"Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out... and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel.... And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man" - with his mouth."

"Lets move! Rise and shine ladies, get your asses moving!" Yelled Sergeant Avery, rousing the men from their sleep.

Today was the day. By marching out to Detrot, the humans and ponies that represented the heart and body of Equestria would stride forth and end the madness that had overtaken their land and interrupted their care-free lives. Knowing this, the marines under the command of Captain Arthur Ross hustled at a particularly quick rate towards the city gates.

Shining Armor shared a quick embrace with his wife while Twilight was busy giving her farewells to her parents.

"I love you Cadence, don't you ever forget that. I'll be back soon okay?" Shining Armor spoke.

Cadence had a hard time letting go, tears forming in her eyes as she loosened the grip on her husband.

"Promise? I don't want to lose you again." She said, no longer retaining the ability to hold back her tears.

"I promise. Stay safe." Shining Armor said, coupling it with a small peck on her forehead.

Galloping away, the pony captain left Ross to gather the elements and move them to their respective units.

Giving her final goodbyes to her parents and Cadence, Twilight ushered herself and her friends past the human, leaving only him and Cadence in the bustling street. As Ross turned to leave, he was stopped by a pink hoof pressuring his shoulder.

"Wait. I need you to promise something to me as well. Bring back everyone safe, okay? You too." Spoke Cadence with a wavering voice.

On that note, Ross shrugged off the hoof and quickened his pace to the rendezvous point near the outskirts of the city. There, he would meet his men and whatever guard ponies were left and begin the march on Detrot.

"Hold it sir! Not that way, we got something better in mind." Said Avery, rounding a corner and waving his friend over.

"The locals got a little tip from the militia west of here that the railways are still up. Fortunately for us, we can ride out more than half the trip to a train station a mile out from the Detrot line." Said Avery.

Avery pointed down the street to a large crowd gathering near the train, steady lines of troops filing into cars added onto the locomotive.

"The civies are adding more cars onto the tracks for the moment. We're pretty much just loading men on platoon-wise." He said.

The two oversaw the packing of the freight cars and finally, making sure everyone was aboard, walked themselves onto the cumbersome train. The first half of the train consisted of first class dining cars that permitted entrance to officers only. The middle of the train were the few passenger cars followed by the meager freight cars. For the soldiers, it was first-come-first-serve. Those stuck in the freight cars received blankets and pillows to keep them comfortable while troops in the passenger cars made themselves at home on the sturdy seats. Ross searched for Shining Armor near the front of the train and lo and behold, he found him conversing with the elements of harmony.

"Hey, we've gotten all the guys on the train. We're ready to move when you are." Informed Ross.

"Good. I'll go tell the conductor." Shining Armor said as he trotted out of the dining car.

Waiting for his return, Ross leaned up against the booth the elements were sitting in and inconspicuously surveyed the room. The walls were ornately decorated, the booths attached to them carved out of dazzling mahogany. At the corner of the car sat a fully stocked bar with-

The elements turned their heads towards the human, all donning a disapproving look except for Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Excuse me captain, but your type of dialogue will not be tolerated in this... captain?" Said Rarity, watching the man walk over to the bar in boyish wonder.

The bartender turned and for a moment, looked surprised to see the human standing in front of him but shrugged it off immediately. After all, a customer was a customer.

"Oh hell, haven't had a drink in forever! I'll take a gin and tonic please." Said Ross.

"Look buddy I don't know what weird human beverages you've got on you world, but I'll tell you what. You cough up three bits, and I can hook you up with a cherry drizzle delight." Said the bartender.

"What the... sure, I'll take it. As long as I get a good buzz going." Said Ross.

After a moment of fumbling around with a glass with his hooves, the barkeep slid a small shot of thick red liquid over to the human. Raising it to his mouth, Ross prepared to take a sip.

"Strong my ass. If I wanted a glass of Kool-Aid I'd have gone to my little brothers birthday party." Said Ross as the train lurched beneath his feet.

"We're ready to go. The conductor's just doing some last minute preps... are you okay?" Asked Shining Armor as he stepped through the front of the dining car.

"Heh, too heavy for ya? I've always been a cider drinker mahself." Said Applejack from the other end of the car.

"Hell, I drank this shit from my sippy cup when I was two." Ross spoke matter-of-factly.

