Prologue

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The princesses, in all their years, have never been in a situation like they were in. Two fronts were closing in on them and their options are limited. Their advantage in magic was heavily outweighed by their numbers even with the support of Chrysalis. They feared for their ponies and Changelings safety as their guards lost faith in their capabilities.

Fear of betrayal gripped them as civil unrest was at an all-time high and soldier morale was low. The Crystal Empire was taken by the Ruby Hive and many southern cities were occupied by the Griffins. The frontier dwindled and the last remaining towns and cities that remained under their control was Ponyville and Canterlot because of the high amount of guards in them, but that didn't mean that the casualty count wasn't high in both.

The Canterlot Court was in an uproar as fear and panic slowly settled in. Their cries of fear didn't go in noticed as Celestia tried to think of a solution. Luna was preparing the troops for battle and providing reinforcements, her choice rifle lazily hung over her shoulder. Cadence was captured and questioned for anything that might be important; torture was the method used in questioning. Twilight was waiting for a solution to appear in the form of a letter from Celestia as Spike helped bury the dead. Shining Armor was executed for treason and forbidden use of dark magic.

A mare stood, a panicked look on her face as she spoke her mind; her faith in the princess slowly fading away. "Damn it, Princess! At this rate, Equestria will fall! Our allies abandoned us and the alliance with Chrysalis has resulted in civil unrest in Canterlot! Your previous guard captain was corrupted by dark magic and betrayed us for what?! Complete power and for a mass genocide against the two other races!" The mare yelled as tears fell from her eyes. Memories of the last battle stuck in her mind as the clear image of blood and Gore kept her from moving on. "We need a solution and we need it now!" Her fear gripped her as the princess looked at her in pity, not wanting anyone to be scared the way she was.

"I'm sorry, but unless we convinced any other species to join us, we're stuck in this position," Celestia said as she looked over the battle reports before seeing a picture taken by Sunset Shimmer to show she was alright in her world. The smiled knowing that she was safe and ignorant of the war, but fearful that they'll find her if they take Ponyville. Then it hit her. "What if we ask a species who's experienced in this, but are willing to help other nations." This garnered the attention of the Court as they mumbled to themselves.

"And how do you expect us to do that?" She used her magic to levitate the picture around and show the room. The existence of the mirror may be exposed, but these were dire times.

"In Ponyville, there is a mirror that has the capability to allow others to travel between worlds. We can make our own and have it to our specifics for the type of species we need." With a nod, some of those of the scientific community left to do their work. "Ask Twilight about the mirror! Tell her everything I told you!" Celestia yelled at the scientist as a sense of hope suddenly filled her.

A letter appeared in front of her with a distress message from Luna's battalion. They were surrounded, outnumbered, and facing heavy losses. She wrote back about the plan and to wait until they could get here. She just hoped she wouldn't wear herself out by using to much magic.

Luna leads the troops into battle, her rifle now shouldered and ready to fire as pegasi used clouds as cover to scan the area for any Ruby Changelings. Half of the unicorns had healing spells at the ready while the rest had shield spells for instant cover. Earth Ponies carried the LMGs and Artillery for the battalion.

Luna was proud of her battalion because of the fact that she has won all her battles with them. The brave stallions and mares that joined her were fearless and quick thinkers. Each step they took filled them with anticipation as no man's land slowly came into view.

This was overcome with the sense of dread as an explosive went off with in the middle of the marching troops. Sounds of gunfire came from above as pegasi fell from the air and a war cry echoed through the gunfire. More explosions destroyed the Artillery while a hail of bullets came from all around them. Shields became ineffective as the unending gunfire tore through them with ease. The casualties were raising drastically and those who were lucky gathered close to Luna while she put up an impenetrable shield. She couldn't focus enough to teleport, but now she was down to her last dozen of soldiers. The gunfire stopped as the attackers showed themselves. Almost a thousand Griffins stepped out with guns at the ready. A few were in heavy armor and M134 rotating barrel miniguns. Some had RPG-7s and LMGs at the ready.

"Damn, we played into their hands," Luna said as the obvious leader had a unicorn horn strapped to her waist. Her level 4 Kevlar armor had a few bullets her tactical vest was damaged along with a few magazines that were for her M16A1.

"I'm gonna be completely honest, I didn't think this would work, but I guess some of my luck went with the letter." She said as she admired her work with a cocky smile. Luna glared at her while one of her soldiers secretly wrote a letter to Celestia. Moving wasn't an option unless they wanted to drag the shield or leave a gap big enough to roll a grenade in. They were stuck until a rescue force arrived. "And on top of that, I caught an alicorn. They'll definitely make any deal to take you back." Luna ground her teeth as the poured more magic into the shield.

"You have yet to catch us. As long as the shield stands, we are not your prisoner." Luna said as she readied her gun, an FN FAL, and selected full-auto fire.

"I'm reasonable Princess Luna. I honestly didn't want this war to happen, but my king and queen demands it."

"They are nothing, but power-hungry cowards!"

"Known all too well, but they appeal to the masses and you've refused to hand over the Elements of Harmony. With the power the ponies now possess, you are a great threat to us." Luna didn't say anything else and waited for a response. One of her soldiers, a Changeling male with transparent, pale cyan hair and pale cyan eyes came up behind her and whispered.

"The princess has come up with an idea that may help us. It's being worked on as we speak. If all goes according to plan, we should have to hold out for a few days." He said causing her to nod before he retreated back into the small crowd of soldiers.

"All we have to do is wait. Should be easy." Luna said as she sat down on the ground and pulled out an MRE. "Eat up! We're gonna be here for a long time." She knew they only had three days before the shield fell and their capture. A shield of this magnitude needed a lot of magic, especially if it was supposed to block mini gunfire. Time was no longer on their side.

"Sir, are you sure? We could use them to finally end this war. They have just what we needed." A scientist rebuttal as he tried to convince his king before the king's claw came down on the arm of his thrown. Cracks formed on the marble chair, a testament to his strength both politically and physically.

"No, we have the firepower and the numbers. We can send millions of our soldiers there and wipe out any resistance before it appears." The king responds firmly and with conviction. "We will not speak of this again." The scientist turned around and left, muttering a few choice words under his breath to vent his anger.

He walks for miles through the castle while keeping an eye on the soldiers lined up for the invasion. They were talking, eating, or just don't nothing while the time passed. The soldiers slowly gave way to another scientist as they ran to and from a room while carrying wires and papers.

"Damn it!" A female griffin said as she tripped over a wire in her haste to connect all as soon as possible. The male scientist held out his hand for her to take. She was much younger than the older scientist, but the difference between them was vast with one specializing in electricity and the other in magic theory.

"You okay, Alice?" The male scientist asked as the female griffin, now known as Alice, took his hand and helped her to her feet.

"Perfect! I guess I got carried away with connecting everything to the power supply." She said while dusting off her lab coat for a second and connecting the last and final wire to the power supply.

"I'm still impressed by this. You build this in just a few weeks. If you don't mind, can you tell me how it works." He asked as she gave him a cheeky grin that just screamed mischief.

"Magic." She answered while doing Jaz's hands causing the male griffin to chuckle.

"I'm serious, Alice. Your starting to sound like the ponies." They laughed a little she tried to calm down.

"I know. I just wanted to have a little fun." She walked over to the machine and patted it with pride. "It's a magic generator. It takes the abundant magic in the air and turns it into power. The wires are hooked to coils, that are able to conduct magic extremely well, so the mirror will react to it and create the portal." She paused, a small part of her wanting to say it needed more time. Her invention was supposed to connect the empire with other countries so that travel was quicker. She didn't like how her dream was twisted, perverted, and repurposed for war. "Did he..."

"No. He's not how he was three months ago. I don't know what happened, how it happened, or when this originally began, but unless we want to be tried for treason; we have to do this. His deadline is today." She gulped as she prepared to open the portal.

He stood beside her as the magic filled the mirror as planned while the mirror rippled and images began to form of a city not of their own. Three other mirrors activated with different, yet the same, energy sources before Griffins and Changelings entered the portals by the thousands. More, smaller portals began to activate and hundreds flooded those.

"Please be safe humans."

The United States was in a panic as many large cities were overrun by an unknown enemy. All law enforcement was taken out and the military mobilized to counter the attack. Civilians ran in panic as the unknown army advanced farther into their country. Many appeared indifferent, heavily populated areas. Manhattan was the first to fall, followed closely by the Florida Keys, then Los Angeles after a massive bombing run killing anyone still in the city, and finally was Seattle when the military was overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the invading force.

The other case of this was in the Middle East as nations armies and Americans engaged the threat as soon as it was called in many fell. More and more casualties added to the already staggeringly high number of both soldiers and civilians alike. Hours flew by as the nations banded together to take on the bigger threat. It didn't matter as they were killed swiftly and easily. Within twelve hours, the Middle East, and the world's oil supply was in the hands of the Invaders.

Russia held the line after Moscow was taken. Much luck the United States, they were able to keep the Invaders at bay while cities were evacuated to a more secure location. Immediately, construction workers were put to work to build a compound where both civilians and soldiers could hide without fear of a bunker-buster killing them. They took everything useful, including nuclear missile locations as well as launch codes.

Last to fall was all of Europe as millions of the unknown creatures slaughtered them like cattle. Major military bases were hit the hardest and task forces were sent away to aid Russia in evacuation and preventing their nukes from getting in their hands. All the nukes made were decommissioned and Major parts destroyed to prevent them from being used against them. France took a different approach as they did the unthinkable after their people were completely evacuated. They detonated all 210 of their nukes. It would be uninhabitable for hundreds of years.

All this happened in one day, four-sevenths of the world's population was dead after three days. This began a worldwide state of emergency as nations were trying to recover as South America and Africa were next. The next day, South America was in flames and Africa was occupied. The remaining Nations needed something and they needed it now. Humanity was facing a war that could end in their Extinction.

A massive draft was declared as every one of different ages and ethnicities was unlisted. By the end of the day, two half of what's left of humanity was unlisted with thirty present being children eight or older. Despite times call for despite measures, but only one volunteered and he was pissed at the Invaders.

(A day after Earth's invasion)

Celestia was working on a plan to help her sister as the scientist returned back to the princess with good news. "Princess. We have completed our research and should be able to construct the portal in two days' time. Our best spell casters are working on making the time limit for the portal to recharge much quicker." She yelled as Celestia smiled at the news. Just then a parchment appeared in front of her with the seal of the rogue griffin's who was sending them info that would be important.

She read it and her mood shifted to something of fear and horror as the Griffin's newest conquest came to her attention. It had specifics of what needed to be built and how. The ponies may have just gotten the solution they needed and if they could have them as an ally, then they themselves would be a force to be reckoned with.

Day two came and with the specifics sent by Rogue, the Rogue Griffin, and the portal was built. They needed an hour for the large battery to charge as another message from Rogue was sent to them. Humanity was getting closer extinction as over four billion killed within a matter of twenty-four hours. A massive draft forced men, women, and children to fight for what was left. All they needed was an hour and the first contact would be established.

This may be a turning point in the war.

Chapter 1

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War does not determine who's right-only who's left.
~Bertrand Russell

(Ten minutes before the Invasion)

I was taking a walk with my dad, stepmom, and little brother since it was our only means of transport around the Keys. We came here for the day so we could finally see it after about two years of us living in Florida. It was nice and the cold Dr. Pepper in my hand contrasting against the blistering heat. I took a swig of the soda as I admired the architecture of the islands. I never understood why l, but I do.

"What do you two wanna do now?" My stepmom asked in a Columbian accent. It was a little hard to understand, but nothing my brother and I haven't gotten used to.

"I'm not sure. We haven't been here before. You two have, what can we do?" My dad chuckled as he turned to us. He wanted us to come to Key West after he and our stepmom came for New Year's Eve two years ago.

"Nothing you two can do." He said as we walked around for a little while longer before we came upon a crowd who was looking to the horizon.

"The hell?" I said, confused by what I was supposed to be seeing out in the distance. Small specks off in the distance could be seen as they got closer as staggering speeds. It looked faster than most jets.

We all watched to see what they were as they slowly got closer from the distance they were at. As they got closer, more distinct features could be seen. Two large wings flapped on their backs keeping them above the water as military-like uniforms slowly made themselves known. Their hands were more like claws of a predatory bird and their mouths were replaced by beaks. A lion-like tail was wrapped around their waist to keep it from flying all over the place. They looked like anthro griffins, just in military uniforms.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one to catch this, but before anyone could do anything; an explosion went off in the middle of the crowd before some stopped and gunned down those who didn't die. I hit the ground immediately as police arrive at the scene with guns at the ready. They fired their Colt Car-15 carbines to little effect as they were cut down by a hail of bullets. I covered my head and waited for the carnage to end before taking a little peek to see if there were any of those griffins here. I was lucky they flew away after I checked because I didn't think I could handle seeing the attacker after all this.

Not one for being unprepared, I grabbed a Carbine from one of the dead SWAT members and immediately went for cover from any aerial myths. I stopped and looked outside once more, I just had to check so my curiosity could be sedated, and my mind put at ease.

What I found was my little brother slumped against a wall after obviously being pelted by 50 BMGs from light machine guns. I looked around the crater where the bomb hit and saw my dad struggling to drag himself away while dragging my stepmom's upper half. Her pained cries as he did so caused me to run out and do my best to drag him to the cover I was hiding in. It took a long while, but I eventually did get him in.

"H-Hunter?" He asked as my stepmom looked at me, her eyes filled with happiness despite the tears.

"Yes, I know. I'm fine. I got lucky, but James didn't." I responded as I looked at him to see the damage. He only had one leg and most of his body was charged, muck like my stepmom. Shrapnel carved the left side of his body and implanted themselves in him.

"You have to go." I didn't, my mind still trying to comprehend what was happening. I was finally in full panic as I racked my brain to find any solution to saving my dad. "Look at me." I didn't hear him as good as I normally do. The gunfire messing with my eardrums. He forced me to look at him as I stared into pleading eyes. "You need to go." My mind froze at that.

"W-what. No! I'm not leaving you, dad. I won't. I'll drag you if I have to!" I yelled, not caring for anything around me as fear and sadness took me. "Nidia, please tell him that I won't leave." No response. "Nidia?" She lied there, her eyes open and no longer breathing. The parts of her skin that could be seen were pale and her eyes unfocused. I quickly went to her and checked her pulse. She was dead.

"Hunter!" I looked at him as he held up his hand. "I know you saw it. I saw it. Our guns don't work on them. They took a 5.56 round like it was nothing. I'll draw their attention, you go." Begrudgingly, I held the gun to him so he could take it. "Be safe." He said as I ran out the cover and to a SWAT to take a knife.

I broke the window of a building and jumped in as the gunfire came from the house my dad was in. I couldn't move as I watched from the safety of the house across from his. Griffins swarmed the place and a scream came from the building as a griffin pulled a wounded griffin out and flew away, but they landed behind the house. I watched as they pulled him out of the house and threw him to the pavement roughly.

"Why fight in your state. You could have stayed hidden and waited." One said as he placed around my father.

"For my son. I at least want one of my children to make it out of here alive." He said as he looked at me and, for a second, looked shocked before they putting a bullet in his head. They stayed for a moment and tilted their heads downwards before bringing them up and saluting. They flew away after honoring my dad for a clear sacrifice.

I rested my head on my knees after I fell to the ground. Choked sobs coming from me before a loud cry of anguish came from me as I cried. I couldn't hold it in as the full weight of the situation came down on me.

"Come on. Stop being such a baby." A guy said as quiet whimpering came from behind the house. It was almost unnoticeable as I went to check and see if they were other survivors.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was two griffins, one injured and the other patching the other up. I knew the one who wasn't injured as the one who slaughtered the people. My sadness turned to anger and I came up behind him and pulled the knife to his neck. He froze as the other griffin pull their rifle up and aimed it in our general direction.

"What the hell are you doing kid?" He said as I began to shake with anger after he said that.

"What the hell am I doing? What the hell am I doing!" I yelled as I pressed the knife against his neck, a trail of blood coming from the flesh wound. "You bomb the crowd, killing my mom and dad, then gun down my little brother, and you ask me what the hell I'm doing! You slaughter hundreds of innocent people!" I sniffed as that anger began to convert back into sadness. "Then you have the nerve to ask me that."

"We're just following orders." The wound griffin said, her tone sounding familiar, but then again; it could be my mind playing tricks on me. That caused me to snap at hearing those awful words.

"Just following orders they say. I hate to break it to you, but here..." I paused and gave her the most sinister smile I could muster. "That's no excuse." I pushed the knife deeper into his neck and slid it to the side. Blood flew from his neck and coated the knife and a little got on my hand and arm. The female griffin was taken aback by this allowing me to take his gun and press it against her head. "Drop. It." Her rifle fell to the ground and I took the magazines from her vest. "Congratulations, you've graduated from being on death row to being my new shield." She shook there as I pulled her to her feet and moved her along.

An alarm came from my phone declaring immediate evacuation on the northern side of the island. It was easy to spot considering that the giant aircraft carrier was scrabbling Jets and other ships were defending it. She was reluctant as she cried and pleaded for her life, but I didn't care. What I did care about was how loud she was so I gave her some insensitive to stay quiet.

"If we make it out alive, I'll get you help and I'll watch you. If you make as much as a peep when there are others around, deal's off." She shut up real quick after that as she was less reluctant and didn't say a word unless I spoke to her.

When we needed to stop, I gripped her shoulder; when we needed to move, I gave her a little push; when we needed to get down I patted her on the shoulder. She took to them like a fish to water as I leveled her rifle and looked around for any mid-air attackers.

Eventually, we did need to stop because her wound began to bother her, so we had to take a small break in a house. The window was shared from what looks like a Griffin who was shot down. I cleared the glass on the windowsill so we wouldn't cut our selves on the broken glass. I checked the dead griffin and he was indeed dead from the lack of a pulse. I gave a hollow chuckle at a memory.

"He died of death, right James?" Tears fell from my eyes despite the smile as I took his gun, an M249 SAW, or Squad Automatic Weapon, gonna refer to it as SAW to save time, as well as a few of the belt-fed mags. I still had almost a full belt of ammo loaded into the gun. The female griffin leaned against the wall as she did something, but I stayed and watch to make sure she didn't try anything. I began to check the weapons as I started to question her. "So why did you attack?" I didn't look at her as I did.

"Can't tell you. All I know is that we were supposed to take as much as we could. Smaller portals were opened in different areas to separate the military with support from the Ruby Hive." That raised more questions, but I believe that I know where they're from.

"Changelings? What are they? I believe I may have heard of them." I looked at her as she gave me a quizzical look out of pure confusion.

"I doubt that. They're normally not willing to work with other species. They look like a bug and an alicorn mixed into one. They're considerably weaker than most species, but they make up for it with skill and numbers." No way. They are from Griffin Stone, but what happened? Did they become an organized force after the series finally for them to become like this?

"Are there any more points where you were going to strike?" This was important to know because we could provide info before all hell breaks loose.

"Places call 'Manhattan', 'Seattle', and 'Los Angeles'. That is only a fourth of our forces, but we have billions to work with." Oh, we're fucked. We don't even have a tenth of their forces and we can't hurt them. "Other places around the world are gonna be hit, but I have no info on that except for locations. They are the 'Middle East', 'Russia', and 'Europe'." Whoever their strategist was, they knew where to us where it hurt. Take away a good portion of our allies, take one of the nations with the most nukes, and finally cutting us off from the oil supply. They'll gain a ton of strength in weaponry, land to deploy forces and oil to run for years.

"When?" Was my next question as dread slowly settled in, but I needed to keep morale high if I wanted to get out of this.

"The same time we attacked." I guess that was a pointless question on my end. I need to make it up with useful info that can actually turn the tides.

"How come our weapons do nothing while yours tears us to pieces?" This could actually benefit me if I could learn.

"Our armor has a rune carved into it giving us a shield. Magic infused bullets are the only thing that can penetrate the shield, and even that takes up to five to six per griffin." I immediately took the dead griffin's armor and slipped it over me. The Kevlar was fucked, but if the shielding still worked; I had a fighting chance. A soft black aura surrounded me for a few seconds before disappearing altogether.

"Why are you telling me this?" That was my last question as I took the pistol from the holster and a mag from the war belt.

"If you die, I die. This is merely self-preservation." It makes sense, but I have to give her something to at least protect herself from anyone who wants to kill her.

"Here." I held the pistol out to her with conviction. "I'm changing my agreement. Info for safety. You gave me information; I'll give protection." She looked at the gun before she took it and looking me in the eyes with a little astonishment. "I'm trusting you."

"Why would you give a gun. One that I could kill you with." She asked while I hefted the SAW with way more effort than needed.

"Like you said, self-preservation... And I can't hold a grudge for long. It just isn't in my nature." I checked the loading mechanism to see how it worked before I actually used it.

I froze for a second as the sound of flapping wings caught my attention causing me to run for cover where I could still see the griffin. I just barely had enough time to hide before the door burst open and her squad ran in.

"Alex! How the hell did you get here!" He yelled furious as they completely disregarded the fact she's wounded.

"I was held captive by a kid at gunpoint." She responded I readied the SAW to fire upon the small square squadron.

"A kid. You were taken hostage by a child! Do you think we're fucking idiots! We saw that griffin dead in that alley, his throat cut open! You expect us to believe that a child did that." This was getting blown out of proportion by this guy. He made a finger gun gesture at her as a female griffin aimed her gun at Alex. "Bang." He said as that griffin fired once at her, the magic shield glowing violently as I took aim.

"You fuckers!" They looked at me before I fired into them, the female griffin's shields destroying in seconds as the bullets penetrated her Kevlar armor. She dropped dead in seconds while the rest ran for cover.

I fired at their hiding spots with controlled bursts as I made my way to Alex. I made sure the ammo didn't run out as the self suppressing fire. I handed the gun to her and she began to fire and I took her gun once again before dragging her out the house.

"Nice to finally know your name, Alex," I said as I found some cover just outside. Wasting no time, I fired into a wall where I knew an unfriendly griffin. I was considering my luck as a griffin yelled after five shots killing them. How did I not hit a stud? "That's three." I looked at Alex while handing her two more mags for the SAW or whatever they're called. "How many are left?" I needed to know how many are left so we could leave without fear of getting shot.

"Just three." I really hope she was also counting that guy I shot.

"I killed a guy through a wall, and the one I gunned down, and the one who's throat I slit open," I said before her eyes lit up in understanding. I poked my head out to suppress the but got insanely luckily as one grazed my scalp and flew into the distance. "Holy shit!" I yelled as I went back down.

"Two left!" She yelled over the gunfire.

"I'm gonna flank them! Do something to distract them so I can get the upper hand!" She pulled out a green gem and held it up.
"That'll emit a defining bag and a blinding light! Attack then!" Nodding, I made my way around the house before peeking at them.

One had an M16A4 while the other had an MP7 and reloaded it in less than a second. I have to hand it to that griffin, that's some skill. When I saw the gem I ducked behind the wall, closed my eyes, and covered my ears. I could hear the bang and it was much louder than I expected. Despite the fact my ears were covered, they were still ringing, but my eyes were still in working order. Without wasting time, I left my cover and fired upon the two heavily disoriented griffins. I killed one in quick succession before destroying the others shield as I ran out of ammo.

He recovered quickly and charged me with a knife in hand for going his gun. He tried to stab me with his knife before I grabbed his wrist and tried to do the same. Both our knives were in a reverse grip as we struggled over dominance; the only thing keeping me on even terms was my adrenaline coursing through my veins. I needed the upper hand and quick as the adrenaline slowly wore off.

With some not so good quick thinking, I came up with a plan that had a fifty-fifty chance at stabbing myself. I just waited until he was trying to move it inwards and the plan could be enacted with hopefully good results. I held out for a minute longer before he did as I wanted as I stopped all force I used to keep using even and guided the knife into his arm. With a cry of pain, he dropped his knife, which I swiftly grabbed before it was out of reach, and thrust it into his neck. He convulsed on the ground for a while as I sat back to catch my breath, unknowingly holding it for the entire time I was at a standstill with the griffin.

I checked the bodies for ammo that I could use and some Alex could as well. There's no doubt that they radioed in the corpse and the missing griffin, so the evidence was against her at this point.

"Are you okay?" She asked I think she came to the same conclusion that I did. She couldn't go back home without being tried for treason and the murder of a fellow soldier.

"Ya..." I said as the distant sound of gunfire echoed in my mind for what seemed like an eternity as the faces of those I killed came up... And I felt nothing. No horror, no excitement, no regret; just... Nothing. I was indifferent about the situation as the little fucks I did give was to check them for ammo; my logic overriding my emotions. "Get as much ammo as you can get. I need time to process what we'll do next." I've already scavenged all the ammo for my, previously Alex's, gun. I lied my hand over the bullets grazed wound causing it to sting a little, but that might be because of the fired blood on my hand. I would just have to wait until we got to the aircraft carrier before it could be treated property.

I got up and took the knife back and switched to the dead griffin's armor, the shields flaring black again before disappearing. I searched them more for anything valuable and took a few green gems, one blue gem, and seven rough red gems. I decided to hold onto them if things go to complete shit. I did find binoculars, some more ammo, and a bottle of water. He wasn't gonna need it anymore, so why not take it. I could use it to disinfect the graze wound.

"I was only able to get a few belts of ammo, but we should be fine if we spare as much as we can and avoid as much conflict as possible," Alex said as she walked out with a new bandage over her stomach causing me to nod in acknowledgment.

"You gonna be good?" I asked a little fearful that my only friend in this mess wouldn't be able to make it.

"I should. It still hurts like a bitch, but I should be fine." I held the gems out to her and her to take. I didn't know which did what so I let her keep them. "I guess I should tell you what each does. To save time; blue sends out an Electro-Magnetic Pulse, Green acts as a Flashbang, and the rough red ones act as grenades. Finely cut red gems are used in Arcane Cannons to fire a blast. All three types can be used in Arcane Cannons, but only if it's finely cut." Nodding, I looked over the battlefield to determine the best course of action would be.

About ten miles away from us was a Humvee that looked like it crashed. I could contact any other humans and tell them that a rogue griffin is defecting to our side. We can also tell them to take the guns from them and use it against them.

"I found our next objective." I pointed in the direction of the Humvee, about northwestern from where we are. "We get there, tell them that we're coming from behind enemy lines, and inform them about the guns. Hopefully, they'll patch up the wound on my skull." I did pore a little water on it to disinfect it, it was the only thing I could do at this time.

"We'll be going away from the carrier." I nodded, but if we were lucky, the Humvee was still drivable.

"Just wait. We'll have our solution soon enough." We went on our way while I reloaded the gun in my hands and shouldered the gun. I needed to be at the ready if a squad found us again and I doubt my luck will hold in a second fight.

