too bad, too -- Princess Luna has given him a place to stay in one of Canterlot's small hotels, provided him with an unlimited access to fuel depot and also said that if he needed any sort of armament, he should write to her.

"Alrighty, Spike... What's the business today?"

"Twilight and princess Luna said that they will be waiting for you in the castle. And also, they said that there's no rush -- they have a plenty of time today."

"Castle, then... Alright," Cider hummed thoughtfully, "But first I'll get some coffee. Had to get up early this morning."

After stopping by a cafe and getting a hot, steaming coffee, Spike and Cider continued to roll through the streets of Canterlot. The weather was nice, so the human has totally enjoyed the ride in his open-top offroader. However, he couldn't let himself drift into daydreaming too much, so he started a conversation with Spike.

"So... How's Chrysalis? Everything's fine?"

"Yeah, pretty much. However, her wings have changed..." -- Spike made an uncertain gesture with his left hand -- "They've started to glow. Slightly. Starlight keeps telling me, that the same thing has happened to my friend Thorax before his transformation."

"That's good, I guess..." Cider replied, "Not that I like her much, but it will be good if she won't cause any trouble. No more news from Ponyville, I guess?"

"Nope. Since you've moved to Canterlot, there wasn't anything worth mentioning."

"Gah, that's boring... Good thing that Luna has provided me with some work, or I would die from boredom."

Pretty soon, the car's stopped in front of the main gate of the Princesses' castle. After exchanging formalities with guards, Spike and Cider made their way inside. As they came in, Twilight Sparkle, who's been waiting near the door, immidiately greeted them.

"Hi there, Cider! Hello, Spike! Everyone's waiting for you in the Royal Garden."

"Hi there, Twilight," Cider replied softly, "It's nice to meet you too once in a while. Anyways, what's the deal?"

"Well, you've been doing artillery tests with all these guns that you'd found, but this one has impressed even Celestia. The one, that has 203-millimiter caliber," the alicorn smiled back while accompanying the human and the dragon, "When she heard that its shell broke the Crystal Throne, she's called for me and Luna. They want to see it in action."

"That B-4 howitzer? Well, I hope that they have an earplugs!" Cider chuckled, "And they want to fire it from their garden towards... Towards what?"

"The Wonderbolts crew has set a target in the clouds above, so there's no problem with that."

"Well, if you say so..."

As the trio came out to the garden, Cider immidiatelly saw a few ponies in the distance, gathered near the howitzer. As he came closer, he greeted the Princesses, and the Wonderbolts captain, Spitfire.

"Hello everyone. Celestia, Luna -- my pleasure," said the man, while bowing half-jokingly and recieving a chuckle from Celestia, "Spitfire -- nice to meet you too. It's been a while since Manehattan, really."

"Hello there, Cider! Yeah, it's been quite a while. But, let's discuss all this stuff later," the pegasus in uniform said, while pointing to a group of clouds in the clear sky, "That's the target. Our boys have managed to build there a concrete wall, so the detonator of the shell will ignite. Fire when you're ready."

As the man got to the howitzer, he released the hydraulic brakes, that would prevent the chassis from rolling back. Then, after a few ballistic calculations, he managed to aim the gun in right direction (with the help of Spike, or else it would take much more time). After doing so, he's managed to load the shell with a crane, and strap a rope to the firing lever.

"Everyone ready?" he asked the surrounding ponies, while making a few steps back and putting on his armor and helmet. After recieving a nod from everyone, he filled his lungs with air and shouted:

"ARTILLERY!"

As Cider pulled the firing lever, he opened his mouth to ease an impact of the blastwave. However, that didn't help much -- he became deaf for a few seconds right after the gun's shot. The ground under his feet shook, and the massive recoil has made the gun move along with the dirt under its brakes. However, the human didn't lose his bearings, but took a look at the target. After a few seconds of silence, another loud "BOOM" has shaken the skies, and the rest of clouds dissappeared. The only thing that remained on their place, was the smoke from the shell's explosion.

"BULL'S EYE!" Cider shouted... And almost didn't hear himself -- the blastwave had its impact on his ears, after all. "ANYONE CAN HEAR ME?"

