---------------------------------- Somewhere ----------------------------------
We were about four hours into our journey when we saw a village in the distance. It had odd buildings that looked different than the pony architecture.
“Jane where are we?” I asked.
“About one hundred miles from our destination.” She replied.
I turned on my radio and switched it to a private channel.
“General, are you there?” I waited a few seconds.
“Yes Commander.” Ace replied.
“Can you get a fix on my location?” I asked.
I waited in silence for a few moments before I got a response.
“I have a fix on you now.”
“Can you get a fix on the nearby town as well?” I asked.
“One moment.” I waited a few more seconds. “Yes, I have a fix on it as well.”
“Can you identify what species is living there?” I asked.
“Let's see.” He paused. “Birds… ah griffons.”
I got out my binoculars and looked at the town. He was right. What I saw were griffons. A lot of them were in some sort of iron armor. Most likely griffon soldiers.
“Thank you Ace, Commander out.” I switched my radio off. “Jane we are going around the town.”
“That will add an additional hour to our travel time.” Jane replied.
I had two options. Waste an hour by going around the town undetected or risk going through a town that is most likely part of the griffon empire.
“Let's not risk it. I don’t want to damage our relationship with the griffons any further.”
“Very well.” She paused to make the necessary course adjustments. “Sending new route to all drivers.”
“Let's head out.”
---------------------------------- Throne Room ----------------------------------
The throne room was practically empty now. Only Celestia was present with Shining armor and a few other military types. She was informed of the commander's forces moving towards the griffon empire. Celestia was worried, very worried. If he was going there to pick a fight because of what Avian Flame did… she would be torn. The griffons made a war pact with the dragons and minotaurs. She new the commander was formidable but she doubted he could stand against the dragon horde and the minotaurs.
“I say we cut all ties with the humans.” Lieutenant Golden Torch suggested.
“Even if we do cut all ties they are still in Equestria.” Shining Armor stated.
“He has a point. The griffons will come in to Equestria because the humans are in Equestria.” Spitfire thought for a moment. “Unless we can figure out a way to get them to leave our borders.”
“We aren’t even sure if he is going to attack the griffons. What if they are going to recover that… thing they launched into the badlands?” Shining Armor replied.
Celestia had not considered that. It would make more sense than to attack the griffon empire. After all the Commander seemed to have settled his business with Avian Flame. Though he is fairly unpredictable. He could've just decided to attack them because he was attacked by one of them.
“Meat e… ahem. Those humans are war like. They probably strive off of killing! If anything they are going to attack the griffons!” Golden Torch insisted.
“We do not know that.” Shining Armor replied.
“I agree with Armor. We do not know.” Spitfire sighed. “We can only speculate right now.”
“If we do not do something we could end up at war!” Golden Torch was becoming very angry at this point. “We should go in now and take care of the humans before the rest return!”
“Enough!” Celestia ordered.
The room fell silent.
“I have to agree with Armor. We do not know what the humans are doing in the griffon empire.” She sighed. “Until we know I cannot in good conscious do anything.”
“But Celestia!”
“Am I understood Lieutenant Golden Torch.” Celestia said interrupting the lieutenant.
“Yes your majesty.” Golden Torch bowed.
“You are all dismissed.” Celestia watched the three ponies leave the throne room.
“What can I do?” She asked to no one.
For almost a thousand years she could solve problems like this with little trouble. The Commander made it difficult. What she needed was more information. An idea came to her. She may be able to use Midnight to gather information on the Commander. From what she had heard from Luna they were close. At least closer than any other pony. Midnight may even be able to give her the advantage. Celestia smiled. She finally found something she could do.
---------------------------------- The Badlands ----------------------------------
“Commander, the compound is in sight.” Jane said stirring me from my thoughts.
“Stop the convoy.” I ordered.
“Convoy stopped.” Jane responded a few seconds later.
I opened the entry hatch and exited the tank. We were surrounded by desert and distant mountains. I also saw the compound. It was much larger than I expected. A large tower surrounded by a wall hung in the distance. Its appearance clashed with the openness of the desert.
“Commander several enemy patrols are headed this way.” Jane notified me.
“Reaper squad report.” I said into my radio.
“Reaper squad reporting.” Reaper squadron captain Frederick replied.
“Take out the approaching units.” I ordered.
“On it commander.” Frederick replied.
