//------------------------------// // First on the Front // Story: From the General // by ISKV //------------------------------// "I regret to be the bearer of bad news. The general thought of our request as a mere prank, and has given us useless vehicles. However there still is hope. A human named Tom has been accidentally sent over, and he has promised to do what he can. He can construct military buildings, so we may have a permanent base within the month. I cannot explain in detail, but he requires bits or objects with sufficient monetary value. Due to this, we have planned to raid a Diamond Dog mine which we will also free any prisoners if found. I would like to have your opinion on this matter." "Has it finally come to this? I know that we're desperate, but a raid?" "Sister, we can do nothing more. Tom can help us, but he cannot without resources. He claims to be able to raise an army in three months.” "Very well. The last major war happened when we were just fillies, I guess we never got a taste of it. Do what you need to do. Anything else?" "We need to find a good location for a base. Somewhere in a wide open space is preferable." "How about the Appaloosan plains to the west?" "I'll have to ask him about it." "All right. I miss you Luna." "I wish I could be with you." "Me too... Me too..." The lunar princess blinked the sleep out of her eyes. The sun was already above the horizon and all she wanted to do was lie there and warm up in her sister's sun. She hadn't talked to her in a good week or so, what with all of the dimensional affairs and all. As she walked out of her tent, her guard offered her a steaming cup of tea. Not wanting to miss out, she accepted with a nod of thanks. She stood outside her tent, sipping tea, and taking deep breaths. Things were about to get interesting... *** "The dog mine we're planning to hit is here," Tom pointed to a location near a mountain range, "I mainly chose it because the six have already been in there, and have been able to give us a general idea of the layout." he paused to take a sip of his own cup of tea, "Now about our forces, we can clear out an area and build the barracks near here. We should have enough money for six Rangers and flash bangs." "Flash... bangs?" Luna tilted her head. "They're little cans that we throw that can shock and stun whoever happens to be in the area.” Tom held up a small black cylinder with a strip of metal held in place by a pin. "Ah. Please continue." "So we get ponies that are willing and we train them in the use of flash bangs, one of the only weapons that ponies without magic can use. Fortunately for us, the dogs are weak to both intense light and the loud shock. Since killing is a rather sensitive subject, I'm going to leave that to the Rangers. Now, after we get our ponies, they will be split up into three different teams. Each team will have a medic, a radiopony, two human soldiers, and the rest will carry flash bangs. The main priority of the teams will be to free any prisoners that we find while our second priority will be to find the gem stores. If any are found, they will then be carried out onto the surface." Luna nodded. "How long will this raid take?" Tom held up a map covered with notes, "If Rarity's description of the tunnels are correct, no more than two hours for the initial attack, no more than three to evacuate the prisoners, and no more than six to move out the gems." "And how will the prisoners be transported?" "Well, I'm going to assume that none of them are in any shape for a hike, so when we get enough money, I will obtain Chinooks," looking at Luna's confused face again he elaborated, "They're aerial transports." "Of course..." Luna's head was still spinning from all of the new terms, "So when can we raid the mines?" Tom scratched his head, "Next week should give us enough time." The princess nodded, "Very well. And after you acquire the gems?" "We will find a suitable area to build a base." "My sister has recommended such an area. It is a wide open space in the desert to the west. Does that suit your needs?" "The desert huh…? The heat would make it impossible for griffons to fly long-distance… The sand would prevent diamond dog surprise attacks… and we have Patriots for the dragons! Not to mention the laser turrets… Princess, we’re good to go." Luna smiled, and stood up, "Well then good luck. I will be taking a walk if you need me. Begin construction on the barracks immediately. "Of course." *** Tom whistled as his dozer roared to life. It had taken two hours