Chapter 2

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A true soldier fights not because he hates what's in front of him, but because he loves what's behind him.
~G.K. Chesterton

Halfway to our destination; Alex had to rely on me to move. Her bullet wound was leaking blood like crazy and soaking the pants she was wearing as well as her undershirt. It barely bled through the uniform jacket, but a small black spot slowly grew. We stopped in another house, this time we made sure there wasn't a dead body in this one, so I could patch her up.

"F-fuck. Did you have to make it so tight?" She complained, but it would do a lot more than that loose piece of shit gauze she used.

"Yes, it will help prevent bleeding, but it would have to be checked out quickly before your home free," I responded as I taped it down with some duck tape I found. What can't duck tape fix? "Come on, we're almost there." I picked her up, but she didn't move her legs. Probably going into shock.

I swore to myself as I hefted her onto my back until she was in a piggyback position. She wrapped her arms around my neck to not fall off. I wasn't strong enough to hold anyone else in any other position so I didn't have a choice. She helped me and I have a promise to keep; I'm a man of my word. We would move slowly but it was better than nothing.

"Shit!" I whispered as griffins began to patrol the ground and others were patrolling the sky. We're there only griffins here or where Changelings attacking the other parts of the nation. Could they be attacking other nations while the griffins were attacking us?

Damn it, now wasn't a good time to think about it. The first priority was getting to that Humvee so we could get the fuck out of here. The patrols were inconsistent as they passed by minutes or seconds after coming into view. The closest cover that would keep us out of sight was a car parked on the side of the road. Blood painted the driver's window while the back door was open, but the tires were blown out; much like all the other cars. They really didn't want anyone leaving if they were pulling shit like this.

I swore again as a jet flew at speeds exceeding speeds past the sound barrier, various expensive objects in the house rattled from the force, and a Griffin fell from the sky with multiple bleeding holes from hid body. When they hit the ground, all heads turned to it and making me move to my first hiding spot. I checked around for anyone who was walking this way by using the camera on my phone. Seeing nothing, I moved to a nearby alleyway and put her down for a second and searched for the red gems. Finding them, I threw one as far as possible and hoped that they didn't have anything to do with magic. If they did, and it was like imagining pulling a pin; I would be severely fucked and they'd have more aware patrols.

I picked Alex up before it hit the ground and hoped that it will explode. Much to my enjoyment, it did explode and I ran as fast as I could towards a house that was across the road and had a small forest behind it. I didn't bother being quiet as I slammed into the door and broke it down before we both fell to the ground. Scrambling to my feet, I ran to the back door, opened it for easier use, and dragged her outside.

I finally sat to rest while making sure Alex was okay with a once-over. I checked her bandages again and they were a little loose, but unless I pull another stunt like that again; it shouldn't get any looser. Another jet flew overhead swiftly followed by a few griffins. The jet was fired upon by the Griffin flyers until it eventually lost its right-wing and crashed into the ground. Despite the trees preventing me from seeing the explosion, I could see the light from it lighting up the forest. I cringed knowing that that poor soldier wasn't going to live if he ejected from the cockpit.

I didn't want to fritter any more time in this spot while there was still some sunlight glaring upon us. I checked my phone for the time and froze; we only had a few hours left before nightfall and reaching that Humvee would be critical to our escape. I picked her up as ran as fast as I could through the forest while avoiding trees to get as far away as I could in case they decided to search the area for who threw that explosive.

"H-hey kid... I never got your name." She whispered, but it wasn't the time. I will tell her, but not now; especially when we're practically surrounded all the time.

"Not now. Let's get you help first." I began to slow down as the sound of gunfire echoed through the air. The sound of it must've been from the M134 that was mounted on the Humvee.

I saw a griffin hiding in a bush with a radio as around twenty Human was trying to defend the Humvee behind a makeshift barricade. He listened to one radio and relayed orders through the other, but what caught my eyes was the dead U.S. soldier next to him. I waited for him to finish his orders before firing from the hip at him. I wasn't going to drop Alex because of that wound; I may be a dick from time to time, but I have a line I won't cross.

He dropped with a yelp as the sudden gunfire from friendly lines surprised him, but he didn't have to worry long as one went through his neck and tore up his Kevlar strapped to his chest. He didn't even have enough time to close his eyes, so I did it for him; however, with much difficulty because of the Griffin on my back.

I lied the griffin down and made sure she couldn't be seen while I went to the radio. The gunfire from both sides was almost defining, but I had to do this to not get shot.

"Hello, hello! Anyone there?!" I yelled as a soldier ducked behind cover for a long while before I got a response.

"Who the fuck is this?!" He yelled as his gruff voice easily pierced through the loud bangs echoing around the battlefield.

"I'm Hunter, civilian, and currently behind enemy lines. I see your team fighting them." I saw the M134 make its sweep around Griffin's line and almost hitting me. "I'm in the forest, with a griffin weapon, and Griffin armor! I'm going to stand, Don't shoot." I waited a few seconds before I jumped up and waved my arms to get their attention.

"Get the hell over here kid!" He ordered before I disappeared behind the bushes and clipped the radio to my belt and picking Alex up again.

"This is stupid, this is stupid, this is stupid!" I yelled as I ran through the battlefield as my shield flared from time to time as bullets made contact with my chest and a few grazed my arms and legs. I jumped over the human cover and lied Alex down before getting control of my breathing.

"Why the hell did you bring one here!" A soldier asked as I was still trying to regain my control over my breathing.

"I made a deal. She gave me information and I'll give her protection. She's saved my life and didn't give me away when the rest of her squadron made it into the house we were in." A griffin made it over the makeshift barricade and gave off a war cry before I shut him up with a few bullets. "Take their weapons! Only those can get through!" I took his helmet and the same thing happened with the vest except I bet it was over my head. I peeked over and began to fire at the enemy while a soldier took that griffin's gun and used it against them.

I took the M249 from Alex and dragged her to the safest place possible before handing the gun to a random guy who was struggling to unjam his rifle. I finally joined them in holding them back with suppressing fire while the others took as many weapons and ammo from those we killed before getting back over the barricade.

"Medic!" I yelled as a guy in digital urban camouflage came to me without getting out of cover. "Please help her!" I said while going to Alex. She was beginning to look pale before he gave me a skeptical look. "I gave her my word and she defected to our side, so please just keep her stable until we can get out." Reluctant, he complied as I went back to the front line to help in the defense after taking the red crystals from her.

I threw a few at some houses where I knew Griffins were and waited for them to explode. Much to my shock, all the buildings began to explode with larger explosions than I, or anyone else if the expression on their faces show, expected.

We continued to fire as they slowly began to retreat, but that wouldn't last for long since I knew they'd come back with more. Once the coast was clear, I jumped over and began to scavenge as much ammo as I could possibly need. Instead of just putting it between my belt and pants, I actually had the bright idea of taking a tactical vest and putting as much ammo as I could in it. Ten out of ten original idea! Bravo, I'm a fucking idiot for not doing so sooner. Welcome to my thought process.

Self mental abuse aside, I actually begin to take some of the Holographic optics from on and a magnifier with an adjustable zoom from one to three. I actually found a vertical grip that I just wanted to hold it a little more comfortably. Me being me I left the weapons because they weren't what was what got through the shield.

"Damn, I guess you got their equivalent of the Vortex VMX-3T. Lucky find." A soldier said with a little excitement. All I did was nod, I put it at times two magnification, and walked back to the Humvee. I went to check on Alex as the medic finished his treatment and looked rather proud.

He patted me on the shoulder and left, I guess he saw I was worried about this Griffin. She could have sold me out when we were in that house, but she didn't. I owe her for that or I wouldn't have been here. I won't deny that she did acknowledge my existence when she was approached by her late squad, but all she said was that she was captured and left it at that. I guess what contributed to their narrow mindedness was the dead body that crashed through the window.

"You okay Alex?" I asked causing her to slowly turn to me with a tired look. She didn't lose enough to die, but enough to not stand for a while. I looked to her side and saw a bloodied bullet on the ground; I guess it was stuck inside of her considering I didn't see an exit wound.

"I'm fine. It's gonna take a while for me to heal." She said while I watched over her like a hawk. "What about you? You ran into a battlefield under heavy fire." I chuckled as I took my helmet off to show where the bullet grazed.

"I'm fine. I just got grazed." She gave me a puzzled look before motioning me down to her.

I was confused when she grabbed my head before laying a hand over where the wound should be, but it was gone. I pulled up my right sleeve And saw the wounds close rapidly.

Chuckling, she let go of me and began to explain what was happening. "Level 6 Kevlar. It's experimental armor that has both shielding and healing enchantments. It'll take a while for it to get used to the biology for whoever where's it. It works for the entire body so you just need one piece. Unfortunately, you'll still need elbow and knee pads for the armor to cover your arms. It's why you got grazed despite having armor. The helmet, elbow, and knee pads can only be shot twice before they break due to the less amount of magic it can hold in their runes."

I thanked her and got any armor I could get my hands on until I found an untouched level 5 Kevlar vest to replace the one I have. Why so she could heal quicker and get on her feet and I won't have to carry her around all the time. I put that on after taking the level 6 off before going back to Alex to give her the better armor.

As I took off her armor, a soldier made a smart comment, "Didn't know you were bringing her for that." A few chuckles went around as we blushed, her more so than me as I smiled and chuckled.

"More than your boyfriend will ever give you." Laughing echoed out, but I heard the guy on the minigun begin to struggle from air as he kept laughing. I couldn't help but laugh as I put the new armor on her and waited.

That moment was ruined by a soldier holding up a radio and coming out of the Humvee. Was I really that focused that I never noticed him in there?

"Message to the carrier has been sent!" He ran out and threw a green flare at the ground before speaking into the radio. "LZ at the green flare! Plus two, a teen and an enemy willing to trade info! Take as many of the enemies weapons and ammo as possible, use fifty Cal ammo if possible, and don't come alone! Humvee is unusable, I repeat Humvee is unusable!" I look at the final gem in my hand and pocket it before readying my rifle and moving the magnifier to the side.

"Copy, prepare for extraction." I heard over the radio before an RPG hit the Humvee causing it to explode and launching me and Alex away from it.

Everyone but the guy in it was okay due to the shields, but now we had a bigger threat. I dragged Alex to cover and pulled the magnifier back in front of the holographic sight to look for that bastard. I couldn't see him, but another explosion killed off six more. I cursed to myself as I searched the buildings for any sign of the guy; unfortunately, I saw nothing around me as another RPG killed off a five more.

Damn it, Hunter, think! He's not in any of the buildings and the backyards are cut off from everything else. Then it hit me like a brick to the face. I can't believe I forgot about it. I completely forgot they can stand on clouds and walk on them like the ground.

"In the clouds! They can stand on clouds!" I yelled as I fired into the clouds around us, but it didn't help that most of the sky was almost completely covered in ashes and smoke. The others followed my example and shot into the clouds.

I kept firing into the clouds with everyone else until I saw the silhouette of a griffin fly away to different cover. I kept the pressure on him and kept him insight while doing so. I eventually began to realize that I'd have to lead my shots and began doing so. It didn't take long after that to shoot him down. The green flare was the only contrast to the seemingly red sky now as it pushed through. The night was about to come and not having anything good to see in the dark with didn't sit well with me.

"Clear!" Someone yelled followed by the rest after seeing me hit the griffin while he was moving in the air.

"Black Hawk is heading to your position. ETA: ten minutes." That didn't seem like long, but the giant cloud of smoke would give our position away, but if it isn't alone, we shouldn't have a problem.

We watched the perimeter and sky for any surprises while the Black Hawk was on route. I stayed next to Alex while she healed, it was mostly internet at this point, but with a 5.56 bullet hitting you at point-blank range; that would normally be a kill shot. Not one Griffin made an appearance as the helicopter landed and I grabbed Alex to help get her on.

"You two, get on!" The pilot yelled as I made it as quick as I could to the Black Hawk. I got on and went directly in the middle as the two on the M134s looked at me questioningly.

"I hate heights!" With that said and done, the rest got on and we left towards the carrier as the sound of gunfire echoed underneath us. "Drop this on any enemies!" We were about a mile off when the explosion went off and I was surprised that we weren't caught in it.

The flight back was uneventful as all hell broke loose underneath use. I couldn't see it, but I definitely heard flares being deployed as rockets flew by us. Those on the guns mowed down any that got to close. We stopped a few times to help the others pick up soldiers who requested extraction. It was the first time I shot an M134 and I couldn't stop smiling like an idiot. I was having way to much fun.

Eventually, we landed on the carrier with hundreds of people who were watching the carnage unfold from a distance. The entire island looked to be up in flames in the span of nine or ten hours. Most of it couldn't be seen through the heavy smoke as more and more helicopters came from it while AA, Anti Air, guns shot Griffins out of the sky with deadly accuracy.

The civilians were trying to get below deck as fast as possible. If it weren't for some of the soldiers on board, many would-be killing each other to get below as fast as possible.

"One got through!" Someone yelled as I looked around for that one lucky griffin until I saw him heading in my general direction.

His smile showed he was enjoying this way too much as he raised his knife to strike. He saw me and began to head my way as I leveled my gun, a smile also on my face as his twisted smile gave way to a rocky one. He thought he was going to kill me, how cute. I fired and shot him out the sky as he slammed into the ground, blood spattering the ground as his skull was smashed in from the impact. If the bullets didn't kill him, the fall certainly did; holy shit, I wasn't expecting that.

"Get them under before any more come out the sky!" I had my gun trained in the sky along with the rest as a random Marine took the gun from the Griffin and aimed at the sky. "Get Alex!" I yelled as a soldier helped her out. She was healed, but there was still the phantom pains of getting shot to deal with. It was paralyzing for her so when she was helped out I slowly made me away to her.

"The captain would like to meet with you two! An escort will be here soon!" The soldier said as I picked her up, guess in what position, and waited for my escort.

It didn't take our liaison long as I tried my best to not drop her because of my physical fatigue, or going up those steep steps to get to the Command Deck. A man in a nice white class A dress uniform, nicest fucking class A in the entire military if I may add, and set Alex down. I stood at attention and saluted to the superior officer like I was taught by my JROTC teacher.

He chuckled before returning the salute before dropping it closely followed by me. "You know your stuff, kid. I'm Captain John F. Meier and this ship is the USS Gerald R. Ford, a pleasure to meet you..." He trailed off so I could give my name.

"Junior Private First Class Hunter Herrero, Army JROTC." Yup, just as hard as I remember. Why is it easy to talk to people when my life is in danger, but not when I'm safe.

"At ease cadet, I've heard what you accomplished with my soldiers. I'm here to reunite you with your parents." I visibly flinched at that my hand on the grip of the gun tightened.

"They were some of the first to go, sir. I dragged them into safety, but my stepmom bled to death and my dad was executed. My little brother was gunned down alongside the SWAT." A few of them took there covers to show respect to the dead. "My dad gave his life so I could live. He was my hero, and I owe him everything I could give and do." I meant it. If he was still alive, I'd do anything to pay him back, but he's gone.

"I'm sorry. If I knew, I won't have said anything. How do you feel after getting out of that hell hole?" I looked down for a moment as thoughts ran through my mind.

How did I feel? I haven't thought about it after I broke down. I was too preoccupied keeping my promise and trying to stay alive. I actually could feel something after all that; despite the fact that I subconsciously suppress my emotions. I released those emotions without knowing what those emotions were.

I felt... Angry. I didn't feel sad, or relieved; I just felt extremely angry. I could feel my expression twist into rage as the emotion hit me all at once. That was when I gave him my answer.

"Honestly, I'm not sad, happy, or relieved; I'm just extremely pissed. Pissed that the day I was born was the day we were attacked, that I lost my dad, Stepmom, and younger brother, and most certainly that they took some of the most important people in my life!" I looked at him dead in the eyes before he recoiled in surprise from the rage and determination he could most definitely see. "I just want to kill all them fucks for what they did here."

"That's a serious claim, but you held your own for hours." He thought for a minute before looking at me with an almost unreadable expression. "What if I offered you a job?" That caught my attention as that anger and rage gave way to a confused expression.

"What kind of job?" Depending on what the job entails, I might not take it.

"I want to offer you a job in the front lines. I'm pretty sure you'd find your self their if I offered you a desk job." Damn right. "Also, with the reports we've been getting, a mass draft is about to be ordered for everyone eight or older to be called to arms. I'll just say you were the first to be pulled." I nodded as they looked at Alex with almost hatred. "Now, what about her?" I stepped in front of her as she struggled to stand.

"I'll watch over her and she gave me all the info I needed to survive. I made a deal with her, intelligence for protection; I will not be made a lier captain." She fell on me and I stabilized her so she could stand. "I would like to see my mom, my birth mother and inform her of my new occupation." He nodded and went to one of the people around me. I have no idea what he was and I'm not even going to pretend I know what's happening so fuck it.

"What state?" He asked as I smiled while holding up the recovering griffin.

"Georgia."

Chapter 3

View Online

War is sweet to those who haven't experienced it.
~Latin(on war and peace)

The Blackhawk, the one Alex and I used to leave the Florida Keys, zoomed through the sky at speeds that would seem impossible for a helicopter. Alex was a little worried about meeting the rest of my family after the attack, but I gave my word that I would protect her. I was also a little worried that they wouldn't accept my new job; especially after the recent attack. What's done is done and there's nothing they can do to change it. No, I'm not kidding, I've already been sworn in, and I'm waiting for my call to head to basic with other recruits.

The clothing I wore no longer was civilian clothes; being replaced by MCCUU, or Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform, and the cloth surrounding the Kevlar on the level 6 vest was replaced by a MARPAT, Marine Pattern, woodland camo. The gun once used by Alex was in my hands as well as a P226 strapped to my leg by a holster, and Alex's, now my, gun was configured like an HK416 with an 11-inch barrel.

Oh ya, I equipped the HK with a hell of a lot of shit to help me. The first two were sights being the Vortex VMX-3T magnifier, a Razor AMG UH-1 holographic for the sights, a PEQ-2 Lazer attached to the top of the gun with a connection to a side flashlight, and a vertical grip near the mag.

Alex had the standard-issue M9 Baretta pistol and the M249 which I recently learned was not a Squad Automatic Weapon. It wasn't easy getting that gun and ammo back – still not sure what actually affects the armor – but it took more time trying to convince the Blackhawk pilot what she wasn't going to kill us. She was on a loose probation with me as the guard while the rest were shipped to different parts of the nation to help defend the nation.

From what I heard, Los Angeles was carpet-bombed, Seattle was occupied, and Manhattan is a complete war zone that we were loosing. We lost contact with France following a large scale nuclear detonation which they were able to contain... Somehow. Russia was doing about as well as us, but the last thing they told us was that they were making a bunker to hide until they could develop anything to take the unknown army down. The Middle East didn't respond and the lack of a response was clear as day.

We were limited with what we could do now especially after they took the Middle East, so we're low on resources until then. The oil companies here raised their prices to get more money out of it all and began burning more to increase the price.

Fuckers.

The US was considering just raiding the oil rigs and facilities so they would stop wasting such a valuable resource. These guys can set up rigs at will because of their capital, but with how things are now; the military needs every single drop.

I sighed knowing that was a little fucked by these new turn of events. We needed a new way of combating these guys or we won't win, but is there really a winner in war.

"We're five mikes from the landing zone!" Our pilot, Zoe Hawkins, said over the comm headset as she guided us in the suburban air.

"Copy that Talion 1-1!" I responded as I let my gun dangle from the sling. I was sitting on the edge of the Blackhawk while it flew low and fast. The familiar flora swiftly passing under me as words went through my head about what to say.

It would be difficult to do so today. Why? Because my mom and stepdad were hosting a cookout with family and friends. This was also the first time my mom and stepdad's side of the family would meet each other there. Those minutes felt like hours to me as I tried to think up the words to say. Each one felt like a stake being shoved deeper into my heart just at the mere thought of it. I could practically see the horror and crushing grip of depression and sadness on their faces. Damn it, why did I volunteer to do this?

I felt my body curl as a pit formed in my stomach and I let out a few choked sobs as I tried to keep the tears from falling. This wasn't the first time this happened, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. Memories of the night I spent on the carrier came back as those nightmares still haunt me. Alex actually had to calm me down from a panic attack that kept us up half the night.

"Hey!" Alex yelled over the comms, "You're not alone in this! My species are responsible for all this and I have to stand by you as you break the bad news! As long as we stick together, we can overcome these obstacles and move on!" She held me close as she comforted me while I just cried; the pressure of it crushing me and trying to break me.

I just sat there in her embrace and not caring that we were about a minute away from the landing zone. She let go and somehow gave me a reassuring smile with a beak despite it being physically impossible. I gulped it all down for a later time as I rubbed my, most likely, red eyes to clear any tears.

It was then when we almost sped past the house at 222 miles per hour. The quick stop forcing me to hold on to the edge – while Alex grabbed me – to keep me from falling out. We slowly got closer to the ground as people from around the neighborhood came to see what was happening.

I could see everyone and that familiar fear rose up again. I just hoped it would be easier to tell them about Alex's support. Oddly enough, Alex, my older brother, was there and just as astonished. I can already tell calling Alex, the griffin is going to be hard because of my brother.

I took in a few deep breaths to calm my nerves as I dropped from the edge of the bird followed by Alex who softened her landing with her wings. I, on the other hand, hit the ground and promptly went face-first into the dirt. I did not use to having all this weight on me at once, but I bet it'll get better as time goes on. I also have to thank that captain for pulling strings and making me an E-5, a Sargent, to give the most valuable information that could help us.

I glared at her and growled as she gave me a playful grin. "Fuck you and your wings," I said as I slowly got up. I was getting used to it; not my much, but I was.

"That's your job." She responded with a cheeky grin and forcing me to stop it quickly because of the company. I heard the Blackhawk's blades slow down as Hawkins joined us, she took her helmet off revealing her lightly tanned skin, her long brown hair tied into a bun, and her green eyes scanning the area.

"Not a good time." She said as she helped me up to my feet and showing my family the new me.

"Holy crap, Hunter! What are you doing?!" My step-grandmother said in complete shock as I took off my Kevlar helmet. My jet black hair reflected the evening sun and feeling nice after having it one for hours on end. Dear God, I sweat in that thing like a pig.

"I was drafted, or that's what the papers say. I actually enlisted after the assault on the Florida Keys." I responded as I adjusted the sling around me to a more comfortable position. I was never a big fan of slings, but I just had to grin and bear it.

"What are you talking about? What assault?" Best guess is that the government is hiding it until the draft begins. Must be some cover-up if the US is hiding multiple nuclear detonations in France.

"Yesterday, an assault hit many nation's ranging from small islands like the Keys to all of Europe from an unknown threat. Living myths attacked us hard and fast. Alex, the griffin to my right was on the first wave but made it to the cost before the following gunfire after her armor was destroyed by 50 Cal rounds. My dad... Distracted them after he lost a leg, Nidia bled to death and James... James was gunned down by her flight partner. My dad died so I could escape, but shot Alex causing her to be taken behind the house I was hiding in. They pulled my dad out and... And... They fucking executed him and all I could do was watch." My family was crying or try not to, but then came the part I dreaded the most that I hoped I wouldn't have to tell them.

"H-how did you know they landed behind the house you hid in?" My breathing stopped as that memory came back, but I felt nothing about what I did. I took a silent, deep breath in and released it before responding.

"I cut his fucking neck open," I said, my tone was as cold as ice as my gaze was once again blank. All my anger, rage, and hatred radiated off me like a nuclear reactor before I clenched my fist around the pistol grip of my rifle. "And I'll do it again."

Alex came behind me and placed a hand on my shoulder while almost everyone else glared at her. Her just being there cut me from my murderous thoughts and building rage, but I hardly physically reacted to it. I gave her a quick glance as she did so while my mom got closer; her eyes still leaking tears.

(Third Person)

What Hunter didn't expect was her to take his pistol, aim it at Alex, and pull the trigger. The loud familiar bang echoed through the suburban neighborhood making everyone walk or run out their houses to see what was happening. Hunter's body reacted on its own as he swiftly moved in front of Alex and took the bullet, but was unfortunate enough for her to fire the whole clip taking down his shields and taking multiple bullets. It wouldn't matter in an hour as the grade six armor would heal him, but his mom was horrified at what he just did. He was internally screaming from the pain as the bullets were forced out body and dropping into the ground.

"Why?" She sobbed, her voice breaking and cracking from the simple word. The fact she shot her son in her anger made her hyperventilate as many thoughts ran through her head. She was also confused about why her son would just save someone who he said killed his brother and father.

"I made a promise to protect her if we got any information about what's happening. She held her end of the bargain, and I'll hold mine. Also, I accidentally destroyed her life." She looked up at me with what he could almost see as happiness, but he did share the same sentiment as his regretful expression contrasted hers. "I accidentally set up a situation where it looked like she killed her flight partner and abandoned her home. From what she's told me about their culture, they will do as told by their parents as children and strongly consider anything as adults. This could lead to her parents' imprisonment or possible execution. The least I could do is protect her as much as possible." He grabbed his pistol that was still in his mother's hands.

His wounds were now healed, but intense phantom pains spread throughout his body. He struggled to get back up to a standing position as the Blackhawk's rotary blades began to spin. Hunter's mother didn't let go of it as she cried harder, not wanting her last son to die in a war, but there wasn't anything for her to do at this point. Defeated, she let go as he ejected the magazine and loaded a new one before getting to the chopper.

"I promise I'll be back! There's no way I'm letting those bastards get away with this!" He yelled as it began to lift off as the female griffin was about to fly to it; her wings extended and prepared for flight. Hunter's mom grabbed her hand, her almost dead look hurt her – it remaining her of how her mother was when she was about to leave – and she stayed for a few more seconds until the sound of the chopper wasn't hindering hearing.

"Please, keep him safe. I won't be able to, so please be my stand-in. I couldn't bear to lose another son." She said as she gave Alex a hopeful look causing her to smile softly and reassuringly.

"I will. Besides, by griffin traditions, I have to." She responded as the older woman looked at her with a curious look. "As of tradition, a male must-win against a female in combat to prove they can protect their young before they may conceive. This normally happens after they've been dating for a while, but it can also be used for a female to see if their crush is able to." The realization began to dawn on her as she stared in shock as the implementations.

"W-wait, does that mean..." Alex smiled and nodded with a smile surprising Hunter's mother.

"Yup, he saved me and I challenged under an excuse to see what his hand to hand combat skills were. He beat me and now I know he can." Alex paused for a moment as Alex began to fly higher into the sky and looked down at the shocked and distraught mother. "This will be my promise: I promise that he will come home alive." With that she sped off, a Sonic boom following shortly after, and a strong wind forcing some of the humans to stabilize themselves to not fall.

Alex looked around for the chopper and eventually found it heading out to the east side of town. When she finally got to it, she slowed down a lot until she landed safely in the cargo compartment where her unknowing mate was sitting out with his legs dangling off the edge.

