Back at the base, I had allowed the ponies to come with me so we could talk and get to know each other. After all, I didn't really see a different alternative to this one. It was either leave them there and let them figure things out on their own and possibly get captured or killed by EDF. But anyway, as I was saying, I was getting my wounds checked at the safehouse by Samanya.
Out of all the Red Faction I knew, Samanya seemed to be the most sensible asset to talk to about a matter such as this one. As for the Commander, lets just say he won't like them being around, seeing as how rough things are at the moment with the EDF.
We were inside the small shack of a maintenance station Samanya had set up, and surprisingly, she was pretty cool headed about the ponies being there with me.
''So, you just say they just came from nowhere, Mason?'' Samanya asked me, applying more bandages to my arm and torso.
''Yeah. One minute, I'm all alone, the next, there's a bright, purple flash and then they appeared!''
''Interesting...'' Sam said before she walked off towards the purple unicorn, kneeling down to her level. ''...So, is that true what Mason said?''
The unicorn nodded, ''Yes. It is.''
''Right. And the purple flash?''
''Ah, that.'' She rubbed the back of her head awkwardly with her hoof. ''To tell the truth, I have heard of alternate universes containing alien life, and wanted to see if it was true. In theory, according to another pony I know called Lyra, she theorized that there were beings such as yourself that exist, and after I heard about it, as well as from her as my books. I had to give it a lot of thought for the spell to work, and even though I knew there were circumstances of doing such a powerful spell, I did it anyway.''
''What kind of circumstances?'' Sam asked her with her usual, friendly smile. But the ponies faces seemed to turn a bit sad.
''We can't go back.'' She frowned, ''I mean, ever. I didn't even know where it'd teleport us to!''
''So...what are your names, then?'' I asked, now a bit curious.
''I'm Twilight.'' She said motioning a hoof to herself, and then to her companions as she introduced them, ''And this is Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie.''
''I'm Samanya, but you could just call me Sam. And I'm sure you've already met Mason.'' Sam said as she motioned a hand to me. ''Welcome to Mars.''
*** *** ***
After we were all introduced, Sam and me were showing off some of her work that she'd built from the salvage I brought her in the past. And being the one who likes using these particular weapons, who better than me to demonstrate how they work? The first thing I'd shown to them was my assault rifle. They may of already seen me kill EDF with it, but its nothing compared to the other weapons available to use against them. After showing them my rifle, I picked up my favourite weapon: the rocket launcher.
Asking them to follow me outside, I aimed it at a small target used for other members of Red Faction to practice shooting and after steadying my arms, I fired a rocket. At first it propelled from the barrel and then the delayed fuse let off, blasting it forcefully into the target and blowing it to metal shrapnel, as well as taking things down around it in a rain of chunks of concrete.
''That was awesome!'' Rainbow Dash said, hovering just above the ground before touching down again. As for Fluttershy and Rarity, they seemed to cower back a little bit. Honestly, I didn't blame them. Anything that goes 'boom' gives you the right to shit yourself, especially if its me holding a rocket launcher.
After a few short demonstrations with a couple other weapons, I got a call on my communicator from the Commander.
''Mason, some of the Red Faction are about to go into a raid with the EDF, they need your help! Get over there as soon as you can and help them!''
Sighing through my nostrils, I grabbed my satchel charges and my sledgehammer and made for my car. Sam came up to me before I could drive off, and stopped me.
''Mason, where are you going?''
''The EDF are about to raid some Red Faction soon, the commander contacted me to go help them. I'll be back soon.''
''No, wait!'' She said, grabbing the car door before I could close it, ''Don't you think you should take them along? You could use some help.''
Sighing I nodded as the six ponies came towards me. ''Fine. But don't blame me if any of them dies. I didn't ask them to come along.''
Hopping into the car with me, I handed each one a pistol. For a short while, they stared at it like they were unsure of why I gave them one. Wasn't it obvious what it was for? After all those demonstrations? Whatever their reason, it could wait. Closing all doors, I turned on the engine, and then we drove down the road, and into battle.
** *** ***
*
At the site of the raid, the Red Faction were setting up barricades for cover and gathering in small groups, in hopes of making their survival easier. When I got out to help them, assault rifle in my hands as always, some of the Red Faction exchanged glances at me and the ponies following in tow. Normally, I'd be doing raids alone without any company other than the ones already engaged in battle, but for once I had no idea why they were with me. They were completely inexperienced in combat, and from how they looked at the weapons I gave them, completely unsure of how to use such a weapon. But if one dies, Sam will be the one who takes the blame in their deaths, seeing as she insisted they come with me, and I really couldn't see why she wanted them to.
Me and a couple other Red Faction took cover behind some of the cover the others had put up for the fight. The fight being moments away from starting, I tried to come up with a plan, and with little thought, I took a couple charges and planted them below a small bridge, ready to be detonated, should EDF decide to come under that bridge. Either way, I could tell this raid would cause a lot of damage. Beside me, Applejack and Rainbow Dash huddled beside each other, struggling to hold the pistols in their hooves. How can a pony even hold a pistol in their hooves anyway? Ugh, why did I even give them a pistol instead of a melee weapon?
