Chapter 2: The Griffon, The Bad and The Derpy
Part 1: The Griffon
DATE: 22 Quintillius 1001 C.S.
About a month and a half after that meeting with Dan Filly, I had button-rifled barrels being delivered at a rate of 5 a week. I had 30 barrels hand-assembled into complete firearms - 10 Shermans, 6 Mitchells, 14 Lees. With Rarity's scopes, I had 4 Shermans set aside for "sniper practice." I wasn't totally sure how I'd manage that, yet.
Now, getting ammunition was an issue. I needed a lot of it, and the limited amount of pieces and powder I was getting from the few specialty makers of such things, was simply not enough. Dan Filly was the only one that could currently supply the jacketed bullets we needed. Moreover, they all needed raw materials to work with, and their usual suppliers weren't enough. I had maybe 250 rounds or so at any one time - and I was constantly test firing the weapons, then hand-loading more ammo, usually reusing the casings.
During this time, Rainbow Dash's old friend, Gilda, came around. This was.. uncomfortable. I'd been away in Manehattan trying to source additional brass for ammunition, and trying to design a weapons foundry. Celestia suggested an area near Appleloosa, I suggested another area away from the Bison tribes if this didn't work out. I arrived back in the Ponyville area just in time to run into..
Gilda: "..WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!"
She slammed into me, as she was landing. It wasn't really either of our faults - I was face-deep in some production schedules and wondering how they'd look on Excel.. if I had a computer. I rolled back on my ass, flat on the ground. When I sat up, I saw..
K: "You're a Griffon." I pointed to her, casually.
Gilda: "SO!? What are you, some kinda-" She sneered at me.
K: "I'm human." I gently pointed to myself.
Gilda: "What's a human!? Another breed of lame pony!?" She leaned forwards a bit, and bore her teeth (she has teeth?!).
K: "You've got some anger issues, I can see that." I held a hand up, in a placating gesture.
Gilda: "ANGER ISSUES!?" *Griffon roar*
I didn't react, other than to shield my face from spittle.
K: "Your eyes are full of tears and your face is wet. You've been crying." I shook my head, and waved one hand.
Gilda: "CRYING!? ONLY BABIES CRY!" Again, with the teeth bearing, snarling, and emotional defensiveness.
K: "I'm no baby, but I've cried my fair share. Now.." I pulled myself up onto a rock, and sat down, stuffing the schedules in the messenger bag Rarity made for me. "..what's the matter? For that matter, what's your name?"
Gilda: "Gilda.. if I had friends, they'd call me G. But I don't have friends anymore.. I don't NEED friends!" She crossed her arms and twisted herself to face away from me.
K: "Right. Bull. You just lost your friends, didn't you?" I shook my head - this reminded me of someone that'd been brought into our friend group back home, after being ejected from theirs.
Gilda: "What do you know about it!?" She huffed.
K: "Nothing, I'm merely guessing. You look like I did when my best friend tried to stab me with this.." I showed the knife at my hip, in its sheath.
Gilda: "Your BEST friend tried to stab you? Geeze, I'd hate to meet your worst enemy." She had turned to look, and then looked me up and down.
K: "Worst enemy? I nearly beat him to death. Maybe you know him - Discord?" I shrugged with my formerly broken arm.
Gilda: "Sounds familiar.." She dipped her chin a bit, in thought.
K: "He wasn't supposed to, but he thought it a lark to bring a human into a world of ponies. My mere presence has started to corrupt everything - I know for a fact that Discord wasn't supposed to make an appearance until later, but my self-sacrificing nature brought him out of hiding. Humans are terrible things filled with a fearsome beauty and a cruel kindness. We are creatures of contradiction.. compassion with greed, love with hate.. so, tell me, Gilda, care to explain why you HAVEN'T been crying?" I point-jabbed towards her.
Gilda went on to explain what happened that day. She.. rather embellished the events to slant Pinkie and RD as mean tricksters. Which, well, I'm sure we all know this episode, and know it's not true. Heck, I'd SEEN this episode and knew it wasn't true.