The train began taking off at a rather slow pace and then gradually picked up speed as it left the station. Outside, all of Canterlot was in attendance seeing off the soldiers as they left to defend the free ponies of Equestria. Leaning out the train, Ross could see the heads of ponies and soldiers poking their heads out windows as they cheerfully waved back and hollered words of encouragement.

To his left, Shining Armor stood next to Ross and searched the crowd for a particular mare. And sure enough, there she was waving tearfully next to her two aunts. The two lovers shared mournful glances then blew each other kisses. As Shining Armor trotted back to his seat when the station began getting farther and farther away, Ross eyed Cadence staring at him earnestly. Before she became a dark speck in the distance, Ross swore he saw Cadence mouth a single word to him.

Walking the length of the train, Ross figured he would spend the rest of the trip in the freight cars with the rest of the troops who had been unlucky enough to score a spot in the homely cargo transports. Stepping into the third car, Ross passed Silver Sparks, Rainbow Dash's Lieutenant, who gave him a prompt salute.

"At ease Lieutenant." Said Ross, taking a seat next to a snoring Sergeant Rossetti.

"If you haven't noticed kid, this isn't division command. Go ahead." Spoke Ross.

Silver Sparks sniffled and pulled out a picture of two fillies, a colt, and a yellow mare. They all wore goofy smiles and waved at the photographer. He gazed at their happy faces for some time before speaking.

"It's this war sir. I can't take it anymore, I just can't. When I took this job, I thought I would be marching around the wealthiest city in the land guarding the two most important beings that sustain this country. Can you believe how surprised I was when the changelings invaded Canterlot during the captain's wedding? We were caught so badly off guard that none of us had the chance to fight. A-and then this war? Can you imagine how much emotional pain us ponies have gone through? I've seen enough killing to last me a life time! When we took Baltimare, I came across a destroyed building. Naturally, I searched it for food and intelligence that the changelings may have left behind, but instead I saw something that I will never forget for the rest of my life."

"It was a family of four, all buried under the rubble of the collapsed roof. All dead. The youngest one, just a filly, looked exactly like my daughter Gemstone. I realized there, that this horrific scene could so easily be my family if we don't do something soon. I guess, what I'm trying to say sir is... I just want this to be over. I want to go home and nuzzle my wife. I want to be there when my daughters learn how to say their first words. I want to teach my son how to play catch. I-I just..."

Silver Sparks could no longer hold it in and silently cried in short sobs, quietly enough so that the only one who knew was Captain Ross. Ross shifted himself to where he was sitting next to the bereaved soldier and spoke gently.

Silver Sparks looked up from his hoofs and the soaked picture. Ross, noticing he had the ponies attention, continued.

"Y'know, I never married. I have a mom, a dad, two brothers and a sister. I am sincerely under the influence that they wouldn't care if I died here. My dad would just go back to being an accountant, my mom would go back to doing the laundry and mixing the colors, my brother Billy would just play his videogames, and my sister Janice would just keep applying make-up until no one recognized her anymore." Ross spoke with a sad smile.

"Dennis. My younger brother Dennis. Out of all the people in my family, nobody has loved this screw-up of a person more than him. Do you know why I get up everyday and go to war in a place completely unfamiliar to me? Why I look at all the dead cut down around me and keep going?" Asked Ross.

The confused pony shook his head, unsure of where the captain was going with this.

"Because I made a promise to my brother Dennis a while back. Before we got deployed, I wrote him a letter saying wherever I go, I'll do my best to come back to him. Because the night I wrote that, I got a little something from him. He sent me his favorite thing in the whole world next to Pokémon cards."

Ross fished around in his pocket for a moment and pulled out a small copper medallion on a colorful ribbon with a human swinging a bat.

"This is his baseball medal he got when he hit the game-winning home run during his first little league tournament. To make sure I came back, he sent this to me making me promise to bring it back to him. We need to be strong for those we love so that one day, we ourselves can return to them." Said Ross, patting the soldier on the back and walking away.

In the passenger car behind the first dining car, Corporal Klein and Private Sunny Breeze sat together in a seat and conversed about better times before the war.

"... and after the chickens got under the fence, my uncle had to scour the forest with a bag of chicken seed looking for every last one of them." Laughed Sunny Breeze.

The two quieted down, letting a small chuckle escape their lips every now and then. Klein, noticing the head gear sticking out of the pony's saddle pack, pried as to why it was there.

