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XCOM: Ranger

by Wanderer D

Chapter 230: Chapter 228: Catch

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Ranger

Chapter 228: Catch

By Wanderer D

"I see."

Scootaloo looked over to Gilda, who was driving the jeep and guiding the whole caravan over to their destination. It had given them a chance to talk and she had told her everything that had happened in the last few months. "I see? Is that all you have to say?"

Gilda shrugged. "It's a lot to take in… Dashie's alive? She's with XCOM?" She chuckled. "Figured she'd be too tough to go down from a random attack by a bunch of loser aliens."

"You're okay with that? With her hiding away for so long?"

Gilda shrugged. "I did. You don't seem to have a problem with it."

Scootaloo grimaced, looking away from Gilda and at the icy tundra around them. "At least I knew you were alive when you left. You didn't just.. disappear."

"From what I heard from others, XCOM suffered a catastrophic defeat twenty years ago," Gilda said. "And that their members were either all captured or hunted down like animals. You can't blame her for not showing up at your doorstep. It probably saved your life that she didn't."

"I just missed her. It really fucked me up."

"Oh, I know," Gilda grunted. "I remember very well. Like, after the school was destroyed and they tried to get us to finish the year in that other school? I remember when I had to sit with Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna for over two hours to convince them that you jumped me and that I was, in fact, not taking advantage of a fourteen year old girl."

Despite the cold, Scootaloo felt her face burn.

"The only reason I didn't deck you when your hands went under my shirt was that I was too surprised by your tongue in my mouth and the squeeze you gave me."

Scootaloo shrunk into herself and Gilda let out a loud, barking laugh. "I'm telling you Scoots, I was so shocked that you could have motor-boated me and I wouldn't have reacted."

"I'm sorry."

She felt Gilda's hand patting her on the shoulder. "Nah, it's okay now. Looking back on it, it must've been hilarious to an outside viewer." Her smile became more gentle. "Besides, once I thought it over, I knew you were just… dealing with losing Dash."

"I really thought she was dead. She didn't go back home after the school was destroyed. She just left. I was really confused, and scared, and disappointed… it was hard admitting I had those feelings to begin with… and then she was gone. You were her best friend, and I really liked you too… I'm sorry."

"Well, I forgave you, didn't I? We even got to hang out after that without any more unexpected surprises." Gilda grinned. "I did stay on guard from then on, though."

Scootaloo covered her face. "I still can't believe I did that."

"Hey, I am pretty hot, I don't blame you. If you had been my age, maybe we could've done something about it it, but I wasn't enough of a douchebag to take advantage of you."

"Yeah, well, I tried."

"I'm telling you, looking back on it, it's funny." Gilda chuckled. "In fact, I'm going to definitely tell that story to Rainbow Dash when I see her again." She elbowed Scootaloo. "It'll be nice to have the gang together again: Rainbow Dash and Gilda Grimfeather, Rebels at Large, with their plucky little sidekick: Scootaloo."

"Right." Scootaloo sighed. "So how did you get all the way to Russia? The last time I saw you, I was headed to college."

"Well, you remember I told you I was going to go to one of the settlements because I didn't like ADVENT?" Gilda said, eyes narrowing. "It was attacked shortly after, during one of ADVENT's so-called "humanitarian" missions. You know me, I already knew how to fight, so I survived. I killed one of those ADVENT guys with the sticks, and then made it into the old Canterlot. That weird green gas was still there, so the aliens were keeping out.

"It was the perfect place for people to gather. Some wanted to stay, you know? Reclaim the abandoned buildings, make a resistance there. Me? Some oddballs that claimed to be ex-military said it wasn't a great idea, and I agreed. So I went with them. Turns out… they really were ex-military. So I got free training, and weapons and field experience. We stuck to guerrilla tactics for the most part, kill and run, take and run.

"We moved around a lot, and many of them had made friends with soldiers of other countries. So whenever we overstayed our welcome in an area, someone would know someone "just a few days that way", and we'd get there. Eventually we got too big and we started splitting into smaller cells, and I got this little team here."

Scootaloo shook her head. "Wow. You make it sound so interesting and yet managed to underwhelm my expectations with almost no details."

"Better get used to disappointment, Scoots, it builds character."

"I'm thirty four, you know?"

"Are you now?"

"Yeah. So, I don't need your advice on growing up."

"Hey, you're the one that latched onto me like a lost child when you saw me."

"I was happy to see you, before you started lecturing me with life advice."

"You know what I really find disappointing?"

"No. But I'm sure you'll say it anyway."

"That's right. Anyway, you're thirty four, and this time—now that you're legal and it could be fun—you just stopped at the hug."

"Better get used to being disappointed. It builds character."

"Huh."

The pair gazed at the landscape in silence as they drove. Then Scootaloo started laughing.

"Don't you find it odd how you guys keep meeting people you knew?" Ember asked Apple Bloom and Sweetie as they were being driven in the large armored vehicle behind Gilda's jeep.

"Ah guess it is kind of odd," Apple Bloom said, "but of all people we could meet out here fighting them aliens in Russia, Gilda is oddly appropriate. Ah'm a lot less surprised to see her here than had we seen… say, Silver Spoon."

Sweetie laughed. "Yeah, that would be strange.

"Wait." Breaker spoke up. "Silver Spoon?"

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah, yeah, odd Canterlot name, I know…"

"No, no… she's my little sister."

There was a moment of silence.

"You're lying." Sweetie said.

Breaker smiled.

"Tell me you're lying," Sweetie pleaded.

"She's lying," Ember said after a moment. "She doesn't have any sisters."

"Aww, Ember, I had her going."

"Silver Spoon died in the Canterlot attack," Apple Bloom spoke up. "She hated our guts for the longest time, but when Ah got sick, she'd drop off my homework and ask Granny Smith how I was doin'."

Sweetie looked down, allowing her hair to cover her face. Her body started shaking, and Apple Bloom wrapped a metallic arm around her shoulders, patting her gently.

"We were devastated by her loss. She had turned out to be a nice girl, just had some bad influence in her family, is all," Apple Bloom added.

"Oh shit," Breaker said, eyes wide. "I'm so sorry—"

"It's alright, y'all couldn't have known."

Ember narrowed her eyes.

Sweetie shook.

"There, there," Apple Bloom said gently, patting her head.

"Shit," Breaker muttered. "I'm sorry, Sweetie Belle, I didn't know an—"

"Hold on." Security had a pensive look on his face. "Isn't the Silver Spoon one of the most famous restaurant chains in ADVENT cities? I swear I've seen it around when we have missions."

Breaker blinked. "Wait. That's right…"

"Pfft!" Sweetie leaned back, unable to hold on to the laughter. "Oh, man, she had you going for it!"

"Sure as sugar did!" Apple Bloom said, her smug tone of voice contrasting with her placid, smiling face.

Laughter erupted from the rest of Dragon, even Ember's frown disappeared and she chuckled along.

After a while, Sweetie spoke up again. "We really did lose a lot of people that day… Flash, Tiara… Pip. So when we meet people from our town, friends we thought lost… we don't really stop to think how it's some sort of cosmic coincidence."

Apple Bloom nodded at Sweetie's words. "Scootaloo has a lot of emotional baggage to get through, but Ah know her well enough that Ah know she feels the same way as we do whenever we see any of our old classmates or friends."

"And what's that?" Breaker asked.

"We're just happy they're still alive."

o.0.o End Chapter 228 o.0.o

Next Chapter: Chapter 229: Creep Estimated time remaining: 2 Hours, 23 Minutes
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