I stood on the side of the ruined hill from our last visit. There was no sun, as the sky was covered in clouds. Here I was preparing to give my life for another world, with a species so different from my own. But they needed my help. And isn't that why we join the military? To at the very worst give our lives so that others may live?
The crater we left behind was gone, filled in and replaced with sand. I could see black things against the horizon, hundreds of things moving around, steadily getting closer. I made me way down to the bottom of the hill and checked my weapons. Two M7 caseless Submachine guns, with Omni-blade attachments, and I had managed to get the entire amount of ammunition transported to Canterlot, no questions asked. It was handy being a Guard Captain after all. A note in my pocket confirmed my request, that two separate feeds had been set up, and a quick test in Appleloosa confirmed they were working.
Starting to make my way towards the black specks, I walked in to a translucent yellow wall. Shaking off the shock, I turned to see eight ponies stood there looking at me. The Changeling Hunters. “What are you doing here?”
White Feather walked up to me. “You should know by now that we wouldn't allow you to do this on your own, sir.”
“Right. And what about your unborn child, what about Twilight?”
“I have explained my actions to them, and I know they will understand. Besides, it's not like we can turn back now anyway.”
“Captain Gale?”
“This is for my squad. I'm not leaving till they are all dead.” Turning back to our opponents, I saw they were a lot closer than I thought. Which meant instead of a couple of hundred, there must have been thousands. They stopped around three hundred meters away, and lined up in a formation almost a mile wide. The largest Diamond Dog and Changeling stepped forward, and the queen began to speak.
“Well look at that, the monster brought his accomplices. That means we don't have to hunt them down after all. What's the matter, nothing to say to the big mean bug?” She and the Dog started to laugh, until I walked towards them, to which they eyed me with interest.
“I give you this one chance to leave peacefully. If you don't, the battle will last until one of the sides are all dead.”
“You are in no position to give us demands. Very well, you shall get your battle.” They turned back to their troops and issued orders. They started to surround us, on the ground and in the air. Streak, Bolt, Starfyre and Gale started to hover, Hammer tensed up, Strike, Nova and Feathers horn started to glow. And I withdrew my weapons from their holsters. I looked at my squad, and knew this was it. Our last battle together.
“......For Equestria.” We charged as one, heading for the centre lines of the enemy. They stood their ground, the Dogs lowering their spears as if for us to run in to them, and the Changelings horns lit up in their distinctive green aura, letting loose a barrage of offensive magic. The unicorns launched a pressure wave as we got close, throwing the spears in to the air and clearing the way for us.
Running in, I started firing my guns at point blank range, not even aiming at my targets. I had no need to, I had millions of rounds for these. We split after breaching the first line, the pegasi meeting Changelings in aerial combat, the unicorns sending out wave after wave of offensive spells, and Hammer tearing through the Diamond Dogs like a hot knife through butter. And me? I was in the centre, surrounded by dead bodies of both kinds, blasting whatever came my way. I felt hundreds of impacts upon my armour, the runes glowing dangerously bright.
(Quick A/N: The next one doesn't need sound, just a way to visualize how it's happening. And back to the story.)
The Dogs started to close in on me, not leaving a lot of room to shoot my targets, so I started to slice with my Omni-blades, blood following in my wake. There were blood curdling screams as I tore through limbs, skin and anything else I came in to contact with. A sharp pain hit me in the back, and I spun around, slicing the Dog's head clean off. Dropping a gun, I reached round and pulled out a knife covered in red, and chucked it to the floor. As I went to retrieve my other gun, there were two more pains in my back, and I turned yet again, firing as I sliced, cutting open the next Dogs chest and firing in to the wound. More pains in my back, but as I twisted to see my next target, something sliced in to my arm causing me to drop my gun, followed by more stabbing pain in the stomach.
The Dogs around me backed off as I fell to my knees. Out of the corner of my fading vision, I could see the Queen and Alpha Dog making their way towards me. My arms were suddenly gripped and I was hauled up, head rolling around. The ring around me widened even more and one after the other a pony was thrown in, being held down by a Dog each. Except for Hammer, he had three to a hoof and was still giving them trouble. There were only seven though, and the last came falling down in the ring, twin sword gauntlets broken.
The Alpha Dog lifted my head up by my hair and looked me in the eyes. “You not so tough. Dogs tougher.”