"You're still carrying around those goggles? Why didn't you just leave them back in Canterlot where they can't get scuffed or broken?" He asked.

"Dude! These are special to me. They're kinda like my good luck charm. You can't just leave your good luck charm lying around for someone else to steal!" He said.

"Alright, alright! I didn't mean anything by it. I just don't want to see you upset if they get ruined." Said Klein.

"That, I'll make sure doesn't happen. I would die before I let these things get so much as a scratch on them!" He said.

The locomotive lurched to a stop and the sliding doors to the freight cars opened up, permitting hundreds of troops to pour out of them. Simultaneously, the dining cars and passenger cars opened their doors, allowing the officers and some regulars to leave as well.

The soldiers hustled over to a long fence lining almost the entire countryside. The elements regrouped together, Applejack and Rainbow Dash's units now being commandeered by newly promoted guard ponies.

"Alright, listen up everyone!" Yelled Ross, getting the attention of the entire company.

"That lump of rubble in the distance is whatever remains of the city of Detrot. In a moment, I want you all to organize yourselves into your squads and move out on my command. Captain, I want you and the elements by my side the entire time. Is everyone clear?" Asked Ross.

After a plethora of short nods, Ross hopped off the fence and regrouped with Shining Armor and the elements of harmony.

He received mixed looks from each pony in front of him. With Applejack, Rainbow, and Shining Armor all being familiar with combat, they readily gave him a confident smirk. Rarity and Twilight gave unsure nods while Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stared off into the distance, unaware of what they were about to go through.

"Rainbow, Applejack? You stay next to your friends there alright? Keep them safe." Ordered Ross.

The two ponies acknowledged Ross and then went in for a group hug with their friends. Shining Armor trotted up next to his human equal and spoke distantly.

"Yep. That place looks heavily defended. Can't see shit and I can already tell it's brimming with the little fuckers." Ross spoke.

Ross turned and cleared his throat, getting the attention of the six mares in front of him.

"Listen up you guys. When we start moving in a bit, stick close. This isn't a game. Those changelings over there will try to kill you in any way they possibly can." He warned.

"We'll try to keep you safe but we wont be able to watch you the entire time. Keep your heads down and-"

Ross and the troops whirled around, facing the outskirts of the city. To the left, human figures charged the barricades while on the right, ponies clad in armor rushed the nigh impregnable defenses.

Dwayne Hodges, the company radio operator and only link to command headquarters, got off the receiver and responded to Ross loudly over the shouts of the troops around him.

The fifth marine division slowly made their advance along the body-littered fields in front of the ruined city. Shining Armor, squinting his eyes, trotted up next to Ross and identified the attacking pony force.

"Well c'mon then! We gotta draw some of the fire off of those guys!" Yelled Ross as he cleared the fence in one clean jump.

The charge that consisted of the first marine division, Shining Armor's command, and the elements of harmony was the perfect example of utter determination. For a full minute, the unending battle cries of the soldiers were without interruption.

Large plasma bursts obliterated groups of soldiers, valiant veterans of Ponyville, killed in a flash. The entire combined force of humans and ponies hit the dirt and sat in the mix of blood, mud, and wounded. Cracking under pressure, Fluttershy screamed over the din of the massacre taking place all around her. Two feet away from her, Twilight watched a fallen marine clutch his neck, blood leaking out uncontrollably. Thirty seconds later, he exhaled and went limp. This was nothing like the books she read about war in the comfort of her library.

"God damn it, we have to move- GAH!" Yelped Wilcox as the skin on his face was torn clean off by a plasma burst.

Watching his men die all around him, Ross could only stare at the carnage overtaking the hearts of his brave warriors. He saw marines that had braved firestorms of the worst kind in the Middle East cry for their mothers. He saw the last of Sergeant Courtland's mortars get blown to shreds, taking the crew with it. He saw the lone tower in the distance killing his men, sitting safely in the rubble of the city.

"Captain Ross? This is M1A3 Abrams tank call sign WARPIG. Mind if we join the party?" Said the man.

A tank? In Equestria? Ross sat there and pondered that for a moment before replying in a loud, shaken voice.

"HOLY SHIT IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU WARPIG! PUT SURPRESSING FIRE ON THOSE FUCKING SONS-OF-BITCHES RIGHT NOW!" Shouted Ross.

