Captain Equestria: The First Avengerby PlumageChaptersOne: Double DateTwo: New RecruitThree: Change's EveFour: A New MareFive: The Sun Sparkled PonyPrologue: Frozen in TimeOne: Double DateEquestria, 1947 "Today we commemorate our fallen soldiers. Everypony is playing their part. Even little Pip is helping find scrap metal! Do your part today-" "Shut up already! Just play the movie!" The voice rang out a second time in the theatre. Applebloom was getting sick of that rude colt. "Why don't y'all jes' shut up yerselves?" she called back. * "You wanna apologize yet?" snarled the colt. "No," said Applebloom. The colt hit her in the face again. WHAM. "How about now?" "Nope," WHAM. "You're nothing special, you know that?" "Yep. Ah'm just a filly from Ponyville." WHAM. This time he knocked her into the rubbish bin behind her. It was tin, and she hit her head on it almost as hard as she'd been hit by the colt. She got back up again. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" "Ah could do this all day," she replied breathlessly. The colt drew back his hoof to hit her again, but before he could a voice yelled, "HEY!" Applebloom smiled! Scootaloo! The orange pegasus trotted down the alley, her undersized wings whirring hummingbird style. "Pick on someone your own size," she growled. "Sure," said the colt, and prepared to punch her, but Scootaloo got there first. Wham! The colt stumbled. Wham! The colt fell. Scootaloo kicked him once, hard, and the colt groaned. "Try not to be such a bully, snotbag." she said. She helped Applebloom up. "Don't you remember? We have a double date tonight." Applebloom had forgotten. "Oh. Right." "I can't believe you had to pick today to get yourself beaten up." Again, she added silently. "It don't matter. Ah'll go like this." she said dismissively. Scootaloo clicked her tongue but didn't argue. They left for the fair to meet the boys. * "Ladies and gentlecolts, I am proud to present, the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Applause. Wow, Applebloom thought. This was so boring. She looked around and spotted an army museum. She slipped away from Scootaloo and the two colts- Snips and Snails she thought it was- and trotted off to the war museum. Inside it wasn't too crowded. There were posters and depictions of the war, old guns and flags, plaques commemorating 'the great ponies who laid down their lives to serve this horrible war.' Applebloom thought it was all very well commemorating the ponies, but who will do something about the Second Pony War? Nopony, it seemed. She turned a corner and right away; there was the Princess, staring her in the face and pointing a hoof at her. WE NEED YOU! Join The Army Today! Applebloom looked at it. The army... Applebloom would like to be in the army. Fighting for her country against those evil changelings. Hooftler was the one to blame. Exterminating Mustangs like there was no tomorrow! What a lie. "Applebloom!" She turned. Scootaloo. Damn. "Where did you go? We're supposed to be dancing with Snips and Snails! And you ran away! The point of a double date is having FOUR PONIES, Applebloom. Not three. Four. And if you aren't there, then it's not four." "Okay, y'all go ahead. Ah'll join y'all later." "Applebloom-" "Just go! Ah'm coming!" "You can't sign up for the army," said Scootaloo, seeing the poster. "You're too small." "So what?" countered Applebloom hotly. "Ah can do what ever I want!" "Right." Scootaloo snorted. "Look, if Ah want to lay down mah life for mah country Ah should be allowed to," Applebloom snapped. "Fine," replied Scootaloo, "but don't expect me to come to your funeral. I warned you." Applebloom trotted down the hallway to registration while the lavender unicorn who had been watching the argument thought over what she had seen. Two: New RecruitApplebloom sat on the assigned bed in a free dormitory. She'd had to make up where she was from. They would never let a filly from Ponyville into the army. She looked around the dorm. There was a sign on one wall. IT IS ILLEGAL TO FABRICATE YOUR IDENTITY Applebloom bit her lip. Was that why they were taking so long in there? Because they knew she'd lied? Maybe she would have to go to jail! Now she was really scared. What if- "Miss Applebloom?" said a friendly voice. She looked up. A lavender unicorn was standing there levitating Applebloom's files. "I evaluated your files." The unicorn smiled. "Excuse me, where are my manners? Good afternoon, my name is Professor Twilight Sparkle. But you can call me Professor Sparkle." Professor Sparkle levitated the files to Applebloom. "I knew they were fake. Convincing though. You certainly fooled everypony else. Where are you from? Really?" Applebloom cast her eyes down. "Ponyville." "Ponyville? Really?" "Yes," "I went there for a time. Did you know, I used to be one of the Elements of Harmony?" Applebloom gasped. Another Element! "Mah sister is an Element of Harmony too!" "What is her name?" "Applejack." Professor Sparkle nodded. "Yes. I know Applejack." Then she blinked at Applebloom awkwardly and said, "You'd better get to training. It starts in five minutes." * "You are the first in a brand new army of super soldiers. Every single one of you will be perfected. Per. Fected. So hut, two! Hut, two! I gotta train you sissies up for the eggheads." The cyan pegasus walked slowly along the line of recruits. One tough-looking filly said, "Well what if we don't want to?" The blue pegasus stopped in front of the filly, her rainbow mane blowing slightly in the wind. The pegasus met eyes with the filly, then punched her full in the face. She fell to the ground, unconscious. "Anypony else who doesn't want to?" She