Fluttershy's Solace


                                            >"Nonny, dear, please come here! The news are on the air!"

                                            >Gee willikers, mom!

                                            >She has been panicking every time when "international segment" of your local news channel started.

                                            >Probably she wanted to hear about Dad's whereabouts - somehow. It's not like he is an important political figure of some sort, after all.

                                            >That shithole of a country his company sent him to was so underdeveloped that they didn't even have normal telephone network.

                                            >Postal service was better, though, but ever-changing addresses and half of text, including names and cities, being blacked out with words "UNDERWENT CENSORSHIP - APPROVED" in bold letters always present on the envelope didn't help much...or at all.

                                            "Coming, mom!"

                                            >While descending the stairs, you find your precious mother in her usual after-work pose - on the couch and with a small bowl of salad.

                                            >Not that this is bad for her health or something, though - she's really working the hell out of herself at this animal care center.

                                            >Even being a fully employed specialist in a specific area of expertise, she still rushes to treat new "patients" like she is a regular volunteer.

                                            >"Come here, dear. We've treated so much patients that I can't even get up to hug you..."

                                            >With generic "okay" you sit down on the coach, as channel's announcer - you've actually met him a couple of times in the store, that's the benefit of living in a rather small town - talks about the current situation in the world.

                                            >Suddenly, a hand from the right side of his studio passes a sheet of paper to him. After a minute of reading, he starts again, but with another tone of voice.

                                            >"I guess we have a newsflash here. State Department has officially confirmed that six U.S. and two Canadian citizens were killed during the attack, ahem..."

                                            >"...during the attack on the oil refining facility in Ashkantai, in the Federative Republic of West Bulungi, carried out most probably by the radical islamists known to be operating in the area."

                                            >"Good Lord."

                                            >"Eep!"

                                            >Mom almost instantly lets out a loud scream, almost forcing you to hug her.

                                            >Announcer stops for a minute, then inhales and contiunes.

                                            >"We don't have much, um, information...if you want to know more, tune to one of the big channels, they have more on this. Now we'll continue about the current situation in Eastern Europe, where U..."

                                            >Several taps on the remote and you're tuned to Fox News.

                                            >"...radical islamists have planned and executed an attack on the oil refinery, eliminating the PMC troopers guarding it. Here's a footage from camera, retrieved after the refinery was reconquered."

                                            >Several seconds pass, as TV feed changes, showing a blurred image of a lone man with a rifle, retreating while releasing one burst after another.

                                            >A few other people - those terrorists, perhaps - with their heads covered advance on him, unsuccessfully though.

                                            >After man runs out of ammo, he ponders around for a bit...and takes something out of his pocket. Something round, resembling an apple.

                                            >And then he rushes through the fire towards his opponents, raising the...thingie in his fist pointed to the sun.

                                            >A bright flash is seen, then the camera's feed goes blank.

                                            >Mom's shivering in your embrace now, but you can't find any words right now.

                                            >"This video is said to be depicting the last minutes of, um, "Mister Incognito Rogers", US citizen and the last defender of the facility.

                                            >Incognito Rogers?

                                            >Fuck.