The Cine-magic Series: Godzilla

The unsurreptitiousness of the train attack had left the army scrambling for any salvageability of their main plan. Thankfully, with one of the warheads mostly undamaged and operational, said plan would come to fruition, all be it, with extra cautionary decrees. This led to some frantic beldam, especially in the hospital Elle was working at. Injured patients were being carted off by nurses and army officers. All the while every television system was broadcasting evacuation and sheltering protocols.

"They are insisting civilians make their way to the BART stations. All the BART stations are designated shelters.

Elle was quick to take notice of all the patients being wheeled away toward the entrances of the hospital. She came up to one of them, confused and concerned.

"Wait, wait. These patients are my responsibility. Where are you taking them?"

The nurse pushing the hospital bed shook his head, implicated that he and the others had no control over this.

"Across the bridges," a solider trailing behind said. "Critical and children only."

Elle's friend passed by with several children following.

"Shelters are gonna fill up fast," she said. "Trust me, they'll be safer outside the city."

As they reached the entrance, Elle's friend turned back to her.

"I can take Sam."

"No, no, no. Ford's on his way," Elle declined.

"If you change your mind, the buses leave in 10 minutes."

With that Elle's friend left, leaving the young nurse by herself amongst the swarm of soldiers and patients. This was the last chance for her son to get somewhere safe, but she was running out of time and neither Ford or the ponies had showed up. All she could really do was wait for any evidence of their arrival.

"Come on. Where are you, Ford?"

Outside, evacuation were being wrapped up. The injured and children were piled into waiting school buses and army trucks, which were to be sent away across the bay where shelters were ready and waiting to take them in.

"This way! Keep them moving!" a soldier yelled.

Dozens of soldiers directed hundreds of evacuees into the vehicles.

"Let's go. Come on, come," another said.

Just then, several helicopters flew overhead, catching the attention of many. One of the helicopters was carrying the intact warhead, while another was carrying Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike among several soldiers.

"Ohh, I just made these wonderful uniforms not even 24 hours ago and now they're completely ruined!" Rarity complained.

"We have more pressing issues than our soiled uniforms at the moment," Twilight reminded. "Need we talk about the MUTOs still on the loose."

"And Godzilla, wherever he is," Spike added.

"At least he's going to take the MUTOs down."

"Then why are we still here?" Rarity asked harshly.

The others turned to the upset unicorn. That had this emotional discussion before, yet it never did end up getting resolved. It certainly was going to be when Rainbow got involved, having been the one to finally break back during the train incident.

"Usually you don't hear this from me, Rarity's right," the pegasus spoke more solemnly instead of the trauma-filled angry from last night. "What reason do we need to be here? We've done next to nothing to keep this exact kind of thing from happening."

"You're right...we don't hear that from you, Dashie," Pinkie observed.

"It was an inevitability, Rainbow," Twilight said. "We didn't have much control over the monsters resurfacing."

"Again, I ask: Why are we here then? If it was keep those monsters from destroying those things, we've done a poor job at it. And if it was to get that missile to where it needs to be, we failed that, too!"

"But, it is still getting transported."

"No thanks to us," Applejack lowered her head. "Ah hate to admit it girls, but ah'm startin' ta think we ain't cut out for these missions no more."

Twilight turned to the amber earth pony with a shocked and hurt look. Hurt coming a place of disbelief. The young alicorn and the others prided themselves in not just being best friends, but also caring, determined, and bonded defenders of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony. There for anypony with a magic or friendship problem. But, this wasn't Equestria, and the problem was derived from friendship or magic. It was from monsters beyond proportions, monsters that the Mane 6 had ever gone up against. What hope did they have in completing this mission if they couldn't anything to turn the tables.

"Sh-Shouldn't we, at least, try again?" Pinkie asked, her reassuring smile imperceptibly falter under her own crushing self-doubt.

"What's the point? All we'd accomplish at this point is risking injuries again," Rarity said.

"Or death," Rainbow added.

The soldiers still silent, though that was mostly out being unsure what to say instead of respect or uncaring. Three of the four helicopters then diverged away from their chopper, heading toward the bay.