looked around at the ponies. They were all shaking their heads furiously. * "That flag has never come down off that pole. Now, if you can get it down, you can ride home with Pipsqueak here," said Coach Dash, indicating the kid in the truck looking interestedly at the running recruits. "If you can't get it down, well you dirtbags get to run home." Instantly everypony clustered around the base of the flagpole. They punched, they kicked, they attempted to climb up the pole. But it was too slippy: they couldn't get any grip. Applebloom waited, catching her breath and watching everypony else make a fool off themselves. Once they had all given up and were trudging back home, she went up to the flagpole. "HEY! Come on, recruit!" Applebloom took the pin out of the bottom of the pole. It tipped over. She trotted to the fallen top and took the flag off from where the flagpole lay. Applebloom laid it at Coach Dash's hooves and hopped into the car. * "You can't pick her!" Dash groaned. "I must," said Professor Sparkle determinedly. "Pick Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Not Applebloom!" "I can't. Those who grew up with power, they take it for granted, and abuse it. Those who have never known power, they respect it, and use it wisely." "Why would you pick her?" Dash groaned. She took a loose grenade from the supplies truck they stood next to, pulled out the trigger, and threw it in the midst of the recruits. "Grenade!" somepony yelled. Everypony ran. Except Applebloom. She ran towards the grenade and curled up around it, a pained expression on her face. Nothing happened. Gradually the other recruits returned. The one called Diamond Tiara muttered, "Lucky, dud grenade," Dash watched it all, as Professor Sparkle smiled triumphantly she said, "Well, she's still short." She trotted away. Three: Change's Eve"Hello, Applebloom." Professor Sparkle trotted into Applebloom's shared dormitory room. "I have something important to tell you." Applebloom looked up. "You've been chosen as the first soldier." "The-?" "The first supersoldier, Applebloom. You are the first." Applebloom gasped. She'd been chosen as the soldier! She was the elite! "I hope you accept...?" "Oh- oh yeah, definitely! Thank y'all, professor Sparkle!" "Good. I am hoping to see you first thing tomorrow morning. That is when the experiment will be held. Don't be late; don't drink any fluids tonight; don't do anything stupid; don't get yourself killed." Sparkle smiled. "I hope you forgive me, Applebloom. I am under the pressure of a scientist. There is a threat of this invention being stolen. I just hope Hooftler doesn't find out we are doing the experiment tomorrow." * Applebloom could not sleep. Of course she couldn't. By tomorrow she would be a different mare. She might not even be herself anymore. She thought about what the change would feel like. Would it hurt? What would it do? Give her wings? A horn? She imagined spreading powerful wings out and flapping them; banking to either side to avoid clouds as she soared through the air. She imagined the power coursing through her as she prepared to use her new unicorn magic. It blossomed out of her horn and made fireworks. The ponies around her gasped in awe. She wouldn't mind that. Instead she was stuck unknowing what in the world would happen to her tomorrow. It was probably midnight already. She was supposed to be getting some sleep. She rolled over and tried again to drift into unconsciousness. * The first thing Applebloom noticed is that she woke up. She WOKE up. So she must have got to sleep after all. The second thing she realised was that it was experiment day today. Experiment day. By the end of the day she may be somepony else entirely. * "This way," said the expectant colt, pushing her into a wide room with viewing points above a main room with a big chair in the middle. That's where I'm gonna sit, thought Applebloom, terrified. "Hello, Applebloom! Welcome to my humble abode! Please sit down," Professor Sparkle said, indicating the big seat in the middle of the room. Applebloom sat down carefully. "Let's get right on to it, ponies!" called Professor Sparkle. Somepony belted Applebloom down to the chair. "Sorry," apologized Professor Sparkle, "but we don't know what effect the serum will have on you." A few moments, then a stabbing pain in Applebloom's left arm. It went away as quickly as it came. "T-that wasn't all bad," Applebloom stuttered. "That was Ponycillin," said Professor Sparkle impatiently. "Begin process!" yelled Sparkle. "Inject serum samples!" More stabbing pains in Applebloom's body. "Close the doors!" The sides of the seat came up around Applebloom. Wait! She wanted to scream, I'm here! The sides of the seat locked in around Applebloom. "Ten percent power level." "Twenty percent power level. "Thirty percent power level. "Forty percent power level. "Fifty percent power level. "Sixty percent power level-" The screaming began. Yells of pain. "Stop!" yelled Sparkle. "Turn everything off!" "You heard him!" the colt bellowed. "NO!" It was a painful screech. It came from the supersoldier tank. "KEEP IT ON! I CAN DO IT!" came a second screech. Sparkle looked at the tank for a long moment, then said, "Lever Swing!! Continue!" "Yes, Professor! "Sixty percent power level. "Seventy percent power level. "Eighty percent power level. "Ninety percent power level. "One hundred percent!! Professor, we are at maximum capacity!" "Shut it off at the required time," said Sparkle. "Ten. "Nine. "Eight. "Seven. "Six. "Five. "Four. "Three! "Two! "One! "Professor, I'm shutting off the tank now!" The room powered down. The tank opened. Four: A New MareApplebloom