TCB - Zero Hour

Chapter 8

Twilight ducked down behind the upturned table as bullets slammed into the wall above her head, she could barely hear herself think over the noise that now filled The Shady Trough. Screaming, gunfire and pained yelling all blended together into a symphony of chaos that discord would have been proud of.

It had all happened so quickly, one minute Josh had been explaining why he needed their help, and the next; OHR soldiers had burst through the door and started shouting at everyone to get down on the ground. A young stallion had stood up, obviously drunk, and proceeded to push one of the soldiers to the ground; and as the soldier fell the rifle he was holding went off. The round ricocheted off the floor and hit a gruff, thickly built stallion in the flank just above his cutie mark. Enraged, the stallion had turned around and smashed another soldier in the jaw, breaking it with a shower of blood and sending him crashing into a nearby table.

Meanwhile the young stallion that had pushed the soldier to the floor was advancing on another grey clad figure, the soldier in question was a young corporal, barely sixteen years old. The look in the boy’s eyes was one of pure terror, he knew that the advancing pony could kill him very easily, so he had raised his rifle and ordered the stallion to stop, his voice trembling slightly.

“STOP!” He had shouted louder when the pony failed to respond, his breathing had become faster and he had started to sweat. Lyra had noticed the warning signs to late, before she had a chance to open her mouth the corporal had panicked and loosed off three rounds. The stallion, impressively, had managed four complete steps before collapsing; he slumped against the table at which he had been sitting, blood pumping from the bullet wounds in his neck and gurgling in his throat. Then all hell had broken loose.

Twilight felt a pair of hands grab her by the shoulders and pull her roughly to her hooves; Josh was yelling something unintelligible over the noise; and pointing to where her friends were standing by the back entrance. Receiving no response from the lilac unicorn Josh pushed her towards the door, then turned back to put a round from his pistol into the nearest soldiers chest.

It had started to snow heavily again, white flakes swirled about them in the chilly night air, filling in hoof prints and wheel tracks alike; and creating a fresh, white blanket, ready for the next day. A light breeze was blowing through Ponyville, lifting their manes and blowing snow into their coats.

“What now!” Twilight heard Rainbow Dash ask.

“We have to cut through part of the Everfree Forest. I have a makeshift airstrip there and a plane will be waiting for us,” Josh answered.

“Come on darling,” Rarity said nudging Twilight to get her moving. Then they were running, crashing through the Everfree Forest’s thick, snow covered undergrowth. As they had entered the trees an OHR soldier had noticed them and raised the alarm. Now they could hear soldiers behind them; and see the beams from their torches.

“They’re gaining on us!” Rainbow yelled. Just as she said that a shot rang out from behind the group, and part of a tree to Twilights left exploded, showering her with splinters.

“Just a little bit further!” Josh shouted back. Ahead of them Twilight could see a large clearing with some snow covered tents, and a long smooth dirt runway cut out of the Forest and cleared of snow. Once they reached the clearing Twilight could see a jet standing at one end of the makeshift runway, it was large but not quite as big as a passenger plane. The whole aircraft was painted black with gold trimmings and embellishments, and a large golden V adorning the nose cone.

Just then Twilight heard a scream from behind her, an OHR soldier had tackled Fluttershy to the ground, and had her pinned there. As she turned back to try and help her friend Josh grabbed her.

“Let me go!” Twilight yelled, struggling against the human’s grip.

“You can’t help her now!” Josh yelled, as he desperately tried to drag the unicorn away.

“Josh is right,” Atom said gently, pointing to where more OHR soldiers were approaching, “You’re no good to her dead”.

The world became a blur of tears as Twilight allowed herself to led away towards the waiting aircraft, through the tears she caught one last, fleeting glimpse of Fluttershy’s tear streaked face, before her view was blocked by grey coats.

(Isla azul agua, Caribbean Sea)

Applejack was lying on a wicker sun lounger out on the terracotta patio; she had her trademark Stetson pulled down over her eyes and was dozing. She could hear the sound of the waves lapping against the cliffs of the small island, and the sloop that had scooped her up after the plane crash knocking gently against the wooden jetty to which it was moored. The warmth from the sun felt wonderful against her orange coat. It was all very relaxing.

In his office Santiago was on the phone to his employer, the mysterious Mr Black. Santiago’s office was a light airy room with two open doors leading onto the patio; the furniture was of neoclassical design and there were potted plants on almost every flat surface.

Santiago himself was wearing an immaculate white suit with a casual shirt underneath; he was holding a phone receiver in one hand and a glass of white wine in the other.

“Yes sir, we should arrive by noon,” Santiago stated, taking a sip of wine, “There were a few OHR ships around the wreckage, but I don’t think they found anything”.

After a time Santiago came out onto the patio and sat in the chair next to Applejack's. The two of them just sat there in silence, enjoying the warm, sunny weather; and watching Applebloom play in the pool. Watching the young filly reminded Santiago of his own daughter Annabelle, she had been killed along with his wife in a PER attack at the Palazzo Sentagorio a year ago, during a garden party hosted by the Italian Prime minister Enrico Letta.