"What are they doing now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hey! Where are they taking it?" Ford turned to the soldier next to him.

"Twenty miles offshore, convergence point," the soldier explained. "We're gonna lure them there. Three birds, one stone."

Ford looked back to the helicopters. "Three birds, one stone." that was what the soldier said. If what he thought was the case, then they were planning on killing Godzilla, too. The Mane 6 and Spike picked up on this, too.

"Wait, three birds?" Twilight parroted. "You guys are planning on blowing up Godzilla, as well?"

"That's the plan."

"But, he's supposed to take down the two MUTOs," Spike attested. "Why would you kill him if he's doing what you guys are trying to do."

"They're converging here, in San Francisco Bay," one of the other soldiers replied. "If we let them fight, they'll cause serious collateral damage and fatalities. We can't let that happen."

"But, that is nature's balance," Fluttershy spoke up. "Dr. Serizawa said it, himself."

"It's either us or them, and our priority is keeping all civilians safe from harm."

The craven pegasus could keep silent at that. If this was in Equestria, keeping the residence safe was their top priority. Even though she was still against killing the creatures, Fluttershy knew there was no point arguing with a military force.

"See. They have everything covered," Rainbow raised her front hooves out to the redirected helicopters. "They don't need us. We didn't need to be here in the first place."

"But, what about Ford and his relationship with Joe," Spike brought up. "We helped with that."

The clearly emotional pegasus let out a frustrated sigh through her nose. "Yeah, sure. We did help with that. But, let me asked you something, Spike: How much does that really matter now that Joe is dead?"

Spike was about to say something, but the words died in his throat. He really had to think about that question.

"I mean...at the very least, they still made up. Even if it wasn't under the best circumstances."

"They barely made up. Joe would still probably be here if we had just did something. If I had just swopped him and got him away from that bridge."

"Rainbow, I don't blame you for my dad's death," Ford said candidly. "By the time we realize the walkway was going to collapse, it was too late to do anything."

"I'm supposed to be fast! I pride myself in that. I pride in the fact that I'm fast enough the save anypony that was in danger. Applejack, Rarity, remember the time we went camping with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo?"

"Ah sure do. When we camped up all the way to Winsome Falls," Applejack said.

"Oh, I remember that, too," Rarity reminisced.

"And you remember what happened the night before we reached Winsome Falls?"

Applejack and Rarity turned to each other. It took a second for them to remember the exact memory.

"Uhh, wasn't that when Scootaloo couldn't sleep cuz of some ghost stories and nearly fell off a waterfall?"

"Exactly!" the cyan pegasus exclaimed. "She would've likely fallen to her death if I hadn't been their to save her. I was able to save her because I was quick enough to reach her."

"Right. We understand that," Rarity said. "But, what does that have to do with any of this?"

"I was able to save a filly from falling over a waterfall. How am I unable to save a human from a collapsing walkway not even a hundred feet away?"

"Rainbow you can't save everypony, even if your the fastest flier out there," Twilight said.

"Well, I should've been fast enough to rescue Joe!"

"We were under attack from the MUTO!"

"That doesn't change the fact that I could've done something!"

"ENOUGH!"

The ponies, dragon, and even the soldiers tensed up. But, what really surprised the Mane 6 and Spike was that the voice had belonged to Fluttershy. Instead of shying away after raising her voice, however, the mare inhaled deeply. She then turned to Rainbow.

"I understand that you feel guilty over Joe's death, but you can't let that cloud you thoughts and decisions."

Fluttershy spoke with seriousness, clearness, and gentleness. Such bold benevolence had stumbled Rainbow out of her emotional lamentations.

"Ford doesn't blame you for it and neither do we," the mare continued. "Not only that, just because we haven't been doing our best with this whole situation, doesn't mean we shouldn't be here to begin with."

"But, Fluttershy..." A defeated look came over Rainbow, ears flattened and head bowed. "We were supposed to keep these kinds of things from happening. With the military preparing the missile, what reason is there to stick around? We did our part and we failed."

"Come on. Don't beat yourselves up over this," Ford said. "You can't just expect yourselves to fix everything that gets in your way."