As the man looked around, he saw that the glass windows of the nearest section of the castle were broken, and everyone else were lying on the ground. First to regain her bearings was Twilight Sparkle. As she tried to say a few words, she realised that she became temporary deaf, too. As she looked towards Cider, she saw that he was gesturing to his ear. After a few seconds of thinking, Twilight's horn started to glow with purple aura, as well as everybody's heads. After recieving a tingling sensation, Cider realised that he could hear the ambient again.

"Thanks, Twilight," he said, "But that wasn't necessary. We would be deaf only for a limited time."

"Maybe, but still, I want to hear everything," the alicorn chuckled, "But anyway, that was..."

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" suddenly, Spike shouted while getting up. "So much power... O-ho-ho, that's even better than breathing fire! And look at the castle's windows..."

"Yeah, that gun is my favourite. "Stalin's Sledgehammer", as Germans named it. POWER!" the human shouted and threw his fist into the air.

"Woah... And the target is a goner. It's been made from concrete, you know that?" Spitfire said, while scanning the sky.

"Well done, Cider," -- Celestia joined the group along with Luna -- "But next time, please, warn us about the blastwave."

"Also, if you need any tests, or ammunition, just let us know, okay?" -- Luna winked and made a step forward -- "Not only for research, but for your personal purpose, too. I can see how you enjoy all this military stuff, and working with interest improves the final result."

"Sure thing, Luna," Cider said, while heading back to his car, "Spike, Spitfire, are you coming?"

"Nah, I'm cool, Sid. I'll stay with Twilight for the rest of the day," Spike replied.

"I'll go with you, then. Still have nothing to do today," Spitfire said, while coming closer to the human.

"Good. See you later, lads."

And after saying their goodbyes, Cider and Spitfire headed to the soldier's car.

"You know, Cider, I've never been riding in a car before. Really strange feeling," Spitfire stated, "But I like it. It's almost like flying, but except you don't fly."

"Well, humans can't fly. That's why we've invented the internal combustion engine to help us cover big distances," Cider replied, while maneuvering between ponies on the street, "And it really does its job well. Too bad that you ponies use only diesels, and only on construction sites. Steam engines... Archaic. It's like a stagnation."

"Well, we don't really need fancy technologies. We have our wings, strenght and magic," Spitfire shrugged.

"Exactly! And that's why I feel myself useless. What can I do without my car or weaponry? Nothing! Stupid feeling, but I can't get rid of it."

Cider parked the car near the hotel, where he was living, and shut down the engine. As he and Spitfire got out from the vehicle, they headed inside the building. By the entrance, they were greeted by a young unicorn mare with brown mane and white fur.

"Welcome back, Cider! How was the day?" she said, smiling warmly.

"Well enough, Chocola. You?"

"Quite good, too... Wait, is that?.." -- Chocola got up from her seat, and took a look at Spitfire. -- "You're Spitfire? From the Wonderbolts?!"

Spitfire smiled widely. "Yeah, that's me. I'm the captain's friend."

"Woah... Well, it's good, I guess. Not many people can build a nice friendly relationship with a mare of your rank, after all!" Chocola said, grinning. "But before you go, can I have an autograph? Ple-e-ease?"

"Sure thing, miss."

As Cider and Spitfire entered the soldier's room, the pegasus saw that it was quite small, yet cozy. Being located on a second floor of the building, its window was facing the street. The room itself was nothing special -- a bed, a table, a couple of chairs and a closet. On a table, there were lying some books and electronic devices (which were pretty useless without any charger, and were lying like a dead weight). Aside from that, there was only a small fridge. As Spitfire took off her shoes, she moved herself into the room and sat in one of the chairs, while Cider was dealing with his combat boots. When he finally managed to take his boots off, he moved to the fridge and took two bottles of port wine from it.

"Want some? "Three Axes", the most shitty port wine you can find here," he offered with a good piece of sarcasm. Spitfire only laughed a bit.

"Sure thing. I've come to Canterlot to rest, after all."

"But I must warn you -- I have no glasses. Are you okay with that?"

"And why I shouldn't be?"

As Cider opened the bottles, he passed one to Spitfire, and took another for himself. After that, he sat into the second chair near the pegasus.

"Cheers, mate!" the man said, clinging bottles with Spitfire.

"You too, Cider."