To his left, and to the surprise of every soldier there that day, three Abrams Tanks and a Humvee with a BGM-71 TOW rocket launcher pulled up and saturated the area with holy hellfire. For a moment, Corporal Klein was laughing. Instead of dozens of burning changelings fleeing their positions, he saw roman candles being fired off on the fourth of July. It was like a crazy, messed up dream. The next two minutes of barrage from the vehicles was a blur for every man and pony lying prone on that field.

Slowly, the battered troops stood up and faced the heaven-sent vehicles. The hatch on the Abrams tank opened up revealing a short, redheaded man.

"Y-yeah, that's m-me." Ross said yanking off his helmet and dropping it to the ground.

The ponies, shrinking in fear at the machines in front of them, kept low and quiet.

"That my friend, is an M1 Abrams tank. It weighs sixty seven tons, armed with a one hundred and twenty millimeter smoothbore cannon and drives thirty five miles per hour." Explained Ross.

The tank commander, getting the eerie feeling of hundreds of shell-shocked stares, buttoned up the hatch and ordered his tank column forward.

Meanwhile, the forward elements of the fifth marine division was ordered forward, leaving Ross' men to pick up the pieces. The elements of harmony, shaken and terrified, sat in the comfort of Shining Armor, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Corporal Klein wandered the field, sifting through dead bodies looking for his friend.

Klein kept walking, fearing the worst. He almost gave up the search until he tripped on a piece of destroyed mortar. Clearing his head, Klein looked up from his position on the ground and stared into something that made his heart drop into his stomach.

Below him, he followed a trail of blood that led him to the last thing he wanted to see.

Sunny Breeze's body was charred on one side, oozing burnt flesh and liquids that Klein didn't even want to know where they came from. Shaking his friend, Klein frantically spoke in a panicked tone.

"C'mon man, wake up! Wake up! Don't die on me! Please don't leave me..." Klein trailed off.

Corporal Roe was stitching up a man whose arm had been blown clean off when he heard the call.

"Alright, shit! Hey you! Put pressure on this, I'll be right back!" Said Roe as he sprinted to the frantic voice.

After scouring the field, Roe finally found the origin of the yell. It was Corporal Klein, crouched next to a limp pony. Roe could already tell from that distance that the pony probably wouldn't make it, but a call for help was a call for help.

"Hold on, stop touching him for a bit." Said Roe as he opened his pack and prepared to pull out whatever materials he needed to.

Upon examining the poor equine, Roe couldn't help but notice that this pony was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. Checking his pulse, Roe found no signs of life on Sunny Breeze's body and gave the suffering man in front of him a shallow shake of his head. Apparently close to the pony, Klein let out a wail that could pierce the soul of even the toughest soldiers.

Receiving no response from the mournful marine, Roe packed his kit and returned to the one-armed soldier.

The fifth had combined forces with the first marine division and camped together that night while the pony forces collaborated with one another. Applejack, now reunited with her brother, sat by a warm campfire with her friends. Big Macintosh had been wounded in action earlier near Appleloosa and sported a large gash going down his left eye. The two Apple siblings, both touched by the war, shared a loving embrace.

" After tomorrow, we'll be going home Big Mac. To Applebloom, to Granny, to everyone." Said Applejack as she stared forlornly into the fire.

Ross and Shining Armor sat in a building overlooking the tree line that marked the beginning of the final daunting obstacle in their bloody endeavor.

Shining Armor still couldn't get over the mechanical abominations the humans had brought over to their world.

"That my friend, is an interesting question." Said Captain Bannon, leader of the tank column.

"They moved each piece of the tank one-by-one through the portal. When that was done, they just outright assembled the damn thing right there. We only had time to do three before we had to roll out and support you guys. Now, the Humvee, that was just a straight drive through. Command was afraid of what might've happened if we tried to move vehicles through. Worried they might mess up the instruments on the portal." Explained Bannon.

The three shared a moment of silence, looking out the destroyed window toward that menacing tree line. Down below, whereas everyone else but a few sentries managed to keep their eyes open, a quiet marine seethed in his hate for the enemy as he grasped a pair of cracked goggles.

"There ain't a snowball's chance in hell we are getting through that forest!" Yelled captain Bannon.

Ross, angered by the fact that they would receive no armored support, stamped the ground with his boot.

