This is a side green to Manos: Hands of Fate by Human Superiority. The first part was found here: http://pastebin.com/QBMRbrPv Since Pastebin nuked it I'll also link the earliest thread I could find in five minutes looking in the archive: https://desuarchive.org/mlp/thread/24621019/ For the Manos threads. HEIL MANOS! >You are Sergeant Ivory Keys of the Vanhoover Port Authority Police Department. >You looked out over the city from a clock tower as you strained your horn to maintain the shield over the port. >Under the moonlight you could still see the broken windows, the craters, and rubble. >You could see the orange glow of fires still burning. >Vanhoover was in ruins. >It happened much faster than you could have ever fathomed. >It started with thunder. >First from the distance then in the very city you swore to protect as larges portions of buildings and even streets just exploded. >Then they came. >Forces of Manos... >Forces of this... Reich moved into the city like great waves crashing into a cliff side made of sandstone. >They tore great swathes in what meager defense the Guard had set up. >Resistance was laughable at best. >There were just too many of them. >The Chief had ordered all officers to headquarters to coordinate with the Guard to protect the city but by then it was too late. >They'd penetrated too far into the city to really form a defensive line which only pushed you back further. >So many were lost to the chaos while the ponies in charge scramble to gain a cohesive hold on anything. >And by the time the port was secured the Reich owned everywhere else in Vanhoover. >From a tactical standpoint it was genius. >Using a train to sneak an army and pushing as hard and fast as possible to gain as much ground as you could? >Brilliant. >To witness it and be on the receiving end of it? >Terrifying. >You've not known terror like this at any point in your life. >And now that the assault is over and you are safely behind the shield, all you feel is an overwhelming sense of dread. >You can see there forces outside of the shield from your vantage point. >Simply waiting. >Much further away, you could see flashes of a distant battle. >Those were ponies cut off from your group during the attack. >They were desperately trying to fight their way to your position. >But it was no use and you knew this truth in your heart. >With the flashes you witnessed came that same sound of thunder. >Fighting against might of that kind was hopeless. >"Sarge?" a feminine voice asked behind you. >You turned to face Sea Shower bathed in the pale white light of your horn. >The police recruit's uniform was torn in a few places and was stained with soot and dust. >You didn't even hear the little mare come up and that made you mentally slap yourself. >If she were the enemy, you'd be dead. "Yes?' you grunted in response. >"I'm here to relieve you," she said with fatigue evident in her voice. >You looked her over and frowned. "Are you sure you can handle it?" >There was a brief silence before she answered. >"Not really, but I can't let the others do it by themselves and I can't let you sit here and suffer magical burnout because I didn't try. You've been up here for twice as long as you should have anyways and I'd hate to see you hurt, sarge." >You heaved another troubled sigh. >This mare didn't belong here. >You stood up and stretched out. >Sea was right however. >If you kept this up you'd end up with burnout and be completely useless. "Alright then," you say slowly. "If you feel like you can't hold it yell for somepony." >"I know the drill. G'night, Sarge." "Good night, Sea Shower." >With that you released your magic as she activated hers and started on your way. >You descended the stairs, the clock tower bathed in sea blue ow instead your pale white. >Even with six other unicorns maintaining the shield you weren't too sure if she'd be able to manage. >You had trouble with it yourself despite you magical prowess. >Reaching the bottom of the stairs, you step out with broken glass crinkling beneath your hooves. >There various ponies are inside this building around a fire keeping warm from the cool sea air. >You step out through not a door but a hole in the wall to the port area under the dome of the shield. >It's much more packed than it was when it was first erected since the Reich turned over civilians by the hundreds. >You begin walking to the warehouse that was being used as sleeping quarters by making your way past the makeshift barricades of shelves, desks, debris and other assorted junk. >You kept at it but stopped and backed up. >You would have missed it if you hadn't have been looking around but you needed to get closer to be sure. >The building was much closer to the edge of the shield than you would have liked but it didn't matter because in an abandoned building through a hole blasted in the brick you spotted an upright piano just sitting there. >You climb in and take a seat in front of the lovely instrument and tap a few keys with you weakened magic. >It still works. >You breath out contentedly as you begin to play with practiced ease. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9E6b3swbnWg >As you go on, a Guard in gold plated armor pokes his head in. >Your eyes meet for a moment before he enters and sets his helmet on a table and just listens, losing himself to the distraction. >This is followed by a few more ponies. >Guards regular ponies alike come to listen to you. >And for once since the beginning of this mess, you crack a smile. >You are a Black hand outside of the shield set up by the royalists at the port standing on a barricade. >You look through binoculars at crowd gathering near the edge but the music you hear says all you need to know. >You wave a hoof telling everypony to stand down. >It's not a threat. >Just music. >Wonderful, innocent music. >You look to your left and spot a piano propped against a tree next to the shield. >That was oddly convenient. >You hopped down from the barricade and made your way to the instrument. >You tapped the keys with your magic. >A bit stickier than you would have liked but it works. >You wonder what to play for a bit but one look at the moon tells you all you need to know. >You begin to play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0 >The music on the other side of the shield stops and a police officer walks out of the crowd, looking to you with surprise. >Your eyes meet and you know he was the one playing. >You don't stop but you give him an nod to which he returns after a moment. >He goes back through the crowd and you hear his piano again but this time he joins you in playing the Sonata. >Its not exactly made for a duet but you appreciate the gesture. >And so you play the night away on those dusty, ivory keys with the sound of thunder in the distance.