He saw her and put his helmet back on as he held a hand out for her to take to fly in easier. "Forget anything?" He asked as she turned away with a light blush.

"Stopped by your mother and told her about one of the griffin traditions." She responded as he gave her a questioning look.

"What tradition?" She rolled her eyes and joined him on the edge, their bodies only inches apart and hands almost touching.

She moved her hand ever so slightly to not arouse suspicion from him. Her hand hovered over his; however, she retract in fear of his response to the bold attempt. Also, she saw some anime while she was on the ship, and didn't want to pull a cliche like that. He even pointed out that he's seen it in so many different animes that it's become a trend at that point.

"Umm... Hello there! Earth to Alex!" She looked at him as he tilted his head a little in her direction to see her more clearly.

In all respects, she has seemed more handsome human males on the ship in both military and from the citizens, but he was about average in almost everything physically. Mentally, he was intelligent and preferred to think things through before de did anything. That's how he beat her. Dodge and study her movements before getting her in a chokehold until she gave up. He may not be strong, but he had one hell of a grip.

"So what was the tradition you told her?" He asked once again as she smiled and looked off at the horizon, thankfully out of the glare of the sun.

"That's for us to know and you to find out." She said as he just followed her gaze to the horizon completely dissatisfied by her answer.

"That's a bullshit anime cliche and you know it."

(Equestria)

"Princess, we've done some scouting through a window and predicted where the portal will open." A scientist said as engineers built the small portal mirror.

"Where will we be landing Bright Mind?" Celestia asked as she was curious about the location. It would be important to set up good relations with them.

"An aircraft carrier called the USS Gerald R. Ford. Soldiers seem to be scarce except for a few crew members." He looked at a clipboard in his hand, each page filled with symbols that were the Equestrian alphabet, and almost unclear to most other species.

"Good, anything else I should know?" She gave him a questioning look as he seemed to shake in a little bit of fear.

"Only you can go. Anyone else who goes through will turn into the creatures on the other side... Permanently. Only you have enough magic to stay the same for months; however, we can teach them how to make one on the other side to prevent it. But if they are willing to help use, one or more may need to be permanently changed to save Luna." Bright Mind said as he feared she may banish him for not being able to find another solution. He felt a reassuring aura surround the air as Celestia gave him a comforting smile.

"Do not blame yourself. You did all you could in such little time. All we can do now is hope for the best."

"Actually, we may have some more information. Their world is much smaller than ours – about two times smaller to be exact – and, despite not being able to use magic, the mana is extraordinary potent allowing a child to turn a simple self-defense spell into a lethal attack. So if you need to, put up your best shield if they become hostel." She nodded and banked the thought for when she needed it when it would open.

"How long until it's finished?" The last question she asked would be important to her sister's life and what remains of her battalion.

"Until, six tomorrow, which gives them three hours to get to her." Anxiety filled Celestia about tomorrow, she could begin fighting on the war from three fronts instead of two.

"May Faust look upon me tomorrow and give me strength. I may need it when I meet these creatures.

Chapter 4

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"Get the hell up, Sargent!" Someone yelled before my eyes shot open at the loud voice. Imagine my surprise when I saw the captain standing next to my bed looking frantic as Alex was trying to calm down.

"What's going on?" I said with a worried expression as I jumped out of the bed, and I'm using that term loosely. I got to Alex's side to help her while I still paid attention to the captain.

"A few of the soldiers attempted to... They said it was a way to, in their words, "Get back at those griffin fucks."." That made my blood boil as many different possibilities ran through my mind at that. "Thankfully, a senior officer was able to hear her cry's for help. Those few are awaiting punishment for their crimes with a possible Court Marshal."

"Anything else?" I seethed, my anger about to reach a point of no return while I checked Alex for injuries.

"Other than that, get your sidearm, a new policy has been passed: all soldiers are required to have at least their sidearm with them." Sighing, I took Alex's hand and lead her to the armory to collect our weapons. She's officially enlisted as an E-2, Private First Class, which was her old rank in the Griffin Army.

We walked through the entire ship trying to find the Armory and even asked which way to go. I've also come to the conclusion that I'm complete shit when it comes to directions, but apparently, Alex is great because of her leading had us find it in five minutes. Seriously, am I that bad at directions.

It didn't matter as I got my pistol and Alex got hers before we set off for the flight deck to see some Jets and choppers that were preparing to take off. The pilots for the Jets were ordered to prevent the Griffins from getting to the rest of the nation while the helicopters were ordered to get as many supplies as possible and transport troops to the front lines. After we began to take their weapons, we've been able to hold them back, but I'm still unsure if it was the gun or the bullet that did the damage to it.

They flew off at speeds almost to fast to follow, but the Griffins could definitely still shoot them out the sky. Most wouldn't make it back from the battlefields; however, we could definitely hope for them though.

"Hey... Hunter, why are we up here?" Alex asked as I examined an F-36C Lightning II. I smiled sadly as fond memories of me and my dad going to an aeronautics museum around DC came to mind.

"Just wanted to see the real thing. My dad liked to fly and I was fascinated by how it worked, but that's in the past now. Just a little omen to my dad... Hell, I may take up flying if I can. Possibly a Blackhawk or maybe this bad boy." I rested a hand on the jet as a smile worked its way on to my face. My thoughts were disrupted when a hand on my shoulder before being forced around.

My instinct took control as I pulled a hidden knife from underneath my CIRAS, Combat Integrated Releasable Armor System, and held it against their neck. My mind was almost clouded from this as my flight or fight instinct caused me to gain tunnel vision. I had to pull away since it was a private – possibly a pilot trainee – that was about to piss himself.

"S-sorry. I d-d-didn't want to scare you. I was just told to deliver a message from the captain." He said before I pulled the knife away and put it back with ease and he let out a sigh of relief. "Your one scary kid; you know that?" I chuckled from embarrassment at that accusation; more so to vocally squelch the growing anxiety. "Anyways, new mission came in from the president himself. You need to report to the Bridge for mission briefing." I waved the private goodbye as Alex followed, but I suspected that it was to not get caught up in something that happened earlier.

It took a while to get to the Bridge as Captain Meier walking to me from a side room as I saluted to the superior officer. Everyone else began to follow my actions directed at John in a show of respect.

"At ease. Hunter, you're needed in here." He said as I dropped my salute and followed him into the room.

I saw a group of four in uniforms that looked a lot like MARPAT camo and fully equipped with MP7s and M4A1s. I looked at them in confusion as they looked at me while my anxiety began to rise more. The captain motioned me to the table in the middle of the room which I follow.

"Hunter, I want to introduce you to this team. The Puerto Rican is Alejandro Rojo; Everyone calls him Red." I rolled my eyes at the obvious nickname. "The Asin American is Jason Nick."

"Most people call me Nyx because of my specialty of staying hidden at night in no man's land." I nodded in acknowledgment as the introductions continued.

"Anyways," Captain Meier said, exasperated at the man's interruption. "The American is Alex Hunter; call him Beast. He's a monster at hand to hand combat. The African American is Jackson Miller. People call him Ghost because of his stealth." He came up to me and patted me on the shoulder. "Listen up, this kid is Hunter Herrero; he's the kid who caused confusion from behind enemy lines in the Keys and saved Hundreds of millions of lives by providing the information of the shielded armor and special weapons of the Griffins. The griffin behind him is Alex Silverclaw, previous Griffin Army private." He walked back to the quartet and faced me again. "Hunter, this is SEAL team 6 and you're going to work with them on Operation Fallen Phenix."

I nodded before someone barged into the room looking quite worried. I looked at him and it seemed to be the same person who delivered the summons to the Bridge. "Captain! Another being of unknown origin appeared from a portal! All weapons available have been trained on her!" He panted, did he run all the way here or was the walk up the stairs that tiring. Eh, can't blame him for either.

"Did she give a name?" I asked to get more information about the new creature.

"Yes, she said her name was Celestia." My eyes widened at that.

"PRINCESS FUCKING CELESTIA!!!" Me and Alex said in unison as our jaws dropped to the floor. Alex turned to me with that same amazement with added confusion.

"How do you know Celestia?!" She yelled as we ran towards the Flight Deck where a crowd of soldiers surrounded a yellow bubble.

"Not important!"

"This is very important!"

"Not now, not the right time!"

I pushed through the crowd until I reached the bubble and visibility confused who it was. It was her; the goddess of the sun: Princess Celestia. I faced the crowd and tried to calm them down.

"Hold on! Guns down! She's not here to kill us! I promise!" I they seemed to falter a little and back up some. I turned to the Princess of the Sun and began to speak. "It's alright. No one's going to hurt you. If they do, I'll shoot them." I pulled the P226 and held it in both hands and faced the soldiers. "Also, I always wanted to meet you, Celestia." I glanced at her and saw the conflict written on her face.

I don't blame her; I won't trust the word of a species who greeted me pointing guns in my face. This could be a ploy to bring the shield down for a clean shot at the head, but after saying that I want to meet her after crossing though a portal; I'd be conflicted.

"If you are telling the truth," She began, her soft, silky smooth voice was nice to hear in a time like this, "How do you know me?" I couldn't help a smile grow on my face followed swiftly by a chuckle.

"A TV show here created by a woman named Lauren Faust." Her eyes widened and she seemed to be considering dropping the barrier. "It was called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic." A few laughed at that, but I continued. "It was therapeutic for me. I lost a couple family members and I couldn't cope for years, my fears gripped me as I began to understand my actual fears, and I couldn't think of anything but that. A friend recommended it to me and I watched it; I watched it for years and I actually began to become social. That show helped me, showed me a way of living, lead me away from suicide when I couldn't even talk to my family to help." I paused and held back tears from the unpleasant memories. "All because of your student."

A moment of silence ensued after my little speech as she began to understand what I said and it finally dropped. I smiled at her as she did the same thing redirected at me, but I'm just glad we were able to meet.

She jerked to the side as a bullet impacted her left shoulder, but a second gunshot echoed through the empty air. I ran to Celestia and applied pressure to the bullet hole to attempt to slow the bleeding down. I aimed at the bastard who shot her and pulled the trigger, my aim was true as it sailed right into the bastard's skull.

I put my pistol back in its holster before applying more pressure to her wound as her horn glowed. I removed my blood-soaked hands as she wound healed rapidly much like my level 6 armor. She seemed to be drained of her strength, but this should be extremely easy for her; not that taxing.

"The hell happened?" I asked softly, but it was heard by her. I didn't want to hide the question from her – actually I wanted the full truth – but I also feared the answer. If we play our cards right, we may gain a powerful ally from this if we're lucky.

"My sister, Discord, and I all had assassination attempts enacted upon us. My sister and I were able to put the sun and moon in a cycle before the assassins did something to nullify our magic. We're limited on the spells we can do." She stopped, it confused me. Why would she stop before mentioning Discord?

"And Discord." This was a need to know at this point or this info would go incomplete.

"His assassin succeeded." My face showed horror by this new information; because if the Griffins can kill a God – that can warp really and survive decapitating himself – then what else are they capable of doing.

"Oh dear God, we're so fucked." How can we win against creatures that can nullify self resurrection?

How can we hope to win against something like that? They have the numbers, the power, and air superiority; all we got is naval superiority, but what good is that when they can outfly Jets. I could feel someone gripping my shoulder as I delved deeper into my anxiety from this seemingly invincible enemy. It became harder to breathe as my vision began to darken; a distant voice could be heard. Damn it, I needed to calm down. If I went into a panic attack now, I wouldn't be able to do the mission.

My thinking was cut off by a slap. It hit with so much force that I went flying into a nearby jet; my body dinting the outside. Okay, that was a lie... I hit it's wing and broke it clean off, but that was followed by someone profusely apologizing. I couldn't help, but milk it for all it's worth as I pretend to be unconscious... Well, that wasn't technical a lie; I wasn't conscious, but I wasn't unconscious.

I look just listened to the argument and shouts as men were calling someone a no good bird – I could already guess who that was. Also, something interesting about the armor and being semi-unconscious, you can hear the bones cracked back into place and it's actually pretty fuckin amazing to hear; painful, but amazing. I wonder what will happen if I broke every bone in my body and it healed, would it still sound like and feel that or will I be completely numb to the sensation. Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z. Heh heh, I'm a fuckin degenerate.

"Alright, settle down," I said all shouting stopped as I picked myself back up. The phantom pains still hurt like hell. "Now, can anyone tell why I shot that guy?" It may be completely off-topic, but more important than me getting launched into the wing of the je– where'd the jet go?

"Because he shot that woman... Thing." Eh, not a brony, so I can't hold it against him for not knowing.

"Actually, because that is the leader of a nation from the world of the Griffins, but I can assure you that there from different nations." And there's the horror I was expecting. "Not to mention that she can DROP THE FUCKING SUN ON US." Yup, they finally understand that the guy I shot almost ended the world.

"Actually, I–" I covered her mouth and let the info settle in as they began to understand what was going on. Even if she couldn't. Sorry Celly, but they needed to understand.

"Sorry, but this is the only way they will stop going after you. We're xenophobic when it comes to new sentient species. Hell, we're like that when a new race appears." Poor slaves, they never deserved being taken from their home in the eleventh century and onwards. Glad that ended. Luckily, no one heard it from their minds need to take a small break after learning of a false near-apocalyptic end.

"So, what do you need princess?" We've wasted way to much time, and that could've been used to set up a peace treaty.

"Are you sure? Don't you need your leader here?" I nodded, but he heard long before I killed that guy; most likely observing the situation from afar.

"He's here. A commotion like this would attract him in an instant." I felt another hand on my shoulder, the same one from before I turned around.

"Hey umm..." The hand belonged to none other but Alex as she looked regretful. "Sorry for slapping you into that plane and being respectful for it sliding into the sea." I shrugged as I looked over to the place the jet was.

"Hate to break it to you, but you never hit it off the boat. It most likely landed on the elevator behind it. See, some people are collecting the wing to reattach it." That or they're going to scrap it, but what do I know. I'm not am aviation technician. My dad was... And now I'm abandoning that thought before I become a shriveling crying mess on the Flight Deck. "Getting back to the task at hand–"

"I would agree, my young friend." Damn it, John, let me finish my sentence before you speak; what can I do now. "Do you have a problem that draws you here or is this a matter of first contact?" She stood up and I moved beside her with my gun drawn and ready to fire as my finger was on the hairline trigger. I wasn't risking another attempt to kill her if we can have a good first contact.

"My sister was captured by enemy soldiers, the Griffins, and is being held. I need help saving her. Please, aid us in this endeavor, even if it's just one soldier and just that one mission; I would be forever indebted to you. We're down to our last two towns and we can't risk losing her; I can't risk losing her." She broke down crying and I felt a little heartbroken from seeing her like this. It was just like when I lost my family a few days ago.

"Hunter, I know that from what you heard, you've correctly deduced what will happen." It took me a second before I actually could say something about the situation she was in.

"Losing Luna would be like losing the president in the Equestrian eyes. Civil disorder, riots, and rebellions will rise as Celestia battles the enemy out of anger and grief as she might slowly become a tyrant without a counterbalance. The fact that she's was able to prevent such a thing for a thousand years is a testament to her restraint. This could only end in bad for her, and we could get some help from her; because at the rate the Griffins are taking us out, we'll be extinct by the end of the week." Celestia's head shot up, horror crossed her angelic features. Oh hell ya, did I mention how hot she looked? If times weren't so dire, many men would try to get into her pants.

"Alright, we'll help you if you can help us." The captain looked at me and practically glared at me with resolve. "Hunter, this may be a turning point in the war. We'll show this live to the nation and the two remaining cities in Equestria. We will give them hope, we will show them that they can be beaten, and you will be the one to do it." I nodded and left to the armory for my equipment before being stopped by the captain once again. "Staff Sargent Hawkins and the Griffin will accompany you on this mission. It's all we can afford at this point. Your position is the leader of the squad and designated marksmen. Your weapons will be your assault rifle and whatever DMR you may be provided by the Equestrians."

"While that's happening, I must give you this. It's the blueprints for the device we made to get here. It will prevent any permanent transformation that may occur crossing over." She said and that definitely caught my attention.

"Then we'll postpone it." She shook her head at that.

"Not enough time. It'll take at most two days to complete." I immediately turned around with a big smile on my face.

"I'll go! Transformation or not!" I yelled, I'm going to admit this; I'm a furry. This is alright with me.

"Go get your equipment you fucking furry." I laughed as I went to the armory and got the rifle before coming back up. Since the weapons that worked on Griffins weren't ours, all I had to do was kick it up and head back up. They were waiting for me as I smiled.

"Ready to go and kick ass," I said before I was directed towards the portal.

"Then step right on through," Celestia said as I did so and my eyes were assaulted by bright colors.

It looked like a drug trip that could never be explained in detail. It roughly looked like what the people in Star Wars jumped into hyperspace, but that's from my perspective. That ended when I was met with the floor of the Canterlot Castle and many scientists and soldiers alike. I was swiftly followed by Celestia, Alex, and Zoe who flew in slowly with a Blackhawk. Surprising, it for in the room and could fly really well if it wanted to.

I looked at Celestia and Alex as she was reassuring the soldiers that Alex was alright. Her word was practically law so I guess it would make sense for her do that instead of me, but whenever she looked at me; she turned away.

"It looks like there were some... Unforeseen circumstances that caused this." What was she talking about?

That's when I saw it; it's snow-white fur, it fluffy whitetail, and it's large ears. It was all around cute as all hell to me, but...

"Why am I an Artic Fox?!"

It was my reflection from the newly created mirror portal.

Chapter 5

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Okay, can I call bullshit on this? I mean, how come I'm the only one who isn't turned into a pony, griffin, or anything else in this damned word, but I'm the only one of this genus here. I knew my luck wouldn't hold up for long, but is live streaming A STEALTH OPERATION a good idea. Probably not; however, I do agree that it would bring up morale if done correctly.

"Okay, other than the bullshit happening with... This," I gestured to my body as Hawkins joined us and– what the fuck?! Why did she become an alicorn?! I call hacks! I ground my teeth and spoke through them. "Where's the topography map of the region so we can plan accordingly. Actually, I need to go to the armory first for a DMR." I practically stomped away with an extreme case of pissed off. Celestia lead us quietly but ordered me to go to the armory with a guard.

We walked quietly for a while in silence as if my guide knew that I was pissed at the moment, but it all faded away as I noticed the amazing banners and various paintings lining the walls. It was astounding to experience in real life; especially considering that we're about to head out into combat.

"You okay? I mean, even if you're a different species, I can still tell your pretty young." Oh the poor innocent guard, he has no idea how ready I am.

"I'm fine, but the plan I have is going to require an armed force to draw attention while we extract the princess." We had better tech than them and could get around them with ease and extracting would be a matter of just walking out. I did have an alternate objective and that was captured someone with a high enough rank for info. We could convert them to our side, but that was on the back burner for now. "That chopper we brought is specifically made for stealth ops, so we can get in without many of them hearing us."

"You've already thought all this out." There's the shock I was expecting. I'm smarter than most I would act, and I may overthink things; however, that allows me to plan for anything that may come up.

"Yup. Actually, are we close. I want to begin sharing the plan." We passed many doors, but this next one had armed guards near it and I could guess why.

I just walked in after the doors opened as I let the sling keep my rifle from falling. I actually had to keep myself from running over to the armory manager so I could hurry this along. I was a little impatient to get this mission going; because every second we spend here is another second they lose.

"Sorry sir, but I'm gonna need a DMR with a suppressor," I said as he looked at me with suspicion before scoffing.

He was an elderly Earth pony with a graying mane with streaks of green going through them. His yellow fur had some wrinkles lining his face, but there wasn't much. His uniform definitely showed his status in my military; he wore that O-5 rank well, but unfortunately, I wasn't going to get that high. I'm only aiming for an E-9 position to remain in the fight.

"I don't know how you got here kid, but you best return those guns where you got them. This is a warning." He said trying to not sound annoyed by my presence. I smirked as a dark expression replaced my kind one as I began to think about what I was going to say.

"Can't really do that after I cut his throat open, can I." Most of them were scrambling for their guns that weren't shouldered and was about to aim at me. "However, I was told to get one from Celestia herself so you might want to listen." Did I want to blackmail him; no, not really, but I was told to get something and they're refusing to help. Eh, I doubt they actually knew about the agreement before I got here, so I can't blame them.

"H-here, an M110 SASS suppressed and another suppressor for your rifle." Oh, I feel bad now.

"Sorry, but I was ordered into this position today and I have to get Luna before anything happens." I began to leave before I turned back around with a regretful expression. "Again, sorry, but what punches through the shield, the bullet or are the guns enchanted in some way." He seemed calmer now and I'm glad about that.

"The bullets. We enchant the bullets separately to help penetrate the shielding. It's time-consuming but worth it." I walked out with a specific destination in mind as my guide lead me to our destination.

I couldn't tell who he was – mostly because of all the guards looking the same – but he seemed like a nice fellow. By his rank, I can tell he was an E-4, A Corporal. It was a nice walk for the most part as I took in the castle's interior; however, when the war room came into view, we shook hands silently while staring at each other with conviction. I would like to hang out with this guy more, I can tell he'll be great for some 'what if' questions.

Walking in I was meet by a few familiar faces as Alex stood next to Zoe while the new alicorn in question stood almost protectively in front of her. Next was a very familiar cyan Pegasus and a fire like maned Pegasus. They looked at me as Celestia gave me a comforting smile.

"Alright, first things first. Let me introduce you to the leader of this mission, Hunter Herrero, currently Sargent and... Actually, I don't know how old you are. All I know is that you're really young." I shrugged as I made my way to the topography map and began my glare. I've practiced it when I was giving orders to my squad when the squad leader was currently away.

"I'm going to say this once and that's it, so memorize it. I'm Sargent Hunter Herrero of the United States Marine Corps; currently, I'm sixteen, seventeen in a month." An outcry began with some saying that I was too young for this as I liked my ammo out on the table. "SHUT THE FUCK UP, YOU LITTLE WHINING BITCHES!!! Get over it, I'm here because I've been behind Griffin lines for almost ten to eleven hour after their initial attack of the Florida Keys. I'm here to extract Luna and, if possible, take a high ranking officer for intel; understood." No one said a thing as I spoke and looked at Celestia for a moment. "Are these alright to use? I'm not sure considering we don't have the magic to enchant bullets to... You know."

Her form glowed for a second as the magazines were encompassed in a bright yellow glow. She released the mags after what I assumed she got her answer. "There clear. How did you get these? Your species has no magic."

"Took them off of the Griffins we killed. The one I'm holding came from Alex after I cut her flight partner's throat open." Celestia gulped for a second and covered her neck out of instinct. Her uneasy expression was all I needed to know that they weren't all too comfortable with sharing stories of a kill. "Pfft, lightweight."

"Not everyone plays Call of Duty," Hawkins said with a soft glare, but she has nothing on my mom's death stare.

"Actually, it was Mortal Kombat," I responded, causing her to glare even harder at me, but it's just coming off as adorable because she's a pony now.

"That's even worse!"

"Ah, Mortal Kombat, the only game you can tear someone's spine out." Hahaha, their faces are priceless. I couldn't hold in my laughter as I had to keep myself from falling by putting a hand on the table. "Okay, ooookay... I'm good. Oooooh, that was so worth it."

"Your an ass."

"That's actually offensive?" I said causing Zoe to look at me with doubt.

"And how pray tell, is that." The doubt is strong with this one.

"He's not wrong," Rainbow Dash began, finally recovering from the mental images I just said, "that's offensive to donkeys." I couldn't help a smug look that crept its way on my face.

"Told you."

"I may ask the captain for someone else," Celestia said, but then I actually got serious as I looked at the map and saw the forested area.

"Nah, I got this." I looked at Zoe for a moment with that serious expression, my voice seemed to drop an octave as I did so. "Zoe, what do we have in equipment?"

"Other than the weapons we have, a crate of C4, six M120 mortars – two crates of mortars for them– and two FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank weapon – four rockets each." The surprise on their faces when I got serious was astounding as I turned to Celestia.

"Anything we should know about this world before we move out." She nodded and began the small explanation.

"Our world is much bigger, but we can modify your flying machine so it's as fast as it was over there." My next question would be important if we wanted to spare as much time as possible.

"How fast can you engineers modify the Blackhawk for speeds over 222mph?" Celestia talked to someone at her side before they left. A few minutes later and they return and whispered into her ear.

"About thirty minutes. Forty if you want us to replace the energy source." I looked at Zoe again for her confirmation about the improvements.

"Sure, it'll help." I looked back over to Celestia once again, we needed Luna's help for this part.

"Contact Luna so give us some info and possible high ranking officer." She product a quill and parchment and began to write. Once again, a few minutes passed before any response came through.

"Eight are supposed to guard her at all times with one being an officer, ranked O-6; Colonel. Has the name of Alice Silverclaw." Celestia informed, and I noticed Alex winced, maybe because they shared the same last name; possibly sisters if I had to take a guess.

"I know her. She's my sister and don't go thinking this will be easy. She's about as lucky as Mr. Run-in-the-middle-of-a-war-zone here." She said while poking fun at me while I just glared at her.

"It worked, didn't it." She shrugged and found a place to sit before sitting back and watching our plan come into place.

"There are also those with RPGs and M134 miniguns." Celestia continued after the small disruption before looking at me with pleading eyes. "Can you work with this?" That worry was almost painful, it was one of and almost dead hope.

"I believe so, yes." The look of happiness reappeared on her face as she looked ready to cheer in re-established hope. I thought for a few minutes as I considered the variables and the equipment we had at our disposal. "Okay, first, my team and I will infiltrate their ranks by air before Zoe drops us off. While that's happening I'll inform you about enemy positions and possible ambush locations. After we hit the ground, sent anyone who specializes in stealth and get them to plant the C4 around any Griffins. When we give the order, they will detonate and the real party begins. I want a mobile force with our mortars ready to launch them when the time comes; again, on my command. That'll draw the attention away from Luna and the rest of her soldiers while we wait for the numbers around to thin."

"Where will we wait?" Spitfire said before any of the rest.

"In the trees or in some tall grass; they'll be too focused getting to where they need to go to notice us, especially when we got our camo on. At that, when the numbers thin to something more manageable, we strike hard and fast. Suppressors are a must in this Op." I finished my explanation of the plan as I put the magazines back into their respective pockets.

"The clouds will most likely hold snipers; how will we deal with them," Celestia asked, but I smirked in response. My confidence growing some more as time went on.

"Clouds are only good for obscuring them, there's higher elevation there that our own snipers can use to their advantage and pick them off. Once again, suppressors are a must to not get discovered. Use ghillie suits if possible to remain hidden longer." This surprised them about me knowing what might happen. "Also, I'll go after Alice. This will be a battle of luck." They nodded as many began to stand, Alex, included before Celestia concluded the briefing.