The army that stood in front of the Everfree forest was in no way impressive. There could be no wait for reinforcements as the risk of Chrysalis' army recuperating and counter attacking was too high. They would have to advance on their own.

"Are you serious? We finally get the fucking things and we can't even use 'em?" Screamed Avery.

The elements, standing behind Ross and Shining Armor, quivered as they stood in the presence of the sinister place. With one final look down the picket line that had formed out of ponies and humans, Ross gave the order.

Slowly, the lone army of Equestria entered the insidious forest. The first troops that braved a step into the forest were immediately met with gnarled trees and broken roots that made them work for every single footfall in the rough terrain. It was unnervingly quiet as Ross advanced forward, M4 raised high, as he led the Equestrians into the dark unknown.

Sergeant Avery was cut short as a plasma burst had hit him square in the face, knocking his helmet clean off.

"I'm okay, I'm okay! I just got knocked on my ass!" Yelled Avery as he stood up, ignoring his charred helmet.

Relieved that his friend was alright, Ross ordered the elements down and started taking shots at presumed locations of changeling infantry. The remaining SAW gunners peppered the forest in front of them, suppressing the changeling troops as they pulled back towards their hive.

The soldiers did just that, walking a few feet then taking potshots at changelings that turned around to fight back. Eventually, when they stopped, the army would repeat the process. The elements of harmony stayed directly behind Ross the entire time, hitting the deck every time a plasma burst flew overhead.

"Bannon? Bannon, did you find that way around yet?" Yelled Ross into his headset.

But it was no use. The high trees blocked out all radio comlink. Even the advanced technology of the United States of America couldn't bypass the natural barriers of mother nature. Ross turned to Shining Armor, beckoning for his attention.

Right at that moment, a changeling bruiser emerged from his ambush spot and rammed Ross painfully into the side of a tree. Twilight, the only one taking notice, watched in horror as Ross wrestled with the giant behemoth. But just as the monster was about to deliver the killing blow, it shuddered and fell, a large hole in it's side. Across from the Equestrians, a group of changelings screeched in horror as the distinct caterpillar treads of an Abrams tank crushed them, their skulls popping like balloons filled with spaghetti.

"Fuckin' a, it is good to see you guys." Said Ross through his headset, regardless if they could hear him not.

Smirking, Ross stood up and ordered a blind charge accompanying the group of Abrams tanks through the dense forest. The lumbering vehicles were able to crush the smaller trees with ease, making it easier for the infantry to traverse the territory. Finally, the Equestrians received a break when they came upon a clearing, and ahead of them was the mouth of a cave bigger than a football field. The changelings guarded it fiercely and took up strong defensive positions around it.

"C'mon! This is it boys!" Yelled Rossetti as he slapped a mag into his M4 and ran ahead of the main body.

Easily defeating the enemy entrenched near the entrance with the tanks and a few well-placed shots from the TOW, the Equestrians were able to advance without hindrance. Ross, Shining Armor, and anyone left regrouped near the mouth of the cave and prepared for the worst. Captain Ross stood on top of a dead changeling officer and spoke loudly.

"Alright guys, this is it. We go in there, there is no turning back. The tanks will follow as far as they possibly can but it's our job to find the queen and kill her. We kill the queen, and the changelings will lose their will to fight. Today is the day we end this!" Yelled Ross as he jumped off the body and stared at his comrades gathered in front of him.

Disappearing into the darkness of the hive, the remnants of Ross' company comprised of both pony and human moved forward, resisting the urge to turn and run. The sound of the tanks behind them was definitely a reassurance, even if they couldn't see them.

Sure enough, a dark blue fluorescence filled the huge corridor as the marines and ponies advanced into the next room.

The army emerged into a chamber larger than the Georgia dome. Below the Equestrians stood thousands of changelings between them and a significantly smaller room on the other side. That must have been the queen's bedchamber. To the humans and ponies surprise, more changelings emerged from the slimy combs that dotted the ceiling of the chamber. Nobody moved.

At that moment, all eyes in the chamber fell on the rushing form of Corporal Klein charging down the hill toward the monstrous changeling army. After a millisecond of watching the odd event unfold in front of their eyes, both armies copied the man and charged ferociously into each other. Ross measured the distance between the two armies as they drew closer to one another.

The two armies met violently in the middle of the chamber, blood and gore spewing everywhere as soldier after soldier fell in the line of duty. Ross beat the brains out of the changeling in front of him and located Shining Armor. He was forming a defensive ring around the elements, fighting off any changeling that drew near.