K: "Your perspective is off.. I know those two ponies - I'm in a relationship with their best friend, Applejack." I shook my head.
Gilda got a mean look in her eye - the kind of look a wolf gets when a lamb has been lost from the pack, that their death would go unnoticed.
K: "I'm not here to make fun of you - but I want to know, what was the real reason you came to see Dash in the first place?" I leaned in her direction, resting my elbows on my knees.
Gilda: "...I've been exiled from my homeland..." She said, quietly, not looking me in the eye.
K: "Why?"
Gilda: "Because I fell in love with something I shouldn't have." She made a pained sigh.
K: "And that was.." I led her into the next part of her confession.
Gilda: "A Dragon.. my father killed him.." She mumbled this, almost, but I could hear it.
Tears poured from her eagle eyes, though she didn't sob. A strong will on this one.
K: "So, the love of your life was murdered by your father, and you came to Dash to.. what? Bunk with her while you get your life in order?" I shrugged to her, open-handed.
Gilda: "I was.. I was hoping to live with her.. I.." She blushed a little.
K: "You have feelings for Dash, don't you?" I let myself smile just a bit.
Gilda: "That's another reason I was banished.. Griffons don't agree with that kind of love." She shut her eyes, but her cheeks were flushed.
K: "So, you're bisexual, and you prefer other species?" I tilted my head, inquisitively.
Gilda: *Mumble* "..sound like a doctor.." She curled in on herself, her tail wrapping around her.
K: "But, I'm right, aren't I?" I nodded to her, just a tad.
Gilda: "Yeah.. yeah.. I.. I thought if I couldn't have Draco, I could at least have Dash.. that.. that she'd love me.. or come to love me. I was willing to work for it! I'm just.. I'm just so angry right now, at everything!" She slammed a Griffon Fist into a tree. It cracked.
K: "So, you feel alone." I gestured with my right hand.
Gilda: "..I am alone. I've got nothing left. I'm broke, I'm banished, and the.. the only pony I ever loved, hates me." She teared up again.
K: "I think I can help." I nodded firmly to her.
Gilda: "I-! Oh, forget it. I may as well.." She just released the tension in her body in one big sigh.
K: "I have an associate in Manehattan that's helping me source materials for Equestria's military. He's been in need of a good messenger - I'm working on inventing proper long distance communication, but messengers are always more secure. You need a job, and I'm certain that with a letter from me, you'll get it. BUT! You have to make a clean break from your anger. Put it aside, focus on yourself and your future. You'll find love out there again - you found it twice already." I wagged a finger at her.
Gilda: "You'd do that for me? After.. well.. after I was mean to everyone in Ponyville, blew my cool and ruined my friendship with one of your friends?" She furrowed her brow at me, inquisitively.
K: "Like I said - compassion. Humans have it. Charity, forgiveness.. they aren't just elements of harmony, they're human qualities. We have all of them." I shook my head slowly.
It took me a while, but I wrote out the letter on some spare paper to Dan Filly. Gilda went on about her family back home, how her love for Draco had caused her father to go over the edge with rage - that she had abandoned her heritage and mixed herself with something else. That's when I realized - this world is FULL of racism! They didn't need MY help discovering THAT evil.
The letter written, I promised her I'd never tell Dash what her real reason was - she didn't want Dash feeling sorry for her, or pitying her, or worse yet, finding out her true feelings for her on anything else but her own terms.
I didn't know it then, but Gilda was going to be a more important player in the War than I first thought.
[End of Part 1]
Part 2: The Bad
DATE: 12 Sextus 1001, C.S.
Within the month, Gilda was secretly meeting me in AJ's orchard to deliver correspondence. I had to tell AJ about her - part of the truth, at least, so she wouldn't shoot Gilda out of the sky. One day, though, Gilda ended up landing in the orchard, wounded.
Gilda: "Here.. here you go." She held out a bloodied leather pouch with correspondence in it.
K: "Gilda! You're.. you're bleeding. What happened?" I ran over to her, and started checking her injuries.