"Maybe not, but they are the Elements of Harmony," Spike gestured to Twilight and the others. "And we were brought here because we were needed, yet we haven't done much of anything to warrant that."

The other mares and Spike bowed their heads in defeat alongside there dejected friend.

"What if Rainbow's right? What if we really did fail this time?" Rarity said.

"I can't do this anymore, girls," Pinkie sighed. "We are just cartoon characters after all."

"Ah suggest we cut our losses and find a way back home," Applejack said sadly.

"Perhaps that the best," Twilight sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "All we've been is dead weight."

"Coming here was a mistake," Rainbow said solemnly.

Normally, Fluttershy would be in agreement with her friends. Things were bleak for them with nothing to show for them. But, seeing all her friends so done triggered something within the mare. Not something primal or reactionary, but a realization. The realization that, right now, this was the time to put her hoof down, stand up tall, and be brave. Fluttershy needed to have the courage to say "no" to all of this.

"No."

The Mane 6 and Spike all turned to her, once again, surprised by her unmoving valor.

"We were brought here for a reason," Fluttershy glared at the others. "The dream I had. There was I reason I was given that."

"What if it was just a great big coincidence?" Rainbow asked.

"I refuse to believe that."

"But, Fluttershy, all we've done is complicate things," Twilight stood up, a crestfallen expression on her face. "We've failed to prevent the MUTO's from causing destruction. We’ve failed our mission."

"You don't know that!" Fluttershy stepped right up to Twilight's face. "Just because we haven't succeeded in our mission now, does not mean it's a complete bust. We are still here, we can still make a difference."

"What can we do now?" Rarity asked poignantly. "There's no way we can stop those MUTO and Godzilla on our own."

"Maybe that's not what we were here for. Maybe we're here to Ford reconcile with his father and reunite with his family."

Fluttershy turned to the injured lieutenant. "Think about it. So far we've remained alive through everything that has happened. Even if Joe didn't survive, we can agree that Ford has reconciled with him, right?"

"...Yes," Ford nodded.

"I suppose," Twilight admitted.

The others nodded.

"But, why did he have to die?" Rainbow asked.

"That was just an unfortunate accident," the cream-yellow pegasus responded. "Believe me, Rainbow, I'm just as heartbroken as you about it, but we can't keep living in that moment. In his last moments, Joe said to Ford to go back to his family. That's what we must do; see to it that he gets back to his wife and son safe and sound."

"But, what'v the MUTOs and Godzilla when they git her?" Applejack asked warily.

"We have the warhead," one of the soldiers reminded.

"And what if it don't work? What's yer plan B?"

The soldier gave no answer. He turned to the other soldiers that were just as lost as him. To not have a failsafe if the warhead didn't do the job was not something on anyone's minds until now. Fluttershy, on the other hand, closed her eyes, deep in thought over Applejack's prior question. There was no denying that even after Ford reunites with Elle and Sam, things would not be over. She didn't have a clear answer when it came to down to those exacts problems amongst all the others that were of concern. However, given that they still had time, she thought it wise to put those problems on the back burner and focus on the more important aspects of their mission.

"I don't know. But I'm not going to just give up even if the odds are greatly against us. Like Spike said, we are the Elements of Harmony. We always pull through no matter what."

She came up to Rainbow, who still had an unsure look. "Come on, Dashie. Where's all that tenacity, and bravery, and bravado? Whatever happened to never giving up?"

Rainbow looked at her closest friend, shocked from her forwardness. It only took a few seconds for her to completely rethink all that she had said and felt. Fluttershy was right. Joe's death shook her and it blinded her sense of duty and loyalty, and, because of that, it was leading the distraught pegasus to have severe feelings of doubt. Now, Rainbow was not one to have such emotional conflict and doubt, but this was brand new territory for her and her friends and, in this territory. It brought a slough of circumstances and predicaments that the Mane 7 just weren't prepared for. For Rainbow, a came to such a daunting crescendo that it was having an effect on, not just her self-esteem, but the entire teams synergy. Fluttershy knew this and had the courage to point it out to them all, especially her closest friend.