Ross popped three bullets into the first changeling that came across him in the maelstrom of death. Seconds later, a changeling bruiser crashed through the Equestrian line, sending marine and pony alike flying across the room to their death. Ross unloaded the rest of his clip into the beast and kept moving.

Before Ross could react, the face of the changeling was viscerally ripped off, behind it stood Sergeant Avery. Smiling toward his friend, they moved on to Shining Armor.

Nodding his head, Shining Armor ushered the elements over to the far corner of the chamber.

"When we get there, you six will have to enter the chamber and deal with Chrysalis while we hold off the stragglers! Got it?" Asked Shining Armor.

After subtly agreeing, the small group slowly maneuvered their way through the storm of chaos unfolding all around them. Finally, after cutting their way through an unimaginable amount of changelings, Ross, Sergeant Avery, Private Macdonald, Shining Armor, and the elements made it to a small corridor leading to a room that they were sure belonged to the queen. With the remnants of the Equestrian army engaging the main body of the changelings, the small group was able to slip by unnoticed.

Running down the hall, the group could hear the pursuing changelings coming after them, driven by a fanatic need to aid their queen. After what seemed like the longest sprint ever, Ross ordered everyone to halt outside the chamber.

"We'll hold here and keep 'em busy. You six do what you need to do." Said Ross, loading a fresh clip into his M4.

The elements of harmony gave one final look of uncertainty at the valiant troops in front of them. Avery smiled back and spoke heartily.

"Don't worry about us. We've gotten out of bigger scraps than this." He smirked, adding a wink before turning around and pointing the barrel of his gun down the hall.

The mane six entered the large chamber and were caught completely by surprise. The room, dark as could be, was completely empty save the lone figure sitting on the evil throne in front of them. They expected the queen to have her most elite guarding her but instead saw only the grim stare of Chrysalis as she stood up from her seat of power.

"So, you made it huh? Oh I'm so scared, Twilight Sparkle and her brats have come to defeat me with the power of friendship." She mocked in a high pitched tone.

Behind the group, gunfire and shouts could be heard as Ross and Twilight's brother engaged the chasing assailants.

"As we waste time trading words, your friends are dying and I get ever closer to my victory. Once I kill you and those fools out there, I will rebuild my army and take your shining capitol. And once I do..." Chrysalis cooed sinisterly.

"... I'm going to burn it to the ground and kill Celestia, Luna, and that whore of a mare you call your foalsitter." Said Chrysalis.

"N-no you w-wont. We'll stop you. Just you wait. We will..." Twilight spoke in a wavering voice.

The small squad of soldiers managed to hold off the onslaught of changelings and were recuperating, waiting for more to come.

Without thinking, the small group sprinted into the room and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw what was happening in front of them. Chrysalis smiled deviously toward them as she held the six mares in her telekinetic grasp.

The four defiant creatures advanced forward at a slow pace firing shot after shot of whatever they could throw at the evil witch in front of them but none of it did any good. The bullets and spell bursts just ricocheted off the menacing shield she had conjured up around herself.

"Oh, enough. You'll get your turn." Said Chrysalis, shifting less than half of her attention to the humans and Shining Armor, maintaining her choke hold on the elements.

With an invisible force, Chrysalis knocked Private Macdonald off his feet and at the same time, loosened a stalactite hanging from the top of the chamber. Macdonald barely had time to scream before the sharp rock impaled his chest, crushing his heart. Levitating a large tree trunk, Chrysalis swung the object at the Equestrians like a baseball bat.

Being the only one who saw it, Ross just barely avoided being hit by the flying tree. The others however, were not so lucky, as they were thrown across the room and slammed into the wall with such a force that they didn't move after they fell to the floor.

"NO!" Yelled Ross as he bent down, picking up Sergeant Avery's SAW and unloading every last bullet into Chrysalis' shield.

Frustrated at the man's persistence, Chrysalis incapacitated the elements of harmony by chucking them against the wall. Having barely any strength left from the queen's death grip, the girls could only sit and watch Ross take on the queen by himself.

"Fine. If you want to die so badly, who am I to keep you from your wish." Said Chrysalis in an irritated voice.

Ross ran out of ammo and dropped the SAW. Pulling out his Berretta 9mm, the lone captain beckoned the queen forward.