Gilda: "I was ambushed.. by another Griffon.." She held her more serious wound with one claw.
K: "Crap.. I'll get help, you-" I started.
Gilda: "No! I.. I can get back to Manehattan." She tried to wave me off with her other claw - always the tough one.
K: "Are you sure?" I cocked a brow, my tone verging on mockery.
Gilda: "Yeah, just..." *NGH!* She staggered.
K: "Not with that gash in your wing, you're not.. MAC! GET ME THE FIRST AID KIT!" I called out.
Mac: "EYUP!" Off he galloped.
After Discord's near death experience, he realized that I wasn't so bad after all. We're.. working partners. I wouldn't call us friends, yet. He returned and I started to bandage Gilda up.
K: "We'll catch a train-" I started.
Gilda: "Bridge is out. Flood." She winced as I applied antiseptic.
K: "Okay, we'll walk there." I sighed, a bit frustrated.
Gilda: "That'll take five days!" She looked shocked.
K: "It's either that, or I chloroform you and take you to the hospital." I was direct with her.
Gilda: "You sure you'll make it?" She seemed surprised, and gave me the once-over, like she didn't expect my monkey butt to be able to do it.
K: "I'll be fine. Mac? Go get AJ, and get me my rifle and traveling gear, please? Food, too." I nodded.
Mac: "Eyup!" Off he took, towards the Barn.
He got intercepted, however, as he returned with Applejack.
AJ: "Whut's goin' on here?" My Mare said, as she approached.
My Mare.. I wasn't sure I'd ever get completely used to the idea that I was in love with a four-legged sentient pony, but I loved her. And, no after months of trying, she wasn't pregnant, so, I assume we're genetically incompatible. Which was fine with me - I didn't want to seed freak babies that live half a year in excruciating pain.
AJ: "Gilda!" She covered her mouth with her right forehoof, and made her way over to her, concerned.
Gilda: "Hey, AJ.. I got messed up." She grunted.
AJ: "Here, honeybun, I got your things." She, indeed, had all the things I'd asked for - backpack, coat, sleeping roll, sundry survival items, and four days of basic food.
K: "Get yours, too. I expect trouble." I.. just had a feeling..
AJ: "Really?" She cocked a brow at me, like.. she hadn't expected me to say something like that.
K: "Best be prepared. Go on, now, sweetheart." I kissed her, on the lips, in front of Gilda.
She left, and I could see that twinge of tragedy in her eyes.
K: "..Mac did try to kill me after I.. uh.. 'coupled' with her, our first time. So, no, racism isn't just a Griffonic trait." I nodded to him, and he just.. kinda bowed his head a bit.
That seemed to reassure her.. a little. She sighed. I could tell she missed Draco.. and I missed my wife. My human wife. But, we do with what we have, what we can, to whatever end there exists. I didn't realize what was about to happen, here. I should have brought more back-up, but, I had no idea any specific threats even existed..
We set off - Applejack and I armed with the Sherman Rifles, and her with a weapon I made specifically for her - I called it the Custer. Since Dan Filly had created revolvers in the first place, I took off with it - using his system, I basically reproduced the Colt 1878 Lightning double-action revolver (no mean feat - but I had the schematics as a cell phone wallpaper), and chambered it for a rimmed, short 10mm round (10x18mm Pony Express) that had slightly better wounding capability than 9x18mm. Cast lead bullets were as far as I could get, for the time being, for it.
Also, I was rather stuck to metric measurements - my multi-tool knife had a little ruler on it, in metric only, and ponies used metric as well. I still had my uncle's PA-63. A backpack with food and some supplies, and off we went. AJ told Twilight she'd be gone for a few days, and not to worry. Twilight wanted to get the Team together, but I nixed it. I didn't tell her what it was about, but I mentioned it had to do with the Armaments Project. That satisfied her - and it made me feel guilty that ponies can be so gullible. AJ wasn't - not anymore. I'd told her far too much about my world, and she was starting to get like me. Careful, bordering on paranoid.
