//------------------------------// // The Glint // Story: Badass Story About these Marines who get sent to Equestria [Temporary Name] // by NotWhoYouThink123321 //------------------------------// ~Part 3~ The Glint For a long while, we rested in the forest. It was only 1030 when we arrived in the forest, so we had all day to wait until night fall. We spent the day setting up a base; digging foxholes, setting up positions in the trees for concealment, and the like. The scientists studied everything. As we dug, climbed, and gathered materials, they ran around the area frantically with notepads and cameras. The day was spent in fear that a guard had seen us enter the forest and went to alert others. Every now and then, Ed or Mark would radio us and let us know of any nearby guards. When that happened, we would stop what we were doing and hit the deck, careful to make no noise so as not to alert them. When the guards passed, we would be notified. When at long last my watched beeped 2130 hours, we gave Rainbow Dash NVGs and a small camera that would allow us to guide her to the briefcase. She stealthily slipped into the building in which we left the briefcase, and guided by our voices, she managed to retrieve it and return to our temporary FOB in the Everfree Forest. We were preparing to open the briefcase and set up the return device, when we stumbled into a problem. The device needed solar power to jumpstart the tesla generator. We had to wait until daylight, so we could move out from underneath the forest’s opaque canopy. Only then could we deploy it, charge it up, and return home. We had already run into far too many problems, and we had only been there for 2 days. Martin and John made it apparent, with their endless mental library of their stories in this world, the longer we stayed here, the worse things would get. But for now, we had to focus on the problems as they were presented, so we got some sleep before dawn. At exactly 0700 hours, we woke up and packed our FOB. Rainbow flew above the canopy so as to guide us to where the guards were scarce enough that we could pick them off without attracting too much attention. We moved south along the edge of the forest, still concealed by the canopy. Mark took up a position in a large tree to cover us across an open field to a small patch of trees at the edge of the town. Confidently, Mark loaded his L115A3 as he sat on a branch. With the barrel of his rifle, he moved aside some smaller branches to get a better view of the field. “Go.” He said quickly, notifying us that the field was clear of guards. We dashed across the field and took shelter in the small grove. The grass around the trees was overgrown, so we were easily hidden. Moments later, Mark joined us. “You’re clear. All the guards are on the main streets of Ponyville. There’s a cottage to your right. I would recommend going in there. You will stand less of a chance of being discovered.” Rainbow was watching our every move. We slowly emerged from the tall grasses around the small grove to head towards the cottage. Martin and I were up front, followed by John, the scientists, then Mark, and finally, Ed watching our backs. When we were mere yards from the doorway into the cottage, a glint in a distant tree caught his eye. “SNIPER!” * * * -4 hours earlier- The guards blew open the door to the house where two others had recently been killed. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, and it bathed the room in light. The guards searched the house, looking to kill any humans, should they find them. As they marched upstairs, swords and spears ready, the spotted something peculiar. It was a human weapon. An M40, loaded and ready to fire. “Take that weapon! We can use their own weapons against them.” ordered one guard while some others complied. They set up a position in a tree overlooking where the humans had last been seen. Two guards sat in the tree watching every bit of movement. The guard who held the rifle did so in a peculiar manner, barrel resting on his raised left foreleg, right foreleg stabilizing the the butt. His cheek rested on his right foreleg, looking through the scope. He had seen how the humans held and fired their weapons. Because it was not possible to fit a hoof in the trigger guard, he was ready to pull the trigger with a magical grip. They waited for hours, watching the area. At last, the second guard pointed his hoof to their left, where he saw something emerging from grass about 1,000 yards away. The pony with the rifle grinned deviously as he rotated his body to face the humans. He noticed one of the humans was carrying a briefcase. He figured that was another weapon like the one that killed the 35 in Fillydelphia 2 months before. He figured that if he could stop them from detonating their device, he could save even more lives. As he lined the crosshairs up with the carrier, taking into account distance and wind speed as any sniper would, he did leave out one major detail: Glare. The sun was reflecting off the lense of his scope directly at the humans. He saw one of the humans shove another towards the entrance of the cottage just after he shot. To his delight, the carrier of the briefcase dropped. He pulled the trigger to fire again. *Click...