"You know the plan, everyone dismissed!"

Chapter 6

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"Alright, load up!" I yelled over the noise of the loud rotary blades immediately after the engineers said the alterations were finished. With everything that happened and waiting for the chopper to be modified, it took about an hour which means we only have two hours left. If we needed to go, we needed to go now.

"Let's began Operation Lunar Eclipse!" Dash yelled as she jumped into the cargo hold swiftly followed by Spitfire. Dash had an MP5 suppressed along with a red dot sight; Spitfire had an MP7 with its stock extended to its full length and a Holographic Sight attached to the top. It was also suppressed for mission specifics.

"Let's hope I don't have to shoot!" Alex said as she adjusted the Bipod on her M249. The ACOG on top didn't seem to hinder her, but she was right; she didn't have a suppressor with the only reason being that it would have been irrelevant. If she fired, it would mean that we're spotted.

"Snipers, onboard!" Many snipers climbed on before we lifted off with some being unicorns for the added invisibility for stealth. It was necessary if any snipers weren't on clouds. "Start the stream!" One of the unicorn horn's glowed before I turned on the camera that was attached to my helmet. "Let's get this shit started."

(Third Person - Ponyville)

Back in Ponyville, many were going about their days in silence from the overwhelming sense of dread. Ever since bodies of dead soldiers came in for burial, no pony could find it in themselves to smile. They were scared that they'll be next in the shipment of corpses the Griffins sent. They were at least glad that the Griffins sent the bodies back for a proper burial instead of doing something they could never imagine.

The only one who was still trying to smile was Pinkie Pie, but she was easy to read; especially since her flat mane gave it away. She has almost given up hope as she thought of one last party, and if it didn't work; she didn't know what to do.

With her was Fluttershy, she was trying to comfort her friend while trying to hide the fact that Applejack was captured with what's left of Luna's battalion. She had to comfort Twilight after she received the news and Rarity locked herself in her boutique with soft sobs coming from it. Sweetie Belle was with her parents in Manehattan when the attack began there, so she believed that her family was gone.

That was before Rarity ran into the bakery with speed rivaling Rainbow Dash's. Her sudden entrance scared those inside from the loud boom of the front door of the shop hitting the wall. Mrs. Cake couldn't help but cursed under her breath, she'd have to pay for a new door and those weren't cheap on a baker's salary.

"Turn on the TV!" She yelled, her voice almost sounded frantic as Twilight follow quickly behind her. "You're not going to believe what's on." Mrs. Cake, despite not having a reason to do so, complied with the order and turned it on.

Rarity was right, it wasn't what she expected; it wasn't what anyone expecting. It was a live feed of an ongoing mission in an unknown vehicle, but it was loud. Many snipers were on board of the vehicle in ghillie suits as Rainbow Dash, Spitfire, an actual arctic fox, and a griffin were in normal combat uniforms.

"Alright, snipers will be on teams of two, your spotters will mark targets and you better hit every target, our lives are depending on you." The fox said as he held a griffin gun in his hands. "You need to take out anything that may be a threat to the primary team. If it can prevent us from getting boots on the ground, shoot it, but make sure nothing else can see it."

"Won't we be heard? This... Blackhawk is really noisy." One said before the fox chuckled, but it was one of the most hollow chuckle anything could ever hear.

"No, we'll be too high up for them to notice. The sound will disperse before it even reached the ones on the clouds." A woman's voice said before the fox once again took back over.

"Alright, I'm going to go over the objectives one last time. Those who don't know all the objectives before, listen up. Objective 1: you will be dropped off on the mountains surrounding the area; watch out for patrols. Objective 2: make sure the LZ is clear for us to repeal down and begin Operation Lunar Eclipse. Objective 3: wait for our signals for the distraction. Objective 4: kill the guards and extract Luna. Side objective: capture Colonel Alice Silverclaw. If all things go right on the assault teams part, we may just take back the land you lost." He held his gun a little tighter, but it was still noticeable. "Mic check!" He yelled as the rest followed by saying check into their headphones.

No one could believe what was happening, an actual mission deep behind enemy territory to reclaim a possible dead mare. It was almost unheard-of; however, they needed to hold on to hope that this was all real, but would it actually worked was the question.

"Quick Silver, Sharp Shot, your up!" The fox yelled as the outside was much noisier than the inside as the two partners grabbed a rope hanging off the side and repealed down it. Everyone knew that this was the beginning of what could be an uphill battle.

(Third Person - Earth)

Many people were warned about a live stream that would come on soon. They were given little information about it except that it was something people would want to see. In Georgia, a family was huddled around a TV while watching what seemed to be impossible in their eyes.

It had names on the bottom of the screen telling the name but despite there only being three views to pick from, there were almost sixteen others with them. No one would have to experience the inside of a Blackhawk to know that it was cramped.

However, they were focused on the one that said "Alex" only to see their son who wasn't human anymore. He was much taller – about a foot and two inches – and had virtually a black iris, but light enough that you can still see the pupil. It was a dark gray, but it was still noticeable. His white fur was easily seen in the darkness on the cargo hold, the cloudy skies contributing to the darkness of the interior, and, despite the dark interior and the dark clouds, was still visible.

"T-this can't be real." Hunter's mom said as the first team repealed down and the chopper moving to the next vantage point.

"I don't think reality and fiction are that far apart now." His stepdad said while observing everything go down. All they knew was that they are supposed to save Luna, nor did they know the plan.

"We'll stay above until the sky's clear of any Griffins," Hunter said as he loaded his M110 and pulled the action back. "See you on the ground."

"All we can do is hope for his safe return." The two sat in silence as they watched the mission play out, completely unable to help or anticipate what will happen next.

(First Person - Quick Silver)

We hit the ground and I immediately pulled out my 1911 suppressed as my spotter lifted his suppressed M16A4. He took the lead while I slowly followed behind to make sure that there weren't any patrols coming from behind. He guided us underneath the branches of the trees just in case there was anything in the skies.

I breathed heavily into my green balaclava from the adrenaline rushing through my veins. Each second felt like an eternity as we practically moved in slow motion. That teens brief description of how to move behind enemy lines and not get spotted was surprising. Especially when we learn he was only in the military for a few days.

"It came from over here!" As if on instinct, we took cover away from the voices as we crouched down and didn't move. Two griffins came our way with guns at the ready while searching the area for any intruders.

A few tense minutes passed as I covered my mouth to hide my deep breathing. My spotter hid in a tree, high above any visible range and if they did manage to see him; his camo would blind in with the leaves. I holstered my pistol slowly and lifted my rifle up before taking aim at them. If we could avoid taking a life, that would be a win for both sides. No one would go looking for them if they went missing for some reason.

"I think you're full of shit," His partner said in a deeper voice as he slung his rifle behind him. "The rain hasn't even fallen yet and you're already hearing noises, "

"I swear that I heard a loud, dull thumping sound from over here. Why else would I run to get you if theirs a monster out here?" The first guy said as I took aim at one of the guy's heads.

"On my mark," My spotter said as I looked up; he was slowly making his way down to an easier branch to shoot at.

"I'm still going to call for back up. If I'm right, then there might be a manticore or something." Shit, if Sharp Shot wanted to call it had to be now.

"Mark!" He said as I fired my sniper and a soft noise came from it.

One of their skulls practically exploded from the bullet while the other turned to him in surprise. Did Sharp Shot miss? No matter. It didn't matter as I immediately loaded a new round in less than a second and fired again. The same thing happened to that guy's head like his buddies.

"Targets down," I said as my spotter fell from the tree and took point once more. He began to lead the way as I followed once again with my pistol out.

"How far?" I asked as he began to climb up a steep surface which I followed. I didn't know that there was a small cliff here, but if it's on the way to the vantage point then I have to bare it.

I was immediately pulled up by a couple of griffins as I kicked and screamed as they pulled on my mane. What the buck was wrong with my spotter?! Why would he lead me here?! Why isn't this happening to him?! Then I saw his form change into that of a Ruby Changeling; his red chitin reflected off what little light came from the clouds.

I continue to kick and scream as they tried to tie me up, my ghillie suit making it a difficult task.

"Stay still you little..." He trailed off as he tried to gag me which I responded by biting his hand. "Agh, you bitch!" His steel toe boots connected with my ribs as he kicked me over and over until a crack came from them. I let out a cry of pain before he kicked me over and tied my hands behind me. This was quickly devolving into something much worse.

"Please stop!" Damn it, damn it, damn it! Why now, why here. Why couldn't this have happened anywhere other than behind enemy lines? The changeling, I now notice was female, just sat back and watched with a smirk on her face.

"All your's boys." She said before something hit her in the head and she fell to the ground facing me.

Her blood hit the ground as she slumped over her expression was still holding that smug look before her body finally relaxed. The other two were stunned by the sudden kill as they looked upon her corpse with shock. Another one fell dead on the ground, his chest exploded open from the exit wound. The wound itself was about as big as the circumference of a baseball. The other guy tried to run but I managed to trip him as his beak made contact with the hard dirt. Like last two before him, his skull burst open as crimson blood slowly drained from his skull.

"Got you back Reaper 0-1. Do me a favor and roll to the side and lift your hands a little," My fellow sniper said as I did so, making sure that I twisted to the not broken side. I lifted my arms up, I immediately heard something impact the ground and the feeling of my hands became free. "Might want to pull up your pants; I doubt anyone who's watching would want to see that," I immediately pulled my pants up with a blush, but I took the rifle my "spotter" had. "Everypony's at their point and already, get to yours and provide overwatch for the rescue team."

"Copy, heading out. Cover me while I get there," I said while climbing higher up the cliff.

"Not much to do now so I guess I'll help. That doesn't mean you should drop your guard," Once I got to the top, I looked in his direction and gave a two-finger salute before getting to my post.

"I owe you one Stalker 3-1," I responded as I laid down in my position and I could hear another call over the comms.

"This is Reaper 3-1, LZ is clear. We have reports that Sharp Shot was a Ruby Changeling, Reaper 0-1 is safe. Watch for any unusual behavior," Damn, I hoped that no one heard that; however, I guess that it would've withheld important information so the lesser of the two evils. Buck, I hope my dad didn't see that. Can't handle seeing her little girl exposed like that.

"Copy, landing. Can someone have a spotter looking out for Reaper 0-1?" The Sargent said as I set up for a long wait on the hard ground.

"This is Stalker 3-2, I'll provide a watchful eye on her; just worry about getting boots on the ground." She said as I slowly moved into a place with tall grass before actually providing overwatch.

The Blackhawk flew close to where I was dropped off at so I could track them easily through the trees. I had a clear view of where Luna was being held, but I held my fire, too many there for use to kill without alerting every other soldier in the vicinity. I'd have to wait for him to give the order to detonate the C4 and the assault to begin.

"Boots are on the ground. We're heading two klicks from the objective location. Are the mortars set up?" Hunter said as I watched him talk into that headset. The Blackhawk flew away, but I could still see it despite how far it was going in such little time.

"Mortars are ready, infantry is ready and heavy artillery is read; completely set up for the assault." I couldn't help but smile at everything coming into place. The Corporal also couldn't help but be excited if his tone is anything to go by.

"Explosives set?"

"Prepared and ready for detonation." That had to be First Sargent, Silent Night; she's an expert in stealth and sabotage.

I raised a shaky hand to my comms as I had to ask one thing of the fox. "Is this really happening? Are we actually going to be able to pull this off?" All I got was a chuckle from him as he gave me a response.

"Feels great right?" He was right, I've never felt anything better than what I'm feeling right now.

The anticipation was killing me as, for the first time in a while, I was waiting for the real fight to begin. That feeling of a win, but could it be called that yet? The battle hasn't even begun and I'm already anticipating us winning this fight.

"Y-yes, hahaha. I actually can't wait for the real fight to begin," He chuckled more as he came back on.

"Well, I can't start if we haven't moved forward yet," The fox stayed on the comms for a second before speaking again. "Remember, there are still plenty of things that can go wrong. Keep your guard up." I looked down my sights over the group as Hunter got off the comms and shouldered his DMR.

The rest of the rescue team followed him as the Blackhawk finally got out of my line of sight. All I had to do was make sure they were safe.

Chapter 7

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"Let's move," I said while slowly making my way to the designated area while I shouldered the M110. It plastic frame feeling great as it felt like the grips molded to my hands, but I couldn't use the scope; however, I was able to ask for an offset iron sight from the armory for mid to close range encounters.

I couldn't risk having a fight break out between us and any patrol we may come across. It was for this very reason why I didn't allow shotguns, too loud and too open for any close-range weapons. Medium and long-range weapons we're allowed with the exception of SMGs because they can provide easy covering fire if need be.

"I got your back," Quick Silver said as we slowly made our way through the forested area with slow steady movements. Each step was heavily muffled as we walked without a single crunching leaf – mostly because there wasn't a single leaf on the ground, but that's beside the point.

"Copy, I don't want any surprises." That didn't last long as my right foot sunk into an unseen hole. That wouldn't have been an issue, they used modern military tactics, so I didn't have to worry about traps. Those were mostly used to slow down those who have to use S.E.R.E, but they were a battalion; not a small group. What actually happened was something that would suck for a good long while until the mission is finished. "Son of a bitch," I complained without realizing I was still broadcasting my voice to the rest of the teams.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked as I pulled my foot back up the hole and began back on the path we needed to move.

"My foot sunk in a puddle." My annoyed expression didn't go unnoticed as many either groaned or weren't even going to acknowledge it.

"Really? That's what's happened." Luckily, I wasn't alone on this as Hawkins spoke up in my defense.

"Hey! You don't have to wear socks!" She yelled as those in my team blushed at that but I quickly understood.

"Let me guess, here it's used for lingerie," I said before walking back on the designated route that we planned.

"Y-yes," Spitfire said a little shocked, but also in a defeated tone.

"Hunter... How do you know that?" Hawkins asked as the other three looked at me with confusion and also a slight blush.

"I'm sixteen at the zenith of human puberty, I'll give you three guesses; the first two don't count." That definitely shut everyone up as they got to thinking.

"Jesus!" Hawkins yelled as I held off the growing urge to laugh. "Better be glad I switched up over to a different frequency than the rest."

"Ah, Thanks for letting me know. What frequency should I change to give the assault order?" I said as I checked the radio on my chest, the long cord connecting my helmet connected headset to the radio extending from its curled form. I don't know why I paid attention to that, but I did. Now, "How the fuck do I use this?" I was about to fiddle with it until I got something.

"Don't worry about it. I'll do it remotely, but I want us to finish that conversation later." She said while I swept the area any hostile. It didn't take long for us to move up and continue for a good long-distance.

Actually, I was doing all this while talking with Hawkins and I never realized it. That's really bad. I can't do that again or I may mistake the two mares and griffiness for an enemy. I'd rather not shoot a friend because of my own short sidedness.

"Sure, sure. I promise. Uh... Hey Dash, how far are we?" I don't know what was going on as I held the position in an are with a food amount of trees.

"About a quarter of the first kilometer. Were making great time," Dash said as I walked forward in the direction we were heading, but this time I made sure that I didn't lose focus and work automatically.

"Good, let's keep going. Quick Silver, you got eyes on us?" I asked as I swept the area again for any patrols that may come our way.

"Yup, don't worry. You're still on route. Keep going, but expect heavier enemy presence within the first quarter mark. A fight might be inevitable but get as far as you can. If you do get in a fight, I'll let Hawkins know to give the order," Quick Silver said as I checked the chamber to see if it was properly loaded. Lord knows I've done that at a gun range before.

"Good, you're keeping us alive here. Just keep doing what you're doing." I got off the comms immediately after as she responded to the comment with giddy.

"Copy!" Damn, ponies are easily excitable, but then again; they are mostly innocent in this matter.

I made a few hand gestures indicating for us to keep quiet, move forward, and listen out for anyone who may be near. After that, we moved quietly as we kept our ears open for any bad guys as my ears swiveled in different directions. It got to the point that we were almost completely silent except for the soft noise of boots crushing grass. I will give it to Quick though, there was a hell of a lot more enemies here than originally anticipated.

We needed a miracle to get by undetected, but I believe that we can do so easily. We just needed to be extremely precise in order to move through undetected. Unfortunately, more and more patrols began to appear as I looked through the offset sight. We waited for a few minutes to see if the numbers would thin out before acting. Five were left remaining and all they were doing was talking to one another; seemingly in another language. I shrugged it off and made a few gestures to give a clear message: "pick your target, but leave the last to me."

I unsheathed my knife slowly and silently as a griffin left to do something unknown, but I didn't pay it much mind. I kept the knife out just in case something happened that needed me in close proximity to one of them. I had my target and we made sure that two or more of us didn't have the same target. I released three fingers from the forward grip and made sure they could see it and know what to do.

Three

One finger curled back into its original position and making the gun a little more manageable to keep up. I could feel that anticipation actually began to turn into a want to do so which began to terrify me as I tried to gulp it back down. What would happen if I killed again? Would I enjoy it? Would I go to a desk job? Was there any other way? For the first time since this began, I didn't want to kill?

Two

Another finger fell as I could feel the anticipation growing within me as I actually began to think about killing them. All previous times, I did it without thinking about, without remorse, and sometimes aimed for arms and legs to disable them before going for the kill. My mind still was swayed by the mental thought of killing even more, and the more emotional side wanted to agree with it. My logical side that constantly had control said otherwise. For the first time in years, I was torn.

One

But this needed to be done. Trying to find another way could mean that this opening may close soon and trying to find a nonlethal way could lead to losing a hell of a lot more time. Time we don't have. We could also run the risk of getting caught or getting lost. Luna and who knows how many were depending on use to save them and bring back that lost hope Equestria lost.

The last finger fell.

Pfft!

The quiet noise from our suppressors hangs in the air as the first blood in this mission, from my knowledge, was spilled. All those thoughts that tried to convince me that this was bad died as I felt absolutely nothing once again, yet a small emptiness could be felt where what's left of my innocence. I didn't kill out of hate, rage, or sadness; just a pure cold-blooded kill.

That brief moment of relief was disrupted by that guy who left before we took the shot. His strong grasp gripped me easily as his hands covered my throat. The others took aim, but he pulled me in front of them and used me as a shield.

"Go," I croaked out from the lack of oxygen going through my throat. I didn't have my knife, the blade was a few meters away from me in my current position.

They looked at me with shock as he turned me around into a chokehold to look at them. I was at his mercy and getting out would be a challenge. The snipers couldn't kill him either since it would go right through him and into me; killing us both. More came out with rifles and aimed it at the group as they aimed back at them. Six versus three was bad in this situation.

"Go get the rest and tell them we found a rat." He ordered as another male griffin left. "Look, you failed. No Equestrian can beat a predator nation. Not even a false fox." He paused for a moment as he began to think about what he was going to say. "We never wanted this, but the Equestrians forced our hand."

"But what about humanity? What did we do?" I said, the air coming through my throat making it much easier to speak.

"And how did we "force your hand"?" Rainbow mocked causing the guy behind me to get agitated and pull out a machete. It was placed against my neck as many of them were contemplating.

"Cut the shit, you know what you did!" He yelled as the snipers came on the comms as they were considering what to do.

"We need to do-" That didn't last long as gunfire could be heard as he went silent. Many others meet the same fate as the comms lit up with desperate calls for help.

"We're going to take a little walk. You," he looked at the griffiness holding Alex, "take her with us. That traitor will be persecuted by our commander." We were forced away while the other two were held captive, but I couldn't help but smirk. I've already made the plan if this happened.

(Quick Silver's POV)

I hid as soon as I could, my unicorn spotter was a Ruby Changeling, and now I was hiding from a patrol or was it a strike team. I lifted my rifle as the five Changelings and Griffins searched the area for, what I presumed, was me. How did they find us?

I didn't have time to answer that is moved to a more solid cover. I lifted my new rifle and aimed at one of their heads as a smile grew on my face. I'll show them why I'm nicknamed Quick Silver.

In two seconds, three fell from the controlled burst I shot. The first two were unaware of my presence and the third was taken by surprise. I was able to take down the shields of the other two that remained, but they got behind a tree before I could kill either. Shooting through a tree was almost impossible, not because it won't go through, but because your bullet won't come out on the same path it was fired.

I took the time I bought myself to take off the scope on my sniper in favor of the iron sights. The gun in my arms felt natural compared to other guns, but it was slow. I needed the ability to punch through and the M24 chambered in .338 Lapua was just the gun to do so.

The moment one came out, I was able to put a bullet in her head before she could even comprehend. Quickly loading another round into the chamber, I shot a little prematurely and got him in the leg. The bullet doing a significant amount of damage if the kneecap flying off off him is any indication.

I was about to shoot him, but I got a better look at him as I slowly got closer and kicking his gun away along with throwing away his handgun. I look at him dead in the eyes and I could clearly remember his face. The same one my best friend died too and it wasn't from a bullet.

The Battle of Vanhoover was one of the bloodiest battles we ever had; because both sides ran out of ammo and ran at each other with knives, swords, machetes, or any improvised melee weapons. Many were bludgeoned to death and we kept fighting until our blades dulled. I pull up his shirt to see if it was actually him or a family member. It was him, that scar a little bit of from the heart and lung. He had gotten extremely lucky that I had missed both.

I cut a small incision on his inner thigh, cutting open an artery in the process as he desperately tried to stop it, but failed horribly as he slowly lost his life. That was completely different than every other time I've killed. Was it because I actually got revenge on the bastard that killed her, or because I couldn't care anymore.

"Can anyone hear me?" I asked into the comms as many of the assault teams gave vocal responses.

"This is Talion 1-1, what's the problem?" I let out a sigh of relief since she wasn't shot down yet, but I couldn't tell where the was.

"Switch to a private channel." I could hear the sound of radio static for some time as I waited. Eventually, radio contact was reestablished with Hawkins. "Ma'am, the rescue team has been captured and all snipers have been killed. I'm all that's left." Silence once again and I wasn't liking it one bit.

"Anyone in the rescue team still alive?" She heart ached her scope and saw the Element of Loyalty and the Captain of the Wander bolts were still alive, but at gunpoint by five griffins. The friendly griffin and fox we're being escorted by two griffins.

"I got eyes on the Sargent and the griffin. Both are being escorted with one griffin each and... Holy shit, one had an obsidian machete." This was bad, really bad. One wrong move and the Sargent was a dead... Fox.

"What's so bad about obsidian?" I had to keep reminding myself that they are from a different world. It was still jarring to know that there was life beyond the stars.

"Obsidian is used for preventing magic from being used. An inhibitor ring has little pieces of obsidian in it to prevent magic from being cast without the amount being lethal. Holding onto it for too long in large quantities destroys the magic within the creature. Since you traveled by portal and your bodies adapted to the magic; it will do the same to you." The implications came easy to me as I tried not to think about it too much, but...

"And that's bad why?" She still didn't get it as I watched over the group of four for a little while longer.

"The soul is the body's natural factory for magic so..." I could practically hear the gears turning through the static as she finally began to get it.

"It'll cut through the shield easily and destroy the soul." The horror was clearly evident as the gears began to turn in my head.

"But the soul thing is only theory. We still haven't figured it out if it was true or not, but that fear made weapons composed of obsidian to be illegal worldwide." I looked down the scope and saw his smile. Was he planning something or did he already have a plan? "How is his reaction time?" I asked while planning for a long-range rescue.

"From what I've seen, he thinks quick and reacts quicker. Why?" I smiled as I squeezed the trigger and the soft sound from my sniper was all too familiar now.

My bullet sailed through the air with ease and implanted itself in a griffin's skull. The one holding Alex fell like a bag of rocks as his buddy tried to comprehend what happened but couldn't do much since Hunter's heel connected with his testicles causing the griffin to lose his grip. He practically let him go before Hunter took the machete and rammed it into him his stomach.

Without hesitation, he yanked it out – causing the remaining griffin to fall in his knees from the force – and chopping his head in half. It was a little nauseating to see it, but he took it a step further by giving me a clear view of a decapitation before giving me a two-finger salute. He took the sheath, put the machete back in it, and attached it to his back and over his right shoulder.

"I think I'm scarred for life after watching that," I muttered to myself as I rubbed my temples. I opened communications again and asked for a radio connection between me and the rescue team. "You good?" Static once again and I absolutely hated it. Not because it was loud, but I was unsure of the situation going on on the ground.

"Yup, you saved my ass. I owe you one." Depending on what happens next week, I'll take it.

"Did you know I was watching you after the purge?" How can he even see this far? Did his eyes improve when coming through?

"Your scope doesn't prevent glare." He said as I immediately did my best to cover the scope with what was around me.

"Okay, okay, do you need any more help?" I checked my sniping position and began to move to another vantage point to have a better view of the situation.

"How many are guarding the other two?" My rifle muzzle turned to the captive members and just counted. Their L85A2s we're pointed at the mares heads before she responded.

"Five. L85A2s and standard level 3 armor. That machete should cut through the shielding and armor easily." I kept an eye on them as static once again filled my ears with that annoying sound.

"Keep your eyes on them and inform me of any new developments." I clicked the radio once again to respond, but the one-word response normally given to an order received felt like second nature.

"Copy."

(Third Person – Sugar Cube Corner, Ponyville)

Ponies were filling the confectionery establishment because they all wanted to see what would happen next. Each second felt like an eternity as they went to retrieve the two most talented pegasi Equestria had to offer. A lot of them were blushing after he blatantly admitted to watching porn; many thought he thought they weren't watching him.

As many of their blushes subsided, Rarity began to feel hope about the future of the Princess."They can actually win this fight." Rarity said as she had hoped for future successful battles and a possible recapture of Manehattan

"Wait, you said your sixteen right?" Quick Silver asked before continuing once again. "Are teens allowed in your military, or did you lie about your age?" This grabbed their attention as they all shut up.

"Nope, there's going to be a massive draft. The griffins are about to wipe us out... As in extinction. Where about to hit them back, but we need to cross the Panama Canal to get to the Atlantic Ocean and link up with what's left of humanity there. They may have already started the draft before we lost radio contact. How griffins took out satellites; I'll never know." Some of the stuff be was talking about seemed to go right over their heads; Atlantic Ocean, Panama Canal, satellite... It all didn't seem to be in their dictionary.

"Actually, do you have any formal training?" Was he making mistakes that they weren't seeing or was this something to be between soldiers.

"Of course not. They probably sent me in because I'm expendable with sociopathic tendencies and overthink things. Hell, when we lost the snipers, I just began to wing it." hope pretty much died there, but they kept watching just to see the outcome; however, some were a little sad something so young considered himself expendable.

"You're putting our lives of dumb luck?!" That was the question of many, but it wouldn't be the fox who answered.

"You'd be surprised how lucky he is. Crazy bastard ran into oncoming fire in no man's land without getting hit." The griffin responded as they switched to the fox to see what was happening. Rarity had to agree, he indeed was a crazy bastard.