I coughed a little bit, covering his face with blood. “Why? Why side with them?”
“Revenge. You kill my son, I kill you.” He let my head fall and unsheathed a rather unpleasant looking sword, raising it up in his right arm.
A voice crackled over the radio, getting the attention of the eleven humans stood on the command deck. “This is Captain Macintosh. Pony Delivery is on route, be there asap.”
The Admiral hit the key next on his command chair. “Roger Captain Macintosh, we read you. We'll try to save you some targets. Luna out.” He nodded to his squad and they all left the bridge. That left seven women on there. Nothing was out of the ordinary, with the exception of a few things. Two of them had horns. Two of them had wings. One of them had wings and a horn. And they were all wearing armour that looked like a cross between what the humans had and guard armour. Which is exactly what it was.
“Twilight Sparkle, are the guns warmed up?”
“Yes Princess Luna, ready to go.”
“Rarity, have you got the hang of flying this yet?”
“Yes your majesty.”
“Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie, you are on the ICWS, take out any Changelings that gets too close.”
“Yes ma'am.”
“Rainbow dash, have you worked out the missile Guidance system?”
“Uh.....I think so. I move this camera here and they go to where that red dot in the centre is.”
“Very well. It is time to show our enemies the strength of Eqeustria.” There was another burst of static and a humans voice came through.
“Luna, it's Dan. Open the back hatch, I've seen where I can get a good view.”
“It shall be done.”
At the back of the ship, the four humans gathered, each reading a heavy machine gun, with the exception of Dan. He looked out a window and then clicked his comm. “Luna, it's Dan. Open the back hatch, I've seen where I can get a good view.”
“It shall be done.” The hatch popped open and he jumped out, falling head first before going spread eagled to slow his momentum, then flipping backwards and falling feet first. He set his jet pack off around fifty feet from the deck, and landed like he was just parachuting in. The others would be jumping shortly.
He ran forwards up to the top of the hill and unslung his L96, then going prone on the deck. “Sighting on targets. Something going on in the centre. Waiting for a clear look. They've got Alec....and the others. They're losing. Wait, one has a sword above it's head in front of Alec. No time to wait, taking the shot.”
I stared defiantly at the Alpha, waiting for him to make his move. My sense were failing, but I heard what sounded like a crack, and a high pitched whistling......and then the Alpha's arm fell off. Two more cracks and my arms were let go. A fourth crack and the Alpha lost his head. I fell to the floor and rolled on to my back. I just lay there staring up at the sky as the Queen loomed over me. Another crack and there was a spurt of green blood from either side of her neck............and then I saw white trails streak across the sky, and multiple impacts shook the ground beneath me..
“Excellent shot Rainbow, hit them again. Twilight, fire the guns.” Luna leant back and hit the comm key. “Captain Macintosh, bring them in. It is time for this battle to be joined.”
“Yes ma'am.”
I watched as more trails went through the sky, followed by more impacts far behind me. I could make out things moving in the clouds, and knew no matter how many I killed, there was more to come. Something massive blocked my view as it flew over me. All I could make out against it's dark hull was blue running lights. Three things dropped out the back and headed towards me. About fifty foot up, they flipped over and I saw puffs of red come from behind them. I felt three impacts near me, and then heard the familiar noise of gunfire. Three featureless soldiers walked past me and fired in to the crowd.
By now I could see the clouds again, but it wasn't more Changelings that greeted me. Everywhere I could look, there was a pegasus soldier with either a unicorn or earth pony guard in the legs. They drifted down to the ground and dropped their loads, and they all immediately joined in the fighting. The big black thing that flew over moments ago returned, and I saw it lower to the ground just behind me. I could just make out a motif of a crescent moon on the bow. I closed my eyes and let my senses dull.
I felt movement around me and opened my eyes to see the most beautiful creature standing above me, with the most striking blue eyes. They gently lifted me up and carried me away from the battle. I looked behind us and saw more of these creatures picking up the rest of the squad. I used all my effort to smile. “What's so funny?”
I wasn't expecting to hear it speak, having never met one before, so I replied with the only thing on my mind. “The fact that you are real..................my own guardian angel.” I finally closed my eyes and slipped in to the blackness.
Beep..........
Beep..........
Beep.........
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'THUD'Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'THUD'Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeee'THUD'