to maneuver the dozer though the dense forest, but finally it was in the clearing nearest to the camp. He looked at the plans of the barracks, even though he didn't need to. He had done this countless times in the past and this was just one more time. As he cleared brush and small trees surrounding the clearing, he took one last look around and begun building. As the ponies look in awe, scaffolds emerged from the ground and the whole barracks started to rise slowly, but surely. Twilight started to grind her teeth at this blatant disregard for the basic laws of reality, but Pinkie soothed her boiling head and told her to not think too hard about it. *One hour later* At long last, the building was done. The barracks was a small fenced off area with three buildings and a flagpole, the sleeping quarters that doubled as the medical bay, an armory, and the storage area for everything else. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash had disappeared into the sleeping quarters saying something about "soft beds" and sleep, Pinkie and Applejack were sampling the rations in storage and determining which ones would be the most palatable to ponies before distributing them, Twilight was also in the storage room but was instead messing around and being curious, and Tom was in the armory trying to figure out how to buy soldiers and equipment. The armory had racks of standard issue assault rifles and portable missile launchers in the center while the Pathfinder's rifles were hiding behind a locked sliding steel door. In the corner was a simple matte black locker with the name Col. Burton painted on. Surrounding the locker were boxes of ammunition. But what got Tom's attention was the large screen that was the size of window. It had the USA military insignia as the background with his current credits on the bottom and multiple boxes, all of them greyed out except for the one labeled "Infantry." He tapped on the square, and after a beep, the box grew until it split into four squares, each with a picture of an infantry unit and its cost. The two squares labeled "Ranger" and "Missile Defender" were bright, while the squares labeled "Pathfinder" and "Colonel Burton" were greyed out. Tom reached out and slowly tapped the "Ranger" square. After a few seconds of silence, Fluttershy screamed. *** *Roughly ten minutes ago* "Oh how I've missed you, you wonderful, soft, fluffy, actual cloth, bed." Rarity purred as she snuggled into a bunk. Actually it was fairly hard and uncomfortable compared to her normal bed back in Ponyville, but after countless nights sleeping on tree roots it felt like a dream. "I actually liked sleeping outside with all of my animal friends." Fluttershy said softly. "It was nice." A loud snore tore through the air like a hoofball player through a banner. Rainbow Dash had somehow fashioned a hammock out of spare bedsheets and tied it to the rafters. Rarity giggled. “It certainly is nice to see somepony is enjoying themselves.” “Yes…” the shy pony whispered. “I just can’t wait to go home.” The seamstress sighed, “As do I. Although I simply cannot fathom why the dragons joined forces with those barbaric diamond dogs. No matter how much I think, it just doesn’t make sense that they would actually invade our country.” “…Maybe they’re hungry because it’s winter?” Fluttershy suggested. Rarity opened her mouth to argue how stupid that theory was, but stopped when she realized that the dogs would do exactly that. “Well they are a simple bunch. Invading our country for gems would make sense for them to do.” She yawned, endless days of stress finally catching up to her. “Oh, I apologize Fluttershy, but I am simply exhausted! Shall we call it a day?” The pegasus nodded, and they both sank into their beds. Rarity was asleep instantly, but Fluttershy sighed as she stared at the bottom of the top bunk. True, she hadn’t seen the… harsher side of war, nor was she in any hurry, but things would never be the same. The pegasus closed her eyes but couldn't get that weird feeling out of her stomach. Fluttershy suddenly froze when she felt like she was being slowly pushed out of bed. Turning her head, she came face to face with another human. *** Speed. Speed was all that was needed. To feel the air around your feathers as you zoom across the sky, and you go faster, and faster, until the air almost hurts. And then... silence. As you break the one barrier that many have dreamed of breaking, but few have passed it. And now, you join the club as one of the fastest in the world. And