Moving at lightening speeds, Chrysalis sidestepped Ross and reared up her hooves, impacting him with such force that the man flew ten feet in the air and landed on his back. Reaching for his pistol, Ross realized it had broken, and he was going to have to face her without the only advantage he had over magic.

The two beings circled each other, one smiling wickedly while the other huffed in great pain, at least two of his ribs broken.

"So, this is where it ends. You are a fool, but a brave one at that." Said the queen.

Ross swiped at Chrysalis, missing by an inch. The queen however, counterattacked quickly with a two legged buck to the chest sending Ross across the room once more. Reaching for his knife again, Chrysalis rolled her eyes and sighed.

"Oh no you don't. You wont be needing that anymore." She said as she enveloped Ross' right hand with her magic.

Chrysalis, tired of this silly charade, picked Ross up and brought him unsettlingly close to her face, choking him with the same telekinetic grip she had used on the elements only moments ago.

"Now you die human. Leave this world knowing you have failed all that have put their trust in you."

Ross used his free left hand and fumbled for something on his belt. When he had it in his hand, he waited for the exact moment to use it.

Ross flicked the pin off of the grenade he was holding with his thumb and, balling his left hand up in a fist and summoning every last ounce of strength he had in him, punched it straight through Chrysalis' teeth. With his fist jammed in her mouth, Ross smiled as Chrysalis winced from the pain she was currently feeling.

Ross weakly lifted his head and looked up at the estranged changeling queen. Her entire lower jaw was missing, blown off from the grenade blast. With some of her brain still intact, at least the part that still tried to process how that meager human had defeated her, Chrysalis body wobbled around a little bit until she finally dropped dead. The grotesque picture of the queen's face laid there on the floor leaking brain matter and blood as she died with her eyes open, her last thoughts being the unimaginable fall of her precious hive.

Shining Armor, Sergeant Avery, and the elements rushed over to the broken body of Ross and gathered around him, the sound of gunfire in the room behind them being replaced with victorious cheers.

"Oh man, stay with me Arthur." Said Avery as he frantically called for a corpsman.

But he didn't mean that. How could he? Ross' body was destroyed. His entire left arm had been blown off, including the skin on his waist, exposing most of his vital organs. Ross was dying, and dying horribly.

Ross began fading in and out of consciousness. He could see his friends talking but couldn't quite hear them. As a matter of fact, he couldn't really feel anything. Just bliss. Suddenly, Ross could hear something in the back of his head. A low, constant noise.

He could hear his cheerful laugh after Ross brought home the bike he had wanted so much after seeing it at the store.

He saw himself push his friend Avery out of the way of an insurgent's RPG missile back in Lebanon.

Fading out of consciousness, Ross saw his father hug him after he had come home from school one day.

After the climactic battle that took place in Chrysalis' cave, the surviving remnants of the first and fifth marine division retired to Canterlot for a well deserved rest. Among the dead in the cave, the first marine division lost Captain Arthur Ross, killed in the line of duty. His actions that day preserved the peaceful way of life that the ponies of Equestria had sought to keep in the first place. Every participant of the battle of Chrysalis' cave received the Silver Star in honor of the valiant sacrifices made that day. Sergeant Avery, Private Macdonald(posthumously), and Captain Ross(posthumously) received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their heroic performance in the downfall of the changeling empire. The surviving ponies under the command of captain Shining Armor all received Celestia's Gold Cross of Bravery for their gallant display of heroics. As promised Celestia, the sovereign ruler of Equestria, held a parade in honor of those living or dead that gave their lives for the cause. Being a war free country, all of the United Nations was in attendance, including the president of the United States. To this day in the small town of Ponyville sits a statue of three marines, weapons raised in defiance. The soldier in the middle is sculpted to look exactly like Captain Arthur Ross of the first marine division. Below this statue is a plaque that reads:

When freedom was threatened, they answered the call
To fight for those who had no special allegiance to each other
For the word camaraderie has no boundaries to it's meaning
So honorably proven by the First Marine Division

High up in the clouds, during a parade meant for those who had died heroically for the noble cause of defending Equestria, sat a lonely figure. His body bound by the literal meaning of chaos, he spoke as nonchalantly as if the last summer's leaves had fallen to the ground.

Camaraderie

by walk-in closet brony

Chapter 11