opened her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling. Don't look, she thought. It will be worse if you look at the expressions of everypony else. She heard a whoop from the colt that had pushed her in here, Pipsqueak she thought his name was, and then everypony was clapping and cheering Professor Sparkle. Had it worked? Was she okay? The tank turned upwards and she was forced to look at the joyful expressions on everypony's faces. They are happy. It must have worked, she thought. She was still buckled into her seat, but Professor Sparkle untied her and she fell onto her hooves. She looked around. It all seemed unreal. She'd done it. She wasn't dead. Pipsqueak gave her ribbon back to her. She tied her mane up and the remainder of fabric she tied into a bow. Professor Sparkle smiled. "It worked!" she exclaimed. "It really worked!" "How do ya feel?" asked Pipsqueak gruffly. "Taller," she replied breathlessly. It was true- before she'd been half the size of these ponies. Now, she could see over all their heads. She smiled around at everypony as they applauded her, applauded Professor Sparkle. Suddenly a gunshot. Professor Sparkle fell. Applebloom rushed to her side. "Applebloom..." "Yes? Professor Sparkle?" The light faded from her eyes. Twilight Sparkle was dead. Applebloom sat there for a little while, oblivious to the chaos around her. She tried not to cry. Another gunshot pulled her back into the real world. Somepony else may be dead. She jumped to her feet, looked around for the attacker. A black pony was headed out the door. She galloped after him. He realized somepony was tailing him and ran faster. The colt, whose name was Shady Spy, galloped outside, and jumped into a taxi. "Anywhere but here!" he screamed at the stallions pulling the cart. They began to gallop at full speed away from the facility. Applebloom saw the taxi pulling away quickly. In a moment of blind stupidity she began to run after he taxi. She kept pace with the taxi at a steady run, so she decided to push herself. She bowed her head and poured on the speed. Shady Spy looked behind him to see that bratty earth following him. "Faster!" he screamed at the stallions pulling the taxi. "Faster!" There was no reply. The earth was getting closer. "Pull into the traffic!" he yelled at the taxi stallions. They did as he told them, and they were lost in the traffic. Applebloom saw the taxi pull into the traffic, and thought, I don't have a chance now. Maybe not, but I can try. She turned into the alley next to the road she saw the taxi turn into. Every few seconds she glanced sideways at the carts in the traffic. No sign of the taxi. She ran faster, and she knew there probably wouldn't be a chance of catching the spy, but she would try her hardest. She looked up. The end of the alley was drawing nearer. But to her left she could see a hole wide enough for her to run through. But there was a chain-link fence on either side, and a huge hole in the middle. What the hay, she thought. It's my only chance. She ran as fast as she could and jumped, stretching out her legs to gain some distance. She'd judged it perfectly and Applebloom landed on all four hooves, just to begin running again. But the traffic, she realized. The traffic! She squeezed between carts, squeaking "sorry" at all the ponies she touched, until she realized something again: these ponies were slowing her down. In another moment of stupidity, she jumped onto one cart and began running over the roofs of all the carts. She caught up to the taxi quickly and jumped on the roof. Shady Spy heard a loud THUNK on the roof and looked up. Damn! He just couldn't shake that brat! He loaded his gun. Applebloom gained her balance on the top of the cart and was prepared to pop in the side window when she heard a BANG. Applebloom was lucky that bullet missed her. Now that she knew what was going on she moved every time she heard a click. But eventually the spy figured out what was happening and waited for a few seconds before shooting. It became a crazy game of changing behavior again and again. Point. Click. Move. Click. Whack roof. BANG. Whistle of bullet. Point. Click. It was a horrible game to play. The stallions were getting more agitated by the minute at the bullet shots, but Shady Spy couldn't worry about that right now. He shot again. The steering stallions swerved and Applebloom scrambled to get a hoofhold. She fell off the roof just as it crashed into the wall. The spy jumped out of the crashed taxi and began to run. Applebloom followed. She recognized the dock. They were at the dock. The colt turned a corner and Applebloom followed. The colt was holding a foal, almost choking. "Come at me and he dies!" Applebloom hesitated. The spy whipped another gun out of his pocket. Applebloom grabbed a cart door. The spy shot at it but none of the bullets hit her. She grinned. The spy knew he was outmatched. He threw the foal into the water and ran. Applebloom ran towards the water. She looked over the edge, ready to dive in. "Don't worry!" said the foal. "I can swim!" Applebloom continued after the spy. Shady Spy jumped into a getaway submarine and pushed forward the accelerator lever. A weight on the back of the sub. Damn that bucking kid! Applebloom was drowning, surely. She couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but hold on. Then the glass compartment opened. The black colt swam out. Applebloom bit down on his mane and dragged him up to the surface. She shouldered the semi-conscious stallion and climbed out of the water. Applebloom slammed the spy down onto the concrete. "Who are you!" she exclaimed, more a statement than a question. She