"I prefer the phrase "That crazy son of a bitch"." Many winced from his excessive swearing but eventually got used to it.

"That wasn't a compliment. You pull stupid shit out you ass all the time." It doesn't matter what language you speak, that wouldn't be a compliment unless you take pride in it.

Growl!!!

That pit the ponies on alarm as they waited to see what beast that was from. They were wanting to see if that'll be the end for the duo or if they'll prevail. The two began to slow down a little with the fox's hands placed on his camo covered stomach.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have skipped breakfast." The anticipation all died within them as it was revealed he was just hungry. Many facepalmed at him neglecting a meal.

"I told you to eat something." There wasn't a response, but they just continued on their way to the two captured mares.

"They're not even worried, are they overconfident?" Twilight mumbled as she got to thinking before magicking in a book and quill.

"Hey you guys wanna hear a question that'll make no sense?" Twilight was just about to facepalm before someone asked what she was thinking.

"What's up with you today. You went from completely serious to childlike in seconds." She may have been a griffin, but Twilight wanted to shake her hand.

"I think I told you this, but I may just have the memory of a potato." That did get a laugh out of some of the ponies. A few chuckled from over the comms and the two captured struggled not to show they heard it. "My mind finally caught up with my body and is awake. I'm so used to getting a few hours of sleep and not seven or eight. The bus for school comes early and is inconsistent so I normally wake up about 5:30 every morning. Eh, don't have to do that shit now. Goodbye normal life!" It may have been quiet, but to those watching; it was loud and all they could do was hope that they weren't discovered.

"Heads up, your almost there," Quick Silver said as he immediately shut up and moved slower. It was like someone flipped a switch and he's something completely different.

Without warning, he sprinted at the group of five with his new scavenged machete in his hands and swung. Much to the observer's surprise and horror, he cleaved through a griffin and stabbed another without remorse.

In the confusion, Dash punched one while he tried to raise his gun, but ultimately failed as he stumbled back; he lost his footing and struggled to reclaim it. He wasn't able to see the mare raise her SMG and pull the trigger. He was dead before he hit the ground.

One fell with a sizable hole in his head as he fell to the ground with a thud as the last guy tried to run away. He was met with a bullet through the back courtesy of their friendly neighborhood sniper watching out for them.

It all happened so fast that no one watching could comprehend what just happened. It was just so unreal in their eyes that the griffins we're actually loosing. Considering that the leader hasn't had any formal training, they were doing really well. All the observers could do was watch and hope that they'll save Luna.

Chapter 8

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"Hey, how's it going?" A Griffin asked as she joined a Ruby Changeling in her patrol route. The changeling looked at the griffin with suspicion before rolling her eyes and allowing the female Griffin to join her.

"Nothing much, but I hear that a small squad of Equestrian spec ops was captured and being transported." The Griffin nodded as she looked upon the mountains where several Griffin and changelings went to eliminate several snipers who were assumed to have stayed out of sight during the ambush.

"I heard. Apparently, one was a griffin and another was an Arctic Fox. The fox was weird though, speaking of creatures called humans, but I can't make any sense of it." The changeling's head shot towards her with amazement in her eyes as a smile graced her lips.

"They exist! That's amazing, I mean, they were previously thought to be a myth, but if this fox has seen one; I want to know." The griffin chuckled as she continued to look at the mountains and towards one that had her brother fighting a few small sniper squads.

"Ya, but he seemed angry at us for some reason. What I'm more curious about is how one made it all the way down here? They would have to traverse through the tallest mountains and an everlasting blizzard." The changeling winced from the unnatural storm that surrounded the entire north pole.

"Ya, I'd rather not go back into the Windigo's Eye." The Griffin looked at her patrolling companion for a second with a confused look on her face.

"The Windigo's Eye?" The changeling froze for a second before calling herself down. It was in the past and all races have agreed to stay away from it to not lose any more creatures to the storm.

"We had many bad experiences from the unnatural barrier surrounding the north pole is why the Ruby Queen feared the creatures within so much. Attempts to get in have proven futile and hard to navigate resulted in the death of many. Considering changelings don't adapt well as other species made it worse for them. It wasn't just us, but all other species have tried as well and failed miserably. All they know if that a species of fox live there; the Arctic Fox. Occasionally, one will wander out, but will soon retreat into the storm once again. Some say only that species of fox can navigate through the storm, but for some reason; they always have this collar around their necks and all seem to be female. I couldn't tell you why though." The gave a little nod towards a few others who were patrolling nearby which they returned with a salute. Her higher rank caught their attention easily since it was proudly displayed on her shoulder.

"Must be easy being a Lieutenant Colonel." The Griffin mumbled with jealousy as she looked away from the sight. Her rank of Corporal didn't seem as impressive compared to her friends, but she couldn't do much about that.

"Maybe I just got lucky when I joined." The Lieutenant Colonel said with a shit-eating grin as the griffin. "The Queen values my skills better than most others."

"Only because you work well as a tackle advisor." The Changeling rolled her eyes and continued on patrol until she saw something weird on the tree surround by another patrol group consisting of ten. "What's that?" She asked as the group as they turned and saluted to the superior officer.

They dropped there salutes as most of them went back to observing the object while two stayed looking at the two. "No clue. It sicks to the tree like it's glued there, but it seems to be more of a sticky substance. It can be removed fairly easy, but we'd rather not do anything if it's harmful." The First Sargent went back to observing the object as the Corporal spoke to continue.

"Should we leave it or take it with us?" She said, but before any of them could speak a soft click was heard followed by an explosion of the small object. The ten soldiers were caught in the explosion as bark shrapnel stabbed into their skin and some were sent straight through their bodies. None of those ten soldiers survived; dying either from the bark being sent through their bodies or bled to death on the ground. The griffin and the changeling were sent flying backward, their bodies just barely saved by their L85A2s.

The ringing in their ears was almost unbearable and she was heavily disoriented, but the ground shook for an unknown reason. The ringing in their ears finally subsided explosions went off around them. The griffin was unconscious as the changeling looked around as griffins and changelings charged in, but we're either cut down by machine gunfire or the explosions. The griffin was about to wake up and tried to sit up, but the changeling grabbed her kevlar and pulled her back to the ground. Her ears and mind were finally clear her head turned in all directions while looking for a safe place to take cover. It was only a matter of time before one of those explosions killed them. She ultimately settled in pulling her into the crater with no other options, much to the griffin's surprise.

It took a second for the two of them to realize that the forest was being destroyed as the explosions. They pulled out their sidearms as their ears cleared a little more to hear the faint sound of a whistle before the explosions. They came up for a second to fire off a few rounds at the opposing army. The range of their explosives hit their zenith of range as they reached five hundred meters behind them. The explosions didn't come close to them, but if they moved, they would be killed in seconds from the machine gunfire.

All they could do was sit and wait for reinforcements or the line to be pushed back in their favor, but considering the current situation; they'd have to wait for a while.

Celestia observed the remaining five soldiers that climbed down random trees after a large number of soldiers stormed past them. She couldn't help but be impressed by the teen's plan even after at sort of went up in flames after all snipers, but one was killed. He did expect casualties in the snipers if they were ever caught or sniped by an unseen enemy, but not so many at once. However, he was keeping a level head despite the odds against him and the back and forth between him and his team was... Not something she wanted to hear despite the fact that he practically already told them their world was a show in his.

She continued to supervise everything in Canterlot while keeping an eye on them if something ever went wrong and they needed a quick extraction. She almost laughed when the young Sargent fell out of the tree for practically no reason. She was glad that he jumped back up and continued to steadily make progress towards the location Luna was currently being held.

All was silent as he made his commands via hand gestures as he made a fist for them to stop. His hand uncurled and he made a chopping motion with his hand. Alex was the first to react as she walked behind him and looked around for any other soldiers they were lagging behind. The next two followed her example and made a perfect line. They were now in a single file formation. He made another signal and they began to walk before his open hand lowered to the ground. They all went into a squat like walk to reduce visibility and keep at a swift pace. They had about half an hour left until Luna's shield falls and a massacre would occur.

Just then, something came through the portal and it seemed like a large slab of metal and glass. She was confused until it began to mage a really loud noise that could only be compared to a siren. It had a picture of Captain Meier in his naval Class B uniform and in brackets under the name said, Official. Wanting to do something to stop the siren-like noise, she hit the green button that was shaking and pulsing on the object, the noise stopped it's near defining, the photo zoomed out and darkened before a real-time image of the captain appeared in the top right corner of the object.

"Hello Celestia, I'm sorry to force this type of technology into your hands unprepared, but you need to shut down the portal for now." He said which surprised her since she never thought that he'd ever say that. Not only was it the only connection between there worlds, but it was also Hunter's and Zoe's only way home.

"What of your young Sargent?" She asked as anger began to well up inside of her before a somewhat distant sound made itself know. The sound of gunfire and flack exploding in midair as windows of the command deck had black clouds and small objects in the sky.

"He's safer there than here." He responded before an explosion hit the deck causing him to fall forward and the view to shit towards the ceiling. A portion of the sky could be seen and the sound of gunfire became much louder before stoping.

All was quiet like those in the room with her could hear the battle raging on the other end, but none of it was close. Eventually, the view began to move and a somewhat bloodied Meier could be seen.

"The Griffins and some bug-like creatures began an aggressive attack against all defenders, it seems to be a little reckless, but we're losing soldiers quickly." Celestia knew what they meant and it wasn't good and something would soon have to be in effect.

"Hold out as long as you can. If my suspicions are correct, they should stop after an hour after the beginning of the attack." This confused the Captain as he looked at her quizzically as if she would get his answer immediately. "Heat will begin soon and that's the only time we have a ceasefire. We'll have to close the portal until after, but they're trying to get only last attack in before it begins."

"Heat?"

"I'll tell you after, but it's for your own safety that you agree to the ceasefire because that can converge on the attackers and deal with them quickly. And considering the state of your military, casualties will be unnecessary. Just agree to it and we'll open the portal after Heat's finished." Just then, a scroll appeared in front of her as an identical one appears in front of Meier. She read it and signed the agreement before sending it with her magic.

Meier was unsure if he should, they were vulnerable and it would take time for the decommissioned battleships to be repaired in working order. If it was true, then they would have a week with hardly any enemy presents and it might be enough time to get them in working order. Air defenses could be put up and the war industry could be set up at that time. They may have to agree to it just for that small amount of time unless they want to lead a sneak attack against them, but the risk was worth the reward.

He had to consult the president, House of Representatives, and the Senate if he wanted to go ahead and sign the temporary ceasefire. He saw a small time limit on the letter and he swiftly wrote a response to this development saying that he can't speak for the leaders, but he could send it to his nation's leaders.

The letter was sent and immediate response was returned giving them at least two days to respond about the matter. Meier sighed knowing that he may get chewed out for his decision about helping the Equestrians without consulting any of the higher-ups.

"I'm trusting you, Celestia. Please take care of Hunter, he's already lost plenty of his family and I don't want him falling deeper into depression." With that, the call ended and Celestia put the device down and looked at one of the computer monitors before sighing.

"You allow children to fight your war, but I just hope they can continue being who they were before," Celestia said before looking around and beaconing a runner to her. The stallion stood proudly at attention with his class B uniform practically perfect. "Go tell the engineers to shut down the portal and close it off with nullstone and began evacuation for heat season." His eyes widened as he nodded before leaving immediately to inform the engineers of what was currently happening.

"Maybe, we can hit them back before the ceasefire in effect." Celestia began to think while managing defenses around the castle. They needed the building to be secured enough to defend against anything, including artillery. "May Faust help us all."

(Hunter's POV)

We were almost at the objective location with minimal casualties compared to the full fighting force. Honestly, a part of me anticipated the snipers would be the first to go, but I refused to acknowledge it even if it was the truth. The plan could've been thought out better, but I did make the right decision on briefing all the teams separately instead of all together.

Despite the snipers' teams being almost annihilated, we finally reached the objective location. I'm surprised they actually took the bait of the frontal assault. I checked my watch and saw we had about ten minutes left, but we needed to scope out the field for any unmentioned variables. We couldn't risk anything with how close we are to completing this mission.

We spread out but still in sight of at least two, but what I saw made me panic. I looked at Alex and Spitfire before balling my fist and shaking it side to side frantically. They looked at me confused but relayed the motion to Dash before I mouthed tank and Alex immediately came to my location, a Javelin in her hands. I switched places with her which gave me a great position of Alice.

Silently, I pushed the button on the radio and began to whisper into it. "Two heavily armored bad guys facing away from you Quick Silver. Alex will destroy the tank and that's your signal to kill them." I wasn't joking about the heavily armored soldiers. They were juggernauts, but they didn't have any neck protection; just body protection. I didn't trust my shooting to kill them and I would have my hands full with the two guarding Alice.

I stole a glance at the tank as it swept the area for anyone like use. It looked like a British Challenger 2, but that could just be how they made things. My eyes shifted towards Alex as I balled my hand and made a punching motion or the military equivalent of strike.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as my hand immediately retracted to my grip as the sound of an FGM-148 Javelin echoed through the practically silent clearing before the tank exploded in a giant orange fireball. Immediately after that, one of the juggernauts fell before another fell with it and then I moved. I gunned down one before rushing to Alice and gunning the other down with a spray of bullets before she tried to shoot me with her L85A2, but I was too close. Two shots impacted my shielding before I tackled her to the ground, I flipped her on her stomach and straddled her while keeping an arm pinned behind her and pushing her face into the dirt's. Eventually, all that could be heard was distant gunfire and mortar explosions. The enemy didn't have the chance to even fire a single round between their confusion and our quick action.

I brought my face close to her ear, my fox-like muzzle lightly brushing against her feathers, and I spoke slowly so she could understand. "Now that we have you, tell your buddies to surrender or I'll blow your fuckin brains across the grass." She chuckled as Alex brought over a gray crystal from one of the dead creatures in the clearing.

"As if you have the-" A gunshot echoed through the nearly silent clearing as she shifted her head to look up at me and the cold, dark look I head. The fear in her eyes was almost enjoyable to see if I had any more time to spend.

"Call. Them. Off." Much to her horror, my gun was barely a millimeter from her head as she just stared down the barrel of the gun. She knew I wasn't messing around once the barrel was pushed against her temple hard to the point she wasn't fighting to get her head unpinned.

Alex pulled the crystal down to her level as she began to speak."A-all troops... Stand down. I have been captured." I got off her as a Changeling in a dark green carapace took her and bounded her with rope.

"Take her armor. If she moves, kill her." I walked away before getting on the radio while watching our first prisoner. She was being gagged and pulled to her feet roughly by who I can easily assume is Luna. "Zoe, if you will switch me to the others comms." The sound chatter flooded my sense of hearing as I did the only thing to get them to stop. "SILENCE!!!" Everything stopped, including the distant gunfire which was replaced by nothing as many gave a few grunts of protest from the sudden loud noise. "Quit firing assault and stealth teams, gather the remaining soldiers and capture them. If any try to fight back don't hesitate to kill them. I don't want any trouble makers." A chorus of 'Sir, yes Sir,' sounded like music to my ears as I walked back to the group.

As I finally made my way back to my friends and forced squadmates, the Blackhawk flew overhead before landing. Zoe stepped out and walked to us, her pony features had the expression of worry as she came closer.

"The mission isn't finished! Canterlot is under fire from multiple battalions of Griffins! We were recalled to help aid in defense! Load up we got ten minutes!" I nodded as I walked to Luna, the wind from the rotors blowing what seemed to be my hair into my face, but it never reached my vision.

"Alright, round up any who come this way, box them in. Take them prisoner and for the sake of any god, don't kill them! I ran over to Alex and tapped her shoulder and telling her the same thing I was told. I repeated the process two more times with Spitfire and Rainbow Dash as we rushed to the chopper. "I leave this in your hands, Princess!" I gave a quick salute before she did the same.

"I leave Canterlot to you, Sir Fox!" With that, we flew off in the direction of Canterlot. But at least Luna is most definitely safe now.

I moved to the M134 and mounted it was Alex moved to my side with her M249 at the ready. "I'd say Operation Lunar Eclipse is a success!" I yelled over the comms, now switched to our little squad link.

"I agree!" Quick said as I saw her waving us down with a flare. We landed to allow her to hop in and mount the other Minigun.

"Well don't rest now, we got a castle to defend!" Staff Sargent Hawkins said as we flew quickly towards the castle is speeds only achievable by Wonderbolts.

"Operation Lunar Eclipse is complete! New objective: Defend Canterlot Castle!" That's when it finally hit me, a question about something I never really thought about until now.

"What about the teams that wiped out our snipers?!" Everyone, including Zoe, stiffened except for Quick Silver who seemed completely relaxed.

"Stealth teams got them while waiting for the signal! No doubt they're board out of there minds!" I couldn't help a chuckle escaping my lips, but it was short-lived as flack exploded near my field of vision.

"There it is the hell of war," Zoe said as I stared at the burning castle and the city next to it. Griffins at mass were flying towards the giant beacon of Equestrian Warfare Command. Underneath was a large field filled with soldiers of both sides fighting over dominance to turn the tides of war. On the Equestrian side was one of the last cities left under Equestrian control: Ponyville. Our mission was simple...

Survive and defend.

Chapter 9

View Online

"Rear Admiral Meier, do you have anything to say in defense of your actions?" Mark Esper, The Sectary of Defense, said as he stared at the Rear Admiral Lower Half. His attire consisted of a nice dress suit and silver-framed glasses.

Meier stood there in his class B uniform, multiple ribbons and metals lining his left breast. He's position of attention was perfect and those of the Senate and Congress. "Time wasn't on our side and this operation could show civilians and Equestrians that these Griffins can be beaten. Also, if they got their hands on that VIP, the will of a future ally will be broken." Many seemed to agree with that seeing as the loss of a nation's leader can break the will of anyone.

Mark begrudgingly agreed considering that the United States president was recently killed soon after the first attacks. Luckily, many of those who help the president survived and are working on growing the War Industry. They needed to work fast before another large assault attacks again.

"But what your asking us is to agree to this week-long ceasefire despite the massive losses worldwide?" Mark was understandably skeptical especially after a few days after the war began. Luckily, Canada was able to fend off the Griffins attacking Alaska coming from Russia.

"Yes, with the time we have, we can use the time to build up the war industry." Many didn't seem to think about that considering that. Though it was coming along nicely, it would take weeks for it to come together completely. "We are severally outgunned and outnumbered, but with this time, we can make as many weapons as possible for the future draft. The way I see it, the risk is well worth the reward." A few minutes of muttering could be heard as the Admiral waited in anticipation for the answer and what their verdict was. His mind was tense, but he remained calm outside and showed no signs of it.

"We have agreed to the ceasefire and we're contacting Hechler and Koch in Virginia to reinstate the XM8 rifle. If those Equestrians can help modify it to prevent the other problems." Despite the rifles' previous performance, they need all they can get and it can be modified into multiple different weapon classes. Assault rifle, marksmen's rifle, submachine gun, LMG, and carbine were all the possible combinations that could be possible just by easily switching a few parts.

"What I'm wondering is why you allow an untrained soldier with no battle experience to plan and lead a Black Ops." The former Vice President asked while trying to wrap his head around why he would do such a reckless thing.

Captain Meier could only smirk as he stared at the screen. "Easy, his unique thinking is something I can rely on, he knows the enemy better than any trained soldier and the last, but most important reason, he has prior knowledge of the Equestrians, Griffins, and Changelings." No one said a thing as the Senate and Congress tried to wrap their heads around what he just said.

"P-please repeat it," Mark asked, he completely froze on the spot and was unable to process the information given.

"It may seem impossible, but I've seen it with my own eyes. It wasn't until I was approached by a lieutenant when he showed me and proved what he said was true. Here." He typed for a little bit on an unseen keyboard and pulled up a picture of Celestia while she was on the ship. "This was what we saw. And this..." He typed a little bit more and the same pony appeared but as a quadruped. "Is what everyone saw before the war. The only difference seems to be that what we saw on the ship is that she's bipedal. Everything else seems to be the same including speech patterns and sound. We are being attacked and allying with living fiction." No one said a thing as they were finally able to process everything they were given.

The last question he was given by the Newest President who could only accept the new reality they were forced into. "Can you trust them, the Sargent and Princess I mean?" He asked as the Captain answered immediately and without hesitation.

"Yes, yes we can. The kid has a better understanding of the situation and our new allies and Celestia have been weakened due to an attempted assassination. She couldn't do much in her current state even if she wanted to." The President nodded and began to speak again, but nothing could prepare Meier for what he was about to hear.

"Captain Meier, we have agreed that your course of action was necessary and justified, but from this day forward; you are no longer a Rear Admiral." Meier internally winced but made no move physically. "You are now Promoted to Fleet Admiral as of today. You're mission if the same as before; take the oil refineries in the gulf then proceed to the Northern Pacific Ocean and link up with what remains of America's Seventh Fleet. The Iowa-class battleships that were preserved will be active and will be replicated in this time of need; however, we need the drydocks on the Western Coast." The. Fleet Admiral nodded as he looked at the president with determination. "We'll brief you more about the situation after you reach the Pacific. We will also agree to the ceasefire which means we can make the decommissioned battleships ready in that time frame for when you began to cross the Panama Canal. We're trusting you, Meier, don't make us regret it." The screens shut off and Meier silently cheered with a happy look on his face as he looked down at his tablet. That smile fell as he tried to gulp down his fear.

"Celestia, for both our sakes, I hope your right." He walked out of his private quarters and being to give his sailors the good news. Sounds of cheering came from the ship that day and a new sense of accomplishment flooded the area, but now came a new, hidden objective.

Help Meier prove he deserves this promotion.

(Canterlot Airspace–Hunter's POV)

"RPG!!!" I yelled as a missile screamed past the haul of the chopper. More soared by as flares launched from the Blackhawk. I was more than eager to return the favor with a borage of 7.62 rounds into those firing at us. "Suck on this motherfuckers!" Zoe was avoiding many of the rockets shot our way while I did my best to kill as many as possible.

One of the Griffins got a little too cocky during this invasion and came up to us with a war cry. She met a very brutal death in the form of a grenade on her vest being shot and a very red explosion saved me from a life with shrapnel in my face. I personally like to see, thank you very much.

I continued absolutely slaughtering the feathery fucks and even tearing a few in half due to the insane rate of fire from this gun. That was until the chopper was hit with a rocket causing it to jerk to it's left. Unfortunately, that was behind me and I lost grip of the Minigun. But on the bright side, I got a hold of the edge before I fell off and became a pancake on the ground. Another bad thing was because of that missile we had to get lower so it would be harder for a rocket to hit us, but I had to think of something quite– HOLY CRAP THAT'S A HOUSE!!!

Ya, I wasn't going to go face-first into a house at 222 MPH while dangling from a Blackhawk. I let go and hit the ground hard as the rest went to go find a safe place to land... Hopefully.

"We're coming back! Hold position, Sargent!" Staff Sargent Hawkins said as I got slightly annoyed about her using my rank. Aside from that coming here was a really bad idea especially after we were surrounded moments before.

"Negative, LZ is too hot! I'll find my own way to the castle; you go support them as much as possible!" I say the Blackhawk zoom by for a second at full speed before pulling off a wide turn into the courtyard. That's about a mile away from my position at most.

"Friendly on you six!" I know that voice. I turned to find Alex right behind me, her M249 scanning the area and I couldn't help the small smile on my face. "Couldn't leave you hanging in a place like this!" I nodded in acknowledgment before scanning the area as well, but getting to the castle would be a trial for the ages. If this was an initiation, this was one to make a leader.

"Get off the street! We're too exposed here!" I pointed to a random house and we moved there while keeping an eye on... Everything. Fighting an enemy with wing and in a place that can easily be an ambush point isn't the best place to be.

I tried to open the door while Alex kept me covered, but like I said; I tried to open the door, but it was locked. That didn't stop my boot from kicking the fuck out of it and it flies to the other side of the room. I herd a click to my right and my rifle immediately went to it as a woman and her foals were hiding from the Griffins. The click came from one of the foals who had a .44 Magnum pointed at me.

"Civies to the right, one with a gun, foal." I walked over to him and kneeled down to his level as Alex walked in. His eyes widened as he pointed it at her, but I grabbed the barrel and pointed it to the ground. "It's alright, were with Equestria, not the Empire." He looked at me unsure until his eyes began to light up in recognition as he looked at us.

"You're the guy who saved Luna!" He yelled in amazement which caused me to cover his mouth. If I was lucky, then no one heard that.

"Yes, but you need to be–" Ya, someone heard me and bullets tore throw the wall forcing Alex and me to hit the deck. The mare and filly were fine, but the colt and I weren't so I covered him using my body as a shield.

"Alex! Throw a flash!" She pulled a flashbang out and threw it at them before the explosion went off. "Go to your mom and stay there!" He didn't hesitate to run before I pulled out the HK416 and taking aim out a window. I killed a few Griffins and Changelings before the effects of the Flashbang wore off.

We were now pinned down by rapidly gunfire and approaching soldiers. In short, we were fucked up the ass by shapeshifters and eagle/lion hybrids. All I did was a blind fire at them and Alex followed my example which gave me the conference to peak out and shoot at a couple of them. I wasn't able to kill any because I emptied the clip while blind firing. I reloaded and peeked out again and actually did something with my life as a couple of them now had a few new breathing holes.

"Switch positions!" I yelled as we moved to each other's former defense position. One tried to rush us like an idiot before I gunned him down. He wasn't dead, but he was inside; barely clinging to what little life he had left. I made sure he didn't suffer anymore while mentally praying for him to have a better life in the... Well, afterlife. I may be an atheist, but that doesn't mean I don't hope for others to burn in hell and if my assumption was correct; then he doesn't deserve cruelty.

Time was running out the longer we stayed here and we needed to move or we'll be outnumbered. I looked around for anything that may be useful or anywhere to run if we couldn't defend this place anymore. Damn it, I can't think straight with all that noise, but what am I going to do.

Going to the back would leave wide-open airspace for the enemy to gun us down with and if we stayed; we would be overwhelmed. I looked around for a moment before spotting stairs leading to an upper level and what I hoped would be a safer place than this.

"Alex!" I yelled, she looked at me as she crouched down and out the line of fire of the bad guys. "Take those three upstairs and provide covering fire! We need to push up the street!" She nodded and ran to the small family before they all did what I said.

I tossed a frag out and it exploded and hopefully killed a few. It wasn't magically enchanted, but I bet it didn't some damage. I peak out again and killed one who was leaning out a building while taking potshots at me. I minimize their visibility of me by preforming a small sweep of the area and killing those in my sight. It was eating at my ammo, but it was necessary to make sure we were good.

Sometime during all that, Alex joined the fray with her covering fire which I eventually took advantage of to find cover outside to get a foothold so we could advance up the street. I did, however, had to switch to the M110 after I ran out of ammo for my assault rifle. Some now had a sizeable hole in their heads, but I pity the guy I shot in the dick. Honestly, that was a misfire on my end. I put him out of his misery. Eventually, they began to retreat from the area with their tails between their legs.