As Cider took the first sip, he felt how the warmth began to flow through his body. The man took off his helmet and armor, and put them near the table. The setting sun was gently sending its rays through the window, creating a nice warm atmosphere in the room. White blankets of the bed, walls and interior looked yellowish, like on an old photograph. And Cider smiled in enjoyment, remembering the old times. His dreamy face made Spitfire feel uneasy.

"Hey, Cider... You alright?" she asked. The man only smiled wider.

"Good enough. Just remembering the old times," Cider replied, taking a good gulp from the bottle, "You know, when I was much, much younger. Shit, this was a lo-o-ong time ago..."

The yellow pegasus chuckled, "You know, you've managed to intrigue me!"

"Yeah-yeah... I was something like... Fifteen or sixteen years old, and these times were great. I could hang out with my classmates after school, and the summer was hot as hell. I loved it -- I could do whatever I wanted and whenever I wanted. And also, I was a racer. I loved racing back then... Well, I still love it, but I basically have no money or time. Too bad, I was good enough to beat anyone, heh."

"And what kind of racing you were doing? Wonderbolts can offer you a good challenge, if you want." -- Spitfire lifted her brow, after taking another sip from the bottle.

"Nah, you can't. I was a race car driver. At first, there were go-karts, and then small Formulas. But, it requires a lot of money to participate in such kind of competition, so I ran out of it," the man sighed, "And never came back to doing anything like that again. Ridiculous -- a few meters of steel tubes and a two-stroke engine cost like a good car like mine! Of course, even the smallest kart is much faster than a regular car, but it's fucking expensive. And you ponies don't even have regular cars, so you can't challenge me."

Spitfire blushed deeply, "And why not? You still have your offroader, after all!"

"Because you can fly much faster with your wings than I can ride in a car. Be damned your magic world, but it gave you a couple of nice perks."

Spitfire suddenly felt uncertain. Of course, it's always nice to know that you're better than somebody, but not when that "somebody" doesn't even have a chance to prove himself. So, she took a good gulp from a bottle and faced the ceiling.

"Too bad that you can't even prove yourself, Cider. Even the Wonderbolts team needs a good challenge sometimes. Especially Rainbow Dash... Well, you know her," the mare stated.

"Yup. Heh, it's quite ironic, because I have a piloting licence for light aircraft, but no aircraft to challenge her," Cider replied. As he saw by the look of Spitfire, that she didn't understand, he explained: "Aircraft is a sort of machine, that can fly, using a motor."

"Woah. Cool tech, I must say..."

"Sure thing it is."

After taking an another gulp from the bottle, Cider got up from the chair, and walked towards the window. The view outside was peaceful -- a few ponies walking here and there, and the warm sunrays lighting up the street. The man heavily sighed.

"Spitfire..." he said, and took a pause, "When you were young, did you think that everything is possible? That you can become anyone and do whatever you want? Answer me honestly."

Spitfire hummed quietly, concentrating. "Well... Of course, I thought so. I've always had a passion for perfection, you know. And now I am a captain of the Wonderbolts. And I'm quite happy with that, if you ask me. My life objectives are completed, sort of."

The man smirked and looked straight into the mare's eyes. "That's what I thought. You are very lucky, must say -- back in our world, money is a key factor to success in anything. You can make through all the difficulties, but you must be genious. And that comes to it -- I'm good, but that's not enough."

After finishing his speech, the soldier finished his bottle and came back to Spitfire. After leaving the empty bottle in a bucket near the table, he tiredly sat back in his chair.

"You know, Cider..." -- the mare put her hand on the man's shoulder -- "You may not be a famous racer, or a perfect person in general. But you've still saved Equestria along with the Elements of Harmony. And I'm more than glad to know you personally. Maybe even call a good friend."

As the man felt Spitfire's arm on his shoulder, and as he heard what she said, his heart started to beat faster. He felt a tear come into his eye.

"Thank you. So much."

The pegasus only smiled and leaned closer. Surprisingly for a man, she softly hugged him.

"No probs, mate. Just telling the truth," she said, "And thank you for being honest."

And the pair was sitting, while the warm sun was setting down. The ambient of the street softly loosened the man's mind, and he felt that he had at least a few persons, that he could rely on in this world.