realized her accent had disappeared. "I...am but one...kill me...and another shall take its place..." He huffed. He was dead. Five: The Sun Sparkled Pony"Y'all got enough?" Pipsqueak jabbed a needle into Applebloom's forearm again. "The secret to an army of supersoldiers lies in your DNA. I don't think we can get enough." After taking a blood sample out of Applebloom's arm, he handed it to the nurse waiting beside him. The nurse gave a searching look to the both of them and trotted out of the door. "What's with her?" Pipsqueak muttered. "Ah dunno, but Ah think Ah know her from somewhere." "Where?" "Ah think her coltfriend beat me up at one point." Pipsqueak looked at her. "You have something against running away?" "No, it's just, well, if ya start runnin' they won't let y'all stop. If ya fight back then ya might have a chance." She smiled awkwardly. "I jes' dunno why y'all're here in a research facility when y'all could be out on front lines." Pipsqueak looked at her, mildly amused and interested. "Ah mean, y'all are strong lookin' and tough...and...and..." "You have no idea how to talk to colts, do you?" "Longest conversation I've had with one." She blushed and looked down. "Colts aren't exactly lining up tah dance with me." "Well, I'm sure they would now. Why don't you just hook up with some fangirl?" Applebloom thought for a second. "Ah dunno. Ah guess Ah'm waiting for the right partner." "Attention!" The ponies working on the submarine stood up tall. Stiff. "Magnum, what're you making of this?" Magnum Belle looked at the submarine and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know, Dash. I've never seen anything like it before. Our technology isn't even close to this kind of sub. I -" Dash narrowed her eyes. "Then who does?" "HYDRA." The voice sounded through the chamber and Applebloom trotted down the stairs, Pipsqueak at her side. " 'Scuse me?" Magnum asked. "HYDRA has this power. It's a Hooftler research facility. A pony call'd Chrysalis runs the place an' conducts thah research." Applebloom said. Dash looked at the three of them and said to a soldier standing by, "I want two hundred plus soldiers ready to fight. We need to get out on enemy lines. We -" "Sir, if y'all are getting troops out onto the battlefront Ah want to go with them." The blue pegasus turned to Applebloom. "You are an experiment. You know what? Take this kid back to the labs." "Hey - !" Dash looked Applebloom in the eye and said, "I asked for an army and all I got was you. And you are not enough." Dash walked away, organizing the army. A colt in a suit walked to Applebloom's side. "She's a troll, there isn't any moving her. But I think you could do something better than a lab rat." The colt seemed serious. "Applebloom, do you want to work on the toughest battlefield in the war?" Applebloom looked at him and said, "That's all Ah want, sir." "Well then." The colt smiled. "You just got a promotion." Who’s strong and brave, here to save the Equestrian Way? Who vows to fight like a god for what’s right night and day? Who will campaign door-to-door for Equestria, Carry the flag shore to shore for Equestria, From Fillydelphia to Manehatten, The Sun Sparkled Pony with a Plan! The chorus girls danced across the stage as Applebloom walked out to the spot she had rehearsed a million times before. She didn't even need her cue cards that were stapled to the back of her shield anymore. "Who's ready to sock Hooftler on the jaw with me?" The crowd maintained a defiant silence. "I need a volunteer." "I already have volunteered, how d'ya think I got here?" somepony said. Laughs from the crowd of soldiers. "Bring back the girls!" "Yeah!" "Ah think they only know thah one song, but Ah'll see what Ah can do." "You do that, sweetheart." Applebloom turned to leave the stage, but somepony called, "Nice boots Tinkerbell!" Applebloom took a deep breath and turned back to the podium, but someone threw a tomato at her. It hit her shield, but now others were throwing food as well. Applebloom walked quickly off the stage as the chorus girls walked back on again, waving at the soldiers. Author's Note I've decided to carry on with this story. Haters gonna hate! Prologue: Frozen in TimeThe pegasus flew down onto the ice. It was cold against his hooves. He already wanted to go back to Cloudsdale. "This better be good," he growled to the Eskipony unicorn beside him. "Wait until you see what we found. It must have been an old crashed airplane." The unicorn smiled. Glancing at his notes the pegasus saw his name was Ice Pick. "We'll see about that, Ice Pick." Ice Pick trotted down to a hole drilled in the ice. "Right down here, sir." He indicated to the hole. The pegasus nodded at Ice Pick and fell gracefully into the hole, snapping his wings out at the last second so that he didn't splat. It really was a plane. It looked from about Hooftler. "When is it estimated this plane crashed?" he asked. "Late 1940's," replied Ice Pick from behind him. He nodded. Walking to the back of the plane, he saw a circular object covered in snow. He brushed some of it off and gasped. "Ice Pick?" "Yes, sir?" "I think you better come take a look at this." He heard hoofsteps and another gasp. Ice Pick was behind him. The pegasus brushed the rest of he snow off the object just to be sure. Yes. It was a circular shield, with three stripes going all the way around the shield leading to a small circle in the middle. The outmost one was yellow, the one in the middle dark blue and the one nearest the middle circle was white. The circle itself was black, with a white crescent on one side and a blue crescent on the other. In-between them was a sun and a crescent moon. There were scorch marks on the shield where bullets had been shot at it. "Captain Equestria," Ice Pick whispered.