"Finally, that took longer than expected," I said while I looted some bodies for ammo and anything that they have that I don't. I tossed Alex a mag for her LMG which she caught without looking. "Holy crap, that was awesome! Nice catch!" She tossed me a mag, but I totally didn't stumble to catch it.

"We better hurry if we want to get to the rest before my people do." We left only searching half the bodies left behind. Hell, there had to be at least a hundred there if not more. It was an insane battle that had one too many close calls on my end with that ballsy move I pulled.

We moved down the street with our fingers on the triggers with each other covering the other blind spots. The occasional enemy appeared every once and a while which was dealt with swiftly. I just hoped the rest had a better time than us.

(Canterlot Castle–Zoe Hawkins POV)

"Shit!" We were up shit's Creek with how many were here. After landing within friendly lines, we were immediately tasked with defending the southern corridor leading to the throne room. The corridor was small – possibly fitting for people standing side by side comfortably – but the number of bullets being traded was making it hard to see. Flashes gave away their position easily enough, but the amount of bullets made it hard to kill any without getting hit. This Kevlar helped, but five shots and I was fucked until it recharged.

I pulled a flash off my vest and pulled the pin before calling over the gunfire to get behind cover and cover their ears. The flash went into the hallway before exploding seconds later as all gunfire stopped which I took advantage of. I threw a frag behind their lines while they were disabled.

An explosion and a dark cloud of dust and debris flew to our side. "All troops, advance!" I commanded while walking down the hall as those in my temporary squad followed me.

"Yes, Princess!" I got irritated at that but held my tongue to not provoke anything that may be near. They've been calling me princess since I was given temporary command over them even after I explained I was human.

We stacked up near a corner that leads to one of the main entryways. We moved around the corner and slowly moved up as the sound of combat came from the other hall ahead of us.

"Guard that entrance. Stay quiet." I ordered and moved to the other corner and peaked to see what I was up against. A small unit firing upon the other squad to defend the northern halls. That team was lead by Dash and Spitfire.

I grinned and tossed a grenade into the middle of the ground which confused them. It swiftly turned into panic when it exploded and gunfire came from behind them. It tore through their ranks easily and I stopped after they were all gone.

"Blue, Blue!" I yelled as I waved a hand around my cover so they wouldn't shoot. I peaked around the corner and saw them walking up to us as a few of the windows let small amounts of like hit them. They were shattered, but nothing could get through them. "We should push to the courtyard, take the wall and guard it for Hunter and Alex."

"I agree, that kid's awesome! Not as awesome as me, but still amazing! But are you sure that we can even trust Alex, she is a griffin?" Rainbow said while Spitfire ordered the combined might of our squads.

"Ya, I trust her. She had plenty of opportunities to fuck us over, but didn't." She nodded and we walked to Spitfire who was preparing to move forward to a better defensive position. "We're going to take the courtyard, you want in?" She smiled and loaded her gun before we proceed further in the castle.

"I honestly didn't think I'd see this from a pilot. From what you've told us, you mostly used for support and transport runs." I chuckled as I lifted the M4A1 up and smiled.

"When I was asked if I wanted to help the special forces, they put me in special training just in case I was shot down during a mission. Honestly, if I wanted to, I could become special forces, but I prefer to fly then fight." I readied my gun as I swept the area for any hostiles that were in the room. I couldn't hope to catch up with BEAR's eyesight, but mine were pretty sharp and could still pick out differences in the shadows.

"The latter you need is to the left. It'll take you to the top of the walls and we can flank them in the chaos." Dash said, despite what I thought earlier. I thought she was more headstrong than smart, but I guess there's more than meets the eye with these ponies.

"Okay, on you." I began to climb the latter before we looked at one another and nodded. Spitfire leads the ground assault while Dash and I took out those up top and flanked them. The sound of the palace doors bursting open was our mark as we came up as quietly and quickly as possible. After that, it was like target practice.

I gunned one down with ease, but not wasting any bullets at the same time. I moved slowly and moved my gun quickly to deal with anyone who sees me. It was also to maintain accuracy whilst on the move. One played dead, but I made sure to check if they were or not so they got a face full of 5.56 point-blank.

Dash and I eventually met up and went out a little. We cleared off the wall and began to shoot off the Griffins and Changelings from behind. Many were too focused on the Ponies to see the real threat while others scrambled to find more protective cover. One even tried to fly at me... In a straight line... With a knife... I feel if I explain this more, I'll become more retarded. Either way, he painted the wall red when he hit it.

More flew in, but I never guessed they wouldn't come on the wall, but they did. None of them landed on the wall and it just surprised me how dumb they were. Was war so much of a foreign subject that they wouldn't try to take the high ground with lots of cover to shoot at the lower ground that had little cover? If that's the case, I expected a quick war.

I took a few shots at some of them as most fell to Dash's excessive fully auto fire and the constant harassment from the ponies on the ground. Between Dash and I, I got the most kills because of my carefully placed shots. Soon, more ponies joined us up top and began shooting Griffins out the sky. A large number of them reenforced the ground troops and they began to retreat and the wall doors opened for anyone who didn't evacuate in time.

They would stay open for the rest of the battle with little scuffs here and there, but hardly anything happens after that except me out shooting a sniper. I think he'd be mad if he was still alive when he realized that I only have a carbine. Today was a good day.

(Canterlot City–Hunter's POV)

"Contact! Two o'clock!" I yelled as I opened fire on the Griffins coming at us at fast speeds. If I had to make an estimate of their speed; they had to be as fast as a World War 2 Japanese Zero fighter.

"Shit, I'm out!" Alex yelled as she pulled her pistol out and began to fire. I ran out of ammo a while ago and just began using my pistol, but I was down to my last mag and I was out of grenades and red crystals.

"I'm out!" I yelled as I hid behind a food stall and waited till they either got bored or Alex killed them. I was vulnerable at this point.

Minutes went by and Alex decided to join me in my cover as we stayed there without any ammo. "Why weren't you helping?!" I stared at her with the most 'what the fuck' look u could muster.

"What do you want me to do?! Bum Rush them with a machete! This ain't CoD!" A bullet punches through our cover and I scoot closer to Alex until I'm pressed against her; our Kevlar would be fused together if I had the strength to crush it like I was trying to do. "We're going to die." I could feel my anxiety beginning to fill me as the possibility of death fills my being.

I'm scared. Weird, I never felt this type of fear before. Death always scared me, but I'd never thought it would come for a long time. I'd make fun of it a hell of a lot, but it was a brave face I put up to distract me from it. I was going to die before I did what I wanted. Hehehe, sixteen and never had a girlfriend in my life. What a pathetic way to live... Alone. Family dead, middle of combat, not knowing if you're family will remember you. Damn it, I'm just making myself more scared. I'm scared. I'm so scared. I'm really scared. I'm sorry Alex; I'm sorry I got you killed. I'm a pitiful excuse for a friend.

I felt something press against my lips as whatever it is pushes me to the ground and pins me underneath it. My eyes are beyond widened and my vision begins to clear from the tears that filled my vision. I never realized I was crying until my vision began to clear and I saw Alex really close to my face but her eyes were closed.

For a moment, I was confused about what was happening. We're we co close in a cover that we fell over or did she tackle me to the group when the bullets were about to push through. Maybe when she did that she hit her beak on the marble road when she tackled me. Why were her eyes closed like she was taking a short nap? Her eyes opened and stared into mine and they almost looked pleased. I swear I could see a tiny heart in her eyes.

Then it hit me like a flaming semi-truck to the face. She was kissing me and was on top of me. I was even more confused when I tried to think of why she was doing this. I'm not going to lie, I'm dense as hell, so I can't pick up on hints as easily as most people – Shadowflame can attest to that. But why would she even consider kissing me? WE MEET THREE DAYS AGO!!! THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!!

Her tongue wrestled mine for domains that didn't have much to offer due to lack of experience and me still being in shock. It honestly felt weird for my first kiss, but I was slowly getting into it as began to sink into it. Her tongue running over my teeth and shivered when it ran over my canines as I attempted to mimic her actions... And failed spectacularly. How was she so good at this?! It was around this time I remembered I could breathe through my nose... Muzzle, whatever.

Eventually, she pulled away and I was surprised by the lack of gunfire, but I didn't take my eyes off the griffin as a small string of saliva still connecting our mouths to one another. A massive blush was spread across her face and there was no doubt that there was one against mine. Our heavy breathing didn't keep us from gazing into each other's eyes as we stayed in that position for what felt like hours until I felt a hard impact on my left cheek.

"Don't say stuff like that." She whispered as she hugged me despite me being on the bottom. I could hear soft crying next to me. "You saved me time and time again. Even when you could have killed me and had every justifiable reason to, you didn't. You treat everyone with kindness when you can, but you're so nice to those who don't deserve it. Damn it, you should've killed me when you found me, but you didn't! I'm responsible for your suffering, for taking away your life, for killing your family, and for killing countless civilians. I feel awful for what I've done, but you refused to see me as a monster even after everything the others said. You were more angry that I was hurt and not glad like the rest. You've done so much for me and I wish I could do more to pay you back!" I could feel tears soaking my uniform as I did my best to wordlessly comfort her. I was never really good at it, but I guess I didn't have much of a choice now. I can't leave her hanging like this; wallowing in self-pity.

I got to at least a sitting position and move a little away from her before I did the same thing she did to me. I pulled her close and gave her a deep kiss that she tentatively returns, but this one was more reserved than the last one. I was much slower since I literally have no experience with this. Once again, she dominated me before she pulled away and our ears caught the sound is footsteps.

"I know I'm not the best to cheering someone up, but you know I'm more of actions speak more than words. I'm better at listening than talking, but I will say this: You've done more for me than you know. Before I met you, I hid behind a make made of lies that I told myself and others. Even amongst my peers and the amazingness that is band, I felt alone; like an outcast... Then I met you. You helped me through a time when I thought I couldn't be saved, a time where I would've given up, and a time... Don't sell yourself short; because you are much more." The footsteps got closer and my little tirade ended, but I grabbed her hand and squeezed it reassuringly and stared deep into her eyes. Our foreheads, my muzzle and her beak in contact while we continued to stare at each other.

"Hunter." She said as she closed her eyes. She seemed calm and ready for what was going to come.

I smiled and followed her example as I closed my eyes softly and linked our fingers together. "Yes," I responded softly as I brought her closer with the other arm.

"I love you." Those three words that mean so much, but are said too little. The hardest sentence to say to anyone much less anyone you love.

"I love you too," I said back, as my hands tightened band I pulled her closer. If they were going to fire at us... They'd hit me first.

"Never thought I'd see this." Our eyes shot open as we heard that familiar voice. We look towards and saw Zoe there with a wide grin as pony forces marched past us.

Relief flooded my system as all feelings of fear and acceptance left me. I began to chuckle as Alex followed until we were uproariously laughing. I lied on the ground as my mind attempted to catch up with my body. Alex fell back as well and did the same.

"Knee-deep in shit creek with no ammo and surrounded... Then the cavalry arrives before they get to us! Your luck Hunter is legendary!" I couldn't help but laugh as I got up and grinned happily at Alex as my adrenaline was slowly leaving my system.

"I recommend you go to the castle for debriefing. Most soldiers want to see the famous Fortuna." Zoe left as Dash and Spitfire followed while distant gunfire echoed in the distance. The sky was clear of all activities as small specs off in the distance showed the Griffin's retreat and prisoners were escorted back to the castle; most likely being lead to the dungeon.

Then it dawned on me what Zoe said. "Wait, what?"

Chapter 10

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Alex and I marched down the halls in a professional manner. Evacuated civilians were crammed into small rooms and we're keeping low to the floor. Many near the doors tried to get away from Alex as she passed by with her M249 shouldered, but we can't do any; we're Winchester on ammo or, more commonly known as out of ammo. We couldn't fight even if we want to.

I sighed as I pulled the mag out and put it in a pocket on my tactical vest. I took my helmet off and clipped it to a free loop on the MOLLE system. I didn't care it was good conduct, I was just shot at for almost an hour straight. I may have not shown it, but I was scared out my mind the entire time after I fell off the Blackhawk.

"Hey, Fortuna!" Someone yelled from behind me causing me to look and see Dash along with Luna. "The seventh assault division just got back. Most want to hear how you survived behind enemy lines." She seemed more optimistic than me, but that nickname is confirming my theory more and more.

"It wasn't much, just luck and common sense. Hell, before Zoe found us, we were surrounded with no ammo... SON OF BITCH!!!" I yelled as it finally dawned on me about what just happened.

"What?! Why are you telling?!" Luna asked while also telling for some unknown reason. Maybe to seem like we were in a heated argument so I looked less weird... Or maybe because it startled her.

"ZOE PULLED A DEUS EX MACHINA ON US!!!" Alex just looked at me weirdly before walking away with a sigh. "Don't do that, you know this is a big deal!" I chased after her to the War Room.

"Your so childish." She said as I caught up to her and I ran so fast that I felt like Sonic. I was never that fast, nor did I have the stamina; where the fuck did this come from.

"Yes, I completed my ultimate goal! I will never grow up!" Is it weird that I'm more confident when I embrace my weird side... Nah.

She laughed a little as we continued to the war room our spirits high but my anticipation was killing me about my theory is correct. It wouldn't be long before we got there, but all I could do was hope for the truth from Celestia.

"Damn it!" I yelled as p walked face-first into the door. Was I really that far in thought that I couldn't tell it was there? That's embarrassing.

I opened the door and found the princess standing there with a wide smile as she practically tackled me to the ground in a hug. I would think this was just her being weird and wanting to embarrass me, as she did before the mission briefing, but I could feel her tears soaking into my uniform and a small part of my fur.

"Thank you." She whispered as she squeezed me harder to the point where I couldn't breathe. Oh god! Bones... Are... Cracking!

"Me bones!" I yelled, disregarding all the grammar of school in favor of wanting to live. She let go a few seconds later and went back to where she was at. On the bright side, my back feels so much better.

"I have to thank you, Sargent. You did more than I expected and even persevered through the worst. You have exceeded all my expectations and I have to think you, Captain, for sending you and Alex here." Celestia turned to Alex and began with another speech. "Dear griffin, I know how hard it was to fight against your own sister and killing those who were once you're brothers and sisters in arms. However, you saved so many lives including my sister, but it seems as if you gained a reward better than any I can provide." She gave a sly look to use and my mind went blank as all my movements ceased. Alex, on the other hand, was blushing up a storm and I was a little afraid of her head exploding. Luckily that didn't happen, but I did have to catch her after she passed out.

Taking this opportunity, I began to ask my questions starting with the one that was immediately in my head. "H-how do you know about that?!" I yelled in complete shock as she smiled evilly.

"The feed to earth may have been cut after the portal was temporarily closed, but the one in Equestria was still streaming." The portal closed for a while! I don't care how many ponies saw that I was more concerned about it closing for a small while.

"Okay... The Griffin how held me hostage know of humanity and said: "don't act like you don't know what you did." I wanna know how he knew of humanity." She tensed up for a moment before avoiding my direct eye contact. It's good that they have larger more expression eyes so I can tell that she's hiding something.

"I'm afraid that I don't know what you're talking about." It was a lie... A plain, easy, and simple lie. She was fidgeting too much to make her lie believable

"Fine then... Then how about my new nickname: Fortuna. That's a Greek goddess from Earth, so tell me how your ponies know of her." She bit her lip while looking at her guards, but they were too busy to respond. She seemed desperate for help and I was losing my patience. "Fine... We'll do this the hard way."

She looked at me a bit confused after I said that. "The hard wa-" she wasn't able to finish as I kicked her to the wall and began to choke her with my left forearm. My other arm was occupied pressing the barrel of the gun against her head. "What are you doing?!" She yelled in confusion and fear as the clicking of guns filled the room.

"If you shoot me my body will seize up and cause me to pull the trigger," I stated as I looked back at them causing those in the room to freeze. "Now answer me, how did the Griffins learn if humanity. Their first attack was far too thought out to be lucky."

"I... Don't... Know." She croaked out as I began to apply more pressure on her throat. She was struggling for air as I pressed the gun harder against her head.

"You can't play ignorant Celestia, you deliberately tried to dodge the question! Stop holding information! We NEED to know! Or are you fine with a new hole in your head." She said nothing which seriously pissed me off, os I pushed even harder against her neck as she fruitlessly gasped for air as tears fell from her eyes. They were not of joy like last time, but of pain and fear. I let up a little and began to tell her about the situation on Earth. "You think I'm fucking around! You have no idea what humanity is going through, do you! In three days over four billion were killed, FOUR BILLION IN THREE DAYS!!! Men, women and children slaughtered like sheep for reasons we don't understand!" Tears fell from my eyes as my grip loosened a little. "I lost my Dad, my stepmom, and even my little fucking brother! We need to know... I need to know..." I stopped as I lowered my head as soft sobs came from me. It brought up memories that hurt so much but felt so distant. It was still all surreal for me, but it wasn't like there was a way to bring them back. The dead are gone, and I have to accept that I'm never going to see them again.

(First Person - Celestia)

It became clear to me why he agreed to help; he didn't want me to suffer like he is. The Griffins took more from him then they realize and they've done it without remorse or hesitation. I doubt the king sees what pain he's causing through his clouded judgment. He says that he wants to make those who killed his brother pay, but he does not see that he has become no better than the killer.

"Okay," I said, my mind made up about telling him without leaving any details. He deserves to know why they attacked him and why I didn't want to tell him in the first place. I was still a little reluctant, but that sad face and the tears rolling down his face were real and not fake. That little bit of faith he held in his eyes held reluctance; reluctance to kill... To find a better way. It was small, but it stood out on that sad face of his. "I will tell you."

"You aren't the first human to come here. The other was a man by the name of Damian, but that was all we knew of him. What he did do was help us advance beyond our primitive swords and Spears to rifles and artillery. No longer was Equestria seen as an example of a stagnant nation, doomed to stay in the same place in technology. He did so much and built gun after gun, factory after factory to help us catch up. He helped us so much that I thought a reward was due and at the time... I thought money wasn't enough." He didn't blush, but after Alex woke up, she sure did. If it wasn't for Hunter being near her, she surely would have passed out again.

"So he helped you advanced to where you currently are now and in turn you fucked him." Now it was my turn as his blunt, but brief, summary of what happened was accurate and summed it up easily.

"Well... Yes, but I wouldn't put it in such a vulgar way." He rubbed his temples in annoyance and to possibly sooth a growing migraine.

"I ran out of fucks to give for years ago." I could tell he was done and the grumbling of his stomach probably wasn't helping him. "Why is this important?" He kneeled down and picked up his gun and put in in his holster... IT WAS UNLOADED!!! WHAT!!!

"I'm going to that..." I coughed to get him to stop and it worked. He was now paying his undivided attention to me... That can be misinterpreted. "He was also the one who trained my soldiers and created the Unicorn, Earth, and Pegasi Armored Battalions. This had an unintended effect of the naval ships going past the divide into Griffin control ocean. Tensions rose and the call for armed assaults from Equestria passing the divide came roaring from the Griffins. Thanks to the griffin diplomat assigned to Equestria, the war was thought to be a case of mob mentality. He went back to the Griffin Empire to do so and when he came back I sent Damian and a small guard squad to escort him back to the embassy, but a griffin returned back to his king and said he was killed and my guards never returned. It is unknown what happened to them after that since we were driven past our investigation area after they invaded, but the king had made this war about vengeance instead of helping us find the real culprit. Since Damian was a human, I think he may have thought that the humans planned this for some bigger scheme." His eyes seemed to light up as a revelation came to light as I could see his mind go into overdrive.

"That might be because it was..." He said, but I wasn't about to go off on him because it seemed like news to him as well. "If Damian wasn't the first one here, it might be quite possible that he was visited by someone else as well and they planned it." His eyes widened as he stared at me with shock and Alex seemed to mimic my expression.

He didn't stop or even acknowledged anyone in the room as he went into what I call 'Theory Mode'. It's how I was able to learn how to control the sun, learn more magic than thought before and create laws that would improve my little ponies quality of life here. "He may have planned it before he came here, or maybe he was sent here with the only goal being to advance Equestria. That would mean he was in the dark about the plan and thought he was doing good but was setting up a war. Then whoever kidnapped him wanted it to seem like he was killed and the messenger was killed before it got here. That way it would seem like each nation went to war after that." I could see the gears in his head turning as he continued to explain his theory.

It was astounding what he already came up within a short amount of time. I can see why Meier let him come, he was able to see past what others couldn't or it was because he could keep a calm head despite what he's going through. If that's the case, are all humans capable of this kind of deep thinking or is it just a set few. "It would cause chaos and when that fell through, they sent the assassins to kill you, Luna and Discord. It makes more sense the more I think about it, but the only question now is who would want to do that. So far no one would benefit from attacking both the powerhouses of the world?" He paused for a moment as he seemed to think for a while until he opened his eyes and looked at me. "No one comes to mind after thinking about it since the villains I know about from the show are either imprisoned, allies or never show up again." He sighed before leaning his head back and running his fingers through his hair... How he still has it is beyond me. "Our best guess would have to wait since we don't have the necessary info to work off of, but one thing is clear..."

"We were set up."

(First-person - Hunter)

All was quiet as everyone looked at me in silent shock, but I didn't say anything afterward since it wasn't my place to say anymore. It was just my own theory, so it couldn't hold that much merit; however, that doesn't mean it isn't out of the realm of possibility. Alex, to my surprise, was the one least affected by the revelation.

"A-are you sure?" It was all Celestia could say as I looked up for a moment in thought, Alex clasping my hand to comfort me. She must've heard my outburst when she went down earlier.

"Don't know, but based on what you told me, I'm inclined to believe that he was a pawn used to start the war; or he's a higher power and set this up in the beginning." I glance at Alex who seemed to go deeper in thought while I began to speak again. "Two possibilities off the top of my head that might be true. However, this is completely speculation and not fact, just me using the information given to make an assumption, but now I need some food. I'm hungry." Celestia tried to regain her composure before speaking in her calm regal tone.

"Okay, but you don't have a lot of time to eat since I've been given the okay to send you on your next mission." I sighed as an MRE was thrown at me... Oddly enough, this is the first time I've ever eaten an MRE so I guess it doesn't matter now. It was chicken pesto pasta. I didn't bother to cook it so I ate it as it is... Not bad.

"What's the mission?" I gave some of it to Alex to keep herself some starving herself while being around me. She didn't need to wait, but it was nice.

"You are to link up with local resistance in the Crystal Empire and destroy the portal. Our informant, Rogue, has mentioned that the creator of the portals, Alice Jack, is going to be going there. If you can, capture here and they'll have a hard time creating portals. You are to capture or kill her, but my informant has stated that she is more reluctant than her brothers and sisters about the war." This could get us a huge advantage and cripple their abilities to make more portals. That'll make it easy for us to destroy the Griffin controlled ones on Earth and allow us to advance farther in terms of Magiteck. Then again, this could get us soldiers on this side. "Rogue is going to try to convince her to meet up with you tomorrow. If so, what would your name be to let her know it's you?"

I was about to say it, then I stopped. This could lead to another fiasco that would leave me facing an army alone... Again. They sent a lot of those Griffins and Changelings out to kill me and Alex. I walked up to her with my knife out and came up to her.

"Do Changelings bleed different color blood?" I asked causing her to look at me quizzically before answering.

"Yes... Why is that important?" I grab her arm and cut a small wound on it causing it to bleed. Red, good. Now I have to do that to everyone other than me and Alex. It didn't last long as she pulled her arm back with a yelp as I walked to the next pony in the room and did the same.

"Why the buck wouldn't you do that?!" Celestia yelled as she used her magic to heal the wound and alleviate any pain that came with it.

"Changeling check. My guess is that they don't bleed red like most ponies or anything else." I said as the last check ended and he healed himself. No changelings... Good. "My assumption is that when a Changeling bleeds, it starts as a definite color and remains like that long after the wound heals. This is different from you or me where blood looks reddish-black where a higher quantity is and begins to gain its infamous crimson color the more it travels and therefor making the amount in that area less than the source of it." It was biology, not my best subject, but one that I definitely didn't fail. It kicked my ass, but I definitely kicked back.

"Okay, now tell me what your code name will be." I looked at her as I cleaned the knife of blood. I thought for a second before I chose a name that would cause her to know who I am despite me not knowing the name.

"Arctic Fox, I want her to know who I am before she approaches me." She summoned a parchment and quill and wrote before sending it to this Rogue. I guess I'll meet her when we start the attack on their Empire.

"I called your Captain again and asked him for some off-road land transportation and a heavy winter uniform. Judging from your fur, you aren't built for the cold yet." She was right, my fur was like that of a newborn kit; therefore, I needed the clothing to not freeze to death in that giant freezer of the Equestrian nation.

"Okay, first off, what's the land transportation?" I really hope it's something fast and easy to use. I may have a driver's license, but I recently got it almost three months ago.

"He called it an Advanced Light Strike Vehicle." So he sent me a dune buggy, it'll definitely get me there, but it doesn't provide much protection.

"Do they know of my existence?" I asked knowing that could be either a walk through the park or creep in the shadows. Hopefully, it was the former and not the latter.

"Our sources say no. They are almost completely isolated except the few times they open the portal for supplies, mostly food, and water." I nodded as I began to make a plan for what I was going to do. I'd have to fool them and have an airtight story if I'm going to convince them I want to join them.

"Okay, come on Alex, we need to plan." I was about to leave before Celestia stopped me with the sentence I dread the most.

"Unfortunately, you have to do this alone. Something will begin soon that affects us and you don't want to be here when it happens." Damn, doing this alone would be hard, but if I'm linking up with the local resistance, then I won't have to worry. I won't be completely outnumbered.

"Your vehicle has been modified and the train is being prepared to take you halfway. You have today and tomorrow to complete this mission and the resistance leader will contact me if it's either a success or a fail." ALRIGHT, NO PRESSURE OR ANYTHING. JUST WALK INTO A HEAVILY FORTIFIED AREA AND LIBERATE IT IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS!!! Two days aren't a lot, but if I can destroy the portal and get Alice then I should be able to leave it to the resistance.

"Okay, I have the bare bones of a plan. It'll take some time to completely flesh out, but not having Alex with me will definitely through a wrench in my plan." I sigh in defeat as I ask one simple question. "If they're isolated, then why not destroy the portal and take it back?"

"Cadence is confirmed to be there and undergoing interrogations that are... Less than pleasant..." She paused after I sighed in annoyance before looking at her with a tired look.

"Celestia, you can say torture. Trust me, I know plenty of techniques... Mostly because of YouTube." She gulped down her fear as she glanced at every direction other than me.