Rainbow Dash stared into Fluttershy's big, teal eyes. What once characterized the mare as timid and soft-spoken, but also kind, friendly, and welcoming. Now, they radiated vibrant solemnity and true, raw courage. It was something Rainbow had pretty much never seen her friends show. There were times Fluttershy showed her more out-spoken and fearless side, like when she stood up to that big dragon, but this was melded into a more encouraging approach.

Instead of feeling intimidated, Rainbow felt awe-inspired, she felt her confidence coming back. She turned her other friends who seemed to be affect by Fluttershy's speech, too. They also were reignited that maybe, just maybe, there was still hope. Rainbow turned back to Fluttershy, a reassured, yet apologetic smile on her face.

"You're right, Fluttershy. You're right on so many things. I was giving up too easily and I was stupid for that. I was letting Joe's death effect my confidence and self-esteem. I just... I'll admit it, everything that's happened... it's just been so confusing and hard to come to terms with. All of this is much bigger than anything we've been through."

"Ah second that," Applejack briefly interjected.

"I think I speak for everypony when I say that we should've prepared ourselves more than jumping in head first," Twilight said.

"Agreed," Rarity said, with Spike and Pinkie nodding.

"But, you still haven't given up, Fluttershy. Even with all the odds stacked against us, you were the one to remaining standing and keep fighting."

"Not only that, you stood up for us, even when we were about to throw in the towel," Rainbow came to Fluttershy's side. "In all the years we've known each other, I've never seen you with such a courageous fire in your eyes. I-...I never knew you had that in you."

The younger mare shuffled her wings awkwardly, her serious look melting back to her meek side.

"Honestly I didn't really know I had it in me, either. I guess it just comes to you when you really need it."

"Natural or not, that was commendable." Ford admitted.

"Thank you, for stepping in like that, Fluttershy," Twilight said graciously. "We still may not have all the answers, but that's not grounds for giving up. We're here to help and that's what we're going to do."

"Three cheers for Fluttershy!" Pinkie cheered.

The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford began cheering for the courageous friend. Even some of the soldiers started cheering, respecting Fluttershy's valiance. She could only smile with an audible "sqwee." While our heroes were getting to celebrate a personal victory, it was still a far cry of what was to come.

The diverted helicopters had made to their designated destination. The larger, Chinook helicopter carrying the warhead carefully lowered the massive missile onto a small, military transport boat. Soldiers helped steady the giant warhead onto the holding platform before securing it.

Air raid sirens began blaring all throughout the city, alerting all of San Francisco that time was running out. School buses and army trucks hastily made a break out of the hospital parking lot. Elle, who was now outside amongst the chaos, held Sam tightly, rubbing his head in an effort to keep him calm. She had grown more impatiently worried the longer she was forced to wait for Ford's return. With the sirens going off, she knew that time was dwindling fast. The sharp sound of a beeping vehicle horn, startle Elle out of here panicky stupor. The nurse turned around to see a small school bus rolling in her direction. In that microscopic window of time she had, Elle made a hard choice.

"Wait!" Elle held out her free hand.

The driver stopped the buses, allowing Elle to race over to the folding entry doors. They opened and she quickly stepped inside. She saw her friend at the very front seat.

"Laura, thank god," Elle whsipered.

Laura smiled warmly. The young nurse set her son onto the buses steps and toward him to face her.

"Sammy, you remember Laura. She's mommy's work friend, right?"

Sam looked over to Laura. While he knew that his mom's friend was a nice lady, the young boy didn't like where this was going.

"She's going to look after you just for a little bit. Daddy's going to be here soon. And I'm just gonna come get you right after. I promise."

Elle cupped Sam's cheeks in her hands. Sam didn't like the last minute arrangement, but he was a smart enough kid to understand that his mom was doing this to keep him safe and protected, even if it meant having to be separated from her.

"Okay," he said sadly, but he put on a brave face just for his mommy.

"Okay?" Elle kissed Sam on the forehead.

"Come on, sweetheart," Laura took Sam's hand and led him up the steps. "Your mom's gonna stay and help."

The young nurse smiled as confidently and comfortingly as possible.

"Elle, I'm gonna take care of him, okay?" Laura assured. She turned to Sam. "Say, "Bye-bye, Mommy."

"Bye, Mommy," Sam said quietly.