One: Double DateEquestria, 1947 "Today we commemorate our fallen soldiers. Everypony is playing their part. Even little Pip is helping find scrap metal! Do your part today-" "Shut up already! Just play the movie!" The voice rang out a second time in the theatre. Applebloom was getting sick of that rude colt. "Why don't y'all jes' shut up yerselves?" she called back. * "You wanna apologize yet?" snarled the colt. "No," said Applebloom. The colt hit her in the face again. WHAM. "How about now?" "Nope," WHAM. "You're nothing special, you know that?" "Yep. Ah'm just a filly from Ponyville." WHAM. This time he knocked her into the rubbish bin behind her. It was tin, and she hit her head on it almost as hard as she'd been hit by the colt. She got back up again. "You just don't know when to give up, do you?" "Ah could do this all day," she replied breathlessly. The colt drew back his hoof to hit her again, but before he could a voice yelled, "HEY!" Applebloom smiled! Scootaloo! The orange pegasus trotted down the alley, her undersized wings whirring hummingbird style. "Pick on someone your own size," she growled. "Sure," said the colt, and prepared to punch her, but Scootaloo got there first. Wham! The colt stumbled. Wham! The colt fell. Scootaloo kicked him once, hard, and the colt groaned. "Try not to be such a bully, snotbag." she said. She helped Applebloom up. "Don't you remember? We have a double date tonight." Applebloom had forgotten. "Oh. Right." "I can't believe you had to pick today to get yourself beaten up." Again, she added silently. "It don't matter. Ah'll go like this." she said dismissively. Scootaloo clicked her tongue but didn't argue. They left for the fair to meet the boys. * "Ladies and gentlecolts, I am proud to present, the Great and Powerful Trixie!" Applause. Wow, Applebloom thought. This was so boring. She looked around and spotted an army museum. She slipped away from Scootaloo and the two colts- Snips and Snails she thought it was- and trotted off to the war museum. Inside it wasn't too crowded. There were posters and depictions of the war, old guns and flags, plaques commemorating 'the great ponies who laid down their lives to serve this horrible war.' Applebloom thought it was all very well commemorating the ponies, but who will do something about the Second Pony War? Nopony, it seemed. She turned a corner and right away; there was the Princess, staring her in the face and pointing a hoof at her. WE NEED YOU! Join The Army Today! Applebloom looked at it. The army... Applebloom would like to be in the army. Fighting for her country against those evil changelings. Hooftler was the one to blame. Exterminating Mustangs like there was no tomorrow! What a lie. "Applebloom!" She turned. Scootaloo. Damn. "Where did you go? We're supposed to be dancing with Snips and Snails! And you ran away! The point of a double date is having FOUR PONIES, Applebloom. Not three. Four. And if you aren't there, then it's not four." "Okay, y'all go ahead. Ah'll join y'all later." "Applebloom-" "Just go! Ah'm coming!" "You can't sign up for the army," said Scootaloo, seeing the poster. "You're too small." "So what?" countered Applebloom hotly. "Ah can do what ever I want!" "Right." Scootaloo snorted. "Look, if Ah want to lay down mah life for mah country Ah should be allowed to," Applebloom snapped. "Fine," replied Scootaloo, "but don't expect me to come to your funeral. I warned you." Applebloom trotted down the hallway to registration while the lavender unicorn who had been watching the argument thought over what she had seen.
Two: New RecruitApplebloom sat on the assigned bed in a free dormitory. She'd had to make up where she was from. They would never let a filly from Ponyville into the army. She looked around the dorm. There was a sign on one wall. IT IS ILLEGAL TO FABRICATE YOUR IDENTITY Applebloom bit her lip. Was that why they were taking so long in there? Because they knew she'd lied? Maybe she would have to go to jail! Now she was really scared. What if- "Miss Applebloom?" said a friendly voice. She looked up. A lavender unicorn was standing there levitating Applebloom's files. "I evaluated your files." The unicorn smiled. "Excuse me, where are my manners? Good afternoon, my name is Professor Twilight Sparkle. But you can call me Professor Sparkle." Professor Sparkle levitated the files to Applebloom. "I knew they were fake. Convincing though. You certainly fooled everypony else. Where are you from? Really?" Applebloom cast her eyes down. "Ponyville." "Ponyville? Really?" "Yes," "I went there for a time. Did you know, I used to be one of the Elements of Harmony?" Applebloom gasped. Another Element! "Mah sister is an Element of Harmony too!" "What is her name?" "Applejack." Professor Sparkle nodded. "Yes. I know Applejack." Then she blinked at Applebloom awkwardly and said, "You'd better get to training. It starts in five minutes." * "You are the first in a brand new army of super soldiers. Every single one of you will be perfected. Per. Fected. So hut, two! Hut, two! I gotta train you sissies up for the eggheads." The cyan pegasus walked slowly along the line of recruits. One tough-looking filly said, "Well what if we don't want to?" The blue pegasus stopped in front of the filly, her rainbow mane blowing slightly in the wind. The pegasus met eyes with the filly, then punched her full in the face. She fell to the ground, unconscious. "Anypony else who doesn't want to?" She looked around at the ponies. They were all shaking their heads furiously. * "That