My personal Sherman had a traditional trigger and trigger guard, along with that early prototype scope (it had Rarity's mark on it, since she made the lenses). I may have a strong love of firearms, but before me, this world didn't know them. Bringing impurity to a pure world carried with it a guilt I couldn't begin to describe. I sated my emotions with the thought that I would be able to cultivate a responsible, sane, intelligent attitude towards them. That we wouldn't repeat some of the same mistakes that my world had.
Gilda: "I still feel bad.. I mean, I didn't see them coming." She said, as she walked almost next to us.
K: "It happens. We're here, we'll escort you to Manehattan, and hopefully by the time we get there, the rail bridge will be repaired." I shrugged. "And we'll have a doctor there look at your injury."
Repair works so much faster when you can just levitate the stuff in place. One thing I loved about this place - everyone was so handy in their own way. I fully expected the rail bridge to be repaired in just a couple days.
AJ: "Dun' beat yerself up, sugarcube. These things happen. An' this is what friends are for!" She beamed a grin.
Despite my spoiling her into cautiousness, she was still as friendly and accepting as ever. I loved her for that.. regularly.
Gilda: "I feel so out of place here.." She looked at the ground.
K: "You mean walking?" I said, keeping pace.
Gilda: "Yeah.." She trailed off, looking at the surrounding countryside.
K: "We'll be fine." I shook my head, and made a small dismissive hand gesture.
We walked in silence for several hours - it was getting to be night time. And without city glow to aid our vision, I knew it would be smartest if we simply stopped and made camp for the night. I didn't bring a tent, just a couple of ground cloths and blankets. Less weight that way. We set up the blankets in a small clearing and set the ground cloth up as a "roof" using some rope to run through its eyelets and tie it to a tree. Dinner was Campfire Pizza. Even Gilda liked it.
Gilda: "You should open a shop in Manehattan.. this is good." She said, munching a slice.
K: "Yeah, but then you'd get it corrupted into Manehatten-style thin crust.." I chuckled, thinking of my Chicagoan roots - Deep Dish, baby!
AJ: "Ah like yer thinner-crust pizzas, though!" She squinted at me, playfully.
K: "Okay, I'll look into it." I smiled at AJ.
Just like my.. like J--, she had me wrapped around her little finger (hoof) when it came to things like this.
Guard duty time. I took first watch, I was still amped up. I hadn't yet realized just how "in shape" I'd gotten over the last year, and how trivial walking about 180km really was to me, now. Or the fact that I'd done it three times already, for various reasons.
I had gotten up in a tree. I've become more outdoorsy and hands-on since I got here - just as I'd always wanted to be (I only had to sacrifice everything to get here).
Sitting there, with my Sherman, I wondered what motive Gilda's attackers had. Were they family, seeking some kind of racial purification revenge? Enemies of Equestria? Bandits?
I figured.. maybe they're following her. Maybe they wanted the message she had, or worse, to find out who it was meant for. If they hadn't followed her to the farm, they might have stayed within range to shadow her and us.. wait for the right moment..
The small wooded area was quiet enough, but I was uneasy. I switched between field stripping my Sherman and AJ's. Checking each part, making mental notes about production QC, tinkering with the sights.. and considering Celestia's proposals.
She wanted a full time military not attached to the Royal Guard or the Wonderbolts. And she, of course, wanted me in charge of it. I didn't like the idea of having a full-time military, and I don't think she did, either, considering Equestria had no real enemies that we knew of, but the concept that there might be some unseen force out there, waiting, lurking..
A rustling in the bushes. I hurriedly slapped the last part into my Sherman, and inserted the magazine, racking the bolt. I looked over to Gilda - she looked like she was having a nightmare - and AJ. She was fast asleep. I was thinking, right then, I should have brought Mac with us. He and I may not be friends, but we'd both die before we let harm come to Applejack.
I crept over towards the noise, gently nudging Gilda as I did. Her eagle eyes opened, saw me gently nod at the bushes, then slowly closed again, feigning sleep. I wasn't on Earth, though. If I was, I would have fired into the bushes instead, and THEN gone and seen what it was.
No, this was a more innocent place.