Elle waved to her son just as the bus doors closed. Her lower lip quivered as the school bus drove off. Elle was, at least, proud of herself for keeping it together. The last thing she wanted was for Sam to see her so upset before he left. If it was any consolation, she trusted her friend to keep her baby safe. All she could really do now was pray for both Sam safety and Ford and the ponies' hopeful return.

Tactical Operations Command
Oakland, California

The remaining helicopter finally reached it's destination. Unfortunately, that happened to be far away from San Francisco. The chopper made a swift landing on the top of the embankment where a crudely built military base was set. Ford, the Mane 6, and Spike clambered out of the chopper. A pair of soldiers helped Ford over to a paramedic.

"I got them! I got them!" the paramedic helped in walking Ford over to an empty stretcher. "Just sit down here. Sit, sit. Here."

"We heard you the first time," Rainbow said crudely.

"He's just doing his job, Rainbow," Twilight said.

Once Ford was sat down, a second paramedic arrived to look over Twilight, Spike and the others.

"Did you lose consciousness?" the first paramedic asked.

He looked at the gash on left side of Ford's head.

"I'm okay. Really, I'm fine," the lieutenant assured dismissively.

"What about you guys?" the second paramedic asked.

"Just some cuts and bruises. We're fine, I assure you," Twilight said.

"I don't suppose you can tell where we are, perchance," Rarity inquired.

"You're in Oakland," the paramedic replied. "This is a makeshift tactical operations, so the military can keep an eye on the city when Godzilla and MUTO arrive."

"Gosh, it's like everypony knows about Godzilla's arrival," Spike said.

"Well, one, it's for safety reasons," a passing soldier said. "And two, it's hard to keep those things under wraps. I mean, as soon as you guys got aboard the ship, it's all the soldiers and it just spread like wildfire from there."

"Ah wondered why ev'ry pony-...Uhm, my apologies, every human was bein' so calm 'round us," Applejack said.

"So, wait. You said we're in Oak Land," Rainbow reminded. "I thought we were going to San Francisco."

"Not when they're evacuating everyone there," the first paramedic said. "They're moving to shelters far from the city."

"But what about Ford's family?" Fluttershy asked.

"Like I said before, everyone's being evacuated. They are likely being transported right now, if not already in the shelters."

The Mane 6 were filled with uncertainty. They still hadn't reached their intended destination, but now that planned it been muddled now that the city was being evacuated, which meant that Elle and Sam were among the thousands of people being transported to a different sight entirely.

Rarity turned to Ford. "Should we be concerned about that?"

"Not at the moment," the leery lieutenant said.

"Should we try to look for them?" Pinkie asked, leaning her face uncomfortably close to Ford. "They could be anywhere!"

"We can't really do much of anything. All we can really do is wait, unfortunately, and hope they're safe."

The Mane 6 and Spike were left to ponder the volatile circumstances that now plagued them. While they didn't like the idea of forcing to wait for things to happen, it was sadly at of anyone's control. Fluttershy was unsatisfied, however. While she understood they couldn't just go back to find two people in a sea of many during the crisis, that didn't mean there was nothing left she and her friends could do.

The invigorated pegasus noticed a building on the outskirts of the makeshift facility. It looked to be the main hub of the fort. Fluttershy hardened her glare and, without warning, take off into the air. The Mane 6, Spike, and Ford were all taken aback from the mare's sudden leave.

"Fluttershy, wha... where are you going?" Rarity called out to her.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Twilight yelled.

Their calls and questions fell on deaf ears.

"What'n tarnation is that girl up to?" Applejack said captiously.

"I'll go after her." Rainbow opened her wings and took off after the wayward pegasus.

Fluttershy reached the building in no time at all, just as a familiar figure walked inside. Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham entered the building, following behind Admiral Stenz and Captain Hampton. Fluttershy landed just in front of the doorway.

"Fluttershy!"

The pegasus jumped a bit. She looked back to see Rainbow landed behind her.

"What in Equestria are you doing?"

"Trying to get more info," the pegasus responded, her tone devoid of any anxious or fearful feelings. "If we can pinpoint where Elle, Sammy, and the other evacuees are, we'll be able to get them back here ourselves."