flag has never come down off that pole. Now, if you can get it down, you can ride home with Pipsqueak here," said Coach Dash, indicating the kid in the truck looking interestedly at the running recruits. "If you can't get it down, well you dirtbags get to run home." Instantly everypony clustered around the base of the flagpole. They punched, they kicked, they attempted to climb up the pole. But it was too slippy: they couldn't get any grip. Applebloom waited, catching her breath and watching everypony else make a fool off themselves. Once they had all given up and were trudging back home, she went up to the flagpole. "HEY! Come on, recruit!" Applebloom took the pin out of the bottom of the pole. It tipped over. She trotted to the fallen top and took the flag off from where the flagpole lay. Applebloom laid it at Coach Dash's hooves and hopped into the car. * "You can't pick her!" Dash groaned. "I must," said Professor Sparkle determinedly. "Pick Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Not Applebloom!" "I can't. Those who grew up with power, they take it for granted, and abuse it. Those who have never known power, they respect it, and use it wisely." "Why would you pick her?" Dash groaned. She took a loose grenade from the supplies truck they stood next to, pulled out the trigger, and threw it in the midst of the recruits. "Grenade!" somepony yelled. Everypony ran. Except Applebloom. She ran towards the grenade and curled up around it, a pained expression on her face. Nothing happened. Gradually the other recruits returned. The one called Diamond Tiara muttered, "Lucky, dud grenade," Dash watched it all, as Professor Sparkle smiled triumphantly she said, "Well, she's still short." She trotted away.
Three: Change's Eve"Hello, Applebloom." Professor Sparkle trotted into Applebloom's shared dormitory room. "I have something important to tell you." Applebloom looked up. "You've been chosen as the first soldier." "The-?" "The first supersoldier, Applebloom. You are the first." Applebloom gasped. She'd been chosen as the soldier! She was the elite! "I hope you accept...?" "Oh- oh yeah, definitely! Thank y'all, professor Sparkle!" "Good. I am hoping to see you first thing tomorrow morning. That is when the experiment will be held. Don't be late; don't drink any fluids tonight; don't do anything stupid; don't get yourself killed." Sparkle smiled. "I hope you forgive me, Applebloom. I am under the pressure of a scientist. There is a threat of this invention being stolen. I just hope Hooftler doesn't find out we are doing the experiment tomorrow." * Applebloom could not sleep. Of course she couldn't. By tomorrow she would be a different mare. She might not even be herself anymore. She thought about what the change would feel like. Would it hurt? What would it do? Give her wings? A horn? She imagined spreading powerful wings out and flapping them; banking to either side to avoid clouds as she soared through the air. She imagined the power coursing through her as she prepared to use her new unicorn magic. It blossomed out of her horn and made fireworks. The ponies around her gasped in awe. She wouldn't mind that. Instead she was stuck unknowing what in the world would happen to her tomorrow. It was probably midnight already. She was supposed to be getting some sleep. She rolled over and tried again to drift into unconsciousness. * The first thing Applebloom noticed is that she woke up. She WOKE up. So she must have got to sleep after all. The second thing she realised was that it was experiment day today. Experiment day. By the end of the day she may be somepony else entirely. * "This way," said the expectant colt, pushing her into a wide room with viewing points above a main room with a big chair in the middle. That's where I'm gonna sit, thought Applebloom, terrified. "Hello, Applebloom! Welcome to my humble abode! Please sit down," Professor Sparkle said, indicating the big seat in the middle of the room. Applebloom sat down carefully. "Let's get right on to it, ponies!" called Professor Sparkle. Somepony belted Applebloom down to the chair. "Sorry," apologized Professor Sparkle, "but we don't know what effect the serum will have on you." A few moments, then a stabbing pain in Applebloom's left arm. It went away as quickly as it came. "T-that wasn't all bad," Applebloom stuttered. "That was Ponycillin," said Professor Sparkle impatiently. "Begin process!" yelled Sparkle. "Inject serum samples!" More stabbing pains in Applebloom's body. "Close the doors!" The sides of the seat came up around Applebloom. Wait! She wanted to scream, I'm here! The sides of the seat locked in around Applebloom. "Ten percent power level." "Twenty percent power level. "Thirty percent power level. "Forty percent power level. "Fifty percent power level. "Sixty percent power level-" The screaming began. Yells of pain. "Stop!" yelled Sparkle. "Turn everything off!" "You heard him!" the colt bellowed. "NO!" It was a painful screech. It came from the supersoldier tank. "KEEP IT ON! I CAN DO IT!" came a second screech. Sparkle looked at the tank for a long moment, then said, "Lever Swing!! Continue!" "Yes, Professor! "Sixty percent power level. "Seventy percent power level. "Eighty percent power level. "Ninety percent power level. "One hundred percent!! Professor, we are at maximum capacity!" "Shut it off at the required time," said Sparkle. "Ten. "Nine. "Eight. "Seven. "Six. "Five. "Four. "Three! "Two! "One! "Professor, I'm shutting off the tank now!" The room powered down. The tank opened.
