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>>162668Silver stares at his son as he continues to trot closer slowly. The way he said that...this must not be the first time Spec has seen him since the War. If this is the future...does this mean he'll see his son again? Tears appear in his eyes from the prospect, which he wipes away with a foreleg.
"W-what are you doing here, my son?"
>>162669He looks at Silver with a blank look for a moment. But only a moment.
"Can Stratus Freeze use your wife's car? Look - Listen - I've been volunteering with the Home Guard and they've issued a call to clamp down on cells. Last night there were mass arrests to try and gather up as many known infiltrators as possible. According to what I heard on the radio, one of the changelings they went after sent an alert which activated a cell in the new housing projects, where the ghetto was over in the eastside. And of course that's just what they know about. There's a fear these cells have smuggled in weapons. Bombs and other things. They'll come out in the open now that the war is declared, and try to return the punch as best they can. So the Homeguard is being mobilized-"
>>162670Silver's eyes widen.
"Oh...that it not good. I already knew there were changelings in city, but if they are activating..."
>>162671He moves a little closer to Silver
"Exactly what they have isn't known... but what they can do... Observation planes in the north have detected weapons tests on fringe islands and in the polar lands. Mass area of effect weapons that can incinerate vast areas. And the tales of Changelings using Tabun and Sarin gas against pony resistance is well known, as are the rumors of lacing food with anthrax. The Pony Populist Party would not spook the population unless they thought there was a real threat."
>>162672"But my family...my new family...I cannot just leave them alone and unprotected like this, not if there are Infiltrators with weapons of mass destruction."
>>162673He scrunches for a moment, but then recovers
"Yeah, I know. So do I. Not a
new family, but a- a family. And that's exactly why I need to - why
we need to go out, find these infiltrators, and kill them. These infiltrators might possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised. And we need to get to them first if our families are ever going to be safe."
He lingers
"All of Baltimare is counting on us. You've fought so many battles before. So have I. Don't let everything you've fought so hard for end here, today. Fight this one last battle. One last enemy to be conquered."
>>162674Silver looks sadly at his son, who has faced him with this tough decision. He goes back to his car, to the seat where his wife is sitting, and opens the door to take her hooves in his.
"Pear...what do I choose? What decision should I make?"
>>162675She turns to him as he takes her hooves, and looks at him with big eyes. Her ears are up, and she is clearly surprised.
>>162676"Please, love...I need your advice, your guidance."
>>162678Oh...right. Silver should probably fill her in on the situation. Which, he does so now.
>>162679She looks horrified
"What decision is there to make? Go out there and stop them. Stop them now."
>>162680He gives his wife a brief kiss goodbye.
"Keep them safe. I will come back for you."
The unicorn then turns to his foals.
"I need to go stop bad changelings. Be good for your mother, I will be back soon."
>>162681She gives a weak, toothy smile
"I'll see you..."
The foals ask
"Where are we going?"
Pear tells them
"We're going up to the north for the week."
"Will daddy be coming with us?"
"No, it'll be just us for now."
The foals look at Silver:
Birch:
"Will you still make Stroganov for us tonight?"
>>162682If he can reach her, Silver gives Birch many pets.
"When I come back, I will make biggest batch of stroganoff you have ever seen, my little pony."
>>162683Birch is pet many timesShe closes her eyes, and smiles contentedly.
Pear clearly looks concerned, with her ears half down.
>>162684"I love you all. Stay safe, I will be back with you before you know it."
If there's any of Silver's weapons and equipment he needs to gather from the car, he does so now, and goes to join Spec.
>>162685Pear laughs nervously, then closes her mouth, and waves to Silver
"See you"
There are no weapons in Silver's car, which is left for Pear.
Spec is waiting for him.
>>162686Silver nods to him, a stern determination on his face.
"I need weapon."
>>162687"Get it all out of the trunk, and get in the passenger seat" He says to Silver, equally stern.
>>162688Silver nods again, and goes to the truck to grab his equipment.
>>162668Not an ideal situation, at all, and Amber hopes the trio can take turns carrying the bag as they skedaddle. Not tarrying any longer, she seeks to return back to the middle of the tracks and go to the other train's platform, hopefully appearing as an arriving passenger.
>>162689Err, it should say "trunk", not "truck".
>>162689Silver opens the trunk to see many items of importance
The first Silver can recognize as a radio. This item is curious in its own right, as it is smaller than he recalls these being. The second is a steel helmet. It's full sized, designed for maximum protection from shrapnel. Next is a pair of green vests that Silver can identify as flak vests, using nylon fiber to protect from shrapnel. Silver also sees a pair of gas masks with goggles.
But it's the item in the center that deviates perhaps the most from what Silver is familiar with. Silver can see that the black, long object, is clearly a rifle. And yet it looks a bit more like the ray guns used by space mares in the science fiction pulp comics of recent years, than it does the elegant walnut clad tools that Silver last carried.