Rainbow looked over her friend's shoulder into the building.

"Uhh, I don't think we're supposed to go in there."

"Yes... well," Fluttershy curled her left hind leg against her right. "I don't feel comfortable about just sitting around and waiting."

The cyan pegasus, of course, did agree with what Fluttershy was saying. Rainbow didn't like the idea of doing nothing while chaos was brewing elsewhere, but this just seemed a bit, too forward. Then again, who was she to question forwardness on a situation.

"Fair point. We'll have to relay anything we learn back to the others. They're still being looked over."

Fluttershy nodded and the two ventured inside. The first thing the two mares noticed were all the foriegn electronics. While they had see such devices in passing in other worlds; TV monitors, computers, laptops, etc. It was certainly to peculiar experience to see it all in such a complex. Fluttershy and Rainbow remained silent as Admiral Stenz paced down the room.

"Sitrep, please. Location of targets?"

"Male MUTO was spotted 30 miles off the Farallon Islands," a male evacuation worker answered.

"We're showing seismic activity to the east near Livermore," a female researcher added. "Should be the female closing in."

Dr. Serizawa stared at the monitors displaying the monsters' predicted trajectory. That's when he felt something poke his leg. At first, he thought he was just imagining things until he heard a soft voice say:

"Dr. Serizawa."

He turned and looked down to see Fluttershy and Rainbow standing behind him. The seasoned researcher was in utter shock. He hadn't expected to meet any of the ponies when they left for Hawaii. He somewhat suspected they were killed during Godzilla's first fight with the MUTO, yet here two of them were.

"How...How did you two get here?" he asked quietly, yet his tone still conveyed the shock he held.

"It's a long story," Rainbow replied, subdued.

"Are you the only ones left?"

"What? No. Ford, Rarity, and the others are fine. Just a little banged up."

Dr. Serizawa looked around, making sure no one had noticed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to find where the evacuees are," Fluttershy said. "We want to help evacuate the city."

The pegasus's expression faded.

"Did you know they were planning on blowing Godzilla up?"

Dr. Serizawa let out a sigh.

"Yes, and I'm not on board with it. Nature has a way to balance itself. We are in no position to force that privilege onto ourselves."

"Yeah, so we've gathered," Rainbow rubbed the top of her head in a thoughtful manner. "But, still, we need to do something to ensure everypony's safety."

"I wouldn't advise going back to San Francisco," a female voice said.

The three turned to Dr. Graham.

"Despite the rashness of the military's plan, they're still following through with it."

"We know. Seemed like the female MUTO knew, too," the dejected pegasus said.

"How do you know about the attack?" Dr. Serizawa asked.

"They agreed to let us on the train carrying the bombs to San Francisco, but we kind off got ambushed," Fluttershy paraphrased. "I'd prefer not to think about it."

The two Japanese scientists exchanged shocked looks.

"Regardless, it would be unwise to return their," Dr. Graham said. "They're already evacuating the entire city. Sticking around would likely lead to a run-in with Godzilla or the MUTOs."

"But..." Fluttershy tried to object. "We can't-"

"Where's Godzilla?" Admiral Stenz walked over to a quartet of TV monitors.

"Last contact was still five hours ago," a female soldier responded. "Maintaining a bearing 053 degrees, descending below a depth of 10,000 feet. He'll be here within the hour."

Stenz watched one of the monitors that was showing the current news, of which, showed of the residents evacuating the city.

"Residents are trying to get out of the city any way they can," the news anchor said.

The admiral looked away, turning his eyes over to everyone sitting at the meeting table. A horrific conclusion was etched in his mind. While he was mortified, years of being in the naval service provided Stenz with the means to keep such drastic emotion under the surface. Still, the conclusion could not go ignored.

"There's still buses on that bridge."

Dr. Serizawa and Dr. Graham looked back at each other in a horrified silence. They both knew that Godzilla was arriving soon, and if he were to show up at the bridge...

"Those buses are full of children," Dr. Graham whispered.

Both Fluttershy and Rainbow's jaws dropped.

"Children?!" the both exclaimed.