Four: A New MareApplebloom opened her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling. Don't look, she thought. It will be worse if you look at the expressions of everypony else. She heard a whoop from the colt that had pushed her in here, Pipsqueak she thought his name was, and then everypony was clapping and cheering Professor Sparkle. Had it worked? Was she okay? The tank turned upwards and she was forced to look at the joyful expressions on everypony's faces. They are happy. It must have worked, she thought. She was still buckled into her seat, but Professor Sparkle untied her and she fell onto her hooves. She looked around. It all seemed unreal. She'd done it. She wasn't dead. Pipsqueak gave her ribbon back to her. She tied her mane up and the remainder of fabric she tied into a bow. Professor Sparkle smiled. "It worked!" she exclaimed. "It really worked!" "How do ya feel?" asked Pipsqueak gruffly. "Taller," she replied breathlessly. It was true- before she'd been half the size of these ponies. Now, she could see over all their heads. She smiled around at everypony as they applauded her, applauded Professor Sparkle. Suddenly a gunshot. Professor Sparkle fell. Applebloom rushed to her side. "Applebloom..." "Yes? Professor Sparkle?" The light faded from her eyes. Twilight Sparkle was dead. Applebloom sat there for a little while, oblivious to the chaos around her. She tried not to cry. Another gunshot pulled her back into the real world. Somepony else may be dead. She jumped to her feet, looked around for the attacker. A black pony was headed out the door. She galloped after him. He realized somepony was tailing him and ran faster. The colt, whose name was Shady Spy, galloped outside, and jumped into a taxi. "Anywhere but here!" he screamed at the stallions pulling the cart. They began to gallop at full speed away from the facility. Applebloom saw the taxi pulling away quickly. In a moment of blind stupidity she began to run after he taxi. She kept pace with the taxi at a steady run, so she decided to push herself. She bowed her head and poured on the speed. Shady Spy looked behind him to see that bratty earth following him. "Faster!" he screamed at the stallions pulling the taxi. "Faster!" There was no reply. The earth was getting closer. "Pull into the traffic!" he yelled at the taxi stallions. They did as he told them, and they were lost in the traffic. Applebloom saw the taxi pull into the traffic, and thought, I don't have a chance now. Maybe not, but I can try. She turned into the alley next to the road she saw the taxi turn into. Every few seconds she glanced sideways at the carts in the traffic. No sign of the taxi. She ran faster, and she knew there probably wouldn't be a chance of catching the spy, but she would try her hardest. She looked up. The end of the alley was drawing nearer. But to her left she could see a hole wide enough for her to run through. But there was a chain-link fence on either side, and a huge hole in the middle. What the hay, she thought. It's my only chance. She ran as fast as she could and jumped, stretching out her legs to gain some distance. She'd judged it perfectly and Applebloom landed on all four hooves, just to begin running again. But the traffic, she realized. The traffic! She squeezed between carts, squeaking "sorry" at all the ponies she touched, until she realized something again: these ponies were slowing her down. In another moment of stupidity, she jumped onto one cart and began running over the roofs of all the carts. She caught up to the taxi quickly and jumped on the roof. Shady Spy heard a loud THUNK on the roof and looked up. Damn! He just couldn't shake that brat! He loaded his gun. Applebloom gained her balance on the top of the cart and was prepared to pop in the side window when she heard a BANG. Applebloom was lucky that bullet missed her. Now that she knew what was going on she moved every time she heard a click. But eventually the spy figured out what was happening and waited for a few seconds before shooting. It became a crazy game of changing behavior again and again. Point. Click. Move. Click. Whack roof. BANG. Whistle of bullet. Point. Click. It was a horrible game to play. The stallions were getting more agitated by the minute at the bullet shots, but Shady Spy couldn't worry about that right now. He shot again. The steering stallions swerved and Applebloom scrambled to get a hoofhold. She fell off the roof just as it crashed into the wall. The spy jumped out of the crashed taxi and began to run. Applebloom followed. She recognized the dock. They were at the dock. The colt turned a corner and Applebloom followed. The colt was holding a foal, almost choking. "Come at me and he dies!" Applebloom hesitated. The spy whipped another gun out of his pocket. Applebloom grabbed a cart door. The spy shot at it but none of the bullets hit her. She grinned. The spy knew he was outmatched. He threw the foal into the water and ran. Applebloom ran towards the water. She looked over the edge, ready to dive in. "Don't worry!" said the foal. "I can swim!" Applebloom continued after the spy. Shady Spy jumped into a getaway submarine and pushed forward the accelerator lever. A weight on the back of the sub. Damn that bucking kid! Applebloom was drowning, surely. She couldn't breathe, couldn't do anything but hold on. Then the glass compartment opened. The black colt swam out. Applebloom bit down on his mane and dragged him up to the surface. She shouldered the semi-conscious stallion and climbed out of the water. Applebloom slammed the spy down onto the concrete. "Who are you!" she exclaimed, more a statement than a question. She realized her accent had disappeared. "I...am but one...kill me...and another shall take its place..." He huffed. He was dead.