you move up. And up. Until- "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" "Huh. Whah?" Rainbow said groggily. When she realized who the screaming came from, her mind cleared instantly, thinking of only one pony. "FLUTTERSHY! Wha?” she stopped at the sight of the human, “Tom?" She realized that whoever this human was, it wasn't Tom. Its hair was too short and he was a bit taller with more muscles on his person. The human scrambled out of Fluttershy's bed and quickly stretched out his limbs. "Who are you?! And where did you come from?!" When the human started a brisk walk towards the exit, she decided that a physical barrier would work better, and went in his face, "HEY! I'M TALKING- MHMHHMMHMHM!" Rainbow Dash yelled from behind the human’s hand. Completely blind and disoriented, she was easily pushed out of the way. *** MRE Cheese & Vegetable Omelet Pinkie and Applejack eyed the suspicious brown bag that came from one of the supply boxes. With both of their professions about food, neither of them could imagine a meal worth eating that fit in such a small space. They glanced at each other and the farmer nervously opened the cardboard package. A number of brown packages, bags, and a plastic spoon fell out of the box. They both started to go through the small pile. Applejack held up a pouch, “…Apples.” Her face brightened. “Well! Looks like somepony knows how ta’ eat!” Pinkie copied her movements, “…Flameless Ration Heater.” She tilted her head in confusion. “And they say that they don’t use magic! The nerve!” “…Peanut Butter.” “M&Ms…?” “Drink Mix.” “Spoon.” Pinkie said as she held up just that. “Crackers.” “Cheese & Vegetable Omelet.” They both took one last look at each other as Applejack reached over and pulled a paper plate from its wrapping and Pinkie ripped open the package. An odd, new smell reached their noses. She tilted the bag over the plate and yelped in surprise as a glistening solid yellow lump slid out with a squelch. “I aint eatin’ that.” Applejack said, wrinkling her nose at the blob. Pinkie nervously laughed. “Ha… ha ha… How bad could it be?” She ripped open the bag containing the plastic spoon and pulled out the brown utensil. A bubble popped as she stared at the “omelet.” She gulped, and took a spoonful. Applejack slowly backed away as the vegetable omelet came closer and closer to Pinkie’s lips, until it finally disappeared into her mouth. Within a second, her pink face took on a green hue. Holding in a wave of nausea, she scrunched her eyes and swallowed. Pinkie shuddered as it slid down her throat. The apple farmer smirked. “That bad huh?” Pinkie nodded, still trying not to puke. “Well. Ah… guess it’s mah turn.” Applejack was much more eager to try her signature food. But in her haste to sample the apples, she forgot that they did not come from Sweet Apple Acres, and that there were such things as bad apples. She ripped open her own pouch to reveal several peach colored lumps that were soaked in a thick yellow liquid. It was her turn to gulp as she spooned out a slice. The liquid slowly dripped from the spoon as she stared. A tear dropped from her eye as she chewed what was once a perfectly good fruit that grew peacefully on a tree. “This ain't no apple…” “Join the club…” Pinkie groaned as another wave of nausea hit her. Fortunately the rest of the MRE turned out to be somewhat more edible. Pinkie obviously took a liking to the small candied chocolates while Applejack chewed on some fresh pine needles from outside to get rid of the aftertaste. On the other side of the room, Twilight Sparkle was reading a book. But this just wasn’t any book, this was the manual to the entire arsenal of the USA. Everything from the Cold Fusion Reactor to the Comanche gunships astounded her. This wasn’t just another field of study, this was an entirely new concept, and she relished absorbing new information. She flipped the page, revealing the section on the Ambulances. They all stopped talking as they heard the door opening. Twilight was about to call out to her newest friend, but stopped when she realized that it wasn't him. He ignored the ponies as walked towards them. Twilight quickly moved aside to let the human through to whatever he was doing. He stopped and bent down at a medium sized trunk. As he opened it, Twilight could see that it was filled with bags packed with unknown objects. The human took out a pack and walked out. "Hey are you-HEY!" Rainbow had flown in, but had been pushed again by the human. He stopped outside the storage building. Velcro