"She's being tortured for information and has remained strong, but they haven't killed her yet knowing that it's preventing us from getting to her." She handed me two gems they were pure white and seemed to pulse green as it came into contact with my hand. "This is a healing gem made for high ranking generals and creatures of authority. Use one for Cadence and the other can be used how you see fit." I nodded before I began to leave the room before I was stopped once more by Celestia as she came up be hide me and gave me a hug.

I was really confused about this after I assaulted her, nearly choked her out, and pressed a gun against her head. She should be livid and not so friendly as she is now. I expect a slap or a threat about me staying in line or threat of execution... What am I saying, this is Equestria; they choose to forgive over anything else. How the fuck they haven't been invaded before is beyond me.

"I'm sorry." She whispered causing me to be even more confused from those two simple words. You're doing this backwards Celestia, you're not supposed to be apologizing; I am. "I should've told you from the beginning, but I didn't." Oh no... Please don't bring it up again. Your better than this Celestia. "You've lost more than I–" damn it, "–and I assumed that you were willing to help because of your rich history of war, but I was wrong. I didn't wish for you to relive that moment of time, but please... Don't do this for revenge."

"I'm not... Well, not anymore. I see that we were all played like pawns in chess, but that doesn't mean the bloodshed will end... It only means that there'll be fewer casualties, but there are already more than either of us can fathom." I walked away from Celestia and past a fuming Alex as she glared daggers at Celestia but I grabbed Alex's hand and pulled her out to save Celestia from her glare. "Wait!" She yelled before walking up to me as I turned around. "About three days ago we lost contact with the empire. If you can take advantage of this and find out why, I'd like to know." I nodded as I left the room with Alex following me.

I guided us to the armory so I could load up and stock up and anything I could need. Less than an hour or so after Operation Lunar Eclipse and I'm already being sent out... Or was it two hours. I don't know. All I know was that a lot is happening in one day. I was a little tired, especially after nearly dying, but what the hell could I do when Celestia is your current CO.

"I don't know why you didn't shoot her. She withheld information that was important." I sighed and looked at her as we stopped. "Why'd you stop-mmph!!!" I kissed her to get her to listen because that tone she was using would've led to a rant... I've heard it way too many times to know when someone is about to rant... including myself.

I released the kiss and stared into her eyes before I began to speak. "I didn't shoot her neck I had no ammo. You know this. Second, we would've been killed just trying to leave. Finally, we would've started a third front to fight against and we currently don't have the means to do so." She looked down for a second before I lifted her head to look at me for a second. "No sad face. I won't allow it." I sighed as I brought her closer and hugged her, which was surprisingly hard to do considering I'm taller than her now. She uses to be taller than me by a few inches and now I tower over her by at least foot. Her six-foot-three hight is minuscule compared to my seven-foot five And my new strong slim build. I may still look like a stick, but now I have easily identifiable muscle.

"So your really going to go on your own?" She asked, but I couldn't help but nod silently for my answer. It may have been heard for her to see but she got it... Somehow. "You know I'm not okay with this." Again, I nodded before I looked at her and she looked at me. "Despite not liking this, I have to agree with Celestia. You won't wanna be here the day after tomorrow."

"And why's that?" People say curiosity killed the cat... But I'm not a cat. They are dangling this info in front of me and not telling me a thing. Seriously, what's up with that today.

"Heat. It'll-" I stopped her there and I know all too well what it was.

"It'll make you crazy and purely driven to – you should expect this from me by now – to fuck the first male with bone-shattering force." All was quiet, but j guess it was just the two of us so I shouldn't care. She had a light blush but didn't seem too surprised.

"Right on the money, and I guess I should've expected that kinda explanation from you." I smiled a little before I began to walk towards my intended destination while Alex walked beside me. "Where are we going?"

"To the armory. If I can leave as soon as possible, then I can get back quicker." She followed almost like a lost dog, but I didn't stop her. I'm not calling her a dog, I'm making an analogy! I'm arguing with myself, what's wrong with me.

"Okay, I'mma go there to get re-equipped and head out with you." I stopped once again, but this time just outside the armory and glared at her.

"You are not." I firmly stated as she looked at me and the gears in her head began to turn. Maybe I was rubbing off on her too much... Not like that brain!

"I know, but that doesn't mean I can't go on the train with you." She gave me a smile that had hidden her mischievousness. I couldn't help but chuckle, but that evolved into laughter as she found a loophole I didn't think of.

"Okay, then let's load up, love," I said causing her to blush as I walked off with her catching up; eventually, we began to walk hand and hand.

(Third Person - Griffin Empire)

In the Griffin Empire, a lone griffiness walked into a bar with a few of her colleagues that helped her make the portals. Most of humanity, that being half, was completely wiped out and they need something to dull the pain of guilt. They had inadvertently caused the genocide of over half of humanity and they couldn't help but feel guilty for it. Alice was among them with her team just taking small shots to not get drunk for a small repair order in the Crystal Empire.

Alice just bought her drink and took a small sip from the glass. No one in the bar spoke; most of them were surprised that some of the brightest minds who had the honor of helping the king himself was in the same room. They were seen as heroes, but they felt like they were nothing but the harbingers of death.

Alice was praised for the innovative advancement in magitech and transportation before a griffiness sits next to her. The new griffiness glared at the crowd and they left out of fear of what she could do. She ordered herself alcohol as she stared in front of her while drinking occasionally. The bartender left his station to go praise one of the scientists as the two could hear a ton of noise coming from the crowd away from them and surrounding the other scientist.

"What I'm about to say is treason, but I can tell you want to get out of the Empire and help." The new griffiness said as Alice's body tenses up after hearing this and how this griffiness. "Do you want to help the humans?" She asked as she stopped talking as the bartender came back to the bar after the crowd disperses.

Alice thought about what she said and gulped before thanking about it some more. She has felt bad about doing this, but she was loyal to her nation since she was a child. However, she thinks that the king's decisions are reckless and dependent on his anger, but if she leaves; her family will pay for it. She could fix everything for the humans if she did help, but how could she do that without her family suffering in the process. Then it clicked.

"Yes..." Alice Said as the griffiness smiles. "But under one condition." The griffiness frowns, it was inevitable that she'd make a condition. She leans into her ear and whispers: "It looks like a capture and not a betrayal." The griffiness nodded, understanding why she would want for it to look like that.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do." She drinks the rest of her alcohol before paying. Alice grabs her arm and keeps her there as a shadow seems to cover her eyes. The griffiness looks at her confused before Alice speaks.

"What's your name?" She asks as a few of the patrons look at her but didn't stare long.

"My name is Gilda." Gilda hands Alice scroll but made sure only Alice could see the seal. Alice's eyes widened as she saw the seal; it was from Princess Celestia herself.

Chapter 11

View Online

I lied on the bed in a personal room near the center of the train cars that the stallions were on. Alex was with me as we lied on the bed as we rested. I need rest before the mission so it would go smoothly. Trust me, I loved every second with Alex her, but we still had about an hour until I needed to get off the train.

But there was one thing I hate more than the constant noise, the frequent bumps, and the fearful talking from the stallions; it was the fucking cold. My fur was like that of a kit, it was gray and thin so I couldn't handle the cold very well. I was shivering the entire time we were lying together and I know that she could feel me shaking.

"If you need the blanket..." She began before I placed a finger over her lips... Beek. I smile at her despite my body shivering violently as I practically clung to her.

"I'm made to endure this, you need the blanket more than me," I said as I hugged her closer for the extra warmth which caused her to nuzzle into me. It was a surprise that she even did this considering that she wasn't too keen on taking a nap in the first place.

That didn't last long as I felt a weight on top of me as a new warmth covered me. I opened an eye and saw Alex lying on top of me and nuzzling into my chest fur. What you thought I'd take a nap on a four-hour train ride and leave my equal on when I'm in a protected vehicle; yeah... I'mma take off my equipment to take a nap. I'm taking full advantage of this situation. I couldn't stand behind in such a thick uniform in a cart like this. It's bulky, uncomfortable and above all it too warm to wear it, but too cold to take it off. What ya expect me to do. Yes, this may be a breach of protocol, but they don't have to know that.

Anyways, Alex was taking this opportunity to consider that all she's currently wearing is her BDU pants, boot, and her bra... I'm not joking. She didn't hesitate when I took off mine and I had to convince her to keep her bra on then because she thought we were going to do something else; take a wild guess. I wouldn't have minded it, but I didn't want to take advantage of her during what I call preheat; essentially the same thing as normal heat, but it's more of an incline to that and less of a chance to get them pregnant.

That doesn't mean I can just ignore her advances to get me to fuck her. It just means I have to sedate her lust another way.

"Again... Really?" I said as I look at her. She was blushing and became meek when it came to this and refused to ask outright, but she did have other ways of getting me to notice. "Fine... One more time." The thing is, I said this same thing the last sixteen times. I swear she's insatiable when it comes to this.

I sighed before one of my hands slowly traveled down her back; teasing her through the very touch of my hand. It was working as she squirmed in my grasp as I went from her mid-back to her lower side. Alex smiled and bit her lower lip as she rubbed my bare chest with her hand; deliberately knowing about my sensitive skin.

"Sometimes, I regret telling you that." I could help the growing erection in my pants as I rubbed her lower stomach. I teased her with this for making me hard before I started to go lower and lower causing her to moan.

"Ah... You f-forget that y-y-you told me t-that. Ah..." She said while holding back her moans and doing a damn good job. Just hearing her moan would've made me harder than I'm already am if I wasn't already in full mass. Damn sexy griffin. "You sure you don't want relief either?" What was she... Oh... That's much bigger than it was when I was human. Probably because of the massive height gain after crossing over the 'Dimensional Gate' as I call it.

"N-no, I'm fine." I was most certainly not fine since I was practically blue balling the entire train ride. To say it hurt was an understatement considering it felt like they were about to be pulled off.

"You're not fine. I can tell." Considering we've spent every waking moment together after your "capture" that's not surprising that she can tell. I'm not hard to read, not by a long shot.

Yeah, all my doubts died instantly as she began to grind on my erect dick despite both of us wearing pants. Honestly, if you looked at us now, our clothes were almost skin-tight, but she was quick at getting rid of the problem quickly as she removed her uniform pants. Now all she was wearing was black laced panties that were shared with her bra; maybe it was from a different designer considering they didn't look alike, but I didn't care.

"You know what... Fuck it." I said as I attempted to pull my pants down, but had to get help from Alex as she unbuttoned and unzipped them. They were carelessly tossed aside as she grinned on my erect member once again, our grunts and moans making it hard for either of us not to be aroused.

I did snap myself back to what was important, but that died as she removed her bra and let it hit the floor. She and I made sure to turn on some music, not because we needed any, but because we didn't want anyone to hear as I was about to get her ready as my hand went underneath her laced panties. I didn't waste any time as I slipped a finger into her causing her to moan as a massive blush formed on her face.

I want to make this clear, Alex and I are both virgins with attractions to clingy people. We just love to be near one another and want to be as close as possible to the other and this is as close as we can get. However, due to our lack of experience, this could be a massive flop, but apparently – from what she said – you can learn a lot from porn.

This came to mind as I let another finger go inside her causing her hand to instinctively go to her marehood... Pussy... Whatever griffins call their vaginas in a less or more crass way. Her back arched as her panties became more soaked as I pulled my finger out of her. I immediately put another two into her while my palm rubbed her clitoris before her wings immediately shot open and the biggest smile I've seen from her appeared. She was really good about keeping her moans in check.

I could feel her climax onto my hand before I pulled my fingers out and she let out a scream of pleasure. She leaned back, her arms are the only thing keeping her up, her breathing was heavy despite the smile on her face and her wings were completely outstretched. She must've enjoyed it, but we're not over yet. I pulled her closer but she was too busy to notice until she felt something wet slide against her pussy; that something was my tongue.

Her moan had to be one of the lewdest I've ever heard as she pushed my head deeper into her. She only got louder as my tongue entered her but stopped almost halfway through. I just realized that I was at the entrance of her cervix just making me question how long my tongue was. I can still go deeper into her which I did while my erection finally found it's way out of my boxers.

I pulled my tongue out of her as she pushed me away before tossing away her panties and putting her marehood back near my mouth. It wasn't the same as before considering she wasn't facing towards me anymore so sho couldn't push my head in farther. I was about to question her until I felt my boxers being removed and something envelop my entire dick in one go.

I looked between Alex's legs and breasts to see her bobbing her head up and down on my member. Her surprisingly soft beak just felt great around my cock as I moaned.

"I'd say you've done this before, but I know better than to say that," I said before she moved her body around to face me. She released my dick from her mouth and grabbed it with a hand and licked from the base to the tip slowly. She did all this as seductively as possible before giving my tip a lick. For someone who's been suffering from blue balls, this was a welcome change and I didn't hurt as much. She slowly bobbed get head with my dick in her mouth while licking the tip constantly.

Since I was already suffering from blue balls, it didn't take long for me to cum as I instructively pushed her farther down onto my cock as I came. Her eyes almost roles to the back of her head as her face became even redder before pulling away from it, my blue balls cured for now. Alex was huffing from a sudden actually since she wasn't prepared.

"I haven't tasted anything so good." She said while I sat up and grabbed her shoulders. "I don't think you want a kiss now unless you want a mouthful of cum." She said playfully before I pushed her down to the bed slowly, my chest pressing against her breast in what seemed to be a hug to her. "Aww, did you just want aaaaaAAAAAH!" Her sentience completely fell apart as my member pushed into her. The snake on her face was worth it to see if she'd lick it or not. She just stared into space without reacting at all and swallowed the last of my cum. She stayed there was trying to get used to having a dick pushed into her as blood slowly seeped from her pussy.

"Just take your time, I honestly can't relate since I don't know how it feels," I said before I attempted to pull out, but her legs wrapped around me and pushed me deeper into her. She moaned happily from her pushing me into her before I begin to get into a steady rhythm.

She reacted to every thrust with a different moan, but each filled with ecstasy while continuing to push my pelvis into her every time I pulled out. She eventually ended up biting my shoulder; apparently, she bites when she's pleasured with something like this. I cupped one of her breasts into my hand and squeezed lightly enough for her to feel it and she squeaked excitedly when I did so. I seemed to find her weakness when it comes to pleasure.

"O-oh yes! Harder!" She yelled as I thrust harder into her while squeezing her beast a little more, not sure which one she was referring to. "Oh god, this is amazing!" She's picking up human phrases quickly; I guess I'm rubbing off on her, pun completely and proudly intended.

"S-same here." I continued to thrust into her before she cummed, way before I could. I could tell by the way she bit harder down on my shoulder.

"That was awesome." She huffed out before I thrust hard into her causing her to happily scream before she looked at me. I was smiling devilishly which she seemed to love as I leaned in closer to her ear.

"Who said we're done? I haven't cummed yet." She eagerly nodded as I continued to thrust into her at full force. She became even more vocal about it as she screamed in pleasure at almost every thrust. She bit onto my shoulder to quiet herself which I couldn't tell since I didn't necessarily feel it. It didn't take long for her to cum again as I continued to squeeze her breast.

"Oh fuck yeah! Fuck me, silly Hunter! Fuck me harder!" Dear God, I think she's a nymphomaniac or getting way too into this. Honestly, I could care less either way, but I still granted her request as I thrust as hard as I continue into her.

"D-damn it... Alex, I'm close." I said, not wanting to piss her off by cumming into her.

"I don't care where as long as it's not inside!" It was hard to hear her muffled voice but I did pull out early enough for me to cum, not inside her. It did, however, her all over her as her torso was painted white with my seed.

She scooped my cum up with a finger and licked it off of the digit; over sexualizing every action until she was clean... Mostly clean. I lied beside her as we attempted to regain out breaths from the surprisingly draining action. I wasn't hard anymore, just exhausted now before Alex clung to me again.

"Still cold?" She asked, her tone indicating that she was really tired. I shook my head before she leaned her's on my chest. "Good, because I can't handle that beast for long." I laughed at that.

"Coming from the girl who practically screamed for me got to fuck you harder, my little nympho." She seemed to blush at that before nuzzling into me.

"You ass, I'm only a nymphomaniac for you and you alone. However," she leaned into my ear and whispered something no man will ever hear. "I wouldn't be opposed to a herd." My eyebrows shot way up at that as I immediately thought of a retort to that.

"Said no woman ever." She laughed before she yawned and I checked the time. Almost another two hours until I had to leave. "Come on, let's get somewhat cleaned up," I said before getting up and walking to my rucksack and pulling out a couple of towels. I mostly had them in case the snow on me melted in the empire. That would only happen it a ton of it landed on me, but that was a just in case item which I brought two of. I didn't think I'd use them to clean up sex, but that's not a bad problem... I even had an empty pocket for them so they won't mess up the thousands of dollars worth of gear in the bag.

It didn't take long to clean ourselves before we used the other bed to sleep. There were two beds because there were two of us, but we only really needed one; even if they were the size of a twin-sized bed for Alex... I barely fit in them now. I was back in my Artic Warfare Battle Dress Uniform with my shirt still off with Alex only in her bra and panties not seeing a point after I found a bigger blanket to accommodate both of us... I'm just glad I put my boots back on.

With that, I set a timer on my phone for an hour and a half and began to take a nap... I'd need it for the rushed operation. Not to mention that it'll be cold as hell once I leave the train.

(Third Person – USS Gerald R. Ford)

"Admiral Meier! More Equestrian engineers have come through the portal, production on the War Industry has almost been complete due to their plentiful numbers and race unique abilities." Meier saluted so the messenger could drop her salute in turn. Meier dropped his first out of normal military procedure before he took the written report from the woman.

"Thank you Second Lieutenant, this is the... What's this?" He pointed to a report to a new piece of equipment that was approved by the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches to be standard equipment after testing. After taking account of Equestrian help and current designs already made.

It was a piece of the three new equipment that was said to, "help level the playing field," and it got signed off by all three branches. It was something called an Internal Combat Assessment Computer or ICAC and in parentheses next to it said: "what we call Isaac." It was a computer that would be directly implanted into the spine to give real-time wound assessment and compute the current battlefield through other soldiers' views of the area. However, Meier didn't see the appeal of this new equipment but assumed that the other two new Equipment tie into this.

He was right as he went to the next new equipment and his eyes widened at the practically Science Fiction machinery. It was called a Tactical Exo Suit, or TES(tess); it also had a special forces variants called the Special Operations Tactical Exo Suit, or SOTES(sō tess), that would enhance human strength and speed to match the Griffin and Changeling foot soldiers that throw close soldiers. It would connect to the ICAC to allow better control as if it was second nature allowing greater mobility and verticality. It had some called a Jump Pack on the waist to allow soldiers to jump higher in the air, hover for a small amount of time, and turn a lethal fall from a skyscraper into a soft descend to the ground. The Special Forces variant had tactical adaptable camouflage that can change at will, but only if they're moving slowly; or they'd have a grappling hook for greater flanking capabilities.

Lastly was a visitor that would connect to the top part of the ICAC which would also connect to a chip in the gun that'll show ammo, combat hot zones, digital adaptable compass – for the transition from Earth to Equis, and would show the calculations from the ICAC on the visor. Meier went back to the ICAC page to find that he missed a key detail. The ICAC will have an AI crafted into the system itself so it can give it's input when necessary during combat. The soldier can personalize it to their liking and the AI will adapt to the soldier's personality. The longer the soldier lives, the better the chances the AI and person have at living.

Meier put the papers on his desk and stared at them in shock. Once again, warfare was evolving past what was thought to be impossible. He read some of the other reports showing that the Equestrians have successfully made working mechanical prosthetic limbs and even working prosthetic spines. Humanity is turning something helpful into that of warfare like they have done hundreds of times over. Doctors from Equestria will magically scan the soldiers and drafted recruits for a pattern in the neural network of their spines.

Meier needed time to rest his mind after the massive influx of information he had to take in. He laughed to himself as he just finally had the thought of "I'm getting old" and couldn't help but laugh.

"Even my thoughts are getting cliche. This is complete bullshit." He laughed to himself as his battlegroup continued to observe and collect info on the oil rigs for the future raid. However, he had to announce that the soldiers sent over there have completed their mission and will be a task with a much bigger operation. He had to administer, he didn't know what Celestia had planned for Hunter's mission, but he only hoped that Hunter, Alex, and Zoe can successfully pull it off. He didn't know that Hunter was being sent into enemy line alone.

"Sir!" The same messenger yelled as she came running back into his private quarters. He was slightly thankful that he was able to pull himself out of shock before she came in. "A woman is at one of our drafting stations demanding to speak to Sargent Herrero!" Meier froze, maybe he spoke too soon.

"Where?" He asked as he grabbed his sidearm and strapped it to his belt. Whoever this woman was could either be a problem that may terrify the hell outta him.

"Here. House #7, station 3." Meier sighed as he walked out his quarters and eventually off the ship. Along the coast were a multitude of ships docked to transport the drafted to a secure island in Canada; the Canadian Government said the recruits of both nation's will be trained there.

It'll take a week to get the recruits there and the XM8 manufacturer has already made enough rifles for the first wave of recruits. Heckler and Koch had modified the XM8 to have Picatinny rails on the top of the gun as well as the sides and under the barrel. However, with magic added in, and the now apparent heavy abundance of it; the guns were able to prevent the optics and attachments from moving. Different factories have been mass-producing all the variants of the XM8 from its carbine model to its submachine gun variant to its marksmen's variant.

It's only been a few hours and the ponies have made things easier for the humans and the humans' automated everything. The bullets are already made in bulk and awaiting to resupply those in the front lines. They already have the modified, higher caliber XM8 and are just trying to keep the Griffins and red changelings from advancing. Luckily, it's just become an intense staring contest with guns; at this point with neither side advancing.

He found the woman screaming at the top of her lungs as she glared at the soldier who wasn't paying attention or was holding his military barring. Meier made a mental note to congratulate the guy who was putting up with this woman. He deserves a raise for just not talking back or even flenching before he spoke. "Ma'am, Sargent Herrero is currently working. He cannot be disturbed." He said as Meier smiled. The man held his calm tone... That man deserves a raise.

"That Sargent is my son and I need to talk to him!" She yelled and it finally became clear to him why she was pissed. She was worried about her son and wanted to know if he was alright.

"I'll take it from here," Meier said as the recruiter turned to him. He immediately stood up and saluted.

"Admiral on deck!" He yelled as soldiers saluted while the Equestrians watched confused.

"At ease." All the soldiers sat back down as Meier walked up to the women. "May I have your name ma'am?" He didn't break his professional demeanor as he looked down at her.

"Cheryl, Cheryl Herrero... Or that was my last name before the divorce." Meier nodded understanding that she must've remarried afterward. "I have to speak to Hunter, I need to know if my boy is alright." She said as she tried to walk past Meier only for him to step in front of her.

"Unfortunately, he cannot see anyone currently," Meier said as he continued to stare down at her. "He's on a mission to help free an Equestrian Allied kingdom known as the Crystal Empire." Hunter's mother looked broken at the as an Equestrian walk up to Meier.

"Excuse me, Fleet Admiral Meier," the stallion said as Meier turned to him. "Who is this Sargent? I don't remember any other humans crossing over." Meier sighed before answering with clear annoyance.

"He's the fox." The Equestrian's eyes widened as a smile grew on his face. Meier and Cheryl looked at him confused as the other stallions came by after hearing about the young Sargent.

"YOU MEAN FORTUNA!" He yelled with excitement before the Equestrians began to talk about the Sargent's mission.

"That guy may be an odd one, but he gets shit done." One said as those drafted began to listen to these guys talk about the teen like he was a legend. "I heard he fell into enemy lines and fought his way back to the castle." Cheryl couldn't believe what she was hearing; her meek, kind, and gentle son killing so many of those Griffins and red changelings that were in his way.

"I heard he ran through no man's land with a wounded griffin on his back and only suffered minor grazes only to find out he had Level 6 armor." Another said as more listened in only for someone to speak up and ruin it for those who were feeling hopeful that they couldn't win.

"It's some urban legend made up by some random dipshit. No one could ever pull something that that off." The girl who spoke up had brown hair, green eyes, and wore a black hoodie. She seemed like the skeptical type who doubted anything that seemed too unreal and uncanny.

"Actually," the recruiter said as he looked at the girl for a moment, "I ran into him while we were evacuating the Keys. That crazy son of a bitch helped us after got to us. Not to mention that he was the only one to find out that only their ammo can take down their shields... Except for the 50cals. Those shred through their shields and Kevlar like a hot knife through butter." It was becoming too much for Hunter's mom to handle.

"Wait... You said he was going on a mission to save the Crystal Empire?" An Equestrian asked before Meier turned to him and nodded. The Equestrian gulped and said: "He has to go in alone." This made Cheryl's heartache as she almost burst into tears.

"What do you mean alone!" Meier yelled, breaking all kinds of professionalism. This scared the stallion as he shrunk away in fear of the angry Fleet Admiral.

"With how close to hear season this mission is, he'd only be taking any risk being Zoe or Alex." Celestia was going to have it the next time the portal opened as Meier seethed in anger while clenching his hands into a fist.

"Excuse me... I have to make a call." Meier walked out and pulled up his phone, Hunter's phone number appearing on screen as he called the Sargent, not knowing how close he was to his objective.

I'm currently riding through the tundra that it the frozen north of the Crystal Empire. I couldn't tell Alex goodbye mostly because she was passed out when we stopped for me to get off, so I didn't wake her. I did leave a note and kissed her on the cheek before I left, the empire only being about twenty, maybe thirty miles from my current position. I should probably be concerned that I haven't seen the empire yet but I do see a massive snowstorm... I guess anything is possible in My Little Pony. I shake my head as I prepare to drive into the storm with my eyes closed; not willing to see a possible death. Much to my surprise, I drove through it without trouble and I never felt any wind... well, no more than you would normally feel.

This is... curious. The calm drive through the storm was interrupted by my phone ringing from the passenger seat and it was the ring tone I set the Captian's contact as. Not wanting to be persecuted for not answering my superior's call, I answered him and put him on speaker so I could continue to drive.

"Sir, I believe this is a breach of protocol," I said with a shit-eating grin. Oh I know it was massively hypocritical for me to be saying this when I was less than a while I was fucking Alex less than an hour ago. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the joking mood.

"Hunter... tell me, who's in your squad?" Meier asks in that voice that you knew someone's in trouble. Yeah, this is one of those 'oh shit' moments.

"Unfortunately, heat's around the corner, females here are going to be more sex-driven," I said as I finally got to the other side of the storm which was a massive relief. It felt like I was driving through it for hours... it's only been a few seconds.

"And how do you know that?" He asked which caused me to remain silent which was concerning for him. "Hunter... please don't tell me..." I gave a nervous laugh as I explained.

"I may or may not have... had sex with Alex." I could hear him facepalm and grown as I heard another voice that scared the hell out of me.