Five: The Sun Sparkled Pony"Y'all got enough?" Pipsqueak jabbed a needle into Applebloom's forearm again. "The secret to an army of supersoldiers lies in your DNA. I don't think we can get enough." After taking a blood sample out of Applebloom's arm, he handed it to the nurse waiting beside him. The nurse gave a searching look to the both of them and trotted out of the door. "What's with her?" Pipsqueak muttered. "Ah dunno, but Ah think Ah know her from somewhere." "Where?" "Ah think her coltfriend beat me up at one point." Pipsqueak looked at her. "You have something against running away?" "No, it's just, well, if ya start runnin' they won't let y'all stop. If ya fight back then ya might have a chance." She smiled awkwardly. "I jes' dunno why y'all're here in a research facility when y'all could be out on front lines." Pipsqueak looked at her, mildly amused and interested. "Ah mean, y'all are strong lookin' and tough...and...and..." "You have no idea how to talk to colts, do you?" "Longest conversation I've had with one." She blushed and looked down. "Colts aren't exactly lining up tah dance with me." "Well, I'm sure they would now. Why don't you just hook up with some fangirl?" Applebloom thought for a second. "Ah dunno. Ah guess Ah'm waiting for the right partner." "Attention!" The ponies working on the submarine stood up tall. Stiff. "Magnum, what're you making of this?" Magnum Belle looked at the submarine and narrowed his eyes. "I don't know, Dash. I've never seen anything like it before. Our technology isn't even close to this kind of sub. I -" Dash narrowed her eyes. "Then who does?" "HYDRA." The voice sounded through the chamber and Applebloom trotted down the stairs, Pipsqueak at her side. " 'Scuse me?" Magnum asked. "HYDRA has this power. It's a Hooftler research facility. A pony call'd Chrysalis runs the place an' conducts thah research." Applebloom said. Dash looked at the three of them and said to a soldier standing by, "I want two hundred plus soldiers ready to fight. We need to get out on enemy lines. We -" "Sir, if y'all are getting troops out onto the battlefront Ah want to go with them." The blue pegasus turned to Applebloom. "You are an experiment. You know what? Take this kid back to the labs." "Hey - !" Dash looked Applebloom in the eye and said, "I asked for an army and all I got was you. And you are not enough." Dash walked away, organizing the army. A colt in a suit walked to Applebloom's side. "She's a troll, there isn't any moving her. But I think you could do something better than a lab rat." The colt seemed serious. "Applebloom, do you want to work on the toughest battlefield in the war?" Applebloom looked at him and said, "That's all Ah want, sir." "Well then." The colt smiled. "You just got a promotion." Who’s strong and brave, here to save the Equestrian Way? Who vows to fight like a god for what’s right night and day? Who will campaign door-to-door for Equestria, Carry the flag shore to shore for Equestria, From Fillydelphia to Manehatten, The Sun Sparkled Pony with a Plan! The chorus girls danced across the stage as Applebloom walked out to the spot she had rehearsed a million times before. She didn't even need her cue cards that were stapled to the back of her shield anymore. "Who's ready to sock Hooftler on the jaw with me?" The crowd maintained a defiant silence. "I need a volunteer." "I already have volunteered, how d'ya think I got here?" somepony said. Laughs from the crowd of soldiers. "Bring back the girls!" "Yeah!" "Ah think they only know thah one song, but Ah'll see what Ah can do." "You do that, sweetheart." Applebloom turned to leave the stage, but somepony called, "Nice boots Tinkerbell!" Applebloom took a deep breath and turned back to the podium, but someone threw a tomato at her. It hit her shield, but now others were throwing food as well. Applebloom walked quickly off the stage as the chorus girls walked back on again, waving at the soldiers. Author's Note I've decided to carry on with this story. Haters gonna hate!
Prologue: Frozen in TimeThe pegasus flew down onto the ice. It was cold against his hooves. He already wanted to go back to Cloudsdale. "This better be good," he growled to the Eskipony unicorn beside him. "Wait until you see what we found. It must have been an old crashed airplane." The unicorn smiled. Glancing at his notes the pegasus saw his name was Ice Pick. "We'll see about that, Ice Pick." Ice Pick trotted down to a hole drilled in the ice. "Right down here, sir." He indicated to the hole. The pegasus nodded at Ice Pick and fell gracefully into the hole, snapping his wings out at the last second so that he didn't splat. It really was a plane. It looked from about Hooftler. "When is it estimated this plane crashed?" he asked. "Late 1940's," replied Ice Pick from behind him. He nodded. Walking to the back of the plane, he saw a circular object covered in snow. He brushed some of it off and gasped. "Ice Pick?" "Yes, sir?" "I think you better come take a look at this." He heard hoofsteps and another gasp. Ice Pick was behind him. The pegasus brushed the rest of he snow off the object just to be sure. Yes. It was a circular shield, with three stripes going all the way around the shield leading to a small circle in the middle. The outmost one was yellow, the one in the middle dark blue and the one nearest the middle circle was white. The circle itself was black, with a white crescent on one side and a blue crescent on the other. In-between them was a sun and a crescent moon. There were scorch marks on the shield where bullets had been shot at it. "Captain Equestria," Ice Pick whispered.