strips ripping, he opened the bag. An assortment of hard cloth was revealed as he pulled them out one by one. The vest was the only object that they could identify. A few minutes later, he changed completely. A human covered in bulky armor that Rarity would faint at stood before them. As he secured the fasteners on his helmet, he walked quickly towards the armory. *** Tom listened to the various yells and almost walked into the mysterious man. He deftly took a rifle from the rack and some ammunition. Inserting them in various pockets, he exited. "Army's elite." *** "So...” Rainbow hovered around the new human. “Who are you?" "A Ranger." He replied. Fluttershy found the courage to just barely ask, "Um, why were you in my bed?" The Ranger thought for a moment, "I have no idea." "And why didn't you stop and listen to me?" Rainbow Dash was close to yelling at this point. "I had to get suited up. Sorry about the whole face thing." he apologized. The pegasus rolled her eyes, "Fine... But aren't you freaked out that we're ponies and all? You know..." The Ranger shook his head, "Nah." "Oh hey I forget!" Pinkie said suddenly, "Do you like parties? Or cupcakes? Huh? Do ya? Do ya? Do ya?" The Ranger stared, "What are cupcakes?" *** After getting Pinkie to stop crying about how anypony can live and never taste the sweetness of a cupcake, Tom went back into the armory where he ordered five more Rangers to be trained. Even though each one had claimed their own rifle, the rack was full and it seemed that no one had taken anything. Just in case, Tom took one of his own and slung it across his shoulders. Introducing the new humans to the ponies only caused the morale to go up. There was not one, not two, but seven humans on their side now. Two of the Rangers were currently playing with a group of foals, one was sleeping, and the rest sat around a campfire. Twilight was babbling on about the technology to any who would listen. "Point Defense Lasers work by detecting a rocket, calculating where it will be, and shooting a laser that disables the rocket's engine." "So could it take down a pegasus... like... like me?" Rainbow Dash asked nervously. "I don't see why not. It is called a Personal defense Laser so as long as you stay out of range, you should be all right." "Whew." "Actually one of our Avengers might be able to get ya." one of the Rangers cut in. "Avengers?" "Yup. They use lasers just like the PDL but at a longer range." At this she gulped, "You ah...You wouldn't use it on me...would you?" He laughed, "Only if you piss us off." Rainbow noted never to cross a human. "If you really piss us off though, it's Particle Cannon time." he took out a charred stick from the fire and drew a random pattern on the ground. Black trails were left wherever the stick went. She stared. "It's pretty much a huge laser that can hit anywhere on the planet." Twilight elaborated, "The Particle Uplink Cannon sends a beam of particles up into space where it is reflected by a satellite down onto the target. Due to the curvature of the Earth, multiple Particle Cannons are needed for total planetary-" she was cut off, but continued to speak. "Woah..." Rainbow's jaw had found itself a place on the ground, as the Ranger continued to explain their arsenal. "-was developed in response to counter urban threats in a precise manner where Scud missiles or Nuclear weapons would cause unacceptable collateral damage-" "Then we have the supersonic Aurora-" "Wait supersonic? You mean faster than sound?" "Yep." "-early test proved that no satellite could reflect the beam without melting, so the beam itself was calibrated to reflect off of the first surface it came into contact and then expend all of its energy on the second surface-" "Chinooks aren't that fast. Heck, I could beat them." Rainbow pridefully boasted. "I can't imagine you carrying 88 metric tons of cargo." "Heh, I bet Applejack would like them. She'd probably cut holes on the sides like a vendor so she can land on the street and sell apples." The Ranger looked at the sleeping orange pony with the hat. "Yeah... I can see that." As they continued to talk, Tom spoke with Luna, who was flanked by her two personal guards. "The Rangers seem to be doing well. Now all we need to worry about are the ponies who are going to be in this operation." "What kinds of pony do you require?" "Well, medics for the teams and the prisoners, heavy haulers for carrying the equipment, medium sized ponies for everything else." The princess nodded, "Tomorrow then?" "Tomorrow."