Twenty Reaper fighters soared over us leaving white streaks high in the sky. Three of them broke pattern and headed towards the targets and break neck speeds. Once in range they launched three guided missiles which hit their marks in mere moments. A loud roar of an explosion resonated for miles. Dust flew into the air. Even from our distance from the explosion we could feel the ground shake.
“All units eliminated Commander.” Fredericks reported.
“Good work captain.”
“Sir, we are picking up some large objects on our radar… they are airborne.” Fredericks said.
“Where?” I asked.
That's when I saw them. Five large dragons.
“Captain engage immediately!” I ordered.
What I saw astounded me. The lead dragon smashed into the side of one of the reapers breaking through the shields and tearing one of the wings off.
“Shit! R4 is down. Engage!” Fredericks ordered.
The other two fighters soon met similar fates. The seventeen remaining fighters broke formation and engaged the five dragons.
“Jane are we in range?” I asked.
“Yes.” She replied.
“Men, open fire!” I commanded.
The cannons on the tanks took aim and began firing. The Racers also began firing at the flying lizards. The dragons expertly dodged the cannon and machine gun fire and the few fifty caliber rounds that managed to hit the dragons were deflected by their thick scales.
“Transports advance!” I ordered over the radio. “Chimeras provide support!”
I pulled out my plasma rifle and took aim at one of the dragons. I took a few shots each one missing.
“They are too fast.” I boarded the Hydra and manned the Mx50 heavy gatling laser. “Remaining forces advance.”
We continued forward providing as much flak as we could trying to kill or injure the dragons. One of the Hydras got a direct hit instantly disintegrating one of the dragons left wing. The dragon's roar could be heard for miles as it crashed to the ground.
“All units concentrate fire on the blue dragon!” I ordered over an open channel.
In seconds every cannon was trained in the sky and began firing relentlessly. The reapers scrambled to attack the selected target as well. The dragons resilient scales only lasted a minute under the intense fire power.
“Three dragons left commander.” Jane informed me.
“Fredericks can you handle them?” I asked over the radio.
“We should be able to commander.” Fredericks replied.
“The racers will provide you some support.”
“Yes commander.” Fredericks replied.
“All ground units head to the front gate.” I ordered over the radio.
All the vehicles changed course to head to the front gate. Myself as well as the other Hydra lagged behind the rest of the lighter tanks and transports. It took us a few minutes longer to arrive at the front gate. When we did arrive all the troops from the transports had took defensive positions. I went back inside the tank for a moment to pull out a megaphone
“Ahem. You have sixty seconds to surrender!” I said through the megaphone. “If you do you will be free to leave unharmed.”
My offer of a peaceful end was met with a shower of flaming arrows and magical attacks.
“Tanks open fire!” I ordered.
The six tanks instantly fired their cannons at the gate shredding the wooden doors and crushing stone. They continued to fire through the dust. After a few minutes I gave the order to cease fire.
“All units advance take the compound!” I ordered.
The one hundred twenty soldiers sprang into action and rushed forward through the rubble. I took my time walking through the rubble. Once past the outer wall what I saw pleased me. Hundreds of enemy combatants torn apart from my tanks and soldiers. Not a single one of mine dead. I continued blissfully through the ongoing carnage an occasional arrow or magical attack bounced off my shields with ease.
“To easy.” I laughed.
I continued towards the tower. I saw a small number of griffons and minotaurs guarding the entrance of said tower. I pulled my war hammer off my back and headed towards them with a large smile. My walk turned into a sprint. I raced towards them at the last moment I jumped into the group of enemies smashing several of with my hammer which caused them to be thrown back into the wall of the tower. One of the minotaurs recovered quickly and charged me with a sword. I swatted him like a fly causing him to fly several feet away. He did not get up.
By the time I hit him the rest of the guards had recovered. I put the hammer back on my back and pulled out my plasma rifle.
“Sorry guys. I don’t much time to play.” I quickly aimed my rifle and began shooting each one of the guards in the chest.
Once finished I looked back at the carnage. The smell of burning flesh made me smile even more. It was a slaughter. Hundreds already dead and the body count on there side continued to rise. I turned back to the door in front of me. I kicked it open and threw in a grenade. After it detonated I entered. Inside were ten dead unicorns.
I walked over their bodies and continued deeper inside until I came across a door. I opened it. Inside was a stairwell.
“Jane how far up does this go?” I asked.
“To the top floor.” She replied.
Soon I would met Black Jack. I began to laugh uncontrollably.