The most obvious feature of the rifle is that the action is located behind the trigger, with the handle and the trigger near the center of the rifle, and a curved magazine extending out behind it that is mid-length between the magazine of the old bolt action rifles, and the long thin boxes of submachine guns. The stock of the rifle is straight behind the action. It is thin, short, and made of steel with a simple butt. There are no iron sights. Instead, there is a handle just behind the center of the rifle with a cone-shaped optical sight. The forearm of the rifle is still wood, with a grooved cylinder for grip. The steel of the gun is coated back, and Silver can see a fire selector switch.
>>162694Amber exits through the rear door, out the side (it’s inelegant, carrying some much luggage but needing to jump down to the rail tracks, and then back up onto the platform).
A griffin seems to have taken notice.
>>162695That is not good, but what can be done except carrying on as usual, except with some added haste?
>>162696Well, Amber is on the other platform....
>>162697Does Amber know where the others are? She also realizes she forgot clothes for Federkleid, but there's no time to worry about that now.
>>162692Silver is damn near mesmerized by this mystery gun. If he was shocked at how the city has developed, and how the cars look sleeker and more colorful, then it's nothing compared to this tool of war. He's not even sure if it fires bullets anymore. With the practiced movements of an experienced soldier he puts on the flak vest and helmet and takes the small radio (
"Does it even work if it is that small?") and gas mask. The last item he takes is the rifle, and as he gets in the car he can't help but inspect it closer, feel its weight in his magic, and inspect the intermediate-sized magazine and fire selector.
>>162698Outside, or rather, across the street.
>>162699The fire selector is a button that can be pressed in on either side of the rifle. These are "R" and "A".
The magazine is curved, can fit... 20 rounds? And the top of the action is fitted with a charger guide to allow it to be reloaded with stripper clips. The charging handle of the gun is above the forearm, and before the optic.
>>162700"R" and "A"? What do these mean? Silver lets out, addressed to no one in particular, "What kind of strange rifle is this...?"
>>162700At least they're not far, and Amber won't be alone. She hurries to them.
>>162701Spec is driving now, opposite to the main flow of traffic. While the lane leading out of the city and down the penisula is thick with cars, the other lane is clear. To be sure, cars sometimes drive in the other lane, and Spec drives off the road more than once, though the sides of the road are often filled with pedestrians walking away from the city. The sirens continue blaring.
Spec, however, hears Silver
"Oh, you haven't seen the new battle rifle? That's a Lavender Machine 2, Caliber .277, Model Year 1020. Or an M20. The 'Jenny'. 'R' is repetition, or single shot. 'A' is full auto."
Looking down at the rifle, Silver can almost hear the trumpets dancing around as he holds it
>>162702Amber is being followed.
>>162703Not good, and the whole group wouldn't be able to evade effectively. Amber steers away from the party and, after a short while, ducks into an alley.
>>1627031020. Silver has a bit of an idea of the future time period he's in. He hopes Spec is paying attention and isn't running over anypony trying to flee the city.
"'Jenny'. Full auto, intermediate cartridge, twenty round magazine...it is amazing how far firearms have advanced from Lavender Rifles we used in War just few years ago."
>>162704Another roll, dexterity modifier
>>162705Spec is doing well enough, maneuvering past pedestrians and automobiles. Silver can see there are a few more schools here, and many more single family houses. The amusement park on the pier is still very much there, and with a new rollercoaster. Bird move in the sky.
"If, anything the Lavender was out of date decades ago. They just delayed replacing them for cost reasons. I would recommend keeping it on single fire. It's got quite a kick."
>>162707Amber delicately moves into a flock of griffins leaving the station, moves off the to side as a train horn provides a distraction, and slips away into the alley.
>>162706Silver nods, and sets it to R. If it wasn't for the threat of WMDs smuggled in by changelings, he would like to see this future come about.
"Not as if that stopped you from becoming most lethal sniper in all of Equestria's armed forces, Spectral Streak. 'White Death'. I remember how number of soldiers I trained in boot camp asked about you."
>>162708What is this roller coaster of luck? Amber has managed to escape her pursuer. Now, to get back to her friends….
She'll go to the other side of the alley and see what's there, hopeful making a wide circle is possible.
>>162709Spec's right eye turns towards Silver, and he smiles
"Heh"
It's the first time Silver has seen him smile in... a
very long time. He does not say anything.
>>162710It's Felderklied who comes out first, followed by Erich, and then finally Helder.
Felderklied:
"Did you get it?"
>>162711Nodding, Amber says, "Yes, all the books are here, and a few clothes. And I have my instruments."
>>162711That smile...it brings him back to a time when both he and Spec were much younger, and less scared by what they have lived through. He can't help but share in this smile, even if its for only for the moment.
>>162711>>162713"So, this 'Project Heaven's Fall' or what have you...it is what White Light was working on, yes? Before Equestria fell?"
>>162714"Huh?" He turns his head to Silver, confused.
"Oh, before the West was lost? No. I don't think so at least."
>>162720"I hope it is not...ability to wipe out entire cities, just like that...no one should have that power. Especially not Changelings..."
>>162721"No, not the Changelings, Just the First Council and the Pony Populist Party. What the Changelings have is something else."
>>162723"I have heard, or at least know basics. Some kind of mass-incindiary weapon."