So, I gently slipped the bayonet over the muzzle of the Sherman (it was a standard knife bayonet that I intended be multi-functional, but it also turned the Sherman into a spear, the standard Guardspony's weapon) and flanked the bush.
I was very glad I didn't fire. Grey feathers.. and bubbles on her butt..
[End of Part 2]
Part 3: The Derpy
DATE: 12 Sextus, 1001 C.S.
K: "Derpy!?" I was shocked.
Derpy: *Ha-ha!* "THERE you guys are!" She tumbled out of the bush, and beamed me a big grin.
AJ: *H-wha?* "DERPY!" She startled awake, rolling over and looking at her.
Derpy: "Hya-there, Applejack!" She slid over and gave her a hug.
K: "Derpy.. why are you here? Isn't it a little late.. and rather out of your way.. to be delivering mail?" I stood up, and looked around a little.
Derpy: "Oh, that's not why I'm here! I'm here to help!" She grinned widely, and rocked back and forth a moment, before standing up.
When she came out fully towards the campfire, I found she was wearing Applejack's spare military-style pack, and carrying one of my Sniper Shermans. One of the four "production" models in existence, no less. How she'd gotten her hands on one, was beyond me.
Gilda: "Here to HELP?" She looked incredulous - she did not think Derpy a worthy pony.
Derpy: "Yeah! I mean.. well.." She dug her right hoof into the dirt. I'd only interacted with her a few times - she was a fantastic mailpony, I'll say that - but I didn't know that much about her, other than Rarity's offhand comment about her clumsiness. "..I felt bad when I saw Gilda walking away with you guys, all hurt. And I remembered what happened at the party.. and.." She looked down, then up, and walked over to Gilda and put a hoof on her shoulder. "..not everyone in Ponyville really gives me the muffiny cuddles all the time, either."
K: "Sympathy. Empathy. You care." *Ha!* I smiled.
Derpy: "Yah.. I hope you guys don't mind." She beamed a grin.
K: "The more the merrier. What did you all grab?" I gestured to her field pack.
Derpy: "Well, I figured you three would already be carrying enough ammunition for yourselves, so, I brought this instead of a standard Shermin (her pronunciation) so I wouldn't be spraying shots.. and I brought more food, some antiseptic for Gilda, just in case, and I stopped by Redheart's house and got you these!"
Derpy dug in her pack and came out with a bottle of pills. Pain killers. I knew they existed - not all healing around here was magical - but I hadn't bothered using any. Even after I broke my arm. She offered them to Gilda, and I swore Gilda wanted to cry.
Gilda: "Thank you, Derpy.." She sniffled a bit, seeing someone actually give a damn about her as a person.
She downed a couple pills and took a swig from her water bladder.
K: "Anyone that says you're a dummy, is a dummy themselves. Very apt thinking, Derpy." I said, firmly.
I patted her shoulder. She squee'd a little. Like Fluttershy, but much more assertive.
AJ: "Uh.. not ta be a downer here, but.. can you shoot that thing, Derpy?" She.. she didn't give her much credit, either.
Derpy: "I've been practicing!" She said with a 'ha' in her voice.
K: "When?" I cocked a brow.
Derpy: "At night. I taught myself how to reload bullets, so I wouldn't use up much of the new-production stuff." She said, with a nod.
K: "I'm shocked." I blinked.
Derpy: "Why? 'Cuz I'm more than just a pretty face?"
K: *Pregnant pause* "Yeah, let's go with that." I smiled.
Derpy took watch, and I caught some shut-eye. The rest of the night was uneventful. The next day, though, we were out and moving. Derpy was quizzing me on the finer points of hand loading ammunition for the Shermans - she wanted to help make precision ammunition in her spare time, and test it. She also explained that, as long as she kept 'that one eye' shut, she was basically 20/20 vision. And, according to her, a good shot.
I explained what I knew - that balancing the most accurate possible amounts of powder with precisely same-weight bullets was the key behind it (consistent bullet performance, shot-to-shot), but we didn't have super-accurate digital scales, so, hand scales had to be used (and this compromised precision).
