Ripples

NOTICE:

If you have not read this chapter yet, disregard this message - it makes no difference to you. In the dream at the beginning of the chapter, the coach’s name has been changed. This is due to changes in the future storyline which would have conflicted with this name. Thank you.

Chapter 17

The Outside World...Again

I stood among my fellow recruits, awaiting the results of our fitness exams. We were in formation, in order from largest to smallest. I was very far on the small end, which was yet another reason for the other recruits to bully me...I never wanted to join the Equestrian Army. It was my family that enlisted me, without telling me until after it was done. They never told me why, but I hate them for that. I was perfectly happy with my previous job before they had to step in and ruin everything.All twenty-eight of us remained standing in an upright position, not saying a word. If we broke formation or caused any disruptions, all of us knew we would be kicked off the Army in a heartbeat. As tempting as it was, I couldn't disappoint my family like that. I stared off into the grassy field we were placed in. Other squads of recruits trained in various areas, cycling between the areas every few minutes. First they would run an obstacle course, then they would target practice, then they would wrestle...it was all part of the Equestrian Army selection process.To be honest, it was almost unnecessary, as just about everypony was let in. I snuck a peek at Stormwing further towards the larger end of our arrangement. He was so beautiful...I quickly snapped my eyes back into place when I heard our coach coming.“EVERYPONY, ATTENTION!” he yelled, and we all snapped our eyes straight at him. He was Captain Sarge, one of the most valuable ponies in all of the Equestrian Army...also one of the dumbest-named ones. It was very clear he did not particularly care to be here.“I’m sure you’re aware of some...conflicts going on in Equestria as of this very moment, correct?” he asked.“Sir, yes sir!” we all chanted in sync.“And you are here today to put a stop to this mess, correct?”“Sir, yes sir!”“I’ll have you know all of you passed your exams. Whether you deserve it, I am doubtful, but that’s what Celestia ordered.”Damnit.“Now, march and get ready for your first real training exercise!” he yelled.“Sir, yes sir!” once again, and we turned and marched back towards the army base.