Taking out my sledgehammer, I nudged Applejack's shoulder, catching her attention. She raised a brow at me when I motioned to my sledgehammer. When I gave it to her, I was actually surprised to see she didn't struggle with it. For her size, she doesn't look all that strong, but holding that sledgehammer that weighs a ton, that was more than impressive.
''EDF INCOMING!''
A female voice balled over the communicator in my ear, making me wince a bit. I could already hear the small amount of panic and fussing as the Red Faction readied themselves to fight, and I could definitely hear engines of their cars coming louder and louder. They were definitely nearby...
''Get ready! They're coming!'' I told the ponies beside me, mounting the bottom of my assault rifle on the barricade, awaiting a target to come into view.
BOOM!
The wall of the building behind us exploded and a few EDF troopers emerged from within, spraying bullets in our general direction, some just missing my already shot-up and bloody arm. I fired back, getting him through the chest and making him fall over with a dull thud. The next one didn't hesitate to go for Applejack, and she didn't either. She forcefully swung the sledgehammer into his chest, knocking him to the floor grunting in pain as he clenched his chest. Obviously, the strong blow had shattered his rib cage. Not bad, Applejack. Not bad...
As he lay there squirming behind that black-grey helmet and orange visor, I decided to end his misery and shot him in the head, silencing him. The shot and the blood made both Applejack's and Rainbow's eyes go wide as they watched the bullet blast through his skull. As for the others, they just looked shocked.
All around the battlefield, fires and explosions transpired, and of course, there always had to be an EDF soldier on a gauss turret. Aiming at me...
I ran from cover and tried to dodge his blasts of purple-blue energy and the strong blasts blew up the cover I was behind like it was nothing! It pretty much just vaporized it! Luckily, his gun overheated and started to crackle with purple-blue electricity, and now it was my turn to return fire. I grabbed a grenade from a dead EDF's uniform and threw it at the gunner, and then it exploded with a blue light, destroying the truck and blowing the soldier's torso in half, his blood splattered all around the floor and magled remains of the car.
Behind me, I could hear a scream that didn't sound all too familiar to me, but I could guess who it was. Running back where I came from, I saw an EDF soldier grab Fluttershy by the throat, strangling her. Panic running through me, I charged at the soldier and threw him down to the floor, punching him in the head repeatedly as I pinned him down. Despite my strength, he threw me off, mere seconds before I kicked him in the chest, causing hi to stagger and be trapped between me and the wall. Grabbing his shoulders, I drew him back and slammed him into it, and before he could hit me back, I knocked him down with a headbutt.
I turned to see Fluttershy, whom was crying a little from the assault. I knelt down to her level, holding her shoulder gently.
''Fluttershy? You alright?'' I asked her, concerned. She whimpered before she slowly shook her head. For a moment, her eyes widened in fear, and turning around, I was met with a forceful blow to my face, sending me to the floor like a ragdoll. My head throbbed and my eyes were having trouble focusing on whatever had hit me. I held my aching head with a gloved hand, and looking back at it, I saw it was all bloody. I tried to get up, but my legs wouldn't allow it, so instead I fidgeted on the floor, the pain seeming to get worse.
From in front of me, I could make out Applejack not too far away. She spotted me, and her eyes looked into mine with alarm, and in almost a second she came running towards me. But instead of helping me get to my feet, she came to my side and I heard a dull sounding 'THWAK', followed by the groan of an EDF soldier as he fell down. Seconds later, I found myself being helped to my feet by Fluttershy and Applejack.
''Y'all alright? You're bleeding!'' She asked me, motioning to the gash in my head.
''Not really, no.'' I looked at the downed EDF soldier laying one the floor beside where I was. ''Thanks for that, Applejack. I owe you one.''
''Ya don't owe me nothin', Mason. Thanks though.'' She smiled at me, and I smiled back.
My vision coming back, I took possession of my rifle and took down the last few EDF. All around me, I could see more dead EDF than Red Faction, and of course, with some of the population taken down on a small scale, morale was definitely going to go down, as well.
And then my communicator announced:
''Everyone run for it! The charges are set! Its gonna be a big one!''
''Uh-oh. Run! Its gonna blow!'' I shouted as I ran with the ponies in pursuit of me, getting to a safe distance before the main building on the left side of the area gave way in a series of massive explosions. The debris from the room was blasted into the air and the walls started to give out, layer after layer until the building collapsed in on itself, sending up a pile of dust.
The ponies looked on at the devastation in front of them in shock as many Red Faction survivors cheered in victory while others watched the scene before them. I turned and got into my truck, leaning back in the seat as my head still throbbed from that forceful blow I took. Applejack sat with me in the back, looking on in concern at the rate at which I was bleeding.
''You feeling okay? Your starting to look a little pale, there.''
''I'll be fine, Applejack. We should probably just get back to the safehouse, now. I need to get my head looked at before I pass out.'' I said as I got up and moved to the drivers seat, strapping myself in as I turned the engine on. When the others got themselves back into the truck, I headed back towards the safehouse.