We made it to the Applegate Bridge - an old foot bridge used long ago, before the railroad serviced Manehattan. It was still maintained, but rarely used, except by tourists. That's when it happened. We were struck. Gilda was the one who sensed it first.
Gilda: "ABOVE US!" She screeched, pointing to the sky.
AJ: "MORE GRIFFONS!?" She twisted her head around, to look.
Derpy slammed into me, shoving me behind a rock, as other rocks started raining down on us. One hit where I had been standing. We were being attacked from above!
K: "EVERYONE SCATTER!! AJ - GET TO THE TREE LINE!" I pointed.
Both Snipers (myself and Derpy) were pinned down in the same place. Gilda dove under a fallen log, just in time, but she was unarmed and couldn't fly. AJ was our only hope.
K: "Derpy, get up there and harass them! Take the heat off us!" I pulled my backpack off, and pointed to the sky.
She did as I directed, and zoomed out of the cave. I ran over to Gilda, to check on her. She'd been hit by a rock, her back leg was mussed up. It didn't look too bad, but it probably hurt like hell - not that she'd admit it.
This was the first time Shermans were being deployed for Equestria, and I hoped that they'd perform just as well in combat as they did in testing. I also hoped that we wouldn't actually have to kill anyone with them.
K: "I'm gonna get you up, and we're going to make a break for the tree line, got it?" I pointed.
Gilda: "Got it." She gave me an assertive nod.
I knew she hated feeling helpless, but this was the only way. Up I scrambled, hefting her under her arm, and shoulder-assisting her towards the tree line. I didn't look back to see what Derpy was doing, I just hoped she'd be okay. Getting Gilda to the tree line, I dumped her by Applejack's position.
AJ: "Do.. do we shoot 'em?" She asked, concerned. The same fears as me - do we use our weapons, and draw blood?
K: "Just wait. Let's see how this plays out. If we have to shoot, we will." I kissed her forehead and dashed out of cover.
Derpy was zipping around the Griffons - four of them - continually keeping them off balance and preventing them from going down and grabbing more rocks. But the Griffons were closing the circle on her - they knew how to fight in the air - and they were getting her closer and closer to them with each pass.
K: "DERPY! FALL BACK!" I called out to her.
Too late. One of them caught her with its big right claw, and sent her plummeting towards the surface. She landed right next to me, rolling to a stop. Her eyes swirled around a few times - no blood that I could see - before she shook off the stars and hopped up. The Griffons floated down to present themselves to us.
K: "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHY ARE YOU ATTACKING US!?" I demanded.
Goreham: "I am Goreham! We want THAT one!" He pointed to Gilda.
I then realized that Gilda was.. rather small for a Griffon. Goreham and his buddies were easily twice her size.
K: "Why?" I asked, confused.
Goreham: "What's it to you!? This is none of your business!" He bellowed at me.
I casually directed my Sherman up at him. The stock wasn't tucked into my shoulder, and I wasn't aiming - but at this distance (about eight feet), I would have a decent chance of hitting him, if I had to fire.
Derpy took position immediately behind and to my right, near the fallen log, which she could take cover behind, if needed. AJ would be up in the treeline, covering us if we needed to fall back.
K: "She's my friend, that makes it my business." I narrowed my eyes a bit.
Goreham: *HMPF!* "We need her for mating purposes!" He pointed at Gilda.
She looked sick in the face, shocked, and afraid all at once.
K: "What!? She's an exile!" I waved with my offhand, letting it come to rest under the handguard of the Sherman.
Goreham: "So are we! And we seek to make our own tribe of Griffons. For that, we need other exiles - females!" He gestured with both open arms, like I was a dummy that needed basic facts explained to him.
I raised the Sherman all the way up, eye sighting down the scope. I targeted his right wing - I would not kill if I didn't have to, and at this range, I could clip a wing with enough precision where that would be all I required to stop the threat. As long as he stayed still.
K: "Not happening, there, chief. Back off, and go away." Target? Locked.