“I AM COMING MY DEAR!” I yelled up the stairs. “COME DOWN NOW AND I MAY FORGIVE YOU!”
I waited a minute with no response. My smile fell to neutral expression.
“Very well.” I started up the stairs. “I gave you a chance.”
---------------------------------- Celestia’s Room ----------------------------------
It had been a long day but it was finally time to lower the sun. Celestia’s horn glowed a bright gold. Her magic encased the sun as she concentrated. Slowly the sun went below the horizon and was replaced by Luna’s night. Celestia sighed in relief. Finally she could relax.
That was before someone knocked on her door. She opened the the door with her magic.
“Come in.” Celestia sighed.
It was Shining Armor.
“Princess Celestia, the Commander attacked Black Jacks compound.” Shining Armor reported.
“What?” Celestia asked confused.
“The humans have assaulted Black Jacks compound in the Badlands.” Shining Armor reiterated.
Celestia was speechless. Why had she not realized this? It made perfect sense in a way. Some of Black Jacks men killed and injured his. From the limited knowledge she had it would be reasonable to see the commander stomping out any threat. That realization made her blood freeze. Any threat to his people would be a target. Knowing that the summit meeting was coming up and some of the leaders disliked the commander, namely emperor Iron Claw, could cause a major conflict.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another guard.
“Princess Celestia.” The guard bowed. “Lieutenant Golden Torch took a large contingent of guards and is headed for the humans.”
“What?!” Celestia exclaimed angrily. She took a breath and composed herself. “Captain Armor, inform my sister. I need to stop him.”
Celestia’s horn glowed a bright golden aura once more before she disappeared.
---------------------------------- Black Jacks compound ----------------------------------
“How many more... flights of stairs... are there?” I asked through breaths.
“One more.” Jane replied.
“How many does that make again?” I asked.
“Fifty six total.”
“Remind me… to workout more.” I sat down on one of the steps.
“Get up.” Jane ordered.
“Fuck that. I need to catch my breath.” I replied.
“I guess you do need more exercise. You can’t even handle these stairs.”
“There were a lot of them!” I snapped back.
I continued to sit for a few minutes before finally getting up and stretching.
“Ok, let's do this.” I continued up the last few steps.
The last obstacle between me and Black Jack. A door. I walked over to it and knocked three times. I waited for it to open. No reply.
“Alright.” I kicked the door open so hard it broke off its hinges and flew a few feet. “I am done waiting.”
Inside were several griffons and in the far back of the room was a pegasi. It was Black Jack. I started running towards her. The griffons didn’t have time to stop me. My eyes were on hers. Time seemed to slow down. In mere moments I had my hand around her throat. I pushed her up against the wall. I heard the griffons behind me running at me.
“Come any closer and I snap her neck.” I snarled.
I heard them stop. I looked in Black Jack's eyes. My grip around her neck tightened. Her hooves began flailing trying to push me off of her. My grip loosened slightly. My face got closer to hers. My smile came back.
“I could kill you, skin you, and make a rug.” I brush my hand against her cheek. “So soft.”
Her expression was one of hatred and fear. She was used to control and now she was helpless.
“Or, I could use you for something else.” I grabbed her wing with my free hand. A blush came to her face. “No… not that.”
That's when I smelled something. It was strawberries… I sniffed the air. It was coming from her. She smelled like strawberries.
“Tell your guards to leave.” I ordered her.
“Leave.” She strained to say.
They did not.
“Leave!” She commanded louder.
They listened the second time. I waited for them to leave. Before I dropped her.
“I was going to torture you… cut your wings off… then possibly had you butchered into pony steak.” I saw the fear in her eyes even if her outer expression was saying something entirely different.
“Why don’t you then?” She asked.
“Strawberries.” I paused. “You smell like strawberries.”
“What?” She seemed very confused.
“It reminded me of someone I lost.” My smile fell. “I will not kill you.”
“Then what are you going to do with me?” She asked.
“You will be my pet.” I said with a smirk.
“And if I refuse?”
“You think you have a choice? Thats adorable.” I laughed.
“You think you can get out of here alive?” She asked.
“Yes… why?”
“My guards will stop you.” She stated.
“The griffons?” I paused. “The ones that were just in here?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“They are dead.” I smiled. “Well not yet… but they will be shortly. After I am done with them we will leave and I will get you some proper clothes for a pet.”
I pulled out my hammer and headed towards the door the griffons left through.