Project Wingpony
...Shattered
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EDIT 1: Added background music links for all chapters. Go reread them if interested in the music.
...Shattered
I awoke to the subtle stirring and the ding dong of my phone’s alarm next to me. Both of my wives were snuggled into each other as I was the first to get up from bed and shut off my phone. I heard a soft giggle from Dash before I sat up to see them beside me. She was in the middle with her snoot just poking out from beyond the sheets while Pash dug her own nose into the sheets next to Dash. I’ll admit it was an odd arrangement but we all loved each other equally, though sometimes I felt like the third wheel in a comic sort of way. A soft knock at the bedroom door alerted my weary gaze.
“Daddy! It’s time for school!” the soft knocks became louder as all six of my children started banging at the door. I gave an amused sigh as I bent down to stretch my legs back and forth. Lazily I plopped the blankets away from my body and draped them over Dash and Pash before I figuratively flew over to the door to greet my sons and daughters. They all smiled at me with their saddlebags empty in their mouths with big puppy like eyes all begging me to help them pack for their field trip.
“Alright, alright little ducklings. Line up in the kitchen and I’ll pack your lunches. Come on, let’s go,” I hurried all of them away from the door as they gave their cheers. Like a chaotic symphony of clockwork my kids began to line up neatly. I started to talk to myself again to keep my focus, “Alright! Jump Jet: ham, turkey, and bacon sandwich with mayo and mustard. Water Spout: Spam sandwich with lettuce and mayo with a side bag of crushed Oreos. Wall Cloud: spicy kimchi ramen with two hard boiled eggs. Panavia Tornado: leftover chicken pot pie. Whirlwind, Whirlpool: grilled cheeses, one cheddar the other Equestrian. Alright kids, the bus is almost here. You guys excited for the trip to the ruins of the Castle of Friendship?”
“I am! I heard that old place used to be where ma and her old friends planned out really cool wargames or something!” Jet was the first to pipe up before he was interrupted by his half brother.
Watty softy put a hoof to JJ’s mouth before he corrected, “No dude! It’s where the Elements of Harmony are stored! DUH!”
“You two are sooo wrong,” Avy wedged herself into the conversation and parted them apart, “It’s where ma and her friends got called on to solve friendship problems in the past. I should know, I’m an egghead like her!”
Jet and Watty looked at each other and back at Avy, “Neeeeeerd!”
“Yeah, well I’m at least ten percent more awesome than you!” Avy playfully stuck her tongue out as I looked to Cloudy after I packed her lunch.
“Are you gonna get in on that?”
“No daddy, I’m fine. I just like to watch it burn,” Cloudy and I looked at the three kids as they went back and forth again. My five year old twins just giggled at the three playfully arguing. I finally finished the last two sandwiches as the bus honked right outside the door.
“Go on ducklings! Quack quack! Quack quack! Go on, get the flock on outta here!” I opened the front door and released the quacken upon the world. A flurry of wings beat past me as five pairs of feathered appendages rushed out of the front door. Watty trotted over to my side and teleported down with his magic only to forget to teleport his bag, “Watty! You forgot your bag!”
I threw the bag down to my son who caught it with telekinesis. With a wave of six hooves they bid me farewell.
“Bye kids!”
“Bye dad! Go dance with the-”
“Don’t say that stupid thing or I’ll eat your wings again Cloudy!” Avy was the last to step onto the bus as I saw them all out. Dash and Pash hurriedly rushed out to wave goodbye as well.
“Well, while you two were busy spooning I, once again, carried the team,” I crossed my arms together and hovered next to them as the two sat there sheepishly. Dash was the first to jokingly retort.
“Well, you didn’t have to carry each of them for eleven months now did you?”
“Hey, do I have to remind you of the wonders of the deciduous hoof capsule? Do I? Because I’ll do it again!”
“You missed a call though,” Dash shuffled in her pocket a bit before she handed me my phone, “It’s from ESEC. Probably just another contract payout confirmation.”
“Man! I told them to give me an email about it! Who’s the crayon eater who decided that was a good way to say ‘Hey! Great job, here’s your money! Bye!’ We have technology you know. Fine, I’ll call them back,” I dialed back the number as magic channeled into my hooves to type out the fine buttons on the screen. After a short ringtone I greeted the soldier, <
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<> Dash and Pash started to bust out in pure belly laughs as I gave one final goodbye, <
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Our house shook as something reverberated in the distance. A loud booming sound and small shockwave that rocked our cloud house.
“What was that?”
“Something not good. Earthquakes don’t shake floating houses,” Dash gave a good point as all three of us rushed to the window closest to the sound. I saw it… Sweet Apple Acres was on fire!
“Pash! Get the go bags and any nonperishables you can pack! Dash, get the guns, ammo, and tactical gear just in case. I’ll get on the horn and see what’s going on!”
“O-Okay!” Pash shook with fear as Dash and I quickly embraced her.
“Stay calm, you got this. We’re all gonna get through this!”
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“The kids! Where are the kids?!”
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“Sky! I see it, cruise missiles! On the horizon to the east!” Dash picked them out with her keen eyes. Fighters were already scrambled to try and shoot them down but they were too fast and evaded with maneuvers not many can match.
“Those aren’t ordinary missiles,” each explosion left behind a bright glow of orange and left the ground scarred with lava like the Ghastly Gorge. Cordium...