~ ~ ~

I slowly opened my eyes. I felt a cold, hard surface below me. I was laying on my side. There was gunfire nearby...“Loste!” I heard Captain yell, and some of the gunfire stopped. “Thank Celestia, you’re awake! Get the fuck over here and help us!”I lifted my head. What the hell kind of dream was that...more importantly, what was going on?! My assault rifle had been set next to my head, fresh clip already loaded. Captain, Rage, and the nameless red pony (Anon?) had weapons of their own, and were shooting. They were all shooting in the same direction, and blocking my view of what exactly was happening, but I got the message. I forced myself upright, shaking off the cloudiness from my odd nap, and grabbed the assault rifle.After standing upright, I ran to Captain’s side. My questions as to what we were shooting were quickly answered: an army of mutants. I did not recognize this area, but I didn’t have time to dwell on the details at this moment. I began firing at the army of mutants. They had maintained their former equine shapes, but appeared...molten. Their colors faded into each other, their faces goopy and lifeless. They limped towards us, although at a surprisingly fast pace. Every time a bullet hit, bloody rainbow goop would seep from the wound.Almost every shot was hitting its target just fine. That wasn’t the problem...the problem was they weren’t dying. We maintained a formation, firing wildly at the advancing army. With every second, they were inching closer and closer. A very select few dropped to the ground as we fired, but it did nothing to harm the entire army. There had to be at least fifty...A squishy sensation erupted in my side as I was flung straight into Captain, sending us both onto the hard road below. My assault rifle skidded just out of my hoof’s reach, and one of the mutants jumped on top of us. It made a terrible screeching noise, its eyes melted into its head and its mouth an open hole on its face. Its skin was blue...although faded from the mutation. I tried to swat it with my hooves, but it didn’t even flinch. It just squished disgustingly every time I hit it, getting my hooves covered in slime. I could smell it, a terrible, rotten smell...I started gagging. It began flailing wildly, bashing anywhere it could reach on my body. Captain had been crushed under me, now suffocating from my weight.I tried to wrench myself out of the creature’s grasp, but it continued beating and held a firm grip. I felt a squishy hoof smack across my face, sending a harsh stinging sensation through my mind. I reached for my gun...I couldn’t reach, only by a couple inches.“HELP!” I screamed. I tried to fight back, but the mutant pony continued whacking me. I was becoming bruised all over, even bleeding in some places. I tried to slam my hoof into its face as hard as I possibly could. I felt it lift from my body and fly to my left...did I really just...?Rage stood beside me, covered in zombie slime. I immediately lunged straight for my assault rifle, I could hear Captain gasp for air as I removed myself from on top of him. The same zombie-pony slammed itself right back into Rage, pinning him onto the ground. I swung my assault rifle down to face it, and pulled the trigger. Bullets sprayed into its head, sending bloody rainbow-covered goop all over Rage and I. Some of the bullets impacted Rage’s stomach, I hoped it was nothing fatal. The zombie-pony fell limp to his side, bent awkwardly.“Sorry,” I yelled at him, turning back around to assess the situation. Captain had gotten back on his hooves, and was now prying a red zombie-pony from Anon. Rage pulled out a pistol and charged at Anon, firing with astonishing accuracy into the zombie-pony’s head, splattering Anon with more of the bloody rainbow goop. The zombie-pony’s head slowly stretched from the neck, eventually separating itself and landing in Anon’s lap. The body collapsed by his hooves, this one also limp. Anon jerked and shoved the head off his lap, screeching in disgust.The four of us regained our position and weaponry, and continued fighting. They were coming from all directions now, so we adjusted our formation accordingly.“Maybe if we wait for them to get close enough, and then aim for their head as they lunge, we can kill them!” Captain yelled over the gunfire.“Good idea!” Rage yelled from beside him. The gunfire softened, turning less frantic and more focused. Any time a zombie-pony got within close range, one of us fired straight into its head. We managed to hold them off for a while, slowly but surely shrinking their numbers. Any time one of us had to reload, we would step into the center of the group and the others would close into a triangle until the reloading was finished.I shot at a strange combination of two zombie-ponies, one black and one orange. They had fused together, and were limping awkwardly at an angle at us. Their front hooves and tails were mended together, along with most of their flanks. It was just like killing two of them, although somewhat easier due to their slower speed. It was still fucking creepy, though.        We had reduced their army to about ten. I stepped into the center of our group to reload, Captain and Anon stepping in to cover me. I reached for another clip, realizing I had none left.        “Uh, guys...I’m out of ammo!” I yelled at them.        “Don’t you have more weapons?!” Captain yelled back, shooting his assault rifle into another zombie-pony. “Our bags are in a pile, go grab something!”        I jumped out of the protective formation to look through our bags. I couldn’t see them anywhere, the bodies of zombie-ponies covered the ground. I dodged the remaining zombie-ponies, working my way around and peeking through openings in the corpses. Eventually I found them, hidden behind a small pile of bodies. I shoved them out of the way, toppling the stack. More of their disgusting goop covered my body, quickly drying into a crust. Ignoring it for now, I pulled out my bag from under a zombie-pony. I took out a strange weapon I do not remember seeing...as I pulled it out, Discord’s present rolled out and the lid popped open. I could see something purple sticking out, but before I could investigate a zombie-pony screeched at me from nearby. I took the weapon, a very streamlined and shiny piece of metal, and cantered over just enough to avoid the zombie-pony’s lunge. I pointed the strange gun and pulled the trigger.        An enormous blast of red energy erupted from the barrel, sending the gun flying from my hooves and somewhere behind me. It threw me onto my back, slamming into another corpse. After sitting up, a pile of ashes remained where the zombie-pony was moments before. The ashes were still smoking, with some red embers in the pile. I stared in shock.        “I don’t know what that was, but we could sure use it again!” Anon yelled from the triangle, which was now being overtaken by the zombie-ponies. They were getting dangerously close to them, so I ran back towards the odd weapon and grabbed it. I steadied my hooves firmly into the ground, bracing myself for the force of the shot. I aimed it towards the group of zombie-ponies, pulling the trigger once again. Holding the weapon still this time, I was able to fully observe the effects of its laser.        A red beam of magical energy shot straight towards two zombie-ponies, impacting right in between them, singing their tails. A harsh red flame erupted from the point of impact, spreading extremely quickly to consume their entire bodies. Smoldering, reddish ash fell from where they were once standing, smoking and burning the corpses they landed on. It was over in less than a second, and it looked cool as fuck.        I fired three more shots, finishing off the last of the zombie-ponies. We were left in an ocean of faded colors, rainbows, ash and blood. We breathed heavily, recovering from the battle. The stench was terrible, and was only now starting to set in. I covered my nose with a hoof and waddled back through the corpses towards our bags.        “You guys okay?” I yelled, my voice muffled and odd-sounding.        “Nothing fatal,” Rage yelled back. “Fucking hurts, though!”        Better than dying, I guess...I made it back to the bags. I began gathering them up into a neater pile when I noticed the open present laying on its side. I stared at it for a moment. Well, it’s going to come open at some point...        I dumped the contents of the box onto the ground. A figurine of a purple pony fell out, along with a small piece of paper. The purple pony was an alicorn, with both wings and a horn. Her mane was a very dark bluish-black, with streaks of pink and purple. She stood in a regal position, smiling gently. The figurine stood on a golden base, which was engraved with the word “MAGIC”.        I set that aside and turned the note over. A small message was written haphazardly in pencil.        “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOSTE. THIS WAS YOUR GREAT GRANDMOTHER. I HOPE YOU ENJOY IT. ALSO, THAT BEAM BLASTER IS FOR YOU. YOU’RE WELCOME.”        Discord had signed his name at the bottom of the note. I stared at it, taking in the message. After what Discord had done and showed me, I had thought he was completely evil...I don’t know what to think; first he goes and enslaves Equestria, confines himself to a small area with his little settlement of slaves while he lets the rest of the world sort of rebuilt itself, releases a slave and by extension his entire population as part of some evil scheme, and then sets off a magical weapon to royally fuck over Equestria...then he gives me a birthday present? And quality time with my friends? Something was weird here...        “What are you doing?” Captian asked, walking over towards me. I quickly shoved the note and figurine into my bag.        “Nothing,” I said nervously. “Just...thinking about what happened.”        “Right,” he responded. I couldn’t tell if he believed me or not. “I think we should try and figure out where the hell we are.”        So we packed our bags and prepared to leave the area. We had no idea where we would go or what we would do, but we couldn’t sit here in an ocean of rotten zombie corpses forever. Once we were packed up, we headed towards the nearest buildings.