"Listen, you two..." Serizawa looked back down to speak to them, but their minds had already been made up.

He and Graham could only watch as the two ponies raced out of the building.

"May God have mercy on their souls," Serizawa whispered.

Outside, Fluttershy galloped over to an more open area of the operations facility. Her eyes were poised on the distant skyscrapers of San Francisco, which we just barely visible through the rainy haze. Yes, rain clouds were rolling in and covering the city and surrounding area in a dramatic drench. Rainbow was immediately at the animal caretaker's side.

"Fluttershy, are you really sure about this?"

"I...I..." the pegasus let out a sigh. "Not entirely Rainbow, I'm still really scared about all of this, but I can't think about that right now. Kids' lives are at risk."

Rainbow looked away for a few seconds, thinking of how to respond to Fluttershy's statement.

"I get that. This whole spectacle has been just crazy, even for me. I'm honestly more shocked that your still not backing down from this."

"I can't back down from this, no matter how scared you or I are," Fluttershy said defiantly. "Even if I'm unsure if we can really even do anything, or have doubts right now, I know we can do this. For the greater good."

Everypony has times in their lives
When their hearts are filled with doubts

Frustration builds up inside
And it makes you want to shout

But if you just take that first step
The next one will appear

And you find you can walk, then run
Then fly...!
Into the stratosphere

You've got to give it your best
So you can pass the test
Give it everything that you've got

And we know you can win
You just have to begin
Have to give it your very best shot

There are times when you want to give up
When you think that you can't go on

But if you fight through with all of your might
You will find that you can't go wrong
That you could do it all along

Everypony has times in their lives
When their hearts are filled with doubt

But if you give it your all
You'll start to work it out

And I know we can't give up too soon
Get yourself in the zone
And we find we can walk, then run

Then fly...!
We can do it on our own
We can do it on our own

I can do it on my own

I can do it on my own

Fluttershy didn't know what came over her, but she let all self-restraint go. She suddenly found herself face-to-face with Rainbow. The rainbow-maned pegasus was confused by the sudden stance change. Without so much as a second, Fluttershy rushed forward. Her lips connected with Rainbow's lips. Her eyes shut tight, a tickled pink blush spreading on her face. To Rainbow's eyes widened, feeling her friend's lush lips rub against her own. To her credit, she didn't turn away or object, though that might've been because she was too surprise for her brain to conjure up a response. Still, it felt amazing.

Fluttershy's mind mentally shook itself out of it's euphoric haze, prompting her to realize what she was doing. She frantically pulled away and covered her face with her mane in embarrassment. Her blush thickened as she struggled to form any form of apology.

"I-I-I-I-I'm so sorry," she sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "That was too forward. I should've..."

Fluttershy's apology was cut short when a bright, blue hoof covered her mouth. She nervously peeked through her silky, pink mane, expecting Rainbow to be furious with her. Instead, the mare's expression was unreadable, mostly because Rainbow, herself, was struggling to straighten out her emotions.

"That was... That was nice," she said sheepishly.

"Y-You're not mad?" Fluttershy asked, worried still prominent in her tone.

"Of course not. To be honest, I always kinda suspected you had feelings for me."

"H-How..."

"Well, you weren't exactly the best at hiding your reactions whenever were got close."

"Oh,"

Fluttershy her face back up under her mane.

"You're...not upset, are you?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh, no. Just...flustered," the timid mare stared at her closest friend, strands of pink hair obstructing her view. "D-Do you...um...you know... l-l-l-love me... back?"

Now it was Rainbow's turn to bare a bright, cherry red blush on her face.

"Well, um...I…"

Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. She could already just hear Rainbow’s confession, but then, the pegasus stopped nervously.

"...look, can we please talk about this at a more appropriate time. We still have a crisis on our hooves."

For a time, Fluttershy had completely forgotten of the buses stuck on the bridge. Her eyes shrink to the size of pinpricks from shock and humiliation.

"R-Right," she cleared her throat. "Let's go!"

With that, the two mares took off toward San Francisco. However, what neither of them realized was that two soldiers had witnessed the entire thing. The two stood awestruck by what they saw.

"I ship it.”

"What are you, a brony?"

To be continued