//------------------------------//
// III - Militarization 
// Story: Half-Hoof 
// by Alfoals Trottenbauer 
//------------------------------//

Ace couldn't possibly kill them all, so he tried evading them. He galloped past the first one with ease, the second swung it's gnarled, spiked hoof, hitting Ace's suit, leaving a large gash in the armor. Ace swung the crowbar, hitting the alien in the head. It fell over. Ace ducked and weaved past the rest.

Ace burst through the door, the next room was seemingly an office hall. It was so dark Ace could barely see two inches in front of him. He turned on the suit's flashlight, as he rounded the corner, a dead security pony lay on the ground, a small pistol beside him. Ace picked it up with his magic, stowing the crowbar away in the suit. Ace saw something hanging from the ceiling, a thick rope of mucus hanging from it. A crab creature jumped at Ace, only to be caught by the mucus rope, being pulled up. The object directly on the ceiling started eating the crab, chunks falling on the ground as the crab made it's screeching noises.

Ace trotted past the two. He came upon a large light fixture on the ceiling, broken. A crab made it's way toward Ace, it shot across the room as a bolt of electricity hit it from the fixture. the fixture continuously shot these bolts, a vent right out of range of the electricity. Ace took a chance and jumped in before the bolts arced at him. He crawled through, the whirring of a fan sounded in his ears. He almost stood up, the vent came to a clearing. He looked up just before, realizing a fan almost took off his head. He continued further into the vent until it came to an end.

Finally outside of the vents, he cantered over to a door, knocking it open with the crowbar. A science team pony stood on the other side. He galloped over into a branch off the main hall.

"Thank Celestia you're here! Get us out of he-" A gunshot interrupted the stallion, an audible thump of him collapsing.

Ace rounded the corner to see him dead, a stallion in full military uniform, levitating an assault rifle. The soldier noticed him. Ace backed around the corner, the soldier dashed toward him, firing wildly.

Ace waited for him to round the corner, aiming his pistol. When the stallion did, Ace fired directly into his snout. The soldier fell. Ace took his gun, stowing the pistol along with the crowbar. Another elevator shaft waited, the doors wide open this time. A cable hung on the other end of the shaft. Ace backed up, needing to get a galloping start. He counted to three, then dashed across the hall, jumping at the last second. Ace hung onto the cable by his teeth, getting his hooves onto the cable, inching up slowly. A mare followed behind him. This was the first time he noticed her. She was a light purple, her mane waved out over her shoulder, black but with a purple streak in the middle. Twilight Sparkle, a renown figure in the sciences. However, Ace didn't have time to talk with her. He finally made it to the top, bucking off the wall, swinging from the cable into the doorway. He felt like crying out like a jungle pony.

Five more soldiers came from a hall, firing their assault rifles at Ace, a few bullets hitting his suit. Ace fired wildly at them, gritting his teeth. He probably looked like he had gone mad. Four fell, the other one ran back behind the corner. Ace took out his crowbar and galloped to him. He swung the crowbar, blood flying and covering his suit. He had gone mad.

Once he was dead, Ace took his ammo. He made his way toward an uncovered platform elevator, clearly labeled 'SURFACE ACCESS' .He jumped onto it, thinking he was finally free. The elevator made creaking noises as it went up. Sunbeams shined up the shaft. The sound of a helicopter's rotors echoed in the air. As soon as the elevator reached it's destination, he dashed off. The room he was in was a cargo area. Soldiers were amassed just outside. An osprey was in the air, explosions echoed outside on top of the roof.

They were bombing the facility. Ace galloped outside, firing blindly at the soldiers.

"Ah! Medic!!" One shouted as he fell.

There were far too many for Ace to fight, a door was on the opposite side of the area. Ace shot over to it, galloping as fast as he could. Grenades and other ordinances exploded behind him. He bucked open the door, bursting into the room behind. A huge ventilation shaft was on the other side, Ace jumped into it, landing on a narrow platform, a fan just below. Soldiers rappelled down on ropes from outside. Ace quickly crawled into a duct.