* “Shit,” He thought. He had forgotten that, to chamber a new cartridge, the humans had a hand motion involving the stick that extruded from the right side of the rifle. He and the other pony frantically tried to figure out how the action worked so they could get more shots off. But just as they lifted the bolt and pulled it pack to eject the spent shell, there was a crackling noise. * * * -Second of the guard’s shot- “SHIT!” I yelled as I saw Jerry fall to the ground. “GRAB THE BRIEFCASE! WE GOTTA GET THE FUCK INSIDE!” I wasted no time, diving through the window to the immediate left of the door, followed by the others. As Ed jumped through, he got caught on the broken glass, falling face first and dropping his M200. I dragged him deeper and hid him from the window. The glass had gotten caught on his pants, so when his torso fell to the ground, the glass was pushed up further into his thigh. Martin pulled out a first aid kit and started treating Ed’s wound. “The tree, 1000 yards east!” He told me. I nodded and grabbed his rifle. I went to the back of the room and looked through the window until I lined myself up perfectly with a lone tree, about a thousand yards away. I closed the bolt, ensuring a cartridge was chambered. I looked down the advanced M200 optic and zoomed in on the tree. I could make out two figures fidgeting with a rifle. I let out a breath and shot. The .408 CheyTac bullet leapt from the barrel, sailing through the air and impacted one of the ponies just as I saw the glint of the scope. I quickly pulled the bolt back and pushed it forward, chambering a new round just has I heard the cracking noise. I could tell the shooter was worried, because the shot he had just fired hit the wall on the outside of the cottage, barely pushing through to the interior. My chance had arrived. I looked back into the scope and zeroed in on the target. I saw him fidgeting with the rifle again. No doubt he was having trouble with the action after his assistant had just been killed. I let out my breath again as I fired. The bullet tore through the wind. The guard never even heard the shot. Hearing this ruckus, a pony who was just upstairs began walking down the stairs to investigate. Rainbow had just entered, as well, to check to see if we were alright. Seeing the pony who stood on the stairs, she tackled the other pony and dragged her to a room upstairs. After a minute or so, she returned and told us the situation. The other pony who was standing on the stairs was a friend of Rainbow’s, and went by the name of Fluttershy. She told Rainbow that, when she saw the humans, she was about to run off to tell the guards. She was just informed, however, that she would have been killed, had she gone off. “I’m going to try to convince her to let you guys stay here for the time being.” Rainbow flew back upstairs. Safely hidden in the cottage, we decided to come up with a new game plan. “We need to get that rifle, along with any other weapons we may have left back in the old building. If the guards get their hooves on those, we’re fucked.” I proposed. “That we are. Do you think they’re smart enough to find out what direction you killed them from?” Martin asked. “Yeah, the shooter didn't fall from the tree like the spotter did. You could still clearly see what direction he was hit from” I responded. “Then tonight, lets have Rainbow retrieve the rifle and mess with the bodies. In the mean time, lets bring Jerry’s body in and cover up the blood that’s all over the place out there. Mark, get upstairs and watch out for any other guards.” Complying with John’s order, Mark went upstairs and went into a different room than Rainbow and Fluttershy were in. He found a window through which he could see every position that could see us in front of the cottage. We went out, carried Jerry’s body in, and cleaned up all the blood as best we could. When we were done, you couldn’t even tell someone had been killed there. The sun began to set, and we missed our chance to set up the return device. Rainbow Dash had succeeded in convincing Fluttershy to allow us refuge in her cottage, so she headed out to retrieve the M40 from the bodies and to move them around, do as to conceal the shooting direction. When she returned with the rifle, we dug in for the night. * * * * * *