"You did what?!" Oh shit! This has gone from an 'oh shit' to an 'oh holy fucking shit' moment... why? because of the person who was talking, they were my mom!

"Oh... uh... gotta go!" Yup, mom is going to kill me for fucking Alex. "Why do I feel like shits about to go down." I stopped as I finally found the Crystal Empire... good news, it's not under griffin control; bad news, it's underneath even worse control. I'm seriously wondering how much shit Equestria would be in if Celestia hadn't come to Earth. Why? Because of those who are in control are the Caribou... the 'Fall of Equestria' Caribou... the rapey ones. "... You gotta be fucking kidding me."

Chapter 12

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I stepped out of my ALSV and used my binoculars to scope out the situation so I can act accordingly. Knowing what I know, they probably no nothing of the war outside the storm. If they knew then they would've attacked after when all resources would've been expended. It wouldn't end well for them even if they tried, but it would be nice to at least start a rebellion against these sexist mofos. Hehe, always wanted to use that word.

What I found through the binoculars, it was horrible. I'mma make this short; it wasn't right forcing yourself on someone else. Unfortunately, just going in guns blazing would end in too many dead and my objective incomplete. Going in acting like humanity wants to join would be a good bet to getting me close to the portal and Cadence. Judging by their weapons and lack of decent clothing, they won't take my weapons, kevlar, or any of my high-end equipment. This allows me to formulate a plan to break in without any help and allows me to lie about anything without much proof. Looks like they've been here for a while and if the Griffin army is still operating, then that means that they can't pass through the portal. I have C4, I don't have a lot of ammo, but I should be able to have a couple of mags if I shoot only one round per caribou.

They probably don't know about guns, but I expected as much from them. Maybe the storm acts as a barrier of sorts; I wouldn't doubt it considering the magic of the world. They would need to learn fast how to use those guns if they discover what my objective is and want to defend themselves; because they'll learn fast that I have no honor. Not to mention that the ALSV has a mounted fifty cal. on the top. Just in case, I should call this in.

Grabbing my radio, I hit the side button and began the transmission. "This is Sargent Herrero calling in, I seem to be having a problem," I said before the radio crackled to life and the voice of Meier came up.

"What kind of problem?" He asked and the voice of my mom in the background demanding to speak with me. I know that she didn't mean any harm from it, but now is a horrible time to be doing this.

"The Empire has been liberated, but the creatures who freed them are Caribou." I looked through the binoculars and saw one of the Caribou... I'm not going to explain what he was doing with that griffin. Damn, that's brutal.

"What's so bad about these creatures?" I pulled the binoculars down and pulled the radio up.

"Quick question, what does the Geneva Conventions say about rape?" A long silence over the comms was the only response I got and it wasn't a good sign by any means.

"Are they..." I clicked the button and spoke into it.

"Yup, apparently the Fall of Equestria universe was what was supposed to happen." I looked through the binoculars again and found a small patch of snow that would obscure the ALSV from view, but could be defended easily with enough men... or explosives. "I'm requesting a small strike force to aid me in this operation."

"Granted, I'm sending over SEAL team six to aid you. Hang tight and set up a flare when Staff Sargent Hawkins enters your AO. I'll inform you of the frequency used after the bird is in the air." I pulled a flare from my rucksack and let my rifle sling hold my HK416 and prepared to light it. "Sargent set your frequency to seven and prepare for friendlies entering your air space."

"Solid Copy, awaiting reinforcements." After the comms went down, I set my frequency to seven as ordered and waited. The cold was just barely bearable, but with a Blackhawk transporting them; they should be here soon.

"Mic check, can anyone hear me?" I recognized the voice as Zoe's and I have to say it was nice to hear her after all that hell Alex and I went through in the Canterlot City streets.

"I hear ya, Zoe," I responded before scoping out the land around the Crystal Empire after seeing a few patrols walking through and around the border. "A little heads up, there's a snowstorm or some kind light blizzard right behind me so be prepared for some rough and cold weather." I got back in the ALSV and drove a little bit more in so I'm not practically back against the damn storm. I couldn't tell you how far I went, only that I was still out of sight of the Caribou but I could still see my old position about fifty meters from me.

It didn't take long for the thumping of chopper blades to cut through the roaring winds of the blizzard, but I never saw the Blackhawk. The noise stayed for a few minutes before fading out and the winds deafened me once more and it was starting to get cold.

"That's a heavy negative Sargent. The storm isn't possible to fly through or any forces to march through. Sorry, Hunter, but you're on your own." I didn't respond after hearing that, so I'm hoping that she doesn't take it personally. I sighed before driving to that snow mound that I could defend or use as cover.

I sat behind the snow for a few minutes and attempted to calm myself because this can go so wrong in so many ways, but I have to remain calm. I needed to have a neutral face and a calm demeanor because I need to act like what they're doing is normal; hopefully, my cover isn't obvious. After a few minutes, I stood up and walked to the empire with my HK416 shouldered and my finger on the trigger. I'm prepared to kill as many as possible to get to my objective.

It took me about ten minutes to walk to the entrance and I was already feeling something coming over me, but I'm able to resist it easily; however, I'm even more on edge now and I think I'll shoot at anything that jumps out at me. I continued to walk until I was in the Crystal Empire proper where what happened to that one griffin was more common and they seemed brainwashed to enjoy it. I wanted nothing more than to gun down the fucks now and continue on my mission.

"Halt!" My grip on my gun tightened, I flipped the magnifier away from the holo sight and flipped the safety from safe to auto. "Sir, you have to register before you enter." I looked over to the voice and found, to my shock, it was another arctic fox so you can imagine my surprise. "Please remove that... armor." Not wanting to seem suspicious, I took off my helmet and balaclava and hooked them to my belt. "Holy... I need your name and age sir."

"My name is Sargent Arctic Fox and I'm sixteen," I responded before letting my HK416 dangle from my sling once again with my hands in the air. He gave me a deadpan look after hearing what I said. "Look, I'm not at liberty to say my name. My age, on the other hand, is completely true." I lowered my hand and put my helmet back on along with my balaclava.

"If you are a Sargent, then you'll have to see the current commander of this city. He's in the Palace near the center of the city." I nodded and walked into an alleyway and pulled out my C4 and hid it within my kevlar vest. All I have to do is destroy the portal and whatever is causing this brainwashing effect. If my memory hasn't failed me, then the object would be where the Crytal Heart is, but that location is also the easiest to defend... with a full division.

"Understood." I began to walk to the Crystal Palace and ignoring everything around me. To say I was uncomfortable was an understatement because all I could hear was moans of pleasure and a few pleading for the males to stop and I won't deny that I was tempted to kill a few after hearing that. I had to pull my balaclava up and put my helmet back on to hide the expression of anger on my face.

Losing my shit now would end poorly, I needed to hold off until I can destroy the portal and the brainwashing thing. I bet a couple of C4s can destroy both, but I would have to get a few to spread the word not to do anything out of the ordinary... or convince whoever the leader is to gather all the females in one place and have a little talk with them. Then I could equip them with weapons, ammo, and kevlar before we cleanse the streets of the heretics; FOR THE EMPEROR!!!

Eventually, I did have to pull my balaclava back up and put my helmet back on. I scanned the streets for any type of resistance recon team. There wasn't much, but if there were any; then they are damn good at hiding.

It didn't take long to reach the center of the Empire where the portal was and no one batted an eye when I stuck four C4 to the side of the mechanical parts of the portal. There was also a black crystal taking the place of the crystal heart that I attached another C4 to it.

I knew the story and the key points to destroy. I asked to help improve the portal which they accept without hesitation. After placing the explosives, I was ushered into the previous thrown room that now hailed a tyrant. Just by looking at him I could tell what he was from that crooked grin. Creatures in this world were so easy to read.

"State your name and business." He said not caring or even acknowledging my existence. This guy was an asshole through and through.

I did let that get the best of me as I enter the position of attention and gave a salute. "Sir, I am Sargent Arctic Fox from the 1st Marine Corps SOCOM Raider Battalion. I was sent here to liberate the Crystal Empire from Griffin forces, but found you instead." I said as if I was responding to my ROTC teacher. He finally turned to me and saw all the gear I had equipped on my being. Marines were often carrying the best and most expensive equipment.

He intertwined his fingers and his eyes showed interest. He looked me up and down before sitting like an actual king should. "I'm Prince Alphins, son of King Damian. Tell me Sargent, what's prevent me from taking your equipment and using it to further my goals? You came alone so you must've had a contingency if that happened." He seemed more formal, not a single trace of the smug ass hat that he looked liked before. "I'm not saying I would, it would be bad politically if I did that to someone representing a new nation, but I can't help but be curious." I'd ask the same if I was in his shoes.

"The United States hails from a completely different dimension. Despite the fact you will never reach it any time soon, my country has weapons that will completely level the entire empire with the press of a button." He recoiled, he wasn't expecting what I said, but he could tell I was saying nothing but the truth.

"Alright, then you must be from beyond the Wendigo's Eye, so answer me this; the Griffins and Ponies were unbreakable allies, why would there be a war between them?" I sighed knowing it would be difficult to explain why without a lot of context.

"Someone framed Equestria for assassinating the Griffin's diplomat who was also the king's brother. We cannot search the crime scene until we push back the Griffin army." He nodded as I gave him some time to process this information. "Earth, the planet my country is on, was also framed since a human was sent to aid in the transport of the diplomat. The king will pay for wiping out a little over half of my species; the Humans." His eyes finally widen in shock before he began to think. This could end bad for me. I placed my hand on the C4 detonator and was ready to blow the explosives. "Let me ask this, why are you treating the females as breeding cattle?"

"We don't have a choice. Our females are becoming less fertile as the days pass. In order to keep our species from going on extinct, we had to invade. The storm keeps us trapped, so we do what we have to." He pauses before he looks at me with a neutral gaze. I couldn't read him, no doubt something bad is going to happen. "I apologize, but I can not have my new kingdom fall because of you. You will be held indefinitely until we can understand and replicate your tech to defend ourselves." The guards lifted their spears as I clicked the detonator, a loud explosion rocked the castle soon followed by the sound of angry mares.

The prince regained his balance only for a bullet from my pistol to tear through his leg and the heads and chests of his guards. I run over to the prince and put the barrel of the gun to his head. His pain was forgotten as he immediately understood the damage this little gun can do, his guards were already dead.

More guards burst open the door before I put a bullet in one of his arms making him cry in pain again. Those angry mares voices were drowned out from the sound of gunfire from nearby. I had time to swiftly holster my pistol and began to unload a few rounds into the remaining guards. Each kill made less and less attempt to take me on until none even dared to enter. I was already down a few mags from the huge amounts of bodies that lied stack on each other from their failed assault.

I cuffed the prince to the thrown and left to help clear out any remaining resistance in the palace. I searched room to room to find the Princess of Love. There were a fuck ton of guards between the thrown room and her... Wherever she is.

"Frag out!" I yelled as I tossed a grenade into a room filled with Caribou. The explosion went off and I checked the closest corners before entering. "United States Marines, if you're alive, get your hands in the air!" Two lifted their hands from the thirty that were in the room. "Where's Princess Cadence?!" They pointed to a side room before I motioned for them to run away which they took.

I stacked up on the door, prepared a 9-bang, and pulled it's pin. I rolled it into the room as shuffling came from the room, no doubt to see when exactly I rolled in. They didn't expect it to explode in a blinding flash of light along with a deafening bang followed by eight others. I kicked the door in and killed the five that were disoriented as I was rushed by another.

He got the gun out of my hands and threw it on the floor as if to break it. He tried to stab me only to be blocked by my arms as we struggled for dominance. I kicked his legs out from under him and he fell to the ground with a thump. He attempted to recover, but I put a bullet through his skull.

I stood and swept the room... No one. I was fortunate to not have to deal with any others willing to seat their luck. Holstering the pistol, I grabbed my rifle and stacked on the next door in that room. It could be a closet or a bathroom, but Cadence or more bad guys could be in there and that's good enough for me to at least check.

I kicked the door down while standing off to the side. Right on the other side was a caribou who was waiting to attack me the moment I ran through. Three rounds tore through his chest before he slumped to the ground dead.

I found Cadence, but she was held at knife point. There were signs of her being tortured in the room, but two griffinesses shared her fate despite being almost completely unharmed. All three were hanging from chains connecting to the ceiling. I just shot the guy through the nose so he'd immediately go limp when I shot him.

"Princess Cadence," I said as I walked closer to her. "I'm Sargent Arctic Fox, I'm here to aid in taking back this empire." I took the keys off the knife wielder and unlocked all three. She was mostly unresponsive, but alive. I used that healing crystal Celestia gave me to heal her. "Both friend and foe are fighting a common enemy in the streets. When they're done, they'll want to hear from you, to know that someone saved you princess, and that you're still not broken..." That was when I realized something crucial. "Wait she's asleep." I'm an idiot.

Chapter 13

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"The invaders are captured or being castrated, citizens are taking up arms, and enemies now form an alliance with a common enemy. Princess Cadence is alright and the leader assigned to this area is currently being interrogated. Casualties are in the single digits and the objective is completed. I've sent a more in-depth report through Word." I said as I checked my ammo while talking into the radio. Luckily, the Griffins don't use radios so I don't have to worry about the line being intercepted.

"... Sargent, did you really send it through Word?" The Admiral asked before going silent as a few clicks of a keyboard came through. "Your going to get a lesson in proper military reports. There's a lot of errors; mostly spelling."

"Spelling's hard!" That turned a few heads from those around me. I don't blame them, it was an odd thing to yell after what transpired through the day.

"From what I can gather, the mission was a complete success despite the intervention of a third party. After all that happened and from what Celestia sent me, they may not go through the Heat Cycle." I looked at the sleeping form of Cadence as my spare coat rested over her sleeping form. She really needed the rest after the invasion and holy shit did she get through the most brutal shit. Guro would be the best thing to compare what she went through. It was pretty fucked.

"Orders or should I take my chance and get to Equestria?" Seriously, I have no idea what to do in this situation. Either way, I'm going to deal with that problem.

"Find and eliminate or arrest the leader of the Caribou. They should crumble after that and the military would become disorganized. We'll move in and take it as a Forward Operating Base allowing for a foothold in the northernmost of Equestria." I was then approached by a pony and a griffin, I looked at them for a second before turning my attention back to the radio.

"Solid copy, but something just came up. I'll have to get back to you at a later time sir." I turned my attention to the pair again before the radio came back to life.

"Got it, I'll wait for your next report. Don't worry about Earth, we agreed to a temporary ceasefire during Heat." That was the last time I heard that man's voice for a long time. These two had my full attention and while they had the minimal amount of clothing with body armor and rigs over it. I blame Alex for desensitizing me.

“Arctic Fox, all of the Caribou have been captured and detained. Almost everyone is calling for their execution, but… they’d rather have Princess Cadence give the order.” The griffin said before checking my weapons. She subconsciously clutched her’s tighter before I removed my hands from it and allowing the sling to hold it.

“Calm down, I’m not here to fight. How’s everyone else doing?” I know that I would have been yelled at by an officer for doing this, but it was necessary to ease tensions. I technically just preformed a terror attack on a civilian monument.

“A silent agreement has prevented the Ponies and Griffins from fighting; however, many places remain segregated based on race and gender. Currently, there are about seven casualties from the Caribou’s… actions. The officers in the area are trying to maintain order in the segregated areas and allowing each other to fix the issue, but all of them are thinking that so we came to you. You’re an outsider who doesn’t have anyone inside to worry about.” The pony reported trying to maintain a professional air around her. Both of them seemed to be on edge so I’m guessing there may be some lingering effects of the crystal.

“I read you. Cadence is currently out cold and unable to make decisions. I wouldn’t let her make one anyway since she’d have personal bias.” I paused for a second while crossing my arms and closing my eyes to block out any unnecessary sensory information. Oddly enough, this helps. “Already, I have a few idea. One: imprison the Caribou since this is no longer up to the Equestrians; this is a USMC operation and they’ll be charged in the same way humans are amongst the UN. Two: when Cadence wakes up, don’t follow her orders. Inform me on channel 22 about any order she gives,” I gave them a spare radio to use. ”You will only follow orders I give the ‘okay’ to. Three: maintain distancing between the cells, but have a group of five from each deliver food and water from the palace. Four: guards fail be chosen from each cell to guard the Caribou, but will have no ammunition and you two plus one will be helping Cadence’s recovery. Relay this to all the officers and let them know I’m heading deeper into Caribou territory on my own for now. I have a new mission and a time limit.” I began to walk away before one of them grabbed my shoulder.

“Thanks again for what you did. I am honor bound to allow you a favor of similar proportions to accommodate this.” The griffin said before I looked over my shoulder with a soft smile.

“Don’t mention it. I’m already using it. Your helping me with this remember, so this counts.” She smiled back before letting go.

“My name is Samantha, but call me Sam. My rank is Private First Class. I’m a member of the Griffin Empire 784th Artillery Assault Battalion.” I nodded before the pony stepped forwards.

“I-I’m Staff Sargent Leaf Fall of the 304th Expeditionary Recon Royal Guard Battalion. A pleasure to meet you Fox.” The pony said before I chuckled. She clearly didn’t think to do that until the griffin introduced herself.

“A pleasure to meet you both. I’m Sargent Hunter Herrero of the USMC Special Forces. I’m guessing your battalions specialize in artillery and recon?” I couldn’t help my curiosity, the military always fascinated me and I want to know all I can.

“We exclusively do that in our battalions. We have basic weapon handling knowledge and are often covered by other units.” That’s a little frightening, but I guess that’s why the griffins that invaded Earth were so effective. They specialized in that.

“That’s insane. I hope we talk more in the future, but now I have to leave. Goodbye for now.” I began to walk away as they simply waved before I pulled out my radio once they were out of earshot. I walked back to my vehicle quickly and took notice of the empty streets. I had to take advantage of this opportunity. “This is Arctic Fox contacting acting Command, anyone read?”

“This is Command, what’s the situation.” The guy said the line so calmly that seemed a lot surreal to me, even after hearing it once already.

“I have intel on Equis military structure that I’ve deemed possibly critical for the war.” I waited for a response for a few seconds. Thoughts went through my mind as I was starting to think that I only made a fool of myself.

“Solid copy, relay information.” Thank god they didn’t blow me off. This may end up being the last time I talk with a human again so… here’s to my journey into the unknown.

Chapter 14

View Online

"Solid copy, I'll send it up the chain." I closed the channel and continued north. Suffice to say, I didn't know where the fuck I was going. I changed the channel and contacted the Crystal Empire.

"Crystal Empire, come in. I need info about the direction the Caribou came from." I listened to the radio come on and off... I don't think I taught them how to use a radio. "Button on the side. Press and hold until you're finished talking."

A few seconds later, more like a few minutes, the radio came to life as Sam's voice came through. "Thanks Sargent. The Caribou came from the north and hit us with some insane magic before using that stone to control us. Be careful and don't get careless." Keep your distance, use the storm to your advantage, and take out any mage first; got it.

"Any idea what their mages look like?" I stopped and pulled out a pocket notebook from my rucksack. I was going to write notes in here for my reports, but this is far more important.

"No difference other than the staves they have. That's the best I can offer Sargent." I wrote down what she said and made an extra note to look into their magic. It could be useful if I do.

"Solid copy and that's more than enough. Contact me if there are any further developments." I changed the channels back to command. "Command this is Sargent Herrero, I was wondering if there's anyway for me to get any kind of direction."

"Command responding; hard negative. We only have communication at the moment. We advise using the thermal mode on your NVGs. You're on your own from here." I wondered weather or not to inform him about the hornless mages, but that's still something I have yet to see for myself. "We already have a team on standby for insertion after Heat."

"Affirm, thanks for letting me know... Do you mind updating me on the situation regarding the Gerald R. Ford?" The radio was silent for a minute or two before coming back. Between that interval, I was already on the move.

"You'll be getting a full overhaul of your equipment. These Equestrians have seriously advanced our tech by leaps and bounds. I guarantee that you'll love every second of it, so come back alive. I shouldn't have to tell a military buff how odd it is for a single soldier to go in. Plus, I don't want Meier to bury a kid." With that, the radio became quiet once more. I believed that I'd be closer to a town by now and stopped. If there was another civilization here, then it would also work like the Crystal Empire, a pocket of calm in a raging storm.

I took the soldier's advise and pulled my NVGs out of my bag and over my eyes. I had to ignore the tip of my snout that was poking out from the bottom of my sight. Luckily, the storm made it dark enough to not blind myself after turning them on. With a quick thanks to Luna, best princess, I figured out how to turn on the thermal vision mode. Lo and behold, there was a town about fifty meters to my left. I hid my transport and made a snowman to make sure I'd find it again... I also wanted to make my second ever snowman... It was fun.

With the threat of magic, I decided to sneak into the town and it was even more feudal than Equestria. It worked out even better since there was more snow than in the empire. I still hid in darker areas since my winter camo wasn't perfect. Didn't want to get overconfident and end up dead. Better to not test my luck.

I checked out my surroundings and waited until no one was paying attention. It took me a second to realize that I was that a majority of the population were arctic foxes with a few caribou scattered around here and there. Either way, I noticed that there were a lot of them heading to the same area. I waited until very few were around before taking off my helmet and stuff like that before following them to an execution ground.

Yeah, this wasn't looking good.

Three foxes were in nooses with their hands bound behind their backs. Two of them were as calm as could be as the third was screaming her head off about being framed. An old style execution was definitely going down. That was before a caribou walked on to the platform and unfurled a scroll.

"Two impure vixens have been found guilty for using sterilization spells and the third has been believed to be the witch that cast them! Should anyone else offer themselves as the witch, then her life may be spared. If not she will parish with the impure vixens." The only ones that cried for joy were either rich foxes or caribou, but as for the true witch... She may be long gone by now. Not to mention, no one seems overly guilty about this execution, but this felt off. I needed answers.

I tapped the shoulder of the fox in front of me, but she didn't turn around. I tried again, a little more forcefully this time just in case it was too light the first time. Her head moved to the side a little, the little I could see wasn't too happy, and she gripped the hems of her dress.

"What is it, kit?" She said with distain. She really did not care for me, did she?

"I've been living isolated most of the time so I'm a little unsure what an impure vixen is. Do you mind explaining?" I asked, better be extra nice so she doesn't snap. I know it would have been a bad idea to remain headstrong, but I didn't think that far ahead.

"Impure refers to foxes that prefer the same gender." With that, she turned back to the execution.

"Can't have that, can we." Might as well make a spectacular entrance.

The enthusiastic bunch were at the front of the crowd so I didn't have to worry about them unless a supporter was hanging back. Those on the platform were an issue. Two guards on each staircase, a mage, and a man holding the lever to the trap door. That's not counting the soldiers lining the outside of the... square? I'm going to call it a square. More of an oval, but anyways; lever guy dies first for obvious reasons. Then the mage before threatening the guards to release the three. Then demand surrender for trial for the crime of rape. I can't believe command strong armed me to say it at least once.

I needed to be loud. That means I can't use my suppressor since the bang won't be as prominent. If all things go according to plan, the mage will be disoriented enough for me to kill him next. The problem was the resulting chaos of the crowd. Then again, they're here for an execution or something so does it really matter if they panic? No, that would be bad since I could lose the advantage and they get killed. Not to mention that I'm still left wide open to the outer guards which is a problem of it's own. I have one option, but I'm not sure it's a good one.

I began to push my way forward while unscrewing my suppressor. There was no stopping it now. Things can be settled in a few bullets. No need for a big battle if you can't hold out. I slipped my suppressor into a spare ammo pouch on my rig. I was close to where I needed to be, but what was distracting was that a majority of the foxes don't wear clothes. How long have they been under this rule where they're not embarrassing by public nudity. I was so close,so it's now or never.

(Third Person)

Charlette stood within the crowd of foxes and caribou. Once more was a impure couple being executed for not securing successors for their species. The impure couple weren't even that interested in the same gender and had a preference for both, but it was all the same to the Caribou.

With the rebellion in the Arctic Fox Capital, the caribou have been desperately trying to find ways to maintain dominance. The caribou who were already in the town were already highly respected, but Officers from outside always did something like this and use their rank to prevent a soldier to stop it. Charlette knew that she wasn't as brave as the impure who at least tried to be happy despite the laws against same sex relationships.

Still, that law wasn't unforced most of the time so there were more couples like them. They just made the mistake of forgetting the schedule. She sighed, knowing the day would end in tragedy.

"It's now or never... I guess." She heard before a loud bang tore through the air from beside her, a high pitched ringing was all that remained afterwards.

Her hands immediately covered her ears after that along with a barely audible yelp. Her eyes instinctively shut soon after the bang went off. Then something hot hit her, but only for a moment. It made contact with Charlette once more as it fell between her breasts and remained there since her elbows pressed them together. The hot object was much more noticeable due to the less thick fur on her chest and she immediately moved her elbows, letting the object fall between her breasts.

Not too long after that, another bang went off and another hot object hit her. This one hit her cheek and landed on her shoulder. It was get hotter a lot quicker than she thought, causing her to yelp in pain and role her shoulder to get it off. This time it fell between her and into the snow.

Charlette opened her eyes as the ringing died down. Much to her shock, the mage and officer were lying on the podium that was slowly being painted with blood. The guards were about to raise their spears before the fox next to her yelled.

"Don't try! Surrender now and you'll live!" The obvious male yelled at the caribou froze after hearing that. They just had to look at the new corpses to see what he could do.

Charlette looked at the fox who just took out two powerful caribou in less than a few seconds. Much to her shock, he was a kit and a tall one at that. He wore a large coat with a strange white vest over it. In his hands was a strange looking crossbow that had never been seen before to Charlette's recollection.

The caribou drop their spears while Charlette looked at the rest to see what the rest were doing. Their spears were raised, but the kit made no effort to address them before pushing forward towards the execution podium.

"Release those three and any hostile action directed towards them or me will be met with an immediate death! Just don't be stupid." The kit was talking like he had just won, but he technically did. The highest ranking officer was dead along with their deviating mage. Suffice to say, the prisoners were released.

"A kit has no business in this!" One of the devout caribou supporters yelled. He raised his strange crossbow into the air and pulled the trigger.

Charlette already covered her ears before three bangs came from the strange contraption. It did what it was intended to do, which was shut them up.

"I was ordered by my superiors to apprehend or kill the leader of the caribou after their invasion of the Crystal Empire. He must atone for his crimes against the occupants of the country and the brutal treatment of prisoners of war. This is stated in article 27, second paragraph, of the 1949 Geneva Convention, "Women shall be especially protected against any attack on their honour, in particular against rape, enforced prostitution, or any form of indecent assault"." Despite how confidently he said it, he did look to happy to announce it like he did. That didn't stop how impossible it sounded for a kit to achieve such a task.

New Frontiers

by Blacklight Brony

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Rewrite is in the works