[ONE] Fracas
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>It started out as a normal day for you.
>Just chillin with Rainbow on a lazy Saturday in the park.
>You'd been in Ponyville for a while now; maybe a year or two?  You'd lost count.
>Time flies when you're having fun or something like that.
>You were sitting back on a bench, previewing Rainbow's latest routine she'd been working on to impress the wonderbolts.
>Would've been just another Saturday for you, had it not been for the low rumble that'd been creeping up on you.
"Hey Rainbow, you hear that?"
>She stopped mid loop, to look at you.
>"Hear what?"
"Come down here and listen, feather head."
>She flew down and landed next to you on the bench.
>"Listen to wha--"
>You hushed her and remained quiet.
>Listening closely, you could just faintly hear a very low and powerful rumble.
>Rainbow was silent and her ears were twitching ever so minutely as she listened closely.
"That.  You hear it?"
>She remained silent for a moment longer, before responding with a nod.
>"Wonder what it is?"
"I don't know, but it sound big."
>"I'm gonna take a look, see if I can't find it."
>She flew up and took a look around.
>After a minute of her scanning the nearby area, she flew back down to you.
"Well?  Anything?"
>"Nope, nothing.  Is the noise still--"
>As if on cue, the rumbling started to crescendo slowly in volume.
"Rainbow, what's that?"
>You pointed towards a cloud of dust that seemed to be coming from the Everfree forest.
>"What the?"
>She flew up to get a bird’s eye view.
>As she was staring and trying to get a better look, a new sound joined in with the low rumbling.
 
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>This sound was one you recognized.
>It was a plane.
>No, a lot of planes.  Big ones.
>You searched the skies to find where the planes were.
>There shouldn't be any planes in Equestria; they had pegasi for those kinds of things.
>Then, you found what you were looking for.
"Rainbow!  Look out!"
>She heard you just in time to dive-bomb and narrowly avoid the low-flying planes.
>You ran and caught her before she hit the ground.
>"What the hay was that thing?!"
"We should get off the streets, now."
>"But--"
"Just trust me Rainbow, we need to get inside, fast!"
>You held the pegasus close and ran towards the nearest familiar looking building to take cover.
>The rumbling was increasing in volume and intensity quickly now, so much so that the ground was shaking.
>"Gah!  Anonymous, why are we in Rarity's boutique?"
"Just hush and wait."
>You held her close as the rumbling increased.
>The only comfort you had right now was the lack of bombs screeching towards the ground.
>As the rumbling grew deafening, Rainbow finally broke free of your grip and went to look outside.
"Rainbow!"
>You ran after her, and the rumbling stopped.
>What you saw, shouldn't have been possible.  Shouldn't be happening.
>There was a battalion of tanks idling in the streets of Ponyville.
>Not just any tanks, Sherman tanks.
>Rainbow was flying just in front of the lead, looking at it curiously.
>A hatch popped open and a human popped his head up.
>"Go on now Pegasus.  We've got no beef with you."
>"Just who are you?"
>"Call me Sherm."
 
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>He looked around while talking to Rainbow.
>"I don't suppose you got a leader or someone I could-- hey!  Holy hell!"
>He was pointing excitedly at you.
>"I'll be damned, another human!"
"Aren't there humans driving the tanks?"
>"Well yeah, they're my battalion.  But we've never seen another human outside our battalion."
"What are you doing here?  Why are you in tanks?"
>"Oh.  Right.  Sorry, you wouldn't believe how hard it is to park these things.  I'm on my way to Tartarus, got a bone to pick with a certain Minotaur there."
"A pretty big bone to pick I see."
>"Yeah.  If you'd be so kind as to point me in the general direction?  My C130's have a limited amount of fuel, and there aren't too many runways around here."
>Rainbow pointed off towards a mountain range you couldn't see very well.
>"Tartarus is that way.  Why are--"
>"No time to stay and chat missy, I'm on a tight schedule.  Thanks for the information!"
>With that, he got on the radio to his planes and started giving them commands.
>Soon after, he was back in his tank and the lid was sealed.
>The battalion moving again, Rainbow flew over to you.
>"What they hay is all this about!?"
"I have no idea, Rainbow.  I didn't even know there were other humans in Equestria."
>Hearing a crash, you looked over to see that the lead tank had run into a building.
>You heard a muffled "Dammit!  Sorry," as the tank worked its way out of the building and continued on.
>"Hey, isn't that Filthy Rich's office?"
"Huh.  Whaddya know.  I guess it is."
 
###Last Edit 10/30/2012 12:17