Goreham: "And what are you going to do!? Throw that stick at me!? WOMAN! COME HERE! YOU ARE TO BE OUR MATE!" He ignored me entirely.
He started to advance.. and I had no choice. The sound of the crack was audible enough - the 9mm projectile I used for the Sherman Rifle was basically a double-length 9x18mm Makarov round (9x35mm Mark I) with a Spitzer bullet. It struck where I wanted it to. His wing went slack, and he hit the ground five feet below him.
Goreham: *OWW!* "WHAT BLACK MAGIC IS THAT!?" He grasped his wound.
K: "It's not magic, it's science, and science will fuck you. Now take your friend, and leave, or our next shots are going to be a lot more fatal." I looked at the others.
Goreham: "YOU WILL REGRET THIS!" He growled at me.
His friends - who had cowered from the loud noise - grabbed Goreham by the arms, and flew off.
AJ: "RUDE fellers, ain't they?" She came out from cover, relaxing the Sherman over her right shoulder.
Gilda: "Thank you, Applejack, Derpy.. K. You saved me.." She sighed.
K: "From a fate worse than death - I can only imagine how bad post-egg hips are on a Griffon." I smirked.
Gilda snickered a bit.
AJ: "Why'd they want you, and not some other Griffon?" She shook her head.
Gilda: "I guess because I have a reputation. I'm fast, I'm tough, they wanted that in their kids. This sort of thing has happened before - splinter groups among the Griffons. They usually wipe each other out, which is why exile is nearly a death sentence.." She rubbed one arm with her opposite claw-hand.
K: "Oh, Derpy?" I looked over to her.
Derpy: "Yeah?" She popped her head up.
K: "Thanks for saving me, back there. You okay?" I tilted my head.
Derpy: "I'm fine - and you're welcome!" Just a grin was given in return.
K: "No, I mean it. You really had my back out there, and I appreciate it. You're a great friend, Derpy." I pet her mane a bit, and skritched her eats.
Derpy: "Th-thanks.." Derpy blushed a little.
I didn't know it then, but I'd just made bigger enemies than even I thought I had. I also had awoken something in Derpy - who would be quite important herself, later.
Progress to Manehattan was slowed by Gilda's new leg injury, but we made better time than I had thought we would have. Four days, on the nose. I took her straight to Manehattan General Hospital, and listed her injuries to the nurses that admitted her. They thanked me, and got her into a room for treatment.
I completed my terms with the mineral executives that were sourcing the metal I needed, and we caught a train back - as I suspected, the bridge was fully repaired by that time. I then wrote a report to Princess Luna - Celestia had placed her in charge of my developments, and while she was still Commander in Chief, Luna was being positioned as, in a sense, Secretary of Defense.
"Dear Princess Luna,
Today, I learned that the Shermans are indeed as deadly as I had hoped. They were given their first engagement with a hostile. Thankfully, only one shot was required. The casing is enclosed for historic purposes. We escorted Gilda on foot to Manehattan, after she had been attacked, carrying correspondence to my contacts in the city, sourcing materials for the Defense Project. We escorted her on foot to uphold a promise I made to her a month ago, that I not tell Rainbow Dash why Gilda had originally come to Ponyville. We engaged a gang of exiled Griffons, and in the action that followed, Gilda sustained further injury, but the Sherman performed as desired. The prototype unit I was using scored a hit on the Griffon's wing, disabling it, and ending the engagement, forcing the enemy into retreat.
As I expected, the Shermans scared the enemy with their noise, more than their wounding potential. They thought it was magic. This may work well for us in the near term, if we must fire on a hostile force. We may be able to scare them by firing over their heads, and force surrender. This won't work more than a couple of times, but we may be able to use it to our advantage.
The material sourcing comes along as I predicted it would - there hasn't been a need for metals on this high of a scale in the history of Equestria, thus, extracting the materials will take some time. Again, as I predicted. However, employment is going sky high for miners. We will end up with an employment surplus within a couple of months at this rate. I will continue to update you on the progress of my prototype ammunition plant as events develop.
Yours,
K."
{End of Chapter 2}