“Santiago,” Applejack said suddenly, breaking him out of his trance, “tell me who you were before all this.”

“You mean during the war?” he answered absentmindedly, “I was a politician in the Italian Cabinet, I had a wife and a daughter, she was about the same age as Applebloom”.

“What happened to them?”

“They were killed in an attack by PER. A lot of people died that day. You see, PER were using a home brewed serum; and it didn't work properly, it just… killed people”. He trailed off; the memories were clearly causing him pain.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you relive that,” Applejack said gently, placing a hoof on the man’s knee, “Can you tell me about who exactly we’re going to meet?” Applejack changed the topic.

Santiago suddenly became nervous and fidgeted in his seat, “I can’t tell you much about that,” Santiago said after a pause, refusing to meet her gaze. “All I can tell you is that they’re the reason that you’re alive today”.

“What do you mean?” Applejack asked, she was sick of people not giving her a straight answer.

Santiago thought for a moment, “Come with me, I have something to show you,” Santiago led Applejack to his office, where he presented her with aerial photographs of the crash site.

Applejack's eyes widened and her jaw dropped open as she flicked through the photographs, “I survived that?” Applejack breathed, for the first time she viewed the horror that she had lived through.

“No one else on that plane survived,” Santiago took the photographs, “save for you and your sister. If I had to guess, I’d say my employers are the only reason you’re alive”.

(OHR Main Office, Canterlot Castle)

Augustus Cribben sipped a cup of piping hot tea as he watched the wall-mounted clock, 9:05pm. Come on; come on. Cribben’s hand was hovering over his phone receiver. He picked it up as soon as it started ringing and, not waiting for the caller to announce himself snapped, “Is it done?”

Cribben’s knuckles went white as he listened to Ian Mercers response, “No sir, it has only begun”. Cribben slammed the phone receiver down and buried his face in his hands. They've escaped! They've escaped! Cribben’s mind screamed, stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He scolded himself.

Then there came a knock at the door; and a minute later George Van-zantan entered carrying a white document in his hand, he cleared his throat and handed the paper to Cribben, “There’s been an incident in Ponyville sir… its bad”.

Cribben felt his blood run cold as he read the report. He had sent Mercer to apprehend seven POIs (People of Interest); and now 23 ponies were dead, gunned down by OHR soldiers in front of a town full of witnesses.

“I must also inform you that the Prince and Princess have requested to speak to you in their chambers immediately”.

Of course they did, how could they not? thought Cribben. "Thank you Agent Van-zantan you’re dismissed,” Cribben said, and steeled himself for what he was about to do.

(Veritas Consortium Headquarters, Malta)

Two men were sat in a large wood panelled dining room. An open faced, wood burning fire crackled in the ornate fireplace. On the opposite side of the room to the two men was a large LCD screen mounted on the wall, on which was a caller ID, similar to what you would see on Skype when the video function is turned off.

“Do we know what this virus is yet?” One of the men asked, taking a sip from the crystalline glass he was holding.

“Not yet,” came a reply from whoever was on the screen, his voice was digitally disguised, sounding deep and gravelly.

“Well, what are we doing to remedy the situation?”

“We've discreetly taken one of the victims to our Detroit facility, there blood and tissue samples will be taken and scrutinized against surviving samples of Phorris-B, and hopefully we won’t get a match”.

The man took another sip of his drink before replying, “And if we do get a match?”

“I’m not sure, there were never any protocols for an accidental release. Phorris-B was always meant to be used as a weapon of last resort… and of course, in its original form it wasn't capable of infecting humans, so there was never any need to create a countermeasure”.

At this point the other man spoke, he was sitting in a wheel chair and his voice came out metallic, “It must be remembered however, that viruses are prone to mutations in their genetic code, creating new strains, with new abilities. Phorris-B would be no different”.

“Except Phorris-B has been sealed up in a freezer at the CDC for the past two years,” the person on the screen replied.

“So you’re saying that it never occurred to anyone that we may need a vaccine or something?” The first man asked incredulously.

“By the time we started developing a countermeasure it had become clear that the human race would win the war conventionally, therefore the chairman deemed the virus irrelevant and ordered all but a few samples destroyed,” The second man said.

“And of course, there’s no need to develop a vaccine for something that ‘no longer exists’,” the man on the screen added.

“All right, I take your points. For now, send me all of the data we have on the original strain of Phorris-B; as well as likely mutation models. Also; contact The Department, see if anything they gleaned from their latest acquisitions can help us,” the first man finished as the screen went dark. He turned to the second man and said, “The chairman should arrive by this evening, I suggest we call a meeting as soon as he touches down to bring him up to speed”.

(Prison Facility, Mount Inostranka, Alaska)

Celestia finished reading the book and flopped down on her bed, placing her head on her hooves. "They see us as monsters Luna", Celestia whispered to herself. Not long after that sleep claimed the white alicorn… but it was not a restful one. As soon as her eyelids closed, she was catapulted back to the fields outside Canterlot, during the last true battle of the war… before the siege began.