“Oh Goddess! Oh Goddess! Oh Goddess! Twilight fuck!” Pash started to panic with tears pouring out of her eyes as we opened the garage and piled everything into the truck.
“Get in the truck! Everyone in?! Let’s go!” I floored the pedal as our house faded behind us. A blast of cordium caught our truck as I looked behind to see our house topple over and our vehicle rocked back and forth. Dash grabbed onto the wheel as I was knocked to the sides and the car slid to a halt. We all took a moment to see our home ravaged by the hate of those that blamed Equestria for the suffering of the world…
“We gotta go find the kids. We can’t look back Sky!” Dash tapped me on the helmet to refocus.
“I-I-I… I know! Dear Faust Mother let them be safe!” I shook my head to clear my thoughts as I backed the truck away from the rock we had crashed into. Thanks to Dash, the car only suffered body damage as we continued to drive.
Several minutes later the bombardment ended as we drove up to the ruins of the old crystalline castle. The once imposing seat of Twilight’s old home laid shattered to pieces. All around the forests burned and the air was thick with ash. Even the apple orchards in the distance were nothing but figures of once uniform rows of our proud agriculture all set ablaze. My heart sank within my constricted chest as I threw open the truck’s door to see a school bus parked in the tourist parking lot missing quite a number of foals. Starlight was there trying to calm both the kids and the chaperoning parents.
“Starlight!”
“Sky! I don’t know what’s going on! Most of the kids are safe but-but!” Starlight stammered in her panic. She pointed to the tourist lobby, “Some of the rubble crushed the lobby! Please, you gotta help me! A few kids are still in there!”
“And mine?!”
“They didn’t wanna leave Jet behind! The others are fine but they’re refusing to leave that building!”
“ARGH! Stubborn as me, I’ll give them that. Pash! Stay here with the others. Dash, Glimmer, on me!” We all rushed to the crumbling building as I heard my foals yelling to each other in desperation.
“Cloudy you gotta lift! I can’t get this thing up with just my magic!”
“WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M DOING STUPID?! IT’S TOO HEAVY!” Cloud sobbed while she heaved a glowing piece of rubble with the help of her brother. I threw my gun to my back and got up underneath the broken crystal. Dash, likewise, threw herself into the thick of it, “D-Daddy?! Mama?!”
“Cloud, where are the others?”
“Under this big rock!” I heard my other children crying under the shard. With our combined strength we managed to flip the rubble off to the side. Avy was with our twins huddled together in her protection, all safe if a little scratched. The next sight my eyes shot to was Jet. He lay motionless and bleeding. With my chest growing ever more tight the flood of emotions washed over me. The sickening, numb feeling as I detached from the moment to rush to my dying son’s side.
“He’s bleeding! Jet! Jet! Stay with me baby!” Dash also shot to his side. I shoved my panic to the back corner of my mind to focus.
“DASH! FOCUS! I need that IFAK now! Starlight! Get Pash here! Get me a tourniquet on his wing and bandage his wounds!” I threw Jet’s saddlebags over to the side to check for any more injuries. His left wing had a major fracture and from what looks like it something probably cut deep enough to sever a major blood vessel. Dash couldn’t stop quivering as her hooves became clammy and sweaty.
“I can’t! I CAN’T!” she started to break. Tears poured forth from her eyes and her nose started to drip with a thin clear mucus with her frantic sobbing. I couldn’t let myself go to her level, not yet. I still had hope. I pushed her away from the medical kit and started to triage our son.
“THEN I WILL!” I wrapped the tourniquet over Jet’s wing and cut off the bleed. I threw my helmet out of the way and put my ear to his chest. No breathing.
No… I won’t! I’M NOT GIVING UP ON MY SON!
“Breath dammit! BREATH!” My own tears started to well up in my eyes. I started the chest compressions. One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… Nine… Ten...
Ear to his chest. Check pulse. No heartbeat.
“DEFIBRILLATOR! GET ME A DEFIBRILLATOR!”
Starlight tore a portable Heartstart from the wall and hovered it over to my side. I worked quickly as my tears rolled from my face and my breaths hastened. I used the razor that came with the kit to shave bare patches on my son’s fur to adhere the electrodes. The AED gave its instructions and started to charge.
Shock…
One.
Two.
Three.
Shock…
“COME ON! JET! JET! FUCKING WAKE UP!” I could feel the others starting to gather around. My ears rang to shut their noise as my head swirled with the numb coldness of quiet panic as I felt myself detach from the moment once more. Once again, the defibrillator whined with an electric charge.
Shock…
One...
Two...
Three...
Shock…
Nothing…
“WAKE UP! WAKE UP!” In a frenzy I once again put my ear to my son’s chest. Nothing…
Shock…
One...
Two...
Three...
Shock…
Dead silence. Howling wind. Thunder? I looked up. Embers floated away. Lava ran down the mountains in the distance. Thunder once again. Deep and sullen orange skies. Everything around me fell apart. The world stood still.
In my most vain hope I let the machine run for another minute as my lifeless son faded away. With quivering hooves I shut off the AED and stood there next to Jet’s body. Dash and Pash, they sobbed with me in their tight embrace as my kids gathered around their brother.
“JJ! I’M SORRY! I’M SO SORRY!” Cloud sunk her face into Jet back as Watty tried to shake his brother awake.
“Jet! Jet! Wake up buddy… Wake up… I don’t want to be alone.”
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